Chapter 7: Worlds & Summons
{September 17th 2013, 7:45am: Unknown}
Light filtered in through the curtains of a small, but cozy room in the western district of Disney Town. Sound asleep in the bed were two figures, momentarily enjoying the tranquil peace that surrounded them. The afternoon before, Kairi and Sora had spent the rest of the day exploring the town and then stayed the night in a hotel in the western district to escape the chaos of the castle. Kairi was the first to wake up, eyeing the area around them and the faint confusion that came with waking up in an unfamiliar location. She sighed and snuggled up to the warmth next to her before she recognized the scent of fire, honey, and the faint trace of the sea that came with it. Slowly opening her eyes again, she caught sight of messy, chestnut-colored hair that had a few streaks of ginger tone to it with traces of orangish-blonde. Smiling, Kairi looked to the boy soundly sleeping beside her, and reached out to brush his bangs from his eyes.
On the few occasions that she had seen Sora in a deep sleep, Kairi couldn't help but find some peace with it. Sora always seemed a bit tense, if not like his typical jovial, mischievous self. Sighing, Kairi reached forward and caressed his cheek, tracing under his eye and across his lips before smiling as she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss to his forehead, before moving to his cheek, and then his lips. At first, there was no response, and then she was pinned to the bed with his weight over her, and the kiss being returned with fervor and his hand slipping to cup her cheek before pulling away as he looked into her eyes.
"Morning..." she smiled.
"Good morning, you lazy bum," she said. Sora rolled his eyes.
"Are you sure you want to say that to me when I'm the one on top of you?" Kairi smirked.
"That can be changed..." the girl pushed and soon was settled atop the boy, who sighed in defeat as he laid down against the bed and sighed.
"Okay, you win," he said. Kairi laughed a bit as she caressed his cheek and looked to him.
"I won a long time ago, silly – I have you." the boy smiled to her.
"That goes both ways, Kairi..." the girl sighed as she slid her hand down from his cheek to his throat, tracing her way down a bit as she felt his heartbeat beneath her hand.
"Sora..." he raised an eyebrow.
"What?" she smiled a bit sadly as she traced her hand down to his chest, where a tiny scar remained.
It was a bitter reminder of their most harrowing event back in April of that year. It had been briefly touched on since then, and while many had agreed to not tell Sora about what had happened in the Dream Drop, Kairi knew he would remember eventually and wonder why they still trusted him. However, she had another question lingering in her mind, and it had nothing to do with her own situation involving him, but everything to do with Sora himself. She spread her fingers out across his chest, feeling the beat of his heart and the faint scar press against her palm.
"How are you doing? Since then?" Sora glanced to the side.
"I'm okay...you know how it is, Kairi, there are some days where it's a little more difficult than others...but I've not had a relapse in a while..." he was lying, and though she knew he didn't want to worry her, it did.
"Riku told me about the other day – when we practiced with Wisdom Form. You had a relapse, and you were acting strange...like something was wrong," she stated.
"Kairi..." he sat up.
She remained still as he propped himself up on his hands and looked into her eyes before he took in a deep breath and leaned forward, gently cupping her cheek as she watched him, and he kept his eyes downcast. No matter what, Kairi wanted Sora to know that he didn't need to hide things from her, and it did worry her that he was so unwilling for her to see him like he could be, but she knew that also played into another problem relating to Roxas and Namine.
"I don't want you to see me like that – Riku barely knows what to do..." she looked to him.
"I could help you..." she said. He shook his head as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer.
"I could hurt you..." she frowned.
"You wouldn't hurt me, Sora, you recognized me even as a Heartless, and you're still you even though these things left a mark on you," she said. Sora glanced her way and then kissed her gently on the forehead.
"Kairi, you have to realize that sometimes, I need you to keep away from me because I need to figure out what to do...I love you, and I don't want you seeing me like that." she looked down.
"Just promise me something, then..." he looked to her.
"What?" Kairi smiled.
"You won't give up on this. Keep letting your light shine, don't you ever surrender, and don't forget that I love you," she said.
"You know I won't..." she smiled as she leaned forward and kissed him, which he returned momentarily.
"Good, I'm the only one who's allowed to overpower you," she teased as he raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, really?"
