Chapter 4: long live the king?
I do not own kingdom hearts or the properties shown in this fanfic. They belong to the respective owners and the original story is based on the works of Darius Almighty. Kingdom hearts and trials of the keyblade is owned by square Enix, Disney, and Tetsuya Nomura. Please support the official release.
Right. This is where they start to get grim. Anyways, time to visit Disney castle or Disney town so basically we're sticking with Disney castle.
With that out of the way, here's the next chapter. Enjoy! Onward to Disney castle!
Sora flew the gummi ship with practiced skill. They had made it past the Star Destroyer blockade well enough and were now almost to Disney Castle. Sora was driving since he was the only one who knew the directions. That was fine with Riku, who hated flying altogether.
"Well, this is quite the shtick," Riku said from his seat as he clenched a fist, "The King isn't one to be late. Something must have happened."
"Maybe he just forgot?" Sora offered, trying to think positively.
"Sora, he was the one who called the meeting," Kairi reminded him, "And, from what Leon said, it sounded like there was trouble."
"Maybe Leon's trigger-happy friends shot him down, too," Riku crossed his arms.
Sora turned to face him from the pilot seat., "What's with you Riku?" He couldn't help but notice, "You've been acting strange ever since we land- er...crashed on Radiant Garden."
Riku scowled in response, Kairi turned to him in concern, "Riku?"
"It's those Empire guys. I don't like them," He confessed.
Sora and Kairi stared in confusion at him. The former shrugged, "How could you not like them? They've done so much for our friends."
Kairi nodded in agreement, "Yeah. They helped repair the city and got rid of the Heartless. If you're still sore about them arresting us..."
"It's not just that," Riku shaking his head giving them direct eye contact, "The Heartless may be gone, but now everywhere you look there are those Stormtroopers pointing their rifles at you. It's like they run the place now."
"Ah, you're exaggerating." Sora waved him off.
"I'm serious Sora!" Riku nearly shouted. Kairi looked between the two of them worried as the silver head continued, "Those guys in the giant flying cones were fully prepared to kill us! And we didn't even get a chance to explain ourselves! They just up and opened fired! I don't think they can be trusted."
Sora started to get angry now. "There you go again! Not trusting anyone! The Empire's done a lot for Radiant Garden and you can't see that?!"
Riku only growled in response. Kairi finally stomped her foot down, "Guys!" She interjected before it could get ugly. "Please don't fight! I hate it when you fight!" Both of them grunted and faced away from each other. The silence that followed was so palpable that you could hear a pin drop. Clearing her throat, she decided to start another conversation, "So, anyone got something to eat?"
"Yeah, I have some cheese crackers in my pocket," Sora nodded as he reached into his red pocket. Kairi regarded him strangely. He simply shrugged as he looked for the crackers, "What? I always carry food around with me. These big pockets got to be used for somethin-" All of a sudden, he jumped out of his seat and winced in pain, "OOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!"
He ran around the ship, waving his hand around frantically. Something was biting his finger quite powerfully, and hanging on tightly. After much over-reacting and manly tears, Sora finally got whatever it was off his finger, and onto the ground. Sora, Riku, and Kairi all crowded around it for a closer look. It was some kind of small rat-like... thing, with large buck teeth and a short stubby tail. The thing was, it was hairless! The only hairs on it were the long whiskers sprouting from its face. Riku stared at the strange animal, "What the heck is that thing... it makes the platypus seem like a normal pet."
The said thing shook itself off from the effects of being flung around everywhere. Noticing them for the first time, it looked up curiously with its beady little eyes. Kairi tilted her head, "It's some kind of rat. A naked rat."
"A naked rat?" Sora intoned slowly, nursing his sore finger, "Didn't Wade mention something about a naked mole rat? He must have stowed inside my pocket at Radiant Garden." He reached inside his pocket, "Hey! He ate my crackers!"
Kairi giggled and held out her hand to the naked rodent. It quickly scurried to the flat of her palm and, Kairi wasn't sure but she could have sworn it was smiling at her. "What's your name little guy?" she asked it as if expecting an answer.
"Hmm, hmm, Rufus." They all did a double take. Did that rat just speak?
'Nah!' they all thought at once.
"Hey, why don't we call him Rufus!" Riku suggested.
"You know... I was thinking the same thing!" Sora admitted.
"Me, too!" Kairi exclaimed. The newly dubbed Rufus slapped his forehead with his tiny paw.
A small red light flashing on the dashboard turned their attention away from their new friend. Sora ran up to the cockpit window to see what was up. "Hey, we're here!", he told his friends. In front of them was indeed Disney Castle, its bright white walls and blue-tipped towers visible from orbit.
"Good," Riku nodded, "Now maybe we can get some answers."
"Only one way to find out!" Sora replied. He gripped the steering wheel and started the ship towards the castle. As they flew above the red-roofed houses, small animal children waved at them from the streets. They in turn, including Rufus, waved back.
As they drew near the castle, a transmission came in and two familiar furry faces came on the view screen. The squeaky voice of Chip asked, "Sora, is that you?"
