I love this world, but we'll probably not get it in the game because the show's creator hates Kingdom Hearts…
But forget him! I'm doing it anyways!
BTW, there will be loooooooooots of backstory introduced in this chapter, but it will all be elaborated on in the future.
Enjoy!
Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!
Gravity Falls © Disney.
Chapter 9: Gravity Falls- Bill's Intent
Mickey, Lea, Riku, and Ven all awoke in an alley somewhere in a town.
"Ouch! That hurts!" Lea sat up, pushing a pipe, which had been sticking into his back, away.
"Where are we?"
Mickey stood up, looking around. "No idea."
The three stepped into the street to see a small town full of people. On the town hall, at the end of the street, hung the town's name: Gravity Falls.
Before they could say anything, the sky turned a deep red and the sky split apart. All eyes turned to the sky. Lea gave a long whistle. "Oh, we got here at a bad time…"
Donald, Goofy, Aqua, and Sora woke up in the middle of the woods with only one building nearby: the Mystery Shack.
"What happened?"
"No clue, but my butt hurts."
As they stood up, the wind picked up, and the sky turned red, splitting apart. "Oh heck! What is that!?"
"Oh no!" Out of the shack came a man with cracked glasses, with six fingers on each hand, dressed in a long coat and a boy wearing a hat with a blue pine tree on it.
The man's face went pale. "We're too late! It's the end of the world…"
Riku and the others looked up as a giant pyramid with two revolving sides and six arms holding flames. However, the four noticed the eye more than anything. The single eye with a slit pupil: it was the same eye which had appeared on the screen of the gummi ship and made them crash here.
A deep voice came from the pyramid. "All right, listen up you one-lifespaned, three-dimensional, five sensed skin puppets!" He shrunk down to a yellow triangle with a hat, bowtie, two arms, but retained that single eye, landing on a statue outside the town hall. "For one trillion years I've been trapped in my own decaying dimension, waiting for a new universe to call my own. Name's Bill! But you can call me your new lord and master for all of eternity!" Bill turned on the statue, melting it with a laser which came from his eye.
Mickey looked at the others, eyes wide. "Bill Cipher… He's is legendary, and has tried to take over the worlds before. However, the stories say that a Keyblade wielder banished him away.(1)"
"Now," Bill dramatically gestured to the tear in the sky. "meet the gang of interdimensional criminals and nightmares I call my friends." As he called the names, a different and horrifying monster came from the rift. "Eight-Ball, Kryptos, the being whose name should never be said… oh, what the heck, it's Xanthar. Then also there's Teeth, Keyhole, Hectorgon, Amorphous Shape, Pyronica, Paci-Fire, and these guys." He pointed upwards as hundreds of eyeballs with bat wings surrounded them. "THIS IS OUR TOWN NOW, BOYS!"
"Not happening!" The four Keybearers ran in front of the townspeople, weapons in hand.
"Either you leave, or we'll make you!"
The townspeople looked at the four before glaring up at Bill. "Yeah, you unholy… triangle… fella. As mayor, I strongly urge you to g-geet on outa here."
"Yeah, things with one eye are weird!"
"We don't like out-of-towners!"
"We punch what we don't understand!"
Lea smiled at the support of the people, but two people in rich clothing came forward. "I would just like to say that as a rich capitalist, I welcome your tyrannical rule. Perhaps I could be one of your… horsemen of the apocalypse?"
"Are you serious!?"
Bill's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Oh wow, that's a great offer… How 'bout instead I shuffle the functions of every hole on your face." He snapped and that's exactly what happened, turning the rich man into a grotesque-looking thing.
"Oh my gosh!?"
"Now for you…" the triangle fixed his eye on the Keybearers as the people began to flee, pursued by the eye-bats. "I'm glad you survived the trip here. I've been waiting to get revenge on some of your kind for a long time!"
Ven pointed his Keyblade at the triangle. "A Keyblade wielder stopped you before, and we'll stop you now!"
"Your power is nothing compared to Hiroki Gatsu's(2)."
"Who's?"
Bill waved a hand. "No matter. I'm making this interesting." He made a grabbing motion with his hand and pulled back. The Keyblades in their hands suddenly vanished.
"What!?"
"I've learned a few tricks in my days." The triangle pulled a keychain out of his hat, which now held their Keyblades on it. "Now, let's see what you can do to stop me."
Ven took a step back. Guys… I think now might be time for a tactical retreat."
"Agreed." They turned and ran away, with Bill laughing behind them. The streets became full of chaotic monsters and bubbles with turned people mad.
