The dark, ominous clouds over Destiny Islands seemed to reflect the confusion in the city down below. People ran all around, trying to fix the damaged city, whilst also trying to understand what had happened the night before. Who were their invaders? And where did they come from? All talked about little and one huge, black-cloaked monsters with glowing yellow eyes, but none understood what they were nor why they attacked.
For a group of young kids, the worries were for a different reason. "Sora! Sora, where are you?!" Riku yelled, pushing some bushes out of his way. As if the commotion from last night wasn't bad enough, it took little time for the silver-haired boy and the others to notice his best friend's disappearance from the orphanage. They had searched everywhere in the home, but no trace of his whereabouts.
"I wonder where he could be," Kairi said as she scouted the horizon from the top of a coconut tree. After realizing Sora wasn't at the orphanage, Riku went to get all of his friends to lead a search party. The people in town didn't see him anywhere since the day before, so they decided to go look at their usual playground. Seeing the Ragnarok still present brought them a certain relief, as it meant he hadn't left prematurely without them - not that they expected him to do so.
"You don't think something happened to him during last night's attack, do you?" Selphie nervously asked after checking around the beach.
"Don't say that, Selphie. There's no way he'd get taken down by monsters that easily!" Tidus protested with his arms crossed. "Besides, why would he leave the orphanage in the middle of the night? This isn't like him!"
Wakka closed the door behind him as he walked out of the cabin. "One thing's for sure; he's not on the other side of the island. At this point, our options are getting smaller."
Riku's thoughts trailed off as he finished looking into the inner portion of the island, walking past the waterfall. An air of frustration slowly took form on his face. Where was Sora? Is it possible that those monsters could've... No! No way! It just wasn't possible!
"I know!" Tidus suddenly snapped his fingers as Kairi climbed back down. "Let's go check the Ragnarok; maybe he had to leave and left us a note or something!"
Animated by this new hope, the kids all ran up to their secret raft, the blond boy sneaking under the cover to check it up. When he returned, Kairi hopefully asked: "So? Did you find something?"
"Nope, nothing." This answer caused the kids to sigh, and Tidus placed his hands behind his head with a down look.
"... What happened to you, Sora? Where are you?" Kairi looked up at the sky. "Please, just come back..."
"That's no good; we checked everywhere on this island." Wakka widened his eyes and then slapped himself on the forehead. "The secret cave! Of course! How could we forget that one?!"
"Yeah, maybe he got stuck there... Again," Selphie exclaimed.
"Let's go see!" Tidus beamed.
The group of kids ran off the beach and past the waterfall to go into the deepest part of the island. Riku got ready to follow them, when some sort of dark portal appeared out of nowhere right before him. "What the...?" The silver-haired boy curiously stared at the portal for a few seconds before someone walked out of it and stepped onto the sand.
A tall man with silver-gray hair (almost like Riku's) and tanned skin. His amber eyes reflected a thoughtful, analyzing expression, running up and down the boy. He wore a long, black vest that hovered close to the ground, white gloves, and a strange red and black heart-shaped symbol in the middle of his chest. Somehow, the presence of this man sent a shiver down Riku's spine, whilst also creating a sense of fascination deep within.
"Greetings, young man," he said in a deep voice, giving a somewhat worrying smile. "I hope I did not come at an inappropriate time?"
"W-Who are you?" Riku asked, taking a step back from the mysterious stranger.
"My apologies, I forgot to introduce myself," the adult chuckled. "My name is Xehanort."
Riku's whole body froze, his blue eyes widening further than they had ever been. "X-Xehanort...? Like... Xehanort, the man who wrote all those books in Destiny Town's library? The man who became an outcast for his claims about other worlds beyond ours?"
"In the body and heart, I'm afraid," the man confirmed with a chuckle. He walked past a stunned Riku to give a good look around. "Hmm, it has been a long time since I got to walk on this sand and feel the sea breeze... I must admit, I missed it much..." A few seconds of silence passed before he turned back to the young boy. "I believe your name was Riku, correct?"
"You know... You know my name?" Riku asked.
"Yes. I have been looking at you for quite some time now... You were planning on leaving this world with your friends, just like I did before, didn't you?"
"W-We did... We are!" Riku confirmed. "However, our friend, Sora, has gone missing. Do you know where he is?"
