Secrets and Answers
Everyone was silent.
Sora had asked the question causing the entire place to have a cool chill. Scrooge, Merlin and Phil looked the most afraid out of all of them. The others just seemed to be reacting to those three. As the air began to churn a dark sense of dread started to come all over the place, it was like the lair had begun to darken by the very mention of this person's name.
Phil took an annoyed grunt as he paced around breaking the silence. "That no good fish man, I knew he'd be the one to blab-can't keep a secret to save his life. He lets his temper get the best of him I tell yuh. Why if I get my on him I'm gonna give him the old what-"
"Now Phil please! He is the King, don't antagonize him." Merlin chastised. "Beside, from what Sora said, he was just protecting his daughter. Despite his temper Triton admirability still remains. What matters now is how much he told you. His bias towards the Keyblade might have lead to a few holes in his information that are critical to everything".
"So you do know who he is." Sora said straightening up as he pressed for more details. "Triton made him out to be some sort of evil Keyblade Master-is it true? I mean I know you don't like them Phil but uh...Can there be Evil Keyblade Masters?"
Merlin looked to Phil as if wanting him to speak first but Phi could only shrug, a question like this should be answered with a bit more tack than Phil had at the moment. But both seemed to be hesitating to respond. Sora got up and looked at them both pleadingly. They were hiding something and he knew it. All he wanted to do was find out, that was all. After everything he had been through he at least deserved to get more answers about the history of the weapon that was causing him so much trouble in his life right now.
"Please-I should know, if he's behind all this I should know." Sora said a bit of desperation in his voice. "Please-tell me. Ever since I started, I feel like I've been missing something, something important. This might be that something I've been missing".
Merlin took a deep sigh and put down his tea. "Sora-a Keyblade is made from the ancient power of the light. A force for good in the world that can help people and do wonderful and amazing feets. However the wielders they pick-aren't always. Our hearts can easily be consumed by the darkness"
"Sadly." Phill muttered. "Not all of us are made of tough stuff."
"Well I don't know about you guys but I'm pretty tuff" Dipper boasted.
Mabel just punched him in the chest with his shoulder causing him to lose all breath, "You were saying"
Merlin glared at him before continuing. "And sometimes when their hearts turn to Darkness and when that happens there Keys-can be embume with that darkness. Xehanort was one of those people who's heart was taken by the darkness and thus the power of his blade was used to serve that darkness.."
"Why though?" Sora asked desperate to know why a heart would turn to darkness, perhaps a answer to his friend Riku's turn. "Please tell me."
Merlin could only sigh. "I-I do not know. Truly I don't, Phil and I only played small parts to play in what happened all those years ago. We really do, all we know was that Xehanort was responsible for the disappearance of the last three guardians and the invisible disappearance of the Keyblade from the worlds in general."
"Yeesh, Keyblade Masters are strange" Yuffie said leaning up against the wall as she listened.
Leon snickered eyeing Sora, "Yeah, well look who the big hero is"
"Still hard to believe one guy could mess things up big time." Phil muttered. "I mean seriously, one person ruining it all like that."
Sora sat back down and just thought-so it was Xehanort who caused the disappearance of the Keyblade Wielders and because of that he had allowed for the power vacuum that allowed people like Maleficent and Heartless to invade the worlds without any protection. In a strange way, he also caused Sora to get into this mess, at least indirectly.
"What happened to him." Sora asked sitting back down taking a deep breath.
"I'm not sure." Merlin sighed his eyes darting down. "No one heard from him after the last trio of Guardians where gone. He vanished, some think he died, he was older when this all happened. Even Keyblade Masters must die of natural age eventually. But when I saw Xehanort and what I knew of him he was quite intelligent and powerful. A man who thought beyond the normal wells of knowledge. I hope you never run into him If he's still alive."
Sora just looked down at his feet before getting up and nodding. "Thank you. I think I'll-go for a walk."
