Fanfiction ► Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom Series

[TelaryCri]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Chapter XXV: What's In The Heart, pt. 3​

The quartet race out into the square, but find it quiet and empty, with no sign of the troublemakers to be found.

“We lost ‘em!” Azlyn growls, clenching her fist.

Telary raises an eyebrow at her. “I thought you didn’t want the experiment to happen, Azlyn?”

“True,” the knight admits with a shrug. “But I wanted to be the one that busted it up, not a bunch of snot-nosed punk kids!”

“But where did they go?” Sora asks, still looking around and hoping that he’ll find some trace or clue. “How do we find them?”

Jack suddenly perks up, giggling madly. “It’s so obvious! Zero! Oh, Zero!”

The ghostly dog comes flying through the air, barreling right through its master in its eagerness to come. Realizing his mistake, Zero backs up to look up at Jack.

“Zero is the best tracker in Halloween Town,” the Pumpkin King explains, grinning his ghastly-pleased grin. “Find Lock, Shock, and Barrel, boy. C’mon, I know you can do it!”

Zero rises into the air with a determined yip, his glowing pumpkin nose twitching as he samples the air. After a moment, he yelps triumphantly before shooting off for the graveyard.

“What a dog!” Jack exclaims, rushing off. The trio chases after him, finding it difficult to keep up with his long legged strides.

Zero leads the quartet all through town and into the Graveyard, flying past tombstones in his determination to track the heartnappers.

Zero suddenly takes a sharp turn left, rushing through a gate and down a long path, surrounded in both sides by mottled, near dead trees.

The path continues for perhaps a mile before they reach the end, a large field with a hill rising out its middle, growing thinner at the top until it ends in a curly cue.

“Moonlight Hill,” Jack explains, gesturing to the odd topography. “But where would they go from here?”

Zero answers that question, zooming off for the far end of the field, past the curling hill. The group follow him until the dog suddenly stops, yipping and barking at something he sees on the ground.

Or rather, in the ground.

Jack jumps in without hesitating, and the offworlders follow, one by one landing in a pool of green sludge, darker than the kind found in the square’s fountain but no less gross. Jack gestures for them to continue and they do, trudging through the syrupy liquid.

“I hope,” Telary says, grunting a bit as he struggles to push his bandaged leg through the thick slime, “that these costumes don’t come with a cleaning deposit. Because, let me tell ya, we’re not getting it back.”

The tunnel ends in a few yards, emerging at the bottom of a hill sloping upward. Something like the point of a tall tower can be seen just over the horizon.

“Aha!” Jack exclaims, pushing through the last few slimy feet and sprinting up the hill with grim determination. “I just knew he had to be behind this!”

“Behind this?” Sora asks as he follows the Pumpkin King up the hill much more slowly. When he arrives at the top he looks out at the valley below, an enormous mansion seemingly made chaotically out of dozens of structures with no rhyme or reason, rising so high in the sky the tip of its tallest tower pierces the clouds. Backdropped against the brightness of the full moon, it manages to inspire terror. “Whose mansion is this?”

“Oogie Boogie’s,” Jack replies through angrily clenched teeth. “My eternal rival! He’s tried to ruin Halloween for me for years!”

“Wait a minute. Boogie?” Telary exclaims, fear flooding his body. “As in, the boogeyman?”

“The very same,” Jack confirms with a grim nod. “Oogie is my opposite and eternal rival. I scare for thrills, fun, and entertainment! He only uses his powers to create true terror, the kind that leaves grown men and women gibbering in madness and despair.”

“Sounds like just the kind of guy I have the Keyblade to take down,” Sora says, summoning his weapon in one gloved hand.

“Look down there!” Azlyn points out, pointing down to the base of the manor, where the crawling bathtub can be seen crawling around aimlessly, the three hooligans riding along inside. The heart is nowhere to be found, however.

“I’ve got this one, guys,” Telary says, twirling his staff with aplomb. He raise it high into the air. “Feather Fall!”

The quartet leap off the hill’s edge, their descent magically slowed enough that they land with incident.

Azlyn lands closest to the tub, and leaps forward with a triumphant growl. “Got you now you… Huh?”

Inside the bathtub sit three dolls dressed up in the costumes of Lock, Shock, and Barrel. The heart isn’t within.

“Those little sneaks!” Azlyn huffs indignantly. “They must have… yarrgh!”

Leaping down from above come the real Lock, Shock, and Barrel, each kid latching onto a different part of the knight, kicking and punching with all their might. It wouldn’t be much individually, but combined, it’s enough to be distracting, if not terribly painful.

“Azlyn!” Telary yells stepping forward to help his friend. A wild kick from Shock, however, impacts him in the jaw and sends him sprawling to the ground. Seeing a potential enemy downed, the witch girl leaps off Azlyn and towards him. Panicked, the mage raises his staff. “Thunder!”

Magical energy gathers, but Telary is too unfocused from the kick to the face and his fall, and as such the bolt shoots down a few inches too far off target, crashing straight down into Azlyn’s tall hair.

The electricity of the bolt ignites something in the hair, coating the knight’s body in a dazzling blue current. She doesn’t seem adversely affected, but Lock and Barrel take a full body shock each.

After a few seconds the light show fades, steam rising from all over Azlyn’s body. Lock and Barrel fall to the dirt, stunned.

Shock is luckily distracted by the fate of her fellows, and before she can regain her composure, Jack Skellington picks her up in one bony hand, staring down at her sternly.

“What did Azlyn do?” Sora asks, looking over his still steaming companion.

“Yeah, even I was shocked,” the knight admits with a sly grin.

“Ha ha,” Telary deadpans, poking around in the tall column of hair atop the girl’s head. Finally, he finds something. Pushing the hair back, he reveals a giant metal bolt rising directly from Azlyn’s skull into the air.

“No wonder she’s been so grumpy,” Sora jokes with a grin.

“I suspect that this metallic object acted as some kind of lightning rod,” Telary explains, smiling at the oddness of it. “The costume must carry electricity incredibly well, but also be insulated enough to keep you from harm. Fascinating!”

By now Lock and Barrel have recovered, and Jack tosses Shock down to sit beside them. Putting on his most serious face, the Pumpkin King looks down on them like a drill sergeant in interrogation mode.

“I promise that if you three cooperate, I’ll see if there’s some way I can mitigate your punishments,” the skeleton man bargains, sounding more serious than he ever has. “But you have to tell me something in exchange: Where is Oogie Boogie?”

The mischievous trio say nothing, only giggle further amongst themselves.

“What’s so funny, eh?” Azlyn says, getting in Shock’s face with a tough look. “Tell us where Oogie Boogie is!”

“Why, I’m right here, sweet thang,” bellows a deep voice, amusement dripping from every syllable.

The heroic quartet whirls to see Oogie Boogie, a squat creature that seems to have been made out of a stuffed burlap sack. Dark eyes gleam at the group, and in the smile they see there are no teeth, only wriggling pink worms. His arms end in soft points, and in one of them he holds the artificial heart.

“Give that back!” Sora demands, stepping forward with the Keyblade poised to strike. Behind him, Jack Skellington steps forward as well.

“What, this thing?” he mockingly asks, waving the heart around airily. “The instrument of my triumph, the tool I’ll use to take over this miserable town and then give that uppity witch what for? This heart?”

“Uppity witch…” Telary mumbles to himself, a thought forming in his brain. “Maleficent! You’re in league with Maleficent!”

“Scum of a feather,” Azlyn chimes in, scowling threateningly at the burlap bandit.

“I might be ‘in league’ with that nasty sorceress right now, but with this heart…” With all possible haste, Oogie stuffs the heart directly down his gullet in a single gulp. The heroes gasp at the sight. “With this heart, I’ll leave her in the dust! Or, should I say Darkness. Oh, HEARTLESS!”

The trio take a step back in unison, eyes darting round, awaiting the inevitable flood of Heartless. For a few seconds, nothing comes.

Then, swooping done from the sky to float at the shoulders of their dark master come two Gargoyles.

It’s not very impressive, and definitely not what the boogeyman had in mind. He looks at his “army” in bewilderment and pure disgust.

“What the hell gives?” he cries out in anguish, rage lacing every word. So caught up is he in anger and frustration, he fails to notice Jack and Sora rush him.

Luckily for him the Heartless do, flying forward to take the heart of the Keybearer. It’s quick work for Sora to slash them both through, but by then Oogie has regained his senses. With a scowl, he throws down a pair of dice and takes off.

The dice explode as they hit the ground, and Sora rears back to avoid the flames. Jack, however, makes no move to stop, rushing through the flames and out the other side without losing a step, his suit aflame.

Oogie takes a worried glance over his shoulder, and his terror at seeing the charging Pumpkin King distracts him, leaving him unable to see the bathtub scurrying past his feet. He trips and goes down, hard.

Jack Skellington stops on a dime, hovering above his rival wreathed in flames, so far spread now that even his eye sockets are full of fire. Looking up at that sight, Oogie Boogie knows true terror.

Without a word, the Pumpkin King slices his sharp finger through burlap skin, unleashing a tide of multicolored bugs, all crawling over each other to escape.

“N-n-no!” Oogie cries out in despair as h slowly deflates. “This wasn’t, this isn’t… It can’t end now, it just can’t. I… I…” The last bug flees his carcass, and Oogie Boogie is no more.

Jack inspects the remains, but the artificial heart is as gone as Oogie.

“Well that wasn’t hard,” Azlyn says, grinning. “I mean, usually there’s some kind of big giant, y’know, thing that we have to…”

At that moment the ground begins to shake and quake, the enormous manor swaying from one side to the other. Darkness spreads across it, until all of the structure is covered in it.

For a moment, all is still.

And then the darkness rises, oozing its way back up the manor in reverse, until it all gathers into an orb at the top. Parts of the manor’s wood have been replaced with swathes of fabric, the same burlap Oogie had inhabited only a minute ago.

“Okay, I spoke too soon,” Azlyn admits to herself.

“What’s going on?” Jack asks Sora, who merely shakes his head, as confused as anyone.

“I think we need to destroy that orb, though,” he says, pointing up at it. “Look!”

A great burst of Darkness erupts from the orb, fading out until it becomes a cloud of Shadows with tiny wings. Sensing the power of the Keyblade, they fly for the group in a swarm.

“C’mon!” Sora cries, jumping up and grabbing the edge of the manor, pulling himself up. “We’ve got to get to the top!”

The others follow his lead, keeping an eye on the flying Shadows baring down on them. They dive, but Telary raises his staff and lets loose a fireball that consumes half the swarm. The other half Sora uses a thunder spell on, consigning the creatures to oblivion.

They climb and climb until they reach the top, the orb of Darkness as tall as Jack, giving off continuous sparks of dark energy.

“What should we do?” Azlyn asks.

“Destroy it,” instructs a wispy voice. There’s a sudden gust of wind, and when it settles, the specter of Oogie Boogie floats before the group, looking at them with pleading terror. “The Darkness… Inside me… Set me free, please! I-I’m scared…”

Sora nods, extending the Keyblade. Light gathers at its tip and shoots into the Darkness, erupting in a white light that expands to consume its dark energy. In moments, the orb is gone.

“Thank you,” Oogie’s shade says with a voice of pure relief. “Thank you, for setting me free.”

The group looks at the spot where the ghost had faded for a moment, until suddenly the manor begins to shake once again, the preliminary stages of collapsing in on itself Telary posits.

With another Feather Fall, the party jumps to the safety of the hill, landing just in time to watch the manor utterly implode.

“What happened to that Boogie guy?” Azlyn asks.

“The Darkness consumed him, I guess,” Telary explains, as best as he knows how. “In the end, he didn’t control the Heartless, they controlled him.”

“Like Clayton,” Sora says. Telary nods at him.

“So, this is where it leads, huh?” Jack says, sounding as numb and hollowed out as dead, dry bones. “Using the Heartless is nothing but trouble. I realize that now. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.”

Behind the group there’s the sound of leaves rustling, and Sora turns to see Lock, Shock, and Barrel fleeing into the underbrush. It seems they’ve learned their lesson too.

The walk back to Moonlight Hill takes longer without the secret passage, but eventually the party reaches it. Telary takes a minute to marvel at its odd natural formation.

“I mean, this kind of thing doesn’t just occur in nature,” he says, inspecting every inch. “I mean, this had to have been made by… something.”

Sora barely takes notice of the mage’s words, stopping to stare at the moon shining perfectly through the hole in the middle of the curly cue, directly to the spot below his feet, where a small headstone sits.

A headstone with the shape of a keyhole on its face.

Sora summons his blade and steps back. Light gathers at its tip and shoots into the headstone. There’s a flash of light, and suddenly the Keyhole is gone, replaced by the letters R.I.P.

Rest In Peace. Now, Halloween Town and its citizens can.

 

[KingdomKey]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

That certainly didn't take real long. I love how Azlyn was a lightning rod in this chapter, because it was funny to imagine in my head. Of course, it's a nice touch to add the part of Oogie Boogie being frighten after being consumed by the heartless/darkness as a shade and being set free by Sora. Well, looks like their job here is done until the move onto the next world. Another great chapter.

 

[TelaryCri]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Chapter XXVI: Last Dance​

With a single downward chop of the Keyblade, Sora slices through Dr. Finkelstein’s research subject, the last Heartless in Halloween Town. He grins, glad to have ended the threat before the forces of Darkness could disrupt the strange merriment of this unique world.

Jack isn’t so sanguine, however, sitting at the edge of the slab with his skull held in his hands. Sally stands beside him with a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Please Jack, you’ve got to perk up!” the patchwork girl encourages him. “There’s not much time left until Halloween, and there’s still a festival to be planned!”

The Pumpkin King sighs, looking up at the girl with sad eye-sockets. “Oh, how can I plan another festival now? My last plan nearly got everyone in town killed! I could have ended Halloween itself! Oh, why didn’t I listen to you, Sally?”

“Or me,” Azlyn mutters to Sora and Telary. The mage rolls his eyes at her, and Sora shakes his head.

“I forgive you, Jack,” Sally says, bringing some hope back to the skeleton man’s face. She shakes her head and chuckles. “I know how you can be, how your enthusiasm leads you to make reckless choices.” She bends down to look him in the sockets. “But it’s also what makes your successful Halloweens so great. You can’t lose all that now, just because of one little mistake. In fact, we’re going to need that enthusiasm more than ever!”

Jack smiles, perking up in a flash. “Thank you Sally. You always know just how to make me feel better!”

“Oh, Jack!” The patchwork girl smiles and looks away, a recognizable tinge of red coloring her cheeks.

“I just don’t understand it,” Dr. Finkelstein sighs from his work desk, where he’s been frustratedly pouring over his research notes. “I had emotions, I had memory, I put everything I needed into that heart and the confounded thing never worked! It’s inconceivable!”

Sora frowns and looks at the doctor inquisitively. “But, Doctor, you told us you made Sally.” He gestures to the slab, where Jack and Sally are giving each other soulful looks, seemingly lost in their own world. “And if I had to guess, I’d say she has a heart. Why didn’t you just make this heart the way you did Sally’s?”

The Doctor frowns and grazes his chin, then unhinges his cranium and gives his brain a good scratch. It’s still as gross as it was before. “It’s the damndest thing, but do you know I never gave Sally a heart? When I first created her, she was just a soulless automaton, did all my bidding without question. Over time, time with Jack, it seemed she developed a heart of her own. One week she’s a useful servant, the next she’s a flighty girl who thinks she knows better than her creator!”

“I think the lesson here,” Telary posits sagely, “is that when it comes to the heart, you can’t rush things. You’ve just got to let it develop over time.”

“Actually,” Azlyn chimes in, looking smugly amused, “I think the lesson is ‘Don’t use creatures of pure Darkness as performers in musical entertainment’, personally.”

Everyone has a good chuckle at that.

“Sora, Azlyn, Telary,” Jack says, extricating himself from Sally’s gaze and standing before the trio, “I want to thank you for saving Halloween Town’s citizens, and helping me come to my senses.” His grin grows more pronounced. “And, I’d like to invite you all on as official members of the Halloween Planning Committee, to help generate new ideas for Halloween. I’d really appreciate your help. Especially you, Azlyn!”

Sora looks bewildered at that. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, isn’t it obvious?” Jack exclaims, putting a bony hand on the knight’s shoulder. She gives it a sneer and he removes it quickly. “The way she moves, how she fights, her feats of acrobatics! C’mon now, I can always recognize a trained dancer when I see one!”

Sora gives the knight a look of pure delight, and Telary smiles softly at her as well. Azlyn looks away, blushing.

“You took dance classes?” Sora guffaws. “What, were you like some kind of ballerina? Did you wear a tutu? Oh, man, this is hilarious!”

The girl scowls at him, but there’s not much malice behind it. In a way, she’s relieved that this is out in the open. “Well, when I turned nine, I told the King that I wanted to start fighting lessons, that I wanted to be a Royal Guard. He said he’d do his best, but there weren’t actually any fighting classes, not even for boys, so I signed up for dance instead. Purely as a tool of combat, you understand. But, it turned out to not be so bad.” She puffs up proudly. “I happen to have several medals for it, if you must know!”

Sora smiles at her teasingly. “Well, why don’t you give us a little demonstration?”

“Would you please?” Jack pleads, clasping his hands together in prayer. “I’d love to incorporate some more professional moves.”

Azlyn sighs, but nods her assent. The group heads out into town square, where a few monsters are milling around. Including, luckily, the singing vampires.

Jack explains the situation to them and they all pull out stringed instruments and begin to play. Azlyn takes position in a clear area, and when the music kicks in, she begins to dance.

She whirls and twirls, pirouetting across the square as graceful as a gazelle, every movement perfectly in time to the beat.

Sora smiles as he watches the display, and thinks of Kairi. Truth be told, Sora has had some dance lessons himself. He and Kairi were eight and the girl had been insistent. Never one to say no to his friend, Sora had agreed to enroll with her. It had only lasted a month, until Riku found out and used it as ammo for merciless teasing, but the Keybearer still remembers every lesson, especially the dances he was partnered with Kairi for.

He pictures it now, the two of them dancing together, not as eight year olds, but as they are now. It brings a tear to his eye, which he quickly and self-consciously wipes away.

Jack has no such qualms, letting the tears dribble from his sockets unchecked as he watches the magnificent performance.

And Telary watches his counterpart as well. He’s seen her do this before, had been at every recital to support her when he was younger, but it’s been years since the knight has danced publically. Her form is different now, more graceful and elegant than it had been during her younger years.

