The Sapphire Sorceress
Disclaimer: The rights to Kingdom Hearts belong to Disney and Square Enix.
Act 37: Critical Drive
"I dunno. I can't... just look inside. But I figure... if there is something in there—inside us— then we'd feel it, wouldn't we?"
Hollow Bastion: Marketplace ( Kairi's POV )
"I...will...never...ride...that...again!" The torture...the pain...the suffering I just witnessed will never leave my mind. Between the blocks floating around space, the heartless who somehow learned how to fly around in ships, and the navigation shouting at me to keep firing and dodging stuff all the time. I didn't know if all of that was the worst part about this voyage or the many colors that almost blinded my eyes. Squall told me I would need to get used to this if I was to protect the many worlds with my keyblade...such is the joy of being a chosen one.
Sighing my legs finally could leave the tight space that was the cockpit section of the Gummi Ship that I used to come here, the destination Hollow Bastion certainly looked much different from what I remember from last time. The steampunk atmosphere of the castle seemed more like a town slowing rebuilding itself, and the different construction tools around the place certainly gave off that impression.
"Things have changed since Sora's managed to reclaim this world out of Maleficent's grip. I've been working with a few other people who originally came here for shelter when our world was lost to the darkness, and now we've begun the "Restoration Plan" of Hollow Bastion." Now that makes sense, but who else is involved with this idea besides Squall, Yuffie, and this Cloud guy?
Hearing the sounds of hammers slamming down on steel, clattering of metal, and the smell of smoke made me feel like I was standing on a construction site. Leon told me to hang out here for a second, and he wanted me to visit out a few shops in town while he "checked out an old friend" in this place.
"Remember every traveler of the worlds needs good supplies, so use this Munny wisely in the shops. Stay in the bailey I'll return in a while, Kairi." What? Did he think I was going to blow it all just getting nice clothing for myself...although a few new outfits wouldn't be that bad to have around back home. With time to kill apparently, I decided to learn more about the people living here, seeing what exactly has changed since the last time I've visited this world, and if they might know anything about Sora or Riku.
"Sora oh yeah Cloud and Squall were talking about him earlier, so that must mean you're his friend right?" Nodding in reply I noticed the older man was happy to hear that as was his son who actually looked up to Sora as his idol.
"He's so cool, and I wanna be just like him when I grow up! This place will be safe when I become strong like Sora!"
I was shocked how much one person could mean to the mind of a small child...it reminded me of when I first met a keyblade warrior, and hopefully I can express my gratitude when I see her again. Waving goodbye I took the advice given, knocking on the door to one of the shops open I didn't hear anyone reply so maybe I should take a little peek inside.
"Hello! Anybody home!?" While the place looked stocked with all kinds of bottles on the walls, unique herbs, and food items, and yet no one seemed to be around here. Stumbling into the shop I wondered if I should get these potions first of perhaps an ether instead there were so many options to pick...
"Do you need something, kupo?" Ahh, what is this weird white thing poking up from the table in front of me! It certainly didn't look like one of the heartless with its small wings and strange red ball sticking out above the head.
"Umm, you're in charge of this shop?" I couldn't honestly believe what I was seeing here, but then I got a bump in the head by the creature who just hovered around my head.
"Yes, I am kupo! What do you want to buy today kupo!"
"Well, the thing is my name is Kairi not err kupo."
"...kupo!"
I see this is getting me nowhere, so I guess that I should just get one of everything there is here to be on the safe side. When I asked about the shop owner he...she umm it called itself a Moogle, and there are several other ones scattered around the worlds with similar kinds of shops. I asked if one of them might have seen Sora or Riku, but that didn't get me anywhere so I turned around while leaving the munny I owed the moggle before heading out of the door. As I walked toward the next shopping area there was a sudden feeling of tension around me. While I knew there was several people walking around the place I felt like someone was observing me...watching and waiting for something.
When I walked up to this shop there were two people speaking with each one, the first person was a blonde man who seemed pretty laid back in his attitude, and the girl with light-brown hair seemed beautiful with the most remarkable feature besides her gentle smile were those emerald-colored eyes. I also noticed the girl standing near the door was holding a basket with flowers, which seemed strange considering there didn't seem to be any kind of plant life around this place.
"I'm so happy the restoration committee has gotten so many supporters lately! It won't take long to restore this place back to normal!"
"That depends on what you consider normal Aerith. Those heartless creeps won't go away, and without a keyblade warrior around we're in more danger than ever. When you think about it this is the calm before a new storm."
