So, since Kingdom Hearts III is out, I am working on SAKIII, and making sure it gets started. However, that doesn't mean I shouldn't answer some questions like 'Where is Philia in all of this? What happened to her between now and in SAKIII? Why doesn't Sora remember her?' So I will continue writing this and hopefully we can reach the point to where we finally know what happened. I already have everything planned as to what happened, but the problem is making the story. So I hope to do my best and continue writing this to the end!
Prologue
(Philia speaking) My name is Philia. I'm a treasure hunter, but that's all I really know about myself. Some time ago, I landed in a world called Traverse Town, with no memory of my past. It was in this town where I met Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, and Sora, who wields a weapon called the Keyblade.
We've started traveling to different worlds to find Sora's friends, Donald and Goofy's king, and my memories.
In the last world, we ended up crash-landing thanks to Sora and Donald's antics, and we ended up in a jungle world. We met Tarzan, a wild man who grew up with gorillas, a researcher name Jane, a bunch of gorillas, including their pack leader Kerchak... Oh, and a hunter named Clayton, who wanted to find the gorillas for his own profit.
Long story short, Sora, Donald and I were pretty angry with one another after what happened, but it didn't stop us from ganging together and saving the gorillas from Clayton, who was possessed by the darkness because of his greed. We ended up defeating him and a large Heartless with him. It was the first time I was responsible for the death of an actual person... and it did not feel good.
We ended up finding another keyhole, like the one we found in Wonderland, and Sora locked it up, revealing a new Gummi piece we've never seen before. Not only that, but I regained a fragment of my memory, which was that I had a friend named Argo. Who is she? Why and how was she my friend? Still more questions, but still no answers. We didn't have any clue what this new Gummi piece was, so we head back to Traverse Town to meet with Cid and Leon, and hopefully they have the answers for us...
(Cue 'Digimon Adventure Tri Opening 1 - Butterfly TV Size', music on Youtube)
My wings are full of images of holding back, They are still weak but I'm sure I can fly
(As the viewer zoom in on a grassy field, a red shape passes the viewer, revealing Sora in the distance. A light blue shape passes, revealing Philia, then a green one reveals Goofy, and a dark blue one reveals Donald.)
Oh My Love (guitar intro)
(The viewer zooms in and circles around to see the four of them standing there, looking off into the distance. The image becomes blurry as the title appears in front of them.)
I become a happy butterfly and flying the shimmering wind And I will go to see you right away
(Sora was asleep on the shore of the Destiny Islands, but was awoken by a voice behind him. He turned to see Kairi and Riku standing there by the raft, the latter looking somewhat annoyed by Sora's laziness while Kairi waved him over to help. Sora got to his feet and raced to his friends. The screen fades to white.)
Better you forget about unnecessary things, There's no time to joke anymore.
(The viewer zoom out of the white in Philia's eyes as she practices with her Sword Breaker, with Leon and Yuffie watching her. Her blade glowing yellow-green as she thrusted her blade forward in a Dagger Skill. She holds her position for a moment as Yuffie applauds her, then Philia lowers her weapon, looking up at the sky with a sad expression. The viewer looks into the sky, seeing the stars as they shined for a seconds, before quickly disappearing one by one.)
I wonder, wow wow wow wow wow, what will reach the sky
(The viewer zooms out as Maleficent comes into view, standing at the table with the shadowy silhouettes of her villainous allies, and Riku at her side.)
But, wow wow wow wow wow, don't even have a plan for tomorrow
(The scene changes to six of the seven Princesses of Heart, their eyes closed as if they were asleep. Kairi appears in the middle of it, her arms crossed in front of her as she opens her eyes and her body scatters into lights, replacing her position with Sora as he stood there beside Philia, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy on Donald's head as the viewer shifts the angle to behind them, seeing the hundreds of Heartless in front of them.)
Living in a world of nothing after the infinite dream, My love to you is growing weak
(The four begin to display to the viewers their combat skills against the Heartless one at a time, starting with Sora, then Philia, then Goofy, then finally Donald, who rains down lightning onto the Heartless before the heroes charge in to continue fighting.)
My wings are full of images of holding back, They are still weak but I'm sure I can fly. Oh My Love
(The viewer passes the Heartless to see Riku standing at the end, reaching out to Sora as to invite him to the darkness, with the shadowy image of Heartless Ansem mimicking his movements. Philia clears the path for Sora as he races forward, reaching out to his friend. The view shifts to Sora's view, his hand reaching out to Riku as he and the darkness fade away into the light.)
Guitar solo ending
(The screen shines an image of King Mickey holding the Keyblade as Donald and Goofy looking in from the sides. The view shifts to a dark image of Aincrad as it crumbles away, with Philia's face looking to the viewer. The view zooms out as Sora pats Philia's shoulder, causing her to look and smile at Sora as he grinned back. The view zooms back even further to show quartet and Jiminy standing there, smiling at the viewers as they stood on the same hill as before, before the view shifts back to the sky again, with the flower petals flying by once again.)
The Gummi Ship had just gone through a wormhole of sorts to Traverse Town, now that they knew where the location was. The crew of the ship could see the world of Traverse Town from outside the cockpit window.
"It's been a while since we've been back here." Sora stated.
"It feels that way, but looking at it from one point of view, it hasn't really been that long." Philia stated, "I think maybe a week or two has passed since we've left... I think."
"Kinda hard to tell what with us travelin' to each world without a day or night to notice." Goofy pointed out.
"And the digital calendar on this ship isn't keeping track..." Donald sighed, "Chip and Dale should've fixed that before we left."
"Well, let's ask Leon and the others how long it's been since we left, and ask what this Gummi piece is for." Sora stated, holding up the said Gummi up, looking at it.
"Let's set down at the 1st District." Philia suggested, placing in the coordinates on the computer, "We should be able to find the guys from there. Let's go!" The four of them walked onto the transporter, and they teleported down to the surface.
When they arrived, they found the place just as quiet and calm as they have left it. Though from Philia's point of view, she saw a couple new faces in the town.
"It's been a while since I've been back here..." Philia stated, looking about with a smile, "Funny. It almost is like a second home to me."
"Gee, it almost feels nostalgic." Goofy chuckled, "We all met here in this town not too long ago."
"Yeah. It almost feels like it was yesterday." Sora recalled, looking back at the day they first met.
"Actually, it was a couple weeks ago." said a familiar voice. Yuffie had appeared out of nowhere, surprising Sora, Donald and Goofy, but Philia, not as much. After all, living in this town for a while got her use to this instant appearances.
"Where did you come from?!" Sora demanded.
"Just around, right?" Philia asked, smiling at her.
"You got it!" Yuffie answered, wrapping her arm around Philia's neck, and pulling her in, "Missed you, girlfriend. Did you find any new treasures?"
"Guh... Maybe." Philia choked, "But I'm... kinda having a hard time breathing here." She pried herself away from Yuffie, massaging her throat, while Sora tried to hide the chuckle he had from Philia's discomforting moment.
"But in all seriousness..." Yuffie continued, looking at the group, "I'd say you guys got a little bit stronger."
"You... think so?" Sora asked, while he, Goofy and Donald blushed a bit from the compliment.
"Really, guys? You're so easily swayed..." Philia muttered, sweat-dropping at her friends' behaviors.
"Hey, you got stronger, too. I can tell." Yuffie added, "Did you get any new memories to go with all that strength?"
"Well... I do remember some Dagger Skills. I also have a couple fragments of my past, but not a whole lot."
"Say, why don't you help a girl out, huh?" The ninja girl requested, looking at the group, "I recently heard that there's quite a bit of Heartless inside the Gizmo shop in the Second District. Would you guys mind taking care of that for us?"
"Sure we can!" Sora answered.
"Wait a minute!" Donald stopped them, "What about the Gummi? We need to take it to Leon!"
"But we can't let Heartless do more damage here." Goofy pointed out.
"True, and the Keyblade is the best weapon against the Heartless." Sora added.
"Maybe..." Philia muttered, not sure if that was as much of a priority as the Gummi.
"I heard there are some nice treasures inside that shop." Yuffie recalled, "I'd get my hands on them myself, but I feel like you would be more interested."
Philia's eyes lightened up at this, her mouth curled into a smile, and responded, "Let's go defeat those Heartless!" And she dashed off towards the Second District.
