This is the sequel to KH2.9! CHAPTER TWENTY SIX HAS BEEN POSTED! It's on page twelve! After being kidnapped by Captain Hook and his pirates, Clarise and Anemone find themselves in another world on a base run by the Commander and his scientist. Grace with help from the Nobodies Axel and Xigbar infultrate the base but are they too late to save the twins from the Commander's cruel experiments? Please remember to post comments! You do not have to read KH2.9 to know what's going on (but it would be nice).In the words of the Travelers, "Hobey ho! Let's go!"
Almost a century ago, the royal Russian family was massacred after the Communist takeover. Almost eighty years later, their remains were found, but two bodies were missing: the youngest daughter of Nicholas the Second, Anastasia and her brother, the crown prince, Alexei. They were murder not only out of fear of allied support of the “White Army” but out of fear for their power that linked them to the fabled “Eight Princess of Hearts” whose powers rivaled that of a legendary hero. Their descendents are believed to be still living today…
Several months after the events of Kingdom Hearts II, two weeks after KH2.9, Balthier has taken the group to the quiescent village of Twilight Town, but has forbidden the kids to go outside. Of course, Grace can’t keep cooped for long and decides to explore the town. But after breaking into a rundown mansion on the outside of town gets Grace’s team in even deeper trouble, it’s time to pay a visit to the Keyblade Master. But the visit doesn’t go to well when the Commander appears to recapture Grace.
As the war looms on the horizon, the Keyblade Master and his allies prepare for war, which means a trip back to all the familiar worlds. But what’s more at stake is the relevance of the mysteries from the past, that just seem to raise even more questions. As for the usual life of a teenager, love blossoms in more than one way: Sora and Kairi get closer, while Roxas and Grace admit their love for each other. Joey discovers Naminé, Lucy and Demyx have their coffee date, and even Anemone finds love! But only one thing can break apart the happy couples as well as peace: Xehanort.
From the world of pirates to a world where nothing is impossible, Kingdom Hearts is about to take you on the most thrilling adventure yet!
Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova was the youngest daughter of Nicolas II, czar of Russia. She and her sisters were raised as simply as possibly and her title ‘Her Imperial Highness’ was rarely used. She was a vivacious and energetic child, short and inclined to be cubby, with the trademark Romanova eyes and reddish-blonde hair. She was known to be gifted and bright, lively, mischievous, and a gifted actress. She and her sisters, Olga, Tatiana, and Maria sometimes signed their names with their initials, OTMA.
Anastasia’s younger brother, Alexei, suffered from hemophilia, meaning that Alexei’s had a lower than normal blood clotting factor and would have frequent attacks of bleeding and blood pooling in his joints. He was not expected to live into adulthood. Anastasia’s mother, Alexandra was frantic over her son. This was when Grigori Rasputin came into view.
A drunk that was given a message from God, Father Grigori came to Alexandra and Alexei during one of Alexei’s attacks. After receiving a telegram declaring that Alexei would not die, Alexei recovered. Alexandra listened to every word Rasputin said. Rasputin grew close to the royal family, perhaps too close. One of the sisters’ governess was shocked and offended by what Rasputin could get away with and was eventually dismissed by Alexandra. The governess took her concerns to other members of the family, as speculation of Raspitin grew wilder. Nicholas eventually ordered Rasputin to leave. Rasputin was murdered on December 17, 1916. The strangest thing concerning his murder was he was poisoned, then shot, then beaten and his body thrown into the river. Autopsies would show he died from drowning.
However, Rasputin had left his mark on the Russian government. When World War I started, Nicholas attempted to take over the Russian military, leaving his inexperienced wife to run the government. She turned to the advice of Rasputin and he gained an upper hand, placing his allies in positions of high power and corrupting the government. Soon Nicholas was forced to abdicate the throne and the royal family was placed under house arrest. The Russian Revolution had begun and the Bolsheviks took over. The royal family was taken to the Ipatiev House, or House of Special Purpose, at Yekaterinburg.
Life continued even for the royal family in their captivity. Anastasia and her sisters performed plays for their parents. They enjoyed the time they could get outside even though they knew their life of luxury they had was gone.
July 17, 1918…
“Get up! Now!” grunted someone.
Anastasia quickly jumped up; her sisters Olga, Tatiana, and Maria barely awake.
“What’s going on?” asked Olga.
“Get dressed!” ordered one of the guards and he turned to leave with the other guards.
The sisters looked at each other. Olga and Tatiana began to whisper to each other, as Maria cling to Anastasia. “Now?” asked Maria.
“Now,” replied Anastasia, taking a small pile of clothes. They filled out into the small hallway and found their brother, Alexei, under the eyes of their parents.
“Alexei,” Anastasia whispered calling him over to them. He squeezed through his parents and the servants to the sisters.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, looking around so no one would noticed, “What if they see and you get in trouble?”
“It’s the middle of the night,” Anastasia rolled her eyes, “They won’t notice you and Maria switched places.”
Anastasia stood in front of Maria and Alexei as they switched clothes. With everyone moving in and out of the hallway, no one saw what the children were doing. When Maria and Alexei emerged they looked no different from each other. Anastasia smiled with satisfaction. Her smile quickly disappeared when she heard her father spoke.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
The leader of the guards, Yurovsky replied, “You are being moved to a new location to ensure your safety in anticipation of the violence that might ensue when the White Army reaches Yekaterinburg.”
Anastasia saw her parents looked at each other. Her mother took Maria’s shoulder, thinking her to be Alexei. They, their servants and caregivers were taken down below into the basement. “Wait here,” Yurovsky said.
“Wait,” called Alexandra, “May we please have some chairs? For my son?”
Yurovsky nodded, and two guards brought chairs for Alexandra and Maria. Alexei stood next to Anastasia and squeezed her arm. He knew she was suddenly scared.
The guards left and all was quiet. Anastasia suddenly felt uneasy. Something was wrong, very wrong.
Minutes later, Yurovsky returned with armed men, their guns ready for combat. Anastasia held her breath. “I am to inform you, Czar Nicholas, that you and your family will now all be executed,” said Yurovsky without feeling.
“What?” Nicholas turned to his family before a bullet struck his head.
Anastasia grabbed Alexei shoulder and dragged him down as a volley of bullets flew by striking both Alexandra and Olga before they could make the sign of the cross. Thick smoke filled the room as Anastasia dragged Alexei to a corner crouched up against the wall. As Alexei cling to Anastasia, they could hear the continuum of shots and cries of the other servants. Anastasia saw Maria’s body drop in front of her. She groaned and a guard shot her in the head. Anastasia looked away, covering Alexei’s head. Only she and he were left.
The guards saw that she and Alexei were still breathing. They came closer to them, their bayonets barred as Anastasia and Alexei squeezed tighter together. They waited for the bullets to pierce their skin. But all was quiet. They heard some of the guards gasped. Anastasia looked up and saw a towering figure above her. She recognized him at once.
“Father Grigori!” Alexei breathed.
“Gentlemen,” said Rasputin, “I thank you for sparing the lives of the Princess and Alexei and sparing me the trouble of killing you all.”
Anastasia’s eyes were wide. He had addressed her as princess but Alexei only by his name. Dead or alive, this was not Father Grigori. She held Alexei tighter.
“O-orders sir?” a guard asked scared and shocked by the sudden reappearance of Rasputin.
“Shot them all!” cried Yurvosky.
Anastasia shoved Alexei down to the ground and through the heavy smoke they crawled towards the door but someone grabbed them by the collar and dragged them along.
When the smoke cleared, the guards stopped their firing. Through the mess they could not tell who was there. “Leave the bodies for now,” ordered Yurvosky, “Search the house. Make sure no one escaped especially Rasputin. His body’s not here. How the devil he survived…”
Meanwhile, Rasputin dragged Anastasia and Alexei back into the hallway. He took them into an empty bedroom, tossing Alexei aside like a doll but his hand clasped around Anastasia’s neck. “Now Princess,” he said softly, “Give your heart and open it to darkness…”
Anastasia felt a sharp pain from her chest. She couldn’t breathe and yet her body was filled with agony. It felt as if something was ripping right from her heart…there was a bright light…
Rasputin had been knocked from his feet. Anastasia dropped to the ground, the pain receding. One of the guards had found them and with a sword he said to Rasputin, “I will not let you have the Princess, Xehanort!”
He began attack Rasputin. Meanwhile, Alexei pulled at Anastasia’s arm and helped her to her feet. They backed away into a corner as the guard and Rasputin fought; the guard used his sword but Rasputin would simply move out of the way.
“You fight too well for a human, boy,” smiled Rasputin, “Far too well.” Rasputin caught the guard’s sword and Anastasia saw his eyes, an orange-red color, flash.
He broke the guard’s sword and threw him up against the wall close to Anastasia and Alexei. Rasputin then walked towards the brother and sister.
There was a glow of light and the guard was back up on his feet, but now he had wings and his hair was a piercing white. Anastasia thought he was an angel.
“An Angelus spy? I should’ve known,” remarked Rasputin. The winged guardian stepped in front of Anastasia and Alexei.
“Go now!” he told them, “Run as far away from her as you can!”
Anastasia took Alexei’s arm and ran out the bedroom, down the corridor, and out of the house. They ran through the streets, into the cold Russian air, down the road out of town and into the woods, not taking a look back, not even for a tinny glance.
When the village lights of Yekaterinburg were only tinny dots in the distance, Alexei finally collapsed. When Anastasia heard him moaned, she stopped and squatted down next to him. “What is it?” she asked.
He pointed to his leg and she left it: it was soaked with blood.
“Oh no…” cried Anastasia, “Don’t worry,” she reassured him, “We just need…” But what they need was far away and if they went back to the village, who knew what was waiting for them.
“I want Mamma,” Alexei sobbed, “I want Mamma…”
“Mamma’s…” Anastasia stopped again. Her mother was dead and now that reality was starting to sink into her heart. Papa…Mamma…Olga…Tatania…Maria…all of them were dead. She started to cry.
The noise of footsteps made her jump. She looked around left and right for the source of the noise, then someone grabbed her shoulder. She jumped again, this time punching someone in the face. There was a groan and she realized she had punched the guard that rescued them. His wings and white hair were still exposed.
He rubbed his check, “Well, you can certainly fight,” he remarked.
“Where’s Rasputin?” asked Anastasia.
“He disappeared. I’d managed to hold him off while you ran but then he suddenly vanished. He’s probably looking for you,” said the guard, “We need to get moving. Luckily we’re close to the ship.”
“Ship?” Anastasia asked curiously.
“I can’t tell you now, but you’ll see,” he reassured her with a smile. He then helped Alexei up and carried him into the woods. Anastasia followed them.
They walked in silence until Anastasia suddenly said, “That wasn’t Rasputin…was it?”
The angel looked back at her. “No…it wasn’t. Than man was an imposter who stole Rasputin’s body. He is known as Xehanort. Almost a year ago, Xehanort was one of the great protectors of the Realm. The Realm of Light,” he added when she gave him a puzzled look.
“You are…a protector of the Realm?” she asked.
He shook his head, “Not really. But I am on your side.”
“This Xehanort tried to do something to me,” she pressed her hand on her heart.
“He tried to take your heart,” he explained, “It’s a high crime to steal another person’s heart, but you’re heart is said to hold phenomenal power, as one of the Maidens of Heart.”
“Maidens of Heart?” she raised an eyebrow.
“There is a legend of a place where all hearts are born and the only way to get there is with the Maidens of Hearts, princesses of other worlds.”
“Other worlds?” Anastasia stopped and looked at the angel.
He closed his eyes and looked back at her, “Anastasia, your family is the descents of one of the original Maidens of Hearts. The Bolsheviks knew this but they were unsure of which one of the Grand Duchesses was the one. They feared that the White Army would use you against them and they couldn’t let that happen, much as Xehanort wanted to use you to get what he wants. And now, you and your brother must be hidden away so that he can’t find you.”
“To another world?” she asked breathlessly.
“Yes,” the angel nodded.
He continued to walk forward deeper into the woods and Anastasia began to follow him again. They came into a clearing and there was a strange small building, no larger than a cabin.
“Is this the ship?” Anastasia asked, “Why isn’t it on the water?”
The angel managed a quick smile, “Believe me, Princess. This is not the ship you are used to.” He pressed his hand on the ship and a door opened. He walked inside and Anastasia followed. They went down a long white hallway until they came to what looked like a small infirmary. The angel placed Alexei down on a bed.
“He’s lost some blood but I’m more concern about the clotting,” he pulled out from a locked cabinet sacks of blood, “He’ll need a transfusion, and it will put more of a clotting factor back in his blood for now at least.”
Anastasia turned away when he inserted a needle into Alexei’s arm and stuck a tube of blood from the bag inside. “He’ll be fine,” the angel reassured her, “and you need your rest.”
He took her back through the hallway to another room, a small bedroom but large enough for four beds to be fit in. Anastasia had only taken a few steps inside when the angel suddenly said, “I’m sorry. My first priority was to find and get you somewhere safe. My second was to rescue your family. I could’ve done more but…I didn’t. Forgive me,” he lowered his head in shame.
“Don’t say that,” she shook her head, “My family would’ve been grateful for what you did.”
“Thank you…Princess,” he smiled weakly and left her alone.
Anastasia took off her coat and her dress and climbed into the bed. It wasn’t her old bed she had since she was a child but it was warm and comfy. However, she would rather sleep on the floor to sleep with her sisters again. She started the cry but stopped when the angel came in the bedroom again. He no longer had his wings but his hair was still white. He brought with him a glass of water and pill container.
“So you may sleep without nightmares,” he explained.
She took them willingly and drank up her water, then looked into his eyes. “I remember you,” she said, “You were one of the newer guards. You helped carry Alexei outside and you laughed at my jokes,” she saw his ears turn red but she continued, “You helped Mama and Olga with our clothes and you left Maria flowers.”
“But those flowers were for you-” he blurted out but placed a hand over his mouth.
Anastasia looked at him and smiled, “Thank you…oh! I don’t know your name.”
“It’s hard to pronounce in your language but it’s similar to Peter,” he said.
