Kairi and her group emerged from the woods, leaving the path behind to cross the grassy fields again.
Soon, however, they came to a stop as they realized they had no idea where the Gummi ship was.
"Is this where we landed?" Kairi asked, frowning as she looked around herself.
"I think it was more that way," Sora said, pointing off to the right.
"Actually, I think it's somewhere around here. Somewhere... All right: I officially have no clue." Aerith walked in a circle, then stopped and threw up her hands.
"You don't know where it is, either?" spoke Noctis in disbelief.
"It's perfectly fine - I'll just remove my spell and it'll reveal itself to us," Aerith said cheerfully. "Let's see who's right about where it is, why don't we..."
Aerith was just raising her staff, when suddenly there came a rustling from the trees.
They all turned to look.
Kairi felt the telltale darkness washing over her Heart. Alice had turned too, her eyes wide as her hand rose to her chest, her lips parting in a gasp.
Four tall, lanky, stick-thin Heartless came flying out of the forest, sailing high over everyone's heads to land down with a crash around them! Waves of energy pulsed out on impact - and hit something: the invisible Gummi ship. The ship was a good twenty feet off to Kairi's left...behind two of those giant Heartless. The energy resonated and washed over the ship, washing away Aerith's invisibility spell.
Oh. So that's where the ship was.
Too bad these Heartless were blocking the way.
They were red and black, with purple highlights. They had long, strange arms that looked like folded paper streamers, and their legs were...incredibly strange! Kairi couldn't figure out if they technically had four or if they just had two. They had armor on, curved shoulder pads. Their heads were tall, and segmented, and it looked like each segment, one atop the other, was its own little Heartless; there were five sets of yellow eyes and five little mouths there, stacked on top of each other, forming the head. And lastly, pierced straight through spindly fingered hands were two...giant clubs, with purple and pink stripes on them.
The four Heartlesses straightened up tall, maybe fifteen or twenty feet - towering over everyone.
Okay, so, in hindsight, maybe having two Princesses of Heart so close to each other wasn't the smartest decision in the World!
Aerith's head snapped around, her eyes falling onto Kairi and Alice. She'd realized it too. "Okay, Noctis: get Alice aboard the ship! Sora, Kairi, we'll distract them for a second here!"
Noctis gave a nod, and he turned and took a step in Alice's direction - and teleported in a flash of blue. He grabbed her arm gently, turning his gaze to the ship beyond the giant Hartlesses. They were closing in now, juggling those giant clubs of theirs - and lighting them on fire! Noctis vanished again - but this time, he took Alice away with him. Two seconds later and the ship's ramp was closing up - but not before a dagger can hurtling out of it, and then Noctis reappeared in the middle of the field grasping the hilt of that dagger. He immediately glanced up at the backsides of two of the Heartless. He gazed past, to Aerith, meeting her gaze and nodding to her.
"I'll take these two!" Noctis called out, raising an arm and flashing out his hand. Crystal weapons appeared to surround him in a burst of power and particles of blue. He immediately vanished in a flash, reappearing up high behind one of the Heartless, bringing down a giant double-sided axe for its head! It struck home, digging into its head and slamming it down flat to the ground in a scrunched up heap. Darkness wafted from the wound.
Those wrinkled paper arms suddenly burst with shrouding flames as they curved backwards, twisting behind its own body to dart at Noctis, spindly fingers outstretched. Noctis glanced at them, then blinked out of existence again, reappearing between the legs of the other Heartless; he summoned a lance and swung it around furiously, slicing into the Heartless's ankles to send it toppling backwards. He flipped up into the air with some kind of gun in his hand, which fired rapid shots down into the Heartless's body. He twisted at the end and landed on its chest, his gun replaced by a one-handed sword, which he drove right into the middle of the Heartless's face!
He teleported again, reappearing high up in the air, his crystal weapons swirling around him. He thrust out his hand, and they flew down like missiles toward the two fallen Heartlesses, battering into them and exploding on impact, doing incredible damage - though, they still were far from out for the count.
"Alright," Aerith spoke, turning to Kairi and Sora (seeing as Noctis had his opponents well in hand). "I'll take this one - you two can tackle that last one!" With nothing more said, Aerith gave her staff a twirl, aiming it at the ship; the whole ship shimmered as a barrier enveloped it. But it wasn't the usual domed barrier this time. It was more like a second skin, conforming perfectly to its shape (Kairi thought that had to be a lot more advanced and complicated magic than just a typical shield). Aerith let out a breath of exertion, but then she set her mouth and turned to strike out with a sweep of her staff, causing a powerful blizzard - a literal, raging snowstorm - to kick up around the area!