"And she calls us 'easily swayed'..." Sora muttered, as he and the other pursued her, waving goodbye to Yuffie.
They made their way to the Second District, dealing with a couple groups of Heartless along the way. Philia saw the entrance to the Gizmo shop, and entered in, with the others coming in behind her. When she entered, she found the place filled with several Heartless, composed of Air Soldiers, Yellow Opera, Green Requiems and a couple of Large Bodies.
"She... wasn't kidding about the Heartless issue in here." Philia muttered as Donald, Goofy and Sora came to her side, pulling out their weapons.
"Let's take care of them before they do any damage in here!" Sora ordered, as Philia magically produced her dagger, readying herself for battle.
The four of them found it a bit difficult fighting in a compact space, especially with the Large Bodies and their bulky figures in the way. Not to mention that the Green Requiem healed any damage that they delivered. However, the team chose to act smart, and take those Heartless out first, along with all other aerial Heartless, while they unleashed magic attack at the Large Bodies. Blizzard and Philia's Armor Pierce skills were especially useful against the bulky Heartless.
When they were done dealing with them, and they searched the room. They did, indeed, find a couple good things in there, including two Postcards in a clock to place in the mailbox in the First District. The team chose to place them in later, and left the Gizmo shop.
Philia then chose to go back and report the clearance of Heartless in the shop to Yuffie. "Nice going, you guys!" she congratulated the team, "Guess you got a lot stronger if you dealt with all that."
"Thanks, but now that we got our little side mission out of the way, we need to move onto important things." Philia responded, folding her arms as she put on a serious expression, "We need to know where Leon is at. We need to tell him a couple things."
"Well, aren't you a lot more serious than before..." Yuffie joked, "He's in the secret waterways, along with Aerith. The best way to get there is through the waterway in the alleyway behind the hotels."
"Thanks, Yuffie." Sora thanked her, and they raced towards the hotels.
They ventured through to the back alley, taking out a few Heartless that sprung in their path. When they arrived at the entrance to the waterway, they found the path blocked by iron bars.
"Didn't Yuffie said that there was a way into this waterway through here?" Goofy asked.
"She did say that..." Sora answered, tapping his Keyblade against the iron bar like he tried to unlock a chest, "I don't know if I can get through this myself."
"Hey, look!" Philia pointed something on the ground. There was a red symbol that looked almost mouse-like.
"Isn't this suppose to be..." Sora started, but was cut off as Jiminy hopped out onto his shoulder.
"A red Trinity Mark." Jiminy finished his sentence.
"Oh, yeah, that..." Philia recalled, looking back on something they learned on their way here.
(Flashback) "Trinity Marks?" Sora echoed something he heard from Goofy as everyone listened to him.
"Uh-huh. Donald, the King and I all learned about them before." Goofy explained, "When we find one of them marks, the three of us have to do somethin' with them, depending on what color the marking was."
"Like with the blue ones, we jump around the spot as one, and we get treasure." Donald explained.
"And with red ones, which we now learned, we can break through places." Goofy followed.
"So... it can only be done by three people?" Philia understood, making eye-contact with Sora, "Meaning one of us sits out when the other three perform it."
"Why can't all four of us do it?" Sora asked.
"Because it wouldn't be a 'trinity', would it?" Donald retorted with a tone that said it should be obvious.
"Unless a Trinity can suddenly become a Quartet." Philia assumed.
"Well... there's nothing that doesn't say that it couldn't work." Jiminy started up, getting everyone's attention, "After all, there is no written rule that says more than three friends can't work together to solve a problem."
"That's true." Goofy agreed happily, "And we do our best when all of us work together!"
"So let's try turning a 'Trinity' into a 'Quartet' the next time we see one of those marks." Sora told the team, who nodded in agreement. (Flashback ends)
"A red mark..." Sora thought back, "Meaning we should work together to break through these iron bars."
"Okay, then." Philia understood, "How do we go about performing a Quartet?"
"We run one after another, pushing against the iron bars until our collective weight and strength break them down." Donald answered, "I would go first, then the King, and finally Goofy."
"Then let's go from shortest to tallest." Philia understood, looking to Sora, "I'm just barely taller than you, so you go before me."
"Roger!" Sora understood, and they took their positions, forming a straight line, with Donald in front, followed by Sora, Philia, and finally Goofy.
"Ready... Now!" The red symbol at the iron gates glowed as they charged one after another, with Donald hitting the bars first, then Sora barging into him, then Philia dashing herself into Sora, and Goofy bringing up the rear. The four's collision and strength broke down the bars, but made the front three topple over, with Donald pancaked and spluttering from the water his head was sunk into.
"It worked!" Goofy cheered as Philia helped Sora up to his feet, and the two got Donald up, who made a bit of a tantrum, but calmed down in a second.
"Well, I am at least grateful I am not the second one in line or the first one." Philia sighed in relief, "It would look awkward if you landed on top of me..." She had a vivid thought of what it would look like if Sora and Donald landed on top of her, then blushed in embarrassment.
"Let's go find Leon." Sora told the team, oblivious to what Philia was thinking, and led the team into the secret waterway.
There was a moment where the water became so deep, they ended up swimming. It was fortunate that the four of them could swim, and Sora was particularly great at it, being an island kid and all. Fortunately, after a good swim, they found an open area, where they saw Aerith and Leon, the latter training with his Gunblade.
"Leon!" Sora called out, getting the two's attention.
"It Philia and the rest!" Aerith greeted happily, seeing the group as they climbed ashore.
"How goes the traveling, so far?" Leon lazily asked, "Have you guys accomplished anything?
"We accomplished lots!" Sora answered promptly, turning to the team, "Right, guy?" Donald and Goofy nodded in response.
"I guess in some ways, we did." Philia answered, wringing her cape of the water, "Some questions answered, but mostly more questions."
"What about the Heartless situation?" Aerith asked, "Did you manage to find something out on taking care of it?"
"Well, we have defeated a good few powerful Heartless in some worlds." Sora explained, "Oh, there was something else. In a couple of the worlds, there were keyholes that my Keyblade seemed to seal. They were glowing and looked important. But when my Keyblade shot a light at them, they disappeared, and they each dropped a Gummi out of them.
"So you found 'the' Keyholes." Leon understood.
"Yeah. The Keyblade locked them automatically."
"That's good." Aerith replied.
"What's so special about those Keyholes?" Philia asked.
"Every world among the stars has a Keyhole." Leon explained, "And each one leads to the heart of that world."
"Hey, doesn't that mean there should be one of those Keyholes in this town?" Philia asked.
"There has to be one." Aerith answered, "It was in Ansem's report. The Heartless enter through the Keyhole and do something to the world's core."
"So what happens to that world?" Sora asked.
"In the end, it disappears." Aerith answered, shocking the team.
"That's why your key is so important." Leon followed up.
"I get it now. We just have to seal these Keyholes to stop the Heartless from consuming the world." Philia understood, looking to Sora, "And the Keyblade is the only thing that can seal them away."
"That's right." Aerith responded, turning to Sora, "So please lock the Keyholes. You're the only one who can."
"I guess... Okay!" Sora understood, "But first, we need to ask you something." He pulled out the Gummi block he got from Tarzan's world, "This Gummi block's different from the others. Do you know what it's for?" Leon looked at it, his face concentrating on figuring out the answer, though it was painfully clear he had no clue.
"Ask Cid. He should know." Aerith suggested.
"Understood." Philia replied, "If I had to guess, he should be at his shop, right? Let's go that way."
"Wait a moment." Leon stopped her, handing Sora something, "Sora, take this with you." He handed him a stone with some sort of lion face on it.
"What is this?" Sora asked.
"Dunno, but this stone holds some mysterious power." Leon explained, "I've been carrying it for luck. I want you to hold onto it."
"How do you use it?" Sora asked, twisting the stone about to every angle. Leon remained silent, but his expression was similar to the Gummi one; he had no clue.
"Donald, you're our magic expert. Know what that stone can do?" Philia asked.
"Uh-uh..." Donald answered with a shake of his head.
"Hey, maybe we'll figure it out when we take it with us." Goofy suggested.
"Guess so..." Sora understood, pocketing the stone.
"By the way, can you take these little ones off of me." Aerith asked, and she whistled to reveal a trio of Dalmatians appearing by the spiral staircase.
"More of those puppies?" Philia asked.
"Gee, don't we have a lot of them in the ship?" Goofy asked.
