Part Four

"So where do we go from here?"

Jeria scanned the area, turning back to the rest of them with the answer soon after. "We head north, to Mickey's castle.

"What? Really?" Riku questioned, beginning to scan the area as well. "How can you tell?"

"Don't be stupid Riku, this is serious," Jeria crossed her arms, Riku grinning widely jokingly.

"How do we get there? Everything is destroyed," Aerith stated.

"I know a way, but it may not be a pleasant one," Jeria said.

"What is it?" Cloud questioned.

"I can send you all there, but the landing isn't so great."

"What do you mean by that?" Vincent questioned.

"Well," she rubbed the back of her head. "Say it be about twenty feet to the ground...maybe fifty...But believe me, it's never been more than that!"

"Hmm...above or below?"

"Umm...well, for me it's never been bellow, but I have heard of such cases."

"No way! I'm not going with the threat of it being below ground!" Riku argued.

"Fine," she smirked. "But just to let you know the Heartless aren't there yet, and a few of your friends might be there."

This got his attention. "Kairi and Sora? Selphie, Tidus, even Wakka?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. But we'll never know until we get there, will we?"

Riku frowned, soon waving a hand. "Whatever."

"Thought so..." She turned to the others, shutting her eyes. "It'll only be a minute."

However, it was in a matter of seconds when they blinked, their eyes fixing of the sky above. But they looked down, finding themselves falling. It was farther up than fifty feet, though they weren't quite sure how far. They could see the castle next to them, though, and it seemed they would fall into a courtyard of some kind.

When they finally came to a stop, they all heard a cracking sound underneath them, thinking it was themselves. But as they each stood, they saw the splintered brooms on the ground, Aerith sighing in relief that it was none of them.

"Alright so where-" Riku began, but stopped and jumped back when he saw the broom splinters rise from the ground, forming each into new ones, and walking off. They all just stared after them, until they looked over to Vincent, who scowled and cursed under his breath as one of the brooms hit him in the knees with its pale, running off with the rest.

"That's it, I've had it with this place already!" Vincent shouted, shaking his fist in the air.

"Hey wait, where is Jeria?" Riku questioned, looking around.

"Who cares? We're better off without her," Cloud stated, walking forward.

"What do you mean by that?!" Riku yelled, his eyes narrow.

"Once a Heartless, always a Heartless."

"But weren't you one once?" Riku shot back.

"Yes, but I wasn't born that way, especially what I heard she did to Sephiroth five years back," he said, Riku backing down. "What was it? She defeated him in one hit, and then crushed his ribcage with her shoes and laughed about it? I'm not entirely sure what her intentions are, even if she brought us here, and I'll never believe they're anything noble."

Cloud continued on his way, Vincent going off to find where that broom went. Riku stood there, his pride shot down, when Aerith came over and put a hand on his back. She smiled, trying to get him to cheer up.

"Don't let him get to you," she said. "He's been like that ever since...well, the whole while I've known him."

"Maybe he has a point, though. Maybe I am being ignorant."

"Maybe so, maybe not. You can never tell, but in that while you are ignorant, you can always change something."

He looked up from where he stared at his feet, surprised by her words. She only continued to smile and walked away, running after Cloud. As Riku stood there in thought, contemplating her words, he thought he heard footsteps from behind, but ignored. As he took one step though, he heard a loud squawking, like a duck, and turned to face the creature which approached him.

He thought he recognized it, but couldn't quite remember. He could hardly understand it, but made out the words it spoke...sort of.

"You! Why you frickin' frakin', I know you!!" it shouted, putting up its fists as if to start a boxing match. The only thing was, it was about two feet tall.

"Umm...hi..." he answered slowly. "I think I know you."

"Well you should! My name's Donald, wizard to the great King Mickey!"

"King Mickey?! You know where he is?!" Riku questioned.

"Yeah, he's in the throne room. But you aren't getting away that easily-"

"Thanks, duck," Riku stated, patting Donald on the head and running off.

"HEEEEYYY!!!!" Donald squawked loudly, jumping up and down as Riku finally disappeared around the corner.

Riku ran through the halls, following the signs accordingly to the throne room. As he passed another three brothers of ducks, the brooms from before, (and giving Vincent directions on where they went), he ended up at a large set of doors, painted white. It gave him the eerily feeling once more of Kingdom Hearts, but as they opened, he just thought over and over again that it wasn't them. In fact his fear was put at ease when it wasn't, a red carpet leading to the throne where Mickey sat, speaking with Cloud and Aeris.

