Prologue
(Philia speaking) Hi, my name is Philia. A while ago, I ended up getting sent away from my world, and now I have no memory of my past, other than my skills with a dagger and the fact that I was a treasure hunter. I am currently joining alongside my new friends Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy, as we journey to different worlds, and using the power of Sora's Keyblade to stop the dark threat known as the Heartless, and sealing the Keyholes before the Heartless take the hearts of the worlds.
Last time, we ended up in a world containing the city of Agrabah, which had been overrun by Heartless, thanks to a vizier named Jafar, who usurped the throne from the sultan. We met the princess of Agrabah, Jasmine, who was being hunted down by Jafar. While Sora, Donald and Goofy went to find Aladdin, a person close to Jasmine, I stuck around to learn that Maleficent was in this world, and that Jafar said Jasmine was a 'Princess of Heart'. But before I could learn more, Jafar appeared and knocked me out.
Sora's team returned with Aladdin, along with Abu, and the Genie of the Lamp. However, Jafar had the upper hand on them, and stole Genie, Jasmine, and took them to the Cave of Wonders. We pursued and discovered him again, and saw Maleficent for the first time. However, she escaped, and we fought Jafar, saving Genie and Jasmine. Even when he used his final wish to become a genie, we still managed to turn his power against him, sealing him and his parrot, Iago, in his lamp.
However, this victory was short-lived, as Jasmine was already taken away. And last I saw, the person who stole her was none other than Sora's friend, Riku. First, he tries to convince me to leave Sora in Traverse Town, and now he is stealing a princess? What is his game?! I can't let Sora know I saw these things, or else I might wreck Riku or my friendship with him. Hopefully, with Genie now part of our team, and new equipment and powers for us, we can finally get to the bottom of the Princesses of Heart, Riku's intentions, and finding what we are searching for!
(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 flew through the air as they continued their path forward...well, after recalling a few spots where they remembered in other worlds. Thanks to the Genie, they learned to perform the Green Quartet together, which gave them more ways to gather things about. The most useful time they used it for so far was back in Twilight Town, where they found a floor above Cid's old shop, which contained the Moogle's official workshop. They did find another postcard and more puppies up there.
"I wonder what the next world's gonna be like?" Sora asked, pressing his face near the front of the glass dome, "I hope we'll be able to find Kairi there."
"Or the King!" Donald added, piloting the ship.
"And let's not forget Alice and Jasmine." Jiminy finished, looking at his journal to see if there were any grammatical errors, "We keep getting more and more on our plate with every world we head to."
"True, but we keep getting stronger and stronger, as well!" Sora added, "And we're becoming a stronger as a team, too."
"It's about time you noticed!" Donald squawked, "We'll be able to conquer all the Heartless that come at us!"
"I just hope there aren't any surprises too big for us to handle." Jiminy prayed, closing his book and looking upwards.
In the back room, Philia had just left the restroom, wiping her hands with a paper towel and saw Goofy waiting in the narrow hallway. "You're free to go." she told him.
"Thanks." The anthropomorphic dog replied, squeezing past her, and going into the the bathroom. He closed the door as Philia tossed the towel in a garbage bin. "So..." Goofy continued, "When're you gonna tell Sora about what happened between you and Riku in Traverse Town?"
Philia paused, looking down at the floor. She nearly forgotten she had told Goofy about that incident he spoke of. The moment where Riku nearly convinced Philia to leave the gang. "I don't know yet." Philia answered, "It might get too awkward if I tell him now about it yet."
"Aw, Sora ain't that kind of a person." Goofy assured her, "He knows you aren't bad, and he knows Riku must've been lookin' out for him. What's the harm in tellin' him?"
Philia looked to the bathroom door, sadly. 'It's more harmful now than it was when I told you, Goofy. Especially since...' She could still recall what happened. Before falling into the pit where they fought Jafar the final time, she could clearly see the black portal open up, and Riku reaching out to Jasmine, about to take her. She couldn't even stop him then, and she knew that he was the culprit to her disappearance. It was bad enough to know what he tried to do before, but now...she really questioned if Riku was on their side, or was helping Jafar and Maleficent on obtaining Jasmine.
"Guys! On deck, now!" Donald shouted through the speaker. His voice sounded like he was in a panic.
"Hold on! I'm washin' my hands!" Goofy called through the door, as Philia raced up on deck.
Philia was the first to be on deck, and saw the reason for Donald's haste. There, floating in the space before them, was something that the treasure hunter never expected. "A whale?!" Philia exclaimed, seeing a large, gray whale 'swimming' through space before them.
As Goofy came up to join them, they saw the whale suddenly get near them, then fly straight above them. "It's a giant whale!" Goofy exclaimed.
"I just said that!" Philia told him, as Jiminy hopped onto Sora's head in shock.
"That's Monstro!" The cricket exclaimed, "He's a whale of a whale, and vicious besides!"
"Whoa! Donald, get us outta here!" Sora told the duck at the wheel, seeing the whale circle around, fly ahead of them, before turning to come at them again. It's mouth suddenly opened wide.
"Too late! It's gonna swallow us!" Donald cried as everyone screamed in panic, their Gummi Ship suddenly being buffered all over the place, unable to land safely. Then, total darkness.
Sora fell unconscious, but his mind suddenly went to a memory. A memory about him and Riku when they were younger. It was when Sora discovered something on the Destiny Islands.
"It's true! I saw it with my own eyes!"
"You sure you didn't just hear it this time? What difference does it make?"
"There's a huge monster in there, I tell you!"
"All right. Suppose there really is a monster... Think we can beat it by ourselves, Sora?"
"No problem. Let's do it! ...Listen! There! Can you hear it growling?"
"Shh. Quiet. We gotta be careful."
Sora remembered how he and Riku wandered into the cave to discover the source of the noise. Unfortunately, the answer was not what he wanted.
"See that? It was just the wind making that noise."
"Aw, man. I wish it was a monster! ...Hold on! What's that over there?"
"A window, or maybe a door? It won't open."
"Geez, is that really all that's in here?"
"What do you expect in a boring place like this? ...Hey, Sora."
"Hm?"
"When we grow up, let's get off this island. We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!"
"Sure. But isn't there anything fun to do now?"
"Hey, you know the new girl at the mayor's house? Did you hear?"
"Knock it off!" Donald's voice roared in his ears. He woke and saw Philia kneeling next to him, with Jiminy on her shoulder. Both look relieved by him waking up before her.
"He's coming around, you guys!" She called out to the gang.
