I'm actually slightly nervous to post this chapter lmao. Strap in folks, this one ended up being long.
"So this whole 'losing your world' thing is commonplace?" Kurow asked, having finally heard Jiminy's story.
"It's not s'pose to be. King Mickey said that's why he left, to figure out what was making all those worlds disappear." Goofy replied, slightly raising his voice to be heard over the running water.
"The Heartless are a part of it." Donald stated, crossing his arms, "They've been in every world we've been to since Goofy and I set out."
Sora stifled a laugh. "Yeah, all two."
"Oh, pipe down, you."
As they reached the end of the waterway's tunnel, dim torchlight lit up a wide room, and two people stood on the rocks, seemingly in conversation.
Sora perked up, "Leon! Aerith!" he called, wildly waving.
As the group closed the distance between them, Leon turned towards them, a towel wrapped around his neck.
"Hey. What are you guys doing here?" Leon scanned over them, raising an eyebrow at Kurow. "And who's this?"
"This is Kurow! He's one of my friends." Sora said, making a small gesture towards Kurow. He gave a small wave.
"As for why we're here… two things: the first is this weird Gummi block we found, and why did we find it after my keyblade shot beam of light at doorknob?"
"I can't really help you with what that Gummi is, they're more so Cid's forte. But, when your keyblade let out that beam, did you hear a noise? Like something locking itself?" Leon inquired, after looking the block over and handing it back to Sora.
"We did actually. D'you know what it means, Leon?" Goofy asked.
"You likely locked that world's keyhole."
"Keyhole…?"
"Yes. Every world has one, and inside of it is the heart of that world. The Heartless go into the keyhole, and whittle away at the world's light. And when they chip away the last bit, the world is shattered - lost to the darkness. That's why you have the keyblade, Sora. So you can lock the keyholes, and keep those worlds safe."
"That… That must be what happened to islands…" Kurow muttered, tucking his hands into his jacket.
"But- why does it have to be me? What if someone else had a keyblade, too?" Sora said, trying not to glance at Kurow.
"That probably lies more in the wielder than the weapon." Aerith chided, her voice soft. "At one point in time, there were many people fit to wield a keyblade. But very few could do something like locking a world's keyhole."
"Gawrsh, how d'you know that, Aerith?" Goofy asked.
"When we younger, before we lost our world, a keyblade wielder came there. He said he was looking for his family." Aerith replied, clasping her hands in behind her, eyes slightly misty.
"That, and those reports we mentioned before you left." Leon added. "You know, there has to be a keyhole here as well. It'd be in your best interest to find it and lock it."
With that, the group turned to leave, pausing when Leon called, "Hey, Kurow. Come here for minute."
"You guys go on ahead. I'll meet you at Cid's shop." Kurow said, trying to look nonchalant.
"You sure you'll be able to find the way back on your own, Kurow?" Sora said, eyebrows knit together.
"I'll be fine, don't worry." Kurow assured him, managing a small smile.
"Alright, just be careful okay?"
"Always."
"So d'you know what it is, Cid?" Goofy inquired.
"You telling me none of y'all know what this is? Can't believe you're flyin' a Gummi ship and you don't even know what navigation Gummis are?" Cid looked absolutely exasperated.
"Come on Cid! We've had more important things to do than read about Gummis." Sora protested, resting against the counter.
"I'll give ya that one, kid. In simplest terms, navigation Gummis let you travel farther than you could before." Cid looked the Gummi over again. "I reckon you could probably find worlds twice as far out there with this one.
"Tell you what, I'll install this Gummi into your ship, if you boys make a delivery for me." Cid said.
"What exactly are we delivering?" Donald asked, eyes narrowed slightly.
"Hang on just a minute, I've got the damned thing here… somewhere." Cid ducked underneath the counter, and the sound of rustling papers drifted up.
After a moment, the bell to the Accessory Shop chimed as the door was pushed open.
"Yo." Kurow greeted, giving a wave. His dark blue jacket seemed to be covered in black and white hairs.
"Everything go alright?" Sora said as the other boy came over.
"Yeah, other than a few stray Heartless, it was fine." Kurow replied.