It’s beautiful.

After several minutes the music fades and Azlyn stops, arms raised and feet pointed. The entire square erupts in joyous applause.

No one claps louder than Sora and Telary, though.

The girl gives a gracious bow, then a deep curtsy. Applause still ringing out in the square, she approaches her companions and Jack.

“Ta da,” she says, no emotion apparent in her voice. In her heart though, she’s glad to have had another chance to wow a crowd with her skills, like she hasn’t in years. It reminds her of what it’s like to truly be a child again.

“Simply wonderful,” Jack gushes, wiping away tears from his skeletal face. “You all simply must stay and help plan Halloween!”

Sora frowns at the Pumpkin King. “I wish we could, but there are things we’ve got to do. Y’know, other holidays to save!”

Jack nods amiably, leaning down into a bow so low his forehead touches the pavement. He rises again and gives the trio a grin. “Until next time.”

“Next time,” Sora agrees with a nod. With another wave, he turns and walks for the town’s exit. As he goes, the citizens applaud once more for the conquering heroes. Their saviors.

“Now this is more like it,” Azlyn comments. “Not a rotten fruit in sight.”

Jack watches them go, thinking on Sora’s last words. He scratches his bony chin, contemplating. “Other holidays? Hm…”

 

[KingdomKey]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Sora, you're not suppose to plant the seed into Jack's head of 'other holiday's. lol. I forgot all about Sora reminiscing about Kairi like that. I still can't help but to bring myself to wonder where Telary and Azlyn are from at the back of my head. Of course, this feels a lot like playing the game KH as I read this, because a lot of it is accurate and loyal to the game. Which I applaud you for, TelaryCri.

 

[TelaryCri]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Thanks so much, KitKat, my goal is to be loyal to the game itself. (Except in areas where I think the story could do with a little expansion, of course.)

 

[TelaryCri]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Chapter XXVII: Zero to Hero, pt. 1​

Jiminy Cricket sits on a table in the Gummi ship’s common room, doing some proofreading and necessary edits to his journal entry on the underwater world of Atlantica. He hums softly as he works, his tiny pen moving deftly across the page. Distantly, he hears the sound of the trio returning, climbing up from the ladder below.

“Hey, Jiminy!” Sora greets the chronicler, sounding cheerful as his footsteps make their way across the floor. “We saved a world and didn’t die!”

The cricket smiles, putting his pen down and turning around. “That’s nice Sora. Just let me finish up some edits on this last section, and I’ll… AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

Jiminy jumps at least three feet in the air before landing and huddling in a fetal position. He doesn’t know who that pointy-teethed freak or his monstrous companions are, or what they’ve done with Sora, Azlyn, and Telary, but…

“Oh,” Sora mutters, looking down and realizing that he’s still in his vampiric Halloween costume. He looks back and sees the still spooky forms of Telary the mummy and FrankenAzlyn. “I guess I forgot that we still look scary.”

“Ah, yes,” Telary chuckles nervously, drawing his staff and waving it around. Light gathers on its tip as he prepares a spell.
There’s a flash, and when it fades the trio are once again in their normal travelling outfits.

Jiminy peeks out and sees that the threat has passed, and it’s just Sora, Azlyn, and Telary standing before him.

“Sorry about that, Jim,” Sora apologizes, scratching the back of his neck timidly. “That last world was, uh, different.”

“Weird,” Azlyn mutters, walking over to the table and pulling out a chair. She flops down into it, looking tired.

“Spooky,” Telary admits, shuddering a bit at the thought of Halloween Town’s eerie denizens.

Jiminy shakes his head to clear it. “Well, I can’t wait to hear about it. Oh, and by the way, somebody came along and dropped something off.”

Sora raises an eyebrow. “Who?”

Jiminy shakes his head at the memory of the visitor. “Some blue fella in a toga. Had wings on his feet. Oh, what was his name again? He was kinda annoying…”

“Hermes?” Azlyn suggests, pretty sure that physical description could only be applied to the messenger of the gods and Olympus Coliseum’s announcer.

Jiminy snaps his fingers. “Yes, that was it exactly! He dropped something off for you. Some papers or something, looked kinda like tickets? Anyway, I put it in the cockpit…”

The trio dash off before Jiminy can finish his thought, all headed for the ladder to the cockpit. There’s a brief shoving match when Sora and Azlyn arrive at the same time, but momentarily the Keybearer pushes past the knight and climbs up.

Sitting on the dashboard is a small piece of paper. Sora snatches it up and reads it aloud.

“The Olympus Coliseum is once again open for business, after being damaged heavily in an attack by Cerberus, three-headed guard dog of the Underworld, who was handily defeated by Hercules, son of Zeus, and accomplices…”

“Accomplices?” Azlyn scoffs, perturbed. “That’s a load of…”

“Proudly announces the 1^st Annual Hercules Cup! A test of strength and skill by the world’s mightiest heroes, with a special prize match available for the champion!” Sora puts down the flier and picks up the three scraps of cardstock next to it, all of which declare themselves Hercules Cup Tournament Passes.

“Wow…” Sora breathes out as he looks over the passes in his hands. “Finally, another tournament, and a chance to get out of the junior hero leagues!”

“Provided we all keep our pants on this time,” Azlyn slyly comments to Telary, who blushes and looks away.

“And what about this special match for the winner, eh?” Sora says, stars in his eyes as he imagines. “I’ll bet anything it’s a chance to go up against Hercules! That would be so cool!”

“Minus all the punched we’d get,” Telary says cautiously, grimacing at the thought of the demigod’s bulging biceps powering his fist in a collision against his face.

“And it says there’s prize munny,” Azlyn adds with glee. “Forty-five thousand! Sounds like a sweet deal to me!”
Sora turns to Telary to tell him to prep the ship, but finds that the mage still looks nervous.

“C’mon, Tel,” Sora pleads, activating puppy dog eyes once again. “It’ll be fun…”

The mage sighs and drops into the pilot’s seat, beginning the ship’s power up sequence. “Well, I guess if you two would have a good time. And, y’know, we didn’t find the Keyhole last time we were there, so…” There’s a rumble as the Gummi ship’s engines start up. “Why not?”

Within five minutes, the ship has left Halloween Town’s atmosphere. Telary inputs the coordinates to Olympus and pulls the lever, sending the trio on their way to battle for glory.

KH-KH-KH

Hercules immediately greets the trio upon arrival to the coliseum, looking over them all hospitably.

“Sora, Azlyn, and Telary!” he says with a huge grin on his face. The demigod casually reaches out to smack Telary on the shoulder in a friendly manner. The mage stumbles back from the sheer force of it. “You guys gonna compete in the games today?”

Sora smiles up at the True Hero and nods enthusiastically. “And we’re gonna win ‘em too!” he says with no lack of confidence. “Especially if what I think about that bonus match for the winner is true.” At the Keybearer’s side, Azlyn looks smugly up at Herc.

“Maybe it is,” Hercules chuckles in reply, with a sly wink at the pair, “maybe it isn’t. You’ll just have to wait for the tournament’s end to see!”

They enter the lobby to see Phil standing in the middle of it on a pedestal, one of the game’s programs curled up in his hands as a makeshift megaphone.

“What do you mean, you can’t move it?” the old satyr roars at a pair of burly workmen struggling to lift the massive block against the right wall. “I hired you specifically because you said you could… Hey, kids!”

Forgetting all about his administrative troubles, Phil hops down and struts up to the trio and Hercules on his goat legs, a big smile across his face.

“Well, if it ain’t the junior heroes. Back for some more punishment?” he teases slyly, looking over the three of them appraisingly. “There’s somethin’ different about the three of you, I know it! Just can’t put my foot on it…”

“Something True Hero-y?” Azlyn asks hopefully. She and Sora lean in and smile down at the trainer.

Phil merely laughs, shaking his head as he amusedly chuckles. The pair’s smiles turn to frowns. “No, you ain’t there yet, kids. Not even close! But, maybe with some more training…”

Azlyn sighs. “Are you gonna make us fight barrels again?”

Phil smiles up at her slyly. “Hey, Rule number six: When you got a method that works, ya don’t go changin’ it! Now c’mon, we ain’t got much time!”

Despite exchanging exasperated eye rolls with Sora, the knight follows Phil out to the practice area, the boys falling in line behind her.

KH-KH-KH

Images of Sora, Azlyn, and Telary play in real time through a large circle of flame in the lord of the Underworld’s private office, showing the trio deftly defeat course after course of barrel challenges.

Hades pays attention for maybe a minute, but soon his attention drifts back to the list in his hand of warriors he could hire to defeat Hercules. It’s pretty disappointing, in his eyes.

“Bubba Fat?” he reads aloud skeptically to his minions Pain and Panic, who cringe at the sound of disappointment in their short-tempered boss’s voice. “What kinda bounty hunter is named Bubba Fat?”

“Um, actually, your Excellence Lord Hades sir, the name is Boba Fett,” Panic, a thin green creature who exists in a constant state of twitchy terror, corrects gently.

“He’s the best in the universe, we heard,” Pain, a squat, round pink imp, chimes in defensively, hoping that he won’t have to live up to his name today.

Hades rolls his eyes. “Yeah, right. There still seems to be something wrong with him. Like he doesn’t belong, y’know?” The god continues to peruse down the page, passing uninteresting sounding name after uninteresting sounding name. Absolutely none of the candidates stick out to him.

He sighs deeply, settling further back into his throne. Why does it always seem like the entire universe is getting together to conspire against him? That it could be retribution for himself conspiring against the universe never even crosses his mind.

There’s a sudden and noticeable surge through the god’s body, the same he gets when anyone who doesn’t belong in his turf comes to call. There’s someone in the Underworld who isn’t dead.

Not a moment later, Maleficent sweeps in through the door. She stops, eyeing the room with barely concealed disdain.

Hades rolls his eyes. “Yeah, like you’re one to comment on interior decorating, Miss ‘dilapidated castle ruins in a half-dead world.’ Sheesh!”

The witch’s glare at the general room focuses specifically onto Hades, so intense and full of evil that it chills even him.

“Why do you persist in wasting your time in attempts to have some ‘champion’ of yours defeat Hercules?” Maleficent asks, one eyebrow raised archly at her compatriot. “Time better spent searching for this world’s Keyhole. If the Heartless were to unmake that wretched Coliseum, would not your foe stand just as vanquished?”

Hades sighs and gives his eyes a rub. It’s a crying shame, the kind of crap he has to put up with.

“Look, okay, I’ll level with ya, Mal,” Hades says acquiescingly, as much as he knows how. “I’m gonna assume you’ve never had a nemesis you hate with such fervor you dream about his death. I mean, I know that key brat is throwin’ a wrench in your universal destruction or domination or whatever bit, but I can tell that you don’t hate him.” The lord of the Underworld takes a big breath. “Well, sister, it’s different between me and Wonder Boy, okay? I’ve been plotting this kid’s downfall since he was in diapers, and every time his demise has eluded me. I want to see him suffer, I want to see him bleed. So excuse me if my direct approach is an inconvenience to you. Newsflash, I don’t care!”

The jade-skinned woman sneers at him, green flames playing around the edge of her cloak as her ire rises. “Well, if your own personal agenda is more important to you than our group’s plans, then perhaps…”

“Ha!” Hades bursts out laughing, clutching his stomach as he doubles over in his throne from all the mirth. “W-what group, lady? That Keyblade moron and his idiot friends have all but wasted your little evil pep band, one by one. And believe me, I know. They all end up here!” He shakes his head.

Maleficent shrugs, not looking away for one second. She isn’t shy, Hades will give her that. “Acceptable losses all. In no time at all, we will have the last two Princesses of Heart in our possession, and then…”

“Yeah, yeah, complete the Keyhole, flood of Darkness, rule all, blah blah blah.” Hades rolls his eyes. “And if all those guys were just expendable anyway then, hey, what’s one less cook in the kitchen, huh?”

Maleficent’s anger builds, the green flames surrounding her whole body, her eyes turning cold and near reptilian. “You would dare defy me? Spurn my offer to rule all worlds?”

Hades stands up and steps forward directly into the flames of the witch’s anger. It’s almost sad that she thinks a bunch of fire, no matter what color, will scare a guy whose hair is made of the stuff.

“Yep.”

With a primal scream of animal rage, the fire gathers in on Maleficent and explodes outward. Hades shields his face from its light with his hands, and when he moves them, the witch is gone.

“Wha a temper, eh?” Hades says over his shoulder to Pain and Panic, who slowly emerge from where they’d been cowering, behind the god’s throne. Both of the little imps’ bodies are haphazardly burned and blackened with soot. Hades strides coolly back to his chair and rests his immortal rump upon its seat once more. “Seriously, and I thought I could get steamed! Still…”

He waves his hands over the ring of fire, turning the image of the Keybearer finishing up his practice course into one of Hercules lifting weights in a gym.

“All this talk of going solo has given me an idea. And y’know, it just might be crazy enough to work!”

KH-KH-KH

Sora skids to a stop in front of Phil, Azlyn, and Telary, who have all assembled to watch the Keyblade wielder complete his last, most difficult practice course. Telary offers him a water bottle, and he eagerly accepts.

“Not bad at all, kid,” Phil congratulates the boy, sounding as nonchalant as can be. “Maybe not tournament winning good, but you’ve got a certain something, I’ll say that much!”

Sora scoffs at the satyr’s suggestion. “C’mon, Phil. I bet I could win this tournament single-handed! In fact, I think I may just enter all by myself!”

“Fine by me,” Telary chimes in agreeably, laying down on a nearby bench, still exhausted from his own course.

“And make me miss out on all the fun?” Azlyn scoffs, stepping up to the Keybearer and giving him a stern look in the eye. “Please, there’s no way I’m just gonna sit by when…”

“I’ll give you all the prize munny if I win,” Sora states, raising a deal-making eyebrow. For a moment he and the knight start each other down intently.

“Deal.” Azlyn scooches Telary over and takes a seat on the bench, right next to his head. The mage groans and moves to face the other way. “But if you don’t win, I still expect to get something from you.”

“Well, nobody is gonna win if we don’t hightail it on over to the opening ceremonies!” Phil yells, clapping his hands together to motivate the group. Sora falls in line behind the satyr immediately, while Azlyn helps Telary to his feet. After a few seconds leaning on her to get his senses right, the pair follow after Sora towards the arena exit.

As they walk through the corridors of the coliseum’s interior, Sora glances around at the other competitors. They’re a diverse lot, everything from hulking warriors to shorter, wiry competitors whose advantage must lie more in speed and skill. Some aren’t even human, like a trio of tough-looking lizard men all in various hues. One of them, his skin a light green color, catches Sora looking and sneers at him contemptuously. The Keybearer looks away quickly.

“Hey, Sora!” Telary calls to the younger boy to get his attention. He’s pointing at something off to the right. “Look, it’s Cloud!”

Sora follows the mage’s finger to see that Cloud is indeed in the corridor, leaning back against one wall with his arms crossed, his large sword sheathed across his back.

“Cloud! Hey Cloud!” Sora yells enthusiastically in the blond warrior’s direction, jumping up and down and waving. “Cloud, it’s Sora! Over here!”

Cloud’s eyes move up from the ground over to the sound of the Keybearer’s voice, and when he sees the boy his mouth twitches in a miniscule half-grin.

“Hello, Sora,” he greets with a nod, his voice betraying only the slightest bit of pleasure.

“Are you gonna compete too?”

Another nod.

“Cool!” Sora exclaims, smiling broadly. “I guess we could have that rematch after all, huh? Man, that’s so cool!”

Cloud shrugs. “We’ll see how things play out.”

Phil eyes Cloud skeptically. “I’m goin’ out on a limb here and trusting that you ain’t gonna use this as an opportunity to waste my boy Herc again, so no funny business!”

Cloud fixes the satyr with a deadly serious look. “I’m not that man anymore. I’m in this for sheer competition.” He smirks a bit. “And hey, the prize munny wouldn’t be half bad either.”

“Honorable and fiscally minded?” Azlyn whispers to Telary, looking giddy. “You better be ready to catch me, Tel, ‘cause I’m thinking I might swoon!” Telary rolls his eyes and chuckles at his counterpart’s antics.

“Well, I’ll be watching your matches!” Sora promises. “Hope I’ll see you in the ring!”

“Me too,” Cloud says with a little nod.

---

Thing I love: easter eggs and cameos. Things Kingdom Hearts is built on: easter eggs and cameos. It's a match made in heaven, honestly.

 

[KingdomKey]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

This chapter was out of the park amazing. Oh my gosh, you mentioned somebody from freaking Star Wars! I'm over the moon right now. And hot damn, Hades wasn't taking any of that crap from Maleficent either. I want to high five you so dang much, TelaryCri, because Hades is my man. Like oh my god, the way he handled her like a boss was freaking nice. I'm also greatly amused by Azlyn again, because I know what it's like to swoon for a hunk of a man like Cloud. lol.

 

[TelaryCri]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Chapter XXVII: Zero to Hero, pt. 2
​

“Hello everyone!” Hermes greets the crowd vivaciously, flying through the air and doing deft spins, twists, and tricks.

“Welcome to the 1^st Annual Hercules Cup, and the first tournament since our little mishap at the seasonal prelims. But worry not, folks, nothing’s going wrong this time!”

Sora stands at the end of his competitor tunnel, awaiting the cue from Hermes to head out and kick off the tournament. He hears the announcer’s words, but only distantly, as the butterflies in his stomach seem to drown out most sounds.

He has no idea who he’s been matched up against, as the rosters are kept secret from competitors to discourage cheating. He knows there are no Heartless signed up for the tournament, at least, but he still can’t help but imagine heading out there only to be faced with some monstrous shadowy creature.

He admits to himself in his head that this preparation stage was certainly easier with Azlyn and Telary at his side. Even if the three of them hadn’t necessarily become friends yet back then, knowing that there’s someone who can watch your back is a powerfully comforting feeling.

He looks up and sees his companions in the stands, Azlyn rearing back to throw salted nuts into Telary’s open mouth. He shakes his head at the sight. It’s not the first time he’s watched the pair alone, acting casually playful with the ease of lifelong friends. It reminds him of what he has with Kairi and…

Riku. Perhaps in that case, he worries, the correct tense would be had…

“Come on down Sora!”

At the sound of his name, Sora shakes off his reverie and strides into the arena, giving every step as confident an air as he can manage. All around him the crowd cheers, an almost impenetrable wall of noise. There are a lot more spectators here now than had attended the previous cup. On the one hand, Sora can’t help but add that to his list of things to be nervous about, but also it seems to create a kind of energy feedback, pumping him up even more for the battle to come.

