Chapter 79
Into the Darkness
The next morning, Sora and Kairi left the hotel that they stayed at and ate breakfast at a local café. They found Lea and Isa eating at a nearby table and said hello.
"Hey!" Lea greeted enthusiastically. "How are you guys doing?"
"We're doing alright," Kairi answered. "How about yourselves?" Sora smiled at her casual greeting. She seemed to be moving past the whole "kidnapping" thing.
Lea shrugged. "Aside from Isa not being a morning person, I can't complain."
Sora chuckled. "Glad to see you're putting things back together," he complimented. Isa looked away nervously. He had trouble believing that Sora could be so chill around him, and could not comprehend that Lea could bear to be in the same room as him.
At that moment, Sora decided to address a question that had been bugging him since minutes after waking up. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have seen Riku, would you?" he asked. He had realized that his friend was nowhere to be seen, apparently having gotten up and left the hotel before Sora and Kairi had even awoken.
"Yeah, I think so. I think he was heading toward the bailey," Lea suggested.
Sora nodded. "Thanks. We'll take a look," he replied, before he continued to eat his breakfast.
Sora and Kairi climbed down the staircase that had been constructed at the cliff at the edge of the bailey, whose wall was still heavily broken, down to the collapsed platform that had once been the castle gates. Peering out across the horizon, Sora and Kairi saw a strange activity in the massive valley. Black specks were shifting around the area, indicating that Heartless were roaming the maw. But that was not what caught their eyes. White sparks accompanied by a dark blue flame exploded around the center of the valley.
Sora and Kairi traded glances. "You think that's him?" Kairi asked.
Sora nodded. "Definitely." They ran across the ravine trail and headed for the great maw.
Along the way, they fought some Heartless, though they seemed few in number. Sora surmised that the majority of the creatures that had been prowling the cliff side had been cut down by Riku as he had gone through. During moments of calm, Sora told Kairi that he had been in the mountainous area outside of the town a few times before. The first time had been when he fought over a thousand Heartless during the invasion, moments after learning Xemnas' identity. The second and third time were when he met a warrior named Sephiroth at the furthest cliff, dueled him, and then went back to tell Cloud where to find him.
"Wow. I guess walking through here gives you something to brag about all on its own," Kairi joked.
"I guess so. Goofy did get right back up like nothing was wrong after he took a boulder to the face and we all thought he died," Sora said.
Kairi's humorous smile faded. "He… what?"
"Uh, yeah, we didn't think it was really that funny either," Sora admitted. Without another word, he and Kairi pressed on. Soon, they passed through a fissure filled with glowing blue crystals and came out to the great maw, a large valley watched over by purple mountains on either side.
When they saw Riku, he was surrounded by six Armored Knights. However, by the time they reached him, he had vanquished the last remaining Heartless. As he took a moment to catch his breath, he spun around and raised his Keyblade when he heard footsteps from behind him. Sora and Kairi stopped and waved their hands in front of themselves, trying to discourage offensive or perceived defensive action. When Riku realized who the new arrivals were, he relaxed and dismissed his weapon.
"Hey," Sora gave a light wave.
"Hey," he replied.
"You doing alright?" Sora asked. "You've been quiet ever since we left the lab."
Riku remained silent for several seconds before he finally spoke. "I just… I'm still trying to wrap my head around it," he said.
Sora crossed his arms. "Yeah, it was shocking," he agreed.
"I can't believe Mickey never told us so we could've helped her."
Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Who's this new Riku we're talking to?" she asked jokingly.
Riku was taken aback. "What?"
Kairi giggled. "You're starting to sound like someone else we know," she replied. She crossed her hands behind her head to illustrate the point.
Riku chuckled. "I guess this guy's rubbed off on me." He gave Sora a light thump on the forehead.
"Try not to turn into a total sap, then, okay?" Sora joked. The three of them laughed for a bit. "But, I have to agree with you there."
Riku sighed. "I deserved to know what had happened," he muttered. "She sacrificed herself to protect me, and I never knew."
Kairi nodded. "You're right. The King should have told us," she agreed. "But, I can sort of see where he was coming from, being worried about taking us down there. If the Heartless down there are as dangerous as he said…"
"The longer we hesitate to help Aqua, the longer she's stuck down there with those fiends!" Riku shouted. "I didn't see much while I was down there, but they were no joke, even for Mickey."
