A Darker Road: Chapter Ten
Tortuga
Tortuga was… It was… Hm… Sora frowned and crossed his arms. Somehow, 'wild' just wasn't a strong enough word. As he ducked beneath yet another flying mug of rum, Sora decided this one little island defined anarchy.
With Jack and his crew safely engaged in some heavy duty binge drinking, Will and Elizabeth decided to take their leave and find the woman rumoured to be the cause of the Heartless. Only too willing to do something (anything!) else, Sora tagged along. The trio headed out of the pub and into the equally busy street, where men were fighting and strangely dressed women cheered them on (Will called them 'ladies of the night' and Sora wasn't entirely sure he knew what that meant).
"Any idea where to look?" Sora asked as he stepped over an unconscious body.
"In the forest up ahead are where some of the more out of the way places are. We may find the witch up there," Elizabeth said. "Goodness knows there are some marvellously strange people living on this island."
And as Sora received a slap om the behind from a woman wearing way too much make-up, he couldn't help but agree.
"One almost wishes there was a trail of Heartless to lead us to our witch," Will commented.
Sora gave a nervous laugh. "I kinda don't wish that."
The further they got into the forest, the quieter the ruckus of Tortuga became. Small houses were hidden in the trees, dyed orange by the burning torchlight that lit the path.
"How exactly should we know what we're looking for?" Elizabeth asked. "Is there some kind of sign?"
Sora focused for a moment, trying to sense the Heartless. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing. He sighed and turned to Elizabeth. "They kinda just… appear."
"Troublesome pests," Will observed.
They continued on for a little while in silence, walking past the quiet houses. Soon, the only things to be heard were footsteps and animals crying out from the treetops. But when they came upon a house, small and decrepit, swathed in shadows and noticeably colder than anywhere else, Sora felt something stir inside of him. It felt like a memory but a vision of it refused to cross his mind. No matter what it was, the forgotten memory, it had to be related to the Heartless.
"This place…" Sora said, watching the moving shadows. "This has to be it, the place where…"
"So, you've come to find the source of the Heartless. Ah, Sora. Truly, you are as predictable as ever."
The trio spun around and found a black coated figure behind them. He pulled down his hood, revealing that it was once again the same blond Nobody. Keyblade in hand, Sora charged. He had had enough of mysteries.
"My, my, such impatience!"
"Sora! Look out!"
But it was too late. The blond man threw out one hand and a card flew into the air. It hit Sora in the chest and the next thing he knew, the Keyblade had faded away and something invisible trapped him, pinning him behind a wall he couldn't see. He punched it with both fists but it refused to yield.
"Wait there and watch," the blond said, stepping past Sora. "You're sealed within one of my cards. It'll be a little while before you're free." The man turned to face the boy, a grin twisting his lips. "Some games can't be played by all."
"Are all the Organization members as annoying as you?" Sora demanded.
The blond laughed. "Oh, most are far worse."
Will and Elizabeth had their swords drawn. Nobodies, the strange ones that looked like card juggling wizards, encircled them. No one had made a move yet but when the fight started, Will and Elizabeth would be in serious danger of defeat.
And then the odds grew worse. Heartless, Shadows and their larger cousins, came barrelling out of the house. Fighting erupted. Will moved one way and Elizabeth went the other, both attacking while defending the other.
"Will! Elizabeth!"
"Not yet Sora," the man said, leaning up against the card that imprisoned Sora. "Your timeout isn't finished yet."
"When it is, I'll get your name out of you."
The blond laughed. "You beating something out of me. Ha! Sora, you're an amusing child if nothing else."
Sora punched the barrier between him and the world. "I will beat you."
The blond stepped in front of Sora, staring at him with a haughty gaze. "I highly doubt it. We will get everything we want out of you and then we will take everything you love away from you. And we'll start with Kairi."
And for the first time, Sora felt a real chill – a chill of terror and nerves – sink into his stomach. "Why would you do that?"
The blond Nobody smirked. "Because we can."
