Author's Note: I managed to find time to get this posted today after yesterday being really busy. And(Spoilers so fair warning) it appears that in the real KH3, the Dead Man's Chest in the Carribean(formally known as Port Royal) is linked to the Black Box Maleficent and Xehanort are looking for.
Anyway, sorry that the Tangled world isn't doing great so far, but I will try to make it better. So here's another chapter! By the way, I want to thank Bopdog111 for helping me with the battle against Arlene here. It really helped a lot! If you're reading this Bopdog111, thank you so much! ^-^
I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or Final Fantasy.
CH43: Feelings to Admit.
Arlene struck first by casting Thundaga at the trio who either dodged or reflected the attack before she charged forward and threw her attacks at Sora, Kairi and Lea who blocked all of her eight knives with their Keyblades and Chakrams. She then leaped back before attempting to claw them, but Lea expertly spun his weapons and caused them to rebel back to her. Fortunately for Arlene, she caught them with ease, but hissed when Kairi found the opening and bruised her hard on the side with her Destiny Embrace Keyblade, nearly knocking the former No.12 over, but she managed to save herself.
"That's how you want to play, huh? Fine, no more Ms. Nice Arlene!" Arlene snapped.
"Well, you shouldn't underestimate us at the first place." Lea pointed out, glaring before he grinned, "Got it memorized?"
This made Arlene even more furious before she held up her hands and Lightning strikes began to rain down on the trio and at Lea's warning, Sora, Kairi and Lea himself dodged and had trouble avoiding her attacks even though some managed to hit them and paralyze them briefly. This allowed Arlene to claw the trio who were nearly knocked over but the paralyze wore off and Sora and Lea both pulled Kairi back onto their platform, saving her from falling off, and despite running low on potions and magic, Sora and Kairi both casted Cure and Curaga on themselvse and their redhaired companion, restoring their health.
At that Sora charged in an attempt to hit Arlene at herside with his Keyblade, but Arlene managed to to avoid before vanishing, before striking Sora with her knives before throwing them at Kairi who ran to avoid them before using Fire at Arlene who done a back flip to avoid it before she was hit by Lea's Chakrams. While Arlene is recovering Sora charged, and managed to bash her at the back of her head as she kicked him at the nose, and then pushed him back with a Lightning bolt.
Lea then switched out from his Chakrams and summoned his Keyblade before he spun it around and created a huge ring of Fire. He blasted it at Arlene who gasped in shock and attempted to teleport out of the way, but Sora tossed his Keyblade and hit her again while Kairi casted Blizzard to trap her on the ground by the legs. By then the ring of Fire engulfed Arlene as she screamed while getting burned, but the instant it vanished, she vanished again, making the trio quickly look around on where she would appear next.
Seeing some knives Sora quickly blocked them away before Arlene ran over, and managed to catch the trio off guard with a surprising lightning bolt. While Lea is stunned Arlene struck him with her fast skills of striking distance, before finishing it with a huge kick while Kairi attempts to bash Arlene who jumped to dodge before striking her with her kunai knives, and threw them which Kairi dodged all but one which strike her on the leg which she screamed in pain knelling trying to pull the knife out while Arlene charged with a charged lightning bolt to finish Kairi off.
Sora gasped when he saw this and then without thinking he held up his Keyblade which glowed in light before he summoned the same pistols he first gained back in Romanov Empire and instantly fired several Light Shots at Arlene who saw this too late and was blasted away from Kairi while Lea helped pull the knife out and then tossed Kairi a potion to heal the wound and she nodded her thanks. Arlene in the meantime crashed onto the ground, but growled angrily as she pushed herself up and charged at Sora who's pistols turned back into his Kingdom Key.
Arlene created some Lightning Bolts which the three avoided as Arlene vanished, and reappeared at several spots where she threw knives as Lea, Kairi, and Sora blocked or bashed them away while avoiding the Lightning bolts being cautious on what she will do. Arlene soon appeared behind Sora who saw too late to avoid her next move which that she struck him with a Lightning Bolt at close range pushing him back as he struggled to remain on his feet.
"Why do you three still fight when you know you're out-matched?" Arlene questioned. "Surely you know by now nothing you do will save you from your deaths."
Before Sora could answer, Kairi tossed her Keyblade at Arlene's head which knocked her over, before Kairi, with little magic left, used Cure on Sora who jugged down two of his last remaining potions from his pockets and they and Lea glared at the crazy woman.
"Because we're stubborn, that's why!" Sora yelled.
"And if there's anyone that's gonna lose, it's you!" Lea added, smirking. "Thought you'd remember that by now, Arlene."
"And that kind of reason will lead to death!" Arlene yelled back as she charged.
When close she fired several bolts of lightning at close range which Lea, Kairi, and Sora used their Keyblades to block the assault before Arlene split to two dopplegangers who charged, and struck them with their knifes before the real Arlene fired lightning bolts which the heroes are having a tough time keeping track of both the dopplegangers, and the real Arlene attacking. Seeing a way Sora jumped up the walls while jumping on some rocks the the real Arlene who failed to noticed in time to see he bashed her to the ground before Lea used his Keyblade to bash her to one of the dopplegangers merging them back before Kairi bashed the other back to the real Arlene merging them back.
