AN: Wow, been a while since I updated one of my stories so quickly. I mean, it feels like it's been a while since I've done so, but maybe I'm remembering wrong. Either way, doesn't change the fact that we are back with another chapter of Kingdom Hearts Dual Keys!
[audience applause]
Yeah, I know, it's really exciting, huh? Well, before we do anything else, guess what we're going to do first?
Roxas: Add me into the story this chapter?
AN: No.
Xion: Add me or Namine into the story this chapter?
AN: No.
Riku: Reveal whether or not we will see any characters that appear after the first Kingdom Hearts game was released in this story at all in this story?
AN: That would probably be good for some people, but, still no. We're answering reviews, duh!
Ventus: You ever wonder if it's really all that necessary for you to answer some of these reviews right when you post a new chapter?
AN: A long time ago, yeah, but I do like to show my readers that I am reading these things, and this is just one small way of doing so. Anyways, let's start off with a response to regular reviewer "ronin warriors fanatic". First off, yes, the whole Sora turning into a Heartless thing is still going to happen. I know it might be possible for Xion to still come about, but we can't have Roxas or Namine exist without that happening, and I do plan on those two coming into the story. That time period will have one or two differences to it though, so don't worry about that.
Second off, as much as some people may want me to, myself included, I do not plan on doing a different version of Chain of Memories or 358/2 Days. My reason is that neither story would be that much different, well that or it just wouldn't start to change until we had gotten halfway through the story, but that's more so in the case of the latter, so there would not really be much point to writing about something we already know all about. I'm not saying that those adventures will be exactly the same as they were before, because they won't be, but they also won't have enough differences in them to the point where they could be an entirely new story, especially not in the case of Chain of Memories. The events of those adventures will be talked about, but I won't be covering them in an actual story. That doesn't mean I don't intend to at least do something in regards to those stories when we get to the sequel. You'll see what I mean when we do, but if you want a hint, just look at what sometimes follows after the main story of a chapter, and before the ending author's notes.
Next up, is another response to a regular reviewer, "Monkey D. Conan". Riku will indeed have to deal with a bit more for his actions in this story, but honestly, I have to disagree with you on how Sora was too forgiving to the guy. I mean, he was a little too forgiving in a normal sense, but then again, if he wasn't so quick to forgive his best friend since childhood like that, he wouldn't be Sora, ya know? To answer your other questions, Ven will be finding the Star Wars charm soon enough. I won't say specifically when, but I can promise you that it will be before the first time they go to Hollow Bastion. Also, yes, Sora's going to make a fool out of himself in regards to at least one of the girls he meets on another world, much to Kairi's jealousy, namely a girl he's going to meet on the next world they visit. It'll make sense what I mean when you read the preview for next chapter. As for the new worlds I'm going to use, I don't want to give away any details, but I will go ahead and say that one of the worlds will be an original one that's likely only found in this story, while the other one is actually a world we saw in Birth By Sleep. Hope that ties you over for now on those questions.
Riku: Really? You want to give me more crap than what I already had to deal with to pay for my bad decisions? How's that fair?
AN: Hey, you're the one who let himself get taken over by Xehanort's Heartless. Moving on now, namely to the review posted by "Gary123", glad you're liking the story so far, and don't worry, when we get to Hollow Bastion at last, I'm sure you'll enjoy how things play out there quite a bit.
So, I think that covers everything for now, aside from responding this one guest reviewer who commented on how Kairi's Dive to the Heart was happening inside another heart. My answer is simply this my friend: It's magic related stuff, and if you try to make sense out of it, you'll just get one big headache, so I'd just smile, nod, and go with it if I were you. That's really the best explanation I can give you.
Aqua: Hey, what's this for? [indicates an album with a picture of her, Ventus, and Terra all armored up and riding their Keyblade Gliders in a dynamic formation]
AN: Oh that, well that's something I was actually going to show off today. You guys remember a while back when I did that little parody of a Power Rangers theme song for this story, well that one's a parody that I thought up for how Birth By Sleep played out, up until the point where it diverged and caused the events of Keyblades of Future Past to happen. So, care to do the honors, Aqua?
Aqua: Sure thing. [pops in the disc and hits play]
AN: Check this out guys...
[cue opening theme music of Power Rangers Jungle Fury]
[0:00-0:10] See the armored forms of the BBS Trio flying through the sky on Keyblade Gliders in fancy spins and flips towards the screen, until they slow down for a moment with Aqua in the middle, Ventus on her left, and Terra on her right, while the title appears
"Kingdom Hearts!"
[0:11-0:21] The three are shown armoring up going from Terra to Ventus to Aqua, followed by a montage of them as they're preparing for battle against various foes both alone and together, the latter being when they face the Trinity Armor
"Go! Here comes the Kingdom Hearts Keyblade Warriors!"
[0:22-0:37] Introduce Ventus, Terra, Aqua, and Mickey as the main cast during which they all show off profile images followed by epic poses from their battles, followed by Eraqus, Xehanort, and Vanitas
"Training hard to be the best that we can!"
"Protecting people from the evil Xehanort's plan."
"Stand up for what we know is right, we will never lose the light."
"Unversed go away! We're here to save the day!"
[The rest is a montage of the battles that the main cast faces while the song continues]
"Cause we're the Kingdom Hearts Keyblade Warriors!" (Keyblade Warriors)
"We're fast, we're strong, unstoppable!" [Show Ventus, Terra, and Aqua in the order of the traits mentioned here]
(Keyblade Warriors)
"Here comes the Kingdom Hearts Keyblade Warriors."
"Keyblade Warriors!"
(Go! Go! Go!) "Kingdom Hearts!"
(Go! Go! Go!) "Keyblade Warriors!"
[Repeat last two lines, then cut to title which reads Kingdom Hearts Keyblade Warriors, and end song]
Well, I think that went well. I honestly had a harder time writing that out than the last one, but only because there were more lyrics to the song.
Ventus: Why call it "Kingdom Hearts: Keyblade Warriors"?
AN: Well I couldn't call it Keyblade Masters, because at the time, only Aqua was a Keyblade Master, but you were all Keyblade Warriors, and it's also a little show how you guys each thought of yourselves at the time. Or did you forget how Aqua did not even refer to herself as a master until she met Terranort in Radiant Garden?
Ventus: Well considering I wasn't actually there when that happened...
AN: Fair enough. Anyways, now that our little musical moment's over, enjoy the story everyone!
I do not own anything from Kingdom Hearts or any other franchise mentioned in this story.
Chapter XII
Considering how often they seemed to be falling from high places, Ventus had to wonder why he had not taught Sora at least a little bit of wind magic so that he was not always cushioning their falls with said power. Really, out of all the magic that he knew, wind spells were the ones that he was best at, so it was a bit of a mystery as to why he had not gotten around to teaching his apprentice any spells in his best element. That may seem like an unimportant thought to some, but it was still one that was running through Ven's mind as he used some of his wind magic to slow their descent back down into Monstro's mouth, just to make sure that they would land on Geppetto's boat. Glancing around, he could see that Chip and Dale had managed to set the clockmaker up with quite an impressive combination of gummi blocks, and from what he knew about gummi engineering, Ventus could tell that the work the two did would certainly guarantee that Geppetto and Pinocchio would be able to get to another world safely if they escaped from Monstro while he was still out in the middle of interspace. That was a small note though, because they had more pressing matters to attend to, seeing as Pinocchio was nowhere to be seen on the boat, and Geppetto was over on the plank calling out the little guy's name in panic while he gazed upwards. That alone sent the four adventurers enough warning bells to get them to race over to where Geppetto was, and they were soon almost as worried as Pinocchio's father when they saw Riku standing above them all with Pinocchio tucked under his arm, looking very lifeless as he hung limply in the silver haired boy's grasp.
"Please, give me back my son," Geppetto desperately begged Riku, confirming that the little puppet had not been taken from his father willingly.
"Sorry, old man. I have some unfinished business with this puppet," Riku denied, though he did not sound even the least bit sorry at all.
"He's no puppet! Pinocchio is my little boy," Geppetto protested, hoping that he could appeal to Riku's better nature, but Sora and Ven both doubted that would be the case, considering their own lack of success in that department so far today.
The two Keybearers' doubts were proven true, because Riku's only response was to simply roll his eyes a little and say, "He is unusual. Not many puppets have hearts. I'm not sure, but maybe he can help someone who's lost theirs."
When he heard Riku mention helping a person who had lost their heart, Sora instantly found his thoughts latching on to one name, because that was the only person he could think of that Riku would be trying to help right now. "Are you talking about Kairi," Sora asked.
"What do you care about her," Riku demanded, and he then turned and raced away into another passage, one that was right above the one that led to the maze the quartet had been chasing him and Pinocchio through just a few moments ago.
Once again, any attempts Sora made to get Riku to listen and hear what he had learned about Kairi went ignored, and the spiky haired brunette could not help but growl impatiently after Riku had disappeared. A moment later though, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Ventus giving him a sympathetic and understanding look as the blonde said, "Don't worry, Sora. We'll get through to him. Besides, right now, I don't know if telling him what we know about Kairi would help that much. If anything, I think he would just pass it off as some story that we cooked up for whatever reason."
"But why would he do that? Why's Riku doing any of this, including using dark magic," Sora asked, desperate for answers.
"I couldn't say," Ventus shrugged, but this was not entirely true. He did have a small hunch, but considering what he was drawing those suspicions from, he knew he would not be able to tell Sora without there being some form of consequences. Still, he could not just leave it at that, especially given that look that Sora was giving him, so it was a good thing there was something that he could tell the kid. "If I had to guess though, I would say that Riku honestly believes that using darkness like this is the only way to help his friend…Much like Terra had once thought years ago."
