"Go Sora! Go! Go!" screamed Kairi as she sat on the beach.
"Oh thanks Kairi! Let's only cheer for Sora not me!" shot Riku, a little annoyed.
Sora and Riku were having a fierce duel with their Keyblades. Everyone was watching – Kairi, Tidus, Wakka and Selphie, all sitting on the beach, cheering someone on.
"C'mon Riku don't be a poor sport," teased Sora as he swung his Keyblade at Riku.
Riku grunted as he met Sora's Keyblade in midair with his own Keyblade.
"Riku! Riku! Go man!" screamed Wakka from behind Kairi.
Riku smiled as he blocked an aerial attack from Sora. Wakka was always on his side no matter what.
Sora gasped as Riku performed a perplexing maneuver with his Keyblade and left a deep scratch into his right arm. Sora dropped his Keyblade, and Riku kicked it away.
"Looks like I won Sora," said Riku smugly.
Sora smiled. "Not yet," he retorted.
Sora stretched his hand out and his Keyblade magically appeared in his hands.
"HI-YAH!" Sora screamed as he struck Riku's chest lightly with his Keyblade.
"Gah!" yelled Riku as he collapsed. Sora smiled.
"Yay Sora!" shouted Kairi from the beach
"You…you…cheated," spoke Riku between hard intakes of air in his chest.
Everyone laughed. Selphie and Tidus helped Riku up and attended to his chest, which was leaking red droplets of blood onto the golden sand. And Kairi and Wakka helped Sora with his arm.
After everyone was attended to they all sat down on the beach and watched the sun set into the distance. It has been 3 weeks since Riku and Sora defeated Xemnas. Sora and Riku have been dueling nearly every day to keep up their fighting skills. And everyday everyone watched the beautiful sunset, and thought about what would be happening next.
"I wonder what Goofy and Donald are doing now?" said Sora suddenly.
"Yeah, Mickey too," said Riku lightly.
Tidus snorted, and everyone's head turned to him.
"You know what I wonder?" asked Tidus.
"What?" said Riku and Sora.
"I wonder how Zanarkand is," Tidus replied.
"Where's that?" asked Selphie, tilting her head.
"It's a long way from here. I spent all my life there. But then…," Tidus froze, reliving the memories in his mind.
"And then……what?" questioned Sora.
"….It was destroyed by Sin," whispered Tidus as he looked at his feet.
"Whose Sin?" asked Kairi.
"He's a vicious creature who was created to punish everyone for their crimes," stated Wakka suddenly.
Tidus looked at Wakka.
"How do you know about Sin?" said Tidus, bewildered.
"I came from Spira, where Sin was," responded Wakka.
"But then how'd you get here?" questioned Tidus, he never knew where Wakka came from.
"Well, I was a guardian of this summoner named Yuna. We were about halfway through her pilgrimage when we were confronted by Sin. We all fought hard but Sin sucked us all in this portal thing, which led me here. And you know what the weird thing is?" Wakka paused and looked around at all of them. The he continued, "I was thirty years old in Spira, and when I arrived here, I was younger, probably by six to ten years younger."
Tidus nodded, "Yes I was about eighteen in Zanarkand, and it sucks man, because I'm only like fifteen years old now."
Selphie, Sora, Riku, and Kairi all sat back, shocked.
"I don't remember where I came from," Selphie said sadly, "I mean, the people at the orphanage say my parents came from very far away."
Everyone looked at his or her feet. Selphie and Tidus were both orphans. Wakka is too, but he's old enough to take care of himself.
"I'd rather not of known my parents. My father…..he was…..well a jerk to say the least," Tidus said softly.
Everyone was silent for a while, watching the sun vanish behind the horizon. Everything was quiet for a time, but then a loud sound erupted the silence. Everyone looked around wildly for the source of the sound, but didn't see anything until they looked at the sunset…
"LOOK!" screamed Kairi as she pointed to a tiny dot moving towards the islands near the setting sun. Everyone stood up and watched the dot get larger and larger.
"What is it?" yelled Sora.
"I don't know…," began Riku.
Everyone watched in fright as the dot got larger and larger – it was heading right at them.
"It looks sorta like a Gummi Ship – but smaller," observed Sora.
Before anything else could be said, the thing crashed into the ocean a few feet away from them. Everyone stared in silence at the spot where it crashed – to afraid to move. But then suddenly the thing floated to the surface.
"Your right – it does look like a Gummi Ship," agreed Kairi.
"Yeah it's definitely made from Gummi Blocks," said Riku.
"Let's go check it out," Sora proposed.
Riku stepped forward, "I'll go with you."
Together Riku and Sora walked through the water to where the object was floating on the ocean. It was shaped like a capsule and it was made from Gummi Blocks of different colors. Riku and Sora looked at it. They then looked at each other and Sora nodded. Sora swam toward the object and touched it lightly with his finger. The object's top quickly fell open and a bottle flew out of it and landed far away on the beach. Riku watched the bottle make a cloud of sand as it landed. Sora watched the bottle too, but out of the corner of his eye he saw the capsule sinking back into the ocean.
"Let's go" suggested Sora.
Riku nodded and they swam back to the beach. When they reached the shore, Kairi was already running towards them with the bottle in her hand, followed by the rest of the gang.
"There's…..there's a…..there's a note inside from the King!" Kairi shouted to them through strangled breaths.
Kairi finally reached them and Sora grabbed the bottle from her hand instantly. There indeed was a letter inside with the King's seal. Sora pried out the cork sealing the bottle and took the letter out. It read:
Dear Sora, Riku, and Kairi,
I'm afraid terrible things are happening once again. There have been reports of these new, indestructible enemies are destroying cities, towns, and even worlds. And what's worse they seem to have acquired the ability to use Keyblades. I'm afraid a huge war of Keyblades is about to take place. There have also been rumors of these enemies having mysterious powers that can even bend the forces of time and reality! So I'm asking you to please be on your guard my friends, for they might attack you next.
I'm also afraid there is a chance we may never meet again. I'm saying this because a whole army of these enemies are confronting Disney Castle as we speak. Goofy, Donald, and I are preparing for a bloody battle. Wish us luck.
Be On Your Guard,
King Mickey
Sora read it in horror – things always went bad. Everyone else held the same expression as they were reading over his shoulder.
"Oh no," whispered Selphie.
"We might not see them again?" cried Sora – he couldn't have Donald and Goofy die, he just couldn't.
"We've got to help them!" shouted Riku.
"But how are we going to get to Disney Castle?" questioned Kairi.
"That capsule was made from Gummi Blocks…"said Riku thoughtfully.
But before anybody could respond the sound of a sword being drawn went off behind them. Everyone turned around and gasped – a multitude of beings in warrior-like suits were standing behind them with Keyblades drawn.
