Chapter 85: Serenity's Truth

The sun shone brightly as its light shone in the reflection on the lake that rested between the paths that would either lead to the forgotten camps, the snowy mountains or to the imperial palace where the ruler of this world watches over their people. A small light appeared as a small duck and a humanoid dog flew out of the light portal, hitting the ground hard as the dog landed on the duck. As the two groaned, Sora and Kairi appeared from the portal looking down at the two strangely before taking in their surroundings, "Everything seems the same. We should head towards the palace." Sora said as he quickly scouted the area and helped Goofy get off of Donald.

Kairi looked down to see that Donald had been flattened into the ground; she pulled the duck out of the ground to see his enraged face, "Umm Donald?" She looked at him worrying.

"GOOFY! I TOLD YOU NOT TO LAND ON ME!" Donald raged as Goofy hid in front of Sora, who was wondering why the portal had not disappeared yet. "TAKE THIS!" He pointed his staff at the two and cast a spell towards them, "Oops."

"Sora! Look out!" Goofy pointed to him.

Sora looked at the direction that Goofy was pointing at and quickly dived on one side while Goofy dived on the other side for the spell to shoot past them. The two remained on the floor before looking up at Kairi and Donald, who had shocked expressions on their faces. "What is it guys?"

"What's happened to me?" A familiar voice came from behind. Sora and Goofy slowly turned to the direction of the voice. It was Brian and he had been turned into a red and black humanoid tiger.

BOWBOWBOW

After a few moments of Brian trying to kill Donald for turning him into an animal and to find out that it wasn't the normal animal changing spell that had changed him, Sora had told him to pretend to be their guardian while they were in this world. As much as he wanted to cook the duck to a crispy roast, Brian did wonder what sort of spell the magician had casted on him and why, out of all of the animals in the animal kingdom, did he turn into a tiger. It didn't affect his clothing much but he did have to take off his green jacket as he walked around in his normal garments.

"Maybe it has to do with the Chinese Zodiac." Kairi suggested to her tiger like friend as they walked into the down that led to the palace. "The tiger is one of the Chinese Zodiacs and it fits with you personality."

"It wouldn't make sense though." The tiger told her. "I should be a Rooster like you two, not a Tiger."

"But doesn't it match the animal with the personality?" Goofy asked.

"I think it's the year you are born." Sora answered.

Kairi smiled at her friend, "Sora's right. The Chinese Zodiac covers 12 animals for each five elements, water, fire, air, earth and metal. If we look at Brian's claws then we can see what element that he represents." Kairi explain before moving towards Brian.

For some reason, Brian's eyes widened as he shot away from Kairi, "It doesn't matter." He dashed behind Donald and Goofy. "Make a cover." He whispered to the two.

Donald nodded his head before stepping forward, "I'm sure that it doesn't relate to this world. It was just a transformation spell that slipped out. I'm sure to remember what it is while we're here." He told them.

"Well..." Sora thought about the situation, he didn't look convinced. "We can discuss it later though. We need to see the Emperor to see where the Keyhole is." Sora turned around and continued to head towards the palace.

"For once, I agree with Sora." Brian stepped away from the humanoid dag and began to follow the Keyblade Master but not before stopping in front of the Princess of Heart, "Besides, why try and figure out how to change me back when you love the look of me with soft, fluffy hair." He smirked.

"Keep moving, Devon." Kairi glared at him.

"Ouch! You've hurt this tiger's heart with your cruel tone." He stepped closer to the Princess before saying, "Though it's still broken for hurting you." He looked at her softly.

"You could have just told us instead of lying for your brother's sake. That way, you wouldn't feel broken." She said harshly before pushing him away. "Let's just go." She said sadly before storming past him, running up the steps to catch up to Sora.

"Brian." He slowly turned to Donald and Goofy, "Why won't you tell them the truth?" Goofy asked him.

Brian looked at the two sadly, "Maybe because I don't know the truth myself. I need to understand it before I can tell it." He said before he began to climb up the palace steps with Donald and Goofy behind him.

