I don't really have much to say today other than, I hope we get more KH3 info this week!

Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!

Aladdin © to Disney!

Phantom of the Opera © Andrew Lloyd Webber

Chapter 10: Agrabah- The Roc

"So, Xext said that he and the others might be trying to distract us, or they're trying to bring about darkness for their leader to absorb?"

"That's what he said, Uncle Sora."

"Thanks for telling us, Justin." Kairi smiled. "We'll keep that in mind." She shut down the call, looking over at her husband. "We need to figure out exactly what their plan is. We have a few ideas."

Patria looked down at the tracker in her hands. "And this thing is going nuts, so we must be close."

"Well," PJ looked at the screen, "the nearest world is Agrabah."

Sora's face lit up. "That's great! I'd love to see Aladdin and Jasmine again!"

"This isn't a social call, Dad. You know that."

"Patria, I am well aware of that." he sighed. "But, we need to keep our spirits up somehow, so I'm looking on the bright side."

"Well, someone has to…"

"And this place is still hot as ever."

Max playfully shoved Patria. "Be grateful you don't have fur."

Sora stretched his arms. "It feels good to be back. You said that Aladdin is sultan now, right?"

"Yeah, he is." A voice spoke above them. They saw a girl dressed in a brown dress with a dark cloth wrapped around her head. She smiled down at them. "Patria, Hikari. It's been a while."

"Amira!"

The girl leapt down. "Good to see all of you. And you two must be Sora and Kairi; Mother and Father talk about you a lot. I'm princess Amira; it's a pleasure."

"The pleasure is all ours." Kairi smiled. "And these two are PJ and Max.

"Nice to meet you. Where's Pith?"

Sora coughed into his hand. "Actually, we needed to speak to Aladdin about something concerning Pith."

"Alright. Follow me." She motioned for them to follow. They walked through the busy streets.

Out of the crowd, a loud voice yelled. "Your Highness!" The guard, Rasoul, came running up. "Why are you outside the palace? It isn't safe!"

"Rasoul, you know my father said I could come into the city; I can take care of myself. And why are you so worried? It's no secret that you don't like me." The guard opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out. "Now, I need to get back to the palace. Some of Father and Mother's old friends have arrived."

She stepped past him. "Nice Amira," Patria smirked. "He's a jerk."

"He's never liked Aladdin or me for that matter." Sora rubbed the back of his head as they continued on. "So, how's everyone doing?"

The princess turned around and continued walking backward. "They're great. Mother and Father have made great strides with diplomatic relations with the neighboring kingdoms, well all but the one populated by only zombies. Iago has been visiting the rainforest nearby to visit his lady-friend, Thundra. Carpet is… carpet. And Genie is actually out of town with his girlfriend: another genie named Eden(1). I've been working with some of the street kids to stop corrupt merchants and others like them; some of Father's old friends are helping as well."

"Well, that's good." It did not take them long to weave through the streets and arrive at the gates of the palace.

"What happened to me?"

"You tried to escape and ended up trapping yourself in a crystal for over twenty years."

"Twenty years… Tell me, what has changed, and who are you?"

"My name is Jazzy…"

Pith sat up as he heard whimpering. He could see Angel sleeping as she always did, curled up in sitting position, her wings wrapped around herself. Even though she hid her body from sight, he could tell she was trembling.

"Angel?" The boy reached over, only for a wing to lash out, slicing his hand. "Ow!"

At his cry, the girl jumped awake. She saw her outstretched wing and the blood dripping from his hand. "Pith!? I'm sorry! I didn't mean to…"

"It's alright, Angel." Pith smiled. "Did you have a nightmare?"

