Me: Still in chains Welcome back!
King Mickey: Well?
Me: Well what?
King Mickey: What have we learned...?
Me: Nothing? Hits me over the head with his keyblade Alright! Alright! I'm sorry for killing Sora! It was something I had to do! Don't kill me!
Kairi: You killed Sora! is sobbing histarically.
Me: Don't worry, it will all work out.... for a while.
Riku: What's that supposed to mean?
Me: Nothing! Now let me out of these damn chains!
All: NO!!!
Me: WHY NOT?
Aerieth:You still must type!
Yuffie: And then send it to your beta reader!
Leon: You have a beta reader now?
Me: Yup!
Riku: Who?
Me: Wouldn't you like to know?
Riku: Yes. Yes I would.
Me: Too bad! Now, onto chapter 7!!!
The Now Not a Torture Place
"Thanks.... for always being there..."
"Sora!" Kairi yelled, "Sora, wake up! Don't close your eyes! Don't leave me! Sora!" She grabbed his torso and sobbed, as if maybe a simple hug could make it all better.
"No..." Riku said softly, his head down. A single tear ran down his cheek. He didn't care if anybody saw. No.... Sora! God damn it, how could he die on us? He's my best friend, friends don't do this. Please, let this all be a nightmare! The last thing I said to him was to stop being a baby.... he just can't leave. He had so much to live for...... we were going to go to other worlds together... Sora?Damn them.... damn them all! When I get my hands on Malifecent, she'll wish she had never been brought to this world... ever!
Yuffie was crying on Leon's shoulder while Leon tried to hold back a few tears that were stinging at the tips of his eyes. Donald seemed to be going insane as he was muttering to himself and Goofy was bawling.
Riku glared at Donald and snapped, "You could have healed him! Why didn't you? You could have saved him! Now he's dead! He's gone! Maybe if you could have worked a simple little spell, he would still be here now!"
Donald winced at these words and looked down, ashamed at himself and thick, pearly tears dribbling down his beak. Yuffie looked up from Leon's shoulder and leered at Riku. "Well, Mr. Big and Strong," she snapped, "We wouldn't be in any of this mess if it wern't for you! It's you fault Sora was here at all! Because of your stupid selfishness, they took Sora. If this is anybodys fault, it's yours!"
Kairi wiped her eyes. "Come on you guys, Sora wouldn't want us to be fighting like this."
"What would you know about it?" Leon roared, making Kairi jump. "You can barely hold up a staff, let alone decide what's best!"
"Leave her alone you asshole!" Riku hollered. "It's not like you ever do anything but cause more touble!"
They continued to argue, going unnoticed by the king. King Mickey choked back a few sobs and fumbled through his pockets, looking for something. A moment later, he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a large, shiny ruby that was perfectly ovaled and was rimmed in a thick plate of gold. Around the outside was script that no one could really understand. He held it above his heart. and started to mutter an incantation, "Menti, Kentali, Middi, Heshki, Yanti, Linna, Linna, Linna, Linna, Linna, Come to us Linna,"
By now, everyone had noticed the king's chanting and stopped fighting. "What is he doing?" Yuffie asked.
Donald blinked once, and then it hit him. "Linna," he whispered. "He's calling Linna..."
Kairi asked "Who's Linna?"
"That's Linna," Goofy said, pointing to the ceiling. But it wasn't really a ceiling anymore. It had turned bright blue with a bit of white mist swirling around. A large group of golden glitter was slowly coming down from the newly arranged ceiling. The light burst through every nook and cranny of the hallway. The golden mist hovered lower to the ground and began to form a shape. There stood a tall, elegant women with flowing blond hair and white wings. She had golden eyes that always seemed to be happy, but not now. Now, they showed sadness beyond all beleif as she looked at the fallen keybearer.
"Linna," King Michey began, "we need your help.''
The woman named Linna smiled softly. "That," she said, "is obvious." Her voice sounded like a whistle and chimes, with a bit of husk. It was beautiful.
"You know who he is...." Mickey went on. "You know that he is more then just the keybearer, right?"
Linna sighed softly. "Yes, I do." She knelt down by Sora and gently pulled Kairi to her feet. "All will be well, my darling," she whispered in a motherly way, wiping away her tears. Linna kneeled beside the keybearer again, and placed her hand over his heart. "He has not yet lost his heart, but there is still nothing I can do for him. His body is damaged beyond all repair."
"I know that," Mickey said with impatience, something you rarely heard in the mouse's voice. "But what of the Realm of Trial?"
Linna's face turned stony. ''Menti will not like this," she informed him. "You know how she feels about these special cases."
