Chapter V: New Adventures in Radiant Garden
Nightshroud: Thanks to Mrfipp for the review! And don't worry about Kai. He'll be making an appearance soon! In this chapter, I combined the castle in KH2 with Hollow Bastion from the first one. Just giving an F.Y.I.
The group arrived later that night., after getting acquainted with Merlin and Cid, they were shown their room in the group house in the burrough. Everyone fell asleep quickly, except for Reyna
"I wonder how Mom, Dad, and Sota are doing. I hope they're not too worried. I really miss them," she thought. "And where's Kai? I hope he's okay, wherever he is. I just hope we'll make it through this adventure without regretting it..." With these thoughts in mind, she drifted off to sleep.
Everyone I woke late the next morning. They had breakfast at a café in the marketplace. Tyson yawned lazily and asked, "So, what's on the agenda for today?
"We want you to look at the Keyhole here in Radiant Garden. Also, we'd like to train you for your journey. But first, I thought you'd might like to know more of what's going on," said Leon. He motioned to Aerith, who began.
It was a few years ago. The Organization, a group that Sora and the others fought against, was an association of Nobodies, those without hearts. They were all eventually destroyed, and the Organization was no more. Then a new figure showed up. A man named Amnael came and took control of the Organization with a strange stone that carried with it mysterious dark powers. He rebuilt the Organization, making it stronger than it ever had been. He also changed the original purpose of the Organization. Since it had originally been nobodies seeking hearts, they used the keyblade master to destroy the Heartless and revive Kingdom Hearts. But the new Organization was made of complete humans, all with unique abilites. Its new purpose had become to steal the hearts of people to fuel their dark magic. No one knows exactly why they need so many hearts, but it seems to be their goal to a great number of powerful hearts. They steal them using the dark power of the stone in the form of a strange seal. This seal captures the heart of whoever is in it if they should lose to their opponent. This seal also carries such a power that it can break the power of the Keyblade and unlock the Keyholes in each world. Only the Angel of Heart can break the seal and lock the keyholes forever. That is why you have been chosen.
Reyna, Namé, and Tyson were deep in thought. All this was pretty scary. Reyna was the first to break the silence. "So we need to travel to every world, lock the Keyhole with the Keyblade, and then have me seal it forever?"
Aerith smiled pleasantly and said, "Yes, and we fully believe you can do it."
Tyson grinned a very Sora-like grin. "So what are we waiting for?" Tyson said, "Let's do it!"
Yuffie laughed. "Not so fast! You're not ready yet. We want to help train you, if you want." Reyna, Tyson, and Namé all agreed.
"Okay, give me your best shot!" Leon said. Tyson gripped his Keyblade. "All right! You asked for it!" he taunted. He ran at full speed, kicked of a wall, and rained a flurry of blows down on Leon. Leon dodged and blocked them all. He whistled. "Not bad! Not bad at all. But first, let me teach you how to attack using your head!"
Meanwhile, Aerith had taken Namé to Merlin to practice with her magic. He taught them how to know when was the best time to use her magic. At the same time, Aerith taught Reyna how to use her light powers.
"You'll learn how to control them with time, but it's always good to practice when you can," she told Reyna.
Merlin congratulated Namé for having improved so much. Although she froze Merlin's beard with a blizzard spell and nearly set him on fire with a fire spell, she did rather well. As a reward, he taught her a cure spell and a reflect spell. They decided to leave and check on Tyson and Leon. They thanked Merlin and headed to the First District.
Reyna and Namé got a kick out of watching Tyson train with Leon. Even though Tyson was doing well, it was clear who the better fighter was. Of course, Tyson had many a good laugh over Namé's accidents while training with Merlin. After Leon had finished up with Tyson, Yuffie showed up.
"All right guys! I have the floor now!" she said. She trained Reyna, Namé, and Tyson in dodging, running, and every other kind of area dealing with maneuverability. The three kids were exhausted by the end of the day. "Get your sleep," Leon told them," Tomorrow, you can take a look at the Keyhole, and then you can be off on your journey."
