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 called 'Halloween Town', wearing creepy costumes to fit with the world. We ended up finding Heartless there, but they were being controlled and tamed using a machine made by a scientist called Dr. Finkelstein and Jack Skellington. We decided to help them 'create a heart' in order to complete the machine used to control them, though I saw this and theorized that this person could help repair my memories. I was desperate to learn about my past, so I didn't care much about anything else.
Despite the hard work we put into finding ingredients for the heart, it ended up getting stolen by three little kids, who worked for a villain called Oogie Boogie. We hunted them down to Oogie's treehouse, taking out swarms of Heartless in the process. However, by the time we beat the kids, it had already fallen into the villain's hands. We went to fight him, but when he arrived, he swallowed the heart to use it to control the Heartless himself, though that proved useless, and we defeated him.
It was far from over, however, when something strange happened, and Oogie's entire being became one with the treehouse. Seeing him in such a state triggered a memory…a terrifying one, involving a large being in a red cloak, who said things that caused so much panic to me, that I ended up fainting. This left Sora, Donald and Jack to take down Oogie Boogie for good. It was after the fight where they found the Keyhole, and sealed it up, saving the world from the Heartless.
While we lost the ability to control the Heartless, we did get an Ansem Report and some other goodies. However, due to my horrific memory, my heart was shaken. Were the memories of my past filled with nothing but pain and fear? If so, then what's the point of remembering who I was? I don't want to experience more memories like that again. I am scared of what I would find out. So scared…
(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.)
Gummi Ship
Philia was in the washroom, her head over the sink as she washed her face aggressively. She raised her head, looking at her face in the mirror. It had been a day since they left the world of Halloween Town. Yet, her face was still pale as it was since the day they left. What's worse, she didn't get any sleep since that time, on account of having nightmares the moment she shut her eyes. No matter what she tried, she was unable to shake off these emotions in her heart. It was such a problem, that even the Gummi Ship, which ran on smiles, was slowing down to conserve energy.
She turned off the sink, and opened the door, walking out and shutting the door behind. She gave off a sigh of frustration, mixed with exhaustion.
"You doing okay, Philia?" The said treasure hunter jumped in surprise at the sudden voice, only to see Jiminy Cricket standing on one of the fuel lines on the wall next to her. "Don't worry! It's only me." He assured her.
Philia gave a sigh of relief, then said, "Sorry, Jiminy. I didn't notice you there."
"Everyone's worried about you." He told her, hopping onto her shoulder, "We all know you've been having a hard time since your last memory recall, and we're all just worried about you."
"I kinda figured." Philia replied, walking slowly back to the bridge, "It's definitely not a secret that I've pretty much caused the entire crew to be downcast. And that's causing our ship to move slowly right now."
Jiminy placed himself in a sitting position on her shoulder as he continued, "Well, if you do need any help, do not hesitate to ask me. I may be Pinocchio's conscience, but that doesn't mean I can't be your's."
Philia gave a small smile at this, responding, "Thank you, Jiminy. But… really, I'm not sure how you can help. All this time, I spent half of our journey trying to figure out my past. But after learning about the terrors of that last memory, I'm scared to pursue it any further."
"I'm sure there's some memories that are good." Jiminy assured her, "Remember that one time you told us you had a friend in the world you were from before?" Philia did recall that, in Tarzan's world, she remembered that she did have a friend named Argo back in the world she was from.
"That may be true, but that was just a recollection of one person. This last memory was different to all others, as I saw it completely as a scene. There were parts that were hard to hear, but still, to have a memory as vivid as that… It makes me too afraid to confront what the rest of my past was like. Tell me, what would you do in my situation?"
"Hmm… I really do not know." Jiminy answered sadly. Philia figured that would be his answer, though it was still sad to hear out loud. As it was right now, they had no answer to helping her out.
Suddenly, the alarm went up in the ship, causing the two to look about frantically. Over the loudspeaker, they heard Donald shout, "Philia, get up here!" With her name called out, Philia carried Jiminy as they raced up to the bridge to join the others.
When they arrived, they saw Sora, Donald and Goofy looking outside the deck. "What's going on?!" Philia questioned the trio.
"Uh, a big ship is catching up to us." Goofy answered, pointing outside. Sure enough, passing by the side of their own, they could clearly see a large ship pass by. However, it was not a spaceship, but a ship with sails. And what's more, this ship was no ordinary sailboat, either.
"Quit gawking! That's a pirate ship!" Donald barked at him.
"What's a pirate ship doing in space like this?!" Philia questioned, rushing to their side to see the ship sail off and turn about to come at them.
"Brace yourselves! It's gonna ram us!" Sora shouted, looking for something to grab onto. Too late, for the larger ship crashed into their own, causing their vessel to spin in space, and making the heroes fall about the place. Suddenly, the capsule window opened up without warning, and the four suddenly fell out of the Gummi ship, falling towards the pirate ship.
Sora, Philia and Jiminy were close to one another when they fell on the deck of the ship, injured by the fall they were dealt with, but otherwise alive.
"Well, that was not pleasant…" Sora grimaced, rolling onto his back. He blinked, then saw that he, along with Philia, were already surrounded. There were pirates already surrounding them… Heartless Pirates, with large swords raised menacingly at them.
"And it just keeps getting worse for us." Philia added, performing a backflip to get back onto her feet, while creating some distance from the Heartless, and preparing her dagger. Sora scampered away, pulling out his own Pumpkinhead Keyblade. Jiminy dove into Sora's coat pocket in the process, while the pair looked around, seeing that the Heartless were definitely keeping them at bay, and had them overwhelmed. And what's more, Donald and Goofy were no longer with them.
"I didn't think you'd come, Sora, Philia." Said a familiar voice. They looked at the next level of the deck. Standing in front of a mast, glaring down menacingly at the pair, was Riku. "Good to see you again." He told the pair.
"Riku!" Philia gasped, but kept her glare up at him, "So you're the one behind this!" After their last encounter, she knew he could not be trusted whatsoever.
"Where are Donald and Goofy?!" Sora asked Riku.
"Are they that important to you? More important than old friends?" Riku scolded the Keyblade wielder, "Instead of worrying about them, you should be asking…about her." He took a sidestep, showing a girl in a collapsed-sitting position. It was someone Sora knew the first second he saw her.
"Kairi!" Sora exclaimed, shocked to see her there.
'So that's her!' Philia realized, 'The girl that Sora's been looking for.'
"That's right. While you were off goofing around, I finally found her." Riku told him.
"What do you mean, goofing off?!" Philia growled, as Sora started to race past the Heartless to reach Kairi.
"Not so fast!" A curled hook suddenly got in Sora's way, and stumbled to a halt, meeting a man that Riku was introduced to by Maleficent a while back. The pirate captain of the ship they were standing upon, Captain Hook. "No shenanigans aboard my vessel, boy." He warned Sora.
Sora put two and two together, and looked both shocked and angry as he called out, "Riku… Why are you helping these people?! And the Heartless?!"
"I received the power to manipulate the Heartless." Riku stated, "The Heartless obey me now, Sora. Now I have nothing to fear." This fact shocked both Sora and Philia.
"That's stupid!" Sora barked back.
"But…that means you're giving yourself into the darkness!" Philia pointed out, "The Heartless are dangerous! They will eventually consume your heart!"
"That only happens to the weak. My heart's too strong." Riku brushed off her warnings like it was nothing.
"Riku…" Sora looked stunned to see the person he was close to acting in such a way.
"And to think you were Sora's friend." Philia growled, pointing her dagger up at him, "How could you betray him like this?!"
"I didn't betray anyone. He's the one that betrayed me." Riku retorted, "It doesn't matter, because thanks to this new power, I can do anything. Like this, for instance…" He raised a hand forward, the palm pointing down at both Sora and Philia's shadows, which shone in the lantern's light on deck. The two looked down at their shadows, and were stunned. Their shadows suddenly started to come out of the ground, confronting the pair.
"Our shadows…" Sora muttered.
"He made copies of them?!" Philia gasped, looking at her own shadow self.
"Hmph! Entertainment time is over." Riku told the pair, "You can go see your friends now." He snapped his fingers, and the two suddenly noticed the floor beneath them vanish, as a trap door opened up underneath, and they fell into it, leaving Riku, Hook, the Heartless, and the two's doppelgängers remaining on deck.