"I know, I know," King Mickey pleaded. "It's the only way to get him back. And it is of far more greater importance then the anger of Menti. We can handle her, but what we cannot handle is the loss of...." he stopped. Everyone's faces were turned down in sadness, and the King allowed only but a single tear trail down his face.
Linna smiled at him and placed a smooth hand over his shoulder. "Alright," she said. "I will do my best. But do not get your hopes up, for it may be more difficult then it seems. And I cannot tell them who he is destined to be to support his case, either. That would be considered injustice of the ruling.''
"Okay, I guess it's the only chance we've got," King Mickey said. "Give it your best, Linna. I trust you." Linna smiled happily and walked over to the keyblade master.
She put a cool hand over his forehead and Sora's body evaporated into a thin smoke. Kairi gasped and Riku just stood there in awe. What the hell is going on here? Linna cupped her hands together and the mist gathered into her hands. She took a clear sphere from her robes and poured the mist inside. "A spirit jar," she explained to the questioning looks she got form Sora's friends. "It will keep his spirit from getting lost on our way up."
"Wait, what's going on here?" Kairi cried. "Is Sora coming back or not?"
"All will be clear soon," Linna said, tucking the sphere safely in her pocket. She turned to Mickey. "I will leave it to you to tell them." King Mickey nodded solemnly and watched as Linna desolved into gold glitter agin and dissapeared though the blue. The light faded and the ceiling was back again.
Riku turned angrily to King Mickey, drawing out his blade. "You have ten seconds to start explaining...."
The Realm of Trial
Linna's glittery form traveled up through Hollow Bastion, and up even further. Soon, the palace was nothing but a dot in the sky, and getting smaller still. She passed through clouds and closer to the sun, light growing brighter and brighter until they reached a cloud like dome that she went through easily. When she appeared out of the floor to the dome, she resumed her regular form.
A clerk looked up at her. He was a man with dark brown hair that had small down feathers along his hairline. His eyes were deep chesnut brown that matched his eagle-like wings perfectly. He was scribbling something in a book when Linna had come and now he just watched her as she came up to the desk.
"Ozen" Linna said, "I'm here to bring someone for a trial."
The man named Ozen just raised an eyebrow at her. "Menti will not like that. What stray have you brought here for life this time?''
Linna ignored her boyfriend's remarks and dug out the glass sphere that she had hidden away. "Him," she said with a smile.
Ozen just shrugged at his insane girlfriend, not knowing who's spirit it was. He rummaged through the desk drawer and pulled out a thin, white rod with tints of blue in it. He tapped the wand onto the top of the globe and purple magma spread over Sora's sphere, and then glowed. It glowed until it turned a bright blow and the sphere cracked open and the mist spread out and formed the shape of a human body.
Ozen gazed on in amazement as the shape slowly became more detailed, showing Sora. But he was in different clothes this time. Those weird pants of his had turned into dark navy blue, and his jacket red and black. A white shirt lay under it. His crown necklace was still there, and there were now chains and buckles strayed every here and there. His clothes showed a well muscled body (drool). His hair was still defying the laws of physics, and his eyes still that blue shade. Another difference was that all of his cuts, breaks, bruises, and other wounds, were gone. The only thing left were scars, the largest one under his chin. It gave him a prisoner-of-war look (Is still drooling over computer).
"Oh no..." Ozen said, shaking his head as he watched Sora look curiously around the room. "Linna, please tell me that isn't who I think it is. Please prove me wrong and let me keep my sanity."
"Where am I?" Sora asked. "Where's Kairi, Riku and the others? Am I dead?"
"So many questions!" Linna exclaimed, her eyes glittering with mirth. "You can have them answered in a moment. Now, I need to make arrangments for your trial."
Sora looked at her wearily. "What did I do this time?" Linna giggled and Sora rolled his eyes. Girls.... wait a minute.... what am I doing here? I'm fucking dead! He then noticed the intent staring he was gettting from the man. "Can I help you?"
Ozen shook his head as if to clear away his stupidity. "Are you Sora?" Sora just nodded, and watched as the man turned to glare at Linna. "Why is he here? He shouldn't be dead!"
Linna looked at him solemnly. "That is why he is here," she pointed out. "If we are lucky, then maybe they will allow him to go back."
"What do you mean?" Sora asked eagerly. "Am I going to go back to life? Am I not dead after all?"
"Oh, you are dead," Linna said, chuckling as she saw Sora's face fall. "You are dead as a rock. But, if you are passed by the Realm of Trial, then you will be granted life again to fullfill your destiny."
