DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT THE PLOT AND MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!
A/N: I AM HERE - WITH CHAPTER 10! YAHOO!
Okay, now that the "nice-eties" are out of the way, It's time for me to put my foot down. Tashasaurous, you can skip to the next major paragraph as this only replies to those who have been reading and Not reviewing lately.
Like I did in "Kingdom Hearts - World Unto Dreams", WHAT HAPPENED?! YOU'VE ALL STOPPED REVIEWING! REMEMBER WHAT I SAID BEFORE? A SERIOUS LACK OF REVIEWS - LIKE THIS - IS ONLY GOING TO KILL THIS STORY, LET ALONE ITS SEQUEL! I HAVE PLANS FOR A MAIN TRILOGY TO TELL THE STORY OF "KINGDOM HEARTS 3", BUT YOU'RE NOT MAKING IT EASY!
PLEASE! PLEASE POST SOME MORE REVIEWS - EVEN IF THEY ARE ANONYMOUS / GUEST REVIEWS! PLEASE! THE NUMBER OF VIEWS HAS BEEN DROPPING LATELY, AND I AM STARTING TO FEEL DISMAYED BY THIS (AND OTHER THINGS)!
If You REALLY Wish To See The Third Major Story I Have Planned, YOU NEED TO REVIEW!
I understand some of you might be working or REALLY busy with things like Summer School, vacations, etc. Yet, Please Try to Read AND Review!
To make my point clear, I will NOT be posting Chapter 11 until AFTER 12 Additional Reviews are posted on THIS Story! I MEAN IT! I'M PUTTING MY FOOT DOWN! I AM EAGER TO WRITE THE THIRD STORY FOR ALL OF YOU! SO, MAKE SURE YOU REVIEW! I HAVE NO CLUE IF ANYONE IS REALLY READING THIS STORY! THOSE REVIEWS DO NOT HAVE TO BE FANCY OR OVER-THE-TOP! A SIMPLE "Great Work" OR "Keep it up!" WILL DO!
Now that I have THAT out of the way, it's time to get back to the city of Atlantis... I mean, the world of ANCIENT EMPIRE!
YOU CAN READ NOW - AND PLEASE REVIEW, TOO! There are 13 Reviews now, so all we need is 12 more. That makes... 25 Reviews for Chapter 11! IF this works, there will be no Review Goal needed to post Chapter 12!
(YEESH! I wonder if Walt Disney or Tetsuya Nomura started out this way... (Yes, I've been watching "DuckTales" lately!)!)
CHAPTER 10
Exploring The Lost City
Sora, Milo, Rourke, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad met up with the other crew members outside the palace doorway. The guards returned to their posts. Sora glanced back. He couldn't get the image of the Atlantian princess looking at him with such sorrow. If only there was something he could do to cheer her up.
"So, how'd it go?" Helga inquired.
Sora shrugged. "Could've been worse," he grinned. "We could all be under arrest right now."
Dr. Sweet crossed his arms. "Really?"
"The king and his daughter don't exactly see eye to eye," Milo explained. "She seems to like us okay. But the king? I don't know. I think he's hiding something."
Rourke crossed his arms in thought. "Well," he said to the others. "If he's hiding something, then I want to know what it is."
Helga crossed her arms in turn. "Someone should talk to that girl."
"Yeah!" Sora approved. He paused and crossed his arms. "But who?"
The rest of the team paused in thought. The silence almost seemed unbearable. Sora was used to loud sounds and battles with Heartless. This was very, very unnerving for him.
"Someone with good people skills," Vinny recommended.
"Someone who won't scare her away," Dr. Sweet added.
"Someone who can speak that there 'gibberish'," Goofy thought aloud.
Molière started hopping up and down with excitement. "I volunteer! For the good of the mission, I will go!"
All eyes turned away from the geologist and toward Milo. "Good man, Thatch," Rourke said with a smile. He patted the linguist on the back. "Thanks for volunteering."
Milo looked shocked. Sora was feeling no different when Donald pulled him aside and demanded he keep an eye on Launchpad. In turn, the seventeen-year-old Keyblade wielder decided, "Launchpad and I will go with you, Milo."
