Okay! New Chapter... yay, I'm finally going somewhere with this! How exciting. Keep in tune, I'll have pictures of outfits linked this weekend in my profile description.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts Story. I do, however, own Laura and this idea.
"Folks, today we head out to speak to my master, Master Yen Sid," Mickey declared to the six individuals before him. Both Riku and Sora nodded confidently, fully aware of the severity of the cause of the meeting with the wise wizard. "This may be the toughest challenge we've faced yet, and I want everyone to know that none of us have to face Xehanort and his plans alone." his tone had made it clear to Laura that great danger ensued the events concluding their meeting with this wizard. Her ears and body hummed from the tense state of her nerves.
Sora took a step forward, his fist held in front of him. "We're never alone. As long as we have each other," releasing his fist slightly as if to grab onto something, a beam of light shone into his hand forming a key-like sword, "and the Keyblade, Xehanort can think twice about submitting the worlds to his darkness!"
Laura watched in amazement at her new-found friend's ability. It seemed as if it had taken no effort for Sora to summon the mighty weapon that radiated a sense of righteousness and excitement she had never before felt. It echoed into her core, giving her a new-found boost of confidence.
"The Keyblade..."
Riku gave a short "hmm!" and with a small sleight of hand raised upward to his head's level, his elbow behind him, summoned his own weapon in a shroud of dark energy. It resembled a bat wing stretched out to its extremity, with a smaller grey-feathered wing near its edge. The hilt was surrounded by winged hand guards, one emanating darkness as another bat wing, the other emanating light as a creamy-white bird's wing.
"Another one..."
She noted its difference in appearance from Sora's Keyblade, which appeared as a simple silver key with a gold hand guard. Both were donned small key chains at the ends, Sora's possessing a key chain that resembled Mickey, Riku's resembling a black heart outlined with deep red. Riku gave Laura a small smirk, lowering his weapon to his side. Sora followed suit, giving Riku a look of pure confidence... and mischief. Laura could sense their rivalry. Mickey gave a small chuckle of excitement and approval at the summoning of their weapons.
"With confidence like that, it's no wonder that we've remained so strong together. Never forget that, everyone!" Mickey seemed to direct his last statement toward his silver-haired friend, which made him smile a warm, genuine smile. This made Laura feel the comfort being expressed from his heart.
In the past few days, she had grown to notice how much more in tune she had become with the feelings of others around her. Were these some of the workings of the heart? The worlds she had visited thus far had caused her to live and breathe so much differently than in her home world. In Manhattan, people on the streets seemed to simply disappear into the crowds, melding together as one gigantic uniform entity. Once she had arrived onto the larger island that made up the majority of the Destiny Islands, the entire town and marketplace emanated happiness and togetherness.
Everyone's hearts had the desire to work together, transcending into a positive community. In Disney Castle, even the walls leaked success and prosperity. The King and Queen radiated together, giving off invisible auras of glimmer and positivity. The thought had wanted her body to cringe from so much 'happy', yet instead it made her feel so alive. So needed.
"Wow..." Laura was truly impressed by their prowess combined with their confidence and sense of team. They were starting to seem like the heroes they boasted about. Sora turned to face her, excited by her positive reaction.
"Whattya think? Pretty cool to see a Keyblade up close, huh?"
Laura nodded. "Yeah, it sure is. They're so... different. I feel safe."
"Well no wonder, since you're looking at three keyblade masters! Mickey, myself, and -" Riku butted in as Sora was gesturing to the King, himself and his friend. Laura turned to Riku. Mickey gave in to a more serious disposure.
"Hold on, Sora. Not yet. That's one of the reasons that Yen Sid summoned us, isn't it, Mickey? To become true Masters?" Mickey gave a slow nod, summoning his own keyblade. It was an inversion in colouration of Sora's, with a golden sword and silver hand guard.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. I would call you both 'unofficial Keyblade Masters' as you are now, but as it stands, you must both embark on a sort of trial," Mickey began, holding his key towards the three teens before him.
"Yen Sid will hold all of your answers about what kind of trial you have to complete. Basically, you'll leave the trials with new abilities and powers needed to counter whatever Xehanort's got in store for us... As well as each an official title of Keyblade Master." Laura frowned, crossing her arms.
"And what if they don't succeed?" Both Sora and Riku turned to face Laura, suprised at her sudden doubt of their ability.
"Laura..." Sora lost some of his confident disposure.
Laura sighed. "Calm down. I'm not saying you will," gesturing to both wielders. Riku gave Sora a look as if to allow Laura to continue. Her independence in speech both impressed and intrigued him. She took a step forward to the King.
