Heart of an Alchemist
(A/N)
Disclaimer: I own neither FullMetal Alchemist nor Kingdom Hearts.
Chapter Six
"Follow me, there's someone I want you to meet," Yuffie said skipping along the walkway. "Since he wasn't in the hotel, he's probably hanging out in the first district." Ed followed her up the steps of the second district, past a little waterfall. "We're really lucky, there seems to be hardly any Heartless around today."
"Yeah, but I bet pounding a few of them might help me feel a little better."
"Yep, the Heartless are good stress-relievers, that's for sure. Um, Ed, can I ask you something?"
"Hnn? Oh, sure."
"How did you fix your clothes so fast?" she questioned looking at his newly fixed coat. "I mean at the hotel I gave you the cloth and stuff, but I only left for a minute to look if anyone else was in the hotel. When I got back in there your clothes looked brand new. I can't even see the stitch lines on your jacket."
"Oh, that? It's just a little trick I learned."
"Well you'll just have to show me show me sometime then, 'cause my poor headband's always getting ripped up," she told him pinching her cheek. The two walked up to the door leading to the town square in the first district.
"So who's this guy we're going to meet?"
"His name's Squall, but I suggest you call him Leon."
"Why?"
"'Cause otherwise he'll probably strike you with a blunt object."
"O-K then."
"Hehe, don't get me wrong," she said pushing the door open, "He's a nice-" Yuffie cut off. Ed looked in front of her to see a brown haired man shoot a red flair from his gun at someone, sending them flying against a wall.
"Ah, Sora!" Ed exclaimed running up and jumping in between the two. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing!" Ed yelled, leaning down by his unconscious friend.
"Leon!" Yuffie ran forward and gave him a small punch on the shoulder. "What in the world are you doing to-" the key shaped weapon in Sora's hand caught her eye. "Is that the Keyblade? Is that the Keyblade Master?"
"Yeah," he replied simply.
"Oh, OK, you had me worried for a second."
"Hey!" yelled Edward, "Mind telling me what that was about?"
"Oh, come on Ed. Let's take him to the hotel. I'll tell you on the way there."
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Sora opened his eyes to find himself looking up at a ceiling. He turned his head to see a square shaped room with a table and couch. "How'd I get here?" Sora sat up as someone came into the room.
"Oh, you're awake." Sora looked at her surprised. 'It's Kairi!'
"How are you?" she asked. "I imagine you're a little hurt, seeing as you were attacked by the Heartless and then Leon."
"Heartless?"
"Those are the creatures that attacked you on your world."
"So that's what they're called."
"I see Ed fixed up the cuts and burns on your clothes, too."
"Wait a second, Kairi. Did you say Ed was here?"
"Huh, Kairi? I think you're mistaken. I'm the great ninja Yuffie Kisaragi," she proclaimed giving a friendly salute. Sora blinked and shook his head. Kairi had disappeared and in her place was a woman with black hair. "Squall, I think you overdid it."
"That's Leon." The brown haired man replied.
"Hey you're that guy that attacked me!" Sora said jumping up and holding out his fists. Yuffie jumped in front of him.
"Now, now Sora. No need to cause a fight. Leon's not goin' to hurt you again." Sora lowered his fists.
"Hey, how do you know my name?"
"Edward told me. We met up a bit ago and found you and Leon fighting."
"Is he still here?"
"Don't worry he'll be back soon, he said he was just going for a little walk."
"Oh, OK." Sora looked at Yuffie then Leon. "Um, why did you attack me?"
"He needed to get the Keyblade away from you," stated Yuffie. "Leon asked Cid if he'd seen any Heartless and he told him that you were getting attacked, but he asked some others and they haven't seen a trace of them in a while. Apparently they were tracking you down with it."
"I only did it to conceal your heart from them," said Leon. "It won't stop them for very long though." Leon held out his arm with the Keyblade. It disappeared in a flash and reappeared in Sora's hand. "I suppose beggars can't be choosers."
"Arg, you aren't making any sense at all!"
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"Your name's Aerith, wasn't it?" Donald asked the lady in the pink dress.