Kairi nodded again. "My point exactly," she said. "I can't imagine Mickey has any good memories from that place. Those things probably scared him half to death. And he already lost Aqua to that place twice. He doesn't want to risk losing any of us."
Riku fell silent as he pondered Kairi's words. She was right. He had not considered how much the ordeal would have haunted Mickey. He felt stupid, like he was being selfish, for only considering his opinion on the matter. Why was he so bent out of shape from learning about Aqua's fate? He did not know her, and he barely remembered meeting her. Was it because of how he had felt about himself back then? Guilt and shame over his mistakes? Did he not think he was worth something so noble and selfless? Did some of that shame still hold a place in his heart, making it difficult for him to believe that a total stranger would give up everything to save him, not caring what he had done?
"I can't believe the King had to deal with that all on his own," Sora lamented.
Riku had to agree. For as long as he had known Mickey, he had been living with the trauma of losing Aqua again, and he had never once let slip that he was going through anything. He suddenly felt sorry for yelling at him.
Donald and Goofy found Mickey in the marketplace, leaning on the wall and staring out over the town. They walked over to join him. They stood in silence, trying to think of a place to start.
"Well, yesterday didn't go too well," Goofy finally said, addressing the elephant in the room.
Mickey shook his head. "Nope. Can't say I'm surprised, though," he said sadly.
Donald turned to his friend. "Your Majesty, why didn't you tell us about Aqua?" he asked.
Mickey hesitated for a moment. "At first, of course, it was because we had more pressing concerns, with the Organization running amok. But afterward, I spoke to Master Yen Sid, and he said that it was too dangerous to try to rescue her," he explained. "I didn't want to tell you until I knew I could save her, because, like Master Yen Sid said, you both, and Sora and Riku, too, would jump in and do everything you could even if you weren't prepared. And I didn't want to lose anyone else."
Goofy nodded, seeing his point. "Yeah, from what you told us, it did seem rough even for two Keyblade Masters," he conceded. "But you had to live with that for over a year, all on your own. You shouldn't have had to do that."
"Yeah. We should always be there for our friends," Donald agreed.
Mickey chuckled. "Yeah. You're right. I'm sorry I worried you all."
"Now, Master Yen Sid may have thought we couldn't do it then, but we sure can now," Goofy insisted. "After all, you, Sora, Riku, and Kairi have the power to fight through the Heartless, and we've got each other."
"So, once the guys up in the castle come up with a way to find Aqua quickly, we should be ready for a simple rescue mission," Donald reminded Mickey.
Goofy nodded cheerfully. "Aqua's our friend too. We want to get her back as well."
Mickey looked at his friends one at a time, an earnest smile on his face. "Gosh, thanks, guys." He turned to look back out over the horizon, having cheered up a bit. Though he still felt guilty for not talking to his friends about what he had gone through or telling Riku about what Aqua had done, he felt that he might be able to fix things.
When Sora, Riku and Kairi returned to town, they found themselves surrounded by CLAYMORE scanner holograms. The ever-generating discs materialized one after the other in a line leading back out to the bailey.
"I wonder what that's about," Riku commented. He, Sora and Kairi turned around as they heard more holograms behind them, and they saw Mickey, Donald and Goofy coming toward them, following a trail of holograms. Leon, Yuffie, Lea, and Isa came right behind them.
"What's going on?" Sora asked.
"Cid and Shera sent us a message from the castle," Leon explained. "They want us all to head up to the study."
"The hologram trail is supposed to let you know you should head up there as well," Lea added.
"Sounds like they've finished," Mickey surmised.
"Well, then, let's go," Sora said.
The party of ten followed the holograms out through the bailey and up the path to the castle postern. They entered through the castle's side door and made their way through the corridors until they reached the study door. Sora knocked, and the door opened as Shera was there to let them in.
"Hey," Sora greeted as he entered. The others waved hello as well. They stood around the study, aware that there was not enough room in the computer room for sixteen people. Ienzo and Cid were the first to come out to meet them. "Hello, Ienzo," Sora waved to the scientist. He made eye contact with the engineer. "Hey, Cid."