Through the corner of his eye, Sora saw Molière burst into tears so dramatically, they seemed to flow down the sides of his face like Niagara Falls. He shook his head, recalling how Goofy had done the same thing back in the dreams of the Country of The Musketeers.
Donald and Goofy strolled off with Rourke, Helga, Sweet, Vinny, and Molière. Once they were gone, Milo, Sora, and Launchpad turned their eyes toward the entrance to the Atlantian throne room. They ducked behind a pillar as the doors open. Peering from around the column, they saw a young woman strolling out. They relaxed, knowing this was only the princess.
Milo turned to the brown, spikey-headed Keyblader and the pilot. "Okay, here's what we're going to do," he instructed. "We're not going to take 'no' for an answer."
"We're not?" Launchpad inquired. Sora nodded in confirmation. The pilot shrugged.
Milo's eyes suddenly lit up. "O-okay, here's what I'm going to say," he instructed. "'I have questions for you, and I am not leaving the city until they're answered'."
Sora shrugged. "Sounds good to me."
"Me too," Launchpad approved. He paused and his facial expression changed to puzzlement. "What did he say?"
Sora had to smirk a small grin. The pilot was behaving just as silly and forgetful as Goofy had once seemed to be. Of course, that had been long ago, back when the spikey, brown-haired youth had first met the knight and Donald back in Traverse Town. Though that had only been about two years ago, it felt like two hundred. The trio had been on so many different adventures together. They'd faced Heartless, Nobodies, and Organization XIII. They'd explored various worlds including Wonderland, the Deep Jungle, Olympus Coliseum, Agrabah, Atlantica, Never Land (kinda), Hollow Bastion/the Radiant Garden, the Land of Dragons, the Beast's Castle, Port Royal, Halloween Town, and the Pride Lands.
The more he thought about it, the more Sora realized Donald and Goofy had been with him while exploring Corona, Pixie Hollow, Rascal's Dreamland, The Grid, The 100-Acre Wood, Camelot, the Country of The Musketeers, and the Symphony of Sorcery — only in spirit, of course! They'd been in his heart. He'd known that since he had first discovered Kairi's and his heart were connected to one another. He had also learned from Master Yen Sid how his own destiny, the fate of the entire universe, and the outcome of whether or not he would succeed was determined by his own actions. He had seen this was so on many occasions.
Milo, Sora, and Launchpad all peered around the column. The princess wasn't there. They swung their eyes around, but there was no sign of her.
Sora sighed. "We lost her."
Launchpad kept his eyes peeled. "I don't see anything other than a few blocky buildings. This doesn't look like the Atlantis Mister McDee and I salvaged his money from. That place was full of garbage."
A hand suddenly grabbed Milo from behind. Sora and Launchpad whirled around to see the princess had snuck up on them and grabbed the young linguist by surprise. She gazed at them all. "I have some questions for you," she told them. "And none of you are leaving the city until they are answered."
Milo tried to speak up, but the young woman put a finger to her lips as she released him. Sora and Launchpad nodded in agreement. The three followed the princess around a corner leading away from the throne room entranceway and along the side of the gigantic pyramid. Sora took a few moments to observe all the healthy vegetation growing on the structure. He shrugged it all aside and followed the others.
The sun was very high in the sky. Sora was on his hands and knees and could barely see it through the thick clouds above. He was crawling along a narrow, seemingly hidden path through the ruined pyramid. Before him, Milo was following the princess. Launchpad was directly behind, pausing here and there to keep aware of their surroundings. They passed by a few waterfalls. Beyond there, the crawl space ended and the group clambered down a short wall of stone to the floor.
Upon getting his feet down on the ground, Sora gazed up and saw the ceiling of the room they were in was a cracked, peaked roof with a few gaping holes on one side. A pile of damaged stone blocks laid below indicating where they'd come from. The scent of warm, humid air was all around. A few distant bird calls could be heard in the distance. All around the room various plants and long vines could be seen.
The princess stood proudly in the chamber with a friendly smile. To Sora, she seemed to be admiring the location. He was confused. Why would someone be fascinated by a ruined room?
