Hello there everyone, Moogle Empress here with the next chapter ready to roll. Before that, I would like to go over the reviews from last chapter. ^-^
Ctran: Thank you for your review! That's true, Kingdom Hearts can be very Star Wars like, especially in Birth By Sleep if you compare a lot of things with that one. XD I hope you continue to enjoy the story. :3
Chirithy564: Thank you for your review! I'm really glad that you are enjoying the story, that makes writing it worth it. :3 Also happy that you are also enjoying the omake skits, they won't be in every chapter, but I like to add them when they seem appropriate. I do intend to do some side stories that go over some character background for some people, but I don't know I want to add them as part of the main story or just make a separate section for them. ^-^
Also about your request to make fan art for the characters, by all means Chirithy, I would be humbled, honoured and delighted for you to create fan art if that is what you wish. ^-^ Let the imagination flow! \o/ I will make sure to give you full credit. =D
Thank you again for reading and I hope you continue to enjoy the story as it continues. ^-^
Guest: :3 You'll have to wait to find out, it'll be revealed in due time. =D
With that, here's the next chapter, enjoy! ^-^
Episode 11: Agrabah
In the city of Agrabah, Jafar and Maleficent were walking down one of the many streets of the city, having a private talk as they walked.
"And the Keyhole?"
"The Heartless are searching for it now, I'm certain we'll find it soon enough. So...that just leaves..." Jafar reassured the evil fairy but then heard the call of his parrot, as Iago flew down and perched on the evil vizier's shoulder.
"Jafar! I've looked everywhere for Jasmine. She's disappeared like magic!" Iago reported.
"Hmph, the girl's more trouble than she's worth."
"You said you had things under control." Maleficent narrowed her eyes dangerously and took a few steps forward.
"Agrabah's full of holes for rats to hide in." Jafar sneered. "But why worry about Princess Jasmine? With her or without her, surely this world will be ours when we find the keyhole." Jafar then questioned.
"We need all seven princesses of heart to open the final door. Any fewer is useless." She said cryptically. The final door that rested within the depths of Hallow Bastion, it was protected by a powerful seal that not even the most powerful of magic could unseal. Apparently it was the final act of some annoying Seraph who was the guardian of that world before it came under her control.
That was when she heard of how the Seven Princesses of Hearts could overpower even that of Seraphic Artes, which were considered impossible to undo by normal means.
"Well, if the Princess is that important, we'll find her." Without looking back, he ordered the nearby Heartless that beckoned to his call. "Find Jasmine, and bring her to me at once." He then ordered what appeared to be Arabian knight-like Heartless that obeyed his wish and went forth to search for the Princess of this world.
"Don't steep yourself in the darkness too long. The Heartless consume the careless." Maleficent warned.
That was when Jafar laughed without even looking at the evil fairy. "Your concern is touching, but hardly necessary." He simply scoffed as he continued onwards in his search.
Little did they know that behind a stall not far from them, hid the Princess herself, concerned and worried with whatever evil scheme they had planned. She truly hoped Aladdin was alright and prayed for her father's safety.
Lucille and her friends found themselves strangely in a exotic palace.
"How did we end in the middle of a palace?" Zen asked Oswald.
"Not sure, that never happened before, maybe Cid did a bit of weird tweaking with the teleporter when entered this world.
"Is it just me, or does this palace seem...empty?" Chi questioned.
"Actually the Chirithy's got a point, this is too quiet." Zen looked around carefully.
Florian sensed something below, was it...someone's heart? "Guys, I think there's someone imprisoned down below, I'm sensing someone in distress." Florian pointed to the ground.
"Well, we are in the palace... there must be a dungeon below us." Oswald carefully thought out.
"Well what are we waiting for then? We need to help that person!" Lucille started to run ahead but then stopped. "Ahhh, Flo? Which way is it to the dungeons?" She then laughed sheepishly as she asked. The rest of the group just sighed.
Following Florian's guidance, they found themselves in the lower floor of the palace where the dungeons were kept.
"Charming place." Zen commented as they passed by a cell.
"You sure there's someone here, Flo? I can't see anyone in these cells." Oswald checked the other cells but found nothing.
"I couldn't be mistaken...I could have sworn..." Florian grew more concerned if he had been mistaken. That was when they heard a voice.
"Hello? Is someone there?"
"There is someone!" Lucille smiled and ran in the direction of the voice only to be stopped when a group of Arabian-knight Heartless spawned from the ground.
"Heartless!" Lucille gasped. She quickly took out the Lux Arma and armed herself ready, followed by Zen, Oswald and Florian.
It didn't take too long for them to wipe the floor with all the Heartless in the room. "Heh, never stood a chance." Zen boasted.
"They were pretty weak ones, don't get too cocky, kid." Oswald warned.
"I know, I know." Zen replied as he reverted his claw back into his bandaged arm.
Once dismissing their weapons, they approached the cell where they heard the voice coming from. It was a elderly man who looked like he was the one who was suppose to be ruling this kingdom.
"Who are you?" The old man asked.
"I'm Lucille and these are my-"
"We'll worry about introductions later, stand back." Oswald gently pushed Lucille away from the door so he could use the keyblade on the lock.
Once the door was open, the old man didn't wait to leave the cell. "Thank you for getting me out of that rotten cell. When I get my hands on that no good vizier, Jafar I'll-!"
