Wolfie: Hello again everyone! We've got a lot of news for you with this chapter! First, up, Legacy!
Legacy's A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the action from last chapter because we're cranking it up to 100 in this chapter. I'm extremely excited to see what you guys think about Sari's fights because we've had some of those sections done for about two months. The final two fighting segments were some of the earliest parts that we wrote, so I'm so happy that you guys will finally get to see it. I think Wolfie and I can agree that Sari has been a joy to write so thanks again to Antex for submission and for keeping up with this story. We appreciate you support!
I also wanted to point out something that some of you guys might have already noticed. The title of this story was changed to include the subtitle "Book 1: Scattered Light," so you know what that means, the greater story we've been planning for a few years now will be segmented into multiple books. We're not sure how many but we're planning for at least 4. That being said, we have good news! We're actually almost done with Book 1, so that's another thing I'm super excited for because of how it will end. Without spoiling too much, all I'll say is that you'll see what's going on with Sora.
Wolfie: And that's all the info you're getting on that! Also~! This chapter was actually done a while ago, despite its monstrous size, but we held back so we could set up a once a month updating schedule! So here's your chapter this month! I'm super excited cause stuff we planned back in the very first chapter is gonna start coming to light!
Anyways, thanks to Antex-the Legendary Zoroark (Thanks so much for such a nice long review, we love those!) for reviewing, all 9 followers, 7 favorites and 776 readers!
Now enjoy and we'll see you down below!
Chapter 7: I Won't Fall
Location: New Orleans - River Boat
After leaving Mama Odie's house, Sari and the others managed to catch a steamboat drifting along the bayou river. According to Louis, it would take them to New Orleans Square, where Naveen said he met the Shadow Man, so Sari was all in. Though the smaller animals would have no trouble hiding from human eyes, Louis was a different story. Luckily for him, a group of musicians on board were wearing animal costumes and assumed that he was too. They even asked him to join them during their set, which brought a joyful, star stricken gasp out from the musical gator.
Being on the boat and watching Louis fulfill his dream of "playing with the big boys" as he described, was a wonderful sight, but Sari could not shake worry from her mind. She worried for Rickson's safety, and hoped that he was indeed in town. Otherwise, she'd have to start from square one.
The boat ride had taken most of the day, but it was still faster than walking or swimming all the way back to New Orleans Square. As the steamboat neared the town in the evening, Tiana and Naveen had disappeared, which worried Sari after what had happened last night with the Heartless trying to take the frog prince. The salamander-in-disguise looked around and asked, "Um...Ray? Did you see where Tiana and Naveen went?"
"Aw, the Cap and Sher just went to dinner."
Sari was so confused. "Ray, I'm talking about the two frogs that were with us earlier. Not the captain of the boat."
Ray began chuckling as he waved, Sari's concern away and said, "Me too, Marguerite!"
"Marga-what?" Sari asked.
She was ignored, though, as Ray continued, "They went off to spend some time alooone."
Sari's eyes widened. "What?! Why?! What about the Heartless?!"
"No need to worry about them. If those shadow thingies come back, Cap will just holler. Like so…" Ray cupped his mouth with both hands and let out a loud yell, that left Sari to cover her ears.
"O-okay, I get it. It's just, I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to them."
"Me neither. Though I thought I almost had to throw down with Cap," he said chuckling.
"You and Naveen? How come?"
"Aw, just a misunderstandin'. See, I thought he was trying to make a move on my woman, so understandably I had to go toe-to-toe with 'im."
Sari started looking around, but she could not find another firefly nearby. "Has there been another firefly traveling with us?"
Again, Ray laughed as he shook his head. "Was you not paying attention to my song?" He pointed upwards to the brightest star in the sky and said, "That's my darling, Evangeline." The firefly said the name with a loving sigh.
Sari could have sworn she was being pranked. "Uh, Ray…?"
Before the Keyblade wielder could say anything else, Ray asked, "Do you got anyone in your life like Evangaline?" Sari paused, a blush burning brightly on her smooth face. "Aw, you do, don't 'cha?!" Ray said excitedly. "Why don't you tell me 'bout 'im?"
Sari smiled and said, "He's the reason why I need to find this Shadow Man you all seem to be looking for."
"You think he's got yo man?"
"I hope he doesn't...but yes, I think he does.."
"Well then, I'm gonna help you get 'im back!"
Ray's energy was as brilliant as the light he let off in the evening's darkness, making it difficult for Sari not to smile. "You know, Evangeline is lucky to have a guy like you, Ray." Now Ray was the one blushing brightly, his tail light glowing pink to show it.
Once Ray returned to his normal color, he asked Sari, "Say, how come you turned back to a critter like us?"
Sari sighed, "I know I could be a human here, but it's just...I'd feel embarrassed with the condition my outfit is in."
"You can't use your hocus pocus to get yourself a fancy set of clothes?"
"I'm afraid not. My magic doesn't work that way."
"Now that don't make no lick of sense!"
The salamander let out another sigh, "You're telling me."
Location: Midnight City - Rose Castle
Kairi wasn't really surprised that the walk back to the former Castle That Never Was was filled with all sorts of conversation. Shandanee, especially, was quite energetic, asking Roxas and Xion to tell her about the adventures they had been on, with Ravi occasionally butting in to attempt to stop her sister from bothering the bounty hunters so much. Eric also cut in once in a while to answer one of Xion's miscellaneous questions about the city in general, as well as about Lauriam, Elrena and their family.
Roxas, however, remained silent as he walked at Kairi's side and...it was nice, just being able to observe how these Reapers interacted with the bounty hunters, how each of them seemed to have a heart of their own, despite losing theirs however long ago. And if Kairi looked closely, she could see a hint of pride in Roxas' eyes as he observed the three Reapers himself. She wanted to ask him if he saw himself, Xion, and Axel as they developed their own hearts back when they were all part of Organization XIII. Their existence had been denied by DiZ, Ansem the Wise, after all, and yet now that same existence was being fostered for those who could not regain their hearts.
But...she couldn't bring herself to break the silence, and so she just brushed her arm against his and smiled. As Roxas' eyes met hers, it seemed as if he understood...and he returned her smile with sparkling icy blue eyes.
The next moment, however, they passed into the castle and Kairi's eyes widened as her focus shifted to something else.
Ravi, Shandanee, and Eric now had black skeletal wings adorning their backs and Kairi just knew she was gaping again.
Roxas easily followed her line of sight and chuckled.
"Cool, huh? It's part of being a Reaper and having a heart. We got a hold of Sora's friend, Neku, and he wrestled the answer out of Joshua. Apparently, it's common enough in their homeworld." The blonde explained.
"I see. They're amazing." Kairi smiled, and they really were. Despite being black and demonic looking, they were as beautiful as any pair of angel wings could be, if you asked Kairi.
"I'm glad you think so, Lady Kairi!" Shandanee smiled as she turned towards the redhead, startling her. "Ravi doesn't care much about hers, but I try to keep mine nice and pretty!"
"There's no point to it." Ravi scoffed.
"No, no, not having this argument again." Eric shook his head. "Look, we're here. Focus on the girls."
"Huh?" Kairi asked, turning to look around the three Reapers only to see a man with ash grey hair standing up from where he was bent down talking to two girls.
The oldest of the girls had light red hair, so light it almost had an orange tint to it, and teal eyes while the youngest of the girls had undeniably pale orange hair and bright green eyes that lit up as she laid her gaze on everyone standing before her.
