**Sora53: Sorry about the long unbearable wait! I was kinda busy...
Fans: You had writers block.
Sora53: I did not!
Fans: Yes you did.
Sora53: .....~~
Disclaimer: I still, and will forever, only own Corita! MUAHAHAHA!! *gives Corita a cookie*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cool ocean currents caused Corita's brown hair to swirl around her head. Pulling it back, she fought with it for a minute, and eventually managed to tie it back with a bit of string. In front of her, Sora's spikey brown hair also drifted a bit, but generally stayed still.
"Uh, Sora?"
"What?"
"How do you keep your hair like that?" Corita asked, brushing away a loose bit of her own hair. Sora shrugged his shoulders.
"I dunno. Funny genetics or something."
"Hurry up, you two!" Ariel called from up ahead. "I want to show you something!"
"Great, more swimming." Donald groaned from a few feet ahead.
"Donald, you're a duck. You're supposed to swim." Corita said.
"Not underwater with 8 legs!" Donald groaned, struggling to move forward.
"It's not that hard, Donald! Just push forward!" Goofy called from Ariel's side.
"Yeah, yeah..." Donald groaned as Sora and Corita helped him forward.
"Everyone here?" Ariel asked, looking around. "Good!"
She turned around and swam towards a giant boulder and started pushing it.
"Umm...Ariel? You okay?" Goofy asked as he watched her shove the boulder aside, revealing an opening in the wall.
"No, this is my secret place. Come inside!" She said, swimming into the hole. Upon entering, they found themselves inside a large cavern, with large jagged walls that seemed to serve as shelves. Piled upon them lay dozens of simple things, such as an egg beater and a music box.
"Look at all the wonderful things Flounder and I've collected!" Ariel said with a touch of pride. "I think it's all from the outside world. Someday, I'm going to see what's out there. I want to see other worlds. Does that sound strange?" She asked.
"No! Not at all!" Sora said.
Yeah, we used to feel the same way!" Corita said.
"Used to?" Ariel asked curiously.
"I mean...um...we still do!" Sora said quickly.
"Hey, do you want to see some more of my ocean?" Ariel asked.
"Sure!" Sora and Corita said, while Donald grumbled near the wall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is the sunken ship." Ariel said, swimming towards it.
"Wow!" They gasped, even Donald. The ship was old and giant. Fallen planks lay on the sea floor or hung onto the sides of the ship. Small sea creatures swam around it while starfish held tightly to the old masts. Scattered on the ground were old rescue boats or rusty anchors.
"How long has this been here?" Sora asked, swimming towards the great wreck.
"As long as I can remember..." Ariel said.
"Let's go exploring!" Goofy said cheerfully, swimming inside of the ship.
"Goofy, get back here!" Donald cried, swimming towards him.
Inside of the ship was just as destroyed as the outside. The old windows had been destroyed and large barrels filled with water had been emptied of their contents long ago.
"Look, a treasure chest!" Sora said, swimming towards the small chest.
"Be careful!" Corita cried, but Sora ignored her.
"SORA!!! GET OUT OF THERE! SHARK!!!"
"Huh?" Sora asked.
"SHARK!!!!"
"Shark?!"
Sora moved at the last possible instant. Suddenly, a giant shark came swimming forward out of the shadows and snapped his mighty jaws where Sora had been instants before. Luckily, the beast couldn't fit through the window opening, so it simply swam away.
"That was close!" Sora said, breathing hard.
"Next time, LISTEN!" Corita cried into Sora's ear.
"Ouch! Oh, no problem. Hey, what was in that treasure chest?"
"This!" Ariel said, holding up their prize for nearly having Sora bitten in two. It was a beautiful crystal trident, like the one King Triton had, except smaller and made of beautiful blue crystals.
"Wow!" Sora said, taking the delicate trident.
"Yeah! I wonder why I'd never found this before?" Ariel wondered. "Hey! I know where to put this!"
"Your collection?" Donald asked.
"No! Better! Follow me back to my grotto!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Can we...take a...rest...now?" Donald gasped.
"Yeah, yeah, rest your legs, Duck Boy." Corita muttered.
"Ariel, what are you doing?" Sora asked.
"Look at this!" Ariel said/ She was pointing to a small indent in the wall, imprinted with the same shape of the crystal trident.