"Vizier? So are you the ruler?" Zen asked.
"Ah, how rude of me. I am the Sultan of Agrabah, I can't thank you enough for breaking me out there. I thought I was going to be trapped there forever." The Sultan thanked the group.
"Well, it was technically Florian who located you, we'd never have been able to find you if it wasn't for him." Lucille smiled.
"Oh, I must thank him then. Um, where is the lad?" The Sultan looked around but couldn't seem to locate him.
"I don't think he can see me Lucille." Florian whispered.
"Oh...Uhhh, this little fella!" Lucille quickly improvised by picking up Chi.
"Lady Lucille!" Chi panicked.
"Oh, why thank you little one." The Sultan smiled and petted her.
"Sorry Flo." Lucille apologised.
Florian shook his head and smiled. "It's okay, Lucille. We were bound to end up meeting people who can't see me."
'Note to self, make sure to double check if people can see Florian next time.' Lucille mentally noted to herself.
"I must ask though, how did you get inside the palace? Jafar made sure to keep all my guards and royal staff out of the palace when he deposed me."
"Ummm...We snuck in?" Lucille bluffed.
"Well that's not too far from the truth." Zen shrugged.
"It's as good excuse as any, no matter what, we can't tell him about being outsiders to this world." Oswald warned the both of them in whispers.
"Either way, I am deeply thankful. Ooh, that no good wizard! And to think I trusted him, I was such an old fool! And now my poor daughter, my poor Jasmine...She's being hunted by that snake!"
"Jasmine? So she's your daughter?" Oswald perked his ears at this.
"Yes, I'm incredibly worried for her. When I was forced into the dungeons, I told Jasmine to flee the palace, I certainly hope she's found somewhere safe to hide from that horrible man." The Sultan explained.
"We'll go look for her then." Oswald was the first to answer.
"We will?" Zen raised an eyebrow at Oswald's unusual response.
"Will you? It would mean the world for me if you could help my Jasmine."
"Of course. Can you give us a place to start looking?" Lucille agreed.
"Well...Agrabah is a very big place, so I'd imagine she'd be hiding within the city still." The Sultan told them.
"Alright then, that's where we'll start. What about you though? Will you be okay?" Lucille asked in concern for the elderly man.
"Oh you've done enough for me, already. I shall open the palace gates so my guards can return to their posts at once, then we can start bringing back peace and order to this city. Please help my daughter if you find her."
"We'll keep her safe from Jafar, Your Majesty." Lucille nodded.
"We better get a move on, who knows how long this search is going to take." Oswald motioned them to move along. After escorting the Sultan back up to the main floor of the palace and reopening the palace doors, they left the ruler of Agrabah in the care of his royal guards, who also thanked them for saving and protecting their Lord and started their search.
"So Oswald? Why did you so readily agree to this? I thought you'd be the first person to decline." Zen asked, quite curious about the rabbit's unusual attitude.
"Do you remember that talk we had about the Seven Princesses of Heart?" Oswald asked the rest of the group.
"Oh yeah! Back in Wonderland right?" Lucille recalled.
Oswald nodded. "I have a hunch that the Sultan's daughter is one of the seven." Oswald told them.
"Really?!" Florian jumped up in surprise.
"You sure about this?" Zen pressed for information.
"Never underestimate the hunch of a lucky rabbit, kiddo." Oswald gave a cocky grin and wag his finger at him.
"I believe Master Oswald is correct, I'm sensing a powerful light here. Far stronger than the ones we had before." Chi agreed with the rabbit on this.
"So, where would even start searching? This place looks so easy to get lost in." Zen wondered.
"Guess we could trust good ol' luck?" Lucille smiled.
"Can't you find her Florian? You already were able to find the Sultan." Oswald turned to the small Seraph.
"No, there's too many hearts in one place." Florian shook his head sadly.
"Don't worry Florian. There's limits even for you guys, right?" Lucille petted Florian's head.
"I guess we'll just have to do this the ol' fashion way." Oswald shrugged.
"I'm sure we'll find her and we'll keep her away from that mean ol' snake guy, what did the Sultan call him again?"
"Well well, what have we here? It's the Keyblade Brat's sister and her merry band of street rats." An evil yet smooth voice made them alert and armed themselves immediately when they turned around.
"Jafar I assume?" Zen narrowed his eyes.
"Indeed I am, what of it?" Jafar scoffed.
"We heard everything from the Sultan, you ain't getting anywhere near the Princess, snake man." Oswald called him out.
"Hahahaha! Oh, but you're already too late. I know where she is." Jafar smiled evilly.
"Huh?! Not if we stop you first!" Lucille gripped the Lux Arma tighter and charged at him.
"What are you doing?!" Zen tried to stop her but it was too late.
"Haaaah! Eat this!" She made an attempt to strike but Jafar grabbed hold of her by one of her arms. The Lux Arma was accidently dismissed when Jafar's grip tightened on her hand that held it, which caused it to fall out.
"Hey! Let me go, you creepy snake of a man!" Lucille struggled to break free, even trying to kick him.
"I believe you'll make excellent bait for the Keyblade brat. You'll find her in the Cave of Wonders, but you might want to hurry, she might be dead by the time you get there. You lot, take care of these street rats." Jafar ordered the Heartless nearby to attack.
