Not much else to say since this is my third chapter update of the evening.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Disney, Black Cat, or Dreamworks.
EDIT: Dates have officially been added to clear up potential confusion and keep the timeline in order without any discrepancies. Timeline corrected.
Chapter Eleven: The Trail We Blaze
Wednesday, June 2nd 4794 P.C.
After the two and a half hours Kairi had spent putting away her new clothes and organizing them (before she decided to try them all on again in front of the mirror and had to go through the process all over again), her stomach had finally started to growl at her. Kairi conceded to her stomach's demands and headed to the kitchen to see how much longer the lasagna was going to take. As she made her way from the semi-circular room where the doorways to the other bedrooms were into the main hallway that ran most of the length of the ship, she could her Sora's and Roxas' voices drifting to her. Both of them sounded angry.
"I told you to read me the recipe!" Sora was shouting. "I never once said 'Add random ingredients to make it taste better'!"
"Well excuse me for trying to improve the lasagna!" Roxas retorted.
"You told me to add chili powder!" Sora said exasperatedly.
"That's your fault for listening to me then. That was a joke." Roxas laughed.
Then why didn't you stop me?" Sora demanded.
"Because I didn't realize that you thought I was being serious until I saw the can of chili powder on the counter next to you." Roxas said. Kairi pressed the button that opened the kitchen door.
"Hey guys," she said cheerily as the door opened. "What are you two-" she slowly fell silent, staring around at the kitchen. Dark red sauce was splattered everywhere. Cheese hung from the ceiling. Sora was standing in front of the open oven. He was covered from head to toe in the majority of the lasagna.
"Hey Kairi," Roxas said with a smirk. "What's up?" Kairi continued to stare around at the sauce covered kitchen.
"What the hell happened?" She asked.
"This guy thought it would be funny to tell me to add chili powder to the sauce," Sora said, pointing over his shoulder at the spectral image of Roxas. "And I thought he was being serious so I did. The jerk didn't even bother to stop me from doing so and now look at the mess."
"Not my fault," Roxas said with a shrug. "I don't think chili powder is what made the lasagna explode anyway."
"Shut up," Sora said as he grabbed a rag and began cleaning the sauce off of himself before setting to work on scrubbing the counters, floor, table, chairs, ceiling and appliances. Kairi laughed at Sora's bad luck for a moment before taking pity on him and grabbing a rag from the sink to help out. It took them nearly another hour to properly clear all of the sauce from every surface in the kitchen. Roxas, even though he couldn't exactly help clean, was less than helpful by pointing out that the two Somebodies 'missed a spot' every thirty seconds. Naminé walked into the kitchen as Sora and Kairi collapsed onto the freshly cleaned chairs.
"Is that lasagna ready yet?" The blonde asked. "I'm starving." Her eyes wandered around the now spotless kitchen before settling on the tiny bit of sauce still in Sora's hair. Naminé sighed. "Never mind, I'll just go make myself a sandwich." Sora and Kairi looked at each other and shrugged. The couple got up and joined Naminé in the sandwich making.
The next few hours flew by as the four of them ate their food, laughed at Roxas' lamenting of the fact that he couldn't eat, and watched movies. Their night came to an end as Sora, Kairi and Naminé all passed out on the couch with Kairi using Sora's chest as a pillow. Sora watched her as he slowly drifted off to sleep. He wished that the two of them could always be like this without ever having to worry about the threat Maleficent and the Apostles of the Star posed to the worlds. His eyes slowly closed and he drifted off to sleep.
LD
Darkness clouded Sora's vision. He was all alone in the endless abyss. He could hear voices all around him, overlapping so he only occasionally managed to make out what was being said.
"Soon, all worlds will bow before me."
"Fear for the one you love makes you weak."
"I think I want to be forgiven."
"And you will lose, Sora."
"You still understand nothing."
"I merely wished to witness the end of someone who has the gall to abuse the power I have given them."
"Fools. Now Kingdom Hearts shall belong to me."
"You know, I'm getting really tired of dealing with you Keyblade Wielders."
"How long has it been since I met him? At least a year now, perhaps more."
"Get them out safely. I'm going to end this."
"This is Shadowgate. This is where you will have to die."
"You've only got one shot at this. If you don't make it in time, we're all doomed."
"Don't you dare lay a hand on my brother!"
"You can't stop me now!"
"Do you fear death?"
"Him. He's coming back."
"My life is eternal now. I have become… God."
"You're not alone."
"I've waited for this moment for over four and a half thousands years. Today, you pay for what you did!"
"I am a monument to the sins of the Keyblade Wielders."
"Even the Keyblade is no match for my power!"
"How'd you get a Keyblade? You're a weak-hearted coward!"
"Tell me what you regret most, Princess, so I can enjoy your death that much more."
Sora clutched his hands to his head, begging for a reprieve from the never-ending voices. All at once, silence dominated the darkness, except for one last voice.
"Shouldn't you be waking up now?"
Sora's eyes snapped open. He glanced at a clock that hung above the couch. It was almost noon. He looked down at Kairi, who was still sleeping peacefully with her head on his chest. Naminé was sprawled out across the remaining free space on the couch with her feet propped up on Kairi's calves. His eyes traveled upward and he saw their destination growing larger with each passing second. A new world.
LD
Thursday, June 3rd 4794 P.C.
Thirty minutes later, as the Kingdom finally entered orbit around the golden-colored world, Sora, Kairi and Naminé were preparing to warp down to the surface. Sora's face had two bright red palm prints on each cheek from where Kairi and Naminé had both slapped him when he had tried to wake them up to tell them they had arrived. The two girls were both smiling apologetically at Sora, who was setting up the Warp system.
"Did you both have to slap me?" Sora asked, rubbing one of his cheeks tenderly as the red light above the door turned yellow. The three teens climbed into the pods and sealed them shut. Kairi glanced at Naminé through her pod. The pair of them looked over at Sora and shrugged.
"Reflex," they said in unison, as if the answer should've been obvious. Sora rolled his eyes. The yellow light turned green and the trio was bathed in white light for a moment before they were warped onto the world.
LD
A bright flash of light illuminated the darkened deck of the boat. Sora, Kairi and Naminé quickly glanced around at their surroundings. They were on an older style war ship that was making decent headway across the ocean under a beautiful star filled sky. But the three of them didn't pay the stars any heed and instead focused on the blades of the swords and the barrels of the guns that the ships' crew was now pointing at them.
"Stowaways!" One man shouted. Kairi and Naminé shared a nervous glance.
"Bring forth three sets of irons!" Another man, clad in highly polished armor cried out. "We'll let him decide their fate!" The man gestured at the door to the ships' cabin. The three teens quickly found their hands locked behind their backs by cold iron cuffs.
