Heartiel
Inside the auto-piloted Gummi Ship, Philia had swapped the room to the bathing room. She had the door closed to the shower as she let the water spray down onto her body. She had soap foam covering her chest and the area between her legs. She had not cleaned herself in a long time, so she was extra relieved to bathe now. Meanwhile, Tinker Bell had just got herself dressed, and was ready to go.
"This feels so good." Philia sighed, turning off the water, and reaching over the door to grab a towel, wrapping it around herself before she opened the door and stepped outside.
"You took your time in the shower." Tink noticed.
"I needed that. You realized how long it's been since I had a proper bath?" Philia asked, walking over to the basket where she folded up her clothing, taking her undergarments first.
"I thought you were a bit stinkier than the last time we met." Tink stated in an amused tone.
"Oh, shush, Tink." Philia retorted as she placed her bra on, causing her to giggle, "At least it's better than all that masculine sweat that stink up the place. I at least find some ways to bathe when I can."
"That is true. Peter is great, but he doesn't like to bathe as much." Tinker Bell admitted, "What about Sora?"
"Hmm... I am not sure. I don't remember him bathing." Philia recalled, putting on her shorts, before getting her boots on, "Then again, I don't think he ever told me when he ever did."
Tink waited until she fully dressed herself, before she fluffed her hair out with a hairdryer, and got herself all set up to go on deck. "Well, for now, let's just appreciate the fact that we at least have a shower, anyway." she told Tinker Bell as she flew onto her shoulder, "Still, I am rather impressed by this ship's ability to have so many different rooms to choose from. Thought I gotta wonder why a dance studio was among them?"
"Do you know how to dance?" Tink asked.
"Nah. I'm not a professional dancer. Still, it's not like something like that would come in handy, right?"
They went back onto the bridge again just as there was an alert from the machines that they were approaching the next world. They looked outside the ship to see a world that looked like was focused on a stage in a park, buildings about it, and an emblem that was a 'J' with a wing sprouting from it.
"What kind of place is this?" Tink asked.
"Dunno. I wonder what the J stands for?" Philia replied.
Suddenly, there was an alert on the central console, and Philia went to activate it. Suddenly, from the center of the room, Gretinal's hologram appeared.
"Ah, I see you finally made it to your first world." she told Philia, "And by the looks of it, you reached a very fun one."
"Mistress Gretinal?" Philia greeted.
"That's my name." she replied, "I will be here if you need instructions on things that need to be done or informing you a brief understanding of the world you are about to enter into."
"That's pretty handy." Tinker Bell stated.
"So, what is this world all about?" Philia asked.
"It's called Green Square." Gretinal answered, "It is a world of dance." At this, Tink and Philia looked at each other, before the latter averted her gaze. She just had to eat her own words.
(Insert 'Catch the Moment' Amalee cover)
Music intro
(In the darkness, gold coins started to fall into a black darkness, with the words 'A story that takes place during Sword Art Kingdom II: Dimensional Bonds', followed by a blue Star Shard light that bounced about the falling screen, before hitting the center of the screen, and with a burst of light, the reveal the title.)
I sigh, saying that I'm fine with every breath of mine
This regret, it leaves another bitter taste, Yeah
(SAK: Heart's Origin Philia started off walking along a path of light in the darkness, the memories of her first adventure showing, her expression going from happy to painful, before stopping as she stops in front of the capsule of the sleeping Sora, before turning as tears fell from her, and she instantly donned the Organization's cloak.)
Why does the sun shine but only when I slip and make a new mistake?
'Cause I hate the feeling it's all a waste
(Philia is running along that path of light, as the many people of her past started to fade away, not remembering about her, with only Riku, Mickey, Naminé, DiZ, and Kairi the remaining people watching her run away. She suddenly found herself on the dirt path of the open grasslands, reaching the crossroad.)
If I could cut away my fate with this blade
I would if that'd let me re-start
But something tells me if that happened
I might not see you there
(Philia turns to one path, where Riku and Mickey in black coats were walking away from, before looking the other way, seeing PHox standing there, before looking behind to see DiZ and Naminé behind her. She looked down to the ground, thinking what the best path is, before Tinker Bell appears, flying in her face, and waving her to the path straight ahead, where Gretinal is standing. Philia smiles as she races towards her, she points to the path ahead as Philia takes off her Organization coat, unveiling her new attire.)
I'm only held by the limit inside my soul
The voice in my heart
I trust it will break the mold that it holds
(Philia summons her Keydagger, and starts slashing and casting magic onto the standard and Cyber Heartless that got in her way. She unleashed Soul Burst: Sora, her dagger becoming the Kingdom Key Keyblade, which she threw in a Strike Raid, before tossing up three Summon Charms, which shines to reveal Sly, Sinon, and Tinker Bell in front, her hands held up high)
It will never end;
(The darkened appearance of Maleficent, Pete, Heartless Oberon and Vanitas appear.)
May it never end
(Dr. Tenma and the hooded Tears stand together, with Cyber Heartless and hidden allies behind them appear.)
No matter what's in store
(PHox appears, with fifteen more shadows behind him, as he pulled out his butcher knife weapon, and spun around, swinging it with blood red energy that unveiled his maniacally-enjoying face.)
We must be faster 'cause right now there's no more time
I fear at this rate, the world will leave us behind - And so I
(Philia runs along a starlit path, with the images of Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Mickey, Kirito, Asuna, Yui, Leafa, Recon, and Kairi passing by her, their smiling faces appearing as she passed them, followed by any characters she met since coming to the new dimension, with the rest in black outlines.)
Wonder how long I have left with you, in this life?
There's not a minute we should waste
Catch the moment
(In a dark, rocky environment, Philia and the hooded Tears fought one another in a powerful battle, with Tears striking her back with her greatsword, only for Philia to skid to a halt, before launching back and unleashing an Armor Pierce Dagger Skill that sent Tears flying away. However, she flipped in the air, and landed on a gigantic, shadowed monster, who roared down at Philia, causing her to brace herself.)
