Re: Kingdom Hearts: Reborn from the Darkness (Contains BBS and Days spoilers)
((Alright folks, this is WITHOUT A DOUBT the longest part yet of this story. I hope you're hungry for reading, because I'm guessing this will take about at least three half-an-hour-long sittings to go through. I woke up at 12:30 P.M. in the morning and one of my best friends from work called me out to brunch with him. We went looking around at a bookstore for a bit, and I came back just now to post this.
I want you all to again know that I never intend to leave this story unfinished. Crazy stuff can happen, and there might be times where there could be an extremely long wait, but as long as I'm still around, the story WILL be finished in the future.
Sora's visit to Prydain is finished here, and it chronicles Kairi's ENTIRE visit to Prydain. Hence, the massive length. With this, only Aqua's visit to Prydain is left, and then it's on to the next world.
Enjoy!))
CHAPTER 3 (Part 2): Fall of the Horned King
Hen Wen began to squirm while still held in Ienzo's arm. It went to kick his side, and Ienzo saw that as the best opportunity to let go, in order to make it look like she escaped. The pig ran behind Taran as fast as it could.
"Wretched pig! I'll just have to send THIS to capture you now… come Rustflier!" He said in an angry voice.
Ienzo appreciated his emotions, because controlling them allowed him to misdirect his enemies. He opened his lexicon, and a large pool of darkness appeared between him and the four who protected Hen Wen. From out of it arose a giant Heartless that looked like a Wyvern, but several features were different.
The creature was made out of rusted metal, hence its name, and its body was very sleek. It had four wings that were grouped into two pairs on each side of its torso, and the fingers of each wing were jagged and sharp. The head had two glowing eyes, with two V-shaped horns protruded from the back of it, and there was also a horn on top of the snout. The top of the head, its backside, tail, and legs were all black in color, while the jaw and the underside that had the Heartless insignia etched into it was a metallic gray. There were shades of brown in areas all over its body. The feet each had two golden claws protruding from them, and the tail was shaped like a mace head with the same spikes emerging from it.
"Bring the pig to me when you succeed!" Ienzo had left through a Corridor of Darkness, and the creature he summoned flew high into the air.
Sora couldn't jump that high to attack with the Keyblade, but he remembered Donald's D-Link. Before he used it, he cast Shockstorm, which appeared at the Rustflier's location. The creature countered by firing several yellow-glowing fireballs from its mouth, and Sora moved out of the way with Dodge Roll.
However, they created shockwaves as they landed, and Sora was hit by the ones that were closer to him. He felt a burning sensation, then noticed his clothes were on fire. He kept rolling forward to try and stamp out the flames, while Donald cast Cure on him as his wounds started to look serious. As more fireballs came, he had to jump into the air to avoid their shockwaves.
Goofy tossed his shield to damage the creature, then as it returned to him he unleashed his Tornado move and started spinning towards it to try and knock some of the fireballs away. Donald cast Blizzard at the Heartless, and as the fire finally faded away from Sora, he cast Thunder to damage it more. The Rustflier spun around as Goofy came near to hit him with its tail. Goofy was knocked to the ground, and Sora cast Cure on him.
Then, the Rustflier dived downward at Sora. As it flew toward him, he jumped into the air, pointed the flat end of his Keyblade downward, and slammed down into the creature. The impact had halted its flight and it was now stunned on the ground. Sora, Donald, and Goofy proceeded to attack it with combos, and the light in Sora's hand began flashing. Taran had joined in to help, whacking the creature with a very sturdy fallen tree branch he had found as his weapon.
As the Rustflier recovered, it spun around, knocking everyone back with its tail. It then pushed on the ground with both feet, creating a large shockwave that hurt the trio even more, but Taran was knocked far enough away for it to not reach him.
Taran had used one of the Potions Sora had given him on Donald, who cast Cure on Sora. As the creature took off, Donald used Thunder and Goofy decided to not use Tornado but instead just throw his shield.
Sora then unleashed the power of the light created by the D-Link of Donald for the finisher. Several rockets similar to the ones Donald used for his Duck Flare had appeared around him, which then fired at the Rustflier. It began to charge several more of the fireballs, and more rockets appeared around Sora. He noticed that he could fly with them, so instead of launching he decided to fly towards the Rustflier.
He was covered in an aura of light from using the finisher, and the fireballs that the Rustflier shot had passed right through him, an effect of the protective aura. Sora swung his Keyblades in air combos as the creature was now wide open for attack, and he shot the rockets off after each of his finishers. Finally, many rockets began appearing and shot at the Rustflier as soon as they appeared.
Reeling from the assault, it landed on the ground again, creating another shockwave that Donald and Goofy hopped over, but damaged Taran. Sora used a Potion on him, then cast Vigilance on Taran as Donald used a Potion on Goofy. Sora found that this was his time to finish it off, and he focused the green circles that his Shoot Locks used to target. Sora unleashed Super Sonic, warping right to the Rustflier and dashing through it several times with both Keyblades. It had stood its ground however, and began shooting more fireballs at Donald and Goofy.
Both of them were hit by one of the shockwaves, and Sora needed to end this fight quickly or his companions would get seriously hurt. As the attack ended, the creature took its head and knocked Sora away. However, it couldn't fly up as its wings were seriously injured from both the rockets and Sora's Shoot Lock.
The Rustflier began running around with its head pointed forward, and hit both Donald and Goofy, who were knocked out by the attack. As it went for Sora, he hopped on its back and grabbed on. After Sora stood up straight, he jumped into the air and slammed down as he did before, creating another opening for attack. Taran had run forward to help Sora attack the creature when he had yelled out for an all out assault. Sora casted Icebrand, which enchanted his Keyblades, and he swung at the Rustflier several times with small icicles shooting out as he did.
He needed to end this quick, but both of their attacks just weren't doing enough. He needed to shift into his Command Style, and quick! Then he remembered the ice cream Merlin had given him. He took out a cup, and as the Cinnamon Sorbet appeared in it, he took a bite and his Frozen Flame Command Style had emerged. Sora quickly swung at the Rustflier with both Keyblades as fire and ice shot out to deal more damage, and as the light began flashing again, he unleashed its finisher. The fire and ice projectiles had shot out and melted as they merged to form a giant bubble, and the finishing blow was dealt to the creature when it had split into the tiny bubbles that barraged it all at once.
It let out a giant roar, and had fallen as it began dissolving into clouds of darkness that faded away. As it did, a giant heart had flown into the sky and faded into a dark vortex. Sora knew that if its Nobody was slain, it had probably created a powerful Reborn in Kingdom Hearts.
Donald and Goofy had recovered, and Taran walked forward with Hen Wen to thank Sora. "That was amazing! You really showed that Heartless!"
"See? I told Dallben we could handle ourselves!" Sora cheered.
"Could you teach me how to fight like that one day?" Taran asked Sora.
"Maybe I could! Although I'm using these things called Keyblades, which gives me special powers, so you wouldn't really be able to do a lot of that flashy stuff unless you got a Keyblade or some other special type of weapon yourself…" Sora explained.
"Hey Sora, there's something around Hen Wen's neck! It looks kinda like a collar!" Donald pointed out.
Indeed, there was something around Hen Wen's neck. It was made of black velvet, and several gems were studded around its circumference. As the four took the trinket off of Hen Wen, Sora's Keyblade suddenly reacted to it. The Keyhole to the world had appeared, and Sora locked it shut with the Keyblade.
Taran looked in awe as it happened. "Amazing, what was that?!"
"We kinda have to go now, the pathway to another world has appeared…" Sora frowned.
"But, then how will we stop the Horned King?" Taran questioned him.
"Ya know, I kinda wonder… that thing wasn't there on Hen Wen before… how did it get there? And did that Ienzo fella had something to do with it?" Goofy inquired.
"That doesn't make sense though… he wouldn't give us something that showed us the Keyhole, would he?" Sora pondered.
"I kinda doubt that. It would probably hurt whatever they were planning. And besides, if that object was intended to bring harm to us or something, it would have done so by now." Donald suggested.
"Yeah, Hen Wen probably just found it. Anyway, we need to head for the next world!"
"You mean you have to go now?" Taran frowned.
"Hey, don't worry… remember what Dallben told you? All you have to do is wait at the Hidden Cottage until he comes, then the Horned King won't find Hen Wen. And you know what? After we finish things in the next worlds, we'll come back and fight that villain ourselves! Right Donald and Goofy?" He looked at them.
"Of course!" Both nodded.
"All right, you come back soon then, I'll be waiting to help you!" Taran said.
Suddenly, both Taran's and Sora's hands began glowing with light. "What's this?" Sora wondered.
"Hey Sora, I think that's the D-Link!" Donald mentioned.
Wondering if it was indeed the Dimension Link, Sora shook hands with Taran and felt power surge within him. "Don't you worry Taran, we'll make sure everything's okay!" He gave Taran the collar they had found on Hen Wen, then the trio's Gummi ship had appeared, and they flew off for the next world.
Suddenly, Sora's Keyblade started glowing. It had a new shape as a Keyblade: The handle was made of gold, and had red gems surrounding the guard. The base of the blade had a gold spike shape, indicating the point where the handle and blade met. The blade itself actually looked like that of a sword, with two sword-points protruding to form the teeth, and was also glowing red. Sora decided to call it "True Knight," and the Keyblade felt light yet powerful. The Keychain was a silver-colored generic shield shape, and he decided to replace the chain of the Kingdom Key in his main hand with it.
Goofy began having a discussion with Sora as they travelled. "Hey Sora, do ya still remember that Kairi and Aqua are also on their journeys?"
"Hey, you're right! Maybe if they visit Prydain, they can help Taran too, and possibly stop the Horned King, Ienzo, and their other plans!" The Keybearer was very optimistic now that he knew there were others who had begun to restore order to the worlds.
He had sealed the Keyhole, opening up new paths for them to follow, and if they arrived at a world first they could seal Keyholes and open new paths for him. Sora did worry about Kairi a bit, but Riku and King Mickey both accompanied her, and Merlin had told him that Aqua was a well-renowned Keyblade master. As long as all three of them continued to journey, he felt that whatever plans Xehanort were coming up with, they would be thwarted sooner than he thought.