"Talk about a warm welcome," Kairi grumbled under her breath as she, Sora and Naminé were forced to walk towards the cabin. Once inside, another armor-clad soldier closed the door behind them as another two soldiers forced the teens to their knees next to a pair of men.
One was dressed in a dark blue shirt and a brown vest. He had long black hair tied into a ponytail and a bit of stubble covering his cheeks. The other man had shoulder length blonde hair, a goatee and was dressed in a loose red shirt. The two men raised their eyebrows at the trio of teens before looking up at a large man who stood looking down at a map illuminated by a single candle.
"Cortes," the blonde-haired man whispered, seemingly awestruck. The large man slowly turned around. He was dressed in the same armor as the other soldiers, but the way he moved and acted told Sora and the others that this was not a man to be trifled with. He had short black hair and a well groomed beard. His eyes were full of loathing as he stared down at the five captives.
"My crew," he said in a slow deep voice that sent shivers down the spines of the five 'stowaways', "was as carefully chosen as the disciples of Christ." He cracked his gauntleted knuckles menacingly. "And I will not tolerate stowaways." Sora, Kairi, and Naminé all swallowed hard, their nerves slowly getting the better of them.
"You will be flogged," Cortes said matter-of-factly. "And when we put into Cuba to resupply, God willing, you will be flogged some more. And then enslaved on the sugar plantations for the rest of your miserable lives."
The three teens all shared a terrified glance with one another. Cortes looked up from the stowaways at his soldiers and jerked his head towards the door.
"To the brig," he said coldly, turning away from them to look back at the map on the table. Cortes' men nodded and hoisted the five prisoners to their feet.
"All right!" The blonde-haired man said excitedly. Sora, Kairi, Naminé and the man in the blue shirt all stared at him, dumbfounded. He smiled around at them. "Cuba!" A soldier rolled his eyes and dragged the blonde-haired man out of the room by his neck.
They were led, one by one, to the grate that sealed the brig in the center of the deck. One soldier unlocked the grate and pulled it back while another unlocked the shackles binding the trio and the two men. Kairi and Naminé both glanced at Sora expectantly. Sora nodded and held out his hand to summon his Keyblade. Kairi and Naminé quickly followed suit, however, they were all suddenly hoisted off their feet and thrown into the brig one floor below the deck before they had a chance.
Sora landed face first onto the straw covered floor and was quickly crushed by Kairi and Naminé falling on top of his back. The two girls quickly scrambled off Sora and helped him to his feet. The other two men were thrown in after them, landing in a heap where Sora had been laying moments before. Sora let out a small sigh of relief; these two would definitely be heavier than Kairi and Naminé were and he probably would've been flattened.
"Well this is just great!" The black-haired man said. "Now we're going to be slaves for the rest of our lives. Just fantastic."
"Tulio, look on the positive side!" The blonde-haired man said cheerily. "We get to make meet new people who are in the same boat as us!" Sora snickered at the lame pun. The blonde-haired man held out his hand towards the three teens. "My name is Miguel," he said, a wide smile on his face. "That depressing fellow over there is my partner in crime, Tulio." He jerked his thumb towards the black-haired man who waved at them dejectedly.
"Nice to meet you two," Naminé said. "I'm Naminé. This is Kairi and that's Sora." Sora and Kairi grinned warmly at Miguel. Miguel smiled back at them.
"It's nice to meet you three," he said as he sat down on a pile of straw. "Although I wish it was under better circumstance. How did you three get onto the ship anyway?" Kairi and Naminé glanced at Sora nervously. Sora thought for a brief second before clearing his throat.
"We, um, just kind of fell onto the deck and got caught," he said hesitantly. Miguel and Tulio exchanged a glance and then burst into laughter.
"That's less embarrassing than how we got caught," Miguel said. "Tulio and I were hiding in a couple of barrels that ended up being loaded onto the ship and we popped out only to be caught." He grinned over at Tulio, who stared back with narrowed eyes until Miguel's smile faded.
"I'm going to work on an escape plan," Tulio said as he walked over to a corner of the tiny cell. Miguel gave the three teens a half smile and laid down on the straw, falling asleep in a matter of minutes. Kairi and Naminé moved closer to Sora and leaned in so their foreheads were all practically touching.
"Can't we just use our Keyblades to escape?" Naminé asked. "It should be easy. All we have to do is unlock the grate or bash our way through one of these walls right?" Kairi shook her head.
"We're out in the middle of the ocean on a ship of people who would probably try to kill us on sight if we escaped," she said. "And even if we escaped without being noticed, eventually they'd realized we were gone and they'd probably throw us overboard."
"So?" Naminé said. "Sora could just warp us back to the Kingdom and we'd get away scot-free!" Both girls' eyes darted over to meet Sora's. Sora shook his head.
"We could always do that," he said slowly. "But we can't take Miguel and Tulio with us; we can't upset the World Order that much." The three of them glanced at the sleeping form of Miguel. "And we can't just leave them to be enslaved for the rest of their lives or die at sea, can we?" Kairi and Naminé both nodded.
"So that means our only option is to wait until the ship reaches land so we can help those two escape before we leave, right?" Naminé suggested. Sora shrugged.
"I guess so," he said with a sigh. "This is going to be a long trip." The two girls both let out sighs. Naminé leaned back against a wall and produced a sketchbook and a small set of colored pencils and slowly began to sketch their surroundings. Kairi and Sora shifted the straw around them to make it as comfortable as possible. Kairi rested her back against Sora's chest and quickly fell asleep.
Sora stared up at the grate set into the ceiling of the cell for what felt like hours, gently running the tips of his fingers along Kairi's bare arms. One thought kept replaying itself in his mind; the words that the old woman who had sold him Kairi's birthday present had said to him.
"You will either save the worlds, or they will be consumed by Darkness under your command."
He looked down at the auburn-haired girl currently using him as a pillow and smiled softly. Why was he worrying so much about the worlds being destroyed by him using Darkness when such a pure Light had his heart in her grasp? He gently planted a kiss on the crown of her head and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.
LD
Friday, June 4th 4794 P.C.
Sora woke up several hours later with a wide yawn and glanced around. The cell was now filled with the bright sunshine of noon. Naminé was still sketching but was now making a portrait of a dozing Miguel, who sat on a small pile of straw with his hands folded on his lap. Kairi was sitting next to him reading a book with a cover worn to the point that Sora couldn't quite make out the title. Kairi glanced up at him as he yawned again.
"Good afternoon, lazy bum," she said with a small chuckle. Sora smiled down at her.
"Hey," he said as he kissed her gently. A faint, rhythmic thumping sound was resonating through the cell. Sora pulled away from the kiss and looked around for the source. Tulio was kneeling in front of a wooden support beam steadily thumping his head against it. On the ground next to him were two tiny cups and a small tin plate with a few old looking peas on it. Sora grimaced at the sight of the peas.
