14
Chapter XIV: A Red Tide
"Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom
by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred."
~Martin Luther King Jr.
After having dropped off Geppetto and Pinocchio at Traverse Town, their journey continued untroubled, with the Gummi Ship cruising steadily toward the next furthest world beyond Agrabah. Sora, Donald and Goofy all sat in the cockpit, eyes peeled to different points in space on the lookout for a reappearance of Monstro. Instead, though, a new world was rapidly coming into view.
This new world seemed to be completely covered in water, just a perfect blue sphere that rolled and tossed with the waves. As Donald began to set up a landing, Sora couldn't help but remember Riku's accusation.
"Do you even want to save Kairi?"
Did Riku have a point? Did the fact that he kept getting tied up in these other adventures mean that he didn't really care to find out what had happened to Kairi? But he knew for sure that he wanted find Kairi, more than anything! So why did he keep ending up so involved on these other journeys? He almost could understand why Riku felt that way…
"Uh, Donald…" Goofy spoke up, "Are you plannin' on just landing on the water?"
"Yep!" Donald said, conjuring up his wand as the ship came in for a landing.
Sora sat up in his seat, "What? In the water? What are we going to do there?"
Donald looked up and sighed with impatience, "This is Atlantica. It's special. And with a little bit of my magic, you'll see. Now shut up and let me concentrate!"
Sora looked at Goofy, who shrugged in response. Donald stood up and beckoned for them to follow him out of the ship through a hatch that opened up out of the top of the ship. When the three had climbed out into the open air, Sora was immediately struck by how endless the ocean was—it was one thing to gaze out at the ocean from one of the Islands back home, but here, it was just endless ocean in all directions—from horizon to horizon. It was almost enough to make Sora dizzy.
"Alright, Goofy, jump in!" Donald ordered, pointing to the water beside the Gummi Ship. "You too, Sora!"
"Uh, but Donald, where we going?" Sora asked, "We can't just swim forever, you know?"
"Just let my magic take care of that!" Donald declared, before shoving Sora, followed by Goofy, off the edge of the Gummi ship and into the choppy surf.
The first thing Sora felt was water, and lots of it.; water in every direction. He quickly clamped his mouth shut, thinking angry thoughts about Donald. What was he thinking?! Sora started to propel himself upwards and hopefully to the surface, realizing then, though, that he couldn't feel his legs anymore, instead, he felt only one muscle where his legs were supposed to be.
Slowly, he peeked one eye open and stared down. Thankfully, the water was clear and bright, lit by a shining sun, and so he could see quite far in all directions. As he looked down at himself, his mouth dropped in shock: it looked like his legs had become one, long, dark blue fin! He no longer wore his shirt or jacket; the only thing familiar to him was his silver crown pendant, floating around his neck. It was then that he noticed that his mouth was open and he had barely noticed, let alone was drowning. It appeared as though he could breathe the water here, at least in his current form. Things just never stopped getting weirder.
Sora soon caught sight of Goofy, who no longer looked like a dog, but was rather a huge sea turtle with a yellow shell, shield was nowhere to be seen. Donald, too, soon floated down into Sora's vision as a small octopus, but still retained his two white arms and head.
"Uhh...Donald..." Sora wriggled around, trying to figure out how to swim with a fin, "What happened?"
"I used my magic to change us into sea creatures so we can fit into this world." He answered matter-of-factly.
Sora twisted his tail. "So...I'm a mermaid?"
Donald was silent for a moment, as Goofy lazily swam floated past. "Technically, it's a merman."
Sora had little to say in response, and instead clumsily swam deeper into the ocean. Near to the bottom, walls of blue stone rose up all around him, creating natural barriers that gave way to long trenches which snaked around the ocean's floor. The underwater world was splendidly lit, with no darkened spots in view, except for the shadow cast by the Gummi Ship. A school of yellow and red fish swam by and disappeared through multi-colored coral. It was a serene scene, beautiful in its calmness.
"Come on, Sebastian!" called a feminine voice.
Sora glanced down the trench in the direction the voice had come from and caught sight of a young mermaid coming towards them. She stopped short when she saw Sora, Donald and Goofy, but quickly smiled and swam closer.
"Ariel! Wait!" a deep voice exclaimed from behind the girl. "Don't leave me behind!"
The mermaid herself had long, thick red hair and bright, clear blue eyes. She had a light green fin and wore nothing but two purple shells covering her chest. Sora blushed and looked away.
"Why, hello there!" the girl called. Sora gave a little wave while still looking down and away, where Goofy was continuing to float carelessly.
"Uh, I, uh, hi…" Sora replied.
"Ariel!" Sora saw a small red hermit crab, owner of the deep voice, swim into view. "What would your father do if he knew you were talkin' to strange fish?"
"Oh, calm down, Sebastian!" the girl replied, "Daddy will be fine. Besides, they don't look like one of them. Right Flounder?" The girl addressed a yellow puffer fish with blue stripes who swam beside her.
"I don't know..." it replied quietly. "There's something weird about them."
"Excuse my friends, my name is Ariel." the mermaid greeted.
"Uhhh...my name is Sora. That's Donald." Sora looked away to his friend who was now glaring angrily at the hermit crab; he must've bumped into him or something. "And that's Goofy." Sora turned to the reclining sea turtle.
There was no reply for a moment and, when Sora peeked back at Ariel, he found her face immediately in front of his, staring at him quizzically.
"Are you afraid of me?"