---
"(Hahahahaha! I can't believe it actually worked!! Sora has left for the next world, and for now I can focus on getting that stupid pig! Due to the fact that the location of this cottage is unknown to most, should the other Keybearers arrive, they will have nothing to do but destroy the hordes of Heartless and Nobodies in this world! )" Ienzo gloated in his thoughts.
Ienzo had appeared out of Taran's sight from a Corridor of Darkness as soon as Sora had left, and was at the Hidden Cottage after a single Wyvern Whelp he summoned returned from spying on the boy and had shown the way to the residence.
He opened his Lexicon, then several other Wyvern Whelps had appeared. "You all know the way to the Horned King's lair. Give him this note when you've brought the pig to him, and return to me with my charm in your possession when you have done this task!"
They flew into the cottage, and one of them tried to clutch Hen Wen in its grip as the other two fought back Taran.
"No, stop! Give back Hen Wen!" the boy desperately yelled as he struggled with the creatures.
As the capturing whelp had grabbed Hen Wen, they all flew out the window. The one with the pig handed it back to Ienzo, and he had disappeared through a Corridor of Darkness. Taran ran out to face the villains, but he was too late to catch them. The boy saw the creatures flying over the forest, and followed them on foot through thorny bushes and up a rocky hill.
At the top of it, he could saw an ominous sight. A castle tower with Wyvern Heartless swooping around had stood in the distance, with dark clouds gathered over it constantly. At that moment, Taran knew the creatures had taken Hen Wen into the Horned King's lair.
Just then, Gurgi had appeared again.
"Oh no, Great Lord! Not go in there! Forget the piggy!" he urged Taran.
"What are you doing here?" Taran questioned.
"Gurgi come back to be your friend!"
"Friend? Humph, you're no friend! Why, you ran away when I… oh, never mind! I promised Dallben I'd keep Hen Wen safe, I have to go!" Taran responded to the creature. "Are you coming?" he then asked.
"Me? Go in there? Oh, no no, it's a terrible place!" Gurgi cowered in fear.
"Just as I thought, you're no friend! You're just a miserable coward!" He took the apple Gurgi tried to steal from out of his vest pocket. "Here, this is all you wanted!" he said, then threw the apple at Gurgi. He then ran off toward the Horned King's lair.
"If Great Lord go into evil castle, poor Gurgi will never see his friend again! Nope, never…" the creature brooded, then it headed back through the forest.
---
A Corridor of Darkness appeared outside the Hidden Cottage. Kairi, Riku, and Mickey had emerged from it.
"Boy, I just certainly hope Radiant Garden doesn't come under attack again like it did last time me and Sora were there…" Mickey worried.
"Yeah, Sora told me about that time. Kairi, If we ever have to go back to Radiant Garden, I don't think we can really keep your dark powers a secret." Riku told her.
"… I hated having to lie to them. I'm not a Princess of Heart anymore, but I'm still their Princess, aren't I? I just saved the town from Heartless and Nobodies back there. Why wouldn't they be able to accept me?" Kairi said, explaining her feelings toward having to hide her darkness.
"Kairi, I'm sure some day they will. You just have to prove yourself to them, and I'm sure they'll understand. Everyone has darkness in their hearts, but you can show them that even though you've gained darkness, you're still on their side," he said, trying to comfort her.
"I hope you're right Riku…" she said, still thinking about something.
"Kairi, is everything alright now?" Mickey asked.
"… Yeah. Let's find out what we need to do in this world." Her response was somewhat angry toward Mickey. Kairi still resented him for making her lie about herself to the people of Radiant Garden.
"Ya don't have to worry about hiding your new powers here Kairi, we should be able to explain ourselves better in other worlds." Mickey reminded her.
Kairi had remembered her last visit with her grandmother, and the lie she told her. It wasn't fully true, but there was indeed some truth to it. A few of the memories that Naminé had brought back of her childhood were of her life in the castle, and of Xehanort, who back then was Ansem the Wise's apprentice. He really had performed experiments on Kairi behind everyone's back in order to learn more of the nature Princesses of Heart and the darkness. In every experiment, Xehanort tried to put darkness in Kairi's heart, but it would not enter because she feared it. He angrily scolded her for rejecting the darkness every time the experiments failed, even slapping Kairi a few of the times.
However, Kairi's grandmother was always there to comfort the Princess, and was one of the only people who believed her when she mentioned the experiments that Xehanort the apprentice did, and the abuse she suffered when they failed due to her resistance. Though her grandma was unable to prove it to anyone in the castle, she always made sure Kairi was feeling better. Finally, Xehanort had mentioned a Keyblade in one of his meetings with Kairi, and that he was sending her to a world known as the Destiny Islands. After that moment in which she got sent away was when her memories became lost until now.
Riku had picked an apple from a tree near the Hidden Cottage, and the trio then left into the forest. As they wandered through, Kairi was practicing her Keyblade swings.
"Hey Kairi, not trying to pick on you or anything but I noticed back at Radiant Garden you were a bit slow when you didn't have the D-Link active…" Riku said.
"Yeah, I kinda felt a little off. It was only my third time using the Keyblade, and when I was fighting Xehanort's Heartless, I had my Anti Form active. Is there any way I can better handle it all the time, and not just during those moments?"
"Well, you'd have to learn most of this on your own, but part of handling a Keyblade well is having your own style of wielding it," Riku explained. "A good tip is to ready yourself before each battle by getting into a fighting stance."
Kairi tried several ways of holding her Keyblade. She knew holding it in front with two hands didn't really work for her, so she tried holding it in the same manner as Sora and Riku. Her friend stifled a laugh as she did the same pose as him when he held Way to the Dawn and Souleater.
"Well, those three didn't quite work…" she said with a pout.
After trying several styles, Kairi finally found two that she was comfortable with. In the first of the two poses, she held her Keyblade in a way similar to how Riku did, but she held it much lower. Destiny Place was pointed forward with the hand gripping it behind Kairi's waistline as if she was readying to stab, and her other hand was pointed diagonally downwards with the fingers spread apart. Kairi had figured this would be great for her Anti Form, as the claws would be ready to slash and she'd be able to perform combos better.
"Wow, that looks really nice! It looks a bit frightening… I'm sure that would intimidate certain opponents." Riku complimented.
"I think this one would go great with my Anti Form, don't you think?"
"Hey, let's try it out!" Riku suggested.
She tried to bring forth the version of her Anti Form that enabled Kairi to wield a Keyblade while active, but for some reason it wasn't working. After a while, she turned into her Anti Form, but the Keyblade wasn't in her hand, and Kairi tried to summon it to no avail.
"I don't understand… when I fought Xehanort's Heartless, I was able to wield my Keyblade in this form. Why can't I do that now?" Kairi was puzzled.
"(Kairi, when we fought him, I awoke those powers for the first time. You were able to use Anti Form while we were in your heart, but out here you have to awaken that power again to use it each time)," Naminé explained.
"(How?)"
"(Do you remember when darkness starting coming from your hands? That has something to do with it. That Anti Form is one that you can use in combat, and is what I call 'Anti Mode,' while the other one is meant to allow you to blend into the darkness when you're not hurt, and avoid enemies. You're vulnerable while you do that however, because you can't use your Keyblade like that. I have more to explain about all this later)," she explained further.
"(Okay, thanks for letting me know!)," Kairi mentally told her.
"So did Naminé give you an explanation?" Riku asked.
"Yeah, she said that the darkness coming out of my hands whenever I attacked enemies had something to do with activating that version of my Anti Form, and it's called Anti Mode. I'll just have to try that stance out in our next fight."
Kairi decided to try out the other fighting stance that she felt comfortable with. She held her Keyblade in a normal one-handed grip with the back of her hand facing forward. Kairi then held Destiny Place behind her, so that the blade was positioned pointing past her back. With her free hand, she pointed it downward off to her side, with her fingers spread out. The stance reminded Riku of how Sora held his Keyblade in Wisdom Form.
"I think this one's going to work great for when I'm fighting without Anti Mode." Kairi said.
"Hey Kairi, why don't you practice some swings like that?" Riku mentioned.
She agreed, and both Riku and Mickey moved away from her to give room for practice. For Kairi's opener, she moved her Keyblade hand out to the side from behind her back as she pointed Destiny Place outward, then swung across diagonally upward in front of her as she moved her free hand behind her back to get a balance. She then did a clockwise spin as she brought her Keyblade around behind her and then slashed across diagonally downward in front from its position above her shoulder as she came around. Finally, for her finishing move, she slashed in the opposite direction from her previous swing as she spun around counter-clockwise, bringing it back to the height it was at before as she continued spinning to bring the Keyblade behind her, then she did a powerful downward slash as she turned forward.
Kairi then saw a sturdy, low branch from one of the nearby trees. She figured that would be perfect for practicing an air combo. Kairi got back into her stance, then jumped as she twisted her wrist downward, then pivoted it and twisted again to point Destiny Place out to her side. As she came close enough to the branch with her jump, Kairi swung across in a slightly forward-leaning arc going over her head. As she was on the same level as the branch, she then swung back across in a forward arc in front of her, bringing the Keyblade pointing behind her. Finally, for Kairi's air finisher she did two forward somersaults in midair, moving the Keyblade upward and going around to her back as if Kairi was a wheel rolling backwards. She hit the branch twice with two powerful circular swings that sliced it right off.
Both the stance and moves felt very fluid to Kairi, and she could handle them to fight much better than the clumsy two-handed style she used in The World that Never Was and Radiant Garden. When she fought Xehanort's Heartless in Anti Mode, Kairi tended to hold the Keyblade in back, with her clawed hand forward and the blade pointing downward. However, it would drag along the ground and take Kairi a bit longer to swing it forward. She hoped her own unique version of Riku's stance, her intimidating pose that looked as if she was reaching out at the target and readying to stab with her Keyblade pointed forward from behind, would allow for better combat after her quick movements in Anti Mode.
Riku then pulled out the apple he had obtained earlier, and Gurgi dived for it almost immediately after. Riku fell onto the ground as the creature yanked the apple out of his hand, and he drew Way to the Dawn due to being startled.
"Yummy munchies for Gurgi!"
"Hey, that was mine!" Riku yelled at him.
Just then, several Shadows and Wyvern Whelps had appeared.
"Ahhhh! Mean, nasty creatures come for Gurgi! Gurgi go hide now!" The creature jumped into a nearby bush as the trio drew their Keyblades.
