From this point on there will be weekly updates of this story until the end!
Also, if you want to audition for the Sweet and Salty Days audiobook, go ahead, there are quite a few roles still availible.
Also...
KH STEAM RELEASE!
AND ARE WE GETTING SOME INFO FOR KH4 SOON!?
*cough*
Enjoy the chapter!
Kingdom Hearts (c) to Disney and Square Enix!
My OCs (c) to me!
Chapter 20: Rue
"Welcome back. It's good to see all of you again." Ansem the Wise stood in the newly made gummi ship hanger as Terra, Aqua, and Ventus arrived.
"Nice to see you too." Terra nodded. "Have the other delegates arrived yet?"
"They are upstairs." He gestured for them to follow. "They all arrived last night."
Ven laughed. "Wow, for once we're actually the last ones here."
Following the man upstairs, they eventually entered a large room filled with chairs and sofas. The other delegates stood or sat around, talking with each other and three new people.
"I think everyone is here." Quistis stood up, smiling. "For those of you who just arrived, I'd like to introduce to you the Chamber of Radiant Garden, who act as the ruling body of this world. You three already know Ansem the Wise who serves as our Curator of Progress." She turned to a woman with long blue hair, dressed in a white and gold uniform. "This is our Keeper of Enforcment and Captain of the Guard, Elena Louis, though most people know her as Starlight."
The woman bowed her head to the entire group. "A pleasure to have you all here."
Reeve adjusted his tie before gesturing to a young man who couldn't be much older than Terra. "This is Squall Leonhart. He serves as our Commissioner of Justice. And, he is responsible for heading up much of this world's rebuilding after the worlds were restored."
Silently, Squall nodded, but a slight smile perked at the corners of his mouth.
"And this is our Chancellor of Fortunes," Reeve gestured to a woman with wavy brown hair, dressed in a leather bodysuit under a long purple coat, "Captain Mercedes Anaya(1)."
"Nice to meet all of you. We're looking forward to this partnership." The woman smiled brightly, her eyes glinting.
"Captain?" Aqua asked.
Mercedes nodded. "Before I came back home, I was a pirate captain. I got ahold of a gummi ship and made a bit of a name for myself."
"A pirate!?"
"And when I came home, all the money I collected," she laughed, "by taking it from unsavory characters not innocents, I gave to the Restoration Committee to help the world recover."
Squall nodded. "And that's why she's in charge of finances. She's good at it."
"Exactly."
Ansem shook his head. "So, how about we begin the tour?"
"Sounds great!"
The next few hours, the group walked throughout Radiant Garden. Terra, Aqua, and Ven could see some of the many changes from their last visit, and the world still bore many scars from the fall to darkness, but it looked to be happy and thriving.
Flowers of many kinds filled the air with sweet smells, and the tiny motes of light that fell from the sky made it seem as if it was snowing(2).
And as the sun began to fall toward the horizon, the group made their way back to the castle.
Tired, but happy.
In a world like this, spirits felt high.
But as the other delegates began to leave, Ansem walked over to the trio. "Excuse me, but do the three of you have a moment?"
"Yes?"
He pulled them off to the side, along with the delegates from the islands. "I was wondering, would you like to see Kairi."
"Kairi!"
Sora's dad gasped lightly. "Of course!"
The other members of the Chamber gave Ansem a nod as they wished the other delegates a farewell. Aqua caught Captain Mercedes mouthing something to Ansem, but she couldn't quite catch what she said.
He led them out of the castle and to a large building nearby. "We moved the labs out here, so that we could use the castle for business, and so that people could keep a closer eye on things happening here." His gaze dropped. "Admittedly, we did not do things that were good, even before Xehanort. And somehow, I always had some sort of excuse. I'm grateful for the opportunity to fix my mistakes, and even more grateful that people are willing to keep me accountable. I didn't have that before, and it showed."
Riku's mom let out a sigh. "I can't deny that Riku told me about what you and he did, and it made me... upset. But I'm glad you're doing what you can to atone for your actions."
"We all are." Opening the door, they came into a large laboratory. "We have guests."
Ienzo's head poked around a small computer. "Oh! Hello there. Nice to see you all."
Even came out of a side room, accompanied by another man with brown hair, a mustache, and glasses. "Ah, I was wondering when all of you would arrive."
"Are these the people you told us about?" Asked the man.
"Indeed, they are."
The man gave a nod. "Nice to meet all of you. I'm Dr. Gast(3)."
"We've been hiring new staff recently." Ienzo smiled, coming around to shake everyone's hand. "But you don't care about that. Follow me." He led them up a flight of stairs and into a large room with a bed.
Lying on the bed, an IV hooked into her arm, was Kairi.
Sleeping.
Her face an emotionless mask.
"Kairi..." Riku's mom walked over, brushing past the two people already in the room. Taking the girl's hand, she sighed. "I know this was her choice... but-"
Ienzo nodded slowly before glancing toward the woman with dark hair dressed in a lab coat that stood nearby. "Dr. Kadowaki(4), how is she?"
"She's stable. We've taken great care to make sure that her physical body is taken care of." The woman looked toward the group. "And when she wakes up, we'll make sure she is well taken care of."
"Thank you." Aqua smiled, albeit sadly.
"Her brain activity is very high though."
Miyu nodded. "We'll let her mother and father know how she's doing. They're very concerned."
"I don't blame them."
Ven smiled. "I think she'll be ok. I mean, I slept for twelve years, and I'm alright."
Terra glanced around him.
He felt this strange sense of familiarity.
