Last time Riku and Kairi were still with Bloom and Sky. With their transportation busted, they had to walk to the nearby city of Magix for help. But then Bloom was summoned by her ascended sister Daphne. Kairi went with her, while Riku stuck with Sky. Back at Alfea, Sora witnessed as Carmen, one awesomely bad witch, convince her fellow Cloud Tower students to work together with the fairies and specialists against The Trix and The Heartless. 'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 8: The Calm Before the Typhoon
"It's quiet," said Sora. It had been hours since the last Heartless attack. Everyone at Alfea was using the time to rest up for the next assault, whenever it comes. But for Sora, the lack of enemy activity was a bit unnerving, and he wasn't alone in his sense of unease.
"Too quiet for my taste," said Carmen. It was supposed to be early afternoon according to everyone's watches , but with the sinister clouds overhead, it could be just about any time. "What are those psychos up to?"
"Who can say what Icy and her ilk sisters are planning," said Elise, "The only action we can do is wait."
"Just our luck," muttered Donald.
"Would you rather they came right now?" Morgan asked.
"Of course not," said Goofy, "But I'm not fond of just sittin' around neither."
It was then that Musa and Tecna came up to them, "Have you a minute to spare?" Tecna asked, "We could use our help."
"Sure," said Sora, "What is it?"
"It's Flora," said Musa, "She's at her wits end trying to help Mirta."
"Mirta!?" exclaimed Carmen, "She's here?!"
"More or less," Tecna said hesitantly, "You'd better come with us, we'll explain."
"Who's Mirta?" Sora asked as they followed Musa and Tecna.
"She's one of the handful of us witches who openly believe that fairies and witches shouldn't fight," said Elise, "That earned a lot of teasing from the other 'traditional' idiots, especially from The Trix."
"One day she disappeared," said Morgan.
"She didn't disappear," said Musa, "She's here."
A minute or so later found Sora, along with Goofy, Donald, Morgan, Elise and Carmen, in the dorm room of The Winx. Stella, Musa, Flora and Tecna were standing around a table that was near the balcony. On that table was a small pumpkin that had two vines growing out of the top. One side had strange discolorations that gave it facial features.
"You're telling us that that is Mirta?" Elise asked in a disbelieving tone, pointing at the pumpkin.
"I'm afraid so," said Stella.
"I don't know if I should laugh or feel sorry," said Morgan, "'cause this is one really bad joke."
"It's no joke!" exclaimed Flora, "The witches, they turned Mirta into a pumpkin! Just because she tried to help us a few weeks ago."
"Sounds just like the sort of thing The Trix would do," said Sora, while Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement.
"Mirta," Carmen said to the pumpkin, "If you're in there, give me a sign."
The vines atop the pumpkin began moving, as if saying 'yes.'
"It's her alright," said Carmen.
"No way!" exclaimed Sora.
"Hell yes, way," Morgan.
"Then can you help her?" Flora asked hopefully, "I've been trying for weeks to break the spell, but nothing I've done has worked."
"You said it was Icy who did it?" Carmen asked.
"Like I would ever forget that," said Stella, "Yes, she did it."
"Then there's a problem already," said Elise, "This is a 'witch-on-witch' spell. The best way to remove such a curse is for the caster to do so, and as everyone here knows, it'll be a cold day in hell before Icy ever does anything nice."
"So what can we do?" Sora asked.
"Donald," said Carmen, "You're from another reality, where magic has different rules. Maybe someone with a different form of magic can determine how to remove the spell."
"I can try," said Donald. He walked around the table, pausing to examine Mirta in her pumpkin form from different angles, "Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh," he stopped, "I don't know what to do."
Everyone in the room sighed annoyingly. But then Elise spoke, "Would it help if you knew Mirta's background?"
"What do you mean?" Tecna asked.
"Perhaps there's something in Mirta's family history that can give us a clue as to how to break the spell," said Elise, "Or her personal medical records. Yes, that maybe the best place to look." She called up a wrist-mounted computer and began typing away madly.
"You're gonna hack into the Cloud Tower database again," said Carmen, "You do remember the last time you did that?"
"As if I could ever forget that," muttered Morgan.
"What happened the last time Elise hacked into your school's records?"
"You're better off not knowing," said Carmen, "The fewer who know, the less chance anyone winds up being sued, or worse."
"This time I won't be going into any forbidden records," said Elise, "I'm just pulling up Mirta's medical contact information, then I'll hack into her medical history files on her homeworld."
"Ain't that illegal?" Goofy asked.