The effects of the sleeping pill were starting to come on. “Peter…that’s lovely. Will you do me a favor…and just call me Anastasia. No one…ever called me by my title…not even the servants…” her eyes started to close.
Peter leaned closer to her and whispered as she went off to sleep, “I will…Anastasia,” and he kissed her.
FROM THE ANGELUS INTELLIGENCE FILES
June 18, 1961
It is the sixtieth anniversary of Anastasia’s birthday and the Angelus royal house is planning her jubilee party. Not much has changed since her escape from her world with her younger brother, in fact, she is still being chided for pulling her clever pranks. She is in good health for a human her age and the Queen has declared she will probably live to be a hundred and two. Alexei unfortunately died almost twenty years ago, after his long battle with hemophilia, but he left with two sons that loved him and his sister dearly.
Anastasia is still witty and ever clever, but a good listener with a kind heart and one of King and Queen’s most loyal advisors. She was very quiet when she arrived into the Angelus capitol, mostly likely from the shock of her family’s assassination, clinging to Pertokälft’s arm and tighter to her brother’s. But as soon as she met the Queen, then as a young princess, she opened up at once and the royal house has never been more prone to look over their shoulder; fear of Anastasia’s misbehavior is still showing with the older servants. She attended the Galactic Federation’s Cosmos University and graduated with a major in Education and a minor in galactic communication. She has now a son and a daughter, as well as seven grandchildren.
We have been closely watching the double of Anastasia we created on her home world. She calls herself Anna Anderson and she is playing her role exactly as we modified her. As of now, her case is currently under review and will mostly likely continue for sometime.
We have also been listening and searching for the whereabouts of Xehanort. He has not shown his face since the Romanov Assassination and he has not looked for the other princess or come after Anastasia. We currently believe he is looking for other ways to get what he wants.
In the meantime, we will continue to watch over Anastasia and her family until we receive word on Xehanort’s location.
THE STORY SO FAR…
Years ago, a brilliant man named Ansem sought to understand the nature of the heart and the influence of the darkness upon it. Fearing the darkness would overtake his world, he began to research these mysteries, hoping to find a shield against the threat. He discovered that when the heart of a being is lost to darkness, it is liberated from it’s body and swallowed. Then the darkness takes shape, becoming a creature that seeks out other hearts to steal, enveloping them in darkness and multiplying.
The Heartless
Although creatures of instinct, the Heartless can be manipulated, commanded, and artificially enhanced. Ansem discovered the Heartless were drawn to power and sought not only the hearts of individuals, but something greater- the hearts of worlds themselves!
A Visitor From Another World
One day, Ansem received a visitor. It was King Mickey from Disney Castle. Mickey had learned about the Heartless and realized the threat they posed. Should the Heartless consume a world’s heart, the boundaries between worlds would decay. They would eventually spread to others, growing and consuming, until all was lost to the darkness.
Worlds Consumed
Despite King Mickey’s warnings, the experiments continued. Now shrouded in darkness, Ansem grew in power. His world soon began to overflow with Heartless, becoming the ravaged world known as Hollow Bastion. With Ansem vanishing into the darkness, others sought to control this dark power. Using the abandoned castle in Hollow Bastion as a staging ground, a consortium of villains- the nightmare-making Oogie Boogie, the sea witch Ursula, the pirate Captain Hook, the vizier Jafar, the Lord of the Underworld Hades, and the sorceress Maleficent- used Ansem’s research to seek an even greater power, using the Heartless to break the way and discover the keys to Kingdom Hearts.
Kingdom Hearts, the Heart of All Worlds
The legendary Kingdom Hearts, the source of all light. Seven Princesses held the keys to this treasure with their pure heart, untouched by darkness, and the villains scoured and destroyed world after world to kidnap them. Alice, Belle, Aurora, Jasmine, Snow White, Cinderella and another…
The Destiny Islands and the Keybearer
One such world consumed by the Heartless, but one that would prove pivotal in the war against the darkness. Three young friends, who were about to begin a journey, were flung to strange worlds as their world was swallowed by the darkness.
A boy named Sora, stranded in the transient world of Traverse Town after the Destiny Islands was consumed, found himself the bearer of the mysterious Keyblade. This weapon could lock and unlock magical doors and free hearts from the darkness. Donald Duck and Goofy, from the court of Disney Castle, found Sora and accompanied him in search for their friend, King Mickey. The King made a second journey, looking for answers as to why the experiments on the Heartless had not ceased.
The Journey
Sora and his new friends journeyed from world to world, sealing away each world’s keyhole, saving them from the approaching darkness. Sora was briefly reunited with his friends, in the process learning that Kairi was one of the seven Princesses whose heart was needed to open Kingdom Hearts. While Riku and Sora ended up clashing, as Riku struggled with the darkness within his own heart- a darkness named Ansem. With all the pawns in place, Ansem opened the doorway to Kingdom Hearts but was defeated by Sora. To prevent the darkness from spreading, Riku and King Mickey sealed themselves on the other side of the doorway to the dark world. As the worlds consumed by the Heartless reformed, Sora and Kairi were separated again, but their hearts intertwined.
Castle Oblivion
So the heroes’ quest continued, this time to find a way to bring Riku and King Mickey home. They came upon a strange structure called Castle Oblivion, the staging base of the Organization. This shadowy group drew Sora in and, using a young girl named Naminé who has the power to manipulate memories, led Sora into their trap. As Sora progressed up each of the castle’s floors and his memories faded and twisted, Riku and King Mickey fought their way up from the castle’s basement. Sora and his friends discovered the renegade Marluxia, who sought to wrest control of the Organization. Marluxia was defeated and Naminé released from her captivity. Naminé promised to restore Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s memories as they were before they entered the Castle. But the process of restoring the chain of true memories would take a year, so the trio were sent into a deep slumber as Naminé began their recovery.
The Lost Civilization of Earth
Years before Sora’s journey, before the time of Heartless, there was a world was held above all others: Earth. This jewel of the known universe was wide and vast, with over 6 billion people, two hundred or more countries, and almost 150 language. They were known for their adept medical advances and vast growth of information but lacked in their space technology compared to the other worlds. But it was feared for it’s corruption, hatred, and one most dangerous weapon ever created; nuclear weapons. But there was still hope for Earth as is moved to a peaceful era. This planet and its people were collectively called ‘The Great Civilization of Earth’. But then an unspeakable evil invaded Earth and as it destroyed the world, the humans were forced to evacuate to the nearby planet of Mars. Only a few clusters of humans survived and they created the city of Juno. To ease with the pain and depression of losing their world, the memories of most of the survivors were modified with nanomachines. The survivors then isolated themselves from the rest of the worlds but that couldn’t even keep the Heartless away.
Another Side, Another Story…Almost a year after Sora’s journey was brought to a temporary halt, a young man from Twilight Town named Roxas began to have strange dreams of things he’s never seen before. As days went by and unexplained occurrences occurred all over town, such as the appearance of mysterious creatures in white, and a girl named Naminé, Roxas learned the truth about himself. He was a Nobody, only half a person and contained the memories and power Sora needed to be complete again. He was also formerly a member of Organization XIII, chosen due to the fact he could wield the Keyblade. Roxas finally came to terms with himself and returned to Sora to make him whole again.
The Second Journey
Sora and his friends reunited after waking up from their long slumber in the world of Twilight Town. Taking a train to the town of the great sorcerer Yen Sid, they learned that the Heartless were still running amok, but so where the Nobodies and Organization XIII. The Nobodies where beings that didn’t have hearts, what was left when a strong person lost his or her heart to the Heartless. Even though they couldn’t feel, they were more powerful and could think on their own than the Heartless. After getting some new clothes, Sora, Donald and Goofy continued their journey, this time to find Riku and the King.
The Second Battle at Kingdom Hearts
As Sora and the others fought with the Heartless and Nobodies, Kairi who was still on the Destiny Islands had been sought out by Axel, a member of Organization XIII. She made her escape to Twilight Town, only to be found again. Sora headed into the realm of darkness with King Mickey, after hearing Kairi had been capture by the Organization and Riku might be somewhere near. Together, they fought off the members of the Organization, and Sora finally was able to reunite with Riku and Kairi. They managed to find Xemnas, leader of the Organization, who was really the Nobody of Ansem the Wise’s apprentice, Xehanort. Xehanort was responsible for creating the Heartless and then stealing his master’s research as well as his name. It was his Heartless that took over Riku and was responsible for everything that had happened. In the end, they were able to defeat Xemnas and Sora and Riku could go home as peace was restored to the worlds, or so they thought…
The Juno City Crisis and Birth by Sleep
Unaffected by the events happening on the outside world, the citizens of Juno City continued with their daily lives, with the exception of the Heartless outside the city walls. Grace Porter, an orphan of the city, is the only one that dares to go outside, but her dreams of a battle with three knights troubles her. She believes in the existence of other worlds, and wants to find a way out of the isolated city. Little do she know, the leader of the city, known as the Commander, has been looking for her to help start a war with the forces of Darkness. As the Commander got closer to find Grace, her friends began to unveil a mystery that would soon have them rebelling against everything they thought to be true. When the city lights go out and the Heartless invade, Grace was captured and her friends had to rescue her. It took the help of some unexpected allies to get her back, including the pirates Balthier and Fran, ex-Organization members Axel and Xigbar, and the Commander’s daughters Anemone and Clarise. They discover that Grace dream is actually an event from the past: the end of the last war that is now starting up again. When they escape to the outside world, they must now find Sora and face the forces of darkness…
A corridor of darkness opened in the Realm of Twilight. Two men stepped out before the gate closed; one, a man with dull brown hair and powerful eyes hidden behind glasses taking the lead, the second, a lean, tall man, with a firm muscular tone, a solider but with a soften face. The path before them was barren and covered with something like snow, but before they was a mighty fortress. It stood out in all angles with rooms sticking out with no reason as well as the floors beneath it. It looked as if it was floating in midair. The second man stared at it perplexed as if it was something he had never seen before.
The leader, the Commander, continued to proceed forward.
“Mr. David,” he called, “Please come along.”
David nodded and followed the Commander to the castle. They reached the door and when David stepped inside a white hallway, he felt an ominous presence in the air. They climbed a small flight of stairs and went deeper inside.
The Commander and David walked down the almost endless corridor of white with its many doors. After passing what seemed to be the hundredth door, David asked, “Sir, what is this place?”
The Commander smiled. “It is a special castle…a very special castle,” he glanced back at David, “I believe you have been briefed on it before, have you not?”
David stopped and wildly looked around. “Then, this is-”
“Oh do not worry Mr. David,” the Commander continued to smile, “The girl with the sketchpad is no longer here to jumble our memories. Only one person lives here now.”
David continued to follow the Commander up a flight of stairs. “One of the Order? But I thought, even Roxas and that man Axel-”
“Contradictory to its name, Xemnas’s Order did not have thirteen members, but rather, fourteen. She was never truly inducted into the Organization and Xemnas sent her here for safekeeping, if his plans to build a Kingdom Hearts ever failed,” explained the Commander, grasping the handle of a door at the top of the stairs, “I’ve been told by Intelligence she’s as powerful as the Mouse.”
“But you could handle the Dreamer. Why do you need me?” asked David.
The Commander opened the door, “A maiden needs her handler.”
They stepped inside another room of white. An ivory table had been turned over, books laid scattered across the floor, tattered and ripped to pieces, and specks of blood dotted the walls. David saw a mass of black, crouching in the corner. He saw the lower part of a face look up when they entered the room. It looked as if the figure had gasped, but the expression turned to disappointment, then anger.
“Who are you?” the figure stood up, “Leave at once!”
Even without seeing her face, David could tell it was a girl by her pale bright lips.
The Commander took a step forward. “My dear, we have come to liberate you and take you from this place,” he said calmly, holding out his hand.
“No! I cannot leave until my Master returns!” shouted the girl, her temper rising.
“You’re master is dead,” explained the Commander.
“You lie! I’ll hang you by your tongue for such deception!” screamed the girl, as she clenched her fist.
“Believe what you will,” sighed the Commander, “You’re still coming with us. But wouldn’t you think, that surely by now, Master Xemnas would come back for you?”
The girl clenched her fist tighter. “So! It was you! I’ll kill you for what you did!” The girl then disappeared.
“Can you sense her?” asked the Commander to David.
“Yes,” he replied, “She’s going fast, but I can still feel her presence.”
“Good,” said the Commander, “Then she must be low on her supply.”
“Supply?” asked David.
“Do you not recall you’re briefing?” the Commander raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, you said I had to give-” David stopped, “Yes, of course…” His head then jerked up. The girl was planning an attack. In a flash he grabbed her arm in a fraction of a second and she reappeared.
“Hold her!” ordered the Commander. David gripped his grasp on the girl’s arms as she struggled to break free. Her hood went back and her long black hair whacked his face. The Commander pulled out a small dagger from his jacket and pulling the girl’s glove off her hand, pressed the blade against her bare skin. The girl ceased to struggle, and instead began to tremble with fear.
“So you know what this is?” grinned the Commander, “A Twilit Blade. When used against a human, this dagger is very ineffective. But when used on a Nobody…well, that’s when things change. A special molecule from the blade if it gets into the Nobody’s blood stream acts as a poison. I’ve been told they die within minutes. Even the touch of the Twilit Blade is known to make a Nobody weak.” He pressed the blade harder against the girl’s skin and she gave out a cry of pain.
“Now, little Teresa,” he whispered into the girl’s ear, “Will you listen to me and follow my orders?”
The girl glared at him, but nodded, as she had no other choice but death. The Commander removed the blade, and the girl slumped back into David’s arms. She collapsed to her knees, but for some reason or another, held on to David.
“The one who killed your master, was the Key Bearer,” the Commander said to the girl.
“Sora? That brat? I’ll skin the flesh from his bones by his own blade and drink his blood from his skull!” she vowed.
“Yes, yes, lots of violence…but right now you’re very weak. Your low on you’re supplies after being locked up here for so long,” said the Commander, “You won’t make it out of this castle without it. David will help with that. He’s going to be your guardian and you’ll listen to me as you listen to me. Follow our instructions and no harm will come to you. Do you understand?”
