Chapter Two
Treasure Hunt
Without hesitation both boys began running towards the main island. They didn't even bother with the little boats that had brought them to their hang out; the task of untying them and rowing would take longer than simply swimming.
For the briefest instant Riku was glad that they had insisted on keeping in shape while on the island. Before his stint in darkness he would never have been able swim all that way, run to town and still have enough energy left to fight the infestation of heartless and nobodies that come to the island.
Chaos rained down upon the little town as unprepared citizens were attacked. Some tried to fight but the smart ones fled. These were not things wooden swords and kitchen knives could defeat. These beasts required something a bit more powerful.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of them were attacking the islanders. And these weren't shadows. These were behemoths and dancers and all other kinds of foul beast that they hadn't had to face until they had reached The End of The World and The World That Never Was.
Riku was a little daunted at the task. Two keyblades against countless higher level enemies did not have the best odds no matter how skilled.
Ignoring the stares of the towns people who obviously didn't believe what little bit the boys had told them about their adventure, Sora and Riku drew their keyblades and let lose. They chose attacks that would take out as many of the creatures as possible but they just kept coming. Riku couldn't tell if it was because the creatures of darkness were just naturally drawn to the keyblades or…
"Damn it! We should have checked on the keyhole while we were there!"
"Aero, I got what you wanted." Mal announced as he entered the room through the darkness. Long ago, when he had first begun his partnership with the oracle, he had found it unnerving to be in the room at all. During the day bright light poured in through the dozens of arched windows that encompassed every side of the pavilion, leaving only Aero's figure statically commanding the space with her power. During the night, however, the gentle moonlight gave her an almost slumped appearance despite the impossibility of her making any movement.
"Thank you. It will help us."
"I think you're over complicating things. Why are we even bothering to include the ex-organization members?" Mal had always spoken his mind around Aero and this was no exception. There was little hiding his disgust at those beings that had betrayed everything they had cared for and allowed themselves to be torn in two.
"It only takes one bad apple to spoil the lot and the ones we have chosen were the apples at the bottom of the bushel."
"So the taint is less." He knew that his voice was slightly disbelieving and sarcastic but Aero ignored it.
"Exactly." She whispered. It wasn't difficult to guess that she knew something Mal did not. That was her job, but it didn't make the trait any less annoying.
"You're not worried at all that you're wrong. Are you?" Mal asked with a bit of wonder in his voice. It was understandable that she was obsessive about this scheme, but to not doubt its success was idiotic at best even if she could see the future.
"Doubt is a luxury I cannot afford." Her voice had hardened slightly and that simple nuance told Mal everything. If she allowed herself doubt then all the maybes would drive her crazy. There was simply too much on the line.
"I hope you're right. As much as I doubt it, I hope you are."
"Thank you. But Mal, it doesn't matter yet if I'm right or not. All that matters is if we succeed. And for that you need to go to Destiny Islands. The keybearers will need your assistance."
Mal didn't even bother to nod. She wouldn't have been able to see it anyways. He mealy drew the darkness into him and opened a portal into the dark corridors.
"Oh and Mal, you may not like what you find there but you shouldn't be surprised." He gave no indication that heard the girl's words. It was just more riddles, and he could tell by her voice that she would not clarify if he asked. He would find out soon enough anyways.
Every breath was agony. Riku didn't know how long they had been fighting; it could have been hours or it could have been minutes but either way he knew they couldn't keep it up for much longer. The heartless and nobodies just kept coming. Fighting at the World That Never Was was different: there were no civilians to look after but here if they weren't running they were watching the fight like it was a spectator sport. Luckily the gawkers got the message when a dancer almost took their heads off and scattered.
"Sora! Riku!" a voice called as the last of the creatures was dispatched. Kairi came running down the path towards them and tossed the boys a couple of potions. They didn't cure everything, not even close, but they were appreciated.
As Sora was chugging the last of his a heartless lunged at him. No one noticed except Kairi, but by then it was too late to call out. Sora's eyes went wide and for an instant he stopped breathing. Sensing that something had happened, he turned just in time to see the heartless disappear an inch form his head and a dagger fall to the ground.
"Mom! You could have killed him!" Kairi shouted at the middle aged woman. For the briefest instant the girl thought that this could not be the very same woman who had always told her not to play with sharp objects. Although her mom looked just as she always had, with her red hair and a body that gave no hint to her fifty-two years besides the few lines on her face, there was a certain spark to her blue eyes that was new. It was as if some lost part of the woman had come back to visit for just a moment.
"Do you really think I would have done anything if I didn't know what I was doing?" Miss Izzy answered slightly amused.
"When did you learn to fight?" Sora asked. The woman had never showed any interest in the sparing that all the adults knew happened on the children's island. She had never given any inclination that she knew anything about self defense yet here she was saving the spiky haired boy from a fate worse than death.