"I, uh, of course I'm not!" Sora swallowed and laughed nervously. "We're just...we're not used to these waters yet. We come from sorta far away…"
Ariel smiled and swam up above him. "Well then! Welcome to King Triton's sea! This is Sebastian and that's Flounder!" she gestured at the hermit crab and the puffer fish, respectively. "I love meeting new people! You can come with us! We'll take you to see daddy-" Ariel was cut off when a small group of Heartless appeared. She gasped and swam away from the sudden intruders. Sora called the Keyblade to his hands.
These Heartless were small and resembled the jellyfish that Sora used to catch back on the Islands with Riku and Kairi. They were sea green and transparent in color, with the black heart, criss-crossed in red, over their bulbous heads. The first one came at Sora with its tentacles stretched out.
Sora brought the Desert Key up for a practiced slash, but he hadn't counted on the water slowing the Keyblade. The Heartless stingers reached him and sent jolts of electricity through his body. He shook in pain as Donald propelled himself up close to the Heartless and placed his wand right against it. He called out "Fire!", leaving Heartless to be hit head on with burning magic. It vanished into black, inky darkness. Goofy pulled his head and fins into his shell and spun quickly into the other Heartless, taking the remaining two down with only his shell acting as a new shield.
Sora floated there, gasping and clutching his gut.
"Gawrsh, Sora, are you okay?" Goofy asked, swimming close.
"Yeah..." he wheezed, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"The Heartless may be headed for da palace!" Sabastian said anxiously. "We have to get back dere!"
Ariel nodded worriedly. "We need to tell daddy that those creatures are appearing even in the western trenches."
Sora paused for a moment, thinking of Riku's accusation-
Do the right thing, Sora.
-before nearly instinctually responding. "We'll come with you!"
They could at least look for the Keyhole, right?
After a ways of swimming, with Sora perfecting his movements unnoticed along the way, the small group of six reached a large, open area fenced in by tall, coral pillars. The pillars came to a stop at the far end of the area, ending with a towering arch that stood guard to a large castle, which reflected the shimmering sunlight in golden hues. Rock and shell formations dotted the area, covered by colorful coral, and a small road ran through the middle. Not as though this environment was easily seen, however, since the entire spacious courtyard was filled, on all sides, with mermaids and mermen swimming about, resting, and occasionally talking to each other in fearful tones.
"Refugees from da outer kingdom." Sebastian answered the unspoken question. "Da Heartless have forced dem to gadder' here."
Sora nodded as they swam their way past the merfolk, a few of whom looked suspiciously at the new arrivals. Sora chuckled nervously and swam faster. These people were obviously on edge from the Heartless attacks. He wondered how much they knew about the beings of darkness. Then again, how much did he know? They were creatures born of darkness who stole people's hearts and were trying to eat the hearts of worlds. He also knew there were different species of Heartless, some who looked like soldiers, others who looked like simple shadows, and many more. The weaker Heartless were also normally led by a stronger Heartless, and they were dangerous: they could hurt, they could kill, and they could destroy worlds.
And Sora knew he couldn't let them do that. There was another reason with which to answer Riku!
Presently, Ariel led the group into the shimmering palace and even further into a circular room with a large, blue coral throne growing majestically up from the floor. On it sat a tall merman with a chiseled body and dark blue fin. He had a long, white beard connected to a white mustache that hung down on both sides of his mouth. Atop his head was a golden crown and in his hand he held an imposing, golden trident.
"Hello Daddy!" Ariel greeted her father.
"Oh, Ariel," the King groaned, causing Ariel to flinch. "When will you listen? It's dangerous outside the palace!" The King's eyes shifted to Sora and his friends, narrowing. "Strange creatures lurk outside..."
Sebastian cleared his throat. "Behold! You swim before da ruler of da Seas: His Majesty, King Triton!"
Triton didn't seem to notice Sebastian's introduction, continuing instead to stare down Sora, Donald and Goofy. "...and who are they?"
Ariel smiled and swam behind Sora, pushing him forward towards her father. "They helped us fight off the Heartless!"
Triton still glowered. "Hm. They don't look familiar..."
Sora swallowed. "We're, ah, from an ocean very far away."
Goofy glided through Triton's field of vision carelessly. "Yup! We came to find the Keyhole-"
Triton's eyes widened. "The what?"
Sora flinched. Should they really just be telling anyone about that?
"What's that?" Ariel asked in innocent curiosity.
"Well," Goofy chuckled. "It's a-"
"There's no such thing! Certainly not here!" Triton interrupted with a yell.
"But—But Daddy..." Ariel looked sadly at her father, wanting to hear more.
"Ariel! Not another word." the King warned sternly. "You are not to leave the Palace again, is that clear?"
Ariel shook her head angrily and quickly swam from the room. Sora, not wanting to be left alone with the ruler without his daughter, turned hastily and followed, Donald and Goofy in tow.
King Triton watched the boy and his friends suspiciously, until they were completely out of sight. He should have ordered those three newcomers away from his daughter. Better yet, he should have had them locked away himself. They were trouble.
But Ariel...oh, dear, dear, Ariel. The King turned to the only being left in the room: his loyal attaché, Sebastian.
"Perhaps I'm being too strict..." Triton rubbed his forehead. "I'm just concerned for her safety..."
Triton knew his extreme concern had arisen since his wife's death, when the Heartless had first arrived and along with those another three strangers…but he needn't voice that to anyone, not even Sebastian.
"Of course, your Majesty! Very true!" Sebastian replied. "But I must admit, now I'm quite curious about dis Keyhole..."
