The Elder Scrolls: The Quest for Kingdom Hearts
…
Chapter 6: For Whom The Bell Tolls
"Gooooooooooooood evening Traverse Town! It is your Host with the Most, the Man About Town, Mr. U.R Luckieday! And let me kick this off by saying Thank God It's Friday!" announced the excitable voice of the radio show host of Traverse Town through the Gummi Ship's radio system.
"Gotta say, this guy is good but he's no Mr New Vegas," Courier said dryly as they docked the Gummi ship in the harbour of Traverse Town.
"Mr New Vegas? Who was that?" Aela asked as she unclipped her seatbelt.
"Radio show host of the Mojave Wasteland," Veronica told her. "Guy was smooth as silk. This Luckieday is good, but he's not a patch on Mr New Vegas," she said proudly.
"If you say so," Dragonborn stated as they left the Gummi Ship to enter Traverse Town. "Let's just find Cid or Leon and drop off the puppies," he said.
"I'll take them," Veronica piped up. "Sora? You wanna come with me?" she asked.
"Sure! That would be great! I'll introduce you to Pongo and Perdita too," Sora said with a smile.
After putting some leashes on the puppies, Sora and Veronica then headed for Pongo and Perdita's house. Meanwhile, Dragonborn and Courier spotted two people, each one was familiar to Dragonborn and Courier respectively.
The first man was dressed golden and bronze coloured armour with a short dark red kilt, leather vambraces on his muscular forearms and had iron grey hair cut short with a few whisps of white in it showing his age but he looked to be strong and fit.
The second man was of a somewhat younger age with copper toned skin and wore khaki brown armour with the faded symbol of a two-headed bear and the letters NCR painted in chipped white paint next to it. He also wore a slanted hat on his head.
"General Tullius?" Dragonborn said to the grey-haired man who perked upon seeing him.
"Colonel Hsu, is that really you?" Courier asked the khaki clad man who smiled in response.
"Dragonborn! I never would've thought you made it out alive!" General Tullius exclaimed in relief as he clasped forearms with Dragonborn in greeting.
"Courier, you old devil dog!" Colonel Hsu greeted shaking hands with Courier. "I thought you might've kicked the bucket with our world!" he laughed.
"Not for lack of trying, Colonel," Courier intoned sarcastically. "But I'm glad to see you here. Any others make it?" she asked.
"A few made it to this world, Ma'am," Hsu replied. "And we soon met General Tullius and his men. Nearly shot them at first when they introduced themselves," he said.
"Why would you do that?" Dragonborn asked the smaller man.
"Back home there was a group that called themselves Caesar's Legion," Courier answered for Hsu. "And judging by the armour your friend is wearing, I'd say they're a legion too," she said.
"Yes, but of a different sort, my lady," General Tullius replied. "We serve no Caesar, only the Empire of Tamriel," he said.
"How have things been since you got here, General?" Dragonborn asked Tullius.
"It's been hectic to put it lightly," Tullius replied with some frustration in his voice. "We've managed to secure the First District, but the Second and Third are still crawling with those Heartless creatures," he said.
"We heard from Leon that you guys and a kid named Sora are travelling to other worlds fighting the Heartless," Hsu then said. "About time we took the fight to those bastards!"
"Do you know where Leon is?" Courier asked. "We're looking for some answers to some questions we have," she explained.
"I'm afraid we don't where Leon is at this very moment," Tullius replied sadly.
"Yuffie might know," Hsu then said. "She's in the First District right now," he added.
"Our thanks, Colonel Hsu," Dragonborn said to the soldier who nodded before he and General Tullius then walked away to attend to other business.
Just then, Sora and Veronica came back. "Hey guys, we just delivered the puppies to their parents. I told Pongo and Perdita we'd keep an eye out for any more of their puppies," he said. "Veronica had a great time with the puppies. I could hardly pull her away," he chuckled.
"What can I say? I've never seen puppies before! The Brotherhood didn't allow pets," Veronica pouted.
"So, what do we do now?" Sora asked everyone.
"We need to talk to Yuffie," Aela responded. "She may know where Leon is who can hopefully answer our questions," she said.
"Well, let's go find her!" Sora excitedly.
They soon found Yuffie leaning against a wall. "Hey, you're back!" the ninja exclaimed happily.
"Greetings, Yuffie. Have you seen Leon anywhere? We need to talk to him," Serana said.
"Checkout the Underground cavern. Leon trains there a lot," Yuffie replied.
"And how do we get there?" Courier asked.
"In the Alleyway, the water channel there leads to the Underground Cavern, you can't miss it."
"I think I know what Yuffie means," Dragonborn said knowingly. "I saw a water channel in the alleyway behind the hotel in the Second District when we first came here," he added.