The girl nodded again reluctantly.
“Good girl,” remarked the Commander, who then nodded to David.
David unbuttoned his shirt from his right arm and held it out to the girl. She looked up at him surprised. He saw loneliness and sadness in her eyes; poor thing, he thought, locked up in this castle with no one to talk to for so long. He knew what that loneliness felt like.
“I’m sorry,” girl said, bringing David out of his thoughts.
David smiled at her reassuringly, “It’s alright. I’ve had worse.”
The girl gave him a small smile, taking his arm, and biting into his veins, sucking his blood.
When she was done, she collapsed back into David’s arms. He quickly put a patch over his arm and the Commander wiped the blood from the girl’s face. “That was quite easy,” he smirked, “Don’t you agree?”
David nodded and then picked the girl. She was like a very large doll in his arms.
“Now we can begin with Phase Two,” smiled the Commander.
“Phase Two?” David asked.
“Yes, but it is nothing to worry about, for now,” the Commander walked out of the room, David carrying the girl behind him.
She breathed heavily; her heart was racing. Don’t give yourself away! She could hear Matti’s breathing. Like he wasn’t enough of a dead give away.
She swung hard and heard him give a small cry as he got out of the way. She grinned; she had him now. She swung once, twice, three times and he fell to the ground. She pointed his weapon at him and removed her blindfold.
Matti removed his. “Why do you have to beat me every time, Grace?” he asked as she helped him up.
There had been fighting with blindfolds in the clock tower, Balthier overseeing their work. The clock tower of Twilight Town was their hiding space for two weeks now and everyday Balthier would train Grace for the Keyblade. Despite her steady progress with using the Keyblade, she could’ve had a better sparing partner. Matti was good, but he was no match for Grace’s inhuman speed.
“Good,” remarked Balthier, “Watch your guard.”
“I don’t need to watch my guard with him,” Grace remarked.
“You would if I fought you,” Balthier said.
Grace gave him a look, “Is that a challenge?”
“Perhaps,” Balthier gestured for Matti to give him his weapon, “But it won’t be for me.”
Matti got as far away from them as he could. He had a gut feeling this was going to be something he wanted to get out of the way. Balthier raised his weapon and Grace gripped hers tighter. She had never seen Balthier raise a sword, but she figured he was a force to be reckoned with.
Balthier gestured with his figures ‘come at me’. She was more than happy to oblige. She ran in and jumped, her weapon held high. He grinned and…vanished before she could blink. She dropped and looked wildly around. He was no where to be seen.
Grace heard him behind her; she tried to get out of the way but it was too late. She was thrown off her feet and somersaulted twice before she was back on top. She heard him again but this time, his weapon was at her throat. She breathed heavily and looked up at him. “The Chasers wore powerful magical armor in their last battle with Xehanort. Even then, that armor was pierced, broken, and shattered. You would never stand a chance against him. He would kill you before you blinked,” Balthier lowered his weapon, “It was only pure luck that Sora beat him. You’re strong, but you’re not ready to be a Chaser. You’re not even passable.”
Grace lowered her head in shame.
“But…” Balthier added in an attempt to cheer her up, “You’re getting better.” He turned away and left the room.
Matti had a look of awestruck on his face. “If he’s that good,” he looked at where Balthier once was, “Why isn’t he a Chaser?”
Grace shrugged and walked out of the room. After a quick shower, she went into the girls’ sleep room. Most of the gang was already there. Ling and Tai sat on a bed reading spell books. Mitch was in a corner, her eyes closed, in a trance. Lucy was writing in her diary, but her pages were very blank. Matti was polishing his sword. Anemone was fixing her hair. Clarise was reading a book. Joey and Margot were on another bed, Joey inserting a contact lens into Margot’s eyes.
“How’s that?” he asked.
Margot blinked. “Better,” she said, “But I think the green and the blue is still a little off.”
Grace couldn’t help but smile. Joey had managed to give Margot sight, despite the limited sources that he had. He was now correcting her eyesight with contact lenses until he could get a better eye laser.
“It’ll have to do for now,” he sighed.
Matti rolled on the bed, “I’m bored.”
“Me too,” Lucy sighed.
“So am I,” Anemone put down her comb.
Grace stared out the clock tower window. The sky was a color of orange, reds, and yellows; a result of the petrified sunset. The breeze was a calm warm that blew down into the town below. She could hear the crowds below and the trains as they went on their daily course through the town.
“How long have we’ve been here?” Grace asked.
“Two weeks,” replied Joey.
“So, why haven’t we been allowed outside the clock tower?” she asked.
“Um…” Joey wracked his brains, trying to find an answer.
“Because Balthier said so!” Lucy raised her hand.
“And you think that’s a legitimate reason? Because he said so?” Grace raised an eyebrow, “I think its about time we see the town.”
“But there could be numerous diseases out there that could kill us within a heartbeat!” Joey exclaimed.
“Yeah, and Sora got sick every time he went somewhere? Right,” Grace rolled her eyes.
“But, there could be something dangerous out there!” said Lucy.
“What’s more dangerous than the Heartless?” Grace asked.
“Nobodies,” Mitch opened one eye.
She had Grace there. “True…but would you really expect them in a place like this? Besides,” she looked out the window, “I feel like something out there…is calling me. I have to know what it is!” she climbed out the window.
“Are you serious?!” Anemone glared at where she once was, “If she isn’t sneak out of Juno, she’s sneaking out of here. Well I’m not staying around to explain how she sneaked off!” Anemone jumped out the window after Grace.
“Gracey…” Tai cried and climbed out after her.
Ling sighed and turned to Mitch. “Better go after them,” she said.
Mitch nodded and got up off the bed and climbed out the window with Ling.
“Hey! Guys! I know I got my coffee date and all but-! Ohh!” Lucy climbed out the window.
Clarise turned to Joey and Matti, shrugged and climbed out the window.
“Clarise!” Matti called after her and climbed out the window too.
Margot darted forward and with a smile at Joey, went after them. Joey looked around the room and saw he was the only one left. “Man…” he sighed and taking his laptop climbed out the window into Twilight Town.
Grace had tied a rope to the window and climbed her way down to the patio of the train station entrance. She jumped off and caught Tai as he climbed down. She then walked over to the rise overlooking the town. It was a magnificent view of the all the streets and houses with the sun gleaming in the distance.
Tai climbed up on the ledge. “Wow,” he beamed, “It’s pretty. It looks like it’ll go on forever!”
“Sure does,” smiled Grace.
“Come on!” called Ling, “I’m all excited to go!”
“Yeah, yeah!” Grace rolled her eyes and Tai took her hand, as they walked down the hill into the town. The streets were beginning to fill with life as people began to open up their shops by the eight o’clock hour. She could smell all sorts of new things, and saw thing not usually seen in Juno City. She couldn’t help but break out in to song.
“Little town, it’s a quiet village
Every day, like the one before
Little town, full of little people
Waking up to say... “
As customers lined up at stores, the owners greeted them.
“Hello!”
“Hello!”
“Hello!”
“There goes the baker with his tray like always
The same old bread and rolls to sell
Every morning just the same
Since the morning that we came
To this sunny little town...”
The baker noticed the group and greeted, “Good morning!”
“Good morning sir,” replied Grace.
“Don’t see that many youngsters out so early. So what can I get for you? I’m having a sale on all my loaves today! Fresh from the oven!”
“Sure, we’ll take some of the white bread and a few pastries too,” Grace placed her order.
“Do you have any baguettes?” asked Clarise.
“Ugh!” Anemone made a face, “All those carbs!”
“Of course we do!” replied the baker, then turned back to the oven, “Marie! The baguettes! Hurry up!”
“What should we do next?” Grace asked as she handed Tai a piece of fresh bread.
“Let’s find the coffee shop!” suggested Lucy.
“A department store would be nice,” said Anemone.
“Well we still got a lot of time before anyone notices we’re gone,” Grace winked and took off.
The gang grabbed a lift on the trolley as it stopped.
“Hello!” said the driver.
“Good day!” said a woman.
“How is your family?” asked the driver.
Grace saw as the trolley began to move a promiscuous woman and a merchant.
“Hello!” greeted the woman.
“Good day!” said the merchant, oddly distracted by the woman’s large chest size, however his wife noticed and smacked him over the head.
“How is your wife?” the woman suppressed a laugh.
“I need six eggs!” cried a woman from the market.
“That’s too expensive,” sighed a man.
“There must be more than this provincial life!” Grace jumped off the tram, noticing a bookstore.
“Hello!” greeted the bookkeeper when she walked in.
“Good morning!” smiled Grace.
“Looking for something in particular?” he asked.
“Not exactly!” Grace climbed up the ladder and slide down the shelves looking for something to stand out, “How about…this one?”
“Good choice! It’s a best seller!” remarked the bookkeeper.
“I know!” said Grace, “I’ve read it twice! It’s one of my favorites! Far off places, daring swordfights, magic spells, a prince in disguise!”
The bookkeeper began to laugh, “Well, if you like it all that much, it’s yours!”
“But sir!”
“I insisted!” the man pressed the book into her hands.
“Well thank you. Thank you very much!” Grace waved with the book in her hand and left the store.
A few men noticed Grace as she left the bookstore already reading the book.
“Look there she goes
That girl is so peculiar!
I wonder if she’s feeling well!”
“With a dreamy far-off look!” sang a few women.
“And her nose stuck in a book!” the men sang.
“What a puzzle to the rest of us is Grace!” Anemone sang in.
Grace sat down at a fountain, Tai sitting next to her, as she showed him her book.
“Oh! Isn’t this amazing!
It’s my favorite part because, you’ll see!
Here’s where she meets Prince Charming
But she won’t discover that it’s him ‘til chapter three!”
“Now it’s no wonder that her name means ‘graceful’
Her looks have got no parallel!” remarked Clarise.
“But behind that fair facade
I’m afraid she’s rather odd
Very different from the rest of us...” sang Anemone. Clarise frowned at her.
At the far end of the street from the residential area, a group of four older teenagers came onto the main street. One of them was a boy, a scar on his face, his hair hidden underneath a knitted cap. He was followed by a darker skinned boy with large muscles and a lanky girl with red eyes and gray hair, rounded my by a small person in a hat bigger than his head. This was Seifer’s gang.
“Wow! You didn’t miss a shot, Seifer! You’re the greatest Struggler in the whole world, y’know?” said the dark skinned boy, Rai.
“I know!” smiled Seifer.
“No one alive stands a chance against you...except…y’know-”
“Don’t say his name!” Seifer’s eyes flashed to Rai, “Now,” he looked towards Anemone and Clarise, “What do you say about those two girls?”
“Which?” asked the girl, Fuu.
“Either one! Rai can get the other,” smirked Seifer.
Meanwhile, Anemone said, “I want to go shopping!”
“But you just go all new clothes that Balthier bought you,” frowned Clarise.
“True, true, but I have no accessories to go with them,” explained Anemone. She wandered over to the jewelry shop. Her eyes possibly spotted the most expensive thing there. “How much for this?” she pointed to a silver charm with a moon and stars on it.
Jessie, the clerk smiled, “That…is out of your price range sweetheart.”
“Come on,” Anemone rolled her eyes, “It can’t be that expensive.”
“But it is!” Jessie waved her finger, “It’s a one of a kind thing and there’s only one way to make them. But if you insist…it’ll be 20000 Munny.”
Almost everyone’s jaw dropped then and there, but Anemone pulled out her purse, “So that will be about 200 dollars in US currency, which I have plenty of…”
“Sorry,” Jessie continued to smile, “We only accept Munny; no other forms of currency, no credit cards, unless they’re GF Discovery, and absolutely no person checks. Have a nice day!”
Anemone slammed her head down on the booth, “What the-?!” She then looked at the others.
“Sorry, but I don’t think we have that enough Munny on us combined,” remarked Joey.
“You losers suck!” Anemone screamed with furry.
“I’ll pay for it,” someone said. Everyone looked to see who had said it.
A group of three kids had appeared: one the leader, had blond hair and was wearing cameo shorts with a skull tank top; a girl with brown hair and an orange top; and the boy who had volunteer to pay for the necklace had black fluffy hair and a red shirt that said ‘Dog Street’.
“Pence, are you sure you have enough?” asked the leader.
“Of course I do, Hanyer!” smiled Pence, “Besides, I can’t let a beautiful maiden be in such distress!”
“Pence…” sighed the girl.
Grace raised an eyebrow, “Beautiful maiden?”
“Oh! You’re my hero!” cheered Anemone.
Hanyer rolled his eyes then turned to the gang, “You guys are new around here right? We haven’t had any new visitors here in quite some time. What brings you to town?”
“We’re just visiting,” said Grace. It was true enough; they weren’t sure how long they were going to be there.
“I see,” said Hayner, “if you want Munny,” he added, “you might want to get a job.”
“There are plenty of jobs around town,” said the girl, “They might not pay much, but they’re easy to do and could add up to a lot if you do enough.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” said Ling.
“If you’re interested they on the bulleted board,” Hayner pointed out.
Pence gave Anemone the necklace.
“Oh thank you so much!” Anemone said gratefully, “I really don’t know how to repay you…”
“Just tell me your name princess and that will be payment enough!” Pence said romantically.
“It’s Anemone,” she replied.
“Anemone! How fitting for a beautiful girl such as thee! I shall not forget you!” Pence waved good bye.
“How sweet…” smiled Clarise.
“What are you going on about?” glared Anemone.
“He’s head over heals in love with you, or haven’t you noticed?” asked Mitch.
“Nuhah!” Anemone shook her head.
“If you ask me, he has it bad,” Matti remarked.
“The poor dear,” said Grace.
“Oh so what! Guys drooled over me all the time. And don’t you get started Porter or shall we talk about your romance experience?”
“I really don’t care about what you say about my ‘romance experience’,” said Grace, “So, what to check out these jobs?”
They wandered over to the job board and looked over the list of jobs available.
“Let’s see,” Grace looked over the list, “We got Mail Delivery, Cargo Climb, Grandstander-”
“That sounds interesting,” said Ling, “What is it?”
