I'm back… again! So, this chapter is kind of a filler, kind of not. You can decide if you want.
I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT FOR MY OCS!
Chapter Four: Training.
A few minutes after we lifted off in the Gummi Ship, Donald said, "Okay, it's safe to move around."
Sora and Goofy unbuckled and stood up. I did the same.
"We have a few hours until we reach the new world," Donald announced.
"That'll give us time to do some training," Sora said. He turned to me. "Do you know how to fight?"
"No," I said, "though I did spar with Leon for a little while before you came."
"C'mon. I'll spar with you, though I doubt you can beat me."
Sora led me out of the cockpit and through several rooms, one of which was a kitchen, until he opened a door that lead to a large, empty room.
A flash of light appeared in Sora's right hand. After the light faded, I saw what looked like a giant key. Now I knew why it was called a Keyblade. The hilt was gold and shaped almost like a "D". The "blade" part was rounded and silver, and the teeth looked like a cutout of Sora's crown pendant. Out of the bottom of the hilt was a chain with a silver circle and two other smaller circles that were positioned like ears on it.
I thought about my own Keyblade. It appeared in a shower of sparks in my left hand.
"You're left-handed?" Sora asked. I nodded.
"Start out easy on me, okay?" I asked.
Sora charged at me, Keyblade raised. I raised my own to block. I swung at Sora, who jumped back. He pointed his Keyblade at me and shouted, "Fire!" I held up my own and shouted "Glacius!" The ice that shot from my Keyblade met the fire and put it out.
"Whoa," Sora said. "What was that?"
"Magic. That was a spell that I learned last year in my third year."
"Third grade?"
I giggled. "No. All thirteen-year-olds learn that spell. There are several others that I learned in past years like Expelliarmus!" I shot the spell at Sora's Keyblade, which flew out of his hand. "That particular one is a disarming spell."
"Wow! That would be so useful against the Heartless! Can you teach me?"
"I don't know. I don't think you're a Muggle-"
"What?"
"Non-magical person. Like I said, I don't think you're a Muggle because you just created a fireball. Hmm… Maybe I could teach you some basics, maybe alternatives for what you already know."
"Fire first."
"Okay. The incantation is Incendio." I pointed my Keyblade at the wall. "Incendio!"
Bluebell flames shot out of Radiant Sky and hit the wall, creating a small, charred spot.
"That one was weak. If it were stronger, I would have blasted a hole through the wall. What we need is a target. Hmm…"
"What about the wall?" Sora asked.
"I guess. Just try not to put a hole in it."
"What do I have to do?"
"What I normally have to do is wave my wand a certain way and say the incantation and focus on what I want. I don't think you have to wave the Keyblade."
I watched as Sora narrowed his blue eyes in concentration. He pointed his Keyblade at the wall and said, "Incendio!" A huge burst of blue flames flew out of his Keyblade and hit the wall, making a hole into the next room.
I quickly walked over to the wall, pointed my Keyblade at the hole and said, "Reparo." The hole repaired itself, as if nothing had every happened.
"I can't believe I just did that!" Sora said excitedly, like a little kid. "That was so cool!"
"You, Sora," I said, "are now a wizard. Now all we need to do is get you a wand and enroll you in Hogwarts!" Hogwarts. The Burrow. Mum and Dad. Hazel and Orion. My face fell.
Immediately, I heard a voice furiously shouting/quacking, "WHO'S FROWNING?" It was Donald. Who else had a voice like that? I smiled a little. "THAT'S BETTER!"
"What's life like on your world?" Sora asked. He plopped down onto the ground. I sat down with a little more dignity.
"Hmm… Where do I start?"
"You could tell me what Hogwarts is."
I explained to him about the school, its four houses and their rivalries, Quidditch, and the subjects. I told him about the teachers there, my favorite ones, like Professor Maud of Charms, and least favorite ones like Professor Binns, a ghost who taught History of magic.
"You have a ghost as a teacher?" Sora asked incredulously. "That's so cool!"
"Not really. His classes are extremely boring. After about two weeks, I started relying on my sister's first year notes. She's a Ravenclaw. So is her twin brother, Orion."
"What house are you in?"
"Hufflepuff. I've got a friend in Slytherin. Normally, we don't mix, but Angelique happens to be one of my best friends."
"What about your other friends?"
"Well, one of them is my cousin. His name is Albus, and he's in Gryffindor and in my year. We're so close we could probably be siblings. Then there's Charlotte Moon. Apparently, our mothers were close friends in Hogwarts. Now tell me about your world."
Sora told me about his home, Destiny Islands, a tropical paradise. He told me about his two best friends, Riku and Kairi, and how he was looking for them as he helped Donald and Goofy look for their king, Mickey. Then he told me about his adventures in Wonderland, Deep Jungle, and Olympus Coliseum.
