Chapter 7
The Call
Sora counted as he watched Sion lift the barbell while lying down on the bench. His cousin had invited him to work out together and spot each other at the gym that morning. It was a busy morning at "Wong's Gym" as adults and adolescents made use of the wide range of weight and exercise systems.
Seventeen… Eighteen… Nineteen… Twenty. Sora helped Sion place the barbell back on the rack, then grabbed his hand to help him stand up.
Sion Barzahd was Sora's cousin; his father was the brother of Sora's mother. As such, they had a bit of a family resemblance. Sion stood two inches taller than Sora and had similarly spiky dark brown hair and blue eyes. His skin tone was lighter than Sora's, as he had not spent as much time sitting out in the sun and thus had not earned such a tan. He wore a red hooded jacket with a yellow inner lining and black sleeves, a pair of blue shorts that reached halfway down his thighs along with black under-shorts that inched closer to his knees, burgundy socks, black boots, and black and yellow gloves. The words "DOG STREET" were printed in calligraphy across the bottom of his jacket, "DOG" being written on one side of the zipper and "STREET" on the other, wrapping around his side. The jacket also had two zipped-up pockets. He wore a black belt as a sort of choker.
"Not bad," Sora commended. Sion stepped away to stretch, while Sora took a few more weights from the rack and putting them onto the bar, adding a total of one hundred and fifty pounds.
"Show off!" Sion accused. Sora shrugged before lying down on the bench. He waited until Sion was in position before he lifted the barbell and started pressing it upward. After twenty presses, Sora replaced the barbell, with Sion guiding it.
"Man," Sion sighed. "How did you go from a lazy bum to strong enough to lift that?" He and Sora removed the heavier weights from the bar out of courtesy for the gym's other patrons.
"Eh, when you end up doing a lot of work for months straight, you'd be amazed what you can do by the end of it," Sora answered, trying not to sound cocky.
Sion scoffed. "The most action I get here is when I have to stop a bar brawl," he retorted. "I mean, unless I'm a part of it."
Sora chuckled. He knew that, as a bouncer at a bar called Fate, Sion often had to forcibly remove some of the clientele when they got too rowdy and aggressive. Sora had on occasion passed by the bar, and a few times caught Sion in the process of dragging someone out. Just the week before, Sora was present when a particularly temperamental man tried fighting back while he was halfway out of the establishment, and jumped in to slam the drunkard face-first into the wall to keep him from attacking Sion.
"Well, I kind of had a busy schedule," he understated.
Sion let out a laugh. "Yeah, and a pretty crazy one at that. Futuristic machines, ninjas, space travel, and wild science?" He grasped his head, trying to wrap his brain around it all once again. "I wonder if I would be able to handle an adventure that nuts."
They laughed together, and stepped away from the bench press when two guys came by looking to use it. Sora followed Sion's earlier example and stretched to loosen his muscles. Sion led him to a punching bag that hung from the ceiling by a chain, and started delivering a series of punches and kicks to it, continuing the conversation in between hits.
"Good to see you're staying fit, even when you're off that kind of 'schedule'," he said, striking the bag between every few words. "You're keeping up in school, right? Aunt Suta said that you and Riku breezed through classes to get in line with the rest of your age group. I'm sure you haven't let that slip by."
Sora shook his head with a smirk. "Nah. Still doing fine in classes. But I've made sure I get everything done with plenty of downtime." Sion stopped hitting the bag and stepped aside, allowing Sora to start his part of the workout. After a series of swift, powerful punches and kicks, Sora attempted a roundhouse kick, but Sion stopped him.
"Hold up, man!" Sion grabbed Sora's arm before he could carry through with the move. "Don't twist on your ankle or hip." He pulled Sora away from the bag and stepped into position. He stood facing to the side, then turned his left foot to face the bag. "Put your foot in the direction of the target, and rise up onto the ball of your foot." As he said this, he stepped off of his heel, keeping the front of his foot on the ground. "Arc up, straight line from shoulder to knee," he tossed his right leg partway to demonstrate, "and pivot on your foot. Don't strain your muscles. Swing yourself around that point, and then release your leg to hit with the shin." He demonstrated a successful roundhouse kick. "Got it?" He did it two more times to show Sora the technique. "Okay, now you try it."
