"…Hey, Reimu?"
"Yeah?"
"Um, are you all right…?"
Reimu sighed. "Yeah. I'm fine." She and Medicina had stopped to fix the doll's leg, which had popped out of its socket again after they had been ambushed by more Heartless. "Sorry, I've been really quiet, haven't I?"
"It is fine." Medicina stood up, rubbing where her leg socket was. "I was just worried, because of that friend of yours."
"Don't worry about it." Reimu stood up as well, and led the way to the hole near them. "If she wants to act like that, that's her problem, not mine. …Seriously, did we go in a circle or something?" She frowned, looking around at the new chamber they were in. "Everything looks the same in this stupid whale. I bet the boys already found Riku. Figures."
"Are we lost?"
"Eh. We'll find them eventually." Reimu shrugged. "Sora and I have a good knack for picking a direction and going, and that direction always turns out to be the right way."
"I… see…" Medicina smiled. She slowly frowned, though, and stared at the only other hole in the chamber. "Ah… do you hear that?"
"Hm?" Reimu listened, and grinned as she heard the distinctive sound of the boys yelling in battle. "Well, well, well. What'd I tell you? The 'pick a direction and go' strategy never fails!" She grabbed Medicina's arm and jumped up onto the raised platform of whale insides where the hole leading to the sounds of battle were coming from, and rushed inside. When the two girls entered the whale's bowels, they noticed three things: one, that Pinocchio was trapped. Two, that he was trapped in a gross, parasitic-looking Heartless. And three, that not only were the boys fighting it, trying to rescue the poor puppet, but Riku was there too, with that odd wing-shaped sword of his he had back in Traverse Town.
"It's about time!" Reimu looked over to see Sora yelling at her, while dodging the Heartless' tentacles slamming down at him. Reimu rolled her eyes and winked at Medicina.
"Stay back, okay? We'll get Pinocchio out in a second."
"A-ah, alright…" Medicina nodded and backed away to the wall, her eyes not leaving Pinocchio.
Reimu didn't even bother keeping her gohei out. She slowly floated up into the air and pointed at the Heartless, summoning Homing Amulet and pelting the monster right between the eyes. It tried to reach her with its tentacles, leaving it open to the boys' attacks, and Reimu flew around it in a circle, distracting it even more while still shooting at it. She considered floating next to Riku to try to talk to him, but decided against it. Now was not the time to confront him about his and Marisa's behavior. Save Pinocchio first, ask questions later, she thought.
"So, what took you so long?" Donald asked her nonchalantly, standing back to cast spells at the Heartless.
"Oh, shut it." Reimu glared. "I'm not exactly in the mood right now."
"Jeez. What happened?" Sora jumped back to them, but rushed forward to attack again.
"…" Reimu flew away from the boys, focusing on shooting the Heartless. She was starting to get annoyed, from the boys' laughing at her being late, to Pinocchio's cries and wails and pleads to get him out of the Heartless, and finally to Riku, who she noticed kept glancing over at her specifically as he hit the Heartless. "…This is taking too long." Reimu said, and she dispelled Homing Amulet.
"H-Huh?" Goofy looked up at her. "Reimu, what're ya doing?"
"I suggest," She said, holding out her hand and smiling, "that you all back up. I have something to say, and the faster this thing is gone, the faster I can say it." Between her outstretched index and middle finger, with a flash of white light, the spell card appeared.
"W-wait! Don't use that here, in this small space!" Sora yelled.
"You wanna hit us too?!" Donald cried.
"Hey, Medicina." Reimu winked at her. "You might wanna get behind something." Medicina gulped and scurried back into the entrance hole of the room. With a deliberate glance over at Riku, Reimu raised the card high above her head. "Dream Sign: 「Evil-Sealing Circle」!"