"This just got so much worse…"
Sora and the others stared into the sky with the boy and old man. The man sighed. "So, this is how the world ends… not with a bang but with a boo-boop." He twirled his finger in a circle around his ear. Everyone got the message.
"Weirdmageddon…"
Out of the trees came flocks of birds, scores of animals, followed by strange creatures: minotaurs, gnomes, and other creatures.
"The rift is shattered; Bill's world is spilling into ours and every minute his powers grow stronger."
"Mable!" The boy gasped. "the rift must have cracked inside her backpack! She must be in danger; I have to go find her!"
"We can find your sister soon, but first we have to stop Bill."
"Bill?" Goofy asked. "What's going on?"
The old man looked at them. "I'll explain later." He looked upwards, eyes widening. "But, we might want to step inside…" They all turned and saw a purple wave coming towards them.
"WEIRDNESS WAVE!"
Everyone ran into the Mystery Shack as the wave passed over. Aqua turned on the man and boy. "Now, tell us what is going on."
"I am Stanford Pines and this is Dipper." The older man explained. "What's happening is because of a being from another dimension named Bill Cipher. Dipper and I were trying to stop him from coming, but things went wrong. Now he's here and wreaking chaos upon this world and he won't stop here."
Aqua nodded. "I see. Well, we can help. Most of us are fighters."
"I'm sorry, but conventional weapons can't do anything."
"We can use magic," Donald piped up. "And most of the group are Keyblade wielders."
This peaked Stanford's interest. "Keyblade wielders!? According to legends, the last time Bill tried to invade this world, a Keyblade wielder sealed him in his own dimension… but his power has grown since then."
"Well, we'll help in any way we can. And we have some other friends; they're probably somewhere nearby."
"I might have a way to defeat him without you. So, go find your friends… we can handle things." The old man grabbed a case. "Come on, Dipper. Let's go." The two dashed out of the shack, leaving the group behind.
"He's not very nice."
Sora looked at Donald. "He's just stressed, as anyone would be. We need to find the others… if things are really bad, we have to make sure they're alright and we have to help anyone we can."
"Let's go!"
"Sneaking around sucks…"
"Lea, if you'd rather get turned to stone, be my guest."
"Shut up, Riku!"
Nearly two days had passed since they'd arrived and things had gotten worse. Without their Keyblades, things were so much more difficult, especially since Heartless had begun to arrive. While they could use magic and Lea could use his chakrams, this didn't destroy the Heartless completely.
Mickey peaked out from behind a building and gasped. "I can see Sora and the others!"
"About time!"
Riku was the first out in the open. Sora saw them. "Riku! Guys!" His smile fell as quickly as it came. "But, where's Kairi?"
"She's not with you?"
"No, we haven't seen her."
Lea held up his hands. "She's fine! She can handle herself! But we have a problem… Bill is super powerful!" He held his hand out. "See that? No Keyblade! Bill stole our Keyblades from us! I didn't even think that was possible! And I just got mine!"
"It shouldn't be." Jiminy opened up his journal. "Aqua told me that it was impossible. The Keyblade can reject someone, and Riku did take Sora's Keyblade but only because that was originally his Keyblade, but to completely take away the ability to wield it..."
Aqua crossed her arms. "Everything about this is strange. Now, we met some people who said they had a way to defeat Bill, but I think we can assume that they failed."
"No kidding!"
Mickey gave a hopeful smile. "Now we're together! We'll find Kairi and stop Bill!"
"At least someone is hopeful…"
Ven cocked his head as three figures slipped out of the destroyed shopping mall. "Look."
They all turned. "Dipper!?"
"Huh?" the boy skidded to a stop. "Hey, it's you!"
"Who are they?" A girl with red hair stood behind him, brandishing a crossbow. Behind her stood a strange man with a blue mohawk.
"It's ok, Wendy." Dipper came over. "I'm glad I found you. You said before that you could help earlier."
Sora nodded. "Yeah, we can help, but we're looking for a friend of ours."
The boy's face fell further than it already lay. "Please… my twin sister needs help! She's trapped in some sort of bubble outside of town."
The group looked between one another before they all nodded. "Show us."
Following the boy, they went out to an open area where they could see for a distance. Outside of town stood a large pink bubble wrapped in chains. On the outside of the bubble were two symbols: a shooting star and a Paopu fruit.
"The Paopu fruit!" Sora gasped. "That's the keychain for Kairi's Keyblade!"
"Then that's probably where she is."
"Sounds good," the red-haired girl hefted up her crossbow. "We find Mabel and you find your friend. I'm Wendy, by the way. Follow me, I know how we can get there." As they walked, they introduced themselves to the three and learned the name of the third person with Dipper and Wendy: Toby Determined.
