Wow, that took more time than I thought to do. But this story is up to 449 pages in a Word document and takes up 1.21 MB (which is a lot for a word document)! The good news is we're about halfway through. I've added something at the end that gives you guys a sneak peak at the second half of the book. Don't worry, everything should still be posted on the same thread. And remember that secret boss I mention a few months ago? Well it's time to get started on that. Enjoy!
The Angelus Knights have captured Sora and the gang to testify in the Galactic Federation's inquiry. We've already met a slew of new characters, now it's time to know what big juicy secrets they're hidding! This chapter is long and may need a second time through to understand everything. Once again, enjoy readers. You've deserved it.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
THE INQUIRY
THE GALACTIC FEDERATION HEADQUARTERS, ALLURIA
The counsel room was as large as a baseball stadium, with its seats rising as far as the eyes could see. Grace reckoned it was as tall as the World Qudditch Stadium from Harry Potter for there was hundreds of people of all races sitting in chairs. Each row of chairs rotated around the center area slowly, as if to see all prospective. The chairs were also divided into subsections by world. As the group walked up the walkway to a center platform, a group of seats stood out from the rest. They were more towards the center and didn’t rotate but stood facing the center platform. Three knights sat at this grouping of seats. Their armor was decorated like the Chasers but the knights didn’t carry Keyblades; instead they held swords and spears. Three scribes sat to the right of them: a human, an Angelus, and a moogle. On the left of the knights, was a window box with at least twenty people inside wearing headsets; translators for various races.
“All rise!” shouted an Angelus Knight. The entire room stood up, including the three knights, with such force the room shook. “This Imperial Inquiry has been called into order by vote of the Federation. Overseeing this Inquiry, High Judge Lady Zaida, High Judge Lord Ulrich, and High Judge Lord Brenton.”
As each of the Judges names were called, they took off their helmets. The first one, Judge Zaida, had silver hair and fiery eyes. The other judges had dark hair and the blue eyes of the Angelus. When all three helmets were taken off, the Angelus Knight said, “You may be seated.”
When the noise of the shifting of chairs died down, Judge Zaida asked one of the scribes, “Who is not present today?”
The Angelus scribe stood up. “High Lord Hades, the Olympian God of the Underworld-”
“The Gods are here too?” Grace whispered to her father.
“They’re up there,” Alex pointed to the top of the room, which was cloaked in light, “Hades never shows up of course.”
“-World Leader Commander Neuve of Juno City,” the scribe continued, “King Triton and the other world leaders of Atlantica, and the Chasers have not checked in yet.”
A side door burst open and a voice called, “Wait! We’re here!”
Grace’s mom, Aqua, and Terra entered the dome, in their full Chaser armor. As they took their seats above the window box for the translators, there were a few whispered remarks passed back and forth between world leaders. The Chasers took off their helmets. Aqua caught Alex’s eye, and blew him a small secret kiss; he lowered his head so no one would see him blush. Aqua then winked at Grace and Tai and then stood calm and presentable with Terra next to her. Next to Terra, was an empty seat; Grace already figured who it belonged to.
One of the Judges, Judge Ulrich stood up. “To the Federation Members, the Angelus Knights, the Chasers, and our other guests, welcome. Today we hope to find more answers to the questions we still have surrounding the Heartless, the Nobodies, the Organization XIII, and the event known as the Juno City Crisis. To those being questioned today: answer as best to your abilities. You have nothing to hide here. Speak only the truth; there are several lie detectors hidden throughout the room. Even if you fool the machines, Professor Xaiver, who sitting behind me,” he nodded to an older man in a wheelchair in the row behind the Judges, “will know when you’re lying. We will began.”
“First to the stands,” said Judge Zaida as she picked up a piece of paper, “High Lord Sora, the Keyblade Master.”
Sora took a deep breath and made his way out to the center platform.
“Oh crap,” muttered Alex.
“Did you know he was being called up?” whispered Balthier.
“No!” Alex hissed.
“So then who’s his defense attorney?” asked Balthier.
“I don’t know!”
“What’s wrong?” asked Kairi.
“Sora was not suppose to be called to the stands,” explained Alex.
“Is that necessarily a bad thing?” asked Grace.
“It’s going to be,” said Balthier.
“Let’s just say there’s something big Sora isn’t suppose to know about, and now he’s going to find out,” Alex buried his face in his hand.
Aqua was mouthing something to Alex. “I didn’t know!” he mouthed back.
Aqua rolled her eyes with a sigh and looked back down at Sora who was approaching a floating lift. Before he even got to the lift, Judge Brenton asked him, “Where is your defense attorney?”
“My defense attorney?” asked Sora.
“Did you not know you were being called to the stand today?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“No,” Sora shook his head.
“He was one of the ones we added last night,” Judge Zaida whispered to the other judges. They nodded and Judge Zaida turned back to Sora, “Very well; you will placed under arrest immediately-”
“Wait!”
The door behind the group opened up and Princess Jane and her wolf guardian rushed in the room. “Sorry, but we had a bad run in with the paparazzi,” she explained.
“Princess Jane, what is your reason for being here?” asked Judge Brenton.
“I’m Sora defense attorney,” she replied. There were a few gasps from the audience but they quickly died down.
“Do you have written permission?” asked Judge Zaida.
“I do,” she held up a document, “You will find my father’s signature at the bottom. It also gives me the right to be the defense attorney for anyone else that doesn’t have one today.” The Princess gave it to an Angelus guard who passed it on to the Judges.
The Judges each went over it and when they approved it, Judge Brenton said to Princess Jane, “Very well. If there are no more interruptions we will began.”
Princess Jane took her place next to Sora on the floating lift. When they stepped on, the lift took them up above the ground a few yards so they were eye and eye with the Judges. The wolf walked over to where Pongo and Perdita. As he did, Alex, Balthier, Fran and Luke gave the wolf a small bow. “Who is that?” Grace asked carefully.
“That is Jane’s father, the Crown Prince, in his Transmira form,” explained Alex, “It’s been quite awhile since he gone into a humanoid form.”
“Why?” asked Grace.
“He’s been depressed since he left his wife and son behind ten years ago,” explained Alex.
“His son?” Grace looked from the wolf to Sora. She looked back at her father. “You don’t mean-” She closed her mouth when Balthier gave her a threatening look.
“Name?” Judge Ulrich asked Sora.
“Sora, the Keyblade Master, protector of the realm of Light,” Sora said. The Judges looked at him, expecting him to say more. “Um…I think that’s it.”
“You’re missing quite a bit,” remarked Judge Zaida, “Your full title, please.”
“I thought that was my full title,” said Sora.
“He doesn’t know his full title,” said Professor Xaiver, “He never has.”
“Well then, the defense attorney will have to provide that information to us,” said Judge Ulrich.
“With all due respect High Judges, revealing that information will break my oath,” said Princess Jane firmly.
“Is that an oath to the Angelus King or your father?” asked Judge Brenton raising an eyebrow.
“Both,” replied the Princess, not taking her eyes off the Judges. A few whispers passed between the world leaders after she replied.
“Although you’re willing to keep the promises you made to both father and grandfather,” remarked Judge Zaida, “That oath has nothing here. If you are unwilling to divulge that information, you and High Lord Sora will be placed under arrest.”
“I understand,” said Princess Jane, “But before I say anything, I would like to have the Angelus King’s permission.” She looked up to the rotating seats, to an elderly Angelus in a formal uniform. Sora saw his grandmother sitting next to the man. She reached for the King’s hand, and rubbed it warmly, but the King did not take his eyes off of Princess Jane.
“Permission granted; you may break your oath,” said the Angelus King, his voice similar to Sora’s grandfather.
The Princess nodded and took a deep breath.
“Here comes the landslide,” whispered Alex.
“Sora…is my older brother. He is His Imperial Highness Prince Sora Michael Magdalene, the son of Crown Prince Michael of the Royal Magdalene house, son of Chen, great-granddaughter of High Summoner Yuna, second in line for the Angelus throne, Duke of the Stardust Nebula, Emperor of the Sun Sigil, Honorary Chaser of the realm of Light, nephew of High Lord Terra, Chaser of the realm of the Light, and Chosen One of the Keyblade, supposedly handpicked by Ultima herself,” said Princess Jane.
“Hook, line, and sinker,” mumbled Luke glancing at his watch, “3, 2, 1…”
There was a sudden uproar in the room but no one was as loud as Sora’s “WHAT??????????!” As the Judges tried to calm everyone down, a voice broke through the crowd, “Proof! Where’s the proof? We were told ten years ago that King’s grandson was dead! And if he is Angelus, why isn’t he in Angelus form? Even a third generation cross breed should have full control of his powers at his age!”
A few murmurs of agreement passed around the room, and Princess Jane made a face. “So you want proof he’s my brother? Well he does have the trademark Angelus blue eyes and seriously, who else besides the Magdalene boys has hair as pointy as this?” She poked one of Sora’s hair spikes.
There was silence.
“I don’t think they’re buying it,” Sora whispered to his sister.
“Shut up!” she hissed and took out a USB flash drive, “As for more concrete evidence,” she plugged the USB into a port on the lift and a holographic screen popped up. She messed with the screen and displayed an x-ray picture to the counsel. “This is Sora’s X-ray of his backside when he was examined upon arrival to the Flying City. As you can see, he has the wing bone just above the shoulder blades. And this is an imprint of his chromosome count,” a picture of black and white marks was pulled up, “and this,” she zoomed into one of the chromosomes, “is CHA-623; the Angelus royal gene. But honestly, I don’t think we’re here to discuss this topic specifically.”
“I still want to know why Angelus King lied to the counsel,” bickered the same man who had spoken out before.
“For my grandson’s protection,” the King said firmly, “It was prophesized he would become the next Keyblade Master; I was not going to let my grandson at the age of five take on the Heartless. Not to mention the fact that Angelus Intelligence warned that Xehanort was after him. Or do you not remember the chaos we were all under when the Heartless first appeared?”
“Enough!” interjected Judge Zaida, “If we want to finish by nightfall, we must continue. Now Sora,” she turned back to the Keyblade Master, “At the age of five, your father, Crown Prince Michael, erased or modified you and your mother’s memories of your sister and himself by a process which we call Angelus Memory Modification. As such, we cannot ask you to confirm this because you wouldn’t remember, but you were aware that your father left you, correct?”
“Yes,” replied Sora.
“The same day your father and sister left you, you came into contact with a girl name Kairi, who had escaped from the world called Radiant Gardens during the first invasion of Heartless. Were you aware she came from another world?” asked Judge Zaida.
“No,” Sora shook his head.
“Then why was it nine years later, you, Kairi, and your friend Riku made plans to leave the world?” asked Judge Zaida.
“It was Riku idea. See, Kairi didn’t remember anything from before she came to the Islands, so Riku thought she came from somewhere beyond the Islands. We built a raft but we didn’t get the chance to use it,” explained Sora.
“When did you first come into contact with the Keyblade?” asked Judge Brenton.
“It was when the Heartless invaded the Islands,” Sora thought back, “There was a storm and I went to check on the raft. Riku and Kairi’s boats were there when I got to the children’s island, so I went looking for them. I saw Riku and asked him where Kairi was. He said the door had opened and he was being swallowed by the darkness. I reached for his hand but I was being swallowed up too. Suddenly, there was nothing but black but then there was a light, and the next thing I knew, I had the Keyblade.”
“No other premonitions?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Before I had a couple of weird dreams but that was it,” explained Sora.
“So after the Islands were destroyed, you made your way to Traverse Town, where you met King Mickey’s subjects, the Mage Donald and Captain Goofy, and they offered to take you with them on their search for their King. From what we’ve gathered for Angelus Intelligence, you interfered with the Queen of Hearts’ court in Wonderland, but stopped the execution of a Maiden of Heart; you stopped a hunter from poaching in Deep Jungle; battled Heartless in the Olympic Coliseum with the aid of Hercules; stopped a vizier from taking over the city of Agrabah; aided Princess Ariel from reclaiming King Triton’s triton in Atlantica; defeated Ooggie Boggie in the domain of Halloween Town; and defeated the pirate, Captain Hook near the stars of Neverland. But when you reached Hallow Bastion, the Headquarters of the witch Maleficent, the Keyblade was taken by you by Riku. Yet it returned to you the next time you met him. How?” asked Judge Zaida.
“I guess my heart was just stronger,” remarked Sora.
The Judges whispered among themselves and even Terra whispered something in Aqua’s ear. When they were done, Judge Zaida continued, “After you defeated Maleficent, you and the King’s subjects found the Keyhole Maleficent had been forging with the seven Maidens of Heart. One of them was Princess Kairi, but her heart had transmigrated to yours. You took the advice of Riku who was possessed by Xehanort’s heartless and stabbed yourself in the chest with another Keyblade to free Kairi’s heart and almost destroying your own. While that was very noble and stupid, you yourself became a Heartless, and in turn, created two Nobodies: Roxas and Naminé, correct?”
“Yes,” nodded Sora.
“And you were made human again by…I can’t believe I’m saying this…the love of Kairi?” asked Judge Zaida.
Sora shuffled his feet and his face turned red. “Something like that.”
“As the story goes, you and the King’s subjects went off to fight Xehanort’s heartless at Kingdom Hearts. Can you tell us what happened after you defeated the Heartless?” asked Judge Zaida.
“The door to Kingdom Hearts was opened, so we tried to close it; there was all these Heartless on the other side. But the door was so heavy…that’s when Riku grabbed the door on the other side. King Mickey held off the Heartless and we closed the door. And with the Keyblade, I sealed the door and it disappeared into the light. And then….I said goodbye,” Sora broke off.
“You said goodbye to who?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“Kairi,” Sora said in a quiet tone.
“After the battle of Kingdom Hearts, you and the King’s subject travel through an area between the realms we called the Crossroads. We believe this is when you first came into contact with Organization XIII. Do you remember what happened?” asked Judge Zaida.
“I remember I couldn’t sleep, so I walked a little bit down the road, to uh…well a crossroads,” explained Sora, “I heard a voice and turned around. There was a man in a black coat and he disappeared down the road.”
“What did the man in the black coat say?” asked Judge Brenton.
“I don’t remember,” replied Sora.
“Do you know what happened next?” asked Judge Zaida.
“I woke Donald and Goofy and we walked back to the crossroads and followed the man to a castle. I think it was called Castle Oblivion. I don’t remember much after that,” said Sora.
“What do you remember?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“I remember Naminé and fighting the Organization members, but that’s it,” explained Sora.
“Do you know which ones you fought?” asked Judge Zaida.
Sora shook his head.
“Can you show us?” asked Judge Brenton.
“Show you?” Sora raised an eyebrow. A holographic screen appeared before him displaying the faces of the Organization members. He touched some of the pictures and the screen disappeared, reappearing back to the Judges.