"There is so much to ask about your world," the princess finally said. Now Sora understood why she'd seen so excited.
The princess spun around to face the three. Launchpad was busy getting a hand-sized notebook out of his pocket. He pulled out a tiny pencil with a chewed eraser.
"You are scholars. Are you not?" the young woman asked. She gestured at Milo. "Judging from your diminished physique and very large forehead, you are suited for nothing else."
Sora hesitated a little. "Well… "
The woman approached the brown-haired Keyblader. "When did the floodwaters recede? What does the outside world look like? What kind of culture do you come from?"
She yanked the scarf off Launchpad's neck. "Yeow!" the pilot yelped in surprise. "My lucky scarf!"
The princess threw the garment around her own neck but didn't bother to tie it in place. She saw the canteen around Sora's shoulder and pulled it off. She opened it and tilted the container's opening high enough for her to peer into it. A rush of water spilled out all over her face, causing Sora to wince a tad. She dropped the canteen and dried herself off with Launchpad's scarf. She then proceeded to grab Milo's glasses and put them on her face — upside-down. The whole time, she was asking questions ten times more than a mile a minute.
"What is your country of origin? Have you witnessed any wars? How is Misthaven doing? What about other cities? What kinds of people have you met? How have you survived all this time? What have you—?"
"Whoa!" Sora said at last. "One question at a time!"
Milo stepped forwards. "W-wait, I've got a few questions for you, too," he said, retrieving his eyeglasses.
Sora nodded. "I do, too." He paused. "Well… they are more like my sister's questions."
Launchpad nodded in turn. "I've always wondered what it'd be like to explore a subterranean kingdom! But I always thought it'd be a place of tunnels and worms."
Sora, Milo, and the princess stared at the pilot for a couple seconds. Launchpad shrugged.
"So let's do this, okay?" Milo said, getting back to the conversation at hand. He turned to face the princess and gestured at each of the others. "You ask one, I'll ask one, he'll ask one, then he will, and then you, me, well… you get it."
The princess gave a simple nod. "Very well," she agreed. "What is your first question?"
"Well… okay. How'd you get here?" Milo inquired. He waved his arms around wildly trying to explain what he meant. "I-I mean not y-you personally, but your culture."
The linguist gestured at the surrounding ruins. "I mean, how did all of this end up down here?"
The princess sighed deeply. "It is the said that the gods became jealous of Atlantis," she explained. Milo, Sora, and Launchpad were listening intently. "They sent a great cataclysm and banished us here."
Sora was eager to inquire for more information. He caught a glimpse of Launchpad ferociously taking notes. "What do you mean?" the seventeen-year-old asked.
The princess sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "All I can remember is the sky going dark, people shouting and running, strange monsters with glowing eyes, a wall of something dark heading our way… "
She paused and took a deep breath. "Then, a bright Light — like a star — floating above the city. My father said it called my mother to it. I never saw her again."
Sora was shocked and saddened. He recalled how worried he'd been at first when he'd learned how his island had been attacked by the Heartless. He had not only believed his mom and dad were gone forever, but his sister, too. He remembered how he'd cried so much, a puddle of water had formed in the Accessory Shop. Cid had ordered him to stop crying and think about what to do. That had led to Sora himself deciding to search for Riku and Kairi — the last two he'd seen before the island had been lost.
After hearing the Atlantian princess's tale, the spikey-headed young man felt sorry for her. She'd lost her mother and never got her back. He knew the only thing worse than losing someone was never getting them back. He had felt this way upon learning in The Grid how Tron had seemingly been eliminated by CLU. Later on, he'd learned how the hostile program, Rinzler, really was Tron. He'd gone after Rinzler and came across CLU, too. After defeating Rinzler, he had restored Tron's memories and was relieved ever since knowing his friend was alright.
"I know how you feel," Sora remarked. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Launchpad wiping the tears out of his eyes.
"I do too," Milo agreed. "Cause if it's any consolation, I lost my… "
The young linguist suddenly stared for a second and furrowed his brow. "Wait, hold on, whoa, back up! What are you telling us? You remember because you were there? T-that's impossible, because that would make you, you know, eighty-five… eighty-eight hundred years old!"
