DISCLAIMER: I only own my own copies of Kingdom Hearts I and II. I don't own anything else.
A/N: This is my Christmas gift for everyone. I hope you enjoy it! And Merry Christmas to all the writers and viewers!!
Mysterious voices
Past
Thoughts
Caller
With the help of Leon and his friends, Sora and his party members, Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and Mog had managed to escape from the last world aboard their Gummi ship, thanks to the wish Leon and his friends had made to Lulu. However, unfortunately for the party, Kairi had not woken up, ever since she had received her Heart Fragment from that world. It was unusual. Usually, Kairi would wake up minutes after she had received her Heart Fragment. But this was different. Neither Sora, nor the others, could figure out what went wrong.
Not only was the mystery of Kairi's unusual slumber strange, but there was something else that also bothered Sora. While at the last world, Sora felt strange. When he fought his opponent, Sora remembered being knocked out cold, after receiving a mean rifle butt to his face. However, when he woke up, he found himself standing next to Kairi and the rest of his friends.
Donald and Goofy had found it strange, as well. When they saw him rise up from the ground, they saw something in his eyes that they never thought they would see: ruthlessness. It looked like Sora was a completely different person; especially with the way he fought his opponent. What caused Sora to act completely like another person?
After a moment of flying through time and space, the controls that Cid was handling began to beep rapidly.
"We're here, boys and girls!" announced Cid, as he began working the controls to landing mode.
"Where are we going, kupo?" asked Mog, as he hopped up to Cid's shoulder.
"……Home," answered the calm Leon, as he walked up to the pilot seat.
"It's been a while since we've been there," said Yuffie, "I wonder how everyone is doing…"
Cid continued to fly towards his destination, looking for a suitable landing area for the Gummi ship.
The Gummi ship flew into the atmosphere, without having to encounter any heat resistance from the atmosphere. However, upon entering this mysterious world, the Gummi ship's visuals were suddenly block. The world they entered had overcast skies, making it difficult for the party to see past their windshield, as they continued to fly into the world.
Eventually making their way out of the dark clouds, Leon and his friends, as well as Sora and his friends, were shown what was beyond the dark clouds. Unfortunately, what they saw was something that shocked Leon and his friends.
"Oh my goodness," gasped Aerith, as she covered her mouth in shock, "What happened here?"
The entire world was in ruins. No plants had grown, buildings were completely destroyed, and there were no signs of life. Save for the other destroyed buildings, there was a tall castle, which seemed to be completely intact.
"Cid, land away from the castle," commanded Leon.
"Yeah…" replied Cid, as he began to land the ship. Cid was also shocked to see what happened to his home.
The Gummi ship landed away from the castle, just a few miles away from it. Goofy helped carry the sleeping Kairi in his arms, as Sora and his friends exited the Gummi ship, followed by Leon and his friends.
"What is this place?" asked Donald, as he surveyed the ruined world.
"This is our home world, Hollow Bastion," replied Leon, "The last time we saw this world, it was a beautiful world. But now…" Leon's heart was full of sorrow. He couldn't believe his own home was destroyed in their absence.
"Leon, who could have done such a thing?" asked the sorrowful Yuffie, as she looked around her world.
"I wouldn't lose hope, yet," Riku spoke up, "If that castle is intact, then there might be someone there, right?"
"By the way, Riku, why did you use your dark powers back in that other world, kupo?" asked Mog, "Mog thought that you weren't going to use it again."
"True, but you know what they say," Riku smiled amusingly, "'Desperate times calls for measures.'" Besides, it was either that, or our trip would have been cut short."
"Sorry, everyone," Sora apologized, "I should have put in more thought about our escape back there."
Riku placed a comforting hand on Sora's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Sora," Riku assured, "You did the best you could. Besides, you got back Kairi's Heart Fragment."
That was true. After all the trouble they went through, Sora did manage to get Kairi's Fragment back. However, there was something disturbing him. I remembered getting knocked out by that guy, though…but after that, I didn't know what happened… But even so, the feeling of having defeated someone is still lingering in my left leg for some reason.