"Time to test out your new moves!" Mickey said to Kairi.
As Mickey and Riku went to deal with their targets, Kairi dashed towards the nearest Shadow with Quick Run and hit it in a combo using her new attacks. Her hands started to radiate with dark energy as she attacked enemies, just like they did in Radiant Garden. Kairi shot a Dark Firaga at one of the Wyvern Whelps, then ran up to air combo it as the creature flinched from the projectile. Riku and Mickey were handling the other creatures as she did all this. As she finished the Wyvern Whelp, her hands began flashing as darkness flowed out from them.
Her instincts told her to reach out to the darkness that now surrounded her hands. As she did, Anti Mode had emerged with her Keyblade for the first time since fighting Xehanort's Heartless. Kairi decided now would be the time to try out her other stance, so she held the Keyblade in the same stabbing position as before, and reached forward with her clawed hand. She looked completely
vicious in second new stance coupled with Anti Mode, and had even frightened Mickey a bit.
Kairi's eyes were fixated on a shadow that Riku knocked in front of her, and she ran forward with her claw arm. Her first attack was a forward stab with her Keyblade, then to follow up she pulled it back as she spun around to slash the Heartless with her claws. For her finisher, she moved her Keyblade out and swung forward with both her clawed arm and Keyblade, wrapping both arms around herself. She then unleashed two powerful spins on the Shadow with both arms as swirls of darkness spun closely around her.
The creature immediately dissipated into darkness afterward, also releasing a heart, and she dashed to attack one of the far-away Wyvern Whelps in the air. Kairi lunged upward with her claw as she got close enough, and squeezed the creature as her clawed fingers dug into it. She then took her Keyblade and swung in a forward circle as she spun around and moved back slightly in midair. For her air finisher in Anti Mode, she dived forward with Destiny Place as a cloud of darkness burst from the Heartless as she hit it with the Keyblade, going right past it as the creature bursted and released a heart. The same dark cloud hit another Wyvern Whelp that was hovering close by, and a Pearl shot from Mickey finished it off.
Ienzo suddenly appeared in the air as they finished off the first wave of creatures. "So, THESE are your new powers. They seem… quite interesting," he remarked.
"It's you! " Riku yelled at him.
"Ah, Riku… how long has it been since I last reminded you of who you really were?" Ienzo pointed at Kairi in Anti Mode. "And now you've proven my point even further. You only follow those who are of darkness, instead of following Sora."
He then turned to Kairi. "Do you not care for Sora and his feelings ? What will he think if he sees you like this? You were once a Princess of the Realm of Light, Kairi. It was your light that gave Sora his will to fight for you!"
"I've had enough of your crap!" Riku yelled out.
"Ya know, I'm friends with both Kairi and Riku, and I've learned some things in my travels: darkness is in every normal heart, so it's always a part of those hearts. But it's not about the darkness itself, or even who wields it, but what they do with those powers! Kairi was even a Princess of Heart who embraced the darkness, but she did it to help her friends! Do ya really think your lies are gonna stop us from doing just that?!"
"Mickey…" It was at that point Kairi knew: Mickey really did want it to be known that darkness can be used for good. He wanted Kairi to be able to help her friends and for them to accept her, no matter how she had changed.
"And besides," Kairi then said, "I've seen Sora when we reunited after the darkness in Riku was at its deepest point. It took a bit of convincing from me, but Sora accepted him through all the doubts he had. So our friendship is stronger than what you think! Sora fought because he cared about me and Riku as his friends, and now… it's my turn to fight for them!"
"You still don't get it? How truly pathetic… well, I must obviously warn my associates of your presence here, and hurry with our plans before you or anyone else can interfere! But first..." He took out his lexicon, and then opened it to a page as it began glowing with twilight energy.
Several Nobodies had appeared that were a kind the trio had never seen before. They were white and gray in color like the rest of the Nobodies, but they were wearing robes that concealed their hands, and a square cap on top of their heads that had a tassel. They wore a robe that had several buckles across the middle, and were holding a book.
"These are Scholars. A special type of Nobody that I, Ienzo, formerly controlled as Zexion of the Organization. However, this type had been lost ever since my defeat. None of us were able to summon Nobodies weaker than ourselves in Castle Oblivion due to the effects of that world's curse on the creatures, but now I have remastered these! And you…" Ienzo laughed, "will be among their first victims!" He vanished through a Corridor of Darkness.
"Be careful, we don't know what these could do!" Mickey warned.
Kairi, still in Anti Mode, immediately ran on her three hands toward one of the creatures, then made several attacks with her claw and Keyblade. One of them had opened its book and pointed it at Kairi, and strange symbols began to appear on the pages. She ran towards it while Mickey shot a Pearl spell at the one Kairi was attacking earlier, but she noticed that the Scholar who was her target began to glow the same white color as when Kairi used her Drain spell.
Just as she suspected, as it finished casting the spell she felt a wave of pain and several green health orbs went from her to the Nobody. "(It can copy my abilities?! I have to deal with these quickly!)" She used her own Drain to get the health back, and then began attacking the Nobody with successive combos. Fortunately, it was already in perfect condition when it used the Drain spell, so it didn't heal any of the damage it was now taking, and it dispersed as she landed the last finisher.
A Pearl spell hit her from behind, and Kairi turned around to see another one with an open book. Guessing that it must have copied Mickey's abilities, she went to attack it again, but the Scholar teleported as she was hitting it. Riku came up and delivered a combo, and Kairi aided with Dark Firaga as they both finished it off.
"Look out!" Riku ran in front of Kairi and used Dark Shield to deflect a Dark Firaga shot that another one fired. They were making liberal use of their copying abilities, having mimicked some of Kairi's, Riku's, and Mickey's abilities. Kairi ran after the last one as the Dark Shield faded, and as she landed the first finisher her hands began to flash with dark energy.
She immediately unleashed the finisher, as she dove into the ground and launched herself upwards with dark energy from underneath her enemies. It was actually very similar to what the Guardian of Xehanort's Heartless had done in her battle with him, but instead of grabbing enemies, dark energy had exploded as she ripped through them. The remaining Scholars were quickly dealt with, and even though they shot magic projectiles and used Drain, none of it touched Kairi as she used Anti Mode's finisher.
Kairi had reverted back to normal, then Mickey cast Cure to heal everyone's wounds. As she parted the leaves of the bush Gurgi was hiding in, he was seen eating the apple that was stolen from Riku.
"Yummy munchies just what Gurgi needed after worrying about friend!"
"What do you mean 'after worrying about friend…?'" Kairi asked.
As Gurgi had munched the apple down to its core in a frenzy, he then turned around and noticed Kairi's Keyblade. "You have weapon? You can fight nasties like Sora?"
"You've seen Sora?!" Kairi asked.
"Sora? Tall, has hair like spikes? Big key?" Gurgi responded.
Kairi turned to Riku and Mickey. "It's him! Sora was here!" She then turned back to Gurgi and asked, "Where did you last see him?"
"Oh, he went away. Gurgi ran after big dragon came, but Gurgi saw flash of light and giant heart flew up! Then big ship-thingy came from sky too, and Sora jumped in, then both disappeared!"
"I see," Kairi sighed. "We were so close…"
"Don't worry Kairi, I'm sure we'll meet up with him again!" Riku said to cheer her up.
"Gurgi ran into friend on Gurgi's way here, and his piggy got snatched by little nasties! He went into evil castle, and Gurgi tried to stop great Prince from going. Help Gurgi, please! Gurgi not know what to do if Gurgi lose friend!"
There was a look of desperation in his eyes. Kairi empathized with the creature, having felt the same way about Sora.
She turned around and spoke to her allies, "Let's help him. They took his friend's pet went to some lair. Ienzo mentioned a 'Horned King…' maybe he's the one causing trouble in this world!" What Kairi didn't understand, however, were their motives.
What did they want with a pig?
She made up her mind to investigate, and save Gurgi's friend if he really was in danger. "Riku, Mickey, let's go."
Gurgi had shown them the way to the same rocky hill where Taran had been before going into the Horned King's lair. The castle tower stood in the distance, with dark clouds swirling overhead.
"Gosh, that DEFINITELY looks like a stronghold that the enemy is using in this world!" Mickey suggested.
"You ready for this Kairi?" Riku asked her.
"Are you kidding? I'm really excited! This is just the kind of stuff you and Sora handled, and now its my turn to save the day!"
---
The Horned King sat patiently waiting on his throne. After a while, the Wyvern Whelps had appeared.
"Where is your master?" he commanded to know.
One of the creatures handed him the letter that Ienzo had written. With one of his clawed fingernails, he ripped open the enveloped and began to read it.
"My Superior has called me in for a status report, and thus I am currently unable to meet with you in person.
Fortunately for both of us, Sora has left for the next world, just as planned. As a result, he is no longer a threat to our affairs in Prydain. I have taken this opportunity to capture the pig known as Hen Wen, and if this message has reached you, then the Heartless that delivered it also have her in their possession.
When I return, we shall properly discuss how I shall retrieve the Black Cauldron, and then your part in our bargain afterward. I look forward to working with you further.
-No. XIX, Ienzo, of the Council of XXV"
He turned to notice one of the Wyvern Whelps clutched Hen Wen in their grasp. The collar Ienzo put on her was being held by the whelp next to it. The Horned King was delighted.
"Creeper, come here!" the Horned King yelled.
A small goblin had come forward through the door to the throne room. It wore a purple hat and clothing, with green skin that had warts on it. "Your majesty, y-you called…? ACK!"
The Horned King had grabbed the goblin's by the neck, and yelled at him, "Get the prisoner to show me the location of the Black Cauldron!" He then threw Creeper to the ground, then sat on his throne.
"A-at once sire!" He ran over and grabbed the Horned King's scrying bowl, then grabbed Hen Wen. The Heartless let go, then vanished with the collar in their possession as Ienzo instructed of them earlier. "Alright pig! Show his majesty where the Black Cauldron can be found! Go on, show it!"
She had refused to touch the water.
"The Black Cauldron! Where is it? Show us, swine!" Creeper took Hen Wen and plunged her head into the scrying bowl.
Nothing had appeared. "I warn you, the King's patience is short!" he said as he grabbed a pair of Tongs then used them to pick up a hot coal from the nearby fireplace.