"What are the odds we're gonna run into Heartless on the way there?" Aela asked.
"Very high," Courier replied, and everyone sighed.
"Figures."
…
The group fought their way past numerous Heartless, going through the hotel and into the alleyway. Sure enough, they found the water channel and they followed it to a large iron barred grate.
"Here, I got this," Courier told them as she pulled out a Cosmic Knife and in a blur of motion, the iron bars were sliced to pieces. Aela was looking at the knife in Courier's hand enviously.
"Where can I get one of those?" the redheaded lycan asked Courier who replied, "Not a place you want to go. Trust me, you don't ever want to."
The heroes then entered the underground cavern where they found Leon and Aerith. Leon was clearly practicing his swordsmanship as he sliced at imaginary foes with his Gunblade while Aerith watched. Serana then coughed to get Aerith's attention.
"Sora. Aela. Serana. Dragonborn. Courier, Veronica. ED-E. You're back!" Aerith exclaimed happily.
"Greetings, Aerith. Do you and Leon have time? We have some questions that need answering," Dragonborn said.
The heroes then gave Leon and Aerith a run through of what had happened since they left Traverse Town, albeit a watered-down version, but that was not to say they left out important bits. Including one point in particular.
"So, you found two of the Keyholes," Leon stated in understanding.
"Yeah. The Keyblade locked them automatically," Sora confirmed.
"Good, that's good," Aerith said nodding her head in relief.
"Every world among the stars has a Keyhole, and each one leads to the heart of that world," Leon explained. "There must be one in this town as well."
"What does that mean?" Serana asked.
"It was in Ansem's Report. We found some of the pages while you were gone," Aerith replied as she held up some pages with writing on them.
"A pity we haven't found any so far," Veronica commented.
"Actually, I did find a few of the pages whilst we were on other worlds," Dragonborn stated as he pulled out from his satchel some papers. "I haven't had the time to go over them. Yet," he said.
"So, what's so important about the Keyholes anyway?" Sora asked.
"If the Heartless find the Keyhole of any worlds, they enter it and do something to the world's core," Leon answered.
"And what happens then?' Courier asked.
"Eventually, that world disappears," Aerith said sadly.
"That's why your Keyblade is so important," Dragonborn said to Sora in realisation. "And why the Heartless keep coming after you," he then added. Sora had a slightly nervous look on his face when Dragonborn said those two sentences.
"Please, Sora, lock the Keyholes. You're the only one who can," Aerith urged.
Sora looked uncertain and doubtful of himself. "I don't know…" he said softly.
"It's okay, Sora. We'll be with you every step of the way," Serana said to the Keyblade's Chosen comfortingly. Sora looked at Serana and smiled.
"I guess you're right."
Courier then pulled out the Gummi block they had found and showed it to Leon. "We found this Gummi Block, but it looks different. Can you tell us what it does?" she asked. Leon put a hand to his temple in thought but could not give answer.
"Ask Cid. He might know," Aerith said. Courier nodded in acceptance and the heroes prepared to leave.
"Wait, Sora," Leon called out and Sora turned around to regard him. "Take this with you." Leon then handed Sora a green gemstone. "This stone holds some kind of power. I've been carrying it around for luck. I want you to hold onto it."
"Cool. How do you use it?" Sora asked and Leon had a blank look on his face.
"You'd better ask Cid that as well. He might know someone who does," Aerith recommended. Sora nodded and the heroes left the underground cavern.
…
Once they left the underground, more Heartless appeared but a series of gunshots broke the night sky and the Heartless were put down. Some larger Heartless appeared but they destroyed in a hailstorm of ice, fire and lightning.
"Was that one of us?" Veronica asked blankly.
"Up here!" shouted a voice and Courier looked up to see a couple of familiar faces. "It's the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion snipers!" she exclaimed as she waved up at the NCR Sniper team. One of the Snipers gave a thumbs up before looking down the scope of his rifle and scanned for more Heartless.
"But who was it that cast all that magic?" Sora asked.
"That've would been us," said a voice and entering the alleyway were members of the Mages College in Winterhold.
"Faralda? What are you doing here?" Dragonborn asked as he recognised the Altmer sorceress of the Mages College.
"Surviving members of the College have been helping out with the defence of Traverse Town since we got here," Faralda replied. "We've been working with General Tullius and Colonel Hsu in keeping the Heartless at bay," she said.
"Well, it's good to see that you're still alive when others aren't so fortunate," Serana remarked.
"It warms our hearts too, to know there are those taking the fight to those monsters," Urag gro-Shub, the Orc librarian of the Winterhold College, said. He then looked at Sora who was staring at him, "Something the matter, boy?"
