Why, hello there

A/N—Happy New Year! …Heck, Happy Chinese New Year as well! I can't believe I'm this late. But the normal whining – Midterms were in January, and the month of February is going to be worse than hectic, so…here's an update. Hope you like it

Can't believe that this fic will be done in four chapters (after this one). If …if I finish it, it'll be my first completed chaptered story. It…makes me really happy.

Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter, and please review!

Chapter 6 – Fallen Leaves

Beta—rainbowserenity.


Riku had long given up on attempting breaking free of the prison in which he'd been locked in. After his first two escape attempts, the guards realized that Riku could use the Keyblade in order to free himself. Jerking on the ropes that bound his arms, he sighed before resting against the wall and closing his eyes.

What kind of sick world was this? Riku attempted to remember how he was able to summon for King Mickey's help in Castle Oblivion before sighing again. It wouldn't matter – if they were that iffy about a boy with a key and people who could, and would, fight being gypsies, he was sure that a talking mouse wouldn't regarded kindly either.

No wonder His Majesty hadn't wanted Goofy or Donald here –those two would've attracted a lot of unwanted attention.

Giving up the hope that the guards were eventually going to leave (after his second escape attempt, they'd wizened up and placed guards at his cell), Riku glanced up to the window with a sad smile. Esmeralda had said that she would be able to help him no matter what, but where was she? Who knew where, while he was stuck in a jail cell, set to die at sunrise. And Sora…

"Sora…" Riku repeated aloud and softly to himself before resting his head on his tucked in knees. The brunet had tried to save him, but ended up dooming them both. All he now wanted to do was break out, grab Sora, find the Gummi Ship, and escape this hellish world.

"Shut up, you!" one of the guards shouted to him. Riku glared at the man before jerking at his restraints, and the man jumped a bit.

"Don't provoke it," the second guard instructed, causing Riku's glare to intensity tenfold. It?! His mind screamed, but he kept silent. "See its strange hair? Normal people can't have that – it's the gypsy magic. Annoy it too much and it'll attack us." Turning to face Riku, the man gave a malicious smile. "She'll die at sunrise, anyway."

Riku's glare died down and he rested his head against the cold stone of the walls. Sora… help… Riku didn't want to plead, but he was becoming more worried as time passed.


On the other hand, Sora was currently narrowing his eyes, standing beside Djali as Esmeralda and Phoebus continued talking. She was obviously infatuated with him; and Phoebus, her. Great –Sora had things to do, places to be. Could they just shut up for five minutes?

"Good work captain!" Sora groaned and buried his face in his hands. Great. Not another distraction …and not just any distraction. Frollo smiled before Phoebus and Esmeralda began to argue back and forth about how Esmeralda had to plead Sanctuary in order to stay alive.

After the Archdeacon had appeared out of nowhere, and forced Frollo to leave the church and not pursue people into God's palace, Sora quickly tugged on Esmeralda's sleeve. She blinked before giving a smile. "I know you… you're friends with Riku, aren't you?"

"The girl?" Phoebus asked before Djali butted his head into Phoebus's chest. "Alright, alright! I'm going, I'm going!" he shouted, heading for the door.

Sora nodded at her, before replying quietly, so no guards could overhear him. "Yeah, and he's been taken away. The word is from some of the guards… they're going to kill him tomorrow morning. I…I can't help him…" Sora lowered his head and exhaled. "But can you? Please? You know your way around better than I do!"

She gave him a grim smile before patting his shoulder. "I can't. I'm locked up in here, just as tight as Riku would be, down in the dungeon. But…" Glancing to her left and right, she leaned down to his ear and whispered, "If I can escape, I'll save him. He'll be in the Court of Miracles."

Sora pulled away, about to repeat what she just said to confirm, but Esmeralda quickly put a finger to his lips. He grinned in response and gave her a quick hug. "Thank you… thanks so much!"

Chuckling, she patted his back before lightly shoving him towards the door. He nodded and headed to where Phoebus had exited, only to feel the hair on his neck rise. Without thinking about it, he summoned his Keyblade and rushed back to where Esmeralda had spoken to him, only to cringe at the sight of Frollo holding Esmeralda. "Let her go." He glared at the man who was currently smelling Esmeralda's hair.

Frollo pulled back with a malicious smile. "Ah, the squire of Phoebus, wasn't it?"

"Get off of me," Esmeralda hissed, pulling away from Frollo, feeling generally disgusted.

Sora stood in front of her, pointing the Keyblade at Frollo's chest. "What were you even doing?" he questioned, his eye twitching.