Finally having enough Arlene called on massive storm clouds which enveloped both her, and the heroes in a big stormy fog where they see numerous lighting coated knifes are ready to strike before they charged at them which them are quick the block them in a fast distance for a few seconds. When it was over they were tired before Lea was kicked up before Arlene attempted to severely wound Sora with her knives, but Kairi intervened with her Keyblade before Sora grabbed it at her offering, and struck Arlene hard, and fast with numerous strikes before finishing it with a dash slashing her with the two Keyblades at the same time as Arlene kneeled down, having been defeated.
Panting in exhaustion and unable to believe that Sora, Kairi and Lea had defeated her, Arlene hissed angrily before glaring up at the trio, and despite wanting nothing more than to kill them right now, she knew, in her condition, it was better off to retreat for now rather than risk in getting killed even though she would have to report to Aced in failing to kill them.
"Just you three wait...! All of you and your friends will end up dead before you know it! Next time, I'll shock you all into crisp!" Arlene hissed, before teleporting herself away for the time being.
While the trio panted and Sora handed Kairi back her Keyblade, they all then heard yelling as they turned to look up and see what was going on. Their eyes widened as they saw what happened.
While Sora, Kairi and Lea had been busy fighting Arlene, the rest of the worldly travellers were still fighting the guards as well as Heartless that appeared which the guards didn't know and now had to fight them as well, and Flynn was busy fighting against the Horse, which, if the situation was different, it would be the most embarrassing thing to see.
"You should know that this is the strangest thing I've ever done!" Flynn exclaimed, still fighting off the white horse. After trying to get the horse again, the horse used its sword and made the frying pan fly out of Flynn's hand, falling off the edge and hitting the bottom.
"How 'bout two out of three?" He asked the horse, who only pointed the sword at Flynn, making him put his hands up.
"Flynn! Guys! Here!" Rapunzel yelled from across the area. She then lassoed her hair again and threw it at Flynn's hand, which was still up in the air, and the hair wrapped around then pulled Flynn off the edge and he began to swing on the hair like it was a vine, while Terra, Ven and Aqua summoned their Keyblade Gliders while Terra had Roxas, Riku and Isa, Ven had Myde, Mickey and Skuld which was a bit awkward for the four of them, and Aqua had Xion, Donald and Goofy before they flew away from the guards and levitated in the air, seeing Flynn who was still swinging.
"Flynn, look out!" Rapunzel exclaimed after she saw that Flynn was riding right towards the two men at the bottom of the area. Thankfully, she quickly pulled up on her hair just in time for Flynn to fly right past them and continued to swing, which caused the two men to nearly crash into each other and held shocked expressions. This was what Sora, Kairi and Lea saw after Arlene left and while their expressions went un-noticed by Flynn, he certainly noticed the two other men.
"Ha! You should see your faces because you look-" Flynn was cut off when he crashed right into one of the wooden beams holding up the dam into the stomach, though he did finish in pain and strain, "...Ridiculous."
The worldly travellers and Rapunzel all cringed in sympathy as Myde muttered, "Oooh, that's gotta hurt."
"Uh oh! Here comes the horse!" Goofy quickly cried out in horror as he pointed to the said horse who knocked down one of the posts holding the dam up and began to walk across it, like a bridge to get to Rapunzel who gasped as did the worldly travellers.
By then, Flynn climbed onto the beaming while still holding Rapunzel's hair, calling up to her, "C'mon, Blondie! Jump!"
Despite hesitating, Rapunzel did so, just in time to avoid the horse while she swung down by her hair and landed at the bottom, though the two men turned their attention to her as they began to run up towards her. Thankfully, Mickey and Donald both casted Sleepza which made the two men slump over and fall onto the ground, fast asleep. Flynn and all of the worldly travellers by then landed on the ground with Rapunzel who sighed in relief, and Terra, Ven and Aqua dismissed their gliders the moment they were all safely on the ground with their friends.
"Is everyone alright?" Skuld asked, worriedly and was relieved when they all replied that they were, only for the ground to begin shaking which alarmed them.
"Uh...I don't think we're gonna be alright right now!" Myde squeaked in horror, and when they and everyone else turned to look, their eyes widened in horror as the dam began to creak before huge gushes of water began pouring out, destorying it in the process and swallowed up the guards, the two men who just woke up, and the horse.
"RUN!" Terra yelled.
Everyone hurried as they ran as fast as they could, but unfortunately as they all headed into the cave since there wasn't enough room for all of them to fit into the Keyblade gliders, the moment they made it a huge boulder came crashing down and blocked their exit, trapping them inside while the water slowly began to flood the cave.
"This is bad!" Lea cried out, panicking.
"This can't end like this!" Riku muttered, horrified.
All hope seemed to be lost, especially as Rapunzel began to cry, "This is all my fault. She was right. I never should've done this. I'm so-I'm so sorry, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Lea, Isa, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Aqua, Ven, Terra, Skuld, Myde, and Flynn."
"Eugene." Flynn sighed in defeat, which confused everyone else before he admitted, "My real name is Eugene Fitzherbert. Someone might as well know."
That made the others smile a little.
"We...well, I guess we all came from different places." Sora admitted, and his companions nodded.
"I have magic hair that glows when I sing." Rapunzel admitted.
"Wait, what?" Myde asked, dumbfounded. The others, especially Flynn or rather, Eugene, were twice as confused.
Rapunzel's eyes widened in realization, as a possible crazy idea came into her mind, as she repeated, "I have magic hair that glows when I sing!" before she began to sing, which sounded beautiful and sweet to Sora and his companions.