"As a matter of fact, I do." Xehanort shook his head. "Unfortunately, I fear that the response may not be to your liking... For your friend has decided to prematurely leave this world and begin his adventure early on..."
"What?! No way! Sora would never leave without his friends like this!" Riku protested, giving a swing of his arm.
With a gesture of his hand, Xehanort made another dark portal appear before them. "How about seeing it for yourself?" The portal showed a scene - a scene of the very island they were standing on, but it was dark. "This happened last night, after your town was attacked by the Heartless."
"Heartless?" Riku repeated. The scene showed Sora talking with an anthropomorphic duck and dog before going back to the main island, fighting off the monsters, and then leaving with them on their gummi ship. "... So, he truly left... Without us?"
"I apologize for being the bearer of bad news... Some value adventure more than their own friends," Xehanort sighed, making the dark portal disappear. He straightened his back and gave a serious look at the young boy. "However, I did not come here for that. The reason of my return to Destiny Islands is that I seek your help, Riku."
"My help? What for?"
"There is a terrible danger threatening this world and all the others in existence - a darkness spreading like wildfire. These monsters that attacked your island... They will return. For they are fueled by the darkness within everyone's heart and are not to stop anytime soon." He pointed at Riku. "However... Your heart... it's special."
Giving a confused look, Riku placed a hand on his chest. "My...heart?"
"Yes. I have merely met you and even then, I can sense a great resistance to darkness within it. It's strong... Even stronger than mine or anyone else on this island's." He reached his hand forward. "I know you must think of me as selfish for asking you to leave your friends after your own did the same thing and because your island just lived a traumatic event...but will you accept to help me save the worlds from the darkness?"
Riku stared silently at the man and his hand for a few seconds. He turned to look at the secret cave where his friends left, moments earlier. "My friends...really cannot come?"
"I'm afraid not. Their hearts are not as strong as yours and mine - this would put them in terrible danger."
"... Okay, then. I will help you," Riku nodded and shook the man's hand.
"Good. You have no idea how grateful I am of your cooperation," Xehanort said with a smile that looked more like a smirk. He stepped aside, revealing another dark portal. "Let us depart now; we have a lot to cover before we begin."
Riku gave one last look at his island before stepping into the portal. Xehanort remained still for a moment, reaching into his vest to pull out the note Sora left on the Ragnarok before leaving. A grin on his face, he used purple fire to turn it into ashes, tossing them in the wind before entering the dark portal himself.
After a good night's sleep in the gummi ship, Sora, Donald and Goofy had some time to kill. Meeting living cards made them want to play some card games; good thing they had a classic 52 cards deck aboard, so got to play Go Fish. For hours, they laughed, sometimes yelling accusations of cheating, and just had a good time together.
"Do you have any...fives?" Donald asked.
"Nope! Go fish!" Sora replied with a grin.
"Aww, come on! You never give me any cards! I'm sure you're cheating!" the magician duck protested, swinging his arms around.
"Hey, not my fault if you got no luck," the young boy chuckled alongside his canine companion. Sighing in annoyance, Donald fished another card to his already big deck, when a thought crossed Sora's mind. "Say, guys, I've wanted to ask you, what's your world... Disney Town, right? What's it like?"
"Oh, you're gonna like it, let me tell ya," Goofy exclaimed with a chuckle. "It's possibly one of the most colorful worlds out there. The people are likeable, we got wonderful celebrations and events, a huge castle, magic all around - it's AMAZING!"
"It has been the seat of the Disney Kingdom for generations," Donald added, giving a card to Goofy when he correctly guessed a number. "This world has a long history - not the kind you can sum up in only two sentences."
Sora's eyes radiated with excitation. "This sounds amazing! I can't wait to see it! Did you live there your whole lives? When did you get to travel to other worlds for the first time?"
At this question, Goofy rubbed the back of his head. "Well, we aren't originally from Disney Town, but from worlds close to it. I was born in a little place called Spoonerville while Donald comes from a town named Duckburg. We lived there before becoming official agents of Disney Castle under His Majesty."
"Oh? So you had to leave your home, just like me," Sora deduced. "Do you have any friends back there?"
"I do have a few friends, but the closest person to me in that world is my son, Max," Goofy explained.