Sora stepped in front of the bag, then followed Sion's instructions. He turned to the right, raised his left foot onto the ball, and swung himself around, spinning cleanly around the point where his foot met the mat. After testing the form a few times, he carried out a complete roundhouse kick, kicking the bag with his lower leg.
"There you go!" Sion congratulated. He saw Sora deliver the kick thrice, hitting harder with each strike until the bag was thrown at a wide angle. When it came back fast and hard, Sion braced for impact and caught it before it could go the other way.
Sion took a minute to catch his breath, concerning Sora. "Are… you okay?" Sora asked.
Sion let go of the punching bag and stumbled back. Sora helped him regain his footing. Sion turned to face his cousin and gave a cheeky grin. "I think that was enough for today."
It was a quarter past four in the afternoon on the islet. The ocean breeze blew through Kairi's hair as she sketched in her drawing tablet. She held the pages together with a binder clip to prevent the wind from blowing them around. She glanced over to Tidus, Wakka and Selphie, who were sparring against each other. She returned her gaze to her subject matter. A few feet off from the shore, a wide, cylindrical platform rose out of the surf. It was built around with stones but covered in sand and palm trees. A wooden bridge was built connecting the platform to another raised part of the island. That area was accessible by entering a wooden shack and climbing a stairway carved out of the rock wall, exiting through a door built on top; or one could simply jump on top of the shed and step onto the upper level. One tree on the platform was twisted so that it almost looked as though it was on its side. While the other trees sprouted coconuts, this one grew the star-shaped Paopu Fruit, which had developed a bit of a folk legend around it.
Riku sat on the trunk of the Paopu tree, staring out at the horizon. Kairi could tell that he was deep in thought, most likely reflecting on his past decisions again. She remembered how he felt dissatisfied with the simple life on Destiny Islands and, intrigued by the stories of other worlds which he knew to be true thanks to Kairi's mysterious arrival, wanted to see what was beyond the small world he grew up on. This desire to explore led him to embrace the darkness, and when she was lost because of it, he delved further into darkness, aiding Maleficent and Ansem in using the Heartless to invade and consume the worlds. Although he realized his mistake and made up for it, even getting the remnants of Ansem's influence purged from his heart, and even as he was welcomed back by his friends and family with open arms, he was still haunted by the pain he caused his friends.
Kairi finished coloring Riku's hair with her silver crayon and went to replace it in her bag and grab a different one when she felt a light thump on her shoulders from behind. She yelped in surprise. Tidus, Wakka and Selphie stopped their battle to see what happened. Kairi turned around to see who it was, though she was starting to get an idea.
The culprit turned out to be Sora. "Why you!" Kairi scolded playfully, lightly shoving at his leg. She broke into a fit of giggles as he grinned, put his hands behind his head, and crossed one leg behind the other. Tidus, Wakka and Selphie realized that there was nothing to worry about and continued their match.
Sora dropped down and took a seat next to her. He peered over at her in-progress sketch of Riku. "Looking good," Sora complimented.
"Thanks," Kairi said, pushing her hair out of her face and giving him a peck on the cheek. She looked up at Riku, still staring pensively. Sora followed her gaze and realized what Riku was doing.
"He thinking about…?" he began to ask.
"Yup," Kairi answered.
"I'll go check on him." He ran off across the beach, jumped onto the shack up to the higher ground and ran across the bridge.
Selphie found herself standing with her feet in the water. She felt something push into her ankle and looked down to find a corked bottle. Curious, she picked it up and looked inside to find a rolled-up piece of paper. Noticing a funny-looking seal wrapped around the paper, she ran past Tidus and Wakka and showed it to Kairi.
Sora crossed the bridge and vaulted himself over the Paopu tree, landing on the other side and to Riku's left. He leaned his back against the tree and crossed his hands behind his head.
"Such a small world," Riku said in an amused tone.