"Let's prepare to set sail, already." Riku ordered Hook and a new person who arrived, "And keep Sora away from Kairi until we're ready to land." He turned and picked up Kairi in his arms, adding, "Don't lazy around. Keep a lookout at your posts, got it?" With that, he turned and wandered inside with Kairi.
The new person with the shaking-angry captain of the ship was short and stout, with a big nose, bushy black eyebrows, lazy-looking eyes, and glasses. He had white hair underneath a floppy red Santa-style hat, a light blue and white shirt, dark blue shorts, and brown sandals. This was Hook's first mate, Smee.
"Hmph! That scurvy brat thinks he can order ME around!" Hook growled at his first mate, pointing his hooked hand at where Riku left.
"What do we do now, Captain Hook?" Smee asked.
"Nothing!" Hook answered strongly, "There are plenty of Heartless on the ship anyway. Let them keep an eye on the brats."
"That's true, those puppets…" Smee agreed, then he realized, "But Captain, you-know-who is also down—." Before he could continue, Hook suddenly panicked and covered Smee's mouth.
"Shh… Did you hear that, Smee?" The captain asked in a panicked whispered, "Oh, that dreadful sound!"
"No, Captain."
"Are you quite sure? Did I imagine it?" Hook questioned both his first mate and himself, "Oh, my poor nerves…"
Back down underneath deck, in the brig, Philia had just gotten up off the floor, brushing off her arms as she finished hearing Sora explaining what he saw on deck. "Ya don't say?" Goofy asked.
"Yeah, it was definitely Kairi. I've definitely found her. She's on board this ship, too!" Sora answered.
"Too bad Riku and those other Heartless found her first, but I guess that just means we'll steal her back from them." Philia stated, checking for any injuries from the fall.
"All right! Then let's go up and talk to her." Goofy decided.
"Yeah!"
"Sounds great." Donald agreed, "Okay, but first…how about getting off!"
"Yeah…" Philia started, turning to see the pile of boys, with Donald at the bottom, Goofy laying vertically on top of him, and Sora laying on his back on top. Philia was fortunate that she hadn't landed on top or underneath any of them, but ended up landing right next to them instead.
While everyone was getting back onto their feet, Philia looked outside the slit in the door that showed the outside. There were plenty of Pirate Heartless standing about the place, guarding the brig they were in. "Looks like there are a lot of Heartless out there." She told them, "Might need to figure out a different way out of this place instead of the front door."
Suddenly, they heard a voice clearing, followed by a young boy asking, "How ya doin' there? Looking for a way out?" The team turned to a pile of barrels nearby, and someone flipped over them, landing neatly on his feet in front of them. He looked closer to Philia and Sora's age, with short orange hair, a green cap with a red feather on it, a light-green, short-sleeved tunic, green tights, tan pointed shoes, and a thin brown strap around his waist, holding his sheath and dagger.
"Who are you?" Goofy asked.
"I'm the answer to your prayers." He answered simply.
The team paused, waiting for an actual name. Philia then asked, "And do you have a name to that title?"
"Oh, sure. I'm Peter Pan." He answered, raising a hand to Sora, "I don't think you'll be able to escape on your own. So, you need my help?"
"But, were you captured as well?" Sora asked, about to shake his hand
"Me? Hah!" Peter scoffed, pulling his hand away suddenly, "Only fools get thrown in here. I'm just waiting here for someone."
"Who?" Sora asked. His answer was given when a ball of light suddenly shot around him, leaving behind sparkling dust in its' wake, before descending towards Peter Pan.
"Tinker Bell, what took you so long?" Peter asked, as the ball of light dimmed down, revealing what was clearly a tiny female pixie. She was small enough to fit in the palm of Sora's hand, with blue eyes and blonde hair tied in a bun on top by a blue ribbon, a green strapless dress that hugged her hourglass figure, green slippers, each sporting a white puffball on the front, and blue wings on her back.
"A pixie?!" Donald gasped.
"So pretty." Goofy noticed.
"I've never seen a fairy like her before." Philia noticed, intrigued by the character.
"Great job. So you found Wendy?" Peter asked. Tinker Bell made chiming noises that the others could not understand. However, Peter frowned as he translated, "Hold on. There was another girl there, too?"
"More than likely, it's Kairi." Philia assumed, while Sora looked a little worried.
Tinker Bell spoke up again in her own way. "Leave Wendy?" Peter asked, looking shocked, "Are you crazy? There is no way I'm gonna leave Wendy there!"
Tinker Bell suddenly flew to Philia, pointing at her as she spoke, while the treasure hunter looked puzzled. "She needs to be helped, too." Peter responded, "She doesn't seem to be a problem, right?"
Philia looked from him to Tinker Bell, who looked at Philia angrily, before turning her head away. "Did…did I do something wrong?" Philia asked.
"Aha. She must be pretty jealous." Donald snickered. This was answered by the pixie flying in front of Donald, and unleashing a strong kick from below the beak, putting Donald in a dazed state.
"You kinda deserved that for lack of tact." Philia told Donald.
Tinker Bell flew out the slit in the door, startling the Heartless as Peter called out, "Come on, Tink! Open up the door!" The pixie didn't answer, but they heard pattering footsteps.
Philia peered out the room as she noticed, "Looks like the Heartless have been cut short thanks to her. We should be able to get out this door easier now."
"Great, but how?" Peter asked.
Sora cleared his throat as he produced his Keyblade, while Philia pulled out some lock-picking tools. "Looks like you'll need OUR help, this time around." Sora stated, "I'm Sora, by the way."
"And I'm Philia."
Peter grimaced a bit, feeling like the spotlight was taken away from him, then he answered, "Okay, we're in this together, but only 'til we find Wendy."
"Deal." Philia answered, taking her tools, and pick-locking the door, unlocking it for them.
"I could've done that." Sora told her.
"True, but I wanted to do it this time around." Philia answered, pressing her hand against the door, "You get all the fun." She pushed the door open fast, readying her dagger for battle, leading the others with her.
There was still a good number of Heartless about, which meant the team had their work cut out for them. The hold they were in had a few levels to it, and was pretty spacious, giving them room to move about. This especially worked for Peter Pan, as he had a trick that none of the others expected; he could fly. Like a hummingbird without wings, Peter Pan was able to move about in the air with ease, and in any direction. What's more, he seemed to have some magic to him, specifically powers similar to Stop and Aero.
They entered through a room, which had many Barrel Spider Heartless, which were similar to the Spider Pot Heartless they encountered before. Clearing them out, they discovered a hole into the freezer of the ship, which also had Shadows and Pirate Heartless. All of these Heartless were definitely a pain in the butt for the heroes, except for Philia. She thought of it as a good distraction from the thoughts of her memories, so she was working even harder than the rest of the team.
"Take this!" She shouted, unleashing an Accel Raid Dagger Skill, and taking out the remaining Heartless in a heartbeat.
"You know your stuff." Peter told Philia, witnessing her moves, "Where'd you learn to do that?"
"From my past." Philia answered, putting her dagger away, "I don't know when, given that I don't exactly remember a whole lot of my past, but that's fine with me."
"You can't remember your past?" Peter asked.
"Not all of it…" Philia answered, her tone monotonous and stern as she reached a ladder, and started to climb up it, "But enough to not want to learn anymore."
"Why's that?" The flying boy asked, levitating up with her as she climbed.
"Because I don't want to anymore, and that's it!" She snapped, her eyes glaring at Peter, though they did have a tinge of fear in them as well. With Peter silenced, she continued the climb up.
"Well, she sure was rude to me. All I did was ask." Peter huffed, crossing his arms and looking irritated.
"It's not you." Sora assured him, getting his attention.
"Philia just remembered some scary stuff from her past recently, and that's caused her not want to remember any other stuff." Goofy explained, while Donald started to climb the ladder first.
"Huh. Is that so?" Peter asked, looking up to see Philia looking about, making sure the coast was clear, though her mind was somewhere else, and she wasn't paying attention to what the team was saying below.
Once everyone was up in the next area, the galley, Philia started up the conversation with Peter, "Since you questioned how I can use my moves, let me ask you this; How are you able to fly?"
"Anyone can fly. You wanna try?" Peter asked, looking to the four. Their expressions showed that they were willing to try. He then made a whistle, and suddenly, Tinker Bell appeared from above, flying down over the heroes to Peter's side, still looking irritable. "Aw, haven't you cooled off yet, Tink?" Peter asked.
Tinker Bell pointed to Philia, saying something to Peter Pan as she did. "She's their friend, and she's been fighting off those monsters. I didn't see a reason NOT to have her join us." Peter Pan stated, "Now come on. Help me get them to fly."
