The Sapphire Sorceress
Disclaimer: The rights to Kingdom Hearts belong to Disney and Square Enix.
Act 64: The Encounter
"Ahh... The truth can be most cruel, even amongst the closest of friends. After all, one never knows the secrets of another's heart. I'm sure you'll agree... Ventus... Aqua."
Halloween Town: Hinterlands ( Kairi's POV )
Stepping out of the Gummi Ship I was shocked by the costume my friends were now in, the world must have changed their appearance somehow making Sora look like a vampire, Donald was dressed like a mummy, Goofy was like Frankenstein with that bolt sticking out of his head, and I looked like a sinister witch in my new outfit. The huge hat on my head made it kinda difficult to move around in, but my friends seemed to like the new look I had for this world making us fit in perfectly.
"You know for a witch you're pretty sweet, Kairi."
"Says the "vampire" who could never drink an ounce of blood." Laughing with Goofy and Donald we began to look around at the surroundings of this area we landed near from our traveling ship.
"Hey, this is Halloween Town, right?"
"Well, it sure does look like Hallowee..."
"Wha?"
Looking at the same place my friends were staring at we noticed a ghost beginning to float around, but while they others were used to this I...was less than calm about this.
"It's a ghost!"
"Yeah, and his name is Zero."
"But it is a ghost dog!"
"The ghost dog of our friend Jack."
"...IT IS A GHOST!" Despite the fact it wasn't hurting us I couldn't fathom the idea of a ghost not wanting to haunt or possess someone like in those horror stories, and now I can't stop my body from shaking in fear. I decided to change the subject by hoping to get more of those memories out of Sora's head that he couldn't remember.
"Sora? I want to know why you're able to recall everyone here, but you can't remember certain other things like Castle Oblivion. I know it might have something to do with Xion and Namine, but those words Aqua...no Auxaq told us has gotten me thinking about what could really be going on with your memories..." I knew that if she was going to keep coming after us we needed to learn more about what happened with Xion and Roxas besides the fact they were both trapped in Sora now.
"That again? Well, I guess if that nobody is following us then it might be best if I can start to remember some things like that. Hmm, do you know more about those people, Kairi?"
"Not much besides the fact Xion and Roxas worked for Organization XIII well and they had keyblades like us. If Xion is still alive inside of your body...do you think she is happy about her state?" Looking at him Sora's face changed into a look of confusion about what I just said, and I could tell something inside of his head was suddenly in pain.
"Gawrsh, are you okay Sora?"
"Do you have a headache or somethin?"
I knew that he was likely in pain because of what I said and those memories that refused to surface no matter how much I tried to make him remember. Until I could figure out the reason perhaps it would be better to let those forgotten memories remain deep in Sora's mind for now. Finally, we came into the center of what seemed to be this world's civilization that had all sorts of orange lights hanging off the buildings and walls in this town. Sora was looking at a huge ramp that looked new according to him along with the lights hanging around the place.
"It's Jack!"
Jack as in the pirate? No, this Jack was nothing but bones unlike those undead pirates, and he was...flying in the air on some kind of ride being pulled by several skeleton reindeer? What...have I got myself into this time?
"Sora, Donald, Goofy...and ummm whoever you are madam Welcome back, and Merry Christmas!"
"It's uhh Kairi Jack."
"Merry Christmas? Don't you mean "Happy Halloween"?"
"Of course. Halloween Greetings from Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King." As Jack tried to frighten Sora I didn't get why making that face was supposed to invoke fear.
"Forgive me. I'm in a Christmas mood. You see, I'm running the show again this year - but I need Sandy Claws' blessings, so I'm off to Christmas Town."
"Sandy Claws?"
"You mean that man who climbs down chimneys and gives presents to kids?" Why would a bearded man who gives to the nice and punishes the naughty have some involvement with people who seemed to only celebrate one holiday a year? Yet, this man or rather bones from a man was planning on handling Christmas as well as Halloween. I wondered how the people here were going to pull this off if they weren't used to doing things for the sake of speeding goodwill to man instead of fear. Before we could say more Jack wanted us to go find Sally to see what she has been working on over the past few days.