I'm guessing this is where someone like me is supposed to come in to protect this place along with others throughout the universe. Defending those who can't protect themselves against such a threat as the overarching darkness, so I would need to keep people like these ones safe with my power following in the footsteps of my friend.
"Don't just stand there listening to us yack off what do ya want from me, little lady?"
"Oh, I'm sorry for listening on your conversation like that..."
"Don't get hard on her Cid, besides it was not like we were doing anything important during our break. We should introduce ourselves to her so we aren't complete strangers. My friend over here is Cid the owner of this shop, and I'm Aerith Gainsborough the flower girl!" The flower girl? That would explain the basket then again it caused me to wonder about her occupation; the idea of creating a garden in this place which is under construction didn't seem like would work out if I was honest about it.
'Perhaps she believes there can be new life in this world...that might not be such a bad thing.'
"Oh right I guess you should know my name I'm Kairi, but if I'm going to be truthful I've never been in this place before." Suddenly Aerith broke out a bright smile with Cid just shaking his head seeming annoyed.
"You must be a visitor then, but that shouldn't be possible considering the walls made around the worlds." Yeah, that is unless you've been given a stupid space ship you need to travel in. Part of me wanted to admit my role as a future keyblade warrior, but unlike Squall and Quistis they might not know about that stuff. Before I could say anything Aerith looked at my face, inspecting each part of me before clapping her hands in joy?
"Oh, now I know who you are! Cloud told me you would show up today, but I didn't think you would look so pretty!" So, she does know about me then this must be one of Cloud's friends which I wasn't expecting to run into like this. A tight grip took hold of my hands, her arms were surprisingly strong as she began dragging me into Cid's shop against my will. Before I knew it I was sitting down on a chair looking at a wall that had a few pictures of yellow chickens, some people I've never seen before, and Squall hanging out with Cloud?
"Seeing as she's about to go on a long-winded conversation do you feel like having some tea girly?"
"The name is Kairi, and um...I guess so..."
"Oh, don't mind Cid he's been a little grumpy over the lack of customers."
"Speaking of which little red you better buy something nice before you leave ya hear!" Wow to think he's this desperate for customers now what will it be like later on...
"Cid, you shouldn't be mean she is our guest! Anyway, you're free to ask me something first since I know you've never been to this place."
"Okay then how come you know about me, what is your relationship with Cloud, and what's with this "Restoration Plan" Leon told me about earlier."
That was more than one question but there were so many things running through my head about this place. If she can help me out with any kind of answer then I won't feel so nervous about being in a new world.
"Okay...hmm what can I answer first? Oh I know, the plan is actually a committee formed by several residents of this place by myself, Cloud, Squall, Cid, and Yuffie. The idea is to reconstruct this place into a brighter image now that Maleficent is no longer controlling the castle." Then they likely consider Hollow Bastion their home then, but why is it I feel like I should know more about this place then?
"The process is long and difficult with interference by the heartless, but that will not stop our efforts to make this place better for everyone to live in." The confidence in her eyes and voice suggested that she truly believed in this cause however this caused my eyes to sink down on the ground. Another person who could use the help of a keyblade warrrior...not someone who is still just training like me.
"Please don't feel that way Kairi, I only wanted to answer your question not make you feel down about your training. I know, unlike Sora you have time to mature into a fine defender of the light." I was happy to hear that even if it didn't remove the small doubt left in my mind. Cid told me he only had green tea on hand, which I didn't mind as we both thanked him before he left us alone so we can continue our "girl talk" again.
"Cloud and myself...well that is kind of a long story, but if you're willing to listen I can go over the main details." Nodding in reply I took a sip of my drink realizing that it wasn't that bad while my ears heard Aerith speak about the first time they met in a "slum" area in a different world. Through a series of long circumstances they ended up surviving the fall of their homeworld, but they only managed to find a few of their friends from that world.
"While I've heard about Tifa looking around for Cloud she hasn't seen me since our home was lost to darkness, but I did hear Yuffie has been training you along with Squall or Leon whatever he likes to call himself." I giggled at that loving how Aerith had a similar thought about his name like I do while appreciating her story before she ended up here.
"Finally I've learned about you when I heard that Sora met Cloud and Squall during his early days as the next chosen keybearer, instead of being able to help all I could do was provide my faith to support him when he defeated Ansem. At least now I can do more by helping his friend become strong enough to keep worlds from falling into darkness like our previous home."
