Chapter 16: Keyhole
I really need a shower, Alex thought.
Despite the fact that a large chameleon lay dead at his feet, his clothes were caked in dried blood, some of which were his and some he didn't know, and that they had just saved a gorilla tribe from being carted off to Britain, Alex could only think of taking a shower.
He looked around the nesting grounds of the gorillas, taking in the sights of the battleground it had become. His other comrades were in the same shape as him, torn clothing and all. Sora had taken a deep breath and threw himself on the ground, stretching his arms out as far as they could go. The Keybearer sighed as he could only smile and peer up at the stars while listening to the sounds of nature. The silence was a nice change of pace compared to the constant adrenaline rush that was fighting Heartless. The grass and bushes that made up the nesting grounds had been trampled and smoke was rising from burnt grass, courtesy of Donald's fire and thunder spells.
Goofy took his small cap off and let the cool night air soothe his sweaty head, but he was careful to keep an eye out for any stray Heartless that tried to attack Jane, who was busy yelling for Tarzan. Donald wiped some blood from his beak and cast a healing spell on everyone, which made Donald fall to the ground because it took a lot of energy out of his body.
Sora, who hadn't forgotten that Donald helped him fight the Heartless, called out, "Hey Donald, are you-."
"I'm fine," Donald said as he struggled to get up. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of Ether. The duck opened the lid and began to drink the blue fluid. He drank it so ravenously that some of the liquid began to dribble down his beak and neck.
"Slow down man," Sora motioned with his hand to stop, but Donald had already finished off the bottle and licked his beak. Sora was a little surprised to see the previously downed Donald stand up as if nothing had happened.
"All better," Donald assured Sora who gave a slight smile. Both of them realized that they were talking to one another and it wasn't an argument. They both found it awkward and began to look at the trees. Anything was better than having to face each other.
Goofy began to walk over to his friends when he felt a soft hand on his shoulder. The knight turned his head and saw Jane standing behind him with a grateful look on her face. "Thank you Sir Goofy. I don't know how to repay you for protecting me."
Jane giggled as Goofy blushed and said, "Aw, it wasn't nothin' Miss Jane. Just doing my job." He put his cap back on and motioned for Jane to come with him, over to the others.
As Alex walked over to Sora and Donald, he said, "Thanks for the healing spell Donald. That monster took a lot out of me."
"Don't mention it," Donald waved his hand for emphasis.
"Everyone," Jane patted Alex's shoulder and pointed to the trees above. "Look."
Alex turned on his heel, following Jane's finger and looked to where she was pointing. Although it was still dark, Alex could faintly see the outlines of the gorillas hiding in the trees. He squinted his eyes and could see slight movement from the animals. They inched outward from the protection of the trees and looked all around their nesting grounds to make sure that the danger was gone. Alex saw Kala as she hastefully peered from one side of the jungle to the other and the boy had a very good idea what she was looking for.
Alex wasn't sure if the gorillas were going to come out all the way when Kerchak exited the shade of the tree and walked slowly towards Alex and his friends. The mighty gorilla puffed out his chest as he made his way over to the warriors. Goofy gulped because he was sure Kerchak was going to give them another tongue lashing. The gorilla grew bigger as he advanced and Alex almost felt like bowing in fear as Kerchak stopped right in front of him, his powerful body intimidating Alex more than he liked.
Kerchak stared straight into Alex's eyes, causing the boy's legs to begin shaking, until the gorilla spoke. "Thank you."
Alex blinked a couple of times and raised an eyebrow. Did he hear right? Was Kerchak actually thanking them?
"All of you, thank you," Kerchak continued, his eyes shifting from hero to hero. "If you hadn't intervened, my family would surely have been taken away. You honor me with your bravery." The words spoken by Kerchak caused smiles to come to each of the hero's faces. Despite the fights, arguments, and suspicion that had plagued the group for awhile, everything was being forgotten because of Kerchak's words. It made Alex feel good about himself. Back on Earth, Alex wasn't the most eager to help out others than himself, even though he knew he should have. Now, he felt like he was making up for past mistakes.
In more ways than one, Alex thought. The memory of his family hadn't left his thoughts and Alex planned to keep it that way. The only reason he was fighting the Heartless was because they had killed his family. It gave Alex the inspiration to keep on fighting.
"Mother!" Sora and the others turned to see Tarzan as he swung from a vine and landed on the ground. As his feet touched the ground, he didn't stop and ran over to Kala. Goofy was certain he felt a tear come down his face as Kala ran over to her son. The two collided in a fierce embrace that lasted for a good minute. Seeing this tearful reunion made Alex wonder. Would his mother have held him the same way? Even after she had found out what a coward he was?
"Oh Tarzan," Kala said as she slightly pushed Tarzan away so she could talk to his face. "I'm so glad you're not okay. I thought you were....."
Tarzan, knowing what his mother had been thinking, shook his head and said, "No. Not when I knew that my family needed me the most."
Kala was about to say something when she saw Kerchak coming up from her right side. Tarzan stared the gorilla down as he advanced. He wasn't afraid of Kerchak anymore and was willing to take whatever punishment Kerchak had planned for him.
However, much to Tarzan's surprise, Kerchak looked a little nervous, hesitant even. He constantly looked at the ground, struggling to find the right words to say. There was an awkward silence between the two before Kerchak said, "I didn't think you would come back."
Tarzan didn't know how to take that statement, so he just said, "Neither did I."
Despite the awkwardness of the situation, Kerchak chuckled slightly. "I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you before." Tarzan blinked. "You were right Tarzan. Your friends were worthy of my trust. I was just too stubborn to see it."
"No," Kerchak looked to his side to see the boy, Sora, walking towards them. "Trying to protect your family isn't stubborn. You had every reason not to trust us. How could we expect you to accept us when there's guys like Clayton running around?"
Kerchak nodded at Sora, thankful that he was mature enough to see the situation from his eyes. "Still, I'm sorry for not trusting you."