"The abandoned auto-mart." Wendy smirked. "Free cars ripe for the hot-wiring. We just found our ride to Mabel and Kairi." They leapt over the fence, looking around at the cars.
Sora's gaze fell on Lea, who was already leaning in through a car window. "You know how to hot-wire one of these?"
"I may have stolen a few of these during my time in the Organization. I'd visit worlds that had them and I just had to have a joyride(3)."
Riku was about to make a wonderfully snarky retort when they all became blinded by a sudden burst of light. When their vision finally adjusted to the light, they could see three large vehicles and some people stood on top.
"Well, well! Looks like we gotta group of 'ground-walkers'.
"Ground-walkers! Ain't got no wheels!"
Those who still had a Keyblade summoned their weapons. "If you want to fight, we'll fight."
"Wait!" Dipper called. "Listen, we just want to make it to that bubble out east; we have no quarrel with you!"
"Oh, but that's where you're wrong!" A deep voice sounded from the middle car. "Put those weapons down or those two get it!" The figure pointed to Dipper and Wendy who were now surrounded by tall, strong men. The group lowered their weapons as the figure laughed. "Y'all fellers ain't goin' nowhere."
"Y'all?"
"Fellers? Wait, Gideon?"
The truck lit up to reveal a child in a cowboy hat on top of another man. "That's Sheriff Gideon to you! Under the authority of Bill Cipher, I place all of you under arrest!" As the group was shoved forward, Gideon whooped. "Whooooo-ee! Look what the apocalypse dragged in. Y'all are in a 12-piece bucket of deep fried trouble now! Ghost-Eyes, spittoon!" A man with glassy eyes held up a bucket and the boy spit some gum into it.
"Who the heck is this weirdo?"
"Gideon…" Dipper groaned. "He had a thing for my sister and she didn't like him back and then he got all creepy about it and tried to kill me. He also spied on the whole town and stole the Mystery Shack from my family."
Sora looked at Gideon. "That guy? But he's… just a little kid."
"And a lot more trouble than he's worth… and he's gotten folksier."
The little boy glared down at them, grinning. "My ol' pal Bill figured you might try to rescue Mable and that princess, so he appointed me master of these wastelands and keeper of the bubble. My sweet, precious Mabel is trapped inside and I have the only key wrapped around my… well, I wouldn't call it a neck exactly; wrapped under this little pocket of fat under my head. And don't you others fret; Bill made that lock so not even your magic keys could open it!"
"What does Kairi have to do with any of this!?"
"Kairi?" the boy cocked his head. "Oh, the princess. Bill just said he needs to get her to lend her pure light to him or somethin'."
Sora punched the ground with his fist. "Should've known it was because she's a Princess of Heart."
"And you have no right to keep her or Mabel in there!"
Lea pointed his fingers towards the box that tiny Gideon stood on. As the boy rambled on about Mabel loving him after being imprisoned, the pyro set the box aflame. "So, Gideon… I really don't think that is going to work." He grinned over at Wendy. "If there's one thing I know, it's that a red-head should never be underestimated. Oh, and by the way, your feet are on fire."
"What!?" the boy looked down to see the box on fire. He screamed and jumped back. Wendy grabbed the arm of one of the guys, twisting it behind him.
Donald tackled Gideon as Wendy jumped up, grabbing the little boy by the collar before ripping the key from his neck. She held out Gideon. "Get back! Get back or I will drop kick him, I swear!"
Wendy and Dipper ran to a car followed by Sora, Riku, and Aqua; the others followed Lea to the other car. "You'll never get away with this! Ya, hear me!?"
"Guess what?" Riku grabbed Gideon and threw him into a pile of tires. "We already did!"
They all climbed into cars and drove out of the auto-mart, with Gideon's men right behind them. Between them and the bubble lay a flat field filled with the bubbles of madness.
"Alright, all we have to do is outrace Gideon's henchmen, unlock the bubble, save Mabel and Kairi, and save the world."
Aqua pointed at the bubble field. "Go straight ahead! Just go through them!"
"Hold on!"
"What's even in there!"
The two cars, one beside the other, drove through the weirdness bubbles and things definitely got weird. The first bubble gave them all the heads of birds and made them crave worms. The second turned them into anime characters. The third turned them into people made of meat. The forth turned them into strangely realistic people.
Gideon's group made it through the bubbles and caught up to them, getting between the two cars and ramming them.
"Wendy, we're almost there!" Dipper yelled, pointing ahead to where a ravine spanned the gap of the wasteland. "We just have to make that jump!"