Florian not wasting any time, turned into a ball of light and entered Lucille's heart so Chi would be able to track them down wherever this Cave of Wonders might be.
"No! Let me go! I won't let you use me to lure my brother and friends into a trap!" Lucille struggled even harder to pull away.
"Say goodnight, little street mouse, can't have you running off now, can we?" Jafar mocked before casting a sleep spell on her. She could feel the effects of the spell starting to effect but she tried to keep herself awake, even biting into her lip and making it bleed.
"Lucille! Damn it, outta the way!" Zen took care of any Heartless that tried to attack while trying to reach them before Jafar could get away.
"Lady Lucille! Unhand her at once, you foul creature!" Chi charged right in but got swatted away by Jafar's hand, throwing her right into one of the buildings.
"Chi...No...I can't...stay...awake." Lucille felt weaker as she struggled to keep her eyes open, eventually the spell won over and her world went dark.
Meanwhile, a little later on, elsewhere in Agrabah, Sora and his friends had teamed up with Aladdin, Carpet, Abu and Genie to save Princess Jasmine, unfortunately, Jafar had used Iago to steal the lamp from Aladdin's hands, thus leading them up to this unfortunate turn of events.
"Oh yes, that reminds before I go, I believe this belongs to someone precious to you, am I right boy?" Jafar took out Lucille's necklace that he took off her as proof that he had the Keybade Brat's sister in his possession, then threw at him.
Sora went closer to pick it up. "This is...what did you do to my sister?!" Sora shouted.
"Oh I assure you, she's safe, for now." Jafar cruelly replied. "It all depends on if you can find her in time before the Cave of Wonders prematurely ends her life. And now I bid you all farewell. Attack!" Jafar added finally before disappearing in a puff of red smoke.
Despite Sora and his friends' best efforts, they were unable to save Jasmine, who had also been stolen away by Jafar.
"To the desert! C'mon let's move!" Aladdin told the others.
"Sora..." Donald didn't know what to say, he wanted to reassure Sora about Lucille's safety.
"Hey, about what Jafar said, is it true that he kidnapped someone important to you?" Aladdin asked, concerned for his friend.
"How...? How did he get hold of Lucille?" Sora clutched Lucille's necklace tighter.
"Lucille is Sora's twin sister." Goofy explained to Aladdin.
"Don't worry, Sora. We'll save your sister and Jasmine together, Jafar is not getting away with this." Aladdin placed a comforting hand on Sora's shoulder.
"Yeah! Jafar's gonna pay if he lays a finger on her!" Donald also stated strongly.
"Dont'cha worry, ya know Lucille will be alright! I bet her friends are already on their way to save her right now."
"Guys...yeah, you're right. Lucille's much stronger than that, Lucille told me that, and she's a terrible liar, there's no way she could bluff it. Thanks." Sora thanked them for giving him support when he needed it. He trusted his sister more than anyone, she wouldn't dare die on him.
With that, they headed towards the entrance of the Desert, to their surprise, find Oswald, Zen and Chi who looked almost ready to try braving the desert themselves.
"Guys!" Sora called out.
"Sora? Oh boy, I never thought I'd be glad to see you guys more than I am right now. It's Lucille!" Oswald was about to explain before Sora stopped him.
"Yeah, Jafar left this for me." Sora showed them Lucille's necklace.
"What the heck happened?!" Donald cried out glaring more at Zen than Oswald.
"Lucille got careless, she tried to attack Jafar and he got the upper hand, but I should have warned her faster. I underestimated him, he's no pushover." Oswald sighed, angry at himself for letting this happen.
"And then he launched a swarm of Heartless on us, by the time we were able to clear our way through, he was already gone taking Lucille with him." Zen gritted his teeth, he was more angry at himself then Oswald, why didn't he react faster? He should have known Lucille would pull a crazy stunt like that.
"I'm not angry at you two or anything." Sora reassured them. "I trust my sister, she'll be okay. I know it."
"Yeah, this is Lucille we're talking about, she's tougher than she looks." Oswald nodded with a grin.
"Fear not, Sir Sora, Lord Florian is with her even as we speak. He will protect Lady Lucille. I feel so ashamed as her self-appointed guardian, I couldn't help her before, but I shall use my sixth sense to track Florian's presence to help her now." Chi told him.
Sora bent down and petted the small cat with the weird cape. "Thanks."
"Then in that case, please lead the way little guy." Aladdin nodded.
"Who's this?" Zen pointed at the local.
"Oh, this is Aladdin, we'll explain on the way to this Cave of Wonders." Sora introduced them.
"Right, first, saving Lucille." Zen nodded. They all somehow managed to board the carpet and using Chi's guidance, the carpet directed them straight to where the cave would be.
When Lucille opened her eyes, she found herself in a strange place, it was like a void of nothing but she was clearly resting on something, looking down, she noticed that it was the exact same place from her dreams, and the same stain-glass pillar from before, the picture painted below showed her island, along with her brother, Kairi and Riku, but this time, she saw Zen, Oswald, Chi and Florian was also there.
"Why am I back here? Why does this place feel more real than it did before in my dreams?" Lucille looked around in confusion. She saw another stain-glass pillar on the other side with a bridge of stained-glass steps connecting them. She walked across the bridge to take a closer look at the second pillar. The second stain-glass pillar showed simply a Paopu flower as the picture below it.
