The Atlantica visit is running longer than I anticipated...but yeah, STUFF HAPPENS! WOOHOO!
Chasing The Truth
By FlikFreak
Chapter Sixteen: Ships and Sharks
Riku stared angrily at the two empty hammocks nearby. They should have been occupied by Sora and Neku, but they weren't. The cockpit was empty too, and they were set in orbit around Atlantica. That could only mean one thing.
"Why would they go off without us?" Shiki asked. "Weren't we all supposed to look together?"
"He probably knows something about this world that we don't," Riku concluded, arms still crossed. "Or he just wanted something else."
Kairi tilted her head. "Like what?"
The silver-haired key wielder looked away. He hadn't told anyone, but something about Neku put him on edge. Not in a particularly malicious way, but he knew that the boy was hiding something from him…something big. Ever since he came back from Monstro, his scent had changed significantly. Sora didn't talk quite as much about Neku as he probably would have on any other occasion…what was going on that he didn't know about?
"Are we going to go after them?" Shiki asked.
Riku sighed. "I really don't know if we should. Sora's the only one out of all of us that's been here, and this world is…well, a lot different from all the rest. There aren't any heartless here anymore, and I doubt that any nobodies will ever bother the place, but it's got its own trouble to deal with from what Sora's told me."
Shiki hugged Mr. Mew tightly. "So, what do we do?"
He looked at the world very intently, eyes narrowed in thought. "Well, this is kind of crazy, but here's what we'll do…"
"You're insane, Sora. Crazy. Mad. Nuts. Messed up in the head. I'm running out of adjectives. Seriously, what the hell gave you the idea to do that?!"
Sora couldn't help but laugh at Neku's comments. The former proxy couldn't swim quite as powerfully as Sora could, so he had taken a route that he had taken the first time he had reached Atlantica and hitched a ride on one of the friendly neighborhood dolphins. Neku had barely managed to grip the tail before they had taken off at high speed toward the calm depths, heading toward the alcove where the sunken ship resided. "Aw, come on, Neku. It was fun, admit it."
Neku's face was redder than a white mushroom's cap. "You could have at least warned me! I only just figured out how to swim and now I'm nearly disoriented all over again!"
Rolling his eyes, Sora waved Neku forward. "Come on. Ursula's place is right near the sunken ship, so we won't be trekking everywhere."
"Who's Ursula?"
Figured he'd ask, Sora thought with a sigh. "An old sea witch that tried to take over Atlantica. When the heartless were around she was causing all kinds of trouble and more. She's long gone now, but her lair is still there. I guess no one bothered to get rid of it."
There was an odd expression of amusement on Neku's face before they continued. Sora shoved a few branches of seaweed out of his way as they exited the short tunnel. "Here we go…the sunken ship."
It was just as he had remembered. The murky water, the algae-covered walls, the bits of stray wood all over the sandy sea floor, and various bits of coral littering the immediate area…none of it had changed. The ship itself was no more decayed than it had been last time Sora had visited it (aside from the shattered window, which had been thanks to a shark that nearly gave him a heart attack).
Water, water everywhere…he would hate this place with a passion.
Sora laughed aloud. He sure would.
Neku, having missed the conversation glanced at Sora. "What's so funny? This place gives me the creeps."
Smiling and swimming forward, Sora began to explain. "Roxas was just thinking about how Axel would hate it here."
"Axel?"
He paused. "I never told you about him?"
Neku shook his head. "Nope."
With a sigh, Sora looked up at the surface of the water before replying. "Well, Axel was a member of Organization XIII…and he was Roxas's best friend, too. Personally, I could never figure him out. He was about as predictable as the weather."
"But he was in the Organization," Neku pointed out. "Does that mean that you…?"
Sora shook his head. "No…he turned traitor and left the Organization. He gave me a few warnings about what they were planning…I'm still not sure if he was looking after me or if he just wanted Roxas back. When I went to save Kairi from the Organization's stronghold, I was stuck in a place in between. There was this huge crowd of Nobodies that attacked…Axel showed up and helped me fight them off, but in the end he…" He choked, partially from Roxas's own emotions. I'm sorry.
It's not your fault.
"What did he do?"
"He sacrificed himself," Sora said quietly, "To get rid of the Nobodies and to open up the way to the castle." He nearly choked again. "He started to tell me something, but I don't think I ever got a chance to hear it."
I made him feel like he had a heart…
Roxas? You okay?
Y-Yeah. Just gimme a sec.
Good thing we're underwater. If you start crying at least the tears won't be seen.
You were upset too, though, weren't you? And not because of me.
…Yeah. I was. Axel…there's something about him I couldn't really put a finger on.
Neku but his lip. "I'm sorry."
Sora shook his head. "Let's just find the Shoalweed. If we don't get back before the others wake up, Riku will never let me hear the end of it."
"Are you sure you trust a description from a fish, though?"
"Flounder's lived here all his life, and I owe him a lot." Sora glanced around. "Hopefully it won't be in Ursula's place…I hate it in there."
"You mean there's a place creepier than this ship?"