“And here to challenge our tenacious Keybearer,” Hermes announces with his usual aplomb, “are three brothers who put the AAAH in bangaa. They’re a truly cold-blooded trio, say hello to Ba’Gamnan and his Bangaa Bros!”

From the other side of the arena enter the three lizardmen Sora had seen in the corridor, lead out by the green one who had glared at him. All three are dressed similarly in baggy pants with leather straps against their chests, the only real difference between them being their coloration. One is a much darker, more mottled green than the leader, the other a deep purple.

And of course, the light green one has a large staff with a circular blade affixed to its top.

Hermes floats down to the leader, presumably Ba’Gamnan. “Hello, Mr. Ba’Gamnan, I’m afraid we haven’t seen you or your family around here before. Mind filling us in on your brothers’ names?”

Ba’Gamnan snorts so hard that it actually sounds painful to Sora. “The green idiot’s name is Gijuk, and the purple moron is Bwagi,” the bangaa confirms, his voice rough and grating with a bit of an untraceable accent.

“Remember the name!” Bwagi interrupts, earning a glare from Ba'Gamnan and an unpleasant elbow in the side from Gijuk.

“There you have it folks! It looks like it’s time to get this tournament started!” Hermes flies up over the arena as Sora and the bangaa take their places. All three of them scowl at the Keybearer, revealing sharp teeth,

The crowd quiets down gradually, until it’s so quiet it would be possible to hear a pin drop.

“Begin!”

A loud bell sounds and the bangaa stalk forward towards Sora, Ba'Gamnan unlimbering the bladed staff from his back as he moves. Light glints off of something in Bwagi’s hand, and further observation reveals it’s a dagger as long as Sora’s forearm.

Gijuk tires of waiting first, charging towards Sora with a loud bellow obviously designed for intimidation. It hardly fazes Sora.

As the fight begins, Sora sidestepping Gijuk’s clumsy charge and striking him across the back with the Keyblade, up in the stands Telary nervously munches handful after handful of salted nuts, chewing nervously.

“Gee, Telary!” Azlyn admonishes him with a frown. “Do ya mind keeping it down? I swear, there’s nothing more annoying than…”

“That warm-blooded lil whelp ain’t a match for my brothers!” a loud voice from a few rows to the left and down of Azlyn brags in a voice nearly as gravelly as the other bangaas’, but just a shade softer. Looking down that way, she spies another bangaa with light purple skin and long white hair, dressed in baggy pants and what seems to be a dark purple bikini top, though what she’s covering Azlyn has no desire to know. “Look at ‘im! I give him five minutes!”

“Okay,” Azlyn mutters darkly, narrowing her eyes at the disruptive lizard lady, “maybe there’s something more annoying…”

Back in the ring, Sora barely dodges an upward thrust from Bwagi’s dagger, then swipes down the Keyblade on the lizardman’s arm, drawing out a loud bellow of pain. Sensing advantage, he brings his elbow up into the scaly throat, then steps away as the bangaa begins to cough and choke.

At this point Gijuk attacks again, swinging down at Sora with his fists, one after the other as he advances. Sora retreats a
step with every swing, waiting for the right moment to strike back.

He doesn’t get it, as at that instant Ba'Gamnan comes in for his first attack of the fight, swinging the bladed circle atop his staff directly for Sora’s back. The boy hears the approach and steps away, but the blades still graze his shoulder, leaving a thin cut across his upper back. He pivots and raises the Keyblade to block another swing, but Gijuk takes the opportunity to smash into his side, sending him tumbling across the arena.

“Look at ‘im squirm!” the bangaa sister in the audience mocks, laughing uproariously and pointing to Sora, who has managed to stop his rolling but still isn’t up yet, even though Bwagi is heading for him with his dagger at the ready. “He ain’t nothin’!”

Telary looks at the ranting lizard girl with disdain, turning to Azlyn to discuss it. But when his head completes its turn, he finds that the knight is gone from her seat. Worried, he swivels back to see her approaching the purple bangaa down in the stands.

The mage nervously reaches for more nuts, only to find that his box is empty.

Bwagi runs at Sora, screaming, but the boy simply sits up and swings the Keyblade two-handed with all his might, connecting to the bangaa’s knee through his baggy pants. Bwagi howls and falls as a light begins to surround him. Before he can even hit the ground, Bwagi is back outside the arena, still clutching at his wounded knee.

“One down on the Bangaa Bros side, folks, one down!” As Hermes announces, another bout of cheering surges up from the crowd.

Which happens to be perfect cover for Azlyn, who launches herself at the loud bangaa lady’s backside.

The sounds of struggle outside the arena draws the attention of everyone in the coliseum, from Hermes above to the combatants in the ring.

“Rinok!” Ba'Gamnan cries out, sounding more exasperated than concerned.

The purple bangaa in question reaches behind her back and grabs Azlyn by the arms, lifting the knight up and slamming her down into a stone bench hard enough to crack it in half. Azlyn groans in pain, and Telary begins to frantically make his way towards her, only to trip against a stone bench and go sprawling into the aisle himself.

Down in the arena, the combatants are too riveted by events in the stands to continue the match.

“Ha!” Rinok sneers at Azlyn, who twitches slightly in pain. The bangaa bends down to stare her straight in the face. “It looks like yer little boyfriend ain’t gonna be the only… YAAAAARGH!”

Rinok rears back, still screaming as she clutches at the spot on her nose where Azlyn has just bitten her, blood running through her fingers.

“I’ll kill you, ya little humie freak!” she roars, descending upon the knight once again, only to get a face full of Blizzard as Telary finally reaches the area of the stands where the fight is taking place.

She stumbles back as the freezing effect of the spell takes hold, coating her entire torso and face in a layer of ice.
With a roar of triumph, Azlyn springs up and delivers a devastating punch, shattering ice and sending Rinok down for the count. Just in time for security to arrive, too.

The same burly guards who had thrown the knight out of the coliseum’s lobby but a few days ago grab her and Telary from behind, escorting them out of the arena.

“Ya see Sora!” the knight yells down into the arena, cackling and looking half-mad as she goes, bangaa blood still on her chin. “These lizard guys ain’t nothin’!”

Telary says nothing, merely looks ashamedly at the ground.

With the drama in the stands over, the trio of remaining fighters seem to regain their senses. Sora stands quickly as Gijuk charges again and Ba'Gamnan comes in from the side, the sawblade at the tip of his staff suddenly whirling and hissing as the bangaa charges Sora!

Thinking back to the confrontation in the stands, and idea sparks in Sora. He aims his Keyblade at the ground and concentrates.

“Blizzard!” he yells out, and in a flash of blue energy the ground beneath Gijuk’s feet turns icy. Too caught up in his attack to reverse momentum, the big bangaa slips and falls, sliding along the still icy ground on his butt. As he comes, Sora holds out the Keyblade parallel to the ground, and Gijuk slides into it facefirst. He yells in pain and clutches his nose as he teleports out of the arena.

It’s down to just Sora and Ba'Gamnan now. The pair circle each other, both too cautious to make the first move.

“I’m not surprised ya managed to handle me brothers, mammal,” the bangaa says mockingly. “Nor is it much of a surprise your lady handled ol’ Rinok. Dumb as posts, all of them!” He stops and activates the buzzing saw atop his staff. “Me, however, you’ll find a bit more challenging!”

Sora steps forward and swings the Keyblade down at Ba'Gamnan’s head, but the lizard is quick enough to intercept, the whirling sawblade spitting sparks at the point where it contacts against the Keyblade. The duel is on in earnest, Keyblade clashing against sawblade as the combatants each try to gain the advantage, deft footwork keeping them moving.

They clash that way for nearly two minutes, and Sora is beginning to feel the strain in his arms as the fight continues. He realizes that he needs to find an opening or other advantage, and quickly, before his fatigue causes him to make a mistake…

But Ba'Gamnan makes one first, telegraphing his lunge forward an obvious attempt to get below Sora’s guard. The Keybearer sees it coming, though, sidestepping and bringing his elbow into the bangaa’s face.

Ba'Gamnan stumbles back, and Sora surges forward, landing a trio of powerful blows into his opponent’s chest. Ba’Gamnan staggers, and when Sora swipes another blow directly into his midsection, it’s too much for the lizardman, and he falls to the ground before teleporting away.

The crowd cheers for Sora’s victory. Looking up at his now adoring public, the Keybearer beams.

KH-KH-KH

“You two are lucky I don’t just go ahead and ban ya for the rest of yer lives!” Phil rages at Azlyn and Telary, standing deep in the corridor where no one will hear. “Fighting in the stands! I tell ya that’s the first time anybody’s pulled a stunt like that, but you can bet it’ll be the last!”

Telary looks ashamed, of course, but Azlyn just stands with her arms crossed and shrugs. “That lizard lady had it coming,” she defends, sounding absolutely nonplussed about the whole affair, even a little offended. “She was disrupting my coliseum experience.”

“You disrupted her face!”

Another shrug. “And I’ll bet you she won’t go shooting her mouth off in a crowded arena ever again!”

Phil prepares another tirade, but the sound of footsteps coming cuts him off. The satyr turns to see Sora walking through the tunnel, a great big smile on his face.

“What’s going on, guys?” he asks, the smile becoming more of a smirk. “See any good fights lately?”

“So you won, eh?” Phil asks, though he can already tell the answer.

Sora nods.

“Congratulations Sora!” Telary says, stepping up to clap the Keybearer on the shoulder.

“Seems like we got the whole family, between the three of us!” Azlyn chimes in, exchanging smiles with the conquering hero.

“I saw you take down that purple guy,” Sora says.

“It was a girl actually,” Azlyn corrects. “I’m pretty sure, anyway.”

“Well, that may be one down, but you ain’t outta the woods yet,” Phil cautions, placing a hand on Sora’s knee. “There’s still quite a bit of a ways to go! Lotta guys much tougher than some bangaa.”

KH-KH-KH

Phil’s warning turns out true enough, and Sora faces three more rounds of intense challenge against obviously well-trained warriors. In the end however, they can’t stand up to the power of the Keyblade and its wielder.

As for Azlyn and Telary, they manage to negotiate a deal with Phil to stay in the arena to watch Sora compete. They just have to sit together on the eliminated competitors’ bench just outside the arena. Telary chows down more salted nuts to deal with his nerves, and Azlyn grows more annoyed by the box.

Finally, despite the odds stacked against him and the powerful opponents he faces, Sora finds himself in the final match of the day, and up against a challenger that gives even him pause: Cloud!

“Sora,” the blonde warrior whispers to Sora, so quietly the boy almost doesn’t hear him over the sound of the crowd and Hermes’ grandiose posturing.

“Yeah, Cloud?”

The man extends his fist. After staring at it for a few seconds, surprised at even the slightest display of affection, Sora bumps his own knuckles against it. As Cloud draws his hand away, Sora swears he can see a hint of a smile. “Good luck, kid.”

“You too!”

Off to the side, Telary finishes his box of treats. With no other way to physically manifest his nerves, he takes a deep, calming breath.

“Would you relax?” Azlyn grumbles at him, swinging her feet idly as she waits out the wing-footed announcer’s over-the-top diatribe. “This is a real arena match, Tel. No dark powers involved, just like Sora wanted. The worst thing that could happen is some bruising.” She stops, looking at Cloud and lightly licking her lips. Telary notices, but doesn’t comment. “Or maybe they could, like, accidentally slice each other’s shirts off. Then maybe wrestle and roll around a little. If only I could get some oil…”

“So, let’s get things started!” Hermes shouts with great fanfare. “And… BEGIN!”

Cloud makes the first move, charging at Sora sword tip first, screaming as an intimidation tactic.

Sora sidesteps, then is forced to do so again almost immediately when Cloud tries the same strategy. He attacks the blond warrior’s back, getting in a hit before Cloud whirls on him, striking out with a fist that luckily Sora manages to mostly dodge, the leather of his opponent’s glove only grazing against his cheek.

The Keybearer stumbles back, only barely getting his senses together in time to block a swing of Cloud’s enormous sword. The warrior puts his full weight behind it, and Sora’s feet actually slide a few centimeters back against the stone ground.

“C’mon Sora, you can do better than that!” Azlyn yells somewhat encouragingly from the sidelines. “You’ve fought monsters that would make this guy wet his pants!” More to herself, she adds, “His tight, tight pants.”

Grunting with the effort, Sora turns aside Cloud’s blade, takes a step back, and stabs the Keyblade forward, right into his opponent’s right pectoral. The blunt end of the weapon doesn’t cut, but the hit has enough force behind it to send Cloud’s primary sword hand into a fit of pins and needles.

Realizing that he has lost advantage, Cloud backs up. Taking this as a sign of weakness, Sora moves in with a swing that hits Cloud in the thigh, then again in the shoulder with the backswing.

Cloud kicks, but Sora takes a step back to minimize the impact, and ends up sliding only a few feet backwards.

Cloud charges again, but Sora rolls aside and springs up in enough time to knock the man in the side with a flurry of Keyblade hits. He goes to one knee, grunting in pain.

Sora steps forward confidently, laying his Keyblade against the back of Cloud’s neck.

“Had enough?” Sora asks with a bit of cockiness. Cloud looks back at him and smirks.

“Y’know, I think I have,” he says, only a hint of amusement in his usual deadpan tone. He rises and Sora let the Keyblade slide off his back. Cloud turns to the crowd. “I yield to Sora. He beat me. Fair and square.”

“No dark powers involved?” Sora quips with a wink.

Cloud actually smiles. “None at all.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, it seems we have a champion!” Hermes calls out exuberantly, drawing a frenzy of joyous noise from spectators on both sides of the arena. He hovers down to Sora, grabs to boy’s wrist and holds it up into the air. “Say hello to the winner of the 1^st Annual Hercules Cup: Sora!”

The Keybearer feels the rush of the crowd, the roar of their congratulations. Hermes lets go of his wrist but he keeps it up, raising his other fist over his head and pumping his arms victoriously. He actually did it, all by himself!

There’s a flash as the shield around the fighting area drops, and Telary and Azlyn charge in, both of them practically jumping on Sora as they reach him, yelling exuberant congratulations so loud and close it actually hurts his ears.

“I expect that munny by the end of the day,” Azlyn whispers in his ear. Sora rolls his eyes, but his smile grows even wider.

---

Obviously this one goes out to the FFXII fans.

 

[KingdomKey]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Wow, this was quite the chapter. I love Hermes being the announcer, because it's quite entertaining. And Azlyn, oh you naughty girl with a wicked mind. lol. I like the way she thinks. And I'm really proud of Sora for kicking butt, and for coming up with a clever way to beat Cloud in his fight. Otherwise, I don't really know what a bangaa happens to be unless it's a heartless? Furthermore, I enjoyed this chapter a lot!

 

[TelaryCri]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Chapter XXVII: Zero to Hero, pt. 3
​

Only a half hour later, just as the sun is beginning to set over the coliseum, Sora is right back in the arena, though this time instead of Cloud, he finds himself facing off against Hercules, superstrong demigod and the world’s greatest hero. The crowd is cheering louder than ever, though this time the support seems to be a bit more one-sided, and Sora knows that side isn’t his.

“If you want me to go easy on you, Sora, just say the word,” Hercules whispers to him with a sly wink as he waves to his adoring crowd. “I won’t take a fall or anything, but if you need me to hold back a little…”

Sora shakes his head fiercely. “No way, Herc. If I’m gonna beat you, which I will, then I want it all to be fair and square.”

“I had hoped you’d say that,” Hercules says with an air of admiration as the pleasantries of Hermes’ introduction end and both fighters take their starter positions. “This is gonna be fun, Sora!”

Hidden in the shadows of the corridor, Hades smiles. “True that, wonder breath. This is gonna be very fun indeed!”

Hermes calls the match to a start, and the competitors begin to square off. On the sidelines, Azlyn notices that Telary doesn’t look as nervous as he did during the regular tournament.

“You okay?” she asks her counterpart, cocking her head worriedly. “You don’t seem so…”

Telary shrugs, eyes still fixed on the arena, where Sora and Hercules have begun to exchange blow and counterblow. “Those ruffians in the regular rounds I didn’t know. I was worried one of them might have less-than-noble intentions, or be on a bad guy’s payroll.”

“Even Cloud?” Azlyn asks, looking slightly up over Telary’s head.

Telary scoffs and crosses his arms archly. “Oh, yes! I know he seemed all redeemed and good and noble and regretful and all that stuff, but I still think that… He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”

“Well…”

Telary turns and begins a series of babbling apologies and explanations, only to realize that there is in fact no one behind him. He whips back to his counterpart, who is doubled over with raucous laughter.

“Oh man, the look on your face!” she cackles, clutching her sides. “That was priceless Telary, seriously!”

The mage looks away, his cheeks burning an embarrassed red.

In the arena proper, Sora’s cheeks burn as well, but more out of a sense of pure fatigue than any embarrassment. True, plenty of water and rest between matches, plus a few potions, have kept him in as top shape as possible through the course of the games, but even still the tiredness of constant fighting, all by himself no less, is beginning to wear him down.

He dodges a pair of punches from Hercules, but when he offers a retaliatory swipe of the Keyblade back, the demigod bounds back on his heels to dodge. So far the match has been mostly like that, a constant play of move and countermove that never seems to lead anywhere for either combatant.

Three minutes pass, then four, and suddenly both Sora and Hercules are slowing noticeably, attacks getting sloppier and sloppier on both sides.

This is the moment when Hades strikes.

An explosion of white hot flame suddenly bursts in the middle of Sora and Hercules, the heat and power of it driving them both back.

Everyone in the stands gasps as the flames fade to reveal Hades, Lord of the Underworld.

“Oh man, am I late!” Hades says, looking around at the terrified coliseum patrons with a smug, sardonic smile. “I tell ya, traffic was brutal guys, really it was.” He looks from Sora to Hercules, both stunned by the villain’s sudden interruption. “Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute! Am I interrupting something? Oh dear!”

“Get outta here, Hades!” Phil roars from the sidelines, shaking his fist menacingly. “There ain’t no room fer the likes’a you in my coliseum!”

Incredibly, the dark god finds it in him to look hurt by the satyr’s words. “The likes of me? Why, Philly goat, are you discriminating against me? My goodness, I’ve never in my immortal life been so mistreated! Well, I guess I’ll just have to find some way to work out all this anger!”

