Level 2- Destiny Islands
Although their dream had been quite realistic, the three children were actually sleeping on the sandy beaches of Destiny Islands, their home. All in a line they soaked up the sun while lying on the white sand in front of the passing waves. Their wooden swords lay next to them, piled untidily
"Wake up lazy bums!" the three children heard someone say as they were hit over the head sharply by a harsh hand.
They looked up from their naps to see a woman in a bright, tight purple dress and a white hair ribbon to tie her long red hair in a ponytail. They knew the face and the phrase. Their mother, Kairi, always referred to them and their father as "Lazy bums."
"Aww mom," groaned Haru, the middle child, ruffling his dark brown hair that was, as usual, messy. The boy wore a long sleeved green shirt, a shorter sleeved lighter green shirt underneath and long forest green pants. He noticed another tear on his shirt and smiled innocently. Kairi eyed it suspiciously.
"I see you've been "playing" again," she said skeptically.
"Yep, sorry Mom," yawned Rion, the oldest, stretching his arms. His tidy, short, dirty blonde hair was full of sand, so he shook it off, making his mother cringe. He wore a no-sleeve navy blue top with two yellow straps that stretched vertical over it. He also had long baggy navy pants and armbands.
"I kicked Haru's butt in a duel!" smiled the youngest, Jila, mischievously. Jila had long light brown hair, hung loosely in a ponytail. She wore a red vest, a white tee-shirt, and khaki shorts. "You should have seen Ryoma's face when he saw Haru get kicked by a girl!"
"Don't make fun of your brother," scolded Kairi but still she smiled with amusement. Her face then turned more serious as she frowned. "I thought I told you guys to get some coconuts for dinner from the island out by the bridge?"
"Oh yeah well we got a little side tracked," smiled Jila, thinking of the duel and her victory.
"I'm sure," said Kairi, rolling her eyes slightly as she started to walk away from them. "You kids are just like your father," she turned around and winked. "And that's why I love you guys."
She left for their house on the other side of the island and the kids yawned and lay down on the seashore where they had been before.
"I guess we better get going huh?" asked Jila.
"Uh yeah I guess," frowned Haru.
"Mom did tell us," added Rion.
"Well," said Jila. "Guess there's only one thing to do." She got up and brushed herself off.
"What's that?" asked Rion.
She smiled and started to run. "LAST ONE THERE HAS TO DUEL ME!"
The boys looked at each other in disbelief and clumsily began to run after her. Soon they caught up, and Rion lifted her on his shoulders. They all laughed as they both collapsed on the sand.
Finally the kids reached the island, laughing playfully and pushing each other. They finally calmed down and started to gather the coconuts. Rion and Haru slashed trees with their swords, while Jila actually climbed the trees and started to pick.
"I had a super weird dream," said Jila reaching for a yellow coconut. The yellow ones were the best on the Destiny Islands. "We were all in it."
"Come to think of it so did I," sighed Haru as the another brown coconut fell.
"That's weird," said Rion collecting another yellow one thrown down by Jila. "By the looks of it we all had dreams."
"In mine," said Haru, "we all had to pick different weapons to fight with."
"Then we fought those creatures," added an astonished Rion.
"And then that huge black THING swallowed us up after we had defeated it," finished Jila. Soon the children realized, with a little excitement and a little horror, that they had all had the same dream.
"But then what did the voice mean when it said 'You are the one who will open the door'," said Haru mimicking the deep voice.
"Well we were all in the dream," analyzed Rion. "But it said 'You are the ONE' not the ONES."
"That means that it was speaking to only one of us," said Haru gathering the last coconut into the basket.
"Well that settles it then," smiled Jila jumping down from the tree.
"Settles what?" asked Rion.
"Settles the fact that," she paused and turned around to face her brothers. "It was obviously talking to me!"
"What?" yelled the two boys, turning to her.
She pulled down her eye socket and stuck out her tongue "Naaa!" she yelled and ran off her brothers in hot pursuit.
Jila kept running and laughing. She kept her head behind her so before she knew it, WHAM! she ran right into Wolfgang, the guy she had had a crush on since she was at least six.
"Oh Wolfgang," she quickly pulled herself up and tried to look as adult as possible; after all Wolfgang was 16, three years older then her.
"Hi Jila sorry 'bout that. I just came hear to talk to Rion, you know, see if he wants to race or something?" Wolfgang flashed his charming smile. He wore a white shirt with golden lining and long white pants. His wooden sword was on his belt. He ran his hand through his short black hair.
"Oh I'm sure he'd love to," smiled Jila, acting as the pleasing house wife.
Her brothers stopped behind her and grinned. Haru ran back to the island but Rion strode forward.
"Hey Wolfgang, what's going on?" he smiled and put his hand on Jila's shoulder. "You want to race or sumthin'?" he smiled. "Or are you hitting on my little sister here?"
