Chapter FOUR: A Blissful Confidence
Sora sat in silence as Luka explained the plan to him. "Sora, you lead these heartless out to Agrabah. I will lead the rest elsewhere." he said. Sora just sat back in his chair and rolled his eyes as Luka droned on with his plans. Sora's abnormally large crown fell down over his brown hair as he closed his eyes. "You know that crown would be smaller if you'd listen to me! Sora, you have a great power over the heartless now." he snapped. A mischievous grin crept its way onto Sora's face as he thought of all the evil he could spread to all the worlds. Luka smirked. "That's what I thought." he continued to explain, until a small figure scrambled into the room, carrying a stack of parchments with him that were bigger than he was.
"Luka! Luka! These are from his majesty!" the figure said in its squeaky voice. Sora looked at Luka with a puzzled look on his face.
"How are you letting that annoying little mouse man tie in with this?" Sora demanded questionably.
"Oh, I suppose I'll tell you. Mickey has made agreements that if we let go of a few of his soldiers, then he'll give us the only map to Hollow Bastion's Castle." he said. Sora thought for a moment. Hollow Bastion. It sounded so oddly familiar. "The three main war fractions we have going on in this battle are Hollow Bastion, another hidden castle, and here, The World That Never Was. Our beloved capitol." Sora sighed, re-adjusting his crown. "Anyway, let's move on. We'd better get this done and finished, we meet the 'annoying little mouse man' in an hour." Luka reminded him. Sora's lip twitched as he slumped down in his chair.
"So... which prisoners does the King want?" he finally asked.
"Oh, just some stupid dog, and a duck with a horrible temper to match." Luka said quickly, wanting to continue. Sora sat up instantly.
"It isn't... no... no way." he said. Luka looked at him strangely.
"Isn't what?" he asked.
"Their names, they wouldn't happen to be, Donald and Goofy would they?" he asked. Luka rolled his eyes.
"Oh you just suck the life out of everything! Why can't I be the one to know things and then tell you?! Why must you know everyone and everything in this universe?!" Luka yelped, pacing back and forth quickly. Sora smiled.
"Because I'm Sora." he said. Luka looked at him dumbly.
"You can't possibly believe that's the reason." he said plainly. Sora shrugged.
"Hey it works for me." he replied simply. Luka rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. Well, when you take the heartless to raid on the fighters of Agrabah, I want you to also find your next companion. He'll have tremendous power over the heartless, and he'll help you exceed to higher limits, once Naminé tweaks things a little that is. His name is Riku. He'll be resistant at first, and he's an extraordinary liar, so don't let yourself believe a word he says. He'll be the one to help you destroy the princess of light. A little girl named Kairi." Once again, Sora recognized the names. He knew he'd heard them before, but the didn't know who they were.
"As long as I'm King, I don't really care who we have to step on to get me there." he said. Luka chuckled.
"Now there's the right attitude." he said.
"Luka! It's time for the meeting." the small squeaky voice piped up from around the door. He nodded and waved the little pathetic creature off.
"Come on. Today, you learn the art of haggling." Luka said with a small laugh. Sora raised an eyebrow as he followed him out of the room.
"Whaddid you mean 'Once Naminé tweaks things a little'?" he asked. Luka paused, then turned around.
"All in good time my boy... All in good time..." he said, smiling slyly. Sora shuttered at the pure evilness of it. He'd have to work on that.
"Whatever..." he waved to Roxas, who nodded and followed him.
The gummy ship had been modified again. Naminé and Roxas had explained things on his way to see Luka for the first time. They'd told him that the ship was changed weekly to confuse the enemies that followed them. This time it was bigger, and heavily armored. When he questioned Luka on it, he'd said they'd make it look the same each time they visited the Disney Castle.
"So we confuse 'em even more." Roxas said with a wink. Naminé had been waiting next to the entrance. She silently fell into step with them, walking on the left side of him, Roxas on the right.
"Oh! Is that it?!" Sora asked. Roxas sighed roughly and shook his head. "What about that?!" he asked, pointing to Atlantica. Roxas shook his head again. He leaned over and whispered something in Naminé's ear.