Mog hopped up into Sora's hands. "Is something wrong, kupo?" asked the concerned Mog, "Do your bruises still hurt?"
"I'm okay, Mog," Sora assured.
"Really?" asked Mog.
"I appreciate your concern, Mog," smiled Sora. Pluto then walked up to Sora and placed his chin on his leg, showing that he was concerned for him as well. "You two, Pluto" Sora smiled to Pluto.
"You're welcome, kupo," Mog said happily, to which Pluto also responded to Sora.
"Well, at least there are a few happy faces around," Goofy commented.
Although there were some smiles around, Leon was beyond being comforted. He was still shocked about seeing his entire world destroyed by an unknown force.
Elsewhere, in a mysterious world, Kairi was sleeping. However, it was only her body that was sleeping. Somehow, her mind was intact. There was only one strange thing: why was she sleeping underwater?
Wake up…
"Who is it?" asked the sleeping Kairi.
Wake up…
Leon led everyone towards the intact castle of Hollow Bastion. Although the world was in complete ruins, Leon and his friends had some nostalgia.
"It's been a while since we've walked here, hasn't it?" Aerith recalled.
"Yeah," replied Cid, "In a way, it's good to be back home…"
"I wish I felt the same way," said the monotone Leon.
As they continued to walk, Sora stopped in his tracks, catching everyone's attention. The party didn't understand why Sora was interested in a rock. However, Sora noticed something strange about it.
"Something wrong, Sora?" asked Goofy.
"Yeah," replied Sora, "The rocks are all round."
"Aren't all rocks like that?" asked Donald, as he approached the rock Sora was inspecting.
"It may be weathering, but there's no way wind can do this much to it alone…" Sora theorized.
Pluto walked up to the rock and began sniffing it, checking it for any suspicious activities. Mog hopped up to the rock to see the damage as well. Then, without warning, the skies began to make way for the rain. To Leon and his friends, it was strange for Hollow Bastion to rain. It never rained in their home world. As everyone looked up the rain, a single drop fell on Mog's head. However, a small sizzling sound, followed by a tiny red dot on Mog's head caused Mog to cry in pain. "Ouch!" Mog cried out, before hoping into Sora's hooded shirt for cover, "This rain hurts, kupo!"
Sora cringed in pain when he felt a rain drop on his hand. Soon, his hand started having some red on it. Soon enough, the entire party was trying to cover themselves from the harmful effects of the rain. Goofy was having difficulties protecting the sleeping Kairi from the rain. Only through Donald's magical barrier was he relieved of having to worry about Kairi's safety. "It's burning my skin!" exclaimed the surprised Sora. Sora then placed his other hand on his burnt one, in order to soothe the minor burn.
As the party fought to cover themselves from the rain, Yuffie looked up to see that the castle was not suffering the burning effects of the rain. "Look! The castle isn't burning at all!" Yuffie pointed out.
"Take cover, everyone!" Leon commanded everyone.
Leon and Sora led their friends through the rain, while attempting to cover themselves from it. They all ran as fast as they could, towards unharmed castle.
The run was long, but in the end, the party managed to make it out in one piece. The party took shelter in the castle, wiping themselves clean from the raindrops they were given. Pluto stood away from the group, in order to shake himself dry and not wet his friends.
"If we had stayed out long, we would have been full of holes, don't you think?" Riku mused.
"What a relief," sighed Aerith.
The castle looked unoccupied. There were no signs of life. It was almost as if the castle was completely abandoned long ago.
"You think we're alone?" asked the suspicious Donald.
"I'll go check it out," Sora volunteered bravely, with Mog clinging onto his shoulder. Pluto barked in response, apparently volunteering as well. Pluto was going to act as an extra scout, due to his natural sense of smell.
"Be careful, you three," cautioned Goofy.
Sora, Mog, and Pluto took point and journeyed into the castle rooms alone.
Riku then took a look at Kairi's sleeping form, removing her bangs from her face. It's a good thing you're sleeping, Kairi…
Sora, Mog, and Pluto entered a hallway. The hallway was completely empty. No one was around. It was all too quiet for them. Sora noticed that Mog was scared.