“Only four members…” remarked Judge Zaida. “Were you aware that Naminé scrambled your memories during your stay in Castle Oblivion?”
“Yeah, but she put them back, right?” said Sora.
“For what we’ve gathered, yes. And for a year, you and your friends were placed in a semi-comatose state until your memories were restored. During that time, your Nobody, Roxas, joined the Organization. Several months later, he left the Organization but was soon captured by Riku to help your memory restoration go faster. After that, nothing, but we believe he made some sort of contact with you. Where is Roxas now?” asked Judge Zaida.
Sora looked at Princes Jane, who in the slightest subtle movement shook her head. “I don’t know,” Sora replied.
A buzzer went off and Judge Ulrich said, “You’re lying Keyblade Master. Where is Roxas?”
“I…respect my right to remain silent on the matter,” said Sora.
There was another uproar in the room. Angry outburst of “Nobodies are dangerous!” and “He’s withholding important information!” echoed from every end of the room. They only got quiet when a bolt of lightning and thunder shook the room from above.
“Thank you High Lord Zeus,” said Judge Zaida, “We will take a vote, deciding whether or not Prince Sora’s sudden decision to remain silent will be uphold.”
“Not good,” muttered Princess Jane.
“What’s not good?” asked Sora.
“They’re going to take a vote to override your right of silence. You saw what happened before; they want you to talk,” explained Princess Jane.
“Can’t you do something?” asked Sora.
“Not in this case,” the Princess shook her head.
At that moment the votes came back on a holographic screen to Judge Zaida. “The Majority vote has been decided. Prince Sora’s right of silence has been overturned. We will ask again: where is Roxas?”
There was a chuckle from behind the Judges. Professor Xaiver took a moment to quiet himself and said to the Judges, “He’s right in front of you.”
“That’s impossible…” Judge Brenton and the other Judges turned back to Sora only to find he wasn’t there. In his place was Roxas.
Gasps echoed all over the room. Joey and Matti pushed Naminé down to the floor, as Kairi had also transformed, to keep the guards form noticing while their attention was on Roxas. Aqua looked shocked but the look of surprise was more apparent on Terra’s face. The Angelus guards readied their weapons but Judge Zaida raised her hand for the guards to lower them. “This isn’t what I had in mind,” she remarked, “But we will proceed to questioning you.”
Roxas said nothing, not even when Princess Jane hissed, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Right after your…birth, you officially became the thirteenth member of the terrorist clan known as Organization XIII. You realize that by mere association you may face charges of committing acts of terror upon the worlds’ people, genocide, assassination, and assault,” said Judge Zaida.
“There is no evidence to prove that Roxas did any of that!” said Princess Jane.
Whispered passed through the room again and Judge Zaida said, “True, there is no concrete evidence… at this time. But we will question Roxas all the same. Why did you join the Organization?”
“For a purpose,” replied Roxas.
“You had no memories of your life before, correct?” asked Judge Zaida.
“None,” said Roxas.
“And what was your purpose in the Organization?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“Defeat Heartless. That’s all I did,” he replied.
The Judges turned back to Professor Xaiver. “He is telling the truth,” said the Professor, “With that as his only task and finding no answers to who he was, is the reason why he left the Organization.”
Judge Zaida turned back to Roxas. “When you left the Organization, you were captured by Riku and brought to DiZ to be placed in a virtual simulation of Twilight Town. Describe what that world was like.”
“It was…very real. Looking back, everything was down to the tinniest of details. But when I found out it wasn’t real, and that I wasn’t suppose to exist, I got angry,” Roxas looked away, trying not to think of the other Twilight Town.
“You got angry? Are you saying you felt this emotion?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“Yes,” nodded Roxas.
The Judges whispered to each other as well as a few of the world leaders. Judge Zaida turned back to him, “Very well, but we have one more question, slightly off topic-”
“Hold on a second,” Roxas told the Judges. He then turned to the counsel. “All right. You guys can all shut up now. Don’t think I don’t know you’re talking about me behind our backs. If you got something to say, say it now.”
There was complete silence in the room; no one spoke. “Just as I thought,” remarked Roxas, “You’re all a bunch of cowards. Or you have nothing bad to say to me. I don’t care.”
“You’re unorthodox; I’ll give you that,” remarked the Angelus King. There were a few smiles, including one from Roxas.
“Well…now as for that last question…” Judge Zaida looked down at her papers then looked up at Sora. “How did you do that?”
“Do what?” asked Sora. Everyone stared at him.
“You were just Roxas and you changed back,” said Judge Zaida.
“I was?” asked Sora.
“What is the last thing you remember?” asked Judge Brenton.
“You were asking me where Roxas was,” replied Sora.
“He doesn’t remember anything from the last five minutes. His mind is blank,” remarked Professor Xaiver.
“All right…after you went into a comatose state for a year to restore your memories, you woke in Twilight Town, correct?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yes,” nodded Sora.
“From what we received from Angelus intelligence, after leaving Twilight Town, you stopped an invasion of Heartless upon the world of Land of Dragons, aided the hero Hercules in the recent battle to stop Lord Hades, prevented the Disney Castle from being taken over by Maleficent, saved Port Royal from a band of cursed pirates, defeated the sea witch Ursula with the aid of Princess Ariel, stopped Jafar a second time from taking over Agrahba, prevented Oogie Boogie from destroying Christmas Town, restored the king of the Pride Lands back to his throne, and once again, crush an invasion of Heartless from taking over Hallow Bastion. Now while you were on Hallow Bastion, you came into contact with an artificial intelligent security program named Tron. Were you aware that both Tron and the entire Operating System for Ansem the Wise’s computer was a copy from a system possibly associated with an Earthern company?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Tron did say something like that,” remarked Sora.
“So you returned to Twilight Town and found a portal to the realm of darkness to finish off Organization XIII. Can you tell us which members you defeated?” asked Judge Zaida.
Another holographic screen of pictures appeared in front of Sora. He selected a few of the pictures and the results went back to the Judges’ desk. “You realize that out of the nine Organization members you defeated, three are still alive and possibly more. We still don’t know what their concept of death is, but sooner or later, those still surviving members will have to face their crimes. You are done.”
The floating lift lowered back down to the center platform. Sora looked over at Princess Jane but she didn’t return his gaze. She looked a little sad and walked to the back of the platform as soon as the lift stopped. His sister…Princess Jane was his sister. Suddenly he felt angry; why didn’t anyone tell him? He pushed through the group and walked out of the courtroom.
“Sora!” Kairi followed after him, transforming back from Naminé.
A guard tried to stop her from following him out. “I’m sorry miss, but you can’t leave.”
“I really don’t care,” she pushed the guard aside and joined Sora in the hallway. “Sora, what’s wrong? You know you can tell me,” she reached for Sora’s shoulder.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me? Balthier, Grace’s dad, my grandparents; they all knew,” he clenched his fist.
“Would you have believed them if they told you you were a prince?” asked Kairi.
“It’s not so much that part, it’s…they could have at least told me I had a sister,” he said.
They were both quiet for a moment, then Kairi said, “Let’s go back inside. You were only the first one up. We need to support the others.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” nodded Sora and he took her hand and they went back inside the courtroom.
As soon as they entered, Judge Zaida announced, “Next to the stand, Grace Porter, the Keyblade Master’s Apprentice.”
Grace and her father stepped onto the floating lift. When the lift reached the eye level of the judges, Judge Brenton asked, “Name?”
“Lady Grace Anastasia Alexandievna Romanov Porter, Apprentice to the High Lord Keyblade Master of Light, Sora, Honorary Chaser of Light and Twilight, Dutchess of the Romanov-Porter clan, daughter of Lord Alexander Ivan Nicholaievitch Romanov Porter, and daughter of High Lady Aquamarie ‘Aqua’ Sarah Wayne,” Grace said without making a mistake.
“Your father will be serving as your defense attorney?” asked Judge Ulrich.
Grace looked at her father who nodded to the judges. “We will begin. Grace Porter,” started Judge Zaida, “When you were only a few days old, your biological parents left you in the care of St. Paul’s Orphanage and Academy for Young Girls in Juno City for your own protection under the condition that upon your fifteenth birthday you would be given over to your guardians Captain Balthier and Fran. Only a few people knew of your existence and that you were Lord Alexander’s daughter: the royal family, King Mickey, Ansem the Wise, a small selection of the Angelus Elite Knights, and the Judges. You, of course had no knowledge of that, but what was the story the orphanage told you about your parents?”
“They told me…my mother gave me up. That’s what the official story was,” replied Grace.
“The official story?” Judge Brenton raised an eyebrow.
“Well, some of the teachers said my mother was a prostitute along with the other colorful words that came with it,” explained Grace. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aqua’s mouth drop.
“But you didn’t believe that?” asked Judge Zaida.
“No,” Grace shook her head.
“Was life hard for you in the orphanage?” asked Judge Zaida.
“It wasn’t too bad. I’m mean the food could’ve been better some days,” Grace shrugged, “But my friends helped me out a lot.”
“Your friends had a great influence on you?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“Yes,” Grace said with a smile.
“Perhaps not so much of the good kind,” remarked Judge Brenton, “We have here a list of demerits accumulated during your school years at St. Paul’s. More than a hundred counts of tarries and illegal absences, twenty counts of class cuts, five counts of using a cellphone during class, fifteen counts of insubordination, several counts of inappropriate conduct and/or fighting, numerous detentions both before and after school, twenty in-school-suspensions both half day and full day, and ten out-of-school-suspensions, four of which were three-full-day suspensions. You also have one count of indecent exposure and one count for disrupting school functions by ‘liberating the frogs that were suppose to be used for dissection in the Biology classes’. Many of your friends have served with your punishments but so far you have the most demerits.”
“Crap!” Matti hissed and passed Mitch a fifty dollar bill.
“What have you to say to this?” asked Judge Brenton.
“We were a little rebellious,” Grace laughed weakly but no one else joined her.
“Next question,” said Judge Zaida, “When you were five, you found a robot in the trash left behind by your father for you to find. What model was it?”
“You’re asking the wrong person,” remarked Grace, “It was a Lithloid model, humanoid class,” she looked back at Joey who nodded, “They didn’t have legs; instead they floated around with anti-gravity microchips.”
“And you named the robot Tai? An odd name to give to a robot,” remarked Judge Zaida.
“I got it from the letters on his hard drive: Titan Artificial Intelligence,” explained Grace.
“Were you aware that embedded within the robot’s hard drive and memory core was a heart?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Well…looking back, there was a box in with the hard drive. We didn’t know what it was for, so Joey tried to open it a couple of times, but it wouldn’t open, so we just left it,” said Grace.
“But the model type was only designed to last for ten years?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yes,” Grace nodded.
“But you didn’t know his programming had been altered to over ride the shutdown?”
“No,” Grace shook her head.
“Let’s change to a different subject,” said Judge Zaida, “The Commander: did he seem like a good leader to you?”
“Well…when I was younger, I didn’t understand much about politics, but there were a few things that stood out. Our social studies teacher called Juno a democratic city like Athens or Sparta but it didn’t seem democratic because the Commander’s word, not the people’s word was the law. Then there was the military buildup starting from the time of the Heartless Colony Massacre onward. It always seemed like we were going to war, but Juno had no enemies other than the Heartless, but as long as the anti-Heartless waves were working, we should’ve been safe. Thirdly, the book banning; I had a few of the forbidden books but I didn’t see anything wrong with them. When I pointed some of the stuff out to the teacher, she just ignored me but looked as if someone was watching her. As I got older, I noticed how panicky the adults would get if they made a mistake, especially the doctors and the scientists. Sometimes people would disappear and be never heard of again, called up for duty to the Government Offices. It wasn’t too often at the Orphanage that a few troublemaking kids would show up after they’re parents were sent to the Offices,” explained Grace.
“Did anything strange happen before the Juno City Crisis?” asked Judge Zaida.
“For me or for Juno?” asked Grace.
“For you,” clarified Judge Zaida.
“I think it started two months before the Crisis when I met Axel,” said Grace.
“You met an Organization member?” Judge Ulrich raised an eyebrow.
“Well, I didn’t know he was in the Organization back then,” explained Grace.
“Even though months earlier your Government issued a warrant for the arrest of all thirteen members?” asked Judge Brenton.
“Look, the Organization never showed up in Juno before. We didn’t even know they were Nobodies. We thought they were terrorists; you know, suicide bombers, people that blow up stuff to make a point. So when no one saw them, everyone forgot about them,” said Grace.
“Did Axel show any of his powers?” asked Judge Zaida.
“No,” Grace shook her head, “He was pretty weak when I found him. The only thing that stood out was he liked fire a bit too much and he knew more about weaponry than anyone I knew.”
“You didn’t question where he was from?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“No, I mean, there was about 250 million people living in Juno City. There was no way I would know everyone,” said Grace.
“Was there anything else that happened to you before the Crisis?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Right after Axel showed up, I started to have weird dreams,” said Grace, “Of something that happened years ago. There was nothing I could make out; it was all jumbled.”
“You mean the memory that was implanted inside of you when you were born,” suggested Judge Zaida.
“Yeah, the implanted- wait a sec!” Grace then turned to Alex, “What implanted memory?!”
Alex made a look and glanced at Aqua. She sighed, looking uncomfortable.
“Lady Porter,” Judge Zaida brought Grace’s attention back, “Can you please explain the dream?”
“Usually it was just bits and pieces. Knights, big giant keys, and…lots of lights,” explained Grace.
“That’s what you saw at first?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yes,” Grace said. A buzzer went off.
“What else did you see?” said Judge Zaida.
“A boy,” Grace blurted out.
“You mean Lord Ventus?” asked Judge Brenton.
“Yes,” nodded Grace.
“We are told that the few days before Juno City Crisis was very interesting for both you and the city. What happened that week before the Crisis?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Well, I guess that first thing would be the power outages. It started out with the lights sometimes flickering, then they would go out for a minute or so. Most people thought it was all caused by the recent heat wave, not because the generator was failing. In fact, the only people who knew the generator was failing, were the scientists inside of the Government Offices. And because the lights were going so was the Heartless protection. The Heartless noticed it too, so they started acting up more than usual,” explained Grace.
“And how would you know that?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“Sometimes I would sneak out the city walls on my Sky Diver. If I ever encountered any Heartless, I fought them off with my LASERlight,” explained Grace, “As the days got closer to the Crisis, my dreams got a little bit more…realistic…and violent. It was about three or four days before my birthday that I went outside the walls again to relax. I found a lake deep within one of the chasms to the North and there was a cave at the bottom. I swam through the cave and came up into a great cavern within the rocks. There was a village and felt the pull of something edging me on down into the bottom. I heard voices; it was the Hymn of the Fayth.”
Everyone seemed to be listening intently now. There was complete silence in the room. Grace continued, “I went down into one of the stone houses in the village and there was a room hidden away in the back. In that room was a Keyblade.”
