Keyblade secrets. Jim sort of secrets! Kairi secrets! Sora secrets?

TW: Medium Gore

Kairi floated down until the soles of her shoes just brushed the metal catwalk. The faint glow still rippling from her skin lit the dusky space around them. Behind her, Jim landed with a thud, knees bending to take the impact of his jump. She looked at him over her shoulder.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Sure," he shrugged, glancing at her then away. She strode forward purposefully, Destiny's Embrace held loosely in her hand. He was quick to follow.

She led them past several alternate paths and then picked the left hand of a fork in the catwalk without hesitating. As far as Jim could tell, there wasn't any indication of where anything went, but she seemed certain. Her gaze was fixed straight ahead, eyes glowing brightly. It was unnerving.

"So," he finally drawled, hands in his pockets, "how do you know where we're going?"

"I can feel it," she answered, and there was a strangely harmonic quality to her voice he hadn't heard before. "The heart of this world is-" she stopped speaking, realizing belatedly that she probably wasn't supposed to talk to him about that. World order felt like a distant concern compared to the hum rebounding between her heart and the planet's.

"The what now?" Jim asked incredulously, a hint of a nervous chuckle rippling his words. She met his gaze and for a second her expression was frighteningly inhuman. Just a second though, as she let out a skittish giggle and tried to hide her smile behind her free hand.

"Sorry, I was kind of babbling. Don't worry about it."

Jim shook his head. "Okay…" He trailed off, shrugging hands into his pockets. The space they walked through was cavernous, ribbed with machinery. He studied dials and lights and miles of wires and piping as they trotted under them. Kairi set a fast pace, purpose carved into the curve of her spine and the lift of her chin. Her footfalls barely hit, the dull metallic sound buried under Jim's steps as he kept up with her.

"It would be nice to know what I'm getting into," he mused after a few moments, watching her out of the corners of his eyes.

Kairi looked at him, blinking a little. She'd nearly forgotten he was there. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you weren't all glowy an hour ago. How do you know where we're going? What happens when we get there?"

She looked down, still moving forward. "It's… complicated." She frowned, puffing air into one cheek as she processed how to answer. It was beginning to make more sense why Sora had told Ariel so much. How was she supposed to keep secrets from someone who was fighting alongside her?

"Try me," Jim replied, sliding into an easy slouch as they both gradually slowed their pace.

"Okay… um, which question do you want answered first?"

"How are we getting to the ship?"

"I… I can tell where it is, and where we are, and where, well, everything is. But only when I'm down here."

He blinked at her, but his face was more curious than judgmental as he asked, "How?" He glanced at the strange sword in her hand. He'd seen the heart-shaped crystals that floated up from the Heartless when she and her friends destroyed them. Those hearts, the term Heartless, and now the "heart of this world". It had to all be connected right? "Does it have anything to do with that?" he added, nodding at her Keyblade.

"This?" Kairi asked, holding it up. "Sort of… but I'm not really supposed to talk about it."

"Why not?" he asked, bemused.

"To protect the people on other worlds, we have to keep things secret. It's sort of a big rule. Sora's really bad at it, though," she added, chuckling.

Jim rolled his eyes good-naturedly. He wasn't surprised. That kid seemed like an exception to that rule, any rule really, take your pick. Turning his attention back to Kairi, he said, "Sounds annoying."

"Sometimes," she agreed, nodding.

"I can keep a secret," he threw out, tone breezy, shoulders back.

"Riku would kill me."

"Who said he has to know?" He grinned at her.

She giggled, feeling effervescent wrapped in the world's song. "Good point." She paused, lining up her thoughts. "Okay, so I'm a little different than most people."

"Obviously," Jim said dryly, gesturing broadly to the glow and the sword and the breeze that only seemed to touch her.

She elbowed him as he laughed. "Let me finish! My heart is made from a piece of an old weapon."

"Like a cyborg?" he clarified, raising an eyebrow.