Sora opened his shirt, offering him a safe shelter for the frightened moogle. "Here, Mog," Sora offered.
"No," Mog shook his head, "Mog has to find Kairi's Heart Fragment, kupo."
Sora smiled softly at Mog's dedication to Kairi. "Thanks, Mog. Can you sense the Fragment anywhere?"
"Mog can't tell, kupo," replied Mog, "But Mog does feel an immense power."
"Where?" asked Sora.
"From down below," Mog answered, looking down from Sora's shoulder.
Pluto, suddenly, began barking somewhere. That could only mean one thing!
As Leon and the rest of the party waited for Sora to come back, they heard something that was loud enough to echo towards them. They heard the sound of gunshots, and Sora and Mog yelping.
"Sora!" exclaimed the distressed Leon as he led the party to Sora's location.
Bullets blazed towards Sora as he used his acrobatic moves to dodge the gunshots. Sora drew his Keyblade to deflect the incoming shots. The Keyblade master jumped around, dodging the bullets. However, upon landing on a not-so-great spot, his footing slipped, due to the poor condition of the ground. This gave the gunner the chance to put one bullet in Sora's left leg, causing Sora to fall back and be propped up against a wall.
"Sora!" Mog cried out in shock.
Pluto went in front of Sora in a defensive stance, barking at the attacker.
Sora dropped his Keyblade and clutched his wounded leg, seething in pain, due to the immense pain of hot metal penetrating his leg. Sora did whatever he could to stop the bleeding, but putting pressure on his wound only caused Sora to cringe even more in pain.
"Since you've set foot in this castle, you're not getting out alive," a man said.
Sora looked up from where he was sitting, and he saw numerous people staring down on him. Some were humans, others were non-humans. Among them, he saw the gunner that was shooting at him, a man in a red cape. This man's gun was unusual, for it had three barrels. And at the end of the handle, there was a chain design of a three-headed dog.
"He is but a boy," Kimahri noted.
"You have to admit, though, his moves were pretty cool," praised Vaan.
"Still, they're intruders," reasoned Penelo.
"And they could be thieves, as well," added Fran.
Sora prepared himself for the worst, as he picked up his Keyblade. Mog cringed into Sora, scared for dear life, while Pluto was prepared to defend Sora.
"What are you going to do, Vincent?" asked Vaan.
Vincent reloaded his three-barreled weapon, before pointing it towards Sora. "Are you 'E?'" Sora didn't quite understand what Vincent meant by that? What did he mean by "E?" Without waiting for an answer, Vincent pulled the trigger.
Sora shut his eyes and looked away, only to realize that the bullet didn't reach. Opening his eyes, he found someone he never expected to show up.
"I hope you weren't as reckless in your journey, Sora," Leon said, with his gunblade in hand. Leon stepped up and put his gunblade into an offensive stance. "Your opponent is me!" Leon challenged Vincent.
"This guy is crazy," mused Vaan, "He can't seriously be thinking he can defeat Vincent?"
"No way," replied Penelo, "No one is stronger than Vincent."
Accepting the challenge, Vincent leaped into the air, firing numerous shots towards the fierce Leon. Leon deflected the gunshots easily with his gunblade. No gunshots had penetrated his defense.
With blinding speed, Vincent charged towards Leon with his golden-clawed gauntlet, attempting to strike Leon in the face. Luckily, Leon dodged the thrust in time, and counterattacked with a downwards slash, making sure to pull the trigger as well. Vincent, however, dodged the attack.
Leon charged towards Vincent, making a horizontal slash, only to have Vincent jump over him. This guys is good… But the way he moves…that's not human…
Upon landing on the ground, Vincent suddenly spun around and attempted to kick Leon. Leon blocked the kick with his gunblade. Unfortunately, there was another thing about Vincent that Leon hadn't expected. The force of the kick was enough to send Leon back into a wall. It was then that Leon realized that Vincent had superhuman strength, too.
Leon shook it off and charged towards Vincent again. As Vincent charged towards Leon, he did the best he could to reload as fast as he could. When the two fierce warriors were close enough, Leon and Vincent found themselves at a stalemate. Vincent's loaded gun was pointed at Leon's chin, while Leon had his gunblade towards Vincent's neck.
