"Sora, you're sure this is where we're supposed to go?" Riku asked, staring at the ladder leading to the roof of the gizmo shop.
"Er, not really. But I'm pretty sure this was the way me, Donald, and Goofy revealed the Keyhole. If not, then I'm not really sure where we're supposed to go."
"We might as well try," Namine suggested. "If not… we can just travel somewhere else and return here later."
Sora sighed and climbed up the ladder to the roof of the shop. The town was quiet other than some strong gusts of wind, none of which bothered Sora or the others. Some Red Nocturnes and Blue Rhapsodies appeared and unleashed fire and ice attacks on them. Olivia decided to hide in Roxas' pocket.
"What are you doing, Olivia?" Roxas said, giggling. "That tickles."
"I… It's not safe for me here! Fire and paper go together like… well, fire will obliterate paper! And I kinda like being alive, thank you very much!"
Roxas sighed. "Alright, fine. You can stay there for now. But you owe me later."
"Whatever!" Olivia shouted, attracting the attention of the Heartless. "Just get me away from those fiery freaks! We can discuss this later!"
One of the Rhapsodies shot the ladder with a Blizzard attack, which shattered on impact. One shard of the ice hit Roxas and he lost his grip on the ladder. Olivia nearly fell out of his pocket, holding on as tight as she could.
"Hang on, Olivia!" Roxas yelled. He threw his Keyblade at one of the Heartless. "Just… just give me… a few seconds!"
Sora cast Stopra on several of the Emblem Heartless while Roxas scooped Olivia back into his pocket and they reached the top of the building. There wasn't much on the roof of the shop, but it did offer a gorgeous view of Traverse Town. On the right of them was a small wooden barricade… at least what was left of it. There was a giant, gaping hole in the middle of it and pieces of wood spread around it.
Xion looked at Sora with a sly expression. "Sora, you didn't do this, did you?"
Sora scratched the back of his head nervously. "Hehe, um… we didn't really have much of a choice. The bell was behind the wooden platform, and we couldn't access it unless we used a Trinity."
"A… Trinity?" Olivia asked. "What's that? Is that some kind of attack?"
"No, not an attack," Sora explained. "It's more like a symbol on the ground. When Donald, Goofy, and I found a Trinity, we were able to do some really cool things! Like summoning chests, smashing through things, pushing objects…" He noticed a small circle on the floor outlined with hearts. "Ah! There's a Trinity right there on the ground!"
"A…?" Olivia looked at the object for a few seconds, before jumping excitedly. "Wow! This looks really good! Hmm… I wonder if there are any of these Trinities where I'm from."
"I'm sure there are… somewhere," Aqua said. "Also, that reminds me… You never told us what your world was like, Olivia."
"W-Well… That's because, I… haven't gotten the chance to see it." She refused to make eye contact with everyone else and looked at the Second District below them. "All I ever got to see was this mushroom island. When I was born, I didn't see anybody around. I noticed my brother next to me, though. I thought that our creator had folded us and then just abandoned us. I could barely speak, but then I asked my brother where our creator was. He told me that our creator was a coward and that he had no respect for origami and had ditched us. I, of course, believed him—he was family, after all. We found this nice empty house we stayed in for a few days. The weather, though… that was a different story. Most of the day the sky was overcast, and throughout the evening and the night, rain poured down on the island, and we were worried the home could get flooded. But, enough about that." She sulked. "My brother and I were discussing how to build an origami kingdom. At first, I supported him. Being able to rule over a kingdom of paper and origami alike would've been a… a… an honor! But, my brother decided to become a dictator rather than a royal king, and he pressured me to join him. We disagreed, and he used his powers against me. He forced me into a different dimension, and soon, I ended up on the island where I met you."
"I… I'm really sorry, Olivia," Kairi said sadly. She smiled calmly. "Don't worry. When we defeat your brother, we'll explore your world with you."
Olivia was nearly tearing up. This was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. "R-Really?" she croaked. "You would really do that for me?"