Sora and Launchpad stared at the young woman in disbelief. Was Milo saying the princess was well over two thousand years old? How could a person live so long?
"Yes?" The princess replied.
All eyes turned to the linguist. Milo grinned shyly at the Atlantian princess. "Well, uh… hey, looking good."
Sora had to smirk a smile and place his hands behind his head. This behavior was no different than if he was talking to Kairi. Then again, he always acted this way around any girl.
"You have a question for me?" Milo asked.
"Yes," the princess confirmed with a nod. "How is it you found your way to this place?"
Sora seemed perplexed. He wasn't sure how any of them could answer that question — not without breaking the World Order, that is.
Milo reached into his brown shoulder bag and pulled out The Shepherd's Journal. He held up high enough for the young woman to see. "Well, I'll tell you, it wasn't easy. If it weren't for this book, we never would've made it."
The princess snatched the journal and flipped it open. She started to sweep her eyes across the various symbols drawn on the pages. To Sora, she looked downright fascinated. "You mean, you can understand this?"
"Yes," Milo acknowledged. "I'm a linguist. That's what I do — that's my job."
The young woman was unconvinced. She held the open booklet before the young linguist's eyes. "This — right here. You can read this?"
"Yes," Milo replied. "I can read Atlantian — just like you."
The princess turned away and continued to stare at the pages as though they were written in an unknown language. Her puzzled expression grabbed the attention of Sora and Milo. "You can't," Milo realized. "Can you?"
"No one can," the young woman explained. "Such knowledge has been lost to us since our city was said to have been banished."
Milo nodded in understanding. Sora nodded a little, even though he wasn't quite sure what was going on. He decided the best thing to do was to ask his own question.
"Have you seen anything strange around the city? Maybe… some monsters?"
The princess' eyes lit up and she gasped in alarm. "Yes!" she exclaimed, dropping the journal from her hands. "The shady creatures! They have been attacking the edge of our city for many years!"
That was all Sora needed to hear. If the young woman's claim was correct (and Sora was certain it was), the Heartless had been in the current world for a long time. The only question was, where should he go to fight them?
"Say! I have a question!" Launchpad called from close by. Everyone spun their focus over to the pilot. The latter was kneeling beside a large, fish-shaped object made from what appeared to be metal. "What's this doohickey doin' over here?"
Sora, Milo, and the Atlantian princess walked over to him. Milo knelt known to gaze upon an octagon-shaped panel on the object. Sora bent down to examine the front. The shape seemed to be very aerodynamic.
"It looks like a vehicle," the brown, spikey-headed youth concluded.
The princess threw her hands in the air and started pacing around. "Yes! But no matter what I try, it will not respond."
Sora turned his eyes to the young woman. "Maybe you made a mistake?"
"I've made mistakes lots of times," Launchpad blurted. "It sure comes in handy when you need a crash-landing."
Ignoring the pilot's statement, Milo proceeded to glance over the vehicle. He spotted a series of writing around the panel. He pointed his right index finger at it and started to read. "'Place crystal into slot… '"
"Yes, yes!" the princess muttered. "I have done that."
Milo continued to read. "'…Gently place your hand on the inscription pad… '"
"Yes!"
"Okay. Did you turn the crystal one quarter-turn back… "
"Yes!"
"…while your hand was on the inscription pad?"
The young woman paused in surprise. "Ye—…no."
Milo shook his head and smiled. "Well, well, that's your problem right there. That's an easy thing to miss. You know, you deserve credit for even… for even getting this far."
The princess crossed her arms and stared at the linguist. To Sora, she seemed to be frowning at Milo the same way Kairi sometimes did to him. Of course, he knew it was partly due to the fact he often ate sloppy (such as with his mouth full). Other than that, he wasn't quite sure.
"So," the seventeen-year-old Keyblade wielder spoke up with a hint of anxiety in his voice. "You wanna give it another try?"
The princess nodded slightly before strolling up to the vehicle. She placed her crystal into the slot and put her hand onto the panel. After turning the crystal like Milo had instructed, the vehicle's design became a light-blue color. It reminded Sora of how his outfit had changed in the worlds of Space Paranoids and The Grid. The vehicle started to rise into the air. Milo and the princess both stepped back while Sora jumped back a few feet. Launchpad rose to his feet in time to see the vehicle rising. He stared in awe.
