Here is chapter three of the story!
More characters show up here, and not all of them are from Kingdom Hearts.
I don't know how many of you will recognize them, but I know that at least one of you know where they come from.
Chapter III
The Restored City
1650hrs, June 12th, 2024
Marketplace, Radiant Garden
The soldier called Hannes, who was one of the guards of Radiant Garden's entrance, walked Sora, Riku and Kairi to the city, and then he returned to his guard post when they arrived at the marketplace of the city and after saying goodbye to the three teens.
The trio of Destiny Islands walked through the square while looking at all the establishments that were around, and there was one that caught Sora's attention, a big stand of Sea-salt ice cream. There was a man selling the ice cream to some kids, and near to the stand, there was a duck wearing a blue jacket, a top hat and pince-nez glasses, and he had a brown cane in his right hand.
"Scrooge?" said Sora, addressing the duck that was looking at the stand.
"That voice…could it be?" the duck said as he turned around, and when he saw the three Keyblade wielders in front of him, a smile appeared on his face. "Sora, Riku and Kairi, I can't believe it's you! It has been two years!"
"Hello, Mr. Scrooge," said Kairi, waving her hand at the old duck.
"It looks like the ice cream business went well these last two years," Riku commented.
"You bet, son!" Scrooge said. "And a year ago I started another business, routes between worlds!"
"Routes between worlds?" asked Kairi. "So the people can travel between worlds like we do?"
"Correct," the old duck said. "It will be a group of trains able to take people from one world to another, there's already a train which can take you to Disney Castle from here."
"That's sounds great," Sora said. "Hey, now that you mentioned Disney Castle, do you know how Donald and Goofy are?"
"Oh, well, I haven't seen them since the last time you were here, but surely they are fine," Scrooge replied. "I heard that the King has been busy these years, and that Donald and Goofy have helped him as much as they can. You should go to Disney Castle and visit them someday."
"Yeah, I've planned to do it," the spiky teen said.
"And the Restoration Committee?" asked Kairi. "How are they?"
"Very good," Scrooge replied. "As you can see, their work restoring the city was magnificent, and after what happened in this world, things have gone well, especially for merchants."
"We should go to see how they are doing," Sora said.
"That's a good idea, but be careful with the Heartless," Scrooge said. "Although, being who you are, I don't think you'll have problems with them."
"Heartless, huh?" said Sora with a serious face. "I see they're still being a nuisance."
"Well, inside the city we are fairly protected from them," the duck affirmed. "Those soldiers who arrived from another world are doing a splendid job protecting the city during the day, and at night, the security system takes care of the Heartless."
"And what about outside the city?" asked Riku. "There are people living outside Radiant Garden, right?"
"The Military sent groups of soldiers to the towns that are around this world," Scrooge said. "However, in the areas where there aren't people, the number of Heartless is higher."
"Well, thanks for the information," said Sora. "The committee still operates in Merlin's house?"
"Yes, but Merlin moved to another house," Scrooge replied. "The committee needed more space, and some soldiers of the Military started using that house as headquarters. They rebuilt the building, but surely you'll still recognize it, just follow this street and you'll arrive in a few minutes. Well, I have some matters to attend to now, see you later, kids!"
"Okay, thanks!" Sora said before Scrooge left.
-TLG-
The Keyblade wielders were walking down the streets while looking at all the new buildings that were built these last years. The Keybearers wondered how many people came to live in Radiant Garden, apart from those soldiers.
After a while, the trio was still walking and looking for the committee's building, but the only buildings they saw were houses and some shops. Now they were in a small street, and they were the only ones who were there.
"It's just a thought," Riku began, "but I think we're lost."
"This place has changed a lot," Kairi said. "It's normal that we find it hard to orientate ourselves, but we'll have to do it if we're going to live here when the guild is formed."
"It must be weird for you," Sora said, looking at the girl. "You're going to live here again after thirteen years."
"A bit, but I'm sure I'll get used to it again," Kairi said smiling. "Now we should find the committee's building, don't you think?"
When the three finished talking, dark puddles appeared on the ground and Heartless started to emerge in front of the trio, three Armored Knights.
"Emblem Heartless?" said Riku surprised. "I thought the only Heartless that still existed were the Pureblood."
"We better ask Leon and the others about it," Sora said. "Someone want to take care of these?"
Before Riku or Kairi could respond, someone appeared from the air and slashed the Heartless, which surprised the Keyblade wielders. The person who defeated the Heartless was a boy with teal-green eyes and short dark brown hair .By the clothes he was wearing, the trio could tell that he was part of the Military, but from a different division from the ones who were at the entrance, since he was also wearing a green cloak. To destroy the Heartless, he used two blades which were attached to two handgrips that were part of a gear he had.
