Text Kingdom Hearts III (Story: Chapter 6 [FINALLY] uploaded)

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

This is getting really good! I don't think Aqua would look like a mess when they find her. She would be the same as she was in KH3D. I also don't think her light would start going out. She's too strong for that.

 

Have you seen the extra stuff in BBS FM+?

[KingdomHearts3 2,591]

Have you seen the extra stuff in BBS FM+?

I don't think there is a BbSFM+; just BbSFM. Also, she did not appear to be a mess in the KH3D secret episode.

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

You're right, there isn't a plus. It's a habit of mine to do that after saying "Final Mix" regarding Kingdom Hearts. My point still stands.

 

And we don't know what point in time that scene took place. It could've been any time. Besides, I made her a mess to emphasize how long she has been down in the RoD, and to make it more dramatic than just "she looked as she did years ago".

Edited May 6, 2013 by Volodarskii

[KingdomHearts3 2,591]

http://kh13.com/games/birth-by-sleep/

 

There's an entire section on BbS FM+ (although the plus isn't there, of course).

 

And we don't know what point in time that scene took place. It could've been any time. Besides, I made her a mess to emphasize how long she has been down in the RoD, and to make it more dramatic than just "she looked as she did years ago".

I know that there's a BbSFM. I don't think that she'll be a mess, but still the story is amazing.

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

Well everyone, I have decided to make a table of contents include the estimated time of when each chapter will come out, so look forward to those dates (if you care). Figured it would give people something to look forward to, eh?

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

I apologize for the awkward layout of this chapter, as well as the previous chapter I posted here. For some reason, whenever I copy and paste something from Word now, it doesn't adjust to how post are suppost to be on here, and I REALLY don't want to spend an hour backspacing where it incorrectly made new lines at. If somebody knows how I can avoid this/fix it, I'll gladly edit this post later, but for now it's just too much of a hassle. Sorry. I hope it isn't too much of a problem, though.

 

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Chapter 5

 

His foot tapped on the ground rapidly, Lea crossing his armsand beginning to make a slight grimace. He was standing for longer than hewanted to be. Lea had to lean against the wall in order to keep his legs frombecoming tired. How long has been since she disappeared was something the mancould only hope to guess, but Lea thought about leaving without her. If it tookher this long just to put on some clothing, then seeing her out in the fieldwould be quite interesting. Hopefully she was quicker at defeating her foesthen she was stylizing herself.

 

Lea was at least thankful that they both knew how to use theKeyblade, if not exactly at its fullest for the time being. Lea was still rustywith it, so calling her out on her skills would make him a hypocrite. Despitesuch vigorous and exhausting training, Lea wasn’t able to use his own Keybladeas well as, for example, Sora. In his defense, Lea had been using chakrams forfighting within the past few years. Handling the Keyblade was foreign to Lea.

 

With his patience about to flow over his edge, he caughtsomeone’s movement from the corner of his eye, tilting his head towards thedirection. He sighed in relieve seeing who had finally come back. “Man, it’sabout time. I dunno what it is with women, but every one I’ve ever known seemsto be obsessed with looking their best. Are you sure you got everything allzipped and adjusted, Kairi?”

 

Lea flinched as a hand collided with his shoulder, makinghim rub it afterwards. “Well, geez. I was just joking. You do look quiteswanky, more than usual.” 

Kairi’s outfit was now different then before; though lessrevealing, such an appearance wasn’t going to be appropriate for where the twowould be heading. White jeans now covered her legs, which moved wherever herskin did but not in an uncomfortable way.  To accompany this, her dress was replaced by aleather, pink vest, having two large pockets on each side and zipped a third ofthe way. Her halter top remained from her previous set of clothing. Kairi’sshoes were also replaced, with white boots covering her feet instead with ablack underlining, being halfway to reaching her knees. As well, her good luckcharm now hung around her neck, tucked underneath her vest.

 

“What’s with the flattery?” Kairi asked Lea, looking at himwith suspicious eyes.

 

“Nothing. Figured I’d try to play nice with you this time,”Lea answered, chuckling lightly. 

Kairi still remembered what Lea had done to her; while Sorasaw the good in Lea’s heart, and witnessed for himself how helpful andthoughtful he could be (when he chose to), Kairi had not seen or heard anythingabout Lea since he had kidnapped her. Despite Yen Sid’s request to let go ofher grudge, it didn’t help her feel more comfortable around Lea.

 

“Besides, Yen Sid told me to make sure you don’t get intotrouble while you’re out exploring,” Lea then added. “Whatever it is you’reactually doing.” 

“I’m supposed to be finding anything on Xehanort like Sorais right now.” Kairi bluntly explained. 

“Really? He’s throwing a tough thing like that at youalready?” Lea said as he scratched his head. “I mean, I know we’re kindadesperate and all, but…”

 

Lea stopped himself once seeing Kairi’s eyes narrow. Hedidn’t want to get on this girl’s bad side. Lea figured that he may not be ableto see the normally kindhearted side if he kept up this up. Sighing, he movedonto another subject. “So how are we gonna start our world-jumping? We don’thave a Gummi ship to use ourselves.”

 

To answer Lea’s question, Kairi reached into one of thepockets of her vest, pulling out a star-like object. “Mickey gave me this. It’sa ‘star shard’. He said we can use this to get to other worlds easily, more sothan any kind of ship. He said I needed to be careful with it, too; it can gooff at any time if I don’t know what I’m doing.” 

“Let’s get going then,” Lea said as he moved to stand closerto Kairi. “Now…how do you use it?”

 

“You have to hold it with me,” Kairi stated, not going onuntil Lea did so. She didn’t tell the man any explanation, but it was told tohim simply as she held her and Lea’s hand into the air. Afterwards, the shardbegan to glow. They were transformed into a ball of light, which now began tobounce out of the window and into the vast reaches of the Lanes Between.

 

They woke up with a stir, Kairi sitting her body up beforeLea. Scanning their surroundings, they were in an alleyway, with various boxesaccompanying them. Just outside of this alley was the sound of a loudcommotion. Kairi and Lea stood up to see what was going on, which now they wereable to piece together regarding where the shard had taken them; they were in avery urban place, with activity everywhere their eyes would dart to. Verybizarre creatures were around, all in different shapes and forms, most of themkeeping themselves busy with various task. Shop keepers were selling strangemerchandise, and the air had a lingering, potent smell from the determinedworkers that were at every corner. Most of these workers, the two of them saw,were around what was obviously the most eye-catching thing of this world;floating ships. 

“Well, this is…surprising,” Lea spoke up, trying to find abetter word to describe their surroundings. 

“It’s going to be hard trying to find any sort of information on Xehanort,” Kairi said in worry. “This isdefinitely different then the islands.”

 

“Yeah, this place doesn’t look too friendly, either,” Leaadded on. “There are so many suspicious-looking people here, I’m afraid eachand every one of them is plotting against us. We need to at least look around.”

 

Kairi nodded in agreement. Her first time in a long whileoff of her world began to take effect on her; she shifted her eyes away fromeach stranger that looked at hers, not wanting to give someone the “wrong”look. Kairi was beginning to wish for the safety of the islands again. Despitethe numerous ships at each dock they passed, she couldn’t hear any waves. Thatsound comforted her, and it felt almost wrong to not have it around the thingsthat were normally in water. Each person she passed was distinctively differentfrom the other, which that alone gave her an uneasy feeling. Kairi and Lea didsee a number of humans, but it wasn’t because most were not that caused hernegative feelings; the majority of the crowd looked quite intimidating, likepirates getting ready to pillage a town. Maybe she was just being judgmental. 

After walking for several minutes, Kairi bumped intosomebody. She didn’t have time to apologize when a red claw suddenly grabbedhold of her clothing. The girl was soon face-to-face with a spider-likecreature, with its face just as red as the thing holding Kairi close to it. Shesaw a long face begin to grimace and glare at hers, making the girl freeze hermuscles. This thing didn’t look like it was going to let Kairi go away freely.

 

“Watch where you’re goin’,” The alien rasped, pulling Kairicloser.

 

Lea intervened before things got out of hand. “Whoa, there,bud. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. That’s my damsel in distress.”

 

“You aren’t helping,” Kairi growled towards the man, nowtrying to shake loose.

 

The spider-crab hybrid kept his pincers clenched tight. “Strangersshouldn’t be poking their heads in other people’s business.” 

“All I did was run into you.”

 

“I know how your kind works,” the alien hissed at Kairi.“Prey on the weak, and get them when they can’t fight back. I’ll tell yousomethin’, girl; I’m anything but.”

 

Kairi was confused by the alien’s accusing statement, butshe quickly noticed the white casting that clearly stuck out from his body’sdarker colors. Whenever had happened, the alien flashed a broken leg.Regardless, using his injury as an excuse to get aggressive with somebody elsewasn’t right. “I’m sorry. I swear I didn’t know.” 

“You better be tellin’ the truth,” the red-headed alien saidas he shoved Kairi into Lea. “or else I’m comin’ back for you later.” 

The alien began to walk off, although with noticeabletrouble. Despite their small dispute, Kairi felt sorry for the alien. Perhapsshe should have been more careful, and even though his appearance was quitestartling to those not use to such people as herself, looks were deceiving.Anybody would be angry and grumpy having to walk around with an injured legwith no support. Walking over to the alien again, she wrapped her arm aroundone of his, causing him to try to jerk away.

 

“What you think you’re doing?” the alien growled. “Back tofinish the job, is it?”

 

“I’m helping,” Kairi said simply, smiling at the alien’sfrowning glare. “Lea, come help, please.” 

Lea was speculative about this new friend Kairi was makingnow, but with a heart as full of light as hers, it was no doubt she wouldeventually come to somebody’s aid. He had wished it wouldn’t have been thissoon. Sighing, he said to himself, “This is going to be a long trip.”

 

The alien helped them lead him to the ship he and his othercrewmates were setting out on (though reluctant to do so). Just as themarketplace was, the deck was teaming with activity. Not a single person wassitting and resting, with each of their tasks seeming as important as everyoneelse’s. And just as well, Kairi didn’t seem to like the crowd. Still, seeingthe one she was helping end up not being as bad as she first judged, Kairitried to calm her nerves and relax. She didn’t want to look weak anymore, andwanted to actually do something for once. Sora and Riku needed to protect herall the time even as kids, so now she hoped, one day, she could do the same forthem.

 

Several crew members noticed the small group walking up theconnection between the ship and the dock below, some beginning to snicker. Threemade their way over to them, two being very large and intimidating and thethird having multiple eyestalks sprouting from the top of his head, this onebeing much shorter.

 

“What’s this, Scroop?” laughed the fat alien. “Having littlegirls taking care of your boo-boo?” 

“Excuse me?” Lea snapped at him. “I think you’re mistakingwhat my gender is, tubby!” 

“Well, you sure are skinny like one,” giggled the one withmany eyes. “It’s like someone scrapped off all of th’ meat off yah.” 

Scroop glared at the three poking fun at him, causing him toshove both Kairi and Lea away. He was no match for two of the three aliensregarding his strength, but his words would make up for that. “You keepflapping those mouths of yours, I’ll be sure to have you all thrown off theship. Have you forgotten why we’re here in the first place? You know we won’t tolerateany kind of mockery, and you know what’ll happen if rules are broken.”

 

The three aliens looked back and forth from one another,soaking in Scroop’s words. Even if they didn’t care about any punishment, theydidn’t seem to want to risk it for something so meaningless. At least they hadsome sense to back off now. This being so, the alien with four arms said, “Ifthese two are here to join the crew, then you better hope they aren’t pathetic,since you-know-who also doesn’t like dead weight.”

 

They all left Scroop alone for now, but Scroop himselfwasn’t done letting out his aggression. He looked over at Kairi and Lea andgave them the meanest of glares, as if they were the ones to blame for hisharassment. He left them standing on the deck alone, disappearing as he went tothe lower regions of the ship.

 

Kairi and Lea looked at one another, not knowing what theyshould do next. Now that they helped Scroop, they had no more purpose left tobe here. Should they move on, though? Kairi had the feeling they weren’t donehelping Scroop, since he clearly looked upset and angry towards the both ofthem. With this in mind, she made her decision. She knew how much Sora wouldhelp another in need, so Kairi wanted to do the same. To actually help a worldlike her friends have many times, it would make her feel like she wascommitting to something. No longer shall she be the one needing help.

 

“Let’s go follow him,” Kairi instantly said to Lea. 

“Why? By the looks of it, he needs some alone time,” Leasaid back to Kairi, not wanting to agitate the alien any more.

 

Kairi clenched her fist at her side and stared up at Leawith a stern look, one that said he had no say in the manner. From Lea’sperspective, however, it simply looked like she was pouting. Whatever mean lookKairi was trying to give him, it didn’t work for Lea. He was told to watch overKairi, however, and not boss her around. Shrugging, Lea agreed to go withKairi’s idea.

 

The both of them headed the way Scroop had, making sure noone saw them intruding into their ship. With the bustling commotion, this wasan easy task. They slipped in with ease, but that was where their luck stopped;the hallways looked normal at first, but eventually it began to branch off intomany other hallways. There were no labels at to which hall contained whatrooms. They had no choice but to search them all. Of the ones they checked,Scroop was not in any of them. Kairi and Lea found several engine rooms,storages, and other various places one would suspect to be on a ship. Theirfriend couldn’t be in any of them. 

Their search continued, however, Lea keeping a close eye onKairi. Being stereotypical, he expected one of the crew members outside to haveattempted a kidnapping by now. He thought to himself that Kairi may be the onlyfemale they have been around, so Lea made sure to keep his guard up more thanhe needed. Kairi was actually nerved with being alone with Lea down wherenobody knew where they were. She didn’t know his current motives, but whatwould be stopping him from taking her away somewhere else? No one was looking.Perhaps it was due to her being able to put up a fight now, but even thoughthey were both unskilled with their Keyblades (though enough to properly usethem), she knew Lea had more experience, even if it wasn’t by much. Hertraining went exceptionally well, Yen Sid even praising her, but regardlessKairi had much to learn.

 

Both of their thoughts were suddenly halted when Kairibumped into somebody when turning another corner, startling her and causing thegirl to fall to the ground. Lea looked down at Kairi, then up at whomever orwhatever made her lose her balance. He was surprised; it was a woman in fancyclothing, looking much more sophisticated than the people up above. She didn’tlook human, as her face had more feline features, but she was certain theclosest looking one they have seen, at least on this ship. One thing the womandid seem to have in common with the brutes was the look she gave the pair; shewasn’t happy to see them. 

“Who in blazes are you two scurrying around on my ship?” she demanded to know.

