Chapter 115

The Emperor's Wisdom

The party accompanied the Emperor, Shang, Yao, Ling, Chien Po, and two soldiers back into the palace, where everyone had gathered in the throne room. Servants had brought towels to dry everyone off from the rain, although the Emperor and Mulan's robes, as well as Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aqua, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy's clothes were drenched. After the rain had stopped completely, Kairi used an Aero spell to try to dry everyone off, although this was not entirely successful.

Shang stood to the side so that he would address both the Emperor and his allies. "The Heartless invasion has been successfully thwarted," he reported.

"Very good," the Emperor replied. He turned his head to address the party in front of him. "You all have my thanks. China owes you another great debt."

Mulan, Mickey, Riku, Aqua, Donald, Goofy, and the soldiers bowed. Sora and Kairi followed suit a second after, hoping that no one noticed the delay.

"Your Excellency, do you have any idea what Mozenrath came here for?" Mulan asked.

The Emperor stroked his beard thoughtfully. "I cannot say for certain. He used rather vague terms in his demands," he claimed.

Sora raised an eyebrow, doubting that the Emperor really had no idea. He shrugged, playing along. "Maybe he thought there was something of value here and he figured you might know something about it. Maybe not. I guess he should have been more clear."

The Emperor narrowed his gaze at the teen. The old leader realized that Sora seemed to have an idea of what the invader had been after. He glanced broadly at the rest of the group, contemplating what reason they would have for being in China, particularly in time for the evening's crisis. He quickly deduced that they must also be aware of what the sorcerer had come for and why, and that must have been why they had come.

"General Li, Captain Fa, would you and your men give us the room?" he requested.

Shang and Mulan bowed. "Yes, your Excellency," they replied simultaneously. They, along with the other soldiers, turned and exited the throne room.

Sora, Donald and Goofy looked at each other in bewilderment. Did he say Captain Fa? Sora mused.

"I see there is little point maintaining the secret," the Emperor said, reclaiming the trio's attention. "How much do you know?"

Mickey cleared his throat, having not expected it to be so easy to broach the subject with the Emperor. "To be honest, not much," he admitted. "We know that Mozenrath and his allies are searching for artifacts and gathering one from each world, and we know that they want to use them to change the laws and structure of the universe to suit their desires, but we're not sure how to locate them or figure out for sure who to look for to ask about them."

"Hmm… So, in order to prevent them from gathering these 'artifacts' and achieving their goal, you are trying to gather them first," the Emperor surmised.

Sora, Mickey and Donald were taken aback by the accusation. However, as they considered his words, they realized that he was onto something. "Uh, well, I guess. It's the best thing we can think of doing," Sora conceded. "At least until we stop them and make sure they can't go after them again."

The Emperor nodded. "I understand your concerns. Protecting the… ahem, 'artifact' is a hefty responsibility. For generations, one man, and one man only, aside from his successor whom he trained before he passed on, took the role of guardian. Perhaps it was all in preparation for what has come now." Sora nodded, and attempted to hide his anticipation for him to continue. It appeared as though they were finally about to get some answers. "However, I must ask what you plan to do at the end of your journey."

This question confused the party. Sora, Riku, and Mickey were not sure how to treat the prompt or how to answer. Sora and Mickey tilted their heads, showing how utterly thrown they were. Donald, Goofy, and Kairi initially thought that it was an easy answer, from their perspective, anyway, but Kairi slowly realized that it was not as simple as she thought. Aqua, being fairly new to the quest, did not have an answer herself.

"Let me clarify what I mean. Should your pursuit of your objective lead you to collect all of the artifacts, including those that may already be in the possession of your enemies, then, at the moment when you reach that point and achieve victory, what will you do then?"

"Well, uh… We'll…" Sora began, before trailing off as he realized that the Emperor had a point. He would have liked to say that they would just return them to their worlds and make sure that they stayed safe and secure with their guardians, but he realized that was only an easy response without putting much thought into it. He realized that, if they had all of the artifacts, it would be very tempting to at least see what everything was about. They might even be tempted to use that power. A part of him wanted to believe that none of them would give in to those dark desires, but he quickly remembered everything that had been damaged and that they would desire to fix. He also recalled that Kairi had indeed considered using the power to fix something that was broken not very long ago. Regardless, he found that he could not answer the Emperor's question with any certainty.

He shook his head. "I don't know," he answered. Donald and Goofy looked at him in shock. Riku, Kairi and Mickey glanced at him curiously. Aqua seemed lost in thought, as if she herself was following the same train of thought. "I'd like to say we'll do the selfless thing, but I can't really be sure of what we would do if we had the chance."

The Emperor nodded. "Wise answer, Keyblade Master. I suppose that is the same reason that the artifacts were not all kept safe under the same eye. Power is seductive, and any man, even with the best intentions or the worst, can be tempted into misusing it."

"Your Excellency, would you mind helping us out? Could you tell us what these things are, and what this whole 'reality warping' thing is?" Mickey asked.

