Secrets of Memories Chapter 40: Things One Sees
This must be surreal, Kairi thought desperately as she tried to climb out of the spring with a fast-rising water level. She had yet to realize that Terk was in trouble; all she knew was that the others had suddenly vanished from view and she had been warned to get out of that lake as soon as possible, preferably dry.
Well, now that's impossible, Kairi kept thinking as she clawed at the damp steep bank of the spring with one hand, the other clutching the jade box tightly in her hand.
Everything was starting to spin out of control. Like mismatched colors fitted onto a quilt, information was patched together in incompatible ways. The appearance of that huge strange creature, Merlin and his odd connections, the jade box, Ansem's other reports, heck she could go on listing things forever. But she had to focus on something right now and that was trying to get out of the spring with the jade box.
Wait, just wait.
" What?" Kairi looked around quickly but the voice was coming from inside her head.
Just wait a minute, Kairi, the voice continued to speak. There really is nothing to fear. Merlin's a bit of a loony sometimes and his information has a tendency to come from thin air. Not that he's been lying to you every minute but sometimes he misunderstands or misinterprets. This spring is here because we need a form of communication that is rather unnoticeable. Look into the waters and you can see and speak to faces. But if you enter the waters, well…you become an apparition of sorts in another world.
" In another what!" Kairi yelped but she picked up a mouthful of water instead. Sputtering, she took another deep breath and tried to launch herself out of the spring.
Where are you going? We need to talk, Kairi. Just wait; let yourself drift. This is not an ordinary spring, Kairi, as I've already told you. Close your eyes, let yourself drift.
Kairi hesitated. Should she trust this voice in her head?
You can trust me, Kairi, for I am one of you. We all are each other, for we are all united against the darkness of this era. Sora needs more help than you could ever think and so far we have been failing to support him. Let yourself drift and you can help us help him.
That was enough for Kairi. She knew that Sora needed help, as much help as possible to give to the young master of the Keyblade. Without further ado, she took a mouthful of air and relaxed, letting her body sink.
The world seemed to truly darken into silver mist and Kairi began to wonder if this was a good idea at all.
But the voice, I know it's telling the truth, Kairi thought, surprised by the sincerity her heart could feel. She is telling the sincere truth and she knows Sora needs help, lots of help. And I will give him whatever I can.
The silver mist fogged her mind and the water seemed to vanish. Kairi felt herself floating in nothingness, until a voice whispered in her ear, " You can open your eyes now."
Kairi peeked through her eyelids at this, then opened them wide in astonishment, absolute astonishment.
" "
As Merlin and Jane pulled a drenched and sputtering Terk out of the flowing river, Selphie gave a squeal and ran splashing into the waters. She plunged her arms into the roaring current and fought out the jade box, clean but alone.
Where was Kairi?
" The jade box!" Jane exclaimed.
" But where's Kairi?" Merlin demanded.
" You think I'd know?" Selphie snapped back as she looked up and down the river wildly, unable to see her friend. " You don't think she drowned, did she?"
" Can she swim?" Merlin asked in an amiable tone.
" Um…yes, we lived by the sea," Selphie replied.
" If she can swim," Jane said, " then do you think she made the waterfall over there?"
She pointed to their right and their eyes followed the river until it came to a very sudden drop.
" No, I don't think so," Selphie decided staunchly. " No, I definitely don't' think so; she really is a good swimmer."
" Well, we might as well see if that did happen," Terk said with a shrug and made her way to the edge. " Nope, I see nothing, nothing besides all that white water."
" I'd say we go and see if she somehow made her way into the Waterfall Cavern," Merlin said just as calmly as before. " These times are strange and things happen that normally are preposterous. Not that I'm saying that Kairi really did go down the waterfall, which would be a nightmare beyond reckoning."
" And how's that possible?" Selphie asked curiously as they made their way down at a brisk but cautious pace.
" A spider web is made of many silken threads spun together into an intricate work of art," Merlin stated. " Sever a few and the web falls apart."
" Um, no I don't' think so," Selphie had done something like that before and the spider web she bothered still stood upright and strong.
