"Okay, guys. Prepare for landing." Donald instructed.
"Land where! In the sea! You gotta be kidding me! We'll drown!" Yumi screamed going crazy running frantically across the floor of the gummi ship.
"No, with my magic, we won't. Just leave it to me." Donald said.
"Oh, thank you Lord!…..Wait, ARE YOU SURE WE WON'T DROWN!" Yumi asked loudly.
"Great….." Donald said shaking his head. "Well, prepare for landing." He swooped in the ocean with the gummi ship and instantly, they were in the water.
"Ack! I'm breathing in the ocean! I'm drowning! Help me! The water's too salty!" Yumi said sinking to the bottom. Sora swam down and fetched her.
"Jeez, you know, I can swim and so can you! Wahoo!" Sora said swimming in circles.
"Oh, please!….Is that a shark fin?" Yumi asked pointing to Sora. Sora stopped and looked behind him.
"Well, heh…..I think so!" Sora chuckled. "Take a look behind you!"
Yumi looked behind her and and saw a fin. "Ack! I'm a fish! Wait…..dolphin! No, a Purple dolphin!…..wait, why not a pink dolphin! And what's with these shells? They're so out of style…."
"Ack, foey….stop bragging. Who's the one that's a octopus?" Donald said having his hands folded on his chest swimming upside down.
"Wheee…..I'm a turtle!" Goofy said swimming around.
"Hah. I guess this is fun! Wahoo!" Yumi said swimming around. She stopped and heard someone coming. "Shh! Guys, I heard someone." Sora, Donald and Goofy stopped and listened.
"Come on, Sebastian!" a girly voice said.
"Ariel, wait! Slow down!" said another voice. "Don't leave me behind!"
A red crab swam so fast that it bumped into Donald. "Ack!" It said and swam behind a mermaid with red hair. "Relax, Sebastian. They don't look like one of them. Right, Flounder?"
A Yellow fish with blue stripes and fins appeared behind her. " I don't know. There's something weird about them."
"Ahehe…….what do you mean?" Sora asked.
"Hmm…..they do seem……a little different." The girl said swimming around Sora and Yumi. "Where are you from?"
"Uh….we're from….uh…."Sora said thinking.
"From far away…" Yumi finished. Sora gave Yumi that face saying 'thank you'. "And we're not really used to these waters…" Yumi finished off her sentence.
"Oh, I see….in that case…..Sebastian can show you how we swim around here."
"Ariel, King Triton will not like this!" Sebastian warned.
"Oh, don't worry." The girl said.
"Oh, easy for you to say….Okay. It's time you learned how to swim properly. Practice swimming with Ariel. She'll give you a demonstration and you follow." Ariel swam to the left. "Observe. Did you see that? You, the one in purple, go!" Yumi swam up to Ariel perfectly.
"This is easier than I thought! Come on Sora!" Yumi shouted. One by one, it was Sora, Donald and Goofy.
"Good job! Now lets move on to self defense." Sebastian was being interrupted by Ariel's voice of Sebastian's name. Ariel pointed to a couple of heartless swimming after them.
"Class is over. Good luck!" Sebastian said swimming past Yumi and Sora.
"Ladies go first." Sora said to Yumi.
"Hah. Then I'll take the honors." Yumi said tossing a couple of ninja stars at the heartless killing one of them. Sora, Donald and Goofy charged battling them. As soon as there was none left, Ariel came out of her hiding place and went up to the gang.
"Those creatures chased us here." Ariel explained.
"Oh, no! Those creatures might be heading toward the palace, too!" Sebastian shouted.
"We better head back right away!" Ariel said.
"But wh-what if we run into more on our way back?" Flounder asked.
"I'm sorry, but we need your help. Please come to the palace with us." Ariel said.
"No problem." Yumi said tossing a ninja star up and down. "Okay, lets get going!"
They arrived into the palace with heartless behind their backs. A thunderbolt crashed down on the Heartless letting them die.
"That was too close." Said an old man with a staff in his hand. "As long as I have my trident, I will not tolerate those creatures inside this palace."
"Daddy?" Ariel said coming up to the old man.
"Oh, Ariel! When will you listen? It's dangerous out there! Strange creatures lurk outside." Said the old man.
"Ahem. Behold. You swim before the ruler of the seas: His Magesty, King Triton." Sebastian announced.
"And who are they?" King Triton asked raising and eyebrow.
