Alright, so this is 3 out of the 4 chapters that will be posted consecutively. Hopefully I can do this without tiring myself out, since it's been a while—although short—since I've had to write. By the way, I'm sick. Annnd, I've noticed that when I'm sick I do a lot of mistakes In terms of spelling and grammar. I struggle so baaad. DX ugggh.

Marie's "male" outfit:

www[dot]swirl3y[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/Marie-s-Land-of-Dragons-outfit-204569547

Chapter Eleven
ଓ
Who says a girl can't...?

I don't know why guys have to wear such bulky outfits, or maybe it was just the one I was wearing, but it was really heavy. I checked the mirror before I left, and made sure the beanie I was wearing covered all of my hair. I never really have a use for make-up, so I was glad I wasn't wearing any right now. I was wearing a band around my chest, so you know... they wouldn't tell if I was a girl.

But the shirt and vest fit perfect. It wasn't too tight, and it wasn't so loose. The pants were baggy, but it was baggy in the fact that they were comfortable to manoeuvre around in. The shoes were plain running shoes, and I was wearing fingerless gloves.

I sighed, looking at the mirror once more. I really hope these guys at the camp fall for my look, but as I looked in the mirror I noticed I was really girly looking. Well, if anything, I could pass as one of those baby-faced boys. I'll just say I haven't reached puberty or something.

I found it really dumb that only guys could fight in a war. Why couldn't a girl do it? I mean, I'm sure there are women who can fight just as well as men. Hmm.

I guess I was just going to have to prove it to them. I dunno how, but I'll show them that a girl can kick mad butt!...But I just have to get passed recruitment in this get-up before I can do that, I guess.

"H-hey, my name's Mario!" I tried practising my voice, since I needed it to be lower. I thought of Sora's voice, and tried impersonating him. It didn't sound as good as I had hoped, but I think it's enough to convince them. Well, if they're anything like Sora or Donald.

Oh, I forgot to take off my earrings.

ଓ
Sora

As Sora, Goofy, Donald and Mulan—ping passed through the camp, Mushu reminded her to be manly. Ping nodded, and started walking very oddly. Most likely to prove her point of trying to be a man.

Sora walked towards the line-up, but before he could wait a short and stubby man butted him, pushing him aside. "'Bout time we got some grub."

"Hey, no cutting!" shouted Sora, getting irritated at the short and stubby man who cut him in line. Donald also expressed his annoyance, and the man had turned to them. Before anyone could do anything, the man punched Sora to the ground. Donald grew furious, and jumped the man to the ground as well. A fight ensued between the two, and both Goofy and Ping only watched with concern.

"Hey, a space in line!" a tall and lanky man said. He looked ahead, and both he and the short guy were bounced away as a tall and chunky man stepped in.

"I wonder what they're serving for lunch today." The chubby man rubbed his stomach as he thought about the food. The short and stubby man punched the tall and lanky guy, while Donald jumped into the fight. Sora grew really angry, and couldn't help but jump and join in the fight. Goofy tried reasoning with them, but his words were not heard.

Ping stared at the fight, and her concern got stronger. She balled her fists close to her chest, and closed her eyes for a moment. "Please!"

"Please?" said the tall and lanky man. The short and stubby guy called her a girl, and Ping lightly gasped to this.

"Uh..K-knock it off!" she retorted, trying to sound manly. The short and stubby guy mocked her, and attempted to punch Sora again. He blocked the attack, and kicked the the short guy in return. Donald was about to jump back into the fight, but then suddenly.

"Do you guys think you're cool just 'cause you can hit?" a low, but weird sounding voice was heard. As the guys turned towards the voice—where Ping was standing—they saw a scrawny looking boy. He was wearing a blue beanie, and had blonde hair. His face was disturbingly baby-faced, with pale skin and sea green eyes. He was wearing a loosely fit black shirt with a red vest covering it, and had black fingerless gloves. He had a bunch of belts on his waist, and wore baggy blue pants with red running shoes.

This guy had his arms crossed, and didn't look very pleased. The short and stubby guy cracked his knuckles, and looked at the guy as he smirked. "What? You think you're better than us 'cause you think you can?"

