Okage Hearts
Chapter 22
I don't own Okage: Shadow King or Kingdom Hearts. There's not much else to say, as that's as straightforward as a disclaimer can get. Anyone claiming that I own either game is blatantly lying to you.
Ari and Stan prepared to leave to find their comrades, before they simultaneously realized that they had no real idea of how they would go about finding the rest of their group. After a moment of thought, Stan offered an idea.
"Do you think the Map would be able to help us locate the idiots?" the Evil King asked.
"It's worth a shot," Ari replied in the slightly louder voice he'd bee using as he removed the Map O' Evil Kings from his pocket.
'Alright, memorize this, since I can only do this once,' the Map read, 'They barely have enough residual Evil King powers for me to find. The Former Big Bull Evil King is in the Ramille Plains, of all places. The Former Teen Idol Evil King (or is it Queen. . . either way) is in Madril. As for Kisling, I would guess he would be there as well, since most of the interesting magical stuff happens there and that man's obsessed with researching magical things. The Shadow Evil King should be able to tell you where the woman is.'
"Your lofty goals, they're all for naught. You'll never regain that which you've sought," a voice said, causing Ari to summon the Keyblade. Turning to find the source, Ari and Stan were both surprised to see a floating blond, well-dressed man with what appeared to be eye-shadow on his face. Before they could say anything, the man noticed the Ringmaster nearby and exclaimed, "Ah, Circus Evil King! To find you is a good thing!"
"There's no reason for you to think this is good, Phantom Evil King," the Ringmaster replied, ignoring Ari's shocked expression, "I gave my powers to the Sewer Evil King, and now they're where they belong: In Evil King Stan."
"Why would you do that?" the man asked in shock, "Give power to that rat? Classification is what you've fought, instead of doing what you ought."
"I don't want to help someone with destroying the world the was He wants to," the Ringmaster replied, "I just want to run my circus. My entire goal is to continue running my circus without any trouble. He's too busy with the young lady to notice."
"We will meet again soon," the Phantom Evil King remarked, "And you two will face your doom. I wish you luck, Ringmaster man. Pray that we don't meet again."
With that, the Phantom Evil King vanished, leaving only Ari, Stan, and the Ringmaster. Looking around in some concern, the Ringmaster commented, "Considering that he's managed to find you and now knows I'm here, I should probably head out. Take care, lad. May you find whatever you're looking for."
With that, the Ringmaster left, leaving the pair to once again prepare to leave. After a moment's silence, Ari turned to Stan and asked, "So, where did you leave Rosalyn?"
"I left that foolish woman in Rashelo," Stan replied nonchalantly, "I don't think we'll need to go find her so that she can return to the mission."
"Rashelo, here we come," Ari remarked, completely ignoring Stan's remark.
"Slave, you were joking, right? Slave?" Stan asked, surprised by the boy's response, surprised that Ari seemed to be going with a plan of his own.
To Stan's annoyance when they arrived in Rashelo, Ari was, in fact, not joking. After some time searching, Ari and Stan finally located the wayward Hero, who seemed to be loitering.
"Where've you been?" she said indignantly, "When you left, I had to have that idiot in my shadow. Don't leave me with him again!"
"Alright," Ari replied, "Now, if you're done yelling, then let's go get Big Bull."
With that, the group headed off, ready to pick up the next member of their group.
When they found Big Bull in the Ramille Plains, he was, of course, working out again. Grinning at the trio, Big Bull shouted, "There you are! I forgot all about you, but then I remembered you but couldn't figure out where you were. Since I couldn't figure it out, I just stayed here and figured you guys would find me."
"Well, are you ready to go again?" Rosalyn asked.
"Of course I am. Let's go find the rest of the gang!" Big Bull cheered as Ari began leading the group to Madril.
Once they arrived in the gear-oriented town, the quartet found themselves immediately greeted by an enthusiastic Kisling.
"My friends, it is good to see you!" the scientist grinned, "There was little of interest to be found until I remembered your existence, lad. You are certainly a magnet for odd, mystical happenings. As such, it pleases me to know that you have returned, as I can return to studying our ragtag band of strange companions!"
Serendipitously, the elevator to the second level of Madril opened, revealing Linda, who enthusiastically cried, "Yes! We're getting the band back together! I missed you guys so much, even though I didn't remember Ari at first. Anyway, where are we going next? Where's the Princess and her butler?"
"She isn't still in Madril?" Ari asked, "She was here the last time I came by here."
"I haven't seen her around here," Kisling supplied helpfully, "I think someone said that they left this morning."
"She's probably not in the Pospos Snowfield," Rosalyn remarked, "I don't think she liked how cold it was there. And I know she wasn't in Rashelo."
"She wasn't in the Ramille Plains either," Big Bull added, "I was the only one there."
"Maybe she's in your village, Slave," Stan commented, "She seemed to have a fondness for your family, after all."
"I'd hate to agree with him, but I think he's onto something," Rosalyn chimed in, "Let's go."