Tarzan walked in front of Kerchak and without looking at the gorilla, asked, "Can I show them?" Alex looked over to Sora to see if he knew what he was talking about, but Sora shrugged his shoulders.
"Yes," Kerchak said. Tarzan smiled and motioned for the others to come with him.
As Tarzan grabbed Jane's hand, she asked, "Tarzan, where are we going?"
"Ee ee oo oo ah."
Along the way, Alex and Sora tried to translate Tarzan's odd phrase, but nothing they came up with made any sense. Alex knew they were just anxious for what they were about to see because Tarzan had said this was where Riku and Kairi were. They were about to find their friends. Donald and Goofy had the same idea. They believed that their king was here. The Gummi block in Goofy's pocket was proof that he was here. At least, they hoped it was.
Their travels eventually led them to a cliff side that overlooked a huge river. Alex looked even further to the left to see a giant waterfall cascading downward. The roar of the waterfall stunned Alex who was starting to appreciate the beauty of nature a little bit more. At least Clayton had one thing right. As they walked along the cliff, the mist from the waterfall wet their clothes. By the time they stopped, Jane's white, sleeveless top was completely drenched.
As they took a quick break in some shade from trees on the cliff, Alex kept his eyes on the massive river below them and said, "Damn. This place is B-E-A-UTIFUL!"
Tarzan glanced over at everyone and put his palm to his chest, saying, "Tarzan, home."
Sora looked at the river, then back to Tarzan. "But I thought the entire jungle was your home?"
Tarzan shook his head, explaining, "This is the center of it all."
"Oh, I see," Sora said, not really knowing what he saw, but he figured everything would be explained in time.
As soon as their little break was over, Tarzan led them further, the waterfall getting closer with every step. Soon enough, Tarzan had led them to the right side of the entire waterfall. The rocky right side of the waterfall blacked some of the water from getting to the group, but they still remained wet by the time they were over there.
"Look there," Tarzan turned away from the group and pointed to a small tunnel that dug its way around and into the waterfall itself.
"You're kiddin' me," Goofy said as he realized where they were going.
"Just don't slip," Donald said without looking at Goofy, knowing that the rule went for everyone, including himself.
"I just hope we don't get attacked by Heartless," Alex said as they began to enter the tunnel.
"Why's that?" Sora asked. "Besides the obvious, I mean?"
"Because if you or your best friend back there decide to fight the Heartless with thunder spells, we are royally screwed," Alex explained.
By this time, everyone had entered the tunnel and the only light they had was from a faint, blue glow that was coming from up ahead. Goofy had been listening to the boys' conversation and asked, "How would that be bad?"
Donald, coming up from the rear, explained, "Because electricity and water don't mix. If I cast a thunder spell in here, the reaction would be more explosive, killing the Heartless and us along with it."
Goofy simply said, "Oh, that's why."
The tunnel ended quite abruptly and the group found themselves in a large cavern that was directly behind the waterfall. Alex stood in awe of the sight before him. In front of him was wet rock formations that had the same bluish glow as the tunnel walls. Moss and other vegetation were scattered across the rock surface. Different platforms of rock rose to different areas and Alex was a little scared when he realized they were probably going to have to climb this wet, slippery rock wall. To the right of the group was the waterfall and it was a sight to see. There was no barrier to protect them from the mist that clouded the cavern and within a few seconds, Alex found himself touching his hair and finding that it was soaked. Nevertheless, the water felt refreshing after all the battles and it was washing off all of the blood from their clothes.
Well, it ain't no luxury jacuzzi, Alex thought. But it'll have to do.
Tarzan took Jane's hand in his own as he led everyone on the journey to the top. Jane was careful not to let go of Tarzan because he was going to be the only hope for her if she fell. Sora's fingerless gloves provided the grip needed and he was thankful that for once his giant shoes weren't getting in the way. The only reason Goofy was having such a hard time climbing was because he couldn't contain his laughter at Donald. Since Donald had feathers, the water was making his body look deformed and he hated every moment of it. The duck was tempted to smack Goofy with his staff, but, under the circumstances, decided not to.
As they got about halfway up the rock wall, less platforms of rock became available and now they had to rely on long strands of ivy that had begun to grow. It provided a great grip for those who had had enough with wet rock. Alex grimaced as he climbed across a horizontal patch, being careful not to look down. Jane proved to be quite the trooper as she climbed all the way across in a fast manner. Sora thought she was more interested in finding out where they were going then keeping her life.
Soon, they reached the top rock platform which led to another dark tunnel. This one, unfortunately, did not have a faint blue glow to guide them. Tarzan led the way and everyone just put their hands on the person in front of them, making a small train of people.
Look out everyone! Alex thought. Here comes the blind conga line!
Tarzan walked at a faster pace, not wanting to stay in the darkness any longer then he needed too. As they proceeded, light began to shine in front of them because of little cracks in the ceiling and soon it began to shine in front of them. Alex knew they had arrived at their destination.
Alex lifted his hands from Jane's shoulders as they entered a new cavern, more beautiful than the one before it. Its perimeter was circular, but the only open area was half of it. The other half, as Alex could see, had been caved in by stone and moss had begun to grow extensively within the stone wall. In front of the stone was a tree that curved strangely until it reached the ceiling, which was now visible due to the top being open, showing Alex the sky and sun. At first, Alex believed that the tree was all green, but upon closer inspection, he saw that it was entirely covered with vines. But the sight that caught Alex's attention the most was what was at the center of the tree.
The middle of the tree wasn't visible due to the strong, blue light that was shining from the tree. It gave off bright circles of light before they disappeared into the corners of darkness of the cavern. As Alex, Sora, and Tarzan approached it further, Alex could hear the murmurs of the others behind him, but couldn't make out exactly what they were saying due to the echoes of the waterfall. Alex was pretty sure that whatever reason Tarzan had for bringing them up here had something to do with that weird light.