Before the blonde guy could say anything, the short and stubby man came running towards him. He tried giving him a punch, but the blonde stopped it. The man kept punching him, but the blonde blocked every single attack. When the stubby man looked tired, the blonde took this as a sign to give a back hand punch to the man.

Needless to say, the man fell down. He quickly got up, and walked back to the lanky and chunky man. "Hmph. I-I don't wanna hit a kid as skinny as you."

The guy titled his head, and crossed his arms. "So then why'd you hit him?"

The boy pointed at Sora, and he looked at the stubby man. "Yeah, you punched me!"

"And you cut us in line!" added Donald. The tall and lanky guy laughed and called them shrimps. Mushu came popping out and tried saying something, but Ping managed to put him back inside.

"L-let's just get back in line, okay?" Ping warned, but Sora was not having it.

"Whose side are you on? I just got slugged!" shouted Sora, looking at Ping. He noticed the guy behind Ping had crossed his arms and looked irritated, but he was focused on the stubby man in front of him.

"Soldiers! Get back in line!" a tall and handsome looking man came walking out into the front. One of the men in the line called him captain, and everyone got into that line. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Ping and the new boy all stood behind one another. The captain walked down as he glared at each and every one of them, and then walked back to the front. Sora glared at the stubby man, and raised his fists. As he turned his head however, a bunch of Heartless appeared before them. Sora immediately got into his fighting stance, and looked around as Donald, Goofy and Ping did as well. He noticed the boy with the blue beanie looked stressed, and he wondered if he was scared of fighting the Heartless.

The other three guys looked at the Heartless, too. They scoffed, and decided to attack the ones on the far left, while Sora and his friends dealt with the ones on the far right. He looked at Ping, and noticed she was overwhelmed. "Ping, I hope you're ready!"

He looked over to the boy, and he looked at him. "I don't know who you are, but I hope you're ready to fight, too!"

The boy looked at Sora as if he said something stupid. Sora turned away, not wanting to get into a fight with him or anything.

ଓ
Marie

Sora really can't tell that it's me? Huh.

Anyways, I had bigger things to worry about. My Keyblade wasn't exactly manly looking, so I was finding this very difficult. I sighed heavily, and reached into my pockets. When I felt something in my left pocket, I took it out.

My eyes widened when I saw what was in my palm.

A Keyblade.

The base and stick were black, but the blade and handle were grey. It had a ribbon hanging loosely on the stick of the blade, but it didn't look as girly as my Keyblade. Well, what have I got to lose? In an instant, I summoned the Keyblade, and immediately started attacking the Heartless around me. I looked around, and noticed that Mulan—er, Ping was having a hard time holding on to her blade. I mean he—oh, whatever!

The monsters she was fighting were ganging up on her, and I decided to intervene. I ran faster than I usually do, and swung my Keyblade around the Heartless as they disappeared. I noticed this Keyblade was really different than mine. It's like it has a mind of it's own. I then got to thinking—did someone purposely put that outfit in my room so that I could wear it for this occasion? If so, this person knows about the Keyblades, and even had one for me to use.

I shook my head, and turned to Ping. She puffed her chest, and thanked me in that deep voice. I giggled, and she gasped. I winked at her, and smiled. "No worries, Ping! It's just me; Marie."

She nodded and smiled back at me, and I got around to fighting off the other Heartless. I was closer to Goofy, and when he noticed that I had a Keyblade he smiled at me. "Ya really look like a guy, uhh..."

"Mario." I waved at him, and attacked the surrounding Heartless. He shielded us from some of their attacks, and I got around to attacking them all. It was amazing how much energy I got from this Keyblade, and I guess the original user must be really strong.

That's the power of Chaos. Don't go ruinin' it.

I gasped lightly, who was that? A voice different from Stella or that man I briefly heard from the beginning of this adventure was being heard. She sounded young, though not too young. I shook my head, I have to focus! I looked over to the other Heartless, and in one fell swoop, I got rid of them all.