"I'll help!" Aqua leaned out the window, and as they hit the edge of the ravine, she cast Aeroza, catapulting them across. In the other car, Mickey did the same. The cars hit the ground, rolling across the dirt and jostling the passengers inside.
When they finally came to a stop, Dipper was the first to tumble out, with the others slowly following with Donald and Aqua both casting healing spells as best they could.
"Heya Dipper!" They all turned at a new voice; a large man in a baseball cap stood over the boy smiling happily. "How's it hangin'?"
"Soos!"
"Soos?"
The man called Soos held his head high. "Handyman of the apocalypse, at your service." He looked around. "Wow, you guys got some new friends."
Introductions were swift as Gidon's forces surrounded them. "Whooo-wee!" Gideon pulled between them and Kairi/Mabel's bubble. Everyone who still had a weapon summoned it, ready for a fight. "I dare say ya almost had the jump on me there for a second. But this ain't your Gravity Falls anymore! Out here, I win!" One of his henchmen tossed the boy a shofar, which he blew a long note on. "Bill's hench-bats will be here any minute to retrieve y'all. MABEL'S MINE NOW!"
Dipper looked down at the key in his hand. Just as Sora was about to charge Gideon, the boy stepped forward. "Is she?"
"Well, yeah, I have her trapped," Gideon explained. "Ergo, Mabel is mine."
"Gideon, listen to me. If I've learned anything this summer it's that you can't force someone to love you. The best you can do is strive to be someone worthy of loving."
"Oh, I'm worthy of lovin'! These prisoners love me!" The men all cheered in agreement.
"But Mabel doesn't, because you're selfish. But you can change! Bill thinks there's no heroes in this world, but if we work together and fight back, we can defeat him. You wanna be Mabel's hero? Stand up to Bill and let us save her!"
Lea leaned over to Riku and whispered. "He kinda reminds me of Sora…"
"Same…"
"That's crazy!" Gideon was not excited about the possibility of fighting Bill. "Y-you know what Bill would do to me if that happened!?"
"What? You're scared of Bill?"
"No… I just… it's a complicated situation."
"Look inside, Gideon!" Dipper continued. "If all this is for Mabel, then ask yourself what Mabel would want you to do."
The little boy turned away for a minute, silent before he spoke softly. "Dipper… will you tell her what I did?"
"O-of course…"
"I hope you're right about this…" Gideon's face became rigid with determination. "Guys, new plan! Bill's minions are gonna be on us in seconds, but I'm not gonna let that dumb triangle be the warden of me! Y'all ready for a good ol' fashioned prison brawl!?"
The men cheered, climbing into their cars as they drove to meet Bill's forces. "Think they'll make it?"
"Probably not…"
Everyone approached the lock of the chains around Kairi and Mabel's bubble. "Remember guys, this is a prison bubble designed by Bill; we've got to prepare ourselves for what we find in here."
"A wreaker of chaos designing a prison…" Sora laid a hand on his heart. He hadn't been able to feel anything from Kairi, and that worried him greatly. "But we can handle it… to save Mabel and Kairi!"
Dipper nodded. He walked towards the lock and inserted the key; with a single turn, all the chains fell off, clattering to the ground below. Slowly, they all walked inside the bubble.
Colors rushed past them as they tumbled through a sea of rainbow colors. When they hit the bottom, some of them landed on a bouncy, rubbery surface, while the others splashed down into salt water.
"Huh? Is the entire ground a bouncy castle?"
"Is this the ocean?"
"Do you hear 80's music?"
"Do any of you smell flowers?"
"No, but the air smells like child-like wonder."
Those on the side of the bouncy-castle floor peaked through the bouncy castle gates to see a world of rainbow hues, strangely innocent and colorful things, filled with living stuffed animals and strange creatures that spat rainbows.
Those on the side of the water found themselves looking at a walkway which led to a place that looked like Radiant Garden combined with the Destiny Islands.
"This is their prison?"
Sora looked between the two sides. "I think we know where Kairi is… Dipper, why don't you three go find Mabel, and we'll find Kairi."
"Sounds good." Soos, Dipper, and Wendy went into the terrifyingly colorful side while the others moved towards the Radiant Garden/Islands mixture.
They all looked around. "Should we split up?"
"I don't think we'll need to." Mickey pointed to their right, and they could see Kairi, sitting on a bench, holding some flowers.
"Kairi!"
They all ran over to the girl, who looked up at them, smiling. "Guys, you're here! I'm glad to see you!"
"Kairi" Sora wrapped his arms around her. "You're alright! We were so worried. Come on, let's get out of here."