Halloween Town and End of the World came to mind. "Much creepier, both on this world and off."
Neku said nothing more on the subject. The two made their way down to the ocean floor, searching for any sign of their target. They didn't find any very easily, but the search continued. Sora was quickly growing impatient, not from annoyance but from anxiety. If we don't find this before the others find out…
Hey, it could be worse.
"Sora…"
"What is it, Neku? Find anything?"
"Um, actually…"
"The Shoalweed should be around here somewhere; don't worry, Flounder's a bit skittish but he's never wrong."
"Behind you, Sora!"
Sora spun around to be met with the face of a very angry fish. Red eyes glared at him, rows of large, razor-sharp teethe bared. Sora swallowed nervously. "Hello, Chompers," he greeted the great, toothy beast nervously, his voice a bit more high pitched than he probably meant it to be.
Remember what I said earlier? Forget it. Things just got a lot worse.
The key bearer barely managed to dodge when the shark shot forward, snapping at him with his powerful jaws. Wasting no time, Sora dove to the side and powered his tail as quickly as he could go, Neku following not far behind. "Run!" he cried.
"Don't you mean swim?!"
"Who cares?!"
Even with a mermaid kick, Sora knew he wouldn't outswim the shark. The only option was to outwit it. Sora summoned the keyblade in his hand and shot a few shards of blizzard magic in the shark's face, stunning it long enough to wave Neku after him. "This way!"
They sped through a cavity in the wall. Had Sora been going through there casually, he would have known it was the way to Ursula's lair and he would have sped out quickly, but this time was different. It was either go somewhere creepy or end up dead, and he didn't particularly want to find out the hard way whether or not Atlantica had its own UG.
The shark was inches from their tails one second and yards away the next. Sora slowed to a halt and spun around, throwing a fist in the air…water…triumphantly and dismissed the keyblade. "Yes! Eat that, toothface!"
"I will never eat sushi again," Neku vowed almost silently, face still contorted with fear. "That was way too close."
He calls that a close call?
He hasn't been to the places we've been to, Roxas.
Good point.
Sora waved Neku to follow him again. "Come on. A little deeper in and we should be able to find what we're-"
"There you are, Sora. I had a feeling you'd do something like this."
Sora winced, turning around and swallowing at what he saw. There was a merman behind him sporting a striped gray tail not unlike a tiger shark. The face belonging to the merman was all too familiar.
Sora, you are so busted.
Shut up. You're not helping.
Aerith set a bowl of water down on the floor. Not two seconds after she stood, Bolt made his way over and began lapping up its contents contentedly. The woman sighed, taking a seat near Beat. "Is she doing well?"
Beat nodded. "If you mean nothin's changed, then yeah." He clenched his fists. "I promised that nothing would happen to her…what good I did."
"Don't say that," Aerith said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Rhyme will be fine. Sora had his own trouble with Kairi."
"Like what?" Beat asked.
"Kairi lost her heart."
He fell silent. Kairi…that red-headed girl that hung out with Sora had lost her heart before? But judging from what Neku had explained to them after the mess with Xsoh, someone who lost their heart became a heartless, and for whatever reason, a nobody was also created. Roxas – the guy who tended to appear near Sora – was Sora's Nobody, but no one appeared near Kairi. Did she even have one? Was she even a heartless? Or…
His train of thought was interrupted when several thumps resounded on the door. Bolt ceased lapping up his water and looked up, ears pricking upright attentively. "Another one?" Aerith said calmly, standing and making her way over. "That's the second one this morning."
Beat heard her open the door, and two things happened. First, Bolt began to growl angrily. Second, Aerith gasped and attempted to close the door again when whoever was on the outside shoved it back open.
"You shouldn't be so mean, lady! I'm only coming to say hi!"
When Aerith finally managed to close the door, something bright slammed into it, demolishing it and sending Aerith skidding against the floor. Bolt stood his ground and bared his teeth while he growled even louder while Beat stood protectively over his sister.
A boy in a black cloak entered. He couldn't have been more than twelve years old, and had long, light blonde hair and a patch over one of his wide, childish eyes. He laughed, the false innocence in his voice infuriating Beat. "Man, it took a while to get past that ghost's magic, but I hardly expected to have to get through you! Talk about a surprise!"
"I ain't got any idea what you're talkin' 'bout," Beat grumbled, "But you ain't gettin' Rhyme, yo!"
The boy grinned. "I hate to disappoint you, but we kinda need her right now." He held his hand forward, summoning a sphere of white-hot energy, and before Beat had a chance to even twitch it shot forward, sending him crashing into the wall. Beat struggled to retain his consciousness, desperately trying to regain footing, but his head was spinning. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the boy in black approaching the bed.
OH NOES! What could this mean? D:
Characters met:
Glut the Shark (Kingdom Hearts/The Little Mermaid)
Zoners:
The Deceptive Evoker, Meyxours (Chasing The Truth/???)
The Elegant Reaper, Jaxuk (Chasing The Truth/???)
The Fallen Prince, Zarxilt (Chasing The Truth/???)
The Ruthless Emperor, Naxeyv (Chasing The Truth/???)