Donald and Goofy joined their side as Sora got into a sit-up position, massaging his head. "Hey, Sora. Are you okay?" Goofy asked, his shield held over his head.
"I've...been better." he answered, looking about, "Where are we, anyway?"
"Nowhere good..." Philia muttered, her ears perking up as she heard something fall in from behind. She turned around and snatched a container that came in from above.
"Uh, ya know, I think that big ol' whale Monstro just swallowed us." Goofy pointed out the obvious, "And for today's weather: expect showers." The moment he lowered his shield from his head, a bottle fell on top of his head, landing on the ground near him. "Heavy showers!" He added.
Sora looked about, and saw their Gummi Ship. It was still miraculously intact, but on an angle, its' right wing caught in between a pile of wooden planks, facing the back of the mouth. "Can we get out?" He asked.
"Not with Monstro's mouth closed, we can't." Philia sighed, before getting knocked in the head by a rock, putting her in a slight dizzy spell.
"Hey! Who's there?!" Donald demanded, looking high above them to see someone was actually high above them, rummaging through a treasure box.
"It sounds...like wood moving around." Philia compared, hearing the sound of something like wooden joints.
The person suddenly lifted his face and looked down at the team. The group recognized the character as he responded to Donald's question by answering, "It's me!"
"Oh, it's just Pinocchio..." Donald noticed casually, but after three seconds, he gasped, "Pinocchio?!"
"Pinocchio?!" Jiminy gasped, seeing him pick something up and walk away, "Pinocch, where are you going? Pinocch!" He didn't seem to listen to them at all, so Jiminy told the team, "Come on, everybody! After him! Quick!"
The team tried to leap up to where Pinocchio was before, which was on a pile of crates and wooden boards. However, the area was too high for them to leap up to, and there were no gripping points safe for their hands to reach. It seemed the only way to make their way to where the wooden boy went to...was across the water.
"Is it sanitary?" Philia questioned, looking at the water, "I mean, we're in the mouth of this whale. We're basically looking at saliva..." Before she could say any more, she ended up getting splashed as Sora dove into the mouth water. She grimaced as she shook her hands and arms.
"It seems fine to me." Sora told her, "Besides, you have any other way to get across?" Donald and Goofy looked to one another, then leapt into the water, causing Philia to flinch at the water spraying her.
She watched the trio started to swim away from her. "Come on, Philia!" Jiminy told her, hopping onto her head, "We need to catch up with them and Pinocch! I want to know how he ended up here in the first place."
Philia paused, mulling over the options. Finally, she exclaimed, "Okay, fine! But don't think I'll enjoy doing this!" She slowly placed her legs into the water, before she was at waist-level. She then started swimming after the trio, with Jiminy on her head, and her thoughts wondering what bad mojo did she gain for this.
As soon as the team were about halfway across the water, they discovered a wooden boat lodged to one side of the place. As they drew nearer, they could hear an elderly man's voice ask, "What have you got there, Pinocchio?"
"With this, we can get out of here, Father." The wooden boy answered.
The team climbed onto the edge of the boat to see Pinocchio standing there, with two other figures. One was a tuxedo kitten. The other was a white-haired old man with a white mustache, blue eyes, and glasses hanging on the bridge of his reddened nose. He wore a wore an open red vest over a white shirt with a pointed collar and rolled-up sleeve, a red and yellow-patterned belt wrapped around his belly, black pants and shoes. Away from them was fish bowl with a goldfish in it.
"Really? With this big block? You think so?" The father asked.
"It's true." Sora answered, drawing the attention towards them, "So, how did you end up here, Pinocchio?"
As they climbed aboard, the old man gasped, "Oh, my. So the whale swallowed all of you, too? My goodness."
"Seems like it." Philia answered, wringing her hoodie of the saliva, "So, who might you be?"
"My name is Geppetto. I'm Pinocchio's father." The old man introduced himself, "When we got separated, I traveled all over, looking for him. Thank goodness we're together again." As Pinocchio seemingly wandered off, Geppetto grabbed the large, green block Pinocchio discovered, and carried it to the back of the boat as he continued, "So, you seem to know Pinocchio quite well. I hope he was a good boy in my absence."
'Probably won't say anything about him stealing something.' Sora mentally noted.
"Well, we've all had quite a journey. Right, Pinocchio?" Geppetto looked about, and realized his son was nowhere around them. "Pinocchio?" he called out.
"I think he wandered off." Donald noticed.
"We'll look for him, Geppetto." Sora assured him, "You'd better stay here."
"Oh, I hope he hasn't gotten himself into trouble..." Geppetto muttered, looking about.
"There's a path over that way." Goofy pointed out a path forward, surrounded by a ring of bones. The three boys went on ahead, entering into the 'cavern'.
"Are we really going to go further into the body of this whale?" Philia questioned, an expression of disgust crossing her face, "As if being in his mouth was too much..."
"Right now, Pinocch has gone missing, and we NEED to find him." Jiminy reminded, hopping on her shoulder, "So let's not think about where we are, but where he is."
"Well, obviously, you boys don't fully care about how gross it is being inside of a living creature!" Philia retorted, racing after the boys.
When they arrived in the first chamber past the gate, they discovered Pinocchio hiding behind a wall, with his head poking out in view for all the team to see.
"What are you doing?" Sora questioned him, "Come on, let's go back."
"You know, Geppetto's awfully worried about you." Goofy mentioned.
"Pinocchio, this is no time to be fooling around!" Philia argued.
"Agreed. We've had enough of these games!" Sora finished, turning around and waving Pinocchio to follow them.
"But Sora, I thought you liked games." A familiar voice behind them made the heroes stop, startling Sora and Philia, "Or are you too cool to play them now that you have the Keyblade?" The team turned and saw, to their utter bewilderment, Riku standing there, right next to Pinocchio, looking at the group with glaring eyes and a not-so-pleasant smile.
"Riku!" Sora gasped, "Wh-What are you doing here?!"
"Just playing with Pinocchio." He answered, looking to Sora and his friends, specifically at Philia.
'Him again!' The treasure hunter exclaimed in her mind, shocked to see him. Seeing at this was the third time seeing him, she questioned how he ended up here in the first place. But more importantly, what was he planning to do?
"You know what I mean!" Sora barked at him, "What about Kairi? Did you find her?"
"Maybe." Riku answered nonchalantly, "Catch us, and maybe I'll tell you what I know."
"You'd better...!" Philia growled, giving him a warning glare, which he returned. He then took Pinocchio's hand, and dragged him along. "Get back here! You got some questions I want answering!" Philia barked, chasing after him, with Jiminy holding onto her shoulder for dear life, calling out for Pinocchio.