 

Lea had to quickly think of a lie to cover them. He knewbetter than to outright reveal they weren’t from this world. He was good atlying, though. “We were told to do a quick check of the storage units. Makingsure everything is where they should be and all…”

 

“Even if that is the case,” the woman began, not soundingfully convinced. “this area of the ship is off limits to unauthorizedpersonnel. In fact, I don’t even know who you two are. Speak your names!”

 

“Kairi,” the girl still on the ground said in a smallshriek. She didn’t like the demanding tone this older woman was giving them. 

“And I’m Lea.”

 

“You don’t happen to be that cloaked fellow that joinedearlier, are you?” the woman then asked as she slightly squinted her eyes atLea to closely examine him. “You didn’t show your face to me, so I didn’texactly get a good look at you, or at all.” 

“You got the wrong guy,” Lea truthfully said, thoughtquickly took note of what the woman said. Kairi did as well.

 

“Hmm...” The woman backed off of Kairi and Lea, but wasn’tdone dealing with the situation. “Come with me; I need to make sure you two areregistered on this ship. I’m afraid I don’t trust two scoundrels running aroundmy ship that I don’t even recognize. You better hope you are telling the truthabout why you were down here in the first place.”

 

Kairi and Lea obliged, but were slightly nervous; the womanwouldn’t have a problem ratting them out. Whether or not telling her they werenot part of the crew would get them in less trouble then what they were diggingthemselves into now, it would be forever unknown to them. All they could do wasfollow the woman to void any more suspicion on them if they refused.

 

They were led back to the top deck of the ship and to anoffice, looking just as fancy as the woman’s own clothing. Lea could piecetogether that she was one of the higher authorities of the ship; it was theleast grimy place of the ship by far, and with a lovely scent to boot. Kairikept her whole focus on the woman, however, worried about what would happen tothem; if they were thrown off, then helping Scroop now would be out of thepicture. As well, the new information about someone in a black coat meant they needed to stay longer. The two of themhave not seen anyone like this, but staying longer would guarantee theirchances to.

 

The woman placed a stack of papers on top of her desk aftershuffling through several drawers, now beginning to skim through them. Shemumbled what sounded like names, and Kairi and Lea’s would not be amongst them.They could tell the woman was beginning to become increasingly narrow, hersuspicion rising even more as she didn’t see either of Kairi or Lea’s nameslisted. The two needed to act fast, or else they would be discovered.

 

“Captain Amelia,” suddenly called out somebody. A tall being,appearing to be made of stone, stepped into the room, looking as professionalas the woman checking the names. In fact, if he hadn’t stated her status justnow, Kairi and Lea might have mistaken him as the captain of the ship instead.“Dr. Doppler and Jim Hawkins have just arrived.”

 

“Thank you for informing me, Mr. Arrow,” Amelia nodded,putting away the papers. Kairi and Lea felt relief fill their chests, but thefeeling was quickly vanquished when the captain approached the two of them onelast time with a stern look. She didn’t need to say any words to indicate herlingering doubt about the pair. They were lucky for now, as she followed Mr.Arrow out of the cabin, Kairi and Lea following behind.

 

Kairi spotted who she guessed were the new people who weresupposedly joining; one of them was an odd-looking man in a giant, bulky suit,his face visible through the glass of his helmet. His ears flopped loosely bythe side of his face, moving whenever he would turn his head, and his nose wasquite large and bizarre as well, almost like a dog’s. His fragile-lookingglasses made him look intelligent, even if he really wasn’t. The boy besidethis man was the most normal-looking person Kairi had seen since arriving tothis world. He looked like a regular human boy. His hair was tied in a ponytailon the back of his head, and looked around the same age as Sora. His age wasthe only thing Kairi could depict that he and Sora had in common, as the boydidn’t look like he had as caring of a personality. 

Captain Amelia and Mr. Arrow approached them, with Ameliaaddressing the older man first, “Ah, Dr. Doppler, I presume.” 

Dr. Doppler’s speech began to sputter as he tried to confirmthe woman. He was interrupted as the captain knocked several times on thehelmet. “Hello? Can you hear me?”

 

“Yes I can hear you.” The doctor said in a slightlyirritated tone, pulling off his helmet with a bit of struggle. He put his handsat his side to further express this.

 

Amelia grabbed one of Dr. Doppler’s hands and shook it toshow she at least had some respect. “I’m Captain Amelia, and this here is Mr.Arrow.”

 

“Mm, yes. If I may interrupt you for a moment,” Dr. Dopplerbegan as motioned his arms towards the boy beside him. “This is Jim Hawkins.Jim, you see, is the one who found the treasure ma-mmph!”

 

Captain Amelia grabbed Dr. Doppler’s face and pulled itclose to hers, shushing him as she glared at the doctor, then looked around atthe crew. Several were eavesdropping on their conversation, and when thecaptain saw them, they immediately went back to work, though didn’t seem worriedabout any consequences. Amelia let go of Doppler’s face afterwards, then said,“I’d like to speak with you in my office.”

 

She led them to where she had Kairi and Lea, but as theyfollowed, the captain stopped them from entering. “I’m afraid this is a privatemanner. I don’t want the wrong ears hearing about this.” 

The door was closed and locked on them. Kairi now turned toLea, wondering what their next step should be. “That didn’t work out like Ithought it would.” 

“I knew something bad was gonna come out of that,” Lea thensaid, crossing his arms at Kairi. “Don’t you think it was a bit dumb to just gowaltzing in places you shouldn’t? You seem to be good at that.” 

“Like I had a choice those other times,” Kairi said sternly,looking away from Lea. “I just wanted to help.”

 

“I guess one good thing came out of our troubles,” Lea said,bringing up what the captain mentioned to them earlier. “That lady thought Iwas another guy in a black coat. That means one of Xehanort’s members must behere, so it’s great that we found this ship. We need to find this guy and seewhat he’s up to, or if we have the right idea in mind.”

 

“Yeah,” Kairi simply said in agreement. “None of the crewmembers have any black coats, so the person the captain mentioned must behiding down below somewhere, and we didn’t spot anything important while downthere ourselves.”

 

“We’ll have to do a bit more sneaking later…without being caught,” Lea then firmlystated.

 

Kairi made a face at the man. She didn’t suspect anyone tohave known they were down there, so it was an honest mistake to her. “I’mtrying my best.”

 

“I know you want to be like Sora and help every person indistress, but the thing is Sora can naturally do that without even trying, “Leabegan. “ It’s just the way he was born. He can make just about anyone get agood feeling about themselves. You, on the other hand…just because your heartis filled to the brim and overflowing with light, it doesn’t mean it willaffect anyone. You will have to work at it, instead of approaching someone andgo ‘I’m here to save the day’ and expect good results. You still have a ways togo, kid.”

 

Kairi didn’t like being lectured by Lea; she didn’t think heknew anything regarding making people happy. The happiest he had seen him waswhen he took her to Xemnas’s castle, and it was for a bad reason. As stubbornas she might be, Kairi knew there was truth in Lea’s words. She was trying tocopy Sora, since his methods of helping others seemed to work out so well inher eyes. Perhaps doing things her way would be much better. 

“I at least want to apologize to that Scroop guy,” Kairisaid to Lea, giving him a look that said he wasn’t allowed to refuse. 

“Alright, deal,” Lea agreed. “But afterwards, we’re findingthe black coat guy, if he’s still here.”

 

“Of course.” 

They heard the door to Amelia’s office open once again. Dr.Doppler and Jim were being escorted out by Mr. Arrow, and those two hadirritated frowns upon their faces. 

“I cannot believe this!” the doctor ranted. “Who does shethink she is ordering me around? Ifit weren’t for me, none of this would be happening.” 

“And if it weren’t for her, there would be no voyage to setout on!” Mr. Arrow instantly retorted, not appreciating the backlash the doctorwas presenting. “She is the finest officer in the entire galaxy.”

 

Mr. Arrow noticed Kairi and Lea still at the doorstep of theoffice. Giving them a mean look as well, Mr. Arrow spoke news to them. “Thecaptain has ordered the two of you to work down with our cook as punishment forsticking your filthy noses where they shouldn’t be. Jim will be accompanyingyou as well.”

 

“Yippee,” Jim groaned nonchalantly. His attitude seemed moretowards the sound of working a low-paying and unexciting job rather than havingto work with Kairi and Lea. He looked slightly unhappy about that as well,though.

 

No one had any say in the manner regardless, as now thesmall group headed into the lower decks, this part leading to a single, smallmess hall. A slight foul air hit Kairi’s nose, but tolerated it for now.  She saw somebody working at the very end ofthe mess hall, in an area that looked like a kitchen. The person wassilhouetted at the moment. 

Lea spoke up to Mr. Arrow, speaking his mind about having topartake in a job such as cooking food (or, most likely, serving it). “Um, Mr.Stone-Guy. I’ve had experience with fire and all in the past, but I think,personally, I’d be more useful…somewhere else.” 

“Is that so?” Mr. Arrow said as he eyed Lea, suspecting Leato merely want to get out of work.

 

“Of course! I’ve, uh…been to a whole bunch of other placesin my lifetime. I…could be helpful with…navigation…” Lea only thought of thisidea because he has traveled to different worlds before, but not in the senseof actually directing any kind of vessel to them. He could go from one place toanother instantly. Nobody on this world could have guessed this was what Leameant, but still, Mr. Arrow looked doubtful. 

“Perhaps later you can prove your worth,” Mr. Arrow said ashe considered the suggestion. “For now…ahem! Mr. Silver!”

 

The one concealed in the shadows appeared to poke his headup at them, revealing his large size. He gave them a throaty laugh. “Why, hellothere, sir! Had I known you’d be bringing in so many guests, I’d have tidied upa bit, heheheh!”

 

Kairi was quick to notice the mechanical parts replacingseveral limbs on Silver, including his right eye. Something tragic and painful musthave happened to this man, and Kairi could only imagine what could have put himin such a condition. Asking about it seemed rude, as such a point in Silver’slife might not be something he would want to casually talk about. The manseemed lighthearted despite this, and looked enthusiastic to meet the newstrangers before him.

 

Mr. Arrow introduced Dr. Doppler first, and after Mr. Arrowdid Silver teased the timid man in the suit by shooting a harmless laser lightat him, pretending to scan the doctor. Quick to get out of the situation, Dr.Doppler urged Jim in front of him. “This young lad is Jim.”

 

“Jimbo!” Silver greeted as he extended his mechanical arm athim, only to see his fingers replaced with various sharp tools. Jim lookedslightly startled, but narrowed his eyes afterwards as Silver chuckled andretracted the tools and replaced them with a hand. Jim didn’t take the offer ashe looked up at Silver. Silver shrugged, thinking Jim was simply in a bad mood.Moving back to the kitchen, he said to Jim, “Now, no need to get upset over ahunk of hardware.”

 

Silver transformed his arm again to aid him in preparingsome food, which Kairi watched in amazement; in such a skilled manner, Silverprofessionally cut and sliced pieces of food and put them all in a pan. Hecracked several eggs to add to the dish as well, and afterwards torched thebottom of the pan with a small flamethrower apart of his arm. Dumping thecontents of the pan into a large, boiling pot in the center of the kitchen, headded some spices and stirred for just a moment before taking out a ladle andpouring some of the dish into two bowls. Handing them to Jim and Dr. Doppler,he urged them to try some.

 

The doctor was impressed, judging by his delightedexpression. As Jim tried to take a bite, the spoon he was holding suddenlyturned into a pink mass that ate it instead, as well as everything else in thebowl. Kairi was beginning to wonder what else might surprise her in this world.Her first nervous feelings about being somewhere foreign were long gone, andnow she wished to see what waited around the next corner.

 

“There yah are, Morph!” Silver said to the small, floatingblob as it zoomed towards the man. “I was lookin’ everywhere for yahs!”

 

As Silver tickled the side of Morph, he briefly glanced backat the group. This was when he saw Kairi and Lea standing by the group, nowbecoming curious about whom they were. “Why, I musta missed this lad and lass.My apologies.”

 

“These two are merely here as punishment for being in placesthey shouldn’t,” Mr. Arrow told Silver, not being remotely interested in peopleunimportant to him. 

“We’re Lea and Kairi,” Lea answered for Silver, giving Mr.Arrow a mean look as he did so.

 

“Both her and Mr. Hawkins will be working with you,” Mr.Arrow continued, ignoring Lea.

 

Silver looked at Mr. Arrow with concern and shock. “I begyer pardin’?”

 

“Make sure the both of them are kept busy.” Mr. Arrow beganto lead Dr. Doppler and Lea up the steps where they entered from. Lea quicklymotioned to Kairi to let her know he would come back for her later. As thegroup disappeared, Silver and Jim desperately tried to convince Mr. Arrow tochange his mind, but their speech only came out as sputters. They both sighedin annoyance, and then looked directly at each other, ignoring Kairi for now.

 

“So, you and the lass were put with me, eh?” Silver began ashe and Jim began to circle around one another.

 

“Yep,” Jim responded with no emotion.

 

“Well, I’m not one to disobey orders from the cap’n,” Silvershrugged as he went back to cooking. “So, what’s your story, girl? You don’tlook much like a worker, with no offense, of course.”

 

“I can work as hard as anyone else,” Kairi retorted as herface blushed slightly with anger. She didn’t appreciate Silver judging her inthis way so soon.

 

“I’m just sayin’; those clothes of yours are awfully girly.Th’ captain has less femininity then most of the men here, so I guess I’m justuse to seeing more…independent woman.” Silver chuckled as he went back tofocusing on cutting more food to put in the pot. This was when Jim stepped intothe conversation, again focusing only on Silver.

 

“Y’know, this food kinda reminds me of the stuff at myhome…on Montreser. Ever been there?” Jim’s tone was hinting at something. Heemphasized the name of where he came from, all the while eyeing Silver withuntrustworthy stares.

 

Silver didn’t look like he knew what Jim was suggesting.“No, can’t say I have, Jimbo. Where you from, Kelly?”

 

“Kairi,” the girl corrected. She felt a sense that Silverwas trying to avoid Jim’s own question, but his casual tone seemed genuine andhonest about his previous answer.

 

Kairi continued to give Silver an answer to his curiosity,“I come from…some islands. Actually, I’m not sure where my real home is.” 

“A shame,” Silver frowned. “Not rememberin’ where you camefrom must be real terrible.”

 

“So anyway,” Jim interrupted. “Just before I left to comehere, I met this old guy. He was looking for a cyborg, kinda like you.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“Yeah. Now, what was his name? Oh yeah, Bones. Billy Bones?”