"Huh? You mean your friend used darkness," Sora asked, completely thrown for a loop now. He had thought that Terra was being held prisoner somewhere, not that he had been taken over by darkness.
Ventus could see the conclusions Sora was already drawing after hearing that, and he knew that he had to keep that from happening before the kid thought the worst of his old friend. "It's not what you're probably thinking, Sora. Terra may have used darkness, but he did his best to make sure that all he ever did was channel its power without succumbing to it like others have before. To be honest, Terra is probably the first person I've ever known to find a way to harness the power of darkness without losing himself to it, and the reason he did so was because all he wanted to do was help keep his friends safe. He may have ended up being trapped within his darkness in the end, but that was because of the manipulations of another, more powerful master of darkness, and I know he's still fighting now. If Riku really is anything like Terra, then I'll bet he's thinking the same thing that Terra was when he first set out on our journey, which is all the more reason why you need to find a way to reach him."
Sora nodded a little after hearing a bit more of Terra's story. In all honesty, he could see why Ventus would keep this a secret for so long after all that the blonde had told him about the dangers of darkness, but hearing that Terra found a way to use it only as a way to protect his friends and never succumbed to it until he met this other master that Ven mentioned did make him feel a little better about the matter. Besides, considering the admiration that Ventus held in his voice whenever he spoke of Terra, Sora felt like it would be a little hurtful to the blonde if he were to try and judge Terra without even knowing even a little bit about him like Ventus did. Still, that did leave one mystery to Sora, and he was quick to ask about it. "What do you mean by that?"
"Sora, when Terra first started out on his journey, and even when he first tried learning how to control the darkness, he did so alone, partially because he believed that he had to. It did not help that there were others who wanted to either use him or spy on him, though the latter was because our own master was worried about Terra and did not want him to succumb to darkness, but that's beside the point. Right now, Riku is thinking that he's got to do everything all by himself for whatever reason, and that he needs to turn to darkness if it means that he'll be able to achieve his goals. As his best friend, it falls to you to show him that you've got his back despite whatever happens," Ventus explained, showing how strongly he believed in Sora's ability to do this with every word he spoke.
Sora could not help but gulp a little out of nervousness. He did not doubt that he would be able to help his friend, but considering how much was riding on whether or not he could help, it was understandable to feel a bit worried in regards to his chances of success. Still, that did not mean he was going to let fear stop him, because right now, his best friend needed his help, probably just as much as Pinocchio did, so he steeled his resolve, and nodded in agreement, showing he was ready to chase after his friend once more.
Ventus smiled at how quickly his apprentice was able to gather his resolve when it came to helping his friends, partly because it just showed how much alike he and Sora were, and seeing that almost made him lead the charge in chasing after Riku right away. They likely would have gone after him right away too, but they had a few other issues that needed to be addressed first, starting with the condition of both Geppetto's ship and their own. After talking with Chip and Dale, the group learned that they had already finished their work on the clockmaker's boat and were now putting all of their expertise into fixing up the Kingdom for when they were ready to make their own escape. With that reassurance, Ventus then decided that now was the time to show Sora how to use some of the magic Keyblade wielders possessed in order to amplify their own physical abilities, starting with how it would help them to jump higher. It was one of the simpler abilities, yes, but it was also the easiest one to teach, as well as the only one that he felt Sora would be able to learn quickly enough at the moment. He was not wrong, because barely more than three minutes later, Sora was able to jump high enough to reach the top of the large, wooden towers in Monstro's mouth with a single bound, and so, with that done, the team was chasing after Riku once again, and more determined than ever to save Pinocchio before it was too late.
While everything was going to nearly all the different levels of crazy outside, Kairi was continuing her Dive to the Heart, and aside from the Keyblades she had to choose between, things seemed to be progressing in a similar manner to how they had in Sora's dive, at least, going by what she could remember of what Sora had told her about it, and by what she saw in his memories. Although, she was pretty sure that she had to battle a few more Heartless than Sora did, but she figured that had something to do with the fact she was a Princess of Heart or some other weird reason that she could not think of at the moment. Still, she had to wonder why she was asked to choose between three Keyblades like Sora had. She remembered looking through Sora's memories of his training with Ventus, so she knew that the typical choices were between a sword, a shield, and a wand, yet for some reason, she had to choose between three Keyblades like Sora had. Did that mean she was somehow unique in a way beyond the fact that she was both a Princess of Heart and a soon-to-be Keyblade wielder? And then there was that mysterious voice; not the one that had been running the test, but the woman's voice from earlier. All throughout her fights, the woman had been guiding her in some small ways, like giving her warnings or advising her on how to remain calm during a battle, and it was all in a way that Kairi could only compare to a mix between how Ventus would occasionally coach Sora in his training, and the soothing reassurance of an older sister type of figure. More than that, Kairi was more sure than ever that she recognized this woman's voice from somewhere. She just could not place where she had, and it was starting bug her a little.
That was just a minor detail to Kairi right now, because she had just gotten through to what she knew would likely be the part of the dive where she would end up in a familiar place, where people she knew would ask her some questions, and most likely the same questions that Sora had been asked. When the light finally dimmed enough where she could see where she had landed though, Kairi was surprised to find that she did not actually recognize the place at all. From what she could tell, the place was likely supposed to be some type of garden, with all the various flower beds around it, and the large fountain in the center, and it seemed to rest in the middle of a lake, with the actual ground being shaped like a massive star. Between the lovely flowers, the clear water, and the sunlit sky, Kairi had to admit that this place was indeed very beautiful, and after thinking this for a little while, she found herself being overcome with a sense of familiarity. That was not to say that she actually knew this place, but there was something about it that seemed very familiar to her for some reason. If she had to make a comparison, she figured that it might be related to how Sora had felt like he recognized the castle in that one picture that they had seen back on Deep Jungle for some reason.
Kairi continued glancing around the place, thinking that if she kept doing so, some small part of her might help her to place the reason why she felt so calm and at peace here, when she finally spotted someone over by the fountain, and she immediately raced over to see who it was. When she reached the person, she gasped in shock because she immediately recognized them. Despite losing any memories of her home, there was one thing that Kairi had never forgotten about her old world, and that was the memory of the person who had raised her since she was a little girl. "Grandma," Kairi cried out happily, and she immediately ran up to embrace the old woman in the tightest hug she could muster. "I can't believe it's really you! I…I thought you had died, or that you were gone forever, and…and…" It was at this point that Kairi finally realized that her grandmother was not returning her hug, and she slowly let go so she could back up a little and look at her only blood relative better. When she noticed that her grandmother's smile was as kind and caring as she remembered to the exact detail of her memory, it finally clicked for her. "You're…not really my grandma, are you? You're just a figment of her from my memories that's here to test me or something, like Selphie and the others were for Sora during his dive…right?"
Kairi's grandmother slowly nodded in confirmation, and while Kairi was sad to hear this, she was still happy that she got a chance to see her grandma again after all this time. Still, that did not stop her dive from continuing, and her grandma proved that when she asked a simple question. "Kairi, what are you most afraid of?"
If this were another situation, Kairi probably would have been surprised that her grandmother was asking her that question. She may have been a little thrown off by the fact that she was being asked that question, but it did not stop her from answering as swiftly as you pleased. "Losing everyone and everything that's important to me," Kairi said.
Someone else would have said that she was just copying Sora's answer, but if they did, Kairi would instantly insist that they were wrong, because that really was the one thing that she feared more than anything else. Apparently, her answer was satisfactory to her dive, because the figment of her grandma just smiled at her and then disappeared, prompting Kairi to glance around in an attempt to figure out where the old woman had gone, or if there was someone else around. Naturally, she did not see any sign of her grandma, but what came as odd to her was that there was no one else present in the garden either. When she finally turned around though, she saw that there appeared to be a large structure behind the wall that the garden rested outside of, and there was a gate that appeared to lead inside of it, so she figured she might as well see if there was anyone inside the walls of this place, and raced right in. When she came out the other side, Kairi found herself in the middle of a town square with small houses on the left and right sides of the square, a few flower beds and some trees bordering the inner area, and a gate that lead up to a massive, beautiful castle that towered over the entire town.
Kairi could not help but take a deep breath and then sigh in easy relaxation when she came to a stop in the middle of the square. Just like the garden, the town square struck some strings of familiarity inside of her, and she found a sudden urge to just run up to the flower beds and take a quick sniff of the flowers while picking a few to give to someone. That urge was quickly stamped out both because she knew this place was just part of her test, and because she finally spotted a woman who she believed to be the one who would ask her the next question. Unlike her grandma, she did not recognize this person, but there was something eerily familiar about her, and as Kairi drew closer, she could start to see something of a resemblance between her and this woman, almost to the point where she could have sworn that the two of them were one and the same. In fact, this woman's eyes appeared to be the exact same color as her own, while her hair was long enough to reach her shoulders and appeared to be a darker shade of red. As for the young woman's attire, Kairi saw that she wore a pink, strapless mini-dress that had three zippers over a white halter top with a black hood, along with a pair of silver sleeves that covered her arms, and a pair of grey, fingerless gloves. In addition to that, she also seemed to sport a pair of silver shorts under her dress, white leggings that went up to her mid-thighs, and a pair of steel boots that were lilac in color. To round out the outfit, the woman also wore a black belt that was reminiscent of suspenders with a notebook-shaped bag attached on the left side, three bracelets on her left wrist, and a piece of shoulder armor on her left shoulder that was similar to that of the blue haired woman's that Kairi had seen in Sora's memories earlier, except for the fact that it was colored pink with white highlights.