"No, don't! Noooo!!" Taran yelled, not about to allow Hen Wen to get hurt. Taran suddenly lost his footing on the boardwalk, and fell right next to the cage Hen Wen was trapped in. He got up and ran out with Hen Wen through the door to a kitchen, then out to the balcony of the tower, just as Creeper was following behind.
He was very high up on the outer balcony, and it was a dead end. Taran noticed that it was an easy jump to the moat. He prepared to throw Hen Wen into the water safely.
"You have to swim Hen!"
Taran pushed the pig into the moat, but as he readied to jump himself, Creeper caught him by the legs and dragged Taran back to the throne of the Horned King.
"I caught him, your majesty! I caught the boy!"
"But you let the pig go, didn't you?" the Horned King glared.
"It wasn't my faul-GAAK!" Creeper was interrupted as the Horned King choked him.
Taran was horrified at the sight of the villain. His skin was green and looked like it was rotting away, and his head was a skeleton with the same horns that were his namesake. His hands had claw-like fingernails, and he threw down Creeper with one hand while the other glowed with darkness.
The Horned King then summoned several Soldier Heartless. "Throw him in the dungeon!" he instructed, and they began moving toward Taran, who was helpless to stop them.
---
In the lower reaches of the Horned King's lair, Kairi's trio had appeared through a Corridor of Darkness. They were in a series of tunnels, with rubble and rats in several areas.
"It's really hard to see down here…" Kairi stated.
"Don't worry, I'll fix that!" Mickey used the Pearl spell and shot the orb of light in a direction.
Just then, Kairi caught a scent in the air, and she could tell a person was coming. It was part of the dark powers that Riku explained he once had. She never told Mickey or Riku that she caught Sora's scent back in Radiant Garden due to the fact that they were keeping her dark powers a secret in that world.
"You can use a bauble too?" a female voice said. Kairi, Riku, and Mickey turned around to see who it was.
The young woman who now stood before them had long, blonde hair with a black hairband. She wore long, white sleeves, a dark blue vest, and a beige dress skirt over a white underskirt of the same length. Floating around her was a glowing sphere of light, similar to the Pearl spell Mickey had cast, but it looked more like a glass orb and didn't have a trail following it.
"Who are you?" Kairi had asked.
"Why, I'm Princess Eilonwy." The floating sphere of light that looked different from Pearl came towards Kairi. "This here is my bauble."
Riku touched it, but the orb flashed and then came back toward her.
"Wait a minute… Princess?" Riku turned to Mickey. "(Do you think she's the new Princess of Heart that Yen Sid mentioned?)"
Mickey turned to Eilonwy, but he couldn't sense a heart of pure light that was characteristic of Princesses of Heart. If Eilonwy was a princess of any kind, it was only politically for the world they visited.
"(I can sense that she has the heart of a normal being. So this isn't the new world that appeared)" he whispered to Riku.
"So Princess Eilonwy, what are you doing here?" Kairi asked.
"Just Eilonwy will do. And as for why I'm here, it was that wicked, wicked Horned King! These strange white and black creatures were summoned by him, and they surrounded me. Next thing I knew, I wound up here in the dungeons. I managed to escape my cell without raising any alarms though. The rats here are quite awful! Are you lords, or perhaps warriors?"
"We're warriors who have come here to stop whatever those creatures and their masters are trying to accomplish. But don't worry, we'll also help you get out of this dungeon!" Kairi answered.
"Oh good! I'll lead the way. I heard two voices of people who were imprisoned here on my way out, so lets go look for them first before leaving." Eilonwy said.
Kairi didn't want to use a Corridor of Darkness to bring Eilonwy out of the castle unless it was an emergency. She knew however that she would have to use her dark powers to fight enemies that appeared to protect her allies and Eilonwy, and Kairi wouldn't have it any other way.
The princess had removed a brick from a low ceiling, and Kairi helped her up. Eilonwy noticed she was in another prison cell, but in this one sat Taran, moping about his failures with keeping Hen Wen safe.
"You're being held prisoner aren't you?" Eilonwy asked.
Taran watched the bauble as it floated around him. "Yes!"
"I've been held against my will too." Her bauble floated in front of Taran, and as he touched it, the orb of light flickered again. "Oh, I hate this place! I do hope there aren't any rats in here. Oh, not that I really mind them you know, but they do jump out at one so! I'm Princess Eilonwy by the way."
"I'm Taran, an assistant pig-keeper."
"Well, if you come with me, I met these wonderful folks who will help us escape!" She went back down the hole she made, and then Eilonwy and Taran both regrouped with Kairi's trio. "Oh, that wicked, wicked king! He thought my bauble could tell me where some old cauldron was."
"That's what he wanted my pig for!" Taran mentioned.
"Oh yes, your PIG!" Eilonwy giggled.
"Wait, the Horned King is looking for a cauldron? And he tried using Eilonwy's bauble and your pig?" Kairi asked.
"He's looking for an artifact known as the Black Cauldron. If he obtains it, he can summon an army of unstoppable warriors, and Prydain will be doomed!" Taran explained.
"But why would he need those if he had the Heartless and Nobodies?" Riku wondered.
As they continued to travel through the dungeon, they talked about what had happened recently in the world with the Heartless and Nobodies. Eilonwy's bauble had chased away several rats as they had wandered through.Taran learned from the conversation that Kairi, Riku, and Mickey were Keyblade wielders, just like Sora was.
Taran began to ponder. "Come to think of it, he has been wreaking havoc already with those creatures you just mentioned… but the Heartless and Nobodies can be dispatched by you and Sora, can't they?"
He had caught Kairi's attention again. "Taran, you've met Sora? Did he say where he was going to?"
"No, just that he was headed for 'the next world,' or something like that."
Soon, they a hole in the wall. Taran and Eilonwy had peaked in, and noticed something. A coffin, covered in cobwebs, sat in the middle of the brick room. "A burial chamber!" Eilonwy said, "This could be the tomb of the great king who built this castle, before the Horned King took it over… AHH!"
The wall crumbled as Taran fell forward. Princess Eilonwy was still standing, having pushed back to keep from falling over.
"Are you alright? Well, c'mon then! Help me have a look around," she said.
Taran got up, then went to see the coffin of the former king. "He must have been a great warrior!" he mentioned. Just then, Taran saw a sword sitting on top. He brushed off the dust from the guard, and then took it along with the sheath.
Meanwhile, Kairi's trio had arrived, and Eilonwy motioned for them to come over. As they did, she watched Creeper arriving with a henchman pulling a covered wagon.
"This will please him!" Creeper said, "Piece of good luck this time! Hurry, in with it! He'll reward me for this! Don't stop you weaking, put your back into it!"
As he led the henchman, a skeleton arm hung out from the wagon, as the two of them went into the cellar the Horned King was previously in.
"What do you think that was?" Mickey asked.
"I don't know, but let's get out of here before they come back!" Eilonwy suggested.
The five of them had left the burial chamber, and Eilonwy's bauble went up a stairway. They heard an old man shouting as a wolf barked.
"Down! You don't realize who I am! I shall sing of your dastardly deed! I'm Fflewddur Fflam, minstrel of minstrels! Balladeer to the grandest courts in all the land!"
Several of the strings on his harp broke as he said the words. "Oh shush, why do you judge every word I say!" he said, as if speaking to the instrument. He suddenly caught sight of a skeleton. "Heeeeeeeelp!!" he yelled out.
Kairi's company had arrived. "Oh, hello! We'll have you untied in a moment," Eilonwy said as the rest worked to untie his bindings.
However, one of his arms was shackled, and the key was nowhere in sight. Kairi knew that this was a job for the Keyblade, so she took it out and unlocked it.
"My, what was that?" Taran and Eilonwy were both shocked.
"This is a Keyblade. I can fight with it, but also use it to lock and unlock things." Kairi explained briefly, not wanting to go too much into detail.
Just then, several Scholars had appeared, but instead of attacking, they vanished.
"Oh no, we have to get out of here fellas! They've probably sounded an alarm!" Mickey exclaimed.
Sure enough, Kairi went out of the room, and at the bottom of the stairs Creeper caught sight of her. "Master, the prisoners are escaping, and they have help!"
The Horned King had come out of the cellar, and Kairi caught her first glimpse of him. He grabbed Creeper's neck, and down the hallway she saw that several Wyvern Whelps, Soldiers, and Large Bodies had appeared.
Several of the Wyvern Whelps dived for her, and used Quick Run to avoid their attacks. Kairi dispatched them with combos, then after looking around, she noticed that more of them were being summoned by the Horned King.
Kairi went back into the prison cell Fflewddur was being held in, and unlocked the door leading to a bridge with her Keyblade. "Come on, they're constantly being summoned! We have to get out of here!"
As they ran across the bridge and reached the other side, a magical barrier had formed, and several Large Bodies and a Scholar had appeared.
"We have to attack from behind with those large ones! Aiming for the head works too!" Riku yelled.
Taran had drawn his sword, and Eilonwy asked him where he got it. "Did you get it from back… there?" she asked.
"Well, it's not like he's going to use it again!" Taran told her, then he went after the Scholar.
It scanned him with its book, then a glowing energy sword similar to the one Taran obtained had appeared at its side. "Taran, look out!" Riku ran in front, and blocked its swings with Dark Shield. Mickey fired Pearl at it, then Kairi ran up to finish it off.
As several of the Large Bodies came charging at them, Kairi slid out of the way and ended up behind one of them, an ability known as Slide Turn that she had learned after Radiant Garden. She took the opportunity to attack with her Keyblade, but she noticed that it wasn't flinching at all. As she was about to use a finisher, it knocked her away with a backhand, and she retaliated with a Dark Firaga shot at its head.
The Large Body burst into darkness as a heart was released, and Kairi saw Mickey, Riku, and Taran fighting off the other creatures as Princess Eilonwy stood from a distance using her bauble to attack. Fflewddur sat cowering right by the border of the magic field, running out of the way whenever a Large Body charged at him.
She used Drain on one of the remaining Large Bodies to recover from the attack dealt by the previous one, then Mickey took the opportunity to unleash a combo from behind and finish it off. As the remaining Large Bodies were dealt with, the barrier had lifted, and they saw several Heartless and Nobodies that were already gathered behind the barrier. The darkness in Kairi's hands was flashing, indicating that Anti Mode was ready, but they had no choice but to keep going.
