Finally! I've gotten rid of that stupid flu!

Kyrie (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts characters, some of the story (c) Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts

Bonded Soul

Chapter 57

"Hey, Kyrie! Come look at this!" Sora called as he looked out the Gummi ship's window. Kyrie got up from her seat and walked over, curious on what the boy was staring at. Looking out, she gasped at what she saw. There was a world far off into the distance, and it looked almost like a hologram. But she recognized the world immediately.

"The World that Never Was!" she thought as she stared. She could clearly see their Kingdom Hearts shine over the world, and felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of it.

"Wonder what it is."

"I dunno, Sora. Chip an' Dale said they couldn't figure out what it was." Goofy answered as he looked out as well.

"Look, it's Agrabah!" Donald cried as he pointed to the screen. Turning their attention to him, they spotted the sand-covered world and smiled, going to join him. Within minutes, they had reached the world and landed the Gummi ship before walking into the city. Reaching a familiar peddler's shop, Kyrie stopped. She narrowed her eyes, something wasn't right.

"This feeling…something dark was just here. But what?" she quickly grabbed Sora's hand, pointing to the shop. He blinked at her in confusion.

"Huh? Something you wanna buy?" he asked. She shook her head and gave another tug, before going inside. Shrugging their shoulders, the boys followed her in, and gasped at what they saw. The place was covered in gold, making them stare in awe as Donald walked into a vase, nearly knocking it over. At the last minute, Kyrie reached out and grabbed it, at the same time steadying the duck from falling flat on his face. The peddler behind the counter turned at this, and scowled at him.

"You break it, you buy it! Oh! Hello there, friends." He spoke, realizing who he was talking to. Kyrie eyed the man suspiciously, he was hiding something. She could tell.

"Wow! You made out like a bandit!" Sora commented as he placed his hands on his hips, looking around the shop. The merchant chuckled as he shook his head.

"Please…I am but an honest merchant. What you see is merely the reward for my hard work." He explained. "Would you like to buy anything?" at this, the four shook their heads.

"No thanks. Listen, have you seen a guy in a black coat? Someone from Organization XIII?" Sora asked the little man. He jumped a little at this. "Who me? Most certainly not…" he answered, making Kyrie scowl at him.

"He's lying…for some reason, something is telling me he's lying." she thought, glaring at the little man. But Sora simply nodded, trusting the man's words. "Okay. We'll keep asking around, then." Kyrie stared at him in confusion as he began to walk away, before Aladdin rushed in, startling the group.

"Sora! Don't let him get away!" the young man cried as he pointed. The group turned, only to see that the peddler had disappeared. Abu jumped over and looked back at them, raising his tiny arms and shaking his head. Aladdin groaned.

"What's going on?" Sora asked as they turned to him. The man slammed a fist into his open palm as he answered.

"Can't believe it…That stupid peddler let Jafar out of the lamp!" he explained. The boys gasped in shock. "Jafar!"

"Who's Jafar? I've heard the name before, but I don't know who he is…" Kyrie thought, reaching out and tugging on Sora's arm. The boy turned to her as she pulled out her notebook and wrote in it.

Sora, Aladdin, who's Jafar? You guys mentioned him the last time we were here, but you never explained to me who he was.

"Jafar was the Sultan's advisor who got greedy and tricked me into going into the cave of wonders to find Genie's lamp. Once I did, he stole the lamp and wished himself into a Genie, and we sealed him back into the lamp afterwards." Aladdin explained. She nodded in understanding as he turned to them.

"You guys had better be careful. I'm sure Jafar wants to take over Agrabah again, but I know he's out for revenge, too." Aladdin warned. Sora scratched the back of his head as he gave a sheepish smile. "I guess he's still sore about that whole lamp thing, huh." Kyrie giggled at this, agreeing with him. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Iago as he flew over, and brushed her hair over her shoulder so that he could have a place to perch. Taking the offer, the bird landed, receiving an affectionate pat on the head as well as a few strokes on his back.

"Iago was there when Jafar was released. Okay, Iago. Spill it." Aladdin added, looking at the bird. Iago flinched under the man's gaze before flying into the air. "Hey! I told you everything I know!" he squawked. The man narrowed his eyes at him.

"This is your one and only chance, Iago. If I find out later that you've been lying or hiding things from us, we're through. I'll never speak to you again!" he warned. At this, the bird flew back to Kyrie, landing in her open arms, and sighed. "I can't take it! I know where Jafar is!"

"Where?" Goofy asked as he walked over, looking at the bird in Kyrie's arms. He looked back and forth between the group, and Kyrie could tell he was hesitant about something. "Uh, er, I mean, that is, I, um…Ack! I really shouldn't…"

"Iago!" Aladdin spoke, his face stern. Iago sighed softly. "He's in the desert ruins." He answered. Sora nodded as he pumped a fist, looking at Aladdin.

"Let's get the jump on him. Lead the way!" but before anyone could move, Kyrie was right in front of them, a hard look on her face. Before they could ask what was wrong, her notebook was in front of them.

Now before we do anything, I just want to make something clear. You all better stop harassing Iago, or I swear I am going to hit you so hard your heads will spin. You DO NOT harass poor, defenseless birds and I won't tolerate such behavior.

"But Kyrie, he-" but her glare silenced Sora as she wrote more.

I don't care about the circumstances, you should have been nicer to him if you wanted to know so badly. Now promise that you'll be nicer to him.

The group was silent before sighing.