"Shana!" The little girl, no older than ten if Kairi had to say, squealed as she pushed herself up and ran over to wrap her arms around the female Reaper's waist.
"Little Lady Zia! Are you having fun with Lady Strelitizia and Hibiki?" Shandanee laughed as she bent down and swung the girl up into the air before returning her to the ground, exaggeratedly rubbing her back as she did so. "Ooh! You're getting too heavy for this old lady, Little Lady Zia!"
"I'm having loads of fun! Aunt Strelitzia and Hibiki are always fun!" The little girl, Zia, grinned brightly as she held her hands behind her back. "And Shana isn't old!"
"That's right, Zia, we aren't old. Remember that." Eric smirked as he pet the top of her head before looking at the ash gray-haired man behind the girl. "Why you all alone, Hibiki?"
"We're getting pretty spread out. I was the only one free to guard the girls." Hibiki admitted almost sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke. Considering he was dressed casually, Kairi was pretty sure today was his day off. She also noticed that he did not have wings like the others.
"And we appreciate it, Hibiki." The older girl, Strelitzia, smiled gratefully at the man as she stood up. Her eyes were the first to land on Roxas, Xion and Kairi. "Oh! Roxas and Xion, Big Brother didn't tell me you were coming today. And with a guest, too."
"It was kind of a spontaneous thing. Sorry about dropping in." Xion apologized, bowing her head as she did so.
"There's no need. Right, Hibiki?" Strelitzia asked, turning to the man for guidance.
"Yeah, I think the king and queen will be happy to see you." Hibiki admitted as he stepped closer and held a hand out to Kairi. "I'm Hibiki, a Ninja under Queen Elrena. It's nice to meet you."
"You too. My name is Kairi, I'm-" Kairi began to smile.
"Daddy told me about you! You're a real princess!" Zia gasped, staring up at Kairi with sparkling eyes.
Kairi laughed, covering her mouth slightly with a gently closed fist. "Yeah, you can say that. Though I don't live in a castle like you. So I think you're more of a princess than I am." Kairi grinned as she bent down, her hands resting on her knees as she met the girl's eyes, briefly booping her on the nose as she said 'you're'. Zia giggled happily at that.
"That's right, she's our little princess, one of our two lights on this dark world." Hibiki grinned as he scooped Zia up onto his shoulders, causing the little girl to shriek joyfully. Chuckling at the man's antics, Strelitzia turned to Kairi and held out a hand.
"I'm Strelitzia, Lauriam's younger sister. It's nice to meet you, Kairi." She smiled.
"You too. I didn't know Lauriam had a younger sister." Kairi commented and mentally added and with such a large age difference.
Strelitzia couldn't have been older than eighteen, twenty if Kairi was willing to push it, while Lauriam was, undoubtedly, in his 30s. A ten year age difference wasn't totally unheard of, but it was not a usual one.
"Yep! Big Brother and I are really close." Strelitzia smiled.
"I'm glad." Xion smiled. "I'll never forget the day Lauriam introduced you to us, he looked so proud of you." The black haired bounty hunter's words caused the young woman to blush.
"Speaking of, where are His Royal Rosyness and Her Royal Sparkyness? We need their help." Roxas said then, his hands behind his head.
A male responded, "How fortunate, we require your assistance as well."
Turning, the Reapers and Hibiki instantly straightened to attention while Zia ran towards the two figures who entered the room, Strelitiza following right behind her.
"Why am I not surprised?" Roxas groaned as he turned towards Lauriam and Elrena. "Let me guess: you want to put us on Heartless management duty again?"
The king and queen of Midnight City were dressed for the part as Lauriam wore a white shirt, black vest, gray pants, and pink cape while Elrena donned a sky blue dress with a matching shawl.
"Gee, how'd you ever guess?" Elrena drawled sarcastically, sounding reminiscent of Larxene as she quirked an eyebrow.
"Well, we are interested in quid pro quo, so…" Xion trailed off, sharing a look with Kairi. At the redhead's hesitant nod of assent, the black haired bounty hunter turned to her former Organization comrades. "What do you need us to do?"
Location: New Orleans - New Orleans Square
As the river boat docked, Louis exited with the other musicians, merging with the parade as the floats passed through the main street. Tiana reunited with Sari and Ray on the wooden dock, asking if they had seen Naveen, which neither of them had. Sari was confused by Tiana's question but Ray, on the other hand, was excited.
"Look at you!" He said as he rubbed his hands together with anticipation. "Where the ring at?"
Both Sari and Tiana were confused. Ray made no mention of a ring to Sari while they were alone so she stayed quiet.
"What are you talking about?" Tiana asked.
Ray's eyes widened when he realized that Tiana did not know what he knew. "Well if Captain said nothing, I ain't gon' say nothing cause 'ol Ray sealed up tight as a drum. You ain't getting nothin' out of me. No!"
The girls shared a quizzical look before Tiana raised an eyebrow at their shiny friend. "Ray…"
"Okay, Cap not gon' marry Charlotte. He gon' marry you! Soon as he get himself kissed, and ya'll both turn human, he gon' find a job, get you that restaurant-" Ray quickly covered his own mouth, lowering his hands only to ask, "I said too much, didn't I?"
Tiana and Sari looked at each other with large smiles and the two amphibians hugged each other, squealing with glee. The frog turned back to Ray, taking hold of him in an embrace as she said, "You said just enough!" She then looked up at the brilliant star above them and quietly sighed, "Thank you, Evangeline."
The three then make their way through the crowd, evading the omnipresent human foot that appeared around every corner.
"He was trying to propose!" Tiana said in her exhilaration as she began to make sense of the time she was alone with Naveen. "That's what all that fumblin' was about! And here I thought all he wanted was to marry a rich girl."
Lagging behind, Ray shouted, "Woah! Woah! Cher! What are we lookin' for again?!"
Tiana responded, "You just keep your eyes out for the biggest, gaudiest float with a Mardi Gras princess about to kiss herself a…" The young woman cut herself off with a gasp as she absentmindedly finished her statement, "a frog."
Atop a wedding cake-shaped float stood Charlotte, her father, a reverend, and, a handsome man. Sari looked around to see what had Tiana in such a state of disbelief but failed to find it. "Tiana? What's wrong?" As soon as Sari asked the question, the answer came to her. She mentally slapped herself for not having realized it sooner. That man...was Naveen.
By the looks of it, Naveen and Charlotte were already getting married as the reverend had begun the ceremony.
Ray was also in disbelief, but he was trying to make sense of their situation. "Oh no, this can't be right, darlin'. And how you can still be a frog? Mama Odie, she..." He stopped when he realized Tiana was gone.
"Where did she go?" Sari asked.
"I don't know, but we got to find Cher. This just ain't right!"
Location: Land of Heroes - Island
The island's thicket gave Gia, Jack, and Riku the cover they needed while they tried to think of a way to destroy the colossal machine that chased them around the jungle. The trees and boulders did little to impede it in its pursuit of the Keyblade wielders, though. Its long spider-like arms knocked trees down and its iron claws could crush through rock with ease. The trio was never safe for longer than a few seconds so they had to stay on the move.
"Master!" Gia called. "I think I can take care of this thing if you and Jack keep it distracted long enough!"
Riku nodded. "Jack, you're with me. Let's keep its attention on us."
"Yes sir!"
Jack and Riku made a sharp left to lead the machine away, but for some reason, it continued following the summoner instead of taking the opportunity to eliminate two possible threats at once.
"Why would it go after her," Jack asked.
