Shadows of a Dream
Chapter Twenty-Five – Real or Not?
"Kairi? What are you doing up?"
Kairi looked up from the mug she seemed to be having a staring contest with to see Roxas staring at her with worried eyes. She felt a stab of longing go through her and looked back down, trying to hide her tears from him, but he had already seen them.
"Kai," Roxas muttered as he quickly took a seat beside her at the kitchen table. "What's wrong?"
Her tears built up in her eyes as she said, "Roxas, it's been an entire day and he's not back yet."
Roxas' eyes softened as he said, "It'll be ok, Sora won't let anything happen to any one else, and in turn they'll keep him safe." He sighed when he saw her tears streak down her cheeks and quickly slung his arm around her in a comforting, brotherly way. "Hey now, no crying from my sister-in-law, otherwise my brother might kick my ass."
Kairi smiled slightly then asked, "Roxas…"
"Yeah?"
"What's the purpose of finding all the other Keyblade Bearers?" Kairi asked after a moment. "It's not that I don't like…most of them…I do, it's just, why do we need them if most of us can't even fight the Endless?"
"You feel like we're wasting time getting everyone."
"In a way."
Roxas sighed and said, "I'll be honest with you Kai, I'm not sure myself. I agree, it does seem almost…pointless. We could be out helping the worlds that already have Endless in them."
"They always seem to leave when we get there though," Kairi commented.
"True," Roxas agreed. "It's almost like they know we're going to be there and leave."
"That doesn't make sense though," she argued. "If they're so strong, why do they run from us instead of finishing us off?"
Roxas chuckled at her wording and said, "You're complaining because they haven't killed us yet?"
"You know what I mean."
He nodded and said, "There are so few of us that can make a difference. For all we know they go back to the worlds we were in after we leave. Being a former bad guy myself, get a few things out of this. It could mean that Xehanort is so far along in his plans that it doesn't really matter what we do, or it could be so we don't learn more about them."
Kairi looked at him curiously as she rubbed her stomach subconsciously and asked, "Learn more?"
"Think about it. The way we learn about our enemies is by meeting them over and over again and picking up bits and pieces about them as we go. We've hardly run into any Endless, so we don't know that much about them. That gives them an advantage over us."
Kairi looked down at the table and nodded. A heavy silence filled the air around the two after that.
Roxas hesitated before saying, "You should get some sleep Kairi, being up this late and being stressed can't be good for you."
She bit her lip and said, "I know but—"
"Don't worry, you'll be one of the first to know when he gets back. I promise."
Kairi nodded slowly as Roxas helped her up. He walked her back to her and Sora's room to make sure she actually went back, and waited outside the closed door for a few minutes, making sure she didn't come out again.
He sighed slightly and looked out one of the portholes at Port Royal, which was looking worse and worse with every passing hour. "Come on Sora, get back soon."
VVVVVVV
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me…"
"Jack," Midori snarled. "If you sing that one more time I'm going to take my Keyblade and slice you into tiny pieces and feed you to the sharks!"
"No you won't," Sora muttered tiredly as he leaned on the edge of the small boat they had 'borrowed', since Jack's little boat wouldn't have been enough to carry four people, a large lion and a hyperactive alien.
"You heard his highness," Jack said enthusiastically. "Yo ho, yo ho—"
"That doesn't mean I won't," Sora said as she smacked his head against the wood her was leaning against.
"Where are we going?" Simba asked. He was laying on the deck a few feet away from Jack, observing the ocean with interest. It was a good thing he had a stomach of steel, which he attributed to Timon and Pumbaa forcing him to eat all kinds of bugs, some which left a nasty after taste for about a week, otherwise he might have lost his lunch from the rocking of the ship.
"Port Royal to see young William's wife," Jack replied.
Stitch was up in the crow's nest, staying as far away from the water as he possibly could while glaring at it.
Aladdin was at the stern of the ship, watching the ocean with a fascinated expression on his face. He wondered if, deep down in the ocean of this world, if there were merpeople hiding in secret.
Midori appeared beside Sora, copying the way he leaned against the side of the ship. Sora glanced at her for only a split second before turning back and watching the distant horizon. Neither said anything for a moment before Midori said, "Don't worry about her, she's safe with everyone on the gummi ship."
"Yeah," Sora replied. There was a moment of silence before he faced her and said, "And Emiliana?"
"What about her?" Midori asked in a harsh tone.
Sora stared at her with a rather blank expression before saying, "Don't let her get to you Midi."
"That's what everyone says," Midori mumbled.
