CHAPTER 7 PORT ROYAL IT WAS TOO QUIET IN THE MANSION. In the white room, Naminé’s art came to life in her sketchbook. “Whatcha drawing?” asked Axel from across the table. He looked bored, resting his elbows on the tabletop. “It’s a secret.” “Oh.” He watched Naminé concentrate on her art. He’d done the same thing back in Castle Oblivion. She had changed a lot since then. But he got the feeling that he had, too. If someone asked him whether that was for better or worse, he’d probably be able to say it was for the better. “Riku’s taking a long time,” said Naminé, pausing in her work as if she’d noticed Axel’s observation. “I don’t sense Maleficent there anymore, so he ought to be back…” Riku had followed Sora to Disney Castle, and he was still there. “He worries too much. Thinks he has to help Sora do everything…” Axel grimaced in irritation. “But, Axel, aren’t you the one worrying about Riku and Sora?” Naminé giggled softly. “Me, worry? You think I need to be worried about those two?” He stretched backward and rocked the chair back and forth, like a restless child. Naminé returned to her sketchbook. “Say, Naminé… Are you still going to try to meet Kairi?” Her head snapped up at the unexpected question. Across from her, Axel met her gaze, grave and earnest. “I have to help her,” she said with a sad smile. He scowled. “Is that really the best thing?” “The best thing…?” Naminé set her crayons down on the table, her gaze dropping as she thought for a moment, and then she smiled at him again. “It’s the right thing.” In response, Axel only leaned back and rocked in the chair again. She took up her crayons. No one could know what was right or wrong. The picture she was drawing depicted herself and Riku and Axel, too, smiling brightly. After Disney Castle, the next place they came to was a dimly lit town. A huge full moon shone down on the brick buildings. “Where are we?” “Gawrsh, looks like another world we haven’t been to before.” Donald and Goofy took the lead. Sora walked more slowly, recognizing the scent of the air around him and the soft sound… The smell of the sea and the lapping of waves. He broke into a run past Donald and Goofy to where the cobbled streets ended and found a view he knew well—only a little bit different. “Wow…” Donald arrived beside him to take in the scenery, too. The water was dark here, a deep black under the moon, unlike in the Destiny Islands. Or Neverland. “This place is…,” Sora murmured. “Really somethin’…,” Goofy finished, also staring out at the sea. They’d been to seascapes before on different worlds. But nothing quite like this. “I’ve never seen an ocean like this,” said Donald, looking up at Sora. Then they heard a scream. Sora turned around. “Something’s up!” “Organization XIII?” Goofy’s ears perked up at the sound. “Or the Heartless!” added Donald. “Only one way to find out!” Sora took out the Keyblade and dashed toward the commotion. At the harbor, a woman was surrounded by a group of men, who noticed the trio’s intrusion and turned. “Run!” Sora shouted to the lady. She darted away to hide. With the clouds shrouding the moon, he couldn’t see the men’s faces very well, but they were advancing toward him with weapons drawn. “Whoa!” Sora blocked a blow from a hatchet and pushed the man back, then swung the Keyblade. But the strike did no more than make the man lazily rub at his head. “The Keyblade doesn’t do anything to them?!” Behind him, Donald closed in and beat the man over the head with his wand. “Take that, and that, and that!” Still, the man didn’t seem to feel any pain. “Wak?” Donald took a step back and tried a spell. “Fire!” Even magic had no effect. “That’s not going to work, you know,” someone called from out on the water. The trio turned to see a lone man standing on a ship in the harbor. A bandanna kept his long hair back from his face. Something dark was painted under his eyes, and he had an unsavory look to him. A glance was enough to show he was disreputable. “Who are you?” Sora demanded as he parried with the Keyblade. “Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please. Pirate extraordinaire.” “Pirate?!” Sora repeated. “Pirate. Though the fellows you’re fighting there are also pirates.” Jack hopped down from his boat and knocked Sora’s current opponent aside with a swing of his sword. But just like when the Keyblade struck them, it didn’t appear to do any damage. Jack shrugged. “Awful hardy.” “What do we do?!” cried Sora. Then the wind rose, sweeping away the clouds, and moonlight poured