Hey so after some discussion with my co-author we decided to change up the order of a few chapters. So to anyone that read the original ch.17 you got a lucky surprise there. But now we get back to the new chapter here!
Ch.17
Sora tapped his foot repeatedly as he started out the window. He knew what world was next, and it was the one that had him worrying the most. After locking the keyhole in Neverland, he hadn't once stopped thinking about the events that had transpired. How different they were and how much that made him wonder.
It was so hard that he wasn't even able to steer the gummi ship properly, leaving Donald to take over to fly the remaining distance. Sora breathed deeply, trying his hardest to calm himself, but nothing seemed to be working.
"Sora?" Juliana asked. "Are you sure you are okay?"
"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit nervous is all, you know what's out there and next and stuff."
"Sora, you don't have to dance around it, we all saw the cloaked figure. We all heard him," Juliana said. "We may not know what he is up to, but clearly it isn't something good."
"Yeah Sora," Goofy interjected. "You can talk to us about what you got on yer mind."
Sora looked at Juliana and then Goofy. Quickly he went back to Juliana and saw the seriousness in her face. He eventually nodded, knowing that it would be okay at this point to talk about what was on his mind. "He just used a lot of chess terms, and used knight a lot since I first encountered him. Then he said silvery knight… which makes me think of Riku. What if something bad happened to him?!"
Juliana placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Whatever is happening, we will get to the bottom of it, and we will put a stop to it. Okay?"
Sora breathed out again. "Okay… I got it."
They eventually got to Hollow Bastion and landed in the world. Sora could feel the sensation from Kairi's heart, telling him that this world was familiar. It did bring him some relief to know that Kairi was still there with him in his heart. He finally could feel a few of his nerves relax for the time being.
Though Sora still was jittered, so he raced ahead of the group, despite the shouts from the others to stick together. He ended up getting away ahead of the others, passing by all the Heartless that he could as he made it to the top. When he got there, what he saw wasn't what he expected, and loosen nerves immediately tighten up again.
He saw the Beast where he was suppose to be, but standing across from him was not Riku. Instead there was a cloaked figure with their arms crossed. "Honestly, I could care less about why you are here. I just need something to do while I wait. But I guess I am a bit curious how you managed to get here on your own."
"I simply believed. Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here. I will have her back!"
"Sounds cheesy. Like something right out of a storybook," the figure replied before laughing. "I'll be impressed if you can pull it off though."
The Beast roared and leaped at the figure, trying to swipe at him with his claws. The figure only jumped back casually. "Really? Going to attack me when I've done nothing wrong? Well nothing wrong to you at least."
"You are in my way, and that is all there is too it," the Beast growled.
The figure looked past the beast and saw Sora. He chuckled. "Well looks like your time with me is up anyways, I got others to deal with."
In a flash, the figure was standing behind the Beast, who let out a pained roar before collapsing to the ground. The figure looked at the down Beast and gave a shrug. He then turned to Sora and crossed his arms again. "So, it's about time you showed up. Where's the rest of your group? Or was Kuri serious when he said he took all of you on?"
"Your friend wasn't any match for me, but where's Riku!?" Sora shouted as he summoned his keyblade. "I know you are Yutaka, you don't need to try and hid under the cloak."
"I guess you like to get straight to the point, but I think dragging this out would be more fun," Yutaka said as he pulled off his hood. "I guess I should congratulate you or something for making it this far. Tell me, what did Riku do when you got to this point?"
Sora narrowed his eyes at the person who he could only figure was a few years older than him. He was about to attack when he heard someone shout his name. He turned around to see the rest of his group finally catching up to him.
"So you ditched your friends to make it up here first? Or are you just really excited to see what is happ-" Yutaka stopped mid sentence, his eyes growing wide.
Sora turned and saw that the Juliana was now to his side, and she had the same level of wide eyes, though hers were more tearfilled. "Y-Yutaka…"
Much to Sora's surprise, Yutaka continued to remain shocked. "Juliana… y-you're the one… that has been…"
"I didn't want to believe what I heard. I couldn't believe that it was you and Kuri… but then…" Juliana choked on a sob, unable to keep her emotions in check.
