Chapter 12- The Land of Azure

"Now where are we now?" Trisha asked when the triangle transported them to a different world.

"I've never been here before," Sora looked around. "I don't recognize this World."

"Probably because you've never been here before," Ienzo looked up at the sky. "This might be one of the new worlds that Yen Sid spoke about. The ones that were created once a heart entered the heart of the world."

"So whose heart was sacrificed to let us go to this world?" Trisha crossed her arms and looked around at the green fields surrounding them.

The three had landed in the middle of a dirt path. All around them were giant hills, all bright green and beautiful. The sky was deep blue, not a single cloud in it.

As the three were looking around at their surroundings in awe, Ienzo's gaze was drawn to the path that they had landed on.

"It's so beautiful!" Trisha cried out, her hands clasping together as she bounced up and down.

"Wow…" Sora said slowly, his eyes going wider at the greenery around them.

"Wonder who lives in the castle," Ienzo pointed down the road. The two followed his finger and found the castle farther down the path, partially obscure by all of the grassy hills.

"Maybe a nice king, or maybe even a queen!" Trisha replied.

"Yeah! They have to be! This place is nice!" Sora soon joined in with her delight.

"Where are all the people?" Ienzo ignored them and glanced around worriedly. "Aren't you two afraid? There's nobody around."

"Nope!" they both answered. Ienzo groaned, slapping his hand over his eyes.

"I was worried about that," he grumbled.

"Hey, isn't that—"

"Yeah it is!"

"I want to see!"

"It's her! It's really her!"

"She came back!"

A small crowd of people was coming up the path in their direction.

"Who are they?" Ienzo looked nervous. "They're running right at us."

They surrounded the group in seconds, all chattering at the same time.

"I told you it was her!"

"It's the Queen! It's really the Queen!"

"Huh?" Sora opened his mouth in shock. Ienzo glanced quickly in Trisha's direction. Many of the people were trying to surround her and she was looking frightened.

"Are you—you must be!" a young man with scruffy brown hair grabbed her hands, looking into her eyes.

"W-what?" she stammered. "Who am I?"

"The Azurin! The Queen of Azure! Our Queen!" another woman pushed forward until she was right next to the man.

"Azurin!" a small boy pushed Ienzo aside to grasp her skirt.

"It's the Azurin!" another girl (perhaps his older sister) pushed Sora aside and looped her arm around Trisha's arm.

Others pushed in as well, some putting their hands on hers; others touched her shoulders, arms, and even her face.

One pair of hands stood out though.

"I held you in my arms when you were a child. You were only five-years-old when Nicholas came and called you 'Azurin'," the old woman crooned. Trisha looked taken aback and even more frightened.

Ienzo frowned. He was already worried about his fellow Keyblade Master. Trisha hadn't even gotten her full set of memories, yet here was more people coming and confusing her. Whoever this 'Azurin' was, it was definitely not Trisha and this ordeal was scaring her.

Enough was enough. He cleared his throat loudly, but nobody seemed to have heard him (with the exception of Sora, of course).

He cleared his throat again, this time much louder. Still no response. Finally—

"HEY!"

This got their attention and everyone looked at him curiously, Trisha gave him a look of appreciation, though she still looked nervous.

"Look, you got the wrong person. This isn't the Azurin! You've just made a mistake! We're just travelers," he raised his voice to the crowd.

"No! She is! She is!" the little boy clung on to her skirt tighter.

"Look kid, if she was the Azurin, wouldn't she have recognized you?" he placed his hands on his waist.

"No," the boy let go and shook his head. "I wasn't born yet."

"Oh," he stepped forward and seized Trisha's elbow. While he was pulling her out of the crowd slowly and steadily, he grabbed Sora along the way. "But she should know many of the people here, shouldn't she?"

"Yeah…" his sister hung her head. "But she looks so much like her. It has to be her."

"It's not, bye." Ienzo started running, dragging both Trisha and Sora behind him. Halfway down the road, they figured out what he was trying to do and regained use of their feet.

"That wasn't nice," Sora commented as they ran away from the confused townspeople.

"I don't care whether that was nice or not. It sure wasn't nice to let them gang up on Trisha, now was it?" Ienzo challenged him.

"No." Sora agreed.

"I feel sorry for them. They must have lost their Queen for a long, long time," Trisha looked back.

"Well, hopefully they'll find her soon. And hopefully we'll find out why we were sent here in the first place," Ienzo reassured her.

"Maybe the castle has some answers," Sora pointed at the looming building up ahead. It was getting bigger after every passing second.

"I hope so," Trisha echoed their thoughts.

"Then let's go and find out. It won't do us much good running around in a world we don't know anything about."

"It is nice though," Trisha argued. "And the Queen is nice. I know it. All of those people love her, yet many have never met her."

"We'll see," Ienzo's gaze was on the castle ahead of them.

"Azurin?"

Ienzo groaned and Sora sighed. When they had entered through the castle gates, another old woman had stopped them again.

"Azurin?" she asked again, squinting at Trisha.

