DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!
A/N: Well, after MONTHS of writing and [occasionally] posting a Chapter or two, this is the LAST CHAPTER For THE 100-ACRE WOOD!
And yet, I'm sad. For the past few months, I feel like I've gotten to know Pooh and his friends much better by doing research to ensure I could keep them in character while writing this world's story.
So, I assume you're all STILL wondering how THE 100-ACRE WOOD is a Sleeping World when it was never lost to Darkness in the first place. Also, what would happen if Sora actually MET Christopher Robin face to face? How does all this CONNECT with the rest of the story?
To find out the answers to these and any other questions you may have, you'll just have to read on.
STARTING... NOW!
CHAPTER 28
Trapped In A Never-Ending Dream
The sun was barely illuminating through the thickness of the mist. This didn't bother Sora; he continued to breathe gently with his eyes still closed and right hand tucked beneath the back of his head. If the cavern floor hadn't been so hard or cold, he would have remained in a state of slumber longer during the night. Unfortunately, a slight breeze had snuck through the cave, forcing the sixteen-year-old to wish he was under the wrinkled covers of his sea-blue bed. He tended to throw the sheets over his eyes when the first rays of the sun would shine through the window to his right. His family had always lived in the beachside house since Sora's younger sister, Sun-Amemi** had been born. If only he had known his bedroom would be facing the horizon to the east. This hadn't been much of an issue when he was four or five years old, but now it had transformed into a lingering annoyance.
That's what Sora hated about getting up early. Sure, he had memorized the proverb, "Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise", but that didn't mean every day. Did it? Hopefully Saturdays were meant to be an exception. Who knew? Perhaps the mysterious author of the proverb… what was his name? He pushed the unnecessary contemplation aside and tried to relax from a sudden wave of tension.
His mind proceeded to wander all the more. Recalling how discouraged he'd felt when it seemed Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger, and Eeyore would be unable to track down their friend, Christopher Robin, Sora gave a deep sigh. He hadn't ever met anybody by the name of Pooh's closest friend, but he still felt a sensation of guilt for failing to rescue the young child. Therefore, if the mysterious guy in black was holding Christopher Robin prisoner, there was no way Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, or anyone else would be successful in saving him. Everything just appeared to be hopeless.
"Oh, d-d-d-d-dear!" A voice hollered unexpectedly.
In three hasty movements, Sora was on his feet. His head swerved this way and that, trying to pinpoint the source of the commotion. His eyes were wide and alert as he took into account how Tigger, Eeyore, Rabbit, Riku, and Violet had all been awakened by the shout and risen to their feet.
"What was that?" Tigger inquired aloud.
"I'm not sure," Riku replied. "But it sounded close by."
A small pause followed as everyone crept to the cave entrance. Violet peered out before she gasped. "It's Piglet!"
Rushing outside, the group found the very small animal running in circles like he had just seen a ghost. Pooh had already clambered down from the tree he had slept in the previous night and was watching Piglet. The latter leapt into Pooh's arms still screaming. "Skee-sk-sk-sk-sk," Piglet whimpered with total fear and uneasiness in his voice.
Rabbit had heard enough. "Try to be specific!" he demanded.
Piglet must not have comprehended the bunny's words as he continued to stammer illegible sounds. "Sk-sk-sku-sku-sku… "
"Calm down, Piglet," Sora blurted, his hands gently pushing the air inches from Piglet's head. "Just tell us what you saw."
Even with the fear still evident in his voice, Piglet realized he was in Pooh's arms. Pointing to the closest mountain, he gulped. "Skull!"
A feeling of dread crept in his mind as Sora turned his eyes toward the side of the mount. He gasped. At the same time, he heard Tigger, Pooh, Rabbit, and Eeyore give an audible gasp together. Violet's hands flew to her mouth as she muffled a scream. Riku was so shocked, all he could say was, "No way!"
Before their eyes rose a steep-sided cliff on the face of the mountain. Cut into the incline were three openings. The two on top were almost perfect circles and resembled eyes. The third was at ground level and contained a set of triangle-shaped points on the roof of its opening. In addition to the numerous shadows concealing the rock's interior, the mist had mostly faded, allowing more of the mount to be visible. From Sora's perspective, the cave strongly resembled a skull.
On top of frightened, Tigger was bewildered. "Christopher Robin's in the eye of that thing?"
"How will we ever get up there?" Piglet worried out loud.
"I could carry you one-by-one," Violet suggested. "I just don't know what's lurking about inside."
"Perhaps," Pooh spoke up. He gestured into the darkness of the cavern ahead. "We could go in… there?"
Turning his eyes to peer into the cave, Sora became extremely hesitant about venturing into such a location. Beyond the entrance was what he assumed were a series of passages zigzagging deep into the face of the rock. The further the caverns went, the more intense the darkness seemed to become. On top of all that, a strong wind was blowing through the seemingly empty tunnels. As the breeze echoed through the unexplored caverns, Sora's eyes lit up with realization.
That guy in the black coat had to be lurking inside somewhere! The depth of the darkness combined with the maze of numerous paths to take would be perfectly suited for someone like a member of the late Organization XIII to be hiding. Then again, perhaps he was keeping Christopher Robin prisoner somewhere in the caverns deepest reaches — the "Eye of the Skull" (as Owl had put it). There was no time to waste; Pooh's friend was more-than-likely in extreme danger and they had to save him.
Tigger peered into the gloomy blackness. "But it's dark!"
"And… f-f-f-frightful!" Piglet added, his knees buckling against one another nervously.
"Who knows what we'll find," Rabbit spoke up.
Before Riku or Violet could open their mouths, a loud GROWL echoed through the surrounding landscape. With a wave of fear filling his senses, Eeyore darted into the cave. "But we know what's gonna find us," he hollered back.
"The 'Skullasaurus'!" Piglet, Tigger, and Rabbit all cried out before they rushed into the cavern. Fearing the worst was yet to come, Sora, Riku, and Violet all followed suit.
"I wonder who that is."
At the base of the hill stood the silhouette of a teenage boy wearing red shorts, oversized yellow shoes, white gloves, and a crown-shaped necklace. He also possessed abnormally-spiked, brown hair.
"Perhaps I'll remember tomorrow…"
Riku and Violet followed Sora as the three followed Pooh and his friends through the underground tunnels. Barely fifteen minutes had passed and already the depth of the cavern looked more and more uninviting. Rows of stalactites hung from above and some stalagmites rose from the floor. The occasional dripping of water could be heard as the group proceeded further and further into the darkness of the cave.
