Do dee doo deeeee dooooooooo.....
Leidiot updates!
On the KH forum I am advertising, a new war is breaking out. Should you happen to join, there's a Chernabog that needs fighting (uber rare event) and there's a dude named Trickster who is trying to take over the worlds....wicked sweet. Plus, you get to fight with me. That's like, the BEST part right there.
Totally.
So, here's a fantastically huge mass of stuff for you all to read......'cause I am cranking out the chapters now!
PRESENTING, the WORLDS BIGGEST CHUNK OF FANFIC.
The Carpet raced against the darkening sands of the wilderness as the moon, full and bright, began to appear in the starry heavens of the mysterious lands, and as the mass of sand and dust began to grow into a band of men on pitch-black stallions.
“That must be them,” Sora said, over the trampling of the hooves.
“Who else would it be at this time of the night,” Aladdin asked him, descending the aircraft to a point where they could see the man who had escaped them, leading the others who had not been taken prisoner by the Guards back at the wedding…there seemed to be only a handful… twenty had made it out of the ropes that had bound them previously.
Suddenly, the entire Calvary came to a halt, not far from the seas which housed a large mountain far from the shores, and the mysterious leader of this assembly alighted from his steed. Raising his right hand to the landmass in the centre of the bay, he uttered the most mysterious words…so familiar, like they had been taken from a fairytale.
“Open Sesame!”
There was a roar, almost as if a great beast had awoken in the deep, as the water frothed and sprayed upwards, creating a wall of water which parted like the Red Sea itself, revealing a path that could be traveled by even a horse. With a cry, this man leaped upon his stallion again and charged forward as the base of this mountain opened, and the eyes of our heroes could see that this was the lair of the Forty Thieves.
Aladdin and Sora nodded to one another, taking caution to make sure that all were silent at best, and urged the carpet as the last of the men made way into the ominous cave. Halfway they were, when the water began to replenish back into the bay, and the entrance began to slowly shut. With shouts from the party for the flying thing to go even faster, only by the skin of a tiger’s tooth did they manage to infiltrate the prestigious base of the thieves…while crashing into a pillar and ultimately landing smack dab in the middle of the thieves, who were just sitting down for supper by fireside.
Jeering and shouts rose from the pirates as they wrestled Aladdin, Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy to the ground, and placed a rock upon the carpet to prevent escape for it. Finally, when the mass of male bodies parted, there stood the mysterious leader, whom had previously eluded them in the treasure room. His poise was astounding, as he stood in the glory of his mangy men, and he spoke in greater pride than that of before.
“Well, lads…you’ve found the lair of the Forty Thieves! Congratulations!”
More laughter from the others, as he raised a hand for silence.
“I wish we could allow you to leave, but it would seem that you know too much of our little hiding hole…so we must not behead you.” He nodded to a tall, bald man with crooked teeth, as he held in his hands a gleaming golden axe, most likely another steal from another crusade of past reference, which I could not possibly describe in detail due to lack of information of the band of thieves themselves.
However, Aladdin was still of worry for his father, and questioned the leader himself before the motion of death was preformed.
“What have you done with my father?!”
There was a stunned silence.
“You think we keep prisoners?” The other questioned; his tone of almost bemusement.
“The Oracle of Miracles told me that my father was here, with the Forty Thieves! I came to see him. Please, I must know if he lives!”
The head of the men looked almost shocked. “We’ve not had a prisoner….never in our lives have we kept a man hostage here. You are ill, lad! Tell me; are you not Aladdin, the hero of Agrahbah? Riddle me this…did you yet once, while you wooed the lady, thought about your father?”
A quiet shame brought itself to the young mans’ face. “More times than that I can tell you, sir…I’ve never known my father…I only just found he was alive…nobody knew where he was…not even my mother.”
He placed his head on the cutting stone and sighed. “I’ll never know now.”
Sora tried to comfort him. “Don’t worry Aladdin…we can take these guys…we’ll figure out a way…”
“Don’t bother yourself with that,” uttered the words of the mysterious man, “You’ll earn right to your lives and your father with that of the three tasks I order you.”
Riku sighed, and looked to Sora. “You had to open your mouth?”
“You’d rather be dead?”
The older boy chuckled. “Thank you.”