"I'm sorry, I'm not her," she answered quickly, waving her hands in front of her. The old woman sighed and continued on her way.

"Such a pity." She mumbled as she walked along the stone path. "Have we truly lost her?"

"They really miss her," Sora commented watching her go.

"Excuse me, are you perhaps the Azurin?" a new voice came from behind them.

"No, she's not." Ienzo sighed, facing the newcomer.

The new voice belonged to a young woman, somewhere in her early twenties. Her black hair was tied up in a tight bun, her lips red with lipstick, her eyes the shade of chocolate, and her slim, but angular face pale. She wore a slim blue dress, the same color as the cloudless sky. She clutched a brown notebook in her right arm, the gold lettering of 'Azurin' clearly written.

"Oh," she lowered her eyes slowly. "I just thought—well, you look exactly like her…I was hoping—well, it was only hoping..."

"Who is the Azurin?" Trisha asked, clasping her hands and raising them to her chest.

"The Azurin is our Queen," the woman didn't seem fazed that she didn't know. "She has kept peace in this land for eight years. She's been gone for the last two. No one knows where she is. Her confident, Nicholas, left with her and hasn't returned yet either."

"Who are you then?" she asked.

"I am Cerulean Star, the Azurin's secretary. I've been with her since she started her reign—no wait—since she was five years old. Nicholas left to search for her and brought her back."

"Nicholas?" Sora asked. "Who's he?"

"The Azurin's confident, her Supreme Advisor. He follows her wherever she goes. Everyone here believes that he knew she was the Azurin before she was born. When the previous Azurin died, he left immediately, and came back several days later. We had the little girl crowned as heir to the title a few days later. Nicholas hasn't left her side since."

"She used to live in the castle, right?" Trisha asked.

"Yes. Oh! Where are my manners? The Azurin would have loved for more visitors inside the Azure Palace, would you three like a tour?" she smiled.

"Sure," Sora agreed, glancing at the other two.

"Good!" she looked pleased as she led the way up the stairs towards the castle. "Nicholas was always unhappy when she kept inviting more and more people inside our Palace. He kept saying that she was endangering her life."

"She was," Ienzo pointed out. "You didn't do anything about it?"

"No, I knew that she was in danger every time someone new came in. But she looked happier when she spoke with the commoners. That is where she originally came from after all. Nicholas took her from her family to rule the kingdom."

They entered the first hall, a large room that shimmered blue. The light that flowed in through the windows and doors reflected off the smooth marble of the walls and columns, giving the room a cool look.

At the far end of the wall, there was a large painting set up behind the throne in front of them.

"Usually the Azurin sits there, with Nicholas behind her. The Azurin's private artist painted that painting and set it up in her place until she returned."

The woman in the picture was young, her long brown hair tied up neatly in a bun with several strands hanging out and a set of purple and blue flowers were clipped to the side in her hair. Her dress was forest green, matching her emerald eyes to some extent. She wore only one earring, one that greatly resembled Trisha's hairclip, with two strings of purple and blue beads hanging down to her shoulder.

"Wow. She really does look like you." Sora gasped.

"Same hair color, eye color, facial features, even her shape looks the same," Ienzo commented.

"What does that mean?" Trisha put her hands on her waist, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm a scientist. I meant no harm. Just observing."

"That is why everyone keeps thinking you are the Azurin. I agree with them. She's been gone for far too long. Nicholas too. Our country may fall. The Royal Guard can only hold off the Heartless for so long," Cerulean continued sadly. "Only the Azurin has been able to keep them at bay for so long. She and Nicholas are quite the fighting duo."

"We could take care of those for you," Sora offered. Ienzo shot Sora a disbelieving glance.

"Yeah. I think that'll be good. After we—I—confused you," Trisha agreed.

"But do you know how to destroy them?" she looked worried. "We cannot put this task up to just travelers. It would be most rude."

"It's fine," Ienzo sighed. "We know how to destroy them."

"Then, Thank You," she bowed to them. "Our Guard offers their deepest thanks."

"Where are they the greatest?" Sora asked.

"This will sound strange to you, but they are the strongest in the Azurin's rooms. They started appearing there after she vanished."

"That is a bit strange," Ienzo crossed his arms. "I think we should check it out. Where are her rooms?"

"Go through the doorway on you left and go up the third staircase you find. Her rooms start at the last door in the hallway," Cerulean instructed.

"Thanks," Sora was the first to run off in the direction she pointed out.

"I'll prepare rooms for your stay tonight," she bowed to them again, still clutching the leather book closely to her chest.

"You don't need to, really. We don't expect to stay that long. You must not have much room here—" Ienzo was quick to stop her preparations.

"Oh no, the Palace of the Azurin is quite empty now. Ever since the Azurin vanished, her guests left soon because of the large outbreak of Heartless."

"Should we stay?" Trisha put her hands behind her back and looked up at her curiously. "It sounds dangerous."

"It's fine once we put up the wards. The Heartless really don't like them, they usually stay clear away."

"Wards?" Ienzo sounded interested.