Jila blushed furiously and kicked Rion in the shin.
Wolfgang laughed and threw back his head, "Reason 1 bro."
"Sure, whatever." Rion lifted himself off of Jila, still wincing from the pain. "But first, Haru's getting the last of the coconuts. "
Haru came running from the island with the basket of yellow coconuts. "Hey Wolfgang! Ooops!" Haru dropped the basket and its contents spilt all over the bridge. Jila froze. She knew that 'oops'. Haru used that 'oops' when he made a mistake on purpose. When he first used it everyone could tell that he had made the mistake on purpose but after almost ten years of training his 'oops' was completely real.
"Sorry 'bout that." Haru got down with Rion to pick up the coconuts, but under the last coconut was a strange star fruit. A paopu fruit.
"Hey how'd that get there?" asked Rion picking it up.
"Well I didn't put it there," said Haru.
"And I didn't put it there," said Rion.
Jila opened her mouth to say that she didn't put the fruit in the basket either but Rion interrupted her.
"Well if I didn't put it there," Rion sighed. "And you didn't put it there," he smiled the perfect revenge smile. "Then Jila must have put it there."
"But I..." Jila started but was again cut off, this time by Haru.
"But why would Jila need a paopu fruit? Do you perhaps know, Wolfgang?"
Jila blushed furiously and grabbed the fruit. "For your info I was hungry for something besides coconuts." She stuffed the entire fruit into her mouth and smiled a huge yellow smile.
Wolfgang laughed once again at the strange trio. "Hey Rion I'll catch you later, okay?"
"Yeah whatever," Rion smiled nonchalantly and waved toward Wolfgang as he turned around to face Jila, who was now blushing profusely.
Wolfgang walked off toward the cove and Jila managed to swallow the huge fruit. Gasping and puffing for breath she turned to her brothers.
"Serves you right!" they said in unison and ran off, Jila in hot and angry pursuit.
She drew her wooden sword and started trying to bop them on the head. They ran all across the beach and past the docks splashing water over Kaede.
"Hey!" she yelled throwing her brown hair back and forth to shake off the water. She looked sullenly at her bright pink skirt and hat, which were now drenched.
"Sorry Kaede!" yelled Haru who kept running. Or swimming. Haru was the best swimmer, so he easily out swam the rest of them. They splashed each other playfully in the salty ocean.
"You guys need some lessons in maturity," called Ryoma from the laundry hanging spot above them.
"Nahhh!" yelled Rion pulling down his eye socket and sticking out his tongue.
Ryoma scowled profusely. The three children looked at each other and at the same time used the base of their wooden swords to make a giant wave come up at Ryoma's face, soaking him. He shook his blonde haired head. "That's it, you're going down!"
Ryoma ran down and the three children got out of the water. "So which one of you wants to lose to me?" he said pulling out his blue wooden ninja stars.
They all looked at each other and huddled. They came out the huddle and turned to face the enraged wet ninja. Jila shook her head to Rion and said, "Rion." Rion stepped forward and drew his sword.
"Ready to go?"
"Sure," Ryoma nodded his head. "Battle start!"
Ryoma, already ready and pumped to take down Rion in his revenge, threw a ninja star and Rion, who had studied Ryoma's strategy, hit the stars right back at him. Each star made perfect contact with Ryoma's forehead.
"Owww..." groaned Ryoma. Rion ran up and did an amazing triple combo attack, sending Ryoma flying.
"Looks like I win again!" smiled Rion.
"Give it up Ryoma, we always win!" Jila stuck out her tongue. It was true. No fighter, except Wolfgang that is, stood a chance against the three children. Their father had trained them in the ways of fighting, and everyone on Destiny Islands knew of his skill.
"Oh you ALWAYS win?" the three children heard a voice from above them, speaking in a cocky manner. They turned around and saw Sora, their father, holding a wooden sword on his shoulder. He was tall, had spiky brown hair, and wore a red vest, red long pants, and a short white tee-shirt. He wore his usual crown necklace and fingerless gloves. "Well then you should have no trouble beating me."
Jila scowled. "Fine I'll fight you!"
"Come on," he smiled at his youngest, "All three of you at the same time."
"All right!" grinned Haru drawing his sword.
"But you asked for it!" yelled Rion, also getting ready to fight.
They got into fighting position and the three children yelled:
"Battle start!"
At the same time the three children rushed at their father. He waited until the last second then did an amazing high jump and hit them all across the back with one sweeping move. Their faces drove into the sand and they coughed it up as they got up.
"Looks like you need a bit more practice," smiled Sora. He tossed his sword at them. "C'mon it's getting dark, let's get home."
That night the whole island sat around a fire at the beach. They watched the tide come in as they ate dinner and listened to Sora, who every night marveled everyone with his stories of adventure and heroics.