He took Tinker Bell by the wings, and flew above the heroes. "Just a little bit of pixie dust…" Peter spoke, and he started to pat her on the back repeatedly, and glittering dust started to fall on top of the heroes like snow, covering their shoulders, hair and headgear. "There. Now you can fly." He told the group.
Donald flapped his wings as he made a big jump. However, despite being a water fowl capable of flying in the first place, he fell back down to the floor face first. Tinker Bell got a kick out of the foolish attempt.
"What's going on?" Philia asked, "That didn't work like it should've."
"Hmm… I'm pretty sure there's something missing. But what?" Peter asked.
Suddenly, Tinker Bell flew upwards to a grated part of the ceiling. She spun around, and pointed up at it. "What is it, Tink?" Peter asked.
"Peter? Peter Pan?" Said a young lady's voice. Suddenly, a girl appeared over the grate, crouching down to look at the group below. She looked about twelve years old, though her tall figure would question otherwise. She had blue eyes, light-brown hair tied back using a bow, red lips, a blue nightdress, and black slippers.
"Wendy!" Peter addressed the young girl.
"You came to rescue me!" Wendy said happily to Peter, before warning, "Hurry! The pirates are coming!"
"What?!" Peter gasped, "I'll be right up there! Just hold on!"
"Wendy? Is there another girl in there with you?" Sora asked curiously.
"Oh, why, yes." Wendy answered, looking in front of her to see Kairi, still sitting in a somewhat unconscious state, "But she seems to be asleep. She hasn't budged an inch."
"Kairi? Kairi!" Sora called out to his dear friend, seeing her hand over the grate. He reached out to her, despite being a long distance away, hoping for a sign she was okay. After a few seconds, he saw Kairi's hand twitch. That at least told him she was alive.
Philia, on the other hand, was feeling something strange. Whenever she encountered someone this far, she somehow had a sort of sixth sense, telling her if someone had a kind heart or not. Seeing Kairi, she had to have believed that this girl was good. But for some reason, she wasn't able to feel anything from this girl. What did that mean? Was Kairi not a good person? That couldn't have been right, or she would've sensed the darkness. She was just…blank.
Suddenly, the door in the girls's room barged open, revealing Smee and some Pirate Heartless. "Okay, girls. Captain Hook is looking for you…" he told the girls, "Bring them to his cabin!" With that order in, they dragged the two out of the room, slamming the door behind.
"Wendy!" Peter Pan called out, turning to the team, "Hey, let's get up there!"
"I see a hole right there!" Donald pointed out, seeing the hole through the grate nearby. Peter and Tinker Bell soared through it first, looking for Wendy. As soon as everyone else climbed up to join him, they could clearly see that the two girls were gone.
"Darn! I have to go save Wendy!" Peter grimaced, turning to the others, "Let's split up from here. I'll go save her and—!" Suddenly, Tinker Bell got his face, looking irritated at him as she spoke her language. However, Peter waved her away as he snapped, "Shut up! Stop bothering me, Tinker Bell!" The pixie looked hurt by his words, and even started to tear up. She turned and flew out of the room.
"She looked sad." Goofy noticed sympathetically.
"That was uncalled for, Peter!" Philia barked.
"Ah, she'll get over it." Peter responded nonchalantly, "Right now, onto more important things." He flew out one door, trying to pursue Smee and the Heartless to get Wendy.
"What should we do?" Sora asked.
"Let's go up that way." Philia suggested, pointing upwards, where a ladder was hanging on the wall, leading to a trap door.
"Time for the Green Quartet!" Sora declared, and the four performed their technique, with Goofy holding up Philia, Sora, and Donald in that order as they reached the ladder, and brought it down for them to grab and climb up.
When they got through the trap door, they found themselves in what was clearly Captain Hook's cabin, as it was much fancier and more like the captain's quarters from books about ships. Sora quickly looked about, and heard someone nearby. He ran over, and saw Riku at the door that lead back on deck again. He had Kairi in his arms.
"Riku, wait!" Sora called out, running towards him and Kairi. However, darkness started to envelop Riku as to shadows moved along the ground, rising up to reveal themselves as the shadow clones of both Sora and Philia.
Donald and Goofy both looked startled at the two clones, while the pair readied their weapons. "Not these things again!" Philia grimaced.
Sora looked up desperately at the door, and saw no sign of Riku or Kairi there anymore. He didn't hear the door open or close, so how could they disappear so quickly. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to think about it, as the two shadow clones, dubbed AntiSora & AntiPhilia charged forward, the former bringing his dark Keyblade down upon Sora, while the other thrusted forward with her dagger, only for Philia to dodge out of the way.
"I hate to tell you this, Sora, but we have to take down these things before we can do anything." Philia told the Keyblade wielder.
"But, Kairi…!" Sora muttered, looking back at her as he held his clone back.
"I know, I know! But she and Riku vanished." Philia pointed out, "They're both more than likely not on this ship. But they are not gone forever, okay? I promise you that we will save her." She looked to her shadow self, adding mentally, 'I have to save her. Sora's scared of losing her, and I don't want him scared and in pain like I am…'
She charged forward as AntiPhilia charged forward as well. She parried her shadow's dagger, making her Keyblade shine dark blue, then unleashed a Cross Edge Dagger skill. As the shadow recovered, it was struck by lightning, thanks to Donald. At the same time, Goofy unleashed his shield like a discus at AntiSora, knocking him away from pushing Sora down further.
"Let's take them on in pairs!" Goofy called out as he stood next to Sora. Donald did the same with Philia, who nodded in thanks for his save, and they went to work.
The pairs of shadows were not as skilled as their real selves, but were still putting up a good fight. They slashed with their blades, but could not perform techniques or Dagger Skills, or even magic for that matter. They were vulnerable to the Stop spell, so using them to halt the enemies in their tracks before unleashing storms of slashes and magic on them. Though it was not to say they had their own tricks, such as their evasive maneuvers to dive into the ground before rising back up to sneak up on them.
Sora knocked AntiSora back into the wall, but it shook it off, and its' yellow eyes flashed. It suddenly created a pair of clones of itself, who charged at Sora, surprising him and Goofy a bit. He and Goofy took out the pair of clones rather easily, though this distracted the pair as it dove into the floor as a shadow, before rising up and unleashing a sweeping slash from behind, damaging the pair and knocking them into the ground.
"Sora! Goofy!" Philia called out, about to come to their aid, but ended up with a pair of clones of AntiPhilia in front of her, who tried to stab her. She backed off, unleashing a Thundara spell that electrocuted the pair, making them fade. Unfortunately, that left her vulnerable to the real AntiPhilia, who unleashing a pair of slashes with her dagger, causing Philia pain from behind, and making her fall to the ground. Donald leapt onto the shadow's back, and whacked continuously with his staff, before it disappeared into the ground to escape the mad duck's wrath.
"Thanks…" Philia thanked Donald.
"This hurts…" Sora grimaced, muttered, as he and Goofy got to their feet, "It sucks that I'm getting my butt whooped by my shadow."
"Then let's literally scratch each other's backs." Philia suggested, getting a confused look from Sora. Instead of charging back at her own shadow, she turned and passed Sora and Goofy, going after AntiSora this time.
"Oh, I get it!" Goofy understood.
"Yeah. I'll deal with your shadow then!" Sora assured her, and he went to tackle AntiPhilia. Donald and Goofy looked to one another, and decided to stay with the opponents they were working on before, so while Goofy and Philia took on AntiSora, Sora and Donald handled AntiPhilia.
The shadows created clones and sent them at their opponents. Philia did a leaping flip over the two clones, making her dagger shine a dark purple hue, and unleashing her Shadow Stitch Dagger Skill. This worked well, as it not only did some heavy damage, but it also kept the Heartless in place. "As the namesake goes, you're held down." She told the AntiSora, readying her dagger as Goofy took care of the clones, and she lunged forward.
Sora did a front roll, evading the two clones, then unleashing a Stop spell on AntiPhilia. He started unleashing slashing combos on the Heartless, while Donald destroyed the clones by creating an Aero shield around him, causing backlash damage to them that destroyed them.
