DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT THE PLOT AND MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!
A/N: I'M BACK! CHAPTER 6 HAS ARRIVED! THIS MARKS THE SECOND CHAPTER TO BE POSTED SINCE MAY, 2015 STARTED!
So, I need to point out how I did NOT receive a single review on Chapter 5! I certainly Hope this is not for the same reasons why no one reviewed several of the chapters in "Kingdom Hearts - World Unto Dreams" - (The ones surrounding "The 100-Acre Wood" and "The Grid" in particular).
Whatever the case, I think it's necessary to say this: MORE REVIEWS ARE NEEDED! THE GOAL FOR THE NEXT STORY STILL STANDS AT 214 REVIEWS!
Plus, the number of Required Reviews for the Sequel is much less than the amount needed for THIS Story's Secret Ending. It's just like unlocking the Secret Ending to each of the Kingdom Hearts games - you have to complete certain tasks to get it! In THIS case, it is determined by the number of Reviews!
So, KEEP THOSE REVIEWS COMING! I HAVE A GREAT, TWISTY-PLOT-BASED STORY IN MIND FOR THE NEXT ONE!
REMEMBER - 214 REVIEWS ARE NEEDED FOR THE SEQUEL AND 240 ARE NEEDED FOR THE SECRET ENDING!
In addition, I Hope you are all enjoying This Story! I spent MONTHS to plan it out! Let me know which parts YOU LIKE THE BEST and what YOU WOULD LIKE to see happen up ahead and in the next Story!
Seeing as I've covered everything I needed to say, I'll let you go now. I MEAN IT!
PLEASE ENJOY! READ TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT - AND MORE! PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW, TOO!
CHAPTER 6
The Committee's New Leader
Sora was feeling very exhausted. He grunted once again before pausing to gasp for breath. His hand wiped away some dripping sweat from his forehead. He couldn't believe his luck.
The cart weighed about as much as the largest ship in the world. It took Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and him to push it. To make matters worse, the group was trying to move the supplies up the slope leading to the castle. All the construction workers stopped their projects to allow the group to pass through the area.
Sora sighed. This was nowhere near how he had wanted to spend his time off from school. He turned to gaze at his friends. Goofy was barely keeping his feet in place as he pushed. Launchpad was on the verge of losing his balance. Donald's feet were about to slip and he grunted loudly. All three had their eyes closed and teeth clenched.
Sora shook his head. "Remind me never to accept any favors from Leon without knowing what they are," he told the others.
Donald and Goofy both gave slight nods. They continued to shove the cart's handles.
"I can't believe this!" Donald complained. "It's too heavy!"
"It's worse than Mr. McDee's money bin!" Launchpad added. The pilot was starting to huff and puff.
Goofy gasped for breath. "Phew!" he gasped, wiping his forehead. "This stuff sure is extra-heavy, ain't it?"
Sora gave a small grin. "Look on the bright side! At least there's no Heartless giving us trouble."
The sound of something appearing up ahead caused the group to swerve their focus to the road ahead. They stared in alarm. A large group of creatures with blue and orange armor were running about less than five feet away. If he hadn't seen the yellow, glowing eyes shining through their helmets, Sora wouldn't have recognized them so easily. "Heartless!" he declared.
Donald scowled at the brown-headed seventeen-year-old. "What's the big idea?!"
Goofy gave what looked like a simple shrug. "Donald's got a point, Sora. Didja call 'em over?"
Sora stared at his friends. "What're you guys talking about?! Of course I didn't call those Heartless!"
Donald still had doubt evident on his face. "I don't know… "
"I'll prove it!" Sora announced. He let go of the cart's handle and leapt over the supplies to the front. His Keyblade appeared in his right hand. "I'll take care of these guys!"
He glanced back. "Keep pushing that thing! I'll hold 'em off!"
Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad exchanged glances between one another.
"If it'll make this trek easier," Launchpad said. He released his grip to shrug. "Why not?"
"Keep pushing!" Donald snapped, his face turning red. "This thing's getting heavier!"
The pilot rapidly grasped the handles again. Goofy didn't speak. He was too busy pushing the cart slowly up the incline.
Sora was already tired from pushing the supply cart this far. Now he had to maintain control of his Keyblade as he slashed, sliced, and smacked it around the Heartless. The creatures kept coming. As he continued to fight, Sora's head started to spin. The exhaustion was taking over.
No way! He thought. I must get this stuff to Leon!
The sounds of panting, huffing, and puffing soon followed. Sora's weapon felt heavy. His arms became weak. His feet seemed to be moving at a snail's pace. He barely had the strength to keep the Heartless at bay.
Before five minutes had passed, he was surrounded by the enemies. Sora gasped for breath and fell to his knees. He clutched his chest with his left hand. His heart was racing faster and faster. He looked back, seeing the Heartless had moved toward the cart.
"No… way," Sora panted. "This… isn't… good."
