Keys of Destiny
Chapter 4: Doubt
The drive from the Tower to Radiant Garden was relatively smooth. Sora had long gotten used to seeing the incredible amount of Heartless trying to take down their ship every time they travelled between worlds. Moogly's piloting skills seemed to be just as good as Chip and Dale's. The luggage compartment wasn't the most comfortable place to sit and it was certainly not roomy, but it wasn't too bad because it was just right behind the driver's seat. So Sora and Roxas could see clearly what was up ahead.
Their gummi ship was the only one at the ship port. Sora was half hoping to see Donald and Goofy's gummi ship there. The three of them experienced more trouble getting out of the gummi ship than battling the Heartless in space.
"You're stepping on my foot!" Sora yelled to Roxas, both of them trying to get off at the same time. Moogly had already jumped out and was looking back at those two.
"You just elbowed me!" Roxas yelled back. "Let me get off first, I'm closer."
"I can't unless you stop wriggling," muttered Sora, doing his best to squeeze out of Roxas' way in the tiny luggage compartment.
They managed to scuffle their way out eventually. Approaching footsteps sent Moogly hiding behind Sora. It was the self-proclaimed, great ninja Yuffie.
"Hey Sora!" Yuffie called out as soon as she saw the three. "I was wondering who could be inside that giant homed crab gummi ship."
Not bothering to argue with her that it was in fact a magician hat, Sora decided to ask the more important question. "What's the situation here, Yuffie?"
"Situation?" Yuffie raised an eyebrow, waiting for Sora's elaboration.
Sora scanned their surrounding. There weren't any enemies around. A thought occurred to Sora. Perhaps the NeoNobdy hadn't reach Radiant Garden yet. "Like, um, did anything unusual happen lately?"
Tapping her chin with a finger, Yuffie tried to think. "Come to think about it, the other day a whole lot of moogles arrived here. There were so many of them I thought it was an invasion!" she laughed. "They mentioned something about being attacked by a new kind of Nobody. Anyway, why are we still standing here? Come one, let's go to Merlin's place. Everyone's there."
Together they walked to Merlin's house. On the way, they ran into Scrooge, Donald's three nephews and Cloud. Sora said hello to them as he walked past them. He was glad they didn't ask who Roxas was. Cloud's eyes set on Roxas for a moment and walked away.
Yuffie pushed open the familiar wooden door and entered casually. "Hi I'm back!" she announced. "Hey Cid, look who's here!" As usual, Cid was sitting in front of his computer monitors, working on some programs. Sora didn't recall a time Cid wasn't sitting at the exact same spot whenever he came to visit.
Dislike being disrupted while working, the shorthaired mechanic turned around impatiently. A smile spread across his face when he saw Sora. "Hey kid, remembered to come see us at last?" Cid greeted, with a cigarette hanging at the corner of his mouth.
Decided he wouldn't correct Cid for calling him 'kid' for this time, Sora asked him a favour instead. He asked the mechanic to refuel Yen Sid's gummi ship for him, stating it was urgent. Cid grumbled and mumbled but went ahead with Sora's request. Before leaving, he asked Aerith to tell him things that he missed when he gets back. Moogly went outside along with Cid to help refuel and service the ship. Sora was glad that Moogly found his friends kind enough to no longer be afraid of them.
Everything was the same at Merlin's place. The Pooh picture book sat quietly on the shelf, looking a little lonesome. Aerith and Merlin were happy to see him. Leon returned from patrolling when Aerith went to make them some tea. The brown-hair gunblade master was surprised but nonetheless pleased to see Sora. When asked who Roxas was, Sora told them he was a friend from Destiny Islands. For some reason, he didn't feel comfortable telling the others he had a Nobody travelling with him. He didn't want to make the others worry.
Those of Radiant Garden and Roxas took a seat each. Standing up, Sora explained why they were here at Radiant Garden and what happened on Destiny Islands. He was careful to leave out the parts that would give Roxas away as his own Nobody. Roxas listened without saying a thing.
When Sora finished, Leon, Aerith and Merlin were all in deep thought.
Eventually, Leon spoke up. "So you're saying, those NeoNobody may be up to something, and you have to get to the King as soon as possible?"