Alex stopped about ten feet away from the luminescent tree, partly shielding his eyes from the bright light. Tarzan, on the other hand, walked even further, his eyes fully focused on the tree, giving no hints that his eyes hurt. As soon as Tarzan stopped, he said once again, "Ee ee oo oo ah!"
"I still don't know what that means," Alex sighed in defeat, wishing that Tarzan could speak the word in English.
"Hey," Sora rose his hand in the air and ran over next to Alex. "When you met him, Tarzan said this was where Riku and Kairi were at, right?"
Alex nodded, even though he had no idea where Sora was going with this. "Yeah, so?"
Sora continued, "And when we got to the waterfall, Tarzan said this was the center of the jungle, right?"
Again, Alex nodded, "Yeah. Where the heck are you going with this?"
"It's his home," Sora said. "He even told us that."
"Then why is he still talking gorilla?" Donald asked from the back of the cave.
"Maybe he likes saying it that way," Goofy said, earning him a look from Donald.
"But if this is his home, then where are Riku and Kairi?" Alex asked.
Sora was about to say something, when Tarzan rose up his hand in the air, signaling everyone to be quiet. Alex waited for Tarzan to say something, but instead, he put his hand to his ear. At first, Alex didn't know what he was doing, but Tarzan simplified it with a single word, "Listen."
Sora and Alex looked at each other, confused as to where Tarzan was going with this, but they followed orders and put their hand to their ear.
"The waterfalls," Jane said. "They're echoing all the way here."
Alex put his hand down. "But we knew that alre-."
"Ee ee oo oo ah." Tarzan said, and seeing the curious looks on everyone's face, he did his best to find the words to describe it. "Friends there. See friends."
Jane snapped her fingers, causing everyone in the room to jump, the echo of the snap ringing in their ears. "Oh, sorry, but now I've got it. This phrase, ee ee oo oo ah, means heart." Alex took a step towards Jane, wondering if he had heard right.
"Of course," Goofy said. "When you told Tarzan you were looking for your friends, he musta said that they were in your heart."
"How about that?" Alex mumbled, a little amazed that a jungle man was able to come up with something like that. "Friends in our hearts."
Sora was glad that someone finally figured it out, but the end result had left him unsatisfied. He had wanted to find the real Riku and Kairi, not be told something that he already knew. His friends would always be with him.
"Oh," Donald said with a frown. "So that's what it meant."
"H-h-hea-heart," Tarzan was finally able to say. "Friends, same heart. But Clayton, lose heart. With no heart, no see friends. No heart, no friends."
Sora and Donald came to realize what Tarzan was saying. If you are going to stop being a friend to others, then you'll wind up like Clayton. Alone and evil in your heart.
Sora was the first one to speak. He turned to Donald and said,"I'm sorry that I hit you. Really sorry. You were right in the fact that I was being selfish. I shouldn't have taken your friendship with the King for granted and I won't ever again."
Donald couldn't help, but smile a little. "Well, what you said goes both ways. I should have been more understanding when it came to your friends. I think that punch knocked some sense into me."
Sora laughed as he stuck his hand out, knowing that what he was about to do was kinda cliche'. "Friends?"
Donald did not hesitate as he planted his feathery palm in Sora's. "You betcha."
Sora predicted that Alex was going to make some smart remark, and he wasn't disappointed. "Aww, that's so cute. Let's all be fwends."
Goofy sealed the deal by grabbing all three of them holding them close, yelling, "Yeah! It's like we said before."
Alex knew what Goofy meant. "Only this time, let's mean it!"
All four heroes stood up straight, summoned their weapons, and rose them into the air, saying "All for one and one for all!" Alex didn't even care to make a comment about how technically they were stealing the quote. Tarzan and Jane looked at the heroes admirably, happy that they were all getting along again.
The happy moment didn't last long, as the group's attention shifted to the mysterious light in the center of the tree.
Heart of the jungle? Sora thought. I wonder......could it be?
Almost as if he was in a trance, the Keybearer stepped forward slowly, his eyes never averting their gaze from the object of attention. The light sparkled back and forth between light and lighter, as if the light was beckoning Sora forward. Alex watched as his best friend got closer to the tree, wondering what Sora knew that he didn't.
Sora stopped at the foot of the tree. The presence of the Keybearer caused the blue butterflies on the light to disperse from their resting place. Sora continued to stare at the light, knowing that it wasn't the butterflies that was causing it. Goofy sneezed as a butterfly landed on his nose and he grabbed it into his hand. The butterfly fluttered its wings in the gloved hands of Goofy and the knight found the glow of the wings to be mesmerizing, bringing a smile to his face.
As the last of the butterflies flew away, Sora was able to see the true source of the light. A keyhole, emitting a blue light, was embedded into the tree.
Just like in Wonderland, Sora thought. Does this mean the worlds have something in common? What is the purpose of a keyhole?
Last time, the Keyblade had forced itself to lock the Keyhole, but this time Sora was in control. Everyone looked in wonder as Sora summoned the Keyblade, the sword giving light to the cave. He pointed the tip of the Keyblade at the keyhole and waited for his weapon to do the rest. As if it read his mind, little stars began to form around the tip of the Keyblade, twirling in a circle and soon were sucked into the weapon. The energy from the stars began to build in blue circle of light, rivaling the keyhole. Sora had to hold the Keyblade with both hands as a beam of light shot from the Keyblade. The beam shot straight into the keyhole, somehow making all of the vines on the tree glow blue. Everyone was in awe of the amazing sight. The keyhole made a locking sound, just as it did before, and began to disintegrate into the air until the only evidence it had been there at all was a small outline of it in the tree.
"What's that?" Goofy pointed with his finger at something that had fallen on the ground. Sora looked down to see a diamond shaped gummi block, mostly green with smudges of orange in the center.
"A gummi," Donald exclaimed.