He got to his feet as swiftly as possible. He suddenly felt a second wind coming. His Keyblade glowing a strange neon color. Sora stared at it in surprise. "Huh?"
Realizing he was feeling better, Sora quickly decided to take advantage of the situation. He charged into the last of the Heartless. His weapon sliced, slashed, and smashed the creatures into oblivion. A series of reddish-pink hearts drifted into the sky and vanished from view.
Sora smiled before noticing how his friends were staring at him in complete shock; they'd also stopped pushing the cart. "What's everyone staring at?" he inquired.
"That wasn't good," Donald gulped.
Goofy's eyes were filled with anxiety. "That was Darkness," he told the young man with the Keyblade. "You glowed with thuh power of Darkness, Sora. Your Keyblade looked kinda funny, too."
All Launchpad did was stare with perplexity.
Sora was puzzled. What were his teammates talking about? Darkness? No way! Couldn't be! He had beaten Xehanort's Heartless and Nobody without such powers. Not mention, only Riku had really struggled with the Darkness as far as he knew (which wasn't too much).
Then again, Goofy had said something about "Xehanort's Darkness" when he'd gone after Dilan at the castle's entrance. Perhaps he needed to think ahead so more. But that would delay getting the supplies to the castle. He could not let that happen. Sora'd promised Leon (in a way) — and he never had broken a single promise!
…Except for one. Sora's mind was now shifting back to the time he'd made a promise to his mom to keep his room clean. Of course, he had been just six year old at the time. Maybe such promises then weren't so important after all. Were they?
Sora shrugged the deep pondering aside and rushed behind the cart. He grabbed the handle and helped the others push the supply cart up the hill.
The sun was still high in the sky when Sora and his friends reached the castle. They stopped for a moment to wipe some sweat from their faces. Goofy collapsed onto the stone plaza while Donald stumbled about like he was in a daze. Launchpad leaned against the cart's handle and wiped his cheeks with his scarf. Sora bent over and placed his hands on his knees. All four of them panted more than they had ever dreamed they would.
"Next time," Sora finally said. "Let's let Leon do this."
The other three nodded. Donald had regained his steady balance. Goofy was risen to his feet. Launchpad was still leaning against the cart.
Sora shook his head and turned into the direction of the castle's entrance. As expected, Dilan and Aeleus were still standing guard. There weren't any Heartless in sight. "Come on," he said. "Let's get this stuff inside. Then we can take a break."
The group shoved the cart to the doorway. Dilan and Aeleus didn't block the entrance and instead inquired why the four had the supplies. "We're bringing this stuff to Leon," Goofy explained. "Sora offered to help out."
"As usual," Donald muttered softly.
"Good," Aeleus affirmed. "The committee has already informed us about you. We just need to see your VIP cards."
Sora reached into his jacket pocket and held out his red card. Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad each retrieved their own. Dilan marched closer and took a couple seconds to glance over them. He nodded. "Sora, Donald Duck, Goofy, Launchpad. You may pass," he announced.
Aeleus opened the door. Sora nodded in return before putting his card away; his friends did the same. They carefully pushed the cart through the open doorway. Dilan and Aeleus quietly closed it behind.
"Phew," Sora gasped as he had everyone stop just inside the entrance hall. "Glad that's over."
As his teammates each wiped the sweat from their faces, Sora gazed towards the now-closed doorway. He recalled how determined he'd been to defeat Xaldin just over a year ago. The Organization member had been causing trouble in another world and had even tried to turn one of the Keyblade wielder's friends into a Heartless. Sora had felt so much anger against Organization XIII when he'd watched Xaldin steal a magical rose and kidnap his friend, Belle. With the help from his friend, the Beast, Sora had succeeded in eliminating Xaldin.
Now, as he looked at the door, Sora's thoughts were focused on the guard outside. Dilan no longer was as vicious and troublesome as his Nobody had been. He had even apologized for trying to harm the Beast. Sora felt a smile forming on his face. He knew this meant one thing.
Dilan was no longer the member of Organization XIII Sora had previously encountered.
As he turned back to his teammates, Sora heard the sound of footsteps approaching. He turned to the nearby staircase. Leon and Rinoa were hurrying over. They stopped before the group.
"Looks like the supplies made it," Rinoa approved. She turned to look at Leon. "I wanted it to be you, Squall."
Leon looked irritated. "I told you five times in the last hour. It's 'Leon' now!"
Rinoa shook her head and strode up to the cart. "I can take it from here."
Sora's team nodded and released their grips. Rinoa grasped the cart and started off. As she approached the stairs, she stopped and flipped a tiny lever Sora hadn't seen earlier. The steps flattened out and formed a makeshift ramp. Rinoa grabbed the cart's handles with both hands before she raced up the ramp and across the upper floor. She pushed the doorway open with the cart's end and zoomed down the hallway beyond.