BOWBOWBOW

"As we stand here, the Order's forces move closer to our borders. The threat of attacking is growin-"

Sora slowly began to open the door to the Emperor's chamber, interrupting the Emperor reporting to his three soldiers as they turned towards the door. "Sorry." Sora smiled sheepishly as he opened the rest of the door to let the others in. "We didn't mean to stop you, your majesty."

"Great Keyblade Master. Our doors are always open to you and your friends." The Emperor smiled as he watched the Keyblade Master and his two familiar companions bowed in his presents before watching the girl and the humanoid tiger follow their lead.

One of the soldiers, who was wearing a white training robe with orange markings, looked over to a familiar friend, "Fa Mulan, who are they?" she asked. She looked as if she was a local to this world like Mulan but around the same age as Sora, Kairi and Brian.

"They're our friends." She answered as she approached the group with both of the soldiers by her side, "Sora, Donald, Goofy. It's great to see you again." She smiled. Mulan was wearing her usual training gear that she had worn after she had been discovered as a woman, similar to the female guard beside her.

"The place seems too normal without you here." The Emperor's personal guard, Shang, smirked at the three.

"We've missed you too, Captain." Donald muttered.

"Gerenal!" The other guard corrected the duck.

Mulan stepped forward to the guard's side, "I'm sorry. This is Ning Jun." Mulan introduced the girl besides her. "She's my pupil."

"It's nice to meet you, Jun." Sora smiled. "I'm Sora. This is Donald and Goofy." Donald and Goofy waved friendly to her, "This is Kairi." Sora stepped next to his dear friend.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all." Kairi smiled at them all.

Sora turned to Brian to finish off the introductions, "And this is-"He turned back around to see Brian in front of Mulan and Jun. "Brian!"

"Hello ladies. The name is Brian and I've been told to enlighten one's soul like the Golden Dragon of Unity." He smirked before taking a closer look at Jun. Wait a minute...

"Awwwww, a flirting tiger!" Jun smiled as he patted Brian's head, her hand bouncing his short spiky locks. "There's something you don't see every day." She smiled, making Brian pout and sigh in defeat. "Meeting these guys is more fun than that Order stuff we were talking about before."

Brian raised an eyebrow as he looked at Shang, "Order stuff?" He repeated.

"Outside of the borders of China lies a huge army of what their leader call 'Unbirth'." Shang answered, "We were discussing what to do before you came in."

"Was there any chance that the Leader of this army shown himself?" Goofy asked them.

"Two armoured beings appeared in a similar way your friend did before, saying that if we didn't fall to their rule, they will take it by force. One of them seemed to have trouble with his rage while the other's soul rested in the darkness of life." The Emperor explained.

Skullo and Link. The group thought.

"Your Majesty let me lead my forces to defeat this intruder." Shang proposed, "Each of my warriors will fight like ten of these Unbirth."

"No General." The Emperor denied as he began to come to approach the group, "I plan to defeat this enemy without the use of force, which would explain why you have returned to this world, young Keyblade Master." Sora nodded to the emperor's prediction. "In order to defeat the misbalanced foes, we must first restore the balance to this world. That way, the Unbirth will crumble and their leaders will flee."

"But how do we balance a world?" Jun asked, "It's not like we can build a giant scale to measure the world."

"We find the Keyhole and balance the world," Sora explained before summoning Kingdom Key, "With this."

"How does a key balance a world?" Jun asked with curiosity.

Brian smirked as he responded, "Magic."

"The charts are made clear." The Emperor spoke, "It the Keyhole isn't balanced within three days, the darkness will grow and the Order will destroy us." The Emperor looked back at Shang, "Mark my words, General. Three days."

"Not a moment more, Your Majesty." Shang responded before he turned around to the others, "We should rest up before beginning the journey to the Keyhole."

Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mulan and Jun came into attention, "Sir!" Kairi and Brian watched their friend's follow the world's ways, remembering that the three had joined their army to help Mulan out before for one of Sora's stories.

"It would be nice to get to know each other more." Mulan smiled.

"I agree." Kairi nodded, "We could use this time to gather supplies too."

Goofy chuckled, "We'll go and get some." He volunteered himself and Donald, earning an glare from his feathered friend.

"Before you go." The Emperor spoke, grabbing everyone's attention. "I would like a moment to speak to the three of you." The Emperor pointed to Sora, Kairi and Brian.