"You have a son?!" Sora nearly jumped on the table at this revelation.
"Yes, and he should be about the same age as you. He has recently started going to college!"
"Wasn't there a girl that also caught your attention, back there?" Donald asked with a raised eyebrow and a little grin.
"Huh... Yeah, but right now, we're not in the serious part just yet... Though I do enjoy her company," the knight mumbled, trying to hide a blush.
The magician chuckled before looking at his human friend. "I have a huge family, back in Duckburg - so big it would probably take me hours to name them all. The closest to me are my three little nephews and my uncle, who had the kindness to take them in during my absence."
"You have three nephews?" Sora asked.
"Yeah; I raised them all their lives. That's the reason why I had to leave Disney Castle for many years and only got to take the Royal Magician post a few years ago," the duck explained.
"Why did you have to raise your nephews? Nobody else in your family could do it?" Sora questioned.
At this question, Donald looked down for a moment and exchanged a sad look with Goofy before replying: "... No. Nobody else could..."
Confused by this reaction and sensing the sad mood, Sora decided not to press the subject any further. Thankfully, something caught his attention that would help change the subject. "Look!" He dropped his cards and ran up to the dining room's window as they passed before a world - this one looking like it was dominated by sand instead of grass. "Another world! Can we go visit it? Pleeease?"
The Royal Magician sighed as his human friend gave him the puppy eyes. "Fine, I guess we can take a little detour, just to make sure everything's going well in Agrabah."
"Awesome! Let's go!" Sora ran out to the cockpit.
This time, the trio did not land their gummi ship, but teleported themselves down into the world below. A vast desert kingdom with a devastating heat. A huge, magnificent palace stood over a large town, built in stone and surrounded by a tall wall. "Sora, welcome to the Kingdom of Agrabah!" Donald said, widening his arms like a welcome committee.
"Man, the temperature's burning here!" the young boy exclaimed as he shielded his face from the sun with his hand. "I mean, the temperature WAS hot on Destiny Islands, but this is like MUCH worse!"
"That's what happens when your kingdom is built in the middle of a desert," Goofy chuckled, though he sweated from the heat, too.
"So THIS is a desert?!" Sora immediately looked at the vast lands of sand stretching beyond the horizon. "My friends and I read so much about places like this in the library! I just wanna go run all around it!"
Before he could, Goofy grabbed him by the arm. "Whoa, there, little speedball, you don't wanna run around a desert with no preparation; that's a guaranteed way to die slowly and painfully."
"Let's just get in town and go visit the Sultan," Donald said and dragged his two friends past the large entrance gate.
The city of Agrabah turned out to be a vast, busy place, with narrow streets mostly occupied by shops. Stands were lined on every side, merchants offering all sorts of trades and goodies to the numerous people passing by. Naturally, Sora couldn't help but look at all of them.
"Oooh, those fruits look delicious! Hey, have you seen the size of those swords? Whoa, those jewels are so pretty! Maybe I could get a souvenir for my friends here?"
Donald rolled his eyes. "They all react like this when they visit a bazaar for the first time." Goofy chuckled at this remark.
Sora ran all around the street for a while before a commotion noise caught his ears. Turning his head, he saw an adult next to an apple stand holding a young kid by the arm with a serious glare. Giving a curious look, he decided to approach and see what was going on. "You petty little thief! If you think you'll get out of this so easily!" the adult yelled as the kids squirmed to break free.
"Hey, what's going on here?!" Sora asked as he approached the scene.
"Stay out of this, stranger! This is none of yer business!" the man growled without looking away from the kid.
Annoyed, Sora walked up to the man and pushed him so he would let go of the child. "Sorry not sorry, but from what I'm seeing, you, sir, are bullying this little guy, so this IS my business!"
Fuming with rage, the man pointed at the young boy hiding behind Sora. "That little street rat stole one of my apples and tried to leave without paying! For this crime, I shall cut off his arm!" he declared, brandishing a scimitar.
"An arm for an apple? Are you crazy?" Sora protested.
"The law is the law, kid! Now, move out of the way unless you want to lose your arm as well!"
Sora summoned Kingdom Key and got ready to get into a fight, when Donald jumped between the two of them. "Stop, stop, stop!" He reached into his vest, pulled out a pouch and gave a few coins to the merchant. "There, it should be enough for your apple and two extras. Sorry for the bothering, good sir."