"No, nothing!" Sora yelped. "It's just… you're an orc, right?" he asked.
"Always have been," Urag said gruffly.
"Well, shouldn't you be using a sword and armour instead of magic?" Sora asked.
Urag scoffed and said, "If I had a septim for every time I heard that."
"Pay no mind to Sora," Aela said firmly. "He's never seen orcs or elven races before, so naturally he's just curious," she explained.
"So, you're the Keyblade's Chosen?" Brelyna Maryon asked as she looked at Sora. "Is it true that the Keyblade can only be wielded by you?" she asked.
"I'm the only one it lets," Sora said proudly.
"Fascinating! Perhaps you wouldn't mind letting me study it later?" Brelyna asked hopefully.
"Perhaps later, Brelyna," Serana said firmly. "Right now, we need to find the Keyhole to Traverse Town. Do any of you have any ideas where we can find it?" she asked the Mages of Winterhold.
"We've only been here a short while, but we've not found anything useful," Faralda replied. "We've trawled through the town library for anything mentioning it, but we've found nothing!" she said in frustration.
"Well, in any case, it's good to see that someone is taking the fight to the Heartless," Urag said confidently. "We'll let you know if we find anything useful in finding the Keyhole or any weaknesses that Heartless have," he added as he and the Mages then left the alleyway.
Not long after the group returned to the First District and entered the accessory shop where Cid was going over some orders.
"Hey, Cid," Sora greeted the older man.
"Hey kid, what brings you here today?" Cid asked.
"This," Courier replied as she pulled out the gummi block.
"What's that ya got there? Well, if it ain't a gummi block," Cid remarked.
"We know, but we don't know what it does," Veronica said.
Cid laughed at this and said, "You're kidding me! You're flying a gummi ship and you don't know nothing about navigation gummis? Buncha pinheads! Interspace ain't no playground!"
"Hey! There's a lot we don't know. So what?" Veronica retorted. "We need the gummi ship to fly to other worlds to save them with Sora! We don't have any other way!" she said angrily.
"Whoa! Simmer down! I didn't know. No hard feelings, right?" Cid said throwing his hands up in self-defence. "Well, I guess I can lend y'all a hand with it, then," he offered.
"Thank you," Dragonborn said gratefully. "So what can a navigation gummi do?" he asked.
"Well basically, navigation gummis can allow you to travel to other worlds," Cid explained. "You want one installed on your ship?" he asked.
"That'd be good, thank you," Serana said.
"I'll install it for ya. But first, I gotta deliver something," Cid said.
"What is it you need to deliver?" Sora asked.
Cid then pulled out an old book and replied, "Just this book. It's real old. When the guy brought it in, it was in pretty bad shape, practically falling apart. Some of the pages are still missing, but overall, I did an alright job of putting this thing back together," he said modestly.
"Do you want us to deliver that book for you while you work on the navigation gummi?" Courier offered.
"Matter of fact, I was just about to ask ya to deliver it for me," Cid replied. "The guy's house is in the Third District. Look for a door with a big fire sign," he told them as he handed over the book to Sora.
Sora looked at the cover. "Winnie the Pooh?" he read the title out loud then suddenly a loud clanging of bells startled Sora and his friends.
"Christ! What the hell was that?!" Courier yelled her revolver drawn out.
"Oh that?" Cid didn't seem surprised or phased by the sudden noise. "The belltower above the gizmo shop rings out every couple of hours. So, you mind delivering that book for me?" he asked.
"Sure, no problem," Aela replied as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart.
As the group turned to leave the Accessory Shop, Sora noticed a wooden puppet lying on the floor. "Hey, Cid, I didn't know you made puppets."
"Huh? I don't make anything like that!" Cid peered over the counter to see the puppet in question.
Jiminy hopped up on Sora's shoulder and exclaimed, "Well, as I live and breathe! That's no ordinary puppet! It's Pinocchio!" Jiminy then hopped down from Sora's shoulder to stand in front of the puppet who raised its head and looked at Jiminy with painted blue eyes. Everyone stared in surprise as the puppet seemed to be alive.
"Oh, hi Jiminy!" Pinocchio greeted cheerfully.
"What in the world are you doing down there?" Jiminy asked.
"Playing hide and seek?" Pinocchio responded. Jiminy paced around in front of the puppet. "I just don't believe it! Here I was, up all night, worried sick about you! Why of all the…" Jiminy then looked up at Pinocchio and saw that the puppet's nose had grown longer.
"Pinocchio!" Jiminy crossed his arms and said, "Pinocchio, are you telling the truth?"
"Yes." Then Pinocchio's nose grew even longer.
Courier then spotted something beside the puppet and picked it up. "And what is this?" she asked as she picked up the object.