"Here's the blasted thing!" Cid said triumphantly. He drew himself up from below the counter and rested a brown and worn book on it. His eyes rested on Kurow, and he chuckled.
"Leon sent you to check on the Dalmatians, didn't he?"
"Yep."
"So the ones we found made it back safe!" Sora summed up, beaming.
"Anyways, like I said, I'll install this navi-gummi. All I want you to do in return is that this here book back to the old geezer in the Third District. His house is behind a door with a big fire sign on it. You can't miss it." Cid said, handing the book to Sora.
"Don't worry! We'll make sure he gets the book back!"
Chuckling again, Cid shook his head, and the four of them exited the shop.
"Oh, I, uh, went ahead and found a place that sells potions to stock us back up." Kurow said, bringing one out of one of the many pockets on his shorts and handing it Sora. After a moment, Kurow passed two more to Donald and Goofy.
"Awesome." Sora said, accepting the item and tucking it away. He brought his arms up, resting them behind his head. "Once we deliver this for Cid, we should probably look for the keyhole here, like Leon said."
They passed through the door to the Second District, and absentmindedly, Goofy said, "I wonder when they'll fix that door in the First District…"
"Hopefully soon." Donald remarked. "It's tiring to go all the way between these three."
'"Kurow-!" A loud voice yelled. Further down the walkway, a person in shorts, a tank top, and parka waved to them. They ran towards them, something clasped in their hands. Their short black hair was ruffled from the run, and wide blue eyes looked the four over. A small blue choker was around their neck, a crescent moon on it
"Oh, hey. What's got you all worked up?" Kurow greeted.
"Here! Consider it a thank you. You and your friends are the ones who found the Dalmatians' puppies, so we wanted to repay you, Leon and I." They said, rolling on the heels of their feet. They handed it to Kurow, not much bigger than a potion. "It's an elixir. It'll give you enough energy to use your magic again, without having to wait a little while."
"Whoa. Are you sure? These are exactly a common thing."
They nodded. "Mm. You guys will need every bit of help you can get, if you're gonna be going across worlds."
Sora tilted his head, "Have we… met before?"
"I don't… think so. I only met Kurow earlier when he came into the Dalmatians' house the I guess I should introduce myself." they said, giving a smile.
"My name is Xion."
After parting ways with Xion, the group had made their way through the Second District and into the Third. A small Fire spell had opened the door that led to a cave, filled with water.
"Who could even live in a place like this..?" Sora wondered, his voice echoing slightly. He finally found an opening, and ducked through, seeing as the actual entrance was blocked off.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" Sora called.
"Who is - Ack!" A voice called back, followed by a loud crashing sound.
"The hell was that?" Kurow said, walking through the same entrance, followed by Goofy and Donald after a moment.
Sora walked around the circular platform in the middle of the room, carefully avoiding the books strewn about. On the opposite side, an old man wearing blue robes, and a full white beard was on the floor, and shook his head.
"Uh, are you okay, sir?" Sora asked cautiously.
"Of course I'm alright, my boy! It takes more than a mishap like that to really hurt." He stood, brushing dust off of his robes. "More importantly, you three are late!"
Sora tilted his head. "...We are?" the brunet paused. "Wait, 'three'?"
"If it's not obvious, there's four of us." Donald muttered, slightly shaking his head.
The old man stared for a moment as Kurow, Donald and Goofy rounded the corner as well. "Well then. Perhaps I'm getting my times mixed up." He shook his head. "Ah, well. My name is Merlin. I trust you have a delivery for me?"
"Yep! Here, Cid asked us to bring it to you." Sora said, handing the book to Merlin.
Merlin flipped through the pages, eventually snapping the book shut and nodding. "For someone who knows more about ships, he did a fine job repairing it." He walked over to a stand and rested the book on it.
"Now then!" Merlin turned, turning a stick in his hands. "Your king has requested I help you."
"You mean King Mickey?" Goofy said.
"Yes, yes. Now, you two are Donald and Goofy…" Merlin glanced at Sora and Kurow, "And who might you be?"
"I'm Sora!"
"K-Kurow."
