Chapter 21: Ghost
Enjoy!
Gone for a walk – meet at ROPE BRIDGE!!
Danniel stared blankly at the careless scribble in the dirt, a frown of frustration slowly lurking upon his brow. ...A better word of warning would have been nice... he thought. Ahead of him Dan could see the long extinguished embers of last night's camp fire, an ashy quilt covering the the perimeter around the wood and decorated with short bones of fish here and there. The waterfall was splashing much more quiet and calmly against the rocks and lily pads in the lagoon – a huge improvement from last nights roaring. Around the corner Mia was pulling her hair up into its usual high pony tail, only one of her reddish-brown cowboy boots on for reasons unknown.
Dan watched in amusement, taking notice of how she would wince and hiss every now and then when her red mane get tangled in between her fingers – or stuck around the band or caught in her small stud earrings. Soon after Mia growled and dropped her stressed arms, looking up to see Dan staring at her with that annoying smirk plastered on his mouth.
Mia scowled and looked away, her arms crossed tightly on her chest. "What?" She hissed.
Dan simply lifted up from the ground, still smirking, and walked over to the girl, eyeing her half tied hair. "I think you should leave it down."
"Why?" Mia asked slowly and full of suspicion, her mind flashing back to when they were kids. If Mia ever left her hair out to flow down her back, Dan would always take this opportunity to tug and pull at it whenever they played. After that she would always tie her hair in either a pony tail or two pig tails. Well, whenever he was around, any ways.
Guessing what she was thinking about – as if the way she pulled her hair into a protective grasp wasn't a give away enough – Dan chuckled lightly, a rare sound for Mia to hear, and sat down in front of her. "It just looks like you'd be here all day trying to pull it up. Oh, and by the look on your face let me just remind you we were seven. Kids! I don't and won't go around pulling your hair any more!" He said, holding his palms up.
Mia sighed deeply before squinting her eyes shut and pulling the band out, wincing along the way.
"There we go! Just like when you were seven – except you're taller and you don't punch me as much any more."
With a grin and an evil spark in her eyes, Mia stood up and flipped her head forward, shaking her hair around a little before shooting back up so that whatever dampness it still held would splatter all over Dan. Flinching when a droplet landed in his eye, Dan stood up too.
"Thanks." He droned, reaching forward and yanking his hand down quickly when he secured a small lock of her hair. Mia jumped, a high pitched yelp escaping her lips, and glared her guardian.
Dan shrugged and smiled. "For old time sakes."
Mia narrowed her eyes and connected her fist with his shoulder. Dan hissed.
"For old time sakes." Mia mused.
Dan was about to voice one of the many things that shot into his head at that time when he stopped, noticing something in the short distance ahead of him. "What's up with those two?" Mia turned her gaze in the direction Dan was pointing. Sora and Kairi were collecting their shoes and jackets from bank, checking if they were dry – if not both used an Aero spell to fix it. But what was strange was the thick, tension filled atmosphere surrounding them. If Kairi needed to walk over to hang something off of a tree branch to blow dry it, she would be sure to step cautiously and not get in Sora's way, walking around him with a distance of about two meters. Or if Sora needed to get over to the other side of the bank for whatever reason there was he would suddenly stop in his tracks, seeing Kairi in front of him, side step a few paces, and continue on walking.
All in all, it was a strange sight.
Mia's eyebrows crinkled, her lips pressed in contemplation. She shifted her weight, "I don't know," she spoke slowly before suddenly perking up again, "But I'm sure it won't last!"
Mia bent down and slipped her other boot over her remaining exposed skin. When she straightened up again she almost bashed into Dan's chest. Mia gazed up through her lashes to see his face. To anyone else who happened to see him then would think that he was simply just staring intently at the couple by the water, but Mia could always see through his iron mask. Dan's mind, at the moment, was very far away. Tuning into his thoughts Mia listened to the jumbled and uneven chorus of his own voice, rambled words clashing together in the middle from every direction. Mia recognised this scenario as when someone had so many things on his or her mind that they didn't know what to think first. Mia felt butterflies well up in her stomach, caused by his uneasiness.
About to ask him what was wrong, Dan looked to the floor and beat her to it. "I don't like this."
Mia bit her lip, not needing to ask what he was talking about.
Closing his eyes, Dan exhaled in a sort of half sigh, half groan. "You watch over Sora and Kairi, I watch over Riku. That was the deal." He said, opening his eyes. "But how can I do that when I don't even know where he is! Our job is to protect them and keep them alive! With most of us captured by The Clan we are never going to be able to win!"
