Chapter 10: Hollow Bastion
"Hollow Bastion?! So that is where Maleficent has," exclaim Cid. "You know where it is," exclaimed a surprised Donald. "How can we get there," demands Kairi. After leaving Neverland, the three decide to call Cid to report their new info.
"Your ship doesn't have the navigation data for getting to Hollow Bastion. You'll have to upgrade it with another Navigation Gummi," explains Cid. "A-hyuck, will this do," Goofy asks as he holds up a Gummi block.
Kairi and Donald eyes at Goofy as he holds the very thing they need. "Goofy," exclaim Kairi and Donald. "I won it playing rock-paper-scissors on the pirate ship," explains Goofy. "Pretty swift," compliment Donald.
"But we have to go back to Traverse Town to get the Gummi installed," exclaim Kairi. Confused, Donald looks over at Kairi. "Can't wait to go to Hollow Bastion, huh," Cid asks. Kairi could not stop worrying about Sora and Riku. She needs to save them as soon as possible.
"All right! Chip and Dale, you guys install the Gummi. Think you can handle that," Cid asks the chipmunks. "You betcha," replies Dale. "Who do you think we are," exclaims Chip. "But...Y'know...that place is crawling with Heartless. Don't say I didn't warn you," Cid tells the group before signing off.
Kairi, Donald, and Goofy are hanging out in the cockpit while they wait for Chip and Dale. "How can you be so cheerful," Kairi asks. "What d'you mean," Goofy asks back. "There's still no sign of your king. Aren't you worried," Kairi replies.
"Aw, phooey," Donald and Goofy answer. "The king told us to go out and find the key bearer, and we found you," Goofy explains. "So, if we stick together, it'll all work out okay! Ya just gotta be better in yourself, that's all," Donald adds.
"Just believe," Kairi repeats. Just like in Neverland. I just must keep hope alive and do the best I can. "Thank you," Kairi tells Donald and Goofy.
After Chip and Dale install the Gummi, the three friends rush to Hollow Bastion. When they arrive, they are greeted by a strange sight. The three friends land on a huge ravine surrounded by walls of water and in front of them is a bunch of floating stones forming a path towards a castle with the Heartless' symbol in the distance.
As Kairi takes in the sight before her, something swells within her. "I... I know this place," Kairi said. "Huh," Donald asked. "I don't know why, I feel like Deja vu," Kairi tells her friends. Could this place be my- Before Kairi finish her thought, a huge roar ring out.
Kairi, Donald, and Goofy race over the stones towards the source of the roar. As they get closer, they could see Riku fighting some sort of beast. Kairi could tell that there is something different about it unlike the Heartless she is used to fighting. The beast looks like a huge wolf.
Riku is about to deal the final blow until Kairi interrupts him. "Riku! Stop!" Riku turns his attention to Kairi as the beast collapses on the ground. "About time, Kairi," Riku said. "Where's Sora," Kairi ask. "I don't know. But here is a gift for you," Riku answers.
Riku then throws Kairi a wooden sword, like the ones he and Sora used to play with. Kairi could not understand Riku's intentions. "What's this," Kairi asks. "Your new sword," Riku replies. Suddenly, Kairi's Keyblade jerks in her hands.
"What's happening," Kairi asks. Kairi tries to restrain the Keyblade. But it vanishes from her hands and reappears in Riku's. "It's returning to its true master," Riku answers. "But...that's impossible! I'm the one who fought my way here with the Keyblade," Kairi exclaim.
"Sorry, but it never meant to be yours. You are just an outsider. Sora has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. You do not have same the kind of bond we have. I'm the only person who can save him," Riku explains before walking away.
Kairi falls to the ground in despair. "Goofy, let's go," Donald exclaims. "Gawrsh! Donald," Goofy replies.
"We have to remember our mission."
"I know the king told us to follow the key all... But..."
"Kairi, I'm sorry."
Kairi did nothing as Donald and Goofy walk away. Riku, why? I thought we are all friends. But now I am all alone. There is nothing I can do now. Just like that day.
Suddenly, Kairi notices the beast that Riku was fighting gets up and slowly limping towards the castle. The beast collapses from his injuries. "Hey, don't move. You're hurt," Kairi tells the beast. The beast looks straight at Kairi.
