Text Kingdom Hearts III-The Apocalypse Key

[Grotesquery 603]

YO.
 
Alright, look. I've been debating with myself over whether I should upload this or not, because looking back, this chapter in and of itself isn't really anything special. And if the quality of a story can be gleamed from its prologue, then I don't think there would be much point in showing anyone this. But eventually, I decided to put it out there for the world to see; if not for my own betterment as a writer, than at least for the sake of hopefully entertaining some of you. So here you go, the prologue of my story, The Apocalypse Key.
 
Chapters:
 

Chapter 1: A Meeting of The lost

Chapter 2: Homecoming

Chapter 3: An Ally in the Shadows

Chapter 4: Arrival

Chapter 5: Of a Silent Breed

-Interlude I: Initiation

Chapter 6: Reflections 

Chapter 7: The Setting Sun

 

 
                                                        ~Prologue~
 
 
 
You know nothing of that boy.

 

Are you sure about that? I've known him longer than almost anyone. Even you.

 

Is that so? Then tell me why you don't understand him enough to control him.

 

There have been...Complications.

 

Such as?

 

His heart started off weak enough. He was easy to control at first.

 

And then these so-called, "Complications" came into play, correct?

 

Yeah. His heart just kept getting stronger and stronger. His bond with the others is what let him break free of my influence.

 

And so, you've decided to sever the chains connecting his heart with the others?

 

That was the first part of the plan, yes.

 

And then what?

 

You tell me.

 

Very well. I need his power. More specifically, I need the power he can give you. It is imperative to our plan.

 

I can see what you mean. The boy’s heart is strong in the light.

 

But weak in the darkness.
 
Indeed. We must first awaken the shadow within his soul.
 
But his is such a simple and innocent heart. Finding any darkness in it will be quite the chore.
 
Do we really even need him? Surely your plan is foolproof.
 
Perhaps, but he will become quite troublesome if he ever masters the darkness within himself.
 
Impossible. I would not allow that.
 
Your power over him is limited. Like I said before, even you cannot control him yet.
 
Only because his light is too strong.
 
And that is why I need him.
 
...Alright then, tell me, what exactly did you have in mind? What were you planning on using against him?
 
You cannot see it. Something as complicated as emotion is beyond you.
 
I don't need emotion.
 
Regardless, he does have a weakness, and he knows it. That is why all this time he has kept his distance from her.
 
Her? Come on; you’re not suggesting love are you?
 
It does not matter what he feels for the girl. What matters is her connection to his inner darkness.
 
Even so, why not just destroy his heart now? At this point, it would be so simple to-
 
No. His heart must remain undamaged. If our plan somehow fails, he will have to be the next road I will choose to take.
 
…It will be incomplete, you know that, right? In that form, it won’t be of much use to you.
 
It will only be temporary. Until I find a more suitable host.
 
Alright then. Where do I start?
 
No.12 has spotted him in Traverse Town. He is alone, so now is your perfect chance.
 
It will be difficult. Namine is still a glaring issue.
 
Do not worry. We will find the wench and her master soon. No. 9 is already working on that.
 
Tch. I still don’t know why you let that guy back into the Organization.
 
You know as well as I that-
 
Yeah yeah, I got it already. I just don’t like him.
 
Then stop complaining. Is your objective clear?
 
Yes.
 
Then it is time.
 
 
 
 
...And that's all I got so far. Again, I'm not really the best writer when it comes to these things, so I'd like to ask you what you think. Any thoughts about how I can improve? Or is it flawless in every possible way...? Actually, no, don't say that.
 
One last thing. If this really is something I'm going to be continuing, I figure that I should at least tell you one thing that will NOT be included for any of the upcoming chapters.
 
                                                          NO OCs
Or at least, no major ones.
 
Later.
 
P.S Don't take what I've said the wrong way. This isn't something that I have written out already. Nah, I'm a lazy guy. This is all I got.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Arcmin

[Weiss 8,279]

Well it was just dialogue and I'm pretty sure you were going for the "mysterious enemies talking" thing there so that went well imo. Maybe describe some scenery if even a little. That's the main thing. Other than that considering everything else it looks good! Nice job!

[Indecypher 495]

I like how you represented the characters with bold and italics. Also, that you're able to figure out who's talking means you've done well in recreating their speech patterns. I hope you're right about number 9 in the new org. being a previous member, otherwise this story might be confusing down the line. I'm not that great at telling you how to improve so, sorry. The best I can think of, and might not even be right is: "Do we really even need Him? Surely your plan is foolproof." Was "Him" meant to be capitalized or was it an error?

[Grotesquery 603]

WOWOWOW I ACTUALLY WROTE ANOTHER CHAPTER

 

 

Let me know what you think of this. Honestly, that's one of the main reasons why it's here. Tell me what I could do better. Really, I need criticism.

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

                                                                                       ~Chapter 1: A Meeting of The Lost~

 

It was an all-encompassing barren wasteland; that much could be certain. A tainted battlefield of twisted metal and makeshift graves; dotted with crumbling mountains and carved with the scars of battle. A sinister air was about the place; as if in every waking moment there was present the feeling of death. The harsh, coarse ground was dyed a lifeless hue, as the wayward winds pushed and pulled the loose earth in an odd dance of sand.

 

Located in the center of this decrepit plain was the land’s very moniker, The Keyblade Graveyard. There, countless weapons, corroded with time and abandonment, had been lodged within the cracked earth for eras long forgotten. These weapons have been forever known as the Keyblades, forged long ago by a people who cannot be recalled. These artifacts were past used as tools of war and destruction; indeed, they once belonged to the great masses, two armies of unrivaled might and ambition, clashing for the right to Ultimate Power.  But that is a story beyond telling at this point. Rather, we should turn our attention to the relics of a past not so far away.

 

Beyond the horizon of the Keyblade Graveyard, there was present a small rise of land, upon which, there knelt a suit of armor. This suit, while seemingly a dormant and lifeless piece of metal, actually contained the light of a young man. A man who, through countless mistakes and much pain, had found himself cursed to walk this world for what seemed like an eternity. However, that time would end today. For destiny has a curious way of guiding itself, and on that day, there was a meeting that sent two histories, long and far apart, colliding into one another.

 

Such is the way of Fate.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The suit of armor stood motionless before the devastated landscape that pervaded his vision. It was a sight that he was all too comfortable with, a lifetime of solitude that had dulled his senses to anything other than this one barren image. 

He had spent too long here. 

He had gazed out over this world as a voiceless sentinel for many years, lost and confused in the depths of his once clouded mind. But now he stood, for the first time in ages, with a sense of clarity. No longer was his mind diluted with dreams of revenge and bitter sentiments of hatred. No, he stood now with a purpose. His heart had returned to him.

 

He wasn’t entirely sure how it had happened, but he and his long forgotten half were whole once again. Now his mind was filled with all kinds of thoughts, emotions, and memories, most being of Aqua, and Ven.

 

Aqua…Ven… Just the thought of his two lost friends was enough to send a pang of guilt coursing through his heart. Now, he wasn't sure how

much time had passed since he last saw them, but for all he knew, it could have been years. A prospect that just made him feel all the worse. Even now, he found it difficult to accept even the slightest possibility of it being true.

 

But the time for guilt was long past. He couldn't afford to waste any more time feeling sorry for himself. Now was the time to act. Now was the time to fight.

 

The suit of armor shakily moved his hand out in front of himself; and for a moment, he worried that he had actually forgotten how to summon his Keyblade. However, it slowly began to materialize in front of him, and as he started to realize what was happening, his weapon took form completely.

 

“Great. The hard part’s over.” He thought. “Now I just need to…”

 

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a disorienting wave of energy emanating from behind; a strangely familiar presence that choked the surrounding air. He quickly turned himself to determine the source, and was shocked by the sight that met him.

 

It was the portal. The same blue entrance-way that had brought to him the Keyblade’s chosen; it was the same mysterious energy that had disturbed his vigil all that time ago. However, there was something different about it this time. While before there was a strange sense of calm about the air, it now felt like there was a chaotic and turbid power seething all around, as though the entire corridor was hastily forced upon this world. Regardless, the suit of armor readied himself in a battle stance before the mysterious rift, prepared for any being that would seek to challenge him.

 

There was a pause, an odd period of silence that permeated the air.  As the world around was slowly filled with a deafening rumble, the portal began to shrink. Suddenly, out of the mysterious depths before him, a small and fragile body was flung towards the suit of armor as the portal finally began to die down. With a last wave of energy, the rift collapsed in on itself, never to open again.

 

Caught off guard, the suit of armor was just barely able to brace himself for the impending collision. He caught the flying object in his outstretched arms, but collapsed to his knees, put off balance by the sudden impact. Now that all was calm again, he took the opportunity to see just what exactly he had caught in his arms.

 

To his surprise, it was a person. Not just a person, but a girl.

 

Several thoughts instantly came to the armor’s mind. But most of his questions could come later. Right now, only one thought held precedence.

 

“Is she…Alive?”

 

The suit of armor went to check her vitals. To his relief, she was relatively fine. However, there were several burns and lacerations on her body that, while not fatal, were likely very painful. Quickly, the armor cast a simple Cura spell, and was relieved that his years in the Graveyard had not dulled his skills with magic. Slowly, her wounds began to heal, but it would take a few minutes before she was fully recovered.

 

Only now did he notice the face of the girl he held in his arms. Her delicate and innocent features struck him as odd, considering how tarnished and beaten she was. The next thing that caught his attention was her shoulder-length auburn hair that ran down past her neck and framed her face surprisingly well when considering that, again, she was in quite the battered state.

 

But then, he noticed something that caught him completely off-guard.

 

“Those clothes…!” He thought. “That style…No mistaking it. These are the exact same training clothes used by Yen Sid’s students!”

 

Suddenly, with a slight groan, the girl in his arms began to stir. The armor cast his gaze downward, armed with more than a few questions, and he thought that he might as well start with the most pressing one.

 

“Tell me, who are you?”

Edited October 29, 2013 by Mr. Mancer

[Indecypher 495]

WOWOWOW I ACTUALLY WROTE ANOTHER CHAPTER

 

A sinister air was about the place; as if in every waking moment there was present the feel of death.

“Girl, who are you?”

I really enjoyed this, even more so than the first chapter. One of two criticisms I have is the part of the sentence I underlined in the quote, for some reason it read weird to me. It might have just been me though, because the second time I read it it seemed okay. Maybe, there was present the feeling of death. Or, as if in every waking moment the feel or feeling of death was present.

 

The other I feel much stronger about, "DAMN GIRL, HOW YOU DOIN'" is how Terra came across. Perhaps, you should use miss? I don't recall how he addressed female characters in BBS. I don't know maybe that one is just me as well. It's possible for some speech patterns to be archaic I suppose. In this day and age though, it comes off to me at least as possibly rude. Unless that was your intention, I always took Terra as a charmer. I suppose he could have lost his charm from all that time he lost, but his combat and magic skills seem fine so I don't know why those two would be exempt and not his social skills.

[Grotesquery 603]

I really enjoyed this, even more so than the first chapter. One of two criticisms I have is the part of the sentence I underlined in the quote, for some reason it read weird to me. It might have just been me though, because the second time I read it it seemed okay. Maybe, there was present the feeling of death. Or, as if in every waking moment the feel or feeling of death was present.

 

The other I feel much stronger about, "DAMN GIRL, HOW YOU DOIN'" is how Terra came across. Perhaps, you should use miss? I don't recall how he addressed female characters in BBS. I don't know maybe that one is just me as well. It's possible for some speech patterns to be archaic I suppose. In this day and age though, it comes off to me at least as possibly rude. Unless that was your intention, I always took Terra as a charmer. I suppose he could have lost his charm from all that time he lost, but his combat and magic skills seem fine so I don't know why those two would be exempt and not his social skills.

I agree. That second comment is something I was worried about too, but I decided not to change it because I really couldn't think of anything else to say, and leaving it alone seemed like it would be too boring. However, now that you bring it up, I've changed my mind. So I decided to make both changes. Thanks for the feedback!

[Indecypher 495]

I agree. That second comment is something I was worried about too, but I decided not to change it because I really couldn't think of anything else to say, and leaving it alone seemed like it would be too boring. However, now that you bring it up, I've changed my mind. So I decided to make both changes. Thanks for the feedback!

Lol, no problem.

[Weiss 8,279]

Welp came after the edited version so I can't find too much wrong with it. The grammar is very good. A lot better than some stories on the site.

I pretty well enjoyed it and agree that the edits were good. Overall, good chapter! Looking forward to the next one!

[Keyblade101 526]

This is good so far. When's the next chapter?

[Grotesquery 603]

This is good so far. When's the next chapter?

It's been in development limbo for quite a while now. The main problem is that I haven't been feeling very motivated to write lately. I know what I want to put down, I just need to find out how I should go about doing so. As of now, I'm about 2,500 words in, and I'm hoping to bring the grand total up to at least 7,000.

[KingdomHearts3 2,591]

Very interesting. I look forward to see more.

[Grotesquery 603]

WOAH. WHERE THE "HECK" HAVE I BEEN, HUH?

 

Yes, I know that this is a ridiculously over-due chapter, but I'm afraid there was a lot of difficulty for me in finding the motivation to really finish it. When taking into consideration that I started it like 4 months ago, I really can't believe it's taken me this long to finish. Now, I won't waste much of your time here, because I honestly believe that I've depraved you of this chapter for long enough. So I've decided to put the bulk of that expository crud at the end of this monstrous wall of text. So now, without further ado, I present the long awaited chapter TWO of Kingdom Hearts III-The Apocalypse Key. ABOUT TIME TWO IS MORE LIKE IT.

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

                                                                                            ~Chapter 2: Homecoming~

 

 

My eyes darted around the room as I drifted in and out of consciousness. The wounds that our enemy had inflicted upon me were taking their toll; there was no doubt in my mind that soon, I would be gone.

 

My cloudy and fading mind was occupied with one thing and one thing alone, the cries of the small child that resounded beneath me. In my attempts to protect her from the harsh brutality that had filled the castle, I had wrapped my arms around her and used my frail body as a shield in order to keep her safe. But, that didn’t matter anymore. And it broke every corner of my heart to know that this would be the last time in her life I would be able to protect her.

 

Enveloping her in the most gentle embrace I could manage, I looked down at the beautiful baby girl I held in my arms, and a wave of sadness rolled over me. I envied all the other parents out in the worlds, their fortune was boundless in comparison. I would never get the chance to see my only daughter grow up; I would never be there for her like a mother should. I couldn’t even live to see her first birthday. Why did it have to happen here? Why now? The very day that we welcomed her into the world, why did it have to happen like this?

 

My waning thoughts were interrupted by the distant and familiar noise of steel clashing on steel. My husband was still fighting off our assailants, but I gave little heed to this. We had managed to push them back, and I was sure that the others could finish them off.

 

But it was too late for me. The pain and labor of child birth had weakened my body already, and the other injuries I had sustained were slowly sapping away what little time I had left.

 

For one final moment, I looked my daughter in the eyes. Her crying had slowly begun to stifle, and her breathing was steadily beginning to calm down. If anything, it gave me some comfort to see her so peaceful and innocent, so blissfully unaware of the world around her. Knowing that this would be the last time I could ever talk to her as I should, any words I could have said became caught in my throat. Tears slowly started to well at the corners of my eyes, at the thought of never being able to say this again. At a loss for words, I began uttering the only things that came to my mind.

 

“Kairi…” I choked, unable to hold back my tears. “Just looking at you now, I’m sure that you’ll take after your mother when you grow up. And that’s good; I want you to be blessed with a life like I’ve had. I want you to meet lots of people, and make plenty of friends.  But make sure that you can trust them to look after you. I wouldn’t be here today if I didn’t have your father always watching my back. Oh, and that’s another thing, I want you to find someone like dad. It doesn’t have to be someone you’ll marry or anything like that, but just someone who will always be there for you. Of course, you can’t always rely on others, so I want you to grow up to be a strong young woman who can stand up for herself. Sorry if I sound too demanding, but I only want what’s best for you. I won’t be around to say any of this in the future, so please, listen to me just this once. Kairi, no matter what ever happens…”

 

I struggled to keep my eyes open, but knew it was futile. My consciousness was fading away… 

With my last ounce of life, I opened my mouth, and uttered the words that I wish I could be there to say to her every day of her life.

 

“I Love you, Kairi.”

 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Kairi bolted upright in her bed. Her heart was racing; and a cold sweat ran down her body. In her short bout of shock, her hands gripped the covers of her bed slightly tighter than was normally given when considering her strength.

 

Wide-eyed, she glanced round her room in distress. It was at some point at night, and the room was strangely colder than usual, but to her relief, everything else seemed fine. She slowly began to relax upon realizing that it was just another dream.

 

Feeling slightly light-headed, she gently placed a hand on her forehead to steady herself. “These dreams just keep getting stranger andstranger…” She thought.

 

The first time this had happened was about a year ago, the night before Destiny Islands was attacked by the Heartless. She always wondered whether the two events had any correlation, but there was never really any reason to think so, so she had just written it off as a coincidence. Since that time however, her dreams had been slowly getting even clearer and more surreal; almost as if she was actually there.

 

However, none of them had been as livid as that one. She could barely make out any words before, and the last thing the woman had said was always the most muddled. But this time, everything was oddly clear.

 

“I love you, Kairi…” That was what she said, wasn’t it?

 

Kairi tilted her head downward, and closed her eyes in thought. “She was talking like she was my mother, but that can’t be it.” she muttered to herself, “She didn’t seem like Camilla, and as far as my real mother goes…”

 

Kairi slowly opened her eyes. “My real mother…” Now that it crossed her mind, she had never really given her birth parents much thought ever since she learned about her origins on Radiant Garden. She didn’t really remember anything about them, even after she had regained her memories of her homeland. But that wasn’t much of a surprise; in general, she didn’t really recall anything from before her time there as a little girl.

 

Kairi took another moment to look around her room, in case anything was out of place. As was to be expected, none of her lights were on, so the room was somewhat darkened by the night’s grip. However, it seemed as though that grip was already loosening; the room was slowly starting to become brighter. And it wasn’t due to Kairi’s eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness.

 

Kairi looked over at the single small window in her room, a little ways to the left of where she sat on her bed. There were no curtains or drapes blocking her view from the outside, so she could clearly make out a faint light shining on the horizon.

 

Steadily, Kairi pushed the covers from her body and swiftly rose from her bed. Quietly making her way over to the window sill, she rested her arms on the top border of the glass when she arrived. Slowly, she undid the restraints on the double glass windows, and began to push them open.

 

Taking a brief peek outside the small glass portal, she looked around the empty town in front of her. The house she lived in was situated upon a small hill, near the back of the town on the Main Island, so Kairi’s family always had a perfect view of almost the entirety of the Island’s populace. And from what the young girl could see, it seemed as though the majority of the Town had yet to awaken.