Triton reached one of his great hands out and plucked Sebastian up, bringing him close to his face. "That need not concern you, Sebastian." he released the hermit crab. "Have you anything to report?"
Sebastian swallowed and nodded. "Just as you suspected, your Majesty! Da Heartless seem to be coming from Ursula's grotto and they have taken da western trenches!"
"I knew it!" Triton smashed his fist down on the side of his throne. "That Sea Witch is up to no good again. I see exile from the Palace has taught her nothing. I should have had her executed!"
"Yes, she poses serious danger!" Sebastian affirmed.
A fire kindled in Triton's eyes. "And I told you to keep Ariel away from such danger, did I not?"
"Your Majesty, please, I, uh..." Sebastian stumbled over his words. Triton inwardly smiled at Sebastian's floundering, knowing it to come from a heart of true loyalty.
"Sebastian, send a legion of my finest soldiers to Ursula's Grotto. She must be stopped! Then I want you to keep my daughter out of harm's way!" Triton ordered, regretting that he had ever shown that witch mercy.
Sebastian nodded mutely and quickly left the King alone with his thoughts.
Meanwhile, Sora, Donald and Goofy had followed Ariel to her grotto. Goofy had expressed concern that Ariel's private cave was outside the Palace, but the girl hadn't seemed to care.
The grotto was a round cave that gradually became smaller the higher it went, eventually leading to a foot-wide hole at its peak. Rough-hewn shelves circled the room completely, with new shelf every few feet up toward the apex of the cave. The shelves themselves held all manner of odd knickknacks and assorted items—forks, clocks, chests- that Sora could only guess came from land-dwelling people. But where did those people come from if this whole world was water? Maybe there was more to travelling between worlds than he knew?
"Look at all these wonderful things Flounder and I have collected!" Ariel held up a small glass case containing a set of silverware. "It's all from the outside world! Someday, I'm gonna see what's out there!"
Sora smiled as he watched the mermaid. It wasn't too long ago that he, Riku and Kairi had felt the same. They had wanted to explore and discover; to see the sights no one else had. Or, at least he and Riku had. Or maybe it had just been Riku, and he had followed. She had always played along with them, but Kairi had always been happy with the Islands, even though she should've had the most motivation to want to see other worlds. Sora thought he, too, had always been happy with the Islands, but Riku had convinced him of the glory of other worlds. Not that he had minded all that much-It had been an exciting adventure to imagine.
Now, looking back, Sora thought that he would've preferred staying on the Islands over all that had happened in the last week and a half. To have the Islands back, to have Riku and Kairi and his mother back. To relax on the beach and hear the waves slowly drift in and out, in and out.
Ariel sighed. "I must sound crazy..."
"No you don't." Sora encouraged, coming back to reality. "I kinda used to feel the same way."
Ariel cocked her head. "Used to?"
"I mean...still do." He recovered.
Ariel nodded and smiled. "Hey! Why don't we try looking for that Keyhole you were talking about?"
Sora gulped. He didn't want to bring King Triton's anger down on him anymore than he already had. "But...your father said-"
"Oh, he treats me like a little girl!" Ariel said angrily. "He probably just said that to keep me inside the Palace! He never wants me to do anything exciting." She sighed. "He just...he just doesn't understand..."she brightened up, "But I've got an idea about that Keyhole!"
Ariel swam over to a large crate that sat along the far wall and shoved it aside, revealing a small, trident shaped indentation.
"I've asked Daddy before about what this means, but he'd never tell me!" She turned to Sora. "What if it has something to do with your Keyhole!"
Donald raised a finger, about to say something, but the young mermaid spoke first.
"If we go up the northern trench, there's a sunken ship from the Surface-World. I've never really explored it before." Ariel smashed a fist into her palm. "But maybe we'll find something there to do with the Keyhole!"
Before anyone had the chance to say anything else, Ariel swam from the room, expecting everyone to follow. Sora looked at Donald and shrugged, swimming after her. Donald grabbed Goofy, who had fallen asleep while drifting, and dragged him along after Sora. There was something about the way Ariel spoke—the absolute conviction, the hunger for new things and the will to chase after them—that reminded him of Riku…
What no one had noticed was that three different beings had watched the conversation. One, a small, red hermit crab on assignment from his King. The other two, a pair of electric eels with one glowing yellow eye each.
Ursula slid away from her cauldron, having seen enough of Triton's precious daughter's spiel. Her poopsies, Flotsam and Jetsam, had done a fine job in spying on the girl, as they always had. They were beautiful creatures.
One of her many tentacles reached out and grabbed a tube of lipstick which she applied thickly.
"Those impudent fools will never find the Keyhole. But the girl..." Ursula smacked her lips. "Dear, dear Ariel could prove useful. And I've got the Heartless on my side..." she laughed and glided over to the entrance of her main abode, deep within a great coral growth. The only way to enter was through the skeletal mouth and throat of a long-dead, underwater behemoth, through which she now swam.
All along the ground of the tunnel were small growths; like little wilting flowers, each wavering back and forth slowly with the tide, groaning to themselves with their little faces.
They had each used to be merman and mermaids who had made deals with the Sea Witch, back when she lived in the Palace before those three fools ruined everything. Few came to her after her...removal...but it was always a wonderful occasion when that rarity did occur. The poor souls had been unable to hold up their end of their deals and she had been forced to...discipline them. They were her own little friends, once people, and now growths. No better, in fact, then they had been as merpeople. Growths, all of them. Horrible little growths that latched onto their fellows and selfishly sapped everything for themselves.