The man leaned forward and placed a hand on Esmeralda's neck. With almost a shriek, she jumped away, and Sora's grip tightened. "Why, I was just imagining a rope around that beautiful neck."

"I know what you were imagining!" she hissed, clenching her fists.

Frollo gave a mirthless chuckle. "Such a clever witch. So typical of your kind to twist the truth and cloud it with unholy thoughts." Turning his back to both Sora and Esmeralda, he said, "You've chosen a magnificent prison, but it is a prison nonetheless. If you step outside…even if to save someone…" Frollo directed this part of the statement at Sora, who gulped quietly. No matter how well he could fight, it would be worthless if he was thrown in jail. "One foot outside and you're mine."

About to move to Esmeralda's side to apologize in some form, Sora realized that Frollo was staring over at him. "Won't Phoebus be curious as to what this knave, who uses such a curious looking weapon, is doing conversing with gypsies?" he questioned softly before heading to the door.

Sora gave Esmeralda a helpless look, in which she simply responded with a nod, and he ran to the door, formulating a plan as he went along.


"You have to tell me!" Sora exclaimed, tugging on Phoebus's arm. Phoebus raised his eyebrow and gently removed Sora.

"I don't really have to do anything, you know." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Frollo's going to have us up all night watching the doors. Knowing Esmeralda, she's not going to leave…not without some sort of plan."

Sora shook his head. "Please, Phoebus! Tell me where the dungeons are!" Phoebus opened his mouth to refuse again, but Sora simply continued. "Riku's my best friend; don't make me watch him die!"

Phoebus exhaled deeply and didn't say a word for about a minute. Sora scowled before turning his back. "If you're not going to help me…"

"Kid, I didn't say that," Phoebus interjected, grabbing Sora's shoulder. Leaning down to whisper into Sora's ear, he quickly hissed out instructions. "And," he added, once he was done. "I have told younothing, am I clear?"

Sora nodded before giving Phoebus a quick hug, which the blond raised his eyebrow at. "Thank you...thank you so much."

"Be back before midnight!" Phoebus shouted to Sora's back as the brunet ran in said direction.

A guard raised his eyebrow at Phoebus before asking, "Where are you sending him?" As Phoebus turned, he quickly formulated a lie and spoke it with authority.

"I sent my squire off to check the other side of the cathedral. I didn't think I would be questioned about something so trivial, being a captain." The guard quickly saluted him and moved away. Phoebus turned to watch as Sora rounded a corner and sighed.

Good luck, kid, he thought with a grim smile.


Sora quickly arrived to where he needed to be, surprised that the sun had appeared again, causing the rain to disappear. He smiled up to the sunset before quickly entering the dungeon. A quick salute and information that he was Captain Phoebus's squire allowed him easy access into the dungeons. When he finally arrived to Riku's cell, he had to fight the grin off his face at the sight of his best friend and told those guards the same as what he told the others.

The first guard nodded and began to move, but the other one, who seemed older and wiser, did not budge an inch. Sora frowned. "I said I'm Captain Phoe—" he began, but the guard cut him off with a harsh glare.

"I know who you say you are. Frollo's given us instructions to not let anyone speak to the gypsy," he stated, not budging an inch.

Sora resisted the urge to tear his hair out in frustration, before an idea popped into his head. "Captain Phoebus…believes that I can persuade the gypsy to …tell us where the Court of Miracles is."

At this, even the second guard moved. "Alright –you have ten minutes," he ordered, pushing past Sora to walk through the door. The other guard quickly followed after him and shut the door.

Sora waited a moment before grabbing the keys off the hook on the wall, unlatching the door, and running into the cell, wrapping his arms around Riku. "I thought I'd never see you again!" he exclaimed, resting his head against Riku's shoulder.

Riku sighed and closed his eyes. Same old Sora, he thought with a smile. "Can you…?" he began, nodding to his binds. Sora quickly began working at the ropes and Riku frowned. "We have to get out of this world –we're going to die if we stay here."

As Sora finished untying them, Riku brought his hands to his front, and after clenching his fists, summoned his Keyblade. "Great…" He grinned to himself, before dispersing the weapon again.

Sora stayed sitting on the ground. "But… we have to help them!" Riku glanced back down to the brunet, who tried speaking again. "We have to help the gypsies and defeat Frollo!"

