A/N: For more about this and other stories, visit my message board "Author's Notes," which you can access through my profile page.
Just as a warning, there are minor spoilers for "Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days," as well as a few tidbits about "Birth By Sleep," though nothing too major there.
Also, since this is the story of "Spirited Away," and since Roxas and Axel play the parts of Sen and Haku, there is AkuRoku in this story… though whether it's pro- or anti-AkuRoku, is entirely up to you. Don't take anything I say too seriously! (dodges bricks)
Thanks for reading! Enjoy the show!
Edit 3/12/10: After realizing how FREAKING LONG this story actually is, I split it up into chapters. Sorry to spam everybody's alerts, but it had to be done. XD
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Summary: After finding himself in another world full of mysterious beings and strange monsters, Sora must struggle to save his friends and return home… wait, which story is this again? And who is that weird dragon boy with the red hair?
"Spirited 358 Days"
Subtitled:
"Sora to Roxas no Kingdom Kakushi"
A Parody of "Sen to Chihiro no Kami Kakushi," also known as "Spirited Away"
Featuring the cast of "Kingdom Hearts"
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Chapter 1
Another World
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It is a truth universally acknowledged, that all of the really classic children's stories start out with the main character getting him- or herself into some sort of delightfully extradimensional trouble. Alice fell down the rabbit hole; Dorothy found herself no longer in Kansas; Tidus witnessed the destruction of his entire home city by a bizarre monstrosity as he was thrown into a vortex that transported him to another world which set off a chain of events that brought into question the nature of his own existence; and Sally and her brother had to deal with the sudden intrusion of a hat-wearing cat into their house.
Sora, as the main character of a fan fiction posing as a children's story, should have seen it coming.
"You guys, I really don't think we should be in here," Sora whined, scrunching up his ten-year-old nose at the musty smell of the cave. He hugged his arms around himself and shivered; his white and green striped T-shirt and pink shorts (his mother made him wear them!) didn't do much to protect him against the chilly air. "It's cold. And it's wet. And it smells."
Riku, the oldest of the group at eleven years and therefore the leader, rolled his eyes and continued walking forward into the cavern. "Jeez, Sora, stop being such a scaredy-cat," he called back to his friend, waving the flashlight in his hand nonchalantly. "It's just a cave. Now hurry up or we'll leave you behind."
Kairi tried to be a little more understanding. "Come on, Sora," she said, taking his hand and pulling him along over the rocky ground. "We're explorers, right? This is what explorers do. Walk through caves."
"Yeah, but…" Sora muttered, glancing up at the cave walls, which to him seemed to be shrouded in some type of shadowy evil aura of darkness. He sweatdropped when the aura formed itself into the shape of a hand and waved at him. "Uhh, Kairi? Did you see that?" he asked, pointing nervously at the wall.
"See what?"
Really, he should have seen it coming.
It had all started out innocently enough. The three friends had been playing "explorers" on the far side of the playground island, when suddenly they had come across a cave that they had never seen before. Caves were fairly commonplace on the island, but this one stood out by the fact that it had definitely not been there the day before. Sora, being the young, timid child and not-yet-Keyblade-master that he was, had been rather unnerved by the cave's sudden appearance. Now, Sora didn't know much about anything, but he did know one thing about caves, and that was that caves Do Not Appear Out of Thin Air. Besides, there was no need to explore this cave when the Secret Place was just fine, thank you very much.
But Riku, being the leader, had decided that strange things needed to be investigated, and caves mysteriously appearing out of the ground with no warning at all were strange things indeed. And so, that was how the group found themselves exploring this odd cave, Riku leading the way, with Kairi following and dragging an increasingly unsettled Sora behind her, who with each step was growing more and more nervous and seriously creeped out by the whole ordeal.
"Riku, I reeeally think we should go back now," Sora said, glancing out the corner of his eye at a particular group of dark tendrils that seemed to be playing Go Fish.
"Wait a minute!" Riku said. "There's something up ahead!" The older boy dashed off, taking the flashlight with him. Kairi tugged at Sora's hand, but Sora, very unnerved at this point, remained stubbornly in place, shaking his head. Kairi sighed, let go, and followed Riku.
Sora hesitated, gulped, and took one more look at the purple-black, vine-like shadows that were now apparently PictoChatting with each other on their Nintendo DS Lites (how ironic) before running wildly after Riku and Kairi, shouting, "Wait for me! Wait for meee!"
Sora did not so much catch up to his friends as he did nearly run them over. "Ouch!" he yelped as he collided with Riku's back, falling backwards onto his bottom. "Why'd you guys stop?" he asked. Then he saw it.
The cave, as it turned out, was not really a cave, but in fact a tunnel, and they had reached the other end of it. Standing at the mouth of the tunnel, the three children gazed out at a part of the island they had never seen before. And a very strange sight it was, too. Instead of the lush green plants and soft sandy soil they were accustomed to, this part of the island was completely paved over. Before them stretched a long road, on both sides of which tall, dark buildings and glowing neon signs stood. As they began to walk down the street, they spotted a skyscraper at the end of the road, with many giant television monitors flickering upon it. Beyond that, they could see a gigantic, white castle, with many towers and turrets, that seemed to be floating above a humongous chasm in the ground; and even though Sora could have sworn it was only three o'clock in the afternoon, the sky was pitch black, and the moon was hanging directly above them.
