AN: Hey folks, we're back for more, and this time we're going to be taking a peak at our friends in the future to see what's up with them along with an idea as to who all is coming to defend the Mysterious Tower while Sora and Kairi are off doing their thing.
Roxas: Tell me that I'm gonna see some action this chapter.
AN: Sorry Roxas, but as much as I like you, cause seriously, you're a pretty cool character, you're not going to see any action in this story. I mean you'll have some scenes, but it won't be an action scene if that's what you're asking for.
Roxas: Awe man, you're killing me here.
Hades: [approaching Roxas from behind like he's about to grab him]
AN: Still not literally, so don't even think about it Hades. Even if he is in a minor role, we still need him for the story.
Hades: [erupts into his enraged flames] Are you kidding me?! How do you always know I'm there?!
AN: I'm the author of the story. I'm supposed to know what happens in this thing and in my own studio.
Naminé: Quick question, am I going to have any more funny dialogue like I had last chapter with Sora?
AN: You might Naminé. You might.
Xion: One thing I wanna know is why Naminé is such a dominant character again, when she never even does anything! I mean seriously, she does less than Kairi in every Kingdom Hearts game, and all she's doing here is being the bridge between the past and present for Sora and Kairi, while I, a character that actually did something in the game I was in, ended up getting turned to dust by the end of it, and not only that, but I'm one of the bad guys in this story?!
AN: Okay first off, all that stuff about your role in comparison to Naminé's, don't blame it on me, talk to the guys who make the Kingdom Hearts games, and besides, it's not like your dead. I mean, how many times has it been alluded to that you would be coming back to life? Second of all, I'm sorry, but that's just how it worked out, because I wanted there to be 13 members of Organization XIII, and you were the only Kingdom Hearts character who fit the bill without me coming up with an OC.
Xion: I don't care if you had to come up with a dozen OCs! How about doing something that makes me not have to be the bad guy here, and then...
AN: Okay, you know what, screw waiting for someone to try and give a spoiler, Imma hittin' this button now. right after I say, DAH! RANTING LADY! [hits the button and trap door opens under Xion]
Xion: [as she's falling] THAT'S NOT FUNNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! [splashes into water bellow]
AN: Well it is to me. Now then what're we waiting for, an all-expense paid vacation to Disney World? Let's get this story started!
I do not own anything from the Kingdom Hearts franchise or any other franchise mentioned in this story.
Chapter III
Naminé was standing between the beds of the apparently sleeping Sora and Kairi with her eyes closed when she suddenly snapped them open and exclaimed, "They've got Master Aqua with them, and they're going to find Ventus next."
"Hot dog," Mickey exclaimed excitedly. "Do me a favor and tell them that Ven is probably somewhere on the world of the Castle of Dreams, and that they should look there first."
Naminé closed her eyes again for a minute before she opened them once more to say, "Done, and it seems that Master Aqua is enjoying herself by teasing Sora a bit."
Mickey and Yen Sid both could not help but chuckled at this news before the old, wizened sorcerer stroked his beard in thought for a moment before saying, "Now we can only hope that they'll be able to convince Ventus and Terra as easily as they did Aqua."
"Gosh Master Yen Sid, I'm honestly more concerned about how those three will be around each other," Mickey admitted, sadly. "I still remember how things were between them when they ended up having to meet in the Keyblade Graveyard for that final battle, and they weren't all that pretty. To be honest, I consider myself lucky that they didn't turn their Keyblades on each other. Sometimes I wonder if I was right to bring them back together for that final battle like that."
"You did the right thing at the time Mickey," Yen Sid ensured his former pupil. "But don't forget that this time, we will be setting things right well before that battle had occurred, and you won't be alone in trying to bring those three together once more."
"I know Master, but I still can't help but wonder and worry," Mickey admitted.
Yen Sid nodded in consent of this, but before anyone could say anything, there was a knock at the door, and Roxas burst in a minute later. "Master Yen Sid, Mickey, they're here," Roxas exclaimed excitedly.
Mickey's sad expression immediately brightened up at this news, and he quickly followed Roxas in racing out of the tower to meet the people that Roxas was talking about. The minute the two had reached the front entrance, they found a massive gathering of people waiting outside, among which were people from all the worlds that Sora and the others had ever been to, and even some that had only been visited by Terra, Aqua, and Ventus in their time. They could already spot Donald and Goofy chatting with the Beast, Peter Pan and the Lost Boys talking with Pinocchio and his father, Philotese and Hercules training the Seven Dwarves to be a fierce, small fighting force, and even all of Sora's friends from Hollow Bastion approaching them, ready for action, including Cloud, much to the surprise of some.
"Glad you guys could make it," Roxas said as he shook hands with Cloud while Mickey did the same with Leon.
"Sora's done a lot for us in all of his fights against darkness, so as his friends, it's only right that we help him now when he needs us most," Leon replied to the blonde Nobody.
"Well let's hope it'll be enough," Cloud remarked as he looked over the gathered forces. "This is likely going to be our final battle, and it'll be either them or us; all or nothing."