The Emperor closed his eyes, contemplating the request. "Unfortunately, I do not believe that you are quite ready to hear the full story. I do not know how much you truly understand, but I believe that you have more to learn before you can attempt to understand this. And even if you were prepared, I do not think that I am fit to explain the full story."

The party slumped, disappointed. Great, Sora thought. Another dead end.

"However," the Emperor continued, "there is something that I can offer so that you do not leave completely empty-handed." Everyone in the party stood upright, listening intently. "It is clear to me that some dangerous individuals are seeking out these artifacts, and they will not stop until they have claimed them all. It is a certainty that those fiends will return in another attempt to capture the one in my protection. In that event, it would be prudent to ensure that its location may be known to someone who can adequately defend it. Therefore, in preparation, I will allow one of you to know where it may be found, and what to seek, should you have to." He sized up each of the warriors before him. "Young lady…"

Kairi pointed at herself uncertainly. "Me?" she asked.

The Emperor nodded. "Kairi, is it? Come with me. The rest of you, wait here." He walked past the party and exited into the corridor, Kairi following behind him. They passed Shang and Mulan, causing the Emperor to advise them to wait a little while longer. He led Kairi through the halls, taking multiple turns before entering a storage vault. He guided her around the piles of supplies and relics before stopping in front of what appeared to be a large chest for clothing. Kairi could tell that the seemingly-innocuous box was important because it was locked with, rather than a latch or nothing at all, a slider puzzle. In its current state, the segments overlapped the lip between the box and the lid, preventing it from being opened normally.

"Watch carefully, and remember how this is opened," the Emperor advised. He stooped down and worked on solving the puzzle. Kairi watched intently, trusting Naminé's powers to keep a record of the process even if her own memory proved imperfect when the time came to follow the Emperor's pattern.

After two minutes, the puzzle was finished. The sliding pieces now created the shape of a dragon. Kairi helped the Emperor open the box and saw that there were indeed clothes inside. The Emperor lifted a robe, revealing a short staff etched with intricate designs and written characters. He took the staff out and showed it to Kairi. The girl took it in her hands, and felt a strange power current within the golden shaft. She could not determine the nature of the power, but she could tell that it was distinct, and was most likely tied to something beyond the material world and the forces of light and darkness. It made her all the more curious in regards to what this artifact and its ilk were tied to. Examining the top face of the shaft, she noticed an odd symbol resembling a circle with an X drawn inside and with spikes drawn all around the outer circumference. Something tugged at the corner of her mind. Somehow, the shape looked familiar, but she could not place where she had seen it.

"Kairi, I am trusting you with the location of this artifact in the event, and only in the event, that taking it into your possession is an urgent necessity to protect both it and China from the threats that you and your companions are facing. Once that event has come and passed, its fate is in your hands. I trust that you and your friends will handle it wisely," the Emperor reminded her. Kairi nodded, letting him know that she understood. Satisfied that he could leave the ultimate security of the artifact in the young lady's capable hands, the Emperor replaced the shaft in its hiding spot and reset the slider puzzle. He and Kairi then returned to the throne room, inviting Mulan, Shang, and the soldiers back in as they passed. Kairi retook her place beside Sora and Riku while the Emperor stopped in front of his throne and entered a lotus position.

"Once again, I thank you for all you have done in protecting China," the Emperor said, addressing the whole party. "And I wish you good fortune in your travels. May you achieve victory in your battles to come." In response, the entire party bowed, with no one falling behind.

"You're leaving?" Mulan asked, dismayed.

"Yeah. We've got to make sure that Mozenrath and his groupies don't cause more trouble," Sora replied.

"It was good seeing you," Donald said.

"Good luck, soldiers," Shang told them.

Riku grinned. "I'll keep the wise guys out of trouble," he joked.

The Emperor chuckled. "Ah, yes. I thought that was you," he remarked. "General Li, you might still need to keep up on your training."

Shang sighed as he recalled his embarrassment. Sora laughed and nudged him with his elbow. "Oh, I wouldn't worry. After all, I'm sure Captain Fa can keep him on his toes."

"Don't get yourselves in too much trouble, you two," Kairi teased. This left Mulan and Shang flustered while the others laughed. They soon recovered themselves and joined in.

"Eh, he'll be fine," Ling argued. "After all, he's got a girl worth fighting fooooooor!" He and the soldiers laughed.

Mulan raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Uh, and vice versa," Yao added upon noticing this.

"Thanks again for the bo staff training," Sora said.

Shang nodded. "Be sure to keep training. And good luck in facing that man. Oh, and speaking of which, if you see him again, be sure to give that armored giant a sound beating, for my father."

Sora saluted. "Yes, sir!" He and his friends waved good-bye as they left the palace.

By the way, yes. That symbol has been brought up before, in a pretty early chapter. And it's not entirely made up: if you read the Bestiary section of the strategy guides (starting with KHII, I believe) or simply perused the Wiki, I think you would have seen it before.