Three chapters in one weekend? That's got to be a record. Actually, the previous two were already written. However I did finish this one in under two days. I was completely in the zone yesterday. I wish I could have more good days like that. It was nice writing Sora as his old self again, however tat was the past. The present's about to get a whole lot darker before it gets lighter. This is only the beginning of the calm before the storm. Once again, everything may not be as it seems. Things are confused now, but all will become clear in time. I promise. ;)
Disclaimer! Kingdom Hearts and all related characters belong to Disney and Square Enix.
Chapter Eleven
Kairi had volunteered them to help out with the decorations. A little help from Donald's magic and the garden had been transformed from a winding maze of sculpted hedges to an open area of tables and lamp posts for the celebration. Goofy had asked the king why they hadn't set it up in the Ball Room, but it was a nice summer's day and it promised to be a beautiful night. Mickey had a surprise set up once the sun had set.
Sora was tying up some streamers while Riku was helping Kairi unfold and place the table cloths. Queen Minnie came out with Daisy close behind. "Are you sure its alright to make our guests of honor set up for their own party?"
"It's alright, your majesty. We don't mind." Sora replied with a grin as he tied another blue streamer to a lamp-post.
"Yeah, we'd rather help out then walk around the castle and get in the way of others." Riku replied as he unfolded another cloth.
"Besides, we normally set up for the Destiny Islands Summer Festival all the time." Kairi added as she began placing the flower vases on the tables that had already been set up.
"I can certainly tell, everything looks wonderful. Thank you for doing such a fantastic job." The Queen replied.
About an hour later everything was set. The king and queen took in the sight with pure joy. "This is amazing fellas!" He praised. "I'm beginning to wonder if there's anything you can't do."
Riku smirked at the thought. "Well, Sora can't cook to save his life."
"At least I can ride a skateboard for longer then twenty seconds without falling off." Sora retorted.
"I can't sing." Kairi admitted.
"That's not true!" Both Riku and Sora said at the same time. "You've got a great voice Kairi. Remember that ballad you sang three summers back? The one about the sailor and the light house?" Sora asked.
"You remember that?" She replied.
"I'm not surprised, he was bawling his eyes out like a baby." Riku teased.
"Oh give me a break. You had tears in your eyes too, admit it!" Sora argued back.
"At least I can sing better than you can." Riku challenged, folding his arms with a smug grin.
Sora however, had something that would take away his friend's smirk. "Oh yeah? Well I stared in the Atlantica Musical with Ariel and King Triton said it was one of the best musicals he'd ever seen. So there!"
"Yeah, seen, not heard. Leave it to you to wow the crowd with some fancy keyblade tricks." Riku replied.
"That's it!" Sora tackled Riku and they both went tumbling across the lawn. The rest of the group shook their heads.
"Boys will be boys, I guess." Mickey replied.
"Oh my, do you think we should stop them?" Minnie asked.
"It's not gonna be easy. Those two look like they could go on like that for hours." Daisy replied.
"I got an idea." Kairi suggested. She walked a bit closer to where they were wrestling near the entrance to the Gummi Hanger. Cupping her hands to her mouth she called over to them. "Watch out! Heartless!"
In a flash both boys jumped up and held their weapons ready while standing back to back, prepared to take down the enemy as a team. They looked around for a moment before realizing they had been tricked.
"That wasn't funny Kairi." Riku replied, looking her way as Way To Dawn vanished.
"Neither is you two fighting like little kids. This is suppose to be a fun day. Stop turning it into another Riku verses Sora tournament!"
After that, everything settled down. About a half hour later some of the early guests began arriving. Most of them were from the nearby town outside of the castle's gates. Sora didn't recognize any of them. He wondered if he'd see anyone he did know until he remembered that unless they had a summon charm, no one from the other worlds could travel to another. Sealing the keyholes had ensured that and the new path ways that Sora had opened up were only accesible with a keyblade.
While he was honored that the king had thrown a party for him and his friends, he wished he could share his victory with those he fought alongside and befriended. Jack Skellington, Ariel, Mulan, Simba, Beast, Aladdin, Hercules, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Stitch, Cloud, Tifa, Cid, Merlin, he could go on forever. It just didn't feel right to celebrate without them.
The guests were arriving in larger numbers now, but to Sora, it felt like the garden was still empty. He was half tempted to ask Donald to fly to each world and invite them one by one. That idea was shot when he saw his friend over by the drinks table. He was pouring a glass of ice tea for Daisy and talking with her. There was no way he was going to pull Donald away from her. It wasn't Donald he was afraid of, it was Daisy. For some reason he had a feeling her temper was worse than his feathered friend's.