 

Suddenly, a small beam of light out of the corner of her eye caught Kairi’s gaze. Looking out over the small community of houses, Kairi realized that it was already sunrise. A large smile broke out across her face as she cautiously moved her body through the window frame. Resting her hands on the window sill, and looking out at the Horizon, Kairi relaxed herself and calmly moved to watch in tranquility the sight of the rising sun.

 

Kairi usually didn’t wake up this early, so it had been quite a long time since she had seen a real sunrise. So long in fact, that she had almost forgotten what they looked like. Most of the sparing time that she would spend before the sun was spent while it set, not while it rose. As a result, she had come to think of Sunsets and the Sunrise as much the same thing. It had been so long since she had been able to appreciate a real sunrise, and remember why she loved them so much. It was just something about the way the glow hit everything, the way that the rising sun’s soft illumination gave everything a new light. It was the way that the sunrise promised a new day, while the sunset simply promised another one. That was what Kairi loved so much about them, how they somehow always had the ability to make everything seem so much brighter, even when they appeared the darkest. Not to mention, watching the sunrise usually helped Kairi think. It didn’t really matter what she would think about, but she did like having such a beautiful and inspiring setting to do so.

 

She had spent a lot of time thinking lately. Especially now that school was out for summer break; she had a lot of time to herself. There were plenty of times when Selphie would ask her to go out and do something more social, but Kairi would usually turn her down in favor of some time alone. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted to think about honestly; there wasn’t anything wrong, was there? That was something Kairi thought about a lot too.

 

A calm breeze rolled by, blowing through the young girl’s hair and enveloping her in a warm and comforting light. The entire Island wasso peaceful; it suited the lovely sunrise and relaxing breeze perfectly. Taking one last look at the beautiful image, Kairi retreated back into her room in preparation of a brand new day.

 

Making sure to close the window behind her, Kairi pulled it shut in as quiet a manner she could manage. With the room revealing much more of its contents due to the added light, Kairi was easily able to maneuver through the area.

 

The wooden floor was devoid of any stray belongings, as Kairi had always made certain to keep her room as presentable as possible. The only things that occupied the large and open floor were Kairi’s bed sheets, which she had unceremoniously neglected to tidy up. But when considering that it was summer vacation, as well as so early in the morning, such laziness felt justified.

 

Calmly making her way over to her bedroom closet, Kairi opened the large swinging doors and began looking for something to wear. Shepicked out a small, orange jacket from the modest selection of clothes, which she simply placed over her current nightwear: a loose fitting T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants. Odds were she wouldn’t be out very long, so there wasn’t much concern shown regarding her wardrobe.

 

After pulling the closet doors shut, Kairi moved on towards her exit at the right-hand corner of the room. Double-checking to make sure that there was nothing else she would need; Kairi opened the door and proceeded into the calm and empty house.

 

Upon closing the door behind, Kairi found herself in the familiar second floor hallway. The sunlight was just starting to pass through the window panes to her right, but Kairi could still see the area just fine. Careful to make as little noise as possible, Kairi turned to her left and began creeping up to the large second floor staircase, all the while passing several closed doors on her way.

 

Slowly, Kairi made her way down the lengthy set of steps, taking extra precaution on the ones that were particularly creaked with old age.

 

Kairi let a tiny smile grace her mouth in a moment of fond remembrance; as she recalled all of the times that she had crept down the stairs in much the same way in a vain attempt not to wake up her slumbering parents. Whether it was something as trivial as fetching a midnight snack, or a more selfless occasion of simply trying not to bother them too early in the morning, it was a habit that the young girl never really took any notice of. But it was hard not to as of late, as Kairi found herself sneaking down-stairs more and more frequently. She tried not to make a habit out of leaving the house so early in the morning, but it had gotten to the point where she really couldn’t help herself; it was the only time when there was really no one around to bother her.

 

Finally arriving at the bottom of the staircase, Kairi took a quick look around at the lower half of her house. In comparison to what you would expect of the Mayor’s family, you might be a bit confused by a few design choices. In fact, there wasn’t really much that separated it from other houses on Destiny Islands; which Kairi found odd when considering that their family was technically the most influential in the area. But to be completely honest, it wasn’t that strange when she took into consideration how humble and self-sacrificing her father had been. Kairi had never really questioned why he did what he did, she just always assumed it was for a good reason.

 

Shrugging off the inquiry, Kairi continued to make her way through the house. Taking a right from the stairs, she passed the kitchen to her left and continued onward. Still making sure to keep her footsteps as light as possible, Kairi crept through the small enclosed hallway that lead towards their family room. Kairi slowed her already cautious pace as she passed through the hallway, taking a fleeting moment to glance upon the small paintings and pictures that adorned the wall to her left. It always bought a smile to her face whenever she looked at the childish pictures which she had drawn at a younger age, and it warmed her heart even more to know that her mother had kept them for so long.

 

Moving past the small collection of pictures and fleeting reminiscence, Kairi moved on through the hallway; nearing the living room wherethe door outside was located. After reaching the end of the hall, Kairi stopped for a moment to glance around the room, taking extra precaution to make sure that Camilla wasn’t awake. While Kairi had faith that her adoptive mother wouldn’t really disapprove of her daughter going out for an early morning walk, she was concerned with whether her mother would believe her reasons for doing so or not.

 

While Kairi would have never wanted to sneak around behind her adoptive mother’s back, Camilla had made become much less relenting since Kairi had returned with Sora and Riku a couple months ago. While she may not have said it flat-out, Kairi knew that Camilla was against her use of the Keyblade from the very beginning. Camilla had never approved of her daughter practicing magic, and she had even shown some reluctance to letting her watch Sora and Riku whenever they happened to spar with each other. And lately, it began to feel as though her mother was just getting more and more protective of…

 

Kairi froze in her tracks, halting before the sight that met her as she moved through the family room, barely able to stop herself from tripping before what was situated before her. Lying on the floor in front of her, covered with only a thin sheet of cotton, was Camilla, sound asleep.

 

Kairi looked upon her mother in bewilderment, a questioning glance etched on her face that not even she could have noticed. In all honesty, it didn’t really come as a surprise to Kairi that she had found Camilla in such an exhausted state. But what confused her was her mother’s choice of bedding location, as the woman was always fairly practical with herself and never allowed such laziness. The fact that Camilla didn’t even have the strength to make it to her own bedroom immediately raised the alarm in Kairi’s mind that something was wrong.

 

After making sure that Camilla was still asleep, Kairi relaxed herself, and began moving towards the slumbering woman. Lightly treading on the living room floors, she took precaution to make sure that she didn’t trip on any of the small trinkets that were strewn about the area. It struck her as odd that her usually tidy mother would let the living room fall into such disarray, but she was willing to put the blame on how tired Camilla must have been over the course of last night.

 

Slowly coming to a stop before her mother, Kairi looked at her adoptive mother’s face, and she felt a strange pang of sadness overcomeher. She collapsed onto her knees, barely supported by the back of the couch behind her, she slide down towards the floor with her legs out behind her. She leaned forward, supporting herself on with both of her hands, and knelt in closer to her mother’s face. A mournful frown etched itself upon her face, full of regret and sadness. Her eyes fell into a similar rut, as her face changed to match her inner sense of guilt.

 

Cautiously, Kairi extended her hand out towards Camilla, and gently placed it on her mother’s face. Slowly, trying not to wake her, shecaressed her mother’s face as if caring for the wounded dove that Kairi knew her mother was.

 

It had been a few years since Pator had passed away during the heartless’ invasion, and with the passing of Kairi’s adoptive father, Camilla had fallen into a deep depression. She would go many nights, even days without sleeping, and commonly refused to even leave her bed. It was one of the hardest times of their life, but Camilla finally managed to pull through it with the help of her daughter’s love and support. After that point, things were finally beginning to look up; while Kairi wasn’t as social anymore, she still spent a healthy amount of time chatting with Selphie while managing to remain close with her mother.

 

For some reason, after she was able to work through her bout of depression, Camilla had suddenly decided to take it upon herself her late husband’s mantle of mayor. Needless to say, Kairi didn’t particularly approve of the idea. She felt as though Camilla wasn’t stable enough to take on so much responsibility, and she was worried that after going through as much as she did, the extra work would start to grade on her mother personally.

 

But, Camilla wasn’t having any of it. She was determined to take up the position, and even though no one really knew why it was necessary for her to do so, the townsfolk eventually gave in and decided to trust Camilla’s judgment.

 

Much to Kairi’s surprise, not only did her mother take to the position, she actually thrived in it. Kairi almost felt as though Camilla took on the extra work so that she could help take her mind off of Pator, and in that sense, the position seemed to be good for her. After a while, Camilla had managed to earn the town’s trust, and they quickly came to recognize her as the determined mother she was. Things were the best they had ever been.

 

Once Sora, Riku, and Kairi had returned to the Islands from the Nobody’s castle, Kairi was alarmed at how her mother had greeted her. While before she left, Camilla had been the usual kind and caring woman Kairi normally pictured, during Kairi’s brief stint away from the island in Organization XIII’s clutches, Camilla had been driven through and through with grief and worry over her daughter’s disappearance. Immediately after returning from the other worlds, Camilla forbad her daughter from ever willingly leaving the Islands again. While Kairi wanted to object, she knew that she couldn’t. Kairi knew that she would never have been able to put her own desires before her mother’s own wellbeing, and so reluctantly, agreed.

 

Over the course of the time following their return to the Islands, Camilla’s restrictions on Kairi slowly grew more and more confining. At first, Camilla started to limit Kairi’s use of magic or any use of her skills in terms of combat, using the excuse that she wouldn’t need any of it in the future. Camilla was willing to let Kairi practice healing magic whenever she had the spare time, but eventually, even use of that started to become sparing. More and more Camilla started putting limitations on what her daughter could or couldn’t do, until it eventually got to the point where Kairi was even forbidden from watching Sora and Riku spar.

 

Despite all this, Kairi had still managed to maintain a relationship with her mother. Even though she didn’t really agree with all of Camilla’s restrictions nor did she think they were necessary, Kairi was still willing to accept them.

 

The day that Sora and Riku departed for Yen Sid’s tower, Kairi made it perfectly clear that she wouldn’t be joining them. Not just because she had made a commitment to Camilla, but because at the time, she felt like she didn’t really belong out in the worlds. She felt like she didn’t have any place with Riku or Sora out there, and that if she was with them, she would only end up slowing them down or drawing their worry. She felt like she was destined to stay on the island. But now, she wasn’t as sure of that anymore.

 

Kairi’s thoughts were interrupted by a light sigh that sounded from beneath her. Even though Kairi didn’t even know she had closed hereyes, they darted open at the sound. Kairi looked down in the direction of the noise, and was met with her mother gently turning in her make-shift bed. Kairi breathed a stifled sigh of relief, and continued to glance upon her mother’s face.

 

It must have been hard for her, dealing with the worries of the Islands all while dealing with her own worries up front. The stress had caused small lines of wear to slowly form on her face and light bags to appear under her eyes, and while they weren’t particularly noticeable, they were still signs that everything was slowly beginning to get to her.

 

Kairi considered trying to move her mother onto the nearby couch, but she wasn’t nearly so confident in her own strength as she could do it without waking her. So instead, she decided to simply try to make Camilla as comfortable as possible. Noticing that the sheets she was wrapped in didn’t seem to provide much warmth, Kairi rearranged them in the best way that she could. After that, she crept over to the nearby couch and grabbed the blanket that her mother always kept there. Along with a few pillows, Kairi brought the bedding over to her mother and supported her to the best of her ability. She gently placed the blanket over her mother’s slumbering body, and supported her head with the small pillow she had found on the couch. Once she was sure she had done all she could, Kairi got up and turned to leave.

 

Taking one last glance back at her mother, Kairi felt her previous expression of sadness to return and adorn itself upon her face. Turning back towards the door to the house, she silently whispered, “I’m sorry, mom…” She made her way towards the door and began to turn the handle. “I just need to get out of here for a while,” She thought, “take some time to think about everything, and get away from it all…” Quietly pushing open the door, Kairi passed through the frame and out into the warm, waking world.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

A gentle breeze rolled throughout the Island’s populace, feeling just inviting enough that one was willing to ignore the slight chill of its gale. An early morning sunlight fell upon the Island and the many houses that dotted its landscape, blanketing the area with a wondrous glow and covering the small world with an air of innocent beauty.

 

From Kairi’s house, sitting upon a gently sloped hill overlooking the town, a small dirt path wound its way down towards a focal point where it converged with numerous other roads of its kind. Leading from several other houses around the Island, the paths gathered and separated at different points along the trampled ground, branching off into several various areas of the town. Some lead to residential areas, and others lead to more public buildings that formed the modest town’s general hub.

 

However, it didn’t really matter to Kairi where the path took her. She simply began treading along the dirt road towards the bottom of the small hill which her house was built upon, never taking a moment to consider where she was headed or for what reason. She simply let the path lead her wherever it desired, only admiring the locales when she felt the urge to do so. But for most of her walk down the well-trodden path, she chose to keep her attention and thoughts inward.

 

For the longest time, Kairi had resigned herself to living her life on the Island. She had always reasoned that there was no cause for herto leave, that her life, her happiness was here. That her destiny was here.

 

She felt as though it wasn’t her place to decide whether or not she could stand beside Sora and Riku, as though it would have been better for them and everyone else if she simply stayed where she was. Her most recent excuse for this mindset was simple, she felt that she was a burden to everyone else. It didn’t really have to do with her level of skill with the Keyblade, while that was most definitely a part of it, it was more how she viewed herself, and how others viewed her.

 

Kairi was always afraid of worrying other people, not just because she had a tendency for getting in trouble, but because she felt likethey would always think of her as someone who needed to be protected. The very idea was painful to Kairi; she didn’t want to go out with them into the worlds, fighting alongside them, only to have their attention constantly focused on whether or not she was okay. She was afraid.

 

Afraid that the people who she fought alongside would spend too much time worrying about protecting her, instead of protecting themselves. She was afraid that no matter who she met, what she proved, she would never be able to break the image of a helpless princess.

 

But lately, that logic was beginning to matter less and less. If anything, Kairi was starting to view it as an excuse. During her morerecent times with Sora and Riku on the Island, some of her fondest memories were about her learning how to use the Keyblade, performing all kinds of incredible tricks with magic, and letting her creativity lead the way to new areas of intrigue. Even after Camilla had restricted her use of the Keyblade, Kairi had still managed to find joy and take pride in even the smallest things she could do with it. And over time, the more and more Camilla limited Kairi’s use of the Keyblade, the more and more she felt drawn to it.

 

Now, more than ever, Kairi felt as if it was her destiny to use the Keyblade. She felt as though she was given this power for a reason, shefelt as though it was something she needed to use. But not only that. What she felt the most went deeper than that. Whenever she held it in her hand, whenever she cast a spell, whenever she learned something new, it didn’t just feel right. It felt like she had done it all before. It felt…

 

Natural.

 

Suddenly, Kairi halted in her tracks. Her train-of-thought was interrupted by something unfamiliar, a new sound that she didn’t recognizeas the crunch of dirt beneath her shoes. Taking only a single glance at what was before her, she didn’t even need to think about it. In fact, she probably could have guessed without opening her eyes. Her lips curved into a sweet, nostalgic smile as she stood upon the shore of her home world.

 

Kairi looked around the beach, and sure enough, there was no mistaking it. Kairi had been here so many times in her life, it was essentially the first thing that came to mind when she thought of home. To her right, there was the usual wooden pier docked with small wooden boats, and around her were the Island’s trademark tropical trees.

 

Kairi glanced about the shore-line, taking small and gentle steps at a time as she walked about the area. Kairi could remember all the timesshe had watched Sora and Riku fight one another on this beach, as well as the first time she had asked to join them. Of course, they had refused, saying that even if they held back, Kairi wouldn't be ready to stand toe-to-toe with them yet. She appreciated their concern at the time, but in hindsight, it must have been a really long while before she started to question their reasoning.

 

Once Kairi found herself a few feet from the shoreline, she decided to stop and take a moment to appreciate the view. After all, she almost never had the opportunity to see and feel the ocean at sunrise, so she figured she might as well enjoy the sight while she had the chance.

 

Kairi couldn’t really explain why the sunrise felt so special to her when in comparison to the sunset. She guessed it was just because she never really had the chance to see a sunrise as often, since she usually woke up well into the morning, but it was still nice to see how thesight of one could manage to set her heart aflutter.

 

For a moment, Kairi felt like she could forget all the worries of the world, like she could forget about her troubles and the troubles of those around her. She felt like none of it mattered, and in the end there was nothing she could really do to change anything. But deep down, as much as she wanted to believe that, there was a part of her that wanted to go out and save the worlds. There was a part of her that wanted to fight alongside Sora and Riku, and above all, a part of her that wanted to make a difference.

 

“Okay, look, don’t get me wrong…”

 

Kairi’s heart stopped. Of course, she had never imagined that anyone else could possibly be out here when it was this early, but that’snot what had caught her attention.

 

Kairi jolted up and turned on her heel towards the source of the voice behind her, and sure enough, it was exactly who she knew it was.

 

Riku motioned towards the sea, and continued, “It’s a beautiful sunrise, but honestly, you’ve been standing there for about ten minutes now.”

 

Kairi’s expression of shock immediately melted away, and was replaced with some kind of mix between relief, surprise, and joy.

 

“Riku…” Kairi muttered, as a large smile began to form across her face.

 

“Riku!” Kairi exclaimed, sparing no ounce of jubilance as her budding grin broke out into an all-out smile, and she rushed forward witharms outstretched.

 

Almost leaping forward, Kairi caught her friend in a surprisingly tight bear-hug, with Riku looking down at her with a bewildered and, admittedly somewhat panicked face.

 

“It’s so good to see you!” She exclaimed once again, slightly loosening her grip, but maintaining enough force to keep Riku’s arms restrained.

 

“Uhm…” Riku began, “Yeah, it’s great to see you too…?”

 

Kairi looked up at him, as she struggled to find the appropriate words. “How did you…? I mean, how long have you been…?” She stuttered.

 

Riku let loose a slight grin. “I saw you walking towards the beach, so I headed there after you.” He said. “But you never really seemed tonotice me, you looked like you were pretty distracted with something.”

 

Kairi shook her head vigorously. “That doesn’t matter!” She exclaimed. “What happened?” She asked excitedly. “I thought you and Sora were gone for good! Did something go wrong at the exam?”

 

Riku shook his head and chuckled. “No,” he started, “well, I mean yeah, but I…”

 

Kairi looked up at him with a confused glint in her eyes, her mind racing with questions. “Okay then, let’s just start with the first question, alright?”

 

Riku nodded. “Alright,” he said, “but honestly, could you please let go? It’s kind of painful talking when you’re crushing all the air out of me.”

 

Kairi giggled at his overblown remark, and finally backed away from her friend. “So,” she started, “what actually happened?” She asked.“Why are you here? And what happened to…?”

 

Before she could continue, Riku motioned for her to stop. “Look,” he said, “maybe we should sit down for this. There’s a lot I have totell you, and even more that you need to know.”

