Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Kingdom Hearts: A New Threat ❯ Chance ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7:

It had been a couple days since Iona's encounter with the Heartless in the Castle's dungeon, and she was still out of commission. Kairi, Daisy and the Queen were constantly checking on her for any signs of recovery, only to be disappointed. Sora was constantly off somewhere with Donald and Goofy, training for what they knew was going to be another tough adventure. And Riku…well, Riku was also training, but if anyone tried to approach him, he'd stalk off somewhere else. But now, they were all gathered in the Gummi hanger per the King's request; even Riku, whom had to be forcibly dragged down by Sora and Goofy.

“Why are we here, Your Majesty?” Sora asked after they had been standing around for fifteen minutes.

“We're waiting for some guests who may be able to help Iona, and help us fight the Duplicates when she's completely better,” the King explained. As he finished speaking, one of the hatches in the hanger opened, and a large Gummi ship entered. The King smiled, “Perfect! They're right on time!”

“If they're on time, why have we been standing around waiting for them?” Donald whispered to Goofy and Sora, making them both chuckle a bit.

The ship pulled up to one of the ports in the hanger and came to a halt. After a few moments, the ships door opened, and two very familiar voices were arguing.

“I told ya thatcha didn't know how to drive!”

“Oh shut up, Cid! You've got to give other people a chance to actually know that!”

“I did, and now I'm certain ya can't drive, Yuffie!”

Yuffie stalked out of the ship, her heart shaped face red with anger. Shortly after her walked out Cid, a cigarette firmly between his lips and puffs of smoke emitting from his mouth every few seconds. Following those two came Leon, Aerith, Cloud, Tifa, and Merlin.

“Thanks for coming, guys,” the King said to the group.

“Once we heard a girl was hurt, we wanted to help as best we could. Well, SOME of us did,” Yuffie said, glaring at Leon, Cloud and Cid towards the end.

“Come along, girls; I'll show you where Iona is,” the Queen said.

She led Daisy, Kairi, Aerith, Tifa and Yuffie out of the hanger, Yuffie taking the opportunity to punch Cid in the shoulder as she passed him. Once they were out if sight, Leon turned to Sora and the King.

“What's happening? We don't know anything,” he asked.

“These…things called Duplicates are destroying the worlds. We think Maleficent has something to do with it,” Sora explained.

“Duplicates, you say? My, my, my, it has been quite a while since I heard about those,” Merlin spoke up.

“You've heard of them?” Sora asked.

“Of course I have. I was alive when they were first created, you know. In fact, I helped hide almost all the Earth magic spells when it was determined that that would be wise.”

“So you know how to destroy them?” Sora asked.

“Well, I have some theories, but I don't know for sure,” Merlin said, disappointing everyone in the room.

“Well, while we figure it out, maybe you could look over Iona and figure out what's wrong with her?” the King inquired.

“Certainly, Your Majesty,” Merlin said.

The two left the hanger, leaving only Sora, Cid, Leon, Cloud, and a very pissed off Riku behind.

“So,” Cloud said, “Maleficent is up to her old tricks again, is she? I wouldn't doubt that she has help this time, too.”

“Probably Pete; Hades, if he really is that stupid; but who knows who else?” Leon added.

“Hades IS that stupid, so I don't doubt HIS involvement,” Cid agreed.

“But who else?” Leon wondered.

“Well, there are countless Worlds out there; who knows which one's she's gotten to this time,” Cloud said.

“So, you guys are gonna help us?” Sora asked hopefully.

“We've helped each other countless times in the last few years; why should this time be any different?” Leon asked, no sign of emotion on his face.

“Well, come on; I'll show you the books the King showed us,” Sora said, walking out of the hanger, followed by Leon, Cid, and finally Cloud.

Riku glared at their retreating backs and waited until he was sure they were totally gone before leaving the hanger himself. Meanwhile, in Iona's room, Yuffie, Tifa, Aerith, Kairi, Daisy and the Queen were all trying to figure out why Iona hadn't woken up yet.

“Daisy, you said its probably because her body is getting used to the new power?” Yuffie asked.

Daisy nodded, “At least that's what I thought. But if that was the case, she would've opened her eyes by now.”

“You were correct in your assumption, Daisy,” a voice from the doorway said. The girls turned to see Merlin and the King walking in. Merlin immediately leaned over Iona, examining her face closely, “Her body is exhausted from the power of the Keyblade she now wields. By the way, which Keyblade would that be?”

“From what I saw, it was woven steel with an amethyst key chain and an amethyst set in the handle,” the King explained.

“Amethyst Fury,” Merlin said sadly, shaking his head.

“What's so bad about that? It sounds kind of pretty,” Kairi wondered aloud.

“That's bad because it's a Keyblade that hasn't been used in centuries; much longer than Sora's, Riku's, or yours. When a Keyblade goes so long with out use, it desperately craves energy when finally used again. So, in short, this Keyblade has depleted almost all of this young lady's energy,” Merlin answered her.

“How do we restore it?” Yuffie asked.

“A very strong Curaga spell,” Merlin said. “It'll need at least five people casting it.”

“Well, you can obviously do it, Merlin,” the King said, “and so can I. Sora and Donald can, too. But…who else has strong enough magic abilities?”

Kairi sighed audibly, her head dropping, “Riku does, but I don't think he'll listen to us long enough to help.”

“We'll have to try to reason with him,” Merlin said, “or else, I'm afraid there's a slim chance Iona here will ever awake again.”

After discussing the matter, it was decided that Kairi should be the one to talk to Riku. So she set off in search of him, and found him in one of the Castle's many storage rooms. He was sitting on the small window sill, leaning against the cool glass, staring at the courtyard below.

“Riku?” Kairi asked him gently as she gently approached him.

“If she isn't awake, go away,” he said, not turning to his long-time friend.

Kairi sighed, “She isn't…but Merlin has thought of a way to wake her up.”

Riku straightened up a bit, his attention successfully caught, “How?”

“A strong Curaga spell, cast by five casters. Obviously Merlin can do it, and so can Sora, Donald and…the King,” Riku's fists clenched but Kairi continued, “but no one else is strong enough. Except for you.”

Riku sighed, “I can't.”

“Why not?” Kairi asked.

“I just can't, ok?” Riku snapped.

“If you don't, she could die, Riku. Please, just think about it,” Kairi pleaded, then turned to leave Riku to consider his options.