He pinched the bridge of his nose and turned his back to Mia. "And what about her? She is my job too. But it seems as though the only people who know who she is are Donald, Goofy and Mickey!"
Mia hung her head, at loss for words.
"God! I knew we were coming back too early! I told Master Rei that we should have set the Time Gummi a couple years later, but does he ever listen to me? Noooooo!" Dan sighed, turning back again to face Mia who was looking up at him with sad eyes. But Dan broke the gaze, not able to look at her.
"Dan, we are going to find her." She said, determined.
Still not able to look at her, Dan's jaw tightened, his teeth clenched, speaking in a low, straight voice. "You know if Riku dies it's gonna be all my fault. You know what the punishment for breaking an oath like that is, Mia."
"I know." She agreed. "And I'm not going to let that happen to you. I mean you can go to jail, I don't care, but I'm not going to let you die!"
"You really don't care if I go to jail?" He said in monotone.
"Yeah, of course not!" Mia exclaimed. "Because you do realise that by the time we get back home you won't be under aged any more and they can throw you in prison with not hesitation with noting that even I can do about it – besides paying for your bail. But there is no way in hell I am doing that! That's what your parents are for!"
Dan blinked.
"Thanks you so much for the concern and support, Emilia. I really do appreciate it."
Dan didn't try to hide the I-am-going-to-kill-you tone in his voice.
"Appreciate what?" Kairi walked up to the two, hands on hips, dressed and ready for the day. Down by the water Sora was muttering something incomprehensible to himself. Mia and Dan both eyed him weirdly, eyebrows knitting together upwardly, eyelids fluttering wider. Kairi pretended not to take any notice of this, but the little jab in the centre of Mia's stomach – just above her navel and slightly to the left – told her that she did in fact notice, although wasn't completely compelled to ask questions or even glance in his direction.
"Uh.." Dan stretched, "noting." He cleared his throat. "Are you and, uh, Mr. Schizo over there ready?"
"I heard that!" Sora shouted from by the water, finally managing to tie the last of his shoe laces and was walking over to the three. And, as if things couldn't get any stranger, when Sora finally reached the rest of his group instead of going and standing beside Kairi like the good little Labrador puppy he was – Dan earned a good solid elbow in the stomach for that thought – Sora went and stood next to Dan. Dan. Of all people! Even Kairi straightened up and inched closer to Mia!
"And I was not talking to myself," Sora continued.
Dan, in response, snorted and began making his way to the little path that Kuzco and Pacha made when they left about half an hour ago. "Whatever, Spike. Like I really care what goes on in your head. Just remember, talking to yourself is ok, but it's when you start answering yourself back is when there's a problem."
With that he disappeared into the trees. Sora stood there for a moment with his fists clenched, eyes slightly narrowed in rage. "Does that guy have any nerve at all?" He barked.
Laughing, Mia stepped forward and placed a hand on Sora's shoulder, looking up at him with a humour filled expression. "I wish," She laughed. Sora was about to say something else but Mia silenced him before he could by slinging an arm around his shoulders and pushed him forward, giggling, "Come on,"
Mia let go of Sora once they were well into the trees. Walking at a steady pace, Sora kept his head firmly looking in the left direction whilst Kairi to the right. Felling a tad uncomfortable Sora left the girls and half ran up to where Dan was striding along meters in front of them. But for Dan there was not enough time to ponder, again, exactly what the heck was going on because of a group of Jaguar and Panther Heartless that had pounced out of the leafy walls beside them and landed with a mass of hisses and growls at their feet.
Acting instinctively Sora, Dan, Mia and Kairi's Keyblades all appeared at their sides, ready and glowing for a fight. Mia was the first to leap forward, followed by Kairi close after. Mia blocked a swipe from the Heartless' claw and lunged the point of her blade at the thing's head, only for the deformed large cat to duck out of the way seconds before the Keyblade was meant to make contact. Spinning around Kairi jumped when the Panther Heartless swung a heavily clawed paw at her ankles in an attempt to knock her to the ground. When Kairi landed she brought her Keyblade down at a vertical angle, surprising the wild cat when she landed blow to the top of its head. Mia jumped over to left side of a Heartless that tired her from the back and swung her Keyblade at it, cutting threw the entire length of its body. The Heartless was wounded but not entirely defeated, so she kept on this for a few more times before blasting it with a Fira spell. The Heartless shook and twitched there for some moments before evaporating into a cloud of smoke, a pink heart emerging from the centre and floating upward to the sky. Grabbing her Keyblade with both hands Kairi fired a short and simple light spell at it. It wasn't the strongest thing in the world but it did the trick soon enough after a few more tries.
