So when exactly is Unchained X coming out in North America and Europe, Square Enix? I don't mind you guys holding out on KH3. Take as long as you want if you need it but for Unchained, is there really an excuse? At least an update would suffice. I suppose there's always E3, I guess... Anyway, let's continue our tale full of heart-pounding excitement!
Chapter 66
Behind the Mask
Flynn Rider was a man who had built his entire reputation around being a dashing and daring thief. This was the conclusion Sora had come to after hearing his story. His arrogant and haughty nature seemed more an exaggerated caricature than he would have thought possible from any normal person and even Riku seemed to agree with this after a round of exchanging whispers.
More importantly, what grated him more than anything else was that he couldn't stop flirting. Rapunzel was more cautious but Kairi and Luna were definitely warming up to him. He wasn't jealous or anything like that—at least he didn't think so, but it still got on his nerves nonetheless.
"You know, you've been awfully silent about what you were doing. Assuming your story hold true, if you're being chased by someone, you at least owe us the truth for saving your life," Riku told him after they had finished listening to his tale describing how he had ended up here. It had all been rather vague and the only thing they had to go on was the diamond diadem that lay halfway out of the bag it had been in.
"Yeah, save by what the definition? You mean the one where I get hit on the face with a frying pan?" Flynn asked.
"Don't take it personally. Same thing happened to me too," Sora said.
"Wow, you guys really love to lay it on thick, don't you?" Rapunzel groaned. "Anyway, Flynn Rider, if that is your real name, my friends and I wish to see the floating lights in the sky. Do you know them?"
Sora wasn't sure why, but he couldn't help but smile a little at this. It hadn't even been an hour and the girl who had been kept locked up in this tower for so many years already thought of them as friends. Then again, maybe that was why she thought of them as such.
Flynn followed Rapunzel's finger to her effulgent depiction of the objects in question. He raised his brows for a moment before shaking his head.
"You mean the lanterns? Yeah, the Kingdom of Corona lifts thousands of them into the sky every year to mourn the loss of the king and queen's daughter. I think it would be… tomorrow, wouldn't it? Oh…" Flynn's lips puckered, a look of trepidation on his features. "Let me guess. Out of some sort of strange fantasy, you want me to take you and your friends to see these lights and if I don't you won't give that diadem back, right?"
"Huh? Oh. I actually just wanted you to take us. I didn't really think of this as being a bargaining chip," Rapunzel said, scratching her head.
"Oh, so you'll hand it back then?"
"Not after just sealing your own fate, Flynn Rider. I've decided to be generous and give you this back in exchange for guiding us to the kingdom."
"And what part of that was more generous than the offer before?" Flynn mumbled. "Fine, you get your wish. Never mind the spooky monsters that prowl the lands, the carnivorous thieves and the like, but hey, who cares, right? I'll get you there and once we get to the kingdom, I'm expecting full payment. We part ways and you guys can take her back leaving us all happy little campers," Flynn stated.
"Wait, spooky monsters? Carnivorous thieves? They eat-"
"No, he's just trying to scare you, Rapunzel. But once we start, I don't think there's any turning back. It's up to you. What do you want to do?" Kairi asked.
Rapunzel glanced upwards once again to look at her painting. "Seeing it isn't enough sometimes. I want to be there when it happens. It's like Riku says—you only get one shot at life, so I won't turn back now. Pascal, we're going."
"That's just what I expected. Okay then, let's make your dream come true," Kairi said, beaming.
As it was her hair that everyone depended upon to reach the ground, Rapunzel was left for last in the soon to be lonely tower. Well she was completely alone, she thought and massaged Pascal's head with her index finger. She looked down below where the grass was as well as the chorus of encouragement she was receiving from her new friends.
"Here goes nothing," she muttered to herself anxiously. Her arms clung to her own hair and with her eyes closed, she jumped from the window sill.
When she felt her bare feet land on something soft, she opened her eyes and looked down at the wavy green grass as a soft gentle breeze blew through the area.
"I'm on the ground. I'm still alive! I can't believe it. I DID IT!" Rapunzel squealed and grabbed onto Kairi and Luna's hands, jumping up and down with them in celebration.
"One giant leap for one girl. Trust me, it can only get smoother from here," Sora said. What he had said hadn't exactly proven necessarily true. As they emerged out of the cave and into the woods they had been in previously, a mob of Heartless intercepted and stopped them in their tracks.