"Don't worry, Cloud, I know that Sora and Kairi will succeed," Mickey reassured the large sword wielding man. On the inside though, Mickey had to admit that he was a bit worried about whether or not the two would succeed. He quickly shook these doubts out of his head before he moved to stand up before the gathered crowd and make a quick speech. "Everyone, for those of you who don't know my name's Mickey, Mickey Mouse, king of Disney Castle. For too long we've had to watch as our worlds and the worlds of others had fallen into darkness, all because of the selfish ambitions of the fallen Keyblade Master, Xehanort, and now there are barely any worlds left at all, but thankfully, not all hope is lost. My good pals Sora and Kairi are embarking on a dangerous mission as we speak that, if successful, will set things right and hopefully, put an end to Xehanort's terrible darkness, but while they are performing this task, they will be vulnerable to any attack that Xehanort's forces would send their way, and so would this world that we now stand upon. Sora and Kairi have done so much for all of us at one point or another while asking for nothing in return, and now, we have a chance to do the same for them by keeping them and this world safe. So let's give Xehanort and his forces of darkness a run for their money and make sure that Sora and Kairi can end the darkness once and for all!"
Mickey's speech was met by a resounding cry of cheers and hollers of excitement that proved that everyone who could fight was still with them, and that was all the reassurance that anyone needed. Immediately after the cheers had died down, Mickey and Roxas began taking up the lead of organizing the large number of forces into groups that would compose the defense forces for their battle, and they were both quite thankful when Leon and Phil offered to help out with that matter. When Naminé saw all of this from a window of the room she and Yen Sid were in, she could not help but smile brightly at the sight of further proof that things were about to come to an end for the better.
As Roxas and Mickey were greeting their new defense forces in the future, the two time traveling Keyblade Wielders and Aqua had just landed on the home world of Cinderella, just outside said Princess of Heart's former home. "The last time I was here, Terra had told me about how Cinderella had restored his ability to just believe in dreams, and shortly after, I had to help Cinderella herself get the chance to meet the prince again after saving her from the darkness that had consumed her stepmother and stepsisters," Aqua reminisced aloud.
Neither Sora nor Kairi knew what to say in response to this, but they probably would not have bothered saying anything to begin with since they were both busy looking around the area they were currently in. When Kairi finally saw the castle itself in the distance, she could not help but let out a gasp as she smiled in wonder of how beautiful it looked. "I've always wondered what the worlds of the other Princesses of Heart were like," Kairi finally admitted after staring at the castle for a few more minutes. "I'm glad I finally get to see at least one of them."
Aqua had to give a small smile of joy at hearing this, but that happy expression soon turned to one of surprise when a kind, grandmotherly sort of voice called out, "And I am happy to be able to see another of the Princesses of Heart has come to my home."
The three instantly spun around and were greeted with the sight of stars seeming to come together in a blue mist before transforming into a woman in a blue robe with a cloak and holding a thin, silver wand in one hand. "Hey, you're the fairy godmother," Sora exclaimed upon recognizing the woman as someone he met on a past adventure.
"Actually she's Cinderella's fairy godmother," Aqua clarified before she turned to give a polite curtsy to the woman. "It's so good to see you again, ma'am."
"Oh now dearie, there's no need to be so formal, you know," the fairy godmother assured Aqua with a smile. "But tell me, young man, have we met before?"
"Uh…no, not exactly," Sora said as he rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly, finally realizing his blunder. He had forgotten that since he was in the past, it was very likely that he and Kairi would meet people they knew from before they ever met, but he was still quick to shake himself out of this small moment of embarrassment when he realized something. "Hey, how'd you know that Kairi was a Princess of Heart?"
"Aside from the fact that I practically announced it a moment ago," Kairi asked Sora teasingly, making him chuckle sheepishly once again, which Kairi could not help but find a bit cute.
"All those who wield magic such as I do know quite a great deal about those who possess great powers of light and darkness," the fairy godmother explained happily. "So it's really no mystery that we all know who the seven Princesses of Heart are." The happy woman then gained an uncharacteristic sad look on her face before she quietly added, "I only wish that knowledge were of help now."
The three Keyblade wielders looked between themselves in confusion for a minute before they decided to ask her about what she meant after they took care of their business at hand. After coming to this decision, Aqua immediately asked the magical woman, "Perhaps you could help us with something. We're looking for a friend of mine, named Ventus. He's about the same height as Sora here, and has blonde, spiky hair?"
The fairy godmother instantly lit up with happiness once again as she said, "Oh yes, I know who you mean. As you may already know, dear, the boy is good friends with Cinderella's friend Jaq, and they've been spending quite a lot of time together recently."
"So he's really here," Aqua asked happily. "Where is he right now?"
"He and Jaq are both at the palace," the fairy godmother replied. "The little dear, Jaq, moved to live there after Cinderella had left this place to live there herself. Ven arrived there shortly afterward."
"Well what're we waiting for? Let's get over there," Sora exclaimed as he began to run towards the palace, only to be stopped by Kairi placing a hand on his shoulder and pointing to the fairy godmother, who once again had gained a saddened expression. "What's wrong?"
The fairy godmother then sighed and revealed, "I don't want to trouble you dears, but perhaps you could help me in finding Cinderella? You see, she disappeared from the palace a few days ago without a trace, and no one knows what happened."
"Do you think she ran away or something," Aqua asked, now getting worried as well.
"Oh no, of course not," the fairy godmother immediately rebuked. "Cinderella was quite happy at the palace, and when she disappeared her room was completely untouched, and all of her things were left where they were."
Aqua seemed to be getting ready to think over whether or not to agree to help, but she quickly found the decision out of her hands when Sora suddenly said, "Don't worry, we'll do what we can to help find her. That's a promise."
The fairy godmother instantly perked up upon hearing this and thanked Sora quite a few times for his kindness before he and the two girls began their trek towards the palace. As they were walking, Aqua looked to Sora and asked, "Sora, you know as well as I do that if Cinderella had disappeared in the way that she said she had, then Xehanort is likely behind this, so why did you promise her that?"