Kneeling down next to Sora, Riku grabbed Sora's face. "Sora…I know you want to help, but it's either we die to save them or we live and head home. They already have me marked for death, and knowing your righteous ways, you have to have angered Frollo somehow…"

"But that's what King Mickey sent us here for!" Sora retorted, shaking Riku's hands off his face. "He wants us to protect the people of this world. And we'll be okay –we're Keybearers."

Riku lowered his head with a sigh. "I just don't want to see you hurt, Sora!" Riku exclaimed under his breath. Sora blinked, not hearing him well, and asked him to repeat it.

"Yes, I would like to hear it too." Sora jumped, and Riku cursed under his breath before both boys looked up to see Frollo staring at them from the other side of the cell door. "Is there some reason, 'squire', that you're over there? Didn't I give specific instructions that all guards, save for the ones watching prisoners, to be at the cathedral?"

Sora bit his lip and glanced back to Riku, who mouthed "Play along" before slapping Sora across the face. Sora leapt to his feet before staring down at Riku in open mouthed awe.

Riku was glaring up to Sora, clenching his fists. "I will not tell you how to get to the Court of Miracles, you fool!" he exclaimed, bringing his voice up a few octaves to match the part he was supposed to be. Sora quickly understood and narrowed his eyes.

Frollo completely forgot about what he had been discussing beforehand and gripped the bars of the cage tighter. "Has she given any clues?" he asked, curiosity taking the better of him. Sora shook his head, and Frollo nodded. "Very well. I'm sure the whip will be efficient for her."

"No!" Sora exclaimed, internally slapping himself as he realized what he just said.

"No?" Frollo repeated, growing suspicious.

Sora said nothing for a minute as he formulated an idea. "H—erm, she wouldn't give us any information if she knew she would be beaten for it!" he offered, his face grim.

"Yes…" Frollo nodded, moving away from the bars. "I underestimated you, squire. You'll go back to Phoebus and inform him of what you have learned. The guards will get the girl to talk." He turned, and stormed out of the dungeon, leaving a few guards behind.

Before anyone could do anything else, another guard ran into the dungeon, his eyes wild. "Sir!" he exclaimed, looking nervous. "The gypsy! We've looked all around the cathedral and no one can find her!"

The guard who had refused to let Sora into Riku's cell at first turned to face the newcomer, and his eyes widened. "Look again!" he exclaimed, throwing the keys to the cell to another guard before hurrying out of the dungeon. Before he exited completely, he turned back to Riku, his eyes narrowing. "You will tell us something, girl, if you wish to live to see tomorrow."

Riku simply scowled at the guards as they ran out, not wanting to jeopardize his 'role' anymore by speaking. "Now what…?" he asked softly to Sora, once everyone had run off.

"I'll save you!" Both boys turned to the window, seeing Esmeralda's smiling face in it. "Quasimodo helped me escape and sent me over here. Apparently, you two are friends…?" she asked to Sora, who grinned. Good ol' Quasi. "Anyway, come on, Riku! The guards are furious, and we have to disappear!"

Riku nodded before turning back to Sora. "I…" he started, but Sora quickly cut him off.

"We'll see each other again. I promise!" He grinned. Riku sighed and gave Sora a quick smile before leaping to the window, grabbing Esmeralda's arm, and disappearing into the night.

The smile fell off of Sora's face almost as soon as Riku disappeared. Riku was right, but it didn't matter anyway. They would never get to go home, not with the people of this world acting this way! Not when the world was this horrible...

He quickly ran out of the dungeon, hoping that he would be able to save Riku, and himself, soon enough.


The next morning, Phoebus had to drag Sora out of bed and practically carry him down to the square. "Didn't I say don't be out later than midnight?" he questioned, sighing.

Sora gave a childish yawn before shrugging. "I know!" he responded, rubbing his eyes. "I was forced to join the search for Esmeralda…"

Phoebus's grip on his arm tightened. "Is she alright?" he asked, but they both quieted instantly when Frollo's carriage arrived. He moved away from Sora, called the guards to attention, and looked up to the carriage. "Morning, sir."

Sora winced at Frollo's exhausted face – the man looked as if he's stayed up way past midnight. In fact, it didn't seem like the man slept at all.

Phoebus blinked. "Are you feeling all right?"

Frollo waved it off. "I…had a little trouble with the fireplace."

"I see…" Phoebus responded, nodding. "Your orders, sir?"

Frollo's tired image faded away as his eyes narrowed and his resolve sharpened. "Find the gypsy girls."

As Phoebus nodded, and shouted orders to the soldiers, Sora's stomach dropped. His bad day was becoming worse with each passing moment.