Then, without warning, Leon unexpectedly managed to hit Vincent. "Rough Divide!" Leon brought his gunblade upwards, towards Vincent, pulling the trigger at the same time, increasing the damage. Vincent was sent upwards into the ceiling, surprising his allies.
"Vincent!" yelled Vincent's allies.
Vincent, however, never showed that he was in pain. He landed easily on the ground and pointed his gun towards Leon and Sora.
"What's with this guy? Is he even human?" asked Leon.
Sora noticed it as well. He's not just strong. There's something different about him.
"Vincent!"
Vincent looked behind Sora and Leon, and found Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, Donald, and Goofy running up to Leon and Sora.
"Yuffie?" asked the surprised Vincent. Vincent placed his gun on safety, and put it away. The red-caped gunner signaled his men that it was all right. "What are you doing here?"
"You two know each other?" asked Leon, still keeping his gunblade up.
"Vincent is a friend of mine, Leon," explained Yuffie, "He's the one who took care of me until I met up with you. He disappeared a long time ago, and I haven't seen him since. Where have you been all these years, Vincent?" Yuffie asked.
"……I had to take care of something," Vincent simply answered. Vincent turned his back towards Leon and the others. "Sorry, Yuffie, but I need to be alone for a while. We'll talk later. I'm going underground. No disturbances," Vincent commanded his allies. With that said, Vincent walked off, walking past his own human and non-human allies.
Seeing Vincent as no longer a threat, Leon placed his gunblade away. Leon then turned his attention to the wounded Sora, who was still cringing in pain because of the gunshot wound he had received. Aerith was the first person to approach Sora and inspect his wound. "Are you okay, Sora?"
"It hurts, but I'll be okay," Sora replied to Aerith.
"Where's that guy going?" asked Donald the Hollow Bastion residents.
"You don't know what's underground?" asked the confused Vaan, "You should know what it is. That's where all the water supply is at!"
"Water?" asked the confused Yuffie, "What are you talking about? What happened to this place?"
"You still lack knowledge of this place?" Kimahri questioned, "So you are not here to steal the water, you claim."
"We're just newcomers who happened to stop by," assured Riku, as he carried Kairi in a piggyback style.
"That's right, kupo," Mog spoke up, "We came from a really, really, really faraway place! We don't know anything about this place, kupo! That means we're not thieves!"
"What is that thing?" asked Vaan, as he showed interest in the moogle.
"Is that a mutant?" Penelo asked suspiciously.
"Mog is Mog, kupo!" Mog said happily.
"Wow, it even talks, too!" exclaimed Vaan. Vaan was about to approach Mog to pick him up for observation, only to be held back by Kimahri.
"Never touch things you know nothing of," Kimahri lectured to Vaan as he held him back.
"Aw, come on, Kimahri! I just wanted to take a look at it!" complained Vaan.
"So what of the fate of these visitors?" Kimahri asked.
"If Vincent refused to take their life away, then perhaps he felt their deaths were not needed," replied Fran.
"Perhaps your are right," Kimahri agreed, "Vincent letting strangers past him, if they threaten the underground. Not the kind of man, Vincent is."
"Well, then, that settles it," Cid spoke up, "We're all just one big happy family! The name's Cid. You don't need me to reintroduce Yuffie. The guy in the black jacket is Leon, the girl in pink is Aerith, that spiky-headed kid Sora, the silver-head is Riku, the little duck is Donald Duck, the big dog is Goofy, little critter is Mog, and that sleeping girl is Kairi. Leon, Yuffie, Aerith and I used to live here in Hollow Bastion, until we got stranded on a different world. We were shocked to see what happened to our home here. We appreciate it if you told us what's happened here while we were gone."
"You are welcome to stay here. But be warned, you must also work as well," declared Fran, "Penelo, take the boy in and be sure to treat his wounds."
"Okay," responded Penelo. Penelo approached Sora and slung his arm over her neck, using the walking-assist technique to help Sora up. "Come on, kid. We'll get you fixed up."
