It's October, so I've got some spoopy chapters for you. If you've never read "The Signalman" by Charles Dickens, you should. It's a short horror story and there are some things taken from that story.

I digress. Enjoy the chapter!

Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!

Dragon Quest © to Square Enix!

Yamato © to Yamichaos27!

Hazy Hamlet and other OCs © to me!

Chapter 36: Hazy Hamlet- The Slums

As the gummi ship shot through the stars, Ven lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. A smile decorated his features as he remembered the recent parting with his mother and father…

"Do you have to go?"

"Yeah, I have to stop Xehanort, but I'll come back, I promise."

"We will be waiting…"

He sat up, his eyes moving to the small parcel on the edge of his bed. His mother had given him a present before he'd left; why he had left it sitting on the end of his bed for nearly two days, he did not know. He had a small idea about what the package was, and when he opened it, he found his suspicion to be true. He smiled before taking off his jacket and vest. He took the silvery-blue vest out of the box and put it on. Over his shoulder, the one without armor, he draped a deep blue cape that hung down to his wrist; he used the straps he usually wore to keep it in place and the mastery symbol to keep the cape from sliding off.

Looking into the mirror, he smiled. He did look kinda like a prince. A prince of an entire world… How amazing.

Outside, he could hear the others moving around. Supper would be ready soon. He stepped outside. In the kitchen, he saw Sora cooking. Oh, it smelled amazing! "What's for supper?"

"I'm making Kairi's favorite: kare raisu!" Sora grinned. "It's rice with curry."

Donald, sitting nearby, let out a snicker. "Oh, so it's Kairi's favorite?"

"Shut it, Donald!" The boy turned to blow a raspberry at the duck when he saw Ven. "Wow! Looking good, Ven! Was the that the present from your mom?"

The others all looked his way as the blond boy blushed slightly at the attention. "Yeah, Mom gave it to me."

Naminé giggled, a soft flush of pink crossing her features. "You look very princely. It's a good look for you."

"Th-thanks, Nami." The boy's blush deepened.

"Prince Ventus…"

Ven sat down at the table, the others joining as Sora put three pots on the table. "Ok, one is spicy, one is not, and there's some rice too." As they ate, Sora looked over at Naminé. "So, we're on the way to the last world Kaname warned us about, right? You've been driving, so can you tell us where we're heading?"

"Of course." The girl shoved a spoonful of rice into her mouth. "Kaname said the last place was Hazy Hamlet."

Everyone jumped as Aqua coughed, nearly choking on her curry. "A-are you sure?"

"Yes…"

Noting the expression on the young woman's face, everyone tensed. She'd told them about her home before, and they all had an idea for how bad it was. Jiminy stood up in the middle of the table, carrying his bottle cap of curry and rice. "Aqua, I realize this might hard, but if we do have to go there, you know more about that world than any of us. Tell us what we need to do."

"Oh yes, of course." She shook her head. "We need to stick together, in groups of at least three. That'll dissuade slavers from coming after us. It is also best to not speak to anyone while in the city, especially if they're a soldier. Actually, it's best to just avoid the city if we can; the slums aren't a clean or comfortable place, but then we'll be around people who won't try to kill or kidnap us. Hopefully, I will find someone who knows me from all those years ago, and I know that Terra's mother will help us if we need it. She was a sweet woman. Just follow me, I know my way around."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Ugh, I'm getting Les Tayny vibes here." Xion shivered as a cold wind blew across the virtually dead landscape.

Leafless trees swayed under a gray sky; a thin layer of fog clung to the earth around them. Nearby, through the trees, they could see high wooden walls. Noises and cheers wafted over from behind the walls.

"Julma Sydan(1)." Aqua huffed. "I hate this garbage dump of a city. Let's just hurry through." She led the way, the others keeping very close as they walked.

"Is there a party or something?"

"Looks like All Fools Day(2)," the blue-haired woman grit her teeth. "It was a day the royals would use as an excuse to get drunk and make an even worse mockery of the lower classes and slaves than they already do. We need to avoid the town twice as much now."

Passing by the gates, they could see people in fine clothes all laughing and guzzling down as much wine as they possibly could.

For a moment, the group stopped, watching. Sora trembled, resisting the urge to summon his Keyblade and bash the entire city of people. In the crowd, slaves moved about, working. Working as rich people dumped wine and food on them, among other things…

"Come on," Aqua looked down. "We can't do anything for them."

"We can't just walk away!"

Her voice lowered. "You'll be killed. There is an underground rebellion, and if we can help on a small scale we will. Running into the middle of the city, full of guards is stupid." Sora looked at her, and seeing the anguish in her eyes, relaxed. She didn't want to pass them by either. "Please, just keep going."