"Stay back, Rapunzel. We can handle this," Luna said, summoning her Keyblade. She was about to run forward when a lump of golden locks shot past her and wrapped itself around one of the watermelon looking bomb Heartless. Rapunzel tugged at her hair, the Heartless flying forward and head first into her frying pan. With the Heartless dazed and right next to him, Riku fired off a Dark Aura with his hands to finish it.
"Stay back, you say? You'll find that this girl's got more tricks under her sleeve than a magician. Sora and Flynn here can attest to that," Rapunzel said. She was clearly in her own little world, just admiring the look of shock and awe on everyone's face.
Sora snapped out of it the fastest and shrugged. "I guess you've got a mean right hook. Alright, let's get rid of these guys."
No one seemed left out as they worked together to take out the Heartless. More than once did Sora find a bundle of hair flying past him to slap the Heartless back and forth and keep them stunned long enough for the others to finish them off.
"Sora!" Luna yelled his way. She raised her Keyblade skyward and shot out a miniature Firaga Burst. Sora jumped high to meet it and caught the fire with his Keyblade before bringing it and himself down with a Blitz that wiped out the remaining Heartless.
"You don't think Neuge would let me into your training, do you? It's like you two know what the other wants without having to say much," said an impressed Kairi.
Luna grinned and cocked her head sideways. "Yeah, Neuge drummed the teamwork thing into our head. It's all about being creative and making up for each other's weaknesses. That said, I'm not sure she'll accept someone else. She already considers the two of us to be a giant pain."
"Err, not to rush you or anything but it might not be best idea to stay in one area for too long. You know, in case those things come back?" Flynn asked.
"Are you sure that's the reason? Or is it something else?" Riku asked, glaring at him suspiciously.
"No idea what you mean. Hey, it's not too late to turn back, you know? I can totally understand if you'd want to after all this," Flynn suggested, reaching for the brown bag in Rapunzel's other hand. "So I'll just take care of that thing in your hands and we'll call it a day."
But Rapunzel was not so kind to his whims and swiped the bag away before Flynn could reach it. She reached into the bag and took out the diadem before dangling it in front of him like she was teasing a puppy.
"You want this? Then keep on moving, Mister. I am not changing my mind now," she ordered with an intensity that reminded Sora of one of his former physical education teachers.
"Ooh, now we're using 'Mister'. Boy, are you in trouble, kupo. I think you ought to listen to what the lady says," Kupopo said.
"And I suppose I'm going to listen to what some marshmallow says, huh?" Flynn asked.
"Hey, he's a cute little marshmallow. You leave him alone," Rapunzel countered. Well, it hadn't been much of a rebuttal. 'Marshmallow' had been what Rapunzel had immediately designated Kupopo as upon meeting him even after introducing himself. Flynn had no doubt adopted the name from that. In all honesty, Sora could never see Kupopo as being a marshmallow. He had more of a rubbery texture than an edible one for starters.
The forest soon split off into two paths—one that seemed to lead into an even deeper part of the forest and the other led to a small pub by the roadside. Riku was the first to walk up to the sign to read it.
"The Snuggly Duckling? I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm incredibly embarrassed to read that," Riku said. Even Sora had just barely managed to stifle a laugh.
"Hey, what's wrong with that? I think it's cute. You know, I think there should be more of these kind of places in the world. People who aren't afraid to be in touch with themselves and… okay no, even for me that's just a bit too much," Luna said before launching into a fit of giggles.
"And here I thought we were all mature. Really, Luna? Et tu, Riku?" Kairi asked.
"What? It is funny," Riku admitted, covering his mouth while snickering.
"It's funny you should say cute though, Luna." Flynn addressed with a cunning smile. "These really are the cutest people you'll ever meet. In fact, let's stop by and say hi, why don't we?"
"Oh, we get to meet more people. Yay!" Rapunzel exclaimed eagerly.
"Yay, indeed," Flynn agreed coolly. Sora could not even begin to make a decent guess as to why Flynn had put on such a conniving smile, at least not until he had taken his very first step into the Snuggly Duckling anyway. He had been to one of these places already, he didn't know why he had expected it to be different. One of drunk Neuge's lessons entered his head at this point:
"Once you've been to one damn tavern, you've been to all the damn taverns."
Sora exchanged looks of dread and terror with Luna. There was only so much they could stand with Neuge so an entire pub full of drunkards and the smell of ale hanging heavy in the atmosphere was a complete nightmare scenario.
"Well this is… interesting," Rapunzel stated with a mixture of emotions, none of them positive despite her limp smile.