"No," she shook her head. "Not the organ. My heart as in my light, my center, what makes me, me."

"Okay… so you're a weapon?" he said slowly, mostly getting it.

She'd never thought of it that way. "I'm a part of one… I guess? Anyway, that weapon is connected to the universe's heart, Kingdom Hearts."

"You're saying the universe… has a heart?"

"Yes. Everything has one- you, me, this world."

He stared at her incredulously. "Never heard that one before."

She shrugged, staring ahead of them again. "It wouldn't matter to you. So long as a world's heart is locked, its inhabitants are safe."

"That's why it's a key," he stated, glancing at the Keyblade again, eyebrows raised.

"Exactly." Kairi smiled at him. "People who have Keyblades have to keep the worlds safe."

"So what does that have to do with," he paused, gesturing to her again, "all of this?"

"Oh, um, it doesn't. At least not exactly. Keyblades are made to imitate the weapon my heart is a piece of. Since that weapon can connect to the heart of this world, my heart can too. It's singing to me," she tilted her head up, eyes going distant.

Jim watched her for a moment, hands in his pockets again. When she didn't snap out of it, he gently waved a hand in front of her face. "Montressor to Kairi."

She shook her head, blinking rapidly. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." He gave her an easy smile. "So what happens when we get there?"

"I don't know yet. We're close, though."

"They probably left someone behind to keep watch."

"We should be careful," she said, focusing on the ship floating high above the planet's surface. She could feel its anchor piercing through the moss, biting into the metal ground. Winds buffeted it, interrupted in their natural course. The darkness consuming it hung thick, tainting the light from distant stars. It did not belong there, the world sang to her. The darker part of its song longed to swallow it and add it to its hoard. Kairi shivered involuntarily.

"Everything okay?" Jim asked, bringing her awareness back to herself. She blinked at him a couple of times, then nodded as she brought them to a stop.

"It's right above us."

He looked around, seeing catwalks stretching out in every direction, but no ladders reaching towards the surface. "Okay… but how do we get to it?"

She frowned, looking around and coming to the same conclusion he had. Not only were there no surface exits visible near them, the closest ones she could feel were miles away. She had the distinct feeling that if they kept wandering around down here, she might lead them someplace they couldn't come out of again. It was getting harder and harder to separate herself from the melody of this world's heart.

Besides that, once they did reach the surface, how were they supposed to get on the ship? An idea struck her.

"The map is yours, isn't it?" she asked.

He nodded, one eyebrow raised. "Yeah…"

"Tell me about it."

"Why?"

"It's important to you, right?" she pressed, thinking about Jim's reaction to finding out it was lost. She recalled his stand-off with Silver, tense and possessive even from a distance where the words were unclear.

"I guess," he shrugged, looking away as his face closed off.

"Okay, well… tell me about it, and I think I can take us to where it is."

He watched her for a beat. "Keyblade secrets?"

"Keyblade secrets," she agreed. Then, thinking a little further, she added, "Well, more like Kairi secrets."

That earned a faint smile. "Alright," he said. "Ever since I was little I would read these stories about this place - Treasure Planet - and Captain Flint swooping in out of nowhere," he made a sweeping gesture with his arm, like a bird diving in flight, "and vanishing without a trace." He grinned at her, spreading his hands to mime the ship disappearing. She smiled, closing her eyes to listen as he went on.

"Mom said they were just stories, but I knew it wasn't just a myth. This old salamander crashed on our dock and gave me the map, and I had to go. This is my chance to make things right." He looked down, shifting his weight. "I… I kinda messed things up back home, but if I come back with the treasure then everything will really change. I can fix things, but I need that map to do it."

"There," Kairi said, opening her eyes and plucking the air in front of Jim's heart like a string. At the gesture, a glowing golden thread appeared, coming straight out of Jim's chest and shooting up into the metal workings above their heads.

"Whoa." He stared at it in surprise.

"This leads to the map," she explained. "It's the connection between your heart and it. I just needed your help to find it." She smiled at him, hands tucked behind her back.