 

Kairi was trying to depict what was going on. It was obviousJim was suspicious of Silver, but for what? Silver was making a good firstimpression on Kairi so far, but then again they met just a few minutes ago. Jimknew something about this guy, and by the way the boy was acting, it wasn’tgood. 

“Bones? That isn’t a name I’m familiar with. There’re quitea few cyborgs around these parts. Must be one of ‘em.” Silver smiled as hemoved his prepared dish to the other side of the kitchen to add more ingredients.

 

Before Jim could ask anything else, a whistle was heard,along with Mr. Arrow beginning to shout orders. Silver then gently pushed Jimaway, urging him to leave and join with everyone on the top deck. “Off withyah, lad. And take the lass with yah. They could use both of yer help after thelaunch.”

 

Jim put his hands in his jacket as he stared down Silver fora few more seconds. He then turned around and slowly walked up the stairs,ignoring Kairi and leaving her alone. Kairi simply sighed; she would ask aboutJim’s behavior later.

 

Kairi watched the commotion begin to become fuller of energythan it was before. As Captain Amelia and Mr. Arrow shouted orders left andright, each person did as they were told without hesitation. The ship’s masseswere raised, ropes were tied, units were fastened into place, and everythingseemed to have an importance to it. It fascinated Kairi to see how muchdifferent other worlds were from her own. This journey will surely be one toremember.

 

Soon, the ship began to leave the docks and into the vastreaches of space, the stars becoming brighter as they left the lights of thestations they were leaving behind. This confused Kairi and Lea; did this worldknow about other worlds, as it seemed like they were ready to go out into thedeep space that contained all of them? Yen Sid said no other worlds were toknow that other worlds existed, so perhaps they had nothing to worry aboutregarding this, seeing as these people probably have seen hundreds already.

 

Still, Kairi put this thought aside as she looked over theedge of the ship to get a better view of where they were going…she actually hadno idea where this ship was taking her and Lea. Surely they weren’t going outfor a quick spin and merely head back to the docks. Kairi thought about askingthe captain, but she suspected everyone else was informed about their missionbefore even joining the ship. Kairi would pretend to know for now.

 

Kairi saw Jim looking just as amazed as she was; he wasclimbing around the ship to view it from every angle, as no matter where onewould look, the vast space the ship was zooming through looked stunning. Starssparkled from every direction, and vibrate and colorful mist swirledeverywhere. Beauty wasn’t a good enough word to describe it.

 

She walked over to Jim, her hands behind her back as shespoke. “I didn’t think you would be this excited.”

 

“Are you kidding?” Jim exclaimed with a grin, still turninghis head to view everything. “This is the best thing ever! I never thought Iwould be able to be a part of a voyage like this. I can’t wait to get toTreasure Planet.”

 

“Treasure Planet?” Kairi echoed. She took it as theirdestination, and the name itself explained what would be awaiting them, butthere had to be more to it than the world to have riches. “What’s…?”

 

“Jimbo! Kayre!” Silver suddenly shouted at them, soundingdispleased.

 

Kairi grumbled to herself as Silver got her name wrong onceagain, but put it aside for now. She and Jim both looked over at him, just intime to react to what Silver tossed at them; they were each given a mop andbucket, their job not needing to be explained to them.

 

“You two get busy with cleanin’ th’ ship,” Silver demanded.“No slacking off, and no breaks unless I say so. I want the deck spotless!”

 

“Joy,” Jim mumbled to himself.Kairi didn’t like such a bland task either, but she would have to in order to keepsuspicion off of her. She wondered if Lea was having a better time than her.

 

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Lea tried to follow along with what Dr. Doppler was sayingto him. Perhaps saying he was a navigator was a mistake now, because he had noidea what the much-smarter man was explaining. Lea heard a lot of big words hecouldn’t even guess the meaning behind, but nodding and agreeing with what hesaid seemed to work at avoiding him adding to this conversation.

 

The reason he had even mentioned he had navigation skillswas to be able to explore the ship more, and to find the Organization memberthat the captain had mentioned was aboard the ship. He couldn’t find any kindof reason they might be, but having a slightly higher rank than cooking for anentire crew would at least let him be able to explore more of what this shiphad to offer. So far, nothing of interest had come up yet, but if one ofXehanort’s accomplices were here, then there had to be something of valuesomewhere. Lea hoped to find whatever it was first. 

Captain Amelia came into the room, hands behind her back.She still sported the same stare she had when first meeting Lea, so the mancould tell straight away he would have to be very convincing to make her thinkhe was actually useful to her. Lea thought he was plenty useful to begin with,just not in the way Captain Amelia might expect.

 

“Alright, Mr. Lea,” the captain began sternly. “Let’s see ifyour claims are correct; if you really can help with navigation, I mightconsider a sort of promotion for you. You’ll be working with Dr. Doppler as anassistant. If not, then you are going back to Mr. John Silver to clean thedishes. Got that?”

 

“Yes ma’am,” Lea nodded reluctantly. He prepared for hardquestions to be thrown at him, or perhaps even a chart of the entire space theywere flying through and be ordered to draw a course on it. There was none ofthat (at least for now), as Captain Amelia, after making her statement to Lea,unlocked a cabinet and reached inside a small box. She pulled out a sphericalobject, having a rust color to it. Walking back over to Lea, she held it out tohim.

 

“Open it,” Amelia requested. “Only Mr. Hawkins was able tofigure out how to open it. Surely you never seen him do it yourself, so if youtruly want to be useful, unlock this map.”

 

Lea raised an eyebrow; this was some kind of trick test. Hedidn’t think this would be easy. Lea took the sphere anyway, and then began toroll it around in his hand to expect it. He looked for any kind of button on itthat might be easily hidden, or if it could be rotated in a certain place. Theproblem was there were many places like this on the sphere, so it was hard toguess.

 

“So, this is a map, you said?” Lea asked the captain, tryingto buy him a little more time to figure out the contraption.

 

“Indeed. It can show us the entire galaxy,” the captainadded on. “Every single planet can be charted on it.”

 

“Really?” This device had to be more complicated than Leafirst expected if it could do that. Being able to see every world in existencewould be a neat thing to see…as well as very helpful. Perhaps this device waswhat the Organization was after. They would try to steal it, figure out thepuzzle behind it, and then plot out their next moves in quick succession. Thesame thing could be said for the “light” side of the battle. Lea consideredstealing this sphere, if he could open it. 

Again taking a long look at the device, he resorted torandomly tugging and pulling everywhere he could. It didn’t budge, and henoticed Captain Amelia becoming more and more impatient. 

Dr. Doppler stepped in, he himself wishing Lea would workfaster. “Perhaps I should lend him a…”

 

“Let him be,” Amelia retorted. “He must do it himself.”

 

“Don’t worry, you two. It’s as easy as…” Lea felt somethingmove out of place. He was able to turn a small section of the sphere now,mechanical clicking sounding as he turned that part. This lifted Lea’s worry,as now he was finally onto something. The man couldn’t tell if it was byinstinct or not, but he began to move several more parts of the sphere, as wellas pressing areas of the object that didn’t budge before. Within a few secondsof doing this, the sphere began to shine a brilliant green light from betweenits cracks, and a hologram enlarged around the entire room. The hologramsported what Amelia described; it showed many planets that could be examinedfrom every corner of the map. Lea tried to find worlds he has visited in thepast, but this was when he found something odd.

 

All of the worlds were simple spheres. Lea knew each worldhad a distinctive shape to them that clued about what the world might be like(though wasn’t what was all contained within it), and nothing he saw had thisproperty. This confused Lea greatly. It made him change his mind about the mapbeing useful to Xehanort. Regardless, Lea at least accomplished being able toimpress the captain. 

“Nicely done,” she said as she examined the map as well.“Perhaps you can be someone I trust now, but you still need to prove you knowhow to use the interior of the map, but we’ll save that for another time.”

 

“Simply amazing!” Doppler exclaimed. “You and Jim must bevery unique; not even I or the captain can figure out how to open this map onour own. It’s just as intriguing being able to see every inch of our galaxy asit was the first time!”

 

“No more dilly-dallying, though,” the captain suddenly saidas she held the map in her hands again, causing it to close back up. “I mustwarn you, Lea, that we cannot let anybody aboard this ship to get their handson this map. Our crew seems…fishy. That’s why I overreacted when I saw you andyour companion down in the brig; seeing a hairdo such as yours stands out nomatter where you are.”

 

“Yeah, we were just…curious what was down there,” Lea saidas he scratched the back of his head. Ismy hair really that funny-looking?

 

“That had better be what it was,” the captain stated. “Nowcome, both of you. I’d like to report this news to Mr. Arrow immediately.”

 

After her sentence, the door suddenly opened. Lea’s eyeswidened once he saw the familiar black coat he was wearing himself. He hadfinally found the Organization member. Or was it the other way around?

 

“I thought you two had the same clothing,” Captain Ameliasaid as she put a finger on her chin, placing her other hand under her elbow asshe looked back and forth from the two men. “Are you two associated with oneanother?”

 

“Not as far as I’m concerned,” Lea said as he continued toeye the man. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t see through the darknesswithin the hood. He never thought about it before, but Lea commented to himselfabout how well the outfit was able to conceal the identity of the wearer.Whoever designed it to be like that was clever.

 

“Not anymore, at least,” the cloaked man then spoke up. Leapicked up a familiar tone in the man’s voice, but didn’t know who it was justby that. Whoever it was, he wasn’t around said person enough to become familiarwith them.

 

“That aside, why did you come to come to my office?” Ameliathen asked the hooded figure. 

“Mr. Arrow is requesting your assistance,” the man began toreport. “It seems some of the crew members almost began to brawl with oneanother.”

 

“Thank you. I will go to him straight away,” the captainnodded at the man, then turned to Lea and Dr. Doppler. “I’ll come back for youtwo later. For now, find some work to do around the ship until then.” 

“Aye, captain,” Dr. Doppler confirmed, walking out with thecaptain.

 

Lea was left alone with the Organization member. Lea thoughtabout attacking, but that would only serve to get him into trouble while stillaboard the ship. Lea also wanted answers from the man; he still couldn’t figureout why Xehanort might have sent the person here, if he even did. Back when Leawas a part of the old Organization XIII, one was sent to a world for a specificreason, and to fulfill a specific task. Sometimes it was very minor, but withthe circumstances today, Xehanort probably had an agenda for all of hisdarknesses.

 

“What, are we gonna stare at each other until one of uscollapses under the intensity?” the man mocked as he continued to stand at thedoorway, blocking the exit for Lea. “I’m surprised with you, Axel; if Iremember correctly, you wouldn’t think twice about striking down people whoslow you down, or even ones who are just too aggravating and troublesome. Surelyyou have better things to do then babysit a Princess of Heart.” 

“My name is Lea,” Lea responded, narrowing his eyes. “WhatI’m doing is none of your business.”

 

“You’re right,” the man said simply. “What do I care whatyou do with your existence? I can see you have turned a new leaf, but I cantell that fate is calling you elsewhere. We know why you’re siding with the Guardiansof Light, but I don’t think you see clearly enough what your actions can trulydo.” 

“And again, it’s none of your business.” Lea’s fist clenchedtightly. He couldn’t fall for what the man was obviously trying to do. Leawasn’t stupid enough to listen to the taunts. “I’m not with the Organizationanymore. I’ve decided that a long time ago, so you must have been left out on afew details.”

 

“I’m not here to recruit you, if that’s what you’resuggesting,” the man said. “In fact, it would be best for you to play hero foronce. In case you haven’t realized it yet, Kairi still distrusts you. She stillsees you as a threat, an incompetent ally, a scheming weasel of unvirtuouscontroversy, and all because of how desperate you were in the past. You stillare not trusted among everyone, so I suggest you think before you act, and seeif your friends are worth the trouble in the end.”

 

“Shut up!” Lea summoned his Keyblade, but was stopped fromattacking when the man held up his hand.

 

“In due time,” the man said, seeming to reassure Lea that hewould get the chance to unleash his anger. “For now, do as you were told by YenSid, or else your luck just might run out.”

 

The man walked away, but Leastood there for another few minutes to collect his thoughts. The man was right;he needed to be careful about what he would do in the future. Lea knew what hewanted to do, but didn’t know how he would pull it off. Only ideas helped himto think of solutions, but having a beginning and end didn’t solve what wouldhappen in between that gap. Lea wished it truly would be worth it once thattime came.

 

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Kairi and Jim swabbed every corner of the ship so far, but stillthey were nowhere close to being finished. What made it worse was other crewmembers walking over areas they just cleaned and getting the floor dirty again.It was tedious work, and it showed in both of them.

 

“This is ridiculous,” Jim complained as he put slightaggression between each push of the mop. “Yeah, I got your Mr. Mop right here.” 

“It doesn’t seem like this is getting done anytime soon,”Kairi then said as she stopped for a moment to wipe her forehead. “I was hopingto do something slightly more important than this.” 

“Tell me about it,” Jim agreed. “The whole reason I got onthis stupid ship was to be able to see Treasure Planet, not clean up a ship thesize of a whale.”

 

Upon hearing that name again, Kairi remembered her curiosityabout it a few hours ago. Now that it was brought up, it would be the perfecttime to find out the story behind this place. “So what is ‘Treasure Planet’? Iwasn’t told where we would be going, exactly.”

 

“That doesn’t surprise me considering you’re here moppingthe deck like me. I only know because I found a map leading to it,” Jim said ashe stopped working for a moment. “There was this guy named Captain NathanielFlint who went around every planet he could find to steal their treasure, andafterwards he would just vanish. No one knows how he did it. He hid all of histreasure on a single planet, and that place is Treasure Planet.” 

“So you want to get Flint’s treasure?” Kairi then asked. “Itwouldn’t be nice to take something as infamous as legendary treasure.”

 

“I don’t want it just to be greedy, unlike most of the crewhere,” Jim explained. His expression changed as he looked down at the floor,turned slightly away from Kairi now. “My mom owns…used to own this inn back home. It got burned down by a bunch ofpirates. Before that happened, an old man crashed near the inn. I helped himinside, but he died of his injuries. He had this little sphere thing, and itturned out to be a map of the entire galaxy.” 

“And that map showed you where to find Treasure Planet?”Kairi then asked.

 

“Yeah, and those pirates wanted it.” Jim looked moredepressed now. He didn’t look like he wanted to talk more about the subject,but continued anyway. “Before this, she was so disappointed in me, and she hadgood reasons to. I figured that this would be the one chance I could get tomake things different between me and my mom.”

 

Kairi looked at Jim in sympathy. The pain of someone youlove not being able to trust you must have hurt more than she could imagine.Kairi has felt hurt, but not this kind. She could tell Jim had a good heart,though, and had faith in him that he could set things right in his life. “Ibelieve you will.” 