"Well, whadda ya know?" The pilot declared. "It flies! Must be one of them flyin' fish I've read about."
"Cool!" Sora marveled.
"Yeah," an equally amazed Milo added. "You got that right."
The group gathered around the floating vehicle. "This is great!" Milo declared. "With this thing, we can see the whole city in no time at all!"
Launchpad was looking at the glowing panel. "I wonder… how do you fly this thing?"
He reached out and pushed his right finger on the panel. The vehicle zoomed away and bounced off a nearby wall. It was sent towards the ceiling, bounced off, bounced off a nearby corner, and then headed straight for the group. They ducked to avoid it. The vehicle came to a sudden stop when it slammed into the floor a few feet in front of their eyes. The impact left a small crater.
"Talk about your fishy luck!" Launchpad remarked. "You can crash fish — just like airplanes."
Sora shook his head. He knew Launchpad was an excellent pilot, but sometimes he had to question the former's intelligence. This was one of those times.
Milo and the princess glanced at the other two. Sora shrugged and grinned. "What'll we do now? We can't fly around. How will we see the whole city at once?
Sora's question was answered much quicker than he had anticipated. Less than three minutes after Launchpad had caused the fish-shaped vehicle to crash, he was climbing the side of a nearby tower close to the Atlantian palace. Milo was directly in front of him. In the lead was the princess. Launchpad was directly behind the Keyblader, and he was having a little trouble keeping his balance during the climb.
As they climbed higher and higher, Sora felt a gust of cooler air circulating around them. He smiled, knowing he had either gotten his second wind, or the wind was the world's Light giving him a hand.
"By the way," Milo called up to the princess. "We were never properly introduced. My name's Milo."
"I'm Sora," Sora called in turn.
"The name's Launchpad McQuack!" Launchpad said. He would have said the rest of his "infamous introduction" (as Donald put it), but the stones he was hanging onto started to slide. He rapidly grabbed some others.
The princess looked down with a smile. Sora saw the wind was causing her white hair to blow around wildly. "My name is Kidagakash."
"'Key-mash' what?" Launchpad called. "Is it that old show I used to watch? 'Keys and M*A*S*H'?" ***
Sora looked just as confused. "Do you have a nickname?"
The young woman giggled a little. "Kida."
"Kida," Milo acknowledged. "I can remember that."
The group had now reached the top of the tower. As he rose to his feet, Sora swept his eyes around. The view was excellent. He could see around the entire city from there. In the distance, clouds were suspended beyond the plateau. Various other towers and ruined buildings were positioned throughout the city. Plants of various forms were growing all around.
Sora sighed cheerily. He knew this was a view his sister would love to have seen. Now he was starting to wish he had allowed her to tag along. True, the journey to this landmark had been very dangerous and many of the expedition's crew had been lost along the way. Yet, he still wished she had been there.
To show Amemi how real Atlantis was, Sora reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellular phone. He took a few snapshots of the city from above. He saw Launchpad scanning the city with an excited smile. "What a view! Where's the nearest viewfinder? I've got plenty of nickels, dimes, and quarters."
That's when he saw Milo's shedding tears. Kida must have noticed this, too. "What's wrong?" she inquired.
"Oh, nothing," Milo hastily said. He wiped his eyeglasses on his sweater. "I-it's just… I got somethin' in my eye."
Sora crossed his arms in doubt. "Really? Is that all?"
Milo sighed. "You know, my grandpa used to tell me stories about this place as far back as I can remember. I sure wish he could be standing here with me."
Sora nodded and uncrossed his arms. "He is with you, Milo." He pointed to the linguist's chest.
Milo placed his right hand upon the left side of his chest. He smiled at the spikey, brown-haired young man. Sora nodded and returned with a smile of his own. The two continued to gaze out around the city with Kida and Launchpad.