“Which Keyblade?” asked Judge Brenton.
“I think it was called Oblivion,” replied Grace, “And then…one of the Knights from my dreams show up.”
“Which Knight?” asked Judge Zaida.
“I don’t know,” shrugged Grace, “The bad one?”
“Xehanort’s apprentice,” Professor Xaiver said looking deeply into Grace’s eyes, “The black armored knight.”
Another uproar started again in the courtroom. As the Judges tried to bring order, Grace noticed that both Aqua and Terra were looking at her, worried. Alex placed his hand on Grace’s shoulder as if to reassure her, but he seemed as worried as everyone else. Finally, when everyone had calmed down, Judge Zaida asked Grace, “How did you fight him off?”
“I have no clue,” Grace said honestly, “I don’t even know how I made it out of there alive. I guess the Keyblade help somewhat but the knight gave me at least two or three broken ribs. I made it as far as the city walls before I passed out. Tai went and got Alex, who brought me back to his apartment, and I woke up the next morning.”
“But the Keyblade was gone when you woke up?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yes,” Grace nodded, “I told Axel what happened, but I don’t know it made any more sense to him than it did me. He then took me out to this baseball game with all these kids, but after the first game, a man in a black coat show up. He seemed to know Axel and Axel told us all to go home. I couldn’t help but sense a weird vibe coming from the man in the black coat. It turned out later it was one of the Organization members, Xigbar.”
“So it was the next day that an arrest warrant was sent out for you?” asked Judge Zaida.
Grace nodded. “Ling ran into my room, turned on my TV, which was broadcasting my face on every channel because I was charged with crimes against the City of Juno. She then told me I had magical powers, a Key, and a connection with Sora, and that my parents were alive. Then she told me that our grandparents were from Earth and I was from the Outside World, but more importantly the Commander was after my powers, and he knew who I was. Ling told me to go to Axel’s and stay there until my guardian came.”
“But you never made it to Axel’s, did you?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Tai and I were cornered in an alleyway. I tried to fight them off with my LASERlight but one of the soldiers retaliated and fired his weapon. Tai took the shot for me and it went right through his body. I thought he was dead and just remember getting really angry and summoning the Keyblade. I took out most of the soldiers but one of them manage to tranquilize me, and the next time I woke up, Juno was under siege from the Heartless. He was there of course too; the Commander.
“The Commander told me about the Keyblade, and the war that destroyed Earth. He then said that he needed me in the next war and that he needed a piece of information that was in my head, in other words the dreams I had been having. When I refused to outright help him, he started to ask what I wanted, but even then I didn’t say anything. Then when he caught me off guard, he drugged me. I guess it was cloriful or something narcotic because the next thing I knew, I was dreaming,” explained Grace.
“Describe the dream,” said Judge Zaida.
“I was in a wasteland. Scattered around in the ground were Keyblade, hundreds of them. There was a path leading down to a crossroads and where all four paths met there were three Keyblades; Light, Twilight, and Dawn. The Chasers came up behind and they each took one of the Keyblades, then they looked off into the distance at a figure walking towards them. That figure…was Xehanort.” Grace took a moment to get a bit of air but as she did, there were a few gasps in the audience. “He sort of split into two. His other half became the Dark Knight. And then they had an all out battle with magic and Keyblades.”
“How did the dream end?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“Sora appeared. I guess he had somehow been watching too. I remember he asked what was going on. I called his name and he looked at me. I reached for his hand and when I touch it, there was a flash of light and tens of thousands of pictures went streaming through my head, and I blacked out,” explained Grace.
“Where were you when you woke up again?” asked Judge Zaida.
“I was with my mother. She woke me up,” said Grace.
“So she was the one that got you out of the Government Offices?” asked Judge Brenton.
“No,” Grace shook her head, “We got separated after we found my friend Margot and were attacked by Heartless. That was when my rescue party show up.”
“Your rescue party?” Judge Zaida raised an eyebrow.
“Yes; Ling, Lucy, Mitch, Joey, Matti, Clarise, Anemone, Balthier, Fran, Axel, and Xigbar. They fought of the Heartless and saved me and Margot,” explained Grace.
“And that was when you escape from the Government Offices?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“Well, we still needed to activate the gate in order to leave Juno, the gate that leads to the other worlds, I mean. And we still had to deal with the Commander. We met him at the top floor of the Government Offices. He told us, he wanted to take revenge on Xehanort for destroying Earth by destroying what he wanted most: Kingdom Hearts. When he didn’t agree with his point of view, he attacked us, and summoned a huge Nobody. We manage to destroy the Nobody and defeat him, but the Commander escaped, just before he told me we would met again.”
“We took an elevator to the top of the building. There, I unlocked the gate to the outside world and we and the rest of the people of Juno left the city,” said Grace.
“What about Tai? How did he come back?” asked Judge Zaida.
“I don’t know. As we were boarding to leave, I heard his voice, and he was there, but as a human. I’ve never questioned what happened, I was just so happy he was back,” remarked Grace.
“Since the Juno City Crisis, you have ran into the Commander twice, correct?” asked Judge Zaida. Grace nodded. “What about this Nobody under his control, the one that calls herself Xine? What does she look like?”
Grace took a deep breath and said, “She looked like me but her eyes were blue, like the Angelus.”
Judge Zaida wrote something down on her paper and said to Grace, “You are finished.”
The floating lift lowered again and as Grace and her father descended back to the central platform, Alex put his hand on Grace’s shoulder, and said, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” she asked.
“I’ve been a bad father,” he remarked.
Grace looked up at him; Alex’s eyes were sad and he did not look at her. She wrapped her arm behind his waist and his eyes soften a bit. As they walked off the lift, the Judges called Riku to the stands.
“Name?” asked Judge Brenton.
“Riku, Keyblade User, Honorary Chaser of the Dawn, ally to the Keyblade Master, High Lord Sora, son of Theseus and Rachael,” said Riku.
“Lord Alexander will be your defense attorney?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“Yes,” Alex nodded.
“Riku, due to your involvement with the witch known as Maleficent, you face charges of acts of terror upon the worlds’ peoples. You were also possessed by Xehanort’s Heartless and there is reason to believe a part of him still lingers with you,” said Judge Zaida.
“I understand the counsel’s fear against me,” said Riku.
“Very well,” nodded Judge Zaida, “After the doors to Kingdom Hearts were closed, what happened to you in the realm of Darkness? You didn’t stay there, did you?”
“No, I found myself in Castle Oblivion, around the same time Sora arrived there. I had to face the darkness in my heart and use both the light and the dark to face my enemies. With help from the King, I mastered the darkness in my heart,” explained Riku.
“The enemies that you faced…Heartless and Organization?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yes,” nodded Riku.
“Which ones?”
A holographic screen appeared in front of Riku and he selected four of the pictures displayed. The Judges looked over the results and waved the hologram away. “Castle Oblivion is where you met with DiZ, correct?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yes.”
“And he told you to bring Roxas to him?”
“To help Sora, yes,” said Riku.
“Despite evidence that you were at first against the Keyblade Master, you have made a turn for the better, and King Mickey vouches for you. No doubt that the Keyblade Master trusts you. You are cleared of all allegations against you, however, the Angelus Guard will still be keeping a close eye on you. You are dismissed,” said Judge Zaida.
Kairi was called next to the stands. Her questioning was a little longer than Riku’s but there was not much to add. After she was dismissed, Joey was called forward. He stumbled onto the lift with Alex and pushed his glasses back when the lift ascended. “Name?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“Joseph Carter, ally to the Keyblade Master, son of Doctor Jonathan and Doctor Diane Carter,” said Joey.
“Joseph Carter, you are…the grandson of William Carter, are you not?” asked Judge Zaida.
“I am,” nodded Joey.
“How long have you know Grace Porter?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Since I was about six or seven. She saved me from a bunch of bullies,” explained Joey.
“So you’ve known each other for quiet some time?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yes ma’am,” nodded Joey.
“During the few days before the Juno City Crisis, did you notice anything strange going on?” asked Judge Zaida.
“My grandfather was acting a little bit weirder than usual. He started telling me stories of World Wars and all these countries fighting each other. Then my sister Margot started hearing noises whenever the power went out,” said Joey.
“Noises? What kind of noises?” asked Judge Brenton.
“Well…the voices of the Heartless,” said Joey.
There were a few chuckles in the audience. Joey made a face and Judge Zaida raised her hand for order. “Heartless?” she asked, “How can you be sure?”
“If I was lying shouldn’t there be an alarm going off? And Professor Xaiver with his powers of telepathy would see right through me. Besides, I could hear them too. Not as strong as Margot could but there was definitely something there. Even the Commander knew what she was hearing was Heartless,” explained Joey.
“The Commander knew?” Judge Ulrich raised an eyebrow.
“We brought Margot in for testing the next day. The scientists tried almost every single noise except for one. That’s when the Commander told the head doctor to use it. He refused at first, remarking that no human could hear the sound, but the Commander insisted. When they did use that sound, my sister started to scream. But the look in the Commander’s eyes, he looked satisfied, pleased that my sister was screaming her lungs out,” said Joey.
“But you could hear it as well what she was hearing?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yes, but as I have said before not as strong as what my sister was hearing. My brother was starting to hear it too,” explained Joey.
“So you knew what you were hearing was Heartless?” asked Judge Brenton.
“Not at the time, but I knew whatever it was, was evil, without a doubt,” remarked Joey.
“What did the Commander say it was?” asked Judge Zaida.
“He said it was ultrasoundwave caused when the power in the lights surge or go out; he said that Margot’s brain was translating it too well that it was causing damage,” replied Joey.
“But you didn’t believe him?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“Of course not. I know what I heard,” said Joey.
“When did you realize it was Heartless you were hearing?” asked Judge Zaida.
“I figured there was some sort of connection between the Heartless and the lights. Margot would hear the noise only when the power went out. She even told my brother that she thought it was Heartless. Then I realized that, maybe whatever was keeping the Heartless from not coming inside the city walls was going out with the power,” explained Joey.
“And this was still before the City Crisis?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yes,” nodded Joey.
“Was there anything else that happened before then?” asked Judge Zaida.
“My grandfather started telling me about nuclear weapons and what happened on Earth. He told me about the nanomachines they’d used to make people forget about Earth and how they banned so many books so those erased memories wouldn’t be triggered. But more importantly, my grandfather told me about the Heartless and Nobodies, and what the Commander was intending to do. The Commander was looking for the Dreamer, someone he would need to help him take over the universe and destroy Kingdom Hearts. After that my grandfather gave me an old laptop and told me to get ready, but when I got home, my sister had been kidnapped,” explained Joey.
“But your sister wasn’t the one the Commander had been initially been looking for?” asked Judge Zaida.
“No, more than likely, he was trying to see the full extent of her powers and see if he could use her in the war to come,” remarked Joey.
“So you sister was kidnapped and you knew what the Commander was planning to do, but what did you do?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Well at first it was just me and my brother trying to come up some sort of plan, but it didn’t go over too well. Finally early in the morning, Matti went out and came back with Clarise, the Commander’s daughter,” said Joey.
“Your brother brought back the Commander’s daughter?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“They had a thing for each other and Clarise had ran away to tell us Grace was the one the Commander was after. She gave us information on the Government Offices and we were able to figure out where we would have to go, but we knew we didn’t have enough people. A few hours later, the lights finally shut off and the Heartless invaded but I managed to put up an Anti-Heartless signal around my house. That’s when Ling and the others showed up, along with two of the Organization members,” explained Joey.
“So your Anti-Heartless signal works on Heartless but not Nobodies?” asked Judge Brenton.
“Yes and no. It’s similar to the ones the city used; Heartless and weak Nobodies can’t get past it but the stronger ones, like Organization members can, but they can’t get out the way they came,” explained Joey.
“So now that you had a team together, you were able to get into the Government Offices, hack their security system, and find your friends, correct?” asked Judge Zaida.
Joey nodded.
“That’s all the information we need from you. You are-” Judge Zaida started but Joey slowly raised his hand.
“Um, excuse me, your honor, since I’m already here, I would like to asked the counsel’s permission to uh…do some experiments,” said Joey, his hands shaking nervously.
“Experiments? What type of experiments?” Judge Zaida folded her hands.
“Y-you see, I’ve found a flaw in Ansem the Wise’s theory on Nobodies. It’s just this concept of them not having hearts; it doesn’t make any logical sense,” said Joey.
There were a few grumbles from the counsel but most of the world leaders seemed interested to what he was saying.
“We all know that the universe has order; it is govern by certain laws. Biology has order and that applies to all the realms, not just the Light and Dark but those in between as well. Now the Law of Complex Organisms states that the more cells an Organism has the more complex it’s body structure and organs should be. Weaker Nobodies, such as Dusks, only have one organ: it’s skin or shell that moves by electrical charges. However, the more complex Nobodies, the ones that look human, have just as many cells. Those cells still need oxygen, nutrients, and a way to get rid of wastes. In other words, there has to be some sort of circulatory system and some sort of pump or heart working that system. So maybe what they’re lacking is the ability to understand emotion or there’s a chemical imbalance, I don’t know. But maybe the thing that separates us from them is in DNA,” explained Joey, “Here, let me show you,” he pulled out his laptop and jacked into the hologram screens, “Now correct me if I’m wrong but for the vast majority of us, we have 23 pair based chromosomes, or 46 chromosomes. Well so do the human Nobodies, with one little exception. We all know that, or at least we should if we’ve paid attention during Biology class, mitosis and meiosis is how our cells regenerate; it’s how we heal. Now if something were to happen such as, the heart getting ripped out, the cells freeze then go into an overdrive of mitosis to rapidly regenerate. Well, they don’t actually freeze, they sort of stop whatever they doing. When that happens, the cells dissipate and reform in the realm of Twilight. At that point one of the base pair chromosomes loses it’s structure and information, so it becomes blank. In order to retrieve that missing information of the ‘blank’ chromosome, the cells undergo a wave of mitosis. I believe through this restructure of the DNA, is how the Nobodies get their unique powers. It could also explain why there are some subtle but yet noticeable difference between a human and his or her Nobody counterpart. As to which chromosome is blank, I believe it is the last base pair, the sex-linked one.”
“How can you be sure?” asked the Angelus King, his eyes full of intrigue.
“According to Angelus Intelligence and from what I’ve gather your Majesty, out of the fifteen confirmed human Nobodies, only three were female. And unlike the other Nobodies, with the exception of Xine, the female Nobodies have limited abilities and can’t control other Nobodies as fully as some of the other Organization members. It’s almost like being a Nobody is like have a sex-linked disease like hemophilia or Down Syndrome. I believe that with the female when it enters that rapid cycle of mitosis, there is a specific gene that keeps their powers in check. With males, you don’t have that gene, so they actually have a better advantage or disadvantage of becoming Nobodies, depending on your point of view,” explained Joey.