Sora and Dan both lunged forward one after the other, jumping in front of separate Heartless. Dan lunged at one Heartless as it pounced for him, both meeting in the middle blade to paw. The Heartless deflected his attack, jumping up and swiping like mad at the boy's head – which he ducked just in the nick of time. Jumping back up Dan could help muttering, "I always seem to go for the strongest of the group, don't I?" before slashing at the black cat once again. He had managed to land a steady blow this time, grazing the colourful feline across the cheek and twice on the back and left paw. With the Heartless distracted with its newest injuries Dan took this opportunity to strike the Heartless right in the middle of its skull. He barely had time to resettle himself before he felt the presence of yet another enemy close behind him. Spinning around and feeling pretty impatient Dan simply fired a strong Thundra spell, watched it take out two more Heartless while he was at it and called it a match.
Sora swung his blade around at the Jaguar and Panther Heartless, just grazing the top of one's head but missing the rest by a single hair. Feeling a little bit embarrassed at this Sora simple stuck to casting spells on the creatures, not quite use to the weight and size of this new Keyblade. Its was actually pretty strange to Sora; all his previous Keyblades had been ranged from sized of big, large, and even larger and even then he didn't have any troubles with the weight. Even since Mickey had given Sora Eclipse he was have some issues with the weight and size of this particular blade – needing to put some extra effort into swinging or even holding the thing in his hand. A small, stubborn little part deep within Sora's heart simple refused to cave and begin handling his Keyblade with both hand all the time, never needing to do so in the past. Sora fired a Blizzara spell but was left chest fallen when he saw the patheticness of the attack; it only leaving the Heartless slightly dizzied out. Sora grunted with annoyance just kept on firing spells out of his blade, watching as each one took on two different colours: either white or black (the black ones being the less stronger). After a while Sora had finally managed to get rid of the three Heartless that had been hassling him, sighing with annoyance when he realised he had actually broken a sweat with just that!
Getting rid of his Keyblade Sora swayed there for some time. Once the dizziness subsided Sora opened his eyes to see the three faces of his travel comrades flooded with concern – Kairi actually looking at him now! Sora blinked.
"Um..." He scratched the back of his head, chuckling nervously. Dan pressed his lips and brushed one finger under his nose, looking at Sora. "What?" Sora sniffed and lifted a hand to his nostrils, only to pull away and gasp lightly when he found a small droplet of blood now on his nail. Sora quickly wiped away any remains of scarlet liquid above his top lip.
"Sora..." Mia began.
"I'm fine." The crack at the end let him down. Sora swayed a few more moments, his head feeling feather light with tiny little stars swimming in front of his vision. The brunette cleared his throat one more time and took a deep breath, standing up straight again and muttered to the others with a humour filled tone, "Well, Mickey did say that the new...powers won't be easy to control at first," Sora chuckled.
Mia had opened her mouth to say something, but instead of words coming out there was a rustle emerge from behind them. The group summoned their Keyblades once again, awaiting another fight, but froze at what they way. On the ground below them, barely the size of Sora's tibia, was a small multicoloured squirl with full glowing yellow eyes. Cocking his head to the side, Sora stepped forward and was left perplexed when the little critter mimicked his movements by shuffling backwards in an almost fearful type way. Sora chuckled and dismissed his Keyblade, kneeling down on one knee to inspect the little animal further.
"Sora," Dan warned.
"A squirl...Heartless?" Kairi said, puzzled.
Sora chuckled, smiling at the little creature. "Aw, it's scared!" He cooed. "Y'know, I don't think I've ever been this near a Heartless before... Up close they actually seem pretty cute – Ahh!" With an animal hiss the Heartless leaped forward and sunk its sharp little claws into Sora's cheek. Sora and the squirl fell back, the Heartless clawing at Sora and Sora trying to rip the little devil off of him. Suddenly without warning the Heartless dissolved into a puff of smoke. Sora lifted himself into a sitting position and looked to the side to see Dan standing close by with a smoking Keyblade.
Sora gulped. "That could've gotten me!"
"Don't be such a baby. C'mon, we better get moving."
"Alright: spill. What's going between you two?"