"Man," Sora marveled. "How can she go so fast with that stuff?"
"She must've been stronger than she looks," Goofy suggested.
Launchpad nodded. "Mister McDee's cane is stronger than it looks, too."
Through his peripheral vision, Sora saw Donald rolling his eyes at the pilot's remark. He shook his head and shrugged the whole thing off. After all, it wasn't a major issue anyway.
"Donald, Goofy, Launchpad," Leon addressed the three. "Cid has something he wants to show you. He's in the research study downstairs."
"Wow," Launchpad remarked.
"Wonder what it could be?" Goofy wondered aloud.
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Donald said, marching up the curved stairs to the next floor. He dashed down the corridor beyond. Goofy and Launchpad were seconds behind the duck magician.
Leon gave a hint of a grin as he watched the trio leave. "That should keep them occupied for a little while."
Sora looked puzzled. "Why?"
Leon turned to the young man. "I wanted to ask you something, but I didn't want anyone else to know about it."
Sora nodded.
"I know how you felt," Leon continued. "It can be hard losing a friend and then having to save them. But when you finally find them, everything's not the same as before. You know what I mean?"
Sora stared with total uncertainty. What was Leon talking about? "Not really," was all he could think of saying.
"What I mean is," Leon added. "I understand how desperate you were to find Kairi. Once you did, I guess everything worked out. Am I right?"
Sora felt hesitation coming over him. True, he had saved Kairi more than once. First, it was Maleficent and the Heartless. Later, Axel had kidnapped her from the islands and she'd ended up in the hands of Organization XIII. Through it all, he hadn't told anybody how he truly felt about the auburn-haired girl. Besides, she was a princess — with a heart of pure Light. Why would he want to get mixed up with someone like that?
Then again, Kairi had given him a kiss less than five days ago. Of course, that was because it was his seventeenth birthday. Wasn't that the real reason she'd done that? Or was Leon trying to tell him something else?
Either way, Sora refused to accept the fact he and Kairi could ever end up anything beyond friends. Chances are, it wouldn't work out… at least not at the current moment. Maybe someday… but that was something he didn't want to worry about.
"What're you getting at?" the brown, spikey-headed youth inquired.
Leon turned away. "Never mind," he replied. "You wouldn't understand."
Sora wanted to shout out one question — "why did you lead me on like that?!" But no words came to his mouth. He wasn't sure what Leon had been leading up to in the first place. Now, it appeared it wouldn't have mattered… whatever it was.
Leon strolled away. He marched up the stairs and disappeared down the hallway. Sora shook his head. "That was weird," he commented to nobody in particular.
"Hmm… maybe Leon was hinting at something personal."
Sora swung his head to the right. He relaxed, seeing Jiminy standing on his right shoulder. He had to smile. Somehow, he'd forgotten the little cricket was still there.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Jiminy hopped to the floor and turned to face the young man. "Something tells me Leon has a friend who reminds him of Kairi. He was comparing himself to you, Sora. It might be possible, he likes her and thinks you also like Kairi."
Sora shook his head and waved his arms around in an "X"-style. "No way!" he shouted. "It's not like that! It never was, and it never will!"
Jiminy looked doubtful. "Are you sure?"
"Yes!" Sora declared. "I do not have a girlfriend!"
"You don't?" a kind voice perked up.
Sora spun around. His lit up, spotting a young woman with long, golden hair standing at the top of the staircase nearest the library. He relaxed a little, knowing it was Myrna. The only notable difference was she was wearing a long, white dress with long sleeves that had a red First-Aid cross on the left side of her chest and the right sleeve. A white cap was placed on her head, also bearing a red cross. Her shoes were the same ones she'd had earlier and her red dress was showing from underneath.
Sora didn't know what to say. How much had this kind girl overheard? Hopefully not too much! He wasn't sure and probably would never know.
"Hi, Myrna," Sora said with a hint of anxiety in his voice. Jiminy hopped back into the young man's hood.
Myrna came speed-walking down the steps and over to him. "Is that true?" she asked. "You don't have a girlfriend?"
Sora hesitated in his response. "Well… you see… it's just that… I… um… uh… " How could he tell her anything?
Myrna fluttered her eyes a little. Sora felt a bit uncomfortable. He must have been showing it as well; the young woman placed a hand over her mouth to keep herself from giggling.
"That's alright," she said. "You don't have to say so if you don't want to."
Sora felt relieved. At least he would not have to tell anyone else about it! …Whatever "it" was. He placed his hands behind his head. "So, what's up?"
Myrna's left hand flew to her face. "Oh yeah! I nearly forgot what I was going to tell you. Aerith and I have something to show you. Come to the library."
Sora looked at her funny. "Did you just say that backwards?"
Myrna rolled her eyes. "That's not what I was intending to hear… " she muttered in such a soft voice, Sora barely heard her.
