So enter one of my favourite Disney movies from the recent era. This, along with the Monster's Inc. world, were the first worlds I definitely knew would be in this story. Unlike Pocahontas and the Princess and the Frog, this world follows the movie for a good portion of it. I figured that I'd make this world the kind of calm before the storm. Light hearted with a nice theme of adventure. So, without further ado, here we go.
Chapter 65
The Tower With No Door
After communicating with Neuge and Mickey, asking them to retrieve the data from Syndrome's computer on Nomanisan Island when it was possible for them to, Sora and his friends went on to contact Cid and it was there, after explaining what they needed from him, that the tech wiz revealed to them that Kefka had escaped. He gritted his teeth as Cid gave them a summary on what had happened, and before he himself even knew what he was doing, he took off in the direction of his room and slammed the door behind him.
It was hard for him to admit to his friends that he just wanted to be alone nowadays, in fact, this change was even strange to him no matter how logical it may seem with recent events. He could only imagine all the enemies he had made over the past few years laughing at him as the very boy who championed friendship above all else was now pushing that very power away, albeit almost unconsciously.
Alfonso's words rung in his head as clear as they day he spoke them to Sora. That he couldn't save anyone. Whenever he meditated, images of Yeul's lifeless body entered his mind. As much as he wanted to drive the still frame out of his head, he also felt as if it would be a disservice were he to do so. The idea that he could be holding Riku or Kairi or Luna in his arms next disturbed him. All this encapsulated by the sound of Kefka's delirious laughter mocking him and it only served fuel Sora's anguish.
Sora looked at his desk and saw the small orange translucent bottle with pills inside. He hands took hold of the bottle and held it up at eye level with just the tips of his thumb and index finger.
"I'm sorry, Colette, but I'm not as strong as you think I am," Sora said. He unscrewed the bottle and tipped it, allowing one of the pills to fall out into his hand. He opened his mouth and prepared to pop the pill into his mouth.
"Sora!"
"Ah, Luna!" Sora yelled. Her presence at his doorway sent him jumping, the pill bottle and pill in his hand falling onto the ground. "I was- uh, that is to say-"
"Anti-depressants?" Luna asked when he had stopped bumbling.
"Yes…" he answered slowly.
Luna nodded and walked over to help pick the pills up. Sora tried to decline her help but Luna insisted and ended up picking up everything while Sora stood there feeling quite idiotic.
"Don't worry, I won't tell Riku and Kairi. I know what it's like to feel sad. But is it really that bad, Sora? Who prescribed them to you?" Luna asked.
"Just some random doctor. It's not like I'm addicted to them or anything but they do make me feel better. I don't know. Maybe it's part placebo effect as well but I feel better after taking them so it works. Colette doesn't think I need them and when she found out, well, let's just say she wasn't too happy. I tried listening to her advice and I was doing really well until recently."
"Until Kefka escaped?" Luna asked.
"Until Kefka escaped. Until half of Moira's Crescent who want me dead, maybe even all of them at this point. Who knows? Maybe I don't really need them. Maybe I'm just running away from my problems, but fighting only seems to make them bigger," Sora explained.
"I don't find them to be mutually exclusive, you know. I… actually I'd rather not talk about it. We're almost at another world and you're gonna make me depressed before we even get there. You suck, Sora," Luna said. She grabbed a pillow from his bed and swung at Sora's head.
"Hey!" Sora yelled. He raised his arms in defence and felt the impact of the pillow hitting against them. He grabbed the leftover pillow and raised it up. "You asked for it. I assure you, this is a fight you will surely lose if you dare tread there."
"Oh I do tread there, good sir. Now let us do battle with the mighty pillows!" Luna said. The two laughed more than they ever had in some time as they exchanged hit for hit. All of their last pillow fights had ended in Luna submitting in the end and this time was no exception, but Sora was given the impression that Luna had never intended to win anyway.
