Sorry if this world isn't a carbon copy of the movie, it has been a long time since I have actually seen the movie and am just basing it off the old English legends and my own personal studies and experiences with medieval England. Also, updates will be erratic up until the 20th.
Chapter 11: A Keyblader in King Arthur's Court
As planned, the group landed on the world in the morning, right after breakfast, landing in a vacant field out on the countryside. The party of five travelled from the verdant farmland to a nearby town they saw upon landing. The town was a bustling, medieval style city place around a large castle; the town was alive with noises and movement, people hawking their wares from merchant stands, people calling out for challenges at horseback, archery and the like. It was a very frantic atmosphere and had Sora beckoning back to the bazaar at Agrabah.
"Hey Sora," Riku asked as they wandered into the town. "What world is this again?"
"The computer on the ship said it was called 'Avalon'." The brunette replied from the head of the group.
"Right, ever been here before?" He asked again to his friend. Sora just shrugged.
"No. And this is really the first world I've been to with a medieval sort of theme to it."
"Well, what do we do?" Kairi asked, eyeing a variety of clothes from a booth owned by a short bald man with a blonde moustache.
"Usually me, Donald and Goofy just wait for a conflict to show itself and then we meddle in it." Sora explained, much to the blank stares of the remainder of the group.
Claudio sighed. "As good a plan as we got." He was haggling with a wine merchant over trying to have him accept Munny instead of shillings. The merchant was having none of it.
No both were having it. No matter what kind of merchant they went to they only accepted the currency of this world, shillings, and not the gold and blue Munny crystals the group was loaded with.
"Well, this sucks the lowest possible level of sucking!" Claudio growled after making their circuit around the market. "What good is beating you chumps at poker if the worlds don't except my winnings?"
"Easy there," Rain said softly. "You're just cranky because you can't by wine." Everyone laughed a little at how Rain said it.
"Don't make me sound like I'm five."
"Seriously though, we need to think of something to do guys." Sora said to the group. "There really doesn't seem anything wrong on this world but we need to figure out what to do if anything."
"Couldn't we ask everyone if they've seen the Heartless? Or the Immortals?" Kairi offered.
"And be sent to an asylum? No thanks, Princess." Claudio replied, shifting the weight of his guitar case.
"Didn't Terra give us a note with the Blank Keychains?" Rain asked Riku who rummaged said note from his sack of medallions.
She looked at it and read aloud. "'If a world has no viable Keyblader then the Blank Keychains will shoot a ray of light out into the sky when you have solved the worlds problems. Whether this includes sealing a Keyhole or defeating a certain villain, that is up to the world.'"
"So we have to do something to get the medallions to do something." Sora analyzed quietly, holding his chin in thought. "Hmm."
"Hey," Riku said suddenly. "If you've never been to this world Sora, then the Keyhole shouldn't be locked, right?" Sora nodded. "Then we have to the find the Keyhole."
"Easier said than done." Sora explained. "I usually just stumble upon the Keyholes while wandering around, all luck, no skill." Everyone sighed loudly and slouched forward.
"And that takes us back to square one." Claudio stated flatly. Something then caught everyone's ears.
"Here ye! Here ye! Here ye!" A man called out from around the corner. "All challengers step up to face the great knight, Sir James Lansinner! (A/N 1)" They walked to the voice to see a portly man standing near the jousting field standing in front of a mounted knight, fully mailed, trotting up and down the lists. "All challengers just need to offer a mere one-hundred and fifty shillings to win the entire pot, which now tallies eight-hundred shillings!"
A crowd of people had gathered around the lists, none of them knights, or even warriors by the looks of them. The group of five watched the portly man leap around energetically, goading the crowd. "You sir! You sir! How 'bout a joust? (A/N 2)"
"I accept your challenge!" Claudio shouted out from the group. The crowd fell silent as everyone turned to see the challenger. The blue haired warrior stepped forth to meet the portly man. The man was sitting on the railings of the lists and wasn't even looking Claudio in the eye. "I accept sir," Claudio repeated. "Give me a lance!"
Everyone in the crowd, minus Riku, Sora, Kairi and Rain, laughed at the warrior in loud, raucous voices.
"Do not jest with me knave!" The portly man in the hat shot back to Claudio. "You look like you can't even sit ahorse or hold a lance. Look at the companions he travels with!" He pointed to the Keyblade Masters and Rain. "Boys and women dressed as harlots!" The crowed guffawed again.
The five-otherworld warriors stared at him. "Did he just call me a whore?" Kairi asked in rage and disbelief.
"This guys is gonna pay!" Sora punched into the palm of his hand and Riku agreed silently.
"Listen fatty!" Claudio roared at the man who was shorter than him even when sitting on a post. "No one, and I mean no one, calls my wife and my Princess whores! The two boys don't really matter!" Sora and Riku looked angry and dejected at the same time. "Now give me a lance and a horse and I'll take your shillings and your pride!"