It was right when they were all underwater, to everyone's amazement, Rapunzel's hair glowed very brightly which lightened the room. They then noticed a tunnel and with a nod, thinking it may be a way out, they all began to swim towards it and the moment they reached more boulders at the dead end, Rapunzel's hair then pushed at the large rocks and with the aid of the worldly travellers, it finally gave way and they all went gushing out into another part of the forest, right outside where the dam was. Coughing and spluttering water, they all clinged onto the shores while gasping for air.
"We made it." Rapunzel realised, in relief and happiness.
"Fresh air and solid ground!" Myde sobbed happily, before pulling himself further on the shore and began kissing the dirt ground repeatedly, before spitting out the tiny rocks and dirt that got into his mouth and on his lips in disgust.
"We're okay." Sora realised in reilef, as he helped Kairi up while everyone else, except for Flynn, stood up.
"Her hair glows..." Flynn just barely let out, staring at Rapunzel who pulled her hair out of the water.
"We're alive. We're alive!" Rapunzel cheered happily.
Lea sighed in relief, "For a while there, I thought we weren't gonna make it."
"Why does her hair glow?" Flynn asked to Pascal, looking both stunned and a bit freaked out.
"Eugene." Rapunzel said to him when she and everyone else heard him and when he turned to look at her, she answered his question, "It doesn't just glow."
"After what I saw, I can already see that." Isa muttered, remembering how the hair helped them push the boulder to free them.
Eugene blinked, before looking at Pascal who gave him a smug smile which made Eugene, Donald, Lea, Myde and Isa feel uncomfortable, before Eugene asked Rapunzel uncomfortably, "Why is he smiling at me?"
A short while later, the group found a small clearing and rested on a few logs while making camp for the night, and the worldly travellers were exhausted and running dangerously low on potions and they would have to wait for a few hours for their magic to recover. Even Eugene had a cut on his hand. What puzzled the sixteen of them was that Rapunzel had placed her long strands of hair on their injuries. They had no idea why she looked so determined or what she was doing.
"Um, why are you wrapping your hair on our injuries, Rapunzel?" Roxas asked, confused.
"You'll see." Rapunzel replied, taking a seat between Eugene and Sora who was sitting next to Kairi. "Please don't freak out."
"I'm sure we won't." Myde replied.
Isa gave him a skeptical glance, "You're the one to talk." which earned him a glare from the younger man.
Rapunzel ignored Isa's comment and then began to sing again, and as she did, her hair glowed once more, covering their wounds in a warm, soothing sensation. When she finished, her hair stopped glowing and healing stopped. The worldly travellers and Eugene sat frozen in awestruck before they all quickly removed Rapunzel's hair and found that all of the cuts and injuries were gone and they all felt like they were back to full health.
Eugene's jaw dropped before he began to began to hyperlate and freaking out, which made Rapunzel quickly plead, "Please don't freak out!"
"I'm not freaking out. Are you freaking out? No, I'm just very interested in your hair and the magical qualities that it possesses." Eugene spoke so nervously and quickly that it was all mumbled up and almost gibberish.
"That..." Myde began, before grinning, "Was totally awesome!"
"Incredible." Skuld breathed, amazed.
"Amazing." Aqua, Terra and Ven added.
Mickey nodded in agreement, "Gosh. I'll say. I've never seen a healing magic this powerful before!"
"Thank you." Rapunzel blushed.
"How long has it been doing that, exactly?" Eugene asked, still nervous.
Rapunzel shrugged, explaining, "Forever, I guess. Mother says when I was a baby, people tried to cut it. They wanted to take it for themselves. But once it's cut, it turns brown and loses its power." before moving some of her hair to reveal a single brown lock. "A gift like that, it has to be protected. That's why mother never let me leave."
"And that's why you never left." Riku finished in realization, and Rapunzel nodded.
"So you never left, and you're still gonna go back?" Lea inquired.
"No! Yes." Rapunzel quickly said, before groaning, "Ugh. It's complicated."
Sora felt sorry for Rapunzel, and couldn't help but remember Quasimodo back in the City of Bells in the Realm of Sleep before he unlocked the keyhole to awaken the world up from it's never-ending slumber.
Ven sighed, remembering everything in the past twelve years ago, "Well, that makes the both of us. Me, Terra and Aqua had a Master named Eraqus who trained us to, well, in everything we know. But I wasn't allowed to leave home, to see other places, no matter how much I asked or even as I grew older. At first I thought it was because since I was the youngest, everyone treated me like a kid."
That statement made both Terra and Aqua sigh in sadness. The reminder of everything that they all nearly lost, and that Master Eraqus was gone.
"But it was more than that and, it's a long and sad story. He knew something that I didn't and wouldn't even tell me, because he...couldn't trust me even though I would've gone something to fix it. For a long time he kept making excuses to keep me imprisoned. I was angry with him at first, but...I realised that it was for a good reason and by then, he died and it was too late for me to fix it." Ven continued.
"But, if you could fix it, why didn't he tell you or trust you?" Rapunzel asked, confused.
"Because of an evil man named Xehanort." Terra answered this time, sighing. "And it wasn't just Ven he wanted. It was me because, well, he sought out something that would destroy many lives. I was stupid enough to fall for his tricks and helped him to...to kill Eraqus and by then I realised it was too late. That was mostly my fault...I couldn't contain the darkness within me."
"And I didn't know all of this until after our master was struck down. By then, it was too late and even though we saved many lives and stopped him, he still seperated us which left only Mickey left to survive that battle without a cruel fate." Aqua added, which made Mickey sigh in sadness in guilt. "For twelve years, Xehanort did what he wanted to continue his plans, and two years ago got everyone else with us involved."