"More people know how to fight then you may think." There was a slight unreadable undercurrent to her voice. Like she was hinting at something.
"So I take it this means you are going off on another adventure." the red haired woman asked as she stepped from behind a tree. No one answered; no one had to.
"Very well. Come with me, but keep your keyblades out. Although it feels as if all of those creations are gone, there might be stragglers."
Riku stooped to pick up the dagger. It was an odd little thing; much lighter and sharper than it should have been. The handle and the edges of the blade were lime green with a series of snake like patterns while the body of the blade was dark gray with lime green boxes. As he studied it something caught his eye. Hanging off the handle was a small mirrored disk on a chain. The moment he touched the dagger it disappeared into nothing.
"Riku are you coming?" Sora asked.
"Y…yeah." The dagger's disappearance had unnerved him more then he wanted to admit. He had always suspected Kairi's mom had a secret or two. She had appeared out of nowhere just a day or after her daughter and had seemed to be no stranger to some of the people there. Later, when Riku had finally thought to ask, she refused to say much about her previous home; she dodged the questions. The really weird thing about the whole thing had been the fact that the adults didn't press her. Riku's mom and Sora's dad just let it go as if they already knew the answers.
Riku's mind shifted through all the new information as he walked behind the woman in question. It didn't take them long to make it back to the play island and through the cove to the little forest of coconut trees. At the very last tree, all the way by the cove wall, Izzy stopped. Reaching behind the tree she pulled out two old, rusted shovels. Brush and foliage had grown over them, which told the tail of how long they had been forgotten.
Handing them to the boys she told them to dig. Within moments the shovels bounced off of metal with a sounding cling! They had found whatever they had been looking for. It was a treasure chest; old and dirty.
"You are going to have to use the keyblade to open it. I don't have the key." He voice was calm and nonchalant, as if she were simply oblivious to the question on the children's faces or the complete oddity of the situation.
Sharing a glance with Riku, Sora summoned his keyblade and aimed it at the rusted lock but nothing happened; there was no click, no glowing, and no opening. Whoever had saw fit to bury their treasure had obviously wanted it kept buried.
"Damn." Izzy muttered before giving the chest a swift kick. In a surprising move the top popped open at the abuse.
Although clearly surprised, Izzy knelt down without a word and started rummaging through the chest. Once she had gotten what she wanted out of it she closed the lid and begun to push the pile of upturned dirt back on top of it.
"Mom, what is going on?" Kairi finally demanded as she reached all she could take. She had tried on to ask questions; tried to simply see what her mother would do in a hope that her actions would answer some questions but that didn't happen. There were no answers only more questions.
"I'm giving you something to help. A keyblader can never have too many keychains after all." Izzy was trying to keep things light; trying to direct their attention else were, but it didn't work.
"How did you know…"Sora began. They had never told her about the keychains, among other things. She should not have known they even existed. But here she was handing two of them each to Sora, Riku and Kairi as if they were the something they had simply misplaced.
"Don't ask me that. There are thing you haven't told me about your adventure and I haven't asked. I only ask that you return the favor." Suddenly she was guarded. She did not want to talk about it but she didn't want to lie to them.
"I don't have a keyblade. That one was just lent to me."
Izzy snorted.
"A keyblade can't be lent. If you have one it's yours, no matter how you got it. Only keychains can be lent and even then it's no guarantee that they will work. It all depends on how connected you heart is to the original owners."
"Then how do you know these will work for us?" Riku asked, suddenly apprehensive. For someone who acted so surprised when they had explained their absence, she was privy to a lot of information that even they themselves weren't.
"Oh they'll work."
"Dark's Reprieve has amazing strength but sucks at defense. Destiny's Calling is a bit more balanced," she explained to Riku.
"Star's Decent is good for magic but I don't know much about Heavy Gale. Sorry Sora."
"Fate's Revival is strong with magic, and Earth Shaker will protect you." As she closed her daughter's hand over the tiny boulder shaped bauble, her eyes glistened. Kairi was not the only one to notice the gesture. It was the only form of emotion Izzy had shown as she explained the attributes of the trinkets to their new owners.
The touching moment, however, was not to last. A slight twang and the whistle of an arrow through the air were all the warning the motley little group had of an attack.
Something that was neither completely heartless, nor completely nobody had found them. Its feet did not touch the ground and its wings were made of turkey feathers. But it had no face. Just a blank egg smooth surface with a red crescent moon on its forehead and arrow like tattoos framing where the eyes would have been if it were human.
"Not again!" Sora moaned before the simultaneous summoning of three weapons drowned out everything else and the battle began.
Special contest:
If you can guess which character was used to create the archer heartless/nobody thingy at the end, then I'll answer one spoiler question.
Hint: He is from a book series and used to be a bad guy (sort of).