"That's convenient!" Goofy chortled. "Put it in!"
Sora lifted the fragile crystal trident and placed it in the indent in the wall. Everything was silent for a moment, before...
"Ariel, you've disobeyed me again!" Said a deep, booming voice. King Triton had entered the small grotto, and was staring at his daughter with fire in his eyes.
"I thought I told you.." He started, but suddenly stopped. Staring at the crystal trident, a strange expression crossed his face. It was like a mixture of anger and fear. He lifted his mighty trident into the air.
"Daddy, no!" Ariel cried, but it was too late. The king shot a blast from his trident at the crystal trident, and it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces.
"Daddy, how could you..." Ariel cried softly, and she swam away, out of the grotto.
King Triton turned his eyes of fire onto Sora.
"Young man, you're not from another ocean! You're from another world! Aren't you?" He demanded.
"Huh?" Sora cried, startled.
"Then you must be the Key Bearer." King Triton said, deep in thought.
There was complete silence for what seemed like an eternity.
"How...did you know?" Sora finally managed to stutter.
"You may fool Ariel, but you can't fool me! You don't know your dorsal fin from your tail!" The King boomed.
"Uh..." Sora said, searching for a response.
"As the Key Bearer, you must already know that you must not become involved in the affairs of other worlds!"
"Of course I know that, but-"
"But nothing! You have violated this principle! The Key Bearer brings ruin and shatters peace wherever he goes!"
"Aw, Sora's not like that!" Goofy said.
"I thank you for saving my daughter, but there's no room in my ocean for you or your Key!" The King said, and with that, he turned and left the grotto.
The four of them seemed suspended in the water. Corita put a comforting arm around Sora, who was staring down at his weapon with mixed emotions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Sora53: Oh, the terror! The pain! The power!
Fans: Oh, shut up.
Sora53: I just realized! If Ariel is the daughter of King Triton, she's a princess, right?
Fans: Wow, good job!
Sora53: Well, wouldn't she be a Princess of Heart?
Fans: Of course not! How could she breath in Hollow Bastion?
Sora53: Of course...
Riku Fangirls: No Riku? *sniff*~~
Fans: You had writers block.
Sora53: I did not!
Fans: Yes you did.
Sora53: .....~~
Disclaimer: I still, and will forever, only own Corita! MUAHAHAHA!! *gives Corita a cookie*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cool ocean currents caused Corita's brown hair to swirl around her head. Pulling it back, she fought with it for a minute, and eventually managed to tie it back with a bit of string. In front of her, Sora's spikey brown hair also drifted a bit, but generally stayed still.
"Uh, Sora?"
"What?"
"How do you keep your hair like that?" Corita asked, brushing away a loose bit of her own hair. Sora shrugged his shoulders.
"I dunno. Funny genetics or something."
"Hurry up, you two!" Ariel called from up ahead. "I want to show you something!"
"Great, more swimming." Donald groaned from a few feet ahead.
"Donald, you're a duck. You're supposed to swim." Corita said.
"Not underwater with 8 legs!" Donald groaned, struggling to move forward.
"It's not that hard, Donald! Just push forward!" Goofy called from Ariel's side.
"Yeah, yeah..." Donald groaned as Sora and Corita helped him forward.
"Everyone here?" Ariel asked, looking around. "Good!"
She turned around and swam towards a giant boulder and started pushing it.
"Umm...Ariel? You okay?" Goofy asked as he watched her shove the boulder aside, revealing an opening in the wall.
"No, this is my secret place. Come inside!" She said, swimming into the hole. Upon entering, they found themselves inside a large cavern, with large jagged walls that seemed to serve as shelves. Piled upon them lay dozens of simple things, such as an egg beater and a music box.
"Look at all the wonderful things Flounder and I've collected!" Ariel said with a touch of pride. "I think it's all from the outside world. Someday, I'm going to see what's out there. I want to see other worlds. Does that sound strange?" She asked.
"No! Not at all!" Sora said.
Yeah, we used to feel the same way!" Corita said.
"Used to?" Ariel asked curiously.
"I mean...um...we still do!" Sora said quickly.
"Hey, do you want to see some more of my ocean?" Ariel asked.
