Chapter 145

War Zone

Mickey, Sora and Donald installed a bowl on the floor beneath where the holographic map would be projected, filled the bowl with the pixie dust, and then set wires so that a current would run through the dust when the map is brought up. Meanwhile, Goofy brought the fairy scepter to his room for safekeeping until they can figure out a better place to keep any artifacts that they collect.

"All set?" Donald asked when the last wire was connected.

"Let's give it a try," Mickey said. Sora nodded and went over to the copilot's chair where he put in the right commands and projected the holographic map. The pixie dust glowed and rose up to the map, forming a line that flowed through the empty space and wrapped around the indicators for several worlds.

"It worked!" Donald cheered.

"There's Neverland, right where we are," Sora said, pointing to the world indicator next to the green arrow that marked the Gummi Ship. "We can follow the Duat directly now."

"Nice work," Riku said. Sora gave a thumbs-up and turned the map off. The pixie dust returned to the bowl.

A moment later, a "MAIL DELIVERY" notification was projected. "I'll get it," Kairi said, running off to the mailroom. She soon returned with an envelope sealed with a green crocus sigil. A stamp depicting a Moogle head was in the top right corner. "It's from Arendelle," she reported. She opened the envelope and read the letter aloud.

Greetings, friends,

I hope you are well. Anna and I have just been to see the trolls, and we asked Grand Pabbie about the artifact that you told us about. He told us that he knew what you were looking for. Unfortunately, it seems to have disappeared while they were engaged with something, the night before you left. We believe that one of your enemies must have gotten to it without anyone noticing. I am sorry that we were not able to be of any help. We wish you good fortune in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Queen Elsa of Arendelle

P.S.

Anna and Olaf say hi.

"Well, crud," Riku remarked.

"It was worth a try," Sora said, shrugging, not knowing why he felt a twinge of guilt somewhere deep within his heart.

"I'll write back and tell them thanks anyway," Mickey said, running off to find a pen and paper.

"On the plus side, we're collecting some artifacts now and making sure that the bad guys aren't getting to them all," Goofy assured everyone.

"Yeah. You're right. We shouldn't let this get us down," Kairi agreed.

When Mickey returned, having sent the letter through the mailbox, everyone realized that they were all hungry after their escapades in Neverland, and so made dinner. As they ate, they ruminated on the implications of the message and Goofy's statement. They knew that part of the job of stopping the villains' schemes involved stealing back the artifacts that they had already acquired. However, they were not at all prepared for a head-on assault, so their best course of action was to thwart the villains as they went from world to world.

Afterward, they marked the route that they would travel and started to fly along it. After a few hours, they decided to park on an asteroid and go to sleep.

"Hey, what if we fell asleep, entered the Duat, and wound up right back in Neverland?" Sora joked. This got a laugh out of Riku, Kairi and Mickey. "Well, good night."

After breakfast, they picked up right where they left off in their flight. Mickey was in the pilot's chair while Aqua filled the role of copilot and Goofy served as the gunner. The flight proceeded as usual; there were some attacks by rogue ships, but it had become routine for them by this point.

Eventually, the route instructions, which were programmed to direct them on the route of the Duat, suddenly ordered a sharp right turn. Confused, Mickey pulled over and parked on a nearby asteroid. Aqua pressed a few buttons on her console, causing the holographic map to come up and zoom in around where they were. The pixie dust floated up to show the path of the Duat, which seemed to spike off from its natural route directly in front of where the ship was.

"That's strange. It seems as though the Duat is diverging from the path it's supposed to follow, as if it was pinched and pulled away," Aqua remarked.

"It looks like it's touching onto a world," Mickey observed.

"Well, how about we take a look," Goofy suggested.

Everyone agreed on that course of action, so Mickey put the ship back into gear and flew along the path. They soon came across a world with grassy plains, forests and moorlands, some castles and towns, and a foreboding mountain with a crumbling castle on top. Aqua recognized two of the larger structures.