"I know, right? Very quaint place, it's perfect for you, really. I mean, we wouldn't want you scaring and giving up on this little endeavour now, would we?" Flynn replied. He put an arm around Rapunzel, drew her closer and outstretched his other hand while raising his voice dramatically. "Can you smell it? Just take a good long sniff. Now that… is a manly smell, am I right, Sora? Riku?"
"What are you playing at?" Riku asked.
Flynn feigned innocent and put his hands up defensively. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Hey, good sir, is that blood I see on your beard? My, that certainly is a lot of blood, don't you think, Goldilocks?"
"OI!" The door to the pub blew up and a burly man who Sora could only describe as a lumberjack stormed in and held his hand up, pointing to the piece of paper. Clutched tightly as if it were a precious commodity was a wanted poster with a rather strange looking picture of Flynn on it. Despite the nose not looking quite right, there was no mistaking it. "Is this you?"
Flynn stood to the side of the lumberjack's finger and murmured glumly at the strange depiction. "They really aren't flattering me, are they?"
"Wait, so that diadem you had wasn't yours? You stole it?" Sora asked, quite miffed more so that he had found out about this now in a place of seemingly bloodthirsty thugs.
"I figured as much. Something like that doesn't just find its way into a shabby looking bag. I was hoping you'd eventually tell us yourself but it looks like you were more interested in messing around with us and putting Rapunzel in harm's way," Riku said.
"Now hold it there. I explicitly remember telling her that she could go back. I was not trying to endanger her," Flynn said.
"Of course not. It was all entirely in her interests, right?" Riku asked. When Flynn didn't respond, Riku let a sigh escape his mouth. "You keep telling yourself that if it helps."
"Stop this. NOW!" Rapunzel's rather loud but strong condemnation shocked the entire room into silence and prevented the rest of the men from advancing on Flynn. Rapunzel pushed past a few of the men uttering her apologies and stood on a table nearby. "I really don't care what that man did. He made a promise to me that he would guide me and my friends to see the floating lights and darn it I am going to see that dream come true. I'm sure you can all understand. Surely you all have dreams of your own."
It was then that Sora realized even without Kairi's input that Rapunzel had a unique gift. He had probably even noticed it the very first moment he had laid eyes on her, but he had looked away for fear of what it meant. Now as he stood rooted on the spot listening as tale after tale was passed round of the tavern of dreams from overly emotional sea shanty-like men, it became impossible for Sora to look away from the pure innocence of Rapunzel's heart.
The congregation of dreams was about to reach Luna when the someone silenced them and pointed at the window.
"Guards! They're here!"
As Flynn looked around frantically for a place to hide, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see the bartender motioning with his hands for him to follow. Sora peered curiously over the counter to see him open up one of the wine barrels to reveal a secret passageway hidden inside.
"That is… pretty creative, I have to say," Riku said beside him.
"Yeah, I'm willing to take it," Sora agreed. The two of them joined up with the others and waved their goodbyes to their new friends before crawling into the barrel. Darkness surrounded them for a while, with Sora having to rely on his senses to make sure he was not crawling into someone. The small dark tunnel soon opened out into a wider cave with lit torches guiding the way down the path.
"Well this is kind of spooky, don't you think?" Kairi said. She adopted an evil grin and sneaked a glance at Kupopo who was shivering next to her. "You don't seem all that great, Kupopo. You're not scared, are you?"
"Of course not, kupo. I don't know why you'd think tha- AAIIEEEE!" Kupopo sprung upward like a rocket and hit his head against the ceiling after being tapped lightly on the shoulder by Sora from behind.
"Got him good," Kairi commended, giving Sora a high five.
Luna chuckled. "And you say we're immature, Kairi? You alright, Kupopo?"
Kupopo placed his little hands on on his head. "My head hurts, kupo. But many if Luna was to give me a nice message, I'd feel good for sure."
"Hey, can you guys can it for a moment. Do you hear that?" Flynn asked.
"Huh?" Luna asked, turning her body to meet him. Kupopo, who had been flying towards her possibly with the intention of groping her, flew past her instead and crashed into the ground.
The group remained silent for a few seconds. Sora could hear the cold air from what could only be an exit making soft soothing sounds. There was a dampness in the air however that mixed cold with warm resulting in moisture on the walls. Were they to walk now, they would hear the echoes of their own footsteps. Were they to stand silent, as they did now, they would hear their own breathing, but not much else save the sound of quiet flickering flames.