down on them. “Wak!” Donald jumped at the sight—under the silver light, the men attacking them turned to grisly skeletons. “What are they?!” Sora practically yelped. “Oh, they’re just undead is all,” Jack replied, as if this were completely normal. “Why don’t we show ’em how alive we are, er—what’s your name again?” “Sora!” Jack smirked and readied his sword. “Here goes, Nora!” “It’s Sora!” Ignoring him, Jack charged at the skeletons and began hacking away. “A little assistance, Dora?” “That’s Sora!” But the boy heeded the request and charged after him. In the moonlight, the skeletons weren’t all that strong. “Well, that takes care of that.” Once the threat was defeated, Jack turned to the trio with a devious grin. “But what’s wrong with them?” asked Donald. “They’re pirates under a curse. Not among the living, and yet they can’t die—so they’ll go on wandering the seas forever,” Jack said with a ghost-story voice, trying to frighten them. It only made Sora curious. “How’d this happen?” “Cursed Aztec gold, lads. Greed got to them, and then so did the curse. Only way to break it is to return every last gold piece to the chest they came from.” “And then they won’t turn into those ghosts?” “You’re a quick one.” The trio exchanged a look, and then another voice intruded. “You there! Gentlemen!” It was the woman they had found among the pirates earlier. “I need your help,” she said. “I don’t care for the smell of this…” Jack shrugged and turned away. The woman with beautiful honey-blond hair ran to the trio and explained. “My name is Elizabeth. With those cursed pirates prowling about…my dear friend Will went to Isla de Muerta to check on the treasure and find out why.” “Isla de Muerta?” asked Sora. “That’s the island where the Aztec treasure is hidden,” Elizabeth replied before Jack could. “Jack, I fear something’s happened. You have to take me to him.” “Aye, there it is.” Jack shrugged again. “If you’ll be wanting him rescued, best do it alone, lass.” Apparently, Elizabeth and Jack already knew each other. “Really, Jack? Me, alone? Sail to the island and take on the cursed pirates?” “Well, if any lass could… But I see no reason why I should rush into all that,” Jack remarked. “I was the one who had the idea of going to Isla de Muerta to investigate. But Will insisted that I stay behind,” Elizabeth went on. “I can’t just sit and wait—I’ve got to know if he’s all right!” “Wonder why he insisted on that,” Jack murmured to the trio. “Please, Jack, you’ve got to take me to him!” Not waiting for an answer, she started toward the docks. “Hold on,” Jack called after her. “I see no profit in it for me.” She paused, turning back to flash him a smile. “I shall reward you, of course. As much as someone who isn’t a pirate can.” “Right, then. Shall we?” Jack winked to Sora and the others and then waved Elizabeth on toward his ship. At the sound of Riku’s footsteps, Naminé looked up from her sketchbook. The door to the white room in the haunted mansion opened, and he came in. “Welcome back,” said Naminé. Across from her, Axel was still nervously rocking the chair and eating a sea-salt ice cream. “Naminé, where did Sora head next?” Riku wanted to know as soon as he could. He moved briskly to peer over Naminé’s shoulder at her sketchbook, where he found a drawing of a ship. “Where is this…?” “Shouldn’t we be trying to help Kairi?” Axel interjected without moving from his perch. A tiny tremble went through Naminé. She hadn’t imagined he would be the one to bring it up. Not when he was so opposed to Nobodies meeting their somebodies and disappearing. “…How? Do you have an idea?” asked Riku. “Yup. I’m going to betray you two,” Axel replied with a smirk. Riku shifted. “I’m not following.” “They think you and Naminé are the wrench in their works. So, I’m going to tell them where you are.” “You’re going to make it look like you’re betraying us. You really think that’ll work?” Riku folded his arms and mulled it over. “If I go back into the fold, I’ll be able to come and go to their castle whenever I want. Then it’ll be a cinch to get Kairi out.” At Axel’s explanation, Naminé looked up for a moment and then ducked her head again. Kairi… Yes, I want to meet her. I want to meet her and return to her heart… Well, no, I have to. But… Riku spoke as Naminé hesitated. “What should we do in the meantime?” “You fight off whichever organization member comes here,” Axel told him. “You were able to defeat Roxas. You can handle any of the others, except Xemnas. There are only four