After traveling through the paths between worlds, Sora emerged to find himself in a dark cavern, stuck between two rocks that hid the entrance he had come through. He exhaled and squeezed his way between the rocks, emerging into a large underground cave lit slightly by magma far below. There were rock formations creating bridges and paths through the cave, and he peered through as he caught sight of a campfire a short distance away. He started toward it, but came to a quick halt as he heard steps behind him.
"Don't move," a curt female voice ordered as he felt something press against the back of his head. He lifted his hands and arched forward a bit.
"Um… hi?" he said, slowly turning toward her and finding it had been the barrel of a gun she had aimed at him that had poked his head. The woman was dressed for combat with her blond hair up in a tight bun, and she glared at him.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"My name is Sora," he said, and she frowned as she looked over him and lowered the gun.
"How did a child like you get here?" she asked. "What do you know about Atlantis?"
"Atlantis?" he tilted his head. "Never heard of it." She didn't appear to believe him.
"Come on," she shoved him toward the camp nearby. "You can talk to Commander Roarke about it." He stumbled and started toward the camp, rubbing the back of his head a bit.
"Oh boy…" he muttered under his breath. "What have I gotten into?" He picked up his pace at a stern look from the woman escorting him and quickly made his way over to the camp, where several people looked up as he approached. They were an interesting mix, from a mustached man fiddling with a stick of dynamite to a girl dressed in oil-stained overalls and a… Sora was pretty sure that was a man covered in dirt with strange glasses.
"What's a kid doing down here?" the girl asked, arching one eyebrow. The man covered in dirt quickly skittered over to Sora, who backed up in alarm as he started sniffing him.
"Sea water," he said in a slightly raspy voice with a wild look. "Sediment. Usually found in deep oceans!"
"Okay, Mole, give the boy a break," a tall, well built man said with a warm smile as he approached. "Don't mind him. What's your name, kid?"
"Sora," the young Keyblade wielder replied. "So what are you all doing in this cave?"
"Cave!" Mole snorted. "This is a volcanic vent that's been around for thousands of years and-"
"Mole, Mole!" the other man said. " Relax. Go play with your rocks." Mole grumbled something and returned to his place by the fire, picking up several stones and biting one of them.
"Enough pleasantries," Sora's escort ordered. "Where is Commander Roarke?"
"What have we here?" A middle-aged man with a sharp jaw line and a strong build inquired as he approached from one of the tents. "Helga, who is this boy?"
"He says his name is Sora, sir," Helga replied. "I found him snooping around one of the crevices nearby."
"I see," Roarke said with a bit of a grimace. "Where are you from, Sora? What do you know about Atlantis?"
"What is 'Atlantis?'" Sora asked, frowning, and he resisted flinching under Roarke's icy gaze. "No, seriously. I have no idea what that is."
"Then where did you come from?" the girl asked. "You weren't one of ours."
"Are you from another world?" the other man wondered, and Sora blinked. The man grinned. "Yep, that's it, isn't it?"
"How did you know?" Sora asked, turning back to the commander.
"We mounted an expedition to search for the lost world of Atlantis," Roarke said. "This is dangerous work, Sora. You'd best go back to where you came from." Sora frowned. But before he could say anything else, he looked up to find a swarm of Heartless that looked something like lantern fish coming at them.
"Case in point!" Helga snapped and raised her gun, and Sora summoned his Keyblade. "Protect the camp! Where in God's name is Milo?!"
"Uh, over here, ma'am!" Sora glanced over to find a skinny young man stumbling toward them, trying to fasten his belt all while holding a book of some kind.
"Thatch, what are these things?" Roarke demanded as he aimed a gun of his own and fired at one of their dive-bombing assailants.
"They're called Heartless," Sora called at him as he jumped up and slashed his Keyblade through the nearest one.
"What the heck is a 'Heartless?'" the girl inquired as she smacked one on the head with a hefty wrench. Sora flinched at the sound of gunfire and steeled himself again, and he flipped his Keyblade quickly as light enveloped it. He thrust it skyward and several bright beams of light erupted around him, and once it died down, the Heartless were nowhere to be seen. Sora panted a bit and straightened up as he dismissed his Keyblade, then turned around to find the expedition members all staring at him.
"Um," he smiled slightly. "You're welcome?"
"Wow," Helga nodded slightly. "Impressive. Maybe you're not as helpless as we thought."
"Indeed," Roarke agreed as he replaced his gun in the holster at his hip. "What do you say, Sora? Would you be willing to accompany us to Atlantis? We'll make it worth your while." Sora pursed his lips in thought and crossed his arms.
"Okay," he nodded. "Provided you tell me more about this 'Atlantis' and why you're looking for it. If you're world travelers…" He stopped himself. Ventus would want to know what these people were up to, but he wasn't entirely certain he trusted them. Perhaps it would be better if he didn't tell them about his master, at least not all of them.
"Excellent." Roarke gave him an approving nod. "Welcome aboard, Sora. Milo over there will get you caught up on what we're looking for." Sora looked over to find Milo waving, though he quickly adjusted his round glasses and looked down as he flipped through his book. Sora walked over to him, and Milo motioned for him to follow. He led the young Keyblade wielder a bit further away from the rest of the group, then turned to him and looked like he was about to swoon.
"Wow, that was absolutely amazing," he said with a grin. "Oh, right. I should properly introduce myself." He held out his hand. "I'm Milo Thatch. I guess you could call me the historian and guide of this expedition."