"Okay, wha-" Jim didn't get a chance to finish his question. As he opened his mouth, Kairi grabbed the string, closed her eyes and pulled. Her power flared, hair flying, body alight. Jim backed up a step, alarmed. Then, in front of them, something similar to a dark corridor opened. Instead of inky blackness, however, this portal was made of golden light.

Kairi opened her incandescent eyes and smiled.

"What is that?" Jim asked, still standing back somewhat uneasily. The golden thread from his heart was gone.

Her smile didn't falter. "It's a portal. It'll take us to the ship." She started walking forward, feet hardly touching the ground. "C'mon!"

He hesitated a moment, then, shaking his head, he trotted after her. They stepped through the golden egg-shaped door, and everything went white. They emerged in a strange kind of hallway, cavernously huge, without floor or ceiling or walls. The space was made of whites and creams and golds pulsing and flowing around each other like ink on water. They were walking on what appeared to be nothing, colors sliding languidly underneath their feet, but it still felt solid. Jim glanced around, sticking close to Kairi's side.

As they progressed further, the door they had gone through closed and vanished. It was disorienting, losing his only reference point, but Kairi didn't falter. The impossible brightness of the room stung his eyes and skin like a cut being cleaned. Still, he couldn't help glancing around to take it all in.

After a moment, Kairi lifted her hand, holding it out in front of her. Another golden portal bloomed from her palm. She smiled over her shoulder at Jim, stepping out of the way. "After you," she chimed, sweeping one arm towards the door. He rolled his eyes good-naturedly and walked through.

They stepped out into the hold of the ship. It was horribly dark, the only light coming from the quickly closing portal door and the hole still in the floor. The light corridor closed, and with it, the brilliance ebbed from Kairi's skin as well. The song thrumming in her ears faded now that she was far enough away from the world's heart. She once again belonged fully to herself.

And as herself, she felt the oppressive darkness like a smothering blanket. Jim had already started fumbling around looking for the map, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Something's not right," she said quietly. He froze, straightening up. "This ship is crawling with darkness," she murmured.

"Well, yeah, it's night," he quipped, hiding his own unease.

Instead of replying, Kairi summoned a pearl of light in her left hand. In front of them, in sharp relief, was a giant version of the spider sailor's face made from the wood of the ship's walls. It opened its planked eyelids and grinned.

"Lost, are we?" a sibilant voice asked, reverberating throughout the ship rather than coming straight from the twisted maw moving in front of them.

"Scroop? What the-?!" Jim breathed as they both scrambled backwards.

"His darkness has taken over the ship!" Kairi explained, coming to the realization as she said it. Jim lunged forward, having spotted the coil of rope, but before he could reach it the floor bucked beneath them. It tossed them both upwards as the ceiling opened to catch them.

The room they landed in was dark, but they could tell from the sounds of their breathing and the ship's creaking it was smaller. It was too dark to see, so Kairi summoned another ball of light as she stood up.

"There's no door," Jim noted, looking around. The room was completely empty, just bare wood walls. They pressed and poked around, trying to find any hidden catches or gaps, but to no avail. "What do we do now?" he asked. Kairi frowned, gripping her Keyblade tight. What would Sora and Riku do?

She couldn't guess for Riku, but she knew what Sora would have done. So she picked a spot, raised Destiny's Embrace high, and then leveled its tip at the center of the wall. Her power swirled around her, the outlined shape of her lucky charm flaring out in brilliant light under her feet. A glowing keyhole appeared in the wall and a beam of light shot out of her Keyblade. The sound of a clicking lock rang through the small space. The lights faded, but where the keyhole had been now there was a door. They dashed through it, out into a hallway Jim at least was familiar with.

An eerie red glow shown under the metal catwalk as steam hissed through the pipes above their heads. The hallway was lined with barrels and crates. "This way," Jim said, steering Kairi by the arm. Crouched, they crept along, scurrying back towards the hold.