She nodded, her wings folding back up and vanishing in light. "I have them quite often. Just reliving memories of my life back in Tech Town. You try growing up with Tene Bris and Xext for family. They would lock me up and hurt me…" Angel looked down. "But, there's no need for me to bring that up…"

Pith stared at the girl. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't find the words. However, something came to mind. His own way to tell her. He leaned back against a wall, holding his hand still so the blood would dry. Closing his eyes he began to sing. "No more talk of darkness. Forget these wide-eyed fears. I'm here, nothing can harm you. My words will warm and calm you. Let me be your freedom. Let daylight dry your tears. I'm here, with you, beside you. To guard you and to guide you."(2)

He looked up and saw Angel looking over at him, smiling, and… were her cheeks a little pink? The song was meant to be romantic, but he didn't intend that as a romantic gesture, merely as a way to cheer her up.

"Thank you…"

"Sorry if that was awkward. I didn't mean to seem like I was coming onto you or something. I just wanted to make you smile."

A giggle escaped her lips. "Well, thank you still. It made me feel better."

"You're welcome, Angel."

The castle servants ushered Amira away instantly, but she rejoined the others a few minutes later, dressed in clothes more befitting for a princess. She led them to the throne room. Sora smiled as he saw the couple standing at the far end of the room

Aladdin looked over and gaped. "Sora!?"

"It's been too long, Aladdin!" The two men hugged one another as their wives clasped hands.

"Kairi!"

"Jasmine!"

When the greetings ended, Aladdin looked around. "I wish you were here on a social call, but that doesn't look to be the case."

"No," Kairi sighed, "our son was kidnapped. We're trying to find him."

"Too bad Genie's out of town. He would've been a great help, but we'll do whatever we can, Sora." Jasmine gave them a comforting smile.

Aladdin nodded. "If Pith is anything like the two of you, I'm sure he's fine."

"Thank you," Sora smiled. "Thing is, we know one of the people behind his kidnapping is somewhere on this world."

"I'll have the guard keep an eye out for anyone who looks suspicious."

"Thank you."

The throne room door opened slightly and a servant stepped in and bowed. "Your Majesties, some more suitors have arrived and wish to see you."

"And with that, I am leaving." Amira ran for an exit, but her mother caught her by the collar of her dress. "Mother!? Let me go!"

"I know you hate it, but you should at least see them."

The princess groaned. "Seriously? I can understand why you hated the suitors; they're all overdressed, big-headed, pompous windbags! I steal from jerks like them."

"We know," Aladdin smirked, "but at least talk with them. Maybe getting rejected will knock their egos down a few notches."

"Fine…"

Patria smirked. "Suitors huh?"

"Yeah, it stinks…"

Sora shook his head with a smile. "If you don't mind, we'll start looking around for Pith while you deal with this, and you can join us later."

"Sounds good," Aladdin nodded.

Hikari's hand rose slightly. "Um, actually, could I stay here and watch? Since I'm a princess, I'd like to see kinda how this might work. PJ can stay with me, and we'll come later with Amira."

"If you want to, Kari."

"Thanks!"

Max sat on a rooftop beside Sora. "Dad told me all about this place."

"I bet he did." Sora smiled. "Having you here is wonderful; it's kinda like Goofy being here, but it's also different. You're a lot like your father in some ways: kind, smart, noble…"

"Most people wouldn't call my dad smart."

"He was smarter than me and Donald sometimes." The man admitted with a laugh. "A lot more sensible too. Donald and I were so hot-headed… Goofy kept the peace. I remember when we first met Mulan. Goofy figured out she was a girl in disguise before Donald and me."

Max laughed. "I remember hearing that story. Uncle Donald would always deny that. King Riku would always laugh and make fun of you and Donald."

"Why am I not surprised… Still, it's weird hearing Riku being called a king."

"I bet." Max looked down at the streets. "Well, nothing interesting is going on over here. Want to move to another spot?"

"Sounds good."

"Pith?"

"Hm?"

Angel smoothed the feathers on one of her wings, cleaning the pristine white feathers. "Could you teach me that song?"

Pith smiled. "Sure. It's actually a duet, but it's a love song."

"I don't mind. It sounds like a happy, comforting song. And I feel like you and I need something like that, and it will help pass the time."