"They helped us fight off those creatures." Ariel said.
"They don't look familiar." King Triton said looking at them.
"We're from another ocean, very far away." Sora answered.
"Yup. We came to find the Keyhole." Goofy said swimming around.
"The what?" King Triton said in a loud voice.
"What's that?" Ariel asked in curiosity.
"Well, it's a-" Goof said.
"There's no such thing. Certainly not here." King Triton interrupted.
"But Daddy…." Ariel said.
"Ariel, not another word! You are not to leave the palace. Is that clear?" King Triton said in a loud voice. Ariel gave a stern look at her father and swam away. The gang followed as Yumi stayed behind. She gave him a mean look and stuck out her tongue and left.
"Perhaps, I'm being too strict….." Yumi heard King Triton say to Sebastian.
As she followed, Ariel stopped and face toward them. "Come to my grotto. I want to show you something." She pointed to a circle rock. "There it is. See it?"
"Yea, but it doesn't like a grotto to me." Yumi said.
"Oh, you silly. That's the door." Ariel chuckled. All of a sudden, more heartless appeared and went after them.
"Uh, I think it would be a great time to jet over there and go inside, don't you think?" Yumi asked. They all thought about it and saw the heartless coming closer so they jet over there very fast. Sora pushed the door open and let it slide close. They swam through the tunnel and saw a room full of treasure.
"Look at all the wonderful things Flounder and I've collected." Ariel said. "I think it's all from an outside world. Someday, I'm going to see what's out there. I want to see other worlds. Doesn't that sound strange?"
"No…not at all. I used to feel the same way." Sora said.
"Same here." Yumi said.
"Used to?" Ariel questioned.
"Oh! Uh….I mean still do." Sora corrected himself.
"Hey, why don't try looking for that Keyhole you were talking about?" Ariel asked.
"But your father said-" Yumi said.
"Oh, he treats me like a little girl. He never wants to let me do anything. He just…. He just doesn't understand." Ariel confessed.
"Yea, fathers are like that….. my father is like that, and so is my brother. They just worry about you too much. They just don't want you to get hurt…or even worse, to lose you." Yumi explained.
Sora remembered Cloud from the Coliseum. He was Yumi's brother. If only he told her. But Cloud promised he'd find her one day when he finds the light.
"You okay, Sora?" Yumi said. Sora's attention drew to Yumi. "Yea, I'm fine. I just had a lot on my mind that's all. Don't worry."
They left Ariel's grotto and went into an area. There lied a sunken ship.
"Let's go exploring!" Yumi screamed. "We might find some REALLY EXPENSIVE TREASURE that we can sell and become Rich!"
Sora looked around. His eyes narrowed. "Don't let your guard down guys." He turned to his friends. "You may never know what'll happen….hey! Get back here!" Sora shouted.
Yumi, Goofy and Donald were at the stairway of the ship. "Rich, rich, rich! Come on, Sora!" Yumi yelled across the area. They went down the stairs and saw a chest sitting there, isolated.
"Wahhooo! Here I come, Hollywood!" Yumi screeched.
"Um, Yumi….what's …a hollywood!" Sora asked.
"Uh….forget it." Just as Yumi was about to open the chest, a shark rammed into the window located in front of the chest.
"AAHHH! IT'S A MONSTER!" Yumi shouted hiding behind Sora.
"I told you not to let your guard down! Let's fight!" Sora said bringing out his keyblade. The shark wiggled his way in, but couldn't get into the ship so it left them alone and swam away.
Yumi's teeth were still chattering. Sora looked at her with pity. "Tsk, tsk, tsk…I told you to pay attention."
"Uh, I was uh, you know, surprised, not scared." Yumi said.
"Whatever." Sora said. Yumi opened the chest and saw a trinket that lit with an ice blue glow.
"Hey, its shape reminds me of something…."Sora said examining it carefully. "Let's just keep it just in case."
They all exited outside and found the shark still lurking around. They fought it. It eventually gave up and left.
"Sora! Look over here!" Yumi yelled from part of a broken ship.
"What is it?" Sora, Goofy, and Donald asked swimming over to her.
"Look." Yumi said pointing at a green rock behind the broken part of the ship. It looked like a switch to something. "I can't reach it. My arm's not long enough."
"Hmm….oh, we could ask Sebastian to help us. He's just the right size to get through!" Sora exclaimed. "Let's go and ask him."