"Hey, don't forget that Xehanort's the reason how me and Isa didn't get on so well a year after you guys disappeared. That guy just wanted to get what he wanted and kill whoever he could." Lea reminded.
"We all each got separated and/or kidnapped by Xehanort and the guys who worked with him. Sure we got together but we still had to stop him. Actually, it was recently this year that we defeated Xehanort once and for all." Sora continued the story.
"But that doesn't change on how much everything changed." Kairi said, sighing. "Because there are others who want to cause harm to many other people in whichever way they could. That's why we're all travelling, because we have to stop them before they cause more harm."
Skuld nodded, adding, "I only joined up with them recently and, well, I knew Ven from a long time ago, but our memories are supressed and he doesn't even remember our time together with another friend."
Ven looked away in guilt, "I'm sorry, Skuld."
"I only joined up before she joined up, and well, that's a long and pathetic story, so there's no point in saying anything much." Myde added.
"How 'bout you, Fl-I mean, Eugene? Why'd you call yourself Flynn Rider?" Mickey asked, curiously at the thief who shrugged.
"Well, I'll spare you the sob story of poor orphan Eugene Fitzherbert. It's a little bit of a... It's a little bit of a downer. Eugene shrugged, only to blink in surprise when everyone gathered up around him, eager to hear his story. So he continued, "There was this book. A book I used to read every night to all the younger kids, "The Tales of Flynnagan Rider." Swashbuckling rogue, richest man alive, not bad with the ladies, either. Not that he'd ever brag about it, of course."
"Was he a thief too?" Xion asked, curiously.
"Well, no. Actually he had enough money to do anything that he wanted to do. He could go anywhere that he wanted to go. And - and for a kid with nothing, I don't know. It just seemed like the better option." Eugene replied.
Goofy sniffled as tears began to leak even though he wiped them away. "Gawrsh, that's a great story." He muttered.
Eugene sighed, "Look, guys. You can't tell anyone about this, okay? It could ruin my whole reputation."
"Of course it would." Isa responded sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Don't worry. We won't tell anyone." Sora promised. The others nodded in agreement.
"We should get goin'. Before the Heartless come and attack us again." Lea suggested.
Everyone nodded, but as Eugene got up, Rapunzel told him which made him stop, "Hey. For the record, I like Eugene Fitzherbert much better than Flynn Rider."
Those words made Eugene's heart warm up which made him smile at the blonde-haired girl, "Well, then you'd be the first. But thank you." still smiling.
However, that peace is shattered as all of the sudden they heard the sound of a horse which startled to group. When they turned to their right, their eyes widened as the very same horse they encountered and Eugene fought earlier emerged from the trees, dripping wet from having taken an unexpected swim and was glaring heatedly at Eugene.
"Uh...ooooh." Donald muttered, worriedly.
"He doesn't look happy." Terra commented.
"Well, having having my hair all wet twice this month, I understand how that horse feels." Myde stupidly commented, which made his companions all groan in dismay and annoyance.
The Horse growled and made his way towards Eugene but was blocked off when Rapunzel, Kairi, Xion and Sora stood in front of him to block the animal from getting to him, before Rapunzel telling it, "Whoa, whoa! Easy there, boy! Calm down! Easy!"
To everyone's surprise, the horse seemed to have calmed down at the sound of Rapunzel's voice, while Pascal sat on the girl's head, making hand movements to repeat what Rapunzel said. "That's it. Now sit...Sit."
The horse sat on the forest floor, unable to help but listen to her. Rapunzel smiled as she began to pet him, which made him wag his tail like a dog as she cooed, "Oh, you are such a good boy! Are you tired of chasing bad men all over the place? No one appreciates you, do they?"
"Whoa...She tamed the crazy horse." Myde muttered, in total disbelief. Eugene's jaw dropped in shock.
"That is amazing. I've never seen anyone tame a horse with a wild personality before." Skuld said in awe.
"Wonder where the horse even came from?" Roxas asked.
"He's wearing a royal harness, so he must belong to the guards." Aqua guessed.
Eugene groaned, "Rapunzel, come on! Quit coddling him! He's a bad horse!"
"Oh, he's nothing but a big sweetheart!" Rapunzel replied, turning back to the horse and discovered what his name was on the name-plate, then asked him with a smile, "Isn't that right, Maximus?"
"Maximus?" Donald snickered before bursting into laughter. He then quickly covered his bill to stop himself into getting into trouble when the horse glared at him due to the duck finding his name funny.
"You've got to be kidding me." Eugene rolled his eyes, which made the horse, Maximus, growl at him in return.
"Whoa. He really doesn't like you." Lea smirked at Eugene.
Rapunzel sighed, before gazing at Maximus with a pleading look in her eyes, "Um, maybe you can put your gate aside and not get him arrested? Just for twentyfour hours, then you can go back to chasing each other to your heart's content? Okay?"
"It seems fair and reasonable, right, Maximus?" Kairi added as she approached the horse and petted him. "It would mean so much for Rapunzel."
"Plus, it is Rapunzel's birthday. Just so you know." Sora stated, and the rest of the worldly travellers nodded while Eugene held out his hand for a handshake. Maximus glared at him before sighing grumpily and held out his hoove, allowing the man to shake it and call it a truce. Sora smiled, "Great! Now that's settles, let's go and see those lanterns!"