"It's a present!" Pinocchio replied and his nose grew much longer. Cid looked at the object and said, "That's actually mine." And Courier handed over the item to Cid.
"No fibbing or stealing now!" Jiminy said to the puppet. "You know you're not supposed to tell lies, let alone steal! A lie only grows and grows, 'til you get caught, plain as the nose on your face!"
"But if you want something, why wait? Why not just take it?" Pinocchio said.
Jiminy gaped and said, "Oh, my goodness! Who told you that?! You need some advice from your conscience!"
"That's right. You're my conscience, Jiminy. I'll never tell lies as long as you're around!" Pinocchio said in a flash of light, his nose went back to its normal size.
"You need to be good so you can become a real boy. You promised Geppetto you would be, right?" Jiminy asked.
"Oh! Do you know where Father is?" Pinocchio asked.
"He's not with you?"
Pinocchio stood up from the floor. "Jiminy, let's go find Father!" he said.
"Now, hold on there! There are all sorts of dangers and temptations out there! I'll go find Geppetto while you wait here. These fellows will be helping me," Jiminy said to Pinocchio.
"We will?" Sora asked and he looked at the others who just shrugged.
"Well, shall we go, everyone?" Jiminy asked.
"You know, you could've asked us to help look for the kid's dad, right?" Serana said to Jiminy as they left the shop.
"So, what's the deal with the puppet and who's Geppetto?" Veronica asked.
"Well, Geppetto created Pinocchio and Pinocchio was brought to life by the Blue Fairy as a reward for all the happiness Geppetto brought others," Jiminy replied. "The Blue Fairy made me Pinocchio's conscience so that maybe one day, he can become a real boy," he said. Everyone nodded at this as they headed for the Third District before Sora spoke up.
"Say, where do real babies come from?" he asked.
Everyone nearly froze at Sora's question before Dragonborn replied, "You're going to have to wait for that answer."
"Aw, c'mon! You guys aren't that much older than me!" Sora protested.
"Trust us, kid. You ain't ready to know just yet," Courier told him.
"Yeah, if we told you right now, you'd be traumatised!" Aela put in.
"But I wanna know!" Sora argued.
"Trust us on this, Sora. You don't want to know just yet."
…
The group soon entered the Third District and after dispatching the Heartless that appeared, they began looking for the door with a fire sign on it.
ED-E gave a chirp and the Eyebot then led them down an alleyway where a large red door with the symbol of a flame was embossed on it.
"No door handle," Courier remarked as she ran her gloved hand on the red wooden surface. "How do we open it?" she asked.
Dragonborn looked at the door before saying, "A door with a fire symbol on it," he said to himself slowly. "I think I have an idea how to open it," he declared. "Stand back!"
Dragonborn stood in front of the door before using his Voice.
"YOL!"
A great stream of fire was expelled from Dragonborn's mouth and it hit the door which slid open.
The group then walked through and they came into a large cavern where a large dilapidated house sat on an island in a lake of water. On the shores of where the heroes stood were some stepping stones leading to the island. Sora stepped onto the first stone and the other stones began to move in a rhythm.
Timing their movements with the stones, the heroes made it across. Then they searched for an opening to the house and Aela said, "Is this the right place?" she asked.
"It's what Cid told us," Sora replied as he looked for a way in. The front door was boarded up and the house looked pretty beaten and worn despite its festive hue.
ED-E gave a chirp and the group found a way into the house through a broken wall that had a cloth hanging over it.
Entering the house, the heroes found there was nothing inside but a raised platform in the centre of the room.
"There's no-one here!" Courier exclaimed. "This place is abandoned!" she said.
Sora was about to say something when he heard a familiar voice. "There's something about this musty place…" Sora turned around and saw Kairi standing in front of him, looking around the house. "It reminds me of the secret place back home, where we used to scribble on the walls, remember?" Kairi smiled at Sora.
"Kairi?" Sora reached out to her.
"Sora?" Sora turned around and saw everyone looking at him curiously. Turning back the other way, Sora saw that Kairi had disappeared. "You didn't see Kairi here just a moment ago, did you?" Sora asked his friends.
"Nope. No-one but us," Veronica replied.
"Have you been sleeping okay?" Serana asked Sora in concern.
"I've been sleeping normally," Sora said to the vampire. Then a new voice interrupted them.
"Well, well. You've arrived sooner than I expected!" Everyone turned around to see an old man with a long white beard, blue robes and a pointy wizard's hat atop his head.
"You knew we were coming?" Sora asked in surprise and the old man nodded and said, "Of course."
"Are you a Heartless?" Dragonborn asked in a deadly voice as he put a hand to his sword.