The boys ran for it, Sora grabbing the confused Riku by the arm. Riku watched with wide eyes at the barrage of red amulets coming from Reimu, absolutely swamping the Heartless with red. The boys were unable to make it to where Medicina was in time, but thankfully they had found a safe spot the amulets weren't hitting. They watched as the card hit its second phase, the small white bullets forming rings around Reimu and shooting out at the Heartless. Sora and Donald were grumbling about Reimu being reckless and taking away the fun out of killing the Heartless for them, but Riku watched the whole thing with bated breath, his mind racing. He had seen Reimu use those smaller amulets back in Traverse Town, but those had been nothing compared to what he was watching now. He wondered if Marisa had learned how to do things like this from the hag.
"That's 30 seconds now." Donald muttered. "Almost done."
Indeed, 14 seconds after he said that, the bullets abruptly disappeared, and Reimu's card vanished in a flash of light. The Parasite Cage convulsed, grabbed onto the ceiling, and spat out Pinocchio right down the hole in the floor that it had been plugging up. Riku wasted no time in running straight after him, down the hole, and the Heartless disappeared.
"Wait a second!" Reimu yelled angrily. "I have to talk to you!" She dropped down the hole as well.
"Ah… Well, let's go, then." Sora said. He looked back to see Medicina running towards them from where she had been hiding, her face full of worry.
"Where is Pinocchio?!"
"He fell down. Come on, we'll get him." Goofy said, picking her up, and they dropped down the hole themselves.
The hole ended up taking them right back to the mouth, and they landed on a wrecked ship that the gluttonous whale had taken for itself. As they landed, they saw that Geppetto too was on the ship, standing next to Reimu, pleading up at Riku who was up on a higher platform.
"Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Please, give me back my son!"
"Eh?!" Medicina scrambled out of Goofy's arms and ran over to her father, looking up at Riku holding her unconscious brother above them. "Come ti permetti! Cosa stai facendo?!" Riku looked down at them with a bored look on his face.
"Sorry. I have some unfinished business with this puppet."
"Riku, you…" Reimu glared up at him. "How could you just treat him like that?"
"He's no puppet!" Geppetto sobbed. "He is my little boy!"
"Return him at once, you villain!" Medicina yelled. "Miss Reimu! Can't you-?"
"He is unusual." Riku interrupted her, looking at the puppet in his arms. "Not many puppets have hearts."
"Quit ignoring us!" Reimu growled, lifting into the air. Riku looked directly at her.
"I just want to see if he can help someone who's lost their heart."
"Someone?" Sora stepped forward. "Wait. You… you aren't talking about Kairi, are you?"
Riku didn't answer him.
"N-no way!" Reimu's eyes widened. "She- She can't have-"
"What do you guys care about her." Riku glared at them, and he turned and fled, running into a higher hole into Monstro's body.
"Get back here!" Reimu sped after him, leaving the boys behind.
"Reimu, wait!" Sora started to jump up the platforms to where Riku had been standing, with Donald and Goofy behind him. Goofy looked back at Medicina and Geppetto, who had fallen to his knees.
"Um, you should stay here, Medicina. I promise we'll get him back!"
"…" Medicina nodded and turned to console her father.
Reimu furiously kicked at the Shadows jumping up at her as she flew up through the whale's throat. She was pretty sure that this wasn't proper whale anatomy, but then again, she wasn't well-versed on that particular subject. Plus, Monstro wasn't a proper whale, anyway. She ignored the Search Ghosts coming after her and just focused on ascending. She was absolutely furious at Riku at the moment, and wanted answers. Had Kairin actually lost her heart? Is that why Marisa had come to talk to her? Is that why they were allied with that little girl who was obviously with Maleficent? Reimu scrunched her face in anger. Just who the hell was this Maleficent lady, anyway? Seven Princesses. Keyholes. Heartless. Riku's behavior from the very beginning, when the storm had hit the islands. That wrong look in his eyes she remembered he had. All of this craziness that had ripped apart their peaceful lifestyle.
