Chapter 28: The Land Lost in Sand

"What would they want here?" Hayner asked, taking off his shoe and dumping sand out of it for the twenty-seventh time.

They'd landed in the desert not far from the city. Of course, even in the city the ground was still soft and sandy and got in their shoes regardless of what they did to try and keep it out. The only ones unfazed by this were Sora, Kairi, and Riku, though Donald and Goofy didn't seem to care.

"Babies," Donald muttered as they walked through the market where no one seemed to be. "It's not that bad."

"Says the one not wearing shoes," Hayner pointed out.

"You know, I thought it would be hotter around here," Olette said, absently tracing designs in the sand with her shoe.

"It usually is hot," Sora replied. He shaded his eyes and looked up at the sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight, nothing to hold back the onslaught of heat that should have been there. "It's actually kind of... chilly today."

"It's probably Vexen's doing." Roxas looked around for any sign of the Nobody in question. When he didn't see him, he continued, "Vexen doesn't like hot places, so he probably blasted the temperature down a couple dozen degrees."

"That would explain why it's so chil—" Pence put his hands in his pocket, "—ly?" He patted all his pockets. "Where'd my wallet go?"
Riku slapped his forehead. "Idiot. You have to watch your pockets around here."

"Not like we don't know who stole it," Donald muttered. He pointed at the monkey hanging off one of the walls. "Abu! Get back here!"

The monkey chattered, waved the wallet it stole from Pence proudly, then shimmied up the wall into a window.

"Don't worry," Sora said with a laugh. "We know how to get up there."

Sora led them around the city, through a few doorways, and down an alley. From there, they climbed up into what looked like an abandoned apartment. Except it wasn't abandoned.

Abu was sitting on the windowsill, staring wide-eyed at the people he thought he'd ditched. A man with dark skin and even darker hair looked up from the wallet he'd been inspecting.

"Sora! Should've known you guys were here when Abu brought this back." He patted Sora on the shoulder, but Roxas noticed that he didn't put down Pence's wallet.

"Hey Aladdin!" Sora said, snatching the wallet from Aladdin's hand and tossing it back to Pence. "What've you been up to?"

"Besides freezing?" the thief asked sarcastically before sitting down on a couple worn pillows. "It's okay right now, but it gets really cold at night."

"We're tryin' ta find the culprit," Goofy explained. He glanced at Roxas for a description of Vexen.

"The guy we're looking for is old with blonde hair," Roxas said. He didn't know how much help his description would be, but judging by the few people they'd passed on the way here, blonde hair stood out quite a bit. "He wears a black coat and—"

Allen held up a hand, signaling for Roxas to stop. "Say no more." He stood back up and pointed out the window. "See that old tower?" he asked. "That's where that guy's supposed to be. I was flying on Carpet and saw him going in there."

The group crowded around the window and tried to see what Aladdin was pointing at. It took a few minutes, but they at last saw the lone tower miles out in the desert.

"Can we borrow Carpet?" Sora asked.

"Sure," Aladdin said with a nod. "Carpet'll be glad to see you."

"Carpet?" Olette repeated. She looked just as confused as they others.

They weren't confused for very long. The carpet they were standing on pulled out from under them and stood on two of its tassels. It waved with it other two tassels.

"So this is Carpet," Riku said, a small smile on his face. "Nice to meet you, Carpet." He shook the one tassel, like a handshake. "Sora's said a lot about you."

"Have not!"

"Have to," Kairi said with a giggle. "You kept saying how awesome it was to ride on him and that you couldn't wait to see him."

Sora scratched his cheek in embarrassment, while the carpet scuffed its one tassel on the ground like one would scuff their feet. Apparently, they both couldn't wait to see each other again.

"Come on! Let's go!" Sora said, distracting everyone from the moment of embarrassment. He hopped on the carpet.

"There's one problem with that," Naminé whispered.

"What's that?" Donald asked, climbing on behind Sora.