They were cut from binds of rope and forced to stand by the captors, as the director placed a hand to the cavern ceiling.
“You shall fight my men! The best of my Forty escaped with me from the palace, and you shall fight them all. Beat Jazeem, my best man of all,” said he, motioning to the bald man who had previously motioned to chop off their heads, “And you shall earn both your freedom, and your father.”
Sora clenched his fist and shouted back to this man. “We’ll take everything you can throw at us! Bring it!”
“Yeah, bring it!” The others echoed back as the Master taunted these men. Riku stayed silent, analyzing each man as he stood with weapons held, menacingly.
Aladdin smiled, placing hand on Sora. “Thank you for helping me find my father, Sora.”
“Hey, I’d do anything for an old friend…”
The leader chuckled, his laugh bouncing off the empty walls of the lair as a gong was rung, and the battle began.
One set. Two and Three…they went on and on, pairs of five or six at a time; some with knives and some with swords, some with cannons or explosions, all falling before the superior might of the Keyblade Masters’ party. It wasn’t until the final set, the man who was named Jazeem (I forgot how exactly it is spelled,) that the head of the pirates motioned for a pause, his voice called to the party.
“Keysword boy! You and the Prince both! You shall fight without the use of your allies!”
Sora and Aladdin exchanged glances of pride, and the elder spoke. “Come and get it then!”
The order was called out for the fight to commence as Jazeem, whom had not been properly seen with his weapons by Riku nor the rest of the party, suddenly to the surprise of the fighters unsheathed from his gloves a set of extending blades of gold. Jazeem lurched, bringing his weapons to the throat of Sora, as Aladdin fearlessly aimed for the back of his foe with a kick that sent him toppling upon the ground. When the Master went for a high five, he was grabbed, and sent flying across the main room into a section where the footing was thin and unstable for combat, leading to a large cliff-like area at the top which loomed over a gurgling, angry ocean. However the circumstance, Sora shot a ball of flame at the adversary, not taking into account that he would come after him. Aladdin raced after the two as they fought; parry, strike, duck, lurch, leap…counterstrike…the battle seemed almost unending ‘til Sora was struck down by a superior blow from the claws of the thief, with Aladdin only steps behind, who was unseen by the antagonist.
“Fool of a boy,” sneered the evil man, “I’ll kill you and your fool friends just for the pleasure of it!” He raised his hand for the final blow, but did not see the walloping punch from that of the near-married male, which sent him flying over the edge of the cliff, into the swirling waters below, where he disappeared into the frothy sea.
There was a stunned silence which came over the entire cavern, and the leader himself shook his head. “Serves the man right for thinking death to be greater than plunder…he always did put the harm of others before the love of the steal.”
Sora and Aladdin were still standing at the foot of the cliff, as the one who spoke came up first, followed in suit by the men who had the remaining party captured.
“So, you have killed my best fighter….interesting indeed. I’d say you’d done us the favor of having us kill him ourselves…he was becoming quite the rebel.” He motioned to the others, who were released as walked over to the aid of Sora. “Now, you earn your right to freedoms, and you may see your father, boy.”
Aladdin looked from each face of the men, and back to the leader. “Where is he?”
The man laughed his voice in unison with the booming thunder beyond near the sea. After he finished, he wiped his eyes and looked at the party directly in the eyes.
“I of all people ought and know where he is…” He lifted his hood to reveal a well rounded face, with a short beard and lengthy hair which were both a hoary-black color. Something in his sparkling smile and livid brown eyes illuminated familiarity… and then it dawned on them as he finished his sentence. “Because I am your father, Aladdin.”
There was a long period of shock and amazement as the leader of the Forty Thieves chuckled again, and turned to his men.
“This here is my son Aladdin. His mother died a while ago, and I had to leave the boy on his own…I met you all and became your leader…and forgot about him.”
More silence.
“I didn’t think he had stayed in Agrahbah,” he continued, “I’d heard someplace that you died in some Cave of Wonders, and then heard some other place that you were killed by some Genie…strange things you hear when you travel…”
More, even more awkward, silence.
“Anyway, we should set down for supper, since we were quite interrupted by these buffoons…” he turned to his son. “Are they servants of yours?”
“No,” replied the other, almost too frightened to speak, “they’re my friends…Sora, Donald, Goofy…and this is my new friend, Riku.”