In a flash, Hades’ blue skin darkens into an angry red, his flaming hair taking on an identical hue. Cackling, he creates a fireball from thin air and throws it at Hercules. The hero manages to dodge, and the match is on.

Sora and Hercules attack Hades in tandem, but their moves are slow and wearied still from their bout against each other, and the god manages to sneak around them, firing off attacks left and right.

“We’ve got to do something!” Telary cries, staff at the ready. Beside him Azlyn rises and nods, clenching her teeth angrily at the sight.

Phil worriedly looks from the arena to the Disney Castle duo. “I know, but with those shields up, there’s no way you can get in!”

“So shut them off!” Azlyn yells impatiently, her teeth grinding together with every syllable.

“I can’t!” Phil sighs disappointedly. “They’re set up to only turn off only when a winner’s been decided by the rules of combat!”

Telary studies the four pillars for a second, the gears in his head turning. “Okay, but what if we got rid of them? Would the shield be able to sustain itself?”

Phil shakes his head. “No, it would collapse. But c’mon, kid, those columns are damn thick, you’d need a…”

“Buster sword?” Cloud’s smooth voice cuts through the chaotic sounds of flames and battle. The group all turn to see the young man standing before them with his sword resting against his shoulder.

“That could work.”

In the arena, Sora cries out as a fireball grazes the skin of his bicep, leaving a burn nearly the size of his fist. He stumbles back, lucky that Hercules is there to distract Hades with a pair of punches. The lord of the Underworld grunts, but with a flick of his flame-covered arm knocks the demigod back.

“Man, if I knew it would be easy to just beat you up myself, I’d have done this years ago!” Hades gloats, tossing a few more fireballs to keep his prey on their toes.

Suddenly there’s a loud crack. Hades looks over his shoulder to see his old minion Cloud, buster sword still embedded in a half cracked stone column in the arena’s down right corner. With a grunt he pulls his weapon back and slams it forward again, collapsing the tower to dust and chunks of stone across the ground.

Azlyn is first through, diving at Hades with a scream of anger. Her shield impacts against his chest, sending the god reeling.

Sora rises and takes advantage, driving three blows into Hades’ side.

“Why you little brats!” Hades cries, fire gathering at his fingertips. “I’m gonna burn your asses so bad even your own mothers won’t recognize…”

A burst of icy energy flows over his hand, smothering the flame. Hades whirls to see Telary standing with his staff raised. He opens his mouth for a threat, but before he can say anything he gets a face full of Blizzard spell, his flaming hair sputtering into a completely bald head. The angry red of his skin fades once again to icy blue.

“No!” he cries, spitting out slivers of ice. “No, I had him on the ropes, I was finally gonna beat Hercules!”

The demigod in question walks up to Hades and looks him dead in the eye, fist reared back. “You could maybe defeat me alone, Hades. But with my friends around, no chance!”

He lets his fist fly, and Hades goes sailing through the air all the way into the shadows of the concourse, from where he wisely vanishes back to his lair.

KH-KH-KH

With everything resolved, the trio, Phil, and Hercules reconvene in the coliseum lobby.

“Sorry we weren’t able to finish our match, Sora,” Hercules apologizes to the Keybearer, who shrugs it off. “I have to say, though, you were putting up a pretty good fight out there. Who knows what could have happened. After all, you won the tournament all by yourself!”

Sora blushes and looks away until his coloring returns to normal. “Thanks. It means a lot to hear you say that.” He looks at his friends, a big smile across his face. “And sure, I did okay on my own. But without Azlyn and Telary by my side, it was a lot harder. I mean, I felt like I was missing a limb out there.”

The Disney Castle duo beam back at their friend.

“I never really realized until now just how much I’ve come to rely on these two,” Sora continues, smiling and throwing an arm over each companion’s shoulder. “It’s been a long hard journey, and I know it isn’t over yet, but with these two by my side, I can overcome anything.” His eyes drift to the right wall. “I can even make this stone move!”

The Keybearer strides confidently to the stone, places both palms against it, and begins to heave with all his might. Nothing happens, but within moments Azlyn’s hands join his, then Telary’s. With the combined strength of the trio working together, the enormous block begins to move.

Phil and Hercules’ mouths drop open as they watch the trio slowly but steadily push away the stone.

“Look!” Telary notes, looking down at the ground. “It’s the Keyhole!”

And indeed it is, nested into the floor of the coliseum lobby. Azlyn and Telary move aside as Sora steps back, the Keyblade bursting into his hand in a flash of light. Instead of pointing the tip at the Keyhole, Sora raises his blade into the air. Light gathers at the tip, and when it’s all collected it explodes out again in a solid halo of light. The Keyhole reacts, light energy gathering around its edge. With a strong click the Keyhole seals itself, dissipating completely until there’s nothing left on the ground but half of a navigation Gummi, which Telary promptly picks up.

Phil raises an eyebrow at the display. “Two words, kids: What was that?”

Sora smiles at the satyr. “It means it’s time to move on Phil. We’ve got lots of heroing to do, y’know.”

Phil snorts. “I think you mean junior heroing, squirt.”

“What?” Sora complains. “We defeated the God of the Underworld, I learned a valuable lesson about teamwork, and now you’re telling us that isn’t enough to qualify us as True Heroes?”

The satyr gives another shrug. “Ya still got things to learn, kid. Sorry.”

Azlyn narrows her eyes. “You’re gonna tell us crap like that to keep us hanging forever, aren’t you?”

Phil snorts and shakes his head. “Of course not, kid. When you’re ready, I’ll be the first to tell ya, I promise!” Luckily for the satyr’s health, Azlyn misses the sly wink he shoots at Hercules, who smiles fondly at his trainer’s antics.

 

[KingdomKey]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

This was way better than the actual game. I loved Cloud helping Azlyn and Telary get into the ring to help Sora and Hercules out. Hades, nice try and better luck next time. I really like the ending the most, because it was nice having that moment with SAT with Phil and Hercules smiling fondly about the whole thing. SAT deserves to be junior heroes and it's good, they found the keyhole. Kind of sad their journey there is done for now. I look forward to what's next!

 

[TelaryCri]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Chapter XXVIII: A Glimpse Behind
​

Sora wastes no time in recounting the tale of his victory to Jiminy, beginning immediately after Telary finishes the jump to Halloween Town. With only half a Gummi to work with, the next world signature is faint, but just palpable enough for the scanners to pick up, so Telary sets in a course.

Sora leans back in his chair, vaguely aware that Azlyn is chattering something to him about what would have happened if he’d had to face her in a coliseum match, but far too tired to say anything back. All the fights and fatigue of the day have finally caught up with him, and he lets himself slip back into the blissful embrace of sleep…

“Sora…? Sora are you there? Are you listening?”

Sora stands on a round stained glass platform in a dark abyss, the only light coming from some unknown but powerful source that seems to shine up through the glass below.

Sora takes several cautious steps back towards the platform’s edge, looking down and trying to find the whole picture.

The platform is divided into two halves: One, the left half, depicts a golden sea shore at midday, the right a green garden similarly bathed in light. Standing on the sea shore half, laughing and seeming to be having a good time, are he and Riku, smiling at a similarly contented looking Kairi, whose back is right up against the place where the two images divide. Looking down, Sora can see that he and Kairi hold a paopu between them. On the other side are three children, one a redheaded girl in a pink sundress, her back against the divider as well, her pose a mirror image to Kairi.

Looking closer, Sora can see that the little girl in the garden is Kairi, looking as she did at four years old. Sora steps closer to the garden side, managing to tear his eyes away from young Kairi to look at the two children standing behind her, a blonde girl and a boy with hair the same shade as Kairi’s. The blonde girl, dressed in blue overalls, only one snap secured, with a white t-shirt underneath, has her arms crossed over her chest, looking pouty, a smudge of what Sora guesses is dirt on her cheek. She appears to be of an age with Kairi, with something about her that Sora can swear he recognizes from somewhere.

The redhead boy stands closer to Kairi, smiling brightly despite the clearly missing tooth leaving a gap in his mouth. He’s dressed in a green t-shirt and yellow shorts, one hand holding Kairi’s wrist. He’s taller and definitely older than the other two, six as opposed to four, and also looks eerily familiar.

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” the voice from before returns, sweet and full of playful kindness. Kairi’s voice, Sora realizes!

Looking to his left, he sees the girl in question, looking physically every bit the same as she does in the stained glass depiction at the Keybearer’s feet, but wearing a larger-sized version of the dress her child self has on. Arms crossed behind her back, she takes long strides up to him, smiling in a way that’s fond, yet weighed down by an incredible sadness.

“It’s like there are two parts of me,” she says, something dreamily wistful in her every word. “Who I was, and who I am.” She stops at Sora’s side, staring down at the platform for a few lingering seconds before raising her face to the boy’s. “You’re bringing them together, though. You’re bridging the gap. Every time you get closer, so do I.”

Sora looks at her, confused by the words. “Every time I get closer to what? Or… closer to who…?” He looks from his sweet friend’s face to the children in the garden. “Who are they? I feel like I’ve seen them before, but I just can’t …”

Kairi giggles, and Sora raises his gaze back to her. He enjoys seeing her like this, so free and happy. It seems like it’s been years since he’s seen it. Seen her.

“You never were the brightest,” the redhead manages through her giggles. Sora frowns at her, and upon seeing it she ceases her laughter immediately. “Sorry, Sora. I know you’re trying. It’s just harder for you. But you’ll see. You can make the connection.” Looking suddenly sad, Kairi begins to back away, each step taking her farther from Sora. “After all,” she says with a knowing smile, “you’re good at making connections…”

Sora reaches after her retreating form, opening and closing his hand as if by some miracle he can grab her from this distance, hoping against hope that maybe…

Sora’s eyes snap open, suddenly jolted awake by a feeling deep in his body, a feeling that resonates with something like warmth all throughout him.

He sits up slowly, all of his senses seeming to come back to him in a rush. He’s in the cockpit of the Gummi ship, and at some point the color of the interworld space has changed outside, the calming blue and green replaced by an unruly, swirling mix of red, orange, and yellow.

He hears a loud noise rise then fall, only to be counterpointed by a softer, almost mewling sound. Focusing his vision back into the cockpit, he notices Azlyn, the source of the raging snore, almost curled into a ball in her chair across from him.

Craning his neck he can see that Telary, who is emitting the more adorable sound, is slumped in his chair, also fast asleep.

Sora rises from his chair, legs wobbling as they try to adjust to holding up his body once more. He stumbles forward to read the ship’s radar display, using both hands to hold himself up over the console.

“No, no,” Telary mutters sleepily, his face contorting into a painful expression. Sora cocks his head at the napping mage and watches as he begins to shake. “I wanna stay. I’ve gotta wait for her! Where did she go…? Gotta… AH!”

The older boy shoots up in his chair, impacting against the steering yoke and sending the ship veering right for a brief second before his hands shoot out nigh automatically and steady the flight.

Azlyn doesn’t even react beyond a mild frown.

“Telary?” Sora asks, studying his friend’s face from a few different angles. He looks scared, and not just because of the near-mishap with the controls. “Telary are you okay? Did you have a bad dream, ‘cause you were kinda talking in your sleep…”

Telary looks back at Sora, puzzled. “Was I? Oh, man that’s embarrassing. I haven’t done that since I was like six years old. Did I say anything, uh, weird or, like, embarrassing?”

Sora shakes his head, leaning his back against the console. “You seemed scared. You said that you didn’t want to go, and you had to wait for ‘her’. Any idea who you were talking about?”

Telary shakes his head, frowning. Truth be told, he has no memory at all of any dreams. Still, he senses something odd, like he’d been momentarily connected to something before being cut off completely.

He explains the feeling to Sora, who nods.

“I kinda feel the same way,” the Keybearer admits, looking out the viewport once again. “But for me it’s more like there’s something I just can’t put together. I kinda remember a dream, something about Kairi, when we were kids I think… Well, something to do with kids. A garden…”

The boys’ contemplation is cut off by Azlyn’s awakening. The knight opens her eyes and begins to uncurl from her seat, stretching her limbs wide as she yawns.

Noticing that the pair at the console are staring at her, she frowns back at them. “What’s with the looks?”

Sora and Telary exchange a brief look of their own between them, then Sora turns back to explain his and Telary’s feelings with her, only to be interrupted by a sudden, loudly blaring alarm!

Telary gasps and reaches out to push Sora away from the radar screen, causing the Keybearer to stumble and fall to the metal floor of the bridge.

“There’s something on radar!” the pilot exclaims, sweat gathering on his brow as he grips the steering apparatus with both hands. “It’s big and coming in right behind us!”

“Monstro?” Azlyn asks curiously, looking all over the circular glass viewport to try and get a visual on their pursuer. She sees it coming up from behind and gasps. Sora gets to his feet and rushes to her side just in time to see a wooden hull pass over the viewport. The ship above is so long that it takes nearly ten seconds for all of it to make its way past.

“It’s a ship!” the Keybearer cries out as he watches the large galleon pulls out ahead. Gummi blocks are fused to the wood of the stern, providing propulsion through the void. Flying high atop the mast is a swaying skull and crossbones flag, waving at the trio’s Gummi almost mockingly.

“It’s a pirate ship!” Telary exclaims, gripping the steering controls so hard his knuckles whiten.

“I’ll get to the turrets!” Azlyn yells, making her way towards the ladder even as the pirate galleon makes a sharp turn back around, the wooden skull carved at its head closing in on them like a battering ram.

“Too late!” Sora cries out to his companion, fears of being crushed and never seeing Kairi or his home again overwhelming him as it nears. “It’s gonna ram us!”

And ram them it does.

 

[KingdomKey]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

There's some interesting connections afoot! I wonder if it's who I think it is? Anyways, I'm really excited to see how they do against Captain Hook! Telary is cute when he sleeps. And shouldn't be long before we see Peter Pan! It was a good chapter.

 

[TelaryCri]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Chapter XXIX: Believe, pt. 1

​

The sound of waves greets Sora as he slowly regains his consciousness, reminding him of lazy afternoons napping on the beach. For a moment he feels the phantom tingle of sand beneath his cheek, but it soon fades into the feeling of solid oak, worn away wood scratching his face as he begins to raise his head.

Sora opens his eyes to find himself on the deck of a large galleon, a complex nest of rigging above him, stretching up into the moonlit sky. Looking out a bit, Sora can see that the ship is floating in the midst of a vast ocean, with no land in sight to his right or left. The Gummi ship bobs in the water off to the side, secured to the wooden vessel by thick ropes.

“I guess that ship rammed us,” he says groggily to his companions, trying to shake himself loose into a waking state. As his head clears, he takes another look around and realizes that he is alone.

“Telary! Azlyn!” he calls out to his companions, but there is no answer from them.

“It’s good to see you’re awake Sora,” Riku’s voice calls down. Looking up, Sora can see him standing a deck above, arms crossed and looking down at the Keybearer with contempt. He’s flanked on each side by a Heartless dressed in pirate garb, bandanas bearing the Heartless emblem tied on their heads. They both hold large swords that have sharklike faces painted on them. “Though I see you still only care about your new friends. It’s a shame, really, that you seem to have forgotten your best friend.”

Riku steps aside to reveal Kairi, slumped against the deck’s railing, slack-jawed and looking completely unaware of her environment. The sight brings a sudden warmth to Sora’s heart, but at the same time, she just looks so weak…

“What’s wrong with her?” Sora demands stalwartly. “What did you do to make her like that, huh?”

He steps forward, but finds his way blocked by a newly arrived trio of Heartless hopping down to his deck and menacingly brandishing swords at him. He summons the Keyblade, but takes a cautious step back, eyeing the new opponents warily.

A tall man in a red coat steps up next to Riku, the white feather in his large-brimmed red hat blowing breezily in the wind. In place of his left hand, a silver hook gleams in the moonlight.

“I’m afraid that your brand of heroic shenanigans will not be permitted aboard my vessel, boy,” the man says, his only hand twirling the thin mustache he wears. “This is Captain James Hook’s vessel, the Jolly Roger, and I’ll not have ye messing about while you’re aboard.”

“Would you just be quiet and let me deal with this?” Riku barks, sending Hook back a startled step. As soon as he’s calmed, the red-garbed man fixes the boy with a scowl.

“What are you doing Riku?” Sora calls up to his friend, trying his best to appeal to the person he knows Riku is. “The Heartless are dangerous…”

Riku laughs aloud, the sound arrogant with hints of the maniacal. “The Heartless hold no danger for me, Sora. They are mine to command!”

Sora stares up at Riku, slack-jawed, running through responses to such a statement. “You’re so stupid Riku!” he finally settles on. “The Heartless will only swallow your heart. I know you think you’re so untouchable now, but…”

“My heart is strong, Sora!” Riku declares, his fist clenching so hard the black leather of his glove squeaks. “I have power now, power you couldn’t imagine!” He smirks cannily. “Here, I’ll give you a demonstration.”

Riku flicks his hand, and Sora’s own shadow leaps straight up out of the ground, a perfect clone of the boy all in black floating before him. Startled, the Keybearer stumbles back, feeling his ankle trip some sort of thin wire…

A trapdoor opens beneath him, and with a pained yell he falls into it, down into the depths of the ship.

Riku stares at the still open door for a moment, the look of triumph on his face briefly battling with something else. He turns to Hook with a sneer. “Let’s prepare to get underway captain, I have places to be.” He looks down at Kairi. “We both do. And remember, Sora doesn’t get anywhere near Kairi!”

He turns and fondly picks the girl up, gathering her into his arms bridal style. Noticing some hair has fallen into her face, he brushes it aside tenderly. The comatose girl doesn’t even react to the touch.

Hook watches the boy go, scowling deeply.

“Are you alright, Cap’n?” asks the nasally voice of Smee, Hook’s short, round first mate. The captain turns to the little man, still scowling.

“It boils me blood, Smee, taking orders from that lubber!” he rages, making sure that he’s quiet enough so that the boy can’t hear. “Never sailed a day in his life, I’d wager, and he thinks he can just order a seasoned captain like meself around? It’s sheer madness, Smee!”

Hook’s lieutenant looks confused. “Why bother to put up with him, Cap’n? Surely you could…”

“Oh, one-to-one I’d have the whelp for breakfast I would, stake me life on it! But with those confounded Heartless…”

“What should we do about the prisoner then?”

Hook shrugs. “Nothing. One good thing about having the Heartless crawling around belowdecks is that we don’t have to do any guarding ourselves. Even with the Keyblade, certainly the boy would…”

Smee frowns at the captain. “But what about Pan, Cap’n? If he makes an alliance with the Keybearer…”

Suddenly Hook holds up his hook, cutting off his number two’s rambling. His hand he raises to his ear, cupping the lobe with it. He looks left to right suspiciously.