Despite the uncomfortable surroundings, Riku's nose was telling him a strong Darkness was looming from somewhere deeper inside the cavern. He knew this could be the guy wearing the black-hooded coat of Organization XIII, or a powerful Nightmare, or possibly something even worse. Whatever the case, Riku knew it had to be stopped at all costs.
Ducking underneath a low overhang, Riku quickly crawled through an even lower opening. Turning back to see Violet struggling to get through the passage, the silver-haired teen grabbed her arms and pulled the angel out.
"Thank you," Violet acknowledged after clambering to her feet. "My wings were trapped."
"Alright," Riku nodded before turning back to where Sora was marching further down the tunnel with Pooh and the others. The walls of the passage now seemed as smooth as a frozen lake.
"What's that mean?" Violet asked. "You don't just say 'Alright' when a girl tells you 'Thank you'!"
Riku almost blushed. "I'm bad at this," he admitted. "Sorry!"
Violet shook her head. "I have known you long enough to comprehend how you haven't learned to treat girls appropriately."
Riku was astounded. How long had the Angel of Dreams been at the conclusion the seventeen-year-old Keyblade wielder didn't know how to act around girls? Then again, she must have confused him for Sora. If anyone did not understand how to behave around any girls, it would definitely be Sora.
"C'mon," he finally said. "Sora and the others are way ahead of us."
Violet glanced into the distance and shook her head. "I don't think they're going anywhere."
Whirling his eyes back into the direction of Sora, Pooh, and the rest of the group, Riku realized what the angel had spoken was accurate. Just down the path ahead, Sora, Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, and Eeyore had all come to a halt. From there, the main road was splitting off into five separate paths — each heading into a different direction. As both Riku and Violet approached them, Piglet whimpered aloud, "N-n-now which way to the 'Eye of the Skull'?"
Everyone's eyes spun to where Rabbit stood. Even with the map clutched tightly within his grasp, the bunny shook his head violently. "Don't look at me!"
"Man," Sora sighed softly as he shook his head. Throughout the entire journey to the cave, his view of Rabbit had continued to alter. When the bunny had claimed he could read Pooh's letter with his eyes closed, Sora had wondered if such an ability was even possible. Later, Rabbit had admitted he always did "everything by the book", even going as far to say he never had a need for his brain in years. The night before, the bunny had finally given up all hope in trying to find Christopher Robin since the fog wasn't shown on the map. Therefore, Sora assumed Rabbit was much dumber than he appeared to be. Talk about appearances being deceiving!
Pooh was deep in thought. "Perhaps if one were to go where another one hasn't… and one were where another wasn't… by which I mean, perhaps we should split up?"
Rabbit was amazed. "Why Pooh," he exclaimed with a large grin. "For a bear of very little brain, you're a genius! An absolute genius!"
"A natural Eye-n-sty-ion!" Tigger approved in turn.
"I'm glad you liked it," Pooh replied with a giggle. He paused. "Whatever 'it' was… "
Riku shook his head. Pooh had apparently forgotten everything he had just suggested. The bear was easily forgetful, which hadn't helped when it came to reminding the others of Christopher Robin's 'advice'. The results were Piglet being more terrified, Tigger feeling weak, and Rabbit believing he was useless.
A few minutes later, the group had decided who would be marching off down each path. Sora and Pooh headed down one together, while Tigger and Riku marching down a narrow walkway. Piglet and Eeyore each went down a path alone, leaving Violet to proceed with Rabbit.
The final leg of the search for Christopher Robin had started.
Upon entering the cave, Sora found himself in a large chamber covered in stalactites and a few stalagmites. At one end, he found Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, and Owl gathered around in a circle.
"Hey, everyone," Sora announced his arrival. When everyone turned their attention towards the brown-haired fifteen-year-old teenager, Sora noticed someone was missing. "Uh-oh! Where's Pooh?"
Piglet pointed into one of the cavern's deeper passages. "He went in there," the very, very small animal explained.
As the sound of wind echoed from within, Sora inquired, "Well, shouldn't we go look for him?"
"Yeah," Tigger replied, "Let's go search for Ol' Pooh Bear!"
"But this place is d-d-d-dark and feels like a m-m-maze," Piglet whimpered at the thought of heading into the tunnels. He looked back up towards Sora. "If I get lost, you'll come and f-f-find me, right Sora?"
"Well now," Owl spoke up. "This should give me enough time to tell you about my Great-Great-Uncle—"
"What do you think we should do, Sora?" Kanga blurted, preventing Owl from completing his lengthy speech about his relatives.
"Yeah," Roo added. "What will we do?"
Sora crossed his arms in deep contemplation. When he uncrossed them, he had made a decision. "I think we'd better go find Pooh."
"Christopher Robin?" Sora called out into the darkness. The only reply he received was his own voice echoing back. He sighed without making a sound. It had been about ten minutes since the group had been forced to split up, and now it appeared the cavern was empty. The occasional GROWL would fill the cave every now and then, bringing the spikey-haired youth back to the severity of the situation they were in.
The young child Pooh had always hung around had supposed been in danger somewhere within this dark, creepy-looking place. The depth of Darkness inside the caverns was more than enough to encourage Sora's belief that the guy in black was holding Christopher Robin captive someplace inside the cave.
A sudden cracking of rock followed by a loud YEOW stole their focus. It was quickly followed by a series of additional shouts and screams. As each scream ended, Pooh recognized them as each of his friends.
"Rabbit?" the bear asked out loud. "Tigger? Piglet? Eeyore?"
Among the shouts and screams, Sora thought he could make out Riku and Violet's voices. He was beginning to wonder if they were okay when both he and Pooh stepped into a narrow corridor behind a tower of shiny, transparent crystals.
The loud YEOW had been enough to make Violet feel uncertain. She had followed Rabbit down a long, twisted path into a deep, dark tunnel leading deep into the cave. The silhouettes of the stalactites and stalagmites gave an eerie feeling there might be Nightmares lurking around somewhere nearby. Yet, nothing had prepared her for the deep, deafening scream.
"What was that?" the angel asked aloud.
Rabbit stepped backwards cautiously. "It was just the wind," he answered, trying to sound as confident as he allowed himself to be. "Nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all."
Violet spun her eyes into the direction of the bunny. Her eyesight fell upon an open hole in the middle of the cavern floor. To make matters worse, Rabbit was unknowingly stepping directly towards it. "Rabbit!" she cried out. "Stop!"
The angel's warning had reached Rabbit too late. With a super-quick stumble, the bunny fell backwards into the hole. Hearing Rabbit's shout, Violet rushed over, stopping inches from the opening. As she peered inside, the Angel of Dreams took note of how Rabbit had already disappeared into the darkness below.
"Do not move, Rabbit!" Violet called down. "I'm coming to retrieve you!"
