"…I am an idiot…" Demyx muttered as he finished describing his almost-blunder to his friends.
"You've got that right…" Roxas muttered.
"Hey! You're supposed to disagree!" Demyx huffed, turning slightly red.
"Well, if wasn't for Namine's note…!" Roxas started, but was cut off by Axel.
"Did you say anything else to her?" Axel asked loudly, diffusing a soon-to-be argument between Roxas and Demyx.
"Well….I told her that she has to remember me …..Oh, I also kinda told her that you knew me, but that was right before I left…" Demyx recalled, looking down.
"So you did tell her that you knew me?!" Roxas shouted.
"Well…she asked, so I answered." Demyx shrugged while Roxas slapped a palm to his forehead angrily, muttering a string of curses under his breath.
"Don't worry…I have a plan…" Namine assured everyone coolly; everybody turned their attention to her. She knew that this sort of thing would happen and she was ready for it.
"What is it?" Axel inquired.
"You'll see…" Namine smirked softly as she looked out the window.
~*~*~*~
You and Sora walked over to the Front, wondering where Donald went to. You both were met by a flash of blinding light, and when it cleared, a place with a lot of contraptions and such came into view from the glass dome.
"What's going on…?" Sora asked Donald and Goofy; both of them looked tense.
"The Queen requested us immediately!" Donald and Goofy both responded before hurrying off the Gummi Ship.
"Wow, the Queen!" you exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah, let's go!" Sora smiled. The both of you followed Donald and Goofy who were looking around at the funny-looking room interestedly.
"This is your castle? Must be nice being back home, huh?" Sora asked, but Goofy and Donald didn't respond; they were too busy looking around.
"Y'know, somethin' just doesn't feel quite right." Goofy said, looking troubled.
"Yeah…" Donald agreed, crossing his arms. Suddenly, Chip and Dale scurried out of the Gummi Ship urgently.
"Move it! Queen Minnie needs to see you!" Chip squeaked, pointing to the exit.
"The castle's in danger! Hurry, to the library!" Dale exclaimed, also pointing to the exit. Without another word, Goofy and Donald sped off, leaving you and Sora to follow them.
"Hey, wait up!" you called, going after them.
You both followed them into a sunny, colorful garden that hurt eyes when you first looked at it. There were huge bushes cut into cartoon-like shapes and vivid flowers that made you nose tickle a little bit. You were allergic to some flowers. You started to wonder what could have ruined the peaceful atmosphere in this world, when the answer appeared in front of you.
"Heartless!" you spotted a single Shadow Heartless lurking around a bush.
The Heartless instantly became alert of your group and called for more to join it as it saw everyone take out weapons.
Immediately, the group broke up to take care of separate Heartless, which was easy enough since they were just Shadow Heartless. Fighting the Heartless, you realized that fighting and blocking became a habit to you.
"Not here too!" Donald groaned, and Goofy and he sped off. Something tickled your nose again. You tried to brush it off, but the irritation grew and you couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Ah-choo!" you sneezed loudly and the sound came out high-pitched and comical. Sora blinked at you and burst into laughter.
"Hey, what're you laughing at?!" you grumbled before sneezing loudly once again.
"That!" Sora laughed even harder.
"Oh…it's just my allergies…" you sniffled. Both of you managed to get out of the garden.
"What are you allergic to?" Sora asked with a grin.
"Flowers…" you looked at Sora. "…and stupid people. It's funny, I've got the second one the same day I met you…"
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" Sora grinned, crossing his arms.
"You know very well what it means, sidekick. Your stupid-ness is affecting me." You smiled, feeling that that nose was weird. You turned to a lavish mirror that was placed nearby and saw that your nose was red, and your eyes were a little teary.
"Whatever, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer." Sora joked, causing you to laugh alongside him.
You two finally reached the library, where Goofy and Donald were saluting a small mouse in a royal pink dress and a golden tiara.
"Your Majesty, Queen Minnie, we're back!" Donald saluted.
"Your Royal Highness, didja happen to summon us?" Goofy asked.
"Yes." Queen Minnie nodded. Her eyes widened as she spotted you and Sora. Her eyes lingered on you a fraction of second more, as if she thought you were someone else she knew.