"A Halloween Christmas Town? Wanna go check it out?" If we had to figure out how all of this came about, then we would need to follow Jack and learn more about this new mixture of two holidays. Following Jack, we soon entered into a strange building that had all sorts of strange lab equipment laying around that looked like the work of a mad scientist like in those black and white horror movies. Sure enough, there was a rather creepy-looking man in a wheelchair that...could mess with his own brain?
'Are those kids trying to mess with something, but they look like trick-or-treaters...'
Along with these other people was a woman who seemed hesitant to do anything to help out when I looked at her face. I silently watched them all working together for some kind of thing laying on the table that this scientist wanted to complete, but it seemed like if they intended to or not the kids managed to turn the pile of machinery into cooked metal as they began to run away after ruining this project...whatever it was intended to be in the first place.
"Imbeciles! Now my project is ruined!"
"Sally! Did you finish it? I want to show my good friends."
"I'm sorry, Jack I..." She clearly was more hesitation to say whatever she wanted to tell Jack before continuing. "I need a little bit more time."
"Well, that's all right. Just as long as it's ready for Christmas!"
"But...Jack..." Why did Sally feel unwilling to say whatever she was truly thinking about simply letting him go? I knew that something must be keeping Sally from speaking up to her friend, so Sora decided to ask her what exactly is going on with Jack.
"Please, Sora. I'm afraid something terrible will happen if Jack goes through with this."
"You can say that again!"
"Sora?"
"Umm...what are you looking at?" I was baffled by Sora's face looking up almost like he didn't hear a word Sally just said to him. Hearing Jack's voice again he asked if about the heartless who in his mind would try showing up to ruin this whole "Christmas" celebration he was trying to pull off in this town. I knew that it was time to go after the darkness lurking in this world, and then we can go meet this Santa person even though I already saw a person dressed up like him back in the academy. I knew Sora was going to be disappointed once he learns the truth about him or at least what I've gotten to learn about what Christmas means thanks to Rufus Shinra.
Running outside I could hear the outcry of a man who's voice was speaking through a microphone, but the bigger issue was the mummy-themed heartless that were walking around the square.
"Now hear this, you...you things! Leave Halloween Town at once...by order of the mayor! Jack? Where are you? I'm only an elected official - I can't handle this by myself." Well, I guess that you're just like Rufus in that regard of being helpless against the threat of the heartless even if he had another face on the back of his head...yeah.
Holding out my keyblade we began our attack on these heartless with their big, sharp claws that could likely rip us apart if we weren't careful. While I began to strike at these guys Jack and Sora were beginning to...dance with each other?!
'Are they doing a duet with each other?' It certainly seemed strange but there wasn't any doubt of how effective it was against these heartless that was getting knocked around by their combined attacks while I and Sora's other pals took care of the rest of the bunch. Of course, this was only the beginning as Jack was concerned about "Sandy Claws" in the middle of this mess even suggesting that we serve as bodyguards for this man. I wanted to bring up what I believed Santa Claus really is, but Jack simply told us to go follow him to Santa's workshop.
"Alright onward to Christmas Town! I'm sure you going to love seeing that place!" Leaving my doubts behind we followed Jack into the woods that were full of many tall trees that didn't have a single leaf on their branches, but the thing that stuck out to me was the many different signs on each of these trees. I wasn't sure exactly what these symbols mean however Jack seemed interested in a certain tree with a symbol of a green tree that was filled with decorations.
"Here it is! The door to Christmas Town. The spooks of Halloween can get so tiresome year after year. I wanted something new. And I found this!" Jack certainly was building up this place to be some kind of dreamland that we were about to visit.
"Beyond this door is a world filled with wonders...the likes of which you've never seen!" Sora was grinning with his fake sharp teeth while Goofy and Donald were confused about Jack's words about this town.
"C'mon! Just open it!" The door revealed a hollow, black, and deep looking void of nothing that Jack and Sora quickly jumped into without any hesitation. Seeing Goofy and Donald follow them I knew that there was only one thing I can do right now.
"Time to jump down the rabbit hole!"
Halloween Town: Yuletide Hill
After falling down into a spiral of white and snow we all fell down on each other while I landed pretty safely on the backs of my friends.
"Cooool!"
Yeah...the snow certainly has made things cool around here, the arms around my shoulders for the sake of keeping myself warm speaks volumes about how different the atmosphere was in this place. Speaking of which...