After Sora voiced what he felt was shared confusion, Flynn nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, maybe it was nothing. Let's just keep moving."
"Wow, thanks for trying to scare me," Rapunzel said. "You really want me to go back that badly?"
"I think it's a bit too late for that," Flynn replied. He didn't get a chance to continue. Sora felt his voice get caught in his throat as he looked around. He was enveloped in complete darkness. The torches had all gone out at the same time.
"Kupo, why are you doing this?" Kupopo screamed.
"It's not me this time, I swear. Look, one moment, let me handle this," Sora said, he backed away for a moment and-
"Ow! That was my foot!" Luna whispered.
"Sorry," he apologized. He stepped over to her left and felt his body bump into someone else. He summoned his Keyblade and illuminated it to check who it was. It was not every day that Sora could get so easily frightened as he did now, staring into the immediate face of an Invisible. Before he could even react, something else hit from behind, throwing him forward into Luna.
"You okay?" Sora asked, his arms unintentionally pinning her to the ground. Feeling Dream Seeker's weight in her hands, Luna angled her Keyblade under Sora's arms and shot off two Firaga spells, taking out the Neoshadow that had crept up on Sora along with the Invisible.
"Could be better," Luna finally answered. "All I know is that we can't fight them like this. We have to run."
Sora eventually realized he was holding Luna to the ground and felt his cheeks heat up. He cleared his throat and helped her up before looking around. Kairi and Riku's Keyblades were both illuminated through which he could see their faint outlines as well as Rapunzel and Flynn who were keeping close to them.
"Sora! Luna!" Riku called over to them. The two aforementioned kept the backs against one another, countering the attacks from the Heartless as they made their way over to the rest of the group. Once by their side, Riku spoke out while continuing to deflect the Heartless' attacks. "We need to stay in the light. As long as we huddle up and keep going, we should be fine."
Magic flew in every direction, as did the clang of metal. Their yellow eyes were the only thing giving them an idea as to where the Heartless were and even then the Heartless shifted about so much that it was hard to target them. Pieces of rock flew off the walls and chipped off of what was probably already very dilapidated walls.
"I see it! We're almost there!" He heard Rapunzel shout over the whizzing and bangs of various of attacks. Sora turned quickly behind him to see a glint of light up ahead. He turned back just in time to see Kairi point her Keyblade past him.
"HOLY!" She yelled. A bright white light erupted from her Keyblade rather violently, the recoil knocking her into Rapunzel. The blast of light travelled through the cave and instantly evaporated any of the Heartless behind them.
"Wow," was what escaped Sora's mouth. Somewhere along the way he had forgotten how to breathe as he drew witness to the awesome power and it seemed like he wasn't the only one from a quick look around him. They had all stopped in their tracks, even the Heartless in front of them. He swallowed down the saliva that had built up in his mouth before turning to Kairi and saying in a shaky voice, "You've been saving that one, huh?"
Kairi smiled at him and the cave began shaking. While there was no direct correlation between the two, he could hazard a safe guess that Kairi's magic had something to do with it.
"Come on, let's go," Sora said, before turning and running as fast as he could. Just like that, the formation they had split apart as they all made for the exit. They could hear the roof caving in behind them, rocks spilling forth onto the ground to block the path they had come from. One of the Heartless, unaware of the danger it seemed, took their chance to attack but Luna's strike raid interrupted one of the Invisible's attack. The Invisible blocked with its sword but was ultimately unable to evade the falling rocks.
They soon broke out into daylight and Sora turned back to see Kupopo trying to evade rock after rock as he flew towards them.
"Come on, Kupopo," Sora whispered. Against his hopes, the rocks piled up faster at the cave's exit than Kupopo was able to fly. That was when Rapunzel once again surprised him for what he felt was the umpteenth time by now. Her hair flew past him and wrapped around Kupopo's body. She then yanked him through the exit just before the last rock fell and entirely closed the cave.
"Oh dear, I almost had heart attack," Luna cried out. She ran up to hug Rapunzel. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Yeah, that was quick thinking and acting on your part," Sora praised. "But boy, was that close or what?"
The hair hadn't even unfurled fully when Kupopo emerged out of it, clinging to Rapunzel's face. "Thank you, kupo!"
