Chapter 8: Atlantica
Kairi, Donald, and Goofy manage to escape the bowels of Monstro. But the force of the Monstro's sneeze sends their ship to spin out of control. Kairi and Goofy hold on dear life while Donald tries to regain control over the ship. Suddenly, Kairi sees that they are heading straight into a new world.
"Stop the ship! We are gonna crash into that world! Step on the brakes," shouts Kairi. "It's not working," exclaims Donald. The three of them brace for impact, but nothing happens besides a huge splash. The three friends open their eyes to see that they are underwater.
"The sea," exclaims a confused Donald. "Gawrsh! Fish," Goofy points out. "A water world," exclaims Kairi. After checking the ship is fine, Donald leaves his seat and walks over to the cockpit's exit. "All right, let's go outside," said Donald. "A-hyuck! We might find a keyhole in this world, too," Goofy adds as he follows Donald.
Kairi is shocked by their decision and wonders if the two of them have gone crazy. She catches up with Donald and Goofy before they leave the ship. "Wait a minute! Go where? Into the sea? We'll drown," exclaim Kairi. Donald wags his finger and replies, "Not with my magic, we won't."
Kairi lived near the ocean for many years. But she could not believe that there could be a world hidden under the waves. Fish swim by her and the ocean floor is decorated with colorful coral. The light trickles down from the surface creating a beautiful atmosphere.
"I can't believe that I'm breathing underwater," Kairi exclaimed. "Of course, I turned us into fish," Donald explained. He transforms Kairi's legs into a dolphin tail, giving her the appearance of a mermaid. Donald also gives himself octopus tentacles and transforms Goofy into a sea turtle.
Suddenly, the three friends overhear someone shouting. "Come on, Sebastian! They're right on our tail!" Kairi sees a mermaid with red hair, a clownfish, and a lagging crab racing towards them.
"Ariel, wait! Slow down! Do not leave me behind! Ariel! There's someone dead ahead," shout the crab. The mermaid and the clownfish immediately stop as they notice Kairi, Donald, and Goofy. "Hello! Are you new around here," asks the mermaid cheerfully despite being in a hurry just a few seconds ago.
"Don't talk to them, Ariel! They could be enemies," exclaim the crab. "Relax, Sebastian. They do not look like them. Right, Flounder," replies Ariel while asking for the clown fish's support. "Uh-huh. But they are not good swimmers," answer Flounder, noticing how awkward the three are in the water.
"We have been swimming for miles and miles," lies Kairi. Before they can talk anymore, Sebastian shouts, "Ariel, they have caught up with us! Let us go!" Kairi sees weird jellyfish-like creatures in the distance. But she instantly knows what they are upon seeing the emblem on their heads.
"Heartless," exclaim Kairi. Kairi, Donald, and Goofy launch into action. Despite having not got used to their fish farms, the three friends manage to defeat the Heartless. Ariel is surprised that they manage to defeat the Heartless. "I couldn't believe you defeat those monsters. We need your help! Please come back to the palace with us," pleas Ariel.
With no other ideas on what to do, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy agree to Ariel's request. Ariel then leads everyone through the coral reefs. After clearing the occasional Heartless, the group lies their eyes on a wondrous sight. An underwater city with buildings made of coral and a magnificent shining palace in the center.
Ariel guides the group towards the palace and into the throne room of the palace. The throne is made of beautiful seashells and currently upon the throne is a dignified elderly man. As soon he sees them, the old man suddenly shouts, "Ariel! How many times I told you it's dangerous out there?!"
"Behold! You swim before the ruler of the sea, King Triton," announces Sebastian. "And my father," adds Ariel. Kairi and her friends are scared speechless by Triton's outburst. After calming down, Triton notices Kairi and her friends. "Who are they? They don't look familiar," ask Triton.
"They save me from those creatures," answered Ariel. Goofy recovers from his shock and said, "We come in peace. We came to find the keyhole." "Keyhole? There is no such thing. Certainly not here," replies Triton with a serious face.
"Daddy, maybe you could help them find it," Ariel asks before Triton interrupts her. "Not another word, Ariel! You are not to leave the palace! Is that clear?" But Ariel just ignored her father and said, "Let's go." "But," an uncertain Kairi replies.
Reluctantly, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Flounder decides to follow Ariel and leave Triton and Sebastian all alone in the throne room.
After leaving the city, Ariel finally speaks up. "My father is so stubborn! Hey, why don't we try looking for that keyhole you were talking about?" "But your father said," replies Donald before Ariel interrupts him. "Don't worry! Someday, I am going to see what is out there. I want to see other worlds. No matter what my father says."