An anchor cut through the air between the heads, smashing into the wooden ceiling above them. They leapt apart as the rest of the Anchor Raider Heartless followed behind it, swinging from the chain it had just cast. Three more sprang up to join it, spinning around the teenagers in a tight circle.

"Wind!" Kairi shouted, buffeting the Heartless back with an aerora spell so she had room to swing her Keyblade. Jim aimed his pistol for their heads, clipping one in the temple and the other straight in the face. It disappeared in a shower of darkness. Kairi caught a third one's bright red blade on Destiny's Embrace. She had to hold it back with both hands. As she pushed forward a roar built in the back of her throat.

Jim fired another laser burst and it caught a Heartless in the chest. He grabbed Kairi's arm, whipping down the hallway, shoving barrels over to block the path behind them. She kept up, firing off a few blizzard spells to buy them some more time. Just when they thought they were getting somewhere, the floor dropped out from under them.

They landed roughly in another cargo hold, legs sprawled out underneath them from the unexpected fall. Jim leapt to his feet. Kairi scrambled up behind him, grabbing his arm before he could dart off.

"We need to find the source of the darkness if we're going to make it out of here," she whispered. He could just barely make out her shadowy shape in the pitch black room.

"Pretty hard to do that if he keeps tossing us around the ship," he pointed out.

The sound of metal swishing quickly through the air cut off whatever Kairi was about to say. They ducked instinctively, the sword passing just above Jim's head. The cargo hold echoed with clanking metal and creaking boards. It seemed the Heartless had caught up to them.

"Light!" Kairi yelled, shooting out pillars in six directions. The sudden flare of magic lit the space almost too quickly for their eyes to adjust. It took out three Anchor Raiders, buffeting back the rest and splitting open a crate full of bags of grain. All too quickly, it was gone, and the hold was plunged into darkness. Jim had been lining up a shot and fired anyway. The laser bolt arced through the space, but neither teen tried to see if it landed.

Jim had caught just enough of a glimpse to know where to head for the door. "Follow me!" he hissed under his breath. Blinded by the sharp changes in lighting, Kairi grabbed on to the back of his shirt to keep them from getting separated. They crouched below the top levels of the crates, moving as quickly as they dared, while the sounds of swinging Heartless careened above their heads.

They heard an anchor sink into the wood above them. Bringing them up short, Kairi yanked Jim behind her just in time to raise Destiny's Embrace. She caught the Heartless's swing a little lower on her blade than she'd intended, throwing her off balance. Jim fired another shot, glow briefly illuminating the Heartless's skull-like visage before it dissolved in front of them. Darkness filled their vision again.

"Nice shot," Kairi whispered as Jim led them forward again.

"Might be my last one," Jim informed her. They stopped short, having reached a wall. Both teens felt around for the door.

"Well, at least you made it count," Kairi said. The sound of more Heartless had her turning around, prepared to guard their back. But Jim had found the door knob. Shoving it open, he grabbed her arm and pulled her through behind him. Together, they slammed it shut, hearing a sword bury itself deep into the wood on the other side.

"C'mon!" Jim called, taking off at a run. Kairi followed quickly, gratefully for the uncanny red glow emanating from under the grating that made up this passageway's floor. They ducked and weaved and fought their way down the hall and up a narrow flight of stairs. The ship itself struggled against them, portions of wall slamming inwards, intent on crushing them. The stairs themselves bucked underneath their feet, tossing them about. But Jim worked out the timing of it and Kairi cast some handy spells and soon they were bursting onto the gun deck.

Jim paused, unsure of where to lead them next. They were headed in the opposite direction of the map, and he had no idea where the "source of darkness" would even be.

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked, glancing around the dimly lit passage.

"Where do we need to go to stop those things?" he asked.

She faltered, thinking. "I - I don't know. I can't sense anything clearly. It's all just… dark."

"If we…" he trailed off, looking for a word, "do whatever it is we're gonna do to that stuff, he'll lose control of the ship, right?"

