The Sapphire Sorceress
Disclaimer: The rights to Kingdom Hearts belong to Disney and Square Enix.
Act 62: Nights of The Cursed
"That I do. But someday, I'll gather a blood-thirsty crew, and come to take that blade. Chance by then I'll have the way to wield it. And if I succeed, I'll ask you two to join me. That'd be reward enough."
Port Royal: Rampart ( Kairi's POV )
I could easily see the difference with the last place we've visited and this one with the stark contrast in the colors of these locations. Minnie's home was bright and colorful even in that past world that was all black and white, but this place looked far more grim in both the color and atmosphere like it was saying abandon all hope ye who enter here...
Looking past the barrels and cages around here I could see a vast ocean with a dark sky above our hands.
"This place is..."
"Kinda different."
Well, if something is going on here it was up to us to figure it out and stop it meaning it was time for some investigative work around the place. It was fortunate or I guess unfortunate that trouble was looking for us as we just happened to wander in on Pete speaking with a bunch of pirates?!
"See there? I knew it! Those are the punks I was tellin' ya about."
"Who're you calling punks? It's Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi to you! And don't you forget it!" I couldn't help but smile after hearing that.
"Then we won't. And we'll engrave it on your tombstone, to be sure." From what I remember in school these guys loved to steal things that belonged to others, ride around on giant ships, and usually enjoy the plunders of adult drinks like rum or beer. While the head of this gang began ordering them around I knew that unlike the heartless we shouldn't be treating these guys lightly.
'Something about them feels off. Like they seem more like dead corpses rather than living people.' As we began to attack I noticed that our blows weren't really harming them, a barrier seemed to be protecting them from our attacks.
"It's no use! We can't beat them!"
"Aye, whaddya expect?" Looking up at the night sky I saw the moon began to shine down from the clouds that were covering it, but then I saw the pirates suddenly become...living skeletons! They were the walking dead after all!
"You best be sayin' your prayers!"
Great. If we can't figure out how to beat these guys we are gonna either be walking the plank or end up as the victims of zombies meaning a gruesome end would be in store...until Pete slipped up to give us a hint. Despite looking more intimidating in appearance with the weakness of magic me and Sora cast several ice spells to take down these pirates. Pete quickly made his exit after we dispatched those pirates with little trouble.
"Chances are if Pete is around he must be working with that pirate captain." I knew we likely would run into that man again while we were in this world. Then, Sora had the suggestion of taking out a pirate ship to explore the place, but then I and Goofy recalled the orders given to those pirates to head into town meaning people could be in trouble.
"What are they?" Sure enough, someone was about to lose their soul to these heartless before we arrived to stop them. Letting us handle these guys I knew that time was of the essence here with the pirates raiding this town. With a couple of fire spells along with Donald and Goofy, the enemy was taken down in no time with the man remarking that his fencing skills were nothing compared to our talents.
"You really think we're that good?"
"Sora! I'm sure if this man were dealing with foes like those pirates he would fare quite fine."
Goofy asked about his friend, the screams coming from that girl who likely was kidnapped by these pirates. I made no hesitation when this man asked us to assist him in finding that girl along with my friends who was called William Turner. With our goal clear to find the docks we began to explore the town for some more heartless shaped like cannons to get in the way but the more pressing concern is finding Miss Swann as Will calls her. The problem was the ship carrying her was drifting away from the docks.
"The Black Pearl is nigh uncatchable. Best find yourself another girl, mate." Walking up to this guy I realized this ship he was on look rather small but it was better than having no kind of ship to possibly chase after those pirates.
"What are you doing onboard the Interceptor? She's off limits to civilians."
"Ah, fortunate that I'm going to commandeer her, then. She'll make a fine pirate ship." Sora was thrilled to hear that this guy was a pirate while I didn't exactly have the best opinion on pirates, such as the ones who have the skin come off under the moonlight.
"Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please."
"Johnny Depp?!" Everyone looked at me like I was crazy, but he looked awfully similar to a huge movie star known on the islands where I've been going to school.
"Sorry love, but I don't know any gent named that. Anyways, I've got a voyage to head on..."
"Take me with you! Help us hunt down the Black Pearl and save Miss Swann. I got you out of that jail cell, Sparrow. Do this and your debt's repaid." It sounded like a fair deal, but I doubt a pirate would take such bait so easily.
"You'll have to win fair lady's heart alone, mate. I see no profit in it for me."
I knew that he wouldn't be willing to do the right thing without getting something in return.