She had simply weeded the terrible fools from the...less terrible fools. But still fools nonetheless, all of them. The biggest being Triton. He had failed to see all the good she was bringing him. She only was doing what was best. That was, after all, what she lived for.
Ursula's little prisoners moaned in horror at her presence as she smiled over her precious garden.
"Triton, my old friend, your day is coming."
The sunken ship was a large wreck, appearing many years old. It sat at the bottom of a round canyon, titled to the left, with pieces of the bow and a few lifeboats scattered around it. As the foursome swam closer, they found that the deck was almost nonexistent, consisting mostly of rotted holes.
"Gawrsh, how long has this ship been here?" Goofy asked.
"For as long as I can remember." Ariel answered as she swam down into the deeper part of the ship.
As they reached the cargo hold below, it became clear that this ship had not been made for long travel. Most of the ship was holding crates and boxes, with only a few bunks for the crew. At the far end of the hold, a rotted door hung off of its hinges, leading into what was probably the Captain's cabin. Upon entering, Sora saw a desk sitting in the middle of the room in front of the far wall's massive window. A few chairs lay toppled over toward the listing side of the ship. A golden plaque on the wall read 'Captain Eric the First'.
"Doesn't look like there's anything here..." Sora shrugged, still wondering what had convinced Ariel to take interest in this wreck. Meanwhile, the mermaid had begun shuffling through the piles of wreckage that had accumulated on the low side of the ship. Suddenly, she screamed, and Sora brought the Keyblade to had immediately. Rushing to her side, Sora soon caught sight of what she had seen: A white skeleton, wearing scraps of blue cloth and clutching a small chest in its white hands. Goofy swam up beside it and poked it.
"Looks pretty old..." he announced.
Donald slapped his forehead. "Thanks, Goofy, we would've never guessed."
"I wonder how he died..." Sora asked no-one in particular.
Ariel, apparently over her scare, tugged the chest from the skeleton's bony fingers. "Probably was trying to get away with this. I wonder what's in it..." she tried to pull it open, but the lock held fast.
"Sora! You could use the Keyblade-" Goofy pointed to the sword in Sora's hand. Donald slapped his head again.
"She really needed to know about the Keyblade..." he mumbled quietly.
"Know what?" Ariel asked. "What can your sword do?"
"Yeah," Sora asked. "What can it-" it was then that he realized what Goofy had somehow realized. If the Keyblade could lock worlds, surely it unlock a little chest.
"So what can it do?" Ariel repeated.
"Well, uh, this, I guess..." Sora pointed the Desert Key towards the lock and a small beam of light emerged from the Key's tip, shot into the lock. With a small click. the chest popped open, water greedily filling the previously empty space.
Ariel's eyes widened. "What kind of sword is that?"
"Eh..," Sora rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't really know..."
Ariel shrugged and looked into the chest. In it was a single, three-pronged blue crystal trident. Sora was reminded of King Triton's mighty weapon, briefly wondering if these things had any connection. Ariel reached in and grabbed the crystal trident, studying it intently.
"You know, it seems like you should know what the Keyblade is by now, Sora." Donald shrugged. "It seems irresponsible for you to have it if you don't even know what it can do..."
"Hey! You don't know either!" Sora waved the sword around in annoyance.
"It's not my sword!" Donald replied.
"You know..." Ariel finally interrupted, everyone turning to look at her. "This crystal trident reminds me of the-"
Just then, the wrecked ship shook and the glass windows ahead of them exploded. Crashing through the debris came a gigantic shark-shaped Heartless with small, yellow eyes. Sora brought the Keyblade up into a defensive position and everyone swam back toward the door. The shark snapped its jaws hungrily at them and began to push itself through the rotted wood that was holding it back.
"Let's get outta here!" Goofy yelled, quickly propelling himself from the room. Ariel and Donald followed, with Sora coming last, watching the Heartless struggle its way through the windowed wall, bits of darkness tearing off of it and floating away.
When they reached outside the ship, they could no longer hear the struggles of the shark.
"If it's no longer trying to get in..." Ariel began.
"...then it's out here." Sora finished, looking up just in time to be pushed aside as the dark for, moved past, its hungry yellow eyes headed straight toward Ariel. She began to quickly swim away, but the heartless shark's powerful fins pushed it to speeds that no merperson could reach.
Suddenly, a blast of golden light hit the shark from the side and sent it tumbling through the water, darkening the water from the huge gash in its side. Another blast connected near its eyes, causing it to tumble with finality into the far wall of the canyon and float limp in the water, before dissolving into darkness. Sora watched Ariel's eyes widen as she turned to look at where the golden blasts had come from. Turning as well, Sora found King Triton floating at the lip of the canyon, holding a glowing trident.
"Ariel!" he roared, voice booming through the canyon. "You've disobeyed me again! I told you not to leave the Palace-" he stopped short, when he noticed the crystal trident clutched in Ariel's hand. His eyes narrowed. Triton swiftly swam over to his daughter and pulled the small item from her hand.
"Daddy—Daddy no!" Ariel cried as Triton crushed the trident tip in his large fist, anger-filled eyes never leaving his daughter's face.
"I..I...how could you?" Ariel burst into tears and rapidly swam away and out of sight.
"Ariel!" Sora called out after her.
For a moment, Triton stared off into the space his daughter had previously occupied. His eyes had softened slightly, but quickly returned to their previous fire when he turned to Sora and friends.
"Young man, you're not from another ocean! You're from another world, aren't you?" Triton accused.
