Been a bit, New Year got busy with my job. Performance Reviews are here and I need to prove myself at work, so that's been taking up a lot of my time. Still, Chapter 7 is here at last. Enjoy!
"Olympus?"
The two humans looked at one another, then back to the monitor that was on the ship's central interface. A map of all the worlds they could travel to was showing on the display, with both The Crystal Kingdom and Land of Oz showing up as places they had already been to, and a world known as Olympus showing up with a black aura around it, indicating the world had a dark presence on it for the team for investigate.
"We probably won't need to cover the entire world", Gamma said, zooming in on the world and pointing to what looked like a golden stadium. "Most of the darkness is centralized onto a place known as Olympus Coliseum, which is the hot spot of the world for it's combat matches, tournament cups and other sporting events. Though it might just be Hades, God of Olympus' Underworld, it might be worth a look."
"Hades?", Alina asked, looking over at Gamma. "Any clue what he looks like?"
"Not a clue", Gamma admitted, shrugging at them. "Hades is part of the divinity of Olympus, and they aren't known to me, so we should be cautious of who we interact with, just in case we interact with the wrong person."
Ren nodded, as the ship stopped over the golden world with a giant stadium on it. Stepping onto the teleport pad, the three were beamed down in a light blue energy onto the world, where they appeared just outside a set of giant, double doors outside of a light yellow bricked building with marble white pillars supporting the roofing, and golden statues crossing swords outside the entrance.
"What's that way?", Alina asked with wonder, pointing to the giant doors behind them.
"I believe that's the gate to the Underworld", Gamma explained. "I honestly wouldn't go there, especially since your light would be affected by the darkness of the Underworld. I think Ren and I would be fine, with Ren's darkness and my lack of heart, but we wouldn't want you fainting on us."
"Fair enough", Alina sighed, as the three of them began walking into the entrance of the colosseum, where upon entering the door they spotted a brown Satyr standing there, arms crossed as he peered inside at the main arena as if observing something,
"Hey, is that you Herc?", asked the half-goat upon hearing their footsteps approach, not even turning to see who was behind him. "Good timing, I got my hands full with some rookie that just showed up, so do you mind moving that stone over there so we can clear this area out for the big game coming up?"
"We aren't someone named Herc", Ren stated, causing the Satyr to turn around and look at them, his face falling after realizing he was mistaken. "We actually want to ask you-"
"Oh great, not another trio of nothings", the stranger sighed, puffing up and glaring at them. "Look, this here is a world famous coliseum, heroes only. So, unless you guys are heroes, I recommend getting out of here and going back to the playpen where you came from, understand?"
"Heroes only, huh?" Alina glared back, putting her hands on her hips. "I'll have you know that we're heroes as well!"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, Ren here is a hero chosen by the keyblade", Gamma pointed out, looking over at Ren which would be pride if he could make expressions.
Despite their attempts to impress the half-man, half-goat; this only caused him to sigh. "Oh for the love of… not another one of you so called 'heroes of the Keyblade'. I got my hands full with the other one in there!"
"Other one?", Ren repeated with shock, before footsteps could be heard coming from the arena.
"Alright, Phil, I finished my trial, so can I partake in the games now?" Ren looked over shocked at the sudden voice, as a figure emerged from the arena along with a duck and a dog, who noticed him and looked shocked as well. "Ren?"
"Sora!?" Ren ran up to the friend from Destiny Islands, both of them giving the other a slight touch on the shoulder to make sure the other was real. "You're alright!"
"Of course", Sora grinned, putting his arms behind his head. "No heartless are going to get the best of me! Oh, let me introduce you. This is Donald and Goofy, they're assisting me in looking for Riku and Kairi. Well, and you too until now."
"I'm flattered you'd think of me", Ren chuckled, turning and gesturing. "This is Alina, and Gamma. They're from the Crystal Kingdom, and are helping me with hunting down four fiends of darkness who escaped. We're attempting to recapture them."
Phil looked like he was about to speak, but Sora cut him off before he could. "Hey, have you seen Kairi and Riku anywhere in your travels?"
"No, I haven't. I've been to the Crystal Kingdom and the Land of Oz, but I haven't seen them there."
"Oh, well I've been to Traverse Town and Wonderland, but we haven't seen them there either. Well, if you find them-"
"Enough!", Phil suddenly shouted, glaring at the two. "Two words: You guys ain't heroes!" Gamma and Goofy both counted the words that he said and realized that he said double the amount that he claimed, but they didn't get a chance to comment on it. "Get out of here, and don't interrupt me again! I need to prepare for the upcoming games!"