The merchant looked at the munny, at the strangers, back at the kid, and then scoffed. "Ya got lucky, this time. If you come back here, I won't be so merciful!" He returned to his shop and the kid mumbled a 'Thank you' before running away.
Donald sighed in relief before giving a serious look at his human companion. "You must not get in trouble like that, Sora!"
"But he was going to chop that kid's arm off!" Sora protested.
"You can't just go all around starting fights! Next time you see something like that, call me or Goofy, okay?" The Royal Magician grabbed Sora by the arm and pulled him along. "Now, let's get going; we've lost enough time like this!"
Arriving at the palace's entrance, our heroes were halted by a group of guards armed with spears and scimitars. "Halt! What are you doing here?" one of them, the captain, asked.
Donald and Goofy took out little pieces of paper and presented them. "I'm Donald Duck. This is Goofy Goof and Sora; we are from Disney Castle. We only want to pay a little visit to the Sultan."
The captain gave a good look at the papers before nodding. "Very well, you may proceed. However, I must warn you that now might not be the best time to visit the Sultan, as things are a bit rocky at the palace."
Sora exchanged curious looks with his friends as they were led inside the palace. Saying that the young boy was left absolutely stunned throughout the visit would be an understanding. Not a single building on Destiny Islands looked as majestic as this palace, with its shiny decoration and mystical-looking tapestry. It was like being in a whole new world! They arrived into the throne room, which looked just as amazing as the rest of the palace. Sitting on a throne at the far end was a little pot-bellied man with a puffy, white beard and Arabian royal clothes, including a turban with a huge feather.
"Ooh, we have visit!" the little man beamed after giving orders to some of his guards.
Donald and Goofy bowed respectfully, Sora quickly following up when he realized they were before someone important. "Your Majesty," the two talking animals said at the same time.
"Wait a minute... I recognize you! You're from King Mickey's court!" the little man beamed and came down from his throne to help them back on their feet. "It has been so long since you have come here, to Agrabah! Who's your new companion?"
"I'm Sora, Your Majesty," the young boy beamed with his hands behind his head.
"A pleasure to meet you. I'm the Sultan of Agrabah," the little man introduced himself with a graceful bow. He turned to the animals. "What brings you here?"
"We only came to pay you a visit, Your Majesty," Goofy explained. He looked at the guards running around and causing a commotion. "From the looks of it, it seems like you have problems on your arms. Why's everyone running all around?"
"I'm afraid this is not a good day for me," the Sultan sighed sadly. "My sweet daughter, Princess Jasmine, has gone missing! She left that morning and never returned! Naturally, I sent every available guard and Aladdin to look out for her, but they haven't returned! Oh my, this is so horrible! If something were to happen to my sweet daughter..."
"Your daughter is missing?" Sora asked before giving a serious look. "In that case, let us help! I'm sure if we work together, we can get her back!"
The Sultan's expression brightened up. "Ooh, you'd do that for me?"
"Of course! Helping people is what we do best! Right, guys?" Sora asked, to which his companions nodded in agreement.
"Oh, you have no idea how thankful I am!" the Sultan beamed as he shook Sora's hands. "Thank you so much! If you don't know where to start with, you should check around in the desert while my guards are looking around town. This is where Aladdin went."
Sora gave a nod and turned to his two friends. "Let's go!" And with that, they ran out of the palace and towards the desert.
Author's note: The second world our friends get to visit is Agrabah, the famous kingdom from the movie Aladdin. Once again, this visit isn't going to follow the plot of the movie, but rather an idea coming from somewhere else. Here's a clue: it's gonna be from the TV series.
Xehanort makes his appearance much earlier than usual in this story. And, as you guessed, he's the one who's gonna plant doubt in Riku's mind and use his darkness as opposed to Maleficent. Yeah, I didn't really like how Maleficent was hinted as the main antagonist of the first game, leading a whole league of Disney villains, only to disappear and being replaced by a completely different character and then serving as a background antagonist for the rest of the series. As such, Xehanort will be much more present in this version so that the final fight against him will be much more personal.
As always, take care of yourselves, comment this story and stay awesome ;)