Miguel gave a start from his corner as an apple fell from above deck and into his lap. He waved at Sora and Kairi, both of whom smiled back, before hesitantly moving towards Tulio. Tulio paid them no attention and continued to thump his head against the post.
So, um," Miguel said nervously, "how's the, uh, how's the escape plan coming?" Tulio pulled his head away from the post and held up a hand.
"All right," he said. "All right. Wait! I'm getting something!" Miguel grinned back at the three teens eagerly before turning back to Tulio.
"Yeah?" Miguel asked eagerly. Tulio turned back towards the post and continued hitting his head against it. Kairi and Naminé both sighed. Then Tulio pulled away from the post again.
"Okay!" He said as he turned to face the other four occupants of the cell. "Here's the plan." He gestured for the three teens to join him and Miguel as the two of them laid down on their stomachs next to the dismal meal that was on the tin plate. The trio quickly laid down with them on the floor as Tulio explained the plan.
"In the dead of night," he said, acting dramatic, "the five of us grab some provisions and hijack one of those longboats." He grabbed one of the tin cups, tossed a few peas into it and placed the cup in front of Miguel. "And then we row back to Spain like there's no mañana!" He smacked the tin cup and sent it flying across the cell. The teens all stared at the tin cup as it came to a halt. Miguel slowly looked back at Tulio.
"Back to Spain, yeah?" he asked incredulously. Tulio nodded.
"Yeah."
"In a rowboat."
"You got it!"
"Great," Miguel said as he rolled his eyes. "Sensational. And that's your plan, is it?" Tulio grinned widely and nodded.
"That's pretty much it," he said simply. A smile broke across Miguel's face.
"Well, I like it!" He said eagerly. The teens all stared at the two men. "So, how do we get on deck?"
"Umm," Tulio pondered for a moment before reaching for the other tin cup and tossing the remainder of the old peas into it. "In the dead of night, the five of us grab some provisions and hijack one of those longboats-" he was cut off as the other four let out a collective groan.
"Great," Miguel said sarcastically. Tulio glared at him.
"Okay," he said angrily. "What's your idea, smart guy?"
"Wh-wh-what do you mean?" Miguel stuttered in frustration. "Don't ask me that! You're the one with the plans!" Kairi and Naminé both sighed and retreated into one of the corners. Clearly this was going to take awhile. Sora groaned and rolled onto his back. On deck, a horse let out a loud whinny. Miguel stared at the apple in his hand for a moment before getting to his feet.
"Wait," he said, "I, uh, I have an idea. Come on, give me a boost." Sora watched as Tulio hoisted Miguel up by his legs so the blonde was able to stick his hands through the bars of the grate.
"Hey," said blonde whispered loudly. "Altivo. Altivo! You want a nice apple? Come and get it!" Kairi and Naminé looked from the tower that was Miguel and Tulio before turning to Sora.
"Uh, what is Miguel doing?" Kairi asked. Sora shrugged and watched. They could hear the clattering of a horse walking towards them from across the deck.
"You have to do a trick for me first," Miguel whispered. The horse's footsteps stopped. "All you have to do is find a pry bar; a long piece of iron with a hooky thing at the end!" Sora raised his eyebrows. Kairi and Naminé both shook their heads. There was no way this was going to work.
"Miguel, you're talking to a horse!" Tulio hissed, clearly thinking along the same lines as the teens. The horse's hooves could be heard clattering on deck again, growing fainter as the horse moved away.
"That's it, Altivo," Miguel said encouragingly. "Find the pry bar!"
"Yes, find the pry bar," Tulio said sarcastically. "He can't understand 'pry bar'!" The hooves clattering were growing louder again. "He's a dumb horse! There's no way-" A ring of keys dropped through the grate and landed on Sora's head.
"Ow!" he exclaimed as he grabbed the keys and dangled them in the air. Everyone stared at the keys as the horse let out a whinny. Tulio looked up at Miguel.
"Well, it's not a pry bar," he said as if he was trying to defend his earlier point. Miguel shrugged. Sora looked over at Kairi and Naminé.
"Tulio's plan actually sounds pretty good now," he said with a grin. Kairi and Naminé both rolled their eyes at him as Tulio and Miguel grinned.
LD
The next few hours passed slowly as the five of them waited. After the snores of the ship's crew began to echo into the cell, the five of them escaped their cell into the dead of night. Miguel gently closed the grate to the cell behind them as Tulio looked down at the three teens.
"Okay," he whispered. "I need the three of you to grab as much food and water as you can carry, okay?" The three Keyblade Wielders nodded and began to grab whatever had food in it from the deck. Tulio wandered over to one of the longboats and climbed inside as he prepared to lower it into the water.
"Well this is exciting," Kairi grunted as she and Sora hoisted a couple of barrels of water into the longboat before climbing in along with Tulio. "My second jailbreak in less than six months; I'm starting to feel like a criminal."
She and Sora both laughed as they helped Tulio with the rigging. Naminé and Miguel tossed in the last of the supplies they had gathered. Miguel stepped aside and gestured to Naminé to enter the boat first. Naminé smiled graciously and allowed Miguel to help her in. Miguel was about to climb in when a white horse came up behind him and nudged him in the back with his nose. Miguel gave a start before turning around a breathing a sigh of relief.
"Oh, Altivo," the blonde-haired man said as he gently stroked the horse's nose. "Thank you, old boy. Listen, if we can ever return the favor-" Altivo the horse sniffed Miguel's shirt expectantly. Sora and Kairi watched the scene with mild interest. Tulio simply rolled his eyes.
"For Pete's sake, Miguel," he whispered exasperatedly. "He's a ruthless warhorse, not a poodle. Come on, before he licks you to death." Tulio and the teens began to lower the longboat into the water as Miguel patted Altivo one last time before rushing over to jump into the boat with them.
"Adios," Miguel said to Altivo. The horse let out a loud whinny. Kairi flinched at the noise. Surely he would wake the whole ship. Altivo cantered over to the ships edge and looked down at the escapees. The five of them looked back up at the horse.
"Shh, quiet. Please!" Miguel whispered to Altivo, who let out another loud whinny.
"What's the matter with him?" Naminé whispered.
"Oh! He wants his apple!" Miguel said, pulling said fruit out from his shirt.
"Well, give it to him!" Sora whispered frantically. "Quickly, or he'll wake up the whole ship!" Miguel handed the apple to Kairi, who was the only one not holding onto a rope at the moment. Kairi rolled her eyes and tossed the apple up towards Altivo.
"Here, fetch!" she whispered.