"But I passed the trials!" Sora moaned, as the six of them were ushered out of the stadium.
"Well, we better get a move on then", Goofy muttered, looking around.
"Now hold on!" Sora shouted, crossing his arms. "I want to enter those games to prove to that guy that I really am hero material!"
"He was rather rude to us, wasn't he?" Alina pointed out, glaring back at the stadium.
"On top of that, he thinks we aren't hero material", Ren growled in frustration, summoning his keyblade and ignoring Donald and Goofy both seeming shocked that another one was in their presence. "I'll show him."
"Yeah I agree", a dark voice said out of nowhere, causing them to turn and see that a blue man with flaming hair was leaning on a nearby pillar. "Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?"
"Who are you?" Donald demanded from the fire guy, glaring and pointing an accusing finger at him.
"Whoa, hold on there fuzz boy", the blue man said, dismissing the duck. "Wait, let me guess. You want to enter the games, right? Well then, hey, get a load of this." He waved his hand, and two slips of paper appeared in his grasp, which he held out to both Ren and Sora.
"A pass?", Sora asked with an air of excitement in his voice, though Ren glared at the pass with a bit of suspicion.
"Hold on, why are you giving these to us?", the twilight warrior asked, looking up at the fire-hair guy.
"I see something in the both of you", replied the stranger, causing Ren and Sora to both take the passes. "Good luck, I'm pulling for both of you shorties!"
"Something doesn't seem right with that guy," Alina muttered, watching as he seemed to disappear into a burst of blue fire. "I wouldn't trust that pass he gave us."
"That could've been Hades for all we know", Gamma pointed out, turning to Ren who was looking at his pass with interest. "Ren, you aren't thinking of actually entering this little tournament, are you?"
"It might be the only way to get him to recognize us and tell us what we want to know", Ren sighed, turning to Sora. "What are you going to do?"
"Enter the games of course!", Sora declared, grinning ear to ear and looking over at Ren. "What about you?"
"Why not", Ren shrugged as he looked over the pass. "Might as well, and even if it's a trap after all, it's nothing the two of us shouldn't be able to handle together, right?"
With their minds made up, the two Destiny Island friends entered the coliseum again along with their companions. Phil seemed stunned they were able to get passes after all, but didn't question it any father then asking where they got it, and dismissing the issue shortly after Ren and Sora seemed to be unwilling to answer him on the origins of the mysterious passes. After warning them that some 'weirdos' had signed up for the games, Ren was cleared to enter the games with Alina and Gamma at his side, while Sora was cleared to enter with Donald and Goofy in tow as well.
The 'weirdos' Phil was talking about turned out to be heartless, so Ren figured they were killing two birds with one stone by fighting them, though the question of how heartless were smart enough to enter the games in the first place did cross his mind at one point while fighting the first group. The new heartless, blue floating creatures, seemed to be made of ice magic as they were vaporized instantly by Alina's fire magic. The solider heartless stood no chance against Ren's blade and Gamma's fists, falling effortlessly to their onslaught.
"Hey, you three aren't bad", Phil commended as they approached after their first bought. "You guys might make it to the end of the preliminaries after all. It's lucky you and the other kid came to me for coaching after all."
"We didn't come to you for anything", Ren pointed out, glaring at him. "We just wanted information and you basically turned us away because we aren't heroes."
"Well, you're not", Phil declared, crossing his arms once again as if indicating he was standing by his point. "And until you three are heroes, you aren't getting any information that you would want out of me. See, information is earned, not just given, and if you want said information from me, you better do your best in these games!"
"You don't even know what we want to ask!", Alina pointed out.
"Doesn't matter", answered the goat. "Fight as hard as you can in these games, then you can ask me anything you please." And with that, the three were sent back into the ring yet again. Every match they seemed to have was against heartless swarms, and effortlessly each and every time they cleared out the batches of dark enemies, until finally there was only thee matches left, the two semifinals marches and finals respectfully. Ren entered the arena for the second to last match he would have to have should he win, only to find Sora was his opponent. With a smirk, Ren summoned his keyblade to his side.
"Been awhile since we squared off, huh, Sora?"
"Yeah", Sora grinned as well, summoning his Kingdom Key keyblade. "It should be a good match… hey, Donald and Goofy? Mind if me and Ren just do a 1 on 1?"