Sora looked for Goofy next, but saw him talking to some of the guests. One was a heavy set feline reminded him of a younger Pete, but a polite, kind Pete (which Sora was convinced didn't exist), and the other was a spitting image of Goofy, with the exception of scruffy, messy hair. The key bearer glanced over at the king who was talking with Minnie, Riku, Kairi and two other guests.
Sora suddenly couldn't stand being in the garden and headed into the Gummi Ship's hanger. "Hey!" Riku called down as he followed behind his friend. "Where are you going? The party's back that way."
"Have you ever been surrounded by a large crowd, but feel totally alone?" Sora replied.
"What are you talking about? You're probably just bored. With the heartless and nobodies pretty much gone you feel like your lacking a sense of purpose, right? It's natural."
Sora was surprised by Riku's answer. He expected him to call him stupid or something, but he seemed to understand to a point. Sora took a chance and lowered his guard. He told him what was really on his mind. When he finished Riku folded his arms.
"I get it, but that's pretty much impossible with the World Order. There are some strict rules regarding those who can travel from world to world, but some lines can't be crossed."
"But, they did just as much fighting as we did. It doesn't seem fair that we get a party and they don't even get invited!" Sora argued.
Despite being on the opposite side of the argument, Riku agreed with him, but he knew if he admitted it then Sora would ask for his help to bring them here. An impossible feat to do in a single day. Aside from tracking everyone down and waiting for them to get prepared if they even accepted, some may not even believe them with talk of other worlds and...was that a...?
"Sora!" Riku glared at his friend who turned to look at him. Way To Dawn appeared in his hand as Riku lunged towards Sora. The key bearer reacted like a deer in headlights.
Riku rushed past him and struck a heartless shadow that had risen from the wall just behind his friend. Sora blinked in shock once he realized what had happened. "That wasn't...was it? It's impossible! The cornerstone should have stopped-"
A scream from upstairs cut him off and both boys rushed back to the garden. The sight before them left them frozen in place. The sky was dark, covered by thick purple clouds. Heartless were everywhere. The guests were running for their lives. Some escaped, others weren't so lucky. Donald and Goofy were trying to fight them off and clear a path for the guests to flee.
"Maxie! Get everyone out of here!" Goofy shouted.
"I will! You just be careful, Dad!" Replied his son as he called everyone over towards him.
"Daisy, you go with them!" Donald urged his sweetheart, but she refused to budge.
"But, the King and Queen. They've gone!" She replied frantically. Riku and Sora ran up to them. "Sora," Riku glanced over at his friend. "You go look for the king. You know your way around here better than I do."
"But what about you?" Sora asked.
"I'll help fight the heartless in the garden. We have to make sure everyone gets out safely."
With a nod, Sora ran off down the hall. He had a hunch as to where the King had gone. Minnie and Kairi had probably stuck with him, knowing that with a keyblade master, they were protected.
Riku saw Sora disappear through the small section of the large doors before he struck down two more heartless.
Instead of dwindling, the heartless were only growing in number and they were growing stronger as well. Now he was dealing with Soldiers and the odd large body. Gargoyles were popping up now as well as several fire-casting heartless.
Seeing that everyone was getting out safely thanks to Donald and Goofy, Riku hurried to catch up with Sora. He got to the large doors and entered just like how he saw Sora enter and was greeted by a massive ballroom filled with more heartless. Riku had no choice. With Way To Dawn he plowed his way through. It was slow going, but he finally made it to the other end of the hall. The platform where the thrones were positioned was moved to the side, revealing a hidden set of stairs. Riku had made it to the third step when he heard a pain-filled scream.
"Sora!" Riku darted down the steps only to come face to face with a horrific scene.
Queen Minnie was trapped in a green bubble that pulsed with green and black flames. Next to her was another identical bubble where Kairi was imprisoned and there was no sign of King Mickey.
Sora was down on one knee, leaning against his keyblade. Blood was dripping on the floor from a wound on his shoulder. Kairi was crying and banging against the bubble, Worry for her friend plain on her face.
Riku glared at the one who had caused all of this. With this level of chaos he expected Maleficent, but this man standing before him had a different kind of evil. It felt almost, worse than that of the witch. His voice was calm, smooth and made Riku's blood run cold.
"You can't help them. You're too weak. You only have yourself to blame."
"Don't listen, Sora!" Riku shouted, finally letting his presence known to the others. "Touch the cornerstone of light!" He urged. "dispel the darkness!"
The man slowly turned his head towards Riku. The man was smiling. Not very much, but enough for Riku to feel a chill crawl up his spine. In his other hand he raised a long sword. Never had Riku seen such a weapon. It could almost reach him where he stood at the entrance and the man was on the other side of the room! His long silver hair which nearly matched Riku's in color flowed easily as his single black wing stretched out for a moment before folding back neatly.