"He's not a dog, Kairi," Naminé teased. Kairi rolled her eyes and helped to lower the longboat as best as she could. Up on deck, the force of Kairi's throw caused the apple to sail right by Altivo, who watched as it flew up and above him. It bounced off a sail, was deflected by a cross-beam, sent spinning up into the air by a fixed telescope and back over the edge of the ship.
The apple fell past the escapee's longboat and plopped into the water. The five all looked around in confusion which turned to shock as Altivo, who was determined to get his apple, leapt off the deck and fell past the longboat a fraction of a second after the apple. The five escapees looked over the longboat's edge as Altivo began whinnying desperately and splashing around.
"Altivo!" Miguel and Kairi both cried out. Sora, Naminé and Tulio watched in surprise as the pair leapt overboard and began to swim towards the floundering horse. "We're coming!" Kairi cried as she and Miguel swam across the choppy waters to Altivo.
"Just hang on!" Miguel shouted. "We're right here, old boy!" He and Kairi reached Altivo and immediately began trying to calm him.
"Help is coming!" Naminé shouted from the longboat.
"Miguel!" Tulio cried out. "Have you lost your mind?" The longboat hit the water and the trio still on the boat released the ropes. Sora and Tulio took up the oars and began rowing towards where Kairi, Miguel and Altivo now floated in the water. Naminé held out her hands to help as best as she could as soon as the boat pulled up alongside where Altivo continued to flounder around.
"Here!" Naminé shouted. "Take my hands! I'll help pull you up!" Sora and Tulio both looked up as one of the other boats from Cortes' fleet came dangerously close.
"Holy-" Tulio cried out.
"Ship!" Sora shouted. The waves that the ship created as it passed the longboat to capsize, throwing Sora, Naminé and Tulio into the water. The five escapees and Altivo all burst from the surf under the capsized longboat, each gasping for breath.
"Loop the rope under the horse!" Tulio shouted. Sora and Miguel both dove underwater. They grabbed the ropes and did as Tulio said, looping the ropes so that they crossed his stomach as they swam back to the surface. The two of them clambered onto the exposed underside of the longboat as Kairi, Naminé and Tulio joined them. The five of them all took hold of the ropes.
"Okay," Tulio shouted. "On the count of three, pull back on the rope!" Sora and Miguel glanced at each other in confusion.
"What?" The pair shouted together. A shadow fell across them as another ship from Cortes' fleet drew dangerously close.
"Three!" Tulio shouted. The five of them all pulled back on the rope as hard as they could. "Pull!" The waves created by the ships passing helped turn the longboat back over, once again causing all five escapees to end up in the ocean. Kairi and Naminé both popped up next to the boat and grasped onto the edges. Altivo flipped himself so he was right-side up on the boat's deck. Sora, Miguel and Tulio emerged from the waves on a crate that had burst open and swam themselves back towards the boat.
"Hey, it worked!" Miguel said excitedly upon seeing that Altivo and the two girls were now safely inside the rowboat. Kairi and Naminé both helped the three males back onto the deck were they all lay, panting from the excitement.
"Did any of the supplies make it?" Tulio asked, as wiped water off of his face. Kairi looked over at the small pile of supplies that had been gathered at the stern of the boat.
"Well, um, yes and no," she said nervously. The other four all turned their heads to look. Altivo was greedily digging into what little food they had left.
"Oh, great!" Tulio and Sora both exclaimed sarcastically. Miguel grinned and elbowed Tulio lightly on the side.
"Tulio, look on the positive side," he said encouragingly. "At least things can't get-" A loud clap of thunder echoed across the ocean and a torrential downpour of bone-chilling rain began out of nowhere. Sora, Kairi and Naminé all laughed at the irony as Tulio slowly turned, glaring, to face Miguel.
"Excuse me," Tulio said slowly, "were you going to say 'worse'?" Miguel's smile vanished and he hung his head dejectedly.
"No," he said.
"No?"
"No."
"You're sure?"
"Absolutely not. I've revised the whole thing."
"Okay, yeah. We're at least in a rowboat."
"We're in a rowboat, exactly. You miss nothing."
Sora, Kairi and Naminé all watched the back and forth banter between the two partners in crime for several long minutes. Only Naminé and Altivo seemed to notice that during the entire time they were in the storm, which ended up lasting several hours, they were being followed by a group of sharks.
LD
Due to the lack of food, water and shade, the five of them barely spoke to one another or moved for a week or so to conserve as much energy as possible. Naminé did her best to use her black cloak to provide them with shade, but even unzipped and spread out it only could cover two people at a time, which resulted in the three males forcing Kairi and Naminé to stay under it at all times so the two girls would be protected from the intense sun. They only rowed when they felt like they had enough excess energy to do so.
After about five days, Kairi and Naminé had both gotten slightly mad at Sora for refusing to warp them out of there. Sora insisted that they couldn't just leave Miguel, Tulio and Altivo to die out on the sea. Both girls felt guilty less than a day later but still got Sora to agree to warp them back to the Kingdom if they spent a full two weeks drifting at sea.
Sunday, June 13th 4794 P.C.
"Tulio," Miguel said weakly, finally breaking four days of silence. "Did you ever imagine it would end like this?" Tulio took a minute to think about it.
"The horse is a surprise," he said finally. Altivo rolled his eyes.
"Any regrets?" Miguel asked.
"Besides dying? Yeah. I never… had enough… gold." Kairi and Naminé both sighed. Gold. That's all those two seemed to talk about.
"My regret," Miguel said slowly, "is… our greatest adventure is over before it began and no one will even remember us." Sora glanced at Naminé who had her sketchpad (which had miraculously remained dry) open to a drawing of Tulio and Miguel. Sora smiled to himself.
That's not true. The three of us will remember you two after we leave this world.
"Well," Tulio was saying. "If it's any consolation, Miguel, you… made my life… an adventure." Tulio began to let out tears of sorrow, lamenting their deaths before they had even died. Miguel let out a sniffle.
"And if it's any consolation, Tulio," Miguel said as he began to sob as well. "You made… my life… rich." Altivo rolled his eyes again. Sora felt the boat suddenly become still, no longer buffeted by the sea. He looked over the boat's edge and a huge smile broke across his face. Tulio and Miguel lifted their hands from here they had been hanging over the side of the boat, bringing up huge handfuls of sand. Tulio's face broke into a smile. Kairi and Naminé both stared in joyful shock. Miguel shook the sand from his hand sadly. The others all stared at him until a smile snapped onto his face.
"Is it?" Miguel said hesitantly. They all looked up at the lush green forest that was just a few feet from the beach where they had landed.