As Sora was being helped to the infirmary, Mog began whispering into Sora's ear. "That power Mog felt earlier is coming from below us, nowhere else, kupo," Mog whispered.
"In other words, we can't leave here until we explored this entire world first," realized Goofy.
Sora and the party were being led by the residents of Hollow Bastion, traveling deeper into the unknown territory of this unknown castle.
The party traveled up towards the higher levels of the castle, where the overcast skies were able to illuminate the place, as opposed to the darker lower levels of the castle. Penelo continued to help Sora walk with a wounded leg.
"I'm sorry about this," Sora apologized to Penelo.
"Don't worry about it," assured Penelo.
"Leon! Cid! Yuffie! Aerith!"
A couple of children ran up to the party, with smiles on their face upon seeing Leon and his friends.
"Welcome back, you guys!" one child exclaimed, "We missed you!"
"It's good to be back, kids," Cid smiled, ruffling the children's hair.
"We're sorry we took too long getting here," said Aerith.
"We've got lots of stories to tell you kids," stated Yuffie.
The children led the group into another part of the room. In this particular room, they found numerous civilians, human and non-human alike, lounging about. Apparently, these men, women, and children have taken shelter in this castle, away from the acidic rain. The people here had received proper medical treatment, food, water, and shelter.
"There's a lot more people here after all, kupo," Mog noted.
Wake up…
"Me…?" asked the sleeping Kairi.
Yes. Quickly, you must wake up…
In the infirmary, Kairi's sleeping body was placed on one of the beds. Sora was receiving his medical treatment, with the help of Penelo's expertise in first-aid and Aerith's healing magic.
Leon was being informed of the reason why his home is now in utter ruins. Leon was so focused on the outcome of his home world.
"I see," said Leon, "So this acid rain has been going on for the past five years, huh?"
"Rivers, ponds, lakes are no longer used for drinking," Kimahri informed, "Nothing above ground can be used for good water."
"Not even the filtration systems in other places are working properly," Penelo added in, while she was wrapping Sora's leg with a bandage.
"How were you guys able to survive five years, kupo?" asked Mog.
"According to what the others told me, there's an underground waterway here in Hollow Bastion," recalled Aerith, "Although I've never heard that it was a part of this place."
"The buildings are not only slowly being melted, but the acid rain is destroying the ground as well," said Kimahri, "Though it is underground, must protect at all cost, the waterway; or no water there will be to drink."
"But I've noticed that compared to the other buildings, this one is not melting at all," Sora noticed.
"That's why the water here is so precious," said Vaan, "But we're not the only building that's not melting. We also have contacts at the communications tower."
"The communications tower?" pondered Donald.
"The only other place that has clean water, like us," Kimahri responded.
"One of the guys over there knows Vincent pretty well," explained Vaan, "In fact, he's also in charge of urban development here in Hollow Bastion. He's been trying to come up with a plan to restore Hollow Bastion."
"Any results?" asked Leon.
"Nothing yet," replied Vaan.
"…I see…" sighed Leon.
"Only this castle and the communications tower are the only ones that are standing against the acid rain," explained Penelo, "In a sense, this would be something like, 'New Hollow Bastion.'"
"…Don't mention that kind of name again…" muttered Leon.
Meanwhile, in the lowest level of the castle, Vincent stared down at the underground water supply. As he continued to stare at the water, the water began to glow for unknown reasons. Vincent didn't seem surprised when he saw the glowing.
How long must we stay here?
Night fell, and most of the civilians decided to call it a night and turn in for the night. In another bedroom, Kairi was placed on a bed with a blanket draped over her, with Sora sleeping at the side of Kairi's bed. Riku approached Sora with a blanket at hand and placed it on the Keyblade master. Leon was also in the room, with a lot of things in his mind about what happened to his home.
"At least they gave us a room to stay in," Riku said as he placed the blanket on the sleeping Sora. Riku then looked up to see Kairi's sleeping form. "I, at least, hope that Kairi stays asleep like this…at least until we're out of this world." Riku then placed a hand on Sora's forehead, and he felt a high temperature. "Looks like Sora might be having a fever… You can go ahead and sleep in your room, Leon. I'll keep watch of these two." Leon remained silent, as if he were ignoring Riku completely. "Hey, Leon, if you wanted to sleep, you should have just said something, or I'll end up looking like I'm talking to myself," Riku mused.