"Because I know that even if we can't save Cinderella today, then I will sometime in the future," Sora replied confidently. "I mean, I already saved all the Princesses of Heart once, so who's to say that even if history changes, they won't be saved again, whether it's by me or someone else?"
"Sora does have a point," Kairi agreed. "But if we do have a chance to save Cinderella, then we should still try to do what we can to help her. Don't forget that it was Maleficent that was kidnapping the Princesses of Heart and not Xehanort himself, at least as far as we know, so maybe we stand a better chance of saving her."
Aqua could tell that there was not likely to be any way to talk the two out of this, not that she had a reason to, and ended up just sighing and smiling at them both in slight defeat and slight happiness over the fact that they were so determined not to give up. Seeing that their course forward was now clearer than ever, the three then redoubled their pace towards the palace so that they could find Aqua's long lost friend.
After arriving at the palace, Aqua immediately led the group inside and was able to gain entry for them after speaking with the prince, who recognized her immediately as the woman who helped him to meet Cinderella again, and they were quick to begin their search. Sadly, it seemed that they were not able to find Ventus anywhere, until Aqua remembered what the fairy godmother had told them. "We need to find Jaq," Aqua said. "Because if Ven has been spending time with him, then Jaq will know where Ven is."
"Okay, so what's Jaq look like," Sora asked, not noticing the fairy godmother appearing behind him and Kairi as he said that and waving her wand at them.
"Well, he's a small mouse who's dressed in a red shirt, jacket, and hat," Aqua began explaining, but she immediately stopped short when she noticed something was a bit off. "Hey, did the room suddenly get bigger, or is it just me?"
When Sora and Kairi both glanced around, they both noticed the same thing as Aqua, and immediately cried out, "How did we suddenly get so small?!"
"I thought you might need a little extra help, dears," the fairy godmother's voice called out as she disappeared. "After all, in order to find a mouse, one must sometimes be able to be a mouse. Not to worry, Ventus is much closer than you think."
Aqua raised an eyebrow in confusion when she heard that, but it was quickly replaced with a look of great joy when she noticed a flash of blonde hair with a black and white blur out of the corner of her eye. "Ven," Aqua cried out happily as she took off in the direction she thought she had seen her friend. Sora and Kairi were both quick to follow the senior Keybearer, and it was not long before the three suddenly found themselves in a large maze of a mouse hole within the palace walls. "We should split up. We'll find Ven a lot faster that way."
Before either of the two Keyblade wielders of the future could protest, Aqua had already taken off in one direction, leaving Sora and Kairi with little other options than simply following Aqua's lead and doing the same as well, and so they each took off in separate directions as well in their attempts to find Ventus.
Ventus was running, jumping, and climbing through the mouse hole maze like crazy, hoping that he was moving fast enough for those people he saw not to have noticed him or for him to have lost them if they had. He did not know who two of them were, but when he got a small glimpse of the third person, he knew immediately who that person was, because even if she was wearing it longer now, he could still recognize that particular shade of blue hair and similarly colored eyes anywhere. Ventus knew for a fact that it was Aqua that was with that group, and while he was glad to see her deep down, the blonde wielder of the Wayward Wind Keyblade did not want to face her right that moment, if ever. It was not because he was angry or upset with Aqua, quite the contrary really, Ventus really cared a great deal about her, but he had his reasons for not wanting to see her right now.
"Ven-Ven, whasa you doin," a squeaky voice suddenly asked, causing Ventus to nearly jump out of his skin.
"Jaq, keep quiet," Ventus shushed as he slapped a hand over his mouse friend's mouth.
"Why? Whasa wrong," Jaq mumbled through Ventus's hand.
"Just be quiet," Ventus whispered, frantically.
"Wait, did you finda Flinderelly? She-a okay," Jaq then asked excitedly after he pried Ventus's hand off.
"No, but I did find someone that I don't want to see right now, which will happen if you don't shut up," Ventus whispered harshly to Jaq, all while wondering why his mouse friend had chosen now of all times to be so chatty.
Unfortunately, Ventus's attempts to keep Jaq quiet continued to be in vain, and that fact was soon proven true when he heard someone coming from behind him at a fast pace, followed by someone exclaiming, "Roxas, is that you?!"
Ventus froze for a minute, knowing that the person's voice was too close to where they were to not be addressing him or Jaq, but then he relaxed a little when he realized that it was not Aqua's voice for two reasons. One reason being it was too deep and masculine to be a girl's voice, let alone Aqua's, and the other reason being that even if it was not like that, why would Aqua address him as Roxas? Ventus turned around and was immediately greeted by the sight of a boy who looked a bit like him, at least in terms of facial features and body build, with brown hair that was even spikier than his own, and dressed in mostly black with a red shirt, and a silver crown necklace. "Roxas, what're you doing here," the spiky haired boy asked, clearly indicating that he was talking with Ventus.
"Uh, I think you have me confused with someone else," Ventus told the boy. "My name's not Roxas, it's Ventus, but call me Ven."
"Oh, so you're Ventus. Well, it's nice to finally meet you in person, Ven. I'm Sora," the boy said as he finally introduced himself.
"Wait, how do you know me," Ventus asked in confusion as he began to drop into a defensive stance.
"Well for one thing, it'd be a little weird if I didn't know about one of the people I was sent to find," Sora replied casually as he placed his hands behind his head in a relaxed manner, similar to how Ventus had so many times before in the past. "And for another thing, I'm actually a Keyblade Wielder from the future who was sent back in time to find you and set things right."