"Oh, my goodness, no," said the old man. "My name is Merlin. As you can see, I am a sorcerer. I spend most of my time travelling, but it's good to be home. The King asked for my assistance," he explained.
"The King sent you?" Serana asked. "As in King Mickey?"
"The very same. I was originally expecting Donald and Goofy, but you'll do just fine," Merlin said before he looked at Sora and asked, "And who might you be, young man?"
"I'm Sora."
"Ah, so you found the Key!"
"What did King Mickey ask you to do?" Aela asked.
"Just a moment, please," Merlin said as he walked in to step up on the platform and set his bag down on it and opened it. Taking a long wooden wand, he waved and exclaimed, "Alakazam!"
Then tiny objects began floating out of the bag but they quickly grew larger. Merlin danced around waving his wand, directing the items from his bag like an orchestra conductor, setting the items in their place. Soon after, the house was now furnished, complete with a bed, a desk and multiple piles of books.
"That's pretty cool!" Sora exclaimed and everyone else nodded in agreement.
"There, that's better," Merlin said before clearing his throat and saying, "The King asked me to train Sora in the art of magic. In fact, try this spell out." Sora was enveloped in light as he received a new spell.
"We can begin your training any time you like, just let me know," Merlin said to Sora. "Oh, and one more thing," he added as he turned around to a corner of the room where a small model of a carriage sat next to a telescope near the window. Sparkles formed in the air around the model carriage, coalescing on it before appearing in its place was an elderly woman wearing periwinkle robes and a hood on her head.
The elderly woman smiled at the heroes kindly and said, "Hello, dears. I am the Fairy Godmother. The King asked me to help too."
"I'm afraid I don't know much assistance I can be of, but do stop by anytime," Merlin then said.
"Actually, we came to deliver this to you," Courier said as she pulled out the book Cid asked them to deliver.
"Oh, that book! Cid finally finished it. Thank you very much," Merlin said gratefully.
"What kind of book is it?" Serana asked Merlin who shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I don't know. In fact, it's not even mine. It somehow found its way into my bag one day. It was such a curious book that I asked Cid to repair it for me. This book holds a great secret, I can only assume finding the missing pages will unlock its secrets.?"
"I'll put it over here for now," Merlin then said as he placed the book on an empty space on his desk. "Do look at it whenever you have time and give Cid my thanks for repairing it for me."
Sora then dug out the stone Leon had given him. "Leon gave me this stone and told me it has some kind of power. Do you know what it does?" he asked Merlin.
"Hmm… perhaps Fairy Godmother might know," Merlin told him. Sora then showed Fairy Godmother the stone.
"Oh, the poor dear! He's been turned into a Summon Gem!" Fairy Godmother exclaimed as she looked at the stone in Sora's hand.
"A Summon Gem? What's that?" Ale asked.
"This poor creature lived in a world that was consumed by the Heartless. When a world vanishes, so do its inhabitants if they aren't lucky enough to arrive here in one piece," Fairy Godmother said. "But, this creature had such a strong heart that instead of vanishing with his world, he was turned into a Summon Gem," she added.
"Is it possible to restore him back the way he was?" Dragonborn asked.
"Yes, but only his spirit. Now watch!" Fairy Godmother replied as she pulled out her wand before pausing. "Now, what were those words?" she asked herself before nodding her head. "Oh, yes. Bibbidi-bobbodi-boo!" The Gem in Sora's hand then disappeared and a glow surrounded him. Sora looked around to see where the gem had gone and he looked at Fiary Godmother.
"Now you can summon your new friend whenever you need aid," Fairy Godmother explained. "if you find anymore, bring them to me," she said.
"Is there a way to restore him permanently?" Courier asked.
"I'm not sure there is," Fairy Godmother replied uncertainly. "But, Merlin and I will find a way," she said confidently. "Please, Sora, help them," she added.
"I will!" Sora replied.
"You'd best go and see Leon and the others before going anywhere else," Merlin then said to them. "They may have some additional information for you," he added.
Taking their leave, the heroes went back to the Third District where a Solider Heartless appeared in front of them. Just as the heroes prepared to fight it, someone jumped it and destroyed it. Sora looked and was surprised to see Riku standing there in front of him.
"There you are! What's going on?" Riku smirked as he hefted a sword shaped like a demonic wing with a blue eye in the centre of the guard.
"Riku!" Sora exclaimed as he launched himself at Riku and began pulling on his face.
"Hey, hey! Cut it out!" Riku protested as he tried to push Sora off, but Sora was too excited to see his friend after so long and was uncaring for the fact he was weirding Riku out with his behaviour.
"I'm no dreaming this time, right?" Sora asked, desperate for confirmation that this was real and not his imagination.