I looked around for more Heartless, but when I didn't find any I made my way back to Ping. The both of us walked to Sora, Donald and Goofy, and the captain came walking towards us.

"You four. What are you names?" he looked at Sora, Donald, Goofy and I. The three of them gave their names, and when the captain looked at me, I gave my name.

"It's Mario, sir," I said, clearing my throat. This talking in a low and manly voice was really hard. Man, I just hope we're done with this world. I never expected to see Mushu, much less dress up like a guy.

"I am the son of Fa Zhou—" Ping was interrupted by the captain, who simply told her to go home. Oh no! This is not happening! We're doing this for Mulan, and by George she is staying!

"B-but! That would dishonour my family!" she pleaded. The captain came back with a remark, and asked her if she would rather dishonour his troops. I growled lightly, okay, enough is enough.

"Ping has potential, sir," I said, trying to hold my low voice. "If he trains harder, he'll be exceptional even by your standards."

The captain thought about it, and when Sora waved his arm across. "Uh, just give us an assignment! We'll show you how well we can work together."

The captain thought about it again, and closed his eyes as he began to think of something. When he opened his eyes, he told us that the orders were to ambush some guy named Shan-Yu's army on their way here. He told us that they should be coming through the mountain pass. Donald encouraged us by saying that we'd smash them, but the captain said we'd only be doing recon, making sure that his troops were safe when they attacked. The captain told us to prepare, and to talk to him when we're ready.

He left shortly after, and Sora looked at me. I raised my eyebrow at him, and crossed my arms. "You really suck when it comes to telling if a girl is dressed as a guy or not."

As expected, both Sora and Donald gasped. Sora pointed at me, and he was almost at a loss for words. "...Marie?"

"Shh..." I said, motioning them to be quiet. I told them to call me Mario, and when Sora asked where I got the outfit from, I dropped my shoulders. "I dunno. Someone left it in my closet. They even gave me a Keyblade to borrow!"

As I took out my Keyblade, Sora and Donald gasped. Goofy wasn't as surprised, since he had already saw it before. But the fact remained that someone out there is able to wield a Keyblade, much like Sora and I. The only person that remained, was either—

"What if it was Riku!" asked Sora, suddenly getting his hopes up. I was about to suggest that, but since Sora already said it well, it could have very well been Riku. But how did he gain access to the Gummi Ship? In fact, how could anyone besides myself, Sora, Donald and Goofy gain access to the ship when it's in space?

"I don't think so," I said, taking back my theory that it had been Riku. "There's no way to go to the ship unless he had been with us."

"Then who could it be?" Sora asked, a bit of sadness in his tone. I know he really wants to see Riku, but I had to be realistic about this... even if it might bring someone's hopes down. I grunted as I looked away, I felt really bad about it.

"Well, let's just focus on our assignments," suggested Ping. I agreed, and scratched the back of my head. This hat was really making my head itch since my hair was bundled up in it. Sora walked towards the captain, and we all followed. The captain asked us if we were ready, and Sora nodded.

He gave us our first assignment, and that was to get rid of some of the Heartless that he considered Shan-Yu's "army". We all nodded, and headed towards the checkpoint. Man, we were in for a long ride.

ଓ
Aura

Aura adjusted the new hat on her head. It was very stiff, and she had to break it in to get that feel she had with her old beanie. Riku stared at her while she did this, and he sighed. He felt bad about her taking a hat from Seifer, but that boy had so many hats in his closet that Riku doubted if he would ever notice. He also couldn't understand why she wore a hat. Her hair was perfect the way it was, and he very much enjoyed it when she was wearing her black coat.

"Why did you let her borrow your Keyblade?" That was one thing Riku didn't understand about the teen. By giving up one of her Keyblades, she was giving up a little of her power.

"I only need one to kick butt," she said, finally adjusting the hat to how she wanted it to be. "Plus those stupid men will wonder why she has a pink weapon. That's why I gave up that Keyblade."

She had also explained that the Keyblade had the insignia of Organization XIII. It was something she did not want to be reminded of, since it brought up a lot of memories. She stared into the town, sitting where she had always been sitting with her friends from the past. Twilight Town was still her home, and it will remain her home even after becoming one with Marie. She lowered her eyes, and sighed. "I..."