“If this is the case, what do you intend on doing about it?” asked a world leader.
“If it’s a matter of the genes, I believe through gene therapy, I might be able to produce a cure for the human Nobodies,” said Joey. Hushed whispers broke out, but he continued, “It will take a lot of work, but if I had some supplies, I might just be able to pull it off.”
Judge Zaida smiled down at Joey. “The counsel will review your proposal. You are dismissed.”
Grace was grinning as Joey got off the lift. “A Nobody cure?” she asked, “Are you serious?”
“If we find the right gene,” said Joey, “That’s the hard part.”
“Next to the stands, Princess Lucy!”
“Oh man,” Lucy shivered as she joined Alex back on the lift.
“Name?” asked Judge Brenton.
“It’s a little long but… her Royal Highness Princess Lucia Elizabeth Anne Stuart Winsor, Princess of Wales, Leader of the Earthern English people, great-great-granddaughter of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth the Second, granddaughter of Prince William, and ally to the Keyblade Master,” said Lucy twiddling her fingers.
“Your Highness, how long have you’ve known Grace Porter?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Since we were very little. We’ve been best friends since we first met. I was a bit of a crybaby back then, but Grace has always stood up for me,” remarked Lucy.
“So out of the four of you, you would be…the sensible one?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yeah, that would be true. I mean Grace was the leader, Ling was second-in-command and a bit reckless but a little shy, Mitch was the one rebelling against all the rules-”
“Did you notice anything strange up until the City Crisis?” Judge Zaida interrupted her before she got carried away.
“Me? I was more about my finals than paying much attention to anything else. Sure Ling was a bit more quiet than usual and Anemone was sneaking around more, but I didn’t notice anything. I’m usually the last one to know what going on half the time,” she gave a small laugh.
“What happened the day of the Juno City Crisis?” asked Judge Zaida.
“It was the last day of school and everyone was talking about what they would do on their summer vacation when Ling came in and told Mitch and I we had to leave. We didn’t get the chance to because then the city army came crashing through the grounds. They round us all up and put us all in the gym. The Commander was there, asking us where Grace was. When no one said anything, one of Anemone’s friends went up to her and whispered in her ear, who then whispered to the Commander. The Commander then called Ling forward. Ling didn’t go calmly as she usually would have. She took out these fans and attacked the guards who tried to catch her with magic or something! But one of them managed to stun her and they took her away. The Commander then told the guards to keep us all inside the gym and take away our cellphones.
“It was all quiet for a little bit, when suddenly the gym doors banged open and Balthier and Fran came in on a flying motorcycle. They both single-handedly took out the guards and helped the girls and the teachers get in the underground shelters. Mitch and I stayed behind to save Ling. The guards took her back to one of the classrooms with the Commander, Madame Demetera, and Anemone, but they didn’t interrogate her long because Grace had just been captured. We managed to stop Madame Demetera from disposing Ling, and we got out of there, kidnapping Anemone in the process,” explained Lucy.
“You kidnapped the Commander’s daughter?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“Sort of; we just brought her along for information and she was a big help when we went to save Grace and Margot,” remarked Lucy, “I think that’s everything…oh! We did get ambushed by Heartless on the way to Joey’s when the power went out. That was terrifying…but after that my story is basically what Joey and Grace told you.”
“Thank you, your Highness. You are dismissed,” said Judge Zaida.
Lucy gave a sigh of relief as she and Alex both walked up the lift and the Judges called Donald forward. His story followed Sora’s except for in the beginning when he found King Mickey missing, leaving behind only a note for him and Goofy to find Sora. Balthier and Fran were called up next, having little to add to what Grace, Joey, and Lucy already presented. Goofy was called up after them, but he too, had nothing or little to add to Sora’s story. Princess Jane served as defense attorney for both Donald and Goofy; Alex for Balthier and Fran. Sora yawned as Goofy stepped off the lift; it seemed as if they had already been there for hours. Mitch went after Goofy to provide her testimony that mainly coincided with Lucy’s.
“Su Ling, you are next,” announced Judge Zaida.
Ling stepped onto the lift with Alex. Grace saw a fiery look in Ling’s eyes, one she had only seen a few times before when Ling was upset or angry, and Grace knew fully well Ling had every reason to be both upset and angry right now.
“Name?” asked Judge Brenton.
“Su Ling, Keeper of Earth, ally to the Keyblade Master, and daughter of Cho and Yuki Ling,” she replied.
“How long have you’ve know Grace Porter?” asked Judge Zaida.
“For ten years, since the Heartless Colony Massacre,” said Ling.
“You were a survivor of that incident, correct?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yes.”
“As a Keeper, you knew of the existence of the Keyblades, the Keyholes, the Chasers, the Keyblade Master, any potential Keyblade User from your world, as well any other ‘other worldly’ information. You told no one of what you knew before the City Crisis?” asked Judge Zaida.
“That is correct. After the Massacre, it was only me and my grandfather that knew the information,” said Ling.
“After the Massacre, High Lord Terra asked you to watch over Grace, correct?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Correct. On her fifteenth birthday, I was suppose to bring Grace to the Destiny Islands with her guardians to met Sora, had the Heartless not attacked the islands a year earlier,” explained Ling, “When my grandfather received word that the Commander was looking for the Dreamer, we thought we would move Grace three years ahead of schedule, but thought that would only bring attention to her.”
“So when Grace talked about her dreams, did you know what she was talking about?” asked Judge Zaida.
“At first, no; I was unaware of the memory her parents had implanted in her. It only when I saw the picture of the boy with similarities to High Lord Ventus that I knew what she was dreaming about,” said Ling.
“You are related to High Lord Ventus, are you not?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“I am; he is a distant cousin of mine,” replied Ling.
“Can you then use a Keyblade?” asked Judge Brenton.
“I can, but only for a short amount of time. I can however sense the Keyblades and anyone with a potential of wielding one, as any Keeper would,” replied Ling.
“The day of the Juno City Crisis, you warned Grace to leave. But she failed to make it to her safe house and your were capture. Did you tell the Commander where Grace had gone?” asked Judge Zaida.
“No,” Ling shook her head, “Even if he did manage to squeeze something out of me, it wouldn’t be much. Grace was captured soon after I was.”
“Is it true that you have a personal vendetta against the Commander?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“I admit that I have my eye sent on revenge for the Commander, but what he’s done to me is one of many crimes against the worlds’ people. I will see him brought to justice by my hands or the Keyblade,” remarked Ling.
“As for the rest of your story, it coincides with Princess Lucy’s?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yes,” nodded Ling.
“Very well. You are dismissed,” said Judge Zaida.
“Wait!” called Ling, “I would like to address the counsel first.”
Judge Ulrich opened his mouth to say something but Judge Zaida held her hand up to let Ling go ahead.
“Concerning the matter of the cyborg known as Samuel James, I believe the wait has gone on long enough. It is unusual for the Angelus Knights to detain someone, altered human or not, for this amount of time without just cause,” said Ling.
“What’s she doing?” asked Sora.
“Playing her cards,” Balthier smiled.
“She trying to negotiate Sam’s release. Watch,” explained Princess Jane.
“James is still under the jurisdiction of the United States Constitution as a US Citizen, and the Constitution states, as well as the Earth Alliance Constitution and Treaty with the Federation, that no one can be detained without a just reason. In other words, unless the Angelus Knights have a better reason, they are in violation of the treaty. If such hostilities continue, the Earth Alliance will have to consider ending it alliance with the Galactic Federation,” said Ling.
There was another large uproar. It seemed as if the Earth Alliance would leave the Federation, it would be a great loss. “What’s everyone so worried about? If Earth leaves, that should be just one less delegate, right?” asked Matti.
“Yes, but the Earth Alliance has a vast supply of military forces and technology,” explained Balthier, “It would be like losing a third of the delegates. The Federation will have no choice but to make their decision now; they can’t afford to wait any longer.”
“Even if Sam has a high destruction potential, as long as the psychological evaluation is good he won’t be destroyed,” explained Princess Jane.
“Destruction potential?” asked Grace.
“Basically, how much of a threat he is to the universe,” said Princess Jane.
“How high can you go?” asked Riku.
“Highest is Level Ten: Universe Destroyer,” explained Princess Jane.
“And if he gets a bad psychological evaluation?” asked Lucy.
“Depending on how bad, they’ll execute him, but they’ll have to get the Earth leaders together before that happens. But if he gets a Level Ten, they’ll execute him on the spot,” said Princess Jane.
“He won’t get that far,” said Miki firmly, “Sam’s powerful, but he’s not that powerful. He has his limits.”
After the last uproar had calmed down, the Judges turned back to Ling. “Judge Ulrich, Judge Brenton, shall we put the inquiry on temporarily hold?” asked Judge Zaida.
“I have no objections,” said Judge Brenton.
“Agreed,” added Judge Ulrich.
“Then it’s settled. We will make our decision on the Cyborg Samuel James,” said Judge Zaida speaking to the room. She then pressed one of many buttons on at her desk. “Bring up the Cyborg,” she ordered.
As the floating lift came back to the central platform, another larger lift came up from below the counsel seats. It was a circular sphere of metal and when it reached the height of the Judges, unfolded into a floating platform. There were two people inside. One was an elderly man with icy blue eyes and a sharp black goatee, and the other, his hands bolted in heavy cuffs that kept him kneeling at the floor of the platform, was Sam. He had a nasty cut on his cheek but his eyes were open, moving around the room anxiously, but other than that he didn’t move or say anything.
“Sam,” whispered Ling, her knuckles gripping the rail of the center platform so hard they looked as if they were about to explode out.
“Who’s that next to Sam?” asked Grace.
“Doctor Tantalus, head of the Angelus Experimental Sciences and Research. I studied under him for awhile and he tried very hard to get me expelled from the Academy,” explained Alex.
“Why?” asked Grace.
“He has it in for half-humans. He opposes the breeding of Angelus with other human species. Almost had Terra stripped of his tittle years ago thanks to his protesting,” remarked Alex, “He doesn’t like cyborgs either, but he likes to experiment with them, opening them up and see what keeps them going. He’ll probably suggest that Sam is better off with him as a lab rat.”
“We’ll see about that!” Miki clenched her fist.
“Cyborg, your human name is Samuel James, correct?” asked Judge Zaida.
Sam didn’t reply but his eyes went to the Judges.
“Cyborg, do you hear me?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Oh he hears you, my Lady,” bowed Dr. Tantalus, “But I’m afraid he cannot speak. I have turned off his vocal cords; his language to me earlier was most detestable.”
“Very well, Dr. Tantalus. But once this evaluation is over, you’ll turn his vocal cords back on so we can question him if necessary,” said Judge Zaida.
“Of course, your Honor,” the doctor bowed again, “Shall tell you what I’ve found?”
“Go ahead Doctor,” said Judge Ulrich.
“This Cyborg is most unusual. It is unlike any Earthern Cyborg I have ever seen. The machinery is very advance, almost too advance,” the doctor flashed his eyes, “There is evidence of a heart transplant and the heart itself is enhanced for pumping more blood and oxygen than a normal human’s. There is also evidence of cryogenics but that was performed before the cyborgization. The boy’s arms and legs been replaced with machinery, he has nanomachines running everywhere, and his internal organs, brain, and spinal cord have been covered with a sort internal armor. But what is most peculiar, is his external armor. It unfolds and expands from his joints, and can cover him completely in a matter of seconds, but that is not what I am curious about. I have found that the boy’s armor is made from harden silk from the Atarian moons. In other words, the same substance that created the Chaser’s armor is the same substance that created his. Although the boy’s armor has been cover with a titanium alloy to make more flexible and light, it is obvious the Commander has been stealing technology. I would like to run a few more test on the cyborg to make sure.”
“We are not here to discuss how he functions, Dr. Tantalus,” said Judge Zaida, her eyes glaring at the doctor, “What is his power potential?”
“At least a level eight. His power cells can go for hours without rest, and his mechanical limbs enhance his strength and his speed. He has LASERlight weaponry for Heartless and several laser projectiles equipped on his arms. He could easily take out a small army in less than fifteen minutes,” remarked Dr. Tantalus.
“What’s a level eight?” asked Grace.
“Race destroyer. He has the potential to wipe out a small country or region,” explained Princess Jane.
“My suggestion to the counsel is to dispose of this cyborg as soon as possible,” continued Dr. Tantalus, “Now would be the best time since most of his weaponry is disabled.”
“What?” gasped Ling.
“Let him try!” Miki suddenly got up, “I’ll rip that goatee off his face.”
“It’s just like last time,” muttered Luke, his eyes glaring at Dr. Tantalus.
“That is yet to be seen, Doctor,” said Judge Zaida, “Professor Xaiver, what is your take on this boy?”
“I have performed the psychological evaluation as asked, your Honor, and I have found nothing to suggest that Samuel is as dangerous as Doctor Tantalus believes him to be. True, this cyborg was made to be a weapon, and is power is on a scale similar to the Keyblades, but like the Keyblades, the weapon is only as dangerous as it’s user, or in this case the body is only as dangerous as it’s person. This boy has sworn an oath of loyalty to someone dear and he fears this person’s wrath as much as his sister’s. He has also sworn to stop the Commander and protect the Earthern people. If anyone is in danger form him, it is most likely the Commander,” Professor Xaiver turned back to the faces of the counsel, “My suggestion is to let him go back to his family, but that decision is up to the Chasers.”
Terra stood up and said to the counsel, “We have made our decision. The cyborg is to be set free, without objection,” he added, his eyes on Dr. Tantalus.
There was another uproar but this time it wasn’t from the counsel, instead it came from Sora and the gang who stated cheering. Alex had tried to calm them down but he saw there was no point and sighed but with a smile. The circular platform was floating back towards the central platform. A guard was ordered to unshackle Sam’s cuffs and Miki pulled out a long needle and jammed it into Sam’s neck. He opened his mouth as if in pain, but there was no noise coming out. Then as if someone had turned the volume up, he started to cry. “OW! GAWD! Is that how you say hello to me?” he asked Miki, rubbing his neck.
“Yeah, well you probably deserved it,” remarked Miki. There was a moment silence between the two, and suddenly Miki threw her arms around Sam. “I was…really worried,” she said quietly, as if trying to hold back tears.
Sam didn’t say anything, just let her stay there, and when they broke apart, the Judges were speaking to the counsel. “Unfortunately, we have ran out of time today to continue any further. We will resume the Inquiry tomorrow. The counsel is dismissed.”
The world leaders got up to leave with the Judges and the Chasers, but the kids stayed around to welcome Sam back. After Sora gave Sam a pat on the back, Sam approached Ling. He opened his mouth to speak but suddenly Ling slapped him on the check, fuming, with a single tear streaming down her face. “Why didn’t you tell them what you were from the beginning instead of getting shot at? Do you know how worried I was after they took you away?” she cried.