If Sora's words were supposed to make Ventus relax, then they had failed greatly, as Ventus was now more on guard than ever, partly because Sora had admitted he was a Keyblade wielder so casually and partly because he just seemed crazy. "The future," Ventus asked skeptically as he summoned Wayward Wind. "Get real."
"Would it help if I said that Mickey sent me," Sora asked in an attempt to calm Ventus down.
"You know Mickey," Ventus asked as he finally lowered his Keyblade.
"Well, not your Mickey, but Mickey in the future," Sora clarified. Ventus seemed like he was about to get back on guard again until they suddenly heard someone calling out to Sora, and this person sounded like a girl. "Over here you guys! I found him!"
Now Ventus was worried, because if Sora was talking to more than one person, he could already guess who one of the other people was, and he was still not ready to see her. He was about to make another mad dash of an escape, but the other two people had already arrived before he could even try it. Both of the people were girls, and while he did not recognize the girl with dark red hair, he definitely knew the other, taller girl. "Ven," Aqua exclaimed with a happy smile and clear signs of tears beginning to form in her eyes when she saw him. "You're really here."
Aqua was about to run up to him, but she immediately stopped herself when Ventus flinched back a little cried out, "No, don't come any closer!"
Aqua's overjoyed expression had instantly morphed into one of shocked confusion in response to Ventus's outburst, and she was already beginning to assume the worst by thinking that Ventus was really upset with her and probably hated her now, a thought that was now turning her tears of joy into ones of sadness, as Sora could easily tell. "Hey, calm down Ventus," Sora tried to tell the blonde. "I know you probably have some issues with seeing Aqua here, but we're not here to fight. We just need your help." When Ventus did not drop his guard, Sora opted for another tactic by beckoning Kairi to come forward a bit as he asked, "Would it help if you had the reassurance of a Princess of Heart?"
Ventus raised an eyebrow in confusion at Sora's claim, which Sora took to mean as a good sign and thus motioned for Kairi to say something. "Um, h-hello Ventus," Kairi stuttered for a minute, not really expecting to be put on the spot like that. "My name's Kairi, and like Sora said, I'm one of the seven Princesses of Heart, and I'm also a Keyblade wielder from the future like Sora."
Ventus seemed to relax a bit, apparently having sensed the strong, pure light within Kairi as she had spoken, but he did not drop his guard entirely as he quickly said, "It's very nice to meet you, Princess Kairi, but I must insist that you all stay away from me, for your own good."
"Ven, please," Aqua begged as she tried to slowly approach him. "What're you talking about? We just want to…"
It turned out Aqua's trying to approach her friend, however slowly it may have been, was not a smart decision, as Ventus's first reaction was to throw a fire spell at her. Thankfully, Sora was quick to react by summoning his Kingdom Key and deflecting the blast before it hit her, and he then shot off a blizzard spell to freeze Ventus in his tracks when he saw the blonde beginning to make a run for it. "What was that for," Sora demanded. "Look, I get you guys might not be on the best of terms right now, but you shouldn't go throwing spells like that at your friends!"
"No you don't understand," Ventus cried out, practically begging as he did. "You need to let me go and get away from me! I'm too dangerous to be around right now!"
"What're you talking about," Kairi asked, now just as confused as Aqua.
"Rasa news ta Jaq," Jaq suddenly said, getting the attention of the three, non-frozen Keybearers. "Youa friens of Ven-Ven?"
"Um, yeah, kind of," Sora replied.
"You remember me, right Jaq," Aqua asked.
"Zugk-Zugk," Jaq replied. "So, whoa new friens?"
"I'm Sora, and this is Kairi," Sora introduced. "Nice to meet you, Jaq."
"Zugk-Zugk. Nice to meet you too," Jaq replied happily. "You knowa what wrong with Ven-Ven?"
"That's what we'd like to find out," Kairi assured the mouse. "But first, he needs to know why Sora and I are here, that is assuming that he's willing to listen now."
Ventus knew that the last bit of Kairi's comment was directed at him, and since he could not stop the three from coming up to him anymore, he ended up just rolling his eyes as he said, "Well, I don't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, so I guess I might as well hear this."
It was not much later that Sora and Kairi had finished telling Ventus their story, and Ventus was naturally as skeptical about their claims to being from the future as Aqua had been, but it did not take much for the two to convince him of their tale, especially when they told him that they knew about what he did to help out Donald's three nephews when Ventus was in Disney Town. By the time they had finished telling him everything, the ice holding Ventus in place had melted, but he was no longer in any hurry to try and get away anymore, because there was still some things he needed answered. "What do you need me for," Ventus finally asked after a moment, deciding to get to the obvious question first.
"Mickey says that getting you and your friends back together as friends, or at least as a team, is the best way to save the future," Sora replied, deciding to keep it simple.
Ventus nodded in understanding of this, but he still ended up turning his back to them as he said, "I'm sorry, but my answer is still no. I can't help you."
"Ven, what happened? Please tell me that much," Aqua begged the young man.
Ventus paused for a moment, and Sora and Kairi were both worried that he was thinking of ways to try and get away from them again, until he finally sighed and explained why he was trying to be so distant from them. "I'm sure you already know about how Terra had fought Master Eraqus and led the master to be unable to protect himself from Xehanort's sneak attack that ended his life," Ventus asked, receiving a chorus of nods in response from all three Keyblade wielders. "What you may not know is that Terra only fought against the master because he saw Master Eraqus trying to destroy me. The reason is because I had learned the truth about why he was so hesitant to let me leave the Land of Departure."
