Disclaimer: Not mine, yay!
Chapter 22- Maiden Exploration
The gummy ship Riku had been given was much larger than he had expected. It had to be, in order for him to transport the Princesses back. In the lower level of the ship there was a chamber full of pods. Riku was to put them in there, placing the maidens in a semi-living stasis.
"Iji?" Riku gently nudged the sleeping girl in the seat beside him.
"Yes, Riku?" Iji slowly awoke. "You said you were worried about me, while you were gone?"
Riku smiled; glad to see she was finally awake and not hurt. She hadn't remembered anything of their incident by the looks of it. "Yeah, but never mind that now. Look where we are."
Iji rubbed her eyes and blinked. "We're in space! How'd we get here?" She turned to Riku in question.
"…" Riku stared at Iji's right pupil. It had once been a pure white colour. Now it was flecked with small pieces of black.
"Riku?" Iji tilted her head.
Riku felt dirty suddenly. Like when he had hugged her, he had spread some kind of pollution into her from himself.
"Is something wrong, Riku?" Iji lightly touched his arm and smiled.
"Don't touch me!" Riku shouted, smacking her off.
Iji snapped her hand back, like it had been bitten by a poisonous creature. The smile had disappeared off her face.
Riku felt like an idiot. 'I don't want her to have a relapse. I don't want her to lose her Heart to the darkness…' he thought.
The pair sat in silence for what seemed hours, travelling the endless expanse of space until Riku arrived at their first destination.
"Wait here for a little while. I'll be back soon." He told her and disembarked.
"Even though… you're angry at me, I still want to help you." said Iji after he left.
*****
Goofy scratched his head and looked around. The new world they had arrived on was somehow… less vibrant than the other worlds they had visited. "This sure is a spooky place," remarked the king's guard. "I'll bet the people here are scary lookin' too."
Donald laughed. "Don't worry. We look spooky too. If they scare us, we'll scare them right back!"
Sora studied his new appearance carefully. He did look rather scary if he thought so himself. The trio was startled as an explosion sounded and a cloud of dust rose up from to the main square. Sora and his companions ran up to the fountain to investigate. As they approached, a horde of ghost-like Heartless suddenly appeared. Sora summoned his Keyblade, bracing for their attack…. It didn't come. Instead the ghosts jiggled around harmlessly.
"And now, allow me to introduce the master of terror, the king of nightmares- Jack Skellington!" A strange looking man shouted behind them. He was oddly shaped like a triangular cylinder and wore a tuxedo and a long top hat.
The water in the fountain started to bubble and boil, sending steam over the edge. Sora, Goofy and Donald all stepped back nervously as a tall skeletal creature wearing a pinstriped suit emerged from the water. The creature struck a scary pose.
"Bravo, Jack! Bravo!" said the first man, clapping. "Those ghosts will be a big hit at this year's Halloween!"
The creature called Jack bowed. "Thank you, thank you!" He strode over the man. "But, to be honest, Mayor, their movements still needs work. It's not scary enough. I want bone-chilling terror!" Jack wiggled his bony fingers menacingly. "I'm going to consult the doctor."
The mayor grinned. "Then I'll go attend to the decorations!" He waddled away.
Jack went over to a large metal door and disappeared through it. Sora and the others followed curiously.
*****
"That's one more." Riku wiped his brow.
Aurora had been the easiest. Before Maleficent had left her homeworld, she had placed a sleeping spell over the Princess. Aurora now accompanied two others like herself; Snow White and Cinderella.
"That makes three altogether now." added Iji. She handed Riku a damp cloth.
"Thanks." He took it reluctantly.
"You said there were seven?" asked Iji for confirmation.
Riku nodded. "Yes, and we need all of them to help Kairi find her Heart." He hadn't told her about her part in all this. "I'm pretty sure I know where the next one is, but the one after that though… she'll be hard to find. But we already have two at Hollow Bastion."