"Tell us the one about how you defeated the evil witch Malefecent!" laughed Jila.
"No we've heard that one a thousand times!" Haru rolled his eyes.
"Tell us the one about how you defeated the fighter Cloud!" said Kaede.
"No, how 'bout the one about how you learned to fly!" said Rion.
Kairi smiled and put her hand on Sora's shoulder. "How 'bout the one how you fell in love with a beautiful woman and lived happily ever after?"
Sora smiled, "I like that one."
The children groaned. "Thanks mom, you wasted a whole night of cool stories." Haru rolled his eyes.
"Yeah that one's lame!" yelled Jila, narrowing her eyebrows. She obviously was not a girl who enjoyed romantics.
"Hey, I think it's the most important of all," smiled Sora and Kairi kissed him.
The kids waited for the two to stop as they kissed sweetly in front of the fire. Kaede blushed slightly and Ryoma rolled his eyes as the two finished.
"Okay you're done now so how 'bout a COOL story?" suggested Rion.
"All right I'll tell you the one about how my rival almost stole my legendary sword."
The kids listened to the story intently. Kaede bit her lip at the part where she learned that Sora had to fight with a wooden sword. And Ryoma "grrd" when he learned of the insult that Sora's rival had given him.
The kids all knew that Sora made up the fact that it was actually him in the stories. They didn't know where he got the stories but they didn't really care. All they knew was that every night he would have another story to tell.
"'My friends are my power!' I yelled and the legendary sword returned to me!" Sora yelled then sweat dropped to see that all of the kids had fallen asleep.
"Aww, did I bore them again?" yawned Sora.
"No it's just way past their bed time. I'll take Kaede, Ryoma, and Wolfgang home. You take care of our three little rascals," Kairi shook them and they woke up slightly and walked away hazily to their homes with Kairi.
Sora instead picked up his three kids who it took a horde of elephants to wake up and started walking for home. As he walked he looked up at the stars. He stopped suddenly as he thought he saw something.
He saw a star go out…
The next day Jila, Haru, and Rion, after waking up, went out to the dock where Kaede was sitting and enjoying the sun.
"Hey Kaede!" called Haru.
"Hey guys!" Kaede obviously wasn't mad about her skirt. "Guess what I just heard? Wolfgang's got a paopu fruit and says that he's going to race for it! You know how whoever he shares it with becomes part of his destiny forever!"
"So?" asked Haru although Jila was already heading toward the cove.
"He says that if a boy wins he'll give him the paopu fruit to share with someone else!" Haru ran off too.
"Still so?" asked Rion, yawning.
"Well if you don't want Wolfgang making a move on your sister I'd go win that race."
Rion ran too.
"Hey everyone!" laughed Wolfgang. "You all come to lose?"
"Cut the small talk and get to the race!"commanded Rion determined to protect his little sister from this way too old friend of his.
"All right if you want to!"laughed Wolfgang, his eyebrows raising in anticipation.
Ryoma was about to start the race. They all got in position. Everyone knew that falling through the bridge and taking the beach course was the fastest way but only so many people could do it without blocking each other.
"Go!" Ryoma started the raceand the foursped off. The boys all fell on the wooden platform but Jilajumped over them and kept ongoing on the bridge until she got to the rope that gotpassengers over to the other side of the track.
The boys kept pushing and shoving on the beach course as Jila landed on the hill and went up. The boys caught up to her and Haru was pushed off. Rion touched the tree first but Jila and Wolfgang soon caught up and they sped off back. Jila took the beach course this time while the boys jumped along the tree tops, keeping perfect balance.
Allthree were neck and neck at the bridge; Ryoma and Spiler lookedon, wondering who wouldwin.Jilagrinned, then jumped into the ocean and kept running,but all of a sudden, something caught Jila's foot and she was pulled down under the water.
"HELP ME!" shescreamed, barely able to stay afloat in the water due to the force pulling her down. Rion and Haru rushed out and pulled her up and out.
Jila coughed and sputtered for air as she was put on land. Haru looked out on the sea, wondering who or what in the world could have pulled Jila down, and thought he saw something black disappearing into the ocean floor. He looked out again, puzzled, but Rion's voice interrupted his thought train.
"You okay?" asked Rion.
"Yeah," coughed Jila, regaining her sight and breath.
"What was that?" asked Haru.
"Probably a piece of driftwood," shrugged Wolfgang casually.
"You could care a little more, man," snapped Rion.
"What? Every time you baby sister has an accident I'm supposed to lose sleep over it? Whatever, I'm going," Wolfgang snapped and started to walk away.