Ienzo nodded in respectful greeting. "Welcome. We're glad that you all could make it," he said. Even, Aeleus and Dilan entered from behind him.
"So, did you come up with anything?" Riku asked.
Even smirked. "Indeed we have," he said confidently. "As I suspected, we have indeed retained the ability to conjure Corridors of Darkness. So, after cobbling together radar machines and placing them about the Realm of Darkness, we have successfully conjured a topographical rendering of the dark landscape."
"So, we can use something that belongs to that Aqua lady and use it to pinpoint her location," Cid continued. "We even tested it already with Dilan and one of his lances."
"Luckily, we already have exactly what we need," Dilan added. "Her Keyblade and armor should retain enough of her signature to track her aura even after twelve long years, especially as it has been kept in a hermetically-sealed chamber for most of that time with minimal exposure to external atmosphere."
"Well, then what are we waiting for?" Sora blurted excitably. "Let's find her!"
Aeleus frowned and shook his head at the boy. "Do not sabotage yourself with hastiness, young man," he scolded. "Unfortunately, the calculations are not precise, and when I entered the demesne to retrieve Dilan, I found that I had arrived at half a mile north of his location. We must study the terrain, first, and assess the situation before we allow you to proceed."
Riku nodded. "I understand," he said. "We don't want to run into too much trouble." Mickey raised an eyebrow and looked at him in surprise. He seemed to have a more mature, comprehensive grasp on the matter before them, whereas the day before he had insisted on an immediate endeavor. Perhaps he had the time to think things over in the last twenty hours.
"Now, then, let us see what we can find," Ienzo offered. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy followed him, Even, and Dilan into the computer room. Shera took out a laptop tablet which displayed a screen matching the main computer so that those who remained behind could see what the others were looking at.
What appeared to be a stool had been set up in front of the digitizer. Dilan placed a piece of the blue armor, which appeared to be a helmet, on the seat, which glowed with a blue light.
"Now, let us give it time to start up, and then we will run the scan," Even said as he typed in commands.
As they worked, no one noticed a black bird perched upon a pipe just outside of the window overlooking the Heartless Manufactory. It had waited out there through most of the night and the entirety of the morning, keeping tabs on what the scientists had been working on. It was quite intrigued to hear their intentions. Once it had heard enough, it flapped its wings and flew away from its perch. When it had gained top speed, it vanished in a flash of shadow.
Diablo materialized a hundred feet from the window of the tower in the vale miles away from town. He flew through the opening and landed gently on his mistress' shoulder.
Maleficent regarded her familiar with intrigue. "So, Diablo, what have you learned?" she asked.
Diablo let out a few squawks. Zeromast and Pete wondered how she could understand him. Maybe it was a faerie thing.
Maleficent's eyes widened in surprise. "They intend to enter the Realm of Darkness to rescue… Aqua?" Her hands clenched into fists and her mouth contorted into a scowl. "They seek to relieve her of her suffering?!" She launched a fireball in her anger, which Zeromast and Pete narrowly avoided.
"Hey, hey, chill out, Maleficent," Pete pleaded. "Hang on, who's Aqua?"
"That insolent Keyblade wielder defied me and aided the pathetic prince in breaking the curse I placed on Princess Aurora," Maleficent answered, through gritted teeth.
"Hmm…" Pete pondered, recognizing a name like that. "Say, did she happen to have blue hair?" he asked. Maleficent nodded. "Oh, yeah. I met her once. So, she's a Keyblade wielder, huh?"
"There would be no point in attempting to thwart them," Zeromast said. "The Realm of Darkness is a savage land, and any effort to interfere with an endeavor that already has great risk to them would only pose great risk to us. It would be better to allow fate to determine the outcome of their journey." He stroked his chin, considering all possibilities. "However, their visit might prove beneficial…"
"How do you mean?" Pete asked.
Zeromast shook his head. "It is nothing connecting to our greater goal. But there are some runestones that I have been trying to gather for years," he explained. "My collection is nearly complete, but the last one remaining appears to have been lost in the Realm of Darkness. Perhaps the heroes can retrieve it for me."
Maleficent raised an eyebrow. "Do you propose to convince them to seek it out?" she asked sarcastically.