"Why would you be worried? And I'm not leaving!"
"Huh?"
The girl pulled back holding the flowers to her chest. "This place is everything I could ever want… I can't leave. I don't want to leave!"
Everyone stared at her in shock. "But Kairi!"
"I can't leave!" the girl smiled. "They're here…"
"Who?"
The princess's face lit up with delight. "My birth parents! They're here!"
"What!?" Lea grabbed her shoulders. "What do you mean 'they're here'?"
She stepped back. "They're actually here. My mom and dad are here and they're everything I ever imagined they would be. Come on, I'll introduce you!" She grabbed Sora's hand and dragged him towards the castle, with nearly everyone following.
Riku moved to follow but paused as Lea hung behind. The redhead's fists shook. "This is wrong. They can't be here."
"What?"
"Never mind, let's just go." The pyro stomped forward.
"Mom! Dad!" Kairi waved at two people who stood near a fountain. "My friends are here!"
The two turned around. Sora saw a woman with red hair with roses woven in, dressed in a pink dress and a purple cloak. The man next to her had combed back auburn hair, dressed in a white and red suit with a red cloak.
"That's wonderful, Kairi!" The woman smiled. "Oh, did you get the flowers?"
"Yes, Mom." Kairi handed her the flowers.
The woman gave Sora a warm smile. "Hello, you must be Sora, we've heard so much about. My name is Nise Usotsuki and this is my husband, Torikku(4)."
"Nice to meet you." The boy smiled, shaking the hand of Torikku.
Kairi smiled. "And my parents from the islands come and visit too!"
"But, Kairi, I thought you couldn't remember your birth family…"
The girl looked at Nise and Torikku and then back to him. "I still don't remember, but I just have this feeling. It's the same about the other three too."
"Other three?"
"Apparently, as a child, I had three friends who were teenage boys. I don't really remember them though, but they're here too. Whenever I'm around them, I get this warm feeling inside. They've just got to be the real deal."
The others stood by listening. "You think this is for real?"
"I don't know."
Nise looked over at them, smiling. "Hello everyone! I'm glad you're here!" Her face glowed warmly. "I'm happy you were able to come. I think you'll find this world a perfect place for you. Take your time and look around; I know you'll find everything that your heart desires."
The others shrugged stepping back to discuss the situation.
Lea and Riku were the only ones left; the red-head had grown angry at the sight of Nise and Torikku, but he suddenly saw the three boys Kairi had spoken about. His face nearly turned as red as his hair and his body shuddered. "Th-this is wrong…!"
"Sora, come meet my old friends!" Kairi dragged him towards the three: a boy with spiky red hair in a ponytail, a boy with short blue hair, and a boy with scraggly black hair. "This is Kotonaru, Fikushon, and Hizumi(5)."
"Nice to meet you." Sora looked around at all this and then the truth came to him. "Wait, I know what this place is…"
"It's a prison…" Lea grumbled as he walked, hands in his pockets. "And it's the worst kind, a prison you don't want to leave because it gives you everything you could want."
Aqua nodded. "Kairi has been here for a few days and either she has been convinced of this place's validity, or, and this one is the most likely, she has convinced herself that she needs to stay here because it has given her what she wants and with us here, everything is perfect."
"Right, then we need to convince her to leave." Mickey turned around, watching Kairi and Sora. "Sora is probably the only one who could convince her; the rest of us should go look around for an exit."
Everyone nodded, splitting into groups: Aqua and Ven, Lea and Riku(6), Mickey, Donald, and Goofy.
Donald, Goofy, and Mickey walked along the streets. Jiminy moved from Sora's shoulder to Mickey's. He looked around the bubble. "This place looks so real, it's hard to believe it's a fake."
"Keep your guard up," the king ordered, "this place is going to try and trick us and give us what we really want."
As they continued, a clear voice rang out. "Mickey! There you are!" They turned around, to see Minnie walking towards them. "We've missed you."
"We?"
A small mouse came running out from behind her. "Daddy!"
Goofy and Donald's jaws dropped. "B-but…"
"Not to be rude, your majesty, but the queen can't have children(7), right?"
The king nodded slightly. "This place… it's giving me my heart's desire…" Tears stung his eyes. "But it's not real…" Slowly, the mouse king turned around, turning his back on the fake version of his wife. The other two followed him, in silence.
"Goofy! Goofy, darling!" A female dog with red hair, dressed in all white ran over, grabbing Goofy's arm.
He blinked, "Miss Geef(8)?"
"Darling, come on!" She sighed, a warm smile on her face. "Today's our wedding day, remember! Let's go!"