Jila's eyes snapped open wide and she felt her face blushing with embarrassment and pain. What Wolfgang said really hurt her…how could he treat her like that? She liked him so much! But Jila was never one to keep feelings inside. She turned around, her eyes full of tears, and cried loud:
"JERK!" she yelled and ran away towards the secret place near the waterfall. Haru tried to follow her, but Rion stopped him and shook his head. Haru's eyes narrowed in worry, and he glanced off towards where Jila had run off to.
In the secret place, Jila took a sharp rock and crossed out the picture of Wolfgang and her that she had drawn when she was seven. She sat and cried as she looked around. "Wolfgang doesn't care about me. He's just a JERK!" she cried out loud. It echoed through the small hole in the cave. With the wind coming through it, it kind of sounded like a monster.
Finally, she regained her composure and looked at the carvings that had collected themselves over the years. Her hands grazed upon all thescribbles, art works, and othercarvings, but, finally, after a few minutes of looking around,she saw one drawing that caught her eye.
The drawing seemed to be an old one, very faded. It showed a boy and a crudely drawn girl sharing a paopu fruit. Jila found her heart hurting by just looking at the happy drawing.They were obviously happy, but she didn't have anyone like that. She then took her sharp rock andabove the drawing drew herself handing someone a paopu fruit. She didn't know who she would give it to though. After all, who could she spend her destiny with?
"Mommy, you and Daddy really love each other, don't you?" Jila asked her mother one night. Jila was only about six and was helping her mother wash the dishes.
"Of course," Kairi laughed. "Why do you ask?"
"When I love someone, will they be with me forever?" Jila asked, curious. Kairi paused, letting the water run over her hands.
"Dear..." she finally spoke. "Remember, love is different for everyone. When you find those who you truly love, you'll stay with them forever."
She left the spot blank for now and left the secret place. Shesighed as she sawher brothers waiting for her outside.
"Hey, come here," Rion said affectionately, acting like the big brother he was, and Jila gave him a hug,doing her bestnot to wet his top with her wet eyes."I know that you really liked Wolfgang but hey," she looked up, "you deserve a lot better."
The three children had actually stayed awake that night after storytelling and went home with their parents. After the kids had gone to bed, Kairi and Sora were still up looking at old pictures.
Kairi was flipping through the album that was sitting in her lap. She smiled wryly as shesaw the two of them about the age of seven. The two had been at Riku'seighth birthday party where Riku had beaten Sora in a duel. Riku got the first piece of cake.
Kairi cried a little looking at the pictures, the nostalgia getting to her.
"You okay Kairi?" asked Sora coming in and kissing her on the forehead affectionately.
"Yeah…I was just thinking," she closed the book. "Should we tell the kids the truth?" Sora looked confused and Kairi continued. "You know! About…about…about you, and me, and Riku, and…and…just…the past." She finished quickly, diverting her eyes from Sora's gaze.
"I don't know if they're ready," responded Sora, sipping his wine.
"You've said that for fifteen years…" Kairi said softly. "They're not children anymore Sora. Rion's fifteen! He's older then you were when Destiny Islands was attacked! We…we…what…" Kairi bit her lip. "What if something like that happened again?"
Sora looked at Kairi, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration and determination. "They'll never have to fight like we did." He took her hand. "We conquered the darkness."
A picture of Donald and Goofy smiling and waving fell out of the album as Kairi placedthe bookback on the table. Kairi picked it up just as it fluttered to the floor. "But it just seems like it'll never go away." She looked at Sora, obviously expecting an honest answer. "Can any part of what happened to us fade away?"
Sora opened the book and pointed to the picture of them kissing at their wedding. "That's the future our kids will have." He turned again to a newspaper clipping from a paper called "Traverse Town Tribune". On it was a picture of a shadow, looking at the photographer with bright, yellow eyes. "Not this."
A storm started to brew up and Sora quickly walked over and shut the windows. "Guess it's the stormy season," he smiled calmly at Kairi, and she smiled back. It was obvious though: they were both slightly worried. Kairi shut the photo album and placed it in the cardboard box it had come from. She placed the box in the closet as another roll of thunder boomed outside.
"Yeah…it's just the stormy season."
Jila couldn't sleep at all. She kept thinking about Wolfgang and what he had said that afternoon. The storm's sharp lightning and cruel thunder reminded her of how he had called her the "baby sister". She knew that whatever had caught her leg was not a piece of driftwood.
But Jila couldn't think about Wolfgang for long. In an instant, as another bolt of lightning crashed, her ears picked up at asoun. She heard her mother's scream and the breaking of glass. "Momma!" she screamed, frightened and ran out of her room. Rion and Haru opened their door hastily and looked outside to see Jila running down the hall of their house.
"Jila!" they screamed, running after her.
In the living room, they saw their mother being carried by a strange shadow. It was very large and had a heart in the middle of it that seemed to be carved out of its body. It was like a miniature version of the monster in their dream. The monster was decorated with strange silver lining and had bright, penetrating eyes. Their father was fighting many strange creatures with swords and wings. But it wasn't the creatures that fascinated them. It was the sword.