“Any friend of yours boy is an ally of mine,” said the father with a grin as wide as that of a hungry tiger, “So you all may eat your fill! We’ve much to speak of…”
A dinner was prepared and served, with much merriment and gay, until then end in which the men went to individual business, when Aladdin’s father escorted them to the treasure hall, where they stood in awe at—
“This boat is made out of gold!” Sora uttered, almost in disbelief.
“I know,” said the old man, “and it was here that King Midas himself made his treasures hidden from the world…all except the Hand of Midas…the source of his abilities to make anything into gold. It was lost to all man, said to be hidden by the King, so that no man may suffer his fate…” A pause. “That’s his highness over there,” he told them, motioning to the eerie, almost haunted statue of a golden man. His face was frozen in fear and anger, and the position he held made it almost seem that he had been struggling against someone.
“He was turned to gold by his own creation…and he’s been here ever since. He sent for the hand to be hidden from the world…and the last of his Guards is right here…our bloodline, Aladdin. King Midas’s unending gold was meant for us, for all of Agrahbah! That is why I’ve been hunting for it for so long! I wanted a better life for all of us…who were down there…” Another pause, before he continued. “You know what the streets are like, son…living there was not a pretty way of being alive….you of all people ought and know those sufferings.”
A nod. “Yeah…I do.”
“Good! Then we set out at dawn, just your friends and us! It’ll be something grand—“
“Dad,” questioned the son, “I have a favor to ask of you first…”
“What of it, lad? Anything for you.”
“I…want you to come to the palace…to see my wife, and to see me get married. I…I want you to see what it’s like. I know you never got a chance to live life well…and then, when we’re done, we can stock up on supplies and find the Hand, together!”
His father paused, not seeming at all comfortable with going to a palace that wished his head on a platter.
Sora directed his attention elsewhere. “You’re his Dad! You can’t be executed. You’re the father of the Princess’s Husband. It comes with perks!”
“Yeah,” added the knight, “You can even stay in the palace! That’d be swell, a-hyuck!”
There was even more relent from the old man, until Riku spoke.
“You saw all that treasure they had,” said he, “And, we can ask the Oracle of Miracles o help us find where the Hand of Midas is.”
“And,” Donald said, knowing where Riku was heading, “There’s bound to be some sort of information in the Hall of Records.”
This appealed to the leader of the Forty Thieves. They spoke to his interests, and he was nearly hooked.
“Do I have your word that you will not let me be killed?”
Aladdin was astonished. “Wh-Why would I let them kill you?”
The old man looked equally surprised. “You’re not mad at me for abandoning you? I left you alone in the world, with nothing at all! How is it you can still love a man like me?”
Aladdin chuckled. “You’re my father…I’ll always care about you…I’d never let anything happen to you…just like I know you’d do the same for me.”
In an embrace, the father was soundly captured in an invisible family trap.
“…you really are your mother’s child…You have a heart greater than the sun and skies…”
The son beamed, and seemed happier than Sora or his party had ever seen him. “Then let’s go, right now! You can even see the Genie and-“
“You have a Genie?! What have you been doing this whole time boy? Luck strikes you well m’lad!”
Sora nodded. “There’s a lot more that your son’s done, trust me.”
The Prince took his father by the hand, and lifted him upon the freed Magic Carpet, which took off through the passage, which opened to the words that had been used to previously open, and into the dim skies of the sandy world.
Flying onto the balcony in the middle of the sunrise, the party came across the Genie, who was silently sleeping in pajama and hammock which he had, obviously, magically made appear. With a stir, he opened his wide, animated eyes, and looked down on the others with glee.
“You’re back! Why, you didn’t even tell Jasmine you left! She’s been worried sick about you for hours and hours on end! You really should-“
“Genie,” said the Master, “Guess who this guy is!”
The magical creature observed this man for a minute or two, and then gave up.
“Genie,” Aladdin told him, “this man is my father.”
“Your dad! Well dip me in oil and call me slick! This is an honor, no a privilege—Oh, this is the best! I can’t believe you actually found your Daddy-o! Your home spud, your old man!”
“Quite the animated sort isn’t he?” The father questioned.
“Yeah, he’s always like this.”
Riku smiled as the Genie continued his rants about the beloved father of his former master, and Sora came up beside him.