Goofy looked at her, blushing; his eyes turned away, pulling back. "Let's go…" They kept walking. Goofy smiled. "I'll go home to her soon."
Jiminy turned his eyes down to his journal as he saw Pinnochio in the distance. "We need to find a way out."
No exit. There didn't seem to be any way out. Donald let out a long sigh. "Well, we can't find a stupid exit, but at least this place can't do anything to me. I don't have anything I really want."
Mickey and Goofy looked at each other with raised eyebrows before laughing. The king pointed, still laughing. "Then who is that for?"
The duck turned around, beak falling open at the sight of a humongous pile of gold, jewels, and chests overflowing with money. Sitting on a couch atop the pile was Daisy Duck. Donald's eyes turned into hearts and he floated towards the pile, tongue lolling out.
"Donald!"
Aqua and Ven walked on the side of the place that looked like the Destiny Islands. "It's such a pretty place, too bad it's fake."
"I know…" Aqua rubbed her shoulder. "I just wonder what we might see here. I mean, this place does give you your heart's desires."
Ven looked up at her. "But isn't that a good thing?"
"Not really. It could bring back painful memories that we hold in our hearts."
She kept her eyes riveted on the ground, to block out anything that the place could throw at her. "Aqua?"
Looking up, she saw Terra standing in front of her. "Terra?"
"What is it that you and Ven want? Is it to know where I am?"
"Yes! Tell us!" The younger boy vibrated with anticipation.
Terra gave them a smile, but it turned to a dark smirk as his hair changed to a deep silver color, his ears became pointed, and his eyes turned to a golden color. In a moment, he became Xehanort; now, knowing what Xehanort was doing, they understood.
"Terra…" the female master's eyes hardened with determination. "We will save you, I promise!"
"Thank you, Aqua, but I think you have something else to deal with now."
As soon as Terra vanished in a glitter of light, a hand laid itself on Aqua's shoulder, and a strong voice spoke out gently. "Aqua, there you are. We've been waiting for you."
"Father…?" She turned around with Ven doing the same moments later.
The man before him was not at all what he expected his friend's father to look like. The navy-blue hair and blue eyes didn't look too out of place, but the man was thin and looked like he hadn't eaten in days, and he was covered in dirt and ash from head to foot. His clothes were little more than rags, clinging to his frail form.
"Father!" Aqua's hands went to her mouth as tears welled in her eyes.
"Aqua, why are you acting so strange? Let's go home. Your mother has dinner ready."
The girl began to follow him, but Ven grabbed her arm. "Aqua, you know that he's not real."
"I know, Ven, but… I have to. I-I have to see them, even if they're not real. I just have to." She pulled away and went after her father. Ventus followed behind at a brisk pace.
They came to a small hut, built of rotted wood and thatch, no bigger than his bedroom on the gummi ship. This was Aqua's childhood home? Outside stood a woman with hair like Aqua's; she was just as frail and dirty as her husband. Ven couldn't imagine the tall, regal, strong Aqua coming from a place like this.
"Mother!" The woman caught Aqua in an embrace.
"Hello, darling." Looking past her daughter, the woman looked at Ven. "Who's your friend?"
The Keyblade Master smiled. "Mother, this is Ventus."
"Hello, Ventus." The man held out a hand to him. "I am sorry I didn't address you before. My name is John and that's my wife, Rebecca."
"Nice to meet you, sir."
"I'm glad our dear daughter has a good friend." Rebecca picked up a basket and started for the house.
Aqua bit her lip. "Mother, Father. I can't stay. I have to go."
"But why?"
"I-I just have to… but, just know that I love you." Turning her back on the house, she and Ven walked away.
"Fine then… go…" The voices behind them became wild and evil. The two turned around and Aqua's knees buckled underneath her. The house, an exact copy of her old one, sat engulfed in flames. Through the door, they could see the figures of John and Rebecca, but they were a dark red with a single eye, just like Bill's eye. They reverted back to the figures of the girl's parents, just in time for the house roof to cave in, crushing them.
"N-no! Not again!"
Ven knelt down beside her, taking her hand. "Aqua?"
"Why did it do that? Why…?"
Two sets of arms wrapped around the girl, as the bubble's magic made Eraqus and Terra appear, hugging the girl comfortingly. Ven glared at the fake images. "Go away! You're not real!"
"Ventus, leave your friend alone. She's in good hands."
The boy turned around only to see a woman and man, holding a stack of papers. "Mr. and Mrs. Derisory? But how?"
"Never mind, Ventus." The man took his hand. "You'll never believe it, but your parents have come to take you home. After being in the orphanage since you were two days old, they finally came."