"Splendid!" Merlin proceeded to make his way back to the circular platform, where a large bag sat on a table. He began to rummage through it. "Now, I know I had them here somewhere… "
"I've heard the King mention Merlin before." Donald said, tapping his foot. "I could teach you two anything he could."
"You mean he knows magic?" Sora inferred.
"Of course I know magic!" Merlin returned, two small orbs in his hands. "Why, I wouldn't be half the man I am if I weren't a wizard! Now, I suppose I can safely assume you two know what these are?" Merlin asked, eyes hovering between Sora and Kurow.
Silence was the only reply, and Sora scuffed his shoes on the ground absentmindedly.
"Absolutely astonishing. Traveling with a magician and you don't know what enchanted items look like?" Merlin shook his head. He handed the two boys one each. The one he gave Sora was a bright yellow, golden near the center, and Kurow's was dark purple, near black around the edge. They faintly glowed with their respective colors.
"These items are imbued with two different spells: Gravity and Thunder. And I imagine as you get stronger, the spells will as well." Merlin explained, tapping his wand against his beard.
"I feel very faint energy from you, Sora. You've used magic before, I presume?"
Sora gave a nod, "Donald taught me how to use Fire and Blizzard - but I'm not very good at using them." Sora answered, scratching his head at the last part.
"No matter, my boy! Mastery of magic is a process. I'm sure your avian friend can attest to that. Just, ah, do be careful not to char your friends. Now," Merlin turned to Kurow, who visibly stiffened as he did so. "Oh dear. Well, that's is quite odd."
"What?"
Merlin stroked his beard. "What's odd, is I can feel some kind of energy - but not necessarily magic energy. Regardless, I would feel quite bad if I just sent you both off without even explaining how to use that magic. Now where did I put those mannequins…"
"I wonder what's takin' so long?" Goofy said, tightening his shield's brace on his arm.
"What kind of magic even is Gravity?" Sora asked, looking towards Donald.
"...I'm not really sure. I never studied it when I started out."
"Oh."
Silence crawled over the trio. Sora summoned his keyblade, looking it over in his hands. We need to find each world's keyhole, so it can be safe…
Sora drew his view upwards, the stars twinkling in the sky and clouds drifting by.
I wonder if we'll ever find Kairi and Riku. Are they alright, wherever they are? Riku's probably fine, but Kairi only sparred with us a little bit. I hope they're okay…
"Sora!" Donald's loud voice broke through Sora's thoughts, and the magician had his staff at the ready. "Heartless!"
Shadows drew themselves out of the ground, movements twitching as always. Just as the three got into battle stances, someone dropped down from the higher walkway, and dispatched the Heartless.
Sora gasped. "Riku!" Sora's blue eyes went wide, and a smile quickly appeared on his face. "T-This isn't a dream, is it?" Sora looked him up and down, noticing his friend wielded a sword that was a black and red bat wing, a large blue eye resting above the hilt.
"I would hope not. It was pretty damn hard to find you." Riku smirked, hand running through his hair.
Sora threw his arms around the other boy, hugging him, causing Riku to give a surprised noise. When he withdrew, Riku looked away, rubbing his neck, "What was that for?"
Sora grinned. "Sorry. I'm just - really happy you're alright."
The four walked all the way out the alleyway, into the street lamps' light, which glowed dimly.
"Wait, Riku, where's Kairi?" Sora asked, the thought popping up.
"I thought she was with you. Don't tell me…" Riku's voice trailed, his eyebrows knit together.
Sora kicked a stray rock away. "Dang it. Just when I thought we'd all found each other…"
"It'll be alright. I'm positive she made it off the island, too." Riku let out a deep breath. "We actually made it Sora. We got off the islands and saw other worlds. And Kai's probably looking just as hard for us as we are for her, I'm sure of it."
Riku turned his gaze onto Sora. "So, what exactly have you been doing this whole time?"
"Looking you and Kairi of course!" Sora replied. "You believe the stuff we saw, Riku! And these guys' ship can take us to all kinds of worlds!"
"And who might they be?"
"This is Donald and Goofy. They've been helping us look for you guys."
Loud footsteps came from the alleyway, a voice calling out, "Sorry for taking so long you… guys…" Kurow turned the corner, voice trailing.