Aqua's eyes had instantly widened upon hearing that her master, the man she and her two friends had long come to consider to be like their father, had actually raised his Keyblade against Ventus with that sort of intent, but her shock was almost eclipsed by the same confusion that had overcome Kairi and Sora. "What truth are you talking about," Kairi asked Ventus as calmly as she could, but on the inside she could not help but feel afraid of the answer.
"I discovered the truth about my existence and about Vanitas," Ventus replied.
"Vanitas? What does one of Xehanort's number one right hand guys have to do with all this," Sora exclaimed.
"Vanitas is…me," Ventus replied. "Or rather, he's the result of Xehanort extracting all traces of darkness from my heart. In other words, he's the embodiment of my darkness, and Xehanort wants me and him to fight each other to make some kind of χ-blade. I didn't know exactly what it was at first, but after…all that happened between the three of us I did a bit of research with Master Yen Sid's help. The χ-blade was originally the counterpart to Kingdom Hearts, for which it acted as its protector, but when people began to seek out the light of Kingdom Hearts for themselves, they forged the first Keyblades in the χ-blade's image, which eventually led to the Keyblade War. As a result, darkness overtook the world, Kingdom Hearts disappeared, and the χ-blade was splintered into seven fragments of light and thirteen shards of darkness. It was shortly after the worlds were reborn by the lights in children's hearts that some decided to use the Keyblade to defend the light."
"Why does some of this sound familiar," Kairi softly wondered aloud.
"It's almost exactly like your grandmother's story, isn't it," Sora asked Kairi, getting a small smile from Kairi in confirmation.
"Right," Kairi said. "It was my favorite story as a little girl."
"Of course. I remember hearing her tell it to you when you were leaving with her after we first met," Aqua confirmed with a small smile of her own.
"What you don't know, is that the χ-blade can be re-forged," Ventus revealed. "There's two ways to do so, but only one matters, the one that actually involves me. Xehanort believes that if Vanitas and I fight each other, then when our two hearts, mine a heart of light and Vanitas's a heart of darkness, are fused together, the χ-blade will be forged. In other words, it's only a matter of time until I end up having no other choice but to fight Vanitas, which will lead to the χ-blade's creation. If that happens, I won't be able to stop anything that happens as a result to anything or anyone. That's why I've been hiding and trying to keep my distance from both you and Terra, Aqua. I'm too dangerous for you guys to be around, and I don't want you guys to get hurt, or to have to ask you guys to do something I know you won't want to."
"Ven," Aqua gasped, truly touched by Ventus's intentions but at the same time, she could not help but feel that her heart was breaking a bit at the thought of Ventus thinking he should stay away from them, right to the point where she did not know what to say.
Fortunately for her, Sora did know what to say. "If this χ-blade really is that dangerous, then that's all the more reason why you should stay close to your friends at all times." Ventus was about to argue, but Sora was not about to give him the chance as he continued on saying, "Don't try to argue. Trust me; I know for a fact that even if you have nothing to give, you can always count on your friends to have your back no matter what. Even if she did think you were as dangerous to be around as you say you are Aqua would still stick with you no matter what. That's one of the main reasons why she's here right now. I know that you know this fact as well as I do, because you and I are a lot alike, Ven, and we both know that true power doesn't come from the weapon you wield or what skills you have. It comes from within your heart and from your friends."
Ventus looked at Sora in shock for a minute, but in the end he found he could not hold his gaze with Sora's and just turned away from him in shame as he said, "I'm not sure if I really do believe that anymore."
Sora was about to say something else, but when Kairi put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a sad look, he knew that it was probably best to leave the poor boy alone for a little bit on that subject. After seeing that Sora was backing off, Kairi stepped a bit closer to Ventus as she asked, "Can you at least help us find out what happened to Cinderella? We promised the fairy godmother we would try and find her."
Ventus looked to Kairi for a minute before he sighed, "I don't really know what happened to her, mostly because Jaq and I were both sleeping when it happened, but I've been looking around the castle trying to find some clues, and I think I found one just before I ran into you guys."
"What was it," Kairi asked with hope clearly evident in her voice.
Ventus just reached into his pocket and produced a folded piece of paper as he said, "I don't know exactly what it is, but I do know that Cinderella's stepmother was planning on sending it to someone after Cinderella had disappeared. I was only able to get it because the one delivering the message was a Flood Unversed."
"Urgh, Stepmuddy have som'in do with Flinderelly's disappearance? Shoulda known," Jaq groaned as Kairi took the paper from Ventus and began to unfold it. Being mouse sized though made unfolding the paper a little difficult for Kairi until Sora and Aqua began to lend a hand. After reading over the letter, it was clear that Jaq was spot on in thinking that Cinderella's stepmother was involved, but it was the person that the letter was addressed to that got their attention.
"Maleficent," Sora and Kairi both snarled when they saw the name.
"She must've made some kind of deal with Lady Tremaine so that she could get her hands on Cinderella in exchange for something that Tremaine would want," Aqua reasoned aloud.
"And if Maleficent is involved, that means that Xehanort really has started getting her to gather up the seven princesses of heart," Sora then added. "If that is the case though, then we might be too late to help her."
"Maybe not," Kairi exclaimed as she indicated a particular line on the paper. "This letter says that Lady Tremaine had locked Cinderella in her old room at her estate, so she might still be there!"
"Oh, you've got be kidding me," Aqua exclaimed. "We were just standing outside of the place when we arrived, and I never even sensed anything was wrong."
"Don't blame yourself for that, Aqua," Sora told his and Kairi's senior Keyblade wielder. "We know now, and we can go rescue her."