"I'm just a little lost with all of this. What I do understand is that it isn't easy... But look at Sora and Riku. They can't be the only ones. Others of their ability and age have succeeded before on some other world, though, right?" Mickey gave her a quizzical smile, studying his Keyblade before him.
"I find it quite interesting that you'd come to such a conclusion already, being so new to the concept of other worlds and worldly order," he turned to have his back facing them looked up toward the ceiling.
"There was a time where an accomplished and respected master had under his guidance three apprentices: two boys, and one girl. The oldest of the trio, one of the boys, and the girl had been accepted to prove their Mark of Mastery. The two had exerted great skill and great qualifying traits during their exam - especially the girl, who had passed her trial without great difficulty. The boy, however, failed to keep control of the darkness within him, failing to make the cut."
'Terra, Aqua, Ventus.'
Each of the apprentices' names appeared in the back of her mind almost instantly at their mention by the King. This greatly disturbed Laura, linking it to her connection with Mickey's heart at that moment, but thought it wise to keep her extracted information to herself. She wasn't yet accustomed to the strange, sudden new workings of her body.
Both Sora and Riku listened intently - it was a great deal for Mickey to reveal such private events to such a newcomer. Riku began to realize the significance of the coincidence of her arrival into the picture, piecing information together, and spoke up.
"So what happened, then? Was the older boy re-admitted?" Mickey ceased to continue. He gave a great pause, followed by the lowering of his shoulders. He then let out a disappointed sigh. She could sense he did not enjoy thinking about the answer to her question.
"Welp, he ended up suffering so much because of his darkness that he could not keep inside. It ended up consuming him... The girl and the younger boy had pursued him, but to little avail. None of the three have been seen or heard of since," he concluded for her, turning back to face them. Laura knew that their small discussion of the past was quickly nearing its end. He seemed to have been leaving heaping amounts of details out of his story.
"Which is where you come in. It's been 10 years since then, and now my master Yen Sid has felt two alarming presences - one of utmost darkness, Xehanort, and one of a strange light... You, Laura."
Laura gestured to herself. "I saw my light... two nights ago, with Sora and Riku. I glowed a light when I was happy to be with them," she gestured to both of them, "and I want to know more about it. How to channel it into a power that can help you guys... in some sort of way. I know I can."
Riku placed a supportive hand on her shoulder, dismissing his keyblade. He enjoyed hearing her words of enthusiasm. More and more his opinion of her would stray from his initial first impression of her when they first met on the islands. Sora dismissed his blade and gave her a supportive smile of his own.
Mickey nodded with another happy laugh. "I know that you're meant to help, and to work together with us! I just know it. And I also know that Master Yen Sid can explain to us just how you can, and how to channel your light."
Donald began to jump up and down and quack, shaking his wizard staff about. "Which means we need to use the Gummi Ship!" he exclaimed excitedly. Laura assumed he knew a great deal about the peculiar ships. Goofy threw a fist into the air above him.
"A'hyuck, Donald's right! Everybody, follow me - er, us!" the spastic duck admired his friend's correction and quickly waddled his way toward the end of the hall, expecting everyone to follow him to his Gummi Ship. Mickey shrugged toward the teens, laughing, and Kairi joined in.
"What a crazy duck Donald is. Let's go, everyone! Oh, and Laura," she kept the blonde behind while everyone else begun to follow Donald out of the long hall.
"Let's get you a proper change of clothes."
Laura was gratefully reminded of her lovely white nightdress, now paired with an extra pair of Riku's pyjama pants for added coverage and obvious good fashion. The fantastic line of events and adventure from the courtyard they had dropped down into, to the tickling in the halls, to his own guest room to fetch them came into her mind. She gave a small embarrassed chuckle.
"Yeah, I like that idea. Let's go quickly."
Kairi excitedly explained the wonders of the conveniently magical wardrobe to be found in Queen Minnie's tailoring quarters in the left wing of the castle. Accidentally, Laura half-tuned her speech out due to her reflection on the conversation earlier with the King and everyone else. Why had the king so obviously leave so much supporting information and evidence out of his answers? It did not seem right to her. Someone was behind the older boy - Terra - and his inability to control the darkness within his heart. Suddenly the two girls arrived into left wing, snapping her out of her thoughts.
'That was quick. I'm such a space cadet... Maybe I'm made for Gummi Ship travel after all...'