"You're a snowman, Donald!"
I couldn't help noticing the fact Donald, Goofy, and even Sora had their outfits changed into more Christmas-themed attires. Gazing at myself I also underwent a change with my own clothing now resembling a female elf in red complete with pointy ears instead of a gothic-looking witch. I guess we were in a whole new world like Jack said, but now to find Santa in his workshop. Despite my more skeptical nature about Santa being real I had to admit this place looked amazing with the bright lights, beautiful snow, and colorful buildings to help complete the chilly mood.
Of course, the heartless certainly don't care about such things as long as there are hearts they can devour that is all they really value in the universe.
"Don't worry I have a friend who can help us!" Sora told us while I wondered who he was trying to summon this time, but then I heard the familiar voice of Aladdin's friend Genie who proceeded to begin firing off several magical blasts that made fighting the heartless a lot easier. I also noticed this brand of heartless were in tune with this world's theme with several toy soldiers in wind-up boxes and others with pumpkin hands creating a fusion of Halloween and Christmas. Thankfully the assistance from Genie made dealing with those heartless quick and painless.
"That's where Sandy Claws lives." Jack's bone finger pointed at a building with a huge chimney sticking out of it with candy cane pillars sticking near the door. Looking at Sora I could tell this was something he was thrilled about while I still wasn't sure if this guy really is the genuine Santa or simply another imposter...
"Well, hello everyone. Did you come to see if you're on my "nice" list?" S-Santa? The guy...he had the long beard, huge belly full of joy, and his voice sounded very friendly despite the fact he hasn't even met us before today.
"Your name?"
"Um, Sora, Sir."
"Let's see...Sora...Here you are. Well, according to my list, Sora...seven years ago you told everyone you did not believe in Santa Claus."
"Well, to be fair I don't exactly believe you're the real one as well. I mean no offense, but I saw a man like you to school with a fake beard who had it pulled off by a younger kid making everyone laugh at him." Jack and Sora were surprised when I said this to this man, which made them feel like I was insulting this older gentleman.
"Oh, well I can assure you that you're the real deal Kairi. I'm sure that naughty man Rufus might have made you not feel the Christmas spirit lately, but you should know when I dropped in to give you that special gift while you were with your grandmother..." How could he know about that toy train that I wanted so badly when I was little unless...this is really Santa Claus!
"I'm so sorry mister Santa!" I and Sora were both left in a state of shock by what just happened to us. I didn't even realize Goofy, Donald, and Jack was asking about being on the list as well until Santa walked over to a door mentioning some kind of trouble that Jack might have brought here. We all walked into a huge production room there is likely where Santa makes the toys he gives out to kids during his one trip during the more anticipated night of the year.
'This is where all of the magic happens...with a bit of help from machines as well.'
I heard the sound of a window breaking along with those trick or treaters leaving the building or as Jack calls them Shock, Lock, and Barrel. Whatever they were up to it was clear those kids deserved to be on the naughty list. Santa then asked Jack and umm his "bodyguards" to track down those kids for him while he remained at his workshop. With our next mission clear we noticed some tracks in the show, the small footprints had to belong to those kids that ran away from here. After I bashed some of these heartless who got in our way I noticed these prints went back to the very tree we came from to get into this world meaning we had to go back to Halloween Town.
'To think I was enjoying this place only to leave it so soon...' Sighing, I knew our duty meant we had to act unselfishly here for the sake of saving Christmas.
"Don't worry Kairi! I'm sure Santa will see that we're still good enough to stay on his list after we catch those kids!"
"Yeah!" I smiled at Sora's optimism while we made our journey back into Jack's world to give these brats more than just a time-out...
Halloween Town: The Curly Hill ( Auxaq's POV )
I see that witch has certainly begun her comeback in the universe. It was one thing to have Pete running around doing things for her, but to revive Oogie Boogie was no laughing matter despite the fact he wasn't exactly back to normal. In any case, the goal Xemnas asked of me turned out to be correct in that he wanted to learn more about what this fairy was doing here back from the dead. While my presence was masked from Oogie and his followers Maleficent seemed to detect my darkness even while I had made myself known to her.
"Show yourself, creature! I know you're watching us, so why don't you come out and face the Mistress of All Evil!"