“More worried than I can imagine possible?” he asked.
Ling burst into tears and he pulled her into his arms to comfort her. As they walked out of the courtroom he held on to her, as if assuring her, he would never leave her like that again.
“Man, I’m starving!” moaned Hayner, his stomach giving a loud rumble, “I really need some grub.”
“Hayner, is all you think about is food?” chided Olette. She opened her mouth to go on but closed it when she saw Doctor Tantalus cutting in front of them.
“Ah, Dr. Tantalus. What do we owe this pleasant surprise for?” asked Alex.
Dr. Tantalus ignored him and looked Sam in the eye. “Terra may have saved you this time, machine, but rest assured, I will be keeping tabs on you. One step out of line and I will know about it,” his eyes flashed.
“And what gives you the authority to do that?” asked Grace.
“Aqua’s daughter I presume? Such a shame,” Dr. Tantalus tutted, “She had to go and have an affair with a dirty half-blood-”
“That is quite enough Doctor Tantalus,” Terra had appeared behind him again with Aqua.
“My apologies my Lord,” bowed Dr. Tantalus, “I was only remarking on how unstable these cross-breed children can become. Why I believe it was only yesterday that your niece refused the hand of another suitor. And it seems test subject AHU01657 here is letting his anger get the better of him again,” he said, glancing back at Luke, whose hand was shaking with rage, “I will stress again, Professor,” Dr. Tantalus sneered at Alex, “If he gets out of hand again, you send him back to me.”
“I will never go back to you, you crazed-” Luke started to shout but Alex held him back.
Dr. Tantalus turned to leave but as he passed Aqua, she said into his ear, “If you ever insult my daughter’s father again, I will kill you wyrm.”
Dr. Tantalus merely chuckled and continued to walk away.
As Aqua embrace Alex with a tight hug, Grace notice Luke’s right arm was shaking. He grabbed it with his other arm to stop it from being to noticeable. Underneath the sleeve of his jacket, she saw streaks of blue running across his skin. Slowly, she reached down for his hand, but when she touched it, she felt a tingling sensation, as if power was rushing through his veins instead of blood. Luke looked at her, forced a smile, and the shaking stopped.
Joey, in the meantime, found himself in front of Terra. “Mr. Carter,” he said, “The Big Four would like you to join them in Room 18 after the Inquiry tomorrow. They would like to discuss your work.”
“Uh…thank you sir,” bowed Joey and Terra walked away from the group but not before he gave a brief look at Sora and Olette.
“That bastard didn’t just turn my vocal cords off,” said Sam, clenching his fist at Dr. Tantalus as he disappeared down the hall, “He had me paralyzed. ‘Can’t have you trying to plea for your worthless life’ he said. And when he was examining me, he kept calling me machine and asking me if it gave me thrills killing people! If I ever see him again, I’ll-” He then made several offensive gestures until Miki gave him a warning look.
“Don’t worry,” remarked Luke, “He’ll get his justice in the end.” He looked as if he couldn’t wait for it either.
The group walked out of the Galactic Federation Headquarters, were a group of floating cars stood waiting. “You’ll be going back to where you stayed yesterday. Sam you’re going to stay at the Xaiver Institute with your father,” said Alex, opening one of the car doors for his family, “They’ll want us back same time tomorrow. The Romanov estate,” he added to the driver.
Grace looked out the window; the sun was low in the sky to the west. How long had they been inside for questioning?
“Are you alright?” Alex asked Luke.
“I’ll be fine,” Luke replied reassuringly, but he was still holding his arm tightly.
“We’ll give you another booster when we get home,” said Alex, sitting down next to Aqua putting his arm around her. “So, what do you think about Chinese?”
“Do you boys ever cook anything?” sighed Aqua, touching the left shoulder piece of her armor, which disappeared in flash of magic and light, leaving only the left shoulder piece on.
“Well…um…sometimes,” Alex looked at Luke trying to find an answer.
“Grace, am I not right? What have they made other than breakfast?” Aqua asked.
“Sandwiches,” Grace replied.
“I can cook,” mumbled Alex, “I usually don’t have time to. Besides, I thought we had reason to celebrate.”
“Fair enough,” said Aqua.
As soon as they returned to mansion, Alex took Luke up to his bedroom followed by Grace. Alex brought out an IV pack full of clear liquid and injected a needle into Luke’s arm. When Alex pulled away from Luke’s arm, Grace saw that Luke’s arm was covered with blue streaks. “It doesn’t look too bad. I think it will be down within the hour. Just rest,” he told Luke and went to order Chinese Takeout, “Keep an eye on him.”
“I want dumplings!” Luke called.
Grace took a seat next to Luke’s bed, her eyes still staring at his blue streaked arm. “Does it hurt?” she asked.
“It feels hot,” he said, “Like you’ve been in a hot bath for too long, but it isn’t painful.”
“You have…problems controlling your Angelus powers, don’t you?” asked Grace.
Luke looked at her for a moment, as if thinking about what he should tell her, then nodded.
“And…Dr. Tantalus, he studied you, but because your were half-human, he was cruel to you,” said Grace.
“Something like that,” said Luke. He was quiet for a moment, then suddenly said, “I had a sister once. She was younger than you, about Tai’s age. She was a little hard to handle but I loved her. She died many years ago. You remind me of her.”
Grace wanted to say something but then she heard her mother call, “Gracey! Time for dinner!”
“Get better soon,” Grace squeezed Luke’s hand and rushed down the stairs.
All through dinner, Grace noticed a sort of strange pull between her parents. They acted as if the were two lovers on a date, holding hands, looking at each other very fondly. Grace wondered if this was usual for parents to behave this way. It was little awkward to watch.
After dinner, Alex and Aqua took a stroll outside in the garden, slowly as if they were walking through it for the first time. They were still holding hands and every so often reach for a kiss. They acted as if they hadn’t seen each other in a long time or would never see each other again, thought Grace. Then it dawned on her…her parents were not married, her mother was a Chaser, Keyblade Wielder, and her father was an agent for the Angelus Elite Knights. Their missions sent them towards every end of the universe, into unknown dangers, risking their lives everyday. They rarely crossed paths in their busy lives, so moments like these, for them, were treasured ones. Still, there was something else that kept her parents apart, something so terrible that it lead them to keep their own daughter, proof of their love for each other, hidden away for fifteen years with limited contact: Xehanort. It was his fault for the Heartless and the Nobodies, for all the fear that was threatening to tear the worlds apart. It was he who kept the Chasers running in circles and fearing for their loved ones, he who kept her parents from marrying. And it was he who killed Venn…
A single tear was streaming down Grace’s face and now that it started she couldn’t help herself. She turned away from the doorway and ran up the stairs, passed Luke’s bedroom, closing her bedroom door behind her. She collapsed on her bed and started to sob on her pillow. After a while, there was a knock on her door.
“Gracey?” It was Tai. “Can I come in?”
She managed to say yes, and Tai opened the door, Moo-Moo curled up around his neck. “Why are you crying?” he asked.
Grace opened her mouth to say something but her nose was too clogged up with phlegm. Tai offered her a tissue and when she was able to breathe a bit she said, “Did you see them out? Mom and Dad looked so happy. I bet this is the first time they’ve been together in a long time.”
“This is the first time they’ve been together with you in fifteen years,” remarked Tai, but it didn’t help much because Grace started to cry again.
“Do you know…why they left me in Juno City right after I was born?” Grace asked.
“To protect you?” suggested Tai.
“That’s right,” Grace nodded, “But did you know why I needed to be protected?”
“From the Commander, right?” asked Tai.
“No, it wasn’t from the Commander. It was from Xehanort. Mom and Dad…thought he was going to come after me and kill me,” Grace sniffled, “Mom’s a Chaser remember? They’re suppose to be the next best thing to the Keyblade Master. What better way to get to her by killing her daughter? I mean Dad can handle himself I guess…but even after I was hidden away they didn’t see each other much. That’s why…I hate him!”
“Hate who?” asked Tai.
“Xehanort!” Grace shouted, “He’s the one keeping Mom and Dad apart. As long as he’s around, they can’t ever be together! That’s why we’re going to end it! Me, Sora, and the other Keyblade Users! I’ll swear by the Keyblade if I have to!” she declared, pulling out her Keyblade.
“Do you really think-” Tai started to say, but it was too late. Grace already pricked her finger on one of the teeth of the Keyblade and it was already starting to bleed. Making a face, she squeezed the spot until blood was dripping out and she let a few drops land on the Keyblade. The Keyblade absorbed the blood until it looked as if nothing was there.
“But you know, everyone now knows that you’re,” Tai tried to think of how he was going to say what he need to say, “Mom’s daughter. So sooner or later, Xehanort’s going to find out, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, but it better him finding out now, rather than fifteen years earlier. At least I got some experience with the Keyblade if he ever comes after me,” said Grace. She tried to get up on her feet but her head started to throb and her nose was filling with excess phlegm. “Would you do me a favor and see if Luke’s up? Then ask him to help you make some tea for me.”
“Okay,” said Tai, “I’ll bring some tissues up if you need them.”
“Thanks,” said Grace, laying her head down on her pillows, not noticing a shadow watching her from her balcony window.
************************************************************************
Sora returned back to the Magdalene Estate before his grandparents. Jarvis was there at the door to greet him, informing Sora that dinner would be ready within the hour, but Sora didn’t say anything and went up to his bedroom. Time alone in the car had given him time to think about everything he had found out today and let him absorb it. His father the Crown Prince? His grandfather the King? And his sister…that was the only thing he felt bad about, but still, why didn’t she tell him?
Sora opened his bedroom door and found Princess Jane was there again, sitting on his bed. She looked up when he entered.
“What are you doing here?” he asked in a somewhat harsh tone. He regretted saying it like that at once when he saw her face; she looked very sad and her eyes were puffy as if she had been crying.
“I wanted to explain things to you,” Princess Jane said quietly, “There wasn’t time at the Inquiry. I’m sorry.”
Sora didn’t say anything but allowed her to continue. “I wanted to tell you, I really did. In fact I thought you understood me back at the Olympus Coliseum but you didn’t. I wanted to tell you everything earlier but I swore an oath to Grandpa, and you can’t break an oath with him, let alone the Angelus King. Now everyone knows.”
“Is that such a big deal?” Sora raised an eyebrow.
“It’s not like with Grace and her parents. They’re not married, and the Elite Knights knew Lord Alexander had a daughter in hiding. Our parents were married and you were reported to be dead. Only the Judges, Chasers, and a few of the Elite Knights knew you were alive on the Islands. Now that the Federation knows you really were alive all this time, they’re going to blame the royal family. They’ll understand why we did it eventually, but for now it’s just another problem we have to deal with,” explained Princess Jane with a heavy sigh.
“There’s more?” asked Sora.
His sister nodded. “The King’s dying. The doctors say he doesn’t have much time left. I know Grandpa doesn’t look it, but he’s very old by human standards,” the Princess said sadly, “Then there’s Dad. He hasn’t been himself since…we left you and Mom. He doesn’t talk to me; I usually have to guess what he thinking by the way he walks or holds his head, how stiff his tail is, and if his ears are drooping or not- Dad’s the brown wolf that’s been following me around when I’m out in public,” she added when Sora gave her an odd look, “It’s his transmira form. Usually he writes me letters if he really wants to talk and, rarely, gives me a hug. But other than that, he’s always like that. That’s why I’m afraid when he becomes King, no one would like him. He can’t be the King if he’s always gloomy and depressed in his transmira form.”
“Why don’t you say something?” suggested Sora.
“I sometimes bring it up, but he doesn’t want to hear it. I’m not sure what to do anymore. Probably because I’m always used to him being that way, maybe too used to it. But lately it’s been hard, especially when there’s no one to talk to. Sometimes I wished you were there.”
Sora looked at Princess Jane and saw she was crying. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. “I’m sorry,” he said, “If I had known, I’d…” he broke off.
“It’s all right,” Princess Jane stifled a sob, “I knew you would. And if I were able to, I would have been with you to fight, for both journeys. In fact, I want to go with you when you leave. It will mean running away, but I think Dad will understand. Wait…that’s it!” she pulled away from Sora, “I think that’s what Dad wants.”
“For you to run away?” asked Sora.
“No!” his sister looked scandalized, “He wants you to understand what he did and why he did it. And he wants to say he’s sorry; he wants you to forgive him. I may have an idea…”
“What was that you were speaking back at the Coliseum?” asked Sora.
“Oh, that was high Angelican. It’s an old language; only the royal family and lords use anymore. Usually, only Angelus and cross-breads when they’ve mastered their powers can understand it,” explained Princess Jane, “I can teach you it if you like.”
“Can you teach me how to change my hair and stuff?” Sora rubbed one of his spikes.
“Changing your hair is easy,” remarked his sister, demonstrating by taking a strain of hair from the top of her head, and as she took her fingers through her hair, it changed from white to black. “It’s growing wings that’s the hard part.” She glanced at her bracelet. “I got to go,” she said, “Or else they’ll start looking for me. I’ll see you later, big brother,” she started to crawl out the window, “Oh, and just call me Jane. I hate being called a Princess all the time.”
“Jane,” Sora repeated as she disappeared from the window. He absentmindedly picked up his crown necklace and remembered he wanted to ask her about it. He also wondered if she could use a Keyblade and if he would ever have a transmira form one day. But more importantly, he wondered if he would see his father as a human again?
************************************************************************
Grace was still at her bed a few hours or so after she had talked to Tai. She could hear voices outside her bedroom door, but it was hard to hear exactly who was saying what.
“…wondering why she took off like that…”
“…I thought it might have been from what happened earlier…”
“…talk to her. Get some sleep.”
There was a knock at her door. “Gracey? It us,” she heard her father, “Can we come in?”
“Okay,” she said, sitting up on her bed. Alex opened the door and he and Aqua walked over and sat down next to Grace, Alex on her right side and Aqua on her left.
“Is everything alright, sweetheart?” Aqua asked.
“I’m f-fine,” she trembled a bit.
“No you’re not,” Alex shook his head, “You’re upset about something. Your mother and I have been talking about…what you said during the Inquiry. We’ve realized we haven’t been doing our best to raise you.”
“If you’re talking about all the punishments, I did deserve some of them, and others were stupid-” Grace started but her father interrupted her.
“We don’t care about that. I mean we do,” Alex added quickly when Aqua shot him a look, “But we’ll talk about those some other day. What I meant was, we didn’t intend to make you…lonely.”
“I wasn’t lonely,” said Grace.
“I think what your father means, is that we hoped you didn’t have to come up with excuses or felt alienated because of us, or that you thought we didn’t want you, because we did, we really did,” Aqua placed her hands on Grace’s shoulders and pulled Grace toward her gently.