"Well," Sora trailed off. "Then my advice is stay ahead of her. I know I shouldn't be promoting this but if she gives you hell, give her hell back."
Midori smirked a bit, but neither said a word as they continued to look out at the never ending sea.
"What's that smell?" Simba suddenly asked.
"Looks like we might have some troubles," Jack called out as Aladdin gasped. Sora and Midori looked towards the front of the ship and both gaped in shock. Port Royal was on fire!
"Looks like those End thingies have beat us to the point," Sparrow commented.
"How fast can you get us there?" Sora demanded.
"Going as fast as I can mate. Neigh the wind nor the sea be on our side."
"Midi," Sora said. "I need your help."
She glanced around at him and said, "Name it."
"We need to make more wind."
"Jack's Keyblade would be best for that," she said while looking at the pirate.
Sora shook his head, "Maybe, but he doesn't know any magic."
"Lets go then," Midori replied as she jumped up and balanced on the side of the ship.
"Aeroga!" they both called out together. Instead of the wind twisting around their bodies, both concentrated to get it to push against the sails.
Jack let out a happy yell as the unnamed ship started going faster than before. "Me thinks this might be a close rival to the Pearl."
Without bothering to tie up the boat the group leapt off it when they were close enough to the shore.
"Where's Elizabeth's house?" Sora asked Jack.
"How should I know?" he replied.
Sora rolled his eyes and was about to snap back when Midori said, "She said she was the governor's daughter, so look for the biggest house."
"Good ol Governor Swann is dead lass," Jack said with a sympathetic tone. "Just Lizzie there now."
"Doesn't matter," Sora called out as Stitch crawled on top of his head and they all started running towards the large mansion. Thanks to Simba's loud roars, all the people got out of their way as quickly as possible. The Endless, however, didn't.
A rather large Endless that reminded Sora of a huge Fat Body, that had the ability to twist around (that thought blew a couple of his brain cells away) stepped in their way. It's mouth opened, revealing sharp, jagged teeth, and the creature snarled at them.
"Aladdin, Simba, Stitch, Jack," Sora said to them. "You guys go and find Elizabeth. Midori and I have the only Keyblades that work against these things."
"Aye aye," Jack said, quick to leave the fight. Stitch hopped onto Simba's back as the foursome quickly left the area.
"So, you have a plan?" Midori asked, her dark eyes taking in the Endless. It looked far meanier than anything else she had seen before.
"…Nope."
"Works for me," she said and the two of them quickly rushed towards the creature as it slowly started…changing?
VVVVVVV
Simba was the fastest out of them, hence the reason why he got to the mansion before anyone else. He rushed towards the already broken door, running into the house as Stitch hung on his back for dear life.
"Nasty!" Stitch yelled out suddenly. Simba followed where the alien was pointing, and sure enough, there was the female knight they had seen earlier.
She twisted around before saying, "How cute, they sent the lion and the fluff ball after me."
Simba growled and said, "I don't need a Keyblade to show what I can do." He lunged forward as Stitch rocketed off of his back, hauling out his plasma plasters out of thin air.
"Meega, nala kwishta!" Stitch yelled loudly as he started shooting wildly. Despite how messy his shots looked, not one hit Simba as he managed to dodge the woman's Keyblade and knock her to the ground.
Aqua gasped as she rolled away from the lion, but let out a small scream when she felt pressure on her lower leg. She looked back and thanked all the darkness out there that she had armor on; otherwise the lion would have pierced her flesh with his sharp teeth.
She swung around and used her free leg to kick Simba in the face. He roared angrily as he slid backwards on the polished floor, his nose stinging terribly.
"Naga mitota!" Stitch yelled as he jumped onto the wall and…spit on her.
Aqua let out an angry and disgusted yell as she was soaked in green slime. Her darkened eyes looked up at Stitch as she swung her Keyblade around and a slick ice surface appeared on the floor and walls, causing the alien to slip and slide across the floor. Simba too stumbled over the ice, unable to get up.
"I win," she said happily. "Now to find this Elizabeth one and that heart."
But she never made it too far.
Aladdin slipped across the floor and kept his balance rather well for not having experienced ice before. He slammed his Keyblade into her, making her fall backwards.
Aqua glared at the dark haired man and slid away from him as he attempted to hit her again. She continued to elegantly move backwards until a strong wind pushed her back towards Aladdin, who tripped her quickly.
"Impressive," Jack Sparrow said, having pulled off the Aero spell rather nicely.