So will you seize today with me?
Because it's fleeting, like a dream
Catch the moment
(Philia tightened her grip on her Keydagger as she glared up at the monster, before leaping at the monster, her body glowing a white hue, as her weapon shined brightly, and she brough it down at the head of the monster. Upon the strike, the scene shifts to the black atmosphere with the falling gold coins, shifting from a top-down view to a face forward view of it falling into a treasure chest with a gold heart emblem on the front, before revealing Philia closing the lid of it, embracing it in her arms, holding it close to her heart, before the heart shine, blinding the scene.)
"This world is a place where dance has become a mainstay in society, led by a man named Jay El." Gretinal explained, "However, from reports from my sources, there seem to be Heartless that are taking advantage of that, and even utilizing dance to consume the world in darkness."
"But how is that possible?" Philia asked, "Heartless aren't smart enough to be dancers. They can't think and more rely on instinct."
"Unless they were, so to speak, programmed to dance." Gretinal prodded her with the hint.
Philia took a second before she realized what she was getting at. "You mean those mechanized Heartless?" she asked.
"In a way, though I am not entirely certain." Gretinal answered, "But I would like you to go down and investigate. I believe you will be able to gain some help with dealing with the Heartless below."
"Understood." Philia answered, with Tink nodding in understanding.
"Now, you know what needs to be done." Gretinal told her, "To descend to the world, place your hand on the Star Shard, and it will descend you down there. After that, it's all up to you." Philia nodded in understanding as Gretinal's image vanished and opened up the glass dome containing the Star Shard. Tink flew into Philia's clothing as she placed her hand on it, and it shined as she was consumed in its light. A second later, the Star Shard bounced through space as it descended down to the world below.
Moments later, the Star Shard reached the ground of the world, and Philia opened her eyes, looking about. She was in the middle of a city park, and the city was a decent sized one, with skyscrapers all around the park. She was standing on a cement walkway to the central part of the park.
"So, this is one of the worlds in this dimension." Philia understood, looking about, "Funny, but it is more familiar to me than other worlds."
"Really? Could this be your world?" Tink asked, popping out to look at her.
"I don't think so." she answered, "It's familiar, but I don't think it's connected to me. Especially since this seems to be a world composed for dancing. I wonder if I need to have some skill in it?"
"Couldn't hurt to try." Tink told her.
Just then, Philia heard the sounds of music being played from a distance, causing Philia to stop and hear. "What's that music?" she asked.
"Hey, maybe someone is dancing over there!" Tink assumed, and they raced over to the sight.
There, they saw a big park with a stage in the central part of it. There, they saw some Shadow Heartless that were there, along with some different looking Heartless Philia had never seen before, along with five people, two girls, two boys, and an older man.
The girls seemed to be twins, mirror versions of one another. They had purple hair, tied in curly side ponytails, held by blue bands, and blue eyes and makeup. Their attire was similar to arabic dancers, sleeveless light blue and yellow-trimmed topons, baggy pants of the same color, blue pointed shoes, and purple cloth pieces held from opposite shoulders, with blue droplet jewels on the bottom, and yellow and blue bracelets on their respective wrists.
The oldest of the group had gold-framed shades and a backwards baseball cap hiding his short dark blue hair and facial hair. He wore a purple hoodie, and a black shirt over it with the letters 'BM' in bold blue lettering at one corner. He also had gray pants, green and white sneakers, and black bracelets on his left wrist.
One of the boys had green eyes with blue eyeshadow, and purplish hair tied in loop buns in the back, with a long pink bang going down the left side of his face and shorter one barely coming out of his green, beige, and purple cap. He wore very similar attire to the older man, only his hoodie was orange, the 'BM' was yellow, and his shoes were dark red.
The last one had purple eyes with black eyeshadow and green hair that had an 'antennae' on top, and curled outwards from behind. His attire was like the other two males, only his hoodie was blue, and the left sleeve was gone, with only a blue wristband replacing it. His 'BM' was pink, and his shoes were blue, while he also carried a red kendama.
"Heartless!" Philia exclaimed, summoning her Keydagger to her hand, and ready to fight the Shadows. She raced to them, but for some reason, they didn't seem to respond to her presence. She stopped as she wondered, "Wait...why are they not reacting?" Heartless would be attracted to people like her.
"They are not responding." Tinker Bell noticed, "They are paying attention to what was happening on stage."
Philia looked to the stage, seeing the five people who were facing the two Heartless, who were more humanoid than most others. They looked like they were decked out in a sort of gangster dancer attire. What was going on? Why didn't start attacking the five people on stage.
"Alright, everyone. Let's show these dancers that they can't take this stage from everyone!" the older man declared.
"You got it, boss!" the pink-banged boy answered.
"This stage belongs to everyone." one of the twin girls stated.
"And these guys seriously give off bad vibes." the other twin followed up.
The green-haired boy glared at the two Heartless as he stated, "You guys are ruining the area with your Crowd High dancing. We'll show you what true dance is!"
(Insert 'Blossom Bullets 1st dance music' or 'LATIN TECH + TRIBE OF NINJA' of Tribe Cool Crew OST)
The five people got in position, with the twins standing in front, the older man behind the both of them, while the others were on the sides. Suddenly, they begun to perform a dance routine together, directed towards the Heartless. Philia was just baffled, not just at how they were dancing to the Heartless, but the performance itself. It was rather impressive, with the males more active with their dance styles, while the girls were more using their arms and movements that were both stiff and fluid. And yet, their two dance styles were mixing together into an amazing performance that was incredible to watch.
"They are incredibly good!" Tink acknowledged.
"I agree." Philia admitted, bouncing to the beat of the music, "But why are they even dancing at the Heartless in the first place?"
Just then, as they finished the music, they suddenly emanated a wave of energy that spread throughout the area, hitting the Heartless, and even Philia and Tink. They felt the wave pass by them, and felt a sense of warmth entering their hearts. It was a comfortable feeling, like being close to Sora and her friends. She touched her heart as she muttered, "Did that come from their dance? It felt so joyful."
