ElvenPrincess01: Yeah! I made it to chapter 10!
Riku: I didn't think you could make it this far.
ElvenPrincess01: Now you're just being mean. I think I could make it to chapter 10 of a story.
Riku: Just don't abandon the story and leave the readers hanging. Otherwise I'll be out of a job.
ElvenPrincess01: That's all you care about, isn't it?
Riku: I don't get paid for fighting Heartless.
ElvenPrincess01: Fine, fine, you make a good point. Let's move it along, shall we? Riku?
Riku: ElvenPrincess01 doesn't own Kingdom Hearts or Disney. She's broke.
ElvenPrincess01: Thanks for sharing, Riku. On to the story!
Previous Chapter
Mr. Silver is a tall and huge man, and judging by his demeanor, a jovial sort of guy. But his giant figure isn't his most distinguishing figure.
His right peg leg is completely robotic, as well as his entire right arm, gears shifting around as he moves about. There's a small robotic device on the right side of his face and his right eye is completely robotic too, yellow with tiny little gears inside, whirring quietly.
Jim gasps. "Cyborg," he whispers under his breath.
I'm the closest to him so I hear what he said, but I don't think the others did. The words of the stranger spoken before he died at the inn yesterday are called into mind at the word Jim just uttered.
"The cyyyyyborg." The stranger coughed. "Beware…the cyyyborg."
I didn't get a good look at whoever was approaching the front door of the inn during the Heartless attack, but I knew the figure was large, and the stranger said to look out for a cyborg…
Examining the grin on Mr. Silver's face, a voice in the back of my head warns me to be cautious of him, regardless of how jolly he may come off as.
And if Mr. Silver really was the man who led the raid on the inn just last night and commanded the Heartless…then it really was a good thing that Sora, Riku and I are tagging along for the ride.
Chapter 10: A Turn of Events
"May I present to you Dr. Doppler, the financier of our expedition," Mr. Arrow introduces the esteemed doctor as he steps forward.
"Love the outfit," the cyborg compliments him as a thin red laser shoots out from his robotic eye and scans the doctor's body suit. It looks to be making the astrophysicist a little uncomfortable.
"Well, thank you," he says as he covers up his private areas. "I love the eye." Trying to move on to a new topic of conversation to get out of the "spotlight", he immediately latches on to Jim's shoulder, pulling him forward.
"This young lad is Jim Hawkins." Mr. Silver amiably stretches out a hand to Jim.
"Jimbo!" Jim stares at his hand and then back up at Mr. Silver, silently refusing to shake hands with him.
Mr. Silver doesn't look too put off by it though, shrugging his shoulders as if he's used to such behavior. Or maybe he's just a forgiving person.
His eyes fall on Sora, Riku, and me, briefly scrutinizing us. "And who might you three be?"
"This is Sora, Riku, and Kairi," Dr. Doppler says.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all," Mr. Silver smiles, making no attempt to shake our hands, most likely expecting us to refuse to shake his hand like Jim did.
He walks back over inside his kitchen to stand in front of a cutting-board. "Now, don't be too put off by my hardware."
I stand amazed as he produces all sorts of gadgets from his robotic arm—a pair of scissors, a knife, and more—and slices, dices and scrambles all sorts of ingredients together before he mixes them all in a skillet.
He heats up the skillet with what looks to be some kind of fire-producing contraption he conjures up from his arm and dumps the contents into a large pot. He adds some kind of seasoning to it and stirs the food with a spoon. Mr. Silver looked like an expert chef throughout the whole process.
After taking a sip of whatever he's cooking with a ladle, he spoons some of it into bowls that he hands to each one of us.
"Here. Have a taste of me bonzabeast stew."
I peer down into the bowl's contents to see green, lumpy mush. If this is what we're going to be eating during the voyage, then this is going to be a long journey.
Sora and Riku are daring each other to see who would be the first to eat the unappetizing food while Jim stares down at his bowl as if the soup is going to eat him. I don't blame him. I don't know if I can bring myself to eat something like this.
Dr. Doppler is much braver than the rest of us, lapping at the stew with his tongue to taste-test. He makes a noise of contentment.
"Delightfully tangy. Yet robust," he says, pleasantly surprised.
"Old family recipe," Mr. Silver states.
An eyeball startlingly rises to the surface of my stew and I yelp in horror, nearly dropping the bowl onto the floor.
Mr. Silver comes over laughing. "That was part of the family!" He roars, nearly falling over to the floor in raucous laughter. I don't know whether to join in or not. Jim is giving the cyborg a look that is clearly questioning his sanity.
After a few seconds, Mr. Silver's laughs slowly subsided.
"Just a joke, dearie," he grins as he promptly sticks his fingers into my bowl and plucks out the eyeball, plopping it into his mouth. I try very hard not to show disgust on my face though I'm not really sure if I succeed or not.