"I want ANSWERS!" Reimu yelled, punching a Shadow right in the face as it leapt for her. She sped up to the very end of the whale's throat, suddenly finding herself in a large chamber, lit by rather disgusting green liquid. "…Stomach acid, huh." She inched away from it, and looked up. She clenched her hands into fists as she saw Riku standing with his back to her looking down at Pinocchio on the ground. Reimu stepped forward and cleared her throat. Riku slightly jumped and quickly turned around, his face surprised for a split second before becoming serious.
"Tch. That was faster than I expected. What, left Sora behind?"
"You know him. He's such a slowpoke." Reimu put her hands on her hips. "So, what. You gonna keep acting like a brat having a tantrum?"
Riku glared at her. "You just don't get it. This puppet's lost its heart to the Heartless. Maybe it holds the key to helping Kairi."
"So she really has lost her heart, then." Reimu kept her voice steady, but inside she felt cold. It was so hard to imagine that Kairi, their Kairi, had become a victim of these monsters they had been working so hard to destroy. She wanted to do anything in her power to save her, but… "But harming someone to help another isn't the way to do things." She closed her eyes. "…By the way. Does Marisa know you're doing this?"
"Wh- She has nothing to do with this."
Reimu opened her eyes. "Ah. So that's why she was so surprised when I told her you were here. What, you're not telling her things either?" She glowered at him. "And you have the audacity to accuse Sora and I of abandoning you and not wanting to help."
"She- She was here?" Riku asked, his eyes wide. "Why?"
"She wanted to talk to me. Asking why we abandoned you guys. Which, I'll say again, we never did." She narrowed her eyes. "Which reminds me. You wouldn't happen to be jealous of Sora, would you?"
"Why the hell would I-" Riku yelled, but just like Marisa, Reimu could tell he wasn't being truthful.
"Hm." Reimu shook her head. "So, want to tell me what's the deal with the little girl and that Maleficent woman?"
"…" Riku didn't answer. He only stared back at her.
"Hm." Reimu lowered her arms from her hips. "So, I guess that's it, then." She summoned her gohei. "I understand you want to save Kairin. I understand that a lot has happened that confuses and scares you. Trust me, I know those feelings all too well. And please believe me when I say I want nothing more than for all of us to be together again, with no ill-will towards each other." She pointed at him with the gohei. "Unfortunately, your association with that evil woman and your actions are interfering with those wishes of mine, and I cannot just stand here and let you hurt innocent people for selfish reasons."
"So what." Riku said, a shadow falling over his eyes. "You're gonna fight me?"
"You always did one-on-one competitions with Marisa and Sora. But I don't think in the history of our friendship we ever did anything together." Reimu smiled. "No tricks. No Heartless, no danmaku. Just you, me, and our weapons."
"…" Riku pulled out his sword. "Fine. I win, I take the puppet and actually try to save Kairi."
"Sure." Reimu nodded. "But if I win, we return that poor boy to his family and you tell me just what you and Marisa have been doing since our island was destroyed."
"Deal." Riku stepped off the platform he and Pinocchio were on, and walked to the middle of the stomach. Reimu walked closer until they were a few feet apart.
[BGM: Dichromatic Lotus Butterfly ~ Red and White]
"Hm. It's as if we were back on the island where you and Sora would duel." Reimu said. "Though this time it's not with wooden swords." She frowned. "And its stomach acid instead of ocean surrounding us. Hey, uh, let's try not to push each other in that, oka-" She was interrupted by Riku thrusting forward and swinging down his sword, which she just barely blocked with her gohei. "That was rude." She glared at him. "I wasn't finished talking." She pushed him away, following up with a swing of her own, hitting him across the stomach.
"You seriously think you can hurt me with that little twig?" Riku laughed.