"Us?" Brian raised an eyebrow at this. "Why us?"

Kairi scowled at him, "Brian! Don't be rude."

While Shang, Donald and Goofy began to make their leave to give the Emperor his privacy, Mulan and Jun told the three that they will be waiting outside of the Emperor's chambers to lead them to where they would be staying before leaving themselves. As soon as the door closed, Sora looked up at the Emperor with concern. "What's wrong?"

"Destiny seems to have placed the elements into a raging battle with not only ones that threaten the unity of light and darkness but the very balance in one's soul." The Emperor referred to Sora and Brian's shadowed claws. "Please. What curse has landed you and will it affect my people?"

"Umm..." Sora looked at his claw with wonder.

"Nothing to worry about. Your Majesty." Brian quickly stepped forward, "It's just...um...an new ability that helps us fight the Order. It will not harm your people in any way."

"And yet the Princess of Heart nor your friends do not bare the same ability." The Emperor pointed out to them. "But I do understand that if you are to defeat this enemy that threatens all of the worlds, you are to require this." The Emperor turned to the side of his throne and pulled out a golden crest with a dragon symbol on it.

"The dragons crest..." Brian whispered to himself.

The Emperor walked down the stairs once more and handed the item to Kairi, "To return the balance to its rightful place. You must first understand the lesson of Yin and Yang."

"Yin and Yang?" Sora repeated.

"They're the contract of each other but are both needed to keep life the same." Kairi explained to him, "Yin represents Light while Yang represents Darkness. It's the basic balance within the world."

"Within Yin is a seed of Yang as there is a seed of Yin in Yang, and as such, they form two complementary, yet also opposing forces." The Emperor explained, "Together Yin and Yang make a whole, neither one is more important that the other. Each must work together to create peace and harmony in the world. Remember that and your actions will reflect on it more."

"Yes your majesty." Sora, Kairi and Brian bowed to his words.

"I do have one last piece of information that affects the each of you." The Emperor approached Kairi, "Within the rage of the fire, the calmness of the water will balance the soul." He spoke, "I believe that you will be the one to banish the rage from this world."

"What?" Kairi said in disbelief and fear.

"Don't worry, my dear." The Emperor assured her, "I'm sure that you will do fine."

"But-" She said silently to herself in doubt. She didn't want the same thing that had happened on Little Devon to happen here.

"Don't worry, Kairi." Kairi turned to face Sora, "We believe in you, right Brian?"

"Why the hell are you asking me? I've already said my trust back at Port Royal." Brian commented as he flexed his tail and wrapped it around his waist like Zidane had done before back at African Depths.

The next person that the Emperor went over to was Brian, "To discover what is most dear within your memories, you must first travel deep into the curse that makes who you are." The Emperor spoke, receiving a shocked expression from Brian, "Perhaps you should get to know Jun more. It seems as if she reminded you of someone." The old man suggested.

"Yeah..." Brian's mind seemed to drift off at that point.

The Emperor finally looked at the Keyblade Master, who waited for his wise words, "Even if your being is at the edge of breaking, your heart will forever remain strong." The Emperor spoke, earning a confused look from the Keyblade Master. "Continue to be yourself, your heart will guild you down the right path."

Pllleeeaaassseeee, he has no idea what he's talking about. I bet all of his advice is from fortune cookies. The soul spoke in his mind.

Sora smiled at the Emperor, "Thank you your majesty. I will." He said gratefully before the three of them bowed once more.

Outside of the Emperor's chambers, Sora, Kairi and Brian looked around for Jun as she was supposed to show them to where they would be staying. "Jun? Juuunnnn!" Sora called out for her.

"Maybe she quickly went to see Mulan?" Kairi said as she looked around for Mulan's pupil.

Brian scoffed at this, "Yeah right. She would be send to the cooking and sewing section if she was caught on her own."

"They would have to catch me first!" The three turned to the source of the friendly voice to find the pupil herself. "It's about time you guys came out." Jun leaned forward, "I was starting to think that I would have to sleep out here."

"But...we were only in there for five minutes." Sora checked.

