AN: Hey all lol, welcome back with a 9,000 word chapter! xD This is part 1 of 2 (possibly 3) of a new world visit! :D Yaaay we finally in a Disney world again LOL. :D :D And it's one of my favs EVER so fuck yes! xDDD Actually excited to be writing in this world lol...unlike certain other worlds I fuckin hate like Wonderland and shit... :D The right motivation really does good for writing stuff lol.
Riku sat alone on the ship's main deck, late into the night.
Just breathing, and feeling. Sensing the world around him.
The Ocean Between was...swimming with magical currents. Some fast, some large, and some that just became these...vortexes of power.
The space debris, too, was detectable to him. Some of these chunks of rock and strange matter were imbued with magic. Magic was part of their nature, their makeup.
Whether they'd taken that in from the magical currents flowing through this vast space, or if it was remnants of whatever destroyed world they'd been a part of...
Riku couldn't say.
He drew breath, and with a slow exhale, he cast out his magic again in a wide, sweeping net. An expanding sphere around himself, in all directions.
Magic - Hearts beneath him, inside the ship's interior. Some closer to each other than others. Light and darkness, inside those Hearts. Hearts themselves were...pretty much impossible to even distinguish between, Riku was finding. Except Kairi's of course: hers was a beacon, always shining. An eternally burning bonfire. Though, like Terra had been teaching him - that was why he had other senses at his disposal: to help distinguish between the people around him in other ways.
He thought he was getting the hang of that part.
He took another breath, let it go again...
One of those Hearts was moving now.
Wasn't Kairi - but that didn't narrow it down too much.
Riku focused on sensing that Heart alone, on tracking it as it wandered through the ship.
It began to ascend, and he realized slowly that he was going to have company soon.
He sighed, bracing himself for whoever it was.
It wasn't like he didn't mind having a conversation with someone - he was just really into his training right now.
He pulled back his magic, withdrew his senses to his own body, and he listened with just his ears as light footsteps came up the stairs from the ship's interior. Light steps. Slow steps. Feet that stopped as they came out onto the deck. Shifting, creaking wood, a little breath of a familiar high voice...a hesitant half-step, then more creaking wood.
Oh...
"Uh - Xion?" he called out, willing to take the loss on this one and look stupid.
"Hello..." came the anxious voice to prove his guess right (thank god).
"Um...having trouble sleeping?" Riku spoke again, awkwardly. He really hadn't been great about this sappy stuff - emotions, vulnerability, whatever. Wasn't his thing. Except when his friends really needed it and he'd gotten up the courage to do it anyways...but those had been rare times in life! Real rare.
Those light feet approached him with a bit more certainty, till they stopped before him. "No - I don't sleep."
"Uhhhh...do you want to run that one by me again?"
Xion sat down with him with a sigh. "I wasn't made to sleep - or eat. Or anything else normal girls do."
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"Uh, I'm pretty sure I've- heard you eating before, though. And..." Riku fell silent, uncomfortable.
"Kairi still makes me sleep by casting a Sleep Spell on myself when everyone else goes to bed," Xion said quietly. "She says it's still horrible for a living mind to be 'running twenty-four seven.' But I still eat sometimes because food tastes good," she added.
"Okaaaay..." Riku shifted on the spot, putting his hands in his lap. "Uh, I mean, you know, she's- probably right about that..."
"Why are you out here alone? You do need to sleep, don't you?" Xion said suddenly.
Riku shrugged, flushing and turning his head aside. Away from her. "Ah, that's just...I'm just trying to keep up with my special training. I'll give it another hour or two before I head to bed, too. So what are you doing up still?"
"I don't know?" Xion said it more like a question. "I guess I'm just..."
"Just what?" Riku said patiently.
"Can you tell me about yourself? I never asked," Xion spoke, in a soft, hesitant voice.
"What do you want to know?"
"About your life - on the islands. About your home. Your family. Parents? School? Friends?"
Riku took another deep breath. His first feeling was anger. His first instinct was to tell the girl to buzz off - he didn't want to get into that stuff. Couldn't bear thinking about it all now. After...everything he'd done...
But...
Another breath. He gave her a nod.
"Sure," he said quietly. "Alright. Where do you want me to start?"
"Anywhere - please!"
"Uh...right. Okay. Well..." Riku closed his eyes, bowing his head, letting memories return to him. Memories he'd worked hard to bury lately. Suppress. Lock away... "I, uh, lived in a house not far from Sora's - on the beach. Kairi's was...a bit more inland. A bit more down the path, you know? A nice big house across a stream, with this little bridge. It was the mayor's place, so - makes sense, huh?"
"Yes?"
"Right...well...uh, school - and the sword training dojo - was a lot more of a hike. Every day, you know, we'd make the walk up the hill, and then you have to go back down the other side until you reach the actual town hub." Riku shook his head, swallowed hard at the memories rising in full now. Swimming in his head. His Heart. "The school was at the base of the hill - training dojo was a bit further in from there. You had to cross an actual river, a big bridge. Buildings were always close together, built up over the terrain."
"What was your house like?"
"Um...just a house," Riku said blandly. "A normal house."
Xion was quiet a moment. Then- "What about your family? Are you like me and Kairi? Do you have any sisters?"
"Wha- sisters?! Me? No way!" Riku laughed at the idea. "What would I want a sister for?"
"I...don't know? Kairi seems to like having me as her sister. Even after we learned about me, she still said I can be her sister. She adopted me - like her dad adopted her. And I like being her sister," Xion added firmly.
Riku just shook his head again. "That's great of her - sure - but...it's not for me. Just me and my-" He stopped.