"My parents…? But they abandoned me." Ven stared up, eyes filled with longing, wishing that it was true.
"L-let's go Ven." Aqua stood up, taking her friend's hand. She led him away from the temptation before him.
The boy had always been without memories of his past, but apparently, his fusing with Vanitas brought them all back. Now Aqua knew, he was like her: an orphan.
Riku walked beside Lea, with the red-head still grumbling and shaking with anger. "You know, you should stop frowning. My dad says it gives you wrinkles."
"Oh, shut up."
"Lea," the Keyblade master stepped in front of the older boy. "You need to calm down. What has you all steamed?"
The boy sat down. "This place. It's tricking her…"
"Her? You mean Kairi?" Riku raised an eyebrow. "I mean the two of you are friends, but not even Sora is going this crazy."
"He doesn't understand!"
It took Riku a moment, but he understood. "You knew her family. That's why you're mad."
"Yes!" He yelled, "Those aren't her parents! They may have the same hair color, but it's not them! She believes it is them! She's taken in by this trick!" Lea sat down on a bench, his head in his hands. Three people came walking towards them; Lea didn't even look. He knew who they were. "This place gives you what you want, so I know who's coming.
"Come on Lea, let's get some ice cream!"
Riku turned around, and now he could see another reason why Lea was so angry. The three teenage friends they'd seen Kairi talking to, now he could see the resemblance. The three who arrived were two young teens and a little girl.
The girl was Kairi when she was a little kid. The other two were teenage boys who looked familiar. It took him a moment, but he recognized the boy in the middle; he had teal eyes and blue hair: Isa, Lea's best friend. The other boy had black hair and Riku could see that he was the young man they'd met at Radiant Garden: Sasuke Kazekiri, but without the scar on his face.
"Those three friends… that was you, Isa, and Sasuke. You knew Kairi as a kid."
"Knew her?" the pyro sighed. "I started babysitting her when she was seven months old. Now she can't even remember us, but I'm doing what I have to, in order to rebuild our relationship. And this stupid bubble is going to take her past away and replace it with lies. And I know that she probably wouldn't trust my word on that, but Sora can snap her out of this." He looked up at the fake Isa, Kairi, and Sasuke. "Get out of here. That won't work on me."
The images disappeared as Lea stood up. Riku crossed his arms. "So, I guess, like Mickey, you don't want me to say anything?"
"Yeah, please."
The two began to walk, but as they came to the side that looked like the islands, Riku began glancing about cautiously, only to be rewarded as he stopped. "Lea, don't look over here."
"Huh?"
"Don't look!"
"Riiiiiiku!" the voice of a female child filled the air. Lea didn't turn around, only because Riku asked. But the young Keyblade master looked down as a small hand grabbed his own. "Big brother! You promised you'd take me out in the boat!"
Big brother? Riku had a sister?
"Hey, sis… sorry I can't. I-I love you so much." As he pushed past Lea, a cloud of gloom hung over the young master. Lea didn't have to ask to know not to say anything.
This bubble… it was supposed to give you what you want. It did that well, but when you knew the game it was playing, that longing became nothing but heartache.
"Kairi, I need to talk to you alone. You mind?"
"Not at all, Sora."
"Um," Nise spoke up, "We don't mind listening."
Sora knew they didn't want him to talk with her alone, but he had to. "Don't worry, Mrs. Nise. I won't take too long. It's just something personal."
Kairi took Sora's arm. "Don't worry, Mom!" She took Sora aside. "What is it?"
"Kairi, we have to go. Not just because this place is wrong, but there is a psycho named Bill Cipher, who might be worse than Xehanort, destroying this world. We have to stop him."
"I'm not leaving," she looked down. "I told you, this place has everything I want. And… well, I know you can stop him, but after you do, please come back."
Sora took her hands in his. "Kairi, I can feel your heart. Remember, we're bound by the Paopu fruit. You know this isn't right."
"It feels right and wrong at the same time." She admitted. "I feel like they are my real parents, but then I feel like they aren't. I just… if I leave this place, I will lose this. Here, I have my family, the family I don't know, that I don't remember. When I leave, I won't have anything."
Sora brushed a newly sprung tear off her cheek. "You will still have me and your family on the islands. And, if you're that curious about your family, then we can go to Radiant Garden. Ansem the Wise probably has records on everyone who lived there; he is the king after all."
"Y-yeah, you're right…" The girl smiled, shaking her head. "I guess I got caught up in the lie of this place."