"I hope not! It took forever to find you!" Riku replied with a chuckle, swiping a hand through his hair. Sora laughed in response before he realised something.
"Hey, where's Kairi?"
"She isn't with you?" Riku asked in shock and Sora hung his head sadly. "Hey, don't worry. I'm sur she made it off the island too. We're finally free! She might even be looking for us right now," Riku said. "We'll all be together again soon. Don't worry, just leave everything to me! I know this…"
As he spoke, Riku didn't notice that a Heartless forming behind him but he did notice when someone cut the Heartless down seeing as it happened while he was talking. Riku turned around to see Sora standing there with the Keyblade in his hand in a stance indicating he had just cut down the Heartless. After standing straight again, Sora looked at Riku with a smirk on his lips, shouldering his Keyblade and said, "Leave it to who?"
"Sora, w-what did you… how did you…?" Riku stuttered unable to believe what had just happened.
"I've been looking for you and Kairi, with their help," Sora then said to Riku, gesturing to the others.
"Who are they?" Riku asked as he looked at the other heroes.
"Call me Dragonborn," Dragonborn said sticking out a hand to shake. "So, you're Riku, yes? Sora told us about you," he added as Riku shook hands with him. Riku winced as he felt the iron grip of Dragonborn.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, young warrior," Aela then said. "I am Aela the Huntress," she introduced herself.
"A pleasure to meet you too," Riku said with a slight blush as he looked Aela up and down.
"I'm Serana Volkihar, and these are Veronica, ED-E and Courier," Serana said.
"Nice to meet you," Veronica said to Riku and ED-E gave a buzz and chirp. Courier just nodded her head.
"We've been to so many places and worlds, looking for you," Sora then said to Riku.
"Really? Well, what do you know? I never would have guessed," Riku grinned.
"That's not all," Veronica said. "Sora's also the Keyblade Master," she added.
"Who would've thought?" Courier muttered to herself but Sora heard her.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Sora demanded.
"So, this is a Keyblade?" Sora turned around to see Riku holding the Keyblade examining it.
"Hey! Gimme that!" Sora shouted as he tried to take the Keyblade back from Riku, but the older boy just moved back making Sora stumble and fall over. Not once did the Keyblade go back to Sora's hand like it usually would for someone else. Everyone stared at Riku in surprise.
"Catch!" Riku then said tossing the Keyblade back to Sora. Getting over his surprise, Sora then said, "So, you're coming with us now, right? We've got this awesome rocket. We can find Kairi and everyone else from the Island! Wait 'til you see it!"
"He can't come with us," Courier suddenly.
"What?! Why not?!" Sora yelled and everyone looked at Courier in disbelief.
"Sorry, kid, but Riku can't come with us," Courier replied.
"C'mon! He's my friend!" Sora argued.
"I know that, but we don't have enough room on the ship to take Riku with us," Courier informed him. "But unless we can upgrade for a bigger ship that has more room," she added. Sora sighed unhappily as he turned back around to say something to Riku, but Riku had disappeared.
"He's gone!" Veronica exclaimed.
"Nice going!" Sora told Courier who shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Riku will be safer here. You're the Keyblade Master, Dragonborn is practically a demigod, Aela's a mercenary, Serana's a vampire, Veronica was trained by the Brotherhood of Steel, ED-E is a highly advanced Eyebot and I'm a Wasteland survivor. Riku might have some training, but I doubt he's fully prepared for facing what's out there," she said.
"I guess you're right," Sora mumbled before he smiled and said, "Oh, well, at least we know he's safe. And hey, maybe we'll run into Kairi soon, too?"
"It's good to look at the positives of this," Veronica said. "And once the Heartless are taken care of, you, Riku and Kairi can travel to other worlds like you always dreamed of doing," she added.
"Yeah!"
…
The heroes then headed to the Small House and entered it. They soon found Leon, Aerith, Yuffie and Cid, as well as General Tullius and Colonel Hsu waiting for them.
"About time you got here!" Colonel Hsu said in relief. "I was starting to think you'd left without saying goodbye," he added.
"Well, we're here now," Aela told the NCR soldier. "So, what is it you need?" she asked.
"We have some news for you," Leon replied. "By now you've guessed that the Heartless are more organised lately, right?" he asked and Sora and his friends nodded in response.
"It's what I've noticed about the Heartless," Serana stated. "They seem to have Heartless commanders among them, but they also seem to follow certain people like Hades, Elenwen and Clayton and the First Order," she said.
"So, that must mean someone is pulling the strings of the Heartless. It can't be a coincidence," Courier remarked.
"Well, we've recently found out who is controlling the Heartless and destroying the worlds lately," General Tullius said.
"Who?" Sora asked.