With a decent hop into the air, the angel dived head-first into the hole. Down she plunged into the gloomy darkness of shadows below.
Riku was continuously trying his best to keep up with the rapidly-bouncing Tigger a few feet ahead. The silver-haired Keyblade wielder was beginning to wonder as to where the guy in the black-hooded coat could be awaiting their arrival. The further the pair went, the stronger the stench of Darkness became. This made him question if the smell was going to be as foul as that of rotten eggs. Unless the cave was the site of an extinct volcano… that didn't make any sense. Why would the scent of sulfur remain within a volcano that would never erupt again? For that matter, why would a volcano exist inside The 100-Acre Wood in the first place? The world seemed too calm for something like that.
"Christopher Robin?" Tigger called out for what appeared to be the ten millionth time. "Come out. Come out, wherever you aren't."
Riku was so busy attempting to pinpoint the exact location of the odor he was detecting, he failed to notice Tigger sticking his head into a small crack in the wall. The resulting scream and sound of a flurry of wings forced Riku to swing his focus around. There was the tiger being chased by a swarm of at least two hundred or more bats.
Riku squinted his eyes. The bats were not black or grey like he had learned they were supposed to be. Rather, these bats had orange bodies, reddish wings, and yellow-colored ears.
He gasped. These were no bats. It was a horde of Nightmares! Reacting with haste, the seventeen-year-old youth summoned his Keyblade and charged into the flock.
"Try me!" Riku shouted, successfully diverting the attention of all the enemies from Tigger. The tiger failed to notice and proceeded to run further down the passage ahead. After slashing, slicing, and smacking most of the monsters out of existence, Riku followed behind as rapidly as he could.
As she tumbled along the tube-like tunnel, Violet kept as eye out for Rabbit. The bunny had completely vanished in the passage upon stumbling inside, causing the Angel of Dreams to follow suit. It hadn't been long before Violet had been forced to tuck her wings under her arms as she rolled like a tumbleweed through the tunnel. If a Nightmare were to come swooping up out of nowhere, she wouldn't be able to summon her Keyblade — let alone a Spirit to protect herself.
Although it wasn't audible, Violet gave a deep sigh. Nothing had prepared her for an experience quite like this one. Since she could remember, she had been charged with defending the wishes and dreams of others. That had all seemingly ended once Sora and Riku had appeared in the Realm of Sleep. If things kept going in the direction they were headed, the angel might get the ability to have her own dreams — something she had always longed to possess for as long as she could recall.
The passage came to such a sudden closure, Violet flew out head-first into a patch of open air. With her wings trapped beneath her arms, she nose-dived onto a smooth, flat surface bearing a strong resemblance to blue glass. Instead of landing directly on the surface, Violet found herself on top of Rabbit. Before the angel could speak, Tigger came sprinting out of a nearby opening with Riku dashing behind. From a second opening slid Eeyore with Piglet nestled upon his back. Both Violet and Rabbit tried to dart out of the way, but only slipped and fell on the smooth surface. In a matter of seconds, there was an obnoxious CRASH as Riku, Violet, Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, and Piglet all collided into one another. The impact caused the group to slide straight into a cluster of transparent crystals, shattering several in the process.
"Tigger," Piglet exclaimed when he recognized the others. "Riku! Rabbit! Violet! Eeyore!"
"Thanks for noticin'," Eeyore sighed in relief.
After the six friends had gotten untangled, Violet turned to Riku. "Riku," she began. "Have you seen where Sora and Pooh currently are at?"
Riku shook his head. "Nope," he admitted. "Sorry. Are you sure they weren't—?"
A GROWL sounding much louder than before echoed about the cavern. Everyone froze in complete surprise. Spinning his eyes around the immediate area, Rabbit's gaze fell upon a tower of transparent crystals. His eyes lit up in horror. "There it is!" he shrieked.
Whirling their focus to what the bunny had just seen, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore all gasped in fright. Through the crystals, they could see a pair of gigantic figures. One was large with a yellow bottom and red top and the other was a combination of yellow, brown, and reddish colors. Although the whole image was distorted, both Riku and Violet thought the shapes of the figures seemed strikingly familiar.
Tigger was the first one to speak. "It's the most horri-bi-ble 'Skullasaurus-es' I've ever seen! Not to mention the only ones!"
Before anyone else could open their lips, the two figures gave such enormous smiles they resembled jack-o-lanterns on Halloween Night. When their feet started to move toward the group, Rabbit, Piglet, Tigger, and Eeyore instantly took off running down a long, narrow tunnel. To ensure the four wouldn't land into any danger in the duration of the flight, Riku and Violet rapidly followed behind.
Before long, the group reached the end of the passage. There feet screeched to a halt as the path had stopped at the edge of a cliff. Riku and Violet took a few seconds to catch their breath. It wasn't long before a duo of shouts echoed about the cave and filled their ears. Recognizing one of the voices, Tigger exclaimed, "Did you hear that? The 'Skullasaurus' — he got Pooh!"
After listening to the other shout, Riku immediately realized the other victim must've been Sora. The sixteen-year-old had been searching with Pooh. Had the pair really become the latest dinner of the legendary "Skullasaurus"? That didn't make any sense.
"I miss him already," Piglet wept. Violet knelt down to comfort the small animal.
Strolling out from behind the crystal towers, both Sora and Pooh watched their step. The moment the shouts and screams had filled their ears, Pooh had become extremely nervous. "Did someone say 'S-Skullasaurus'?" he whimpered.
Sora paused to ponder for a minute. Why had the voices of the screamers sounded familiar to him? Had it been Riku, Piglet, and the others? Had the mythical "Skullasaurus" actually gotten its claws on them?! What was going on? Maybe the guy in the black-hooded coat was responsible for all this confusion.
The Keyblader exited his contemplation just in time to notice Pooh stepping towards the edge of a slick-looking slide. "Pooh," he hollered. "Watch out for—!"
A shout filled the air as the bear slipped and slid down the slide. His small, blue pot of honey was moments behind. Sora sighed. Although he was well aware of how Pooh had been carrying the pot for the duration of the entire journey, he hadn't foreseen the bear losing his balance and heading down a long slide.
"Don't worry, Pooh!" Sora called out, sprinting over. "I'm coming to heeeeeeeelllllllllpppppp!"
Unaware of where his feet were positioned, Sora had absentmindedly set foot onto the slide and was now heading straight down after the bear. Down and around the two slid as they descended a deep, dark shaft towards the bottom of a chasm. In the meantime, another loud GROWL flooded the caverns.
Still situated upon the cliff, Riku, Violet, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore all froze in fear when the GROWL filled their ears. The only one able to move was Rabbit. "Now," he began. "It sounds like the beastly creature is… "
He gazed upward only to gasp. "Look there!" he indicated with his right index finger. "It's the 'Eye of the Skull'!"