" And let's ask what is thing is to Ariel." Yumi said holding out the crystal trident.
They swam to Ariel's grotto and saw the placement for the crystal trident. Yumi held out the crystal trident and placed it in the indention of the seal joining it together.
"Ariel, you've disobeyed me again!" King Triton's voice roared behind them. "I told you not to leave the palace!" He noticed the crystal thing behind Yumi.
"Daddy, no!" King Triton destroyed the crystal emblem with his trident.
"How could you…" Ariel said in tears and swam off.
"Ariel, wait!" Yumi said swimming after her. King Triton turned toward Sora and the others.
"Young man, you're not from another ocean. You're from another world. Aren't you?"
They all pretended to look confused but that didn't stop King Triton from saying anything.
"Then you must be the key bearer." King Triton said.
"How did you know?" sora asked surprised.
"You may fool Ariel, but you can't fool me. You don't know your dorsal fin from your tail." He said. "As the key bearer, you must already know, 'One must not meddle in the affairs of the other worlds'."
"Of course I know that, but …." Sora said.
"You have violated this principle." He explained. "The key bearer shatters peace and brings ruin."
"Aw, Sora's not like that." Goofy said.
"I thank you for saving my daughter." King Triton said turning away from them leaving the premises. "But there is no room in my ocean for you or your key."
Meanwhile with Ariel and Yumi….
"Are you okay, Ariel?" Yumi said finding Ariel collapsed on a rock crying.
"No…sniff. It's just that…oh, you'd never understand." Ariel said.
"Yes, I can. I grew up with an overprotective brother. He always told me not to go anywhere without his permission. One time, I lied to him. He never trusted me after that incident." Yumi explained.
"Oh….I had no idea." Ariel said.
"Well, that's all in the past." Yumi said with a smile and wiping off a tear from her face. "Hey, tell you what. I'm gonna go fetch us something to drink, aha maybe some water would do us some good."
"Haha, you're funny!" Ariel said chuckling. "Hahah, maybe some lemonade!"
"Okay…but are you SURE you're okay?" Yumi asked.
"Yea yea. I'm fine. Just go." Ariel said with a smile.
"Okay…" Yumi said disappearing from the curved wall. Just then, she heard a strange voice and decided to stay and eavesdrop, one of her favorite things to do.
"My, my the poor child suffers such deep sorrow." A voice said from above.
"What a pity. If only there were something we could do…wait, maybe she could be of some help." Said another voice. Ariel looked up seeing two eels swimming down to her.
"Yes, maybe she can be of some help to you." The eel said looking directly in her eyes.
"Who are you talking about?" Ariel asked.
"Oh, she would surely help you. She makes all of your dreams come true." The other eel said swimming up behind her.
"Ursula can help." They said in unison and disappeared together near the ocean's surface.
"You called my dear?" a woman octopus said appearing from the eel's disappearance spot.
"You're Ursula? I was just wondering if-" Ariel said but was interrupted by Ursula's voice.
"It's alright." Ursula cut in. "Helping others is what I live for." She turned toward Ariel. "Let me guess. You wish to see other worlds. That shouldn't be too hard. After all, your new friends came from another world."
"What?" Ariel said. Yumi, still behind the wall raised her eyebrow. What does she gotta do with this! She said to herself. Yumi took a peak and saw a fat, ugly octopus woman with Ariel. Who the hell is she? Yumi asked herself again. She placed her hands over her mouth quickly. Oops…I better watch my language. She continued to eavesdrop on the conversation Ursula and Ariel were having.
"But they had special help…" Ursula said. "…that mysterious key. Now, now.. Cheer up, sweetie. You have something special, too." Ariel looked confused. Yumi gulped hard.
"Now listen very carefully." Ursula said whispering something to Ariel. Yumi leaned in to get a better hearing of their conversation. She couldn't make out what she said but she heard THREE words only….keyhole, palace and trident. Just when Ursula and Ariel broke away from their 'little secret', Yumi whirled around and saw one of the eels behind her.
"Hello.." it said in a very creepy voice.
"Uh…hello" she replied in a cheery voice. The eel whacked its tail at her face and Yumi blanked out.
"Yumi…..Yumi….Yumi!" a voice called in the distance. The white screen faded and there was Sora, Donald and Goofy. Sora's hands were on Yumi's shoulders. Sora used his hands to pull her up in a sitting position. "Yumi…" Sora called out. "Are you okay?" Yumi placed her hands on her forehead. "Uh, I guess…"she replied. "Oww, is my face red?" she asked.