"Actually Sparrow. Do you think you can travel on a ship by yourself? I might not know much about pirates, but from what I've heard the captain does need a crew to run the ship for them."
"You make a good point love."
Grinning in success by sweet talking this guy, the "Captain" welcomed us onboard "his" ship as we made the last of our preparations before our departure. As we docked on the Interceptor I looked at the vast ocean surrounding our position looking at the wheel that was being used by Sparrow to move this huge ship around on the sea while we had the orders to deal with any invading heartless that would show up during our journey. I wondered how well our captain was doing with the navigation considering we didn't exactly know where the ship that Miss Swann is being held went.
"He and I once had our eye on a treasure - Aztec gold. T'was hidden on the Isla de Muerta. But he turned traitor and stole my ship." Then, Sparrow had a personal vendetta against this pirate captain likely involving this treasure.
"Treasure already his. So's the curse upon it. I've no desire for such treacherous spoils. But I will have back what's mine- the Black Pearl." Such a cutthroat world pirates must live in to deal with their issues in such ways like this. After making land the "Captain" actually had the gull to order us to stay with the ship while he and Turner take care of the pirates. Why are they treating us like children...I mean they are adults while we were still quite young but that doesn't mean they can handle threats like the heartless.
"What's keeping those two?"
"They sure are taking their time..."
"If Pete's hanging around, there must be heartless here, too. And Jack and Will aren't used to fighting heartless." I had to agree with Sora on this one deciding to head further into this rather creepy looking island hoping to find Turner, Sparrow, and Miss Swann.
"Kairi look out!" I nearly got hit in the face by one of these flying heartless moving around the air grateful that I was able to move out of the way of the fists coming down. Using some lightning magic we took out the heartless pack finally seeing Turner and Miss Swann who managed to get away from the pirates who were suddenly running right at us.
"We have to hold them off while waiting for the signal." The problem is these pirates weren't under the effects of the moonlight, so defeating them was currently impossible unless we could lure them out into the light.
"Hey, you dirty sea rats! Why don't you run home to the caves you came from!"
"Kairi? What are you trying to do make them angrier?!" Sora didn't see it but I could tell where the moonlight was coming from in this place, and by having them follow me their real forms suddenly could be seen.
"Smart idea, Kairi! We can hurt them in the light!" Nodding at Donald we concentrated our magic spells at the now skinless pirates with their weakness being exploited. While these guys were still coming at us the signal finally came out meaning we had to run back to the ship before we were overwhelmed by these guys.
"Where's Jack?" Asked my friend, but the answer involved a story about a cursed treasure chest and some kind of spell involving the golden medallions inside of said chest. Apparently, these pirates were nothing like the ones Sora encountered with someone called Peter Pan as they were far more ruthless in their nature.
"Are you sure Jack is like that pirate captain, Will?" I couldn't help but feel like he was abandoning that man here because of a biased opinion on pirates. Sure they didn't look friendly to people, but I knew a thief named Zidane who might steal things but he did have a noble heart in his chest.
"You don't know Jack like I do, miss. He's just as much of a rotten man as Barbossa..."
During our trip back we got ambushed by the undead pirates who tried going after Miss Swann forcing us to fight them. Watching Sora enter a new form that wasn't like his red outfit rather a blue one complete with streaks of blue around his legs, pushing past the swarm of undead crooks and blasting them with tons of magic spells in rapid succession. Knocking some of these guys into the newly empowered form of my friend I was amazed by how strong he's become with each trial and problem we overcome.
'Can I truly reach his level of strength?'
Shaking my head to get out of that thought I focused on taking down the last of these invading pirates on the Interceptor. Sighing in relief I could relax for a moment to see the vast ocean we were sailing on feeling like a crew member for once instead of a bodyguard. Looking down at the water I couldn't help but wonder when I would have to face that nobody who is just like me and Sora now, her own keyblade and abilities likely being improved compared to the last time when I saw her.
"Will, look!" Swann's voice interrupted my dreadful mood as I ran over to see a pirate ship closing in our position. Sora wondered how Jack might respond to this situation while Will figured he would simply flee from this threat.
"Woah!" I suddenly felt the ship rock violently causing all of us to fall over, a sudden scream from Swann called out to Will who was no longer in sight but then another blast rocked the ship.
"There is no way we can run now. We just have to fight!"
