Chapter 8: An Idea
{The King's Study, Disney Castle: September 18th 2013, 7:00am}
Sora took in a deep breath as he looked at the large door in front of him. Talking to the King wasn't precisely his favorite thing to do when he had to ask for something. Taking into account the last time he had gotten permission to take his mom, Kairi's dad, and Riku's mom to another world hadn't gone over well, he found himself hesitant to get permission. Sighing, he knocked on the door and was asked to enter, and did so before quietly shutting the door behind him while the King continued to write something down upon a piece of parchment with a quill.
Sora watched him work momentarily eyeing the stationary set nearby. It was one of several in the castle – there was one in his, Kairi, and Riku's rooms, as well as Roxas and Namine's, then there was several in the library, one in the offices, and a few others in odd places. As Sora contemplated the reason behind the stationary sets and the bottles of multi-colored ink, King Mickey looked up.
"Sora? Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Oh, um...no..." he glanced down.
"Are you okay? You look a bit pale," the King stated with concern.
"Your Majesty, I have something I want to talk to you about."
"What is it? Are Roxas and Namine coming along well?" King Mickey inquired while Sora kept his gaze down.
"I wanted to talk about...possibly taking them on a world-hopping adventure for training in a few worlds..." the Mouse King looked down.
"Sora, the last time you did this, it didn't end well," he stated.
"I know, but...listen, I remember how overwhelming it was when I went to all those worlds for the first time..." the King nodded.
"I know, but, Sora...I don't know about sending five Keyblade Wielders out into the open like that," the King told him.
"Funny, none of that mattered during the Dream Drop..." King Mickey winced.
"Sora, listen, we had to put you and Riku through the Mark of Mastery exam so that you could..." the boy shook his head.
"Listen, I just don't want the first time the others go into a different world to be during a battle, or when Xehanort makes a move and everything goes to hell..."
King Mickey sighed and considered Sora's words. There was a great difference between the three normal adults and the three Keyblade Wielders. Kairi could handle the trials fairly well; Riku and Sora, there was no reason to be concerned when it came to them world-hopping; however, Roxas and Namine had one singular experience, and that was with their journey from Twilight Town to Disney Castle. Black eyes looked to piercing sky-blue ones, and he sighed as he realized that Sora was indeed right – Roxas, Namine, and Kairi didn't need their first experience with a new world to be in the midst of battle.
"Very well, I will enquire this to Master Yen Sid; if you do this, he will require they have a meeting with the Three Good Fairies if he agrees," King Mickey stated.
"I understand, but...I really don't want them to just up and go into a battle and never world-hopped. Besides, what if one of them have the same sickness I have and it puts them out of commission?" the King frowned.
"You do have a point...okay, I'll try and persuade him. No promises, though, Sora," King Mickey said as Sora gave him a calm smile.
"Thank you for your time, Your Majesty..." King Mickey bit his lip when Sora bowed to him and then turned to leave. Just as he reached the door, the King spoke up.
"Sora?" the boy paused.
"Yes, Your Majesty?" the King seemed to chew at his inner cheek, almost as if he was unsure of what he was doing.
"You don't need to bow to me, and you don't have to address me as a King, just call me Mickey; I told you that before, when we parted ways at the Door to Kingdom Hearts and I went back to here while..." Sora swallowed thickly.
"While Riku and Kairi went home...I remember, but you're a King, I'm just a Keyblade Master; I don't really feel like I've gained any right to address you like that, Your Majesty," Sora explained.
"Oh...well, I'll get this letter to Master Yen Sid as soon as possible and let you know what he said, alright, Sora?" the boy smiled.
"Thank you again, Your Majesty," he said as he bowed once more and then promptly left, and the King slumped in his seat.
"This is almost too much..." A faint series of footsteps caught the King's attention and he turned to see Oswald present.
"He looks well," Oswald stated as King Mickey came down to settle next to him.
"If I were to be honest, he only looks well. He's still quite scarred by those events..." the Master Wizard patted the Keyblade Master and King on the shoulder.
"I heard he has two students now. How are they doing? And Riku, as well as Kairi?" Oswald inquired.
"They're well, but...none of them, not even Roxas and Namine worry me nearly as much as Sora himself does." The rabbit nodded.
"I know...he seems really uncomfortable. Maybe giving him some free reign would make him feel better – let him go on adventures, explore, teach them in the field, and let him be himself. Sora can't recover while being sheltered," Oswald told him.
"I agree, but...the secrets we're all keeping may get exposed before he's old enough to understand them..." the Master Wizard frowned.
"He needs to be able to accept it, and just shoving him into it when it rears its head will only make it more painful," he said.