"Look!" Tinker Bell called out, pointing to the Shadow Heartless. Some of them had vanished from sight, destroyed by the wave from the dance team.
"Did it work?" the green-haired boy asked.
"No. They're still there." the older man answered.
(Insert 'GET READY?' of Tribe Cool Crew OST)
Suddenly, the two gangster-looking Heartless started to move, before making dance movements of their own. Theirs were far more aggressive, like they were fighting through their dances. Their punches and stomps created shockwaves that the five dancers were bracing against. Philia and Tink braced themselves against the shockwaves. The energy coming off of them was the opposite of what the other dancers were unleashing, sickening to her heart and filled with darkness.
Suddenly with the final part of their song, their final shockwave sent the five dancers flying off the stage, far away from them, where they tumbled and were sprawled along the ground. "Oh, no!" Philia gasped as Tink dove into her pocket while she raced over to them. She got close as she approached the first body, being the green-haired boy, asking, "Are you okay?"
The boy looked up to see Philia there, then looked enamored by her before standing up and answering, "There is no problem here, angel. That was nothing to me. But I appreciate your consideration for my well-being."
"Typical..." the pink-banged boy sighed, in a sitting position.
"How ugly." one of the twins scoffed, looking to one side as she held herself with one hand.
"Both his attitude at those dancers on stage." the other twin scoffed, on her belly. The boy Philia helped looked stunted at their accusations.
"Looks like our dance wasn't reaching them enough." the older man stated as everyone else got to their feet, "They are different to the ones before."
Philia turned to the Heartless, readying her weapon as she said, "You guys put up an effort, but leave it to an expert. I know how to deal with these things!" The Shadow Heartless turned to Philia, who charged in with her Keydagger in hand.
She started to slashing them out of existence, using both her natural fighting skills and her magic. It was a good warmup for her to regain some of the flair she had before in the other dimension, despite being significantly weaker than how she once was. Within moments, she cleared the Shadows.
"Still got it." Philia told herself, turning to the two Heartless on stage, "Now as for you!" She charged to the Heartless, who begun dancing with their music again. Their simultaneous punch sent shockwaves that halted and even blew back Philia, causing her to collapse in front of the five dancers. She got back up onto her feet, growling as she was ready to go after them again.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow yourself down!" the older man stopped her from going, "Those dancers aren't gonna respond well to aggression like you're puttin' down."
"But they're Heartless!" Philia argued, "They're dangerous if I leave them alone! It's my job and my duty to defeat them! My weapon stands the best chance against them!"
"You can beat them, but not with that weird weapon of yours." one of the twins noted, pointing to her dagger.
"That's right. You must beat them at their own game." the other twin answered.
"I don't get it." Philia looked confused.
"We should probably get a move on." the older man told the group, looking to the Heartless, "We're unable to do anything at the moment. Let's get our feisty little kitten up to speed."
"Hey! I'm not a kitten!" Philia argued, "My name is Philia!"
"So, Philia's your name?" the green-haired boy asked excitedly, "I'm Yuji Shishido! Nice to meet you!"
"Come on." the pink-banged boy told Yuji, dragging him away, "We gotta get moving." With the group leaving the scene, Philia took a moment to look to see the Heartless had not moved from their spot. It seemed like they decided not to move from their space. Worried about leaving them alone, but knowing she couldn't do a think, she decided to leave them behind to follow the dance group.
Sometime later, Philia was in a limo with the five dancers. Apparently, the two girls were from a rich family.
"We already know your name is Philia, correct?" one of the twins acknowledged, to which Philia nodded in response. "I'm Hinata Sakurazaka. This is my twin, Manabí."
"It's nice to meet you." her twin greeted.
"Yo! I'm Sota Noguchi." the pink-banged boy introduced himself.
"I'm the leader of Blossom Bullets, Riki Sakota." the older man finished.
"Blossom Bullets?" Philia echoed, confused.
"That's our dance team name." Riki explained, "Although, we had been two separate teams for a bit, but came back together when Jay El asked us for his assistance."
"It's still quite unimaginable that he would ask us of all people to help him out with a situation!" Minabi said with joy.
"It's a treat like no other." Hinata agreed.
"Yeah, but it couldn't be an easy task." Sota sighed.
"It wouldn't be Jay if it was easy." Riki noted.
"Um..." Philia intervened, hesitating for a second, before asking, "It's probably because I'm not a dancer like you guys, but who is Jay El?"
The five looked dumbfounded at her question, as if she had said the stupidest thing in the world. "You never heard of Jay El?!" Yuji questioned in shock.
"I mean..." Philia though of a way to defend herself, before answering, "I know his name, and I know he seems to be a great dancer, but..."
"Great is understating him incredibly!" Sota exclaimed, "He's like the god of dance himself!"
"Easy, you two." Riki stopped them, "Not everyone is focused on Jay like we are."
"But still, it is rather surprising to hear someone not familiar with Jay's work." Hinata admitted.
"Okay, I get it." Philia looked irritated at how condescending they were, "So please tell me who Jay El is!"
The Blossom Bullets looked to one another before Yuji started, "He is every dancer's goal. He is the best of the best when it comes to the world of dance. He's even gone overseas to perform at worn-torn countries in order to help them regain their smiles again. We participated in a competition called 'Dance Road', first as two different teams, in order to claim the prize of dancing alongside our idol. We all love Jay."
"Sounds like he was an incredible idol, and a person with a bright heart." Philia admitted.
"Yeah. However, we also learned that a few years ago, he ended up in an unfortunate accident, putting him in a coma." Yuji continued, causing Riki to try to say something to stop him from explaining, but he ignored it. "They initially made Dance Road in order to find the best dancers in order to assist in updating androids made in Jay's image to keep him immortal, like we all envisioned. However, after some opposition tried to stop that, and both our team and Tri-Cool defended Jay's way of dancing through our own dances, we managed to wake him from his coma, and now, he is back again!"
"Okay, but what does that have to do with the dancing Heartless that were at the park?" Philia asked.
