Chapter 8: The Lost Empire.

The odd quartet found themselves in a vast and dreary cavern. A faint light cast over the damp stone & earth, yet there was no sun or sky to be seen.

"Where are we?" Donald asked no one in particular.

"Garsh, we haven't been to this world before," noted Goofy.

Sora nodded and looked up at the roof of the cave, "I wonder what this place is."

"It's called Atlantis," Riku stated.

Sora turned to face Riku, "You've been here before? When?"

"During our last journey. I did a lot more than just stalk you, you know." Riku wore a small grin as he returned to checking out their surroundings.

Sora smiled and began looking around again, too. "I know; I just hadn't realized you went to worlds I never saw."

"Well, you've seen worlds that I haven't," Riku pointed out.

Sora blinked and turned his attention back to Riku, "Really? Which ones?"

Riku turned his eyes to Sora. "Again, I didn't follow you all the time." He looked back out at the cavern as he continued. "I never went to Disney Castle, or any of the worlds around Agrabah." He glanced back at Sora, "Or that one you mentioned with the big castle."

Sora smiled again. When this was all over, if they did not end up stopping there, Sora would have to take Riku to The Pride Lands …and all of the other worlds he mentioned. "So are we in a cave then?"

Riku nodded, "Nearly ten thousand years ago, something happened here. This kingdom was forced underground; beneath the ocean."

"We're under the ocean?" asked Sora, as he started looking around again. "Does anyone still live in this kingdom?"

"The king of Atlantis decided secrecy was best, so the people stay hidden. They don't handle visitors very well either," Riku informed the others.

"I don't like the sound of that," Donald muttered.

"Why is the king hidin'?" asked Goofy.

"Not why: What." corrected Riku.

Sora cut in, "What? You mean he's hiding something. Do you know what it is?"

Riku appeared pensive for a moment, "It's the heart of the kingdom, which also holds the lock to the heart of this world. He's hiding it to protect it... And I'm guessing it's why he's here."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy turned in the direction that Riku indicated just in time to see Pete disappear into a small cavern below the plateau they were on. "Pete!" All three exclaimed simultaneously.

"Let's go see what he's up to," Sora said as they all approached the edge of the plateau. They began their steep decent. Shortly before they would have reached the bottom, a distant explosion rocked the entire cave and they were thrown from their perch.


Sora opened his eyes and stood, and then he grabbed his right arm, which had a deep cut halfway between his elbow and shoulder. He felt an arm slide across his back and a hand held onto his left shoulder as Riku appeared beside him on his right. Riku started to raise his right hand, obviously about to cast a healing spell, but he slowly lowered it without doing anything and was staring into the shadows ahead of them.

Sora noticed a shuffling sound as he followed Riku's eye line. Then a few people slowly came into the light. They were holding spears at the ready and stood hidden behind large shields that looked like huge masks. Riku still held onto Sora with his left arm, and had his right hand risen in front of his friend, ready to call his weapon or produce a dark shield. Sora still held his right arm, but raised that hand slightly in case he too needed to call his Keyblade.

The head figure stepped forward. The shield moved aside to reveal a woman with dark skin and white hair. She eyed the boys with concern for a moment before raising a glowing crystal that she wore around her neck to Sora's wound. Before Sora could attempt to move away, Riku gently squeeze the shoulder he was holding, and Sora knew his friend was telling him to keep still. Then, he understood why. The strange woman held her hand over the wound for a few seconds after bringing the crystal to it, Sora felt the injury grow cold and then all pain was gone. The woman removed her hand and the wound was completely healed.

Riku glanced at Sora's healed arm, then at Sora's face before releasing his friend and turning to the odd woman, "Thank you, Kidagakash."

Both Sora and the woman looked at Riku in surprise. Riku looked thoughtful for a moment before raising his hands and looking at them as he said, "Oh, I forgot..." He lowered his hands and turned his attention back to the woman. "It's me: Riku -or Ansem-, as you would remember." He held out one hand, palm down, and summoned Way to the Dawn. He let it vanish before any of the surrounding locals could consider it a threat.

The strange woman appeared mildly shocked as she looked Riku over, "The cloak hid your face, but your physique is quite different than the last time you were here. Even your voice and your height are different. Your weapon has altered slightly as well."

Riku looked contemplative for a few seconds before he answered. "I had to take on a different form for awhile. My weapon altered when I changed back."

The woman considered this for a moment and then smiled at him, "Oh, so this is your true form. Had we known we were dealing with someone barley more than a child, we would not have been so stern with you." She turned her attention to Sora now, as Riku appeared to ignore the comment, "And is this the friend you were helping?"

