Finally I get the chance to finish this chapter and I'll start of by saying that this is more of a character arc chapter with a lot of Riku and his interaction with the Disney characters however the majority of the story will be based on Sora and Luna's experiences so keep that in mind that you have much of these chapters with other main characters from the series but if these were to happen, they would be in original worlds like Radiant Garden.
Don't worry though, have a whole bunch of character development planned coming for other characters in the future so you'll eventually get your Kairi arc but until then, enjoy the story.
Chapter 8
Castle in Peril
The walls of Disney Castle were lonelier than Riku had ever seen them. As he walked through the hallway leading to the King's study he thought about his destroyed home and most importantly, where Sora was. Had he been swallowed by the darkness?
"No, what am I even thinking? Have more faith Riku." He told himself determined to find his friend after helping out the King and his other friends. Entering into the study Riku came across the royal magician and captain of the royal guard of Disney Castle along with Queen Minnie.
"Oh Riku, I'm so glad you're here. We can't find the King anywhere." Minnie told him almost in tears as she was being comforted by Donald and Goofy.
"When did you last see him?" Riku asked taking a look around. He only needed one sweep of the room before he could deduce what had happened. From what he saw, it had looked as if a fight had taken place in the room. Books and other objects were scattered or broken across the floor and even some of the paintings which accompanied the room were now hanging loosely from where they once were, with some even torn.
"Two days ago. It took a while to contact Yen Sid about it not to mention we pretty searched most of the town for him which took a day." Minnie informed him. Her rather tearful expression brought pain to Riku's heart, not only because of her but because Mickey had played a special part in his life as well.
"Have you checked the cornerstone yet?" Riku asked. The last time someone had invaded Disney Castle, it had been to capture the cornerstone in order to take over the castle.
"We were thinkin' along the same lines so me and Maxi went down to check on it. It's still there." Said Goofy with a worried expression clear as day on his face.
"So they're not after the castle? They only wanted the King? But why? Wait, who's Maxi?" Riku asked.
"Oh, Max is my son. Might take over as captain of the royal guard someday when he's ready." Goofy exclaimed excitedly bouncing up and down.
"Wow, you have a son? Why haven't you mentioned him before?" Questioned Riku.
"Aw well geez, I didn't feel I had to mention him at any point during our fight with Xehanort." Goofy answered however Donald shook his head.
"The real reason is cause he's Goofy." Donald piped in causing a chuckle from Riku.
After clearing his throat Riku tried to summarise what they had found out, "So a fight most likely took place pretty much exclusively to this room. Also the assailant seemed to only want Mickey and not the castle. I'm pretty sure they've taken him to another world. Did anyone catch a glimpse of the guy who attacked Mickey by any chance?"
Minnie shook her head, "No, it was a pretty silent and normal day that moment aside. Oh! Also Pluto's missing as well. Do you think he was kidnapped as well?"
Riku shook his head, "That or he just followed them. He's been known to do that. Trust me on that one," Riku crouched down looking directly into the Queen's eyes, "I promise you your majesty, I will bring Mickey back. Wherever he may be..."
But Minnie shook her head, "No need to promise me Riku. I already have good faith in you and I think Mickey knows that too."
Riku nodded, "Right, but for now you might want to increase the amount of guards you have. Just in case."
"Why of course." Minnie agreed now refreshed and smiling.
"You wouldn't mind if I check up on the cornerstone for a bit would you?" Riku asked and getting up when he received a nod from the queen.
"Of course. I'll open it up for you." Minnie said walking towards the door, opening it and moving onwards into the hallway. Riku, Donald and Goofy followed all deep in their own thoughts. Donald and Goofy wandering when they'd see the King again and Riku thinking of who possibly could have committed the act.
The rather dark and brooding room which had once been only used by Maleficent and Pete was now a round room filled with villains from different worlds, some who Maleficent had come in to contact with while others were found by Pete. She smiled grimly as she thought about finally taking the worlds from the wretched King and claiming the great Kingdom in the sky known as Kingdom Hearts. She knew though that if she were to defeat the Keyblade wielders once and for all she would need the help of a fresh new band of associates.
"So you're calling us back here? Didn't think I had enough did ya?" Captain Hook sneered raising his claw at Maleficent.