"Your what?"
"Parents," Riku said quietly, sighing. "My parents and I were- that was our family, and it was great, and...it's never needed to be anything else. Get it?"
"Yes..."
No, you don't. But whatever... "Anyway, moving on from that - friends? School? I had plenty of friends. And school? It was a breeze."
"But what is it like?" Xion pressed.
"Nothing special - or fun," Riku told her. "You go in, you sit down, you listen to somebody go on for half an hour about some dumb stuff about cells or whatever, then you do it again, like, six more times. Then you're finally free to go home."
"I went to school once - with Kairi and Sora. It was a magic school. I thought it was really interesting..."
"Yeah? A magic school would actually be useful - and fun," Riku agreed. "Case in point," he added, gesturing.
"What?"
Riku rolled his non-functional eyes. "These Keyblade lessons - training like this. This is actually stuff we can use. Nobody needs to know the history of the seven ships who got lost in a typhoon or- or how many numbers divide into some other numbers - you know what I'm saying?"
"Not really..."
"Well, be glad you don't have to deal with it," Riku said casually. "Man, normal school was just a bore. And a chore. Don't get me wrong, yeah, I miss home, I miss everybody in the school - but school itself? Pfft. That place just sucked. Every day it was just, waiting to get out of school, you know?"
"I...guess?"
Riku was quiet a moment, thinking. "Though, I suppose if we do really fix all of this - restore the worlds and all - and you come home with us, you'll be stuck in the old grind too. Good luck with that."
"I still think I could learn a lot? That's what schools are for. It can't...all be useless to know?"
"Hah. You say that now...but once you've been stuck going every day for years on end...you'll be dying to escape the place." Riku paused. "Or, hey, maybe you won't - you are Kairi's sister, after all," he amended quietly. "She loved school. Weirdest thing about her. You'll probably be just as weird in that area."
Xion suddenly made a small, high noise that surprised Riku.
At first, he thought it was a snort. Then, some kind of squeak - or even a sneeze. Then, he recognized it for what it was: had she just laughed? And at something he'd said? It was honestly the first time he could ever recall hearing the girl laugh. At all. Ever. Seriously.
"Oh..." Xion's voice came, sounding just as surprised. "What did I just...?"
"Wait, you've seriously never laughed before?" Riku exclaimed.
Xion gasped. Gasped like she'd just had the revelation of the century. "I laughed? I really did it?!"
Riku's jaw dropped. He smacked a hand to his forehead and groaned. "Unbelievable..."
Or, maybe believable, considering what he knew about her now - that whole Replica business? Didn't that mean she'd only even been alive for...what, a few months at best?
Now that was actually pretty weird to think about...
"Can you help me do it again?!"
Riku was jarred from his mind as he felt hands on his body - and felt a hot breath on his face! "Hey - w-what're you-" he stammered, pushing the girl away. "No! I'm not a comedian, alright? Go- go find Sora! He'll have you dying on the floor, all right?"
"Oh, thank you! Good idea!" He heard the girl probably, literally jump to her feet, then go racing off across the deck.
Riku readjusted his jacket - smoothed out his hair. Let a breath go. "Whatever...weirdo..." he muttered after her.
At least she was out of his hair now.
Maybe he could get back to focusing. Meditating and sensing...
"The most important part of being out in a world is to be inconspicuous. You arrive, you draw no unwanted attention to yourself, you find the Heartless you're to destroy - and then you do it and leave."
"If that's the most important part, then we're failing right now - majorly."
Vexen turned to the woman. The Replica. "Pardon?"
The woman gave a scoff, and gestured down at herself. Then, at him. "We're the only ones wearing these coats. No one else around us is. I'd say that makes us look suspicious."
"That isn't- that's not-" Vexen caught himself. "Alright, you've made a surprisingly good point," he conceded. "However, be that is it may! This attire is necessary for us - so that we may pass through the Dark Corridors without risking our very existences. It allows us to come and go as we please, between and on any worlds we wish! None among these teeming masses can boast such a benefit to their clothing, now can they?"
The woman looked at him. She took a long look around them. Up and down the vacant, muddy streets of this horrid settlement, with its rusted metals and crawling mechanoids and flickering lights. Those great big, shimmering yellow flags atop their aging contraptions. Truly, what a horrible place to find ones self...
"These 'masses' aren't exactly teeming," the Replica spoke at last, with a ghost of a smirk on her lips.
Vexen glowered. "Your cheek isn't appreciated! I'll have you listen to me with zero back-sass, thank you very much."
"Your Lord Xemnas said all I had to do was follow orders - he didn't seem to care how I spoke to him. Or to you."
"Well, I most certainly care how you speak to me! So you'll do well to think before you say a word."
Again, there was that small smirk playing across her lips! "But I do think before I speak."
"Grrr...this still isn't funny!"
"I disagree."
"Well - feel free to!"
"Feel free to 'back-sass?'"
"NO! You- you knew what I actually meant! And wipe that damn smirk from your face this instant!"
She simply laughed at him and quickened her stride, leaving him behind!
"If you keep behaving in this absurd manner, you won't be long in this World, I can assure you of that!" Vexen called after her, huffing as he sped up to reach her.
She suddenly stopped, turning randomly to gaze off to the side.
"What in the world are you doing now?" Vexen said, exasperated. He gazed at her, waiting for an answer. Then, he followed her gaze. Over to the grimy little metal building denoting itself as a shop - a seller of general commodities, apparently. "No, no - forget it - don't even think about it! No distractions, no- no!" He seized her arm and pulled her away. "This is not a reconnaissance mission - we won't be investigating any part of this putrid town! It holds nothing of value to us except-"
"This coat feels wrong to me," came her unexpected voice. "I'd rather wear anything else."