Slowly, they moved on, past the crazy party. Just outside the city lay a flat area, muddy from the large nearby river, on which stood dozens of small houses. Well, if one could call them houses. Shacks made of rotting wood with straw for roofs sinking into the mud only held up by rocks and sand.

Aqua stopped, staring out at the ragged slums and the ragged people walking among the houses. "This is my home. I was born here."

"Well, let's see if we can help these people." Sora bounced, ready to help in any way possible.

He and Kairi walked over to a blonde girl who picked up sticks off the ground. "Hello." Kairi picked up a stick and held it to the girl. "I'm Kairi."

"Lucis!" The girl screamed, running back towards the houses.

Kairi backed up as a young man, younger than her, with brown hair, came running over, sword drawn. Three others, about his age, came running over as well.

"Keep back, slavers!" A purple-haired boy held up his two, poorly made swords.

"We aren't slavers." Ven piped up. "We're here to help people."

A young man with spiky blue hair huffed. "Likely story."

"Wait," Aqua stepped forward, hands up in a placating manner, "is there someone here from thirty years ago? I used to live here, please let me speak to someone."

The first boy, Lucis, turned back to the girl who'd fled. "Gemma, go get your grandfather."

"Alright…" The girl ran off and came back with an old man; as they waited, people in the slums started to gather around, staring at their guests.

The old man walked up beside Lucis, seemingly unafraid of the newcomers. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Sir, my name is Aqua, Aqua Maris. I used to live here years ago with my mother and father."

"Maris…" He narrowed his eyes at her. "The Maris family is dead, but… you look like Rebecca. And Aqua was the name of their little girl. If you are her, how did you escape the tax law?"

Aqua stepped towards the man. "I was rescued by a Keyblade wielder named Eraqus. He raised me."

"If you are Aqua, you should be in your thirties, then why do you look not much older than my 16-year-old granddaughter?"

The young woman breathed out a laugh. "That's a very long story…"

"Dustan?" Lucis breathed out softly.

"One moment," the old man, Dustan, sighed. "Miss. If you really are Aqua Maris, as you so claim, can you show me where your house used to stand."

Aqua looked around. She knew tradition here. When a house was burned, people left the area alone out of respect. She saw piles of old wood and possibly ash scattered throughout the area. Out of pure instinct, her feet carried her down what was the closest thing to a road. The others all waited for her as she continued on.

She stopped. "Here."

"... welcome home, Aqua." With a wave of his hand, the four who'd initially greeted them lowered their weapons. "You and your friends are welcome here."

The same purple haired boy from before huffed. "We can't just let them in. It could be a trick."

"We look after our own, and Aqua here is one of us." Dustan smiled as the others approached. "Sorry for the gruff welcome, but we're very protective of our people, and you did scare my granddaughter, the wife of our lead protector." He gestured to the young people they'd first met. "Her name is Gemma. That's her husband, Lucis. The other three are Erik, Lazarel, and Theresa(3). Now, we don't have much, but we'll share it all the same."

"Thank you!" Mickey smiled. "Please, tell us what you need help with. We're willing to help with anything and everything."

"Thank you, all of you."

Kairi threw longs in a large bonfire. Cold winds picked up throughout the day, and people said they could smell the snow in the air. Gemma said it was far too dangerous to light fires inside the houses, as the houses were far too flammable.

The people of the slums gathered around the large fire, their only true source of warmth. She looked around to see Sora, Ven, and Roxas spent their time helping rebuild the different houses the slums. Nearly all of them needed some sort of repair, and with snow coming on, having some sort of added protection against the cold wouldn't hurt.

Riku, Lea, Xion, and Mickey joined Lucis and the others in their patrol around the slums. The rest of the group did their own parts across the town: gathering food, entertaining the children, gathering up warm blankets.

"We don't have very many…" Aqua looked at the pile of thin blankets she and Gemma gathered.

The blonde girl nodded. "Hopefully, the one rich family in the land that cares will come."

"A rich family?"

"Yes," the girl smiled, "only one family cares about us."

From a group of children, which sat around Naminé allowing her to draw them, suddenly, one of the little boys jumped to their feet and pointed towards town. "They're here! The Rikas(4) are here!" All the children jumped to their feet and ran towards the road. A wagon rolled towards them, drawn by two strong horses. Three women rode on the wagon and two men walked beside it.

One of the women wore a purple dress and coat with her soft brown hair pulled back into a bun. The next woman wore a fancy red evening dress and long boots; her dirty blonde hair hung down her back in waves. The third, much younger than the other two, wore a maroon dress and her wavy blonde hair hung around her shoulders.

The older of the two men wore a brown suit. His brown hair stuck up slightly in the back. The younger man wore a reddish waistcoat and his short, brown hair hung down to his ears.

Aqua stared at the woman in the purple dress. She looked so familiar… Then, it hit her. "Lady Tamara!?" Slowly, she made her way towards the cart. "Lady Tamara!"