'You've already helped me with answering those questions Aerith.'
"Thank you so much..." I was having a few tears build in my eyes which I hoped she didn't see, the hands covering my face didn't stop the small sobs that were coming from my throat. Once again I could feel those soft hands taking mine in, her lips suddenly came down on my forehead as she wiped the tears that were coming down my cheeks.
"Sweetie don't feel sad about that. You will see him again just like me when I felt depressed about never find Cloud after we were separated. He would want you to move forward as both a student and keyblade warrior." Aerith knew just what to say to me, and she was absolutely right about that. As I was hugging her back there was a knock at the door with Squall's voice calling out my name.
"Good I see you are here Kairi, and you've gotten to meet Aerith. With Cloud and the other guest coming we might as well discuss everything in this shop."
"You're always so strict Squall can't you be happy things have been going so well with the Restoration Committee. We might even have a future protector for this place in Kairi here!"
"She's only an apprentice Aerith, and she's nowhere near ready to take on the heartless. That's why I'm moving here next level of training here away from the school environment."
That would mean I would have to keep traveling from place to place, the chances are I would have even less time to myself...this is part the sacrifice of being a chosen one? Aerith had a change in her expression, walking over and standing right in Squall's face...I certainly never thought she would show off that kind of anger.
"So, you're just going to make this girl stress about more things when she still needs an education! You can't rob of that innocence even if she might need to have the burden of being a warrior."
"Eventually when the darkness comes back she won't have much of a choice, the duty of being a keyblade warrior is more important that schoolwork and you know this with your experience with Sora!"
"She's still a young girl Squall, and not a soldier involved in a war!"
Okay, I think this is my cue to leave them alone before it gets any more ugly...
"Ahh, save us please!" Whatever that was I felt grateful the heated conversation was cut short, but when I saw the black creatures roaming outside regret quickly filled my soul. Several floating heartless including ones with books under their bodies were casting a few spells on the population, the crowd was clearly not expecting an attack like this meaning I would need to fight them. It seems Squall was right about my fate being unavoidable.
"Kairi! You need to draw your weapon now!" Nodding to Squall I focused myself on bringing out my weapon, which was meant to protect the innocent and stop the heartless from ruining more lives. Despite my lack of experience, training, and skill this keyblade was given to me, for this reason, there was no way I would let Sora Down!
"You can't let her fight them on her own Squall! She might be in critical condition, and you should help her with the Gunblade can't you?"
"No, she should consider this her own exam...Kari you can handle them just fine without me just drive your way through them!" Why you lazy, arrogant, son of a-
I had to roll out of the way from a series of fireballs heading in my direction. I saw the father from earlier, the young child was hiding behind him in fear of these monsters.
"Get him out of here I'll take care of these beasts!"
"Go get them Kairi!" Hearing the comment from that boy managed to make me feel ease despite the situation put in front of me, the fear was still running through me, however, this was the only way to see the results of my current training. Running at the nearest silver-colored heartless I tried swinging my weapon to connect, but it just floated away sending out some ice blasts to hit me. I used the keyblade to block the blasts even while they were all firing at the same time. I couldn't hold up against them as one of the heartless knocked my back onto the ground.
'I can't give up...not yet!' Using the pink weapon given to me I came back up giving my attackers one defiant glare, my hand gripped the blade to unleash a powerful fireball finally hitting one of the ice-users making it disappear, which left only several more of its friends left...
"Keep fighting Kairi! We all have faith in you!" Aerith's words along with watching the rest of the civilians flee gave me the confidence boost I really needed. I was beginning to enjoy the pain mixed with excitement as I charged at the remaining swarm of magical heartless. While the cuts and bruises continued to pile up I was making headway through the wave of enemies, and with each strike, I was making the number go down. My mind and body slowly got the hang of this...
"Move out of the way!" Gasping in shock I quickly ran when a huge sword was cutting through the remaining heartless floating around the area, the figure who saved me was actually wielding this giant weapon and then I recognized the yellow spiky hair.
'That's Cloud?!'
The small monitor I first heard him on didn't do the many justice, the figure that was helping me with the heartless looked very different from Squall, the weapon he was able to hold so well also look very different from the gun-sword combination Squall uses in combat.
"I should have known you would come to get some of the attention, Cloud." Do Squall and this guy have some kind of issue with each other? I couldn't say as some other shadowy figure made it's presence felt.