 

Kairi nodded. “Yeah,” she said, “and honestly, I could use a bit of a rest myself after all this stumbling around.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Kairi crisscrossed her legs on the Island’s beach, having decided to rest there so she and Riku could discuss everything that had happened in a more comfortable manner. Riku was sitting on her left-hand side in a similar position, only with his legs extended in front of himself with one pulled up to rest his arm on. His gaze was turned upwards, and he seemed to be somewhat lost in thought.

 

Kairi felt that she should be the one to start them off, and so decided to ask the first few questions.

 

“Alright,” she began, “first off, how in the world did you get here? Last time I checked, Gummi Ships aren’t exactly made for sneaking around, and their engines practically break the sound barrier unless you’re moving like a snail. How is it that you didn’t wake anyone up? And how come I didn’t notice you?” She asked.

 

Riku had seemed to snap out of his brief attention stint, and had already turned his head towards Kairi when he said, “The Highwind wasequipped with a stealth module, so I don’t think anyone could have seen me come in. But to make sure I didn’t wake anyone up or draw a lot of attention, I landed on the other side of the Island and walked all the way over her around the mountain.” He answered.

 

Kairi nodded, and replied, “Well, okay, but that brings us to why you would even come here.”

 

There was an awkward pause between the two.

 

“So,” Kairi asked, “why are you here, exactly?”

 

Riku chuckled and glanced back at her. “I’m here on orders from master Yen Sid.” He said. “I came back for you.”

 

Needless to say, Kairi was startled at his words. After all, for the longest time, Sora and Riku had been telling her that she wasn’t neededout in the worlds if she didn’t want to accompany them. Seriously, what was up with the sudden change of heart?

 

“But… I… you just…” She stammered, struggling to find her words.

 

Riku tilted his head at her in a bout of confusion, and inquired of her stuttering. “Kairi?” he asked, “is something the matter?”

 

Kairi turned her head away, peering down at the water shifting just before her feet. This had brought a whole new level to her concerns; on one hand, she finally had a reason to give in to her clear desire to wield the Keyblade. But on the other, she knew she could never let herself make that decision, not so long as Camilla stood over her.

 

Finally settling herself, Kairi decided to humor Riku’s statement with the only question she felt suited the situation right now. “Why…?” She asked.

 

Riku himself turned back towards the ocean, and peered out over the shoreline where the sea and Island met. “I don’t know.” He answered bluntly.

 

Kairi gritted her teeth, and her hands clenched together tightly in her lap. Not out of anger, but out of frustration and sadness. Slowly, she managed to calm herself, and started to relax her grip. Hesitantly, she muttered, “How can you expect me to make that decision…? Do you expect me to just follow you two without a care in the world…?”

 

Riku looked at her, concerned. “Kairi, is something wrong?” He asked. “I thought you would jump at this chance. You were always saying how much you wanted to see the other worlds, and I’ve lost count of how many times you made me and Sora promise never to leave you behind again. Honestly, I never thought you would say no.”

 

Kairi sighed, and looked over at Riku. He had turned his head back towards her as well, and looked at her with a confused and worriedlook on his face. “Riku,” she started, “I know you came a long way for this, and I’m sorry for wasting your time, but I really can’t go with you.”

 

Riku’s look of confusion only deepened after that. “Why?” He asked.

 

Kairi sighed once more, and pushed herself up from her spot on the beach. “There’s no way Camilla would let me.” She answered.

 

Riku looked up at her with once again with an air of confusion etched on his face. “Why wouldn’t she?” He asked.

 

Kairi looked down at the slowly churning waves in front of her, and her face took on a look of sadness and remorse. Slowly, she replied,“She’s convinced that I won’t come back. She’s never said it, but I know that she’s afraid of losing me more than anything else.”

 

Kairi looked down at Riku. “And it’s not just her.” She said. “If I left, I could never live with myself if I ended up forcing that kind of sadness onto her. I’m sorry Riku, but I can’t go.”

 

Riku turned his head toward the ocean, and looked out over the expanse of water reflecting the sunset. “Sounds like a poor excuse if you ask me.” He stated bluntly.

 

More surprised than offended, Kairi was completely taken aback at her friend’s response, and her face belied the shock. “Riku?” She exclaimed.

 

“Look,” He started, “from what I can make of it, this is something that concerns Camilla more than it does you.” He said. “Don’t get mewrong, if what you’re telling me is true, then I’ll agree that it really is terrible. But this is a decision you’re making based off an argument that pretty much hasn’t even been resolved yet. If Camilla will really suffer as much as you say she will, then you need to confront her and ask her why and ask her why she would be unwilling to drop it. This needs to be your choice, and you won’t be able to make it if you have your mother’s shadow looming over you.”

 

As much as Kairi wanted to protest, she knew that she really didn’t want to. What Riku said more or less made sense, and Kairi wasn’t particularly willing to argue with his ideology.

 

Kairi sighed. “Alright,” she said, “I’ll talk to her. But I don’t really think I’ll be able to change anything myself.”

 

Suddenly, a light bulb seemed to go off in Kairi’s mind. A smile broke out across her face as she looked down at Riku and said, “Wait, your dad and my mom are pretty close friends, right?” She asked. “Do you think it would be too much trouble to ask him for help in trying to persuade her?”

 

Riku looked skeptical and submissive of the idea, his face barely restraining a look of distaste. “I don’t know, I think this is something that you two need to resolve on your own.” He said. “And besides, I don’t really feel like my father would enjoy having to go through so much hassle this early in the morning.”

 

Kairi’s face settled into a delicate smile, and she replied, “Yeah, I kind of feel the same way too.” She said. “I just don’t think I’ll be able to convince her on my own, but don’t worry, I’ll definitely try.”

 

Kairi bent down to Riku’s level, supporting herself with her hands placed on her knees, as she enthusiastically said, “But still, I think you should go see him.”

 

Riku tilted his head in bewilderment. “What for?” He asked.

 

Kairi shot back up, and laced her fingers behind her back. Casually strolling around, she replied, “I just feel like you should take this last chance to talk to him.” She said. “And besides, I can imagine he gets kind of bored without you around. Talking to each-other one last time might be good for you both.”

 

Riku sighed, and reclined back into the sand. “I feel like I’d be bothering him though, it is pretty early in the morning.” He said.

 

Kairi knelt down and looked him in the eyes, a playful grin on her face. “Do you really think he’ll care?”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Riku sighed as he trudged along the path to his family’s house. Well, he called it “family”, but it was more or less just a quiet friendshipbetween the young man and his father, Knoll. They didn’t really talk to each-other much, but that was more because they didn’t feel like they really had anything to talk about. Whenever they did happen to talk, however, the conversations usually tended to be stubborn and overly drawn-out. Admittedly, this was one reason why Riku preferred not to talk to his father; every-time they spoke seriously with one-another the conversation ended up being a bit too counterproductive for his tastes.

 

Riku looked up as he approached the modest building where his father resided, a somewhat rustic house made primarily of wood and covered with a dark sort of tint that accumulated with age, but still maintaining a slight coat of dulled white on the exterior. While not particularly appealing to the eye, it managed to maintain the feeling that it was still built well-enough to support anyone. Somewhat out of place however was the relatively well-kept yard surrounding it; highlighted by closely cut grass, and a large tree at the front of the entranceway that supported a small swing set, which appeared to be somewhat marred with disuse. Running through the center of theyard was a minimalist pathway, which lead up to the entrance of the building. Framing the house was a moderate fence, which wrapped around the front yard and closed off at the sides of the building itself.

 

While Riku knew his father would never admit to enjoying it, Knoll had made it a habit to keep the area outside their house as well-maintained as he could. Riku would often wonder why Knoll went to so much trouble to tend the front of their house, especially when considering how much work he would have to put in, but he usually just shrugged it off.

 

Riku casually strolled up to the front gate, pushing it open with ease. He questioned why his father even bothered putting up a fence; achild could probably break through.

 

Riku gazed back up at the looming, two level house before him, and slowly walked forward towards the front door. Riku knew that it wouldbe unlocked, as Knoll had never really had a reason to think that anyone would try and enter his house un-invited, nor would anyone want to. Knoll was well known for keeping to himself, with there being only a very sparing number of people around the Island who he was actually on friendly terms with. Of course, Riku thought that his father’s policy was way too trusting for anyone’s good. But if he was able to enter the house as he pleased without going through the trouble of stumbling around, trying to find some convoluted way to get into his own house, then he wasn’t really complaining.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Riku sat at the table, patiently waiting for his father to return to their conversation. Since it was still relatively early, Knoll was only just beginning to awaken. Over at the kitchen countertop, Riku’s father was preparing a small glass of water, which was all he could trouble himself to make this early in the morning. But he knew that at best, it was little more than a frivolous attempt to shake the night’s grip from his mind. Once the small cup of water had reached a satisfactory point, Knoll slowly made his way over to the table where his son resided.

 

Riku’s father was a tall and intimidating man, whose powerful stature and wisdom were well known about the Island. He had a distinct, stubbly, light silver short-beard that highlighted the lower half of his face, giving him an air of experience which no one would doubt that he had. He was covered with a bland and rustic tunic, which covered a short sleeved shirt of the same color, and was supplemented by a loose pair of featureless pants that extended to about the reach of his ankles.

 

However, his most famous trait was none of these things; most everyone on the Island recognized him by his distinct lack of a left arm. He had supposedly lost it a long time ago, during the time when he had apparently first arrived at the Islands. The exact details of how it happened were unknown, but his “disability” had still somehow managed to garner a great deal of fame among the Island’s inhabitants.

 

Calmly and carefully taking a seat adjacent of Riku, Knoll finally settled in his chair; all the while with Riku watching from his own seat patiently.

 

Knoll lightly grunted as he took the first sip from his relatively cold cup of water. “So,” He started, “What brings you here?”

 

Riku offered his father a light smirk. “What, you don’t think I can afford a little time to myself?” He lightly joked.

 

Knoll closed his eyes calmly, the look on his face plainly showing his skepticism. “Wasn’t there supposed to be something you were busydoing somewhere else?” He said.

 

Riku’s narrowed his eyes, and his lighthearted smile instantly faded. “There never was any fooling you, was there?” He replied.

 

Knoll opened his eyes and looked at his son. “I could tell just by the way you walked in here. It’s not the fact that I know you better than anyone, it’s just that you’re a terrible liar.” He said.

 

Riku leaned forwards and cast his gaze downward. “Yeah,” he started, “sorry about that, I guess I didn’t want to admit that I only came here for your advice.” He said. “Even though I wish it was the opposite, I’m not here just to talk.”

 

Knoll nodded in acknowledgment. “Yes, I can see that.” He said, “But what I want to know is, what could you possibly want to talk with meabout? And for that matter, why are you even back on this world to begin with?” He asked.

 

“Well,” Riku started, “It was supposed to be some sort of mission.” He said. “Our examiner told me to come back here, find Kairi, and

take her back with me on the Highwind. Nothing else.”

 

Knoll looked confused at his son’s explanation. “You mean, you don’t even know why you’re here?” He asked.

 

Riku chuckled awkwardly, a nervous tone in his voice as he said, “No, not exactly. But I wasn’t really in the position to ask questions at

that point, given the fact that we were a little stripped for time.”

 

“Well,” Knoll started, “you certainly had the time to come over and pay me a visit.”

 

“Yeah,” Riku replied hesitantly, “that’s because Kairi said Camilla wouldn’t let her go. She’s headed back over to their house right now totry and convince her otherwise.” He said.

 

Knoll sighed, and closed his eyes in deep thought. Slowly, he responded, “Camilla hasn’t been the same for a very long time, we can all be sure of that.” He said. “I don’t think this has anything to do with Kairi’s use of the Keyblade in particular; what I’m afraid of is that she’s convinced herself Kairi is the only thing she has left now, and likewise, I’m afraid that she believes that with Kairi gone, she won’t have anything left. To be perfectly honest Riku, I’m not sure if presenting the keystone to this dilemma as the solution was a very wise idea.”

 

Riku’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t want to get involved in this,” he said, “this is their dilemma, and I think it would be for the best if they learned how to resolve it themselves.”

 

“Yes, I know that,” Knoll began, “and I can respect you for your courtesy, but I’m afraid that what you don’t realize is that I knowCamilla far better than you do. I can understand what she’s thinking right now, and I feel as though Kairi does as well. It will take more than a few words from her daughter to change that woman’s mind.” He finished.

 

While a bit skeptical at first, Riku ultimately knew that his father had a point. He wasn’t ready to condemn Kairi’s chances quite yet,but he was at least willing to make a compromise. “Alright,” he said, “we’ll head over there, but I want to at least give Kairi a chance to convince Camilla otherwise, on her own.”

 

Knoll nodded. “Fair enough.” He said. “In fact, I’d prefer to see what she can do with the situation. While I don’t think she’s quitestubborn enough to match her mother, I’d like to at least give her a sporting chance.” He said.

 

Knoll slowly began to push himself up from the table with his arm. “Alright then,” he said, “I suppose we should get going…” his wordshalted, and he paused before fully standing upright. The look on his son’s face gave him incentive and motive to continue the conversation.

 

Riku still looked tense, as if there was something he had yet to say. Sure enough, Knoll picked up on it immediately.

 

Slowly lowering himself back down into his seat, he asked his son: “Is there something else?”

 

“Now look,” Riku began. “I know we haven’t had a chance to talk to each-other in a while, and honestly, I know we’re both relatively finewith that, since neither of us ever really had much to say to each-other that went beyond just small-chat.”

 

“But what bothers me,” he continued, “Is knowing that there are some things I might never be able to ask you again after this point.”

 

Knoll peered at Riku, an inquisitive glare etched into his eyes. “So?” he asked, “What exactly did you want to talk about?”

 

Riku crossed his arms for a moment, and closed his eyes as if in deep thought. After a brief period of time, he looked up at Knoll and asked, “My friends, what do you think of them?”

 

Knoll arched his eyebrows in a skeptical gaze, but replied nonetheless. “That’s an… odd question,” he said, “why do you ask?”

 

“It doesn’t really make a difference,” he said, “but I guess I just wanted to get your opinion on what really matters most to me before I leave.” Riku responded.

 

“Alright then.” Knoll conceded.

 

“First off,” he began, “Sora is too innocent for his own good. The world is seldom merciful to people like him, and I’m afraid that he’s got a great deal of hardship up ahead. He needs to learn what it really means to be there for someone, and by the end of it, whether he can still keep that childish smile on his face or not will determine how strong his heart really is.”

 

Riku’s eyes narrowed at his father’s harsh words, and deep down, he hoped that they weren’t true. But even deeper, he knew that theyshould be. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but he felt like what Knoll said had to happen for some reason.

 

“I want to help him through it,” Riku said, “how do I do that?”

 

Knoll shook his head. “You can’t!” He almost exclaimed, barely keeping his voice below a shout. “The only way he can learn is if he does it alone.”

 

“The problem is that he’s had everyone helping him and telling him what’s right and what’s wrong,” Knoll continued, “and quite frankly,it’s spoiled him. He needs to find his own strength; find out who he really is and what he really needs to do.”

 

Again, the words stung Riku deep, and again, he felt the need to agree with what his father was saying, as much as he didn’t want to.

 

Riku looked up at his father, stared him in the eye, and said, “Is that all?”

 

Knoll nodded his head, “Yes, now let’s hurry this along; I can’t imagine you have much time left.” He finished, and motioned for Riku tocontinue.

 

“Alright then,” Riku replied, “what do you think about Kairi?”

 

Knoll tilted his head downward, and closed his eyes in thought. “To be perfectly honest,” He began, “I think it would just be best for you to sit back and watch for yourself.”

 

Riku gave his father a questioning look, complete with an arched eyebrow and a skeptical glint in his eye. “What do you mean?” He asked.

 

“Don’t get me wrong, Kairi has a lot to learn herself.” Knoll continued, “But I think that for a change, you need to be able to take a look back and try to understand what she’s really thinking.”

 

Riku paused for a moment, taking a brief portion of his attention span and expending it on thinking about what his father just said. Finally, he looked up and answered flatly, “I don’t get it.”

 

“I told you,” Knoll said, “right now it’s just best for you to take a step back and really take a look at what Kairi’s about to do. Becauseif what you said about her is true, then I can imagine some very significant changes are about to take place. And through it all, you’ll want to be there for, and be able to understand her. Not just based on what I’ve told you, but based on what you’ve seen her experience yourself.”

 

Riku leaned back in his chair, his arms still crossed in concentration. “I still don’t understand.” He said.

 

Knoll looked up at the ceiling, but it felt as though he was aiming for the sky. “You’re never supposed to, not in the beginning.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Kairi hurried along the path back to her house, her pace sped along in light of what had happened. The dirt trail crunched beneath herfeet as she continued towards her destination; paying little heed to anything else. The homes around her began blurring into bland stretches of color, with nothing around proving of any interest or importance to offer even a passing glance.

 

But there was one thing that made Kairi force herself to a halt, a voice that emanated from around her. She couldn’t immediately tell where it came from, but she knew that it rang with a tone of familiarity.

 

“Kairi! Wait Up!” It exclaimed.

 

Her curiosity piqued, Kairi turned to look at the one of the several houses a slight distance away from herself. Sure enough, her guess was confirmed when she spotted Selphie, standing on the porch of her home, garbed in lightly fitting pajamas and waving her hand at Kairi in an attempt to draw the young girl’s attention.

 

With a confused look on her face, Kairi slowly made her way towards Selphie’s house. “Selphie?” she said with a puzzled tone, “What areyou… Why are you up this early?” She asked.

 

Selphie rested her arms on the porch railings, and offered her friend an innocent smile. “I got to bed early last night, so I kind of justwoke up a while ago.” She said. “I was gonna go back to sleep, but I saw you walking around outside. I tried shouting out to you, but I guess you just couldn’t hear me. I thought about going after you, but you had that weird look on your face that just says “I’m thinking, don’t mess with me!” She giggled. “But hey! I’m not the suspicious one here, you are! So I could ask you the same thing; what were you doing out here, huh?” She asked.

 

Kairi scratched the back of her head, an awkward smile on her face as she replied, “I guess I was just… Going for a walk?” She answered hesitantly.

 

Selphie looked a bit skeptical, but seemed to let it go fairly quickly. “Well, okay, but what was your big hurry over there?” She asked. “That didn’t look like a walk to me.”

 

Slowly, Kairi cast her gaze downward in moment of inner debate, questioning herself as to whether or not she should tell Selphie abouther plans to leave the Islands once again. She didn’t want to just up and leave without any explanation, but then again, she knew it was forbidden to talk about the outside worlds. Sora and Riku had made a few exceptions after they found themselves thrust back into life on the Islands, but at the time, doing so was practically a necessity, and even then they had managed to keep the situation dubious. Selphie was one of her closest friends besides Sora and Riku, so Kairi figured she could bend the rules this one time, if at least just a little.

 

Suddenly, Kairi’s train of thought was interrupted by Selphie’s visage pervading her vision, with a look of curiosity and slight concern on her face, Selphie had leaned in closer to grab her friend’s attention. “Kairi?” she asked, “Is something wrong? Do you need help withanything?”