Sora was about to ask what the hell is destiny actually was besides getting tortured when the man cleared his throat. "Well, Sora, I am Ozen, the secratary of the Realm of Trial." He held out his hand and shook Sora's. "I keep track of who dies, whether or not they go to trial ,and if anyone is cheating death, as your foes are trying so desperately to do."
Sora laughed, and surprised himself. It seemed to him that he hadn't laughed in ages. He remembered what he had been through. I've never been in so much pain in my life.... how can they be so heartless? Well, then again, they are the leaders of the Heratless. But that was cruel, even by their standards. That will live with me for the rest of my life.... if I have one after this trial thing. Kairi, I never got to tell her how much I loved her. Yes, I love her. Riku, we were fighting the last time I saw her. I never got to tell Goofy and Donald how they were such good friends, whether or not I gained back my old ones...... I miss them so much, I may never see them again.... ever....
Silent tears fell down Sora's cheeks and Linna's eyes were marked with sympathy. "Do not worry," she said quietly. "Your heart is strong, and it can even survive this. Do not dwell on the past, it will get you nowhere. But you must not forget it. Learn from it. Those memories will give you strength that you never knew you had. That, and the fact that your friends will always be there with you. Just remember what you go on for, and that will be the downfall of evil. And of this trial. You can do it. No one doubts you."
Sora grinned weakly at her and wiped away his tears with the back of his sleeve. "Okay then, I'm ready," he said.
Ozen grinned. "Excellent! Now, the trial will be different then the ones you have learned of. This will be of five parts. There will be twenty council members, and they will do the side voting. But you don't really need to worry about them..... there are only five that you need to pay special attention to. They are Yanti, Mistress of Courage, Middi, Mistress of Trust, Heshki, Mistress of Love, and Kentai, Mistressof Friendship. The last one is the leader of the counse. She is Menti, Mistress of Strength. She is extremely strict and answers only to the King. She will not be easy on you, and she hates special cases. Be careful, she is full of tricks."
"But how does this trial thing work?" Sora asked, his head reeling from the impact of all of this new knowledge. "I know who makes up the council, but what do they do? And if you say they torture me and see how long it takes until I scream, I swear I will kill you all."
Linna grinned mysteriously. "You shall see in time. All in time. We will wait and pray for you." A door at the end of the room slowly opened.
"Good luck!" Ozen said. "You'll need it!" Linna smacked his arm, and Ozen said, "I'm just trying to lighten up the mood! I'm sure you'll do fine, Sora."
Sora nodded, his face set. He turned around and walked to the door. He stopped there and looked back. Ozen and Linna waved encouragly at him, and Sora stepped through the door.
Hollow Bastion
"You have ten seconds to start explaining."
Mickey gulped as he eyed the end of the blade nervously. He didn't doubt Riku's wrath for a second. But what really scared him was the fact that everybody else looked close to doing the exact same thing, even Kairi. "If you put down the sword, maybe I'll tell you." Riku glared at him for a moment, but put down his blade. "Now then, that was a friend of mine, Linna. She works at a place called the Realm of Trial. She had just taken Sora's spirit there, where he will be put on trial. If he is passed, then he will come back to life.
"You mean...." Kairi said, "Sora's not dead after all?"
"Oh no, Sora's as dead as a rock." This made them glare at their king. "But if he passes the five tests they give him, they'll bring him back to life."
"What are the five tests?" Yuffie asked. "If they're physical challenge tests, Sora will be back here in five minutes."
Mickey just shook is head at the over-eager ninja. "I don't know exactly what the five tests are, but I know it isn't physical stuff."
"Mental torture?" Riku suggested.
"Barney videos?" Donald asked. Everybody shuddered.
"No, Donald, that is real torture," King Mickey said. ''It's not mental torture, either. I have no idea what is in these tests, all I know is that the leader of the council, Menti, is very strict and mean. Sora will have one long time getting past her."
There was silence for several minutes, everyone secretly thinking of whether or not Sora could pass the trial.
After a while, Kairi spoke up. "Well, what do we do now."
"There's nothing much that we can do except wait," Leon grunted. "Staying here won't help any."
"He's right," King Mickey said. "We might as well go back to the castle and wait." They began to trail out of the dingy corridor, following the scent of fresh air.
When they got out, Riku asked a question that had been nagging at him. "What about Malifecent and the others?" he asked.
Mickey sighed. "It's worthless to try and fight without Sora. We need the power of his keyblade. All we can do now is send out some troops to get rid of as many heartless as possible."
They had reached the now repaired gummi ship and climbed inside. Everyone sat down and buckled up as the ship revved into life. They then sped out of there like a bat out of hell.
They sped along a track unfamiliar to everyone but Mickey, Donald and Goofy. For a while, they drove in silence. Then Riku, turning to face Donald, said, "Sorry about back there."