"Sora, it'll take us hours to get there like this," Aqua reasoned with Sora.
"Not if we use our Keyblade Gliders," Kairi pointed out, a fact that Aqua smiled at the minute Kairi had pointed it out.
"Wait, Jaq coma with you and helpa Sora, Kai-Kai, and Aqua," Jaq suddenly volunteered.
"Are you sure," Kairi asked.
"Zugk-Zugk. Jaq helpa friens," Jaq replied happily.
"Okay then," Kairi said as she summoned her Keyblade Glider along with Sora and Aqua and then let the mouse climb aboard. The two girls then took off for the Tremaine household with Sora following behind them after he cast one last sad look at Ventus, who had not glanced up at them the entire time they were talking.
In no time at all, the four had arrived on the windowsill of Cinderella's old room, and sure enough, the princess of heart herself was in there, crying into the sheets of her old bed. Those tears immediately vanished when she saw that Jaq had arrived with help to rescue her, and after promising to be back with the key as soon as possible, the four immediately headed out to search the house for the key. After they entered one of the rooms of the house, Jaq quickly said, "Key's gotta be round here somewhere, but carefee Roos-a-fee."
"Roos-a-fee," Sora asked.
"Roos-a-fee a cat-cat. Meany sneaky. Jump at you, bite at you," Jaq explained.
"Gotcha," Sora replied before he paused for a minute. "Whoa, déjà vu."
"What do you mean Sora," Kairi asked.
"I'm not sure, but I think that I've had that bit of conversation with Jaq before," Sora explained. "But it might've been as either Ventus or Roxas."
Kairi nodded in understanding of this, and the two then moved to help Aqua and Jaq search the room for the key to Cinderella's room. They seemed to be searching the room from top to bottom for hours, which they had to admit was surprisingly much easier when they were the size of a mouse, until Sora finally asked, "Hey, why didn't we just use our Keyblades to open the lock on Cinderella's door?"
"We wouldn't be able to reach it at this size, and it would be a serious misuse of the Keyblade's power," Aqua explained. "And since we don't know whether or not the effects of the fairy godmother's spell are temporary or not, we're just going to have to do things like this."
Sora and Kairi both had to shrug in acceptance of that and then continued searching again until Kairi finally spotted the object they were looking for. Moving quickly, Kairi instantly ran over and grabbed the key so that she could carry it over to the mouse hole and then up to Cinderella's room, never noticing the large black object that was rising up behind her until Jaq shouted out, "Look out! Roos-a-fee!"
Kairi spun around just in time to see a big, black furred cat with green eyes get slammed in the head with a ball of yarn that Jaq had thrown at it from his perch on top of a nearby dresser, and she immediately quickened her pace until Jaq suddenly lost his balance when something hit him from behind. When Sora and Aqua saw the problem, Aqua immediately rushed over to force the cat to move away from Kairi while Sora ran over to help Jaq up, only to be greeted by the sight of Unversed popping up from the ground to attack them. "Jaq, you take the key and go! Kairi and I will deal with these guys! Aqua, can you handle that insult to all good felines," Sora shouted as he summoned the Kingdom Key.
"Just leave it to me," Aqua replied as she assumed a battle stance in front of the cat, allowing Kairi to hand the key off to Jaq so that she could summon Destiny's Embrace to her hand.
"Are you sure that Aqua can handle Roos-a-fee all by herself," Kairi asked Sora as she slashed through a pair of Unversed.
"Yeah, she'll be fine," Sora reassured the red head as he blasted away some Shoegazers with a fire spell. "Besides, even if she does end up in trouble, I'm sure she'll be receiving backup at any moment."
Kairi was about to question the meaning behind Sora's words when a group of Scrappers suddenly tried to jump her, and forced her to use the Aero spell in order to repel them. Upon seeing that the Unversed were still coming after Jaq while leaving Aqua to the mercy of the cat, Kairi decided to just accept Sora's word for what it was, even if she did not understand his meaning, and then moved to help Sora keep the Unversed away from Jaq until the mouse could get the key to where it needed to be. The two Keyblade wielders of the future continued to fight off the creatures of darkness with all of their might when they heard Aqua cry out, and upon spinning around to see what had happened, they saw Aqua had been knocked off her feet by the vicious cat, who was now preparing to finish her off.
Kairi was about to move to help Aqua, but she was quickly stopped by Sora grabbing her arm and telling her that they needed to deal with the Unversed first, and by the sound of a Keyblade Glider flying in which was immediately followed by a familiar voice shouting, "AQUA!"
A minute later, Roos-a-fee's paw was batted away by a hard swipe of a Keyblade, which was being wielded backhanded by none other than Ventus, who glared at the large animal and snarled, "I guess you didn't learn your lesson after the last time we played, did you cat?"
"Ven, you're here," Aqua exclaimed happily as she stood up and reassumed her fighting stance. A minute later, the two were fighting off the bad kitty with everything they had while Sora and Kairi finished off the last of the Unversed, sending Lady Tremaine's cat running off with a frightened meow that one would normally only hear a cat give off before being chased by a dog.
After Sora dealt the final blow to the last Unversed, he dismissed his Keyblade before joining Kairi in walking over to where Aqua and Ventus were currently standing, both simply staring at the other almost as though they were waiting for the other to do something at a moment's notice. "Aqua…I…," Ventus finally started to say, until Sora interrupted.
"I'm glad you're here, Ven," Sora told the backhanded wielding Keybearer. "But right now, we should probably help Cinderella by making sure her stepmother can't do any more damage."