"Sora?" Phil held out a hand yet pulled back as Merlin tapped his shoulder.
"It's alright-" Merlin smiled. "Best to think these things over."
Sora walked up the curtain and lifted it before pausing one more time. "Is the Darkness stronger." He said, his voice quite monotone.
Merlin and Phil looked at each other and shook there head and said in unison. "No."
"I hope you are right."
"One more thing kid-" Phil stated his voice now becoming haunting. "There was thing I always remembered about Xehanort and I think you should too, them eyes...Those haunting yellow eyes. Watch out for them-they are the eyes of darkness."
Sora grimaced and merely nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Yeesh that's a lot to take in" Yuffie said taking a deep breath.
Leon nodded, "Yeah, though none of that matters now i guess, he's gone, right now we have to focus on Maleficent, she's the primary concern"
"Again, only problem is kinda no point of knowing where she is since she's in hiding" Cid point out.
"Sending out probes doesn't work either" Phineas pointed out, holding a broken one.
"So, there's nothing we can do" Sora asked sounding a bit broken, "Anything"
The all just shook there head.
Sora sighed, "Well ...Um ...I-I think I'm gonna, I'm gonna get some fresh air"
-000-
Sora walked down the streets of Traverse Town.
Most of the town was peaceful that night, or was it day. Hard to tell in this world. People were walking around, shopping at the local stores, or just eating at a restaurant. Sora saw a few kids running around and seeming to enjoy themselves. They all looked like there were different worlds. If there was one positive to all this it was at least this melting pot of cultures was all getting along nicely. At least he didn't have that crisis to deal with.
Sora smiled bitterly at the kids playing, wishing he could go back to those carefree days once again.
"Hey Sora!" All of a sudden Sora's came back to reality, his mind no longer thinking about the dream.
Turning around not only did he see Donald and Goofy, but also Mabel and Dipper, Star and Marco all of them running towards him. They all had concerned expression on their faces as they arrived. Sora felt a cringe as he knew what this meant, more pity.
"Look guys," He said heading them off, "I don't need your pity okay, I just need to think, be alone for a bit"
Donald tapped his foot, "I don't know Sora, being alone doesn't really help"
"I have to agree with Donald on this one" Goofy said, "We're your friends, we want to help"
"Yeah, Sora" Mabel said giving him a light punch on the shoulder, "Sure things are bad, but hey they could be worse"
"Not helping Mabel" Dipper and Marco sighed sighed.
"Look, yeah, things are bad, we gotta keep going" Star said sounding strong, "If we don't then everything is going to go down, and it's gonna be bad, real bad. At least you aren't doing any of this alone"
Sora seemed unsure, "How, how are you guys still so happy, Donald, Goofy, you aren't any closer to finding your King, Dipper, Mabel, you aren't even close to getting home, neither you Star and Marco"
Everyone shrugged, not helping the answer.
"Well, we're still going" Goofy pointed out, "We're still fighting, that's gotta be worth something. So long as I know that my Maxie is out there back home, I gotta fight for him".
"My family too" Donald said.
Star and Marco nodded.
"So long as we're still going, then...You know ...Maybe we can find a way to beat the bad guys" Star said.
Marco agreed, "Yeah, although we could still lose...But maybe not"
"We're fighting to defend what matters" Dipper aruged.
"Yeah, " Mabel cheered, "Like Grunkle Stan…."
"SWEET BELGIUM WAFFLES!"
"See," Mabel said hearing the old man's voice.
Dipper blinked, "Wait a minute that sounds like Grunkle Stan right now".
Everyone turned to the dark alleyway and saw Stan Pines by a garbage can holding onto his knee. It looked like he was incredible pain as he clenched onto it tightly for a few moments.
"Darn stupid…."
"Grunkle Stan?" Dipper called.
