CHAPTER III: One Thing Off
No turning back now, Riku sifted a hand through the length of his spiky silver hair, his eyes metallic in the darkness. "So where do we even start?" He wondered aloud, it wasn't as though Master Yen Sid had given them a map to go off from. He supposed it would've been a matter of grand luck to stumble across Aqua upon entrance, of course he expected to have to look for her. Mickey was so clearly out of his element, his breaths came out in short white puffs, his gloved fingers flexed repeatedly. A bearer of light in a realm embedded in only darkness, of course it would bring him unwavering discomfort. Riku couldn't imagine what it had done to Aqua... It concerned him, he didn't feel a sensation of suffocation, he breathed as easily as he would in any of the worlds he'd visited. Although he wasn't darkness anymore, he wasn't really light either; nothing like Kairi and Sora. He walked the line between both worlds, a bit of darkness and a bit of light, twilight he supposed. Being stuck in this world for too long might tip the balance, he thought with dismay, but kept the fear from tainting his eyes. He was doing this for Aqua, she'd suffered enough as it was and he would leave her to rot no longer.
Mickey inhaled, his wits gathered about himself, and turned to regard the taller lad. "I guess all we can do is go forward," he said. Riku didn't ask if he was alright, just nodded and relieved the mouse king from taking the first step. Although it was perhaps not ideal for Riku to take the lead, he knew his dear friend's thoughts were plagued with unaccounted for worry. Worry for his own sake, for Aqua's, Riku's. Worry for the wife he left at home protected only so long as she stayed in her castle. And he knew, he shouldn't have agreed to come if his only resolution would have been to hide behind Mickey. Together, he and his dearest friend pushed against the darkness.
•¶•
Radiant Garden wasn't the same as it had been when Sora left it. Stepping from his ship with his comrades in tow, he let deep blue eyes scan the setting to a world once desolated, broken apart and filth ridden but still brimming with the hope of reconstruction. It appeared that hope had been met, for the trio was greeted by rows of colorful flowerbeds and buildings not depressed through cracks and chipped paint. Everything seemed brighter, livelier, fragrance from petals filtered peacefully through the air and birds chirped their songs as they danced with the breeze. "Woah," Sora commented with a sideways glance at Donald. "Are we in the right place?"
Donald tore his eyes from the scenery to look in bewilderment at his friend and shrugged in response. Laughter resounded and all three of them turned to address the source, a familiar figure standing at the newly designed steps with a smile gracing his assets. "Yea," Leon confirmed with a single nod of his head. "You guys are in the right place. We tried to restore the town to it's full glory. It's not exactly as it was but we came close enough I'm pretty sure." As he descended the steps, Sora felt a warmth of genuine appreciation spread through him and he stiffened, wondering where it had delivered from. Deciding to save it for the future, he smothered it down and chose instead to let himself be enveloped in the gladness that followed seeing an old friend again. As he drew near, Sora met him halfway and rushed to cross the distance between them.
"Leon!" he shouted and went to tackle him in a hug, to which the older man grasped his shoulders to hold him back from doing so. It did nothing to hinder Sora's excitement. "I'm so happy to see you! It's been forever, how's everyone been?"
"Everyone's pretty good," Leon grinned and released him when his stance promised a certain calm aspect. "You've gotten a lot taller I see. I received a letter from the king that said Riku became a Keyblade master. Still chasing the cut huh?"
He nudged Sora with his elbow teasingly and the boy scowled in turn. He'd resented not becoming a master for sometime, but most of all, had been wildly enthused when Riku was said to ascend in titles. And not at all jealous. No no, Sora didn't know jealousy of course. What was there to be jealous about? Goofy interrupted his thoughts when he and Donald approached as well, smiling their familiar greetings. "Say Leon," the canine proclaimed. "Ya haven't been having any trouble with the Heartless by chance right?"
"No," Leon answered, shaking his head. "I haven't. Not the Nobodies either. Things have been relatively quiet here, but something tells me that's about to change. Wherever you three go, trouble is inevitably going to follow."
"Hey!" snapped a disgruntled Donald. "What's that supposed to mean?!"
