Aquatic Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 7: Turning Chinese; Tale of the SpearPort Royal


Docks


It was another day down in Port Royal; everything had returned to normal after the disappeared people had returned and the disappearances stopped during the Full Moon. Most people had talked about it, but most had forgotten about it in due time. Now, all that was new was a passenger ship docking into for the day. As the ship was docked and tied down, tourists, vacationing families, and people coming back from vacations were coming out of the boat and heading into town. However, as they all cleared the boat, only one passenger went unnoticed as they walked off the boat and stood on the dock.

It was the same figure back in China who had been assigned to find Thatch. The person was dressed in black pants and boots with green trim on the sole and trim of the boots, And also wore a black duster with green shoulders, cuffs, and neck collars as the jacket was buttoned up all the way to the collar, black gloves, and wore a military-type cap on their heads, shadowing their eyes. It was after they had walked on shore, did the soldier take off their hat, to reveal the face underneath the hat.

When the hat came off, it was revealed that the figure was a nineteen year old Chinese boy… with a girl's face. The person had short black hair, tied in a small bun ponytail on the back of their heads by a green band. The boy had pale porcelain skin, which was sort of odd for a boy, as well as womanly brown eyes as they looked round. He was currently carrying a black duffel bag of sorts over their right shoulder as they walked along the dock and towards the shore.

It was while they walked, a voice was heard from back the soldier's neck, "Wow. So this is Port Royal. It ain't exactly Hawaii, but I'm hopin' they've got those little coconut drinks with the lil' umbrellas on em', Girl."

The soldier stopped as they turned around their shoulder and scolded in a whispered tone, "Mushu, keep it down. The last thing we need right now is someone who's seen you."

"And what's wrong with seein' this?", the one called Mushu said as he stepped out from behind the man's jacket collar. It was a small one foot Chinese dragon colored red, with its underbelly yellow, three fringes on his back, and two short dog-like ears with blue tips to them. He also had yellow dragon whiskers, a bruise red nose, and two little blue horns on his head.

Mushu then casually pointed out, "Aw, come one. I've been with you now for three years on your job. And ain't nobody seen me since." He then got all goofy as he acted like a ninja, "I'm like the wind, sistah. Strong like the mountain, quiet and pleasant smelling like the wind…" but then stopped to sniff himself, and then shivered in disgust as he muttered, "Okay, maybe not as sweet-smelling and fresh. More like an ol' man fartin' in the wind." And then struck a striking cobra pose as he finished, "Yeah, like an ol' man fartin': silent but deadly."

The soldier just shook his head as he stated, "I just have to find Milo Thatch and take him back to China to translate the city. Maybe he can find something out about this… One who Bridges the Three Hearts."

"Yeah, but if you ask me, it sounds like some sort of fancy medical treatment that got botched up.", Mushu stated as he scratched his neck.

It was then that the solider, Fa Ping, reached into his pocket and pulled something out. It was a picture, a little worn but carefully taken care of. It was a picture of a Chinese family; a father with a cane, a mother, grandmother, and standing next to them was Thaddeus Thatch, along with his daughter and son-in-law. But the only two that were being focused on by the solider, were two kids centered in the front. The first kid was a Chinese girl, seven years old, and dressed in a white and magenta, with long hair going down her back with a jade flow hair comb in her hair on the right side. Standing next to the girl, smiling, was a four year old Eric Thatch.

The soldier smiled warmly at the photo, but stopped as Mushu interrupted, "Hey, who's the dwarf standin' next to ya?"

"That's Thatch's grandson, Eric.", the soldier said, "He was my best friend when he and his family were visiting on an exhibition in the Ming Dynasty ruins." The soldier then smiled warmly as he said, "They stayed with us for a while, and I was introduced to their son." He then traced his hand gently on the part of the photo with Eric on it as he whispered, "We were best friends since that day, and when they left." It was then that the soldier looked at Mushu as he was raising an eyebrow at him, "What?"

"You… like him.", Mushu mused.

The soldier lightly blushed a little as he shook his head, "No, I don't." He then cleared his throat as he explained, "It's just gonna be the first time in thirteen years that we've seen each other."

"Uh huh.", Mushu said, not buying it, as he ordered out, "Get movin', kid. We're supposed ta find him at this uh, Whitmore place, right? Then let's go." But before he did, he ordered the soldier, "But just remember your man walk." He then advised the following, "Shoulders back, chest high, feet apart, head up…" the soldier did so, but looked ridiculous doing so as Mushu ordered as he got back behind the soldier's collar, "… and strut. Two, three. Break it down. Hup, two, three. And work it!" However, the results were a bit comical as the soldier, walked down the dock and stairway, getting much confused looks from those who saw the soldier walking in that absurd posture and style.


Thatch Residence


Everything was going peaceful at the Thatch house; though no one spoke of the events a few nights ago. After the event of Olette's deception and the discovery of her Bloodbending, things had been pushed up pretty hard lately. But none worked harder than Ariel at this point. She was currently outside at the beach next to the house, practicing her Waterbending.

She was in her bathing suit, standing still with perfect concentration, with a string or serpent of water circling around her. Her opponent, or training partner, was Wally and Stitch, as the two stood parallel to each other, in battle ready stances. Only a few seconds past, until the fight commenced; Wally struck out his palm first, as it surged with energy, and he shot out a bolt of energy at Ariel. But then she swiped her arms apart, causing the water to go in front of her and expand it, then blew into it to freeze it into an ice wall, taking the blast's impact and shattering it completely.

Then before the droplets fell to the ground, she brought her arms together as the droplets were brought back together into a ball of water. Then she condensed it into a ball of ice, and threw it at Wally. Wally was about to punch at it, but then she condensed it again, liquefying it, and sent a stream of water at the stunned Wally. The water hit him completely, and then she clenched her fists, freezing him into place, imprisoning him about five feet off the sandy beach ground.

Wally, whose head was free, chirped out, "WHOA."

Then before she could rest and relinquish her stance, Stitch suddenly burrowed underground, and popped up nearly two feet in front of her, surprising her as the water mixed with the sand in the air. This caused it to mix with it and become mud as Ariel dodge-rolled away from him, getting close to the shore. As Stitch charged, Ariel bended the sea water that brushed ashore, making into a thin snake, and lashed it at Stitch running at her like a water whip.

The whips lashed at the little blue koala, but he jumped back as soon as it struck the first time. But then Stitch curled up into a ball, and rolled at her with some pretty good speed backing him up. However, Ariel saw that coming as she jumped back and using large wave movements from her arms, gathered a massive wave behind her, but not large enough to be a tsunami of any kind. With a forward double palm thrust, she shot a powerful pillar of water that rocketed Stitch right to Wally, as he yelled out and crashed with the robot.

She then broke her stance as she saw that the training session and finally ended, and the wave behind her died down back into the ocean. She then ran on over to Wally, seeing that he hadn't gotten up at all as the ice around them reverted back to water. As soon as she was close enough, she stopped by his side and kneeled down, "Wally? Stitch? Are you both alright?"

But as soon as Wally got up and moaned Ariel went wide eyed for a moment, and laughed up a storm. It seemed that when Stitch him, he was slammed into Wally's head, completely shoved inside as Stitch's head was shown on the robot's shoulders. All Wally could mutter was, "WHY is IT sOo DaRK?"

Stitch finally pulled loose as he shook his head and scurried off back to Lilo, who had watched the whole thing. The little Hawaiian girl ran over, with a miffed off Stitch next to her. She stopped as she complimented on the training, "That was amazing! From what Frey and the others told me last night, that was way better than what they said. I think you're just as good as Olette…" but then stopped as she covered her mouth, but the damage had been done.