"That's Enchanted Dominion," the bluenette said. "That's the world Maleficent comes from."

"Gawrsh. Do you think Maleficent might have something to do with this?" Goofy wondered.

"Well, no one is listed as being here," Mickey said, seeing that there were no dots from the Naughty List sensor on the world indicator. "But I think it's still worth a look. We might find something important."

"Okay. All in favor?" Aqua asked.

"This is Aurora's world, right?" Sora recalled from what the princess had told him about being from the same world as Maleficent. "Sure. Why not? If nothing else, we can at least go say hi."

Everyone agreed, so Mickey parked the ship in orbit and picked a spot for them to beam down.

They appeared in a market in a town a few miles away from one of the castles. The medieval architecture of the houses and workshops gave the town a quaint feel. After taking a look around, Aqua set her eyes on the castle to the west, which was distinguishable by the great wall surrounding the structure and the many towers that reached toward the sky.

"That's where Princess Aurora lives," Aqua explained.

"Cool," Sora said, admiring the architecture.

"Say, uh, does something seem off to you?" Goofy asked, looking around the town.

"How so?" Kairi inquired.

"Well, no one seems to be out in town." Everyone looked around and realized that Goofy was right: the streets were deserted, nary a soul in sight. In fact, all of the doors and windows were shut, and any windows that did not have shutters were blocked off.

"I wonder what's going on," Kairi mused.

"Do you think they're hiding from the Heartless?" Donald guessed.

"I don't think so. If they were running around, they would have come after us already," Sora argued. "Wait. What's that noise?"

A fireball suddenly flew out of an alley and hit a fruit stand, causing it to explode. The sudden blast caused everyone to jump in fright and summon their weapons. Looking around frantically, they noticed that smoke was rising up past the buildings' roofs, indicating that something was happening not too far away. The fireball blast caused them to pay better attention, and they could hear shouts, ripples of strong wind, swords clashing against stone or bone, and the low boom of magic lightning bolts arcing through the air.

"It sounds like there's a fight going on that way," Riku said, pointing in the direction that the fireball had come from.

"Let's go!" Sora called. They ran down the alley, staying on guard in case another stray spell came their way. When they passed the houses at the edge of the town, they saw what was happening on the outskirts. Knights armed with swords and spears clashed amongst one another. Interspersed amongst them were beings that looked like they could be either witches or demons.

The strange creatures were humanoid, but one would be hard-pressed to call them humans. They wore white overalls, heavy purple leather coats with folded magenta collars and cuffs, white gloves, pointed brown shoes, and brown steepled hats. The only parts of their bodies that were not covered in heavy clothing were their faces, which were pitch black and blurry around the edges, as if their flesh was wreathed in shadows. Round yellow eyes shone through the darkness that encompassed their heads.

There were about two hundred knights in all, the platoons differentiated by their armor designs; one side greatly outnumbered the knights on the other side with about a hundred and fifty men. Meanwhile, there were a couple dozen creatures, who all seemed to be attacking the larger force with powerful Fire and Thunder spells. Several knights and magic-using creatures were on the ground, either injured or dead.

"Are these things Heartless?" Aqua asked, watching the battle from the edge of the town.

Riku took a sniff. "They don't smell the same," he said.

"Kill…" one of the creatures droned before it cast Firaga at a knight, who raised his shield to block the attack but still stumbled and dropped to a knee when it hit.

"Heartless don't usually talk," Sora noted. "And I don't think I've seen them work alongside this many people at a time. They aren't even attacking their own allies—Wait, that one just… No, I think that was an accident."

"Whatever they are, we have to stop this battle," Mickey said. "So close to this town, civilians could get hurt."

Sora looked at one of the nearest buildings, then back at the empty marketplace, realizing that the people had taken refuge in their homes to hide from the chaos outside.

"Okay, but who do we fight?" Goofy wondered. "Who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?"

