The Adventures of Suzy and Lace in the realm of Kingdom Hearts
Episode 2: Disappearance
A peaceful island sat in the middle of a cerulean sea. Cheerful children's laughter filled the air, spinning up into the clear blue sky with the gentle breeze that always accompanied the long days at the Destiny Islands. Many would call this place paradise. But within twelve hours, the Destiny Islands would be little more than a memory.
Suzy and Lace were sitting on a bridge with Kairi, all three enjoying some Paopu juice. Paopu's weren't only used for conjoining destinies. They were also a very nutritious drink when squeezed into coconut shells. As Sora and Riku dashed by them for about the millionth time today, Suzy asked, "Are they always like this?"
"Yup," was Kairi's answer.
"Wait, Suzy, I thought that you knew this game like the back of your hand. What's going on?" asked Lace in a whisper.
"Come on, these people don't know they're only characters in a video game! We have to act like we were out of our minds yesterday and just live life as we used to," whispered Suzy back.
"Oh, man! The scores now 1,000,000 to one..." groaned Sora as Riku beat him for the millionth time that day. Riku cheered. Kairi jumped up and walked across the bridge, having finished her juice. Yesterday after Suzy and Lace had left, Riku and Sora had finished their raft, and today was for collecting supplies.
"Hey Lace! Do you want to help us gather supplies?" called Suzy as she followed Sora who was following Kairi.
"Nah. I think I'll just lie here in the sand and take a short catnap," Lace answered.
"I guess I'd better get some lotion then, huh Sora?" asked Suzy.
"I'd recommend the store brand. It's cheap and works well on sunburn," Sora said.
Having reached the raft, Kairi started to tell Suzy and Sora what to gather. "Today we collect provisions for our trip! Let's see, Sora, you're looking for a seagull egg, two mushrooms, and three fish. Suzy, you're going to get another mushroom, two coconuts, and please fill this up with drinking water, not ocean water," said Kairi, handing a bottle to Suzy. Sora quickly ran to the other side of the island to catch fish. Suzy went to the coconut tree forest near the raft to find a stick and gather coconuts.
She finally found a nice sized stick, about six feet long, for Suzy was used to using long staffs at home. She whacked trees randomly, and finally found enough coconuts. "Next, a mushroom." Having beaten this part about as many times as Riku beat Sora in their races, she knew that the closest mushroom was in a small cave covered by a boulder. Suzy found it, and pushed aside the boulder and gathered the mushroom. "Now some water..." She found a small water trickle near the bridge and filled up the bottle. Suzy then took all of the stuff back to Kairi.
"Thanks!" smiled Kairi, and put all the stuff into a small canvas bag and resumed beading a necklace.
"What is that?" Suzy asked curious about the small necklace that Kairi was making.
"This? I'm making a necklace of thalassa shells. In the old days in our world, sailors always wore thalassa shells. They were supposed to ensure a safe voyage," said Kairi, her eyes never leaving her work.
"Supposed to? What does that mean?" asked Suzy.
Kairi shrugged. "It's just a legend. Not all things you hear are true."
- - - - -
"Now where's that mushroom..." wondered Sora aloud as he stumbled across the roots and rocks inside the secret cave. He smiled as he looked at all of the pictures that the children had drawn in their childhood. Many of them never came to the island anymore; too worried about school or parents, or a social life. As he spotted a mushroom and harvested it, he spotted a picture. It was one he, himself had drawn, along with Kairi. He smiled laughingly at his bad artwork. He could barely tell it was Kairi who he had drawn, while Kairi's rendition of him was near perfection.
"If I win, I'm captain! And if you win..." said Sora.
"I get to share the paopu with Kairi," Riku said seriously.
"Huh?"
"Deal? The winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi," repeated Riku.
Of course, Riku had won.
I'll show you, Riku. I'm the one who's sharing the paopu with Kairi, thought Sora confidently as he picked up a rock and started scratching on the wall. Soon, there was a picture of a hand with a paopu in it. The hand was reaching from Sora from Kairi, as if he was giving Kairi a paopu.
"This world has been connected..."
"Wha-- what are you talking about?" asked Sora, standing up and turning to face the voice. A figure in a brown cloak stood next to the mysterious door.
"Tied to the darkness... soon to be completely eclipsed..."
"Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this..." said Sora, but then he realized, "Huh? Where did you come from?"
"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door..."
"So, you're from another world!" exclaimed Sora.
"There is so very much to learn... You understand so little."
"Oh yeah? Well, you'll see. I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!" yelled Sora.
"So be it..."
"Huh...?"
The light that normally streamed in the cave was dimmed; the cave was pitch black. A dark, twisting, purple portal appeared in front of the mysterious wood door, darkness within reaching out, writhing, basking in the dark. The darkness totally engulfed the room, then a bright flash. Like the way Suzy and Lace had disappeared from their home world, Sora and the strange hooded man were gone.
- - - - -
"It's almost time to go. Where's Sora?" asked Kairi.
"I bet he's fine. He probably went home early," said Riku, offering a suggestion for Sora's disappearance.
"Are you two sure you can survive here for the night? Why are you even spending the night here?" asked Kairi as she got into her boat.
"Well, the hotel manager was generous enough to give us one night free. I couldn't ask it of him to give us another night. We'll be fine in the tree house. Thanks for the sleeping bags," said Suzy.
"See ya!" yelled Lace, who mysteriously didn't get a sunburn from taking a nap out in the sun.
As Riku and Kairi rowed away in their boats, Suzy and Lace climbed up into the tree house and settled in. "This is strange. Sora's the hero, and he's disappeared," said Suzy, scratching her head.
"Maybe our presence has affected the game somewhat," said Lace logically.
"That actually sounds smart, Lace," said Suzy, surprised.
"Smart moment!"
"But maybe Riku's right. Maybe Sora just went home early. But I was really looking forward to seeing Riku's face when he saw that mushy scene between Sora and Kairi," laughed Suzy.
"They never do show Riku during that scene, do they?" giggled Lace.
Suzy sighed. "Goodnight."