Craning their necks up to see what the bunny was referring to, Riku and the others were astounded. A long, circular-shaped tunnel was located in the cave wall a few hundred feet above their heads. To Riku, the shape did resembled an eye. A long, dead root was hanging off the edge of the passage.
"Whatever will we do?" Piglet worried aloud.
"Well, we could get the kid outta there," Eeyore suggested. "If anybody has any idea how to get up there, that is."
Riku was about to cross his arms in thought when Tigger pulled out the map from beneath his arm. A loud ripping sound could be heard as the tiger handed the now-torn parchment to the bunny. "The map!" he exclaimed. "What's it say?!"
Violet rolled her eyes as Riku slapped his hand to his forehead. The angel had already thought of Tigger as an overly-energetic being full of bad jokes and puns. Now she could include clumsy and careless, too.
Taking the tattered halves of the parchment into his hands, Rabbit swept his eyes across them with haste. He sighed deeply. "It's useless! There's nothing in here about how to get up there!"
"Perfect," Riku muttered aloud. "How can we rescue Christopher Robin if all we have is a terrified Piglet, weak Tigger, and stupid Rabbit?"
"Riku!" Violet glowered. "That was uncalled for!"
Immediately taking in the furious faces of the angel, Tigger, Rabbit, and Piglet, Riku felt humiliated. "Sorry!" he apologized.
"Yeah!" Tigger declared. "Bein' weak is not what Tiggers like best!"
"And besides," Rabbit added. "I can probably come up with an idea from scratch!" He paused, realizing what he had just spoken. "Can I do that?"
Tigger leaned in close to the others. "Yeah, can he do that?"
Rabbit gulped before smiling. "I'll try, for Pooh."
A long minute of silence followed. Spotting an extensive vine wrapped around the root jutting out from the tunnel above, Rabbit's smile grew into excitement. "I got it!" he proclaimed.
Turning to the others, the bunny continued, "Tigger, you can bounce Piglet to that ledge. And Piglet, you can toss the long, vine-y thing back to us down here. We'll scurry on up and rescue Christopher Robin — together!"
Although Riku had initially assumed the plan could work, Tigger seemed hesitant. "Me?!" he replied. "Make a bounce like that with a rickety-old tail like this?! Well, I could try. If it'd make Ol' Pooh happy."
"I d-d-don't know," Piglet whimpered. "But I'll try — for Pooh Bear."
After Violet helped Piglet onto Tigger's back, the tiger marched backwards for a decent running start. "One for the money," he chanted. "Two for the show. Three to get up there, and here we go!"
With a series of small leaps to the cliff edge, Tigger bounced clear into the air. He was on a direct route to the ledge above. When he was only inches away, he reached out his arms and grasped the root. It took a matter of seconds for the tiger to clamber into the tunnel's entranceway. He gently set Piglet down beside him. Taking into account he was on solid ground once more, Piglet relaxed.
It took a few moments before Piglet marched out across the root. As he neared the vine, he tripped and nearly fell into the chasm below. Fear filled his senses for a few moments before Piglet carefully moved his arms, uncovered his eyes and reopened them. A large smile lit up his face as he pushed against the vine. Using all his strength, Piglet finally made the vine budge and down it fell, taking Piglet himself with it.
Still on the cliff below, Violet smiled as the vine landed before her. Spotting Piglet sliding quickly along it, her smile faded. The very small animal came to a stop at the vine's end — straight into the angel's nose. Feeling uncomfortable suddenly, Violet covered her nose with her left hand. Riku shook his head and smiled. "Did you get 'kissed' on the nose?" he teased.
Not amused, Violet used her right fist to punch the silver-haired youth in the shoulder. For a brief moment, Riku winced in pain. "Hey," he stammered. "I was just kidding. You know I don't know how to act around girls."
Violet gave a shrug with her hand still clutching her nose. "True enough."
Following a nod of agreement, Riku approached the vine and helped Rabbit tie it tightly around Eeyore's body.
At the bottom of the chasm, Sora was feeling depressed. Not ten minutes ago, both Pooh and him had slid onto a patch of thick ice located at the base of the shaft they had slid down. Immediately wishing to reach his friends, Pooh had desperately attempted to scale the walls. The attempts failed, forcing Sora to realize the walls were too smooth to venture back up. Now the two were trapped at the bottom of the chasm, probably forever.
As Sora leaned his back against a large, white rock, he sighed deeply. How could it have come to this? His quest to awaken the Sleeping Worlds had taken such a tragic turn, and now it appeared he was going to remain within the dream for eternity. Now he could only hope Riku and Violet would be successful in locating the world's Sleeping Keyhole. Hopefully they wouldn't have to deal with the guy in the black coat along the way.
"If only I hadn't forgotten what he told me to remember," Pooh sighed during his constant pacing across the ice. He smiled. "I know Piglet is braver than he believes. Tigger is stronger than he seems. Rabbit is smarter than he thinks."
Sora's eyes grew wide and alert. Had Pooh finally recalled the advice Christopher Robin had informed him about. Based on what he had just overheard, Piglet could've asked the butterflies to let him back down. Tigger could've bounced straight out of the crevice, and Rabbit would have been able to lead the group to where they needed to go in the first place. All the spikey-haired teenager could do was smile his famous grin.
"Even if we are apart, I'll always be with you!"
The echoing voice shook Sora and Pooh's attention from what they were doing. "Christopher Robin?" Pooh declared in surprise.
"Always be with you… "
Glancing around, Sora started to ponder whose voice was speaking. That's when it dawned on him. Perhaps the mysterious voice was part of the dream's illusions. Unless the speaker was somewhere near the chasm.
"Hmm," Pooh wondered aloud. "It's a rather puzzlesome thing. It's almost as if you had never left me. But that can't be, can it? Or can it?"
Hearing all this, Sora understood what Pooh meant. He stood up and approached the bear. "He never did leave you," the teen explained. "He's with you — right here."
Noticing how Sora was pointing to his heart, Pooh placed his paws to his own. "Then perhaps Owl was mistaken all along," the bear chuckled. "The place where he is, is not on a map."
Following a few more chuckles, Pooh finished, "How very nice for… 'Us'!"
"Yeah," Sora approved. "You know it."
Pooh! There you are," Sora exclaimed. "We looked everywhere for you."
"I was looking for a friend I remember making a very important promise to," Pooh explained.
"Did you find him?" Sora asked.
Pooh sighed. "No," he admitted. "I looked and looked, but he doesn't seem to be anywhere."