"Jay says that they seem to be connected to the opposition Yuji spoke about." Manabí answered, "They were a group of dancers who utilized a forbidden dance style called Crowd High. Using malice, it can deliver an energy that is both addicting and dangerous to those around it. I cannot forgive such a disgusting dance!"
"While Jay and the people working with him were trying to remove that dance from the world, many held on, and they turned into those creatures." Hinata followed, "For lack of a creative term, they have been dubbed 'High Crowds', They seem to have an ability of turning people into those weird creatures you called Heartless before."
"So dancers ended up turning into those High Crowd Heartless." Philia understood, "Well, at least I'm up to speed on them. Now, the question is what next? I can't seem to get close to them to fight them."
"Jay said that the only way to defeat them is through Dance Battles." Yuji told her, "Just as we sent our feeling through our own dance to wake him up, he learned that the same effect can be used on the High Crowd."
"Pouring your heart out through dance, huh?" Philia answered, "In some ways, it does make sense."
"Say, if you want, we could teach you how to dance, too." Yuji suggested, getting a surprised look from Philia, "You did say it was your duty to take out those Heartless things. Well, we wanna get rid of them too."
"That sounds like a marvelous idea." Hinata agreed.
"Agreed." Manabí added.
"Wait, do we really have to?" Sota asked, looking a little opposed to this.
"Sota, you aren't against it like you were before?" Riki asked, reminding him of something that happened in the past.
"N-No, not exactly." Sota answered, "But we should be trying to improve ourselves to win a dance battle against that High Crowd instead of training someone new."
"True, but..." Riki looked to Philia as he asked, "You're already pretty skilled fighting those monsters off, as we saw. Just make your movements into dance, and you will be okay."
"So, what do you say, Philia?" Yuji asked, a bit anxiously.
Philia had to pause, thinking. Now she understood the reason for the dance studio in the Heartiel. Did Gretinal know she had to learn to dance? Well, either way, Philia mentally felt there was no other choice. If she had to beat the High Crowd with dance, then she had to literally step it up.
"If you are willing, then I'll learn how to dance." she told them.
"Awesome!" Yuji cheered, as the others looked excited to teach her.
Moments later, the limo stopped at the entrance of a rich person's mansion, the rich person being the Sakurazaka twins. They entered in together, with Philia amazed at how large the place was. They entered inside, and were guided to a dance studio, which was big enough for the six of them to comfortably train inside. The mirrors were able to turn into tv screens that had the words 'Dance Road' in graffiti-like lettering.
"Color me impressed." Philia muttered, looking about.
"I'll say." Tink popped out from behind Philia, trying to hide from the Blossom Bullets, "I thought Mistress Gretinal's place was amazing, but this is..."
"Oh, what a cute fairy!" Hinata exclaimed, pointing to Tink as she suddenly noticed her. This made Philia freeze in place, trying to hide her friend from view with her hands as the others turned to her.
"F-Fairy?" Tink echoed, "Doesn't she know a pixie when she sees one?"
"Wait, is that fairy alive?" Hinata asked as she and Manabí went to either side of Philia, looking through the cracks that revealed Tink behind Philia's hands.
"Wait, who's that?" Sota asked.
"You didn't say you had someone with you." Yuji noted.
Philia realized there was no point, sighing as she let Tinker Bell be noticed. "I wanted to keep her a secret, thinking it might surprise you. This is my dear friend Tinker Bell. She's my companion on my journey to stop the Heartless."
"Oh, wow!" Sota said in amazement.
"I had a feelin' fairies exist out there." Riki stated.
"Eh? You believe in them?" Sota asked in amazement.
"Sure. If Jay is real, then so can they." he replied.
"I'm grateful you believe in me, but technically, I am a pixie." Tinker Bell corrected them.
"S-Sorry about that." Sota apologized.
"Tinker Bell?" Hinata echoed, "I remember that being in an old story."
"Same. I believe it was the Peter Pan tales." Manabí recalled, "So those stories are true?"
"A-Anyways, I won't explain anything more about Tink." Philia intervened, trying to avoid breaking world order, "Please don't ask anything more. I want to get to learning to dance."
"Yeah. We have to save Green Square from those High Crowds." Yuji argued.
"You're right. We got more important things." Riki understood, "Let's start with some warmups and stretches. Loosen ourselves out before some practice."
Philia was introduced to their stretching routines, more focusing on the girls than the boys. She wasn't one to completely loosen her body like this before a battle, even less for dancing. Still, after how she felt once they were done stretching, she might recommend it to herself.
"Okay. Let's get to some training." Riki told Philia, "One thing we should remind you is that we were once two different teams, so we have two different dance styles that we merged together."
"Right. My sister and I were one team." Hinata started, "We were Team Sakura, with our dance skills involve our mirroring abilities and vogue."
"And we were Explosive Machine Gun, and we specialized in house and Jerkin' Footwork." Yuji further explained, indicating himself, Sota, and Riki.
"Vogue? House? Jerkin' Footwork?" Philia echoed, "Those are different dance styles?"
"Yep. And we're gonna teach you all of it." Riki told her, "Let's start with-."
Just then, Hinata and Manabí grabbed both arms of Philia so quickly, she barely noticed them do it. "We'll start with her." Manabí told the boys.
"Agreed. Us ladies should start off together before she deals with you boys." Hinata finished.
"Hey, that's so not fair!" Sota exclaimed.
"Doesn't matter who goes first, so long as each team teaches her to dance." Yuji argued.
"Great. With that settled, let's get started." Hinata told Philia, dragging her to one side of the room to get started.
"Tinker Bell, do you wanna join in practicing dancing with us?" Manabí asked the hidden fairy.
Tink came out as she replied, "I mean, I don't mind watching and learning, but I'm more use to sky dancing." She started flying about, creating shapes with her pixie dust and sparkling about the place. This made everyone else awe at the sight.
Philia smiled as she noted, "You do an amazing job at it. But right now, we shouldn't waste any time while the Heartless are out there. Let's get to practicing."