That's when it hit Riku. It must have been able to understand what they said through some voice capture function and deemed Gia the immediate threat. "It knows Gia is planning something. Come on, we need to get its attention back on us."
Riku sprinted forward in pursuit of the silver-haired apprentice and the machine with Jack lagging behind, moving as quick as his small legs could carry him. The silver-haired master focused his aim at a tree branch and flew through the air with his Flow Motion ability, swinging rapidly before moving to the next branch. This allowed him to close the gap between himself and his target within a matter of seconds. His Keyblade, Braveheart, glowed bright violet and as he swung it, a volley of dark wisps flew at the machine.
The projectiles connected with its hard metallic shell, but they didn't make a single scratch. Riku took note that one of his dark spheres landed near the head, at which point the machine retracted it to protect itself. "That must be a weak-point," Riku reasoned to himself. This was only supported by the fact that the robot seemed to have deemed Riku the new threat as it turned its head 180 degrees and thrusted its leg forward. Riku converted himself into a sphere of darkness several meters to the side before rematerializing into his normal form.
Just as the robot had tracked Riku's new position, another volley of projectiles flew towards it, this time a barrage of fireballs. It retracted its head preemptively, no doubt to protect its weak point. Riku was sure of it now. When the machine no longer felt threatened, its head poked out and rotated until it found Jack standing with his Keyblade, Tempered Desire, still glowing with a faint aura of fire. The dwarf's eyes widened as a boulder was chucked towards him, narrowly avoiding being crushed with a last-minute roll.
Riku shot another Dark Divide attack, redirecting the enemy's attention to himself. As a metal claw thrusted at Riku like a spear, he used his Dark Roll ability, leaving a small trail of black particle effects behind him. This time, however, the robot followed up with a second strike just as Riku rematerialized. In the nick of time, he threw up a Barrier around himself, partly translucent with darkness flowing inside of it.
"Master Riku!" Jack called.
"Don't worry about me! Keep attacking it!"
Jack nodded as he took his stance against the robot. His right leg was placed far back behind his left while his Keyblade was pointed downward behind him. The dwarf closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. The air around him began to glow with warm colors of red and orange in a fiery aura. "Leave it up to me, Mast-"
Just as Jack's eyes opened, a sort of lightning bolt with a face flew between the trees and slammed into the machine. Sparks of electricity danced all around it and suddenly, the red light on its head went dark as it toppled over towards Riku, its arm pushing the barrier with him inside away. Dust kicked up all around the large spherical droid. When it cleared, the thunderbolt from earlier resurfaced as a small furry creature and stood atop his vanquished foe, laughing to himself.
"Sparky, you did it!" Gia cheered as she rushed over to him. The small creature slid down one of the robot's arms and into Gia's as she tossed him into the air happily.
As Jack's blazing aura disappeared around him, he was left with nothing but questions. "W-what just happened?"
"Oh! This is one of my summons, Sparky. He comes in handy pretty often, especially around anything that uses or runs on electricity since he's basically a glutton for that stuff." Sparky laughed mischievously in response. "Thanks for the help, little guy. You're always a lifesaver." The creature responded in an indistinguishable language and disappeared in a flash of light. "I'm still not sure what that means. It either means, 'Think nothing of it' or 'I don't like doing this.' All things considered, I'm leaning towards the first one."
"Well your summon, definitely came useful there. Thank you both, Gia," Riku said with a smile of pride. Gia beamed up at him with a cheerful smile. He then looked between her and Jack and said, "Good work, to you as well, Jack. Both of you, be on guard, though. There could be more of those machines around."
"What are we going to do now, Master?" Jack asked.
"We need to find the person in control of that thing. They might know where Sari and Rickson are."
"What makes you so sure?" Gia followed up.
Riku shook his head as he answered, "I'm not sure about it. I'm just saying that they either sent this machine to keep us from getting to our allies or they're just trying to get rid of us since we are trespassing. At the very least, I want to clear up any confusion. Come on, you two."
Location: New Orleans - Cemetery
Sari and Ray had left the parade in search of Tiana, following the mucus that she left behind on the ground, and it led them to a cemetery. They found the frog by a mausoleum with her head hanging low as she sniffled, undoubtedly crying out of disappointment and heartbreak.
Ray floated closer to Tiana, approaching slowly as he said, "I know what we seen with our eyes, but if we just go back that way, we're gon' find out your fairytale come true."
Without turning, Tiana said, "Just because you wish for something doesn't make it true."
Sari winced at the claim.
Ray pressed on, trying to bring the frog's spirit back up. "It's like my Evangeline always say to me-"
Tiana quickly cut him off and said, "Evangeline is nothing but a star, Ray! A big ball of hot air a million miles from here! Open your eyes now, before you get hurt."
Sari was left in awe, her mouth hanging because of what Tiana had just told Ray. The salamander's head went back and forth, distressed by how quickly the situation had escalated. "Ray...T-Tiana…"
The frog leapt away from Sari and Ray, leaving them alone. Sari looked up at Ray. She didn't know what to say to him.
Tears welled up in the firefly's eyes as he watched Tiana leave. Without stopping to look at Sari, he focused his attention on his love. "She just speakin' out of broken heart. That's all that is." He wiped his tears from his face. "Come on, Evangeline." As he finally turned to the salamander, Ray looked at her with a determined look in his eye and said, "We gon' show Cher the truth!" Sari smiled at him and the two made their way back to the festival.
Location: Land of Departure - Maia's Room
Maia groaned to herself as she fell back against her bed. She was so boooooooored!
While it was true it wasn't unusual for large teams to leave on missions, leaving the Land of Departure quieter than it usually was, that didn't mean Maia wasn't sad that absolutely everyone left! Even Mahir! Her best partner-in-crime in the whole Land! No! The whole World!
And why did she have to stay behind while absolutely everyone left for a job? Where was the sense in that?! I mean, sure, outside of Ryo and Alexina, she was the newest...but five months didn't make a difference between her level and Marta's! She could've helped too!
With another agonized groan, Maia turned her body as slowly as a snail, not in the mood to move as a sign of protest. It wasn't like her master was here anyway...he took Mahir and flew off the first chance he got, not even offering to take her too. It's not that she didn't appreciate Master Aqua's training, it just was...boring. Especially since she had a solid grasp on magic theory already.
Maia preferred learning from Master Ventus, to move fast and escape from any danger before an enemy even realized they had been hurt. It was why Master Ventus was her master, after all.
But that didn't change the fact that he was a mean master right now!
Letting out another aggravated groan, Maia leaned against her bedroom window...only to look out and see Alexina down in the courtyard. She wasn't doing much, but still...Maia was curious and when Maia was curious…
Before the ruby haired girl knew what she was doing, she was standing in front of the seated Alexina , leaning down so her face was close to the other girl's.
She looked so peaceful, probably pretty deep in meditation...she was usually so uptight, that this was a surprise.
A mischievous smile grew on Maia's face…
And she screamed.
"LEXXIIIIIIIII!"
Directly into Alexina's face.
And just like Maia expected, Lexi's eyes snapped open as her body instinctively rolled away before she picked up the Xiphos that had been laid at her side and Maia suddenly found the weapon pointing at her neck.
"What...on Earth...possessed you to believe...such a thing was...a wise idea?" The warrior questioned, gritting her teeth and practically forcing the words out.
But Maia's face never changed. In fact…
"Pfffft...hahahaha! Hahaha!"
She started to laugh.
"Ur so kut! E lyh'd pameaja...hahahaha!" Maia sputtered, not thinking as she spoke. She felt Alexina lower her Xiphos, staring at her with cautious eyes.