Leon grinned with his teeth and gestured with his head for them to follow along after him. "C'mon. There's something I wanted to show you guys. One thing's a little off, maybe you'll be able to help." Turning, he started towards the staircase again and the three wasted no time pursuing. As they went, they noted how much larger the population had become since the last time they were here. People conversed and carried on without qualm, some even pausing to wave or nod their hellos to the newcomers. At their curious expressions, Leon answered the unspoken question. "People started moving here again once we got the place built back up. It's peaceful here. Oh hey, Donald, your uncle's ice cream business really took off too. Everyone absolutely loves the sea salt flavor he perfected."
"It only took him so long," Donald muttered. Sora didn't doubt he had an unspoken curiosity over the aspect of his uncle's succession. Perhaps he even missed his nephews, as troublesome as they happened to be. Sora felt an abundance of mirth as they drew closer to Merlin's shelter, being out on another adventure like this felt so good. What was more, he wasn't wondering over the general safety of his comrades this time. Well, for the most part. At least Kairi was safe. Riku was... Sora forced the thought of him to the back of his mind, he couldn't afford to be distracted with fret. Riku was a Keyblade master after all, he could handle himself and Mickey was certain to keep the darkness from consuming him.
They came to the door. Sora didn't have the patience for Leon's casual maneuver to open it and bustled past him to do it himself. The door swung open with a protesting squeal of it's hinges and slammed into the wall beside it with a crash that jostled everyone within from their peace. As the boy came running in, he found it contained only two figures: Yuffie and Aerith were sitting together at the table in the center, sharing a pot of tea. The unexpected burst of interruption had startled the ninja so much, she spilled her tea all over her dark attire with a shout of dismay. Aerith had flinched, but she was always more prone to grace than anything else, one which defied even simple things like jumping from a noise she wasn't prepared for.
Yuffie exhaled harshly and pushed herself angrily from her chair, the legs scraped obnoxiously against the floor and she grumbled things undoubtedly meant to insult the lad had he been able to hear her clearly. Sheepish, Sora scratched the back of his neck and started forward along with his trio of companions, all of which were giving him such a look for being so thoughtless. "Sorry," he apologized, Leon made a show of closing the door in a quieter fashion. "I swear I didn't mean to scare you guys like that."
"Wouldn't be you if the greeting wasn't loud and dramatic in some way," Yuffie answered from her spot at a rusted sink attached to the wall. She looked up and gave him a smile razor sharp as she cleansed herself of the hot beverage she'd doused herself with. Giggling sweetly with humor, Aerith rose up from her seat and moved across the floor, much more forgiving with her gentle smile and soft eyes.
"It's so good to see you again," she said and wrapped Sora up in her embrace. Sora returned the gesture, trying to ignore how much taller than him she was and instead focused on how much he'd missed her soothing serenity.
"You too, I missed you guys so much," he mumbled against her shoulder. She pulled away from him and turned to offer the same affection towards Donald and Goofy. Sora turned around to address Yuffie next and was met with a punch to his shoulder, one hard enough to illicit a pained "OUCH" from him in surprise. Yuffie was unapologetic, her stance firm with her knuckles pressed into her hips.
"Yea, me too," she stated sarcastically. "That's exactly how I felt when you couldn't just enter like a normal person."
Sora opened his mouth to offer his remorse a second time, but Yuffie had already hugged him tight to her chest in a squeeze that threatened to crack his ribcage. Same as ever, thought the brunette; a tiny spitfire of a girl too strong for her own good. She had her face buried into his chest, her words muffled but understood nonetheless. "I seriously missed you guys though. It's been so boring here, all we've been doing is building and working and ugh. You being here means there's an adventure to go on, right?" Still hugging him tight, she lifted her head, her eyes round and rich with a hope that left Sora chuckling with amusement.
"You know, I don't think it's a good thing to really hope that something bad is gonna happen," he pointed out.
At once, Yuffie's arms loosened and she took a step back, spluttering objections like she could defend herself from the accusation. Leon stepped in and rescued her, clearing his throat and crossing two bulky arms over his chest. He shot a glance off to the side, one that stifled the sense of happiness Sora had been feeling. Right, one thing was off, he realized with a deep breath. Leon had said as much. The older man gestured with his head towards a familiar thick novel resting casually against a pedestal. "It's Pooh Bear," he said, his voice solemn with displeasure. "Nobody can get in to see him, and Merlin's busy at the Disney Castle so we haven't been able to ask for his assistance. So, you're our last shot."