“Did you hear that Smee? That awful ticking?”

Smee looks up at the captain in bewilderment. “Uh, afraid not, Cap’n. Just reg’lar ships noises, sir.”

Hook shakes his head to clear it, his long black hair swishing back and forth in the night air. He pinches his temples and sighs. “Oh, and now I’m imagining things! My poor nerves, Smee, they just might not survive this voyage! Oh, whatever have I gotten myself into?”

Neverland​

“It was her alright,” Sora confirms with a nod, trying to focus on the positives of seeing Kairi again as opposed to the negatives. Weirdly enough, he finds that it isn’t hard. “I finally found Kairi for real!”

“That’s amazing Sora,” Telary congratulates the boy, his voice a bit strained. “I knew you could do it! Now we’ve just got to go talk to her!”

“And hey, if we have to knock that Riku prick around a little to get to her, well that’s just a bonus,” Azlyn chimes in, a vengeful smirk playing across her lips. “Of course, there is one problem.”

“What’s that?” Sora asks, looking down at the knight.

“I can’t go anywhere with you two on top of me!”

The trio are indeed all in a heap on the floor, the Disney Castle duo having had the unfortunate luck to be standing directly under the trapdoor deposit set into the roof above.

They all get themselves sorted out quickly enough, and Telary steps to the door, since he’s the only one tall enough to see through the thin slot in it. The hall outside looks empty.

“So, you’re stuck in here too, huh?” a new, mischievous sounding voice says, startling Telary so bad he bumps his head into the door. Whirling around, the trio sees a young man who looks no older than thirteen, dressed in a green tunic and tights. Red hair sticks out from under a green hat. Telary also notes the small dagger sheathed at the boy’s waist. “Ran afoul of ol’ Cap’n Codfish Hook, didn’t you?”

Sora nods. “Yeah.”

“Who are you?” Azlyn asks, eyeing the boy with the same suspicion she casts on most strangers.

The boy grins, an expression so natural he seems born to wear it. “Why, I’m the answer to your prayers! Peter Pan’s the name!”

“Hello, I’m Telary,” Telary says, presenting his hand for a handshake. Peter eyes it skeptically. “Never mind, then,” Telary mutters apologetically as he draws his hand back.

“I’m Sora, and this is…”

“Azlyn,” the knight interrupts, tired of other people making her introductions.

“Uh, hi I guess,” Peter says by way of greeting. “I’m just waiting in here until my friend comes along to help me out. Shouldn’t be a minute.”

Sora turns to try and see through the slit, only to be surprised when seconds later a tiny glowing ball of light races through it, leaving sparkles in its wake. Some fall on the Keybearer’s shoulder, and he brushes them off.

The light dances and darts around the room for a few seconds before stopping in front of Peter and resolving itself into the shape of a blonde girl only a few inches high. Silvery wings emerge from the back of her green dress, flitting as fast as a hummingbird in heat. Sparkles continue to fall from her wings to the floor.

“Hey, Tinker Bell, did ya find Wendy?” Peter asks. The girl shakes in response, making a light tinkling sound as she does so. It sounds like so much noise to Sora, but Peter seems to understand it. “What’s this about another girl?”
“Kairi?” Sora blurts out, elbowing past Azlyn. “Was the other girl named Kairi?”

Tink tink, tink tinkle.

“She says she doesn’t know,” Peter translates. His face hardens into a resolved expression. “Either way, I’ve gotta save Wendy!”

Tinker Bell goes into overdrive, filling the room with a noise like sleigh bells falling down a staircase. The four humans cover their ears.

“Sounds like she’s jealous!” Azlyn yells to Telary over the noise. This doesn’t make Tinker Bell happy, and the tiny girl stops her rant on a dime and flies at the knight, delivering a tiny but substantial kick to the face. “Ow! You little…!”

Azlyn lunges forward, but as usual Telary stretches out an arm to hold her back. It’s quickly becoming his most well-honed reflex.

“Are you gonna get us outta here or not, Tink?” Peter demands of his miniature companion, looking at her sternly. Tink just stomps her foot at turns away, facing the wall. Peter sighs. “Well, I guess we won’t be getting out of here anytime soon. Not until Tink calms down anyway.”

Sora shakes his head, calling the Keyblade to his hand in a flash of light. If he’s going to help Kairi, then he can’t waste time sitting around for a fairy to make up her jealous mind. He taps the blade against the door, and it slides open with a creak.

Peter looks impressed. “Nice job. I assume you want something from me now?”

Sora shrugs. “I could use your help finding my way around. If you’ve fought that captain before, you have to know where things are on his ship.”

Peter nods, though he seems begrudged by the whole affair. “Fine, I’ll help you out, but only until I find Wendy. After that we’re getting outta here, and you’ll be on your own!”

Sora agrees, though Azlyn makes sure to give Pan the Eye. The group moves out into a small area, a ladder propped against one wall leading to a higher ledge.

Not ten seconds after exiting their makeshift prison, a group of the Pirate Heartless appear from behind a few barrels, swinging their swords at the party.

Sora blocks a sword, turning the blade aside with a flick of his wrist. He strikes out, but the Heartless counters before he can land his hit.

“Cuckoo cacacaw!” Peter exclaims from somewhere above. To Sora’s awe, the boy descends from the sky, stabbing his knife in and out. He rakes the blade into the Heartless’s flesh probably five times in the span of two seconds, then flies off to slash another across the back of its head, distracting the humanoid creature long enough for Telary to incinerate it with a burst of fire.

With the trio on the ground and Peter working from the air, the Heartless clear out in no time at all.

“Man, those guys give me the creeps!” Peter declares, lacing his fingers behind his neck and actually leaning back to recline in midair.

“You’re flying!” Telary points out rather obviously, fascinated to learn the mechanics of it. “And you don’t have wings or anything, you’re just…”

“Floating around like a freak,” Azlyn mutters.

Pan shrugs and returns to an upright position. “Anybody can fly,” he says like it’s the most obvious statement in the universe. “All you really need is some pixie dust, and up up and away you go!”

“Could, uh, we have some?” Sora asks, thinking on how much easier it will be to rescue Kairi if he can just fly to her.

“If it isn’t too much trouble,” Telary says.

“And if it doesn’t cost anything,” Azlyn mutters, still suspicious of the boy in green.

Peter laughs at the suggestion that pixie dust could be considered worth anything as low as munny. “No, no, it’s on the house. Tinker Bell naturally generates it, in fact. Oh, Tink!”

The tiny fairy emerges from the room, still looking upset about this whole affair. She stops before Peter and tinkles a question.

“We’re gonna give these guys some pixie dust,” Pan explains, causing a consternated tinkle to rise up from his diminutive companion. The boy rolls his eyes and floats over to whisper something in the girl’s ear. She looks at him as a smile spreads slowly across her face.

The pixie flies a few laps over the awaiting trio, making sure that everyone gets an even coating of pixie dust. Once satisfied, she moves to float next to Peter, looking at the three of them with barely concealed amusement.

“Okay,” Peter says with a wink. “Go ahead and try it out!”

All three look at each other, excitement painted across each face. Looking up to the sky, the trio jumps as one, floating in the air for a split second before crashing down to the hard floor, sending a loud boom reverberating all throughout the deck.

Peter Pan reels backwards through the air, clutching his shaking belly as he and Tinker Bell share a good long laugh at the success of their prank.

“Oh man,” Pan chokes out amongst the guffaws. “You should’ve seen the looks on your faces when you thought you had it! What a riot!”

“I am so gonna get you, you flying bastard,” Azlyn mumbles into the floorboards.

“Okay, c’mon, let’s get a move on!” Pan barks, floating up like nothing had just happened. “If we wanna save Wendy, we’ll have to be quick about it.”

Sora nearly says something uncharitable as he rises, but then he realizes that finding this Wendy girl will also mean finding Kairi. With that in mind, he keeps his mouth shut and helps Telary to his feet.

KH-KH-KH

“You surely can’t be serious!” Hook exclaims, rubbing at his forehead with his lone hand.

Riku gives him an impassive look, one eyebrow raised ever so slightly. “Of course I’m kidding,” he says with a thick helping of sarcasm overlaying every word. “After all, in the short time we’ve been acquainted, I’m sure you've become well aware of my tendency to make jokes.”

Hook turns away from the boy. They’re in his private captain’s quarters, a large room coated in red carpet. His bed sits in one corner, his private desk in the middle of the room and a baby grand piano near the aft window. All three external walls are well-appointed with windows, giving a grand view of the moonlit sea. It’s all designed for the singular purpose of giving Hook a place to feel powerful.

This conversation is making him feel decidedly less so.

“There’s no need for such ungentlemanly disdain, young master Riku,” Hook says to the boy once he’s composed himself.

“Trust me, there is.”

Hook rubs his temples again, something he’s found himself doing so often lately the skin is nearly raw.

“Look, everything between the two of us aside, I’m only telling you the truth,” Riku offers, showing more sincerity than Hook thinks he’s ever heard from the boy. “This Wendy girl isn’t one of the seven that Maleficent needs. If you think I’m being hostile, just think of what she’ll do if you hand her a dud.”

“But we spent so much time capturing her!” the captain growls, waving his hook through the air in a rage. “Such a waste.”

Riku fixes the one-handed pirate with another smirk. “Are you really that concerned about wasted time, or are you just pissed because this brought the flying kid down on your butt?”

Hook declines to answer that point. “I begin to tire of this secret master plan Maleficent assures me is so important. Do you even know its full extent?”

Riku shrugs coolly, though he also looks away from the captain’s face. “I’ll admit that I don’t, but if it helps to restore Kairi’s heart, then…”

Hook’s cruel, mocking laugh cuts the boy off. Riku’s gaze whips back to the suddenly so mirthful pirate, scowling deeper than an ocean trench.

“Oh, her heart is lost for certain lad,” Hook declares, shaking his head. “If the Heartless have gotten anywhere near it, then I’ll stake me other hand that…”

The pirate doesn’t get the chance to finish that sentence, as he becomes suddenly distracted by Riku’s foot in his midsection. With a puff of expelled air, the pirate sinks to the floor. He feels a sudden cold sensation across his wrist, and looking down he sees that the boy’s damned sword is positioned just over it.

“Really. You’d bet the one hand some eternal eleven year old mercifully decided to let you keep? Do you really want to make that bet against me?” The boy’s blue eyes are cold as the meat locker belowdecks, yet still they seem to burn just under the surface. “Because if you do, if you’d prefer to stumble through your miserable everlasting life with two hooks instead of just one, then feel free to mock me or make light of Kairi’s situation again. I dare you.”

Hook opens his mouth, but no words come out.

“Do you understand?”

The pirate nods shakily.

Riku lifts his sword and steps back, giving the captain a mock-cheerful smile. “I’m glad we came to this understanding. Now get ready to weigh anchor, and leave all the dead weight behind. That includes the Wendy girl, alright?”

He walks away, and Hook slowly rises, still wary of the boy.

“Ahem, Cap’n?” comes the tinny voice of Smee through a pipe on the wall, part of the ship’s internal communications network. Maleficent had offered to upgrade to system like she had with the Gummi blocks attached to the ship for interworld flight, but Hook had refused. New technology may make things a bit easier, but part of being a pirate is respecting tradition.

“Yes, what is it Smee?” Hook asks, careful to purge all traces of leftover fear from his voice. It’s important for a captain to sound commanding, after all.

“Um, I’m sorry to report that the prisoners have escaped!” Smee declares nervously, something in his voice suggesting a flinch. “And what’s more, Peter Pan is with them!”

“Blast that Peter Pan!” Hook rages, shaking his hook in the air. “The scurvy brat has…”

“There’s, uh, a bit more bad news I’m afraid, captain.”

Out of the corner of his eye Hook can see Riku watching from the seat underneath the port window, looking annoyed.

“The Wendy girl has locked herself in one of the crew cabins, you see,” Smee says, his voice shaking fearfully. “We think she’s barricaded the door.”

“Is Kairi with her?” Riku yells, crossing the room to the communications tube in a half-second.

“I’m afraid so, young master Riku.”

The boy throws back his fist, actually making a dent in the solid wood of the nearest wall. He pulls it close, sawdust falling from his glove. He whirls on Hook, who backs up so quickly he stumbles back onto his bed.

“Look what your incompetence has cost us!” the young man rages. Hook says nothing, just shakes. With a heavy sigh Riku turns back to the comm. “I’ll be there in a minute. I knew letting Kairi out of my sight was a bad idea!”

 

[KingdomKey]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

I never thought I'd see the day Hook would be intimidated by Riku. And I never imagined Riku being strong enough to make a dent in a wall. I guess I underestimated him some. Of course, it's nice seeing Sora reunite with Telary and Azlyn, including Kairi. It's too bad he didn't know the warmth in his heart had to do with Kairi. Other then that, I imagine Hook will let Sora handle the heartless and take back his ship, once Riku leaves with Kairi. Great chapter as always, TelaryCri.

 

[TelaryCri]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Chapter XXIX: Believe, pt. 2
​

Cautiously, Sora enters into a large room with a wood-burning stove up against wall, various bags of raw ingredients surrounding it. The kitchen, he presumes.

“I don’t think this is the way out,” he sighs, looking back to his companions in the hall. Suddenly, though, a loud banging arises from somewhere in the room.

“Help us, please!” a small voice calls out. The other three pile in, looking around curiously. “Oh, Peter Pan! Peter it’s me, Wendy! By the grate!”

“Wendy!” Pan exclaims, flying up to the ceiling, where a metal grate is all that separates him and the young girl the next deck up. She looks young to Sora’s eyes, a blue ribbon expertly tied up in her curly hair.

“Oh, Peter!” Wendy cries with delight, smiling down at the flying boy. “I’ve been having the most dreadful time since we parted. Some woman with green skin examined me like I was some sort of steer!”

“Maleficent,” Azlyn notes to Telary, who nods. Just what is the witch’s obsession with young women?

“Well don’t you worry,” Pan assures her, “I’ll be up there just as soon as I can to get you out of here, okay?”

“Wendy,” Sora interjects, stepping up so the girl can see him through the grate. “Is there another girl up there with you? A red-haired girl?”

Wendy nods, then rises and takes a few steps away. When she comes back, Kairi’s still unmoving form is pressed against her.

“Kairi…” Sora breathes.

“I’m afraid she seems to be quite asleep,” Wendy says, frowning at the girl. “She hasn’t budged an inch. I had to practically drag her in here with me when I escaped.”

Sora barely hears Wendy’s words, too focused on Kairi. Even in this odd state, she’s just as lovely as he remembers. To be so close and yet unable to truly be with her is akin to torture, and he futilely reaches for her.

For a moment nothing happens. Then, quite suddenly, her arm twitches. It isn’t much, barely an inch of movement, but it assures Sora that despite appearances, his friend is very much still alive. He smiles, overjoyed at the thought that there’s still hope.

The joy evaporates quickly as the sound of something large falling over and a door being forced open is heard above. Wendy looks up and screams as a Pirate Heartless grabs her arm and drags her away from the grate, Kairi dropping against it limply.

Riku arrives then and picks the girl up, propping her up with his left side, his arm protectively wrapped around her waist.
His former friend sneers down at Sora through the grate. Without a word, he walks away.

“No, Kairi!” the Keybearer yells.

“Wendy!” Pan cries out in anguish simultaneously, banging on the grate futilely. “We have to get up there!”

“Stand back!” Telary commands. Pan floats back, and the mage raises his staff as fire gathers at its tip. With a loud whoosh the flame hits the grate, the heat warping and melting it until there’s enough of a hole to climb or fly through.
Peter shoots up through the grate like a rocket, still calling Wendy’s name.

“And you just leave us hanging like that?” Azlyn yells up after the red-haired boy, shaking her fist at empty air.

“C’mon, Sora,” Telary says, sheathing his staff and forming a stirrup with his hands. “I’ll help you get up there so you can save Kairi.”

“But what about you guys?” Sora asks concernedly. “There are still Heartless all over this place, and…”

“Nevermind us, Sora!” Azlyn encourages the boy, pushing him towards her counterpart. “We’ll find our way up there as fast as we can. When we meet up you can introduce us to Kairi properly, alright?”

Sora looks into the knight’s eyes and smiles at the compassion he sees there. He turns to Telary and sees much the same thing. He truly is lucky to have these two as his friends and partners.

With a nod, he places his foot in Telary’s hands, feeling the mage strain to lift him high enough to grip the vent.

The metal is still hot where Telary’s spell burned it away, but Sora ignores the discomfort and hauls himself up, finding himself in a small cabin with two hammocks against a wall. A large bureau, obviously what Wendy had been using to bar the door, lays on the floor, its sides cracked from impact.

The Keybearer spares a moment to look down through the grate, sees Telary wave at him jauntily before taking off. There’s some sounds of discussion between the pair below, then the unmistakable noise of a door closing.

Sora races for the door, finding himself in a short hallway much like the one a deck below. He notices immediately a short staircase leading up to a red door with a white skull and crossbones across it, slightly open. He rushes to it, deducing that it must be where Peter followed Riku to.

He slams into the door so hard he hears it hit the wall, the loud noise echoing through the ornately decorated room.

Sora races into the room, Keyblade drawn, to find Wendy ad Peter Pan tied up with thick ropes, a pair of Heartless guarding them. In front of them stands Riku, holding Kairi bridal style. He fixes Sora with a smirk.

“I gotta hand it to you, Sora, you’re showing a lot more determination to get to Kairi than you did before,” the older boy taunts. “I guess it’s just because now I have what you want, eh?”

Sora scowls at his erstwhile friend, gripping the Keyblade’s hilt so tightly his gloves squeak against the metal. “All I want is for Kairi to be safe. If I thought that she would be safe with you, I’d let you take her with no fuss.” He drops into his fighting stance. “But the fact is, I don’t trust you to take care of Kairi anymore. So let her and the others go!”

The look in Riku’s eyes is one of pure scorn, a hatred Sora never thought it would be possible to see on his face. “You act like you’re so high and mighty, Sora, so noble! But trust me, you’re not all that. You’ve got a dark side too.” He takes a step back, a black puddle forming where he’d just stood. “Wanna see it?”

The puddle springs forth from the ground and solidifies into a pure shadow clone of Sora, black all over with beady yellow eyes. A kind of AntiSora, complete with a shadow Keyblade. It drops into an exact copy of Sora’s stance.