"Maia...are you alright? Do you know who I am? Where you are?" The brunette questioned.
"Oac, oac." Maia shook her head, wiping the tears that had sprung to her eyes during her laughing fit as she straightened up. "I'm fine, you're Lexi and I'm on the Land of Departure!"
"That's...what was that language you spoke then?" Alexina asked. Maia was quiet for a moment as she studied her fellow apprentice.
But she couldn't find anything outside of honest curiosity, and a bit of concern, in Alexina's eyes. So she spoke.
"It's my home tongue, like how you speak Greek." Maia explained, tilting her head to the side and smiling slightly, trying to hide any sense of nervousness she felt.
"I see...I think it suits you." Alexina smiled the slightest bit herself and that alone caused Maia's smile to grow into a bright, closed eyed grin.
"Thanks! Hey! Hey! Since we're the only two here, you wanna go play something?" The ruby haired girl offered.
"'Play'?" Lexi repeated, looking confused.
"Yeah! That way, when you get your Keyblade, you can show us all how cool you are because you trained so much! Plus, we can play with Sil too!" Maia grinned, already feeling excitement coursing through her veins.
"Well...I suppose…" Alexina slowly agreed, still looking scared.
"Great! Let's go!" Maia cheered, grabbing the brunette's wrist and not giving her a chance to say no as she pulled her all the way to the dining hall where she knew for a fact Master Aqua had set up a section for Silva to finger paint for the day.
It was the perfect chance to play with Silva, tease Alexina, and train by using (safe) magic to manipulate the paint as it splattered on the walls!
If you asked Maia, it was totally a win-win situation!
And suddenly, being stuck home at the Land of Departure didn't seem so boring anymore…
Huh, how about that?
Location: Land of Heroes - Island
Some time had passed since Gia, Jack, and Riku faced against the large robot that ambushed them, but there was not another in sight while they walked through the jungle. In fact, there weren't even any guards to oppose them. Still, Riku kept his guard up to avoid being taken by surprise like that again. Gia was a little less vigilant, taking in the environment around them. She figured that if someone were to attack them, they would have by now. It was that carelessness that resulted in her becoming immobile and helpless as she had to watch Riku and Jack be surrounded by a glowing cyan aura.
"Well, well, if it isn't my little intruders. Seeing as how you three were able to take out the omnidroid, I figured you were way out of league for my guards. Still, you don't seem like all that much of a threat getting a good look at you up close."
Now that they were all restrained, the guards came out from behind the trees, ready to handcuff them.
Location: New Orleans - New Orleans Square
The reverend continued marrying Naveen and Charlotte, reaching the "speak now or forever hold your peace" portion by the time Sari and Ray reached the float. Sari had climbed onto the base undetected but that was as far as she could go without being seen by Charlotte or the other humans higher up. The rest was up to Ray to find out what was going on. As the firefly approached Naveen's ear, he asked, "Cap, what you doin', son?"
This startled Naveen, making him swat Ray away. Sari could see what was going on and found this odd. What she couldn't see was a long tongue sticking out of the keyhole of a small chest that sat right behind Naveen. The prince noticed this and maliciously stepped on it. The tongue slithered back through the keyhole, but not before Ray could catch a glimpse of it. The firefly hovered down to the keyhole and asked, "Is that you, Cap?"
"Ray! Get me out of this box!" It was Naveen!
Ray responded, "I can't hear you! I'm gon' get you out this box!" He then proceeded to adjust his antennae and flip himself upside down to properly fit through the keyhole. Who needed a Keyblade when you could make yourself the key, after all?
The reverend finally reached the end of the ceremony. All he needed to do was pronounce the imposter and Charlotte as man and wife, but before he could finish the statement, the chest opened and the real Naveen sprang out of it. The imposter was blindsided and lost his balance, tumbling down to the ground. It was then that Sari could clearly see Naveen, still in his frog form.
Charlotte called down to the imposter, "Oh goodness gracious! Are you alright?"
The man responded, "I just need a moment to compose myself." His voice was clearly not Naveen's, giving Sari's mind certainty that this man had used magic of some sort to impersonate the prince. The imposter quickly grabbed Naveen and made a break for a nearby chapel door. Sari and Ray followed, but only the latter could fit underneath the doorway. Sari would have to find another entrance or somewhere private to revert back to human form.
As Ray entered the chapel, he heard a man with a tophat yell, "Get your royal rump back on that wedding cake and finish this deal!"
Before the imposter could respond, Naveen expanded his throat to free himself long enough to yank a necklace off of the young man...or rather, old man. Ray quickly deduced that the necklace was voodoo, only making this stout fat man look like the tall, young, well-built prince.
The tall, lanky man shouted, "What's he doing?! Stop him!"
Naveen managed to kick the necklace over to Ray, who caught it, but was not strong enough to carry it by himself. That's when the doors flung open revealing Sari with her normal appearance.
"Get out!" the tall man snapped. "This area is restricted!"
Sari picked up both Ray and the necklace, taking note of Naveen in the fat man's grasp. She looked from the captor to the tall man. He wore a suit and tophat, but his shirt was undone and the tophat had a white skull and crossbones painted on it. Combined with the fanged necklace he wore, the man's entire ensemble gave Sari the suspicion that he was the Shadow Man she had been hearing so much about. Sari straightened her posture and said, "I'll leave once you give me my little friend back."
The tall man fixed his shirt and offered a sly grin as he said, "That can be arranged. I'll be needing that necklace in exchange. It's very important to me."
Both Naveen and Ray shouted, "No!"
Naveen explained, "That necklace has the power to make Lawrence-" He was cut off by wrinkled fingers. Sari put the rest of it together, considering the behaviors these men were displaying. She also deduced that the man holding Naveen was Lawrence. After all, he was wearing the exact same outfit she saw Naveen in earlier.
"Why do you two need this? What could you possibly gain from all of this?"
The Shadow Man, better known as Dr. Facilier, pulled on his open-collar shirt, sliding into a calm demeanor as he explained, "Lawrence and I are financial partners, if you will, and we need that there charm to finish our deal, but if you're going to be a hindrance to us…" With the snap of his fingers, several Darkball Heartless appeared around himself and Lawrence, the latter of which cried in fear and hid behind a pew.
Guiding Gladiolus appeared in Sari's hand as she took her battle stance, keeping Ray and the necklace close to her. Dr. Facilier's eyes widened with realization as he said, "So you're with him." A grin formed on the Shadow Man's face while he chuckled to himself.
Sari's brow furrowed with curiosity. "Him? Do you mean Rickson? Where is he?!"
Dr. Facilier held his hands up as if to slow her down. "Hold on, now. There's no point in telling a dead girl, now is there?" He spoke to the Heartless with a kind of familiarity as he said, "Alright boys, why don't you show our guest some southern hospitality?"
The Darkballs flew forward, their snapping jaws threatening to rip through Sari's flesh. In response, the girl used her Barrier and Counter Blast combination to blow back the incoming enemies. As the transparent shards flew out, they sliced into the floor and walls, almost piercing Lawrence's face, making the man squeal frightfully. Dr. Facilier on the other hand was saved by a Darkball that intercepted the attack for him.
Sari couldn't believe her eyes. She'd seen people call forth the Heartless, only to be consumed by the darkness and become one themselves, but Dr. Facilier was pulling the strings. "He doesn't just summon the Heartless...he c-can control them. Who are you?"
