Chapter 80

World Tour, Part 1

Near the Falls, Powhattan Village

Sora's request to tackle the devices Scrooge had given him with Roxas had impacted on Luna's plans, although not significantly. Instead of spending time with him, she saw it as an opportunity to spend more time with Astra. It just so happened that Donald and Goofy also wanted to come along for the ride too.

Seeing Astra interact—or try to interact—with Donald and Goofy was simply hilarious. She and Donald, as stubborn as they both were, did not get on well at all, much like oil and water.

Goofy chuckled and leaned in so that only Luna could hear him. "You know, it kinda reminds me of the first coupla days me, Donald and Sora spent together. Those two did not get along at all because they both wanted to do things their way."

"So you're saying there's a chance? Hopefully?" Luna asked in a tiny voice. But as it became more apparent that their argument would drag on without intervention, she decided to step in. "Alright, you two. Since you can't seem to decide which way we're going, I'll pick."

"Good. Better you than her," Donald said, glaring at Astra as he tapped his feet.

Astra glared daggers at him. "You little-"

"Hey, we're all on the same team here, aren't we? So let's all learn to get along," Goofy said. Astra huffed and looked away for a moment. Goofy chuckled. "Yep. Just like Sora."

"Please don't compare me to him again if you want to live," Astra said. A scream filled the air of the forest, causing them all to instinctively draw out their weapons.

"Looks like our direction's being decided for us," Luna said. She took the charge in heading to the source of the noise but soon found herself being outpaced by the longer legs of her friend.

They soon emerged out of the forest to reach a cliff with a beautiful waterfall and lake beyond it. Slowly backing away to the cliff's edge was a woman who Luna soon recognized as Pocahontas' friend, Nakoma. In front of her were Wraith, gaining ground on her without hurry, like they were lapping up every moment of her fear. If they didn't get her, then the cliff certainly would.

Next to her, Luna could see the fist of her friend tightening. Then, Astra broke the formation, boldly walking up to the group of Wraith.

"Hey!" she yelled out. The Wraith closest turned to look at her and that was about all she was willing to let it do before she tore through its body with her Keyblade.

"Is she always like this?" Donald asked, looking at Luna.

"Against bullies? Yeah," Luna said. She ran forward to join her friend, followed by Donald and Goofy. Nakoma's eyes were transfixed on what was playing out in front of her, even as she moved toward the side to escape narrow ground.

Luna backed away quickly and looked over to Donald, who raised his staff aloft. With the blade of her Dream Seeker emerged in flame, she tossed it up into the air.

"Goofy!"

"On it!" Goofy bounced into the air and slammed the Keyblade back down to the ground with the edge of his shield. As the Keyblade hit the ground, a wave of energy was released from it, blasting the remaining Wraith away.

"Team…work," Luna enunciated as she high fived the two.

"Okay, okay, I get it. No need to rub it in," Astra said, rolling her eyes. She turned around to see Nakoma and flashed her a quick wave. "Yo! You alright?"

"Yes, thank you for saving me. It's good to see you again, Luna. Riku came by a while back so I was wondering why you weren't with him. And you three are her friends?"

"Oh, yeah, this is Donald, Goofy and Astra. Guys, this is Nakoma," Luna introduced. "Um, is Pocahontas is… well, it's better to see for yourself," Nakoma said, pointing towards the edge of the cliff.

The group walked over to the edge and peered over just in time to see a woman emerging from the water. Pocahontas let her hair fly about, letting droplets of water spring from her hair, glimmering in the light.

Nakoma walked over towards them and knelt down, putting her hands to her mouth. "Pocahontas! You have some company!"

In the midst of squeezing her hair dry, Pocahontas looked up and smiled. "Coming!"

"So, Nakoma, have the Wraith been popping up here a lot?" Luna asked.

"Wraith? That's what they're called? No, not until recently. I guess… one day we saw something strange. A giant silhouette in the sky blocking out the sun, like this. Did you see it?" Nakoma asked, forming the shape of a heart with her hands.

"Kingdom Hearts," Luna murmured.