Kairi couldn't feel its effects at all - though she realized that the Heartless were definitely feeling it; immediately, their movements were so much more sluggish and stilted. Slow and imprecise. They really didn't do well in the cold.
"Sora! Let's freeze them!" Kairi called out, flashing a small grin at her...best friend!
"Wha-? Right! Good thinking!" Sora grinned back, then got a serious look on his face.
They ran at the Heartless together, pulling up short just out of its range of long armed reach. Kairi aimed her keyblade, channeling her magic through it as she cried out: "Blizzard!"
Sora aimed his sword, yelling, "Freeze!"
Two powerful ice blasts flew out for the Heartless; Kairi's struck its left foot, while Sora's struck its right. Both its feet froze over with hard, thick ice. And, aided by Aerith's snowstorm spell, the magical sprouted up to grow over the Heartless's legs, reaching its knees! The Heartless flailed its arms, those clubs flickering with fire - but it sputtered and died, unable to even light up while Aerith's spell was affecting it! Yes!
Kairi closed the distance between her and the Heartless, her weapon ready - Sora at her side. Kairi reached deep into her Heart, pulling up the Sonic Blade ability, letting its power flood her body again; she began blitzing left and right, back and forth between the Heartless's legs, her weapon covered in magical energy. Sora, meanwhile, took a flying leap almost straight up, slashing and spinning in spiral motions across the Heartless's chest and face.
The Heartless gazed down at them, then its head lit on fire and it bent down low, and a stream of flames was blasting out at them. Not orange flames: dark purple flames of darkness itself. Flames that couldn't be extinguished by mere cold. Kairi threw herself forward, rolling under the Heartless to get behind it, while Sora rolled left to circle around it the longer way. They both jumped up together, climbing up and slashing along the Heartless's backside. The Heartless suddenly stopped blasting its flames and reared up tall, sending them tumbling off of it. Without even turning around, its long arms contorted and reached back for them, sweeping left and right in grand gestures, darkness rippling off of them now. Kairi and Sora jumped straight up, able to time it well enough to avoid those sweeping motions - that darkness.
The Heartless twisted at its stick-thin waist to face them fully again, and its spindly hand shot out toward Kairi! She tried to leap back out of the way, but the arm stretched out even further and grabbed her anyways! Kairi hated to admit to it, but in that moment, in the grasp of a giant Heartless lifting her up into the air, as the darkness itself began to cover her and burn into her - she panicked. She slashed at its arm and tried to pry herself free of its grasp as it began to squeeze her tight! She screamed and couldn't help herself!
"Kairi!" Sora shouted fearfully. He glared at the giant Heartless with a real kind of anger, of hate, even. He stepped back, fell into a stance that Kairi didn't even recognize (it wasn't his usual), and his sword was covered in icy mist and spikes of ice itself as he cocked his arm back and hurled it up at the Heartless's arm! His sword was spinning like a boomerang, becoming a blur of blue and particles as it sliced through the Heartless's arm, then came back to Sora, slicing it a second time on the way. The Heartless shuddered and let out a shriek as its long arm fell to the ground - Sora had lopped it off completely!
Darkness oozed from the severed limb before the limb itself evaporated into nothing.
Kairi, released now, hit the ground and rolled backwards, coming up stumbling, her weapon ready again. She breathed, calming her Heart as she looked to Sora (or maybe because she was looking at him). "Sora, that was amazing - I didn't know you could do anything like that!"
Sora stared at her, confusion on his face. He glanced down at his sword, at his own hand as he made to raise it to his chest. "Neither...did I-"
The Heartless's remaining arm came sweeping out for them again as darkness rippled across its entire body, destroying the ice as it raged!
"Sora!" Kairi cried.
Sora turned, but the arm hit him hard. He rolled across the ground, grunting with pain.
Kairi managed to get out of its way before it reached her. She aimed her weapon up at the monster's chest and fired off another blizzard spell! The Heartless balked, stumbling backwards. But only for a moment. Kairi ran for Sora's side, helping him up again (while keeping her eye on that Heartless).
"I think I made it mad," Sora said woozily, rubbing his head.
"It's a Heartless, Sora - don't you dare feel bad for it," Kairi responded, exasperated.
"I wasn't-" Sora started to protest.
The Heartless jumped up high, arcing through the air toward them - planning to squash them flat!
Kairi and Sora stared up at it, trying to think of which way to even dodge.
