SAROX
"See you again, Marlene," Giselle said as she and Marlene embraced on the front porch while everyone prepared to depart home. The celebration atmosphere had begun to fade to silent conversations and small talks.
"You too, Giselle," she remarked.
After a moment, they finally released each other and Giselle backed away until she was closer to Robert.
"Stay in touch, guys," I told them. "Next time we visit, we'll keep the danger to a minimum."
"Wait!" Edward called from the main hall.
We turned to him and saw Bella and Nessie by his side. Jacob was standing behind them. They all had large grins on their faces. Nessie was holding the golden music box the Princesses made for her in her hands.
He spoke as he stepped out from the door. "Nessie wants to open the music box you gave her before you go."
In one brief second, her family, and Huilen and Nahuel, gathered behind the glass windows, eyeing down on the rest of us. They were eager to see what was stored inside, too.
Gabriella, Eilonwy, Rapunzel, Garnet and Layla stepped closer to us and their mates followed. Nessie shifted one hand under the box and the other up on the lid, and slid it open. And then the box blew out an intense, blinding light like harmless energy and extended throughout the porch. The extension ended at the end of the field, closing distance between us and the Gummi Ships, and then sparkles began to gather around to shape seven separate entities. The bright entities grew in different heights and size, and eventually faded into transparent versions of the seven princesses. They had large, happy grins across their lips: the transparent Giselle stepped forth.
"Ah-hahahaha ah-hahahaha ah-hahahahahaha," she began with her usual, opening tone, and then the others joined in the lullaby.
The voices of the transparent princesses spread like a breeze; gentle, soft, and smooth, followed by a comparable dance. Renesmee's lips lifted as she enjoyed the show.
Edward and Jacob grinned largely.
Bella's large grin revealed that she could see images, too. I wasn't surprised, though. The box's images were projected in moving pictures, not by a vampire's illusionary gift. She could not shield this.
Gabriella, Garnet, Eilonwy and Layla surrounded Marlene, Rapunzel, and Giselle in a dancing circle. And then, seven new lights appeared around the circle and reincarnated as transparent versions of Troy, Zidane, Taran, Will, Eugene, Robert and... me. The circle dancing ceased, and the Princesses met their companions. They're hands intertwined, and then they waltzed away in a large circle. We stepped away as the illusions widened the dancing area: not that we needed to make space. It was to help Nessie see the performing more clearly. Small, harmless sparkles began to fill the air as the show went on.
The Princesses sang as they spun around. The male companions spun them around and then released their hands, allowing the Princesses to spin into a circle again. The song did not cease.
As soon as the finale came, the males went into the circle to join their companions, and then swept them off their feet and spun in circulation. After a moment, they put the girls back on their feet. The girls danced away from their companions and stood in a line in front of the Cullen house while the boys backed away. The song slowly came to an end.
The illusion-Giselle stepped forward. "Dear Renesmee," she began. "For you we have created this joyful song."
"As a Christmas gift," Rapunzel took over. "And as a blessing from the seven of us."
"So that if you were to come across difficult times," Garnet said, "this will always remind you of what you have."
Gabriella took over. "You will always remember the blessings that you have been bestowed by your loved ones."
"Like nature has its own course, you will always be surrounded by love given to you as you have given others," Layla said.
"And no matter the obstacles, you will always have your beloved ones by your side to give you courage," Eilonwy added.
Marlene took the finishing line. "So don't worry, and don't despair, because the bonds that you share with those you love will help you endure sadness, and bring the strength to overcome it. So be brave, and never forget that they will be the light to guide your way."
Finally, they said in one united sentence. "May the light always guide you."
With that, the projections faded into blinding lights again and retracted into the golden box. The lid shut itself as soon as the lights were contained.
Nessie looked up with a wide grin on her face.
"Thank you," she said loudly. "All of you."
They stepped forward.
"You're very welcome, my dear," Giselle answered, and embraced both Bella and Nessie.
Edward stepped forward and thanked her. "Giselle, thank you for composing the song."
Bella eyed at her in shock. "You composed the song?"
Feeling too embarrassed to talk, she giggled and nodded enthusiastically.
"Thank you."
The Princesses embraced Bella, Edward, and Nessie. We said our goodbyes to our friends, and then Merlin sent them home, along with himself.
"You know, Sarox," Dad said as he prepared to depart with Mom. "You make me proud."
I hesitated.
"Even though I have broken the non-meddling rule big time just to help someone in need?"
He considered that for a minute and remarked. "Nothing your old man wouldn't have done in a heartbeat, son."
His Majesty joined in. "Welp, you have broken a major rule, but you also did the right thing. I'm sure many people would have done it in the exact same way. Just try not to repeat that for a while."