"This thing? It's nothing but a false crystal ball. Filling lies into those that cling to a fading light." He raised his sword and in one swift motion swiped his blade at the great stone. Nothing happened at first, but then a crack appeared and grew until the giant sphere split clean in two. As the pieces crashed to the floor Sora roared in anger and charged at the man. Riku also did the same, swearing that if Sora missed, he wouldn't.
The man wielded his sword with such mastery that both boys were no match for him. Riku was injured, but Sora was obviously taking the most damage. He tried once more, determined to save his friends and defeat this monster of darkness, but the man was done playing. One final strike with his sword ended the battle. Sora fell back and hit the floor hard, knocking the wind out of him.
The man approached Sora who glared at him with one eye, the other shut tight from the pain of his injuries. He pointed the sword at Sora's throat and smirked. "Tell me, what is it you cherish most?"
A mixture of terror and hatred filled Sora's eyes. He refused to answer.
"Leave him alone!" Came Kairi's voice.
The man turned towards the girl, still suspended in the bubble. "I see." The man calmly stated, the girl having given him the answer he needed.
"Touch my girlfriend and I"ll kill you!" Riku shouted. His response caught all three of them by surprise, well he couldn't tell with the bad guy, but his two friends seemed shocked enough.
"You attack her and it'll be the last thing you ever do!" Riku threatened again. It seemed to work, the man bought it. Riku knew that Kairi had chosen Sora, he knew this from the moment he found out her heart rested with him over a year ago. He wasn't bitter, it only made him want to protect them even more.
The man kept glaring at Riku and the teen prepared himself for a fight, but with a dark smile the man rose into the air and vanished. Riku didn't understand.
"R-Riku!" Sora shouted through gritted teeth. "Behind you!"
The warning came too late. He was struck with black and green flames and sent flying across the room. The last thing he saw before blacking out was Maleficent standing in the room, cackling with the feeling of ultimate victory.
When Riku had finished the entire room was speechless. Some were enraged, others heartbroken and the rest had been shocked to the core. It was Tifa who broke the silence.
"I knew it."
Eyes slowly drifted her way. "Knew what?" Merlin asked.
Tifa kept her gaze focused on the table. "I knew we hadn't seen the last of Sephiroth. For once I'm glad Cloud wasn't here."
"Why's that?" Phil asked.
"Because this table would be reduced to splinters. Cloud and Sephiroth have a history. What I don't understand is why Sephiroth would chose to attack Disney Castle and work alongside Maleficent? It doesn't seem like him."
"Perhaps he wasn't allied with her. Riku said he vanished just before Maleficent appeared."
"He wasn't working with her." Riku said. "Maleficent said so when she had us locked up. She laughed because she thought it was nice to know someone had done all of the hard work for her. Sora was no match for her in his injured state."
The group seemed to deflate. Any hopes they had of finding out a way to defeat Maleficent only opened up their eyes to the pain Sora had gone through, but Riku wasn't done.
"After Maleficent left I used my last potion on Sora. It didn't heal him completely, but it was enough to get him back on his feet. He got us out using the Keyblade and we headed off to find Kairi and the Queen. We didn't get very far. The castle had been completely overrun by heartless. We fought, but were recaptured."
Riku paused for a moment and clenched his fists. Mulan placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It's alright, you've told us enough. You should go and rest." Merlin told him.
"No, you need to hear this." Riku replied.
"Maleficent had locked us up in the basement which she had converted into a dungeon. She had come down there herself to make sure we were locked up properly, but I thought she had forgotten about the Keyblade's power. Sora easily got out again and came at her for a surprise attack, but Maleficent was hoping for him to do that. She quickly turned revealing she had another prisoner. It was too late for Sora to stop his attack and the prisoner was struck. She screamed in pain before Maleficent blasted her with a dark spell and she vanished into darkness."
Everyone knew who it was, but they hopelessly prayed they were wrong. It was Beast who finally asked for the truth. "It was Kairi, wasn't it."
Riku lowered his head, his hair shadowing his eyes as a tear landed on his hand. "...Yeah." He replied in a choked whisper.
"No wonder Sora vowed never to use the Kayblade again." Mulan commented.
"We should have known he had a reason for his actions." Came Beast's reply.
"We've got to find him and help him through this." Aladdin added.
"No."
Everyone looked over at Yen Sid. "Sora has all of the support he needs. Our task is to be ready."
"Ready for what?" Phil asked.
"Reclaiming what's rightfully ours."
Oh snap! Looks like things are about to get a lot worse before they get better.