"I'll show you impressive," Aqua snapped as flames appeared around her, melting the ice and catching some of the furniture on fire.
"Not good," Jack muttered as he ran behind Aladdin.
Simba got up and Stitch jumped onto him again, both growling at the woman.
"You're all too inexperienced to beat me," Aqua taunted, not hearing the door behind her open.
"Never underestimate the underestimated," Jack Sparrow said. "Otherwise the underestimated will show you why they should be estimated correctly and bad things will happen when the underestimated do that."
"What?" Everyone in the room asked him.
There was a loud bang and Aqua fell to the floor, having been knocked unconscious by a metal shield.
"He meant don't underestimate me," Elizabeth Turner said as she appeared from the room. She dropped the shield to the ground, and made sure that a large cloth bag was still strung over her shoulders. "What's going on Jack?"
"We've come to retrieve you so that this one can't use Will to cause harm to all of us because she seems to have some sort of fascination with fish people," Jack said. Suddenly his eyes widened comically as he said, "Looks like Will left ya with more than just his heart, eh matey?" He was referring to her protruding stomach. She was currently eight months pregnant, and probably shouldn't have been beating dark knights into unconsciousness at the moment.
"Well lets go then," Elizabeth said with an annoyed sigh. "If it's so Will won't be harmed then I'd gladly hide myself away."
"Right then," Jack said. "You, boy, help her and…er…lion…lead the way out."
"Aladdin."
"Simba." They both said dully at the same time, but it didn't matter because Jack wasn't listening. Still, Simba leaded the way out of the mansion and Aladdin, after introducing himself quickly to Elizabeth, helped her quickly escape.
Jack glanced down at the knight before kicking her a bit. He jumped as she groaned and then quickly rushed out of the house.
Aqua pushed herself off of the floor and said, "Damn!"
"Aqua," a deep voice said. She turned around and saw a dark corridor behind her with Xehanort standing in it. "You've failed. Come back now. There's more work to be done on your yet."
"No, just give me one more change, I—"
She didn't get a chance to say anything else as several large Endless appeared and yelled her into the portal, which vanished a second later.
VVVVVVV
"Sora move!"
He quickly dodged out of the way as a tentacle of darkness shot out at him. He flipped over and sliced his Keyblades through them. This giant beast was full of surprises, and was able to change his forms. Currently he reminded Sora of a giant squid that was able to walk on land.
Midori jumped out of the way of the tentacles, but another one managed to trip her. She let out a yelp as Sora pushed her out of the way of the next limb that almost crashed down onto both of them.
"This is crazy!" she cried out.
Suddenly the creature's shape started to shift again. It grew bigger, destroying some houses in the process.
"Oh crap," Sora said as he saw the giant, dark snake now in front of them.
"Did I ever get the change to mention that I have a teeny, tiny, phobia of snakes," Midori choked out in a rather high-pitched tone.
"No," was the only thing Sora got to say before grabbed her arm and dodging out of the way as the creature lunged at them.
Midori felt Sora let go of her arm and turned around to see where he went. He jumped onto the snake-Endless's back and started trying to run for the head, but the tail end lashed out and wrapped around his body. Sora gasped as he was yanked into the air, his arms bound tightly by his sides, unable to move.
"Sora!" Midori cried out. She gave the snake a fearful glance as he reared up, opening its mouth to reveal its teeth that looked like a thorn bush. She took a step back then shook her head viciously before rushing forward and throwing Twilight at the Endless. It slammed into the creature's face, causing it to hiss in pain and drop Sora, who landed rather ungracefully on the ground.
"Are you ok?" she called out to him.
Sora looked at the cuts and bruises on his arms before saying, "Nothing a potion can't fix. Look out!"
Midori looked up and screamed, moving out of the way just in time as the snake's teeth latched onto the wagon that had been behind her.
Sora got up and tried to jump at the creature again, but he was flung backwards and into one of the wooden walls by it's tail.
"We need a way to get at its he-AD," the last part of Midori's sentence gave out as a scream as the creature hit her, causing her to slide across the ground and crash into Sora.
The Endless rounded on them and he said, "We're so screwed."
"Use your powers Sora," she muttered. "Use em fast."
"Don't know how," he reminded her in a panicking tone.
"Figure out how," she snapped.
Sora started concentrating on his Keyblades as the snake-Endless (how did it end up bring a snake from the original Fat-Body thing, Sora would never know) launched it's head at them, ready to snap them both up as a quick meal. In a quick move, Savior and Sacrifice flew into the air and hovered there for a moment, before shooting forward and slamming into the snake's head, piercing through its skull.
