Schemer and Destiny proudly present their first ever joint fan ficiont: The Key and the Rose!
Prologue
The stars flicked gently against the blackness of the galaxy. All the sudden, an engine could be heard and a small, one man Gummi ship came speeding by, breaking the silence. Inside, a young man was leaning back carelessly in the pilot's chair. He hand one of his large, yellow shoes perched on the steering controls, tilting the wheel to guide the ship through the air. He wore a childish smile on his face and his blue eyes glinted mischievously under his mop of spiky brown hair. One of his gloved hands tapped the arm of his chair as he laughed to himself.
"There is no way Riku would be able to do this" he said loudly, though there was no one else in the ship with him "Nuh-uh, Riku would have crashed by now". The Keyblader laughed harder, but his laugh was cut short as he saw an asteroid approaching him. He yelled in alarm, leaned forward, grabbed the steering wheel and swerved a hard right. He looked back through the three hundred and sixty degree window that made up the control room of his Gummi ship. His eyes were wide as he tried to slow his breathing. "Like I said" he mumbled, running his hand through his hair "Riku would have hit that…yeah…"
The boy let out a large breath of air, then pressed a few buttons switching his Gummi ship to manual. He leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms and legs and moved his hands behind his head. Thinking twice, he reached into one of his large pockets and pulled out a letter. He looked down at the seal on the letter. It was one large circle with two smaller circles on the top. This he knew to be the seal of King Mickey, ruler of Disney Castle. He unrolled the letter and glanced at the small, neat handwriting.
Sora,
I have been notified by a friend that there is Nobody activity occurring in a world on the outskirts of the galaxy. I need you to go there and shut them down. It should be an easy task; I doubt you will require back up, unless you feel you need it (Here, the boy snorted proudly). Please handle this as soon as possible.
King Mickey
Sora rolled up the letter and stuck it back in his pocket. He pulled off his left hand glove and looked at the name of the world he had hurriedly written on his palm in pen. 'Opera Populaire, Paris'. Sora shrugged to himself. "Sounds weird" he mumbled. Just then, an alarm went off in the Gummi ship, making him jump. He looked on the screen and read 'Destination Reached'. Sora smiled. He switched off the autopilot and pushed forward on the steering wheel. The Gummi Ship's engine roared and he shot forward to the dark world in front of him, expecting to be in and out in a few minutes.
However, things are not always as we expect them to be.
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Sora hopped out of the Gummi ship and shut the door with his foot. He summoned the Kingdom Key and gripped it loosely. His eyes were wide as he stared around the place he had landed. It was on top of a large building looking out over a shining city. Sora's mouth fell open and moved slowly into a delighted smile as he watched the city. He stared with wonder at the large carriages and the beautiful outfits of the aristocrats that crowded the streets. "Cool" he laughed happily.
He leaned down far over the edge of the roof and his eyes widened again, but in shock. The large, beautiful building was boarded up with several windows broken. Sora stood up and walked around the roof for a bit. He activated the cloaking devise on the Gummi Ship (which he realized he should have done earlier) and looked down at the hatched leading into the building. He tried to open it, but when it wouldn't, he kicked hard on the door and it broke. "Oops" Sora said briefly, looking around to make sure no one saw that. Seeing he was alone, he climbed down a ladder and jumped down onto the landing.
Sora leaned the Keyblade against his shoulder and strolled down the hallway. The carpet was covered in soot and dirt, the walls were broken, and some of the doors were hanging off their hinges. Sora swung himself over the railing and landed on the next floor down. He began to run, not liking to linger around the destruction and continued running down every floor at break neck speed. Once he reached the last floor, he looked around for somewhere else to go. "Aw, c'mon" he grumbled "there is nothing here and if this was a false alarm-"
A statue suddenly swung away from the wall, making Sora yell again. It revealed a large hole in the wall. Peering down it, Sora saw a huge stone slide. "Well" he sighed "tally ho". Sora lowered himself into the slide and let go of the wall. Cold air and dust flew up to meet his face as he slid faster and faster. He coughed and spluttered, shutting his eyes against the grime. As he continued his bumpy ride, he felt the slide level out. "Oh my" he yelped. Sora shot out of the slide and slammed into the stone ground with a grunt. Sora slid to a stop and opened his eyes, an action that was followed by another yell of shock. He was a few inches away from tumbling over a ledge into a rather murky lake.