Sora said nothing in shock. He guessed Donald and Goofy were feeling the same on either side of him. How had Triton figured it out? Were they that obvious? Or was it something more? Could Triton know something he didn't?
Triton scoffed. "You must be a Keybearer."
"How...how did you know?" Sora asked, still surprised.
"You may fool Ariel, but you can't fool me." Triton shook his head. "You don't know your dorsal fin from your tail."
Sora groaned. Turns out they were just that obvious.
Triton pointed his Golden Trident at Sora threateningly. "As the Keybearer, how dare you meddle in the affairs of other worlds?!"
"That's what I keep telling him…" Donald sighed to himself.
Sora shook his head emphatically. "But we're trying to save the-"
"You have violated the order of the worlds!" Triton interrupted, turning from the group. "The Keybearers...they shatter peace and bring ruin." he finished bitterly.
"Aw," Goofy swam in front of his friend. "Sora's not like that-"
"I thank you for saving my daughter," Triton interrupted again. "But there is no room in my ocean for you or your Key!" as the Sea King passed over the lip of the canyon, he called out one final warning. "It would be better for you to leave sooner, rather than later. The destruction of that Heartless will doubtlessly draw more of its cursed kind."
The three friends were silent for a moment. Sora stared down at the golden Keyblade in his hands. Why did Triton think that was his destiny….Would he end up doing that? Would he end up bringing ruin and destruction to the Worlds?
He couldn't. He wouldn't. Couldn't and wouldn't.
Could he?
"Do you even want to save Kairi?"
Ariel lay dejectedly across the rock in the middle of her grotto, crying into her arm. Why did her father have to be so insensitive? Why didn't he ever seem to care about what she wanted to do? Why couldn't he just...why couldn't he just let her live her own life?
"My, my, the poor child suffers such deep sorrow..." a gurgling voice spoke. Ariel's head shot up. Two dark blue eels with one unblinking yellow eye each were staring at her from across the rock.
"What a pity" one of them said to the other. "If only there were something we could do..."
"Well, maybe she could be of some help." the other one said thoughtfully.
"Yes, maybe she could be of some help" the second one turned and spoke to Ariel, "to you."
"Who're," Ariel sniffed. "Who're you talking about?"
The first eel smiled. "Oh, she would surely help you. She'd make all your dreams come true."
"Ursula can help." The second eel smiled in tandem and both of them twisted in swirling dance, disappearing into an inky cloud that had appeared. When the cloud vanished, in its place was a large, pale-purple half-woman, half-octopus wafting down to the sea floor. She had white, thick hair that billowed upward at all angles above her head. Black tentacles snaked out from her torso like a churning clump of seaweed. She wore bright red lipstick and eyeshadow around huge, white eyes.
"You called, my dear?" Ursula held out her arms, as if offering a hug from a pestering aunt.
"You're...you're Ursula." Ariel declared more than asked. This woman's name had been forbidden at the Palace, and she had only heard it spoken once when she was much younger. Ariel wondered briefly why her father had outlawed the usage of the simple name of what appeared to be a helpful woman. Probably something completely unreasonable like ruining a dinner or something.
"I was...I was just wondering if you could-"
Ursula chuckled. "It's all right, deary, helping others is what I live for!" she put a pointed fingernail to her chin in thought. "Let me guess, you wish to see other worlds. That shouldn't be too hard. After all," Ursula's eyes glinted. "Your new friends came from another world."
"W-what?" Ariel's eyes widened in shock.
"But they had special help-" Ursula sighed in sympathy. "That mysterious Key."
Ariel sighed. Just when she thought she could get her wish, she found that it would take Sora's special sword. Why did everyone else get what she wanted?
Ursula, seeing her disappointment, shrugged. "Now, now, cheer up, sweetie! You have something special too."
"Huh?" Ariel questioned.
Ursula slid across the ground to her, and wrapped a caring arm around her. She guided Ariel from the grotto, whispering to her the entire time. Now just listen carefully...we both know your father has many secrets…"
Ariel nodded as they passed into the outer ocean.
"There are more than you know, dear girl…" she continued as they moved toward the palace from the west instead of the main entrance. "For example, did you know he banished me from the palace simply for helping people?" Ariel's eyes widened. "It's true! He thought they shouldn't be helped, said it was deserved on their part, that he wouldn't allow it-and you know what he thinks about his commands…"
Ariel nodded again, "He thinks that he gets to decide everything for everyone!"
"Right, right!" Ursula affirmed, grinning wide with her perfectly white teeth. "And you know he's done it again, right? This Keyhole your new friends were talking about, the one your dear daddy said he knew nothing about? I believe it to be somewhere in the Palace." Ursula urged Ariel forward, the palace now quite close. "Let me offer you a deal-if you can take me there without your daddy knowing..." Ursula licked her lips. "I can help you get to these other worlds you long for."
Ariel nodded eagerly and led Ursula around outside the palace and inside a back way. They were coming up behind the Throne Room when they heard Triton speaking with a guard.
"-and don't let that spiky-haired boy and his deluded friends anywhere near my daughter or this palace!"
"Daddy, I just saw them. They were trying to get into the palace! I came here right away." Ariel took advantage of the moment and swam up from the shadows behind her father's throne. Ursula had to restrain a laugh, this girl was too good! The guard nodded and swam off quickly, calling out for more of his soldiers.
Triton looked warmly at his daughter. "Ariel! So this is where you were hiding!" he placed a large hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad that you see what a danger that boy can be!" Suddenly, his face took on a solemn look. Ariel watched him, fidgeting uncomfortably. "I do think that I might..." Triton swallowed. "That I might...er, owe you-"
"How touching, Triton, you do have a heart." Ursula's black tentacles wrapped around the trident and ripped it from the King's grasp.