“Sounds like you have to keep a ball in the air for as long as you can without letting it touch the ground. The longer you can keep it up, the more you get paid. Can you do that?” Grace asked.
“Of course! Who doesn’t like magic?” Ling winked and ran off.
“Any thing else?” Matti asked.
“Poster Duty, Bumble-Buster, and Junk Sweep,” said Grace.
“I want to do Bumble-Buster,” Margot raised her hand.
“Not alone,” said Matti, “I’m going with you.”
“Okay,” Margot took his hand and they walked away.
“Junk Sweep sounds peculiar. I think I’ll take that,” said Joey.
“I claim Cargo Climb,” said Mitch.
“Are you sure you can do it?” asked Grace.
Mitch flashed her eyes with a grin, “Of course I can,” and walked off.
“We’ll do Mail Delivery!” Clarise raised Anemone’s hand.
“Are you serious? Manual labor?” Anemone raised an eyebrow.
“Come on! This will be fun!” Clarise took Anemone’s hand and led the way.
Grace turned to Tai. “I guess that leaves us with Poster Duty. What about you Lucy?”
“I…have to do something. I’ll catch up with you guys later!” Lucy smiled and ran off. She turned back up the street and found the coffee shop she had spotted on the way.
“I don’t see him,” she said looking around at the café.
Someone tapped on Lucy shoulder, causing her to jump.
“Gee wiz! You want me to get caught?”
Lucy turned around and saw Demyx standing next to her. He was out of his Organization uniform, wearing torn jeans and a T-shirt with Jimmy Hendrix on it. He was also wearing glasses. If Lucy wouldn’t known he was really in disguise, she would though of him to be an ordinary guy.
“My God, De-”
He put his finger on her lips. She realized she’d almost said his name aloud.
“Danny,” he said, “My name’s Danny.” He winked at her.
“Danny,” she repeated, “What’s with your outfit? And glasses?”
Demyx smirked, “We’re not well known here, but it pays to be safe. As for the glasses, they’re fake. That’s the genius of my disguise. Have you ever seen a rocker like me wear glasses?”
“No,” Lucy shook her head as they sat down at a table, “How did you find me?”
Demyx looked to make sure no one else was listening. “Your scent,” he explained, “and your power level. Humans, Heartless, and Nobodies have different scents, as well as power levels. Usually, Humans have a lower power level, but yours is a little bit higher than normal. And it’s easy to distinct a Princess.”
Lucy looked at him, then looked away. “I don’t want to be a princess,” she said sadly, “How can I be a princess when my country’s gone? How can I be a princess when I have no family left and no one to teach me? How can I even be strong?”
“You are strong,” said Demyx, “Stronger than you think. And you have your friends. And you got me.”
Lucy looked up at him. “How can I trust you?” she blurted out, “I barely know you, let alone, you’re…an…you know!”
Demyx thought about it for a moment, then said, “Unusually when people are rescued, they can trust their rescuers, but you’re right: how can you trust me? Only time will tell, so I can’t prove it to you now. Just know…I never wanted to be what I am either, nor did I wanted to be one of them, or fight Sora. I just wanted to be cured…” he looked at her.
Lucy looked at him and then took his hand. They smiled at each other and didn’t let go until the waitresses stopped by to take their order.
************************************************************************
As Lucy and Demyx had their coffee date, the others got to work on their jobs. Ling entertained a crowd of people by juggling a ball in the air and with her magic fans in the Station Heights corridor. Up the street, Mitch entertained another large crowd as she hauled several large crates up the hill with simply the push of the finger.
In the tram comm, Matti and Margot got started getting rid of bees in the one corner. Matti whacked a swarm of bees to his left, then another to his right, but he missed the swarm behind him, but Margot took care of them by smacking hard with her weapon.
“Nice shot!” Matti gave her thumbs up.
She smiled and returned the thumbs up.
Across the street, Joey had made several robots out of junk scraps to help him with clearing away the piles. Anemone and Clarise got ready to do their mail run nearby.
“You can have the hover board,” said Clarise, handing her the white board that looked like a skateboard without wheels.
“This piece of junk?” asked Anemone, looking at it.
“Would you rather run? Besides, I can run faster,” remarked Clarise.
“Fine, fine, I’ll take this,” Anemone jumped on and zoomed away.
Meanwhile, Grace and Tai had started their tasks of putting up posters all over town for the upcoming Struggle tournament.
“You know,” said Tai, as he helped put up a poster, “The more I look at these posters, the more curious I am about this Struggle thing.”
“Me too,” said Grace, “but you’re too young. The poster says you have to be at least thirteen to enter. But we can still check it out when we’re done.”
“Yay! Let’s go!” he grabbed the rest of the posters and began to place them in odd places he could reach.
As soon as they were finished putting posters up and returned from their pay, Grace and Tai walked into the Sandlot. It was a large area enclosed by the back of several houses. A platform stood in the middle and banners for the Struggle tournament hung around the buildings.
“Hello?” Grace called but no one replied.
“Hey!”
Grace heard someone call behind her and saw Clarise and Anemone. Meanwhile, Seifer and his gang had entered the Sandlot and Seifer wasn’t too happy a couple of ‘outsiders’ were in his space.
“Yo! You punks! What are you doing here?” questioned Seifer.
“This is our turf, y’know?” said Rai.
“Excuse me, but I don’t see a sign,” said Anemone.
Seifer’s expression changed almost at once when he saw Clarise and Anemone. “Excuse me, but we’re the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee and no outsiders are welcomed here! But, if you were to be my girlfriend, I might let the punishment slide,” he held out his hand to Clarise, but she backed away.
Matti suddenly appeared out of nowhere with Margot beside him and whacked Seifer’s arm around. “I don’t know who the hell made you part of a committee, punk, but don’t touch my girl.”
Seifer pushed Matti away into Margot and grinned, “So she’s your girl? There’s still another one of interest,” he eyes landed on Anemone.
She turned away with a frown, “Sorry, but I don’t go out with delinquents.”
“Too bad, sweetheart,” he reached for her arm or something else, when someone suddenly knocked him down.
It was Pence. “Don’t you dare touch Miss Anemone like that! You hear me!” Pence was about to punch Seifer in the face until Rai and Fuu pulled him off and toss him aside.
Hayner rushed to Pence and whispered to him, “Calm down!” then turned to Seifer, “I don’t know what your problem is Seifer, but that’s no way to treat a girl! Even you would have some sort of dignity but ever since you lost to him, your attitude’s been ticking me off!”
“He’s not the only one!” muttered Pence, but the girl held him back. Pence then turned to Anemone, “Are you alright, Miss Anemone? He didn’t hurt you did he?”
Anemone shook her head and said, almost awkwardly, “Thank you.”
Grace asked the girl next to Pence, “Who is he? This Seifer guy?”
“Seifer’s part of the so called ‘Disciplinary Committee’. It just means he gets to boss people around. He does a lot of talking but he’s pretty powerful. He was the Struggle Champion, that was until he was beaten a couple months ago,” explained the girl, “I’m Olette by the way. And you?”
“Grace Porter. Nice to meet you.” She shook Olette’s hand.
“Seifer,” Grace heard Hayner call to Seifer, “Let’s settle this the old fashion way.” Hayner grabbed a club from a basket and pointed it at Seifer.
Seifer started to grin and took a club as well, “I’m going to kick your ass!”
“Bring it on!” Hayner shouted then looked at Olette and nodded. She nodded back.
“What’s going on?” Grace asked.
“It’s Struggle time!” she winked. As she took to the stage, Hayner and Seifer each grabbed a helmet and a vest. They were both covered with Velcro with balls sticking to the helmet and vest. They walked on stage and faced each other.
“Read the rules Olette!” said Hayner.
“Unofficial match 54: Finalist Seifer vs. Finalist Hayner! This is an unofficial match and as such will not be reflective upon tournament scores. However, each Struggler may wager a bet at this time. Strugglers please make any wagers now or we will continue to proceed,” said Olette.
“If I lose,” said Seifer aloud, so that everyone could hear clearly, “I will let the punishment slide and will not go on a date with ‘pink hair’. If I win, I get a date.”
“Challenger Hayner? Do you have any requests?” asked Olette.
“If I lose, Seifer gets the girl. If not, we all leave happily, got it?” Hayner made his wager.
“The Strugglers have made their wagers. We will now proceed. The object of the Struggle match is to collect as many balls as possible within one minute! You can collect balls when you strike the opponent and pick up theirs, however, you may lose balls if you are struck and cannot retrieve your balls. The person who has the most balls at the end of time called wins the match! You may also win if the opponent forfeits, falls out of the boundary line, or you collect all the balls. It there is an equal amount of balls on each player, there will be a redo! Strugglers! Are you ready?” asked Olette.
Hayner and Seifer went into a guard.
“Then let’s get ready to…”
“Struggle!” shouted Pence and Olette.
A buzzer went off somewhere and Hayner and Seifer clashed.
Grace could now see why everyone was so into Struggle; it was like watching two swordsmen fight, only twice as cool. The Strugglers might have been wearing Velcro, but the balls sticking to it was loose, that even if you were hit once, five or six balls went flying off. You could just run around and dodge attacks but that wasn’t the way to win. All a Struggler needed was one more ball and keep it on for the rest of the match, and victory was his. But the Strugglers were also playing against the clock, but so much could happen in one minute that could turn the tide of the match.
Grace watched as Hayner was struck with a Struggle club and lost a few of his balls. He managed to pick them all up again and get back to dodging an attack, but Grace could see that he and Seifer were evenly matched. The clock had reached thirty by now and Hayner was on the offensive. Things looked good for him; he was up by ten or more balls. Then Grace saw Seifer’s eyes flash and gear up for a counter. Hayner didn’t see it coming. He was thrown into the air, all of his balls falling off. Hayner got back on his feet and tried to collect as many balls he could but it was too late. Seifer had more than enough to win the match.
A buzzer went off to signal the end of the match. Olette raised her hand for time. “The winner…is Seifer.”
Seifer took off his hat and grinned, “Told you I’d kick your ass.”
Hayner threw his Struggle club down angrily as Seifer went on, “There’s no one in this town who could beat me!”
“Wait!” Grace picked up the Struggle club Hayner had tossed away, “You still got one more contender: me.”
All the Twilight Town kids were staring at her, but Matti, Clarise, Margot, and even Anemone managed a smile.
“What are you doing?” asked Hayner, “Are you nuts?”
“I know the rules,” snapped Grace, “Give me your helmet.”
“This has nothing to do with the rules!” he hissed.
“I won’t lose,” Grace said firmly and put on the helmet and vest.
“You best step down, girl. You’re going up against the best and I’m not holding back for nothin’,” said Seifer.
Grace stared into his eyes, “I don’t want you to hold back.” She then nodded to Olette.
“Oh God…” she heard Olette mutter, “Unofficial match 55: Finalist Seifer vs. Challenger Grace! This is an unofficial match and as such will not be reflective upon tournament scores. However, each Struggler may wager a bet at this time. Strugglers please make any wagers now or we will continue to proceed.”
“Same as before,” replied Seifer.
“Challenger Grace? Any requests?” asked Olette.
“Same as Hayner’s, except if I lose, you get to go on a date with me as well,” said Grace.
“The Strugglers have made their wagers. We will now proceed. Strugglers, you know the rules. Are you ready?” asked Olette.
Grace gripped the Struggle club.
“Then let’s…”
“STRUGGLE!” screamed the group of kids.
The buzzer went off; the match began.
“Kneel, loser!” taunted Seifer and he came in for a combo attack. Grace dodged and went in for a counter. She struck him a couple of times and knocked off a few balls. She collected what she can.
“All right,” she thought, “Now, I just have to make sure he doesn’t hit me and keep far enough away so he doesn’t get the chance, and I’ll win by default.”
Grace glared at him. He rolled his eyes.
“Come on! Quit playing around and fight!” he jumped back then leaped into the air, coming in for a diving attack.
“He’s right!” Grace gripped the handle of the club, “I’ve got to fight!” She swung the club back and slammed it into his stomach. The club knocked out of Seifer’s hand and he went flying. He slammed to the ground hard outside the ring. He looked up at Grace, who now stood over his club. He clenched his fist admitting defeat.
“And the winner is by knockout Grace!” Olette cheered.
Grace took off her helmet as everyone gathered around her to congratulate her. Anemone was the only one who didn’t have a lot to say. “You know, this is what? The second time you’ve saved my life?” she remarked, “I hate being in…your…whatever…how…can-”
“You ever repay me for what I did?” Grace finished the sentence for her, “Well for starters you could not say anything insulting to me for a day.”
“That’s doable,” shrugged Anemone.
Meanwhile, Hayner was taunted Seifer for a change, “That took? What? Thirty seconds to beat you?”
“Seifer’s not feeling hot, y’know?” reasoned Rai.
“Tournament decides,” agreed Fuu.
“Aww, he doesn’t want to admit he got his ass kicked by a girl!” taunted Matti.
“Shut up!” Seifer fumed, and shrugged Rai and Fuu away, but looked at Grace, “You’re as good as him…the only one that beat me…”
“Who?” she asked.
“He’s on the board,” Seifer nodded his head in the direction of a sign of all the tournament winners. When Grace looked back, he and his gang had already gotten up and left.
Grace and the others looked up at the board. “I can’t read it,” said Grace as she squinted to make it out, “I think it looks like Japanese kanji.”
Tai climbed up on Grace to get a better look. “It’s something similar. I can translate it. Okay…sore…ah…Sora!”
“What?” Grace jumped knocking Tai over, “He was here?”
“You guys know Sora?” asked Pence.
“Sort of,” replied Clarise, “How do you guys know him?”
“We met him a while back,” explained Hayner, “He was looking for someone named the King and Riku.”
“When did you see him last?” asked Margot.
“Two or three months ago,” said Olette, “He went to find Kairi when she got kidnapped.”
“Kairi?” Grace raised an eyebrow.
“His girl, I guess,” said Hayner, “Some guy in a black coat got her and took her away. He went after her and that’s the last we saw him.”