"Yeah," Sora agreed. "But part of one that's much bigger." Sora recalled the end of their adventure. He and Riku had to fight Xemnas after the others had stepped through a Corridor of Darkness conjured by Naminé to escape to Destiny Islands. They managed to defeat him after a grueling battle, but Riku was injured and they were both exhausted and stuck in some in-between realm. A portal appeared and they found themselves in the Realm of Darkness. For an hour, they had resigned themselves to their fate, until a message in a bottle had washed ashore. Sora had read the letter from Kairi and he felt a glimmer of hope, then a rectangular door of light appeared in front of them, allowing them to step through and make it back home.
"Hey, Riku," he turned his head up to face Riku, "what do you think it was, that door to the light?"
Riku hopped down and faced Sora. He poked Sora in the chest, right where his heart would be. "This."
"This?"
"It's always closer than you think."
Sora took a moment to let the thought sink in. Even in the deepest darkness, there is always a glimmer of light. He realized that it was just as true as it had been when he first learned it over a year ago. He smiled, satisfied with the answer.
"Sora! Riku!"
They turned to see Kairi running toward them, carrying a bottle. She stopped in front of them and showed the bottle to them.
Sora noticed the paper rolled up inside, kept tight by a seal wrapped around it. He squinted his eyes and identified a black symbol shaped like a certain rodent's head. "From the king?" he exclaimed as he yanked the cork out of the neck and slipped the paper out of the bottle. He removed the seal and unrolled the paper, realizing that it was a written letter. He held it up for Riku and Kairi to see and started reading the message.
Sora, Riku,
I hope things have been going well since your return home. I can say that Donald, Goofy and I really miss hanging out with the two of you. Now, I'm sorry to drop this on you so suddenly, but I'm afraid I'm gonna need your help.
We picked up something strange going on at Maleficent's fortress and took a look to see what it was, and we found something that's got us worried. It seems as though Maleficent and Pete have made acquaintance of a mysterious character, and they are putting together another band of baddies, like the council that commanded the Heartless before. And it seems like they are planning on going around the worlds with the Heartless again and look for some items to carry out a nefarious plan.
And frankly, in spite of whatever power Donald, Goofy and I have, as well as what Leon and the gang can do, we cannot do this on our own. We wouldn't have a chance without the two of you.
With luck, we will be able to jump in and clear everything up before it begins, but, more likely, we will have to go on another extensive adventure to stop whatever evil plan they are conducting. I'd hate to force you to up and leave your families like this, but the safety of the worlds is at risk, and we really need your help with this.
We'll come over in the Gummi Ship for you tomorrow. You should have plenty of time to prepare for the journey ahead. It'll be great to see you again.
See you real soon,
The letter was signed with a stamp of the mouse-head symbol.
They processed what the letter said. King Mickey wanted their help on a new mission. They were nervous, as something that was a big enough threat for the king to require their help was certainly something to worry about. In the meantime, the thought of another quest brought conflicting feelings. On the one hand, they had practically just gotten back home and reconnected with their loved ones, and to up and leave them again for who knows how long… On the other hand, Sora could not say that he did not like the idea of seeing his old companions again, and the thrill of adventure still stuck in his memory. Meanwhile, Riku was still in the mindset that he wanted more beyond the slice of life experiences that the island had to offer, especially since he knew full well what sort of splendor could be found on the other worlds.
Kairi could see that Sora and Riku were both apprehensive and intrigued at the prospect of adventure. She knew them both well enough to understand what they were thinking. So, she decided to be the mediating third party voice.
"Maybe we should tell our folks about this," she suggested. "You can get ready, and we can arrange ways we might be able to keep in touch with everyone."
Sora and Riku nodded. "You're right," Riku said. "We have a day, right? We should at least be able to discuss this with our families."
With that settled, the three of them told Tidus, Wakka and Selphie what was going on and departed the islet, starting to row back to the big island to meet with their folks.
Sora, Riku and Kairi had managed to convince their parents to meet at the luau to discuss the matter over dinner, where they informed them of what the letter said. The teenagers could tell that the grown-ups were concerned by the news.
Iwa read over the letter again, and looked at Riku solemnly. She was tall and slender, about the same height as her husband. She had blue eyes and shoulder-length black hair. "I'd thought this day wouldn't come, but I should have known it would."