Everyone else nodded and began to move out, with Maximus joining them even though the horse was still glaring daggers at Eugene. But as Rapunzel smiled, a movement caught her eye and she quickly turned around to see what it was. To her shock, coming face-to-face with a woman with black curly hair, wearing a long elegant red dress and a black robe. At the sight of the woman, Pascal hid within Rapunzel's hair, also recongising her.
"Those people really are something, aren't they? I'd thought they'd never leave." The woman cackled in a sinister voice.
"Mother!? What're you doing here? How did you find me?" Rapunzel asked nervously to the woman, known as Mother Gothel who grinned.
"Oh it was easy." Gothel laughed. "I just followed the sound of complete and utter betrayal and followed that." That made Rapunzel cringe in guilt, before she was grabbed by the wrist and started pulling her away back into the opposite direction. "Come on, Rapunzel. Let's get you back to the tower where you belong."
Rapunzel pulled her wrist away, protesting, "Mother, wait you don't understand! I've been on this amazing adventure and I met so many ingesting people! I even made new friends!"
"Yes, a mouse, a duck, a goofy dog, a pyromaniac, a bluehead with a berserk problem, a brainless mullet-haired goof, a serious motherly woman and her boyfriend, two golden-haired twin boys, five other teenagers and a thief. I'm so proud." Gothel replied sarcastically. "Come now, Rapunzel. We're going home."
"Mother, no wait! I made some real friends here!" Rapunzel protested again, before blushing as she added, "And Flynn...I think he likes me." while promising herself to keep Eugene's real name a secret.
Gothel scoffed, "Likes you? Please, Rapunzel, that's demented! This is why you never should have left! Dear, this whole romance that you've invented. This just proves you're too naive to be here. Why would he like you? Come on now, really. You think that he's impressed? Come with mommy."
"No!" Rapunzel shook her head stubbornly.
"No?" Gothel repeated, before smirking. "Oh. I see how it is. Rapunzel's so mature now. Such a clever grown-up miss. Fine, if you're so sure now, go ahead and give him this." before she pulled out a brown leather satchel out from her cape, which made Rapunzel gasp.
"How did you...?" Rapunzel trailled off.
"You hid it well enough from him, but not from me. Mother always knows best, dear." Gothel answered, grinning evilly as she pulled out a beautiful looking tiara. "THIS is why he's here! Don't let him deceive you!"
She put the tiara back into the satchel and tossed it to Rapunzel who caught and answered, determined, "I will!"
"Trust me, my dear, that's how fast he'll leave you. I won't say I told you so!" Gothel told her before turning as she made her leave, but not before saying for the final time, "If he's lying, don't come crying. Mothers... know best." and with that she vanished, leaving Rapunzel in the clearing.
Rapunzel heart sank a little, but she really wanted to believe that she could trust Eugene, Sora and the others. But what if Gothel was right? Yet, the instant she thought of it, Ven's words when he told his story filled her mind.
"Me, Terra and Aqua had a Master named Eraqus who trained us to, well, in everything we know. But I wasn't allowed to leave home, to see other places, no matter how much I asked or even as I grew older. At first I thought it was because since I was the youngest, everyone treated me like a kid."
"But it was more than that and, it's a long and sad story. He knew something that I didn't and wouldn't even tell me, because he...couldn't trust me even though I would've gone something to fix it. For a long time he kept making excuses to keep me imprisoned. I was angry with him at first, but...I realised that it was for a good reason and by then, he died and it was too late for me to fix it."
Making excuses...now that she thought of it, Rapunzel did find it odd that her mother was acting very distrusting and sounded even more unusual. So far no one really wanted her hair. They all had dreams of their own and even let her and the others escape. Maybe like Ven, Terra and Aqua's master Eraqus, Gothel was hiding something from her as well, making up excuses to keep her in the tower. Did that mean she lied?
Rapunzel felt trapped in the middle of the fork in the road in her heart. She didn't know what to do and it was scared her.
"Rapunzel?" Xion's voice called, which startled the blonde-haired girl who quickly hid the satchel in her dress and turned to see the black-haired girl and everyone else hurrying back towards her as Xion asked, "Is something wrong?"
"No. It's nothing. Don't worry." Rapunzel shook her head. She felt guilty for lying, but she didn't want to bring up the unusual encounter with her mother right now. She knew she had to be careful. Just then, there was the sound of bells coming from the direction that they were gonna do into.
This made the group to follow it and step out through the exit of the forest and into the clearing, seeing a long stone bridge leading into the Kingdom of Corona itself.
"Wow!" Rapunzel and the worldly travellers breathed in awe at the sight of the kingdom, even though it made Mickey, Donald and Goofy think of Disney Castle. Especially since the Lantern festival had decorations and fun activities. The streets were covered in banners, flags with a golden sun symbol and other things. Rapunzel dragged her new friends onto the streets and all over the kingdomm, taking in the amazing sights.
She wasn't the only one excited as Sora's group and Eugene were enjoying themselves as well. Even Maximus was softening up a bit, especially when the group and even Eugene bought him apples while the horse in return drove off the guards to prevent the group in getting caught, especially Eugene. Apart from lingering Heartless that appeared in more emptier parts of the streets which the worldly travellers took care of, it was a fun time for all of them.
They went from the Library which Rapunzel read more books than she ever read in the tower, to chalk drawings on the stone sidewalk which the young woman found she was very skilled at, and even the some of the worldly travellers took part in that. They even bought some sweets which Roxas, Lea, Xion and Isa shared while finding a perfect spot to gaze at the sky while the sun was starting to set.