They made it to a bridge outside, and as they got to the middle of it, several Scholars had appeared with Wyvern Whelps. Kairi unleashed Anti Mode, and both Eilonwy and Taran gasped as they saw her transform.
"Don't worry, I'm still me!" Kairi tried to calm them, then went straight for the first Scholar, ripping at it with Keyblade attacks and her claw.
"That's another of Kairi's special powers. She might look like one of them right now, but she's still on our side. Using the enemy's strengths against them is what Kairi's doing right now!" Riku reassured them, then went for one of the Wyvern Whelps with an air combo. It was a fierce battle, with Kairi attacking and then eventually using Anti Mode's finisher as Riku and Mickey helped finish off the Scholars, and several bauble attacks and spells from the four of them took care of the Wyvern Whelps.
Two more Scholars appeared, along with a new Heartless type. It was shaped like a rusted, dark-green cauldron, with green mist coming out the top. The eyes and mouth glowed green, and it had jagged teeth, but its face was flat. It began shooting balls of what seemed like the same green energy of health orbs, but they were multicolored and were swirling with the same green mist.
The trio managed to dodge them, but Taran was hit and got stunned momentarily as be began to look sickly. Mickey used Cure on him, which made him look slightly better, but he still had some of the effects linger. Whatever it was, the orbs did some kind of poison damage.
Kairi cast Dark Firaga at the creature, but it tilted to take in the projectile and spouted a large, homing ball of the same mist. Kairi used Quick Run to keep her distance from it, and after a while it exploded. The resulting mist hit Riku and Mickey, and their health was depleting just like Taran's. Kairi and Taran had tossed them Potions, and after the effects wore off they drank the healing liquid.
While all this was going on, the Scholars had scanned Mickey's and Riku's abilities. Taran and Eilonwy had boldly attacked, but Eilonwy's bauble was blocked by one of the Scholars using Riku's Dark Shield ability, and the Scholar that copied Mickey casted Cure on the Heartless, nullifying any damage that Taran did after he attacked.
Kairi had to think, as she was getting nothing from her instincts. The new Heartless had nullified Dark Firaga, and could possibly nullify Mickey's Pearl too. It spewed poison attacks that were hard to heal through, and her current Drain spell only restored health to herself. Taran however, was able to damage it with melee attacks, and its poison seemed to spread out rather than going into close range. She ran up and started attacking the Heartless.
"Riku, Mickey, you gotta keep those Nobodies busy!" she yelled.
They understood, and Mickey attacked the one that copied Riku, leaving the one that copied Mickey for Riku to deal with, calling in Taran and Eilonwy to help him damage it.
Mickey sent a Pearl spell around to behind the first Scholar's Dark Shield, then finished it with a combo attack. The other one fell quickly with the combined might of Riku, Taran, and Eilonwy, and the fact that it could only cast Cure infrequently didn't help it much either.
This left only the cauldron-like Heartless to deal with, which Kairi was already attacking. However, it barely flinched at all, even less so than the Large Bodies, and it had already began charging another wave of poison projectiles.
Just then, Kairi glowed with blue light, and green circles appeared before her eyes on the creature. What was happening? Her instincts told her to grip the Keyblade with both hands, and she did so. Multitudes of weak Dark Firaga shots came spraying forth from the Keyblade, hitting the creature all at once because of Kairi's close proximity to it. The Heartless had burst into darkness and released a heart as the last few shots were fired.
"That's almost like my Dark Aura, but much more powerful!" Riku said. He could use Dark Firaga, but since Kairi took some of his dark powers, he wasn't able to fire multiples, and instead had to focus it into one powerful sphere. Kairi decided to name her new ability Dark Aurablast.
The magical barrier had lifted, and they reached a gate. There were no locks or anything for Kairi to open, and the swarm of Heartless and Nobodies had surrounded them.
"With an army this great…" the Horned King had said as he appeared in a flash of smoke, but was gasping heavily for air after exerting the power it took to summon so many of the creatures. "I am starting to wonder if I will really need the Cauldron Born to conquer these lands…" Despite the fact that he was tiring, he grinned as he saw the predicament the six were now in.
Kairi looked at the Horned King and noticed that he was weakening. However, she was also out of breath from the last battle, and needed to get back her energy to conjure a Corridor of Darkness. She hadn't used a D-Link yet, so she activated Riku's D-Link and used her returned energy to summon one of the portals, knowing that this was an emergency. "Everyone, get in here quick!" She knew that Riku and Mickey were immune to its negative effects, with Kairi herself also having not felt them from her usage, but hoped that Taran, Eilonwy, and Fflewddur would only have to travel through this portal once, as she didn't want to be responsible for them falling to the darkness. As they all entered, the portal immediately closed shut, preventing any of the Heartless and Nobodies from entering.
Creeper began sweating. "Oh master, this is a terrible, terrible predicament! But… but don't worry, these creatures will find them at once, yes- GAAK!"
The Horned King choked him in frustration, then yelled at him, "How long ago did Ienzo leave to find the Black Cauldron!?"
Creeper choked the words through the grip. "S-sire, he left just after your meeting with him a while back, he should f-find it any moment now, and will bring it right back!"
The Horned King threw Creeper down, then strode back into his castle.
---
Naminé sat on part of the Station of Awakening. It had been split into two different halves, but both sides were connected by beams of light and darkness that flowed between them. "I'll have to show this to Kairi sometime…"
Kairi's Station of Awakening changed after her battle with Xehanort's Heartless, and Naminé decided that she'll need to know more about what was done to her heart in order for her to be able to wield the darkness so effectively.
Meanwhile, she had made a new entry in her sketchbook. It was two drawings, one of the Scholar Nobody, and another of the cauldron-like Heartless. She named the latter drawing
Toxic Kettle, with descriptions of its attacks and tactics for it. The other sections of her sketchbook read
Destiny Islands,
Radiant Garden, and
Prydain, the latter of the three being unfinished.
Naminé would be chronicling Kairi's journey, using her sketchbook as a journal.
---
At a glade, Eilonwy was sewing a torn pair of Fflewddur's spare pants, Taran polished his new sword. Fflewddur himself was singing a song, while Kairi, Riku, and Mickey discussed the recent developments of their journey.
"So Taran and Eilonwy are safe now right?" Kairi wondered.
"Yeah, but we still have to deal with Ienzo and the Horned King!" said Riku.
"Back there, we could have probably handled all those Heartless and Nobodies, but our priority was getting Taran, Eilonwy, and Fflewddur out safely. So we couldn't endanger them by fighting all those. Plus, the ones that were summoned within the barriers put up quite a fight!" Mickey explained.
"The Horned King kept summoning all those Heartless and Nobodies… I couldn't even get near him there were so many!" Kairi said. "I did notice something though… he was getting tired from summoning that many. If we're to have any chance at stopping him, we have to strike him down when he can't call that many."
The trio agreed, then they overheard an argument happening between Taran and Eilonwy.
"You weren't afraid at all? Why, we were running for our lives!" Eilonwy yelled.
"Well, I got us out of the castle, didn't I?"
"Don't be ridiculous! You know it was Kairi and her friends, along with that magic sword of yours, and my bauble that saved us!"
"Well, it takes great warriors to handle swords like these!"
"But still, they're magic swords!"
"Well what does a
girl know about swords anyway?!"
"Girl? GIRL?! If it weren't for these two GIRLS, you'd still be in the Horned King's dungeon!"
"What's going on?" Kairi had just arrived to try and settle things.
"Well, at least I don't keep talking about magic swords FOREVER! You'd have to be really bored to be doing that!" Eilonwy yelled at Taran, ignoring Kairi's question, then walking past her afterward.
"Silly girl! Even if she is a princess…" Taran remarked.
"Now the two of you, stop this! We're going to… oh dear." Fflewddur said in a hushed tone, as he saw Eilonwy suddenly stop and look back at Taran with tears in her eyes and hurt feelings. She ran over to behind a tree, and Eilonwy could faintly be heard crying. Kairi asked Taran what happened in their argument, and he explained it to her.
"Taran, I can understand how you feel. You probably felt like she didn't think you mattered back there, but you both did! We're supposed to be working as a team, and both she and you should understand that. However…" Kairi continued, "Your remark just now was TOTALLY uncalled for! I think you should go apologize to her for that."
After a moment of thinking, Taran agreed, and they both went over to the tree Eilonwy stood behind. She came out slowly as they both approached.
"… Kairi is right, we are going to have work together. And we'll find your pig, I'm sure it's important…" Eilonwy said as she sobbed a little.
"Thank you both for getting me out of the dungeon. And I'm sorry about what I said earlier…" Taran said.
"It was no problem. Eilonwy, do you accept his apology?" Kairi asked.
"Yes… I forgive you Taran. We couldn't have gotten out of that dungeon if it wasn't for all of us helping each other."
"That's a relief. At least we're all safe…" Taran sighed in relief.
"Aaaaaaahhhhh!! Great Belin" Fflewddur screamed out from where he was sitting.
Taran jumped up as he grabbed the handle of his sword and ran off to help him. Kairi also drew her Keyblade and ran off to assist Taran.
"Gurgi, get off him!" Riku yelled.
"Huh? What's Gurgi doing here?" Kairi said as she saw the creature trying to steal Fflewddur's hat.
"Haha, Gurgi's lucky day!" he yelled as he picked up the hat.
"That's not yours buddy, give it back to him!" Mickey yelled at Gurgi, who was also trying to take the harp from the minstrel whose hat the creature had stolen.
"Take it, I'm sure you've murdered for less!" Fflewddur said, trying to persuade him to get off.
Both of Kairi's companions were trying to pull him off of Fflewddur, and she was also about to help them, when finally Taran arrived on the scene.
"Gurgi!" the boy yelled.
"Master! Uh, uh, old man… fall down!" Gurgi then turned to Fflewddur as he yelled, "Get up, get up!"
"Well, really! Who is your pungent little friend?" Fflewddur asked as he brushed off his harp.
"He's no friend of mine, just a coward and a thief." Taran said.
"Humph, too big anyway!" Gurgi said as he took off Fflewddur's hat and gave it back to him. Gurgi then noticed Kairi, and Eilonwy who went to her side, and began fixing his hair.
"Well, aren't you charming?" Eilonwy said to the creature.