"It's land!" They all shouted as they leapt from the boat and began kissing the ground, quickly moving away from the water. Miguel's lips eventually stopped kissing sand as they reached a skull with a stone sword jutting out of its crown. The five of them all let out screams of shock. There were two skeletons on the beach, both with swords jutting out of various parts of where their flesh used to be. Miguel quickly began wiping off his lips.
"All in favor of getting back in the boat, say 'aye'," Tulio said as he stared down at the two skeletons. Kairi and Naminé both immediately raised their hands and said "Aye!" in unison with Tulio and Miguel. Sora looked at the other four in mild surprise.
"It's just a couple of skeletons," he said as he poked one of the skulls. "I've seen scarier." The others paid him no heed and made a beeline for the boat, except for Miguel, who stopped at stared at a large rock that was shaped like an eagle's head. Miguel pulled a roll of paper out from his shirt and began examining it closely. Sora stared at the blonde as he looked from the paper to their surroundings. An excited grin was quickly spreading across his face. Sora looked over Miguel's shoulder at the paper. There were several symbols scattered across the entirety of it, joined together by a single winding line.
A map? Sora noticed one of the symbols looked just like the eagle-head stone Miguel was staring at. A map of this place?
"Hey, Miguel! Sora!" Tulio called from over by the boat. "We could use a little help!" Sora and Miguel paid him no attention and continued comparing the map to their surroundings. "Miguel! Hello!" Tulio shouted in irritation as he stormed over to Sora and Miguel. Miguel spun to face Tulio and clapped the man on his shoulder.
"Tulio!" he exclaimed with a grin that stretched from ear to ear. "We've done it!" Tulio looked down at the map in surprise.
"What's that?" he asked. His eyes widened slightly as Miguel turned back towards the rock and he saw the symbols on the map. "The map?"
"It's all right here!" Miguel cheered as he looked around at the trees.
"You still have the map?" Tulio demanded in disbelief. Miguel continued to ignore him.
"The whistling rock!" He babbled as he spun to get a better look at the land. "The stream!"
"You kept the map but you couldn't grab a little more food?" Tulio exclaimed, clearly outraged. Kairi and Naminé watched from next to the boat.
"What's Tulio yelling about a map for?" Kairi asked. Naminé waved Kairi along and the two of them made their way to join the others.
"Why don't we go find out?" the blonde-haired teen said with a grin.
"Even those mountains," Miguel was saying as the two girls walked up. "You said so yourself: It could be possible. And it is!" Tulio let out a groan as Miguel held the map up in front of Tulio's face. "It really is! The map to El Dorado!" Both Sora and Kairi gasped in surprise. Naminé looked at them in confusion.
"What's El Dorado?" She whispered to Kairi. Kairi looked at her in mild surprise.
"You don't know?" Naminé shook her head and Kairi sighed. "El Dorado is supposed to be a legend. We heard it on the islands all the time when we were growing up. Supposedly, gods came down from the heavens a thousand years ago and blessed mankind with a glorious city: El Dorado, the city of gold." Naminé's eyes widened.
"An entire city of gold?" She said, her whisper low in amazement. Kairi nodded eagerly.
"And apparently Miguel has a map to El Dorado." A huge grin was spreading across Kairi's face. "I guess sticking with these two was worth it, huh?" Naminé nodded in agreement.
"You drank the seawater, didn't you?" Tulio said. Miguel let out a groan.
"Oh, come on!" Miguel and Sora said in unison, both frustrated.
"I'm not coming on!" Tulio shouted. "I wouldn't set foot in that jungle for a million pesetas!" Tulio began walking back towards the boat. Miguel's face fell for a moment then Sora tapped him on the shoulder. Miguel looked at him curiously.
"Just watch," he whispered before raising his voice so Tulio could hear him. "How about a hundred million?" Tulio stopped walking and turned back to face them slowly.
"What?" Sora could see that had grabbed Tulio's attention.
"I just thought that, after all, since El Dorado is the city of gold-" He let his sentence hang there, causing Tulio's interested expression to grow more noticeable.
"What's your point?" The black haired man asked. Naminé smiled as she saw where Sora was going with this. She stepped forward.
"You know," she said as if it weren't something overly exciting, "dust, nuggets, bricks, as much jewelry as you can wear…" Kairi caught on and chimed in.
"Shoes, knives, swords," she said as she casually examined her fingernails, "A temple of gold where you can pluck gold from the very walls." They could all tell that Tulio was very much into the idea of going to El Dorado now. All they had to do was seal the deal.
"But you don't want to go," Miguel said as he picked up one of the boats oars. "So let's get back into the boat and row back to Spain. After all, it worked so well last time."
"Wait!" Tulio cried out. Everyone stared at him with smug smiles on their faces. "Wait a minute. New plan! We find the city of gold. We take the gold, and then we go back to Spain!"
"And buy Spain!" Miguel said as the three teens all cheered. "That's the spirit, Tulio!" Miguel ran over to the skeletons and pulled one of the stone swords from one of the skulls. "Come on, everyone! We'll follow that trail!" He pointed the sword towards the jungle. The others all looked around. There was no trail to be seen.
"What trail?" Naminé asked. Miguel looked over at a patch of hanging vines and ran up to them.
"The trail that we blaze!" He declared as he quickly hacked through the vines. The vines all fell at once, revealing a wall of stone instead of a path. Kairi and Naminé rolled their eyes. Miguel stared for a moment before recovering and pointing the sword at another patch of vines further down along the beach. "That trail that we blaze!" He spent the next seven minutes repeating the process of blazing a trail before they finally found a path.
Good morning all! Roxas said as Miguel slowly carved them a path through the vegetation.
Dude, I haven't heard from you since before we got to this world. Sora said in shock. What have you been doing?
I was sleeping.
It's been a week and a half! That's not sleeping, that's a coma! And Kairi calls ME a lazy bum!
Technically, because I'm a part of your mind, I can't be put into a coma unless you get put into one.
Then how the hell did you sleep for a week and a half?
I was tired.
You don't even have a- never mind. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt.
You can think?
Don't make me come in there.
How? Can you turn into a spirit and enter your own mind? I don't think so! Ha! Roxas: one. Sora: zero.
Next time.
Yeah, yeah. So what are the three of you doing? And what's with the two guys and the horse?
Well, the blonde one is Miguel and the black-haired one is Tulio. Long story short; Miguel has a map to El Dorado and so we're going there now.
No kidding? The fabled city of gold?
Yup. The reached a clearing in the vegetation that was covered in gnarled tree roots.
That's awesome! Back when I was with the Organization, Luxord and Xigbar were always trying to get me to help them find El Dorado so they could take all of the gold and go blow it in casinos across the worlds. Sora's jaw dropped in surprise.
Seriously? That's kind of hilarious. What other quirks did the other Organization members have?