"Looks like someone did the work for us," Riku said, looking at the boy who defeated the Heartless.
"He is part of the Military," Kairi commented. "I wonder if there are more people about our age who are soldiers too."
After Kairi said that, two more people landed near the boy who destroyed the dark creatures. They were a blond boy with blue eyes, and a girl with black hair and eyes, both of them with the same green cloak as the other boy.
"Yes, there are more," Sora said while the teens of the Military started talking between them.
"Eren, let us know when you're going to do something like that," the blond boy asked concerned.
"I saw some Heartless, I couldn't waste any time," the boy called Eren said.
"You could have told us, we would have helped you," the girl said with a calmed and caring voice.
"I can take care of three of them without your help," Eren said, slightly annoyed. "You don't need to be so protective."
"Hey," Riku whispered to Sora and Kairi. "This looks like a personal conversation; we should continue our way and leave them."
Sora and Kairi agreed, and the three started to walk again, but when Eren saw them walking away, he stopped the trio to talk with them.
"Hey, wait, are you okay?" he asked and the Destiny Trio stopped walking and looked at him.
"Yes, we're fine," Kairi answered. "The Heartless did nothing to us."
"Oh, good," Eren said, and then he started looking at Sora as if he was studying his face, and this made the spiky teen feel a bit uneasy.
"Is something wrong?" asked Sora.
"Do I know you?" Eren asked. "Your face seems familiar."
"Now that you said it, I think I've seen you before," the blond boy said. "It's the first time you visit Radiant Garden?"
"The last time I was here was two years ago, so I don't think we know each other," Sora replied. "By the way, good job with the Heartless…umm…"
"Eren," said the boy who slashed the dark creatures.
"Eren, by any chance, do you know where is the building of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee?" asked Sora.
"Yes, that's where the other members of our division are," Eren answered.
"But civilians are not allowed, sorry," the blond boy said politely.
The Keyblade wielders thought that what the boy said was logic, now that the Military also operated in that building they couldn't let people pass unless they were part of the Military or the Restoration Committee. However, Sora was one of the three honorary members of the committee, so the only thing he had to do, is to show his membership card to the three soldiers.
"Here," said Sora, handing his member card to Eren
"Honorary member..." he read before looking at the other side of the card, where Sora's name was.
"Sora…" the girl said. "I've heard that name around the city sometimes, and some members of the committee also mentioned that name."
"Armin, what do you think?" Eren asked the blond boy. It looks like he trusted him in making decisions, as if he was the best at those kinds of things. To Sora, it was obvious that those three were close friends, like Riku, Kairi and him.
"He said that is has been two years since his last visit, and the city has changed a lot in that time, so it's normal he doesn't know where the building is," the boy called Armin said. "Besides, our patrol shift is over and we have to go there too."
"All right, we will take you there," Eren said, looking at the Keyblade wielders, and then the six started walking to the committee's headquarters.
"Thanks," Sora said smiling before looking at the other two soldiers. "You know my name, may I know yours?"
"Oh, I'm Armin," the blond said with a smile on his face.
"Mikasa," said the girl without her serene expression. She was kind of withdrawn, but as Sora deduced before, she was close friends with Eren and Armin, so she must care deeply for them, despite looking a bit cold from outside.
"What are yours?" Armin asked the other two Keyblade wielders, who haven't introduced themselves yet.
"I'm Kairi, and he's Riku, nice to meet you," the redhead said and the older boy waved his hand at the soldiers.
-TLG-
After crossing several streets, the group stopped in front of a big building. Eren told the Keybearers that there was where the committee's meetings took place. He opened the door and entered the building, followed by the other five.
The Keyblade wielders looked in awe at their surroundings when they got into the building, there were a lot of people of the Military inside, some of them wearing that green cloak Eren, Armin and Mikasa were wearing. The three soldiers walked to where the other people of the Military were, and the Keybearers could hear how some soldiers asked Eren about them.
"It can't be…" said someone, and the Destiny Trio turned and saw a girl with short black hair, violet eyes and wearing a black band with white lining on her head.
"Hey, Yuff-" Sora could finish talking because the girl approached him, grabbed his cheeks and started pulling them while looking at him with disbelief in her eyes.
"Yuffie, what are you doing?" asked Kairi, slightly amused by the scene between Sora and the girl.
"Kairi, Riku!" the girl said looking at the two people behind Sora.
"Hey," Riku said, who found funny the face Sora had at this moment. Then the girl, who Kairi called Yuffie, looked at the spiky boy again, still wide-eyed and started hugging him.