“Now, play nice with yourself Sora,” Riku mocks, a purple and black portal opening behind him. He grunts a bit, though for what reason Sora doesn’t know, then sort of stumbles backwards into his portal, Kairi still in his arms. They both disappear.

The AntiSora attacks, lashing his Keyblade out in a wide arc that’s the very picture of Sora’s style. The real Sora stumbles back, then steps forward for a downward swing, but AntiSora blocks.

AntiSora turns Sora’s blade aside and lets out a swipe of its own, but Sora knows how to best block it, offering back a counterstrike that is similarly rebuffed.

The battle continues on for some time in a stalemate, and now Sora feels he truly knows the meaning of the word. The matched pair dance across the cabin on fleet feet, always seeming to know where and how the other is going to strike.

Sora tries everything to throw his shadowy opponent off, tries knocking down furniture and making deft moves up and down the bed, but nothing seems to work. Everywhere he goes, AntiSora is already there, and vice versa.

Unfortunately, his own tactics seem to come around to bite him on the butt, as now he must also be careful where he steps, lest he give the shadowy imitation any advantage.

He can’t keep it up indefinitely though, as it seems the one thing AntiSora can’t do that Sora can is run out of steam. As his muscles become wearier, his arms feel heavier and his reaction time slows.

He takes the brunt of a blow from the evil Keyblade’s blunt shaft in the side, expelling a puff of air and stumbling back, whereupon he trips over an overturned chair and falls.

He lands with a heavy thud against the red carpet, looking up at the shadowy version of himself as it takes a step forward, raising its Keyblade.

Sora refuses to look away, determined to meet his fate head on. He laments not being able to rescue Kairi, or helping Riku become his old self again, but at the same time he can’t help but trust that Azlyn and Telary will manage to sort everything out.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning flashes in the air above AntiSora, bringing down approximately one thousand volts on the creature’s head. Thoroughly distracted, it whips its head around, and Sora follows the movement, seeing Telary standing in the now open doorway, staff outstretched.

The mage moves aside quickly as Azlyn rushes into the room, arms pumping as her legs carry her towards AntiSora. Unleashing a primal yell, like a mother protecting her young, Azlyn propels herself off the floor and through the air foot first, crashing into AntiSora head on and sending the shadowy apparition flying through the air and straight into the aft window.

There’s a loud crash of shattering glass and then AntiSora is gone, fallen into the deep waters. It immediately splashes up above the water, drawing on Sora’s skills and instinct to keep its head up.

A temporary setback, it thinks in its primitive but functional mind. AntiSora doesn’t even need to breathe, and in moments it can easily climb back onboard and…

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock…

AntiSora whips its head around, trying to locate the source of that strange noise. Before it can, however, it is the one that gets located, strong jaws full of razor sharp teeth chomping the shadow into bits.

Back up in the cabin, Sora dismisses his weapon and runs to his friends, scooping Azlyn up in a grateful embrace. Telary takes a few steps closer and finds himself drawn in as well.

“Thank you guys!” Sora says earnestly.

“Well, right place, right time, you know how it goes,” Telary replies, shrugging as much as he can while locked in the tight embrace.

“Uh, excuse me?” Peter Pan chimes in from the corner, where he and Wendy are still tied up.

“Sorry,” Sora apologizes. He and Telary quickly untie the pair’s bonds.

Pan leaps up into the air and hovers, shaking out his limbs.

“Thank you ever so much, Sora, Azlyn, Telary,” she says with a little curtsy that for a split second brings Alice to the forefront of Sora’s mind. If only he’d been able to do for her what he did for Wendy…

The young girl gives Peter Pan a stern look and a prompting nod.

The boy in green sighs. “Yeah, thanks for your help,” he manages to get out without it sounding too forced. “But I gotta get Wendy to safety now. That was our deal, remember?”

Sora nods.

“Before I go though, Sora…” Pan says conspiratorially, touching down next to the Keybearer and taking the boy’s shoulder under one arm. He leans in to whisper directly into the ear. “The reason the pixie dust didn’t make you fly when I sprinkled ya was that it’s not enough on its own. Ya gotta think happy thoughts too. Any happy little thought’ll do. Got it?”

Sora nods, stowing the knowledge away for later. He really does want to give this flying thing a try.

Pan separates himself from Sora and reaches out a hand to Wendy. With a little giggle, the girl takes it, stepping into Peter’s arms. When the red-haired miscreant lifts off this time, he carries the girl up with him.

“So long everyone, and thank you all once again,” Wendy says. Peter Pan just nods and takes off through the hole in the broken window, rising into the moonlit sky until he vanishes.

“What a little brat,” Azlyn comments with a disdainful sniff. Turning to Sora curiously, she asks, “So, what did he whisper to you there? Where to find hidden treasure?”

Sora shrugs and smiles. “Kinda. Y’see, what he told me was…”

The boy doesn’t get the chance to finish, as the door flies open, letting in a breeze from the open air on the outside deck and a quartet of Pirate Heartless waving their swords threateningly.

Captain Hook and Smee follow them in, the pudgy first mate holding a lantern, within which glows a brilliant yellow light. Hook wears an expression of sheer pride.

“So rude of that boy Riku, running off without even so much as a by-your-leave,” the captain says with an air of scolding. “But, at least it leaves me ship as me own once again, eh. And once I get rid of you three, it’ll be brat free as well!”

“Where did Riku go?” Sora demands, swinging the Keyblade like he means business. “Where did he take Kairi?”

“Why, to Hollow Bastion,” Hook reveals. “That’s where Maleficent has been plotting this whole scheme from. Afraid to get her green hands dirty, I’m sure. Unlike meself.”

“Don’t you mean get your hand dirty?” Azlyn asks with a mocking nod to the pirate’s hook.

Hook shrugs. “I suppose I do, lass. And to demonstrate just how dirty…” The pirate steps aside with a flourish as Smee holds up the lantern, revealing that the light inside is coming off a distraught looking Tinker Bell, who bangs her tiny fists against the glass uselessly.

The pirate smirks as the trio stand down from battle stances. “What do we have to do so you’ll let her go?” Sora asks wearily.

The pirate’s smirk grows into an all-out smile, teeth and all. “Hand over the Keyblade, and I’ll let her go. Otherwise…” He nods, and suddenly the Heartless close in tighter, one reaching out to collect Azlyn and Telary’s weapons. With forceful shoves they push the trio out onto the open deck, where Hook has prepared a long plank of wood stretching out into the empty ocean.

“Walking the plank?” Azlyn comments snarkily, one eyebrow mockingly raised. “You really embrace the cliché, don’t you?”
Hook gives a bow. “What can I say, I’m a sucker for tradition. Now, what is it going to be, boy? The Keyblade or the plank?”

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

“AAAHH!” Hook screams in pure anguish, peevishly peering over the ship’s rail into the water. Below he finds the crocodile that ate his hand, its green head rising just above the water to peer at the pirate. “It’s that blasted croc! Oh, I can’t stand the sight of him!” The captain turns to his first mate, throwing Tink’s lantern into his arms. “See to it that they go in the drink, Smee. I’ve suddenly remembered some business I must attend to in my cabin!” With one last cautious glimpse of the waiting crocodile, Hook flees.

“Well, at least I’ll die having seen that,” Azlyn deadpans, watching amusedly as Hook slams his cabin door shut.

“Um, alright, who’ll be first to walk?” Smee asks, not quite sounding as threatening as the situation may seem to warrant.

Sora steps forward, allowing a Heartless to lead him to the end of the long wooden plank. Looking over his shoulder, he can see the crocodile waiting below, looking at Sora like a gift from the gods themselves.

The Keybearer closes his eyes and remembers Peter Pan’s words on flying. Happy thoughts, that shouldn’t be too hard.

He’s back on the island, of course, on a bright day, the sun shining down on the beach. Clad only in his favorite trunks, the boy laughs and splashes as he plays with his best friends in the shallow water.

It’s not a memory, though, as Telary and Azlyn frolic and play with him, Kairi, and Riku, testing out the new waters for the first time. It’s a fantasy, a glimpse of the life he’d like to have once this mess is dealt with and things return to normal.

A new normal, Sora thinks. He could get used to that.

Sora smiles at the thought of all his best friends gathered in one place, sharing in the sand and sun. It’s the happiest thought he can think of, and with that in mind, he takes a deep breath and vaults backwards into the open air.

“Sora, no!” Telary cries out, struggling against a Heartless.

But the mage’s concerns are unfounded, for Sora rises into the air at the last second before the croc snaps shut its mighty maw, buoyed by pixie dust and happy thoughts.

“You can fly!” Azlyn blurts out, a bit obviously.

“You can fly?” Telary repeats. Sora grins down at them.

“I can fly!” he calls out, turning a flip in midair for fun. “And you guys can too. All you’ve got to do is think happy thoughts!”

“Oh my!” Smee exclaims, stumbling back clumsily as he faces the shock and fear of the tables turning.

The reversal isn’t over yet, either, as Peter Pan suddenly dive-bombs from the sky, snatching Tinker Bell’s prison. With a fierce grin he lands on deck and pries open the lantern, freeing his fairy friend, who responds with a flurry of happy chiming and dancing.

“Pan?” Azlyn exclaims, knocking a Pirate Heartless overboard and bending down to scoop up her and Telary’s confiscated weapons. “I thought you’d flown the coop!”

Peter actually has the gall to look offended by the accusation. “You didn’t think I’d just leave you and Tink behind, did ya?”

“Uh, yeah I did!” the knight rages, slicing a Heartless in two with her shield. Beside her, Telary raises his staff and calls down crushing gravity on the remaining Heartless.

“But you guys helped me rescue Wendy,” Pan explains, as if the trio are the stupid ones for not picking up on it immediately. “That makes us friends. And I’d never leave a friend behind!”

Azlyn sighs. “I guess you’re all right, Pan.”

Peter nods graciously. “You too, Azlyn. Now, about that ol’ codfish Hook…” /

KH-KH-KH

“Um, Cap’n?” Smee’s nervous voice sounds through the door. “Cap’n, hello…”

Hook slowly rises from his bed, where he’s been covering his head with a pillow for the better part of the last few minutes. Cautiously, he walks to the door.

“Yes, Smee?” he asks, evidence of his earlier rattling still evident in his voice. “Did you feed them to that dreadful croc, Smee? Is he gone?”

“Oh yes, Cap’n,” Smee replies affirmatively, calming the pirate’s addled nerves. “They all walked the plank, every last one of them! Must have been a plenty good meal for that croc too, ‘cause he flew the coop the minute he’d ate the last.”

Hook sighs and opens the door, striding out confidently, like he hadn’t even been bothered by the situation of the past few minutes. But when he surveys the deck, he finds no one there, not even a Heartless. What manner of devilment is this…?

A sharp pain ignites in his rump, and the pirate launches himself nearly three feet in the air. He lands and whips around to see that blasted Peter Pan, still holding the knife that must have pricked Hook’s bottom.

“P-P-Pan!” he stutters, trying to regain his composure. Within moments his confusion turns to rage. He draws his sword and sneers at his opponents. “Blast you!”

“I think it’s your turn to walk the plank, you old codfish!” Peter declares, rising into the air and readying his knife for combat.

Hook hears the other three miscreants creeping up behind him, no doubt with weapons already drawn. He fixes Peter Pan with a dark look and waves his hook about in the air.

“Heartless, come out!” he yells, summoning three Heartless that look like smaller versions of Hook’s ship, the Heartless emblem displayed broadly across their grey sails. A small navigator wearing a blue admiral’s jacket and black tricorner hat sits in the ship with the wheel in both hands. On each side rests a deadly looking cannon.

“We’ll take care of these guys, Peter!” Sora says as he and his companions rise into the air, charging for the Heartless Battleships with weapons swinging.

Peter lunges for Hook, who manages to get his rapier up in time to block the strike. The duel between the two mortal enemies is on!

Azlyn ducks under a blast from her opponent’s cannon, rising up and slamming her shield into its side, sending it careening through the air. It turns deftly and flies straight for her, and she barely manages to dodge in time.

Telary shoots down a Gravity spell on his Heartless, cracking the mast and sail and sending it tumbling downwards. He dives through the air to pursue, but has to move off as it fires off a cannon blast towards him. He twists to the left, aims, and fires a blizzard spell back, clogging up the cannon on one side. With a defiant yell, he charges forward and beats the little “captain” hard with his staff, sending the creature back to oblivion.

Sora cuts straight through his ship’s “captain”, having already used the Keyblade to disable both cannons and the main mast. Azlyn grabs her opponent by the bow and slams it down on the deck of the Jolly Roger, destroying it.

Hook and Pan, meanwhile, have taken their duel to the high yardarm of the main mast, Hook’s admittedly masterful swordsmanship and fleet footwork struggling to keep up with Peter Pan’s fast and dirty flying tactics.

Finally, the pirate captain commits too hard to a lunge, and it’s an easy matter for Pan to dodge the blow and strike another prick into Hook’s rump. The old pirate screams and jump high into the air, plummeting down into the water below.

He emerges, sputtering, his hat floating beside him, the white feather fixed in its brim drooping under the water weight.

“Blast you, Peter Pan!” Hook yells up at the boy, who has gathered to hover with Sora, Azlyn, and Telary to watch the pirate sputter. “I’ll make you pay for this, and your little lackeys as well, if it’s the last thing I…”

Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock

Immediately recognizing the sound that has been the subject of many a nightmare, Hook turns to see the croc that ate his hand slowly paddling through the water, wearing a sly grin.

“YAAAAAAAAAARGH!” Hook screams, leaping up and taking off over the water, running and leaping so fast in his fear that at times he seems to be walking on the water itself. All the while the crocodile pursues, hopes of finally finishing its most delicious meal filling its head.

Telary watches Sora drift back down to the main deck, leaning over the railing and looking up at the hanging crescent moon above with an odd, undecipherable look on his face. Something about it worries the mage.

“What’s up with Sora?” Azlyn whispers to him. Telary raises a surprised eyebrow, a bit shocked that Azlyn could pick up on their companion’s emotional nuance.

“Well, I’d imagine he’s thinking about Kairi,” Telary replies, picturing the comatose girl in his mind’s eye. It seems so sad, what’s happened to her, and part of Telary can’t help but take it personally. “I mean, I’m not an expert on this or anything, but judging by how unresponsive she was, well…”

“You think she may have really lost her heart.”

The mage shrugs. “Like I said, I can’t be sure of anything, really.”

“Um, hey Sora,” Peter says as he touches down next to the Keybearer, trying to remember all the lessons Wendy has taught him about understanding others and playing nicely. “Are you…?”

“I can’t believe it,” the boy says dreamily, a small smile slowly creeping over his face. “I just can’t… I mean, I flew! I actually flew!” He turns back and fixes his friends with a broad grin. “Wait until I tell Kairi! I mean, she won’t believe a word of it! And not just flying, I mean the pirates, winning at the coliseum, mermaids… Heck if I hadn’t been there I’m not sure I’d believe me!”

“Oh, I definitely wouldn’t,” Azlyn chimes in, earning a glare from Telary. “What? I wouldn’t!”

“You can bring Kairi to Neverland anytime, Sora,” Peter offers earnestly. “She can try out flying then too! And, well I dunno what a coliseum is, but we’ve got mermaids here! They aren’t very nice, but we got ‘em!”

“If you believe,” Sora says with an airy, contented sigh, “you can do anything, right? I know I’ll find Kairi, and then I’ll show her the worlds just like I’ve seen them! It’ll be a great adventure just… the two of us…”

The Keybearer looks away, his good mood fading. What in the universe is he going to do about Riku? Surely there must be some way to show Riku the error of his actions, but how?

“Hey, look here!” Azlyn calls from inside Hook’s cabin. Telary ambles in to see the knight standing at Hook’s desk, holding a bundle of papers in her hands.

The mage walks up and takes them from her, looking them over carefully. “Oh my goodness! These… these are…”
“What, Telary?” Sora asks, cocking his head curiously.

“The Ansem Reports!” he declares, rifling through them. “I mean, not all of them, mostly it’s just the odd numbers, but still! Oh, wait until Leon gets a load of this. Or the king! We still think these are what he’s trying to find, right?”

Before there can be any more discussion of the papers, Tinker Bell flies into the cabin and begins tinkling urgently, grabbing Peter’s attention.

“What’s that about the clock tower, Tink? You say you’ve got something to show Sora there? Okay, okay, we’ll go!”

“Where’s the clock tower,” Sora asks.

“Back in London, where Wendy’s from,” Pan explains. “C’mon, we’ll go there now!”

KH-KH-KH

Riku nearly collapses to one knee before Maleficent, still feeling all out of sorts from his earlier teleportation. He’d used dark power before, and even opened portals, but something about taking along a passenger seems to do a number on his body. Practically everything aches.

“It was foolish to use the dark powers like that,” Maleficent scolds, looking impassively down at him with one eyebrow raised archly. “Without a vessel to use, you exposed your heart to some rather dangerous darkness, my boy. I worry of its effects on you.”

“You use those portals all the time!” Riku counters.

The witch shrugs. “My heart is guarded strongly against the Darkness. I have trained myself to keep apart from it. You have no such training, and therefore…”

“If I hadn’t acted quickly, Sora could have gotten to Kairi!” Riku yells defensively, finding the strength to stand and square his shoulders against the dark lady. “You know I couldn’t let that happen, not when we’re so close.”

“I thought you were unconcerned about Sora’s power. Why, you repeatedly told me that you could easily…”

“That was before I saw him, okay?” Riku interrupts, looking away ashamedly. “Now that I know what he can do with the Keyblade, I’m not so sure that I…”

“So it is his power you fear, hm?” Maleficent interrupts, smirking enigmatically. Riku doesn’t like it one bit. “The Keyblade’s power? Well, my dear boy, I think I have some good news for you, then.” She steps forward to him. “For you have power of your own, Riku. Untapped power that I believe you are finally ready to awaken.”

The jade-skinned sorceress raises her arms, and suddenly Riku’s body is enveloped in a dazzling green glow. But there’s more to it, something igniting in his very soul, his heart.

Power, like he’s never known before.

In the shadows a cloaked man watches, chuckling quietly to himself.

Finally, he thinks, a suitable vessel…

KH-KH-KH

The voyage from Hook’s ship to London had been incredible, flying freely through the night air of Neverland, passing above the island itself as Peter pointed out landmarks, and finally making a beeline for the second star to the right and moving straight on ‘til morning.