Ariel's declaration causes Kairi to remember the decision to leave the island. Kairi, Sora, and Riku wanted to see if they could reach other worlds by sailing to the other side of the ocean. Remembering this causes Kairi to feel a ping of sadness and worry. She wonders if Sora and Riku are still safe wherever they are.
"Over here! I want to show you something." Kairi snaps out of her thoughts and realizes that Ariel has led the group to a dead end with a boulder. "This is where I keep my collection from the outside world," explains Ariel as she moves the boulder revealing a secret cave.
The cave has an upward spiral shape which creating dozens of shelves to store knick-knacks and a beautiful skylight that illuminates the whole cave. But the group's excitement is short-lived when they take a closer look. All of Ariel's collection is smashed or destroyed and in the center of the wreckage is King Triton himself.
Everyone but Ariel is speechless by the scene before them. "Daddy?" Triton notices the group and exclaims, "Ariel, I told you not to leave the palace!" Ariel could only focus on her destroyed collection. "Everything Flounder and I worked so hard to collect... How could you," Ariel exclaim before swimming away.
Kairi tries to call out to Ariel, but Ariel keeps on swimming. Although Kairi does not how Ariel is currently feeling, she does understand what it must be like. To lose something very important to you is like getting a piece of your heart ripped out of you. Like how Kairi lost her home and friends.
"Father or not, that wasn't nice." Kairi snaps out of her thoughts to see Donald confronting Triton. "It wasn't me. Those dark creatures were in this room," replies Triton then adds, "You are all from another world, aren't you? Then you must be the key bearer."
The group is surprised that King Triton knows their secret. "As the key bearer, you must already know one must not meddle in the affairs of other worlds." Kairi tries to counter Triton's argument, but he just keeps going. "You have violated this principle. The key bearer shatters the peace and brings ruin.
Triton's declaration shocks Kairi speechless. Donald and Goofy try to stand up for Kairi, but Triton adds one last thing. "I thank you for saving my daughter. But there is no room in my ocean for you or your key. Please stay out of our world."
Despite King Triton telling the three to leave, they are still worried about Ariel. So, they swim back to the palace along with Flounder to see if she is ok. They swim in silence the whole way. When they get to the palace, Flounder finally breaks the silence.
"King Triton is just concerned. He doesn't mean any harm." "I know, Flounder. I know how Triton must be feeling. But we must do what we must do," replies Kairi. The Heartless stole her home and she could not stop them. Kairi decides that she will do everything she can so that no one else would experience it too.
"Outta my way!" Suddenly, someone plows through Kairi and her friends leaving them dazed. Kairi hears the person shouts, "With this trident, I'm invincible! I'll be back!" Before Kairi and her friends recover, Ariel rushes by them without warning. Kairi and her friends wonder what happened between Ariel and that mysterious person.
Luckily for them, Sebastian just showed up. "What happened," Kairi asks Sebastian. "She ran away! We must follow her! King Triton's..." "Settle down!" "That witch is trying to find the keyhole! Come on, follow me! We can't let Ariel go alone!"
Kairi and her friends rush after Ariel as Sebastian explains what happened. An evil sea witch by the name of Ursula tricks Ariel into sneaking her into the palace and steals King Triton's trident. Ursula then used its power to neutralize King Triton. Luckily, the group finally manages to catch up with Ariel.
Ariel is swimming around an old shipwreck before Kairi calls out to her. "She lost me. But I know she is close by," Ariel tells the group before a giant shark burst out of the shipwreck. The shark races towards Ariel with the intent to eat her. Luckily, Ariel manages to dodge the shark at the last moment.
But the shark's momentum sent it straight towards Goofy. Goofy could not react in time as the shark chomps down on Goofy. Surprisingly, Goofy's shell not only protects him from the shark but also shatters the shark's teeth. Everyone releases a collective sigh of relief as the shark swims away.
Suddenly, the group hears a strange sound and sees a boulder sliding away to reveal a secret tunnel. "Ariel, we'll take it from here. You should go back to the palace," Kairi tells Ariel. Ariel immediately replies, "I can't go back! My father is hurt, and it is all my fault. I must stop Ursula! Please..."
The look in Ariel's eyes reminds Kairi of Sora. "Okay. Let us go," answers Kairi. The group swims through the tunnel and discovers a mysterious structure. It is shaped like a ginormous eel with light shining within it. Undeterred, the group enters the structure and arrives in a corridor.
Upon entering the group hears moaning below them. They look down towards the floors and are frightened by what they see. Dozens, possibly hundreds, of tiny creatures writhing in agony on the floors. "Ursula must have done this," said Ariel.