The young woman turned around and started towards the library's doorway. "Come along when you're ready. We'll be waiting for you."
Sora nodded before following along. Whatever the two girls wanted to show him, it sounded very exciting. Maybe they'd found something Xehanort's Heartless or Nobody had left behind. Better yet, perhaps a clue as to why the Heartless were growing in number again. Yes — it had to be the latter! No question about it!
He felt his heart beating quicker. A smile formed on his face. Sora knew this meant his entire body was feeling the same expectation. Unless it was Roxas's heart inside him.
His mind started to move. Hadn't Roxas been in him all this time? Why hadn't he noticed such a reaction since the fall of Organization XIII — until now? Sometimes things never made any sense. Sora knew this was true without any doubt.
Sora stepped through the doorway as Myrna pushed the door itself open. His eyes widened in recognition. The library looked identical to how it had the last he'd been in the castle almost two years before. The shelves were still in their proper places since he'd reorganized the books to open pathways around the room. Some of the shelves still had the colored volume sets on them.
As he followed the golden-haired girl around, Sora's eyes landed upon a book with a lacey cover. The name "Schoolwork V.S. Homework" was clearly visible on it. He had to shake his head and smile. After all, school was over for the semester. He would not have to worry about a thing… until the break was over.
But that was something that could wait for quite some time.
Another book caught his eye; "Once Upon A Time". He saw another one called "Classifications of Munny & Hunny". There was another one with the name "Violets Have Sugar Plum Fairies" written across it. He also noticed another book called "The Land To Come… Someday". Beside it was one bearing the title "Zoology, Laughology, Mathology, & Dustology For Dummies". The next one he saw was a large book with the name "How To Be A Heartless & Nobody".
Strange titles, Sora thought to himself. What do they all mean? Why did Xehanort, Ansem, and the others have these?
He decided such things were very un-important to his current quest. He shrugged and continued to follow Myrna to a desk near the curved staircase. Aerith was seated there with her eyes glued to a book lying open on the desk. Her left hand was positioned against her cheek and her other hand was clutching the edge of the page. To Sora, she looked like she was concentrating. He assumed this was so since he'd already seen his mom in a similar manner many times before.
"Aerith, Sora's here," Myrna announced.
Aerith looked over her shoulder and smiled at the brown-haired young man. "I'm glad you're here," she said. "This book's something you should see."
Sora felt a sensation of concern in the air. Despite the young woman's smile, he could tell something wasn't correct. In fact, it seemed to be going from bad to worse to impossible — if such a thing was possible. "What's wrong?" he inquired. "I can tell something's up."
"You're right," Aerith confessed. She spun the book before her around for the spikey-headed young man to see. "See?"
All Sora could see was a series of torn paper fragments in the middle of the book's binding. For some reason, he had the feeling these tears looks familiar. In fact, they had a curve in them, almost like a sharp claw from an animal had done the ripping.
"So?" he said. "Some pages are missing." He counted the number of torn lines. "Looks like about five of them. What book is this?"
"That's the problem," Myrna said, a grave look on her face.
Aerith nodded. "Please don't tell anyone," she pleaded.
Sora gave a nod. The woman gave a short sigh before reaching for the front cover and gently closing it. One look at the cover and Sora's eyes lit up and his mouth opened in alarm.
On the brown cover was an illustration of a young man with brown, spikey hair relaxing on a hillside at night. A golden-furred bear was sitting beside him; the animal was wearing a red shirt. Up above, a series of twinkling stars and a crescent moon could be seen. The words written above the colorful drawing revealed the book's title — that's what had seized Sora's attention so rapidly.
WINNIE THE POOH
"No way!" Sora exclaimed.
He could not believe his eyes. This was not just any old book. It was the world of The 100-Acre Wood — the same world he had ventured into with Riku and Violet while in the Realm of Sleep. Of course, that had been an illusion created when the Heartless had torn out several pages about a year before. Now, it seemed something else had happened to it.
"How did this happen?!" he demanded to know.
Myrna gave a shrug. "I'm not sure," she explained. "I just found it on one of these bookshelves. Aerith was the one who found there were pages missing. She said she remembered how you'd put the book back together once before."
"Twice," Sora corrected. "I've had to fix it twice."
Aerith and Myrna stared at him. "I mean it!" Sora hastily added. "First, Merlin asked me to put the pages back in once I'd found them. Later, the Heartless tore out several pages and I went all over the place to find them."
He paused, seeing the girls' confused looks. "Oh yeah," he remarked. "I forgot. Merlin wanted Donald, Goofy, and me to keep it a secret." He nearly blushed and scratched the back of his head. "I guess he did it very well."
"That does make some sense," Myrna thought aloud. "It explains why the pages are torn like this. Maybe these ones were also removed by the same Heartless you mentioned."
"Really?" Sora asked.
Aerith gave a slight nod. "That's all I can understand of this," she admitted. "You'll have to go out there and find those pages. They're probably scattered among the worlds."