"It is," said Elise, "But I have a very good reason. Here we go…hmm…that's interesting, very interesting indeed."
"What's interesting?" Musa asked.
"Apparently," said Elise, "Mirta is both a witch and a fairy."
"How is that possible?" Flora asked.
"Genetics," said Tecna.
"Precisely," said Elise, "according to the records, Mirta's mother is a witch, but her father was from a family where the women are fairies. I don't know how such a relationship worked out, but here we are."
"It would explain why Mirta had such a hard time in class," said Carmen, "her heart has too much light in it for dark magic."
"But how does this help Mirta?" Sora asked.
It was then that Tecna, Elise and Donald spoke as one, "I've got an idea!"
********
"We've been standing in this pond for ten minutes," said Kairi, "and nothing's happening. Bloom? Can you hear me?" she saw that Bloom was just standing there in the water with her eyes close, oblivious to Kairi and everything else.
Cautiously, Kairi touched Bloom's shoulder. The next thing Kairi knew she was underwater, but she could still breathe. She could see that both she and Bloom were beneath a brightly lit lake full of strange and colorful fish and plants.
"What just happened?!" Kairi asked.
"I guess you fell into my vision," said Bloom. They both then saw a cave in the rock side of the lake, a bright orange light emanating from within. "That's the cave I saw when Ms. Faragonda and I saw a while ago in another vision, come on."
The entered the cave. Waiting for them at the end was Daphne, the ascended Nymph radiating with warmth and wisdom.
"Daphne," said Bloom, "Is this a dream? Is any of this real?"
"It is, little sister," said Daphne, "Look and remember; you haven't lost your powers, they've been with you all along."
"That's what I've been telling her!" said Kairi in an exasperated tone, but she then regain her composure, "forgive me, please continue."
Bloom meanwhile was looking at a nearby mirror, though why a mirror would be at the bottom of a lake, Kairi didn't know. But Bloom obviously was seeing something that Kairi didn't.
"I can see my parent's house, I mean, my adoptive parents."
"Yes," continued Daphne, "You were brought up on Earth by two caring and understanding people, who loved you well enough to let you go when the time came."
"And I let them down," said Bloom in a depressed tone, "I let everyone down; I failed everyone's expectations. I don't belong anywhere."
Apparently at this, Kairi decided that she had had enough, "If you don't let go of that defeatist attitude, I'm gonna smack you!"
"That may not be necessary," said Daphne, "Bloom, you still are the same person you were before you first realized your powers. Your past on Earth will always be yours, just like your power. No one can take that away from you."
"Then what happened to me?" Bloom asked, "If The Trix only drained my powers, if I still have the core of The Dragonfire inside of me, why haven't my powers come back yet?"
"Nothing that doesn't happen to everyone at one point or another," said Daphne, "fear and doubt."
It was then that something clicked into place in Kairi's mind, ""Wizards' First Rule.'"
"Huh?" Bloom asked.
"In the book, 'Wizards' First Rule,' by Terry Goodkind," said Kairi, "in that story magic has rules, and the first rule states that people can be manipulated into believing any lie, because they want to believe it or are afraid of the real truth. The Trix believe that they've taken The Dragonfire for real, but they're so wrapped up in their delusions that they wouldn't know the truth if you hit them with it."
"Exactly," said Daphne, "Bloom, you came to believe that what you loved most dearly can be taken away. But the truth is, no one in all of existence can ever steal your past, your dreams or your magic. The witches do not own them; they are yours to keep forever. Bloom, to recover your powers, look deep inside yourself, look deep within your heart."
With that the ascended Nymph vanished, leaving Bloom and Kairi alone. But then the underwater scene vanished as well, and the two of them were back in the real world.
"Okay," Kairi said hesitantly, "That was as weird as it gets."
"Which part?" Bloom asked, "Where we were breathing underwater? Or where we just talked to my ascended sister?"
"All of it I guess," said Kairi, "So, did it work? Do you have your powers back?"
"Only one way to find out," said Bloom. She closed her eyes, a look of deep concentration on her face, "That's it! I can't believe that I didn't see it before! Magic Winx!!"
Kairi was temporally blinded by a flash or bright reddish-orange light. When her vision cleared, Kairi was stunned by the transformation Bloom had taken. She was now wearing a sparkly blue top decorated with a gold jewel at her chest, with a matching skirt and blue ankle boots. She also wore blue gloves around her arms from elbow to wrist and a small golden tiara with rounded points at the top of her head. Her wings were cyan with teal tips.
Kairi was speechless as Bloom took flight, testing out her wings again after so long.
"You did it!" Kairi finally managed to say.