"Go on, boy," the chef gestures to Jim. "Try some."
Jim resumes staring down at his untouched soup for a few moments in reluctance, until the top half of his spoon morphs into a pink blob with eyes. He gasps as the entire spoon finishes morphing into a small pink blob-shaped creature that gazes up at Jim with excited eyes, panting like an eager dog that's begging to be petted.
"Morph, you jiggle-headed blob of mischief!" Mr. Silver shakes his head, clearly amused. The blob transforms into a straw that proceeds to swiftly drink up Jim's stew. "So that's where you've been hiding."
The creature floats around us before returning to Jim, snuggling against his cheek for a second. Jim laughs at the affection. "What is this thing?"
"'What is this thing?'"The creature imitates in a high-pitched voice as he morphs into an identical miniature version of Jim that stands atop his finger.
"Why, he's a Morph!" Mr. Silver answers as if the fact should have been obvious to just about anyone. Morph changes back to his true, irregular form and zips back to the chef, snuggling with him affectionately.
"Rescued him while I was on Proteus. He took a liking to me and we've been together ever since." The cyborg cuddles with Morph as they have a moment it seems.
The distant noise of a whistle sounds from above deck. "We're about to get underway," Mr. Arrow announces. He looks at Dr. Doppler. "Would you like to see the launch?" He kindly asks him.
The doctor gasps in delight. "Lead the way!"
Jim sneakily attempts to follow after them, but Mr. Arrow isn't having any of that, and sticks an arm out in front of him.
"Mr. Hawkins and the others are to stay here in your charge, Mr. Silver." Mr. Silver spits out some soup he's taste-testing over the stove, the liquid flying onto the opposite wall.
"Begging your pardon, sir, but—"
"Captain's orders!" Mr. Arrow bellows. "And make sure they are kept busy." He turns on his heel as he departs up the stairs, effectively ignoring the spluttered protests of Jim and Mr. Silver. As soon as he disappears from sight with Mr. Doppler, they collectively let out a huge sigh.
Well at least they can agree on one thing. They both don't want to be in this situation right now.
Resigning himself to accept the orders from the higher-ups, Mr. Silver's mismatched eyes run over us. "So the captain's put you four in my charge, eh?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Riku replies.
Mr. Silver doesn't say anything and returns back to the stove, humming quietly to himself as the four of us loiter about, not really knowing what to do. Mr. Silver seems to have forgotten about us. But that can't be possible when he was just talking to us five seconds ago. Perhaps there's nothing for us to do now. It seems he has everything under control.
Jim picks up a purp fruit from a barrel, tossing it in the air once. He comments that the purp fruits look just like the purp fruit on Montressor. After a couple more questions, I realize that Jim is indirectly questioning the cyborg about the attack on the inn. There's a suspicious glint in his eyes, there's no mistaking it.
Either the cook had nothing to do with the raid last night, or he's just a really good actor, because he gives no indication on his face or in the tone he responds with that he is familiar with anything Jim is saying. He jumps through all the hoops perfectly, but I can tell from Jim's face that it does little to quell Jim's skepticisms of him.
Another whistle sounds from above deck. "Time to cast off!"
"Off with you kiddos now," Mr. Silver says as he ushers us towards the staircase. Call me crazy, but he almost looks relieved to send us off. "They'll be plenty of work for you later."
We go above deck to see crewmen scurrying up the shrouds of the ship as Mr. Arrow shouts out orders at the top of his voice from a position below the crow's nest.
"Unfurl all the solar sails!"
The crewmen pull on the ropes and loosen up the sails, unleashing several wide sails that resemble the shape of a fan. The engines flare up and the next thing I know, the ship rises steadily into the air.
As they receive energy from the sun, the sails begin to light up gradually and glimmer, expanding out even more as they do so until they have stretched out completely.
Just a few seconds later, my body becomes almost lightless and my feet rise off the ground several inches, as if gravity is no longer controlling me.
"Whoa!" I exclaim, before I realize the same thing is happening to everyone else on the ship.
"Mr. Snoff, engage artificial gravity!" Captain Amelia calls down to one of the crewmen. Two seconds later, a purple light flashes across the deck, and we all land back on our feet.
A couple more orders and a slight lurch later, we whisk off into the sky, leaving the port of Montressor, and a most likely worried Mrs. Hawkins, behind us, as we head towards our destination where treasures untold await: Treasure Planet.
The wind blows through my hair and pelts my face. A huge flock of seagulls fly past us, cawing. Huge whale-like creatures sail by, swimming through the blue, cloudy sky like it's water. And when I say the whale-like creatures are big, they're big. Many of them are bigger than the ship itself. One of them passes over the ship, and I watch its entire length pass over us.