"Looks like sunburn.." Sora replied. Everyone laughed including Yumi.
"Ugh, what happened?" Yumi asked rubbing her head.
"Goofy, Donald and I were having a interesting conversation with the King." Sora filled her in. "Hmm….and what were YOU doing!"
"Me…!" Yumi asked. "I was doing the IMPORTANT job. I was eavesdropping! What else could I be doing!"
"She sounds proud of it." Donald whispered to Goofy.
"Heard that! Anyway, we have to go back to the palace!" Yumi exclaimed pulling Sora's arm in the palace's direction.
"Why?" Sora said.
"Just trust me! Ursula is going to steal the trident at the palace to find the keyhole!" Yumi explained.
"Why didn't you say so? Come on!" Sora yelled swimming much faster than usual.
Back at the palace…….
"Ahahah! The trident is mine at last! And I couldn't have done it without your help, my dear." Ursula said with pleasure.
"Ursula, no! I didn't want this!" Ariel pleaded.
"Why not?" Ursula asked. "Aren't you tired of following your dear daddy's orders?…Oh yes. We had a deal, didn't we? Time for a little journey…to the dark world of the Heartless!"
"We cannot find the keyhole." Said the eel.
"The keyhole is not here." Said the other eel.
"What!" Ursula said looking shocked.
"Why, we have company." Ursula said turning around spotting Sora, Yumi, Donald and Goofy.
"Stop it right there, woman! Err…I mean, ugly octopus-woman!" Yumi yelled.
"I'm afraid you're a little late, darling!" She said disappearing laughing with her 'evil laugh'.
"Daddy…" Ariel grieved.
"The trident….we must get it back…." King Triton said weakly.
"Come on, let's go!" Sora said. They all swam to the exit of the palace when Ariel's voice stopped him.
"Wait, I'm coming with you!" She shouted. She swam in front of them. "My father is hurt and it's all my fault. I have to stop Ursula!"
"Alright! A new party member! Wahoo! Welcome to the team!" Yumi shrieked
hugging Ariel.
"That's right. I'm right behind you, Ariel!" Sebastian said.
"Aww, him again?" Yumi pouted.
"Let's ditch him.." Ariel giggled.
"Silence!" Sebastian yelled. Yumi and Ariel snickered quietly.
"Ursula draws power from her cauldron. To defeat her, you must strike her cauldron with magic." King Triton explained. "Now, be safe."
"We will!" Yumi said cheerfully and left the palace.
When they exited the palace…..
"Hey, I just remembered. Sebastian, you need to help us with something." Donald said.
"Oh yeah, huh? Follow us!" Goofy also said.
"Where are we going?" Sora, Yumi and
"Goin' on a trip, boys and girls. Please keep your hands and legs inside the vehicle. Thank you." Goofy said. Sora, Yumi and Ariel giggled. By the time they finished, they were at the sunken ship.
"Oh yeah. Now I remember! Follow me, Sebastian!" Sora said swimming"Need some help? I'll show you how its done." Sebastian said. He pushed in the green block and a big rock with a purple skeleton etched on the rock crumbled down revealing a secret passageway. They went in and approached a lair, which was Ursula's.
"Come out! You can't run!" Donald shouted.
"Your time has come!" Sebastian hollered too. Ursula came out and floated in front of them with an angry face.
"Ahhh!" Sebastian and Donald screamed.
"Take down the two and go for the big one!" Yumi said pointing at the eels and the cauldron.
"How dare you come in without my permission!" Ursula roared.
"We just came here unexpectedly!" Yumi hollered. "Now let's bring in the party!"
Donald took care of the cauldron using his finest magic while Goofy and Ariel took care of the eels. Sora and Yumi took on the big lady, Ursula.
Alas, she was finally defeated. Her two eels disappeared into black smoke.
"Ahh!" Ursula screamed. "My eels…Hmph, you'll pay for this!" Ursula hollered and disappeared.
"Let's go. We must get the trident back." Ariel said.
"Okay!" Yumi said heading off to the palace with Sora, Ariel, Goofy and Donald.
"You pathetic fools! I rule the seas now!" Ursula yelled. "The sea and all it spoils to my power!"
Black ink powder slowly formed from the sea bottom and rose.