********
Back at Alfea, Sora sensed that something really, really good had happened to Kairi, or at least, she saw something that was making her happy. But then he focused back on the present situation. Elise and Tecna had directed Flora and Morgan to stand at opposite sides of the table with Mirta between them, while Donald stood at the far end of the table.
"Remind me what it is that you need me to do?" Morgan asked, "I didn't quite catch it the first time."
"I'll explain it one more time, Morgan," said Elise, "Then you're on your own, so pay attention. Despite the vastly superior intellects of myself and Tecna here, you and Flora have a better understanding of transfiguration magic on a subconscious level. Therefore, it is up to the two of you to provide the necessary magical medium."
"You need to focus your magic onto Mirta," said Tecna, "Concentrating on changing her back to normal, while Donald will perform a standard counter-spell."
"That I understood," said Morgan, who then glared at Elise, "Why can't you talk simply like that?"
"You understood Tecna," said Stella, "I can barely make sense of what half she says."
"You would if you studied more," muttered Tecna.
"Are we going to do this or not?" Donald asked.
"Our feathery friend is right," said Morgan, "Let's light this rocket! Whenever you're ready."
"I'm ready now," said Flora. With that she and Morgan put their hands onto Mirta's pumpkin body and channeled their magic around her. Mirta began glowing first orange, then yellow, then red, back to yellow and orange and so on.
All the time Elise and Tecna had been measuring the amount of magical energy used, "Almost there," said Elise, "Morgan, you're dropping behind. Put a little more effort into it."
"That's it," said Tecna, "You're both emitting the exact amount of energy. Just a few more seconds…Donald! Now!!"
Donald then waved his staff and cast the counter-spell. The pumpkin on the table began glowing much brighter, nearly blinding everyone in the room.
When the light faded and everyone could see again, the pumpkin was gone. But at the other end of the table was a witch with pale skin, dark, shoulder-length red hair and green eyes. She wore black boots, a black and red skirt, a white t-shirt with a pumpkin on the front and a black vest.
"Mirta!" exclaimed Flora as she embraced the witch.
"You did it, Flora!" exclaimed Mirta happily, "You saved me!" she then saw Morgan, "You to, Morgan!" she ran and hugged Morgan, "Thank you!" she then saw Donald, "And thank you to"!" she hugged Donald.
"Let's hope Daisy doesn't hear about this," said Sora.
"I won't say nuthin' if you don't say nuthin'," said Goofy.
"So it is possible," said Elise, "witches and fairies can work together for the common good. I admit that I had my doubts, but this is proof positive that both light and dark magic users can work in harmony."
"That's what I've been trying to say to everyone at Cloud Tower," said Mirta.
"It was more than cooperation between light and darkness," said Morgan, "Flora and I, we both needed to believe."
"How could I ever think that my desire to help someone was weaker than The Trix's evil," said Flora.
"The point is that it worked," said Carmen, "And if we can break one of Icy's spells, then we can beat all three of them."
"I hate to change the subject so suddenly," said Stella, who was out on the balcony, "But there's a tall, dark and exceptionally cute boy, pacing up and down, right under our window. And I think he wants to see you, Musa."
"Oh don't be silly, Stella," said Musa, "But I think I'll go for a walk anyway." With that she left the room.
"Musa and Riven," said Tecna, seeing the confused looks on Donald, Sora and Goofy, "They have history."
"Oh," said Sora, Donald and Goofy, understanding.
"Hey, Riven!" shouted Stella, "I think she's coming down!"
"Who is?" Riven shouted from below.
"Oh come on!" said Musa, "Don't play innocent, you know who it is."
"Don't embarrass him," said Flora, "It's hard enough for Riven to talk about his feeling as it is."
A few minutes later Musa came back up from downstairs.
"So, how did it go?" Stella asked eagerly.
"He just wanted to know if I've spoken with Brandon and the other boys," said Musa in a clam, neutral tone.
"That's all?" Tecna asked.
"That idiot!" exclaimed Stella, "he totally blew it with you, Musa. That does it, I'm so finding you another boyfriend."
"No need," smiled Musa, "Actually this was an improvement with Riven. Give him time, I'm sure grow accustomed to me."
"Now this is what I call good soap opera material," whispered Morgan.
It was then that Sora sensed that something bad was happening elsewhere.
"What's wrong?" Carmen asked.
"It's Riku," said Sora gravely, "he's in trouble, and there's nothing I can do to help him!"
"Sora," said Donald in a comforting tone.