Luna giggled and let herself fall onto his bed. As she did, Sora was hit with something else other than a pillow. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but something about her right here and now put him at peace. He suddenly couldn't remember why he was so sad to begin with. But it wasn't even just the here and now. Maybe being with her had always made him feel this way. When he thought of it like that, it occurred to him that the idea of her being a protective cloak that shielded him from sadness did not suddenly seem so out there.
"Sora, you still in there. Heeeelllloooooo!"
Luna's perky face snapped Sora out of his thoughts and he flashed her a silly looking grin before sitting on the edge of the bed.
"You, me, Riku, and Kairi. We're all going to the beach after this. Back to Destiny Islands. We deserve that much. Screw whatever Yen Sid wants to say about that or anyone else. I'm going to live my life the way I want to," Sora said.
Luna giggled. "Yeah, and then we can go Ice skating in Alexander after that. Oh, since you live on an island, do you do fishing?"
"I'm pretty proud of my record. Caught a bunch of fish with my bare hands. I'm so good they called me the Non-Angler Master," Sora said.
"No they didn't."
"Okay, maybe they didn't," Sora admitted causing Luna to laugh. "But come on, fishing with your hands is still pretty impressive, you've got to admit."
"Impressive but once you've got an actual hook and line in your hands, you already feel like you can take on the entire ocean. Oh, we should be landing at our next destination anytime soon. You ready?" Luna asked, raising an arm for him to take.
"Let's hope it's a good one," Sora said, helping her up from his pillow.
Tomorrow would be a special day for Rapunzel. It seemed that every year on the same day during night on a day that so coincidently happened to be her birthday, when she looked out of her window, she would see the stars fixated in their regular positions. This, she had no problem with. She had spent most of her time from an early age learning where each star was and had even painted the constellations in her room as a result. No, it was something else that grabbed her attention on this special day. She did not believe that she could possibly be the centre of the universe, but the floating lights that ascended the sky on her birthday only seemed to suggest to her that there had to be something special occurring on this day.
Rapunzel was a bright girl at the age of seventeen. She would have to be, having been cooped up in a tower for as long as she could remember anyway. Her only companions—the same few books that she had read over and over again, her paint brush and colors, her sewing needle and thread, and finally her good friend Pascal. The last one was especially important because this one wasn't an object. In fact, the only downside to Pascal was he couldn't verbally communicate and respond to Rapunzel's thoughts and worries, though she could somehow tell that he understood what she was saying. To put into perspective, Rapunzel even found it at times easier to confide in Pascal than her own mother.
"Rapunzel, oh, Rapunzel! I'm not getting any younger, you know? Let down your hair!"
"Speaking of mother. Okay, here goes, I'm going to ask her, Pascal. I'm want to go see the floating lights. You can do this, girl." Rapunzel gave a quick thumbs up to her lizard friend who returned it with a quick wave of one of his feet. Any longer and he would have toppled over. Rapunzel chuckled at the thought before running to the window and opening it up. "Coming, mother!"
There was no door to the tower, presumably to stop anyone from coming in, although Rapunzel wouldn't have been surprised if it was to keep her from getting out as well. Thus, the only way into the tower was by a rather strange method that was only made possible by one of the strangest things about Rapunzel. She grabbed the most accessible piece of her long golden hair and threw it over a hook that was embedded above her window before allowing seventy-feet worth of hair to drop down the tower. When Rapunzel had asked why her hair was so long, her mother had answered it was because she was a special girl. It was an answer that hadn't really satisfied Rapunzel then and still didn't now. All she knew was that she had to protect it at all costs and that meant staying away from the outside world.
When her mother was safely attached to her hair, Rapunzel began hoisting her hair back up and along the artificial pulley system, stopping once her mother had reached and entered her window.
"Oh mother, I'm so glad that you're here. I have something to-"
"Oh, Rapunzel, can't it wait? I'm absolutely exhausted right now. Just the trip alone is so tiring but to sit there gather these? Ugh. But they are your favourite, I suppose," her mother said. She lay the basket by the floor, Rapunzel bending down to pick one of the strange looking star-shaped fruits. Despite their weird shape in contrast to most other fruit Rapunzel had tried, these had tasted the best of the bunch.