He disappeared into the darkness and Sora was free. Keyblade back in his hand, he looked everywhere for the man who had only left Heartless and Nobodies in his wake.
"Sora, help!" Elizabeth cried out.
Seeing that his friends were close to being overwhelmed, Sora waded into the battle, cutting his way through the Nobodies and the Heartless with practised ease. He helped take the heat off of Will and Elizabeth, the Heartless (as always) going straight for the wielder of the Keyblade. But Sora cut them down with single strikes to each, anger at the Organization man giving his strikes extra power. The Nobodies were far trickier, their cards sharp and fast, but eventually they too fell the trio.
"This man… he's following us everywhere," Will said. "It seems more likely that he is the one who has actually brought all the trouble to Port Royal and Tortuga."
"And the ship graveyard," Elizabeth added, sheathing her sword. "Well, now that we're here we might as well investigate." She marched towards the house and was inside before Will and Sora had managed to pull themselves out of their thoughts.
"Sora, are you coming?" Will asked. "Are you feeling all right?"
Shaking himself, Sora nodded, told Will he was fine, and hurried into the house.
Zidane was glad to make port, his stomach anything but happy about rough seas. He turned to Roxas. "You coming?"
Roxas jerked, apparently lost in thought until he was disturbed. "Go ahead Zidane. I've got to make sure the ship is all right before I leave."
Zidane nodded. "Okay then. Well, thanks for everything Roxas. Maybe I'll see you again."
The smile that tilted Roxas' lips was a strange one. "Yeah, maybe you will."
Shaking off the strange coldness that seeped over his shoulders, Zidane jumped off of the ship and landed on the dock. He soon found himself in the heart of Tortuga. Homesickness assaulted his heart. Chaos like this was all he had ever known back in his Tantalus days.
"Focus," he muttered to himself. "This isn't the time."
Zidane was drawn to the brightest, loudest, busiest pub of them all. Pushing his way through merrymakers and stepping over men so drunk they'd passed out, Zidane worked his way further into the pub. But no matter how many faces he looked at, none of them were Sora and Zidane didn't think he was going to find his friend in here.
Actually, he hoped he didn't find Sora in a place like this. Zidane didn't want to think of the damage a drunk Sora could do…
Busy entertaining himself with visions of a drunken Sora singing karaoke, a heavy hand landed on his shoulder and before Zidane could move, the stench of rum wafted over him. "I gotta say mate," a deep voice said, "I ain't never seen a man with a tail poking outta 'is rear end before, but it's been a weird few days and I'm jes' about willin' to believe anythin'."
Zidane turned around and came face to face with perhaps one of the most eccentrically dressed men he'd ever seen in his entire life…
…And Zidane had known Kuja.
"And you are?" He asked.
The man, his expression amazingly close to regal, seemed honestly shocked to hear that his name was unknown. "I," the dark-haired man said, pointing to his chest, "Am Captain Jack Sparrow. And you," he gestured at Zidane's tail with a twirl of his hand and a waggle of his jewelled finger, "have forgotten that you are a monkey."
Zidane winced as the reek of rum swamped his senses. "Captain huh?"
"Indeed! I have my very own ship dontcha know."
The man's level of intoxication was pretty impressive. "Your own ship huh?"
"Oh, yes. The Black Pearl, and she's a beauty. Lotsa people… lotsa things… been tryin' to put holes in her lately, but she's nigh unsinkable."
"Trouble with other pirates?" Zidane asked.
"Nah mate, these things ain't pirates. They're…" the Captain pulled Zidane close and the blond had to hold his breathe to avoid gagging on the man's awful body odour and bad breath. "They're not even human. Got some weird name… Weird like… like… Huh… hah… Hoooh…"
"Heartless?" Zidane tried.