But then Sora sensed that Kairi also knew that Riku needed help, and that she was in a much better position to help than Sora was, and that made Sora feel a lot better.
********
Kairi did indeed sense that Riku was in trouble.
"What's wrong, Kairi?" Bloom asked as she saw the troubled look on Kairi's face.
"It's Riku," said Kairi, "He needs help, and I'm not sure, but I think Sky also need help as well."
"Then what are we standing around here for?" Bloom asked, "Hang on!!"
Before Kairi knew it, she was surrounded by orange and red light in the shape of a Chinese dragon. Bloom was using her magic to transport the both of them.
********
Riku also sensed that both Kairi and Sora witnessed something good. But then he snapped back to reality as both he and Sky wandered the deserted streets of Magix. There was evidence of fighting here and there; overturned cars, scorch marks on buildings and the streets from blaster fire, broken windows and other signs that Riku knew that The Heartless had been through here.
"Where is everybody?" Sky asked.
"I guess some are hiding," said Riku, "Some tried to put up a fight against The Heartless. Looks like that fight didn't last too long."
"If there was fighting here," said Sky, "Why aren't there any bodies?"
"The Heartless don't leave bodies," said Riku, "they don't kill people outright. No, anyone who has fallen victim to The Heartless is no doubt by now one of them."
Sky was about to respond to this, when they were startled by a loud crashing noise. They looked around to see two Soldiers and one Neo Shadow approaching them.
"It never ends, does it," said Sky as he charged up his sword, while Riku summoned hi Keyblade.
"And it may never will," replied Riku. They easily took out the Soldiers, but the Neo Shadow parried Sky's attack and knocked his sword out of his hands. Sky dodged the Neo Shadow's claw slash, dove to the side, grabbed his sword and bisected the creature.
But then another Neo Shadow appeared in front of him. "Come on!" shouted Sky, "I'm not afraid of you creeps!"
As if in answer to his challenge, a dozen more Neo Shadows appeared in front of Sky, whine Riku found himself facing fourteen, "antagonizing Heartless isn't really a good idea," said Riku.
"Now you tell me!" said Sky.
********
Over at Cloud Tower, The Trix had just finished calling forth the largest host of Heartless yet; tens of thousands of Shadows, thousands of Soldiers, hundreds of Neo Shadows, Gargoyles and Wyverns, and dozens of Large Bodes and Fat Bandits.
"I'd say we've outdone ourselves, sisters," said Darcy as she, Icy and Stormy observed the multitudes of Heartless get into marching formation.
"We've got those losers right were we want them!" said Stormy, "There's no way they can defeat this! Victory is ours for sure!"
"Almost," said Icy, "almost. There's something missing; something that will truly make this army complete."
"What more could you want?" Darcy asked.
"How about this?" Icy asked. With a snap of her finger, (insert finger snapping sound) three very large Heartless, Behemoths, appeared. Atop of each horned beast was a throne that was carved from solidified darkness.
"Now that's impressive!" said Stormy.
"That it is," Icy said smugly, "Now victory is surely ours!"
"I wouldn't be so bold if I were you!" with a flash of green and black flames, Maleficent appeared.
"Not you again!" snapped Darcy.
"Come to watch our triumph?" Icy asked.
"The only thing I've been watching," Maleficent said, her voice heavy with contempt, "Is you three make utter fools of yourselves! Again and again you've wasted countless Heartless on the same tactics. Haven't you three whelps learned that you cannot defeat your enemies through sheer brute force?"
"This time will be different," said Icy, "This time we'll be leading The Heartless ourselves. This time we will destroy Alfea, and anyone else who stand against us."
"So you can just go back to wherever hole you crawled out of," said Stormy, "We don't need your help."
"Oh yes you do!!" exclaimed Maleficent, "You whelps are so blinded by ambition and your own delusions, you fail to see the true danger. By now Bloom has…"
"Bloom is nothing!!" spat Icy, "She's a pathetic, powerless princess without a world. We've proven our superiority by stealing The Dragonfire, something our ancestors, The Ancestress Coven, failed to do. We're better than them! We're better than anyone else in The Magical Dimension! And we're better than you, so just go away!"
Maleficent glared venomously at the three witches, clearly on the verge of lashing out. But then the expression of the face of the sorceress softened as she regained her composure. "Very well then," said Maleficent in a calm, restrained tone, "It appears that I am no longer welcome in your presence. Therefore I shall take my leave. You three need not worry, I shall never intrude upon your company again."
"About time," said Darcy.
"But know this," said Maleficent in a much darker tone, "there will come a time that you three younglings will regret spurning my assistance, and that time may arrive sooner than you think!" With another flash of green and black flames, Maleficent was gone.