Zeromast chuckled with mild amusement. "Of course not." He opened his left pouch and reached in. He felt around, half of his forearm ducked into the pocket. He smiled when his hand closed around his intended artifact and he pulled his arm out, revealing a small jar of blue powder. "They will gather it when it comes to them. I simply need to ensure that it finds them."
Maleficent and Pete looked at each other in confusion. They wondered what he had planned. They watched as he drew a blue chalk circle on the floor in front of him. The floor turned transparent, but instead of showing the room below, the circle offered an aerial view of Mickey Mouse. Zeromast removed the stopper from the jar and emptied its contents into the portal. The powder fell through the portal and landed in Mickey's fur, soaking into his skin with the mouse and his friends none the wiser.
Zeromast swiped against the chalk, breaking the circle and causing the portal to vanish. He began to walk away before Maleficent and Pete could inquire more as to what was going to happen.
Pete shook his head. "I am not a fan of that guy," he complained.
Maleficent shrugged, forcing Diablo to fidget to maintain his balance. "We shall come to understand him in due time," she said.
After a few minutes of load time, a polygon rendering of the terrain of the Realm of Darkness—zoomed out by quite a large margin to fit on the screen and rendered as much as feasible on short notice—appeared on the computer monitor. A few minutes later, as the scientists chose to wait for the 3D model to develop before running the sensor, a red dot appeared on what Even's coordinate system labeled as the western side of the landscape. A pale red aura emanated from the dot, covering what was likely a ten-mile radius, indicating that Aqua's true location could be anywhere in that range.
Mickey smiled. "That's it!" he cheered. "Aqua should be somewhere around there!"
Kairi nodded. "Okay. Naminé, can you get us there?" she asked aloud. Everyone around her, even knowing the circumstances between Kairi and Naminé, found the scene before them to be weird, as she was talking aloud to pass a message to someone who, for all intents and purposes that some would care to contemplate, was herself.
Once again shocking all around her in spite of everyone in view having witnessed the same thing occur the day before, a moment after the question was posed, a phantom arm rose up from her real one, rotating about her right shoulder. The phantom hand snapped its fingers, and a Corridor of Darkness appeared at the entrance to the short hall linking the computer room to the elevator. The arm dropped back down and fused back into Kairi's hand.
Leon, Yuffie, Cid, Shera, Lea, and Isa crowded into the entrance to the computer room. "Now or never, huh?" Leon surmised.
Riku nodded. "Yeah. She's been down there too long."
"Well, in that case, you guys should take these," Lea said. He raised his arms, revealing that he was carrying some of the same coats once worn by Organization XIII, and which he and Isa still wore. "Might camouflage you from the Heartless, and also protect you from the corrupting effects of the dark atmosphere. Not sure how much Sora, Kairi and Mickey will need them for that, though. But better to be safe than sorry."
Riku smiled. "Thanks," he said. He took a duster from Lea's pile, wrapped it around himself, and zipped it up. Sora, Kairi and Goofy did the same. Kairi did a few poses to show off her new outfit, and Sora crossed his arms and affected a stern glare to try to look intimidating. However, Mickey and Donald realized that they were too small to wear the adult-sized coats.
"Your Majesty," Leon addressed Mickey, "Yuffie found this pinned between some roof shingles a few months ago." He pulled out a black hooded coat that was the right size to fit Mickey. The hood even had added shapes to fit the mouse king's ears.
Mickey smiled as Leon returned his old espionage coat to him. "Thanks, pal," he said as he put the coat on and smoothly fit his ears into the breathable fabric of the hood.
Donald appeared to fret, aware that he was the only one without a protective garment. He was taken by surprise as he was suddenly hit with a large pile of fabric from behind. He scrambled to get it off of his head and, once he had a good look at it, realized that it was a black coat that was exactly his size. He turned around to see Dilan assert eye contact.
"We surmised that you would need one as well," the lancer said. Donald nodded in thanks and put the coat on.
"Good luck, and be safe," Leon told the party.
Riku nodded. "We will. And we'll bring Aqua back, safe," he assured.
Mickey turned to face his teammates. "Is everyone ready?" he asked. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy nodded in confirmation.
Waving good-bye, they turned and stepped through the dark portal, which vanished seconds after the last of them passed through.