"Right!" the twins answered as one.
For the next hour and a half, the unapologetic twins began teaching Philia the art of their vogue dance style. They had to improvise some parts, as they had to take out their mirroring style, since she was all alone. It mainly involved arm movements, and not moving around the field as much as other dances. The movements were almost robotic, but more fluid, requiring excellent control of one's body, clicking and locking limbs to geometric shapes and patterns. Not to mention Philia had to position her arms and legs to do things she wasn't sure she could do before, such as having her hands reach the middle of her back, or perform splits. It required extra stretches that were rather strenuous.
After the session with the pair, Philia was in a sitting position, her legs and arms feeling like jelly as she leaned back on the wall. "I didn't expect dancing to be so overly exhausting!" Philia gasped, "It's even tougher than fighting Heartless normally!"
"Just letting you know; we're putting you through the harsh level of training." Hinata told her, "Meaning, we're trying to make you dance to our level as quickly as possible."
"Huh?!" Philia gasped in shock.
"You said you didn't want to leave the High Crowd alone for long, otherwise who knows how much damage it would do." Manabí noted, handing her a water bottle to drink from, "So we are putting you through the works in order to beat it in a dance battle."
Philia took a swig of water as Tink flew down next to her, wondering if she was okay. She sighed as she muttered, "Well, I asked for it. And we are in a rush. Hopefully, I can get this down quickly."
"Actually, I think you're getting it." Hinata stated, "You're quick at learning stuff."
"Thanks." Philia replied, finding the strength in her limbs returning as she stood up again. She mentally joked to herself that due to her missing past, there was a lot of space to fill it up with new stuff, but told herself not to say it out loud. Instead, she said, "Well, I guess I'd better keep going. I need this push to stop these new Heartless. I can't let my friends down by not pulling my weight!"
"Now, it's our turn to train ya." Riki told Philia, as Sota and Yuji stood there beside him, "Don't think we'll get any easier for you."
Yuji, at this point, pulled out his kendama and was playing with it, bouncing the ball up and down on the cups of the toy, until with one swipe-n-catch, he stuck the ball back in its place. "You better be ready, ange- I mean, Philia."
"Sure. Glad you're not calling me 'Angel', by the way." she commended him.
"After seeing how hard you're training, I'm force to take you seriously. I haven't felt like this since dealing with frog-boy."
"Frog-boy?" Philia asked.
"A member of Tri-Cool, the other team we were talking about." Sota explained, "His real name is Haneru, but those two were always at each other's throats in the past."
"Okay. Let's get down with it." Riki intervened, "Time to show you how we do it!"
Another hour and a half of training, with Philia being trained under the boys with their house dance style, but Philia was also taught by Riki to do Jerkin' Footwork. House was quite different from vogue, as instead of the robotic, more stationary arm movement dance, it required more action from her hips and legs, performing very slick and quick movements that were fluid and had her moving across the floor, performing almost acrobatic dance steps while keeping her body loose, which she was able to develop a bit from Team Sakura.
Jerkin' Footwork was something Riki alone was teaching her, as he was a specialist at it. The style was described in the name itself, as it was focused on her feet, sliding and balancing on the edges of her feet while in motions. It was like sliding on ice like a skater, while performing ballet steps that had her on her toes, heels and edges of her feet. Between this style, house, and vogue, Philia had to practically use every muscle in her body in order to keep up, let alone dance.
By the time they were done, Philia was on the floor, face down, her body emanating vapors from how much it had to be used. "I...can't get up." she told herself.
"How can you push my best friend so hard?!" Tink asked, "Can't you tell she needs to have the strength to actually fight the Heartless?"
"Easy, Tink. I was trying to push myself, too." Philia argued, tilting her head to look up at her partner, "I was trying too hard to keep up."
"In all fairness, this might've been too much for you to understand all at once." Riki admitted.
"We should take a meal break to help you regain your stamina." Hinata told Philia, "I'll have the chefs cook something healthy and delicious! In the meantime, take a bath in our spa."
"You have a spa, too?" Philia asked, before recalling where she was at, and realizing, "Oh, yeah. I guess you would."
"We can join you with you want." Manabí requested, "We can see how your body is developed."
"Um... That might be a bit much." Philia responded, able to find some strength to wobble onto her feet, "I'll take one by myself."
Sometime later, Philia had taken a dip in the spa, her body and muscles warmed up and relaxed by the water. Afterwards, she joined everyone else outdoors to enjoy a meal that had the proteins and vegetables needed for a healthy meal, including tea and sweets for dessert. Sota had a craving for croquettes, as Philia learned, and enjoyed them.
"In my personal opinion, you still need work." Riki told Philia as she took a sip of her tea, "But for a complete beginner at dancing, I'd say you are taking the lessons we have been teaching you, and running with it."
"Agreed. I bet you can be a natural born dancer in no time!" Manabí told Philia.
"You really think?" Philia asked.
"True, but you are still missing one fundamental thing." Yuji told Philia, glaring at her as she looked back at him, "The reason you dance."
"The reason I dance?" Philia echoed, as she took a macaroon from the desert tray and broke it to share a small piece with Tinker Bell.
"Sure. Why do you want to dance?" Yuji asked, "For me, it's...a personal reason. But what about you?"
"Well, it's required to stop the Heartless." Philia answered, "And it's my duty to do that, before they cause more problems."
"That's not a reason, that's a job." Yuji counterargued, stopping her, "What I wanna know is the reason you dance. What are you trying to tell others as you dance? What is your heart yearning for when you move for your audience?"
"What my heart...is yearning for." Philia muttered, placing a hand over her heart.
"Exactly. We each have a reason why we dance." Riki told Philia, "But when it comes down to it, it's because we enjoy dancing."
"Yeah, it's a lot of fun!" Sota stated excitedly, "I can't get enough of it, not to mention having people react to how much they like our dance."
"We learned all sorts of dances throughout the world, meeting so many idols of those dances." Hinata explained, "That is why we entered Dance Road: So we can meet Jay El."