The emotion shifted in Yutaka's face, going from shocked to what Sora figured had to be regret, and that only made him even more confused. "Huh? How do they already know about each other? I mean, I thought Tsuki and Juliana knew the seekers names cause that was apart of their mission… but now the way they are looking at each other… I don't get it…"
Yutaka started to look to the side, clenching his hands into fists. "Um Juliana… I…" A portal appears behind Yutaka and without another word he entered it, letting it close seconds later.
"Yutaka!" Juliana ran forward to where the portal was as she let out a loud cry. "Why… I can't understand why…"
Yutaka exited the portal, now back within the castle and began to look around. "Kuri! Where did you go off to!"
He headed back to the hallway where the fight had happened earlier, but no one was there. Yutaka let out a sigh as he kept on walking. "Come on Kuri, I know you are still here. Stop hiding already."
There was still no answer, causing Yutaka to sigh. "Even the fox isn't anywhere to be found… where did everyone go…" Yutaka walked further, hoping eventually he would find his friend again.
"Juliana?" Sora asked.
She still stood there frozen in place after she had let out her cry. Donald and Goofy were currently helping the beast, leaving enough time to talk privately with Juliana.
"I'm sorry… I knew I would be seeing him again. I just didn't expect it to be so hard," Juliana replied, lowering her head.
"But who is he? I mean to you?"
Juliana wiped away tears from her eyes before managing to look at Sora. "It's hard to explain… not who is he, just hard for me to say it… I think it would be best to talk about it later when we find Riku and Tsuki again."
"Oh, okay. If you say so," Sora said keeping an eye on her expression. "Still, if you need to talk about it, let me know."
"Thanks Sora," Juliana whispered. "But for now we need to get back on track. Riku was suppose to be here, right?"
"Yeah… but he wasn't. He was suppose to come and take the keyblade from me and then I would get it back, but now I'm worried."
"Let's get a move on then, maybe he is just going after Kuri at this point," Juliana suggested.
"Right," Sora said, breathing in deeply. He was still nervous about everything, and about what Kuri had said, but he was ready to continue on.
After talking briefly to Beast to have him join their party, they finally made their way into the castle. Where Sora expected Riku to be, he still wasn't. In fact there was no one there in the room. It made things easier to move along, but it only made Sora worry even more.
"Come on… Riku please be okay. You just gotta be…"
Maleficent stood before the incomplete keyhole, thinking deeply on how close she was to her goal. It would only be a little more now before everything was complete and she could gain the darkness she wanted.
A hooded figure the height of a child or young teen entered the Grand Hall, carrying a comatose Kairi in their arms. They walked up the stairs to the upper landing before the heart shaped gate, setting Kairi on the ground. The cloaked figure moved to stand near Maleficent before speaking with an eerie undertone.
"So it seems that the path has finally emerged."
"Yes. The keyhole-" Maleficent started to say, but she stopped herself. That voice was not one she suspected. She turned around to see the hooded figure. Right away her eyes narrowed at the sight of him. "Who are you and what are you doing here? And why do you have the girl?"
"My identity matters little, witch, but if it bothers you so, I once went by the name of Ansem."
"Hmm," Maleficent hummed, still extremely suspicious of who she was talking to. "Where is the boy? He is supposed to be here, not you. This was not part of my plan."
"He is currently indisposed, but that should matter little to your plan, or my own."
"I suppose that can be true, but then without his keyblade there are still drawbacks. Though, those fools are still marching around the castle. They can still be used after all."
"You underestimate me, witch." 'Ansem' spoke, with a hint of malice in his tone. Holding out his right hand, darkness gathered into an incomplete keyblade, the Keyblade of Hearts.
Maleficent's eyes widened as she stared at the keyblade. She turned to the keyhole behind her, but saw that nothing had changed, it was still incomplete. "Impossible! All of the princesses of heart are here! She has to be the last one!"
"The girl I brought does not have her heart. Only when he leads her sheltered heart here will the door open."
"And who would be sheltering her heart, if I may ask?"
"The leader of the ones you called fools."