Kairi, Skuld and Aqua then helped to put Rapunzel's hair in a braid with added flowers so that it went down to her ankles which she loved really much and it made it far easier now for her to get around without having to drag her hair all over the place. Though even as she gazed it, a wall mural of the King, the Queen, and, as she and her friends learned earlier, the lost Princess, caught her eye.
The young woman felt mesmerized into it, especially as she looked at the picture of the baby who disappeared 18 years ago. Somehow, and she had no idea why, the baby resembled strongly to Rapunzel herself, especially the long golden hair.
Later that afternoon, the group wandered down the street and found musicians playing beautiful music which made Rapunzel join in the fun as she danced, soon joined by Eugene who was blushing, especially when Maximus, having a time of his life, pushed the two young people together and made them blush hard even more, not having expected that. Still, they both smiled and danced together.
Soon Kairi laughed, and then dragged Sora by the wrist onto the dance floor, saying, "C'mon, Sora!"
"Hey-whoa!" Sora yelped, though he couldn't help but smile as his face warmed up a bit, which made Riku laugh with a smile.
Even Terra couldn't shake off the fun as he turned to Aqua, before bowing gentlemen-like and asked politely, "May I have this dance, Aqua?"
"Y-yes, of course!" Aqua replied, blushing as she took hold of Terra's hand and the two soon joined in on the fun, followed by Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Ven, a shy Skuld, Xion and a nervous Roxas while Riku, Lea and Isa watched them from the side, and Myde was busy buying all kinds of sweets and foods from the market stalls and stuffing his face on the junk food.
"Hard to believe that they grew up so quickly." Lea commented as he watched the rest of the group dance, especially Roxas and Xion who was happily laughing and talking. He then smirked as Sora and Kairi were doing the same thing, and even looked closer than before. "Those two really are close, huh?"
"Yeah, it's too bad they still won't admit it." Isa nodded.
"I hope they do soon, before things get worse." Riku muttered softly, so that only Lea and Isa could hear him. When the two older men looked at him questionly, he whispered, "Because if they don't, then when things go wrong they might never be able to."
Lea and Isa both softly gasped, then sighed and gazed out to their other friends again while realising that Riku was right. If Sora and Kairi didn't confess soon, thing they never will if Chaos and/or Bhunivelze attacked.
"Oh boy! I wish Minnie was here to see this." Mickey said as he and the others danced.
"Hey, check this out!" Donald called out as he was trying out a new dance move with had his legs dance quickly fast without moving the rest of his body. Unfortunately, he lost his footing and his feet were going too fast that he was starting to fall. "Uh oh! Whoa! Whoa! Waaak!" He screamed before tumbling and falling flat on his bottom.
This sight made everyone laugh, including those who weren't dancing, even as Lea, Isa and Riku facepalmed themselves.
"Not the brightest dance move." Lea commented jokingly.
For the entire time, Rapunzel couldn't stop smiling and it wasn't long before night fell and soon the lanterns were about to be sent into the sky. So Rapunzel and Eugene rented a boat and sailed into the water to get a better view, while everyone else split into groups to enjoy it in different perfect spots of the Kingdom. Donald and Goofy decided to keep Maximus company, Aqua and Terra along with Ven and Skuld went to the small hill nearby, Lea, Isa, Roxas and Xion sat on the edge of a building, and Riku kept on eye on Myde while Mickey decided to be on his own and promised to be careful.
As for Sora and Kairi, they returned to the bridge to watch the Lanterns fly from the kingdom and have a moment to themselves with a full moon rising and stars coming out.
"Hey, Kairi?" Sora began, still feeling a bit guilty about his secret earlier.
"Hmm?" Kairi mumured.
The spiky-haired teen shifted awkwardly a little, before sighing, "I'm sorry about not telling you about Vanitas earlier. I know I should've, but that's no excuse. I guess I was...afraid of losing you and everyone else."
The redhaired girl blinked, before saying, "Well, I am still a bit annoyed with you for not telling me. But you know, I can't be angry with you even though you should've told me. But since you were afraid and you're feeling bad about it, I can't really be mad. I would've done anything to help to beat Vanitas."
"Yeah, but, what if I hurt you and everybody else if he takes control? I wouldn't able to live with myself like that." Sora pointed out, sighing sadly. "I know you're tough, and always brave, even when you're in danger, I can't seem to protect you or save you on time. I don't want to lose you."
"I know." Kairi nodded. "I don't want to lose you either, Sora. When you...when you disappeared after you saved me, I didn't want to believe you were gone. I didn't want to let you go." She then sighed and said, "I feel bad for forgetting about you, and it hurt more than anything, especially when everyone else back at home thought you didn't exist until we all got our memories back."
"I don't blame you for that." Sora said, while he had been surprised on Kairi's feelings for him. "When this is all over, you, me and Riku, and everybody will be able to go home and everything will be alright."
Kairi smiled warmly nodded.
The two then had a comfortable silence for a few moments as they gazed ahead again, until Kairi spoke again.
"The festival was great." Kairi said, smiling. "I really had fun today."
"Yeah, me too. And I bet the others had a really great time as well." Sora agreed with a smile of his own. "But I think Rapunzel was the happiest out of all of us."
The Princess of Heart giggled, "Well, it was her dream to see those lanterns up close, and now she finally got her chance." before she gasped in amazement and pointed up into the sky.
Sora followed his friend's gaze and he too was amazed as rising from the kingdom and floating away above them into the sky were thousands and thousands of decorative glowing lanterns, and they weren't the only ones seeing this. Their other friends watched on in very similiar awe through out where they were.
