Here's an extra chapter just for your loyalty and my lateness. Hope you like it.
Sora could not shake the feeling of unease during the remainder of their trip. What had happened? Had he really felt that hold on his heart, or had he just imagined it?
Eventually, they began to move into a brand new cluster of stars, and a world was speeding into view. "We're back at the Coliseum!" Donald exclaimed as they drew nearer to the planet.
Sora knew somewhere in his heart that this was not the world that they were searching for, however he also felt that something was going on here as well. If anything, Hercules or Phil might know something. "Land Donald. I want to see what's up." Donald nodded and plunged down toward the Coliseum Gates.
Sora pushed open the gates and immediately noticed Hercules and Phil the goat-man talking in the middle of the field. "Hey, Herc!" Sora called out running, toward them.
Hercules turned around and spotted Sora, greeting him with a high-five. "Long time no see kid! How'ya doing?" Hercules asked. He seemed to remember Sora just fine.
"I'm alright" Sora replied. "What's going on? What are you talking about?"
Phil was quick to answer. "Just stuff, you know, for the games...." Sora blinked. "Oh. What kind of stuff? Are the games starting up soon?"
"You know kid, you ask a lot of questions...." Phil snapped back. Sora blinked again, this time confused. But Hercules soon rested his hand on Phil's shoulder.
"Oh don't worry about this guy Sora. Its just that Phil's been under a lot of pressure to put the games in order quickly, but recently some strange guys showed up. He's just a little worried about if he should let them in or not. Remember what happened last time? What a mess that was..." Hercules explained, shaking his head.
"Don't worry kid. I've decided. The show must go on. The games will be ready in about a regular business week. Five days tops."
"Cool" Sora said. "We'll be there." Phil nodded. "See you then." Sora and company returned back to the gummi ship after waving goodbye.
"So what do you want to do Sora?" Donald asked, looking back at the Coliseum. Sora followed his gaze down, still wondering what was going on.
"Well, the games start in a week and I want to be here when they open. I can't shake the feeling that something's going to happen."
Donald frowned. "That's positive..."
"I'm serious!" Sora yelled back. Goofy cracked open an eye at the sudden noise. Donald shrugged. "Anyway," Sora continued, "Now that we know where we are, its about 18 hours to Traverse Town right?" Donald nodded. "Without any pit stops" he added.
"Fine" Sora said. "Let's head over there for now and see what we can do. We'll head back for the opening day." Donald fired up the engines and Goofy closed his eyes again, preparing to sleep the entire way.
Kairi slowly opened her eyes. Everything was blurred. Where am I? She wondered, blinking and rubbing her eyes. Her vision cleared and she found that she was laying atop a large feather bed in a small comfortable room. But where was the room located? A hotel, a castle? Where I was she
A wooden door to her left began to creak open. A cloaked man stepped into her room and Kairi tried to back away. She succeeded, but resulted in falling off the edge of her bed, and heavily onto the wooden floor.
"The Master will see you now that you are awake, Princess. You will come with us." The man made no attempt to move toward her, he only waited patiently. Kairi wondered why he wasn't trying to stop here from running away. Then she realized. There was nowhere left to run. She had no idea of where to go or how to get there, and remembering the red-haired man, there was no point in trying to fight back. Especially if all these hooded men were of the same strength and speed.
She cautiously got to her feet shaking, but had no choice but to follow the guy's orders. She followed him out into the hallway, where two others were waiting. They escorted her through a maze of hallways and stairs, saying nothing the entire time.
Eventually they reached large wooden double doors that opened into a vast library. The cloaked men stopped outside in the hallway and closed the door behind her. She was left in the room with only books and a strange man dressed in red as her company.
The man in red turned to face her, but this didn't do much to answer Kairi's question of who he was, his face was masked in bandages. "Go on Princess. Sit down, you'll be much more comfortable." He waved his hand and a chair moved away from a table for her to sit in.
"I'd rather stand." Kairi replied, boasting more confidence than she felt. The man in red shrugged. "Suit yourself." He waved his hand again and the chair slammed back into place against the table. Kairi jumped at the noiseand a piece of paper fluttered down onto the table from a high bookshelf.
The man noticed neither of this, he had again turned around. Kairi edged toward the table, feeling as if sitting down would have been the better choice. Her feet were already starting to hurt. Her eyes fell unto the paper and she briefly skimmed it, noticing words like "Heartless" and "Barriers" and "Princesses".
Before she knew what she was doing, she pocketed the paper for later, and then attempted to pull the chair from the table. It wouldn't budge, no matter how much she pulled and twisted.
The man in red laughed out loud. "Its too late now. You should know Princess, that often you will only get one chance, and if you don't take it, that opportunity will close, maybe forever. So be sure to make your decisions carefully. It could mean an eternity of regret. Or life or death. Every choice has its own meaning, no matter how small it be."
Kairi looked back to him. "What do you want from me?" She asked. The Master chuckled again. "Results. The best way to draw something to you, after all, is live bait."
"Bait for what?" Kairi asked frightened. She couldn't help imagining some huge hideous beast coming to devour her. "The one who holds the Key." The Master answered.
"Wait, Sora?" Kairi wondered. The Master nodded. "The Keyblade master of the Present world. He will come looking for you eventually and then I shall know the answers I desire, when I destroy him."
Kairi sucked in a breath. "What has he ever done to you? Sora wouldn't hurt anybody."
"The Keyblade master fascinates me. When we finally meet in battle, I will learn the final mysteries of the Heart. But this conversation is for another day. I just wanted to meet you for now Princess. Just be a good little girl, stay out of trouble and you won't be hurt." The man in red clasped his hands behind his back.
"Axel! Bring a guide in with you." He called. Immediately the red-haired man was striding toward them, another hooded man at his side. "You called Master?" Axel asked, kneeling. The Master turned to the hooded man. "Escort the Princess back to her room, she is done here." The man stood and passed Kairi. "Follow me" He said, walking through the wooden doors.
Kairi followed, but couldn't help asking one more question as the doors closed behind them. "Who are you people?" The man was silent for a moment but then answered, "We are the Unknown" and was silent afterwards.
The Master turned back to Axel. "What would you like me to do Master? Would you like me to finish the preparations at the Coliseum?"
"No, Axel. I've already sent the Enigmatic Man to finish up there, he is to also do any recruiting he can, though we are strong, our numbers remain small. The Keyblade master will come at us with everything he has, and he has more allies and more power then he realizes. The Enigmatic man will see if that fool god wishes to deal."
"Do you think he will Master?"
"I do, he is greedy and manipulative, the easiest type of person to understand. He will accept, I have little doubt. So, Axel I have summoned you for a different reason. It has come to my attention that there are strangers within our ranks. Order some of the others to monitor their movements, and I still want you to keep an eye out for that previous interference. I want as few unknown variables as possible, my plans have no room for them. Go forth Axel. Prepare for the upcoming battle."
"Yes Master," Axel said, bowing low. "It will be done"
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