"Now Pooh," Kanga spoke up. "Try to remember. Isn't Sora the one you're looking for?"
Sora was shocked. If Kanga was correct, then maybe Pooh was on the verge of recalling his name. Less than a minute later, Pooh's stomach started growling.
"Oh my," Pooh stated. "My tummy is feeling rather rumbly."
"C'mon," Sora suggested. "Let's go home and see if we can find you some honey."
"I'd like that, Sora," Pooh replied.
Sora was speechless. "Pooh," he exclaimed. "You finally remembered!"
Pooh looked confused. "Remembered what, Sora?"
Sora shook his head and smiled. "Pooh…"
Pooh smiled in return. "I like it ever so much when you're cheerful, Sora."
Taking each other's hands, Sora and Pooh led everyone else out of the cave.
Riku was straining as he assisted the others in pulling the vine up. He sighed. While he had been struggling to clamber up the vine, Violet had simply flown clear past him and to the top. Piglet and Rabbit had reached the top moments before Riku himself did. Still, why hadn't he thought of having Violet toss the vine down in the first place? Things might've been so much simpler if she had. Then again, perhaps she could've just carried everyone up to the ledge? Recalling how heavy Piglet had been for her, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder shoved the idea aside.
Now, here he was helping the others lift Eeyore to the tunnel above. With a final grunt and heave, Riku yanked the vine hard enough to bring Eeyore over the edge and onto the ledge. The donkey had flown over with such haste he landed upon the others. There they were, gathered together in one small pile.
"Ouch!" Violet yelped as she quickly found herself trapped at the bottom of the pile. "Please get off! You're crushing my wings!"
Piglet and Tigger leapt to their feet and helped Rabbit Lift Eeyore off Riku's back. The silver-haired Keyblader stood up and helped the Angel of Dreams off the dusty rock floor. As she dusted off her clothing, Violet smiled. "Thank you, Riku."
"Yeah," Riku acknowledged. He paused for a moment. "Was that better?"
Violet shook her head and smiled. "It'll do."
The unexpected sound of footsteps filled the ears of the group. Spinning their attention from what they had been doing, Riku, Violet, Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, and Eeyore all watched as a medium-sized shadow appeared from around a bend in the tunnel ahead. The sound of footsteps grew louder as the shadow grew smaller.
"This is it!" a horrified Rabbit shrieked. "It's… it's… "
Before the bunny could finish his stammering sentence, a figure emerged from around the corner. They stopped several feet away from the group. Riku was appalled. If the others had assumed this was the "Skullasaurus", they were mistaken. However, the figure happened to be someone he had already come to recognize from a distance.
"Hey, now wait just a minute!" Tigger scowled as he strode forwards to where Riku stood before the rest of the group. "That guy right there looks like the same guy who swoo-m-p-ted the map before!"
Riku was now glaring for he knew what the tiger had just spoken was accurate information. The figure was the same young man wearing the black-hooded coat of the Organization XIII. Having appeared at random occasions through the Sleeping Worlds, Riku recollected how the stranger had visited him, Violet, and Sora in every world except The Grid. Then again, Sora might've seen him while searching for Tron aboard CLU's ship. Whatever the reason was did not matter. The strange youth was back and probably up to something devious.
"So, you finally made it," the guy said. "About time. I've been waiting."
Riku's glare grew all the more. "Yeah? Well we have no appointment with you."
The stranger closed his eyes and shook his head. "Pathetic response," he murmured. "You have no clue where you are or why this place is asleep."
"What?" a perplexed Riku spoke out. He gritted his teeth as his Keyblade appeared in his right hand. "Cut to the chase!"
The strange man reopened his eyes and stared at the silver-haired teenager for a few seconds. Without a sound, he raised his arms and gestured around the passage of rock. "As you know," he finally explained. "Every one of the worlds in this realm are supposed to have been lost to the Darkness long ago."
"Okay," Riku snorted. "But get to the point quickly! Where'd you take Sora?"
The stranger simply ignored the teen's words and continued to speak. "Yet, not all worlds were lost to the Darkness as planned. Some had already had their Keyholes sealed when the Heartless attacked. Others possessed a heart hidden elsewhere. Since even books can contain worlds of their own, the Heartless seized the opportunity to consume one in Darkness. Unfortunately, the book's Keyhole was already sealed and only some pages were torn out. The cover was slashed and the local inhabitants lost their memories. The result is a dream of what should've been asleep. The world remains, but the dreams come from the heart."
Violet was both astounded and bewildered. Peeking out from behind Riku, she questioned her biggest query. "What're you saying? This world is not asleep?"
The young man turned to face her. "That is for all of you to contemplate on your own time."
Riku was flabbergasted. Judging from the stranger's explanation, The 100-Acre Wood wasn't really asleep. It was an illusion from a world that almost fell to Darkness but was saved beforehand. That explained how Sora knew the world and… of course! Sora claimed he had already sealed the world's Keyhole! Sora had saved it before the Heartless could destroy it. Once more, Sora had been one step ahead of the Heartless.
"Now," the young man continued. "I take it you're looking for someone who lives in this world."
"Yeah," Tigger blurted as he waved his fists in the air. "And we're gonna rescue Christopher Robin with or without a map!"
The young man shook his head and gave an evil smirk. "In that case, you'll have to get through this trial!"
With a swift movement of his arm, the stranger reached out his right hand. A few inches away from there, a large creature appeared out of the shadows. Violet clung to Riku's shoulder as the latter was taken aback more than ever. Behind them, Piglet was scared stiff. Rabbit and Eeyore quivered in fear. Tigger pointed at the monster in alarm. "It's the real 'Skullasaurus'!"
Directly before their eyes was a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex-shaped creature that resembled a living skeleton. The creature's head was a blood-red color. Its spine was orange, the tail was yellow, and the legs were as black as the night sky.
Violet shouted as loudly as she could, "It's a Nightmare!"
Determined to face the enormous monster, Riku raised his Keyblade and charged up to the beast. Reacting swiftly, Violet summoned her own and took to the air.
"Oh, d-d-d-dear!" Piglet exclaimed. "They can't beat that 'Skullasaurus' all alone!"
"You're right, Piglet!" Tigger enunciated.
"What we need is a plan," Rabbit agreed. "And I've got one!"
Dodging a creature the size of the Nightmare in such a tiny space was trickier than Riku had assumed it would be. He was forced to continuously avoid the monster's frequent tail swipes while slashing at the beast's being. The lack of anything but bones made the fight much more difficult than any before. Still, Riku was determined to win — no matter what it took.
In the air, Violet swooped back and forth in an attempt to avoid the Nightmare's snapping jaws of sharp, pointy teeth. Unable to swoop in close for a sudden attack, she began to feel like the battle was impossible.
