Okage Hearts
Chapter 21
I don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. Any person who tells you otherwise is either misinformed or deliberately lying to you for reasons that I couldn't even begin to figure out. I'm aware the Ringmaster's name is Block. I just don't like the name, so it will not be mentioned in this story. At all.
Ari was walking, contemplating the fact that he seemed to find himself walking more often than he did anything else. His mind, however, was more occupied with the task he'd been sent on. He had yet to even hear a single conversation since he began wandering. Perhaps he could start at his home of Tenel. It was a start, at least.
"Have you noticed that it's rather warm here?" one man asked the man Ari was certain was Julia's father, the Innkeeper.
"Now that you mention it, I wish I could go somewhere cold," the Innkeeper responded.
"You should try the Pospos Snowfield," Ari suggested, "Though you might want to look out for ghosts and Heartless. They weren't around there when we left, but they might have come back."
"Did you hear that?" the man asked, turning towards the Innkeeper, "I swear I heard a voice."
"That was me," Ari said, "I'm invisible right now, but I'm working on that. Well, I've got to go. . ."
With that, Ari left the Inn, heading off to Madril for another encounter. He wanted to go somewhere with more people so he could get this entire thing done with quickly.
"Did you hear about the Princess?" an old woman outside the Madril Town Hall asked an old man while Ari approached unnoticed, "She's been traveling on an adventure with her Butler, but no one knows just what the adventure is."
"Of course I heard," the old man responded, "The pair are in this village as we speak."
"Princess Marlene is here?" Ari asked, interested in how all of his colleagues were doing.
"She's staying at one of the Inns," the old man shrugged off, presumably convinced that the speaker was the old woman. Ari, however, was not interested in why the old man seemed uninterested in the addition to the conversation, as he was already heading off to see what one of his associates was up to.
Finding the pair was not as difficult as he expected it to be with the number of Inns in the village. Marlene was playing the music box, which meant that he had a method of tracking her. As the pair prepared to enter their rooms, Beiloune asked "Your Highness, are you quite ready to meet with the Hero Rosalyn in the morning? I believe that you wished to continue adventuring."
"What was your question?" Marlene asked absently.
"Are you ready to meet with the Hero Rosalyn, Your Highness," he repeated patiently, "This is your adventure, after all."
"I am dreadfully sorry for not paying attention, Beiloune," she remarked, "I was just musing."
"On what subject did you find yourself musing, Your Highness?" the Butler asked, perplexed while Ari stood by invisibly and silently, trying to figure out what was going on.
"I do not think I like this adventure," she said honestly, "This adventure is not fun at all. I would prefer to return to the other adventure, the one that was a lot of fun."
"And what made this mysterious adventure so much fun?" he asked patronizingly.
"I do not know," she answered, "But I recall it being a much more enjoyable adventure. Perhaps I shall have an answer for you in the morning. Goodnight, Beiloune."
"Goodnight, Your Highness," Beiloune responded as the door closed. Once it was fully closed and he heard the door lock, the man muttered, "Something is horribly wrong here. Things should have improved once that boy, fortunately, disappeared from the World with the Keyblade. Perhaps I chose poorly. I will need to keep searching. . ."
Ari surreptitiously crept out of the Inn, instinctively avoiding Beiloune's eye as he left. It turned out that doing so was actually a good plan, as when he looked down, he noticed that he was less faded in color than he had been when he'd spoken to K.T. Deciding that he had probably become noticeable enough, he once more headed back to Triste to speak to the Ringmaster about the spell he had mentioned.
"You're back," K.T. remarked in a mildly surprised tone, "The Ringmaster should be around here somewhere. Are the rumors true? Are you going to reclaim your heart?"
"Hopefully," he responded as politely as he could. He had no idea how to deal with this situation.
"If you do, don't forget us," she requested.
"I won't," he agreed, "I'll try to find all of your hearts and return them to you."
"Ah, back already, lad?" the Ringmaster grinned, "Well, give me a moment. I want the others gathered here so they can see that there's still hope for them."
Once a large crowd was gathered, the Ringmaster took Ari onto a large podium set up by the Gate and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, This is the Keyblade wielder. His heart was stolen from him, but he's managed to make himself noticed by Somebodies. I am going to cast a spell to return his heart to him, but he will need to be careful to keep it safe. He will head out and try to help, but you must all try to help. If all goes well, you will all be restored to your true selves."
With that, the Ringmaster began an incantation, causing Ari to feel a familiar weight return to his chest. It was at that moment that another familiar weight made its presence known.
"I suppose it would only be courteous to fight you by this point, woman," Stan said, apparently unaware of where he was, "I will try to make your defeat as quick as possible."
"Stan," Ari said at a volume that was almost normal for most people, "You're not with Rosalyn."
"There you are, Slave!" Stan exclaimed, "You would not believe the indignity I had to go through! I was forced to occupy that woman's shadow while you were gone!"
"Welcome back to the real world, lad," the Ringmaster grinned, patting Ari on the back.
"Now, we must return to our journey to restore my power!" Stan shouted.
"We're probably going to need to find the others to make things easier," Ari remarked, preparing himself to once more go on a quest.