Just like when we first arrived at the Montressor Spaceport, Jim and Sora are the most fascinated people on the ship, leaning their heads over the edge to get a better look at the sights. They're a lot alike. I silently pray they don't fall off.
Unfortunately, our awe is short-lived as Mr. Arrow puts us to work. Jim and I are ordered to scrub the decks while Sora and Riku are sent on another task below.
I dip the mop into the mop bucket and slide it back and forth across the floor. Mr. Silver said if it's not spotless when we're done, he's going to make us do it over again. Better get it right on the first try.
It's a pretty mundane task though, and I wish I could do something a little more...exciting.
Well it could be worse, I think to myself. You could be cleaning up bathrooms right now. I shudder at the disgusting thought. Many of the crewmen don't appear to have the best manners or hygiene. The bathrooms on the ship must be horrible, even already. I wonder if Sora and Riku are having to deal with them.
"So what world are you from?" I spin around to see Jim mopping nearby, his eyes on me.
"Destiny Islands," I reply. Technically, I wasn't born there, but I did grow up there, even though I can hardly remember anything about it thanks to the memory loss.
"Destiny Islands…" Jim muses on the words. "How far is it from Montressor?"
I don't know how to answer that question at all. Montressor is a good distance away from the Mysterious Tower, that much I know, but how far is it from the Islands? I venture a guess.
"It's…pretty far." Vague, but it's all I have to go on at the moment. Destiny Islands didn't show up on the map the sphere showed us in Dr. Doppler's mansion last night. Who knew the distance?
"What are you guys doing all the way out here?"
"We're hunting down Heartless. They're really bad creatures that try to destroy worlds, and we have to stop them."
"Heartless?" Jim frowns. "I never heard of those before."
We turn around as a few Shadows emerge out of nowhere on deck, rising up from shadows on the floor.
Jim is taken aback, holding his mop in front of him in surprise. "Whoa, what are those things?"
"Those are the Heartless," I answer as I will my Keyblade into my hand. "Don't freak out, I got this." Since there are only a few weak Shadows, I simply take them out with several well-aimed Fire attacks.
Jim is still flabbergasted as he scans the deck after I'm done, wide-eyed. "W-what happened to them?"
"I just destroyed them. Trust me, they're bad news. Don't let them get close to you."
"But what were they doing here?"
"They like to collect hearts. They'll randomly come out of nowhere to attack people and steal their hearts. They attacked your mother's inn last night."
"You mean they were the 'unsavory-looking creatures' the doctor was referring to?"
"Exactly."
Jim ponders on this for a second. His eyes flash to my hand.
"What kind of weapon is that?" He cocks his head at it.
"Oh this? It's a Keyblade." I hold it out so the brunette can get a better look at it.
"A Keyblade? What's that?"
"It's a weapon that can defeat Heartless. I just summon it when I need to use it." I make the blade disappear, then I make it reappear in an instant.
"Cool," Jim breathes, his eyes becoming as wide as dinner plates. He takes a couple steps forward.
"I've never seen anything like it." His eyes rake the intricate designs of my Keyblade. "How can you summon it like that?"
"I just…think about it and summon it. I'm a chosen Keyblade wielder, so I have this ability."
"Wait a sec..." Jim cocks his head. "You mean to tell me that you beat these…Heartless… with that?" His voice is nothing but skeptical.
"Hey, it may look harmless, but it packs a pretty mean punch," I defend my weapon's girly-looking and innocent form. I thought just as much as Jim at first, but that isn't important at the moment. I still beat Heartless with it nonetheless.
"Do your friends have Keyblades like you as well?"
"Yeah, they do."
A slow smirk creeps across Jim's face. "Do they have girly-looking Keyblades like yours?" He teases.
I playfully narrow my eyes at him. "No, they do not. Keyblades come in a variety of shapes and sizes. And theirs don't look anything like mine."
"And what's yours called?"
"Called?"
"Well yeah." Jim shrugs his shoulders. "I mean, don't people usually name their swords and stuff?"
I rack my brain, trying to recall what the name of my Keyblade is. Sora told me his is named Kingdom Key. I can only assume that all Keyblade wielders named their weapons. But what's the name of my mine?
Another memory flashes into my mind, though this time, luckily, it doesn't enter with a headache.
Sora and I were sitting outside on the steps that led into the Tower.
"What are you going to name your Keyblade, Kairi?" Sora asked.
I shrug. "I don't know. You named yours Kingdom Key. The King named his Star Seeker when he first got his Keyblade. I have no idea what to call mine." I summon my Keyblade to my hand and stare down at the flowery weapon.
Sora placed his hands behind his head as he grins at me. "Hey, don't sweat it. You'll think of something. Riku still hasn't come up with a name for his yet."
Thinking about the appropriate name for my newly-gained weapon, I gazed at the Paopu fruit keychain that was connected to it. A legend Selphie told me about the fruit once before comes to mind.