“It would have been better if you had come with us here the first time…you’d know a lot of people….the worlds a full of a lot of good people.”
Riku nodded. “I wish I could have…people really like you, Sora….maybe this was the way it was supposed to be.”
“We may never know what lies ahead, but we’ll always be friends…”
Riku gave his best friend a solid high-five. “Right until the very end. We stick together from here on out.”
“You know it.”
43 years ago…
A young female laboratory worker, with crimson locks and blue eyes walks the hallways of a beautiful, fresh, Radiant Garden. Flowers bloom everywhere. A shimmering lake gleams in the sun of the afternoon, as a young blonde man, the son of the current ruler, walks the cobblestone pathway beside it. This is his favorite place to ponder the mysterious world about him. People in lab coats and ordinary clothing also walk the halls, for whichever reasoning it may be. The ruler of this peaceful world, dedicated to understanding and knowledge, is Lord Azgarth the Great.
She knows that his son is there. He is always there at this time of the day. She leaps onto the banister and slides down without a single moment of unbalance; a trick taught to her by the man she first met on this world, which she calls her second home. She lands, and breaks into a gallop to the willow tree where he sits, silent.
He sees her. She laughs as she plows him into the plushy, emerald grasses, and they roll down towards the banks of the lake. He stops her from becoming soaked by lifting her away from the water, only to become wet himself. They both laugh as they stomp out of the water, and lay down on the grassy plains.
“Ansem, why are you so kindly to me?”
He looks up, his livid blue eyes sparking almost in unison with the water itself; his beard is absent due to his youth, and his demeanor is gay and playful. “A gentleman is always good to a lady.”
“You’re never this lively with the other girls…the aristocrats your father wants you to wed.”
“You are intelligent; one of the few I can have conversation with and they understand and respond with as much enthusiasm as myself. We both love the stars and skies…you are the only one who understands my longing to see another person…from another world.”
“You already have.”
“You don’t count, lady.”
The young woman sat up. “And why ever not? I am from another world, am I not?”
Ansem chuckled. “Tsarina, yes you are…but you are not inhuman.”
“Who said that?”
“Don’t be silly, I asked your brothers and sister.”
Tsarina giggled. “How do you know we all are not?”
“They would not lie to me, Tsarina…neither would you.”
“Of course not. We weren’t raised in that manner. My grandmother detested that.”
“My father hates liars…the aristocrats are something similar to that of weasels.”
She laughed.
“I’m funny to you?”
“You’ve a good sense of humor, yes Lord Ansem.”
“I don’t rule this world yet,” said he, “But when I do, there shall be changes.”
“How so?”
Ansem looked down at her, as the sun shined upon her, lighting up her entire form in shimmering bliss, due to her being wet. “A man will choose his own life, instead of being forced to love someone he does not.”
Tsarina was interested now, and she sat up. “In Traverse Town, you could do such things. We aren’t ruled by a Lord…we elected a Mayor, you see.”
“That’s simply it, though,” he told her, disappointed she had not caught on, “I want the people to make decisions, and I carry them out…but father won’t listen to me…he only cares about his pure bloodline.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
He chuckled. “That it is…”
Silence.
“Father is holding a banquet that shall last three nights…to celebrate my ruling of this world…he’ll retire soon, he’s getting old.”
“I shall be there, Ansem. I wouldn’t miss it for my own Grandmother’s funeral.”
She shouldn’t have said that. She would come to regret it in time.
Ansem nodded. “I would wonder if you would accompany me there, perhaps.”
There was a pause.
“You do…wish to come with me do you not?”
Nothing was said.
“You do not like me?”
A smile, of laughter. “I wished to see your face if I did not answer! It’s most humorous!”
They both burst into laughs, as a shadow cast over the two in shape of a man.
“My answer is… I should love to come with you Ansem!”
“It shall be my pleasure.”
“AND it shall be MY decision!”
The two stood up at once, Tsarina going down into a bow, her head almost to the point where her nose went down her gown. The Lord of the world was stone-faced, his golden hair slicked back and his mustache cut to a pattern that his son would almost mirror exactly in a period of twenty years time. He narrowed his harsh, brown eyes, and spoke in a voice that could have been mistaken for the grinding of two boulders.