"Take this and that, you 'Skullasaurus'!"
Violet swung her eyes to the monster's spine. Swinging punches at the creature was Tigger. Nearby, she spotted an angry Piglet glaring at the monster. "You d-d-don't scare me!"
"Tigger! Piglet!" she hollered aloud. "It's not safe!"
In an attempt to save both the tiger and piglet and finish the battle once and for all, the angel flew to a point where she could spot Riku. The silver-haired teenager was struggling to deal a single solid hit onto the monster.
"Riku!" she yelled. "Let's do this together!"
"Alright!" came the reply from Riku.
The angel and Keyblader set foot about two feet from the creature's current position. Pointing their Keyblades at the Nightmare, they watched as two beams of Light formed at the tips of their weapons. The beams struck the monster, resulting in a bright flash of Light to fill the cavern. When it ended, all that could be seen was Tigger sitting in the middle of a pile of bubbles.
"It worked!" Rabbit cheered from nearby. "It worked!"
From the edge of the pile, the young man kicked the nearest bubble aside. "I see you've emerged victorious once again."
"Yeah," Riku admitted. He gestured towards Tigger and Piglet. "Thanks to a couple of distractions."
The young man was not pleased. "You think you're independent, but you're no more dependent upon the Darkness as they are upon him."
With one swift movement, the stranger vanished into a rapid dark portal. Riku was puzzled; what had the young man been referring to? How would he find out such an answer anyway?
"Christopher Robin?!" Piglet exclaimed.
Whirling their focus from where the guy in black had departed, both Riku and Violet found themselves face to face with a young boy with short, brown hair. He was wearing blue shorts, a white T-shirt, and a pair red sneakers. He also had a pair of socks, though only one was on. The other was slightly off. When he saw the group, the boy was amazed.
"Hooray!" Tigger cheered. "You made it!"
"We're so very glad to see you!" Piglet added.
The boy smiled when he caught a glimpse of Riku and Kairi. "Those are Riku and Violet, Christopher Robin," Rabbit introduced.
"Is that so?" Christopher Robin asked. "Well, thank you so much."
"Don't mention it," Riku answered.
With a nod, Christopher Robin turned back to face the others. "Where have you all been?" he asked. "I was searching everywhere for you."
"We were searching for you," Piglet explained. "But along the way, I found something else. I'm brave enough!"
"And I'm strong enough!" Tigger boasted.
"I found out I'm smart enough," Rabbit agreed. "Pretty smart, eh?"
Eeyore nodded. "Didn't have to come clear out here to find it. Had it inside all along."
"Of course you did," Christopher Robin approved. He paused when something Piglet had said registered in his mind. "Wait," he questioned. "'Searching for me'?"
"Yeah," Tigger confessed. "To save you from the 'Skull'."
"'Skull?'" Christopher Robin inquired. "No, I was at 'School'!"
Riku slapped a hand to his forehead. His doubt about what Owl had claimed earlier had just been proven to be accurate. Not only could none of the residents of the world spell correctly, but they couldn't read words that sound the same. Talk about ironic!
Piglet rapidly pulled out the same note Pooh had found and Owl had read. "But you said to worry about you and you were going far away."
"No, no, no," Christopher Robin shook his head. Taking the sticky paper into his hands, he removing a few patches of honey covering up the remainder of the note and read it aloud. "'Don't worry about me. I'm not going far away. Just to school. Be back this afternoon. Help yourself to this honey.'"
Taking a look at the sticky substance on his hands, Christopher Robin laughed, "Looks like Pooh did."
That's when the young child realized the bear wasn't anywhere in sight. "Where is Pooh?"
"Oh, Christopher Robin," Piglet wept. "The 'Skullasaurus' gobbled him up."
Christopher Robin's eyes lit up in shock. "The what?!"
All at once, a loud GROWL filled the caverns. Riku re-summoned his Keyblade faster than the speed of light. "Don't tell me there's another Nightmare around here!"
Christopher Robin shook his head. "That's no 'Skullasaurus'," he chuckled aloud. "There's only one thing that makes a sound like that. The rumbly tummy of a hungry-for-honey Pooh Bear."
Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger, and Eeyore were shocked silent. Violet rolled her eyes and Riku slapped his forehead one more time. For the duration of the journey, the group had been frightened by Pooh's stomach. The guy in black coat's appearance only made things worse by choosing the moments when everyone was the most afraid to set a trap. Hence, he had summoned the Nightmare to make it seem much more real.
"Okay," Violet spoke up. "So, let's follow the sound to where Sora and Pooh are."
Still located at the bottom of chasm, Sora knelt on the ice as Pooh reached into his honey pot and continued to take small bites of the honey from within. He relaxed and smiled. This was just like the good, old days. When he had first encountered the bear, Pooh was wondering what had happened to all of his friends and his favorite honey tree. Fortunately, Sora had recovered all of the missing pages and reunited them all together. However, it was only a short-lived event as the Heartless attacked the book and damaged it about a year later. Once again, Sora ventured off and retrieved all the missing pages. Yet, he still had to help Pooh remember who all of his friends were. It ended up being a happy ending after all.
It wasn't long before Pooh yanked the pot off his head. He peered inside only to sigh. "Oh bother," he said sadly. "There's no more honey left."
Sora shook his head when he noticed Pooh walking off. "Pooh," he called over. "Where're you going?"
"Look what someone has left!" the bear responded, a giant smile on his face. He pointed in the direction of a humungous pot sitting on the edge of the shaft. Sora marched over and peered inside. All he could see was a golden, sticky substance.
"It's honey!" Sora declared. He then spotted a rope tied around the pot. Was this some trick? Or was someone trying to lure Pooh over? Which one was the correct answer?
Pooh leapt into the pot, only to get his head stuck inside. As the pot began to rise up, Sora grabbed the rope and clung to it as though his life depended on it.
When the pot reached the top of the shaft, Sora hopped off and onto solid rock. Pooh was moments behind; Sora pulled the bear out of the pot. Pooh flew out of Sora's arms and landed upon the ground — directly in front of a young child. When the boy smiled at him, Pooh smiled back. The two instantly embraced lovingly. "Silly old bear," the young boy giggled softly.
Sora smiled brightly. He knew, without a doubt, this child was Pooh's friend — Christopher Robin. The boy and the bear had been reunited successfully.
As Pooh leapt out of the young boy's arms, he strode up to the sixteen-year-old Keyblade wielder. "Sora," Pooh introduced. "Meet my very best, best friend, Christopher Robin."
Sora rapidly found himself being led over to where the other boy stood. In no time, they were shaking hands. With a smile, Christopher Robin said, "Thank you for watching out for my friend."