"Sure!" Sora and Corita said, while Donald grumbled near the wall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is the sunken ship." Ariel said, swimming towards it.
"Wow!" They gasped, even Donald. The ship was old and giant. Fallen planks lay on the sea floor or hung onto the sides of the ship. Small sea creatures swam around it while starfish held tightly to the old masts. Scattered on the ground were old rescue boats or rusty anchors.
"How long has this been here?" Sora asked, swimming towards the great wreck.
"As long as I can remember..." Ariel said.
"Let's go exploring!" Goofy said cheerfully, swimming inside of the ship.
"Goofy, get back here!" Donald cried, swimming towards him.
Inside of the ship was just as destroyed as the outside. The old windows had been destroyed and large barrels filled with water had been emptied of their contents long ago.
"Look, a treasure chest!" Sora said, swimming towards the small chest.
"Be careful!" Corita cried, but Sora ignored her.
"SORA!!! GET OUT OF THERE! SHARK!!!"
"Huh?" Sora asked.
"SHARK!!!!"
"Shark?!"
Sora moved at the last possible instant. Suddenly, a giant shark came swimming forward out of the shadows and snapped his mighty jaws where Sora had been instants before. Luckily, the beast couldn't fit through the window opening, so it simply swam away.
"That was close!" Sora said, breathing hard.
"Next time, LISTEN!" Corita cried into Sora's ear.
"Ouch! Oh, no problem. Hey, what was in that treasure chest?"
"This!" Ariel said, holding up their prize for nearly having Sora bitten in two. It was a beautiful crystal trident, like the one King Triton had, except smaller and made of beautiful blue crystals.
"Wow!" Sora said, taking the delicate trident.
"Yeah! I wonder why I'd never found this before?" Ariel wondered. "Hey! I know where to put this!"
"Your collection?" Donald asked.
"No! Better! Follow me back to my grotto!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Can we...take a...rest...now?" Donald gasped.
"Yeah, yeah, rest your legs, Duck Boy." Corita muttered.
"Ariel, what are you doing?" Sora asked.
"Look at this!" Ariel said/ She was pointing to a small indent in the wall, imprinted with the same shape of the crystal trident.
"That's convenient!" Goofy chortled. "Put it in!"
Sora lifted the fragile crystal trident and placed it in the indent in the wall. Everything was silent for a moment, before...
"Ariel, you've disobeyed me again!" Said a deep, booming voice. King Triton had entered the small grotto, and was staring at his daughter with fire in his eyes.
"I thought I told you.." He started, but suddenly stopped. Staring at the crystal trident, a strange expression crossed his face. It was like a mixture of anger and fear. He lifted his mighty trident into the air.
"Daddy, no!" Ariel cried, but it was too late. The king shot a blast from his trident at the crystal trident, and it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces.
"Daddy, how could you..." Ariel cried softly, and she swam away, out of the grotto.
King Triton turned his eyes of fire onto Sora.
"Young man, you're not from another ocean! You're from another world! Aren't you?" He demanded.
"Huh?" Sora cried, startled.
"Then you must be the Key Bearer." King Triton said, deep in thought.
There was complete silence for what seemed like an eternity.
"How...did you know?" Sora finally managed to stutter.
"You may fool Ariel, but you can't fool me! You don't know your dorsal fin from your tail!" The King boomed.
"Uh..." Sora said, searching for a response.
"As the Key Bearer, you must already know that you must not become involved in the affairs of other worlds!"
"Of course I know that, but-"
"But nothing! You have violated this principle! The Key Bearer brings ruin and shatters peace wherever he goes!"
"Aw, Sora's not like that!" Goofy said.
"I thank you for saving my daughter, but there's no room in my ocean for you or your Key!" The King said, and with that, he turned and left the grotto.
The four of them seemed suspended in the water. Corita put a comforting arm around Sora, who was staring down at his weapon with mixed emotions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~Sora53: Oh, the terror! The pain! The power!
Fans: Oh, shut up.
Sora53: I just realized! If Ariel is the daughter of King Triton, she's a princess, right?
Fans: Wow, good job!
Sora53: Well, wouldn't she be a Princess of Heart?
Fans: Of course not! How could she breath in Hollow Bastion?
Sora53: Of course...
Riku Fangirls: No Riku? *sniff*~~