"I wanna be the best dancer in the world." Yuji told Philia, "I have my reasons why, but I still love it. It makes me feel free from my worries."
Philia and Tink heard all of this and were rather amazed. In short, they dance out of their love for it, and wanted others to love the dance they did. She felt that before when they danced, loving that feeling they emanated. She wanted to unleash that same feeling. The question was how to do it. Why did she truly want to dance?
Just then, a phone rang, coming from Manabí. She picked up and asked, "Hello, what is it?" There was a brief pause, before she looked shocked as she asked, "Wait, what? It's that bad now?!"
"What's going on?" Hinata asked.
Manabí placed a hand over the mouth speaker of her phone as she answered, "We need to head back to Green Square. My sister and I left someone to keep tabs on what was going on over there. The High Crowd are drawing in a crowd of those Heartless monsters you spoke about. They are getting out of control!"
The team stood up to their feet at these words. "We can't waste any time!" Philia told the team.
"Agreed." Riki answered, looking back at her, "Looks like you're gonna have yourself a trial by fire. You ready?"
"Yeah." Philia answered, "We need to stop the High Crowd, no matter what." Yuji gave a concerned look to her before they took off back to the limousine.
The crew made their way back to Green Square once more, and saw that it was just as bad as they had heard. There were even more Heartless watching the High Crowd, to the point they had nearly consumed all of the area around the stage. Meanwhile, the High Crowd Heartless's bodies were glowing as they seem to draw in strength from the crowd.
Philia and the Blossom Bullets came out of the limo, racing to the stage. "This is horrible." Hinata muttered.
"An absolutely horrid sight." Manabí answered.
The High Crowd suddenly unleashed a shockwave that made the others brace themselves against it. "This is more powerful than it was before!" Sota exclaimed, only protected from falling over by Yuji.
"The Heartless must be feeding them darkness, thereby making their dance even more devastating." Philia summed up, summoning her Keydagger. She then looked to her weapon, realizing it wasn't gonna help at this point, and dismissed it, "With the dancing you guys taught me, I bet I can beat them."
"Do you have a reason to dance?" Yuji asked.
Philia paused as she answered, "I don't know. Maybe I can figure that out as I dance." She raced ahead of Blossom Bullets, getting around the crowd of Heartless to get on stage, getting the High Crowd's attention. "I can't let you continue!" She told them, her mind recalling all the dance steps she learned, "I'm ready to go!"
"Hit the music!" Sota declared.
"Okay." Riki answered.
(Insert 'LIKE THIS & LATIN TECH' of Tribe Cool Crew OST)
Philia started to dance, using vogue style in the first part of the music, moving her body to the music, using the dancing movements that she was taught by the twins. She ended up adding in a bit of Jerkin' Footwork into her dance routine, as she felt like she needed to. The Blossom Bullets watched her dance, anxious and hoping her routine would work.
The second part of the music started to kick in, and Philia switched up to the house routine the boys taught her. She was now moving her legs with the music, performing the dance style with all she had, trying to match the rhythm of the music and moved with the emotion of the music. As she was dancing, she was starting to feel something. It was slightly there, but by the time she started to contemplate it, the dance routine was up.
Philia was panting as she held her final pose, trying to catch her breath. She was staring at the High Crowds, hoping it did something. Meanwhile, the Blossom Bullets watched her from a distance, with Sota stating, "She was able to dance really well!"
"Yeah, but it didn't hit us." Riki noted.
"She was only dancing out of routine, but not from the heart." Manabí noted.
"Which means..." Hinata realized. She didn't even need to finish her sentence, as with one shockwave, the High Crowd Heartless threw Philia off the stage, sending her tumbling off next to the dancers.
"Dang it!" Philia grimaced, "Why... It should have worked!"
"You weren't dancing from the heart." Yuji answered, "It's like I said, if you don't know why you dance, then you'll never reach them." Philia looked frustrated that she was unable to succeed in finding that, until Yuji added, "But I did feel something at the end. You were just starting to realize something. Could you tell?"
Philia looked to him, before bracing herself against the next wave of darkness from the High Crowd. She then recalled what happened, and answered, "Yeah, I did. It was faint, but I was able feel it. Right when I was dancing, I was actually starting to enjoy it. Sure, all the training was tough as heck, and I had to defeat the Heartless, but, for a moment...that didn't matter. Right then, I was having fun."
Yuji smirked as he said, "That's right. Dancing is fun. And you want everyone to have fun, as well, right?" Philia nodded in responds to this question. "Then that's what you oughta do: Send your enjoyment through your dance. Make it reach them, right here!" He poked a thumb to his chest, indicating his heart.
"Channel your feelings from your dance..." Philia muttered, getting to her feet, "Right...you did say that before. I kinda forgot about that."
"You can't forget that, Philia!" Tink scolded her, coming out of her pocket to glare at her, "It's the same as flying: Think about your happy thoughts, and it will help you soar!"
Philia looked down, thinking on that for a second, before smiling as she thought of all the happy thoughts in her mind, which mainly involved her past memories of being with Sora and all her friends. She told herself she would do well without them. However, the more time she was on her own, the less happy she started to become. She helped people, and made friends with some, but was more alone than not. And that was also the reason she couldn't succeed on stage either was because she was acting on her own.
She turned to the members of Blossom Bullets, bowing her head to them as she asked, "Guys, I could really use your help. I just...I can't dance alone. I need everyone's support to truly enjoy dancing!"
The crew smiled at her as they walked up around her, with Manabí answering, "I thought you'd never ask."
"We'll be glad to help you out." Hinata agreed.
"We came this far together, so we should go all the way when beating those High Crowds." Sota told her.
"I agree. There's no rule saying you should dance alone to beat them." Riki stated.
Yuji pulled out his kendama, flipping the ball out and making it bounce off the cups of the tool before catching it again, pointing the toy at Philia. "If you're with us, then you'll really be among the best dancers, and you'll have fun doing it!"