“Thanks,” Jim said as a small smile managed to break throughhis negative emotions. “So why are you here? You don’t seem like much of atraveler.”

 

Kairi had multiple reasons for being in this world, but shehad specific one that motivated her to keep moving forward. “I’m here to make adifference. I want to show everyone that I’m not just some girl who sits aroundand waits to be rescued. I want to be the one who does the rescuing for once.”

 

“Sounds like you’re left out on a lot, huh?” Jim asked as henow continued to mop the ship.

 

“Yeah,” Kairi knew her friends didn’t see her as weak oruseless, but it bothered her that all she could do before was help with herwords. Some may say words are more powerful than people think, but Kairi didn’twant to stand on the sidelines while everyone else were fighting off thedarkness, something that was growing stronger with every minute. For once, shewanted to be alongside her friends when she, too, yields the evil thatthreatens the worlds.

 

Kairi was snapped from her thoughts when he heard Jim letout a startled yelp, causing her to look over at him again. She saw one of thealiens that had picked on Scroop earlier, the one with four arms. He hadclearly pushed Jim, but regardless he turned around and growled, “Watch it,twerp!”

 

Jim now looked annoying as the lumbering creature stompedaway. He looked over elsewhere, and then motioned Kairi to look as well afterstaring for a few moments. Hesitating at first, she turned her head in thedirection Jim told her to look. She saw three other aliens whispering to oneanother, one of the pairs being the other two who had made fun of Scroop aswell, along with another person. When they noticed Kairi and Jim eavesdropping,they quickly stopped and tried to look normal. It didn’t help them look anyless suspicious.

 

A hiss was then heard, Kairi and Jim turning their heads tosee Scoop making his way towards them, stopping in from of Jim specifically. Heleaned close to the boy, narrowing his eyes at him. “You should learn to mindyour own business, cabin boy.”

 

“He wasn’t doing anything wrong,” Kairi stepped in. “Whateverthey were saying, we didn’t hear them.”

 

Scroop looked over at Kairi with the same look remaining,hissing again at her. “You stay out of this.”

 

“Why? You have something to hide, bright eyes?” Jim thensaid, beginning to grin.

 

Scroop didn’t appreciate the insult, as now he grabbed Jimby the collar of his shirt and lifted him into the air. “Maybe your ears don’twork so well.”

 

Jim grimaced as she turned his head away, now coughing andlooking disgusted. “Yeah, well too bad my nose work just fine.”

 

Scroop became angrier, now slamming Jim a nearby mast. Crewmembers now gathered around the upcoming fight between the two, cheering on andencouraging the brawl. Jim squirmed around to get free from Scroop’s grip, buthis claw held him fast. Using his free claw, he placed the tip underneath Jim’sneck. “Any last words cabin boy?”

 

Before Jim could say or do anything else, he suddenly fellto the ground. Scroop shouted in pain as his head was hit by something, dazinghim for a few moments. When he recovered, he looked up to see Kairi standingfirmly in place, holding her Keyblade down in front of her. Her face toldScroop that she wouldn’t tolerate him hurting Jim.

 

“What, you plan to hurt me with that girly stick of yours?”Scroop hissed as he stepped closer to her. “Little girls shouldn’t be fightingbattles they can’t w-ggh!”

 

Silver came to Kairi’s rescue (though she didn’t need help),a casual look on his face as he ate a fruit with one hand, and holding Scroop’sbandaged leg with his other mechanical one, having been switched to a vicegrip. Biting into the fruit again, Silver asked, “Mr. Scroop, do you want tofind out what happens to this bumped leg when I squeeze it real hard?”

 

Silver didn’t give Scroop a chance to reply as the vice gripbegan to crush the alien’s leg. Scroop opened his mouth in pain, but no noisecame out. Silver let go soon after, allowing Scroop to recover and attend tohis leg by rubbing at the pain.

 

Suddenly, Mr. Arrow came to the scene to see what all of thenoise was about, his tone sounding unhappy. “What’s all this then?”

 

Everyone instantly settled down, turning their attention toMr. Arrow. Some backed away slightly from the higher authority as the manlooked at each crew member with annoyance. “You all know the rules here; therewill be no brawling on this ship. Any more offenders from here on out will beconfined to the brig for the remainder of the voyage.”

 

Mr. Arrow looked at Scroop specifically when remindingeveryone of this statement. He leaned close to Scroop with a stern and angryglare, making sure to emphasize who was the boss of him. “Am I clear, Mr.Scroop?”

 

Scroop growled at the man, baring his teeth at him as heglared back. He stood down as he looked over at Silver, who gave Scoop his ownglare. Scroop sighed in defeat, and then looked back at Mr. Arrow who was stillhovering over him. “Transparently.”

 

“Good.” Mr. Arrow straightened himself up again, then slowlybegan to walk away from the crowd. “I’ll make sure the captain hears about this.”

 

Everyone began to go back to their previous activities, eachcommenting to themselves about what just happened. Silver stayed with Kairi andJim, putting his hands on his hips as he eyed them down. “I gave you two a job,and…”

 

Jim interrupted Silver, trying to defend his and Kairi’sside of the story. “Hey, we were doing it until that bug thing came…”

 

“Belay that!” Silver yelled at him, shoving a mop into Jim’schest. “Now get back to work, th’ both of yah! Heaven help if I come back andit’s not done…Morph.”

 

The pink, floating blob came zooming to the large man’s sideobediently. He listened to what Silver had to say. “Keep an eye on these pups,and let me know if there’re any more distractions.”

 

As Silver walked away, Morph saluted him to confirm that hewould watch the pair, enlarging his eyes to make sure he didn’t miss a singlemove they both made.  Jim sighed as hewent back to work, and Kairi resorted to ignoring Morph as much as she could.As the hours went by and day turned to night, Jim and Kairi began to makeactual progress as the active crew members slowly went back to their beds.Morph seemed to grow bored of watching them do such a bland task. He resortedto messing with the two, and constantly began to bother them. Granted, Morphdid so in an entertaining way; he pretended to mop with the two, only insteadof cleaning the floor he got in their way and cleaned their shoes instead.Kairi didn’t mind, and Jim seemed to like how Morph was trying to lighten themood as well.

 

“You know, he’s really cute once you get use to him,” Kairicommented as Morph now flew circles around her head.

 

“It’s certainly been an interesting day,” Jim agreed as heheld his mop to the side of him. “We’ve made quite a few friends, too, likethat spider psycho.”

 

Morph transformed his body to match that of Scroop, only ona much smaller scale, now beginning to repeat Jim’s last two words; “Spiderpsycho, spider psycho!”

 

Kairi giggled at the tiny voice the creature made, and Jimchuckled himself. They were becoming thankful that Silver had been so strictwhen telling Morph to make sure they didn’t get into any more trouble. Thenight might have been really quiet had it not been for Morph now. Speaking ofSilver, the man began to walk up to the two still working, a bucket of scrapsfrom tonight’s meal in his arms that he tossed over the ship. “Well, well,lookit here. Seems you guys are getting along just fine. And the decks still inone piece, to boot.”

 

Kairi smiled at Silver’s comment, looking over at Jim to seewhat he thought. He seemed to have something to say to the man. He looked morebashful than usual as he began to fiddle with the mop in his hands. “Look,um…what you did back there for us…thanks.”

 

Silver looked over at Jim and Kairi, raising his eyebrows.“Didn’t your pop ever teach you to pick your fights more carefully?”

 

Jim tilted their heads away from Silver. Kairi could tell itwas a touchy subject for him, something Silver couldn’t have known. He didn’tmean any harm in asking the question, but it made him feel sorry for the boy nonetheless.

 

“No, not really,” Jim then spoke up.

 

“He not the teaching sort?” Silver asked gently.

 

Jim shook his head, telling Silver he was wrong. “He was morethe taking-off-and-never-coming-back sort…”

 

Silver’s brows bowed upwards, sighing in sympathy. “I’msorry to hear that…what about you, lass?”

 

Kairi was hoping not to speak about the topic. She hadwished she could answer, even if her past was bad as well. Kairi was willing tohave even a shimmer of memory of her younger days. “I don’t even know where Icome from. I have my friends who look out for me, but they’re the entire home Ihave now. It would be nice to at least know where I was originally born.”

 

“Why can’t yah remember?” Silver then asked.

 

“I don’t know,” Kairi responded, her face becoming filledwith sorrow. “Whatever it was, it happened to suddenly for me to piece togetherthe events. I was still little when it happened. One day, I woke up on a pairof islands, and that’s where I’ve lived ever since.”

 

“That’s quite a tragic story,” Silver said as Kairifinished. He looked down at his mechanical arm and leg, moving them and makingthem whir quietly in several places. “I know what it’s like to lose something,chasing a dream. I hope that whatever you’re doing, Kairi, it’ll be worth it inthe end. I sure hope it’s the same on my side, too.”

 

Sliver brought both Jim and Kairi closer to him, wrapping anarm around each and tugging at their heads lightly. Silver tried to get rid ofthe depressing mood lingering around them and replace it with a more cheeryone. “Well, the cap’n has put the both or you in my hands, so like it or not,I’m gonna teach th’ both of you a thing or two for these thick skulls of yoursto keep yah outta trouble. From now on, you will not and cannot do anythingwithout my say-so, got it?”

 

Kairi could pick up the joking manner in Silver’s voice,while Jim was taking it slightly more seriously as he began to struggle out ofthe man’s grasp. Giggling, Kairi saluted the man as she, too, playfully triedto escape from his arm. “Aye, sir!”

 

“Don’t do us any favors!” Jim then retorted as Silver let goof the both of them.

 

Putting his arms at his side, Silver leaned forward andsaid, “You can be sure of that, Jimbo. You can be sure of that.”

 

Their moment was instantly shattered as a huge, powerfulgust of wind pushed the entire ship in the same direction as it was moving. Thegroup was knocked off of their feet, but they quickly recovered to see what hadjust transpired.

 

“What the devil was that?” Silver asked to himself, lookingin the horizon of the deep space. There, he, Kairi, and Jim saw a pitch blackvoid, dark purple mist swirling around the blackened core. It was of tremendoussize, something nobody could even be able to fathom.

 

Kairi began to look around to see what everyone else wasdoing; they staring at the void as well, each standing in disbelieve and unableto think of how to escape what was now pulling them closer. Kairi looked aroundfor Lea, spotting him on the other side of the ship standing with CaptainAmelia and Dr. Doppler. Even from the distance she was from them, she couldhear the doctor’s panicked shrieks of terror.

 

“On, my! A star has completely collapsed on itself. It’sturning into a black hole!” he warned everybody.

 

The captain immediately took action. She shouted orders inevery direction possible, and Mr. Arrow repeatedly shouted for each member tofasten a lifeline around them to avoid being pulled off the ship. Kairi didn’tlisten to anything they were saying, however, and tried to make her way to Lea.She pushed and shoved, being knocked down several times. Kairi recovered withquick succession, and soon collided with Lea himself, who had been trying tofind her as well.

 

“What is that?” Kairi shouted over the noise.

 

“It isn’t a black hole, or at least the kind the doctor isthinking of.” Lea tried to explain as he, too, had to shout in order for thegirl to hear her. “It’s darkness, and I have a feeling whose it is.”

 

Kairi looked over at the gigantic ball of darkness again,witnessing it coming closer and closer to her view. They couldn’t stand for longor else they would be pulled into it and be lost forever. Tugging at Lea’ssleeves desperately, she said, “We have to get a lifeline, too! Hurry!”

 

Without a second thought, they scurried to one of the mastsof the ship, grabbing a rope and tying a rope around their waists and made surethey were secured. Now they watched everyone else try to defend the ship byfiring cannons at the loose debris aiming for the ship, and making sure thesails were not damaged.

 

“Make sure all lifelines are secure, Mr. Hawkins!” thecaptain ordered the boy, who did as he was told without question. He wentaround pulling at each rope to make sure they would not come off, which didn’ttake him long at all.

 

“All lifelines secure, captain!”

 

“Very good! Now hang on; we’re gonna ride one of the wavesout of here. Brace yourselves, everyone!”

 

The ship drew nearer and nearer to the center of thedarkness. They didn’t know if the captain’s plan would work, but it was theonly hope they could hold onto. Their odds seemed slim elsewhere. Every crewmember readied themselves, the light now becoming dimmer. Soon, they sawnothing but darkness and heard only the howling winds blowing all around. Leaand Kairi both closed their eyes and embraced one another for comfort, readyfor whatever happened. Then silence.

 

They couldn’t hear anything.

 

They couldn’t see anything.

 

They couldn’t feel anything.

 

They couldn’t breathe.

 

Were they lost in the darkness?

 

Reality snapped back into everyone as another gust of windblasted into the ship, pushing it out and completely away from the void. Kairiand Lea looked around them, and noticed the darkness now a simple dot in thesky. They then heard cheering from the crew as everyone jumped up in the airand hooted in success. Lea only laughed, letting out a huge sigh of relieve.Looking down at Kairi, he noticed they were still close to one another, thengently pulled her off.

 

“I don’t think Sora would be too happy if he saw me huggingyou,” Lea said in a chuckle.

 

“He’ll be fine,” Kairi replied as she giggled herself, asmall blush forming from Lea poking fun at her.

 

The captain walked into the crowd of cheering people, thoughsoon hushed them to become quiet. She first looked over at Jim and Silver, asmall smile forming, “I must congratulate you, Mr Silver; your cabin boy did abang up job securing those lifelines.”

 

The both of them lightly shoved one another as they laughed,both looking proud for one another. Captain Amelia then went to take roll call,to make sure everybody was safe and still aboard the ship. “All personnelaccounted for, Mr. Arrow?”

 

There was no response. Everyone looked around to find theman, but he was nowhere to be seen. Again, Amelia called out for Mr. Arrow, butstill there was no reply. Scroop was then seen slowly walking towards thecaptain, his face struck with grieve and despair. He held up the hat Mr. Arrowwore, allowing the captain to take it in her hands as she realized the newsScroop was about to share. “I’m afraid Mr. Arrow has been lost. His lifelinewas not secured.”

 

Each person was now looking at Jim, the one tasked with suchan important job. The captain didn’t look happy with him, and Jim’s face filledwith worry. “N-no, that’s…I checked them all. I made sure.”

 

He ran to the line that Mr. Arrow was fastened to, only tosee it gone. He was hit with disbelieve. “But, I-I did, I checked everyone’s. Iswear I did!”

 

The captain was not convinced. She looked away from Jim indisappointment, then examined Mr. Arrow’s hat once more. She was very upset,but she didn’t allow any tears to form. “Mr. Arrow was a…fine spacer, finerthan most of us could ever hope to be. He knew the risks, however, as did allof us. Resume your posts, everyone. We can’t stall no longer.”