"Who are you," Kairi asked the woman once she was close enough, feeling like she should know this person somehow. Not in the same way that she felt like she recognized the voice of the mystery woman, but in the sense that she should be familiar to the redhead all the same.
The older woman just stared down at Kairi with a serious expression for a little bit, until she finally smiled in a way that Kairi felt was so similar to how she did, and when she finally spoke, she did so in a voice that, while not quite the same as hers, it did sound much like how she imagined her voice would sound after it had matured a little more. "What's the one thing you care about more than anything else," the older redhead asked.
Once again, Kairi did not even need to think that long about the answer. "My closest friends and the people that I love."
"Does that include the boy whose heart you currently rest inside of," the woman asked, and Kairi instantly felt her face heat up in response, indicating that she was likely blushing up a storm right now. Apparently that was all the answer the woman needed, because she soon laughed a little in response, and then disappeared just like Kairi's grandma had.
"Seriously, who was that woman," Kairi whispered. It was very strange how much that woman had looked just like her, or rather, how she imagined she would look when she got older, and when Kairi thought of that part, she had to wonder if somehow, her dive had conjured up a possible image of her future self. She quickly cast that thought aside, because she remembered Ventus telling Sora that the people they meet at this point in their dives were always people that they had encountered at some point in their lives, so whoever that woman was, she had to be someone that Kairi had met somewhere before. She just did not know where, how, or even who the woman was.
The questions regarding the woman who could have easily been her older doppelganger kept running through Kairi's mind even as she slowly ascended up the stairs that led to the castle, and they did not leave her mind until she was right at the doors to said building. At that point, her eyes immediately located the next person she was likely going to be questioned by, and this time, she instantly recognized the woman who was waiting for her. It was the exact same blue haired woman that she had seen in Sora's memory before this had all started, and she was smiling in almost exactly the same way as she had been then, but Kairi could not help but feel like there was something a little extra in that smile this time; a sense of additional gentleness, pride, and maybe even relief that was mixed in with the simple happiness that her smile already held. As Kairi drew closer to the blue haired woman, she felt a greater and stronger sense of familiarity from her than anything else she had seen in this strange place. It was similar to the redhead she had met, but in a different way, like she should feel a strong connection between them somehow. When Kairi finally reached her, the blue haired woman asked her question, and Kairi was starting to fit a few pieces into place when she heard her voice.
"Kairi, what is it that you wish for," the blunette asked, and Kairi could not help but gasp in shock, because she finally realized why the voice of the mystery woman sounded so familiar. It was because it belonged to this woman who now stood before her, be it as a figment of her Dive to the Heart or otherwise. But if that was the case, then did that mean that all this time, Kairi had somehow been communicating with who she believed to be Master Aqua?
Kairi was not sure what to think, but she did know that she still had to answer the question, so she took a deep breath to calm down, and then answered, "I wish…to protect what's most precious from anything or anyone that would do others harm."
The bluenette smiled a little wider at this, before she said, in the same, distant-sounding whisper as she had been speaking with before, "I had a feeling you would say that."
"Wait," Kairi pleaded, knowing that this might likely mean that the real blunette was speaking through her apparition right now. "Before you disappear, I have to know for sure. Are you really her? Are you…Master Aqua?"
While the illusion of the woman slowly faded away, Kairi could see that her smile was softening even more now, and just before she vanished completely, Kairi heard her faintly whisper her reply. It may have been just one, single word, but it was still the word that made her feel so happy and excited all at the same time. "Yes."
No one was going to lie and say that climbing their way through Monstro's throat was pleasant or easy, because it was the farthest thing from either one of those two things. Not only was it very disgusting, they also had to deal with Heartless jumping them at the most inconvenient of times. Many times when the dark creatures attacked, it would cause one, more, or even all four of the group to lose their footing and fall right back down to where they had started from when they had come into the chamber, but despite that set back, they were still able to deal with it and pay the Heartless back for their ambush in double the irritation and pain. Even so, it still felt like it had taken hours in order for them to finally reach the end of that road, which turned out to be Monstro's stomach, a place that none of them wanted to be for too long if they wanted to avoid getting digested by the massive mammal. Then again, so long as they watched their footing, they had a feeling that they should not have to worry about that too much, and it looked like Riku was not too concerned about it either, considering how he was just standing triumphantly over Pinocchio's apparently lifeless body without fear. At another time, Sora would tell you that it was normal for Riku to appear unafraid of anything, but given that he now knew his friend was using darkness, even if Ventus did give him a possible explanation for it, he was not entirely sure what to think right now.
Ventus on the other hand did have an idea on what to think and it was a very simple idea to say the least. "Let Pinocchio go, Riku," Ventus shouted, his Keyblade drawn and ready for battle.
Riku just looked at Ven for a minute with a look of mild annoyance before he turned to glance between Pinocchio and Sora. "A puppet that's lost its heart to the Heartless…Maybe it holds the key to helping Kairi," Riku mused, and he then settled his gaze firmly on his best friend as he made him an offer. "How about it, Sora? Let's join forces to save her. We can do it, together."
If Riku thought that he was going to be okay with this, Sora quickly proved him wrong as he summoned his Keyblade, which was shining brightly in the form of Three Wishes, dropped into his battle stance, and said, "You heard Ven, Riku. Let Pinocchio go!"
"What," Riku chuckled in disbelieving amusement. "You'd rather fight me over a puppet that has no heart?"
"Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience," Sora retorted. While Riku just quirked an eyebrow at Sora, Jiminy jumped out of Sora's jacket pocket and ran over to Pinocchio as fast as he could, seeing that Riku was distracted by what Sora was saying. "You might not hear it, but right now it's loud and clear. And it's telling me you're on the wrong side!"
Riku did not even pause to think about his next words or actions, as proven by how he raised his sword as if he were preparing to battle his friend and declared, "Then you leave me no choice."
"There's always a choice, Riku," Ventus argued, pulling the silver-haired youth's gaze to him once again. Despite the irritation in Riku's eyes as he looked at him, Ventus did not waver in the slightest. He had to reach the kid now, while he had the chance, before it was too late. After all, he had already promised he was not going to let Sora lose his friend the same way he lost Terra. "Riku, open your eyes. The darkness you're using is messing with your head, and while it may be powerful, if you're not careful, it won't just consume your heart, it will destroy you entirely."
"Oh please. I'm not weak like that vizier you guys beat back in Agrabah. My heart is strong and I'm not afraid of the darkness," Riku scoffed in retort. "If anything, the darkness is afraid of me and what I can do with it."
"I never said otherwise, but you don't need to be afraid of darkness to be destroyed by it," Ventus pointed out. "I've seen what that kind of darkness can do to a person, and I had to watch as it practically destroyed my best friend, Terra from the inside out."
"Terra," Riku gasped in recognition. His mind immediately went to the tall, brown haired man with strange armor on one arm that he had met years ago as a kid, and he had to wonder if he was the same person as the one Ventus was talking about.
"Terra was a lot like you are, Riku. He cared a great deal for his best friends, and he was willing to do whatever it took to keep them safe, even if it meant using the powers of darkness. What he did not realize at first was that someone was feeding the dark fires of hate and rage inside of him, causing him to go astray from the path of what's right, until it was nearly too late. If weren't for me, Aqua, and a few other friends of ours, he would have been completely lost forever. Yes, he may still be a prisoner of darkness now, but he's still out there, fighting back against the one whose darkness overpowered him, determined to right the wrongs he had committed along the way, and I know that Sora does not want to lose you the same way."
Sora's heart truly went out to Ventus when he heard that story, and now more than ever, he wanted to help his master find and reunite with his friends, but more importantly, he could see what Ven was trying to do. The blonde was reaching out, hoping that he could get Riku to see reason before it was too late, and he was not about to let his master do what was supposed to be his job as Riku's best friend. "Riku, I know you're just trying to help Kairi, but this isn't the way. Endangering Pinocchio, using dark powers that would turn you into a monster, and even fighting against us…None of this is what Kairi would want. It's not what I would want."
"Save it, Sora," Riku snapped. "What does it matter how it happens? As long as Kairi's saved, that's all that should matter, especially to you of all people."
"Riku, please. Listen to us," Ventus pleaded.
"No, you listen! I'm not going to lose myself to darkness, like your friend, 'Master' Ventus. More importantly, if you really were a master, you would have figured out how to save your friend and help Kairi by now," Riku angrily interrupted.
"Now that's going too far, Riku," Sora snapped back in kind. "And besides, unlike you, we're actually doing something that would actually qualify as helping Kairi, and we're able to do it without putting others in danger!"
While this argument continued on, Jiminy had finally made it over to Pinocchio, calling out to the little fellow as soon as he was in earshot, but it did not seem like the cricket had been heard for a while. It was not until Jiminy was right in front of him that Pinocchio finally responded, in a soft, weak voice, saying, "Jiminy…I'm not gonna make it." Jiminy felt like he was about to cry when he heard that, but then he noticed a faint glow coming from Pinocchio, and he immediately looked up in surprise to see that Pinocchio's nose had grown a little longer, much to even the little puppet's surprise. "Oh! I guess I'm okay," Pinocchio happily exclaimed.