Nakoma repeated the name slowly before adding, "Well, it was probably yesterday maybe, when one of the hunters came back just barely alive. He claimed a creature not native to these lands attacked him and his partner. His partner did not return. He did but passed soon after. Ugh, I was telling Pocahontas it was a bad idea to stray far from the village but she won't listen, so I decided to follow her. Make sure she was safe."

"And then these things came after you. It really looks like you can't take chances, at least for now," Astra said. "It's weird though…"

"What is?" Luna asked.

"Wraith, from what I was told, usually only appear when there are Keyblade wielders around. But these ones just come and attack out of nowhere?"

"Then maybe there's a Keyblade wielder other than you two somewhere nearby?" Goofy suggested.

"Possibly, but I'm not sure what reason they'd have to draw their Keyblade. I was thinking about Rhea and those kids," Astra said. Sora had told them what was going on before leaving with Roxas.

"You mean the children are behind this? But why would they do something like that?" Luna asked.

Astra shrugged. "Why are they taking over Rhea's body in the first place? Don't ask me."

"What are you talking about? Children?" Nakoma asked. Her face, sceptical and seeking answers, was hard to a blind eye to. It wasn't because of the world order or anything like that—the future Neuge was seeking didn't require it. It was that if they were to explain it now, it would lead to a cascade of questions that they would never hear the end of.

Fortunately, Pocahontas came into view at exactly the right time. She smiled upon seeing Luna. Of course, Luna had to go through introductions one more time now that she had arrived. Flint and Meeko were also with her, the former of which seemed to take a liking to Donald who could only respond in annoyance, trying to swat him away. It was a cruel mockery, but also strangely amusing to watch Donald's vain attempts at seeing the hummingbird off.

"Pocahontas, I've been telling you it's too dangerous now. I was attacked just now by those creatures. If Luna and the others hadn't been here, I don't know what I would have done. Please, as your friend I am asking you to not rush out so heedlessly. I care about you, Pocahontas, and I don't want to see you hurt or worse," Nakoma begged, taking Pocahontas' hands into her own.

"Nakoma… I… I'm sorry, truly. I just needed to clear my head for a bit but I was being selfish. I should have considered yours and my father's feelings," Pocahontas said, casting her eyes down.

Nakoma let go off her hands and tilted her head. "Oh, come on, don't do that."

Pocahontas looked up. "Do what?"

"That! It makes me feel like I'm in the wrong," Nakoma said. She looked over to the edge again before looking back. "So? Did you clear your head?"

"It's very refreshing. Would you like to try?" Pocahontas offered.

"No! Nonononono! I'm fine. I think your amount of crazy is enough for the both of us," Nakoma refused.

Pocahontas a silent chuckle, watching as Astra knelt down so that Meeko could run up her arm and take a place on her shoulder.

"Hey, this little dude's pretty cool. How much to take him off your hands?" Astra asked.

"First a dragon and now a racoon? Are you trying to give the pet detective a run for his munny, Astra?" Luna asked.

"Still beats your moogle," Astra said.

"Hey, Kupopo can do a lot of cool things!"

Astra feigned a yawn. "Good for him. And Elliot can breathe fire. And once I'm done with this little guy, you'll be like Kupo-who?"

"Now I wish Kupopo were here. I'd have gladly thrown him just so I could send you flying off the cliff," Luna said.

"Well, if it helps, Luna, Meeko's not for sale," Pocahontas said.

"Bummer. And here I was growing attached," Astra said.

"Hey, we have a mission to do! We have to find a place to put Scrooge's device," Donald reminded them after managing to successfully bore Flint into leaving his side at last.

"Right. Doesn't this place look like it would be a pretty good spot for it?" Goofy suggested. Now that he mentioned it, they happened to be on a cliff, about as high up as they were probably going to get unless there was something even taller nearby. Also, not that this was a prerequisite of any kind, but Luna found the surrounding area to be calming and beautiful. It was memorable enough that she felt if they ever needed to come back to it for some reason, it would be easy to find its location.

"Alright. Who'd like to do the honors?" Luna asked, slipping the backpack containing the satellite device off her shoulders.

"Me!" Both Donald and Astra declared at the same time. They turned to each other and thus their short lived détente had come to an end.

