Second Chance Universe(Series): Behind the Scenes.
Author's Note: This Back-Scene is set after "Kingdom Hearts III: Second War" and before a future KH story after that. If you want to avoid the spoiler, I know this would be a good time to leave and wait until the former story is finished which won't be until long after the real KH3 is released. Oh, and Sora, Riku and Kairi are still wearing the KH2 attire here.
This is based on the Aladdin episode "The Ethereal" since Agrabah will not return in KH3. At least it's extremely unlikely due to the new Princesses of Heart which I think is a bit unfair. But that's Nomura's choice if he didn't like the King of Thieves story due to no Jafar or mainly because of the new Princesses. Oh well...that's just life. Disappointing but nothing we can do about it.
Please remember that none of these will be in order.
I don't own anything here.
Back-Scene 3-The Ethereal: This takes place one month after the events of "Kingdom Hearts III: Second War"...
Kairi and her friends had been visiting Agrabah for the day for a get together reunion. It wasn't much else now that the Realm of Light was safe for good. She and her fellow Princess of Heart, Princess Jasmine, or rather Queen Jasmine now, were taking a stroll around the streets of Agrabah where an unusual golden mask at a jewelry stand caught their attention.
"I wonder what that mask if for." Kairi thought aloud.
Jasmine didn't seem to answer, and instead picked it up, only for her and Kairi to gasp when the Mask began to glow in the eye-holes and mouth, and levitate itself before they heard a woman's voice echo...coming from it.
"The time is near. Ice shall fall from the sky."
As though predicted, it began to hail from the sky which both Kairi and Jasmine had to try and quickly look around for a place to take shelter.
"The earth shall move."
True to it's words, a violent Earthquake began to rock the city and both Princesses of heart fell onto the ground in front of a building, and quickly had to roll out of the way before a vase would land on top of them.
"Light shall become dark. Creatures of destruction shall bring forth their wrath."
Feeling their hearts ache badly all of the sudden, Kairi and Jasmine both knelt on their knees while placing their hands on their chests, as dark mists began to form around them, and when they looked up, an eclipse began to form, covering the sun and placing the land into darkness. Then yellow demon like eyes began to appear all around them.
Terrified, Kairi made to summon her Keyblade, but find to her and Jasmine's horror that it would not appear. To make things worse, darkness melted into a giant hand that resembled a Darkside Heartless, and just as Kairi pushed her friend out of the way, the massive hand clasped the sixteen year old girl and lifted her up into the air.
"Let me go!" Kairi screamed out, struggling to pull herself free as memories of when she was captured by the Rock Titan at Olympus, and Bhunivelze in her nightmares.
"No! Kairi!" Jasmine cried out, horrified.
The eyes then merged together, reshaping into the Mask.
"Then I, the Ethereal, shall come, and the day of reckoning shall be at hand, beginning with Agrabah. Should it fall...all worlds will follow."
Jasmine and Kairi both see a model of Agrabah which is covered in dark mists, swallowing it up and as the darkness cleared yet Kairi was still held captive, all that remained was Agrabah in ruins, buried under the sands and with the skies of the Realm of Darkness all around them. Both Princesses realized in horror that Jasmine's home had been lost into Darkness and sent to where worlds would lose their hearts end up.
"Agrabah! It can't be! No, no!" Jasmine cried out in utter heartbreak and dismay, before screaming as her heart was filled with darkness and she soon vanished in particles of light.
"NO! Jasmine!" Kairi screamed out, tears filling her eyes. She then screamed louder as the gaping sharp jaws of the darkness holding her captive began to engulf her into it's mouth to swallow her whole...
"NO!" Kairi screamed as she jolted herself upright into a sitting position, panting as tears had soaked her cheeks. Looking around as she tried to get her bearings, the Princess of Heart realized that she was in her room of her house on Destiny Islands.
Her heart pounded in the intense fear of what she'd just seen, Kairi wiped her eyes to rid the tears as she willed herself to calm down.
"It was just a dream...a nightmare." Kairi whispered to herself. Yet her heart was telling her that something was wrong. Very wrong. She wasn't going to be able to shake it off anytime soon. Plus, she was worried about Jasmine and Agrabah.
Just then the sound of loud clanging was heard from outside her window. Blinking, Kairi looked and she gasped in shock when she saw...hail falling from the sky.
""Ice shall fall from the sky"..." She repeated what the voice had told her and Jasmine in the dream.
This was troubling. She had to call Sora and Riku and everyone else.
Hours later, after Kairi told her two best friends of her concerns, they agreed to pay Jasmine and the others a visit. To their surprise, King Mickey insisted that he, Donald and Goofy would join them. Sora had considered in inviting the rest of the gang, but changed his mind when he knew that they were busy.