"I'm starting to dislike her," said Stormy.
"Only starting?" Darcy asked.
"Forget about Maleficent, sisters," said Icy, "She is of no importance. Come, our hour of victory is at hand!"
The three witches took flight, each one landing atop one of the Behemoths and sat in her chair.
"Onward to Alfea!!" exclaimed Icy. With that the multitudes of Heartless began marching forward.
********
With a flash of green and black flames, Maleficent arrived in the world where Organization XIII once held sway. With the downfall of the Organization, and with countless Heartless swarming The World That Never Was, Maleficent and those loyal to her, took control of the castle where Organization XIII had their headquarters, The Castle that Never Was, which was recently rechristened New Hallow Bastion.
"Of all the arrogant, irresponsible magic users throughout existence!" exclaimed Maleficent, "those three are the worst!" she stormed through the corridors, throwing bolts of purple lighting at any Heartless that had the unfortunately luck of getting in her way.
Maleficent then entered the main chamber of the castle, where Pete stood waiting. Though not the smartest of minions, Pete had the good fortune to get out of his mistress way as she ranted towards her obsidian throne at the far end of the room.
"Those sordid whelps are just like their ancestors! And like their ancestors, they fail to see that they've fallen onto the path of self-destruction! Well, let them set themselves up for their demise!"
"Who's setting themselves up?" Pete asked.
"The Trix!!" raged Maleficent as she angrily paced back and forth in front of her throne, "The three most unreasonable, inflexible, self-righteous imps that have ever been spawned! Their behavior is inexcusable! A scandal! A disgrace to the forces of evil!!"
"They must be pretty bad to get you this riled up," said Pete.
"You think I am upset?!" Maleficent asked, glaring at Pete, "You think I am upset!?! I have not begun to even be upset!!" she then sighed and sank into her throne, "Oh never mind, you're not worth the effort."
"Well…I…err…" stammered Pete.
"And here I thought I could find someone worthy of joining forces with me," said Maleficent to herself, "Someone with the right balance of intelligence and reason. But those three are just as insane as their ancestors. I should have known it would have been a waste of my time seeking those three out."
"What are you gonna do?" Pete asked.
"What am I going to do?" Maleficent asked. She cast a spell on a slightly raised circular section of the floor in front of her throne, causing it to become like water. The rippling water then focused on the image of The Trix riding their Behemoths to Alfea.
"I will tell you what I am going to do, Pete," said Maleficent in a vile tone, "I shall sit here and observe the demise of our three overambitious friends."
"You really think they're gonna lose?" Pete asked.
"They shall," said Maleficent, "One way or another. Should they succeed in eliminating the opposition at Alfea, The Trix will be so exhausted that their control over The Heartless will fail. I wish to see the look in their eyes as they are consumed by the darkness. On the other hand, should they fail outright, well, no loss on our part. Sit and watch, Pete, if you so desire."
"Great!" said Pete happily, "I'll go get the popcorn!"
"You do that," said Maleficent. She then commanded the water viewer to zoom in on Icy's smug face, "you won't be so overconfident for much longer, my young friend. Of that it is certain."
********
The King and Queen were right, thought Sora as he, Donald and Goofy paced back and forth across the Alfea courtyard, The Trix are unlike anything we've faced before. He had been trying to come up with some plan to defeat the enemy, or at the very least, slow down The Trix and The Heartless, so as to give Riku and Kairi more time to help Bloom and Sky get to safety. But so far, Sora had nothing.
Nearby were Stella, Flora, Musa, Tecna, Carmen, Morgan, Elise and Mirta. The eight girls looked like the stress of all that has happened was getting to them.
"All this waiting is really getting on my nerves," said Stella.
"We're all on edge," said Sora, "panicking won't help."
"Mirta," said Flora, "You know The Trix better than anyone. What do you think they'll do next?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," said Mirta, "I've never seen them so full of hate and power. Who knows what they'll do?"
"I've known The Trix since I started at Cloud Tower last year," said Carmen, "And I also have no idea what their next move will be."
"Their increase in power has upset any predictions as to what they were capable," said Elise, "even more so when they began summoning Heartless. Events are so chaotic, the chances of determining what the enemy will attempt next, is lower than I'd like to calculate."
"I think a facial and a manicure will help them relax," said Stella.
"Must you always be joking, Stella?" Tecna asked in an irritated tone.
"Well what do you want me to do?" Stella asked in a slightly depressed tone, "When I'm serious, I think of Bloom and I go nuts. See, even Kiko misses her."