Sora was correct about that with this other ship refusing to let us get away. Getting back onto my feet I could see the waves of pirates storming the ship with the enemy ship aiming some cannons directly at us. No matter what came our way the medallion couldn't fall back into their hands, so I mustered up my remaining strength to fight back against these pirates with all of the available magic at my disposal. Despite my physical confidence, my mind was in fear of overcome such odds considering what awaited us below was either a watery grave or death by the end of a cutlass blade.
"They just keep coming!" Even with Sora in his blue form, the blasts from the cannons along with the pirates continued to attack us with no end in sight. I could feel one of the bones of a undead pirate come onto my arm, his hideous face was grinning at me but I quickly sent a fireball at him to force the pirate back as we continued our fearsome battle with the cursed on this night of all nights to deal with the undead.
Seeing a pirate holding a cannonball I asked Goofy to lend me his support, the shield he used made it easy for him to knock back that black ball right into the undead pirate hitting him right in the face. Nearly passing out with how much strength I used it seemed like we managed to overcome the pirates once more as their ship looked in disarray...
"Yeah! We beat the pirates!"
"Well, did you know, laddie?" Jack! Swann! They were both in ropes and the skeletons of the pirates were surrounding us with no way to escape.
"Now then, I'll be having back that medallion." He was using them as hostages to force our hand...
"Unless it's more important than their lives?"
"Barbossa!" Will? I thought he fell into the sea during that attack, but he was pointing a weapon directly at the pirate captain's face.
"She goes free!"
"Go ahead boy - shoot! We can't die!"
"You can't...but I can."
"Wait you can't do that!" I knew he was serious when he pointed the gun directly below his neck.
"My name is Will Turner! My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner! His blood runs through my veins!" Whatever he said struck an accord with Barbossa who was more willing to discuss a negotiation with these guys, but I knew that trusting these pirates might not be a good idea.
"Agreed. We shall leave...but the heartless stay!" Pete! I knew his hands were involved here with these heartless flyers suddenly coming up to surround the ship. These odds were too much, and that is why we were left in the ship's cargo area stuck in these ropes with no way out of the Pirates' clutch.
"Barbossa, you coward!"
"That's the last time I trust a pirate." Glaring at the co-conspirators I knew we were in a dangerous position when the mention of power kegs was brought up be one of Barbossa's men. We were going to die on this ship if we couldn't get out of these ropes and I wondered if Will's words about Jack were indeed the truth.
"Why struggle, mate? A pirate knows when to surrender."
"We're not like you, Jack! None of us are pirates, and if this is what your life is like I'm glad to not be a pirate!" He simply chuckled at me like the fact we were about to die didn't mean anything to him.
"Rubbish, love. Your pal wanted nothing more than to see a pirate like me, so now he understands when your average pirate meets his end..." My mouth came up when Jack suddenly got up with the ropes no longer holding his body on this huge wooden pillar with that knife in his hand to cut us free!?
"First, we've got to see to the gunpowder. I'm not about to lose this ship!"
"I still don't plan on trusting pirates again."
"Wise policy, lad." I guess...we were on the same side again at least for the sake of our own survival, and that meant getting rid of these burning barrels before they blow up. Jack wasn't that bad with his small knife that cut off the wings of a heartless making it easy to finish off with our keyblades as we tried pushing these bombs off the ship.
"That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away with my ship. But I'll be havin' her back soon enough."
Port Royal: Isla de Muerta
Here we are once again on this island that we just escaped from a couple of hours ago with Jack suggesting that Miss Swann stays with the ship.
"I'll do no such thing. Will could die in there." The way Elizabeth spoke about Will she really be concerned about his safety, which is understandable the guy did give up himself to keep her safe.
"Then trust us to keep him alive, Swann. He will not die if you have faith in us...and Jack to some degree..."
"Oh, you don't think I'm as reliable as you gents?"
"Well, you are the pirate here and we've learned not to trust pirates in your own words, Jack." Smirking alongside Sora as we laughed at Jack's huff of annoyance we headed off to save Will from Barbossa. As we dealt with the heartless Jack began to handle the undead pirates, his knife was quickly replaced by one of the guns they were using as he stole it right from their clutches blowing them back with their own weapons. Plowing through some of the boxes that were stuck up in this cavern area I knew we were getting close to where Barbossa and Will could be on this island.
"What are doing going to be doing once this is over, Jack? Go back to sailing the seas for treasure?" Sora had asked our companion while we tried luring these guys into the moonlight to make them vulnerable to attack.
"Not exactly. I would be lying if I didn't want to fancy a new quest to a spooky island for some lost valuables. Rather I'm going to considering who I am, why I have been the way I am, but most of all...look for a purpose for my existence." Is Jack having a moment to reflect on his life? I mean I knew he was not going to turn away from being a pirate, however, the fact he's considering what his future could be like is certainly surprising.