left, but one of them is probably trailing Sora right now. And I seriously doubt Xemnas would come all the way out here himself. So you’d be up against Saïx or Xigbar. Or Luxord. And you can take any of them. Once there’s one less member in the castle, I’ll come back with Kairi. How’s that for a plan?” He gave them a confident grin, but Riku’s expression remained stony. “Are you sure you can pull that off?” “You could pretend to have a little faith in me.” Axel rolled his shoulders back. “I don’t. No matter what you believe, I don’t have much faith that a guy who let Kairi get kidnapped out from under his nose, lost a fight, and nearly disappeared is going to be strong enough for this.” Riku let out a small sigh. It wasn’t terribly likely, but in the event that Axel did have to face Xemnas in combat, their odds of rescuing Kairi would dwindle to zero. Actually, he didn’t think Axel could beat the other remaining organization members, either. “Well, can you think of a better way to save her?” asked Axel. Riku had no answer. Axel stretched his neck and munched on his ice cream. “You know, I don’t mind disappearing.” Naminé’s breath caught. Riku stared at him. “Roxas is gone. When we bring Kairi here, Naminé will be gone, too. So, same for me,” he said, as if he were discussing the weather, and then punctuated his comment with another bite of sea-salt ice cream. “We don’t disappear… We’re only reborn,” Naminé murmured, perhaps to herself. “I’m not like you and Roxas,” Axel said flatly. His hand holding the ice pop stick paused in midair. “But—but you…” She looked down, clenching her fists. “It’s because I don’t have a heart,” Axel went on. “I don’t want to disappear, but I’m not upset or sad about it.” Naminé tried to say something and failed. Nobodies aren’t supposed to exist. Nobodies don’t have hearts, so they can’t feel anything. No… We couldn’t feel anything. Until we met Sora. And Roxas, his Nobody. Why can’t the rest of them see that? Sora was special. And so was Roxas, but he was gone. He’d returned to Sora’s heart. But why did that have to mean it was okay for Axel to disappear, too? Still hunched over to hide her face, Naminé shook her head. “Okay,” Riku told Axel. “We’ll follow your plan.” “Riku…,” she began. But he didn’t waver. “If it starts going bad, just run for it. You’re pretty fast, right?” Axel grinned at that. “Well, faster than you, anyway.” He bit into his ice cream and stood, then opened a rift into the darkness. “Axel!” she cried, jumping up to run after him. “Don’t worry, Naminé. I’m the fastest the organization had. If I run, they’ll never catch me. Got it memorized?” She stopped short and nodded. “See you.” Holding the ice cream pop in his mouth, he stepped into the rift. A tear rolled down Naminé’s cheek as she watched the darkness close around him. Once they were aboard, no one said much. But Elizabeth did speak enough to tell the trio that the harbor town they’d just come from was called Port Royal. Jack’s ship glided through the dark waters as they gazed out at the scenery for a while. From up at the bow, Goofy broke the silence. “Hey, there’s another ship out there!” “Where?” Donald hurried to join Goofy at his vantage point. Jack, with his hands on the helm, steered toward the other ship they saw. “Will!” Elizabeth cried, pointing off the bow. There was a man on the other ship slumped over the rail, unconscious. Jack brought his ship alongside it and prepared to board. “We’ve got to rescue him!” At Elizabeth’s cue, they jumped from one deck to the other. “Gently there,” Jack called. They nodded. Sora and Goofy hoisted Will up between them. “He’s breathin’! Thank goodness!” said Goofy, relieved. “Will! Wake up!” Elizabeth begged, but he didn’t respond. “Why don’t we get him into the captain’s quarters for now,” Jack suggested, and they carefully carried him inside. In the stateroom, Elizabeth cradled Will’s head, repeating his name. She tried patting his cheek. Sora and the others watched close by. “Come on now!” She peered urgently into his face. “…Elizabeth…?” Will opened his eyes, just barely. “What happened?” “I… That’s right…,” Will began. “I persuaded the Royal Navy to come to Isla de Muerta, and… The medallions, the entire chest—someone took the lot. The next thing I knew, we were attacked… But I couldn’t see who it was. His face was shrouded in a dark hood.” “The organization!” Sora exclaimed. Goofy and Donald exchanged a glance. “We found a way out of the cave… But the villain sent a terrible creature after