" It depends on which threads you sever," Jane spoke as though she was giving Selphie a hint. " There are a few threads, few and strong, who keep the web together. Sever them and all falls apart. I'm guessing Kairi's one of them?"
" You could say that," Merlin answered calmly as he turned left into the cavern, now dripping with newfound moisture. " Watch your step, please."
" Merlin, I don't' think Kairi's around here," Selphie said stiffly as she followed the wizard. " I have a very dark feeling that she's not here."
" I have a feeling she's not here as well," Merlin agreed, putting a very strong emphasis on the 'here'.
" Well then," Terk said as she hopped to the side to avoid a pool of water, " We might as well get that green box opened up, shall we?"
She hopped over to a vibrant green vine and grabbed it, pulling herself up in the process. Halfway up to a cliff that jutted out to the left of the vine, she looked down and hollered, " Well!"
" I don't like heights," Selphie said nervously while clutching the jade box tightly in her hands. " What if I fall?"
" You won't fall," Jane replied calmly yet briskly while taking a hold of the vine and pulling herself up as well. " Don't worry; as long as you don't let go, you'll be fine."
Selphie looked around her nervously as Jane pulled herself up after Terk, who had reached the cliff. She looked to Merlin who shrugged and said, " After you."
I've no choice, Selphie thought, as fear poured out of her in beads of sweat. But I have to do this. I know I do.
Selphie looked up to Terk and shouted, " Catch!", throwing the jade box up to her. Terk snatched it and Selphie, blanking out her mind, grabbed the green vine and pulled herself up. She tried to not look at the floor as she pulled herself up and moved even faster when her eyes caught a glimpse of Merlin watching her down below.
" Take my hand," Jane ordered from her position at the edge of the cliff and Selphie took it gladly. Terk, by then, had the jade box in one hand and was climbing sideways, clinging to even brighter green moss that spread like a lush carpet sideways to another cliff edge. Selphie gulped upon seeing this, then looked down the cliff she was on to see Merlin climbing up the green vine. And all around them, water roared and splashed through the Waterfall Cavern.
" It's not bad," Terk commented as she made it safely to the next cliff. " Come on you guys."
Selphie gulped and inched to the next vine, beginning a rather painful (mentally) trek to a certain cliff edge that opened up on a pathway deep into the Waterfall Cavern.
" "
" Finally I have the chance the get a good look at your face, Kairi," the silver-haired, darkly tanned woman spoke with a smile before her. She wore sparingly in blues and red, and a crystal that hung around her neck glowed softly. " So it is true. The eyes, the face, the hair, I see it all…"
Kairi was utterly confused. " Who-who are you?"
" She is Princess Kida, dear," another woman's voice spoke behind her. Kairi turned around to see a rather cynical-looking woman behind her. She had reddish hair and was adorned in purple robes. The rather pessimistic look on her face was warped by weariness, worry, and…fear.
" That's Megara but you can just call her Meg," the woman named Princess Kida said. " Where are the others?"
" I've contacted them," Meg replied as calmly as possible, though Kairi could hear that her voice shook. The silver mist that rose from nowhere obscured the woman's face but the fear radiated from her in other ways, particularly her voice. " Friar Tuck should be the first; he's the one near the lake. However, I have more important news-"
" Someone called?" a kind voice ringed out as a portly man – or was it an animal? – appeared from the mist as well. " I was just taking care of some financial – oh! Kairi, is it?"
" That's Friar Tuck," Meg told her.
" A pleasure to meet you face-to-face, Kairi," Friar Tuck said with a bow. " A Princess of Heart, no less."
Kairi felt herself pale slightly as those words echoed in her mind, bringing forth memories she'd rather not recall, but she kept her stature as Princess Kida addressed to the one called Friar Tuck, " All's well?"
" All's well, Princess Kida," Friar Tuck said rather solemnly, suddenly serious. " But why am I here?"
" That's after others get here," Meg answered as a woman who looked like she was made of porcelain of sorts appeared as well. " Bo Peep, the Shepherdess."