"If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what."
Destinies…Remaining a part of each other's life no matter what. It was like never being able to let go of the other person. Like you and the other person were locked in an eternal embrace…Destiny…Embrace…Being embraced by destiny, entwined by fate.
A smile settled onto my face. "I got it. The name of my Keyblade. Destiny's Embrace," I announce happily, holding the weapon out in front of me.
Sora grinned wider. "Nice. I like it."
"Hey, Kairi? Kairi? Helllooo!" I come to out of my recollections, Jim's voice piercing through.
"Huh? What?" It takes a moment or two for me to regain my surroundings and remember I'm on a ship, and I'm supposed to be answering a question.
I shake my head. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me."
"You ok? You just zoned out there."
"Yeah, I'm fine." I think. "Anyways, to answer your question, it's Destiny's Embrace. The name of my Keyblade is Destiny's Embrace."
"Destiny's Embrace…" Jim nods his head before smirking again. "I thought you would've named it Delicate Flower or something lame like that," he jokes.
"Hey!" Jim starts laughing, and I find myself laughing along with him. He's a pretty good guy to hang with. He may come across sometimes as being antisocial and moody, but once I started talking to him, I discovered there's more to him than that. It's almost like his sullen attitude is just a mask of his humorous disposition beneath.
A hulking crewman with four monstrous arms rudely pushes Jim out of his way as he shuffles by. He turns to glare at him as if Jim bumped into him. "Watch it, cabin boy," he growls, and stalks off.
Ignoring him, Jim's eyes fall upon three crewmen on the other side of the deck, whispering loudly about something. When they notice Jim staring at them, they immediately hush up, glaring at him.
"Whatcha looking at, weirdo?" One of the crewmen snaps.
"Yeah, whatcha looking at, weirdo?" Another crewman echoes. Not a very friendly group of people.
There's a slithering, hissing noise behind Jim and I, and we look up to see a slender, spider-like creature with crab legs, wicked-looking yellow eyes, and long arms with pincers. He skulks down the shrouds to land right in front of Jim.
"Cabin boyssssss should learn to mind their own businesssss," he hisses at Jim.
Jim doesn't back down though from the newcomer's threat. "Why? You got something to hide, Bright-Eyes?" He mocks.
The spider-like creature's eyes narrow into slits in anger, and before I know it, he's holding Jim up in the air by his collar.
"Maybe your earsssss don't work so well."
Jim makes a disgusted face, twisting his head away. "Yeah." He coughs. "Too bad my nose works just fine."
That's the last straw. "You impudent little—"The creature slams Jim's body against a nearby mast with a thud.
As soon as that happens, the other crewman start crowding around, inching in closer. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" They chant.
I glare at the spider creature. "Put him down!" I demand, before things get too out of hand.
He takes his eyes off Jim for a second to snarl at me. "Stay out of this, girl," he spits before returning his attention to his target.
"Any last words, cabin boy?" He brushes his pincer-like hand against Jim's chin softly, but with deadly intentions.
I'm about to tell this guy off, regardless of what could happen to me, but I don't have to, since Mr. Silver is suddenly present. He grabs the creature's hand that was just threatening Jim's life two seconds ago.
"Mr. Scroop..." He lazily bites into an apple, the creature scowling at him unhappily. "Have you ever seen what's happened to a purp fruit when you squeeze it real tight?" On 'tight', Mr. Arrow squeezes the creature's arm tightly, causing him to cry out in pain and release Jim.
He massages his sore wrist. Mr. Arrow descends down the stairs.
"What's all this commotion for?" He shouts at the bystanders at large. He paces across the desk, staring hard into each of the crewmen's eyes. "I'll have you know that I will not allow any brawling on this ship. Any offenders will be sent to the brig"—he stares fiercely into Mr. Scroop's eyes—"permanently." The spider-like creature scowls at him.
"Are we clear?" Mr. Arrow presses for an answer.
"…transparent," Mr. Scroop yields.
Mr. Arrow then strides off as Mr. Silver shooes all the crewmen back to their stations. He lets out a short laugh, and then when the deck is clear, he rounds on Jim.
"Jimbo, what are you doing? I gave you a job to do!"
"I was doing it until that thing started picking a fight with me!"
"That doesn't matter!" Mr. Silver roars, silencing Jim. "I want this deck cleaned so well I'll be able to see my reflection on it! Kairi!"
"Y-yes?" I stutter, quivering slightly. Oh crap, am I in trouble too? I didn't even do anything! I was just about to intervene in that confrontation!