us. Never seen its like before. I think I’m…the only one who made it back to the Interceptor.” Will winced as if recalling the fate of the crew. His face, already pale with exhaustion, lost even more color. “Will…” Elizabeth couldn’t help clutching him tight. “Elizabeth… I feel rather…” His eyes closed and his breathing slowed. He was asleep again. “Sounds like we’re up,” said Sora. Donald and Goofy nodded at his resolve. Elizabeth gently set down Will and got to her feet. “The entire crew of a Royal Navy brig… What kind of monster is this?” “Let’s go to this Isla de Muerta and find out!” She had to agree. “Pardon me, lady and gentlemen, but your captain will have no part of monsters today, and his ship will be heading back to port.” “Running away? Just like that?” Elizabeth demanded. He neatly dodged her attempt to shame him and went back to the deck. “Just like that.” She turned to Sora. “Please…can you convince him?” “We’ll try.” Sora ran out after Jack. Above deck, the trio found that Jack’s ship was already moving. Donald hopped up beside the helm to ask, “Where are you going?” “Back to port. Like I said.” Jack spun the wheel hard. Sora dashed over and grabbed it. “It’s Organization XIII! We’re after them!” he explained, looking up at Jack, who shrugged and wordlessly nudged him away from the helm. “Jack, c’mon—” “Listen, lad, this is the only honesty you’ll get from a pirate: I don’t care. Wait…” He broke off and frowned, shading his eyes. “Don’t remember invitin’ you aboard.” “Huh?” “Wak?” There was a man standing at the prow. He gazed straight at them as his black cloak fluttered in the sea breeze, although they couldn’t see his face well beneath his hood. And in front of him sat a treasure chest full of gold medallions. “He’s from the organization!” Sora gripped the Keyblade, and beside him Jack drew his sword. “The darkness in men’s hearts, drawn to these cursed medallions…and the Heartless, a veritable maelstrom of avarice,” mused the cloaked man. “I wonder, which of you is worthy of serving Organization XIII?” He waved his one hand in the air to summon something—an enormous Heartless, the Grim Reaper. It held a huge ax, swinging like a pendulum, and it hovered on a single leg overhead. Something resembling a second face sat on its shoulder. “You need an answer now?” Jack said reluctantly. “Indeed, I do!” the man replied, and the Grim Reaper came swooping at them. Jack heaved a sigh. “No monsters today, I said…” “Well, let’s get rid of it!” Sora leaped at the Grim Reaper. “Of course. I’m not about to stand by and let monsters rampage about my ship.” Jack wasn’t far behind. Ten of the thirteen chairs were now empty. In the occupied three sat Xemnas, Xigbar, and Saïx. “We’re down to Luxord?” said Xigbar, watching Xemnas for a reaction. When he received none, he kept talking. “Have to wonder if he’ll manage, up against Sora…” Everything they’d tried so far had ended in failure. At this point, it was fair to say they were in dire straits. Xigbar turned to the other remaining member. “What’s happening with Axel?” “I can’t find him,” Saïx replied, his scarred brow darkening with a frown. “Were you looking?” Just as Xigbar raised the question, Xemnas looked toward the entrance to the great hall. “He’s returned.” Xigbar and Saïx followed his glance, and there stood number 8—the Flurry of Dancing Flames, Axel. “Good to be back.” With a smile curling his lips, he approached them and settled into seat number 8. He held a half-eaten ice cream pop. Pale blue sea-salt ice cream. “What are you doing here?” The Claymore materialized in Saïx’s hand. “Foul traitor—” “No, Saïx,” said Xigbar, glaring hard at Axel. “What have you come for?” With rage barely contained under every word, Saïx stalked toward Axel. “Well, if I stay out there, Sora’ll get me, too. Anyway, it looks like you’re having a personnel shortage. How are you gonna get ahold of Kingdom Hearts like this?” Xemnas smiled as Axel taunted them. “There is a reason you’ve returned,” he said quietly. “Bingo.” Axel leaned toward him. “I’m here to tell you where Naminé is. So, how about letting me back in the clubhouse?” “You really think we’d believe that? We know you’ve been working with Naminé and that other boy,” said Saïx, as if it were an interrogation, and took his seat. “Yeah, well, now I’m betraying them.” Xemnas began chuckling at Axel’s overconfident declaration. “Heh-heh… Heh-heh-heh…” “Xemnas…?” Xigbar frowned nervously. But he didn’t stop laughing. Xigbar and Saïx looked at each other. “Very