Reyna awoke the next morning feeling rather sore. She looked around but didn't see Tyson, Namé, or the others. She stretched and walked out the door. No one was out their either. She decided to try the café in the marketplace. The waitress their told her that they had been there, but left a while ago. Reyna walked away feeling alone. She didn't know that much about this place, and she was all by herself. She noticed a shop near the café and decided to check it out. Three little ducks were sitting at the counter, bickering with each other. When she approached, they stopped and turned to her.
"Hello! What can we do for you?" said the one with a red cap.
"Hi, I was wondering if you'd seen my friends. There's-"
"Oh, you mean the kids with Leon and the others? Yeah, we've seen them," said the green-capped one.
"Do you know where they went?" she asked.
"Hmm...I think they mentioned the castle postern. Try there," said the one with the blue cap.
"Thanks, I will," she said. She wasn't sure where the postern was, but she thought she saw a castle before when she was in the burrough. On that hunch, she went back and followed the path into the bailey. Once she passed through, thew gate closed behind her.
"What? What's going on?"
Suddenly Armored Night and Soldier Heartless appeared around her. She raised her hand and feathers blew around her as her Whip of Light formed in her hand. The Heartless semed to cower away from the pure light, and she used that moment to charge forward and slash through them. She ran from the bailey and down the path to the castle as Morning Stars and Surveillance Bots appeared. She ran as fast as she could till she heard a commotion close in front of her. When she reached the postern, she could see Leon, Tyson, and Yuffie fighting Heartless while Namé and Aerith used magic to hold them off.
"Guys!" she called to them.
"Reyna, hey!" said Tyson.
She ran up to them, panting from the long run. "What's...going on?" she asked.
Leon frowned. "I guess the Organization got to the keyhole first. We've been trying to fight our way into the castle to get to it."
"Leon, what about the people in the burrough?" asked Aerith.
"I already got in touch with Cloud and Tifa. They should be handling it."
"I'd better go help any people who got hurt," she said, ready to run off.
"No, Aerith, you'd be in danger," Leon said, laying a hand on her shoulder.
Her eyes turned a bit stern. "I can handle it, Leon," she said quietly but firmly.
He removed his hand and nodded. "R-right, go ahead."
Her eyes lit up once more. "Thanks. I'll see you guys later," she said, running off.
Leon turned back to the others and motioned to them. The five then ran down the path to the inner corridors of the castle.
A cloaked figure stood in the castle chapel, staring thoughtfully at the intricate pattern of the wall. A second figure appeared behind him and stood waiting.
"What did you need, Albel?" asked the first figure in a smooth voice
"Courteous as always, Cyril," said the other figure with a smirk. Cyril just ignored him, since he was annoyed with most of the Organization members. Albel's rough voice annoyed his ears too.
"I can see I'm not welcome. And I was just coming to tell you that the Angel of Heart and the keyblade master are on their way."
"Yes, yes, the Heartless told me that ages ago. If that's all, then just go," said Cyril with a wave of his hand.
Albel shrugged and made ready to go. "You know," he said suddenly, "I'd watch using the Kronos Stone too much. Could cost you."
"As if I need your lecturing," Cyril snapped. Albel chuckled and turned around.
"Suit yourself," he said. Suddenly another portal opened, and a third figure stepped out.
"Albel, why exactly aren't you at Twilight Impasse?" said the figure, distinctly female, from the voice and the high black boots visible at the bottom of her jacket where it was unbuttoned.
"I...uh..."
"Get going," she said commandingly. She turned to Cyril and said, "Master Amnael wants you to use to fully activate the Seal of Kronos when the Angel of Heart and Keyblade Master arrive. Make sure you get rid of them, or...well, I'm sure you know when one loses inside the Seal."
Cyril looked past her towards Albel, who was watching him as if saying, "Huh...interesting..."
Without turning, she said, "Now, Albel!"
He opened a portal and quickly disappeared. The female member turned to leave, and added, "Try not to disappoint us," before she left.