"Yeah." Philia replied, turning to the High Crowds. The group went back up onto the stage again, with the Heartless turning to them. She closed her eyes, touching her heart as she focused. "The feeling of enjoyment I momentarily had... I want to feel it again. That feeling I got from the Blossom Bullets before...I want everyone to feel that. That first round may have started off bad, but with my friends here, I'm gonna push on through the next checkpoint and win!"
Just then, Philia's body started to glow, startling everyone. From far off, someone was in the shadows of the trees, someone with purple lipstick smiled as he noticed the light. Philia was looking at her body, wondering what was happening to her, as she felt the energy. She felt it was connected to dancing, feeling as if it was speaking to her.
"Philia, your shining!" Manabi gasped.
"I am not responsible for this!" Tink exclaimed.
"She's turning into a literal angel!" Yuji said in awe.
Philia felt the energy, before closing her eyes, concentrating on the energy, feeling what it was trying to tell her to do. She then opened her eyes as she said, "Guys, get ready to dance!" The Blossom Bullet were a little taken aback, but focused themselves as they readied to dance. Philia raised her foot up, before shouting, "Dance Stage on!" She stomped the ground, sending the light around her body to spread out, changing the scene before them. Not only that, but Philia's attire vastly changed.
Her attire composed of a pink ribbon on the back of her hair, a black choker, a bright orange and white striped halter top, an open orange and black-trimmed jacket, exposing her belly button, with her left sleeve long and her right sleeve short, revealing a gold bracelet on her wrist and a jewelry piece on the sleeve. At the bottom of her jacket were pink hearts, and over her right breast was a gold crown. She had an orange and black-lined skirt, black thigh-high stockings with orange stripes on the sides, white ballet-like shoes, and a pale pink ribbon tied around her right ankle.
Stage: Dance Road final stage, spotlights on the six dancers, the Heartless in the stands. Philia stood in center, with Team Sakura in front and on the sides, while Exploding Machine Gun were behind her, all of which striking starting poses.
Music: 'Checkpoint' by Hyper Potion
(Author's Note: Will be noting the timing of the music, since there is no lyrics to go by. You can find the song on YouTube and on iTunes, so just follow along with the timing with me.)
(0:00-0:27)
(Philia starts to dance strongly, utilizing her mixture of dance styles into her moves, while the others didn't move at first. As the music started to grow, and the drums kicked in, the Blossom Bullets started to dance along in their positions, performing repetitive dance steps.)
(0:28-0:41)
(The intense dancing stopped as Philia started to usher the Blossom Bullets to slow-step circle around her, who did their own style of dancing as they circled. They stopped as Exploding Machine Gun were now in front, while the girls were peeking out from the back. Then, at the last notes of the section, Philia did a countdown with her fingers as she called out, "Three, Two, One, Go!")
(0:42-1:08)
(Exploding Machine Gun started to do their House and Jerkin' Footwork dance routine together, while the girls did subtle vogue style behind them, sometimes matching their style with the boys in front. Then, just as the second half of the section was nearly over, the two parties danced into swapping positions, with the girls in front and the boys in the back. Then, with the last three notes, they started to dance.)
(1:09-1:36)
(The three girls started to dance vogue style, while the others were backup dancers to them. Philia was in between Team Sakura, doing her dance routine to match with the sisters, who mirrored one another's movements. Philia would be 'controlled' by the sisters, as if their arms were controlling her movements.)
(1:36-2:03)
(The boys started to intensify their dance, partnering up with the girls, with Riki and Hinata, Sota with Manabi, and Yuji with Philia. They merged their dance styles together, dancing off of one another in their pairs. As the music intensified, Philia and Yuji were starting to become more intense than the other pairs, who danced as they gave the pairing a wide birth. They ended up side-by-side at the end of the section, as the spotlights now only shone on the pair.)
(2:04-2:31)
(The two started to match their dance steps with one another, completely in sync with one another. Philia would occasionally add in her dance steps, each one feeding off one another, each one getting a moment in the spotlight, with their individual dance styles, but still merging their dances into one fluid routine. The other four dancers then joined their sides at the end of the music section, the spotlight on all of them.)
(2:32-2:58)
(The six began dancing together, their dance styles merging into one routine, Yuji now partnered with Hinata, and Philia with Riki. They took turns dancing in front of one another, expressing their respective dance skills. The section ended with Philia in the front and center, while the others were dancing towards her.)
(2:59-3:31)
(Philia spread her arms out, with the others pushed away from her, the spotlight only on her. She began do solo dance to the beat and rhythm of the slowing music, almost like a solo ballet recital. She continued this until the music ended, where she struck the final pose, with her legs crossed, while her arms were drooped, her hands folded together, and her head dipped.
(Song ended)
The Dance Stage reverted back to the normal scene, with light sparkling about the place replacing it. The light then gathered up to Philia's right leg, making it shine brightly, before she stomped it on the ground, sending a wave that sent the High Crowds and the other Heartless flying, disappearing into nothingness. Her body glowed as her attire reverted to normal, and she examined herself, amazed.
"What was all that?" Sota asked.
"All of a sudden, everything changed around us, and my body just suddenly wanted to dance." Yuji noted, shocked for a moment, before smiling as he added, "It's not a bad thing, though. It was a lot of fun."
"Agreed. And that outfit you were wearing, Philia..." Manabi noted.
"It was very cute and stylish." Hinata finished her sister's sentence.
"Thanks." Philia replied, turning to the team, "But I honestly have no idea what just happened."
"You just summoned up a stage for us to dance on, and we danced those Heartless away." Riki summed up.
"Yeah, but I didn't expect that kind of power, either." Philia pointed out, "Dance Stage, right? How did that happen?"
"I can tell you." Said a voice. Everyone but Philia recognized the voice, turning in amazement. Philia turned, and saw two individuals approach the scene, with one of them in a wheelchair. The one pushing the other looked like a gray-haired butler with a mustache. The one in the wheelchair was a tall, dark-skinned man, with long black and blue-dyed hair, blue eyes, and wore blue eyeshadow and lipstick, and wore a dance outfit: a white sleeveless suit with a lot of belts and a long/short jacket. He also wears green illuminate earrings and necklace.