"I know..." Oswald sighed.
"Listen, this isn't going to come out when you're pleased with it. This secret, the stories, everything...it'll happen at the worst time possible," King Mickey looked down as Oswald finished speaking.
"Then what should I do?" he asked.
"Help him be prepared – let him live his life before everything changes, and don't restrict him just because he's a special case." King Mickey thought that over.
"You're right...he needs to live his life..."
{Training Hall: 7:45am}
"Sora!" Riku called out to his friend as he entered the room.
"Hey...Riku..." the silver-haired Keyblade Master looked him over.
"Alright, what's wrong with you? You look sick again," he said as he came over to him. They had met up before the others were supposed to arrive, and while Sora had seemed fine earlier, he now looked a bit ill.
"I'm fine...just a little tired I guess..." the boy held out his hand, summoning Oblivion while Riku looked him over.
"Are you sure you want to spar today?" he asked as Sora nodded slowly.
"Yea, I need a good distraction..." Riku sighed.
"Okay, so...what were you talking to the King about?" he inquired while drawing Way to the Dawn.
"I want to take Roxas, Namine, and Kairi on a world-hopping adventure. I have a path mapped out already, so, I'm not too worried about that...I just hope Master Yen Sid will understand..." Sora rotated Oblivion before summoning Oathkeeper, which he also rotated before looking to Riku.
"Are they ready for world-hopping?" he inquired.
"Well...I don't know if they are, but I think it'll be helpful..." Riku locked blades with the other Master before being knocked back by Oathkeeper while Oblivion blocked.
"Why do you want to send them through the worlds? I don't get it," Riku said as he dodged a swing, and Sora jumped over him, and blocked the weapon sent at him.
"I just don't want them getting hurt or going to a new world for the first time in the middle of battles or a war breaking out..." Riku blocked the two Keyblades and then struck the boy wielding the Keyblades, only seconds before Sora turned on his heels and knocked Way to the Dawn backwards.
"Like when we first went to different worlds..." Sora nodded as he shifted his weight and struck the blades against Riku's as a few sparks went off and they broke apart.
"Exactly, I think they'll handle it better if they don't have to struggle through seeing a new place and wanting to explore and trying to survive...besides...if Xehanort or Organization Thirteen make a move, they'll be in twice the danger..." Riku listened to Sora's reasons and could only agree with them.
"That makes sense, but will Master Yen Sid allow it? Remember last time?" he asked. Sky-blue eyes looked down as Oathkeeper and Oblivion rested at his sides.
"It's not like last time..." Sora took in a deep breath, and the door to the training hall opened.
"Hey! You're not starting without us are you?" asked Kairi.
"Nope, just waiting for you slowpokes to show up!" Roxas sighed as he, Namine, and Kairi entered the room and came up to the two Masters.
"Alright, what's the torture method for today? Over-exertion? Or punching bag?" he asked. Sora rolled his eyes as he looked at the trio.
"Line up and you'll see..." the three Keyblade wielders did as told, and Sora stood side by side with Riku, who seemed a bit unsure of what the other was about to do.
"What are we..." Sora smiled.
"I'm going to be handing off some of my Keyblades for you to get a feel of stronger ones. We'll be starting out with three specific ones – the two Atlantica Keyblades, and the Keyblade from Agrabah," Sora stated.
"Atlantica? Agrabah?" the chestnut-haired teenager laughed.
"Crabclaw, Mysterious Abyss, and Three Wishes. Those three aren't too strong, but they are stronger and much more pliable, compared to Wishing Lamp, Spellbinder, Hero's Crest, Lion Heart, Sapphire Moon, Twilight Illusions, or Phoenix...not to mention the others..." he explained.
"Okay, so...what's the plan?" Sora smiled.
"Alright, I'll summon the Keyblades and hand them off to you – after that, we'll do a few sparring sessions," he said.
"Um...that sounds good..." Sora didn't have to look at them to know that they were anxious.
Holding out his hand, he summoned a blue Keyblade with ornate guards with orange detailing on it, a green grip, silver Keychain with a blue shell, and a blue base with an orange crab for the teeth. He handed it off to Namine before summoning another Keyblade with blue and gold details. It started off as navy, almost midnight blue at the grip, golden guards with white and red shells adorned it with a golden open shell as the connector, a golden chain with a white shell as the Keychain, and the base as blue that went further and further down until it turned into a spiral of waves in white with blue trim. He handed this Keyblade off to Kairi, and then he summoned another one. It was golden entirely, but bore blue up at the top of the curves of the guard and at the base of the Keyblade at the connection of the guard. Roxas was handed it, and the trio looked to him as he summoned a black Keyblade with an orange pumpkin as the Keychain and a bat for the teeth, while the guard and connector were a set of wings and a skull with a smile upon it.