"So beautiful." Kairi breathed, smiling. As she gazed at Sora next to her, though, her heart warmed up and, even though she had been denying it for so long, something within her burst and while it could very well disappoint her that Sora could never return her feelings, and she didn't know what it was, but she couldn't hold back anymore.
"Yeah." Sora replied. He turned to say something when he blinked in surprise as gently pressed a finger onto his lips to silence him, and as she gazed at him in the eyes, Sora suddenly found that he couldn't stop looking at hers and his heart warmed up. While it confused him on why it was happening now or it didn't bother him a bit, he couldn't hold back his feelings anymore.
Sora blushed heavily as Kairi leaned up while closing her eyes and kissed him on the lips. Surprised at first, Sora soon found himself returning it while closing his eyes and the two wrapped each other in their arms as they kissed.
"Uooooggghhh...Now I'm really feeling nauesous. This is disgusting." Vanitas groaned in disgust, but Sora ignored him as he always did. Neither he or Kairi wanted this moment to end.
Though when it did, both of them sighed before Kairi snuggled up in Sora's chest, and he held her close.
Yet the moment couldn't last forever, as all of the sudden both Sora and Kairi sensed something and broke apart, just in time to see a large Heartless suddenly appear and even though Sora tried his best to shield Kairi, both of them were knocked back over the railing by the gust of wind the Heartless sent out and as both of them screamed, they fell into the river. With it's job done, the Heartless vanished, just as a disheartened Rapunzel was dragged by the wrist by Gothel back towards the tower, as the latter was smiling evilly and in victory.
Meanwhile, Mickey was sitting on the edge of a wall on the higher ground of the Kingdom, watching the Lanterns fly away. He had been keeping an eye out on the Heartless and for clues for any whereabouts on Aced, and even on Lauriam, the Book of Prophecies and the Black Box. So far, no luck.
As much as the sight of the Lanterns was beautiful, the King couldn't stop the sadness in his heart as his thoughts were once again onto Master Yen Sid. He even remembered the last time he spoke to his mentor before leaving for Radiant Garden.
Flashback: During the events of "Second Life: Secret Episode"...
"Be warned, all of you." Yen Sid cautioned, "The dangers are not yet over, and who knows what other kind of threat may pose to you all. Be vigilant."
Everyone nods in agreement. Though as they were turning to leave, Mickey remembered something and told the others that he'll be a minute or two. Confused at first, the group nodded before heading out to wait for him on the lower floor.
"I sense there is another matter you wish to speak of before you go." Yen Sid spoke, apparently already having an idea on what his former Apprentince wanted to talk about.
"Nothin' goes by you, huh, Master?" Mickey shrugged sheepisly, before speaking what was on his mind, "I...I can't help but feel like somethin's about to go wrong and...I-I guess I'm scared of failing everybody. I really try to keep to my promises, and I won't ever give up. But...when Xehanort said how he lead Aqua, Terra and Ven into having their lives ruined, I realised that I made the mistake in not actin' sooner, when I found out about Ansem the Wise's newest apprentince, and that Xehanort even used Maleficent to kidnap and steal the hearts of the Seven Princesses."
The King paused, and willed himself not to cry, especially not in front of the powerful Sorcerer. "It's my fault that Sora and everybody else had gotten involved. Even worse, Xehanort coulda finished them and even me off, and I couldn't do a thing about it. Now we got Chaos and maybe even Bhunivelze to worry about."
Mickey dared to look at Yen Sid again, and asked, "Master, please tell me. Why do I make such awful mistakes?"
"It is not your fault, Mickey." Yen Sid told him, his expression softening a little. "The future is always unpredictable, and even if it was, you cannot change the future. One can only do what they can, and unfortunately, not every tragedy can be prevented, nor can darkness striking at any moment. Yet, there is a loophole in time itself."
"Huh? But I thought you said the future can't be changed." Mickey pointed out, confused.
"Every possiblities and outcomes exists in different realms and dimensions. Yet most share the same or similiar pasts and presents. Perhaps even I misunderstood and the future may change, either for the better or for the worse. For instance, should Keyblades not exist, nor should the worlds be as they are now, what do you believe a single world would be, Mickey?" Yen Sid explained.
Uncertain how to answer that, Mickey thought about it until he admitted, "Hmmm...Good question. Well, if I had to guess, I'd say it'd be sorta like Radiant Garden, or the Islands. Or even like my hometown or Midgar. Gosh, maybe all of those places could've been in the same world but seperated by a single ocean."
"Yet it could be world where you would not have needed my guidence." Yen Sid added, then smirked a little. "Then again, you'd still be having difficulty in following instructions."
"I-I didn't mean anything like that!" Mickey quickly said, holding his hands up in defense or surrender. "You and I both know I wouldn't be the way I am now without ya'."
The old man nodded, "I know. However, there will be a day where you will no longer need my guidence. It was you who guided Donald and Goofy to learn more of the Keyblade and the Heartless, which led them to Sora. And you were the one guide them to me for further instruction and found out more of the threat Xehanort possessed on your own. One day, the time will come when I too will fade from life."
Mickey's heart ached when his mentor said those last words in his sentence. Somehow he realised that possiblity slipped from his mind. A life without Yen Sid would hurt as much as losing Ansem the Wise.
"...I really don't wanna think about that future. I still have trouble accepting that Ansem, the real Ansem is gone. I-I know he isn't comin' back, but it...it still hurts so much." Mickey admitted, unable to gaze at him again and closed his eyes.