Jiminy had to smile a little as well while he jumped for joy. Sure, the little guy had lied to him a bit, but it did seem like it was just meant as a small joke and nothing more. Their little commotion did not go unnoticed by the others, because they all soon turned to see that Pinocchio was all right, much to the quartet's relief, and Riku's slight displeasure. The latter slowly started to change though when he saw how happy Jiminy was to see Pinocchio was not hurt, and Riku suddenly started to feel a slightly bad feeling in his stomach, because he was starting to see what Sora and Ven were trying to tell him. He had been so close to putting an innocent life in harm's way just because he wanted to try and help Kairi, and in the process, he would have inflicted the same worry and hurt on others that he was currently feeling right now, knowing that his friend was in desperate need of help. How could he have not seen that sooner? Were Ventus and Sora right to say that the darkness he had been using was clouding his judgment? No, that could not be the case. He controlled the darkness, not the other way around. They had to have been lying just so that they could keep him from noticing the cricket as he tried to reach the puppet.
Riku's thoughts came to a screeching halt though when he sensed something was about to fall on him from above, and he quickly jumped back just in time to avoid being flattened or captured by the Parasite Cage, back once again to finish what it started. Knowing that there was no way he could finish what he started now, Riku instantly opened a dark portal and escaped, deciding that he should just leave Sora and the others to whatever fate now awaited them. Ventus had instantly sensed the sudden surge in darkness that came from Riku's actions, but he did not have the time to pay it any mind, because right now, his friends needed him more, and he was never one to abandon them. Sora showed that he was the same way when he looked to the puppet who dreamed of being a real boy and shouted, "Pinocchio, run! Get back to Geppetto while we deal with this guy!"
Pinocchio did not argue at all, and he was soon out of Monstro's stomach almost before you could even blink, with Jiminy going along just to make sure that the little guy would get back in one piece. With the other two out of the way, the four adventurers were now free to do what they were quickly becoming some of the best at: fighting and destroying Heartless. Although, some would not say that was something to brag about. "We just can't go anywhere without something like this happening, can we," Donald groaned as he quickly cast a Defensive Aero spell around the others for safe measure.
"Well, considering there's two Keyblade wielders in our group, and that it's our job to stop creatures of darkness like the Heartless, it is a little unavoidable," Ventus shrugged as he summoned out his Fever Pitch Command Style, showing just how ready he was to go at it with the Parasite Cage.
All conversation ceased at that point, but not just because there was a battle to be fought. No, the main reason was because Sora had finally hit his limit on how much he could take today regarding problems. Getting swallowed by a whale, finding out your best friend was using dark magic, having said best friend basically tell you to either get lost or help him hurt someone just because he thinks it will help your other best friend, and then getting this dropped on you all in one day would be a lot for anyone's nerves, and that was especially true for Sora. The only problem with that is that when Sora had finally gotten fed up over something, he tended to act a little rashly and even less thinking. A prime example of this would be how he had just charged straight at the Parasite Cage using both his own strength and that of the Sonic Blade ability, and barely even noticed how Ventus shouted for him to wait. As a result of his hasty attack, Sora ended up getting swatted aside by the Parasite Cage before he could land a second strike with Sonic Blade, and he was pushed further back when the Parasite Cage suddenly lunged forward, its mouth rapidly chomping open and closed like it was planning to chew him up and swallow him like a tiny snack. Luckily the sphere of wind that Sora had been encased in earlier thanks to Donald kept him from being trapped by the Heartless boss, but it still sent him flying into the stomach acid that currently surrounded them.
The minute he felt said acids burning into his skin, Sora jumped out with a yelp and onto the nearest safe platform. Unfortunately, he had to jump clear of that platform as well, because the Parasite Cage had swung one its tentacles at the platform he had jumped to and would have knocked him into the stomach acid again if he had not gotten clear. Before the Parasite Cage could try and attack the kid again, Ventus rushed it with a strong, fast swing of his Keyblade, no doubt partly due to the fact he was still using his Fever Pitch Command Style, but Sora could swear he saw Ven's Keyblade glowing with a slight red tinge as he attacked. Afterwards, every time Ven swung his Keyblade, his strikes were not just fast but powerful as well; faster than they normally were when the blonde was using his Unique Command Style, until finally, Ven finished up by spinning around and unleashing a few final slashes, utilizing acrobatics unlike anything Sora had ever seen before. Unknown to Sora, this was a special attack power known as Ars Arcanum, an ability that Ven had long been proud to say was one of the few that he mastered while Aqua and Terra had not.
Sadly, it turned out that the Parasite Cage was not as impressed with Ven's attack as Sora was, as it proved by swinging both of its arms at Ventus in an attempt to either flatten him or swat him into the stomach acid. Luckily, Ven's Fever Pitch Command Style helped him avoid most of these attacks, and any of the ones he did not were blocked by either his Keyblade, the Aero Shield around him, or by Goofy's shield. That last one was always followed by a hard bash from said knight's shield, and then a barrage of magic from Donald, both of which earned the two a grateful nod from the Keyblade Master before he charged in once again with Sora coming in alongside him to do the same. What none of them expected was that the Parasite Cage would use its tentacles to suck up some of the stomach acid and then release it from its larger mouth as a dangerous breath attack. When it stuck them, Donald and Goofy were both left either dazed or poisoned, despite the protective spells surrounding them, but thankfully, the worst that had happened to the two Keybearers was that their own shields were just blown off. Not that they were any less worried once they realized that.
"Jiminy wasn't kidding when he said that this thing was more dangerous when it did not have a prisoner inside of it," Ventus muttered to himself as he raced away from a few more tentacles swipes, feeling the energy of his Command Style starting to fade as he went. He would have stopped to charge it, but this Heartless was not giving him much of a chance to pause for anything.
Sora was in the same situation, only instead of trying to summon a Command Style, he was busy trying to ready a Shotlock, or one of the special attacks that Ventus had taught him. Every time Sora thought he had a chance to unleash said power, he had to jump clear of a tentacle or another blast of poisonous gas just seconds after he was either gathering energy or aiming his Keyblade. Eventually, Goofy managed to get a couple of remedies out to Donald, who fixed up all of his friends with a healing spell, and they were all scrambling to land a hit on the Parasite Cage while avoiding the nasty gas it spewed out of its larger mouth and the stomach acid. Needless to say, it was not an easy fight, and it only got harder when Donald was suddenly knocked unconscious after taking a particularly hard hit from one of the Parasite Cage's tentacles. That was what ended up getting Sora to break out of his pattern of evasion, because he quickly abandoned all attempts to dodge the Heartless' attacks while trying to make one attempt at attacking, and started rushing over to Donald so he could try and help out somehow, and it did not go unnoticed by anyone.
"Sora! Watch out!" But Ventus' warning was too little too late, because the Parasite Cage had soon blasted Sora with its poisonous breath, and the kid took the full brunt of it right into the back. Not only was Sora seriously hurt and likely poisoned now, but the force of the Heartless' attack caused him to hit the wall near where Donald landed, hard, and he instantly dropped to the ground unconscious afterwards while his Keyblade clattered onto the ground after falling out of his grasp. Ventus was just glad that neither Sora nor his weapon had landed in the stomach acid when the fell, but he barely had any time to think about that, because now, all of the Parasite Cage's attention was on him and Goofy. Seeing as both of their friends were out cold, the two were now doing everything they could think of to protect themselves while searching for some kind of opening they could use to reach the others, but at the rate they were going, they both felt that it was likely going to take a miracle to get out of this mess.
After Master Aqua had disappeared, the strange world that Kairi was in had vanished as well, and once again, she was on a large platform with a stain glass floor. She was not alone though, because she was soon battling Heartless once more, only these were not the standard Shadows. These were bigger, more muscular, had a more humanoid shape, with large hands that sported five clawed fingers, feet that more resembled boots, and antenna that were much longer, falling back behind the Heartless. To round out the differences, Kairi could also see that its body was lined with faint, blue veins that stretched out all across it. For a brief moment, Kairi had thought that they would not be that much more trouble than a typical Shadow, but these guys quickly proved her wrong when they showed that they were much more strategic in how they fought after they easily evaded and counterattacked whenever she tried to use some simple strikes against them. Kairi ended up having to get more than a little creative in fighting these things, but even that was barely enough to stay ahead of them.
It was not until she heard Aqua's voice once again, quietly telling her how to use magic in her head, that she was able to turn the tide, and she did so using a few light spells that she had not expected to be able to use. She had no idea what the name of any light spells were, let alone how to unleash them, and she knew she could not have gained that knowledge from Sora's memories because he had not learned anything like that either, and yet, she was able to use such magic easily. It was almost a little too unreal for Kairi to handle, but she had to handle it right now, because otherwise she was going to get hurt by these Heartless. From that point on, the fight became so much easier, especially since the Heartless were so vulnerable to the light magic she was throwing out. Add in the fact that Kairi was using said spells so easily, and did not even feel the slightest bit of fatigue after casting so many spells in a row for so long, and she was definitely feeling really confident in how well she would do when she got her body back along with a Keyblade.
When the fight was finally over, Kairi was sure that she would be facing that large Heartless known as a Darkside, but to her surprise, the creature never appeared. In fact, after she had slain the very last Heartless that had been attacking, nothing else appeared at all, much to her confusion. If there was nothing else for her to fight, that would mean that her Dive to the Heart was over, right? But then again, she was not waking up, and she was still on the same platform that she had landed on when this recent fight started, so what was going on? Kairi figured that if it really was not over yet, she should just wait it out and see what happened, and for the first few minutes, that was fairly easy to do, but eventually, it did start to drag on a little. Though she was probably just feeling that because she had all lost track of time after a while.
That was when it finally happened. Somewhere out from the haze surrounding the platform, Kairi could hear some faint whispers that slowly grew a little louder with each passing minute. When they finally reached a volume that allowed her to make out what the voices were saying a little more easily, she instantly recognized them as the voices of Ventus and her two best friends, and it did not sound like they were getting along at the moment. "Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience. You might not hear it, but right now it's loud and clear. And it's telling me you're on the wrong side!"