AntiPhilia was out of its' Stop spell, feeling the full blunt of all of Sora's attacks at once. "This ends here!" Sora shouted, readying his Keyblade, then performing a new trick; unleashing a spiraling slash attack that sent AntiPhilia upwards, before he prepared a Sonic Blade technique, striking it several times with charging stabs, before the final one sent it collapsing onto its' back, defeated. Philia and Goofy completed their own series of attacks on AntiSora while it was stitched to the ground thanks to Philia's Dagger Skill. Both shadows vanished into vapor, fully defeated. The only thing that was left behind were bird-like talons, with threat that went through them, forming necklaces of sorts.
"That takes care of that." Philia sighed, taking the item she recognized as Raven's Talon in her hand. She then noticed a few Dalmatian puppies that were hiding in the corner, out of sight, and ushered them to her, making sure they were brought to the ship.
Sora, on the other hand, was more concerned about Kairi and Riku. "If they're anywhere, they might be on deck!" Sora suggested, "Let's go see!" He was about to race out on deck, when his foot tapped something, and a trap door opened up at his feet, causing him to fall through.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy cried out, while Philia wondered how, in their entire fight, did they not set off that trap door.
Sora grimaced as he got back onto his feet. "Nice of you to drop in." Said a voice. Peter Pan was there, holding an unconscious Wendy in his hands.
"Peter!" Sora gasped, getting to his feet, "What happened to her?"
"I don't know. But this is as far as I can go for now." He told him, "I gotta help Wendy." At this point, Philia, Donald and Goofy had leapt in after the Keyblade wielder, Donald making a rather ungraceful landing.
"But what about Tink?" Philia asked, "She vanished after you brushed her off like that."
"Don't worry. I'm sure she's okay." Peter assured her, "Besides, this is important. Welp, take care!" And with that, he flew up out the way they came in.
"I don't know whether he trusts her that much, or he's that naive." Philia muttered, noticing a Protera Chain on the floor, and picking it up, "Either way, he doesn't realized how much he hurt her before."
"I kinda understand where Peter is getting at." Sora muttered, "I mean, Kairi was right there, and I couldn't save her. I have to keep looking for her!" He turned to the others as he asked, "You guys with me?" Donald and Goofy nodded in response.
"I'm in. Better us to have her than Riku." Philia muttered, "If he's sided with darkness, then we can't let him bring her into that." She mentally added, 'Having her trapped in darkness…I don't want her to have a nightmare like that. I know how painful it is.' She pondered on that fearful memory of hers once more, and she grasped her arm.
"You okay, Philia?" Donald asked.
"It's no good…" Philia grimaced, "I just can't get that memory out of my head, no matter how hard I try! I've been trying so hard to remember my past, but now… Now, I really want to forget this!"
The others looked guiltily at Philia, Sora in particular. With Kairi on his mind, he had almost forgotten that Philia was still dealing with her own eternal battle. It just occurred to him that since coming here, she was working harder, and trying to think more than everyone else, not because she was trying to prove herself or anything. It was really just an excuse so she can distract herself from her thoughts.
She shook her head, and started to think out a plan as she started, "Sorry. Let's get back to the topic on hand. Wendy is rescued, but what about Kairi. I'm pretty sure she's no longer on the ship. Let's figure out where Riku might've taken her."
"And how will we do that?" Donald asked.
"Let's hunt down the captain of this ship." The treasure hunter suggested, "If he and Riku are in league with one another, he might know. Let's go find him."
Goofy suddenly heard something, and he raised is hound dog ear. "Hey, I think we might be in the water." He noticed.
"Really?" Sora asked.
"We're no longer in space, that's for sure." Philia understood, "Let's go up on deck!" With that, the team left the room.
There were still some Heartless trying to interfere with the team, but they knocked them out of the way in order to pursue forward. Sure enough, they found themselves back in the cabin they fought their shadowy doppelgängers before, and avoided stepping through the trap door as they made their way towards the door that led on deck.
When they arrived, they had already found that Captain Hook was there, as was Smee and a swarm of Pirate Heartless, too. For some reason, Smee had ahold of a lantern in his hand.
"Quite a codfish, that Riku…" Hook stated, "…running off with that girl without even saying goodbye."
"Run off where?" Philia asked with a glare.
"Tell me, where did Riku go?!" Sora demanded, whipping his Keyblade to one side.
"To the ruins of Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent resides." Hook answered, the name of the witch repeated in growls by both Donald and Goofy, "But you won't be going there…"
He turned and grabbed the lantern Smee had, which contained someone within; Tinker Bell, shocking the heroes, "…Unless you intend to leave your little pixie friend behind?"
"You…are despicable!" Philia barked, seeing the hostage near Hook's…hook.
"Say what you want, I'm still a pirate!" Hook chuckled, "But, pirates can be compassionate, too. If you hand over the Keyblade you're holding, I'll spare your lives." He was pointing at Sora's weapon as he stated this.
"Not a chance!" Donald squawked angrily.
"Well, if you don't like that choice, I'll just have to invite you to walk the plank and jump into the freezing water!" Hook declared, pointing to the plank near them, "What's your choice?"
The team was at a loss. Sora reluctantly recalled his Keyblade with magic. With Tinker Bell's life on the line, they couldn't fight back. And they certainly didn't want to hand over the Keyblade to a villain like him. And as for the plank…well, they could swim, but for how long, especially in these waters? No choice felt like the right one.
As they had Pirate Heartless swords nearing their faces, everyone started to hear something. 'Tick-tock, tick-tock'. A sound that was reminiscent of a clock. A clock that Hook feared quite a bit. He looked fearfully down at the waters, and saw the head of a large crocodile popping out of the water, near the end of the plank.
"It's him! The crocodile that took me hand!" Hook exclaimed in a panic, "Oh, Smee! He's after me other hand! I can't stay here!"
'He's distracted!' Philia noticed. She still had her dagger on her hand. She saw Hook was so scared of the crocodile that had appeared, he didn't notice where his hand holding the lantern was at. 'I can do this…' she told herself, 'Magic is no good, so I'll use this!' She pulled her dagger back, and quickly threw it forward, over the Heartless, and right at Hook's fingertips. "YEOW!" The dagger cut Hook's palm, causing him to drop Tinker Bell's lantern.
"Gotcha!" Philia shouted, and she leapt forward, catapulting off of one of the Heartless's swords, and reaching down to grab the lantern before Smee or Hook had a chance. The captain tried to swipe her with his hook, but she jumped out of the way, getting over the railing, out of Hook's reach, and recalling her dagger back to her with magic.
"You okay, Tink?" Philia asked, unlocking the lantern, and setting the pixie free. The pixie looked glad to be saved, spinning around Philia in thanks. Donald, Goofy and Sora all cheered in response to this.
Hook looked infuriated at being outsmarted like this, but his fear for the crocodile took him over again, and he called out, "S-Smee! You take care of them! Heartless, stop that girl!" And he raced out of the way, getting to higher ground.
While the Pirate Heartless below were handling Sora's team, pulling the said Keyblade wielder away from his friends towards the plank, Philia had a few other Pirates to deal with. It wasn't just regular Pirates, either, but a couple of other Heartless; Air Pirates, basically pirates with no swords, but large fists and wings, and Battleships, a flying ship the size of a regular rowboat, but the look and power of a galleon.
Philia blocked a slash from a Pirate, only for another Pirate to try and get the drop on her. She sidestepped the attack, causing one Pirate's blade to fall upon another's, destroying it. She then hopped onto the Heartless's head, pushing himself upwards, meeting three Air Pirates, who looked ready to punch and kick her. She charged up her dagger, and unleashed a Round Accel, destroying all the Air Pirates in one go. She did a front spin, and slashed the Heartless she bounced off before, landing neatly on her feet again.
"That's a few down…" she started, but before she could finish, she saw a pair of energy balls coming at her, thanks to some Battleship Heartless. They blasted the ground at her feet, causing her damage, and for her to fly overboard, out of sight.
"Philia!" Sora, Donald and Goofy cried out, fearing the worst. However, Sora noticed the Heartless before him, pushing him towards the edge of the plank, where the crocodile was meeting him from down below. Beads of sweat came down his face, wondering what he should do.
Fortunate for the heroes, Philia was fine. Bad news? She was hanging onto the side of the ship by her dagger stuck on it. Even worse news? The Battleships were closing in, about ready to attack her again. In other words, she was trapped. Sora was trapped. Donald and Goofy couldn't do anything. She looked up to see the Heartless close in on her, and her mind reminisced on the hand of the red-cloaked figure in her nightmare memory, ready to take her. She was frozen, her hand starting to slip, her eyes dilated. She was terrified, and feared the worst. She shut her eyes, waiting for the attack.
