King's Exile
By Cybra
A/N: And so begins the second part of "The Journey of the King" trilogy. My sister finally got the Official Strategy Guide back so I can look at the map of the Destiny Islands. Now I won't have to fudge on locations so much. Aren't you so happy?
Special Thanks: To Vyse, my beta reader. Where would I be without you?
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Squaresoft and the Walt Disney Company. The Great Mouse Detective and the Basil of Baker Street Mysteries belong to the Walt Disney Company and the late Eve Titus respectively. The original name of "Sherringford" for Basil's first name belongs to Mlle. Irene Relda.
Prologue: The Destiny Islands
Sweat-matted fur was never a pleasant feeling. Not only did it tangle, it took forever to dry and the smell clung to it for hours no matter how short it was.
However, fur and sweat were the furthest things from the black-furred mouse's mind as the swarm of shadows continually leapt at him and his taller companion. Again and again, he slashed with his golden blade, sending each Heartless back to Kingdom Hearts. Hopefully, there it would be given a heart and reborn as a new creature on a new world.1
The black mouse watched his tan companion freeze two of the shadows with a hastily-cast spell out of the corner of his eye before the tan mouse kicked them with his foot, shattering them. Though his friend carried no weapon, the taller one still proved to be quite a foe for the Heartless.
The shorter mouse caught the tan one's green eyes, and the tan mouse nodded. They would try to make a run for the Keyhole's location. They whirled suddenly, surprising the ant-headed Heartless, and raced away from the small island and across the wooden bridge to the larger island.
Glancing over his shoulder, the black mouse cursed as the Heartless began to pursue. At the sound of a cast spell, he looked ahead to see three Heartless disappear in flames. He swore again.
Preparing his blade, he charged forward to meet two more Heartless as they tried to attack him and his friend.
His taller companion kept pace easily, offering with only a motion of the eyes to take the Heartless on the right.
The armed mouse nodded and focused on the Heartless on the left.
The black mouse slashed just as the tan mouse pounced. The Heartless were dispatched quickly and efficiently by both mice. The shadow on the left had been hacked into two pieces. The one on the right met a nasty fate of being physically beaten by a magically enhanced creature.
Neither mouse stopped to inspect the other's handiwork. Instead, both finished off their opponents and continued on their way.
The black mouse panted and released one hand from his blade in order to hastily wipe sweat from his brow. The salty liquid had started to drip into his eyes which forced his eyes tears to form in order to expel the foreign liquid. The tears had, in turn, caused his vision to blur. A very dangerous handicap in such a situation.
His muscles burned with the effort. He had been involved in this fight for quite some time already. Yet it was not because of his body that he felt the need to finish this fight. Every second of delay brought this world another second closer to its ultimate destruction.
He had sworn to himself that he would not let another world die because of his foolishness and he was going to keep that promise.
Upon their reaching the other shore, Heartless rose from the sand, trying to stop the two mice.
The pair did not hesitate a second. In an attack pattern that had become increasingly familiar to them, the taller one dashed forward first, closely followed by the shorter one. The tan mouse fired three fireballs forward.
The Heartless easily dodged them. However, this was planned.
The taller mouse jumped up, flipping backwards, as the black mouse threw his golden blade towards them. It spun as if it were a boomerang, slicing into the swarm. The black mouse caught the golden blade on its return trip as he ran forward, the tan mouse running behind him.
The black mouse leapt off of the edge of the raised platform towards the waterfall. He could feel the Keyhole pulling him towards some hidden location in that direction. But where was—
Joy, relief, and welcome in an alien, golden flood overwhelmed his senses. It all translated to one silently shouted word: Sister!
The black-furred one lost his concentration. A shed seemed to appear out of nowhere beneath him. His large feet struck the roof, and his left knee slammed into the corner as he tumbled over the edge. He cussed loudly as he fell with a complete lack of grace and landed in the pool beneath the waterfall with a loud ker-splash!
The chill of the water felt good to his abused knee. Still, it ached as he swam back to the surface.
His sensitive ears heard the splash of his companion joining him in the water. The taller mouse surfaced a few seconds later beside him and held him up as he cast Curaga to help heal the damage. It would not do to have the injury become something worse in the heat of battle because he ignored it.
They swam swiftly towards the shore, pulling themselves out of the water. Their wet clothing and sopping fur made the task a bit more difficult than it should have been.
An enormous Heartless loomed over the beach but it seemed more interested in a figure that was running between its legs and striking its weak spot: its hand. It ignored the two mice that were making their way towards the small alcove behind the massive tree.
The black mouse paused for a moment as his eyes seemed to take on a life of their own and focused on the figure currently holding the Heartless's attention. For the briefest of moments, the figure came close enough that the mouse could make him out even in the current darkness.
The figure was a teenage boy with wild hair. In his hand was a large silver key with a golden handle, a reverse image of the weapon that the black mouse himself carried.
His eyes now obeyed his commands again, and he turned them to focus in the direction that he wanted to go. Giving a silent wish of good luck to the other Keybearer, the black mouse led the way into the alcove, following a tunnel to a cave with a door at the other end. On the floor of the cave were the footprints of his hated enemy.
The Keyhole obediently appeared on the door.
The tan mouse turned to guard the passageway as the black mouse focused his attention on the Keyhole. Raising the Golden Keyblade, the shorter mouse watched as the familiar beam of light struck the Keyhole and heard the well-known click echo in the small cave.
The world darkened now with the comforting darkness of a sleeping world that would not die. The taller mouse came over to stand by his shorter friend. They stood side-by-side as the tan mouse reached over and tapped something on the black mouse's wrist.
The pair vanished as the world around them sent its people away to where they would be safe as it slept.
1 What really does happen to a Heartless when it is destroyed? Does anyone know?