With that, she was flipped and giggled as a series of nipping kisses were placed to her lips and down her jawline before stopping at her pulse point. Sky-blue eyes half-lidded kept focus on the sight of her hair splayed out across the pillow, but unknown to either of them as he bit down on her pulse again, and Kairi giggled, saying that it tickled a bit, that his bite grew harder, and Kairi stilled. Sharp teeth pricked her skin, almost drawing blood, before he pulled away momentarily panicked as she yelped a bit in surprise.
"I'm sorry..." Kairi looked to him and shook her head.
"It's fine, and I'm not mad. We should probably get back to the others..." Sora swallowed in a slightly frightened manner, and Kairi leaned forward to kiss him.
"I didn't mean to..." she shook her head, pulling him close as she gave him another soft, lingering kiss before pulling back.
"Sora, you didn't do anything wrong. It's fine, come on, let's get our shoes on and go," she said.
"Okay..." all the while, neither one of them were sure of what had just happened, but both knew it was rather strange, but the thoughts were short-lived when they realized it was almost ten in the morning and they wouldn't make it back till eleven, then panic to get back to the castle as quick as possible came tumbling into their thoughts and vanished it.
{Wielder's Hallway: 11:24am}
Riku had just come back upstairs from training to grab a book from his room to review something about summons when Kairi and Sora came bolting into the hall and towards their rooms. Their hair was mused, clothing a bit askew, and both slightly out of breath as they slipped into their rooms to change into clothing for training that day. Riku shook his head as Kairi's door slammed shut, and he sighed before he went to Sora's door and knocked. There was a rushed statement to wait before he rolled his eyes and opened the door. Sora had already changed for the most part; he was standing in the center of the room about to change his shirt when Riku had entered and gave him a once over before he sat down on the bed and eyed the boy again. Sora seemed a bit flustered by something, but what, he couldn't tell.
Kairi, admittedly, looked the same way; however, Riku decided that it would be best to probe into the situation with the two of them apart, in case they had worked on a cover story of some kind. Sighing, he opened his book and flipped through it before eyeing the boy again.
"Seems like you had a good time," he said. Sora paused as he stripped off his shirt.
"Yea, we had a lot of fun..." Sora tossed the shirt into a hamper and then grabbed a navy-blue shirt out of his drawer before he pulled it on over his head.
"Where were you guys this morning? Did you sneak out again?" Riku asked. Sora paused.
"No...we ah...stayed out..." he shifted, grabbing his shoes as he sat down at the edge of the bed and started putting them on.
"Oh? Where did you guys go? Or did you camp out?" Riku inquired as he flipped a page.
"We stayed at a hotel, okay? Are you getting at something?" Sora stood up and turned to him as Riku sighed and shut the book.
"I don't think the two of you need to be doing something like that right now," he said as he stood up and Sora gaped.
"You think we? What the fuck, Riku?!" the boy snarled almost, and Riku raised an eyebrow.
"I was about to ask you the same thing, did you and Kairi..." Sora put his hand up.
"Stop, I'm not having this conversation with you..." Sora started for the door, and Riku grabbed Sora's arm and turned him around before staring at him with a faint glare.
"I think you need to have this kind of conversation – you looked like hell walking in this morning. You look like you were about to have a nervous breakdown," he said.
"Back up..." Riku raised an eyebrow.
"Sora..."
"I said...back...the fuck up!" A reflect spell shot outwards and knocked Riku into the bed.
"Sora, would you calm down! Don't get so defensive!" the boy shot him a glare.
"It's none of your business what Kairi and I do with our personal lives! Stay out of it!" another snarl appeared on his face, and Riku felt his eyes grow wide.
"What's wrong with him? He's never this defensive..."
"Sora, calm down, you're not acting right..." the boy seemed tense.
"Where do you get off telling me that I have to tell you things! Last I checked, you're a fucking Dream Eater and not my father!" he snapped before going still. The boy put his hands to his mouth, eyes wide as if he just realized what came out of his mouth. Riku eyed him momentarily before slowly standing.
"No, you're right, I'm not your father – I'm your best friend, and your Dream Eater. And something is wrong with you..." Sora started to move away from the door, panic evident in his gaze as he kept his eyes downwards and sat down on the edge of the bed, while Riku crouched down towards him.
"I-I'm fine...just tired, I guess..." Riku shook his head.
"No, you're never this high-strung – did something happen with you and Kairi?" he asked.
