So we're starting this off with a bang and as promised in Dual Destinies, you are going to be seeing a lot more of Riku and Kairi in this story. The latter is certainly the more interesting of the trio because... well, we have no idea what she's like since she ends up getting kidnapped a lot. So here you go, SRK in action and building on a supposed friendship which felt more empty than Roxas, Axel and Xion's, which is funny because they are in fact Nobodies.
Chapter 2
La Vie en Rose
A magnificent day was made even more so by the beautiful orange and red sky that draped itself over the city of Paris. In this large city, if one were to look up closely at the cathedral of Notre Dame and perhaps more specifically at one of the bell towers, they would have just been able to make out a boy if they were squint their eyes. A light wind swept through the air causing Sora to shudder slightly but nonetheless he kept his sights trained on something.
Finally he acted. He jumped off of the bell tower, his foot making contact with a line that was attached which he used to grind from the building he had jumped from to another building across the square. The line was itself barely even seemed to acknowledge his weight mostly due to the fact that he was using a gravity spell underneath that kept him light. This boosted his confidence all the more that it wouldn't snap in half.
He soon reached the roof of the other building and rolled to soften his landing only to spring forward not a moment sooner with his Keyblade and take out the flying Heartless in his path. He started running across the roof slicing and dicing his way through the Heartless in the process and jumping from one rooftop to the next as he did so. A longer jump required him to wall run and kick off the wall's surface using the momentum to transfer energy to his foot which allowed him to leap to the longer distanced roof. He landed just in time to see out of the corner of his eye as Blue Rhapsody casting a blizzard spell at him. He side flipped out of the way before sending fire magic it back at the vulnerable fiend taking it out.
He continued forward taking out the rest of the Heartless on the way. Down below on the streets were people going about their daily lives completely unaware that a battle was taking place on the rooftops. For people living in houses opposite the ones he was jumping on who were looking out their windows just to take in the view or to hang clothes to dry on their clothing line, their faces showed utter confusion and horror as they saw a strange boy running across the rooftops and taking out the strange creatures that had been attacking the town for months with some equally strange weapon resembling a key. As he passed a few of those clearly disturbed people, he looked at them and grinned before focusing back on his mission.
"Mon Dieu!" One of the residents exclaimed shutting his window before his son and daughter could wave in delight at the strange boy.
Sora took one final leap and landed on another rooftop a few feet away from his target. He was far away from the cathedral now having reached the inner walls of Paris, one of several that had been built throughout the city and had sectioned it off into smaller secluded chunks of land.
"That's enough Kefka, you have nowhere to run!" Sora yelled. He aimed his Keyblade at the hunched over clown and proceeded slowly towards him.
"Blah blah blah, I've heard it all before. I have a right to a lawyer don't I?" Kefka replied with a smile.
"W-what? No, you're coming with me." Sora said, "And you're not exactly in any position to be making jokes right now. I'm sure you and the people you're working with know who I am by now."
Kefka assumed the mantle of a clock placing his finger on his lips and looking left to right. "Name… name… oh, you're the person who lost his marble right? What was it again? Luna or something like that?"
"How did you-?" Sora was about to ask but Kefka interjected quickly.
"Who doesn't know by now? How you've raised an absolute party trying to find her even though you can't face the reality that she's long kicked the bucket." Kefka said.
Sora grinded his teeth together and kept his eyes and Keyblade trained on the clown. Eventually he relaxed and said, "As I said before, you're going to come with me and you're going to tell me the names of everyone you're associated with."
"And just how do you plan to get this information from me? You don't exactly look the type that would torture a poor innocent little clown like me." Kefka said.
"First of all, you're far from innocent. Second, I really hate clowns so I can make you the exception." Sora said.
"Oh, you must be a blast at parties." Kefka laughed before he swung the arm that had been concealed behind him forward in an overarching motion. A Minute Bomb Heartless flew out of Kefka's hands and soared forward at Sora who was taken aback by this development. Before he could even block, a third figure appeared leaping in and, like a tornado, cut through the Heartless with their Keyblade.
"You're late Kairi." Sora said with a grin as his friend landed on her feet next to Sora.
"Not late enough apparently. Maybe I should have waited a few more seconds." Kairi replied. The red head stood up straight and brandished Destiny's Embrace in her hand proudly.
"Yeah, just a few more, not that I've ever known you to be late before. Aren't you the one who's always pestering me to arrive at school early? And now it comes to my life and you couldn't possibly have picked a more dramatic time to come in and save me? All I'm asking is for a little consistency." Sora said.