“Ansem, my son, may I speak with you…” his gaze cast cruelly to Tsarina as he uttered the last half of his phrase, “Alone?”
The young woman nodded, and turned, not looking into the cold stare of her Superior, as she hurriedly left for the castle again. When she was far enough away, the older man turned sharply to the other.
“What have I told you about that girl? She is from another world, an orphan! That young woman is not of pure blood! I will not allow you to ruin our family’s tradition! I married your mother only because-“
“She was a beautiful individual, who sadly died by disease,” Ansem finished, almost as if his father had told him this many times before, which was apparent by his tone of voice. “Can you not at least make an acceptation? Grandfather himself didn’t approve of you and mother, but you still-“
“Your mother wasn’t from some other world! This girl could very well be poisonous.”
“Poisonous! You’re being ridiculous now! Your Lordship if you cannot accept us then may you and your world is simply damned until you can.”
“See here,” said the father, grabbing his child by the arm, “You are my only heir! If you do not rule this world, it will fall apart! You will ruin years of our family’s rule! Our ancestors would be ashamed if they could only hear the filth from your mouth right now. Marrying a commoner, and from another world of all places…you are lucky she is even living under our roof at this very moment! At least her siblings are cooperative! She is a rebellious demon who continues to rally her fellows to a democracy! The common cannot make decisions on their own; the world will fall into chaos!”
Ansem looked his father in the eyes, all gay from his tone and face, as he spoke into his face.
“Are you so concerned about the people, father…or your beloved pureblood line being contaminated?”
This said, he followed the tracks of the girl back to the palace/laboratory.
His father turned to his advisor, Cain, in worry.
“Sir,” said the lesser of the two, “Instead of shrilling to your son, could you not send the girl away? Perhaps in her ship, you can send her to another world, to chronicle the worlds? This way she can be occupied with an excuse, and Ansem can do nothing about it?”
The Lord nodded. “It must be done. I cannot have my bloodline tainted with that sort of…rebellion. She’s accident-prone for our society! If she should even get power to repeal my laws……oh, I shudder at what would happen to everything I have worked to build…our entire family would be a mockery. That girl and her siblings, the nerve of them! They’ve already insulted my best scientists, just by showing up! Simply because they built a ship that can go to other worlds, and that minx thinks she can go off and charm my son into power!”
He took a deep breath and chuckled.
“But that will change after the banquet…”
Cain spoke again, his warning clear, though the ears of the ruler were far from his words.
“But, sir… in my experience with romance…parting two who are in love can be far greater a disaster than leaving them alone……”
Poor Cain had no idea how right…and how wrong he was.
“Tsarina, really, do you think that this looks good?”
She turned to a tall woman with emerald eyes and night-black, curly locks, who was wearing a fuchsia gown, covered in pearls and lace.
“It looks nice.”
The other snorted. “You’re really a party-pooper Tsarina…you promised Ansem you’d be there! That’s breaking a promise. You remember what Grandmother said about that?”
“Yes Marcy, I know.”
“Then why don’t you go?”
Tsarina groaned, turning to brush her hair again for the fourth time since she had entered her room to prepare for the party later that evening.
“I’ve got nothing to wear.”
Marcy scoffed. “Don’t lie to me. You do!” She waltzed over and threw open her twin doors to reveal several hundred shirts, skirts, and labcoats…but not a single dress to be seen. The other sister blinked. “You don’t have a social life do you?”
“No,” the other told her, shutting the doors, “No I don’t. I’m working all the time. You know that.”
“So am I, but I somehow manage to go out and buy something for a party like this! Oh…Daniel and Marcus are going to be here soon.”
“They’re going too?”
“Well, unlike you, they’re not social recluses. We go out and party when the time is available…you should really go.”
The door to the room opened, showing two young men in tuxedoes. One of the men, seemingly older than the other, wore a blue tie to match his eyes and blonde locks, which came down at his shoulders, and the other, who wore red, had his black hair slicked over to the point where the tips of his hairs could easily reach the far point of his neck.
“My, my,” Marcy chuckled, “Marcus, you actually brushed your hair today…it looks nice.”
“Oooh, it looks nice,” retorted the blonde, as the other shoved him.
“Shaddup,” Marcus muttered, pulling his hair back, “You’re jealous little man…totally jealous.”