"Thank you, mother. Oh, I can see what you mean. Your hair! You really need to take better care of yourself out there, mother." Rapunzel led her mother over to a stool in the middle of the room and allowed her to take hold of her hair.
"What a mother wouldn't do for her child. I suppose all the years are just coming to haunt me at last," her mother said.
Rapunzel nodded before letting out her voice in song. She did not know where the lyrics came from exactly or why she even had to learn them as a child, but her mother had felt that this song in particular was most crucial to her development and that she should always remember them. The song meant more to Rapunzel than just something to remember however. It had been the start of her singing career inside the walls of the tower. To an audience? Not quite except for her mother and Pascal, though she could only hope for the possibility someday.
"Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine."
Rapunzel's hair reacted to the song with a warm golden glow akin to that of sunlight. When she next looked up, the greys in her mother's hair were gone and replaced by lustrous dark hair.
"You look wonderful, mother. Now, I have something to ask of you. It's a little out there, like, literally out there but you know, tomorrow is my birthday and all so…"
"What? That can't be right. I'm pretty sure your birthday was last year," her mother replied.
"Um, it was. Actually. Yeah, but the thing about birthdays is that they usually happen every year, on the same day and tomorrow just happens to be my eighteenth and I was wondering… could I go out to see the lights in the sky?" Rapunzel asked. She was nervous and giddy like a little child but she thought she put across the question quite well. She had been preparing the question for over half the day after all.
"You mean the stars? Surely you can look at them outside your window."
"Stars? Oh no, no, no, you misunderstand. Stars are still, I've been mapping them out for a few years now so I'd know. I mean the other floating lights that suspiciously appear in the sky on my birthday every time. I was wondering if I could go see them?"
Rapunzel wasn't sure what she had expected from her mother but the look of half surprise and half disgust on her face was not what she had in mind.
"Oh, darling. I've shown you so much kindness over the years and this is how you repay me? I'm disappointed," her mother chided, turning around so her face could not be seen.
"No, I'm appreciative of your kindness. How could I not be? You're my mother. It's just that I was thinking really hard about this and-"
"Then those thoughts are best forgotten. Rapunzel, you know about the outside world and how dangerous it is. There are shadows lurking in every corner. Strange creatures roam the lands and they attack anyone on sight. I told you about the humans but these creatures are even worse. They are after this." Her mother let her hand run down some of Rapunzel's hair lovingly before dropping her hand to her side. "They'll do anything in their power to take this from you, even if it means your life. I care for you too much to allow that to happen, Rapunzel. As long as you're here, you're safe. And that does more to make me happy than you could ever imagine."
"You're- you're right. I'm sorry." Rapunzel backed down and looked down at Pascal with an apologetic look as if to say "I tried."
"Now I must be off again. Trust me, tomorrow we'll have all sorts of fun together. I think I'll even have a surprise that I just know you'll love. You'll see, Rapunzel. I'm the only one who can protect you from the despair awaiting for you outside."
Despair wasn't quite the word Rapunzel would have used to describe what she had seen. Then again, stepping on the ground was a lot more different than seeing it from high up. She implored her mother for being so courageous as to dare venture the grassy unknowns.
Her mother placed a hand on Rapunzel's hair again and looked at her lovingly. "I love you very much, dear."
"I love you more."
"I love you most."
Still, she thought as she aided her mother down the tower once again, she had the feeling that it was only a short while she would have to wait until her life really began.
"Are you sure we're going the right way, kupo?" Kupopo asked. After touching ground, the group had found their way deep within the woods with no end in sight to the greenery that they saw. The flora was truly something to behold, home to the most exotic flowers and plant wildlife that Sora had ever seen.
"Look, I don't pick where we land, okay? I didn't even know we had a certain direction we were going in," Sora replied.