"They sure like to eat..." Donald grumbled.
"We'll be sure to return them to their rightful owner." Philia assured Aerith, taking the dogs and magically sending them to their ship.
"Thanks again, Leon." Sora thanked the swordsman, "We'll talk to you later!" With that, the four left the room, leaving Leon and Aerith watching them leave.
When they got out of the waterway, they made their way back to the First District. "If I know anything, Cid'll be back at the Accessory shop." Philia told them as they left, "Let's head there and show him this Gummi piece. Afterwards, I wanna send those Dalmatians we found before."
"You know where they go?" Goofy asked.
"Sure. The parents were looking for them before. I know where they live."
"Then we'll leave it to you." Sora told her.
They finally made it to the Accessory shop, where sure enough, Cid was there. "Hey, long time there, Philia!" Cid greeted the lady, "I heard you're travelin' with the Keyblade's chosen. Got your memories back again?"
"A couple pieces, but not anything too big." Philia answered, "Actually, we got something for you."
"Take a look at this." Sora pulled out the Gummi piece, placing it on the table in between the pair.
"Hey! If it ain't a Gummi block." Cid noticed.
"Yeah." "What's it do?" Donald and Goofy asked respectively.
Cid looked incredulously at the group as he retorted, "You're kiddin' me! You're flyin' a Gummi ship and you don't know nothin' about navigation Gummies?" He placed hand over his face and shook his head, sighing, "Bunch of pinheads. Interspace ain't no playground."
"There's a lot we don't know. So what!" Sora argued.
"Hey, it's owned by Donald and Goofy, so don't blame us!" Philia stated.
"We don't know anything about it, either!" Donald squawked back at her.
"Yeah. Chip and Dale are the ones who do the mechanics on it." Goofy defended.
"In any case..." Sora continued, pulling out his Keyblade, "We have to use the Gummi ship to go to other worlds. We don't have a choice."
"Okay, easy there, guys." Cid calmed them down, "I didn't know. No hard feelings, all right?" Once they eased up, he continued, "Well, I guess I could lend y'all a hand, then."
"Thanks a bunch, Cid." Philia thanked him, "So what is a navigation Gummi?"
"Basically, with navigation Gummis, you can go to new places. You want one on your ship, right?" They nodded in answer to this. "I'll install it for you. Thing is... I got this thing I gotta go deliver first."
"What do you need to deliver?" Sora asked.
"Just this book." Cid dug underneath the counter, and pulled out a book. It looked a lot like a children's book, but it looked like it went through some repairs. "It's real old." Cid explained, "When the guy brought it in, it was practically falling apart. Too beat up to restore it to the way it was. But overall, I did a decent job puttin' it back together. Anyway, you mind deliverin' it for me? It's the old house past the Third District. Look for a big fire sign."
"Do we have a choice?" Philia asked, then sighed, "Well, we do have another thing to do, as well. Might as well take the time to do them while you get that piece set up."
"Great. I'll met you guys at the house in the Third District." Cid responded.
"We'd better land the Gummi ship so we can get those installments placed in." Goofy told them.
"Right! I'll go do that!" Donald answered, and he went out the shop first, going to bring down the ship.
"Better get those Dalmatians to their home, then we'll drop off that book." Philia followed up.
"Alright. Let's get this all done quick!" Sora declared, and they left the shop.
Once they were outside, they waited for Donald to come out the large double doors where he parked the Gummi ship, bringing the herd of puppies with him. Or rather, they were leaping all about and making him fall over, consumed by the group they had. "I am glad to get them off the ship!" Donald groaned.
"I know where they belong, so leave that part to me." Philia explained, "It's in the Second District, near the Gizmo shop. Let's bring them there."
"Maybe we should drop these off at the mailbox here." Goofy added, pulling out the two postcards they got from the said shop.
"You do that. Sora, why don't you stay with them while I get Donald out of the doggy pile and escort these puppies to their parents."
"Sure thing!" Sora answered as Goofy placed in the first postcard, and out came a Mega Elixir. Philia fished Donald out, and walked the dogs to the Second District.
"Gee, it's sure nice for Philia to take care of that." Goofy stated, chuckling as he placed in the other postcard.
"She's really been trying her hardest to do her best to help us out throughout our journey." Sora pointed out, "Then again, we all did our part dealing with all kinds of troubles we faced, and we still came out with more rewards than anything. I don't know what I would do without you guys."
Goofy chuckled at this as he pulled out an Orichalcum from the last postcard. "I'm so glad we became such good buddies." He stated.
"Same here." Sora responded, looking at the sky, "I hope we can continue like this together, and find all that we're looking for..."
After a few minutes, Philia and Donald came back, with news that thanks to delivering the puppies, they were given a couple of Gummi blocks to upgrade their ship if they needed to. Sora was excited, but knew their priority was the book delivery Cid told them to do. So they went to the Third District, where they were instructed.
They found the door with the fire sign in an alleyway, as they were told, but couldn't open it immediately. However, Donald figured a Fire Spell would open it up for them, so he did it, and magically opened the door. Inside, they found a spacious place, with a pond and stepping stones that led to a small island with a shabby house at the end of it.
"Think that's the place?" Philia asked.
"Looks like it..." Sora answered, and he led the team over the stepping stones to the house, and entered through a curtain on the side of the house, entering in.
When they arrived, they found an empty, round area, with a circular platform in the middle. "Nobody's here." Goofy pointed out the obvious.
"But... Cid told us to deliver the book here." Sora recalled, pulling out the book in question, "Did we get the directions wrong?"
"Let's look around!" Donald squawked, and he and Goofy looked about the place, searching for any signs of someone living there. Philia watched from the doorway as Sora went the other direction, looking about, as well.
"There's something about this musty place..." a voice Sora heard suddenly came from behind, and he looked about, seeing Kairi wandering towards him, very close to where Philia was at, who seemed oblivious to her.
"It reminds me of the secret place back home, where we use to scribble on the walls." Kairi wandered around Sora, then stopped and looked back at him, smiling as she asked, "Remember?"
"Kairi?" Sora muttered, reaching out to her.
"Sora, what's up?" Philia's voice drew Sora's attention, and he looked back at her. She had a perplexed look on her face, wondering what got into him. Donald and Goofy also looked at him, wondering the same thing.
"It's her! It's..." Sora turned to where Kairi stood. However, she wasn't there. In fact, there was no sign she was even there in the first place. "Wha- huh?" He looked around, wondering where she went. Was he just imagining it?"
"Are you okay?" Philia asked, approaching his side, "You said something about Kairi."
"I just..." Sora started, but he stopped. Seeing as no one saw her, and not to make them think he was crazy, he followed up, "...It's nothing. Just my imagination."
"Well, well. You arrived sooner than I expected." an elderly man spoke up at the doorway, and the team turned to it. A man, dressed up clearly as a wizard, was standing there. He had white hair, and a beard so long, it reached beneath his knees, wherever they were underneath his blue wizard robe. His hair was hidden by tall, blue pointed hat, with a slightly crooked top. In one hand, he held a cane. In the other, he had a traveler's bag.
"Wha... you knew we were coming?" Sora asked as he and the others approached him.
"I take it you're the owner of this shack?" Philia questioned.
"Of course, and yes, in that order." the man answered.
"Are you... a Heartless?" The young boy questioned.
"Really? Do you see anything that makes him look like a Heartless, Sora?" Philia asked, finding Sora's question stupid, "He clearly looks like a wizard. You are one, right?"
"Indeed, I am, young lady." The man answered, "My name is Merlin. As you can see, I am a sorcerer. I spend much of my time traveling. It's good to be home." He turned to Donald and Goofy as he continued, "Your king has requested my help."
"King Mickey?" Goofy asked, surprising both he and Donald.
"Yes, indeed." Merlin answered, "Donald, Goofy..." He looked at the two only humans in the team, "And who might the two of you be?"
"I'm Sora."
"It's Philia."
"Ah. So, I see you found the key." Merlin noticed, looking at Sora.
"What did the king ask you to do?" Donald asked.
"Eh, just a moment." Merlin retorted, stepping in between the team, and placing down his travel bag. He then waved his cane as he shouted, "Presto!" The bag opened up of its' own accord, and out came a miniature teapot, which grew as it spun around the room, followed by a saucer, teacups, a clothed table, a chair, a book shelf, a numerous amount of books, and all sorts of things that expanded to normal size. Within moments, everything was finally in place all around the room, forming it into a rather cramped living space, slash study.