"But it's sure not the King's," Goofy said in a defeated tone. Donald sighed and hung his head low. They had failed. Their friend wasn't here after all. Neither was Riku or Kairi.
"Hey," Alex exclaimed. "What's that?!"
He pointed to the ground fairly close to where the gummi block had fallen. Sora walked over to the spot and looked down to see the strangest thing. It was a key chain. It had been intricately carved so it would be very smooth and it was in the shape of a butterfly. The eyes of the butterfly were represented by very small, blue gems. The craftsmanship of the key chain astounded Sora and he was surprised to see that the clasp for the chain was metal. Sora knew he wasn't in the best place to inspect it, so he put it in his pocket for now.
Alex leaned down and picked up the gummi. He stared at it for awhile, wondering if they were ever going to find either of their friends. Finally, he turned to the others.
"Well guys," Alex said. "I think it's time we headed out, don't you?" Everyone nodded and began the journey back to camp. On the way, Sora continued to ponder the mystery of these keyholes. He had a feeling that he was going to be doing a lot more of locking keyholes in the future. But to what end?
The cold, dank air in the room did not even cause the occupants to shiver. Such evil flowed within their hearts that they barely felt anything at all, except their own anticipation of the rewards to come. The stone pedestal in the room continued to show the progress of the four heroes. They had proved to be worthy of their attention.
"What drew the Heartless to that world?" One of them, a man, said.
Maleficent rapped her fingers gently along her staff, moving with elegance and grace. "The hunter lured them there." Her tone did nothing to disguise her contempt for Clayton. One as weak as him could not even begin to grasp the power of the Heartless.
"But why?" The same man asked.
Maleficent smiled, eager to point out the man's flaws. "It was his lust for power that was the bait. But it seems the bait was to tasty for his own good."
A malevolent laugh echoed throughout the chamber by another, his voice dripping with cockiness. "Yeah, his neck got crunched instead."
"Indeed." The one who had asked the questions stepped forward. He sported a long, billowing red and black cape that flowed in the cold breeze. He wore a black tunic that was so long it almost hid his oddly red, curved shoes. On his head sat a black turban that had a bright, red jewel embedded in the center of it. His thin arms were in baggy sleeves and in his hand, he held a staff, like Maleficent. This staff, however, was golden. The top of the staff was shaped like the head of a king cobra, red jewels within the eye spots showing a horror that would give any normal person a phobia of snakes. The man casually stepped forward, stroking his small, but curly beard as he did so. His long face gave the impression that he was bored and he spoke with such an upper class accent that the others figured was an excuse to sound better than everyone else. "Surely a weak-hearted fool like him stood no chance against the Heartless, or the Keybearer for that matter."
The Arabian dressed man continued, "But I will admit, the boy and his little group is starting to become a bit of a bother. After all, he found and locked two of the keyholes."
Just as the man predicted, his leader showed no signs of worry. She made the hologram shine even brighter so everyone could see. "Fear not. It will take him ages to find the rest. Besides, he remains blissfully unaware of our other plan."
Another figure spoke from within the darkness. "Why yes, the princesses."
"They are falling into our hands," Maleficent smiled. "One by one." She waved her hand in the air until she clenched it tightly into a fist.
The sound of heels clacking on the stone floor caused Maleficent to peer over her shoulder, even though she already knew who it was. Everyone stared in wonder as Alice of Wonderland stepped into the room with a dazed look on her face. Maleficent motioned for her to come closer. Alice did as she was instructed and stepped forward, the expression on her face never changing.
Maleficent stifled a giggle. "Speaking of which...."
Upon their return to the campground, Sora and the gang took it upon themselves to do everything in their power to fix up the place. After all, they had killed off all the Heartless, so they figured they were next in line to take the brunt of the blame, even though Jane constantly told them not to bother. Donald proved to be the most valuable asset. With his magic, he was able to mend broken trinkets in a jiffy. The grandfather clock that once resided on the ground was now back in its original position, looking good as new. The high point for Alex was seeing Donald repair the British flag. The tattered shreds of the flag lay all around the campground, but Donald was able to summon them back. The pieces hovered in the air, arranging themselves in their original shape.
Well, Alex thought. I know who to go to if I ever need help with a jigsaw puzzle.
After everything had was put back into order, the group met for one last time in the tent.
"Miss Jane," Goofy announced. "Everything is fixed now."
Jane beamed as the knight presented her with a picture of her posing with her father. The picture was not torn anymore and it brought little tears to Jane's eyes.
"Th-thank you," Jane stammered. "Thank you so much all of you. I can't believe that you were able to do all of this."
"It's pretty easy when you've got a magician as good as Donald around," Sora said, putting a hand on the duck's shoulder.
Donald looked over his shoulder at Sora and smiled. "You guys did your part too."
After Donald had spoken, nothing was said for a few seconds. Tarzan looked at the floor and began to pick at his toenail. Everyone knew what had to happen now, but no one wanted to say it.
Ahh! Uncomfortable silences!, Alex thought.
Being the wielder of the Keyblade, Sora knew he had to be the one to speak, "Well, I guess we better get going."
Tarzan immediately looked up with shock. "Why?"
Sora nervously cleared his throat and said, "The people we were looking for aren't here and we have to keep searching for them." Sora looked back at his friends for confirmation and, thankfully, they all nodded in agreement.
Jane appeared baffled, so Alex asked her, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just...well..how did you get here anyway?" Jane asked.
The question caught Alex a little by surprise. He hadn't even thought about how they were going to get back to the Gummi Ship. After all, they had fallen out of it.
Seeing that Alex was stumped, Donald cut in. "Our vessel isn't far from here."
Knowing they had to make the lie seem genuine, Goofy and the others quickly nodded along with the wizard. They started to sweat when Jane eyed each of them with suspicion, but Alex just grinned sheepishly at her and eventually she smiled back, accepting Donald's statement.
Tarzan stepped forward, part of his face brighter than the other due to the oil lamp in the tent. "I...hope that you will visit us again soon." The jungle man smiled at his friends.
