LOST WORLDS
Chapter 9: Solar Surfing
Written by: Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI
Rating: G (K)
Summary: After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.
Disclaimer: We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.
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A small, warm fire crackled in the cottage hearth. Pluto was currently curled up by said fire, snoring gratefully for the chance to rest his paws. Kairi was even more grateful for the assortment of tea and scones set out on the table before her. Since leaving Destiny Islands, she couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten.
Princess Aurora laughed as Kairi scarfed down food and tea like. "Slow down, the food will still be here if you're patient."
She took a deep swallow, looking embarrassed. "Sorry. I guess I've just gotten used to doing things in a hurry. And the tea is great."
"Well, it sure is nice to share it with someone else for a change," the princess said.
Kairi detected something sad in her voice, and set her teacup down to listen further. "How did you get back here, anyway? What have you been doing all this time?"
Aurora sighed. "I'm afraid it's not a terribly exciting tale. As you know, when Sora first closed the door to Kingdom Hearts a year ago, everyone returned to their own worlds. This is my world, so I arrived back here."
"So that was your castle I saw," Kairi reasoned. "But why are you alone in this cottage? And what was that forest of thorns?"
"All of that was from before I was taken from my home. I'd only just found out that I was a princess; I was raised in this cottage practically my whole life." Aurora's voice became troubled. "I found out later this was all Maleficent's doing."
Her eyes widened at the name. "Maleficent came here?"
Aurora nodded sadly. "This is her world, too. I did know this until later, but Maleficent planned to take over this world long ago. She placed a curse on me when I was a baby, wherein I would prick my finger on a spinning wheel's spindle on my sixteenth birthday and die."
Kairi's stomach turned at the thought...sixteen was not much older than she was. "That's horrible!"
"Luckily, I had someone watching out for me. The three women who raised me were really three good fairies, and they changed the spell so that instead of dying, I would merely fall asleep. And that's what happened."
"You mean you already pricked your finger on your sixteenth birthday?"
Aurora's voice became bitter again. "Maleficent tricked me into it. And once that happened, the good fairies put the whole castle to sleep until the spell could be broken."
Kairi brightened. "Well, since you're here, that means the spell must've been broken."
The princess didn't answer for a moment, but just began to stack up the plates and saucers. Pluto whined by the fireplace, lost in some happy dream. "It didn't exactly work out that way. Maybe if Maleficent hadn't learned of the existence of other worlds, she wouldn't have left this one in such a mess. But once she began collecting the Princesses of Heart, I was taken from here. Then Sora freed us all with the Keyblade in Hollow Bastion, and I was awake again." She hesitated, glancing around the sparse cottage. "And once I returned to my own world, I was still awake. But the spell isn't actually broken, so everyone in the castle is still asleep. And the good fairies have been gone for some time now...I suspect the worlds needed them in some way."
Kairi's heart sank. "You mean you've been here by yourself this whole time?"
Aurora's eyes were filled with a tired longing. "There was little else I could do. I've been trying for a long time to reach the castle, but Maleficent's thorns are too thick. So I sought out this cottage, because I knew it was safe." She gestured at the small but friendly room. "It was run-down when I first got here, but I've fixed it up into a real home since then."
Indeed, the cottage seemed the very picture of a well-kept home. But something about it still felt empty. "So, how can you break Maleficent's spell?" she finally asked.
"I'm afraid that's the one thing I don't know," Aurora said. "There's someone else, too. Someone very dear to me, that I think would be able to help. But I can't find him. I'm not even sure where to begin looking."
Kairi knew exactly how that felt, and she slumped back in her chair. "Me too. I've only just remembered Sora, and I tried to leave to find him, and Riku, too. But everything seemed to go wrong!" She turned away from the princess, anger and hurt seeping back into her voice. "Every time I try to actually help, I just get captured or left behind. And I'm tired of it! What good am I if I can't even help my friends?!"
Aurora gave her a moment to calm down before answering. "I understand. You think because you can't use weapons or fight off the bad guys like your boys do, you're useless to them."
She nodded slowly, feeling her throat become dry at the thought.
"Well, it's nothing like that at all," she said, her voice reassuring. "You may not be able to use a weapon, but you provide your friends with something just as important. Perhaps even more so."
Kairi met her gaze. "What's that?"
The princess's smile was warm and encouraging. "Hope. You give them the strength they need to keep fighting. Without thoughts of you, even that great Keyblade wouldn't be much use in Sora's hands."
She mulled over the thought, and it delighted and terrified her at the same time. I'm giving Sora the strength he needs...but it's also keeping him fighting.
"There's more, too. After all, we're not just ordinary girls. We're Princesses of Heart. There's all kinds of things we can do that others can't."
Kairi couldn't help but giggle at the idea. It still felt strange being called a princess, even though she had no castle or subjects. "Like hold back the darkness from a world's heart," she said.
"Even more." Aurora glanced around the cottage, as if afraid someone was eavesdropping on them. She leaned in a little closer. "We can use corridors of darkness!"
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.
"Normally, only the Heartless and people steeped heavily in darkness can create and use paths of darkness," she explained. "If a normal person tried to use it, the darkness would eat away at their heart and weaken them. Maybe even turn them into a Heartless. But the darkness doesn't affect us, so we can use corridors of darkness as well as light."
"Really?" Kairi's eyes widened with surprise. But then again, it did make some sense. Hadn't Axel said, 'You've got a lot of guts, stepping into the darkness like that'? Maybe she'd instinctually known that she wouldn't be hurt.
Aurora looked almost as excited as Kairi. "Yes. The only problem is that we obviously can't make these corridors ourselves. So in my free time, I've been walking around the woods and countryside, looking for portals of darkness. Sometimes the Heartless will leave one open a little longer than usual, but I haven't gotten through one fast enough yet."
"What will you do if you get through one?"
She seemed a little less certain. "I'm not sure. I'm hoping the corridor will take me to the world of another one of the Princesses of Heart. Then together we would meet up with all the others."
Kairi thought about this for a moment, but it didn't take long for the realization to strike home. If we can find a portal of darkness, I can get off this world and look for Sora and Riku!
She stood up suddenly, creaking her chair and making Pluto lift one ear at the noise. "Can I help you look for those portals?"
The other young woman laughed. "But of course! In fact, I was hoping you would. But perhaps, could you help me with these dishes first?"
"Sure," Kairi said, grabbing up her empty saucer and teacup. Their noise woke up Pluto, who thumped his tail and looked just as eager to participate. She felt a new surge of confidence as she helped Aurora clean up...she may not have been out there among the worlds like Sora, but she was determined to never underestimate herself again.