"Then you leave me no choice."
"Riku, open your eyes. The darkness you're using is messing with your head, and while it may be powerful, if you're not careful, it won't just consume your heart, it will destroy you entirely."
"Oh please. I'm not weak like that vizier you guys beat back in Agrabah. My heart is strong and I'm not afraid of the darkness. If anything, the darkness is afraid of me and what I can do with it."
As the conversation carried on, Kairi could only feel her worries grow more and more, both for Riku and for Sora. If what she heard Ventus say just now was true, then she had to do something to try and help. She was already able to reach Sora, so maybe if she just concentrated hard enough, she could somehow reach out to Riku and talk to him as well. Sure, she was already unable to reach Sora at the moment because of this little test, but if she could hear them now, then maybe there was a chance she could get through. She was just about to try when another voice spoke up, only this one was directed towards her, and it seemed that the speaker had been reading her thoughts just now, because the first thing they asked was, "What do you really think you can do right now?"
Kairi gasped in shock, because she recognized this voice too, and she immediately spun around to look behind her, and she was not disappointed by what she saw standing at the far end of the platform. There, standing just as tall and proud as she had been before, clad in the very same attire that Kairi had seen her wearing up until now and with a small smile on her face, was none other than the very same Keyblade Master she had spoken to earlier when she was being asked those questions. "Master Aqua," Kairi cheered happily, rushing over to the blunette as quickly as she could. Her charge soon came to screeching halt though, because when she got close enough, she realized something about said master that was not quite right. "What's going on here? I can see right through you."
That was not an exaggeration even in the slightest, because Aqua was currently as transparent as a ghost, a fact that made Kairi a little worried. Aqua on the other hand, did not seem too concerned by this, even as she looked herself over a bit. "It's actually not as strange as you'd think," Aqua explained. "I'm not really there at the moment, but I am still able to communicate with you. The only problem is that you don't have something on you that would act as a suitable conduit for me to channel my magic through, like a special keepsake that was exchanged between us, and when you combine that with the details of my current location…well, I'm surprised that I could contact you like this at all. If I'm being completely honest, I really thought that I would only be able to just speak with you. Maybe the fact that I was chosen by your heart to be one of the people who would ask you those questions has something to do with it, but honestly, I'm too happy to just be able to talk to you right now to really care what the reason is."
"If you can reach me like this though, why haven't you tried to contact Ventus? He's really worried about you," Kairi questioned.
Now it was Aqua's turn to be surprised, and it showed when her face lit up with both shock and joy while she asked, "Ven? He's okay? He's awake?!"
"Well…I wouldn't say that he's okay, since he's fighting monsters and bad guys with Sora, but, yeah, he's awake. At least, last I checked he was," Kairi slowly replied, her tone unsure of what Aqua was talking about.
It must have been very evident on her face, because Aqua quickly explained, "The last time I saw Ventus, before I had fallen into the Realm of Darkness to save another friend, Ven's heart had been seriously damaged, and he had fallen into a deep sleep in order to heal. His heart had been sleeping in a place between light and darkness, and I had to leave him in a safe place so that I could go out to find and save Terra. I thought it would be much longer before he finally woke up again, and a small, selfish part of me hoped that I would be able to be there when he finally did wake up from that. Still, to hear he's awake again…Oh, thank goodness. I can't help but wonder how much he's changed since then."
If she needed any more indication aside from what she had heard Ventus telling Sora and the others, then this was definitely it for Kairi. This, more than anything, proved that the bond between Aqua and Ventus was much more than simple friendship, because it showed in the way that Aqua's eyes and smile seemed to shine brightly in the way that was only possible for someone who was in love. Seeing this made Kairi smile a little, but it also reminded her of what was going on outside, and she was quick to return to the matter. "Listen, Master Aqua, I'd love to talk with you more and ask so many questions that I'm just dying to know, but I've got to get out of here and help Sora somehow. He and Riku need my help," Kairi practically pleaded.
At that point, Aqua's loving smile fell from her face, and a neutral expression took over as she said, "I know, and that's why I'm here." When Kairi looked at her oddly, Aqua elaborated, "Before anything else happens, you need to answer my question: What do you really think you can do right now?"
"I don't understand. Don't you remember what I said that I wished for? I want to protect what's most precious from anything or anyone that would do them harm. For me, that's my friends, especially in the case of my best friends," Kairi reminded the blunette.
"I'm well aware of that, Kairi, and I'm glad that you feel that way, but that's not what I'm asking you right now," Aqua clarified. "Kairi, right now, you're in the middle of a Dive to the Heart, a very sacred and important ritual for all potential Keyblade Wielders, and it's not something that can be easily interrupted, if at all. You should already know this since you have not been able to talk to Sora the entire time this has been happening. If you couldn't reach him before, what makes you think you can reach either of them now? More to the point, you had to struggle just to speak with Sora before he found out where you currently are, and that's considering the fact that you're literally inside his heart. Unless I'm understanding wrong, there isn't any part of you inside of Riku, so how do you expect to reach him at all, even without being in the middle of a dive?"
Kairi was not sure how to answer that. Aqua did have a point when she mentioned how she had not been able to talk to Sora at all since the dive had started, but then again, it was not like she had really tried since that first time, which was before she even realized what she was in the middle of. Afterwards, she had not made any attempts, mostly because she did not want whoever was running this whole thing to think she was cheating by getting help from Sora, assuming that was even possible, but also because she had a feeling he was doing something important at the moment, so she did not want to distract him. Not only that, but Aqua was right in saying that she had a hard time interacting with Sora before he learned that she was inside of him, and the few times she did get his attention, she had barely been able to keep her presence known to him for more than a couple minutes at best most of the time. How was she supposed to reach Riku with all of that in mind?
Apparently, Aqua was not quite finished making her point, because she still had more to say. "There's also one other thing to consider: Riku's current condition. He's clearly opened himself up to the power of darkness, as I'm sure you've noticed by now. More than that, Riku's walking a path that's very similar to my and Ven's friend, Terra, and it's one that will not end very well if he's not careful. If you try to reach out to him now, there's a chance his dark powers could pull you from Sora's heart, and that's the last thing that he or any of the worlds need right now: for the heart of the last Princess of Heart to be lost somewhere in the darkness."
As Kairi continued to listen, her self-assurance that she would be able to help her friends right now continued to slowly diminish, and it would likely have disappeared altogether had something else not happened. It was not really something she had taken notice of right away since it was so small and insignificant when she first arrived here, but when she did notice a small flash of light from the corner of her eye, she immediately turned towards the source to see that a faint image was forming in the midst of the dark clouds that surrounded the tower she and Aqua were standing on. When she and Aqua both turned to face it completely, they ended up watching as the image grew larger and clearer, until finally, they were able to see very clearly that it was displaying the battle that was happening outside, namely as it happened through Sora's eyes.
Kairi was sure that she heard Aqua let out a small gasp one of the few times that Ventus had come into full view, and she could not blame the blunette. After all, she and Ventus had both said that it had been a long time since they last saw each other, so she figured that Aqua had to be a little surprised by how much her old friend had changed in the time since she last saw him. The redhead of the two did not pay it much mind though, since she was more focused on what was happening to her own spiky haired friend, and it did not look like the fight was going too well for him from her perspective. When they saw Sora's eyes turn to see that last blast of poisonous gas, the image went completely black, and Kairi instantly knew what that likely meant for her friend, which caused her to panic a little more, and her resolve to shoot right back up to what it had been before.
"That's it! I'm not going to just stand here and watch Sora get hurt like this. I don't care what it takes; I've got to help him somehow," Kairi determined, and she immediately turned to demand that Aqua help her find a way to wake up and help Sora, but the blunette beat her to the punch.
"Kairi, you can't leave now," Aqua preempted, and it was clear from her voice that she was desperately trying to warn Kairi. That alone made the redhead feel a little nervous, and it was a well-deserved feeling, as Aqua revealed, "If you leave your Dive to the Heart now, you won't just lose your chance to gain a Keyblade; you'll run the risk of never being able to call on any form of magic at all ever again. As a Princess of Heart, you need to possess some latent magic so that you can at least be protected against powers of darkness. Without that power, not only will you be more vulnerable than even the simplest of normal human beings, you will also place the worlds at much greater risk."
"I don't care! I won't just abandon Sora just so I can get a fancy sword and a bit of magic," Kairi shouted, her face scrunching up in anger when she did.
Aqua just stared at Kairi for a moment, but she finally spoke again, her tone very even and controlled, while she questioned, "You would rather give up any and all powers you possess and place the worlds at risk just so you can save one person?"
"He's not just one person; he's my best friend…No, Sora means more to me than anything else," Kairi admitted, and she then added one final question that she was sure would help to get her point across. "What's the point of saving all the worlds if the ones you care about aren't in any of them with you?"
Silence hung in the air for what felt like several hours, while the two girls stared each other down, one with a look of determination, and the other with a look that made the first feel like she was being x-rayed, until finally, Aqua closed her eyes for a moment, sighed, and then looked up to Kairi again…with a wide smile on her face. "Well then, Kairi, I'd say congratulations are in order. You passed."
"I…I what," Kairi stuttered, now completely lost.