"How terrible," said Kairi. She could not help but feels sorry for the creatures. As the group reaches the end of the corridor, they hear a voice call out to them in the next room. "Have you come to join this unfortunate group?" The group finds Ursula waiting for them with two eels.
"They're all liars who asked for my help but couldn't pay the price," Ursula continues. In response to Ursula's statement, Sebastian exclaims, "Liars? You're the liar!" "Shut up," Ursula shouts, frightening both Flounder and Sebastian. "You were lucky the shark didn't eat you alive, but your luck runs out right here," said Ursula.
Ursula points King Triton's trident at the group and its tip starts to glow. "I'm going to wipe out anything that's in my-," Ursula exclaims before Ariel sneaks behind her and pulls Ursula's hair. A bolt of lightning shoots out of the trident and instead of hitting the group, the lightning struck Ursula's pet eels.
The eel is instantly disintegrated. Upon seeing this Ursula becomes enraged. "You'll pay for this! How dare you kill my babies," exclaim Ursula. "You were the one who killed them," replied Donald. "Shut up," Ursula shouts as black ink starts to surround her.
Suddenly, Ursula starts to grow bigger and bigger. She grows so big that the building crumbles around the group. "You pathetic fools! I rule the seas, now! The sea and all its spoils bow to my power," exclaims Ursula. When the ink clears, the group comes to face Ursula's enormous face.
"From now on, call me Queen Ursula," exclaim the giant Ursula. Then Ursula wraps her tentacles around Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Ariel. They struggle to escape but Ursula's grip is too strong. "Let the sea and roar," Ursula chants as she uses the trident's power to call down a whirlpool.
The group could not do anything but watch in helplessness. Luckily, Ursula's whirlpool draws in the shipwreck and stabs Ursula in the back. The intense pain causes Ursula to release her prisoners. Seeing their chance, the group launches a counterattack.
Firstly, Kairi distracts Ursula by darting around. Then, Donald launches a magic attack straight at Ursula's face, shunning her. Lastly, Goofy zips through Ursula's tentacles and causing Ursula to lose her balance. Seeing her chance, Kairi whacks the hand that Ursula is holding the trident.
Realizing what just happened, Ursula frantically tries to reclaim the trident. Instead, Ursula is shot by a beam from the trident and explodes. Shards of light fall, and the group see merpeople leaving the wreckage of Ursula's liar. Ariel rushes to claim the trident.
The group returns to the palace and reunites with King Triton who has recovered. "Daddy, I'm so sorry," said Ariel. King Triton and Ariel hugs. "I'm so glad you're safe. It is my fault. You followed Ursula because I would not let you follow your heart. Please forgive me," apologize Triton.
Triton then turns to Kairi, Donald, and Goofy. "Also, I did not trust you three. And for that, I apologize. Brave key bearer, I have one more request. Seal the keyhole," continues Triton.
King Triton leads the group to Ariel's grotto and holds his trident high as it shines bright. As soon as Triton does this, the keyhole appears and Kairi seals it. "Thank you. Now peace will return to our sea," said Triton.
"Tell me, Kairi. Your world- what's it like," Ariel asks. Before Kairi could answer, Ariel continued talking. "So many places I want to save. I know I will get there someday. I am sure of it. I'll find a way somehow, but some way that won't put anyone else in danger!"
Kairi hopes that Ariel's dream will come true one day. Then something catches Kairi's eye. But before she can investigate it, Triton starts talking. "Mark me, Key bearer. If mishandled, the key may bring unspeakable calamity. Wield it with caution."
After Triton's warning, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy start to head back to their Gummi ship. But they stop when they notice that the sea seems brighter and livelier. Kairi decides to use this moment to show Donald and Goofy what she found.
A page of Ansem's report. "Let us send this to Cid. After we dry it off first," said Donald. And so, the three friends leave this beautiful world after having helped a father and daughter make up, finding another piece of the puzzle to the mystery of the Heartless, and extremely sore from all their swimming.
K Report 8: Stagnation
As the girl watches the three friends leave their latest world, she could not stop thinking about the mermaid princess and her desire to explore other worlds despite all the odds. Suddenly, a new memory reappears.
Staring longingly at an island in the distance. Day after day coming back to watch it, yet never trying to go over there. As if waiting for something to happen or someone to appear.
The girl wonders what was so significant about that island. After some thinking, the girl realizes that the island is the same one the girl adventurer used to play on with her friends. The girl wonders about her connection to the adventurer and if that boy also knew her.
You do not remember my name. I guess I can give you a hint. Start with an "S".
The girl is surprised by the voice. She tries to find who said it, but she only finds darkness. Even though the girl is glad that she got another clue, it only deepens her suspicions. With no more clues, the girl returns to watching the three friends.