Chapter 51: Reunion
Riku's POV
You watch in anticipation as you close in on Disney Castle. You haven't seen the king for two whole years. But...that's probably good. Usually when you get news from Mickey, it's bad news. The only exception is about two years ago, when you got a letter from him inviting you, Sora, and Kairi to a celebration. He had sent it in a bottle.
"Prepare for landing," Kira says as she pulls into the Gummi Garage. You feel your ears pop as the pressure changes. A cloud of steam surrounds the ship, then the door opens.
"Good morning, and welcome!" two familiar voice shout.
Kira slowly walks out of the ship, followed closely by the rest of you.
"Riku! Kairi!" Chip shouts, jumping up and down with Dale.
"The King will be so happy to see you!" Dale adds.
"Come on, this way!"
"We know where to go," Kairi says. "Thanks anyway, though!"
"Suit yourselves!" Dale says, shrugging.
"See you later!" Chip says.
You all wave goodbye, and you, Kira, and Kairi lead the way. Wait...Kira, too?
"How do you know where to go?" Kairi asks Kira. No joke. She frowns in response.
"It's a long story," she replies. "Just trust me."
Kairi looks at you and shrugs. You shrug back. You were thinking the same thing as Kairi: how does Kira know this place?
Your POV
Now that Kairi and Riku are suspcious of you, you feel even more alone. So what if you know where you're going!? Shouldn't they be happy about that?
You stop in front of the large doors that lead to Mickey's throneroom. Taking a deep breath, you knock on the doors. To your relief, the tiny door opens, and you enter through it without a problem-although Riku and Wakka have some difficulties because of their heights. You lead your friends inside, hopefully prepared for the worst.
"Riku!"
Riku grins and steps forward. You watch as Mickey runs over to him. They hug.
"And Kairi, too!?"
"Kairi!?" two voices shout. Tears come to your eyes as Donald and Goofy run to Kairi, hugging her and laughing giddily. "So where's Sora?"
Kairi and Riku's smiles fade. Donald begins to jump up and down, filling with obvious rage.
"WHERE'S SORA?!" he quacks.
"That's why we're here," you say quietly.
"What happened?" Minnie asks, approaching you. You immediately bow, feeling dishonorable.
"I can explain."
"Before you do, can I ask you something?" Mickey asks. You bow to him, surprised that he addressed you.
"Anything, Your Majesty."
"Golly, Kira, you can just call me Mickey!"
You gasp. "You-you know my name!?"
"Of course! You're the pure-heart."
"The what?"
"We've been watching and waiting for you to arrive here for some time. You're the girl who saved her sister by offering yourself, right? The one murdered by the great warrior Sephiroth?"
"Yes! How do you know?!"
"I'd like for all of you to come with me, please."
You eagerly follow Mickey into a large library of some sort. It isn't like the one you saw in the game. This one is HUGE.
"Ohh...a piano," Nami sighs, gazing longingly at the white grand piano towards one corner of the room. "Do you mind if I...?"
"Go right ahead!" Mickey urges.
Nami bows gratefully and quickly sits on the bench. As the tune to "Always on My Mind" fills the room, Mickey hands you a large book.
"Take a look through it. Try page 79 for a start. Then page 106," he says, smiling.
You nod, immediately flipping to the recommended page. But before you start reading, you notice the chapter title:
Prophecies of the Age of Light
You start reading right away.
Kairi's POV
"So what did you give Kira?" you ask the King, quite curious to know.
"A book, of course," he replies, smiling. "It has some things she needs to know about herself and her sister and...well, the present times before us all."
"Anything we might need to know?" Riku asks.
"Yes, actually. Did you know you are part of a prophecy?"
"Really?" you say. But, heck, why are you surprised?
"Yup! You, me, Riku, Sora, and Kira. Five are to save the Age of Light: One King, one Princess-that's you, Kairi, one Twilight-Riku, that's you, and one pure-heart-that's Kira. One is to hold the power above them all. He is the master, and that would be Sora."