"Well, then answer me this…" Leon spoke up, "You use the power of darkness. Why?" Riku didn't answer Leon's question. Leon was already suspicious of Riku, for his use of his dark powers. "You've never used your dark powers before. Up until now, you revealed this to your friends. Your friends told me that you made a sacrifice to Lulu, you wished that you never returned to the world you originally came from, and all this time, you've spent this entire time running to various worlds, in order to avoid the one you came from. I bet that world has something to do with it…"
"You're well informed, Leon," Riku praised in a carefree manner. Leon made no attempt to smirk or even try to smile a little, despite Riku's attempt to show his carefree attitude. "You're not much of a smiling person, aren't you?"
"I don't know what your reasons are for not wanting to come back to your own world because you're some kind of fugitive or something," Leon continued, "But your reasons have nothing to do with your friends."
"Well, maybe your right," Riku smirked.
"Isn't that what you want?" Leon interrogated, "You're constantly in that carefree attitude of yours because you don't want anyone to come too close to you. In fact, you don't want to be involved with anyone else. But look at you now. Now, you're concerned about Sora's fever; and you're worried about letting the Princess seeing what kind of world she's in right now. And then…using your powers…"
"Maybe it's because I can't die," Riku shrugged.
"Not on your own at least," corrected Leon, "But at someone else's hands, that's a different story." Riku made no comment or give out any explanation. "If you hadn't done anything back there, your friends would have been caught, or worse, killed. And you freely used your dark powers. You intentionally let yourself get involved with Sora and Kairi."
"…………No one should be unhappy just because they got involved with me," Riku said, but not in his carefree tone. This tone was more like a depressed tone.
Silence overtook the two, until the sound of someone appearing at the doorway caught their attention. "Hey, Leon, you got a minute?" Yuffie called out.
"Oh, yeah, Leon was just about to step out," Riku informed, regaining his carefree tone.
Leon got up from the wall he was leaning on and began to walk out. However, on his way, Leon grabbed Riku's vest, keeping a firm grip. "Don't think you've walked out of this conversation easily," Leon whispered coldly.
"You're awfully rough," Riku mused.
"I've said it before, your reasons have nothing to do with your friends," reminded Leon.
"That's right," Riku agreed, "So they've got nothing to worry about."
"I was talking about your past, Riku," said Leon, "Your past has nothing to do with them." Leon then roughly shoved Riku aside, in a disciplinary action. "You'd better get your head together and think about what you're going to do from here. And if you're still planning to use your dark powers, then use it right." With those cold, but wise words said, Leon left the room, leaving Riku to watch over his two sleeping friends. "Let's talk somewhere else, so we don't wake them up," requested Leon.
"Okay," Yuffie nodded.
As Riku was left alone, Riku leaned against the wall and slid down against it, slumping up against the wall. Riku then held his face, as if he was covering his expressions. Riku then laughed a silent laugh. "I wish it were as easy as you say……Leon…" Riku whispered quietly to himself.
"Where…am I?" Kairi asked herself. Kairi opened her eyes slowly, until she saw that she was literally underwater. "I'm underwater…" The fact slowly registered into her mind, until she was fully awake and she really did find herself underwater.
You should not be here.
Something glowed behind Kairi, grabbing her attention. Kairi turned around and found a blue crystal, glowing brightly.
You must wake up. You must open your eyes. Or else, the dream will take you.
In the morning, Sora, Riku, Goofy, and Donald were put to labor, under Kimahri, Cid, Penelo, Aerith, and Vincent's supervision. The entire party was doing their morning run through the ruins of Hollow Bastion, with their weapons ready.
"Sora, are you doing fine? How's your leg?" asked Aerith.
"I'll be okay," assured Sora.
"If you wish to stay here, then you work," Kimahri reminded, "Only those who work will earn."
"You got it, kupo!" Mog said happily on Riku's shoulder.
"By the way, where's Leon?" asked Donald.