The creature yelled out in pain before landing on the ground.
"Midori," Sora muttered. She looked around at him, staring oddly at his outstretched hand. She grabbed a hold of him as gasped as her Keyblade too flew out of her hand. It hovered in the air before flying towards the beast and slamming to where it's heart was.
Once again the creature yelled in agony, but this time it vanished into nothingness.
Sora grinned at Midori before his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped to the ground beside her. She sighed and grabbed a hold of his shoulders, moving his head so that it was cradled in her lap until the others got there. He might have been younger than her, but he was much too heavy for her to drag around.
"You put too much into that little brother," she muttered to him.
"What happened?"
Midori glanced up and saw Simba, Stitch, Jack, Aladdin and Elizabeth staring at them with wide eyes.
"It's about time you got here," she snapped at them.
"Sorry, couldn't help meself," Jack said while showing her a rather fine watch he had stolen. Elizabeth insisted she could walk on her own, so Aladdin yanked Sora up off of the ground. Midori made sure that they were stable before walking over to Jack and slapping him across the face.
He looked at Simba and said, "I'm not sure I deserved that."
VVVVVVV
Sora groaned and opened his eyes, exhaustion playing over him as he sat up. Looking around he realized he was in a small, comfy room.
He pushed himself out of the bed and stumbled out, only to bump into a surprised Elizabeth.
"Sora," she said cheerfully. "You're awake. That's good."
"Where are we, what happened?"
"Well, we're at the house I set aside as a safe haven, should anyone try to harm me to get to Will." As much as she trusted Sora, she was not going to mention the fact that she had Will's still beating heart locked up in a chest that was hidden in her room.
Sora suddenly did a double take and said, "You're pregnant."
Elizabeth laughed and said, "Yes, I am. And from what I've heard, you have a pregnant wife waiting for you too. Don't worry, Jack doesn't know. We decided to leave it as a surprise for when he sees her."
Sora smirked a bit before a panicked look appeared on his face as he said, "Oh god, Kairi. We've got to get back."
"We were just waiting for you," came Simba's voice as he rounded the corner. "We're all ready to go since you've been out for two days."
"Two days?" Sora said slowly. "Kairi's going to murder me. I've been gone for four days now!"
"Best be going mate," Jack called out. "As much as I'd love to keep ye company dear Elizabeth, I'm afraid I already have an accord with young Zola."
"Sora."
"No matter."
"I'm sure I can survive," Elizabeth said sarcastically. "Go before you cause anymore mischief Jack Sparrow."
Jack pointed at her and said, "Captain Jack Sparrow missy. Always Captain."
Sora rolled his eyes and said to Simba, "Get everyone else ready to go, ok?"
Simba nodded before bounding around the corner.
"Now Captain, time to go, otherwise you won't get your gold," Sora said. "Thank you for whatever hospitality you've offered us while I was unconscious Elizabeth. And sorry about your town."
"Don't worry, there was very little damage done to the town," she replied. "The fires that those creatures spread were put out quickly enough, since they vanished right after you got there."
"What? What about the damage done by the giant snake-Endless?"
Jack and Elizabeth exchanged worried looks before she asked, "What Endless?" Everyone had explained to her what they were over the past few days.
"The one Midori and I were fighting?"
"Sora," Jack said seriously. "The creature you stayed behind to fight vanished just after we left. We all saw it. Then when we came back you and yur friend were sitting on the ground, looking terrified with your blades floating around and then you fainted."
Sora hesitated then asked, "So there was no Endless?"
"No."
That was not the answer Sora was looking for.
VVVVVVV
Author's Note
So, what do you all think? Are Sora and Midi completely loosing it or not, and how was the creature actually able to touch them if it wasn't there?
What does that tell you about the Endless?
Ahhh the review thing confuses me as much as javascript does! At first glance I didn't know where the information about which chapter the review was for was! But I'm good now.
catharsis25 – Thank you, and the knights are, as I've stated Terra, Aqua and Ven, no beating around the bush there! They all definitely have an important roll. Trust me.
DAN88 – I agree, this site is confusing now. It's even worse since I keep trying to figure out what they do and then JavaScript and HTMl and ahhhh. Oh don't worry, Sora's going to put his foot down all right, but it just might be into quicksand.
The Key of Hope – I know! Two chapters in the same world!! I wash my hands of this weirdness…wait…I can't yet. Wanna know why? There's another world coming up where I'm doing two chapters! LMFAO, at the same time not Sparta. Good job at working that in there.
