Chapter Three

Radiant Garden, Act I, Scene I

When they arrived, Radiant Garden was in complete chaos. The citizens were running amok, fleeing from small, purple glittering creatures. They caused Riku to gasp, seeing them a second time.

I knew it, he thought. Then he realized he forgot to warn Sora. Crap.

"Guys!" Yuffie cried. "Look out!"

One of them jumped on Sora. "Um, help!" Kairi smacked it quickly, but the thing refused to die.

"Ah, hell," Yuffie cussed, wildly throwing her ninja blades at them. "Come on! Just run!"

They all fled to Merlin's house, locking the door behind them.

"One of those things bit me," Riku said. There was a wide cut down his arm.

"What were they?" Sora asked.

"OPEN UP!" There was a loud banging on the door. "Wak!"

"I told you to leave the door open!" Kairi hissed.

Yuffie yanked at the chain and a very pissed-looking Donald walked over to Sora, staff in hand. Predictably, he smacked the boy in the knee with it, causing him to fall to the ground uttering "Christ! For the love of…!"

Riku was hysterically laughing. Kairi punched him in the shoulder.

Sora looked up to the red-faced duck magician. "What was that for?"

"For leaving us behind, you big palooka."

"Gawrsh…" Goofy murmured, knowing this wouldn't end well.

Sora facepalmed. "I didn't leave you behind."

"It was my fault, guys. I forgot about you two," Yuffie covered for him. She mouthed at Sora, you can thank me later.

Sora nodded. As Donald turned his wrath on the ninja, Goofy tried to calm him down.

Suddenly, Merlin appeared. "Right on time, I see. As always."

"You're late," Yuffie scolded.

"You try traveling pan-dimensionally and tell me how it turns out," the sorcerer retorted. "Are you all right? I hope you didn't happen to run into our friends."

"Unfortunately, yes," Riku said, casting Cure on himself. The wound only partially healed. "What are they?"

"I don't believe we've met," Merlin greeted. "I am Merlin the Sorcerer. And you are?"

"Riku. Just Riku."

"And you, young lady?"

"Kairi."

Merlin gasped. "Princess! What a lovely surprise!" He bowed to her and Kairi blushed in embarrassment.

"So these are those friends of yours." Yuffie smiled evilly. She went over to Sora and whispered to him, "She's pretty. Good job."

Now it was Sora's turn to blush.

"I'm Yuffie, the great ninja warrior," she introduced herself. "Nice to meet you! Too bad you can't meet the others. They're probably at Cid's."

Leon's face appeared at the window. "You rang?" Aerith, standing right beside him, giggled.

Merlin opened the door again. "Right. Hurry along in. How'd you get here? I thought the Mayor issued a stay in place warning."

Leon smirked. "He did. But since when do I listen to rules?"

Merlin rolled his eyes.

Riku thought, hey, isn't that my line? Just kidding.

"Sora brought his friends," Yuffie said, throwing her arms over Kairi and Riku's shoulders. "This is Kairi and Riku."

Leon's smile was actually close to genuine. "Nice to meet you. I'm Leon, and this is Aerith."

"Ya'll forgetting about me?" The loud voice came from outside.

Aerith smiled. "That's Cid."

"Damn right," he said. He turned to Kairi and Riku. "Nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot. Sora! Why are you on the floor?"

"Because Donald was being a meanie," Sora cried, chuckling a little. Donald stuck his tongue out.

"Well, get up, I just washed those floors."

"Actually, Cid, I had to," Merlin quipped.

"Stupid wizard," Cid muttered under his breath.

"I heard that, you know."

"You were supposed to!"

Before they could actually start fighting, Yuffie threw herself between them. "Come on guys, we've got friends over."

"It is like some freaking party," Riku muttered. "All 'oh, it's so nice to meet you! How are you?' Aren't we supposed to be talking about battle plans?"

"Nice to know you're so optimistic," Cid snapped. "Oh, speaking of which, Aerith. Where's Mr. Gloom and Doom?"

Leon smirked again. "You mean Cloud?"

Aerith blushed. "Uh. He's at home."

"You like him…" Yuffie teased, then glanced at Sora and Kairi, causing both of them to blush. Riku snorted.

"Oh, come on, Leon, we all know you're jealous."

"Am not!" Leon growled.

"Are too!"

Leon began to chase the hyper ninja around the room.

"All right, all right, everyone!" Merlin shouted. "Settle down!"

Riku nudged Sora, "You're friends with these guys?"

"It does take some getting used to," Sora replied.