The crowd burst into laughter again, louder this time. "Give you? A lance? A horse? I judge a man by the company he keeps and even if I didn't knave, I would just have to look at your attire and know you're unworthy." Claudio did a quick spot check of his clothing and the man continued. "Look at you! You must be French!" Claudio's eyes shot open, looking incredibly insulted. "No? Well then maybe you're a Scot? No? Well then, Irish? Welsh? Then you must be a Spaniard or an Italian." Mention of each race just insulted Claudio more and more. "At any rate, it makes no matter. I doubt you even have the shillings required for the bet!"
Claudio shrugged off his guitar case and unzipped it. "True, I have no shillings but I do have something of equal or greater value." He tossed out High Streak and threw it into the soft earth. "Do you accept my challenge?"
The man gawked at the blade. It was clear that he, and the crowd for that matter, had never seen a blade this exotic or of such high quality. High Streak was clearly worth more than a hundred and fifty shillings and so the announcer saw an easy scam.
"The offer is accepted!" The crowd roared in cheer as Claudio hopped over the tilting fence to take his place opposite Sir James.
"Claudio! What are you doing?" Sora asked from the other side of the lists.
"Winning us some shillings!" He called back, climbing onto a horse brought to him by two squires.
"But…but…" Sora stammered.
"Don't worry Sora," Rain calmed the Keyblade Wielder. "Claudio is a pompous loser sometimes but he knows what he's doing."
"She's right." Kairi confirmed. "I trust him." She smiled slightly. "He's definitely confident enough."
Claudio, mounted on his horse, took his lance in his right hand and waved off the squire to his left who offered him a shield. He took the reigns and brought his horse to the end of the list. His opponent, Sir James Lansinner, was in full plate armour made of gilded steel, wearing an oaken shield bound with iron bands. His horse wore gilded steel barding with cloth-of-gold streamers coming off it and his helmet at certain places. Claudio by contrast wore only his regular clothes, held no shield and even his horse lacked barding. People in the crowds were shouting to each other, taking bets. No one wanted to bet on Claudio.
The portly man stood on the side of the tourney grounds with the spectators and raised a flag above his head.
Claudio raised his lance and called out: "For the honour of my wife, the Lady Rain and my liege, the Princess Kairi." Kairi and Rain lowered their heads and blushed at his declaration.
The portly man lowered the flag quickly to single the beginning of the joust. Sir James kicked his spurs into his horse and charged down the lists. Claudio heeled his horse and it neighed, charging full speed at Sir James. Both men had their lances extended far out, held steady and were charging on their stallions as fast as the beasts could go. Claudio in no armour and Sir James in full armour regalia like the knight he was. They were within range of each other as Sir James steadied his lance more, drawing it closer to his chest. Claudio did the opposite, hugging his horse tightly and extending his lance to its maximum distance. They were only a few strides away from each other when Claudio kicked his horse once again.
CLANG!!
There was a thunderous clash of wood shattering on metal as Claudio's lance scored a direct hit on the knight, rocking him in the breastplate and hurling him from his saddle. He fell with an equally thunderous clang, unmoving, totally passed out. Claudio had his horse trot around the lists while standing on his saddle, parading in front of the crowd. He passed the man who offered the challenge, now in shock, and flipped of his saddle.
"I'll be taking these!" He said, snatching the bag of shillings from the shocked man. "And this!" He took off his feather hat and placed it on his head. He then drew High Streak from the ground and stowed it away and tossed the shillings to Rain.
"Now, to buy wine!" He declared in a victorious voice and walked off with the rest of his group.
"Was there a point to winning those shillings? We shouldn't be on this world long." Riku asked the parading winner.
"Why yes there was a point, to buy wine!" Claudio snapped, taking the bag back from Rain and sifting the silver coins through his hands all the while.
"Seriously Claudio, we have to get-" Sora was cut off when he heard a familiar voice.
"Eight shillings for an apple!" A voice, old and wizen and shrill, cried out in disbelief. "Are you mad? How's anyone suppose to buy produce at that price?"
"No clue, sir." Replied a voice, gruffer than the first, probably a shop owner. "But we're at war with them Scots on the other side o' Harridan's Wall so with all the rationin' most ever'thing is higher in price."
"But eight shillings for a piece of fruit! Do you even know who I am?"
"Some ol' codger in ratty clothes and a pointy hat?"
The first voice became even more irate. "Now listen here young man!" Sora and the group were now following where the voices were coming from. "I am the Court Magician here at Camelot and mentor and close advisor to His Highness, King Arthur! My name is-"
"Merlin!" Sora exclaimed as they came to the booth where the old wizard was bartering with the shopkeeper. Merlin was still dressed in his old robes, his pointy blue hat, pointed cloth shoes and golden spectacles at the bridge of his long nose, his, snow-white beard flowing from his chin giving him even a more grandfatherly and wizen look to him.
The wizard turned away from his argument with the merchant to see the approaching Keyblade Master. "Sora, my lad!" The wizard called back. "It's good to see you once again. Leon told me you might just show up on my world."
"So this is your home world?" Sora asked the man who had taught him how to master magic.