It was a key. Only it was a blade. The most magnificent blade they had ever seen was being held right in the palm of their father's hand. It had a golden handle, a keychain, and a silver blade that shined in the light. Its mighty destructive power made the room light up.
"Jila, Haru, Rion run!" Sora yelled, desperately trying to get to their mother.
"No! We'll stay and help you fight!" insisted Jila. The three children all drew their wooden swords and tried to fight the strange creatures, even though their useless play swords were having no effect.
"Run now!" he screamed.
"What's going on?" yelled Haru.
"Yeah what are these things?" asked Rion.
"Heartless!" Sora yelled.
"What?" Rion questioned loudly, confused once again.
"No time!"
"Keyblade Master…"A seemingly distorted voice entered the room and the three children jumped a foot as they heard it. It spoke softly, smoothly, silkily as if coaxing their father into something. The trio couldn't tell if it was man or woman. Then, as they followed the voice, they noticed that it was coming from the thing carrying their mother, though they could tell that the creature was not speaking. "Don't think you can defeat me. You're much too old for this game, Sora."
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN DO!" Sora, frustrated, shrieked and ran at the monster. Its claws slashed him and a wave of darkness fell over him, damaging him each time it struck.
The voice boomed a high laugh. "Funny! It was only 19 years ago you could take down the Guardian and its mentor by yourself. Now, you're just a weakling. A little rusty I suppose?" the voice laughed cruelly as the Guardian came out of their father and disappeared with their mother into a large black ball with a pink core in the sky. As it flew up, it was obvious that there was no way to catch it. The other creatures that Sora had been fighting a moment before disappeared in a few wisps of midnight black smoke.
"KAIRI!" Sora screamed and tried to run after her and the strange Guardian, but he was stopped as he felt Rion's hand grasp his shoulder.
"We want some answers," he said to his father, the eldest looking extremely stern.
"Yeah what's going on?" asked Jila angrily although she knew she was about to cry.
"There's no time!" he yelled.
"Tell us," Haru commanded and they all drew their swords. "Then you can go."
Sora sighed and stepped back, knowing that there was no way to escape the explanation. "Fine," he sighed and the key disappeared from his hand in a few flashes of light. "I'll tell you."
Sora sat the three kids down in the chairs around the table in the living room. He walked over to the box that Kairi had put away only a few hours ago and opened it. After sifting through some papers, he found what he was looking for: the photo album. He took it, brushed off the cover, and walked over to his three children. He passed it to Rion and motioned for him to open it.
"You've all thought I made up the stories I tell each night…right?" Sora asked and the three children looked at him, amazed that he could bring up such a subject at such a time of need.
"Well…you have, haven't you?" Haru asked. "Dad, this really isn't the time…"
"There is time," Sora snapped and they looked at him, puzzled at his tone and his meaning. "I'm the one in those stories and they really happened. A long time ago when I was just fourteen years old."
"Dad?" Jila asked in disbelief. "You…you're joking? You're joking, right?"
"You? All…all that stuff!" Haru held his head.
"The evil witch?" Rion asked.
"The great ocean?" Jila bit her lip.
"The town?" Haru finished.
"It's all true…everything…" Sora sighed, his eyes narrowing. "I…I'm sorry I never told you guys…it's…it's just that…" He looked up at them. "I didn't want you to know if you didn't have to."
"Well, we have to now!" Rion told him, standing up. "I can't believe you lied to us like that! Did you have fun alluding us all from the truth! Or…" he bit his lip. "Or did you do it to make fools of me and the others?"
"THAT WASN'T IT!" The three children were shocked silent as their father raised his voice loudly to scream. He turned to them. "My battles were painful and rigorous! I wanted a better life for you guys!"
The three looked at each other, and for a second, no one said anything. The moment of silence was soon broken though. "Dad…" Jila said softly. "Can…can you tell us…tell us what's going on? Better late then never…right?"
Sora sighed. "Glance through that…" he motioned to the photo book. Jila, who held the book, started to turn the pages and look through the pictures of him in his young years. "When I was fourteen your mother, my friend Riku, and I wanted to get off this island and see other worlds. Riku especially. We had built a raft to take us there, but, on the night before we set sail, a storm struck and I went out to save the raft. The same huge black orb you see above us is the same thing that appeared in the sky that night. I ran to Riku who was all alone. He wanted to go through that portal to other worlds and was dissolved by darkness leaving me this." He drew the Keyblade and it shined brilliantly in front of the children. They all touched it gently, recalling what their father had told them.
"And then you landed in Traverse Town after fighting Darkside," Jila spoke softly, as if confirming the story in her head.