Riku hummed in response, and looked at Aura. She was showing something that he thought was lost, and that was a slight hint of sadness. He was shocked to see that she was showing an emotion, however small it may be. He smiled through his hood, and continued to stare at the nobody as she prepared for what she wanted to say.

"I don't wanna..."

Riku looked at the girl seriously now, there was something clearly wrong with her. He straightened himself, and scooted a little closer to the saddened Nobody. "Don't wanna what...?"

Aura looked away, and didn't speak after. There had been a long silence between them, and Riku patiently and silently waited until Aura spoke up. She shifted her eyes from left to right, and wondered why she was getting emotional all of a sudden. This was unheard of from her, since she was pretty sure she was going to lock up everything related to emotions. She closed her eyes, and sighed heavily.

"I don't understand you," she said. Her voice reverted from sadness to strictness. She looked at Riku, and her facial expression had become that of seriousness. Riku raised his eyes in confusion, and wondered what was up with her now. He didn't reply however, and waited for her to continue. Which she did. "I don't understand you, or those who have hearts."

She got up, and straightened herself. "You keep making me try to show that I have emotions. Well, it's not gonna happen. I have no emotions. I'm just...an empty doll."

Before Riku could reply, Aura had already disappeared. He got up quickly, and just stood there. He lowered his head at the exit, why was she so difficult? Why couldn't she just accept that she was special? That she actually could bear emotions? What was so wrong about that? Riku sighed, and shook his head. He wasn't giving up so easily, and as stubborn as Aura was, he was going to change that.

He didn't want to admit it, but he really wanted to see her smile. Since Roxas had his journal with him when he was brought to the mansion at Twilight Town, there was a lot written about Aura.

Riku wanted to see everything that she did with Roxas.

ଓ
Marie

"I can't believe it," I heard Sora say, as he looked at me. You know, I thought looking like a guy would make Sora not look at me. It's like he can't keep his eyes away, and it's reaally creepy. I walked with Mulan—Ping, and I looked down at the floor. We were on the path headed to the checkpoint, and I just wanted to get this over with.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, peering her eyes over to me. I didn't look at her, and I just kept shifting my eyes left to right while I kept staring at the floor. While thinking back on Sora, I realized that I was lonely. Not in the sense that I didn't have any friends, but the fact that I was the only girl in our gang. Sora had Donald and Goofy, while I really couldn't relate to them. But I didn't want to push my problems on Mulan. She had her own dilemma after all.

"Eh, I think it's the outfit," I lied, but it was for the best. "Being a guy must be hard."

Mulan laughed, and we reached the checkpoint. Sure enough, Heartless were around the area. We all took out our weapons, and prepared for the fight. Sora immediately ran towards the giant crowd, while Mulan and I stood near the small crowd. She was still new at fighting, so it was best to pit her against the smaller numbered ones. So you know, she wouldn't be overwhelmed.

While I was dealing with a fairly small group of Heartless, I saw that she was handling the Heartless well—albeit slowly. I managed to fight off all of the Heartless in my area, but the Keyblade I was using...the more I fought, the more it felt weird. It felt like the blade was yearning for more fights.

Then it got me to thinking, was the person who held this Keyblade a fan of fighting? Did he or she like the battlefield, as well as the pain they delivered? Well, whatever they liked wasn't my business. What was my business was why this person gave me the Keyblade.

As I finished off the last remaining Heartless in the area, I looked over to Sora, who finished helping Mulan kill the last of her set of Heartless. She waved at me, and I nodded, returning back with them to the camp.

Finished Chapter 11! Man, some things are changing up here. It seems pretty boy Riku might have a crush on bad girl Aura. What will she do when she finds herself smack dab in a love triangle?

And Marie, Marie... when will you learn? She who acts last, never wins. Memory loss included.

And what's up with me talking like I'm in Gossip Girl? Well, that my friends, remains unanswered.

Until next time.

Xoxo, SWIRL3Y.

What...the...heck?