"Cleanse it; I guess?" she offered, shrugging. "And yes, he will."

"Then I know where to go," Jim said, grim smirk tugging up one corner of his mouth.

"Where?"

"The place he's been trying to keep us from - the main deck."

He turned to go, heading towards the next flight of stairs.

"Jim, wait," Kairi said, placing a hand on his arm. He paused, one eyebrow raised quizzically. "Your gun's out of ammo, right?" she asked him.

He checked the clip. "I've got two shots left." There was more ammunition in the captain's quarters, he knew. Well, provided the mutineers hadn't cleaned everything out. But even if they hadn't, there wasn't time to get it.

Kairi looked away, clearly thinking. She dug through her pockets, pulling out the amulet and chain Sora had given her at the gala, as well as a couple of potions. "Take these," she said, practically shoving them into Jim's hand. "They'll heal you if you get hurt," she added, pointing at the little green vials.

"Okay…" Jim said slowly, bemused, as he tucked the items into his pockets.

She blew her bangs away from her face. "I'm going to teach you something I probably shouldn't."

"Keyblade secrets?" he guessed.

"Keyblade secrets," she confirmed. "I'm teaching you magic."

"Can you do it on the way?" he asked. "We should keep moving."

Kairi nodded, and together they started walking. "There's not a lot of time, so I can only teach you one spell."

"That wind one was pretty useful," Jim mused, thinking of her blasting back hoards of Heartless, and of her shoving both of them over holes that kept opening up underneath them on the stairs.

She shook her head. "That's not a beginner spell. I won't have time to do anything like that. We're starting with fire."

"I like the sound of that," he said, smirking. She couldn't help rolling her eyes at him.

"Magic comes from your heart," she explained as they kept moving, "but it uses the energy from your body and requires intention from your mind. Oh, and you'll need to focus it through something." She looked him over, trying to come up with something better than just his hand. The last thing she needed was him burning himself.

"This?" he offered, holding up the pistol. Hearing Heartless spawn behind them, they picked up speed.

"Sure," she agreed. "Point with that. Fire is easiest to get from around your stomach, so take a deep breath, picture where you want the flame to go, and then send it out. It helps to yell - your voice will channel more energy. Most people start with the name of the spell itself."

Jim nodded. He'd heard the three teens using enough magic to have put that together on his own. An anchor sank into the ceiling just behind them. They whirled, Kairi catching the Heartless's sword on her Keyblade just in time. Jim pointed his pistol, calling out as he tried to summon something he didn't fully understand. The spell didn't work, so he simply fired his gun. Kairi batted the Heartless back with one swing, two, and it burst. Its crystalline heart flew through the ceiling, gone almost as fast as the teenagers.

They whipped around a corner and through a narrow door frame to the next staircase. The ceiling above the staircase landing slammed downwards right as they stepped under it. Kairi just barely had time to tackle Jim back through the way they had come. They staggered upright and darted under the wooden planks as the ceiling chunk raised upwards again. These stairs were even more volatile, heaving and dipping and eventually flattening out entirely, sending them sliding back down.

Kairi stabbed her blade into the floor, grabbing Jim's hand and bringing them to a halt. "Jump!" she ordered, getting her feet under her and then leaping upwards as she let go of Destiny's Embrace. Jim scrambled to follow her. Under their feet, she shot off a burst of fire, creating enough momentum to push them to the staircase door. Calling her Keyblade back to her hand, she used the teeth to hook onto the frame of the door, pulling them the rest of the way through.

They burst onto the main deck. It was seething with Heartless and wrapped in darkness. Anchor raiders swung from the rigging, while Air Soldiers swooped from above. On the deck itself High Soldiers, Divers and Barrel Spiders converged on the two teens.

Scroop's disembodied laughter filled the air. "Do say hello to Mr. Arrow for me," he hissed. Kairi and Jim weren't given room to reply. They struggled with the hoard of combatants, Kairi doing her best to keep them away from Jim. He was saving his last shot, trying the spell she'd taught him again and again.