The delicate woman bowed in acknowledgement but her eyes never left Kairi. " Well met, Kairi. Well met."
" Ah, the Emperor," Princess Kida smiled as an old man with long gray beard and adorned in gold and red robes appeared from the mist. " Welcome, Your Majesty."
" Thank you, Highness," the Emperor bowed in return. Kairi peered at his face. It was strange to her, that his eyes weren't even visible between his eyelids; he seemed blind but did not walk like one. " But why was I called away? I was just about to enjoy a nice hot cup of tea."
" Apologies, Majesty," Meg replied respectfully, " but Merlin has managed to send Kairi to us, one of the strongest of the Princesses of Heart. I suppose it is time to aid her and to tell her…what must be told."
" Indeed."
It seemed to Kairi that the Emperor was quite revered amongst those gathered around her. She assumed that he was the one who would lead this ' meeting', if that's what this was called.
" Now," Princess Kida said, turning to Meg, " you were about to say something?"
" I'd hate to," Meg replied with a rather wry smile. " It's something nobody would want to hear."
" More bad news from Meg, I see," Friar Tuck sighed. " Why me? Why does she get to face all the bad stuff and I don't?"
" Would you really want to?" Meg answered rather sharply, giving Friar Tuck a sharp eye. She then turned back to the rest of the people, composed herself, and said, " It's the Guardian. He's -"
" Not again," Friar Tuck groaned. " That boy's always getting into fishy business."
" This boy has trouble following his shadow," the Emperor added.
Meg was very put-off. " I wasn't done yet."
" Very well," Princess Kida heaved a heavy sigh. " Finish. And anyone here who interrupts will have me to deal with."
Meg added to that threat with a hard eye, then said, " Not too long ago, one of the Society walked into the temple. The Guardian called him Vixen. I don't know how the guy got in but we called it a 'truce', if you call it, so there'd be no trouble. They both went out to talk about something. After waiting for nearly an hour, I had Hercules see what was taking the Guardian so long and if there was trouble, Hercules can help the Guardian dispatch this member of the Society. However, all Hercules found was blood. The Guardian's been abducted."
" Damn it!" Princess Kida groaned while the others either swore or reacted in extremely negative ways to this. " I don't believe this!"
Kairi was quite taken back by her reaction. Who was the Guardian? And why did the Guardian seem so important, so special?
" Who's the Guardian?" Kairi asked tentatively.
" Oh, I apologize, Kairi," Princess Kida said. " I forgot. We didn't tell you who the Guardian was. Or is."
" The Guardian is a child of darkness," Friar Tuck began solemnly. " His life is tragic, most tragic. He's never known the simple pleasures of childhood for he is one of the Keyblade Wielders. And those fated to wield the blades are doomed to a childhood so brief it is all but a dream."
" His name is Aozora," the Emperor continued. " A fair child with fierce bronze eyes. He looks very similar to Sora, very, very similar. He is important to us, for he knows much that we do not, and he has an appointed task, a task that is important as well."
" He is the Guardian of Sora, the Keyblade Master," a new voice spoke, one stern yet kind, commanding, noble, regal in other words, as a new shadow appeared from the mists. " It is his task to see that Sora makes it to the door. But clearly, Kairi, the Society now has the upper hand in stopping Sora from reaching that door. Without the Guardian, Sora is more vulnerable to the dark machinations of the Society. Perhaps Ansem has written something about the Society, something secretive, or something that can at least help us counter them. For every member of the Order is a member of the Society."
" Your Majesty," everyone bowed, though the Emperor merely gave a short nod.
And King Mickey appeared in the mists.
" "
" Almost there, Selphie," Jane said, clenching her teeth as she pulled herself up on the ledge that led to a path deep underneath the waterfall. " Here, take my hand."
She leaned over and reached out her hand to Selphie and the young teenager took it.
" Hey, check this out," Terk's voice boomed through the tunnel. " A wooden box, how interesting."
" A wooden box?" Selphie demanded as she pulled herself up the ledge. " Terk, let me see that."