"Sora, you're alive! I'm so glad to see you!" she said really happy, and the Keyblade wielders looked at her confused. Some people, who were in another room, heard the girl saying the name of the spiky boy, so they entered the room where they were, and they also looked surprised at the Keyblade wielders.
They were three people, two men and one woman. The first man had long brown hair, blue eyes, and a scar which runs diagonally across the bridge of his nose, and the other man was blond with the same eye color as the first man, and wore a pair of goggles and a necklace. Lastly, the woman had green eyes and long brown hair, which was styled in a braid down her back.
"We haven't heard wrong," the blond man said as he approached the Keybearers. "The kiddo is here, and in one piece."
"Kairi, Riku, it's good to see you're all right too," the young woman said with a warm smile. The Keybearers were even more confused now since they didn't understand why those people thought that something bad happened to them.
"Sora, it's been a while," the scarred man said, and the boy looked at him.
"Hey, Leon, Cid, Aerith," greeted Sora, who was still being hugged by the black-haired girl. "Yuffie, could you let go of me? It's starting to get difficult to breathe."
"Oh, sorry," Yuffie said laughing a little. "I got carried away by the surprise of seeing you. I didn't expect it at all."
"Yeah, you said really surprised that I was alive, what's with that?" asked Sora.
"What do you expect?" Cid said crossing his arms. "We haven't seen you in two years after you left to fight Xehanort."
"No world was consumed by darkness," Aerith said. "But we didn't hear anything about you, so we thought that something happened during the battle."
"We even asked Scrooge to make a route between Radiant Garden and your world," Yuffie said.
"I told them that surely you were all right, but you can't blame us for worrying," Leon said.
"I guess not," Sora said, and then he realized something. "Wait, I thought Lea came here after the battle, didn't he tell you that all of us were alright?"
"We haven't seen him around here," Leon said.
"Who knows where that flame-brain is," Yuffie said, and Sora laughed.
Then the group went to a table and sat together to talk since there were a lot of things that they wanted to discuss.
"I'm sure you've noticed how changed the city is," Cid said. "These two years we haven't stopped working and Radiant Garden is almost completely restored, there are still some parts of the city that are under construction."
"Yes, we also noticed that the world is bigger than before," Kairi mentioned.
"Oh, yeah, that happened a few weeks after you left," Yuffie said. "We worried because the world covered with darkness momentarily, but when we woke up it was enormous, as if something made the world expand!"
"And a lot of people started coming to this world to live, and they even helped us restoring and expanding the city," Leon added. "Since there was a lot of space after the world's growth, we wanted to make Radiant Garden bigger than before, and we managed to do it with their help."
"And I see you got your own security corps," Riku said, referring to the Military. "Do you know where they come from?"
"They appeared after the world's growth," Leon started explaining. "It was obvious that they were from another world, so Cid started to search it."
"And?" asked Kairi, who was starting to worry.
"Their world vanished," Cid continued. "It doesn't exist anymore."
Riku and Kairi looked astonished at Cid, they couldn't believe what they heard, and Sora brought his hand to his face and a deep breath left his lips. Leon and the others were puzzled at Sora's reaction, and Aerith decided to ask him about it.
"Sora, what's wrong?" she asked concernedly.
"Well, we know why their world vanished," he said, and the members of the committee looked surprised at him, but before they could ask, Kairi started explaining what happened.
"You see, during our battle against Xehanort," the redhead said, "he managed to use the power of his allies and ours, and he could forge the χ-blade, which he used it to open Kingdom Hearts."
"According to Yen Sid, some worlds could have suffered some changes after Kingdom Hearts was opened," Riku continued. "Luckily, Sora closed it quickly, so not many worlds must have been affected."
"If we had been faster, he couldn't have done it," Sora said with guilt in his voice. "I was afraid that some world was destroyed after that, and now I know that I was right."
"Come on, Sora," Kairi said putting her hand on the boy's shoulder, "you know that we did all we could."
"I know," he said before looking at Eren and the other soldiers, "but if they find out, they'll hate us for sure."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Leon said, and the Keyblade wielders looked at him confused.
"They told us that their world was a hell," Cid said. "They were constantly in danger because some creatures called Titans, and a lot of people died because of them."
"We did a count," Aerith said, "and it looks like, except for the Titans, everyone who was from that world ended up in Radiant Garden. We let them live here, and they wanted to return us the favor by protecting Radiant Garden from the Heartless, and I have to say that they are really happy to live here."
"Just for you to know," Yuffie said looking at the Keybearers, "they told us that they prefer to live here instead of their old home."
