Man, I am not doing so well with keeping these updates consistent. Though, I did have to work on my friend's birthday present along with my brother's. Their birthdays are just two days apart, so it was hard to keep up the update for this week. But enough excuses, I hope you'll all enjoy this chapter.
Inverted Sky: Kingdom Hearts II
Chapter 37: Atlantica part I
"You sure we couldn't stay a bit longer?" Sora questioned with a tilt of her head while looking to Leon on her right side.
The two, along with Yuffie, were flying through space and toward the next world. Yet the brown-haired girl let out a huff as the man shook his head in response to her inquiry. "No...it's why I gave you as much time as I did to talk to one another. We have a mission to do, so you can go back for social visits after all of this is over." he stated in a firm tone.
Sora let out a heavy sigh, to which she nodded slowly in defeat. "Oh alright...but I still declare we make time for said social visits sometime soon." she declared while crossing her arms.
This forcing Leon to take the helm on his side, now that the teen was pretty much refusing to pilot the ship. "We'll see." was all he uttered as the next world slowly came into view.
It being one that Sora herself recognized right away; "Oh~! I've been meaning to see Ariel again." she spoke up quickly, a small smile curling her lips.
"Well, looks like you'll get your chance." Yuffie commented, giving the other teen a nudge with her elbow.
The brown-haired girl turned to her with a blinking gaze, but she immediately flushed when Yuffie bounced her eye brows up and down a few times. It being clear of what she was suggesting, which just made Sora turn away and clear her throat. "Sh-Shut up." she muttered out, making the raven-haired teen start laughing.
"Whatever...lets see how you handle being a mermaid." she continued while briefly glancing back toward the other girl.
Whom blinked in response, but after they were teleported down to the world, they each blinked a few times. "Um...I'm pretty sure I'm not a mermaid." Yuffie said with a shrug, the three standing on the shoreline of a beach.
Sora looked from herself before around the area, then finally to the ocean directly ahead. "I guess since we didn't teleport into the water, this world's magic didn't effect us the same way it did before." she mused silently, tilting her head down in thought.
"Makes sense, but I'm pretty sure we don't need to get into the water." Leon claimed, to which the other two glanced toward him.
However, his own eyes were gazing to the side and toward multiple Nobodies. These quickly disappearing after being noticed by the group, making each of them look around cautiously. "That King Triton guy much be doing a good job of keeping these things out of the ocean. But in turn..." Yuffie started as the other two simply nodded, them knowing what she was leading up to.
"...they've all moved to the land." Sora added softly, ending the other girl's words.
However, instantly after her words, the three turned quickly toward a nearby cave when the sound of footsteps in the sand were heard. There being a shadowed figure moving toward them as they each moved into a battle-ready stance. Once this being came out of the shadows, it revealed to be a rather handsome-looking man. Him having black hair, which was combed to the side, as well as piercing blue eyes. His outfit consisted of a rather plain white shirt, the sleeves being rolled up past the elbows. Along with this, he wore a pair of blue pants and tall black boots, the latter of which had the tops folded down.
"Oh.." he spoke out while looking between the three; "...I didn't think there would be anyone else here on the beach."
"Well, we were just passing through." Sora claimed, quickly glancing around to make sure there weren't any signs of Nobodies.
"I see, well you can stay as long as you'd like. I was just hoping to see someone today." the man said as he walked up to the shoreline.
"What sort of someone?" Yuffie questioned in a suspicious tone, her and other two immediately thinking that it might have something to do with the Organization.
"It might sound crazy, but there was a girl whom saved me from drowning in a storm. I don't remember much as I only saw her diving into the water when I came to consciousness. But I do recall she had red hair and I'm pretty sure she was talking about wishing to see other worlds." he answered, holding a hand to his forehead as if it was hard for him to remember.
"Or at least something along those lines." he continued with a sheepish smile.
"But I'm here to meet her in the hopes of saying 'thank you'." the man finished while turning his gaze back to the ocean.
The three blinked a few times at first before looking back to one another. After doing so, they all came to an agreement between themselves that the person he's talking about is Ariel. Though, since they knew mermaids weren't common knowledge to those whom dwelled on the land, they couldn't say anything. nodding their heads slowly in response. However, they wouldn't need to as the man gasped and pointed towards the ocean quickly; "There...the must be her." he claimed, moving a bit into the water as if to try and get a closer look.
Sora glanced from him to the area he was pointing before noticing the streak of red moving through the water. Despite not wishing to say anything or draw attention, the brown-haired girl couldn't hold on any more and just called out. "Ariel~!"
Immediately following this, the red in the water stopped and rose up and indeed revealed Ariel herself. Though, she had slightly more defined features from the last time as she had aged a little more than a year. "Sora?" she whispered back with a blinking gaze.