"Evil? Funny, the idea of admitting that you're a being of villainy while I can see that you're trying to make everyone believe that instead of seeing you as beyond such a concept like myself." Opening a portal of darkness I hid under my cloak to help disguise myself from her, but there wasn't much I could do to my voice. She looked angry at me, a tranquil state of fury while that sack of bugs wasn't sure why I was here.
"Who said you could invite friends, Maleficent?"
"I can assure you this being is no friend of mine." She cradled her staff while observing me like she was trying to figure out who I was, but she must already know what I am these days.
"You are one of those nobodies who's been trying to take over the world that is mine. Tell me who you are before I send you back into the darkness from where you came, nobody."
"Cute. After all this time you're still making empty threats..." I chuckled by how angry she was while remaining unaware of my real identity, but she pointed her finger at me beginning to put the pieces together.
"That voice...I remember someone from my own past speaking in the tone however she had some life to her unlike you..." My lips curved upwards into a grin feeling a false sense of confidence while keeping my hood over my face to force Maleficent to put the pieces together, her actions against me and Ven were something I still refused to forgive even without a soul.
"You and those other nobodies will continue to stand in my way, so I suppose removing you from the equation will have to do for now," She looked at these kids before walking away from me. "Still, the voice you use it couldn't be that girl considering she was lost to the darkness all because of a pathetic thing called love for that foolish boy I used to my own whims..."
"Says the girl who was beaten by Ventus and Aqua!"
"I-Impossible! You were lost to the darkness inside of that realm but..."
"Oh, Aqua is indeed long gone but what is in front of you is all that is left..." Growling I pointed my keyblade at her my hood came down to show this witch the girl she was talking about who was very much in front of her right now.
"I see...how amusing this is! To see how far you've fallen from grace, but why bother dealing with such ignorant men in that silly group of nobodies. Your talents can be better utilized much easier if you were to serve someone like myself, Aqua."
"Auxaq," I said while firing some powerful ice magic at her to scare her off. "You're talking about a girl who is no longer in this world, the woman in front of you is just another "ignorant" nobody." Maleficent didn't say anything else besides sending out a couple heartless to distract me while those children ran off in a different direction. She just gave me some more targets to hit to help keep the lead in my little race with the other keybearers, which just so happened to find me in the middle of wiping out these mummy-looking heartless with my weapon.
"Woah! She's a pro at this stuff!"
"You think she gets all sorts of candy after taking out all of the heartless?"
"You morons! We need to leave while we have the chance!" I didn't pay the kids any mind or their boss; they were less important than dealing with ripping out the captive hearts inside of these beings of darkness. Holding up the last heartless before removing the soul inside I knew Sora and Kairi would try attacking me despite the fact I took care of these guys for them even if that wasn't my intention.
"Huh? You!" Yes, Sora it is me. I couldn't help but roll my eyes feeling uninteresting in dealing with these two right now, but at least I could try prying some more of those memories that Xion and Roxas have kept locked away inside of that head of his.
"So, feeling any nostalgic yet?"
"Why don't you give us some real answers this time!?" Sure enough, Sora tried running after me to hit me with his keyblade, and I played with him by blocking his blade with my own. He had improved a little, but he was still the naive boy trying to fight the heartless unaware he was doing exactly what my superior wants him to do in the first place.
"I could certainly tell you everything, but the memory's wiles can be cruel. In its silence, we forget. In its obsession, it binds our hearts." He got angrier from that comment, and he suddenly changed into a red outfit with two keyblades...just like Xion used!
"Tell! ME! NOW!" He began whacking at me with his two keyblades no longer holding back, and I knew he was serious about this so I slowed him down before I knocked him back with my Stormfall seeing the rage building on his face.
"How impatient. A question, then, for you. Your memories of life before falling into sleep and the ones you now have after waking up - which of the two is more real to you, I wonder."
"Stop with the riddles and give it to me straight already!" Sighing, I avoided him firing off a beam of light at my body to give him a hard kick to his arm to make him drop his weapon for a moment.
"You're still a prisoner of the chains that bind your memories, the shackles will not be broken no matter what any of us tell you because of how you regained most of your memories. How ironic that you have gotten most of your memories back except for the most important details that involve your past year in that castle."