Nearby, Bloom's pet rabbit sat depressed at the absence of his owner.
"I'm sure Bloom and Sky are okay," said Musa, "They've got Kairi and Riku with them. Maybe they're trying to get back to Alfea right now, but are being slowed down by something. But I've a good feeling that we'll see them very soon."
"I hope so," said Carmen, "In the meantime, what are we going to do about when those psycho bitches send their minions at us again?"
"I'm sure that if we all work together," said Elise, "fairies, witches, specialists, and heroes from another world…"
"Junior Heroes," Goofy remarked, while Donald muttered incoherently.
"Whatever," said Elise, "I'm saying that together, we might just be able to overpower The Trix, assuming we get the chance to face them directly. But that still leaves The Heartless to contend with."
"If only we knew what the natural enemy of The Heartless is," said Flora hopefully, "we could summon that to help us face The Heartless."
"Anyone who still has light in their heart is an enemy of The Heartless," said Sora, "But…no, never mind."
"What?" Flora asked.
"It's nothing," said Sora, not wanting to talk about that.
"You were saying something," said Carmen, "We want to know what it was."
"Well," Sora said reluctantly, "You already know that when a person's heart is consumed by darkness, that person becomes a Heartless. But sometimes, when that person has a very strong will, part of that person remains alive, so to speak."
"Keep talking," said Elise, clearly intrigued.
"The part that's left behind," Sora continued, "is a mutated shell of the former person, called a Nobody. They're much smarter and stronger than normal Heartless, but also much more vicious. I've seen several cases where Heartless and Nobodies attacked each other, simply because they were there, and most of the time the Nobodies won. We were lucky not to face so many Nobodies as we did Heartless."
"What do Nobodies look like?" Tecna asked.
"Kind of like this," said Sora, he pulled out his sketchpad which contained several drawing of his friends that he used to help his search for them back when his journey began. There were also crude but accurate drawings of the many types of enemies Sora encountered. He flipped the pages to a drawing of a Dusk-type Nobody.
"On the other hand," said Sora as Elise and Tecna looked at the drawing, "some Nobodies came from people who had incredibly strong wills. Those Nobodies remembered what it was to be a complete person, and were obsessed with regaining that wholeness. Many of them got together and plotted to open the door to Kingdom Hearts, thinking that in there, they will find what they needed to be whole again."
"I think Kairi talked about them," said Tecna, "she said they were called Organization XIII."
"Sounds creepy," said Musa.
"They were," said Goofy.
"What happened to them?" Morgan asked.
"We stopped them from flooding the worlds with darkness," said Sora, "One by one we destroyed each member, except for one who turned out to be a good guy after all. So Flora, I don't think it would be a good idea to summon any Nobodies to help us."
"At least you tried," Musa said to Flora, who was looking rather depressed.
"I know," said Flora, "but it really wasn't a good idea anyway."
"Maybe not, Flora," said Mirta as she looked at the drawing of the Dusk, "I think I have an idea. It's not much, but it may give us the advantage in the next battle."
********
"I was thinking," said Darcy as the three mad witches rode their mounts towards Alfea.
"Big shocker there," teased Stormy.
"Oh shut up," said Darcy, "Anyway, I think that, when this is all over, I'll be the one in charge of Cloud Tower."
"Who put you in charge?" Icy asked.
"I did," said Darcy, "And you, dear sister, can have Alfea."
"That's more like it," said Icy viciously, "And Stormy here, she can have Red Fountain."
"Or what's left of it!" said Darcy. At this both she and Icy laughed.
"Screw you both!" spat Stormy.
"Oh just relax, Stormy," said Icy, "We're only teasing. I promise, once Alfea has been crushed, you can have all the boy-toys you can play with and break to your heart's desire."
"Whatever," said Stormy contemptuously. It was a minute or so later, when Stormy asked, "Are we there yet?"
********
"It's not much of a plan," said Mirta, "But it's the best I can come up with."
"It's a good plan," said Sora reassuringly, "I wish I came up with it."
Just then he heard Brandon, Timmy and Riven talking. "Maybe they're hiding somewhere," said Timmy, "waiting until it's safe to move again."
"You think Sky's okay?" Brandon asked, "cause if they've headed for Magix, then who knows what will happen."
"Well they'd better watch their backs," said Riven, "The Trix control the city, so Sky and the others better be careful."
"I know," said Brandon, "but even so, this is just crazy."
Sora the saw the boys talking with the girls.
"Any news about Bloom and the others?" Musa asked.
"Not a word," said Riven.