Suddenly, she heard the glittering from Tinker Bell, along with cannon fire, with the attacks striking something, but it wasn't her. She opened her eyes. The Battleships took out each other's cannons with each other's attacks, thanks to Tinker Bell fooling them. The pixie flew down to meet Philia, scolding her.
"Why are you so angry with me?!" She questioned, "I didn't do anything wrong to you! All I had to deal with was some horrible memories that I recalled, and my friends losing someone close to him right before his eyes. I've been trying my hardest not to think about those memories, but…I'm scared. I don't know how I can get over such strong recollections as that! And in my haste to distract myself, to make sure Sora didn't lose someone precious to him, I end up like this. I can't do anything to help my friends or myself!" Her eyes watered up, and she closed her eyes, causing tears to drop.
Tinker Bell looked at her, realizing that she had to have been dealing with something hard. She didn't know what it was, but how was she treating her? With a scorn for being around Peter Pan, along with irritation for him caring more for Wendy than her. Philia risked herself to save her, so why would she still treat her so badly? She had to help somehow.
Philia's eyes were closed, wishing from the bottom of her heart for help. She wanted to be free of these fears. Of the memories that haunted her. She wanted an escape. Her wish was so strong, that something happened to her. Something she didn't expect to happen in that moment.
"Find the one thing that makes you happy, and don't let go of it." A young lady's voice spoke up. Philia opened her eyes, not sure where the voice came from. All she could see was Tinker Bell flying in front of…her…
"What?" She questioned, wanting to make sure what she heard.
"Do I need to repeat myself?" Tinker Bell's voice suddenly spoke up, "Honestly, dealing with people who cannot understand pixie is so annoying!"
Philia was speechless. She had no idea how this was possible, or how this was happening, but for some reason…
"I…can understand you."
Tinker Bell blinked, and looked to Philia, asking, "Wait. You can?"
"Yeah. Just now, I can hear you." Philia stated, "But…how is this possible?"
"You're asking the wrong pixie." Tinker Bell answered, "Well, if you can understand me, then I know just how to get out of this predicament. Let me show you how to fly."
"But…you already sprinkled me with that dust of yours." Philia pointed out.
"There's more to it than that." Tink pointed out, "Think of any thought that makes you happy, and hold onto it. Then, have faith and trust."
"A happy thought?" Philia echoed, looking down, "But…my past is scary."
"Is there anything in your life that makes you happy? More than what you don't know?" Tinker Bell questioned, "Surely, you must have more than those memories you keep mentioning."
Philia's eyes flashed, as what the pixie said sparked something. All this time, she was thinking about what was unknown to her, and the only memories of that time she didn't know were fearful ones. However, there was more than those memories. The memories when she woke up in Traverse Town. The memories of her adventure throughout many worlds. The memories of her times with Donald, Goofy, Jiminy, and Sora.
Sora…those memories were the ones she enjoyed the most. Sure, there were times it was hard, and times she was tired of his childish behavior, but the times they had together, from the laughter, the arguments, the fighting as one against all odds, were ones she couldn't forget. The words he shared with her, and the actions that moved her. She could feel something strong in her heart when thinking about Sora. A feeling that brought her something she didn't have for a while; unbelievable joy.
She suddenly felt her arm started to lower, though her hand was still grasping the ship. She looked down, and looked surprised. Her whole body was floating upwards, sparkling with a light reminiscent to the dust Tinker Bell sprinkled onto her. Philia pulled the dagger out of the ship, but still saw her floating in the air. She was flying. Beaming with joy, she looked to Tinker Bell, who placed her hands on her hips, and nodded in approval.
At this point, Sora was standing on the edge of the plank. He couldn't see any way out this mess. He looked down and saw the crocodile's mouth wide open. Behind him, the Pirate Heartless, with their blades out.
"Fly, Sora!" The Keyblade wielder suddenly heard Peter Pan's voice, "Just believe, and you can do it!"
'Believe…' Sora pondered on the one word. It was a strong word, as well as a difficult one, but he had to hold onto that. He closed his eyes, and literally took the leap of faith as he bounced off the plank, and towards the jaws of the crocodile. 'I believe Philia is alright!' He told himself, 'I believe I can stop the Heartless here. I believe I can save Kairi. I believe…that I can fly!' His body glittered, and before he was snatched away in the jaws of the crocodile, he reared off course, and flew back upwards, floating in midair.
"He's flying!" Donald and Goofy cheered.
"Wow, I'm flying!" Sora gasped, looking down at the water and ship below, "I'm really flying!"
"You're not the only one!" He heard a voice that made him beam. Philia and Tinker Bell joined Sora in the air, the former looking happily at Sora.
"Philia! You're flying, too!" Sora noticed.
Philia chuckled, and answered, "All I had to do was let my fears go, and think on the things that make me happy. Sora, even if I didn't have pixie dust, thinking of you always makes me lighter than air." Sora looked confused, wondering where she was getting at.
"This is getting troublesome…" Smee muttered, "I better inform the captain…"
"See? It's just that easy!" Said a voice. Peter Pan joined the trio as they flew in midair.
"Thanks, Peter." Sora thanked him.
"Hey, don't mention it." He answered, "You didn't think I'd leave you and Tink behind, did you?" He looked to Philia as he added, "Thanks for rescuing her."
"Hey, she saved me, as well." Philia answered, looking to the pixie, "So I should really thank her for saving me, and in more ways than one."
"In what way do you mean?" Tinker Bell asked her.
Philia looked at her hands as she started, "My memories are still a mystery. And although that memory may be scary as heck, I have memories that make up for it in spades. And if the rest of them do have happy moments in them, then that's enough for me to find out what they were."
"That's the Philia I know!" Sora stated happily, to which Philia giggled in response.
Suddenly, a ball of light shone between them. It was another magic orb, and it dove into them, along with Donald, who was startled at it. "This power…it's similar to Cure." Sora muttered.
"Cure has become Cura!" Donald realized.
"Flying, improved healing magic, AND kicking Heartless butt? This day cannot get any better!" Philia cheered, before the trio dove down with their weapons raised, with Tinker Bell flying behind.
As they started to fight, Peter informed the group, "By the way, I've placed Wendy somewhere safe. She'll be fine!"
"Great, as long as she's FAR away from Peter." Tinker Bell huffed, close enough to Philia for her to hear as she took out an Air Soldier.
"You really don't want any other girl close to that guy, do you?" Philia asked the pixie, "Is that why you were always irritated with me?"
"Well…yeah!" Tinker Bell admitted.
Philia sighed at the pixie's attitude to her in the past, and stated, "Listen, I do not have ANY interest in Peter. He's yours. After all, my happiness…" she looked to Sora, who caused Pirates to fall like bowling pins as he flew, "…is born from the feelings I have for someone else."
Donald was getting angry that the airborne Heartless were evading his magic spells. "Stop flying!" He barked at the Heartless.
"If you believe you can fly, you'll be able to fly!" Sora called down to his friends.
"Just think of happy thoughts!" Philia added, "Then have faith, trust, and use that pixie dust!"
Goofy thought for a second, thinking on the things they asked him to ponder on. Within moments, he suddenly started to float off the ground, startling Donald. As Goofy floated upwards, the duck tried to fly after him hastily. However, he wasn't thinking the right thoughts, and he ended up falling face first, once more. "I'm a duck, so why am I the only grounded one?!" Donald barked.
"Stop getting angry, and think happy thoughts!" Philia told him, flying down to her friend, grabbing him by his clothing, and tossing him upwards, making him squawk in panic. Seeing that he was in midair, he had no choice but to think on the things that Philia and Sora asked him too. Eventually, he finally got it, and was flying just like the others. "Guess he needed that extra push, after all." Philia muttered.
"That was hilarious how you tossed him up like that!" Tinker Bell chuckled, holding her belly as she laughed.
The five fighters cleared the ship and the sky of all the Heartless that came at them, whether they were Pirates, Air Pirates, or Battleships. With faith renewed, and their hearts filled with joy and determination, it was like they were reborn anew. The attacks Sora and Philia were unleashing together were overpowering the Heartless, especially due to their new power of flight, the strong faith in their hearts, and their reliability on one another and their friends. It didn't take too long before they cleared out the Heartless on deck. As for Smee, he used a rowboat to get
As soon as they got back down to the ground near the Captain's cabin, which Hook barricaded himself in, Peter raised a finger to his mouth, signaling the team to be quiet. He then knocked on the door, snickering as Hook called out, "Is that you, Smee? Did you finish them off?"