"Well the first thing to do once getting to any world is gathering information. Of course if this world is entirely just leaves then that makes this a little harder to do," said Kairi.
"The Gummi Ship scan showed that this world was densely populated so it couldn't just be a forest. It's just a case of searching harder. Luna, do you think you can ask Jiminy to do a search from aboard the Gummi Ship?" Riku asked sharply.
"Yeah, let's see." Luna pulled out the radio transceiver and pressed the button. After a few words with Jiminy and a thirty second wait, Jiminy returned his analysis of the area. There seemed to be very little movement in sight near them, this being as opposed to no movement because he had managed to detect a heat signature somewhere to the west of their current position belonging to a single individual. As Sora and his friends continued in this direction however, it became clear to them that there was no possible way there could be anyone in that direction. Shrubbery rose up to the skies like a giant wall of plants which concealed only bent branches and rock when explored.
"Are you sure about this, Jiminy? Maybe it's just not working properly at the moment," Sora said, his face hovering over Luna's hand so Jiminy could hear him properly.
"That's what is says. It's never failed before though so I have no idea why it's not working right this time. Maybe there's some secret passageway that's hiding there or something," Jiminy suggested.
Sora snorted and leaned his shoulder against a part of the plant wall. "Are you kidding me? A secret passageway? Yeah, I'm sure that's likely- WOAH!"
The lack of resistance on this particular part of the wall surprised Sora, and it gave way, sending him tumbling through the vines and onto the ground of a small cave with light at the end of it.
"Nice job, Sora. I knew you could find it," Kairi said, stepping through the vines and looking around in wonder.
"Yeah. Totally knew that was gonna happen." Sora grimaced and stood up as Riku, Luna and Kupopo joined them. "You hear that sound? Isn't that rushing water?"
Kairi nodded and led the way down the small tunnel, emerging out into a vast meadow. To one side was a river than ran outside of the area, though its source lay within—a small waterfall in the back, running down from the high cliffs that were placed on either side of it. Vastly more interesting however, was that they path they were standing on lead all the way to a lone tall tower in the middle of the grassy area. Sora could come to no conclusion as to what this tower was doing here by itself or how it had even come to be, and it intrigued him all the more because of this.
They started towards the tower and once reached discovered upon further inspection that there was no door to go in to.
"Is it just supposed to be some kind of decorative piece then? It's not a really good tourist attraction if it's hidden," Sora commented curiously.
"I'm not so sure that it's meant to be that. There's a window up there. See?" Riku pointed at the single closed window all the way high up.
"Oh, this is great then. Reminds me of those fairy tales I used to read with the princess at the top of the tower who waits for her charming prince to rescue her," Luna remarked.
"Yeah, always hated those," Kairi said brusquely. "The sun looks really good from here by the way. It almost looks like fire. I've never seen it like this before."
"Makes sense actually. Jiminy did say it was the Kingdom of Eternal Sunlight. An eternal summer. Can you imagine that? Sora, a little quiz for you. What controls the climate or weather that a certain world experiences?" Riku asked.
"What? Why me? I was totally unprepared for this and you know it!" Sora exclaimed.
"Exactly, but it wouldn't hurt to be a little more aware of why certain things are the way they are now, would it. There are actually quite a few factors but the main idea behind it is gravitational waves, you know, the thing that causes Gummi blocks to fall out of the sky randomly. Those waves are rather finicky and within those waves contain many little different particles that vibrate in all directions. I emphasize the point that no one particle is the same because they do different things and depending on the position of a world and its rotation, that can have an effect on the climate in any part of the universe."
"I don't see how you could have possibly expected me to know that, you show off. Please tell me the rest of you also had no idea," Sora said to Kairi, Luna and Kupopo.
"Maaaybeee. Okay, maybe not but that's still really interesting, Riku. I've always been curious about worlds like Twilight Town and Traverse Town. Thanks," Luna complimented.
"Yeah. Way to go, Professor Riku. How did you find out about this?" Kairi asked.
