Chapter Four – Replaced

Aurora tried to keep track of how long they'd been in Hollow Bastion now, but it was hard. As she quickly learned (or remembered?) time moved differently in different worlds. So, what might have been three weeks in Hollow Bastion, might have only been three days on Destiny Islands. Or three months in whatever world she lived in before she came to the Islands.

Either way, by her count, her and Riku had spent around twenty-one days in Hollow Bastion, training and trying to learn how to World Travel, before the daily routine suddenly had a change.

"Here you two are!" a throaty, annoyed sounding voice squawked. Aurora looked up from the book she was reading at the Library table, while Riku was sitting on the railing, twirling his sword around and practicing different slashes. Fluttering towards them was a red parrot with a cross look on its face.

"Iago?" Aurora asked. "What is it?"

"Jafar made me fly all the way down here to get your sorry butts! Apparently, Maleficent wants you two in the Chapel for some reason!" he snapped.

"The Chapel? But aren't they having a meeting right now?" Riku asked. "We're never allowed in there during the meetings.

Though not for lack of trying. Both Aurora and Riku have tried to get close, but the only doors in were guarded by vicious Defender Heartless while meetings were going on.

"Look, that's what they told me! Are you coming or not?" he demanded. The teens glanced at each other and shrugged, before getting up to follow the bird. Rather than leading them, though, Iago hopped up and landed on Aurora's shoulder, motioning with one of his wings for them to go ahead. "I'm taking a break. Didn't you hear me say I had to fly all the way here?"

"Right," Riku said dryly, while Aurora giggled. She didn't actually mind Iago too much. He wasn't really a bad person… bird? Just a little greedy and working for a bad person like Jafar.

…

The two Defender Heartless that usually guarded the doors were absent today, letting Aurora and Riku walk into the Chapel, where Maleficent and the others waited for them. As soon as they entered, Iago left Aurora's shoulder and landed back on Jafar's.

"You wanted to see us?" Riku asked.

"Yes. We have managed to locate Sora," Maleficent announced, waving her hand over the table. A glowing circle appeared, showing the brunette. He was talking to a blond man in what appeared to be in a shop.

"Sora!" Riku gasped, his voice mingled surprise and relief.

"Where is that!?" Aurora demanded.

"A world called Traverse Town," the Dark Fairy explained. "I can take you to go see him, but... I must warn you. It appears he has… found some new friends."

"What?" Riku's head snapped up from where he was watching the illusion of Sora, before he shook his head. "No. I don't believe it."

"Yeah. Sora wouldn't replace us," Aurora added. Maleficent glanced at the illusion before nodding.

"Alright. I will take you to him." She turned and lifted her hand, summoning a dark portal. The coldness that Aurora had grown so accustomed to grew more intense for a moment, and she shivered. Riku glanced at her and smiled slightly.

"Come on. Let's go find our friend," he said, offering his hand. Aurora nodded and took his hand, stepping through the portal with him.

…

Maleficent left the two of them to their own devices for a while, saying she had her own business to attend to while on this world. The two wondered the town for a while, before finally spotting their friend walking out of an alleyway, only for two Heartless to suddenly appear in front of him.

"I got this!" Riku smirked, darting forward and taking them out in one blow. Sora's face turned to shock as he spotted Riku.

"There you are. What's going on?" Riku asked, desummoning Soul Eater.

"Riku!" Sora said, running over to him, his own weapon disappearing as he tugged on Riku's cheeks.

"Hey, hey, cut it out." Riku knocked Sora's hand away. Sora then spotted Aurora just behind Riku and darted over, patting her shoulders enthusiastically.

"And Aurora!"

"Ow, hey!" Aurora giggled, gently pushing the over-excited boy away, wondering what got into him.

"I'm not dreaming this time, right?" Sora asked, stepping back and looking at both of them.

"I hope not. Took forever to find you," Riku said, pushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"Plus, us being self-aware in your dreams would be a little weird," Aurora teased, earning a snort out of Riku.

"Great!" Sora said with a grin.

I knew he didn't replace us, Aurora thought with a warm smile. Maybe this means we don't have to go back to that world now.

They began walking back through town, when something seemed to occur to Sora.

"Wait a second, where's Kairi?"

"Isn't she with you?" Riku asked.

Sora bowed his head, and fear seized Aurora's heart as she thought of the girl who had became her best friend.

"You mean she's out there, by herself?" she said.

"I wouldn't worry too much," Riku said, looking between both Sora and Aurora. "I'm sure she made it off the island too." He turned away from them, looking up at the tall buildings that were so unlike the small houses on the Island. "We're finally free. Hey, she might even be looking for us now."

A cold chill suddenly shot down Aurora's back. She turned and saw a Heartless rising out of the ground.

"We'll all be together again soon. Don't worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this~"

Aurora moved to activate Destiny's Heart, but before she'd even touched the button hidden in the back of her glove, Sora had already dove at the Heartless, a silver and gold sword, shaped like a skeleton key, slicing through the Heartless and turning it into dust. Riku cut off at the sound and turned in surprise.

"Leave it to who?" Sora asked with a confident smirk, resting the weapon over his shoulder. Aurora bit her lip at that, glancing over at Riku, who looked taken back at that.

She could tell his pride was a little hurt, like Sora had just bested him on the islands.

"Sora, what did you~" Riku started.

"I've been look for the two of you, and Kairi, too, with their help," Sora said, tipping his head towards two people that Aurora and Riku only just noticed. One was an anthropomorphic duck wearing blue, the other a dog in a green sweater and tan pants. Apprehension suddenly started to swirl in Aurora's stomach.

"Who are they?" Riku asked, a tinge of jealousy in his voice. Aurora quickly looked over at him.