"My guess would be the side with the things shouting 'kill', but we'd better be safe than sorry," Donald replied.

"So we disable them all, then," Riku suggested. "Stop the fighting on both sides."

"Good idea," Kairi said. She jumped to try to get over the soldiers and rain spells to distract them, only to drop like a stone. She chuckled sheepishly. "I forgot that I couldn't fly anymore." Indeed, the effects of the fairy dust had worn off overnight.

"No problem. I know a way to get their attention." Donald unzipped his hat and pulled out a bunch of fireworks rockets. He used a Zero Gravity spell to throw them high into the air, aimed down at the soldiers. Aqua then used a Flame Salvo Shotlock to ignite the rockets, sending them at their targets. When the knights and creatures saw these projectiles, they scrambled to avoid being hit. Some knights defended themselves and their compatriots with their shields, while a few of the creatures were hit dead on and knocked down by the exploding rockets.

All of the knights and most of the creatures turned to see who had launched the attack. They saw the seven world-travelers charging toward them. Sora and Riku were in the lead, with Kairi and Goofy right behind them. Mickey, Aqua and Donald ran around to flank the platoons. When they were in range, Sora and Riku cast Gravity, causing several knights to drop their weapons and fall to the ground, unable to withstand the force pressing down on them. Mickey shot a beam of light at the ground, which caused a ball of light to trace across the ground and between the soldiers' feet, dividing the forces of one group from their opponents. The ball of light came out on the other side in front of Aqua, who stabbed it with her Keyblade and made spikes of ice shoot up along the line, separating the forces and preventing them from attacking one another.

Many of the knights who were still standing turned their attention to the newcomers who had entered the fight. They navigated around the wall of ice stalagmites, which slowed their advance enough that they came out a few at a time, and attacked the party. Not wanting to hurt the knights, as they did not know the cause for fighting, the party stayed on the defensive and focused on disarming them. Riku raised a Dark Shield to block one knight's attacks, then warped behind him and, while the knight was confused about where he had gone, hooked the wing of his blade around the knight's sword and yanked it out of his hand. Goofy blocked strikes with his shield until he found an opening and, pushing the sword to the side and throwing the knight off balance, shoved the knight in the chest and grabbed his sword by the handle guard and ripped it out of his hand, then dropped the sword while pushing the knight to the ground. Sora and Kairi parried strikes before catching blades and spear shafts with the teeth of their Keyblades and forcing them out of their adversaries' hands. Mickey ducked under attacks and performed sweeping kicks to trip his opponents, then hooked the teeth of his Keyblade around their swords, shields, and spears and swept them away when they had hit the ground and dropped them

Donald and Aqua were left to face the creatures, which attacked with Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells. Donald dodged the attacks directed at him while Aqua blocked with Barrier, then both retaliated with magic in efforts to incapacitate them, Aqua mixing in attacks with her Keyblade. The creatures did not go down and stay down quite as easily as the knights; they seemed to be immune to exhaustion or were at least single-minded enough to focus on their task unrelentingly. Donald and Aqua instead disabled them with Zero Gravity once they had been properly stunned.

After they had each knocked down several knights and creatures, one knight got a good hit in and disarmed Sora, letting his weapon fly away and land teeth-first in the earth. The knight froze as he saw the keychain clatter against the handle guard, allowing Sora to summon it back to his hand. "Is that… a Keyblade?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Sora answered casually.

Many of the other knights stopped fighting, shocked at the realization of who they were fighting. One knight, dressed in gold armor, a black shirt, and a purple tunic like his compatriots, stared at Aqua's Keyblade. "Is that also a Keyblade?" he asked.

Aqua nodded. "Yes. I am Master Aqua, and my friends and I would like to call for a cessation of hostilities," she said calmly.

Gasping, the soldier stepped back and turned to address the crowd. "Everyone stand down!" he called out.