Mickey came down from his chair, keeping the same smile he always did as he walked over.

"Hello Riku. Nice to see you again."

"Yeah, nice to see you here too. So what's going on? How did the Heartless unleash again?"

"It's a terrible, terrible fate the worlds are going through right now," Mickey stated darkly. "We fear that without a Keybarer things may turn to the worse, especially since this power is stronger than the last."

"Hey, I have two Keyblades, don't forget!" He held out the two blades, soon grinning slowly. "Or didn't you tell him yet?"

"We were going to before you came," Cloud stated.

"By golly you do!" Mickey laughed happily. "Well isn't that something? Well at least there's some hope left!"

"King Mickey," Riku began, putting the blades away to his sides, "where's Sora and Kairi? Wouldn't they be here?"

"Actually we don't know where your friends are," he said. "We've been looking all over but it seems the Heartless have too much of a grip on space travel. We haven't been able to send even a spy near where we think they are."

"So what now?" Aerith asked.

"You can all stay here if you like, seeing how your world was destroyed and all, huh?" King Mickey stated. He waved over to the door keeper to send in the brooms. What they found, however, was shocking to King Mickey, but to no surprise in the others eyes.

"Ha, HA! I have you now!" Vincent shouted, jumping onto the broom to scurried into the throne room. He held it down as he chopped it into pieces, stopping when he heard Cloud cough loudly on purpose. "Oh, umm...excuse me." Vincent stood, dusting off his arms.

"No worry," King Mickey laughed, pointing to the broom sheds. "They grow back anyway."

The broom formed into new ones by how many pieces there were, Vincent eyeing them coldly. "Yes...I can see that..."

"The brooms will show you to your rooms," King Mickey said. "Please enjoy your stay."

Riku sat there, staring up into the dark, starry night sky. Everything was calm, quiet, peace filling this kingdom. Everyone had gotten into their separate rooms when the brooms had showed them, though Vincent wasn't quite sure if he could trust falling asleep with those brooms lurking about. However, though the rest had gone to sleep, he sat up now, just finding himself caught in thought.

He wondered what was going on out there, out in the other worlds. He wondered what Kairi and Sora were doing right now, how they thought of what was happening, if they were still out there. He still thought of how the Heartless had come back, why they came back. And then he thought, "What if Jeria wasn't all they could trust?" What if she was as evil as he father, but only hid it away until the right time to strike? But then again, why did she help them, if she was truly evil? Why would she bring King Mickey back here?

He yawned, blinking as he stared further up into space. Everything seemed the same for the longest time, until he saw a twinkle in the stars. It made him wonder even more, that maybe it was Kairi, smiling up at the same sky. His mind wandered, and as he blinked one more time, his room fell into darkness, the walls, and all furniture disappearing with it. He stood up from where he sat at the window seat, it, along with the window and everything outside vanishing. He looked onward, seeing a white figure emerging from the black area. He blinked, reaching his hand forward to the person which stood. His eyes widened, the figure exactly as he remembered it.

"Kairi?!" he chocked out, his disbelief grasping him. He ran for her as she turned, smiling. But as he finally almost touched her, she dissipated into nothing, leaving him in the darkness.

He blinked once again, his eyes feeling heavy and barely able to open this time. When they did come open, his eyes met the ceiling, Riku sitting up. He looked to the door suddenly, feeling drawn to it. He got up, stumbling over to the door and opening it.

It was raining, cold and damp. He walked over to the railing, seeing a black and white figure standing there in the dim light of the faded moon in the clouds, their back turned to him. It was not very far to leap, so he jumped, landing on his feet and coming to stand slowly, stumbling forward. A stood a few feet away, thunder rolling overhead. He thought, for one brief moment, that it might be her, but the hair was too dark, and the skin on the hands too fair. The woman turned, and his eyes remained narrow in his state of tiredness.

She smiled, her face cold but her eyes bright in their shadows.

"I'm not Kairi," Jeria stated, her voice sad, "but I can help you find her if you'd like."

Riku, in his tired state of surprise that it was her, only nodded slowly, his hair matted on his face. She only continued to smile, her hands suddenly beginning to go limp.

"Alright. I'll help you then."

With that, he eyes rolled back, Jeria falling to her knees and about to go face first into the mud. But Riku kneeled down before then, catching her before she fell. he held her up by a hand on her back, moving the hair that had fallen over her face with the other. As he picked her up, the blood from the wound in her back collected in a small pool on the ground he only said one thing as he took her away to get her to a medic.

"Thanks..."

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A/N To be continued...please review...