"Then the last time we went to Traverse Town," Sora continued, "just before we met you, we found Riku, but he seemed different. He seemed almost jealous. He told me that I liked my Keyblade and Donald and Goofy than I liked being friends with him. I turned around for a few seconds, and then he disappeared."
"You'll find him again," I said. "Also, I want to hear more about those other worlds you went to."
"You should see Jiminy's journal."
"Whose?"
Something leapt out of Sora's hood and landed on my knee. It looked like a small bug that was wearing a suit.
"Cricket's the name," it, or should I say he, said, "Jiminy Cricket. My job is to chronicle Sora's journey for the King. Here's my journal." He pulled something out of his pocket and put it in my hand. It looked like a tiny book. "It has everything in there from when Donald, Goofy, and I met Sora up till now. It has pictures and descriptions of everyone that we met."
"Wow," I said. I picked up my Keyblade, pointed it at the book, and said, "Engorgio." The tiny book got large enough so that I could read it.
At that moment, Goofy walked in with his weird way. "Hey, fellers," he said, "we're gettin' to a new world called Agrabah."
"Cool!" Sora said. "A new world!"
Jiminy jumped back into Sora's hood. The rest of us walked back to the cockpit, where Donald was sitting at the controls. What we saw out the windshield in all of outer space was a desert with tan buildings with gold, onion-shaped domes on top. The underside was dark.
"We'll go down there tomorrow," Donald said.
"Aw, why not now?" Sora asked.
"It's already 7 o'clock!" The duck pointed to an analogue clock on the wall. True enough, it was 7 o'clock. Time really did fly.
We walked into the kitchen, where Donald pulled some small containers out of a cabinet. Goofy and Sora were sitting at the table that was in the middle of the room. It had four seats around it. On top of that table was a much smaller table. Jiminy Cricket jumped out of Sora's hood and sat at the midget table. I sat down next to Goofy.
Donald walked to the table, four bowls of macaroni and cheese in his arms. Or were they wings? Whatever. He put them on the table, one for each of us. Donald put a tiny plate on Jiminy's table and put a cheesy noodle on the cricket's plate.
"I'll get the drinks," I said. I stood up and walked to the Muggle refrigerator. I opened it and saw several cans of Coke, Mountain Dew, and Sprite and some bottles of water. They had those in other worlds? That was neat. "Who wants what?" I asked.
"Water, please," Goofy said.
"I want some Sprite," Donald said.
"Bring on the Dew," Sora said.
I pulled one of each of those out and a bottle of water for myself and walked back to the table.
"Here's to Ari!" Donald said, bringing up his can of Sprite. "The new member of the team!"
Sora, Goofy and I brought up our own drinks and clinked them together. We opened our bottles/cans and took a long gulp.
I twiddled my fork in my macaroni. I had one particular question. I really didn't have any way of using any tact, so I just blurted it out. "Who's Maleficent?"
Everybody stopped eating and stared at me.
"Where did you hear about her?" Donald asked, suspicion in his voice.
"Cid mentioned her once," I replied. "He didn't tell me who she is though."
"She's a witch," Sora said. "She took over Leon's world, Hollow Bastion. After it was filled with darkness, she built a castle. Maleficent controls the Heartless."
"Wow," I said.
"Let's not talk about that," Goofy said. "We need to talk about happier stuff."
"Ooh, have I got the story to tell you," I said. "It's about this prank my parents, Uncle Harry, Uncle Fred, and Uncle George pulled on this woman called Umbridge…"
Supper ended on a much lighter note than how I had started it. That night, I took Jiminy's journal with me to bed and started reading. It was all really amazing with all of the different people – the good and bad – and all of the different worlds. I fell asleep hoping that I would be able to find someone that I knew.
The next morning, after a nice breakfast of eggs and bacon, Sora, Donald, and Goofy took me to meet the Gummi ship's engineers. They led me to a room not far from the cockpit. In the room, there was a panel with buttons and whatnot that a Muggle would be able to identify. There was a wall of glass with an opening near one of the metal walls.
"This is the teleportation room," Donald said. "Chip and Dale don't let anyone near the engine room."
Two little animals climbed onto the control panel. They were chipmunks with yellow tunics with gears on them. One chipmunk had a small, black nose, the other with a large, red nose. They waved at me.
"Hi there!" said the one with the black nose. "My name's Chip, and that's Dale!"
"It's nice to meet you," I said to the talking animals. "My name's Ari."
"Let's go!" Donald said impatiently. He was tapping his orange, webbed foot impatiently.
We walked behind the wall of glass and waited for the chipmunks to teleport us. I had heard of teleportation in Muggle science fiction, but I really didn't think it was possible.
Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation that started from my fingers and toes and worked its way up. I looked down at my hands. They were turning fuzzy along with the rest of my body. Everything turned black. One second later, I was met with blinding light.
A/N – And so Ari begins her world traversing. Stay tuned! The next chapter's a long one.
Thank you to:
DarkRiddlesDestiny for your kind review and putting this on your alerts.
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