The woman on the cart narrowed her eyes for a moment before gasping. "Is that… Aqua?"

"Does that mean…?" The other woman gasped.

"Terra?" The younger girl looked down at the men. "He might be here…"

The older man laid a hand on his heart. "After all this time."

The younger man smiled. "Finally…"

Aqua smiled as the woman, Tamara, leapt off the cart and embraced her. "Aqua, it's been far too long. Look at you… you haven't aged a day." Her eyes glanced around at the gathering crowd. "Where is my son?"

"Lady Tamara, I-I…"

"Where is Terra?"

One could almost taste the sorrow in the air as the mother realized her son to be nowhere around. "Tamara, I'm sorry. I'll explain everything." Her eyes drifted to the others with the woman. "But, I am surprised to see you with Archer and the others. I thought they hated you."

"We did," Archer stepped over to them. "Until we thought my… our son to be dead."

The younger man cleared his throat. "I hate to interject, but we have work to do. We can talk more tonight."

"I agree, Henry." The younger woman smiled, slipping down from the cart. "We came here to do a job."

Sora and the others approached. "Aqua, who are they?"

"That is Tamara, Terra's mother. The others are Terra's father, Archer, his step-mother, Drusilla, his step-sister, Abigail, and I don't know who the other person is."

Abigail looked up from the back of the cart. "That is Henry, my husband. Now, would you mind coming to help?"

Coming around back, Abigail handed them all large bundles of blankets. Tamara and Drusilla grabbed piles of clothing and began handing them out to people. Archer unhitched the horses and helped hand out clothes while Henry set up a small table and grabbed a large black bag.

"What's going on?"

"We're helping. We do this every week." Drusilla handed a nice set of clothes to Lucis and Gemma. "It was Henry's idea. He started helping people as a doctor and convinced us to do the same."

For hours, they continued on, handing out clothes and blankets, all the while the cold closed in around them. As night fell, everyone gathered around the large fire with bowls of stew.

"Tell me," Aqua's eyes studied the Petra family as they sat, a stark contrast in their fancy clothes to everyone else, "what happened?"

Tamara reached into her pocket and pulled out something that looked like a small star shard. "Terra gave this to me. We would send each other short messages to let each other know we were alright. One day, his messages stopped coming, and the light in the shard went out. I could only sit and wait. Two years… I waited for two years before I gave up. I could only assume he was gone. I felt that Archer needed to know about his son, but he didn't care. So, I told Abigail and Henry and they told him. Them one day, I found them all at my door."

"You know the saying that you don't know what you have until it's gone?" From furthest away, Archer spoke, his voice heavy, laden with the burden of sorrow. "For years, I pushed away any care for my son, but then it all came back. I remembered the joy of when he was first born… How that changed. How I pushed away the woman I married because people mocked me for marrying below my station. I pushed her away and kept Terra from her out of spite, just to prove I didn't care for her. In doing so, I hurt my son, and I can't tell him how sorry I am… b-because he's gone."

"He's not dead."

The family looked in their direction, shock written across their faces. Mickey gave them a small smile. "He's alive." Slowly, the group took turns describing the situation with Xehanort and how Terra fit into it.

"So, can he be saved?"

"We think so. Trust me," Sora grinned, "we will bring him back."

"Thank you…"

Suddenly, a scream ripped through the cold air. Everyone jumped up, running towards the river. A wooden ferry, attached to a rope, spanned the river. A lantern hung on the opposite side of the river as a signal to boats to watch out for the ferry in the night.

The body of a woman with pale blue hair(5) lay on the ferry which continued to float across the river towards the slums. Blood seeped from a large wound on her back, staining the wood and seeping into the water.

A gust of wind blew across the water, carrying with it, words. "Look out behind you…"

"The signalman!" Gemma cried.

"The what?"

Theresa gripped the sword at her side. "The spectre called the signalman(6). He appears under that lantern and calls out a warning. Afterward, someone always violently dies."

"Let's move her body and bury her. "Henry took one of the thin blankets and began wrapping the body.

"What do we do?"

"Nothing," Dustan sighed, "it always vanishes after the death of a person."

Slowly, people began to pull back, going to the fire once more. All but a few. Lea hung back as he saw Xion, Roxas, and Naminé standing further away, talking quietly amongst themselves. "Hey, you guys ok?"

"Just talking."

"Is something wrong." The tall man knelt down to look them in the eye. "Come on, tell me."

Naminé clutched her sketchbook. "It's all this talk of families. Ven found his parents, this is where Aqua used to live, and those are Terra's parents. It's just the thought that we don't have parents or families like the rest of you."

Lea sat down on his haunches. "What do you call us? I'd say we're close enough to call ourselves a family of sorts, don't you think?"