"Keep an eye on this one..." He narrows his eyes a bit at Jim. "You too, Morph." The pink blob floats over to us, eager to obey. "Make sure there are no more distractions." And on that note, Mr. Silver stalks off, his coat flapping behind him angrily.
xxxxx
The next few days are a haze of busy work, which consists of activities such as scrapping sea urchins off the the ship, (a task I am none too fond of, considering the enormous amounts of urchins plastered like glue on the sides of the ship), peeling potatoes, and washing dishes. Mainly washing dishes.
There was an attack by some Shadows and Air Pirate Heartless once or twice, but it looked like the crew had seen these creatures before, because as soon as the Heartless were spotted, they rushed to get their guns and blast them into oblivion. They didn't give Sora, Riku, and I a chance to do much.
Jim's been spending a lot of time with Mr. Silver, the older man taking his job of keeping the brunette in his charge seriously, spending nearly every waking minute with him to "keep him out of trouble."
At first, things were a bit rocky with them, but their relationship has progressively improved as the cyborg taught the fortune hunter the ropes. Literally. He taught him how to properly tie a knot to secure a lifeline, along with other skills, like how to navigate a longboat.
Granted, he taught some of the same stuff to the rest of us, but it was clear that he had taken a real liking to Jim. And it appears that Jim no longer harbors any ill feelings towards Mr. Silver, as I often see them conversing in a friendly manner, with no aggression at all. Like a mentor with his precious pupil.
I talk to Riku one night in the cabin he and Sora share with some of the other crewmen. Sora's fast asleep on his bed, snoring softly. He's been doing a lot of sleeping as of late, but then again, he does a lot of sleeping in general. Somehow he never gets busted for shrinking on his duties by Mr. Silver.
"What do you think of Mr. Silver?" Riku asks me out of the blue.
"What do you mean?"
"Like what do you make of him?"
I think about it, debating on whether or not I should tell Riku my initial doubts about the cyborg. He hadn't done anything recently to make me question his genuineness.
"Well, to be honest, when we first met him, I thought that he might be…hiding something. Jim suspected that he might be the cyborg that guy at the inn warned him about, but I don't believe he thinks that now."
"Have you noticed Mr. Silver's been spending a lot of time with the crewmen in the hangout area?"
"Yeah, to tell them stories and stuff." I casually rock back and forth on the crate I'm sitting on. "He's a storyteller."
Riku crosses his arms over his chest and he stares down at the floor, his eyebrows creased. He's in deep thinking mode. "I don't know. I get this vibe that when we're not around…they're plotting something in secret.
I hate to admit it but Riku may be onto something. There were those three crewmen talking secretly amongst themselves the day Jim and I encountered Scroop. Would whatever they were discussing have anything to with this alleged scheme Riku was suspecting?
Before we can discuss it any further, the ship violently lurches to the right, knocking me clean off the crate I was seated on and unceremoniously onto the floor on my butt.
"Ow," I moan, rubbing the sore area.
"What was that?" Sora bolts awake thanks to the jolt, looking around frantically as he hurries to his feet.
One way or another, Riku doesn't get thrown off his seat like I did. He bends over and he stretches out a hand to me. "Here."
I grasp his hand and he helps me back up to my feet. "Thanks."
He simply nods his head. "Come on, let's go see what's going on."
We go above deck to see Jim and Mr. Silver freshly arrived on the scene. "What in the world is going on?!" Mr. Silver desires to know.
Dr. Doppler gasps from where he's perched above. "Oh my goodness!" His voice displays pure terror. "The star Pelusa…It turned into a supernova!"
Off in the distance behind the ship, I spot a huge, inflating explosion that's sending a dozen fireballs at us fast.
"Evasive action, Mr. Turnbuckle!" Captain Amelia yells to the creature at the wheel.
"All hands, fasten your lifelines!" Mr. Arrow yells.
Everyone is in a flurry as we scurry to the masts to secure the lifelines around our bodies as a wave blows through that almost makes us stumble.
The fireballs from the explosion zip past us at blistering speed, some of them striking the sails. A couple crewmen use cannon-fire to shoot down any that veer too close to us.
Nearly everyone else goes to work securing the sails at Captain Amelia's order, climbing up the masts to do so. I try hard not to look down from my position high above.
We succeed in the task only to gaze in horror as a colossal piece of the star slowly approaches the ship, potential collision only seconds away. A few of the crewmen run away screaming in fear. There's no way we can survive this.
Only a few seconds before the collision however, the star pauses in its trajectory before moving in the opposite direction, like it's being pulled by some invisible force.
And that's when I see what's pulling it in: a massive area of swirling gases with a gaping hole at the center of it.
"The star," Dr. Doppler gasps. "It's…it's evolving into a…black hole!"
And we're being pulled in to it, our ship speeding towards the hole as it attempts to suck us in. Captain Amelia is doing her best to steer our vessel out of the gravitational pull.
An explosion rises out from the black hole itself, sending out a giant wave that nearly knocks us off our feet.
"These waves," the Captain curses. "They're so erratic!"