Sora moved across the floor and retrieved the book, Goofy and Donald followed swiftly behind and watched with curiosity as he examined it blankly from front to back. As he came up woefully short, Leon exchanged a glance with Yuffie and went to guide him, lightly taking the book from out of his grasp and tapping the source of oddities with his index finger. "Look at this," he suggested, and Sora exhaled with embarrassment. At the front cover, glittering a very noticeable purple color, was a very peculiar shape of a keyhole.
"Right, okay," he said and set the novel back down on the pedestal. "No worries guys, I'm the one with the big key after all!" After offering them each a smile of reassurance, he summoned the magical weapon at his side and pointed it towards the lock. It took little of his effort. In just a moment, a beam of light was shooting from his trusty blade and straight into the lock; a click rung out in response and the hole disappeared upon command. Eager, Sora snatched the book up from the surface of the pedestal and cracked open the front cover. He barely had even a moment of breath before a force of some sort was aggressively sucking him into the material of the story.
The book fell to the ground with no one holding it and the front cover snapped shut. Leon panicked as everyone else did and swiped it up from the floorboards, prepared to dive in after him. Lifting it up to view the cover, he was utterly dumbfounded to see the glowing purple lock had returned.
•¶•
Sora hadn't any choice as to where he was landing. He fell in a graceless heap upon the hard ground of a forest clearing and moaned at the ache that sprung up in his bones. With a grunt, he pushed himself up on his feet and brushed off his articles of clothing, blue eyes scoured the area in search of conflict. It was eerily quiet, dark as well; black stretched across the sky, completely empty of the brilliant starlight this place was often known for. He could feel the chill of wrong crawl over his flesh, his fingers flexed for a battle.
"Hello Sora."
A voice he recognized caused him to spin immediately and regard the source. His Keyblade came to his unspoken call and he crouched in his threatening position, his eyes narrowed into harsh blue hues of outrage. Before him stood Zexion, calmly staring back at him from under silver bangs, a book gripped between digits cloaked in ebony gloves. "Nobody," Sora answered venomously, spitting out the word like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
Zexion raised a finger and shook it at him in a way that belittled him. "Now relax yourself, I didn't come here hoping to start a fight. I'm sure your curious as to what became of your friends."
Sora's grip hardened around the handle of his Keyblade, he resisted leaping forth to tear him a new one. Unfortunately, Zexion had the upper hand here, his lip bit in between his teeth and he said nothing. If he let himself talk, who knows what might come out? The Nobody smirked in such a way that left the wielder grappling desperately for self control, he made himself go rigid with straight posture. "Where are they?" he grit, infuriated with the silence.
"I couldn't tell you exactly where I've sent them. What kind of fun would that be?"
"I'm not taking any of this as a game. Tell me where the hell you've taken them!"
Zexion appeared unfazed by his outburst. If anything, it amused him greatly, a matter that set fire to throbbing veins. "I don't know exactly. I've sent them to many different areas in the universe, they could be anywhere now. If I knew their exact locations, you might find a way to get it out of me. We can't risk that now, can we?"
Perhaps Sora would try anyway. His grip around the handle of his Keyblade was tight enough to warrant white knuckles pressing into the flesh. Zexion's eyes slid down and noted the anxious way he stood, his desperation, his hatred for the man before him, and grinned almost maniacally. "Don't worry," he whispered as a swirling portal of black opened it's ugly mouth just behind him. "All you have to do is find them. Find them and remind them of who they are. Once you do that, they'll return to their homes. Not too hard, right?"
Tendrils of shadows licked affectionately up his side and he stepped backwards into their hold. He was swallowed, and then Sora was alone in the nighttime clearing. Looking up at the blackened sky, blue hues typically vibrant with adventure had darkened with sadness. It seemed so long ago, but he remembered sitting with his friends upon a short hill, looking up contentedly at the stars. Pooh had gazed towards him with small black eyes and asked in his soft voice to stay with him forever. Sora had promised to return, but everyone he'd come to care so deeply for were now... Turning, he pressed a fist to his heart, a silent promise to the ones he'd left uncared for that he would not leave them to suffer on their own. Whatever evil threatened the universe would perish today.
A/N: I realize that Zexion was one of the few Nobodies that, I guess, returned to his earlier form like Lea had. But I had this idea for Winnie the Pooh and, with him being the one to manipulate books and such, he really was my favorite choice so I'll have to choke on that. Thanks again for reading!