Let's see, Roxas pondered for a moment. Demyx worshipped David Bowie like no other. Marluxia's hair was originally crimson until Demyx and I added white paint to his shampoo as a prank. Larxene kept a copy of Marquis de Sade with her at all times. Xaldin listened to country music. Vexen wore a wig. And Xigbar went through a phase where he only used NERF guns as his weapons.
That's freaking hilarious, dude.
Yeah, it is now that I think about it. Hey, have you guys had to fight any Heartless yet? It finally occurred to Sora that they hadn't seen a single Heartless the entire time they were here.
No, we haven't. Maybe the Heartless aren't on this world.
Maybe.
"What are those black things?" Tulio said suddenly, pointing at the dark shapes rapidly approaching them.
Looks like I spoke too soon.
Ya think?
"Heartless!" Naminé shouted. The Rejection of Fate appeared in her hand as several Shadows began rising from the ground. Kairi called Destiny's Embrace to her and quickly joined Naminé in the fray.
"What are Heartless?" Miguel exclaimed as he and Tulio climbed onto Altivo's back. "Where did you get those weapons?" Sora summoned the Oblivion Keyblade and struck down a pair of Shadows as they leapt at him.
"We'll explain after we've finished up!" He shouted back at the two men. A Neoshadow slowly rose, unseen, behind Sora. The Keyblade Master didn't realize he was being attacked until the Neoshadow's claws dug into his shoulders. Sora let out a small cry of shock and pain.
Kairi and Naminé both quickly dispatched the Shadows within their reach and turned to give Sora worried looks. Sora let out a growl and swung the Oblivion at the Neoshadow. Pain seared through Sora's shoulder. The Neoshadow quickly sank back into the ground, easily dodging Sora's attack.
"Get back here and fight me, coward!" Sora shouted at the black shape on the ground as it circled him. "I hate when they do that." The Neoshadow burst from the ground and lunged at Sora. The Oblivion glinted in the dim light of the jungle as it sliced the Neoshadow in half. "Take that!" The Heartless burst into dark mist.
"Is that it?" Kairi asked. Sora looked over as she and Naminé finished off the last of the Shadows with absurd ease. The two females lowered their weapons. There was a loud screech from above them.
Several Powerwild Heartless dropped down from the treetops and swiftly surrounded them. Each Heartless was covered in varying shades of blue fur. Their faces were black as night with jagged edges and the glowing yellow eyes all Heartless possessed. Their tails swayed back and forth as they danced menacingly around the three Keyblade Wielders. In the center of each Heartless' chest was the red outline of an oddly shaped heart with a spiked 'x' in the center.
"Great," Kairi grumbled. "Monkey Heartless. What next?" The Powerwilds all leapt at trio slashing with their jet-black claws. The trio quickly leapt away from the Heartless. Sora kicked one of the Powerwilds into another and stabbed both of them with the Oblivion. He wrenched the Keyblade from the pair and knocked another Powerwild away from him and towards Naminé.
"Batter up!" Sora shouted. Naminé looked around as the Powerwild soared at her head. She brought the Rejection of Fate behind her head, holding it in both hands like a bat. She swung when the Powerwild was within her reach and knocked it flying into a tree where it burst into a dark mist. A small, glowing pink heart rose from the mist and faded away.
"Home run!" Naminé exclaimed as she cleaved the head of another Powerwild in two. Kairi laughed and held her Keyblade above her head.
"Showoff!" She teased as electricity coursed through Destiny's Embrace. "Thunder!" Several bolts of lightning rained down from the heavens and slaughtered several the remaining Powerwilds. "You know, they weren't so tough."
"As long as we don't have to fight Bouncywilds along with them," Sora said, dispelling the Oblivion from his hands.
"What were those things?" Miguel asked. Sora gave a start. He had almost forgotten about Miguel and Tulio.
"Heartless," Naminé explained. "They're creatures that come into existence when someone loses their heart to Darkness. They only exist to cause people to lose their hearts."
"And what about those weapons?" Tulio asked. He looked down at Kairi. And are you a witch?" Kairi glared up at him.
"No!" She said, feeling offended at being called a witch. She hoisted Destiny's Embrace. "This is a Keyblade. It's the only weapon that can truly defeat the Heartless. It also allows me to cast magic spells, but if I didn't have one I don't think I'd be able to."
"Fascinating," Miguel said as he climbed down from Altivo's back and walked over to Kairi. He closely examined Destiny's Embrace. "Just where did you three come from?" Kairi looked over at Sora, unsure how to answer it.
"We came from somewhere very far away," Naminé said, quickly coming to Kairi's rescue. Tulio raised an eyebrow at her.
"Anywhere 'far away' in particular?" He asked. Naminé shook her head.
"We're not allowed to say," Sora said. "It's kind of secret. Basically, bad things would happen if we told you."
"What sort of bad things?" Miguel asked, clearly trying to determine whether or not the 'bad things' would be worth it if he could learn more about the three teens. Sora gave him a very serious look.
"The worst kind of bad," he said gravely. "The kind that make dying from a disease seem peaceful. Miguel and Tulio shared a nervous glance and immediately dropped the subject.
Is that true? Would bad things happen if we told someone we were from another world? Roxas asked.
Hell if I know. Obviously some people are aware of it. So I think it's okay if they know there are other worlds out there. But since most people on most worlds don't, I think we have to stay quiet about it.
Makes sense to me.
"Okay!" Miguel said as he pulled out the map. "Now which way were we headed before those Heartfelt things attacked?"
"Heartless," the three teens corrected him. Miguel shrugged and tucked away the map.
"I don't think it matters," he said. He began cutting another path through the jungle. "After all, our destination is El Dorado! What could possibly go wrong?"
As it would turn out, 'wrong' ended up happening several times. They fell down several ravines. They were chased by jaguars. Tulio ended up covered in leeches after he got impatient of waiting for Miguel to cut them a path around a lake and decided to swim across. All in the first day. Fortunately, fate decided to smile down on them by the end of their first night as they strode through a series of caves by leading them to the second landmark depicted on the map, a massive opening in the cave's ceiling that was shaped like a bird in flight. Miguel and the three teens were all excited, but Tulio was still skeptical and insisted they keep moving on.
The next day, they passed the third land mark, a boulder that sat at a river's edge with a large carving of a fish with several teeth. Miguel and the girls walked along the shore while Sora and Tulio attempted to use the stones jutting out of the river to cross it, which resulted in both of them being attacked by piranhas. Kairi and Naminé both made fun of Sora by thanking him for catching their dinner that night.
They were forced to endure a couple days of endless storms and random Heartless attacks before they finally reached the fourth landmark, a natural series of rock formations and waterfalls that when looked at from the right angle appeared to be a crying face. It was there that Tulio finally began to believe the map was leading them to El Dorado as he eagerly led the expedition deeper into the jungle.