"No, no, Captain, they're not erratic at all!" Dr. Doppler shouts from where he stands in front of a monitor with data on it. "In fact, there's going to be another one in precisely 47.2 seconds, followed by the biggest one of them all!"
"Perfect!" She grins. "We'll ride that one out! Mr. Arrow!" The feline calls to the first officer. "Unfurl the sails!"
Mr. Arrow is in disbelief, since the crew had just secured them at her behest, but nonetheless, orders the crew to loosen the sails. The crewmen loudly complain about having just secured them before running off to do their job.
The captain then orders Jim to fasten the lifelines as tight as possible. "Lifelines secured, Captain!" He calls out to her when's he done.
Just a few seconds later, another wave rocks the boat. Several seconds later, Dr. Doppler shouts at the top of his lungs, "The last wave! Here it comes!"
"Everyone hold on to your lifelines!" The captain shouts. "It's going to be a bumpy ride!"
Sora, Riku, and I hold on to the masts for dear life as we drift down into the black hole, the sky around us darkening. I squeeze my eyes shut as I imagine happy thoughts. In my mind I'm back in Spira, playing in the hot springs with Yuna, Rikku, and Paine.
And then, the biggest wave of them all rushes out, sending us careening out of the black hole as the solar sails light up and the engines flare out. We zoom off into the night-blue sky, leaving the black hole far, far behind us. I let out a sigh of relief as I loosen my hold on the mast. The crew starts to whoop in cheer.
The Captain saunters down the stairs. "Well, well, not bad, Mr. Silver." One side of her mouth turns up in a smile. "Looks like your cabin boy did a splendid job of securing the lifelines. You taught him well."
The two of them chuckle, playfully nudging each other at Jim's achievement.
"All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?" There's no reply. Everyone glanced around, looking for the man.
"Arrow?" The Captain calls out again. Mr. Scroop strolls down the deck towards the captain, the crew members moving off to the sides to make a pathway for him.
He stops in front of the woman, a somber and grievous expression on his face. "I'm afraid, the captain has been lost." He holds out a hand that contains Mr. Arrow's hat.
Shocked and clearly distressed, the Captain slowly clutches the object in her hands.
"His lifeline was…not secured," Mr. Scroop adds.
All eyes automatically flash to Jim, including the Captain's. Jim can't believe it what he's hearing. "No, that can't be, I checked them all!" He runs over to where the knots for the lifelines are, stopping suddenly when he sees that one of them is missing. Mr. Arrow's.
"I did, I checked them all. They were secure…"His shoulders deflate as a look of utter devastation registers on his face.
The Captain isn't at all persuaded, judging by the look on her face, but says nothing as she glances down at Mr. Arrow's hat. She strokes it softly. "Mr. Arrow"—she clears her throat before continuing —"was a very good officer." When she looks up at us, her eyes are full of sadness. "Better than what we could ever hope to be…But he knew the risks, as do we all." She turns halfway to walk back up the stairs. "Resume your posts." Her voice is startlingly quiet. "We carry on."
No sooner than she leaves, Jim runs off.
xxxxx
Sora and Riku were sparring with their Keyblades in the courtyard of the Mysterious Tower. I was perched on the steps in front of the turret, my knees tucked into my chest and my chin resting on top of them, a disappointed expression upon my face.
The doors opened and out stepped the King. He saw me sitting there, pausing for a moment. "Gee, what's the matter, Kairi?" He asked concernedly.
I heaved a deep sigh. "Why was I made a Keyblade wielder? I'm obviously never going to be on Sora and Riku's level. They've been training with swords for years. I'll never catch up with them." I tucked my knees in to my chest tighter.
"Gosh Kairi, I didn't know you felt that way. But ya shouldn't worry about something like that. You're a great Keyblade wielder."
"Sure, but am I on Sora and Riku's level?"
I could sense the King choosing his words carefully so as not to upset me anymore than what I already was. "I think the three of you bring something different to the table, something that makes you different from each other."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, for Riku, his specialty is strength and agility." Mickey observed the mock-fight between my two closest friends. "He's a hard person to knock down, and if he does fall over, he's able to swiftly get back on his feet. Plus he's adept in reacting quickly and effectively to changes in battle."
"For Sora, his specialty is speed. He's able to move around quickly and jump from one spot to another, or speedily roll out of the way, sometimes making it a little difficult for either one of you to get a hit on him."
"And…my specialty is…?" I waited for the King's answer.
"For you, Kairi, your specialty is magic."
"Magic?" I tilt my head.
"Right." The King smiles. "While you may think you're lagging behind, you're a head above Sora and Riku in magic proficiency."
"I am?"
Mickey nodded. "The three of you pick up the techniques relatively quickly, but you master them quicker than they do. And your magic spells are stronger."