 

Kairi let loose a slight giggle at Selphie’s antics, and calmly replied, “No, it’s nothing. I just have a lot on my mind.” She said.

 

Selphie backed off, but still managed to maintain her curious and skeptical gaze. “Well,” she began, “if you say so, but it definitely looked like something was bothering you earlier.”

 

Kairi once again lowered her head, a pensive and quiet look on her face. “Selphie,” she said, “we’re best friends, right?” She asked. “Wealways know that we can come to each-other for anything, no matter what it is? Because we both trust one-another that either one of us will always know the right thing to do, or the right thing to say?”

 

Selphie smiled, and nodded her head slowly. “Yeah, of course I know that.” She said.

 

Kairi sighed. “That’s why this is hard for me,” she said, “I think I’ve found something that I just can’t share with you, and I’m sorry for it.”

 

Selphie’s smile faded, and was swiftly replaced with a look of worry. “Kairi,” she began, “does this have anything to do with your mom?” She asked.

 

Kairi looked away. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but I really can’t tell you. It’s not because I don’t trust you or anything, but I feel like this is something that I need to do alone now. I’m sorry, but I just don’t think you can help me with this right now.”

 

Selphie let a sad smile etch itself upon her face, as she replied, “You’re leaving again, aren’t you?”

 

Kairi looked up at her friend, shocked to say the least. But before she could even say anything back, Selphie stopped her. “It’s okay,” she said, “I get it, alright? I know that you feel like you’ve gotta start solving your own problems; like you need to start relying on yourself now. And yeah, even though I know you won’t say it, I know you think I can’t understand what’s going on with you guys right now.”

 

Kairi almost found the chance to respond, but Selphie stopped her once again. “It’s okay, you got that?” she said, “Just, promise me

one thing alright?”

 

Slowly, Kairi nodded her head. With a sincere smile on her face, Selphie leaned in and wrapped her friend in a gentle embrace. “Come back soon, okay?”

 

Kairi nodded, and returned the embrace. “Yeah, I promise.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Kairi cautiously approached the front door to her family’s house, already questioning herself on whether her mother was awake or not.Slowly pushing open the door, she entered into the living room and closed the door behind her as quietly as she possibly could. Warily making her way through the room and cautiously stepping over her mother’s strewn about belongings, Kairi proceeded towards where she had last seen her mother asleep.

 

She couldn’t really say she was surprised that the previously occupied space was now vacant, after all, Kairi had no idea how long she had been out for, it could have been hours for all she knew. But still, this didn’t stop her heart rate from picking up a few beats. If anything, she was now more cautious than ever before, and slowly getting curious as to where her mother had gone. In any case, she was sure that she didn’t have to look far.

 

Kairi turned into the hallway to the left of the family room, slowly proceeding through the eerily quiet household towards their family’s sun room. Kairi continued through the house, keeping a wary eye out for her mother. And sure enough, she didn’t have to go very far before she found what she was looking for. Or rather, heard it.

 

From her right hand side, Kairi recognized the distinct tone of Camilla clearing her throat, just like all the times when her daughter was achild and she had caught Kairi’s hand in the cookie jar. But unlike her mother’s usual obedient inflection, Kairi knew she could detect a hint of sadness, disappointment, and fatigue in her mother’s voice, an occurrence that definitely wasn’t exclusive. Almost expecting Camilla’s presence in the sun room, Kairi unwaveringly turned her head towards the sound of her mother’s voice. And standing in front of her was the image of Camilla, her face etched with a deep expression of almost forced sternness, but hiding a weathered visage that belied her fatigue and weariness.

 

For a brief time, they simply remained like that, caught in each-others gaze and stuck in a stalemate of silence. Before Kairi could breakit herself, Camilla decided to intervene and start the long-overdue talk personally. As calmly as she could manage, she said, “Where were you…?”

 

Kairi shook her head, now having turned her whole self towards Camilla. “Look, mom,” she started, “there’s something I need to…”

 

Suddenly, Camilla interrupted Kairi’s words, “Where were you, Kairi?” she repeated, slightly more stern this time.

 

Kairi sighed, and conceded to her mother’s inquiry. “I was out on a walk,” she said, “that’s all.”

 

Camilla looked un-convinced, but decided to move on for now. “Alright,” she began, “and why exactly did you decide on taking a walk…?” She asked.

 

“Mom, I just needed to get out for a little bit, okay?” Kairi replied. “I had a lot on my mind, and you of all people should know that I think better when I’m out doing something.”

 

Camilla didn’t seem any more convinced than before, but for some reason, her face slowly began to take on a sad look as she looked her daughter in the eyes. “Are you sure that was it?” she asked, “Kairi, please tell me that you weren’t out practicing magic again.”

 

Kairi’s eyes widened at her mother’s words, shocked by the fact that she actually knew what Kairi had been up to. For the past coupledays, Kairi had been secretly sneaking out of the house early in the morning in order to practice some of her fire magic, but had done so regrettably against Camilla’s wishes. It was hard for her to have to sneak around without her mother’s knowing, but she had no other choice. Kairi couldn’t help herself, she felt the overwhelming need to practice her own magic whenever she could, the healing spells that Camilla had forbidden her to just weren’t enough anymore. All this time, she felt sure that Camilla had remained unaware of her self-training. The only question she could ask at this point was, how long had she known?

 

Kairi looked up at Camilla, and struggled to find her words. “I,” she started, “no, No! That’s not it at all!” She exclaimed. “Besides, thathas nothing to do with this!”

 

Camilla sighed, her disapproving frown becoming slightly more pronounced as she did so. “What do you mean?” she asked, her façade slowly growing more and more troubled, “Kairi, you know how I feel about you using one of those Keyblades!” She exclaimed. “And yet, you willingly disobeyed me!”

 

“Look, I’m sorry, alright?” Kairi said, her voice beginning to rise slightly as well, “But I couldn’t stop myself, it just didn’t feel right.” She said. “I felt awful, just because I couldn’t use it! I tried not to, but I didn’t even feel like I had a choice!” She exclaimed.

 

Camilla’s restrained expression had begun to crumble, and her true frustration started rising to the surface, no matter how much shetried to hide it. “Kairi, I just don’t understand.” she said, “Why would you even want to use one of those? Even more so then my forbidding you to do so, I’ve told you that so long as I have a say in the matter, you won’t be willingly leaving these Islands again!”

 

Kairi’s face began to show the tell-tale signs of her inner distress, her expression being a mix of frustration, sadness, and regret.Struggling to articulate herself, Kairi slowly replied as steady as she could manage, “Mother,” she said, “I’m sorry, but I’ve decided that I’m going to leave the Islands to join Sora and Riku.” She stated.

 

Whatever shard of calm and stability Camilla had maintained beforehand practically melted away after that, as she furiously exclaimed, “Iknew it, I knew this would happen!” she yelled, “This is why I couldn’t let you get carried away in their little magic circle of friends, I knew you would decide to just up and run-away eventually!”

 

Suddenly, Kairi’s look of turmoil became over-run with a look of desperation. “No,” she said, “this doesn’t have anything to do withthem at all!” She proclaimed. “This is a personal choice I made, no one else has had anything to do with it!”

 

Once again, Camilla looked un-convinced at her daughter’s words. Trying to contain her frustration, as calmly as she could manage, she said, “I don’t really care whose idea it really was; that doesn’t change the fact that you’re not going anywhere.” She stated, matter-of-factly.

 

But Kairi was obstinate, she couldn’t accept her mother’s words just yet. “Mom,” she said, “Why, why won’t you just let me go…?” She

asked, her arms falling limply to her sides in defeat.

 

Camilla herself had begun to calm down slightly, but she still maintained an air of authority to her voice that showed her stubbornness.“Kairi,” she began, “you’re not going anywhere. And that’s final, I’m not accepting any of your explanations, it won’t change the fact that I will never change my mind.” She finished.

 

Kairi was desperately trying to hold on to whatever argument she had left, when she once again begged the question, “But, why are you...”

 

She was interrupted by Camilla, once again stating her unmovable decision. “You are not going anywhere, Kairi. That’s final.” She said.

 

Kairi was stuck, Camilla wasn’t telling her anything, and she didn’t have anything left to say that could convince her mother otherwise.“Mom,” she began, a hint of defeat in her voice, “why can’t you just let me…” she trailed off, having realized that she had finally lost the argument.

 

One last time, Camilla repeated her words to make sure that their impact was understood. “Kairi,” she began, “like I said, you’re not going any…”

 

“Camilla!”

 

Her string of words were suddenly interrupted by a loud and gruff voice that emanated from just behind Kairi, a voice that both of themimmediately recognized. Camilla looked over Kairi’s shoulder at the two who had entered her house, with Kairi swiftly turning herself to face them as well.

 

Knoll stood just before the hallway’s end, with Riku trailing behind him. Knoll’s expression was harsh, but still somewhat calm, with his son wearing a similar look on his face. But Riku looked far more subdued then his father, which gave the impression that he was going to try and sit this one out.

 

Camilla’s mind was instantly flooded with confusion and shock; the last thing she had expected was for Knoll to come barging in with his son in tow. Disregarding the fact that Riku was supposedly “off-world” or something of the sort, she personally hadn’t spoken to Knoll for quite some time. It wasn’t like him to just barge in un-announced, even though Camilla had made a point that he was welcome to, she never really thought he would take up that offer.

 

“Knoll,” Camilla stuttered, still confused as to the men’s presence, “what are you doing here?”  She asked. “And your son as well, I thought he was…”

 

Knoll interrupted her before she could ask, and said, “Neither of those things are of any concern now.” He said, “All that matters at the moment are the two of you, or rather, your little dispute.”

 

Camilla’s face was still etched with her confusion, but was now supplemented with a slightly threatened look. “What are you talking about?” she asked, “How do you… Why are you here? This doesn’t concern you or your son, Knoll.”

 

Knoll’s gaze softened slightly, but still retained its serious and commanding disposition. “Then, consider this a favor.” He said.

 

Knoll sighed and looked at Camilla’s exhausted and frail frame, then continued, “Camilla, there’s something wrong here, something thatruns deeper than you know, and it’s seriously threatening your relationship with Kairi. And I’m here to address this, because I think you’ve just been trying to run away from it all this time.” He said.

 

If Camilla was offended or shocked at what Knoll had to say, then she certainly didn’t show it. If anything, her expression only grew moredefensive and stubborn. “You don’t understand.” She replied calmly. “Neither you, nor Kairi! This is what’s best for her, I’m not just going to stand aside and let her…” Suddenly, her words trailed off.

 

Knoll’s worried expression only grew deeper, but he still managed to keep a resilient look in his eyes. “Camilla,” he began, “I’m sorry,I think you’re the one who doesn’t understand. You see, I was willing to let my son go. Not just because I knew it was what was for the best, but because I believed in him. I had faith that he wouldn’t fail. As much as you want to deny it, I don’t believe you have that same faith in your daughter. You don’t believe in her enough to let her go, and that’s why she’s struggling against you. You’re trying to control her world, but you need to realize that you’ve both reached a point where you can’t control her anymore. You’ve reached a point where you need to start letting go.”

 

Camilla’s eyes widened, her expression shifting from one of contempt to one of surprise and empathy. She tried to maintain a convincingdefense towards Knoll’s words, but her eyes betrayed the fact that deep down, she couldn’t deny that his words were true. Camilla was stubborn, but she wasn’t willing to go so far as to disregard Kairi’s desires in order to have peace with herself.

 

Slowly, she turned towards her on-looking daughter, and said, “Kairi, I’m sorry I didn’t ask you earlier, but I’d like to know now…” She trailed off briefly, “…Tell me, do you want to leave? Honestly, truthfully, tell me now what you want. I… I just want to know.”

 

Kairi’s expression fell at her mother’s words, and for a moment, her hesitation from before once again rose to the surface. But she forced it back down, knowing that this was her only chance to speak what she truly felt. Shakily, Kairi opened her mouth to speak. “All this time,” she began, “All I’ve wanted, was to follow what I felt was my destiny, and for so long, I’ve felt the Keyblade drawing itself to me. I’m not sure if it would really be for the best, but if I could be so selfish, my desire would be…”

 

Kairi reached her hand out, almost as if by instinct, and slowly gathered a growing light in her hand. “To take the Keyblade, and find myown destiny.” As if by command, the light in her hand instantly dispelled, and in its place was Destiny’s Embrace.

 

A sad smile broke out across Camilla’s face, and for a moment, it almost looked like she was stifling a small cry. “Well, if that’sthe truth,” she replied, “then I can tell you one thing, your fate isn’t anywhere here.” She said.

 

She opened her arms wide, inviting her daughter to her warm embrace. “But above all,” she said, “I have the least right of anyone to decide where destiny takes you now.”

 

Kairi’s expression was dotted with a wide and grateful smile, with slight tears beginning to well at her eyes. Slowly stumbling forward, she fell into her mother’s arms and wrapped her own around Camilla’s waist.

 

Camilla enclosed her daughter within the loving warmth of her arms, as she struggled to keep the tears welling at her eyes from spillingforth, the effort causing her to shake lightly. As if for some kind of security, her left hand gripped on tightly, yet carefully to her daughter’shair, almost as if she was struggling for something, someone to hold onto. With a shaking voice, she muttered lightly, “But, promise me one thing…”

 

If Kairi could have, or even really wanted to, she may have looked up at her mother, just to see her face, and try to guess what she wasthinking. But she settled for a simple reply of, “What?”

 

As much as she tried, Camilla could no longer stop her tears from falling. They rolled down her face, and stained Kairi’s hair as Camilla

held onto her. “Promise me,” she said, “That you’ll come back.”

 

Kairi smiled at her mother’s words. “I promise, I will.” She said.

 

But Camilla wouldn’t end it at that, continuing to hold tightly to her daughter, she asked of her once again, “Promise me, that you’llbecome the strongest there ever was.” She said. “Promise me, that no matter what happens, you make sure that no one can ever hurt you. Because I can’t protect you anymore, Kairi. So just promise me, that no matter what happens, you’ll keep yourself safe…!”

 

Kairi barely managed to fight off her own tears, as she burrowed further into her mother’s warm embrace. “I promise.”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Kairi cautiously stepped around the various rocks and tree roots that dotted the side of the Island’s mountain, still making sure that shemanaged to keep up with Riku. While her delicate and casual shoes weren’t really made for something like this, she knew that given the majority of her wardrobe, she really didn’t have much of a choice.

 

Just to be sure of Riku’s words one last time before it was too late to turn back, Kairi called out, “Are you sure that I won’t need anything else?” she asked, “I mean, no extra pairs of clothes or anything?”

 

Before leaving her house back at the Island’s central hub, the only preparation Kairi had done was changing out of her night-wear and into something a bit more casual and standard. While she didn’t think it was particularly “battle-ready”, her everyday pink over-dress was really the only thing that came to mind.

 

Riku looked back at her and replied, “No, I’m pretty sure that everything you need will be provided for once we get to the tower.” He said.

 

Kairi nodded at his words, still a bit curious as to exactly how long she would be off the Islands for, but was willing to let it go for the moment. As they passed into clear view of the Island behind them, Kairi took a moment to glance back at the Island’s small central hub, and only then noticed that the mainland’s general populace had finally begun to wake up.

 

After taking one last look at the Islands before she finally left, Kairi turned her gaze back towards Riku and let loose a brief sprint in order to further close the gap between them. Once she was following straight behind, she decided to ask Riku the obvious question that had been plaguing her mind, “So, how far away is it?”

 

Barely taking a moment to look back at his acquaintance, Riku swiftly replied, “Like I said, I had to land it on practically the other side of the Island so that I didn’t risk garnering any unwanted attention.” He said. “Luckily, I know my way around this mountain pretty well, so I was able to pick the shortest path from the Gummi Ship to the actual town. If we hurry, we should probably make it there just a bit before mid-day.”

 

While Kairi knew she should have been at least a little bit annoyed at the brisk walk that lay before them, she was too giddy with anticipation to really even care. And besides, she liked going for a walk.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Camilla glanced at the receding image of her daughter and Knoll’s son, as they walked along the rugged mountain side. It was still hardfor her to watch Kairi walk away like that, but she was confident that this is what was best for them both. They had already said their goodbyes before she had left, but even though Camilla objected, Kairi hadn’t taken anything with her. Riku said that she probably wouldn’t need any utilities from her home on the Islands, and Camilla was willing to trust his word.

 

Taking one last glance at her daughter’s retreating back, Camilla turned and walked over to the front of her house. There Knoll stood,

looking up at the sky in his usual penchant of deep thought. Camilla smiled at him, and said, “Thank you for everything, Knoll. If it wasn’t for you, we probably wouldn’t have solved anything.” She said. “But I want to know something before you go, what made you decide to come up here?” She asked.

 

Knoll sighed, and cast his gaze downward. With a light smile, he said, “I just had a feeling that you were too stubborn to be convinced otherwise.”

 

Camilla let loose a slight giggle at her friend’s words. “Well then,” she said, “thank you for thinking like that, I suppose.” And with that, Camilla turned and walked back into her home, ready to face the rest of the day as the Island’s Mayor.

 

Knoll glanced back up at the sky, his thoughts flowing away from him. “Martha,” he muttered, “if you could see him now, you would be sohappy with how your child has grown, and you’d be so happy with the friends he’s found…”

 

His light smile faded. “But I still can’t shake this horrible feeling,” he thought, “it almost feels as though…”

 

“The sky is about to fall…”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Whew boy.

 

I've gotta say, I commend you if you actually made it through all that. Believe me, I especially can understand how long this one was. But that's the weird part, this chapter didn't take me 4 months because of how long it was. No, about 10,000 words of this was written within the past week or so. You see, it took this long because like I said before, I was lacking motivation. The central cause for this problem was, I think, the fact that I was just trying too hard. For about 3 months, I was hesitant to write because I felt like no one would like whatever I put down. I put everyone else's opinion before my own, and I ended up losing my drive to write. But eventually, I just ended up saying "screw it". I realized that the quality I was so worried about achieving would never come to me if I just kept worrying about it. The only way I could improve was if I got someone else's honest opinion on it, so I just started writing. And it worked. That was the Thursday before last one, so I clearly was hyping it up way more than was necessary. 

 

So I think I've finally broken out of my writer's rut, and now I'm ready to continue work on the story. But that doesn't mean I'm not still looking to improve. Now I want to here from you guys, the people reading this story. I'm not asking for you to just say you like it, because while that's appreciated, it's not really what I'm looking for here. Instead, I'm asking you to just take a moment and think back on what you read. What parts didn't feel right? Do you feel as though the character's were portrayed realistically? Is there anything you didn't agree with, and if so, what do you feel should have been one better? As you can see, I'm not really looking for problems with grammar or syntax anymore (although if you spot those issues, feel free to point them out!), rather, I'm more looking for problems with the characters, story, dialogue, and things of the sort. If you take up any issue with these factors, then I encourage you to say so. I encourage any negative feedback if you have it, so please don't hesitate.