"I think I need another lesson!" he called over the din, kicking in the glass on a Diver's helmet.

Kairi swatted a charging Barrel Spider away. "If thinking isn't working, try something else! Magic's different for everyone!" she yelled, following it up with a burst of lightning.

Jim considered this as he ducked under a grinning red blade. Grabbing a passing High Soldier by its horns, he threw it at another Diver Heartless. The two went sprawling, and Jim yanked the intact helmet from the aquatic Heartless's head. "Got anything flammable?" he shouted.

"What?" Kairi asked, not following. She rolled in front of him, catching an Air Pirate's punch on her Keyblade. Jim slammed the butt of his gun down on its head, then yanked off its bandana and stuffed that in the helmet.

"Nevermind! Get me over there!" He pointed at the starboard cannon, still distinguishable despite its dark coating.

"Got it! Stick close!" She took off, swinging at any Heartless in their path. He did as ordered, helmet tucked under his arm.

"Cover me for a sec," he asked.

"Already on it!" she pointed out, crossing swords with an Air Pirate right behind them. Jim didn't answer, circling the machine until he found where the ammunition was stored. He tried to pry open the compartment, but the darkness hardened at his touch.

"Kairi!" he called, looking back to see her on the opposite side of a barrier. She was swarmed, holding off the hordes of Heartless with blasts of light that temporarily revealed the wooden planks under her feet. She didn't answer his call, and he didn't blame her.

Turning back to the cannon, he placed a hand on its black coating. Jaw clenched, he took a deep breath in through his nose.

I hope I'm there, catchin' some of the light coming off you that day.

"Light!" he snarled, throwing everything he had behind the word. A glaucous flash flooded out from under his palm, melting the darkness away and revealing metal underneath. He pried open the door, grabbing the inert cannonball waiting inside. Luckily, it fit inside the helmet. He started to tie it in with the bandana, then realized that that was pointless with this as ammunition. Pulling it out again, he grabbed his pistol and got ready to throw.

"Kairi! Come here!" he bellowed. She glanced back for a moment, then sprinted for the barrier. With a word, she dissolved it, putting it up behind her once she was by Jim.

"You've got a plan?" she asked, breathless from the fight.

He nodded, holding up the cannonball. "We've got a bomb. You're gonna need to drop this again," he pointed out, tapping the barrier with the gun's muzzle.

"Alright, just tell me when," she said, nodding. The Heartless were circling, beating their various fists and appendages against the barrier.

"No time like the present, I guess," he replied, shrugging.

"I'll blow them back first, you just aim for where I throw them."

"Right."

"Ready? Three… two… one!" She banished the barrier. Pointing Destiny's Embrace, she shot off an aeroga spell, channeling the magic into a funnel that pushed all the Heartless to the middle of the deck. As the spell fired off, Jim tossed the cannonball, letting the wind take it as well.

"FIRE!" he shouted, doing his best to aim as he let his last laser bullet fly. But the bolt wasn't the only thing to come zooming out of his gun's muzzle. Magic followed the laser, a swirling fireball that chased down the cannonball, exploding it in the center of the Heartless swarm. Kairi threw up a final barrier just in time, as the huge blast ricocheted around them. Still, the teens ducked on reflex, arms shielding their heads and eyes.

Once it was silent, they straightened. The heartless were gone… as was a good chunk of the main deck. The darkness was thinner too, mostly bunched in a large mound below one of the masts. Kairi scanned around them, then noticed that Jim was swaying.

"Here," she said, holding out an ether. "You used a lot of energy doing that. This'll help."

"Thanks," he said, taking it. She pulled another out for herself, downing it in a single swallow. He copied her, surprised when it tasted more like starlight and wind whipping off his solar sail than any drink he'd ever had.

Dropping the barrier, Kairi made her way over to the glob of darkness. She leveled her Keyblade at it. Taking a deep breath, she fired off a cascade of light that blasted the shadow apart. As it vanished, the rest of the darkness coating the ship faded as well.