Peter then pinched his nose, and did an incredible mimicry of Smee as he answered, "Aye, Captain. They walked the plank, every last one of them."
The team stood on either side of the door as it barged open, and Hook came running through, shouting, "Well done, Smee!" He then looked about, asking, "Smee? Where did you go, Smee?" His answer was not what he wanted, as Peter tip toed behind him, and stabbed Hook's rear with his dagger, causing the captain to leap in the air in pain. He landed back down, seeing the heroes, with Sora, Philia and the others laughing at Peter's trick.
"P-Peter Pa—blast you!" Hook growled.
"Ready to make a splash, you codfish?" Peter asked, "Now it's your turn to walk the plank!"
Growling in anger, Hook roared out, "Get these fools!" Suddenly, a pair of Battleship Heartless appeared on either side, while Hook drew his rapier, ready to fight personally. "Come at me, you blaggards!" He roared, and he thrusted his rapier forward.
Peter Pan drew his dagger, and parried Hook. The two begun their own duel across the deck, while the rest of the team went to handle the Heartless that Hook summoned. Peter had clearly had this song and dance with Hook before, clashing blades with him over and over, ducking so quickly from his slashes, the rapier ended up swooping between Peter's head and his hat.
Philia and Donald finished up their Heartless, before looking to see Peter backing away from Hook, who used powers to produce a present box, before tossing it at Peter. He caught it, looking at it curiously, before the present exploded, revealing itself to be a bomb, and causing Peter to slam into the wall, injured.
"Peter!" Philia and Tinker Bell cried out, and to came to him as Hook charged forward, ready to bring his blade upon him. Tinker Bell spun around Hook's head, distracting him long enough for Philia to swoop in and parry the pirate captain's rapier.
"Mind if you let the lady have her dance with the pirate captain?" She asked Peter Pan, holding Hook's rapier away from her face.
"Be my guest." Peter answered, using his own powers to produce a Stop spell on Hook, freezing him in place. Philia smirked as she pulled back her dagger, charging it up, before unleashing her Fad Edge Dagger Skill, striking multiple times, before Hook came out of the spell, and took the full blunt of her combo attack.
"Stay by Peter's side, Tink." Philia told the pixie, "You know you want to."
"That's what I prefer to do!" Tinker Bell answered, flying to Peter as they took off to the sky. This left Philia and Hook to have their own duel with one another. For Philia, it felt pretty natural to have a duel like this, like dueling Leon, or some other person with a sword for that matter.
"You know, I should really thank you, Hook." Philia told the captain as they dueled.
"Thank you?!" Hook echoed, producing flurry of slashes that Philia backed away from, "For putting you through a nightmare that'll soon end with my hook at your neck?" He tossed another present bomb, to which Philia was prepared for, and she leapt forward to avoid it.
"Quite the opposite." Philia counter-stated, appearing in a crouching position at Hook's feet, who brought his blade down upon her head, which she blocked with her dagger, "See, I was dealing with some of my own nightmarish memories before our ships bumped into one another, and I thought they would consume me. However, thanks to all the trouble you put us through, from Riku showing Kairi, imprisoning us, kidnapping Tink, these strings of events wouldn't have led me to a proper conclusion to overcoming my pain."
She pushed Hook's blade back as she rose up, and the two continued their duel. "I wanted to forget the recollections I gained. Hell, I wanted to stop trying to find more memories of my past." She admitted, "But Peter and Tink taught me something; Instead of continuously being haunted by the memories that I feared, I should think about the happy memories I gained thus far. As long as I hold onto them…" She suddenly flew upwards to avoid a swipe from Hook, who looked up with a glare at her, "…then seeking out my past won't be so scary anymore." She finished, landing neatly at the end of the plank.
Hook looked irritated as he charged forward, lunging at Philia with his blade, only for the treasure hunter to side-step, hanging in midair as the captain fell nearly to his doom at the mouth of the crocodile that waited for him down below. He somehow did a midair bound, leaping back up in fear to avoid his nemesis's jaws. The crocodile smacked the water with his fist, irritated at the closeness to get his catch.
Hook sighed in relief, before Sora used the ship's shrouds to push himself back before rocketing forward, kicking Hook in the chin to send him flying towards the side of the ship, slamming his head into a cannon, and causing it to flip around and slam on top of his head, putting him in a dazed state.
"Nice shot, Sora!" Peter Pan told the Keyblade wielder.
"Hey, compared to most villains we faced, this guy doesn't seem that tough." Sora pointed out.
"Yeah. Ursula, Jafar, Oogie, and even Clayton were more threatening than this doofus." Philia compared, flying right next to Sora.
This caused the captain to snap out of his state suddenly, getting red with anger as he roared, "I'll show ye who's the biggest threat around here! I'm far more threatening than those second-rate imbeciles!" He charged forward at all the heroes, swiping his rapier with such vigor and power, that none of the team could get even near him. His berserk state was making it hard to get even close to him. Even Donald and Philia unleashing magic at him was not phasing him.
"Come face me, you cowards!" Hook snapped at the group, pointing his blade up at Peter, Philia and Sora in the air, "You'd never fight me, man-to-man. You'd just fly away like cowardly sparrows.
"Says the fool who's afraid of a silly old croc with a ticking clock." Philia scoffed, sneaking up from behind, but avoiding a turnaround slash he made.
Sora and Peter landed on the ground in front of Hook as the latter declared, "We'll take you one. I'll even have one hand behind my back!"
"You won't fly, boys?" Hook questioned the two.
"We give our word!" Peter answered, and they charged at Hook, clashing blades with him. And Peter was right; both Sora and Peter didn't use their flying powers to face the captain, but they really didn't need it, as they were overwhelming the pirate captain.
"Blast you, you brats!" Hook growled, getting red in the face again, and about to charge at them with a flurry of swipes. However, Peter used his time magic, and placed Hook into a standstill.
"I'll end this!" Sora declared, his Keyblade started to glow a golden aura, "And after I beat you, I'm gonna find Kairi!" He then swung his Keyblade with a flurry of combos equal to that of Hook's rapier, pushing the standstill captain closer to the port side of the ship. Near the end of his flurry, the time magic wore off, and Hook was taking every hit all at once, before Sora's final swipe at him sent him flying overboard, his hat flying off of him, splashing into the water.
The captain spluttered as his head popped out of the water, and he turned in time to see the crocodile in his face. He then went into a panic, and swam for his life as the crocodile chased after him, his jowl open wide. "SMEE! SMEE!" Hook cried out, swimming for his life. The croc's mouth opened wide, but miraculously, Hook held it at bay with his spread legs, his front half of his body still paddling for his life, while off in the distance, Smee was in a rowboat, seeing his captain and the croc following after him.
Peter took Hook's hat at where it landed, and placed it on his head, while Donald and Goofy landed on the ground near him, cheering at the victory they claimed. Philia looked also at the ground where Hook's hat laid, and saw that something fell out from it. A piece of paper. She opened it up, and saw familiar handwriting. "An Ansem's Report!" Philia recognized, "Another added to the books."
She placed the report away, and walked over to Sora, who looked at his Keyblade. "That move…" he muttered to himself.
"That's a powerful technique you gained there." Philia noticed, "What was that one called?"
Sora paused, thinking on the move he gained. Finally, realizing the answer, he called it, "Ars Arcanum." Philia smiled at Sora's increase of skill and power. However, one thing drew her attention was Sora's expression, which had fallen. It didn't take her too long before he understood what he was thinking about.
She placed her hand on Sora's shoulder, getting his attention. "I'm sorry that you couldn't get to Kairi. But we'll find her again. After all, we came this far, with faith and trust in one another."
"Yeah…" Sora answered, smiling at Philia, "Thank you, Philia." The treasure hunter blushed, but held her smile at Sora as he said this.
Nearby, Goofy, Donald, Peter, and Tinker Bell all watched the pair. The pixie could clearly see that she was wrong to accuse Philia of being close to Peter, when in her heart, she was clearly interested in someone else. The person she was right next to her, and the person that she thought of when she needed to fly.
"Uh, Kairi couldn't wake up, so maybe she's really lost her—." Goofy started to tell Donald, but he hushed him, stopping him from saying anything more. However, Philia heard from her position, and understood. The reason she didn't sense the kindness from Kairi before was clear now. It was because she didn't have a heart anymore. It was not there. Did Sora notice this?