"This is Crabclaw, Mysterious Abyss, Three Wishes, and my Keyblade is called Pumpkinhead," Sora stated.
"These don't seem much stronger..." Roxas mentioned.
"Training with new Keyblades isn't as easy as you'd like to think." The trio paused.
"Riku? Got something a little weaker than Way to the Dawn?" Sora asked.
"Yep." Riku drew a Keyblade that greatly favored Way to the Dawn but lacked the guard of the angel wing and the demon wing. It bore no angelic wing for its teeth but a strange singular black and red bat-like wing, a silver curved guard and an eye in the center, with a single Keychain of a black heart outlined in red.
"What is that?!" asked Namine.
"This is Soul Eater, my first Keyblade. I received it during the points of our first adventure..." Roxas and Namine looked to each other.
"When did you get it?" Sora cleared his throat.
"Hey, the twenty questions game doesn't take place during training. Let's get to work," he said.
"Right!"
Sora dove after the trio in a singular attack alongside Riku, who swung in, while Roxas, Namine, and Kairi went to blocking, dodging, and counter attacking. At first, the Keyblades didn't seem to be that much stronger, and then they realized the differences in strength and power when Sora locked blades with Roxas. Pumpkinhead was much stronger than Three Wishes, but they still were a bit stronger than their own Keyblades. Sora turned on his heels, swinging broadly, striking Roxas's Keyblade with force while Three Wishes rung with the connection of the two. Ocean-blue eyes looked to the black Keyblade that Sora held in his grasp and felt tension rise in him. For all their training thus far, Sora's Keyblade seemed highly strange to him – he wondered where it came from – and while Sora said nothing about it, Roxas had a feeling that they were dealing with something unnatural.
"Sora's Keyblade...what is it? Where did it come from?"
Roxas held up against Sora's attacks, and then was pushed back while the others managed to hold up. Ocean-blue eyes narrowed as he yelled before charging forward while turning the Keyblade into his other hand before striking outwards. Sora felt his grip loosen and fall away from Pumpkinhead while Roxas stared awestruck as the black Keyblade clanged to the floor and the others paused. Sora smiled brightly as he looked at Roxas's wide eyes and utter confusion. Taking in a deep breath, he moved closer, while the blonde did all he could to prepare for an onslaught of lecturing.
"Roxas..." sky-blue looked into ocean-colored eyes.
"I...um..." Sora put his hands on his shoulders.
"You did a great job! You finally disarmed me! Congratulations! You've made a great bit of progress today!" Sora said with enthusiasm.
Roxas had never seen Sora's eyes shine like that before. They nearly glowed with warmth and excitement, and his voice was bright, jovial, and clear. This was a side to his Master that the blonde boy, as well as Namine, had never seen in full view. Roxas had seen Sora rather calm and kind back when they'd first met, but he'd never seen this side of him. Riku and Kairi were smiling, enjoying the fact that one of Sora's students had made a great stride that day towards becoming a stronger wielder, while Namine stood there nearly gleaming with joy as she moved towards Roxas, who was finally free of Sora's grasp upon his shoulders, and only a few seconds later was turning his attention to the blonde girl before she grabbed Roxas by the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss.
"Good job, Rox..." the blonde boy gave her a lazy smile.
"Well, I have a really good teacher," he said as he looked to Sora, who gave him a beaming smile.
"Sucking up to me won't help you...but thanks..."
"So...now what?" Sora smirked.
"Continue with training – disarm me again; Roxas, Namine, Kairi, the three of you are going against us, and we aren't even using our most powerful Keyblades. Surely you three can handle it," he said.
"You bet!" With that, the trio charged the two Masters and their training continued.
{5:45pm}
Sora sat on the bed in his room, feeling his vision swim slightly as he took in a few steady breaths while a sudden pain developed in his head. Placing his hand over his eyes, he tried to block out the light from the windows, doing his best to ignore the sudden rush of a headache accompanied by the sense of a fever spiking. His body ached, stomach twisting into a knot, head pounding, and heart slightly racing as he leaned over and fell across the bed, curling up into a knot while he tried to figure out what had brought on the sudden sickness. He felt weak, delirious, and strangely disjointed compared to his normal self. Some of the touches didn't feel as if it was him touching his forehead or closing his eyes, let alone breathing or thinking. He laid there, letting himself get his bearings the best he could while waiting for it to let up; however, that was short-lived when the door to his room opened and Kairi looked inside.