Cyril frowned. The sudden turn of events seemed troubling. Albel showing up warning him about the Seal before the Superior sent V, his eyes and ears, to tell him to fully activate the Seal. Did Albel know something he didn't? And what about her? She seemed direct enough, but there was something hidden in her tone, something she didn't let on. He sighed and pushed the thoughts away. He had bigger irritations to deal with.
More Soldiers, Shadows, and Armored Nights appeared as the five ran through the castle's lower corridors.
"There's so many of them!" said Namé.
"Leon, do you think these Heartless could be coming from Ansem's artificial Heartless machine?" asked Yuffie as they ran.
Leon nodded. "I'll bet they are. C'mon!"
He hooked a sharp left and ran into a large room before hooking left again. At the end of the hall, they saw a door that seemed rather out of place in the castle. Leon opened the door, and the others looked inside. It was a study, with books on shelves and discarded around the room, a portrait of Xehanort, Ansem's disciple from long ago, and various sketches and diagrams on the walls. They barely had time to notice this before Leon pressed on the one wall on the left and a secret passage opened. They followed it into a computer room, then hooked right until they came into an enormous room. It had a huge machine with various pods that were producing Heartless. Leon ran to the control pannel and tried to shut the machine off.
"Hurry, Leon!" said Yuffie, as she and the other three tried to hold off the Heartless that kept appearing. Leon saw a flash to his side and moved as a sword came crashing into the pannel next to him. He turned to see a cloaked figure with a sword standing a few feet away.
The others noticed him and got on guard. He lowered his hood to reveal a man with long silvery white hair, a smooth clean face, and piercing amber eyes. He looked very proud and dignified.
"I am Cyril, XV in the Organization and the new lord of Hollow Bastion. I'd rather not be forced to fight you, but if you insist...well, it's all one to me."
Tyson growled. "Call of these Heartless, and we won't have to kick your butt!"
Cyril laughed haughtily. "Foolish child! Stop interferring in things you can't possibly understand."
"I know enough to see that you're bad, and I'l do whatever it takes to stop you!"
He leaped into the air and slashed at Cyril. Cyril's sword morphed and formed into a large shield, which he used to block Tyson's attack. The he changed it into a club, which he used to knock Tyson away.
"What is it with this guy? He can change his weapon in an instant!" said Namé. Reyna turned to her and Yuffie and said, "Help Tyson. I can handle the Heartless."
The two nodded and ran to help Tyson. Namé cast cure and helped him up, while Yuffie held him off.
"Take this!" she said as she threw some shuriken at him. He morphed his weapon into nunchuks, which he knocked the shuriken away with. Then he morphed it to a segmented whip blade. He wrapped the whip around her legs and arms, the sharp blade cutting into her skin. She cried out in pain till Leon came by and sliced the whip in half with his gunblade. The part around Yuffie vanished into thin air, while the other half retracted and formed into a sword, which Cyril used to block Leon's slash. Namé cured Yuffie's cuts as Tyson charged at Cyril. As Tyson leaped into the air, Cyril morphed his sword into an axe, which he swung at Tyson.
"Reflect!" said Namé, putting up a shield around Tyson as the axe reached him. With his weapon discarded to the side, Cyril couldn't defend Tyson's attack, or so Tyson thought. As he recovered for another attack, Tyson had his swing blocked by Cyril's weapon, which he called back to his hand and morphed into a shield. He smacked Tyson with the shield, knocking him to the ground. His weapon changed into a spear, with which he got ready to stab Tyson.
"Stop!" Reyna called, throwing her whip at the unknown. It passed through him, and he wavered a moment before vanishing.
"A fake!" said Leon.
Namé helped Tyson up as Reyna came over.
"So he must be at the keyhole at the top of the castle then, huh?" said Yuffie.
"We'll handle it," said Tyson. "You guys worry about that Heartless machine.
Leon nodded. "Right."
Tyson, Namé, and Reyna ran back through the passage. Yuffie looked worried as Leon lowered his head.
"Good luck."
Nightshroud: Hope you liked! By the way, remember that the female unknown called the Superior "Master Amnael." Only three other people in the story call him that, and they are all very important. Little secret there. Anyway, leave a review and read on!
Next chapter: Mirage of Nightmare: Cyril's Onslaught