"I gave you a choice and you of course picked yes. After all, isn't that boy you speak off not a threat to you?" Maleficent asked not really caring for the pirate's tone.
"His name is Peter Pan and I will have his head if it's the last thing I do. The only reason I joined up is the take control of the blasted Heartless and what luck they did last time." Hook pounded his only hand on the circular table, the only object that seem to company the room other than the individuals in it.
"Heh, looks like someone's got their hands in a pickle. Oh wait, you only have one. Correction, hand." Hades said, his fiery appearance was probably the only thing keeping the dark room illuminated.
"How about I set that crocodile on you? I'm sure he wouldn't mind lighting your day up."
"Yeah, sorry but already alight here if you hadn't noticed. Alight with ideas of taking down Wonder boy for good? Hey you think if I through a crocodile at him, he might just, oh I don't know, swim like a fish... and just maybe sleep with 'em too?" Hades joked causing an eruption of laughter from one of the people beside him.
"Oh if that's your idea of good hunting then I don't think you're fit enough to be ruler of Olympus. Might want to try poison next time? I hear it works miracles!"
"Why Maleficent, I knew you were interested in taking over the world but I didn't know you were interested in clowns as well. I guess that's your idea of a good joke?" Another person in the room spoke up causing laughter from the villains.
"Oh like you can talk, if I didn't know any better I would say could be result of a cross breed between a monkey's uncle and a ballerina." The other one spat back causing another roar of laughter from the villains.
Maleficent however chose not to smile and she even stared daggers at Pete who immediately went from laughing like an idiot to being as quiet as a mouse in just under a second.
Turning her attention back to her subordinates she spoke in a calm manner, "Enough! Aren't the mad ones the most dangerous? And this clown is quite the mad one he tells me. I assure you of that because I have no time for jokes. We are more powerful than ever and with the Heartless on our side we will claim what is rightfully ours. I have already made the first step in capturing the King of Disney Castle. Perhaps you would all like to meet the guest of honour." Maleficent smiled as the crowd jeered. The door behind them opened and in came a mirror and behind push it was two of Maleficent's goons. Letting go, the minions huffed and puffed before Maleficent dismissed the two.
The crowd of villains laughed as Mickey's body appeared opposite to them knocking with frustration on the glass mirror as to break free from this different dimension he was in.
"Well, tell me your majesty. What is stopping me now from taking over your castle?" Maleficent asked glad for her moment of victory.
"You'll never win Maleficent. As long as my friends are there to stop you, you'll never take over my world or any others." The King replied stopping the relentless pounding of the mirror. He realised that it was pretty much useless and what would be required was patience, even if he wasn't exactly the best at that.
"I beg to differ. I will not make the same mistakes as last time just for you and your little sidekicks ruin them. I relied on your battle with Xehanort in order to serve as a distraction to enter the data worlds and recreate my own army of Heartless. Needless to say that plan did not work as I had planned," She turned her back to him looking out into the apocalyptic state of the world she had created before continuing, "But this time is different. What I had planned was not exactly wrong, but I had done so in a rushed manner without any help."
Pete tried to object to this but was quickly cut off by Maleficent, "This oaf certainly didn't help matters either."
Pete sighed at this in disappointment as Mickey tried to grasp the full situation of what Maleficent was saying, "What are you getting at Maleficent?"
Hades interjected between the two, "Hey, quiet pip squeak or would you like to play a game of cat and mouse? Or rather dog and mouse, because in the Underworld, I can arrange that for ya."
"Let's just mention this. I have a full command of the Heartless in my possession and this time I have full control over them. I will flood these worlds with darkness and even open the door where our reward shall be Kingdom Hearts." Maleficent finished raising her arms specifically at the words of the dominion that was soon to be hers.
Mickey smirked staring right into the evil fairy's eyes, "Uh huh. That's not gonna happen. Also where am I anyway?"
"You're in a mirror delivered to me by Pete from one of the princesses' worlds. I'd heard it had magical properties but I couldn't know for certain... until it was used on you." Maleficent said.
One of the other members of the group walked right up to the mirror and pushed it lightly with her finger causing it to wobble and so consequently Mickey as well, "But in the mean time, you can entertain us. What would happen if I broke the mirror, seven years bad luck?"