Uncontrollable laughter filled the air as we released it from our lungs. Bella, Jacob, Nessie, and Edward were laughing, too.
Mom embraced me after a moment and Dad patted my back. "I love you," she whispered in my ear, and then they departed with Marlene's parents.
Goofy gave an annoying father-to-son speech about responsibility to Max, and then he was gone, too, along with Donald and His Majesty.
Uncle Riku left on his own Gummi Ship. His Majesty had him occupied with another mission before he heard about the situation in Forks and came on his own free will. I was grateful to his involvement, but to drop everything just to help me out was far beyond a surrogate nephew could ask for. I hoped we wouldn't fall into the same situation again... at least for a while.
But most of all, I was grateful to everyone's involvement. Having been away from home made me forget what it was like to lead a normal life. Having Mom and Dad around reminded me of some of it. The thrill of coming home after a long, rough class with the coach; seeing Dad after his "long" delivery trips; Uncle Riku's occasional visits.
I was lucky to have Marlene by my side all this time. The journey had been rough and dangerous, especially when she was facing danger. It always gave me a near-heart attack. But it had also been reassuring and fun; and it was part of her doing. Her presence made me able to have a firm grip on who I still was.
I looked up to the sky after everyone left. She was immediately by my side, holding my hand.
"So it was a combination of things there at the end but what it really boiled down to was... Bella," Edward explained to his family, the two remaining guests, and us. We sat in the Cullen's dining room.
Aside from us, Huilen and Nahuel were the only ones who stayed. Carlisle was in deep fascinated conversation with Huilen while Edward told the rest of us the story as only he knew it.
"Alice gave Aro the excuse he needed to get out of the fight. If he hadn't been so terrified of Bella, he probably would have gone ahead with their original plan."
"Terrified?" she said skeptically. "Of me?"
Jacob shrugged in amusement.
Edward smiled at Bella with an amused look. "When will you ever see yourself clearly?" he said softly.
I had to fight back a light from coming up my throat.
"The Volturi haven't fought a fair fight in about twenty-five hundred years," he continued, louder so everyone could hear. "And they've never, never fought one where they were at a disadvantage. Especially since they gained Jane and Alec, they've only been involved with unopposed slaughterings.
"You should have seen how we looked to them! Usually, Alec cuts off all sense and feeling from their victims while they go through the charade of counsel. That way, no one can run when the verdict is given. But there were stood, ready, waiting, outnumbering them, with weapons and gifts of our own while their gifts were renderred useless by Bella. Aro knew that with Zafrina on our side, they would be the blind ones when the battle commenced. And with Sarox's temporary power boost -," he flashed a grin at me as he explained, "- they would be no match if their gifts were neutralized. And with so many help from our friends, there was a great twist that renderred them defenseless. I'm sure our numbers would have been pretty severely decimated, but they were sure that theirs would be, too. He also knew that Jane and Alec would be the first targets. There was even a very good possibility that they would lose. They've never dealt with that possibility before. They didn't deal with it well today."
"Hard to feel confident when you're surrounded by horse-sized wolves," Emmett laughed, poking Jacob's arm.
"Jacob flashed a grin at him.
"It was the wolves that stopped them in the first place," Bella said.
"Sure was," Jacob agreed.
"Absolutely," Edward agreed. "That was another sight they've never seen before. The true Children of the Moon rarely move in packs, and they are never in much control of themselves. Seventeen enormous regimated wolves was a surprise they weren't prepared for. The sight of twenty-one humans and five animals in human appearance was surprising, too, but not quite as surprising as the wolves. Caius is actually terrified of werewolves. He almost lost a fight with one a few thousand years ago and never got over it."
"So there are real werewolves?" I asked. "With the full moon and silver bullets?"
Jacob snorted. "Real. Does that make me imaginary?"
"You know what I mean."
Edward answered. "Full moon, yes. Silver bullets, no - that was just another one of those myths to make humans feel like they have a sporting chance. There aren't many of them left. Caius has had them hunted into near extinction."
"And you never mentioned this because...?" Bella trailed off, waiting.
"It never came up."
Bella rolled her eyes, and Alice laughed, leaning forward - she was tucked under Edward's other arm - to wink at Bella.
She glanced back at her with a cheerful smile, then faded into a frown. I could see where it was coming from. She irritated with Alice's actions.
Alice sighed. "Just get it off your chest, Bella."
"How could you to this to me, Alice?"
"It was necessary."
"Necessary!" Bella snapped harshly. "You had me totally convinced that were all going to die! I've been a wreck for weeks."
"It might have gone that way," she said calmly. "In which case you needed to be prepared to save Nessie."
"But you knew there were other ways, too," she accused. "You knew there was hope. Did it ever occur to you that you could have told me everything? I know Edward had to think we were at a dead end to avoid Aro's suspicion, but you could have to me."