Suddenly, a bolt of blue energy streaked across the grassy field toward them. It stopped right between them and burst, forming a shimmering barrier around the pair of them. Kairi glanced to her right just in time to catch Aerith's eye, before the woman was returning to fighting her own giant Heartless.
Kairi and Sora's Heartless opponent slammed down atop the barrier - but it held, even as waves of darkness blasted off in all directions from the impact. The Heartless backflipped gracefully, its body contorting like...well, paper! It landed deftly and began swinging its giant clubs, darkness covered now, for the sides of the barrier. Trying to smash through it.
"Ok, we need a new plan," Kairi said quickly to Sora. "It's really mad, and a lot more dangerous now."
"Ummm...how about we just try not to get hit?" Sora suggested. Kairi gave him a look. "I really mean it, Kairi! We just have to try to be faster than it is, right? We keep dodging it, keep moving, and we finish it off that way! We keep it on its toes, and keep it too busy to even think about doing anything else!"
"I guess that's as good a plan as any - and I did ask," Kairi laughed. "Ok. Let's do it!"
The Heartless spread its arms wide, then slammed its two clubs on either side of the barrier, shattering it.
Kairi and Sora ran forward, straight for the Heartless once more.
Kairi went left, slashing across its foot - Sora slashed the right foot. They ran around its back and slashed across its heels together, meeting in the middle, face to face. They turned together and cried out, "Thunder!" Both bolts of lightning struck the back of each of the Heartless's ankles, causing it to stumble forward, catching itself on its single, long arm. Kairi ran up its back again (practically tap-dancing to avoid the burning on her shoes!), while Sora circled around to slash at its vulnerable arm, dragging his sword up along its length. The Heartless lashed out at him, but he jumped up and dove over it, rolling as he came up again. He kept running, circling it and slashing its leg as he made another pass.
Kairi got right up behind its head and stabbed her keyblade into it wall the force she had, and then she shouted: "Blizzard!"
Her magic exploded from the end of her weapon, encasing its entire head in a big block of ice. The Heartless slumped down even further, and the darkness around its body vanished. Kairi ripped her blade free, held it back, and gave a mighty swing with a yell! The ice shattered and the Heartless fell sideways, tumbling and rolling on the side with no arm to catch it!
Sora raced straight for its face, slashing furiously. Kairi twirled her blade, aiming it straight down, and stabbed it into the side of the Heartless's head!
"THUNDER!" she shouted again, feeling the energy sapping from her body now. She was almost drained of her magical power.
Sora slashed several more times before stepping back, aiming his own sword, and crying, "Thunder!" as well.
The Heartless finally jolted, its body contorting and vibrating - and then it collapsed, and began to dissipate. A great, big Heart floated out of the darkness, disappearing into the sky.
Kairi jumped down before the Heartless vanished from under her, landing next to Sora.
She turned to watch that Heart disappear, bringing a hand up to her own.
Whoever you were...and wherever you are now...I hope you can-
"You can rest easy now," came Sora's soft voice. His eyes, too, were fixed on that Heart.
The two of them shared a look, smiles on their faces.
A great, resounding crash broke the moment. They turned to see Aerith's Heartless enemy disintegrating - the woman herself dusting off her hands as she strode over to them. Noctis seemed to have been helping her, as Kairi caught a glimpse of him hanging in the air before he blinked down to the ground again to trail along behind Aerith.
"Whew!" Aerith exclaimed, wiping at her forehead. "That was one of the tougher experiences I've had to go through in life. I have a feeling we're going to have to go through it again soon."
"'One of the tougher experiences?'" Kairi noted.
Aerith flashed a smile. "Oh, trust me, you don't want to know."
"I kind of do!" Sora said eagerly.
Aerith's smile dimmed somewhat. She shook her head. "Let's just say that the likes of Maleficent and Ansem aren't the only powerful dark beings out there. In fact, in my opinion, I would even say that...they aren't even the strongest, per se. Anyways! Why don't we get on the ship and get going before any more nasty Heartless show up again to ambush us?" she went on perkily.
"Ok," Kairi agreed, grabbing Sora's hand and running for the ship.
Aerith was right: they really shouldn't try pushing their luck. Not with two Hearts of Pure Light here!
Of course, as fate would have it: they pushed it anyways.
Just by existing.
Sora had actually convinced Noctis to show him a few tricks with his weapons (a miracle in its own right; but then, that was what Sora did), while Kairi was sitting with Alice and explaining to her all about...everything, in as great of detail as she could. Which was taking a while, as there was a whole lot to cover.
One moment, they were enjoying each other's company in the cargo hold, and the next alarms were blaring and lights were flashing, and the whole ship was rocking.