"Actually, yeah", Ren overconfidently turned to his friends, grinning a little. "Sorry guys, but I got a old rivalry to settle here. You mind if-"
"I need a break anyway", Alina commented, dismissing her staff and walking out of the ring instantly.
"Are you sure you do not need my assistance, Ren?", Gamma asked, tilting his head.
"I'm sure", Ren declared, turning back to Sora. "I used to fight him one on one all the time on the islands. I think I got this one."
Donald and Goofy only shrugged at one another, before leaving the ring after Alina, with Gamma following shortly after them. For a second, neither Keyblade Wielder moved from their battle stance, before suddenly charging forward and clashing blades, the issuing shockwave actually causing the others to jump a little. Despite his bigger frame and taller stature, Ren was shocked that Sora was actually pushing back against his blade with enough force that the two were even, showing that through his travels that Sora had gained increased strength. Both warriors jumped back at the same time, flying through the air as they twirled their keyblades before landing and pointing them at one another.
"Fire!", Sora yelled.
"Blizzard!", Ren shouted.
A blast of fire shot out of Sora's keyblade while a blast of ice shot out of Ren's keyblade. They collided in midair creating a burst of steam and water vapor, before both warriors charged again and began colliding blades over and again. On the sidelines, the four companions watched the intense fight, with Donald giving a sigh as he looked at Sora. "He's being too careless. He's leaving himself open to attacks left and right."
"Yeah, but Ren isn't capitalizing on them like he should", Alina pointed out, crossing her arms. "I wonder what is going on."
"I think it's their rivalry", Goofy suggested, smiling at them. "The two of them would rather over power the other then get in a shot on a vulnerable spot. Perhaps they want to end this fight by defeating the other with their strength and power, rather then strategy."
"While it does not make sense logically, it does make sense when considering the history of those two", Gamma stated, his eyes intensity kept on the battle. "Still, a clash between keyblades is rare. We should observe this for documentation."
"Just don't fry your hard drive recording all of this", Donald sarcastically quacked, which made Alina snicker a bit.
Sora swung at Ren's leg, though the older boy de-summoned and re-summoned his keyblade, changing to a reverse grip to block the shot, which caused Donald and Goofy to admire the performance. Sora flipped backwards, panting while Ren switched the grip of his weapon, though he too was panting a little. He realized that this fight was going to be harder then he thought it was, and if things continued how they were, he was going to run out of steam soon. "Luxra!", Ren shouted, aiming his keyblade and shooting out a burst of light, which Sora deflected easily. Ren huffed at that, before a sudden thought crossed his mind. If he used Drain or Drainra to steal energy from Sora now, he might catch him off guard and win the match, though would Alina and Gamma approve of it? That didn't even consider Donald and Goofy, who seemed close enough to Sora that Ren's sudden use of the darkness might cause them to jump in. Shaking his head to dismiss the thought, Ren charged again, holding his blade out. However, this was a mistake, as his form was sloppy due to overthinking before he attacked, and Sora managed to hit him with his weapon, sending Ren flying back before landing on the ground out of the ring.
"The winner is Sora", Phil shouted, holding up his arm in Sora's direction. "Sora will move onto the finals facing off against Cloud!"
"Damn", Ren cussed as he pounded the ground with his fist.
"Hey, you alright?", Sora asked, holding out his hand to help Ren up.
"Yeah…", Ren muttered, accepting the help. "Go get 'em, Sora!"
"Yeah!", Sora replied, giving his signature grin before turning and heading back towards Phil. As he walked away, Ren looked after him with a clenched fist, and a frown etched on his face. "I should've used Drain… if I had done that, I would've won."
"You would've really used Drain against your friend from the islands?", Alina asked, shocked that Ren would even think of doing such a thing.
"It's just a power", Ren replied, looking over at her. "Not like I would've actually done to him what I did to Astos. Besides, 'friend' is a bit of an overstatement… I never fit in that well on the islands, the other kids always treated me like an outcast… it was only during the final two days that Sora, Riku and Kairi wanted me around on their little raft adventure…"
"You still care for him, right?" Alina asked. "Don't tell me you don't remember how you frantically asked both me and the king about your friends from the islands."