"I guess," Roxas rubbed his chest, feeling his beating heart, "but we still don't have parents."

Letting out a sigh, Lea stood, rubbing the back of his head. "Do you really need parents to be happy? You have us, and we'll take care of you. Trust me."

The three looked up at him, smiling slightly. Parents or not, they felt somewhat comforted by their friend's words. They went back to the fire, and the night drug on.

In the small houses, not all of the group would fit, so they spread out, two or three to each home. Xion and Kairi shared the dirt floor of one of the homes. The black-haired girl lay with her eyes open. She didn't like to admit the nightmares she sometimes had.

Nightmares reliving her fighting Roxas or back in the tube the Organization conditioned her in. Tonight happened to be one of those nights. The talk and thought about parents didn't help her at all.

Slowly, she pushed herself up and wrapped the blanket around herself as she stepped outside. Small flakes of snow hung in the air, scattering as she walked. The river laid out before her, and while it was dangerous, she sat down on a rock alone.

A small yip startled her, but she only smiled as the Yenlow Unversed, Kyokan appeared next to her. They'd left him on the ship for the last few worlds, but she was glad he was here. She didn't feel alone.

"The weakest link..." A soft voice appeared on the breeze. Xion gasped as a ghostly figure appeared under the signal lantern across the river. "You are the weakest link, you shall die first." The signalman pointed in her direction, ignoring the sharp growling from Kyokan before it disappeared.

Xion shuddered, not from the cold this time. Her arms picked up the little Unversed and ran back to the hut. Dropping to the ground, the girl curled up around the Yenlow.

Sleep would not come to her that night.

Rimi sat under a rock outcropping on an island. From where she sat, she could see a pirate ship, on which familiar figures moved about. She remembered this world well. The first world she, Kaname, and Yamato first came to under Xehanort's control: Terrain of Thieves(7).

Her rabbit ears lay flat under the coat hood. Rain beat down, dripping from the rocks. She hated wearing the coat and hood, but she hated being cold and wet more.

Watching the rain come down, Rimi flashed back to the old days in Radiant Garden.

She remembered the days of sitting in the castle apartment as the rain poured outside.

Her days of childhood, spending the days in the library with Even; he would tutor her on all the different things in his books, and she would read poetry with him.

Early days of marriage when she and Kaname would cuddle on the sofa or bed with a book in hand.

Motherhood. Sitting with Kairi as she sewed with the girl in her lap.

Now, she could imagine home with Kairi, her family, and now her son. Oh, how she hoped Arata was alright…

"There you are!" The voice startled her, but the strong darkness of Xehanort, burrowing into her head, kept her from moving. Braig approached, grinning. "Come on, Princess. Let's go."

Please review (seriously, I want feedback!)

Thank you!

Footnotes:

(1) This is Finnish for brutal heart.

(2) The original April Fools Day.

(3) These characters are all from Dragon Quest. Lazarel and Theresa are cousins and the main characters in "Dragon Quest Heroes II". Lucis is the unnamed protagonist of "Dragon Quest XI"; Gemma, Erik, and Dustan are from the same game. Gemma is the main character's love interest, Erik is his first companion and friend, and Dustan is Gemma's grandfather and leader of their village. Lucis is actually unnamed, but I chose the name Lucis in reference in his title as "The Luminary".

(4) Finnish for rich.

(5) This is Alya's mother.

(6) "The Signalman" is a short horror story written by Charles Dickens. In the story, a man meets a signalman who signals trains when there is danger ahead. The signalman keeps seeing a spectre that gives him warnings before a disaster strikes, the final disaster is the signalman's own death.

(7) In the original plan, I meant to have the gang return here for the ending of game 3, but I replaced it with Hazy Hamlet.

VAs:

Tamara Petra- Dorothy Fahn (Margaret Liones, Marinette's Mom, Kyoko Yuuki, Konan)

Drusilla Petra- Carrie Keranen (Alya, Gulia, Satsuki Kiryuin, Caroline, Justine)

Abigail Sorge- Erica Lindbeck (Jericho, Windblade, Nori, Barbie, Anemone, Jane Foster)

Archer Petra: Kaiji Tang (Hendrickson, Vegeta, Kohichi Kizakura, Schmidt, Odin)

Henry Sorge: Troy Baker (Steeljaw, Loki, November 11, Yamato/Tenzo, Snow Villiers)

Pearls Before Swine

What is one thing people really seem to like to do these days?

Argue!

They will argue over every little thing. Jesus addressed this, and it is something everyone can take to heart.

Matthew 7:6 says, "Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you." Lots of metaphor there…

Basically, if you know someone will not change their mind no matter what you say, don't waste your time and breath fighting with them. This could be over something biblical or over a ship in a game or show.

If they just want to fight because they want a fight, don't give them the time of day. It won't change a thing, so don't waste your time.