"So that's at least three of the seven Nobody princesses out of this fight completely," Rachel confirmed.
After Jesarae had vanished Riku had quietly collected Ayomi's Talisman from the ground and inspected it. Mere moments later the familiar clockwork lights glowed on the jungle floor. Just as before Rachel's reentry landing wasn't anything to sing praises about but at least she was back and Ayomi was gone. Although she wasn't able to appreciate the rib-backing hug of relief Riku bestowed the second she returned. But as just stated, great relief can make you forget restricting the breathing of someone who'd just gotten winded probably wasn't the best idea. Once it was determined she was okay Maui insisted they continue to the Mother Island with haste. To that end the group one again turned to the aid of pixie dust. Maui hooked the wind and they made their way like a bullet train inside its current. On the way Rachel was filled in on what happened.
"Three?" Maui asked curious but also pleased.
"We have it on good authority one of them was taken out some time ago." Rachel said.
Mini Maui pulled down out of nowhere what looked like a framed chalkboard. On it were seven very simplistic female figures. With his own little fish hook Mini Maui X-ed out three of them.
"But that still leaves four, the leader and Maleficent." Riku reminded. He spoke Maleficent's name like biting an under-ripe lime. "One of which can manipulate Reality on a whim. And we have no idea what the ability of the leader is yet. Not to mention what new powers Maleficent has undoubtedly picked up. If this turns into an all-out showdown we could be in over our heads. And let's not forget they have the Heart now."
"That part might not be a problem in a fight," Maui said. "As far as I know no one actually knows how to use the Heart's power. Maybe we'll get lucky and they won't have any idea how to make it work."
"Yeee-ah. Our history does not have a lot of dog-eared pages where we've been that lucky." Rachel said. "But I'm still curious about what Jesarae meant. What had Kairi done that convinced her to switch sides? Did she mean to take that lethal hit? When did she and Kairi even meet? We haven't been here that long and typically she double-crossing your entire world-takeover team isn't a spur of the moment decision."
"Our only chance for an answer is probably with your friend." Maui said.
"So what exactly is the plan now? Rachel asked. "You say this Mother Island is where the Heart is from. But what good will that do us? Yes, the Nobodies have the Heart, but that island is where they stole it from. What can they gain by taking it back? They might be days away by now in the villains lair trying to figure out how to use it."
Maui gritted his teeth. "I know. But it's the only lead I can think of."
"I hate to be the one to bring this up," Riku chimed in. "But wouldn't it be possible to threaten to control the goddess if you had the Heart and were strong enough to use it?"
"As Te Ka? Doubt it?"
"But think about this too, is the Heart of Te Fiti just an elegant title for the source of her power? Or is it in fact her Heart? As a goddess I'd imagine the rules of losing it would be different. However would that still technically make her a Heartless?" Riku continued.
"What difference would-?"
"Oh…" Rachel said, catching on. "What are you thinking that might make it easier to turn her into an actual Heartless?"
Riku nodded. "If calling her power source a 'heart' isn't metaphorical. The Nobodies of Organization Thirteen mostly controlled only lesser Nobodies but this Xhosar and his princesses are clearly operating under different rules. Is it possible? Have they even considered it? I'm not saying I'm right but we need to be prepared either way.
Maui didn't speak for a very long moment. His general atmosphere had become very solemn. "Te Fiti has suffered enough," He eventually said, a new resolve rising up through his voice and sparking across his eyes like lightning. "I cannot let her become a true monster."
Before either Keyblade Master could respond the demi-god straightened up and swung his fish hook with great flourish. Instantly the wind picked up again. The sudden gust sent all three of them tumbling before correcting themselves.
"A little warning would have been great!" Rachel snapped.
"Just call that getting even for that sudden shrink spell." Maui said dismissively.
Little was said as the miles (well, over water is still considered leagues, I guess) vanished below them. At their height no Heartless or Nobodies showed up to bother them.
"Is that a boat?" Riku asked, pointing to a shape in the water.
"Voyagers probably," Maui said. "We won't need to avoid being seen. At this speed we'll be-"
"Wait! Wait! Maui! Stop the current. Stop it or direct it down there." Rachel shouted, trying to change direction.