"I shouldn't have said anything," Luna said, looking away in disbelief.

The Dalmatians Estate

Sora found himself pinned to the side of a car as Wraith, their body only a head and torso with their arms their only vehicle of movement, fired off several rounds of projectiles his way. He lowered his head as the car glass above him shattered and fell on the floor.

"Ugh, can you guys just slow down already?" Sora asked.

"Ask them more nicely, maybe. I'm sure they'll listen," Roxas said from another car next to him.

"Oh, then do you have a better plan?" Sora asked. Roxas grabbed something from the utility pouch attached to his suit and chucked it overhead. The decoy sailed over the car roof and the Wraith, perhaps in their excitement, prioritized their new target. Sora grinned and slid out of cover, taking the Wraith out with several shots from his Keyblade.

"Nice one!" Sora complimented.

"Don't let your guard down. There's more on the way," Roxas said, looking down the street. Sora's mouth dropped in disbelief. There were about fifteen more, the ones with humanoid shape and rusted keys, waiting for them.

Sora walked over to the other side of the road where Roger, Anita and Pongo were waiting for them in their station wagon. They were lucky that Sora and Roxas had found them when they had, but the street itself was in complete disarray with cars having been flipped in the Wraiths' ensuing chaos.

"Alright… stay here and try not to alert them to where you are. We'll finish this up quickly," Sora told them with his eyes still on the Wraith.

"Be careful, Sora," Anita cautioned. Sora grinned, smacked the side of the vehicle's roof and took off, re-joining Roxas in the middle of the road. "What do you say, Roxas? Should we meet them head on?"

Roxas looked at him, though any emotion was concealed by his helmet. "I thought that was your thing. You're gonna ask now?"

"Will you take that ridiculous helmet off? It's really not that bad," Sora said. "At least, it's not all that different from how you were before. Might even be an improvement."

"Screw you. And besides, Ven might like to have a word with you about that," Roxas said, drawing out both his short blades.

"Hey, let's not bring Ven into this. This is about you," Sora said.

"Hmph. You first," Roxas nudged his head in the direction of the Wraith.

Sora gave a nod and charged with his Keyblade held up. Together, they cut through the Wraith quickly and with aggression, although Sora would have stopped short of saying that they were working together. It was more that they were aware of each other's space.

After dealing with the last one in front of him, Sora spun around to see Roxas facing a similar dilemma. There was now only one Wraith left. Giving a nod to each other, they both shot forward and leapt, swinging their weapons down on the creature.

"Please tell me that was it," Sora said, crouching low to catch his breath. "Where are they even coming from?"

"I think we have our answer," Roxas said, pointing straight in front of them. Sora looked ahead to see a boy standing in front of them. He let out a couple of sniggers before strapping something over his head—a mask in the shape of a pig.

"Hey, are you one of the children who took Rhea?" Sora asked. "Come on. Let's get you back to Moira's Crescent. They're trying to help you."

The child simply snorted, as though he were imitating the very thing he had just put on. Then, he vanished before Sora could reach him.

"Ah, hate it when they do that," Sora said. "Well, I guess we should be getting back to Roger and Anita, make sure they're alright. Roxas?"

Roxas seemed to be staring at the spot where the boy had just been. Sora walked over to his side, looking from him to the now vacant spot.

"They're brainwashed too. Just like me, huh?" Roxas said. "I wonder if they're like me. Living in fear of each second. Every waking moment. Even now, that tingle… the urge to do something horrible… I can feel it dwelling inside me."

"Roxas… I think anyone can have destructive tendencies. That feeling when something goes so bad that you just don't care anymore. That you'd wish nothing but bad things on those responsible. I don't think we'd be human if we didn't think like that every once in a while," Sora said.

"Even you?" Roxas asked, sceptically.

"Of course. I know you'd like to think of me as infallible, but yes, sorry to disappoint. But it has to end there. A thought is just a thought. It's something that can only harm the person having them if they let it. When thought becomes action though, that's when it can hurt not only yourself, but others. Knowing where that line is is the difference between someone who's good and someone who isn't."