“I understand why you hid me away, now I do. I don’t blame you, because I know it must’ve been…” Grace broke off when Aqua squeezed her shoulders tighter and she heard her snuffle, as if she was holding back tears. “There’s only one person I blame.”
“Revenge isn’t always the answer,” remarked Alex, knowing at once who she was talking about.
“I know,” Grace said, though a little quickly, “Are you guys…happy?”
“Of course we are!” Aqua said brightly.
“Now you are, now when you’re together. But when you’re apart, are you?” Grace asked.
“Yes,” Aqua replied but Alex gave her a somber look. “No,” she admitted, “no, we’re not happy.”
“But we are happy when we are with you and Tai,” said Alex, rubbing Grace’s shoulder, “In fact, we should consider ourselves lucky we ever had you. If it were for you and Tai, your mother and I may have never seen each other again.”
“I don’t know about that. There are only a few men in the universe I find exceptional, and you Mr. Porter are the only one I find exceedingly exceptional,” Aqua smiled at Alex.
Alex smiled back and the chemistry between the two was so overwhelming, Grace said, “Enough you two! Not in front of the offspring, please!”
The three of them started to laugh and as soon as they calmed down, Alex said to Grace, “Get some sleep sweetheart. The Inquiry isn’t over yet.”
Her parents both kissed Grace goodnight and as they walked out of the bedroom, Alex turned to Aqua, “Exceedingly exceptional, am I?” he smiled, “May I ask, when this exceedingly exceptional woman last had a good time?”
Aqua smiled back playfully, “I haven’t had a good time in a long time. May you show me a good time, Lord Alexander?”
“For you, High Lady Aqua, I would do anything,” he said taking her hand.
Grace shook her head, trying to fight off a fit of giggles but couldn’t help her smile. And yet, she found herself asking again, were these really her parents? Yes, she thought, answering her own question, yes they were, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
************************************************************************
Grace woke up the next day later than she wanted to. The puppies that usually covered her bed were gone already and she quickly got dress to join Tai, Luke, and the dogs down in the kitchen. “Where’s Mom and Dad?” she asked.
Luke looked at Tai for a moment, who was preoccupied with keeping Moo-Moo from eating his marshmallows in his cereal, and said to Grace in a hushed tone, “They’re still in bed.”
Grace got what he was saying at once. “I’ll go and get them,” she said, turning back to the door.
“No, I’ll do it!” Luke got up.
“I think I’d be better off walking in on them, they you will be,” Grace said, already climbing up onto the ground floor.
Alex’s bedroom was on the second floor a few rooms down from Luke’s. Grace creaked the bedroom door open just a bit, braced herself, and opened the door wider. As she expected, there were two bundles underneath the covers of the bed. She breathed a little easier when she saw her mother in a nightshirt at least and not in something else, or rather, lack of something else. She drummed her knuckles hard on the bed frame, waking the sleeping parents. “Time to get up boys and girls,” she said nonchalantly.
Aqua moaned and Alex raised his head, his bed hair flying all over the place. “Gracey?” he asked sleepily, “What time is it?”
Grace looked at her watch, “Fifteen minutes before we leave to get to the Galactic Federation Headquarters on time.”
Both of her parents eyes went wide at once. Grace heard her mother curse under her breath as she threw off the covers and rushed into the bathroom. Alex was a bit slower, but grabbed a shirt from his nightstand, and Pongo walked in with Alex’s shoes. Grace walked away to avoid the chaos and went back down to the kitchen to grab something quick to eat before he parents rushed in grabbing pieces of toast and Pop-Tarts to consume quickly.
When they were all ready, they climbed inside the floating car that was waiting for them outside. No one said anything in the car; Alex was busy going over all his paper work he would need for the Inquiry and Aqua was fixing her hair with magic, looking as if anyone interrupted her, she would shock them with a thunderbolt. As soon as she was done, she started fussing with Grace’s hair, undoing her braid and weaving her fingers and magic through the hair. Grace didn’t mind, and when she was done, all the fuzzy strains in Grace’s hair were straight. Aqua then went on to Tai and Luke’s hair. Luke resisted at first, but Aqua zapped him and he gave in.
Once they reached the Federation Headquarters, they were swamped with a wave of paparazzi. The Angelus guards were trying their best to keep the cameras back and if anyone did get through, a guard or two would jump on them and smash the camera. Apparently, word had leaked out about Sora, because reporters were shouting, “Lord Alexander, what have you to say about the Royal Family’s decision to hide Prince Sora?”
“How do you think Princess Jane feels about reuniting with her long lost brother?”
“Lady Grace, were you aware that Sora was second in line for the throne?”
“Just ignore them, ignore them,” Alex told Grace and Tai.
“High Lady Aqua, what have you to say concerning the fact the Judges will ask why Lord Alexander cannot provide identification for the boy that claims to be his son?”
Grace almost turned around at that point, but Aqua grabbed her arm and pulled her up the stairs. When they were inside, Aqua touched her shoulder armor piece and in a flash of light, her armor covered her body, including her helmet. “I’ll see you in the court room,” she said and disappeared into the crowd of lawyers and world leaders.
Alex took the kids back to the same room they were in the day before, just when Princess Jane arrived with her group. Alex and Luke both bowed but Grace nodded her head, only because she had never bowed to Sora.
“There are only a few people left to question and the counsel has heard most of the story. We should wrap this up very quickly,” remarked Princess Jane.
“I hope so, my Lady,” said Alex, “This Inquiry is taking up too much time.”
“Excuse me, Lord Porter?” Lucy tapped Alex on the shoulder with Clarise and Anemone next to her.
“Yes?”
“Is it true that you and Grace are Russian?” asked Clarise.
“Distantly, but yes,” he replied.
“Can you speak Russian, then?” asked Lucy.
Alex smiled, then said, “Of course. It is always best to learn one’s ancestral language.”
Lucy and Clarise squealed with amazement and Anemone said to Grace, “See, he does speak Russian.”
“No he doesn’t,” Grace shook her head, “He was speaking in English.”
The three of them stared at her. “Wait a minute, you could understand what he was saying?” asked Lucy.
“Yeah, because he was speaking English, wasn’t he?” she added, now becoming unsure of herself.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Lucy said as Alex opened his mouth to explain, “It’s because Grace is Angelus right?”
“Partially,” replied Alex, “Most Angelus learn English and a third major language at a young age. The Angelus language, Angelician, is usually understood by most humans, if the Angelus has undergone genetic adaptation. Half-Angelus usually are good at understanding different languages with some practice and can understand their parents ancestral language.”
“That’s probably why you were so good at German, Grace. You were the best in the class,” said Anemone.
“German’s easy and similar to English. As long as you paid attention, everyone in the class should have gotten A’s,” Grace tried to be modest, “I’m not a translator box.”
“Really?” Alex asked, “How do you understand Sora then? I don’t think he speaks English.”
The girl looked at each other, letting the idea sink into their heads, just before Grace called, “Sora! What language do you speak?”
“What do I speak?” he asked, giving them a puzzled look.
“You know, English, Spanish, Japanese,” Anemone gave him examples but Sora looked more confused then ever.
“What’s English?” he asked. The girls stared at each other in awe.
“So what does he speak then?” asked Grace, as they turned away from Sora.
“He is part-Angelus, which is why he can understand you,” said Alex, “Possibly Angelican but I highly doubt it. More likely Spirian, which is a combination of English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Arabic dialects.”
“But how can we understand him and everyone else?” asked Clarise, “We’re not Angelus.”
“It’s because your hearts are connected to Sora’s and Grace’s. Nothing is better to break a language barrier,” explained Alex.
The door opened and the man who had entered the room yesterday said, “They are ready to start.”
“Okay, we’ll be out there,” said Alex, picking up his briefcase and changing into his Angelus form. They walked out of the room and down through the corridor once more to the courtroom. The world leaders were gathered together once more, eager to finally end the Inquiry. The Judges, scribes, and translators were back in their seats, only this time, the Chasers were with them.
As soon as the group were all within the central platform, an Angelus guard called to the large crowd, “All rise!” The room thundered again as the world leaders and other delegates stood up. “Today we continue the Inquiry called forth by vote by the Federation. Overseeing the rest of the Inquiry, High Judge Zaida, High Judge Ulrich, and High Judge Brenton. You may be seated.”
“Who is not present today?” asked Judge Zaida. This time, the human scribe stood up.
“High Lord Hades, the Olympian God of the Underworld, World Leader Commander Neuve of Juno City, and King Triton and the other world leaders of Atlantica,” replied the scribe.
Judge Zaida whispered something to Judge Brenton and then said to the counsel, “We will continue with the Inquiry we started yesterday. First to the stands, Anemone Nevue.”
Anemone frowned as she and Alex took the floating lift up to the level of the Judges. As the lift ascended, the world leaders started to jeer at Anemone, as if they were eager to find out how much like her father she was. “Name?” asked Judge Brenton.
“Anemone Nevue, daughter of world leader Commander Antonio Nevue and Elane Nevue,” she said.
“Anemone Nevue, your father has served as Commander and World Leader of Juno City for twenty years, correct?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Twenty-one next month actually,” Anemone replied curling her hair.
“None the less, Mars was one of the first worlds affected by the Heartless. Your Father followed Galactic Federation protocol and alerted the people to stay away from the Heartless, but he failed to report his findings on the Nobody his armies had discovered,” said Judge Zaida, “What have you to say of this?”
“First of all, no one knew it was a Nobody. I mean did anyone? In fact it was Ansem the Wise who dubbed the creatures and those reports were not found nor understood until years later, when Organization XIII was at large. All we had was a corpse that according to scientific law, did not and/or could not exist. So we tagged and bagged it, putting it away for…nine years. Honestly, I’m surprised the corpse stayed around since any other time, Nobodies disappear after they’ve been defeated,” remarked Anemone, taking out a filer and sanding her nails down.
“So you would describe yourself as someone who knew more information on sensitive topics than most people?” asked Judge Brenton.
Anemone knew at once where he was going with this but she continued to file her nails, “Well, needless to say, Daddy didn’t tell me everything. But I did know about the existence of other worlds, as the daughter of a world leader of course, and about the Organization, nuclear energy, and the Heartless. But did I know my father was looking for the Dreamer? Did I know there was some kid with a Keyblade running around, saving the universe? Did I know my father was crazy enough to think he could go to war with Xehanort and every one else? No, I didn’t.”
“Did you believe at any point that your father was abusing his powers?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Nope, I thought he was doing a great job. Goes to show how much I enjoyed being Daddy’s little girl of totalitarian Juno,” Anemone sighed.
“Your father called for you about two days before the Juno City Crisis, to help him find the Dreamer, correct?” asked Judge Zaida.
Anemone nodded. “He wanted me to find someone with a Key. He told me about the Keyblades, but he wasn’t after the Keyblade Master; it was someone else. I was suppose to look for a girl between the ages of thirteen and sixteen with a double iris.”
“And you told no one that he had you looking for this girl?” asked Judge Ulrich.
“Of course not, he made me promise,” explained Anemone.
“We’re you surprised that it turned out to Grace Porter or did you have your suspicions?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Are you kidding me? Grace Porter was- okay, she wasn’t the last person I’d expected, but she was towards the bottom. But then it made sense to me when I picked up the picture she drew of Roxas. I thought she had some involvement with the terrorists. I thought that’s what Daddy was looking for. He seemed really pleased when I gave him the information and placed an arrest warrant out right away,” said Anemone.
“But you thought you had done something good, right?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Sort of,” shrugged Anemone.
“So after you and your father went to the school to capture Grace, he left you with Madame Demetera after Grace was captured. But you were then ambushed by Balthier, Princess Lucy, and Michelle as they attempted to rescue Ling and you were forced against your will to escape with them, correct?” asked Judge Zaida.
“At first it was, but once I realized what they were fighting for and what my father was trying to do, I –I don’t know, had a change of heart,” Anemone smiled slightly.
“Very well, you are dismissed,” said Judge Zaida, “Next, Clarise Nevue.”
Clarise hands went clammy as her name was called. Anemone said, “Don’t worry,” as they traded places and Clarise climbed into the lift. She straightened her hair clips as the lift rose to the height of the Judges.
“Name?” asked Judge Brenton.
“Clarise Nevue, daughter of Commander and World Leader Antonio Nevue and Elane Nevue,” she said.
“Clarise Nevue, you and your sister are considered to be Genetically Altered Humans, correct?” asked Judge Zaida.
“That is correct, your honor,” Clarise bowed shyly, “I am number 122 and my sister, who is older than me by a minute, is 121.”
“What’s with the numbers?” asked Grace.
“Genetically Altered Humans, or GAH, are given a number, so that scientists can track their DNA alterations,” explained Joey, “If I remember correctly, Clarise should be the last one born that was a GAH.”
“That’s not a lot,” remarked Grace.
“Getting your genes altered is expensive and still hard to do. Earth scientists have recently got a hang on it within the last fifty years or so, and they don’t count those who had just their sex picked as GAH,” said Joey.
“Were you aware that your father was abusing his powers as World Leader of Juno?” asked Judge Zaida.
“At first no. Like my sister, I thought my father was looking out for the best interests of Juno and it’s people. But when I realized what hardships the people faced and what they thought of my father, I slowly started to questioned my father until I realized there was something terribly wrong,” said Clarise.
“When did you realize there was something wrong?” asked Judge Zaida.
“A few days before the City Crisis, when I met Margot and her brothers. Margot was kind to me, but Matti, I mean Montag, was a little unsure at first. But when I talked to Joey, he raised some issues that I had never thought of before, and I started to question some of the rules. I didn’t start to question my father until the next day, when I saw some of my father’s guards taking Margot away. When I went to my father that night, he said he was keeping Margot for her own protection, but that wasn’t entirely true. It was that same night when Anemone came back to report she had found Grace Porter as the one our father had been looking for. As soon as I realized what was really going on, I took off, but I didn’t get to Grace in time,” Clarise looked down at the ground, sadly.
“But you attempted to do what was right and you did join the Keyblade Users in the end,” remarked Judge Zaida with a small smile, “You are dismissed.”
The Inquiry continued for the next hour or so. Matti was called up after Clarise but he had little to add to Joey or Clarise’s stories. Hayner was called up next to describe his attack by Xine, followed by Margot. Joey was allowed to go with her on the lift as she described her ability to hear the Heartless. Some of the world leaders and delegates looked at her with disbelief although none of the lie detectors went off. Pence went up after Margot adding a bit to Hayner’s story, which wasn’t much as he was unconscious during the attack. Then finally, Tai was called up.
For the first time in her life, Grace noticed that her father’s face was filled with worry. He took Tai’s hand as he walked up on the lift. Grace knew at once there was something off when none of the Judges asked for Tai’s name. Most of the kids noticed this as well, but only Sora, Joey, Princess Jane, and Balthier looked just as worried as Alex.