Very early morning in London, as it happens, at a time when most denizens of the relatively peaceful city lie snuggled up in their cozy beds. Lights still stand out from below, but none can compare to the massive faces of Big Ben, perhaps the most famous timepiece in the known universe.

Wendy waits on a ledge above the timepieces themselves, leaning against a pillar and gazing dreamily at the city below. When she sees Peter and his party arriving, she smiles at them all.

“Welcome to London, Sora,” she says with a polite curtsy. When she raises her head at the Keybearer again, her expression is forlorn. “I’m just dreadfully sorry that you weren’t able to help your friend. I do so hope you’ll find a way.”

“We will,” Sora assures her with a small smile, pushing his doubts back for the moment and deciding to just believe.

At that moment Tinker Bell rushes Sora, flitting around and making her tiny noises urgently. Without thinking, he tries to flick her away with his hand, earning him an indignant stomp.

“Sorry, Tink,” he apologizes sheepishly.

“I think she’s upset about the clock faces,” Wendy says thoughtfully. “One of them isn’t properly aligned with the others, you see.”

“Well, then let’s just see if we can’t fix that, eh?” Peter suggests with a glint in his eye, stepping off the edge of the tower and flying to the incorrect clock. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary follow him down, finding that the hour hand is at the ten, instead of at twelve like all the rest. All four grab its edge and push, slowly but surely returning it to its proper position.

After a few minutes of hard work, they manage to put the clock right. As soon as it’s done, the entire face begins to glow even brighter, causing the group to backpedal through the air and cover their eyes.

Sora thinks he sees something in the light though, and he squints through it to find that a Keyhole has appeared, right between the four and five markers. Summoning the Keyblade, he seals it, making sure that never again will the Heartless trouble the land of children’s dreams.

---

And thus concludes the Disney worlds portion of the story. Kinda sad to see it go, isn't it? But I promise there's good stuff coming up, as SAT's journey all comes to a head at Hollow Bastion...

Just out of curiosity, what was your favorite adventure during the world-hopping? I think my fave to write was a toss up between Halloween Town and Wonderland, and I'm interested to know what the readers think.

 

[KingdomKey]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

I'd say the Coliseum was my favorite disney world you visited in the story. Anyways, I loved seeing Sora fly and react just like he did in KH1 about it. I still feel a bit bad about him not being able to reunite with Kairi right away. However, it's good to see that Kairi reacted a little when her heart was near her. And wow, I didn't expect the Anti-Sora to be eaten by the crocodile. My memory may be a bit fuzzy on that one, but it was a good chapter overall. I look forward to seeing how things go in Hollow Bastion.

 

[TelaryCri]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Chapter XXX: The Story of the Light
​

Sora collapses into his chair, one-hundred and ten percent ready to leave Neverland and its bittersweet memories behind. After sealing the Keyhole and bidding Wendy a final farewell, Peter had personally escorted the trio back to Neverland to pick up their ship.

“Sora?” Telary’s voice cuts through the Keybearer’s thoughts, snapping him back to the reality of the ship cockpit.

The boy in question blinks, looking over at the pilot. “Uh, yeah, Telary?”

“I said I’m going to fly manual a little while,” he repeats, slowly to make sure Sora understands. “At least until Halloween Town. After flying like that in Neverland, I don’t know, I just kinda want to get some time in the ship.”

Sora nods, sinking back into his chair and looking out the viewport into the depths of space. Somewhere out there, he thinks, is a place called Hollow Bastion, and Riku and Kairi are there. He glances at the now completed Navigation Gummi resting on the control board, hoping that it will lead him to his friends.

“Yo, Sora!” Azlyn calls out harshly, once again shocking the boy back into reality. He turns to see her poking her head above the ladder. She nods downward. “C’mon, we’re going to the gym for a while, okay?”

Sora frowns at the knight. “Why are we…?”

“Just do what I say, okay? It’s for your own good.”

Sora shoots a confused look to Telary, who just shrugs and inputs a few course corrections. Letting out a deep sigh, Sora rises from his chair and follows Azlyn down the ladder.

As soon as they step into the tiny workout room, just a mid-size square mat and a large cabinet that contains the necessary equipment, Azlyn tosses the Keybearer a pair of boxing gloves. He frowns at them, and then his friend.

“Put ‘em on,” Azlyn says, half-suggestion and half-threat. A clear challenge.

“What are we doing?” Sora asks, brows furrowed. “What is the point of…?”

“Look, Sora,” Azlyn interrupts, tightening her left glove’s lace with her teeth, “I can tell you’re upset about Riku and that red-haired girl, or worried or whatever. You can’t hide it all behind optimistic speeches about ‘one day’. And since I’m not really any good at this ‘emotion’ business, I figured it might be good for you to try my method of dealing with feelings. Hitting something.” She smiles slyly, rolling her head back to crack the muscles of her neck. “If you can hit me, that is.”

Sora smirks at the girl, feeling the invigorating rush of a friendly competition. Nothing is at stake here, not even some trophy and prize munny, just a little spar between friends, like he’d done a thousand times back on the island. He quickly fits the gloves onto his hands, then squares up with Azlyn.

The fight doesn’t last long, and it turns out Azlyn was right about him not being able to hit her. The knight is just too well-practiced, ducking and weaving around all of his shots, then retaliating with blows of her own. Sora can’t help but grow frustrated, expending all this effort with nothing to show for it.

He feels that way about the search for his friends too, like he’s always just within striking distance of his goal before it’s snatched away again. Add that to the anguish he feels about Jasmine and Alice’s abductions, and it’s all just one big infuriating mess.

Finally Azlyn stops messing around, delivering an obviously pulled punch to Sora’s jaw that sends him reeling back a few steps. If this is what it feels like when she’s holding back, Sora fervently hopes he never finds himself subjected to Azlyn’s full force.

“Not bad,” she says with a shrug, backing up and looking the boy over. Neither of them have worked up much of a sweat,
but whatever happens down the line can be easily fixed by a spell from Telary. In lieu of washing machines or a drier, the mage has been magically zapping their garments clean throughout the journey.

“Whaddya mean ‘not bad’?” Sora asks incredulously. “I couldn’t even touch you, and obviously you were holding back!”

She shrugs again. “You’re used to the Keyblade. It works for you. Fighting fist to fist may not really be the best arena for…” Quickly, a grin spreads across her face. She pulls her gloves off and heads for the cabinet, opening it and pulling out a pair of training swords, edges clearly blunted. She tosses one to Sora, who catches it easily. “See?”

“So it’s a swordfight you want, huh?” Sora chuckles, dropping into his combat stance. Azlyn prepares as well, gripping the sword with both hands, blade parallel to her body.

They move for each other again, dulled blades clashing against one another and kicking up sparks. Azlyn, in no way surprising Sora, is all about power, committing fully to every blow. Every block Sora makes sends tingles up his arms.

But the knight is perhaps too committed, and quickly begins to make mistakes, obviously not used to the weight of a sword. Within five minutes, Sora is able to turn a block into a route, spinning his blade clockwise and knocking Azlyn’s weapon right out of her hands! Grinning, he places his blade’s tip just above her throat.

“Had enough?” he asks playfully, grinning at the knight like he’s daring her to try anything more.

“Okay, okay,” she sighs, stepping back and shaking her head in disbelief. “I guess neither of us is gonna be beaten with our favored weapons, huh?”

Sora nods, as a sudden idea hits him. His impish grin returns. “Well then let’s see who’s better period. Me and you, sword versus fists. What do you say?”

Azlyn breaks out in a rivaling grin of her own. “Oh, man, you are so on, key boy! I am gonna take you down before you can say ‘wow, this devastatingly beautiful woman is about to hand me my keister. How ever will my fragile ego survive?’”

The Keybearer snorts, nodding. “Well, it sounds like you’ve given yourself plenty of time then, huh?”

Azlyn settles back into a combat ready position, as does Sora across the mat from her. They stare each other down, each daring the other to call for the bout’s beginning.

Finally, Azlyn can’t take it anymore. “Okay, get ready! In three… two… one…” Without verbalizing her countdown’s zero, Azlyn lets out a roar of challenge and rushes forward. Grinning in anticipation, Sora does the same, raising his practice sword high as he charges…

KH-KH-KH

“Hey, Telary,” Sora greets the pilot as he climbs back up onto the bridge, still a bit winded and sore from he and Azlyn’s “grudge match”.

“Oh, hi Sora,” Telary greets the younger boy without so much as a backwards glance, dipping the Gummi ship through the spacelanes with practiced ease. “What was that noise down on the main deck earlier? I could hear it pretty much perfectly from all the way up here.”

Sora shrugs, taking a seat on the mage’s right side. “Just me and Azlyn having a little friendly battle.”

Telary nods, doing some quick recalibrations of velocity. “That’s nice.” He turns to him with a knowing half-smile. “She wanted you to beat out your emotions, didn’t she?”

Sora chuckles and nods, leaning back in his seat. He turns his gaze to their surroundings, the swirling colors of the space between worlds. “Yeah.”

“Did it help?”

Sora sighs, focusing on a bit of rock he can see floating calmly in the void. “Kind of… I dunno, I guess I just deal with things better by talking.”

“Me too.” There’s a short pause before the mage continues. “You know, Sora, you can talk to me if you want. About anything. I’m not exactly ‘Ask Daisy’, but… I want you to know that I’m here for you.”

There’s a brief pause in the cockpit, so full of potential that Telary can feel it throughout his body. Most especially in his heart.

“I think I may have hated Riku for a minute back on Hook’s ship,” Sora admits quietly, looking at his hands. “My best friend in the whole universe, and I hated him. It was just before he left with Kairi. He was trying to act like he was doing the right thing, like teaming up with the Heartless was what he had to do for Kairi.”

Telary hesitantly opens his mouth to speak…

“And he handed over Kairi to that Maleficent! I mean, he actually thinks that some witch and her Darkness is gonna help him be Kairi’s big hero! But if she’s stuck in that castle, that’s probably crawling with Heartless and who knows what other bad stuff… I don’t know what could happen to her. That’s why I hope this new Gummi will lead us to this ‘Hollow Bastion’ place. I’ve got to help Kairi. I don’t know if I can still help Riku…

“Growing up with him was amazing, Telary, you can’t even imagine. We did everything together, spent basically all our time together. He told me about the first time he kissed a girl in fifth grade. Her name was Penelo I think… Anyway, it was little stuff like that that made us so close. I didn’t have any siblings, so I guess Riku kind of acted like an older brother to me, ‘cause I didn’t have that in my life.”

Telary gives the boy a sympathetic look. “And now it’s like you’re missing out on it, huh?”

Sora pauses, looks away. What he wants to say next is… it feels like a betrayal. “Y’know, Riku accused me of replacing him and Kairi with you and Azlyn, and I guess in a way it’s kind of true… Because Telary, now you’re kind of like, well… You’re doing what Riku used to, Telary. You’re like a… like…” Tears fill Sora’s eyes, and he drops his head into his hands.

Telary stands and moves to Sora, smiling down at him. “Hey, it’s okay Sora. I…”

The mage places his hand to Sora’s back, and suddenly…

Sora flies through a tunnel. Piercing, welcoming light waits up ahead. He looks around, confused by his sudden departure from the Gummi ship.

The light at the end of the tunnel looms ever closer, and the closer he gets the brighter it becomes…

The light fades and he’s in a library, shelves of books filling the room like the walls of a maze. In front of him is an open area with a curved staircase that leads to a second level balcony. Just underneath it, beside a large window light streams through, is a table and chair.

There’s a flash of light from the window, and suddenly an old woman in a careworn purple dress with a white apron, a worn gray scarf tied around her neck, rests in the lone chair. In front of her stands a redheaded four year old girl, looking up at her patiently. In moments, Sora realizes that it’s the young Kairi, which means…

“Tell me the story, Grandma!” Kairi begs in that childish way, big eyes working their special toddler magic. “You told it to him when he was my age…”

“Very well, dear child, I shall tell you the story of the Light,” Kairi’s grandmother relents with a shake of her head. “Long ago, all people lived in peace and light, bathed in its warmth all of their days. The people loved the light, loved the way it made them feel. Soon this pure love turned tainted, possessive. The people fought over the Light, wanting it for their own, wanting to be its sole possessor. This conflict brought forth Darkness in the people’s hearts, Darkness which was not content to stay there, soon spreading to cover the world in its cold shadows. It seemed all hope was lost.

“But the Light was not extinguished, for it never truly is. It simply found a refuge, many refuges in fact, in the hearts of children, for their innocent love of the Light was the way it was meant to be. Using this remaining Light, the children rebuilt the world. But the children could not remake the world exactly as it once was, and instead made many of them, scattered among the stars and cut off from all others. We live in one of those worlds ourselves.

“But the true Light, the Light that once sustained the single world that was, still lies sleeping, deep in the depths of Darkness. Until it can return, the worlds must remain scattered and disconnected as they are. But one day a door will open in the innermost Darkness, and that true Light will return to restore the connections between the worlds.

“So you must believe child, in your heart, that even in the face of great Darkness, the Light will guide you. For in deepest Darkness lies truest Light. Believe in that Light, and the Light inside yourself, and the Darkness will never defeat you. Do you understand, child?”

Kairi nods, her little face resolute.

Smiling, her grandmother rises and reaches out to take the girl’s hand. “See that you remember this lesson Kairi, for it will serve you well. Now, let’s go see if your brother has found that book yet. With that rambunctious friend of yours distracting him, he may need our help.”

The pair walk away contentedly, until they stop dead in their tracks. Kairi turns and looks at Sora where he’s floating above her, innocent blue eyes focused.

“Sora…” she says, but not with the voice of a young child, but her sixteen year old self, as plain to Sora’s ears as the last time he heard it in person…

“…doesn’t mean that you’ve abandoned your old friendships,” Telary finishes. Sora’s head snaps up, the memory of what he’d just seen playing across his mind again. “Sora? Sora, are you okay? Sora!”

The Keybearer doesn’t respond, just stares out the window, his eyes darting absently from one part of space to another.

“Uh, okay,” Telary says as he retakes his seat in the pilot’s chair. “Sora, um, I’m not sure, but I think there may be something, um, well, something wrong with you, so I think I’ll just warp us to Traverse Town right away, okay?”

Sora doesn’t even seem to hear him, laser-focused on something Telary cannot fathom.

“Brother…?” the boy whispers lightly to himself as Telary pulls the ship forward into warp speed.

Kairi has a brother?

KH-KH-KH

1^st District is at its usual level of quiet bustling when the trio enter through its doors, people milling to and fro as they fulfill whatever purpose it is they have.

“You’re sure you don’t need us to find a doctor to look at you?” Telary asks Sora, for what the Keybearer imagines must be the hundred-millionth time. “I’m sure there’s someone here who could help if you needed it. Leon must…”

“For the last time, Telary,” Sora snaps at the mage, making it hard to imagine that the pair were having an intense heart-to-heart only minutes ago, “I’m fine. I just got a bit overwhelmed back there. Physically, I’m like…”

“Hey, wooden boy!” Azlyn calls out, interrupting her friend.

Sora gives her an odd look. “What, no, I don’t feel like a wooden…”

“Pinocchio!” Jiminy Cricket exclaims happily, leaping out of his refuge in the pocket of Telary’s sleeveless hoody and bounding across the square.

The puppet in question sees his conscience, and then the trio that saved him in the depths of Monstro, and nearly drops the bag full of groceries that he is caring. He manages to hold tight to them, though, remembering how much his father needs them.

“It’s good to see that you got here okay,” Telary says gratefully, the nagging possibility that he might have miswritten the coordinates to town for Geppetto evaporating.

“You seem to be doing okay here,” Sora says, perking up a bit.

“Did you pay for all that stuff?” Azlyn asks with a questioning eyebrow lift.

“Hey, knock it off Azlyn!” Jiminy admonishes the knight. “Pinocchio is a good boy now, and good boys aren’t thieves.” A hesitant look comes over the cricket’s face suddenly, and he looks up at the wooden boy quizzically. “Are you being a good boy?”

Pinocchio nods proudly. “I paid for all of this stuff with the munny father gave me. None of it was taken without permission.” The boy’s nose doesn’t grow an inch.

Jiminy smiles wide, pure pride in his eyes. “Aww, Pinocch…”

“C’mon, I’ll show you guys to me and Father’s new house. Mr. Leon found it for us, and it’s really neat!”

The group follows the living puppet to a small house set back in the corner of the district, a green door surrounded on both sides by rectangular windows greeting them. Soft light pours through the windows.

Telary opens the door for Pinocchio, who trots into his house with gusto. “Father, Father, Jiminy and his friends are here!”

Geppetto emerges from a room back in the hall, wiping his hands on a towel. Upon seeing Sora, Azlyn, Telary, and Jiminy, his eyes light up behind his glasses.

“As I live and breathe!” the toymaker exclaims, entering into the main room. In one corner is a stove and oven, brown wooden cabinets above it. In the center of the room is a large table. There’s a green armchair between the fireplace and the front window, and a smaller blue one by it. The place is small, but Sora can feel the hominess of it. “Oh, this is wonderful! You can stay for dinner!”

Telary blushes and looks at the floor. “Oh, we wouldn’t want to impose…”

“Impose?” Geppetto says dismissively, as if it’s the silliest word he can think of. “It’s the least I can do after you rescued me and my little boy from a whale’s belly!”

Pinocchio immediately begins taking the groceries out of his bag and placing them on the counter. Geppetto watches him with an ecstatic smile.

“Oh, and I didn’t even have to ask!” the toymaker exclaims.

Jiminy smiles at him. “Pinocchio certainly seems to have his act together.”

“He’s on his way to becoming a real boy, I’m sure of it!” Geppetto agrees.

And so the traveling heroes stay for a large, home-cooked meal that fills up their bellies, and wonderful uplifting conversation that fills their hearts.

“Oh, are you sure you can’t stay with us, Jiminy?” Pinocchio pleads with his conscience as the guests prepare to leave, standing in the street outside the wooden boy and his father’s home. “It may seem like I’m great at being good and honest now, but I tell ya it’s still a struggle every day.”

Jiminy frowns sadly at his former charge. “I know, Pinocch, I do. But I’ve got another mission to fulfill, something I made a promise to do.” The cricket leaps onto the boy’s shoulder, looking him evenly in the eyes. “I’ll stay with you in your heart, y’know. All you have to do when things get rough is think of me, and you’ll find your way. Because truth be told, my boy, you already know how to be a good boy. You just need to follow through on it, is all. Understand?”

Pinocchio nods solemnly to his conscience.

