Chapter 32
"I think we've figured out what's wrong with them," Mickey said, walking back into the room where Donald and Goofy were still lying unconscious on two beds. Riku was sitting on a small chair nearby, watching the two and monitoring their condition.
"You did?", Riku said, "That's good news... so, what's going on?"
"Well, I'm not exactly sure," Mickey said, hopping up onto the edge of one of the two beds, "But it seems like they're under the effects of some kind of curse. It doesn't seem like it's really strong or anything, but... none of our magic seems to work on it."
"Hmm... wait a second," Riku said, glancing at the unconscious two on the beds, "That glowing thing froze them, and they ended up like this when we killed it... I think I know why none of your magic is curing them."
Riku stood up, pointing to the symbol on the front of his shirt. Mickey looked confused for a second, and then he suddenly gasped.
"No wonder it wasn't working!", he shouted, "Our magic couldn't remove the curse because we've always used it to remove curses based on Darkness... and that thing definitely wasn't very 'dark' at all!"
"That's right," Riku said, sitting back down, "If we want to heal them, we'll have to figure out some way to do it using Darkness..."
Just at that moment, Mickey turned around and noticed Minnie standing in the doorway, her mouth gaping open. Judging by the shocked look on her face, she had been listening in for just long enough to hear Riku mention that they would need to use Darkness, but not long enough to know why.
"Y... you... Mickey... you're..."
"What? No! Wait, Minnie, I didn't mean--"
The door slammed, and the sounds of tiny mouse feet running down the hallways in a panic could be heard from outside, screaming things like "The Darkness is invading!" and "Riku... Riku's heart went back to the Darkness!" She yelled something about the King as well, but by then she was too far away for Riku or Mickey to hear.
"This isn't good," Riku said, grabbing the door and trying to get it to open. Apparently, Minnie slamming the door had done more than make a lot of noise, as the door was now stuck, and no amount of jerking on the doorknob could open it.
"You can say that again," Mickey said, slumping into one of the chairs. Riku looked over to the King, noticing that in an instant he had changed, almost seeming to be a completely different person. For the first time, Mickey wasn't his usual cheery self.
"Don't worry about her," Riku said, "Once we get this door open, we'll go explain everything. She'll understand."
"It's not Minnie I'm worried about," the mouse King said, "She trusts me more than anyone here... I'll be able to work things out with her. What I'm really worried about..."
The King hopped out of his chair, slightly slower and less happily than usual, and walked over toward the door, putting one of his large ears against it. Outside, he could already hear screams and the sounds of panicked mobs running about.
"What I'm really worried about... is what everyone else will think. You and I know that Darkness isn't all bad... but all they've seen of Darkness is the Heartless. They don't know any better..."
In the middle of a peaceful forest on another world, a flying Shin'an buzzed above the tops of the trees on four wings, occasionally swooping down for a view of the land below. The thing flew along for several minutes before finally it spotted its target--a small clearing with a cottage in the center.
It wasn't anything that would stand out to a human--or a Heartless, for that matter. To a Heartless, the inhabitants of the simple cottage would be nothing more than a quick snack to munch on before moving on to the city several miles off. To a Shin'an, however, it was much more.
The Shin'an, unlike the mindless, wandering Heartless, was being pushed onward by a force that its simple, nearly insect-like mind could never even begin to imagine. While the Heartless simply destroyed and followed basic orders, and the Nobodies lashed out from fear and insanity, the Shin'an were not so much creatures in their own right as they were tools of a higher being.
The thing swooped down again, circling around the cottage several times, and then finally plunged downward into the chimney. There were several shouts from inside the cottage, but they were cut short as the Shin'an moved on from its main target and killed each other creature in the building as well.
It flew back up through the chimney, followed by one large glowing heart and seven small ones, which quickly transformed into four-winged, flying Shin'an similar to the thing that had killed their bodies. Then there was an incredible flash of light, and the largest of the hearts was gone, replaced with another new Shin'an.
"Another of the Princesses has been transformed," the taller knight said, gazing into the orb of light in the center of the room, "It will not be long, then. After the leaders of worlds join Gil-Neithev, so too will the worlds themselves... the Light is growing brighter with each day."
"Yes," the shorter knight said, "But you've got to remember, we still aren't finished with the first step."
At that moment, Kairi walked into the room. Her eyes were already glowing, though occasionally they would flicker slightly and begin to fade only to flare up again. Whatever had happened, she was very angry.
"My Queen," the taller knight said, standing up and bowing to her. The shorter knight followed a few seconds afterward, almost knocking his chair over as he stood.
"I have come to announce another small change of plans," she said, her voice crackling between her normal one and the much deeper voice that occasionally came out, "You will cease this waiting for Sofia's return immediately. I have become aware of several problems that must be dealt with."
She held out one hand toward the light in the center of the room, causing it to pulsate and change colors slightly before returning to its normal appearance. The two knights looked into the ball of light, noticing that the image in it had shifted--no longer displaying a scene of the distant world where a new Shin'an had just been born. In its place was a very different scene--the depths of a jungle. There was a man with silver hair walking there, with a single black wing emerging from one shoulder, being followed by three younger men.
And then, the scene changed dramatically. The winged man held out a hand and created a portal to the Dark Passage, and then the four walked into it, emerging in a swirling gray void. They walked the path of this strange void for several seconds, finally coming to another portal and passing through it to emerge in another world, a world with columns of marble holding up most of the buildings and various temples and other structures everywhere.
"Heh, look at that guy," the shorter knight said, "What an idiot. He came out of the portal right in the middle of the Coliseum, and right when--"
His sentence suddenly stopped as the silver-haired man and his surroundings faded, replaced with a small town with dirt paths leading off into the distance in both directions. Several green-haired people walked the streets of this small town, as well as many others, apparently from all different parts of the Twilight World.
"So, what must we do now?", the taller knight asked, turning away from the orb of light and back toward Kairi, "I suppose that Sephiroth must be eliminated, but what of this town you have shown us?"
"Vasilios," she said, turning toward the shorter knight, "Go to the town I have shown you and destroy all those who have green hair... once you are finished, take the road leading toward the mountains, where the ancient tower of the Twilight World's people still stands."
The shorter knight nodded, reaching down to the table and picking his helmet up off of it. He put it on, then held out one hand and opened a glowing white door in the air, taking a quick hop through it and then disappearing.
"And you," she said, turning back toward the taller of the two knights, "Go to the Coliseum and destroy Sephiroth."
"It will be done, my Queen," he said, putting his helmet on as well and then taking a step away from Kairi and the orb of light in the center of the room. He, too, held out his hand and generated a door of light, and then stepped through.
The lights in the room faded as the two doors both closed, and Kairi walked out of the room and back up the stairs toward her bedroom, her eyes beginning to dim to their normal color once again.