The hours seemed to fly by… even if it was only a few minutes. It felt like hours, but it really wasn't hour-long intervals. (Goofy made me say this). **[2.2] The four were now gathered at the docks on the edge of the city. The scent of fresh seafood filled the air as did the smell of the water. Launchpad watched as several men on stilts plucked purple lobsters from the water.
"Purple lobsters?!" the pilot exclaimed. "No way am I eating that stuff!"
Sora shook his head. He saw Kida turning to Milo with a smile. "Tell me more about your companions," she eagerly asked him. "Your physician. He is called 'Cookie'?"
"No," Milo replied. "That's Sweet."
Kinda seemed perplexed. "What is?"
"The doctor. He's Sweet."
"Oh! He is kindly."
"No, no, no. That's his name."
"His name is 'Kindly'?"
"No, Sweet. B-but he's kindly, too."
"So… all of your doctors are sweet and kindly?"
"No," Milo corrected. "W-well, I'm sure some are — ours is, but that's not a requirement. You're missing the point."
Kida threw her hands into the air. "You are confusing me."
Milo sighed. Sora approached the princess. "Say Kida," he began. "Where'd you see those 'shady creatures'?"
Kida looked ahead. She froze in her tracks and stared straight ahead. "It's them!" she yelled.
Sora, Milo, and Launchpad gazed down the road leading into some makeshift buildings. A group of people were fleeing from a small group of creatures wearing bluish armor that rattled as they ran around. A number of shadowy creatures with antennae and yellow eyes rose from the ground a second later, driving away more bystanders. A few more creatures also appeared; these ones resembled flying squirrels and were light-blue colored. Unlike the others, these ones had a red symbol on each of their backs.
Sora gasped and stared in alarm. "Heartless!" he declared.
His Keyblade instantly appeared in his hands and he charged into the horde. He swung this way. He swung that way. The weapons slashed through the various shadows on the ground. The armored Heartless rushed forward. Sora heard his Keyblade clanging against their armor as he struck each and every one of them.
That's when the flying-squirrel Heartless soared over. Sora could now see there were about twenty of them. He stared in alarm. No way could he eliminate them all single-handed! Then again, he had defeated a thousand Heartless in a single battle, but that was an exception. It had worn him out anyway.
"Hee-yah!"
Sora watched in astonishment as Kida leapt over with a spear in hand. She landed beside him and pointed the weapon at each of the enemies. Sora could see her glaring through his peripheral vision.
"Kida!" he declared. "What are you doing?! It's too dangerous!"
"Not for me," the Atlantian princess answered. "I am not letting any monsters take over this city!"
Before Sora could speak, Kida jumped into the air and dove her spear into three of the flying Heartless. They vanished into clouds of Darkness, as usual. Sora nodded and joined her. The two struck down two Heartless at a time.
Within two minutes, the Heartless had been exterminated. Sora gave a sigh of relief. He saw Kida positioning the spear at her side. "Whoa! You're really good!" he remarked.
"Thank you," Kida replied. "You are not half-bad yourself."
Sora gave a nervous grin after hearing this statement.
"Tell me, Sora. What is your world like?"
Sora felt more anxious. "Uh… well… it's an island, somewhere very far away. You wouldn't have heard of it."
"Really?"
Sora nodded. "Oh yeah! My sister would want me to take your picture."
Kida seemed puzzled. "What is 'picture'?"
Sora pulled out his cellular phone and pointed the camera lens at the princess. "Smile!" he called.
Kida shrugged and smiled a brilliantly as she could. Sora clicked a button and the flash went off. He gazed at the screen with a fascinated Kida. The image had turned out well.
"Amazing," Kida muttered. "What do you call this thing?"
"It's a cell phone," Sora informed her. "You can call others with it."
"Why do you not just yell for them?"
"No, that's not what I meant! You use a phone whenever they're too far away to hear you."
Kida paused in thought. "You cannot just go look for them?"
Sora looked down and sighed. He was getting nowhere. He looked back up in time to see Milo and Launchpad approaching. "Some guy just invited us for dinner," Milo told the two.
"Must be a restaurant manager," Kida explained. "We have a few to keep everyone from starvation."
"Let's get going!" Launchpad said. "My stomach's growling so loud, I'm gonna need hearing aids soon."
