I know I'm updating when I said that I had to get a review first, but I already had this all written out, and I thought "Whatever!"
Okay, I now know when it's going to start. Also, please tell me if I make any of the Kingdom Hearts/Final Fantasy characters OOC or if I describe them wrong. I really don't want to make mistakes.
I don't own Harry Potter or Kingdom Hearts! Only my OCs!
And bear with me! I still need to practice on my fight scenes!
Chapter Three: A Town of Traverse
[Third Person POV]
Merlin the wizard walked calmly to District One of Traverse Town. That was something he was happy to say. He could walk calmly. Actually, he was happy that he could just walk. Normally he would teleport from place to place. He had not been able to walk around without fear for a while. But then a boy called Sora had come and gotten rid of the Heartless problem. That boy-
Wait. There was a disturbance in the universe. Merlin looked into the sky, which was always dark and filled with stars on this world. There was one star in the sky that looked brighter than the others. All of a sudden, the star disappeared. Merlin bowed his head in respect to the world lost.
"Another world gone," the old wizard whispered.
Merlin decided to walk to where Squall Leonhart (Leon), Yuffie the ninja, Aerith, and Cid lived.
Something caught his eye, though. It was a white tennis shoe sticking out from the alley. What was that doing there? He walked to the shoe. It wasn't just a shoe. Merlin found a leg attached to the foot, which he found another of. The legs were those of a girl with brown hair. She wore a blue and off-white horizontally striped sweatshirt with a hood that had drawstrings. It had a pocket on the front. She wore blue jeans. She was an unconscious girl with brown hair.
Merlin pulled out his long wand and made a stretcher appear out of thin air. He levitated the girl onto it and walked more urgently to Leon's, the stretcher floating by his side.
[Ariana's POV]
My head was swimming. What was going on? Where was I? I thought I heard footsteps beside me. Then it faded. My only thought was: I hate being unconscious.
I finally woke up. The bed I was in was soft. I opened my eyes. Where was I? I was definitely not in my room at home or in the Hufflepuff dorm.
I sat up. "Where am I?" I asked.
"Good, you're awake!" someone said. It was a kind voice of a woman. I looked around and saw a woman with long brown hair that curled down the side of her face with a pink bow in the back. She had on a pink dress and a purple belt. She had warm green eyes and a smile on her face.
"My name is Aerith," the woman said. "You are in Traverse Town."
"Traverse Town? I've never heard of it. What country is this in?"
"It isn't in a country," a man said. He had shoulder-length messy brown hair and a scar across his face. He had on black pants, a white shirt, and a black short-sleeved jacket. "This is where the lost people turn up."
"Lost?" I asked. "What do you mean by lost?"
"Don't be so blunt, Squall," a girl with short black hair and dark eyes said. She had on yellow shorts and a green shirt that showed her stomach. She had on a thin, yellow scarf around her neck and off-white stockings and orange shoes and gloves. She also had a white headband.
"It's Leon," the black-clad man, Leon, said.
"This is Yuffie and Leon," Aerith said, gesturing to the girl and man, respectively. "'Lost' means someone who has lost their world to the Heartless."
"What are those?" I asked.
"Have you ever heard of someone called Ansem?" Leon asked. I shook my head. "He conducted these experiments on the darkness in people's hearts. Don't be so shocked." He must have read my mind. Either that or my face. "Everyone has darkness in their hearts. Well, one day, one of Ansem's experiments went wrong. He created the Heartless, and our world was overrun with them. That's how we ended up here. When someone opens their heart to the darkness, they become a Heartless."
"And just like people, worlds have hearts as well," Aerith continued. "That must've been how you wound up here: The Heartless must have consumed your world."
"What's your name?" Yuffie asked in a hyper voice that reminded me of Hazel. It was probably to take my mind off of what I had just heard.
"Ariana Diggory," I said, "but you can call me Ari. Have you seen my family? Anybody that looks like me?"
"I'm sorry, but no," Aerith said.
"Oh." My family and friends were gone. My home was gone because of these "Heartless". Would I ever see them again? I felt tears sting my eyes.
"You'll find them," Aerith reassured, "just so long as you believe it."
"Come on!" Yuffie said, springing up from her chair. "I'll show you Traverse Town!"
She disappeared in a puff of black smoke. Suddenly, I felt a hand grab mine and pull me out the door and into a long hallway. It was Yuffie.
"Are you a witch?" I asked Yuffie as she pulled me out of the building at a run.
Yuffie stopped and let go of my hand. "Do I look like I have green skin?" she asked.
I shook my head. "But that's demeaning. Most witches I know don't have green skin. Actually, I don't know any witches with green skin. I think that's a banshee. There is this witch I know who has boys goggling over her. And if you're not a witch, what are you?"
"I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie! The best ninja alive!" She grabbed my hand and started pulling me around the town.
