Authors Note: Thanks for the understanding reviews! You guys are awesome and I actually have your names this time! Thanks a ton to: kingdomdisney, SexyZexy, SpringBorn, Makii-chan, and soraroxas365 for reviewing! Also thanks to Dracula-key for adding TOE to his favorites. I tried to get this out last night, but my Mac, well, broke. I had to go to the Apple Store earlier and get a new one so now it's all good! Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable. The only thing I do own is my OC, Katy.
After the first hour, Donald and Goofy were already fast asleep in the seats across from the two teens. Katy was leaning on Sora's shoulder, ready to join them in dreamland when Sora broke the silence.
"Where do you think we're going?"
"Not a clue. Hopefully someplace where we can get you some clothes that fit." Katy replied, stifling a yawn.
"How come you got new clothes?" Sora pouted.
"Well, I got tired of waiting for you and the talking animals to wake your lazy selves up, so I decided to go shopping." She explained, earning a laugh from the boy beside her.
Although she had not gotten them while waiting for Sora and the others to wake up, Katy had gone on a small shopping spree. Gone was her pink skull t-shirt, holey denim skirt, and black leggings. Instead she wore a red tank top that had Paramore written across the chest in sharpie, courtesy of her own creativity, a slightly baggy pair of jeans, and her beloved converse high tops. She also had the black hoodie that Jordan had given her the day she escaped from the hospital tied around her waist.
"It's obviously been awhile. Since we beat Ansem I mean."
"Yeah, long enough that we didn't fit in our clothes…" Katy agreed, her voice trailing off.
Before they could continue their conversation, the train came to an abrupt stop, jerking Donald and Goofy from their slumber. They all clamored off train and studied their surroundings. They were on a rather small piece of land suspended in Gummi space. Atop this piece of land was a tall, winding, castle tower. As they approached the tower, the train disappeared. Sora laughed nervously
"There goes our ride…"
As they got closer they found a very…er…large dog blocking the way forward, apparently peering inside through the slightly ajar door.
"What's going on?" Donald asked
The dog laughed
"I sent some of my lackeys inside to see if the master of this here tower's as big and tough as they say. Word is, he's a real powerful sorcerer, which would make him the perfect bodyguard for me. See, it don't matter how tough he is—once he's a Heartless, he'll do as I say."
Oh, boy. Looks like your cover's blown, dude.
"A Heartless!" Donald cried, he and the others taking fighting stances.
"That's right." The dog answered. "They're those things that come outta the darkness in folks' hearts. Why, with all those Heartless at her side, my dear friend Maleficent is gonna conquer everything! A
Katy, relieved that she no longer writhed in pain at the sound of her name, was amused that this guy, whoever he was, thought that Maleficent was still around. The other's thought so too, apparently since they dropped their stances and exchanged looks. Meanwhile the dog just kept rambling…
"And since I got me a debt to pay, I'm goin' 'round to a bunch of different worlds and buildin' an army of Heartless, special for her. Why am I talkin' to you pipsqueaks anyway? Go on scram! I'm behind schedule as it is."
"You oughta find something nicer to do." Goofy suggested.
"Says who?" The dog demanded, finally turning around.
And what do you know! It looks like he knows our fuzzy companio
"Wha…AHH! It's you!" He exclaimed
"Pete!" Donald and Goofy cried in unison.
"What are you two nimrods doing here?" Pete demanded.
"Hey! No one insults the talking animals except me!" Katy said, earning a glare from Donald.
"What are you doing here?" Donald countered
"You know him?" Sora asked, looking at each of them in turn.
"Yes, Sora. They know each other. Try to keep up, yeah?" Katy replied, rolling her eyes.
"Pete's been causin' trouble for ages!" Goofy explained. "His Majesty banished him to another dimension a long time ago. I wonder how he escaped."
The dog…er…Pete laughed.
"You wanna know how, eh? Well, Maleficent busted me out, that's how! And now your world—no, no, no, all the worlds—are gonna belong to yours truly. Cause Maleficent's gonna help me conquer 'em."
"Maleficent, huh?" Sora asked, bemused.
The four of them burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" Pete yelled. "Why, Maleficent's power is so great—"
"She's toast!" Sora managed to get out between snickers.
"Ding dong the wicked witch is dead." Katy added, still giggling.
"Whaddya mean?" Pete asked, alarmed.
They just kept laughing.
"You! So you're the ones that did it!"