Dr. Facilier laughed and said, "Why, little missy, I am nothing but a humble fortune teller. And these…" The man slammed the tip of his cane against the ground, producing a radial array of shadows that stretched throughout the room and rose against the walls. As the shadows rose, Sari and Ray could see that they took monstrous shapes with sharp teeth and claws. Dr. Facilier concluded by saying, "...are my friends on the other side, and thanks to your friend, they're here to stay!" The Shadow Man threw his head back in hysterical laughter while the dark beings joined him.
"So you're using him…"
Ray could hear the pain in her voice. "Marguerite…"
"Ray, find Tiana and get this as far away as you can from here. I'll hold them off."
The firefly took hold of the necklace and flapped his tiny wings as fast as they could move, struggling to hold the item on his own. Despite this, he agreed to do as Sari said. The shadow covering the door, did not, though. Ray grimaced at the silhouette as he lit up and flew straight against the wall, eradicating the shadow creature.
As Ray flew down to slip underneath the door, Dr. Facilier yelled, "No! Stop him!"
"I won't let you!" Sari yelled as she channeled light energy into her Keyblade. She leapt back against the door and pointed her weapon upwards. "Sparkga!" A light crystal formed at the tip before splitting off into three, which whirled around her rapidly, each creating a ring of light that vaporized any of the shadows that dared to near her.
Dr. Facilier's dark violet eyes were cold with killer instinct. "Fine then!" He spat angrily. "Friends! Give me your power!" The remaining shadows in the room retreated to their master, spiraling around him in a violent twister of pitch black. The entire room began to brighten up with strong neon colors and as the twister came to a halt, Dr. Facilier's face was revealed to have changed above his lips, now covered by a skull-like mask.
Sari could tell that the man was different from a moment ago. While it's true that his heart was full of darkness before, it now felt as if it were a dark void, sucking in all of the light around him.
"Are you ready?!" He bellowed as he set his foot down, sending forth a shadow towards Sari.
Sari prepared a Barrier but the shadow slipped underneath it and uppercutted her with its thin claws. The girl fell to the ground with a groan, but she quickly picked herself back up in time to roll away from the next attack. Dr. Facilier kept sending his shadows towards Sari but she continued to evade and slash through them whenever they got too close.
At the first opportunity she was given, Sari charged forward and swung her Keyblade only for Dr. Facilier to block it with his cane. Though he was very slender, the man was able to hold back the toned girl, even when she pressed forward with all the might her lean muscles could muster. Acknowledging that she would not defeat him in a battle of brute strength, Sari planted the ball of her foot on the ground and pushed off, allowing her to swivel on her other foot and deliver a quick slash to the madman's shoulder.
Dr. Facilier staggered from the hit, but regained his balance thanks to one of the shadows catching him and pushing him back towards Sari. The man glared at her with glowing violet eyes as he growled with frustration. "Little girl, you have no idea of the power I have now."
The Shadow Man twirled his cane and caught it upright, pointing at the girl. The orb began to glow and suddenly, Sari found herself rolling on the ground to avoid a violet fireball. A shadowy limb sprang up, trying to slash through her but Sari moved her head to evade. She then retaliated with a slash of her own before pointing her Keyblade at Dr. Facilier. As the man fired another wisp, she shot a bright sphere of light. The two attacks collided in an explosion, golden rays cracking through the dark shroud around it.
This created an opening for one of Dr. Facilier's shadows to strike Sari and pin her to a wall. The man laughed now that he had the girl right where he wanted her. Sari kicked and struggled in its hold, but she could not free herself.
Dr. Facilier laughed as he prepared a fireball to end the girl. As the projectile flew towards Sari, the girl quickly created a Barrier and used her goto maneuver, blasting back several shards. This time, one struck Dr. Facilier's cheek, forcing the man to break concentration long enough for Sari to slice through the shadow with a reverse grip. As she descended to the ground, the redhead charged up a Pearl spell and hurled it forward with all her might. As the sphere connected with Dr. Facilier, it expanded, consuming him in a radiant light that burned the shadows away from his being. The chapel lit up like a tiny star was born inside of it, but the light eventually faded leaving Dr. Facilier to drop to his knees, barely able to support himself with his cane.
Sari walked over to him and asked, "Where do you have him? Please. I need to know."
Tired violet eyes drifted up to meet Sari's. "You ain't ever finding out." Dr. Facilier reached into his coat pocket and threw something to the floor. Whatever it was, it exploded into a violet shroud, making Sari cough as she tried to fan away the smoke from her eyes. When it cleared, the voodoo man was gone and so was her last chance of finding Rickson.
All Sari could do was stare at the spot where Dr. Facilier used to be unable to process her feelings. She felt everything. Sadness, anger, frustration, and guilt just to name a few. As she fell to her knees, Sari bowed her head in defeat and let out a weak sigh. Her eyes closed for a moment while she tried to collect herself and keep her emotions in check, reminding herself that darkness waits for moments like this to enter one's heart.
Sari lifted her head, rose to her feet, and took a deep breath. It wasn't over. After all, she knew that Rickson was at least on this world. That explains why so many powerful Heartless had been appearing. This gave her the hope she needed to press forward. After all, Dr. Facilier was still on the loose and she needed to find him.
As Sari began walking towards the exit, she heard a pew move. She turned around with Keyblade in hand for another fight, but it was just Lawrence.
"Oh dear, where did he go?" the man asked himself.
"Lose something?"
Lawrence squealed and got down to the floor, hoping to avoid her. After all, someone who could best Dr. Facilier with all of his sorcery was bad news for him.
Sari walked down the aisle and stopped when she reached his row. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you."
Lawrence's eyes opened when he heard her gentle voice. "Y-you're not?"
She shook her head. "No. I'm not trying to hurt anyone. I'm just looking for my friend. You work with the Shadow Man. I think he has a friend of mine. Do you know where he might be?"
The old man stood up and shook his head. "Afraid not. I don't exactly work with Dr. Facilier. Well, I do, b-but…" Lawrence sighed, "It's complicated."
"It's not really. You wanted Prince Naveen's life and Dr. Facilier could give that to you. That's why you needed that talisman. Am I right?" Lawrence answered with a nod. "And he turned Naveen into a frog to get him out of the way so you could marry Charlotte Labouff. But why? What did he gain out of this?"
"I-I promised the doctor that I would g-give him part of the Labouff fortune when Big Daddy passed away."
"Greed. That figures," she said with a sigh. "So there really isn't anywhere that Dr. Facilier might be keeping my friend?"
Lawrence rubbed his chin and thought to himself, "Well…"
Sari's eyes widened with hope. "If there is, you have to tell me! Please!" When the redhead realized she was invading Lawrence's personal space, she took a step back, but continued looking at him with a pleading look that was difficult for him to ignore.
"I could only think of one."
Location: Land of Heroes - Island
The trio of Keyblade Wielders found themselves trapped, their arms and legs restrained by these metal spheres connected by electrical chains to an oval-shaped machine. They were unable to summon their weapons with their hands restrained, and worst of all, electric shocks were delivered to them every time the masked man before them disliked one of their answers.
"You people just won't talk, will you?" he asked. This was the very man that captured them with the strange cyan-colored energy beams from before. He wore some sort of spandex suit with a blue cape and a set of white boots and gloves, but the most peculiar thing about him was his gravity-defying orange hair that would put even Sora's to shame.
Riku tried to catch his breath, having just felt the sting of a powerful shock course through his body. "I told you. We aren't these 'supers' that you keep talking about."