"Where's the King?" Sora interrupted, putting a hand on Donald's head and Goofy's shoulder. Both of them glared at him. Sora and Queen Minnie looked at each other blankly, wondering who each other was. Donald grabbed Sora's collar, pulling him down into a forceful bow.
"Excuse him. This is our friend, Sora." Donald apologized, hoping Queen Minnie would accept. Queen Minnie just smiled at Sora and Goofy continued.
"And this is Reina." He motioned toward you. Queen Minnie looked into your eyes and smiled, with you returning the favor.
"Sora and Reina!" the Queen gasped as she remembered something. "The King told me all about you two in his letters. He said you're a brave young man, Sora. You too, Reina, he told me that you're a very, very special girl."
Sora rubbed the back of his neck, flattered, while you grinned bashfully.
"Uh, so d'you knew where he is?" Sora asked hopefully. Everyone sighed as she shook her head.
"So, Your Majesty, what are Heartless doing in your castle?" you asked, letting out the question that bothered everyone, especially Donald and Goofy.
"Oh my…so those are the Heartless." The Queen looked off with a troubled expression.
"Don't worry, we'll take care of 'em!" You assured her with a bright smile.
"I know I can count on you four." The Queen smiled. "Now, there's something I'd like you all to see. Would you please escort me to the Audience Chamber?"
"Yes ma'am!" you all saluted her in unison. You all tilted your heads in confusion as the Queen gasped again.
"I forgot to warn everyone else in the castle about the danger!" she explained. "We must be sure they're hidden somewhere safe!"
"Okay, we'll go tell them." Sora told her.
"The whole castle…?" Donald groaned. You felt his pain; the castle looked huge and to warn everyone would take forever!
"We just have to split up then." You told them, and Sora nodded as he thought this was a good idea.
"We'll make sure everyone knows what's goin on." Sora told the Queen.
"No, Sora, you'll just get lost!" Donald reminded him.
"Okay, then we'll just stay with the Queen!" you said, and everyone agreed with this plan.
"Alrighty then, see ya'll later!" Goofy waved before exiting out of the doors with Donald.
"The Audience Chamber, right ma'am?" Sora asked Queen Minnie.
"Yes, let's be on our way." The Queen agreed and you two followed her out of the library. You wanted to stay a little longer in the library, there were so many things to take in and you didn't have enough time to do so. As soon as your party of three went outside, however, you were greeted by a small squad of Heartless, determined to keep you all away from your goal. You shared a quick glance with Sora, and then went forward to slash the Heartless, which were pretty small and quick.
Even though it was pretty difficult to keep up with the little buggers, you were able to bring down your share of Heartless in a small amount of time.
After the short squabble, you looked back at Queen Minnie, who was watching you two from a safe distance all this time. Her eyes were drawn to the Heartseeker in your hands.
"The Heartseeker you possess has special powers and is one of its kind, made only for the Purest of Hearts to possess."
"Special powers?" you repeated eagerly. "Like what?"
"The Heartseeker is able to reunite you with any other heart, but only if your wish is strong enough." Queen Minnie told you and your heart leapt with excitement.
Instantly, you shut your eyes thought of the one person that you wanted to be with at the moment…the one person that you were one this journey for….Roxas….
Nothing happened.
"Let's go…" Sora said impatiently, crossing his arms. "We can do this later." You nodded, not yet ready to give up on this new ability. You were really determined to get a hang of it. You escorted Minnie a few paces and stopped when she said, "Wait right here."
"Wow…" you muttered, trying to get a full view of the huge door that you two escorted Queen Minnie to. You took a couple of paces backward and you accidentally tripped on Sora's foot, making you stumble.
"Woah, careful there…" Sora muttered, helping you back up. You flushed a little and muttered, "Sorry about that…"
"No problem. What are sidekicks for?" Sora grinned, and smiled back, feeling happy in his presence. You were so happy you had this friendship with him and you put it all in your smile, and he noticed.
Apparently, so did Queen Minnie. She made a little cough that caused both of you to turn your attention back to the main objective. Queen Minnie raised her palm to the Mickey Mouse seal—the seal of her kingdom—and the seal and barrier vanished with a tinkle.