Sora pointed at the moon. "Shouldn't that be round instead of… um… heart-shaped?" he asked.
Riku snorted. "Stupid Sora," he said, "the moon is round in our world."
"Uhh… yeah?" Sora said.
"So don't you get it?" Riku said, his voice rising in pitch as he whirled around to face Sora.
"Get what?"
"This isn't our world!" Riku yelled. "The tunnel took us off that stupid island and into another world! Look at it! It's so different! So new! So exciting!" the boy nearly shrieked as he raised his arms to the sky in a fit of enthusiasm.
"Uh, Riku? Are you feeling all right?" Sora asked.
Unfortunately, Sora did not receive a reply, for at that very moment this previously somewhat monotonous tale turned into an exciting horror story as a burst of black and purple darkness exploded out of nowhere, engulfing Riku in its smoky grasp like a tidal wave upon the shore. There wasn't even enough time for Riku to turn around and hold a hand out to Sora in a creepy manner.
"Riku!" Sora and Kairi shouted, but it was too late. Then, suddenly, the darkness turned and lunged forward, coming toward Sora. Paralyzed with fear, Sora stood, as rooted to the ground as a Dire Plant, watching helplessly as the fiery darkness towered above him, when suddenly Kairi screamed and shoved him aside.
"Kairi! Nooo!" Sora yelled, reaching out to help her, but the darkness had already enveloped Kairi, dragging her into its depths.
Before she disappeared entirely, Kairi yelled out, "Run, Sora!" Then, she was gone.
Sora cried out and stumbled backward, nearly tripping over his own oversized feet before he managed to turn around and send himself hurtling back the way he had come. He ran and ran, looking straight ahead, afraid that if he looked back and saw the darkness following him, he would freeze up entirely. Soon, he saw the mouth of the tunnel looming before him, not creepy anymore, but a beacon of hope, of light, of the promise that as soon as he stepped foot through it, he would be safe, safe from this monstrous world, safe from the darkness that was threatening to overtake him. If he could just get to it, he'd—
THUD.
"WHAT THE HEY!?" Sora shrieked as he was once more knocked down onto his backside (he was going to have a nasty bruise down there at this rate). He scrambled to his feet and tried to run forward again, but once more was stopped by an invisible wall. He glanced down and yelped as he saw what appeared to be pink fire burning in a straight line, marking the boundary he inexplicably couldn't cross. "What IS this," he yelled as he pounded his fists against the invisible wall, "some kind of video game?!"
Suddenly, he heard the whoosh of the darkness behind him. Sora turned, eyes wide in terror as he pressed himself against the wall, hoping, praying, that it would let him through before he, too, was sucked up into the darkness. The black flames reared into the sky, then started to come crashing down. Sora squeezed his eyes shut, expecting the worst, when—
SHING!
Sora opened one eye and gasped as he saw the dark aura dissipating into the air. Then, he noticed the boy standing before him, his back to Sora. The boy was dressed in white and blue Japanese-style clothes and had bright green eyes and fire-red hair, and was holding a strange spiked wheel in each hand. The spiked wheels disappeared in twin bursts of flame as the boy turned around and crouched down in front of Sora. "Hey," he said in a soft voice, "you okay?"
The boy then sweatdropped as Sora then grabbed him around his waist, sobbing hysterically. "T-tunnel… dark… island… friends… Riku… KAIRIIII!" Sora bellowed. Suddenly, the other boy shoved him off and slapped him across the face, snapping him out of it.
"Look," the other boy said, grabbing Sora by his shoulders, "listen to me. As long as you're roaming around by yourself, you won't be safe in this place, and you won't be able to help your friends."
"H-help them?" Sora said between sniffles. "You mean… they're all right? Where are they?"
"They'll be fine, if we can get to them in time. I'll take you to see them later," the other boy said. "But for now, we have to make sure that you're going to be safe here. We have to go to the bathhouse," said the boy, pointing toward the giant white castle (bathhouse?) floating in the sky, "and you have to ask Xembaba for a job. That's the only way you'll be able to stay here without being swallowed up by the darkness. Got it memorized?"
"G-go to the bathhouse and a-ask Xembaba for a job," Sora repeated dizzily. "I got it."
"Good," said the red-haired boy. He stood up, turned to the side, and held up one hand, palm stretched outward. Suddenly, a portal of darkness rose from the ground in front of him. "I can take you up to the bathhouse," said the boy, "but after that, you're on your own. You'll be okay?"
Sora sniffled again. "I-I—"
"Good," the boy said again. "Now follow me." Without a moment's hesitation, the boy walked forward into the darkness, disappearing from sight. Sora stared at the portal for a moment, then swallowed his nervousness and followed close behind. When both boys had disappeared, the portal flickered out of sight.
Sora wondered what he had gotten himself into.