Ven, Skuld, Aqua and Terra were still busy in rebuilding the Land of Departure, Myde helping Kronk with finding a mansion in Kuzcotopia, Lea, Isa, Roxas, Xion and Namine were taking a vacation to Twilight Town to visit Hayner, Pence and Olette. Captain Jack Sparrow was still sailing the Black Pearl in hopes to locate a 'Fountain of Youth', Strelitzia and Chirithy were in New Basha helping Serah and Lightning. Basically, everyone but six of them were busy.
So the six of them arrived in Agrabah and, to their surprise, much like Destiny Islands and even Disney Castle, the streets were covered in snow where young children were playing happily. Kairi and her friends were looking around as they made their way to the Palace, discussing the situation.
"Maybe the Realm of Light is having a chilly start and the hail you heard just got mixed up in your dream." Sora was saying to Kairi.
"Well, if that's true, don't you think hail in warm summer months in places like the Islands and Agrabah just weird?" Kairi pointed out with a shrug.
"I agree. It's summer back at Disney Town too, so we shouldn't get hail either. Not to mention that hail in not one but three worlds is very unusual." Mickey agreed. He had explained that he had the exact same dream, but did not see Kairi or Jasmine together. Instead it was deja vu to the worlds that were lost to darkness two years ago.
"Hey, Sora!" A familiar voice called out.
Sora and his friends looked up and saw that Aladdin, in his casual attire, and Jasmine in her green-blue princess attire, along with Genie, were approaching them.
The group greeted each other with smiles, handshakes and in Kairi and Jasmine's case, hugs.
"I just knew you would come. I had a feeling you would." Jasmine said to her fellow Princess of Heart.
"Thank you, Jasmine. But..." Kairi began, her smile fading into that of concern. "One of the main reasons why my friends and I came here today is, well...it's about the hail. It's the same in the dream I had last night."
"You had that dream too?" Jasmine gasped, shocked.
"Wait, you mean Kairi had the same dream Jasmine had?" Aladdin asked, startled while Sora and the others were startled by Jasmine's revelation too.
"She said that she had a mysterious dream, and to make things more weird, hail started up back home too." Riku nodded.
"And in our home too." Goofy added, "The king had the same dream."
"Maybe they both had the same dream since they're connected to...whatever it is that happened since two years ago." Aladdin suggested.
"Okay, even if that's true, don't you think hail on a summer night in the desert is just a little strange?" Jasmine pointed out.
"Strange, yes. But add some lemon-lime flavoring and it's delicious!" Genie smiled, scooping up some snow in an ice-cream cone, adding some lime flavoring and made a lime-flavoured snowcone and licked it.
"So you dreamt about the hail. I'm sure it's just a coincidence. It's not the end of the worlds." Aladdin stated to Jasmine and Kairi.
Kairi sighed, "Maybe, but that's what we're worried about. It was the end of all worlds, starting with Agrabah."
"I know what you're both sayin'." Mickey sighed in concerned. "Look, there were signs before the worlds were destroyed, right?"
"Yes." Jasmine nodded. "In the dreams, the other signs happened before Agrabah was destroyed. If they happen, then I'll worry."
"Me too." Kairi nodded in agreement.
"Put your back into it, chimp!" A familiar and annoying voice called out not too far from them.
"Did those dream happen to include a noisy parrot?" Donald grumbled, instantly recognizing the voice.
True to Donald's word, Iago was in a big basket which was filled with scrolls and carried by a very annoyed Abu. Iago was giving the poor monkey harsh instructions.
"What's Iago doing here?" Sora asked, surprised. Last he checked the red parrot was still travelling with Cassim.
"Iago decided to visit and stay for a while." Aladdin shrugged, only for him, his wife and their friends to wince when Abu chattered angrily before throwing the basket onto the ground.
"Hey, watch it!" Iago snapped. "We're losing our fortunes here."
Riku picked up a scroll and read it aloud, ""The Bird's Eye Tour of Agrabah"?"
"That's the fortune?" Sora asked, skeptically.
"Look, people visit a city, they wanna know the hot spots." Iago explained after noticing that Sora's group had returned minus Lea's four best friends and the other six guys-Terra, Ventus, Aqua, Skuld, Myde and Jack Sparrow. "We here at Bird's Eye Tours are happy to provide a guide scroll…for a price. And thanks to last night's hailstorm I got to add a "fun in freakish weather" section to this baby.
"What a way to make a living." Sora joked, and Aladdin nodded in agreement.
Iago rolled his eyes, "Hey, not all of us are gonna marry wealthy."
Just then, the ground began to shake violently and almost everyone lost their balance. Kairi and Jasmine both fell onto the ground in front of a building, and quickly had to roll out of the way before a vase would land on top of them. Then, as quickly as it came, it ended.
"Just like in the dream." Kairi whispered, sharing a very worried look with Jasmine who nodded in agreement.