"As soon as the trouble started, I made sure to seal this room." The Queen explained as a smaller, more normal-sized door opened. "Now then, shall we?"
The Queen led you to a large room with a long, red carpet that led to a royal throne. The room seemed empty at first, but it didn't stay that way for long. An army of Heartless that were built like tanks called Bolt Towers appeared from dark portals.
"Not in here, too!" Queen Minnie exclaimed, putting a hand over her mouth in horror.
"I'll deal with them." Sora said, taking out his Keyblade. You raised an eyebrow at him.
"You mean we'll deal with them. We're a team, remember?" you corrected, taking out the Heartseeker.
"No, you have to protect the Queen while I take down the Heartless." Sora shook his head. You opened your mouth to protest, but shut it as you realized that he was right.
"Don't worry, I'll clear them out like that." Sora snapped his fingers and grinned, trying to ease your anxious expression. You nodded as you looked uneasily back and forth from Sora to the gang of Heartless. Sora let out a deep breath and turned to the Heartless, charging at them while you fended off Heartless that were drawing near to you and the Queen.
As soon as Sora pushed back some Heartless, you turned to the Queen and urged her forward. "Let's go, Your Majesty."
"Try and remember…" she kept repeating under her breath, her eyes closed in thought.
"Remember what, Your Majesty?" you asked.
"There is a spell to defend myself against the Heartless, but I don't remember what it was." The Queen explained, thinking hard. Then, her eyes widened and she muttered something under her breath. A big bubble of light enclosed around the Queen and any Heartless that seemed to approach her just seemed to bounce off the shield.
"Oh, I wish I could make it bigger, but it's been a long time since I've used this spell…"
"It's okay Your Highness, just get somewhere safe while I go help out Sora." You assured her and she nodded, heading toward the throne. You darted off to help Sora, who seemed to be overwhelmed by the gang of Heartless that encircled him. Just as a Heartless was about to strike him, you blocked the attack and lunged at it. Sora noticed the presence and he turned to look at you with an inquisitive expression.
"You think I'd letcha have all the Heartless-defeating fun all to yourself? No way, Jose!" you grinned as you blocked another swing from the Bolt Towers.
"What about the Queen?" Sora asked, hitting a nearby Bolt Tower.
"She's alright." You pointed to the Queen, who made it to the throne safely. She started to search for something frantically. Sora's expression eased and he grinned at you.
"Let's show them who they're messing with!" Sora smiled, and you nodded, a little smile dancing on your lips.
"Alright!" you and Sora teamed up to block and attack Heartless together, which made the both of you feel safe, even though there were still gangs of Heartless teaming up on you two.
Whenever you saw that the Heartless got ready to hit you as if you were a nail and it was a hammer, you got ready to dodge the attack. Before the Heartless could recover from the attack, you showered it with a volley attacks, making it easy to subdue the Heartless. But even after you took down one Heartless there were two that took its place, which eventually overwhelmed you and Sora.
Queen Minnie finally found what she was looking for and pressed a small button under the armrest under the throne. The platform under the throne started to vibrate and move and it slid open to release a flash of blinding light that engulfed the whole room. When the light faded, the Heartless seemed to vanish as if they were never there. You turned to Sora, who was blinking rapidly; the light took him by surprise.
"I think I've gone blind now…" he muttered, his vision coming back slowly. He started walking opposite Queen Minnie and you.
"You'll live."You laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him back in the right direction. Sora heard your laugh and smiled, and soon enough, his vision came back.
"Wait, I think there's still one Heartless left…this one seems really nasty." He joked, waving his Keyblade at you and you jumped back.
"Hey!" you said, putting your hands on your hips.
"Oh, sorry… Sorry! It was the light, it blinded me!" Sora laughed as you playfully hit him. The Queen made another cough and you two turned to her, a little embarrassed. The Queen smiled slightly and proceeded down the hidden stairs under the throne.
"The hall below is called the Hall of the Cornerstone. Our castle has always been safe from worlds that are evil, thanks to the Cornerstone of Light, which we keep down here…"
"Cornerstone…of Light?" Sora repeated, following the Queen. When you entered the room below, you saw what the Queen was so worked up about. The room was horribly disfigured by black thorns that seemed to threaten to hurt you if you got too close. In the middle of the room there was a large, spherical stone that radiated a wounded light.