 

P.S Yeah, I know I said that there wouldn't be OCs in this story bluh bluh I'm sorry. But I'm not entirely in the wrong here, you see. I said there wouldn't be any MAJOR OCs. These two, while serving fairly important roles in the chapter itself, probably won't be returning for a LONG time. And by long time, I mean practically never again in the entire story. Maybe they'll show up now and again at few and far between moments later on, but for right now I have no intentions of utilizing them regularly. So, there.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Arcmin

[Grotesquery 603]

DO YOU LIKE NEW CHAPTERS!!!??? WELL THEN HAVE I GOT SOMETHING FOR YOOOUUUUUUU

 

See? I told you I would make another one.

 

It's okay, I understand if you didn't believe me.

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

                                                                                 ~Chapter 3: An Ally in the Shadows~

 

The subdued and calming lights of Traverse Town shone down on its first district, filling the entire area with its usual sense of late night serenity. Adding on to this peaceful atmosphere was the noticeable emptiness throughout the area; with the small town’s vicinity being occupied with practically no one to speak of. But any sort of vacant feeling that this could have invoked was practically nullified by the casual air that the town still managed to maintain.

 

Reclining at the small set of stairs leading from the main entrance plaza to the general item shop, was a young boy named Sora. With his fingers laced behind his head, and his gaze cast up into the boundless sky with a contented expression upon his face, he truly seemed like he was without any cares in the world.

 

And in some ways, such sentiments would be correct. While Sora had more than enough to worry about regarding whatever road lie ahead of him, he was still willing to take a break and slow down for a moment. He wouldn’t be long, but he felt like he still needed to take a second to just relax. Especially when considering everything that had happened lately; such a breather felt justified. In addition, it gave him an excuse to think over everything that had transpired as of late.

 

While Sora held it as his priority to return home with Riku and keep Kairi informed of everything that had happened, as he was sure Kairi would have wanted them to do, he also knew that he never really got the chance to thank all of the dream eaters that had helped him throughout his journey.

 

Sora knew that once Traverse Town finally awakened from its slumber, every single one of those Dream Eaters would disappear back into the realm of sleep. And so, he held it his first and foremost priority to travel back into the sleeping world of Traverse Town, hoping to catch the world before it awoke. Sure enough, as soon as he arrived he was greeted by all of the Dream Eaters he had befriended through his journey in the sleeping worlds.

 

They couldn’t remain for long before finally disappearing back into the Realm of Sleep, but Sora was still happy with the fact that he was able to express his gratitude before they had all parted ways. Now, Traverse Town had finally awoken from its rest, and had re-entered the realm of light.

 

At this point, he was hoping to return to the tower, and request that Yen Sid give him permission to travel back to the Islands. Before they left for what he knew would be quite the lengthy journey ahead, he wanted one last chance to talk to Kairi. Sora knew that she would probably appreciate the visit, and he also felt like taking a brief moment to recount his adventures alongside Riku.

 

Of course, he already knew that he probably couldn’t just go there right now without consulting the master. Considering everything that had happened so far, and the fact that Xehanort had supposedly returned, just his travel to Traverse Town was probably pushing things. So realistically, he’d need to get the OK from Master Yen Sid if he wanted to go anywhere else after this.

 

There was also the fact that he had no intentions of facing Kairi without Riku tagging along; there was just no way he could keep up with her by himself.

 

“Right!” Sora blurted out energetically, all the while swinging his arms forward to pull himself up, “Next stop, back to the Tower!” After finally jolting up from his spot on the rugged staircase, Sora spared no time in summoning his Keyblade and preparing to open the pathway to the lanes between.

 

But before he could do so, his train of thought was interrupted by a calm, collected voice from behind him. It felt subdued, but at the same time, it almost felt as if it echoed throughout the entire world. It held a tone of confidence, but also a strange sense of callous apathy, as if it held all the power in all the world, but cared nothing for it.

 

It said “I see you’re still as painfully cheerful as I remember… That’s good.”

 

Throughout the echoing and resonant words, there was a definite condescending and sardonic tone to the distant voice’s speech. “I always sort of thought that the whole childlike innocence persona fit you pretty well. Hate to say it, but I can’t really imagine you without that idiotic smile on your face.”

 

Sora started, and turned around to face… Whatever it was he heard.

 

To be honest, even he didn’t know where exactly he was looking; he simply turned to see if there really was anyone around him. Sure enough, the first thing he was greeted with upon pivoting back towards the item shop, was a careless and casual looking boy, draped in a familiar black coat, and resting upon the brick guard rail that lined the middle section of the first district.

 

Sora’s calm and laid back demeanor instantly faded, as he bared his teeth before what he could only guess was his new-found enemy. Brandishing the Keyblade out in front of himself, he stood defiant and said in the most threatening tone he could manage, “You… You’re with The Organization, aren’t you!?” He stated rather simply, not really knowing what else to assume or accuse him with at this point.

 

Even though his hood obscured most of his face, it almost seemed as though the mysterious boy was smiling. “Thank you,” he started, “for showing me just how far from that innocent smile you can try to get.” He said. “You can go ahead and drop it by the way, like I mentioned before, that whole threatening disposition really doesn’t suit you.”

 

Sora’s eyes only narrowed at the boy’s curious words. “Who are you?” he asked, “and why do you act like you know so much about me?” He hesitated slightly, before resuming in a confident manner: “I’m pretty sure I’ve never met you before!”

 

The boy laughed slightly, the air still retaining his sort of omnipresent echo, even though he was clearly standing right in front of Sora. Slowly sliding himself onto the other side of the wall, he pushed himself up and began strolling around the side of it. All the while with Sora eying him suspiciously, and the Keyblade raised to face him. “I could ask you the same thing…” the boy started, “You were pretty quick to call me the bad guy, even though you just said you don’t know anything about me.”

 

Sora relaxed slightly, somewhat convinced otherwise of the boy’s hostility. His reasons being… Well for one, the Organization was never really this open with their intentions. And he was sure that if the boy was with them, he would have been showing much more aggression; but the same amount of condescension would probably be expected. Actually, Sora wasn’t willing to drop his guard yet. There was still the question of how the boy knew his name, and why he was dressed in the Organization’s garments. And other than that, there was still a lot of things that seemed off about his presence in the world of Traverse Town. “Alright then,” Sora began, “tell me, who are you?”

 

The mysterious boy continued walking casually towards the steps in front of Sora, but stopped just in front of them. “Would you believe me if I said, I’m supposed to be your friend?” He said.

 

Sora smiled coyly, and replied, “No, probably not.”

 

The boy turned towards Sora, who tensed at the motion. He still held his Keyblade out at the boy in defense, honestly prepared to lunge at him if given the motivation to do so. The two exchanged figurative glances, as the boy replied, “Then I guess neither of us are ready yet. What a shame.” He said.

 

Sora looked at him with a puzzled expression on his face. In the brief stint of confusion, he released his grip on the Keyblade almost completely and tilted his head in a questioning glance. “Um, what?” He asked.

 

The hooded boy simply continued on his casual stroll, gently and slowly stepping down the stairs towards Sora. “In time, I’m hoping that you’ll come to recognize me as something a little different than just whatever comes to your mind when you think “Bad Guy”.” he said, “But, I’m not going to kid myself by pretending that it won’t take quite some time.”

 

Sora reinvigorated his guard, as the mysterious boy stepped off the staircase and began continued towards him. “But,” the boy continued, “that doesn’t really matter to anyone here; I have plenty of time on my hands, all the more time to watch you crumble. But honestly, I don’t really care what you think of me right now. The point is, you’ll see just exactly why you need me.” He said.

 

The boy stopped right in front of Sora, his nonexistent glare boring deep into the Keyblade Wielder. “It’s alright though, I never really wanted to be taken kindly at this point anyways.” he said, “I just thought you should know… exactly what’s really in store…”

 

Slowly yet suddenly, the boy began to fade away, as his final words echoed around the district. The wind pulled and twisted his speech, as his words were diluted into something distorted and enigmatic. It was hard to make out, but within the calm breeze of the fading wind, Sora swore that he could hear the words: “I have plans for you.”

 

Needless to say, Sora stood at the epicenter of this activity completely confused. One thing was for sure, he could take back everything he thought earlier about this boy being non-cryptic. If anything, he pretty much admitted that his whole reason for coming here was to be as cryptic as possible. Or, was it to prepare Sora for something?

 

Prepare him for what? All of the clearly cryptic madness that was ahead?

 

Sora grimaced in distaste and frustration, his face still etched with a slight trace of confusion. “Yeah, thanks a lot.” He muttered.

 

Sora looked around one last time before he could be sure to drop his guard, and sure enough, nothing else besides the faint pull of the wind remained in Twilight Town.

 

Sora sighed, knowing that there really wasn’t much else he could do at this point than sit there and continue entertaining his confusion. So, he decided that he might as well get going. Besides, if there was anyone who could make sense of what just happened, it probably wasn’t him.

 

Once he returned to the tower, he’d have to remember to ask Master Yen Sid, or Mickey, or maybe even Riku, what they thought of everything that had transpired.

 

Quickly swinging his Keyblade out in front of himself, Sora fired a steady beam of light outwards. It appeared to collide with some kind of invisible wall; and slowly revealed the familiar shape of a keyhole. And now, with the happenings of Traverse Town behind him, Sora straightened himself, and made his way through the shimmering portal of light.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The sewers echoed and reverberated with the sound of Pete’s clumsy footsteps, as he stumbled and struggled to make his way through the dark passageways littering the underbelly of Traverse Town. His face was perpetually contorted into a frustrated grimace, but not just because of the bothersome job he had been assigned. No, most of his frustrations stemmed from the fact that his boss, Maleficent, had decided to send him down through these stinking manholes by himself.

 

To be perfectly honest, he was really beginning to wonder why she had abstained from taking on any significant help besides the heartless; but he could assume that it was to make his own job as miserable and lonely as possible.

 

To be fair, the situation probably wasn’t that bad. And to the evil witch’s credit, she did actually send someone along to keep her bumbling acquaintance company during his assignment. But that wasn’t really saying much, considering that his companion was just another ordinary Heartless. Well, not exactly ordinary, per say. But in reality, Pete wasn’t entirely sure what made it special in the first place, since it really just looked like another common and expendable Heartless to him.

 

Apparently, this particular Heartless was known as the Crescendo; and its entire make-up was supposedly designed specifically to make as much noise as possible. Now, most of what was going on here went way over Pete’s head when Maleficent actually took the time to explain it, but from what he could gather, it looked like she had used some of her magic “Mumbo-Jumbo” to connect two of these Crescendos from two different points, and also made it so that somehow, you could talk through them. Again, Pete didn’t really get any of it, but at the least, Maleficent seemed pretty confident when she explained the idea to him. Even though she specifically said that an imbecile like him wouldn’t understand.

 

In any case, it didn’t make any difference to him. Pete proceeded through the dark and damp passageways towards what Maleficent had said was his goal, when suddenly the air was filled with a shrill voice that emanated from the Heartless hopping beside him. Pete cringed, instantly longing for the sweet silence that had placated the air before. After all, that was pretty much the only thing he could brag about anymore. But of course, Maleficent had to go and take that away too.

 

To be fair, she didn’t sound quite as upset as she usually was, but Pete was pretty sure that wouldn’t last long. Her agonizing and superficial tone echoed through the sewers as her first words burst through the line, “Pete, Are you there?” she asked, “If you are, tell me how close you’re getting! Honestly, with everything that’s happened over here, I’m beginning to lose my patience with you.”

 

Pete swallowed audibly, a sound so distinct he was afraid Maleficent might have actually heard it. He timidly made his way over to the waiting Crescendo, all the while with Maleficent wailing for him to respond. Hesitantly, he picked up the Heartless by the neck and held it up to his face, saying, “Er… Roger that, Maleficent! Everything’s going fine over here, at least, everything that I know about… Which I guess isn’t really a whole lot at this point.” He said, with a somewhat admitting tone to his last few words.

 

There was a deep sigh heard on the other end of the line, not really out of relief, but out of annoyance. “Of course you don’t know anything, you imbecile!” Maleficent snapped. “I knew your incompetence would hinder our success here, so I gave you the simplest job I could possibly conceive.”

 

Pete nodded enthusiastically, a bit too relieved at Maleficent basically acknowledging his lack of clarity. If he had much reason to feel worse, it’s possible he could have been insulted. But instead, he just replied simply with “Right!”, but then shifted back to his usual timid speech with, “And, uh, that would be what?”

 

Pete could almost hear Maleficent trying to withhold her temper on the other end of the line, and barely managing to succeed. “I told you…” she stated in as gathered a voice as she could manage, “Before you left, I told you… That all you need to do, is go down there, find our little friend, and lead the pixie to him.” She said, her last words spoken with a tone of condescending simplicity, as if she felt like she was speaking to a child.

 

Pete’s eyes widened, having been struck with a sudden realization. He remembered that Maleficent had told him to watch over one of their other “acquaintances”; someone who was apparently going to benefit the whole entirety of the evil witch’s master plan.

 

However, this expression of sudden brilliance and revelation was swiftly overturned by a look of confusion on Pete’s part. Sure, he knew that he was supposed to be leading this “pixie” somewhere, but there was the slight question of where exactly she was. Hesitantly, as was usually the case when speaking to Maleficent, Pete leaned towards the crescendo and said, “Okay, right, I got that much; but my question is, where is this “pixie” supposed to be?”

 

Surprisingly, Maleficent’s first reaction wasn’t to berate Pete for his incompetence, as she would usually do. Instead, she sighed in a quite audible manner, with her voice portraying a slight tint of exhaustion. “As could be expected,” she replied, “you remain as hopelessly detrimental as I thought you’d be. But this is why I gave you such a simple task, and why I’ve taken all precautions necessary to make sure that not even you, of all people could possibly mess it up.” 

Pete nodded, even though it was perfectly clear that neither of the separate parties could see one another. And again, he probably should have been at least internally hurt by his boss’ words, but also again, he was feeling a bit too exasperated at the moment for it to really matter to him. Fortunately, that threshold was probably dying down at this point. “Right, gotcha.” he said, “But there’s still that little bit of a problem? ... I don’t really know where this pixie person is suppose ta’ be.”

 

While again, neither of them could see the other, Pete was struck with the strangest feeling, like he could almost see a condescending smirk form on Maleficent’s face. Contrary to her previous supposed exhaustion, her voice quickly picked up once again, regaining its malicious and sardonic tone. “My dear Pete!” she exclaimed haphazardly, “I may be so bold as to say, you seem especially out of it today. Why, you appear to be in very rare form indeed!”

 

After her brief stint of what could have been some kind of faux malice, Maleficent’s voice once again fell in tone with the low and fed-up side she commonly utilized with her bumbling accomplice. “But it is no matter.” She continued, “Because, fortunately for us all, I can account for such idiocy when you are involved, and I assure you, every precaution has been met in that regard.”

 

Pete wasn’t particularly surprised, at neither the fact that Maleficent had once again insulted his intelligence, nor that she had already planned around his lack of competence, since both traits of his seemed to stick out a lot more most of the time they worked together. But in any case, he was still confused as to what exactly Maleficent was intending to do with this whole operation, which again, really only served to prove her point regardless.

 

Slowly, Maleficent continued, “Now, as I’m sure we are both aware, there is a certain subject that has been occupying my time lately, one worthy of such investment, that I’m afraid I’ve been unable to attend to other, somewhat less pressing matters.” She said, “Because of this, I’ve had to briefly entrust you with one of the most important elements of our entire agenda, and while I am none too thrilled at the prospect, I’m afraid I have no choice at this point. In order to be as safe as is reasonably possible, the pixie herself has been sealed away within one of my incantations. A special kind of spell, which has been following you for quite some time. A fact I’m sure you have dis-concerned by now, and has most likely slipped your mind.”

 

At this point, Pete had reached the limit where he was finally starting to care about Maleficent’s insults. He grumbled in protest, but kept his griping to a level where he could be absolutely sure Maleficent wouldn’t hear him. Of course he wasn’t fond of being called a completely predictable fool, but that was something he had learned to live with. And he had been able to live with it because he had also learned how to keep his opinions to himself.

 

Maleficent continued, “Once you finally arrive at your destination and make certain that it is safe for her release, I will break the spell and allow her to fulfill her purpose for this mission.”

 

“Now pay attention!” Maleficent snapped, instantly grabbing hold of whatever amount of Pete’s waning concentration she didn’t already command. “You’ll need to remember this.” she began once again.

 

“While I myself wouldn’t have suspected her on her own, I’m afraid those other two may have had a “negative influence” on her. She could try something a bit hazardous, so stay wary! Of course, I still have most of her free will dancing in the palm of my hand, so we shouldn’t have to worry about much. But still, I don’t want any precautions cast aside here on your part!”

 

Pete nodded, and again, even though the gesture was pointless, he still felt as though he was obliged to show Maleficent a consistent display of acknowledgment. Probably a habit bred out of being forced to show her proper respect for so many years on end. “Right then, you can count on me!” he said, “Just head over to that big ole’ monster down here, bring our little friend out to work, and…” He paused briefly, a slight look of pondering on his face. “Well, I don’t get what’s suppose ta’ go down after that!” he continued, “But I’m pretty sure that ya’ve got it all figured out anyways!”

 

Maleficent chuckled lightly on the other side of the heartless transmission, and replied with, “You see, that’s what I admire about you, my dear Pete!” she said, “Your sheer blind and ignorant compliance!”

 

After so much time working under the dark fairy, Pete knew that this was probably meant to be some kind of praise. And as such, he was probably expected to respond in sort. “Uh, thanks, Maleficent, that’s real nice of ya’ to say. I guess, I’ll just keep doing that then.”

 

Suddenly, their “tender” little moment was shattered by some kind of shrill grumble, echoing through the sewers and instantly grabbing Pete’s attention. All around him, there was present the deep rumbling, resembling some kind of… Snore?

 

Whatever Pete decided the noise was, one thing could be certain in his mind. Whatever it was, it clearly didn’t bode well for his personal well-being. And if that was true, there was no doubt that that was what he was here to find. Looking forward through the slightly adjusted darkness, Pete noticed that it was at its strongest straight ahead.

 

“Pete?” He heard Maleficent’s voice squeak through the heartless, a rare kind of curiosity to her words. “What’s going on over there? If you wouldn’t mind, I would prefer to be kept well informed of everything that’s taking place over there!” She finished, her last words etched with her familiar brand of a commanding tone.

 

“Uhm…” Pete muttered slightly, “Could you remind me again Maleficent, what is it we’re suppose ta’ be looking for here?” His voice was shaky and timid, as was usually his response to most kinds of Maleficent’s assignments when he began to realize that they were hazardous to his life-span.

 

Maleficent sighed once again, and replied, “It doesn’t really matter now, does it Pete? Besides, it’s no longer your place to question this assignment. Now go on! We haven’t all day, or at the very least, not yet.” She finished, a bit skeptically.

 

Pete reluctantly submitted to Maleficent’s orders, but that still didn’t quell the nervous shaking running through his body. While the low rumbling that surrounded him was calm and succinct, Pete could guess that whatever lay ahead was far more hostile than its peaceful slumber led on.