Alex walked forward until his face was brightened by the same light that Tarzan's was. He took Tarzan's hand in a firm grip and said, "You can count on it."
Jane smiled and Tarzan pulled Alex's hand forward, causing the entire body of Alex to fall forward, and Tarzan was there to embrace the boy in a tight hug. Alex felt an amazing warmth encompass his body as he returned the hug. The two separated so the others could share the same sign of friendship.
When everyone had finished saying good-byes, Tarzan said, "Even though we may not meet again, I want all of you to know, that you will always be in my heart."
The four heroes took one last look at the friends they had made over the course of two days. Despite the fact that they may never meet, Alex knew that he would remember them forever in his heart. It made Alex think about the Heartless and the reason they existed. Were they trying to prove some kind of point? They may be trying to kill people by taking their hearts, thus killing their bonds with others, but in the process, they were causing Alex's bond with his new friends to grow stronger than the ones he had with his old friends on Earth. Alex wondered if this was making him forget his family and the people who had helped raised him to be the warrior he was now. The thought made Alex quiver with sadness. Not only did he run away when his family needed him the most, but now he was forgetting about them and his friends all together.
And yet, Alex thought, I know my family wouldn't want me to live in the past with hate. They would be happy to know that I've made friends, even if they aren't from Earth. Mom, Dad,...Sean..., I know I swore that I would avenge your deaths, to hunt down the person who ordered your execution, but haven't I accomplished enough already? Please, give me some kind of-of sign that I can stop this quest for revenge. I-I don't want to live in the past anymore. I just want to help my friends now. Please!
Yet, as he followed his friends through the jungle to find their ship, eventually leading to new adventures, Alex neither saw, nor felt any sign of closure. Did this mean that his task was not yet finished? He didn't know it then, but Alex Bane was going to realize that his quest for darkness, revenge, and quest for light, the annihilation of the Heartless, was more closely linked then he could ever imagine.
"So how are we going to find the ship?" Sora asked, casually strolling beside Donald and Goofy.
"Aw, don't worry Sora," Goofy said. "Donald has a tracker for these kind of situations." To prove it, he pointed at Donald who showed Sora an electronic device in his hand. It was shaped like a compass, only the screen was black and its layout was gridded. A blue dot appeared every few seconds, making a small beeping noise.
"That's the ship," Donald explained.
Sora looked puzzled and Donald knew why, so he said, "In emergencies, the ship will go on auto-pilot and find the clearest landing zone." Sora's face turned back to normal now that the technical stuff was out of the way.
The Keybearer looked back at his friend and comrade, Alex, who was walking slowly in a daze. Sora wished that Alex would open up to him a little bit more. The nightmare he had a couple days ago was still fresh in his mind and Sora was a little cautious about asking Alex about it. His friend had said that it was nothing and Sora wanted dearly to believe him, but something just didn't feel right.
"Hey Alex," Sora yelled. His friend blinked a bit, as if coming out of a trance, and looked at Sora. "C'mon ya lazy bum!" Alex rolled his eyes and began to jog over to Sora. The Keybearer was surprised to watch Alex zoom right past him. "Fine. We'll do it your way." Sora began to sprint right after Alex, making a mental note to get him back sometime.
After a thirty minute walk, the team found the Gummi Ship, peacefully waiting within the dense foliage of the forest. They wasted no time in entering and the two boys raced to their rooms. Donald and Goofy didn't know why they were in such a hurry, until they passed the room themselves. The two boys were on their beds, chowing down on some food like hyenas. Donald chuckled slightly and said, "At least we're able to keep our composure. Right Goofy?" The duck looked to his side to see the knight no longer there. Donald growled as he peered into Alex's room and Goofy was right there, eating food along with Alex. Donald shook his head, muttering, "I am surrounded by idiots."
Eventually, the team regrouped in the cockpit. Jiminy began to cry out how much he had been worried about all of them, but Alex was able to calm him down with the offer of a summary of their adventures at Deep Jungle. The cricket quickly stopped flapping his jaws and briskly brandished a pen to begin writing. As Alex was talking with Jiminy, Sora was standing in place by his seat, staring out into the jungle through the window.
Sora jumped a little when Goofy tapped him on the shoulder, asking, "Gawrsh Sora, you okay?"
Sora smiled and chuckled. "Yeah, I'm fine Goofy, Just spaced out for a bit, that's all. I guess I'm just tired."
"Me three," Goofy said. Sora debated telling Goofy that there had been no second person in the conversation, but decided against it.
As Donald took his regular position in the front seat, he said, "All right. Everyone ready to bust out of here?!
"Yes!" The unison response brought a smile to the duck. Nice to know that everyone feels the same way, he thought.
Donald fired up the engines and the low hum began to grow in volume. Alex grabbed Jiminy and put him in his jacket pocket, much to the cricket's dismay. Goofy took his seat and began to check that all the engines, weaponry, and shields were prepped and ready for any kind of resistance.
Just as Donald was about to push on the ignition, Sora leaped from his chair, yelling, "I wanna be pilot!"
As soon as the words escaped Sora's mouth, Alex almost had a heart attack just thinking about what a disaster of monumental proportions Sora's driving skills could be. Alex trusted Sora with his life, but in Alex's category of things he looked for in a good friend, brains wasn't exactly on the top of the list.
Thankfully, Donald appeared to have the same opinion. "Are you kiddin' me?! Driving a star ship is no walk in the park Sora. It took me months to master driving a Gummi Ship."
Goofy turned in his chair. "Whaddya mean "mastered"?"
Donald gave Goofy the death glare, while Alex and Sora were laughing like crazy. "That's beside the point you buffoon! The point is that you aren't ready to pilot this vessel."
Sora threw back his arms and placed both of his hands behind his head, grinning in a cocky sort of way. "Aw come on. How hard could it be?"
Alex slapped his hand against his forehead. Great, the doofus just jinxed us, he thought.