"Sora? Hey are...Sora?!" Kairi rushed over to him, and he sat up a bit weakly before moving back.
"I'm fine, just tired..." admittedly, he looked ill. Kairi looked him over in concern, his skin looking pale, eyes glassy, and his voice brittle.
"You're sick, aren't you?" she asked as she came over to him and sat down upon the bed before reaching out.
"Kairi...don't..." he grabbed her wrist in a weak grip before tightening his hand as he moved to where he could pin her to the bed.
"Sora!" he took in a few shaky breaths as he leaned against her resting his head at her shoulder while he took in a few steadying breaths before curling closer.
"Just stay here..." Kairi seemed unsure of his request as he placed a gentle kiss to her throat before moving just a bit to where she was lying next to him with his head rested on her chest.
"You're burning up," she said as she felt his forehead, placing gentle caresses against his cheek and brushed his bangs from his face.
"I know...just stay with me, okay?" Sora took in a steadying breath and gave her a weak look.
"I'm not going anywhere, but you need medicine to get this fever to break...Sora..." Kairi looked him in the eyes and he hummed a bit, seeming to be unwilling to talk.
"Hmm..." she frowned.
"Have you been having nightmares again?" she asked.
"No..." Kairi couldn't tell if he was lying or not.
"Sora...I'm going to get some medicine for you, and we'll go from there, okay?" he glanced up to her as she got up, and was suddenly jerked back down by surprising strength. Sora leaned over her, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips before moving to where he placed a gentle kiss to her jaw and throat while leaving small bites as Kairi laughed just a bit at the ticklish sensation before she put her hands on his shoulders.
"Stay here..." another bite.
"You're delirious, you need medicine," she said as sharp teeth sunk into her neck once more.
"I'm fine...just stay..." Kairi sighed as a sharper than normal bite was given to her throat and she pushed him back to the point that she was sitting up, and he was taking in a few deep breaths before he leaned forward and against her, hissing in faint pain as the sunlight came in through the windows.
"I'll stay, but Riku needs to come and get you something to bring your fever down," she said while smiling.
"He's delirious from the fever, that's all...he needs to bring this fever down and get some sleep..."
"Hmm...fine..." Kairi brushed her fingers through his hair.
"Okay, let me go and get him and I'll be right back," she told him as she moved to let him lay down. Kairi watched him curl up into a ball, seemingly cold as she brushed his bangs from his eyes.
"I'll get your temperature when I come back, too..." Kairi left the room and Sora closed his eyes a bit lazily as she left and he felt his body tense a bit more.
"What's wrong with me?"
Kairi entered the hallway and walked across to Riku's room where she knew he'd be right then, seeing as everyone was getting cleaned up before dinner. She knocked and heard someone sigh before they got up and opened the door. Riku was standing in the doorway, glasses on, and a book rested in the chair near the fireplace. She smiled to him, but he could tell something was wrong, seeing as she was quiet, and typically she would have said something to him by this point. Riku had the faintest instinct that something was wrong with Sora or one of the others before he sighed again and looked to her.
"Kairi? Is something wrong?" he asked.
"Yea, Sora's running a really high fever. He's delirious, too..." Riku nodded.
"I can see if the soot sprites will go and get some medicine from Donald, they can get there and back quicker than I can," he told her as he went to his desk, grabbed a piece of paper and wrote something on it and then went to the fireplace where four soot sprites emerged.
"They'll do that?" he glanced her way.
"Yea. Hey, would you guys take this to Donald? Let him know it's urgent," he asked. The soot sprites chattered and took the note before diving back into the fireplace.
"Riku...can you help me with him until they're back?" he nodded.
"Okay..."
Riku followed Kairi across the hall and into the room where Sora was lying on the bed fairly quiet, seemingly asleep, until they entered the room and he glanced up to them while Kairi settled back down on the bed with him. Riku moved closer, crouching as he felt the boy's forehead and frowned. His skin felt sticky with a cold sweat, and he was paler than he should have been, while his temperature felt unnaturally high. Taking in a deep breath, Riku glanced at the two of them before he opened the drawer next to the bed and pulled out the first aid kit, where he removed the thermometer and got Sora to open his mouth a bit and let him take it. A few seconds later, Riku removed it and looked at the results of the meter.
"Dammit..." Kairi looked up.
"What?" Riku looked to Sora.
"A hundred and three point four...he'll need something really strong to knock this fever down..." he said.
"Will he be okay?" he glanced down at the boy, who flinched, shaking a bit.
"Don't let him get chilled. We have to burn it out...don't feed him anything, but keep him hydrated," he said as Kairi nodded a bit weakly, while Sora flinched again.