"Now you see the differences between us." Reimu jumped back from another swing of his sword. "I doubt you have any problems slicing me open with that thing. I, on the other hand," she side-stepped him and punched him in the face. "Don't want to actually hurt you." She grinned at his furious cry. "A good brawl between friends is a great way to alleviate tensions between them, don't you think?" She jumped away again from him, but she realized too late that that was what Riku wanted, as instead of his sword missing her, he lunged forward and grabbed her by the shirt, pulling her close… and slamming his forehead onto hers. "Owowowow!" She staggered back, clutching her head in pain. Riku laughed, stepping back.
"You know, considering you never actually got into a fight like Marisa, Sora, and I, this probably wasn't a good idea for you."
"Ah, ah." Reimu shook herself and looked up at him. "Is that you saying you'll go easy on me? Since it's my first time."
"Hell no."
"That's what I hoped." Reimu grinned, and she rushed forward, making it look like she was going to swing, but instead swept her leg at his feet causing him to fall backward. She realized with horror that they were on the edge of their little arena, and he was about to fall into the stomach acid. "Wait, time out! No, no!" She dropped her gohei and grabbed him around the waist, lifting into the air away from the acid. For a split second, she considered placing him down safely in the middle of the room… but then again… She squeezed him tighter and with a yell from him, she performed a beautiful suplex right in the middle of the room. Or at least, the extent of a suplex that she could do, since he was rather heavy and she wasn't that strong in the physical department. In any case, at least it did something. She quickly turned back to grab her gohei from the ground, and spun around to face him, and found herself looking right at Riku's fist. She felt something wrong happen with her nose, and she landed on her back, hard, on the ground. She ignored the pain in her face and opened her eyes to see Riku pointing the tip of his sword right at her throat.
"Looks like I win." Riku smirked.
"Nah." Reimu replied, smacking away the sword and quickly rolling away and back onto her feet. "I won't be beaten so easily! Not when you've got so much explaining to do!"
"Hmph." Riku hmphed. He lunged forward, swinging his sword. Reimu blocked it and pushed back, quickly and forcefully jabbing at his stomach, knocking the breath out of him. She smacked the side of his head, getting him off balance, but he quickly recovered and hit her himself, almost getting her on the ground again. Her head was ringing, and there was definitely a lot of blood coming from her definitely broken nose, but she wasn't about to let herself lose this fight. Pinocchio's fate was in her hands!
She tried getting behind him, but with every attempt, he either jumped back or swung out making her jump back. She realized that if she was going to win, she would need to change tactics. She promised she wouldn't use danmaku… but she never said she couldn't fly, now could she? She grinned and rushed forward, staying close to the ground but still using flight to give her an extra boost.
"Wha-?!" Riku cried, not expecting the sudden burst in speed of hers, and he turned too late to see what was happening. Reimu had successfully reached his back and kicked as hard as she could, again taking advantage of her power of flight for an extra boost, and managed to get him on the ground. She laughed and quickly grabbed his sword before he could get back up, and backed away, grinning at his furious face.
"Well, well, well. Looks like the score is 1-0, my favor." Reimu wiggled the sword in the air. "Ah, this thing is heavy. How can you boys carry around these things all the ti-" The sword was yanked out of her hands and she was once again on the ground, an intense pain in her mouth. She tasted blood. She looked up and felt her blood run cold as Riku looked down at her, sword once again pointed at her, but this time instead of a triumphant smirk, a cold glare was on his face. However, it wasn't his expression that had rendered her immobile, but rather solely his eyes. Just like that fateful night when they lost their home, Riku's eyes felt wrong, as if they weren't his own, and yet, were. She felt the tip of the sword start to actually poke into her throat. She realized that if Riku kept staying like this, he definitely would cut her open-!
"Riku!"
When Sora, Donald, and Goofy entered the whale's stomach, they absolutely did not expect to see a bloody-faced Reimu on the ground with an equally beat up-faced Riku poking his sword at her. The two looked at the newcomers, and Riku blinked confusedly and shook his head a little. He looked down to Reimu at his feet. Thankfully, when she looked into his eyes again, they were back to normal, but before she could say anything, Riku jumped back as the other boys rushed forward, pulling out their weapons.