Donald was about to argue some more, but Goofy said, "Aw come on Donald, let him give it a try. He needs the practice anyway."
Sora, grinning triumphantly, said, "Thank you Goofy. And I do need the practice if I'm gonna fly this ship some day. I'm the Keybearer, remember?"
As much as Donald wanted to protest, once again he found himself agreeing with Sora's logic. If something happened to Donald, he could be the only other person to drive it. He sure wasn't going to leave that responsibility to Goofy.
Donald stood up and offered the chair to Sora, but the Keyblader said, "Not yet. First, I wanna show you guys something." He dug within his pockets for a few seconds before pulling out the mysterious key chain.
"Whoah," Alex said as he got up from his chair. "What is that?"
"What is what?" The muffled voice of Jiminy Cricket managed to escape the prison of Alex's pocket. "Let me see. Pull me out this instant."
"Oh sorry," Alex apologized as he pulled the small figure out of his pocket. Jiminy dusted himself off before looking at the object in Sora's hand.
"Look," Sora explained. "This is gonna sound kinda weird, but I got this thing right after I sealed the keyhole at the waterfalls. It just appeared at my feet, along with the Gummi block."
Donald scratched his head, trying to come up with an explanation, but to no avail. "What do you think it means?"
Sora turned to Donald with a half-smile. "Do I look like the kind of guy who knows what the heck is going on?"
"Point taken," Donald replied.
"Maybe the keyhole gave it to ya." All eyes fell on Goofy as he gave his explanation.
"What do you mean Goofy?," Jiminy asked as he plopped a seat right in Alex's palm.
"Well," Goofy explained, "maybe when you closed the keyhole, it gave you those things in return. Sorta like a thank you present."
Donald laughed as he heard that statement. "Are you saying that keyholes have a mind of their own?"
"Maybe he's right Donald," Alex interjected. "I mean, what do we really know about these keyholes? They just seem to appear out of nowhere after we defeat the main threat of each world."
"Actually, that can't be true," Jiminy pointed out.
"Why not?" Alex asked.
"Well, after you four defeated that three headed dog in the Coliseum, I don't recall you telling me that you found a keyhole," Jiminy said.
"Oh yeah," Alex said. So much for that theory.
"So if they don't appear at random," Sora said, "then....no it couldn't be."
"What Sora?" Goofy said. "Didja think of something?"
Sora eyed all of them in the cockpit while saying, "I just thought that if these keyholes aren't appearing at random, does that mean that they were already there? Before we even entered the world?" The theory caught everyone by surprise and no one had any idea how to respond. Before Alex was a little confused about what was going on, now he was extremely confused. If the keyholes were there before they were, then what are they there for?
The plot thickens, Alex thought. And I don't think that is a good thing.
Alex couldn't take it anymore. "That's it! I'm sick of not knowing. I say we find out what we're doing with these keyholes and gummis before we go any further. I don't want to rush blindly into another situation."
Donald nodded. "I agree one hundred percent, but who do we go to for answers?"
Goofy snapped his fingers. "Maybe Leon'll know what to do."
Alex smiled. "Good thinking Goofy."
Sora decided to take Donald's generous offer before he grew a conscience and got into the pilot's seat. "So, I'm assuming we're goin' back to Traverse Town, right?"
"Do you even have to assume?" Alex said with a silly grin.
As Sora grabbed Donald and demanded to show him how to fly the ship, Alex got back in his seat and put Jiminy back in his pocket before the little guy could give any kind of resistance, although what kind of resistance he could put up Alex had no idea. As Alex strapped himself in, he prayed to God, Jesus, the Buddha, Allah, and any other religious figure he could think of to protect him from Sora's driving skills, as well as his stomach. He was confident that he would be watched over. After all, that's what his religion teacher, Mr. Bishop, would always say.
Ten minutes later......
"BISHOP!! MENTIROSO!!"
Disney Castle had become as quiet as a tomb since the entire kingdom had found out about King Mickey's odd disappearance. By the castle was an great spanse of houses making up the city. The cobblestone roads were no longer raving with children playing games and markets on every street trying to sell their wares. Everyone was at home, eagerly awaiting the announcement that the King had returned. It was widely known by the population of Disney Kingdom that the King would often go on bizarre trips across the universe, but no one thought much about it. That is, until now.
Queen Minnie and Daisy became increasingly worried about their friends every single day they were away. It just wasn't like the King to go away without explaining why. The only clue that they had was the odd mention of stars going out in the sky. Never ones to doubt the King, Minnie and Daisy had checked on what the letter said and it turned out to be true. At nighttime, stars would just vanish without a trace and the numbers were starting to increase. Because of this, Minnie had began to spend most of her time in the castle library, desperate to find any kind of clue to the King's whereabouts. Minnie couldn't help but feel a sense of impending danger, something that pushed her even harder to find the truth.
An entire week after the court wizard and knight had began their search for the King, Minnie was in the library. In her hands, she held a book about astronomy. She scoured the pages, looking for any reference to disappearing stars. As she flipped a page, she heard the door to the library open. The queen peered up from the book to see her best friend, Daisy, walk in.
Daisy wagged her finger from side to side and tutted. "You know the longer you look at those books, the more your eyes are going to hurt."
Minnie chuckled, but didn't put the book down. "A small price to pay if I must."
"Look," Daisy approached her friend and put her hands on the queen's shoulders, "I'm as worried as you are about him. But Donald and Goofy have never let their friend, nor us down before. You know that."
Minnie nodded and sniffled. "I just want to know he's safe. Is that too much to ask?"
Daisy shook her head. "I know that this looks like very shady business. Actually let me rephrase that, this is shady business we're dealing in. But you know as well as I do that the King wouldn't have gone gallivanting off without telling you unless he had a very, very good reason for it."