"Yes, yes. This is Avalon." He gestured wildly, the sleeves of his robes flapping wildly. "The kingdom of the noble and virtuous King Arthur, homeland to the legendary Knights of the Round Table and world of residence of yours truly, Merlin the Magician." He stopped and looked at the Keyblade Master with proud eyes. "And it was your efforts that brought it back from the darkness. You are forever in the debt of all inhabitants of this world."
Sora scratched the back of his head. "Oh, it was nothing." He then looked to his companions behind him. "Merlin, I'd like you to meet Kairi, Riku, Claudio and Rain." The group of four exchanged common pleasantries with the court mage who nodded courteously.
"Yes, yes, Leon contacted me of your companions." He stroked his beard in thought. "Sora, my boy, I wonder, have you been working on your magic?"
"Yup," he responded proudly. "And I've even bee teaching Kairi a few things too." Kairi waved shyly to the wizard.
Merlin chuckled at the comment. "Well, well, well, it seems that the student has become the teacher now." Something then dawned on the old magician. "Oh! I just had a thought. I should introduce you to King Arthur! I've told him much about you and His Majesty is rather eager to meet a warrior of your calibre. What do you say, lad?"
Before Sora could answer, Riku elbowed him slightly. "Sora, we don't have time for a side trip." He turned to Merlin. "Merlin, have you heard of anything acting weird on this world? Heartless? Nobodies? Fell Souls? Immortals?"
He clicked his tongue to answer, a negative response. "No, uh…Riku, is it?" He nodded. "Well, no. This world has been rather at peace since returning into existence. I do believe that gives you time for a side trip now doesn't it?"
Everyone looked to each other, not knowing what to do exactly. "I guess it'll be okay until we have something to do." Riku yielded.
"We could always use new friends, Sora." Kairi added. "And I think Merlin would rather like you to go with him."
"Maybe we'll get lucky and trouble will find us." Rain said quietly and Claudio let out a single laugh.
"Okay Merlin." Sora responded. "I guess we should get walking to the castle, eh?" He was right; it would take them a while to get inside the massive castle behind them.
"Nonsense Sora!" Merlin said back to the brown-haired Keyblader. "We have more sophisticated transportation at our disposal." Merlin took out his wand and swished it around, gold dust glittering off its tip. "No prepare yourselves…and close your eyes."
They did as told and the wind began to whip around them wildly, their hair swinging loosely in the powerful gust until it stopped. The five warriors and the elderly wizard found themselves in a small antechamber in front of a tower oak door. Standing on each side of the threshold were soldiers in chain mail, pot helms and shields each wielding an eight-foot long partisan.
Both soldiers looked shocked. "Merlin…sir…what…how did you get here?" One soldier stammered to the wizard.
"Never mind that. Is the king without?"
"That he is my lord." The other soldier told him and Merlin nodded.
"Very well, open the door if you will." The soldiers did as they were told, opening the large doors with a creak.
The royal herald saw Merlin's arrival and announced to the court. "All hail mentor and advisor to the king, Merlin the Magician et al."
As the group entered the door, Riku leaned in and whispered to Sora. "Since when are we 'et al'?" The Keyblade Master shrugged.
Sitting at the far end of the throne room was a man sitting on a throne, a sword draped across his lap. He wore royal vestments and a surcoat and a crown; obviously he was the king, with fiery red hair and an equally fiery beard.
"Merlin," The King boomed from across the throne room. "I wasn't expecting you…or your friends. Who are they? They look a little strange."
Merlin cleared his throat. "Your Majesty, may I present to you the Keyblade Master Sora and his companions, Riku, Kairi, Claudio and Rain." Sora, Claudio and Rain bowed to Arthur, Kairi managed an awkward curtsy but Riku simply looked bored and shrugged, not carrying he was in the presence of a king.
Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So you are the Sora that Merlin speaks so highly of." Arthur got up from his throne and walked to Sora. "It is an honour to meet you at last." Sora extended his hand for a shake but Arthur lifted Sora up for a bone-crushing bear hug.
"HUR!" Sora gasped as the air was driven from his lungs. "Ow…" He managed weakly as Arthur put him down. "It is an honour to meet you too, Your Majesty."
"Please, call me Arthur." He replied. "I am still not used to being referred to as a King." He then approached Kairi. "And you must be the Princess of the Radiant Garden where Merlin was housed for the time our world was gone." He went to one knee before Kairi. "It is an honour."
Kairi blushed. "Oh no, please don't bow." She stammered, also not used to the royal treatment.
Riku, Claudio and Rain watched the spectacle from the sidelines and Claudio scoffed silently. "And what are we prêt ell? Chopped liver?" He muttered to himself.
"Why all of you our welcomed to my castle and town, my hearth and home." The King offered. "I must ask why are you all here?"
"Well sir," Sora began. "We're travelling the worlds to see if anything is wrong with them." Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"Have you had any contact with the Heartless or Nobodies?" Riku asked.
"Or with weird demonic creatures called Fells Souls?" Asked Kairi.