“And where was that?” Grace asked.
"BUT TO THOSE A HUMAN FORM DISPLAYS
FOR THOSE WHO DREAM IN REALMS OF DAY.” WILLIAM BLAKE
[/I][/CENTER]FOR THOSE WHO DREAM IN REALMS OF DAY.” WILLIAM BLAKE
Almost a century ago, the royal Russian family was massacred after the Communist takeover. Almost eighty years later, their remains were found, but two bodies were missing: the youngest daughter of Nicholas the Second, Anastasia and her brother, the crown prince, Alexei. They were murder not only out of fear of allied support of the “White Army” but out of fear for their power that linked them to the fabled “Eight Princess of Hearts” whose powers rivaled that of a legendary hero. Their descendents are believed to be still living today…
Several months after the events of Kingdom Hearts II, two weeks after KH2.9, Balthier has taken the group to the quiescent village of Twilight Town, but has forbidden the kids to go outside. Of course, Grace can’t keep cooped for long and decides to explore the town. But after breaking into a rundown mansion on the outside of town gets Grace’s team in even deeper trouble, it’s time to pay a visit to the Keyblade Master. But the visit doesn’t go to well when the Commander appears to recapture Grace.
As the war looms on the horizon, the Keyblade Master and his allies prepare for war, which means a trip back to all the familiar worlds. But what’s more at stake is the relevance of the mysteries from the past, that just seem to raise even more questions. As for the usual life of a teenager, love blossoms in more than one way: Sora and Kairi get closer, while Roxas and Grace admit their love for each other. Joey discovers Naminé, Lucy and Demyx have their coffee date, and even Anemone finds love! But only one thing can break apart the happy couples as well as peace: Xehanort.
From the world of pirates to a world where nothing is impossible, Kingdom Hearts is about to take you on the most thrilling adventure yet!
Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova was the youngest daughter of Nicolas II, czar of Russia. She and her sisters were raised as simply as possibly and her title ‘Her Imperial Highness’ was rarely used. She was a vivacious and energetic child, short and inclined to be cubby, with the trademark Romanova eyes and reddish-blonde hair. She was known to be gifted and bright, lively, mischievous, and a gifted actress. She and her sisters, Olga, Tatiana, and Maria sometimes signed their names with their initials, OTMA.
Anastasia’s younger brother, Alexei, suffered from hemophilia, meaning that Alexei’s had a lower than normal blood clotting factor and would have frequent attacks of bleeding and blood pooling in his joints. He was not expected to live into adulthood. Anastasia’s mother, Alexandra was frantic over her son. This was when Grigori Rasputin came into view.
A drunk that was given a message from God, Father Grigori came to Alexandra and Alexei during one of Alexei’s attacks. After receiving a telegram declaring that Alexei would not die, Alexei recovered. Alexandra listened to every word Rasputin said. Rasputin grew close to the royal family, perhaps too close. One of the sisters’ governess was shocked and offended by what Rasputin could get away with and was eventually dismissed by Alexandra. The governess took her concerns to other members of the family, as speculation of Raspitin grew wilder. Nicholas eventually ordered Rasputin to leave. Rasputin was murdered on December 17, 1916. The strangest thing concerning his murder was he was poisoned, then shot, then beaten and his body thrown into the river. Autopsies would show he died from drowning.
However, Rasputin had left his mark on the Russian government. When World War I started, Nicholas attempted to take over the Russian military, leaving his inexperienced wife to run the government. She turned to the advice of Rasputin and he gained an upper hand, placing his allies in positions of high power and corrupting the government. Soon Nicholas was forced to abdicate the throne and the royal family was placed under house arrest. The Russian Revolution had begun and the Bolsheviks took over. The royal family was taken to the Ipatiev House, or House of Special Purpose, at Yekaterinburg.
Life continued even for the royal family in their captivity. Anastasia and her sisters performed plays for their parents. They enjoyed the time they could get outside even though they knew their life of luxury they had was gone.
July 17, 1918…
“Get up! Now!” grunted someone.
Anastasia quickly jumped up; her sisters Olga, Tatiana, and Maria barely awake.
“What’s going on?” asked Olga.
“Get dressed!” ordered one of the guards and he turned to leave with the other guards.
The sisters looked at each other. Olga and Tatiana began to whisper to each other, as Maria cling to Anastasia. “Now?” asked Maria.
“Now,” replied Anastasia, taking a small pile of clothes. They filled out into the small hallway and found their brother, Alexei, under the eyes of their parents.
“Alexei,” Anastasia whispered calling him over to them. He squeezed through his parents and the servants to the sisters.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, looking around so no one would noticed, “What if they see and you get in trouble?”
“It’s the middle of the night,” Anastasia rolled her eyes, “They won’t notice you and Maria switched places.”
Anastasia stood in front of Maria and Alexei as they switched clothes. With everyone moving in and out of the hallway, no one saw what the children were doing. When Maria and Alexei emerged they looked no different from each other. Anastasia smiled with satisfaction. Her smile quickly disappeared when she heard her father spoke.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
The leader of the guards, Yurovsky replied, “You are being moved to a new location to ensure your safety in anticipation of the violence that might ensue when the White Army reaches Yekaterinburg.”
Anastasia saw her parents looked at each other. Her mother took Maria’s shoulder, thinking her to be Alexei. They, their servants and caregivers were taken down below into the basement. “Wait here,” Yurovsky said.
“Wait,” called Alexandra, “May we please have some chairs? For my son?”
Yurovsky nodded, and two guards brought chairs for Alexandra and Maria. Alexei stood next to Anastasia and squeezed her arm. He knew she was suddenly scared.
The guards left and all was quiet. Anastasia suddenly felt uneasy. Something was wrong, very wrong.
Minutes later, Yurovsky returned with armed men, their guns ready for combat. Anastasia held her breath. “I am to inform you, Czar Nicholas, that you and your family will now all be executed,” said Yurovsky without feeling.
“What?” Nicholas turned to his family before a bullet struck his head.
Anastasia grabbed Alexei shoulder and dragged him down as a volley of bullets flew by striking both Alexandra and Olga before they could make the sign of the cross. Thick smoke filled the room as Anastasia dragged Alexei to a corner crouched up against the wall. As Alexei cling to Anastasia, they could hear the continuum of shots and cries of the other servants. Anastasia saw Maria’s body drop in front of her. She groaned and a guard shot her in the head. Anastasia looked away, covering Alexei’s head. Only she and he were left.
The guards saw that she and Alexei were still breathing. They came closer to them, their bayonets barred as Anastasia and Alexei squeezed tighter together. They waited for the bullets to pierce their skin. But all was quiet. They heard some of the guards gasped. Anastasia looked up and saw a towering figure above her. She recognized him at once.
“Father Grigori!” Alexei breathed.
“Gentlemen,” said Rasputin, “I thank you for sparing the lives of the Princess and Alexei and sparing me the trouble of killing you all.”
Anastasia’s eyes were wide. He had addressed her as princess but Alexei only by his name. Dead or alive, this was not Father Grigori. She held Alexei tighter.
“O-orders sir?” a guard asked scared and shocked by the sudden reappearance of Rasputin.
“Shot them all!” cried Yurvosky.
Anastasia shoved Alexei down to the ground and through the heavy smoke they crawled towards the door but someone grabbed them by the collar and dragged them along.
When the smoke cleared, the guards stopped their firing. Through the mess they could not tell who was there. “Leave the bodies for now,” ordered Yurvosky, “Search the house. Make sure no one escaped especially Rasputin. His body’s not here. How the devil he survived…”
Meanwhile, Rasputin dragged Anastasia and Alexei back into the hallway. He took them into an empty bedroom, tossing Alexei aside like a doll but his hand clasped around Anastasia’s neck. “Now Princess,” he said softly, “Give your heart and open it to darkness…”
Anastasia felt a sharp pain from her chest. She couldn’t breathe and yet her body was filled with agony. It felt as if something was ripping right from her heart…there was a bright light…
Rasputin had been knocked from his feet. Anastasia dropped to the ground, the pain receding. One of the guards had found them and with a sword he said to Rasputin, “I will not let you have the Princess, Xehanort!”
He began attack Rasputin. Meanwhile, Alexei pulled at Anastasia’s arm and helped her to her feet. They backed away into a corner as the guard and Rasputin fought; the guard used his sword but Rasputin would simply move out of the way.
“You fight too well for a human, boy,” smiled Rasputin, “Far too well.” Rasputin caught the guard’s sword and Anastasia saw his eyes, an orange-red color, flash.
He broke the guard’s sword and threw him up against the wall close to Anastasia and Alexei. Rasputin then walked towards the brother and sister.
There was a glow of light and the guard was back up on his feet, but now he had wings and his hair was a piercing white. Anastasia thought he was an angel.
“An Angelus spy? I should’ve known,” remarked Rasputin. The winged guardian stepped in front of Anastasia and Alexei.
“Go now!” he told them, “Run as far away from her as you can!”
Anastasia took Alexei’s arm and ran out the bedroom, down the corridor, and out of the house. They ran through the streets, into the cold Russian air, down the road out of town and into the woods, not taking a look back, not even for a tinny glance.
When the village lights of Yekaterinburg were only tinny dots in the distance, Alexei finally collapsed. When Anastasia heard him moaned, she stopped and squatted down next to him. “What is it?” she asked.
He pointed to his leg and she left it: it was soaked with blood.
“Oh no…” cried Anastasia, “Don’t worry,” she reassured him, “We just need…” But what they need was far away and if they went back to the village, who knew what was waiting for them.
“I want Mamma,” Alexei sobbed, “I want Mamma…”
“Mamma’s…” Anastasia stopped again. Her mother was dead and now that reality was starting to sink into her heart. Papa…Mamma…Olga…Tatania…Maria…all of them were dead. She started to cry.
The noise of footsteps made her jump. She looked around left and right for the source of the noise, then someone grabbed her shoulder. She jumped again, this time punching someone in the face. There was a groan and she realized she had punched the guard that rescued them. His wings and white hair were still exposed.
He rubbed his check, “Well, you can certainly fight,” he remarked.
“Where’s Rasputin?” asked Anastasia.
“He disappeared. I’d managed to hold him off while you ran but then he suddenly vanished. He’s probably looking for you,” said the guard, “We need to get moving. Luckily we’re close to the ship.”
“Ship?” Anastasia asked curiously.
“I can’t tell you now, but you’ll see,” he reassured her with a smile. He then helped Alexei up and carried him into the woods. Anastasia followed them.
They walked in silence until Anastasia suddenly said, “That wasn’t Rasputin…was it?”
The angel looked back at her. “No…it wasn’t. Than man was an imposter who stole Rasputin’s body. He is known as Xehanort. Almost a year ago, Xehanort was one of the great protectors of the Realm. The Realm of Light,” he added when she gave him a puzzled look.
“You are…a protector of the Realm?” she asked.
He shook his head, “Not really. But I am on your side.”
“This Xehanort tried to do something to me,” she pressed her hand on her heart.
“He tried to take your heart,” he explained, “It’s a high crime to steal another person’s heart, but you’re heart is said to hold phenomenal power, as one of the Maidens of Heart.”
“Maidens of Heart?” she raised an eyebrow.
“There is a legend of a place where all hearts are born and the only way to get there is with the Maidens of Hearts, princesses of other worlds.”
“Other worlds?” Anastasia stopped and looked at the angel.
He closed his eyes and looked back at her, “Anastasia, your family is the descents of one of the original Maidens of Hearts. The Bolsheviks knew this but they were unsure of which one of the Grand Duchesses was the one. They feared that the White Army would use you against them and they couldn’t let that happen, much as Xehanort wanted to use you to get what he wants. And now, you and your brother must be hidden away so that he can’t find you.”
“To another world?” she asked breathlessly.
“Yes,” the angel nodded.
He continued to walk forward deeper into the woods and Anastasia began to follow him again. They came into a clearing and there was a strange small building, no larger than a cabin.
“Is this the ship?” Anastasia asked, “Why isn’t it on the water?”
The angel managed a quick smile, “Believe me, Princess. This is not the ship you are used to.” He pressed his hand on the ship and a door opened. He walked inside and Anastasia followed. They went down a long white hallway until they came to what looked like a small infirmary. The angel placed Alexei down on a bed.
“He’s lost some blood but I’m more concern about the clotting,” he pulled out from a locked cabinet sacks of blood, “He’ll need a transfusion, and it will put more of a clotting factor back in his blood for now at least.”
Anastasia turned away when he inserted a needle into Alexei’s arm and stuck a tube of blood from the bag inside. “He’ll be fine,” the angel reassured her, “and you need your rest.”
He took her back through the hallway to another room, a small bedroom but large enough for four beds to be fit in. Anastasia had only taken a few steps inside when the angel suddenly said, “I’m sorry. My first priority was to find and get you somewhere safe. My second was to rescue your family. I could’ve done more but…I didn’t. Forgive me,” he lowered his head in shame.
“Don’t say that,” she shook her head, “My family would’ve been grateful for what you did.”
“Thank you…Princess,” he smiled weakly and left her alone.
Anastasia took off her coat and her dress and climbed into the bed. It wasn’t her old bed she had since she was a child but it was warm and comfy. However, she would rather sleep on the floor to sleep with her sisters again. She started the cry but stopped when the angel came in the bedroom again. He no longer had his wings but his hair was still white. He brought with him a glass of water and pill container.
“So you may sleep without nightmares,” he explained.
She took them willingly and drank up her water, then looked into his eyes. “I remember you,” she said, “You were one of the newer guards. You helped carry Alexei outside and you laughed at my jokes,” she saw his ears turn red but she continued, “You helped Mama and Olga with our clothes and you left Maria flowers.”
“But those flowers were for you-” he blurted out but placed a hand over his mouth.
Anastasia looked at him and smiled, “Thank you…oh! I don’t know your name.”
“It’s hard to pronounce in your language but it’s similar to Peter,” he said.
The effects of the sleeping pill were starting to come on. “Peter…that’s lovely. Will you do me a favor…and just call me Anastasia. No one…ever called me by my title…not even the servants…” her eyes started to close.