“I got a date…you have to take Marcy!”
Marcy and Marcus cast vivid shots of death in the direction of Daniel.
Tsarina snickered. “You all should get going…”
Everyone turned to her as Daniel spoke.
“You should really go Tsarina…Ansem is waiting for you, you know…”
“His father hates me.”
“Who cares,” Marcy said with a snort, “The old man is going to retire anyway. Ansem’s in charge, which means that he gets to make all the rules.” There was a pause as she and Daniel chuckled. “Like marrying a commoner?”
Tsarina blushed, and turned away, staring into her own reflection in the mirror.
“Seriously man,” Marcus said, “You’re the littlest besides Beatrice and Abel back home…it’s cute that you have a boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“He likes you.”
Tsarina turned. “Now how is it you know Daniel?”
The eldest smiled. “Why, I happen to have lunch with him, as a matter of fact. He talks about you often.”
“You’re telling me that to make me feel better. I’m not going. I can’t…I’ve nothing to wear.”
There was silence.
Daniel and the others turned to the door to leave.
“It’s a fairytale ending…and you’re worrying about what you’re wearing?”
“I’m no princess…I’m no fairy.”
“Just because you don’t look it,” Marcy said, as she shut the door, “Doesn’t mean you can’t have a happy ending you know…Grandmother would want to you go. She always wanted what was best for us…it’s why we’re here now, isn’t it?”
And she was alone.
So she thought.
In tears she sat in front of her mirror, as she shut her eyes, she sensed company, and turned to her bedpost, where an elderly woman, dressed in baby blue robes, sat. Her dimpled face was merry, and her snow white hair reflected her age. Her eyes sparkled with a glimmer of a distant star as she talked to the young girl who sat weeping.
“Why is it you cry, child?”
Tsarina shouted, fell out of her chair, and stood back up again, shaking like a leaf.
“Wh-What are you doing in here?! Who are you?!”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
She was dumbstruck. Something about this woman was unusual, and she didn’t like it one bit.
“…I can’t go to the ball.” How cheesy. She sounded like Ella of the Cinderplace.
The woman chuckled, withdrawing a small stick of silvery wood. “Close your eyes.”
“You must be joking.”
“I’m certainly not. If you don’t believe me, I’ll do it with your eyes open.”
“Do what?”
“Don’t argue with me, please close your eyes.”
There was a hesitant moment, and, for a certain period of time she really did believe that she was in a fairytale…for in that instant was she placed in a gown that reflected the grassy banks of the lake she and Ansem adored so much. In a daze, she toppled back onto her bed, reaching for her head to steady herself, and found she was also wearing a tiara in suit. Looking up at this mysterious woman, she finally found her voice.
“That’s….how did you…are you a fairy?”
“You could say so. I’m the Fairy Godmother.”
“Th-Thank you…but…why are you helping me?”
The Godmother chuckled, and patted her on the head. “My dear, you’ll help me sooner than you think….you’ll be saving a lot of lives in the future, if you make the right choices.”
Tsarina was puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“You’ll find out eventually,” said the other, who began to vanish in a flare of azure sparkles. “Until we meet again, Miss Tsarina.”
And she was gone.
Still shocked, still utterly confused, Tsarina remembered that now, she was able to see Ansem…she breathed in those words for a moment, and felt happiness return to her. Yes, she could see him now.
Standing, though uneasy in her state of shock, she raced for the door and flew down the banister with a faster foot than she had ever done before.
She was going to see Ansem.
Entering the Great Hall, she beamed. She was the wind, the grass, the trees…beauty and grace all in a package. This was her fairytale, not mattering how or why. She had to see him. Her heart was racing, she looked everywhere…
Something touched her shoulder. It was him. The usual labcoat and attire was his dressing, but his face wore a brighter smile than she had ever seen on his face.
“Tsarina…I hardly recognized you when you entered…you look astounding.”
Blushing.
“Would you like to accompany me to the balcony?”
“Would your father mind?”
He laughed, nodding to the chair where his father sat. “He won’t, I assure you. He’s not to bother me about what I do now…I’m close to ruling this world now…We can do whatever we want.”
