Chapter 13

Chapter 6 Kingdom of Corona RIKU AND MICKEY STOOD FACING IENZO AND AELEUS in the laboratory of Radiant Garden. The lab had once been a link to another world, but Ienzo had transformed it into a hub for all the information they had gathered. Mickey and Riku were there trying to learn more about Replicas—artificial copies of people that could be used to house hearts. Organization XIII had previously researched the concept, and their experiments had even met with moderate success under Vexen’s leadership. Riku and Mickey knew about the chilly academic’s demise in Castle Oblivion and the events surrounding it, but they weren’t sure what had become of him after he reawakened as a human. “What?! We’re too late?” Mickey asked Ienzo. “Yes. Even would know all about the Replicas from his time as Vexen in the Organization. He was recompleted like the rest of us, but he didn’t regain consciousness. After Lea left, he must have woken and taken his leave,” the young man in the white coat explained. Aeleus seemed disappointed as Ienzo continued. “Aeleus here and Dilan went out and turned the whole town upside down to try and find him. But no Even.” “That’s not good,” Mickey said as he digested this news. Riku asked the next question. “What about his research?” “Unfortunately, his work on the Replicas was incomplete. There may still be documents around, but all of them from before he made any significant progress.” Ienzo had called the research incomplete, but both Riku and Mickey had met the results of his labors in Castle Oblivion—namely, a copy of Riku called the “Riku Replica.” Riku had a feeling he had run into one other Replica as well, but his memories of the encounter were hazy for some reason. Either way, he knew his own Replica was no more. “Do you have any idea where he might go?” Mickey asked, clinging to some small shred of hope. “There’s no place that he could go now that he’s human. He has no means of leaving this world,” Ienzo replied, then let out a small sigh. “The dark corridors…,” muttered Mickey, half to himself. “…are beyond his faculties and mine now,” Ienzo softly added. “But not everyone’s,” Riku said, breaking his contemplative silence. “What if Even was taken?” Mickey raised his head. “Of course! The Organization could also use the Replicas!” “To fill out their ranks,” Riku finished for him. Organization XIII shouldn’t have all thirteen members yet, meaning they would have a need for vessels to house hearts, too. “We’d better go tell Master Yen Sid. And Sora, and the others, too!” Riku nodded at Mickey’s suggestion. I remember a conversation I had with my mother when I was just a little girl. “Why can’t I go outside?” “The outside world is a dangerous place. You must stay here, where you’re safe. Do you understand, flower?” She told me why I can’t leave the tower—because the world is full of dangerous, terrible people, and she is the one keeping me safe. But what about those lights that appear on my birthday every year? Rapunzel gazed up into the distant night sky from her window. Several lights were floating up into the heavens. I need to see them. I need to see them for real, not just from my window. I have to know what they are. And…I can’t help but feel like they’re meant for me. When Sora, Donald, and Goofy landed in the next world, they found themselves in the middle of a lush, green forest. A gentle breeze drifted through the gaps between the trees, while the twittering of songbirds filled the air and soft sunlight filtered down on them through the leaves. “It sure is a pretty day,” Goofy remarked as he peered up into the sky. Sora gave a big stretch and replied, “Yeah, the weather is great. It’d be perfect for a picnic.” “Why do you think we came here?” Donald wondered as he surveyed their surroundings. There didn’t seem to be any signs of Heartless or Nobodies. “Got me, Donald.” “We’ll figure it out as we go.” Sora and Goofy didn’t seem overly concerned about the situation, and Donald wasn’t especially pleased by the fact. “Okay…,” he said. “I’m sure we were brought to this world for some good reason, but can’t we figure it out later?” Sora asked as he walked. “Fine with me, as long as there’s no Heartless,” Donald replied, and just then, they heard a man scream nearby. They all looked toward the sound and saw the owner of the voice sitting at the foot of a cliff, apparently having just fallen. And hot on his heels were a bunch of Heartless shaped like plants and flowers. “Make way! Make way! Make way!” he shouted as he scrambled to his feet and charged by Sora and his friends, who in the meantime had gotten their weapons ready for a fight. Sora and Goofy didn’t seem too worried about the turn of events, though. “You see? Soon as you mention ’em, they show up!” Sora joked. “There goes our picnic,” Goofy added. The man dashed through Sora and the others, then hid behind a large boulder. “I didn’t do it!” Donald snapped, spinning to face his comrades with an angry