"Oh, I know. You three can't do anything without those strange, and very impractical-looking, weapons you had earlier, which miraculously disappeared. Look, I don't care who you're working for, but what I do care about is getting my hands on those weapons so you better start talking or you're all going to fry."
The man's crystal blue eyes were filled with a rage Riku had not seen in a long time. He had been wronged by someone and now carried that pain, allowing it to consume him. It wouldn't be long before his heart gave in to the darkness. The captor seemed to grow impatient by Riku's silence, so he directed his attention to one of the guards operating the computer and gave the order to turn up the voltage.
"Wait!"
The orange-haired man stopped his guard and looked over to Riku with distruful anticipation. "Go on…"
"I'll show you our weapons."
"You'll show me where you left them?"
"We didn't leave them anywhere. That's why you men haven't been able to come up with anything. Only we can summon them."
"Summon? You mean they warp into your hands?"
"Yes."
The man was getting visibly frustrated as he said, "Wait! You mean to tell me you guys figured out teleportation technology?! No! No! NO! NO! Unbelievable! And you say that only you three can warp them?"
Riku was put off by how excited the man was now. He was cautious as he repeated himself, "Yes…"
"Then that means…" Blue eyes went wide with realization. "They're bonded to your DNA!" Then came hysterical laughter, but he was the only one doing so. Gia, Jack, and Riku all remained quiet and the guards seemed to just ignore it. It was just a part of the job they had seemingly become accustomed to. When the man's laughter finally came to an end, he was much calmer as he spoke to his employees. "We'll dissect them in the morning to find out how they make those incredible weapons appear. Don't let them out of your sight."
"You can't leave us here!"
All eyes turned to the lone woman in the room. "I-I can't stay here. I can't die here. I-I won't!" Suddenly a bright light sparked in Gia's chest. It grew brighter and brighter, and soon, that same light shined from her eyes and mouth. She stopped struggling to free herself and calmly stated, "You will free me." Several spheres of white light formed around her, one of which grew larger than the others, shining brighter and brighter. The radiant glow grew to the point of practically blinding anyone who looked into it. The others in the room closed their eyes and looked the other way, but somehow the light still reached them.
Riku tried to call to her, "Gia! You have to control your emotions!" A dark aura began to shroud him, sprouting from his heart and spreading all around his body.
No one could see what happened next, but there were flashes of heat and the sound of machinery exploding.
"What's going on?!" the redhead yelled as holes in his vision shrunk and grew.
The first person to regain his vision was Riku, but he could not believe what he saw. A beast-like creature with flames for fur and large horns sprouting from its temple stood over Gia's body, but it didn't seem like it wanted to hurt her. It was protecting her. In fact, the machine that restrained Gia was completely destroyed.
"Free us!" Riku called. "We're her allies! We want to keep her safe too! If you don't those men will kill her."
The monstrous creature looked back and forth between Riku and the other men, unsure of whether to trust him. Its gaze fell to Gia with an endearing look on its face.
"I know her sister," Riku said. "Lia...she's my apprentice. I care about them both."
That seemed to reach the beast as it nodded and went to destroy both Riku and Jack's prisons. When the redhead finally regained his vision, he was met with not only Braveheart, but also the growling face of an atrocious-looking monster. He squealed with fear, dropping on his backside as the fiery creature stood over him.
"S-so, uh...I was just about to let you all go now, mhm!" He wore a forced smile as he practically pleaded for his life.
"Not yet," Riku responded. "We didn't come to this island looking for trouble. We're just looking for some friends. Do you know where they are? One is a girl with red hair and two different colored eyes, the other is a boy with violet hair and golden eyes."
"I promise you that if I knew where they were, I would tell you, buuuut, I don't. So, I would really appreciate it if you guys just left my island."
Riku nodded. "Fair enough. But if I find out that my apprentices were here. I'm coming back for you." He turned to lift Gia and walked towards the exit. "Come on Jack, we're done here."
"Yes sir," the dwarf said as he followed behind obediently.
The monster watched as Riku carried Gia away, then looked at the small man below him and gave one final growl, which elicited another squeal, before leaving as well.
Location: New Orleans - New Orleans Square
Sari ran through the city streets, slashing away at any Heartless that stood in her way. The darkness only grew stronger with each step, spawning more creatures of darkness to defend the source they came from. Sari knew she was on the right track since there were more and more enemies appearing in her way. She just needed to push through the hordes of Heartless that tried to impede her.
The redhead rounded a corner and stepped into a small courtyard, teeming with the foul stench of darkness. On the far side, was a door with a sign above it that read, "Dr. Facilier's Voodoo Emporium," but a pool of black liquid bubbled in the center between her and the door. It bubbled and festered until a whirling tower of Shadow Heartless sprung from it. As the Demon Tower rotated, it moved around the area, struggling to balance itself until it locked onto Sari and sped forward towards her.
Sari quickly rolled out of harm's way, only to be engulfed by a sea of black and yellow. The demon tide had parted as it crashed into a wall, allowing the small monsters to scurry about the area, clawing at Sari every opportunity they got which was plenty considering that the girl was defenseless on the ground.
It was difficult to concentrate with so many tiny claws digging into her skin, but Sari managed to focus long enough to cast a Sparkra spell. Two shining crystals spun around her, vaporizing any Shadows that they made contact with. Unable to get close to her, the tiny monsters reformed into the Demon Tower.
Sari had taken quite a few scratches. None were very deep, but they were all over her body, stinging harshly because of her sweat. Her breath was growing heavier with each exhale, an indication of her fatigue. She struggled to stand up straight through the pain and exhaustion but she needed to continue pressing forward. After all, the darkness would not give her the opportunity to catch her breath.
The Demon Tower curled over towards Sari to engulf her into the vortex but she quickly threw up a Barrier around her to deflect the attack. The Shadows slammed into the transparent shield and bounced off, falling out of coordination again to swarm around her. Sari's Counter Blast struck most of the enemies that scurried near her, but there was still a large nest of them all around her so she erected a new Barrier immediately.
Though she continued to strike down many Heartless, it seemed as though the Demon Tower never ran out of drones. This is getting me nowhere. I need to destroy it from the inside… An idea appeared in Sari's head, but it was one she felt nervous about. She did not have anything else up her sleeve though, so as the Demon Tower leaned forward to engulf her, the girl allowed it to. She received plenty more wounds as the monsters clawed at her smooth skin. She had to keep her eyes shut to protect them from getting clawed out, but they still scratched her eye lids, harming her, nonetheless. Sari raised her Keyblade over her head and yelled, "Pearl!" A sphere of light formed on the tip of her blade and exploded, burning the dark creatures. The Demon Tower exploded apart, leaving a few stragglers spread throughout the area. Sari fell to the floor, landing awkwardly on her arm which made her cry out in pain. "Ahhh!"
Sari tilted her head off to the side to look at her Keyblade laid on the ground. She tried to call it back to her hand but her arm would not reach out to it. In fact, it burned with pain when she tried to move it. The girl let out a frustrated sigh at the realization that she'd sprained her dominant arm. As her head rolled to the other side, she saw the Shadows approach her with caution. They would soon realize that she could not get up and move in for the kill so she had to act quickly. With her free arm, Sari reached into her item pouch and pulled out a bottle of a vibrant blue liquid. She quickly bit down on the cap and twisted it, spilling some of the Potion on herself, but she spat the cap out and drank from the bottle as fast as she could. The Shadows leapt into the air but were quickly cut down as Guiding Gladiolus flashed into Sari's nondominant hand and she swung it in a wide arc. The girl was now crouched low with her left arm still limp and sore. Though it was not fully injured anymore, it still felt weak and tender.