"They are? Huh…I never really noticed it."
"What I'm trying to tell you Kairi is that ya shouldn't sell yourself short. Everyone's got something special about them." Mickey smiled wider.
xxxxx
Feeling the urge to relieve myself, I wake up from my dream and make a beeline to the bathroom. When I finish, I notice the clear dark skies outside a porthole and think it might not actually be a bad idea to get some fresh air. It's a bit stuffy down in the cabins.
It's the middle of the night, which means everyone should be fast asleep below deck. So I am a little surprised to see Jim suspended on the shrouds above deck, his shoulders hunched over in disappointment. He must still be frustrated over Mr. Arrow's death.
Frowning, I slowly walk over to him. "Hey," I say softly.
He barely rotates his head to glance at me. "Hey." His voice is flat and lifeless.
"Are…you ok?" I lean against the side of the boat, looking up at him. I inwardly slap myself for asking such a stupid question. Of course he's not ok! He's obviously down in the dumps!
Jim gazes out at the sky, not answering my question.
I sigh in sympathy. The guilt is eating him up. "Jim…you know it's not your fault."
"Yes it is," he mumbles. "If it wasn't for me, Mr. Arrow would still be alive."
"Jim, the lifeline not being tied tight enough could have happened to anyone."
"Yeah, but it happened to me!" Jim rounds on me, his voice suddenly becoming louder. "Don't you get it? I'm just a screw-up. No matter what I do"—he turns away from me and his voice returns to its quiet volume —"I'll still screw things up…Maybe that's why my dad left me…because he couldn't stand me anymore."
More sympathy floods my face as I learned the truth about Jim's father. "Jim…" I'm not quite sure what to say. I have an urge to reach out and touch his shoulder, but I don't think he wants to be pitied right now.
"Kairi!" I hear someone stomping up the stairs and recognize Mr. Silver and his peg-leg. "You best be getting to bed. You have a long day ahead of you."
"But—"
"That's an order."
I throw one last sympathetic look at Jim before I reluctantly remove myself from my spot and head back to my cabin.
Mr. Silver pauses as he passes by me. "Don't worry," he says with a wink. "I'll take care of this one."
I'm halfway down below when, curiosity getting the better of me, I obscure my body from view and peek out at Jim and Mr. Silver.
Mr. Silver gives Jim some reassuring words before Jim seems to have enough of the consolation and leaps off the shrouds, yelling at Mr. Silver about him being a screw-up and what not. He stomps off and props himself up against a mast, his back facing Mr. Silver in anger.
But the chef doesn't give up, continuing to talk to him, in a softer tone this time. He allays Jim's doubts, even if only a little bit, by encouraging Jim to not give up and chart his own path for the future. He even embraces him at one point, a surprising sign of affection for him that I don't think he does very often.
With Jim looking a little less melancholic, he is sent off to bed, and I hurry down the stairs before either of them can accuse me of spying.
xxxxx
"Land ho!" Later that morning, the distant call of the crewman in the crow's nest wakes me up. My eyes flutter open as I, groggy, try to focus on my surroundings. I slowly adjust to the influx of sunlight seeping in from a nearby porthole.
I stretch my arms above my head and moan as I can feel a crick in my neck. I massage the area tenderly. I must have slept on my neck the wrong way last night. Typical.
It takes me a minute or two before I finally amble my way towards deck, still a little sleepy, but before I even get there, I know something's wrong.
I can hear the shouts of crewmen above me, their voices increasing in volume the closer I get to the staircase.
Running above deck, I see countless scurrying all over the deck, every which way, and for a second, I think we're under attack. The sleepiness is jolted from my eyes. But then I am stunned to see the attack isn't what I think it is. It's not a Heartless attack( it's a mutiny.
Mr. Silver is standing in front of a pirate flag that has just been hoisted, his chest puffed out with the same aura of effrontery Captain Amelia carries herself with.
Thoughts swim through my mind as I discover that I've been completely wrong about Mr. Silver's recent behavior. Riku was right. He and the rest of the crew were planning something. They were planning a coup.
"Kairi!" I look up to see Sora waving a hand at me from where he stands near the stairs leading up to the captain's office. At another part of the ship I see some of the crewmen gathering up guns in their hands from the armory, and I make a fast dash for Sora.
Riku, Jim, Mr. Doppler, and the captain of course, are already present in the room. She furiously rips open the cabinet that contains the map, pulls out a gun, and loads it up with bullets.
"Pirates on my ship? They're all going to pay for this." She tosses the gun to Mr. Doppler.
"Doctor, familiar with these?"
Dr. Doppler holds the weapon awkwardly like he's never seen it before, turning it over as he examines it. "Oh, I've seen…Well I—"He jumps nearly ten feet in the air as he accidentally fires out a purple blast from the gun, narrowly missing the woman.