"Could this be...Florian's heart?" Lucille guessed, she knew that he loved Paopu flowers just like she did. Or was there a deeper secret meaning to this?
"Do you remember yet?" A gentle and kind voice called out to her.
"Huh? Hey, who's that?" Lucille looked around, alert as a fox, scanning the area until she found there was someone there with her. She looked a few years older than her but they seemed to have the same kind of body build as each other. But her face was covered with a fox mask for some reason. She despite not being able to see the person's true face, she radiated with a gentle yet strong light and had a kind and warm aura surrounding her.
"Um...who are you?"
The young girl shook her head. "It's time to wake up, Lucille. He's calling for you. Don't worry though, we'll meet again soon, I promise. We're connected after all, you and I."
"Huh?"
"-ucille! Lucille!" Florian's voice started to echo in the strange void, when Lucille looked back, she saw the girl with the fox mask was gone. Then everything went white as she was torn away from that bizarre place.
Lucille's eyes fluttered open, her body felt like lead but she managed to slowly pull herself up into a sitting position.
"Lucille! I'm so glad! I kept calling and calling when that mean vizier threw you in here, I was beginning to worry that spell would never wear off!" Florian sniffed, trying to dry the unshed tears that threatened to fall.
"Flo? What...happened?" Lucille asked, still feeling dazed and confused.
"Don't you remember that Jafar casted a sleep spell on you?" Florian tried to jumpstart her memory.
"Hmm..." Lucille gave it a moment for her head to catch up with her memory, then everything came back to her in a flash. "That's right he did! Argh! That no good snake! I can't believe I let that happened. I'm such a idiot." Lucille face palmed at her own stupidity.
"Lucille, it wasn't your fault." Florian tried to cheer her up.
"No, it was my fault! I put everyone in danger because I acted reckless!" Lucille cried in frustration. "I'm sorry Flo, I didn't mean to shout." Lucille clasped her hand over her mouth.
Florian shook his head and smiled softly. "Not everyone is perfect, we all make mistakes. Even Seraphim can make mistakes." He told her. He even healed up the cut on her lip that she made when she tried to fight against the sleep spell.
Lucille felt like crying. Florian was simply too good of a person for her. She hugged him. "I don't deserve you as a partner, you know that?"
"I don't believe that at all. You need to give yourself more credit you know." Florian shook his head and hugged back. "I'm really happy that you're alright, that's most important to me."
They released their hold and decided it was time to reunite with the others. "Where did that snake throw us in anyway?" Lucille looked around what looked like a strange ruin of some sort and there was sand falling from the ceiling, when she looked down there was a pit of lava below. "WHOA! Are we in a freaking volcano or something?!" She jumped back, making sure not to go anywhere near the edge.
"I think he said this place was the Cave of Wonders." Florian recalled.
"Cave of Wonders...doesn't seem so wondrous to me." Lucille puffed her cheeks, she was so disappointed despite the fanciful name.
"Heh heh, I see you're back to your old self." Florian giggled.
Lucille smiled. "Being depressed is not my style, that's more Zen's thing. Ugh, speaking of Zen, I'm so going to get it from him when we get back." She was already dreading the lecture she'd get.
"Actually, Zen looked really worried when he saw Jafar take you away." Florian blinked and noted.
"...We're talking about the same moody Zen right?" Lucille blinked back.
"Yup." Florian nodded.
"...Damn it, why did I have to go unconscious at the wrong moment? I wanted to see that." Lucille sighed.
"Let's try to get back to the others, then you can ask Zen yourself." Florian innocently told her.
"Hahahaha...Yeah no that's never gonna happen." Lucille laughed nervously. That was when she noticed that her necklace was missing. "What happened to my necklace?!"
"Jafar took it. He said he was going to use it as an incentive to lure Sora into a trap." Florian reminded.
Lucille gasped. "You're right! Oh Sora...We have to go find him, before Jafar does!"
Florian nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's go." With that, the two ran off to try and find a way to escape this cave.
"That boy again?" Maleficent turned to face Jafar with a look of surprise.
"He's more persistent than I expected, I had thought for sure the traps of this cave would have finished him off. I have captured his sister though. It's clear that she can be used as a useful tool to weaken the boy. Why not explain the situation to that boy, Riku? Doing so may prove useful to our-" Jafar started to propose his idea until he was stopped mid-way as he heard people storming right in the room.
"Wait a second. Are you Maleficent?" Sora looked at the evil looking fairy and asked.
"So that's Maleficent, the one who helped destroyed..." Zen narrowed his eyes at her and clenched his fist that hid his heartless claw tightly.
She simply said nothing and instead teleported away.
"Jafar, let Jasmine go!" Aladdin shouted.
"Not a chance. You see, she's a princess-one of seven who somehow hold the key to opening the door." Jafar cryptically told them.
"Open...?" Goofy repeated the first word.
"...the door?" While Donald finished the last two.
"But you fools won't see to live to see what lies beyond it."
"Where's my sister? If you did anything to her I'll-!" Sora gritted his teeth and demanded.
"Oh hush will you? The girl is perfectly fine. Maleficent apparently has taken an interest in her for some odd reason, what she could want with such a loud and rebellious street rat, I'll never know." Jafar scoffed.