"There's not enough room for all of us."

Sora did a quick mental count, then looked down at the carpet he was sitting on. "You're right... Hey carpet, got any friends?"

"We have Tinkerbell," Selena reminded them. "Fairy dust works in the world it's sprinkled in. We should be able to fly all right." She glanced over at Kairi.

"Oh right!" Kairi summoned her Keyblade. "Tinkerbell, we need you!"

A small light flickered to life at the top, then flew away from the Keyblade. The little pixie glanced around, a little confused but not shocked as to where they were. She was used to other worlds, apparently. Tinkerbell flew around the room, checking out the new place.

"Tink, we need pixie dust," Sora said.

Tinkerbell turned, nodded, and thoroughly covered Sora with the sparkling dust.

"Not me! They need it!"

Tinkerbell pursed her lips, a little mad that Sora hadn't appreciated her efforts. She tinkled angrily and turned away from Sora.

"Please?"

Tinkerbell glanced back at Sora, nodded after considering his request, then covered everyone else with the dust. Apparently, she'd forgotten she was mad at Riku before and didn't try to drown him in the dust like last time.

That done, Sora turned back to Aladdin. "You coming?"

"Nah, I think I'll sit this one out," Aladdin replied.

"Jasmine expecting you?" Sora teased.

Aladdin only grinned in answer.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Catch up later, would you? We need to catch Vexen!"

"Right." Sora patted the carpet and then held on tight. Roxas noticed Donald and Goofy did the same, but he didn't have long to watch before the carpet shot off with his friends holding on for dear life.

The others followed suit using the pixie dust. The carpet was faster than the inexperienced flyers, but they all reached the tower without any trouble. This struck Roxas as strange. They didn't meet a single Heartless or Nobody on their way. It was as if they were expected.

When Roxas told the others his thoughts, Riku admitted having similar thoughts, as did Naminé, Selena, Kairi, and Olette. It seemed that the guys besides Riku and Roxas hadn't noticed in the least.

"No worries!" Sora said brightly as he climbed off the carpet. "They're probably just keeping all the Heartless and Nobodies inside for us when we get inside."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "If that's the case, we should worry. There could be too many for us to handle."

"We can take 'em!" Hayner said, drawing his sword. He threw open the door and marched inside.

"Hayner, you're being reckless again!" Olette cried, chasing after the idiot.

"Look who's talking," Pence mumbled, following them both.

"Well, there goes our element of surprise," Kairi said. "Still, it's like they're expecting us. That door could've easily been locked..."

"The Keyblade can open any lock, remember?" Sora grinned as he drew his Keyblade to show it off. "There's no point."

Selena frowned. "This place still smells like—"

The group inside screamed.

"—a trap." Selena slapped her forehead. "Joy."

Riku rolled his eyes. "Let's go save them from whatever's in there."

Sora led the way inside the building. The place was shambles, and Roxas had to wonder if Olette had seen a mouse and her scream caused the others to as well. There were certainly enough rodents scrambling away from their approach.

The hallway was straight and narrow and a dead end as far as Roxas could tell, yet there was no sign of their friends. Nothing seemed out of place, there was no sign of a scuffle, so where had they gone?

They didn't have to wait long for their answer. Donald stepped on one of the floor tiles, which sunk in. At first, nothing happened, then a wall opened up, revealing a door.

"What kind of person makes it that easy to get in?" Sora asked, pushing the door open.

"One who wants to separate you, boy."

Sora swung around just in time to see a chasm open up below Riku and the others. On the other side stood Luxord, a small smile on his face as he applauded. "And now for the finally," he said, nodding to something behind Sora.

Again, Sora turned just in time to see the door burst open and a block force its way through the doorway and knock him in the chasm as well.


The bottom of the giant hole was covered in soft, fine sand, and Sora thanked his lucky stars when he fell into that rather than smashing into stone. Once his eyes adjusted to the dim light, Sora realized that the others were nowhere to be seen.