" Why sure," the young ape said as she hopped over and handed Selphie the box the Queen of Hearts had given to her and Kairi earlier. The lacquered box seemed unharmed, though Selphie had no idea how it got there. She shook it and felt relieved to hear the single sheet of parchment paper shake lightly in its dark confines.
" So you have found the other box?" Merlin noted as he suddenly appeared and scrutinized the chest in her hands. " Well, that is very good, very, very good. Shall we move on now?"
" But…but what about Kairi?" Selphie asked. " We haven't seen her anywhere. I don't think she's in the Waterfall Caverns."
" No indeed," there was a secretive smile on Merlin's face. " My dear girl, there are many things an old man has yet to recall and many things an old man must correct. And then there are many things only an old man can sense, such as Kairi being somewhere. And all I can say now is that she is, at present, not in this world. She still is, but not her heart and soul. And as I recall, Keyblades choose their own masters, though they have a tendency to choose within a family. Forgive my earlier mistakes, I was being careless and assuming."
" Uh…right," Selphie wondered if it was Kairi who should be hearing. Oh well, I'll just tell her when she comes back.
" Merlin, even if we find the tree and stuff, how are we gonna open the box?" Jane asked curiously as she looked over the jade box that Merlin had given her. " I've yet to see a key shaped like a butterfly."
" Who knows," Merlin replied with a shrug. " I've never been to that tree before and since you were only concerned about sealing the Keyhole to Deep Jungle a year ago, you have seen nothing else besides the tree, the butterflies, and the Keyhole. Perhaps if we look around quite closely, we'll be able to find something of great importance…such as the key to this jade box."
" Whoo hoo!" they heard a shout from far into the cave. " Would'ya look at the butterflies!"
Immediately following the cry of joy, luminous blue butterflies came streaming out, glowing incredibly blue, and fluttering out into the dreary gray world beyond the waterfall.
" Oh my," Jane gasped, stunned by this sudden show of life. " I haven't seen these butterflies in such a long time."
" Wow," Selphie was astonished. " They're so beautiful."
" Very pretty, yes, yes," Merlin said briskly. " I, however, can conjure up a potion that could make one glow like they. I mean, not as in completely blue but I can create a potion that would give one the glowing wings of the butterfly. Shall I do that for any of you, once peace has been restored to the Universe?"
Selphie and Jane looked at each other. " Uh…no thanks, Merlin."
" Very well then," Merlin replied as he marched in after where Terk had gone into. " Let's carry on now."
" He does act like the eccentric old man he's dressed up as, doesn't he?" Jane muttered to Selphie as they followed Merlin.
" What, with the pointy hat and the long blue dress?" Selphie replied. " What do you think?"
" "
" King Mickey?" Kairi was stupefied.
Before her eyes stood the one. King Mickey. King of Disney. One of the most revered people – if you call him a person in the first place – in the Universe as far as she knew.
" Well met, Kairi, Princess of Heart," the King said with a kind smile. " Princess Kida. Megara. Friar Tuck. The Emperor. Bo Peep. Oh, and we're still missing some people. What of Dream Heart, Gill, Cid, Sally, and Merlin? Oh that is right, Merlin is trying to unlock another piece of Ansem's Other Report."
" Your Majesty, Dream Heart has business to attend to," Bo Peep reported quietly in her lovely voice. " Namely rebuilding some barriers on my world."
" Ah yes, after all City Point went through, I should imagine," Friar Tuck could not resist adding a comment. " As for Gill and Cid, Gill's got some trouble of his own. He can't keep contact with others because he's in a situation concerning a 'prison' of sorts. Cid's place – the pilot one, I mean, the one in Twilight Town – been vandalized by Ansem's cousin's son, Heartless, and an agent of the Society. His daughter and her two friends are rebuilding the barriers there. And Sally…we have not heard from her in a while, actually."
" We are certainly in plenty of trouble," Princess Kida groaned, covering her face with her hand. " But the most pressing matter as of now is Aozora. Your Majesty, have you any ideas?"