"He's probably just hungry, and though Fflewddur had something for him to eat." Kairi mentioned as she looked around.
On a tree nearby was an apple, nice and ripe for picking. She swung her Keyblade and knocked it off, then caught the fruit with her other hand as it fell. Kairi then went up to Gurgi, holding her hand out with the apple. He turned around with a look of delight in his eyes.
"You give munchies to… Gurgi?" he asked.
"Yeah, go ahead and have it!" Kairi smiled as she answered.
As Gurgi was about to touch the apple, the hands of both Kairi and the creature started glowing. Gurgi put his hand on the apple, and she felt a surge of power flow through her. She had seen the same light whenever a D-Link was used by her… did Kairi have a new one now?
Gurgi rapidly ate the apple, then afterwards thanked Kairi. "Gurgi grateful for yummy munchies! You Gurgi's friend too… uh…"
"Kairi," she introduced herself.
"Excuse me, kupo, but did you just say your name was Kairi?" a Moogle had asked from nearby.
"Yes, why?"
"I have a message from someone named Merlin, kupo…"
The Moogle readied to relay the message. "Ahem… 'Kairi, no doubt Master Yen Sid has sent you on your very first journey. I, the great wizard Merlin, have been appointed to assist you in developing better control over your abilities. Please meet me in Radiant Garden when you get the chance..."
"…Kupo!" the Moogle said as he coughed. "Sorry, ahem… 'We weren't able to see each other during your first visit because I was away on important business, but I have something to show you that will possibly be of great use on your journey. Also, the Moogle giving you this message should have a type of ice cream in stock known as "Decadent Fudge." Theoretically, it should interact with some of your powers to bring them out, but this will only work once in a while. I look forward to our first meeting.' "
"Merlin?" Kairi asked.
"He was a colleague of my former master, Yen Sid! Kairi, he'll probably have some way you can practice all your new powers!" Mickey said.
"Really?! That's great!"
"But first, we need to deal with the villains who are leading the Heartless and Nobodies in this world," Riku said.
"Yeah, so let's get that done right now!" Kairi said in agreement.
"By the way, kupo… I just so happen to have some of that ice cream he mentioned! Would you like to purchase some, kupo?"
Kairi purchased several cups of the Decadent Fudge ice cream, and more Potions to replace the ones she used during her last battle. After doing so, everyone regrouped.
"We need to stop the Horned King from getting that cauldron, and find Hen Wen. She escaped from the tower before I was thrown in the dungeon, so she had to have made it out here somewhere. If we let him get the Black Cauldron, there's no stopping him!" Taran explained.
Gurgi looked at the ground behind him, and saw footprints heading along a path. "Tracks? TRACKS! Gurgi remembers, saw piggy's tracks!"
"You did?" Taran asked.
"Just today!"
"Today? Wait a minute…" Taran pondered.
"You'll try anything!" Fflewddur stated.
"Oh, you're both horrid! He just might know," Eilonwy said.
With convincing from Kairi's trio and Eilonwy, all of them followed Gurgi to a small pond. More of Hen Wen's tracks were seen.
"See master? Piggy's footsteps, no lie!" said Gurgi as he began to cross the pond via stepping stones.
"Oh good, they look fresh," Taran noticed.
As Gurgi was in the middle of the pond on a stepping stone however, all the other stones disappeared, and the one he stood on began spinning as the water started glowing slightly pink. A whirlpool was formed, and Gurgi became caught in it.
"Oh master, master!!" he called out for help.
"Gurgi!" Taran yelled as he stood in the shallow end. He reached out to Gurgi but then became caught in the swirling waters.
"Oh no! Taran, give me your hand!" Eilonwy reached out as she grabbed onto Fflewddur's scarf. Kairi, Riku, and Mickey hugged the old man to support the Princess in her rescue attempt, but the whirlpool was too great. As she grabbed Taran's hand, they were all sucked into the vortex.
Kairi began to reflect on her journey so far as she was caught in the drain. Various visions of Traverse Town, The World That Never Was, Destiny Islands, Yen Sid's Tower, and Radiant Garden rushed into her head as she was now going towards a hole in the lakebed that created the whirlpool. Kairi became unconscious as she fell through it.
Several fairies had appeared in a cave. There were four of them, and they were all diminutive, floating behind a rock as their little wings flapped. The clothing they wore consisted of gowns, pants, and shoes, with their pants a lighter color than the rest of their garments. A female was also with them, with a pink flower in her hair instead of a cap. The one in front of them wore their clothing as a single color. The one in front had blue clothing, the female wore pink and red, while the two in between were dressed in orange and green.
The blue one went further up the rock and peeked over. "Uh oh!" he said as he noticed the group of unconscious adventurers, who had fallen into the cave through the vortex.
"How did they get in here?" the orange one asked.
"Haha, old Doli's whirlpool broke again!" he responded.
The fairy in pink noticed that Kairi, Taran, and their companions were beginning to regain consciousness. "I think they wake up soon. We better tell King Eidilleg," she said.
"No silly, you know we're not supposed to be up here!" the fairy in blue reminded her.
"Uh oh, we're going to be in trouble!" the fairy in pink told him.
"Not me!" All of them except for her had vanished.
"Me either!" She began to fly through the cave, then saw the king of fairies as she vanished. "Uh oh!"
The king wore a red robe and hat, both of which bore white fur lining. His shirt was blue, and his pants were orange with gray socks. He wore a small variety of colors. The one he was visiting was wearing yellow clothing with brown socks. Both of them also wore gray beards, indicating their age among the fairies. The one in yellow had been trying to work with a construction of several wooden sticks, with a lily pad on top that was dripping water.
"Oh yes, I see you fixed that," the one with the red robe said.
"Yup! When I get… this pole…" the one in yellow was struggling to fix the construction as he was talking, "Up here… I'll be finished!"
Kairi heard voices from where both of the elder fairies were in the cave, and everyone began to get up. They began walking over to see who was over there.
"Good! Yes, it SHOULD work." the red-robed fairy said.
"It's PERFECT!!" the one in yellow responded, but just as he spoke, the structure began to collapse. "Grab that pole!" he instructed to the red fairy.
"Ugh, I got it!" Despite the fact that he grabbed one of the sticks, the entire structure began shaking.
"Aren't you all darling?" Eilonwy said, as she and everyone else now approached the two fairies.
"Oh, uh, hello. I'm King Eidilleg of the Fairfolk, and Doli is the one working on fixing the…"
"How in the blazes did they get in here?!" Doli yelled out, then the whole structure collapsed on Eidilleg and Doli.
"I thought I told you to fix the whirlpool!" the fairy King said to Doli.
"I fixed it! Well, I did fix it… it was perfect!"
"Evidently not completely perfect! It's supposed to keep them OUT!" Eidilleg then turned back to the adventurers. "Uh, can I be of any service?"
"Is everything that happens around here MY fault?!" Doli grumbled as Eidilleg continued greetings.
"Are you here on a friendly visit?" the fairy King asked.
"We don't mean any harm. We just fell through the whirlpool and now we're looking for a way out of this cave." Riku responded.
"And I suppose it's my fault the pig's here too!" Doli complained.
"Hen Wen?!" Taran shouted in joy.
Kairi knew Sora wasn't here, but she would be just as happy as Taran was right now if she could see him. "If a small pig came through here, we'd like to know where it is."
"Oh, she's your pig?" Eidilleg asked.
"Yeah, Hen Wen's her name, and she belongs to Taran." Mickey said.
"GOOD, one less thing for old Doli to worry about!" he said.
"Oh Doli, would you hurry up and fetch the pig?"
"FETCH THE PIG?!" He was furious that he was being pushed and ordered around yet again, but reluctantly did as the fairy King asked, if only to get the visitors out of the caves.
On his way to get Hen Wen, Doli bumped into more of the Fairfolk children along the way. "Hey you kids! What are you doing!?"
"Oh, oh, Mr. Doli. I just want to see the pretty visitors," a young female fairy answered.
"Alright, but you watch yourself, ya hear?"
He eventually came through with Hen Wen, and while he did, Kairi and Eilonwy were both watching the fairies fly around. It was like a rainbow swirl of bright, beautiful lights, with diminutive eyes watching them.
"I cannot believe my eyes, your majesty!" Eilonwy said, marveling at the phenomenon.
Kairi on the other hand, was speechless. She stood with Riku and Mickey, taking in the vision as the fairies flitted around. Surely this wasn't the only memorable sight she'd find on her journey! "(Sora must have already seen tons of amazing stuff like this besides what he told us about)!" she thought to herself.
Finally, Doli came back with Hen Wen following him.
"Oh Hen, thank goodness you're safe!" he kneeled down as the pig came toward him and jumped in his lap.
Eidillig then turned to the rest of the group as he asked, "Tell me, is all that burning and killing, STILL going on up there?"
"You're referring to th-that joke on humanity, the Horned King?" Fflewddur remarked.
"Well no one ever stands up to him!" the fairy King mentioned.
"We're gonna stand up to him!" Kairi looked him boldly in the eyes as she stepped forward. Riku and Mickey both nodded in agreement. "Taran, when Sora left, what did he say was the reason?"
"Oh… he said something about 'going to the next world' or something."
"That's because he found this world's Keyhole, and locked it!" Mickey mentioned. "Sora has to set things right in other worlds, but…"
"That doesn't mean those who bring harm to this one are gonna be left to do that." Riku said.
Kairi walked up to King Eidilleg, then kneeled on one leg as she drew her Keyblade and grasped the handle, with the blade pointed in the ground as if she was taking an oath. "My name is Kairi, wielder of a Keyblade and one who is charged with maintaining order in the worlds. If Sora has to set things right in another world, but villains like the Horned King are allowed to wreak havoc with Heartless and Nobodies, then it's up to me to make sure they're stopped!"
She had never felt more determined than she did now. Kairi made a decision in her heart that no matter what, she and her friends would do everything they could to help Sora on his journey. Whether it was stopping villains, battling the Council, or safe-guarding the Keyholes, she would fix everything that Sora wasn't able to in a world. If new situations had risen after Sora left, she would be there to restore the order that he worked so hard to create. This… was Kairi's journey, just as much as it was Sora's! And when they were together again… she would tell him of
her adventure!
"It's great that you wish to so nobly deal with this menace, but if he finds the cauldron… he'll kill us all!" Fflewddur said with a grimaced look on his face.
