Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.42 False Being
With Peter on our side we were able to get through the Heartless guarding the hold that much more quickly. Once we were in the kitchen Goofy asked "So, uh, how come you can fly?" "Anyone can fly. You want to try?" Peter asked. We all nodded and Peter put his fingers to his lips, whistling. After a few seconds Tinker Bell reappeared, but she still had her arms crossed. "Aw, haven't you cooled of yet, Tink?" he asked. Although I couldn't hear her I'm sure she said "Hmph!" as she raised her nose even higher and turned away. Despite that she rose over us and flew in a circle, raining down what I knew was a cloud of fairy dust on us. I smiled and closed my eyes as it hit.
"Faith, trust and a little bit of pixie dust. There. Now you can fly," Peter said. Donald jumped in the air and flapped his arms, but rather than fly he simply fell to the ground. While he was tapping his fingers against the ground Tinker Bell laughed, and I closed my eyes before rising into the air. Sora and Goofy shouted in surprise as I was suddenly hovering three inches above the floor. "Whoa! How did you do that?" Sora asked. I smiled. "It's simple, really. Just trying to fly isn't enough. You have to believe that you can fly," I said. Sora frowned, before closing his eyes and nodding. We waited, but after a moment Sora opened his eyes and sighed. "Nothing," he said. "Well, don't give up. Almost no one gets it the first time," Peter told him. "I didn't either. Let's keep going though. We need to find both Wendy and Kairi," I said.
In the Captain's Quarters Captain Hook looked at Riku in surprise and outrage, who simply stood there with his arms crossed. "What? So Wendy's not one of the chosen ones?" he repeated. "There are seven supposedly, and Maleficent says she's not one of them. Hoist anchor as soon as possible. Leave all the dead weight behind, including her," Riku ordered. Hook scoffed. "After the trouble of capturing her? And why those seven? What is Maleficent planning anyway?" he asked. "Who knows? As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back, I couldn't care less," Riku replied. "Hmph! You're wasting your time. The Heartless have devoured that girl's heart. I'll stake me other hand it's lost forever," Hook told him.
Riku turned away from him and looked down. "I will find it no matter what," he said, his voice showing how serious he was. Hook looked like he was about to say something, but then the voice of Smee came through a pipe. "Uh, Captain…" he began hesitantly. "What?" Hook replied. "The prisoners have escaped. What's more, Peter Pan is with them," he reported. At that Hook's face turned an angry shade of red, and he said "Blast that Peter Pan! All right, then! Bring the hostages to me cabin, Smee! Hop to it!"
While Hook was shouting orders to Smee, we were making further headway in our search, and eventually Tinker Bell stopped. "What is it, Tink?" Peter asked. She pointed up and we looked to see that there was a net covering a hole in the wood, and through that wood we could see a young girl with brown hair, blue eyes and a blue dress. "Peter? Peter Pan!" she said, smiling once she saw us. Peter smiled too, and said "Wendy!" Wendy smiled even wider, before her expression and tone turned serious. "Peter, please hurry! The pirates are coming!" she urged. "What! I'll be right up there! Just hold on!" Peter called. "Wait! Wendy?" Sora said. "Yes?" she replied. "Is there another girl up there with you?" Sora asked.
I looked up, and Wendy nodded. "Oh, why, yes. But she seems to be asleep. She hasn't moved an inch," she said. I frowned, before sending my senses outwards. I could indeed sense Kairi up there, but I gasped. Even though her body was there, I couldn't sense her heart. Was she…? "Kairi? Kairi!" Sora called. We looked, and ever so slowly Kairi's finger twitched and her arm moved slightly. What shocked me even more though, was that when that happened I could sense something within Sora's heart, something that reacted to his call. My eyes grew as wide as saucers. No. It couldn't be. Could Sora really possess-? Before I could finish that thought Wendy cried "Oh no!" and I looked up to see her and Kairi being dragged away.