"We didn't do anything...we just spent time together...I don't know...something's wrong with me..." the silver-haired Keyblade Master thought for a moment.
"Is it that thing acting up?" Riku inquired while Sora kept his gaze down.
"I guess...that's the only thing I can think of..." sky-blue eyes looked upwards to cyan eyes.
"Just keep yourself calm. Maybe you're using your Drives too much?" Riku suggested this, and Sora blinked, as if he hadn't quite thought of that yet.
"That might be possible...okay...I'll change up the lesson today – we'll find a different topic to check into..." the other Master nodded.
"Sounds good, but...we have to keep it in check – if you get this hostile when it starts to rear its head, then we need to be on the lookout for signs, and if you start to feel this way again, I think you should let me take over the training." Sora slowly shook his head in agreement.
"Okay...um...Riku? Can you still summon Komory and the other Dream Eaters?" he questioned.
"Of course, don't you have a Dream Eater at your disposal still?" Sora smiled.
"Three, but I have someone I want them to meet today alongside them," he stated.
"I like your thinking..."
{Training Hall: 1:00pm}
Sora and Riku had been sparring for the last hour after a quick lunch to get some of the anxiety off of the chestnut-haired teen. It was after their sparring session had carried over the time they had wanted it to that the others entered the training hall to see the two Masters going almost all-out. Sora dual wielding two Keyblades they had never seen before, and Riku striking with randomized magic attacks. Each attack was blocked, dodged, or reflected back which left them with nothing short of awe as they watched Sora slide under an attack, and block the last attack before the two pressed their Keyblades to one another at the throat, ending their sparring match in a draw.
"That's still amazing," Roxas said as the two dismissed their Keyblades.
"Nice to know; with enough training and experience, maybe you'll be as good as Sora and me one day." The blonde laughed.
"Your belief in us is overwhelming," he stated sarcastically.
"Anyways, we're not working with Drive Forms today. We're talking about worlds and summons." The two blondes perked up, as did Kairi, who had only ever been to three worlds – technically four, if one were to count Hollow Bastion – and had always wanted to see the ones that Sora had gone to.
"Worlds? So are we going to go to some?" asked Namine.
"Not yet, but we can discuss some of the differences – in fact, the thing that I remember the most about the worlds are the different Heartless that show up there."
"The worlds have different Heartless?" Roxas inquired as Sora nodded.
"Yea, a lot of the Heartless won't appear the same – there were these monkey ones in Deep Jungle, these ones with huge swords in Agrabah, there were some that competed in competitions in Greece, and then there were these strange ones that spat fire, ice, thunder, and even healed up the other Heartless all over the place." The four of them seemed genuine surprised by that.
"What other kinds did you run into?" asked Kairi. Sora thought for a second.
"I remember there were these pumpkin, mummy, and ghost ones that appeared in Halloween Town, and another kind that appeared in the Hinterlands where the Seasonal World doors were that kinda looked like evil Christmas ornaments..."
"Sounds weird," said Namine.
"Not as weird as changes that happened to you when you went there..." the four of them raised an eyebrow.
"What changes?" asked Riku as Sora smirked.
"Sometimes your clothing will change when you go to certain worlds – the munny always did. Whatever the currency of that world was, the munny would alter itself there. But in Greece, my clothing just became a little different, it didn't change to the cultural attire..."
"Neat, but what about the summons?" asked Roxas. Sora smiled.
"Glad you asked..." Sora stood up and stepped a bit back before raising a hand out that caused a series of blue ribbon like tendrils to rise out of the floor before Sora moved out of the way, and a black, red, and tan giant gerbil-like creature appeared. It bore a golden crown wrapped around its tail, its side bore one, and a tiny golden crown appeared atop its head.
"What is that?!" the trio jumped up as Riku stood up and laughed before following a similar motion as a bat-like Dream Eater appeared and rested atop his head.
"These are Dream Eaters, summons from the Dream World. I hope you don't mind, but it's important for you three learn about them," Sora stated as the crown-wearing gerbil started prancing around him, wiggling a bit as it did.
"There so cute, what's their names?" Namine crouched down, and Sora's summon came over to her, while the bat-like one came to Kairi and snuggled up to her.
"This is Komory, my Dream Eater; I've had him since April this year," Riku explained while the Dream Eater of Sora's licked Namine's cheek, and Roxas gave the two creatures a nervous look.