"Yes, well, wouldn't we all?" He rolled his eyes at her. "But we are an Organization for a reason. This is standard issue for us. And the trade-off between fashion and function is well worth it. Now, if you've any room at all in your head to spare a thought for our mission here today..."
"I might have a little bit of room..."
"Well then, let's see what your runaway brain is able to formulate - with what little capacity it even has available for use!" Vexen rattled off, glaring at her.
She stopped again, jerking her arm free of his grasp. She raised that arm, placing hand to her chest. Her eyes narrowed as she swept the area. "I can feel them."
"What?" Vexen said blankly.
"Darkness - Heartless?"
"Can you now?" Vexen eyed her. The sensing of Light and Dark, and Hearts, had been the only real magical ability he'd dabbled in as a human - he'd thought such a capability to sense would serve him well as a scientist. A means to gather more information on the nature of the Heart. Of people. Of the way the world worked. Or, as he now knew...the way the worlds worked. Yes, that power had been a worthwhile investment. And the boy...Ienzo...he had had a real talent for it. His capabilities far surpassing even Vexen's own. And the fact that Vexen had been the one to teach him had been rather a point of pride for him...
And, well, certainly the hours put into the task of teaching the boy, itself, hadn't been the most unpleasant hours of Vexen's life. No, all in all, they had proven rather relaxing, rather...
Vexen shook his head, batting away at these feelings in his chest. It was the same as before, now again, wasn't it? As a human, he'd found his capacity for emotions to be a distraction and hinderance to his dedication to logic and science. True, they had their merits and benefits, and at times that thing called a "conscience" had nudged him in some useful directions, but...
He gritted his teeth, curling his fists at his sides.
It truly was the same, wasn't it? Even if the how of it eluded Vexen (he still couldn't come to any solid conclusions about why this was happening - why now, why when it was meant to be impossible). Emotions were simply...
"Maybe you should be tested."
"W-what?" Vexen snapped, turning to the Replica.
She laughed, tossing her head. "A Heartless could have struck you down while you were thinking there." She tilted her head at him. "What were you thinking about?"
"Never you mind!" Vexen retorted, flushed and tugging at his coat. "At any rate, what you failed to realize is that I was testing you!"
"Really?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Of course I was! I needed to know whether or not you could pay attention to your surroundings on your own - as well as any allies in the field, if anything were to go amiss. An injury, a malady! That was the test - which you passed. Splendid, yes! You have wonderfully keen powers of observation!"
She smiled, unexpectedly. A genuine smile.
Vexen supposed, looking back on it far later, that that was where it had started.
That damn smile...
"N-now, ahem, if you would...lead us to these Heartless you claim to have sensed. Let's see how accurate you are with this power of yours."
She nodded, quickening her pace again, turning off down a narrow alley between two dirty metal buildings.
Vexen followed her this time with a certain eagerness. Yes, it was time to observe...what her true capabilities consisted of.
The woman led him out to the eastern edge of this deplorable settlement - where she stopped again. She examined her surroundings. She gazed straight ahead, up the long, sloping hills of tall, wilting grass that surrounded this place. Her arm raised, and she pointed out ahead. "There."
"Well, let's go, then," Vexen said, exasperated.
She turned back to him, her lips forming a...very unsettling grin. An even more unsettling glint came to her blue eyes. "No - they're coming here, to us."
"Very well then. We'll wait for them to show themselves," Vexen said slowly, gazing up the hill.
The woman stepped out further into the open, placing hand on her hip. Her fingers tapped away at her figure. The other arm began to sweep through the air, in what Vexen recognized to be phantom strokes of a weapon.
Ah, so she has the sense to prepare for a battle, at least...excellent.
It was only a minute later that the Heartless finally revealed themselves. They came down from over the hill - common Shadows, Soldiers, two Large Bodies, as well as some two dozen flying spellcaster variants. Fire, ice, lightning, and healers. No doubt a Corridor was up there somewhere, their way into this world.
Vexen took several quick steps back as the Replica extended her arm out and conjured a familiar Keyblade. A simple, thin, long Keyblade of dark blue, with a grey hilt and round guard. Yet, clearly, the simplicity of the weapon's design meant nothing as to its effectiveness. For he had seen it was very effective indeed. In the hands of the original, the Master, that was. Now he would see whether or not the Replica could truly...replicate such feats of power and skill.
He observed her closely as she sprang into action, running out through the tall grass to meet the incoming horde of dark creatures.
She was indeed...magnificent.
Speed, power. Agility. Grace.
She darted between them, slashing and twirling. She raised a leg to kick a leaping Soldier in mid-air. She shrouded her body in flames and glided forward, obliterating most of the Shadows and Soldiers around her. She flipped up over a Large Body and slashed it down its backside. A blast of Lightning magic had it falling forward, paralyzed. She leapt onto it for a finishing blow, stabbing her weapon down into it with both hands. The other Large Body came swinging for her, and she backflipped out of its reach with ease. She raised her hand to it, covered in icy mist, and made a swirling motion. Icy winds formed around the Large Body, near instantly forming a tornado of ice shards that lifted it up into the air and hurled it across the field.
The Replica raised her weapon and pointed it out at the Heartless as it flew through the air, her eyes narrowed. A second later, and a burst of a half dozen fireballs flew from the Keyblade's end, flashing out across the distance to slam into the Heartless, exploding on impact. It was obliterated long before it could even start to fall back to the ground again.