"Oh really?" asked Sora and the girl nodded. "Well, that makes me feel better."
"It's the first time I heard that someone is happy because his world was destroyed," Riku said perplexed, but relieved.
"Well, they look happy with this change of home," Kairi said as she looked at the soldiers, and then Aerith spoke.
"Talking about change," Aerith said smiling at the Keyblade wielders. "You three have changed a lot, especially you, Sora."
"I haven't changed that much," Sora said while scratching the back of his head. "I'm just a bit taller."
"And cuter too, I'm sure Kairi can't keep her eyes off you." Yuffie added and Kairi started to blush, and when Sora looked at her, she had to look away because her blush deepened.
"So, what have you been doing these years?" asked Cid.
"I suppose you've rested after all you've done," Leon said. "You deserved it after all, although I can tell that you've been training too since you look stronger than the last time we saw you."
"I'm sure you missed your home after being outside for so long," Aerith said.
"Yeah, but still, we wanted to leave the islands to explore again," Riku said. "Besides, now that we know that there are still Heartless out there, we want to start working again."
"Yes, your help would be great at this moment," Aerith said. "If we can help you anyway, we'll do whatever is in our hands."
"There is something I wanted to do," Sora commented. "And I'd like to do it in this world."
"Is that so?" Cid asked. "Care to tell us about it?"
"I want to create a guild for Keyblade wielders," the boy answered. "I want the Keyblade wielders who fought against Xehanort to be the members of the guild, and we will work together to help and protect other worlds from any threat, not just the Heartless."
"Wow, that's-"
"That's a great idea!" Yuffie exclaimed, interrupting Aerith. "It's exactly what the worlds need at this moment."
"I have to agree with the hyperactive ninja," Cid said. "You had a splendid idea, kiddo."
"Do you know where the others are?" Yuffie asked.
"I think so, but first I want to create the guild first," Sora replied. "We'll need a place to live too, but it looks like you're full here."
"Well, just to the left of this building there's enough space to build another one," Leon said. "You can connect it to this one if you want, this way we can lend you a hand. However, it's not going to be cheap, the workmanship here is very good and fast, but you'll have to spend a lot of munny."
"No problem," Sora said.
"Sora, it's really expensive," Aerith insisted. "Especially if the building is going to be connected to ours, remember that one division of the Military is using it too."
"Guys, really, that's not a problem," the spiky boy repeated.
"Sora, how much money do you have saved?" asked Kairi, who was really curious about it.
Sora grabbed a pen and a notebook, which were on the table, and he wrote the number on it. He handed the notebook to Kairi and when she read the number, she covered her mouth out of astonishment. The others approached the girl to see how much money Sora had, and they couldn't help but look dumbfounded at the paper, which amused the spiky teen.
"Oh-my-god!" said Yuffie when she read it. "Sora, you know I always considered you my best friend, right?"
"Thank you, Yuffie," Sora said smiling, "but your greed is showing."
"Stingy…" Yuffie said pouting, and Sora laughed.
"You better be careful, or Yuffie and the Gullwings will steal your money," Leon said.
"Now that you mentioned the Gullwings, where are the other members of the committee?" asked Kairi. "I don't see them around here."
"They must be around the city," Cid said. "We've got new members, you know?"
"We'll have to meet them then," Sora said, and then he saw some soldiers leaving the building. "By the way, have you talked about me with the Military? Some of them said that my face seemed familiar to them."
"Your name appeared on several occasions," Leon said. "After what we told them, you earned a good reputation among them."
"All of them would be really happy to meet you, especially the younger ones," Aerith commented.
"Who wouldn't want to know the Keyblade's Chosen One?" Yuffie said high enough for the soldiers who were in the room to hear it. Some of the soldiers started to whisper between them while looking at Sora, who was starting to get nervous.
"Very subtle, Yuffie…" Sora said.
"Sorry," the girl said, poking out her tongue.
"Hey, I've been thinking about something since we arrived," Riku said, and the others looked at him. "Is Maleficent still here? After what happened to the world I mean."
"When we were restoring the city after the expansion, we didn't see her castle anywhere," Aerith said. "However, we know that she's still in this world since she's been sending Heartless to the towns that are out there."
"She's been sending them here too, but the Military and the security system can take care of them," Cid said, feeling proud of the defensive system he installed.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but there are still Emblem type Heartless around," Leon said and the Keyblade wielders nodded since they saw three Armored Knights, the ones Eren defeated.
"We think she has to do something with that, but we're still investigating," Aerith said.
"I guess we'll have to deal with Maleficent now," Kairi said.