"That's the one!" Jack Sparrow declared triumphantly. "Heartless! Tricksy little…"
"If you're dealing with the Heartless, you may have run into someone I'm looking for. His name's…"
"Sora comes along and starts wavin' around this weird shiny thing – I'm gonna be grabbing that – and starts talkin' all about these Heartless and – well, kid's gotta be cursed mate. Dunno how anyone could have that much bad luck and not be cursed… Still, gotta have somethin' watchin' out for him otherwise he'da been long since dead."
"Where did you last see him?"
Captain Jack took another deep swig of rum. "Well, he was 'ere…"
"Yeah, I kinda need to know where he is right now."
Captain Jack waved at the door. "Prob'ly off finding more Huh-hah-Hu…"
"Heartless."
"Right! Yes, them."
Before Zidane could ask anything else of the drunken pirate, he felt the PHS begin to vibrate in his pocket. Pushing his way back outside, hoping to find somewhere quiet, he answered the call.
"You're late calling in," Tifa said.
"Yeah, sorry. Good news though – I've got a lead. I think I'm closing in on him."
"Good. Just get him back as soon as possible. We need to get back to Disney Castle. Aerith contacted me again and it sounds bad. She's in tune with these kinds of things…"
"I'm on it, don't worry. I'll call you when I've got him. Later Tifa."
Pocketing the phone, Zidane stood still and looked around the town square, taking in all of the people who milled around him. But Sora wasn't among them. He could imagine the kid being more than a little taken aback by this kind of activity. He was young and more than a little naïve. He'd seek out somewhere quiet…
Zidane headed for the lights glimmering in the forest.
The only thing left in the house was a cauldron and Sora thought it had been used for cooking rather than witchcraft and the summoning of Heartless. And finding it seemed more convenient than anything else. And once again that man from the Organization had crossed their path. It wasn't right, and he told Elizabeth as much.
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Everything – the way I got here, the way the Heartless have been attacking, and the Nobodies… It's not…" Sora crossed his arms and looked to the ground. "It's like a set up – like someone faked all of this for some reason."
"But the Heartless have been attacking here for quite some time," Elizabeth replied. "My father's gone with key military men to see how far the problem goes. Surely this isn't all some elaborate design solely for you?"
A test? But the Heartless had been everywhere…
…Then again, he'd been sent to this world by the same man who'd constantly stalked him…
"Is that it? Is the Organization just testing me?"
Will came back from the upper level. "Nothing. There's nothing here. This could be the wrong house. We did walk past many others…"
"But this is the only one the Heartless came out of," Elizabeth said.
"Tortuga is full of holes for people to hide in," Will replied. "This witch…"
"There is no witch," Sora replied. "There's no one but that Organization man. He's the reason I'm here and to him, this is just a game."
"So, you really do think this is just a trap," Elizabeth stated.
Sora nodded. "The Heartless don't just go to any old world. They go to worlds were there are people seeking power for the wrong reasons."
Elizabeth laughed. "On a world like this, that could be hundreds or thousands of people."
Sora tried not to feel too dejected so he met Elizabeth's gaze. "No matter how they got here, they're here and I have to do something about it."
"Is there any other way to stop these Heartless, even if this is just a trap as you suspect?" Will asked.
"Seal the Keyhole. The Heartless can't reach a world that's been sealed off from them."
"This isn't any old Keyhole though, is it?" Will said.
"No, it's connected to the world's heart and it'll be somewhere of great importance."
Elizabeth snorted. "Well, that definitely won't be Tortuga!" She laughed.
Sora thought for a moment and then he too couldn't help but laugh, because if the Keyhole really was on the island of Tortuga, he thought it'd probably be a drunken Keyhole…
And wouldn't that be an interesting experience?
Will cleared his throat. "Well, if we're done here, I think it's time we headed back and found Jack before he drinks himself to… Er…"
"To?" Sora and Elizabeth prodded.
"Well, I was going to say 'drinks himself to death' but if he hasn't done that already, I don't think it'll ever be the way he goes."