She swept her gaze around her at the flying Heartless still remaining, encircling her. She thrust her Keyblade straight up, shrouding it in lightning; a stream of electricity flew up into the sky, and from that beam arced several dozen powerful strands of lightning. The Heartless around her were all destroyed by the scorching tendrils of lightning that jumped between them, finding them instantly.
And now, nothing was left.
And she'd done it all in under a minute!
The woman lowered her weapon, turning left and right.
"Yes, well done - you're finished now," Vexen called out, striding forward. "They've all been eliminated - quite spectacularly, I might add."
She whipped around, as if surprised to hear him - to realize he was there still? The expression on her face gave him pause.
It was that grin. Her eyes were shining. Her entire body...was quivering.
"Then we'll just have to find more!" she said - with eagerness. With excitement.
Oh no.
"No, no - we will not go off searching for more," Vexen said firmly. "You proved yourself in every way - powerful, skilled - and now this test is concluded. We're to return to the castle now and report the success to Lord Xemnas."
She gazed at him, her weapon rattling at her side. Her grin faded, that look in her eyes vanished. She tossed her head, then let her weapon dematerialize. She crossed her arms before stalking over to him in silence.
The amount of relief Vexen felt in that moment was almost tangible. "Good. Now, come."
"Your castle is boring. Your lab is boring," the Replica uttered.
Vexen snorted at her, turning away to conjure a Dark Corridor. "You'll survive, I'm sure."
"You made me to fight - so let me fight," the woman argued, still.
Vexen paused on threshold of the portal, glancing at her over his shoulder. A feeling in his chest again... "It won't be long before you get your wish," he told her.
"How long?" she demanded.
"Tomorrow, of course. If Xemnas is pleased with your results - and he should very well be! - doubtless he'll task you with replicating the feat immediately."
She looked...mollified by his words.
Vexen suppose that that, in itself, was its own form of relief in his core.
After giving his field report to Xemnas personally, Vexen supposed he should have felt pleased. Satisfied.
Triumphant, victorious.
Whatever word one wanted to use.
But, after Vexen returned to his laboratory, as he moved between the various tables of books and papers he had scattered about, and his main computer system, he could only find himself thinking...
That only a fool would have felt such a thing after the events of today.
He glanced over at the woman on the clear other side of his lab. The woman who was currently hurling blasts of fire and lightning at the wall, leaving behind great patches of scorched material. A horrid smell that wafted into Vexen's nostrils every now and then...
Perhaps the Replica Program was always doomed - fated for failure - he reflected as he watched her at it.
One could not create new life, and then restrict that life. Bind it in chains, tie it down, confine it to only what one wished that new life would do for you... No, life, Hearts, did not work that way. It was the Heart's natural inclination to grow, to learn, to explore. Curiosity, thrills and excitement. To be free; every Heart locked in a cage would scratch at the walls for the most desperate hope of escaping said walls.
She was currently living proof of that fact - she was scratching at her walls. She already couldn't stand her "cage." Boredom, monotony - she was a lion, pacing, impatient, wanting to roam and kill her prey.
It was also the Heart's nature to connect...to form bonds...and to wish never to have to let them go. Even Vexen's Heart had succumbed to its nature, in connecting with...the boy's. And though he surely still had no Heart now, all the same, he could feel...
Well, he could feel again. And it was the same feelings toward this- Replica- as he'd begun to develop toward him. And just like before, it was entirely outside his control or predictions. Vexen could only hope...that it would not end in the same inexplicable, impossible shroud of grief and loss as his relationship with- with him. No, Vexen felt he would do almost anything to avoid that - for himself...and for her.
Her...
Woman...
Replica...
A strange niggling in his mind. A sensation in his chest.
He wondered whether she- ah - they? - had a preference? Was it even possible to have one this early into one's life? Would she...even understand that?
Perhaps not.
But there was something else he needed to address with her that he felt she would understand...
He turned to the- to her, watching her. He cleared his throat, straightening. "Ahem..."
She dropped her arm, the flames vanishing from her hand. "What is it now?"
"We- I have decided to give you a name," Vexen declared. "I cannot very well keep calling you - well - case in point! I've nothing to call you, do I? And, your having your own means of identification is a vital part of your functionality. As well, it would be a prudent countermeasure against the 'heroes', and your originator - in case they're to get any smart ideas about infiltrating us by capturing you and replacing you with her in some undercover operation! Obtaining a black coat isn't beyond their means, should they ever wish to craft one. We must outwit the enemy before they can come up with any clever plans, yes? So...you are to have a name."
The woman looked at him strangely, in the ensuing silence after his declaration. Her lips parted, her eyes fluttered rapidly, and her cheeks flushed with a red tinge. And then...there was that smile again. She straightened where she stood, gazing at him with utmost attention.
Vexen stared back at her. His own mouth opened as he raised his eyebrows at her. Sheer disbelief filled his being. Why was this the thing that had caused the woman to actually, finally pay her fullest attentions to him? Why now, when before, again and again, all she'd been was rebellious, distracted, not to mention rather flippant and rude! So why in the world was she now acting like...?
"A-ahem," he cleared his throat again, very loudly, as a heat crept up his neck. "So, a name...a name..." He brought a hand to his chin as he began to pace - avoiding those glistening blue eyes tracking his every movement (not that it wasn't gratifying to see, at long last!). After much laborious pondering, he finally came up with one he felt was suitable for her. He stopped and turned to her, letting his hand fall away. "How would you feel about being designated as...'Kana?'"
"'Kana?'" she repeated.