"Huh? Why?"
"It's them! That's our boat!"
Several beams of sparking yellow energy lit up like candle flames down below.
"That's one of our signals for find one another at a distance." Riku said, audibly excited and relieved.
With a nod and a great cry Maui hooked the wind a third time and they were sent hurtling towards the sea. About a hundred feet away the air current stopped entirely, enabling a much more graceful landing.
"Riku! Rachel! You're okay! I knew you would be!" Sora exclaimed, wrapping an arm around each of their necks and pulling them in for a tight hug.
"Oh, I feel so much better now that the group's together again," Kairi said, looking relieved but smiling.
"Everyone's here?" Riku asked. He looked around for a headcount but came up two short.
"And, uh, who's this?" Goofy asked, looking to the giant stranger.
"Ah-hem. I am none other than Mau-."
"Bryan!"
After being released by Sora, giving a quick hug to Kairi and offering a high-five to Goofy, Rachel darted across the small vessel to embrace her brother. Only, about two feet away, arms already halfway up, she skidded to a stop.
"Bryan," She said much quieter. "What's wrong? What happened?"
For a second his expression remained mostly neutral but lined with surprise. He half-smirked and raised an arm, inviting her to finish the hug. Rachel did but with much less gusto.
"What happened?"
"You know," He said with a slight smile in his voice. "It's really irritating sometimes when you can see right through me like that."
Before she could answer (or Maui try his self-introduction again) a head broke the surface of the water just a few feet off the port side.
"Hey! What's all the commotion about? Huh? Oh!"
Excitedly Donald stuck his head underwater. However he did it so fast he turned upside down, similar to a real diving duck. However, tentacles pointed skyward looked more like the roots of a poor overturned house plant and wasn't nearly as adorable as tail feathers and flat webbed feet. A second later he righted himself and swam to the edge of the boat. After that another figure breeched the surface.
"Rachel and Riku are back?" Lea didn't bother shaking his hair free of seawater before glancing across the boat expectantly. His gaze lingered on Maui for a second but he too looked grateful and relieved the group was whole again. "It's good you're back. Clearly a lot has happened these last few days but there hasn't been a lot of sharing."
Lea hauled his crimson-scaled body out of the water. Maui looked at him and Donald with a highly-raised eyebrow as they transformed back into their legged-selves. He looked to Rachel.
"They're like you?"
Rachel didn't answer. All her attention was still on her brother.
"Lea's right. A lot has happened." Bryan said to her. "Introduce your friend then we can all get on the same page.
Probably sensing the mood had taken a turn Maui went with a far less ego-filled intro. He explained who he was on this world, what he knew about the Heart and how he'd met Rachel. Skipping over a lot of details he and Rachel told the others how they'd found the Heart but lost it to the Nobody Adaira. The false princess had found Riku first and used her powers on him but they were able to snap him out of it. Not long after Ayomi crossed their path but was dealt with by one of her own: Jesarae. Mortally wounded she retreated through a Dark corridor before explaining much of anything.
"She asked us to thank you, Kairi," Riku said. "And that you would know why she turned on her own to help us."
Kairi just stared in silence as Riku told that part of the tale.
"She…she was true to her word." Kairi finally said.
"How exactly did you know her?" Sora asked. "What did you do or say that made her switch sides so quickly?"
"It wasn't all my doing," Kairi said quietly. "She'd been having reservations about the master plan for a while."
The princess of Light told her side of the story. At the description of the island where the Keyhole resided Maui straightened up. She had his undivided attention. His expression and body language was comparable to being informed the ex you'd just had an ugly breakup with just entered the room.
"It was actually Jesarae who confirmed the Keyhole was there. We talked for a while after I sealed it. That was when she told me her concerns if the plan to eventually ruling all worlds succeeded."
"But why do they want to take over everywhere anyway?" Goofy asked, scratching his head.
"This is very different from Organization Thirteen," Donald agreed.
Lea nodded. "We started out doing what we did because we were led to believe that was the way to get our Hearts back. We wanted, well, most of us wanted to make the conflicted void of remembering but not feeling stop and be ourselves again."