Sari looked off to the right, finding one lone Shadow rocking back and forth, unsure of whether to strike. The girl slowly stood up with shaky legs, leaning on her Keyblade to keep herself from toppling over. Once she'd gotten up onto her legs, she slowly walked over to the Heartless and closed her eyes as she pressed the weapon into it with her body weight behind the thrust. Now there weren't any Heartless. It was just her in that courtyard and the unknown through the door to Dr. Facilier's shop.
With a heavy sigh, Sari forced herself forward pushing through the pain that laced up her body despite having healed her wounds with her Potion. Sari needed to keep pushing if she was going to put an end to Dr. Facilier's reign on the city of New Orleans, and she was so close. She dragged her feet, pouring as much strength as she could into her legs to make them move as she approached the entrance to the magic shop.
The inside was pitch black, so Sari lit the way with her Keyblade, revealing that the shop was littered with dusty books and antiques that Dr. Facilier most likely kept around to provide his business with an ambiance of mystery. She proceeded with caution, wary of any yellow eyes that might peer through the dark corners of the room, but as she neared the back of the shop, the room seemed to light itself on its own. At that moment, a tear almost broke from Sari's eye when she caught sight of an unconscious Rickson, sitting tied to a chair in the middle of the room.
She called out to him, "Rickson!" and ran forward only to be sucker punched by one of the small totems that hung on the back wall. Its eyes glowed purple and a green aura surrounded it as it levitated back to its original spot. The largest totem grinned down maliciously at Sari. With a spark in its eyes, the curtains closed behind her on their own, preventing escape even when Sari attempted to cut through them with her Keyblade. There seemed to be some sort of protective magic around the room.
Sari could hear laughter behind her, so she turned to find that the totems were all floating off of the wall, except for the one in the middle, the large horned one. "You're the source of his power, aren't you?" Sari asked. "And you're using my boyfriend like some battery pack!"
She did not get a response. Instead, the smaller totems flew at her. Sari swiftly moved around the room to avoid their direct attacks. Though their movements were not complex by any stretch of the imagination, they made up for this weakness with their numbers, which kept Sari on her toes. The ones that she couldn't dodge she batted away with Guiding Gladiolus, putting as much strength as her slender arm could muster behind each swing. She missed a few swings because she was not used to using her right arm, which left her open to a few hits.
The large totem laughed as his underlings continued to apply pressure, keeping the redhead from reaching her ally. By this point, the smaller totems had circled Sari and all moved in at the same time since she could not dodge. What they did not count on was Sari having a complete defense. Just as she was about to be stricken from every side, the girl used her Barrier and Counter Blast. The small totems flew back, spinning uncontrollably as some crashed against the strange magical wall that enclosed them all. This created the opportunity for Sari to make a break for Rickson, but swirling green winds whisked him away into the large totem's mouth.
"NO!" Sari reached out for him but the totem's sharp fangs closed down, inches from cleaving her fingers off. Her outstretched hand curled into a fist. She was so close to Rickson, but even then, he slipped through her fingers.
Sari jumped back and took her fighting stance, taking note of the smaller totems returning to surround her. The redhead was getting frustrated and even desperate, but she remembered the lessons Aqua taught her. She controlled her breathing as she told herself, "Rage blinds. It will make me careless and carelessness is a weakness."
Though the small totems could have begun attacking again, they waited, so Sari did too. She intended on watching them carefully and waited for an opening to attack. Her eyes narrowed uneasily as the horned totem opened its mouth, releasing six slithering shadows, each of which made its way to the other totems. The evil wooden creatures seemed to be transforming, sprouting arms and legs that were dark and liquidy like ink. Their new bodies resembled those of Neo Shadow Heartless with a dark violet tint that matched the eerie light in their eyes.
Sari stood patiently as the Heartless danced around her. Their shuffling movements were intended to confuse her before attempting to go in for the kill. Despite her muscles screaming in pain from the fight she endured to get to this point and her lungs were thirsty for oxygen, Sari managed to stabilize her breathing, inhaling and exhaling through her nose. She channeled the little bit of magical power left inside her, concentrating on her goal of rescuing Rickson from that demon before her.
A faint pink aura surfaced around Sari, cloaking her in a thin layer of light. Though the large totem found this strange, it did not fear her, so the two Totem Shadows behind her lunged. As they swung their claws, Sari quickly whipped around, guiding her Keyblade with telepathy to slice through them like a buzz saw. Another enemy went in to strike, but Sari parried the blow by spinning her weapon in front of her, emitting a small blast of light that made it cry out in agony.
Sari turned to find only three left and all three were hesitant to strike. The large totem seemed impatient and annoyed by their reluctance so it commanded them to attack with a menacing growl. As the Totem Shadows rushed her, Sari began spinning, kicking up a small whirlwind of light around her that struck the enemies like whips and tore them to shreds.
As the girl came to a stop, the pink glow faded from her skin, but she had vanquished all of the Heartless, leaving her alone with the horned totem, which continued grinning at her as he unleashed another wave of Heartless. Before the Neo Shadows could surround her, Sari charged forward and leapt into the air, thrusting her Keyblade forward. The tip connected with the totem's forehead, creating cracks that spread throughout its face. Sari had a sliver of magical power left in her, but she somehow dug into pools of strength that she did not even know existed to expel the most powerful Spark spell that she could. The totem roared in pain, its eyes glowing with the white light from Sari's weapon, until a powerful shockwave blasted her away.
Sari raised her head as she lay on the floor to find the totem releasing Rickson from the green vortex in its mouth, all the while struggling with the painful light that coursed through it. It glared at Sari angrily before exploding into many pieces, releasing a swarm of shadows to whirl around the room. Sari leapt to cover Rickson's body with her own, but the shadows never attacked. Instead, they all just disappeared off somewhere else, leaving the girl confused.
Minutes passed, but the shadows did not come back to finish them off. Sari worried that the demons or Heartless would strike at any moment, so she knew she needed to get Rickson away from Dr. Facilier's shop. She looped her arms under Rickson's and pulled his upper body, but could not move him much in her weakened state. As Sari yanked him, she lost her balance and switched with Rickson finding herself laying underneath him now. She let out a huff, the fatigue overwhelming her body and preventing her from moving so she just laid there still.
"Sari?"
Her eyes had closed but quickly snapped open when she heard a familiar voice, her head also flicking up. A pair of lost golden eyes looked back at her.
"R-Rickson? Rickson!" Sari's eyes watered with happiness as she embraced her boyfriend, holding him tightly as she yelled, "You're awake!"
As the girl let go of him, Rickson chuckled and said, "Yeah, for the most part. I'm feeling drained, though. What happened?"
They say upright, both feeling weak from their ordeals.
"I'm not surprised you feel that way. A madman was using you to feed these demonic pets of his. They unleashed all these Heartless throughout the world, but it looks like they're gone for now."
While Sari dug through her item pouch, Rickson looked her up and down, taking note of her condition and a pang of guilt struck him. Without even asking her, he knew that she had gotten scrapes on her skin and her outfit was tattered because of, what he could only imagine to be, mobs of Heartless that this madman must have unleashed with his help. Rickson's eyes fell to his knees in remorse.
"Hello? Earth to Rickson?"
He looked over at the Hi-Potion sitting in Sari's hand, just staring at it for a moment.
Sari pushed it forward slightly and asked, "Well?"