"Why... Why did you...you come here," the beast asks a surprised Kairi. "I came to fight for Belle. And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her," Beast continues as he gets back up. Spurs by his words and determination, Kairi grabs the wooden sword Riku gave her and follows Beast to the castle.
Kairi and Beast manage to exit the ravine and arrive at the castle. They could not open the huge front doors. Luckily, they find a path to aqueducts that lead under the castle. Kairi and Beast encounter various Heartless in the aqueducts.
Without her Keyblade, Kairi becomes significantly weaker. Because of this, Kairi is forced to heavily rely on Beast to handle the Heartless. But Kairi still tries to lessen the burden on him as much as possible. The two eventually arrive at a dead end.
Despite its first appearances, they notice that the wall looks different from the rest like it was added later. "Stand aside," Beast tells Kairi before charging at the wall. After the dust settles, Beast's hole reveals a door. "Let's go," Beast commands.
The door leads them to a big antechamber. As they enter, Beast notices something out of the corner of his eyes. "Belle," Beast exclaimed. Kairi looks over and sees a beautiful lady in a yellow gown. "You're all right-," Beast said before Belle suddenly transforms into a Heartless.
Kairi and Beast are frightened by Belle's transformation. Then, the Belle Heartless crawl away. "Nooo," Beast screams as he chases it. "Beast," Kairi calls out. But Beast did not hear her.
As she stares at where Beast left, she hears a familiar voice. "Quit while you can." "Riku! Was that you're doing," Kairi demands. She turns around to see Riku with Donald and Goofy behind him.
"Sorry if I interrupted your little adventure game," Riku said. "I'm not joking," an annoyed Kairi exclaim. "You have no business here. Get lost," Riku replies. Donald and Goofy are just standing to the side doing nothing as Kairi and Riku talk.
"No. Not without Sora," Kairi tells Riku.
"The darkness will destroy you."
"Riku. I'm here to save Kairi."
"Really? Well, we'll just see about that," Riku exclaim as he shoots a blast of darkness at Kairi. She braces herself, but she did not feel anything. Kairi opens her eyes to see Goofy protecting her. "Gawrsh. Kairi isn't gonna go anywhere," Goofy exclaims.
"You'd betray your king? I'm the one you should be obeying," Riku said with an intense glare. "Goofy! Get back here," Donald exclaims. "But I am not gonna betray Kairi, either. She has become one of my best buddies, after all. See ya later, Donald. Could ya tell the king I'm sorry," Goofy replies.
Donald is so surprised by Goofy's declaration. "I'm going to stick with Kairi. You do what you feel you must do, Donald. A-hyuck," Goofy continues. "Wait! That is not fair," Donald exclaims right before he stomps over Kairi and Goofy.
"Well, you know... all for one and one for all. Right," Donald asks. Kairi is touched by her friends' words and actions. It warms her heart. Kairi realizes something important that she wants to share with Riku.
"Riku, I may have been an outsider. But that does not mean I could not reach out and connect to anyone else. On my journey, I met and befriended so many amazing people. I learned that if they open my heart and they open theirs, we can forge an unbreakable connection. No matter whatever you say, you and Sora, Donald and Goofy too, you are all my dear friends! My friends are my power."
As if it senses her conviction, the Keyblade warps out Riku's hand into Kairi's. "You're not my friend or Sora's. You don't have the power to protect anyone," Riku exclaims as he sends a torrent of darkness straight at Kairi. After the darkness dissipates, Kairi finds that Riku is gone.
After Riku's disappearance, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy delve deeper into the castle and search for Sora and Riku. The group eventually arrives at the center of the castle. On the far side of the room, there is a huge machine which Kairi guesses is Ansem's. But the group is not paying attention to it. They are focusing on what is happening in front of it.
The group sees Riku finishing off Maleficent as she is consumed by darkness. Kairi, Donald, and Goofy could not believe it. "So, all we have to do now is close this keyhole? A-hyuck," Goofy said carefreely. "Goofy, wait," Donald exclaims. As Kairi looks closer, she notices something that seems to be different with Riku. The Riku before them is wearing a strange outfit and is holding a black Keyblade in his hand.