Everyone ran to the front of the ship, entering the pilot's cabin.
"What's going on?" Kairi asked.
Aerith just pointed right out the forward window in response.
Kairi gazed out to see...Heartless. Large, ship-looking Heartless. Some with long, hanging limbs with claws - others with tentacles that glowed. They all had yellow glowing eyes and mouths.
"Okay! I'm going to need everybody on deck for this! Man your stations and pick a turret!" Aerith announced as she put the Gummi ship into a spiral, blasting with the forward blaster weapons to destroy two large ship-shaped Heartless with gaping mouths of sharp teeth.
"I was never all that great at carnival shooting games," Noctis muttered, jumping into a chair and reaching for a console of buttons and joysticks.
"I've never played any shooting games," Kairi told him helpfully.
"Me neither," Sora added, eyeing his joystick uncertainly. He tapped a random button and peered at the screen as it burst to life, showing the outside of the ship - somewhere off to the right, maybe.
"Well, then we're all just going to have learn quick, aren't we?" Aerith rallied. But her smile did look rather...anxious now.
"Kairi, I can't pretend to know much at all, even now - but those monsters out there don't seem to agree very well with my...Heart," Alice spoke up, grasping Kairi's chair as the ship rocked again. "I'd like to help however I can."
Aerith glanced at Alice. She nodded, gesturing to a vacant seat. "Just try and aim for the Heartless and fire away! Simple and easy! You won't be far behind any of the others here, it sounds like. You're all going to get the hang of it together!"
Kairi watched Alice stumble toward the chair, seating herself and pulling the straps down over her body. She glanced at Kairi, then over to Sora - and the Noctis. She had a look of intense concentration on her face - and a total lack of any real fear or concern about the situation. She nodded and muttered something to herself, then reached out for the joystick. She gave it some experimental little pushes and pulls - then squeezed at the triggers. She peered at the screen, watching lights flash as the blasters fired off into the Ocean Between.
"My, what a curious thing. It's strikingly like those new-fangled auto-moths...automo- hmmm. I suppose the name isn't important right now," Alice spoke to herself, like she had all the time in the world. She glanced at Kairi, giving an assured nod. "Though I did hear about them!" she added, as if it were in doubt.
"Automobiles," Aerith said, flashing a smile at the girl. "Wonderful, Alice, dear. Now, how about we try and blast some of these Heartless?"
"Oh, yes, of course! I sorely apologize!" Alice exclaimed, refocusing on the screen and grasping the joystick much more certainly. "Now...we would simply move this little box right over to this monster - what a Heartless thing - and we simply...ah, there it goes! You best stay away from us here, you big, ugly, ravenous thing!" She looked quite pleased with herself at her first Heartless kill.
Kairi smiled, and focused on getting a hang of the controls, herself. On getting her own turret to work. She mimicked Alice, watching the box on the screen move...almost capturing the Heartless in it...and she squeezed the triggers: the Heartless was struck by a volley of blaster bolts, and it trembled and exploded into nothing. Her smile grew wider at the accomplishment. She could do this - they could do this. And...it might actually be kind of fun.
Sora was certainly having fun; "Haha, yeah! Take that! And you too! Just try it! You think you can sneak past me? Nuh-uh!" he crowed as he blasted at a crowd of Heartless swarming the right side of the ship, clearing them all out.
Kairi settled into her seat and drew a breath, blasting away at her own Heartless enemies on the left hand side of the ship.
Noctis seemed to be shooting Heartless trying to go beneath the ship. Or, whatever "beneath" meant when Aerith was sending them into swooping flips, loops, spirals and great dives and jukes!
A few times, they banged up against floating debris of some kind - some of it looked like Gummi blocks, while others were more like...structures. Rocks, and stone, little islands with trees or grass and...
Kairi didn't want to really think about it right now.
Aerith weaved them through it all as best she could, including taking them around big asteroids - until they emerged out of it all into open space again.
The Heartless seemed to have given up on chasing them...for now.
Kairi sat back, breathing relief as she put her hand over her face.
Aerith turned around in her chair to look at them all, a pleased look on her face. "Good job, everyone. We made it through without even taking too much damage-"
Kairi saw a great flash of light, and then a massive...whale was hurtling toward them, filling up the entire forward viewport!
"AERITH!" she yelled, pointing.
Aerith turned back to look. Her eyes went wide and she reached for her controls, slamming her palm on the emergency booster button - but she was too late.
Far too late!
The giant whale's gaping mouth opened wide as it roared, and swallowed them all up.