 

The atmosphere of sadness did not lift after the captainsaid her words of respect, everyone sulking off to their previous tasks. Thiswould be a day no one would forget. Despite seeing Mr. Arrow as a strict man atfirst, Kairi felt the pain of everyone else. Lea could see this, now placing ahand on her shoulder. It comforted her only a little, but appreciated hissupport nonetheless. She was thinking about Jim most of all, the one would surelyfelt most guilty about this. She witnessed him looking around at everybody whostared at him. He wasn’t able to handle the thought of everyone thinking abouthis failure. His eyes began to water, and soon he quickly ran off. He wouldsurely want to be left alone for a long while.

[Reyn 1,755]

Aw poor Jim. Hopefully things get better. I wouldn't know, since i've never seen Treasure Planet ever, and that was why i was confused that i didn't recognize this Disney world at first.

 

Kairi and Lea are acting actually how they probably would, so good job with the characterization!!

 

And what could Lea's plan be? The world will never know....

[EternalChange 303]

graaaahhhh...

 

I've been reading this for a while now, and I was hoping for Ventus's awakening to be in this chapter. I just so happen to be a diehard fangirl.

 

Gosh...if it isn't in chapter six or seven, I think i'm gonna puke. Sorry if I'm being impatient.

 

graaaahhhh...

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

graaaahhhh...

 

I've been reading this for a while now, and I was hoping for Ventus's awakening to be in this chapter. I just so happen to be a diehard fangirl.

 

Gosh...if it isn't in chapter six or seven, I think i'm gonna puke. Sorry if I'm being impatient.

 

graaaahhhh...

 

It's a bit early for that now, but I'll consider at least mentioning him in these upcoming parts.

[Weiss 8,279]

Wow. Definitely an amazing chapter.

Also,

 

I apologize for the awkward layout of this chapter, as well as the previous chapter I posted here. For some reason, whenever I copy and paste something from Word now, it doesn't adjust to how post are suppost to be on here, and I REALLY don't want to spend an hour backspacing where it incorrectly made new lines at. If somebody knows how I can avoid this/fix it, I'll gladly edit this post later, but for now it's just too much of a hassle. Sorry. I hope it isn't too much of a problem, though.

You'd have to redo the header of the chapter but for actual paragraph by paragraph you could paste what you have in word onto this site:

http://shrib.com/

 

and

 

Lea stopped himself once seeing Kairi’s eyes narrow. He
didn’t want to get on this girl’s bad side. Lea figured that he may not be able
to see the normally kindhearted side if he kept up this up. Sighing, he moved
onto another subject. “So how are we gonna start our world-jumping? We don’t
have a Gummi ship to use ourselves.”

Here's a minor error with the two ups in case you want to edit that. 

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

How come I only post a chapter per month? The actual KH3 game will be released by the time I get done! DX

 

So anyway, a small update; I'm having a bit of trouble with motivation, and how I'll be moving forward with the story. I appreciate the patience, for those who care.

[kingdom x 0]

on this kingdom hearts can it have 3 story mode one for sora, riku and kairi also on this how did sora, riku and kairi met can that be in the story

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

on this kingdom hearts can it have 3 story mode one for sora, riku and kairi also on this how did sora, riku and kairi met can that be in the story

 

I will consider the suggestion. Thank you for the suggestion, by the way. It's great to have support. =3

[kingdom x 0]

of you want i can help you with some suggestion

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

of you want i can help you with some suggestion

Thank you, but I'm fine for now. I have plenty of ideas to work with.

[kingdom x 0]

ok.  will of u need any help with suggestion let me know becaues I Thing u r doing a great job on what do

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

Well, for those who saw the release date for chapter 6, ignore it. I have no motivation to write, for some reason, so it'll probably be another week before it is posted. Sorry...

[Moni_22 335]

Take your time, I know how hard it is to write a story. And this is really good and long! I've been reading the chapters today and I like it. Keep with the good work!

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

It's certainly been forever since I touched upon this story, but I'm just wondering how many people actually like it. That's why I'm putting a poll on this thread. It's not for me to boast over, but I think it's an easy way for anonymous users or people who simply don't have time to comment to let me know how I'm doing. So that said, I've decided that if this gets enough positive feedback, I will indeed continue. If not, then oh well, I suppose.

[Aang 649]

It is I, Ansem, the TRUE seeker of darkness!

 

Where's my role in this.............

Listen, I've been reading for a while. And, I'm going to be completely honest and blunt.

I LOVED the chapter of the  mission to finding Aqua, it was truly magnificent.

Sadly, I didn't get the same immersive feeling in the worlds that Sora, and Co. Explore.

Nor do I with this world

Great characterization

But, as a character designer, and screenwriter, I feel that, in order to capture the audience, you must make the world very immersive, alive. I only got that feeling when finding Aqua.

-Cheers-

-God Bless-

P.S. I'de love to help write, or something. Anytime, let me know.

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

Wait. People are still interested in this? I might have to reconsider continuing this again.

[Moni_22 335]

Wait. People are still interested in this? I might have to reconsider continuing this again.

 

Why wouldn't we? It's one of the best KH fanfics!

[KHUndertaleFan25 2,858]

If only Nomura saw this (which I wished he would). Then he could consider putting a Pixar world and another Disney world in KH3. BTW, i wish you could do one of the Disney Princess movies, like Princess and the Frog or Tangled. But whatever you choose or do, I'll be happy . Right now, you should probably focus on the others. And when i mean the others, I mean Sora, Donald, and Goofy. But I like said, whatever you choose or do, I'll be happy. And i know how it feels to write a story. I happen to be a writer on Fanfiction.net. One of my stories gained more views than my other two stories. Here's the link in case you wanted to know: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9641356/1/Kiana-and-the-Mysterious-Stranger

Edited October 9, 2013 by KingdomHearts25

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

So, another update; I've actually started chapter 6 today! Frankly, I only have four paragraphs, but it's a start. It isn't that I don't have ideas for this story, but more I don't have the time to, so I'm taking my own free time to make more. Be happy! =D

[Velvet Scarlatina 607]

After five months, I've finally decided to get off my lazy butt and continue this story. For those who were worried I couldn't continue this, fear no longer. I've decided to make a goal for myself and finish this story before the actual Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out. How long that'll be, who knows? I might only have two years to finish this, or I might have five (hopefully not). I will say now that I have not proofread this yet, so I'll fix any mistakes I may have made. Feel free to point them out if you want.

 

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

Chapter 6

 

Kairi watched as the clouds slowly went by the ship, her legs dangling loosely over the edge of the railing. Unlike her, everyone else was excited; Treasure Planet was on the horizon, gleaming with hope and marking the near end of the journey. Kairi could care less at this point about some meaningless treasure. Seeing Jim in such a distraught state made Kairi feeling nearly the same as he was, and what occurred didn’t involve her whatsoever. She tried finding the poor boy, but he vanished, surely wanting to be left alone. No one could blame him; the death of Captain Arrow was on his hands. It was surprising how one little mistake could affect someone.

 

Kairi sighed as thoughts ran through her head, thinking about what she could have done. She couldn’t think of anything. Nobody could bring back the captain, and consulting Jim about it would probably upset him even further. Maybe it was best to let Jim solve this dilemma for himself.

 

A hand was then gently laid on top of the girl’s shoulder. Turning her head just slightly, Kairi saw it was Lea. She knew immediately what he was here for, and she didn’t think it would help. Still, some company was better than none, as nobody until now paid any mind to here this day.

 

“There isn’t any need to mope,” Lea began, still new to cheering someone up. “He’ll be fine eventually.”

 

“It doesn’t matter if it was,” Kairi retorted, though keeping a quiet tone. “No one should feel so sad, especially if they’re your friend.”

 

Lea had tried small talking with Kairi before, but it didn’t turn out well for him. She simply glared and ignored what he said, or what seemed like she did. Out of all the people he ever knew, Kairi seemed the most difficult to talk to. Maybe it was because she was a girl, but he had dealt with women before, especially ones like Kairi. Namine was one of them; considering her now, Lea had technically tormented Kairi twice. He felt like it was more actually, but couldn’t put his finger on it. Whatever the case, he needed to resolve the distrust the girl currently had on her. Just enough to be able to continue their mission would be enough.

 

He slid his arms into a cross, then leaned against the railing as he, too, now looked at the clouds that went by the ship. He was silent for a few more seconds before sighing. “Look, I know I said before that you can’t be like Sora and go making everyone happy, but if it’s honestly bothering you that much, I ain’t stopping you.”

 

Kairi continued to look away from Lea, making him continue on. “I know you care a lot about Sora, so it’s only natural you’d want to be just as helpful, but you’re great in your own way. I mean, you’re a Princess of Heart, one of seven to ever exist, and the only one able to wield a keyblade. How great is it to be so unique? Sitting her moping isn’t showing that off, though; you need to show others how unique you can be. If you need to start with cheering up a single friend, then so be it.”

 

Lea’s words began to sink into Kairi. She couldn’t let her emotions hinder her progress, whether they were good or bad. She couldn’t be like Sora, or Riku, or Mickey, or anyone. She should have been focused on being herself. Helping others the way she thought was right. That’s what keyblade wielders should do. Or, more appropriately, that’s what a good person should do.

 

Kairi swung her legs over the railing and hopped back onto the floor, then looked over at Lea with a small smile. “Thank you, Lea. I appreciate it.”

 

“Don’t think I’ll always be like that,” Lea joked. “Now, go find Jim and get him back on his feet too.”

 

Kairi nodded, agreeing with Lea about her next task. Just as she was about to leave, however, Jim himself came running up to him, panting as if he had been running for hours.

 

“Ah, speaking of which,” Lea stated as he sat his body upright again. “Kairi was just about to-“

 

“We’ve gotta hurry!” Jim suddenly exclaimed, giving the two no time to say anything further. “It’s Silver! He and the rest of the crew are-“

 

Everyone’s attention was turned the sound of shouting men, which was drawing closer and closer very quickly. There was no more time for conversation. Jim quickly grabbed Kairi’s hand and pulled her along, Lea following close behind. The swerved and zigzagged across the deck. They dodged cargo. They jumped over loose ropes. Everyone ran as fast as they could.

 

They were getting closer.

 

Jim managed to lead all of them to the captain’s cabin, Dr. Doppler inside as well. Jim then shut and locked the door as tightly as possible as Captain Amelia began to scold all of them. “What is the meaning of this? You are not allowed in here unless I authorize you to do so!”

 

“There’s no time for any stupid rules!” Jim then exclaimed back. “The crew members were actually pirates! They’re trying to take over the ship!”

 

“Pirates on my ship?” Captain Amelia repeated, both surprised and angered. “Not on my watch!”

 

She then began to quickly rifle through her cabinet, looking for a specific object. After a few seconds of searching, she quickly turned back around to Jim, the spherical map from before in her hand. “Guard this with your life, Mr. Hawkins.”

 

She tossed it towards Jim, which he then quickly caught and put in his pocket. Everyone in the room now tried to think of a way to escape, and they needed to think of something soon; they heard the hissing of hot iron at the door, the pirates on the other side trying to get it opened.

 

“My heavens! What are we going to do!?” Dr. Doppler said in a panicked state. The only other way out were the windows, but there was nothing to land on below them, and they had nothing to use to climb up. Even if they could, they pirates most likely have already swarmed the deck above.

 

This was when Lea looked at the floor, an idea springing to mind. “What’s underneath us right now?”

 

The doctor was the first to answer him, not knowing what he had in mind. “I believe it’s simply the lower decks…the lower decks! We can escape down there!”

 

“Stand back.” Lea summoned his keyblade, and then aimed at the floor. A fireball launched from the tip and created a hole large enough for everyone to jump down in. They didn’t bother to look back at the progress of the pirates, as there one and only way to safety was now before them. They let Captain Amelia lead the way, being that she knew this ship better than anyone else. The pirates above made quick haste, unfortunately; the door was suddenly heard exploding, which queued the group to make haste as well.

 

They ran through the narrow hallways, trying their best to stay together and not run into pipes that protruded out in front of them. The pirates weren’t far behind, as they heard them crashing through the halls as well, trying to pinpoint their location. Left and right they ran, until they came to an area of the ship where escape boats awaited them. Waiting for everyone to run by, Captain Amelia slammed it shut and shot the door in hopes to hinder the pirates from capturing them. No one hesitated to jump into one of the boats, the captain now activating the exit below for them. Just as she jumped in as well, however, the pirates smashed the door down and began to fire at them.

 

The captain began to fire back, the doctor desperately firing back in an attempt to be brave. Kairi, Lea, and Jim, on the other hand, ducked below in the safety of cover, now waiting for the hatch below them slowly open. Silver intervened with this, however, and pulled a lever than made the door retract. It was already half-way opened, but releasing the boat manually wouldn’t be enough. They needed another way.

 

As this commotion went on, Morph suddenly grabbed the map in Jim’s pocket and flew off with it, not understanding the danger everyone was in and simply feeling playful. Jim tried to jump at him, but Morph was too fast. “Morph, no! Get back here!”

 

Kairi joined in, running after Morph all the while dodging lasers that zipped by. Kairi thought of a plan to make this easier, and ran in the opposite direction from Jim and Morph to hopefully cut the creature off. Unfortunately, Silver did so first. Being that Morph cared for both Silver and Jim, both of them tried to entice Morph to give them the map. Morph looked back and forth at them, finding it very hard to choose who to go to. He then looked forward, seeing Kairi ahead. Out of instinct to escape the stress, he zoomed towards her and ended up colliding into her chest, causing Morph to drop the map. It bounced inside a bundle of rope, which Kairi quickly scurried towards and grabbed before making a dash back to the boat the captain and doctor were still defending. Jim jumped in soon after, Silver being heard cursing under his breath.

 

“Alright, doctor,” Captain Amelia then exclaimed over the noises of firing guns. “We’ll both need to shoot the cables above us now!”

 

Though not quite understanding, the doctor nodded. They both fired at the cables holding the boat up, causing it to tumble downwards to the surface of Treasure Planet. Captain Amelia hoisted the sail and booted up the engine of the boat and quickly balanced it enough to make a speedy escape. As they thought they were safe, a cannon was heard firing behind them, with the suddenly sound of colliding metal and shrapnel sounding soon after. The boat began to plummet once again, the captain desperately trying to keep it steady enough to avoid total wreckage. Within a few seconds, the boat began to crash through trees and foliage, until the boat hit the surface and slowly skidded to a complete stop.