"Stand down!" a knight from the opposing force, distinguished by his red armor and black tunic, shouted. In response, all of the knights stepped back and either sheathed their weapons or dropped them entirely.

The creatures that were still able to fight did not stop, however. One of them caught Donald with a Blizzaga spell, then conjured a ball of fire in its hand. An older knight in red armor swore and grabbed the creature by the cuff. "Stand down, you cursed brute! Stop! Cease your attacks!" he demanded. After a moment, the creature finally stopped moving and let the fireball disperse. All of the other creatures stood in place as well, appearing to heed his command. The Zero Gravity spells wore off and the rest of the creatures fell to the ground, only one landing on its feet, but none of the others bothered to stand up. The knight sighed. "Stupid Black Mages. Good for carrying out tasks, but poor at changing direction when ordered."

The knight who had addressed Aqua studied her intently. "You said your name was Aqua. Might you be the Keyblade-wielding warrior who helped Prince Phillip escape from the Forbidden Mountain and reach Princess Aurora to wake her from her enchanted slumber?" he asked.

Aqua put a hand to her chin as she recalled the incident. "Prince Phillip… I didn't talk to him much, but I think that's what the fairy said his name was," she replied.

The knight bowed. "It is an honor to meet you. Our kingdoms owe you our thanks."

"Five Keyblade wielders," another knight of the same legion counted. "Would one of you be named Sora?"

"That's me," the boy in question answered, raising his hand.

This knight bowed to him, as did some others. "Princess Aurora told us about you and how you rescued her and other maidens of light from the witch Maleficent and the Heartless."

Sora shrugged. "It was nothing," he said casually. "So, why have you all been fighting?"

A knight in gold, black and purple scoffed. "I would like to know the same thing. Only a few weeks ago, Saronia was our ally. Then they invade towns at our borders and send one of those magic demons to attack the castle."

Mickey turned to a knight in red and black. "So your side attacked first. Why are you waging war, then?"

"Our king simply said that Stefan's sins shall not be forgiven," the Saronian knight said.

"What sins?" Riku asked. The Saronian knights did not answer, appearing hesitant to say anything. King Stefan's knights shrugged. Riku looked around, but no one had an answer. "Nothing? Seriously?"

"So basically, you're waging war," Donald summed up, "putting innocent people in danger—" He gestured to the nearby town, where the market stall was still burning "—and no one here can say why?!"

"We should probably put that fire out," Kairi muttered. Sora nodded. They slipped off to contain and extinguish it with Aero and Water magic.

"Well, whatever the reason may be, I demand that, until further notice, or until we are no longer around to enforce it, that your fighting ends!" Aqua shouted. She raised her Keyblade and conjured flames to envelop it to emphasize her point. The nearest knights flinched and stood at attention, nodding in agreement.

"Okay. So we stopped the battle here. What do we do about the whole conflict?" Goofy asked.

Aqua put a hand to her chin as she thought of what they ought to do. "I suppose what we need to do is learn more about what is going on and what the cause of this war is," she said. "We should visit King Stefan's castle; it's closer, and we already know people who live there." At that moment, Sora and Kairi returned from their task, so Aqua repeated what she had told the others to them.

"Very well. In that case, I would be happy to escort you to Castle Sasune and arrange an audience with the royal family," an older knight said.

"Are we all going? Who's going to keep everyone from fighting again?" Donald asked, looking around.

"I'll stay behind and make sure no one gets up to any funny business," Riku volunteered, raising a hand. "I might learn something that could give us a clue."

"Alright. Call us if something comes up," Sora said. Riku nodded.

"See you later!" Goofy called back as the older knight led him and the rest of the party sans Riku toward the castle that King Stefan and Princess Aurora called home.

When his friends were gone, Riku turned back to the large group of knights. "Alright. First things first, we need to attend to the wounded," he declared, taking some Hi-Potions out of his pocket and passing them around. "Next…" He pointed at one of the Black Mages. "What's the deal with those things?"