"Sure," The boy scooted over beside her, softly touching her wing. The feathers lay down, so they did not cut him this time.

"You know," the girl smiled, "you remind me of all the stories of your father. I always heard he was cheerful in almost every situation no matter how dark it got, though there were a few times that things got so bad that they broke him(3)… but he was nearly always happy and trying to cheer everyone up.I guess you got that from him."

"I've heard that before. I guess that is something we have in common… except Dad wouldn't know love songs from musicals and then teach them to people. He's much better at words than I am. I prefer to act more than talk." The boy turned to where he faced her. "So, want to get started?"

"Sure!"

"I remember the last time we came here, Maleficent showed up." Patria looked down into an alleyway. "She cornered Kari and me, but I didn't get a chance to bash her face in."

"What did Maleficent want?"

"I think… she wanted Kari, but I don't know why. Maybe because she's Uncle Riku's daughter."

Kairi looked at her daughter. She could see the dark thoughts behind her daughter's eyes, but the princess couldn't blame her. Everyone in their family wanted to go after Maleficent; Kairi's hand moved to her belly as thoughts of the past came to mind.

After Maleficent forced the miscarriage of their first child(4), Sora had never forgiven her, and Patria still held a grudge after hearing the story as a kid. Kairi couldn't hold onto her anger, but she could still feel the pain of the past. A pain that would never go away.

"Mom?"

"I'm alright…"

Hikari and PJ giggled at the deadpan expression Amira gave the three suitors in front of her. All of which had to be nearly twice her age. The three men spent the last twenty minutes bragging about their wealth and such, trying to outdo the others.

Eventually, the princess held up a hand. "Lord Fikri, Lord Hasan, Lord Kamal(5), thank you for your gifts, but you have come all this way for nothing. I am not interested in any of you. Thank you for your time, and goodbye." Amira turned and strode away as quickly as she could, followed by Hikari and PJ.

"Well, that looked fun…"

"Ugh!" Amira stormed off to her room. "I'm going to change and go into the city… not just to help find Pith, but to get away from those vultures!" She closed the door and soon came back out in her street clothes. "Let's get out of here."

"My old gauntlet! It's about time." Dark eyes looked out over Agrabah. "Now, let's have some real fun!"

A shadow fell over the city as a screech rattled everything in the city. People stopped what they were doing and gaped at the enormous creature overhead. The animal circled and landed atop the palace, shaking the ground.

"What is that!?" Amira and the other two stood on the castle wall.

Aladdin's daughter stared at the creature. "A roc(6)…" The giant animal, a bird with a curved beak of prey, dusty colored feathers flecked with black and gray, stared down at the city, yellow eyes studying it for any signs of a meal.

Hikari could see Sora and the others running in their direction. "We need to stop it before it hurts someone."

"I need to get up there."

"I can help!" PJ summoned his hammer. "I'll toss you up there." Amira pulled a sword(7) from her belt and leapt into the air. The cat swung his hammer; the girl's feet touched the weapon for a second before the momentum launched her into the air.

Hikari followed with an Aero spell just as the others reached the wall.

The two princesses managed to reach the bird's legs as it bat its wings and launched into the sky. They clung to the massive talons as the air rushed past, sucking the wind from their lungs for a moment.

"We need to get it to ground level!" Sora yelled as they chased it.

"I don't think that will be a problem."

The bird landed on the roofs of houses, cracking the stone beneath it as it looked down into the panicked, busy streets. It did not feel Amira and Hikari climbing its feathers to its back.

"Kari, I'll go for its throat, can you keep it from hurting anyone?"

"Of course!" The little girl summoned her Keyblade and ran across the bird's back. The roc bent down to snatch up a camel from the street, but Kari jumped up, striking its beak with a resounding crack.

The roc screeched as the girl landed on the rooftop across it. Its eyes met her own, sending chills up her spine(8). It snapped at her, but the girl hit its beak back every time. She could see Amira climbing up the feathers on the roc's chest, and the others hurrying her way across the rooftops.