"In other worlds," Myrna added in turn. "You'll have to search everywhere. They could be anywhere."
Sora gave another nod. Despite how annoyed he felt about seeing his quest from before was only half-finished, he knew his friends came first. Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, and the others were depending on him. He could not let them down! He would recover those last five pages — no matter what it took!
"No sweat!" he declared. "I'll find those pages and put the book back the way it's supposed to be!"
Aerith and Myrna both smiled. Sora acknowledged them with a grin of his own. A series of rushing footsteps grabbed the group's attention. Hurrying down the stairs near the desk was a rather large man sporting long, dark-red hair, a short red goatee, long angular mustache, and thick red eyebrows. He was wearing a purple suit, plum-colored pants, a white shirt complete with a collar and cuffs, white gloves, and black shoes. A purple top hat was on his head, black glasses were on his face, and a black cane was in his hand; it had a gold, hooked head.
Sora stared at this man in surprise. Not only did he looked completely unfamiliar, but his outfit suggested he was quite wealthy — but still not as wealthy as Donald's uncle.
"Excuse me," the man said to the group. "There's going to be a meeting in the grand hall upstairs in ten minutes. I heard it's important."
"Okay," Aerith nodded. "Thanks, Mr. O'Del."
"Anytime," the man returned before heading back the way he'd come. Once he was gone, Sora turned to Aerith.
"Who was that?" the young man asked.
"Yancy O'Del," the brown-haired woman informed him. "He's another member of the Radiant Garden Reconstruction Committee. He and Scrooge McDuck fund many of the projects to help rebuild the town."
Sora nodded, though he quickly found himself looking in the direction Yancy had gone. There was something dark about him, he pondered deeply.
He had the slightest sensation Yancy wasn't who he claimed to be. Sora hoped he was wrong. It would be terrible to discover someone working for Xehanort or Maleficent and Pete inside this castle. Even worse if they had only joined the committee to be a spy. Hopefully, none of that was the case.
"Let's go," Myrna said. "There must another strategy meeting on the schedule."
Aerith nodded. "Maybe so."
Sora gave a nod of his own. "C'mon. Let's get going."
The castle's Grand Hall was both wide and high. The ceilings were so high, all that could be seen above was darkness. The only indication they were there was the glow of hanging chandeliers. The walls were spaced far enough apart for the room to be considered a perfect rectangle.
As he walked into the chamber, Sora instantly took note of how different the room's appearance was. All the yellow pipes leaking steam were gone. The steps leading up had been removed and a giant screen had been placed into the far wall. Rows of seats were laid out in the room near the screen like a movie theater. The seating area and screen only took half the room.
Beyond the display and audience section was a bunch of tables and chairs. Boxes of electronic equipment were placed in one corner. A projection booth was situated on the wall near the audience area; he noticed Cid seated at it. The pilot was impatiently chewing on a toothpick.
He chose to stop there. Everything else was stuff Sora wasn't sure how to describe. He was largely computer-illiterate and had no clue what they were supposed to do.
As Sora approached the audience, he spotted Donald and Goofy waving him over from the other side. Sora acknowledged with a wave of his own. As he walked over, the spikey-headed seventeen-year-old Keyblader saw the seats were mostly filled up. He recognized several of the people in them. He recognized Yuffie, Aerith, Tifa, Barret, Rinoa, Zell, Myrna, a green-haired teenager he knew was Phoebe, Bert, Yancy, and an old wizard in a blue gown. Seeing the round eyeglasses and pointed blue hat on the man's head, Sora smiled. He knew this wizard was none other than Merlin.
As he sat down at the end of a row beside Donald, Sora looked out across the others there. He saw a handful of individuals he didn't recognize.
One of them was a teenage girl sporting long, blonde hair and blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of a white shirt with a red stripe, a pink skirt, and red-and-white tennis shoes. She had an earring shaped like the moon on her right ear and a star-shaped one on her left ear. She also had what looked like a pink clip in her hair.
Two mice were seated in the audience, even though they were the same size as Donald. One was a large, gray mouse wearing a red sweater and brown cap. The other was a slender white mouse wearing a purple or pink cap and kerchief with bow.
A young woman with reddish hair and yellow eyes was sitting in the front row on the far end. She was wearing a yellow shirt, green skirt, and black rain-boots. An orange belt was fastened around her waist and she had silver-colored gloves. A sky-blue archer's bow was in her lap and she had a matching quiver of violet-tipped arrows.
Beside her was a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties and wearing a pilot's uniform complete with a brown coat and matching pants. His boots were a light-brown color and he also had a navy-blue helmet on his head along with matching goggles. He also had a pair of gloves that were a greenish color.