"Wendy!" Peter called, before looking at us. "Hey, let's get up there!" he said, flying off. "Wait up!" I said, and I jumped into the air and flew after him, Sora and the others running below. More Heartless tried to stop our advance, but now that he knew where Wendy was and that she was in trouble Peter couldn't be stopped. The fact we were with him helped. We made it to the next floor and tried to open the door to the room where Wendy and Kairi had been, but it wouldn't budge. "Wendy! Are you in there?" Peter called, but there was no reply.
We tried to find another way in, but to no avail. Peter shouted in anger and punched the door, but even that didn't help. "Curse it all!" he said. "Calm down, Peter. Think- where would Hook have wanted them moved to?" I asked. He was silent for a second, before saying "The only other place I can think of would be Hook's own cabin. But if we even try to use the door up on the deck we'll be overrun," he said. I frowned. Well, there went that plan. How were we going to get to them now? Just then Goofy said "Hey fellas, look!" We all looked at him and saw that he was in the next room over, which was open. "What?" Donald asked, and he walked in. We followed, and saw that in the ceiling was a hatch. "Where do you think that one leads?" I asked, although I was smiling anyway. That was easy.
Peter smiled and flew up to unlock the hatch, and we climbed up the ladder once it was open. Once we were through we were in what indeed appeared to be the captain's quarters, and Riku was standing there with Kairi in his arms. "Riku, wait!" Sora and I both called. He ignored us and vanished into the darkness, and in his place the AntiSora appeared. It raised its hand and summoned a false Kingdom Key, before moving into a battle stance that mirrored Sora's. As such, both Sora and I glared at the Heartless. It was even more of a dark shadow than I was, and Sora wasn't pleased by seeing a Heartless wearing his appearance. I summoned my Keyblade and Sora drew his, and with a cry we both charged forward.
I swung down while Sora came from the side, but the false apparition blocked me before sinking into the ground, much like a regular Shadow would. I grunted and held my Keyblade high, calling "Take this! Quake!" The floorboards shuddered before, in place of rocks, a mass of wooden spikes burst from the floor right beneath the shape of the AntiSora. It was lifted off the ground and sent flying straight upwards, until it crashed into the ceiling. The Heartless fell back down and landed face-first, before quickly standing and resuming a fighting position. "Ha!" Donald said, and cast Fira. While it dodged the spell Goofy rammed it from behind with its shield, and Peter was there to stab it in the stomach with its dagger.
In the place of blood, shadowy mist came out around the blade, and more so when Peter pulled back and took the dagger out. The AntiSora seemed to glare at him, and it raised its copy Keyblade into the air. For a second the AntiSora was blurred from my sight, before it resolved and showed that the being had two pools of darkness on either side of its feet. And from those spots two more arose. I blinked, saying "What the-?" Then the trio of Heartless attacked, and once more I wasn't able to finish what I was saying. I blocked one and ducked under its guard, delivering a four-fingered jab to its stomach. It doubled over and I stood, swinging down and hitting the duplicate on the back of its skull with an overhead blow from my Stormfell.
On impact it dissolved into shadows, leaving just two of them left. The other duplicate tried to hit Peter in the side but he simply flew above the attack, flipping over and throwing his dagger. It pierced it in the face, and that duplicate faded away as well. That left just one left, and the false Keyblade wielder knew that. What it did next though was beyond my expectations. It stabbed its weapon into the ground and raised its hands, and four more pools of darkness appeared beside it. I was prepared to destroy another copy, when suddenly out of them rose four dark copies of the Kingdom Key. The AntiSora lowered its hand and pulled its own blade back out of the ground, and pointed at us. The blades flipped over at shot at me, Donald, Goofy and Peter.