"This was all part of your final test," Aqua explained. "Normally, you would've had to fight against a very powerful being of darkness to prove you could overcome the darkness, much like how your friend Sora had, but seeing as you are a Princess of Heart, such a test was not going to work. Obviously, you would always be able to overcome darkness simply because of the fact that there is no darkness in your heart, and the light inside of you shines much brighter than anyone else's. Though in your case, it may shine brighter than even another Princess of Heart, but either way, a different test needed to be given. You see, even someone with a heart of pure light can make the wrong choices, and while some would argue in favor of the idea that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, as wielders of the Keyblade, we must always believe that everyone can be saved, regardless of what would happen to others or to ourselves. My own master had forgotten that at one point near the end of his life, and I did not want another person to follow a similar path. That's why, when I sensed a powerful light taking this test, I felt that I had to do what I could to make sure that you would follow the right path. Never forget Kairi, that there's more than one way to fight the darkness than simply with light, and that one should never think for a second that they can't at least try to save everyone if possible. Do you understand?"
"I…I think so," Kairi hesitantly nodded, but it was clear that she was not one hundred percent sure on that.
Aqua must have understood where the confusion came from, because she simply continued to smile in understanding as she said, "Don't worry. I don't expect you to completely understand everything right away. After all, I didn't get every lesson entirely right away either, and you're still young. Just continue as you are, watch over your friends in their journey, and do what you can to help wherever possible." She then glanced upwards and commented, "And now, I think it's time for the closing statements."
"The day that the door will open is both far off and very near. The journey will not ever be easy, but don't be afraid. Like the destined chosen one, you hold the mightiest weapon of all. And don't forget: while he may be the one who will open the door, you are the one who gives him the power to continue on."
Kairi looked around at that, recognizing the mysterious voice that ran most of this test in an instant when it had spoken, and as she did, she could see everything beginning to fade away in a faint light, including Aqua. While everything else was not really something she was concerned about, it was seeing Aqua vanish that made her worried. "Wait! Master Aqua," Kairi called out. "Don't leave! We need you!"
Aqua just laughed a little as she vanished, before she said, "You know, you don't have to be so formal with me, Kairi. I told you before when we last met you can just call me Aqua."
"When we last…so I have met you before," Kairi asked, feeling like this was a huge clue to the part of her past she can't remember.
"Yes, back on your home world when you were just a little girl. You and I both met King Mickey when he helped me to save you from some dangerous monsters, and you gave me flowers as thanks," Aqua revealed. "Even back then, I just knew somehow that I didn't run into you by accident. Don't worry; we'll see each other again soon enough. I promise. For now, do what you can to help your friend, and make sure he always keeps his light burning strong, and that he keeps his promise to me as well."
Even though the blunette was nearly gone from her sights, Kairi still smiled at where she had been standing, and gave Aqua a quick nod in reply, hoping that Aqua saw said action before she disappeared from her view as well. A moment later, Kairi could feel a new energy surging through her, but she paid it little attention because she could also sense that the connection she used to talk to Sora was now wide open once again. With that feeling now back, Kairi took a deep breath and shouted as loudly as she could, "Sora, you lazy bum, wake up! The others need you now!"
Sora did not know how long he was unconscious for, but he did know that it was not until he heard Kairi screaming in his head that he finally woke up with a start. Thankfully, he was not too shocked by the sudden bit of shouting in his head that he was unable to roll out of the way of another stray blast of poisonous gas, but that did not mean he was not still a little surprised that Kairi was suddenly speaking to him again. More than that, he somehow felt reenergized, like something had taken away all of his weariness and exhaustion and replaced it with boundless energy, and somehow, he just knew that Kairi had a hand in that. He just could not figure out how at the moment. "Kairi? Why haven't you…what were…" Sora started to ask.
"I'll explain later. The others need you right now," Kairi interrupted, and just like that, Sora could suddenly feel an influx of energy flowing through him. Combine that with the fact that the world seemed to be slowing down around him once again, and Sora knew exactly what was coming next: another new Shotlock.
At once, all concerns and questions left Sora's mind, as he simply grinned excitedly while letting his Keyblade direct his aim over the Parasite Cage until he was sure it was at full power. A moment later, the energy that was building up was released, and started flowing both around his body and his Keyblade, forming a long energy sword around his Keyblade, and Sora instantly charged forward, shocking Ventus and Goofy a little as he passed. When he had gotten close enough, he immediately unleashed a series of fast, powerful slashes that seemed to cut through the Heartless boss like a knife through butter, all while rushing past it over and over again, much like he would whenever he was using Sonic Blade to attack, only it seemed that the aura of light that surrounded him was dealing a bit of glancing damage as well whenever he passed close enough to the Heartless. A moment later, Sora back flipped away from the Heartless, drew his Keyblade back, and then charged at the Parasite Cage, thrusting his Keyblade forward when he was within reach of the beast. After he had past it, the Parasite Cage suddenly became racked with several explosions of powerful light magic, which did not cease until Sora stood upright again, and swung his sword down. The minute he did, almost as if it were on command, a massive burst of light exploded outward from the Parasite Cage, signaling the end of Sora's attack.
Sora then grinned back to where his target had been, and asked, "So tough guy, how do you like my new Radiant Blade Shotlock?"
You would think that the only answer Sora would receive was silence, but instead, when the smoke cleared, everyone could see that the Parasite Cage was still alive. The only difference was that it appeared to be heavily damaged, right to the point where it was barely able to move all that much, let alone attack right, and that was all the opening that Ventus needed. Moving quickly, Ventus raced up to the Heartless boss, and then dropped back into a stance while his Keyblade seemed to charge with energy as he declared, "Well if you didn't get enough from that, then how about I give you a little taste of Salvation."
A second later, a massive explosion of light seemed to be released from Ven's entire being, and continued to expand outward as he spun around, releasing several columns of light all at once. Getting hit by one powerful, light-based attack was one thing, but two consecutive ones was more than any typical Heartless or Heartless boss could take, and the Parasite Cage was certainly not very special among Heartless bosses, so when it was struck by Ventus' attack, it immediately disintegrated in a blast of smoke, releasing a crystal heart afterwards, even as Ven's attack came to an end, with him raising his Keyblade into the air as a final signal to its end. Seeing their enemy was defeated, Goofy immediately went over to get Donald back on his feet while Ventus prepared to ask Sora what had just happened, and how he seemed to get reenergized so quickly, not knowing that his apprentice was about to try and start questioning Kairi on what had happened to her and what she just did to him again. Out of all of those things though, only Goofy was able to accomplish his task right away, because the whole chamber suddenly started shaking around them, while odd slime seemed to begin spewing out of random points on the walls, making them all wonder what was going on now.
They found out soon enough, thanks to their small chronicler, because Jiminy had come running in at just that moment, shouting as loudly as he could in an attempt to get their attention. "Hey everybody! We've gotta get outta here, now," Jiminy shouted. "Pinocchio and Geppetto started a fire to make Monstro sneeze them out, and from what it looks like, it seems all of your fighting has given him a really upset stomach. This may be our only chance to escape."
Apparently, Donald had woken up right when Jiminy had said that last sentence, because he wasted no time in jumping to his feet again and screaming out one simple command that no one was arguing with right that second. "RUN!"
"There's no time! We'll never make it back up to the ship before Monstro blows," Ventus informed them, and he quickly whipped out his communicator to contact the ship. "Chip, Dale, if the teleporters are working, then get us all out of here, on the double!"
"Roger that," the chipmunks squeaked in response, and Ventus was about to lead everyone out of the whale's stomach so that they would be able to teleport to the ship more smoothly when he noticed that Sora was not following them.
"Sora, we've gotta go," Ventus called out.
"No, not yet. Not without Riku," Sora shouted. Clearly he had not realized yet that Riku was already long gone by now. "Riku! Riku, where are you?!"
"Sora, it's too late! Riku's already gone, and if you don't leave now, you won't ever be able to find him again," Kairi shouted in his head, beating Ventus to the punch on informing Sora of that without the blonde knowing it.
Sora could not say anything in response to anyone after hearing that, and he then hesitantly turned to rush after the others so they could get back to the ship, feeling the tingling sensation of the gummi ship's teleporter working its magic as he did. That did not keep him from wondering what had happened to Riku while they had been fighting, though.
Somewhere far away from where the four adventurers were, aboard the pirate ship of Captain Hook, Riku was standing solemnly over the apparently lifeless form of Kairi, feeling a great swell of sorrow at seeing her in the state she was currently in. Ever since he had been brought to her, Riku had tried everything he could think of to wake her up, but so far, nothing had worked. It was not until he had come across Monstro and sensed Pinocchio inside of the whale that he felt he had gained some form of breakthrough on how to help Kairi, but of course, Sora and his new pals just had to go and get in his way. Sure, he might have been a little hasty and extreme in his actions, and maybe they did have a point in saying that Kairi would not have wanted others to get hurt just so she could be saved, but that did not mean he believed he was entirely in the wrong. Despite what Sora had said before he had to retreat, he still believed he was the only one doing anything to save Kairi while Sora was off playing around with Master Ventus. Now, he had lost what could have been his best lead, and he was reduced to his last option, and it was one that he was not too fond of having to use, even if she had done a lot to help him so far, as she kept pointing out to him whenever the chance arose.
After taking a deep breath, Riku finally posed his question to Maleficent, his eyes not leaving Kairi's still form as she continued to rest in a deep, sleep-like state. "So, Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?"
"Precisely," Maleficent confirmed with a slightly smug smile on her face.
"And her heart was…" Riku started to ask, but he found himself unable to bring himself to finish his question.
Maleficent on the other hand had no qualms in filling in the blank for him. "Taken by the Heartless, no doubt."
This statement was what finally drove Riku to pry his eyes away from Kairi and face Maleficent, his expression desperate and pleading as he begged, "Tell me! What can I do?"
Maleficent merely grinned for a moment, and had to restrain herself from starting the answer by saying that she thought he would never ask, because she knew that would give her away in an instant. "There are seven maidens of the purest heart. We call them the Princesses of Heart," the evil fairy explained. "Gather them together, and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom. There, you will surely find a way to recover Kairi's heart."
