Well, it's almost time. In just three days, Kingdom Hearts III will be here for the western audience. But even as this beautiful light shines upon us, so too is a dark, twisted shadow cast across the land. I am of course talking about leaks and spoilers. Some time ago, someone leaked the entire plot of the game for some cruel, heinous reason. But fortunately, the situation was quickly noticed and we are capable of avoiding this attempt to ruin our first experience of the game. However, a few days ago, certain individuals have gained early access to the game and proceeded to post cutscenes and Let's Plays with spoiler-heavy titles and thumbnail images on their YouTube channels. I do not understand why this is permitted to occur, but it appears to be an incredibly dumb decision on the part of game developers, particularly for a game as highly-anticipated as Kingdom Hearts III, as we do not want our experience of the game marred by early spoilers posted by people who care more about their own channels' views than the feelings and desires of others. Even if we do not look for these videos or actively click on them, we are all vulnerable to these spoilers. And this was before the general audience in Japan gained access to it. To avoid exposure to too many of these links that threaten to reveal too much, I would recommend that, if you see one of these thumbnails, click on the three-dot options button and click "Ignore". Hopefully, the YouTube algorithm will get the hint and not suggest any more of these related videos (I haven't seen any more after doing so to a few, so that is a good sign).
I ask you all to refrain from even addressing the events of KH3 in future reviews or IM's. I trust that this would be a no-brainer, but as I have noticed some people (be they my readers or people reading another user's story) addressing the content in the trailers leading up to this. For my part, I do not know when I will be playing KH3, so I do not want any hints of spoilers beforehand. And even when I do, there will certainly be others who will not have played through the game in its entirety and will not want to fall victim to spoilers. Thank you for protecting the integrity of the game.
Chapter 89
Overdue Holiday
Sora rested for a few hours and later did crunches and jogged around town to make sure he was back in shape after the beating he had gotten. In the meantime, Riku, Mickey, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy went to the marketplace to stock up on curative items and check out the latest accessories and pieces of armor. They reunited at the Borough and made their way back to the clinic, where they intended to meet with the gang one more time before setting back out.
When they arrived at the room Aqua was in, they looked through the window and saw her out of bed and stretching. Mickey knocked, and Aerith let them in. When Aqua saw them, she smiled warmly.
"You're heading out?" Leon asked, noticing their heavy shopping bags.
Mickey nodded. "Yeah. We can't let them cause any more harm in the other worlds," he replied.
"And I have a lot to learn if I'm going to be able to fight Zeromast again," Sora added.
"Even now, there's so much turmoil in the worlds," Aqua lamented.
Kairi nodded in agreement. "Yeah. But it's our job to clean it up," she said.
"Okay. Then I'm coming with you," Aqua said resolutely.
Everyone around her was taken aback. Sora, Riku and Mickey shook their heads defiantly. "No. You still need to rest," Mickey protested.
"I can't just sit here and do nothing," Aqua insisted. "I'm a Keyblade Master. It's my job to maintain the balance among the worlds. I've been gone for too long. Let me help you."
Even still, the party was still uncertain about letting her back into the field so soon. She sighed and shook her head. "Just let me do what I can, please. And if at any time you think I'm not fit for the task, I'll sit back and do what you say."
Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy turned to Mickey, waiting to hear what he had to say. They were all on the fence: happy at the thought of having her along but also concerned for her well-being.
Mickey was conflicted on the matter himself. On the one hand, he had just found Aqua a second time, and he did not want to risk anything happening to her. He was of the mindset that if she were to get hurt, or worse, then it would be all his fault. Even beyond that, he was afraid that in her present condition, having just spent what to her felt like months barely eking out in a deadly land that clawed at her sanity, she would not be fit to handle herself properly without plenty of rest and time to restore her strength. Then again, he recalled that she handled herself quite well on survival instinct, and she had the six of them to support her and keep her safe if things got out of hand. He also realized that not having friends by her side would not be beneficial to her mental state, and even though Leon, Aerith and the others were around, they were complete strangers to her, whereas she had fond memories of the six of them. He took the moment to weigh out the pros and cons.
Finally, he nodded. "Okay. Just be careful, alright?"
Aqua exhaled a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Mickey," she said.
"In that case, let us take you to the castle," Ienzo told her. "We have something that belongs to you in the computer room."
Aqua nodded. "Sounds good. Thanks."
Aerith handed her a sheet of paper. "I've prescribed a diet for you. Try to get eight hours of sleep a night, eat right, and get some healthy cardio regularly, and you should be back to your full strength pretty soon," she instructed.
"Thank you," Aqua said, folding the paper into thirds and handing it to Mickey, who slipped it into one of his pockets.
Each member of the party, now with seven members, said their good-byes to the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee and followed Ienzo, Even, Aeleus, and Dilan to the castle. Some Heartless appeared along the way, but they quickly realized that an attack on all eleven of them, even if Even did not carry his weapon and Aeleus no longer possessed his, was poorly-conceived. As they entered the study, Aqua greeted Ansem. When the group entered the computer room, Aqua gasped as she saw just what Ienzo had referred to.