"That's right," Sora replied.
"How did you know they were called NeoNobody?" asked Leon, a small frown showing on his handsome face.
"Um, well I…" Sora staggered, unsure of what to say. If he answered, Leon would find out about Roxas.
Aerith was next. "How did you make all the Nobody fight against the NeoNobody?" Her voice was gentle, yet demanding at the same time.
"And also, young man," Merlin began. "Why would you take with you a friend who can't fight against our enemies?"
Letting out a small snicker, Roxas rose from his seat. "It's not going to work, Sora. Your story had too many things that didn't make sense." He stood beside Sora, facing the listeners. "I'm Sora's Nobody." Yuffie gasped. Merlin stopped fidgeting his long beard. Leon's frown deepened. The only person who didn't react was Aerith, whose calm expression remained.
"I see," Merlin began to stroke his grey beard again. "It all makes sense now."
Leon stood up. "Sora, I need to talk to you." He dragged Sora outside the house before the brown-hair teenager could protest.
Roxas didn't like Leon's eyes. They shimmered with suspicion. He could guess what Leon would say to Sora and it certainly wouldn't be praise of any kind. Aerith stood in Roxas' way when he was going after the two. "I need to talk to you too, Roxas," she said, smiling.
"What is it, Leon?" Sora was finally able to ask when they went as far as the dark stone stairs that lead to the bailey.
"Did he tell you why he's helping you?" Leon asked.
Sora had to think for a second to realise he was talking about Roxas. It was something Sora hadn't thought about. "No," he admitted. "Why?"
"So you didn't ask him either?" Leon asked again, ignoring Sora's question. Sora shook his head. "Why do you think he helps you, then?"
"Because…he's my Nobody?" Sora suggested unsurely, hoping Leon would be happy with the answer; though he thought it was more likely he wouldn't.
"You said it, Sora. He's a Nobody. What have we been fighting all this time? Heartless and Nobody. No matter whose Nobody it is, a Nobody is a Nobody," Leon crossed his arms.
"But Roxas helped me all the way up to here. He even told the Nobody to fight against NeoNobody. He's doing this for us," Sora argued.
Shaking his head, Leon sighed. "You're too trusting, Sora. He's a Nobody. Before this, he needed you because he didn't have a physical form. Now that he does, he doesn't have any reason to help you. Also, he's very unstable. Remember how all the Organisation members disappear after they are defeated? If he is defeated, you'll lose half of your powers, Sora."
Deep inside his heart, Sora knew that Leon's intentions were always genuine. While half of him wanted to believe him, the other half of him was uncertain.
"All I want to say is – beware of him," Leon said.
By the time they were back at Merlin's house, Cid had already finished servicing and refuelling Yen Sid's gummi ship for them. From Cid they found out the ship was called Magus Hat. Moogly was told that Mog went to other worlds to look for his missing little brother. So the little moogle decided to continue travelling with Sora and Roxas until he reunited with Mog. Sora didn't want to delay his trip to Disney Castle any longer. Therefore, he told Cid and the others they would leave right away. Leon, Aerith, Yuffie and Cid watched as they aboard the gummi ship. Sora bid them farewell from the ship.
"Believe in yourself, Sora. More importantly, believe in your heart," Aerith said to Sora, just before the top of the gummi ship closed down to prepare for take off. Magus Hat sour into the sky like a clone-shaped bullet. His friends gradually became smaller and smaller as the distance grew until they were tiny black dots.
Sora wondered what Aerith meant. He made a mental note that he would ask the next time they met. Roxas sat quietly beside him, looking out the window.
"What did Aerith said to you?" Sora asked, breaking the silence.
Roxas turned around until their identical blue eyes met. "What did Leon said to you?" he asked back.
"Hey I asked you first," Sora protested. Dealing with his own Nobody wasn't as easy as he thought.
"I'll tell you if you tell me," shrugged Roxas. Neither of them gave way to the other. Moogly fought off some assaulting Heartless on the way. The rest of the way was rather uneventful. After a while of watching the same scenery of the space outside the window, Sora's eyelids gradually grew heavier. The times in all the worlds were different. Sora didn't keep track of time from the beginning and had no idea how long he'd been awake for. His body had long been telling him to get some rest. Slowly, he drifted off to sleep.