Kairi nodded. "Really. And if I break my promise, you can kill all of us with your origami power."
"Wait, what?" Riku turned to Kairi with a horrified expression, then to Olivia. "Okay, if that's the case, I don't want any part in this!"
They all had a good laugh after that. Kairi nudged Riku softly, saying "it was only a joke" and that he should "stop taking things so seriously." Riku chuckled, and walked over to the bell. There was a wooden rope connected to a large, golden bell. Beside the bell was a sign, which read: This bell holds some of Traverse Town's biggest secrets. Legend has it that when the bell is rung three times, a magical door is revealed. And that door can only be sealed with a special key. Those who are full of heart are worthy and have the key within their soul.
Riku skimmed over the sign once more before gripping the rope tightly and ringing the bell. There was a loud gong noise before the mural on the fountain started to move, revealing another painting. One down, two more to go. Ringing the bell two more times, Riku watched excitedly as the mural shifted once more, to reveal—
"Wait a minute…" Sora stared at the mural. "I thought the Keyhole was supposed to be here! Also… the mural looks strange, almost like someone drew on it."
Olivia grumbled. "This must be my brother's doing. He obviously knew where this Key… Hole, whatever thing, was located. Someone must have told him. I've been with him ever since he was born. He has never once left the mushroom island, so…" She suddenly became worried. "What if something bad happened to him?"
Aqua glared. "He captured my friends, and now he's probably going to kill them! Why are you so concerned about him now?!"
"He may be insane," Olivia said, looking at Aqua with a stern expression, "but he's still my brother. He still has a heart… a passion for origami and a passion to build his kingdom. We still might be able to convince him to join our side against the Heartless."
"Your brother is controlling a group of origami Heartless," Sora explained. "I… I have a feeling that if he has a heart, it's shrouded in darkness. If he even has a heart left."
Olivia slapped Sora on the face. "Don't talk about my brother like that! He has a heart! I know he does!"
"So… I don't have a heart, you say? You have the audacity to call me heartless? You're sure you're not the one without a heart?" Olly hovered a few inches in front of Sora's face, holding a peculiar folded object in his hand. "You've proven yourself to be annoying. Well, then… let's see your reaction… to this!"
Olly threw the object on the ground, which landed with a strange sound. It sounded like a metal pipe surrounded by thousands of sheets of folder paper hitting the ground. The object was shaped like Sora's Keyblade but instead of having a Mickey symbol attached to the Keychain, there was a pendant-like object with a green center attached to it. Aqua picked up the object and gasped and suddenly dropped it.
"What's wrong, Aqua?" Roxas asked. He noticed the object. "W-Wait a minute… Th-That's…"
"V-Ventus' Keyblade…" Aqua stuttered. Flustered, she swung the Keyblade randomly at Olly, landing a successful blow on his cheek. "You… YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
Olly rubbed his cheek angrily. "Oh, so that's how you want to play, huh?! Well then… I can easily summon more Folded Heartless. And, I heard about the legend of that bell. So I found a way to prevent you from sealing the Keyhole! Let's just say a friend of mine decided to do some public artwork on the fountain. Heh heh…" He regained his composure and opened the portal behind him. "Now, if you'll excuse me… I must be heading back to my lair. Also, these streamers of darkness? Brilliant idea, right? And you wanna know who thought it up? Yours truly!"
"Enough of this, Olly," the horned woman growled. "Don't let them know about our plan, you moron!"
"Maleficent?!" Sora shouted. "What are you doing here?!"
"None of your business, pipsqueak." Maleficent ignored him and turned to Olly again. "Olly… unleash your anger on these fools!"
"Very well, Maleficent." Olly looked disappointedly at Olivia. "I'm sorry, sister… It had to be done."
A colossal origami figure approached from the sky. It appeared to be like the Paper Macho Soldiers they had fought earlier, only much bigger. With all his might, Olly began to summon several more creatures: One was a red figure with a mask over its face, and the other was a turtle-like creature with yellow skin and a green shell. Sora raised his Keyblade toward the sky, bracing for impact.