"And you met Donald and Goofy," said Haru.
"And you had all your adventures that you told us about," finished Rion.
"Yes, and I don't want the same fate to befall the worlds that almost happened years ago."
They turned the page and a picture of their mother at age 14 fluttered down and landed at the floor. Jila instinctively went to pick it up, but as she brought it to her face, she and her brothers gasped at the image.
It was the same girl that was on the glass floor.
"Yeah, that's your mother and this," he pulled out a picture of Donald and Goofy who had also been a stained glass floor picture. "Are my dearest friends Donald and Goofy."
The three were beginning to realize a pattern. The stained glass floors were somehow from their father's past. Their mother, his friends… the three imagined that the boy with white hair would appear too, but first, they saw something that astonished them again: an old picture of their father.
Again the picture was one that had appeared on a stained glass floor, the one that had given them the power to defeat the giant black monster. It was their own father that had given them the strength they needed to go on.
"Dad, let's go save Mom," insisted Rion and the three all drew their swords.
Sora shook his head and drew the Keyblade once again, "No, it's too dangerous. I won't allow it! You kids are completely inexperienced against the Heartless."
"But Daddy!" said Jila. She didn't get to finish as a huge roar and shake erupted from the ground. "What was that!" she screamed, grabbing onto her chair.
"Get outside!" Sora commanded. Jila, Haru, and Sora all ran outside, but Rion stayed and looked at the album. He squinted and grabbed a couple of photos, looking over them, and then shoving them into his pocket. Finally, he sprinted outside of his house. But, when he got there, the three kids gasped from horror.
Their home was no longer on the ground. It was now blowing away in a tornado of wind that surrounded the large piece of flying land that kept them standing. They staggered under the force. "Dad! What the heck is this!" Haru screamed over the pounding wind.
But the shake that they had felt had come from something else: a huge black monster with millions of black antennae like hair and yellow eyes. A huge heart-shaped hole was in the middle of it.
It was the monster from their dream.
"Darkside…" murmured Sora in amazement and horror.
The thing rose up from its stationary position, emitting a gigantic growl. It reared its ugly head and shook its arms, itching for a battle.
"Kids run!" Sora screamed to the three.
"No we'll stay!" Jila insisted to her frantic father.
"You'll be killed!" he yelled now as the wind was picking up.
"Dad, we know its weak point!" yelled Haru.
Sora looked back at them, puzzled and confused.
"Its hand!" Haru yelled again over the wind.
"How'd you know?" asked Sora, his mouth hanging slightly open from shock and amazement. His eyes were wide. "How…how could you know?"
"We had a dream!" yelled Rion. "In it, we fought this thing! We had a sword, a shield, and a magic staff."
Sora froze as he listened to the weapons that Rion listed. His face was draining of color.
"Once we defeated it, it sucked us up and we heard a voice!" Jila screamed as the monster stepped up onto the small piece of land. Its small feet made quaking motions as it moved.
Sora turned around, almost afraid at what his daughter might say.
"It said "You are the one you will open the door"!" the word door seemed to drag out as a great light erupted from the Keyblade in Sora's fist. It rose out of Sora's hand and spun around and around, emitting from it a great glow, and at last it stopped and erupted again. The light blinded all four of them, and they shielded their eyes from its amazing rays. It shone greatly and when they were able to open their eyes, they saw, shining in the air connected together at the tip, three Keyblades.
One had a yellow handle, another a red handle and the last a blue one. They fell gently into the kids' hands and the trio struck fighting poses with their newly acquired weapons. The yellow one was in Jila's hands, the red in Haru's, and the blue in Rion's. Sora smiled lightly, as if weary. He shook his head and looked at his children.
"Maybe that stranger was right. I'm too old for this game." He looked at Darkside. "Fight well guys."
"Right!" they yelled together, nodding, and the battle began.
With their new weapons they lunged at Darkside's hand with more confidence. Strangely Darkside put his hand on the ground where the kids could reach it. They started to attack but them to their surprise found that he was actually going to plunge his other hand into the ground! They quickly jumped away avoiding the force. Darkside seemed to be searching for something in the ground. They kept attacking, and finally it seemed that Darkside had found what he was looking for.
He pulled out a great pink centered dark black energy ball. He waited a couple of seconds then released it. Dozens of little pink crystal looking balls started to fall. They ignored them until one hit Haru.
"Ahh!" he cried and fell to the ground.
"Haru!" Jila screamed and they both ran back to him.
"Those things are more dangerous then we thought," warned Rion, lifting Haru to his feet. "Watch out for them."
They ran to attack again, avoiding the pink balls. A couple hit them but they were able to get up fast enough from the blows. Soon Darkside went back to his old attacks from the strange dream they had witnessed. He plunged his hand into the ground summoning more Shadows.