"What? Why would she want Lucille? She's no princess! She's way too anti-princess to be one." Zen questioned out loud.
"Well, nice see you again too, you jerk!" A familiar voice they all know entered the room from a secret passage that she just climbed out off along with Florian.
"Sis!" Sora never felt so relieved in his life to see his sister's face.
"Sora! I'm so glad we made it. And you Jafar, you are so going down, cast a sleep spell on me, will you?" Lucille was glad Sora was still in one piece and then glared at Jafar.
"What? But how?! That sleep spell was suppose to keep you deep in slumber for a while longer!"
"Let's just say, I have a trusty alarm clock." Lucille winked at Florian, who smiled back.
"Lady Lucccciiilleee!" Chi flew over like a bolt of lighting and hugged her arm. "I'm so glad you're alright, he didn't do anything horrible to you, did he?" Chi sniffed.
"I'm okay, Chi. I remember the way who tried to get Jafar to let me go, thank you." Lucille warmly thanked the small dream eater, as she remembered Chi tried to get Jafar to let go of her, only to swat her away.
Jafar raised his hand holding the lamp upwards. "Genie! My second wish! Crush them!"
"Genie, no!"
"Sorry Al. The one with the lamps calls the shots, I don't have a choice." Genie lamented his position.
"Then we'll just have to snag it back!" Lucille smiled confidently.
"Leave it to me, Lady Lucille. I'm small enough to evade his eye." Chi whispered to her.
Lucille nodded. "Alright, we'll play decoy." Lucille and Florian headed over to where Sora and the others were and summoned her Lux Arma back while Florian armed himself with his shaman paper.
Jafar raised his staff for a moment to seal off access to the keyhole and their escape route.
"I'll apologise later for what happened later, right now, let's teach this snake a lesson!" Lucille turned to Zen and Oswald.
"Sounds good to me. You owe us for making us chase after you like that, idiot." Zen barked.
"Yeah, I know." Lucille's face became serious as they faced down Jafar, their most fearsome enemy yet.
While everyone was busy distracting Jafar with their spells and attacks and avoiding a very reluctant Genie, Chi stealthily made her way closer to the lamp, but just before she could get it, Jafar came over and swatted the dream eater harshly again. "Filthy little rat!"
"Eeeek!" Chi cried out but this time Lucille managed to catch her. "Oh thank you, Lady Lucille!"
"Man, we were so close too."
Jafar grabbed hold it the lamp and flew into the centre of the room, to the group moved away to one side in case he was planning something big. "Genie! My final wish! I want you to make me an all powerful Genie!" It would seem reason seemed lost on the evil wizard now.
"Did we bonk him on the head too many times?" Oswald asked.
Genie had no choice but to grant his wish, he looked away as he granted the wish of the mad wizard before him.
The centre of the ground crumble before them, Jafar descending into the same floor that once held Lucille captive till she found a way out, then they saw how Jafar transformed in to a giant red and more evil looking version of the blue Genie.
"Ah...I think we're in trouble. Does anyone know an genie-begone spell?" Lucille took a step back.
"Wait...Didn't Genie say that all Genies were prisoners of their lamps?" Sora struck an idea.
"...What good does that do us? Oh wait a minute, that's it!" Zen looked confused but then it dawned on him.
"That's right! He became a Genie, so that means he must have a lamp of his own." Aladdin nodded.
"Hey, that's Princess Jasmine isn't it? The Sultan's daughter?" Lucille pointed to the blue garbed princess.
"You freed her father?" Aladdin looked shocked at this revelation.
"Oh yeah, we forget to mention that. The Sultan asked us to go find her since he was really worried for her daughter's safety, Lucille's right, we can't leave her unguarded." Oswald briefed them.
"Worry not. I shall watch over her." Chi volunteered.
"Okay Chi. Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it." Lucille nodded at the Chirithy.
"Oh yeah, that's right, I believe this belongs to you." Sora remembered and handed back Lucille's necklace.
"Thanks for holding on to it, Sora." Lucille thanked and placed it back over her neck where it belonged.
"It wouldn't feel right without both of us wearing the necklaces Dad made for us, right?" Sora grinned his goofy smile.
"Heh heh, you can say that again."
They all jumped down to the lower level to combat Jafar in his Genie form now. They saw Iago pass by holding a black lamp in his clutches.
"There it is, we'll distract it, Sora, you go get that lamp from Iago." Aladdin told him.
"You got it." Sora understood and started to chase after the red parrot.
"Alright then, let's go Jafar! It's payback time!" Lucille aimed the Lux Arma at him before casting a blizzard spell at him. "Deep freeze!"
Jafar started throwing molten lava boulders at them, but Oswald manages to keep throwing them back with his Keyblade, striking Jafar himself at times. "Heh, hole in one." Oswald smirked.
At other times, Zen catches them and throws them back in the lava pit with his Heartless Claw, it turns out that claw also gave him superhuman strength.
After a while of ping-pong with Jafar, Sora finally managed smack down the parrot with his Keyblade and grab the lamp off him.
"Okay Jafar, back to your lamp!" Sora raised the lamp high enough for it to suck in Jafar.
Jafar wailed and tried to break away, but there was no escape from the black lamp's clutches.