“What is the first thing you remember?” asked Judge Zaida.
“The first thing I remember?” Tai asked for clarification.
“In your…life,” clarified Judge Zaida.
“Um…when Grace found me, ten years ago,” replied Tai.
“And you remember nothing before that?” asked Judge Zaida.
Tai shook his head.
“According to your…sister, your mechanical body was destroyed. Usually the consciousness of a robot with an artificial intelligence component is lost but yet here you are in a human body. Do you know how this may have happened?” asked Judge Zaida.
Tai shook his head again.
“What about the time between those points? Do you recall anything?” asked Judge Brenton.
“Not exactly. I knew time had passed, like I was sleeping, but I didn’t remember anything,” explained Tai.
“And you clam to be Lord Alexander’s son?” asked Judge Zaida.
“Yes, but not biologically,” replied Tai.
A few of the world leaders started to whisper among themselves.
“Lord Alexander!” Judge Zaida turned her attention to him, “We have enough information to prove you have been conducting illegal procedures on the heart. Although it has seemed to do more good than harm, we must question your actions. When did you first come across this boy?”
“Ten and a half years ago, during the early attacks by the Heartless on Radiant Gardens,” explained Alex, “I was part of a squad that was sent in to help the refugees leave the world. I came across a boy that was being target by a group of Heartless. They were attracted to some sort of aura surrounding him. I was unable to save him but the Heartless were not able to take his heart. In fact I could still feel the presence of the aura, the boy’s soul and his heart still there, although his body was limp and dead. Suddenly the body vanished, and I was left holding the boy’s heart and soul wrapped around in that strange aura. When I realized what it was, I sealed it in a box and placed it in a machine body, sending it to one of the few people I knew who could help him.”
“And what was it you realized?” asked Judge Zaida.
Alex took a deep breath, looked at Aqua, who nodded back at him. “I was going to wait until I had more sufficient evidence to present to the counsel, but it seems I have no choice. I believe,” he started to say, putting his hand on Tai’s head, “that this boy…is…the reincarnation of Lord Zion.”
There was another tremendous uproar in the room, almost as loud as the one after Sora was found to be second in line for the throne of the Angelus.
“That’s impossible!” hissed Princess Jane, “If he was Lord Zion’s incarnation, my oracle beacon would have picked it up.”
“Tai is still young,” explained Fran, “He wouldn’t show any traits of being an incarnation until he is about twelve. And besides, can’t you sense the aura surrounding him?”
“It is there,” Princess Jane concentrated hard, “Now that you pointed it out I can feel it, but it’s very faint, almost unnoticeable.”
“You knew he was the reincarnation of Lord Zion and bother not to say anything?” asked Riku.
“Only because we weren’t sure. Even Lord Alexander isn’t entirely sure,” remarked Balthier.
Once the Judges calmed everyone down, Judge Zaida turned back to Alex. “You said you have proof of this claim none the less?”
“That is correct, I do have some evidence that leads me to believe this boy is an reincarnation. The fact that he should’ve died when the Heartless first attacked him, but yet his soul and heart remained in this world, as if he still had purpose. The fact that he started to become more powerful after he was with my daughter for ten years, almost powerful enough to restore his body on his own. The fact that even after his second body was destroyed his heart and soul were still intact, allowing the Chasers to revive him. And I find it more than coincidental that he was born around the same time the Chasers last fought Xehanort, the same time Sora was born, the same time my daughter was born, the same time Riku was born, and the same time Princess Kairi was born,” Alex said firmly.
Not everyone seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Alex; many of the world leaders and delegates looked doubtful, including Judge Ulrich. The Judges then conversed with each other and when they were finished, Judge Zaida said to Alex, “While your daughter is one thing, taking this boy in as your son is another. Although, I do admit, forging the necessary documents would have gotten you into more trouble and there was no sense in filling out the adoption papers when there was no human body to speak of, this is the second time you have gone under the radar with adoption. You’re reasons seem legitimate enough though. As for your punishment for conducting experiments on the heart, we have decided to temporarily suspend all of your projects and research work except for the Avian Flu vaccination until we can verify your testimony. Until then, work as best you can on the vaccine. That should be your top priority. You are dismissed.”
When Tai and Alex got off the lift, Tai looked between Grace and Alex, worried. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked.
Alex didn’t say anything but Grace said, “No, you didn’t. You told the truth. That’s all that counts.”
Tai looked pleased with himself and Grace watch him run off to Margot. “Judge Zaida said Tai was the second. So who was the first?” asked Grace.
“I thought you would have figured that out,” Alex said shyly, and Grace looked towards Luke, who decided at that moment to look away.
Behind her, Balthier approached Alex. “Tai should be the last one right?” Balthier asked.
“Should be, but the Judges aren’t dismissing us,” Alex replied, his eyes to the Judges who were in deep discussion. “But who else would be left?” He asked, almost to himself, scanning the heads of the children, “Ah!” His eyes fell on Olette.
“Her? But she would only have to add to Hayner’s and Pence’s story,” remarked Balthier.
“That’s not it. There’s something else,” Alex whispered. Balthier eyed him and Alex nodded in the direction of the Chasers.
Balthier looked then stared at him. “She isn’t-”
“She is,” nodded Alex, “And if you think about it, it’s not entirely impossible.”
“Who told you?” asked Balthier, “Or was it confession?”
“A little of both. But there something even more surprising then that, that even I would like to hear,” said Alex.
When the Judges were finished in their discussion, Judge Zaida called, “Would Olette of Twilight Town come to the stands?”
Olette, as well as everyone else, was quite surprised as she headed to the stands with Princess Jane. Once again, the Judges did not bother to ask Olette’s name and started to question her immediately. “Miss Olette, your mother, who was not married to anyone in the vicinity of Twilight Town, gave birth to you and your brother, declaring that your biological father left you after you were born?”
“Yes,” nodded Olette.
“But after your mother died, the bank account in your mother’s name was transferred over to you and your brother, and about once a month a deposit was made via a transfer from another bank account,” said Judge Zaida.
“Yes, that was my mother’s life insurance,” remarked Olette.
“You’re mother didn’t have life insurance, Miss Olette,” Judge Ulrich said sharply, “Nor would you or your brother would have been able to touch that until you were eighteen if she did. As Angelus Intelligence would find, the bank account from which the deposits were being made into yours, was from one of our own, one of the Royal Family’s bank accounts.”
“Objection!” cried Princess Jane, “Angelus Intelligence has no right to be searching the Royal Family’s bank accounts without prior permission!”
“In this case, your Majesty, the owner did give Intelligence to search that account,” replied Judge Brenton.
“I want to see that account number,” Princess Jane said firmly.
Judge Zaida nodded and a holographic screen appeared in front of Princess Jane. Sora saw her mouth drop. His sister then looked at his grandfather who looked just as surprised as she was, to her father, who drooped his ears, to Terra, who looked a little whiter than usual.
“Your Highness, you seem to recognize the account number. You also seem just as confused as we are. Perhaps your uncle, High Lord Terra would care to explain why every month, a transfer is being made from his account to this girl, who he should have no connection with,” Judge Zaida said, turning to the Chaser.
Terra turned away from her fiery eyes, and instead looked at Olette, who had already seemed to figure it out. Terra got up and said to the entire counsel, “The reason I have been transferring funds to Olette’s account every month, is because she is my daughter.”
The delegates started to gasp, Hanyer gave a large “WHAT?!”, Princess Jane just looked like she wanted to bad mouth both her father and her uncle, and Sora just watched them with his mouth opened.
“The reason I never made direct contact with my children before is the same reason my brother and my comrade hid their children, to protect them,” explained Terra.
“Apparently not, considering that three years ago, your son, Daniel, was attacked and killed by Heartless, and his Nobody joined the ranks of the Organization,” remarked Judge Zaida.
More gasps echoed throughout the room as Olette cried, “That’s- that’s not true!”
“You cannot confirm nor deny this, Miss Olette, as your brother’s Nobody asked the leader of the Organization to erase your memories because he thought what you witness was to horrible for you to remember,” said Judge Ulrich.
Olette was numb with shock. She didn’t say anything and looked at the floor as Princess Jane asked, “What number was Olette’s brother?”
“Number Ten, Demyx,” replied Judge Brenton.
Sora looked down to the floor. Demyx was one of the members he had defeated, twice. He thought he had finished him off for good the second time…but to find out now it was his own cousin he had faced off? But wasn’t he alive? Hadn’t he show up in Radiant Gardens? He was so lost in thought, he didn’t hear the Judges dismiss the counsel.
Princess Jane was talking with Olette. “I am so sorry about this!” she bowed her head, “Believe me, when I get my hands on uncle Terra he’ll be wishing he learned how to use Protect magic! That is if Grandpa and Grandma don’t get to him first…”
“It’s all right,” said Olette, “You don’t have to go and beat him up.”
“I understand, but I am going to give him a piece of my mind!” Princess Jane huffed and took off with her father to the hallway.
“That was certainly one way to end an Inquiry,” remarked Balthier.
“Once the Judges get a hand on something like that, they have to deal with it with all the force they can muster,” sighed Alex, “I’m just glad this is all over.”
“Olette?” asked Hayner, “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” she forced a smile, but she still looked a little shaken by the sudden turn of events.
“Why did the Judges go so hard on Terra?” asked Grace.
“The Angelus have an unspoken code of ethics,” explained Alex, “One of them is you must always provide for your children, and if not you’re considered, well, a bunch of colorful words I shouldn’t say in front of you. If you need to put your kids in hiding due your job, then at least you tell someone about it, usually the Knights, so it doesn’t look like you’re abandoning them. With you, we told the Knights about you as well as the Royal family, because it was already bad enough your mother and I weren’t married. Sora’s parents were married, and Prince Michael did stay with Sora for the first five years of his life and after he left Sora, took Jane with him and took care of her. He also told the Royal Family and some of the Knight of his decision. Terra, on the other hand, had his children with a woman he had been seeing off and on since before he officially became a Chaser. He did not tell anyone he had kids and he made no real effort to have any interaction with them, except for financially providing for them. Sure, he feels bad about it, but he still should have said something at least to the Royal Family. The Judges won’t charge him because he’s a Chasers and a member of the Royal Family, and there’s the fact that he did indeed made no direct connection with them because he feared for his safety. But if he was somebody else, he would have been thrown in jail.”
When they walked out of the courtroom, they could hear shouts echoing from down the hall. True to her word, Princess Jane was giving her uncle a piece of her mind. “You big stupid jerk! Why didn’t you tell anyone you had kids? It one thing if we have to deal with the Sora issue but now the leaders are really going to have a row with this one!”
The Princess opened her mouth again to start another round but the Angelus King but his hand on her shoulder and said calmly, “That is enough, Jane.”
Princess Jane folded her arms, her face still full of furry, when she saw Olette broke away from the group. Olette approached the Royal Family slowly and stopped a few feet away from them. The Angelus King told Princess Jane to follow him with his wife and son, and as he came to Olette, he stopped and bowed his head respectfully. Olette bowed back, and the Royal Family continued along the corridor, leaving Terra alone with his daughter.
Olette did not look at Terra, although he was looking at her, as if trying to decipher what she was feeling. “I’m not exactly sure what to say to you,” she said.
“I understand,” said Terra.
“Mom always said you were a good person when she was alive. She loved you,” Olette added.
Terra looked a little surprised by this but said nothing.
“Danny hates you, a lot,” she went on, “He would sometimes say, if you ever showed up, he was going to kill you. I think,” she was crying now, “I hated you too a bit.” She was sobbing now and she didn’t look at Terra for fear of him seeing it as weakness. But he didn’t; he appreciated it and what she said, and for the first time since she was a baby, held her close.
Sora was still deep in thought, when his grandparents, father, and sister passed him. He watched his father in his Transmira form and remembered how hard it was for Jane to understand him. Well, maybe his father was hard to understand sometimes but Sora sure wasn’t.
“Dad!” Sora called. The wolf stopped and looked back. Jane looked back as well, a few feet in front of her father.
“I understand why you left Mom. I understand why you left us. But that doesn’t mean you have to be all depressed about it and hide yourself in your Transmira form. Sure, Mom was sad after you left, but she got over it. I think she would be disappointed to see you how you are now. Actually, I think she would just laugh and call you an idiot that has more hair than brains. What I’m trying to get at is,” Sora went on, “There are people that need you. Jane needs you. I…need you. I don’t care what you did in the past. I forgive you. So let’s just try and be together again, as a family should.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but when he looked up again, the wolf was gone.
In the wolf’s place, what a man that Sora thought was either an older version of himself or his father. The only differences between the two were Michael was a few inches taller then he was and both his ears were pierced. Jane was so surprised at her father’s appearance, she looked as if she would jump out of her dress. Michael looked at Sora curiously, smiled warmly, and said, “Thank you.” He then wrapped his arm around Jane’s shoulder and they walked away, Jane’s head starting to lean on his shoulder. Sora wanted to go with them, but he knew Jane need her father now more than he did and as an afterthought, knew it was probably best not to go off without telling his grandparents.
Joey broke away from the group, saying, “I’ll meet you back at the Genii Ward. There’s something I got to do first.” He took off down the hall in the direction the Royal Family had gone. “Room sixteen…room seventeen…room eighteen!” He opened the door and found himself in a conference room. Three men were sitting at the end of the table: the Angelus King, Professor Xaiver, a man with blonde hair and deep red eyes Joey had never seen before, and a mouse with the roundest ears Joey had ever seen. The man with red eyes had a mechanical limb instead of a left arm and there were several metal palates covering the left side of his face.
“Mr. Carter,” King Mark smiled, “We have been expecting you. This is, as you already know, Professor Xaiver, King Mickey of Disney Castle,” he pointed to the mouse, “and this is Ansem the Wise,” he said, pointing to the man with the deep red eyes.
Joey was in awe but pulled himself together and gave a deep bow, “It is an honor, sirs.” He sat down at one of the seats and asked, “Are you four, the Big Four?”
Professor Xaiver shook his head, “We are a member short today; you will be filling in his place today. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, as he is your grandfather.”
Joey tried very hard not to let his mouth drop open. His grandfather knew the Angelus King and Ansem the Wise? He wondered if his grandfather accidentally let it slip from one of his stories.
“We’d like to here about this Nobody cure,” said Ansem the Wise, “Do you really think you can do it?”
“It’s not impossible,” said Joey, “But it’s going to take a lot of work. I would have to come with three, maybe four, different subtypes of a placenta to really pull it off.”
“Why so many?” asked King Mickey.