"Looking for someone?"

Sora turned toward the voice and flinched back at the sudden light as two spotlights flashed on, revealing all of his friends trapped in ice. Luxord was leaning against the small columns, shuffling his deck of cards as he watched Sora's reaction.

"Let them go!" Sora shouted, drawing his Keyblade.

"Come now, no need for violence. I just want to play a little game with you."

"Where's Vexen," Sora growled.

"In hiding. We wouldn't want you killing him to rescue your friends, now would we?" Luxord smirked and started walking towards him. "Not until we have our wager, at least."

"What wager?"

"If you win, we let your friends go and you can beat us to a bloody pulp," Luxord explained with a shrug. "If you lose, we let your friends go, but you have to come with us. Simple, isn't it?"

Sora tilted his head. He couldn't figure out what Luxord's angle was with this one. Why would they want him? Weren't they after Roxas? "I doubt you'd just let them walk away."

"We will if you come willingly," Luxord replied.

Sora thought for a moment, then agreed to the proposal. "What's the game?"

"It'll be a best of three games," Luxord explained, a glint in his eye. "We'll play three games, and whoever wins two of the three is the victor. And since I'm feeling generous, I'll let you pick the games."

Sora glanced over at his friends, all of them seemingly asleep. "Fine. Checkers, then."

Luxord nodded, and a small table made of ice appeared in front of them. The top was a checkerboard, and small colored ice disks served as the checkers. "Thanks, Vexen," he called, but didn't take his eyes off Sora so he'd have no idea where the ice Nobody was hiding.

Both sat down in the glass-like chairs. Surprisingly, the ice making the chairs wasn't cold in the least. Sora touched the table and the checkers, and none of them were cold either. It was like everything was made of glass and not ice.

"What? Didn't think Vexen could change the temperature of his ice?" Luxord laughed and moved his first checker. "Your move, boy."

Sora moved, then Luxord. The game continued and seemed to last forever with neither gaining an advantage over the other. Sora was careful to watch for any attempts at cheating. Luxord was tricky, he knew, which was why he'd chosen a practically cheat-proof game like checkers. There wasn't any way Sora couldn't catch him in the act if he tried.

Despite this, Luxord still won. They'd each had three pieces left, and Sora had been forced to move a piece a certain way so as to allow Luxord to jump all his remaining checkers. Sora glared at the board, then up at Luxord.

"You win some, you lose some," Luxord said, basking in the glory of victory. "What's your next game?"

Sora thought for a few more minutes. What games were he good at that were cheat-proof? Then one came to him. "Guitar Hero!" he blurted out.

"What now?" Luxord said, a little taken aback.

"It's a video game with guitars," Vexen's voice said, coming from seemingly nowhere. "Demyx's is getting it for you now."

A dark portal opened, and Demyx pushed a cart with a TV and two guitars out. He grinned sheepishly for a moment, then went back into his portal. "It's all set up. Just turn it on." And with that, he vanished.

"Oh bugger,"1 Luxord muttered, picking up the guitar-shaped controller and looking at it uncomfortably.

Sora grinned. He'd guessed right that Luxord wouldn't know a thing about the greatness known as Guitar Hero2 and that the Nobody wouldn't stand a chance, especially if he picked that song. "One song," Sora challenged. "Whoever gets the highest score wins this round."

"Fine," Luxord mumbled angrily.

Sora scrolled through all the songs, impressed by what he assumed were Demyx's high scores. He made a mental note to never challenge the cowardice Nobody like he had the gambler next to him. After a few moments of pretending to debate about which song, he went straight to the ultimate finisher: Through the Fire and the Flames.3

"Oh bugger..." Luxord said as the song started. He gawked at Sora a moment, who was hitting every note on expert mode. He knew he was in trouble, even before he hit his watered-down easy version and couldn't play it. The boy was either smarter than he looked and had a plan for their little game, or he was a very good guesser when it came to what Luxord was bad at. Luxord wasn't the best checker player in the world. He'd only manage to win by pure luck. Why couldn't he have chosen poker? he thought as Sora picked up where Luxord's part left off.

