Hello again! Sorry this is a little late. I am house-sitting for someone else and so have very limited internet acess. Enjoy!

Chapter Two: Sombreity

They stepped into the swirling green portal, and with a flash of light and a momentary floating sensation, they had arrived on the ship.

Or had they?

"This doesn't look like a ship..." He looked around apprehensively. All these buttons and flashing lights—where were the sails? And the masts? And the anchor? A sudden wave of dizziness washed over him and he swayed where he stood.

"James?" she looked at him concernedly. "Are you all right?"

"It's...too much," he mumbled, a hand going to his head, frustrated with himself for this weakness. He had faced the undead and the fantastic how many times now? And yet he could not take a child's fantasy come alive.

"Easy...easy..." She led him to one of the seats. "Deep breath. Sit back, relax... Close your eyes and imagine you're back in the Caribbean. Pretend all the beeps and buzzing and other noises are the calls of birds and dolphins and creaking of rope and wood, and the breaking of waves on the hull. Pretend the movement you feel is the pitch and roll of a magnificent ship," she soothed softly. "That's right. Just take it easy." Leaving him to his mental imagery, she proceeded to start up the trusty Highwind, and they were off, traveling to the next world, for the Kingdom Hearts Realm is a composite of worlds.

Stars whirled past them in a blur. After perhaps a few days — although it would only have been seconds in the "real" world — and several lengthy explanations, something became visible off the starboard bow. The shadowy world loomed closer and closer. "This place's version of your world. Don't get your hopes up, cuz it's pretty far off the mark." His hopeful expression was replaced with disappointment. "Aw, come on now. We'll have landed in a few minutes. At least there'll be the open sea again."

"There is that," he nodded.

They appeared in a place whose mirror image held many memories for Ellie—some good, some bad, and some just plain weird. The Rampart at Fort Charles. Ames jumped over a couple of cannon and took the steps two at a time until she stood beneath the bell and arch, next to which James had proposed to Elizabeth, before which she had broken his heart and denied his love, and under which he had watched her declare her love for another man. None of this went through the girl's mind, however. The moon, ever full and bright, bathed the Harbor and town in light. They were in Port Royal. Black water lapped at the shore. "Down there — that's the Black Pearl." James joined her and she turned toward him. "Oh. Well lookit you! Yer all dressed like a Commodore again!"

"And after all the trouble of growing back my beard," he complained good-naturedly. A pacing figure dressed in a yellow gown caught his eye. "Elizabeth?" Suddenly forgetting himself, he strode quickly over, and grasped her arm to get her attention. She stared blankly into his face and uttered the repetitive and robotic lines the game had supplied her with. His eyebrows came together, his emerald eyes frantically searching hers for some trace of the person he knew.

A hand lightly touched his shoulder and he released the wench, who went right back to her pacing like nothing had happened. "She's not real. I told you that, remember?"

"I know. I...forgot myself for a moment is all." He turned to face the lass, blinking away his crushed hopes.

She looked him in the eye. "James, how come you never got gooey like that over her when we were at her house last time I was here?" He suddenly broke eye contact, looking distractedly out over the ocean. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Amy, there is a lot that will require explanations, and I'm not sure I can give them to you. One day I will explain, that is a promise - but that day cannot be today, do you understand?"

Her eyes widened. "What? Why not now?"

"Because there are details within the tale that would do better to wait, and what good is a tale without its details were I to tell it?"

She was silent, considering. "Are there a lot of spoilers?"

The wheels in his mind spun furiously and he jumped on the opportunity. "If I tell you what's going on, there will be more 'spoilers' than you can count," he said generously.

"Oh snap! And now I won't be able to wait for the movies to come out! Aaahh!" she clutched her head humorously.

He sighed with forced reluctance. "Fine. If you want me to tell you so badly—."

"Nooooo. No you don't! I won't let you tell me until the third movie has come out!" She groaned, wants disagreeing with her decision. "It's over a year and a half!" she wailed comically, throwing back her head. His eyes glowed with triumph. She recovered immediately. "Now c'mon. We've gotta find Jack!"

"Do you remember that rock formation in the claws?" he asked, eager to get off the subject and hoping that her short attention span would not allow her to remember the promise.

"Yes. We need to get to the Black Pearl. She's docked in the harbor right now." She led the way down the steps from the fort to the ground, and James followed, pausing only once at the top of the stairs to glance back at the pacing figure.

As soon as their feet hit the ground, Heartless appeared. "Ah, back to just one sword," he sighed, drawing his weapon.

"And no armor, so every hit they land will give more damage."