"Oh, thank goodness you're here!" The slightly lower voice of Dale exclaimed.
"Whoa, guys, what's wrong?" Sora asked the hysterical chipmunks.
Chip and Dale shook their heads. "No time to explain, just hurry!"
With that, they switched off. Sora, Kairi, and Riku looked at each other nervously. The Wielder of the Way to Dawn commented, "Sounds like trouble,"
"Mmm, hmm, big trouble." Rufus agreed from Kairi's shoulder. They all looked at him again for a while before shrugging.
Flying into the Gummi Garage in the castle, they exited their ship and met with the two gummi engineers hopping up and down. Chip exclaimed, "Hurry, hurry!"
"There's no time to lose!" Dale told the islanders before they started off up the stairs. Sora, Kairi, and Riku followed hastily after. They first passed through the garden, where many strange animal topiaries stood tall in the sunlight. They entered the main building and headed down a hallway with which Sora was unfamiliar. The hall was decorated with pictures of the king's friends, such as; Clarabelle Cow, Horace Horsecollar, Huey, Duey, and Louie; the King had a lot of friends.
Soon they came to a large double oak door, with the King's seal emblazoned on it. Chip and Dale jumped up and each grabbed a doorknob, turning it with their own bodies. It swung open to reveal a luxurious bedroom. On the left wall was a large bookcase, housing many books and albums. Portraits of the King's ancestors decorated the right wall. Standing beside a large four-poster bed we're Queen Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck.
Laying in the bed itself fast asleep, was King Mickey Mouse. His large head and ears were swathed in bandages. The Destiny Trio exclaimed in shock, "Your majesty!"
The cry alerted the Queen and her friend of their presence, turning to them surprised to see them, "Sora! What are you doing here?!"
"Never mind that! What happened to King Mickey?!" Sora asked as he and his friends ran over to the bed. The spikey hair teenage boy asked him desperately, "Your majesty! Wake up! It's us!"
Queen Minnie bowed her head, "I'm sorry, but he can't hear you."
Riku's eyes flared in anger, "What happened?"
It was Daisy who answered, "We don't know."
Looking into her eyes, Riku could tell that her sadness ran deeper than the state of the King.
Sora went up to Queen Minnie, despite his serious face, he asked her kindly, "Please, tell me all that you know."
The Queen nodded silently before she began. "Not long after you all returned from defeating Organization XIII, the King rested. For a while, anyway. He then set out to map the world connection pathways, in case anything should happen again."
"That sure sounds like the King," Riku nodded, looking sadly at the King's unconscious form. The Queen smiled before continuing.
"He was just out every other day, and always returned the same day he left. But one day he didn't return. At first, I wasn't worried. I thought he was just on a faraway world, and it was taking longer than usual to return. When he did return..." She choked back the tears, "When he did return, he was like this, and the gummi ship was in bad shape, put on auto-pilot."
Sora stood there, silently thinking about this turn of events. Someone or something took the King down? The King's Keyblading skills were just as good as his. He couldn't imagine him being like this.
"It must have been before that, we got his letter," Kairi realized.
Rufus nodded in agreement. Sora didn't say anything. Could this have been what the King said was so urgent? They couldn't find out, now that the King was indisposed.
"How long has he been asleep?" Riku asked.
"Almost two days," the Queen answered.
Sora stood there a few more moments until a new realization suddenly dawned on him. "Hey," Everyone turned to face him, "Where are Donald and Goofy?"
The room was then deathly silent. Suddenly Daisy burst into sobbing hysterics. Tears flowed freely down her feathered face and dripped off her beak. Minnie went to her friend and pulled her into a hug, giving her silent words of comfort. Sora felt a feeling of dread wash over him.
"I'm sorry Sora," the Queen apologized consolingly, as Daisy sobbed into her dress. "Donald and Goofy went with the King when he last left..." She paused for a moment, "...Only the King returned."
Riku and Kairi gasped. They looked at their friend with silent remorse. Sora's eyes grew wide with shock. Donald and Goofy? Gone? It couldn't be true. "What?" he whispered.
"No. That's not true. You're playing a joke. Is this when they jump out with a video camera and laugh at me?" he asked desperately. His eyes began to fill with tears as he began to remember all of their adventures together. Donald with his barely recognizable speech. Goofy with his cheerful disposition. The Queen just looked away, unable to meet his eyes.
"Sora," Kairi spoke up sadly. Rufus also looked depressed.
"No! They're not gone! They can't be gone!" Sora nearly shouted. Kairi flinched at his tone. Riku merely bowed his head in grief. "They can't be..." He finally sobbed. Kairi then went to him and wrapped her arms around him. Sora sunk to his knees and shamelessly cried his heart out, Kairi holding him all the while. Even Rufus offered some comfort, patting Sora on his spiky head. Riku merely watched the scene unfold before him. There was nothing he could do to make the situation better. He then turned to look at the fallen King resting peacefully, a solitary tear dripping down his cheek...
And that conclude this chapter. Be sure to write nice reviews adapt the original story (Darius Almighty's work) on DeviantArt or post the story on TV tropes or follow and favorite it. And remember may your heart be your guiding key!