Peter leaned closer to her and whispered as she went off to sleep, “I will…Anastasia,” and he kissed her.
FROM THE ANGELUS INTELLIGENCE FILES
June 18, 1961
It is the sixtieth anniversary of Anastasia’s birthday and the Angelus royal house is planning her jubilee party. Not much has changed since her escape from her world with her younger brother, in fact, she is still being chided for pulling her clever pranks. She is in good health for a human her age and the Queen has declared she will probably live to be a hundred and two. Alexei unfortunately died almost twenty years ago, after his long battle with hemophilia, but he left with two sons that loved him and his sister dearly.
Anastasia is still witty and ever clever, but a good listener with a kind heart and one of King and Queen’s most loyal advisors. She was very quiet when she arrived into the Angelus capitol, mostly likely from the shock of her family’s assassination, clinging to Pertokälft’s arm and tighter to her brother’s. But as soon as she met the Queen, then as a young princess, she opened up at once and the royal house has never been more prone to look over their shoulder; fear of Anastasia’s misbehavior is still showing with the older servants. She attended the Galactic Federation’s Cosmos University and graduated with a major in Education and a minor in galactic communication. She has now a son and a daughter, as well as seven grandchildren.
We have been closely watching the double of Anastasia we created on her home world. She calls herself Anna Anderson and she is playing her role exactly as we modified her. As of now, her case is currently under review and will mostly likely continue for sometime.
We have also been listening and searching for the whereabouts of Xehanort. He has not shown his face since the Romanov Assassination and he has not looked for the other princess or come after Anastasia. We currently believe he is looking for other ways to get what he wants.
In the meantime, we will continue to watch over Anastasia and her family until we receive word on Xehanort’s location.
THE STORY SO FAR…
Years ago, a brilliant man named Ansem sought to understand the nature of the heart and the influence of the darkness upon it. Fearing the darkness would overtake his world, he began to research these mysteries, hoping to find a shield against the threat. He discovered that when the heart of a being is lost to darkness, it is liberated from it’s body and swallowed. Then the darkness takes shape, becoming a creature that seeks out other hearts to steal, enveloping them in darkness and multiplying.
The Heartless
Although creatures of instinct, the Heartless can be manipulated, commanded, and artificially enhanced. Ansem discovered the Heartless were drawn to power and sought not only the hearts of individuals, but something greater- the hearts of worlds themselves!
A Visitor From Another World
One day, Ansem received a visitor. It was King Mickey from Disney Castle. Mickey had learned about the Heartless and realized the threat they posed. Should the Heartless consume a world’s heart, the boundaries between worlds would decay. They would eventually spread to others, growing and consuming, until all was lost to the darkness.
Worlds Consumed
Despite King Mickey’s warnings, the experiments continued. Now shrouded in darkness, Ansem grew in power. His world soon began to overflow with Heartless, becoming the ravaged world known as Hollow Bastion. With Ansem vanishing into the darkness, others sought to control this dark power. Using the abandoned castle in Hollow Bastion as a staging ground, a consortium of villains- the nightmare-making Oogie Boogie, the sea witch Ursula, the pirate Captain Hook, the vizier Jafar, the Lord of the Underworld Hades, and the sorceress Maleficent- used Ansem’s research to seek an even greater power, using the Heartless to break the way and discover the keys to Kingdom Hearts.
Kingdom Hearts, the Heart of All Worlds
The legendary Kingdom Hearts, the source of all light. Seven Princesses held the keys to this treasure with their pure heart, untouched by darkness, and the villains scoured and destroyed world after world to kidnap them. Alice, Belle, Aurora, Jasmine, Snow White, Cinderella and another…
The Destiny Islands and the Keybearer
One such world consumed by the Heartless, but one that would prove pivotal in the war against the darkness. Three young friends, who were about to begin a journey, were flung to strange worlds as their world was swallowed by the darkness.
A boy named Sora, stranded in the transient world of Traverse Town after the Destiny Islands was consumed, found himself the bearer of the mysterious Keyblade. This weapon could lock and unlock magical doors and free hearts from the darkness. Donald Duck and Goofy, from the court of Disney Castle, found Sora and accompanied him in search for their friend, King Mickey. The King made a second journey, looking for answers as to why the experiments on the Heartless had not ceased.
The Journey
Sora and his new friends journeyed from world to world, sealing away each world’s keyhole, saving them from the approaching darkness. Sora was briefly reunited with his friends, in the process learning that Kairi was one of the seven Princesses whose heart was needed to open Kingdom Hearts. While Riku and Sora ended up clashing, as Riku struggled with the darkness within his own heart- a darkness named Ansem. With all the pawns in place, Ansem opened the doorway to Kingdom Hearts but was defeated by Sora. To prevent the darkness from spreading, Riku and King Mickey sealed themselves on the other side of the doorway to the dark world. As the worlds consumed by the Heartless reformed, Sora and Kairi were separated again, but their hearts intertwined.
Castle Oblivion
So the heroes’ quest continued, this time to find a way to bring Riku and King Mickey home. They came upon a strange structure called Castle Oblivion, the staging base of the Organization. This shadowy group drew Sora in and, using a young girl named Naminé who has the power to manipulate memories, led Sora into their trap. As Sora progressed up each of the castle’s floors and his memories faded and twisted, Riku and King Mickey fought their way up from the castle’s basement. Sora and his friends discovered the renegade Marluxia, who sought to wrest control of the Organization. Marluxia was defeated and Naminé released from her captivity. Naminé promised to restore Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s memories as they were before they entered the Castle. But the process of restoring the chain of true memories would take a year, so the trio were sent into a deep slumber as Naminé began their recovery.
The Lost Civilization of Earth
Years before Sora’s journey, before the time of Heartless, there was a world was held above all others: Earth. This jewel of the known universe was wide and vast, with over 6 billion people, two hundred or more countries, and almost 150 language. They were known for their adept medical advances and vast growth of information but lacked in their space technology compared to the other worlds. But it was feared for it’s corruption, hatred, and one most dangerous weapon ever created; nuclear weapons. But there was still hope for Earth as is moved to a peaceful era. This planet and its people were collectively called ‘The Great Civilization of Earth’. But then an unspeakable evil invaded Earth and as it destroyed the world, the humans were forced to evacuate to the nearby planet of Mars. Only a few clusters of humans survived and they created the city of Juno. To ease with the pain and depression of losing their world, the memories of most of the survivors were modified with nanomachines. The survivors then isolated themselves from the rest of the worlds but that couldn’t even keep the Heartless away.
Another Side, Another Story…Almost a year after Sora’s journey was brought to a temporary halt, a young man from Twilight Town named Roxas began to have strange dreams of things he’s never seen before. As days went by and unexplained occurrences occurred all over town, such as the appearance of mysterious creatures in white, and a girl named Naminé, Roxas learned the truth about himself. He was a Nobody, only half a person and contained the memories and power Sora needed to be complete again. He was also formerly a member of Organization XIII, chosen due to the fact he could wield the Keyblade. Roxas finally came to terms with himself and returned to Sora to make him whole again.
The Second Journey
Sora and his friends reunited after waking up from their long slumber in the world of Twilight Town. Taking a train to the town of the great sorcerer Yen Sid, they learned that the Heartless were still running amok, but so where the Nobodies and Organization XIII. The Nobodies where beings that didn’t have hearts, what was left when a strong person lost his or her heart to the Heartless. Even though they couldn’t feel, they were more powerful and could think on their own than the Heartless. After getting some new clothes, Sora, Donald and Goofy continued their journey, this time to find Riku and the King.
The Second Battle at Kingdom Hearts
As Sora and the others fought with the Heartless and Nobodies, Kairi who was still on the Destiny Islands had been sought out by Axel, a member of Organization XIII. She made her escape to Twilight Town, only to be found again. Sora headed into the realm of darkness with King Mickey, after hearing Kairi had been capture by the Organization and Riku might be somewhere near. Together, they fought off the members of the Organization, and Sora finally was able to reunite with Riku and Kairi. They managed to find Xemnas, leader of the Organization, who was really the Nobody of Ansem the Wise’s apprentice, Xehanort. Xehanort was responsible for creating the Heartless and then stealing his master’s research as well as his name. It was his Heartless that took over Riku and was responsible for everything that had happened. In the end, they were able to defeat Xemnas and Sora and Riku could go home as peace was restored to the worlds, or so they thought…
The Juno City Crisis and Birth by Sleep
Unaffected by the events happening on the outside world, the citizens of Juno City continued with their daily lives, with the exception of the Heartless outside the city walls. Grace Porter, an orphan of the city, is the only one that dares to go outside, but her dreams of a battle with three knights troubles her. She believes in the existence of other worlds, and wants to find a way out of the isolated city. Little do she know, the leader of the city, known as the Commander, has been looking for her to help start a war with the forces of Darkness. As the Commander got closer to find Grace, her friends began to unveil a mystery that would soon have them rebelling against everything they thought to be true. When the city lights go out and the Heartless invade, Grace was captured and her friends had to rescue her. It took the help of some unexpected allies to get her back, including the pirates Balthier and Fran, ex-Organization members Axel and Xigbar, and the Commander’s daughters Anemone and Clarise. They discover that Grace dream is actually an event from the past: the end of the last war that is now starting up again. When they escape to the outside world, they must now find Sora and face the forces of darkness…
PROLOGUE
A corridor of darkness opened in the Realm of Twilight. Two men stepped out before the gate closed; one, a man with dull brown hair and powerful eyes hidden behind glasses taking the lead, the second, a lean, tall man, with a firm muscular tone, a solider but with a soften face. The path before them was barren and covered with something like snow, but before they was a mighty fortress. It stood out in all angles with rooms sticking out with no reason as well as the floors beneath it. It looked as if it was floating in midair. The second man stared at it perplexed as if it was something he had never seen before.
The leader, the Commander, continued to proceed forward.
“Mr. David,” he called, “Please come along.”
David nodded and followed the Commander to the castle. They reached the door and when David stepped inside a white hallway, he felt an ominous presence in the air. They climbed a small flight of stairs and went deeper inside.
The Commander and David walked down the almost endless corridor of white with its many doors. After passing what seemed to be the hundredth door, David asked, “Sir, what is this place?”
The Commander smiled. “It is a special castle…a very special castle,” he glanced back at David, “I believe you have been briefed on it before, have you not?”
David stopped and wildly looked around. “Then, this is-”
“Oh do not worry Mr. David,” the Commander continued to smile, “The girl with the sketchpad is no longer here to jumble our memories. Only one person lives here now.”
David continued to follow the Commander up a flight of stairs. “One of the Order? But I thought, even Roxas and that man Axel-”
“Contradictory to its name, Xemnas’s Order did not have thirteen members, but rather, fourteen. She was never truly inducted into the Organization and Xemnas sent her here for safekeeping, if his plans to build a Kingdom Hearts ever failed,” explained the Commander, grasping the handle of a door at the top of the stairs, “I’ve been told by Intelligence she’s as powerful as the Mouse.”
“But you could handle the Dreamer. Why do you need me?” asked David.
The Commander opened the door, “A maiden needs her handler.”
They stepped inside another room of white. An ivory table had been turned over, books laid scattered across the floor, tattered and ripped to pieces, and specks of blood dotted the walls. David saw a mass of black, crouching in the corner. He saw the lower part of a face look up when they entered the room. It looked as if the figure had gasped, but the expression turned to disappointment, then anger.
“Who are you?” the figure stood up, “Leave at once!”
Even without seeing her face, David could tell it was a girl by her pale bright lips.
The Commander took a step forward. “My dear, we have come to liberate you and take you from this place,” he said calmly, holding out his hand.
“No! I cannot leave until my Master returns!” shouted the girl, her temper rising.
“You’re master is dead,” explained the Commander.
“You lie! I’ll hang you by your tongue for such deception!” screamed the girl, as she clenched her fist.
“Believe what you will,” sighed the Commander, “You’re still coming with us. But wouldn’t you think, that surely by now, Master Xemnas would come back for you?”
The girl clenched her fist tighter. “So! It was you! I’ll kill you for what you did!” The girl then disappeared.
“Can you sense her?” asked the Commander to David.
“Yes,” he replied, “She’s going fast, but I can still feel her presence.”
“Good,” said the Commander, “Then she must be low on her supply.”
“Supply?” asked David.
“Do you not recall you’re briefing?” the Commander raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, you said I had to give-” David stopped, “Yes, of course…” His head then jerked up. The girl was planning an attack. In a flash he grabbed her arm in a fraction of a second and she reappeared.
“Hold her!” ordered the Commander. David gripped his grasp on the girl’s arms as she struggled to break free. Her hood went back and her long black hair whacked his face. The Commander pulled out a small dagger from his jacket and pulling the girl’s glove off her hand, pressed the blade against her bare skin. The girl ceased to struggle, and instead began to tremble with fear.
“So you know what this is?” grinned the Commander, “A Twilit Blade. When used against a human, this dagger is very ineffective. But when used on a Nobody…well, that’s when things change. A special molecule from the blade if it gets into the Nobody’s blood stream acts as a poison. I’ve been told they die within minutes. Even the touch of the Twilit Blade is known to make a Nobody weak.” He pressed the blade harder against the girl’s skin and she gave out a cry of pain.
“Now, little Teresa,” he whispered into the girl’s ear, “Will you listen to me and follow my orders?”
The girl glared at him, but nodded, as she had no other choice but death. The Commander removed the blade, and the girl slumped back into David’s arms. She collapsed to her knees, but for some reason or another, held on to David.
“The one who killed your master, was the Key Bearer,” the Commander said to the girl.
“Sora? That brat? I’ll skin the flesh from his bones by his own blade and drink his blood from his skull!” she vowed.
“Yes, yes, lots of violence…but right now you’re very weak. Your low on you’re supplies after being locked up here for so long,” said the Commander, “You won’t make it out of this castle without it. David will help with that. He’s going to be your guardian and you’ll listen to me as you listen to me. Follow our instructions and no harm will come to you. Do you understand?”
The girl nodded again reluctantly.