There was a moment, before he took her by the hand and led her up the stair…pushed back the door…
The night air was fantastic and refreshing, and its chill enveloped them both in a blanket of cold air. The stars twinkled in a pattern within a pitch-black tapestry of blue and lavender, and the landscape was silhouetted in a shadow of the night. She turned to him as he came up behind her.
“You’re…shaking. Is something wrong?”
Ansem chuckled, his eyes sad, yet glittering as if telling a joke. “Everything and nothing all at the same time…”
“What do you mean?”
He took her by her hand again, and kissed it.
“You must know, that care about you more than I have ever cared about any woman in my entire life…I’ve fought my father time and time again, because he said you were unfit to wed.”
She suppressed a cry of joy and shock. “Y-You wanted to marry…me?”
“More than anything,” said he, “Please know that…my heart belongs to you…I must know if these feelings are returned, so that when I will not be totally shattered when you leave me.”
Tsarina gasped. “Leave?! Why must I leave, please-“
“You didn’t answer my question…please…do you care for me as much as I for you?”
She hesitated for a moment, looking into his eyes for an answer, and then, when he was about to loose his hope, she spoke with the kindest words she could find in her heart.
“When the sun sets, does it miss the moon? Do the stars miss the dawn? Perhaps, but even I can never know. At first these were my thoughts on many things. But know this much, that since I have flown away from home, way from my younger siblings and Grandmother, you are the best thing that has ever come my way. There’s little to say of how I fell about you but the simple fact that I love you, and nothing more, nothing less, just as I am myself and the sky is the sky. It would be the greatest pleasure of my lifetime should I take your heart and give you mine, Lord Ansem…”
They both stared at one another for the longest time…and when they leaned forward, as Marcy looked over from the hallway and nudged Marcus and Daniel, who also looked over to the balcony and left, Ansem stopped himself.
“I…can’t do this to you.”
Tsarina shut her eyes. “You’re right.”
Silence.
“What was that you said…about my leave?”
Ansem sighed, and stroked her cheek.
“My father has sent you on a mission…you are to chronicle the worlds that you have found…we’ve got the coordinates in your navigations system… and you set for leave the day after tomorrow.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she sighed. “Then let these be our last prefect days…”
From behind her back, she pulled out a red box. “This is for you…so people can tell you from your father…”
He opened it, taking out a crimson scarf and examining the silky texture.
“I made it during my spare time,” said she, with a smile, “I hope…you’ll wear it and remember me.”
Ansem smiled, and sighed. “I wish I could give you more than a simple word…to prove how much you are to me…but I promise you this,” he said, taking her hand and looking into her eyes, “That no matter how long you are gone, nothing will ever change. This place will be the same when you return…I promise.” He wrapped the scarf around his neck…and sixty two years later, he would still be wearing it in his eventual death as the mysterious DiZ. “I will never take this off, even should the world become opposite and I come to hate you body and soul. This is my promise to you…I will always care for you, and my heart will belong to you…as long as I remain alive, all these things I have promised you shall be in my honor…please promise me that you will still love me when you return.”
“Forever and ever…or you should have someone more worthy than I.”
They embraced, for what seemed the longest time…even into the night, and even still when Lord Azgrath stepped down, she was still at his side when he took the rulership of Radiant Garden.
Two days later…Radiant Garden began to become what we all knew, sixty one years after this day…as Hollow Bastion.
Current Time…
Lady Keyblade….
They say you were the finest of them all.
But your leave began a war that could have been prevented.
Would he have come if you were still here?
Prehaps not.
But wishing cannot change the past.
Neither can I.
They’re dead.
It’s all your fault, Xehanort.
You killed them by betrayal…and I condemned you to the name that haunts; even with your death.
For you did once go by another name…
Terra…
Aqua…
Ven…
And……..there was you.
The boy from the Islands.
She said you had promise.
She trusted you!
And you killed Aqua.
You killed Ven.
Why did you leave me?
I’ve been having these weird thoughts lately…and I have to wonder…if you are truly dead….
Why is it that I fell you still…breathing in my ears?
“Terra?”
“Why, Serenity…it’s been some time.”
“That it has.”
Silence.
“So…did you see him? How is he? …was he better than the last time?”
“Much, so to say…he doesn’t know too much about the darkness…I expected…more.”
“Heh…we were all that carefree, once…and then along came Master Xehanort.”
“You know I can’t recall that far.”