Minnie agreed with Daisy and she sat down near a table by a large bookshelf. The massive pictures on the wall of her husband's ancestors were stark reminders that Mickey knew what he was doing. "You're right as always Daisy. But that brings another worry to my mind."
Daisy sat down beside her, trying to be the best friend she could be. "Whatever do you mean, Minnie?"
Minnie wiped her eyes before the tears could even touch her skin and said, "The reason Mickey left had something to do with the stars disappearing. My worry is this. What kind of power could snuff the very stars from the sky?"
Daisy leaned back in her chair, taking in what the queen had said. It gave her a strong sense of foreboding, as if there was something out there in the universe that no one knew about. Something that was far more powerful then her, Minnie, and maybe even, King Mickey.
Daisy shook the thought out of her head, leaned forward, and took Minnie's hand in hers. "They will find him. I promise you that." Minnie squeezed Daisy's hand tight, trying desperately not to show weakness by crying anymore. "And besides, your husband also said in his note that someone had a "key" to our survival. It would appear that Donald and Goofy have found this person. Sora, I think his name was."
Minnie recalled the name, as well as the boy's friend Alex. She wished that Donald would call back for an update, but they must have been out of range. "Don't you think it's sad?"
Daisy was puzzled. "What's sad?"
"The fact that when the chips are down, we have to count on a regular boy to save us from the darkness." Minnie explained. "That responsibility should have been given to someone trained to combat evil, not a boy like Sora."
Daisy offered a reassuring smile. "Well, Goofy said that the boy was quite the fighter, even his friend Alex."
The mention of Alex brought a surprisingly serious look to Minnie's face. "Now, that is something I cannot condone."
"But, why Minnie?" Daisy asked. "You heard them. Alex is Sora's best friend. How can you expect him to stay behind when Sora's life might be in danger?"
"If he was smart he would stay behind," Minnie mumbled.
"Now stop right there," Daisy said forcefully, surprising Minnie. "You're not mad at Alex, you're mad at the King for leaving. Have you even considered the fact that maybe the reason he's out there is because these Heartless creatures have the potential to invade our peaceful kingdom?"
"He knows that we have a defensive measure for that," Minnie replied.
"That doesn't matter to him," Daisy waved her hand in the air. "He's out there to try and eliminate this threat to save everyone. He is out there to stop the Heartless from getting to you, my Queen."
The Queen sat back in her chair, her face blank in expression. "I'm sorry for disagreeing with you Daisy. You are indeed a wiser one than I."
Daisy shook her head. "Rubbish. I don't want to hear you talking like this. Your kingdom needs you strong, rested, and above all, honest." She began to laugh. "Me being wiser than you, hogwash!"
Daisy's laugh was infectious as Minnie realized the second a smile formed on her face. One of the many reasons she loved Daisy. No matter what the situation, she was able to bring a smile to her face. "Don't you have more important things that need attending to?"
As Daisy began to meander to the exit, she said, "More important than comforting a blubbering queen? Most certainly!" As Daisy shut the door, Minnie was able to hear laughter coming from the other side of the door. Now the tears that were coming down Minnie's face were ones of laughter.
The Queen of Disney Castle decided to take Daisy's advice. She grabbed the book from the table and began to make her way to the back of the bookshelf. Her eyes scoured the lower rows, trying to find a single space to insert the book in her hands. Soon enough, she found the space and placed the book in. As she was doing that, she heard the library doors open again.
That Daisy, Minnie thought. She doesn't quit easily.
The Queen began to walk back to the table, the bookshelf blocking her view of Daisy, but she said, "Oh Daisy, enough already. I'm comi-."
The figure that entered the library wasn't Daisy. He was wearing a nice, blue suit with a white shirt underneath and a red tie on top. The suit was working up a sweat trying to hold his bulky frame. His shoes were black and looked polished. He had enormous arms, legs, and a plump face with two pointy, black ears jutting out from his black hair. His smile was famously smug, which also showed off his four teeth, two at each end of the bottom and top row.
Minnie did her best to hide the fact that she had been crying as she approached the figure, saying, "Hello Pete."
With a voice that seethed with hot-headedness, Pete replied, "A good day to you my Queen." He showed respect by bowing slightly to Minnie.
"What brings you here?" Minnie asked, eager to get him out as quickly as he came in.
"Oh, nuthin' much. Just wanted to know if there was any word on the King being found."
Pete couldn't even sound genuine when he was trying, but Minnie played along. "No word I'm afraid, but Donald and Goofy are desperately looking for him."
A smile came to Pete's face, a sign that was never good. "Ah, yes, yes. Donald and Goofy will find him. I have the highest hopes. I mean, how can they fail when they've got their own little army amassing in that little Gummi Ship?"
A chill went down Minnie's spine. "I don't know what you mean."
Pete began to laugh hardily. "Ha-ha! Oh, don't play with me, my Queen? I know for a fact that the wizard and knight have got two little boys along for their ride."
Minnie was shocked. Had Daisy talked? "How do you know about that, Pete?"
Pete shrugged. "Well, my Queen this is a castle. The walls aren't exactly...thick, so to speak."
"Did Queen Daisy tell you this?"
"No!......Yes."
Minnie couldn't believe it and she didn't. "Sorry Pete. That's not gonna slide. Who told you?"
"I am the King's chief advisor." Pete said with obvious pride as he dusted his shoulder off, even though there was nothing to dust off. "There is little that I do not know."
Minnie sighed, not wanting to press the issue any further. "If that is all Pete, I must be off. Don't speak of this to anyone else." The Queen exited the library in a huff.
Pete cackled. "As you wish, your Majesty. My lips are sealed.....for now."
In the short week of the appearance of the Heartless, Traverse Town had become more than just a rest stop. It had become a safe haven for those who had lost their entire world to the Heartless. The 1st District was now more populated. The cafe was now opened and customers came and went, dining in the comfortable atmosphere of nighttime accompanied by the numerous electric lights around the square. However, this didn't mean that the Heartless were gone completely. They would show up from time to time, urging many people to stay indoors, but it wasn't as bad as it had been seven days ago.
