A kitten playfully batted at Kairi's necklace and meowed until she finally awoke.
"It was just a nightmare." Kairi mumbled, slightly opening her eyes. The kitten suddenly scratched her hand as gently as she could, making the girl squeal in shock. She looked down at the cat and gasped. "It was real?!"
She stood up and felt herself grow dizzy, looking around at her new surroundings. "W-Where am I?"
Figaro meowed up at her and then suddenly ran off.
"Wait! Kitty, please!" Kairi cried, running after it.
After getting out of the alleyway though, she slid to a stop in shock. It was a whole town! Full of people, not the ocean or a grain of sand in sight.
"Kairi, are you okay?"
The girl jumped in surprise at hearing Minnie's voice but then nodded. "I-I think so, but I don't know where I am…"
"This place is called Traverse Town, it's where the lost go."
"The lost…? Well, I guess I do feel lost." Kairi mumbled, getting up. She then gasped in memory. "Wait, the islands! My friends! Are they okay?!"
"Yes, they're safe thanks to you. The glitches and bugs have completely vanished from your world."
"Thank goodness…" She said, starting to walk down the alleyway. "So, is this town full of glitches too?"
"I believe so." Minnie responded. "Could you please take a look around?"
"Alright." Kairi nodded. She took in the sights as she walked out into the town's plaza, an endless night sky fell over the peaceful world, decorated with glittering stars. She nearly bumped into someone in her daze. "Oh! Sorry!"
The man was about middle-aged and looked to be some sort of engineer or mechanic based on the goggles he wore. He turned in surprise. "Watch where you're going…!"
He trailed off seeing the girl.
"Huh? Who are you supposed to be? Never seen you 'round here before."
"My name's Kairi. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Kairi smiled. "And you are?"
"Cid." He answered gruffly before glancing back out into the town. After a few moments, he spoke up again. "Say, Kairi, you wouldn't have happened upon a set of triplets on your way through, would ya'?"
"Triplets?"
""Yeah, there's three of 'em? Uno, dos, tres? They went off to see what's got the town all scrambled, and… Well, they ain't come back."
"What do you mean, scrambled?" Kairi asked, wondering if he could be referring to glitches.
"Well, these strange blocks have appeared everywhere…" Cid explained. "Ya clear 'em out, and they come right on back."
That sounds just like the blocks on my islands! The glitches are here too! Kairi realized. She looked around worriedly then frowned "I don't see any blocks…"
"Oh, just take a walk around town and you'll find 'em, trust me." Cid grunted.
Kairi nodded. If she wanted to help Minnie and her friends, she'd need to defeat these glitches too. "I guess I will!"
"Keep an eye out for the triplets while you're at it, will ya?"
"Sure. What are their names?"
"Huey's the fella in red, Dewey's the one wearing blue, and Louie's in green."
The girl nodded in gratitude. "Thanks!"
She began her quest by running up to one of two sets of giant doors that sat at the edge of the plaza. She gave it a mighty shove but it didn't even budge.
"Maybe it's locked?" Kairi asked aloud. She summoned her keyblade and pointed it to the door but nothing happened. There wasn't even a little keyhole to try and unlock.
"Oh, that's the door to the Third District!" A nearby villager explained. "I'm thinking there must be something blocking it on the other side, but there's so many monsters over there, I'm afraid to go check."
"I can do it." Kairi suggested helpfully. "I'm already exploring the town."
"Wow, really? Uh, only if you're sure..!" The man waited for her nod before pointing to the shop she'd recently left behind. "See Cid's shop there? The door to the Second District's in the back. You can get to the Third from there."
"Thanks!" Kairi grinned, waving goodbye.
Kairi slipped into the second district to find it full of cute little shops and a rundown hotel. In the distance was a grand old clocktower with stained-glass windows.
As she walked over to take a closer look, she heard a yell for help and noticed a young ducking in red surrounded by the Heartless. "Hang on!"
She leapt off a nearby awning, landing on one Heartless before taking out the rest.
The little duck hid behind the clock tower til she was done.
"You okay back there?" Kairi asked, unsummoning her keyblade before jogging over to help him out. "You're Huey, right?"
"Yep. That's me." The boy smiled. "Thanks for saving me!"
"Huey, do you know where your brothers are? I thought they'd be with you."
"Well, gee, they usually are but we got separate when those monsters attacked. I saw them run down that alleyway over there!"
Kairi looked to where he pointed before nodding. "Thanks… You better get back to Cid's shop, it's safer there."
"Yeah…" Huey sighed, clearly not for the idea of letting her go alone. He suddenly perked up. "Oh, this is for you!"