"Well, listening to that Order Border stuff had drained my energy out. I can't understand how Fa Mulan does it." The Chinese teen sighed before smiling at the three again, "Oh well, I'm still trying to fully learn the lesson of Yin and Yang. I guess it will make sense one day. What's it like to go to other worlds anyway?" She asked them suddenly.

"It's..." Sora though about what to say.

"An adventure to share with your friends." Kairi answered for him before smiling back at him, "Wouldn't you say Sora?"

"Yeah." He responded softly while looking at her, "An adventure to share with your friends."

Brian, as well as Jun, looked at the connection that the two were currently sharing, while Jun thought that it was cute, Brian could feel his rage build up and he stepped in between them, "I think that we should save our stories for Jun for tomorrow." Brian quickly spoke, destroying the moment that Sora and Kairi was sharing.

"The talking tiger is right." Jun giggled, "We should head to where the General had set us for the night." She began to head out of the palace with Sora and Kairi following her, she looked behind her to see that Brian was deep in thought. "C'mon Haru! We have to go!" She sub-consciously called out for him before leading Sora and Kairi away.

Brian's head shot up in the direction that Jun was standing, looking at her disappearing form in shock. How the hell does she know that name? Does—does she know who I am? He gasped as his head began to hurt him like someone was sending a drill through his head.

Flashback

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" The 12-year-old version of Brian yelled as he tried to strike his Endless father only to be held back but his father's Unbirth soldiers. He looked to his side to see his friend, Nikolai, still down on his knees in disbelief as his sorrows seemed to overwhelm him. As much as he wanted to cheer his friend up, his rage towards his father was greater as he glared back at him, "SHE DIDN'T DO NOTHING!"

"Jun was no use to the Order." The Colonel explained, "She was teaching you kids the wrong thing."

"She gave us hope for a better life." Nikolai sobbed before looking at the Colonel with pure hatred, "She taught us how to be our own person without the soul destroying who we really are."

"ENOUGH!" The Colonel clicked his fingers as Nikolai was quickly grabbed by more of the Colonel's men as they started to drag the two away, "Get this in your head, Brian. You will always be an Endless, accept your fate or accept death like your friend." He said before he walked out of the room.

"MY NAME IS HARU!" He shouted to him as the soldiers dragged the two to the torture chambers once more.

End of Flashback

...

...

...

WHAT THE HELL?

BOWBOWBOW

"Sir!"

The Angry Endless grunted at the interruption of his meditation as he had felt an element related present enter the world and was close to locating it when his student had called him, making him lose the signal. He opened his blood filled eyes and ran his armoured glove through his short black and red hair as he turned to Corporal Link, "This better be important, Corporal." He growled.

"Many regret filled and confused hearts have entered this world." Link reported in, "Including the Colonel's son."

Skullo smirked at this, "Excellent! We must begin our operations on capturing the Princess of Heart." He got up from the floor and began to order some of his Unbirth soldiers into play. "Destiny will play its part once we have the princess."

"Sir." Link stepped in front of his teacher, "Our orders are to gain new members. Not to take the princess, not matter how much I want to watch the Keyblade Master's heart shatter because of it." He told him in a serious tone.

Skullo immediately summoned one of his Ninjato swords and quickly struck at his pupil as fast as he rage had exploded, pushing Link to the floor before he could react. Link tried to turn into his outburst mode to escape but the sword was already aimed at his neck and his teacher pointed his burning lit claw in his direction. "I'm the one in charge; therefore, we follow my plans. Capturing the Princess is the 'One for an thousand'. Collecting members can wait; the last thing I want is more Neutrals in our Order." He disposed of his sword and turned away from him, Link pushed himself up slightly and glared at his teacher as he spoke, "We have no time to waste. The deadline is soon."

Messages:

Taeniaea- Thanks

Van Pat- No problem

Transitions End- You have to have random moments

Grey vs Ale- I see you're with the cake demons heheheheheh

Artism- Hmmm Ice cream you say...this gives me an idea

Kisdota- The Freak Gamer- The mystery with Xion will come.

Future Keyblade- Thanks

Celticskyedancer- The Roxas and Xion bit is in the planning stages.

See ya next time

Kingdommad