Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Notice: Hey! Sorry it took me so long to update; my computer crashed and I need to take it to the shop. I posted this using a computer of my friend's, and until it get's fixed I have access to only it and the student computer labs. But I will work even harder, and so, here are the fruits of my labor!
Ch.33 Ansem's Report
By the time we had brought Ariel back to King Triton's throne room, she was already starting to wake up. "Hey. Rise and shine, sleepyhead," I said. She moaned and stirred, before her eyes suddenly snapped wide open. "Wait a minute! Ursula, she-" she began. "She's dead. Don't you remember?" Sora said. She looked at him in confusion, and Goofy said "You got so mad at Ariel that you cast some really powerful spells, and that's what beat her." "You mean... I was the one who defeated Ursula?" she asked. Donald looked at me. "Does this happen when someone overuses their magic too?" he asked. I shrugged. "Sometimes," I replied. "Either way, she's gone, and we managed to get the trident back."
Ariel nodded, and I let her go so that she could swim on her own. "That's good," she said, but when we entered the throne room she gasped. "Daddy!" she said, and sped straight for him. Triton was looking the slightest bit better than when we left him, but without the trident he was still weak. "Ariel..." he said. "Daddy, I'm so sorry," she told him. "Please don't be angry at her," Sora said. Triton shook his head. "It's my fault. You followed Ursula because... I wouldn't let you follow your heart. And when you found that crystal, I lost my temper and destroyed it," he said, lowering his head in shame. "Oh yeah, the crystal! Why did you destroy it?" Goofy asked. "That crystal held the power to reveal the Keyhole. The Keyhole is dangerous. I had to keep you away from it at any cost," he admitted.
"Daddy..." Ariel said. I crossed my arms, old memories surfacing as I spoke. "I may not agree with the methods you took, but I can see your point. While there are good Keyblade wielders, there are also bad ones. Some of them very bad," I said. Triton nodded, and looked at us. "But now I can see that you two are different. Key bearers, I have one more request: Seal the Keyhole. My trident also holds the power to reveal the Keyhole. Will you do it?" he asked. Both Sora and I nodded. "Of course, That's what we had in mind from the start," Sora said. "Where is the Keyhole, Daddy?" Ariel asked. Triton smiled weakly and looked at her. "You should know better than anyone. It's in your grotto," he revealed.
"Really? Let's go, guys," Goofy said. Donald, Sora and I nodded, and Ariel said "Wait; let me come with you." I nodded my affirmative, and we swam out of the palace. With Ursula gone no one was there to summon any more Heartless, and what ones there were we easily dispatched. Once we reached the grotto we pushed the rock aside, and swam inside. The slot for the crystal trident was still there, but this time Ariel held up the real one. "Okay, here we go," she said. The trident glowed and she let go, and it floated towards the slot. It slid itself in, and the rock glowed brightly before fading away. And in its place was the Keyhole.
"Okay, you know what to do, Sora," I said, moving back. He nodded, and pointed his Three Wishes at the Keyhole. Stars gathered around the tip before firing a beam of light, which hit the Keyhole. It glowed before a locking sound was heard, and the Keyhole faded away. I smiled; now one more world was safe from the Heartless. Just then though there was a burst of light above us, and a piece of paper appeared. "What's that?" Donald asked. I grabbed it and read the first few lines, before my eye widened. "This is another page of Ansem's report!" I said. "Alright! That's two down!" Sora said, pumping his fist. Ariel looked at us, and said "Tell Dexal, Sora. Your worlds, what are they like?"
I blinked, before rubbing the back of my head. "Uh, yeah. About that..." I said, trailing off. Sora finished, saying "Sorry for lying to you." Ariel nodded. "It's okay. Besides, if you can travel to other worlds, maybe I can too," she said, looking up at the hole in the grotto which let in the light. She swam up to it, reaching up. "So many places I want to see... I know I'll get there someday. I'll find a way somehow. I'm sure of it," she said confidently. I smiled; both out of kindness and hope. To see other worlds was a blessing and curse, in that you indeed received adventure. But as I knew and the others were finding out, no adventure was without danger... or change in people. "If anyone can do it, it's you, Ariel," I said.