"Aw phooey… "
Sora whirled his focus to his left. Donald was slouched down in his seat. He was looking at an advertisement currently displayed on the screen. It showed an image of an older duck with a top hat, blue outfit, and red spats. A cane was in his hand and he was happily gesturing at a pile of golden diamonds. A section of text read: "BE A SPONSOR OF THE RADIANT GARDEN RECONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE! A DOLLAR GIVEN IS A DOLLAR WELL-SPENT!"
"I'm a miserable failure," Donald grumbled to himself. "Always have been, always will be."
"Gawrsh," Goofy muttered at the duck. "May-bee you just started at thuh bottom and felt comfortable down there."
Donald started scolding the knight for "such a statement". Sora shook his head and turned to the front when he saw Leon, Even, and Ienzo approaching a podium with a microphone.
"May we have your attention?" Leon called out.
The chatter of the crowd ceased and everyone turned their focus to the front. The display on the screen changed to a photograph showing the town. "Remember," Leon continued. "Our goal is to restore the Radiant Garden to what it used to be — maybe something better."
The audience all nodded in return. Even took the podium next. "However," the scientist began. "We have a serious problem happening on the outskirts of our community."
The screen's image switched to one of the valley where Sora recalled eliminating a thousand Heartless in a single battle. Only now, the picture was of a lake of Darkness. Some members of the audience let out short gasps and few had their eyes glow large with concern. Sora had to admit, he knew this meant nothing but trouble.
"To further explain the current situation," Even went on. "Here is Tseng, the leader of The Underground Radiant Klass."
As Even stepped away, a tall man strode to the microphone. This man had dark brown eyes and shoulder-length, black hair in a ponytail. His outfit consisted of a dark-blue suit.
"Everyone," the man said into the microphone. "The situation in the gorge beyond the town has grown more serious each passing day. The Heartless population has increased in number, and it is now believed the source is the infamous fort near the horizon."
The image on the screen changed to a photograph of a tall fortress consisting of several golden-brown, thin, crooked towers topped with black, cone-shaped towers. The ruins of a small village of ramshackle stone buildings was strewn about its base. A gigantic symbol Sora recognized as the Heartless emblem was evident on the tallest, central tower. The whole building was on a wide plateau in the middle of a large canyon of blue stone. In the picture, several Heartless could be seen wandering around valley's floor. A few white creatures resembling misshapen Nobodies were among the Heartless.
One look at the structure and Sora remembered seeing it more than once the last time he'd been to this world. It was the infamous fortress of Villain's Vale — that was the name Leon and the others had given it. As far as he was concerned, that fortress had seemed to produce Heartless after Heartless around the clock.
"I can tell you this much," Tseng added. "Any attempt to resolve this problem could result in calamitous consequences. Any suggestions?"
"I got one!" Barret announced, leaping from his seat in the front row. He turned around to face everyone behind. "I'm gonna blow all those dang Heartless outta here! We're gonna have one heck of a Holiday Season 'til the job's done! This town ain't gonna safe for nobody until this is taken care of. Who wants to help?"
"I do!" Zell declared. "I'm gonna kick them beyond the horizon! No one else is doing anything about it."
"Wait!" Tifa spoke up. "This isn't the time to rush in. We need to plan ahead. Maybe the Heartless are coming from that fort. But it's not going to be safe."
"She's right," Cid called from the back. "It ain't nothin' nobody can take care of so quickly. I've seen those Heartless creeps shut down entire businesses within minutes."
"But we can't stand around!" Zell shouted. "We need to get going! I'm not gonna lose my room to some stupid monsters!"
"I think we need more 'elpful information," Bert spoke up. "These 'eartless fellows are not very open to reasoning."
"Who the heck asked you?!" Barret snapped. "We need to move — now!"
Merlin rose from his seat and marched to the large man with the gun in his arm. "Perhaps some of us could learn some manners," he scolded.
"Not now, old man!" Barret snarled. "The entire fate of this town depends on us. I ain't lettin' no Heartless take it away again. We need to fight!"
"And now!" Yuffie yelled in agreement. "I want this place to be just as peaceful as everyone else does!"
Sora had a sense of shock combined with puzzlement. Were the members of the reconstruction committee arguing with each other? This was how he had assumed Organization XIII was after hearing from Saïxhow Axel had betrayed them. All he could think of saying was, "Some organized committee this is… "
He finally decided there was no point in just sitting around listening to all the heated debating. "Hey!" he hollered over the others bickering. "I'll take care of this! I've defeated Ansem… Xehanort's Heartless — the leader of the Heartless! This should be a simple job for me!"
The arguing ceased so suddenly, the room was eerily quiet. The sound of Jiminy leaping onto Sora's shoulder echoed about. "Hmm," the cricket said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I think Sora's got a point. Since all of you can't decide what to do without quarreling, maybe it's time someone else does the work. You need an effective leader. Right?"
"Yeah!" Yuffie declared. "Sora and Jiminy are right! Someone needs to take charge of this operation."
"An' the only one to be leader should be me," Barret boasted.