"That's my armor! And…" She picked up the blue weapon, which she had left behind in the Realm of Light so long ago. "My old Keyblade…" Tears welled up in her eyes. The Keyblade reminded her of her past with Terra, Ven, and Master Eraqus. She missed them so much.
At the same time, she remembered that she left the parcels with Terra in hopes that they would give him strength. But if they were here, and he was not, then what happened to her friend?
She dismissed Stormfall to the Keyblades' pocket dimension. She then touched the helmet of her armor with her left hand and touched the orange gem on her sleeve armor. The gem glowed, and the armor vanished, seemingly dissolving and fading into the gem. She turned to the scientists and gave a respectful bow. "Thank you," she said.
Mickey looked up at her. "Are you ready?" he asked. Aqua nodded. "Alright, fellas. Let's go." He waved good-bye to all of the scientists, but his gaze fell mostly on Ansem. "It was good to see you again."
The party said their good-byes and used the Safe Point next to the computer terminal to beam up to the Gummi Ship.
Aqua gaped in awe as Mickey gave her a tour of the Gummi Ship. Her amazement at the advanced technology was palpable. She was still wide-eyed with disbelief when she was led back to the cockpit.
"First spaceship?" Sora asked.
"Second," Aqua corrected. "There was this alien mothership, and it turned out that even that hadn't been safe from the Unversed."
Riku whistled. "Kinda makes you wonder what's out there past all the worlds," he mused.
Mickey shrugged. "Even after putting this ship together, I never found any way to get beyond the field of the worlds," he said.
"Might depend on limitations on the Gummi material, since it is made from the barriers between worlds," Donald guessed.
"Yeah, I guess so," Mickey agreed.
"So, where should we go next?" Goofy asked.
"Well, we're still in the dark on how to actually find the artifacts, despite all the progress we made in our investigation," Riku explained. "So, the best we can do right now is travel to different worlds, ask around, and hope we can find someone willing to tell us what's going on. Of course, it looks like that last part will be pretty tough, since the all seem insistent on keeping the secret."
Sora approached the pilot's chair and brought up a heads-up display showing all of the previously-mapped-out-worlds, and examined each icon that appeared. He focused on the worlds that the gang had not yet visited since first setting out on this quest, and reflected on his memories of each world. As his gaze fell on the representation of one world, his thoughts drifted to another world directly linked to the first one. He remembered the omnipresent feeling of joy that filled the air, the sound of children laughing, and the feeling of snow on the ground and falling around him.
Most importantly, he was sure that such a peaceful, whimsical place would have a calming effect on Aqua and help her recover. And while there, he could ask a certain wise, mostly-jovial old man about what they needed to know.
"How about Christmas Town?" he finally said.
Aqua, Riku, Kairi, and Mickey looked up at him curiously. Mickey had read about Sora, Donald and Goofy's visits to the holiday-themed world, while Riku and Kairi had heard bits and pieces about it. They had known about Halloween Town, but they could only imagine what other holiday worlds would be like. Aqua, however, knew nothing about such worlds, so she was utterly confused.
"Why there?" Riku asked.
"For one thing, we know someone there who can see everyone, sleeping or awake, so I'm willing to bet he's someone who will be able to help us on the right path," Sora explained, a smirk crossing his face as he left the identity of the person he was referring to hang in the air. "But aside from that, I think a happy place like that should be able to help Aqua."
Aqua blinked in surprise. "Me?" she asked.
Donald and Goofy nodded, seeing Sora's point. "Yeah. That place is sure to help you cheer up after everything you've been through," Goofy affirmed.
Aqua smiled, touched by the consideration. "You don't have to do this," she said.
Sora shook his head. "But you really need it. Come on. It'll be great!"
Riku walked up and took a look at the world map. "I don't see Christmas Town on here," he said.
Sora looked at the map and realized he was right. "Oh, yeah. Now that you mention it, I guess we did only get there by going to Halloween Town first, and back the same way."
"So, I guess we go there first, then pass through the woods and get to Christmas Town?" Donald asked.
Sora nodded. "Sure. And hey, you guys can get to meet Jack and the others too. Jack Skellington, I mean," he added, remembering that they had only recently crossed paths with one Jack Sparrow. He had noticed that they shared the same first name upon his return visit to Halloween Town, shortly after his first visit to Port Royal, though he had managed to mentally avoid whatever confusion might have arisen by thinking of the pirate as "Captain Jack".
Aqua, Mickey, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy looked at each other for a moment, each of them coming to a decision. Finally, Aqua looked back at Sora and nodded, and the others followed suit. "Alright. Let's go to Christmas Town," she said.
Sora grinned. "Great!" He dismissed the heads-up display and sat down in the pilot's chair, whereas Riku took the gunner's chair. Mickey hopped into the copilot's seat, while Aqua joined Kairi, Donald and Goofy in the passenger chairs, where she was content to watch the stars and asteroids fly by as the Gummi Ship sailed through space.
Taking a PTSD-suffering Aqua through Halloween Town... What could go wrong? Find out in next week's chapter:)