I looked up. The sky was dark. "What time is it?" I asked.
"3 o'clock!"
"Morning or afternoon?"
"Afternoon!"
"Why is always dark here?"
"I dunno!"
"What are those things?"
"Heartless." There was a pause. "Wait, Heartless!"
Yuffie stopped running and let go of my hand. She pulled out a large metal star and threw it at the small, black bugs that were threatening a woman.
"I'll help!" I said. The next second, Radiant Sky appeared in my hand in a shower of light.
The bugs, the Heartless that I'd heard about, stopped everything and charged straight at me. Yuffie caught some at the back.
The Heartless started slashing their claws at me as soon as they got anywhere close to me. I swung Radiant Sky around, again surprising myself as I swung it with ease. I managed to swing in a circle and get the Heartless to back away from me.
Pain lanced through my back. A Heartless must have gotten me. I swung the sun-sword (still didn't know what to call it). Three of the bugs vanished in black mist, leaving behind yellow cubes and green balls. I picked up both and pressed the spheres to my back. They alleviated some of the pain.
I turned around and lunged at a bug. I sliced it in two, leaving nothing but black mist and more squares and balls. I picked them up as well.
By then, there were only two Heartless left. Yuffie pulled out a small knife and threw it at one. I swung Radiant Sky and got rid of the last one.
"Thank you!" the woman said. "Here take this." She pulled out a green bottle and handed it to Yuffie. The woman picked up her dropped bag and walked away.
"Here, Ari," Yuffie said. She tossed the green bottle to me. I caught it. "This is a potion. If you're feeling weak, you can drink this and get some of your energy back. Now, aren't you going to put that away?" She pointed at Radiant Sky.
"How do I do that?"
"I don't know! Think about it?"
I thought about it vanishing, going back to… wherever it came from. The sun-sword disappeared in a shower of sparks.
"Why didn't you tell me that you have a Keyblade?"
"Oh, that's what it's called," I said.
"Come on," Yuffie said, "we've gotta tell Squall!" She grabbed my hand and started running through the town.
We burst into the room I woke up in.
"Aerith, Ari's got a Keyblade!" Yuffie shouted.
Aerith, Leon, and a man I didn't know stopped talking immediately. The man looked to be in his forties. He had blond hair that was spiked into a point in the front. He had on a white, short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans and a weird tool-belt thing around his waist that was khaki in color.
"Ari, this is Cid," Aerith introduced. "Cid, this is Ariana."
Cid nodded, a toothpick in his mouth.
"So," Leon said, "a Keyblade, huh? They're very powerful and dangerous."
"Why is that?" I asked.
"They have the power to unlock any lock," Aerith said, "and they're really magical. Their main property is that they're weapons of light."
"The Heartless fear the Keyblade," Leon said, "which means that they'll go after anyone with a Keyblade."
"What exactly are the Heartless?" I asked. "I mean, I know that they are beings of the darkness of someone's heart, but other than that, I don't know anything about them."
"The Heartless will go around and try to steal hearts," Aerith explained. "But the Keyblade can release those hearts and eradicate the Heartless."
"There are two types of Heartless," Yuffie said, "Pureblood, like those Shadows we fought, and Emblem. Those all have the Heartless sign on them."
I sat there, trying to soak in all of the information. "What should I do?" I asked.
"There is one other person that we know of who has a Keyblade," Leon said. "He goes by the name of Sora. He would probable teach you a thing or two about the Keyblade. Do you know how to fight?" I shook my head. "I can teach you a thing or two if you want."
"Okay."
"Are you going to join Sora's group?" Aerith asked.
Joining this Sora sounded like my only chance of finding my family and finding out what happened to my world. But that would mean I would have to fight. I was a Hufflepuff for Merlin's sake! We didn't fight. But then again, my father was a Hufflepuff and he was an Auror for a few years after the fall of Voldemort. Maybe I could call upon the courage of a Gryffindor.
"I'll do it," I said.
"Okay, then," Cid said. It was the first time I heard him speak. "I'll call their ship and tell them to come."
"In the meantime," Leon said, "I'll spar with you."
Leon led me out of the building and to an abandoned building. He must have come here often because there were two sticks set against the wall and a punching bag. There were also a few weights.
Leon picked up the sticks and tossed one to me. I barely caught it with my left hand.
"Which hand is your dominant?" Leon asked.
"My left."
Leon jumped at me, his stick raised. I raised my stick and blocked his strike. It was clumsier than how I blocked with my Keyblade. Leon backed off. I swung my stick horizontally. Leon blocked by holding his stick vertically.
We continued like this for about half an hour. I was able to block a few of Leon's strikes, but I did acquire a lot of bruises by the time Leon called it quits. I was jealous: I didn't land a single blow on him.
"Come on," Leon said, "I'll get Aerith to heal you."