"If you do want to do this, I can tell that nothing we can do will stop you," Chikyu said. "And frankly, it would go against everything I believe in to even try to stop you from doing this."
"Truthfully," Kumo admitted, "we were hoping that you wouldn't have to go back out on us for a long while."
Sora gave his parents a comforting hug.
"You were gone for so long, and we didn't know what happened to you, or if you were even still alive," Suta lamented, tears welling in her eyes. "I just don't want to have to lose you again."
"You'll never lose me," Sora reassured her. "I'm sorry I made you worry for so long."
"You'll come back, safe and sound, right?" Kumo asked.
"I will. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can."
"We both will," Riku added.
Mayor Braska, who had been thinking the matter over while everyone was talking, finally spoke up. "It appears to me that the discussion has been settled. Now, we should figure out matters on the home front." He looked over at Sora and Riku, and they stood at attention. "Should you intend to continue going to school upon your return, I would suggest that you talk to your teachers. I doubt that they would be too keen on having to throw weeks to months of school work on you to keep you with your respective grade levels a second time, particularly after jumping through hoops to bring you up to speed by several months."
Sora and Riku looked at one another. Riku shrugged his shoulders. "I can see if the Gummi Ship crew has some way we can work around that," Sora suggested.
Braska nodded in understanding. "Second, I am sure that your parents and friends would all like if you could keep in touch with them." Kumo, Suta, Chikyu, and Iwa nodded confidently.
Kairi held up the bottle that the message came in. "You can send a letter like how the King did with this, and how I did before." She looked past the others and waved to one of the waitresses, whose younger sister Kairi had often been babysitting over the last year, as she passed by.
"And I'm sure we'll be able to visit when we have some downtime," Sora added. The grown-ups smiled at the idea.
"Well, that was the last concern I could think of," Braska said. Incidentally, this was the point where the waiter brought over the bill for the meal. The grown-ups paid and gave the waiter a tip. "Now, it's getting late. You two should probably prepare for the journey ahead. We have the utmost faith in you." He shook hands with Sora and Riku as everyone prepared to head home.
When they were outside, they prepared to part ways, but Kairi grabbed Sora and Riku by the arms as they were leaving.
"What is it, Kairi?" Sora asked.
"I was wondering if, maybe, you could let me come along," she answered. This baffled the two of them, as well as the grown-ups.
"What?!" everyone shouted, incredulous.
"I've never really been a part of your adventures," she explained. "Being semi-aware in your heart doesn't count, and I never really got to do much when I joined you at the Organization's castle. And, truth be told, the last few months I was kind of hoping I could get to join you on a real one someday."
Sora and Riku struggled to respond to her request. The adults were still trying to process what she said. Kairi noticed the boys' uncertainty and raised an eyebrow, leaning in toward them coyly.
"Come on! Remember what I said, right before we went through the door to face Xemnas? 'Wherever one of us goes, the other follows', right?" She shrugged and half-turned in a seemingly aimless fashion. "Besides, if I can't handle it, you can always bring me back and drop me off here."
Sora and Riku looked at Braska to see what he thought. He simply gave them a look that said he was leaving the choice up to them. They shouldn't have been surprised, since he was accepting of the trio's wish to sail off on a raft to visit other worlds, whether or not the adults actually thought the raft would work. They traded a glance with each other to see what the other was thinking, then came to a decision.
"Sure," Sora said. "But remember to follow our lead, got it?"
Kairi nodded, glad that she could get to be part of the team. She and Sora crossed pinkies. Neither of them noticed Riku look away nervously at the display between his two friends. Iwa noticed this, and put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly.
"Okay. See you in the morning!" Sora said as everyone turned away to head home. He made sure not to show it around his parents, but he was excited. In less than twenty-four hours, he would get to see Donald, Goofy and King Mickey again, and they would embark on another universe-spanning adventure, this time with Riku and Kairi in tow.
There you have it. Things are finally building up to the big adventure. And Kairi's joining the team as well!
I know I said that I would go over to a one-chapter per week schedule like other writers who update regularly/semi-regularly seem to do, but I realized how tedious that would be, for you and for me, so I'm putting another one up today, two more next week, and then I'll just play it by ear.