"Actually, I think it should be Sora," the young woman with the archer's bow spoke up. "He's clearly self-determined. Anyone with that much courage can handle any number of Heartless — regardless of the danger."
Sora smiled at the woman for standing up for him. "Thanks!" he called. He paused. "Who're you again?"
"Chelsy," the woman replied. "That's my name."
Sora nodded. He remembered Bert saying how someone named Chelsy was a leader of the committee. Now he knew he'd met the correct person.
"She's right," Rinoa approved. "Sora will be an invaluable helper in the battles to come."
Sora relaxed a little more. He realized this meant Rinoa had faith in his abilities to defeat Heartless. Somehow he had shown this to her, although he was unsure how.
Barret was scowling. "No way! I ain't takin' orders from no kid — unless that kid's Cloud! I don't care what he's capable of. No one's the boss of me… except Cloud!"
Sora smirked. "Maybe I am Cloud — in disguise!"
Barret now looked shocked. "Huh?!"
Donald and Goofy burst out laughing. Sora rubbed his nose comically to show off. Barret waved his right arm at them.
"That ain't funny!" he shouted. "You guys don't know nothin' 'bout nothin'! You probably never been to Stalag 13 neither!"
"Whatever," Sora teased. He was starting to enjoy this moment. "I've been everywhere you haven't."
Barret was about to yell in anger when Tifa grabbed his arm. The former gradually started to cool off. Aerith rose to her feet and turned to face everyone. "He can do," she said. "Sora has done so much for us already."
"Yes," Myrna agreed. "And he can still do more."
"And I am willing to bet 'e'll be so much 'elp in the near future," Bert added. "Anyone else want to say 'ow 'elpful 'e's gonna be?"
At the podium, Leon, Even, and Ienzo all nodded. Tseng spoke into the microphone, "Looks like your decision is final. Sora shall be the official leader of the committee during times of trouble like this one."
The remainder of the audience nodded. Sora felt a surge of awe rush through himself. This was first time he'd been almost-unanimously chosen as the leader of a group. Of course, he also knew he couldn't be there all the time, so he needed to choose someone to take his place in the meantime.
Sora swept his eyes around the group. He smiled. "And I want Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, Cid, Merlin, and Chelsy to be in charge while I'm away."
"Sure thing!" Yuffie agreed.
"You can count on us," Aerith said.
Leon nodded. "Sora, I think you've made a wise choice."
"Indeed," Merlin approved. "Remember, wisdom comes from experience. And lots of experience comes to practice and age. In your case, keep practicing — especially with your magic. You can never have too much magic."
Sora nodded. "Thanks, Merlin."
"Heck, it was bound to happen," Cid called from the back. "That kid was gonna be our leader sooner or later. I foresaw it comin' when I first met him in Traverse Town two years ago."
"I can tell he's going to be a great leader," Chelsy added. "With his guidance, the Heartless won't be here to celebrate the New Year."
Sora beamed. He was glad and grateful to know his friends all had confidence in him. After all, not everyone seemed to acknowledge him all of the time. Then again, that was primarily back on the islands.
All at once, a chair in the room started glowing. Everyone stared at it in surprise. It sent a beam of Light into the air. Next, a bright Light came shining down from above. Sora and the others gazed up at the ceiling. A glowing, transparent keyhole could be seen. Sora's Keyblade appeared in his hand. He pointed the weapon at the keyhole. A beam of Light shot out from the Keyblade and struck the keyhole. The Keyhole unlocked and Light shimmered around the room for several seconds before it faded from view.
"Oh!" Sora declared in realization. "I get it! This must be one those gates from before. I guess its déjà vu all over."
"Oh boy!" Donald said.
"Gee," Goofy said, glancing around. "Where's Launchpad?"
Everyone swept their eyes around the room. The sudden sound of a snore forced them to swing their eyes to the back of the room. There was Launchpad, reclined in a chair at one of the tables in the back. His legs were crossed, his hands were placed behind his head, and his eyes were closed. Sora shook his head, knowing the pilot had dozed off during the meeting.
"Launchpad?" Sora called out. The pilot went on snoring.
Donald marched to the back. Goofy was directly behind. Sora followed them; he was careful to keep Jiminy balanced on his shoulder. The first one there, Donald yelled into the pilot's ear. "Wake up!"
Launchpad was startled awake with a start. "Yeow!" he howled. "This must be what they mean by a rude awakening."
Seeing the other staring at him, Launchpad chuckled to himself. "Say, what's everyone looking at?" he asked. "Did I miss something?"
"You missed everything," Donald informed the pilot. "You need to stay alert!"
"Donald," Goofy soothed, with his hands gently pushing air towards the magician. "Don't forget the time Daisy almost broke up with you cause of your temper."
Now Donald was glaring at Goofy. "You ruined that date," he snarled. "You were the waiter!"