"But I've let those thoughts become action. I attacked you. I wanted you dead. I still-"

"I…" Sora cut him off promptly, albeit still in the process of trying to find the right words. "This was right after Yeul had died. I was so enraged that after beating Maleficent, I could have saved her. She was clinging on for dear life and she even begged me to save her, but I was so blinded by revenge that I took it out on her. I could have saved her, but instead I waved that stupid puzzle box in her face and watched her fall, all out of spite. That wasn't the best of me. It wasn't the best I could be and it's one of those things you can't help but think back to every now and then. That decision you regret, but even so you have to own it and carry it with you for the rest of your life."

Roxas showed attentiveness in Sora's words. His quietness told Sora to press on.

"Listen. You can be better than I was back then. Whatever Xanatos broke, we'll work together to mend it. I won't give up on you," Sora said, placing a hand on Roxas' shoulder. He acknowledged the quick shudder as if Roxas had wanted to pull away. Like he had just been a jolt of electricity had just ran through him. He didn't know how else to make Roxas believe his words, but belief was exactly what he needed Roxas to do right now.

"And those kids? Do you think they can ever live normal lives again?" Roxas asked.

"Focus on what you can do first, Roxas. I'll worry about the kids," Sora said, dodging the question intentionally. He really had no idea what would happen with the children, but if Roxas believed for one second that Sora had given up on the children, then what did that mean for Roxas?

"I guess," Roxas said as they started on their way back to the car. "Can't we just leave the device here and be on our way? It's freezing out here!"

"If you're gonna accept a job, never leave it half finished," Sora said, with his hands behind his back.

"That's not you," Roxas dismissed.

"Oh, so you remember that much about me? Then I'd say we're already on the road to recovery," Sora said. Arriving back at the car, Sora gave a thumbs up to Anita and Roger.

"Thank you so much, Sora. I had everything under control on our side," Roger said.

"He did not have everything under control on our side," Anita said, placing her hand on her husband's shoulders. "It's really not safe anymore these days, is it?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that but I'm not exactly the best person to decide that. The last thing you want is to live your life in constant fear. I know it just happened but try not to think too much about it," Sora said.

"I know you say that but… ah, your right. Not like my boss is gonna believe me if I told him some weird creature is keeping me from going to work," Roger grumbled.

Sora seemed to weigh this excuse in his mind. "Eh, keep it on the back burner, just in case."

"Sora!" Anita said, alarmed at his insinuation.

"What? No one's gonna care if you miss a day or two. My teachers didn't," Sora muttered the last words in a low voice. He looked to the back of the car where Pongo sat. "You doing alright, boy?"

Pongo gave a cheerful bark and Roger smiled. "Of course he is. You're a brave dog, aren't you, Pongo?"

Pongo seemed to be enjoying the attention, up to a point. The atmosphere changed, however, when Pongo spotted Roxas. He let out a series of angry barks and growls, and Roxas backed away in response.

"Woah, woah, calm down, boy! What's gotten into you?" Roger tried to assess, though Pongo wasn't so willing to suppress his dislike as Roger would have liked.

"It's fine. He's right to be wary of me," Roxas said, turning around to leave.

"Roxas!" Sora called after him. It seemed like he was only going to the other side of the road anyway, but Sora wasn't under any doubt that it had hurt him badly.

"I'm really sorry about that, Sora. He's never usually like this," Anita apologized.

"No need to apologize. By the way, I was wondering if you knew any places close by that are high up in elevation? It's for a project," Sora asked. It was just easier to explain it as such anyhow.

"Hmm. There is Shooters Hill. It has quite a lovely view of the city too. Roger and I had a picnic there once. But it is a bit far," Anita said, looking over to Roger.

"Well… how about we drop Pongo off first then we'll head right over there?" Roger asked.

"Thanks a lot for this. I hope we're not messing up your day."

"Not at all, Sora. You saved us, it's the least we could do. Do you want to come with us to the house to see nanny and the pups?" Anita asked.

Sora looked to the side where Roxas was sitting on the curb with his hands hanging between his knees. "I better not. We'll just wait for you to come back."