" My cover's been blown," King Mickey replied, tugging at the strange black trench coat he was wearing. " It seems some 'secret' members of the Society truly have eyes. I have a layout of the Society as of now. There is a society within the Society and those who dare to mention of them call them the Elite. Then there's something like two divisions. One division is quite shadowy, not exactly living, and they monitor the Nobodies and outside forces. The other -"
" Um…King Mickey, Your Majesty?" Kairi asked nervously. " What is the Society, exactly?"
" The Society was once a shadowy group of people," King Mickey began with unlimited patience and consideration. " Well, they weren't exactly people because most of them could only see and identify the trench coat. But they wielded great power and they used that power for good. Well, that's too cliché, so to speak. They use their powers to balance the forces of good and evil. But after events concerning certain people of incredible darkness, namely Ansem and a certain person named Crimson -" it seemed strange but King Mickey said that name with a hint of contempt "- the Society changed, distorted. It became a shadowy group of evils and dark magic. Members that resisted this new change were murdered or tortured into accepting darkness. Either that or they merely hide their true allegiance. Anyhow, the Society began to seek a power of its own, power to rival the Heartless. They became allies with Nobodies, mysterious monsters of the dusk, white with a heart-like symbol, who's purpose is just as dark as the Heartless. Nobodies come where someone is soulless, for the heart is a part of the soul and someone who is truly cruel to 'man'-kind brings these white evils to where they may go. But now…the Society is allies with both the Nobodies and the Heartless."
" All three forces, all three enemies," Princess Kida spoke softly. " We face three enemies and only the door will rid the Universe of them all."
" But the Society is extremely cunning, unlike any enemy ever met," King Mickey continued. " For among them are humans; they have minds of their own, souls, hearts, speech, and magic. This is what I was trying to get to: the other side of the Society consist of members like ours. They are all human, or human-like, and for each of us, there's one of them; I've a bad feeling, however, that this other division may well be the Elite I just mentioned earlier. That is all I managed to find out, though I doubt the source of this information. I wonder where Maleficent fits in but no doubt she is becoming of little use to the Society; before my cover was blown, there was talk of throwing her out of the Society. In other words, hold a 'ceremony' in which she is announced to be cast from the Society, be branded with the brand of the traitor, and killed."
Kairi was horrified. What was the Society, a cult?
" Only one person ever survived the branding and the casting," Meg said. " Aozora. The scar still remains. But I at least am surprised that the Society is very interested in him. Very surprised. And curious of course, though I have no doubt I know the reason why they want him."
" What of Eldest?" Bo Peep asked quietly. " What of him?"
" Eldest?" Kairi wondered. She had heard that name before, a single leaf from a tree of past memories. Forgotten memories.
" I think you've met him before," King Mickey looked at her rather sharply. " Though perhaps you do not recall it. He is one of the forces of the Universe, and once one of the greatest members of the Society, though he has always refused the position of leader. And he was one of those who's true allegiance remained in balancing light and dark. But in order to erase the permanent darkness, he must become part of the permanent light."
" And what of his protégés?" the Emperor asked tensely. " Haven't we heard that they were captured, too?"
" All four are in danger," Friar Tuck said thoughtfully. " Perhaps we should send someone in -"
He looked to King Mickey but the mouse king shook his head. " No, he has business elsewhere, as you should know. We must be glad at least that he is saving the peoples of the worlds. Let him do that job; I cannot risk sending him back to the Society. After all, he must reach Twilight Town. The Oblivion as need of him."
" And I suspect," Meg sniffed, " Riku would just hate it if someone told him Aozora was responsible for opening Kingdom Hearts, though it saved his life and yours, Your Majesty."
" What!" Kairi demanded.
" "
" Wow."
Selphie was absolutely stupefied by what she had just seen. A great tree, gnarly, majestic, grown on age, thrived in this little sanctuary. Green moss cushioned her feet, crept up along the walls of the cavern. Tiny purple flowers dotted the walls and the moss-covered rocks, worn smooth with time, and water dripped in harmony. Butterflies were everywhere and though when Selphie looked up and saw that outside the world was grey, here in this sanctuary, all bloomed with life.