"What do you mean?" Sora coughed, tripping over his own feet while he shambled through the earthy brown dirt. There was hidden fear deep within his voice that Dan caught on to very fast. After the group had began moving again Sora and Kairi, deciding that they still felt a little awkward and down right uncomfortable with each others company at the current moment, had moved off in their own directions. Meaning; Mia and Dan.
Danniel rolled his eyes to the sky and refused to buy it. "Yeah, right. I wasn't born yesterday!"
"Technically you haven't been born yet..." Sora murmured to the floor.
"Sora,"
"Nothing, really!"
"What do you think it means when a guy calls you a Heartless?"
Mia tripped over her own feet and almost went face first into the dirt. "What?" She coughed. Saying she was a little startled by the question was an understatement. Ahead of her Kairi saw Sora stiffen and inch away from the guy next to him. Mia noticed this, too, but paid no mind – she could always tune into either ones thoughts later and find out what the situation was. Mia never thought her "gift" would ever be this much fun!
"Just a crazy question... Random," Kairi mumbled while she watched the toes of her boots kick a single annoying pebble out of the way, feeling suddenly a small bit stupid to have asked the question in the first place.
Mia shock her head. "No, no. That wasn't something you ask someone on a daily basis." Mia frowned, wishing she didn't know what was coming next. "What happened?
"Sora,"Dan persisted, drawing out the last letter of the boy's name. Sora frowned and grumbled, "Nothing, Ok! So stop asking!" picking up pace to walk ahead of the entire group. Behind him he could hear Kairi and Mia chatting about something, too. Folding his arms tightly across his chest, Sora kept his head up and posture straight, fiddling with the zippier of his open vest and refusing to talk or even look at Dan now, too. ...You can't have a normal conversation with this guy! What was I thinking?...
"I'm going to go out an a limb here and say not much."
"Shut up, Roxas!"
Sighing, Dan spoke. "Look, Sora. Believe what you want but I'm not trying to be your enemy."
"Really, you aren't?" Sarcasm. "Gee, what would have given me that – "
"But I'm not entirely trying to be your friend either so don't get your hopes up, kid!" The guardian finished, causing Sora's mouth to gape.
"You know what, forget talking to me because I sure as heck don't want to have a conversation with you!" Sora stomped the dirt.
"And what are you gonna do? Go back there with the girl you're trying to avoid?"
Sora didn't answer.
Dan inwardly chuckled and kept his eyes forward. If anything, he wasn't stupid: he knew the kid would cave and he knew exactly when. In three...two...one...
"Well, something happened last night..." Kairi began, but it was enough for Mia's eyes to brighten and a beaming smile to replace her previous confused frown. Mia straightened up began bouncing on her heels.
"Really? Really really! Something happened! What?"
"Calm down!" Kairi laughed, thinking the girl strongly resembled a little child sitting in front of a Christmas tree on Christmas morning. Despite Kairi's demand Mia didn't stop bouncing. " I'll tell you what happened if you stop jumping."
As if someone turned a switch on her back off, Mia stopped. Just stopped, was calm, just like that. Kairi could help but be impressed.
"Wow. Um, ok. Here's what happened..."
"Alright fine!" Sora shot around, continuing in a much quieter tone, "Something did happen." Sora had felt Dan's eyes burning two great big giant holes in the back of his head and quite frankly it was freaking him out. He had caved and he felt weak and ridiculous.
"Okay..." Dan raised his eyebrows behind his bangs, waving a hand for Sora to elaborate. The latter sighed deeply in defeat and fell back into step with Dan.
"Well, last night I couldn't sleep..." Sora went through the entire story of the previous night's events, sugar coding a few eras that he didn't feel up to sharing and just knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it if he did. "...and then I kinda...fell on her..." Sora's face turned bright red and he shut his eyes to the floor, the images burned into his skull for all of eternity now.
Mia blinked. "He...fell on...you?"
Kairi blushed, memories rushing back with a vengeance. "Y-yeah."
Dan was silent for quite a while. "Huh." Was what he finally said. ...Could Mia have won the bet already?...
Sora felt as if his heart and brain were about to explode when he heard a small chuckle erupt from beside him. Sora turned his head to the guy beside him to see a big, and rare, smile plastered on his face. One thing led to another and a chuckle turned into a laugh, and a laugh turned into a fit of hysterics. All in all, Sora was shocked. He was staring at Dan with wide eyes, thinking he had lost his mind. Sora tuned behind him with a nervous smile and giggle, seeing how Mia and Kairi had broken off from their conversation and were staring at Dan the same way as he was.