There was a sudden bright flash in the sky. There was a deafening noise that rang throughout the city. Olly stared in disbelief, and so did Maleficent. The Goomba began to tear apart, splitting in half, followed by the mask-wearing creature and the turtle. The origami creatures began to dissolve into confetti, which rained down on the entire town. Olly began spewing out curse words and Maleficent had to restrain them as they both walked back through the darkness into the shadows. Even the Keyblade Warriors couldn't believe what had just happened.
"Wh-What… was that?!" Roxas said, perplexed.
Beside him, Lea reached out toward the sky and caught a Chakram. "Eternal Flames." He chuckled softly. "I had no idea they could be this powerful."
Olivia stared at him in amazement. "Wow! I've never seen anything quite like that before. Was that a ninja star? Sorry, my brother just used to have this fascination with ninjas and stuff like that. You're amazing, um… Lea!"
Lea blushed a bit. "Erm… thanks. But I'm doing this for my friends. Not to impress anyone! I swear!"
"Nobody suggested that, Lea," Aqua said matter-of-factly. "The fact that you said that… Feels strange now."
"Yeah," Roxas teased. "Come on, Lea, tell us the truth!"
"Why are you all against me?!" Lea sighed. "Well, I guess there's no point in arguing against you. You'll just keep bugging me until I either die from boredom or from exhaustion. And then you'll have to deal with you know who forever! Again!"
Sighing, they decided to climb back down the gizmo shop ladder and head to the exit of Traverse Town before looking for the gummi ship.
"Guys, I think we should get some rest," Roxas suggested.
"Where?" Xion asked.
"I remember there was a hotel in the Second District." Sora fiddled with his Keyblade. "After my fight with Leon, I remember he took me into one of the hotel rooms with Yuffie."
"We should stay there for the night," Riku said. "It sounds… relaxing."
"Yeah, I agree," Aqua said. "Come on, everyone. We'll get out there tomorrow."
The hotel was mostly abandoned, but the rooms were still relatively clean—neatly-folded bed sheets, clean floor and windows, beautiful paintings in every room—it looked gorgeous. Aqua, Kairi, Olivia, Xion, and Roxas stayed in one room while Lea, Riku, Sora, and Namine stayed in the other room. Aqua turned off the lamp next to the bed before resting her head on the pillow and falling asleep almost instantly.
Wh-Where am I? My head hurts…
Where is everyone? The last thing I remember was… NO!
What are they doing to him?! I—I DON'T WANT TO WATCH THIS!
Why are you doing this…? This isn't right… Please don't…
His screams… They're unbearable. I would rather die than watch this again!
They're torturing him… Manipulating him… Creasing him in ways beyond my imagination…
This was all because of their master… Then why are they taking out their anger on us…?
Finally… the screams stopped. My friend… is no longer the person I remember. No matter.
They'll put me through the same torture he had endured for so long…
The unbearable pain, silenced by a loud snap…
A/N: WOW, that ending got dark. I was trying to go with a more suspenseful tone there. Instead, I ended up with a mixture between a horror movie and that scene from The Empire Strikes Back where they're torturing Han Solo (or something like that). Actually... speaking of Han Solo, I might make a crossover with Star Wars (or Marvel) and Kingdom Hearts.
To Captain Imaginat: I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! I took your advice and I am making Disney villains the, well, villains of the story, along with whatever King Olly is doing. I'm planning on making it so they travel to a few worlds, break the dark streamers that are surrounding Olivia's world and then explore the world she came from. It will probably go back and forth between Disney and Kingdom Hearts worlds, and then back to the world of "Paper Mario: The Origami King." I'm not planning on inserting any other crossovers in this story, besides Final Fantasy characters.
Also, I might have made the most anti-climactic battle I have ever written. I mean, King Olly was summoning a creature that I could've taken a whole chapter to write about the Keyblade Warriors battling it, but of course I had to get Lea to "shuriken" the creature to death. Maybe I should've just written multiple scenes in the chapter instead of focusing on Sora and them. Yeah...