"Yes...it's a name that means 'powerful.' Rather fitting for you, wouldn't you agree? For you indubitably possess not only a physical, fighting strength, but a certain strength of mind as well. You are strong, you are assertive, and you are undeniably the sort of being that seeks battle and-"
"Yes."
Vexen stopped. "I wasn't finished."
"Oh, yes you are. I like the name - I'll take it." But though she spoke with her usual flavor of impudence...she had a look on her face that just seemed to make it impossible for Vexen to reprimand her on it again.
"Y-yes, well...very good, then. And it is a name you will take with pride, for it is the name I have given you, after great and weighty consideration!"
"You know...I think I actually will," she said quietly, eyeing him with that- with those- those eyes again!
Vexen cleared his throat very loudly and crossed the room, such that his back was to her.
For no particular reason whatsoever!
"So what world did we just enter?"
Kairi glanced at Riku. She looked around herself, striding for the side of the ship, setting hands on the railing.
She tilted her head back, feeling warm winds across her face, fluttering at her hair.
This world, all around her, it was blues and purples and oranges, streaks of what looked like clouds, mist, gas of some kind.
It was a kind of space - an open space - with a blue hue to it overall, and vast emptiness, but at the same time...
It was different from the Ocean Between, even.
Its own realm.
"No idea," Kairi said, smiling to herself. "But it's beautiful already."
"It is incredibly pretty," said Aqua, a smile coming to her face as well as she took in their surroundings.
"It's not exactly space, is it?" Ven spoke up, gazing around in wonder. "Not like the Ocean Between, anyways. It's more like Deep Space. Except you couldn't even breathe in Deep Space, but here we're all just fine."
"Mhm." Aqua nodded. "This space is unique to its own world."
"So entering a new world can be kind of like passing into a whole new dimension?" Kairi asked.
"That's exactly what it's like," Aqua replied. "It's only that most worlds - most dimensions, rather - only contain a singular planet or location, full of life and civilization. But the rest is usually empty space surrounding it. Its own ocean, its own space. Though, this one, I'm sensing...has more than just empty space filling it up."
"Great! I wonder what kind of people live here," Sora said excitedly.
"We aren't here to meet people," Aqua said with a frown. "We're here to stop the Heartless threat and find the Keyhole." She paused. "Though, I suppose it would be smart to get help from world natives on the matter - to be...pointed in the right direction. Just as long as we're discrete about it."
Terra gave her a look, briefly, before looking away and shaking his head.
"I don't understand how this is pretty..." Xion sighed. "I still don't even understand how to laugh right."
"Hey, come on, we'll get there," Sora said quickly. "We've just gotta keep working at it."
Xion gave him a small smile, but Kairi knew it was forced.
"I don't get it either," Roxas spoke up with a shrug. "It's just more of the same, isn't it? Just more empty space..."
Kairi frowned. She reached over and patted Roxas's arm. "I'm sure one day you'll understand it too - don't worry!"
Roxas startled at her touch, then relaxed and smiled at her. "Okay..."
Wordlessly, Aqua strode away from them all, leaving them to go and take the ship's steering wheel.
And so began a journey through a whole new kind of space.
It took them several long hours before they came across civilization (in form of a planet), but at least those hours were filled with plenty of interesting and amazing things to look at. Strange creatures like whales that flew through the colorful clouds, a swirling orange vortex of some kind far off to the right, a streaking comet half the size off the Pestilence itself that nearly smacked them across the nose!
The planet they found was a small one, a dull greyish green color.
It didn't look like it had much on it - hills and grass, and lakes and rivers.
But it was a planet.
A place to start. To settle down at, at least.
So Aqua took them down through the atmosphere.
And it had an atmosphere. Thick, and strong. It rattled the ship, tilted it in dangerous directions as Aqua struggled with the controls. But they made it through, flying down out of the grey, wet clouds. Down over a hilly mess of rivers and lakes, up close now.
On the horizon, Sora spotted a town of some kind, from his place up in the crow's nest. So they went there. They flew along, settling down behind a few steep hills that gave them nice enough cover from the little town and its valley. They all disembarked, landing in wet, deep mud and tall grass. Long, curving, grey blades of grass.
Then it was a long trudge up over those hills, and then back down the other side, into the little bowl-like valley area, with that town at the bottom.
It was a town of tightly cloistered buildings of metal, with support braces and big tubes for chimneys, and strange yellow flags on poles towering over weird machines.
Kairi smiled when they entered the town proper, taking it all in up close.
It wasn't the cleanest place ever, sure, but it was still fascinating.
A whole new world!
There were people roaming about, up and down the streets. Mostly humans, but there were also plenty of other interesting looking people around too! People with grey skin and multiple tentacles and eyes on these stocks coming out of the tops of their heads. People who were very large, with antennae and horns and reptile-like skin - and even great big tails! Kairi even saw two women together who had clear, strong feline traits pass them by.
"Oh!" a voice came from behind them suddenly. "It's you!"
Kairi and the others turned - it was one of those two feline women.
"Sorry?" Terra spoke, with a kind of nervousness on his face that was new to Kairi.
"No - you." The feline woman strode right up to Aqua, leaning in very close to her. "No one ever got the chance to thank you for what you did the other day - you left so quickly, disappeared - and we couldn't find you-"
"I'm sorry, but you must have me confused with someone else!" Aqua said quickly, raising her hands and flushing.
"No, no, it was definitely you!" the woman insisted, beaming. "I'd recognize a human with that hair color anywhere. And those weapons you were using - what kind of technology was that? Some kind of shock sword, or-"
"I really think you must be mistaken," Aqua said firmly, backing away. "I'm sorry."