"Okay, we'll be back as soon as we can, okay? I don't want you waiting out here in the cold like this," Roger said. Sora nodded and backed away, listening to the interesting (to him at least) sound of a car's engine turning on. He watched the car disappear down the road before walking over to Roxas.

"Sorry about that," he said, sitting down next to the masked boy.

"What's there to be sorry about? Even the dog knows I'm dangerous," Roxas said, looking up at the sky. Sora let out a resigned sigh and dug into his pocket, figuring he might as well alert Moira's Crescent to having found one of the children. As he was about to press the contacts list, the PHS suddenly began vibrating in his hands.

"Hello," Sora said after accepting the call.

"Sora, it's Alfonso."

"Ah… how are you keeping up since the castle?" Sora asked. He had last seen Alfonso escaping with Rinoa and Even.

"Well, I'm breathing if that's any consolation. I still can't use the Keyblade but my brain has always been the most valuable part of me. I have no qualms in saying that. I was always the tactician. If that's the role I'm stuck in for now then so be it."

"Well, here's hoping you get it back. Moira's Crescent could use all the help it can get at the moment," Sora said. He had to consider for a moment that he actually wanted Moira's Crescent to do well. It was something he probably wouldn't have dreamed of until recently.

"That's what we have you for."

"So I'm a member of Moira's Crescent now?" Sora asked.

"Would you like to be?" Alfonso asked. It didn't seem like a serious proposal judging from the sound of his voice.

"Nah. Me and organizations don't really jive with each other. Have you found Rhea yet?"

"Unfortunately not, but I've been going over the audio tapes that the others recorded while interviewing some of the children. I was trying to parse something concrete from the data. Anything that would give us a clue to what the children want," Alfonso explained.

"Well, good luck with that. I just met one of them," Sora said.

"You did?"

"Yeah, but he didn't say… well, anything. He wore a pig mask though. Know anything about that?"

"News to me. Maybe they've read too much Animal Farm," Alfonso said with a chuckle.

"Err, what?" Sora asked.

"Nothing. Anyway, have you heard of something called 'theory of mind'? It's part of social psychology that refers to a child's ability to think, to want, to feel. Not to mention awareness in what other people want—a consideration for others circumstances, if you will. Say I have one cookie, and I need to share it amongst two people. Someone with a developed 'theory of mind' would suggest that the cookie be split in half. Otherwise, someone who does not possess a 'theory of mind' would keep the whole cookie for themselves.

"Now, I do not think these children possess the ability to understand and empathize with others. It seems that this part of them has been either stripped away completely or locked somewhere deep within their hearts. The deeper you journey into a heart, the more that heart can recognize when something foreign doesn't belong and it will do everything it can to drive it out. Memories that you show to other people, the heart has no problem with, but memories you don't want people to see… that's where the heart fights back."

Sora nodded slowly. "Right… Rhea and I went into Luna's heart once. It felt like something was trying to force us out at any cost, even if it meant damaging her heart, but I thought that was the Heartless that was living inside her heart causing that.

Alfonso had his answer almost immediately, although his response was slow. He was probably formulating the answer in his mind while he talked.

"Which… resonating with her emotions… probably allowed that Heartless to feel what she was feeling would be my guess. We could say that as it shared its host's heart, it developed a 'theory of mind' and sought to fulfil Luna's desires. Her fear of you seeing her darkest memories.

"But I digress. It seems that the children may also have a lot of dark memories that they don't want anyone to see, and when Rhea invaded one of their minds, rather than pushing her out, it seemed to latch itself onto her, feeding on her own heart instead. I couldn't say whether it's another form of self-defense on the heart's part or if what we're dealing with is even normal for a heart."

"Well… isn't it possible then that they just did what the Heartless did with Luna? They lacked a 'theory of mind' so they latched themselves onto Rhea so they could develop one?" Sora asked.

"Yes… which, if true, might narrow down our search. In any case, we'll get back to you. If you see any more of those children out there, be sure to let us know."

"Uh, sure," Sora said. He couldn't really see how it narrowed anything down, but Alfonso was smart so he had probably figured something out. Sora wished he could do more, but for now he had to focus on the devices and Roxas. In a way, not having to juggle all of those issues was a blessing in disguise.