"Just what do you think you're doing!" Sora yelled.
"We had a deal." Riku shrugged. "I won, Reimu. Looks like I get to save Kairi." He backed up to where Pinocchio was sitting.
"Deal? Won? What?" Sora looked between Reimu and Riku, and shook his head. "No way! Give Pinocchio back, Riku!"
"Pinocchio!" Unnoticed by the others, Jiminy Cricket had gotten over to Pinocchio. "Oh, Pinocchio!"
"…Mm…" Slowly, Pinocchio opened his eyes, but he looked awful. "Jiminy… I'm not gonna make it…"
"Pinocchio…" Jiminy said, his voice full of despair. At that moment, with a bright light, Pinocchio's nose extended a few inches.
"Oh!" Pinocchio said, instantly becoming more cheerful. "I guess I'm okay!"
Jiminy began jumping for joy, and Riku looked over at them, clenching his teeth.
"Huh. So he didn't lose his heart after all." Reimu slowly got up, rubbing her nose which Donald had cast Cure on. "I guess our bet didn't matter."
"What were you guys doing?" Sora asked, not taking his eyes off of Riku.
"Had a fight." Reimu scratched her ear. "What took you guys so long? You missed me kicking his ass."
"That Heartless that took Pinocchio showed up again." Donald said. "So we really beat it this time."
"So, what." Sora said to Riku. "You wanna save Kairi, but you'll hurt other people to do it? That's not right."
"That's what I said." Reimu shrugged.
"Shut up." Riku glared at all of them. "Just shut up. I can see it. Neither of you are willing to save Kairi at any cost. It's all up to me and Marisa."
"What's Marisa been doing?" Sora asked, but at that moment, a large rumble went all throughout the whale. The stomach acid around them bubbled and popped, slowly rising out of its ditch and beginning to splash near them. Riku, realizing there was nothing more for him here, quickly turned around and, much like Marisa had done earlier, escaped via a sphere of darkness. "Riku!" Sora yelled, but he was suddenly grabbed by Reimu, who pulled him away from the acid that was creeping towards them.
"Run!" Donald yelled, and they, along with Pinocchio and Jiminy, ran out of the chamber where the monstrous whale was having a stomachache.
It had been about an hour since Riku had escaped from the whale's stomach, and he had still not alerted anyone that he had returned to the pirate ship on which they were using as their base. He silently stood in the captain's cabin, looking mournfully down at the unconscious Kairi, cursing himself that he had not been able to help her. He could only think about Reimu and Sora's words to him, about how helping her at the cost of hurting others wasn't the right thing to do, but what did they know? While they were off getting everything they wanted and getting to be heroes, he and Marisa had to work their asses off and deal with the fact that they couldn't help Kairi. Just thinking of them looking at him as if they were superior made him angrier, and he nearly yelled out in frustration, but thought better of it. He sighed.
"What, you're not telling her things either?" Reimu's accusatory words rang in his mind. Though he hated to admit it, that was something he agreed on with her. He should've told Marisa what he was doing. After all, it was just the two of them now. He nodded to himself. He had spent enough time sulking by himself. It was about time he got Marisa up to speed with everything. He turned around and nearly yelled out as he saw Maleficent quietly closing the door.
"So there you were. I was wondering if you knew where my little Rumia and Marisa had gone."
"They're not here?" He asked. So much for getting Marisa involved.
"If they are, they are doing a fine job of hiding from me." Maleficent walked towards him. "Poor child. As she is now, she is nothing more than a husk."
"Like a lifeless puppet." Riku said.
"Precisely."
"And her heart was…"
"Taken by the Heartless, no doubt." Maleficent shook her head. "Such a pity. Though it is we who use them, we must not forget that they are dangerous creatures."
"…Please." Riku looked up at her. "Tell me, how can I save her?"