"Jay!" Yuji gasped.
"He's here?" Sota asked.
"This is an honor!" Hinata noted.
"So, he's Jay El?" Philia understood, seeing the pair approaching them. The heroes hopped off the stage to approach the legendary dancer.
"Have you not recovered yet?" Riki asked.
"Master Jay is still not completely recovered." The butler explained, "But he has been getting better and better as time goes on. He is currently resting his body between dances to stop the High Crowds."
Jay looked to Philia, smiling as he said, "I thank you for your assistance in stopping the High Crowd."
"Thank you, sir." Philia replied.
Jay examined her, before saying, "I can tell you are not from around here. Did Gretinal send you this way?"
Philia was startled at the name drop as she asked, "Wait, how do you know about Mistress Gretinal?"
"Who's that?" Sota asked.
"The person who guided me to this w- city." Philia corrected herself before she said the word 'world'.
"As I thought." Jay understood, "Gretinal and I go back a long way. She was actually inspiring in my early years in dancing."
"So this Gretinal must be incredibly special if SHE inspired JAY." Riki stated, looking to Philia.
"I gotta meet this mistress of yours." Yuji told Philia, "She must be a goddess if she is able to do that!"
"She's...well, she's something." Philia muttered, thinking about how she was, and what powers she had.
"It was through her powers and my dance that we actually discovered the power of Dance Stage." Jay explained, "By channeling our hearts into our dance, we can create a performance that can unleash the light in your heart that hits others right here." He poked a thumb to his heart, which Philia recalled Yuji doing the same action.
"So that power was called Dance Stage." Philia understood, "And it even comes with a dance attire of my own?"
"It is the only power that can defeat the High Crowd." Jay further explained, "There are many of them all over the place."
'I wonder if that includes other worlds?' Philia wondered to herself, 'If that is the case, then it looks like my dance career is far from over.'
"But remember this; Keep those strong feelings in your heart when you face the Crowd High, and your dance will reach their very souls." Jay told Philia, "Once you have more experience in dancing, I would like you to come back here and show me how much your dance has developed."
"You hear that? Jay wants to see you dance again!" Sota exclaimed to Philia excitedly.
"I can't believe he would say such a thing." Manabi told her.
"I can. You worked really hard to get to your level in such a short time." Hinata praised.
"We might as well help you out in practice." Riki decided.
Philia nodded, but then noticed her pocket started to glow. This drew everyone's attention as she dug into her pocket and pulled out the Star Shard. Even Tink flew out of Philia's pocket, looking at it. "The shard's shining!" she pointed out.
"What is that?" Yuji asked in surprise.
"Right. Gretinal told me about this." Philia understood, "Whenever the Star Shard shines, that means it's time to go. I've done all I needed to do here."
"So you're leaving?" Manabi asked, a little disappointed.
"Gotta. There are other places all about that have similar problems with the Heartless, like you said."
"We wish you the best of luck." The butler told her.
"What about your dance lessons?" Hinata asked.
"I'm sure she'll remember them." Riki answered, "But this girls gotta go and spread her wings."
Philia nodded, before looking to Yuji, "I'll see you guys again. Promise."
"You'd better keep it, Philia." Yuji answered, "Remember, you may be able to defeat those Heartless with the Dance Stage, but I'll still be the best dancer in the world."
"Then I'll keep practicing, and try to keep up." Philia answered. Yuji raised a hand to her, and she raised her hand to him. Yuji slapped her hand, pulled it away, and snapped his finger. Philia, wondering what that was, decided to snap her finger, before asking, "What's that?"
"A dancer's salute." Yuji responded.
"Got it." Philia smiled, stepping away from everyone, "I'll try to remember that dance step." The Star Shard shined even brighter, consuming her and Tinker Bell in the light, and they shot into the sky, bouncing about as they left, while everyone watched her go.
Moments later, Philia and Tink were back on the Heartiel again. The Star Shard was in its capsule once more, and the Heartiel was starting to fly away from the world.
"That was rather fun, all things considered." Tink stated, flying off of Philia's shoulder.
"True. I didn't think dancing would be so much fun." Philia noted, looking back at the world they left, "Fighting the Heartless is fine, but dancing them away?" She turned to the transforming room and activated the dance studio in it. She and Tink entered in, and suddenly, Philia's body glowed as she found herself in her Dance Stage attire.
"Hey, you're back in those clothes again!" Tink noticed.
Philia now had a chance to examine herself, before looking at the mirror wall, seeing her whole figure. "It's very glitzy, not like my regular clothes."
"The Dance Stage attire resembles your heart's way of performing." said a voice that made the two girls jump in fright.
"G-Gretinal!" Philia recognized, "Don't scare us like that!"
"Sorry." she apologized nonchalantly, "But as I said, your attire is designed to be functional for dancing and performing, while showing the kind of dancer you are. Your ideal self when you perform."
"So, this is how I see myself when I dance?" Philia asked, looking at herself.
"Correct. Now that you are able to activate the Dance Stage powers, you can now take on this form in this space." Gretinal further explained, as one part of the mirror wall flipped around, showing a television screen, "I even have some extra lessons revolving around your styles of dancing. The High Crowd Heartless will grow more and more dangerous with their powers of dance, so you need to further improve your dance to counter them."
"Right." Philia understood, sighing as she understood that she had a lot to remember, "With all the stuff I have to learn, not to mention the Summons, Soul Bursts, and all other sorts of powers, I now have to have to learn dance steps?" She turned to Tinker Bell as she stated, "Maybe you should make a note of all the things I can do, Tink. I gotta make sure I don't forget anything."
"Roger that! Already doing it!" Tink answered, pulling out a scroll of paper and a quill, and started writing it down.
Philia looked to the mirror, seeing her attire one more time, before nodding to herself, and stated, "Never hurts to have a little more practice. Let's dance!"
Next Time on Sword Art Kingdom: Treasured Memories
New Meridian! Fight for the Skullheart!