"Come on, Roxas, this little guy is really cute and sweet..." Roxas crouched down and touched the gerbil-creature before smiling.
"Hi...um..." Sora laughed a bit.
"It's actually called a Meowjesty, it's a Royal Meow Wow – a type of Dream Eater – and it came to me after the events of our Mark of Mastery exam," he said as it turned back towards Sora and started to give him a series of licks across the face.
"Are these your only summons?" Riku shook his head as a small cat-like Dream Eater curled around his legs.
"This is a Nancho-Cat, and then there's the bunny one we had for a bit, and the lion, the T-Rex, and the wolf," he stated.
"Yep, but while Riku has the Dream Eaters for the most part, I have other summons I've been working on, and one that likes to do it by itself..." Sora glanced to the side and the silver-haired Keyblade Master nudged him.
"Go on and show them the one you used during our exam, I be they'd love to see it," Riku told him as Sora shrugged.
"Hey, Roxas? Care to give me a hand?" the blonde nodded a bit and came to stand beside Sora.
"What kind of summon are you using?" he asked.
"You'll see, but you might want to follow my lead once it comes up, and as for the rest of you – I suggest stepping back..." Riku, Kairi, and Namine stepped away, but while they did, Roxas got the sudden feeling that he was going to regret doing this.
In a matter of moments, the gleaming blue strands of Sora's magic appeared, and he brought forth a strange object that spun out the second it touched down. Roxas let out a scream of surprise as he and Sora spun around in a series of circles, bouncing off the walls and sliding across the ground as the other three tried to get a good look at it. Roxas realized quickly that the object they were in wasn't a typical mode of movement, but it was fast and powerful. The spinning stopped, and Roxas sunk downwards behind the rim of a large tea cup with blue details on it. Namine stared at it, highly unsure about it as she came closer and Sora turned his attention to them.
"This is a type of summon called an Attraction Flow, it allows me to summon objects that I can utilize in combat instead of a friend from another world," Sora explained as he hopped out of the tea cup, and Roxas crawled out behind him.
"I think I'm gonna be sick..." he laid on the floor, unmoving, while Sora crossed his arms over his chest and looked at him.
"Awh, I thought that you had fun, you were laughing," Sora stated.
"I was screaming! A warning would have been nice!" sky-blue eyes narrowed in mischief.
"Yes, a warning would have been nice, but not nearly as funny!" Roxas jumped to his feet.
"That's it...I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU STOP TEASING ME!" Sora smirked as Roxas summoned his Keyblade, and Sora shook his head.
"Dumbass..."
Sora summoned a Keyblade that was the colors of fire, the teeth looking like the feathers of a bird as it ran up the base all the way to the guard with flame patterns and feathers. The Keychain was gold, and the end of it a flare of fire. Sora spun the Keyblade in his grasp, and it emitted heat, and what looked like sparks of fire as he looked to Roxas who swallowed a bit before he charged. The two Keyblades connected, looking as if the fire-toned one Sora wielded would disintegrate Roxas's in a matter of moments, but at the same time, was cool to the touch because the Keyblade Master wielded it as if it was nothing. However, the three other Keyblade Wielders watching the scene were given quite a shock when Roxas struck the Keyblade, and Sora smiled as fire spiraled around it in a torrent of heat and bright color. The blonde jumped back as Sora laughed and swung the Keyblade a bit, causing it to appear as a circle of flames.
"Come on, I thought that you wanted to put me in my place..." Roxas slumped a bit.
"That's no fair! What kind of Keyblade is that?!" he asked.
"This is Phoenix, I got it from a friend...his name is Mushu...and he's the dragon guardian of the Fa family in the Land of Dragons." Roxas took a step back.
"You can't use over-powered Keyblades when I can't use a stronger one!" Sora rolled his eyes.
"The Kingdom Keys are strong, but you do have a point – they're not the strongest out there...Phoenix is definitely more powerful when it comes to certain energies...but I guess we'll have to up the training so that you can wield stronger Keyblades," Sora said while Roxas gaped.
"Seriously?" he received a nod.
"Yep, you'll need to be able to wield stronger Keyblades to use higher attacks, and of course, Limit Breaks," Sora told him.
"Okay! When can we start?" Sky-blue eyes looked him and the others over while Riku smiled.
"Well, first, you have to get better at your basic abilities and stances – after that, you're more than welcome to begin using stronger Keyblades. A Keyblade will come to you once you're strong enough to wield other ones," he explained.