"Hack!" Yumi coughed. "Sora, I can't see a thing!"
Sora's eyes widened and saw the magnificent giant Ursula.
"HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! SHE'S SOOO…..HUGE!" Yumi shrieked.
"Let's go!" Sora said taking the lead.
Few hits here and there and presto, she's KO.
Ursula sank into the depths of the sea. A beam of yellow light formed from her vanquished body and revealed the trident.
"Wahoo! It's the trident! " Yumi hollered across the ocean. She swam to it and held it in her hands. She flicked it a couple of times and magic flew everywhere.
"Look out, everyone!" Sora yelled dodging the magic attacks. "Yumi! Stop messing around and let's go!" he hollered. "Oh, and bring the trident with you!"
"Okay!" Yumi said swimming toward them with the trident in her arms.
Back at the palace….
"Daddy, I'm sorry." Ariel apologized.
"Please don't be angry with her." Yumi said.
"It's my fault. You followed Ursula because…"King Triton paused for a second, then continued on. "I wouldn't let you follow your heart. And when you found that crystal, I lost my temper and destroyed it."
"Oh yeah, huh? We forgot all about the crystal. Why did you destroy it?" Yumi asked.
"That crystal held the power to reveal the keyhole. The keyhole is dangerous. I had to keep you away from it and any cost." King Triton explained.
"Daddy…"Ariel whispered.
"Key bearer, I have one more request: Seal the Keyhole." King Triton asked in favor. "My trident also holds the power to reveal the Keyhole. Will you do it?"
"Of course. That's what we had in mind from the start." Sora said.
"Uh huh! He knows how to do it too!" goofy said.
"Daddy, where's the keyhole?" Ariel asked.
"You should know better than anyone." King Triton said. "It's in your grotto, Ariel."
"Really…..Sora, let's go!" Yumi said tugging on Sora's arm. "I'll race you!"
"You're on!" Sora shouted.
Sora and Yumi raced to the grotto.
"Ahaha! First place…Sora!" Sora cheered himself.
"Pssh, it was just a lucky start. That race was just for the fact that I wanted you to move faster." Yumi said.
"What! So you were holding-back on me! How could you!" Sora said.
"Aha, I can't believe you fell for it!" Yumi said sticking her tongue out, teasing him.
"Hey! Put that tongue back in!" Sora shouted. "Don't make me put it in for you!" He said chasing her around.
"Stop horsing around." Donald said.
"Fine…" Sora and Yumi stopped playing around.
As they approached, the trident was lifted off of Ariel's arms and glowed like melted gold. It floated and positioned itself in front of the crystal seal. Bubbles rose from below and an unknown square appeared and revealed the keyhole.
Sora raised his keyblade directly to the keyhole. A blue beam of light flashed from his keyblade to the hole and the sound of a door shutting was heard. The bubbles disappeared along with the keyhole box.
Ariel swam up to Sora and Yumi. "Tell me, Sora and Yumi….Your world, what is it like?"
"Oh about that….Sorry for lying to you." Sora apologized.
"Heheh, it's okay." Ariel chuckled. "Besides, if you can travel to other worlds, maybe I can, too. So many places I want to see….I know I'll get there someday. I'll find a way, somehow. I'm sure of it!"
"Well, if you find it, do me a favor and leave me out." Sebastian said.
"Aww, but you're going to miss all the fun!" Ariel said picking Sebastian up and tossing him high up in the water.
Back at the palace….again..
"Heyy! We're back!" Yumi hollared through out the palace halls. It echoed loudly.
"Jeez, Yumi. You really didn't have to announce that you have arrived." Sora said.
"Oops. Sorry." Yumi said laughing a bit.
They all approached the throne room and saw King Triton still sitting on his throne since they left.
"Ahh, you're back. Why didn't you announce yourself in?" King Triton said swimming toward them. Yumi nudged her elbow into Sora's shoulder.
"Oww, what was that for?" Sora whined.
"Pay attention. Did you hear what he just said? Oh…nevermind." Yumi said in frustration and turned her attention toward the king.
"It was nice to meet you, King Triton and Ariel." Goofy said.
"But we must leave for there are other places we must seal." Donald finished off.
"yea, so we must be going." Sora said.
"Goodbye everyone!" Yumi yelled and Sora, Yumi, Donald and Goofy all went back through the warp in the shell and aboard the gummi ship.
To be continued in Chapter 8: Halloween Town ……………..