"There, now." Merlin sighed in relief, seeing the place how he liked it.
"Okay, I KNOW I didn't know magic could do this." Philia noticed, looking around the place with a baffled expression, "Honestly, I kinda feel jealous. Can you teach me this trick?"
"Sorry, no time for that." Merlin denied, "However, your king asked me to train you in the art of magic. We can start anytime you like."
"Cool! I could use a little training in my magic!" Sora pointed out, looking at his hand.
"I might need to understand the range and accuracy of my Thunder spell, but other than that, I am pretty confident in everything else." Philia stated, then adding as a slight hint, "But I still wouldn't mind learning that spell you just used."
"My dear, that is extremely advance magic, and you are not yet ready to learn such things. Maybe in another decade or two of studying, and you might be able to learn it." Philia shut down from continuing. A couple decades was too long for her to learn a spell like that.
"Oh, but there is one more thing." Merlin recalled, and he drew their attention to one part of the circular room, where a white, miniature carriage sat on the floor, with spindly, spiraling wheels. Suddenly, there was a glittering of light and sparkles, and out of nowhere came a rather obese woman with grey hair, wearing a lavender cloak with a hood and a pink interior, and a pink bow under her neck. She wielded a white wand in her hand.
"Who is that?" Sora asked, surprised to see her here, as well.
"Hello. I'm the Fairy Godmother." she greeted the team, "Your king asked me to help, too. I will assist throughout your journey."
"By the way, I believe you have something for me, do you?" Merlin assumed.
"Huh? Oh, yeah!" Sora realized, and they pulled out the old children's book, handing it to him, "Cid told us to deliver this to you."
"Thank you very much." Merlin replied, taking the book, "Do you wish to know what kind of book it is?" The team nodded in response. "Well, I don't even know, myself. In fact, it's not mine. Somehow it found its way into my bag one day."
"That's not suspicious at all..." Philia muttered.
"It was such a curious book, I asked Cid to repair it for me. Funnily enough, I believe this isn't the first time I found this book in my possession before. As I recall, it fell into my hands once before ten years ago. It did gain the attraction of three young ones in the past, and gave them special powers."
"Special powers?!" Sora gasped, "Does that mean it can do that for me?"
"Well, I'm pretty sure that particular kind of magic has worn off over the years." Merlin answered sadly, walking over to an open table and placing the book on it, "But it can still be used for something. I'll just place it right here."
He looked into the book for a moment, then said, "Seems like this book holds a great secret, but there are still some missing pages. I believe they might be scattered about in other worlds. Better keep an eye out for them, and return them here."
"Don't worry, Merlin. We'll keep an eye out for them pages." Goofy assured him.
"It does sound intriguing." Sora stated, looking at the book, "Can't wait to see what those secrets are!"
"Thank you, and my best regards to Cid for repairing it for me." Merlin thanked them, "Oh, and there's one more thing. I can feel there's something else you just got."
"Something else?" Philia questioned.
"Oh! That stone from Leon!" Donald realized.
"That's right!" Sora recalled, pulling out the good-luck charm that Leon gave him.
"Hm... I believe you should hand that over to the Fairy Godmother." Merlin suggested, "It seems like something in her expertise."
"Let me see it, my child." The Fairy Godmother spoke up, walking over to Sora. He handed over the stone to her, and she immediately noticed what it was. "Oh, the poor thing! He had turned into a summon gem."
"A summon gem?" Sora echoed, confused, as the others gathered around them.
"This little creature lived in a world that was consumed by darkness." the Fairy Godmother explained, "When a world vanishes, so do its inhabitants. But this one had such a strong heart, he became a gem instead of vanishing with his world."
"So can he return to normal?" Philia asked.
"Yes, but only his spirit. Now watch." she waved her wand as she chanted, "Bibbity bobbity boo!" There was a shining light, and the stone shined. Suddenly, the team could hear the sound of what appeared to be a lion's roar. After that, the light died down to a soft, hazel glow.
"What happened?" Sora asked.
"You are now able to summon the spirit within the stone." the Fairy Godmother explained, "The spirit calls himself 'Simba'. However, spirits can only be summoned once per battle, and they can't stay around forever. Please be careful when summoning him."
"Understood." Sora replied, looking at the stone, then pocketing it.
"If you find any other stones like that, please bring them to me, and I'll awaken them for you to be able to summon them. And do not worry about them permanently being that way. Once their worlds are returned to normal, so, too will they return with them."
"Thank you very much!" Sora thanked her, and he went and walked away, with the others following behind him.
Once they were over the stepping stones, the team gathered together to plan their next move. "I'd say we'd better head back to where Cid is at and tell him we took care of the task." Goofy suggested.
"Good thinking." Sora agreed, "He said he was gonna be in a house in the Third District, right?"
"I think I know where it is." Philia answered, "Let's go there."
They exited the door and were just heading out into the central plaza of the Third District when suddenly, Soldier Heartless appeared in front of them. "Well, so much for getting there without any trouble!" Philia stated as they all drew their weapons.
Suddenly, a mysterious figure appeared and instantly ended the Heartless in one slash. Sora stood open-mouthed at the sight of who it was. It was Riku, his best friend.
"There you are." He greeted Sora, "What's going on?"
"Riku!" Sora gasped, racing towards him. What he did next puzzled the group, as he grabbed the sides of Riku's mouth, pulling them apart to check if he was really there.
"Hey, hey, cut it out!" he retorted, shoving Sora off of him.
"I'm not dreaming this time, right?" Sora asked, looking up and down his friend, then rubbing his eyes to make sure all chances that this wasn't real was removed.
"I hope not. Took me forever to find you." Riku answered.
"So he's Riku, huh?" Philia muttered, meeting the boy Sora spoke so much about. The spiky-haired boy in question looked pleased at being reunited with his best friend again.
"Wait a second, where's Kairi?" Sora asked, looking at the area around them.
"Isn't she with you?" Riku asked, confused. Sora's downward expression told him all he needed to know. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure she mad it off the island, too."
He walked past Sora as he looked about the place, continuing, "We're finally free. Hey, she might even be looking for us now. We'll all be together again soon. Don't worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this—."
Riku was talking so much, he failed to notice the Shadow Heartless appearing behind him. However, he did pay attention when he noticed Sora taking it out easily with his Keyblade. Riku looked surprised, seeing the weapon in his bud's hands.
"Leave it to who?" Sora questioned, shouldering his weapon, and giving Riku a confident smirk.
"Seems like someone underestimated Sora's capabilities to fight." Philia retorted, folding her arms, looking amused at Riku's surprised expression.
"Sora, what did you—?" Riku started to asked, as he and the others gathered about him.
"I've been looking for you and Kairi, too, with their help." Sora explained, waving a hand to his three companions.
Riku looked at them with narrow eyes as he asked, "Who are they?"
"Ahem. My name is—." Donald started, but Philia interrupted him by greeting, "I'm Philia. This is Donald and Goofy. We joined with Sora on his journey to search for his friends." The anthropomorphic duck looked irritated at her beating him to the punch.
"We've visited so many places and worlds, looking for you." Sora explained.
"Really?" Riku questioned, looking from Sora to his friends, mainly Philia, then back at him again, "Well, what do you know? I never would have guessed."
"Oh, and guess what?" Goofy added, grabbing Sora's shoulders from behind, "Sora's the Keyblade master."
"Who would've thought it?" Donald questioned from the side.
"What's that mean?!" Sora argued angrily at him.
"Well, Leon was certainly surprised." Philia muttered slyly, recalling his words about Sora being a Keyblade wielder the first time he met him.
"So, this is called a Keyblade?" the team suddenly noticed that Riku snatched Sora's Keyblade away from him, without him noticing, and was examining it.
"Hey! Give it back!" Sora demanded, racing towards him and making a leaping dive for his weapon, only for Riku to back off, raising it higher as Sora skidded on the ground, face-first.
After a few seconds, Riku said, "Catch!" And tossed the Keyblade back to Sora, who just got to his feet again. He fumbled for a second, before settling it in his hands. He sighed in relief, realizing Riku was just fooling with him, as usual.
'Those two really are good friends. I can tell.' Philia noticed, smiling at the two, 'I wonder... That person named Argo. Did we act the same way?'