I followed him back to the inn. When we walked in, we met Aerith. She noticed the bruises on my face. She raised her hand, which was glowing with green light. "Cure," she whispered. The green light covered me. The bruises immediately stopped throbbing.
"How did you do magic without a wand?" I asked incredulously.
"In my world, people don't use wands for magic. We can do elemental, healing, and some creation spells. What about you?"
"Where do I begin? We have so many different kinds of magic. I'm going to have to take you to my world one day. We all have to use wands to channel our magic, though I did use my Keyblade to create a Patronus."
"What's a Patronus?"
"A shield that takes on the form of an animal to protect the caster from the effects of Dementors. My family did use them when they invaded my world."
"They sound really useful."
At that moment, Cid walked up, his toothpick still in his mouth. "Kid, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are here. Oh! And I've got some stuff from the Accessory Shop." He held a circlet and a few green bottles, some of them with stars on them. "This here's Imperial Crown. (1). It can give you a whole lot of stamina and some defense. It can also make your magic more powerful. Here are some potions and Hi-potions. The Hi-potions are just more powerful potions."
"Thank you. How can I repay you?"
"Just help Sora beat Maleficent!"
I nodded and walked to where Cid pointed me. Who was Maleficent? I was going to have to ask later. I put the circlet on my head and walked in.
The three people I saw were not at all whom I expected.
There was a white duck with a blue shirt and a blue hat with a zipper.
There was a dog-man with yellow pants and a hat and a green shirt.
The last person was a boy about my age with brown hair that was spiked up. It was either natural, with hair gel, or just defying the laws of gravity. He had on large yellow shoes, a red jumpsuit thing that had shorts that, I don't know, poofed out, a blue belt, a navy blue short-sleeved jacket lined with white and white sleeves, and white fingerless gloves. A crown pendant was draped around his neck. His eyes were sky blue.
"Hi!" the boy said. "I'm Sora! These are Donald and Goofy." He gestured to the duck and dog-man, respectively.
"I'm Ariana Diggory," I said, sticking my hand out, "but you can call me Ari." Sora took my hand and shook it enthusiastically.
"So, a Keybearer, huh?" Goofy asked. He had a kind of gulping Southern United States accent. "How did you find out?"
"I don't know," I said. "It just appeared in my hand when the Heartless attacked my home." My home. I had brought it up again. My friends. My family. Those people I didn't know yet still belonged there. I hung my head.
"Hey," Donald said in a quacking voice, "on our ship, no frowns are permitted. Smiles only!"
I looked up and nearly burst out laughing. The trio had the goofiest smiles I had ever seen, no pun intended. Finally, I couldn't hold it in. I burst out laughing.
"That's it!" Sora said cheerfully. "Welcome to the team!"
He, Donald, and Goofy put their hands together in the middle of a square with a missing corner. They looked up at me. I walked to them and put my hand on top of theirs.
"All for one," Donald said.
"And one for all!" Goofy finished.
"C'mon!" Donald said. "Let's go to the Gummi ship!"
"Gummy ship?" I asked. Was it made out of gummy bears?
Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked out. I followed them, but before we had to leave, I wanted to say good-bye to Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith. Oh yeah, and Cid, too.
We met the four of them as we were walking out. I stopped walking and said, "Thank you, all of you. I don't know where I'd be without you."
Yuffie ran up to me and gave me a big hug.
"Good-bye," Aerith said. "I want to hear more about your world when you come back.
Cid and Leon just nodded.
"You ready, Ari?" Goofy asked. I nodded. We walked outside and through the dark town. We got to these large double doors. Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked through them. I followed and saw nothing. All I saw were some brightly colored space ships. Beyond them was nothing but a black sky and hundreds of stars.
"This is our Gummi ship, the Highwind!" Donald said proudly, gesturing to a red, yellow, and white ship. He, Sora, and Goofy climbed in. I hesitated. I wanted to check something first.
Sora came back after a minute and stared at me. Then he burst out laughing. "What are you doing?"
"Awateh 'oo 'ee ifuz 'ummy," I said through a mouthful of the ship's wing. "Ih ihn't."
"What?"
I took my mouth off the wing. "I wanted to see if it was gummy. It isn't."
He laughed again and said, "C'mon, we're about to go."
I climbed in after the spiky-haired boy and saw him, Donald, and Goofy already in their seats. I found one in the back and strapped myself in. Donald was at the controls.
"Prepare for lift off!" Donald quacked. I felt the ship rumble. The next second, I was forced back into my seat. I looked out the window. The view was amazing! It was the night sky, but it was all around us. Stars were everywhere, floating in the black expanse.
"Those stars are all of the worlds," Sora said.
"That's incredible," I whispered.
1: This is from 358/2 Days as far as I know. DID NOT make it up.
A/N: Hope you all liked it! I'm hoping that the later chapters will be about this length.
Thank you to DarkRiddlesDestiny for putting this story on alert.