The children attacked the Shadows, this time quickly destroying them. They then turned to Darkside and executed a full frontal assault. Quickly, as if sensing alarm, Darkside ripped open his stomach and out of his body came blue beams of light. They ran from them, hitting Darkside's hand in between intervals of the beams. Soon, he stopped and they attacked again. This time, they had more confidence, but still their power was low. Darkside unleashed another attack of pink crystal balls and the children were hit once again.
"This isn't working…" Haru panted, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. "Even with these keyblades, Darkside is stronger then ever!"
"What are we supposed to do?" Jila asked incredulously.
"Not much!" Rion panted. "Just keep attacking! Watch out for those pink crystals!"
They once again threw themselves into battle against the black beast, this time doing their best to focus on defense. Still, Darkside's combinations of Shadows, crystals, and beams of light were too much for the kids. As another beam hit Jila, she fell to the ground with a cry of pain and her brothers rushed over to aid her.
"Guys…" Jila panted. "I can't take any more of this…"
"I know…" Rion gathered spit into his mouth. "We've got to look out."
"It just keeps ticking!" Haru sighed. "How can we win?"
Then, they heard a voice. It was their father speaking to them.
"Jila, Rion, Haru don't give up!" he yelled over the wind. "Remember the dream you had!" They looked at him and he smiled at them. "This is your destiny!"
"How would you know?" Jila screamed, puzzled. But she stopped speaking as she felt a warm light in her hand that shone bright yellow. Rion had the same glow of blue and Haru's of red.
They felt the power and raised their swords together. "Let's go!" Jila yelled and they found words for their glowing sensations.
"Firaga!" yelled Rion letting the heavy blaze fly from his Keyblade.
"Tornado!" Haru drew his Keyblade straight out in front of him and jumped into the air spinning, attacking Darkside.
"Sonic BLADE!" Jila yelled and thrust her sword in front of her, destroying Darkside with her brothers' help. They felt the spells and abilities being drained from them as Darkside fell with a gigantic roar.
The wind picked up ferociously and Darkside, weak and unable to move, was thrown into one of the shining pink pitted black orbs. The children feared as well that they would also be pulled in.
"Quick, grab hold of that tree!" yelled Rion and the three siblings grabbed hold of the only tree on the battle ground.
Sora held onto a piece of driftwood that was stuck in the earth, although the three children knew he was losing his grip.
"Dad!" screamed Haru to his father.
"It's okay!" he yelled back. "I know I'll be fine even if I go through there!" he smiled at them and let go of his grip. "Don't be afraid." He gave them one final smile and was thrown into one of the black orbs.
"Daddy!" screamed Jila, tears flying from her eyes. They too lost their grip and ended up flying toward the orb. The three felt themselves being pulled into it and the darkness surrounding them, but then, their senses numbed and all went blank.
Donald Duck was walking through the majestic halls of Disney Castle, his own home world. He watched the brooms walk by cleaning the halls and marching in line. Donald smiled as he walked by and the friendly brooms, who gave him a friendly bow.
Donald finally reached his destination: a pair of huge lavender doors with a giant Mouse head shaped symbol at the very top. Gold rimmed the giant doors.
"A-hem," announced Donald. A small rectangular passageway, just big enough for Donald, opened in the door and he walked through.
"Good morning your majesty," greeted Donald. "It's nice to see you this morning."
The gold chair turned around and in it was King Mickey, the legendary king of Disney castle. He had on red short suspenders and a golden crown with a ruby mouse head figure. "Hello Donald," said King Mickey pleasantly enough, yet he looked discouraged.
"What's the matter your majesty?" asked Donald, obviously picking up on the King's distress. "You seem rather worried about something."
"Nothing," assured King Mickey, "nothing." He smiled and looked up. "Yes, now I remember! Donald, could you go down to the Gummi launch pad? Chip and Dale need your help."
"Right away sir!" Donald saluted to the King. The magician duck left, smiling, through the small door and the King returned to his book.
"I just don't get it," he said to himself. "Now every world has a ruler of some sorts." He thought of many, including one he didn't really want to remember. "But this new theory stifles me. A ruler to all worlds…" He looked at a huge map of the worlds in front of him and studied it extensively. "Who is it? And where is that person? How can the ruler rule when nobody knows where they are? Whoever they are, maybe they know why the stars are going out again…"
Donald kept walking down the hall to the Gummi launch pad. The brooms whistled by and his three nephews came scuttling up to him.
"Hey Unca Donald," greeted Huey. "There are some people out in the garden."
"What do you mean?" asked Donald skeptically.
"It's true," nodded Duey. "There are three people just like Sora."
"WHAT?" screamed Donald, sprinting towards the garden. "Sora, Kairi, and Riku!"
"No three OTHER people!" explained Luey, running up to him.
"Three others?" asked Donald, still running as the garden came into sight.