“Good girl,” remarked the Commander, who then nodded to David.
David unbuttoned his shirt from his right arm and held it out to the girl. She looked up at him surprised. He saw loneliness and sadness in her eyes; poor thing, he thought, locked up in this castle with no one to talk to for so long. He knew what that loneliness felt like.
“I’m sorry,” girl said, bringing David out of his thoughts.
David smiled at her reassuringly, “It’s alright. I’ve had worse.”
The girl gave him a small smile, taking his arm, and biting into his veins, sucking his blood.
When she was done, she collapsed back into David’s arms. He quickly put a patch over his arm and the Commander wiped the blood from the girl’s face. “That was quite easy,” he smirked, “Don’t you agree?”
David nodded and then picked the girl. She was like a very large doll in his arms.
“Now we can begin with Phase Two,” smiled the Commander.
“Phase Two?” David asked.
“Yes, but it is nothing to worry about, for now,” the Commander walked out of the room, David carrying the girl behind him.
CHAPTER ONE: BOREDOM
TWILIGHT TOWN
TWILIGHT TOWN
She breathed heavily; her heart was racing. Don’t give yourself away! She could hear Matti’s breathing. Like he wasn’t enough of a dead give away.
She swung hard and heard him give a small cry as he got out of the way. She grinned; she had him now. She swung once, twice, three times and he fell to the ground. She pointed his weapon at him and removed her blindfold.
Matti removed his. “Why do you have to beat me every time, Grace?” he asked as she helped him up.
There had been fighting with blindfolds in the clock tower, Balthier overseeing their work. The clock tower of Twilight Town was their hiding space for two weeks now and everyday Balthier would train Grace for the Keyblade. Despite her steady progress with using the Keyblade, she could’ve had a better sparing partner. Matti was good, but he was no match for Grace’s inhuman speed.
“Good,” remarked Balthier, “Watch your guard.”
“I don’t need to watch my guard with him,” Grace remarked.
“You would if I fought you,” Balthier said.
Grace gave him a look, “Is that a challenge?”
“Perhaps,” Balthier gestured for Matti to give him his weapon, “But it won’t be for me.”
Matti got as far away from them as he could. He had a gut feeling this was going to be something he wanted to get out of the way. Balthier raised his weapon and Grace gripped hers tighter. She had never seen Balthier raise a sword, but she figured he was a force to be reckoned with.
Balthier gestured with his figures ‘come at me’. She was more than happy to oblige. She ran in and jumped, her weapon held high. He grinned and…vanished before she could blink. She dropped and looked wildly around. He was no where to be seen.
Grace heard him behind her; she tried to get out of the way but it was too late. She was thrown off her feet and somersaulted twice before she was back on top. She heard him again but this time, his weapon was at her throat. She breathed heavily and looked up at him. “The Chasers wore powerful magical armor in their last battle with Xehanort. Even then, that armor was pierced, broken, and shattered. You would never stand a chance against him. He would kill you before you blinked,” Balthier lowered his weapon, “It was only pure luck that Sora beat him. You’re strong, but you’re not ready to be a Chaser. You’re not even passable.”
Grace lowered her head in shame.
“But…” Balthier added in an attempt to cheer her up, “You’re getting better.” He turned away and left the room.
Matti had a look of awestruck on his face. “If he’s that good,” he looked at where Balthier once was, “Why isn’t he a Chaser?”
Grace shrugged and walked out of the room. After a quick shower, she went into the girls’ sleep room. Most of the gang was already there. Ling and Tai sat on a bed reading spell books. Mitch was in a corner, her eyes closed, in a trance. Lucy was writing in her diary, but her pages were very blank. Matti was polishing his sword. Anemone was fixing her hair. Clarise was reading a book. Joey and Margot were on another bed, Joey inserting a contact lens into Margot’s eyes.
“How’s that?” he asked.
Margot blinked. “Better,” she said, “But I think the green and the blue is still a little off.”
Grace couldn’t help but smile. Joey had managed to give Margot sight, despite the limited sources that he had. He was now correcting her eyesight with contact lenses until he could get a better eye laser.
“It’ll have to do for now,” he sighed.
Matti rolled on the bed, “I’m bored.”
“Me too,” Lucy sighed.
“So am I,” Anemone put down her comb.
Grace stared out the clock tower window. The sky was a color of orange, reds, and yellows; a result of the petrified sunset. The breeze was a calm warm that blew down into the town below. She could hear the crowds below and the trains as they went on their daily course through the town.
“How long have we’ve been here?” Grace asked.
“Two weeks,” replied Joey.
“So, why haven’t we been allowed outside the clock tower?” she asked.
“Um…” Joey wracked his brains, trying to find an answer.
“Because Balthier said so!” Lucy raised her hand.
“And you think that’s a legitimate reason? Because he said so?” Grace raised an eyebrow, “I think its about time we see the town.”
“But there could be numerous diseases out there that could kill us within a heartbeat!” Joey exclaimed.
“Yeah, and Sora got sick every time he went somewhere? Right,” Grace rolled her eyes.
“But, there could be something dangerous out there!” said Lucy.
“What’s more dangerous than the Heartless?” Grace asked.
“Nobodies,” Mitch opened one eye.
She had Grace there. “True…but would you really expect them in a place like this? Besides,” she looked out the window, “I feel like something out there…is calling me. I have to know what it is!” she climbed out the window.
“Are you serious?!” Anemone glared at where she once was, “If she isn’t sneak out of Juno, she’s sneaking out of here. Well I’m not staying around to explain how she sneaked off!” Anemone jumped out the window after Grace.
“Gracey…” Tai cried and climbed out after her.
Ling sighed and turned to Mitch. “Better go after them,” she said.
Mitch nodded and got up off the bed and climbed out the window with Ling.
“Hey! Guys! I know I got my coffee date and all but-! Ohh!” Lucy climbed out the window.
Clarise turned to Joey and Matti, shrugged and climbed out the window.
“Clarise!” Matti called after her and climbed out the window too.
Margot darted forward and with a smile at Joey, went after them. Joey looked around the room and saw he was the only one left. “Man…” he sighed and taking his laptop climbed out the window into Twilight Town.
Grace had tied a rope to the window and climbed her way down to the patio of the train station entrance. She jumped off and caught Tai as he climbed down. She then walked over to the rise overlooking the town. It was a magnificent view of the all the streets and houses with the sun gleaming in the distance.
Tai climbed up on the ledge. “Wow,” he beamed, “It’s pretty. It looks like it’ll go on forever!”
“Sure does,” smiled Grace.
“Come on!” called Ling, “I’m all excited to go!”
“Yeah, yeah!” Grace rolled her eyes and Tai took her hand, as they walked down the hill into the town. The streets were beginning to fill with life as people began to open up their shops by the eight o’clock hour. She could smell all sorts of new things, and saw thing not usually seen in Juno City. She couldn’t help but break out in to song.
“Little town, it’s a quiet village
Every day, like the one before
Little town, full of little people
Waking up to say... “
As customers lined up at stores, the owners greeted them.
“Hello!”
“Hello!”
“Hello!”
“There goes the baker with his tray like always
The same old bread and rolls to sell
Every morning just the same
Since the morning that we came
To this sunny little town...”
The baker noticed the group and greeted, “Good morning!”
“Good morning sir,” replied Grace.
“Don’t see that many youngsters out so early. So what can I get for you? I’m having a sale on all my loaves today! Fresh from the oven!”
“Sure, we’ll take some of the white bread and a few pastries too,” Grace placed her order.
“Do you have any baguettes?” asked Clarise.
“Ugh!” Anemone made a face, “All those carbs!”
“Of course we do!” replied the baker, then turned back to the oven, “Marie! The baguettes! Hurry up!”
“What should we do next?” Grace asked as she handed Tai a piece of fresh bread.
“Let’s find the coffee shop!” suggested Lucy.
“A department store would be nice,” said Anemone.
“Well we still got a lot of time before anyone notices we’re gone,” Grace winked and took off.
The gang grabbed a lift on the trolley as it stopped.
“Hello!” said the driver.
“Good day!” said a woman.
“How is your family?” asked the driver.
Grace saw as the trolley began to move a promiscuous woman and a merchant.
“Hello!” greeted the woman.
“Good day!” said the merchant, oddly distracted by the woman’s large chest size, however his wife noticed and smacked him over the head.
“How is your wife?” the woman suppressed a laugh.
“I need six eggs!” cried a woman from the market.
“That’s too expensive,” sighed a man.
“There must be more than this provincial life!” Grace jumped off the tram, noticing a bookstore.
“Hello!” greeted the bookkeeper when she walked in.
“Good morning!” smiled Grace.
“Looking for something in particular?” he asked.
“Not exactly!” Grace climbed up the ladder and slide down the shelves looking for something to stand out, “How about…this one?”
“Good choice! It’s a best seller!” remarked the bookkeeper.
“I know!” said Grace, “I’ve read it twice! It’s one of my favorites! Far off places, daring swordfights, magic spells, a prince in disguise!”
The bookkeeper began to laugh, “Well, if you like it all that much, it’s yours!”
“But sir!”
“I insisted!” the man pressed the book into her hands.
“Well thank you. Thank you very much!” Grace waved with the book in her hand and left the store.
A few men noticed Grace as she left the bookstore already reading the book.
“Look there she goes
That girl is so peculiar!
I wonder if she’s feeling well!”
“With a dreamy far-off look!” sang a few women.
“And her nose stuck in a book!” the men sang.
“What a puzzle to the rest of us is Grace!” Anemone sang in.
Grace sat down at a fountain, Tai sitting next to her, as she showed him her book.
“Oh! Isn’t this amazing!
It’s my favorite part because, you’ll see!
Here’s where she meets Prince Charming
But she won’t discover that it’s him ‘til chapter three!”
“Now it’s no wonder that her name means ‘graceful’
Her looks have got no parallel!” remarked Clarise.
“But behind that fair facade
I’m afraid she’s rather odd
Very different from the rest of us...” sang Anemone. Clarise frowned at her.
At the far end of the street from the residential area, a group of four older teenagers came onto the main street. One of them was a boy, a scar on his face, his hair hidden underneath a knitted cap. He was followed by a darker skinned boy with large muscles and a lanky girl with red eyes and gray hair, rounded my by a small person in a hat bigger than his head. This was Seifer’s gang.
“Wow! You didn’t miss a shot, Seifer! You’re the greatest Struggler in the whole world, y’know?” said the dark skinned boy, Rai.
“I know!” smiled Seifer.
“No one alive stands a chance against you...except…y’know-”
“Don’t say his name!” Seifer’s eyes flashed to Rai, “Now,” he looked towards Anemone and Clarise, “What do you say about those two girls?”
“Which?” asked the girl, Fuu.
“Either one! Rai can get the other,” smirked Seifer.
Meanwhile, Anemone said, “I want to go shopping!”
“But you just go all new clothes that Balthier bought you,” frowned Clarise.
“True, true, but I have no accessories to go with them,” explained Anemone. She wandered over to the jewelry shop. Her eyes possibly spotted the most expensive thing there. “How much for this?” she pointed to a silver charm with a moon and stars on it.
Jessie, the clerk smiled, “That…is out of your price range sweetheart.”
“Come on,” Anemone rolled her eyes, “It can’t be that expensive.”
“But it is!” Jessie waved her finger, “It’s a one of a kind thing and there’s only one way to make them. But if you insist…it’ll be 20000 Munny.”
Almost everyone’s jaw dropped then and there, but Anemone pulled out her purse, “So that will be about 200 dollars in US currency, which I have plenty of…”
“Sorry,” Jessie continued to smile, “We only accept Munny; no other forms of currency, no credit cards, unless they’re GF Discovery, and absolutely no person checks. Have a nice day!”
Anemone slammed her head down on the booth, “What the-?!” She then looked at the others.
“Sorry, but I don’t think we have that enough Munny on us combined,” remarked Joey.
“You losers suck!” Anemone screamed with furry.
“I’ll pay for it,” someone said. Everyone looked to see who had said it.
A group of three kids had appeared: one the leader, had blond hair and was wearing cameo shorts with a skull tank top; a girl with brown hair and an orange top; and the boy who had volunteer to pay for the necklace had black fluffy hair and a red shirt that said ‘Dog Street’.
“Pence, are you sure you have enough?” asked the leader.
“Of course I do, Hanyer!” smiled Pence, “Besides, I can’t let a beautiful maiden be in such distress!”
“Pence…” sighed the girl.
Grace raised an eyebrow, “Beautiful maiden?”
“Oh! You’re my hero!” cheered Anemone.
Hanyer rolled his eyes then turned to the gang, “You guys are new around here right? We haven’t had any new visitors here in quite some time. What brings you to town?”
“We’re just visiting,” said Grace. It was true enough; they weren’t sure how long they were going to be there.
“I see,” said Hayner, “if you want Munny,” he added, “you might want to get a job.”
“There are plenty of jobs around town,” said the girl, “They might not pay much, but they’re easy to do and could add up to a lot if you do enough.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” said Ling.
“If you’re interested they on the bulleted board,” Hayner pointed out.
Pence gave Anemone the necklace.
“Oh thank you so much!” Anemone said gratefully, “I really don’t know how to repay you…”
“Just tell me your name princess and that will be payment enough!” Pence said romantically.
“It’s Anemone,” she replied.
“Anemone! How fitting for a beautiful girl such as thee! I shall not forget you!” Pence waved good bye.
“How sweet…” smiled Clarise.
“What are you going on about?” glared Anemone.
“He’s head over heals in love with you, or haven’t you noticed?” asked Mitch.
“Nuhah!” Anemone shook her head.
“If you ask me, he has it bad,” Matti remarked.
“The poor dear,” said Grace.
“Oh so what! Guys drooled over me all the time. And don’t you get started Porter or shall we talk about your romance experience?”
“I really don’t care about what you say about my ‘romance experience’,” said Grace, “So, what to check out these jobs?”
They wandered over to the job board and looked over the list of jobs available.
“Let’s see,” Grace looked over the list, “We got Mail Delivery, Cargo Climb, Grandstander-”
“That sounds interesting,” said Ling, “What is it?”