"Aw, he's soooooo soft," Rapunzel said, nuzzling up against the moogle's face. Sora grinned at them before looking around to check where they were. They had emerged on a cliff side, with a bridge just ahead leading to the other side. Underneath was rushing waters propelled by a current that… well, Sora really didn't want think about what would happen if they fell in. As his eyes began to traverse the length of the bridge he caught sight of something crawling on the ground near Rapunzel and Luna—or in the ground, would be more appropriate to say.
"Luna, move!"
"Rapunzel, move!"
Sora turned his head to see Flynn, who had also noticed the problem in time. Luna looked took Rapunzel's arms and pulled them away just as the Neoshadow popped up from the ground. Flynn, who was closer to them, rushed in with dirk in hand and thrust forward. The Neoshadow caught the blade of the knife in between it's fingers before jumping and spinning. Flynn fell backwards on purpose, just barely avoiding the spin attack and regaining his knife back. As the Heartless landed back on the ground, Flynn stabbed it straight in the foot and before falling back.
"That Neoshadow is… it's... in pain?" Sora asked. He rubbed his eyes. No, his sight was definitely not deceiving him. The Neoshadow in front of him was hunched over in pain and clutching at the dagger, trying to pull it out. Sora drew back his Keyblade and ran towards the Heartless, leaping and bringing his Keyblade down on it's head.
"You saw it too then?" Riku said, appearing next to him. "There's something changing in the Heartless' biology. Their dispositions, their actions… I can't say if these are the same enemies we've been fighting all this time or not."
"It reminded me of the Chimera. I'd just rather be quick and erase them. The last thing I want to do is start sympathizing with the Heartless," Sora said. He felt it had come out a little colder than he had meant to but it remained the truth.
"You were a Heartless too, once upon a time," Riku reminded him.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that we're not just getting rid of Heartless because they threaten the worlds. They were once human too, you know? The artificial ones anyway. Their hearts were stolen and they became the very darkness we're fighting against. The way I've been seeing it from some time now is that in a way, we're saving them. Setting the hearts free from their prison. Some of the Heartless are just wandering hearts, looking to find their way home."
"Yes, Riku, some of them. And the other Heartless? You know, like the ones we just fought?"
"My point is that sympathy is a normal trait to have. It's what differentiates us from them. If you're conflicted, that's probably a good thing," Riku said.
"Well it certainly doesn't make things easier," Sora replied. He didn't think it was wrong to believe the most quintessential element of a Heartless was its be all and end all. It was merely simpler for him to take that stance even if he knew it not to be entirely true. He instead turned his attention to Flynn. "You alright? Thanks for saving them. You really do care, even if you pretend not to."
"Well, I'm not going to sit by and watch as two innocent girls' lives are stolen away from them. I may be a thief, but I never said I was a callous one," Flynn said. "And speaking of being careless, the sun's setting. I think we should find a place to camp out for the night."
As Sora and the others crossed the bridge, they looked to their west to see a brilliantly bewitching sun encompassing the landscape. Sora was reminded of his days on the island watching the sun set alongside his friends. It made him long for those days of normality even more. They weren't heading in that direction but north east as Flynn had pointed around. Still, Sora thought as he made his way across the sturdy bridge, it feels as if I would be able to touch it if I went in that direction.
After finally reaching the other side, the group travelled for roughly another half hour before finally finding a clearing in the woods where they could settle.
"Ah, it's so dark now. Gathering wood and tinder for a fire is gonna be a pain," Flynn said. "I don't suppose you guys have anything to burn, do you?"
"If I had Jiminy's Journal with me-"
"Sora!"
"I was just being facetious," Sora responded to Luna's outrage. "I don't think we have anything on us."
"Oh, I have an idea!" Rapunzel exclaimed. She put her hands to her chest before singing: "Flower gleam and glow,
Let your power shine,
Make the clock reverse,
Bring back what once was mine"
A golden light suddenly illuminated the dark clearing. Sora tried to wrap his mind around the concept of Rapunzel's golden hair glowing brightly but it was no use. He had heard the saying that truth is often stranger than fiction and here was living proof in front of his eyes.
"Okay, this is a very strange day. First a bunch of kids with keys and now a girl who fights with a frying pan and her hair which, by the way, also glows. Question—you don't happen to have a sandwich in there also, do you? I'm starved," Flynn said.
With the aid of Rapunzel's glowing hair, the group were quickly able to gather the twigs and sticks and start the fire before the first signs of chirping crickets in the darkness. Having also stumbled across a river running nearby, they had decided to divide a short amount of time between each of them to wash of the day's sweat and dirt, the latter having been a result of their time in the cave.