"You... you're not Riku. Tell me. Who are you," Kairi asks. The Riku impersonator is not even fazed by Kairi's declaration. "It is I, Ansem... The Seeker of Darkness," the Riku impersonator answers with a wicked smile. "Ansem," Donald exclaims. "Gawrsh! The Ansem from that report," Goofy exclaims.
"Whoever you are, let Riku go! Give him back his heart," Kairi demands. But Ansem did not respond, he just snaps his fingers. Kairi is suddenly feeling overwhelmed and falls to her knees. "Maleficent is such a fool. Not only she could not tell that darkness was eating her heart, but she did not see that the final piece she needed was in front of her all long. Although in her defense, this person was protecting your heart," Ansem said as Sora's unconscious body appears beside him.
"What do you mean," a confused Kairi asks. "Don't you understand yet? You are the last princess of light I need to complete my plan. But you cannot show your true brilliance so long as you keep this boy's heart within you," Ansem explains.
These revelations shocked Kairi. I am a princess and Sora is inside of me. But Kairi could not dwell on this. "I'm never going to help you and there is no way I'm going let you harm Sora," Kairi exclaim. "Nevertheless, I shall release you now, princess," Ansem said as he enters a battle stance.
Suddenly, the giant machine behind Ansem jolts to life. "Look! The Keyhole! We have to close it right away," Donald exclaims while pointing at the giant machine. Kairi points her Keyblade at the machine, but nothing happens.
"The Keyblade isn't responding," Kairi exclaims. "It won't work. The Keyhole is not yet complete. But if you do nothing, it will erupt out of control. Either way, the world will be consumed by darkness. Your only remaining option is to free the boy's heart from inside you," Ansem explains.
Ansem then floats his Keyblade over to Kairi. "Place this Keyblade to your chest and unlock your heart," Ansem said. Kairi is conflicted about what to do. I do not want to help that guy especially after he did to Riku. But if I do not, Sora may never wake up. I know what I must do. Kairi then grabs the black Keyblade.
"Kairi," Goofy exclaims. "Don't," Donald adds. Kairi throws Donald her Keyblade and said, "you two can handle the rest." Despite Donald and Goofy's protests, Kairi raises the black Keyblade high and pierces her chest.
Kairi's body suddenly feels so heavy that she begins to fall. As she falls, thoughts fill her head. I am so sorry. Donald. Goofy. Riku. And Sora. This is the only way I could save you. I know that you would have done it too if you were in my position. Before her consciousness fades away into the darkness, Kairi thinks she hears someone calling her.
When Kairi regains consciousness, she finds herself in a dark void. Kairi is overcome by a bout of drowsiness. Kairi decides to just close her eyes and go to sleep. "Are you just going to give up?" The voice snaps Kairi awake.
The voice feels familiar to Kairi, but she is too tired to realize who. "You worked so hard to get here. Everyone still needs your help! Are you going to give up or are you going to get back up and fight," exclaims the mysterious person.
Spurs by their words, Kairi remembers that she still has something she needs to do. They are right. I need to get back to my friends. As if called by Kairi's renewed determination, a bright light appears before Kairi. Kairi hears a voice coming from the light. "Please come back." Kairi reaches towards the voice as the light surrounds her.
When the light fades away, Kairi finds herself within Sora's arms. She is filled with the same warmth inside when Sora found her on that one day. "Thank you, Sora," Kairi said.
After they catch up, Kairi along with Sora, Donald, and Goofy head back to the giant machine. Upon reaching there, they find a group of people standing in front of it. Some of them are familiar to Kairi. She recognizes Alice, Beast, Belle, and Jasmine. But there are also three other regal-looking ladies with them too.
Kairi overhears them talking. "The darkness is raging deep inside! We have been holding it back, but we cannot hold out much longer. We cannot do it on our own. We must seal the keyhole. But the Keyblade bearer is no longer..."
"No longer what? I'm right here," Kairi exclaim as she walks in. Everyone is surprised to see Kairi again. "Kairi! you made it! This is the brave one with the Keyblade," Alice exclaim.
"Kairi, please hurry! Darkness is pouring the Keyhole," Jasmine tells Kairi. "You got it," Kairi replies as she rushes towards the huge machine. But before Kairi can seal the Keyhole, a giant Heartless appears and blocks her way.