"Have you ever heard of someone named Maleficent?" Cid asked and Sora and his friends shook their heads in response.
"Who is Maleficent?"
"A witch, man! She's a witch!" Cid said.
"She's the reason Traverse Town is full of Heartless," Leon then said as he leaned against the wall. "Don't take her lightly!" he warned.
"She's been using the Heartless for years," Aerith said with a frown. "She was the reason we lost our world!"
"Well, now we know who's behind the Heartless, and I'm ready to put a bullet in her!" Courier said coldly.
Meanwhile outside the house, Riku stood watching the scene through the window as Maleficent stood beside him. "You see? It's just as I told you. While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new friends. Evidently, he values them far more than you," she said.
Riku watched as Sora and his friends conversed with Leon and the others. Maleficent then laid a hand on Riku's shoulder and said, "You're better off without that wretched boy." Leaning down Maleficent smiled and whispered, "Now think no more of him and come with me. I shall help you find what you're searching for…"
Back inside the house, Cid then spoke to the heroes, "So you delivered that book for me?" he asked. "The navigation gummi is installed, all ready to go. I even threw in a warp gummi for the heck of it, so you can just jump to worlds you've already been to," he said.
"Thank you for that, Cid. We appreciate it," Dragonborn replied.
"Well, time to get back to my real job," Cid then said bracingly.
"Real job?" Sora echoed. "You mean the accessory shop isn't your real job?" he asked.
"You'll see. Come see me in the first district," Cid replied.
"You know, I heard an interesting rumour," General Tullius said.
"What kind of rumour?" Dragonborn asked him.
"Well, it's about the Belltower above the Gizmo shop in the Second District," General Tullius replied.
"You mean the one that rang a little while ago? What about it?" Aela asked.
"Well, according to the rumour, if you ring the bell three times in a row, something is supposed to happen," General Tullius said. "But it's all boarded up, no-one can get in," he added.
"Might be worth a look," Serana remarked.
"If you need any help, we'll help out where we can," Colonel Hsu offered helpfully.
…
Leaving the Small House and entering the Second District, Sora and his friends fought their way to the Gizmo Shop and fought through even more Heartless before reaching the rooftop access where they found a ladder that led them to the Belltower. Just General Tullius said, the doorway to the Belltower was boarded up.
"Should be no problem to get through," Dragonborn stated as he cracked his knuckles and with one swing of his sword, he clove through the wood, turning the boards into splinters and kindling. And there hung a rope that no doubt would ring the belltower manually.
"So, what do you think will happen when we ring the bell?" Sora asked.
"That's what we're here to find out, kid," Courier replied. "Give it a ring, and let's see what happens," she said.
Sora then tugged on the bell rope and the sound of a bell ringing filled the sky. Everyone looked around to see if anything different happened. ED-E then gave excited beeps.
"What is it, ED-E?" Courier asked the Eyeboy who beeped, buzzed and chirped in excitement. "The fountain?" Courier said and she looked in the direction of the fountain of the Second District. Courier's eyes widened under her helmet as she what happened at the fountain. "Look, something's going on at the fountain!" she shouted to the others.
Everyone looked and saw the mural behind the fountain slowly turned to show an image of various fish underwater and flames appeared in the waters of the fountain.
"Ring the bell again!" Courier told Sora who rang the bell a second time. With a slow turn the mural changed to a different mural as lights came to life in a brilliant show of colours with the mural showing a pair of trees. "Again!" Another ring of the bell and the mural changed to another, but this one was special; it was the Keyhole of Traverse Town!
"The Keyhole!" Aela exclaimed. "We've got to get down there! Before the Heartless get to it!" she yelled.
"Gotten over your fear of heights?" Dragonborn asked before he leapt over the edge of the Belltower. Sora quickly followed the warrior.
"Once more unto the breach!" Serana stated as she too leapt off the edge of the tower and not to be outdone, Aela jumped down as well.
"They know that was crazy, right?" Veronica asked Courier who replied, "When in Rome." And Courier leapt down as well with ED-E flying after her. Sighing to herself, Veronica leapt down after her friends.
As they landed on the ground, the heroes rushed towards the Keyhole. But then falling from the sky was the Guard Armour Heartless, the same one they fought when they met for the first time.
"Not this guy again!" Sora complained as he readied his Keyblade.
"Doesn't matter. We've beaten him before, we can do it again. As many times as it takes!" Dragonborn said as he drew his sword.
The heroes then launched themselves at the Guard Armour, taking out its limbs with Sora delivering a finishing blow to the torso. The Guard Armour rattled and clattered before it leaned forward like it was about to stand on its head. But, the head stayed where it previously was as the rest of its limbs and body changed; the feet folded over and clenched turning into a pair of pincer like claws becoming arms. The head's visor then clanked open, revealing a pair of beady golden yellow eyes shrouded in darkness. The transformation, while not significant, did not bode well for the heroes.