 

“That…was more excitement than I ever want to experience again,” Dr. Doppler commented, getting up and stretching his body. Everyone begin to step out of the boat as well to calm their minds…all but the captain.”

 

“Are you okay?” Kairi asked, noticing this.

 

 “I’m perfectly fine,” Captain Amelia said, getting up with obvious struggle. “Right as rain.”

 

As she stood straight, she suddenly gasped in pain as she fell to the ground. Kairi and the doctor bent down to offer their aid, now helping her to her feet again.

 

“Don’t worry about me,” the captain reassured. “It’s just a bruise. I’ll be fine later. Now onto important manners; Kairi, the map, if you will.”

 

Kairi reached into her pocket and pulled it out with a smile. The map reflected what little light was casted through the trees surrounding them, as if to symbolize hope for the group. This was shattered as the map suddenly transformed into Morph, who was now laughing hysterically from fooling them all. No one was amused.

 

“Morph! Where’s the map!?” Jim shouted at the giggling creature, his mind in a state of shock. Morph molded his body into rope and wrapped himself into a pile, to demonstrate the current location of the map.

 

“Are you kidding!? It’s back on the ship!?” Jim was prepared to shout at him more, until Lea got the attention of the group.

 

“We better keep a low profile now,” he warned as he pointed at the sky. “We’ve got company.”

 

Everyone’s gaze looked at the direction Lea was telling them to look, seeing a boat similar to the one they escaped in zoom by. It was far away, but close enough to raise concern. The captain then turned to Jim and Kairi. “You two scout ahead. Try to find a more suitable place to hide for now.”

 

The captain suddenly grabbed her side again, the doctor urging her to stay still. Lea then said to Kairi, “Don’t worry about these guys. I’ll keep watch here.”

 

Kairi and Jim understood, and then began to journey through the uncharted jungle ahead of them, Morph following behind.

 

The jungle was eerily quiet, as not even any animals were heard. It was just the pair’s footsteps and the occasional chatter from Morph. Kairi, after some time of walking, thought this would be a good time to ask about what had happened a few minutes ago.

 

“How did you know about the pirates?” Kairi asked Jim, getting his attention. “I mean, if they really wanted to invade the ship, they wouldn’t have made such a commotion, would they?”

 

“I wouldn’t be surprised, since most of them are really stupid,” Jim answered. “No, I accidentally eavesdropped on them, so they resorted to attacking outright since they were caught. It turns out that Scroop was the one who cut Mr. Arrow’s safety line, and Silver and this other guy had planned this from the beginning. Everything Silver said to us was a lie. He was just playing us so we wouldn’t suspect him.”

 

Kairi was upset about Silver’s betrayal as much as Jim seemed to be. Though a bit hard on them at first, Silver did seem like a jolly, cheerful man. What would have made him want to do this? Was he really just greedy as the other pirates to take the treasure for themselves? Kairi hoped this wasn’t the case. Even so, Jim said something else that raised her interest.

 

“Who was this ‘other guy’ you saw?” Kairi then asked after a few moments of silence.

 

“I dunno. He had a hood over his head, so I didn’t see his face. I never saw him on the ship at all, though.”

 

Kairi began to think more deeply about this; she knew straight away that this person was an Organization member, but trying to figure out what they were doing here would only lead her to guess all day. She and Lea would have to confront them if it came to that point. For now, finding shelter was her main priority.

 

This was when a rustling came from a bush close by. Being that there was no other noise before, Kairi and Jim tensed up. Jim reached for his gun as Kairi summoned his Keyblade. Morph began to whimper in fright, Kairi shushing him to stay quiet. The small group inched closer and closer to the bush, until…

 

“Oh, at last! Somebody has come to rescue me!” A rusty robot suddenly burst out from the bush, startling both Kairi and Jim so much they fell backwards. They didn’t remain on the ground for long as the robot pulled the two into a tight and awkward hug. “I’m so happy I just wanna hug you and squeeze you all day!”

 

“Um, can you please let us go,” Kairi quietly piped up. The robot chuckled nervously, doing so immediately.

 

“Sorry, sorry. It’s just it’s been stuck on this planet for so long,” the robot apologized, but speaking in a casual tone. “I mean, being confined to a place with very little social interactivity isn’t so bad, don’t get me wrong, but after so many years of it, YOU GO A LITTLE NUTS!!!”

 

Kairi and Jim looked at each other and back to the robot, both having similar thoughts him. The robot sensed this, now trying to redeem himself. He began to sputter as he tried to think of something to say. “I’m sorry. That was just an impulse. I, uh, um…I am…I mean, my name is…wait…”

 

Morph turned into a miniature version of the robot himself, which then he began to mock him by making cuckoo clock noises. Jim and Kairi chuckled a little bit, but stopped as the robot suddenly exclaimed, “B.E.N! My name is B.E.N; Bio-Electrical Navigator. And you two are…?”

 

“Jim,” he first replied. “And this is Kairi.”

 

B.E.N took both of their hands and rapidly shook them. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both. Hold on a minute…”

 

B.E.N suddenly took the arm Kairi was wielding her keyblade with and pulled it closer to his face, examining it more closely. “Say, haven’t I seen something like this before. Although, it was less floral, but the shape and structure just seems so familiar. I can’t quite put my tongue on it.”

 

Being that B.E.N seemed insane to begin with, Kairi didn’t outright reveal the weapon’s name. Simply, she pulled her arm away gently and tried to avoid the topic. “Um…we actually need to get somewhere. There are pirates after us, and we…”

 

“Pirates? Oh, don’t get me started on pirates!” B.E.N rambled on, causing Kairi and Jim to walk ahead of him. “I remember Captain Flint; this guy had such a temper!”

 

Kairi and Jim immediately turned back to B.E.N after he mentioned such a name. Jim rushed back to him in hopes to get more information. “Wait, you knew Captain Flint?”

 

“I think he suffered from mood swings. I’m no therapist, though, but…oh! Just let me know when I’m rambling!”

 

Ignoring the pointless words the robot said, Jim came to a conclusion, something that could help them immensely. “So, if you know Captain Flint, then…do you know about the treasure?”

 

B.E.N suddenly began to spazz as he tried to remember this bit of information, but the harder he tried to think, he only spazzed even more. “It’s all fuzzy to me. Let’s see here…treasure! There was lots of treasure. It was buried in the centroid of the mechanism. And there was this big door that opened and closed and opened and closed. And I helped him to…to…data inaccessible! Reboot! Reboot! Reboot!”

 

Jim slapped B.E.N to get him back to his senses. “B.E.N, you have to remember!”

 

“I-I’m sorry. My memory isn’t what it used to be. I’ve lost my mind…literally. I no longer have my primary memory circuit.” B.E.N pointed to the back of his head, where several wires loosely hung out of his head.

 

“Guys, can we try to look for a place to hide? We don’t have any time to talk right now,” Kairi suddenly interrupted. Jim agreed, and then looked back at B.E.N.

 

“Sorry, B.E.N. We need to move on,” Jim said as he walked back over to Kairi. The robot looked distraught, the only people he has seen in years seeing no use in him.

 

“Okay, uh…see you later, I suppose. I guess…this is goodbye. Sorry I’m so dysfunctional and couldn’t help much.” As B.E.N went on, Kairi frowned at the sad sight in front of him. Useful or not, they couldn’t leave him. They would be just as heartless as Xehanort if they did. Regardless if Jim agreed or not, Kairi walked up to B.E.N and held out her hand.

 

“Come with us,” Kairi offered. “I’m sure you’ll be a great help for us later.”

 

Almost instantly, B.E.N shot up and jumped into the girl’s arms, catching Kairi by surprised as she stumbled backwards. “Huzzah! Oh, this is fantastic! Me and my best buddies joining together for a…”

Realizing the discomfort B.E.N was causing for Kairi, he slowly got out of her arms, and then brushed her off. “Whoops, sorry. Actually, before we go for out on our big ‘search’, do you mind if we go back to my place real quick.”

 

B.E.N pulled back some foliage, and beyond that was a huge, empty field, but in the center was a giant organic structure. It struck Kairi and Jim immediately that their problem from before has just been solved. It was the perfect place to take shelter.

 

Day soon turned to dusk, Kairi and Jim managing to rush back to the group and lead them to B.E.N’s home. Dr. Doppler carried in Captain Amelia and laid her against the wall. After he did so, he began to look around the house. Though the messy state was unpleasant, he was more focused about what was on the wall. “These symbols here; they look just like the ones on the map.”

 

Captain Amelia instead turned her own attention to Jim, still trying to keep her authority. “Mr. Hawkins. Guard the door and make sure nobody approaches.”

 

It was too late, as B.E.N suddenly announced other people were nearby. “Hey look! I found more of your buddies. Hey fellahs! We’re over here!”

 

Jim pulled the robot away from the entrance as laser bullets zoomed by, nearly hitting B.E.N. The attack lasted only a few seconds as Silver was suddenly heard to cease fire. Everyone kept their guard, however, as this could mean anything. Silver then called out again, but this time it was to the group hiding in the shelter. “Hello up there! I won’t hurtcha! I just want a short word with you. No tricks.”

 

“He’s here to bargain for the map. Don’t listen to him,” the captain warned.

 

Something seemed to click in Jim’s head, a smile stretching across his face. “Then that means…he thinks we still have it.”

 

Jim motioned Kairi to follow him, both now cautiously making their way to Silver. The man greeted the two with a warm smile, as if this was just a casual greeting. “Hey there, youngins. Sorry we couldn’t chat again in a more appropriate situation, eh?”

 

Kairi and Jim would fall for the small talk, both keeping their ground. Silver sighed at this as he sat down on a nearby stone. “Look, I hope you both know I still care for yahs. None of this has changed my mind about that. I gotta keep a tough attitude, or else those blood-thirsty animals would think I’ve gotten soft. They’d have killed us all if they thought that.”

 

Silver sensed that none of his words were convincing neither Kairi nor Jim. Betraying them both surely had an effect on them. He now tried a different approach, now speaking in a softer tone. “How’s this; let’s say all of us get outta here with the map and get the treasure for ourselves. We’ll be rich like kings.”

 

Kairi’s worries were true; Silver really was greedy, even thinking about stealing the treasure for himself. She wasn’t fooled, and Jim didn’t look like he was either.

 

“You really are something,” Jim then said. “All those things you said to us…what a joke.”

 

“Now, see here, Jimbo…”

 

“We’re all gonna make sure you never see one doubloon of the treasure, and as long as we have the map, you can’t stop us!”

 

Silver narrowed his eyes and grimaced his face, having enough of these charades. “You still don’t know how to pick your fights, do you lad? Now you give me that map, or so help me, I’ll…!”

 

“I think that will be quite enough, Mr. John Silver.” All three of them looked over at the source of the voice, and the person that Kairi saw made her tense up and her heart race; it was the Organization member. The man slowly made his way up to the group, until he was right beside them.

 

“I thought I told you all to stay down there!” Silver shouted at the cloaked man. “There isn’t any need to intervene!”

 

“Is that so?” the man mocked. “If that’s the case, then where may the map be?”

 

Silver growled as he avoided the question, only for that to answer it for him. The Organization member chuckled at this. “As suspected. This is why you should have let me lead this operation to begin with.”

 

The man then turned his head towards Kairi. Though no emotions were visible on the outside, Kairi could just feel a piercing and menacing stare gluing her where she stood. Kairi tried to be brave, but now that she was right in front of the many accomplices of Xehanort, she was terrified. Kairi could feel the darkness radiating off of him. She thought before, when she first discovered this man was here, that perhaps she could fight him, at least if it was last resort. Now, however, she couldn’t even bare to look at them.

 

The man then spoke up as he looked away from Kairi and up to Jim. “If that map isn’t brought to us before dawn, we’re taking our ship and blasting your pathetic excuse of a shelter until not even your hearts remain.”

 

The man motioned Silver to follow, Silver looking irritated that the man had taken charge of something he was suppose to do. With this, Kairi and Jim walked back up to the others.

 

As time went by, the condition of Captain Amelia was beginning to get worse, so much so it was starting to deteriorate her mind. Everyone was growing increasingly worried. Dr. Doppler, most of all, was beginning to panic. “We’ve got to do something!”

 

“Well, aren’t you a doctor?” Lea then asked.

 

“I’m an astrometry doctor, not a medical one!” Dr. Doppler snapped back, though not in an aggressive manner. “It’s not the same thing. All astrometry people do is sit around and be useless for others!”

 

“It’s alright,” Kairi comforted, placing her hands on his shoulders. “She’s going to be fine.”

 

“Yeah, don’t worry doc,” B.E.N then butted in. “We’ve got all of this taken care of. We have a plan for all this.”

 

After saying this, B.E.N leans in close to Kairi, Jim, and Lea and whispers, “Guys. What’s the plan?”

 

No one had any idea what to do. Their situation seemed impossible to get out of. What little hope they had left was beginning to dwindle. Jim looked distraught as he looked up at the ship the pirates had left in the sky, trying to make even the slightest idea about possible sleep. “If we don’t get the map, we’re dead. If we try to leave, we’re dead. If we stay here, we’re dead.”

 

Everyone shared the same feelings as Jim did. Kairi looked over at Lea to see if he had an idea. He motioned to his hand, to show that Lea could open a corridor of darkness to aid in their escape. Kairi shook her head at this, not wanting to expose her friends to the darkness. Nothing was worth being consumed by it, even death.

 

“Well, um…I think I’m just gonna slip out the backdoor while you guys think about this,” B.E.N then told everyone, slowly walking away.

 

The group immediately turned their attention to B.E.N witnessing him beginning to open something up in the back part of the shelter.

 

“There was a way to escape the whole time and you didn’t tell us?” Lea questioned. Even if the robot was slightly delirious and forgetful, this would be something you would at least try to remember.

 

“I usually just use it to get this delightful breeze through this place. Even with that big, obvious, gaping entrance this place has, I just don’t quite get enough air through her for some reason.”

 

Jim, Kairi, and Lea walked over to it and peered inside. They saw miles and miles of machinery run down into a bottom they couldn’t see. It was as if it traveled all the way to the core of the planet. Curiosity was provoked as to what all of this was for.

 

“What’s all this for? What it connected to?” Kairi asked B.E.N.

 

“No idea,” B.E.N replied.

 

“Hey, doc! I think I found a way to escape,” Jim shouted over at Dr. Doppler, getting ready to jump into the exit.

 

Doppler was still attending to Captain Amelia, who was now unconscious from her injury. He wasn’t willing to leave without the captain’s okay. “No, we have to stay here. The captain said-“

 

“We’ll be back.” Jim ignored the doctor, as their lives were at stake. There was no time for negotiation. B.E.N jumped in after Jim, and before Kairi did as well, she looked up at Lea.