"All right, we promise." they sighed, raising one hand as they did so. Satisfied, she allowed them to pass as she followed behind them, carrying Iago in her arms. The bird looked up at her as they ran, amazement clear on his features.

"You defended me…" he whispered, making her look down at him and smile. He gave a small smile back and climbed onto her shoulder, turning his gaze in from her to Aladdin as the group ran. But Iago's thoughts were elsewhere as he sat on the girl's shoulder, guilt welling inside him like a dam ready to burst.

"She shouldn't have defended me. I'm…"

-Outside of Agrabah-

The group stared at the sandstorm that was howling in the distance, none of the courageous, or in this case dumb, enough to risk going through it. Iago looked at the sandstorm happily as he looked at them. "What a disaster! We're just gonna hafta turn back."

"There's gotta be a way…" Aladdin spoke as he placed his hand against his chin. But a voice called out, making the group jump. "Aw, c'mon, kid, that's an easy one!" they looked up just as Genie swooped in, going to greet his friend as he flew to his side.

"Al, ol' buddy, ol' pal! This is what having a genie for a best friend is all about! I mean, how can you leave me on the sidelines in a time like this? Live large! Wow 'em, Al! Give 'em the old razzmatazz! What do ya say, kid?" Genie explained in his eccentric yet dramatic way. Kyrie giggled silently as she watched the two, amused by his antics. Sora smiled as he waved.

"Hey, Genie!" he greeted. The man turned to him. "Sora!" he quickly disappeared, only to reappear a few feet above them.

"Wanna see a little something I call 'Sandstorm Sweep'?" The boys and Kyrie all nodded eagerly as they stared at him. "Uh-huh!" he turned to Aladdin as the man nodded.

"Take it away, Genie!" with that he turned, raising his hands dramatically.

"Alakaza…uh…" he paused, staring at the sandstorm. He gave a small sigh. "You know? One lousy sandstorm is just too easy." He said boringly as he snapped his fingers, the storm disappearing before their very eyes. With that he disappeared, calling out to them.

"How about giving me a challenge next time, eh Al?" Kyrie smiled.

"He's very eccentric. But I guess that's what makes him Genie." she thought, a smile on her face. Aladdin turned to them and they nodded, following the man into the desert as they searched for the ruins.

-A little while later-

Aladdin sighed as they got to the ruins, only to find out that they couldn't even reach them! The place looked too dangerous to walk on foot, and they had no other transportation.

"Now what do we do?" Aladdin groaned as he stared down at the ruins. Hearing a whoosh sound, Kyrie turned and spotted something purple flying towards them, making her stiffen and take a few steps back. The others turned as well, recognizing the purple object.

"Nice timing, carpet!" Sora complimented as it landed, waving at them to get on. Kyrie was hesitant at first, but when she saw there was enough room, she got on as well. Iago stayed put on her shoulder, his head ducked as he looked down, ashamed. She noticed this and looked at him in concern, confused on why he looked so ashamed.

"Is something wrong with him? Poor Iago…" she thought as she reached up, stroking his head gently. Soon they were off, flying through the ruins as they tried searching for a place Jafar could be. Immediately Donald gasped and pointed.

"Look! It's Jafar!" he cried. The group looked ahead and saw a mirage-like figure, and since Kyrie didn't know who it was, she assumed it to be Jafar. But Aladdin shook his head.

"No, I think it's just an illusion. But just in case, let's follow it." Sora nodded in agreement.

"Right. Follow it, carpet!" and so began the chase as the mirage figure fled, with carpet right on its tail. But the figure quickly disappeared into thin air, losing them.

"Argh, we lost him." Kyrie thought with a huff. Spotting a large tower, they decided to check it out, since it was the only stable building in the entire ruins. When the carpet landed, the group got off and ran in, weapons drawn.

"The game's up, Jafar!" Sora called as he ran in, but there was no one around. The group looked around in confusion, where was Jafar?

"That's strange. Iago said that he would be here." Kyrie thought as she looked around. Aladdin and the others turned to Iago, now suspicious.

"You sure this is it?" Aladdin asked. Iago was silent, making Donald raise his eyebrow at him. "Iago?" the bird was quiet as he flew from Kyrie's shoulder to a fallen pillar, landing on it and looking away from them. After a moment, he turned to them.

"Ya gotta understand. It wasn't my idea!" he cried, bowing as he did so. "It was Jafar. He made me bring you here. You don't know him like I do! He can be VERY convincing!…He said if I didn't cooperate he was gonna-" the bird explained. Aladdin scowled and took a few steps forward.

"Where is he?" He demanded. "C'mon Al, you've gotta forgive me." Iago begged. But the man didn't listen to the parrot's words as he spoke again.

"Where's Jafar?" at this the bird flew up. "Well… um, let's see…right about now, he's probably attacking the palace." he answered. Then he flew to them, circling Aladdin.

"I had no choice! His eyes, they got all creepy and WEIRD!" he explained. But Sora scoffed, not believing his words.

"Whatever. Iago, you're supposed to be our friend. But you've been playing both sides, just to make sure you save yourself." Donald nodded in agreement.

"I knew you were still a bad guy." he exclaimed. The bird flew backwards in panic, making Kyrie gasp as she took a step forward.

"I'm SORRY!" he cried as he flew into a vase, knocking it over. Suddenly the tower began to shake, causing debris to fall everywhere as Iago flew back to them. Kyrie immediately took the bird into her arms and held him close, protecting him from the falling debris. But right on time, carpet flew in, landing right in front of them.

"Let's go!"

...Strange, I really don't have anything to say for this chapter. Oh well. Please review!