A/N: 5. 21. 09: Ahh, more editing. I can't believe that War of a Nobody has more reviews than this. xD' Ah well. Anyway, old note:
Holy hemmas. My story has seventy hits? How did that happen? I'd comment on my reviews, but last time I did that, a reviewer yelled at me, so I'll let Fuyu do it. xDD
Yep, Riku won the battle. I figured it would be unfair if Keira won because she hasn't been screwing with a Keyblade as long as Riku. x3 I had to bring Roxas in. You may want to keep your thoughts on him. -hinthint- Yush, I totally love you, you are my favorite person.
Back to the story! R&R
Keira's antics earned her a smack on the head from Leon. She pouted, but after realizing it had no effect whatsoever on the Gunblade wielder, she sucked in her lip and became completely quiet.
"We're here because she's another Keyblade wielder?" Sora guessed as the group headed through the Bailey. Before anyone had the chance to comment that he was stating the obvious, he added, "One for our side, the one that King Mickey mentioned."
Leon nodded. "Yeah." He replied as they passed the path that would lead to the Borough and, thus, Merlin's house. Sora frowned at the realization. "You can see them later; we have to go to the Castle." The gunblade wielder was all business and no nonsense. Sora and Riku's eyebrows furrowed.
"Why?" They asked in perfect unison as Keira fell quietly in step with Cloud, kicking at the ground as she walked. Leon stole a quick glance at her before answering.
"The Keyhole needs to be sealed. And I think the King might have more information for us."
"Information? On what?" asked Kairi, speaking for the first time to Leon.
"The King thinks there's another Princess. He's not too sure of what, though, Princess." Leon replied causing blood to rush to Kairi's cheeks.
"And what about her?" Riku gestured lamely toward Keira who threw a glare in his direction.
"I lost my world." She replied in a voice that said she wasn't someone who could be spoken about like she wasn't there.
"And that's when you got the Keyblade." Sora stated, nodding. "Now that sounds familiar." He relaxed somewhat and crossed his arms behind his head.
"It sounds like someone's running out of ideas." (A/n: I don't remember what that means, but it sounds like a shot at myself. xD) Riku replied with a meek shrug. "The King doesn't really think that she's this missing Princess, right?" He asked with a glance at Leon.
Before he could answer, Keira growled, "My name is Keira, so stop talking about me like I'm an object or someone who's not standing right near you, damn it!" She glared daggers at Riku and, before she could try to pick another fight with him, Cloud held her by the elbow firmly.
"You never let me have any fun." She muttered under her breath once again causing Cloud to shake his head.
"You think it's fun to lose battles?" He replied in a quiet voice, causing Keira to fold her arms.
"Teen angst." Riku sighed with a small shake of his head.
Kairi raised her eyebrows. "Remind me how old you are again, Riku?" She requested with a small smirk while Sora laughed and Leon mustered a smile.
"Anyway, are we going to the lab first or to seal the keyhole?" asked Sora as he looked from Leon to Cloud. Abruptly, Keira realized that she was once again at the passageway leading to the inside of the Castle.
"Do you even have to ask, Sora?" muttered Riku.
"Haha, right." The younger boy replied, rubbing his head. As they entered the hallway, the group took a left and a few more turns. "Geez, this place sure has gotten confusing. And that's saying something since the first time it was pretty bad what with heartless jumping out everywhere."
"Yuffie mentioned to me a few days ago that Kairi's a princess," Keira remembered with a small head bow in the direction of said girl. "Is it really a good idea if she comes with us when the Keyhole's been opened?" Both of the boys snorted.
"Do you actually think we'd let something happen to her?" They asked together.
"And besides," Kairi said, "I can use a Keyblade, too." Keira nodded,
"I forgot about that one. Sorry." Kairi smiled with liking at the younger girl as she broke away from her body guards to walk beside Keira. It didn't take long for the two girls to ask each other about their homes and lives. The four men walked slightly ahead of the girls.
"She's... different." Sora commented.
"Who is?" asked Leon as he kept his eyes on the path in front of them. His hand was on the hilt of his sheathed Gunblade.
"Keira." The boy replied. "When I lost my home I was worried about finding my friends and I was sad and confused. It's just that... she doesn't seem to care. But she's been here for a week, right?"
Cloud shrugged in response. "Well, she didn't seem all that shaken up when she first got here, either," he remarked. "It is a little weird, I guess, but maybe she has a different way of dealing with greif." Sora had to agree with that as Cloud seemed to be the same type of person.
"Maybe she didn't have any friends," commented Riku with a smirk.
"Riku!" shouted Sora as he turned toward his best friend with a hard stare.
"I wasn't saying it to be a jerk. It's just that maybe she didn't have any friends. Or family. Nothing to be attached to?" He suggested, causing Sora to blink.
"I guess that's... possible?" He muttered.
"You're making her sound like Cloud." A female's voice from above them said, making everyone but Cloud look up.
"Tifa." He said with slight amusement as the girl released herself from the ceiling and landed before the four of them.
"She's like Yuffie." Leon muttered, referring to the way she had been hiding in the ceiling. Tifa Lockhart smiled at Sora.
"It's been a while. It's nice to see you, Sora." She said as he nodded.
