CHAPTER TWELVE

"This place is... kind of different." Sora said, crossing his arms.

The world we were in was dark, as if permanently set to nighttime. We stood on the Rampart and looked over the blackened sea. When we stepped off, we heard a woman's scream. We ran to the side and jumped up onto the wall to look over it.

"Something's up." Sora said.

"Organization XIII?" Goofy said.

"Or the Heartless!" Donald said.

"Or something completely different." I said.

"There's only one way to find out." Sora said.


We ran down to the outsides of the town and saw Pete talking with a group of pirates.

"Hey!" Sora called. We struck our battle stances.

"See? Those are the punks I was tellin' ya about." Pete said.

"If anyone here is a punk, it's you!" I said.

"It's Sora, Hallie, Donald, and Goofy to you! And don't you forget it!" Sora said.

"That we won't. And we'll engrave it on your tombstone, to be sure." the head pirate said.

"Whoa! I like your style!" Pete said.

"Men- half of you stay here and indulge these cullies. The rest- bring me that medallion!" the head pirate said.

"AYE!" the crew cried.

"So we only have the pleasure of squashing only a few of you?" I said.

The head pirate chuckled. We tried to attack the crew, but our offensive attacks phased through them.

"It's no use! We can't beat them!" Sora said.

"Aye, whaddya expect?" one of the pirates said.

The clouds parted and moonlight bathed the area. We gasped as the pirates changed into skeletons.

"Ya best be sayin' your prayers!" another pirate said.

"Hey, watch out! They can see ya!" Pete said. "Stay away from their magic!"

"Thanks for the tidbit, Pete!" Sora said. Pete gulped.

We attacked again, knocking down all the pirates in their exposed cursed state.

"Hey! This ain't over!" Pete said. He turned around and walked away.

"He's like the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz..." I said.

"The what?" Sora said.

"Nevermind."

"Well, if Pete's here, then we've got work to do."

"Yup. And that pirate captain looked pretty mean, too." Goofy said.

"I'd hate to see him turn into a Heartless." Sora said. "Hey, maybe we can take a pirate ship out for a spin!"

I scowled and smacked Sora in the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?!" he said.

"Because I think that weird pirate curse affected you too." I said, which earned a snicker from Donald and Goofy.

Sora put his hands behind his head. "I was just kidding! Hey, didn't those pirate guys go into the town?"

"Yeah. I think they were looking for treasure." Goofy said.


"Elizabeth!" a man with combed brown hair and brown eyes cried. He ran up the stairs, only to get surrounded by Heartless. "What are they?"

"It's the Heartless! Watch out!" Donald cried.

We ran in front of the man.

"We'll take care of them. Go, take cover!" Sora said.

The man looked at us for a moment, then turned and ran away to hide. When we finished fighting the Heartless, the man approached us.

"Well done! My own fencing skills are not to be ashamed of... but I've never faced foes such as that before." the man said.

Sora put his hands behind his head and smiled. "You really think we're that good?"

"Were you looking for someone named Elizabeth?" I asked. "Did you find her?"

"I was too late. Barbossa and his pirate crew have taken her. But I must rescue her!" the man said. "Would you help me?"

"Of course!" Sora said. "I'm Sora. This is Donald, Goofy, and Hallie."

"And I'm William Turner, but call me Will."

"Let's go, Will!"

"Right. We've got to head to the docks!"


When we arrived at the docks, a large pirate ship sailed away into the sea.

"We're too late!" Will said.

"Huh?" Sora said.

"Those pirates kidnapped Miss Swann and took her to their ship." Will said. "Now they've sailed, and I'll never be able to find her!"

"Then she's long gone. The Black Pearl is nigh uncatchable. Best find yourself another girl, mate." a voice said. We turned to see a man dressed in pirate garb with black dreadlocks decorated in beads and jewels. He returned to tending to the ship he was standing in.

"You... What are you doing aboard the Interceptor?" Will said. "She's off limits to civilians."

"Ah, fortunate that I'm going to commandeer her, then." the pirate man said. "She'll make a fine pirate ship."

"A pirate!" Sora said, and I watched a childish grin spread across his face.

"Don't get any ideas, Sora." I said.

The pirate man stood up straight and faced us.

"Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please." he said.

"Take me with you. Help me hunt down the Black Pearl and save Miss Swann." Will said. "I got you out of that jail cell, Sparrow. Do this and your debt's repaid."