"What else?" Riku thought for a moment.
"Getting him in a hot bath would probably draw out the infection or whatever it is that's causing him to be this sick..." Kairi nodded and then looked to Sora, who was watching them a bit weakly.
"He doesn't want me to leave him..." she moved to brush his bangs from his eyes, and Riku eyed her momentarily before looking back down to the boy.
"We'll see what we can do...right now, getting this fever to break is our main priority," he told her.
"Alright, maybe we can..." the door cracked open and the two looked back to see Roxas and Namine looking into the room.
"Hey, we were looking for you guys, is everything okay?" asked Namine.
"No, Sora's running a really high fever..." the two entered the room slowly and looked at the boy, who was lying next to Kairi, curled up, looking ill.
"How? He was fine a bit ago," said Roxas.
"Sometimes you can catch something really fast..." Sora looked at them momentarily before he closed his eyes, trying to get himself to sleep.
"Can we do something to help?" asked Namine.
"Yea, go to Donald and ask if the medicine is ready, and ask him if we should call Sora's mom or Clarabelle..." Namine nodded and took off running, while Roxas remained where he was, slightly confused.
"Why would you call his mother?" he inquired while Kairi looked to him.
"Because she's a nurse with enough training to be a doctor..." the blonde looked shocked by that.
"His mom's a nurse?" Riku nodded.
"Their family owns the hospital on the Destiny Islands," he said.
"What?!" Roxas stared, wide-eyed.
"We'll talk about it later – we need some help with him," Kairi said.
"Alright, what can I do?" Riku looked to him.
"Can you go and get a cold compress from Clarabelle? I need you to also tell King Mickey to send for his mom," he stated.
"Okay, um...do I need to get there fast?" Riku looked to Kairi, who nodded.
"Yea, I would recommend it," he told him.
"Alright, but...if I get captured by the brooms, send in a S.S.R.P for me would you?"
"What is that?" Kairi asked.
"A soot sprite rescue party..."
With that, Roxas took off and entered his room before grabbing a skateboard from under his bed. A few seconds later, Roxas came flying down the hallway, which caused Riku and Kairi to watch the blonde glide down the hall at a fast speed while he turned for the staircase and slid down the banister of the staircase and into the main hallway, where he was able to continue down the hallway. As Roxas turned a corner, he saw a series of brooms look to him before scuffling towards him which caused him to momentarily panic, only for a scent of coal to appear, and out of a hallway fireplace appeared a hoard of some five-hundred soot sprites. Not seconds later, Roxas was flying down the hallway with soot sprites not far behind him in a torrent, pushing the skateboard to go faster to outrun the brooms as he turned a corner and swung around before looking to see the soot sprites chattering at the brooms and the brooms trying to fight them off as they flew around.
"Thanks, guys!" With that, he took off.
{The King's Study: 6:50pm}
King Mickey was settled in his study, working on a few papers when there was a crash of the door opening. Black eyes looked to the form in the door way and raised an eyebrow at the sight of Roxas standing there, slumped over, out of breath, and trying to get his bearings as he skated into the room and slammed the door shut before taking in a deep breath as he looked to the King.
"Excuse me...Your Majesty..." Roxas said as he took in another breath.
"Roxas? Is everything okay?" the blonde shook his head.
"No...Sora...he's sick..." he stated while the King gave him a worried look.
"Oh my, did Riku and Kairi send you here?" the boy nodded.
"They said to get a cold compress for his fever and talk to you..." the King nodded.
"What is it?" asked the King.
"Sora's got a really high fever, you can tell by looking at him...and that I need to request for his mom to be brought here to help care for him until he's better." Roxas looked to the King and received a subtle nod of the head.
"Very well, I will send a message to her, and we can help him until she arrives," the boy smiled.
"Thank you; now excuse me, I have to get the compress from Clarabelle..." With that, Roxas left and King Mickey quickly wrote down a message to Himitsu.
Himitsu,
Please come to Disney Castle. I was just informed by one of Sora's students that he's very sick and we may need your help.
Sincerely,
King Mickey Mouse I.
With that, King Mickey sent it to her via a bit of fire magic and hoped that Sora would be well soon.
"Still, there is a sense of something in the wind..."
{….}
Be the One who took your place. When the rain falls, I won't let go. I'll be right here...
{…..}
Author's Note: Well, you guessed it, we'll get to see Himitsu again! But it won't be for very long. All the same, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Preview:
"So, you're the one who went to the King."
"How's he feeling?"
"Is Sora recovering correctly?"
Chapter 9: Valor