"Is everyone alright?" Mickey asked, worriedly as he too realized that this was from the dream he had.
Sora and Aladdin both helped their lovers up as the former told Kairi, "It's okay. It's all over now."
"I don't know." Kairi shook her head. "In the dream, the Ethereal said, "the earth shall move"."
Genie, who transformed himself into a reported with a notepad and pencil, questioned both Princesses and the King, "This Ethereal character, what other beans did she spill?"
"Ice shall fall from the sky," Kairi began.
"The Earth shall move," Jasmine added.
"Light shall become dark, and creatures of destruction shall bring forth their wrath." Mickey concluded, and both Kairi and Jasmine both nodded quickly to silently indicate that the last two statements he said were what they heard in their shared dreams.
As the three were saying what they heard, Genie was writting them down as he took the notes, before scrunching up the paper and throwing it away, not concerned as he said, "I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you."
"Actually, I'm beginning to have my doubts." Sora spoke up as he folded his arms to his chest. "Two years ago, about three days before the Heartless began to attack, I had the dream of facing the giant Darkside, and I had to fight it before it swallowed me up. Then I fought it for real just as the Islands were being destroyed."
"When it comes to dreams sorta like this one, you can't ignore it. Especially when it starts to happen for real." Mickey agreed firmly.
"I admit that dreaming the hail and the earthquake is a pretty big coincidence. But I'm pretty sure that's all it was. A coincidence." Aladdin said, still not at all concerned.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe it was a shared silly dream." Kairi shrugged, smiling weakly. But that didn't ease off the feeling of dread of what else could happen.
Unfortunately, the area began to darken and when everyone else looked up, to Kairi, Jasmine and Mickey's horror, an eclipse began to cover up the sun and the entire kingdom of Agrabah.
"Or maybe not!" Jasmine gasped.
""Light becomes dark"...!" Sora muttered, eyes wide in worry. Now he definitely knew that his girlfriend and two friends were not having normal dreams.
"Still think it was a dream?" Mickey asked Aladdin, worriedly.
"I'm starting to have my doubts." Aladdin admitted.
Genie, now panicking himself, hurried to find and unscrunch the note he'd written down, read it quickly as he tried to memorize what Kairi, Jasmine and Mickey had said. "Let's see. Ice from the sky, earth moves, light becomes dark, that leaves…"
""Creatures of destruction shall bring forth their wrath"!" Mickey exclaimed in horror.
Kairi then sensed something from around the corner as her heart began to beat fast. Placing her hands to her chest, she gasped in horror and cried out, "Sora!"
When Sora and the others turned to see what Kairi had seen, in the dark corner in the nearby alley, were yellow glowing eyes with mists of darkness forming from within. Donald and Goofy both screamed and hugged each other in horror.
"Creatures of destruction! Creatures of destruction!" Iago screamed in panic while pulling feathers out from his head.
"Heartless?" Sora guessed with a grunt, as he, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, and even Donald and Goofy quickly summoned their weapons to fight even though it was impossible. No Heartless had attacked in a month ever since Chaos and Bhunivelze were defeated. He guessed wrong, because as the eyes emerged from the darkness, the rest of it's body came with it; that of a giant Scorpion, followed by other giant Scorpions.
"Run, monkey, run!" Iago screamed as he hopped into the basket which Abu quickly picked up and carried as he began to run away, avoiding the stinger of one of the giant Scorpions.
"Here we ago again!" Goofy cried out.
Sora and his friends dodged out of the way as the Scorpions began their assault and attack on everyone and everything the could find. But the worldly travellers and their friends of Agrabah, including Jasmine who trained harder to fight in the recent events that happened in the Realm of Light, did their best to fight back. Sora tossed his Keyblade at one of the giant Scorpions which hit it twice before using his Motion Flow to grab it in light and then fling it towards other giant Scorpions. Riku thrusted his Keyblade downward before going into a stab at another Scorpion while dodging it's stinger. Kairi used her Pink Orbs of Light to blind and vanquish another, which that power blinded a few other Scorpions. That allowed Mickey to take them out one by one.
Donald and Goofy saved Iago and Abu from another Scorpion by Goofy distracted it by hitting it's head with his Shield, and then Donald used his Fireworks Spell to vanquish it. Aladdin pushed Jasmine out of the way to save her from another giant Scorpion and was saved himself when Genie blocked it with a huge beam of wood. Sora then held up his Keyblade in the air which glowed in light, forming into a large sword-shape like power of light as he thrusted it towards five other Scorpions that he used to fight off Chaos, finishing them with his Blue Orbs of Light. Genie then turned into a chef and created a giant cooking pot before scooping up the remaining giant Scorpions in a huge ladle and dropping them into the boiling water.