"Oh, no, no… he'll never find it. No, it's safely hidden, in Morva." Eidilleg explained.
"Morva?" Taran asked.
The fairy King scratched his head. "Well, at least I think it is… oh, Doli, is it?"
"Yup, is that my new job?! Remembering where the cauldron was last seen?!"
"Oh, he'll know right where it is, you'll see!" Eidilleg said.
"If we could get to the cauldron first and destroy it, that would stop the Horned King!" Taran cheered.
After some discussion, Doli reluctantly agreed to take them to the swamps of Morva. The Fairfolk transformed into blue sparkles as they flew around the adventurers and escorted them to the exit. Hen Wen, however, was not coming with them.
"Oh wait, Hen Wen!!" Taran yelled.
"Don't worry, we'll get her home safely!" Eidilleg explained.
"Thank you sir. Be good, Hen!"
As Eidilleg himself and several other Fairfolk began swirling around Hen Wen to carry her back to Caer Dallben, Kairi, Taran, and their companions were already headed for where the Black Cauldron was located. Upon finally arriving in the swamps, Kairi looked around and saw that it was quite eerie. An eerie mist covered most of the ground, and they trekked across the foliage-covered ground. Fflewddur fell into a chasm as Doli sat on his hat, prompting everyone else to check up on him.
As they regrouped, they saw in front of them a cottage that looked very ran-down. Swamp moss covered the top of the wood, and various animal skulls were displayed on staves. A symbol with three arrows protruding from a circle appeared on the door. Kairi didn't recognize it as belonging to the Heartless, Nobodies, nor the Council of XXV.
"Welcome to Morva…" Doli explained.
"Gurgi not like this place… Uh-uh, nope!"
Eilonwy peeked through a window inside. "It seems empty, maybe we should have a look."
Kairi unlocked the door with her Keyblade, and the group searched for the Black Cauldron. After coming upon a chest and opening it, a large group of frogs jumped out and made for the open door.
"You won't find it here…" a voice came from outside.
Kairi, Mickey, and Riku recognized the voice immediately… it was Ienzo. "Stay here and keep looking, it's probably a trick! We'll deal with him!" Kairi yelled to Taran and his companions as she ran outside with her allies.
"Oh, this is no trick... I speak the truth! It's already with the Horned King right now…" Ienzo mentioned, then laughed as he held out the gem-covered collar. "This lovely little charm I created from a page in my lexicon allowed me to copy that pig's powers, and the information led me right here! I bargained for the Black Cauldron from those foolish witches, and that was that! Should the Horned King ever fall, they will be the backup for the Superior's plans in this world! By the way…"
Kairi heard screams from inside the cottage, and as she ran back in, she heard Ienzo yell, "The Horned King asked me to also capture your pathetic new friends alive! For what reason, I do not know, but I would certainly hate to be in their shoes! Hahahahaha…." then disappear.
"Uh oh, trouble! Goodbye!" Gurgi yelled as he ran under the stairs.
"Things never work out when you're dealing with people!" Doli yelled as he also vanished.
Sure enough, Kairi saw Scholars grabbing an unconscious group of Taran, Eilonwy, and Fflewddur as they disappeared into Corridors of Darkness that immediately shut behind them. She had fallen for Ienzo's trap, and now the Black Cauldron and her new friends were both at the Horned King's lair.
"Kairi, if it's true that the Horned King was unstoppable with the cauldron…" Mickey gasped.
"I don't believe one word of that," Riku boldly said. "Me and Sora both fought scumbags just as awful as the Horned King, and we both came out on top. With the three of our hearts together…" Riku began.
"… We can't lose!" Kairi agreed, believing that the power of their friendship was greater than anything a mere villain could conjure. "Come on everyone, we've got a world to save!"
"Yeah!" Mickey agreed.
Kairi opened a Corridor of Darkness, and as the three of them walked in, Gurgi came out from his hiding spot. "Trouble gone, Gurgi hide no more!" he yelled as he ran in after them.
---
The Horned King was laughing as the three adventurers Ienzo captured were now tied up by their arms against a wall. "My, such a brave and handsome crew! A pig-boy, a scullery maid, and a broken-down minstrel! Perhaps it may interest you to see what fate has in store for you!"
"You wait and see, when we get down from here, we'll destroy that wretched cauldron!" Eilonwy yelled.
"Hahahaha… do you even know what you're saying? The cauldron can never be destroyed, but since you're all tied up, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to let you FOOLS know that only its power over death can be stopped! Of course," the Horned King paused, "That's only if one of you does escape, and doesn't mind dying!"
"… What!?" Fflewddur gasped.
"You see, in order to stop this Cauldron, a living being must climb in of its own free will. However, that creature will
die in the process! Since you cretins value your lives far too much, I can confidently say that I've won!"
He took one of the skeletons lying around, and held it over the cauldron. "Now I call upon the army of the dead… the Cauldron Born!" He threw it in, and the Black Cauldron began to shake and leak blood. A gigantic column of fire rose up, and as it faded, green smoke began coming out of the pot and covered the skeletons on the floor. The Cauldron Born rose up and began shambling their way out of the castle.
"My phantom warriors have come to life! All dead from centuries past! Never has anyone created an army like this! Go forth my deathless warriors! Destroy all in your path!" the Horned King shouted with glee.
Creeper came from the same path Taran made his first attempted escape through. "Come sire, we can get a better view from up here!"
As the two of them left the room, a Corridor of Darkness appeared near the cauldron. Kairi, Mickey, and Riku came through it, followed soon by Gurgi.
"Kairi, you're here!" Eilonwy said with a sigh of relief.
"Gurgi too!" Taran yelled.
Kairi saw the Black Cauldron, with its green smoke billowing out and undead soldiers rising. "How do we stop it?!" she asked.
"We… can't. I mean, someone has to jump in, but… if they do, that person will die!" Fflewddur moped.
"WHAT?!" Mickey gasped.
"Gurgi, I need you to untie us!" Taran shouted, and the creature obeyed as he untied Taran and his feet touched the ground, followed by Eilonwy and Fflewddur. "Good boy Gurgi! Eilonwy, you go with Fflewddur and Gurgi. Kairi, find and defeat the Horned King. I…" He paused for a moment, "I must stop the Cauldron!"
"That's crazy! You'll die if you do!" Kairi yelled.
He didn't listen, and Eilonwy screamed as he readied to throw himself into the cauldron. Just then, Gurgi crawled up and stood in his way, whimpering.
"Whoa! Please master, not go into evil cauldron!"
"If I don't, we're all lost! Out of my way!"
Gurgi was sobbing at this point. "No! Gurgi not let his friend die!"
It was at that moment Kairi saw… those were practically the same words
she had screamed at Sora as he took off in the Gummi Ship! All those emotions of grief, all the sadness she felt… Gurgi had felt the same for Taran! He was helpless to fight back, helpless to save his friends, but now when it mattered most,
he didn't want Taran to leave him! There were some differences, but Kairi and Gurgi were now very much alike in terms of the desire to help their friends.
"Taran has many friends. Gurgi… Gurgi has no friends…"
"That's not true! You have plenty of friends Gurgi, we all care about you! There's gotta be some other way…" Kairi said, as if she was begging him not to.
"Gurgi… has friends…?" Gurgi cried, "But, there isn't other way. Gurgi has to do this…" he then jumped. "FOR GURGI'S FRIENDS…!"
Kairi and Taran couldn't believe what was happening. Gurgi was jumping to his very death! As he landed in the cauldron, the fire and green mist suddenly got sucked back into it. The Cauldron Born began collapsing, as their source of energy was now cut off.
Out on the balcony, the Horned King looked out at the Cauldron Born as they began to crumble. "It can't be…"
He disappeared in a cloud of smoke again, and teleported to the cauldron's room. Sure enough, Kairi, Taran, and all their companions, minus Gurgi, were all there. Kairi's trio stood with their Keyblades ready, while Taran motioned for Fflewddur and Eilonwy to leave.
The Horned King grabbed one of the fallen Cauldron Born. "Get up!! Come alive!!" He then saw Taran, and his eyes turned red with rage. "You've interfered for the last time…"
"And you've brought harm to this world for the last time!" Kairi countered at him. She remembered the Decadent Fudge ice cream, and decided to see what happened if she ate it. Her Anti Mode emerged just like it had before, which puzzled Kairi as she didn't have any flashing darkness coming from her hands. The Keybearer would have to ask Merlin about it once they met.
The Horned King was now intimidated by what he saw, having not seen Kairi fighting his minions before while they chased the trio. "Ienzo, the tables have turned! Where are you!?"
"I see you need some assistance…" a voice said.
"Dammit, not him again!" Riku yelled.
Ienzo had appeared, hovering over the cauldron. "It still can brew with the power you desire… do you remember the power I gave when I taught you how to summon the Heartless and Nobodies? Well, that same power can be fused with any such object as this!" He opened his lexicon and pointed it at the cauldron.
"Get ready fellas!" Mickey yelled.
The Black Cauldron then began shaking again, but this time a much darker green energy emanated from it, heading directly for the Horned King. It enveloped him in a swirling, cloudy mass of it, creating what seemed to be a barrier.
"The Superior has sent for me again, so I'm afraid must leave this mess up to my client! But this should be MORE than enough to deal with the likes of you..." He vanished through another Corridor of Darkness.
The Horned King was still visible through the dark-green mist, with his eyes glowing red. "Arise, my messengers of death… OUR HOUR HAS ARRIVED!!"
Several Scholar Nobodies and a Toxic Kettle Heartless appeared, and they were all brimming with the same greenish dark energy that enveloped the Horned King. It was as if the cauldron's magic somehow mixed with the power of darkness!
But Kairi wasn't afraid. She stared at the Horned King, fixated her glowing yellow eyes on him in rage, and ran toward him as she prepared to lunge with her Keyblade. Kairi's stabbing attack connected, but the villain didn't even flinch, and his hands glowed green as he knocked her back with a hit.
"(He didn't even look like that scratched him!)" Kairi noticed the swirling mass of dark green clouds. Did that have something to do with it?
The Toxic Kettle began using its poisonous attacks, while two of the three Scholars made magical replicas of Riku and Mickey's Keyblades using their books. The third one, however, was holding its book open, and pointing it at the ceiling.