"I really think I'm not," said the woman, cocking a grin now. She tilted her head, batting her eyes at Aqua. "But if you want to keep your good deeds anonymous, who am I to argue? Though, if you thought coming here in new clothes and with new companions would stop anyone from recognizing you, you should be prepared for more of this..."
"Wait," Kairi said, stepping forward. "New clothes? New companions? And you're...sure it was a- human woman with blue hair? Like her?"
There was a strange feeling in her Heart. A feeling telling her...to question this strangeness.
"It was her - but yes," the woman said mildly. "I couldn't mistake her. She left an impression on us all, even if we never had the chance to meet her last time. Last time, she was with a man with long blonde hair."
"Okay. And did she have a blue sword?" Kairi asked, hesitant. "Thin, long - with a weird rectangular hole thingy on its end, forming the teeth?"
"My Keyblade does not have a weird hole thingy on its end," Aqua gasped, affronted.
"A Keyblade? Is that what you're calling that weapon?" the woman said, peering at Aqua with renewed interest. "Stealing from old legends?" She returned her gaze to Kairi, smiling at her. "Though, yes, it did look how you described."
"And her clothes - what was she wearing?" Kairi said slowly. "And the man with her, too?"
"Appropriate clothing for the current climate," the woman responded. "Unlike today. She had a long black coat with a hood on it - they both did. Her and her previous companion."
"I knew it..." Kairi breathed. She blushed at the woman's look. "Um, could we have a minute alone please?"
"Actually, I'll just go - sorry to bother you." The woman shrugged, spinning around on her heel and striding off to rejoin her companion; they disappeared into a shop together, hand in hand.
"Back at Castle Oblivion," Kairi started quickly, meeting Aqua's gaze. "One of the people we ran into there - the three guys you fought - one of them was Vexen. He's the guy who- well-"
"Made me," Xion said quietly.
"Right," Kairi said, giving her a smile. "And Mio, too."
"Who?" Riku said.
"A Replica who had the unfortunate curse of being made in your image," Kairi rattled off sweetly, not missing a beat. "He helped us fight against Xemnas back in that castle. He lost his life for it. But we brought him back to Traverse Town, and we gave him a proper burial," she went on, much more seriously and somberly.
Riku frowned, turning his head aside.
"The point is, you guys fought Saix before, right? After we lost you, but before we entered Castle Oblivion?" Kairi went on.
Terra nodded. "I guess the timing would be about right, yes...what are you thinking?"
"Well, the only black coated person I fought was that weird...younger looking Ansem?" Kairi pondered. "And then Xion came to Traverse Town a while after. She was made in my image, made to replicate my Keyblade. And then we went back to Castle Oblivion, and we met Saix and Vexen, and-" She paused as a memory flashed in her mind. A realization she really should have had sooner. That third man, with the lances- no, focus, Kairi. Focus right now. "-remember what he said about an opportunity or something, a chance before him? And about the 'subject of a project'? And- something about needing something from you, Master Aqua? And they all fought you, and then they left and now..."
She took a breath to calm her racing mind. "And now there's some blue haired woman, with a Keyblade like yours, in a black coat? Accompanied by a man with long blonde hair? Doesn't that sound like that Vexen guy? What if fighting us is- they have to get something from all of us to...replicate us? Saix fought Riku, and then we got Mio. I fought that black coated Ansem, and Xion came along. And now this? It really makes way too much sense now, doesn't it? Aqua, I think you might have-"
"Please, do not say anything like 'child.'" Aqua cut across, with a great sigh, clapping hand to forehead.
"Well, no, that wouldn't exactly fit, would it?" Kairi said with a small smile. "Roxas and Xikira were made directly from me and Sora, so they're our kids. But Xion is my twin sister." She hesitated. "Of course, you don't have to think or feel any way about this - about this-"
"This...other person, this other woman, this other..." Aqua shook her head, letting out another big woosh of air. "Possible 'Replica'. Of me. A replica potentially based off of myself..." She let her hand fall, brushed at her hair, and met Kairi's gaze. Her eyes flickered to Xion, and then back to Kairi. She gave a slow nod. "Please, don't take this in any sort of negative way, but I'm already over how callously Xehanort and his henchmen treat life itself. Living beings. I'd honestly thought it couldn't get any lower, with that man, with any enemies I've faced before. But this, all of this..."
"It's really horrible," Kairi agreed. She turned and hugged Xion with one arm, pulling her in close. "But, on the other hand, we get brand new people to meet and befriend! We helped Xion get free of them, and Mio accepted our offer too. Xikira fought for it on her own - and now we have Roxas here too! Back when we first learned where Xion came from, in that castle, I made a promise...that we'd be around to help any more people who those evil creeps want to make, to try to use as their weapons or tools. And I'm going to keep it!"
Aqua nodded again - but she looked troubled now. Very troubled. "I agree, but...if there is some- someone out there with my level of strength - and I mean this in the humblest of ways possible! - then I think we're going to have a great deal of trouble dealing with...her, I suppose."
"We don't have to fight her - just talk to her," Kairi refuted.
"Of course, that would be the ideal goal - the best case scenario," Aqua said carefully. She looked to Xion again. "But we should also prepare for the worst, as well."
Kairi glanced at Xion's face. She gasped and hugged her closer. "That wasn't- Xion didn't know what she was doing at the time! She didn't even know why! She just knew she had to fight me, she- no one holds it against her!"
"And if this new- if this- woman...also doesn't know what she's doing before we can reach her?" Aqua said delicately. She looked to Terra. "Again, I'm not tooting my own horn, but having someone of my power as an enemy - even unwillingly, even if she isn't exactly culpable for her own actions - could be devastating. Kairi, Sora, you both fought Ven, and you realized the difference in skill and abilities, didn't you? Now imagine facing me. Or facing Terra - Riku." She added, with a look at Riku.