wave of his staff. “S’okay. Let’s send these guys packing,” Sora said, unfazed. He got his Keyblade back into position. “Say, since you three seem to know what you’re doing, mind if I leave this one to you?” the man asked Sora, Donald, and Goofy from his hiding place. He had a small goatee and didn’t seem much for fighting. More importantly, he wasn’t carrying anything that would be helpful in a fight. “Yup. We’ll take care of them. Go on, skedaddle!” “You have my thanks,” the man said, then added to himself, “The horse was enough. Don’t need any monsters on my trail.” “The what was enough?” Donald quacked irritably, not quite able to hear what the man had said. “Oh, nothing, nothing. Name’s Flynn. Flynn Rider.” The man introduced himself, then shouted, “Ohh! Watch out, they look mad!” As he reminded them of the Heartless bearing down on them, Sora and crew charged into the mob. Watching them, Flynn tiptoed away slowly at first, then ran off at full tilt. “Huh? Where’d Flynn go?” Now that the Heartless had been dealt with, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were searching for Flynn. “He skedaddled.” Sora and Donald were craning their necks looking for him, but the only one who actually saw Flynn’s escape was Goofy. “I think I saw him go thataway,” he offered. “Huh? But ‘thataway’ is…just a dead end.” The direction Goofy indicated ended in a cliff face covered by ivy. “Yeah. That’s puzzling,” said Goofy, confused. He was positive he knew what he saw. “I say we investigate.” Sora approached the wall of rock, but it was indeed a dead end. Maybe Flynn had found somewhere else to go? “Well, at least he got away safe, right?” commented Sora, leaning back against the wall, when— “Hey! Now Sora’s gone, too!” As Goofy inspected the rock face, Sora’s voice came from beyond the vines. “This way, guys! It’s a secret passage!” The ivy had actually concealed an entrance in the rocks. With a quick glance at each other, Donald and Goofy pushed the vines aside and stepped into a short tunnel with a bright light at the far end. “Let’s check it out!” The trio ran toward the sunny exit and found a small meadow encircled by steep cliffs. A waterfall poured down into a river from the bluff on the far side, and in front of the water was an impressively tall tower. Meanwhile, Flynn had woken up bound to a chair, unable to move. Before him stood a girl with blond hair brandishing a frying pan. He realized the rope tying him to the seat was actually her incredibly long hair. “How you doing? The name’s Flynn Rider. How’s your day going? Huh?” he asked the girl with the same nonchalance he had used with Sora earlier. The girl remained stern. “Who else knows my location, Flynn Rider?” “All right, hang on, Blondie—” “Rapunzel,” the girl interrupted with her real name. “Gesundheit. Here’s the deal. I was in a situation, gallivanting through the forest when I stumbled upon a—” Just then, Flynn realized something. “Oh! Oh no, no! No, no, no! Where is my satchel?” Rapunzel crossed her arms, frying pan still in hand, and smiled at her panicked prisoner. “I’ve hidden it. Somewhere you’ll never find it,” she declared, then jabbed the pan in Flynn’s direction. She started pacing around him, the coils of her hair constricting him more tightly with each step she took. “So what do you want with my hair? To cut it?” “Wha—?” “Sell it?” “No!” “Wait. You don’t want my hair?” she asked, puzzled. “Why on earth would I want your hair? Look, I was being chased, I saw a tower, I climbed it, okay? End of story,” Flynn snapped. A chameleon—Pascal—poked its face out of the hair of Rapunzel’s head and gave him an appraising look. Rapunzel and Pascal then started discussing something, until— “Okay, Flynn Rider. I’m prepared to offer you a deal.” “A deal?” “Look this way.” Rapunzel hopped up onto the fireplace as she spoke, accidentally unwinding her hair and spinning Flynn’s chair until he hit the ground face-first. Completely oblivious, Rapunzel pulled aside the curtain above the mantel to reveal a painting of bright lights dancing in the sky. “Do you know what these are?” “You mean the lantern thing they do for the princess?” Flynn answered from the floor. “Lanterns? I knew they weren’t stars,” Rapunzel said raptly, then jabbed the frying pan at Flynn again. “Well, tomorrow evening they will light the night sky with these ‘lanterns.’ You will act as my guide, take me to these lanterns, and return me home safely. Then, and only then, will I return your satchel to you. That is my deal.” Flynn rolled his eyes up at her from the floor. “Yeah. No can do. Unfortunately…the Kingdom and I aren’t exactly ‘simpatico’ at the moment, so I won’t be taking you anywhere.” Rapunzel reeled in her hair, pulling Flynn’s chair upright, then approached him. “Something brought you here, Flynn Rider,” she pressed. “Call it what you will: fate, destiny… So I have made the decision to trust you.” “A horrible decision, really.” “I am serious!” She grabbed the back of the chair, her face earnest. “Let me get this straight. I take you to see the lanterns, bring you back home…then you’ll give me back my satchel?” “I promise. And when I promise something, I never, ever break that promise. Ever.” Flynn looked away from her. His satchel contained a pilfered tiara; he really, really wanted it back, but the closer he got to town, the more people would be after him, not to mention the weird little monsters from earlier. Either way, he wasn’t going to be getting that satchel back if he couldn’t get Rapunzel to play along. As Flynn was considering the best course of action, the trio who had helped him popped into his mind. If I had them with me, then maybe—if worse came to worst I can let them handle things while I make a break for it. “All right, fine, I’ll take you. But on one condition: my three sidekicks come along.” Rapunzel nodded happily. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were on their way to the tower when they spotted Flynn carefully climbing down the wall, jamming arrows in between the stones for support. Beside him, a cascade of long, golden hair billowed to the ground, followed by a girl sliding down along it. She suddenly stopped just shy of the ground, and then lowered her feet nervously the rest of the way. She crouched down and ran her hands along the grass. “It’s so soft!” Then she burst into a run. “I’m free… I’m really free!” Flynn watched her twirling and dancing around the hill, as he arrived at the bottom. “Flynn, good to see you in one piece!” “Guys! You’re here, and just in time,” he called out to Sora and crew as they walked over. “Oh… Who’s she?” “Uh, that would be Rapunzel. Something tells me this could be her first time outdoors. Give her a few minutes to get used to it.” The girl in question was currently walking into the stream flowing from the waterfall. It reminded Sora of the first time he left the islands. While he hadn’t been quite that excited, everything had seemed so new and different. “I can’t believe I did this! I can’t believe I did this. I can’t believe I did this!” she cried as she dashed here and there about the meadow—only to suddenly stop and duck down by the edge of the water. “Mother would be so furious if she knew I disobeyed her and left the tower…” Still, she perked back up in no time at all. “But that’s okay—I mean, what she doesn’t know won’t kill her… Right?” Rapunzel’s dancing quickly turned to fretting again. “Oh my gosh. This would kill her. “This is so fuuuuuun! “I am a horrible daughter. I’m going back. “I am never going back! “I am a despicable human being. “Best. Day. Ever!” Sora and the others watched Rapunzel go back and forth for a while, until she at last dropped down by the base of a tree and burst into tears. “I notice you seem a little at war with yourself here,” Flynn said to her. “A little more than a little,” said Sora. “More like a lot,” added Donald. “Yeah…,” said Goofy. Finally noticing the three strangers beside her, Rapunzel looked up in surprise and brandished her frying pan. “Stop right there! Who are you?” “I told you before: my sidekicks,” Flynn answered, then gave the three of them a look. Just play along? Please? “May I introduce, eh…” “Oh, uh… My name’s Sora.” “Donald!” “And I’m Goofy. Pleasure, ma’am.” They quickly caught on and introduced themselves, but Rapunzel still seemed wary. Pascal poked his head out from around her shoulder. “Sora, Donald, and…Goofy. It’s…nice to meet you, too. I’m Rapunzel.” “Yep. My sidekicks,” Flynn reminded her. Sora came up and tugged his sleeve. “Since when is that?” “Look, she really wants to see the lantern show tomorrow night. Now, I’m a nice guy, so I’ve decided to help her. Only problem is those monsters might show up again. I can get her to the Kingdom—but you guys are clearly more cut out for combat. The hero type, know what I mean?” Flynn was clearly buttering them up, but Donald took the bait. “We sure are!” Goofy raised a hand. “And we’re Heartless experts.” “Just leave it to us!” Sora added. Flynn pointed at the trio with both hands and said, “Done.” He then extended a hand to Rapunzel to guide her, and she began to walk along beside him. “Rapunzel is interesting,” Donald commented as the trio started after them. “Yeah, her heart’s pulling her all kindsa ways.” Behind Donald and Goofy, Sora couldn’t help but think back on how it was for him when he ventured beyond his home, too. “The outside world must seem so big and scary. I know how she feels. Lucky for me you two came along at just the right time—and the rest has been unforgettable.” I remember it like it was yesterday—leaving the Destiny Islands and arriving in Traverse Town, and then Donald and Goofy dropping on me from the sky. “Awww…,” Donald said softly as he looked up at his friend, touched. When Sora’s eyes met Donald’s, though, the moment was suddenly a lot more embarrassing than before. “Yep, unforgettable…just like your face!” Once again, Donald started