 

Pete edged forward through the sewers, until finally arriving at a large open passageway that continued forward into what appeared to be a dead end. The entire area ahead was completely covered in shadow, so any guess as to what was actually present within it couldn't be certain.

 

All had gone quiet on both lines of the Crescendo. Pete knew that the reason for Maleficent’s silence however, probably wasn’t out of concern for waking whatever monster slept here, moreover, it was probably out of a morbid curiosity and reluctance to miss even a single moment of what was about to transpire.

 

Of course, Maleficent knew that there wasn’t any real danger involved, but she also knew that Pete was too naïve to remember that fact. And if she had to be completely truthful for once in her life, it would be a lie if she said that his palpable fear didn’t at least bring her some enjoyment.

 

And there, plastered deep within the shadows that lay before him, Pete gazed upon the immense impression of a slumbering oddity which lay before him. Swallowing his fear and bracing himself for the nightmare that was sure to follow, Pete released his hold on the world behind and passed into the darkness ahead.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

If you've actually done so, thanks for reading this far. I really appreciate it.

 

But you know something else I appreciate. You telling me everything that's wrong with my work. Yeah, that's right. I'm giving you clearance to criticize everything I put down, so long as it's justifiable enough. Again, I'm not really looking for problems with things like grammar or syntax anymore, its more or less any problem with the story itself, the characters, the dialogue, and what you didn't really like about those elements. Yes, I am asking you to read my story and reply with what you think is wrong. I'm sorry. But this is important stuff to me, I hope you can understand that.

 

In fact, it's so important, that I think my story is actually getting physically ill because of it. The doctor says that it's contracted the commonplace "notasgoodasitcouldbe" virus, and the only cure is your negative criticism. Unfortunately, the doctor also tells me that while the cure is incredibly easy to produce, it's very difficult to find! So what are you waiting for? SAVE THIS STORY.

 

#bethecure

Edited October 22, 2013 by Mr. Mancer

[Grotesquery 603]

Yes, new chapters are going to stop being a cause for celebration.

 

Production must be made less time-consuming if we are to keep the balance.

 

Please forgive me.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

                                                                                         ~Chapter 4: Arrival~

 

It had been so long, Kairi had almost forgotten how much she had loved seeing other worlds. Of course, what she had seen so far probably wasn’t much to a veteran like Riku, but in her eyes they held just as much magic and wonder as her childish idealism had made them out to be so long ago. She had only managed to catch a few sparing glimpses of some others as Riku flew the gummi ship towards its destination, but she was still happy she had the chance to see any at all.

 

Of course, that was disregarding the world they had landed in. Her first impressions of it were a little bit confused, although Kairi still couldn’t ignore her fascination with it. But in the interest of the situation at hand, she tried her best to focus on something other than the odd islands floating upon the colorful expanse they found themselves in.

 

…Then again, she couldn’t help but question the ways in which the landscapes were arranged. Why was there a tower floating in the middle of nowhere, again? She assumed it had something to do with magic, of course, but it was still more than enough to pique her currently unrestrained intrigue.

 

And, it was at this point that Riku was beginning to wonder just what Kairi’s deal was. He looked back at her as she gazed out into the extravagant abyss that lie before them, seemingly lost in thought. “Hey, Kairi!” Riku called back in as subdued a voice he could manage, “I don’t mean to make your stay any less enjoyable, but we’re kind of pressed for time over here!”

 

Kairi snapped out of her confused train of thought, and turned her attention back towards Riku. “Oh, right, sorry!” she blurted out, a slight look of embarrassment on her face. “I guess I just got caught up in the, uh… Scenery…” She stated bluntly, while quickly making her way towards Riku and the tower ahead of him.

 

Riku looked at her and chuckled slightly, just as she finally caught up. “It’s alright, we just really need to get this done quick.” he said, as he slowly turned back towards the tower, his face once again taking on its usual serious composure. “I’m pretty sure you’ll better understand everything once we reach the Master, but for now, just take my word for it, okay?”

 

Kairi nodded lightly. “Right.” She said.

 

The two continued onwards, with Riku in the lead. As they approached the tower before them, Kairi noticed something strange, at least by her standards. Loafing around outside the tower’s entranceway, were a pair of familiar looking oddballs. Whom Kairi slowly, yet distinctly remembered as Sora’s old friends, Donald, and Goofy. They were involved in some kind of conversation, but neither Riku nor Kairi could make sense of what it was about.

 

As Riku rounded the wooded corner of the tower’s small spit of land and came into view, the conversing pair of friends turned towards him in a brief moment of recognition. That, however, was simultaneously replaced with a cheerful greeting as Goofy leaned up from his spot laying on the entry stairs and happily motioned to the approaching Keyblade Master, saying, “Oh, welcome back, Riku!”

 

Riku was about to respond in sort, but before he could, he was struck by a sudden change in expression on both of their parts, as Goofy stated, “Hey, wait...” He looked at them with confusion as they simultaneously yelped in slight surprise, and it was only after that that he realized Kairi was standing right next to him.

 

While Kairi was left a little bit confused at their sudden outburst, she nonetheless felt the need to properly reacquaint herself.

 

“Um, hi!”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Needless to say, it had been an interesting introduction so far. After meeting with Donald and Goofy at the tower’s base, Riku led Kairi up through its winding passageways to its very peak, the place where she was told Master Yen Sid waited for her arrival. Sure enough, upon her entrance to the tower’s highest chamber, and after all introductions were made, Kairi was brought face to face with the one she had heard so much about. After waiting for so long, it was definitely an exciting moment for her. Not only because she felt like she was finally going to learn more about Sora and Riku’s journey, but also that her reason for being here would finally be brought to light. However, as the master began to speak, Kairi slowly started to realize just how little the reason mattered to her at this point. In fact, she started to realize just how much she was anticipating this kind answer.

 

In her mind, most of the conversation went without saying. If anything, the only surprise that struck Kairi as the Master spoke was just how much she wanted her hope for this journey to be true. Ever since she saw Riku’s return to their homeland, Kairi held the hope in her heart that she had been called forth to wield the Keyblade.

 

It wasn’t really a feeling of surprise when Yen Sid confirmed her suspicions, it was more a sense of dull shock. In fact, it was almost as if Kairi had been curious as to whether or not Yen Sid’s reasons were something other than what she expected.

 

But of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t happy to hear the news. In fact, she found it hard to maintain her composure in light of everything that had opened up before her, the moment Yen Sid said those long-awaited words.

 

“Kairi, in light of everything that has transpired, I must humbly ask this of you now. Would you take up the Keyblade for our cause, fight alongside us in the light, and protect the very worlds against these coming tides of evil?”

 

Kairi lifted her head up. Taking a brief glance around the room in order to reacquaint herself, she spotted Riku in the corner of her eye, off to her left hand side. He looked like he was waiting for something, and Kairi could tell from the look on his face that he was trying to listen as intently as he could manage. In front of her were the Mouse King that she had met back on the Islands. And straight ahead was Master Yen Sid, residing at his desk, silently anticipating her reply.

 

If any looked, none could find a single mote of doubt within Kairi’s eyes. Her expression was stalwart, and her heart’s course decided. There was no other answer to be considered.

 

Kairi offered a brief nod, as she replied, “Of course, Master Yen Sid. I accept your offer, and everything it entails.”

 

What came as the first major shock to Kairi was the gauged reaction to her words, for as soon as they left her mouth, there wasn’t a single silent face in the room. Master Yen Sid’s eyes widened at her statement, with The King offering a similar reaction beside him, yet with his jaw practically reaching for the floor. But out of everyone in the room, Riku may have been the most shaken of them all.

 

His complacent demeanor had instantly faded, his face etched with confusion and surprise. And out of all of the room’s occupants, he was the first to speak after Kairi’s response, albeit very briefly, “Kairi, are you…”

 

His words were cut short by Yen Sid, who had regained his composure in time to motion for Riku to stand aside. And while Riku showed a slight bit of reluctance, he quickly conceded, and gave a concise nod to the Master. Likewise, Mickey had almost begun to offer his words on the situation, but again, Yen Sid motioned for him to be silent as well.

 

The Master turned his attention back towards Kairi, who was still slightly confused as to the outburst, but had managed to maintain her calm disposition in spite of it. Slowly, Yen Sid replied, “I must say Kairi, your answer surprises me. But not only due to the answer in and of itself, for I am moreover startled at how quick you were to decide.”

 

“Now, do not misunderstand, you could not have offered a better nor more convenient answer in my eyes. However, that is what concerns me. And not just me; I am certain there are others here who feel the same way.”

 

Yen Sid paused, allowing Kairi to take a quick look back at Riku, who’s face had a look of agreement on it as they both listened to the Master speak.

 

Kairi looked back, just in time for Yen Sid to begin once again with, “Now, I do not believe you would be childish enough to simply answer for the sake of pleasing anyone here, for I can tell just by looking at you that your wisdom goes beyond such petty thoughts.” He said, “However, I am concerned as to whether or not you fully grasp the consequences of the road you’re choosing to take.”

 

Kairi wanted to interrupt, but she knew that it was best to simply wait for the Master to finish. Once again, he continued with, “Sora and Riku have always been a special case. Their destinies were forged out of necessity, not choice. The worlds needed a new generation of protectors, and they chose Sora and Riku to be those guardians. However, you are not faced with that necessity. You have the choice that they did not, for if you so desire, you may return to the Destiny Islands, your homeland, and live out the rest of your days in peace and happiness.”

 

Yen Sid got up slightly from his chair, and leaned forwards from his desk, as he continued with, “The road you are offered is one that is ever-changing. One day may be filled with tranquility, the next may call for you to sacrifice everything you hold dear for the sake of maintaining the balance of the very worlds themselves. Such responsibilities, such a way of life, can change someone for the worst. And if you can trust any of my words, believe in those for the least. Now, I must ask of you once again. But take heed of this, Kairi. For if you choose to follow such a path…”

 

Yen Sid, leaned back in his chair, and briefly closed his eyes, “I cannot promise you another day of peace for the remainder of your years.”

 

Throughout all of his words, Kairi’s expression ceased to change. She still maintained as calm and collected of an image as she could muster, as she felt was appropriate to the situation at hand. After a brief moment of silence, and thinking her words over, Kairi began to speak. “Master Yen Sid,” she said, “I’ve been trying to keep myself as reserved and impersonal as I could so far. I’ve been trying to keep my words to myself for the sake of honoring your presence, but if you really want me to answer your question in the right way, then I think I’d need to speak of everything that’s on my mind. Some of it may not interest you, but I believe it’s the only way to answer your question properly at this point. So if you would be so kind, I’d like to ask you for your permission to say anything that I so desire, as long as it relates to the issue at hand.” She asked.

 

Yen Sid offered an ever so slight smile at her words; whether he was amused or touched, no one could be sure. “Well, it would seem that you, at the very least, are better spoken for than Sora.” He said, with Kairi stifling a bit of a giggle at his words. “Very well then,” he continued, “you may say whatever it is that you have to say. I am not trying to impose anything on you, nor make you feel as though you have to withhold anything in this matter.”

 

At his words, Kairi seemed to relax ever so slightly. Right after he spoke, she turned her head towards Riku, looking a bit bewildered by her words, and said, “Riku, do you mind?” she said, “Sorry for having to ask you this, but this is something that I don’t really want you to hear yet.”

 

Riku looked at her sincerely, trying to hide his confusion over everything she said. However, he nodded at her slightly, willing to accept her reasoning, regardless of what it entailed. He turned and walked towards the door, passing back into the study’s antechamber.

 

After Riku’s departure, Kairi displayed an even greater sense of relief, as she turned back towards Yen Sid, a look of determination on her face.

 

Taking a deep breath, she began, “For the longest time, even before we left the islands and traveled to the other worlds, I don’t think I ever had a problem with letting Sora and Riku be the heroes. If they wanted to go out and save the worlds, and thought that leaving me behind was for the best, I guess that was good enough for me.”

 

Kairi started to look slightly emotional, but still managed to keep her composure as she continued, “But I just don’t think that was enough for me any longer.”

“Of course, there are a lot of reasons why I’ve made this choice, but I think it’s best to just give you the one that made me realize why this is what I really want.”

 

Yen Sid nodded, as Kairi continued with, “I started thinking a lot about everything that had happened, everything that involved the three of us. I started to notice how Sora and Riku look at me; how they were always looking out for me. But it wasn’t just them, a lot of people I’ve met have always looked at me and treated me as something that needs to be protected. And nothing else.”

 

“Sora and Riku, they’re my best friends. They both mean a lot to me, more than almost anyone else. I want to keep them safe, to be there for them, and show them how much they mean to me… But I can’t. Because they don’t see me as that kind of person. No one does.”

 

“Maybe I’m just being selfish, I don’t know. But it’s all I want now. It’s become my new goal… no, my new dream. And I’m willing to risk anything, fight through anyone I need to, in order to bring it to light. That is why I’m doing this, Master Yen Sid. Thank you.”

 

Kairi gave a light bow of respect to Yen Sid, who was still looking her over with a pensive glare in his eyes. “So, that is your answer…?” he said.

 

Kairi would have responded, if she knew it was a question aimed at her in particular. But she understood from the way Yen Sid spoke, that he was asking himself more than anyone. Still, she offered a small nod of curtsy to him.

 

Yen Sid’s eyes refocused, as he looked up at her with a resolute tone to his face. “Very well then, Kairi. In the name of all the Master’s before me, of all those who fight to defend the light, I hereby welcome you to our legacy. Today, I name you our newest Keyblade Wielder!”

 

Kairi’s calm and professional expression completely shattered, in lew of the withheld thoughts of happiness that all suddenly came loose. She had tried to keep her inner excitement down before, but she showed no such restraint after finally hearing those anticipated words. Her face broke out in a wide smile, as she inwardly leapt as high as she could imagine, and tried to reach for heights even beyond.

 

Yen Sid and Mickey both grinned at her reaction, as Yen Sid called out, “Master Riku, you may return! The decision has been made.”

 

In little time, the door opened once again, as Riku walked back into the room, a defeated look on his face. “I should have known, the moment you asked me to leave, you had already decided, hadn’t you?”

 

Kairi gave him a vigorous and energetic nod, at which Riku chuckled slightly, and replied, “I’d swear you were almost as stubborn as him, if things didn’t always work out in your favor.”

 

Kairi gave him the evil-eye at that one, but she just shrugged it off and said, “I guess my choices just aren’t as dangerous or risky as yours. You know, I tend to think that fact kind of gives me a little bit more leeway for things to end up alright.”

 

Yen Sid cleared his throat slightly, garnering the attention of both Riku and Kairi in light of everything that had happened. Once all eyes were again redirected at him, he continued by saying, “Forgive me if I am ruining the moment, but I’m afraid we must continue with our discussion regarding the matter at hand.”  Both Kairi and Riku nodded slightly, as Yen Sid continued, “Now, if it makes no difference to you, then I believe we should take this opportunity to begin your training as soon as you are ready to do so.”

 

Kairi nodded her head, once again with an energetic smile upon her face as she said, “Yeah, I’m ready to start whenever you need me to!”

 

Yen Sid smiled lightly at her enthusiasm, as he replied in sort with, “Very well then!” as he motioned towards a closed door off to Kairi’s right, which she had neglected to take notice of until this point. “Your first instructor has already made all of the necessary preparations.” he said, “From this point on, he will be the one to guide you through the trial that lies ahead.”

 

As if on some kind of silent command, the door Yen Sid had motioned towards slowly began to open. It peeled forth, releasing its hold on the shadows beyond as a tall, elderly man stepped through its frame.

 

His face was stern and aged, but at the same time, appeared somehow weak and broken. His hair was long and grayed all throughout, with the excess pulled back in a low-hanging pony-tail near the back of his neck, leaving the rest of it to appear messy and unkempt. He wore a strange kind of sleeveless tunic, which almost looked as though it could double as some kind of armor, supplemented by a long cape that connected from the neck of his outfit and extended out to the ankles. His pants were baggy and reached down to his knees, where they were taken up by a pair of tall, resilient looking boots. His entire wardrobe appeared to be dyed various kinds of browns and greys, giving the man a sense of fortitude that only served to reinforce his stalwart looking disposition.

 

With a serious look upon his face, the man introduced himself with, “My name is Zangan. I will be the one to instruct you on every aspect of the Keyblade’s might.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

No, I don’t have anything interesting to say. You can leave now. Or comment on the story, if that’s your thing. However, I’m starting to believe that no one like that exists anymore. No one has anything bad to say.

 

Truly, these are dark times.

Edited October 22, 2013 by Mr. Mancer

[Zola 3,038]

I remember reading that first post way back when.  You've improved an awful lot since then!

Don't worry about it if if seems like no one is reading, by the way. Everyone around here is a lazy butt.  

Keep writing, because you've got a talent for it. 

[Grotesquery 603]

I remember reading that first post way back when.  You've improved an awful lot since then!

Don't worry about it if if seems like no one is reading, by the way. Everyone around here is a lazy butt.  

Keep writing, because you've got a talent for it. 

Thank you. That means a lot to me.

 

To be perfectly honest, I never intended on stopping the story, regardless of whether or not anyone replied to it. If anything, I was just poking fun at the fact that I had written so much, yet no one really seemed interested. In fact, I was starting to wonder whether or not anyone would even acknowledge if I got like 75,000 words in.

 

Sorry if those last words came off as a complaining moan of despair from yours truly, I had really only meant them in a humorous light.

[Dom Hassett 12]

Haven't read all of it, as there's quite a lot here, but I enjoy what I've read so far and I think you've got something very interesting here.  The dialogue matches the characters very well and the additional characters are intriguing.  I'm writing my own stuff as well here and I'd love some input from any talented writer that has the time.  Check out my novelization of the first KH game on the forums and I'll continue to read your work as well.  Writers gotta help each other out.

[Grotesquery 603]

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

                                                                                        ~Chapter 5: Of a Silent Breed~

 

Riku leaned up against the sealed set of doors that led to Yen Sid’s mirror chamber, his eyes closed with his usual penchant of silence abounding. Before him, Mickey was at Yen Sid’s desk, busy rummaging through his former master’s belongings with a pensive look on his face that, to Riku’s knowledge of the mouse, usually meant that his mind was occupied with something dire.

 

Beyond King Mickey and past Yen Sid’s desk, stood the mysterious newcomer named Zangan, who was presently shuffling through a collection of books kept within the tower’s sanctum. At the moment, Riku didn’t really know what to think of him or the fact that he was to be Kairi’s first basic trainer, but that fact actually didn’t bother him as much as it should have. It might have if he had found the time appropriate to question any of Yen Sid’s decisions, but Riku knew that it would be for the best if he simply left the men to their machinations.

 

Although, he did inquire of Yen Sid regarding the man’s identity at their first encounter. However, the only response he got was “He is an old friend. A man much like me, one who has persisted far longer than nature intended.” Which, Riku knew was probably all he would ever be able to go on. But again, that was enough for him.