I dodged but the blade pursued me, swinging and stabbing in a now unpredictable pattern. Now that there was no one holding the weapon there was no body language for me to read. Only attacks for me to try to block and counter against. The others were facing similar troubles save for Sora, who the AntiSora chose to face off against alone. Both of them charged and their blades clashed, sparks flying from the impact. They both pushed against each other, their strength exactly equal. Then Sora moved back and the dark copy mirrored its actions. One thing it couldn't copy was when Sora called "Wind!" and cast Aerora around himself. It tried, but to no avail. Sora smiled, glad to have finally found the false being's weakness. He moved in to attack and the AntiSora raised it Keyblade to block, but the wind surrounded the real Sora knocked it off-balance.
Sora swung from the side and hit it in the midsection, before stabbing at its chest. It moved back and waved its hand. The Keyblades that had been fighting the rest of us backed off, flying back to hover around their controller. The good news though? That left me, Donald, Goofy and Peter free to help. We joined back up with Sora just as the AntiSora struck, its blades swirling around it like its own Aero spell. Only this one would hurt a lot more. Sora blocked one strike but another whipped around, knocking his Pumpkinhead aside and third smacking him in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. I cast Zero Graviga, but to my surprise that didn't help at all. Great. I switched to Thundaga Shot and fired an orb of lightning, which two of the blades stopped to knock back at me.
I shouted and ducked, the spell sailing overhead and hitting the wall, exploding. I glared at the AntiSora, which had just sent Donald flying into Hook's desk. Goofy blocked with his shield but three joined together and hammered on it with rapid succession, while the Heartless used the one it still had in its hand to keep both Sora and Peter from getting closer. I stayed where I was, thinking. As long as that thing had its copy Keyblades flying around it, there would be no way to get close to it, especially they were still acting with a will of their own save for the AntiSora's commands. Then it hit me. They would still obey the commands of the one they thoughts were they AntiSora, but what if they thought that the AntiSora… was the real one?
Instantly I knew what I had to do, and I stood. "Guys, get back!" I said, and I ran forward. They did, and once I was close enough to the AntiSora I called "Here! Confuse!" A wave of energy spread outwards from me and hit both the Heartless and the blades, disorienting them. Quickly I followed it up with Blackout, blinding them, and I pointed Stormfell at Sora. "Vanish!" I called, and a clear sphere shot from my Keyblade at him, and before he could doge it hit him. "Dexal! What the heck?!" he yelled. I ignored him, and turned to the Keyblades surrounding the AntiSora. "Aeroga!' I called, and I hit them with a huge gale of wind. They spun around before settling, and one of them hit the Heartless. The blades suddenly turned around and struck the AntiSora, which made a sound of surprise.
The others watched in shock as it was hammered on by its own blades. It tried to block but just like with us there were too many. Eventually it movements slowed, and it fell to the ground in a sprawling heap. Slowly it faded away, and when it did the blades disappeared as well. I smiled and snapped my fingers, the Vanish spell on Sora no longer making him invisible. "And that, ladies and gentleman, is how it's done," I said. "What did you do?" Donald asked, confused. "Apart from the commands given to them, those copy Keyblades were acting with a will and a mind of their own. They were given the order to attack the real Sora. So I used Confuse to confuse both the blades and the AntiSora, as well as ruin what their senses with Blackout. Then I made the real Sora invisible, and so the only one left that they could sense, and therefore fight, was the AntiSora," I explained.
Peter shook his head in wonder. "Honestly, the strategies you come up with…" he muttered. I shrugged. "Hey, it worked, didn't it?" I said. In the place where the Heartless had been there was a Raven's Claw accessory, which I tossed to Sora. "Well, looks Riku and Kairi are gone. But we still have to find Wendy," I said. Sora nodded sadly. I frowned in sympathy; every encounter with Riku left him with the same question. What had happened? I was sure that we would find out someday. I could feel it. And so we when we heard a loud click below we opened the hatch and began to climb back down, our search resuming.
The AntiSora has fallen, but Riku got away with Kairi! And there's still Hook to deal with? Can our heroes get past him and make it to Hallow Bastion?
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