Riku visibly withered. "Y-yeah, I'd just...be dead before I can blink. Trust me. I've seen him in action."
"Well, that's really flattering," Terra said awkwardly, bending over to clap Riku on the shoulder. "But I won't say thank you for this one."
"It would take me, potentially even Terra and I both, to combat and subdue...her," Aqua concluded, with a deep frown on her face.
"If we don't have any other choice," Kairi said firmly.
"Of course - if we don't have any other choice," Aqua agreed. "But we simply have to be realistic about this situation - if it is what you think it is. If what's going on here now is...what we believe is going on here now."
"Unless you have a secret twin sister, I don't know how else you'd explain what we just heard about," Terra said lightly. "All the pieces do seem to line up with Kairi's theory..."
Aqua turned to him with sharp eyes. "I wouldn't know, one way or the other, Terra." She froze, her lips parting. Then she let out a little growl and turned away from them all.
"What was that about?" Sora said.
"Forget about it," Terra told him, with a hint of firmness.
Sora nodded. "Got it - sorry."
"So what do we do next?" Ven asked Terra. "Are we gonna find the Keyhole or what?"
"We are," Terra nodded. "We just need to be a bit more careful now, I think. Keep our eyes open. Especially since we know an Organization member has been here as recently as yesterday."
"That's right," Aqua said, facing them again, at last - her face all business again. Cool, collected. Focused. "Let's start by asking around for anything that might sound like the location of a Keyhole. Somewhere significant, historically or symbolically."
"You know, the Keyhole back on the islands was in a cave on a tinier island," Sora remarked suddenly. "Where's the importance of a random cave on a tiny island?"
"Well, that tiny island is where I met Riku," Terra offered.
"And where I met you and Riku, as well," Aqua added, with a small smile at the memory as she eyed Sora.
"It's also where...Xehanort took me after he...made Vanitas," Ven offered hesitantly, frowning. "I can barely remember it, but...that was where he took me. And then, after that, he took me to Master Eraqus."
Everyone stared at Ventus now.
Ven flushed hard, gazing back at them all. "What?"
"Why would Xehanort just randomly take you to Destiny Islands...?" Aqua said, frowning too. She glanced at Sora, adding, "I suppose there is your importance, Sora. If even Xehanort decided to use that little island for something, for whatever reason..."
"W-well, hey, if we're all sharing Xehanort meetups on tiny islands..." Sora babbled out, frowning as well. "I might've met the guy inside the secret cave itself, the day the islands fell to darkness..."
"Yeah, and I was talking to him for a while before that," Riku confessed quietly. "For whatever reason, I guess Xehanort's always just liked Destiny Islands? If he keeps going back there to hang out..."
"All right, so we've established that he's always held an interest in that world - for some reason," Terra said, pondering. "But what reason could that be?" He gazed at Sora, Kairi and Riku. "Do either of you three know anything strange or odd about your world's history? Something that might seem...Keyblade related in hindsight, maybe?"
"Okay, no, let's all forget this for now," Aqua snorted. "We aren't here to discuss the secret obsessions of Xehanort - we're here to find a Keyhole and save a world. We can speculate all we like later, once we're safely back on the ship and on the move again."
"The secret obsessions of Xehanort are what got us all into this mess," Ven said pointedly. "The X-Blade...the ancient Keyblade War..."
"Point well taken, Ven - but even so," Aqua said evenly, a hint of a smile on her lips. "Save it for later, alright?"
"Sure thing," Ven said, smiling back and putting hands behind his head.
"All right - Terra - stay here with them. I'll be back," Aqua told him. "I'm going to see if I can't at least get an idea of where we are in this world."
Terra just nodded, and they all watched her disappear into a shop.
A minute later and Aqua reemerged from out of the shop's rusted metal doorway. Clutched in her hand was a small blue sphere with an indent on the top of it. In her other hand was a thin, long-barreled firearm with metal and wooden bits put together. It was simultaneously crude and sleek, somehow.
"Woah! How'd you get that thing?!" Sora said, eyeing the weapon excitedly.
"Don't even think about it," Aqua said, grimacing. She very gingerly passed the weapon over to Terra.
"Thanks...?" Terra said uncertainly, eyeing the weapon. Then he stowed it into his waistband. "How did you end up with this, Aqua?"
Aqua flushed - rolled her eyes somewhat. "The locals just wouldn't let me leave without a parting gift. Never mind that; what's important...is this." She held up the blue sphere, a smile on her lips.
"What is it?" Ven said in wonder.
"It's a map - of this world's version of space between planetoids. They call it the Etherium," Aqua explained. "It has air, wind - which we've already experienced - though no gravity. Luckily, the magical nature of our vessel already provides that. Even luckier still, this entire world seems to be one that has developed flying naval vessels. They all seem to be powered by solar energy of some kind. Extremely potent and powerful energy."
"So we'll fit right in," Kairi beamed.
"We should, yes - as long as no one gets a close look at our ship," Aqua agreed, smiling too. "Speaking of which, we should return to it. This planet we're on now is an out of the way colony world - nowhere a Keyhole would be, in my opinion."
"But your map can help us find a more likely location - that's good," Terra said.
"Yes." Aqua nodded.
"All right, well, everyone: back to the ship," Terra said loudly, starting off and beckoning to them all.
They left the town again, back into the field - back up over those high hills.
As they walked along, Riku fell into step beside Kairi.