Laughing but still very much on guard, Sora followed his two friends back to the louder part of Tortuga. He kept Oathkeeper out at all times, ready for Heartless, Nobodies or…
"Halt!" Will hollered from up front. "Who are you? State your purpose!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Put that thing away! I'm just…"
"Zidane?!" Sora hurried forward and when he saw his tailed friend, he broke into a grin. "Zidane! You made it!"
Zidane and Will both relaxed. Zidane stepped forward, reached up and patted Sora's spiky hair. "You are way too skilled at making all of us worry, you know that?"
"Sorry but I really didn't mean to…"
"I know, I know. Anyway, c'mon. We need to get back to Disney Castle. Kairi, Yuna and Marlene are in trouble."
Sora forgot to breathe. "Trouble?" He knew he'd felt something but…
"I don't really understand but Tifa can explain. Are you ready to go?"
"But what about the Heartless?" Elizabeth interrupted. "I thought the only way to stop them was…"
"The Keyhole, and it is." Sora took a deep breath. "You're right. We need to find it."
"But Kairi…"
Sora's eyes turned to the Keyblade he held in his hand. It was hard to admit but, "This has to come first."
Zidane was shocked by Sora's decision but he understood why it was the right one to make. "Then let's get this done as soon as we can."
"Right." Sora turned to Will and Elizabeth once again. "Is there anywhere in this area that's important to people somehow, something that stands out against everything else?"
The pair pondered hard. It was Elizabeth who provided the answer. "There's only Isla de Muerta – a place that once hid a legendary treasure. Every pirate worth his salt tried to gain it but those that succeeded only earned themselves a curse worse than death."
"Every pirate huh?" Sora said. "And Jack?"
"Oh yes, definitely Jack," Will confirmed. "And he can get you back there."
"Jack…Sparrow?" Zidane said hesitantly.
"The one and only," Elizabeth replied. "Well, it seems he's quite the popular man."
"He's… well, I dunno if I wanna use the word drunk. It doesn't seem strong enough."
Sora laughed. "If you're talking about the weird talking and all of this," Sora interjected his speech with some flowery hand gestures, "that's just Jack being Jack."
And upon return to the pub where Captain Jack Sparrow and every other member of his crew were drinking it up, Sora and his friends found the good Captain engaging in some kind of staring contest with a grubby man. Gibbs stopped Will before he could grab Jack, pulling the young man to one side.
"If ye be disruptin' Cap'n Jack right now boy, ye'll be costin' the crew all their rum and somehow, I don't think ye'd be findin' much in the way of safe passage aboard the Pearl if such a hasty action were to be taken"
"Gibbs, we need to get to the Isla de Muerta as soon as possible. It's imperative that we do, for the safety of…"
"Quiet down Will or I'll shoot you myself," Jack suddenly called from the table, refusing to move his gaze off of the man who glared back just as intensely.
"There may be another way," Zidane said. "I came here on a ship with another guy. He might still be around and you never know…"
"Let's go," Sora said, leaving the pub before Zidane could finish what he had to say. With Kairi in some kind of danger, he was in no mood to waste time.
They all but ran to the dock, Zidane taking the lead so that they could find the right ship. But when they found it, the boat was deserted.
That didn't stop Zidane from boarding it.
Sora watched his friend scurry around the deck. "Are you really…?"
"What, am I really gonna steal this ship?"
"Yeah. Are you really gonna steal it off of the person who allowed you to come here with him?"
Zidane pretended to think. "Hm, will I steal it? Will I, Zidane Tribal, legendary thief of Tantalus, steal a ship on a world that seems to be run by pirates? You know what Sora, I think I just might!"
"Allow me to help, Captain Tribal!" Will said as a wicked grin lighting up his face.
"As will I," Elizabeth replied, looking equally delighted. "Piracy is only to be condoned in situations where all other possibilities have been exhausted."
As the pair began to hoist the sails into place, Zidane turned to Sora. "Y'know, Captain Tribal sounds really good on me."
For someone in a hurry, Sora was remarkably stubborn when it came to morals. "But isn't this wrong, stealing from someone who helped you?"