"Yes, his name is Sora. He's also a Keyblade wielder."

The woman smiled at Sora, "Welcome Sora. I'm Kidagakash."

Sora smiled in return, "Hi, Kidagukish, err, Kidakakish, uhh..." He nervously took a quick glance at Riku, who was smirking at him.

Kidagakash chuckled lightly, "You may call me Kida, if it suits you better."

Sora's smile returned, "Kida... Great, I can say that one."

Goofy's voice reached the small group of people, "Sora! Riku!"

"Sora!" Donald called as the two ran toward them.

"Donald, Goofy, we're okay," Sora called to them as they approached. "This is Kida. She and Riku met when he was here before." He turned to face Kida again, "These are my other friends. This is Donald," Donald stopped beside Sora as he was introduced. Goofy tripped over a rock on his way over and stood up chuckling and rubbing his head, "And he's Goofy."

"Oh, you mean he is funny." Kida looked from Goofy to Sora.

"Huh? Oh, that's his name."

"His name is Funny?"

"No, he's not funny. Well, he is, but that's not his name."

"You're confusing me."

Riku, Donald, and Goofy laughed quietly at this exchange between Sora and Kida. Then Goofy offered her a hand, "Nice to meet you, Kida. The name's Goofy." They both smiled and shook hands.

Riku looked serious again as addressed Kida, "We aren't the only ones here. Have you seen anyone suspicious around?"

"I don't know about suspicious, but there is a group of people heading toward our city in strange vehicles."

"Any heartless?" asked Riku.

"Or nobodies?" Sora added, figuring if Kida knew what heartless were, and if Riku was here during the last journey, then she probably knew what nobodies were.

She shook her head, "No; Just humans."

"Well, we just saw someone who's got to be up to no good," Sora stated.

"...And if he's here then more heartless are coming," Donald chimed in.

Kida turned from Donald to Riku, who nodded. Then she said something in a strange language to the others behind her and returned her attention to the key bearers and their friends. "If the heartless are returning, then you must speak to my father. Come with us."


They followed the group of Atlanteans through the caves and finally reached a beautiful city hidden within and lit by crystals like the one Kida wore.

"Welcome to Atlantis," said Kida.

"Whoa..." Sora, Donald, and Goofy started in disbelief at the ancient kingdom.

Kida smiled at them and then led them to two large doors, "Wait here a moment, please. The king will want to see you."

After she left, Sora looked a little confused, "What about her dad? Weren't we going to talk to him?"

"The king probably knows more," Donald responded.

"We can talk to her father afterwards," added Goofy.

"The king is her father," Riku informed them.

All three looked at him, "Ooohh…"

Kida returned and led them to the king. He was ancient looking, with the same dark skin and light hair as all the other Atlanteans. His eyes were completely white as he stared without seeing. Yet somehow, he lowered his head and turned his face to Riku.

"So you have returned, Ansem." He spoke harshly as he addressed Riku, who flinched lightly at the sound of that name.

Sora stepped forward and squeezed his hands into fists, "That's Riku! An-"

Riku cut off anything else Sora might have intended to say by clapping a hand over Sora's mouth. However, he wore a fond expression as he shook his head at the other boy. Then he released Sora, who was now much calmer, as the king spoke again.

"Alright, Riku, you and I must speak... Alone. Kida; continue your watch of the other outsiders. The rest of you; wait outside."

"Sora stays." Riku spoke before anyone else could respond. In fact, the king had just barely finished speaking. The king looked angered, but Riku continued, "If he goes, so do I. But you are right about one thing; we must speak." Riku met the king's sightless gaze, and for a moment the two appeared to be staring at each other as if battling wills. Sora realized more was going on than he was aware of, so he decided to keep quiet.

Finally, the king sighed, "Fine. He may stay."

"Why don't we wait for you guys outside?" Goofy asked as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Everyone else followed the king's orders.

Sora turned to the king, but before he could argue, and his expression showed that he meant to, Riku touched his shoulder and spoke. "We don't have a lot of time to argue."

The king's facial features seemed to soften a little. He addressed Riku again, "Are you…injured? You sound as if-"

"I'm fine." Riku cut him off, "But we think the Heart of Atlantis is in danger."

Sora jumped in, still looking annoyed. "We saw a guy named Pete here earlier, before we met Kida. If he's here then heartless are here too." He did not know anything about this 'Heart of Atlantis', but Pete meant heartless, which meant they were needed, and Riku could fill him in on the rest later. In the meantime, something was happening. He did not know what, but he could feel it. And whatever it was, he did not like it.