"Ursula!" Triton roared. "How did you get into the palace? Ariel! Stay back!" Triton reached out a hand protectively. "This woman is mad!"
"Triton, you old fool!" Ursula chuckled and pointed the trident at the King, her voice dropping dangerously low. "She let me in."
Triton had little time to even look at his daughter in shock before a golden beam from the trident hit Triton square in his chest and threw him viciously into his coral throne, toppling it to the ground.
Ursula lifted the trident high in victory. "The Trident is mine at last!" Ursula smiled and nodded at Ariel. "And I couldn't have done it without your help, my dear."
But Ariel wasn't listening, she was desperately digging through the coral rubble, attempting to remove her wounded father. "Ursula! No! I didn't..." her throat caught. "I didn't..."
"What? You didn't want this?" Ursula chuckled as her two eels appeared from an inky cloud. "But aren't you tired of following your dear daddy's orders?"
Ariel didn't say anything, dedicated solely to digging her father out.
"Oh, oh yes! We had a deal, didn't we?" Ursula smiled and lifted the trident again. "Time for a little journey—to the dark world of the Heartless!"
"We cannot find the Keyhole." one of the eels spoke.
"The Keyhole is not here." the second one said.
"What?" Ursula sneered and turned just in time to see the Keyblade Master enter with his two compatriots.
When Sora entered the Throne Room, having dodged a few guards in an attempt to plead his case once more to King Triton, he found himself looking upon a terrible scene. He first saw Ariel frantically digging rubble from what appeared to have been the King's throne, now a pile of wreckage on the ocean floor. King Triton himself was nowhere to be seen, and floating in the middle of the room, pointing the glowing trident toward Ariel, was a large, half-octopus woman. Two dark green eels floated beside the strange being.
Sora knew immediately that this octopus-thing must be some sort of enemy. It wouldn't have the Trident and be pointing it at Ariel otherwise. He nodded at Donald and they both called forth their weapons and pointed them towards the octopus woman. Goofy readied himself to use his shell as a weapon, since his shield had been lost in transit to Atlantica.
"Hey you!" Sora said threateningly.
"Well, well, well! We have company!" the black octopus cackled at some unheard joke, waving the Trident in a circle above her. "I'm afraid you're a little late, handsome."
On the ground beneath the octopus, a black puddle appeared and from it grew a rock cauldron. A red mist swirled within it and every few moments an overflow of the mist would float off of it.
"I am Ursula! Ruler of the Seas!" the Sea Witch screamed as she flung her hands about her, manipulating the contents of the cauldron. Sora began to swim towards her but was pulled back by something slimy wrapped around his fin, looking down to see one of the eels encircling him. As he swung the Keyblade at it to knock it off, he saw Goofy swim past him towards Ursula. The dog-creature threw himself in a spin and moved towards Ursula head on, only to be assailed by a blast of red energy from the cauldron. Goofy's hardened shell crashed into one of the stone pillars, sending a crack racing up its middle. The pillar cracked and collapsed toward Ursula, only to be blasted to smithereens by the Trident.
By this time, Sora had succeeded in knocking the eel off his leg and was again moving towards Ursula. As he moved, he noted quickly that Donald was currently fighting off the second eel.
Sora brought the Keyblade down hard on the turned back of the Sea Witch, distracted as she was with the pillar, and created a long gash down her back that started to leak black liquid. Ursula screamed in what sounded like horror instead of pain and lashed out at Sora with one of her tentacles, easily clamping his arms tightly against his body. With that control, Ursula slammed Sora up against another pillar and brought the trident up to just touching his throat. Sora wriggled to escape her grasp, or at least get in a position to use the Keyblade.
"Maleficent always spoke wonders of you, my little dear. She claims you are the only one who could stop her. Or at least...your little sword could." At this, Ursula's tentacles brushed up against the Keyblade. "But now, I'm afraid I must sacrifice your pretty face for the sake of mine." Ursula shrugged and sighed resignedly. "What a poor, unfortunate soul."
Ariel was still hastily moving rubble from around her father's throne, near-oblivious to the battle going on around her. She had already uncovered a bruised left hand and chest, and was now uncovering Triton's face. As she lifted the last few rocks, throwing them carelessly to the side, Ariel wondered what she had really wanted. Was she really willing to sacrifice her father's life for the sake of otherworldly travel? She had found that her heart had broken in the moment of Ursula's attack, when her father barely had time to glance her way-in that hundredth of a second, Ariel had glimpsed the betrayal mixed with shock in her father's eyes.
That glimpse had cut like a dagger into her heart. In that moment, she realized her father had a reason for all the things he did. All the restrictions, all the reprimands, all the anger was all for her safety. She had realized that her father had wanted nothing more than to keep his daughter safe in the only ways he knew how.
"The Trident..." his choking voice mumbled. "We...must get it back..."
Ariel found herself looking at the battered face of her father, but he wasn't looking back at her. He was looking beyond her to the battle going on in the Throne Room.
"Daddy..." Ariel spoke with a trembling voice, cupping Triton's rough face with her small hand. "Daddy, you're hurt..."
Triton didn't respond as Ariel watched her father swallow once and muster all the strength he could to yell one more line.
"Keyblade Master...Ursula's cauldron...is the source of her power!"