"Well…we might have had something to do with it." Sora teased, resting his hands behind his head and grinning.
Pete growled, enraged and called out to hid lackeys
"Heartless squad! Round up!
Katy snorted
"Heartless squad?"
It would have been funnier if no actual Heartless appeared, but alas, this was the story of Sigh.
Anyway…
They took down the Heartless easily…too easily for Pete's liking apparently.
"You just wait. Nobody, and I mean nobody, messes with the mighty Pete!" He threatened
"So 'Mighty Pete'," Sora began sarcastically. "Who lives in this tower, anyway?"
"Oh, ya don't know, eh? Well, it's old Yen Sid. 'Course he's probably a Heartless by now…"
"WAK! Master Yen Sid lives here?" Donald exclaimed. Running into the tower.
"Yen Sid is the King's teacher." Goofy explained, helpfully.
"Wow. Sounds powerful!" Sora replied
"Let's go find him!" Katy suggested, running after Donald, the others following, leaving Pete behind.
They made their way up the many flights of stairs, the Heartless getting stronger and more frequent as they ascended.
"Heartless, Heartless, Heartless!" Donald exclaimed. "Thing's haven't changed one bit!"
"I agree with the duckling. Didn't we kill Ansem to, you know, get rid of the Heartless?" Katy huffed, annoyed.
"Good thing we're on the job, then." Goofy said, trying to brighten the mood.
"Always the optimist." Katy sighed, shaking her head.
"So the worlds aren't at peach after all?" Sora asked, the familiar "kicked puppy" look on his face.
Katy sighed again.
"Let's go find this Yen Sid guy. Maybe he knows what's going on."
The others agreed and they walked up one more flight of stairs before reaching the Sorcerer's Loft. Upon entering, Donald and Goofy immediately bowed respectfully, leaving Sora and Katy confused as to what to do. They decided that staring blankly at the dude in the blue robe was a good idea.
"Master Yen Sid! It's and honor!" Donald said without looking up from the ground.
Oh, the dude in the robe is Master Yen Sid…my bad.
"Hey there!" Sora said with a wave, causing Donald to have a minor heart attack…
"Sora, Katy, show some respect!" He hissed
The King waved his demand away and regarded the two teenagers in front of him.
"So, you must be Sora and Katy. Now then, have you seen the King yet?"
"Yes we did, Master. But we didn't get a chance to talk to him." Goofy explained
"Yes…the King had been quite busy of late. Therefore, it would seem the task of instructing you four falls upon my shoulders. You have a perilous journey in front of you. You must be well prepared."
"You mean…we have to go on another quest? I was looking forward to finding my friend Riku, so we could go back to the Islands" Sora asked.
"Yeah, and I was kinda hoping we could do something less…life threatening." Katy agreed.
Yen Sid gave them a small, sad smile.
"Yes. I know. However, everything in your journey is connected. Though I can't promise it will be less "Life threatening" as you said, you will defiantly be better prepared. Whether you will return to the Islands…Whether you will return alone or with your friends…And, whether or not the Islands will still be there. And the Keys that connects them all are you two children."
"We're… the keys?" Sora asked.
Katy snorted.
"It's not painfully obvious to you by now?"
Sora had no rebuttal to that. Instead he summoned the Keyblade.
"Chosen wielder of the Keyblade! You are the key that will, aided by its keeper, open the door to light.
The two teens nodded robotically.
Yen Sid then summoned a rather large and heavy looking book.
"This book contains valuable knowledge you will need for your journey. Study it carefully. Once you have finished, we will speak of the enemies you will surely confront.
The book contained nothing but complicated riddles that made their heads spin. Approaching Yen Sid once more, Sora asked the question on everyone's mind
"But wait a sec—how come the Heartless are still running around?"
Katy wanted to know the answer to that one too. She hadn't seen any Heartless in the past year. Only Nobodies. Now Sora wakes up and Heartless galore! Not exactly what you'd call fair…then again, life rarely is.
"Your past endeavors did prevent an immense effusion of Heartless from the great darkness; make no mistake about that. However, the Heartless are darkness made real—and darkness yet lingers in every heart. The heartless are fewer. But while darkness exists in a single heart, it will be difficult to eliminate them."
The four sighed.
"Gawrsh, that must mean if everybody's heart was full of light, them Heartless'd just go away!" Goofy reasoned
Now, it is time to speak of the enemies you will encounter…" Yen Sid continued.