"Okay, so, you're coming with us, right?" Sora asked his best friend, "We got this awesome rocket! Wait 'til you see it!"
"No, he can't come!" Donald denied his request.
"What?!" Sora snapped, looking back at him.
"Forget it!"
"Oh, come on! He's my friend!"
"I don't care!"
Philia shoved the two boys apart as she sighed, "Seriously, do I have to constantly tear you apart all the time from arguing?! Besides, I actually agree with Sora on this one. He seems tough, and he is searching for the same thing as Sora, so we should let him join us."
"See?!" Sora sassed at Donald, who turned away, acting stubborn as usual.
Suddenly, Goofy gasped, "He's gone!" The team turned to see that Goofy was right. Without a trace, Riku vanished from in front of them.
"Riku?" Sora asked, looking about, then glared at Donald, "Nice going..." He then sighed, then smiled as he finished, "Oh, well. At least he's okay. And who knows? Maybe we'll run into Kairi soon, too."
"Yeah, if we're lucky." Philia replied, "Still, maybe we should report to Cid at their house. Come on, I know the way." She led the team up the stairs, and to the little house she spoke of.
"Hey, Philia!" Yuffie appeared, leaping down from the rooftop to join the four heroes, "Guys coming over to say hi? Cid, Aerith and Leon should be in there."
"All of them?" Philia asked, puzzled, "That...actually sounds foreboding."
"Why's that?" Goofy asked.
"Because if they got together for something in a short period of time, it might be something big."
"Yeah, I got word from them that something was up, too." Yuffie added, "Let's go and see what it is."
They entered the house, and examined the scene. Philia's foreboding feeling was right on point. Aerith, Cid and Leon were all in there, gathered about a small table, and there was a bid of tension.
"Kinda gloomy here..." Sora muttered.
"What's goin' on?" Yuffie asked.
"It's Maleficent." Leon answered, "She's here, in this town." Yuffie's expression also became serious, too, realizing what was the problem.
"Malefi-who?" Sora echoed.
"I think Leon told me her name once, but I didn't get the details about her." Philia muttered.
"She's a witch, and the worst of them all." Cid explained.
"It's cuz of her that our home world got shattered." Yuffie growled, her fists curled.
"Ran these kids outta town with a full-blown Heartless invasion nine years ago." Cid stated, pointing a thumb at Aerith, Leon and Yuffie, "I managed to grab them when they were young and brought them to this world."
"She's also the reason why this town is full of Heartless, too." Leon added, "Don't take her lightly."
"She's been using the Heartless for years, though we don't know what her motives are..." Aerith followed.
"That no-good-dirty-rotten witch!" Donald squawked, so angry, he was shaking Goofy by the neck for no reason.
"Do you think she might be responsible for the disappearance of my world?" Philia asked.
"It's possible." Cid answered her.
"The ruler of our town was a wise man named Ansem." Leon explained, "He dedicated his life to studying the Heartless."
"His reports should tell us how to get rid of the Heartless." Cid followed.
"Where are these reports?" Sora asked.
"We don't know." Leon answered, "It got scattered when our world was destroyed."
"Maleficent seems to demonstrate a certain interest in the reports." Aerith followed, "I can only assume she intends to use that knowledge for evil. I'm pretty sure she would have most of the pages."
"Then we're just gonna have to find those pages, and get them back!" Sora declared, looking to his three friends, who all made signs of agreement to this declaration. The four town residents with them looked to them with surprise or pleased at their determination.
Outside the house, unknown to the group, Riku was standing there, watching Sora and his friends inside, discussing on what needed to be done. The person standing next to him was the very person that the people inside spoke about; Maleficent.
"You see? It's just as I told you." she told Riku, "While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions. Evidentially, now he values them far more than he does you. You're better off without that wretched boy."
She leaned down and wrapped her arm around Riku as she finished, "Now think no more of him, and come with me. I'll help you find what you're searching for..."
Riku didn't immediately answer her, but continued to glare at the scene. He looked to see Philia shake her head and smile at Sora, while he gave his childish grin. He disliked her presence around Sora. He had to make sure that was rectified before he went along with Maleficent.
Back inside the house, Cid asked, "So, you delivered that book? That navigation gummi's installed and ready to go. You find another one, you bring it to me. I threw in a warp Gummi for the heck of it."
"A warp Gummi?" Sora echoed.
"Yep. Now you can jump to worlds you've been to before." Cid explained, walking to the door, "Well, better get back to my real job. Come see what it is in the First District." He opened up the door and closed it from behind.
"What's his job?" Sora asked Philia.
"I think he said something before about selling Gummi parts or something." Philia recalled, "Might come in handy if we're to upgrade our ship. Let me go and check it out for you guys, okay?" The three boys nodded in response, and she left the house, heading to Cid's shop.
"I've been thinking about the bell in the Second District." Aerith muttered.
"You mean the one that rang a bit ago?" Sora questioned.
"The one above the gizmo shop. There's a legend about it, you know." Yuffie explained, "They say something great will happen if you ring it three times."
"But it's all boarded up. Nobody can get in there." Aerith warned them.
"That won't stop us! After all, we got that place up and running again just a moment ago." Sora declared, looking to his companions, "Let's go check it out!" Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement, and they took off the different path to the Second District.
In the First District, Philia had just left Cid's shop, looking at her purse. "Those pieces may be cheap, but the better pieces cost a pretty penny." She muttered, "Well, it's not like destroying those Heartless along the way to each world hasn't helped get us more pieces anyway."
Her stomach growled, and she patted her belly as she blushed. "All this walking about has really gotten me hungry. At least I know a quick and easy food stall to get a hot dog at."
There was a hot dog stand in the street near the accessory shop that she knew. She wandered over to it, and said, "One hot dog with the works, please!"
"Better make that two." said a voice from behind her. She jumped and turned to see Riku standing behind her all of a sudden.
"R-Riku!" she stammered, "Jeez, you just appear and disappear like it's nothing! Is teleportation a magic of yours or something?"
"If it was, then I would've left the islands a long time ago." He answered, walking past her and to the stand, waiting for his hot dog.
"Here you two go!" The burly man running the stand handed them each a hot dog, and they each paid for their food before wandering off to the center of the district.
"Sorry for Donald's behavior before." Philia apologized, "He is stubborn and stuck-up at times. I actually wanted you to come with us."
"Thanks, but I think I'll continue searching for Kairi my way." Riku replied, taking a bite out of his hot dog and swallowing it, "It's obvious he has his hands full."
"But it's not a big deal." Philia assured him.
Riku ignored this as he asked her, "So, how did Sora ended up meeting you and those other guys?"
"We actually met in this town. We ended up helping each other fighting against the Heartless. Donald and Goofy were actually searching for the wielder of the Keyblade so they could find their king."
"And you?" Riku asked, narrowing his eyes as he gave her a side-look.
"I joined with him, too." She replied, not realizing the glance she was getting, "I don't remember most of my past before coming here, but someone told me that Sora's Keyblade might help me unlock my memories in due time."
Riku stopped in his tracks, looking down at the remains of his hot dog. Philia, noticing he stopped behind her, turned to him. The look of stern concern on his face confused her. "So what you're telling me is that you're only with him because of that Keyblade, and not to help him find Kairi." He summed up.
"What? No!" Philia argued.
"But you don't consider Kairi your top priority while out there, acting all friendly with him." Riku pointed out, "You're just being a distraction for him."
Philia seemed hurt and confused as she approached him, demanding, "How am I a distraction?! I've been helping Sora fight off the Heartless all this time. And thanks to him, I've remembered pieces of my past, too!"
"Yeah, but who's to say that you can't figure it out on your own later down the line." The silver-haired boy replied, "Meanwhile, Kairi is important to both me and Sora. And with you wanting one thing because of his Keyblade, and those other guys wanting something completely different because of that thing, he will never focus on what is important to him. Trust me, I know Sora."
He walked past Philia, who was stock-still in her place, with Riku's words circulating in her mind. "If you really are a friend of his, like you claim to be, then you would know what is important to him. Do yourself a favor, and don't be in the way of what he is trying to find."
Philia paused for a second, then turned to say something, but it was too late. Riku had vanished. She looked down at her hot dog again. Her stomach had left her. She had no appetite. Try as she might to deny Riku's words, what he said did make a fair point.