"Alright, Sora!" Lucille cheered.
Meanwhile Jasmine was looking down intently for any signs of Aladdin and his friends, while Chi watched over her diligently.
"Don't you worry Princess, Jafar's got nothing on Lady Lucille and her brother." She puffed with pride.
"I'm thankful that you came all this way, even if it was just to save your friend." Jasmine smiled kindly.
"In truth, Princess. We were also trying to save you from the clutches of Jafar, so it was win-win for us!" Chi cheered.
"Hahaha, I see." Jasmine laughed and continued to look down for Aladdin.
"It'll be all okay, you'll-mphh! Heff! Unmanf mf!" Chi was about to say until she felt a sack being thrown over her and her voice was muffled as she was tied up in it, then thrown to one side. The only thing she heard was Jasmine's gasp and then nothing, Chi struggled to break free to find out what had happened, and who it was that stuffed her in the bag.
When the gang had finally returned to the upper room, Sora went ahead to seal the keyhole, but that was when he saw nearby that there was a bag moving frantically.
"Huh? What the?" Lucille came over and untied the sack, only to be pounced on by Chi. "Oh it's you Lady Lucille, thank you for freeing me from that sack!"
"Jasmine? Jasmine!" Aladdin called out for the Princess when there was no sign of her.
"Chi, what happened to Princess Jasmine?" Lucille asked.
"Someone snuck up and stuffed me in that sack! They must have taken the Princess while I was tied up! Waaahhh! I'm so sorry Lady Lucille, I'm such a failure, I can't do anything right!" Chi cried.
Lucille gentlly stroked the poor little dream eater, it wasn't Chi's fault, but she was obviously guilt-ridden over it.
"Sora, try sealing the keyhole, maybe we can put this cave down for good." Oswald told Sora.
"Ah...right. But what about Princess Jasmine?"
Oswald sighed sadly. "If they had taken the Princess off this world by now, there's nothing we can do."
Sora felt a little deflated by that but proceeded to seal the keyhole so that no Heartless could invade it again. With the sound of a lock, the keyhole disappeared from sight in a wave of magic.
The whole cave began to shake crazy, that keyhole must have meant this place would be sealed away too.
"Whoa! We better get outta here!" Goofy warned the group. They all jumped on Carpet while holding a distressed Aladdin, still calling out for Jasmine.
While having to avoid falling rocks and geysers of lava spewing at them, they somehow managed dodge most of them, they managed to escape the mouth of the cave with all their passengers intact and flew off back to Agrabah. Although they were able to get Lucille back, they were unable to protect Jasmine, which left a bitter taste in all their mouths.
While Sora, Donald and Goofy went back with Aladdin and Genie, Lucille and the others had to break the news to the Sultan.
"I see...Oh my poor Jasmine." Sultan was saddened at the fate that befell his daughter.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Whoever took her won't dare harm her, she's too important for them." Oswald tried to ease the ruler's concerns.
"But even so, she must be so scared."
"Yeah...Your Majesty, we will find and save Princess Jasmine. You have my word." Lucille promised.
"I appreciate your kind words, young one. If you can find her, please save her and return her home to Agrabah."
"Of course."
"Oh, that reminds me. I have a gift for you, it is a reward for saving me from the dungeons earlier. The Sultan motioned one of the palace staff to approach them and hand over what looked like a very old book. "It is an old relic that we have kept in the palace vaults for a very long time. Perhaps it will be of more aid to you on your journey."
Chi was the only one who gasped. "My word! That's one of the Book of Prophecies! How did it survive this long outside of-!" Chi cried out.
"...?"
"Furball, we're going to have a little talk once we leave."
"You will always be welcomed in Agrabah, oh, I believe there was others who helped with defeating Jafar, I would like to meet them and give them my thanks."
"Oh, the person you're looking for is Aladdin, he's the one who helped the Princess escape from Jafar's grasp the first time. Or at least that was my brother's version of the tale, he and his friends helped too."
"Hmmm, perhaps I should send them an invite then to the palace." The Sultan smiled.
"Farewell, your Majesty." They bowed respectfully to the ruler and left the palace.
Once outside the palace walls, Zen poked the Chirithy. "Okay fluff ball, explain, what do you mean by a Book of Prophecies?"
"Well...there used to be five foretellers who were apprentice Keyblade Wielders to the Master of Masters. He created those five books and bestowed each one of his apprentices a book that was said to foretell the future.
"Foretell the future?!" Zen and Lucille cried out in surprise.
"I'm not so sure if there's any prophecies left in there that haven't been fulfilled already. This was all the way back to the Age of Fairytales." Chi noted.
"Still, if it's a relic from that era, it could provide a clue to what really happened back when all the worlds were one and how they ended up fragmented like this, who knows? Maybe it can tell us how to unite all the worlds again. Think about it, there would be no need for barriers, isolation or rules on world order." Oswald explained.
"But the writing, it's written in such a complex language." Florian took at glance at one of the open pages that Zen had opened.
"Huh...You know, I think I've seen this language before." Zen blinked in confusion.
"You know what? I'm getting that strange case of deja vu too." Lucille tilted her head in confusion. "Maybe I read it in a book somewhere on my island when I was younger? No...that's silly, there's no way I'd be old enough to understand something like that."