"Huh? It's a…. W-What is it exactly?" Kairi asked in confusion, staring down at the strange knick-knack. It was an odd shape that sparkled mysteriously.
"I dunno." He shrugged. "I just found it while exploring! But it sure is shiny, huh?"
"Very, it's a wonderful gift, thank you." Kairi smiled, handing him his hat before he ran off.
"Maybe I could put it on a necklace or something…" Kairi thought to herself, pocketing the charm. "Yeah, that'd be pretty!"
She walked into the alleyway only to find Heartless waiting for her. It was a bit more than before but with a little extra effort, she took them down.
"Hello down there!"
The girl frowned in confusion before glancing up to see another little duck waving to her from a balcony. He was dressed in blue, this must be Dewey.
Kairi climbed up the blocks before taking him back down to safety. "What were you doing up there?"
"Hiding from those shadows, of course!" Dewey said matter-of-factly. "I could've taken them out myself, I was just waiting for the right moment!"
"Of course." Kairi giggled. "Anyway, my name's Kairi, what's yours?"
"Dewey." The boy smiled. "Hey, have you seen my brothers around here? We got split up!"
"Huey is already safe back with Cid. I think you should head there too while I search for Louie."
The duckling frowned. "But won't I miss out on an adventure?"
"This is less of an adventure and more of a side quest, bud. Seriously, you need to go back."
"Aww, but I wanna know what this thing I found does! Look at it!"
"Dewey-"
"Few more secon- Here it is!" Dewey found the trinket, lifting it high. "Now I can see what it does!"
Kairi gave him a reprimanding look.
He gave a sigh before dropping it in her hand. "Er, you can see what it does…"
Kairi looked down to see another sparkling piece of supposed junk. She took out its brother and was delighted to see they clicked together. "Oh, it's a puzzle!"
"What do you think it make?" Dewey asked. "Let's go find the other pieces!"
"Uh-uh, back to the shop, mister. If I find all the pieces, I'll tell you what they do."
"Okay." Dewey finally seemed satisfied before running off to find Cid and his brother.
With that, Kairi finally made it to the Third District only to find someone waiting for her. It certainly wasn't Louie.
"You again!" Kairi gasped in suprise. She narrowed her eyes at the person in black. "Wherever you go, the glitches seem to follow! Why?!"
The figure was silent again, walking away into the Second District, where she'd just come from.
"Wait! You gotta answer me!" Kairi insisted, running after him.
She slid to a stop. The figure was gone and it seemed theyd transformed the place.
The sky was now pitch black with red veins scattered across it, much like the blocks. The clocktower glowed with an eerie green light.
Upon closer inspection, Kairi realized the clock tower had gone completely two-dimensional, now flat as a rug. "What in the worlds…?"
"Is somebody there?!" A little voice suddenly yelled, it sounded just like Huey and Dewey. "Heeey!"
"Louie? Is that you?" She asked, looking around. "Where are you?"
"Uh, good question! I was just standing on the clock tower and then found myself here!"
Just like Selphie, he got trapped thanks to the glitches… Kairi realized. She looked around rapidly before seeing a fissure in the wall, her way in. "Hang in there, I'm coming to get you!"
"I hate just watching from behind a screen. We should be there with her!" Daisy grunted.
Clarabelle nodded, watching her fight the Heartless. "Kairi wasn't trained at all when she first got to Traverse Town, we had to teach her everything. Will she be okay?"
"Aw, don't worry! This Kairi is equipped with mastery of the keyblade thanks to the data, how else do you think she could make it this far?" Chip chuckled. "She might not be strong, but the keyblade sure is!"
Minnie quickly went between him and Kairi's three companions with a nervous laugh. "He didn't mean it as an insult! Besides, what matters is Kairi's strength of heart!"
Tink crossed her arms before giving a jingle.
Clarabelle nodded. "She's right. If this Kairi is just data, doesn't that mean she doesn't really… have a heart?"
"No, no, your friend Tron's data, isn't he?" Minnie asked.
Daisy nodded. "Yes, but he insisted his friendship with us was based on his programming, or what he could only think to be his programming. He never mentioned anything about having an actual heart…"
"Oh…" Minnie whispered, looking a bit disappointed.
Tink asked something and she shook her head.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking of an old friend." The Queen frowned. Think back, Ansem the Wise had said the heart was stronger than any system, but said nothing about a heart managing to reside in one of those systems. She turned back to the screen. "Heart or not, she's still Kairi. That's all that matters."