"Wait, Philia, come back!" Sora shouted, seeing her run recklessly ahead.
"She seems pretty angry for some reason." Donald noticed.
"Yeah. I wonder if it has to do with what Riku told her in Traverse Town?" Goofy wondered out loud. Loud enough for the others to hear.
"What?" Sora asked, turning to Goofy, who suddenly realized his blunder, and covered his mouth. "What do you mean what Riku said to her?"
"Well..." Goofy muttered, worried on whether he should spill the beans. However, he heard a foot tapping, and saw Donald's glare, as if mentally demanding him to tell them what they don't know.
However, before they could get any further with the conversation, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by Heartless. They looked like ghosts, with one eye popped out and hanging on a thread. These were Search Ghost Heartless. The trio readied their weapons, and prepared to fight to catch up with Philia.
Up ahead, Philia and Jiminy were trying to catch up with Riku, but several issues ended up getting in their way. One of the two biggest issues is the fact that Heartless kept appearing shortly after Riku and Pinocchio left the scene. And it wasn't just Search Ghosts, but also Shadows, Large Bodies, Air Soldiers, Yellow Operas, Barrel Spiders, and Green Requiems. The second part was the multiple chambers and winding paths that Monstro seemed to have inside him. The paths would turn her around, and bring her back to a previous chamber. Some even required the team to use barrels to reach higher areas. On the brighter note, they did seem to find treasures here and there, including another Torn Page and Dalmatians.
Philia and Jiminy eventually reunited with Sora, Donald and Goofy, and continued to fight together. Sora did want to question Philia about what Goofy was talking about before, but the amount of Heartless, and the haste made to catch up with Riku and Pinocchio was distracting them from discussing the topic. Plus, they had no idea where they were going, what with the branching paths. They had to have their minds in the game.
Up ahead, Riku was alone, wandering into one chamber. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice asked, "Why do you still care about that boy?" He turned and saw Maleficent approaching him, appearing from out of nowhere. "He has all but deserted you for the Keyblade and his new companions, after all."
"I don't care about him. I was just messing with him a little." Riku answered, waving away Maleficent's worries with his hand.
"Oh really? Of course you were." Maleficent responded, her tone showing a slight bit of disbelief, but she continued, "Beware the darkness in your heart. The Heartless prey upon it."
"Mind your own business!" Riku barked as she opened up a black portal, and vanished into it, closing the door behind, leaving a glaring Riku alone.
In a nearby chamber, Philia and Goofy's ears perked up, hearing Riku. "Did you hear that?" Goofy asked, looking to her.
"Pretty sure." She answered, her eyes narrowing.
"Look!" Donald shouted, pointing something out. Pinocchio suddenly appeared, racing into the next chamber over.
"After him!" Sora shouted, and he led the team onward, after the wooden boy.
When they made it to the next chamber, they skidded to a halt, as they saw Pinocchio climb up and run past Riku, escaping into the next chamber, leaving the heroes alone with the white-haired boy.
"Riku!" Sora looked bewildered at his BF's behavior, "What's the matter with you? What are you thinking? Don't you realize what you're doing?"
"I was about to ask you two the same thing, Sora, Philia." He addressed the pair of humans amongst the team, "I thought I gave you a fair argument about leaving Sora alone so he could go and find Kairi, not search for your memories."
Sora looked bewildered as he looked to Philia, who growled, "Yeah, and I almost chose to do that. But Sora and my friends convinced me otherwise. What I wanna know is were you telling me that to help your friend out, or keep me from him and leave him vulnerable?"
Sora looked between his two friends, finally realizing why Philia suddenly became unsure about rejoining the team back in Traverse Town. He then demanded to Riku, "Is that true? Why would you tell her to keep away from me?! She's not hindering me from finding Kairi!"
"Are you sure you're still looking for her?" Riku questioned him, "You only seem interested in running around and showing off that Keyblade these days. Do you even want to save Kairi?"
"I do!" Sora responded, finding it disbelieving Riku would question his goals.
"Sora isn't 'showing off' his Keyblade, as you believe." Philia retorted, "Why are you judging your friend so negatively?" Her eyes narrowed as she asked, "Tell me something; What have you been doing since you left your home?" Riku didn't make an immediate response to her question, but continued to glare back at her.
Suddenly, the group heard Pinocchio's scream coming from the chamber behind Riku. They all looked with startled expressions, while Jiminy cried out, "Pinocch! He's in danger!"
"Quick! We gotta go save him!" Sora told his friends, looking to Riku as he added, "Come with us! We could use all the help we can to save him!"
"You can't be serious?!" Philia questioned him.
"He's still my best friend." Sora told her, looking back at Riku, "He should fight alongside us so he can see what WE have been through all this time." He leapt up to Riku, and raised a hand to him. "Let's go, like old times." He told his best friend.
Riku looked down at his raised hand, then up at Sora, who grinned at him. Riku closed his eye, then turned away as he answered, "Fine... Like old times." He wandered on ahead to where Pinocchio was at, with Sora racing right behind him.
Donald and Goofy climbed up and joined them, but Philia paused. His tone and behavior towards Sora proved he couldn't be trusted. And what's more, it made her believe even further that it was Riku who kidnapped Jasmine. If that was true, then he could be working alongside those like Jafar or Maleficent. And he was taking Sora's friendship to his advantage, right now. That could mean he could attack Sora at anytime. 'I have to protect Sora!' She told herself, 'Riku has definitely been tainted in darkness, and Sora hasn't realized it!' Philia made a dash to catch up with the team.
The team entered into the next large room, which they didn't realize were the bowels, they discovered why Pinocchio had screamed. He was trapped in the jaws of a plant-like Heartless. It had two faces; one cream one for the head, with thorns on its' chin, and one yellow one with orange stripes for the body, with fangs like cage bars, trapping Pinocchio within. There was pink, heart-shaped base underneath the body with four green roots underneath. It had an orange curl on top of its' head, and green tentacles with yellow ends, decorated with light blue fringes, orange stripes and a pair of black thorns on each.
"You up for this?" Riku asked Sora.
"No problem." Sora answered confidently, pulling out his Keyblade, "Let's do it!"
Philia produced her Heartless book, looking through enemies list. "The Parasite Cage." she noticed, "It's a pretty dangerous Heartless. Watch out for those tentacles!"
As if to set up what she was warning, the Parasite Cage stretched out its' tentacles, and slammed them at the team, who all split up. "Help me out of here!" Pinocchio shouted, shaking at the tentacle-like bars.