"Come to papa!" Genie declared, stirring up the newly made Scorpion Soup and then took a sip from the ladle. The results were comical, as usual. His eyes spun as it was very hot before he breathed out fire, followed by smoke as his eyes teared up due to the heat. "Ooo-eee! Just the way I likes it! Spicy!"
In that response, he picked up the pot and gulped down the entire pot almost in one go, which made Sora shake his head with a smile. Genie always had a way to do things despite them being silly at times. Well, at least the giant Scorpions were taken care of.
"That was close." Goofy sighed in relief, before asking in worry. "But that was the last sign. What happens now?"
"WHAT!? You mean there's more?" Donald exclaimed in dismay and shock.
"Then the Ethereal shall come." Kairi answered.
"Look!" Genie exclaimed, pointing upward.
When Sora, Kairi, Aladdin, Jasmine, Riku, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Iago and Abu looked up, their eyes widened as the very same mask from Kairi, Jasmine and Mickey's dream hovered above them in the sky as the Eclipse came to an end. The mask was joined by a white robe that didn't seem to have a body. It was then that the three who had the dream knew that it was the Ethereal herself.
"It is time. It is the day of reckoning for your civilization. I shall pass judgment upon this realm, starting with this Kingdom." The Ethereal spoke in a echoing voice.
Kairi felt her heart freeze. She remembered what else was spoken in her dream.
"Uh, not to be a pessimist, but what happens if you don't like what you see?" Iago asked nervously.
"Then your city will be reduced to dust." The Ethereal answered.
"And then the rest of the worlds will fall into darkness?" Kairi questioned fearfully.
"Yes. The fate of this realm lies in this kingdom."
"So what do we have to do to impress you?" Mickey asked. He didn't want the worlds to be fallen into darkness, especially when the Realm of Light had come extremely close in being destroyed and reshaped into Bhunivelze's image. Not to mention that what Sora had seen in the vision in the Realm of Time Rift of other possibilities didn't help as this was only one of two or three time-lines where no one was lost or separated again or killed.
"Show me what makes Agrabah and your worlds great." The Ethereal explained, turning her gaze to Kairi, Jasmine and Mickey. "You three; Princess Kairi, Princess Jasmine and King Mickey Mouse, will show me."
Kairi, Jasmine and Mickey shared concerned and feared glances. What can they show to the Ethereal to prove their worlds are worth saving?
It was then that Kairi had a thought, and said, "Because of the people and other living things in all of the worlds, especially here."
"Yes." Jasmine added, realizing what her friend meant. "It's the people who make Agrabah great. We all work hard to care for one another, to help each other, and learn together each day."
"And not just here in Agrabah, but everywhere in other worlds too. Happiness, peace, and kindness are the greatest treasures to show people not only we love, but everybody else love for each other too." Mickey added.
"Sometimes we love each other and even those who need our help in saving, we risk our lives to safe them." Kairi added with a warm smile, turning her gaze to Sora and the others, "Like how we did in everything that has happened to us. As long other people who want to live happy lives are safe, that's what really matters."
"Everyone has new ideas each day, as long as we're careful not to cause problems. Sometimes things change, but other times they don't. It's really what we all do that makes our homes the greatest places in the Realm of Light." Sora nodded in agreement.
"Risking our lives to save others if definitely worth it." Kairi concluded.
A tensed pause. Then to their great surprise, the Ethereal smiled.
"I have heard of your exploits, and how each of you had fought against the Heartless to save the worlds from darkness. Sacrificing yourselves for those more important to you are beyond what I have seen. Especially conjuring those who wish to do harm." The Ethereal surmised.
She gazed at the group once more before floating into the air. "Cherish your people and loved ones, Princesses, King and Warriors. Or should you forget, I will return." With that, she disappeared.
Somehow relieved that they adverted another disaster, the group all sighed in relief, yet with renewed determinations to protect what really mattered; everyone in the Realm of Light.
"We won't forget. Not ever." Kairi whispered her promise, and smiled wider as Sora placed his arm around her shoulder as he smiled at her before the two shared a kiss, as did Aladdin and Jasmine.
Iago sighed in relief before he and Abu both quickly teared up every one of the scrolls and threw them into the air.
"This tourist business is kaput! There are some people you just don't want visiting your town." Iago declared, deciding that it wasn't worth it. Especially with everything he heard that cause problems to begin with; Xehanort, Chaos, Bhunivelze, the Master of Masters, and Aced.
With that, Sora and his friends shared a farewell to Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, Abu and Iago before Sora, Riku and Kairi returned home to Destiny Islands while Mickey, Donald and Goofy returned home to Disney Castle as peace continued on.
KINGDOM HEARTS III: SECOND WAR
&
THE NEXT SAGA.
A/N: Still working on the next Saga of this series, but it won't be until after Kingdom Hearts III: Second War is finished which won't be until sometime next year.
See you in the next back-scene!