"All you're asking for is a bonk on the head Porom style. Be glad I came not a moment later." Kairi said before finally looking at Kefka for the first time. "Is the clown giving you trouble Sora?"
"As if. I'm just trying not to remember really horrible memories of being turned into a clown in Disney Town. Who was that by again? Oh, that's right, it was you." Sora reminded her.
"Oh, did that happen? Can't really remember it, woopsie." Kairi brushed it off with an uncomfortable laugh.
"You remember winning an award but not the part where you made me, Donald and Goofy into clowns? You must have a really selective memory." Sora said sarcastically.
While the two friends were engaged in their own world of endless banter, an impatient Kefka was stamping his feet impatiently. Rather than approaching the rational thought of attempting to leave while his two seekers chatted with each other, his furiousness over being ignored took precedent. Eventually he could take no more and cut the two off, "This is just… UNACCEPTABLE. Oh yes, I'll just stand here and wait while the two of you blabber on like an old married couple. Do I look like a waiter?" Kefka jumped up and down frantically in disbelief.
"Well, you are waiting for us to capture you so…" Kairi pointed out the clown's lack of rationality.
"Ah." Kefka blinked before smiling nervously. "Well I'll just be on my way then. I'll be free on Saturdays, maybe Wednesda- no, can't make that, dentist appointment. Oh well." Kefka turned around only to have another Keyblade pointed at him, this one much closer.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Riku said pressing the Way to the Dawn into Kefka's chest. This forced the clown to step backwards.
"It's like you guys like coming in at the most convenient of times." Sora said shaking his head at Riku's sudden arrival on the scene. "So what happens now?"
"We take him back to Master Yen Sid and get him to tell us about the others he's working for." Riku explained. "It's going to be a pain having to listen to him on the Gummi Ship on our way back there though."
"Just duct tape his mouth shut or something. He can't be a clown if he can't talk." Kairi acknowledged as both her and Sora moved closer towards Riku and Kefka.
"Now wait just a moment. Three against one? I would hardly call this fair. You're all so mean. Whatever shall I do?" Kefka cried dramatically.
"Uh oh." Riku sensed the danger and jumped back just in time to see a wall of ice emerge from the ground between him and Kefka. Gasps left Sora and Kairi's mouths and they started off into a run but it was too late. Kefka jumped off of the rooftop only to appear to be flying a few seconds later, the most peculiar thing being that it was a wave of ice that was lifting him and one other, a girl with blonde hair and a blue dress that sparkled like diamonds in the evening sun. This wave of ice grew higher and distanced itself from Sora, Riku and Kairi until it was successfully over the inner walls and out of sight.
"I can't believe it, he got away!" Sora clutched the sides of his head in disappointment. The possibility of Kefka having an accomplice had not even crossed his mind. Worse yet, any information that they could have possibly obtained was now lost.
"Kairi and I scouted the area beforehand for any other suspicious characters but we didn't find any. It says a lot about the world that she was able to hide from us so easily. It's possible she even blended into the crowd or maybe she found a hiding place. This city has a lot of streets so it's not surprising that we could have missed one or not covered one as thoroughly as we could have." Riku considered furrowing his brows in annoyance.
"Even worse, they've certainly made a spectacle of their escape. Look at this." Sora brought Riku and Kairi's attention to the pillar of glistening ice that had extended up into the sky and over the wall. Below the house they were on they could see that the street was scarcely a looker of its former self, now being littered with shards of ice sticking out of the ground and pointing in various directions.
"That's sure to raise a few eyebrows." said Kairi. They all knew that it would raise more than just a few. People were already starting to gather in numbers due to their curiosity and it was only going to become a more controversial topic by the end of the day. It was an act of magic, a certain something that the town already feared with the attacks carried out by the Heartless. It was also something that one man in particular could use as leverage to further push his point. Judge Frollo was one of the people who had eventually arrived on the scene to witness the act of 'witchcraft' and in his mind cogs were already turning.
He pushed his way through the crowd until he reached the ice and he placed his hands on it before speaking loudly, "You see this? This is the act of gypsies, strange in their ways and conniving in their goals. They wish to destroy this great city and bring all we have worked for to chaos, for that is all the gypsy knows. Make no mistake, I am sure that this act is but one of many that will continue as long as the people of Paris do nothing. This coupled with those evil demons that have attacked us relentlessly day and night; this is no coincidence I assure you. We must prepare ourselves for the worst, or face the wrath of their evil magic."