Ariel smiled, and swam down to pull something from a chest. "Here, these are from my collection. I want you to have them," she said. I looked at them, and saw that they were a Keychain and a Thunder Element. "A new Keychain!" Sora said, taking it and pulling off the Three Wishes. It changed back into Kingdom Key, before he connected the new one and it changed. The new Keyblade, the Crabclaw, had a long and thin blue handle, and its teeth were indeed shaped like a crab with its pincers extended. Sora also took the Thunder Element and placed it against the blade, where it sank in and the Crabclaw buzzed with electricity for a moment before settling. "Congratulations, Sora. You now officially know the spell Thundara," I said.
Sora smiled and said "Awesome! Thanks, Ariel," she said. Ariel nodded. "Your welcome. Good luck on your journey, guys," she said. We nodded our thanks, and left the grotto.
Once we found a save point we used it to transport to the Gummi Ship, where we regained our human forms. "Finally, legs!" I said, stretching mine and kicking my feet. "I gotta say Donald, I'm impressed that you could change us into sea creatures," Goofy admitted, using his regained feet to walk to the fridge and get a sandwich. Donald smiled and inhaled, puffing out his chest. "Of course!' he said, and I decided to let this one go by. Donald had an a massive ego, but in this case he deserved it; I couldn't have even done that. "So, where are we heading next?" Goofy tapped a few buttons on the ships' radar, and said "Well, from the looks of it there's another world a good distance ahead. But it's going to be a while before we get there," he said.
I nodded, saying "Okay, I'm heading to the sleeping quarters to get some rest." The others gave the okay, and I climbed down a latter and began walking through a hallway. One thing that could be said about the Gummi Ship was that the inside was a lot larger than it looked from the outside. Although I couldn't sense it, I believed it was the result of a good deal of magic. Either way, I came to a door and walked through, finding several bunk beds that were for me, Sora, Donald and Goofy. I sat down on one, and pulled out the page of Ansem's Report that we had recovered, along with the one defeating Jafar in Agrabah had gotten us. I read the one we had gotten from Jafar, which was actually Report 1, first.
Much of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well; not a soul doubts that. I am blessed with people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand. I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times. Darkness...Darkness of the heart. How is it born? How does it come to affect us so? As ruler of this world, I must find the answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the darkness.
I frowned in sadness, sighing as I finished. I had only been Ansem's apprentice for a year before the fateful incident that caused me to leave occurred, but in that year I had learned him to be an intelligent, passionate, and caring man. I could see these qualities in his writing. I just wished that I still knew where he was now, so that he and I could discuss what I had learned in the past nine years. Then I chuckled humorlessly; what a stupid idea. A man as smart as him would easily be able to tell what I was, and that I had no right to exist. I was not a Nobody, but that did not help my case at all. At least then I wouldn't have this maelstrom of darkness that existed within me. I took a look at the other report that we had just gotten, Report 3.
The shadows that crawl beneath the castle... Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination? All my knowledge has provided no answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart. Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples- they are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts... I will call them the Heartless.
"And thus were the Heartless given a name," I thought aloud. Having lived with the guilt that I had for the past decade, I often wondered what it would be like if I turned my Keyblade on myself, and my heart was captured by darkness. A mindless being composed of shadows, acting only on instinct and attacking the innocent, seeking to devour the light and increase its numbers. And I was sure that the fact I was a Keyblade wielder would make me all the more dangerous at that point.
I was confused though, and I re-read both reports. Unlike the first report, the tone of the third one was more theoretical, and possibly even more arrogant. My master Ansem may have been a stubborn and at times completely wrong with his theories, but I had never known him to be arrogant. Did that mean he didn't write the third report though? And if he didn't, then who did and signed with his name? I couldn't think of anyone- it couldn't have been Xehanort, who had also been an apprentice. Following the incident, we were both affected by darkness, and as far as I knew he didn't have a Nobody. "Maybe we'll figure it out as we collect more pages," I thought to myself.
I laid back and tried to clear my thoughts, eventually falling asleep. That time I was thankfully free of nightmares, when I awoke it was to Donald shaking my shoulder. "Hey, Dexal! Wake up before I hit you with a Thunder spell!" he said. "A-hyuck! He'll do it, too!" Goofy warned. I groaned and got up, saying "Have we reached that world yet?" "Yup! And it looks spooky!" Goofy said. I stood and straightened myself out and we walked to the bridge. Sora was there looking through the windshield, and said "So this is where we're going next?" "Looks like," I said, looking the screen and reading it. "Next stop: Halloween Town."
Atlantica is officially finished, and coming next chapter is Halloween Town! What will happen there? Can the group get another page of Ansem's report? Will we find out the true nature of the darkness inside Dexal? Stay tuned to find out!
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