"Everything's stopped," said Timmy, "It's like we're all waiting for the worst to happen."
"It's these horrible clouds," said Flora, looking us, "They're giving me the creeps."
"It's been days since we've had barely more than a spot or two of sunlight," said Stella. She was then startled by a flash of lighting, clutching at Brandon's arm for emotional support.
Just then there was a commotion over at the main building. Morgan ran over, "They're coming!"
It too Sora a while to sort though the confusion, but he finally found out that The Heartless, the largest force yet, was heading straight for the school, and The Trix were leading them personally.
"They're using an old trail through the forest," Saladin, "One that'll put them right across the school gates went hey get here."
"Alright everyone!" shouted Faragonda, "Take your positions, we won't be caught by surprise this time!"
********
"Ever get the feeling that someone out there doesn't like you!?" Sky asked as he dodged a charging Large Body. He maneuvered behind the rampaging creature and destroyed it.
"Constantly!" Riku answered as he took down two Neo Shadows. But more and more Heartless were swarming the area. It was then that Riku noticed that both he and Sky had unknowingly been maneuvered into a corner.
"Well this sucks," said Riku.
"No way I'm giving up!" said Sky with grim determination as more Heartless pressed forward, "I will never surrender!"
"At least we tried," said Riku as the two of them got ready for a final stand, "At least we'll go down fighting." King Mickey, he thought, I let you down, I'm sorry.
But then a bright orange and red light filled the area. "Now what?" Riku asked.
"Look!!" shouted Sky as he pointed up. Hovering several yards above the ground as the image of a orange and red dragon that seemed to be made of living fire, and in that dragon was Bloom in her fairy form.
"Wow!!" exclaimed Riku.
"That's the understatement of the year," said Kairi.
"You're here as well," said Riku, "great!"
"Time to take out the trash!" said Bloom as she began incinerating Heartless with fireballs and sheets of flame, while leaving Sky, Riku and Kairi completely unharmed. Within minutes the area was free of Heartless.
"Sky," said Bloom as she landed, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," said Sky, "If you hadn't gotten here, we'd have been done for."
"We were doing just fine," said Riku stubbornly.
"Sure you were," said Kairi.
"I'm just glad you're safe," said Bloom.
"So am I," said Sky, "Never in my life have I been so happy to have a fairy friend."
"You mean a fairy with magic powers," said Bloom as she smiled, "Who can throw a hard fireball when needed?"
"Well, something like that," Sky said hesitantly. It was an awkward moment of silence, before Sky spoke again, "So you got your powers back."
"I saw my sister again," said Bloom, "Daphne spoke to me and set m on the right path." It was then that Bloom looked startlingly at Riku, "Uh, Riku, you're bleeding."
"Huh?" said Riku. He then saw that his left forearm had a long cut from his elbow to just before his wrist. It wasn't deep, but it looked pretty bad. "oh, that, that's nothing."
"Well you'd better get it taken care of," said Sky.
"I'm fine," Riku said stubbornly.
"No you're not!" Kairi insisted. She grabbed Riku's injured arm to check it, looking for any kind of shrapnel in the cut. But then her hands began glowing with white light. That light passed into Riku's arm. When it faded, his arm was completely healed.
"I didn't know you can do that!" a surprised and amazed Riku said.
"I didn't know either until the other day," said Kairi, "I almost forgot."
"If I didn't know any better," said Sky, "I'd say you were a natural Healer."
"She may be," said Bloom as she looked around at the devastation afflicting the city, "But what's happened here?"
"The whole city of Magix," said Sky gravely, "Maybe the whole world, has fallen prey to the madness of The Trix; everywhere we've seen there's darkness and chaos."
"But what about the people?" Bloom asked.
"Those who aren't hiding somewhere," said Riku, "they've most likely been turned into Heartless."
"But what about Alfea!?" Bloom asked, "Stella, the girls, everyone."
"I'm sure they're safe," said Sky reassuringly.
It was then that both Riku and Kairi sensed something terrible was about to happen. "You may have spoken too soon, Sky," said Riku.
"Why?" Sky asked, "What is it?"
"Sora's in trouble," said Kairi, "Or he will be very soon. And if Sora is at Alfea, you can bet that everyone there will be in trouble."
"Then there's no time to waste!" said Bloom, "Let's go!" She called forth her magic, summoning the dragon-aura.
"Now what?" Riku asked.
"Just grab on and hang tight!" Kairi said excitingly, "This is gonna be wild!" She, Riku and Sky took hold onto the dragon-aura, which Bloom sued to transport them out of the city.