“First we have the common Nobodies. They’re more of a lost cause than anything, so the best I could come up with would be a weapon to destroy them. That should be easy. Then we have the human Nobodies. Since they are all from different worlds, I don’t know how their immune systems would react to the gene therapy. Some could be immune to the cure. Thirdly we have Roxas and Naminé. Because they are already fused back to their human counterparts, separating their DNA from the human DNA is going to be difficult. It’s a painful process and quite dangerous. Finally we have Xine. She’s a vampire and she was a Nobody created from cloned DNA. There’s nothing I can use to create a cure for her, yet,” explained Joey.
“So what you need is the research,” said King Mark.
“I have enough research that I can start. What I need is testing supplies, but I doubt even the Angelus Research departments have human Nobody blood samples,” Joey folded his arms.
“You could use the blood samples we took from Sora and Kairi when they first arrived at the Flying City. The Research departments could take those samples and mass produce them for you,” suggested Professor Xaiver.
Joey nodded but Professor Xaiver said, “Something else seems to be troubling you.”
“It’s just, during my proposal, there was something I left out, only because I knew people would panic. Take a look at this,” Joey opened his laptop and pulled up a graph chart. There were four bars, one in red, blue, pink, and purple. The red and blue ones were higher than the pink and purple, but the red and pink bars were smaller than the blue and purple bars. “This is Sora’s approximate power potential before he was fused by with Roxas,” Joey pointed to the red bar, “And this is after,” he pointed to the blue bar. “The same goes for Kairi’s,” he pointed to the pink and purple bars.
“You’re saying that humans become stronger when they are fused back with their Nobodies?” asked King Mickey.
“Or their Heartless,” added Joey, “And although Kairi is not as powerful as Sora, her growth rate is higher, almost triple,” he pressed a button that showed the percent change of growth between Sora and Kairi.
“What does it mean?” asked King Mark.
“It may mean that the longer a Nobody and its human or Heartless counterpart are separate, the stronger they become. But they’re may be a time limit. There still seems to be a bond between a Nobody and its human or Heartless counterpart but that bond may fade over time or become severed if either the Nobody or the counterpart is killed,” explained Joey, “I think Xehanort may use this to become stronger.”
“Which means his Nobody would come after Riku,” remarked Professor Xaiver.
“But Xemnas was destroyed!” squealed King Mickey.
“Maybe not, my friend,” sighed Ansem the Wise, “Many of the Organization members we thought to have been destroyed are reappearing. Xemnas may still be out there somewhere.”
“And if he has been separated from his Heartless for ten years, then time is almost up for him to fuse back,” added Professor Xaiver. The rest of the table nodded.
“There’s other thing,” said Joey, “I think both Xehanort’s Heartless and his Nobody all had this planned out from the beginning.”
“To fuse back together?” asked King Mark.
“To weaken Sora,” Professor Xaiver answered before Joey could.
Joey nodded. “Back in Hallow Bastion, when Riku was first possessed by Xehanort’s Heartless, he told Sora exactly what to do to free Kairi’s heart, by freeing his own. He deliberately left the dark Keyblade behind and Sora unlocked his heart, becoming a Heartless and Roxas was born in Twilight Town. The moment that happened, Xemnas is right there, almost as if he was waiting for it to happen. Now after Sora gets all his memories screwed up by Naminé, he goes into his enchanted sleep. There is no one else at Castle Oblivion; Axel is the only one to survive and he goes back to the Organization. They actually let Naminé go and they could have easily, easily killed off Sora. But they don’t. It seems too suspicious that they would just let them go, even if they wanted him to kill off Heartless later. Roxas in the meantime is getting frustrated that no one is telling him what he wants to know and leaves. The Organization doesn’t seem to do anything at first; it’s almost like Xemnas expected it, and he probably did. He and the other first six members of the Organization studied hearts and how people acted when they were driven by their emotion. They do go after him eventually but it’s not as forced as I thought it would be. I would expect them to drag him back, torture him, and possibly kill him, but all they did was send a couple of Nobodies and Axel after him. But if you ask me, they knew he wasn’t going to come back and they hoped he would finished off Axel, who was becoming a liability. They allowed Roxas to fuse back with Sora as if they expected him to do that, regardless of the actions taken by DiZ and Riku. It seems as if Xehanort wanted to weaken Sora. I’m hoping for once that I’m wrong.”
“But that still seems kind of a stretch,” King Mickey said thoughtfully, “Xehanort is cunning but he’s not that cunning.”
“Yes, but Xehanort and the Organization have always been third party. They’ve always been the ones pulling the strings from the shadows and they did it well. My only issue is, I can’t help but think I’ve missed something,” remarked Joey.
“There’s no point in worrying about it now,” said King Mark, “If you can get started on that cure, then maybe we can take down one of Xehanort greatest allies.”
“If you can count them his allies,” remarked Professor Xaiver as they all got up to leave.
************************************************************************
Sora returned back to the Magdalene estate with his grandmother. His grandfather had stayed behind to take care of some business, maybe to calm the chaos caused by Terra down. The Queen’s face still looked troubled with worry and Sora tentatively asked, “Grandma, are you mad at Uncle Terra?”
The Queen sighed and said, “I’m not sure. It’s been so long since I last saw him, but I wished he had said something to me at least. Your grandfather on the other hand…” she broke off.
They were both quiet until they reached the estate. “You might want to gather up your belongings,” said Sora’s grandmother, “They’ll let you leave tomorrow and knowing Captain Balthier he would want to leave straight away before traffic gets bad.”
Sora nodded and went up to his bedroom. Not surprisingly, Jane was there. “I got everything packed up and ready to go. Just say the word and we’ll take off!”
“That didn’t take long,” remarked Sora.
“Well it’s just a few of my clothes, a set of summoner’s robes, a staff, and my equipment. Dad says I could go too,” Jane said excitedly, “Let’s hope he comes up with a really good excuse.”
“But what if they catch us trying to leave with you?” asked Sora.
“I’ll be in my human form. Only a few people know what I look like as a human. They’ll just think I’m someone you picked up on Alluria,” explained Jane, “So any idea where we’re going?”
“Not sure,” shrugged Sora, “Tai has the Astropass and we won’t know where to go until it activates. Maybe we’ll just head back to Radiant Gardens.”
“Well where ever we go, we have to be back in time for the Helios Ball,” said Jane.
“The Helios Ball?” asked Sora.
Jane nodded, “It takes place the last day of the Federation’s session before Winter break. All the world delegates gather for a night of festivities at the Royal Palace. All the Royal Family has to be there of course, so you have to come along to. We’re probably going to have to find you something nice to wear and you’ll need to look for a date too. The Keyblade Users and the Royal Family usually open the ball.”
“I don’t dance!” Sora grimaced.
Jane sighed. “Looks like that’s one more thing to add to my to-do list: teach-Sora-how-to-dance-so-he-doesn’t-make-a-complete-idiot-of-himself-in-front-of-hundreds-of-world-leaders.”
“Fine, I’ll do it! Just don’t force me to wear something stupid,” said Sora.
There was a knock on Sora’s door. Jane dived under the bed as Jarvis called through the door, “Master Sora! There’s a visitor for you!”
Once he made sure Jane was well hidden, Sora opened the door and followed Jarvis down the stairs. Judge Zaida, still in her armor was waiting in the lobby. Jarvis took off at once, as he had to help make dinner, leaving the two of them alone. Sora bowed and Judge Zaida bowed back. “The counsel has a request for you, Keyblade Master. Due to your pass relations with King Triton of Atlantica and his daughter, they wish for you to check up on him. The King and his delegates or even anyone from his world has not been to the Federation for several months. The counsel is worried something may have happened to him. Do you except our request?”
“I do,” Sora replied at once, hoping the Commander had nothing to do with Atlantica or anything for that matter.
“I am glad to hear that,” remarked Judge Zaida, “We expect great things from you, Keyblade Master. Do not disappoint us as your predecessors did.”
As Judge Zaida walked out of the house, Sora could help but feel a little angry about what she had said. He returned back to his bedroom, where Jane was still there. “Who was it? What did they say?” she asked.
“It was Judge Zaida,” he replied, “She wants me to go to Atlantica to check on the King.”
“Oh,” Jane’s face dropped.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sora.
“If they’re sending you, that means they think there’s something bad going on or something weird is going on, whichever you prefer,” explained Jane.
“It shouldn’t be anything I can’t handle,” remarked Sora.
“If not I’m always there to save your ass,” grinned Jane.
“Hey!” Sora threw a pillow at her and they started a pillow fight that lasted until Sora was called to dinner and Jane had to leave for home.
************************************************************************
Grace was woken up early the next morning by her mother. “I have to go,” Aqua said.
“Where?” Grace asked sleepily.
“I can’t tell you,” she replied, “But I will see you soon. You have to get ready. Your father will see you and your brother off.” Aqua then kissed her goodbye and disappeared through Grace’s bedroom door.
Grace got dress and climbed down the stairs into the kitchen. Her father was making pancakes on the stovetop, while Tai and Luke seemed to be in some contest to see who would fall asleep first. They perked up when Alex placed a large plate of hotcakes on the table. Grace watched as Luke dumped chocolate syrup and whipped cream on his stack as she reached for the butter, Tai looking on with a mixture of surprise and horror.
When they were finished, Alex took them outside and called down a taxi, telling the driver to take them to docking station 156. The sun was just starting to rise on the horizon and they were one of the only few out on the road. The taxi took them to a port area, where ships of every size docked at platforms that were as large as train stations. They approached a section marked “restrained transport ships” and Alex had to show the guard his ID before the taxi could go through. The Strahl and Gummi ship were docked next to each other and most of the gang was already there, Balthier making his final preparations.
“Are we ready to go?” asked Grace.
“There’s still some more boxes to load and Sora insists that we wait until his friend comes,” said Balthier.
“His friend?” Grace turned to look at Sora, who was pacing up and down between Donald and Goofy.
“Oh! Where is she?” he shouted.
“That’s the last of them,” Balthier announced as the last of the supplies were loaded into the Strahl, “We’re leaving!”
“WWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT!”
There was a sudden crash from behind like a small explosion. Something crashed into the bundle of boxes behind them. A hand reached out from the piles and a second hand on a hoverboard helped pushed a young girl with sleek black hair in a ponytail and goggles over her eyes. Grace thought she looked oddly familiar.
The girl took over her goggles and let them dangle around her neck. She walked up to Sora with a large duffel bag under one arm and the hoverboard in the other. “I thought I told you to wait!” she said angrily at Sora.
“You’re late!” Sora folded his arm back at her.
“Ah, if it isn’t our little thief,” said Balthier, “What brings you here?”
“This little thief just got hired by the Keyblade Master. I’m to help him in his quest to take down the Commander, for a small amount of Munny, of course,” the girl smiled.
“More like a king’s ransom,” remarked Alex.
“Do you have a name?” asked Balthier.
“I’m Lyra Silvertounge, thief and entrepreneur extraordinare,” said the girl.
Balthier folded his arms and studied the girl, deep in thought. He looked at Alex and they both seemed to be thinking the same thing. “Lfqw wbrf Vsblufkқ, mfgs ualwgüŵk glp g dfwŵғs ualüfgeғs,” Balthier said in high Angelican.
Lyra made a face but Balthier said to the group, “All right, listen up! Grace, Lucy, and Lyra will be traveling with Sora, Donald, and Goofy in the Gummi ship. Once we have permission to leave, the space traffickers we tell us when we can warp to Atlantica. Got it?”
The kids gave a cheer and they started to board the Strahl. Grace gave her father a tight good-bye hug and she even managed to grab Luke and give him a small squeeze before he wandered off. “I’ll see you two soon, all right?” said Alex.
Grace and Tai both nodded and Grace ran over to join the others at the Gummi ship. “We’re going to Radiant Gardens,” Sam told Sora, “There’s still work to be done in Ansem’s labs, but we should be able to tag along as soon as that work is done. Would you mind doing me a favor, and look after Ling for me?”
“Don’t worry. She’s in good hands,” said Sora, “Just don’t go getting yourself caught by the Angelus again. And…may the force be with you.”
Sam broke into a wide grin. “Catching on, are you? It’s about time!”
“Sora! We got to go!” called Donald.
Sora climbed back on board the Gummi ship, just as the radio echoed, “Space traffic controller three to DCM Gummi One. Permission has been granted to depart. Please proceed to warp gate terminal eight with the Strahl. Over.”
“Roger that!” Donald squawked into the microphone and pulled away from the dock with the Strahl.
The warp gate was a gigantic brown metal ring with flashing beacons on it. As the beacons got brighter, the ring started to activate, until the gate started to disorient the space inside of it. “Full speed ahead!” shouted Donald as he pushed the controls forward behind the Strahl, the warp sending them deep through space.
As the Keyblade Master and his allies were leaving the Flying City, Lady White broke into Prince Michael’s study. “My Lord, the Princess! She’s gone!”
She stopped when she saw Prince Michael in his human form. He did not turn to face her and was instead reading a letter he found on his table. “My Lord?” she asked, half surprised to see him in his human form and half believing he had not heard her.
“It’s alright, Minerva,” Prince Michael tucked the letter away, “I know where she is. She’s in save hands.”
“But sir-?”
“I need you to cancel all of my appointments today. There’s someone I need to see,” he walked towards her, “Someone I haven’t seen in a long time. I hope you understand.”
“Of course my Prince,” Lady White bowed her head and she when she lifted her head, the Prince was already out the front door, leaving Lady White to wonder about the surprises and changes yet to come.
KINGDOM HEARTS: AFTER DAWN PART II
“Triton’s granddaughter will be mine!”
“But something of this scale and magnitude isn’t natural.”
“This belonged to your aunt.”
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight’s entertainment.”
“And I don’t believe in fairies!”
“They’re both gone!”
“Do remember that forbidden book by Philip Pullman?”
“Operation Dæmon has been very successful so far.”
“Blue punch buggie!”
“Are you sure it’s a dog?”
“There are two of us left. The other is infected; everyone else is dead.”
“To infinity and beyond!”
“You’re an action figure!”
“That’s it!”
“Jack and Sally are getting married!”
“I saw his face.”
“Perhaps this might help you.”
“He’s your uncle.”
“I’m sorry but we’re going to trust a chicken?”
“I guess they’re not very friendly.”
“He’s going into cardiac arrest.”
“I’m sorry but we can never see each other again.”
“Atlantis? What would Xehanort want with a city that doesn’t exist?”
“It’s the Shepherd’s Journal.”
“The Heart of Atlantis lies with the eyes of her King.”
“How could we have missed this?”
“The Sea of Izabella will guide you.”
“Ah, so you’re from the Hereafter.”
“What if they were afraid of something so terrible, it scared them as much as I do?”
“I love you.”
“This ends now!”
And now it's time for your first clue about the secret boss:
"This character is not from the Disney or Square-Enix universe (that includes Kingdom Hearts, Valkyrie Tales (?) front Mission, Dragon Quest, and Star Ocean), but is well known to gamers."
Remember, once you figure out who it is, come up with a strategy to beat this character!