"Oh don't worry; I'm sure that Lady Tremaine won't be able to cause Cinderella much more trouble soon enough," Ventus reassured Sora with a small smirk.
"Ven, what did you do," Aqua asked in a lightly scolding yet teasing tone.
"Follow me and you'll see in a minute," Ventus said as he waved for the three to follow him to the main foyer of the house. The three simply shrugged to one and other and did as Ventus asked, admittedly eager to see what Ventus seemed to be so proud of.
When they reached the foyer at last, they saw that Lady Tremaine and Cinderella's stepsisters were being questioned by the grand duke and some of the royal guards for the charges of kidnapping Cinderella. From where they were, they could not really hear much aside from Tremaine and her daughters shouting about how outrageous and outlandish the accusations were, but they did hear the grand duke say something about receiving an anonymous tip that said otherwise, along with the letter that Lady Tremaine herself wrote to Maleficent that confirmed those suspicions. When they heard that, Aqua, Sora, and Kairi all turned to Ventus to see the blonde had a wide, proud smirk on his face at hearing this news.
"You gave them the letter, didn't you," Aqua asked Ventus.
"Well I wasn't going to do anything with it," Ventus shrugged in an attempt to seem nonchalant about the matter, which failed given that he was wearing a goofy grin as he rested both hands behind his head like Sora had done many times in the past. Sora and Kairi could only respond with a small bout of laughter at Ventus's cleverness, with Aqua joining in a minute later before they all decided to sit back and watch the show until Cinderella finally showed up.
Of course, that turned out to be a bit of a problem when Jaq came running down the hall towards them looking worried. "Ven-Ven, Kai-Kai, Sora, Aqua! Gotta trouble! Big problem," Jaq shouted as he reached them.
"Whoa, calm down Jaq," Ventus told the mouse. "What's wrong?"
"Jaq getta key to Flinderelly's room, but Flinderelly gone by time I there," Jaq told them.
"What," all four Keybearers exclaimed in shock.
"Are you sure she didn't find a way out on her own," Kairi asked, desperately hoping that it did not mean what she thought it did.
"No. No other way out," Jaq shook his head sadly.
Upon hearing this, the four looked to one and other and nodded before racing off to Cinderella's room, only to find it empty just as Jaq had said, with them never encountering the girl who held such strong beliefs about dreams coming true even once. What they found instead though, was a scorch mark on the floor that Aqua was quick to determine could only come from an enchanted fire, which meant that their fears were correct. "Maleficent must've gotten her," Aqua finally concluded aloud. "We were too late."
They all hung their heads in sadness for a few minutes until Sora perked up and said, "Hey come on. Don't forget what I said back at the Land of Departure. No frowning, no sad faces. I know we'll get Cinderella back home safely, and everything will be okay."
As usual, Sora's positive attitude and cheerful smile ended up being quite infectious as Kairi quickly found herself sharing that smile with the boy she held such strong feelings for in a matter of seconds, with Aqua and Ventus doing the same a minute later, all somehow knowing that the wielder of the Kingdom Key was right. After seeing everyone had cheered up quite a bit, Sora then turned to Ventus and asked, "So, what made you change your mind and help us back there?"
Ventus did not hesitate for a minute as he replied, "I realized you were right. Just because I'm having a little trouble and I'm scared of what might happen, it doesn't mean I should cut myself off from my friends and try to cut them out of my life. I need them as much as they need me. I guess I just needed someone to remind me of that."
"Well, we'll gladly keep reminding you of it, so let's say it together," Sora told Ventus with pride as he turned to Kairi before they both spoke at the same time.
"My friends are my power," the two Keyblade Wielders of the future said as one.
"My friends are my power, and I'm theirs," Ventus repeated, adding on a little extra at the end.
"So, Ven," Aqua began to ask, in a surprising moment of shyness. "Does this mean that…you know…you're going to…?"
"Hey, you should know that you can't keep me out of things that easily Aqua," Ventus told Aqua with a smile. "Or did you forget how I was so determined to help my friends that I refused to listen to you when you tried to tell me to go home when this whole mess started?"
Aqua could only laugh a little in response to that before she gave Ventus a tight hug in thanks, drawing a sudden blush to the blonde boy's face. After Aqua had finally released Ventus from the hug, he then turned to Sora and asked, "There's one other thing I have to ask before we set out though. Why did you call me Roxas when you first saw me?"
"Uh…It's a long story," Sora replied, thinking that revealing the connection between him and Ventus might alter history in the wrong way if he did tell him. "But right now, we've got one more person to find."
Aqua's face instantly gained a deep scowl as she half growled, "I know you said that we need Terra with us, but I'm telling you, ever since he helped Xehanort strike down Master Eraqus, that man has been nothing more than a monster. He went on a rampage across multiple worlds until he was finally subdued and locked up in the most secure place of one of the most powerful worlds in all of existence, even after the fight he put up to try and escape."
"Wait, what? Where did you hear that, Aqua," Ventus asked.
"Being a Keyblade Master by title, even if you don't deserve it, does have some benefits, Ven," Aqua replied. "I've been doing my best to keep up with what had been happening with the worlds, and with you and Terra ever since we went our separate ways."