The song eventually ended, and Sora was the victor. "You win some, you lose some," the wielder of the Keyblade quoted brightly. "That's one and one."

"It's not over yet," Luxord grunted. "Pick your last game!"

Sora thought hard, but no games came to mind. He could play Tens and Twos, but he knew the Nobody could easily cheat at that one since it was a card game. He also considered Jenga, but he'd never been good at that one. He couldn't think of any other video games that he was good at, so that plan went out the window.

After a few minutes of thinking, Sora gave up and said, "Tic-tac-toe."

The Nobody blinked. "Tic-tac-toe?" he repeated. "That game five-year-olds like playing?"

"You heard me. Tic-tac-toe. Get out a piece of paper."

Luxord shrugged and produced a paper and pen from his coat pocket. He set it down on the ice checker table and signaled for Sora to sit down. "You first," he said, offering Sora the pen.

Sora took the pen and placed an X in the center. Luxord put a circle to the right of the X. The game continued with each blocking the other's three-in-a-row. It didn't take long for them to tie the game.

Sora grinned. "Now what?" he asked. "It's a tie."

Luxord smiled. "What do you mean now what? I've won."

"What?"

"Remember our bet?" Luxord said, his smile turning into an evil grin. "If you won, I'd let you and your friends go."

"Yeah, and then you said—" Sora stopped mid-sentence. "And then you said that if I didn't win..."

"You'd be coming with us," Vexen finished, appearing right behind Sora and forcing his arms behind his back with one hand and grabbing a handful of hair with the other. "A tie means neither of you won."

Sora tried to struggle, but Luxord pulled out a foul-smelling cloth and held it over Sora's nose and mouth. Sora tried to pull away, tried to get fresh air, but it was no use. Vexen held him in place, and the soaked cloth was making him dizzy. The last thing he remembered seeing was Roxas opening his eyes from his ice prison before everything went dark.


Roxas watched as Sora was dragged away into a dark portal, but the cold was making him too drowsy to realize what was going on. He felt numb all over, especially the parts of him trapped in the ice. He struggled to stay awake, but soon drifted off again.

The next thing Roxas knew, he felt warm air against his face and one arm. He glanced over to one side and recognized the dark-skinned youth. "Aladdin?" he asked, not quite sure what was going on.

Aladdin stopped chipping away at the ice with the hilt of his saber. "Should I ask what's goin' on here?"

Roxas summoned his Oathkeeper Keyblade. "It's a long story. Get Olette and Donald out of the ice. I'll help once I get myself out."

"Oh yeah! Donald can do magic!" Aladdin abandoned his progress on Roxas's icy prison to go chip away at Donald's.

Roxas swung his Keyblade as hard as he could at his prison. Only a little of the ice broke off, but he cracked quite a bit of the rest. Grinning, Roxas continued with his work until he was freed completely and then turned to get Olette out of the ice as well.

By the time Donald was free and coherent enough to melt the ice, the warm air that seeped into the once freezing darkness had mostly melted the ice. The warm air had woken the others as well and so they were working to free themselves as soon as an arm was free. With the help of fire magic, the group was out within the hour.

"Where's Sora?" Kairi asked, glancing around the group of faces.

"I think Luxord took him," Roxas replied, hanging his head. "I don't know where they were headed or anything like that. I just remember seeing them with a portal and Sora being unconscious."

Riku shook his head. "Sora's a moron," he muttered crossly. He dug in his pockets until he retrieved the little wooden bird they'd used to find and rescue Selena. "Little birdie, hear my plea. Come to life and fly for me."

The little wooden bird stretched its wings and bowed to Riku. "Oh sir, what may I do? How is it that I can serve you?" it asked in its little tweeting voice.

"It is Sora you have to find," Riku stated. "That is what I have in mind."