"I'm sure you will be able to stop that witch," Yuffie said nonchalantly.
"Witch…" muttered Sora, while he touched his chin in a pensive way. He remembered something he had to do, and it involved witches.
"What is it, Sora?" asked Riku.
"I'll tell you later, first I want to start preparations to create the guild," the spiky boy answered. "Are there are guilds in Radiant Garden?"
"There's a Mages Guild, but it's more like a school," Cid said. "We heard about a Thieves Guild too, but it's clandestine, they are persecuted by law. "
"If you want to create your guild here, you'll need permission," Aerith said.
"Who do I need to talk with?" asked Sora.
"Ansem the Wise," relied Aerith, "but he's really busy lately, and I don't think the Military will let you enter the castle, even if you tell them who you are."
"I could enter without them noticing," Sora said, with a bit of mischief in his voice.
"Don't even think about it," Kairi said sternly. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you entered a castle without permission?"
"Oh, right…" said Sora in realization.
"Don't worry, Sora," Cid said, "Ansem thinks Leon is a reliable person, so he lets him make these kinds of decisions too. You could say he's the second in command here."
Sora looked at Leon, who nodded, but by the look on his face, it looks like he wasn't very happy with that position. He also wondered how Ansem the Wise was, but if he couldn't enter the castle, he'll have to wait to see how he was doing.
"There is much paperwork to do before you can create the guild," Leon said without even saying to Sora that he had his approval since it was obvious that the scarred man thought that a guild of Keyblade wielders was a good idea.
"Great," said Sora with a forced smile. "As if I didn't have enough with the exams back at home."
"No pain, no gain," Riku said jokingly, and Sora glared at him.
"Talking about exams," Yuffie said, "did you take the Mark of Mastery Exam again?"
"No, I didn't need to," Sora replied and the girl looked at him puzzled.
"He passed the one he took," Riku said. "It's just that Yen Sid didn't name him Keyblade Master because he wanted to see if Sora would use the darkness to become stronger."
"Then, you are a Keyblade Master now?" Aerith asked, knowing that Sora would never use the darkness so recklessly.
"Yes, after defeating Xehanort, Yen Sid named me Keyblade Master," Sora said smiling.
"Congratulations, Master Sora!" Yuffie said, emphasizing the word 'master'.
"Don't start with that now…" Sora said. He didn't like to be called master by his friends, but he had to admit that he was happy to have reached the Master rank after defeating Xehanort.
"What about you, Kairi?" asked Aerith.
"I haven't taken the exam yet," the redhead replied. "Maybe someday I'll do it, but I'm not in any hurry."
Then Leon appeared with a huge amount of papers in his hands. Sora looked a bit scared at the pile of papers since it was obvious that it was the paperwork Leon mentioned before. When he had the idea of creating a guild, he never imagined that he was going to do this kind of work.
"Sora, do you want to start now?" Leon asked.
"Sure, the sooner, the better," Sora said, and the man put the papers on the table.
"Well, Kairi and I are going to walk around the city," Riku said as he started to walk towards the exit.
"Hey, do you expect me to do all the paperwork!?" asked Sora.
"The city has changed a lot, so we have to get to know it again," Kairi said. "Besides, this way we won't bother you and you'll finish sooner."
Riku and Kairi left the building before Sora could say anything, and then he turned around and saw that Leon and the others weren't there anymore, so he was alone with a pile of papers in front of him. He looked at the amount of papers and he sighed in resignation.
"It's going to be a long day…"
-TLG-
And that's all for the third chapter, I hope you all liked it. Leave a review if you want.
Those soldiers, who are now the security corps of Radiant Garden, are the characters of the anime/manga Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) I don't know how many of you have seen it, but you can check out the wiki if you want to know how they look.
To KH-Hardcorefan4483: I think Oathkeeper is a good idea, maybe I use it. Thanks for the support man!
To Sunny Lighter: You're right, they are the people of AoT, I'm glad you could recognize them in the second chapter!
To kingdom hearts guy: Yes, he still has the mark of Fairy Tail on his left hand, but he wears gloves, so no one can see it.
To AnimeMasterDub: As I told you in the PM, they are in the future Radiant Garden, which is restored and bigger. The world didn't travel back in time because of Kingdom Hearts, it just grew.
To JMG16: I already answered you, but so the others can now, they Key Holders will appear if I re-write the crossover with Pokémon.
To Great fan-M: Maybe in the next chapter Sora will return to Death City with Kairi and Riku. They will be very happy to see him again of course, and I'm planning to write a rematch between Sora and Black*Star.
To TigerOfGuy7139: Yes, he will visit Death City again, probably in the next chapter.