"You'll have to win fair lady's heart alone, mate." Jack said. "I see no profit in it for me."

"C'mon, Captain!" Sora said.

"Are you sure you can sail her, all on your own?" Will said.

Jack thought to himself, then jumped up onto the crossing plank. "You've a point there."

We climbed up the crossing plank.

"Thank you, Sparrow." Will said.

"CAPTAIN Sparrow." Jack said.

"I'm Sora. This is Hallie, Donald, and Goofy." Sora said.

"You know, one of these times you should let me do the introductions." I said as we boarded the ship.

"I'm Will Turner." Will said.

"That would be short for William, I imagine." Jack said. "No doubt named for your father, eh?"

"Yes."

"Well, then, Mr. Turner. You get us ready to make way. I've some effects to liberate."

I shuddered at the word 'liberate'.

"Aye-aye! But hurry." Will said.

"Naturally." Jack said. He walked away.

"Sora, do you really want to be a pirate?" Goofy said.

"Of course not!" Sora said. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you make of this Will?" Jack said.

"We just met him like 10 minutes ago..." I said.

"Hmm... I think my luck's about to change." Jack mumbled. He smiled to himself.


The Interceptor cruised along on the dark sea. We all stood around Jack, who stood at the steering wheel staring at his compass.

"Why are you so fixated on that compass?" Will said.

"It'll be she that leads us to the Isla de Muerta where Barbossa's headed. Savvy?" Jack said.

"All this pirate talk is giving me a headache." I said, rubbing my temples.

"How do you know?" Sora said.

Jack closed his compass and place it in his pocket. "Ah, lad... He and I once had our eyes on a treasure- Aztec gold. 'Twas hidden on the Isla de Muerta. But he turned traitor and stole my ship." he said.

"So, he's after the treasure, then." Will said.

Jack turned to Will and placed a hand on his hip. "Treasure's already his. So's the curse upon it."

"You mean whatever is causing him and his crew to look like the walking dead?" I said.

"Aye, lass. I've no desire for such treacherous spoils." Jack said. "But I will have back what's mine- the Black Pearl."

Jack turned around and returned his focus to the waters in front of him.


We docked at the Isla de Muerta and gathered on its rocky path.

"You lads and lass wait here." Jack said. "Young Turner and I will rescue the lady."

"Hey! What about us?" Sora said.

"You're to guard the ship, o' course." Jack said. "It's a task given only to the bravest pirates."

"All right..."

"Guard her well!"

Jack and Will turned around and ran down the pathway. We returned to the ship, but the wait made us all grow impatient fairly quick.

"I think he was just trying to fast-talk us..." Sora said.

"And you fell for it the moment he said "pirate"." I said.

"What's keeping those two?" Sora said, crossing his arms and clearly changing the subject.

"They sure are taking their time..." Goofy said.

"Do you think something could be wrong?" I said. "We should go and look for them."

"If Pete's hanging around, there must be Heartless here, too." Sora said. "And Jack and Will aren't used to fighting Heartless."

"There's only one way to find out." I said.

We boarded off of the ship.


As we ran across the path into Isla de Muerta, Will and Elizabeth, a tall young woman with blond hair, brown eyes, and wearing a long yellow dress, came running up to us.

"Quick! They're after us!" Will said.

"But where's Jack?" I asked.

We heard footsteps. We turned to see pirates running towards us.

"We'll hold them off! Give us a sign when the ship's ready to sail!" Sora said.

"Right! We'll light the signal fire!" Will said.

I summoned Chaos Ripper and struck my battle stance. One pirate aimed a gun at me. I gasped and brought my Keyblade up and deflected the bullet, sending it back to him. Another pirate stood in front of me. He swung his axe at me. I backshuffled, and when he paused, I slashed at him. He disappeared into a pile of dust and moldy gauze. I glanced at the ship and saw smoke rising from it.

"The signal!" I called.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked to the ship and we heard another group of pirates charge at us. We bolted to the ship. We climbed across the plank and onto the ship. I sighed in relief and sat down on the ground.

"Man, that was the longest minute of my life." I said. I leaned back on my hands and looked up at everyone. "So, you didn't answer my question. Where's Jack?"

"Well..." Will said. "He wouldn't let me do anything, so I... knocked him out. I had to. Jack's no fairy-tale pirate. The real ones aren't to be trusted."

"We can't just leave him there." I stood up and crossed my arms. "We should go back and get him."