"Ah I see, well I better go and deal with them. They approach now anyways," Maliefenct said as she began to walk away. She stopped a few feet away and looked behind her. "I may not trust you boy, but you better be here when I get back. I have more questions that I wish to ask."
"I will make no promises."
Eventually Sora, Juliana, Donald, Goofy, and the Beast, made their way through the castle, fending off as many Heartless as they could. Now came the time that they fought against Maleficent, which proved to be fairly easy to Sora, since he already knew what her moves would be.
It didn't take long before the ground had defeated her, leaving her out of breath. She clutched her chest as she tried to regain her breath. Though Sora honestly wasn't focusing on her anymore. What he knew to happen next would determine everything for this thoughts on the matter. All he had to do was wait and see if his fears were right or not.
All he had to do was run a bit ahead to find Maleficent in the next room. When he got there she was still out of breath and weak, and then seconds later a corridor of darkness appeared.
From within, out stepped the hooded figure wielding the Keyblade of Hearts.
"You weren't even strong enough to delay them much."
Juliana looked confused and quickly turned to Sora. "It's not Kuri or Yutaka… the voice doesn't match."
"I know, but the voice… it is…" Sora looked to the figure and started to speak up. "How do you have that keyblade? And who are you? I know you are not Riku." Sora had a feeling who he was speaking to, at least in the sense, but as long as the person had the hood up he could never be sure.
"We both know the answers you seek are inconsequential to what will come. Now then, let's not waste any more time." Without hesitation, the figure stuck down Maleficent, leaving only her cloak to flutter down to the floor. Grinding it under their foot, the fabric vanishes, leaving no trace of the witch behind. With her now gone, the figure summons a dark corridor behind them and backs into it.
The entire group stared with wide eyes. All of than had not expected what they just witnessed.
Finally Sora gave an audible sound that was close to a fumbling gasp. "What?! He… he just struck her down!"
"Yeah," Goofy added. "That did seem kind of harsh."
"But what was with that keyblade?" Donald questioned.
"We need to hurry," Sora said, not bothering to answer any questions. "Gotta find where that guy went to."
"Sora, wait up!"
Sora didn't pay attention to who has actually shouted to him, he was far to preoccupied with getting to where he needed to be next. He could feel his fears growing again, and feeling stronger than before, but this time he remembered to breath.
"Pull yourself together, Sora. Gotta keep a straight mind… If Ansem has possessed one of the seekers instead of Riku… No! Stop it. Don't think like that… I need to stay positive, can't assume anything until I get the facts."
Sora finally made it to the grand hall, there he saw Kairi and he felt his heart pound against his chest. He ran over to her and held her in his arms. "Kairi… Don't worry… everything's going to be okay."
Sora gently placed her body down before he started scanning the room. "All right Ansem! Show yourself wherever you are! I know you're there."
The hooded figure stepped out of a dark corridor, standing on the structure of the large keyhole. Without saying a word, they threw Keyblade of Hearts down at Sora. It stuck in the ground a few feet away from him.
Sora jumped back and summoned his keyblade. He glared up at the hooded figure. "So? Are you just going to stand there now?"
"Why do I need to do anything? After all, you already know what's necessary."
Sora's grip tightened, his eyes drifting slightly to the Keyblade of Hearts, still lodged into the ground. "I'm not going to do anything until I get my answers. I know you are Ansem, and you have possessed one of the guys I've been trying to find. So why are you trying to hide it from me?"
"Who said I was hiding it from you?"
"Then why else have your hood up like that?"
"There is no point in showing you my current appearance." The figure hopped down onto the landing between Sora and the incomplete doorway to the Dark Depths. "Regardless of your pitiful attempts at stalling, you will do as I want."
"There's no way I'm just going to do what you want," Sora said as he stepped into an offensive position, ready to strike.
"Hmph. You don't have the heart to leave the princess in her current state. Once you awaken her, the door will be complete."
"I'll save Kairi… after I deal with you," Sora stated before jumping forward towards the hooded Ansem/who ever he has possessed.
Hm who could it be? I mean it may be pretty easy to guess, but hope you all enjoyed!