Castle, the Kingdom of Corona

Neuge looked up as the door opened and Commander Farron stepped out into the corridor. She pointed behind her shoulder and stepped aside. Neuge looked down to Mickey, gave a nod and together they stepped into the meeting room. Previously, it would have been used as a banquet hall, welcoming guests from all over the kingdom to celebrate Rapunzel's birthday. It had acted as a room of mourning, and then one of joy and reunion.

She looked to the far end of the long table, where Holly Hamlin sat with her body giving them her full attention. She certainly hadn't skipped body language school, at any rate.

"It's an honor to speak with you, Holly," the king said, leading the charge.

"The honor is all mine, your Majesty." Holly stood and placed a hand on her chest, bowing at a steep angle. She soon returned to normal stature. "A king a Keyblade wielder? And such a small one at that? I didn't have time to say this before, but I admit I was slightly taken aback."

"Did you have to mention his height?" Neuge asked, but Mickey shushed her.

"Oh, I shouldn't have mentioned it. But in my experience, despots rarely use their power for absolute good. I have known many rulers who have tried to acquire a Keyblade, all to satisfy their own greedy ends. But I don't think you're like them."

"I'm glad you see me that way. We all want what's best here," Mickey replied, looking a little more relaxed.

"But it's exactly because I respect you, and I'd hope you'd show the same for me, that I don't want our time wasted. If I feel this is going nowhere, then we should just end the conversation then and there otherwise we'll only be going in circles," Holly said, sitting back down.

"Then, we should state our positions and go from there," Mickey suggested.

"We already know our positions. We want the custody of the Horus prisoners that you have and for them to stand trial for the murder of innocent people. My people and those of Radiant Garden and every other world they've terrorized," Holly said.

"But therein lies the problem. How can we be sure they'd face a fair trial from you?" Neuge intervened. "I don't want to argue specifics right now but not all of them are guilty of that. Some of them lived in fear. Some of them had friends that they couldn't leave behind."

"And my sympathies to them. Really. But standing by and watching is no excuse when it comes to mass murder. And it won't appease the other Lunarians either to hear you say that," Holly attested with her arms crossed.

"With all due respect, who exactly is the leader in your group again?" Neuge asked. "Don't you have the power to tell them that your decision is final?"

"My power is given to me democratically. Now that I means I have very leeway in terms of what I can actually do. Whatever the wishes of my fellow Lunarians, I have to follow through with them." Holly reached out across the table to Mickey. "Look, I understand we came in late to your aid, but we did help in the end. I only ask that you return the favor."

Neuge couldn't help but smile. "Here's a question. Aren't you just desperate because you're worried you'll lose control of the Lunarians?"

"How dare you!" Holly's nostrils flared as she resisted the urge to stand up.

"Please!" Mickey yelled, capturing both their attention. After ensuring they had settled down, Mickey continued. "I understand, Holly. We'll give you Horus."

Neuge blinked at this sudden concession. "Your Majesty-"

"But we want to be involved in the process every step of the way. Those who feel regret about their actions and want to change their paths should be given that right. I will always fight for that. It's what Master would have wanted," Mickey said. "So I can't give you everything you want, but then again, I don't suppose you were coming into this negotiation expecting to get everything without giving something in return."

Holly conceded a smile, her eyes alight with content. "You are wise as you are kind." She then looked to Neuge. "Is that okay with you?"

Neuge looked on with a wry smile while secretly thinking about how much she wanted to strangle the woman in front of her. Before anyone could say anything more, the door burst open once again and Commander Farron rushed into the room gasping for air.

"Lightning? What's wrong?" Mickey asked, turning around in his seat.

Lightning held up her hand for a moment to signal them to wait. Then she looked up at them. "I just got word from Radiant Garden. There's been a jailbreak. Horus have escaped."

A/N: So yeah. Things have kind of gone from bad to worse, but on the bright side, they don't have to worry about negotiations anymore. Anyway, hopefully I can get the next part out before Christmas but if not I wish you all a Happy Holidays and will see you soon.