The fifth landmark was found on the same day as the sun was setting. They stopped to watch as thousands of butterflies, each one the color of sunset, emerged from a cave opening that was shaped like a dragon's head. All five of them couldn't help but be taken by the beauty of it.
Thursday, June 17th 4794 P.C.
The next day, they all wandered blindly through a fog thick enough to prevent them from seeing more than a few feet in front of them. They held onto each other's hands and let Altivo lead the way.
"How long have we been in this fog?" Kairi asked as she tripped over a raised tree root for the ninth time. "Shouldn't we have escaped it by now?"
"Who knows?" Miguel said, somewhere ahead of her. "I'd estimate a few hours by now." A large leaf nearly whacked Kairi in the face. Kairi ducked it swiftly and chuckled inwardly as she heard it hit Sora.
"Stupid leaf," Sora said, gently massaging his nose. "How can being hit by a leaf feel like getting hit with a brick?" Naminé laughed from behind him.
"Because they don't like you, Sora," she teased. Sora let out a sarcastic laugh. Kairi chuckled at them but abruptly stopped as she ran into Miguel, who had ran into Tulio, who had ran into Altivo's backside. Sora collided with her and Naminé bumped into Sora.
"Why'd we stop?" Miguel asked. Tulio began to say something when a loud crack interrupted him from below their feet. In unison, they all looked down to see that they were standing on the trunk of a dead tree which was hanging over the edge of a cliff. The tree snapped in two and the adventurers all fell, screaming, down the cliff face. They all were bashed into the cliffs and into several trees that jutted from the cliff side before they came to a stop at the base of a stone carving a few feet from the cliff's bottom.
Tulio let out a groan and sat up, staring at the stone carving. It was at least thirty feet tall and depicted a pair of men riding atop a horse-like creature with no legs. Three figures stood on a pedestal beneath the two men, each one holding large key-shaped objects like swords in front of them. On the ground below the pedestal knelt what appeared to be a woman holding what appeared to be a head up to the two men on the horse-like creature.
The map floated down from above and landed on Tulio's face. The man pulled it off and examined it. The last land mark on the map appeared to be the stone carving in front of them. Next to the drawing of the carving were the words El Dorado. Tulio got to his feet and peeked around both sides of the carving. All he could see was a massive waterfall, more rocks and a river. He examined the carving again. He scratched the carving slightly and examined the dust that fell onto his fingers. No golden glimmer, only rock.
Sora let out a groan of pain as he forced himself up. He looked around at their surroundings. Naminé had landed upside down against a boulder a few feet to his right and Kairi was sprawled out at his feet. Sora moved closer to Kairi and gently shook her. She let out a small groan and slowly opened her eyes.
"Are you okay?" Sora asked, worry prominent in his eyes. Kairi smiled up at him comfortingly.
"I'm fine, babe," she said as she allowed Sora to help her sit up. "Just a little sore." Sora's worry receded and he smiled warmly at her.
"Good," he said, giving her a brief kiss. "I don't know what I'd do if you were seriously hurt." Kairi grinned at him.
"You would take good care of me until I got better like the good guy I know you are," she said. Sora chuckled at that and kissed her again. "That, and give me a foot rub even if my feet were fine while feeding me strawberries." Kairi added as an afterthought. Sora's eyebrows raised slightly.
"Do you want a foot massage?" He asked her. Kairi nodded.
"My feet are killing me," she said. "I don't know how you could put up with constant movement in all these worlds." Sora shrugged in response.
"You just kind of get used to it," he said. "Just give it a few more worlds." They both laughed. Naminé let out a groan and righted herself.
"I'm fine, by the way," she said sarcastically. "Don't everybody start panicking about me yet."
"Okay," Sora and Kairi both said in unison. They gave Naminé identical looks of being drop-dead serious about it before bursting into laughter. Naminé rolled her eyes.
Tulio snapped his fingers a couple of times. The three teens all looked over at him and watched him shake Miguel awake.
"Miguel. Miguel. Wake up," he said. Miguel groaned. "We're there." Miguel's eyes snapped open. The three teens looked at each other excitedly.
"We found it?" Kairi and Miguel asked in unison. Tulio nodded.
"Oh yeah," he said. Something about Tulio's tone of voice suddenly caught Sora's attention. Was it his imagination or was Tulio being sarcastic? "We found it."
"Fantastic!" Miguel exclaimed as he leapt to his feet and looking around eagerly. "Where is it? How far?"
"Right here," Tulio answered.
"Where?"
"Here."
"Behind the rock?"
"No, no. This is it," Tulio explained. Sora and Kairi shared a confused glance. If this was it, then where was the gold?
"Give me that!" Miguel said as he snatched the map away from Tulio and began to examine it. "This ca- what?" He looked up at the carving hopelessly.
"Apparently," Tulio said, spinning Miguel to face him. "'El Dorado' is native for great, big… ROCK!" Tulio's shout of 'ROCK!' echoed throughout their surroundings. "Hey, but I tell you what," he said as he climbed onto Altivo's back. "I'm feeling generous, so you can have my share!"
"You don't think," Miguel began thoughtfully, "that Cortes could've gotten here before us and-"
"And what?" Tulio asked sarcastically. "Taken all the really big rocks? The scoundrel!" Miguel continued to stammer in disbelief.
"Tulio, you- we have to think about this," he said. "We've come all this way and we-we-we should really, you know-"
"Get. On. The horse," Tulio said angrily. Miguel's face fell and he let out a sigh. Tulio held out a hand and helped him onto Altivo. "No, no, no, not with the face. Stop." He looked down at the three Keyblade Wielders. "And you three can either come with us or go back to wherever you came from. Your choice." The three teens got up and moved to go walk alongside Altivo and the two men.
A woman suddenly came running from behind the rock and ran straight into Altivo, causing her to fall back. Altivo let out a loud whinny and rose up onto his haunches as he pawed the air. The woman gasped. The three Keyblade Wielders, who couldn't see the woman at first all summoned their Keyblades to their hands, ready to fight off any Heartless that might have been attacking. The woman had mocha colored skin and jet-black hair. She was dressed in a long white loin-cloth that fell to her toes and a white and pink wrapping around her chest. She gasped when she saw the Keyblades.
Sora could hear the shouts of several men coming from behind the stone. He turned away from the shocked face of the woman and peered around the stone. There were at least a dozen men charging at them. All of them had the same mocha colored skin as the girl on the ground in front of them and the same jet-black hair. They all carried spears tipped with stone and a few of them carried shields.
"Uh oh," Sora said. The others all peered around the rock as the group of warriors drew nearer. They all gasped in surprise.