There were cries of "Hear, hear" and other similar yells of agreement from the crowd listening. Frollo, who had been called crazy many a time by the townsfolk for his beliefs, seemed to be warming his way into their hearts. Sora looked away in disgust. His tactics echoed those used by the Reapers in Traverse Town to get the citizens to fear the selected Players. While that had been a supposed experiment, this was very real. This was fear incarnate taking place right in front of his eyes.
"This man really believes what he's saying is true doesn't he? It's sickening." Kairi said who unlike Sora, could not turn her eyes away from the scene and watched as even more people joined to hear the ranting of a mad man.
"He sees life differently than us. I suppose it's the opposite of seeing life through rose-tinted glasses." Riku said.
Kairi shook her head. "Or maybe he does see this incident through rose-tinted glasses. He looks at is as an opportunity where he can only see the things pleasant to him, his chance to convince people of his vision of the world." Finally she turned away and looked at the both of them. "We can't allow him to hurt anyone. He's already kept Quasimodo from the outside world by using fear and we can't allow him to use fear to control everyone here."
"I agree, but about the two that escaped. Do you think if we followed the ice we'd be able to find them?" Sora asked.
"I would've assumed that they were long gone by now, or at least far away. I certainly wouldn't want to be anywhere near the people who were chasing me if I were them." Riku said.
Sora nodded thoughtfully before trying to figure out their next course of action. "We shouldn't stay here any longer. Let's go back to the inn and plan out what we're going to do tomorrow. It's getting late and I don't know about you guys but I am hungry."
Kairi giggled. "A giant pillar of ice appears in the middle of the city attracting attention and Sora wants to eat. That's our Keyblade Master."
"Hey, think of the positives. At least it will be a great tourist attraction." Sora said giving a light-hearted shrug and a smile.
When Sora, Riku and Kairi arrived at the inn, they caught sight of an unexpected face that had been waiting for them by the stone steps.
"Esmeralda!" Sora exclaimed in surprise at her appearance. She was wearing a cloak but her emerald green eyes and long beautiful ebony hair could still be seen from the front. She placed her finger on her lips to silence them before pointing to the bakery that was next to the inn. The trio nodded in understanding and followed Esmeralda into the shop with Riku closing the door behind them. Other than the baker that was standing behind the counter and kneading dough with his hands there were no other people in the shop, most people would likely either be checking out the Ice spectacle on the other side of town or would be in their homes and off the streets by now.
"I'm sorry about that, I couldn't be seen out in the open talking to you. Judge Frollo has ordered a witch hunt on me and the other gypsies. If the guards saw me talking to you then they would have thought you with me." Esmeralda said.
"That's understandable… Esmeralda, was it?" Riku asked to make sure he had heard Sora correctly before. When she nodded, he continued. "How did you know we would be at the inn?"
"I met with Quasimodo back at the cathedral. He told me that you three had been staying here for about three days now trying to help Quasi out with his problem." Esmeralda answered him before looking at all three of them. "Have you found a cure or any information that could lead us to one?"
Sora nodded. "Yeah, there might be a way…" he said and paused before looking at Riku and Kairi. Helping Quasimodo hadn't been the only reason they had come here, but his problem certainly was a step in the right direction to answering one of their questions. Their main problem was trying to find Luna.
It had been three months since the fated battle against Abraxas and over those months Sora had worried himself to the point where Riku and Kairi were the ones who were looking after him. Though he smiled in front of them, his worries could not deceive his best friends who constantly asked him if he were alright. In all truth, it was annoying having to hear their worries about him while the question of Luna's fate was still hanging in an air of uncertainty. For all he knew she could have been dead, but he had chosen not to believe it. Even if she had somehow survived, for how long was she to survive after that? So here they were searching for any potential clues as to her whereabouts and they had not come across a single thing yet.
All Sora could do for now to honor her memory was to help the other Chimeras who were in possible trouble. Quasimodo had told them of how Esmeralda's constant visits since Sora, Luna, Donald and Goofy's last visit had helped him to maintain his human form, though he was certainly under a lot of pressure what with Frollo's new aggression against gypsies and his fear of the townsfolk scorning him for his deformity.
"Uh, are you sure it's okay talking here? I mean…" Riku nudged his head at the baker in the back but the man seemed to catch this nudge and looked up from his dough at the four of them.
"Heh, you didn't think I was listening in? Don't worry, Esmeralda's a good friend of mine, I'd never give her up to Judge Frollo and his goons. Of course if they heard me saying this right now, well, let's just say I would be in serious danger." The baker said and laughed heartily though the trio weren't too sure what was funny about the thought of facing possible execution. "By the way, wasn't there a girl by the name of Luna with you when you last came here? I remember her because she didn't really look like she was from around here, well, here and you three I should say. I was kind of hoping that I could have her opinion on some of my bread."