Sora felt the tentacles around him tighten as the trident pressed against his neck began to glow. He heard King Triton's words about Ursula's cauldron and knew that he had to get to it…if only he could move the Desert Key to get a good swing at the witch in front of him. Ursula cackled.
"Sweety, I almost forgot, there's a rule I like to run my business by." Ursula pulled the Trident away from his throat and drew it down towards his chest. "It goes like this: An eye for an eye." As soon as the words left Ursula's lips, she quickly slashed the Trident down Sora's chest, opening a gash from the top of his sternum to the bottom of his ribs. Sora screamed in pain as blood leaked forth from the wound.
"There, that wasn't so heard, my little dear! Now our business is even." Ursula brought the trident back up to his throat. "You can die without a debt. Lucky boy."
Through the pain in his chest, Sora remembered something. His magic. With a shuddering breath, Sora twisted the Keyblade into such a position that it just brushed Ursula's torso. Ursula peeked down to see what had touched her, only to hear Sora yell out one word.
"Blizzara!"
Ursula screamed as a sharply pointed icicle formed at the edge of the Keyblade and plunged itself deep into her body. The Sea Witches' tentacles unraveled themselves from around Sora as she writhed in pain. Sora gasped and sunk close to the ground, trying to catch his breath. Taking a small breath, he called out another spell.
"Cure!"
Green light covered his body as the open wound on his chest sealed itself into a scar. Sora breathed easily for a moment, just before his head started to spin from mental exhaustion of using two spells. He caught sight of Donald, who yelled his name, still fighting Ursula's two eels. Sora tumbled softly to the ground beside Ursula's cauldron, finding himself staring up at a rather angry Witch. The icicle she had been impaled with had melted away in the warm waters of Atlantica and now a gaping wound, oozing the same black liquid Ursula's back had, made itself painfully clear.
"So you're not just a pretty face..." Ursula snarled, moving her way slowly towards him. Sora thought that her tentacles were now throwing themselves around independent of the Witch.
Sora mumbled, mind clearing slightly. He turned the Keyblade upward towards the cauldron and called out one, final spell.
"Fira!"
At that call, pillars of fire erupted from the cauldron and the whole container began to quake. Ursula's eyes widened in surprise as the cauldron's mists exploded in a blast of white light. Sora heard one last shriek of anger before the light faded out, leaving the ruins of the cauldron and calm waters behind.
As Sora's vision began to black out, he noticed three things, in this order:
Ursula and her two eels were gone.
Donald was swimming speedily towards him while Goofy rose from the rubble of the pillar he had been thrown into, shaking his head tiredly.
And finally, the Trident was sinking down to land beside Ariel and the King.
Sora blinked a few more times before his vision completely darkened.
Sora awoke to the sound of Donald's raspy voice.
"There's a good reason you're not supposed to use that much magic so close together, idiot!"
Sora smiled weakly at his friend floating over him, with Goofy beside him, and shrugged. He saw that he was still in Triton's throne room and that the King's guards had finally arrived. The small battalion had finished digging the King out and had returned the Trident to him. At the moment, the hermit crab Sebastian seemed to be attempting to convince Triton to go to a doctor. Triton himself was having none of this, being hastily bandaged up was apparently well enough for him.
"You can take me to all the doctors you want, Sebastian, as soon as I clear up some issues with my daughter!" Sora watched as Triton turned to Ariel, who was floating beside him, looking at the ground in shame. "Ariel..."
"Daddy...daddy, I'm sorry...I, I...just..."
Triton coughed and placed his hand on her head. "No, it's my...it's my fault." he snorted at his admittance. "Ursula was able to worm her way into your heart…because I wouldn't let you into mine."
"Daddy…" Tears flowed freely from Ariel's eyes, mixing with the water around them.
Triton smiled and banished the tears away with a wave of his hand. Quickly, though, before Ariel could say anything more, he gruffly turned from her and toward Sora.
"Keybearer…." Triton began. "I destroyed the crystal to stop you from reaching the Keyhole—but you have proven to me that you have the greater good in your heart." Triton sized up Sora. "And sometimes old principles need to be put aside in favor of the greater good."
"Thank you, King Triton." Sora smiled slightly.
"But how are we supposed to get to the Keyhole now?" Donald asked. "If the crystal was the only way, there's no way Sora can seal it now."
Triton smirked through a bruise on his cheek. "My trident can reveal the Keyhole. Here." he handed the trident to Sora. "Take it, and seal the Keyhole. You've earned my trust."
"But where is the Keyhole?" Ariel asked.
Triton turned to leave with Sebastian. "You out of anyone should know. It's in your grotto."
"Really? Let's go then, Sora!" With that, Ariel turned excitedly and headed off to her grotto, Donald and Goofy following. As Sora started to swim away, Triton stopped him with a call.
" Keybearer, I do have one final thing for you. A trifle of thanks for your assistance in all these matters."
As Triton moved past Sora, he gripped his hand around the trident and Sora felt a power surge through him like lightning. He could only guess it was his Thunder spell becoming more powerful.
Triton nodded at him once, formally, and left the Throne Room.
After catching up to his friends outside the palace, Sora turned to Ariel.
"So what exactly happened back there?" he asked.
"Well..." Ariel took a deep breath. "I betrayed daddy because Ursula promised to take me to other worlds...it sounds silly now but I..." she bit her lip. "I was just so mad at him! I just wanted to know more about other worlds and he would never let me. I felt like I had nowhere else to turn." Ariel looked away sadly.
"So you let Ursula into the palace? So it's your fault we had to-" Donald began, but Goofy quickly knocked him out of the way, interrupting his friend's angry rant.