"Stop acting like Vexen and tell us what we can do to him Sora remember!" Kairi charged at me while Jack demanded I explain myself for all of this.
"Surely you can remember the both of us finding Sandy Claws! The fellow who played that strange guitar was there with us!"
"Demyx and that was with the old me, Jack. Surely even in that empty skull you are capable of realizing by now I'm no longer the girl both keybearers call Aqua, you should understand the nature of us nobodies and why the universe considers us abominations when you lack a heart yourself!" Kairi's blade was inching closer to my face, but she had a look of sadness in her eyes. "You can just leave them and find a heart on your own. It isn't too late for you to get your humanity back-"
"Analyze what you just told me," Moving my weapon down to knock her back I pointed it near her chest motioning at her heart. "You're suggesting there is some other method to regain my humanity besides what I am doing now. If that were the case Vexen and the others wouldn't have been wiped out and Marluxia wouldn't have started his plot to take over the organization." Then, Sora and his other friend came to wipe out nearly everyone in the castle sending Xion off whatever course Vexen had planned for her and creating the following events that have led up to this moment.
"Do you mean this "race" you're having with us?!" Finally, she was beginning to understand but our time together was cut short by the sight of more of those Halloween-themed heartless heading our way ending this little interrogation and a trip down memory lane.
"I would love to continue with jogging your friend's memories, but it seems he is still forgetting the most important details. When that poor girl sees how Sora forgot what he did for her, why...it'll just...it'll just break her heart." Not that Namine really has one, the idea of seeing how Namine couldn't undo all of the damage she did to Sora's mind was enough to really anger this girl.
"You don't deserve to have a heart if you're going to treat people like we're lower than you!" To my surprise, Kairi was capable of blasting me with some of her fire spells, but I countered with a blast of water that suddenly caused her to freak out and begin to scream like she was drowning.
"Kairi! I will take care of this don't worry!" Ahh, the fight with Demyx must have been traumatizing her from when she nearly drowned by his hands. Before Sora could hit me with his two keyblades I teleported away from them to a safer distance. "Why...can I remember being with you in another place? I never met you before now, so why can I see myself going to other worlds with you and someone...with black hair..." Yes, the memories are beginning to surface from his subconscious but I need to do more to wake her up.
"These images must be important to me somehow..."
"Oh, they're important to you? Ten seconds ago, you didn't even KNOW what it meant!" Hissing at them I made my leave back into the black portal that I've grown used to walking into however I knew that with more time she or he would finally awaken from slumber to make this race all the more interesting...
Halloween Town: Shipping & Receiving ( Kairi's POV )
After that moment of weakness when getting drenched in water Sora felt worried about me. While being on a pirate ship was one thing having that water come over my body...it reminded me of when I nearly passed on at the hands of that other nobody. Still, I couldn't let that get in the way of stopping this Oogie Boogie from ruining Christmas! That is why we're now having this encounter with Jack's old nemesis, which happened to be a bug wrapped up in a huge bag with other nasty insects inside of it.
"Jack Skellington!"
"Oogie!"
"You and I have a score to settle, Jack! Same goes for your little sidekicks!" Hey, I'm not little or a sidekick, you bug! Oogie even had the nerve to act like we didn't know "Sandy Claws" was actually Santa Claus unless he didn't refer to him like that, unlike Jack. I feared we wouldn't be able to stop Oogie in time, but Sally was able to distract the monster in a sheet with her detachable limbs leading him to safety. This meant Oogie was open season for us, and we took the fight to this man for trying to crush every good boy and girl's dreams of a nice holiday!
I knew this wouldn't be easy once the conveyor belts we used to stand on suddenly activate revealing sharp spikes that looked ready to poke us turning our bodies into swiss cheese if we weren't fast enough. Oogie suddenly brought out a bunch of boxes that were shaped like presents likely filled with some kind of trap. I decided to knock the thing back at Oogie only to hit the glass platform he was standing on above our heads.
"That's right away you go!"
"The bottom is cracking!" Sora's words made me realize how much that package damaged Oogie's little contraption meaning if we continue doing that we eventually shatter the platform to attack him directly. Of course, Oogie made it harder by trying to whack us with an overly-sized punching glove but Sora and I continued hitting more of these boxes until Oogie was off his high horse on that platform allowing us to make him regret ever coming back to cause more trouble.