You approached the stone curiously and touched it. When your hand came in contact with it, the stone sent a warming sensation through your hand and it grew slightly brighter. You shivered and let go as soon as you felt the darkness that clouded the stone shiver up your spine. At that moment, Donald and Goofy entered the room and Queen Minnie spoke again.
"This is the castle's cherished Cornerstone." Queen Minnie broke off, looking sadly at the thorns that filled the room. "But look…the thorns…they must be the work of someone very evil. I wonder what this all could mean."
Then, as if to answer the Queen, a green fire erupted from the foot of the Cornerstone's pedestal and a witch dressed in black appeared. Her skin was tinged green and she carried a scepter and an air of pride around her. She seemed to be transparent, and you wondered how she was able to do that. She was a powerful witch, no doubt.
"Maleficent!" Donald shouted, recognizing the witch. Your eyes widened in shock. Wasn't she supposed to be dead?!
"Well, well, what do we have here…?" Maleficent's cold eyes searched your group. "If it isn't the Keyblade holder and his pitiful lackeys! Oh, and who is this…?" Her eyes focused on you. "Oho! It's the Purest Heart, if I'm not mistaken… I wonder what she is doing with this riffraff. " Her eyes traveled to your Heartseeker, which you brought out as soon as she appeared.
"What!? Now you're gonna deal with me!" Donald shouted, clearly insulted. He charged at the witch….and went right through her, hitting his head on the Cornerstone.
"All in good time. I promise you'll be able to partake in my vengeance, but you must be patient." She replied with an evil sneer.
"Just what are you doing here, Maleficent?!" Queen Minnie demanded, wanting to get to the reason of her unwelcome visit.
"Ah, Queen Minnie, radiant as always." Maleficent did a short, pretend bow. "I'm here on a property venture. I want this castle as my own. However, it's a bit too bright for what I have in mind. I suppose I'll just have to fill every room with my personal touch of darkness."
"You better stop right now if you know what's good for you! You don't wanna get knocked down twice, do you?" you growled, seeing how anxious the Queen was around her.
"The Purest of Hearts is just like her predecessor." Maleficent chuckled, amused. You wondered briefly who your 'predecessor' was but left it alone when the witch started speaking again. "Very well….I'll stop….As soon as this castle belongs to me!" Her laughter echoed even after she disappeared in black and green flames.
"What a hag." Sora shook his head. "She just doesn't give up, does she?"
"Nothing like this has ever happened before…I looked through all the records in the library, but I couldn't find a single clue on how to stop all this." The Queen mumbled miserably, feeling as if she failed.
"Oh! We should go ask somebody who knows lotsa stuff that ain't in any book!" Goofy suggested as he looked at everyone meaningfully.
"Merlin the Wizard!" Donald caught on.
"Yes that's perfect!" Queen Minnie smiled. "Merlin just might know something about this mess. Let's ask his advice."
"We saw him in Hallow Bastion, right?" you asked.
"Yeah. Let's go." Sora nodded.
~*~*~*~
"Anybody home?"
You all arrived at Merlin's house and you were surprised to find all the wizard's essentials-- but not the wizard himself.
"Merlin!" Donald called; his voice rang throughout the house.
"What is all the racket?" a voice grumbled from behind you. You turned to see Merlin poof out of thin air. "Ho-ho. I thought it was - oh, it's you. It looks like you've learned a bit since the last time I saw you four."
"Really?" Sora asked, his eyes brightening.
"Wait a minute! Let's talk about the problem!" Donald interrupted before Sora could go on any further. "It's Maleficent! She's back!"
"Where?! Inside the castle?" Merlin asked hastily, his eyes widening.
"Yep! And Heartless too!" Goofy added.
"Oh dear…" Merlin shook his head, looking troubled already.
"Maleficent wants to take over the whole castle and she filled the Hall of the Cornerstone with tiny thorns….!" Donald babbled on; with nobody understand a word of his rambling. Merlin raised his brow at him and then muttered a chant under his breath.
Just like magic, you all appeared in the Hall of the Cornerstone again.