"I was once like you when my own master told me the same of a life without him." Yen Sid admitted, standing from his chair and approached Mickey who looked up at him. The sorcerer then knelt down to the younger Keyblade wielder's height, continuing, "However, I will tell you what he has told me; while the feeling of loss to friend or someone you trust will never truly fade away, you cannot let that sadness overcome you for your own future. Always remember what you had learned and been through in the best of times, and use your teachings to guide future generations, in a way that you see is right."
"I'm not sure if I'll be as good of a teacher as you, sir." Mickey said, a little nervously.
Yen Sid just chuckled. "Teaching is not a simple task. You can only do what you can. But know this, Mickey; should I disappear or been abducted, though I doubt such an event would happen, do not rush in your quest. Seek out answers first while protecting many from the darkness. May your heart be your guiding Key."
"May my heart be my guiding key." Mickey repeated, then nodded as his determination was renewed. "I'll do my best, and if ya' do get kidnapped, I promise I'll do everythin' I can to find and save you and keep Sora and everybody else safe!"
"One ask at the time, Mickey." Yen Sid advised, placing a hand onto Mickey's shoulder. "And be sure to be on your guard as well. I must admit...even I have not fully recovered in the demise of Master Eraqus. He too was a friend."
Mickey blinked, and realised that he also forgot that his own master and the master of Terra, Ven and Aqua were both good friends until Xehanort killed Eraqus. He remembered hearing the news, and also remembered the sadness he heard in Yen Sid's voice. That had actually frightened Mickey as he'd never seen his mentor so sad and upset before.
"I understand." Mickey replied, and before he knew what he was doing, he hugged Yen Sid who blinked in slight surprise. The king hugged him as tightly as he could as though afraid the sorcerer would just disappear as he answered the man's unasked question, "This is just in case."
Yen Sid sighed, before slowly embracing his former apprentince in return. The moment couldn't last, as the two let go.
"I'd better get goin'." Mickey finally said, "We'll be back before ya' know it."
"Be on your guard, Mickey. Trust your friends and your heart." Yen Sid told him for the final time.
Mickey nodded firmly, "Right. I'll see ya' soon." before turning and hurried out the door to meet up with the others.
End Flash-Back:
"...That was the last thing I ever said to 'im." Mickey said to himself in sadness. He sighed before gazing up at the sky, softly asking in a plea, "Master Yen Sid...please tell me. Are you still alive, or are ya' gone? I gotta know. I need your guidence, now more than ever." yet he didn't get an answer, knowing that his mentor couldn't hear him.
"Mickey!" Ven's voice called out from behind him, causing the King to turn and saw that his friend was running up towards him.
"Ven? What's the matter?" Mickey asked, worried as he leaped down from the wall and onto the safe solid ground.
"Rapunzel's missing and Flynn's been arrested! We have to find the others and save warn them!" Ven told him urgently.
"Oh no!" Mickey cried out, horrified.
Sora had pulled Kairi onto the shore as soon as they resurfaced, and both of them panted when they were back on dry land. "Kairi, you okay?" Sora asked, worriedly.
"I'm fine." Kairi replied, before grumbling angrily, "That wasn't very nice of that Heartless to attack us like that!"
While he was relieved that she was okay, Sora nodded in agreement and said, "I'll say. That Heartless sure had no manners and it almost drowned us! If we see it again, I'm gonna give it a good lesson."
"Personally, I'm glad that the Heartless cut your new romance short. It was making me want to puke." Vanitas snorted.
Sora groaned as he placed a hand to his head, grumbling, "I wish Vanitas would just stay quiet too."
"What did he say?" Kairi asked, knowing that whatever Vanitas said in Sora's mind, it was annoying. She was glad that her friend-well, possibly boyfriend now, given how she'd kissed him and she tried not to blush on that realization-wasn't listening to Ven's former darkness.
"Said he was glad that the Heartless interrupted and ruined our evening." Sora replied, sighing. "But I'm just going to ignore him."
Kairi went to say something else when she and Sora both heard Riku and Xion call out to both of them and the duo turned to see the said two along with the rest of their companions and even Maximus run up towards them and they looked worried. What surprised and concerned Sora and Kairi though was that, Rapunzel, Pascal and Eugene were missing.
"Are you two okay?" Aqua asked, worriedly.
"Yeah, we're fine. Just had a rude welcome by a Heartless." Sora replied.
"Where are Rapunzel, Pascal and Eugene?" Kairi asked, confused.
"Rapunzel was taken by a woman in a red dress into the forest. I think she was her mother, though I didn't see a resemblence." Xion hurriedly said.
"And I saw Eugene about to head over the palace, possibly to return the crown he stole earlier since I believe, due to having feelings for Rapunzel, he has feelings for her. Then just as I was about to join him with Ven, we were both surrounded by Heartless while Eugene was knocked out and then when we were knocked out, by the time we woke up, he was gone!" Skuld added.
"On to top that, we think that since we saw him tied up to a boat, he got arrested!" Lea added.
"What!?" Sora and Kairi exclaimed.
Rapunzel was kidnapped and Eugene got arrested!? This was really bad news.
A/N: The next chapter is the last of the Kingdom of Corona since I didn't want to make this like two chapters only. Again, thank you so much Bopdog111 for helping me with Arlene's battle. Really appreciate it!
I'll try and post the next chapter again as soon as possible. Until then, see you soon!