“Sounds like you have to keep a ball in the air for as long as you can without letting it touch the ground. The longer you can keep it up, the more you get paid. Can you do that?” Grace asked.
“Of course! Who doesn’t like magic?” Ling winked and ran off.
“Any thing else?” Matti asked.
“Poster Duty, Bumble-Buster, and Junk Sweep,” said Grace.
“I want to do Bumble-Buster,” Margot raised her hand.
“Not alone,” said Matti, “I’m going with you.”
“Okay,” Margot took his hand and they walked away.
“Junk Sweep sounds peculiar. I think I’ll take that,” said Joey.
“I claim Cargo Climb,” said Mitch.
“Are you sure you can do it?” asked Grace.
Mitch flashed her eyes with a grin, “Of course I can,” and walked off.
“We’ll do Mail Delivery!” Clarise raised Anemone’s hand.
“Are you serious? Manual labor?” Anemone raised an eyebrow.
“Come on! This will be fun!” Clarise took Anemone’s hand and led the way.
Grace turned to Tai. “I guess that leaves us with Poster Duty. What about you Lucy?”
“I…have to do something. I’ll catch up with you guys later!” Lucy smiled and ran off. She turned back up the street and found the coffee shop she had spotted on the way.
“I don’t see him,” she said looking around at the café.
Someone tapped on Lucy shoulder, causing her to jump.
“Gee wiz! You want me to get caught?”
Lucy turned around and saw Demyx standing next to her. He was out of his Organization uniform, wearing torn jeans and a T-shirt with Jimmy Hendrix on it. He was also wearing glasses. If Lucy wouldn’t known he was really in disguise, she would though of him to be an ordinary guy.
“My God, De-”
He put his finger on her lips. She realized she’d almost said his name aloud.
“Danny,” he said, “My name’s Danny.” He winked at her.
“Danny,” she repeated, “What’s with your outfit? And glasses?”
Demyx smirked, “We’re not well known here, but it pays to be safe. As for the glasses, they’re fake. That’s the genius of my disguise. Have you ever seen a rocker like me wear glasses?”
“No,” Lucy shook her head as they sat down at a table, “How did you find me?”
Demyx looked to make sure no one else was listening. “Your scent,” he explained, “and your power level. Humans, Heartless, and Nobodies have different scents, as well as power levels. Usually, Humans have a lower power level, but yours is a little bit higher than normal. And it’s easy to distinct a Princess.”
Lucy looked at him, then looked away. “I don’t want to be a princess,” she said sadly, “How can I be a princess when my country’s gone? How can I be a princess when I have no family left and no one to teach me? How can I even be strong?”
“You are strong,” said Demyx, “Stronger than you think. And you have your friends. And you got me.”
Lucy looked up at him. “How can I trust you?” she blurted out, “I barely know you, let alone, you’re…an…you know!”
Demyx thought about it for a moment, then said, “Unusually when people are rescued, they can trust their rescuers, but you’re right: how can you trust me? Only time will tell, so I can’t prove it to you now. Just know…I never wanted to be what I am either, nor did I wanted to be one of them, or fight Sora. I just wanted to be cured…” he looked at her.
Lucy looked at him and then took his hand. They smiled at each other and didn’t let go until the waitresses stopped by to take their order.
************************************************************************
As Lucy and Demyx had their coffee date, the others got to work on their jobs. Ling entertained a crowd of people by juggling a ball in the air and with her magic fans in the Station Heights corridor. Up the street, Mitch entertained another large crowd as she hauled several large crates up the hill with simply the push of the finger.
In the tram comm, Matti and Margot got started getting rid of bees in the one corner. Matti whacked a swarm of bees to his left, then another to his right, but he missed the swarm behind him, but Margot took care of them by smacking hard with her weapon.
“Nice shot!” Matti gave her thumbs up.
She smiled and returned the thumbs up.
Across the street, Joey had made several robots out of junk scraps to help him with clearing away the piles. Anemone and Clarise got ready to do their mail run nearby.
“You can have the hover board,” said Clarise, handing her the white board that looked like a skateboard without wheels.
“This piece of junk?” asked Anemone, looking at it.
“Would you rather run? Besides, I can run faster,” remarked Clarise.
“Fine, fine, I’ll take this,” Anemone jumped on and zoomed away.
Meanwhile, Grace and Tai had started their tasks of putting up posters all over town for the upcoming Struggle tournament.
“You know,” said Tai, as he helped put up a poster, “The more I look at these posters, the more curious I am about this Struggle thing.”
“Me too,” said Grace, “but you’re too young. The poster says you have to be at least thirteen to enter. But we can still check it out when we’re done.”
“Yay! Let’s go!” he grabbed the rest of the posters and began to place them in odd places he could reach.
As soon as they were finished putting posters up and returned from their pay, Grace and Tai walked into the Sandlot. It was a large area enclosed by the back of several houses. A platform stood in the middle and banners for the Struggle tournament hung around the buildings.
“Hello?” Grace called but no one replied.
“Hey!”
Grace heard someone call behind her and saw Clarise and Anemone. Meanwhile, Seifer and his gang had entered the Sandlot and Seifer wasn’t too happy a couple of ‘outsiders’ were in his space.
“Yo! You punks! What are you doing here?” questioned Seifer.
“This is our turf, y’know?” said Rai.
“Excuse me, but I don’t see a sign,” said Anemone.
Seifer’s expression changed almost at once when he saw Clarise and Anemone. “Excuse me, but we’re the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee and no outsiders are welcomed here! But, if you were to be my girlfriend, I might let the punishment slide,” he held out his hand to Clarise, but she backed away.
Matti suddenly appeared out of nowhere with Margot beside him and whacked Seifer’s arm around. “I don’t know who the hell made you part of a committee, punk, but don’t touch my girl.”
Seifer pushed Matti away into Margot and grinned, “So she’s your girl? There’s still another one of interest,” he eyes landed on Anemone.
She turned away with a frown, “Sorry, but I don’t go out with delinquents.”
“Too bad, sweetheart,” he reached for her arm or something else, when someone suddenly knocked him down.
It was Pence. “Don’t you dare touch Miss Anemone like that! You hear me!” Pence was about to punch Seifer in the face until Rai and Fuu pulled him off and toss him aside.
Hayner rushed to Pence and whispered to him, “Calm down!” then turned to Seifer, “I don’t know what your problem is Seifer, but that’s no way to treat a girl! Even you would have some sort of dignity but ever since you lost to him, your attitude’s been ticking me off!”
“He’s not the only one!” muttered Pence, but the girl held him back. Pence then turned to Anemone, “Are you alright, Miss Anemone? He didn’t hurt you did he?”
Anemone shook her head and said, almost awkwardly, “Thank you.”
Grace asked the girl next to Pence, “Who is he? This Seifer guy?”
“Seifer’s part of the so called ‘Disciplinary Committee’. It just means he gets to boss people around. He does a lot of talking but he’s pretty powerful. He was the Struggle Champion, that was until he was beaten a couple months ago,” explained the girl, “I’m Olette by the way. And you?”
“Grace Porter. Nice to meet you.” She shook Olette’s hand.
“Seifer,” Grace heard Hayner call to Seifer, “Let’s settle this the old fashion way.” Hayner grabbed a club from a basket and pointed it at Seifer.
Seifer started to grin and took a club as well, “I’m going to kick your ass!”
“Bring it on!” Hayner shouted then looked at Olette and nodded. She nodded back.
“What’s going on?” Grace asked.
“It’s Struggle time!” she winked. As she took to the stage, Hayner and Seifer each grabbed a helmet and a vest. They were both covered with Velcro with balls sticking to the helmet and vest. They walked on stage and faced each other.
“Read the rules Olette!” said Hayner.
“Unofficial match 54: Finalist Seifer vs. Finalist Hayner! This is an unofficial match and as such will not be reflective upon tournament scores. However, each Struggler may wager a bet at this time. Strugglers please make any wagers now or we will continue to proceed,” said Olette.
“If I lose,” said Seifer aloud, so that everyone could hear clearly, “I will let the punishment slide and will not go on a date with ‘pink hair’. If I win, I get a date.”
“Challenger Hayner? Do you have any requests?” asked Olette.
“If I lose, Seifer gets the girl. If not, we all leave happily, got it?” Hayner made his wager.
“The Strugglers have made their wagers. We will now proceed. The object of the Struggle match is to collect as many balls as possible within one minute! You can collect balls when you strike the opponent and pick up theirs, however, you may lose balls if you are struck and cannot retrieve your balls. The person who has the most balls at the end of time called wins the match! You may also win if the opponent forfeits, falls out of the boundary line, or you collect all the balls. It there is an equal amount of balls on each player, there will be a redo! Strugglers! Are you ready?” asked Olette.
Hayner and Seifer went into a guard.
“Then let’s get ready to…”
“Struggle!” shouted Pence and Olette.
A buzzer went off somewhere and Hayner and Seifer clashed.
Grace could now see why everyone was so into Struggle; it was like watching two swordsmen fight, only twice as cool. The Strugglers might have been wearing Velcro, but the balls sticking to it was loose, that even if you were hit once, five or six balls went flying off. You could just run around and dodge attacks but that wasn’t the way to win. All a Struggler needed was one more ball and keep it on for the rest of the match, and victory was his. But the Strugglers were also playing against the clock, but so much could happen in one minute that could turn the tide of the match.
Grace watched as Hayner was struck with a Struggle club and lost a few of his balls. He managed to pick them all up again and get back to dodging an attack, but Grace could see that he and Seifer were evenly matched. The clock had reached thirty by now and Hayner was on the offensive. Things looked good for him; he was up by ten or more balls. Then Grace saw Seifer’s eyes flash and gear up for a counter. Hayner didn’t see it coming. He was thrown into the air, all of his balls falling off. Hayner got back on his feet and tried to collect as many balls he could but it was too late. Seifer had more than enough to win the match.
A buzzer went off to signal the end of the match. Olette raised her hand for time. “The winner…is Seifer.”
Seifer took off his hat and grinned, “Told you I’d kick your ass.”
Hayner threw his Struggle club down angrily as Seifer went on, “There’s no one in this town who could beat me!”
“Wait!” Grace picked up the Struggle club Hayner had tossed away, “You still got one more contender: me.”
All the Twilight Town kids were staring at her, but Matti, Clarise, Margot, and even Anemone managed a smile.
“What are you doing?” asked Hayner, “Are you nuts?”
“I know the rules,” snapped Grace, “Give me your helmet.”
“This has nothing to do with the rules!” he hissed.
“I won’t lose,” Grace said firmly and put on the helmet and vest.
“You best step down, girl. You’re going up against the best and I’m not holding back for nothin’,” said Seifer.
Grace stared into his eyes, “I don’t want you to hold back.” She then nodded to Olette.
“Oh God…” she heard Olette mutter, “Unofficial match 55: Finalist Seifer vs. Challenger Grace! This is an unofficial match and as such will not be reflective upon tournament scores. However, each Struggler may wager a bet at this time. Strugglers please make any wagers now or we will continue to proceed.”
“Same as before,” replied Seifer.
“Challenger Grace? Any requests?” asked Olette.
“Same as Hayner’s, except if I lose, you get to go on a date with me as well,” said Grace.
“The Strugglers have made their wagers. We will now proceed. Strugglers, you know the rules. Are you ready?” asked Olette.
Grace gripped the Struggle club.
“Then let’s…”
“STRUGGLE!” screamed the group of kids.
The buzzer went off; the match began.
“Kneel, loser!” taunted Seifer and he came in for a combo attack. Grace dodged and went in for a counter. She struck him a couple of times and knocked off a few balls. She collected what she can.
“All right,” she thought, “Now, I just have to make sure he doesn’t hit me and keep far enough away so he doesn’t get the chance, and I’ll win by default.”
Grace glared at him. He rolled his eyes.
“Come on! Quit playing around and fight!” he jumped back then leaped into the air, coming in for a diving attack.
“He’s right!” Grace gripped the handle of the club, “I’ve got to fight!” She swung the club back and slammed it into his stomach. The club knocked out of Seifer’s hand and he went flying. He slammed to the ground hard outside the ring. He looked up at Grace, who now stood over his club. He clenched his fist admitting defeat.
“And the winner is by knockout Grace!” Olette cheered.
Grace took off her helmet as everyone gathered around her to congratulate her. Anemone was the only one who didn’t have a lot to say. “You know, this is what? The second time you’ve saved my life?” she remarked, “I hate being in…your…whatever…how…can-”
“You ever repay me for what I did?” Grace finished the sentence for her, “Well for starters you could not say anything insulting to me for a day.”
“That’s doable,” shrugged Anemone.
Meanwhile, Hayner was taunted Seifer for a change, “That took? What? Thirty seconds to beat you?”
“Seifer’s not feeling hot, y’know?” reasoned Rai.
“Tournament decides,” agreed Fuu.
“Aww, he doesn’t want to admit he got his ass kicked by a girl!” taunted Matti.
“Shut up!” Seifer fumed, and shrugged Rai and Fuu away, but looked at Grace, “You’re as good as him…the only one that beat me…”
“Who?” she asked.
“He’s on the board,” Seifer nodded his head in the direction of a sign of all the tournament winners. When Grace looked back, he and his gang had already gotten up and left.
Grace and the others looked up at the board. “I can’t read it,” said Grace as she squinted to make it out, “I think it looks like Japanese kanji.”
Tai climbed up on Grace to get a better look. “It’s something similar. I can translate it. Okay…sore…ah…Sora!”
“What?” Grace jumped knocking Tai over, “He was here?”
“You guys know Sora?” asked Pence.
“Sort of,” replied Clarise, “How do you guys know him?”
“We met him a while back,” explained Hayner, “He was looking for someone named the King and Riku.”
“When did you see him last?” asked Margot.
“Two or three months ago,” said Olette, “He went to find Kairi when she got kidnapped.”
“Kairi?” Grace raised an eyebrow.
“His girl, I guess,” said Hayner, “Some guy in a black coat got her and took her away. He went after her and that’s the last we saw him.”
“And where was that?” Grace asked.
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