well.” Finally, Xemnas stifled his laughter, though he still sounded intensely amused. “You’re reinstated into the organization.” “But—!” Saïx jumped to his feet again. At that, Xemnas’s smile disappeared. “Silence,” he growled, returning his attention to Axel. “Where are Naminé and the boy?” “The haunted mansion in Twilight Town.” Axel stuck the last of the ice cream pop in his mouth. Xemnas narrowed his eyes. “Oh…?” “I’ll go.” Saïx started walking as if he couldn’t wait to leave the scene. “Wait, Saïx. I will go.” Xemnas stood. “Ha! We did it!” Donald crowed as the Grim Reaper fell away into the sea. “Not over yet!” Sora closed in on the man who had been watching the fight from the prow. Completely unruffled, the man removed his hood, showing his smartly trimmed platinum blond hair and beard, as well as a conceited smirk as he stared at Sora and the others. “Toss him overboard,” Jack muttered. “Aye-aye!” Sora stepped closer, Keyblade in hand. “Parley!” Luxord said suddenly. The word was unfamiliar to Sora’s ears. “What was that?!” Jack caught Sora by the collar and pulled him back. “Hey, what gives?!” Sora protested. “It’s a bit of a pirates’ code,” Jack explained. “Anyone who invokes parley must be granted a chance to negotiate.” Sora squirmed, shouting, “This is no time for negotiating!” “Have to agree there. But that’s the code. Take it up with the fool who thought of it.” “Shucks…,” said Goofy, feeling thwarted. Still restraining the struggling Sora, Jack observed Luxord. “All right, you. Out with it.” “I surrender the chest with my humblest apologies.” Still smirking, Luxord pointed to the treasure chest. “Rather accommodating of you, mate. And for that you want…?” Sora finally stopped wriggling, and Jack dropped him to the deck. He scowled up at the pirate captain. “Just a souvenir… For the memories,” Luxord replied. “What?” Jack said suspiciously, just as Luxord grabbed a medallion from the chest and tossed it into the air. “Oh no! We can’t break the curse unless we got all the medallions!” Goofy jumped after the one that tumbled to the deck—but a Nobody had appeared to snatch it up. “Our friend’s about to learn what it means to cross a pirate.” Jack eyed Luxord darkly, clutching his sword. “Oh?” Luxord taunted, leaping onto the navy brig beside them. “We can’t let him get away!” Sora moved to follow him, but the Grim Reaper—which they thought they’d defeated—rose up out of the water in his path and attacked. “It’s a ghost!” Donald squeaked. With the curse of the Aztec gold, it had taken on a form even uglier than before. “Long as the thing’s cursed, it won’t be inclined to stay dead,” said Jack with his sword at the ready. “Then we have to get the medallion back!” Just as Sora was about to leap onto the other ship, a fierce gust of wind threw them flat on the deck. At the commotion, Elizabeth and Will emerged from the stateroom. “Jack?!” “Get on inside, you two!” Jack shouted at them over the raging wind. The gale blew furiously enough to pick up the gold pieces from the chest, and as they whirled through the air, the Grim Reaper swallowed them. “Uh-oh! The medallions!” Goofy tried to chase them. Swaying in the wind, the Grim Reaper floated away, and the ship with Luxord aboard followed it. “Where’s the chest?” Jack scanned the deck for it. “He took it with him!” Goofy wailed, collapsing hopelessly. Meanwhile, Donald was clinging to the wood. “Wak…” “Are you okay, Donald?” asked Sora. “…Yeah…” He stood up and opened his fist. Sora peered at the gleam in Donald’s palm. “A medallion!” “What’s that now?” Jack sauntered over to them—just as the moon emerged from a bank of clouds. “Jack!” Elizabeth said his name in a horrified shriek. “Hmm?” He looked down at his hand and shrugged. He’d become a gruesome skeleton himself. “The curse!” cried Sora. Jack glanced sidelong at Donald. “Likely on account of you takin’ a medallion.” “Wak! That’s not fair!” Donald objected. “I didn’t steal it. I saved it from falling into the water!” “We need all of the gold pieces to break the curse,” Jack said with a frown. “And if we lost one in the ocean, it’d never break!” Sora added brightly. Goofy cocked his head. “But we’re not all skeleton-y.” “Is it ’cos we’re not from this world?” said Donald. “Right…” Sora looked away. “Always just passing through. Wonder when I’ll get to go home again…” “Sora…,” Goofy said gently. He recovered with some bluster. “Ha, just kidding! Lucky the curse doesn’t work on us, huh?” “Enough yammerin’, mates!” Jack shouted