Kairi frowned, then sighed. "What?" she said finally.
"Huh? Oh - uh - well...n-nothing...?"
"Yeah right. You want to say something, say it, okay, Riku? Come on."
"It really is nothing," Riku insisted. But Kairi saw him flush. Saw him frown too. "Alright, look, remember how I said that you were the easiest person for me to sense - to locate?"
"Yeah..." Kairi said slowly. "What about it?"
"U-uh- w-well, you see, it's just- uh..."
"Oh, spit it out, Riku," she snorted.
"It's just easier to- follow you," Riku strangled out. "Okay? If I stick close to you, if I can 'see' you, I can be pretty sure I'm not going to walk into a wall or anything!"
Kairi felt surprise in her Heart. Then she felt disbelief. And outrage. And then anger. And then the desire to spite...
She let a breath go, shaking her head. "Fine with me - at least I know you can't go looking at me now!"
She felt the instant regret at the comment. The cringing sensation up her back. Maybe that one had been a bit too far?
"Definitely not," Riku murmured, bowing his head. "Don't worry. And - thank you, Kairi."
"You're welcome," Kairi murmured back, glancing away.
They walked in silence for a few minutes more - and then Riku broke it again.
"Hey, Kairi...?"
"What?" she said simply.
"Those fans of yours...Formchanges for your Keyblade...they wouldn't have anything to do with- I mean obviously they- it just reminded me of..." Riku fell silent, struggling with himself.
"Reminded you of what?" Kairi said, exasperated. Really, Riku had never had problems talking before!
"I just remembered that time when we were nine - that one fall festival?" Riku went on quickly. "You remember...you'd actually decided to take part in the whole ceremony. And you'd practiced for weeks at it. You had those- uh- n-nice looking robes and-"
"What did you just say?" Kairi interrupted, staring at him.
"I told you back then, remember? When-"
"I thought you were just trying to cheer me up," Kairi stated, gritting her teeth now and turning away.
"Yeah, I was - I was! - but I also did really think...you know...you pulled the look off," Riku said, pained. "And- and I think you pull off your current look, too, by the w-way!"
"WHAT?" Panic rose in Kairi's chest. It squeezed at her very Heart as she gazed at Riku.
"You- you asked, didn't you?" Riku stammered. "You wanted my opinion, and-"
"And you gave it," Kairi snapped. "You said, what was it now? Oh, that's right: you called it stupid, and you said it'd look better with some red in it!" she pressed on, wanting the fury to overtake the fears. Why was he saying these things now? Why was he doing this to her?!
"A-and I was wrong to- it was horrible of me, and I'm sorry I ever said anything like that to you! It wasn't stupid, and I s-shouldn't have ever threatened you like that, and-"
"So you've changed your mind about it, huh? It's not a 'stupid little getup' anymore?" Why wouldn't he shut up, why did he have to keep talking to her this way? Like he still felt those things for her- like he-
"No! No, it's not. It- you- you rocked that outfit. You looked awesome, Kairi! I can't see it anymore, but I can say you still do, from memory!" Riku's face was all scrunched up. Was he about to cry or something?! He was quiet, and so was Kairi. Then- "Uh, though, I'm still not too sure what you meant about pockets being great?"
God, he did, didn't he?! He still had some kind of crush-
Kairi let out an incoherent growl, then sped up to leave him behind, stalking up the hill to join Roxas and Xion, who were in a conversation of their own, surprisingly!
"Kairi-" Riku called out.
"Shut up - if you want something to follow, then follow me!" Kairi called back. "But I don't need you getting all up in my face about it!"
"Um...are you guys okay?" Roxas said hesitantly.
"No," Kairi huffed. "We're never going to be okay."
Roxas blinked. "Sorry?"
Kairi sighed, doing her best to regain her composure. Things were fine now (she was away from him now - away from that kind of talk). She didn't have to worry about it - didn't have to think about it. About him, about him thinking she looked nice or- "No, I'm sorry. So what are you and Xion talking about?"
Roxas shrugged, then gave a small smile. "Just talking about ice cream."
"Ice cream? Really?" Kairi giggled.
"Roxas likes sea salt," Xion informed. "He says he used to eat it all the time with his friend - Axel."
"Right," Roxas said. He frowned. "I...I miss it. I miss Xikira, too, even if I only got to hang out with her twice. I wonder if they're both okay..."
"I'm sure they are," Kairi assured firmly.
Roxas gave a nod. "I guess...we'll know for sure, if Axel shows up."
"It's awful that Xemnas - Xehanort - whatever, would order him to do something like that," Kairi said softly.
"Yeah..." Roxas agreed. "This whole situation's awful," he muttered bitterly.
"Where did you usually go for ice cream?" Kairi said quickly. "Maybe we could stop by and grab some for you?"
"A world called Twilight Town."
"Hey - we've been there!" Kairi said, beaming. "We can definitely take you there, see? We could all get some of that ice cream together!"
Roxas looked remarkably happier at her proclamation. "Is that a promise?" he said, grinning.
"Promise," Kairi confirmed.
Roxas stared at her a moment. He hesitated. Then he stepped closer to her and awkwardly tried to hug her. "Um- thank you," he expressed with difficulty. "Right?"
Kairi stopped and hugged him back, blushing - but smiling harder now than ever. "Right! You're welcome, Roxas! And thank you for the hug! They're always nice."
"Y-yeah...I guess it does...feel nice," Roxas agreed.
Kairi pulled away, turning to Xion. Then she hugged the girl too.
"Thanks?" Xion said uncertainly.
"Free hugs all around," Kairi told her with a giggle.
Xion finally smiled.