"No, no I haven't," he admits as she rolls her eyes.
"Jim, defend this with your life." She throws the sphere towards Jim, but it is caught by Morph who attempts to swallow it.
"Morph, give me that!" Jim scolds the creature before he gains possession of the map and sticks it in his pocket.
The captain takes another gun and fires a huge gaping hole in the floor, big enough for someone to jump into. "Everyone, get in," she orders. Without a moment to lose, we jump right in, one after the other.
We run through a few winding pathways in the engine room, avoiding wires hanging from the ceiling, and crates and barrels in our way on the floor. From the sounds behind us, I think it's safe to assume some of the crewmen are hot on our heels. Most likely ones who possess guns.
The captain leads us through a side door and just barely slams the door in their faces after Mr. Doppler trips over the threshold. "To the longboat, quickly!" She commands as she seals the door.
The room we're in has two longboats suspended in the air by cables and we hop into one as the captain pulls down a lever. A door on the floor opens slowly below us, revealing the sky. A light breeze blows across my bare arms.
The captain gracefully hops into the boat and takes out another gun. Where is she getting all these guns from?
Morph flies into Jim's pocket and swallows the sphere whole. "Morph!" Jim frantically reaches out his hands to grab the slippery creature but fails as he flies away from the longboat.
"NO!" Jim is on his feet and springs off the boat onto the sill to chase after him.
"Jim!" I shout after him, but I am forced to divert my attention to the enemy at hand as they burst through the door, firing countless shots at us wildly.
Captain Amelia immediately returns fire. "Chew on this, you pus-filled boils!" She yells as she lets loose a volley of gunfire, her eyes blazing.
The rounds from the enemy are firing quite close to us, a couple of them whizzing by my ear. Something needs to be done before one of us gets hit.
"Sora and Riku, why don't we use an Aeroga spell on them to deflect their shots?"
They nod their heads in agreement and we immediately summon our Keyblades to our hands, taking aim.
"Aeroga!" We shout together. Our attacks combine together to create a large whirlwind that deflects the bullets aimed at us and hurls the crew members onto their back. Our reward is a temporary pause in gunfire.
A blast from our side fires upward and hits a bulky gear above, causing it to fall down onto the sill. The sill gives way and the crewmen, who are all on it, fall through, screaming as they fall into space.
I thought the captain was the one who did that, but then I see that it was actually Dr. Doppler. The captain stares at him in astonishment. She can't believe it either. This was the same guy who almost blew her head off with the same gun mere minutes ago.
"Were you really aiming for that?" She asks in amazement.
The doctor looks down at his gun for a second before looking up at her. "You know, I actually was!"
Mr. Silver strides into the room and pulls up the lever that controls the floor beneath the longboats. The door reverses, slowly closing back.
The captain gasps, peering over the side with a scowl. "Blast it!" She rapidly scans the area above our heads.
"Doctor, shoot that forward cable." She gestures with her head at it. "I'll take this one."
A few seconds later, they take fire, striking the cables and knocking the boat loose. The boat lurches and falls down and, to my relief, Jim just barely manages to jump down onto it as the back of the boat scrapes the door before it can close completely. We drop away into the air.
He doesn't manage to get completely on the longboat though, and his body dangles dangerously in the air as he holds onto the boat with one hand.
"Jim!" Riku stretches out a hand towards the brunette and helps him into the boat.
The captain pulls on a rope and a solar sail flares out, the boat freezing in its descent. She then begins pressing buttons on a control pad.
"Parameters met. Hydraulics engaged!" The engines blaze out blue flames and we zoom through the air, racing away from our previous vessel.
"Captain! Laser ball at 12 o'clock!" The doctor points as a huge laser ball hurtles towards us. The feline tries to move the boat out of its path, but her attempt is too late, our boat already in its trajectory.
The ball crashes into the sail with a strong hissing noise as it burns the material, and completely rips off the back part of the boat.
The boat falls into critical condition at the impact. I fall onto my back at the impact, and I have enough sense to grab on to the side of the boat lest I go tumbling off into the open air like the crewmen from earlier.
The boat spirals downwards at an alarming rate, seconds away from crashing into the ground. As the boat violently twists through the air, I do my best to hang on for dear life.
The longboat veers down into a field of giant mushrooms. It just barely clears a direct hit with one of the mushroom stems, but not completely, and the side of the boat bangs forcefully against it. The sudden jolt rams my head against the side of the vessel, and I instantly blackout, remembering no more.
xxxxx
ElvenPrincess01: Whoa! This chapter was a lot longer than I expected. I actually was going to keep writing but there's still some details that I need to work out, so this gives me a chance to figure out something to do. Anyways, thanks for reading!
Riku: Thanks for the continued support. Without you I'd be unemployed.
ElvenPrincess01: Later!
xxxxx