 

“You stay here and make sure they’re safe,” Kairi requested of Lea, who looked slightly displeased about doing so.

 

“Can’t I have some fun for a change?” Lea rolled his eyes at Kairi. When they met back with hers, her expression told him he had no say, or choice, in the matter. Sighing, he said, “Fine.”

 

Kairi smiled, now following Jim and B.E.N into the depths below. After some time of navigating through the interior of the machinery, B.E.N managed to lead them to an exit that was near the pirates’ camp. Jim peeked up first as he slowly lifted the lid to the outside, snapping the vines that were wrapped around it. He began to scan the area, and saw everyone was sleeping soundly. Seeing this, Jim motioned Kairi and B.E.N to slowly follow him. “Remember the plan; we sneak back to the ship, disable their cannons, and get back the map.”

 

“That sounds like a great plan!” B.E.N shouted in enthusiasm, causing Jim to wrap his arm around the robot’s head to keep him quiet. B.E.N looked up at Jim with an apologetic look before he let go, which then they went on silently to retrieve the small airboat the pirates arrived on.

 

As they tiptoed by, Kairi began to grow nervous. They were lucky that B.E.N didn’t alert anybody, but now that they were sneaking right by the pirates, only a few inches away from them, any suddenly loud noise would cause them to stir and wake up. It was heart-pounding, to say the least. Kairi noticed, however, that the Organization member from before was nowhere to be seen. She first thought he might have gone back to the ship above, but the smaller one they used to get to the surface was still here. What if he was watching them right at this moment? Kairi became more worried at this thought.

 

Managing to stealthily avoid detection, Jim unraveled the knot holding the boat in place and waited for Kairi and B.E.N to climb aboard before starting it up and taking off. After a few minutes they parked the boat at the edge of the deck before seeing if the coast was clear. They stepped onto the ship with a loud creak before making any further actions.

 

“Alright, B.E.N, you go find the control panel and disable the cannons,” Jim ordered. “Kairi and I are going to get the map.”

 

“Roger! Neutralize the laser cannons!” B.E.N said, confirming he understood the order. “How hard could that be?”

 

B.E.N walked down into the lower decks and went right as Jim and Kairi went left. Kairi informed Jim where she remembered the map having bounced to before their escape. Once sharing this information, they set off. Although no one was currently on the ship, they kept their guard’s up. Regardless of what they thought, the possibility of someone having been left behind to secure the ship was in the air. They were checking and rechecking each hallway they came across before moving forward. The slow whirring of the ship, the clanking of the metal floor, the sound of their breaths; nothing more was heard. Perhaps they were worrying for no reason. Not every easy task needed some kind of catch behind it.

 

The two arrived at the area they made their escape in a few hours ago. Kairi pointed to the rope that Morph had told them the map was left, and he was correct. With a relieved smile, Jim picked it up and examined it. An alarm suddenly went off, but not because of an intruder. If that were the case, it would have gone off a long time ago. Still, the sound could be just noticeable enough for the pirates on the ground to hear. Now getting up and running, with Kairi following behind, Jim growled, “That stupid robot is gonna get us killed!”

 

They ran back to the stairs, but were immediately halted by what stood at the top; it was Scroop, who has his claw extracted outward. With a sadistic grin, he hissed, “Cabin boy.”

 

Jim and Kairi reacted instantly, spinning around and running down a random hallway in hopes to eventually loose Scroop, who quickly keep behind them at the same pace. Jim pushed cargo crates and barrels behind them, but Scroop reacted by crawling onto the ceiling and running across it. There was no way they were going to end the pursuit, as Scroop was catching up. Kairi tried to think of a solution, thinking back on her endless hours of training with her keyblade. Aside from test dummies, she had barely used her keyblade for combat. Now would be a good time. Skidding to a stop, she summoned her weapon and pointed it at Scroop. She charged a blizzard spell at the end of it and prepared to fire it at Scroop. Scroop himself stopped his running and looked at the end of the keyblade with fear and worry, only for the lights to suddenly turn off.

 

B.E.N had most likely pulled another wrong wire trying to figure out which disabled the cannons. Kairi stood firmly in place, afraid of what would happen if she tried to move. Thankfully, the lights turned back on a few seconds afterwards, but Scroop was gone. Kairi held her keyblade firmly in front of her as she quickly turned around, seeing only Jim there. She saw his eyes suddenly widen as he aimed him gun towards her. “Behind you!”

 

Kairi spun around and saw Scroop, but was quickly slapped to the ground. He then swung his claw at her, which snapped shut around her keyblade as Kairi tried attacking him with it. They struggled, their arms shaking to try to overpower the other. Another error was made on B.E.N’s end, as gravity suddenly disappeared from the ship. Everything on the ship began to float upwards. As Scroop was caught off guard by this, Kairi pried her keyblade free and smacked Scroop’s chest with it, causing him to crash through the ceiling and above the deck. Jim floated after them to aid Kairi.

 

As they continued their ascend, Scroop managed to grab a rope that was attacked to the crow’s nest, Kairi and Jim desperately trying to grab for one before they floated off into the endless space. Jim did so, but Kairi was less fortunate; she continued upward until she grabbed a hold of the flag at the top, but just barely. This was when Scroop climbed up to the base the flag was tied to, and slowly began to cut it free. “Do say hello to Mr. Arrow for me.”

 

Kairi glared at Scroop as she quickly began to grab ahead of her and pull herself towards Scroop. She wasn’t going to be stopped, not after what she had been through. She was a keyblade wielder, the only Princess of Heart to do so. She was going to prove she was capable of defending herself, and she was just as useful as Sora at stopping whatever darkness stood in her way. Kairi was going to gather the strength she wanted for so long to protect her friends.

 

As she climbed off the flag, Scroop became angry his plan did not work, making him jump at Kairi to try to knock her into space himself. Kairi quickly dodged, however, and kicked him into the flag. “Tell Mr. Arrow yourself!”

 

As Scroop collided with the flag, the line snapped, causing him to uncontrollably float upwards. Realizing his doom, Scroop screamed as Kairi watched him float farther and farther away until he was no longer seen and his yells fell silent.

 

The gravity suddenly turned back on, causing Kairi to fall into the crow’s nest with a loud thud. Jim was then seen climbing over the edge, and seeing that it was only her up here, he grinned. “He’s history?”

 

With the same grin, Kairi nodded.

 

“Cannons have been disabled, sir!” B.E.N was then heard down below. The two looked over the edge and chuckled seeing the robot covered in wires. He had completed his task, but it was quite obvious the trouble he must have went through to do so. Now turning their attention to the map they retrieved, it was only a matter of returning to the others before they thought about what to do next.

 

The group was soon coming out of the backdoor they snuck out in, Jim helping Kairi and B.E.N through the hole. Taking out the map from his pocket, he walked over to where he saw Dr. Doppler’s silhouette. “Doctor, wake up. We got the map.”

 

A mechanical arm then pierced through the darkness, grabbing the map out of Jim’s hands before he could react. “Good work, Jimbo.”

 

Jim and Kairi’s eyes widened with fear as they witnessed the other pirates emerge from the shadows. Dr. Doppler, Captain Amelia, and Lea were captured and tied up, with no hope of prying free. The rest of the group was gathered as a pirate now held them all still from both sides. No amount of struggle could set them free. They could only watch as Silver and the man in the black coat approached them.

 

“I must applaud both of your attempts of requiring this very commodious device,” the Organization member compliments, genuine praise in his tone. “I’m afraid that the tides have change. Luck is on our side now.”

 

The man then turned to Silver, who was examining the outside of the map. “Well, what are you waiting for? Get it open quickly.”

 

“Why, of course.” Silver now tried to twist it open. Nothing happened, causing Silver to become confused. He retracted his mechanical hand with other devices that could possibly aid in this, but nothing worked. He grunted and wheezed until he gave up and shoved it at Jim. “Open it. I know you can.”

 

Jim refused, as he only stared back at Silver with the angriest of stares. Silver, as he saw Jim disobeying, withdrew his gun and pushed it against Kairi’s temple. She whimpered as he made her head tilt back, seeing his finger slowly rest on the trigger. “You best get busy if I was you.”

 

Despite the threat, Kairi shook her head at Jim. If he gave in, then the pirates would win. As she stared at Jim more, Kairi saw something gleam in his eyes. He had an idea. Whether or not it would be one of the best, Jim at least had a plan that no one else did. He began to press the buttons on the sphere and turned in various places in a specific order until in suddenly glowed with life. A beam of green light then shot out of it and lead elsewhere, giving everyone the coordinates of the treasure.

 

Silver’s eyes shown with greed as he became excited and laughed heartily. Turning back to Jim and Kairi, he ordered, “Tie them up and leave them with the others. We’re going to-“

 

The green light suddenly retreated back into the map as it closed shut, Jim looking at Silver with distaste. “You want the map; you’re taking us with you.”

 

Silver looks doubtful about trusting Jim, but he soon smiles and shakes his head. “We’ll be keeping a close eye on all a yahs.”

 

Night soon turned to day as the pirates began to follow the green line in their ship. They were all antsy as the thought of the treasure stirred them up. A treasure that had been buried and undiscovered for years was about to come in their hands. The captured group would be excited themselves if not for the trouble they were in. They could only hope to escape once the opportunity came.

 

They soon came to a point where the foliage was too thick to drive the small ship through. They were forced to walk the rest of the way, but despite this, they had a feeling they were close. Drawing his sword, Silver chopped down the obstacles in front of them until they came to the end.

 

That end lead to nothing.

 

The green line simply stopped at the edge of a cliff. The pirates were at first confused, but soon became angry as they didn’t immediately see where the treasure was supposed to be. They began to look around desperately before turning back to the map.

 

“What’s going on with that stinkin’ contraption?” Silver ordered to know.

 

Jim wasn’t too sure himself as he began to look over the map for a possible solution. “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s broken.”

 

“We should have never trusted them!” shouted one of the pirates.

 

As a commotion began to stir, the Organization member intervened and silenced everyone. “Every last one of you is too simple-minded to even consider any other possibility,” he said as he took the map from Jim. He walked over to the edge of the cliff and bent to his knees. He then placed the map into an opening that was previously covered by the plants surround it. As he did so, a holographic projection began to form out of it, and a few seconds afterward a giant, triangular opening formed in front of everyone.

 

They all gasped in awe. As they stared at it, another part of space showing to be beyond it. Something clicked within Kairi, realizing what this was. She walked up towards it, then held her finger at a random location of the hologram to see if her thoughts her correct. Once picking a location, the opening formed another area to enter to. “This is…what B.E.N told us before; a door that opens and closes.”

 

Jim soon came to his own realization, as he soon found the space port that they all set off from. “This is how Captain Flint stole all of his treasure.”

 

“But where’d he stash it all?” Silver impatiently asked, shoving Jim out of the way as he quickly shuffled through each individual location present on the hologram. As this was happening, B.E.N held his head. “Treasure. Treasure. It’s buried in the…”

 

“Buried in the centroid of the mechanism,” Jim finished, the pieces falling into place in his mind. “The entire planet is the mechanism, and the treasure is in the center of it!”

 

“And how are we supposed to get there?” Silver snapped at him. The cloaked man stepped in once again, making Silver step aside.

 

“You simply need to open the correct door,” the man explained, placing his finger in the entire of the hologram.”

 

The door opened to another location once again. Judging by how easily the man found the location, this had to be it. The treasure was just a few steps away. Kairi was the first to step forward. Slowly, she stuck her hand out to the opening and made it pass through. There was a ripple that followed after, but Kairi seemed unharmed. This being so, she stepped the entire way through. Seeing her safe, Jim and Lea followed after, everyone else following suit. They stared in front of them in disbelieve before the pirates began to cheer and run ahead.

 

Silver stayed along with Kairi, Jim, and the rest of the group. The sight was like nothing else; miles of shimmering gold shown magnificently in the light. Priceless gems were scattered everywhere in mountainous piles, and large treasure chest stored valuables that no one has seen before.  What stood out most of all, however, was what had brought all of this here; Captain Nathaniel Flint’s ship. The legendary treasure was a legend no more.

 

Silver slowly walked ahead as he stared at every golden coin he could see, the pirates surrounding him tossing the treasure in the air with joy. As this happened, B.E.N was seen scratching his head, mumbling something just barely noticeable. “This all seems…very familiar.”

 

Jim ignored B.E.N for now as he motioned Kairi and Lea to follow him to Captain Flint’s ship. Hopping on board, B.E.N continued to ramble on. “Guys, there’s something I need to tell you, but I can’t remember. There’s something nagging me at the back of my mind.”

 

“If you can’t remember it, then it must not be that important,” Lea joked, lightly slapping the robot’s back.

 

Kairi looked around at the treasure on the boat. This was clearly where the most precious gems doubloons were kept, but as wonderful as it was, she didn’t care for the treasure at all. There were more important things to be concerned with. As she continued forward, she ran into Jim, who was stationary. “Jim, what’s the-“

 

She was silenced as she looked ahead; sitting on a throne, there was the skeleton of Nathaniel Flint himself. Some would consider this the most valuable item of all on this planet. She noticed something in Captain Flint’s boney hands, however. It was a small device, with wires hand off the end…quite similar to the ones hanging out of B.E.N’s head. Prying it free,  Kairi walked over to B.E.N. “I think I found your memory.”

 

Before he had time to react, Kairi inserted the device into B.E.N’s head, causing him to shutter for a few seconds before blinking to regain himself. He at first had a blank, expressionless stare, but it soon turned to happiness as he began to jump around. “My memories; it’s all coming back to me! Even up to the point where Captain Flint pulled out my memory circuits so I could never tell anyone of his booby trap!”

Just as he said this an explosion was heard nearby, gaining everyone’s attention and making them alert. They were all in grave danger within a split second. “Speaking of which…”

 

“Captain Flint rigged the entire planet to explode so no one could steal his treasure,” B.E.N quickly explained to everyone. “We have to leave pronto!”

 

The floor suddenly began to split open, the treasure beginning to spill down. The pirates soon realized the danger they were in, and began to run around in a blind panic. There had to be a way for everyone to be able to escape back to the ship. The planet would have self-destruct if they didn’t make it. The only one that was close by was…

 

“Jim, is there any way we can fly this ship out of here?” Kairi shouted to Jim, referring to Captain Flint’s own ship.

 

“I should be able to, yeah!” Jim confirmed, now running to the lower deck of the ship. “B.E.N, go get the doctor and captain and bring them back here!”

 

“Roger!” the robot said as he ran off.