After just a brief second, Sora rushed across the water. However, she instinctively froze it while going forward, allowing her to reach Ariel without actually getting wet. But it did cause the man on the shore to gaze at this in shock, him not sure of what to think of this strange occurrence. Leading for Leon to just let out a sigh and give Yuffie a nod, whom returned the gesture. The teen then moved behind the man stealthily and hit the back of his neck, knocking him out cold.
Yet, Leon sighed once more and rubbed his eyes; "I meant for you to try and explain this to him." he stated in a groan.
Yuffie blinked a few times to him, to which she then smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck. "I-I guess I misread that one." he hummed out with a chuckle to match her smile.
All the while, Sora and Ariel met just a few meters off shore, to which they hugged one another tightly. The former kneeling down on the ice while the latter used their embrace to keep herself afloat in the water. "I'm so glad you're here~! It's been such a long time~!" the red-haired girl called out happily.
"It has~! I'm so sorry I was away for so long, but there was so much to do." Sora explained as the pair broke their hug slowly, to which she smiled to the other teen.
Whom waved a hand in response while using her tail to keep herself from sinking too far into the water. "It's alright, I figured something might have happened after you left. So all I could hope for was that you were still alive." Ariel said with a small smile of her own.
Said teen grinned lightly as she then sat down on the ice, making it was easier for them to talk . "Well, I'm alive and kicking." Sora stated as she made a thumbs up gesture with a hand.
The other girl giggled softly to this at first, yet her gaze drifted down to the brown-haired teen's legs. "So this is what you normally look like?" she asked, tilting her head to the side curiously.
"Yep...though I've grown a bit since we last saw one another." the brown-haired girl responded while nodding her head.
"Though...I guess we both have." she continued, looking the mermaid over for a brief moment.
Said teen chuckling with a shrug, yet she quickly spotted the other two on the beach and raised a brow. "Are they your friends, like Donald, Goofy and Zola?" she asked in a whisper, to which Sora gave a nod of her head.
"Yeah, that's Leon...and that's Yuffie." the brown-haired teen introduced, pointing from on to the other while doing so.
The pair on the shoreline gave a small wave in greeting, yet it also drew Ariel's attention to the unconscious man laying on the sand next to them. "Oh! That's the man I saved from drowning." she started, to which the two girls made their way closer to the land.
"There was a massive storm the other night and I saw him struggling against the waves. So I brought him to shore as quickly as I could." Ariel continued as she beached herself onto the shore, yet kept the end of her tail in the water.
"Sounds like it was a pretty intense storm." Yuffie commented with a blinking gaze toward the mermaid, it being the first time she was physically meeting one.
"It really was...the waves were even higher than the ship he was sailing on." the red-haired teen said, nodding her head and pointing to the unconscious man.
"Well, if the ships I've seen are any indication...I'd say that was pretty dangerous." Sora uttered silently, almost more to herself than anything.
Though, Leon seemed to be the only one whom figured out that her words were more out of the possibility of getting wet, than anything else. Making him just sigh silently and clear his throat quickly before the others could continue. "We should probably move on. We do have a mission to do after all." he stated in a firm manner.
"A mission?" Ariel echoed while looking to each of them, an eager expression rising on her features.
"Yep...kinda like what we did here last time in defeating a bunch of bad guys and make sure the Keyhole is locked good and tight." Sora responded, causing the red-haired girl's excitement to simply increase all the more.
"Well lets do it then~!" she declared, getting ready to get back into the water.
However, when she noticed no one else was following her lead, she blinked a few times. But the realization quickly set in as she looked to her tail and then back to the group. "I guess I won't be coming along for this one, huh?" she muttered in a tone that clearly showed her disheartened feelings.
Sora looked down in thought for a moment before quickly speaking up; "Actually...maybe you can."
This made each of the other three look to her in a bit of confusion, yet Leon slowly tilted his head to the side in question. "Are you planning on giving her legs?" he asked, though it was evident from his voice that he didn't quite approve.
"That...and more." Sora claimed with a wink before turning to Ariel.
"You might feel a bit of itching around your tail and fins, but just stay as still as you can." she continued, holding out both hands in the process.
Despite the mermaid blinking a few times, she nodded her head in response and closed both eyes. At which point, the red-haired teen was engulfed in a bright white light that emanated from Sora's hands. "That should do it." said girl whispered to her with a small smile.
Once the light died down, it revealed Ariel with normal human legs. Though, she was also wearing new clothes that consisted of a pink t-shirt, a pair of skin-tight green pants that had an almost scale-like appearance. She also had on a thin corset-like vest over the shirt, tall boots and bracers on her forearms, all of which were a sandy-brown color. The red-haired teen almost looking like she could be a pirate, but there was no doubt that she belonged in such a world.
Upon seeing this, Yuffie blinked a few times before turning toward Sora with a devious grin. All the while, said girl was looking Ariel up and down as she appeared satisfied with her work. "Perfect...now we can go."
Or...maybe not, cause she has to actually get used to walking. Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter and will let me know what you thought of it. So until next time...when I hope it'll be a properly timed update.