The only reason she ever became friends with Sora and the others was through his Keyblade, not the boy himself. It was the only thing that could guide her to her memories. But her memories could still be restored, if not more slowly, without the weapon in question. There was no need for her to constantly hold Sora back from finding Kairi.
Donald and Goofy may actually have a good reason to be with Sora, and are the proper owners of the Gummi Ship used to traverse worlds, but she was different. She had no good reason to be part of their group. She was a nuisance and a distraction, just like Riku said.
"Maybe...it would be best to not continue on being part of their group." she muttered to herself, "All I am is an empty-memory swordhand anyway. They already have enough strength to fight on without me."
She wandered on throughout the street, back to the Third District. What she was unaware of was the peeping eyes from two parties. One was Riku, who hid in the shadows, smirking at Philia's behavior, before turning and walking into a dark portal produced by Maleficent, and vanishing from sight. The other one was Leon, who watched the scene between the little treasure hunter and Riku. His eyes narrowed at the sight of what happened.
Back in the Second District, Sora, Donald and Goofy had just defeated the Heartless that were above the Gizmo shop. Sora placed away his Keyblade as he looked towards the area above them, looking about. "Where is Philia?" He wondered, looking about.
"Guess she's taking her time at Cid's shop, huh?" Goofy assumed.
"Hey, we can take care of this without her!" Donald squawked, thumbing at the wooden boards sealing the belfry, which also had a red trinity mark on it, "Let's take care of this!"
Sora paused for a moment, looking worried. He felt something was off, but didn't know what. Finally, he decided to let it go. She would come back eventually. Besides, Donald was right. They could handle this task.
The trio then performed a Trinity move, smashing into one another as they shattered the wooden boards, gaining access to the bell. They saw the rope that they needed to pull to ring the bell. "Yuffie said we needed to ring this three times, right?" Sora asked.
"Let's each give it a pull!" Goofy chuckled, approaching the bell first and ringing the bell. It rang a sort of small melody. This was followed by something large shifting down below, and Donald and Sora raced to the edge of the building to see what it was. The small fountain underneath the entrance to the First District changed. Fire was blazing over the water, as the picture behind it suddenly changed, going from flowers to what looked like an aquatic scene, due to the hidden cube that rotated counterclockwise.
"Look! Something changed!" Donald gasped.
"I wonder... could that be the secret of this bell?" Sora asked, looking back at the bell as Goofy came to join them, "Let's ring it a couple more times and find out!"
"Me next!" Donald squawked, racing to the pull cord, leaping up onto it, and using his body weight to ring the bell. When the bell stopped chiming, the cube by the fountain rotated again, showing a new picture, this time of a many-branched tree. The fire died down, and the arch framed around the fountain started to glow with lights.
Donald was about to pull the cord again when Sora shoved him to one side. "Let me pull, okay?!" He argued. He went and pulled the cord of the bell, making it ring a third time. Suddenly, geysers shot around the rim of the fountain as the picture changed again, now showing a picture of butterflies surrounding a flower.
The trio rushed to see the change, and saw something else. The picture began to sparkle, emanating magic energy, and a Keyhole suddenly appeared on it.
"It's this world's Keyhole!" Goofy gasped.
"Right... Like the ones we sealed up before." Sora recalled.
"Let's seal it up!" Donald declared.
"But... what about Philia?" Sora asked, "Shouldn't we wait for her to join us in doing this?"
"You snooze, you lose!" Donald huffed, shoving Sora by the back and sending him back towards the ladder that brought them up to the roof. Sora really didn't like the idea of not doing this without Philia being here.
"Besides, if we don't seal it up soon, the Heartless will get to it!" Goofy pointed out, "Better tell Philia what happened and apologize later."
"...Yeah, I guess..." Sora reluctantly agreed, "Let's go seal up that Keyhole!"
They descended down to the ground floor of the Second District, and made their way to the Keyhole. Sora was just about ready to point and shoot his Keyblade, when something interrupted him. A familiar set of armor suddenly fell from the sky and out of nowhere, followed by its' helmet.
"Whaaa!" Donald looked terrified.
"It's that Heartless again!" Goofy noticed.
"The one fought in the Third District the last time. The Guard Armor!" Sora realized. The trio readied their weapons, and charged at the Heartless.
Back in the Third District, Philia was cleaning up a few Heartless that popped up by herself. She placed her dagger away with magic, sighing. Unlike the other times with Sora, defeating the Heartless now wasn't as satisfying.
"You've gotten a bit stronger." Said a voice from behind, and Philia looked to see Leon leaning on the wall nearby, looking at her.
"We're you just standing there while I was fighting?" She asked, looking away to hid her face.
Leon ignored the question, and started to approach her, saying, "You are able to use more magic, and you can make your weapon appear and disappear with magic, too. Traveling to those worlds with Sora really helped you grow."
Hearing his name made Philia's heart twinge. Why did it feel that way? Was it guilt? Why did it hurt? She shot down the questions, and asked, "Why don't you get straight to the point? Is there a reason for just watching me?"
Leon was right behind her as he asked, "Why aren't you with those guys right now?"
"Because..." Philia replied simply.
"Because what?"
"Just because."
"Are you fighting?"
"N-No. Not anymore."
"Then tell me why you don't want to see them." Leon's tone became more stern.
Philia, unable to take the questions anymore, snapped. "Because I won't be any good to him!" She shouted, turning to him angrily. The two glared at one another, with Leon being the stone-faced out of the two. Finally, Philia looked down at her feet, her guilt filling in once again.
"Why do you feel like you're no good to him?" Leon asked, walking past her, "Because you think you're only following around with him because of his Keyblade?"
Philia looked at him with a surprised expression. "How did you-?" She started.
"Be honest with yourself. Was the Keyblade the only reason you joined Sora and those guys? Or was there something more than that?"
Philia paused, thinking about it. Was the Keyblade the only reason she came along with Sora. Looking back on it, when she joined Sora, Donald and Goofy on their journey, she knew the Keyblade was important, but there was more than that. It felt like, with them, she could achieve something more than just what the weapon would give her. And in a way, it did. In the three worlds they visited after leaving this one, she discovered so much. She not only gained pieces of her past, but also gained new memories, too. Ones involving the time she spent with Sora, Donald and Goofy. Her dear friends.
However, Riku's words were coming back to her. Yes, she gained memories, but she was also distracting Sora from finding Kairi. The small scene where she saw Sora call her name in Merlin's house was a great example of that. Was she being selfish? Would she be in the way of Sora to find his friend?
Just then, there was the sound of fighting off in the distance, drawing the two's attention. "Seems like there's a fight in the Second District." Leon noticed.
Yuffie suddenly appeared from the rooftops, landing down next to the pair. "I saw Sora, Donald and Goofy fighting off that huge Guard Armor Heartless from this world's Keyhole!" She explained, "They're doing a good job fending it off, too."
"That's good." Philia replied, looking away, "They won't need my help fighting that thing."
"I wouldn't be so sure." Leon retorted, getting her attention, "Surely, you read about that Heartless before. You do know that if things go south, it has a backup skill to rely on, right?" Philia recalled looking at the Heartless, then realized what he meant. It was something Sora and the others didn't know, and her eyes widened in a panic.
Back in the battle, Sora, Donald and Goofy backed off as the Heartless was now a crumbled pile of armor pieces. "We're doin' a great job!" Goofy cheered.
"We won't even need Philia's help beating this thing!" Donald added.
Sora mentally agreed, but still missed having her fight alongside them. It just wasn't the same without her. He wished she would hurry up and join them.
Suddenly, the Guard Armor recovered, reforming itself once more. What it did next was quite foreboding. It suddenly slammed its gauntlets to the ground, the claws opened up, almost becoming feet. It then flipped its torso upside down, its feet hovering on each side, and the helmet resting on top. The feet then suddenly folded it, becoming pincers, and the visor of the helmet dropped down to reveal the Heartless's yellow eyes. The former hands suddenly floated and started spinning around underneath.
"What happened?!" Sora gasped as he saw what became of the Heartless.
"It changed!" Donald exclaimed.
"I don't like the looks of this..." Goofy stated. The trio placed their guard up as the Heartless made its' move.
"The Opposite Armor..." Philia read, looking at the book on the known Heartless, with Yuffie hovering over her shoulder to read the description, "A modified version of the Guard Armor, but exceptionally more powerful. Its gauntlets become the feet, and the feet become hammerlegs. Its' limbs can be destroyed, but it can unleash a blast of energy from its' torso as a last resort."