"So that's really five then? That's not too bad." Iji said enthusiastically.
Riku nodded. "Yeah, I guess. Let's get going then. I feel the next one's not going to be as easy."
Riku pressed the ignition button and they sped towards their next goal. They arrived within an hour. Riku stretched his arms and walked over to the air lock.
"Wait, Riku!" Iji ran over beside him. "I-I want to come, just this once? Please?"
Riku stared into her eyes. She was determined to come. The flecks of darkness in her white eye glinted at him. He frowned.
Iji's shoulders dropped and she turned around. "Sora did the exact same thing to me. He never let me do anything. You two are more alike than you think." she whispered.
Riku reached out for her. "No, no, I'm not. You can come, but if you get into danger, I want you out of there as fast as you can go. Okay?"
Iji swung back around, a grin on her face. "Oh thank you, Riku!"
She went to hug him, but Riku turned around so she wouldn't. "The quicker we do this, the better." he said.
They entered the air lock and teleported onto the world. As soon as they landed Riku grabbed Iji's hand. His hand quivered.
"What is it?" asked Iji, looking around in the darkness.
"Wolves…" he whispered nervously.
Iji's eyes adjusted to the lack of light and she only barely held back a scream. A dozen growling wolves were circling them. Riku backed up against Iji.
"Stay still," he said softly. "I'll protect you."
"No, you won't." Iji hissed back. "I can protect myself."
"Fine, then. Remember what I said though." Riku readied his blade.
'I can do this.' Iji thought. She prepared her own weapons.
The wolves closed in, getting nearer and nearer. The biggest one struck first, rushing for Riku. The teen responded with a forward slash. The wolf ducked under and pounced upwards, his head hitting Riku's chin. Riku stumbled back and rubbed his chin sorely. The animal leapt for him again. Riku soared up into the air, then realised he left Iji's back completely exposed.
"Iji! Behind you!" Riku yelled in alarm.
Iji waited until the last second and swung around, Star Cutters in hand. The wolf clamped down onto the metal rods with his mouth. Iji pulled on them, but they wouldn't budge.
"Let go of them!" shouted Iji.
The wolf snarled threateningly through closed fangs.
"Take this then!" Iji slid her fingers out of the rings. Her leg flew up and thwacked the wolf in the ribs, winding it. Quickly she grabbed onto her Star Cutters and swung her body around, sending the wolf up into the air.
Riku watched in amazement as her weapons fell out of the animal's mouth and she grabbed them.
"Riku!" she called.
He shook himself out of it as he saw the wolf flying up towards him. "Got it!" he called back and slashed down with his bat-winged blade, leaving a large gash in the wolf's hind quarters.
The wolf howled in pain and landed with a thud on the ground. The rest of the pack shivered in fear and backed away, dragging their leader with them.
Riku ran over to Iji. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I am." Iji grinned.
Riku sighed in relief. "That was amazing! When did you learn to do that?"
"Just then," She shrugged. "I had to do something, didn't I? You couldn't do it all yourself."
Riku wondered if that had been an insult. He shrugged it off and smiled back. "Great work, Iji. Come on, we gotta get going!"
*****
Jack stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I don't understand. Maybe the guidance system was damaged in the explosion."
One of the Heartless ghosts lifelessly lay on the table. A large headed man in a squeaky wheelchair flipped through a massive book.
"Nonsense," he replied promptly. "My devices are always perfect!"
"Oh, I've got it!" Jack exclaimed excitedly. He went over to the book and turned it several pages. He pointed to a particular diagram. "Why, of course! The Heartless need a Heart! Doctor, do you think we can add a Heart to the device?"
The doctor nodded. "Certainly, a Heart's not all that complicated. Let's get to work."
The pair collected ingredients together, setting them next to a metal heart-shaped container.
The doctor looked at the container. It had a lock on it. "We need the key to this thing first…"
"I'll unlock it for you." Sora volunteered, stepping out from behind the doorway.