"Kurow…? What're you -" Riku was cut off, stumbling back when Kurow drew him into a hug.
Kurow's shoulders shook. "You're alright… you're okay!" Kurow withdrew, holding his brother at arms length. "Riku, in what world is going on the ocean during a storm a good idea?!"
"The same one where you aren't a worry wart." Riku gave a small smile, lightly flicking Kurow's forehead. "You'll have gray hair by the time you're eighteen if you keep it up."
Kurow rubbed his forehead, laughing. "Well, you're not far off, there."
"Gawrsh, Sora, when you said they looked identical you weren't kiddin'." Goofy whispered, leaning down slightly.
"That's why they're called identical twins, Goof." Sora said, crossing his arms. "I guess now we can start looking for the keyhole and lock it."
"Keyhole? What exactly did I miss?" Riku asked, him and Kurow joined them again.
"Long story short, these keyholes lead to a world's core, it's heart. The Heartless, those weird looking monsters, want to get inside the keyholes and destroy it, sinking that world into darkness." Kurow took a deep breath.
"And as far as we can tell, Sora's keyblade is the only one that can lock them and keep that world safe."
"Sora's… keyblade? I'm guessing that's what that is." Riku made a slight gesture to Sora's hand, where his keyblade still was.
"Yeah, but after that... " Sora tilted his head. "After that, we can head to another world, and look for Kairi together!"
"Oh no! He can't come." Donald insisted.
"What? Come on, Donald, you can't be serious!" Kurow protested, taking a step forward.
" After all the time we spent searching for him? Why can't Riku come with us? He's my friend and Kurow's bro!" Sora added.
"He just can't!"
"Uh, Sora, Kurow?"
"What is it, Goofy?"
"He's gone."
…"What?"
"I can't believe Riku just left like that." Kurow said, tossing the rock in his hand away.
"He might still be around town…" Sora chided, though his tone was less than optimistic.
They had left the Third District after Riku's disappearance, backtracking through the Second, with no sign of Heartless oddly enough.
"Maybe he just remembered somethin' he forgot!" Goofy said, trying to keep the mood light.
"He's just being dumb." Kurow huffed.
As they reached the square with the water fountain, a bell chime rang out over the District.
"Isn't that… the bell above the Gizmo Shop?" Sora questioned.
There was a second chime and then with a third, the fountain in front of them sprung to life, the central block turning. As it came to a stop, a shining light appeared on it.
Before anyone could move, a familiar set of armor dropped down, fully assembled. The only difference Sora could see was it seemed that the hands and feet had reversed, and the helmet was now pulled down to reveal it's golden glowing eyes.
Sora stumbled back, just barely dodging the Heartless' spinning attack, his keyblade appearing in his hand.
"Thunder!" Sora pointed his keyblade skyward, streaks of electricity racing across the Heartless' limbs. The arms(or were they still considered feet?) dropped to the ground, disappearing in small bursts of light. It swung its legs, knocking them back from it.
It's movements quickly became more erratic, the head floating away at points while the torso attacked the four of them with orbs of energy. Soon only the torso and head remained.
Sora saw Kurow out of the corner of his eye, struggling to stand, squaring his feet and trying to focus on the head.
"Gravity!"
A large ball of purple and black appeared over the head, which had made it's way back to it's torso, and forced it downwards. When the ball dissipated, the only thing that remained was the torso, which faded after a moment, disappearing into the air.
A small green orb lied on the ground, right where the last of the armor had been. Kurow picked it up, holding it up in the low light.
"I think… this is another one of those enchanted things Merlin mentioned." Kurow said, offering it to Sora when the other boy had walked over.
Sora shook his head. "You should keep it. It was your magic that got it down."
"But - you still did most of the damage, Sora."
"It's cool. Besides, you've only got Gravity for magic right? So now you have one more!"
With that, Sora turned, pointing his keyblade at the keyhole. Light gathered once again, and with a sound click! the keyhole's light faded.
When I said 'major deviations from canon' I meant it :3c
Feel free to ask questions, but if it has to do with things that spoils later events, I likely won't answer it, so sorry about that!
Also thank you to everyone who's read this, and gotten it over 100 views on here! It's been awesome motivation!