After exterminating all the bugs, Kairi appeared back in the Second District, finding it back to normal.
"Yahoooo!"
She looked up just in time to see Louie leap off the clocktower, she barely had time to catch him. "You okay?"
"Thanks to you!" Louie grinned.
"Let's get you back to Cid." Kairi chuckled, putting him on her shoulders. She glanced up at him. "Hey, Louie, have you seen anything like this before?"
"Huh? Oh! Yeah! I got one too!" Louie exclaimed when she showed the puzzle. He clicked the third piece into place.
It was missing the final piece but it looked like it would make a keyhole…
"If I complete it, maybe I can fix this place like the Islands!" Kairi realized.
"Huh? What's that mean?"
"Uh, nothing. We're almost there." She smiled, pushing open the door to the First District.
But instead of Cid and the boys waiting for them, they found the dark figure instead.
"Louie, I need you to run to Cid's, right now!" Kairi exclaimed, putting him down. She summoned her keyblade before stepping out in front of the boy.
"But you're in trouble!"
"I'll be fine, just go!"
The figure paid no mind as the duckling ran past them, merely taking few slow steps towards the girl.
"Look, I don't know who you are, but if you know something about these glitches, you have to tell me!" Kairi cried. "The triplets almost got hurt because of them and the town is a disaster! I don't-!"
He flicked something shimmering over to her and she cupped her hands to catch it. It was the final piece of the keyhole… They were trying to fix this world too? "Hey, wait a minute,"
But they were already gone.
If this person really was intent on helping her restore the worlds, she'd probably meet them again soon. With that thought in her mind, she put the final piece in its place.
The keyhole glowed even brighter before floating up.
"Kairi, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Minnie asked.
Kairi nodded, barely flinching at the sudden voice now that she'd gotten used to it. "The source of the glitches should be waiting inside. If I defeat it, everything will go back to normal."
"Exactly. Good luck!"
Kairi smiled before pointing the keyblade at the keyhole and being engulfed in a bright light.
A giant Heartless consisting of pieces of armor tried to smash her the moment she appeared. The girl ran between its legs before jumping onto a metal arm. She used the rivets and screw to climb up the arms, jumping back and forth between them as it tried to catch her.
Suddenly, both hands targeted her and she had just enough time to jump and land on top of them. She saw the helmet staring back and easily wedged her keyblade under it, using a foot to put all her strength on it. "Ghaaa…. Got you!"
The helmet flew off and Kairi stumbled back into the First District.
"I did it…!" Kairi called to no one in particular, panting heavily. She looked around then to see the blocks still littering the streets. "Huh? How are they still here?"
"You have to do the final step, lock the keyhole!" Minnie exclaimed. "You're the keyblade's destined wielder, you have the power to do so!"
Destined one… The phrases honestly made her, an ordinary island girl, feel rather special. She gave a smile. "Right, of course!"
She pointed the keyblade to the hole, locking it.
Right after the keyhole locked and the world was fixed, static filled the screen. A new entry filled the screen.
Instead of seeing something they recognized from the adventures, Daisy, Tink, and Clarabelle watched Figaro observing the trio meeting before bounding away into the alleyway. Waiting for her was a dark corridor that she jumped in.
"Oh! That must be when Figaro managed to find me." Minnie realized. "I attached a letter to the king."
"Yeah, but we never saw that." Daisy muttered. "For all we knew, Figaro was just taking cat naps on the ship like she usually did on missions with you."
"First showing Sora, now this… What is the journal trying to tell us?"
Just then, something appeared in front of the desk that shouldn't have. A group of Heartless.
"Heartless?! Here?!" Dale gasped.
Minnie flipped over the desk, destroying them with a single blast of light.
"We have to check the rest of the castle!" Daisy insisted, unsheathing her sword. She tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge.
Her friends joined her in pounding on the door to no avail.
As a final resort, Minnie tried using her keyblade but it did nothing.
"Oh dear… I hate to say this, but I think we're trapped…" Minnie whispered.
An alarm began to blare, drawing their attention back to the monitor. Sure enough, there was a new journal entry.
Undo the hurt to unbar the way
"So, Kairi has to help more worlds in order for us to get out? That doesn't make any sense, we have control over the journal, not the other way around!" Clarabelle grunted.
"I don't know if that's the case anymore. I think we may have to fix the journal's problems to fix our own." Minnie sighed.
"But the castle…!" Daisy insisted.
"I know, I'm just as worried as you are but if that message is true, our best hope is fixing the journal."
Clarabelle and Daisy gave each other a worried look but nodded in resignment, hoping their Queen was right.