“Oh, yes…you were only very little…still living in Radiant Garden.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know you are….but you didn’t know…I thought that, if I erased his memories…he might have become a different person…but instead, he destroyed the world…he tainted the Keyblade Master……he’s done a lot of terrible things.”
“We’ve all done things we’re not proud of…you should know.”
“That wasn’t my fault. I thought she was going to help.”
“Well, look at Riku…Maleficent certainly helps…just not whom she promises.”
“Too true, Serenity…she always was an evil witch…I can’t recall a single moment where I was happy with the power of darkness.”
“Well, you’ll recover….just like Riku has.”
There was a pause.
“Right, Terra?”
“I don’t think he has.”
“Don’t be stupid, you never met him.”
“You have?”
“Accidentally, once…we spoke briefly.”
“And what about Sora, who saw that memory of you and…him?”
“I doubt he knows that I helped him…he doesn’t know it’s me.”
More silence.
“You’ve been doing a lot while I was asleep…”
“Riku isn’t going to make it,” Terra said.
“I think he can.”
“Don’t be so blind…he’s Xehanort with another style of hair…they’re nothing separate of each other. They’ve made the same stupid fights, the same dumb choices…over some girl.”
“You’re one to talk,” the other told him, “Because if I’m right, you’re the one who started the fights when you told Ven you liked his sister.”
“I didn’t like Aqua….there was more to that.”
“I know how you feel about her,” she muttered, “You know how I felt about Xeha.”
“Naturally. He was the only kind person you ever knew…no fault of yours that you blew up a world.”
“Yeah…”
“I have no room to talk, though…I ruined them all.”
“Don’t wallow in self pity…it’s unhealthy for the both of us…we can fix it, if we help them both…” She placed a hand on the pearl-colored glass, and smiled, with her brown eyes twinkling and her blonde hair mangled slightly by an incident unknown to the viewers just yet. “They just need to find the right path…we forgot to show Xehanort…there was always something in the way.”
“Too true,” said the other, his eyes still shut, his body still in sleep, as he drifted inside the flower-shaped chamber, “I can’t remember doing what your mother told me.”
“What was that?”
“She said to look after my brothers and sister….I forgot to look after Xeha.”
“You were pressured.”
“It’s still my fault.”
“That is the past…there’s nothing we can do now but change the future…Sora is the one who is supposed to open the door to Light.”
“That’s a bad thing.”
“Karnax doesn’t seem to think that.”
“Oh? He wants to open that thing so badly does he? Let him; he’ll be blown to bits with the rest of the worlds. Everything is made of light and darkness, of all things, a Nobody should understand even that. If that door were to open…well, you can get a picture. The only one who could live through a blast from that door is—“
“The Lady Keyblade.”
“She made mistakes too.”
“Yes,” agreed the girl, “But not for the sake of helping herself…usually when she made mistakes, it was simply for the cause of just that….sometimes we can’t help making mistakes.”
“Heh…we’re the ones to talk…We really did it didn’t we?”
“I suppose we did…like I said, we have to fix it.”
A pause.
“Serenity…how much longer until I wake up?”
“Not too much longer…a few months,” said the girl, looking at a panel on the wall.
“I shouldn’t have just pressed random buttons like that…I was frustrated, I guess…too sad and full of rage to care what happened…I just…sorta walked in and…got shut inside.”
“Well,” the other told him, with a smile, “I suppose I would be sad, if I lost the people I loved…”
“You have, though.”
“Not all of them…I have my sister.”
And then all was silent in the worlds once more.
((I read somewhere that, when he died, Ansem the Wise was about Sixty-two years old. At this current age, Ansem the Wise is meant to be twenty, and Tsarina is actually eighteen. Daniel, Marcy, Marcus, Beatrice, and Abel are the names of the siblings Tsarina’s grandmother adopted. Tsarina is actually the only one of the entire group related to ‘Grandmother’. I CAN’T and WILL NOT tell you what happens to any of the siblings OR Tsarina herself….because that has everything to do with the storyline. IF you think you know what’s going on…DON’T RUIN it for everyone else! Sheesh!
Please, don’t say it aloud…I want this to be a surprise when this is over with.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed these extended chapters…I was sick of all these itsy bitsy bits anyway…I know you’ve all been very patient with me.))