ToL: Chapter 8
[Something Very Sweet]
It was now nighttime, around 9:30 p.m. in Radiant Garden. We zoom in on the residential area once again where we can see one small, two-story house that has a small pond and a big flower bed next to it on the right. This house belonged to Aerith, the flower girl that Iris met yesterday. Aerith invited Iris to stay with her at her house; at least until the meeting with the others at the castle happens. The rest of the Twilight Town gang decided to stay at a newly built building nearby; a building that was built as a sort of dormitory for the visiting Keyblade wielders. All of them were waiting for the other two groups to arrive. Thankfully, both Aqua and King Mickey called in to tell everyone that their groups would arrive at Radiant Garden tomorrow, with King Mickey's group arriving last.
Iris was standing out on Aerith's balcony, looking up at the night sky above her, 'This place is so pretty, even at night…' she thought to herself before lowering her head a little in sadness, 'I wonder what mother and father would have thought of this place?'
Iris then heard footsteps behind her, turning around to see Aerith coming into the small bedroom that was behind her, "Hello Iris, I came in to ask you if you wanted something to eat. Would you like anything?" she asked.
"I guess I am hungry, now that I think about it…" Iris replied before walking back inside, closing the balcony door behind her. The two girls walked downstairs back to the small kitchen and kitchen table.
"I can fix a glass of milk for you; I baked some cookies yesterday as well," Aerith stated to Iris as she walked over to her cabinet, "So hold on for a moment, okay?"
Iris nodded her head, "Okay…" she stated as she went over to the table to sit down.
Iris looked around the room from where she sat, glancing at things until she saw a framed photo of Aerith standing next to a man with spiky black hair wearing a blue outfit; he had a sword hanging from his back. They were both smiling in the photo.
It only took a moment for Aerith to hand Iris a glass of milk to her along with a plate with a few chocolate chip cookies on it, "Here you are."
Iris picked up one of the cookies and bit into it, widening her eyes as she did, "This is good!" she gasped. She then finished eating it, only to grab another.
Aerith giggled at her reaction, "It seems like you have a sweet tooth," she stated.
"… I do? Is that a bad thing?"
"No, not at all."
Iris continued to eat the cookies and drink the milk before they were both gone, "Umm, thank you for the food. I… I needed that," she said before making a small yawn.
"It's no problem," Aerith replied with a smile, "Maybe you should rest up soon. The meetup is at the castle tomorrow… I'm sure Ansem the Wise can help you somehow."
"O-Okay…" Iris nodded her head as she sat up from the table, walking towards the stairs, "Goodnight, Ms. Aerith!"
"Goodnight Iris."
Meanwhile, back on King Mickey's new gummi ship, we could see the spaceship driving ever closer to its destination in the vastness of space. We could see the three Eds and the girls sleeping in their beds in the newly built living quarters that Chip and Dale created. The space itself was about the size of a big one-room apartment, complete with a kitchen, a table with a few chairs to sit in, and many beds for others to sleep on. The bathroom and shower were separate rooms, of course. Above the living quarters was the main control room where Mickey was driving the ship, along with Riku and Kairi helping him with any Heartless ships that tried to attack them. Chip and Dale were also with them, making sure everything about the gummi ship's engine was working correctly.
We soon see Double D starting to stir a little in his sleep before waking up. He got out of the bed he was sleeping in to walk over to the kitchen, opening the fridge to grab a bottle of water.
It was after grabbing a bottle and closing the fridge that Double D saw the plastic bag of jawbreakers that Eddy had brought with him sitting on the counter nearby, "I figure we could celebrate our arrival by eating them when we get there!" Eddy said to them earlier, explaining why he was bringing them.
He sighed a little, 'It is a nice gesture of Eddy to do, but…' Double D noticed that Eddy had brought seven jawbreakers and not just six, 'I do wonder why he brought an extra one. Surely, he didn't miscount how many friends he has… Even he's not that dense.'
As he looked at the plastic bag, he noticed the bag had a letter attached to it with a piece of tape. Letting his curiosity take over, Double D walked over to the bag and took the letter off the bag, unfolding it to read what it said; it was a letter written in Eddy's handwriting.
'Iris,
Katrina and I felt like writing you this and giving you this jawbreaker to say hello; she also said writing this would help clear our thoughts on what's been going on and our feelings and junk… I don't know how you got here, or even how you got to another world, but I want you to know we'll both protect you. It's what Alex and Irene would want for you.'
Double D then noticed the handwriting became different in the next paragraph; it was Katrina's handwriting.
'Hello there, Iris. A few days ago, Eddy told me he saw Alex and Irene in a flashback; he could see she was close to having you… And, when we heard someone mention your name to us, we both had a strong reaction to it; we knew it was you somehow. We both think Alex and Irene were reacting to your name. Either way, if it truly is you, we will help you out in any way we can. Everything will be alright, I promise.
Eddy & Katrina'
Double D blinked a little in confusion at what was written in the letter, 'What does this even mean?'