"Yes, we have these special wards that we start up once the sun sets. They set up a barrier wherever we set them up. Supposedly, their infused with some crystal that emits a lot of light energy. That keeps the Heartless away."

"Interesting," he muttered, looking around the room.

"Hey! Trisha! Ienzo! Come on!" Sora's voice sounded very faint, but still echoed around the hall.

"We better go," he glanced at Trisha.

"Yeah," she nodded and started running towards the door. Halfway there, she turned her head to look at Cerulean, "See you later!"

"Good luck, My Lady," the woman replied quietly.

"Long day, long night," Trisha sighed as they entered their rooms.

"We should keep guard," Ienzo crossed his arms and looked around the room. "I don't see a single one of their wards here. I don't trust that the Heartless would stay away."

"I wonder why the Nobodies aren't here," Trisha jumped on her bed, kicking off her shoes as she relaxed.

"As long as they don't come at all, I really don't care," Ienzo grumbled from his side of the room. Sora was already snoozing on his bed.

"So…who gets first watch?" Trisha asked, reaching down for her shoes again.

"I'll do it," he started towards the door. "I'll wake you up when it's your turn to stand guard."

"Okay then," she tried to stifle her yawn. Ienzo laughed.

"See you later."

It seemed like a second later after she put her head down that Ienzo was shaking her awake.

"Izzit time yet?" she yawned, sitting up. Ienzo reached down the darkness and handed Trisha her shoes.

"Your turn. Just wake Sora up when you get tired again. I think he'll be happy to stand guard," Ienzo helped her up. "If you need help, just shout. No doubt the rest of the Castle would hear."

Trisha chuckled quietly as she felt her way towards the door. The door creaked as she shut it slowly behind her.

Her heels clacked seemingly loud on the stone floor as she started pacing in front of the door.

By her fourth or fifth round, she stopped.

A strange wind was blowing through the hall. It looped around her quickly, her hair and skirt catching it and flowing around her in a swirl.

Almost by instinct, she started walking down the hallway, the wind urging her on in an unknown direction. She didn't know where she was going until the wind stopped in front of the large painting in front of the Azurin's Throne.

The picture looked eerie in the darkness. Especially the Azurin. Her eyes seemed to lock Trisha in place.

Terror filled her. And she wondered vaguely if the painting was haunted. But no, that was only in stories. She stood in front of the painting for sometime until she realized where she was.

Slowly, but steadily, her strength started returning. A warm wind was enveloping her again, this time, reassuring her.

She took a slow step away from the painting, trembling slightly. When nothing happened, she breathed a slow sigh of relief and took another step.

Then the floor gave way, and she fell down into darkness.

Ienzo and Sora jolted up in their beds.

"Did you hear that?" Sora asked, breathlessly.

"Yeah. It sounded like Trisha," Ienzo was already yanking on his shoes.

"She was screaming," Sora stated.

"Yeah, and I want to know why," Ienzo narrowed his eyes and was out the door.

Trisha was standing in a sea of mist. Every which way just led to more and more mists. But it wasn't chilly. No, the warm wind that had surrounded her earlier was back, protecting her against the mist. Repelling it away from her.

A bird with a long tail flew over her head. It landed in front of her, fixing its beady gaze on her.

It turned its head and looked towards a door that had appeared in the mists.

"Where did that…come from?" she wondered and glanced back at the bird, but it vanished.

Starting towards the door was simple. But as she started raising her hand to take the handle and open it, a repelling force hit her.

The feeling was strange, like she wanted to know and didn't want to know, what was behind that door.

'Maybe it's the door to my memories.' she thought.

'Or maybe it's not.' Another voice chided.

'I can't leave without knowing.'

'Yes you can. You can leave. You don't need this.'

'I want to know.'

'You don't want to know.'

Choose.

'I want to go.'

'Don't.'

'Shut up.'

You have chosen the path to Truth. The Door will now open.

The Future is not written. Neither is the Present. Both are intertwined together in the web of fate.

A scrap of paper fluttered down in front of her. Trisha raised her hand and caught it, turning it around, glancing at the writing.

'—Outsiders. A mysterious group of individuals that cast no emotions. The 'cold' ones. They have come into existence recently, heading to different worlds to try to 'complete' themselves. But what are they looking for to be 'complete'? What could they be looking for?

Why would they take down the Twilight Barrier in Memphis? What do they have to gain? I must find out. The Azurin must know. To bring the 'Outsiders' here would cause chaos and destroy the delicately balanced peace. If we find out what they want, we may be able to give it to them and have them leave immediately before anything happens.

The Twilight Barrier must not fall. We need it to survive. I must find out…"

-Wayne, Nicholas. Year 4 of the Azure Wind (Confident of the Azurin)

A tiny flutter of hope filled her as she read the paper, and a tear slid down her cheek, dotting the worn paper.

Huh? She wiped it away. Tears?

Somehow, the paper had brought back strange feelings to her. A special longing for the writer. And relief, relief that he wasn't gone yet.

Yet.

edited 09-19-08