At that, Ren couldn't reply, not just because he really didn't know how to answer that question, but because of what happened next. Before Sora and Cloud could complete their clash, which looked as if Sora was on the verge of winning, a giant, black three headed dog suddenly appeared from the sky, landing on the ground and causing shockwaves which knocked out Cloud and caused Sora to stumble. The brown haired boy gave a gasp, staring into the three giant maws that seemed to be leaking darkness. Before the dog could capitalize on the surprise attack, however, a muscular man wearing a brown outfit complete with a blue cape had appeared, and was holding the dog back with pure strength alone.
"HERC!", Phil shouted at him.
"Phil, get them out of here!", the man called Herc commanded. Phil nodded, rounding up everyone he could and ushering them out into the coliseum lobby, where he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Phew, that was too close", Phil sighed, before he heard another noise and peered outside of the other door towards the Gates to the Underworld. "Ah, crap… not another issue."
"What other issue?", Ren asked, before suddenly he could sense it. A powerful darkness had just appeared from nowhere, blocking them inside of the coliseum entrance.
"A giant, six headed dragon appeared outside of the gates", Phil stated, shaking his head. "This ain't good. Herc has his hands full with Cerberus already…"
"That sounds like Tiamat", Gamma perked up, before walking over and looking outside along with Phil. "Yes, confirmed, my scanners are indicating that The Fiend of Wind has appeared."
"Alright then", Ren summoned his keyblade to his side. "Let's go!"
"Hey, wait a minute!", Phil shouted at them as he blocked the exit. "Look, I won't deny that you kids aren't bad, but I got a bad feeling about you guys fighting that dragon alone!"
"Sorry, but you need to let us go", Alina demanded as she summoned her staff in a flash of white light. "It's our mission to capture the four elemental fiends, and behind you is one of them."
"I get that", Phil sighed but remained steadfast. "I really do… but if that thing is as strong as it looks, which is stronger then Cerberus, which I remind you Herc has his hands full with right now, you're going to need help defeating it. Now, Herc could help you, but AGAIN, he has his hands full with Cerberus."
"Then what's the problem?", Sora grinned with a cheerful look. "We'll go take care of Cerberus to free up Herc to help with Tiamat."
"W-what!?" Phil gasped, but the distraction was all he needed for Ren to race past him, followed closely by Alina and Gamma. "Alright, fine, go! But I got two words of advice for you knuckleheads: ATTACK!"
Outside on the grounds, Ren witnessed the towering giant bluish-green dragon with glowing red eyes, and a purple underbelly. The dragon seemed to be destroying many of the pillars and statues at the moment, aiming for the former onlookers of the preliminary matches as if toying with them. "LUXRA!", Alina shouted, aiming her staff high and sending out a blast of light directly at Tiamat. The blast connected, causing the Fiend of Wind to roar and turn all six of the giant heads in their direction. With another roar, the dragon opened it's mouths and breathed out a blast of wind, which everyone had to dive in different directions to avoid.
"NOX!" Ren shouted, aiming his keyblade. A blast of darkness shot out and connected with the dragon, though it didn't seem to do anything. Ren gave a growl before shouting "NOXRA!" And sending another blast of darkness, this one stronger, but again the blast didn't seem to effect the dragon, who began to laugh as one of the heads turned to Ren.
"Foolish boy", the dragon spoke with the head turned to him in a deep and booming voice. "Darkness will not work on me, for I am made of darkness and wind. I am the Fiend of Wind, resurrected by the powers of darkness. You cannot defeat me with my own forces!"
"Fine then, Luxra!" Ren shouted, sending out a blast of light this time, though Tiamat was ready. With another breath, a gust of wind was sent flying towards the blast, dispelling it instantly with the might of the wind magic the dragon unleashed. "Alina, we'll distract it, use a sealing spell to seal it in the crystal!"
At that, Alina sweat dropped as she looked over at Ren. "I, er… don't know any spells that can seal it in the crystal."
"WHAT!?" Ren shouted, narrowly dodging the dragon from eating him whole. "Then, how are we going to seal it away!"
"We better figure it out and fast", Gamma hissed, holding one of the dragon's mightily heads from biting down on him. "We're toast if we don't!"
"Aeroga!", Tiamat shouted, all six of the heads facing them before a giant gust of wind was unleashed, sending them all flying back and causing REN's grip on his keyblade to loosen, the weapon vanishing instantly. Before he could capitalize on the group being stunned, however, Herc suddenly flew out of nowhere, sending his mighty fist into one of the dragon's heads and sending it flying back, the dragon roaring in pain as he fell.
"Herc!", Ren shouted at him.
"It's Hercules actually", the man shouted back at him. "Never mind that, figure out a way to stop him while I hold him off!"