"Sora…" Peter muttered, looking at his friend.
"I still can't believe it." Sora muttered, looking up at the sky, and oddly enough, he was smiling, "I really flew. Wait 'til I tell Kairi. I wonder if she'll believe me. Probably not."
"You can bring her to Neverland sometime." Peter suggested, "Then she can try it herself."
Tinker Bell looked shrewdly at Peter as she muttered, "You're asking a girl to come visit? What are you implying?"
"Not what you think, Tink." Philia responded, hearing her voice again.
Sora ignored this, only hearing Peter's words as he answered, "If you believe, you can do anything, right?" He looked to the sky as he continued, "I'll find Kairi. I know I will. There's so much I want to tell her, about flying, the pirates, and everything else that happened."
"I hope to meet her soon, too." Philia added, looking to the sky above. She mentally added, 'I wonder if she and Sora are merely friends? Or…are they more than that?' She blushed, averting her gaze from the stars as she mentally added, 'Wh-Why am I thinking of that? I mean, does it matter? I mean, yeah, I guess it would…' She touched her own heart. It was as if one side of her was telling her one thing, while the other side is having a hard time believing it. And yet, at the same time, she couldn't deny it. The feelings she had for Sora…were they really more than she realized?
"Let's head to the clock tower." Peter told the team, "I left Wendy there, so I feel like we should let her know that ol' codfish is taken care of." He turned to Tinker Bell as he added, "Tink, if you don't mind raising the sails?"
"With pleasure, Captain Pan!" The pixie answered, and she began zig-zagging about the ship, causing the ship to glow a golden hue with the dust she left behind. When the entire ship was covered in the dust, it started to levitate off the water, causing it to fly into the sky.
"Wow!" Everyone gasped, looking down to see the open waters they left behind.
"Tink, you really outdid yourself." Philia stated, catching the exhausted pixie as she landed in her cupped hands.
"Anything…to help…Peter." Tinker Bell panted, smiling at Philia, who giggled right back.
They soared up into the sky, during which, the team discovered a couple hidden treasures here and there, including more Dalmatian puppies. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. Instead of the open waters, they had now arrived over the starry sky of a massive city. What seemed to be in the middle of it all was a large clock tower, with heads facing four different directions.
"Where are we?!" Sora gasped.
"London." Peter answered, "That tower is where I left Wendy at." The team examined the tower closely, and saw sitting on the platform above the clock heads was Wendy, who gazed up to see the flying ship coming towards them. She beamed at the sight of the heroes standing on the side of the ship, waving back at her.
Philia looked at the clock, and the large minute hand suddenly shifted, turning the time from 11:59 to 12:00. The ship came to a halt near one of the heads as something strange happened. The head of the clock tower glowed for a few seconds. Then the light started to focus itself on one spot of the head, in between the 2 and 3 roman numerals. It sparkled and shined, then it revealed itself to be…
"The Keyhole!" Philia gasped, seeing the said object in the clock head, "Sora!"
"Roger that." Sora answered, hopping off the ship, and floating in midair with his newfound flight powers. He pointed the Keyblade at the Keyhole, and the tip shined. The beam struck the Keyhole, locking it up. Something popped out of it as it vanished, passing Sora, near where Donald and Goofy were on the side of the ship. Donald caught it, and nearly fell overboard. Goofy caught him at his foot, causing the two to made cries of panic in their state.
"Guys, just fly." Philia reminding the two of what they could do. Remembering this, Donald flew upwards, nearly carrying Goofy with him, but he let go and fell on his rear, while Donald landed on his feet, raising what was clearly a Gummi piece above him.
"It looks like that navigation piece we got before!" Donald recognized.
"More places to explore!" Goofy cheered.
Philia flew off the ship, looking to Wendy as she told her, "Looks like we took care of everything here. Hook's got a croc at his feet, and the ship is now ours."
"That's wonderful." Wendy answered, "Thank you so much for helping Peter and Tinker Bell. But…" she looked to the ship, seeing there was one person not among them.
"Kairi was taken away, but we'll go find her." Philia assured her, "In the meantime, no more getting yourself kidnapped. Okay?"
Wendy smiled and nodded in agreement. "I'll leave it to you to save that girl." She told her.
Philia smiled at her for a moment. Suddenly, her mind started to split in pain, and she grasped it, falling to her knees. "What's wrong?!" Wendy questioned, calling out to her. Philia didn't respond. Of course she couldn't. It was the same as before. She couldn't speak, or hear, or even hold onto consciousness. The only sliver of thought in her mind was saying, 'Not again. Not again…'
(Flashback) Philia was standing at the top floor of a clock tower in town, though atmosphere was different, with the sunset, plus a different kind of town below. There was another girl in front of her. It was the same girl that she recognized before. The girl that she considered her dear friend. It was Argo.
"Pleasure doin' business with ya, Phi-chan." Argo told her, putting a holo-screen away after making the transaction, "That dungeon quest was just too crazy for standard player, what with all those traps and all."
"True, but they were simple enough for my Trap Detection ability." Philia heard herself speaking, "Plus, the reward at the end was pretty worth it. Check it out." She pulled out a dagger that was very familiar to the first dagger she had on her. "It's called the Sword Breaker." Philia explained, "It's got a whole lot of stat boosts to it. I'm also pretty lucky it's a dagger, since that's my prime weapon choice."
"Nice find!" Argo complimented, "I bet it was an even better award since you were more than likely the first person to clear it. You have the knack and the luck of a treasure hunter, that's for sure."
"Hey, I'm just doing this so we can clear the game." Philia stated, putting the dagger away, "If the frontal assault team can purchase this info from you, they'll be able to get their hands on some good gear and experience, while you get some good business. It's a win-win for both of your groups."
"True. I cannot argue with the results." Argo admitted, "But all these tasks I put you through must be beneficial for some good reason. I mean, you ain't exactly leaping into the front lines to help take out the Floor Bosses."
Philia pondered on those words. Why did she give a darn on helping the front lines? Was it because she was such a helpful person? No, she didn't really have any friends in here, apart from Argo. And she really didn't go out of her way to help just any random people. So why risk her life in so many of these quests?
"I think…" she started, "…it might be for the sake of the thrill? I mean, going into these dungeons is a challenge, but I think it's fun discovering all that each of these things have to offer. Plus, finding the treasure at the end of the quest or dungeon or whatever I'm in is a whole ton of fun, too."
Argo snickered at Philia's words, causing the girl to question, "What's so funny?!"
"You just perfectly described what a treasure hunter would say." The info broker answered, "The thrill of dodging danger in the situation you're in, and the reward you can find at the end of it. You have all the characteristics and the attitude of one, no joke."
"I guess…" Philia admitted.
"Phi-chan, you and I both have our jobs in this crazy world while we're trapped here." Argo explained, "Plus, they're ones that each of us enjoy. You enjoy the thrill and the reward of a treasure hunter, and I enjoy the business and the information I get as an info broker. We both get to do the things that we like, and it is rewardin' us quite a bit. So stop questioning what you're doin' and just enjoy it!"
Philia looked to Argo, then out the window, into the sky, where she could see, hidden in the sky, the next floor that needed to be reached. Thinking on Argo's words, she then smiled as she answered, "Yeah…I guess I'm so caught up in doing what I do, that I really didn't realize how much fun it is. You're right. I do love treasure hunting!"
"That's the spirit, girl!" Argo stated, smacking Philia's back so hard, she almost felt like her HP would decrease, "Now, let's get down to business again. I have some more vague information I want you to look into." She pulled up her holo-screen, looking through it to find the info she was talking about, "They say this dungeon on Floor 42 has a secret to it, according to this NPC, but no one has ever been able to figure it out. His words seem cryptic, so they must mean something. You up to the task?"
"Hell, yeah!" Philia answered, looking with a determined grin, "I can't wait to see what kind of secret this is!" (Flashback ends)
"Philia… Philia!" Sora's outcry drew Philia back to the present. Her eyes snapped open, and she looked up. She was still kneeling down, but she had all her friends, including Peter, Wendy and Tinker Bell, surrounding her.
"Did something happen to you?" Peter asked.
"Was it…another memory?" Sora asked, worried it might've been another scary one like before.
Philia stood onto her feet again, looking at her hands. Finally, she dropped them as she smiled. "Yeah…and it was a good one." She answered, "About my friend that I had back then. About the reasons why I became a treasure hunter. About how I gained my first dagger…" She produced the Sword Breaker dagger she had on her before, looking at it, "And…a reason to keep going."