"Hold on, Pinocch!" Jiminy cried out as he held onto Philia's shoulder.
The team charged in, with Donald holding back and unleashing Fire spells at the top face of the Heartless. Philia and Sora went in first, slashing at the bars with their weapons, trying to break Pinocchio out of there. However, the body was durable, and they couldn't break their friend out. It swung its' tentacles down at the pair, and they were sent flying backwards.
Riku made a tremendous leap to the Parasite Cage, unleashing slashes with his weapon; a sword that looked like a black and red devil wing with a blue eye. The Heartless tried knocking Riku away with a tentacle, but he leapt over it, avoiding the attack, and landing near the edge of the room.
"Nice athletics." Goofy complimented, fending off a whack from the monster's tentacles.
"Riku's been really improving his skills since we left the islands." Sora noticed, ducking underneath a swing, and unleashing a Thunder spell.
Philia watched the boys as she unleashed her Fad Edge Dagger skill, then at Riku, who parried a swing from the tentacles. He was pretty skilled, far more than Sora. And he wasn't even using magic. But she also noticed he was holding back. It was as if he was intentionally not trying to give Sora all the help he could muster. This was not a good feeling to her.
"Philia!" Donald cried out. Philia soon realized she was being distracted by Riku, and got whipped by the Parasite Cage's tentacles. She tumbled to the wall, but got back up onto her feet again, seeing Donald trying to go in for an attack, now that he ran out of magic, only for him to get knocked back by the monster's tentacle.
Sora was parrying off the tentacles, and continuously slashing combos against the Parasite Cage, trying to free Pinocchio. The Heartless then raised its' tentacles high, revealing clamp-like hands on its' end, and bringing them together. It looked like it was gonna hammer its' connected tentacles onto Sora.
Philia looked to see Riku was standing there, watching this happen. It didn't look like he planned to go save him or even call out to Sora. In fact, Philia almost saw a smirk forming on his face. She went and hurriedly ran to Sora, shouting, "Above you!" Sora looked up in time to see the Parasite Cage bring its' arms down at him. Philia unleashed her Blizzara spell, striking the tentacles to slow it down just enough to reach Sora and push him out of the way. Unfortunately, the tentacles hammered down on Philia, striking her back and flattening her to the ground, causing her to gag in pain.
"Philia!" Sora, Donald and Goofy cried out, seeing her condition. Riku looked startled, seeing her sacrificial act to protect Sora. He didn't think she was go this far to help him out.
"I got her!" Sora growled, grabbing Philia, and backing her away from the Heartless, and making sure she was able to stay on her feet.
"I-I'm okay." Philia assured him, her legs shaking a bit, but giving an attempted smile at Sora, "I got your back, okay?" Sora gave a toothy grin, glad to have her back him up. Riku could only narrow his eyes at this.
"Look out!" Goofy shouted, raising his shield to protect the pair from a whack from the Parasite Cage.
"I'll make you pay for hurting Philia!" Sora growled, leaving her behind and hammering his Keyblade on the tentacle, forcing it to the ground, where it laid limp. He then unleashed Gravity, forcing its' body to feel flattened to the ground, before unleashing a Sonic Blade technique, striking it several times from all about, harming its' base until it reeled in pain, nearly toppling on its' back.
Everyone looked to see the Parasite Cage recover slightly, but knew it was outmatched in this situation. It had an idea, and grabbed the roof of the room they were in, hoisting itself into a dangling position. It then opened its' mouth, and threw Pinocchio out of its body. Sora raced to catch him, but nearly fell into a hole that suddenly opened up in the middle of the floor. Pinocchio was sent flying into the hole, disappearing from sight.
"Pinocchio!" Sora cried out, seeing him vanish. Riku suddenly dashed passed him, and leapt into the hole without fear, going after Pinocchio. "Riku, wait!" Sora cried out, reaching out to him.
"We gotta go after them." Philia told Sora, using a potion to heal herself, while Jiminy hopped out of her pocket, "Riku might be after Pinocchio, too. He did seem to take an interest in him, for some reason."
"But why?" Donald asked.
"I don't know..." she muttered, "But I do know it can't be for a good reason." She leapt into the hole after Riku.
"What is she talking about?" Sora asked, "She doesn't trust Riku?" Donald and Goofy looked at one another with worried expressions. Philia knew something none of them knew. And to find that out, they needed to go after her. With that idea set, they dove into the hole after the other three.
When they finally landed, they discovered they were straight back onto Geppetto's boat in the mouth of Monstro once more. Philia and Jiminy were standing alongside the man himself on the plank, as he was looking up at a higher part of the room, where Riku was standing, holding a limp Pinocchio under one arm.
"Pinocchio! Pinocchio!" Geppetto called out to his son.
"Give him back, Riku!" Philia barked, "He's more important to Geppetto than to you!"
"That's what you think." Riku retorted, "I have some unfinished business with this puppet."
"He is no puppet!" Geppetto retorted, "Pinocchio is my little boy!"
"He is unusual. Not many puppets have hearts." Riku pointed out, "I'm not sure, but maybe he can help someone who's lost theirs."
"Wait a minute. Are you talking about Kairi?" Sora asked insistently, joining their sides.
"What do you care about her?" Riku questioned him, "You care more for Philia than her now, don't you? She just suddenly arrives and fills Kairi's place so easily in your life."
"Wha- Where is this coming from?!" Sora demanded, finding it shocking to hear Riku say such a thing.
"Never mind that." Philia growled, her fists curled as she was about to confront him with what she learned in the last world, "Are you taking Pinocchio to the same place...where you took Jasmine?"
Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy all looked shocked at her accusation towards Riku. The boy in question glared down at her, as she continued, "That was you, wasn't it? I saw you sneak in to take Jasmine before. Are you working for Maleficent? Tell me!"
There was a moment of silence between them, before Riku answered, "I'm only working for her until I find Kairi. You just stay out of the way!" With that, he turned and walked away.
"Riku!" Sora shouted, watching him leave with Pinocchio. There was silence for a second, before he looked to Philia, who looked down to the ground.
"I'm sorry, Sora..." she apologized, looking to him and her friends.
"Why didn't you tell me you saw Riku take Jasmine?!" Sora demanded, "And for that matter, why didn't you say anything about what he said to you in Traverse Town?!"