********
"Are we there yet?" Stormy asked again.
"No," said Darcy through gritted teeth.
Stormy then gave a malicious grin as she asked again, "Are we there yet?"
"For the last time!" spat Darcy angrily, "We'll get to Alfea when we get there! If you ask me that one more time, I'll smack you into next week!"
"Well excuse me for being bored," said Stormy, "But big sister here, she wanted to make a show of things."
"I don't give a damn what you feel about it, Stormy," said Icy, "This is how I want things to be done. Those fools at Alfea must see the might of our powers."
"But don't you think Alfea will get an advantage this way?" Darcy asked, "Surely by now they know we're coming."
"Your only weakness, sisters," an annoyed Icy said, "Is your stupid fears. We have The Dragonfire, and the invincible might of The Heartless is at our command. What could you possibly be afraid of?"
********
Over at Alfea, the staff and students of the three schools were as ready as they ever would be for the coming battle. All that they could do now was wait, and that was the worst part.
"It won't be a walk in the park, Faragonda," said Griffin as the three heads of the schools waited atop one of the school towers.
"I know," said Faragonda, "But what choice do we have?"
"I feel so inadequate," said Griffin, "If only I…"
"This is not your fault, Griffin," said Faragonda, "There was no way you could have foreseen any of this."
"Well this has been lovely," said Carmen. She and Sora were there to help keep watch for the encroaching hoard of Heartless, "But I've got something better to do."
"Just where do you think you're going, young lady?" Griffin asked.
"I'd like to know that myself," said Sora.
"I've still got a bone to pick with The Trix," said Carmen, "especially with Icy. If she and her sisters are coming here in person, it's my right, as a witch, to demand Parle."
"You can't honestly expect to negotiate with those lunatics!" said Saladin.
"Who said anything about negotiating?" Carmen asked, "I'm just trying to slow them down, make them hesitate before attacking, and maybe I'll make them so angry, it'll make them screw up."
"It is her right to demand Parle," said Griffin. She then glared at Carmen, "Just don't get yourself killed."
"The thought never crossed my mind," said Carmen confidently.
"Wait, I'll go with you," said Sora as he followed Carmen down the steps to the courtyard below.
"This is a personal matter between two rival witches," said Carmen, "It's not at thing for outsiders."
"I understand," said Sora, "But I've also a bone to pick with The Trix. I'm not a witch, but I'm in this as much as you are."
"Okay then," said Carmen, "It's your funeral if the worst should happen."
As they headed for the gates, they saw Elise, Morgan, Goofy and Donald come running towards them.
"You're gonna try to Parle with those lunatics, aren't you," said Elise.
"You better believe it," said Carmen, "Wish us luck.
"Good luck," said Goofy.
"You'll need it!" said Donald.
"Wait!" said Morgan, "we almost forgot. Carmen, you'd better come back alive; you'll let everyone down if you don't."
"What are you talking about?' Carmen asked.
"Us witches," said Morgan, "We took a vote; Carmen, we want you to be Student Body President next term."
"Shut up!" Carmen exclaimed happily, "You're serious?"
"It was unanimous," said Elise, "Your speech must have left a deeper impression that you thought."
Carmen was speechless, just very happy. Finally she spoke, "Well in that case, I'll make sure that I'll be back." With that she and Sora headed for the front gate of the school.
"Sora!" Donald shouted after them, "Remember! No frowns, no sad faces!"
"You mean like this?!" Sora asked as he sprouted a very silly grin.
"That's perfect!" shouted Goofy.
"What was that about?" Carmen asked as the gates opened, allowing the two of them past and onto the road in front of the forest.
"Oh, it's personal," said Sora as the gates closed behind them. "You really think talking to The Trix will help?"
"It couldn't hurt," said Carmen, "and they won't attack us outright. Once they show up, I'll initiate Parle; there won't be any fighting until we're done talking. There are forms of magic that cannot be broken, even by power-crazed bitches like The Trix."
"I hope you're right," said Sora. He then tensed, as if sensing something was wrong, "They're watching us, they know we're waiting for them."
"Good," said Carmen, "Hopefully they won't keep us waiting for long."
********
"So," said Icy, "Carmen thinks she and the Keyblade brat can slow us down with Parle. We'll just see about that."
"You want me to destroy them when we get there?" Stormy asked.
"No," said Icy, "If the little bitch wishes to talk, I'll indulge her; she'll see that it won't do her or anyone else any good."
The end of chapter 8. Next chapter it's do or die time as the forces of light and darkness come head to head once again. Who will survive? Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!