"A heart should be able to be saved by hearts." Maleficent nodded. "You see, throughout all the worlds there are seven maidens whose hearts have never seen a speck of darkness inside them. We call these girls the princesses of heart. If all seven are gathered together, a door will open, leading to the heart of all worlds."
"The heart of all worlds…"
"Within this door likes untold wisdom. I am certain that by opening the door, you will find a way to recover Kairi's heart." She smiled. "Now, I'll grant you a marvelous gift. The power to control the Heartless." With a wave of her staff, an eerie green light covered Riku, and something inside him changed. He looked back at Kairi's body and smiled.
"Soon, Kairi. Soon."
"I never want to experience that again." Reimu sat back in her chair in the Gummi Ship, sneezing. Only a short while before, Monstro himself had sneezed them out of his body, and they had sped away as fast as they could.
"I sure hope Pinocchio and his family are okay." Goofy said.
"Yeah, hopefully they landed safely somewhere." Donald agreed.
"Hey, Reimu! I found some stuff in Monstro. Could ya put it on the shelf?" Goofy handed the items to her; a small blue stone and a torn page.
"Ah? A summon gem and…" Reimu looked over the page. It wasn't an Ansem report, but rather it seemed to be a part of a children's story. "Huh. I'll put 'em on."
"…" Sora was silent, looking out the window.
"…Hey, cheer up, Sora." Reimu said. "I promise, by the time all of this is over, we'll all be together again."
"…Even after all this stuff he's pulled?" Sora looked over at her. "After what he did to you?"
"Hey, I consented to that. Plus, didn't you see what I did to him?" She grinned. "Listen. I know things seem dark and crappy right now, but trust in my shrine maiden's intuition. By the end of this journey, we will all be together and friends again!"
"You really think so, huh."
"I know so!" Reimu said happily. "Hey, don't keep thinking about that stuff. Here, read this." She tossed the book by Maribel Hearn at him. "It's so awful I'm sure it'll make all those bad thoughts leave your head!"
"Ha ha." Sora rolled his eyes, but flipped open to a random page anyway. Donald did say it would be a while before they arrived back at Traverse Town, so he might as well get his mind off of Riku. He found a beginning of a chapter and began to read.
Eventually, my travels took me to quite the entertaining world. I never bothered to learn its name, but when I arrived on the world I found myself looking at a large tower with no doors with which to get inside, and what was more, it was rather well-hidden in a secret valley. I took a bit of a peek inside to see what treasures the tower had, and what a treasure it had! A teenaged girl with the longest golden hair I have ever seen. My hair is quite long and quite gold, but even I was impressed with this human's hair! And what's more, the hair itself had a special power. When the girl sang, it would glow and return youth to her aged guardian! I would say mother, but it was rather obvious that the woman was not the child's mother in the slightest. …By the way, Keyblade wielder. You should tell that cute shrine maiden that she did quite a fine job fighting your friend. She ought to train more so she doesn't lose should she ever have to fight like that again.
Sora's eyes grew wide at what he was reading. What? Did this book… did this book just talk to him? He blinked, but when he looked closer, the text had changed completely.
not the child's mother in the slightest. I stuck around for a little while and watched the girl ask her "mother" to see some sort of lights that flew into the sky every year on her birthday, but the woman absolutely forbade it. Curious to the reason that this child was in this tower in the first place, I decided to keep following the mother around, but then an interesting development happened when a rather attractive thief found his way into the tower
Sora stopped reading. He blinked a few times again and re-read the passage, but there was nothing about Reimu fighting or anything addressing him. He must have imagined it. But in any case, he closed the book and tossed it back at Reimu. Even if he did just imagine it, he had a weird feeling as he held the book. As if the book itself didn't want to be read by him.
"What, too awful for you?" Reimu grinned.
"Nah. Just don't feel like reading." He frowned. "It wasn't that bad. I don't know why you're so against it."