Fifteen minutes and three death threats later, everyone was crammed around Merlin's tea table, which seemed to be bigger for such occasion.

"So…" Sora began, unwilling to be serious. "What were those things?"

Leon sighed. "They're called Mindless."

Sora raised his eyebrows. "'Mindless'? That sounds like some sort of…"

"Joke. But it's not," Aerith continued. "There has been more and more of them lately."

Riku suddenly remembered something. "Isn't the King supposed to meet us here?"

"I think so…" Kairi muttered.

"So, these 'Mindless'…" Sora kept going. "How are they dangerous?"

Yuffie looked up. "They take over the mind and the human body. They can actually control your actions."

Sora felt vaguely nauseated.

"Hundred munny he pukes," Cid whispered to Donald.

"You're on," the duck muttered.

"I'm right here, you know!" Sora cried. "So… what were you saying?"

Merlin closed his eyes. "They can take over human bodies. That's what we believe they're planning- to control all the humans- they've even tried to take over other beings, I've heard, and are succeeding. Only, in this case, it doesn't matter if the heart if full of light or darkness. Either is just as pliable."

Sora began to wonder who would win the bet.

"How do we fight them?" Riku asked.

"Just as you would with any Nobody. Swiftly and mercilessly."

"But they're so much stronger. I couldn't even kill one," Kairi told them.

"I suggest using magic to stun them first. Works like a charm," Merlin advised.

"These creatures are trying to take over the worlds, then? Do you know who their leader is?" Kairi asked.

"Not quite yet. But they must be terribly evil."

"That's such a surprise," Sora gasped sarcastically. Everyone looked at him. He'd never used that form of sarcasm before. "Yeah, yeah. Bad joke. Moving on."

"Hold on." Riku sighed. "I almost forgot. The night before we left, I saw a black-cloaked man with one of those… things. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but they were watching you."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sora and Kairi said in unison.

"I was going to, but I fell asleep!"

"Let me guess. I have to go around, stopping these things. But why only us? If they're not made of light or darkness or nothingness, then how will it be vulnerable to the Keyblade?"

"They aren't immune to light," Leon explained. "Even though they aren't made of Darkness. Their home world must be very dim. Even lying out in direct sunlight harms them. That's why they're so fast."

Yuffie glanced around, blinking. "Hey, wasn't your king supposed to be here by now?"

"Yeah, he's really late," Aerith continued.

Sora's eyes widened. "You don't think…"

"Of course not, Sora. The King can take care of himself," Riku told them. "…Right?"

Sora pulled his chin to his knees. "I hope so."

"The Heartless are much fewer," Merlin continued. "I believe they've stopped producing them artificially." He paused. "After all, which would you want? A weak slave that acts on its own instincts, or a strong one that obeys you?"

There was a soft clinking sound as a letter dropped through the mail slot. Aerith went over and picked it up, skimming the writing. She turned her large, sad eyes on all of them. "This isn't good."

"Who is it from?" Riku asked.

"Queen Minnie," Aerith whispered.

Sora gasped, knowing what happened.

"You mean he…" Kairi began.

Aerith nodded. "They've taken over the Castle."

"What about the Cornerstone of Light?" Sora asked.

"It doesn't say."

"There has to be a way to get him back to normal," Riku almost snarled. "Right?"

"I'm not sure…" Merlin said in a tiny voice.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU'RE NOT SURE?!" Riku bellowed, scaring everyone shitless. "You're a wizard! You're supposed to know everything!"

"Just because I'm supposed to doesn't mean I do!" He snapped.

Sora took off for the Bailey. He didn't stop running until he was there, lungs feeling like they were on fire. He was violently sick out of one of the 'windows.' Really caring less that Donald would be on his ass for losing the munny, he curled into a corner, breathless. He swallowed hard, wiping off his mouth, and shivering.

"Sora?" Kairi called weakly. He opened his eyes and stared at her. She sat next to him and handed him a potion, which he gladly drank.

"Donald lost the bet," he murmured.

"I figured."

"I just can't believe it. Not Mickey. It's like he died."

"Don't lose hope, Sora. For all we know… there could be some sort of cure. Maybe it's like a potion." She gestured to the empty bottle he held.

"Mmm."

"Come on. The others are worried about you." He stood up and Kairi squeezed his hand.

Things would never be the same.

Eh. I got lazy. I should really revise this crap before I publish it…

Loophole: If the Mindless can be attacked by light, then how can they take over a person's body whose heart is full of light? Simple. The mind is not related to the heart.