"Well I don't know what you heard about him, but whatever it was, it was wrong," Ventus told Aqua. "Terra wasn't subdued by anyone, and he wasn't thrown into a prison after some great struggle."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because I was there when it happened," Ventus admitted. "I had gone there hoping that some friends I had made there would let me live with them, but when I saw Terra arrive on that world, I immediately prepared to make a run for the next world, until I heard him scream out in pain. When I turned back around to look again, I saw Terra fall to his knees while he was holding his head, almost like he was in pain, all while a dark aura was manifesting around him. I then saw some guards run over to ask what was wrong, only for Terra to shout at them to get away from him and that it was too dangerous, but by the time he did, something seemed to explode and send both guards flying across the central square. When some other guys showed up, Terra seemed to have a bit more control and his pain appeared to have just disappeared, but he still begged the man who appeared to be the one in charge to lock him up, and it seemed like he eventually agreed, even if he did seem a bit reluctant."
Aqua could barely believe her ears at what she had heard, but even after hearing this her opinion of Terra was not going to change any time soon. She was soon brought out of her musings when Kairi finally asked, "Wait, Ven, where exactly did this happen?"
"In the same place that Terra's still being held," Ventus replied. "The world that is also known as the city of light."
"Wait, you don't mean," Sora started to ask.
"Yep," Aqua confirmed, begrudgingly. "Our next stop is Radiant Garden."
Yen Sid Report 3:
It would seem my hopes that nothing would occur while Sora slept was in vain, as we have recently discovered that something was preventing Sora from regaining his full power and memories. The source of this problem originated from Organization XIII, and its two most recent members, who until now we have only known as the Key of Destiny and Number XIV. It first came as rather surprising to us all that there was a fourteenth member of the group of Nobodies at all, but the reason for Number XIV's existence quickly became clear once Naminé discovered the truth.
Number XIV was actually an imperfect clone of the Key of Destiny, much like the Riku that Sora had encountered in Castle Oblivion, and it was designed to drain Sora's power through the Key of Destiny, who Naminé then revealed to be none other than the Nobody of Sora himself. Knowing this, Ansem suggested that we take measures to destroy both the Nobody and the replica, but Naminé was quick to offer a better solution. Instead of destroying either one of them, she suggested that we bring Sora's Nobody to us, and reveal the truth to him, as Naminé had also discovered that like her, Sora's Nobody knew nothing of his life from before he was a Nobody, and Naminé also believed that the boy would likely be able to reverse the process so that the power that had been drained from Sora into the replica, would be returned to Sora through the same conduit that was used before.
It took little convincing for Kairi and our young, fire loving Keyblade wielder, Lea to be persuaded to find Sora's Nobody, and they did so almost immediately after they had left. Upon meeting the Key of Destiny, who identified himself as Roxas, they were able to convince him to return to my tower with them so that he may learn the truth about who he is, and what we needed of him. Upon meeting Naminé and hearing of his past and what we needed of him now, Roxas immediately agreed to help, though whether it was because of the bit of Sora within him or because he seemed to be immediately attracted to Naminé the minute he lay eyes on her, I could not say, after all, as Ansem has told me that he had often learned, the heart is truly a magnificent and mysterious thing.
AN: Okay so, I hope that little Yen Sid report explains part of the reason why Roxas and Xion are both still around, and with this chapter, we've now gotten two of the Birth by Sleep trio back on board with saving the worlds. Hooray~!
Roxas: Uh, isn't it a bit early to celebrate? I mean, you've still gotten get Terra, and that doesn't look like it'll be easy.
Naminé: And not to mention poor Cinderella.
AN: Oh yeah, that happened. Yeah I'll be honest, Cinderella's not the only princess of heart that's gonna have gone bye bye. If you'll recall, when the first Kingdom Hearts game had started, the only princesses of heart that weren't captured were Kairi, Alice, Jasmine, and possibly Belle. I'm not entirely sure about that last one, but I'm just guessing based off the fact that the Beast had not shown any indication of being in Hollow Bastion until Sora and the others got there, and it is safe to assume that even though they were able to save some of the worlds, there is a chance that some worlds still fell to darkness, simply because of the old no one can be everywhere at once bit.
Naminé: What about that little bit there about Ventus and the x-blade?
AN: Oh that, well that was basically giving a bit of background on Ventus and Vanitas's history while also explaining a bit more of what in Birth by Sleep still happened in this story, and also explaining a bit of the legend behind the x-blade, which yes is in fact similar to the story that Kairi's grandmother had told her, if not the same story with more details. I wanted a legitimate reason for Ventus to stay away and fearing for the safety of his friends seemed like a reasonable explanation to me, given Ven's character. I won't lie though, I'm glad that I got an excuse to use the whole "my friends are my power" line from the games in this chapter.
Roxas: And it seems you don't mind showing a little bit of appreciation for the pairing of Aqua and Ventus, huh?
AN: Well to be honest, aside from the number of stories that lean towards the pairing of Terra and Aqua, I haven't ever really seen anything that says anything about official pairings among the Birth by Sleep trio, so really, when it comes to who Aqua is paired up with, I could honestly go either way between either Terra or Ventus for her. Don't be hating me for that if you don't agree with me though. Now, onto the preview!...
Sora and Kairi travel with Aqua and Ventus to Radiant Garden in order to find Terra, and convince the final member of this trio of Keyblade wielders to join them. Just what will they discover when they finally find him, and what sort of encounters will they have on Kairi's homeworld? The answers to all these questions and more, next time.
Roxas: Hey uh, shouldn't Xion have come out of the water that she fell into by now?
AN: Huh? Oh, right, that is weird.
Naminé: [Looking out a window that leads down to where Xion fell] Um guys, I think she's frozen in a block of ice.
AN: Oh that ain't good. Well, I'd better go help take care of that, so my faithful readers, I now say to you...
Please read and review, and see ya real soon!
Seriously, let's hurry and get that girl out of there before she's a permanent Popsicle!