"You Heartless shouldn't be here! Scat!" Before Kairi could realize who that, the giant Heartless wring in pain and fade away. "Yo! Cid to the rescue! Haha!" Kairi looks towards the voice and sees Cid and the rest of Kairi's friends from Traverse Town.
"Kairi! Close the Keyhole," Cid shout to Kairi, snapping her out of shock. Kairi raises the Keyblade to the machine and a light shoots out. The light went inside of the machine and the darkness fades away as the machine shuts down.
Everyone applauds Kairi for stopping the machine. "Kairi, you did it," Leon congratulates. "Thanks, but I had lots of help. How did you get here," Kairi asks. "We came in Cid's ship," Yuffie answers. "This was our childhood home," Leon said, surprising everyone.
"Long ago, when the world was attacked by darkness, people believed that the philosopher Ansem died to protect the people in the battle against the Heartless. But Ansem was the one who created the Heartless," Leon explains.
"We found the remaining part of Ansem's report," Aerith said as she hands Kairi some papers. As Kairi examines them, Leon continues his story. "We had only read a part of the report, so we hadn't noticed his identity. During his research on the Heartless, he lost his heart to the darkness. And his body as well."
"That's why he took Riku's body? Where did Ansem go," Kairi asks. The princesses that were standing aside decides to speak up. "The abyss of darkness lies beyond the worlds. A darkness that will overpower the world..." "Yes, it will swallow the entire world." "That's where he probably is."
With a destination in mind, Kairi decides to set out and save her friend. "All right, let us go! I am gonna get Ansem and the Heartless all at once! And then everything will return to the way it should be," Kairi exclaim.
But before she leaves, Kairi notices that Aerith, Cid, Leon, and Yuffie acting odd. It looks like they have something else they want to say. "Hey... What is going on," Kairi asks. "Well, go ahead and tell him that you're sad. C'mon, Cid," Yuffie said while nudging Cid.
"Sad? Why would I be sad? Right, Leon," Cid weirdly asks. Leon just stays quiet like that he is hiding something. Aerith decides to step forward and tell Kairi the truth. "Once the worlds are restored, they'll be separate again. Everyone will go back to where they came from."
"You mean we won't see each other again," Kairi asks them. But the Traverse town gang just tries to avoid eye contact. "Even the Gummi ship probably won't do the trick," Leon adds. Upon learning that, a sad thought enters Kairi's head. Will I be separated from Sora?
Upon seeing Kairi's frown, Leon adds one last thing. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other." "No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again," Yuffie adds. Hearing that instantly cheered Kairi up. "Okay, I'm going. Take care, everyone," Kairi said.
"I'm not saying goodbye." Kairi turns around and sees Sora. "You can't come," Kairi tells Sora.
"Why not?"
"Because it's way too dangerous!"
"But I can't do nothing when my friends are in danger. I want to Riku just as much as you."
"If I let you come, how will you be able to do that very special job?"
"What job?"
"Hold out your hand," Kairi tells Sora. Sora reluctantly holds out his hand as Kairi places something in it. "What's this," Sora asks. "It's my Thalassa shell lucky charm. I made it for the trip we were going to do upon the raft. But instead, I have been holding on to it out through my journey to find you and Riku," Kairi explains.
"If it is that important to you, shouldn't you keep it," Sora asks. "Because it's that important that I want to hold on to it. If you, have it, I know that be I will be able to find my way back to you no matter where I am. Just like how you found me that day," Kairi tells Sora, causing him to blush.
"Ok. Be safe and bring Riku back. I can't wait for your return," Sora replies. After finishing their goodbyes, the three friends leave Hollow Bastion with their final goal in reach.
K Report 10: Protector
As the girl watched the three friends head towards the final battle, she could not stop thinking about the strange castle. Something about it feels familiar to the girl. As if to confirm this, a new memory return to her.
Looking up to a girl with blue hair. "Here," the blue-haired girl said as she touched my penchant, causing it to briefly glow. "This is a little charm. Should you ever get into danger, this charm will bring you to someone that will protect you," the blue-haired girl explains.
Despite not having all her memories back yet, the girl could instantly tell who the blue-haired girl meant. The girl wishes that he would save her from this place. But for some reason, she knows that she needs to rescue herself. The girl feels that she is so close to remembering both her protector and her. The girl returns to watch the three friends for one final time.