"Wasn't Ansem the Wise studying this type of dead language...?" Zen tried to recall, it was so long ago, and he had been very young during the days before the fall of Radiant Garden.
"Perhaps Master Merlin might know, he seems to be a academic sort, right?" Chi offered.
"It's possible, that old coot is known for knowing things most people wouldn't even remember happened." Oswald agreed.
"I wonder if Lord Yggdrasil knows how to read it." Florian wondered to himself quietly.
"Hey...um...before I forget...I just want to say...I'm sorry!" Lucille struggled to say before bowing at Zen and Oswald.
"For what?" Oswald looked puzzled.
"For how I reckless I acted with Jafar, I could have endangered everyone with my mistake. What's worst, I made you worry about me, I'm sorry."
Oswald sighed inwardly before exhaling. "Well, the fact that you knew you made a mistake and acknowledged it, is always a step in the right direction." The rabbit smiled.
"Look, we're not angry at you, although I won't lie, we were more worried than angry, knowing how much of a simple-minded idiot you are. Just next time, promise us...that you'll consider our feelings and discuss with us what you have in mind before just charging in? I mean after all we're fri-" Zen lectured before he stopped himself mid-way from saying something he didn't want to admit yet.
"We're...what?" Lucille smiled mischievously.
"Let's just go back to the ship." Zen sighed and sharply turned around to march off towards the Gummi Ship.
"Wait no! I want to know what it is! Finish what you were going to saaaayyyy~!" Lucille chased after him, demanding he finished his sentence. Florian, Chi and Oswald followed with knowing smiles.
"Hey Sis!" Sora waved to them as they found themselves approaching Sora and King's Mickey's loyal followers.
"Sora! How did it go with Aladdin?" Lucille asked.
"He's pretty depressed, but he freed Genie like he promised, so now he can help us search for Jasmine." Sora explained.
"I'd feel the same if something like this happened to my dear Ortensia, world order or not, I'd just hunt down the fiend and give a lesson he soon won't forget." Oswald sympathized with Aladdin, after all, he had a sweetheart of his own.
"Funny enough, that's what Aladdin wanted to do." Goofy brought up.
"But that would be be meddling, so we couldn't." Donald made sure to remind them all.
"Oh yeah, the whole world order thing." Lucille scratched her cheek.
"As much I want to sympathize with Mr. Aladdin. We don't want Sora or Master Oswald getting in trouble by breaking the rules." Chi told them.
"So, we'll be going our separate ways huh? Please don't get kidnapped again, I don't think my heart could take another shock like that."
"Hey, I wasn't trying to get kidnapped, y'know. Don't worry, I've learned my lesson." Lucille huffed but then reassured her brother.
"See you soon then, right?" Sora smiled.
"You can count on it." Lucille beamed back.
As the Ortensia cruised its way through interspace, Zen had taken an interest in that book they were given and tried to make out anything from the writings, but alas, the words escaped him every time. "I know I've seen this lettering and language before, if only I can put my finger on where." Zen sighed as he gave up, closing the book once again.
"So Zen~ What were you going to say back in Agrabah?" Lucille sang with a cat-like grin.
"Not even going to honour that with a response." Zen rolled his eyes at her and placed the ancient book in the vault for now, at least until they could find a expert in dead languages.
"Aster was right, you're no fun." Lucille puffed her cheeks.
"And you're incredibly annoying." Zen countered easily.
"Hey, Zen?"
"What now?" He groaned.
"Do you...ever get weird dreams that involves weird stain-glassed pillars with pictures on them and people giving out cryptic nonsense to you." Lucille asked.
"...What?" Zen looked bewildered.
"Um, actually never mind, it was a pretty dumb question. I mean whoever heard of such a thing, right? Heh heh...heh." Lucille laughed awkwardly and started to slink away in embarrassment.
"Hey, I believe a certain someone promised Florian and I some stories about your island. I want to learn more about this world you love so much." Zen reminded before showing a rare smile.
Lucille's eyes brightened and agreed to take up the challenge. "I'll go find Flo and I'll tell you guys about this one time where Sora decided to draw on our sleeping faces during a sleepover we had when we were younger." Lucille grinned mischievously.
Back in Hallow Bastion at the meeting table for all their plans, Maleficent, Hades and Riku were all present. Hades sighed after a period of silence.
"That smarmy vizier could've had 'em. If someone stuck around to give him a hand." Hades made a stab at Riku, who only remained in that world long enough to bring that girl Maleficent wanted back here.
"Hey, I did my part. I brought the Princess, didn't I? I even had to tie up that Chirithy in a sack so it couldn't see my face or what I was doing." Riku shot back.
"Jafar was beyond help, consumed by his own hatred. One should beware of letting it burn too fiercely." Maleficent gave a stark warning.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Lighten up. I'm as cool as they come, okay?" Hades backed up a bit.
"Maleficent, did you know that Jafar kidnapped Lucille? That was not what I agreed to." Riku narrowed his eyes.
"Ah yes, I assure you, I had no part in Jafar's plan that involved dragging that girl into it. Although, I thought you wanted to bring her here for safe keeping, it would have saved you a lot of trouble had the sleep spell had been more potent like my own."
"I do, but I won't drag her here against her will." Riku argued.