Just a little longer.

Her eyes glanced towards Sora and the others for a moment too long. The roc slammed his beak into her chest, sending Hikari tumbling off the rooftop just as Amira reached the bird's neck.

The princess held up the sword to slit its throat, but the bird suddenly vanished and she tumbled to the streets below.

"Bravo…!" Amira looked around and saw a man clapping, a man with pasty-white skin, black hair, dressed in blue, black, and gold robes. "You did quite well."

"What?"

"Never you mind, Princess." the man turned his back on her. "Let's just say that this was a test, and you passed." He stepped into the shadows and vanished.

"Wait!"

Hikari shook her head as she sat up. Stupid bird…

A set of feet crunched across the sand towards her; she looked up, expecting to see Sora, Kairi, or one of the others, but instead, she found herself face-to-face with a man.

The man, light-skinned, dressed in black, with scars across his body stared down at her. "Hello, Princess Hikari."

"Diaval!?" The girl summoned her Keyblade and leapt up, slashing at Maleficent's minion.

The man gracefully dodged her attacks before kicking the girl in the gut, sending her to the ground. "Apologies, but Lady Maleficent wishes to have a word with you." He reached down to grab her.

A heavy object slammed into Diaval's side. The man fell, stumbling as he tried to keep his footing. His eyes, alight with fury, turned back to see PJ standing beside his friend, hammer in hand. "Just try that again bird-brain!"

"Ah, the son of Pete," the man held up his arms which turned into bird-like wings with talons replacing his fingers. "Why could you not be a coward like your father? Oh, well. This shouldn't take too long…"

PJ brandished his hammer as Hikari stood up behind him. "Kari, go. This guy is mine!"

"Ok, Peej…" She took one last look at the bird-man before running back to find Amira.

"Come on, feather-head!" The cat's hammer sparked with electricity. "Show me what you've got!"

"With pleasure!"

I know this is pretty short, but I had a lot of trouble figuring out what to do for this world, but thank goodness the Aladdin cartoon exists.

Please review!

Seriously… I want your feedback.

Footnotes:

(1) Thundra and Eden are characters in the Aladdin TV show.

(2) This is the song "All I ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera.

(3) Things are going to happen in the KH3 rewrite guys… The sunshine boy is going to break.

(4) Maleficent used magic to kill their first child, and she tried to make Kairi infertile.

(5) In Arabic, Fikri means intellectual, Hasan means handsome, and Kamal means perfection. Basically, what these three think of themselves.

(6) The roc was a mythological bird in Arabic and Persian folk tales. The bird was known to go to and from Madagascar, but its home was the seas of China and was large enough to grab elephants in its talons.

(7) Like Aladdin uses in KH1 and 2.

(8) You want to know what kind of eyes I mean, go look up the hawk from the kid's movie "The Seventh Brother". That hawk terrified me as a kid, and it's still creepy today.

VAs:

Amira- April Stewart (Jessamina Kaldwin, Christie, Lucrecia Crescent, Izumi, Mjrn)

Freedom

For those of us in the US, not too long ago, we had Independence Day. So, I wanted to remind people about the freedom God has given all of us.

Galatians 5:1 says, "For freedom, Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."

We have been freed from sin and darkness, but we do have to accept it and not give ourselves back over to sin and slavery.

And even when we are freed, sometimes we take it for granted and try to please ourselves alone thinking that because we have been freed from sin, we can do whatever we want (even sin) and we'll be alright. Only a few verses later, Paul actually discusses this.

Galatians 5:13 says, "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."

We are called to use the love that God has given to us to love one another, as verse 14 says, "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'."

We should use the freedom we are given to help others, and this is not just for Christians. Whether you believe in God or not, this is a good word to live by, treating others kindly and sharing love, whether or not you agree with them. We have freedom and love, let's share it with others.