Mickey soon found his balance and instead sat on what appeared to be nothing, whatever it was, it definitely wasn't something. Mickey closed his eyes wondering what would happen from here on.
Sora, Riku, Kairi, I need you guys more than ever now. Mickey thought as he played some classical music in his head to drown out the laughs echoing through the dimension.
Sora, Luna and the others arrived in the gummi hangar of Disney Castle. Sora was pretty surprised to see Luna in wow over the technology that accompanied the room. Personally he had never been like this when he had come here before but to be fair to her, he had travelled to many worlds by then. Her excitement had seemed on par as to when he had first arrived at Traverse Town.
"So why didn't you just teleport us to the study room or wherever Merlin?" Sora asked not sure if Merlin was wasting time on purpose.
"I told Riku to come back here about thirty minutes or so after he investigated. He must have stayed with the queen and the others. Oh, that boy." Merlin shook his head.
Sora grinned, "That's Riku for ya."
Luna's next words made Sora grin quite a lot, "Wait, so we're on another world? Wait, is this the castle? I kind of expected it to be grander."
"Well it's not exactly the castle. It's the gummi ship hangar little lady and don't you be forgettin' it." A small squeaky pitched voice could be heard from the comm speakers.
"Who said that?" Luna asked Sora who responded by pointing to the box where the two chipmunks resided.
"Favourite Gummi engineers ready for duty. Chip-"
"And Dale! Howdy Sora, how're ya doin?"
"Great guys. Have you guys seen Riku?" Sora asked happy to see his old friends again.
"Yep, better hurry though. The King's missing!" Dale said jumping up and down frantically.
"Missing?" Everyone except Luna spluttered who was looking on in conclusion.
"Then we're too late." Sora sighed. He was absolutely astounded that anyone could just kidnap the brave mouse. Whoever it was had to be pretty powerful.
"Well let's head to the study room for now and find out more." Merlin said after regaining his normally calm composure, unless of course he was involved with Cid.
"Um, Sora? What is a gummi?" Luna asked as they made their way over to the entrance of the castle. After exiting the hangar they were met with what had to be the most beautiful garden, topped with designs of men blowing on trumpets and other musical instruments shaped completely out of leaves. What astounded Luna was when she came out of the gummi hanger and turned her back she had came face to face with a miniature sized replica of what was probably the castle, and with a gummi hangar (whatever that was, Luna did not know) hiding underneath it. The castle walls itself didn't look a day old surrounding the group with clear white walls just good enough to be called silver and what appeared to be the emblem of a mouse's head imprinted a few times on the walls. Luna was in fact so intrigued she had almost not heard Sora's reply to her question.
"It's like blocks. They're what make Gummi Ships which we us to travel around." Sora answered checking the female brunette's bewilderment even now and then. This place, Sora had to say was truly magical and he was sure Luna was thinking the same thing.
"So where do they find these gummi blocks. They just fall out of the sky or something?" Luna asked intrigued by how the ships were made.
Sora paused trying to remember what exactly made them though his only source, the journal, was in the possession of Jiminy Cricket who had become Sora, Donald and Goofy's information keeper for all sorts of things they had collected on their journeys.
Luckily enough Scrooge answered for him, "Well ye see, each world has walls protecting 'em which is what makes it so hard for Gummi Ships to travel to other worlds in the first place. When those walls get broken or weakened, some of those blocks fall to the world as meteor showers and that's how we get the Gummi blocks. Aye, of course ya need capable hands to even make the Gummi Ships in the first place. Lucky I'm such a genius aye?"
"You created the Gummi ships?" Sora asked, he wasn't exactly surprised anyway seeing as Scrooge had pretty much all the money in the world.
"Ach! Well o' course lad. Who else would have thought of using the King's star shard as a prototype in designing the first transportable gummi?" Scrooge haughtily.
"There he goes again." Huey whispered to the other two causing them to snicker.
"It sounds like fun to ride on one. Just seeing the stars..." Luna drifted off as the group arrived at the door. Drawing a quick breath and looking at Sora, Merlin pulled open the door and went inside followed by the rest.
The cornerstone of light lit had lit up the bright empty room ever since the castle had been built. After making entering the room, Riku was immediately entranced by its glow. The fact that a light so pure had not been captured was a relieving sight.