"Hmph. You must have gotten an actual good part. Every time I read a part, the writing's just too full of itself and treats the reader like they're stupid."
"…" Sora looked at that book. It wasn't written like that when he read it. He frowned. Could it be that that book had something magical about it? The author did leave a spell card in it, after all. Speaking of which- "Did you ever make out what the spell card in it said?"
"Huh? Oh, no, I didn't." Reimu shrugged. "I don't really care. It's not my card anyway, so I wouldn't be able to use it even if I did learn what the first part said."
"Hm." Sora watched her put the book away. "Maybe we should ask Merlin about it when we bring the Fairy Godmother that summon stone."
"I doubt he'd know. It wasn't his book, remember?" She looked over at the summon stones. "Hm. We should actually use these sometime. I feel bad for Genie getting stuck in there, and for this Simba guy, and whoever's in this new one."
"Yeah. We should bring them with us to the next world."
"Speaking of which." Donald said. "We're here!"
"Hooray!" Reimu said. "Hey… how long has it been since we were here last?"
"It's been about another week." Goofy said, looking at the calendar.
"Is… that so…" Reimu said.
"This is so weird." Sora said. "It's been two weeks since we lost our world…"
"And yet, it feels as if it's only been a few days…"
"Well, sitting here feeling weird about it isn't going to do anything." Donald said. "Come on, I'm starving. Let's get some food at that café in First District."
"'Tokio Funka' is a crazy town and 'Tokio Funka' never sleeps all night~" A familiar voice reached their ears as they entered through Traverse Town's gate, and the four heroes found them looking at a large crowd of people surrounding a makeshift stage where none other than Kotohime and Yuffie were singing. People were laughing and dancing along to the music, and Sora managed to catch the eye of Leon, who was leaning against a lamppost watching the girls sing. He smiled and walked over to them.
"What's going on?" Reimu asked.
"The people have been getting pretty depressed, so Koto got the idea in her head to have a festival." He shook his head. "We didn't really have enough time to plan and set things up, so she and Yuffie just made that stage and started performing. I'm actually impressed that they managed to attract all these people."
"Well, that's Kotohime for you." Sora smiled. He looked around at the people, and suddenly stopped as he saw a familiar back. "Huh? Wait, isn't-? MEDICINA!" He called out. In the crowd, a little girl turned around and her face lit up. Indeed, it was none other than Medicina. She excitedly spoke to someone next to her and the two of them ran back to them, where it became clear that she was with Pinocchio.
"Ah! You are here as well!" Medicina said happily. "I was worried you did not escape the whale!"
"We were worried the same thing, about you guys!" Goofy smiled. "Where's your dad?"
"He's back home." Pinocchio said. "We have a house now!"
"Yeah. These three just showed up out of nowhere, so I set them up with an empty house." Leon said.
"It is so fun here!" Medicina said. "And we don't have to worry about monsters!"
"I told you." Pinocchio said to her. "As long as we stay in this district."
"That's right." Leon nodded.
"Well, we're going to listen to the music!" Medicina said. "Please come visit us sometime!" She curtsied to them, and she and Pinocchio ran back into the crowd, to a group of other children.
"The evening sakura dance, the girls adorn themselves~" Kotohime continued singing up on stage, as Yuffie accompanied her.
"I'm not quite sure where she learned to sing like that, but, whatever." Leon said. "So, what are you all here in town for?"
"Restocking supplies, getting some food, and visiting Merlin." Donald said.
"That's good." Leon nodded. "Well, you guys go do that. I should go find Aerith."
"Okay! Later!" Reimu waved at him as he walked away. She smiled at the boys. "This place is a lot more cheerful like this. I wish it could be as lively as this all the time."
"I think it's important to have an event like this every once in a while." Sora said as they walked around the crowd towards the door to Third District. "These people have all lost their worlds too, right? They need something to cheer them up every once in a while."