"What's wrong with him?" Kairi asked, staring at how Dan was all but on the ground rolling the rest of the way up the path.
"Who knows." Mia replied. "Something different every day."
Despite her composure on the outside, in her head Mia was bouncing off the walls. I win! I win! I win! I win! I win!
After about half a minute of this Dan tried clearing his throat and to take a deep breath, "Ha! I – I'm sorry. I – I shouldn't h-have – Haha – started..." He laughed again. "Are – are you serious? I mean you actually fell..."
And he was off again.
Sora growled and barked, "Stop laughing!" After a while Dan actually managed to calm himself. Just like that he was back to his old, bitter, sarcastic self; like the person that came one minute and went the next was an entirely different person.
"So...you fell...on Kairi," Dan nodded.
Sora looked just about ready to strangle Dan (or himself, whichever is easiest). "Yes. Have we established that already?"
"Uh-huh," The futuristic Keyblader pondered. "So, how far did you get?" He teased, leaning in so that the girls didn't hear. "First base? Second? Third?"
"Anything else happen?" Mia said curiously, taking not note of how Kairi was avoiding eye contact.
"What do you mean?"
"Well there's gotta be some reason you're avoiding Sora like the Plague." Suddenly the girl's eyes sparked. "Did you two, you know..." She leaned in closer and whispered, "...kiss?"
"No!" Kairi jolted away. Mia heard an unspoken "I wish" in her thoughts."
Sora gasped slightly and his eyes shot open wide, the scarlet returning to his features. Sora pushed Dan away from him quite violently. "You...you're sick."
"I'm being realistic." He scoffed.
Sora balled his fists. "Well don't be 'cause nothing happened."
"Nothing? At all?" ...Yes! Still in the game! Take that, Mia!...
"Really? Absolutely nothing happened?" Mia pouted.
"Yes." Kairi tried to keep her voice from sounding like a hiss.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Mia!" Kairi practically shouted at her.
"N-no. After we fell I kind of ran..." The porcupine head bowed in embarrassment, his sharp brown locks covering a good part of his face.
"And nothing else happened at all?" Dan heard Sora stumble over his feet, knowing there was more.
"W-well...I...I..." Sora stammered. Dan grinned. "Yes?"
"B-before that there was something else..."
"Oh?"
"I...maybe, kinda, sorta...called her a Heartless." Sora squinted his eyes, blurting the sentence out.
"Oh." Dan stopped in his tracks for a moment, brows knitted in confusion, before continuing. "Not really what I was expecting, but ok."
Sora groaned and slapped his forehead. "I know! What do I do now? I can't even imagine what Kairi must think of me..." He wined.
"Well, my best guess is that you should maybe, kinda, sorta fix it!" Dan practically shouted in his face. Sora jumped backward in surprise. "What's with you all of a sudden?"
"Nothing. Just fix it." The guy said with a flat tone.
Sora nodded in agreement. "I will, I will." And continued on walking in silence for a few minutes on from that point. Sora remained silent because there was no way in hell he was ever going to ask Dan for advice on girls – he could barely handle asking that of Riku – and Dan stayed silent because he really didn't give a crap. Until he gave up and broke the silence again, "But you thought about it."
"Dan," Sora warned. "Don't push it."
"I mean you would have – "
"One word!"
"Thought about – "
"DAN!"
Up ahead the two girls heard Sora scream at the guy next to him. They both frowned in confusion, wondering what in the world was going on up there. "Um," Mia began, "so what are you going to do? I don't really think he intentionally meant it to sound like...that."
Kairi sighed, inwardly regretting bringing the whole thing up. "I don't know," She admitted. "But I have to talk to Sora. Let him know that I'm not offended and that I'm not mad!" Kairi's eyes landed on the back of Sora's head, wondering how on earth she was going to pull that off. I mean, he saw her naked! Well, not naked naked, but you get the point. Closing her eyes Kairi let out a frustrated sigh. This wasn't going to be easy, if anything, incredibly awkward.
"You better do it soon," Mia advised. "Sooner is better then later."
"I will." Kairi said. Mia waited, staring at the red head until Kairi got the gist. "What, now?"
"No, wait 'til Christmas and scream it at him – yes now!" With a firm push on her shoulder Kairi found herself striding up – quite unwillingly – to Sora and Dan. All she had to do now was find a way to get rid of the third wheel and all was good.