The bird nodded and took off. It flew up into the air, turned this way and that in the air as it fluttered in place, then landed on Riku's shoulder. "He's in a town of dark and light, in a castle made of white."

Roxas slapped his forehead. "Don't tell me... The World that Never Was?"

Riku repeated Roxas's question to the bird, making sure it rhymed so the creature could understand.

"Yes, yes! That is where! There is where you'll find your friend with spiky hair!" The bird folded its wings, stiffened, and became a wood carving again.

"Then let's go!" Hayner said impatiently.

"But that's the stronghold of the Nobodies!" Selena interjected. "There's no way we'll get in and out no problem."

"Axel can help us," Naminé said. "He can tell us where Sora is."

They all turned to Roxas hopefully. Roxas closed his eyes and hoped to God that Axel would contact him. He knew they were waiting for a message from Axel.

"What's going on?!" came Axel's voice at last in Roxas's head. "Luxord showed up with Sora like he's some kind of trophy!"

"It's 'cause Xemnas came up with a plan to replace Roxas," Demyx butted in to explain. "You guys gotta get here ASAP! Who knows what they're gonna do to Sora if you don't hurry!"

"I got it, I got it," Roxas replied, nodding. "We'll hurry. Just make sure we can get in."

"Already on it," came Lexaeus's voice. "Everything will be ready when you get here."

"Right." Roxas opened his eyes. "Axel, Demyx, and Lexaeus are already getting things ready for us to get there. We just have to hurry before they do whatever they're gonna do to Sora."

"Did they say what they were going to do?" Olette asked worriedly.

"No. They just said Xemnas had a plan to replace me."

Aladdin listened to the whole conversation patiently. He was so quiet, they'd almost forgotten him. "I don't really get what's going on, but save Sora," he said, handing Roxas what looked like a long, gold teapot. "Genie'll help you if you rub the lamp."

Roxas looked down at the lamp, then nodded to Aladdin. "We'll do our best. Thank you."

Aladdin clapped Roxas on the shoulder, then whistled. Carpet whooshed out of the darkness and stopped in front of them. "I'll get you all out of this pit, then you can go to wherever you need to go."

Roxas nodded and handed the lamp to Kairi. She was the Summoner, after all.

They road up to the surface and out of the building. Well, Donald, Goofy, and Aladdin did. They others were still covered in pixie dust. Once up top, Aladdin bid them farewell and good luck.

"We'll do our best," Roxas said even as Aladdin flew away. We have to.


1 I'm not sure if it's true, but I've heard many people say Luxord's British...

2 I am not the greatest Guitar Hero player ever. I barely qualify as decent. I'm not a huge fan, but Sora (as far as this fic is concerned) is.

3 As far as I know, that song is the GH equivalent of Max 300 in DDR. Sorry if I'm wrong, but I only know of one person who can play that song, and that's more than likely because he has way too much free time.

Ugh... It's been too long since I've written in this fic. XD Sorry for the lack of update, guys! I'll try to write more often! Today, Varan's Discussion Room will be omitted because no one asked her any questions and I can't think of any topics needing discussion at the moment. XD Ask if you want to know! I still like writing as Varan!

Well, anyway, on to our new bonus (that is being added and not replacing Varan).


Vivi had no idea why he was waiting at the station alone, nor did he know what he was waiting for. A letter had appeared on his desk in that morning addressed to him from Yen Sid. He'd called Seifer right after he found it and was assured by his friend that according to Roxas, the guy was the magician who was supposed to teach him magic.

So, here Vivi was, waiting for a "train he'd recognize when he saw it" alone on the train platform. He was more than nervous as he sat on the bench, kicking his legs. If the man was supposed to be his teacher, what was he like? Was he mean like his math teacher or nice like his English teacher? Was he tall or short? Was he going to teach Vivi a lot of magic or just a little bit? Vivi didn't know.