"When I was with Ansem the Wise for a year, I had a lot of access to his reports. That was one of the ones that came up," Riku said. "And speaking of the sun, a long time ago there were people who used to worship the sun deity, Sol. Now if this place has an eternal summer climate then I'm thinking this would be the perfect place to worship the sun. It's as you say, Kairi. It does seem different here."
"Hey, I don't suppose those reports can find a way up to that window, can they?" Sora asked sarcastically.
"Someone's here, right? Then we just have to call to them and be as polite as possible," Kairi said. She backed away and called out as loud as she could. "HELLO? ANYONE IN THERE?"
After a moment of absolutely nothing, Sora was about to propose leaving when the window flew open. What happened next, none of them could have expected. A thick rope of golden hair trailed down the wall of the tower and landed on the ground right next to them.
"What… is this, I don't even…" Sora tried to sort out his jumbled mess of thoughts but ultimately came to the conclusion that it was useless.
"Yeah… you think they want us to climb up?" Luna asked.
"On hair? Is that a thing in this world? And here I thought we solved the standing out problem by wearing context-transformative clothing and now we've found a world where we need to make our hair longer too?"
"Well, you know what they say. We won't know until we climb," Luna answered him.
Sora turned to her. "You really want to climb this hair, don't you?"
"Oh so very much." Luna grinned. "But since I'm not particularly fond of heights, why don't you go first? You know, for inspiration."
"Inspiration? Right," Sora croaked. He rubbed his hands together before starting his ascension up the long flow of hair. When he finally reached the top, he stepped in through to what appeared to be an empty room but before he had the chance to really take in the room. He was hit by an incredibly swift and solid object. This object, which he promptly identified as a frying pan before he fell to the ground like a cardboard cut-out, had been slammed straight into his nose with the flat side. It's owner, after the two of her he was seeing had become one, was a rather beautiful girl with golden blonde hair and green eyes. Her rosy cheeks and light freckles stood out in the sunlight that shone through the open window.
"Who are you? Don't think you can try anything with me. I have a frying pan and I'm not afraid to use it," she said, holding onto the pan with shaky hands.
Oh thanks, Luna. She just knew that after Donald, I'd be next in line for this sort of stuff, thought Sora as he held up his hands.
"It's okay. I won't hurt you. Me and my friends were just passing by-"
"A likely story. Friends, huh? Just admit it. You're after this, aren't you?" The girl grabbed at her hair and showed it to Sora, and that was when it became apparent to Sora how long this hair really was. It started with the girl, lapped around Sora in circles, went across the room and then out of the window. Seeing Sora staring at her hair's length in disbelief, she poked him in his chest with the frying pan. "Hey, are you even listening to me?"
"I don't understand. After your hair. W-why would- why would I even- HOW IS IT THAT LONG?"
"Eeeek!" Sora's sudden outburst must have scared her because no less than three second later, Sora found himself on the ground again and rubbing his face.
"Okay, this is getting a bit out of hand. This is not what a frying pan is for!" He snapped.
"Yeah? Well you're making it what the frying pan is for. I wouldn't be surprised if it was patented to include allowing me to hit you in the face," the girl snapped back.
"That doesn't even make any sense and you know it," Sora said.
"So? It doesn't have to make sense. A lot of things in this world don't make a lot of sense," the girl said. She was definitely nervous from how fast she was speaking at the moment. Sora could just barely catch some of it.
"How deep. Okay, try starting off from the beginning then. I'm Sora and you are…"
Before the girl could reply, Riku came in through the window followed by Luna, Kairi and finally Kupopo. They all clearly seemed puzzled by the scene in front of them of a begging Sora on the ground hold up his arms at a girl with long hair threatening him with a frying pan.
"Wow, how is your hair so-"
"Luna, no, don't say it! She won't spare you either!" Sora tried to stop her but Luna frowned.
"Huh? What do you mean? I was just going to ask how her hair is so pretty. It's really beautiful, isn't it, Kairi?"
"Definitely. I'm so jealous!" Kairi exclaimed.