 

Continuing through the room, to Riku’s right, standing before the pinnacle tower chamber’s rear set of windows, was master Yen Sid himself. Akin to Mickey, Yen Sid appeared to be lost in thought. However, his face was less serious, an odd contrast to their usually polar opposite dispositions.

 

If Riku had to guess, whatever was bothering Mickey was probably something that posed far more significance to the King than it did to anyone else. And admittedly, this piqued the young man’s curiosity, for in his experience, he had never really seen Mickey take much of anything personally.

 

If the situation at hand was a bit more lax, Riku may have considered inquiring of what was bothering the mouse. But as of right now, he was content with just waiting out the storm.

 

The metaphorical storm, of course, being absolutely nothing akin to a real one.

 

For the time-being, Riku and the other men had been forced to wait outside of the mirror chamber while Kairi was being prepared for her training. Or, to be more precise, her entire future as a Keyblade Warrior. At the moment, she was currently in the process of acquiring a suitable set of clothes to wear; a set specifically designed with her profession in mind. Because apparently, her red afternoon sundress wasn’t good enough for their rigorous standards.

 

The ones tending to this errand were the fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. Another set of people who, again, Riku knew absolutely nothing about. But again, this was perfectly fine with him. But that was more so due to the fact that he really didn’t feel the need to know every single detail regarding that particular trio of tailors.

 

Speaking of which, that reason was also why everyone had been required to wait outside. Because from what Riku had been told, unlike the clothing of male Keyblade bearers, the garments of the female ones needed to be particularly intricate.

 

The cause had something to do with the fact that the fabric the women’s outfits are woven from are made especially sturdy, and far more magic-focused. The tradeoff, is that they can be very restricting for those not used to wearing them. As a result, most of the important joints around the body, such as the neck, knees, or shoulders, need to be left exposed to allow for maximum mobility, or something of the sort. Riku also thought he heard something else relating to magic transparency around those areas as well, but most of it went over his head.

 

In any case, because of the fact that most base female clothing for the Keyblade Wielders needs to be specially designed and placed, the actual process for devising these particular garment is a bit more… thorough.

 

Riku shook his head and sighed in exasperation. Frankly, he was tired enough of following this train of thought. Thankfully, he would soon have an excuse for his thoughts to move elsewhere, as his pondering was interrupted by a high-pitched voice calling him. “Hey, Riku,” it beckoned, “come over here, I need to fill you in on some things.”

 

Riku looked up and over at Mickey, who was motioning for him to come forward. A bit curious, Riku abided and walked towards Mickey, who had stopped rummaging through the drawers when it was clear that he wouldn’t find what he was looking for.

 

“What’s up?” Riku said, once he stopped in front of the King. After offering Riku a brief nod of acknowledgment, Mickey looked down, once again with that bothered look on his face. Neglecting to make eye contact, Mickey replied, “There’s somethin’ that’s been bothering me lately, somethin’ that might be more trouble than we would give it credit for.”

 

Riku was about to inquire as to what he meant, but Mickey continued before he got the chance. “I hope this doesn’t stir up any bad memories, but you remember Maleficent, right?”

 

Riku grimaced at the very mention of the Witch’s name, his clear conscience turned murky at the very memory of her. But not so much the fairy herself, more so what happened during his time around her. Of course, Riku was working to move beyond all of that. It was in the past, and he already decided that he would never let it drag him down again. Still, he couldn’t expect for a talk about that horrible woman to bring up any good memories.

 

Mickey noticed Riku’s change in expression, but decided to disregard it once he saw it almost simultaneously fade. After receiving a nod of confirmation from Riku, Mickey continued with, “Well, what she’s been up to lately has been getting me a bit bent out of shape.”

 

“What do you mean?” Riku asked, with Mickey responding, “It’s sorta a long story, and I can’t go into every detail right now.” he said, “But what I can tell you is, she attacked us while we were back at the castle.”

 

Riku’s expression grew stern, and his eyes narrowed in concentration. “So, she’s up to her old tricks again…?”

 

Mickey shook his head, and replied, “Ya’ see, that’s what’s got me so worried. From what I’ve seen so far, she doesn’t seem to be prioritizing the heartless OR the Princesses of Heart anymore. What she’s after goes against everything we’ve seen of her up until this point.”

 

Riku’s face shifted into a look of confusion. “What are you getting at?” he asked, “are you saying that she isn’t after Kingdom Hearts?”

 

Mickey shook his head even more furiously. “No, that wouldn’t make any sense.” He said. “What I’m so worried about, is maybe she’s found some new kind of way to reach Kingdom Hearts; a way we haven’t considered yet. And what scares me more than anything else, is the thought that she and Xehanort might still be working together.”

 

Riku shook his head, a look of serious doubt on his face. “After what the Organization pulled?” He said. “I don’t see any way that could end up happening.”

 

“I wouldn’t put it past her.” Mickey responded. “She’s made use of people who have made her mad before. I mean, just look at Pete.”

 

“Who?” Riku asked, a serious questioning look on his face. “Oh, right.” He quickly rebounded, “I think you’ve mentioned him before. Didn’t he use to be some kind of trouble-maker in your world?”

 

Suddenly, Mickey looked a little down-trodden. “Yeah,” he replied, “but now he’s working for Maleficent, and he’s gone on to brewin’ trouble in all the worlds.”

 

Without warning, Mickey turned and looked out the observatory’s set of windows, out towards the stars. “That darn Pete…” He muttered. “Sometimes I wonder if he’s gotten himself into too much trouble…”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Pete gazed forward at the massive, slumbering creature that lay before him. Well, at least all he could manage to see. In fact, “look” was a bit too generous, as most of the giant’s form was still cloaked in darkness, making its features difficult for him to determine. The only thing Pete could really discern about it at first glance was the beast’s obvious size, as well as the fact that from his point of view, it appeared to be lying down on its back.

 

Suddenly, Pete’s attention was pulled back to the situation at hand when he finally took notice of Maleficent’s voice ringing in from the Heartless bouncing beside him. Along with a minor stint of panic at her shrill tone once again permeating the hollow sewers, Pete was also gifted with her biting inquiry. “Pete!?” she said, “Are you there? Have you found him yet?”

 

Pete was on the verge of collapse at Maleficent’s hyperbole as he reached for the Heartless beside him and began to stifle it, as if the harmless horn itself was somehow at fault. “Maleficent!” he exclaimed in a hushed voice, “Ya’ gotta keep it down, I mean, I don’t be meaning any disrespect here, but you could ruin me if ya’ wake this thing up!” He said, as quietly as he could manage given the situation at hand; trying to maintain some kind of commanding tone to his voice, but still making sure not to wake up the monster.

 

Maleficent would have chuckled, if her little inside joke had amused her anymore. Instead, she merely sighed in irritation and exasperation, as she replied, “Stifle that ignorant fear of yours, Pete; it’s unnecessary.” she continued, “There isn’t any concern with his awakening at the moment, trust me, I’ve arranged our little escapade so that we can begin moving him just as he’s re-entered the waking worlds. Believe me when I say, there won’t be any risk of him doing anything until several hours have passed.”

 

Pete looked back at the hulking monster before him, his fears not entirely assuaged as to its supposed lack of hostility. However, he figured he might as well take Maleficent’s word for it now, as that usually seemed to work out for the best.

 

“Alrighty then,” he started timidly, “if this thing ain’t waking up anytime soon, then what are we gonna do with em’ in the meantime?”

 

Maleficent stifled a slight, somewhat nefarious chuckle beneath her breath, “This, my dear Pete,” she began, “is where our little friend comes in.”

 

Suddenly, Pete jolted up in shock as he noticed a streak of wind pass by his head. If he had been able respond fast enough to take notice of what had just flown past him, he may have spotted a slight, black outline plastered on the already quite dim surroundings. Although, it didn’t matter much whether or not he was able to take notice of its entry, as he was more than able to appreciate its landing.

 

As the black shape that had flown into the room slowly drifted to a rest before Pete’s feet, it took a minor stint of time to situate itself above the murky water running through the sewers. During this small moment, Pete was able to make out what the shape actually was. From what he could see, it resembled a pitch black crow, inked as if with shadow itself, and highlighted with an unblinking set of lifeless and empty yellow eyes.

 

While Pete tended to be a bit slow on the uptake, he was able to discern quite quickly that the thing hovering at his feet was most likely the spell that Maleficent had mentioned before.

 

Then suddenly, just as soon as it had appeared, the crow began to dissipate and dissolve into a shadowy haze. It’s piercing yellow gaze was the last thing to fade into darkness, as the spell subsided and passed into oblivion.

 

In its place, there was present little more than the brief sound of a dull splash which resounded throughout the empty sewer corridors; followed by what seemed like a quick succession of noises that rang a similar tune, with the only real difference being that the sounds following the first had more of a panicked and struggling sense to their tone.

 

After that, Pete heard something akin to a deep inhale of air, followed by a tangent of slight gasps, not unlike the sound of someone trying to regain their breath. It was at this point that Pete forwent all doubt as to who had been sent alongside him. After a small period of time, the small panting sound was replaced with the light fluttering of wings.

 

Pete looked before himself as a small figure worked its way through the air, and up to his face. Its imprint against the bleak background was human like, with its tiny arms poised at the hips in what looked like a stern or lecturing stance. Suddenly, Pete heard a small voice pipe up in the room, a voice so delicate that he might have missed it had the source not been right in front of him. “You know,” it echoed, as loud as it could, “next time, you might want to think about helping a poor girl out when she’s drowning right in front of you!”

 

Suddenly, the shape turned towards the Crescendo Heartless, as it continued, “That goes for you too, Maleficent! Even if you aren’t really here right, and couldn’t really have done anything anyways…” the voice continued, slightly flustered. “Just giving you a heads up!”

 

An audible sigh could be heard from the other end of the line, as Maleficent responded in what was perhaps the most aloof tone that would ever be heard from her sardonic mouth.  “My dear, I believe you’ve made the horrible assumption that I wouldn’t want to see you drowned like a rat.”

 

Instead of taking offense, or berating Maleficent for her words, the small pixie simply giggled and replied, “Nice to hear from you too, Boss!”

 

Maleficent sighed once more. “Hello, Yuna.” She replied.

 

Needless to say, Pete found himself wuite baffled over what had just transpired before him. While the majority of Yuna’s emergence had been odd and mysterious all the way through, he had kept silent throughout most, instead portraying his confusion in the most effective way he knew how. By looking confused.

 

Of course, he had no idea how Yuna herself played into any of this either, and frankly, that’s where he had to draw the line. At the very least, he wanted a little more clarity as to what exactly they were supposed to be doing here.

 

In a fluster, Pete waved his arms in front of himself in an objecting manner, moving with such leniency he almost hit the pixie floating before him. She let loose a quick “Hey, watch it!” before backing away from the odd display taking place around her. “Now, hold yer’ horses here!” Pete said, “I know this may not be the best a times, ya’ know, considering we’re probably about to start messing around with this here monster, but I need to know what we’re even doin’ here!” He exclaimed.

 

Maleficent chuckled lightly on the other end of the Cresendo. “Actually, now that you mention it, this may be the perfect time to discuss what will soon transpire.” she said, “Honestly, the only more fitting instance I could imagine is, oh, perhaps the supple amount of time available to us before we even took part in such an escapade.” She said, with a slight mocking tone in her voice.

 

“But alas!” Maleficent continued, “I’m afraid this lack of information is not entirely your fault, Pete.” She said. “You see, I intentionally left this certain moment a mystery to you, as not only did I deem it unnecessary for you to possess this kind of knowledge, but at the time, my patience with you was beginning to run thin. I mean honestly, even informing you of the simplest assignments and trusting you to follow them is like relying on a child.”

 

Pete began to settle down a bit, but his questioning look from earlier still remained. But he decided to keep to just keep to himself at this point, especially when he considered the fact that this was Maleficent, and he didn’t want to end up invoking any more wrath from her than was necessary.

 

The brief period of silence that followed her statement proved just enough to goad Maleficent into divulging the exact meaning of her earlier words, as she said continued with, “In any case, I believe I have wasted enough precious time here as it is.” She said. “And besides, I am fairly confident that the method I have in mind will be a far more efficient way of explaining the situation. Yuna, would you kindly showcase the remainder of this assignment to our dear friend?”

 

Yuna replied with a wide smile, and cheerfully replied, “Yeah, of course!” After which, she motioned for Pete to follow her lead, as she flew over towards the slumbering beast that occupied the chamber.

 

As Pete hesitantly followed the floating pixie, she began her long-overdue explanation of the events that were about to take place. “Okay,” she started, “you know how we get between worlds using the Corridors of Darkness, right?”

 

Pete looked at her incredulously, a bit confused as to why she would bring up something so seemingly unimportant. Regardless, he replied, “Er… Yeah, what of it?”

 

Suddenly, Maleficent’s shrill voice rang out from the Crescendo, exclaiming, “Yuna! Don’t waste any of our time with conjecture! Just get to the point!”

 

Yuna chuckled nervously, slightly shaken by Maleficent’s sudden interruption. Quickly, she continued with, “Well, long story short, Maleficent is getting tired of using them for transportation.” She said. “Because according to her, every time we use them, the darkness within and around us grows stronger, and the Heartless become harder and harder to control. So instead of using the corridors, we devised a special kind of transportation between two places. And that’s what we’ll be using today to make tall dark and handsome over here useful!” She finished, motioning towards the monster lying before them.

 

Pete understood the basic gist of what she was trying to say, but there were still some parts that he felt a bit clueless on. Most he was willing to excuse for the sake of efficiency, but he felt like there was one element that deserved at least a little bit more attention. “Okeydokey then, but, uh…” he began, “if we ain’t usin’ the Corridors a’ Darkness’, what are we supposed to do to move this guy?” he asked.

 

Slowly, Yuna started gathering magical energy around her hand; exuding a turbulent aura that radiated a bright red. “That’s where the summoning circles come in.” she said.

 

Turning away from Pete, Yuna floated down towards the surrounding area of the hulking creature before them. As she reached the murky water’s surface, her face donned an expression of disgust. With great reluctance, she placed her hand near the sheen of the awful substance. As her hand rested before the surface, the energy surrounding it extended downwards, and at a remarkable speed, she started to trace patterns with it at the base of the sleeping giant.

 

Pete looked on in intrigue as Yuna etched a complex and intricate pattern of red light on the floor of the sewers, and looked further with shock, as she swiftly and gracefully continued on with her work. Using a combination of floating, gliding, and artful flying, Yuna quickly concluded her odd and weaving series of mysterious drawings. After taking a look at her work with a slightly satisfied glint in her eyes, Yuna dismissed the exuberant energy surrounding her hand.

 

Turning back towards Pete, who still looked a little lost, she continued her explanation with, “So Maleficent and I came up with this little contraption here.” She said. “Tell me, do you know what Summoning is?” she asked.

 

Pete didn’t even need to reply, as Yuna could easily discern his response from the look of even further confusion that adorned his visage. Quickly raising a hand to stop him from speaking, if he was even planning to, she calmly continued, “Actually, there won’t be any need. I guess I’ll just give you a quick lowdown regardless, since there’s not much else left for me to do at the moment!” she concluded.

 

“Alright,” she started once again, “I won’t get into most of the specifics right now, since there isn’t really much of a need at the moment. Besides, I don’t think you would get the mechanics of how it works anyways!” she said, a bit playfully.

 

There could be heard a slight groan emanating from Maleficent’s side of the conversation. “I can testify to that.” She said.

 

Unfazed, Yuna continued by saying, “Yes, well anyway, let’s get down to business! And don’t worry, I’ll make this as short as possible, since I’m pretty sure everyone’s patience is running thin at this point.”

 

“Alright then, first off, the basic idea behind summoning is a bit like teleportation. Basically, the process involves linking two areas together, and calling some kind of entity from one of those locations to the other, usually for assistance in battle. And in a sense, that’s sort of what we’re doing with the big guy here. You see, what I just made was a summoning circle. If two of a kind are synced up with just the right kind of magic, the summoning connection is complete! Because of this, Maleficent already had me set up another circle where she is, which will be the link we’ll use to bring this guy into battle!”

 

Pete edged forward a bit, and rubbing his head in a slightly bewildered manner, he leaned down towards the odd runes that Yuna had etched onto the submerged floors of the chamber. “Well, I’ll tell ya’ something,” he said, “that sounds like too much trouble, more trouble than it’s worth in my eyes.”

 

Yuna looked slightly abashed, and almost seemed to become a little more reserved at Pete’s words. “Right, about that…” she began.

 

“You see, for most Summoners who use the technique in battle, they’ll instead call upon a certain focal point or gathering ground that features many special kinds of magical monsters, since such an area is usually brimming with the kind of energy that the summoning process needs. In many ways, the area itself is some kind of big summoning circle! However, summoning in this way requires a very specific kind of power, and it’s not really what we’re focusing on here. The main point I’m trying to get across is, this is a very special case of summoning. Usually, something like this would never be done because of how impractical it is. But Maleficent wants him brought out this way, so I don’t see any reason to question her.”

 

“You may as well stop there, my dear Yuna.” Maleficent piped up, deftly putting an end to the summoner’s winding explanation. Her tone had changed drastically since the last time she spoke, as she now sounded far more drained than ever before. “I’m afraid I don’t feel as generous as to humor Pete’s incompetence for any longer. I will be frank, if he hasn’t understood our methods yet, than his is a pointless endeavor.”

 

“But still!” She continued, “You’re free to go on for as long as you see fit. After all, you have all the time in the world over there, don’t you? Of course, I will be taking my leave from this foolishness post-haste. My time with you has been taxing, and unlike your situation, the matters at my hand require far more attention than has been given due to your lethargic exposition. Farewell.”

 

Yuna perked up energetically and waved at the Crescendo, even though, again, there was really no point in doing so. “Alright, I guess we’ll be seeing you then!”

 

Maleficent sighed in a sort of worn-down frustration, as she replied, “I swear, your positive disposition is the ever-present thorn in my crown.”

 

Suddenly, Pete spoke up from the background, responding to Maleficent’s statement with, “Wait, didn’t ya’ say once that I was the thorn in yer’ crown?”

 

Maleficent sighed. “I’m afraid my suffering in this life is not limited to you alone, my dear Pete.” She replied for one final time, before her voice finally faded from the bouncing Heartless that contained it, leaving the murky sewers of Twilight Town silent once again.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

This is a new strategy I’m trying out. Instead of jump-starting every single chapter with useless blahblah that no one should care about anyways, I've decided to put all of that at the end of the chapter instead. There are two main demographics I hope to reach with this method:

 

The people who don’t read what I say: Now you don’t have to plow through me to get to the chapter. In fact, I’ve taken extreme measures to specifically design this strategy so that you can actually skip over everything I say at the end. Which is defined as freedom.

 

The people who do read what I say: You still get to read my useless blahblah, just not at the beginning of the chapter. It’s a big sacrifice, I know, but I believe in your ability to survive.