"Riku~" she started, only to be cut off.

"Ahem. My name is~" the duck started.

"We've visited so many places and worlds, looking for you," Sora explained.

"Really? Well, what do you know? I never would have guessed," Riku replied. Aurora's heart sank. We were supposed to visit other worlds together. Us three and Kairi. I understand Sora was looking for us, but… Riku's hurt. Maleficent… he said he was just using her, but did she actually start getting into his head? Aurora worried, looking up at him.

"Oh, and guess what? Sora's the Keyblade master," the dog said, dropping his hands on Sora's shoulders. Riku stiffened even more at that. Aurora looked over to see shock in his eyes, and his hand clenched into a fist.

"Who would've thought it?" the duck added.

"What's that mean!?" Sora demanded, looking at the duck. Aurora looked between the three of them, and her heart sunk even lower at seeing how close they were.

Maybe… he really is even closer to them then he is us now…

"So this is called a Keyblade." Riku said, more a statement than a question. Aurora looked over to see Riku holding Sora's weapon, inspecting it with critical eyes.

"Huh!?" Sora looked up, before looking at his hand. "Hey, give it back!" the smaller boy darted over to Riku, trying to grab the weapon. Riku hopped back, his reflexes even faster from sparring with Hook, and he held up the weapon, continuing to study it for a few minutes. Sora, meanwhile, stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Catch!" Riku suddenly said, tossing it to Sora as he stood back up. Sora fumbled slightly, but managed to catch it all the same, before looking at Riku and Aurora.

"Okay, so you're coming with us, right? We've got this awesome rocket. Wait 'til you see it!" Sora explained. Aurora's heart began to lift, and she started to turn to Riku, when the duck's words made her blood turn to ice.

"No, they can't come!"

"What?" Sora demanded.

"Forget it!" the duck snapped.

"Oh, come on! They're my friends!" Sora snapped.

Riku shook his head and grabbed Aurora's hand, taking off and pulling her after him. "Common," he mumbled, anger simmering in his voice. Aurora nodded, quickly following after him, trying to hide the tears of hurt in her eyes.

…

"There you are," Maleficent said, finding the two as they walked through the town. "Come. I wish to show you something."

"We're not in the mood," Riku snapped. Aurora nodded in agreement.

"Ah, but it is important," Maleficent said, leading them anyway. Both sighed at that and followed the Dark Fairy. She stopped in front of a house and motioned to the window. Inside was Sora and his two new friends. They were talking and laughing, like they hadn't just found then lost two of Sora's friends.

"You see? It's just as I told you. While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions. Evidently, now he values them far more than he does the two of you. You're better off without that wretched boy." Maleficent wrapped her arm around the teens' shoulders, drawing them closer in an attempt to be comforting. "Now, think no more of him, and come with me. I'll help you find what you're searching for…"

Riku finally tore his intense glare away from the window and looked away from Aurora. "First Kairi, to make sure she's safe. Then a way to recover the rest of your memories and your brother?" he asked.

Aurora pulled her own gaze away from the window and looked down, wiping the tears out of her eyes, before looking up at Riku. "Yeah."

…

My feet pounded against hard packed earth as I ran towards the edge of the cliff, the world in ruins around me. Storm clouds boiled above me, barely hiding the bright glow of my target.

I skidded to a stop as I reached the edge of the cliff and looked up. The clouds separated, revealing a large, heart shaped moon. A man stepped up behind me, causing me to turn and look back.

"[static static]," I breathed.

"I am disappointed in you, [static]," he said.

"Heh. That's my line, [static]," I snarled. "You're the one who's in the wrong here. You KNOW [static static] shouldn't be used like that!"

"And yet, you can. So it must not be too taboo," the man laughed. I closed my eyes, before slowly lifting my hand, the palm facing the heart shaped moon.

"I would rather die. And maybe… maybe our time is over. Maybe it's time for us to be replaced." Light flashed from my palm.

"NO!" the man yelled, just as a loud click boomed over the wastelands. He screamed in anger and launched whitish-blue flames out of his hands, striking me directly in the chest. I gasped in pain and fell backwards off of the cliff.

…

"Aurora! Aurora, wake up!"

Aurora's eyes snapped open as she let out a strangled scream, thrashing in bed. Riku stood at her bed side, his teal eyes huge with worry. Aurora looked up at him, clenching her chest where the dark fire had struck her in the dream.

She felt like she'd been burned in real life.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked.

"I… yeah. Bad dream," she muttered. "It's late. Did you just get back for that last errand?" she asked. Riku nodded.

"Yeah…. but back to your dreams. You've had a few of those this past week," he said, sitting on the edge of her bed. It's been a week since they'd met Sora in Traverse Town. They continued their training, and now running small errands for Maleficent and her cohorts. Meanwhile, Maleficent said she was still searching for Kairi. It was hard to know if she was telling the truth, but for now, they didn't really have anywhere else to go.

After all, it was clear that they weren't wanted among Sora's new group of friends.

"I… don't know what they are. They feel like memories, but… not like mine?" Aurora said, putting a hand to her head. "It's hard to explain. Like," she hesitated. "I'm older in these dreams. And they're very disjointed. And I don't feel like me."

"Maybe they're someone else's, then?" Riku suggested.

"Maybe," Aurora sighed.

Just then, there was a knock on Aurora's door. Both looked up at it before Aurora cleared her throat.

"Who is it?"

The door opened, and Maleficent looked in, quirking an eyebrow at the teens. Riku, realizing how it might look, sprang up from where he was sitting on Aurora's bed.

"I have something I need to show the two of you. Once you are decent, come to the Chapel," she said, before sweeping out.

"Right…" Riku muttered, before darting out. Aurora couldn't help but smile slightly, before standing to get ready.