"Or these weird psychopaths in white, branded with splintered hearts? Their called Immortals?" Claudio questioned the King but he simply shook his head.
"Nay, nay, I cannot say I have seen any of these things. England has been at peace for the last couple of months, minus our conflicts with the Scottish to the north. But I digress, the forces of other worlds have yet to harm us at all." The group looked rather crestfallen, with out any purpose on this world as of yet. "But just because of that doesn't mean you should not stay. My hunters caught a mighty large boar the other day; it should be make for a delectable feast. Come all, we must enjoy this peace."
But, as if on cue, three men burst into the room, each one wearing armour and wielding swords. These were probably the Knights of the Round Table.
"Sir Lancelot? Sir Galahad? Sir Percival?" Arthur asked in bewilderment. "What's wrong? Why do you bear your steel?"
"Your Majesty," exclaimed the first knight, Lancelot. "Strange creatures have entered the castle. Beasts with yellow eyes and claws as black and sharp as obsidian!"
"Heartless!" Sora yelled, Keyblade now drawn.
"Knight! Where were the Heartless?" Claudio demanded from them and he got his answer… from the throne room itself.
Inky black pools began to spread across the room as waves of Shadow Heartless rose from them. Purple portals flashed as Soldier and Wyvern Heartless were summoned in the room as well.
"Look no further." Riku shot back, cutting down a few Heartless in their way. With the Keyblade Masters, Claudio, Rain, Merlin's magic, the prowess of the Knights and Arthur's legendary sword, Excalibur, the group made short work of small amount of weak Heartless.
"So, we've found the Heartless." Claudio smiled confidently after eliminating the last Heartless. "Now we just have to find the Keyblader and/or Keyhole and be on our merry way."
"But I wonder…" Merlin said, deep in thought, stroking his beard. "Why are the Heartless attacking now? It couldn't just be because the Keyblade Masters have arrived here, could it?"
"No Merlin, you fool! The Heartless are here to serve me!" A woman's voice cackled throughout the throne room and a dark flame appeared before the warriors, knights, king and wizard. Beside the flame was a familiar dark portal, slowly forming and swirling. From the flames formed a woman with skin as pale as ivory wearing a black dress and veil and wielding a staff topped with an emerald. Out from the portal came a fat cat-man with a dopey grin on his face that was familiar to everyone.
"Pete!" Sora and Riku shouted, Keyblades drawn and ready.
"That's right kiddies." Pete chortled at the heroes. "You just can't keep a good villain down!"
"Morgan! What is the meaning of this?" Arthur directed at the woman.
"Why, dearest Arthur, the meaning of this is simple. My employer will reward me greatly if I destroy this pathetic world to feed her Heartless army." She explained darkly. Morgan then eyed Sora, Riku and Kairi. "And the Keyblade Masters and Princess of Heart? Oh my, this day is getting better and better. Maleficent is sure to reward me ever so greatly."
"Maleficent?" Claudio looked to Sora. "Didn't you kill her during your first journey?"
"Yeah but…" Claudio eyed Sora menacingly. "She kinda of came back and at The Castle That Never Was she appeared to stop a wave of Heartless so she could take the castle." Claudio glowered at the Keyblader.
"That's right Keyblade loser!" Pete shot back. "And now the Castle is not only ours but so are the Heartless. And now we're gonna nab Kingdom Hearts once again, starting with yer little Princess." Pete snapped his fingers, summoning more Heartless, this time with Hookbats and Large Bodies in the mix as well.
"You will not succeed with this evil plot you fiends!" Arthur roared at the two villains. "I will personally see that you are banished from Camelot and this world all together!"
"Not without this!" Morgan taunted. "I doubt even King Arthur will be able to fight the Heartless without Excalibur." Arthur checked his scabbard, to see Excalibur had vanished and was no in Morgan's hands. "Sorry Artie, looks like you loose this battle…Pete, finish off these fools and bring the Princess back to my castle. Ta-Ta." She cackled again and warped away in the dark flames.
Arthur sunk to the ground. "No…" He muttered sadly. "She stole Excalibur. What kind of King am I if I can't even protect my own sword?"
Percival ran to his King's aid. "Your Majesty now is not the time to be in sorrow sir! These creatures are still in the castle and we must make haste to catch Le Faye!"
"He's right Arthur!" Sora helped out as well. "If Excalibur is so important to you then we need to get rid of Pete as quickly as we can!" The others were already fending off the Heartless that Pete had re-summoned.
"There is a time for sorrow and a time to rise up and fight that sorrow." Merlin assured his friend and King. "If we wallow in sorrow now, Avalon may be lost to the Heartless again."
Arthur's eyes shot open at that comment. "No." He said. One word in a solemn voice and Arthur was back to his feet. "As King of this land I will not let that happen again. Lancelot! A blade!" Lancelot quickly drew the blade on his back and tossed it to his King, who promptly cut down a Shadow and stood his ground with the other warriors.
"Percival, Galahad, Lancelot, Merlin!" Arthur ordered. "Leave this room to us, make sure the rest of the castle is safe from these beings." The knights and wizard did as they were told and left the throne room to the others.