"I wouldn't be surprised if it sees those guys as such powerful adversaries, that it would resort to entering that form." Leon stated, looking at Philia, "You really believe those guys can handle that on their own?"
Philia didn't respond, but after reading what it was capable of, she didn't feel too sure. Sora, Donald and Goofy were all capable fighters, but they might struggle with this monster.
"Philia." Leon spoke up again, "Put your own doubts to one side. Your friends need your help." Philia looked up at him, then down at the book, had a mental struggle for a moment. Finally, she closed the book shut and took off towards the Second District. 'Fine. I'll make one last stand with Sora, Donald and Goofy.' She told herself, 'Then, I won't get in their way again!'
Back in the fight, Goofy protected Sora and Donald from a ramming attack from the Opposite Armor. The two behind him used the opportunity to unleash a pair of Fire spells together, blasting back at the Heartless.
"It's tough!" Sora grimaced, dodge rolling out of the way as it shot its feet at him.
"Come on! We can take it!" Donald replied, using Thunder to electrify the Heartless.
Sora dashed forward, unleashing a series of combos, ending with a Ripple Drive that knocked the limbs about. "Still, I think it's like the last time. Those limbs can be damaged, and I bet they can be destroyed before we defeat the main body." Sora noticed, "Let's take them out!" He went into a Sonic Blade move, unleashing several piercing dashes, striking the limbs, but not enough to completely eradicate them.
"Come on!" Goofy declared, unleashing a charge attack with his shield, bashing the torso of the Heartless.
The Heartless regrouped its limbs as it separated its' body into two pairs; the head with the hammerlegs, and the gauntlet with the torso. It began rotating its' head like wheel, with its' hammerlegs on either side of it, and went after Donald and Goofy, knocking them backwards in pain. Meanwhile, the gauntlets became propeller blades in front of the torso, and homed in on Sora, slashing at him and making him fly.
The three struggled to recover, with Sora using his Cure spell to heal himself, and he got back to his feet. He saw the gauntlets spinning again, and was about to come at him once more. He readied to guard against the attack, attempting to repel the move.
"Sora!" Philia shouted, racing around the corner from the alleyway, and readying her dagger as it shined dark blue, initiating her Cross Edge Dagger Skill. With her first strike, she repelled the attack with a downward slash, followed by a horizontal slash that struck the gauntlets, making the Heartless back off. It then noticed that one of the gauntlets vanished, having been destroyed.
"Philia!" Sora cried out, happy to see her at last.
Philia looked back at him with a serious expression as she stated, "You seriously need to get your act together. What will you do if I wasn't there to fight for you?"
The young boy looked guilty as he replied, "S-Sorry about that. But hey, I'm glad you made it on time!"
Philia sighed at his behavior, then turned to Donald and Goofy and shouted, "You doing okay?!"
"We're good!" Donald replied as Goofy protected him from a head spin attack, and he unleashed a Blizzard spell that blasted the limbs and head back.
"Good! Then lets take this Armor out!" Philia ordered as she and the others got back up to their feet and raced at the Heartless.
Sora and Philia worked together, unleashing a combo of slashes at the Opposite Armor's torso, backing off when it shot its' gauntlet at them. Philia then unleashed her Armor Pierce Dagger Skill, piercing the metal armor and pinned it down. Then Sora came from behind and slashed it, destroying it in one go.
The head and its' hammerlegs came back to him, or rather its' hammerleg, since one of them was destroyed, thanks to the efforts of Donald and Goofy. "Just one more arm left!" Donald declared, raising his staff high. However, he sighed as he muttered, "I'm all outta magic energy..."
"Here!" Philia tossed an Ether to him before she, Goofy and Sora charged in at the Heartless, who unleashed its' hammerleg at them. Goofy parried with his shield, followed by Sora and Philia coming in from behind him and unleashing a twin slash that eliminated the last limb.
"Alright! Now it's defenseless!" Sora cheered, landing on the ground as the Heartless backed off, and into the air.
"No, wait. Sora!" Philia cried out, racing after him. She knew that it was far from defenseless, and Sora was about to find out.
All of a sudden, the Opposite Armor flipped its' torso, aiming the top of it at Sora, and it began charging up energy within. Sora stopped and looked stunned at the sight of it. "Watch out!" Philia cried, taking Sora and shoving him to one side as the Heartless fired. She turned and braced herself against the attack that followed. She screamed in pain as she was sent flying to Donald and Goofy, skidding on the floor, too injured to rise back up.
"Philia!" The boys cried out, shocked to see the damage to her. Sora was petrified for a moment, then saw the Opposite Armor charge up again for another attack. He looked fiercely at the Heartless, and charged up at it. "You'll pay for that!" he shouted, jumping up and performing a new technique, a triple, midair somersault slash that knocked the aim of the Heartless downward, causing it to misfire, and create a blast that shoved itself and Sora even higher.
The Heartless tried to recover, but it was too late. Sora recovered as Donald, thanks to a boost from Goofy, joined Sora at his height. The two pointed their weapons at the helmet of the Opposite Armor, and unleashed a pair of Fire spells, intensified by their emotions. The attack created a minor explosion.
Goofy fed Philia a potion, helping her recover as she rose up to see Donald and Sora land on the ground, watching the Heartless rattle and shake as it slowly fell and became limp. The helmet fell into the torso, and a large, crystallized heart flew into the air, vanishing from sight, along with the Heartless's remains.
In its' place, three magical orbs of energy remained, which flew towards the three magic users of the team. The moment they entered into their bodies, they could feel a small gust of energy rise up within them. "What was that?" Sora asked, feeling the new magic.
"Oh, boy! That's Aero magic!" Donald realized, unleashing the spell, and creating a vortex of wind around him, "It gives us a bit of defense against attacks, and it can even do damage back at our enemies."
"That's handy." Philia muttered, wincing from the damage she took from the Heartless before, "Could've used that for that last attack."
"Seriously, Philia. Are you alright?" Sora asked as he and Donald approached her.
"I-I'm okay..." she answered, trying to act tough, "How about you?"
"I'm good as long as your good!" Sora replied, giving her a cheeky grin, "You saved me back there. Thanks." Philia looked to him, then looked away, a sweat dropping from her forehead. How was she gonna tell him that she planned to leave after this?
"Sora, you should close up that Keyhole." Goofy suggested, pointing at the Keyhole at the fountain. The young boy looked at Philia for a moment, then understood what needed to be done.
He walked over to the Keyhole, and his Keyblade shined. He waved the teeth of his blade towards the door, and in a sparkling of lights, shot a beam at the Keyhole. There was the sound of the Keyhole locking, followed by it vanishing from sight. When it vanished, a familiar-looking Gummi appeared, landing on the ground in front of the heroes.
"A new Gummi!" Donald noticed.
"Hey, this looks like the one we found before!" Sora realized, "What did Cid call it?"
"A navigation Gummi piece." Philia answered, "He can install it into the Gummi Ship for you guys to use."
Donald and Goofy came to Sora's side as they looked at one another, confused. "Us... guys?" Sora asked.
Jiminy hopped out of Sora's pocket as he asked, "Sounds like you're not coming."
Philia looked down, realizing she let slip what she was scared to say. However, she realized there was no way to avoid hiding it. She had to come clean.
"I... was thinking that I should just stay here." She told them.
The boys looked surprised. "Why?!" Sora asked.
"I... I think it would be better off with less baggage to worry about." Philia explained, "I mean, I'm only interested in getting my memories back, and the quickest way to do that is with your Keyblade, Sora. Finding Kairi, finding your king...they aren't as important to me. And in regards to what I can give to the team, well, I don't really have a lot except for my dagger. Donald and Goofy have the Gummi Ship, and Jiminy is recording your journey. I... I don't have anything to provide to you guys. I'm just an empty-minded girl who only wants her memories back."
The boys looked at one another, wondering what brought these thoughts over Philia. Finally, they looked back at her with smiles as Goofy started, "You don't mean that. You're one of our friends!"
"You have been more than helpful to the rest of us all throughout our time together." Jiminy followed, pulling out his journal, "Why, I can tell you so many ways you helped us out before!"