"Yes Aerith Gainsborough," she replied.
"All right then, could you tell us what's going on around here?"
"Yes. You know there are other worlds out there other than your castle and this town, right?"
"Yeah," Goofy said, "But aren't they supposed to be a secret?"
"Well they have been because the worlds were never connected. But when the Heartless came they changed everything."
"Heartless were those black creatures that we saw lurking outside right?"
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"Creatures without hearts," Leon said to Sora. "The Heartless are attracted by the darkness in people's hearts, and there is darkness in every heart."
"Have you ever heard of a man named Ansem?" asked Yuffie.
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"Not that I know of. Donald?" Donald shook his head at Goofy.
"He was doing research on the Heartless, and wrote his findings in a very detailed report," explained Aerith.
"Can we see them?"
"The reports were scattered across a various amount of the worlds. I think that might be why your King left."
"He went to find them."
"Then that means we need to go to the other worlds and find him," said Goofy.
"Wait, first we need that 'key' he was talking about."
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"So this Keyblade is the 'key'?"
"Yes. The Heartless have great fear of it, that's why they'll keep coming after you."
"But I didn't ask for this."
"The Keyblade chooses its own master, sorry Sora," Yuffie said.
"Yuffie," Leon said, "Aerith should have our other guests by now."
"Right I'll go get her." Yuffie turned around to open a door when suddenly the window behind them shattered and a Heartless flew in on the floor.
"Yuffie, go!" Leon ordered. Yuffie ran to the door only to find more Heartless appearing in the hallway. She ran passed them and pushed through a red door.
"Aerith!" she said closing the door behind her.
"Yuffie? What's going on?" Yuffie grabbed a vase that was on a table next to her, and threw it at the room window, shattering it to pieces. "Yuffie, what's wrong?"
"Heartless! We need to get out of here fast!" Yuffie grabbed Aerith's hand and pulled her to the window.
"But what about the Keyblade Master? Did you find him?"
"Keyblade Master!" Donald and Goofy yelled together.
"He's fine, Leon's with him in the other room. Come on!" Yuffie pulled Aerith to the window and they jumped together. Goofy started for the window, but Donald caught him.
"Goofy, she said the Keyblade Master was in here somewhere we need to find him."
"Ahyuk, let's go find 'im then." Goofy and Donald checked all the rooms as quickly as they could without getting hit by too many Heartless. "Donald, I don't think he's here!"
"Then were just going to have to go look for him then won't we?"
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"Don't bother with the small fry, we need to find the leader." Sora nodded to Leon as they ran down through the second district. Heartless were jumping every which way at them, but Sora and Leon weren't having too much trouble with them. They came near one door that was completely covered with Heartless. "It looks like this is where most of them are coming from. Sora, go through that door, I'll hold them off so they can't get in."
"All right." Sora ran strait through the Heartless, slashing his way to the door. Leon was behind him and blocked any Heartless from getting through the door as Sora went.
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Donald and Goofy looked down from a high platform in the third district. "Damn it, this place is completely empty," Donald yelled slamming his fist on the balcony.
"Really, then who's that?" Goofy pointed to a figure that had just walked in through the door. Donald took a look at him.
"He's got the Keyblade Goofy!"
"Gawrsh, how do we get down there? It's pretty far." The two were looking over the balcony; not noticing that two Heartless had popped up behind them. Goofy looked behind him and taped Donald on the shoulder.
"What is-- Gah!" The heartless charged at them sending them flying through the air, and landing right on top of Sora! Sora pushed them off and pointed the Keyblade at them. "Wait, wait, don't hit us!"
"Huh, who are you? You'd better not be trying to steal the Keyblade."
"Oh no we're-" Goofy started, but was cut short when a bunch of Heartless that looked like they had on metal armor helmets appeared.
"Damn it!" Donald yelled. He threw his hand in the air. A light appeared around it and a wand materialized out of thin air. Goofy took a shield off a holder on his back. "Let's get 'em!" The three all ran in different directions. Sora slashed at the Heartless, Donald used magic spells, and Goofy used his shield to ricochet their attacks back at them. After a few minutes the Heartless were gone.