"Perhaps I'd better see for myself…" Merlin told Donald, who instantly stopped babbling and crossed his arms. Merlin greeted the Queen and examined the Cornerstone and its surroundings. "Hmm…interesting."
"What's happening, Merlin?" Queen Minnie asked.
"This is not good. In fact, I'm afraid it's quite serious." Merlin explained gravely.
Merlin conjured a big, silver door out of nowhere and turned to your group.
"What's that?" you asked.
"This door is a gateway to a special world. Someone in that world is responsible for what's going on in this castle. Of that, I am certain." Merlin explained.
"Oh boy!" Donald said eagerly, staring at the door.
"We knew we could count on you, Merlin!" Goofy cheered.
"Then, we should go get 'im." Sora said, holding on to the handles of the door.
"Wait a moment." Merlin stopped. "The perpetrators must be stopped, of course. But there's something else to do first. Somewhere in that world, there should be another door identical to this one. I believe our enemies are using that door. As long as it remains open, the castle will be in grave danger."
"Listen, Sora." Merlin continued, "You must find that door and lock it with your Keyblade."
"Got it." Sora nodded determinedly.
"Now, one more thing. You're heading to a very special world. While you're there, the nature of that world may attempt you to do something dark. You must resist that temptation at all costs!" Merlin warned.
"What d'you mean?" you asked, wondering what in the world could be so alluring.
"You'll know soon enough." Merlin smiled. "I have faith in you all!"
"Let's go…!" Donald said eagerly, heading into the door first, and Goofy followed.
"C'mon…" Sora urged you with a smile. You smiled back and he headed into the door first. You took a deep breath and disappeared into the light.
"She reminds a lot…about him…" Queen Minnie muttered, looking into the distance sadly.
Merlin turned to her consolingly. "Of course, she would Your Majesty. After all, she is his daughter…."
~*~*~*~
One moment you were in a bright light, feeling as if you were falling down. Next thing you knew, you were on top of something heavy.
"Reina…geddoff!" Donald's voice exclaimed. Your vision cleared and you realized that you were on top of a pile consisting of Donald, Goofy and Sora.
"Sorry!" you exclaimed over and over again, feeling yourself turn warm.
"It's okay." Sora waved off, getting up. You looked at him peculiarly; he looked way different from before…
"What's going on?" Sora asked aloud as you all pinpointed the problem. "Everything's black and white!"
Everything was colorless and plain—from the landscape, Sora, Donald Goofy…even you. Your limbs were long, lanky and colorless, and your clothes were plain and simple, without all the extra accessories.
"Well… at least you can't call me Rudolph, huh?" you grinned at Sora. He smiled back, and was about to say something when Goofy cut in.
""The Cornerstone of Light!" Goofy exclaimed. Sure enough, there it was, though on a pile of wood instead of a pedestal.
"Hey, this is kind of like…um….uh…" Donald said, looking around at himself and wiggling his tail.
"Déjà vu?" Goofy helped, and the duck nodded ecstatically.
"Yeah, that's it!" Donald jumped.
"Wait…so you guys have been here before?" you asked, surprised. You wondered how they got back to color, if this world was black and white.
"Have you seen any bad guys around?" a voice grumbled from behind you. You all turned to see Pete, looked huffed and puffed about something.
To your group, the answer to the question was easy. All of you pointed fingers at Pete, who was shocked.
"Why I oughta…." Pete swung his fists around as if he were about to fight. Then, after a moment's thought he put his hands down. "Bah! I don't have time to waste on punks like you. So, I guess I'll go easy on ya!"
You crossed your arms skeptically as you saw him run away. Wasn't Pete eager to fight you guys in Olympus Coliseum? So why was he backing off now?
"Well, there's our villain!" Sora grinned as he punched the air in victory.
"Let's go after him!" Donald said eagerly, the first one to follow after him. You all followed the trail down to the Pier and saw Pete standing, looking in the distance.
"What's with you squirts? You gotta bone to pick with me?" Pete exclaimed as he saw you all approaching again.
"More than one!" Sora retorted.
"Them's fightin' words!" Pete swung one heavy arm round and round, ready to swing. "Huh…?" he stopped when he heard the sound of a familiar steamboat. Pete started walking towards the source, but Sora got in his way, taking out the Keyblade.