"I'm not letting you fight that thing alone!", Ren yelled back, standing up and re-summoning his keyblade.
"Fine", the hero huffed, closing his eyes as a golden glow surrounded him. "But you better be thinking of a way to stop him while you're at it."
"Alina, you don't know of any sealing spells at all?" Gamma asked, providing cover fire as Ren and Hercules rushed in to fight Tiamat.
"No", Alina shook her head, holding her staff up and sending another blast of light at the dragon of wind. "Nothing in the spell books master provided covered sealing creatures into anything, and I'm sure I read his books front to back!"
"Then what are we going to do?" Ren asked, slashing away at the head that approached him, sending it retreated back with a few scars on it's face. "Killing it would only cause it to just disappear temporarily before reappearing somewhere else, right!?"
"That is correct", Gamma confirmed. "Tiamat is made of the elements of wind and darkness, so killing it would only cause it to re-appear somewhere else from that same wind and darkness."
That's when Ren suddenly realized something. "Made of darkness", he repeated as he was remembering Astos covering the battlefield in darkness before Ren used his own Drain spell against him to get rid of that same darkness. "I have an idea! Give me the crystal and I'll seal Tiamat away!"
"Ren, what-?"
"Just do it!", Ren demanded, causing the girl to reach into her robes and pull out one of the crystals before throwing it at him. Ren caught it, turning back to Tiamat before concentrating on the darkness within, letting it manifest itself through him just like it did against Garland, the aura of darkness once again appearing around him.
"Foolish boy!", Tiamat roared again. "I told you before, you cannot use darkness to defeat me! I am an embodiment of darkness!"
"You are!", Ren shouted back as he held out his hand, grasping the crystal within. "And just like with Astos, I can use that same darkness against you! Drainra!"
A wave of darkness shot out of the crystal, and slammed into Tiamat, who managed to pull back against the darkness, however the dragon went wide-eyed as realized that he was actually being sucked into the crystal. Acting quickly, the dragon pulled hard, causing Ren to careen forward and almost slam directly into the mighty claw of the dragon that was coming down on him, though Hercules managed to intercept and knock the claw away.
"I don't like what you're doing, but I won't deny that it's going to work", Hercules stated, looking at his dark aura with disapproval. "But you're going to need to be more powerful then that. I can't help you there though, I refuse to use evil powers."
"I don't need your help", Ren spat at him, not liking the tone Hercules was talking towards him, but he couldn't deny that he was right. Tiamat managed to resist the dark attack before it even began to work on him. He needed more power if his plan was going to work.
"Ren, try again!" Gamma shouted, once again providing cover fire. "We can hold him off!"
"Yeah, but if he resisted it the first time, won't he be able to a second time?" Ren asked, before suddenly he seemed to feel a pulse within him, and as his hand initiatively went over his heart, he could hear a voice within him.
You're still holding your darkness back. You aren't using it to the extent that you are capable of.
But, wouldn't that turn me into a heartless? Ren thought back. If I use the full extent of my darkness, wouldn't by heart be consumed by it?
No,the voice echoed in his mind. You cannot fall to darkness, for your heart will always be Twilight. You can use the darkness to it's fullest power without ever being consumed. With the reassurance that seemed to come from that voice within him, Ren turned inwards and called upon all of his darkness, the dark aura that surrounded him increased in size and began to take the shape of a flame, dark wisps of energy coursing off him as if tails swishing in the wind.
"What is this?", Tiamat muttered, almost afraid of what he was witnessing.
"Your end", Ren spoke, before charging forward and slamming his blade into Tiamat, catching the dragon off guard and causing him to stumble a bit. Tiamat roared, breathing out a dark burst of energy, but the dark wave didn't even affect Ren, who was so tainted in the darkness that the dark attack didn't even effect him. Ren twirled his keyblade in the air, pointing it at Tiamat and shouting, "DARK FIRAGA!". A blue burst of flame shot from the keyblade slamming into Tiamat, who's dark resistance couldn't match up to the full might of the spell, the fire part managing to damage him and send him stumbling back. Now that the dragon was stunned, Ren landed on the ground, dismissed his keyblade and held out the hand he grasped the crystal firmly in.
"DRAINAGA!" The dark wave shot out of the crystal like a shotgun blast, colliding with Tiamat, who attempted to once again resist, but was unable to as he began to shrink, before vanishing completely with a mighty cry. The crystal in Ren's hand shined with a flash of green, before taking on the green color itself indicating that Tiamat was sealed inside, as the dark aura around Ren disappeared.