"I guess that's it," Sora said lowering the Keyblade.
Suddenly a huge Heartless fell from the sky and landed, smashing the hard ground. It was taller than the Accessory shop in the first district. It looked like a bunch of armor pieces without a body inside, and a black and red heart symbol on its chest. It took one step forward then aimed its fist at Sora. Sora barely dodged its claws and fell on his rear, losing his grip on the Keyblade. The Heartless pulled up its fist for a second time and thrust it down. Sora staggered onto his feet and grabbed for the Keyblade. Looking up, Sora saw the monsters fist right in front of him. Sora closed his eyes thinking, 'This is it', when the Heartless' fist stopped in its tracks. Sora opened his eyes to see Edward, leaning down with his hands on the ground, and a large piece of the ground had sprung around the monsters fist.
"Ed!"
"You OK, Sora?" he asked helping him up.
"Great!" The Heartless broke through the cement bindings and thrust a leg at the two.
"Awesome, no let's kick some ass!" Ed clapped his hand turning his Automail into a blade, jumping out of the way of the Heartless' attack.
"Thunder!" Donald yelled as a thin stroke of lightning came down from the sky, only stunning it for a second. The Heartless took a step forward, put its arms out to its side, and swung them around like a tornado, sending Ed and Goofy flying into the walls surrounding them. Ed flew and landed on a large wire that was split open. He looked at it and got an idea.
"Hey! The duck with no pants! Do you know any more spells?" he called out.
"Yeah, Fire and Blizzard," Donald told him.
'Perfect,' Edward thought.
"Come here! Sora and the guy with the shield, distract it!" Donald ran over to Ed and he quickly told him what to do.
"If you say so." Donald and Edward ran behind the Heartless while Sora and Goofy distracted it. Ed clapped and touched the ground, creating a large hole. "Blizzard!" Donald yelled. He pointed his wand at the hole and held the spell for a minute, creating a huge block of ice. He then called out, "Fire!" and a bunch of flaming balls hit the ice, melting it into a giant puddle. Ed moved the hole out of the ground making it into a giant bowl. He moved it to where it hovered over the Heartless's head.
"Now!" Ed made the giant bowl turn over, soaking the Heartless from head to toe.
"Thunder!" Donald exclaimed. A thin stroke of lightning came down from the sky smashing into the Heartless. Sparks surrounded the Heartless for a minute then it turned for Sora, and spun its arms around wildly.
"Damn, it didn't work," Ed said slamming his fist on the ground. Sora threw out the Keyblade to block and only was pushed back a little.
"Wait, Ed. That attack wasn't too powerful. Maybe if you hit it again or hit it with a more powerful attack then we can beat it!"
"But I don't think I can get a better Thunder attack than that," Donald argued.
"What about this here cable, huh?" Goofy asked, pointing to the large cable Ed had fallen on earlier.
"That's it! Sora and-"
"Goofy."
"Right, try and get it to touch the cable, and you hit the cable with a lightning attack right when it does." Everyone nodded. Goofy and Sora stood in front of the cable waiting for the Heartless to strike. The monster's fist came down to them and they dodged just in time, its fist smashed into the cable.
"Thunder!" Donald's attack hit the cable, sending a huge serge of electricity through the Heartless. It finally backed away from the cable, staggering to stay on its feet.
"Now, you're mine!" Sora jumped up the Heartless's arm and knocked off its helmet with a powerful blow from the Keyblade. Hopping off its shoulders, the Heartless fell onto the ground. A white light surrounded it and its body disappeared. Sora noticed a glowing heart fly away from the light.
"Hey, Sora. You OK?" Ed asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just glad it's over."
"Don't count on it." Sora and the others turned to see Leon, Yuffie and Aerith walking towards them.
"What's that supposed to mean, Leon?"
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"So, you guys were looking for me?" Sora asked Donald and Goofy.
"Uh-huh," they answered together.
"They too, were sent to find the wielder of the Keyblade," said Aerith.
"Hey, maybe you could come with us, ahyuk," Goofy suggested.
"I'm not so sure, I might find Riku and Kairi if I go though."