" Its, its beautiful," Jane said with a gasp. " More beautiful than the last time I've seen it."
" I know!" Terk was quite cheerful as she bounded towards them from where she was playing around in a small pool nearby. " I could live here forever! Good bye gray world!"
" We've business to attend to, first," Merlin said calmly. " We need to find a way to open that jade box."
He pointed at the box in Jane's hand, which was glowing. But this time the glow was stronger, much stronger, and color was creeping back from where they came. Color was coming in, the color of life and light.
" Well…" Terk mused as she scrutinized the tree. " I have no idea."
Selphie, in the meantime, had walked up to the tree, touching it gingerly, caressing its bark with her fingertips. She could feel it, the ageless tree, the life of it just vibrating underneath the bark. She felt the cracks on the tough hide of the tree, the indents and butterfly-shaped bump on the bark with a hole in the middle-
Selphie froze and retraced her fingers' trail. It was butterfly-shaped for sure, there was no doubt about it. She looked and scrutinized this strange oddity. Yes, there was a bump on the tree shaped like a butterfly, with a peculiar hole in its middle.
" Jane, give me the jade box," Selphie requested as she carefully placed the lacquered chest down on the floor. " I think I found something."
Jane did as asked, then watched with the others as Selphie felt along the bulges for the butterfly-shaped one. " I think I found the key."
With that, she carefully tried to fit the butterfly-shaped indentation on the jade box onto the bulge on the tree.
It fit perfectly and Selphie let loose a smile as she heard machinery in the jade box at work, with clicking noises abound.
"Well done," Merlin nodded as the noises stopped and Selphie carefully pulled the jade box from the tree. She opened the box gently, gritting her teeth as the hinges screeched; it seemed the jade box had not been opened in years and the hinges were rusting.
Inside was a parchment piece of paper not unlike the one in the lacquered chest.
" What does it say?" Terk asked. " I can't read human. I can't read at all, actually."
" Interesting," Merlin mused.
" More information on the Heartless and the Nobodies," Selphie groaned.
" No, not true, not all of it," Jane noted.
" I've watched and noted. Many peculiarities have been found between now and the last I've written. It seems Nobodies are 'created' at dusk, how strange. They are the creatures of the dusk, white, quite the opposite of the Heartless but not so in malice. But light can fight them, light and night. But not darkness, darkness will help the Nobodies grow the same way the Heartless would grow. You would need night and day to fight these creatures of the dusk.
Keyblades choose their own masters, yet they have a tendency to choose within a family. How very strange. Meaning those sons of the last Keyblade Master aren't necessary heirs at all. Or one of them could be. But what does that have to do with King Mickey? All that can be proven of this is that his mother comes from the same family as the last Keyblade Master and several past Keyblade Masters. But that won't support the hypothesis of heirs and such in the matter of Keyblades would it? No, I don't think so. I must look further.
The Heartless are leaderless. If I could harness them, become a leader for them, there is much I could do with their power. Crimson thinks he may be so great but I myself can build up a force to counter his. Perhaps I will enter the darkness, the great darkness that calls to me."
" "
" Every person who knows of Kingdom Hearts and is not a casual passer-by always has the same reaction," Princess Kida said amusingly as soon as all present members of the Order finished explaining to Kairi what Aozora had done. " But you must understand, Kairi, that Aozora had set out not to do evil. He did a great good in opening Kingdom Hearts but now it will take a blade of darkness to seal the doors made of light."
" Two blades," King Mickey interrupted. " It must be two blades. I will be there with him. Two blades to seal the doors, one blade to open the door of light. The rules are more complex than you think, you see-"
" 'Two keys, a key of darkness, to open and close Kingdom Hearts," a gentle voice spoke in a monotonous manner. "The dual blades of the crownless king will open the door of light from dark depths.' Many things will take place, Your Majesty, which contradict what was known and believed earlier. Times change, but now rapidly. And Kairi, hearts will change as well."
" Welcome, Sally," King Mickey acknowledged the tall willowy figure from the shadows. " You have yet to miss anything."