"So it's true. They weren't after the cornerstone, or maybe, they're waiting for something else?" Riku questioned touching the glass orb. Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy (who the four had met along the way) all observed quietly behind him.
"Well my journal is safe, so they're not trying to go after the data in it." Jiminy answered also quite puzzled by the disappearance of the King.
"You don't suppose it could be Maleficent's doing." Donald guessed as Riku turned back to them.
"I can't think of anyone else. She's the first one I would think off when it comes to having a grudge against the King." Riku answered. He wondered where Maleficent was hiding now after her plan of capturing the data worlds had failed the last time.
"But at the same time, it isn't possible she could have beaten the King due to the strong affiliation to the light this castle holds because of the cornerstone. Also, you say the fight only took place in the study room, which makes it even more unbelievable unless it was a surprise attack." Minnie told him which was true. Riku knew that the King would probably be able to handle someone like Maleficent especially in a smaller room where she couldn't transform into her dragon form unless he had been attacked from behind.
"That does make sense, but then what about Pluto? He should have at least sensed something if he was in the same room at the time right?" Riku asked knowing full well about the dog's stunning sense of detection.
"The thing is we can't find Pluto either so we don't know what happened and even then, he can't exactly tell us what happened." Jiminy answered for Queen Minnie.
"Well, Pluto's at Merlin's house in Radiant Garden. I just came from there." Riku told them. While they all did seem happy to hear the news, the fact that the King could possibly be kidnapped overshadowed that delight.
Minnie looked at Riku quickly as if something had clicked in her mind, "Well I'm glad he's safe. But what were you doing in Radiant Garden? Now that I think about it, before he was kidnapped, Mickey did say that he was going to write a letter to you."
"Yeah, but... the islands are gone now. If he did write something to us, it never came," Riku said folding his arms. Soon after his eyes widened in realization, "Do you think the letter could still be here?"
"It could be a clue from the King! Ahyuck, I bet it is!" Goofy exclaimed in excitement, Donald also jumping in.
"Right, let's head back to the study room and take another look." Riku said. All of them headed out of the hall of the cornerstone back into the audience chamber.
"It's such a shame as well." Riku could hear Minnie say under her breath as they made their way halfway across the room.
"What is?" Riku enquired. He still found himself a bit too shaken up by the events and while it was possible it had been Maleficent and Pete's doing, something still felt off.
"The Disney Town festival was going to be held in two days. It's just we had planned it through so much after he missed the last one. And then this had to happen. It looks like the festival will have to be cancelled." The mouse answered him shocking Donald, Goofy and Jiminy as well as Riku.
"But your majesty, it's been too long since the last festival we had." Donald quaked.
"We can't just let all that preparation go to nothing now can we?" Goofy added in trying to put on the best smile to cheer the queen up. It wasn't working.
"But is it worth putting everyone else in danger? I'd never be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to you boys or anyone else." Minnie responded worriedly.
"Well that's why you have me. You can't let that go all to waste and disappoint others. The king wouldn't allow it and neither would I. How about I protect the town for the festival?" Suggested Riku smiling at the thought of seeing a festival, after all it wasn't an everyday occasion for the islander.
Minnie stopped in her tracks soon followed by the others, "Are you sure about that Riku?"
"Don't worry, we'll help him." Donald shouted causing Goofy to chuckle.
"I'm sure you will. Thank you Riku." Minnie said smiling back before continuing on.
After leaving the audience chamber, they turned to their right noticing the door to the study room which had been closed when they left was now open. Putting his fingers to his lips to silent the others, Riku summoned The Way to the Dawn Keyblade and approached the door slowly. As he got closer he began to hear mumbles coming from the room. Recognising at least two of the voices, he smiled and put away his Keyblade. Motioning to the others that it was okay, they walked up and opened the door to come face to face with the people in the room.
Sora dropped what he had in his hand and beamed widely at the sight of his best friend, "Riku, you're okay! How's Kairi?"
"Hey Sora. Hope I wasn't intruding on anything. And yeah, Kairi's fine. Should be with Leon and the others like we left her." Riku responded glad to know that his best friend was alright as well.
Sora soon broke eye contact with Riku as well pointing at Luna, "Riku, this is Luna. I found her in Traverse Town. She says she lost her memory for the most part but guess what? She's another Keyblade Wielder."