"Yeah. Not everyone's as adaptable as us." Reimu giggled, but at that moment, she suddenly felt very odd. She felt herself falling backwards, heard the music and singing grow fuzzy, a far-off concerned yell from Sora, and the last thing she could hear was Kotohime's amplified voice…
"The ones who let their tears dry are the feeble populace. Who is the one who shall protect the children's futures…? Cheer up your hearts. Cheer up your hearts…"
Oh my. This isn't exactly how I wanted to be able to talk to you, but that's your own fault. I know the passage of time has become a little weird to you because of your interworldly travel, but that doesn't mean you don't have to sleep! Honestly. You should take better care of your body, you stupid shrine maiden.
Ah, but that's not why I'm talking to you, sorry. Ahem. I'd love to properly introduce myself to you, but at the moment, my name's a secret, so just call me by my pen name, ah ha ha. You already know it. I'm rather upset that you don't find my writing enjoyable, but I suppose I can't please everyone…
Right, right, back to the matter at hand. Well, there isn't really one. I just wanted to introduce myself to you. I've been watching your journey for quite some time now. It's rather entertaining. I admit at first I was more interested in your Keyblade wielding friend, but I've since changed my focus onto you! You should be thankful. You're rather lucky to have me watching over you. I won't interfere with your journey, don't worry. I'll keep out of your hair. However, that also means I'm not going to come save you from trouble unless it's drastic… or dramatic. I do like big hero rescues, so unless it's your darkest hour, you better make sure you're strong enough to get yourself out of trouble! Speaking of which, that was a rather entertaining fight you had with your darkness-touched friend. Even if you did lose. You should stop losing, by the way. It's so unbecoming for my shrine maiden to lose at things! Oh, by the way, you're my shrine maiden now, so keep that in mind.
Ah, what else, what else… Hm. Can't really think of anything. You're doing a fine job of things as you are. Just stick with your Keyblade wielding friend and those other two and you'll be perfect! …No, no, there was something else I was going to say… What was it… Oh! That's right. If you happen to visit a world called the Netherworld, please make sure its princess is alright. And if there happens to be a fox and cat there, make sure they haven't been eaten by Heartless. I'd check up on them myself, but I'm just swamped with so much work.
Is that all I have to say to you…? …I think so. Yes, that's it. Don't worry, I won't bother you again. Unless it's important, of course, and everything I have to say is important, but I'll spare you my rambling. After all, you have my book for that, right?
Thanks for taking care of my spell card, by the way. I was wondering where that had gone to. I'll take it back eventually, but for now, keep holding onto it, okay? Think of it as a good luck charm. …Hahaha. As if you could even throw it or the book away. Even if you try to destroy either of them, they'll chase you to the ends of the earth, so don't even waste your energy.
Well, it looks like you're beginning to wake up now, so I'll let you go. Just remember, I'm watching over you, so don't worry! I believe in you. You and your friends will save the worlds, no problem. And perhaps after then, we can get together for tea.
…Well, until next time. Reimu, my faithful shrine maiden.
TOKIO FUNKA IS A CRAZY TOWN AND TOKIO FUNKA NEVER SLEEPS AT NIGHT
Dance everybody! It's me, Frost. How long has it been since the last update? Around two months? ha ha ha
So, uh, yeah. Hi. Things happened. I hope you enjoyed them, since I'm writing this instead of studying/doing work for finals week. APPRECIATE IT
I don't really have much to say, ha ha. i couldn't think of a touhou song pun for this one so you get a vocaloid song pun. whoops sorry (not really sorry)
I've been tearing my hair out on trying to figure out how I'm going to incorporate the olympus coliseum tournaments and 100 acre woods into the flow of the story. I think I might just wait until near the end, as a 'cleaning up loose ends before important final things'. also summons! I was originally planning on leaving them out entirely, but then if I ever get around to actually making it to KHII, some events would require having them use certain summons at least once here, so, uh... yeah. that's gonna have to happen. but I digress.
Next time: Mermaids! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH