Disclaimer: I own nothing
Same warnings as before.
(A/N: Okay…almost 1600 hits. I seriously need more reviews and feedback cuz this is ridiculous. I can't tell if anyone likes the story or not and if they don't I might as well abandon it. So please review and No Flames.)
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Hook, Line and Sinker
The place the cold, distant fortune cookie of a man took Sora seemed to take forever to get to. And if Sora didn't know any better he'd swear that they were deliberately taking some long detour meant to delude the imaginary people Leon thought were following them. So by the time the man muttered they were close Sora was pretty sure he could probably navigate perfectly throughout the whole town—alone…and probably blindfolded.
"Here it is." He paused and looked back to Sora who was trying to look past Leon to see where the man had led them.
"So my friends are there?" Sora asked, his tone suspicious and his eyebrow rose. Leon eyed him for a full second before rolling his dark eyes and striding forward to open the door. Sora, believing the man would not likely wait for him to make up his mind, headed straight in—
…only to be tackled out the door again.
"Gawsh Sora! You had us scared to death! We thought that ya had gotten hurt or worse! Hy-uck!" Goofy's worried expression made Sora nod guiltily.
"KNUCKLE HEAD!" Donald squawked but relented and patted the brunette's head. "Worried Goofy there…" he chastised. Goofy chuckled.
"Worried Donald there too ya know!"
Leon, who had gotten bored and rather frustrated during their reunion quickly, stepped over the pile of friends and situated himself by the window—the farthest one from all the people in the room.
"What's with him?" Donald muttered as he got up. Goofy held out a hand for Sora who took it and dusted himself off.
"He's the embodiment of dark fortune cookies everywhere." Sora commented, bringing up his rather pointed conclusion of the man.
A crazed laugh interrupted them and Sora took a step back as a rather petite girl with black short hair sauntered over to them and put her face dangerously close to Sora's.
"Heh heh…that's a rather pronounced deduction of ol' Squall there—" Leon's eye twitched. "My name is Yuffie, and I'm the greatest ninja that ever lived! And you're…too pretty to be a boy." She smiled widely and ignored Sora's sputtering and scarlet face. "So you're the Legendary Keyblade Master then, huh!? Ya look sorta scrawny to take on the thousands of Heartless that wanna steal your heart and beat you to a bloody pulp—"
"Yuffie…that's enough." Sora sighed in relief as the rather forward girl bounced away and his gaze turned to the owner of the soft melodic voice who saved him from verbal abuse.
The woman was very beautiful. She had long brown hair tied into a braid with a large pink bow to compliment her pretty pink outfit. The woman's face was gentle and her marvelous violet eyes reminded him of something…
"Hello Sora. It's nice to meet you." Her voice startled him and he put on a cheesy grin before extending his own hand to meet hers. She had a firm but gently grip and he pulled back slowly. "My name is Aerith." She gave another smile to Donald and Goofy, the latter blushing, before she took a few small steps back. "Come in and close the door. We have many things to talk about."
Aerith's little reminder set everything back to being serious. Leon, who had ignored them for the time being, pried himself from the window and began walking farther into the house. Yuffie followed and Aerith signaled them to come along as well.
"Might as well." Sora sighed and he and his guardians followed them.
--
"Riku."
The boy's sudden confidence made Maleficent smirk. When she had ordered the Heartless to attack the small pathetic island, she had wanted them to bring back one of the Key brat's brother's. But like all the brainless twits that worked for her, they brought back and deposited the silver haired brat, and consumed the whole island in darkness. Now she had no way to lure the blasted Keyblade Master here, or so she thought.
As the boy slept on Maleficent used her dark power to look inside the boy's memories and what she found slightly astounded her.
This Riku knew the brat and even secretly yearned to see him once more; this want and determination could help her greatly if she manipulated the situation just right.