"...I thought at first that Riku was just being protective of you back then." Philia started, "I didn't want something like that to harm your friendship with him. However, when I saw Jasmine about to be kidnapped by him, I suddenly started to feel like he was doing all of this with dark intentions. I can believe he's looking for Kairi, but he's betraying everyone else in the process...even your friendship." She looked up at Sora with a serious expression, "I didn't want to be responsible for your friendship being broken. And if I was wrong, it might cause our friendship to be harmed. So I wasn't sure until...until I knew I had reasons to prove I was right about him."
Sora looked down at the ground, seeing his reflection in the water. Finally, he looked up with a glare at Sora as he told her, "Telling me these things won't harm my friendship with Riku. He's just on a bad path right now, and I'll make sure he gets back on the right path again. Besides, he's trying to help Kairi, like we are. So you had nothing to worry about."
He smiled at Philia as he finished, "I'm glad you are worried about our friendship, but please, be honest with me. I can take it. I just don't want you to bottle something up for my sake, okay?"
Philia looked at Sora with a touched heart. She was worried he would be hurt badly by Riku's betrayal, but he wasn't. She was worried he would be angry at her for hiding this info, but he wasn't. Everything was not how she expected...and she was glad about that.
She smiled as she asked, "You're way too kind for your own good, you know that?" Sora scratched his chin, chuckling a bit.
"Tell me about it..." Donald grumbled.
"A-hyuck! Told ya so!" Goofy told Philia.
Jiminy hopped over onto Sora's shoulder as he called out, "I'm glad you had things settled, but now, we need to go and save Pinocch!"
"Right. We'd better go, or we'll lose em!" Donald understood.
"But how are we gonna get up there?" Sora asked, looking up at the area Riku was at before, "I don't see a reachable path to there!"
"Here, maybe this can help." Geppetto told them, and he held out an orb of light in his cupped hands, "This just arrived recently. I can't seem to do anything with it, but perhaps you can use it for something."
The light floated out of Geppetto's hands, and floated into the center of the group. The light sparkled, and dispersed, enveloping the four heroes. Suddenly, they felt light on their feet, like they could make grander leaps and strides.
"What did that do to us?" Donald questioned, raising one foot at a time.
"I don't know, but maybe..." Philia looked up at the broken roof of the boat, and took a leap up towards it. She was slightly surprised to see she had leapt even higher than before, at least twice as high. She managed to reach the roof with ease.
"Wow! You soared so high!" Goofy noticed.
"My goodness!" Geppetto gasped.
"Did that light suddenly make us jump higher?" Sora asked, looking at his feet. He then looked to one of the wooden plank floating in the water. He ran towards it, leaping over the water much further than before, and landing on the plank, stumbling a bit, but catching himself at the edge.
"This'll come in handy!" Sora cheered, waving at the team.
"Then let's use this power to catch up with Riku and Pinocchio!" Philia told the group, hopping down next to Donald and Goofy, who nodded in agreement. Sora gave a determined nod, wanting to help his friend. Both of them. Jiminy, who was still on Sora's shoulder, hopped into his pocket, hiding from view as he made his way back to the team.
They made their way up to where Riku was at before, and entered into what they assumed was the throat of the whale. The path was vertical, with several platforms that led the team upwards. Of course, there were Heartless that were constantly getting in their path, making it tough for the heroes to keep moving. They had to take care of the enemies before moving on.
"There's the path upwards!" Sora called out, pointing to a hole at the top.
"That must be heading into the stomach!" Philia assumed, "I'm hoping they don't fall into the acid in there."
"Yeah... Pinocchio will be in danger if he falls into it!" Donald realized, taking out the last Search Ghost before joining the team at the highest platform. They took one huge leap, and went through the hole together to reach the stomach.
When they entered in, they discovered the room was slightly bigger than the bowels. There were platforms all about the walls, a small platform in the middle, surrounded by lime green acidic liquid that bubbled and steamed, already showing how dangerous it was. Riku was on the far side of the room, with a barely conscious Pinocchio sitting there, his eyes closed.
"Let Pinocchio go, Riku!" Sora barked, drawing his 'friend's' attention.
"A puppet that's lost its heart to the Heartless. Maybe it holds the key to help Kairi." Riku assumed, "How about it, Sora? Let's join forces to save her. We can do it together!"
He hopped over to the platform in the middle, and reached out to Sora, who looked to his friends, then back at Riku. He trusted Riku, and he was his best friend growing up on the Destiny Islands. However, this was different. Riku changed to someone who was not on the right path. He was not only trying to keep his new friends away from him, but he was kidnapping other people for the sake of 'helping Kairi'. He was demoting Sora, feeling like he was betraying their friendship. Riku was not the same person he was before, and Sora wasn't gonna join him like this.
He got into his fighter's stance, readying his Keyblade. Philia saw this, and quickly got into her fighter's stance, ready to fight by his side.
"What? You'd rather fight me? Over a puppet that has no heart?" Riku questioned, looking at the both of them, particularly at Philia, "Is this your doing? You're turning him away from me, aren't you?"
"What? No!" Philia retorted, "No one could replace your friendship with Sora. Nor am I making him turn away from you. I not that cruel of a person! As a matter of fact, Sora's been helping me be more honest, and teaching me what it means to cherish my friendship with everyone. I trust in the path he's guiding me on. I trust him FAR more than you, because like Pinocchio, I have a conscience."
"Conscience?" Riku echoed, confused.
"You might not hear it, but right now it's loud and clear." Sora followed Philia, "And it's telling me you're on the wrong side!"
Riku closed his eyes, seeing there was no convincing Sora, nor stopping Philia from being apart from him. "Then you leave me with no choice." He sighed, pulling out his sword, and readying himself to fight.
He pushed off the ground and made a straight dash at Sora. However, Philia was there to meet him, placing her dagger up in defense as Riku brought his sword down on it. The clang of metal upon metal echoed all throughout the chamber, as Philia and Riku both glared harshly at one another, refusing to let the other one have their way with Sora. The boy in question looked shocked and worried at his two friends clashing, feeling discomfort at the fight that was about to start.
At this point, Jiminy had snuck over and leapt onto the platform Pinocchio was on. "Pinocchio! Pinocchio!" He cried out in worry, fearing the worst for his dear friend.
Pinocchio weakly opened his eyes, barely able to hold on as he muttered, "Jiminy... I'm not gonna make it."
Jiminy panicked, not wanting to lose him. However, just as he did so, something miraculous happened, that told him all he needed to know. Pinocchio's nose grew like it did in Traverse Town. That meant what he said was false. Pinocchio saw his nose, and smiled as he said, "Oh! I guess I'm okay!" Jiminy beamed in joy, and hopped like the cricket he was, happy to see his buddy was gonna be alright.