She looked at Bella speculatively for a moment. "I don't think so. You're just not that good of an actress."
"This was about my acting skills?"
"Oh, take it down an octave, Bella. Do you have any idea how complicatedthis was to set up? I couldn't even be sure that someone like Nahuel existed - all I knew was that I would be looking for something I couldn't see! try to imagine searching for a blind spot - not the easiest thing I've ever done. Plus we had to send back the key witnesses, like we weren't in enough of a hurry. And then keeping my eyes open all the time in case you decided to throw me any more instructions. At some point you're going to have to tell me what exactly is in Rio -," I turned my glance to Bella while Alice continued, "Before any of that, I had to try to see every trick the Volturi might come in with and give you what few clues I could so you would be ready for their strategy, and I only had a few hours to trace out all the possibilities. Most of all, I had to make sure you'd all believe that I was ditching out on you, because Aro had to be positive that yo0u had nothing left up your sleeves or he never would have committed to an out the way he did. And if you think I didn't feel like a schmuck -"
"Okay, okay!" Bella interrupted. "Sorry! I know it was rough for you, too. It's just that... well, I missed you like crazy, Alice. Don't do that to me again."
Alice's trilling laugh rang through the room. "I missed you, too, Bella. So forgive me, and try to be satisfied with being the superhero of the day."
We laughed, and Bella ducked into Nessie's hair, probably out of embarrassment. She wasn't known to fancying attention. I could guess thus far from her attitude. Nessie supported her cheekbones.
Edward suddenly turned to the four of us. "So Sarox, is this your real job?"
"What real job?" Jacob asked, his expression puzzled.
Edward turned to him for a moment. "Finding other Keyblade masters and awakening their powers." He pulled his hand from Alice and summoned his Keyblade without sticking into anyone's eye. "It's been their job to find us all along."
"Why?"
"Because right now there's something coming for all of us," I explained before Edward could say anything. "Darkness has been roaming the worlds, devouring them one after another. That's why King Mickey sent me, Marlene, Max, and PJ on this mission. Whatever dark power beckons, it's awakening other Keyblade masters in separate worlds. But to awaken their powers is for me to travel the worlds, and unlock them. And at the same time protect the worlds from falling into the hands of darkness."
"And that's also what the seven Princesses are for," Edward said, taking my line. "They hold more power than anything with light. If they all get captured, whoever's behind this will use them to open the door to darkness, and our worlds will end immediately. Sarox's other job is to find them all, and protect them. Thankfully, they're all under protection now, but the darkness is still causing trouble around the worlds."
"Oh, so that's why you're traveling," Emmett said.
"And it seems like your world is protected now," I commented, looking to Edward and Bella. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't mean that you vampires aren't strong enough to do it, but to protect your world's core is the job of a Keyblade master."
Emmett nodded jokingly and Rosalie laughed along.
After a moment, Edward began to analyze what had happened in the meadow today, declaring that it was Bella's shield that made the Volturi run away in fear. Jasper and Emmett looked on in interest.
As much as I wanted to stay longer, I knew the time had come for us to continue our quest. Now that my two jobs were done, there was no further reason to stay. I looked to Marlene. She gave me my favorite smile and nodded. I looked over to Max and PJ, who smiled silently. I waited.
"It's time, guys," I finally said and rose from my seat.
Marlene, Max, and PJ did the same.
"It's time for us to go, guys. A-hyuck!" Max laughed cheerfully.
Glances focused on us now.
"Yeah, we have a road to hit," PJ said.
"Do you have to go right now?" Emmett asked.
"Better that before you make a joke out of our stay," I joked. "Besides, we got two friends waiting for us on the Gummi Ship. Wouldn't want them to rot."
Everyone laughed, except Nessie. She was frowning. I walked around the table to her side. Marlene was right behind me. I leaned down to Nessie.
"Is everything all right?" I asked.
She placed her warm hand on my cheekbone, and showed a picture of me, Marlene, Max, PJ, Nessie, and Jacob swimming underwater as sea creatures.
I chuckled. Her hand retracted from my face.
"Don't worry, Nessie," I said. "Even though we're apart, we will always be friends. I'm sure that we will cross paths again, and then we'll go swimming again. You have nothing to worry about."
Her frown lightened.
Then, it occurred to me. I was still empowered by Santa's magic orb, my powers were still at high point. There was something I could give her before we leave. PJ had taught me a few tricks to illusion before; all I needed to do was focus on the pictures that I wanted. It would be no problem, I already knew what to concentrate on.
"Now, I'm going to show you something," I told Nessie. "It's something that my mother passed down to me. And now, I think it's time for me to pass it down to you."
Bella looked with a puzzled expression.