"Time to go!" Naminé shouted as she turned to run. The men quickly surrounded the carving. Altivo let out a loud whinny at the sight of the spears. The men all shouted in shock at the sight of Tulio and Miguel riding on the horse and at the sight of the Keyblades as their Wielders raised them, preparing to defend themselves. The warriors quickly lowered their spears towards the Keyblade Wielders before looking down at the woman who was still on the ground. The woman grabbed the round bundle she had been running with and tossed it at Tulio.
The warriors all watched as Tulio caught it and threw it back to the woman. The woman turned right around and threw it back. The back and forth quickly came to an end when the bundle hit Tulio in the face. Tulio grinned nervously at the warriors.
"Uh, hello," he said. "Is this your rock? Sorry. We were just looking. We're, uh, we're tourists! Tourists." The warriors didn't seem to care for Tulio's excuse. One of them readied his spear to throw at Tulio. "We-we lost our group. May we go now?" Another warrior, who wore what appeared to be a bear skin over his head, held his hand out to stop the other warriors from attacking. The other warriors gave him looks of confusion. The bear warrior pointed the tip of his spear at Tulio's throat. Tulio let out a nervous chuckle.
"Heh, heh, spears," he said as he stared down at said weapon. The bear warrior jerked his head to the right and gestured for the five travelers to follow. Tulio looked nervously at Miguel who swallowed hard and nodded. The pair of them followed the bear warrior towards the waterfall. Sora lowered his Keyblade but didn't dispel it. He nodded to Kairi and Naminé for them to do the same. The remaining warriors flanked them on both sides as they followed the bear warrior.
"Great," Naminé muttered. "This is the second time we've been captured on this world." She turned to Sora. "How often do you get captured?" She asked him.
"Quite a lot, actually," he said in a tone that suggested that it was no big deal. "You kind of get used to it after a few times." Two of the warriors stopped briefly to hoist the woman from the ground and guided her along after them. The bear warrior led them to where the waterfall met the river and paused to look back at the others before walking through the waterfall.
The other warriors forced the five travelers through the cascading water to the other side. They stepped through quickly so as to avoiding getting their clothes wetter than they had to be. They emerged into a large cave that ran deeply into the mountainside. A large river took up most of the cave. There were three gondolas waiting for them. Each one had a torch that burned brightly in the dim light set onto their sterns. The three teens were forced into one of the gondolas with a pair of guards, Tulio, Miguel and Altivo were forced into another boat along with a single guard and the woman, and the rest of the guards climbed into the last one.
As soon as they were all in, one warrior on each gondola picked up a long oar and began to move the gondola's down the river into the heart of the cave. They passed under two large stone pillars, obviously carved by human hands that seemed to act as support beams.
Nobody spoke a word during the hour or so they sailed down the river. Occasionally, the stone carving of a head could be seen through the gloom. Finally, sunlight began to fill the cave again. The captive travelers all looked around. A large, man-made entrance to the cavern was just finally in front of them. The warriors slowly rowed them through the cave's exit and into the nearly blinding sunlight.
Sora turned his head away, allowing his eyes to slowly adjust. Kairi and Naminé both used their hands as sun-visors. Sora heard them both let out soft gasps and looked around. His eyes grew wider and his mouth dropped. In the other gondola, Tulio and Miguel were having similar reactions.
"Oh my-" Miguel whispered in total amazement. "It's-it's-"
"El Dorado," all five of them said in wonder.
There it was before them, the city of gold herself. Every building was made of mostly red and blue stones and was decorated by gold. Three massive ziggurats dominated the skyline. All three were carved from large stones of gold. The entire city seemed to have been built around the river. There were several gondolas along the shore and staircases ran from the river up to the buildings on much higher ground.
Two tiki style fountains, each one made of gold and red stone flanked the cave exit. Butterflies the color of gold fluttered past the gondolas and headed off towards the smoking volcano in the distance. Gigantic fish of every color imaginable swam beneath the gondolas. Altivo took particular notice of this and withdrew his tail from the water. The citizens of El Dorado were all gathering on the shoreline to watch as the warriors sailed the captives to the tallest ziggurat. They all had the same beautiful, mocha colored skin and shining raven hair and were all dressed in bright pastel colors.
Their gondola's came to rest at a large stone platform that was built on the river's edge at the base of the tallest ziggurat. The bear warrior leapt to the platform and ran for a dark red temple while another warrior ran opposite of him towards a humble blue building. The other warriors climbed from the gondolas and gestured for their captives to follow. Sora was the first to get out, his grip tightening on the Oblivion as he did so. Kairi and Naminé followed his lead.
Tulio and Miguel helped Altivo climb up onto the platform and then climbed onto his back. The three teens moved closer to Altivo and the two men as the citizens crowding the platform parted, forming a path to the bottom most stairs of the ziggurat in front of them. The warriors all kept their hands on their spears, watching the captives nervously. Tulio let out a sigh as they moved closer to the stairs.
"Well, it was nice working with you, partner," he said dejectedly. Kairi looked over at Sora.
"Do you think they're going to try to kill us?" She whispered. Sora shrugged.
"Who knows?" He whispered back. "If they do, I've got the remote ready to warp us back to the Kingdom."
"What about Tulio and Miguel?" Naminé asked. Sora glanced at her.
"We'll have to knock them out once we get on the ship so they don't know what's going on," he lowered his voice so that the two men wouldn't hear. "Then we'll warp back down to somewhere far from here and see if we can get them back to Spain. Agreed?" Kairi and Naminé both nodded in agreement.
"Tulio," Miguel said quietly. "I just want you to know… I'm sorry about that girl in Barcelona." Tulio's eyes widened in surprise.
"So, you-" he began. "You fu-"
"BEHOLD!" A deep booming voice shouted from the top of the first flight of stairs set into the ziggurat. The captives looked up and saw a single man standing at the fore front of a large group of armed warriors. He was dressed in a long white loin cloth with a red cloth wrapped around his waist and a ceremonial looking red vest. On each wrist he wore cuffs of gold and each ear was pierced with a large square of gold and jade. His raven hair was tied back at the nape of his neck and his face was painted with a long red line that appeared to be blood.
He made large, exaggerated gestures with his arms and held himself with a sense of superiority. A rather round man strode up next to the man addressing everyone. He had long raven hair and wore only a large blue and gold wrapping that fell to his ankles. On his head rested a headdress of gold. The man carried himself with great pride as he stared down at the captives.
"As the prophecies foretold," the man continued, "the time of judgment is now!"
LD
That's all for this week! Hope you all enjoyed it so far. Chapter Twelve should be up in a week or two, my Beta's stressing with mid-terms so I'm going to give her time to study and relax when she can. She's earned it.
Reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated! I love hearing feedback from you readers!
Shadow Horizons