"A reason?" Donald echoed.
"Yeah. I know there are dangers like Hook and the Heartless out there, and the risks of dealing with them are highly dangerous…" Philia understood, "…But that's just part of the thrill. And the reward at the end, whether it's something we are searching for, or something we never expected, will be all worth it. But it can only be obtained as long as we persevere, trust in one another, and believe that there will be good things for us in the future."
Everyone was either wondering what she had seen, or happy for the fact that her new memories gave her this much determination. Plus, her words were an inspiration to everyone, especially Sora. She was right. He would see Kairi, as long as he persevered, and believe that the they would come where things'll turn out alright in the end.
"Well, I guess it's time to part ways." Peter assumed, backing off outside the clock tower walls.
"Peter, are you really going back to Neverland?" Wendy asked.
"Afraid so. But we can see each other any time." Peter assured her, "As long as you don't forget about Neverland, that is." They held each other's hands, the thought of seeing each other again in the future beaming in their hearts.
The team watched the group, Philia looked as she heard Tinker Bell snapping, "Unbelievable. That girl is still on Peter's mind?! And she still wants to be with him?!"
She flew over and started circling about the pair as she argued, "Fine! If that's how it's gonna be with you, Peter Pan, then go on without me, for all I care!" She flew right back to Philia, circling about her, "At least I know THIS girl won't be interested in you. I'm better off with her and her friends!"
"Eh, what?" Philia questioned, looking at Tinker Bell, who stood on her shoulder, her cheeks puffed in anger, and her arms crossed as she looked away from Peter Pan.
"Oh, boy. She's gettin' steamed again." Peter sighed, "Seems as though she's taken a liking to you, Philia."
"I thought she didn't like you." Donald recalled, snickering a bit at Tinker Bell's attitude, though a glare from her made him snap his beak shut.
"Let's just say, we understand each other as girls should." Philia summed up, looking to Tinker Bell, then to her friends, "You boys'll never understand that." Sora, Donald and Goofy didn't really understand what she meant by that.
"Then would you do me a favor?" Peter started, "Look after her for me, will ya?"
"You sure?" Philia asked, surprised, "I thought the two of you were close to one another?"
"That's okay." The pixie assured her, flying up and in front of her face, "I really want some time away from him. Besides, I can be useful to you. Pour a little magic into me, and I can aid you in fights in a big way."
"You mean…like summoning magic." Philia understood, "In that case, I'd be more than glad to have you as part of the team, as well as my friend." She raised a hand to Tinker Bell, who landed in it, bowing in greeting to her new friend as she joined the team.
Moment's later, the team returned to the Gummi Ship, which they relocated thanks to Hook's ship. Tinker Bell settled in one of Philia's pockets for safe keeping. Sora had his hands on a new Keyblade that was given to him by Peter Pan, called the Fairy Harp. It was a short shaft, with mixtures of green and dark green on the guard, shaft and handle. The front part of the guard had a pair of pixie wings, similar to that of Tink's, The teeth of the Keyblade looked similar to that of pan pipes, and the keychain was silver, ending with a red feather, similar to the one on Peter's hat.
"This Keyblade sure feels more powerful than the last." Sora compared, "In fact, I can feel magical energy coming from it."
"Like I said, the risks are dangerous, but we end up with great rewards." Philia stated, "I can't wait to see what kinds of rewards we'll get in the near future."
"Hey! I can't fly like I use to!" Donald stated, floating in midair, though he was descending, and not ascending like he did in Peter's world.
"That is strange." Tinker Bell stated, popping out of Philia's clothing, "My pixie dust should still work. What is going on?"
"Maybe it's a sort of side effect of using the powers outside the world we got them from." Goofy summed up.
"Like a less effective version of the ability." Philia understood, "Well, we might as well experiment with it some other time. But not in here. Who know what trouble we'll cause in here."
"I'm still interested in that Ansem's Report you got." Sora recalled, with Jiminy hopping out of his clothing, "Let's see what it says!" Philia took out the report, and placed it into the ship's computer, which scanned it, and read out the words on the paper to them.
"Simply astonishing! Today I had a guest from another world. He is a king, and his vessel is built of the material that composed the meteors. He called the pieces "gummi blocks". It seemed that my opening the door has opened a path to interworld travel."
"We talked for countless hours, but one story in particular caught my interest: that of a key called the "Keyblade". The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power."
"One legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it. I must know what this Keyblade is. A key opens doors. It must be connected to the door I have opened."
"So Ansem learned about the Keyblade from this otherworlder?" Sora summed up.
"Not just any otherworlder!" Donald stated, shocked after reading the report.
"Ya think it might've been the King?" Goofy assumed.
"It is more than likely!" Jiminy answered, "He knows of the Keyblade, and he uses Gummi blocks. I bet you dime for dollars that Ansem has met King Mickey."
"Then I guess this means finding the king has gotten more important still." Philia acknowledged, "He might tell us more about Ansem if we don't find any more reports on him." Donald and Goofy nodded eagerly in agreement to this.
"I'm…a bit confused." Tinker Bell spoke up, "I already have so many questions since we came on this ship."
"I'll fill you in on the details later, Tink." Philia assured her.
"How is it you can understand her, and we can't?" Sora asked.
"Not sure…" Philia answered, "It just happened in the heat of the moment when I was hanging onto the edge of the ship. It was a good thing it happened, since I ended up learning how to fly thanks to her words."
"And what about the memory you gained?" Jiminy asked, "Can you explain it in better detail?"
"Sure…" Philia answered, and she explained everything she could remember from the memory she had.
When she was finished, Sora started off the opinions as he began, "This Argo girl and you really sounds like good friends. I wish I could meet her."
"I wish that, too." Philia agreed, "Still, some pieces felt a bit weird. That holo-screen Argo used, that ceiling in the sky I barely saw, some phrases like 'NPC', 'front lines' and 'floors'. What kind of world was that place, anyway?"
"Well, whatever that world's like, you at least gained a new memory." Sora pointed out, "And we got to learn a lot more about you, including why you became a treasure hunter."
Philia smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I'm glad I hadn't fully given up on reclaiming my memories. I want to know more now, both the good and the bad parts, so I can figure out who I was in the past. For now, let's seek out our treasures. Not just my memories, but also Kairi and King Mickey."
"And since we have this new Navigation Gummi, we might be able to proceed further." Goofy stated, holding out the Gummi that came out of the Keyhole.
"I think Hook said something about Riku taking Kairi to a place called 'Hollow Bastion'." Sora recalled, his expression becoming serious, "We need to find out if this thing can take us there."
"And let's see if Cid knows about it, too." Donald added.
"Then I guess we have a destination to head towards!" Jiminy understood, "Lets head back to Traverse Town, and install this Gummi block!"
Just as soon as they were about to place in the coordinates, blue flames suddenly appeared in front of the team, startling them. They backed off as a letter came out of the flames, which vanished soon afterwards, landing in Donald's lap. It was oddly familiar to all of them.
"Another letter from Hades, explaining a tournament at the Olympus Coliseum?" Philia assumed, gathering around Donald as he opened it up.
"Yep. Looks like the next tournament is called the 'Hercules Cup'." Sora read.
"According to this, the prize is somethin' pretty swell." Goofy followed, "But it looks like Herc's entering the tournament, too."
"That's gonna make it tough…" Donald sighed.
"But I bet Hades would just LOVE to see Hercules lose a fight, especially to us." Philia assumed, "I wouldn't be surprise if that's his plan here."
"Who cares?" Sora questioned her words, "We'll show Herc how far we've gotten since we last saw him. Plus, it'll be good training for all of us, right? And we'll get those prizes they spoke of, too. Let's go make our way there, then to Traverse Town."
"Well, it is on route to there, so let's do it." Philia agreed, getting to her seat, "Donald, set a course for the Olympus Coliseum. I've got a lot to tell Tink here as we make it there."
"You got it!" Donald answered, tapping in the coordinates, and guiding the ship back to Herc's world again. All the time, Philia explained to Tinker Bell all that had happened, from the day she landed in Traverse Town, to the point they were at right now. And there was a lot of things, both good memories and bad, that Philia shared with her.
Next Time on Sword Art Kingdom: Heart's Origin:
The Hercules Cup & the Storybook World!
Author's Note: When Tinker Bell speaks, her voice actress is Mae Whitman, who voiced her in the Tinker Bell movie series.