 

This left Kairi and Lea alone, hoping Jim would e able to fix the ship in time. It was a life or death situation, so speed was a dire need for survival. Lea looked down at Kairi, who didn’t have a drop of fear or worry expressed on her face. “How are you so calm during a time like this?”

 

Looking up at Lea, she replied, “I believe in Jim. Him, and all of my friends. We’ll make it out of here.”

 

Their small exchange was suddenly interrupted as a dark corridor opened up in front of them. Out from it stepped the Organization member from before, the corridor dissipating soon after.

 

“Alright, we’re in a lot of trouble and there is a chance that we may not make it,” Lea began to say to the man. “This is the part where you monologue about your plans.”

“Not matter what I tell you,” the man replied. “It will still not be enough to stop Xehanort. You have no clue what he’ll do next. Just when you think you’ve one-upped him, or when you stop a certain scheme of his, he will always be miles ahead of you.”

 

“Spill it, then,” Lea said with a grin. “What did the old man send you to this place for?”

 

The man held out his hand, and out from it appeared the same hologram the map showed before. “As soon as I touched the hologram, I obtained every single bit of data it contained. It has very useful knowledge that we just couldn’t pass up. Many years ago, Xehanort tried retrieving Captain Flint’s map himself. He scared the captain so much it made him build this very world to store his treasure, in fear that Xehanort would come after him again and take everything from him. You see, this map is very unique. The worlds shown right now are unfamiliar to even Master Xehanort, but that’s only because they are all irrelevant.”

 

The Organization member extended his fingers in the center of the map and pinched them together. This caused the map to zoom outward even more. This was when Kairi and Lea saw world’s they were familiar with; Yen Sid’s tower, Destiny Island, The World That Never Was, and more. It showed it all. There were seven flashing markers on the map as well, its purposes about to be explained by the Organization member. “The world we are in right now is actually a collection of much smaller worlds. This section of the map shows the actual worlds we want to see. You see these blinking lights here? These tell us where the Princesses of Heart are currently located. And look, here’s one of them flashing on the world we’re on right now.”

 

Kairi summoned her keyblade and dashed forward, swinging it at the man. He ended up guarding himself with a giant card. The swing made his hood blow backwards, finally revealing his face. While unfamiliar to Kairi, Lea knew all too well who stood before them.

 

“Well, well, well,” Lea began. “How’s it been, Luxord?”

 

Luxord grinned back at him, staring at Lea with golden eyes. “It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it Axel?”

 

“I told you I’m not Axel anymore,” Lea said as he crossed his arms. “To be honest, I should have figured you out the first time you showed yourself. Your accent kinda gives you away if you think hard enough.”

 

“Obviously you haven’t.” Luxord retracted the map, and at this time the ship begin to stir back to life. Jim had fixed the ship, and would surely be making his way back to the group. Luxord summoned another corridor at this time, and slowly began to back into it. “Farwell for now Princess, ‘Lea’. Until then.”

 

As soon as he and the portal disappeared, Jim came out from underneath the lower decks and made his way to the controls. “Alright! I’ll get this thing up and running. We can get out of here as soon as B.E.N comes back with the others.”

 

An arm suddenly slapped over the side of the ship, Silver now pulling himself up to reveal himself. He looked less than amused as he began to make his way over to Jim. “Don’t you think you’ll be getting’ away with me treasure!”

 

He was stopped when Kairi pointed her keyblade at him, making Silver stop in his tracks. Looking down at the weapon, he slowly looked back up at her with the most evil look he could possible show. Darkness began to radiate off of his shoulders as his greed grew. Silver was determined to get what he came all this way for. “Y’know, I wasn’t lyin’ when I said I still cared about you two, but now…it’s too late for any of that. I won’t let anyone stand in my way from me and me treasure.”

 

As he began to step closer, falling debris suddenly hit the side of the ship and caused it to crash. Everyone fell off the side of the ship. Lea landed on a safe area, but Jim and Kairi were less fortunate; Jim was barely hanging on the edge of a wall, using all of his strength keep himself from falling. Kairi, on the other hand, was stuck with Silver on a tiny piece of what remained from the destruction around them. Silver was, however, too occupied hanging onto the ship, making sure what was left of Flint’s treasure was not destroyed.

 

Kairi ran to the edge and tried to reach out to Jim, who was trying to grab her hand. They were just barely short or touching. If either tried to lean any further, they would plummet to their deaths. There was only one way to save Jim.

 

“Silver, you have to help us!” Kairi shouted over at Silver. “He’s going to fall!”

 

Silver looked over at the distress Kairi and Jim were in. Silver extended his robotic arm to grab Kairi’s to give her more leverage, deciding to save both the treasure and his friends. Jim’s grip slipped, however, and fell down further to another jut in the wall. Silver was currently using all of his might to hold onto the ship. Letting go would mean giving up his long-life obsession. He began to desperately look back and forth, finding this to be the hardest decision of his life. What would Silver choose; save what he spent years to find, and save the two people he cared about the most?

 

At last, Silver let go of the boat and helped Kairi lean farther to grab onto Jim, soon helping both of them up to safety. Flint’s ship soon exploded from its damages, which made the last of the treasure cease to exist. With a clear conscious, Silver helped, Kairi, Jim, and Lea run to the exit, soon jumping through the teleporter.

 

Jim looked over at Silver, amazed with his decision. “You gave up the-“

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Silver soon interrupted, waving a hand at him. “It’s just a few old coins. I’ll get over it.”

 

An engine was suddenly heard, a ship suddenly coming into view. Looking over the edge and waving at them was B.E.N. “Hurry! We have exactly two minutes and forty two seconds before planet destruction!”

 

No one hesitated to climb aboard. Dr. Doppler soon turned the ship and steered it away from the portal. Fiery explosions happened all around them, Flint’s trap soon to work very soon. Moving left and right, the doctor managed to avoid damage to the ship, if only barely each time. Hope soon began to fill their chest until a flying object smashed into the sails and completely ruined them. As a result, they landed on a machine and destroyed it as well, causing the ship to greatly slow down.

 

“Thrusters at thirty two percent!” B.E.N quickly informed.

 

“Thirty percent?” Dr. Doppler echoed. “At that rate…we’ll never clear the explosion in time…”

 

Kairi began to think of a way she could help. Frantically looking around, nothing seemed to catch her eye. Nothing on the ship seemed to be of any use. Nothing on the ship.

 

Repeating this thought, she looked over at the edge. Though now far away, the portal still remained. It was still set to the location of Flint’s treasure, but it wasn’t that which gave her an idea. It was the device that opened it. Turning to Dr. Doppler up above, she shouted, “Turn around! We can use the portal to escape!”

 

“But Kairi, it still leads to Flint’s stash,” Jim said to Kairi, questioning her motives. “Even if that could work, how are we gonna activate a different location?”

 

This was where a standstill formed. There was no way they could reach down to use the portal, as the ship wouldn’t be able to lower down that far. Kairi tried to think as hard as possible. Nothing came to mind. “I…don’t know…”

 

Suddenly, another object crashed into the ship, but landed near Kairi. This sent the girl flying into the air…and off of the ship. She began to fall towards the explosions on the surface, with no possible way of escape. Jim tried to grab for her, but it was too late. Kairi could only look up, watching as the ship began to move farther and farther away.

 

She was doomed.

 

Without her command, Kairi’s keyblade flashed into her hands. She looked over at it, witnessing as it began to glow with a brilliant light. Kairi closed her eyes shut as the light was too much to directly stare at. After a few seconds, Kairi no longer felt the feeling of dropping in her stomach. Slowly, she opened her eyes again. Kairi was now standing on a surfboard-type platform, with a sail attached in the middle of it. It had a very similar pattern to her keyblade, leading Kairi to conclude that it had transformed. Did it know she was in danger, and save her life?

 

She now tried to control it, soon beginning to move forward. This was the answer she was looking for; Kairi would use her newly-transformed keyblade and glide ahead of the ship to press the needed location on the hologram. She needed to be very precise and accurate, since this was her one and only chance.

 

As she went by the ship, she heard B.E.N announce they only had one minute and twenty nine seconds before they were blown out of existence. Kairi leaned forward to make herself go faster. Although very new to any sort of flying, she was able to avoid all obstacles ahead.

 

Fifty eight seconds left.

 

Kairi could feel her heart racing faster and faster. If she took the time to, she would see her chest moving from the sheer speed of her beats. Zigzagging back and forth, Kairi drew closer to the portal. Everything was flying by her, and eruptions occurred just a few feet below.

 

Twenty five seconds.

 

Kairi tried to gain maximum speed. Only little error would be fatal to not only her, but her friends following behind. She needed to keep looking ahead, keeping an eye at everything she could see. The portal drew nearer still.

 

Seventeen seconds.

 

The portal seemed miles away despite how fast Kairi was going. Left and right and up and down. She was almost there. She now began to reach her arm out to the side. This was it. If she missed, it was all over.

 

Five, four, three, two, one…

 

Kairi pressed it.

 

The portal immediately opened to the port the very ship took off from. They had made it! As everything was obliterated behind them, the explosion came through only a short way before closing for good. Everyone began to cheer and whoop for Kairi, who had done the seemingly impossible.

 

“That was hell of a stunt there, Kairi!” Lea complimented as Kairi began flying beside them. “Just you wait until Sora hears about this. This probably outshines everything that kid has ever done!”

 

Kairi smiled the biggest smile she ever showed. Hoping back onto the ship, Kairi’s keyblade reverted back to its original state before being dismissed. Everyone gathered around the girl to applaud her further.

 

“That was unorthodox, but…ludicrously effective,” Captain Amelia first stated.

 

She was immediately hugged by B.E.N, who seemed the most happiest amongst the group. “That was truly unforgettable!”

 

“That was amazing!” Jim said as he, too, joined in. “I can’t wait to tell my mom what happened when I get home.”

 

“But…didn’t you come here to get the treasure to help your mother?” Kairi asked him. “It’s all gone now.”

 

“I don’t care about that,” Jim replied. “Being able to experience this with you any everyone else is the best treasure anyone could have.”

 

Only smiling further, Kairi appreciated the kind words. It was surprising to even herself that she managed to pull off such a dangerous task. Kairi was fuelled with the thought of rescuing the ones she cared about, and keeping the bonds she formed during this journey. This must be what Sora feels every time he visits a world. It was a wonderful feeling, something Kairi didn’t expect to be this good. This marked the day Kairi’s one desire came true; to have the ability to help others.

 

There was one person Kairi wanted to thank most of all, even if he did cause most of their trouble. Silver was nowhere to be seen. Motioning to Jim, they both began to search for him, finding him in the lower decks where the escape boats were stored. Morph ended up revealing his location, as he was chattering and playing around Silver’s head as Kairi and Jim caught him in his escape attempt. Chuckling nervously, Silver pretended he was securing the boats instead of untying them.

 

“Ah, Jimbo, Kairi! I was just, uh…making sure the boats were tied nice and tight,” Silver tried to lie.

 

To respond to this, Jim bent down and tied the boat as tightly as he could himself, to make sure Silver didn’t escape anytime soon. This made Silver chuckle. “Now, c’mon guys. You know I’m in heaps of trouble now. And Morphy here; if I’m caught, they’ll take him away from me, and he’ll be very sad if he’s locked up in a cage all his life. You’s wouldn’t want that, eh?”

 

Jim and Kairi looked at each other, both trying to decide Silver’s fate without uttering a single syllable. After a few moments of silence, Jim reached for a lever and pulled it down, making the exit hatch begin to open. As well, Jim untied the knot he just did a few seconds ago.

 

“Thank you kindly,” Silver said, then leaned in close to Kairi and Jim. “Say, how’s ‘bout we all three take off together? We can escape all this trouble and only have tah worry about ourselves!”

 

Although meaning well, Silver’s offer wasn’t one either Kairi or Jim could except. Jim spoke up first to explain his reasoning. “Y’know, when this all began, I would’ve taken that offer. But…I met this old cyborg, who taught me to chart my own course, and to do great things.”

 

Jim looked at Silver when saying his last statement. Knowing Jim’s answer, Silver now tried to turn to Kairi. “What about you, lass? You haven’t said anything yet? Whaddya say?”

 

Kairi instantly shook her head. “Sorry, but I have friends I need to get back too. People I can protect now. There isn’t any amount of treasure in the world or any amount of exciting journeys that would change my mind.”

 

Silver smiled warmly at the two of them, saddened that they were unable to join him, but happy that they were able to make their own decisions. “Just look at yahs; both glowing like a solar flare. There’s something special about the two of you. You two are gonna rattle the stars, with nothin’ standing in your way.”

 

Silver began to tear up, Jim and Kairi doing so as well. All three now hugged each other goodbye, knowing that this would be the last time either one saw each other again. Morph, as well, began to sob from the moment. Seeing him, Jim broke the hug to turn his attention the pink creature, holding out a finger for him to rest on. “We’re gonna miss you too, Morph. See you around.”

 

Morph sniffled as he nodded, returning to Silver soon after. As he did so, Silver began to ponder, looking at Morph deeply before looking at Jim the same way. Gaining Morph’s attention, Silver said to him, “Morph, I have a job for you. I need you to keep an eye on Jimbo. You think you can do me that favor?”

 

Instantly filling with joy, Morph agreed the request and zipped back to Jim, flying circles around his head. Silver now began to make preparations to leave, making one final farewell as he made the boat rev to life and gently float out of the exit.

 

“And one more thing...” Silver reached into his pocket, and then tossed several golden coins and jewelry at Jim. The last bit of Flint’s treasure, and Silver’s heart decided that Jim needed it the most. “That’s for your dear mother. That’ll surely get her inn repaired.”

 

Jim looked at the treasure, and then smiled down at Silver one last time. “Take care.”

 

“And stay out of trouble,” Kairi soon added.

 

Silver laughed at Kairi as he managed to get the escape boat all the way out, now pulling the engines to maximum speed. “Oh, Kairi. When have I ever done that?”

 

Silver took off, his hearty laughter heard the whole way. As he grew silent, Lea made an appearance, his arms crossed over his chest. “Well, Kairi. I think I’m gonna make my leave. Judging by your awesome skills from earlier, you don’t need me to babysit you anymore.”

 

Kairi smiled as she glad Lea trusted her enough to make this decision. Yen Sid will be proud when Lea reported what happened in this world. Kairi needed to leave, as well; there was a threat to deal with, and although a great amount of information was discovered, there was more to be found. Now turning to Jim, she smiled at him once more. “Hopefully this isn’t out last meeting.”

 

“Even if it is, I won’t be forgetting you or Lea anytime soon,” Jim reassured. “Until then, you guys be careful.”

Edited October 26, 2013 by Velvet Scarlatina