After they leave the father and son behind, Jiminy excuses himself back to the Gummi ship, needing to be alone to deal with this latest emotional development. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary continue on to the small house in 3^rd District.

“This is kinda weird,” Azlyn comments as the trio stroll through 2^nd District, seemingly every bit as occupied as the 1^st. “I mean, this place used to be basically haunted.”

Sora says nothing, eyes focused on his feet. Telary smiles at Azlyn’s thought, but it falters as he watches Sora.

They get another warm greeting as they enter Leon’s small house. Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid are all inside, and all of them are happy to see the trio’s return. Especially so when Telary pulls out the Ansem reports.

Cid and Aerith go over them with a fine-toothed comb as the trio regale the group with tales of their many adventures since last parting, of Heartless battled and Keyholes sealed.

“Looks like your king knew Ansem,” Cid says, holding up a report labelled “#9”. Telary grabs it up and reads it for himself, Sora and Azlyn peering over his shoulder at the paper.

“Yeah, it seems the king introduced him to the concept of Gummi ships,” Telary notes as he reads, “and the Keyblade.”

“He talks in an earlier report about opening a door, and seeing some sort of energy mass inside,” Aerith says, looking over #5. “I think he was the one who broke the barriers between worlds. The night he saw our world’s heart, there was a meteor shower made of Gummis. It must have been the world barrier breaking down.”

“Yeah, but how do we defeat the Heartless for good?” Yuffie chimes in, doing a one-handed handstand to keep herself occupied. With a grunt, she pushes off the floor and switches hands.

“There’s nothing about that in these reports,” Aerith reports sadly, causing faces to fall all over the room. “He only mentions his first discovery of the Heartless, and one of them leading him to the heart of the world. Any other experiments must be in other reports.”

“So we’re nowhere,” Leon grumbles, leaning back against the wall sadly. “Without these other reports…”

“If the king knew Ansem, he must have known about the reports,” Azlyn says, scratching at her chin thoughtfully. “Maybe he even helped him write some later ones, who knows? Anyway, if the king knew about the reports he’d know they could help stop the Darkness, so he’d have gone after them. I’d be willing to bet that if that’s the case, he has a lot of the ones we need.”

“So we really need to find him,” Telary finishes.

Sora steps up and shakes his head defiantly. “We do, yeah, but we’re not doing anything until we get Kairi back! We know where she is so…”

“You found her?” Aerith exclaims happily, clasping her hands together and smiling.

Sora nods. “But she’s in trouble. My friend Riku has her, and he took her to Maleficent’s fortress. Hook said it was called…”

“Hollow Bastion,” Leon answers in a whisper so quiet he’s barely heard.

Sora looks at the older man in puzzlement. “Yeah, that’s it. How’d you…?”

“You told us Maleficent took over your world with the Heartless,” Azlyn interrupts, nodding knowingly. “You even mentioned a castle. Bastion is basically just another word for that. Huh.”

“If there’s no other mention of Heartless in these reports, and Maleficent learned how to control them by reading Ansem's writings…” Telary puzzles out slowly, thoughtfully. “Then she must still have some reports of her own. Maybe even the ones we need.”

Cid grimaces at the trio of heroes. “If you have to go there you have to go there, but I gotta warn ya, that place is more full of Heartless than damn near anywhere else in the universe. It’s not gonna be pleasant.”

Azlyn shrugs. “Aw, what do we care? We’ve whipped Heartless butt before, we can do it again easy.”

Sora nods. “I don’t care how dangerous it is. If Kairi’s there I’m going.”

“Donald and Goofy are probably there as well,” Telary postulates, looking nervous but full of verve, “and I want them safe as much as Sora does Kairi.”

Leon pushes off the wall and gives the trio his maximum strength half-smile. “We have every confidence in your success, you guys. I know you can beat Maleficent and the Heartless.”

“I agree,” Aerith says.

“The Great Ninja Yuffie believes with her whole heart.”

“You got guts kids,” Cid admits, chuckling to himself and shaking his head. “If nothing else, you all got some kinda guts.”

 

[KingdomKey]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Kairi has a brother. If I thought I couldn't be more shocked, I certainly am now! Of course, it was a nice touch having that memory spark during Telary and Sora's intense heart to heart conversation. Again, it feels so much like the actual game that it makes me want to replay it again just to experience that scene all over again. Furthermore, it's nice to see things going well for Pinocchio and his father. I'm curious what'll happen when SAT arrives on Hollow Bastion, if Sora will be abandoned or not by his friends. Either way, can't wait for more as always!

 

[TelaryCri]

Re: Kingdom Hearts: Keys to the Kingdom

Chapter XXXI: Ruins, pt. 1
​

“Are you still in here?”

Maleficent’s voice cuts through Riku’s thoughts. He tears his eyes away from Kairi’s unmoving form, floating a few feet above the floor in a glass case that looks far too much like a coffin for Riku’s taste, and turns to see Maleficent entering through the large door to the Grand Hall of Hollow Bastion, her robe trailing over the purple carpet with a massive Heartless emblem embroidered across its center.

He shrugs at her, turning back to his seemingly lifeless friend. “You know what Kairi means to me. I’m not letting her out of my sight until it’s time to deal with Sora. With all these Heartless crawling around…”

“She has no heart, child,” Maleficent reminds Riku derisively. “As far as most of the Heartless are concerned, your friend isn’t even there.”

There’s a sound of wheels moving from hard floor to carpet, and Riku turns once again to see a pair of Soldiers rolling another glass case like Kairi’s into the room, propped up on a gurney. Inside is a young woman with auburn hair, the eyes of her classically beautiful face closed in gentle repose. She’s wearing a red and pink dress, simple enough to be worn for any occasion, but with a definite touch of castle-worthy chic.

“Another one,” Riku notes flatly. “Are we going to have all that we need in time?”

Maleficent watches her Heartless connect the Princess’s transparent cocoon to the last of six alcoves that line the walls of the Grand Hall, three on each side of the room. “Yes, I believe that things are progressing at an optimum pace. My Heartless scouts are even now combing remaining worlds for the last girl we require.”

Riku nods. He’s about to say something when a defiant roar bursts through the air. He stops and looks around for the source of the sound. “Is there a Heartless…?”

“Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact,” Maleficent replies, a cruel smile stretching her thin lips. “A castaway. He must have followed that girl back when we destroyed his home, through sheer force of will. No doubt he will attempt to interfere.” Her look to Riku turns serious. “Would you be a dear and…?”

“I’m not your errand boy, or your enforcer,” Riku interrupts, a defiant finger pointing at the witch with all the intent of a sharpened dagger. “If it doesn’t involve Kairi, I don’t need to do it. Or do you forget what I’ll soon have the power to do to your little operation, hm?”

Maleficent rolls her eyes. “Without the Princesses there is no Keyhole. Without a Keyhole there is no Door. And no Door means no answers for your friend. Now, is that what you want?”

Riku huffs angrily, but nevertheless moves to exit the hall. “When I get back, she had better be exactly as she is. If not…”
Leaving his threat hanging in the air, the silver-haired boy stalks off to fulfill his mistress’s request.

Maleficent watches him go, an annoyed grimace on her face.

“It seems your little friend is forgetting his place, my dear,” the jade-skinned woman says to the unconscious redhead. “How you were able to handle both him and that Sora boy for as long as you did? Why, you’d have to have a heart as pure as…”

Maleficent pauses over Kairi’s coffin, slowly casting her wicked gaze over the girl. A girl who has no heart, yet whose body remains? Certainly an unusual circumstance, but is it unusual enough to mean…?

She smiles down at the girl, a sudden thought coming over her.

“My but that island of yours bred some influential players,” she says, impressed. She looks up at the half-constructed machine resting at the height of the hall, Heartless working tirelessly to connect its many components.

This will be a day not soon forgotten.

KH-KH-KH

“Wow,” Sora says as he gazes at the giant castle of Hollow Bastion through the viewport of the Gummi ship.

It stretches hundreds of feet into the dusky sky, a monstrous, cobbled-together looking fortress, half grand keep and half mechanical wasteland, plumes of steam from huge chimneys resting beside majestic marble towers. Most prominent of all its features, however, is the giant Heartless emblem constructed on its face. Surrounding the castle for at least several miles is a dark, swirling fog.

“The sensors can’t penetrate past that fog,” Telary informs Sora, running his left hand over a few instruments while his right guides the ship down. “As far as I can tell, that castle is all that remains of this world except for a few canyons. There’s one close by, I’ll see if there’s a spot to put down at.”

Sora watches the castle come closer as the ship descends, something stirring inside of him. On the one hand is the obvious fear of the Heartless within, of facing them down for Kairi’s sake and coming up short. But something else stirs inside Sora, a feeling that seems to pierce his very heart.

Something almost like… Recognition.

Telary manages to find a landing spot, setting down in a large canyon, a long bare rectangle surrounded on two sides by blue stone. With a bit of deft maneuvering, he lands the vessel.

As he powers down all systems, the mage heaves a deep sigh. Unstrapping himself from his safety harness, he moves to stand beside Sora. Looking up, they can still see the higher portions of the castle, above the Heartless symbol.

“There’s something about this place,” Sora says vaguely, like he’s daydreaming and conversing simultaneously. “I… I don’t know what it is, but I feel like… I think I know this place.”

Telary nods. “Same here. At first I thought it just generally reminded me of Disney Castle, but now it, I don’t know, feels kind of like…”

“A warmth,” Sora finishes, nodding understandingly. He moves his hand over his chest. “It’s right here, like…”

“Oh, your bowels are just upset!” Azlyn chimes in crassly, coming up the ladder from below. Both boys turn back to look at her, frowning. She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Okay, sorry. I was just trying to lighten up the mood. Gosh, you guys are so…” Azlyn trails off as she reaches Sora, staring up at the castle’s heights with the same look in her eye as Sora and Telary. “Huh, now that you mention it…”

“Um, excuse me!”

Jiminy Cricket’s voice startles the trio out of their odd shared reverie, and they all turn as one to see the little chronicler looking up at them, one eyebrow quirked.

“Hey, Jiminy,” Telary greets the cricket, smiling down at him weakly. “We were just, uh… Y’know, preparing ourselves.”

“Mentally,” Sora adds, rising from his chair and stretching out his legs and arms.

“Gettin’ ready to do some major damage, y’know?” Azlyn finishes.

“Well, I just wanted to tell you three that I wish you the best of luck find your friends,” Jiminy says, smiling up at the stars of his journal. “Try to be careful out there, if you can.”

The trio all mumble nondescript thanks to their chronicler, then head as a unit to the down-ladder. Azlyn, then Sora, then Telary descend into the common room, from there continuing on down to the cargo room, where the ramp is open to the blue canyon landing field.

They walk the wide ramp shoulder to shoulder to shoulder, taking in the surroundings as one. With a last round of looks at each other, they press on.

It takes about five minutes of hiking, but eventually the trio find themselves standing at the bottom of a massive natural bowl, water falling all around. Further examination reveals, however, that the water is in fact rising, defying the very nature of gravity. Platforms of ice float in midair, leading upward to a large stone platform that the trio can see only the bottom of. Beyond that, the castle rises up in the background.

“This is it, guys,” Sora says, trying his best to sound resolute. “Final showdown time. Maleficent is here, Riku’s here… Kairi…”

“Master Donald…” Telary says, feeling his entire body shiver with involuntary fright.

“Captain Goofy…” Azlyn mutters, putting on a brave face.

Suddenly, a deep, rumbling roar that shakes the trio to their very bones rises up from the large stone platform. Steeling himself, Sora starts forward and upwards to the source of the noise, his companions falling loyally in behind him, best brave faces on.

“Let’s go.”

Hollow Bastion​

Riku holds his blade in ready-stance, glaring at the creature in the purple cloak and tattered pants. It’s covered in shaggy brown fur all over, from its broad chest to its large arms that end in clawed paws. Its long snout has elements of both a bear and a big cat, and black horns protrude from its forehead.

And yet, despite the beast’s animalistic countenance and savage disposition, it looks at Riku with an undeniable consciousness in its eyes.

“You had no Gummi blocks, no help from the Heartless…” Riku states, warily looking the beast up and down, trying to divine some weak point for attacking. “How did you get here? Why didn’t you fade with the rest of your world?”

The beast snorts once, then shakes its massive head, rustling fur all over its body. “When my home fell to Darkness and Belle was taken from me, I vowed to myself that I would find her. I simply believed that I could find her once more, and then I was here. She must be here! I will have her back!”

Riku narrows his eyes and chuckles sardonically. “Well, if you’re so adamant, then why don’t you just try and take her!”
Knowing a challenge when he hears one, Beast launches himself at the silver-haired boy, a loud rumbling roar echoing all throughout the Rising Falls as he propels himself on all fours towards his enemy.

Riku rolls his eyes and sidesteps, slashing down with the red and purple blade of his Soul Eater and landing a solid hit on Beast’s furry hide. Drops of blood fly into the air, and with a pained cry, the Beast falls to the stone floor.

Riku laughs and shakes his head at the pitiful fallen creature. “You know, we’re not so different you and I. Both of us are fighting for a woman we care about, both of us are determined to save her no matter the cost. But even with all your rage and righteous anger, you’re still no match for the power I’ve found. The power of Darkness!”

Riku raises his blade for a final blow, but suddenly something impacts against it, sending it flying from the boy’s grasp and over the platform’s edge. Startled, he turns to see that Sora and his two lackeys have arrived. The blonde girl reaches out her hand and snags her golden shield out of the air.

“I won’t let you hurt anybody else, Riku!” Sora rages, Keyblade already drawn and ready for a fight. Behind the boy, Telary and Azlyn prepare for battle as well.

Riku just smiles, taking a lazy pair of steps forward, seemingly unconcerned by the threat. “Well, it’s about time you got here, Sora. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show up in time.”

“I’m going to stop you, and Maleficent too!” Sora promises, bearing a snarl that could rival that of the fallen Beast.

Riku laughs lightly, shaking his head back and forth. “No, Sora, you aren’t,” he says matter-of-factly. “I’m afraid that your quest is ending now.”

Sora’s eyebrows quirk confusedly. “Huh? No way, Riku! I’m not going to be done until I’ve beaten Maleficent and the Heartless and rescued Kairi!”

“Oh, no you aren’t, Sora,” Riku replies with a smug shake of his head. “See, your quest was actually only to act as a delivery boy. It’s time for the Keyblade to choose its true wielder!”

Riku reaches out his gloved hand. Suddenly, the Keyblade begins to vibrate in Sora’s hands, moving towards Riku of its own accord like it has been magnetized. Sora holds tight to the hilt and grabs the rounded blade, but it’s no use. There’s a flash of light, and the Keyblade is gone.

Light flashes identically into Riku’s hand, but it soon blackens and turns violet, and when it fades the Keyblade rests in his gloved fist. It’s changed though, all black with a wicked looking spike poking out from the end, its teeth pointed. The blade runs down into a purple crystal, and to both sides of that extend the wings of a bat, encircling a hilt of pitch black metal. A black chain falls from the hilt and ends in a crown, much like the pendant Sora wears.

Oblivion.

“What!” Azlyn exclaims, taking a surprised step back.

“Why…?” Telary breathes, a sudden terror overtaking his entire being.

“No, you… I… How?” Sora chokes out brokenly, stumbling forward a single uneasy step.

“Only I have the power, the strength necessary to save Kairi,” Riku informs his bewildered former friend. “Only the true master of the Keyblade can open the secret door. And when I do, I’ll not only have the knowledge needed to restore Kairi her heart, I will be powerful enough to shape the universe to my choosing!”

Sora shakes his head, his knees shaking unsteadily. “But, I sealed the Keyholes! I was stopping the Heartless from eating worlds’ hearts! I was doing the job of the Keyblade wielder!”

“A wielder, yes,” Riku agrees with a condescending nod. “But you were never its master. Everything you accomplished with this blade was a distraction, unnecessary! You were fooled, like a stupid child.” He dismisses the Keyblade and reaches behind his back, producing a wooden sword just like Sora had back on the islands, the weapon used in many a sparring match between the boys. Riku tosses it contemptuously at Sora’s feet, where it lands on the stone with a clatter. “If you feel the need to still play at heroics, why don’t you use that? It’s a suitable weapon for a child such as yourself.”

He begins to stalk away, when Azlyn cries out for him to stop. Sora can only watch numbly as the knight steps past him without so much as a glance.

“Wait,” she says, looking to the new Keybearer without emotion. “My mission is to follow the Keyblade. I may not have been the king’s intended representative, but I am the one who stepped up to the call.” She casts her gaze back to the still dazed Sora for barely a second, then moves to stand beside Riku.

“No…” Sora just barely squeaks out.

“Azlyn, why…?” Telary asks incredulously.

“It’s our mission, Telary,” she says, her eyes looking from Sora to her counterpart, visible tears casting a shine over them. “It’s what Donald and Goofy would want us to do. Maybe if we cooperate, we can get them released.” Her eyes fall to the stone ground, a single tear escaping.

The mage looks Sora over, sees this hurting boy who had nearly called him his brother. Then he looks back to Azlyn, who raises her head.

After a moment, Telary nods and rushes over to be with Riku and Azlyn as fast as he can, keeping his back turned away from his broken friend.

“I’m sorry, Sora,” he says shakily.

Riku laughs as Sora falls to his knees, no longer able to bear the crushing weight of all his abandonment, the betrayal.

“Oh, this is just too good,” he muses darkly, looking from his defeated former friend to his new lackeys. “You abandoned me for these two, and now they’re abandoning you to go with me!” He throws his head back and lets out a long laugh. Telary and Azlyn turn away.

After a solid minute Riku finishes his amusement. Turning his back on Sora for what he thinks will be the final time, the boy reaches out to activate a crystal at the far end of the floating courtyard. It glows with a brief red light, and suddenly from the sky descends a large circular platform, suspended to a tether of hardened light by a golden handle. He steps inside, and the Disney Castle duo follows him.

Sora hears the floating platform, along with nearly everyone he’s ever thought of as his true friends, move away across the abyss, but only dimly.

Everything he has done, all his trials and triumphs, every Heartless vanquished, fiend defeated, and world saved, has all come to nothing. His destiny is fulfilled, and it has been to come in second place, to struggle and fight and fail only to be judged unworthy.

He contemplates merely staying here, on the stone ground next to a fallen arch in the midst of the Rising Falls. After all, what does he have to continue on towards? No family, no friends, no home, no weapon. All is lost, all is hopeless.

Why carry on?

---

And so the finale begins!