"We'll see about that," he grinned, darting into battle with his in-game speed and releasing Blizzagun, using the force of the powerful spell to vault himself out of the way before any Heartless could land a hit and freezing all those in the vicinity. She blinked—he was being really creative with his moves! Within moments, the Heartless stopped coming. "How you doing?"

"Fine, now that I understand how this all works."

"Good. Now come on, let's embark."

"Right." They hurried to the docks and aboard the ominous black ship. Immediately, even with no crew in sight, the Pearl pushed off from its berth and set sail. The land soon disappeared over the horizon as the not-Pearl sailed into the night.

"Up there," she pointed to a figure up on the quarterdeck.

"Is that—?"

"No. Hang in there, James. We're on our way." She flashed a comforting smile at him before turning and bounding up the steps to the helm. "'Ello Cap'n."

The familiar face turned to meet her gaze. "'Ello luv. Breezy, eh?" She looked at the map he unrolled to show her, a small knife marking their current location. She removed it and stuck it in a picture of a stone skull. "Isla de Muerta it is." The ship lurched into motion, sails flapping loudly in the wind. She looked up at the sky and sighed as the wind blew her hair out of her face.

She descended the steps, overly-large-yet-perfectly-fitting shoes clunking softly on the boards, and leaned on the bulwarks next to James, where they both stared in silence at the black waves lapping at the hull.

—

"I don't know how long it will take for us to get there. Only a couple seconds in my world, but it could be days inside the game before we get there," Ames explained later that night as she leaned against the chart table in the familiar captain's cabin.

"Days?" The night in this world was everlasting, the moon always up and always full.

"Or the equivalent of. You know what I mean. Anyway, I'm gonna tell you right now that there will be an ambush upon our arrival. There always is."

"Heartless?"

"Usually. We may have to deal with some Nobodys — they're a different kind of monster, but that's not important and I won't explain further, since you're never gonna need this information anyway."

"All right."

The sound of approaching bootsteps reached their ears, and they looked up as not-Jack swaggered through the door. He made a face at the Commodore, saying, "Don't remember inviting you," in his gruff, un-Jack-like voice. The voice actor had been a terrible fit.

"He's gone and turned pirate, Captain Sparrow. He's with me."

The pirate considered her, leaning back on one leg, a hand going to rest on the hilt of his cutlass. "Well he had better not pull any funny business, unless he wants to become a sieve."

—

As it was, only what felt like a few hours passed before the Isle of the Dead came into view. "Look, look, there it is!" The background music jumped into its fight sequence. "Ahh, we've got company." Her Keyblade materialized in her hand.

James drew his own weapon. "Let's go." They leapt into action, James seeming to jump a second time off the air to avoid a hit, discovering that their enemies were indeed Nobodys, juggling cards and dice. Within moments, however, the fighting was done. "Are we good?" He nodded, still holding his sword. "All right. Let's go find Jack." The not-Pearl anchored at the island.

"Good," he murmured once he had handed her down to the ground. "Are we ready to go and look for Sparrow's laugh?"

She sighed. "There is no loooking. You see that big rock right there? That's the one I saw in Teacher's claws."

"Then...now what?"

She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I don't see any signs of life."

"Maybe it's there," he soothed. "Perhaps we just need to look." Her eyes were hollow, her expression placid, as she was lost to the depths of her thoughts. She was silent. James examined her. Was she afraid? Afraid of what they might find? Or what they mightn't find?

"It...it couldn't hurt to look around, I guess," she managed after a while, suddenly wondering what was wrong with her. Norrington nodded his understanding, placing a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. "I want to go alone," she said suddenly. "Stay here. 'Do us all a favor—I know it's difficult for you—but please, stay here, and try not to do anything–stupid.'" He blinked. What a time to be quoting Jack.

"I'll be right here," he assured her, and she turned and strode toward the stone. She reached out and touched its rough, porous surface as if to steady herself, and slowly, slowly began to look around, a feeling of dread creeping sluggishly up her spine with each step. She circled the rock on the side that had land, swam on the side that didn't, unleashed several attack and exhausted her magic trying to see if, perhaps, he was stuck inside. Frustrated, exhausted, and beginning to panic, she finally slid to the ground, her back against the accursed formation, tears streaming stubbornly down her cheeks.

James dared to ignore the order to stay put and stepped forward. She found herself in his embrace—his wonderful, steady, comforting, healing embrace—and her resolve all but disappeared. He softly shushed her sobs, petting her hair. His eyes were not as soothing. They smouldered with frustration and apprehension. "He's not here," she whispered softly.

Then where was he?

And so another chapter! Yay! Ya know I demand payment! Undead monkeys will not do! A review is my price!