"I'll squash you flat!" Before we could do more he quickly ran away while the conveyer belt went much faster forcing us to run at a higher speed while he tossed out explosive dice along with the punching fist again that we barely able to dodge in time. I tried hitting more blocks at Oogie until I saw an exploding dice head right at me, the blast was covered thanks to Goofy's shield saving me.
"Look, the lights are changing around the shoots!" Donald noticed that and I saw him run into one only to end up on another belt nearby, so that must mean they take you in different directions by which shoot you enter through meaning we could go into a different part of the room through these moving belts.
"Sora move!" I saw a bolt of lighting in his direction, so I deflected the attack with my keyblade feeling the sparks on my body from the aftershock. Sora thanked me for protecting him, so he returned the favor by fighting off some of the heartless coming out of blue packets to help out Oogie Boogie. With my body feeling better after a Cura spell from Donald I got back into the battle with a few more hits on the boxes to help crack open the glass platform in order to help Sora and my pals take this bug down for good.
Avoiding more of these bolts of lighting, punches, and the heartless being sent our way we moved as one to attack these heartless with our keyblades while Jack provided some help by tossing these boxes at the platform above us before he moved his platform around to another conveyer belt. It was a challenge just to bring this villain down, the easier part was knocking this guy with our keyblade once he was defenseless once we realized how more simple this guy was compared to dealing with these contraptions he tried using against us.
'This is...rather uncomfortable...' Seeing Oogie literally fall to pieces as the bugs began to pour out of this sack he was using as a body is pretty creepy until Donald actually squashed the one critter trying to scurry away likely the real Oogie Boogie underneath that sheet.
"We...saved Christmas?" Looking at my friends who nodded I couldn't help raising my fist in the air; the lack of faith I had in the power of this holiday was long gone now thanks to the experience I just had.
"Perfect! I'd better get down to business!" Jack seemingly was still determined to have his own way of spreading good will towards man even after this whole ordeal was over with, but I could tell that Jack wasn't trying to completely take control of Santa's time of the year.
"Here, it's done."
"Wonderful! Why I love it! Thank you, Sally!" Hehe, Jack finally said something to her but I wondered if he was going to really become the next "Sandy Claws" despite Sally's warning about that while Santa was still very much up to the task. Admittedly Jack didn't look too bad in red if even he seemed very thin next to the real Saint Nick.
"I just thought you could use a little help this year, Mr. Claws. You must be exhausted from all the preparations. And - I wouldn't mind a second chance to get this Christmas thing right."
"Yes, being Santa Claus can be tiring. But let me tell you something, Jack. Seeing the happy faces of little children when they discover the presents I've brought them makes it all the worthwhile, year after year after year. And you, Jack - you love to make them gasp and see them shiver with fright. What if someone tried to take all of that from you."
Wow, Santa certainly has put things into perspective. Everything needs to have a cycle like seasons and holidays. Winter leads into spring, the summer heads into fall, and then when a holiday like Halloween is over it is time for the last months of the year to begin all over again. As Jack left with the mayor and Sally we took care of the keyhole needing to be sealed while Santa gave Sora advice about Riku who pestered him about not believing in Santa Claus likely causing him and perhaps even myself to not believe it as well.
"Kairi. A moment of your time please. You are troubled about that girl who isn't on my list anymore, but know that the kindness she once held isn't lost completely to the darkness. No matter how much she will push you away you must reach out to make her believe in the goodness she once had within herself..." Then, Santa is telling me I can't give up on Aqua. If someone who I didn't even think existed until now was telling me this I had to take that advice seriously.
"Don't worry...I'm not going to abandon her and perhaps she will tell me everything that is going on with Sora." I smiled at Santa while waving him goodbye as he gave us some candy canes for the road since we still had several other places to go in order to help protect the worlds from the darkness, Maleficent, and of course Organization XIII.
[ I know it seems weird Aqua is almost directly quoting lines from these people, but she wants Sora to remember so she figures acting like them is the best way to do that since Kairi can't break through to him. Also, that bit with the water is another bit of foreshadowing but it also comes from an experience I had in real life with water hence why I haven't taken a swim ever since. ]