"Ren", Alina cautiously approached, looking him over. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah", Ren replied, holding up the crystal and giving a smirk. "Matter of fact, I feel great! I managed to use the darkness to it's full power, and that's one fiend down!"
"Well, you did it", Hercules admitted, though he wasn't smiling. "I'll make sure to tell Phil of your success, but…"
"You don't need to approve", Ren dismissed him, holding up the crystal to him. "We stopped the dragon, that's all that matters. In fact, take the credit. Come on guys, let's go!"
"What about Sora?" Gamma asked, turning back to the coliseum.
"We'll see him again later", Ren dismissed with a hand wave. "Besides, the faster we get off this rock, the faster we can find the other three fiends. Now that we know how to stop them, we can-"
"REN!", Alina shouted at him, crossing her arms and glaring. "Do that same thing you just did with the darkness, but with light! Right now!"
Ren looked baffled at her, before giving a sigh and called upon the full power of his light. A white aura surrounded him with an intense but controlled flame, hugging his body closely and making it seem like his skin was glowing. "There. Happy?"
"Are you?", Alina asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ren thought about it for a moment, before sighing once again. "No… wow, what was with me just now? I thought the darkness couldn't affect me…"
"Perhaps it cannot affect your heart's half and half alignment, but your emotions and thoughts can be affected", Gamma suggested as he looked him over.
"If you're going to continue to use the powers of darkness, then it's best that you keep your light close as well", Hercules recommended to him. "You might not be able to be consumed by the darkness, but anyone can be drunk with power, especially those that dwell in the darkness."
"I'm sorry", Ren sighed as the aura faded from around him. "I'll try and keep a balance between the two." He held out his hand and summoned his keyblade, looking it over. "That is what my keyblade symbolizes after all, a balance between light and dark." Suddenly, something seemed to occur to him, as he gave a slight gasp before speaking, "Twilight's Balance."
"Is that is the name of your keyblade?", Alina looked it over as well, before her eyes landed on the purple eye-looking gem embedded into the weapon. "It's very fitting, though I have to admit, that eye thing weirds me out a bit."
Hercules laughed at that before looking over at the coliseum. "Come on. Let's go before Phil comes out here and screams at us."
XxXxXxX
"Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes", Phil read off a official speech that seemed pre-prepared for him to give to anybody who gained the title he was granting the six of them, "and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further-"
"Hey!", Donald suddenly shouted as he glared at Phil. "What do you mean 'junior heroes'?"
"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero," Phil responded to the duck.
"So, what does it take?", Ren asked, worried that using the darkness the way he just did disqualified him of ever earning the title of True Hero.
"That's something you'll have to find out for yourselves", Hercules answered, looking at all six of them, his eyes in particular falling on Ren as he gave a smile. "The same way I did." At that, Ren realized that despite his usage of the dark, he was still on his way to becoming a hero in Hercules' eyes.
"No problem", Sora said with gusto. "We'll start by proving ourselves in the games."
"Unfortunately, there won't be any games for awhile", Phil replied as he gestured to the chained off arena. "Those creatures did a lot of damage, and I need time to repair both the arena and the entrance."
"Ok, we'll be back", Sora waved as he began to walk off, followed by the other five.
"So, what are you doing to do now, Sora?", Ren asked, turning to his friend.
"We're going to continue our search for Riku and Kairi", Sora explained.
"And his majesty", Goofy chimed in.
"King Mickey is missing?", Gamma asked. "Well, that is concerning."
"Uh huh", Goofy nodded in agreement, before placing his hands on Sora's shoulders. "But before he left, he left us a mission to find the wielder of the Keyblade, so we did... though we didn't expect to find a second one all of the sudden."
"Hey, why don't you come with us?", Sora asked Ren and the others.
"Sorry", Ren shook his head. "But I got a mission of my own. I need to help these two find and seal the other three fiends. But... if you still need my help once I'm done, then I'll be right there, ok?"
"It's a deal", Sora held out his hand, and Ren shook it.
"Perhaps we'll run into one another on our respective missions", Alina suggested.
"If you see the King, please let us know", Donald requested.
"And Riku, and Kairi", Sora reminded him.
"Don't worry, we will", Ren smiled, before turning and heading back to the whale shaped Gummi Ship, now a little more aware of the extent of his powers and the dangers they could pose to him and those around him.