"Not so fast!"
"Yeah!" Donald agreed, ready to fight. You hesitated, but when Pete took a swing at your friends, you joined in without a second thought.
Pete was just brawn and no brains; he just swung at the nearest person, so it was easy to take him down.
"What's your punk's beef with me anyways?" Pete sat on the floor defeated. He was rubbing his pained back, glaring at you all. "Who are ya anyways? Ya new around here?"
"Cut the act!" Sora said.
Another whistle of a steamboat sounded.
"Woah!" Pete turned to get up, only to hear the crack of his bones as he got up. He collapsed again, moaning in pain. "Oh…ow…"
You tilted your head at him in confusion. This guy certainly looked like Pete….but he sure didn't act like it. The Pete you knew would probably still be fighting you four now.
"Ya know, somethin' don't feel quite right here." Goofy muttered, looking at Pete with confusion. He turned to Pete. "Are ya sure you're Pete?"
"Well, of course I'm Pete. I'm Captain of the Steamboat. So stop botherin' me, see!" Pete growled. "Hit the road! I've gotta go find the runt what stole my steamboat!"
"I think we've got the wrong person…" you agreed, looking at Pete.
"I'm startin' to the same thing. He hasn't even called any Heartless yet." Sora scratched his cheek uncertainly.
"We're sorry we attacked ya like that, Pete!" Goofy apologized on behalf of everyone.
"Oh yeah? If you're really sorry, then go and find my steamboat!" Pete ordered, causing you all to nod at him hastily.
"Y-yes sir!" you all sounded.
"Ohh…my aching back…" Pete whimpered, rubbing his back.
You all hurried back up to the trail where you first landed at.
"Man, I was sure Pete was the villain!" Sora said, putting his hands behind his back.
"I guess we hafta find the steamboat and lock that door." Goofy said sullenly, thinking about the extra work you all had.
"Yeah…" you trailed off, a funny throbbing started in your head and heart. Your vision became blurry, and the your last thought before going into state of semi-consciousness was *Oh no…not again…*
"You made me wait here for an hour!"
"Sorry…so where is he anyway?"
"Who?...Oh! Are you talking about Rapunzel?" I joked, making Roxas laugh.
"Hey, I heard that, ya'know!" another guy's voice shouted.
I turned and saw a green eyed, red haired guy that was looking at me and Roxas with his eyebrows raised. He was taller than me and Roxas, and by the looks of it, a little older too.
"Just kidding, Axel!"
"Whatever, Coconut Head…" Axel retorted, and before I could say anything back, he turned to Roxas and asked, "So, why'd ya bring us here anyway?"
"I'll tell ya when everyone gets here." Roxas assured the redhead.
"It's a great idea!" I added making Axel's eyes flash back and forth from me and Roxas mischievously. Before he could say anything, though, we heard two more people approaching the warm, sunny beach.
The shortest of the pair was a small, blond girl, with sparkling blue eyes that matched the ocean. She greeted us all with a bright "Hello!" as the guy next to her smiled. The guy on her right…his blue eyes and blond hair made him look like the girl next to him was his sister….and I've seen him before…
You gasped as Sora's tense face swam back into your vision. You knew exactly that guy was.
He was the Organization member from Olympus Coliseum…
!Author's Note!
Thanks to XRarityofTearsX for beta-ing this for me, I really appreciate it! ^^
Alrightie, I feel like I've updated this story pretty quickly (well, I sure wrote it quickly; it takes a while to edit it sometimes…) Sorry that the previous two chapters weren't all that hot, I sorta lost inspiration in them, and I just wanted to be over with Olympus Coliseum (not to mention I got sick...xp)
Okay, this chapter was really fun to write, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, that's probably why I'm done with it so quickly. Some of the parts were inspired from things that happened in real life (like the allergy part ^.^) and even though the fighting scenes wasn't very long (as they usually are =p) it turned out okay. Oh, and I probably won't be updating or logging in for a while, since finals are next week, and all I'm gonna be doing is studying =(
So, any parts you liked or disliked? Thoughts about Reina's 'predecessor'? About the Nobodies plans? Tell me all about it! ^.^
~narcotic-lullaby