"He said that he wanted to say behind," informed Cid, "Apparently, he didn't want to see the outside anymore."
"That means Leon will be babysitting Kairi, kupo!" Mog cheered.
Leon stayed in the room with Kairi still sleeping.
So much has changed in this world…
While Leon was deep in his thoughts, he hadn't notice Kairi's hand twitching.
Sora and the party stopped at a destroyed bridge. There was no way to cross the bridge. Sora and his friends were wondering why they stopped at this destroyed bridge.
"It comes…" Kimahri warned everyone, arming himself with his spear.
"What is?" asked Mog.
As if on cue, a gigantic worm-like creature emerged from the ground, and immediately set its sights on the entire party.
Vincent pulled out his trademark handgun and immediately opened fire upon the worm-like creature. Riku finished things off by using his swordsmanship skills to cut the worm's head off, as it continued its assault.
"You're pretty good," praised Penelo.
"Naw, not really," Riku said, being modest.
"Just what is that?" asked Sora.
"It's a mutant species," answered Penelo, "It has poison, but as long as you avoid the bad part, everything else is edible."
Mog perked up and began fidgeting around on Riku's shoulder. "Mog was called a mutant, too, kupo! Mog is going to be eaten, kupo!"
"Ah, you look tasty already," Cid teased, as he inched closer to Mog, making Mog cry like a frightened child into Riku.
Suddenly, another gigantic worm-like creature emerged from the ground, right behind the group. The closest target the worm found was Kimahri, who didn't have time to react to the emerged worm.
However, Kimahri's life was saved when Sora appeared out of nowhere and slashed his Keyblade downwards, cutting off the head of the worm, leaving it lifeless on the ground in front of them.
"Wow…" whispered the surprised Aerith.
"Are you okay?" Sora asked as he ran up to Kimahri.
"What of you?" Kimahri replied, puzzling Sora, "Your leg?"
"Oh, I'm okay," assured Sora.
Away from the group, the sound of the victory fanfare rang around them. Vincent reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone.
"This is Vincent," Vincent spoke into his phone.
Vincent, how is everything?
"Who is Vincent talking to?" asked Goofy.
"One of the leaders of Hollow Bastion," answered Penelo.
In a dark world, there was a chamber with a gigantic water container, with a teenaged boy trapped inside.
Inside that water container, the teenaged boy's hand suddenly twitched…
Sora suddenly felt some pain in his blind right eye.
What was that just now?
"Everything is going well, Reeve," Vincent informed in his cell phone, "We're just doing our morning runs and gathering food supplies. How are things on your end?"
Development is still underway. As for the patrol, we've found no problems. The water supply here is still fresh. So basically, in other words, everything is at its usual.
Sir, we've picked something up. I think you should take a look at this.
*sigh* Sorry, Vincent, but I have to look into this. We'll talk later.
"Understood," said Vincent, "Watch your backs."
You, too.
With that said, Vincent placed his cell phone away.
"By the way, I was wondering, has Vincent always been the strongest here, kupo?" asked Mog.
"No. In fact, Vincent is just like you guys," Penelo replied, referring to Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Mog, "He's also a foreigner in this world. Two years ago..."
"Vincent appeared here in Hollow Bastion," recalled Kimahri, "He appeared at the castle that we just left. Kimahri thought he was a demon, when Kimahri first saw him."
"We thought he was there to steal our water," Penelo added in.
"When we saw him, Vincent was in some kind of chaotic state," said Kimahri.
"A chaotic state?" asked Sora.
"Fran said that Vincent was sort of like a lost child," answered Penelo.
"Then, Vincent looked at the water," concluded Kimahri.
In the underground chamber, where the water supply was being kept, Vincent stood before the survivors of Hollow Bastion, who were armed with various weapons, all intended for Vincent. Vincent, however, paid no heed to the people ready to fight him. Vincent only stared at the water, and nothing more.
"It's here..." Vincent said quietly, "And I'm going to protect it..."
"To protect it..." Sora pondered.
"So ever since then, Vincent has been protect that castle," realized Goofy.
"Yes," replied Penelo.
"Fran has spoken of you and Vincent," Kimahri informed to Sora, "Fran has said that both you and Vincent are alike...because you both have something you are searching for."