"Perhaps you can make an honest living for a while, see how non-pirates live out their lives."
"I doubt that very much, love. Ahoy! Treasure, mateys!"
"Not possible!"
"Not probable! We're alive and we're pirates"! Ummm...you sure about that Donald?
"Captain Jack Sparrow!"
"Sora!"
"Donald Duck!"
"Goofy!"
"And...Kairi!" Despite feeling hesitant I couldn't join in with that line.
"So you want to play pirate? Best save the playacting for the nursery! After them!" Rolling my eyes I made short work of these walking bones with my keyblade as Sora was not in the mood for any "play acting" with this guy. With Swann's friend safe, we could now leave the island with Will out of Barbossa's hold except he was actually fighting Jack in a sword fight.
"Awesome! A real sword battle!" Well, it isn't like that is new to us Sora but I guess the fact both men were using ordinary swords is kinda different.
"Jack!" I gasped when I saw the blade enter through Jack's body; unlike with a keyblade, I doubted his heart would leave his body to float away.
"You're a fool, Jack Sparrow." My fear of looking at a dead man was almost confirmed, but then I saw him turn into a skeleton like the pirate crew we've had to beat up on this island.
"Jack..." The gold medallion. It was in his clutches all of this time.
"Show yourself, Pete! The tide has changed!" I knew Maleficent's obedient puppy would come along here as I prepared for battle.
"See? I told ya you'd be needin' ol' Pete!" Covering my ears as he whistled, a strange heartless began to crawl down with flashing eyes and with a rattle of its tail I knew it was time for a showdown. Before we could land the first blow he fled into the darkness as that creature was making it pitch black around us.
"We need to find that heartless to shed some light in this place. Sora, Jack, Donald, and Goofy! Can you split up to search the area?!" They nodded in agreement, but it would seem Barbossa would get in our way with his sword while he was current impervious to attack. Hearing him cackle while I was the one holding him off with my keyblade I knew fighting in the dark was extremely dangerous. Watching the sword coming my way I knew one mistake here could result in certain death.
"You're better off preparing some drinks and wearing a dress than fighting like a man let alone like a pirate, darlin!" Refusing to let him taunt me I counted each strike with my weapon, but the darkness played into my battle when I felt myself get corned on a wall as he tried stabbing me in the chest. Holding out my keyblade I felt the sword come into contact with my cheek, and seeing it get stuck into the cavern wall I was fortunate that a scar with some blood coming down my face was all I had for battle damage. Then, I saw Barbossa's face change into a pale-skinned man meaning Sora, his friends, and Jack took out the heartless.
"I guess you're better off being dead than fighting like a coward who thinks he is a pirate!" Knocking the guy towards Sora and company my keyblade continued whacking him endlessly until Sora jumped down to hit Barbossa from the sky.
"Watch out, Sora!"
Seeing him pull out a gun from his clothing I feared a bullet would head Sora's way however he managed to attack him before he could pull the trigger. Jack poked around with a treasure chest with Sora assisting him in unlocking it, which suddenly caused a huge tornado to come out sucking up the pirate captain into the huge cyclone. It didn't take long to crush this man without the heartless getting in the way as Pete knew it was time for a "strategic retreat" as usual. As for Barbossa, the man clearly refused to see reason and I knew in this world death would be his penance.
Hearing the bang with the clang of the medallions in the chest I knew that he would be done in by the very curse he was inflicted with, to begin with in an ironic fashion.
"I...feel cold." The feeling of mortality, huh. No disappearing or being consumed by the darkness just plain old death...
'The life of a pirate.'
With our duty finished Jack seemed content with having the Black Pearl back in his possession once more.
"Hey, Jack - Good luck."
"And remember to be good!"
"You don't want to end up like Barbossa, do you?" Smiling at the "Captain" who merely said he would try to be more nicer Swann ran over to Will giving him a rather big hug while Sora was happy to see Will and Swann together.
"Good for them."
"Uh-huh! Hey, Sora - how come your face is all red?"
"What? No it is not red!"
"Come on guys. It isn't that strange for a guy to be happy about a girl."
"Do you think Sora is thinking about you, Kairi?!"
"Wha-No! No, it likely has nothing to do about that?" I was the one with a blush on my cheeks when Sora was able to lock up the keyhole in this world with the help of an object in Jack's possession.