over them. “We’d best get to followin’ that ship!” “What’s he heading for?” Will crossed his arms, staring off after Luxord. “Is it Isla de Muerta…?” Elizabeth murmured. “Probably Port Royal instead,” suggested Sora. “Why’s that?” “Organization XIII is after people’s hearts. So they’ll go where there’s lots of people.” Donald and Goofy agreed with him. “He’s going to hurt the townspeople?” said Will. “You think he’ll bring ’em flowers, mate?” Jack retorted as he went to take the helm. “Don’t know who these organizers are, but I will say they’re makin’ us pirates look like proper gents.” “Yeah! We have to help!” Sora ran after him. “Only because I don’t like ’em. Now hurry up and haul to!” At Jack’s orders, the others scattered over the deck to get the ship moving. Axel walked alone through the castle. It had been a while, but everything was the same here, dim and quiet. He had not expected Xemnas himself to head out for Twilight Town. But there was no way to warn Riku and Naminé now. Riku had taken Ansem’s form, though, with all of Ansem’s strength—so it wasn’t entirely impossible for him to win against Xemnas. Maybe…maybe there was a chance. However slender that hope was, Axel would cling to it. Riku can handle him. Anyway, right now, he had his own task. As he went down the halls, he sensed someone following him and turned. “You need something?” “I don’t trust you,” Saïx replied flatly, the enormous Claymore in his hand. “Trust? We don’t even have hearts,” said Axel with a twisted smile. “How can we trust anyone in the first place?” “Where are you going?” “My room. Where else would I go?” He shrugged, turned his back on Saïx, and kept going. The first question was how to dodge Saïx and get Kairi out of here. This won’t be easy, Axel thought with a sigh. The Grim Reaper floated at the shore of the Port Royal harbor above the treasure chest filled with the cursed gold. “I’ll take the monster.” Jack rushed at the Grim Reaper and lured it away. “Now, to break that curse!” said Sora. The trio crept toward the chest and tossed in the gold pieces they’d found. The Grim Reaper changed back to its previous form—not so skeletal and slightly less ugly. “It worked!” But as soon as those words left Sora’s mouth, the Grim Reaper noticed and came after them. “Wak!” Donald fumbled with his wand. “Fire!” The Grim Reaper backed off, just a little, but it had overtaken Jack. “We’ve got ’im!” As Sora closed in, the giant Heartless shook itself wildly. “Ah-hooey!” Goofy yelped as a gust of wind knocked him into the sand. The maelstrom began scattering the gold pieces yet again. “Aw, c’mon!” Sora complained. Once more, they had to run around collecting the pieces, and in the meantime, Jack—also a skeleton again—kept the Grim Reaper at bay. “Quick now, Gala!” “Really?! It’s Sora!” he shouted as they returned the last of the gold. The Grim Reaper changed back again. “This time we’ll finish it!” He charged with the Keyblade ready. “Take this!” With a few blows, he managed to stun it. “All right, my turn.” Jack leaped right over Sora and brought his sword down on the Grim Reaper’s head. After a grinding, clunking noise like a mechanism breaking, the Heartless fell still. “We did it!” Elated, Sora hugged Jack when he landed. “Ah, not quite, mate…” Jack was hale and human again, but his gaze was fixed on someone else—Luxord. The heart of light floating up from the Grim Reaper disappeared into Luxord’s outstretched hand. “Bravo, Sora,” he said with a grin, opening a dark portal. “Hey, wait!” Sora tried to catch him, but Luxord vanished, melting away into the darkness. “Wak!” Donald stamped his feet. “So, who was that chap?” asked Jack. “He’s part of this organization that’s collecting hearts. They release the Heartless into different worlds, and then we defeat those Heartless.” Sora glowered at the ground in frustration. “Over and over. We’ll never stop them like this…” “Got another plan, then?” “We gotta find their stronghold and finish them off once and for all.” Jack shrugged. “Sailin’ these waters, I’ve heard many a tale, but none like this.” Will came closer to offer anxiously, “Is there any way we can help?” “Um…” Sora folded his arms. He couldn’t think of anything he might ask the people of this world to do. “Aye, there is,” Jack cut in, pointing to the treasure chest with its heap of cursed gold. The chest sank into the sea. They all stood on the deck, solemnly watching it disappear beneath the waters. “Whether it’s thirteenth organized or Heartless or what, one