"I'm afraid you'll find that you may not have that choice, she will not likely leave her companions just on your say so. After all, she's still bound to the Seraph who will no doubt object to anything that would threaten their vessel or the hold they have on her heart." Maleficent warned.
"Lucille isn't some vessel to be fought over. There is a way to reverse it, right? The pact I mean. I hope you're not lying about that." Riku grew angry at the thought of that, Lucille deserved better.
"Oh certainly. I gave you my word, didn't I?"
"If it comes to it...even if she hates me for it, I'll bring her to Hallow Bastion myself so we can cure her. I want to talk to her first, I can make her understand if I tell her what's really going on." Riku earnestly reasoned.
"Okay, we get it lover boy. No need to get over-passionate about it." Hades gagged. "Oh, by the way, kid, have we got something special for you."
"Huh?"
"We had a deal, yes? You help us and we grant your wish..." The table lit up to reveal a hologram of a familiar red-head. "Kairi!"
"Go to her, your vessel is waiting."
Hook entered the room slowly while twirling his hook. "Just remember, this is no pleasure cruise. It won't be a pleasant voyage."
"Why are you doing all this for me? What's the catch?" Riku was still very doubtful that this was out of good gesture, they clearly want something from him.
"Catch? What's the catch? Silly boy, you're like a son to me. I only want you to be happy." Maleficent came closer and placed a cold hand near him.
Riku instantly backed away and slapped the hand away from him. "I seriously doubt it."
"Believe what you wish. But lest we forget, I kept my end of the bargain. Of course, I will also uphold my word that we will find a cure for your dear friend to rid her of that parasite that is leeching off her light even as we speak."
Riku just gave an intense stare but eventually turned around to follow Hook to his ship. What no one knew that Moira was spying on them, hidden from sight above them. Guess Master Matoya's hunch was right on the munny after all. This didn't bode well at all, especially since they almost had all seven Princesses now, they were running out of time.
~:Omake Skit 03: Luma's Moon Sugar Cookies:~
As usual Aster took care of the mundane task of tending the Accessory store while Cid returned to his main work which was Gummi Ship block building and modifications.
Meanwhile Luma was visiting the Mooglecrafts Store, she became curious about it after Moglette visited to drop off more accessories for the store and told Luma about it.
Suddenly there was a loud explosion from upstairs that made Aster jump. "What the?" He exited the store and ran up to the next floor to reach the Mooglecrafts store.
When he opened the door, he was greeted by a huge cloud of black smoke, coughing his way through it he managed to get inside. "Is everyone alright? What happened? Wait...why does it smell like burnt cookies in here?"
"Aster...kupo. You need to *cough* tell *cough cough* Miss Luna that our oven *cough* is not the same as a baking oven, kupo." Moglette tried to explain despite trying to cough out all the smoke.
Luna just looked really sad at her now blacken and burnt Moon sugar cookies with a single tear. "I just wanted to make some cookies for everyone to surprise them, but when I placed it inside the oven, it blew up instantly, now all my hard work has gone up in smoke, literally." Luma explained sadly.
"Luma, Moglette's oven is for crafting advanced magic crafts, not for baking." Aster petted the snow-haired girl's head.
"Oh..." Luma now felt silly.
"Tell you what, why don't we go see Aerith and start up a new batch? We'll make it a big surprise for everyone, how about that?" Aster warmly encouraged.
"We can? Can we make some for Lucille and Sora too?" Luma asked excitedly.
"I said everyone, didn't I?" Aster winked. "What do you say Mooglette? Will batch of Moon sugar cookies make up for Luma's mistake?" Aster turned to the Moogles.
"COOKIES? KUPO!" All Moogles seemed to be in perfect agreement on that front.
"I'll take that as a yes from my fellow Moogle crafters, kupo." Moglette told the auburn mechanic.
"Aerith should be available at the small house today, we can bake them there." Aster offered his hand out to Luma to take hold of.
"Yay!" Luma cheered with child-like joy and took hold a gentle hold of Aster's hand.
A while later on the Ortensia after they stopped by Traverse Town for supplies
"Awww, they're so cute~ I almost feel guilty about eating them." Lucille praised as she looked at one of the small cookies that looked like a little crescent moon with light blue icing and sprinkles on top.
"I'm more amazed that Aster knows how to cook and bake, he really wasn't kidding when he said he got bored of tending that shop." Zen shrugged before taking another nibble at the small cookie. Everyone got a small bag each full of small moon sugar cookies, so they were easier to share out.
"They say that Moon sugar cookies are a great way to cheer someone up and lighten their mood." Oswald stated matter of fact tone.
"Really?" Florian stopped his nibbling on the cookie halfway at this.
Lucille, Florian and Chi stared at Zen intently. After a few seconds, Zen finished off the cookie he was currently chewing and swallowed it before glaring back. "...What?"
"...They don't seem to work on Zen, and after all that work Luma and Aster put into them too..." Lucille looked disappointed.
"What in the world...?" Zen had no idea what Lucille was implying.
~:Omake End:~
Alright, that's chapter 11 done! Whooo \o/
I feel this chapter turned out better than I thought it would when writing it. XD
I hope that everyone has enjoyed the latest instalment. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and alerted and even read this story so far to this point. I hope that you continue to enjoy this story.
Until the next chapter, happy reading folks! Moogle Empress out!
Moogle: Kupo!