"Riku…" she purred and slightly smirked as the boy grew weary. 'At least he's no fool…' she thought with a sneer. "You're lucky to be alive my dear boy…the heartless could have easily taken your heart…you're lucky I was there to stop them."
'Riku' looked skeptical. "Heartless?"
"You haven't heard of the Heartless before? Dear me, this won't do." Actually this was perfect. Manipulating an ignorant fool often proved more effective in the long run. Plus it didn't hurt that the boy already had darkness in his heart…a little push in the right direction and this boy could possibly be the key to bringing down that blasted mouse king.
"Where am I?" he demanded. This made the dark witch scowl but the boy pressed on. "And why would you save me…?"
"Oh, don't worry. You'll pay me back soon enough." And just like that Riku went back to the defense. "Quit that. I won't harm you. But…in return I'd like your assistance in something." Maleficent gave a dark smile.
"I didn't ask for saving…wait! What happened to the island!? The last thing I remember is—"
"Gone. Sorry boy but that's how it is. Your island is no more and I suggest you try moving on." Maleficent couldn't help the sneer that covered her face.
Riku's already pale face grew more pallid. "Gone!? But what happened—and my friends! What—"
"All their hearts have been taken by the heartless. I doubt any of them made it to safety. The only reason you're alive is because of me." Maleficent was getting tired of this. But Riku seemed to sense the truth in her words and kept silent.
"But…" Maleficent hid her smirk.
Riku's head slowly looked up.
"There is a way for you to save them. But you'd have to do everything I say…and I mean everything."
Riku bit his lip and looked into the woman's cold eyes. He knew that there was something terribly wrong with this woman and even something more terribly wrong with this whole situation. But his friends…Kairi…Roxas…Tidus…even Cloud… Were they all really gone? He knew he couldn't trust this woman but if it helped his friends…
"I'll do it."
Maleficent smiled, "Good boy, follow me. There is a lot for me to explain."
--
The back room was rather clustered but comfortable and Sora realized that it led to some halls and other rooms that were located in other parts of the towns. Sorta like a hotel. He looked out the window and spotted the store he went into. Seeing how close they were Sora gave Leon a funny look to which he narrowed his eyes at.
"Sorry I'm late!" came a gruff voice as another door to the side of the room was barged open. "But this kid kept me busy for a while so I had ta—"
In came in the man from earlier…and he was blaming Sora for his tardiness.
The man stopped dead in his tracks and gave Sora a bewildered look before casting Leon a questioning glance. Leon nodded once and Cid quickly slapped his forehead groaning.
"That was my first reaction too." Leon said rather dryly. Aerith though didn't look amused. Her pretty face set in a frown; she cleared her throat and motioned everyone to be quiet. Yuffie however decided to violate Sora's space again and sat down uncomfortably close giving him a crazed look now and then.
Sora gave a nervous grin and nearly molded himself to Donald who was turning red in the face, probably from anger.
"Now, now." Aerith's voice made them stop. "Sora has to be informed. And the King left it up to us. So who wants to go first?"
At the mention of the King, Donald and Goofy straightened up and looked attentive.
"ME! I DO! I WANNA EXPLAIN!" Yuffie's sudden loud exclamation made Sora jump. "Please!? I wanna tell him all the gory details and how millions of people's lives are in his hands and if he fails he'll be plunging the world into a perpetual void of darkness effectively killing all the good in all the worlds—"
"Yuffie." That's all it took for Leon to silence the girl.
"Er…what…? Void of darkness…? Millions of people…?" Sora's eyes widened and it was only then that Yuffie decided to look sheepish.
"Don't worry Sora. I have the utmost confidence in you." Aerith gave him a smile before casting a dark glance Yuffie's way.
"Listen kid." Leon sighed. "What you hold is called the Keyblade. It's a very powerful weapon that can be used to either save or destroy the worlds. It chooses it's own Master by picking the individual with the strongest heart; usually this person has little to no darkness in their heart. This though is where it gets dangerous for you. Seeing as you hold the Keyblade all the Heartless will be attracted to you. They fear and hate the Keyblade but that doesn't stop them from wanting to attain the heart that empowers it."