Riku looked at her in surprise then smiled, he should know better by now how the Keyblade has its way of choosing someone, "Nice to meet you Luna."
Luna was quick to respond in kindness, "Likewise Riku."
The two boys soon spent time catching up and talking about their island being destroyed as well as saying their hellos to their old friends, Sora, Donald and Goofy in particular were having fun jumping about. The only one who felt a bit left out at what was going on was Luna who felt rather uneasy and was considering leaving the room just for fresh air if anything else. Mind you she was glad to meet a queen who was a mouse and talk about things like her friend Shiki's obsession with clothing, who Minnie could relate to with someone named Daisy. Mainly though she kept to talking to Huey, Dewey and Louie and asked questions about the castle though all of them claimed they had never been in the castle and that it was their first time. Sora soon mentioned the man in the black cloak who he chased after in Destiny Islands causing a few seconds silence from the older teen who thought about what it meant.
"So then maybe this mysterious fella kidnapped the King." Goofy deduced breaking the silence.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking. The question is would he do it if he did and why did he destroy the islands." Riku said picking up a few of the items off the floor, scanning them, only to chuck them away a moment later.
"Hmm, if he destroyed your world then you know what this means don't you?" Merlin said with a grave look on his face.
"The other worlds could be in danger!" Donald told them as he watched Riku throwing the books back on the floor.
"Then Yen Sid should be the first to know. Maybe he'll have some answers." Said Riku digging deep through the pile of books nearer to the door.
"Yen Sid?" Luna asked quizzically to Sora.
"He was the King's teacher and made us perform the Mark of Mastery exam. I'll explain later." Sora told her knowing that any sort of simple explanation would not suffice. He didn't blame her if she didn't know what he was talking about.
Mark of- What is that supposed- Ah forget it! Less talking now, more questions later. Luna thought struggling the quench her thirst for knowledge, at least for now.
"Aha, I found it." Riku announced after a while of book throwing, holding up a bottle with a piece of paper inside it for everyone to see.
"And that is..."
"A letter Sora. Remember how the last letter we had from him arrived?" Riku answered getting up and putting the bottle on the study desk.
"Oh yeah. So you think this might be some sort of clue?" Sora asked him to which Riku nodded.
"Well, you never know until you look." Riku said taking off the corkscrew and throwing it aside. Turning the bottle upside down, he shook it until the letter fell to where he could take it out of the bottle. The whole crowd gathered round the desk, waiting for King Mickey's message and in the middle Riku who felt it was as if he had done something wrong with everyone's faces peering down from his shoulder or in front of him. Their faces were all mixed with worry and yet hope and excitement that somehow the letter would lead to some amazing truth that only the King had and possibly could figure out. Sora, Riku and Kairi had been that same exact way when they had received the letter from King Mickey about the hearts connected to Sora. In the end though, it really only meant the start of a new adventure.
Reading the contents of the letter aloud, Riku disclosed all of what Mickey had felt during the past days to the others. Everyone listened intently, even Luna, who admitted she had no idea of what was going on except for the fact that the King had been kidnapped.
After Riku finished reading, Sora looked up to Riku, "We have to get him back quickly. Who knows what could happen if we don't find him?"
Riku sighed wishing he had Sora's simple mind sometimes, "Only problem is we don't know where to start looking. He could be in any world, but if we find this guy in the black coat then we'll have an idea where to find the king."
"And as if that's stopped us before, right guys?" Sora said turning to Donald and Goofy.
"Of course, we'll rescue the King..." Donald said pretending to swing his staff.
"And we'll do it together!" Goofy finished patting Sora on the shoulder.
"And I'll be joining you. Maybe it can get my memories back, just maybe." Luna added in with a smile. Sora looked straight at her. A girl who had only just gotten her Keyblade and needed training to use it, just like Kairi.
Any help is good help. Sora thought returning the smile.
"Excellent, I know you'll all do splendidly and I'll help when I can." Merlin encouraged clapping his hands together ecstatically.
"Hey Merlin, can you bring Kairi over?" Riku asked turning to the happy wizard.
"Of course, be back in a jiffy." Merlin said before disappearing right in front of them.