thing’s certain,” Jack muttered. “We don’t need the likes of ’em about. They’ll ruin the market for us true pirates.” “So that’s why you went to Port Royal.” Elizabeth sighed. “And here we thought you actually wanted to help people.” “A pirate always looks to profit, Miss Swann.” Jack shrugged jauntily and strode to the helm. “Too bad. You had us going there,” said Sora. At that, Jack paused. “Thought you were turnin’ over a new leaf!” Goofy added. Jack spun around and smirked at them. “The question is what’s under the leaf. Rewards, mate. Savvy?” “Huh?” Sora instinctively backed away a step. “That shiny blade of yours,” said Jack. “That’s the share I want.” Sora smirked in response and held out the Keyblade with the handle toward him. “Okay, sure.” “…That was far too easy. Where’s the rub?” Jack took hold of the Keyblade. It promptly vanished from his hand and flew back into Sora’s. Caught out, he smiled ruefully. “Aha. That’d be it.” “Well, you’ve got your ship, Jack.” Sora held the Keyblade firm. “That I do. But one day, when I’ve got a right mean crew behind me, I’ll come to take that blade. By then, I’ll have the way of wielding it.” At that declaration, the trio looked at one another. “Gawrsh. Maybe Jack’ll be able to use the Keyblade someday.” Goofy grinned in amusement. “How?!” Donald demanded without even pointing out how that made no sense. Only very particular people could wield the Keyblade. Like King Mickey and Sora and Riku… “A-hyuck! He and Sora are kinda alike, don’tcha think?” Goofy looked from one to the other. “Are not!” Jack and Sora both exclaimed at once. “See?” said Goofy, and Elizabeth laughed. It was contagious. The sound of their mirth echoed over the dark seas. Then a beam of dazzling light shone from the helm of Jack’s ship, the Black Pearl. “Sora! The gate!” Donald pointed to the sky, where the keyhole had taken shape. “Right!” Sora held the Keyblade high, and the ray of light streamed from it into the keyhole. “Guess we’d better be going now.” “Right then, off with you. For now,” said Jack. The trio soon took off again into the Other Sky. Naminé sat quietly as tears ran down her cheeks. Her drawings were tacked up here and there on the walls of the white room in the haunted mansion. She’d apparently passed the time with her artwork while she waited here alone for Riku and Axel. Riku perused the collection, realizing there were quite a few he hadn’t seen before. He found one of himself smiling with Axel and Naminé and averted his eyes. Then he became aware of someone outside. “Naminé, go to the basement and hide in the pod room,” Riku said, resting a hand on her head as he turned his attention outside the window. And just as he did, Nobodies surrounded the mansion—something that hadn’t happened since Axel’s attack. Although that hadn’t been the real mansion but another place that looked like it. “Riku… Do you think Nobodies have a home? Somewhere we belong?” Naminé wondered. “There’s no time to talk right now. When the organization attacks, I don’t know if I can fight them off and protect you at the same time.” He summoned Soul Eater to his hand. “This is the only time we have to talk,” she argued. “Do you think Nobodies really don’t have hearts? Who told Axel he doesn’t have one? The heart—there are secrets that—” “Naminé!” Riku had to interrupt. Nobodies were crawling out of the corners, and one sprang straight at her. He made it in front of her just in time to knock the Nobody aside with Soul Eater. “So here you are.” From a strange warp in the air, a man in a black cloak appeared. Riku faced him with Soul Eater ready, getting Naminé to safety behind him. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that face.” The man removed his hood and smiled at Riku. The two men, who bore more than a slight resemblance, stared each other down. Riku knew who this was. “You’re…Xemnas.” He hadn’t suspected that Organization XIII’s leader would come. And based on what Axel had told him, he couldn’t win this fight alone. Still, he couldn’t simply give up. If I can at least hold him off until Naminé escapes… “I am. Riku—or rather, Ansem… No, not Ansem, either. Perhaps I should call you Xehanort.” Xemnas stepped silently toward him. “Well? Don’t you feel more at home in that form?” “The opposite, actually,” said Riku. Xemnas let out a chuckle. “Perfect. On your guard!” Twin swords, glowing with a dire red light, formed in his hands—the Ethereal Blades. In the next moment, they clashed against Soul Eater.
Chapter 32
28 min read