Sora lowered his head. "We must retrieve the Fragment......no matter the cost," Sora whispered coldly.
Sora's cold voice disturbed Riku. Sora had never said anything like this before. Why was Sora acting so cold? What's happening to Sora?
In Lulu's world, Arthur was serving tea to Lulu and a man, who carried what appears to be a ball of some kind. On the table, there was black Mog, which served as Lulu's communication link to the Mog that Sora and his friends have on their side. Everything was peaceful, until suddenly, black Mog went wide-eyed, squeaking.
"......He has awakened..." Lulu said quietly.
In a dark world, the teenaged boy's hand twitched once again. Then, as if he were being controlled, while his body was in a state of sleep, his hand rose up towards the glass that contained him in the water. Then, through some unknown force, the seal around the water container vanished, and cracks began to appear where the boy's hand was. Then, the entire water container burst open, causing the water supply to flow out. Not only did the water empty out, but the teenaged boy, emerged out of his containment, now fully awake once again. This teenaged boy wore a black-hooded trenchcoat and had an eyepatch over his left eye.
"Sora..." the teenaged boy merely said.
Kairi was still underwater. However, she seemed to be getting drowsy by the second.
"Why are you here?" Kairi asked.
I am sleeping. But you must wake up.
"I can't," Kairi said, closing her eyes, as if she were falling asleep, "I can't open my eyes..."
The glowing crystal beamed its light towards Kairi.
You must wake up...because the person so important to you will...
As Leon was sitting around in Kairi's room, he sensed a movement coming from her. Kairi's hand twitched. Leon approached Kairi and began to try to shake her awake.
"Princess," Leon tried to wake up, "Princess, hey!" Leon check on Kairi's condition, by placed his ear above her mouth. Leon widened his eyes in shock when he realized something. "Not good... She's not breathing!"
As Sora and his party were heading back with the food supply, Mog's eyes widened.
"The energy of the Heart Fragment is getting stronger," Mog informed Sora.
"Where is it coming from?" Sora asked anxiously.
"It's coming from below that castle, kupo," Mog pointed out.
"So it's down there, after all," Sora realized.
As Sora realized this fact, he heard the sound of a gun locked and loaded right behind him. Sora knew from the chills in his spine that the person had to be Vincent pointing his gun at him. Mog cringed fearfully into Sora as the frightened moogle was ready for the sound of thunder. However, Riku stepped in between Sora and Vincent.
"Riku?" said the surprised Sora.
"Sora is not after the water," Mog desperately tried to explain to Vincent, "He's after something that's important to Kairi, kupo!"
"Kairi?" asked the puzzled Vincent, as he pulled his gun away.
Sora stepped up to Vincent. "Something very valuable to someone very important to me."
Back in the dark world, the teenaged boy walked off from his containment prison. However, the sound of a female voice stopped him in his tracks.
"It seems you couldn't be kept sealed after all," noted Larxene. The teenaged boy turned to face Larxene. "You're going, right? I won't stop you. But you don't have the power to travel through different worlds. But I can help you. However, this will only happen once," Larxene warned. Using her dark powers, Larxene opened a portal behind the teenaged boy.
"Why are you helping me?" asked the teenaged boy.
"Because the door to light must not be destroyed," answered Larxene.
Leon was unsure what to do about Kairi. Kairi was not breathing, but Leon didn't know any procedures on how to cure this kind of condition.
"She needs a doctor," Leon said to himself, "No...can a doctor treat this?"
"Medical treatment will be unnecessary for her," Fran informed upon entering the room, "She is not of this world, is she not?"
In Lulu's world, the sky gave way to an early evening rain. In the middle of the rain, a dark portal opened itself up. Then, from out of the portal, the teenaged boy emerged from it and stood before Lulu, who was, apparently, waiting for this person to show up.
"You have arrived," Lulu noted.
The teenaged boy stared at Lulu, ready to make his move...
Just who is this boy? What business does he have with Lulu? And why does he bear the same face as Sora?
To be continued in the eventual chapters of Kingdom Hearst: Chronicles of the Heart.