Sora had to shake his head. "Yeah," he said to the others. "Let's get something to eat."
The group strolled towards a nearby building that had been built on a large rock just off the shoreline. A series of rope bridges led to and from the building. As they approached, Sora saw Donald and Goofy walking inside with Cookie, Dr. Sweet, and Moliére. Vinny and Audrey were next with Ms. Packard. Sora could now see for the first time how Packard still had her headset from the submarine. Why?
The brown-haired Keyblader pushed the thought aside and proceeded into the restaurant with the others.
The restaurant was crowded. It wasn't too crowded, but crowded enough for Sora to overhear just about everyone's conversation at once. The smell in the air was a pleasant one. The lanterns lighting up the room were bright enough to reveal everything in it. He calmly ate a few half-cooked fish without any problems and even gobbled down an entire salad in no time at all.
Kida was busy talking to Milo about what she had learned from him. "So… cookies are sweet, but yours is not. Sweet is kindly, but that is not his name. Audrey is sweet, but she is not your doctor. And the little, digging animal called 'Mole'… he's your pet?"
Milo swallowed before smiling. "Close enough."
Sora shook his head. Kida turned to the young man. "So… a 'cell phone' is used to call others without yelling. You are from an island where I could never go. And your sister… she is not a half-bad fighter?"
Sora showed his famous grin. "Yeah, you get the idea."
He overhead some ruckus from a seating area a few feet away. He glanced to the right and saw Donald, Goofy, Dr. Sweet, and Moliére eating from the bowls laid out before them.
Watching Goofy and Moliére chowing down without any spoons, forks, or knives made Sora snicker a little — especially after he saw Donald starting to turn a little green. The duck mage picked up what appeared to be a slimy slug.
"Don't forget to eat the head," Sweet informed the duck. "That's where all the nutrients are."
Donald carefully dropped the slug back into the bowl. Moliére suddenly burped really loudly. The duck winced away. Sora saw Cookie close by. The chef was showing Audrey his tattoo of the United States. He slapped his stomach, saying, "Watch me make Rhode Island dance. Dance, baby, dance! Dance!"
Now Donald looked green.
"Gawrsh, Donald," Goofy commented at seeing the magician looking sick. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a jar of something. "May-bee this'll help."
When Donald saw the jar was full of leftover bacon grease, he fainted and left his feet dangling in the air. Goofy seemed puzzled. "What's the matter, Donald?"
Sora had to stifle a laugh. He turned back to his meal.
Throughout the dinner, Sora's mind was on other stuff. Why had Heartless showed up in the city of Atlantis? Where had Commander Rourke and Lieutenant Helga gone off to? To top it off, was the world of Ancient Empire among the ones now threatened by the Heartless? Whatever the case, Sora had the slightest feeling something strange was taking place… and both the expedition's commander and lieutenant were behind it.
All he needed to do was find some answers.
A/N: THAT'S ALL! ALL'S WELL THAT SEEMS TO END WELL!
So, I suppose you're all wondering what Kida was talking about when she described what she remembered. Am I correct? The answer to That question as well as the ones from the previous Chapters will most-likely be answered in Chapter 11. Of course, that's given AT LEAST 12 REVIEWS ARE POSTED ON THIS CHAPTER!
For the record, The Flying Squirrel Heartless is my own creation. If you're looking for something in This Story to use for Your own stories, YOU CAN USE THEM, BUT PLEASE LET ME KNOW FIRST! IF YOU MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THEM, LET ME KNOW! YOU CAN "PM" ME!
Also, I know there wasn't a "restaurant" SHOWN in the movie "Atlantis: The Lost Empire", but I needed SOMEPLACE for the scene to take place! I thought the Bacon Grease Joke would add a nice touch to it!
Until Then, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT! WE NEED A GRAND TOTAL OF 25 REVIEWS FOR CHAPTER 11 TO BE POSTED!
After Chapter 11, I will not be asking for Reviews to unlock the next Chapter... unless too few are posted once again.
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!" Plus, "Have A ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH DAY!"
*** This is intended to be a reference to the older T.V. Show, "M*A*S*H".
**[2.2] This is an Intentional Fourth-Wall Joke.