"Same here. But... wait. I thought both you and Cloud had left?" He asked with an understandable amount of confusion.
"He defeated Sephiroth and we came back." Tifa replied simply. "...Well, he defeated Sephiroth and came back. I just found out last week that he was back here." She added with a frown. Sora smiled lightly. It was obvious to him that Tifa was quite taken with Cloud. Aerith may've been, too, but it was hard to tell because she seemed to care about everyone the same amount--- a lot. Kairi, having fallen behind, ran into Sora in an attempt to catch up.
"Riku, this is Tifa. Tifa, Riku." The silver-haired boy nodded respectively. "Oh, and Kairi, this is Tifa Lockhart: a friend of Cloud's. And Tifa, this is Kairi." Sora introduced and felt a faint blush appear on his cheeks as Tifa smiled knowingly.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess." Tifa only knew that Kairi was a Princess and also knew how much Sora cared for her because they had spoken a few times after running into him the last time they'd been at the Radiant Garden together.
"It's nice to meet you, too." replied Kairi. "Um, please don't call me Princess." She added with a nervous smile. Sora turned around.
"Hey, Kai, where's Keira?" He asked with his head tilted to the side.
"Uhm... well..." She trailed off. Definitely not a good sign.
"Oh, no." Both Leon and Cloud sighed.
"Who's Kera?" Tifa asked, feeling a little perplexed.
"She's great, you'd love to meet her." Cloud muttered; Tifa was surprised to hear the sarcasm in his voice.
"What happened, Kairi?" Leon asked as he turned to the hallway they'd just come from.
"A lot of heartless popped up and Keira said she didn't want to be responsible for me losing my heart, so she told me to catch up with you guys. I wouldn't have listened hadn't a heartless pushed me forward." Kairi murmured. "Not to mention a certain someone urged me to go." She muttered so low that only Sora could hear her.
"How many heartless?" asked Riku, already with Way to Dawn in hand.
"A lot." Kairi answered. "Too many."
"It's like they're after her or something." Cloud muttered as he pulled out his Buster Sword. Just as they were about to take off, a laid back-looking Keira came walking down the hallway with her Keyblade resting on her shoulder.
She laughed at the expressions on their faces. "You look like you've just seen a ghost or something." Keira smiled as she shook her head. "I told you that I didn't need anyone to take care of me," she reminded Cloud as her smile transformed into a smirk; Cloud did have to hand it to her.
"You did, you're right." He admitted with a faint smile of defeat on his face. Tifa became thoughtful and silent for a few minutes before walking past the crowd and stopping in front of Keira.
"I'm a friend of Cloud's, Tifa Lockhart." She said, holding out her hand.
"Good to meetcha, I'm Keira." The girl replied as she took Tifa's hand and shook it. Her eyes drifted to the others. "Don't we have to seal that keyhole?" She reminded the others. The group continued on and this time, as the three girls began to talk to one another, they kept pace with the men.
"I wonder if four Keyblades could seal that Keyhole better than one?" Leon said to no one in particular as they passed through the Chapel and through a lift stop.
"There's no hurt in trying." Sora stated as they appeared in the hall. Its condition was a lot worse than what he remembered.
"It looks like this because of the last fight, probably." Leon said, as if reading Sora's mind. This misled Sora into thinking the Swordsman was referring to Sora and 'Riku's' fight.
"It didn't look like this when I last sealed the Keyhole." Sora commented with knitted eyebrows as he thought back.
The Gunbladesman shook his head. "I meant when Yuffie and Keira were fighting the heartless." Leon smirked, briefly ruffling Sora's hair.
"Oh." Sora muttered as they ascended the stairs in front of the Keyhole.
"Alright, guys, do your thing." Leon ordered as he stood back with Tifa and Cloud to watch.
As the wielders approached the keyhole, Riku turned toward Kairi. "Your Keyblade will pretty much do it on its own, Kairi." He informed her as he held out Way to Dawn, noticing the girl give her Keyblade a perplexed look. Sora did the same as Riku with Oblivion and the two girls followed suit with Shadow Heart and Kairi's unnamed Keyblade. Four beams of light shot out from each tip and joined at the Keyhole. A light shone and the keyhole disappeared. The four teens turned around.
"Alright, now let's go check out Ansem's study." Leon said as he turned around.
"No need, fellas, I'm right down here!" a high-pitched voice squeaked as the mouse king from below made himself known. Everyone turned around to look at the King, as if to make sure he was real. Behind him stood a white duck who was holding a staff and a tall 'dog' holding a shield.
Sora grinned. "Your Majesty! Donald! Goofy!" He exclaimed, jumping from the platform and embracing the Knight and Magician in one huge hug.
"Gawrsh, Sora, it hasn't even been that long yet," laughed Goofy as he hugged back the teenager. Even Donald returned the Keyblade Master's hug with a large smile. Sora smiled sheepishly and released Donald and Goofy before he could cut off their air supply.
"To what do we owe this honorable visit?" Tifa asked as she and the rest of the group descended the steps.
"Welp, we've got a pretty big mess on our hands, fellas," responded King Mickey with one of the gravest voices either Sora or Riku had ever heard him use.
A/n: For the record, while Mickey's last sentence is true, I was listening to the song of the same name by TAI. xDD' Please review!