"Of course you will, they're bound to be on one of the worlds out there," said Donald.
Goofy bent down and whispered in Donald's ear, "Are you sure?"
"No, but we need to get this kid with us, no matter what," he whispered back.
"Hmm, it sounds like a good idea. Hey Ed, want to come with us?" Sora asked.
"Hey, I never said anything about that shorty coming along."
"Arg, who the hell are you calling so small he's just a pimple on the butt of the world's smallest ameba, huh!"
"I never said anything like that! And now that you mention it, you are about that size!"
"At least my brain's bigger than that! And I have pants!"
"You guys calm down! We don't need another fight. We're all tired, so why not just get a good night's sleep, eh?"
"That's a lovely idea, Sora," Aerith said. "If you are going to start traveling tomorrow then you'll need to be at your best health."
"Grr, fine!" Ed and Donald said together, folding their arms.
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A group was gathered around a table displaying a hologram of Sora and the others, in a dark room.
"So this is the wielder of the Keyblade? He seems so weak," said a woman's voice.
"He's just a little codfish if you ask me, we could easily do him in," said a man.
"Hush," said another woman with a more demanding voice. "The Keyblade Master will learn in a short time to fight. But for now, he is the one we need to keep an eye on." A long gray finger pointed to the hologram of Edward.
"What? That blond-haired, bilge rat? Why him? He's nothing to do with the Keyblade," argued the man
"If you watched that fight any bit, you would have noticed that he is experienced in battle. Besides, I think I found something he might be interested in."
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"I heard him. He was angry, but afraid at the same time. Confused. He didn't know what to do."
Sora opened his eyes. He was lying in the bed in the green room at the hotel. 'That was a weird dream,' he thought. 'I didn't even see anything. Though that voice sounded almost like…'
"Hmm, looks like I haven't been asleep that long. It's still dark outside. I think I'll go see if anyone else is up." Sora jumped out of the bed, popped on his jacket and shoes, and walked out the door. He walked to the first district and found Leon and the others sitting at some tables, drinking tea, although, Leon wasn't drinking any.
"Oh, hello Sora," Aerith called out. "Did you sleep well?"
"Not really, I mean I didn't sleep for long." Yuffie, Goofy and Aerith gave a little chuckle at this comment. "What's so funny?"
"Didn't sleep for long," Yuffie said. "You slept for a whole day."
"What, well why didn't you wake me up?"
"I did, or at least I tried. But you were so cute sleeping there, drooling on your pillow that I decided to just let you sleep a bit longer. I thought for sure you'd wake up to get some food, but I guess I can't be right all the time."
"No wonder I'm so hungry," Sora said grabbing his stomach.
"Don't worry I'll get you something."
"Thanks, Aerith."
"All right now that you finally woke up, after you eat can we please leave this town?" Donald asked.
"That'd be fine with me, hey where'd Ed go?"
"He went for a walk," Aerith said giving Sora a plate of donuts and a cup of tea. "Although I'm sure he'll be back in time for you to leave."
"I hope so," Sora said munching on the donuts.
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Ed walked through the second district. He searched around and found the door to the third district. Opening it, he began walking down the steps leading to the area where he, Sora, Donald and Goofy had fought the Heartless. "Now, where did that big ol' Heartless come from?"
"Yes, a pity you don't know," he heard someone say. He turned around to see a tall pale woman in a long black dress, with a black staff in her hand.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.
"You may call me Maleficent."
"Maleficent, eh? And just what the hell do you want?"
"I believe I found something that might be of interest to you." Maleficent pointed her staff to her right and out of nowhere a boy appeared, lying on the ground. He had short blonde hair and short bangs that were spiked off to the right side of his face. He had on a long-sleeved white, button t-shirt, and green pants. Both were quite big on him. Ed recognized him immediately.
"Alphonse!"
(A/N)
Cliffhangers. Of course I wouldn't consider it a cliffhanger unless the author didn't post the next chapter in a week or so, making her or his readers die of anxiety.(I now know why Darren Shan has them in his Cirque Du Freak series so much, they're fun!) Although I was very reluctant, I just wanted to keep going and going.