"On some level I feel a certain amount of guilt, it is true," Zidane melodramatically lamented. "However, there's a bigger cause at stake here. So, are you gonna stand there and mope or help me weigh anchor?"
Sora hurried to help with the anchor.
What a horrible thing to do, stealing a ship from such a helpful person.
From where he sat in the crow's nest of another ship, Roxas shrugged. "From one thief to another. It's not really that important." He leaned back and titled his head to the night sky. "What do we do next?"
Follow them to the Keyhole of course. After Sora seals it…
Roxas held out a hand, Oblivion appearing out of a plume of black smoke. "I release it and take every heart this world has to offer."
Exactly. Won't Xemnas be proud if you do? Maybe you'll even get to step up a rank.
"I like thirteen," Roxas replied, opening a portal.
Oh?
"Everyone else thinks it's an unlucky number." He stepped into the portal and his living shadow followed. "Someone's got to like it."
It occurred to them all quite quickly that finding the Isla de Muerta without Jack's assistance would be no easy task, but a map was soon scrounged up from somewhere within the captain's office and between them, Will and Elizabeth recalled enough about their various trips to the island to get them back once again.
When they eventually made land, morning had broken. But the clouds of a dark storm soon blotted out the morning sun, and they hurried into the network of caves to escape the rough weather.
"So, does this Keyhole somehow… call out to you?" Will asked as he led the way.
"No," Sora replied. "I just hope to find it and when I do, the Keyblade does all the work."
"So modest, aren't you?" Elizabeth said. "I'm sure the Keyblade would be useless without you."
"I guess," Sora quietly agreed.
Rain found its way into the caves and soon it was hard to hear anything other than the downpour. The sound of the water echoed loudly and all four were caught by surprise when the Heartless began crawling out of every nook and cranny.
"Will! You and Sora go on ahead. Allow Captain Tribal and I to deal with these creatures," Elizabeth yelled before throwing herself into battle, her sword swinging and slicing through the Heartless in her path.
"Definitely love this Captain deal!" Zidane laughed, daggers in hands as he began slicing his way through everything that came his way.
"Be careful!" Will called back before nodding to Sora and picking up the pace. They left Elizabeth and Zidane behind, taking down Heartless types that even Sora had never seen before. They weren't Dark Heartless, they were nowhere near powerful enough, but the strange breed aimed and then fired cannon balls at their targets.
"Gotta give the Heartless credit for one thing," Zidane commented as he cross-slashed one Heartless cannon and jumped back as it faded into nothingness. "There's no end to the imagination that created the damn things."
"Stop thinking and keep fighting!" Elizabeth shot back, lunging forward to avoid an attack from a Heartless wielding a long yellow lance. "There's no time for talk!"
Meanwhile, Will and Sora hurried on. Will left it to Sora's magic to take down the swathes of Neo Shadows, Air Pirates and rabid dog-like Heartless that tried to block their path to the cave network's treasure cavern. Sora's magical powers had definitely grown and even after firing off several high-level spells, he found he still had the energy for more. Will picked off the few strays that escaped Sora's magic and together they continued onwards.
"Sora, here!"
Will ducked through a narrow opening, Sora hurrying to follow as the remaining Heartless fell to the green flames of Ultima. Heavy rain poured through the cracks in the rock, creating waterfalls and rapidly deepening streams.
And in the very centre of the chamber, surrounded by a curtain of rain, the Keyhole hovered in midair. The light it cast fractured in the rain, rainbows spouting out in every which way.
"Well, I certainly didn't notice that the last time I was here," Will said, laughing with surprised amazement. "This world is certainly full of many mysteries."
Sora hurried towards it, Will close behind. But before they could reach the glittering Keyhole, another wave of Heartless began streaming in from the corridor they had just left. Will turned back to fight. "Do what you have to do!" He ordered, cutting down the Heartless with ruthless efficiency. "Hurry!"
Sora turned back to the Keyhole but standing above it was the blond Nobody, cards in his hands and smirk firmly in place.