"You know for a minute there. I was afraid we were gonna lose Donald to the curse of the treasure!"
"Yup. Me, too."
"Sorry Donald but I thought so as well."
"What?!"
I couldn't help but giggle as we began to playfully bicker with each other while Sora talked about visiting another world he's been to in the past: Agrabah. With new confidence in myself and Sora's latest power with that new form, we were ready for whatever is coming in that desert land...
Port Royal: Harbor ( Auxaq's POV )
"Why don't you try some, love? I know you can't enjoy it like a normal person, but who's to say you can pretend that it is good."
Said, my partner, while I looked down at the liquid inside of this mug given to me from the barkeep in charge. For once in my non-existence since losing those I cared about in the organization I had some time off from hunting down the heartless. So, Luxord managed to convince me into visited the realm of pirates for some "fun" to get my mind off my current duty. That is why I was now about to drink down some rum with my companion along with other "lads" who were getting too drunk to even stand up.
'A good thing about not having a heart is I don't have to worry about being impaired by such a drink as this.'
"Oi! Lads! Did ya hear about that Cap' Jack? He's gone and retaken the Black Pearl yes he did!" The outcry was made from a man with a few teeth missing out of his mouth, and he quickly put his arm around someone who was sitting on a table with his drink.
"To think he took down that blasted Barbossa with the help of those pints with those weird-looking swords! They seemed more like keys you open doors with rather than real swords!"
Keyblade? That could only be Sora and Kairi...
"They even removed that curse placed on Barbossa's men, so the seas are safe to travel through once again! Cheers for those mates of Jack...and well I guess Will helped out too..." Suddenly, a song broke out about being a pirate with the men beginning to dance while falling over each other.
"To think those keylade wielders could induce such joy into the hearts of these somebodies. Still, we are only in the early stages of the game with many different moves and cards yet to be dealt out from our hand." Luxord's words made a lot of sense, but looking at these people have happiness simply due to the fact they could have something so simple as traveling on the seas without the threat of being attacked. This result made their hearts swell with good will towards each other inspiring that kind of emotion I would never know again without Kingdom Hearts.
"So, who here is willing to travel to that cursed island to get all of the treasure still await some sea rats like us?"
"Are you completely daft, mate? Do you want to end up as a pile of walking bones?"
"Like we aren't that already!" A bunch of drunken fools...
Huffing, I quickly got out of my seat only to draw these bumbling human's attention.
"Hey, there sweetheart! You look new around here with that cloak of yours hiding such a purty face like that. Whats say we fix that be getting to know one another, love."
"Sorry, but she already has a date with me." Luxord? I wasn't expecting my partner to actually say that when we...I umm guess this could be kind of like a date. Although I would prefer the man to go on a "date" with me be Terra or Ven, that dream, however, was something from a girl who died a long time ago.
"Who are you, laddie?" That weird looking piercing doesn't make you tough as us, ya know!"
"Well, how about we play a little game to determine who gets to spend the rest of the night with my fair companion." Was he going to use his fixed dice again? Looking at the confused expressions on the bar attendants, the fools here would soon be duped out of winning Luxord's little "fair game" of luck.
"Call them out gents," His fingers began to move the dice through his fingers like it was thin air. "Can you beat me in a game of guessing the number?" They guessed high numbers like 8 and 11, but the result Luxord had was 6 when the dice revealed 5 meaning he was, in fact, the winner by being the closest.
"Bugger!"
"It would seem I am the winner of this little game." Watching the dirty men head back into their seats I was grateful Luxord bailed me out of dealing with those guys.
"Think you will run into those heroes of light soon, love?" He said as he downed the rest of his pint of rum, his question beginning to weigh in on my mind about what could happen.
"If I do, then I won't hold back anything when fighting them. If they are trying to become masters they will have to go through me!"
"Hahaha! Spoken like a true warrior, Auxaq! I suppose our superior doesn't want us away from the castle for too long how's about we head back?"
"Certainly..." Walking with Luxord out of the bar I knew it was only a matter of time before I came across those two warriors in another world. That didn't mean of course I wanted to face them since I still had some doubt about how things would turn out without all of the members of our group. It just doesn't seem like much of an organization without the rest of them including Roxas and Xion...
"Xion. Do you still exist even inside of Sora in some way?"
[ BTW has anyone seen the new Pirates movie that came out recently? I watched the first and parts of the next two movies, but I kinda fell off the series after those films. Also, that new KH trailer looked amazing, but I wonder what the new world in July will be exactly.]