"Well, this is new," Courier stated as she pulled out Medicine Stick and loaded some rounds into it.
The Heartless then fired off a blast which the heroes barely dodged in time. The Heartless then prepared to go after Sora when a volley bullets hit it. Up on a nearby roof, The 1st Reconnaissance Battalion provided some cover fire for the heroes. Then a maelstrom of magic hit the Heartless knocking it back; the Mages of the Winterhold had arrived.
And running into view were Imperial Legionnaires and NCR Soldiers with General Tullius and Colonel Hsu leading them. The Legionnaires and NCR troopers then stood protectively in front of the Keyhole. General Tullius shouted, "Take out the Heartless! We have the Keyhole protected!"
"You heard him," Dragonborn said to his companions. "Let's end this!" he declared as he charged towards the Heartless as it clanked towards them.
"Take out its limbs! It'll grow weaker if we take them out first!" Courier shouted for the others to hear.
Everyone focussed their energies on taking out the limbs of the Heartless commander. Faralda blasted a thunderbolt at one of the pincers, knocking it away while Serana cast an ice spear at the other, impaling it and Sora slashed it with his Keyblade destroying it. Dragonborn cleaved one of the hands/feet in half with his sword while Veronica smashed the other with Oh Baby.
The 1st Recon Snipers then focussed their fire on the body of the Heartless commander, putting golf ball sized holes into it.
"Now hit with everything you've got!" Courier bellowed as she threw a stick of dynamite which exploded as it landed near the Heartless. Everyone then hit the Heartless with their strongest attacks before finally the Heartless fell and was destroyed.
The Imperial Legionnaires and NCR Troopers then moved aside. "Go! Seal the Keyhole!" Colonel Hsu shouted to Sora who raised his Keyblade at the Keyhole. A bright white beam of light spewed from the Keyblade and entered the Keyhole and with a great clicking sound, the Keyhole was sealed and it faded away.
Everyone regrouped and General Tullius said, "Thank the Divines! Now with the Keyhole sealed, survivors will have somewhere to go if their worlds are destroyed!"
"So, what now?" Colonel Hsu asked.
"We now know who is controlling the Heartless; Maleficent. We find and take her out, we can perhaps restore all the worlds that have been lost," Courier said. "It won't stop the Heartless from attacking, but if we take Maleficent out, they'll be like a headless chicken," she added.
Then running up to the heroes was a small excitable looking man who was bouncing up and down in his shoes. "Well, here you guys are! The heroes of the hour!" he shouted excitedly.
"Uhhh, do we know you?" Serana asked the man.
"Oh, c'mon! You don't recognise me?! It's me! The Host with the Most! The Man About Town!" the small man said.
"Oh, you're Mr U.R Luckieday!" Sora realised.
"That's right! I heard what was going and that you guys were here, so I thought I'd get here to get the scoop!" Mr Luckieday said. "I was hoping I could get an interview with you guys for my radio show, you know, give some people here hope?" he asked.
"You guys can handle this, I'm gonna go check in one Cid," Courier told the others. "And maybe get myself a drink while I'm at it," she muttered to herself quietly.
"So, anyone wanna say a few words?" Mr Luckieday asked engagingly.
…
Courier met up with Cid in the First District. "Hey, I heard what happened! Nice work!" Cid said.
"Yeah, good thing," Courier muttered. "So, what's this real job you talked about earlier?" she asked.
"Th Gummi Block business," Cid replied. "If you need gummi blocks to build yourself a new ship, or you need blueprints for one, I'm your guy," he said. "Say, where are the rest of yer pals?" he asked.
"They're giving an interview to the radio show host, Luckieday," Courier told him
Cid chuckled and said, "He's an acquired taste, but he grows on you."
"If you say so," Courier said and she turned and saw the others come in from the Second District. "So, how was it?" she asked.
"Mr Luckieday asks a lot of questions," Sora replied tiredly.
"Aye, he does," Dragonborn said stoically.
"Well, now that that's over with, who wants to get something to eat?" Courier suggested and it was quickly followed by cries of agreement.
…
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: There! The sixth chapter of this done and dusted! I hope you all enjoyed it, I put a lot of effort into this so I hope it's appreciated.
Next chapter will be the Agrabah world and I'm thinking that some familiar faces to Courier show up there, and they ain't friendly. Who they are I'll let you all have the fun of guessing who it is.
Anyways, not much more to say, so I'll just leave this here and see you all in the next one.
Be kind to one another,
Angry lil' elf.