"Luna…" Try as he might, Sora could not find the words to tell the baker the painful truth.
Fortunately it was Riku who came to his rescue. "She was feeling under the weather so we couldn't really bring her. It's much more important that she stays in bed and recovers as soon as possible." He said without stutter making the lie itself much more painful to Sora. He almost wished that what Riku was saying was truly the case here.
"That's unfortunate. Well, maybe some other time." The baker said before returning to pounding the dough into shape.
"So what do you have on Quasi's condition?" Esmeralda asked returning them to the focus of the conversation.
"We've figured that retracing Abraxas', the guy that made Quasi like that into a Heartless, steps we can find some clues to helping him, or at least that's what we thought. But the problem is that the trail's gone cold." Sora started.
"So… you're saying that you have nothing." Esmeralda concluded slowly.
"No, well yes but there's still hope. There's one person I think that might be able to help him. That person is like Quasi, they're a Chimera which is what we call his type of Heartless. But unlike Quasi, this person was able to fight off that darkness on their own. So we think that they might be immune to it somehow, the problem is that we don't know where they are so we're searching." Sora told her with caution. They had already made an excuse that Luna was ill so outright telling them the person's name would have only added to the confusion.
"I see. Can you tell me the person's name?"
"Oh it wouldn't be… anyone you know so don't worry about it. They're probably not even in this world." Sora said quickly.
Esmeralda raised her eyebrows at Sora's mistake. "What do you mean world?"
"Oh, Sora's just a little tired right now. It's been a wild day after all." Kairi answered before Sora could embarrass himself. "But on a more important note, if you're being chased after by Frollo then I don't think you should be here. Even if the baker is helping you there's no guarantee that someone else couldn't recognize you at any point. Isn't there somewhere more secluded that you can be?"
"Yes, the court of miracles where all the other gypsies stay. But I need to be here or else who knows what will happen to Quasi. I can't just abandon him." Esmeralda said. The strength of her conviction echoed through her unshaken and determined voice. It would be difficult to convince her otherwise that she was putting her life in danger by going back and forth from outside the inner walls to the cathedral. "By the way, I heard there was a loud commotion by the gates leading to the older part of town. Was that you three?"
"Not exactly but… it was something, let's put it at that." said Riku. The sound of both Kairi and Sora's growling stomachs signalled their need to eat. As if on cue, the baker was at their assistance providing them with loafs of bread from them to eat back at the inn however Kairi doubted that bread alone would be able to satiate their appetites. Sora on the other hand having experienced the bread before knew better than anyone that it would be enough so he tried to eat as much as he possibly could.
"This is so delicious, I can't… stop eating." he said hyperactively in between bites.
"Hey Sora, stop hogging the bread. A girl's gotta eat when a girl's gotta eat to keep up her strength so make like the chump you are and move." A spirited Kairi said as if in an unspoken contest with Sora to see who could devour the most food.
"Oh, I'm fine, thanks for asking. I guess I can go eat the crumbs then?" Riku said to himself sarcastically. "And I didn't know you were so feisty Kairi. I am legitimately scared now."
"Well ain't nothin' gonna get in the way between this girl and her food. You know what I really could do with right about now though? MEAAAT! Delicious chicken curry, ooh I am so making some once I get back to Radiant Garden. Er, Sora? Why are you drooling over my shoulder?"
After an eventful meal, the three saw Esmeralda off down the street, and then headed to the room they were staying in. Sora immediately went to peer through the window and looked up into the night sky while Riku and Kairi engaged in small talk.
"Do you really think Luna will be able to help the other chimeras? Maybe Abraxas really did give her a test drug which wasn't as effective as the other ones." Kairi suggested.
"I don't even think Abraxas knew why she resisted it so easily." Sora finally spoke after a while with his eyes still trained on the darkness above him. "You know I keep looking into the sky hoping that the next world we visit will be the one she's in and every time I leave disappointed. And then I realize that there are billions of stars in the sky and she could be on any one of them. It's maddening." He yawned and jumped onto his bed.
"Don't think of it like that Sora, we'll definitely see her again. It's not just you. We're all in this together no matter what. We always have been and we always will be." Kairi assured him. In the three months that had passed, she had probably focused on training the most out of the trio having worked on her magic. Yen Sid had made Kairi his personal apprentice succeeding Mickey and had completely skipped the basics moving onto the more advanced magic like Curasa simply because he thought that Kairi had the potential to handle it. Even though Sora felt she had saved his life on more than one occasion, he could tell that she was still not satisfied with where she wanted to be.