Riku thought about all of this for a minute. It seemed simple enough: all he had to do was find the last Princess of Heart for Maleficent, since he knew she already had the other six, and then use their power to reach the heart of all worlds, which would grant him the answer on how to get Kairi's heart back from the Heartless. It all made sense in his head, but he still was not quite sure what Maleficent wanted this place for. Surely, she would not just seek this place out for the fun of it, and Riku did not think she was one to pursue such things for selfless reasons like he was. Okay, so maybe he was also doing it because he wanted to rub it in Sora's face later, but the rest of his reasons were still selfless. Either way, whatever Maleficent's reasons were no longer mattered to Riku so long as he got Kairi's heart back, so he did not hesitate to give a nod of agreement to show that he would do what she was asking of him.
Maleficent was ecstatic to see that Riku was so willing to cooperate, so she decided to finalize his inclusion into her little circle of allies, a fact she informed Riku of right away. "Now, I'll grant you a marvelous gift: the power to control the Heartless," Maleficent decreed, spreading her arms wide as she cast a spell that would do exactly what she said she would be doing.
All at once, Riku's vision briefly went black, but it quickly passed, and when he looked down, he could see a green aura surrounding his body, while the dark energies he had been using up until now seemed to surge in a way that it had not before. Normally, one probably would have panicked a little, but Riku on the other hand did no such thing. Instead, he actually felt incredibly calm, almost as if the feeling of this darkness coursing through him veins was soothing every part of his very being. Sure, there was a slight tinge of pain in some parts of him, but it was so small that he barely even registered it, and even if he had, he would doubtlessly have muscled through the pain just to show that he could handle this new power, and he was going to handle it. Up until now, he had always been followed by the Heartless so that Maleficent and the others could keep a close eye on him, while one of them commanded the dark creatures. Being granted the ability to control the Heartless on his own at last gave Riku a great feeling of relief, and made him feel as though he had finally proven himself trustworthy to Maleficent and her cause. Not that he really cared about it that much, because right now, the only thing he did care about was resting in a bed behind him.
"Soon, Kairi. Soon," Riku promised the girl with a reassuring look to her, not knowing that Maleficent was smirking at his back the entire time he did, almost as though she knew some deeper, darker secret about all of this that Riku did not.
Deep in interspace, Monstro was swimming along until a large cloud of smoke started seeping through the edges of his mouth, while his stomach started churning violently. At first the whale seemed to ignore it, but eventually, it became too much for the vicious mammal, and he let out a powerful sneeze that sent everything inside his mouth flying out at near lightspeed. Two objects in particular went sailing away from Monstro, and while one of them continued flying onwards even after it was well out of sight, the other eventually came to a stop once its passengers were sure that they were far enough away from Monstro. As they glanced out the viewport of the gummi ship in the direction of the other object, the others could not help but feel a little worried about the passengers that had been aboard the other ship.
"I sure hope Pinocchio and Geppetto are okay," Goofy commented, worriedly.
"Yeah, hopefully they landed safely somewhere," Donald agreed.
"I wouldn't worry too much," Ventus reassured them. "From what Chip and Dale told me, the gummi blocks they had applied to Geppetto's ship should allow them to fly straight to Traverse Town with little to no problems. I'll bet that they'll have landed there and set themselves up nicely by the next time we go back to resupply."
Goofy and Donald thought that over for a little bit until they both smiled in agreement with Ven, but their moods soon became sad once more when they remembered something else. Upon doing so, Donald immediately turned to another friend and asked, "But are you sure you're okay with leaving Pinocchio on his own like that, Jiminy? You are his conscience after all."
Jiminy did not answer right away, but instead just remained silent as he continued staring after where Geppetto's ship had disappeared. There had not been enough time for the team to get the little cricket back to the father and son before Monstro had blown his top, so they ended up bringing him back aboard the Kingdom with the rest of them. Naturally, they were all concerned about what Jiminy would have wanted to do once he had met Pinocchio again, but if they were being honest, they had been okay with the idea that Jiminy would leave them to be with the little puppet instead of continuing the journey with them. They did not think that Jiminy would lose his chance to stay with Pinocchio as quickly as it had came back to him, and it did seem to bother him a little bit.
After another few minutes of silence, Jiminy finally sighed and said, "I don't mind being left behind as long as they're both safe, but…well, I can't help but think that Pinocchio doesn't need me anymore."
"What do you mean," Goofy asked.
"That little puppet used to have so much trouble telling right from wrong, but he's come a long way since then. I'll bet he's now well on his way to becoming a real boy for sure, so maybe he doesn't need Jiminy Cricket anymore. Seems like he's got a conscience of his very own, so why would he really need me around now," Jiminy explained, his expression nothing short of sad despite how happy he was to see that his friend was so close to achieving his dream.
They all understood what Jiminy was getting at. He and Pinocchio had been together for so long that Jiminy had never really thought about what he would do when the day came when Pinocchio did become a real boy. It had been his job to be Pinocchio's conscience ever since they had met, and sure, they had become really good friends, but Jiminy was not entirely sure if Pinocchio would really feel like he needed Jiminy after he got what he and Geppetto had both been wishing for. It all made the others feel a little bad for Jiminy, and all of their hearts went out to him, but Ventus was not going to let Jiminy go and think something like that.
"Come on, don't go and say that," the blonde told Jiminy, earning a curious look from the little cricket in response. "You saw how happy they were to see you again after so long, right? Well, that just shows that they'll always need you around. Maybe not as a conscience, but definitely as a friend. I'll bet that Pinocchio's already eagerly counting the days until he sees you again."
That brought a smile to Jiminy's face, showing that he was feeling a little better now, and he then said, "You know, you just might be right. Thanks Ven, but don't think I'm going to leave you fellas any time soon. After all, I promised to chronicle your journey every step of the way, and I can't do that if I leave you all just to be with Pinocchio again. After all, we're all friends too."
Everyone nodded in thanks to Jiminy for that, but at the mention of friends, they all found their gazes turning to Sora. He was the only one who had not been watching as Geppetto's ship disappeared into the distance, but instead, just simply remained in his seat ever since they had gotten back onto the ship, quietly sulking about what had happened between him and Riku. He had failed to get through to his friend, and now, there was no telling what had happened to Riku. Had he really escaped, and if so, how did he do it? With more dark magic? Sora did not want to think about it too much, because the more he did, the sadder he felt. The other three all wanted to try and help Sora with this, but none of them were entirely sure how. Ventus had an idea on it, but he was not entirely sure just how much help telling Sora the rest of Terra's story would really help, considering what had happened to Terra in the end. Besides that, despite how much Ventus wanted Sora to learn to not be so overconfident in their mission, he did not want the kid to learn just how bad such ideas were like this.
There was still one person who knew how to help Sora though, and she did not hesitate to get to work. "Come on, Sora. You can't just give up," Kairi encouraged him. "Don't forget, Riku doesn't know the full story of what's going on here, and it's not like you ever got the chance to really tell him before something else came up. I'll bet we can still reach him if we keep trying."
"I don't know Kairi," Sora mentally replied while he let out a soft sigh. "Riku had…he's changed so much since we saw him. He was acting like he didn't even care what happened to Pinocchio or us if we didn't help him. It was like he had turned into something…scary."
"Well then, you're just going to have to work harder," Kairi encouraged, but it did not seem to do much good. Kairi decided it was time to switch to the bigger guns, and asked, "Sora, do you remember that woman you and Riku met when you were little? The one with blue hair?"
"Huh? Well…kind of. Wait, how'd you know about that," Sora questioned.
Kairi did not answer that, but instead pressed on with her point. "If you remember her, then I'm sure you remember what you promised her too, right?" Even if it was only a few seconds of pause, Kairi still did not hesitate to fill in the blanks when Sora just remained silent. "You promised her that if something happens, and Riku is about to get lost, or he starts wandering down a dark path alone, you would make sure to stay with him and keep him safe, because that's your job as his best friend. I know you can still help him so long as you remember that promise you made to Aqua."
At that point, it all came rushing back to Sora. That day on the islands, the person Kairi was talking about, and how he had indeed made such a promise. By the time he had remembered all of this, Sora could feel himself regaining some of his lost confidence, and he was definitely showing that he was starting to feel a little better, much to their others' relief. They all had a pretty good idea why Sora suddenly appeared to be cheering up like that. That still left one thing unanswered for Sora, and he had to ask right now. "Wait, how did you know that the woman was Master Aqua? More to the point, how'd you know about any of that at all?"
"I saw the memory earlier while you were passed out. And…And I met Aqua as well. In a dream, or rather…in a Dive to the Heart," Kairi answered.
"WHAT?! You had a Dive to the Heart," Sora exclaimed, this time out loud, startling all of the others both from his exclamation and how he had jumped up out of his seat so suddenly.
"Who had a Dive to the Heart, Sora," Ventus asked.
"Kairi did! That's why she wasn't answering me while we were inside Monstro, she was having her own dive," Sora explained. "And get this: she said that she met Master Aqua while it was happening too!"
"What?! Are you sure," Ventus asked. "Are you absolutely sure it was not just an illusion that was created by the test."
"It wasn't. She was there with me, guiding me through certain parts of the test as it went on, and even spoke to me after I had answered the last of those three questions," Kairi replied, with Sora relaying it all to Ventus on her behalf. "She was there. I'm sure of it."