"First, we have to get Elizabeth back." Donald said.

"Let's head back to Port Royal." Sora said. "I'm sure that Jack can handle himself. He is a pirate after all."


Elizabeth and Will retreated to the lower deck to discuss some things, so Will left me in charge of steering the ship back to Port Royal. I gripped the wooden handles. Steering was easier than I thought. As I overlooked the sea, I noticed Sora in my peripheral view, looking at the water roll along. A pang of guilt radiated in my chest.

"Hey, Sora?" I said.

Sora's ocean blue eyes landed on me and I gulped. He approached me.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Listen, I, um... I wanted to apologize for what happened back at Olympus Coliseum. You know, after we fought that Organization XIII member." I said.

Sora lowered his eyes. "Oh, right. That. You don't have to do that. I was sticking my nose in business that wasn't mine..."

"It wasn't that. It's just..." I took a deep breath. "I knew who he was talking about."

"You do?"

"I don't know the Roxas he mentioned, but Callum..."

"You don't have to talk about this if you want to."

"No, I want to. I need to get it off my chest." I gripped the steering wheel tightly. "When I was 8 years old, I met someone. A boy, to be more specific, my age, with brown messy hair and amber eyes, and his name was Callum. Where we met, I don't remember, but we seemed to click almost instantaneously. He was my best friend and he had my back when times were frustrating."

I took a deep, shaky breath. "But when I was 12, he disappeared. There was no explanation, no warning. It was like he just vanished into thin air. I'm sure I asked people what happened to him, but they were probably as clueless as me. I had the chilling thought that he had died, but something in my heart told me that he was still out there somewhere."

I found it hard to make eye contact with Sora, so I just stared that the empty waters ahead.

"I woke up in a realm of nothing before I came to Hollow Bastion. I don't know if I was rotting away there for days, weeks, years, whatever. My memory is wiped completely clean. My childhood, my past, it's all gone. But the only person that I still remember is Callum. He's why I agreed to join you, Donald, and Goofy on your adventure. I mean, yes, I do want to save the worlds and help you, but I'm hoping that, somewhere in this adventure, I can find Callum and we can be together again."

Sora remained silent as he thoughtfully studied me.

"He means a lot to you, huh?" Sora said.

"More than anything..." I said. "...I love him."

"Oh." Sora looked away awkwardly. I blushed and cleared my throat.

"Now that I've talked so much about best friends, tell me about yours. You've mentioned someone named Riku a few times." I said.

"Yeah, he's my best friend. I've been looking for him ever since we were separated from our home, Destiny Islands. He's... had some difficulties when it comes to the darkness. I'm looking for him and King Mickey during this adventure. I know I'll find him someday because I believe in myself."

My knuckles turned white from how tightly I gripped the steering wheel. Sora reached out and placed his hand over mine.

"We'll find our friends. Together." Sora said. "I promise."

I looked at his hand and my breath caught in my throat. My grip on the wheel loosened and blood rushed into my hands again. I looked up at Sora. Even in the cloudy darkness, his blue eyes still sparkled. He smiled.

This boy is so different. So far since traveling around with him, he's been nothing but goofy, annoying, and a bit nosy. But this moment, something felt different. His words had a different tone to them. When he uttered his promise, he spoke with such assurance. He knew that I would be able to find Callum again. Someday. His words calmed my aching soul. Could I ever one day speak and act with the same confidence as him?

A smile slowly crept onto my face.

Promise... a seven letter word that holds an infinite amount of hope.


AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hallie and her friends travel to a world unlike any of the others they've visited: filled with cursed pirates and ferocious Heartless! Port Royal, the town they arrive in, is attacked by pirates cursed by an Aztec treasure. Barbossa, the captain of these blood-thirsty and greedy pirates, is searching for a way to break the curse placed on them. As their solution, they kidnap a woman named Elizabeth Swann. They team up with a man named Will Turner and Captain Jack Sparrow to rescue Elizabeth. Their first attempt resulted in Jack getting captured by Barbossa, and now Hallie and her friends must sail back to the Isla de Muerta to rescue Elizabeth AND Jack. A intimate conversation occurs between Hallie and Sora, where Hallie reveals her true drive of this journey: to find her best friend and love, Callum, who disappeared many years ago for reasons unknown to her.

Will Sora be able to keep his promise of finding their friends together? Will Hallie be able to find this mysterious Callum?

Stay tuned and thanks for reading!