"And here I find the hero, ready to carry out his sacred duty." He jumped down, blocking the Keyhole with his body. "Tell me Sora, why do you never think twice about the things you do?"
"Because it's the ones like you that tell me to think twice." Sora moved and his flying attack scored a hit on the man's shoulder.
"Fantastic comeback!" The man congratulated, jumping away before Sora could land his follow up blow. "Now, come at me with all you have. Let's see if you have what it takes to fight the Organization!" He held his cards in a fan in front of his face. "And allow me to make a wager with you Sora. If you win, I'll tell you my name."
"And if I lose?"
"Well, then you'll be dead."
Sora ran forward, jumping to cover the ground faster. He landed in front of the Nobody but instead of attacking from the front, Sora feinted to the left before spinning around and slashing at the right. The Nobody took the full weight of the clever attack, grunting with pain as Oathkeeper dug into his side. Sora pulled back, twisting to deliver another blow to the man's left side, but the Nobody threw his cards, all of them suddenly huge and coming for Sora. Thrown onto the defensive and pushed backwards, Sora cut two cards down but another two pinned him in while a third caught him across the chest, tearing his shirt and drawing blood. Sora dispersed the cards with Firaga and saw that the man had kept one card back as a shield.
"Only cowards hide during a fight," Sora said, preparing to move again.
"And only fools consider defence a sign of cowardice." The card shot out, smacking into Sora with all the force of a brick wall and the boy was sent crashing into the ground, winded and dazed. He took another two hits before, still on his back, Sora destroyed the cards with Thundaga.
The blond moved, summoning a fresh hand of cards that formed a wall around him. Sora shook his head clear and jumped back to his feet, ignoring all the aches that accompanied him. Racing forwards, leaping through sheets of water, Sora cut his way through the Nobody's cards, ducking low and jumping high when they were fired at him once again. Rolling forwards, Sora smoothly came to his feet and delivered a devastating uppercut, catching his opponent from the stomach up and leaving a long gouge all the way up to his chin. The Nobody fell back, cards forming a protective wall around him once again.
"Clever move boy," the Nobody begrudgingly admitted. "But I hope that's not the limit to the tricks you can pull."
Ars Arcanum showed the man that Sora was far from out of tricks, and as the cards fell in tatters to the ground, the man from the Organization was fully exposed. Sora moved fast and the Keyblade dug deep into the Nobody's chest.
"V-very nice."
Sora's expression was grim as he calmly said, "I'm not finished."
Blizzaga exploded from the end of Oathkeeper, the spell burying itself deep within the Nobody's body. He pulled himself free of Sora's weapon with a cry of agony, collapsing to his knees as ice protruded from the hole in his chest.
Breathing heavily, the Nobody coughed several times before breaking into choking laughter. "C-Consider yourself the w-winner of this round." A portal opened behind him. "Very impressive. You can be brutal when the occasion calls for it."
Sora held the Keyblade to the Nobody's head. "And your name is?"
And as the portal swallowed the Nobody whole, he took the time to call out his name. "Number Ten, Luxord, at you service." And then he was gone, leaving only a memory of his presence behind.
With Luxord defeated, Sora was free to seal the Keyhole. The job was done quickly, and the world was made safe once again. Will finished off the last of the Heartless just as Zidane and Elizabeth appeared.
"Are you both all right?" Elizabeth asked, hurrying to Will's side. "You're not hurt are you?"
"We're both fine," Will assured her. "And the Keyhole Sora spoke of has been dealt with. I think we've seen the last of the Heartless, right Sora?"
"That should be it. There may be a few left here and there but I'm sure you'll be able to deal with them."
Elizabeth smiled with relief. "Thank goodness."
Zidane headed to Sora's side. "I've already sent Tifa a message. The ship'll be landing in moments. We need to go." He took in the sight of blood on Sora's shirt. "You sure you're all right?"
"It's just a scratch. Don't worry about it." He stepped past Zidane to address Will. "I'm sorry to leave so soon but I've really gotta go. You'll be okay to take the ship back to Tortuga alone, right?"