"So Pete?" Riku asked, standing next to Rain, Claudio, Kairi, Sora and Arthur, all of their weapons drawn. "What are you going to do now?"
"I'm gonna do what I always do in a situation like this!" He proudly declared.
"Summon more Heartless and hide behind a shield?" Kairi asked dryly.
Pete's body slouched over and he muttered. "I hate it when there right…" He snapped his fingers and more Shadows and Soldiers entered the room. Accompanying them were two new species of Heartless. The first were pitch-black stallions with manes of fire and a vicious air about them. The second were seven-foot tall knights in black amour covered in spikes. The Heartless emblem was branded on their amour and their shields, four-foot kite shields bared opposite their ink black broad swords.
Pete's honeycomb dome-like shield came up in a flash. "Ha-ha kiddies! Petie's invincible!"
"Shut-up fat ass!" Claudio snarled as he took to the field, facing one of the knights, a Black Guard, while Rain and Kairi matched up against a Nightmare, one of the equine Heartless.
Claudio clashed his blade against the Heartless; a shower of sparks descending from his vibrating sabre. He brought the blade down again, this time deflected by the kite shield, forcing him backwards with a shove. Every swift, one-handed strike he brought down on the knight was blocked by shield or sword but his offence was so voracious that the Heartless was unable to gain any offence on him. Claudio smile evilly like some sort of martial devil as the Heartless did all it could to block.
"Sora!" Claudio called out to catch his attention. "Let me teach you the first lesson of being a warrior." He drew his pistol and blew the shield into oblivion. "Always." He parried an upper slash. "Make." He swatted the blade away as it came in from the left. "Sure." He spun his blade back and chopped off the right hand. "You kill." Claudio spun around the back and slammed the hilt of High Streak into the Heartless' back, staggering it. "Your enemies!" He reared his sword above his head and brought it down with tremendous force, impaling the Heartless through and through, it vanishing in a puff of darkness.
Sora and Arthur were dealing with the Shadow and Soldier Heartless with ease. He saw that Arthur didn't become King by luck alone, he had amazing prowess with the blade that wasn't even his. Arthur may have been in a funk for losing Excalibur but it wasn't the legendary blade that made the King. By the time the lesser enemies were eliminated only two Black Guards and three Nightmares remained in the throne room.
"Just back off Pete!" Sora shot at the fat cat. "We got you cornered and outnumbered, you can't win."
"Ho, ho, ho," Pete chortled in amusement. "But Maleficent has taught the Heartless a new lil' trick!" He whistled and black energy enshrouded the five remaining Heartless. They turned into wraiths of energy and merged into inky orbs of crackling energy that separated into two new enemies. These Heartless were centaur in fashion except the lower half was reptilian instead of equine. The upper body were armoured in the fashion of some kind of Greek warrior, like a Trojan or a Spartan. They two new enemies, Demon Lancers, looked at the heroes with angry red eyes as they held their silver lances.
Pete's shield fell the instant they formed. "Now you little punks, try and take on the new and improved, super-duper Heartless!"
"They may be two Heartless combined," Riku said, eyeing them with contempt. "But I bet they still go down the same if you cut them."
"Here, here." Rain agreed with a small smile on her face. Her and Claudio were looking for a challenging fight, and they may have it.
"Arthur!" Sora shouted. "You and I will go take on Pete. Everyone else, deal with these things." Arthur nodded at the Keyblade Masters suggestion and ran off to deal with Maleficent's crony.
"You have to admit." Claudio shrugged. "The kid is a decent leader. But now…we have a nice, good old fashion brawl to contend with. Whitey, with me!" He charged to battle one of the Demon Lancers and Riku looked at him with blank eyes.
"Did I just get nicknamed whitey?" He asked dryly.
Kairi and Rain rushed pass him. "Yeah, you kind of did." Kairi answered with a tiny grin and Riku followed Claudio into battle.
As the white haired and blue haired warriors charged their Demon Lancer it charged them. Swiping low with its lance, Riku leapt high and Claudio did the splits and ducked as it grazed its head. Both got back to their feet and clashed with the Heartless, it's skill with the lance was greater than any other Heartless had with any other weapon. Riku dodged it with his agility like a pro but Claudio showed off an amazing athletic prowess, rolling, cart wheeling, flipping and evading anything the Heartless could throw. That is until Claudio misplaced his footwork during a Fosbury Flop and he landed harshly on his shoulder, tripping over the lance. When he looked up, he saw the lance whistling towards him.
CRACK!
The lance connected with his jaw and sent him sliding across the throne room. His cheek was bruised and cut open very deep, so deep the blood was seeping into his mouth and you could see the jawbone. He spat a gob of blood out and glowered at the Demon Lancer. "Okay!" He flared at the beast. "No more Mr. Athletic! Time to go bye-bye!" He charged at the beast headlong, blocking a thrust of his lance with the flat of High Streak and throwing it away, the devilish beast crashed on its four legs awkwardly and was reduced to its knees. It got up and glared at Claudio with its burning red eyes.