"Gee, how did Daisy ever forgive you?" Launchpad inquired.
This resulted in Donald's face turning red. Goofy chuckled, "He and Daisy sure are a perfect couple, aren't they?"
"Waak!" Donald screamed loudly, forcing Sora to grab him, everyone else in the room to cover their ears, and Launchpad and Goofy to look at each other in wonder. "Stop!"
"Calm down, Donald!" Sora snapped in anger.
The duck wheezed as he gasped for breath. The reddish color disappeared from his face and he calmed down. Donald turned to everyone with a feeling of embarrassment. "Sorry… "
Sora quickly informed Launchpad about the gateway to the next world now being unlocked. The pilot was perplexed until the young man explained it all to him. It took several minutes, but once done, Launchpad seemed to understand — to a degree.
Sora finally turned to everyone on the other side of the room. "Sorry to run, but other worlds are calling for help."
Leon nodded. "Be careful out there," he called.
"Very careful," Aerith added. "And come back soon."
"Yes," Myrna agreed. "I want to show you my flower collection."
"Don't forget you're in charge here," Cid stated. "And I ain't gonna do stuff without your approval."
"Take care!" Yuffie declared.
One of the two mice in the audience approached the group. Sora tried not to stare, seeing as this was second time he'd met a mouse as large as King Mickey — or "Mickey" as he had to call him in the Realm of Sleep.
"Here," the mouse said, holding out a tiny, blue trinket. "In case you need some help on your way."
Sora accepted the item. "Thanks," he acknowledged.
Jiminy hopped into Sora's hoodie as the young man led Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad out of the room. The headed back to the marketplace and boarded Herbie. Within minutes, they were soaring through space.
As they soared off, Sora glanced back with a smile. He knew — sooner or later — he and his teammates would return to the Radiant Garden to help resolve the Heartless situation. He reached into his pocket and found Kairi's good-luck charm.
He smiled, knowing his quest had only just started. Yet, he also knew Kairi was waiting for him to finish it strong. He put the charm away and turned his eyes back to the front. Herbie soared off deep into space.
All the while, they did not notice they were being watched….
A/N: WOW! WHAT A GREAT ENDING TO SUCH A CHAPTER - AND TO THE RADIANT GARDEN (PART 1)! IT'S EVEN BETTER NOW THAT SORA HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED AS A [TRUE] LEADER FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE!
I REALLY HOPE You Enjoyed This Chapter A LOT! I Had A LOT Of Fun Writing It - Once I Was Able To START It!
So, now you know THE 100-ACRE WOOD will most-likely be appearing SOMEWHERE in this story! I won't say When it will appear - just that it very well could still show up! ...Unless it's going to be in the Sequel!
By the way, Yancy O'Dell is actually from Disney's "Home On The Range (2004)".
Tseng is from "Final Fantasy VII".
I thought it was necessary to point those out (as usual).
Plus, Chelsy is another of MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS! So are a few of the others at the meeting scene(s).
The rest at the meeting are mainly both Disney and Final Fantasy Characters. Try to guess who is who!
Furthermore, I wanted to state how I made up MOST of the titles for those books in the Library. You MIGHT find one, two, or three of them out there. I mainly did it for laughs, but you never know. Some of them might actually be REAL books!
Since this was the end of "Radiant Garden - Part 1", here's a HINT for the first Disney-based world in this story.
HINT: "SORA AND HIS FRIENDS TRAVEL DEEP UNDER THE SEA TO LOCATE A LOST CITY! ALONG THE WAY, TROUBLE STARTS TO FIND THEM AND SOME THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM! THE DESTINY OF AN ENTIRE CIVILIZATION IS AT STAKE - AND ONLY SORA CAN SET THINGS STRAIGHT! ONLY THE LIGHT WITHIN THE DARKNESS CAN BE OF SOME ASSISTANCE DOWN THERE!"
Once again, that is a RIDDLE HINT! IF you know which Disney Movie I am referring to, please post your answer(s) in the Reviews section for THIS Chapter!
In addition, I want to inform you all how the next Chapter will reveal the identities of each and every Disney Villain mentioned in Chapter 50 of "Kingdom Hearts - World Unto Dreams". Let's see how well you know your Disney Villains - There are A LOT of them!
Last, But Not Least-ly, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!
REMEMBER THIS - A MINIMUM OF 214 IS REQUIRED FOR THE SEQUEL! IF 240 ARE POSTED, I WILL INCLUDE A "SNEAK PEEK" FOR THE SEQUEL ITSELF! HOWEVER, THAT/THOSE GOAL(S) MUST BE MET BY THE TIME THE-SECOND-TO-LAST-CHAPTER IS POSTED! THAT WAY, I WILL HAVE TIME TO ANNOUNCE WHETHER OR NOT EITHER GOAL WAS MET!
This Is SoraLego278 Saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!" In Addition, "Have A ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH DAY!"