"I'm Sora," the wielder replied as he shook Milo's hand. "So what all are you looking for?"
"Legend has it that there was once a powerful kingdom with technology more advanced than anything we've ever known," Milo explained as he sat down, and Sora joined him. "The kingdom of Atlantis. But during a great cataclysm, Atlantis was lost, locked away from anyone or anything else that tried to reach it. But… Maybe we can find the source of their technology and power." He flipped to a page in the book he held and showed it to Sora. "The Heart of Atlantis." Sora blinked and his eyes widened. The sketch in the book… It appeared to shine with great light and power.
"The Heart of Atlantis…" Sora echoed. Could it really be Atlantis's heart? "What is this book, anyway?"
"This is the Shepherd's Journal," Milo replied. "My grandfather once found it and left it for me. It's the key to finding Atlantis." He paused. "Speaking of Keys…" He flipped to another page. "That Key you have. Is that a Keyblade?"
"You know about Keyblades?" Sora asked as he summoned Oathkeeper. Milo's eyes sparkled with fascination as he looked it over.
"Yeah, that's it!" He looked down at the Journal again. "The Keyblade… There's some writing in here that tells of a great Keyblade War. I think that might have something to do with the cataclysm that sealed Atlantis away. And… Here." He flipped the page again and held out the book for Sora to see, and he immediately recognized the blade depicted in a rather messy and hasty sketch. "This says something about the… The 'Kye-blade?'"
"χ-Blade," Sora breathed. "It's pronounced 'key.' Like other Keyblades, but… It's something very different." He looked up to Milo again. "You know that heart-shaped moon in the sky?"
"Yeah," Milo nodded. "Is that Kingdom Hearts?" Sora nodded. "The Journal talks about it a little bit… Says it's a source of great light, and that the… You said the χ-Blade? That the χ-Blade is tied to it. I don't know much else about it."
"The χ-Blade is the key to Kingdom Hearts," Sora said, then lowered his voice to assure the others couldn't hear him. Somehow, he believed that he could trust Milo. But the others, he wasn't so sure. "Some say it was the source of the Keyblade War. Keyblade wielders used to be protectors of light, but over time, they began to fight over it, and Kingdom Hearts itself. The war eventually spread and became so violent that darkness overtook the World, and Kingdom Hearts was lost within it. The χ-Blade was shattered and the World was nearly lost, but the light left in the hearts of children managed to bring it back, instead creating all the smaller worlds we know today."
"Wow…" Milo breathed and looked to his Journal again. "But that moon… Kingdom Hearts. That's the same one?"
"Yeah," Sora nodded.
"I remember it appearing from nowhere when I was a child," Milo said. "I had no idea it was the same thing."
"Kingdom Hearts reappeared when the χ-Blade was reforged," Sora went on. "And when it did, my master became the one to wield it, and he uses it to protect Kingdom Hearts." Milo blinked.
"Wait, wait, wait. Back up. Your… Master? Your master has the χ-Blade?" Sora smiled and nodded again.
"Master Ventus," he said. "He's the reason the worlds were connected again. I use the paths he created to travel between worlds. And that's probably what you used to get here." Milo nodded. "Milo… If we do find Atlantis, let me know if you find the Heart. I…" He frowned. "I don't trust Commander Roarke. There's something about him… The only way I can describe it is that I sense darkness in his heart."
"I know he's a little rough around the edges, but he's a good guy," Milo assured him. Sora nodded and smiled.
"Yeah, you're probably right. And I shouldn't be so quick to judge someone based on their darkness. I'd never hear the end of it from my dad." He shrugged.
"Milo, Sora!" They both looked up to find Helga approaching them. "Try to get some sleep. We'll be mobilizing again in eight hours."
"Understood," Milo nodded, then turned back to Sora. "We should probably get some shut-eye. According to my calculations from the Journal, we should be getting close to Atlantis." He grinned. "I'm so excited. Who knows what we'll find there?"
"We'll find out soon enough," Sora replied, then looked down at his Keyblade and the Wayfinder dangling from it. "I just hope the Heartless let us search in peace." With that, he dismissed his Keyblade and stood up, then followed Milo back toward the campfire.
"I don't take up much room, so you're welcome to stay in my tent with me," he said with a smile, and Sora nodded.
"Okay, thank you. And would you mind if I took a look at that Journal?"
"Not at all," Milo replied and handed it to him. "Knock yourself out. And let me know if you have any questions." Sora nodded again as they came to the tent. Milo let out a yawn and stretched. "Well, I'm gonna turn in. Don't stay up too late."
"I won't," Sora replied. "Thanks, Milo." With that, Milo crawled into the tent and Sora sat down outside it, and he opened the Journal to a random page.
I wonder who wrote this, he thought as he flipped through it, coming back across the hasty sketch of the χ-Blade. Did Atlantis survive the Keyblade War? Or is there anything left to find? He sighed and looked over the Journal, hoping perhaps it would be able to give him some sort of answers. But as he looked over a lot of text he couldn't understand, his mind drifted back to the figure in the black coat.
"If you keep being that reckless, it'll only end in disaster."
Is he right? Sora couldn't help but wonder. Had he made a mistake in joining these people? He looked up and closed his eyes, silently hoping his master would somehow tell him what he should be doing. But within this volcanic vent, he couldn't see Kingdom Hearts, and without it, he realized he suddenly felt very alone.