Donald was amazed. Never had he heard Riku be the first one to apologize. "It's fine,'' Donald murmerd. After a nudge from Yuffie, Leon apologized to Kairi.
Kairi forgave him, but she wasn't really there. She was off in her own little world, the world with just her and Sora back on Destiny Islands. Damn, she missed him so much.
An hour or so later, they reached Disney Castle and landed neatly in the fields. Everyone hopped out and was greeted by Merlin. "What happened?" he asked urgently. "Where's Sora?"
Kairi began to cry again and everyone elso looked grave. It was then that Merlin realized what happened. "I am so sorry," he said. "I guess my advice just wasn't good enough."
"Sora still has a chance," King Mickey said. "He's at the Realm of Trial right now. I asked it as a favor from Linna."
"The Realm of Trial?" Merlin asked. "With Menti?"
"Yes, he is going in right now," a kind voice said. They all whipped around to see linna standing there.
"Where is Sora? Did he pass?'' Kairi asked. Linna laughed and Kairi scowled.
"Patience, Princess of Heart," she said. "We will see in a while. I just came to tell you that he has been delivered safely."
Riku sighed. "I hate suspence."
Realm of Trial
Sora was blinded for a moment when he walked in. The light was incredible! He blinked for a moment and the intensity of brightness dimmed. He could see a large circular room and the back half of the circle was something like a very high, curved bench. There was a golden seat in the middle of the bench, two silver seats on each side of that, and ten maroon chairs on each side of the double set of silver chairs. In the very center of the room was a chair.
Sora looked around nervously. A loud voice boomed, "Sit down!" Sora walked hurridely to the chair and sat down, glancing nervously up at the five centered chairs.
"So, another wothless case sent by the great Linna," the middle woman boomed. She had a pointy face and looked very angry. Sora bit his tongue to keep from insulting the woman. He quickly remembered the recent damage on his tonque, and let go.
"Oh come on, Menti," a girlish voice said. It was a cute, young girl sitting to the left of Menti. "This is a cute one!"
Sora raised an eyebrow and said something that even shocked himself. "Sorry, but I'm taken."
The girl pouted." How come the cute one's are always taken?"
Menti cleared her throat loudly. "This is not a bachelor's party! We are here to decide whether this foolish human is to go back to the living or not!" she snapped.
"I higly doubt whether he is worthless or foolish," the women next to the pouting one said. "He is of good heart, and full of courage."
The girl to the right of Menti piped up, "He has many friends scattered all over the worlds, he must have done some serious good!"
The one next to her said, "He has been granted the power of the keyblade, he must be very trustworthy and honest!"
"In case you haven't noticed, there are plenty of people like that but we just don't waltz up to them and give them back life!" Menti snapped. Sora was silent the whole time. He could tell who each of them were by the way they talked about him, and he was beginning to think that this was going to be easier then he thought.
"What we need to do is to see if he is worthy," Middi said.
"We will put him through the five tests and see if he passes." Kentali told the rest.
Heshki sighed. "Are we going to do the three strike thing again?"
"Yes, this is no different from any other case!" Menti snapped.
"What do I have to do?" Sora asked.
Menti smirked. "It's not what you have to do, it's what you have done,''
"I'm so glad you made that nice and clear," Sora said with sarcasim, rolling his eyes. "It would be really annoying if you were being stupidly vague."
Heshki sniggered as Menti's face turned red. "Enough of this!" she roared. "You have three strikes. If you fail to prove yourself in a test, that will be one strike. Three strikes and you're out. And just because you really piss me off, you have one strike already." Sora's mouth fell open; his whole view of this ordeal was changing very fast. "We will look into your past and look at your most proven examples of Courage, Trust, Love, Friendship, and Strength."
Sora smirked. "No problem, I've done plenty of that stuff in the past two years."
Menti laughed evilly. "We know that. But that was when you had the power of the keyblade with you! We will be looking into the time before you had the keyblade! Before any of that heroic crap."
"You've got to be kidding me!" Sora declared. This was more unfair then being chained to a wall and being tortured. Well, almost as unfair. Not quite there yet.
"Let the first test begin!" Menti shouted, ignoring Sora.
Yanti stood up, smiling. "Courage is to be without fear in grave situations. We will see if you possess this gift." She snapped her fingers, and there was a blinding light, and Sora saw what he had hoped he would never have to see again.
End Chapter
Me: Did you like it?
Riku: Damn, that was confusing!
Me: He he.
Sora: That Menti lady is a bitch!
Kairi: And if that Heshki girl tries to flirt with Sora again, I'll wring her throat!
Me: Alrighty then. Well, read and review please!