Sora, hearing footsteps crushing the grass and leaves under their feet, turned around expecting to see Mia over to investigate why in the hell himself and Dan were screaming at each other earlier. Instead Kairi came into full view, eyes slightly downcast and fingers fiddling around each other non stop. Sora noticed her cheeks were slightly flushed and she was shifting her weight constantly. Kairi lifted her eyes up to Sora's and blushed deeper, in a small voice she asked, "Sora...can I talk to you?"
Sora simply stared for a moment, that was the first thing she had said to him all morning. Snapping out of his thoughts Sora opened his mouth to answer her, but instead a scream of fright echoed through the forest and all four turned to where the cry erupted.
"That sounded like..."
"Pacha!" Sora finished for Kairi, before bolting off into the trees, leaving Kairi to recover after being taken aback from the sudden exclamation. After clearing her head the remaining three Keybladers took down after the same path.
Sora shot through the leaves, using his Keyblade as a machete to cut away the stubborn branches and other ranges of greenery that flopped in his face while he ran. Sora wasn't sure, but up a head he swore he could hear Kuzco and Pacha shouting something at each other. Behind him Kairi, Mia and Dan finally managed to catch up with Sora, before finally bursting through the leaves into open space. The four were standing at the foot of a long, wide open dirt road, thick layers of vegetation surrounding. To their right was a cliff, and beyond that was the luxurious, exotic decoration were painted on any and every flat surface. Sora also noticed that the main portion of the palace was sculpted into looking like a face. Although, there was no sign of Kuzco and Pacha any where. And no rope bridge.
"Where'd they go?" Kairi wondered, mainly to herself then anyone. With a shake of his head Sora lightly jogged over to the cliffs edge, followed by Mia moments after. When the two reached the cliff side both peeked over the edge, only to flinch and look away, completely missing the two small dark figures at the bottom of the chasm.
"I hate heights." Both complained at the same time, Mia's more strong then Sora's. When both their eyes met Sora shrugged and shook his head, again, to clear it. You couldn't really call Sora's fear of heights a 'fear', exactly. The fear wasn't deadly or even strong. More uncomfortable. He didn't really even know when it started. Mia, on the other hand, had always had this deadly fear of heights ever since she was very small, when she got stuck atop of a Ferris Wheel because of some "technical difficulties" with the ride, leaving her up there for approximately three hours. Mia always hated that about herself: a Keyblader afraid of heights was something seriously laughed upon where she came from.
"I don't see them!" Sora called back to the others, moments before Kairi emerged form the trees on the opposite end from where they came from with the same results, "They're not over here either,"
Sora knitted his eyebrow, truly puzzled with the scene before him. Mia and Sora started making their way back the the rest of the party, when suddenly an inhuman, demonic roar erupted from deep within the trees, causing all of them to freeze, stone cold, in place. When Mia and Dan's eyes met both teens gulped and managed to mutter the same exact statement, "Uh-oh..."
"D...D-D-Dan," Mia called nervously.
"Yes?" The addressed responded, tone slightly similar.
"Please tell me that's not what I think it is."
"Depends what you think it is." Dan took a deep breath before tuning to address both Sora and Kairi in the most quiet whisper he could manage. "Sora, Kairi, are you two fast learners?"
"Yeah," Both spoke together. "Why?"
"Because," Mia answered, "you're gonna have to summon up those skills and fast. You'll need them." Five long seconds of deadly silence later the demonic cry came again, this time sounding much closer and stronger. A huge black monster came bursting out of the trees, its mouth locked wide open and wings flapping viciously as it landed in the middle of the road, the impact of that landing caused a medium quake to erupt and almost shake the four Keybladers off their feet. The creature approximately three times bigger then Sora was tall, and five times longer, its molecular structure similar to that of a dragons, with long, broken blue wings and sharp blue barred teeth. There were three horns positioned at the top of its head, the middle larger in both length and width. All three of them were cone shaped and curved outward at the top. The muscular body of the behemoth was a deep texture of black, some deep red cuts and scars from previous encounters with other predators, and to top the entire look of the monster off were five strong legs, a tail with a very sharp and poisonous looking spear on the end, and two glowing yellow eyes.
The behemoth extended it long neck and let out an ear-splitting shriek like a siren call to the sky – the four had to cover their ears from the scream.