Sora, Donald and Goofy looked happily at their friend's recovery. Riku and Philia, were pressing their blades against one another, both had different expressions at the sight; Philia was pleased, while Riku was displeased. "Guess the puppet's conscience saved his heart." the young lady sassed at her opponent.
Riku gritted his teeth as he and Philia pushed away from one another. Philia's blade glowed dark blue, preparing a Cross Edge Dagger Skill. Riku saw it, and his free fist started to glow a dark aura, ready to do something.
Suddenly, the pair heard something, and looked up to see something large fall towards them. Philia was far enough away, while Riku had to back even further to the edge of the platform, as the thing came crashing down in the center of the place. It was the Parasite Cage, still alive and able.
"Not that thing again!" Donald exclaimed.
Philia endured the shockwave of the Heartless crashing onto the platform, and saw Riku suddenly open up a dark portal next to him. He took one last look at the group, then at Sora. "I'll be the one who'll save Kairi." He told him, "You want to hunt the Heartless, that's fine. But you won't be saving her. Shows how much you care..." He stepped through the portal, and closed the door behind.
"Riku!" Philia barked, seeing him vanish. She then had to back off as the Heartless came and tried to chomp her with its' belly mouth.
"What happened to Riku?!" Sora demanded to her, looking hurt at Riku's parting words.
"He vanished into a dark portal of sorts!" She answered, "I don't know what it was, or where he went, but first things first; taking out this monster!" Sora nodded in agreement, and concentrated on the fight in front of them. Jiminy and Pinocchio both found their way around the room, back to the entrance to the throat, escaping the scene.
The Parasite Cage reached out and slammed its' tentacles down at the four heroes, who divided to avoid the attack. Philia and Goofy ended up on one platform sticking out of the wall, while Sora and Donald ended up on another. Philia readied her dagger, preparing to unleash Armor Pierce. She launched off the platform, and struck above the teeth of the belly, damaging it heavily, and causing its' endurance to decrease. As the recoil push her away, she saw the Parasite Cage raise its' tentacle, which started to glow at the top, and thrusted it into her gut. She gagged in pain as she felt the attack press into her with tremendous force. She dropped her dagger as she was sent flying backwards, crashing into the wall near Sora and Donald's position.
"Philia!" Sora shouted, leaping up towards her, seeing her fall down towards the acid. He caught her hand as she dangled over the edge of the platform, recovering from the wind being knocked out of her. "Thanks, Sora." she thanked him.
"Don't go flying in on your own like that!" Sora scolded her, pulling her up onto the platform, as Donald unleashed a Thunder spell, and Goofy went in with his Tornado technique, spinning like a top with his shield out, slicing the Parasite Cage by the teeth.
"Sorry..." she apologized, looking sheepishly at her actions. She then saw that Sora's hand was still holding onto her's. She blushed, and pulled her hand away. Sora looked confused, while Philia massaged the hand with her other one, wondering why it was so embarrassing to have Sora hold onto her hand. She shook her head, and slapped her cheeks to refocus herself. "Right. Together!" She declared, recalling her dagger to her hand again via magic. Sora nodded in agreement, and readied his Keyblade.
The two leapt off the platform, going along the path to the Parasite Cage as it hammered the ground beneath Goofy's feet, causing him to be sent flying by the shockwave. Sora and Philia went to either side of him, catching his hands as he flew, and pulled him back onto his feet. "Gawrsh, thanks." Goofy thanked the pair, who smiled and nodded back at him.
The two then turned to see the Heartless's appendages dip into the stomach acid, and start to suck it up. The acid gathered into the stomach mouth of the Heartless as it inhaled. "Duck!" Philia shouted, and the trio hit the floor as it spewed the acid out in a breath attack, the fumes shooting over the trio. The attack also went to Donald, and he had to leap to a different platform, nearly getting caught in the poison breath attack.
When the attack subsided, the trio of close-range fighters went in, and shot forward. Sora unleashed a storm of slashes, finishing with a Ripple Drive that did some serious damage. A tentacle came at him, but Goofy made the attack bounce off his shield, while Philia switched out with Sora, unleashing a storm of slashes, ending with her Cross Edge Dagger Skill.
Donald struck the head of the Heartless with a series of Fire spells. The attack seemed to do the trick, as it became dazed and sagged into a weakened state, its' stomach mouth hanging open. This gave the trio of melee fighters an opportunity, and Sora unleashed more slashes, including a Hurricane Blast, striking the Heartless several times with a midair rolling slash. Goofy unleashed his Turbo technique, bashing into the Heartless with his shield with tremendous force. Philia unleashed several slashes, as well, ending with her four-hit Fad Edge Dagger skill. Donald even ran in and unleashed several bashes with his wand, trying to use the moment to recover his magic.
The Parasite Cage recovered, reaching up to the ceiling, and hoisting itself up, swinging about to knock everyone away. Sora and Goofy were fortunate to still be on dry land when they got knocked back. Donald and Philia ended up in the stomach acid. Donald yelped as he leapt high into the air, his feet stinging from the acid.
Philia felt on her back, but kept her knees up from being dipped into the acid. She gritted her teeth as she felt the sting of the acid, and also felt something else. The clothing on her gloves, cape, butt, and feet were starting to be eaten away by the acid. In a fleeting rush, she hopped onto her feet, and jumped out of the acid, grabbing Donald, and landing on a platform.
"You guys okay?!" Sora called out to them.
"Somehow!" Philia answered, as Donald hopped from one foot to the other, blowing on each of them to die down the steam. As soon as he calmed down, he produced his staff, and casted Cure on the two of them. "Thanks..." Philia told him, blushing a bit as she stammered, "D-Does my back look okay?"
She turned to show her back, and Donald saw her cape, gloves, and boots did get slightly damaged from the acid...along with some parts of her short-shorts, revealing the lingerie and bare skin underneath. Donald made a noise as he blushed, and Philia realized that it was as bad as she thought. "Crap...This is my only pair of clothes!" She whined, "Damn that monster!"
"Philia! Get over here!" She heard Sora cry out as she and Goofy were struggling against the Parasite Cage on their own.
Philia blushed hard, turning her back to the wall as she covered her rear with her hands. She couldn't even dare to go down and support Sora for close combat like this. "Donald, I can't go down there, so please go in my stead!" she pleaded, "I'll use magic from here, and provide backup!"
Donald looked like he slightly understood, but looked at where her hands were positioned, feeling bad for her. "S-STOP LOOKING!" She shouted, kicking him hard, and causing him to fly head-first into the head of the Parasite Cage. The accidental attack did seem to daze the Heartless, and it wobbled in place, unable to attack.