Sora woke up with a start only to find himself hanging upside down. Like Sora, Roxas was pushing himself from the ship's top with both hands. Moogly had flipped the belly of the ship to avoid a dozens of needle-like beam attacks.
"What's going on Moogly?" Sora cried.
"We're under vicious attack, kupo!" Moogly answered, flipping the ship back to the right position.
Disney Castle was clearly visible from where they were. They were very near their destination. An incredible number of NeoNobody were preventing them from landing. Moogly zoomed pass some more NeoNobody until they were circling above the castle. The home of Mickey, Donald and Goofy took quite a bad hit. A couple of towers of the castle were demolished. Almost all of the neatly kept Disney green hedges in the garden were gone. The front gate of the castle had a huge round hole in it. The once grand castle was infiltrated by crawling NeoNobody. Sora watched in horror, fearing for his friends.
"Moogly, stop circling around - just land!" Roxas yelled, getting dizzy from zooming back and forth and flipping upside down every minute. Seeing it wasn't a time it could land gracefully at a gummi ship port, Moogly steered the ship downwards. They braced from impact as the ship crash-landed. After experiencing shakes and bumps that seemed to last forever, they eventually skid to a stop.
The ship's top sprung open, allowing Sora to climb out. Underestimated the dizziness caused by the rough landing, Sora almost stumbled forward and had to use the ship to support himself. Roxas too had to shake his head to clear the dizziness. Moogly landed them right in front of the castle. They were not alone. Surrounding them were all kinds of NeoNobody – some were on the ground and some flying.
Oathkeeper and Oblivion materialised in Roxas' hands. He fought off a few of NeoNobody that were so close they were threatening. "What now?" Roxas glanced over to Sora, who was cleaning those his side.
Before Sora could answer, a familiar voice called out. "Blizzaga!" It sounded more like a quack. A group of NeoNobody a little further away from Sora froze into solid ice. An angry-looking duck in blue sailor outfit was running over with a magic staff in hand. Following him was an odd-looking dog in green top and yellow pants, who was holding a round shield.
"Donald, Goofy!" Sora called back in delight, turning around temporarily only to strike a couple of NeoNobdy that was leaping towards him. He almost had to hold back tears. There was nothing more wonderful than seeing those two unharmed. "Where is the King?" Sora asked as soon as Donald and Goofy reached him and Roxas.
"There's no time to talk, Sora. Hurry up and get into the castle quickly!" Donald said, aiming the Firaga magic at a group of closing in NeoNobody.
"The King is safe," Goofy told him.
Donald jumped up and down. "Hurry!" he repeated. The five of them ran for the castle's gate, clearing out a path on their way. After taking some short cuts, they arrived at the familiar colonnade. No longer was it majestic as it once was. Fractures and burnt holes filled the place. Sora's heart ached at the sight. They ran past the audience chamber and entered the library. Inside, the King, the Queen and Daisy were waiting for them. The Queen and Daisy were sitting on chairs with what Sora thought was a seat belt strapped across their upper body.
"Good job, Donald, Goofy," King Mickey greeted them with a warm smile. "Thank you for making here in time, Sora," he winked to Sora, who was confused.
"Chip and Dale, ready to launch!" Mickey called through a speaker. The two squirrels replied with a chirp. A second later, the library began to shake ferociously. Sora found something to hold onto to stop himself from bumping into others. To his amazement, the library rose and detached from the castle. It was a large-sized gummi ship. The library whooped down to the front of the castle to pick up the whacked Magus Hat. It then charged into the wide-open space until Disney Castle became nothing but a dot.
Author's rambling: Finally they're at the Disney Castle (well, left it at the end of the chapter)! I wanted them to arrive earlier but felt the detours were neccessary. Can't really expect Sora to just refuel and leave Radiant Garden without saying anything to Leon and co, right? And yes I did rewrite the summary for the third time. I'll keep rewriting until I'm happy with it. Argh I do suck at writing these two-sentence summaries. Please review! I live on reviews