Stan Pines jumped up cheeks turning red as he saw his family and the others all staring at him now. Everyone just muttered at one another unsure what was going on. There was a brief moment of awkward silence. Sora didn't really know why he was here, only that there seemed to be something farther going on right now.
"Mr Pines" Sora asked, "Is something going on".
Stan eyes started shifting around, "Eh, what no, just going through the dumpster, why would there be anything going on"
Sora was willing to put things aside. That was until something began to come from out of the dirt of the garbage. A red furred parrot with big beak coughing and hacking up little bits of dirt and other indistinguishable garbage.
"Oh lordy!" It was Iago, Jafar's former parrot, "Do NOT go in there any deeper, I don't think there's any jewels".
"Iago!" Sora, Donald and Goofy all said in unison.
"Who?" Star asked.
Sora pointed to the bird, "That's Jafar's former bird"
"JAFAR!" Iago jumped up and flew behind stan shaking, "W-where, I didn't do it boss I swear!"
"He's not here he's just telling them your origin story bird" Stan muttered, taking a sigh, "Oh boy, looks like I owe everyone an explanation don't I"
Sora and the others just added.
So Stan told them what had happened. Apparently Iago found himself here after Sora had left Agrabah. At first he was on his own just trying to make it buy, winding up in the bad side of town. Long story short Stan found him when dealing with a pair of Weasels who were selling 101 Dalmation Puppies. Something that later Mabel had him send back to the family for free much to the old man's annoyance. However Stan had kept Iago hidden, as the two got along Iago help hustle the Weasels for a good deal. The two would then go on to do other shady things throughout Traverse Town and make some good profit.
"He's been a good partner ever since" Stan said, "However because of his past I've had to keep him hidden"
Sora still unsure, he glared at Iago, "You worked for Jafar"
"Hey it was just business" Iago defended, "Besides never liked I was personally loyal to the guy, always talking about the Sultan and the darkness ...The man was a weiner. And every time we went to Hollow Bastion..."
"Where?" Sora asked.
"Hollow Bastion you know Maleficent lair anyway the guy…
Sora's eyes widened, he did it, he found Maleficent, he found the source of the Heartless.
-000-
"Hollow Bastion, are you sure!" Cid gasped.
The minute he heard that Sora rushed to Leon's lair at once. They went in such a rush that even Stan had joined them although much to the displeasure of Leon and the gang, But time was of the essence, and they needed Stan and Iago to come with them as well as witness. After telling there story Iago began to explain.
Some explanation later and Leon and gang believed what had happened.
Despite a few moments of suspicion most people tended to believe the story. As everyone began to let the information sit in, Sora could see on everyone's face a look of Nostalgia but also of sadness. Hollow Bastion was after all their home, one thought lost long ago. If the Heartless didn't engulf it in darkness, then what sorry state was it in. From what Iago though had told, it was hardly even a shell of its former glory
Dipper and Mable listened intently along with Webby, Huey Duey and Louie. Scrooge seemed the most interested by this news. His face seemed to be thinking about something, though what Sora didn't know. Everyone in that cave though was on the edge of there seats though.
Leon wasn't sure but he did seem to believe most of it. "So that's where she is."
"So we finally have the horde's nest" Scrooge muttered, "The final pieces of the puzzle are coming into place"
"Gee, would be nice if we had a chance to get home" Phineas said.
Isabella nodded, "Seems like forever, and now we really have a chance"
"A chance" Leon reminded them, "And a chance we can't easily mess up"
"Still, it's better than nothing" Star added, "We can get back our worlds and stop Maleficent once and for all"
"Yeah!" Mable said looking proud, "Plus we have Sora, so that already gives us like what...a ten to one advantage"
Sora gulped at that eplation
"So-it's still alive." Yuffie said almost in shock. "I can't believe it-home. It's still out there-all those years I used to think...and now I uh ...wuh-huh ...Oh wow."