"Nice going, Donald..." Sora muttered, slightly stunned himself at what had transpired. He shook his head, and unleashed several slashes at the Heartless, before backing off and unleashing Fire spells into the belly mouth. Philia used magic as well, unleashing Gravity and Thunder spells from above the Heartless's position. Donald drank down an Ether, then unleashed more Fire spells with Sora, while Goofy used a Tornado technique.
The combined attacks seemed to do the trick, and the Parasite was sent flying back-first into the stomach acid. It shined as a crystallized heart came out of it, and it started to vanish. Three orbs of magic light came out of it, and entered into Sora, Donald and Philia's bodies. They suddenly felt as if they were able to control time itself with the magic.
Unfortunately, as it vanished, the place began to shake. The amount of damage it produced, and its' collapse, caused the stomach acid to start to bubble and fizzle even worse than before. Monstro was gaining an upset stomach.
"Run!" Donald shouted, running ahead with Goofy behind him.
Sora looked about, wondering if Riku would show up again on the scene. "Sora, move!" Philia shouted to him, waiting on a platform near the door. The Keyblade wielder gritted his teeth, frustrated on how things turned out between him and Riku, then raced out of the stomach, with Philia bringing up the rear.
The team arrived back in the mouth, the place still shaking from the upset stomach. Jiminy, Pinocchio, Geppetto, Figaro and the goldfish had all gathered near the team's Gummi Ship, which they dislodged from the wreckage of wood. "What did they do up there?!" Geppetto questioned, looking about in fear.
"Hurry up!" Jiminy shouted to them, as they made their way across the makeshift bridges and floating wooden platforms.
"But Monstro's mouth is still closed!" Sora pointed out, "How can we get out?!"
"The Heartless did cause the whale's stomach to become upset." Philia explained, "If we're lucky, it'll cause the whale to regurgitate us out of its' body."
"You mean..." Goofy realized.
"...Monstro's about to throw up?!" Donald realized, to which Philia nodded in response.
"Then we'd better get into the Gummi Ship, and fast!" Sora shouted, as he and the others joined Jiminy, Geppetto, his son and his pets, as they piled into the ship. It was pretty cramped in the ship, but they made due. Donald made his way to the controls, and activated the ship.
"How are you able to make this thing fly?!" Geppetto questioned.
"We'll explain when we leave!" Philia replied, sitting down hurriedly to hide her rear, "Just brace yourself as we get out!"
The Gummi Ship turned and faced the jaws of the whale. The team watched as the teeth of Monstro opened and closed a few times. From behind, stomach acid was rushing out, carrying a multitude of things with it. They got caught in the flow, and were flung out as Monstro threw up the Gummi Ship, along with a storm of other things out into open space.
Everyone exclaimed in a panic as Donald stabilized the ship. When they came to a standstill, they all made a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness...We're alive." Philia sighed.
"Any damage to the Gummi Ship?" Goofy asked.
"Some hull damage from the acid, but nothing too serious." Donald answered.
"Look!" Pinocchio pointed something out in space. There seemed to be numerous objects and such out there. They recognized some of the things as rare materials, potions, and even a closed box with a few Dalmatian puppies within.
"So much stuff!" Goofy noticed.
"There must've been some hidden treasures within parts of Monstro we didn't find!" Jiminy realized.
Philia sat up and looked out at the dome window, her eyes glittering at the sight of so many treasure. "We just have to get them all!"
"But, uh, how are we gonna do that?" Sora asked, "They're out there. We can't enter into space!"
"No problem!" Donald replied, pressing a button. From the outside, the Gummi Ship suddenly produced a vacuum too cartoonishly large to actually fit in the ship itself, with a long tube from underneath. It began to suck up everything around it, bringing it into the brig of the Gummi Ship. Once it was all sucked up, the vacuum recoiled, and everything was normal again.
Everyone but Donald and Goofy looked stunned, their mouths hanging open as they witnessed what had happened. Finally, Philia asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "How and when were you gonna tell us this ship had a feature like that?!"
"We didn't think it was necessary to tell you that yet." Goofy explained.
"This Gummi Ship is full of surprises." Jiminy muttered.
Sora noticed, unfortunately, the condition of Philia's garments in the back, and blushed horribly. "Ph-Philia! Your clothes!"
The treasure hunter suddenly realized where Sora was looking at, and her face reddened in embarrassment. She screamed as she sat back in her seat in a blink of an eye. She covered her face as she felt bad for exposing herself like that to Sora. However, her expression changed as she glared at Sora, producing her dagger. "You mention what you saw, I'll gouge your eyes out!" She threatened, grabbing Sora's shoulder to prevent escape, and pointed her weapon at his eyes.
Sora's face paled in fear, while everyone backed away from the pair. "I-I didn't want to see, honest!" He panicked.
"We'd better get back to Traverse Town, and drop off Geppetto and Pinocchio there." Goofy suggested, trying to change the subject.
"Good idea." Philia agreed, putting her dagger away, "I'll get my clothes repaired there, too. Along with the Gummi Ship."
"Then let's use the warp system, and make our way back quickly!" Donald suggested, and he activated the warp drive Cid installed in the Gummi Ship, creating a wormhole straight back to Traverse Town.
Hook's Pirate Ship
Inside the captain's quarters in the pirate ship, Maleficent watched as Riku stood there, looking down at the cushioned sitting place by the window. Kairi was laying there, her eyes closed, her condition more at peace than sleep. However, the condition was not good.
"It is what I said earlier, right? They boy is no longer reliable." Maleficent told him, "How pitiful." She placed her hand on Riku's shoulder, who flinched at the cold touch.
"So, Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?" Riku asked, looking at Kairi's sleeping figure.
"Precisely." the witch answered.
"And her heart was..." Riku's voice slightly cracked, knowing the answer.
"Taken by the Heartless, no doubt."
Riku turned around to face Maleficent, his expression full of desperation as he demanded, "Tell me, what should I do to save her?!"
"There are seven maidens of the purest heart. We call them the 'Princesses of Heart'." She started, "Gather them together, and the door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom. There, you will surely find a way to recover Kairi's heart."
She smiled as her hand cupped a green flame. "Now, I shall grant you a marvelous gift." She told him, "The power to control the Heartless!" The flames left Maleficent's hand, wrapping around Riku's body, going into him. He could feel the cold, dark powers enter into him. The same power that he felt emanating from the Heartless. However, it didn't make him afraid of them. On the contrary, he felt the ability to control run to the very tips of his fingers. He could feel the ability to control the Heartless.