"That's exactly it," Kairi said. She relayed everything Jesarae had told her. "Ruling everything would give them unique experiences all their won. Even Jesarae admitted the logic wasn't entirely sound but that is the backbone motivation of the master plan."
"But why did she ask for us to relay her thanks to you?"
"Um, I might've helped her find the courage to seek out Princess Jasmine and talk to her. It was a long shot but I guess she did gain something from it. I hope what happened after meant she was at peace with her decision. Anyway," Kairi said, very clearly trying to change the subject. But anyone who was looking could see the sad joy in her eyes. "After that it took less than a great turn for me. I was ambushed by Nobodies and captured. I woke up in a cell with Bryan nearby."
"You were caught too?" Rachel asked her brother.
She looked him in the eye studiously, probably searching the minute tells only siblings could pick up on.
"Yes," He answered simply. "Together Kairi and I broke out. One of the princesses was there guarding us but we took care of her."
"So we're down yet one more?" Maui asked eagerly.
Mini Maui pulled down his chalkboard with haste, hook at the ready to cross out another figure. Sora, standing next to Maui, saw the whole thing.
"Now that is cool,"
Mini Maui made a flattered bow.
"No," Bryan continued. "She fled when things got tough. But I know she left badly injured. We found our way out from there."
"What about before that?" Rachel asked."
"Once we got out we flew off the island," Kairi cut in. She spoke quickly. "Bryan picked up on their Heart Songs and led us right to them."
Kairi looked to Sora, passing the baton as it were for him, Lea, Donald and Goofy to continue. However, it was clear in her face her attempt to skirt around Rachel's insistence wasn't working. But that also gave reasonable assurance that if she was trying to draw attention away from Bryan then she would first have to know what was bothering him.
Rachel still looked directly in her brothers eyes. Lines of concern streaked subtlety across her face. Bryan looked tense and ashamed at his own silence. After a moment Rachel pulled him in for another hug.
"Whenever you're ready," She whispered.
Bryan returned the hug and whispered something back but it was too quiet for anyone else to hear.
"The rest of us woke up on the boat after the storm jostled and split us up." Lea said, breaking the tension some. "And we did manage to get one of the princesses out of our hair for good."
Mini Maui looked to gasp in excitement before proudly making an official X on his board.
"That's more than half!" Goofy said.
"You can't have half when there are seven and you are counting people," Donald scolded. "Oh, oh, oh! And we got this!" He presented the wilted enamel rose hairpiece.
"Is that-?" Kairi began in awe.
"Yup!" Donald said proudly.
"That reminds me as well," Riku took out the copper pocket watch. "Jesarae used all her power to make Ayomi leave this behind when she left to rejoin Alice.
"We have two now? That's great!" Sora said.
"It is," Lea agreed. "But can we even use them? They were made specifically for each princess."
"The princess you defeated, what did she look like?" Maui asked sternly to Sora.
"Brown hair, yellow outfit, fought with a whip and could control plants. Why?" Sora asked.
Maui grunted. "And good riddance. That one was one of the three thieves who originally stole the Heart from the Mother Island. And you beat her all on your own?"
Maui only looked at Sora, Donald and Goofy with the slightest trace of skepticism. In all fairness, if one were basing an opinion on looks alone Lea did appear the most capable.
"Almost," Goofy said. "Just as things had started to take a turn for the worst, a giant crab burst out of the lagoon and helped us win!"
"Wait, what?" Rachel and Maui said in unison.
"Yeah," Donald confirmed. "The size of a house with a gold shell."
"Seemed a bit grouchy to me, to be honest," Lea continued. "He was probably the reason we won that fight but acted annoyed when we tried to thank him."
"Wait! That's right!" Sora looked to Rachel. "He said he was obligated to do a good deed because of something a girl dressed as weird as us did for him. If Kairi was at the Keyhole then later with Bryan, that had to be you then, right? Why are you looking like that?"
Rachel had turned to Maui; a cocky I-won't-say-I-told-you-so-but-I-definitely-told-you-so grin curling at her lips.