"After all who's going to watch your back when you charge in all headstrong like you normally do?" Riku joked.
"Well you would know about that wouldn't you Riku?" Kairi retorted referring to Riku's jump into the darkness. It was enough to make Riku's face as a red as a tomato.
"Haha, she's got you there Riku. I think Kairi's about ready to bite anyone who gets in her way now. I suggest treading lightly." said an uncontrollable laughing Sora.
"I really don't need this." Riku buried his head in his hands as Sora and Kairi continued laughing. The night continued on in a lively spirit with the three glad to be with each other's company until they were ready to go to bed. In a time before this, they would have been separated by worlds, ideals, memories and the darkness, but none of that mattered anymore. It said a lot about their friendship when they could joke about things that would have seemed traumatising before. They were friends and their bond had never been stronger in a world that seemed so crazy.
Kefka disembarked from the icy ride and rotated his stiff neck before looking back at the girl in the blue dress. "Woo hoo, that was fun now wasn't it?" He cackled madly as he looked around the area. They seemed to be just outside of city next to a huge river which stretched on for miles.
"And you're laughing because…? You ruined my chance to purchase some éclairs while I was here. Well, that and you almost ruined the entire mission and had I not been there to save you, who knows what you would have said to get yourself out of their hands alive." The girl said coldly.
"Oh come on, do you honestly think I would give up all of you just for a chance to get away that might not even be offered to me in the first place Elsa?" Kefka asked. When Elsa remained silent, Kefka let out a howl of laughter. "Okay, maybe I would but that's all in the past now right? You saved me, we're still friends and a joyful gaiety of laughter awaits us."
"We are not friends." Elsa warned him with a glare before looking away at the river instead.
"Oh you're so cold Elsa, both figuratively and literally. Can I ask you a question? Why do you exist?"
"What?" Elsa looked back to him in confusion.
"Why are you here? I mean we all have purposes in life. Mine is to see the worlds cry and laugh in pain and watch the countless agonies of worlds burning in flames over and over again until there's nothing left. It's just who I am. But what about you? Let's be honest, you don't seem like you fit in and no one really knows you. You abandoned your own world and along with it any memory or bond you ever had. But if you don't fit anywhere can you say you truly know who you are?"
"I didn't abandon my world, it abandoned me. It wasn't as if I chose this power or anything, I was born with it. Even though my parents tried to support me and help me in keeping my powers in check, I could tell that from afar they were mortified and were afraid to be anywhere near me. I had nowhere to belong and so I left. When Maleficent came to me and told me of the other worlds I thought that I might be able to start anew somewhere else. I have no interest in destroying any worlds like you do—all I care about is finding a place to call home." Elsa muttered bitterly. She had been one of the people opposed to the coup against Maleficent having been eternally grateful to her for revealing to Elsa the existence of an outside world. Without her, Elsa would have been stranded—trapped in that prison of a world.
"But you could have left us at any time, so why didn't you?" Kefka asked.
"Because…" Elsa had to take time to consider this. Eventually she sighed and answered, "Because I knew that wherever I went I would be shunned, cast out because of my powers. Before he died, Kuja once told me that the world is a stage and that we are all merely players, so that we should play that part to the best of our ability. We can't run from it or hold it back. If everyone sees me as a monster then maybe I should play the role, maybe I should be a monster…"
"He he he, you're incredible you know that, and absolutely right. You are a monster, but even monsters can create works of art, and what a piece of art it will be." Kefka laughed before his eyes looked up into the sky. Emerging from the clouds above was a giant ship, slowly descending before it crashed into the river. Kefka cackled as Elsa, who was close to the river, was caught in the swell of water which completely drenched her. The ship soon stopped and the door to the cabin opened revealing Captain Hook.
Her twirled his moustache mischievously and walked over to the side of the ship looking down on Kefka and Elsa. "This silly fog is no match for Captain James Hook, HA! What happened to you?" He asked Elsa looking at her doused and irritated form.
"What do you think? Just take us out of here!" Elsa blasted in annoyance moving her wet hair out of her face before ascending the ladder of the ship.
Putting Elsa in was an interesting decision, mainly because she's a parallel to Quasimodo in some ways. Oh yes, Cracks of the Past is full of parallels. Anyway, I hope I can update as much as I'd want to but if studies get in the way, at least you know why there's a delay between chapters. But until next time, thanks for reading and keep watching the skies!