His eyes floated up to meet hers, which were filled with concern for him. He ignored her question and instead asked one of his own. "Is that the last one?"
The girl was taken aback by his response and was not sure why he asked that, but she answered it anyway. "Yeah. We used the rest in the Carribean with Jack, except a Potion that I had to drink myself after I sprained my arm."
Rickson took one more good look at her before finally deciding to reject her offer. "No, you drink it. You got hurt because of me, after all."
"Don't mind all that. Just drink it," she said sweetly.
"Sari, I really think you shou-"
"Rickson, are you telling me I fought through hordes of Heartless, a demented voodoo witchdoctor, a demon tower, and a group of demonic totems, holding onto this Hi-Potion for you to drink only for you to turn it down?"
"Ngh!" Rickson sighed in defeat. She was not going to back down, anyway. "No, I suppose not." He took hold of the Hi-Potion and removed the cork on top allowing a minty scent to fill his nose.
"Besides, who's supposed to carry me with their strong arms if you can't even stand up by yourself?"
Rickson cracked a smile and rolled his eyes as he drank down some of the mystical liquid. He looked over at the girl, who had been looking down as she flexed her left arm which still felt a bit tender. Seeing as she was distracted, an idea popped into Rickson's head. Without any warning, Rickson slipped his arm behind Sari's back and pulled her in for a kiss. If she did not want to drink the Hi-Potion, then they were going to share it.
Sari's eyes went wide from the suddenness of it all, but once she realized what was happening, she gave in and kissed him back, knowing full well what he was up to. When the two parted, Sari wiped a small drop of the minty liquid that was trailing on the edge of her mouth. "You're so stubborn," she said with an eye roll, while trying to hide her blush.
Rickson jabbed in response, "You're one to talk. So, where are we? And where's Jack?"
"I'm not exactly sure what this world is called but we can check that on the map. Which reminds me! We need to call Jack! Sweetie, can you call him on your Gummi Phone?"
As he searched for it in his back pocket, Rickson asked, "What happened to yours?"
"It fell into a swamp?"
"Are you making that up?"
"The truth is I don't know. I remember trying to call for help as we fell into this world's atmosphere but I couldn't find it when I woke up."
"So you lost it."
She sighed and said, "Yes. But the good news is that you still have yours!"
Almost as soon as Rickson hit send, the screen flashed to show Jack's face. His eyes were wide with excitement as he called out to Riku, without even saying hello to Sari and Rickson. "Master Riku! It's Rickson and Sari! They're okay!"
Riku appeared on the screen beside Jack, a look of relief on his face. He looked tired like he hadn't gotten much sleep. "You two are alright?"
"Yes, Master," Sari responded with a smile. "We're sorry to have worried you so much."
Riku just looked glad to see they were okay. "It's alright. Send us your coordinates so we can pick you up. We'll call when we get there."
"Yes, Master," they said in unison.
Riku smiled and said, "We'll be sure to report back to Master Aqua to let her know you're both alright. If you guys can, try to find some place to rest in the meantime. It really is good to see you two are okay."
"Likewise," Rickson responded. "Thank you for looking for us." At that moment, the young man's face went serious as he said, "Master…"
"What is it?"
"Please be careful, yourself. I know you're very strong, but the people that attacked us...they might have allies."
"Hey, you don't think it's weird that they didn't come after us?" Sari asked. "The entire time we've been on this world I never once ran into them."
"That stranger that saved me must've run them off," Jack commented.
"That must've been Cloud, Tifa's husband," the master explained. "The men you three encountered must be who Cloud is after and when it comes to fighters, he's no joke. Still, I don't blame Tifa for worrying about him, considering that we know very little about who we're facing. I also don't think it's a coincidence that these men attacked you while you were following a trail of missing materia."
"Do you think they're the ones behind this?" Rickson asked.
Sari concurred with Riku and said, "It makes sense. I mean, they did attack us unprovoked. I don't see why else they would've attacked unless they wanted us off the trail."
Riku finished his thought by saying, "They're most definitely involved, but we can't be sure if they're the ones behind this entire plot. We don't even know what they're goals are, but we're sure to find out if we keep following the rabbit trail. Still, we can't ignore that the others on the RLS Legacy may run into them."
"The what?" Rickson asked.
"We'll explain when we see you," Riku said. "We'll see you two soon." The call clicked leaving Sari and Rickson alone in the dark magic shop.
Rickson slowly got up to a crouching position in front of Sari, which confused her. "What?" she asked.
"Need a lift?"
That's when Sari remembered her joke from earlier. The sentiment made her smile from ear to ear as she nodded. "Yeah!" She stood up and slipped her legs under his arms, leaning against his back as he stood up and carried her out of the shop.
Location: New Orleans - The Swamp
When Sari and Rickson met up with Tiana, Naveen, and Louis, they heard the bad news that Ray had been crushed by Dr. Facilier, which brought Sari to tears. She felt that he didn't deserve to die, especially after getting to know such a kind soul so she asked if they were doing anything to pay their respects to him. Tiana told her that they agreed that he should be with his family so the five of them went to the swamp.
While there, Rickson noticed that Sari was not putting up a fuss over water getting into her boots or the skirt of her battle dress soaking in murky water. All things considered, he understood why, so he chose not to tease her about it. In fact, everyone was silent during the entire march through the wetlands. Rickson didn't even stop to question how an alligator was playing the trumpet as three fireflies laid the leaf Ray rested on in the water.
As the leaf was pushed off into the morning mist, Sari and Rickson bowed their heads. The redhead laid hers against the young man's neck as she pressed her clenched fist against her chest. "May your heart by your guiding key," she whispered.
Tiana gasped as something caught her eye in the sky and the others soon noticed a bright light shining down from above. Rickson nudged Sari and said, "Babe, look."
As Sari's eyes opened to look up into the sky, she saw Evangeline, but unlike before, the brightest star now had a companion. Another light twinkled alongside her, growing larger and brighter until the two were equal in their brilliance.
"Ray," Sari said with tears in her eyes. "His heart...it was so strong it was reborn as a new world."
Rickson smiled down at her, rubbed her shoulder, and planted a kiss atop her head. He could tell that she had been through a lot and that Ray was someone she genuinely cared for despite only knowing the firefly for about a day. It was because of this that Rickson too was happy to see that Ray would live on in the universe, breathing new life. That pleasant thought came, at a cost though, reminding Rickson of the very nature of his own heart. While Ray would bring life and fruition, he would only bring death and destruction. Rickson's jaw clenched, which Sari took note of.
The redhead looked up at him and asked, "What's wrong?"
Rickson feigned a smile. "Nothing, sweetie." He pulled her closer against him, gently rubbing her shoulder as he kissed her forehead. This brought some ease to Sari's worries as she rested her head against his neck again, but she knew that it wasn't "nothing."
Wolfie: So. MANY. WORDS! I was not joking when I said this chapter was monstrous, it beat our longest chapter (chapter 1, btw) by topping at 12,443 words without ANs.
Also, Legacy and I have been losing our collective minds over Melody of Memory AND Dark Road, no joke. And, if any of you remember back when Strelitzia's death was first shown in UX, can you tell how happy I am that we got to include her here? The idea is credited to Antex, thanks a bunch!
Now, Maia's Al Bhed translations are right here! She says, in order:
"Oh my god! I can't believe..."
"Yes, yes."
And, finally, I am going to announce that the SYOC of this story is officially closed! We'll open it up again come Book 2, in case we need more Reapers and Ninjas!
I think that's everything...let us know what you thought! And may your heart be your guiding key!