Ariel looked saddened by hearing that name as she walked over to the beach ground. She brought up her knees and rested her chin on them; she had felt saddened by what had happened a few nights ago. A while ago, Olette, the only mermaid/human friend that she had on the surface, had been one of the bad guys all along.

Lilo looked to both Wally and Stitch, who had joined up with her, as she muttered, "I guess Olette's sort of become a taboo around here." She walked over to Ariel as she sat down next to her. It was pretty quiet for a moment, until she spoke up again, "You know… once upon a time… there was a small boy named Annie. He was taken from his home by powerful warriors, who trained him to be the most powerful warrior of them all as he grew up to adulthood. The problem was he was lonely; his mother had died, the only person he considered his father was killed, and his entire childhood and life was given up in order to become powerful. Then one day, a dark enemy saw the warrior's pain and used it against him to turn him over to the Dark Side."

"He told him that it was because of those who had taken him from his home, that he had lost everything in his life. He suggested to the warrior that they should share the same fate as he was given. So the warrior sought out and destroyed all the other warriors, until there was nothing left but he and the Dark Lord. But then one day, the warrior's best friend came to try and save him, and along the way, he did.", Lilo finished at that, but then asked Ariel, "And do you know who that warrior was?"

Ariel turned her attention to Lilo, but Wally and Stitch's attention were completely on to her, as Ariel asked, "Who was the warrior?"

"Anakin Skywalker, also known as Darth Vader.", Lilo replied, earning a gasp from both Wally and Stitch as she nodded, "True story."

Ariel wasn't all too aware of what she was going with, so she asked, "What does this have to do with Olette?"

Lilo explained, "The point of the story, Ariel, is that it's the same situation for Olette. She was an innocent girl, who was taken from her home; which was practically destroyed, as well as being caged up and butchered up like that. It's through all that, and from this Ursula you guys talked about, that she became this way." She then smirked as she stated, "But I think… the Olette before the Full Moon, was the true Olette that you and Kida befriended." She then stood up, and placed a hand on Ariel's shoulder as she encouraged, "And just like Obiwan did for Anakin… you have to bring her back from the Dark Side."

Ariel looked at Lilo, with a hopeful smile as she asked, "You really think so?"

Lilo nodded, "I know so."

Wally then placed his hand on her shoulder as he nodded, "We'LL hELp… Her."

And then, surprisingly, Stitch walked to them as he stated, "We help… together."

"We all help her together."

Then everyone turned around and saw Eric, dressed up casually, and causing a little startle from everyone as they got up.

Ariel, feeling a little surprised, asked him, "What's wrong, Eric?"

He motioned to the house, "we've gotta get going to Mr. Whitmore's. He says there's someone there from China. Someone who says that the City of the Mandarin's risen."


Elsewhere


In a shady place, unknown and unnamed by anyone, two familiar rogues were holding a meeting with their men. Both Rourke and Shan-Yu were currently holding a meeting with their men, who had done a routine search to find this one, this… One who Bridges the Three Hearts. But considering of what they had to work with… it didn't go so well. Finally, Shan Yu shot up from his seat as he hastened and bellowed out to Rourke, "I grow tired of you withholding information from me, Rourke." And then unsheathed his twisted sword as he shouted, "WHO IS IT?"

Finally, Rourke smirked at this change of attitude. In truth, he knew who it was they had to seek, but decided to hold on to that information. Ever since he teamed up with the Hun terrorist after he got out of that cave, he had to play things closer to the vest. Like he told himself: B.T. Baltimore was right. He smirked as he clenched his crystallized clawed hand and tapped it on the makeshift conference desk, as he answered, "His name's Eric Thatch… and he's the Seablade Bearer; the One who Bridges the Three Hearts. So to speak."

Shan Yu calmed down a bit as he sheathed his sword back, and leaned on the desk on one hand, "So we find this, Eric Thatch… we take him back to China… and then we force him to let us in to the city."