"Yeah, like when you helped during Alice's trial." Donald gave an example, recalling how she turned the tables when presenting the evidence to the Queen of Hearts in Wonderland.
"And you were fought so hard alongside us at the Coliseum!" Goofy followed up.
"And when Sora and Donald were at odds with one another in the jungle world, you were the one that was able to lead us and even warn us about Clayton when you knew something was up." Jiminy finished.
"But that was..." Philia started, wanting to find an excuse, only to not find one.
"Philia, you don't have to worry about caring about your memories more than Kairi." Sora finally started to speak, "I mean, you don't know her, and I don't know about your memories or their king. But that doesn't mean I don't want to help. And I will make sure you get to meet Kairi. Trust me, you'll like her."
Philia looked at Sora, who smiled back at her, and continued, "And the guys are right, too. You're more level-headed than the rest of us. Especially Donald."
"Hey, what's that suppose to mean?!" Donald squawked at him, causing Goofy to chuckle.
"What I'm trying to say is that you not only are a strong fighter, but you're smarter than us, and help us when we're unsure or at odds with one another. I don't know if we could've made it this far without you. So don't say you want to leave us now. I want you to stay with us until we all find what we're looking for."
Philia looked down, and from the four boys point of view, they could see small beads starting to form around her eyes. "You guys...really don't think I'll slow you down? You don't think I'll prevent you from finding Kairi or your king?" Her voice croaked as she held back the urge to cry.
"No way. I know you won't stop us from finding them." Sora replied.
"I bet we can find them even faster together." Donald assumed.
"All for one, and one for all, right?" Goofy declared, giving a big smile at her.
Philia tearfully looked up, the waterworks dripping down her face as she looked at the four greatest friends she had. Sora reached out to her, giving her a welcoming smile.
She wiped away the tears on her face as she stifled, "How...how did I end up with such great friends like you guys?" They all smiled happily at her words, as she finally reached out and took Sora's hand, gently wrapping her fingers around his. Her faith was renewed in being part of the team. Plus, she felt there was something else. She seemed to see Sora in a new light. He may be childish, but he was a dependable person. If anything, the reason why she left with them in the first place was more than just because of the Keyblade. It was because of him.
The team returned to the First District once more, finding Cid and showing him the new navigation Gummi piece. "Got another one, eh?" Cid asked, "I'll bet you want it installed."
"Yes, please." Sora replied.
"Hmm..." Cid examined the Gummi block carefully, "Looks like this is another one of those blocks that come in sets. You gotta find the mate to this one."
"Roger that!" Donald answered.
"We'd better keep an eye out for where that other Gummi piece is." Goofy told the group, who nodded in response.
"By the way, I should probably tell you this, but I saw some strange new kid enter into the Accessory shop." Cid added, "Pretty weird one, too. Looked like he was made outta wood."
"Made out of wood?" Philia echoed, confused.
Jiminy, who hopped out of Sora's pocket, was unusually surprised. "Could it really be...? Sora, Philia, let's go to the shop. I get the feelin' I might know who that is!" Confused, the four went to the shop under Jiminy's request, finding the strange new boy.
When they entered, they immediately saw the boy that was spoken about. While he had the appearance of a boy, indeed, he had characteristics that clearly showed he was more a wooden marionette. However, there were no strings on him, but he looked alive. Clothing-wise, he wore yellow hat with a red feather in it, brown shoes, white gloves, a tan, short-sleeved shirt under a black vest with gold lining, red shorts, and a blue bow on the front of his shirt.
"Well, well, as I live and breathe!" Jiminy chuckled, seeing the boy, "If it isn't Pinocchio!"
He hopped down as the boy looked up, seeing the cricket in front of him. "Oh! Hi, Jiminy!" He greeted, surprising the four behind a bit. They didn't expect him to be alive, let alone be able to talk.
"What in the world are you doing down here?" Jiminy asked.
"Um... Playing hide-and-seek." Pinocchio answered simply.
Jiminy sighed and began pacing. "I just don't believe it. And here I was, up all night, just worried sick about you. Why of all the-."
"Whoa, what the-?!" Philia gasped, getting Jiminy's attention to Pinocchio. As it turns out, the moment Pinocchio answered Jiminy's last question, his nose suddenly grew out like a branch, becoming practically two inches longer than before.
"His nose grew!" Sora gasped.
"Never saw that before." Goofy muttered.
"Pinocchio!" Jiminy scolded the boy, "Are you telling the truth?"
"Yes!" The wooden boy answered.
"Then tell me, what is this?" Jiminy asked, looking at an item next to Pinocchio.
"It was a present." Pinocchio's nose suddenly grew a bit more.
"No fibbing, now!" Jiminy warned him, "You know you're not supposed to tell lies. A lie only grows and grows, 'til you get caught! Plain as the nose on your face!"
"So lying makes his nose grow?" Sora questioned, looking at Donald, who shrugged.
"If only that worked on some other people." Philia muttered, thinking on maybe a few select enemies in the past.
"But if you want something, why wait?" Pinocchio asked, "Why not just take it?"
"Doesn't he realize that's just plain stealing?!" Philia whispered in Goofy's ear.
"Oh, my!" Jiminy gasped, appalled at what he heard, "Who told you that?! You need some advice from your conscience!"
"That's right! You're my conscience, Jiminy!" Pinocchio understood, "I'll never tell lies as long as you're around." Suddenly, as if it happened because he started to see reason, Pinocchio's nose suddenly reverted back to normal.
"You need to be good so you can become a real boy." Jiminy told him, "You promised Geppetto you would be, right?"
"Oh! Do you know where Father is?" The wooden boy asked.
"He's not with you?"
"Jiminy, let's go find Father!"
"Now, hold on!" Jiminy stopped him, "There are all sorts of dangers and temptations out there! I'll go find Geppetto, so you just wait here." He turned to his four companions as he finished, "These fellows here will be helpin' me."
"We will?" Sora asked, then after an elbow to his rib cage from Philia, he corrected, "O-Of course we will! I mean, you could've asked us first, but..."
"Then it's settled. I know what Geppetto looks like, so I'll keep an eye out for him while we go on our adventure!" Jiminy declared, hopping onto Sora's shoulder.
"Maybe you should tell us your story about you and Pinocchio here, too, while you're at it." Philia added, looking to the boy, who stood onto his feet, "Something tells me it is quite the story."
The team left the accessory shop, waving goodbye to Pinocchio while they did. As they left to head to their Gummi Ship, Philia stopped and looked to the are where Riku gave her the warning about letting Sora go on his way without her distracting him.
'I wonder...was Riku being honest with me?' she wondered, 'At first, I believed he was doing this for Sora, and for the right intentions. But now... I should've realized it before, but I sensed a hint of jealousy in his words. Was he purposely trying to pull me and Sora apart? Why? What was the gain for his friend losing more allies?'
Sora stopped and called out, "What are you doing, Philia? We're going back to the ship!"
Philia looked back at Sora, who waved her over, with Donald and Goofy right behind him, waving at her to come along. She smiled at her friends as she mentally finished, 'I'd better not tell Sora what Riku said to me. They are friends, after all. And that kind of baggage is something Sora should not have with him. I'll be sure to do my part to keep the four of us together, and find what we're looking for!' She raced towards them, as they exited through the door, and boarded their ship.
When they all settled in, they discovered something. A note was left on the control board. "What's this?" Sora asked, grabbing the letter and looking at it for a moment, before gasping, "It's from Hades!"
"He placed it in here?!" Philia gasped, while the other two were stunned.
"He's saying there's a new tournament at the Olympus Coliseum!" Sora read, "It says 'come and fight to the death, unless you're afraid'."
"We're not afraid!" Donald squawked.
"I don't think we should go." Goofy muttered.
"Actually, it might not be a bad idea." Philia's response surprised the group, "Tournaments like that will be a good way for us to train and gain experience. We all need to get stronger, so let's take on that challenge. Besides, there might be a prize for winning the tournament."
"I like the sound of that!" Sora agreed, taking the controls of the ship, "Alright! Olympus Coliseum, here we come! Then, it's off to our next adventure!" He got the ship into the sky, and nearly caused the ship to lose control. However, Philia stopped him, taking the controls instead, and guiding their ship off to the coliseum, prepared to show the Lord of the Underworld they could best the tournament.
On the next 'Sword Art Kingdom: Heart's Origin'
'Agrabah! Jasmine & the Genie!'