"Alright, but Phoenix doesn't look all that strong..." Sora smiled a bit.
"Tell you what: Kairi, Namine, and you can line up, and I'll hand over a few of my own stronger Keyblades; we'll start with some that are just a little stronger than the Kingdom Keys and Destiny's Embrace. After that, we'll keep trading them out until we get to the three strongest one's I have," he suggested.
"Sounds great! When do we start?" Sora laughed.
"The next lesson, we'll begin with that, but there's one more person I'd like for you to meet," he said.
"Okay, we're all ears."
Sora pulled out a small charm of a planet, and not two seconds later, a small portal opened and the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master was toppled over by a little blue creature with large, rabbit like ears, big black eyes, and a stubby tail. It favored a strange little dog, but not quite, and seemed enthusiastic to see him. Riku, Kairi, Roxas, and Namine gaped at the blue creature as it said something and licked Sora's face as he sat up, and it crawled before it settled on his head.
"Everyone, this is Stitch, say hello," Sora said.
"Hi!" the blue creature called Stitch said to them as they gaped.
"Oh my...this is a summon?" asked Namine. Stitch sat up and clapped his hands.
"Chi-buja!" Sora laughed a bit as it made a noise that sounded like a strange language.
"You could say that. He's a friend...Stitch is an alien from another world who belongs to a girl named Lilo, but she's away at college, so when everything started going down, someone got a hold of Lilo, Jumba, and the others who live with Stitch and agreed to send him over to help us, because once I got back to Traverse Town, I got a few crystals and this charm, which summon Stitch, Mushu, Chicken Little, Genie, Tinkerbell, and a few others...but anyways, Stitch is my go-to aid, and he's a great asset," Sora said, as Stitch laughed a bit and looked to him.
"Sora! Eh! Eh!" he bounced a bit atop his head, and Sora got the message.
"Okay, I know..." Stitch was sat down and he walked along on his back legs and came over to the others with a smile.
"Hi, little guy," Namine said as she and Kairi crouched down to his level.
"Hi...K-Kairi...Na...me...nay..." the two girls giggled.
"He's adorable," Kairi stated as Riku and Sora sat down with the girls and Roxas joined them shortly.
"Yea, and a really good fighter and musician. He can play the guitar as well." Stitch looked to Riku and Roxas.
"I'm Riku, nice to meet you, Stitch," he said.
"Re...cu..." ears perked up, he looked to the blonde boy.
"And I'm Roxas," he told the little blue alien.
"Roc...sass..." Sora laughed a bit.
"These are my friends, Stitch," Sora told him as he looked to him.
"Ohana..." the four others looked to Stitch in questioning.
"What?" Sora smiled.
"Tell them what it means, Stitch," he said.
"Ohana, means family...family means nobody gets left behind...or forgotten..." the four others smiled as Stitch walked to each of them and grasped their hands before he pulled their hands to the center with him. None of them had to speak, because with the help of a little blue alien, they all heard the same thing that they needed to hear – that they were a family now, and they would stick together through anything.
{…}
I'll be right here now, to hold you when the sky falls down...I will always...
{…...}
Author's Note: So, tell me what you thought about this chapter. I love Stitch! He's so cute! Also, just a heads up: Kingdom Hearts: Genesis won't be updated until Revive is complete. Once it's done, we'll be back on Genesis until it's complete, from there we will begin work on Trance Step and Re-Verse. Just remember to stick with us! Once we're done with these following Titles, we can finally get to the main story:
Kingdom Hearts: Genesis – 70 Chapters + epilogue
Kingdom Hearts: Re-Verse – 50 chapters + epilogue
Kingdom Hearts: Cypher – Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts: Darker Dream Distance – Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts: Recollection – Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Dreams – Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts: Revive – Final Mix
Kingdom Hearts: Trance Step
Kingdom Hearts: Off The Grid
We're almost there, and technically, minus Genesis & Re-Verse, we're caught up with BBD. No worries, we're on our way to the main portion of the story!
Tell me what you thought, any theories? Did you guys put any clues together?
Preview:
"Your Majesty, I have something I want to talk to you about."
"Training with new Keyblades isn't as easy as you'd like to think."
"Are they ready for world-hopping?"
"What's wrong with me?"
Chapter 8: An Idea