When it was Sora's turn, he parted with the others and made his way to the secluded spot. On his way, he passed Riku who had been before him.
"I'd advise you to do whatever you need to do and leave. Water's pretty cold," he said. Sora nodded at this warning and continued on his way. To tell the truth, he could do with a splash of cold water anyway. Arriving at the river in question, he wondered if following it would take them back to the tower. They certainly wouldn't be able to go back the way they had come, so it was probably important to keep this place in mind in case they needed to make it back.
Sora stripped down to his waist and knelt down, cupping his hands and scooping up the water from the river before bringing his face down to it.
Oh yeah, this is cold alright, Sora thought. With a smile on his face, he continued washing the rest of his upper body. By the time he was finished, he felt pleasantly revived and full of life. He stood up and let out a yawn, turning around to see Rapunzel staring at him.
"Oh, crap! Sorry, I guess I took longer than I'd thought. Er—can you turn around for a moment?" Sora motioned with his hand.
But Rapunzel seemed to ignore his request. "What happened to you? Your body, it's…"
Sora looked down briefly at the scars on his chest before responding. "Let's just say someone wanted to send me a message but they cut a little too deep. I've tried everything I can think of but nothing gets rid of them completely. I might have to, you know, live with them for the rest of my life."
"That's horrible."
"Comes with the job. I suppose if you're being hated on then that means you're doing something right? I don't know. I really don't know anymore," Sora told her. He turned away from her and proceeded to kneel and collect his shirt and jacket when he felt her hand on his shoulder. "Rapunzel?"
"My hair doesn't just glow. Let me try something," Rapunzel said. With a wave of her hand, she threw some of her hair over Sora, cloaking him and limiting his vision to long strands of hair. Sora's confusion remained even as Rapunzel recited the same song he had heard earlier on. Somewhere along the line it may have even crossed Sora's mind for some silly reason that Flynn was right. That Rapunzel did have a sandwich hiding somewhere under all that hair. It was silly but given how long her hair was, it didn't seem that impossible.
The hair soon left Sora's face and returned to its owner's side. Rapunzel circled around him like a shark, returning in front of him with her hands clasped together.
"There you go. As good as new."
When Sora looked down, he felt so faint and lightheaded that he had to sit down for a moment. It was seconds before he started to feel around his body again. He could see nor feel any trace of the scars Desiree had inflicted on him. Sora's hands flew up to his mouth. He could feel his eyes watering.
"Rapunzel, I don't… I don't know what to say."
"Hmm, let's see… there's the obvious 'thank you' and then the 'you're so beautiful Rapunzel and I'll do whatever you say for a day'. Sora, it's okay, really. I'm just glad I could help," she said. "Buuuuut I do also need that river before Kairi comes so…"
"Oh, yeah." Sora grabbed his shirt and threw it on. Putting his jacket over his arm, he began walking off but then stopped and turned to look at her. "You're one step closer to your dream. How does it feel?"
"Scary, I admit, but that's what life is about, isn't it? Sometimes you have to do what's best for you, even if other may not agree with it. My mother's going to be angry and it's not going to be pretty when I get back."
"We'll be there for you, I promise. And you're right about taking risks. Is there anything you want to do after tomorrow? Any other dream you might have?"
Rapunzel seemed to consider this for a moment before shaking her head. "I haven't really thought about it that much. I guess I've been so preoccupied with this one thing that I haven't really thought ahead."
"One step at a time, I suppose…" Sora agreed. Something inside told him not to continue but he swallowed down this queasy feeling. "You may have guessed this by now but we don't really come from around here. I was wondering, and you don't have to answer this right now but… you can come with us. You don't have to go back to that tower. There are whole other worlds out there with completely different experiences to this one."
"I can? I can really go with you?" Rapunzel asked.
"To be honest, I'd love it if you did. I mean, it's up to you in the end and I can understand if you don't want to but-"
"Yes!"
"Really? You're okay with it?" Sora asked with a big child-like grin on his face.
"Should I not be? This has been the best thing I've ever done. After what we've been through and even though we fought all those shadows, I don't want to stop. Is that strange?" Rapunzel asked.
"Definitely not, it's how I feel too," Sora said. "This is great. I'll go tell the others!"
"You do that. You tell them that Rapunzel is coming along with them too!" Rapunzel yelled at him cheerfully as he turned to run. Sora could barely contain his excitement at the thought of the jumpy teen tagging along with them on adventures. It was only a shame that he could not find it in his heart to tell her that her life was at risk in doing so.