Kairi's trio and Taran did their best to avoid the poison attacks coming from the Heartless, but as Kairi ran up to the Scholar making odd movements with its book, the air began to heat up, and sparks of fire were even seen erupting. Suddenly, a red flash happened, and the entire room had turned red with heat.
"AGH..! What was… that?!" Riku yelled as his skin felt like it was burning.
"Apparently, those Scholar Nobodies can use some of their own magic!" Mickey yelled.
The spell cast by the Scholar Nobody was powerful indeed, but it also apparently had harmed the enemies as well. The Horned King was barely affected thanks to his barrier, but the Toxic Kettle and all three Scholars had been knocked out by the heat wave. Kairi had to deal with them quickly, as the opportunity had presented itself.
Kairi used Drain on the Horned King, but he was barely hurt by it. However, Kairi was still healed by the green orbs that appeared, while Riku and Mickey used Potions on themselves. While all this was happening, the Horned King himself had also began flying around, shooting orbs of the same dark-green energy that made up his barrier.
Kairi dodged the Horned King's projectiles with Quick Run, but she noticed that the darkness emanating from her arms as she was in Anti Mode began to fade. The Keybearer ran towards the Scholar that just cast its spell, and as she attacked it, Kairi noticed that her own dark energy was coming back.
As the Scholar dissipated, she looked over to see the Horned King making a motion with his hands. Kairi also noticed that his barrier wasn't as cloudy as it was before. Wondering if this meant something, she cast a Dark Firaga spell at him, and he yelled out an "Ugh..!" as it hit him. Like before, the Horned King didn't flinch, but apparently he could now feel the pain from her attacks. Was his barrier weakening as she destroyed the Heartless and Nobodies that were surrounded by the dark-green energy?
However, she didn't have time to think. Kairi ran up to attack the Toxic Kettle, but the Horned King had finished casting whatever he did. The energy now flowed from his hands and enveloped Kairi, and she began feeling pain as she was lifted off the ground.
"You will satisfy the Cauldron's hunger!" he yelled as he was channeling the spell. To her horror, Kairi realized that she was now being lifted into the Black Cauldron. She had to do something!
"Kairi!" Riku yelled as he began immediately attacking the Horned King, with Mickey helping his assault. The villain kept his spell going, however, as Kairi was still being moved toward the cauldron.
"(I'm not helpless, I know I can fight this!!)" Kairi thought to herself, with all her emotions now raging. Suddenly, darkness flowed freely from her, and as it became greater and greater, Kairi suddenly stopped moving. She now floated in midair, with the darkness flowing out from her hands and counteracting the energy the Horned King used. The two types of dark power connected in a beam-like mass, with a swirling vortex at the center where it connected.
Kairi began forcing the vortex at the Horned King, with him pushing it back with all his might. However, Riku and Mickey's attacks were interfering with his concentration, and as the vortex was forced back into him, his barrier had suddenly vanished and the remaining Heartless and Nobodies were destroyed.
Now was Kairi's chance to attack. The darkness from her arms was now flashing again, so she unleashed her Anti Mode finisher. As soon as it was done, she then activated Mickey's D-Link.
"Attack now, he's open!" She yelled to everyone, and they began a focused assault on the Horned King, with very fast movements thanks to the power of the D-Link.
The villain was now the helpless one, as he was being juggled around by their combined attacks. After a while of being tossed around like a rag-doll, he began glowing with the same energy again.
"Get up you fools, KILL!!!" he yelled as several Large Bodies, Wyvern Whelps, and a Scholar appeared, also with the same dark-green energy emanating.
However, Kairi's team still had Mickey's D-Link active, and they quickly dealt with the Wyvern Whelps, while Kairi dodged the Large Bodies' attacks with Quick Run and attacked whenever she dodged with Slide Turn. Riku, Mickey, and Taran focused on keeping the Scholar busy to avoid another nasty spell like the one it cast earlier, but the Nobody took some time to bring down as it copied Mickey's Cure.
Meanwhile, the Horned King started to create a tornado of the dark-green energy, and spun around while everyone else had to avoid it. However, he was hitting the Large Bodies and Wyvern Whelps wherever he moved while trying to hit Kairi and her companions, hitting the creatures off balance and stunning them. Kairi then unleashed the finisher to Mickey's D-Link once she gathered enough energy from attacks, and found out that the creatures also dropped several blue orbs. As she picked them up, she felt some energy return to her.
By the time the current wave of creatures were gone, the Horned King's barrier was barely noticeable, so defeating the summoned Heartless and Nobodies indeed had a negative effect on it. The Horned King had summoned a Toxic Kettle with several shadows, and Kairi decided now was the time to try using Dark Aurablast. She shot out multitudes of tiny Dark Firaga shots after the green circles appeared over the creatures and the Horned King, while Riku, Mickey, and Taran attacked the Toxic Kettle.
With the Shadows being wiped out, the Horned King suddenly was being flinched by the tiny bolts, and the Toxic Kettle was destroyed by the combined might of Kairi's companions' attacks along with her own Shoot Lock.
Finally, with several more combos from the four of them, they had noticed that the Black Cauldron began to no longer spout the dark-green energy. Instead, it created the same smoke that raised the Cauldron Born. However, the bright-green vapors went straight for the Horned King, and began to pull him in.
"No… you'll not have me! My power cannot die!" He said to the cauldron as he began stumbling, and the smoke suddenly started lifting him toward its origin. A face had appeared in a molten red shape on the front of the Black Cauldron. "Curse you! No… NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
The Horned King gripped the rim of the cauldron, trying to pull himself away from it, but to no avail; as he grasped onto the top, the suction became so powerful that his green flesh began to strip away, leaving only bones that were then sucked in, all while fire flashed from the artifact. "Aaaaaaarrrrgh!!" he yelled as a final flash of light burst out from the Black Cauldron, and the Horned King was no more.
Suddenly, cauldron began glowing a molten orange and sunk into the floor as the castle began to crumble. Kairi's hands were flashing with darkness from her last attack on the Horned King, so she activated Anti Mode again and used its energy to create a Corridor of Darkness for everyone to escape through. They were outside of the Horned King's castle, on the shoreline of the moat on a beach.
The Black Cauldron had floated up from the ruins, and several black clouds suddenly appeared in the sky. Three witches, all with pale-green, warted skin, suddenly appeared as their images floated on them. "We have business with you, hero! We just came to take back our cauldron, and be on our way."
"Oh, but I never give anything away. Just like you, I bargain, remember?" Ienzo said, as he suddenly appeared. "I gave you powers to summon the Heartless and Nobodies, and now I will give you the Black Cauldron back under one condition… you must summon them all to wreak havoc on this world, turning its inhabitants into Heartless and Nobodies!"
"But that's so… bothersome! Why, we just want to stay in our cottage after we get the Cauldron back, brewing spells and eating frogs!" one of the witches said.
"We'll give you a better deal…" Kairi said as she brought the Black Cauldron over. "Give us back Gurgi, and we'll give you back your cauldron!"
"NOOOOOOOO!!" Ienzo yelled out as he took his lexicon, but a Pearl spell knocked him back.
"Hold it right there, buddy!" Mickey yelled out at him.
"But… but it's impossible to bring your friend back!" the witches had said in a cowardly manner to Kairi.
"Well, that's a shame. Guess you don't have any REAL power…" Riku smugly remarked.
"Fine… we have made a bargain!" they said, as the clouds began spinning into a whirlwind.
Suddenly, a loud voice rang out from seemingly nowhere. "Ienzo…. you are to report IMMEDIATELY… I have new orders for you!"
"Well…" He looked back as he prepared himself with a gulp, "I don't have time to deal with the likes of you meddling fools, as the Superior has demanded to see me. I must be off, but make no mistake… I WON'T FORGET THIS!!" He created a Corridor of Darkness and left.
As the whirlwind abated, Gurgi appeared. He was still and lifeless, much to everyone's fears.
"Oh Taran…" Eilonwy said with tears in her eyes while the young man hugged Gurgi. Suddenly, one of the creature's little paws slipped into his vest.
"Munchings and crunchings in here somewhere!"
"Gurgi, you're alive!" Taran cheered.
Suddenly, Gurgi's paw began glowing, and Kairi's hand also began to glow.
"This a munching?" Gurgi said with a puzzled look on his face, then looked at Kairi's glowing hand. "You give Gurgi your munching too!" He took his glowing paw and tried to grab Kairi's glowing hand, but as their hands touched, she felt a surge of energy. Kairi had seen the same light whenever a D-Link was used by her… did this mean she had a new one?
"Kairi, I think our work here is done." Riku said.
"You're leaving too?" Taran sadly said.
"We have to help our best friend, Sora. And there's a new world out there that possibly hasn't been protected from evil yet, so we need to make sure it's okay," Kairi said.
"Hey Kairi, I think we should see Merlin at Radiant Garden first," Mickey suggested. "He said he had something to show us!"
"You're right! And Mickey," Kairi said.
"Hmm?"
"Thank you for helping me and having always helped Riku out. You're a true friend to me! I'm sorry I got so mad at you back at Radiant Garden..."
"Aww, shucks! You were great back there Kairi, I never wanted to hide things from the people of that world either, but Yen Sid knew that we had to. Ya know, I think one of these days we can convince him to inform them of what really happened, and hopefully everything will be okay!" Mickey said.
"That would be great!" Kairi cheered. She opened a Corridor of Darkness after taking a long enough rest, and as she travelled through it, her Keyblade had suddenly changed.
The guard was made of rusted black metal, and looked like a ring that was characteristic of many kettles for holding them, while the handle was shaped like a spine. Green streak shapes resembling mist protruded from the guard to form the blade, while at the end of it was the top-half of a pale-green skull for the blade's head. The blade itself was long and lightweight, indicating that it didn't do powerful weapon blows or defend well. Four horns similar to the ones the Horned King possessed served as the teeth, protruding from the cranium of the skull, and the keychain was a black kettle similar to the cauldron. Kairi decided to call it "Dreadful Horns" and replaced the keychain on Destiny Place with it. Kairi could feel power emanating from the handle that made her fingers go numb slightly at their tips, indicating that it perhaps boosted the power of her dark-elemental attacks, which was easily the Keyblade's main strength.
), it shouldn't be long before the next part is finished.
Spoiler