"Oh yeah, and who said he'd show up by himself?!"
A series of steel ninja stars were thrown out revealing my second teacher Yuffie, she also managed to dispatch a few of the monsters leaving just a small pack left behind.
"You want to wrap this or should I?"
"Hmm well this is the first impression Kairi will get out of you, so give her one outstanding performance!" Standing back I saw Yuffie provide support with her huge ninja star, but Cloud managed to remove the rest of the heartless with a series of powerful strikes, the impact of each slash looked rather painful considering how big his sword was compared to the gunblade.
"Kairi, now rip out the captive hearts of these heartless with your keyblade!" Not disobeying the order from Squall I rushed toward the downed heartless striking each with my weapon to free the souls wrapped in darkness, the duty of saving people even after they've lost their hearts to the void.
While I felt happy the threat was gone Cloud and Squall was giving each other some pretty mean glares...oh boy I smell another argument coming soon. Aerith and Yuffie walked over to each other, embracing one another with hugs which made me smile at such a bond between people.
"Oh, my, goodness Aerith! It has been so long since I've last seen you in Traverse Town! Please don't tell me you've been stuck with Cid all this time."
"Oh, he's fine and I don't mind helping him since I've been able to make a whole new garden in the back of his shop. Kairi, so this your new charge then, and much like Sora she has a noble, pure, and kind heart within her body." Thank you Aerith...oh geez my cheeks are burning up again.
"She's nowhere near Sora's level, yet, he also was just a little runt before he became the newest hero of the light. With me and sourpuss Squall over here, we'll be able to whip her right into shape. Also, I needed to get away from the school environment, the uniforms they make you wear are so boring!"
"Can't you just disguise yourself as someone else, Yuffie?"
"Oh come on Aerith where is the fun in that?! Seeing the reactions of boys who don't realize their "classmate" is a great ninja is priceless not to mention their teachers had the funniest expressions when they saw me!" You mean she was the one who started that food fight a week ago, the incident in the boy's locker room, and the prank in Rufus' office ugh...
"Mind telling me when you were going to actually help this guy deal with those guys?!"
"She was handling herself just fine before you came along, Cloud. She won't have someone there to watch her back like today, and if she's by herself then Kairi will need to rely on her own strength to survive." My throat swallowed when that remark was made; even while Cloud and myself didn't like the methods Squall was not wrong about that possibility. Suddenly my mind felt like Cloud and Squall were pulling on each of my arms, their repelling of each other nearly splitting myself in half well not literally since that would be horrifying.
"Kairi shouldn't have to jump in like that even with the training you've given her Squall! The world might have heartless roaming around, but it is not as bad as when Maleficent and her crew was creating trouble."
"No...it seems like something much worse is coming."
"Another Ansem!?" Ansem? If there was someone else like him around then we would need Sora.
"Yes...no I can't be certain, but I've come across information that's left me troubled. That is part of the reason why I've brought here to this place in order to transfer her training in a better environment, another reason involves that man Rufus Shinra. We need to discuss the rest in private, Yuffie, Aerith take her back inside while we take care of the civilians out here."
"Wait a minute! I've been willing to go along with the requests so far, but if this matter involves my school and possibly my friends back home then I deserve the right to know what's going on!"
"You're not prepared for this yet. Trust me you still have lots to learn before you can handle what we know..." What kind of excuse was that?! Squall...even if I follow your orders there are things you're keeping from me that I have the right to know. My hands were shaking with rage that I was having trouble with holding back, my eyes were looking right the guy with the scar on his face...
"We can discuss matters back in Cid's house, but we can leave it to the boys to handle this mess!" Yuffie lets go of my arm there was no way I was gonna let these questions go without any real answers! Zidane, did he possibly know about whatever Squall was talking about and tried warning me? Growling in defeat I accepted the offer for more tea made by Cid hoping Aerith and Yuffie would explain more about whatever was going on back home...
Twilight Town: Clocktower ( Aqua's POV )
As the shroud of darkness left my body I couldn't help but enjoy the change of scenery of never-ending twilight that was in my view. With the day off after getting back from Agrabah despite the mission ending in failure the sight of the "Clocktower Trio" brought ease to my soulless existence. The three of those nobodies just hanging near the edge of the tower, licking the sea-salt ice cream bars like the world's issues were not even affecting them. Part of myself felt like I should just leave them to relax as they are instead of entering the scene.