"Soon Kairi..." he muttered, turning to look at her sleeping body, "I'll definitely get your heart back." Maleficent watched him, her grin widening maliciously as she wished for Riku's dream to come true...so she can gain her desires.
Traverse Town, Green Hotel Room
Laying on his back in the bed, Sora was staring at the ceiling looking pretty sad. He was still in mourning after losing his best friend, Riku, and seeing him fall down the wrong path. It frustrated him at how much he changed, and how much he hated Philia, when he barely knew the kind person she was.
Still, there were some upsides. They did manage to find a home for Geppetto and his family in the First District, thanks to Leon. In return for saving him and Pinocchio, Geppetto decided to become their Gummi Ship designer, helping them with creating new designs and such for their ship. Philia went to the tailor to have her garments fixed as quickly as possible, while the rest of the team helped make Geppetto's house more hospitable. As they did so, they discovered a new Keyblade Keychain called Wishing Star, and another postcard to place in the mailbox nearby.
Donald ushered the puppies they found in Monstro and Agrabah to their parents, getting a Mythril Shard from them. Philia came to join them, wearing a blue skirt and sandals given to her by Aerith to wear until her clothes were repaired, as they went to Merlin's house.
After they placed in the couple of torn pages they found into the children's storybook, they spoke to Merlin, who learned the spell they got from the Parasite Cage was a powerful one called 'Stop', capable of stopping the time of an enemy, allowing them to attack while it was defenseless. Proud that they were able to find all sorts of magic, he gave Sora the Spellbinder Keyblade Keychain, which, while not as strong as the Three Wishes, made up for with magic energy. Sora figured he should at least try it out, and swapped Keyblades. It was a blue and white Keyblade, the design based off of magic and astrology, and ending with a gold chain and a green spellbook as the medallion.
They even discovered that one of the treasures they got from Monstro turned out to be a summon gem that, after they handed it to the Fairy Godmother, allowed them to summon an young elephant with big ears called Dumbo. Sora decided that it would be best if he gave that one to Philia, and see if she was capable of summoning it. She used the summon outside on some unfortunate Heartless, calling forth the elephant to the field. Her body miniaturized as she rode on top of it, and they flew around by Dumbo's ears, taking out the Heartless with jets of water from his nose.
Back in the present, Philia had just got her garments repaired, and was in the Red Room next door to the one Sora was in, getting into her clothes again. She opened the door between, and entered into Sora's room. "Finally..." she sighed in relief, "I like those clothes Aerith gave me, but...well, sandals and a skirt don't really work well for my style of fighting..."
She stopped and looked at Sora, who sat up to look at her. There was a moment's pause as what transpired between them and Riku in Monstro sank into them. Finally, Philia started as she looked to one side, "I know I told you the reasons why I hid the truth about Riku and what he said and did, but that doesn't stop the fact that I feel guilty for what happened between you and him back there."
"I just don't understand..." Sora muttered, "Why doesn't he think I want to save Kairi? Does he know what happened to her? And what does he have against you and the Keyblade? So many questions..." He slumped his head as he placed his hands over it.
Philia walked over, and sat right next to him. She reached out, and pulled one of his arms down, causing him to show his face to her. He saw her with a serious expression as she told him, "Whatever the case may be, you know that he is not on the right path, nor in his right mind. You said so yourself, remember?" Sora nodded in response to this.
"But even so, there is some part of your friend in there, because both of you still care for Kairi. All he's doing is trying to help her, just as you are still searching for her, too." she continued, standing up and turning to face him, "But it's obvious someone is feeding him lies, making him believe you are no longer friends. And my bet is that Maleficent is to blame. So there's only one thing to do about that, right?"
"Which is...?" Sora asked.
Philia reached down to Sora with her hand, and answered, "Fill Riku with the same kindness you filled my heart with. Be honest with him. Help him remember your friendship, and let him know that Kairi is just as important to you as she is to him. And while we're at it, stop Maleficent and the Heartless from having their way."
Sora took a second, then smiled at her. She was right. Riku was still his friend, deep down, and he had to be saved from the poisoned words that Maleficent leaked into his heart. He had to rekindle their friendship, and no Heartless, evil witch, or any other being of darkness was gonna get in his way to stop him. Although there was a lot on his plate, what with sealing the Keyholes of each world, stopping the Heartless and Maleficent, finding Kairi, King Mickey, and Philia's memories, he was still adding 'Save Riku' to that list. And with Philia, Donald, Goofy and Jiminy at his side, he knew he could succeed in all of those tasks.
He took Philia's hand, and she pulled him up onto his feet. "Thanks, Philia. I needed that." He told her, "You know, I don't care what Riku says. I'm really happy that I met you, and I'm glad you're around to help me when I'm down."
Philia smiled and blushed in response to this. "H-Hey, I'm not the only one who would help you. Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy would say the same thing...well, I'm not sure about Donald, but still..."
"That's true. He would just get angry with me or something." Sora assumed. The two shared a laugh, knowing what they said was true. They couldn't help but feel comfortable in each other's presence.
Later on, they arrived back in the First District, where Geppetto and Cid were talking to one another about Gummi Ships. Donald and Goofy were watching them, while Jiminy was saying his farewell to Pinocchio, reminding him to be a good boy and all.
"Is the ship repaired?" Philia asked.
"Yep. Cid and Geppetto did a great job on 'em!" Goofy chuckled.
"Now we can get going to the next world!" Donald declared.
"Right. We still don't know where Kairi, Mickey or Philia's memories are at." Sora understood, "We'd better get going to find them, and save more worlds!" He punched the air in declaration.
"YEAH!" The other three cheered, punching the air as well. Jiminy hopped away from Pinocchio, and joined the team again, as they waved goodbye to Cid, Geppetto and Pinocchio, before leaving to their Gummi Ship.
They entered into the cockpit, and were just about to take their seats when Donald noticed something. "Look!" He squawked, pointing at the control board. It was a familiar-looking letter.
"Is that..." Goofy started as Sora took the letter.
"Yep. It's from Hades." He told them, "Another tournament is showing up, and he's daring us to fight in it."
The team looked to one another, then Philia said, "Well, I'm for the tournament. I mean, we'll eliminate Heartless, get stronger, and claim prizes."
"True that!" Sora answered, "Let's head to the Olympus Coliseum!"
"Roger!" Donald answered, taking the controls, and guiding the ship out of Traverse Town, to the tournament, where they were about to do battle in.
Next time on Sword Art Kingdom: Heart's Origin
Atlantica! Ariel's Dream!