"You have no need to worry about that," Will assured him. "Take care on your journey. Be sure to visit us at Port Royal again when you…"
"Now everybody jus' wait a minute!" Jack sauntered into view. "You lot leave me and my crew and come back to the one place I know no longer contains treasure…"
"Because you stole it all," Elizabeth pointed out.
"Precisely, my dear. You know Elizabeth, that's one of the things I dislike about you – pointin' out the obvious. See what I meant when I said it could never work between us?"
"Captain, is there something you need?" Sora asked.
Jack Sparrow grinned. "That shiny little trinket you like to fight with lad. I'd like that very much. And," he drew his sword. "I'm perfectly prepared to fight ya for it!"
"Sora…" Zidane whispered. "We don't have time for…"
"It's yours," Sora said aloud, holding the Keyblade out. "Take it."
Jack hesitated. He seemed to be waiting for a trap to fall on him. "That's it?"
"That's it," Sora confirmed.
Tottering forwards, Jack's hand shot out and he grabbed Oathkeeper. "Well, that was unexpectedly easy."
"Actually, not so much." And Sora held out a hand as the Keyblade flashed back into his grasp.
Jack stared at Sora. "That's a cruel trick boy." He held out his hand. "Give it back."
"Okay." And, of course, the same thing happened again.
And again…
…And again…
And…
"Sora, I think you've made your point," Zidane said. He turned to the Captain. "Ignore the kid here, he thinks he's hysterical. Simple fact: the Keyblade chooses its wielder and Sora's the chosen one."
"But I want it. It's shiny," Jack replied plaintively.
Zidane grabbed Sora by the shoulder and began pulling him out of the cavern. "I'm sure you do Captain, but it's just not possible. Anyway, great meeting you all. Maybe we'll come back. Stay safe and… uh… see ya!"
"Bye!" Elizabeth called. "Please do visit us again!"
"We'll try!" Sora called back over his shoulder.
Sora and Zidane ran back out of the caves and found the Highwind waiting, the ramp extended and Tifa waving from the hatch. "There you are!" She called as Sora headed up the ramp. "And look at you." Tifa took in Sora's almost historic outfit. "Very nice."
Sora boarded the ship and got straight down to business. "Tell me what's happened with Kairi."
Tifa tossed Sora the PHS. "Call Aerith. She can explain it better. Meanwhile, I'll get back to the bridge and get us back under way."
Zidane sighed as the hatch was sealed shut. "It's never 'Kairi's sad because she accidentally hit a bird with her giant hammer' with us, is it? We can't do small crises. It's doom or nothing."
When the pirate captain and his friends left the cavern, Roxas pulled himself out of the shadows with Oblivion gripped tightly in one gloved hand.
In response to the Keyblade, the Keyhole reappeared, even though it was already sealed. It could sense the Keyblade wielder's intent and as Roxas held the Keyblade up, his shadow stepped aside and watched as his Nobody self released the Keyhole's seal and pulled the Heartless back onto the world.
Darkness seeped out of the Keyhole and the world around them grew cold and dark. The sky above gave a groan and scream of thunder.
Time to leave.
Roxas and his shadow abandoned the world to its death.
Far away, on a world that was almost entirely abandoned, a girl sat in bright white room situated in a crooked castle. Her blond hair fell over one shoulder as she sketched with bright colours on a pad of paper.
She lined up one, two, three people - a man and a woman who loved each other deeply and a pirate who was their most trusted friend.
"Break the chains Naminé," the man behind her whispered. He leaned over her, the coldness of his body sending chills through her. "Break the chains that bind them to the Keyblade's master."
Naminé blinked hard to hold her tears inside. "I will, Marluxia."
Marluxia brushed his hand over her hair. "Good girl."
When she was finished, Marluxia took the picture and placed it on the wall next to an image that showed a woman with long red hair and a man dressed in the white outfit of a prince. He brushed the hand over the images. "One by one, we will break the chains."