"Yeah and she lives in this really freaky castle." Iago explained as he paced back and forth on one of the crates lying around the cave. "I mean really freaky all dark green and sickly looking, seriously it could use a massive re-decorator on it's part I mean geez! Really ugly looking."
"Ansem old's castle." Aerith interjected. "That must be it-it has to be, how much could she know about the Heartless and all the information gathered within it. Though I guess Maleficent had done a few add ons."
"That castle went through major revelations in the last few years." Leon said folding his arms. "It used to be so beautiful before things started to go downhill."
"Also explains all this" Aeirth said pointing to a bunch of papers she had been going over.
Sora looked at them confused, "What is all this?"
Goofy picked one of the papers, "Hey, it's one of those reports"
"Ansem reports?" Sora thought about it, "Like the one we found at Halloween town, the machine...The Heartless making machine"
Yuffie nodded and scowled. "Blasted Ansem. Again this is his fault. Everything is his fault, he built that machine. He caused the Heartless to spread ...Ugh! Why can't scientist just keep there noses out of things they shouldn't deal with it ".
"Hey!" Doofenshmirtz scowled, "I resent that! My nose isn't that big is it?"
"Yuffie please" Leon said interjecting now before things got heated "Yeah, Ansem made one and that's one of the many reasons were in this mess in the first place. But just wavering in the past isn't going to help. Maleficent has a base in Hollow Bastion, a machine of Heartless. If we could take out that machine we could completely take down the Heartless army once and for all".
"Even more reason to attack!" Yuffie said sounding determined, "Still...How are we gonna get there"
"And will help!" Dipper interjected
"No you won't" Leon muttered, "I'm not going to just send out all of us without some sort of backup plan...besides it's like Yuffie said, we don't know how to get there"
Everyone was silent for a moment.
"Me!" Cid got up and stepped in front of the crowd. "Guess I have a little bit of a confession to make."
"What are you talking about Cid?" Leon asked.
"See kid, I've known where Hollow Bastion has been for a while now, few years actually-but I knew it was a Heartless infested world, and I knew that if I told anyone without the proper weapons and tech, you'd go back and we'll- couldn't let my friends fall to darkness now can I."
Yuffie looked quite torn. "Cid...We…..
"Understand." Aerith finished. "Thank you Cid, for keeping us safe."
"Trust me I didn't like to keep that big a secret from yuh, but I made sure to navigate the coordinates when we fled back in the day and I made sure that they were the correct ones should we ever have a trip back."
Leon unfolded his arms and stood tall. "Okay then, Cid get the coordinates in Sora's gummi ship- Everyone else get ready. I think it's finally time for an all out assault."
"Huh?" Sora's heart skipped a beat. "Say what now?"
"All out assault on Hollow Bastion." Leon said slamming a fist into his hand. "I'm tired of sitting around here and letting Maleficent plan in safety, it's time we take the fight for her and the Heartless once and for all."
"An-Assault?" Sora now as at a loss for words. "Like an attack."
"Yes! It's finally time we show them ." Yuffie shouted pumping her first.
Aerith seemed hesitant. "Are you sure."
"Yeah Be careful!" Iago added getting the eye from some in the room.. "Maleficent got this machine she's been working on, something to do with seven hearts-if she gets it working, oh boy, bad mojo."
"Which is why we should help" Dipper interjected again.
Mable rolled her eyes.
"Again, no" Leon muttered, "Still when we get there will have to free the seven Princesses of Heart"
Beakley nodded. "I'll draw up a battle strategy, I'll need as much information as we can on what the world was like, defenses
"I'll try to give you everything I know from memory." Leon said.
Sora grimaced as everyone started getting ready now, the idea of an all on attack seemed to horrifying to contemplate. An all out assault on Maleficent and her Heartless, how could just a few of them take on a Heartless let alone Maleficent's other villains. It would be a bloodbath and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it, and if they lost then, then no one would be fighting the Heartless or have any way of surviving to one day find a better and more assured way of victory.