"For now though, we need to focus on the festival. We need to make this year the best one yet." Queen Minnie told them all. Riku had noticed in a lot more of a positive attitude from the queen during the reading of the letter. They all knew that it was unlikely that Maleficent would harm the King in any way. It was more likely she wanted something from him first or she would have out right gotten rid of him and left him in the castle if she had no use for him.
"Sorry, festival?" Sora asked, his excitement metre appearing to go through the roof by the second.
"We used to hold a festival every year to commemorate the amazing society of Disney Town however it had been cancelled in the recent years since Mickey was unable to have time for it. Now that he's gone again, we have to do the best to make him proud," Answered Minnie. She clicked her finger and soon enough through the doors came several mops and brooms with the brooms carrying dustpans along with them, "But first, I think this room needs cleaning up. Kinda messy, don't you think?" She giggled as she ordered the cleansing of the room.
While the room was being cleaned, Merlin reappeared with Kairi who gleamed at the sight of Sora.
"Kairi, I'm so glad you're safe." Sora managed to say before he was jumped to death by Kairi's hug.
"Sora, I was so worried about you. I shouldn't have leaved you back on the other island." Kairi said into Sora's shoulders.
Eventually returning the hug, Sora picked up the scent of fresh strawberries in her long auburn hair. Sora blushed a while but was thankful that Kairi's face was on his shoulder at that moment so she couldn't see it.
"Don't worry Kairi, it's not like you could have known the islands were about to be destroyed. Mind you, I did a horrible job of protecting them." Sora said now wishing he could find this man in the cloak even faster. His parents, Tidus, Selphie, Wakka and everyone else all gone in the blink of an eye. He didn't know when or if he would ever see them or the islands again.
"It's not like you could have known the islands were about to be destroyed, there wasn't much you could do." Kairi repeated Sora's words. Eventually realizing the position she was in, she quickly let go and hid her own blush. In fact, both now seemed to avoid each other's eyes. A fact which at least Riku easily caught up on and smiled when he saw it.
Soon after, Luna and Kairi were introduced to each other, both of who seemed to get along fine with each other pretty much immediately though both Sora and Riku assumed that it was because they were both girls so it was pretty easy for them to get a head start. The room was soon finished with all books placed stacked neatly onto a pile thanks to the help of the brooms teamwork and the floor completely clean with the work of the mops. Minnie thanked them before she dismissed them all from the room. After explaining to Kairi about the festival, she agreed to help right off the bat.
"Wonderful, I'm sure you'll all be a great help." Minnie told them.
"Yep, I just know that this'll be the best festival yet," Jiminy whistled in hopping off the table where he had been during the reading of the letter and hopped onto Sora's shoulder, "Feels like old times, huh Sora?"
"It does, doesn't it? How about I explore the town for a while, just to see what's going on?" Sora suggested.
Riku would have none of it though knowing full well what Sora was up to, "Or you're just trying to blow off your duties?"
"Come on Riku, I would never do that. You don't trust me?" Sora asked grinning.
"Coming from the guy who didn't help make the raft, I don't know why you're so surprised." Riku folded his arms grinning back.
"Don't worry. I'll have Donald, Goofy and Jiminy with me. If I stray too far, or don't come back here in a certain amount of time, they can drag all the way up to the castle right?" Sora nodded to the dog and duck right next to him who snickered in return.
"Of course Sora. Riku, you can trust us." Donald told him.
"Fine, do whatever you guys do best. Just don't say we didn't tell you so if you come back to find nothing to do." Kairi giggled and winked at Luna as the four began their departure.
"We won't because we'll come back on time. See ya." Sora shot back as he walked out with Donald and Goofy following suit.
Luna waited for the door to close behind them before smiling and whispering, "Oh please tell me you have a plan for them?"
Kairi grinned, in fact it was a rather devilish grin, the one someone would use when they had a cunning plan in mind, "Oh, I think I have the perfect idea."
So what exactly is this "perfect" idea Kairi has in store for Sora, Donald and Goofy? And who exactly has Maleficent recruited to take over the words. HINT: Its both Disney and Final Fantasy villains. The next chapter shall be finished within a week or so provided I have time.
I'm penning 2 hours a day to finish that so until then please rate and review. Always appreciate it!