"A 'pure-heart'? What's that?" you ask, wondering if that is any better than being a Princess of Heart.
"Well, in the prophecy, it speaks of each of the five of us," Mickey explains. "The Twilight has power over darkness, and strength like no other. The King is supposed to have the wisdom, and he is the link between foriegn worlds. Those two aren't complicated.
"The Princesses of Heart and a pure-heart are more difficult to explain. All of the Princessses of Heart do have strong hearts, and the strongest-that's you, Kairi-has a pure, unbreakable will. She also finds her strength in faith.
"But a pure-heart is even more amazing! Do you two remember when Maleficent tried to use the Princesses of Heart to open the keyhole in Hollow Bastion? She didn't know this-and still doesn't, thankfully-but the strength and power of the heart of a pure-heart alone could open that lock and unleash all sorts of incredible power and energy!"
You look over at Kira, who is sitting on the arm of a couch, reading intently. Small as she is, it doesn't seem possible for her to pack so much power into her.
"So...Kira has the power of all the Princesses combined?" Riku asks.
"And more," the King replies. "She has also an unbendable, pure will, but her greatest quality is her loyalty. Sora is the only person in the universe more powerful than her."
"Wow," you murmur, unable to say anything else. "That explains a lot."
"I'm in this book?!" Kira suddenly cries, running over to Mickey. "I'm the pure-heart?!"
"Yes, ma'am! Have you read page 106 yet?"
Kira shakes her head slowly and walks away, nose buried in the book.
"There's a lot to learn from that book," Mickey says. "I found it in Hollow Bastion. It was written in another language, so I had it translated."
"What's page 106?" you ask.
"It's about the heart and it's power. It's linked with page 79. You two can read it after her if you want."
"The heart's power? Is that like what we found in the Ansem Reports?" Riku asks.
"Nope! It's the reports of a wise man named Eli. Ironically, his Nobody was in the Organization!"
"Oh?! Who?"
"I believe his name was Axel."
Your POV
You read on in awe. This book is so interesting! Earlier, it was even talking about how you died. Everyone in this world and others knew...
"'The heart of the pure-heart is the second most powerful of all,'" you read aloud, sitting next to Nami on the piano bench. Roxas sits on the other side of her. "'Her heart is equivalent to the seven Princesses of Heart'...this is all the same-oh!"
"Read it!" Nami insists, still plinking away.
"Okay, okay! 'However, just as her heart is powerful, it is also surprisingly fragile...' Oh my gosh..."
"What?" Roxas says, watching Nami's hands like a scientist watches an animal.
"'If her heart should become connected to another who were to die, she not only would perish as well, but great and terrible destruction will occur, possibly as great as destruction of the world she is in.' Nami, what if Sora dies?! Wait, don't answer that. 'The only event that would be more catastrophic than her death would be the final death of the keyblade master. Surely this would result in the end of the worlds.'"
"So...no pressure or anything," Nami says sarcastically, pounding a low note.
"I wonder if there's anything on Nobodies in here," you say, knowing Nami and Roxas would wanna know. "Your-um, King Mickey!"
"Yes, Kira?" the king says, approaching you.
"Does this book have anything on Nobodies in here?"
"No, actually. Eli never thought to write about that, although he and his best friend, Dyme, did have research. Those files have yet to be found. Maybe he died before he could record it. Dyme was also in the Organization: Demyx."
"Eli? Is that who wrote this?" you ask. Demyx and Axel were buds in the first life...huh.
"Yup, but you might know him as Axel."
"Axel wrote this!?" Roxas shouts, eyes wide.
"He sure did!"
"Funny...he never struck me as the researcher type before," Nami says. Roxas nods in agreement.
"Neither did Demyx," Riku quietly says.
"Mickey, what about Sora?" you say. "What if he dies? Because if he dies, I die; and if we die, everyone dies."