Syrena Li – I have mixed feelings about Emi, I hate her and love her because I know her background and no one else does. You will though. Yes, the woman was Aqua…trying to be DaVinci now? I wrote all the info for an art project backwards from left to right…my teacher loved it. That would probably be the worst thing someone could do to Emi in her opinion, mess up her face some how.
Chasingfireflies – I was just kidding! I needed a good comeback and that's all I could think of! They were confusing, but they weren't boring or shitty. Watch Bet on It in Chipmunk version, it literally made me fall to the floor laughing when my younger sister showed me it…then again she's one of those 'OMGZZZDAZACEFFRON" and I'm all "OMZSHOOTMYSELF". My instructors are pretty cool, they're all for inside jokes…and my class of college students (ages from 19 to 50ish) made her smack her head on the desk…no, insane people, a boat, jellyfish and skittles mix very well! XD I'm pretty sure you mentioned your name to me in passing. Like…Nicole or Nicola or something…or it might have been one of your friends, I dunno…LMFAO as long as Peanutbutter Jelly Time is playing in the background! As a person who grew up obsessed with Disney (and still is), I DO dub thee MICKEY KILLER. Mickey is a mary sue, except for in the Christmas show when he's poor and looses his job XD You can do the update soon thing! I'll stop bugging you about it. Please tell me your joking bout the whole Efron in Pirates thing. Please? I think I just might go and cry and…why is that guys ringtone a goat?
simplyjennxD – Well this is going to be very confusing on my part. OK, chapter 23. Of course Sora's nervous all the time. Many things are wrong with Riku and as for Emiliana…well…no comment. No misunderstanding, it happened. Ummm…yeah the rest of your review was cut off and I don't have the PM in front of me, but I did read it! I swear! Now….chapter 24, Wow, way to lay the f-bomb down like a billion times. I might be foreshadowing something with Kairi, but that's for me to know and you to find out. Why is it more normal for Riku? Because Sora's a forgiving guy, plus there's the fact that Riku wasn't actually Midori's boyfriend. Really, he can do whatever he wants, its just that none of them really like it. Yeah, I agree about the whole pregnant thing, but I wouldn't be quite as mean about it because…well…if I ever get around to writing it there's a little bit of a background story about Kairi that makes her forgive Sora for that.
moonlightxxdream – I love pirates. Aladdin and Simba are talking to Riku because it's really none of their business, and they're keeping it like that. Plus both are older and beyond the complete drama everyone else seems to be in. Glad you approve of how I wrote Jack. I'm trying hard to keep the characters (especially the Disney ones) correct. Lol thank you.
Holly Skyla Hart – The illusive Holly. LMAO yes, yes the title was inspired by the fact that we all have issues…how did that conversation go? "I'm hungry" "I'm cold" "I'm tired" "I have a headache" "I have gas problems." LMAO Mike just had to add that in. I enjoy the thought of having my own money to live comfortably enough without relying on anyone else. That's why I've always done better in school than you. Even You want to hit Emiliana now? Haha that's funny.
Shire Folk – Yeah, my step father's a completely control freak. I also got kicked out for saying that I couldn't help clean the house cause I was at school. He said it was for talking back or something childish like that. Whatever, bastard has the mentality of a 2-year-old anyway. On to better things! Aladdin and Simba are just staying out of it completely and really, Riku's not dating Midori, so it's not like he was cheating or anything. I used Midori's point of view for it so people would be angry at Riku, but I bet if I switched it around to his point of view things would be different. Kairi's husband for now huh? Am I giving off some type of impression about something that I might not want to yet? And yes, Stitch and Jack have the same thing going on as Jack and…Jack the monkey. I thought about putting it in with the money, but it just didn't appeal to me as much.
Iaveina – I completely agree with the layout! Makes life so confusing for now. Riku's not in as deep as he seems. Glad you enjoyed that line! Lmao Jesse McCartney also voiced a male fairy in TinkerBell, with blond hair and blue eyes, and it made me laugh so much while listening to his few lines because I kept picturing Roxas…with fairy wings XD Midori is terrifying when she's mad, but there's a good reason for that, and although I don't say it right out, I'm sure you'll catch it. Only Elizabeth, unfortunately they won't be meeting will. The kid will be loved, but how sane will it be? Who knows, maybe it'll start acting like Rafiki!
Well thank you for all the reviews. Hope this chapter was a little better!
And have a nice Remembrance Day tomorrow!
Krystal Lily Potter