The girl slowly retracted the frying pan and smiled. "Oh, you're making me blush. I like both of your hairstyles too. Oh, I'm sorry for attacking you, Sora. Maybe I did get a little carried away."
"A little, she says. You know what? I was kind of tired before coming here so I'm definitely feeling more alert now, I'll give you that," Sora said, laughing it off. The girl helped him off the ground before looking at them all.
"I'm Rapunzel, oh, and this is my best friend here. His name is Pascal." Rapunzel pointed to the lizard on her shoulder who, until called out, had camouflaged himself to match Rapunzel's pink dress.
"Nice to meet you, Pascal. Wait, go back a few. Did you say he was your best friend?" Kairi asked after each of the group with the exception of Sora took the time to introduce themselves.
"Other than mother, he's the only one I can really talk to here after all. Speaking of which, you're from… you know, the outside?" Rapunzel asked.
"Yeah… that's the opposite of inside, alright," Sora said heavily. He had a feeling that behind the quirky and daring girl he saw now was a history more sinister and sorrowful. "Your tower doesn't have a door. Do you usually go outside often?"
"My mother was quite persistent in stopping me from going outside. There are thieves and evil creatures prowling about who are after my hair. That's what she said. Not that you guys are thieves or anything. I'm sure you're all nice people. Oh, wow. I just realized something. I am having actual human interaction with someone other than mother. This is it! This is the sign, Pascal!"
As an energetic Rapunzel bounced about the room happily, the other exchanged not so happy looks with one another. Luna was the one who came forth and finally asked.
"Rapunzel, you've really never been outside? I mean sure, there are lot of bad things in the world and those creatures, the Heartless, we've fought a few on our way here but you can't let that stop you."
Rapunzel nodded. "If I could even leave for just two days. Two days. That's all I need. It's my birthday tomorrow, actually. My eighteenth. Do you know what these are?" Rapunzel asked. She pointed to the art she had painted across the walls of the tiny room. Sora found himself circling the room in amazement at the myriad of colors that covered the walls. His pupils ended right back where they began—at a beautiful night sky of glowing orange rectangles.
"Those? I can't say I do. We're not exactly from around here," he answered eventually.
"Well, each year on my birthday I see these floating lights in the sky at night. You might think me a bit silly for this but um, well… I dream about going out to see these lights sometimes."
"That's not silly at all, and coming from your perspective, it makes a lot of sense actually," Riku said. "Rapunzel, you only have one chance at this life so the way I see it, why not take it? In the end, no one can decide what you really want to do but you. Some dreams don't have to be just that. They can be reality, but the first step you need to take is having the courage to make that first step."
"Then, would you take me to see them? You could keep me safe, right?" Rapunzel asked.
"In a heartbeat. The way you're so excited about these things makes me want to see them to. We can't turn this opportunity down," Luna said. Everyone else nodded except for Kairi who had been preoccupied by something else.
"Rapunzel, the fruits in that basket over there. Those are… but how?"
"Oh, do you want some? They're really delicious," Rapunzel said.
"No, I mean those are Paopu fruit, aren't they?" Kairi asked, pointing the others to the gathering of star-shaped fruit in the basket. "As far as I know, they're native only to the Destiny Islands. How did you find them?"
"I didn't. Mother is the one that usually does the gathering, you'd have to ask her," Rapunzel said.
"But we really can't afford to do that right now, otherwise I'm sure she won't let you go with us. So we'll ask her after," Riku said.
"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you soooooo much. This means a lot to me and I have nothing to repay you with unfortunately," Rapunzel said.
"As long as we get to see a smile on your face when we get there then that's all that matters," Sora assured her with a smile of his own. It had then completely escaped his mind of the mission that he and his friends were on, and not once did he consider the possibility that she could be a candidate.
The group were soon disturbed by the arrival of someone else who had come through the window. On impulse, Rapunzel grabbed the frying pan again and before anyone could tell her to stop, slammed the flat side right into the new arrival's face.