The room seemed to be quite magical indeed, sporting magically animated broomstick servants that worked ceaselessly to create clothes and tapestries of a quality Laura could truly admire. To the left, magical workers took fabrics from a shelf near a large and cumbersome wardrobe and placed them inside upon the two girls' arrival. It was mostly white, with lavender, yellow and sky blue trim in different places. It seemed to stand confidently on four golden feet - wiggling excitedly, which gave Laura the impression that it truly was magical.
"Well, here we are... Look, there it is! Minnie's magical wardrobe," Kairi explained and brought Laura toward it. The broomstick servants courteously gave way to the two girls, allowing Kairi and Laura to stand before it.
"So what makes it magical, anyways?"
"Well, you saw how the servants placed some fabric inside of it, right?"
Laura nodded. "Yeah!"
"Well, now that it's loaded up," she grabbed each of Laura's hands and placed them on either of its doors' handles. "You place your hands on it and it creates an outfit that best represents you!"
Laura laughed in amazement. "Hey, awesome! Okay, let me see..." she closed her eyes, concentrating on pouring her self image into the wardrobe. It began to rumble slightly and emit noises of complaint, which caused Laura to jump in shock.
"Agh! What is this?" Kairi laughed at her reaction, and the wardrobe ceased its rumbling. "Look, it's ready. Go ahead."
"Already? That was quick."
"Oh yeah! Try it out, Laura!" she nodded eagerly, laughing in excitement with Kairi, and opened the door.
Inside lay a very peculiar outfit on the shelves, neatly folded and organized on shelves by each type of garment. She took each piece out, one by one, examining each carefully. First she took out a comfy-looking, form-fitting 3/4 sleeve top. It had a wide-necked collar and came in a very dark blue. It was plain, but Laura was impressed. She put it aside on the table beside the wardrobe.
Kairi hummed. "Interesting! Keep going." Laura could tell her red-head friend was more than excited, and continued her findings.
She then took out another shirt which she assumed was to be layered on top of the previous shirt. It also possessed 3/4 sleeves yet they were slightly shorter and baggier, which Laura tied to proper comfy movement. The outfit seemed to be tailored for an active lifestyle, to say the least. The body of the top, a pale light creamy orange, was also loose-fitting for the same purpose. Its collar was slightly wider than the previous top with true purple trim that matched the sleeve hems and he hem of the torso. On the front of the shirt, just under the wide collar, was a seam buttoned up with two black buttons.
"Cute, but functional, too." Kairi commented. On the back of the shirt and the ousdies of the sleeves laid peculiar heart-shaped emblems, possessing three points at its end. "I wonder what that means, though...?" Laura shrugged, placing it on top of the other shirt.
"Who knows!"
She then took a pair of fancy capri-style pants from the lower shelf. They were tight fitting yet the material was flexible beyond belief. They were a dark charcoal-like colour, with four diamond shapes connected in a straight line that descended the front of each pant leg. The diamonds varied in colour, from purple on top, to light blue, to light green and lastly to yellow. The hem of the pants matched the true purple of the baggy shirt's wide collar. "Fancy!" Laura exclaimed, falling in love with the 'fancy-pants' she had acquired. Kairi agreed.
Taking one last look into the wardrobe, she found a plain brown belt with a plain golden buckle. She thought it to be a fine last addition to her new outfit. Taking all of her items of clothing into a neat pile in her arms, she turned to Kairi.
"Now I need to put it all on!" she made a 'b-line' for the door clearly labelled 'changing room' on the opposite end of the room. Kairi gasped, stopping Laura in her tracks rather exagguratedly.
"Wait! there's something else, Laura," she brought one last strange piece of the outfit to her. It was a type of small chest protector, with two criss-crossing yellow straps and a small silver pendant that held the two straps in place in the center. It gave off a strange aura that reminded her somehow of the apprentices mentioned by Mickey.
"How weird, but I bet it's important... These clothes also protect you, you know!" Laura took a step back.
"Huh? From what, exactly?" Kairi gave her an evil, mischievous smile.
"From monsters. You know, heartless, nobodies... Evil men named Riku." Laura nodded understandingly at the first two threats, but gave her a look at the last.
Kairi gave her a huge smile. "Think of it... as a chastity belt!" Kairi began to laugh uncontrollably at her own joke, doubling over and holding her stomach. Laura groaned, her cheeks turning a bright tinge of pink.
"Oh, give it a break! You're as bad as Sora, you know! Two peas in a pod!" both began to laugh even harder together. Laura knew then that no matter how perilous the journey would become, they would still come across and look back upon golden instances of joy such as these.
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