"Aw, it's alright, Ariel!" He grinned. "Your father seems to be okay!"
"He might be...but I'm sure I've hurt him on the inside..." Ariel sighed. "I just wish I could take it back...I'm sorry, Sora. Donald. Goofy. I didn't mean to cause so much trouble..."
Sora grinned. "It's okay, Ariel! We're all fine now!"
"I know, but...I still feel bad." Ariel paused. "Sora, do you think you could tell me about what your world is like?"
Sora's eyes widened in surprise at Ariel's question. She knew that they didn't come from Atlantica? Had Triton told her?
"Same as here." Donald replied. "Since we live in an ocean far away-"
Ariel smiled. "Please, Sora, I know your sword helps you travel through worlds." for this, no one had any reply. "I...since I can't go to other worlds, I would really just like to hear about another one. Please, Sora?"
Sora paused. What harm could it do to tell her about the Islands?
"Well, my world was beautiful. I remember that the sun would-"
"It 'was'? You 'remember'? What do you mean?" Ariel interrupted.
Sora grimaced. "My home...was taken by the Heartless. It was...destroyed."
Ariel's hand covered her mouth in shock. "Sora! I'm—I'm sorry! You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to!"
Sora shrugged tiredly. "No. It's okay. I'd like to talk about it."
"Uhhhh, come to think of it, Sora, you've never really told me and Donald 'bout your home! We'd sure love to hear about it!" Goofy chuckled, settling into a shelf in Ariel's grotto. "Isn't that right, Donald."
Donald shrugged. "This oughta be good…"
"Well..." Sora started. "My home was a group of Islands called Destiny Islands. It was wonderful. The water was always warm and bright blue and the weather was almost always sunny and warm. The main Island was called Morningheath" Sora smiled happily, basking in the memories of home. "That's where I lived. Off the coast was a smaller Island that me and all my friends would play on. Especially Kairi and Riku..." Sora trailed off. "Kairi and Riku...they were my best friends. Riku was always like an older brother—teasing and protective, always kind of the boss. Riku and I would duel each other with our little wooden swords all the time." Sora noticed that Ariel and Goofy were listening entranced, while Donald swam to the side, pretending not to be interested. Sora chuckled. "I've still got bruises from the last time we fought…"
"And what about Kairi?" Ariel asked, completely enthralled with Sora's tale of another world.
"Kairi..." Sora blushed slightly. "Kairi...came to Islands during a meteor shower. Me and Riku found her out in the ocean and rescued her. Ever since then, she's always been with us. She's smart and knows just how to handle the two of us, even when we do some crazy stuff. She was always there to push us on when we weren't doing our best. She's really kind and-"
Donald laughed out loud. "I think Sora's got a crush on someone!"
"Do not!" Sora quickly replied.
"That all sounds really lovely, Sora!" Ariel offered.
Sora smiled. "It really was…."
"So, uh, anyway, what do we do with the Trident?" Donald asked.
"Let me see it," Ariel said and took it from Sora. She held it toward the the trident-shaped indentation that she had revealed earlier. Immediately, the imprint glowed and a thin sheet of gold covered it, releasing a trident shaped projection. In the middle of the projection lay the deep blackness of a Keyhole. Sora took out the Keyblade and sealed it quickly, just as he had all the others, leaving the trident projection to disappear into a flock of bubbles.
"That was amazing..." Ariel marveled. Sora nodded and was about to reply when something just below him caught his attention. It was a chest with a glass top, inside of which sat two pages: One with lots of writing, the other with a forest scene and writing beneath it. Sora gasped.
Another page of Ansem's Report and Merlin's book!
"Hey, Ariel, do you think we could take that chest with us?" Sora asked, pointing to the item in question. "It could really help us in our journey."
Ariel thought for a moment then nodded. "Go ahead! It's the least I can do!"
Sora thanked her and, after the three said their goodbyes, headed back to the Gummi Ship; leaving Ariel alone with the Trident and her treasures from the above world.
Back on the Gummi Ship, Sora placed the chest down on the table in the Kitchen and shook the water from his spiky hair. He had stumbled around the ship at first, nearly dropping the chest on Donald after the mage had changed them back into their original forms. Eventually, Sora had gotten used to walking on two legs and couldn't say he missed being a merman.
"Donald, I have a question." Sora asked as he walked to the bathroom to grab a towel. He noticed Goofy leaving to start the ship up and head on to the next world.
"What is it, Sora?" Donald replied.
"Well, we always seem to go through a lot of trouble trying to make it seem like we aren't from another world. I'd just like to know why we have to do that?" he yelled from down the hall.
Donald didn't reply immediately. When Sora returned with a towel covering his spikes, Donald was seated at the table, looking at the newly-acquired chest thoughtfully.
"You know, Sora, I don't really know. It was just always the unwritten rule: Don't interfere in others worlds business."
"But what if you need to? To help people? Like what we're doing?" Sora pressed
"Maybe..." Donald said quietly, "Maybe that rule isn't as important as I thought..."
"I think you're right." Sora nodded. "I don't think it-" he was interrupted by the heavy sound of Donald hand crashing down on the table.
"How dare they make me follow a rule that wasn't all that important to begin with! BAH!"
Sora snorted and went back to painstakingly drying his spikes of hair, which, much to his pride, had maintained their shape even under the sea.
The Report of Ansem: Studies into the Heart.
Part Three.
The shadows that crawl beneath the castle... Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination?
All my knowledge has provided no answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of light. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart.
Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts... I will call them the Heartless.
~Ansem.