 

As you can plainly see, I think I may have stumbled across something revolutionary here. The possibilities just went from endless, to double endless. And as you all know, that’s a whole lot more possibility.

Edited October 22, 2013 by Mr. Mancer

[Grotesquery 603]

UH-OH LOOKS LIKE I'VE GOT SOME EXPLAINING TO DO

 

Okay, here's the situation. As it happens, Chapter 6 is taking me much longer than the other chapters have, so much so, I don't believe that I'm going to be able to get it out to you guys in quite a while. (Although, when factoring in procrastination hours and how much I usually write in a single sit-down, I've been making pretty good time so far.)

 

Of course, this wasn't entirely uncalled for. Right at the start, I knew that the upcoming chapter would probably take me a lot more time than the others, especially when considering how long it's shaping up to be. I mean, seriously, maybe the longest chapter yet. Maybe not as long as a longbow or the summer solstice (let's not go crazy here), but still on par with something like, say, Homecoming.

 

In the meantime, I've prepared a little side entry that covers an aspect of the story I've really been looking forward to starting on, The Organization. It's not much, but I hope it's enough to keep things on track for now.

 

By the way, for those of you confused about the timeline so far, let me take a moment to hopefully help straighten things up a bit. The first chapter, Meeting of the Lost, takes place an undefined amount of time after the beginning of the story. For right now, we'll just classify the "beginning of the story" as Kairi waking up on Destiny Islands in Chapter 2. This "Interlude" takes place about three weeks before the story starts, and before the events of Kingdom Hearts 3D. Yeah, if I have to explain the story to you outside of the actual story, I'm probably not doing my job very well, am I?

 

Don't know when I'll get done with the next chapter. Just hope for a Christmas Miracle at this point.

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                                                                                           

                                                                                              ~Interlude I: Initiation~

 

It was a dimly lit room; having been illuminated by the glow of computer monitors alone. Where exactly it was, no one could be certain, nor could anyone say it was really that important to know so. The floors and walls were mechanized and lifeless, but carried a dull sheen that belied their plain nature.

 

There were present three doors in the chamber, two facing one another on the left and right-hand walls, and one that served as the exit. While few had actually left the area yet, one could assume from their slanted structure that the stairs led upwards. What would lie on the other side however, no one knew for sure.

 

On the final wall of the bland and pale room, there rested a large array of computer monitors, which seemed to be powered by some kind of unseen source. Displayed on the screens for all to see were several brief snapshots; which seemed to focus on a specific group of people. Over the course of these highlights, a common factor could be seen between all of the people observed; they were all clad in cloaks of a dull black color.

 

Xigbar typed away at the computer with careless abandon, trying to take in as much information as he could about Xehanort’s chosen recruits. In all honesty, he didn’t really care about any of them. But the old man actually had the nerve to appoint him as the guy in charge of briefing all the newbies about what was going down. This started to get especially frustrating after a while, since a lot of the people who showed up were “technically” only supposed to be there to fulfill some sort of menial task; and for some reason, they would always need to know everything about what was taking place. To make it even worse, the second they finished, they would be sent straight back to whatever time they came from; only to inevitably come back later on for another mind-numbing exposition about their jobs. It was all a real bother, but someone had to do it. And unfortunately, Bratty Xehanort had his hands full on the time-continuum pretty much 24-7.

 

Xigbar couldn’t help but chuckle lightly at the nickname given to Xehanort’s youngest incarnation. But really, what were they supposed to call him? Xigbar was seriously getting curious. He didn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea of course, Bratty Xehanort obviously had a nice ring to it and everything, but it’s not exactly the name that invokes fear in anyone. Not even that bunch of whiny little kids that had gotten the boss so anxious.

 

Suddenly, Xigbar slapped himself in the face as hard as he could manage, and proceeded to mentally chide himself, “I’m putting way too much thought into this.” In fact, if he had spent any of that time actually paying attention to his surroundings, he may have noticed that the occupancy of his small room had inexplicably increased in the fraction of a second.

 

But it didn’t really matter when he noticed what he did, as his guests just so happened to have all the time in the world.

 

Xigbar turned around to face his new-found company. Two men who were dressed in coats much the same as his, with their hoods raised over their faces. One of them was relatively short, while the other was more Xigbar’s height. Based off of his well-earned alias, Xigbar came to the conclusion that the shorter of the two was Xehanort; while the taller one was likely another of Young Xehanort’s little time-traveling companions.

 

He wasn’t particularly surprised that Xehanort’s younger self had managed to enter the room in such a quiet and effortless manner, but he would admit that his curiosity was piqued by the one who accompanied him. His gag reflex was piqued as well, once he realized that he would have to be briefing yet another time-displaced incarnation.

 

Shaking off his feeling of inevitable doom for now, Xigbar managed to arch an eyebrow at his acquaintances. “Okay, so, who’s the new guy?” He asked.

 

Since all it did now was obscure his view, Young Xehanort removed the hood draped over his head, freeing his taut and messily arranged hairdo. “This one isn’t new. You’ve met him before.” He said.

 

Xigbar scrunched his eyebrows, doubtful of Xehanort’s statement. “That so? He doesn’t look familiar.”

 

The man accompanying Xehanort huffed, “It’s me, you ingrate.”

 

Xigbar still gave the two a confused look. “Nope. Not ringing any bells here.” He said.

 

Tired of Xigbar’s irritating charade, Saix removed the hood obscuring his face, revealing his oddly colored blue hair as well as the stern and serious face beneath. “There.” He said. “Now you have no excuses with which to continue playing this ridiculous game.”

 

A look of realization dawned on Xigbar’s face, as well as his trademark condescending smirk. “Oh, right!” He said. “I remember you now. You’re the guy who always has to ruin everyone’s fun.”

 

Saix scoffed. “I suppose this is the reason I was brought here prematurely?” He stated. “To entertain your outlandish behavioral patterns?”

 

Young Xehanort turned to leave. “It looks as though you have everything under control here.” He said, motioning to Xigbar. “I shall take my leave while it is still most convenient.”

 

Xigbar feigned the slightest of gasps in Young Xehanort’s direction. “What’s this?” He questioned. “Is the kid finally starting to grow a sense of humor?” He asked incredulously.

 

Xigbar slumped over to his chair at the large set of computer monitors. “Oh, no no no!” He chided. “This won’t do at all! Hold on, let me see if I can get the old man to come over here and beat some sense into you.”

 

Young Xehanort looked back with disdain as he prepared to leave, his face betraying his inner irritation. “You always were the most in-sufferable of our group.” He said.

 

Xigbar rolled his eyes in a condescending manner. “Better get used to it, kid.” He replied. “Afraid you’ll be spending quite a bit of your life dealing with my snarkiness.”

 

Xigbar let loose a faux sigh. “Shame you won’t remember half of it.”

 

Young Xehanort pulled up his hood as he walked away from his two acquaintances. “More like a blessing." He muttered.

 

Xigbar looked back at Young Xehanort as he ascended the steps, with a cocky grin etched upon his face. “Be sure to close the door on your way out.” He said sarcastically.

 

But of course, Xigbar knew that Xehanort’s ascension of the stairs was just to portray a faux sense of realism. In reality, the kid could have just time-traveled to his next destination right in front of everyone. But that would honestly just be kind of inconclusive, might as well give the illusion that he really is leaving. At least, that’s how Xigbar viewed everything.

 

Xigbar shook his head and clicked his tongue in an artificial display of disappointment. “We all think he just needs someone to talk to.” He said to no one in particular.

 

But it was only then that he remembered; there actually was someone to talk to here. With a passing glance, Xigbar looked over at Saix; and needless to say, the man was less than pleased at all the pointless, time-consuming banter that was being thrown around. He had already posed the question of why exactly he was here, and quite frankly, was getting tired of waiting for an answer to that question.

 

Xigbar looked Saix up and down with an inquisitive glance. “Why are you here again?” He asked.

 

The deep frown on Saix’s face only grew more intense at the question. “You can’t be serious.” He said.

 

Suddenly, a look of revelation dawned on Xigbar’s face. “Oh, yeah!” He exclaimed. Leaning forward slightly, he rested his arm on his knee, his arm in turn supporting his drooping head. “So, you’re the recruiter’s little errand boy, hmm?” He said.

 

Saix raised an eyebrow towards Xigbar in a questioning glance. “Errand boy?” He asked. “What do you mean?”

 

Xigbar let loose a sigh. “It’s a long bit of exposition, and I’m not really in the mood to be explaining everything to you, but…”

He continued to lean back in his chair, at least attempting to get into a comfortable position. “Someone has to do it.” He said.

 

He leaned forward once again, and looked over at Saix. “Might want to sit down.” He said. “This could take a while.”

 

Saix shook his head in refusal. “I’ll stand.”

 

Xigbar shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

 

Turning towards the large set of monitors, Xigbar began his explanation of why Saix was here.

 

“Alright,” He started, “remember what I said a bit earlier? I mentioned someone called, “The Recruiter”?”

 

Saix nodded. “I remember, vaguely.” He said.

 

“Well, that position is actually filled by two people. Xehanort’s youngest incarnation, and myself.” Xigbar continued. “My job is to anoint kid Norty over there with all the information he needs, so that he knows just exactly where to go and when to do so.”

 

Saix nodded, all the while motioning for Xigbar to continue.

 

Xigbar returned the gesture, and then continued by saying “But, there are some certain cases that fall out of the kid’s jurisdiction.” He said. “And those would be the rare occasions when there’s actually someone in the present time that we need to recruit.”

 

“And who would that be, exactly?” Saix asked.

Xigbar’s face took on a slight grin, as if this was the kind of question he was expecting. Suddenly, he turned towards the computer monitors behind, and once oriented properly, began typing away on the keyboard in front of him.

 

Suddenly, a screen popped up showing several areas for passcode entry; obviously placed in order to safe-guard the information beneath. Slowly, Xigbar began entering the numerous passwords required.

 

Saix walked up behind him, his interest caught by the large set of screens. “Will I need to know these passwords?” He asked.

 

Xigbar chuckled, and without averting his gaze replied, “Not really. You won’t be around long enough for it to really matter.” He said.

 

Saix looked away. “Well,” He said, “that’s good to know.”

 

After a couple minutes of typing, Xigbar finally finished entering all 12 passwords for the system. Within a brief moment of silence, the computer database was open to him at last. Xigbar smirked; and quickly began cycling through the various files in search of whatever it was he was looking for.

 

“Sorry this is taking so long.” He said to Saix, a bit of sarcasm in his voice. “If I knew you were coming, I would have gotten these out in advance.” Saix’s only response was to huff in affirmation.

 

For a brief moment, Xigbar turned to face his accomplice. “Look, if you’re gonna blame anyone, pin it on the kid.” He said. “He’s the guy who decided to pop up out of nowhere with the clueless, blue-haired clout.”

 

Saix looked at him in disbelief. “But you said that you were anticipating someone like me.” He replied. “You at the very least could have done better to prepare.”

 

Xigbar looked at him with a surprised glare, and then proceeded to concede and scratch his head in an odd display of embarrassment. “Alright, you got me.” He said. “In all honesty, I was just being lazy.”

 

Saix huffed once again at his host’s behavior. “It’s so very much like you to act like that.” He said, before turning his head towards Xigbar and continuing, “But it’s even more like you to just come out and say it in such a snide manner.”

 

Xigbar turned back towards the computer and raised his hands in defeat. “Alright,” he said, “I get it. You clearly know me better than everyone else in our cute little circle of friends.”

 

Saix sighed in exasperation. “Just find what you’re looking for, and let me go about my business.” He said.

 

Offering no response, Xigbar continued clicking away at the keyboard, as his eyes darted across repeated flashing images plastered on the screen. After entering a few more commands into the computer, he wordlessly got up, and walked towards a small box in the corner of the room.

 

Curious, Saix followed, as Xigbar bent down, typed in a passcode for the small lock upon the box, and opened it up. Sifting through multiple different cards in the box, he finally found one to his liking. After an exaggerated “Aha!”, he nabbed the card and swiftly closed the box once again.

 

Walking up to a less than amused Saix, Xigbar gave the scolding man his much needed answers. Holding the card in front of Saix’s face, Xigbar stated with a smug look on his face, “This is one of our data keys. Think of them as an easy access to all of our stored information.”

 

Saix gave him a confused look. “You mean you can’t access it from the computer alone?”

 

Xigbar chuckled, and slide the card back into his hand. “That’s not complicated enough for our standards. It needs to be as winding and unnecessarily complex as possible, direct words from the boss himself. Yep, you can quote me on that.”

 

Saix, once again, wasn’t having any of Xigbar’s antics. After raising his hands in defeat, Xigbar replied, “Alright, come on. Do you really think we would do all this for nothing? I mean, I don’t know how much you yourself value intelligence, but to the rest of us, it’s basically the mission statement. Keeping that much data stored safe and sound is essential, and you really can quote me on that.”

 

Saix looked up at the computer that Xigbar had been typing away on only a few moments ago, and said to him, “So, this thing stores the information for which card opens which vault of intel?”

 

Xigbar gave the thing a dismissive wave, saying, “Among other things, but that isn’t really important right now.”

 

Xigbar once again held the key card out in front of Saix’s face. “Follow me.” He said.

 

Xigbar led Saix through the door at the right hand side of the room, entering a small dark area filled to the brim with oddly shaped filing-cabinet like structures that exuded a faint blue glow. Xigbar continued through the small room, pensively scanning the large cabinets with his eyes, before finding one that looked right to him.

 

“Okay,” he said, placing his hand on the tall box, “basically, this room is where we keep all of our information about potential members for the organization.” He gestured towards the area they found themselves in, and continued, “Your files are here, too.”

 

Turning back towards the box, Xigbar began fiddling with the key in his hands, all the while continuing his tangent. “Most of these are useless by now, since I know you all by heart at this point.”

 

Upon placing the key into a small slot on the cabinet, Xigbar finally managed to pull the top drawer open. Sifting through the numerous files located within, he picked out a seemingly random piece from the collection. “Alright, here she is.” Xigbar said, all the while handing the file to Saix.

 

Saix looked at Xigbar inquisitively. “And, who might this be?” He asked.

 

Xigbar smirked at him. “Number XII.” He said.

 

“XII…” Saix muttered, while looking down at the folder in his hands. “So, the Organization is nearing completion, I presume?” He asked.

 

Xigbar nodded at him. “That’s right.” He said. “The big man is still working on procuring our eleventh member though, and while that one could take some time, he’s assured us it’s pretty much a sure fire deal at this point.”

 

Saix looked up from the folder in his hands. “So, that just leaves the Thirteenth Dark Vessel…” He said.

 

Xigbar clucked his tongue in a disapproving manner, and said, “There’s no need to waste your time thinking about those ones, they don’t concern you anyways.”

 

Xigbar turned Saix’s attention back towards the folder in his hand, and continued, “Like I said before, the only thing you need to worry about at the moment is helping us to recruit the person in this folder. Everything you need to know about why you were chosen, what you’ll be doing, and how you’re to go about doing it, are all laid out in here.” He said, adding even more emphasis to the folder in his hand. “Of course, I’ll need to explain a few areas, so you at least have a feel for what you’re getting yourself into.”

 

Steadily, Xigbar continued to explain the contents of the file. “You’ll be heading over to Destiny Islands, to retrieve something crazy important. Once you have it, you’ll come back here, give it to us, and we’ll take care of the rest. Once that’s done and over with, you’ll be sent on your merry way back on track to getting yourself killed by that key-toting numbskull. You can pick up a ride to the Islands by heading through the door adjacent to this room.”

 

“And that’s it.” Xigbar said, deftly closing the folder in Saix’s hands. “Initiation complete. Wonderful work. I am so proud of you. Now go out and make something of yourself.” With that, Xigbar turned back towards the door, and walked away.

 

Saix’s eyes darted towards the folder in his hands, and then back at Xigbar. “You mean that’s all?” Saix asked, slightly irritated at Xigbar’s brevity. Xigbar looked back at him, a condescending smirk etched onto his face as he replied, “Well, that’s it for me, at least. Now you’ve gotta understand, most of the time things aren’t this simple. So don’t think I’m gonna give up a little leniency in my schedule just to babysit you a little longer. Like I said, everything you need to know is in the file. And before you ask any more questions, I suggest actually looking at it a bit more before harpin’ on my teaching methods again.”

 

Xigbar continued on, leaving Saix alone in the room, quiet and eyeing the folder he held in his hands. Slowly, he took hold of one side’s edge, and pulled the file open.

 

Xigbar sighed as the door behind him closed shut once more. He once again plopped down in his chair at the computer monitors, mentally preparing himself for yet another tedious, mind-numbing conversation.

 

Almost immediately, he noticed Xehanort’s younger self pop up within the space behind his chair. He groaned audibly, practically yelling, “Seriously!? You just showed up, like, 15 minutes ago! I don’t know how time works in your messed up, backwater world, but I…”

 

Suddenly, Xigbar’s tirade was cut short by Xehanort, who interrupted him with, “Silence. We have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment.”

 

It was only then that Xigbar noticed that Xehanort was alone. “Yeah, and what would those be?”

 

Xehanort’s tone was lifeless as he replied, “The Subject has escaped. And he’s freed Roxas.”

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Like I said.

 

Christmas Miracle.

Edited December 2, 2013 by Mr. Mancer

[twilight_roxas 326]

This looks interesting, and i'm curious if both Riku, and Kairi are going to have a final fantasy partner, and foe?

[Grotesquery 603]

This looks interesting, and i'm curious if both Riku, and Kairi are going to have a final fantasy partner, and foe?

Ugghhhh there's a part of me that really just wants to be a jerk and say "You'll find out in due time", but there's another part that really doesn't want to lead anyone on.

 

So I'll say this. Yes, I do intend for the Final Fantasy aspect of Kingdom Hearts to play a significant part in the story itself. However, I can't say that they'll be partnered with the main characters any time soon.

 

Let me explain why I decided to do this. You see, at the moment, I believe that for the story's sake, it would be best to keep the characters of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts distinct from one-another. For the most part.

 

Right now, my priority is to emphasize the interaction between the main Kingdom Hearts characters. In my eyes, I feel as though they need to be more solidly established personality-wise before I make the Final Fantasy characters a significant part of their interaction with other characters.

 

Don't expect that to happen any time soon, either.

 

Oh, and Final Fantasy villains? Yeah, they'll show up in awhile, don't worry.

Edited December 3, 2013 by Mr. Mancer

[twilight_roxas 326]

ok because Kairi's partner would have been Noel Kriess, and her foe would have been Ulitmecia who in my fanfic is a evil Kairi in the future, and queen of the Time Creepers.

[Grotesquery 603]

ok because Kairi's partner would have been Noel Kriess, and her foe would have been Ulitmecia who in my fanfic is a evil Kairi in the future, and queen of the Time Creepers.

That sounds quite interesting and potential if you could make it work.

[twilight_roxas 326]

That sounds quite interesting and potential if you could make it work.

Well I am remaking my KH fanfic soon.

[Kittenz 4,281]

I love this, it really good. Can't wait for the next chapter haha