"Yeah," Sora nodded in agreement. A large smile shown on his lips. "You know it!"
Poking his head out of the cave for the first time in hours, Sora found himself in one of the so-called 'Skull's' eyes. Since Christopher Robin was helping Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger through the other one, the brown, spikey-haired youth provided assistance with Violet as she and Riku crawled through the small opening.
"We looked in all the places you weren't," Pooh explained as he had already been doing for the last several minutes. From Sora's perspective, the bear was eager to tell Christopher Robin the whole story of their adventure. Finally setting foot upon the ground at the mouth of the cave, Pooh continued, "By the time we thought to look in the places you were, the… "
His voice trailed off, for Pooh had taken notice of the cave's entranceway. Taking a second to inspect the scenery, Sora realized the environment no longer was in shadows. The thick blankets of mist that had shrouded their view had entirely vanished and the sharp peaks of the mountains appeared to be nothing more than tall, rolling hills. All the leaf-less trees had grown brown, red, and yellowish leaves that were gradually descending from the branches and headed towards the ground of green grass. For that matter, even the cave itself seemed much smaller than it had initially appeared to be. Could it be the result of the dreams becoming happier? Or had it always been like this? Such questions would probably never receive their desired answers.
"Excuse me, Christopher Robin," Pooh spoke, pointing at the cave. "But wasn't that a bit, um… bigger?"
"Yeah," Tigger agreed taking in the surrounding landscape himself. "And a whole lot scarier?"
Christopher Robin squatted down so he was at eye level with the two. "Well, things can seem that way when we're alone and afraid," he explained. "Or so I'm told."
As both Rabbit and Eeyore strode out of the cave's lower entrance Violet strode forwards. "That is correct," the Angel of Dreams acknowledged with a smile. "After all, 'Fear' stands for 'False Evidence Appearing Real'. That's often how the illusions shown in dreams are displayed, too."
Rabbit nodded, "But now there's nothing to be afraid of."
"Nothing to be afraid of at all," Piglet approved.
With a humungous smile on his face, Pooh chanted, "The sky is perfectly blue. The clouds are perfect too."
Turning to Christopher Robin, the bear continued, "And here I am with you. What could be more right?"
Following a series of nods from the others, both Pooh and Christopher Robin led the group down the path ahead. With a deep sigh of relief, Rabbit said, "A quest has come to an end."
As they marched across an old, dead tree connecting the two halves of a gorge, Piglet added, "And home's around the bend."
A sharp CREAK flooded into their ears moments before the log tipped and everyone fell into the gorge. Realizing the group had only fallen a few feet down, Sora knew this meant the so-called "crevice" both Riku and Tigger had fallen into was nothing more than a gap within a small hill. The fear of falling further had escalated the gap into a crevice. Talk about exaggeration!
"And here you are, my friend," Pooh continued. "What could be more right?"
As both Christopher Robin and Pooh shared a caring hug, Sora felt a sudden pain in his shoulder. Rubbing it, he thought he could see Riku snickering in his peripheral vision. Sora gave a smug smile in return as he stood up with the others and proceeded along the trail.
A few minutes passed before the group reached the patch of thorns they had nearly lost track of Piglet within. Summoning her magical wand, Violet waved it in the air. All the thorny vines instantly transformed into deep-red roses with small thorns. Seeing this, Sora understood this meant the thorns hadn't really been so enormous after all. It was another result of such tremendous fear and lack of knowledge.
As the group proceeded to cross the bridge near Owl's house, they were singing away.
"Nothing can go wrong if everything is right!"
"Everything is right somehow!"
"Nothing can go wrong as long as everything is right!"
"Everything is right, right now!"
In the sky overhead, Sora and Riku caught sight of a flying bird. A voice proclaimed, "Thank goodness! You've done it!"
It took a matter of moments to recognize the voice as that of Owl's. Glancing at one another, both of the teenagers snickered to themselves.
The sun was beginning to set by the time Sora, Riku, Violet, Pooh, and Christopher Robin reached the tall, sloping hill with the gigantic tree perched on top. The sunset was in such a bright shade of orange, Sora wondered if it could be picked off and eaten. With Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, and Eeyore all off home, they knew the day was coming to a close at last.
"I still don't understand why you went to this 'school', Christopher Robin," Pooh finally spoke, breaking the silence.
"Well," Christopher Robin explained. "I went there to learn things."
"We learn things here," Pooh contradicted.
"I mean things like 'where the sun goes at night'," Christopher Robin explained. "'How words are spelled… and how they're not'."
"Yeah," Sora nodded in agreement. "I've learned how not to spell words many times."
Riku shook his head and smiled. If there was to be at least something Sora could've learned while in school, it had to be how to misspell all the words in the dictionary. Chances were he didn't even know the meaning of the word "dictionary" either. So, what exactly did the spikey, brown-haired teenager know? Who would be able to find out?
"Rabbit will be so proud," Pooh chuckled.
Christopher Robin gave a nod. "It was scary at first, but I remembered how brave Piglet can be, and that helped. For a while, I didn't think I would have the strength to go on. Then I thought of Tigger. And once, I found myself feeling very much alone."
Pooh gasped. "What did you do then?"
Christopher Robin smiled. "I thought of you, Pooh."
Pooh giggled to himself. "It's what I would've done."
Christopher Robin nodded before sighing. He marched up the edge of the cliff and sat down upon it. "Pooh Bear, tomorrow I'm told I'll be going again."
"Again?!" Pooh exclaimed. "Shall I go and look for you?"
"No silly," Christopher Robin replied. "To school. I'll be back, as long as you're here."
As Pooh sat down beside the boy, Christopher Robin added, "Promise you'll be here — always? Even when I'm a hundred?"
Pooh took a few seconds to think. "How old shall I be then?"
Christopher Robin smiled again. "Ninety-nine."
Pooh gave the boy a loving embrace. "I promise."
Christopher Robin returned the hug. "Forever and ever?"
"Yes, Christopher," Pooh approved. "Forever and ever."
Watching from the hillside, Sora smiled brilliantly. What a happy ending for the world he had now visited for a third time. Yet, for some odd reason, he hadn't come across Gopher, Kanga, or Roo. Why hadn't the three of them shown up in the world?
His ears perked up to the faint sound of something bouncing along. Swerving his head slightly, Sora got a mere glimpse of a small, brown animal with a long, pointed tail and wearing a blue T-shirt. Recognizing the creature as someone he knew, Sora allowed himself to relax again and smile brighter than ever before.
"Pooh," Sora asked. "What were you doing here?"
Pooh replied, "I was trying to see if there's a way so you don't have to go away again."