Just then, they heard three separate footsteps coming in, as a deadpan fake laugh was heard, "Ha ha ha ha, hahaha, ha, ha, ha, oh, a-hee-hee, ha ha, oh, hee hee, hee ha, ahaha.", and then stepped in Olette, Seifer, as well as their colossal bodyguard, Brutus. As Olette sat down at one of the chairs, Seifer grabbed one as well as he spoke up in his normal voice, "And here I thought my jokes were bad."

One of the Huns shot up, with a sword pulled out in tow, and threatened, "Give us one reason who we shouldn't chop your heads off, strangers?"

Then Olette stood up as she opened a water bottle attached to her sash belt, and asked with a cheery smile, "How about a magic trick?", and then most to everyone's surprise, she bended out a small water droplet, and froze it into a floating ice spike, "I'm gonna make this little ice spike… as well as one of your men… disappear." And before the soldier with the sword could attack her, she shot the icicle in a swift motion… right into the man's head, forcing the entire sharp object through the man's eye socket. He fell over dead as Olette sat down with mock surprise, "Ta-daa! They're both gone."

But before Shan Yu could try to attack them, he was stopped by Rourke, who seemed to smirk at the girl's viciousness. He then leaned in as he stated, "Hold on, Yu. Let's here what they've come to propose here."

Then Olette spoke out, "Okay, let's wind the clock back… nine thousand years ago after the Mandarin disappeared. From the records, the Huns were about to form an alliance with the powerful Mandarin, Emperor Nuada, when all of a sudden disappeared along with his Sapphire City, his Spear of Longinus, as well as his Five Elemental Generals. Whne that happened the Chinese Empire sought out and destroyed your people with ease. And then fast forward nine thousand years later, you people wouldn't cross anyone. I mean, what happened? Did your spines liquefy?"

Shan Yu was growing slightly angry at this, but kept calm as he asked, "So what are you proposing?"

Olette simply brushed the hair on her left side aside as she calmly replied, "It's simple: Awake the Mandarin, and form the alliance once again."

After that was said and heard, everyone, minus Rourke and Shan Yu, started to laugh like crazy at this notion. After a few seconds of laughter, Shan Yu raised an eyebrow as he asked, "If… If what you said is possible, and you're more than capable of doing it, then why haven't you done it already for yourselves?"

Then it was Seifer's turn as he shrugged, "Well, there's an old saying: If you're good at something, never do it for free."

Rourke raised an eyebrow as he asked, "So… what do you want?"

"Well, after you guys give the spear to the Mandarin…", Olette advised, "We'll take the Sapphire Army with us."

After that, everyone started laughing again, as Shan Yu glared daggers at them, as he stated, "You're crazy. You think you can steal from us and just walk away?"

Olette just shrugged as she said, "Um… yeah.", but then turned serious as she stated, "Listen, if we don't deal with this now, soon, uh…", she pointed to one of the Huns as she smirked, "Your friend over there won't be able to get a nickel for his granny."

The Hun slammed his fist on the table, and angrily rose up from his seat, "Enough… from this defiant child!" And then walked over to them with two swords at the ready.

But before he did, Brutus stepped in and roared at the Hun with his right fist about to slam into him, making him into mincemeat, as Olette calmed the situation and stepped in between the two, "Ah-ah. Let's not blow this out of proportion."

Just then, Rourke laughed up a storm as he looked at the three, "So far, I like 'em already. They're a bunch of gutsy little runts." He then got up, with only half the cloak gone, revealing his upper torso, and his half crystal body mutation as he walked over to the teens, and smirked, "So… if yer plannin' ta raise the army and the Mandarin… you're gonna need Thatch to do it for you. Considering he's the only one that the City's guardian's gonna let in."

"Don't worry.", Seifer stated as he walked up next to Olette, and gave a half-smirk, "If Eric hears anything about what you people are doing now… he's on his way to China right now."


Next Chapter: Turning Chinese; Tale of the Spear pt.2