"And you doubted me," She said with a babyish squeak, twisting her upper body back and forth innocently.
Maui had been looking between the storytellers as they explained what happened. His expression shifted between various degrees of confusion and impossible dumbfoundedness. He then glanced to Rachel sourly before rolling his eyes. No more context was given from either of them.
"Let's…let's just get to Te Fiti," Maui eventually said after several attempts at words failed. "We've wasted enough time storytelling instead of sailing."
"We haven't lost any time," Goofy assured. "Som'thins been guidin' us since we woke up in the middle of the ocean."
"Guiding?" Riku asked.
"Uh-huh," Donald said. "We've just been callin' it the spirit of the ocean since we don't know who or what but we've been led this way since we started. It's like Goofy said, something's been pushing us always in the same direction."
"Pushing?" Maui raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, look," Sora knelt on the stern of the canoe and put his hand in the water. "A current has been keeping us on this course. But it's only around us."
Lea nodded. "We've been underwater several times and that mystery force is only ever around the boat. But it hasn't led us to the lion's den yet so you won't catch me complaining."
"Do you know anything about it?" Donald asked Maui.
Maui shook his head but smiled. "Unbelievable. You kids must be pretty special to get the very ocean to help you."
"It really has been the ocean?" Sora asked.
"In many ways the ocean here is as alive as we are. Only it very rarely interacts with anyone directly. It had to have been watching you the entire time you've been here to know you were on a mission to set things right."
Maui knelt down close to where Sora had been. The keybearers watched as he went to put his hand in the water. Astonishingly a small patch of water rose up like a breaching dolphin to meet his hand.
"Yep. I was right. But that still doesn't mean we can take it easy. Anyone who can sail, FRONT AND CENTER!"
"Yes sir!"
Out of startled reflex Sora, Donald, Kairi and, to a lesser degree, Riku straightened up. Some saluted. Goofy chuckled. The small vessel bustled with its crew taking their places. Riku scampered to the top of the mast as the lookout. Sora and Kairi set the sails while Donald filled it with Wind magic. Goofy and Lea stood at the ready as sentinels in case of Heartless. Rachel and Bryan did the same only from beneath the waves. With the grace of a trip they fell overboard. Maui stayed at the rudder.
The combined efforts had them moving at speeds comparable to the fastest racing motorboat. Heartless and a few Nobodies only appeared a couple of times but most were too slow to be considered a threat. At one point the team thought they might be in for some real trouble. The bony wyvern-like seagull, the Skeletross appeared in numbers none of them had yet seen. And, surprisingly for a Heartless, they appeared to coordinate their attack! Two groups of about ten hovered for a second high above the canoe. Before anyone could even shout 'Heads up!' the sky rats dove from either side directly at the small boat.
But all preparations for the onslaught for naught. The Skeletross barely halved their distance before the ocean crashed upward on either side of the canoe. The space in between was glass calm. Not a drop hit the boat as it glided forward. For a moment the heroes were in the center of an ethereal canyon of the water (except Rachel and Bryan who were in the walls). The Skeletross didn't have time to abort the dive. They crashed into the water and stuck like a dart in Jell-O. No sooner were the Heartless caught the ocean dropped, taking its haul with it. Large flashes of yellow followed. Rachel and Bryan must have finished them off with Thunder.
"WOW!" Sora yelled, belated from the awe of what just happened.
"That was AWESOME!" Rachel jumped like a dolphin, eyes shining with delight.
"Amazing!" Kairi said. "I guess there are perks to proving yourselves to the safety of an entire world."
"Thanks for the help!" Goofy said, waving neighborly to the water. "Appreciate it!"
As if to respond the boat jolted forward as the current beneath them quickened. A collective 'whoa!' of surprise chorused over the boat.
"We'll be there in just a few hours at this pace," Maui grinned. "I just hope it's enough time before something really bad happens."
"We're gonna make it," Sora assured. "Every challenge we've faced we've overcome. And we're all here to fight for one another. This battle will be no different."
"The bottomless well of optimism," Riku commented from his chosen post.
I'M BAAAACK!
Title Translation: Reunited