And then he looked back at Kairi.
Thump-Thump.
Thump-thump.
His heartbeat rang in his head.
"Terra? Are you ok?"
"What's wrong?"
Terra stumbled back, grasping at his head.
"Terra!"
He felt arms catch him as his vision clouded-
And a memory filled his mind-
He saw himself... no Xehanort, walking through the streets as people screamed.
Heartless attacked everyone around him but left him alone.
And then he saw a little girl, running from the Heartless.
She tried to get into the castle gates.
A sense of joy rushed through him.
She was running right where he wanted her.
As he approached, the girl turned around. He reached down, grabbing her.
"Let me go!" The girl screamed.
He chuckled before vanishing into a dark corridor; the darkness pulling on the little girl before she fell unconscious.
The memory changed to him putting her little body into a capsule attached to a machine. As he went to the control panel, the girl slowly awoke.
Her indigo eyes stared at him as he spoke... but the words were jumbled.
And right now, Terra could care less.
All he could focus on was the girl...
The girl who lay in the capsule as it vanished in a flash of light.
...
Kairi.
"Terra!"
He blinked, looking up at Aqua as she knelt beside him.
Had he sat down?
He was on the floor, leaning against the wall.
"What happened?"
"I remembered..." He looked at Kairi. "Kairi was from here, right?"
Dr. Kadowaki nodded. "We found her records from before the fall, yes." Sora and Riku's parents glanced at her, curiosity filling their gaze before they focused back on Terra.
"Xehanort was the one who sent her away." Terra looked down. "I saw his memories. He kidnapped her when she was running from Heartless. He put her in some sort of machine... and sent her away. That's how she probably got to the islands."
Ienzo blinked. "The Ark."
"The what?"
"A machine we made to send people off world. We started working on it before we learned of gummi blocks. But we never used it." He turned to Terra. "Xehanort used it on Kairi? Are you certain?"
"I am."
Ienzo's gaze turned back to Kairi. "Then we're lucky she's here now. We never tested it. Ever. She could've been killed."
"I don't think it was luck." Aqua helped Terra stand up. "I met Kairi once when she was a little girl. I cast a spell on her, to protect her. A spell that, when she was in trouble, would lead her to someone who could keep her safe." She looked between Terra, Ienzo, and Kairi. "If you're right, then my spell must have been how she survived and reached the islands."
Sora's dad spoke, his voice only a whisper. "And how she reached Sora..."
"I'm sorry..." Terra looked at him. "Tell Kairi's parents that I'm sor-"
"You stop right there." Akiko walked over to Terra, her eyes glittering with tears. "You didn't do this. Xehanort did. You were possessed. You didn't do any of this."
"She's right." Came Even's voice as he came into the room. "Master Ansem, I, Ienzo, Dilan, Aeleus... we're to blame. You are not. We allowed things to happen that should not have. We followed Xehanort, and you are not him. You are not the one to blame in any of this."
Terra wiped his eyes, his gaze fixed on Kairi. "I still feel somewhat responsible."
"Then when she wakes up, you can apologize. Though, she'll probably say the same thing I did." Akiko nodded.
"Alright..."
Dr. Kadowaki sighed. "Well, I hate to ask you all to leave, but we don't know how much she can hear in this state, and we don't want to upset her. So, if you don't mind..."
"Of course."
"And," Ienzo smiled at the parents, "if Kairi's parents want to come see her, they are always welcome."
"Thank you." Miyu smiled. "And, they'll probably have some questions about Kairi's records when they do."
"I'm sure they will."
As they left the room, Ven and Aqua flanked Terra.
Saying nothing.
Just letting him know, they were there.
"Excuse me."
As they came down the stairs, Captain Mercedes stood, waiting for them.
"Captain?"
"I'd like to invite you three to come stay at the castle for a few days."
"Really?"
She nodded. "There is someone who would like to see you."
"Who?"
"You'll see." Turning on her heels, she walked out. "Come along."
Sora and Riku's parents gave them a wave. "Go ahead."
"We'll see you later."
"See you."
The three walked behind the woman back into the castle. "The Chamber member's homes are this way. We get a very large apartment, based on our needs. And I need a pretty big one."
"Why?"
"I have four kids."
"Really?"
The woman reached a door, smiling back at them. "That's right. Four daughters. One of them wants to see you."
The three looked between each other, confused for a moment as the woman opened the door.
"Girls! I'm home!"
The three followed her into the very large and very nicely decorated apartment.
...
"Hello."
They turned to see a girl standing by a hallway.
And it took them a moment before-
"Wait!"
"Naminé?"
Footnotes:
1) "Starlight" Elena Louis and Captain Mercedes Anaya are characters from "Final Fantasy Brave Exvius".
2) I'm not going to go into too much detail about Radiant Garden here.
3) This is Gast Faremis from "Final Fantasy VII". He was a minor character from the original game.
4) Dr. Kadowaki is the school nurse in "Final Fantasy VIII".
VAs:
"Starlight" Elena Louis- Christine Dunford (Brook Augustine, Adelaide McDevitt, Elena Derosa)
Mercedes Anaya- Moira Quirk (Quasar, Karliah, Mercedes, Hannahr, Professor Mirabel Garlick)
Gast Faremis- Andre Sogliuzzo (Bunkichi Kitamura, Bumi, Sideswipe, Hakoda, Bartholomew Estheim)
Dr. Kadowaki- Susan Silo (Wuya, Vallory, Mireille, Clotho, Sartana of the Dead, Gypsy Moth)