"Yep, three others," said Luey.
They ran out into the garden to see Goofy sleeping, as usual. His knight armor shined in the sun as it went up and down as he snored.
"Goofy!" yelled Donald running to him. "Wake up, wake up!" He jostled Goofy only to see he was still snoring peacefully. "Thundaga!" he yelled and lightning came down, waking Goofy up with a jolt.
"Oh, hello Donald," he greeted, yawning. "What's the problem?"
"Goofy, we've got an emergency!" he looked around. "But it's top secret."
"Well, gwarsh, last time an emergency was top secret it wasn't secret for long, was it? What's the problem?"
"We have intruders!" yelled Donald.
"Intruders?" said Goofy standing up.
"Yeah, three of them!" said Huey.
"Where are they?" asked Goofy.
"Over there!" yelled Duey pointing across the garden.
They all turned their heads, wide eyed, to see three children piled on top of each other. The one on the bottom was a boy, in his teens, with dirty blonde hair. On top of him and slightly to the right was another boy with brown messy hair and tears in his shirt. And propped up against the brown haired boy was a light brown haired girl with a red vest on.
"They kinda look like Sora, don't they?" asked Goofy, examining them more closely. "Gwarsh, maybe they're from his world."
"Maybe they're his friends," reasoned Donald, inspecting them too. "Let's wake 'em up."
The two poked and prodded at the trio until the girl opened her eyes. "Huh?" she was still half asleep as she looked into the face of Donald and he looked at her. She opened her eyes fully and saw his face.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" shrieked Donald, falling backwards.
"Haru, Rion wake up!" the girl said shaking her companions.
"What?" said Haru.
"What the heck…?" asked Rion getting up and seeing Goofy.
"Who are ya all?" asked Goofy.
"We should ask the same to you," said Jila with a little more courage then she had. But then she very carefully looked at them. The picture of Donald and Goofy flashed in her mind. "Donald? Goofy?"
They looked at each other perplexed with wonder. Rion and Haru looked too their eyes squinted as if Donald and Goofy were just fuzzy images.
"How do you know our names?" asked Donald.
"Yeah and where's Sora?" asked Goofy.
"Sora?" asked Jila.
"Yeah, are you his friends or something? Where's Kairi and Riku too?" asked Donald looking around.
"What the heck are you talking about?" Haru asked.
"Well you guys look about his age," explained Goofy. "And you look like you're from his world."
"What do you mean 'His world'?" Rion asked.
"Destiny Islands!" yelled Donald looking impatient.
"You know about our island?" Jila asked.
"Well gwarsh, that means that you must know Sora 'cause he lives there," nodded Goofy sagely.
"I don't really know what's going on but," Rion sighed, then his eyes opened widely. He went into his pocket and searched through the pictures, finally finding one that he needed. He gave the photo to the two, and they looked at it sharply. "This is a recent photo of Kairi and Sora."
Donald gently took the picture and held it up for Goofy to see. They both stared at it, perplexed. In it, Sora and Kairi, as adults, sat on the beach smiling. Sora was waving although they knew he wasn't waving at them…he obviously hadn't for a long time.
"They're our parents," said Haru bringing Donald and Goofy out of the photo. They looked up.
"But that's impossible," said Donald. "We just dropped him off at his island a couple months ago."
The children looked at them, confused and puzzled. "But it's been 19 years. Almost 20 since our dad was fourteen," Jila explained.
Donald and Goofy just kept looking at the photo thinking of their dear friend. Gone, grown up without them even knowing. His face still flashed in their minds, smiling, smiling with the greatest of ease.
"That's right!" said Jila, snapping Donald and Goofy, once more, out of the photo. "Our mom was kidnapped and we don't know where our dad is!"
"Sora's missing?" asked Goofy with a little panic in his voice.
"Wait!" said Donald. "King Mickey might know where he is! Let's go!"
"King who?" Jila asked, perplexed.
"King Mickey!" Donald told her. "He's the great ruler of our Kingdom! I'm sure he'll know where Sora went!"
"Then let's find him!" Rion nodded to his siblings and they nodded back to him and followed the strange duck and dog from their father's past.
The five then ran off in search for King Mickey who might hold the key to the children's father's disappearance. The children were hoping that this strange King Mickey would know of their father's whereabouts. Still, they knew that the chances were slim to none but that didn't stop them as they ran out of the garden with Donald and Goofy.
HOLY CRAP. I looked that over and MAN was that bad…and when I say bad…I mean REALLY bad. There were mistakes everywhere and the writing itself was poor! I hope that I fixed it. Don't worry, the next chapters will be WAY better.
Notes:
Wolfgang, Kaede, and Ryoma are all from FFXI, though I kind of messed up their personalities. lol…
Don't forget to review!
Until then,
Ciao for now!