"I can understand why." Sora chuckled, "though I haven't seen my heart's desire show up. That's probably because the only other thing I'd like is to have a peaceful future without Xehanort or anything like that."
Kairi giggled, before blushing. "Uh… well." She pointed behind him.
Sora blinked, seeing two children sitting nearby: a boy and girl who looked like Sora and Kairi. The kids looked over at them, smiling. "Hi, Mommy! Hi Daddy!"
Sora and Kairi both turned a deep red. The princess coughed into her hand. "Well, I think that's enough of this place for now. Let's go…"
"You're not going anywhere!" The sky turned a deep red as Nise and Torikku turned into creatures of dark red worm-like creatures, with a single eye each.
"Oh... this is bad..."
Lots of backstory introduced, and some feels!
I hope you guys enjoyed this one!
Please review!
If you are interested in following my other writings (fanfictions, short stories, and upcoming novel) and/or my art, you can look for me on Deviantart (KristenKHVerne), Tumblr (Kristen Verne), Facebook (Kristen Verne, or Twitter (Kristen Verne).
Please check out my short story: Wingsteel. Now available on Kindle.
Footnotes:
(1) I thought this would be a good way to tie Keyblade wielders into this world.
(2) Sound familiar to some of you?
(3) I could see Axel doing this.
(4) Nise means "fake" and Torikku means "trick".
(5) Kotonaru means "different", Fikushon means "fiction", and Hizumi means "distorted".
(6) If you've noticed, Lea and Riku team up quite often in these situations. This is because they became pretty close friends during their training, and they are the two oldest boys in the group besides Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. There is also the fact, that in their trios (Sora/Riku/Kairi and Axel-Lea/Roxas/Xion) they are the oldest and the "tough guy" of the group.
(7) The only time Mickey and Minnie have ever had kids in anything was "A Christmas Carol", but those kids were more than likely stand-ins, using Mickey's twin nephews and Minnie's twin nieces, so I'm going by the assumption that Minnie can't have kids.
(8) This is the canonical name of Goofy's wife.
The Bible Doesn't Say That if You're Suffering You Must Have Sin in Your Life
This is a saying that those of us who have grown up in church have probably heard at least once. It may not have been spoken to us, but we've probably heard it.
If we look at the book of Job, it can sound like God will punish for sins. Just like in Job 4:7-9, "Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off? 8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.9 By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed."
There are other sayings of the wicked being punished and those righteous being spared his hand. People have used this to get the idea that suffering must mean you're sinning.
There are some instances when you could be going through stuff: constant sickness, loss of a job, cancer, etc. and people will ask what sin you must have.
However, all of these instances in Job are Job's friends talking to him. If you do not know the story of Job, Job had everything: land, money, family, health. And it was all taken from him suddenly. Job was known as a very righteous man.
Why would a righteous man go through so much suffering?
At the beginning of Job, it says that Satan went to God and basically said, "you think Job is so good and righteous, but you made his life easy and gave him everything. But as soon as he starts to suffer a little bit, Job will curse you."
God said, "go ahead and test him then. But you can't kill him."
Job had done nothing wrong, but he suffered beyond belief. His own wife told him to curse God and die. And his friends were the ones telling him "You must have sin in your life!" But he didn't.
Sometimes, we go through things, and we haven't done anything, then why do we go through it? James 1:2-4 says, "2 Count it all joy, my brothers,[a] when you meet trials of various kinds,3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
That's a pretty different perspective. It is good to go through trials and suffering because it builds our faith. It seems hard to wrap your head around at first. But it develops our perseverance.
When you get punished as a kid, you don't like it, but you learn from it. It's the same thing, we go through trials and it builds us up if we choose to learn from it. It wasn't fun, but it was good.
Job's friends, who said that sin had to be in his life, were rebuked by God later in the book of Job. He chewed them out really good. And I don't think hearing the almighty God audibly yelling at you, would be fun: more like terrifying.
But people still use their words; they may have good intentions, trying to help you get out of your suffering, but they're wrong. And you can't block out suffering, it's something we have to deal with it, but we have to learn to become resilient to it, with the help of others and God.
When you go through something tough, people saying "there's something wrong with you", don't help. When people are suffering, they need a shoulder to cry on, or someone to just do something to help them out, even with something as simple as doing the laundry.
When I lost my grandfather earlier this year, I remember that day. I got the call from my dad, and then my pastor showed up. He and his family took me out to dinner with the youth pastor, whose grandfather had died that day too. And then a friend of my parents took me out for a late-night ice cream.
Just little things like that. That is what you do for people who are going through something. It takes a little weight off their shoulders and it helps them work through their grief and persevere.