"Prism Chain Arts, Blizzaga Style: Diamond Burst!" He punched the air and crystals flew from it. They hit the creature's reptilian claws and shattered on impact. The tiny ice shards then gathered at its feet and dissolved, freezing the thing to the ground in a patch of ice harder than diamond. "Prism Chain Arts, Thundaga Style: Lightning Ray!" The electrical ray shot out from his index finger and hit the lance at its tip, shattering it into thousands of tiny metallic shards. Riku then ran up from behind Claudio, leapt into the air and ran the beast through with Way to the Dawn, taking the torso off from the quadruped body and vanishing it into darkness.
Kairi was able to spin around gracefully to get under the wide range of the lance. At such close range all it could do was stomp its feet and try and retreat to get Kairi in range of its lance. She harried it with swift and sure cuts to the knees and thighs but it was only superficial damage, preventing the monster from moving too much or too fast. Rain was able to deflect any strikes coming from the lance but because the two girls lacked Claudio or Riku's physical strength and martial prowess they needed a different plan of attack.
"Kairi, come here!" Rain motioned for Kairi, snatching her arm and spinning her so that Kairi now stood atop Rain's shoulders, her legs wobbled as she tried to stand up straight. "Don't worry Princess, I got you steady!" Energy extended from Kairi to Rain and instantly Kairi was able to maintain a proper balance atop the older woman.
'I get it.' The ability of the action dawned on Kairi. 'The normal Draw ability brings an enemy closer to Rain, connecting her energy to them. She's using that principal to manipulate me into maintaining perfect balance.'
Atop of Rain, Kairi dove off from her shoulders, Rain using the energy ropes like marionette strings to guide Kairi closer to the Heartless. She dove down from the sky and flashed her blade by its hand; the creature drew back in pain and dropped its lance. Kairi landed gracefully on the ground and let Rain finish it off. "7 Rose Draw, No. 4: Buster!" The disembodied hand snatched the lance and wielded it around, hurling it like a javelin at the Heartless, impaling it and destroying it in an instant
Pete, who up until now, was avoiding conflict with Sora and Arthur when he saw the heroes made short work of the two Demon Lancers. "Ho boy!" Pete gulped, the loss of the Heartless sapping all his bravado and confidence. "Well, Ol' Pete's gotta run! But I'll be back, you can bet your stars on that!" Pete vanished into a dark portal leaving the six warriors of light to themselves.
Claudio walked over to Sora and smacked him on the back of the head. "That, my friend, is for not killing your foes like a good little Keyblade Master!"
"Hey, how was I supposed to know we were going to have to fight Maleficent and the Immortals?"
"Never mind your squabbles." Arthur interjected himself. "We need to get to Morgan's castle and get back Excalibur."
"Hold on, Arthur who is this Morgan person?" Sora asked the King, he sighed.
"Morgan La Faye, she is a sorceress who many a year ago I had a romantic affair with her before meeting my Queen Genevieve. She tried to force me into performing actions I thought were morally reprehensible, trying to fuel my ambitions but I spurned her thoughts and ideas and she has been trying to take over England ever since."
"Oh, so it's a 'Hell has no fury like a woman scorned' type of thing." Claudio smiled slightly. "Let that be a lesson to you two." He eyed Sora and Kairi.
"What do you mean?" Kairi asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Oh, nothing…" He sweated, scratching his head. "So…Your Majesty…shouldn't we head to the stables and ride to stop La Faye?"
"Right you are sir." Arthur agreed and led the party from the throne room.
KHKHKH
Each warrior was mounted on either a blood bay stallion or a charger and made remarkable time to La Faye's stronghold. To be fair it wasn't much of a stronghold, simply a bunch of large pewter and stone blocks strewn about a clearing in a forest. They knew it was La Faye because there were two massive monolithic blocks, black as the night and branded with the Heartless crest, to the far end of her base. Standing in the center of the formation was the witch, Morgan La Faye. She still had Excalibur in her grasp.
"King Arthur…Keyblade Masters." She smiled wickedly. "So good of you to join me." She raised her hands and a thick, supernatural darkness covered the forest around the clearing, casting it in a massive cloak of darkness. "Now, for you all to die." She grasped Excalibur and pointed it at the warriors.
"You first, you witch." Riku shot back and charged first at the witch. She swung her free hand and a gust of wind caught Riku, spinning into a vortex and then tossing him back to the group. He caught Rain and they were both sent into the shadows, still visible but shaded but the darkness.
Morgan then fired off several fireballs and lightning bolts, Claudio and Arthur dodged the attacks and Sora cast Reflega to divert the blast away from him and Kairi. The four began to strafe around the sorceress but they couldn't approach her without risk of getting another spell shot at them.
Claudio was able to shoot her in the ribs, which let Kairi charge the witch; she leapt up to hit her with a spinning slash but Morgan side stepped it and then froze the ground into a sheet of ice, causing Kairi to slide out into the shadows.
"Hey!" Sora called to his allies beyond the boundaries. "Why don't you guys rejoin the fight?"