"GHOST!" Mia screamed to the others as they all summoned their weapons, before adding at the end, "LEVEL C!" The creature kicked its three hind legs into the air like a bull and out of its mouth came a burning hot string of fire in the shape of a ring. Sora, acting on impulse, swung an arm around Mia and pulled her out of the way moments before the flame struck the ground where she stood heartbeats ago. With another shriek the Dragon Ghost breathed the fire again and Sora lifted his keyblade up in front of him and shouted, "Reflect!" Suddenly a clear sphere surrounded both him and Mia just as the flame bounced right off the sphere and back at the Ghost, but the creature reacted like it couldn't even feel it. Which, it probably couldn't.
"Sora!" Dan shouted from the other side of the battle ground. "The Ghost controls fire so it's immune to any fire based attacks! You need something cold!"
Sora nodded, just as the Reflect spell wore off and readied his keyblade for another attack and when it came the unexpected intensity of the flames made Sora and Mia take a nose dive into the dirt. Suddenly a burst of light came from behind and collided with the Ghost's head. The Dragon wailed and bent its head back to see behind and inspect the attack. What the Ghost saw was Kairi and Dan flaying their arms and Keyblades around in the air, shouting things like "Hey you!" and "Over here!". The creature stomped around to Dan and Kairi, whipping its long tail against the ground before sending it charging at the two. Jumping in front of Kairi Dan pointed his Keyblade at the point of the tail, sending ice crystals at it. When the crystals hit their target they moult together around the tail, freezing it before he sent a new wave of ice, this time daggers. The ice daggers pierced directly through the point. The ice gave a barely audible crack before half of the tail jerked and spanned right off, shattering into one million pieces when it hit the ground.
Sora didn't realise that he still had his arm around Mia until they were back on their feet and she was staring at him intently, saying, "Sora, it's my job to protect you, remember? Not the other way round." Sora blushed and snatched his arm away, muttering a quick "Sorry" to the floor and ran up to help Dan and Kairi with the Ghost.
Remembering Dan's advice Kairi Fired a blizzard spell at the behemoth's legs, hypothesising that if she can get it down then it might be a little easier to beat. Might. The Ghost roared in pain when the ice collided with its body and flapped its wings viciously. Kairi sent a new wave of ice on it, this time managing to get it limping, but her plan backfired when the Dragon gave one last shocking flap of its wings and floated up in the air, screaming before breathing a new ring of fire to the four. They all managed to just dodge the attack but some of the nearby trees set alight.
Sora ran into a better position and pointed the nose of his blade at the beast, readying for a Blizarga spell when something incredibly shocking and embarrassing happened: The Keyblade flew out of his hands and continued flying through the air until it bounced off the Ghost in the head like a little stick. Sora stood there dumbfounded for some moments, his arm still outstretched to be holding his Keyblade, and looked around to see his three friends staring at him with bewilderment. Sora chuckled with embarrassment, face turning red, and glared down at the ground where his keyblade fell like it was his worst enemy. Growling with annoyance, Sora closed his eyes for a split second and sent his Keyblade away. Sora's battle comrades watched his Keyblade give a bright blue flash before disappearing with great confusion.
"Um, Sora," Kairi called. "What are you doing?"
Sora didn't answer her question, but rather waved a hand and told them all to take cover as he lifted his palm in the air. The other three jogged under the trees and Sora closed his eyes.
Better make haste, Sora. Get it before it runs. Ghosts can only stay out in broad daylight for a minimal amount of time, you know.
A gasp escaped his lips and Sora's eyes shot open, causing him to lose his concentration. Sora shook the voice away and concentrated again. Suddenly the air around where the Ghost was flying became thick as dark, puffy clouds began to emerge. Gritting his teeth Sora clenched his outstretched fist and suddenly a mini twister began to spiral around the Ghost. The Ghost shrieked and blew more fire, but the thickness of the twister around it only blew it back. Using both hands now Sora opened his eyes again and took a deep breath as the beginnings of snow flakes began to fall from the clouds and on to the Ghost. Clenching his jaw to try harder, the snow began falling thicker and faster, swarming around the screaming dragon like angry bees. Moments later the Ghost was completely invisible behind the veil of ice and wind. Sora dropped his hands and the twister exploded, ice and other crystalline particles flying here and there. Out of a layer of mist the Ghost reappeared, lying unmoving on the ground. Suddenly the creature dissolved, thick black smoke raising like burning embers. Its head and long neck the first to go before moving on to what was left of the tail and then the rest of the body. Out of the centre of the body a light blue heart emerged, covered in some sort of white glow, and floated off the Kingdom Hearts.