Sora was astounded. "You mean, a way to make me stay?"
"Yes," Pooh nodded. "Would there be such thing as a way to make it so you don't go away again?"
Sora was about to speak when Pooh asked, "Sora, if I go looking for you, will I find you?"
Sora answered, "I'll always be with you—right here."
He pointed to Pooh's heart. Pooh replied back, "Would you promise?"
Sora nodded in agreement. "Promise."
Just then, Piglet came over, and said, "And I promise, too."
Rabbit, Eeyore, Owl, Gopher, Tigger, Kanga, and Roo approached the duo.
"And so do Roo and I," Kanga agreed.
Roo nodded. "You bet we do!"
Rabbit said, "You're welcome to visit us anytime, Sora."
Tigger said, "If you ever get lonely, just start bouncin', and think of your pal, Tigger."
Sora replied, "I will, Tigger."
Owl added, "After all, I must tell you of my Uncle Albert's adventures at sea."
"Guess you'll be staying awhile," Eeyore sighed. Sora laughed for a few moments in return.
"Goodbye, Sora," Gopher waved.
Sora nodded. "Goodbye, Gopher."
"Well, I won't be sad," Pooh remarked. "Because you'll be in my heart, forever and ever. Right, Sora?"
Sora swept his eyes across the group to ensure he had their complete attention. Seeing he did, Sora announced, "And all of you are in my heart, too."
Upon hearing this, Pooh's smile grew larger.
Back at the base of the hill, Sora, Riku, and Violet were gathered together in a small circle. Sora was in deep contemplation. "Funny," he said. "I thought it was weird how Pooh had forgotten all about me. It was just an illusion."
"Yes," Violet confirmed. "This place was never asleep to begin with. It was intended to be a Sleeping World, but was never lost to Darkness."
"Yeah," Sora admitted as he recalled what had happened throughout the quest. A lot of the events occurring seemed especially far-fetched compared to what he was accustomed to in any world. "It's like I said about Tron's world. Neither was really asleep. One was a digital copy and the other was an illusion. I knew I had sealed this world's Keyhole from the beginning!"
"Not only that," Violet added, "I still can't believe you actually stumbled upon the man in black on CLU's ship. And that other guy — Xemnas — told you everything."
Sora nodded. "The younger one said this place is called the 'Realm of Dreams'."
"That is incorrect!" Violet retaliated defensively. "It's called the 'Realm of Sleep'! Nothing else! He was pulling your leg!"
Sora nodded in return.
"I thought it was weird how time seemed to be rewound in this world," Riku wondered aloud, drawing the other two's focus. "Maybe it's like Master Yen Sid said, 'The world was freed from Darkness, but has yet to awake from it.'"
He gasped. "It's trapped in a never-ending dream!"
Sora nodded again. "And we're going to set it free!"
"True," Violet spoke up. "However, since this world and Tron's world were never Sleeping Worlds, then we still have three more real Sleeping Keyholes to find after we leave here. Don't worry! I've been keeping track since the start of the quest."
Sora and Riku gave nods in response. As they did so, the clouds in the sky began to glow. The trio turned their attention to see the clouds fill with a variety of colors. In the middle of the rainbow-like display shown a keyhole.
"Well," Sora called. "Looks like it's time to go."
"Yeah," Riku agreed.
"Let's keep moving," Violet finished.
Summoning their Keyblades, the group pointed the tips of their weapons at the shape. Three balls of Light formed before shining out as beams. The beams all merged together before striking the center of the keyhole. As a bright Light shone out onto the surrounding terrain, the Sleeping Keyhole transformed into the long-awaited, glorious tunnel of serene Light. Sora, Riku, and Violet leapt into the tunnel moments before it could seal up. Their adventure in The 100-Acre Wood was finally complete.
To say he was feeling more than pleased would be an understatement. Minutes before, the pair of scientists had been struck successfully and were fading away into Darkness. With both Even and Ienzo's hearts turning into Darkness, he knew his current objective had been accomplished.
"Hey!" a voice hollered from the other side of the room. In came a tall man with a long, black ponytail. Although he was wearing the same purple-colored uniform as the rest of the city's Royal Guard, he also had an eyepatch over his right eye socket and a scar on his left cheek. "Xehanort! You wanna fill me in on this 'unethical experiment' of yours?"
Xehanort summoned a Keyblade. It's dark appearance and bat-like design was more than enough to make the soldier feel uneasy. "I am… "
"Wait," the soldier exclaimed. "Do you remember now? Or did you never lose your memory?!"
Instead of answering, Xehanort rushed over and stabbed the soldier in the left side of the latter's chest. "That's not my name! I'm not 'Xehanort'!"
Moaning in agony for a couple minutes, the soldier muttered something inaudible before collapsing onto the floor of the lab. A heart escaped his body as he began to be consumed by Darkness, too. Xehanort gave such an evil smile, it would've driven Maleficent into a state of discomfort.
"My name is… Ansem!"
A/N: Well, there you have it! We've FINALLY exited THE 100-ACRE WOOD! NOW, I'm SURE you must have noticed the connections of this story with Kingdom Hearts 2 and Kingdom Hearts 3D. Basically, this whole world takes the place of MONSTRO from Kingdom Hearts 3D.
Also, I understand this was an ESPECIALLY LENGTHY CHAPTER, but it just HAD to be done to continue this story sooner!
In case you didn't notice, I also included a 'small' reference to the Winnie The Pooh episode, "DONKEY FOR A DAY". This was the colors in the clouds scene when the Sleeping Keyhole appeared.
I do apologize for such a DARK and CREEPY ending for this Chapter, but I assumed this would probably be the best place to insert that particular Flashback.
So, without further ado, here's a HINT for the next world (It's a RIDDLE):
"SORA AND HIS FRIENDS HEAD INTO A LAND OF 'DARK AGES' WHERE THERE'S NO LAW AND NO ORDER. FEAR REIGNS SUPREME AND THE STONG PREY UPON THE WEAK. YET, IN THE DARKNESS LIES A FAMILIAR FACE, AND A CONNECTION TO RIKU'S PAST IS WAITING. A LEGEND IS SUNG OF WHEN THIS LAND WAS YOUNG AND NO ONE KNEW WHO SHOULD BE THE NEXT LEADER OF IT."
YEESH! That is quite a LONG HINT, now isn't it? IF you believe you can figure out at least PART of the answer hidden in there, please post your responses in the REVIEWS for THIS PARTICULAR CHAPTER!
Also, Please go ahead and check out the POLL on my Profile Page. Respond if you wish (I can't make you do it), but it would be NICE IF YOU DID!
And finally, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!
This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"
** "Amemi" is supposed to mean "Beautiful Rain"