Yes, agreed Sora, Leon was a very troubled fortune cookie.
"But being the Keyblade Master has its slight perks. Given how strong your heart is will determine how powerful the Keyblade is. You'll be able to unlock and lock any key, anytime and anywhere."
"Yay." Sora deadpanned. "My fear of locks has now been abolished."
Leon smirked. "But that's also your mission. Using the Keyblade you have to go from world to world locking the World's heart. When this is done, this prevents Heartless from going into that world and destroying and engulfing that heart." Leon noticed Sora's confused gaze and sighed. "Every world has a heart—the heart being that center of that world. When that is engulfed in darkness then the world is destroyed and its inhabitants have their hearts taken."
"Why do these Heartless need 'em hearts so badly?" Goofy asked.
Aerith gave a sad smile. "Their true objectives are unknown but what we do know is that the Heartless, even though they can, aren't acting of their own will. As of now, millions of Heartless are acting on orders."
"Their leader is a dark witch named Maleficent. She's a nasty old bitch. She controls the Heartless and makes 'em destroy all the worlds! We ain't sure yet but she's probably aiming for Kingdom Hearts." Cid spat, clearly angry at the thought.
"Oh." Sora couldn't think of anything to say. "So I have to go to different worlds? And lock them, right?"
Aerith smiled and nodded. "That's correct Prince Sora."
Sora made a small face. "Fine. When?"
"Now. Right now. You have to start as soon as possible." Leon left no room for argument and stared down into Sora's crystal blue eyes.
"Right…" Sora gained a determined glint in his eye and Leon nodded, satisfied for the moment. At least the kid was taking this seriously…maybe they weren't that screwed after all…
"After I take a nap."
Leon closed his eyes. Yep. They were definitely screwed.
--
Riku followed Maleficent at a close distance solely because he feared getting lost in this hellhole. Not that the woman's presence was very comforting either…
"Ah…here we are." Riku raised an eyebrow. Before him was placed a large see through ball. All it was missing was some smoke—
Nope, there it is.
Indeed, smoke started to rise from the crystal ball and Riku looked to Maleficent. The witch merely smirked and motioned for him to look inside. He complied and nearly gasped as images began to appear.
The first was of him and Sora as children. They were holding hands and laughing.
The next was Roxas and Cloud talking on their island.
And the final showed the islands being torn and ripped apart by some giant shadow monster and then being engulfed by some dark hole.
"Believe me now?" Maleficent asked. Riku idly nodded. "Good… I couldn't help but notice that boy you were holding hands with…was he your friend?"
"My best friend. He was taken from me." Riku let out.
"Really now…" Maleficent inwardly smirked. Just a few choice words and this boy could be her next puppet. "If there was a way to find him, would you do anything to achieve it?"
"Anything." Riku repeated.
Suddenly the image began to shift again and this time it showed a brunette boy walking alongside a girl with short black hair.
Riku sucked in a breath.
The boy had chocolate brown hair styled into gravity defying spikes. He was slender and his skin was a rich tan. The boy turned to look back and Riku got a look at his face. Crystal blue eyes danced with laughter and Riku felt his heartbeat quicken in…something he had never felt before. This new feeling felt good and he savored the last few moments of the image before it faded once again.
Maleficent smiled as she looked at Riku. The hungry glint in his eye didn't escape her and she had to restrain herself from laughing. This was too easy!
"Sora…" he whispered. "You're alive…?"
Hook
"Yes he is. Been kept in a castle for most of his young life. The thief who took him even had the gall to erase the poor boy's memory."
Riku snarled at this.
Line
"If you help me achieve my goal then I shall reward you by giving you anything you want. Anything." Maleficent purred.
Riku smirked. "Sora. I want Sora."
Maleficent inwardly laughed. This boy was her's!
And Sinker
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