In their wake was Scroop's mangled corpse.

He was dented and bloody, eyes open and dull. Kairi retched in her throat, quickly covering her mouth and backing up a step. Jim was doing the same, though he had the advantage of being slightly further away. The teens turned around, unable to keep looking at him.

"Shit," Jim swore.

"Shit," Kairi agreed, nodding. She'd technically never sworn before, but some things earned a word like that. Some things only cursing could cover.

"He was a psycho, but still…" Jim trailed off, shaking his head.

"You can't tell Sora," Kairi cut in, covering her mouth again.

Jim was floored. "Sora did that?" he asked, eyes wide. "No way."

She just shook her head. "It's hard to explain. Just, please, promise you won't say anything. To anyone."

"Okay, okay," he said, holding up his hands. "I promise."

"We should cover him up."

"Right," Jim agreed. They glanced over their shoulders, shuddering.

Slowly, the two teens found some sheets below deck. Trying not to breathe, they wrapped up the body, shrouding it completely. It was too much to carry the corpse anywhere, so they left it where it lay.

They fetched the map without speaking. Jim disabled the laser cannons on the gun deck as they went. Once that was done, Kairi faltered, realizing now she would have to get them both back to B.E.N.'s home. She felt so heavy, so far from the fizzing brilliance that had helped her make the portal last time.

"You okay?" Jim asked, seeing the look on her face.

"Yeah," she said, nodding, though her voice was far from normal. "Just trying to focus."

"Oh, sorry."

She shook her head. "It's alright. I need to make a portal to get us back to the others."

He nodded and backed up a step, giving her room to work. Breathing deep, she closed her eyes. She had used Jim's connection to the map before. Now, she'd need something stronger to bring them both home. The solution came to her instantly - her friends. She shoved past the memory of a darkened Sora pummeling a man, instead focusing on the feeling she'd felt when they were dancing. She replayed the memory of that night in Eric's kingdom, the three of them spinning through spells the others were making. She recalled a little glow of light appearing in Riku's hands and the look on his face as he startled it out of existence again. She pictured Sora biting into the paopu she held out to him and relived the taste as she did the same, thinking about the two of them as kids scribbling their faces on the wall. She remembered twice Riku pulling her from the surf, once when they were very small, and once not that long ago. She thought of her boys, her best friends, the people more important to her than any in all of the worlds.

The portal burst to life out from her palm. Just as bright and shining as the last one, the egg shaped doorway stood rippling before them.

"Ready?" she asked Jim, able to summon up a small smile.

"Let's get out of here," he agreed, nodding once. They stepped through together.

Hi, my brain is melted but here we go! Title comes from "Kyouran Hey Kids!" by THE ORAL CIGARETTES (yes their band name is in all caps). You might know it as one of the Noragami's openings, though I forget which season. IIRC the show subtitles that part of the chorus as "Hey Kids! (Go crazy)" so I assume that's the translation and that's what I'm sticking with. I really loved its frenetic energy and found it incredibly helpful in trying to visualize all the careening around the ship. I was trying to go for something similar to Oogie's mansion in KH1 but upgraded and way more interested in killing you. I feel like it wouldn't be out of place in a KH game and kinda wish I had kept up with animating so I could storyboard it or something. It would work so much better in a more visual medium, but hopefully if you listen to the song while you read it'll get you most of the way there.

Also please let me know if there's a better way I can trigger warning tag the Scroop thing? I don't want to totally give it away but also... it's a fucking corpse so I would like people to have some kind of a heads up. I don't know; like I said my brain is melting send help.

You all are so sweet and kind and I'm just happy anyone is still here. So much love to nikuhyah for following and leaving a lovely review! Big thanks also to DaniPotterLovesGod for following! I've been debating whether or not to keep uploading over here but knowing you're out there means I definitely will! So thank you thank you!

Take care of yourselves and I'll see you all soon? Eventually!