The great ninja Yuffie casually walked around the 1st District, welcoming the sights of people out and about. She thought about how hers, Leon's, and Aerith's services would no longer be needed soon enough. The Heartless were almost gone completely, making easy work for the ninja and gunblade specialist. Aerith had said that it was a sign that Sora was succeeding in his quest. Leon had agreed, somewhat. He thought that maybe the creatures were just trying to fool them into thinking they had passed on to another world. Yuffie had made a point to say that Heartless weren't known for making killer strategies and Leon, eventually, agreed.
The fact that Leon hasn't given himself an ulcer yet astonishes me, Yuffie thought.
The petite ninja walked down the stone steps in front of the accesory shop and stretched her arms out. A yawn escaped her mouth and her arms swung back down. She was so bored, but not for long.
As Yuffie decided to head back to Leon's place and turn on her heel, the biggest crash she had ever heard made her jump. She quickly turned around, her eyes darting in every direction to see where it came from. Another crash made her jump again, but this time she knew where the sound was coming from. Her eyes fixed on the world exit, the passageway to the dock for star ships. She began to walk forward slowly, worried about what might come out from the other side. More sounds began to come from the other side of the double doors and Yuffie was determined to find out what. The ninja traded in her casual walk for a sprint to the door. Yuffie grabbed on the handles of the two doors and pulled. As she pulled, she could make out the distinct smell of smoke.
As the doors opened, Yuffie found herself coughing from the amount of smoke that was escaping the docking bay. She waved her hands in front of her face to fan the smoke away. The ninja backed up to get away from the choking smoke. While she was backing up, she could hear footsteps on the stone floor of the square. Yuffie did her best to see through the smoke by squinting. She could see four shadows begin to appear and Yuffie could just barely make them out. When the figures emerged from the smoke, Yuffie let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's just you guys. Whooh, had me worried there for a second. Anyways, I'm just so glad to see you here and alive."
A very dirty and disgruntled Alex walked out of the smoke, looked Yuffie right in the eye and said, "That makes two of us."
Yuffie looked at the others. Goofy's eyes were wide open, but he wanted nothing more than to close them. The knight was shaking from head to toe. His attire was covered with oil and dust. Although his body was shaking, the expression on his face was one more of shock than fear. Sora was covered with dust as well. The Keybearer looked like he was in a trance, his eyes squinting as Sora struggled to open them all the way. Small tears dribbled out of his eyes, but Yuffie didn't think it was because he was sad. Donald was the scariest sight. Not only was he bathed in dirt and oil, but the duck looked like he was going to commit mass murder, with Sora being the first to go.
Alex, whose brown hair looked like he had skydiving without a helmet, walked slowly towards Yuffie and said in an increasingly fast voice, "I'll make this quick. In Wonderland, we found no magic and wonder. What we found was cards that tried to kill us , an evil clone of Rosie o' Donnel, a keyhole that Sora locked with the Keyblade, and a cat that helped us, ironically, by trying to kill us. In the Olympus Coliseum, we were forced to battle with a dude with spiky hair that's on par with Sora's. This very same dude also happened to have a sword that was twice the size of Leon's. Moving on, this guy apparently was working with the lord of the underworld to kill us, but the guy didn't do it, so naturally the god of the undead sent out his servant, a massive three-headed dog, to eat us alive. Fortunately, we were able to get new abilities due to the Heartless attacking when we were either burned, knocked out, or broken all over. Finally, our ship crashed in the jungle because Sora and Donald got into a fight. I was separated from them and was attacked by a leopard, but was saved by a man in a loincloth. This very same man also happened to have some friends in the jungle. But one of those friends turned out to be a traitorous, greedy scumbag who wanted to bring gorillas to the zoo. Of course, we stopped him, but not before having our butts handed to us by the hunter's pet, a Heartless chameleon that could turn invisible. We sealed a keyhole there as well and Sora and Donald made up. Now if you're wondering why we look like firefighters that just came home from the job, it's because Sora, being the Keybearer and all, decided he should learn how to drive the Gummi Ship. Although, I think the word "drive" would be giving Sora too much credit because his definition of that word is a roller-coaster ride from hell!"
Yuffie's mouth dropped and she tried to process what Alex had just said to her. These guys had obviously been though a lot and she wanted to hear every part of it. But only when they were clean, rested, and not looking like they wanted to kill each other.
"Sora!" Alex yelled as he grabbed the Keybearer by the collar. "I could vomit on you right now!"
Sora, who was too tired to care what happened, mumbled, "Then why don't ya?"
Alex grabbed Sora's head and pulled his ear to Alex's mouth and with a hushed voice that would eventually escalate, he said, "I can't because you left my stomach behind in OUTER SPACE, you DOLT!!"
Sora pushed Alex away from him, just wanting to lay down for a nap. "Hey Yuffie, you think you could get us a room at the hotel?"
Yuffie was still looking at them with a dumbstruck face, but eventually it molded into a laugh out loud frenzy. "Ha-ha! Yeah Sora, I think that can be arranged."
First off, the rate that I update this story is horrendous and I hate myself for it. I'm sorry guys from the bottom of my heart that I take this long. There is no excuse and I promise to be better in the future.
Secondly, my spring break is starting tomorrow. Now, normally this would be a great time for me to update my story and make up for lost time. But I'm leaving to visit family for the entirety of the break, which breaks my heart because I've been away from this story for long enough and now I don't want to leave. That's just the way things are I guess.
Third, many thanks to all of you for reading this story. I realize that I am nowhere near the best writer out there and I thank you guys for putting up with that. I've been shocked to see that five people have me on their favorite story list. Nothing to brag about I realize, but I'm flattered and it is a great boost for me to get chapters out, despite my lackluster performance in Febuary. Again, thank you!
Last, Please Review! I want to hear your thoughts.
Until after spring break, see ya!