At last, a strange blue train with stars and moons on it stopped in the station and opened its doors. Vivi stared at it a moment, then realized it had to be the train in the letter. The feeling it gave him was strange, like it was trying to pull him on. He swallowed hard and stepped on the train.

He instantly regretted it. The doors slammed shut and the train jerked into motion. Vivi fell on his butt and sat on the floor, scared out of his mind. I wish I never got on this train, he thought miserably. He almost jumped out of his skin when everything went dark, signaling they'd gone through a tunnel. I have to be brave. He stood and sat in one of the seats.

After what could have been hours or a few short minutes—Vivi lost track of time—the train stopped. More confused than curious, Vivi glanced out the door that slid open.

The train was in front of a castle that seemed to be held up by magic. In the distance, he could see the rolling hills he recognized as Twilight Town, or at least, that he thought he recognized. Taking a deep breath, Vivi stepped off the train, and immediately wished he hadn't. The train behind him vanished in a flash of light, leaving him stranded and frightened in a strange place.

Something tapped him on the shoulder, making Vivi jump and scream. He spun around and faced the thing that touched him. "A... broom?" he said, stunned.

The broom in front of him pointed behind him at the door, then turned. When Vivi didn't follow him, it put its hands on its nonexistent hips and tapped its straw foot impatiently.

"You want me to follow you?" Vivi asked uncertainly.

The broom nodded its handle head and headed for the castle again. Vivi followed close behind it as it led him into the castle. Surprisingly, the inside of the castle was bare. Vivi wasn't quite sure what to make of the place, especially since the broom was impatiently dragging him through the few rooms that eventually led to an office. An old man was sitting at the desk, pouring over a book.

The broom pointed to a chair across the desk from him and then ambled off. Vivi sat down and waited nervously for the man to finish what he was reading. But the man didn't finish what he was reading. He just kept on reading and ignoring the boy in front of him.

After ten minutes of sitting, Vivi couldn't take the waiting anymore. "Um... Excuse me..."

The old magician looked up and arched an eyebrow. Vivi silenced himself and bowed his head apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, but..." Again, he broke off.

"You're Vivi?"

Vivi nodded.

The man frowned, then shut his book. "It takes a lot to upset you, doesn't it?"

"Huh?"
"The entire point of that exorcise was to bother you enough to use magic."

"Oh... Um... waiting doesn't bother me," Vivi admitted.

"I see." The man set his book aside. "Tell me, when did your... powers first take form?"

Vivi tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"When did you first experience something strange, like something exploding or flying across the room without anyone to cause it."

"Well..." Vivi thought hard. "In kindergarten, some glue bottles blew up, but—"

"Lord," the magician whistled, "kindergarten's early, even for powerful magic users. You must have quite the talent."

Vivi blushed and was glad that his face was hidden in the shadows of his oversized hat. "U-um... When do people usually..."

"They usually start showing signs of magic around the age of ten," the magician explained, standing up stiffly. "When was the last time your magic took form and what happened because of it?"

"Um... yesterday... I... blew up someone."

The magician raised an eyebrow. "Blew up someone?"

"Roxas called him a Nobody."

"Ah, no loss there, then." Yen Sid—that's who Vivi assumed it was, at least—gestured for him to follow. Vivi slid off his chair and walked close behind the magician. They eventually reached a large courtyard that didn't seem to fit the rest of the strange place.

"Vivi, was it?" When Vivi nodded, Yen Sid continued, "I'm going to teach you some basic spells, but I warn you: you mustn't use these when you return to Twilight Town. You aren't old or experienced enough to use magic without me supervising."

"Yes, sir."

Yen Sid glanced down at Vivi as if to make sure the boy wasn't trying to be sarcastic. Then he waved his hand and a straw dummy appeared. "The first spell I'll teach you is a basic fire spell..."


Well, that's it for Vivi's adventures. I like Vivi, so I'll probably have these little bonus stories, especially since Vivi will eventually become a big part of the story (not blabbing how). Well, thanks for reading!