Kairi stared at the floating thing sadly, remembering what Mia had told them about the Ghosts. The blue heart: a Heartless. The white smoky glow: a persons soul.
Sora staggered around on the spot before feeling a warm green light wash over him. Better now, Sora quickly wiped any remains of blood from his nose before the others saw.
"How did you do that?" Kairi bombarded Sora when she reached him, expression filled with awe and shock.
"Um...I just stopped thinking and...just did it." Sora muttered, adding, "I felt what was in my heart and...well...yeah." He gestured to the smoky remains of the Ghost.
"Sora..." Mia murmered beside him, cupping her chin in thought. "Sky! Sora means sky. Just like Kairi is an abbreviation of Kai, meaning water and Riku means land. That must be how you were able to control the air like that, Sora." She said to him before turning to Kairi, "I bet you 50 munny you can do the same with water, and Riku with earth."
Kairi opened her mouth to speak when screams echoed in the chasm around them. The four ran over to the edge of the cliff just in time to see Kuzco and Pacha swing up on a vine, summer salt through the air and land perfectly in front of the four. Six pairs of eyes stared at each other with amazed expressions. The group all laughed nervously for a momentarily before a tremor broke loose.
"Oh what now?" Dan asked. Although his question didn't get answered. The ground below them began to crumble at their feet and they all felt themselves slipping. Sora, Kairi, Mia, Dan and Kuzco all jumped back onto firm ground, but Pacha, standing in the worst position of the group slipped then the rock completely gave way. Pacha cried out and lashed his arms forward to grab on to anything to stop his descend, when suddenly Kuzco reached forward and caught the fabric of Pacha's poncho by a hair with his teeth and pulled, swinging the peasant back over the edge and onto the ground.
Kuzco looked over the edge of the cliff at the falling piece of canyon wall, before throwing his head back in laughter.
"Woohoo! Yeah! Oh, look at me and my bad self. I snatched you right out of the air! "Oh, I'm a crumbly canyon wall, and I'm taking you with me." Well, not today, pal! Uh-huh. Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. Uh-huh."
Sora helped Pacha back to his feet, who stared at the dancing llama in wonder before stuttering, "You just saved my life,"
Kuzco abruptly halted his dancing. "Huh?" He huffed, blowing a stray piece of hair out of his eyes. "Yeah. So?"
Pacha smiled and pointed an accusing finger at Kuzco. "I new it."
"New what?"
Pacha just laughed at the Emperors scared tone. Sora chuckled and placed his hands on his hips, speaking in a playful accusing tone. "So there is some good in you after all."
"Oh, no." Kuzco denied.
"Yes there is," Kairi sang.
"Wrong!"
"Admit it." Mia joined in.
"There's nothing to admit!"
"Yeah there is," Dan cut in. "You just saved his life!"
Kuzco shook his head, "Nuh-uh."
"I think there is." Pacha joined back in.
"Nuh-uh!"
"Hey, you could have let me fall."
"Come on. What's the big deal?" Kuzco snapped, shooting back around. "Nobody's that heartless!" The llama clamped both hands over his mouth, wishing he could take back what he said when his gaze met Sora's. Sora crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. Kuzco gained his composure again and waved a hand in the air. "Don't read too much into it. It was a one-time thing."
Sora nodded sarcastically, "Yeah. Sure."
Pacha smiled at the four teenagers before turning and began making his way down the path. "Well, we better get going. With that bridge out, it's a four-day walk to the palace."
Kuzco paused and turned toward Pacha, thinking it was some sort of trick. "What? You mean you're still taking me back?"
Pacha nodded. "I shook on it, didn't I?"
Kuzco blinked, taken a back as the four teenagers began following Pacha, Sora muttering some sort of complaint about the whole "four-day walk" thing. "Well, yeah, uh, but I hope you realize that doesn't change a thing. I'm still building Kuzcotopia when I get back."
Pacha nodded. "Well," He said, "four days is a long time. Who knows? Maybe you'll change your mind."
Kuzco stared blankly at the peasant, a sort of "keep dreaming" expression. "Uh-huh. Hmmm. Four days, huh?"
"Yep."
"So...what are the chances of one of you guys carrying me?"
"Not good!" They all responded together.
Hey! Sorry about the late update and sorry that this chapter didn't really follow much of the movie, but I really just needed to shove a Ghost in there already!
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