"We can't!" Riku called back.
"What?"
"We can't get our feet of the ground!" Rain answered, she struggled in vain to show him. "These shadows are like tar or something!"
"La Faye!" Arthur spat, dodging an ice crystal. "What kind of sorcery could you possess? What did you sell to gain it?"
"Why Arthur, you fool. I have the power of the Heartless now; my sorcery is more powerful than ever. And after I deliver the Princess to Maleficent and kill you, Avalon will be mine!" She shot a line of fireballs at Arthur, they hit him, snapping his borrowed longsword and sending him flying into the darkness. "And it cost me absolutely nothing!" She began to laugh insanely but Claudio wasn't impressed.
"Wrong you crazy wench! When you deal with the Heartless you will pay. And pay dearly!" He charged her, blade in hand. "Prism Chain Arts, Aerial Style: Air Hike!" Platforms appeared before Claudio, red glowing glyphs with crosses in them. He jumped onto them like they were solid ground and hopped into the air, using his platforms like steppingstones. He got to the platform's climax and came down, sword high above his head.
La Faye managed to catch him in a gust of wind at the last second, sending him out of the circle into the shadows, but not before Claudio fired five more shots at La Faye. He landed in a massive heap and Sora was now alone to fight Morgan.
He had managed to get into close range combat with the sorceress, matching the Keyblade with Excalibur in bursts of light and wind. Morgan didn't seem to have much experience with the sword but Excalibur's magic made more than up for it. It was definitely something to see, the Keyblade battling Excalibur, two legendary weapons flashing and clashing into each other with amazing force.
"Say, Arthur," Riku asked the King, skipping the formalities, as was his custom. "Why is Excalibur so important."
"Excalibur is more than a blade of legendary prowess." Arthur looked at the battle before him with very solemn and wise eyes. "When I was a boy, Excalibur was a sword lodged deep within a sword. The legend said that whoever drew Excalibur from the stone would be rightful heir to the throne of England. I was a squire at the time at a tourney and my knight needed a new sword. I looked all over for one and found a blade stuck in a stone. I simply pulled at it and drew it. Thousands of men, not boys, but men had tried to remove that sword before me. They pulled on it for hours with all their strengths and then they see a young, scrawny squire who hadn't even seen twelve years pull the sword out in a minute." He sighed loudly. "From that moment on I became the crown prince to the throne. That is why Excalibur is important to me. It is my weapon but also because it is the symbol of my authority and my kingdom. It is because of that blade that England is like this today!"
Sora apparently had heard this tale and, inspired by Arthur's motivation, started attacking the hilt or crossguard instead of the sword itself. He managed to trap the guard under his blade and flicked it upwards, sending the sword flying into the air. It flew out of the patch of light and into Arthur's hands.
"Now, La Faye! You shall feel the true power of Excalibur!" Arthur proudly declared as a ray of light extended from the blade, banishing the darkness away from the group, leaving all six of them now to strike La Faye.
"Damn you Arthur!" She hissed shrilly, covering her eyes from the bright light Excalibur shone. "Heartless! Show yourself!"
Hundreds of Shadows began to squirm from the stones strewn about the clearing, wriggling out of portals, all eyes set upon the heroes of light.
"Damn it," Sora swore under his breath. "There are way too many for even us to deal with. If only I could…" He then looked to Claudio and Rain.
'I wonder…can I use them as Drive components? Only one way to know.' He forced the Keyblade to vanish and gathered all his strength, shining with a yellow aura. "Give me strength!" Claudio and Rain, completely surprised, were turned into fragments of light that were absorbed into Sora's body. The nimbus faded and Sora now had yellow clothing and was surrounded by crackling yellow energy. He summoned Keyblades, causing Oblivion to appear in his right hand and Hero's Crest to appear in his left, floating over his palm instead of him actually wielding it.
Master Sora instantly rushed into the swarm of Heartless, nearly as fast as Claudio when he uses his super speed. When he was near the center of the Heartless column he slammed the Keyblades together at the hilt and began to rotate them at a high speed, picking up a mass of wind. The wind became faster and rougher until Master Sora was surrounded by a destructive vortex, gathering speed and all the Heartless and stones in the area.
"Masterful Disaster!"
He unleashed a flux of energy, destroying many Heartless and sending the remaining collapsing on the ground. The stones then dropped onto the remaining Heartless and crushed them instantly.
Arthur, meanwhile, had charged La Faye and ripped her staff in two pieces, sending her to the ground. She cowered, as Arthur stood over her, Excalibur ready to deal the deathblow. "Mercy…I beg of you…"
Arthur looked at her with a solemn, kingly pity and lowered Excalibur, walking away. La Faye sneered as darkness took the form of a blade in her hand.
"Arthur!" Riku cried and Kairi gasped as the witch lunged for Arthur. He turned around at the last moment and cut her through with Excalibur, her body engulfed in a black flame as she screamed in pain. She dissolved away, leaving only her black veil behind.