I pressed my fingers on both sides of Nessie's cheeks and concentrated. The power flowed through my hands like harmless electric shocks, and I concentrated further on the memory of the story. I concentrated on a beautiful open clearing, then shifted to an enormous orb of light that glowed as strong as the sun itself; then a pitch black cloud covered it like dark covering the sky. There was nothing. And then, small fragments of light lit one after another in the dark space. I gave out the story word by word as I concentrated on the pictures.
Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light.
Everyone loved the light.
Then people began to fight over it.
They wanted the light for themselves.
And darkness was born in their hearts.
The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts.
It covered everything, and the world disappeared.
But small fragments of the light survived... in the hearts of children.
With these fragments of light, the children rebuilt the lost worlds.
It's the world we live in now.
But the true light still sleeps, deep within the darkness.
That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other.
But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open.
And the true light will return.
Nessie smiled. I dropped my fingers. The last of my power boost vanished without a trace.
"Thank you, I love it," she said.
"Remember that, always," I told her. "That way, no matter how much you miss us, you will always know that we're connected. Because we're friends. So whenever you think about us, we'll be here" I touched her chest, pointing at the core of where we will always be together and then pointed out the large glass window to the mass of glowing stars scattered across the dark sky. "And there." She touched my chest too.
Marlene leaned down to hug both Nessie and Bella. "See you again," she said.
"Thank you so much for everything," Bella murmured.
Everyone rose from their seats for one final goodbye as soon as Marlene leaned back up. Esme hugged the four of us wide and tightly. "Don't be a stranger," she murmured.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Marlene promised.
Carlisle shook our hands in gratitude; Rosalie thanked in a common tone - she wasn't used to being humble. Emmett and Jacob punched our shoulders lightly.
"Come back again soon, I'd like to go swimming again," Jacob said.
"Sure," PJ promised in my place.
Alice approached with Jasper behind her.
"Thank you," she said gratefully. "I've been watching your moves. You've done more than we could ever ask for. Thank you so much for protecting my family when I couldn't."
"You're welcome," I replied. "And it's understandable what you did. You were using your own ways to protect your family. And you were right to do it the way you did."
She smiled at me.
Edward came forth. "Thank you for everything. Sarox, Marlene, Max, PJ."
"We'll see you again soon," I promised and then turned serious. "This world is under your protection now."
He nodded.
Marlene, Max, PJ and I went into the dark forest after we said our goodbyes to the Cullens. Jacob offered to escort us on his way home, but we politely declined the offer. He looked like he didn't get much sleep for the past few weeks. It was time he'd got some long hours for himself.
"You know, I'm going to miss them," Max said suddenly.
"Yeah, me too," PJ agreed.
The happy atmosphere was tainted by a hint of sadness. We had promised no sadness to bother the mood, but there was something about the moment that made the sadness impossible to block out completely. It felt like a thick cloud about to drop upon us like raindrops. Not a sharp stab of knife, just harmless raindrops.
I decided to shove it aside. There was still a mission ahead of us, waiting to be accomplished. And I must move ahead to finish it. After it was over - no matter how much time it will have to take - we could come to visit again.
Marlene held my hand and nudged it gently.
"We will see them again real soon," she said under her breath.
Her reassurance cleared the clouds in my heart.
I smiled back. "Yeah."
Once we reached our destination, Max prepared for embarking.
"All right, everyone! Time for our next adventure," he exclaimed.
And the ship beamed us up.
We rested a few minutes before preparing for departure. Max decided to let me take the pilot seat while he took care of the engineering; he'd already been pilot for the first two weeks when we decided to gather witnesses. PJ took the navigator system and Marlene was in charge of cleaning the ship and cooking for us later while Jiminy maintained the communication link between our ship and Disney Castle. Gene was kept in the storage room, in his golden Arabic lamp, waiting to grant one of our wishes in needed times.
And here we were once again. Back to our old routine, preparing for a new adventure, finding Keyblade masters, and clearing monsters to protect the worlds from a mysterious, malicious plot. And as always, we still had no clue of who was behind the great malice.
But, as always, I wasn't afraid. We had gone a long road trying to find the source, and even though we were yet to find out who was behind it all, the adventures had given endless joy to our quest. We had made countless friends across the worlds, awakened many Keyblade masters, and tracked down all the Princesses of Heart. They were all under marble-protection by now. And most of all, the friends that we'd met had given me different points of view, and made me much stronger than when I first began.
My heart. My being. It wasn't alone. It had found a home within everyone's heart just like they'd found a home in mine, and as long as we remembered each other, our hearts will become one.
"All right! Off to another adventure!" I exclaimed loudly.
"Yeah!" everyone yelled in enthusiasm.
I pressed the forward button and the rockets blasted us forward.