"He won't die. Didn't you read past that part? Well, don't waste time; I'll tell you. The death of the keyblade master-or permanent, final death, I should say-is practically impossible. Sora's heart shines with a light that will never go out until it is passed on. Now, I'm not saying he'll live forever. But he won't be dying anytime soon. And before he can die, the keyblade's power will move on. The power of the keyblade knows when it's time in a person is done.
"There is one more thing: now that his heart is connected to another powerful one, they share unfathomable power. If the two of you were to turn to darkness, you could destroy life as we know it without any difficulty. So rescuing Sora shouldn't be any problem to you."
"Then there's hope," you say, smiling a little. Mickey nods encouragingly. You grin. "Alright. I'll take your word for it, Mickey. I think I ought to go speak with the Royal Court Wizard and Captain of the Royal Guard."
"Sure thing!" Mickey says. "Right this way."
Mickey leads you all away, back to the throne room.
"Wakka, you know what that duck guy, Donald, reminds me of?" Selphie asks suddenly.
"A chocobo?" he replies. She laughs.
"That's exactly it!" she says, giggling.
"Ah, you're right, Selphie!" Tidus shouts.
"...Omgee, that's kind of true!" Nami says to you.
"I've never thought of it that way before!" you add, nodding and grinning.
"What's a chocobo?" Namine asks.
"It's a type of huge bird creature," Riku replies.
"How do you know about them?" Kairi says. "I only know 'cause Tidus told me about them."
"We talked about it one time..."
"Chooo-cooo-booooo!" Tidus, Riku, Wakka, and Roxas shout, high-fiving each other.
"That's the happiest I've seen Riku in a long time," Nami whispers in your ear. You nod.
"No keeping secrets, now!" Roxas says, wagging a finger at you and Nami.
"Oh shut up, Roxy," Selphie giggles.
"I thought we established NOT to call me that."
"Oh yeah, and those 'consequences.'" She makes air quotes. "Oohhh, I'm sooo-!!" She yelps as Wakka throws her over his shoulder.
"Thanks, man," Roxas says.
"PUT ME DOWN, WAKKA!" Selphie shouts. "Roxas, make him put me down!"
"Are you gonna call me 'Roxy' again?"
"No!!"
Wakka flips Selphie off his should. She lands on the ground with a thud.
"Ugh, now I'm all dirty," she whimpers, brushing herself off.
"You've always been dirty," Kairi jokes.
"BURN!!!!" you and Nami shout, laughing.
"Kairi!! That was SOOOO mean!" Selphie whines. She then giggles. "But I have to admit: that was funny."
You smile. This is like home. Well, not like your Ohio home. You didn't fit in very well there. Idaho, however, was like this. The only thing that could make it better would be...Sora.
Seriously, it would fit perfectly then! See?!:
Kairi+Tidus,
Selphie+Wakka,
Namine+Riku,
Nami+Roxas,
you+Sora=
LOVE!!!
"I know what you're thinking about," Namine whispers in your ear.
"I bet I could just as easily read your mind, Namine. Don't push it," you whisper back.
"Oh, Mickey," you add, "do you mind if we stay the night here?"
"Of course not. I'd be offended if you didn't! We'll give you the royal treatment!"
"Haha, funny," Wakka chuckles.
Mickey smiles at his own cleverness and opens the door to the throne room.
"We demand an explanation!" Donald quacks as soon as you enter the room.
"Yeah!" Goofy adds.
Mickey's POV
A look of horror makes its way onto Donald and Goofy's faces as Kira's eyes fill with tears.
"We-"
"Donald, Goofy," you quickly say before any type of conflict can erupt, "why don't you two and Kira come with me?"
"Yes, and I will take the guests to their rooms," Minnie says, smiling understandingly. She seems to be taking everything in stride. And maybe the only one besides you.
"That sounds like a plan! C'mon, Pluto!"
Your faithful dog leaves Riku's side and follows you, Kira, Donald, and Goofy into the study.
"Listen to her, you two," you say to Donald and Goofy. As you leave the room, you make sure Pluto stays so at least Kira will have him. Then you notice Kira's face.
It's as white as a ghost's.