Ventus could hardly believe it. All of these years of searching, and not once had he, Mickey, or anyone else they had gone to for help found any indication that Aqua was still okay despite being trapped in the Realm of Darkness, until now. The shock of it was so unreal that Ventus was not only speechless, but he had to sit down as well, and it showed when he practically fell back into the pilot's seat of the bridge, a relieved, joyous smile taking over his face. "She's okay," Ventus whispered to himself as his eyes started to water with tears of joy. "By the worlds…She really is still okay, and she's still fighting to get back home."
This was great news to be certain, but there was also something else to consider as well, and as much as he hated to bring it up, Goofy still felt the need to do so, and asked, "Hey, uh, if Master Aqua is close to finding a way out, then does that mean that other things could be just as close to finding a way out of the Realm of Darkness too?"
All at once, everyone sobered up at that thought, because they knew Goofy was right. If Aqua really was able to break through the wall between the realms to do what Kairi said she did, then that meant that other, much more dangerous things could be getting through much more often and rapidly than they had been up until now. It was already a struggle to deal with the Heartless in general, but if even the smallest crack were to open up, then the powers from the Realm of Darkness would no doubt make fighting the Heartless even more difficult than before. They could not allow that to happen, and from the looks on the adventurers' faces, they had no intention of letting it, no matter what happened or who they had to face off with. To emphasize this point, Donald took charge and stood tall as he declared, "Then we've got to make sure, that until she does get out, nothing bad happens to the other worlds. So let's hurry to the next world so we can seal its Keyhole."
"Yeah, and maybe if we're lucky, we'll find a clue about the king, Riku, Kairi's body, or even how we can bring Master Aqua back sooner without anything bad happening," Sora agreed, and with that, everyone was jumping back into their seats, with Ventus gunning the engines to maximum thrust, all of them ready for whatever the next world may bring with new determination burning in their hearts.
Despite how great their determination was though, Ventus still felt that Sora was not quite getting the lesson he thought the kid had learned after their last encounter with Riku. He did not want to cause the boy any undue stress or anything, but at the same time, Ventus knew that Sora had to learn sooner or later that they could not win every battle, both figurative and literal. That was why when he looked to the ship's scanner and saw what the computer was predicting the next world to be, Ventus had to grin a little, because he had a very strong feeling that this next world would definitely help Sora learn that lesson better than any other world out there. He just had to hope that he could convince the necessary people to go along with the plan he was already starting to form in his head when they got there.
Ventus' Journal Entry 5
I still can't believe it. I feel like we were so close, and yet it seems that it was all for nothing. It had been coming close to a year since the start of my first journey through the worlds, and while my training has been steadily progressing, with Mickey constantly praising how well I've been doing almost every other day now, our efforts to find Aqua and bring her home have hit a very serious roadblock. It turned out that Ansem the Wise's research might have brought about a very serious problem. So serious, that it likely would have affected not just the safety of Radiant Garden, but the stability of all the worlds if we had continued with it, and not in a good way. I had seen just how true this could be first hand when Mickey and I traveled to a world I had visited before to train in secret, Enchanted Dominion, only to find it nearly overrun with Heartless. Mickey and I had to fight for our lives just to escape from there, and after taking a moment to recuperate back at the castle, we immediately went to meet with Ansem to inform him of this. After reaching all of these conclusions, Ansem decided that it was best to shut down all of his research on the matter, both current and future. Sure, it left Xehanort and some of his other apprentices upset, and I wish that we could have kept going, but I know that Aqua would not want us risking all of the worlds just for her sake.
The bad news doesn't stop there though, because a few months later, while I was stargazing, I saw Radiant Garden's star become much fainter in the night sky, almost to the point where it had gone out completely. It had not reached that point, but considering how faint its light now is, especially in comparison to how brightly in shined in the sky until now, I have to wonder if that's really a good thing. Either way, I know for a fact that it likely means that the world was struck by a powerful darkness. I didn't bring it up to Mickey the next time we talked because I was sure that it was probably nothing too serious, and if there was something to worry about, he would tell me, but still, it's taking a lot for me to not throw on my armor and fly out there to see what happened for myself. After all, I've got friends on Radiant Garden who probably need my help. Still, I know that whatever's going on, I'm not strong enough to help right now. The fact that Mickey and I were too late to save Enchanted Dominion, Dwarf Woodlands, and even Castle of Dreams from suddenly falling to darkness in little more than three months since Radiant Garden's star had grown faint just proves that fact even more for me. For now, I guess all I can do is hope that nothing else happens that would bring danger to the worlds, and that any other research we do in trying to find a way to save Aqua doesn't lead to something worse.
AN: So wow! A lot of stuff happened in a short span of time. We learned how Ventus reacted after Ansem the Wise ended his research, and after Radiant Garden first seemed to fall in the latest journal entry, Sora's learned a new Shotlock (once again, this is an original ability like the first one, so nobody get on me later on when Kingdom Hearts 3 comes out and Sora doesn't have any abilities like it), and we also covered a few other details as well.
First off, let's mention that one little paragraph where Ventus taught Sora the High Jump ability.
Donald: And by paragraph, you mean small last portion of a paragraph.
AN: Shut it! Ahem, anyway, I did not go into much detail on that, yes, but I did throw it in because I wanted you guys to see how I get abilities like that to work here. It's a simple, light application of magic. Think of it like how in Naruto, they use chakra to walk on the sides of buildings or on water, or how they'll use it to do things like enhancing strength, speed, and other senses, if you need a better idea on that. While we're on the subject, I'm sure you've all noticed by now how I'm having Ventus teach Sora a little bit about special attacks and how they work. Honestly, I just had to do something to explain those, because otherwise, we'd just be seeing them use nothing but basic attacks, Shotlocks, or Command Styles all the time, and we all know that there are other abilities to the Keyblade besides those, like Strike Raid for example, or Ars Arcanum. We'll see Ventus teaching Sora a little more about tricks like that come next chapter.
Kairi: How about we mention some of the really big things now?
AN: Fine, fine. We've covered the small stuff, so we might as well get onto the big stuff. Kairi's referring to how even after hearing Terra's story, Riku still won't listen to Ven's warning. Honestly, yeah, this was going to happen at some point: Ventus telling Riku about what had happened to Terra I mean, even if it was just a little bit, but considering the path Riku's on right now, it should come as no surprise that he's too unwilling to listen. Like with Sora and Ventus, Riku and Terra are just way too similar for their own good, and as you may recall, Terra wasn't too willing to listen to his friends when they were trying to reach him in an attempt to help him out.
Moving on to what I'm sure all of you will consider the biggest point of all this is the matter of what we saw in the conclusion of Kairi's Dive to the Heart. For those of you who haven't already figured it out yet, yes, the world where Kairi was questioned was indeed Radiant Garden, back in the age of BBS. Kairi may not be able to remember her homeworld, but that doesn't mean the memories aren't buried somewhere deep down inside of her. Oh, and for those of you who can't figure out who the second, unnamed woman that appeared during said questions is, I'll save you the trouble now. That was in fact the future version of Kairi as she appeared during the events of Keyblades of Future Past. I know what you're thinking. "Whoa, wait a minute! Why is Kairi seeing her future self in this thing?" Well, if you are thinking that, I'm guessing you didn't read Keyblades of Future Past, otherwise, you'd know why Kairi saw this future version of herself. I don't want to spoil too much for anyone who skipped that story and came right to this one, but considering that time travel is involved in that one, I'm sure you can figure it out on your own from there.
While on the subject of people who appeared in Kairi's dive, let's get onto the matter of Aqua and Kairi's final test. In case it wasn't obvious, the Heartless that were mentioned to have fought Kairi were indeed Neoshadows, and they appeared because, well, she's a Princess of Heart, and she's going to have to face really strong and powerful forces of darkness, with or without a Keyblade, so why wouldn't she have to fight a tougher opponent? Moving on from that small detail, yes, I know it might not be fair to make Sora fight the Darkside while Kairi did not, but as Aqua had said, a different test was needed here since Kairi was a Princess of Heart, and she's able to defeat darkness even without a Keyblade. In addition to that, Aqua's appearance in Kairi's dive draws a little inspiration from how Mickey appeared to aid Riku during his little trip through Castle Oblivion, so there's your reason as to why Aqua appeared before Kairi in a transparent form when she appeared for the final test. As for the test itself, it just made sense to have Kairi tested like that. As had been stated, even the purest of heart can make a selfish decision, or really any decision for the wrong reasons, so having Kairi decide between saving a friend or losing all form of magic that she possessed which made her immune to darkness seemed like the perfect way to see just how far Kairi was willing to go for others, especially when it came to those she cared about.
Xion: Seems kinda like something out of Star Wars to me. You know, like how Luke Skywalker left his training with Yoda to save his friends in Episode V?
AN: Well, that's kind of the angle I was going for there, or at least, that's what I was thinking about when I came up with the scenario. Don't worry, this won't be the last time we see Aqua, but the next time she appears won't be for a while. It will most likely be after the first trip to Hollow Bastion has concluded, if you need a time frame for that. For now though, you'll have to just enjoy where we end up next. Where is that, you ask? Well, if you didn't get enough of a clue from that last paragraph of the main story, move Onto the Preview!...
The team's journey leads them to a world that seems to be almost entirely under water, and while that is concerning at first, a little magic from both Donald and Ventus ensures that none of them end up drowning. What they don't expect is that said magic makes them turn part fish as a result, or that they would end up getting lessons on how to move about in their new forms from a worrywart crab, a nervous fish, and a curious mermaid. Add in some Heartless that are clearly meant for work in the deep sea, and a king who's also a very overprotective father, and the four adventurers may just be in for quite the ride this time around. Dive down under the sea for more fun, next time.
Yep, you heard it hear. We're going under da sea next time, so until then...
Please read and review, and see ya real soon!