Arthur bowed solemnly and sheathed his blade. Sora de-fused back into himself, Claudio and Rain, he was out of breath but Claudio frowned at him and walked up to the Keyblade Master
THWACK!
Claudio smacked Sora in the back of the head and leered at him. "Don't you ever, ever try that again without my permission!" Sora chuckled nervously but Arthur stepped in to avoid further conflict.
"Sora, I'd like you to come with me. There is something I'd like to show you." He motioned for them to follow and they did just such
KHKHKH
Where Arthur had led them was a large rock in front of Camelot where a thin slot was placed within the stone.
"Arthur, what is this place?" Sora asked the King. "Why did you bring us here?"
"I do not know." Arthur replied simply. "I just felt compelled to bring you here. This is the stone where Excalibur was placed." He bent down and passed his hand over the slot. "The place where my reign as King began."
Suddenly, the stone began to glow and the faint outline of keyhole appeared in shiny sparkles. Sora, haven done this several times before during his first journey, stuck out his Keyblade and shot a ray of light into the Keyhole, sealing it with an audible click. After the sealing, one of the Blank Keychains rose from Riku's leather bag, shining and rose high above their heads. Riku leapt back and spun his Keyblade around, firing a beam of light at the medallion and it passed through it, into the sky and off into space.
"What in the name of the Lord was that?" Arthur asked in astonishment.
"It means your world is safe." Kairi replied. "And I suppose that we also have to get going. Right?"
"It would seem so." Claudio said dryly. "Good luck on ruling King Arthur, it's been real."
"Say goodbye to Merlin for me," Sora began to walk away, waving goodbye to his new friend.
"I will Sora, and thank you for all your help!" The King shouted back as the group walked away. A beam shot from the sky and trapped the five, warping them back to the Gummi Ship.
KHKHKH
It was the middle of the night following their adventure on Avalon. Claudio couldn't sleep as always, he was being plagued by nightmares and so he got up and shuffled to the galley/kitchen and then the cockpit/control room to work on a little pet project of his. As he moved to the rooms in half a daze he heard muffled voices. Two of them, one female, one male and they sounded like they were young. Both voices were strange to Claudio.
"Oh…voices…and me without a weapon." He moaned, still half-asleep. "Well, at least I'm pretty sure I can't die."
He burst into the galley to see two surprised blonde teenagers jump out of their seats. One was a girl with blue eyes, long hair and a white dress. The other was a boy with spiky hair wearing a white jacket, black shirt and cream coloured pants. Both of them looked at him with shocked and angry eyes.
"Claudio!" The blonde whined. "What the hell, man?"
"Excuse me?" The warrior looked at the two with odd eyes; there was something familiar about them. "Have we met?"
"Oh…um, technically we have." The blonde boy said. "But in a way…no."
"My name is Namine." The blonde girl introduced herself. "And this is Roxas. We're the Nobodies of Kairi and Sora."
It then dawned on Claudio. They looked almost exactly like Sora and Kairi except the girl was shorter than Kairi and the boy was taller, more muscular and had a different hairstyle when compared to Sora. He also saw that their bodies weren't opaque but rather transparent. Like they were spirits.
"Oh," he finally replied to the two. "So you two are their Nobodies." He flashed a smile at them. "Nice to meet you." He went to shake Roxas' hand but it just passed through him.
"Oh, right. We can interact with inanimate objects in the spirit form but not animate and organic things." Roxas explained as Claudio continually passed his hand through his non-existent body. "Stop that." He said dryly and annoyed.
"So, what're you two doing up, wandering around like ghosts? I took you as invading enemies." Claudio took a seat at the galley's table.
"When Sora and Kairi sleep we can detach from them and wander around on our own." Namine answered.
"Now, what are you doing up at two in the morning?" Roxas inquired. "Didn't you only go to bed three hours ago?"
"Yeah, but I can never sleep more than four. I suffer from chronic night terrors. So I decided to work on a project that's been dancing in my mind since the Garden."
"And what's that?"
"Something that involves the computer in on the cockpit screen."
"Oh, well there is a computer touch screen in here." Namine explained. "Just use the control panel on the side of the room and it appears on the kitchen table."
Claudio did so and a digital touch screen hologram appeared above the center of the table. "Thank you very much, Nam." He thanked, sitting down again and scrolling through the screen with his finger. "I always work better when I have people to talk to."
"So, what is this project you're working on?" Roxas asked again and Claudio flashed his trademark grin.
"Something that'll help the five of us Rox." He then spoke into the computer. "Computer, open Jimminy's Digital Video Journal. Open Journal search engine. Search following subject: Drive Forms."
To Be Continued
First Disney world done, boy that was long! I think it may have been rushed but hey whatever, it should get good at the third world. That is a doozy.
Let the speculation begin on Claudio's nightmares and how he can function on four hours of sleep a night! Also, expect more of Roxas and Namine and a more developed relationship between Claudio and Rox and Nam.
(A/N1): Reference to Jaime Lannister, one of my favourite characters from a Song of Fire and Ice.
(A/N2): Sweeney Todd with a medieval twist.