Katy decided to tune this part our. DiZ had explained this to her during her first couple of weeks in Twilight Town. Since Organization XIII had made themselves known, there were now three foes to worry about: Heartless, Nobodies, and the Organization themselves. She knew what Nobodies were and how they came to be, but she feigned interest for appearances sake. She needed to look like she didn't know. Before she knew it, Yen Sid sent Sora into the adjoining room to get new clothes (Thank GOD!). Donald and Goofy went with him, but Yen Sid asked her to stay behind.
"I'm going to get right to the point, Katyana. You know that you must never, under any circumstances, tell Sora of the duties you had while he was asleep?"
"Yes, I was told." Katy answered politely.
"Good. It's imperative that he's kept in the dark about this.
"Am I allowed to ask why?" Katy asked
"He needs to stay focused on the task at hand. We can't have him worrying about his and other people's Nobodies."
Katy was about to disagree when Sora reemerged from the other room looking, well, only one word for it, hot.
"Dude…these look sooooooo much better." Katy gushed, looking him up and down.
Sora blushed.
"T-thanks." He stuttered, running a hand through his hair.
"Come this way. I have something to show you all." Yen Sid told them, motioning to them to follow.
He led them over to a crescent moon shaped window where they could clearly see a very familiar looking ship.
"Hey! It's our Gummi Ship!" Donald exclaimed, jumping up and down in place.
He reminded Katy of a little girl who'd received a pony for Christmas.
"So you guys ready to go?" Sora asked.
The three of them nodded.
"Now, now. Just a moment." Yen Sid said, stopping them in their tracks. "Because of your previous endeavors, the worlds have returned to their original states. That means the pathways between them have disappeared."
"How are we supposed to get around?" Goofy asked, puzzled
"If what the King suspected is true, the worlds have prepared new pathways you may use." Yen Sid explained. "These pathways can be utilized by unlocking special gates. How these gates are opened, I'm afraid I don't know. However, the Keyblade will serve as your guide. When a beam of light radiates from the Keyblade, return to the Gummi Ship. Though the worlds may seem far apart and out of reach, They nonetheless remain connected by invisible ties. As do our hearts."
"Our hearts are connected." Sora summarized
"That is correct." Yen Sid replied with a smile.
"Okay, I think we got it, chief." Katy said, growing impatient.
"Just be warned, as you travel, the Heartless and the Nobodies will be using their own paths: corridors of darkness to travel from world to world. They may be attempting to link these dark pathways to the gates between the worlds."
"Hey! That's not fair!" Donald protested.
Katy scoffed.
"Life's not fair, duckling. Then you die."
Donald scowled at her and Sora tried to hold back a snicker.
"Well then, that's all the information I can give you. Go forth Sora, Katy, Donald, and Goofy. Everyone is waiting."
"Okay, let's get going." Sora said, grabbing Katy's hand and starting for the door.
"And remember what I told you, Katyana." Yen Sid called out to them as they left the tower.
"What did he tell you?" Sora asked, curious
"You know, the usual. The Keyblade Master is your responsibility; you must constantly be on alert, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda. Old stuff."
"Don't worry about it. I know you got my back. And I got yours." Sora said, grinning.
Katy smiled sunnily at him
"Thanks, that actually makes me feel better…believe it or not."
They boarded the Gummi ship, mentally preparing themselves for anything.
Meanwhile, back inside Yen Sid's tower, the three fairies who gave Sora his new clothes were having a minor crisis.
Make that major…
"My goodness! What is that?" The blue fairy exclaimed, referring to the crow that flew in through the window and brought with it a very familiar cloak.
"Haven't we seen that before?" She continued with concern.
"Yes, dear. I wonder whose it was…" The green fairy wondered.
"Oh! Malefic—" The blue fairy began, but clamped her hand over her mouth before she could finish the name.
"No! We mustn't remember her name! Oh, dear…" The red fairy worried, growing a bit frightened.
"She was a mean 'ol witch. Oh, no! The memories are coming back! What'll we do? Oh, what'll we do?" The blue fairy exclaimed as the cloak began to move by itself, slowly taking form.
"Perhaps we should tell Master Yen Sid." The green fairy suggested.
"Yes! That's what we must do, hurry!" The red fairy agreed as all three of them fled the room.
Just as the door closed behind them, the witch named Maleficent rose from her cloak and the newly remembered memories and began to cackle.
A/N: Uh, oh! Maleficent's back! Please review, next chapter will be out Wednesday or Thursday!