"What are you standing there for come over here and join the party!" With Axel's acceptance, how could I not refuse his request, but part of myself was still not used to being so high up in the air. Yet, if the three of my closest comrades can be used to this setting then I will adjust along with them. That is also how I've gotten used to pretending like this ice cream had a taste of any kind when I should not really be able to enjoy licking it like Roxas, Axel, and Xion could so easily. Waving my legs around I began to let any stress in my head float away into the wind around me.
"To think it is about to be 100 days since you've first been inducted into the program, Roxas. It will also soon be 100 days for you as well Xion, so this is the perfect way to celebrate that anniversary!."
"100 days...has it been that long?" Roxas couldn't believe time went back that quickly as did myself, but that could be a benefit of having an "immortal" life of never aging like a somebody. It also meant we've been deprived of truly being able to live for that long, which meant we had to keep on gather hearts for our only chance to be human once again.
"Auxaq and Axel have been here longer than the both of us Roxas. They also have more experience about being a nobody than we do currently..." True, and yet, with enough time you will mature and perfect your crafts as keyblade warriors. Speaking of which I should begin teaching them everything I knew in that field of combat. They will need knowledge in order to become stronger, for the trails ahead will test each one of us nobodies. This also means there was something I could do to help out Roxas and Xion besides simply being a keyblade master in name only these days.
"Auxaq, tell me how you feel about Organization XIII? I know you've had your ups and downs here, but I never got to ask you how you really felt about this group...and well some of the members in it like...uhh..."
"Don't worry I've grown to appreciate guys like you Axel. Some of the things involved with this organization annoy me, but in the end, we all desire the same thing at least that's what everyone says. As for our keybearers I've grown to appreciate the both of you being able to handle duties that I should be doing instead. Hopefully, if I can wield my own weapon again we can have some fun sparring matches, but starting tomorrow I plan on giving you two crash courses in the lifestyle of keyblade warriors so be ready."
"How did you become a keyblade master anyway?" Xion asked no one bothered to ask considering I never could produce the evidence to back up my claim, but still I should start explaining my past to Xion who didn't know much about my history. With a sigh, I had to my a long story very short just getting to the main points about what happened to me, my friends, and my world which now is known as Castle Oblivion along with the details about Xehanort's actions. Axel only heard part of my story due to Xemnas wanting me to keep such details quiet until I regained my memories, but now I didn't care if everyone knew such things.
"So, that is why you're so focused on finding Ventus and Terra because of that bast-err bald-headed old man. I can't imagine having to endure such much trauma like that Auxaq." Heh Axel's comment on Xehanort's lack of hair made me chuckle.
"Is that why you said that I looked like Ventus then?" Roxas asked me which I expected to hear when I told him about that other warrior of the light, the differences were small but very important between Ventus and Roxas making them stand out from one another.
Ventus: The boy who's heart was split into two halves having his light put into slumber.
Roxas: The boy who lost his heart to darkness while retaining his light.
As I've come to learn the both of them aren't exactly two sides of the same coin Roxas and Ven had enough similar aspects to them that made me appreciate them both, the only thing was unlike my friendship with my previous partner I couldn't really have a "bond" with Roxas without my heart.
"If you meet him one day you could maybe suggest you're his twin kiddo!"
"That's not funny Axel..." While my red-haired partner was giggling something about the remark caused me to frown. Instead of feeling upset I looked down at the world surrounding us, observing a few of the trains moving around on the rails made in the streets amazed by how active the place looked compared to The World That Never Was.
"How you all feel about taking a small tour around the town?" I asked wanting to get off this high building for a change.
"Sure we don't have anything else to do right now." Axel agreed with my idea.
"Can we get some more ice cream before we leave?" Roxas...I'm assuming he agreed as well.
"Auxaq, can you take me on a train? I've never ridden one before..." Xion went along with my suggestion making it a unanimous decision. Giving out a smile I opened a portal to take us further into town to enjoy our time off with the nobodies I appreciate hanging out with in my empty life as Auxaq. Then again with the three fellow nobodies behind me, things weren't as empty as it could be without them...
[ As you can tell I was not the biggest fan of the Gummi Ship portions of Kingdom Hearts, and even in II the sections looked kind of boring to watch. I wonder if they will come back in the 3rd game...please be good! :P
With the end of the year approaching there likely won't be as many updates for a while, but I'm happy that I've gotten this far into the story without giving up on it like some of my past works, so for that, I'm grateful for your support. ]