Sora let out a long breath. "Sheesh" he sighed, pushing hair out of his eyes once again. He stood up and brushed himself off to the best of his ability, summoned his Keyblade, and looked around. The catacomb he was in looked like an old, elegant room by the furniture, but the cellar that it was located in was moldy and abandoned. Sora walked around, holding his Keyblade loosely at his side. He ran one of his hands over the keys of a broken organ as he trod on old music sheets. He furrowed his brow, wondering who could have brought all this down here. His eyes roved over the old, decrepit wood that made up the furniture, the bed sheets and blankets that still bore their intricate patterns, though the color had faded.
Suddenly, music began to play. Sora turned sharply, swinging his Keyblade in an arc behind him. Seeing no one, he stood and turned his head looking for the source. His eyes landed on a music box on a table near him. A rather odd looking monkey stared back at him, tapping two cymbals together in time with the music. Sora walked over to it and his hand touched the barrel part.
"Like it?" came a deep voice from behind him. This time, Sora spun his Keyblade and it met metal with a loud clang. Turning, Sora's eyes met a pair of stormy blue eyes a few feet from his face. Sora took two steps back so he could get a better look at the man standing before him. The man was tall with pale brown hair that was slicked back. He looked to be in his late twenties, much older than Sora, and wore clothes Sora assumed were normal for this world: black pants and a jacket with a crisp white shirt underneath it. A cape hung gracefully over his shoulders and leather gloves donned his hands. He held a thin sword with the hilt shaped like a skull and a mask covered the right side of his face.
Sora looked back at the music box and then faced the man again. "Who are you?" he asked. The man laughed coolly. "That is no way to treat your host, Sora" he said with a slight smile. Sora took another step back. "How'd you know my name?" he asked, alarmed. The man laughed harder. Sora narrowed his eyes and held his Keyblade at an offensive stance. "What do you want?" Sora asked, determined to figure out what was going on.
The man smiled and lowered his sword. He held out his hand to Sora in a way that disturbingly reminded Sora of his vision of Riku. The man's smile turned to more of a smirk. "You" He said. Sora's eyes widened and he let out a yell of horror as the floor disappeared beneath him. He felt himself falling, felt himself going numb, and heard the man laughing before he blacked out.
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Knock.
Silence.
Knock.
The teenage blonde girl brought her hand down, away from the wooden door to frown impatiently at it.
Knock knock.
No response.
"Sora, are you there?" Jenn yelled, glancing through a window next to the door. She couldn't see anyone in the house, and she sighed.
"Well, I'll be around if you decide to answer." She said, turning on her heel and walking off, shuffling along the beach. Why hadn't Sora responded? He had to be up by now; he never slept late, even on weekends. Unless, of course, he fell asleep on the beach in which case it was very hard to wake him up.
"I'll check the beach." She mumbled, swinging herself around a nearby tree by sticking her arm out and grabbing onto it.
The beach was empty, the only sounds coming from the constantly crashing waves and cawing seagulls. No one was around that she could see; not a single one of the normal occupants of the small island were around.
"Huh." Jenn said, biting her lip in slight worry. "No one's here."
Her blue eyes flashed to the distant and much larger island, where the majority of the people lived. The kids would come to hang out on the island all day, but even the usual variety of children and teenagers did not inhabit the island today.
"Maybe I'm dreaming." She said in a monotonous tone. "Or maybe I'm just alone on an island."
She sighed again, sitting herself down on the warm beach sand and crossing her arms. "Okay, so now what?"
As if something had been waiting for her to ask the question, a swirling black portal appeared on the other side of the beach in a few seconds.
Jenn stared curiously at the portal, standing up as a figure materialized in the blackness and stepped out on the beach.
It was Sora.
"I've been looking for you!" Jenn said, irritated but grinning. "And since when do you travel like that?"
The brunette shrugged, taking another step away from the portal and onto the sand. "I was just in another world for a while, that's all."
"Well," the blonde girl said, "what world was it?"
Sora was silent for a minute, watching Jenn with a one-sided grin that was very un-Sora like. "I can show you if you want." He said finally, extending a hand.
Jenn blinked. "What?"
He didn't repeat himself, but simply stood there, azure eyes flashing, arm extended.
This is weird, she thought, taking a few steps foreword. Why doesn't he just use the Gummi Ship or something?
"…all right, then." She said, taking his hand.
Then they were gone in another flash of black light.