Double D folded the letter back as it was and taped it back to the bag. He grabbed his bottle of water before walking back to the bed he was sleeping on, sitting on it for a moment to drink some of the water he brought with him. It was while he sat there that a thought crossed his mind. In the letter, Katrina wrote the sentence: 'She was close to having you.'
He widened his eyes for a moment when he realized Katrina was talking about Irene; he pieced together what the letter was saying.
"WH—"
Unfortunately, Double D was drinking water when he figured it out, almost spitting out his water before covering his mouth. Most of the water went down his throat in a way that hurt, causing him to choke a little. He started to cough loudly because of that. Of course, three of his friends woke up from his coughing.
"Double D?" Katrina asked in a groggy voice, "What's wrong?"
Shayla noticed the bottle of water in his hand, "Did you choke on your water?"
"I-I'm fine now!" Double D coughed a little more before clearing his throat, "I'm sorry that I woke you up! I-I just…"
"Geez, be careful next time, Sockhead," Eddy grumbled before laying back down in the bed he was in.
Everyone else laid back down in their beds except Double D. He was still a bit stunned about what he learned, looking towards both Eddy and Karina in their beds, 'This is very unexpected. I wonder why they haven't told us about this… Are they embarrassed? Or are they uncertain if it's true or not?'
Double D made a heavy sigh before laying back down in his bed, 'I'll try to ask them about it tomorrow, or maybe they're waiting to tell us until then?' he closed his eyes to go to sleep, 'Either way, it seems like a lot will be happening tomorrow… I should get some rest.'
Meanwhile, back in Atlantis, we could see Belindra sitting on his throne with a bored look on his face once again. A dark portal spawned in front of him with Maleficent walking out of it, much to the annoyance of Belindra, "What do you want now?"
"My, what a way to greet someone who's trying to help you," Maleficent stated before turning back to the portal she arrived in.
It was then we could see Pete walking out of the dark portal; he had three girls under his arms, carrying them while they all tried to squirm their way out of this situation while also trying to punch him to let them down.
"And here we are!" Pete greeted as the portal behind him disappeared. He turned to Maleficent after he dropped the girls down to the floor, "I didn't sign up for this to be a punching bag, you know!" he stated with a small glare.
"What the big idea?!" shouted the red-haired girl of the three as they stood up from where Pete dropped them to look at their surroundings.
Belindra stared at the girls Maleficent brought to him before making a glare, "Who are these girls?"
"I thought you might need some assistance regarding the fight against your 'foolish knights'," Maleficent stated as she turned to the three girls, "I took the liberty of reading your knight's thoughts, only to discover that these three sisters are their biggest weaknesses."
Belindra blinked a little at what she said, "Their weakness, you say? So, they have other loved ones besides my dragons?"
"Love? Oh, not at all," Maleficent replied, "It is very much the opposite; they are mortified of them."
"… I see now," Belindra stated with a sinister smirk. He stood up from his throne to walk over to the three girls, who were still standing around where Pete dropped them.
The girls noticed him coming up to them, "Who the hell are you?!" the blue-haired girl asked with a glare. The blond of the group seemed to be the most scared of the situation while the redhead seemed the most annoyed.
"My name is Emperor Belindra," he introduced himself to them, "Who do I have the pleasure of talking to?"
"Why should we tell you our names?" the redhead asked, crossing her arms across her chest as she did.
"Marie, Lee; I-I don't like this place…" the blond stuttered.
"Shut up May," Marie growled a little to her.
Belindra chuckled at their antics, "That's quite alright. My associates brought you three here to help me with something I must do."
Lee glared at him, "And what exactly would that be?"
They heard the cawing of Maleficent's crow nearby before it landed back on the top of her staff. Her staff and crow's eyes began to glow to show a projection to them. It was the Eds' memories, they were showing the sisters the scenes that happened a few days ago between the Eds and three girls they did not know. All three of them widened their eyes when they saw them kissing the other girls.
"Why are you showing us this…?" May asked with a bit of sadness in her voice.
"Are you three not jealous?"
"… No?" Marie stated back with a glare, "Why would we be?! We've all moved on from them when we were forced to move away."
Belindra chuckled at what she said, "Are you sure about that?"
Lee made a harsher glare at the man in front of her, "What do you—"
The three sisters soon felt a pain in their chests, making them fall to their knees.
"Come now, my child," Maleficent stated to the girls, her staff glowing a green color, "You should help us get rid of them for abandoning you; let your jealousy consume you!"
Her staff stopped glowing as the girls were now radiating the same green as her staff was. They opened their eyes, only to see the light in them had left.
"And there you have it," Maleficent stated as she turned to Belindra, "Do with them as you see fit. I shall be on my way to find what I am searching for."
Belindra only smirked, "With pleasure."
Author's Note (August 30th, 2023): Oh hey! Another chapter in less than 24 hours! That's neat, but I also realized this chapter is STILL FILLER! Oops. The next chapter will be where meetings and things will happen, I promise!