"We aren't entirely sure of his plans, but he's working under a witch named Maleficent. She wants to rule the heart of all worlds," Riku added calmly. Sora could tell it was a forced calm, though he doubted anyone else could.

"...And she would use the Heart of Atlantis to accomplish this. I see..." The king stated. "Then we are fortunate that the Keyblade has brought you here. What of the other outsiders? Do you know if their coming is related?"

Riku answered first, "Brought us here... And we don't know anything about them, but I'd be careful."

"I don't think you need to tell him that," Sora quietly addressed Riku.

"The Heart shall remain hidden, and the others will be turned away or killed," The king stated. "All of you may stay for the time being, until we know of our enemies plans."

A man approached the king and said something in the same language that Kida used earlier, which the heroes now assumed to be Atlantean. The king responded and the man left. Then, Kida entered, followed by several others. They were obviously not Atlanteans. A non-threatening man wearing glasses kneeled respectfully as Kida did, and began to take notes as she and her father appeared to be arguing in their native language. Another man, older and muscular, cut in. He ignored the first man's protest as he thanked the king for welcoming them into his city. The king wasted no time in correcting the man and telling him that he and his party had to leave the city immediately. After a brief but polite debate, the king agreed to let them stay for one nights rest.

Everyone except the king, his guards, and Kida left the throne room. Outside, the other party convinced the bespectacled man to wait and speak to Kida. Then the old man, and a rough looking blonde woman, left and those remaining finally noticed Riku, Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

A large man with a shaved head addressed them kindly, "Hey there; you boys don't exactly look like you belong here."

"Well neither do you, Gramps," Sora answered irritably.

The bald man still spoke kindly, "True enough. My name's Sweet, Joshua Sweet. I'm the medical officer of our little entourage."

"...And what is your little entourage doing here?" Sora asked, now more interested than irritated.

Riku held back a chuckle. Same old Sora. He always has worn his heart on his sleeve.

"Well I guess you could call us explorers. We've been trying to find this place for years. It's been lost for centuries. Never thought there'd still be people livin' here. Doubt any of them would be open to examinations after that greeting though. So what brings you here?"

"None of your business!" Donald sounded just as irritated as Sora had before.

"We're just visiting. Riku knows some people here," Sora answered casually.

"Riku?" Sweet raised an eyebrow at Sora questioningly, as did Riku, only much more subtly. Sora had not technically lied, but he meant for his words to be misleading, something Riku had never seen him do so well before.

"He's Riku. I'm Sora. And this is Donald and Goofy," Sora indicated each as he introduced them all.

"Nice to meet you. As I said before, my name's Sweet. This is Audrey Ramirez, or chief mechanic"-

He pointed to a girl around Sora and Riku's age, with dark hair, eyes, and skin. She tilted her head and waved, "Hey."

"Vincenzo Santorini, our demolitions expert"-

A tall man holding a few sticks of dynamite looked at them without enthusiasm; "How you doing? Call me Vinny"

"Gaeton Moliere, excavations and geology"-

A short, round man wearing strange goggles looked up, "Bonjure."

"Mrs. Packard, our communications officer"-

An old woman flicked a cigarette and said nothing.

"...And our cook, Cookie."

A thin and somewhat wild looking old man stepped forward. "Howdy, you boys look like you could stand to gain a few pounds. You been getting in your basic fours? Beans, bacon, whiskey, and lard?" He counted off on his fingers.

"Uh, we're good." Sora quickly turned back to Sweet, "Who were those other guys? The one's that left a minute ago?"

"Oh, them? The skinny guy with the glasses is Milo Thatch. He's our translator. The surly looking fellow is Commander Rourke, and the blonde is Lieutenant Helga Sinclare."

Sora felt something lightly press the side of his shoe twice, and recognized it as a signal he and Riku used when they were younger and needed to obtain the other's attention without notice. He subtly adjusted his weight so that he could see Riku in the corner of his eye. The other's facial expressions, while normally unreadable or just too abstruse for people to pick up on, were generally notable to Sora. Right now, the look that only Sora could possibly read said 'we need to go'.

Sora smiled at the group of people, "Well, it's nice to meet all of you, but we've got to go. I'm sure we'll see you around later." He waved a hand and began to turn. He looked at Riku, "Uh…"

Riku looked at him, "Oh, right. This way." He too, gave the group of explorers a small wave and began leading Sora, Donald, and Goofy away. When they were out of earshot, he spoke again, "Something's not right. Let's find out what the commander and the lieutenant are up to."

Seeing no reason to question his friend's instinct, Sora agreed, as did Donald and Goofy. They all moved unseen in the direction that Rourke and Helga had headed.