"Why did you have to erase everything?!" She giggled.
"Sorry."
"Oh! That's gotta be it!" he said, pointing to Hollow Bastion. Naminé smiled.
"Closest thing you've said yet." she said proudly.
"Don't encourage it! He's just pointing at random worlds and asking!" Roxas yelped. Sora frowned.
"Ok then big shot. You tell me where it is and I'll shut up." he said.
"WE'RE NOT THERE YET!" Roxas yelled, slapping himself. Sora was about to say something, but was cut off when a shoe connected with his head.
"SHUT UP BACK THERE!" Luka yelled from the front of the ship. Sora picked up the shoe and chucked it a Roxas. He dodged it, only to have it ricochet off the wall behind him and nail him in the back of the head. He yelped and glared at Sora who was smirking. Naminé winced as she watched Sora's crown slide down his bangs and cover his eyes.
"Hey! Where'd everybody go?!" he asked, searching around. He stood up and started to walk towards the opposite wall. Luka smirked and jerked the steering wheel, so Sora slammed into the wall. He fell backwards with a loud 'thud'. "Owie..." he mumbled.
"You dope." Naminé said, getting up and wrenching the crown off his head. She walked up to the front of the ship.
"I don't think Sora should wear this until it's been fitted. It could be dangerous. Plus, how threatening is he going to be to King Mickey if that happens during the meeting?" Naminé said, saving Sora from hours of embarrassment. Luka nodded and instructed her to guard it until they returned to the Capitol.
"Thanks." Sora mumbled when she returned.
"Heh... You're welcome." she mumbled. Something nagged at the back of his mind. He'd heard that before. That very line. Luka's little speech drifted through his mind. He saw a girl, with red hair, sitting next to him on a tree. Another boy, who looked a little older, and with silver hair smiled at her.
"Thanks." he'd said. The little girl had smiled goofily and clenched her fist in front of her while she'd laughed.
"Heh... You're welcome." she'd said.
"Sora? Sora?" he snapped back to reality when he heard Naminé calling to him.
"Yeah?" he asked quickly. She smiled and pointed at the Disney Castle. Everyone inside the ship was gone.
"We're here." she said quietly, holding out her hand. He took it and stood up. They stared at each other for a second, then blushed and let go of each other's hands. Roxas peaked his head back through the doorway.
"Hurry up! Now!" he snapped. Sora gave him a dirty look, but followed anyway. Naminé sighed, not wanting to move. Finally, she forced the dilusional thoughts out of her head and closed the ship door behind her.
Luka threw the giant doors open and stroled in. The King looked up from the paperwork he was filing. Queen Minnie stood and left the room. She attempted a smile at Sora, but failed. They marched up the long narrow strip of red carpet, finally reaching the throne.
"The prisoners have been released, they're waiting outside this room." Luka announced. Sora, Roxas, and Naminé stood behind him. Roxas and Naminé were surveying the room, ready to attack should anything prove to look dangerous. Both looked extremley vicious and loyal. The doors opened and in walked Donald and Goofy. They were disheveled, but otherwise unharmed. Donald passed Sora with a glare, while Goofy looked utterly confused. He simply glared back. Mickey pulled out the map and handed it to Luka, both eyeing each other supiciously.
King Mickey nodded and handed Luka the map.
"Well, that went well." Luka grumbled. He waved the trio off and disappeared down a hallway. Roxas turned to Sora and scowled.
"You, me, race, now." he said, pointing as he spoke. Naminé giggled and watched them as they ran outside. It wasn't raining, for a first, though the sun wasn't shining. Roxas grabbed a random skateboard off the corner of the street and gave Sora an expectant look.
"You want me to skateboard?" Sora asked, giving Roxas a very weird look. He nodded and threw Sora a blue skateboard. He caught it awkwardly and gave him an uncertain look. Naminé gave him a thumbs up and he sighed. "If I break my arm, I'll kill you in your sleep." he threatened. Roxas just smirked.