yelling angrily. “Oh yeah?!” Yeah, I never had any friends before who looked as funny as you two! Goofy stood grinning next to Donald as Rapunzel turned back toward them. “C’mon, let’s go!” Sora called to his two friends, then started walking. I’d never forget you, Donald and Goofy. You’re two of my best friends. At that very moment—a woman was searching the empty tower. “Rapunzel!” she called. “Rapunzelll!!” She was the woman who had raised Rapunzel, Mother Gothel. She paced around the chamber, but there was no sign of her daughter anywhere. Just then, a ray of light shining through the window fell on something tucked away beneath one of the stairs. Mother Gothel hurried over and pulled away a loose board, uncovering the satchel concealed beneath it. She pulled out the bag and examined what was inside, which turned out to be a glittering tiara. There was also a WANTED poster with Flynn’s face on it. “Missing someone?” Mother Gothel spun around in fright at the voice. The intruder was a man with pink hair in a black coat. A dark mist hung in the air about him. “Who’s there?” Mother Gothel asked, still terrified. “She’s such a precious gift. Allow me to assist you in getting her back,” said Marluxia. As he drew closer to Mother Gothel, her dark eyes took on an ominous hue. Rapunzel’s enthusiasm was still going strong in the forest. “Who would’ve thought flowers can grow on water! The world is just full of so many things I’ve never seen before!” “Guess she really hasn’t ever been outside before,” Goofy remarked idly as he watched Rapunzel run around, beaming like the sun. Suddenly, something Riku had said just before they left the Destiny Islands popped into Sora’s mind. “If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? “We need to go out there and find out. Just sitting here won’t change a thing.” He was just like Rapunzel is now. I don’t know if the path Riku chose was the right one, but I’ve never regretted venturing into the outside world. That’s how I met all my friends, too. Her joy was contagious—she was having a blast, blowing dandelion fuzz into the air, chasing rabbits, and splashing water to make rainbows, and Sora had a great time swinging across ravines on her hair. Rapunzel was just fun. There were Heartless along the way to the Kingdom, but the group was unstoppable. Rapunzel joined in the fighting, too. But then… “Oh, look. What is that?” Rapunzel exclaimed as she spotted something. An enormous flower bud was growing in their path. “Whatever it is, it’s not normal. I’ll go take a look.” Sora went over to inspect the bud, but he couldn’t find anything suspicious about it for the time being. “We’re all clear,” he called over his shoulder, reassured. It appeared to be a normal flower that was just exceptionally large. But just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief— That giant flower bud opened up, revealing a humanoid upper body with a scythe in its hands. It floated into the air and swung the blade at Sora with dreadful speed. “Sora!” Donald shouted. Sora spun around at the warning and swiftly dodged the slash. As he got back to his feet and readied his Keyblade, two more monsters appeared. “They’re Nobodies!” Goofy shouted. No Heartless this time. “Mother said the outside world would be full of ruffians and thugs.” Rapunzel held her frying pan at the ready. “Those aren’t ruffians. Those are…uh, I dunno…” Donald attempted to explain what Nobodies were, but he wasn’t sure how. “Rapunzel, Flynn, stay back!” yelled Sora. “No. I want to help you fight,” Rapunzel replied. But Sora still planted himself between the creatures and his friends. “I know. But I’m afraid you can’t hurt these guys with a frying pan. Trust me on this,” he told her. “Flynn, could you explain?” “No problem. Knowing when to flee is one of my specialties,” he replied, then walked over to Rapunzel and said, “C’mon, Rapunzel, gotta go.” “But—” “Look, I wanna stay and slug it out, too, but my sidekicks have it covered,” Flynn explained, but Rapunzel didn’t seem convinced. She regarded him for a moment, then turned back to Sora. “All right. Please be careful, Sora.” Once he was sure that Rapunzel and Flynn had finally fled to safety, Sora fixed the Nobodies with a steely gaze. It was time to fight! The scythe-wielding Nobodies looked like grim reapers—but what were Nobodies doing here at all? Sora couldn’t shake the question from his mind as he fought them. If these guys are here, then— “You know who uses Nobodies…” “The Organization!” Donald quickly finished Sora’s thought. “Yeah. I’m surprised we haven’t seen ’em.” Sora surveyed the area once the last Nobody had fallen. “I know you’re there! Come out, you has-beens!” “‘Has-beens’? Now why would you say that?” asked a man in a black coat with shoulder-length pink hair, stepping out toward them. Sora had never seen him before, but he glared at him anyway. “Because, bossing around Nobodies? That’s the old Organization. Why? Are you in the ‘real’ one, too? Good for you.” The man snickered. “My name is Marluxia, and yes, that is correct. How interesting it is to see you again, Sora.” “‘Again’? Do I know you?” Sora looked back at Donald and Goofy, but they only shook their heads. Weird—it does feel like I’ve met him before. But where? “A shame you’ve no memory of me, because I remember you exceedingly well. Although…it’s those memories I’d soon erase.” “I don’t know what you’re saying,” Sora said. The creeps from Organization XIII sure like their mysterious monologues, don’t they? “Nor should you. Nor will you ever, for that matter,” Marluxia replied, taking a few steps away. “Now if you’ll permit me, I’ve come to ask a favor.” He crossed his arms. “Favor? You have got to be kidding me.” “Please hear what I have to say. I’m sure you’ve noticed…” Marluxia paused and gave Sora a thoughtful look. “Well, perhaps not. But you know that maiden with you, Rapunzel, is the very light of this world. I would see you guard her from its dark horrors.” The request caught Sora off guard. “Huh?” he replied, exasperated. “Starting with you, right?” “All the Organization seeks is balance. You must understand, our ultimate objective is not to clash with the light. We seek to complement it. Use that Keyblade…to keep Rapunzel safe,” Marluxia told him dramatically, then vanished into a Corridor of Darkness. “Rapunzel’s light…,” Sora muttered. Sora and his friends had once fought to protect the seven hearts of pure light—the seven princesses. Kairi was one of them. Which would mean Rapunzel was also— “Hey. Where did they go?” Sora’s head swiveled back and forth, but there was no sign of Flynn or Rapunzel. “I guess they musta run on ahead.” “Then we’d better go find them.” Sora, Donald, and Goofy resumed their trek into the forest…while Marluxia watched them go from atop a cliff. Marluxia watched the dandelion fuzz floating against the sky. These woods were lush in flowers, and the seeds of dandelions danced through the air. Some flowers, everyone can name—and some flowers are lost to obscurity. The most terrifying thing of all is to forget, and to be forgotten. An errant link or two in the chain of memories can lead one astray. Sora and his friends are living proof. Am I even remembering correctly? Have I not forgotten how I felt back then? Has my recollection not deteriorated after all this time? The experiment in Castle Oblivion was about memory—and at the end of it, I vanished for a time. Yet here I stand. Who am I, and why am I here? Those answers should be clearly etched in my memory—shouldn’t they? Do I really remember? Who knows the truth? I only recall the name of that flower, that tiny blossom—the name and nothing more. Was I consumed by the blooming darkness and pulled down into this lightless oblivion? Please, little flower, I only wanted you to blossom forever. My dear little flower—Strelitzia. After they had ventured through a gloomy marsh, Sora and the others heard Rapunzel shouting. “Wh-wh-whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, boy, easy! Settle down. Whoa, whoa!” Sora, Donald, and Goofy glanced at one another, then took off running. Rapunzel might have been under attack. “You are such a good boy! Yes, you are.” Once they were close enough to hear her more clearly, they found Rapunzel patting the nose of a white horse. By the look of it, the horse was angry with someone. “Are you all tired from chasing this bad man all over the place?” The horse neighed. Did that mean the “bad man” in question was…Flynn? “Nobody appreciates you, do they? Do they?” Rapunzel cooed as she checked the plate on the horse’s neck. MAXIMUS, it said. Rapunzel grinned. “Isn’t that right, Maximus?” Maximus didn’t seem entirely upset with having Rapunzel’s arms around him. “Wha… You’ve got to be kidding me.” Flynn smacked his forehead, and Maximus shot him an angry glare. Apparently, Maximus had been chasing him. “Look, today is kiiind of the biggest day of my life, and the thing is, I need you not to get him arrested,” said Rapunzel. Maximus shook his head fiercely and stared heatedly at Flynn. “Just for twenty-four hours, and then you can chase each other to your hearts’ content. Okay?” Flynn gave up with a sigh and held out his hand to Maximus, but the horse simply turned his head away. “And also, it’s my birthday. Just so you know,” Rapunzel added, her eyes full of hope. Maximus sighed, too, and moodily extended his front leg. Flynn shook it reluctantly. “Rapunzel!” Sora, Donald, and Goofy came running up. As soon as Rapunzel was distracted, Maximus gave Flynn a good kick, causing him to drop to the ground with a wheeze. “You’re here. And you’re okay!” “Yeah! You too.” Rapunzel and Sora shared a smile. “And look! I made a friend.” Maximus whinnied as Rapunzel gave him a pat on the nose. “Meet Maximus. You could say Flynn introduced us. And where one goes, the other follows.” Then she gestured to Sora and his friends. “This is Sora, Goofy, and Donald. They’ve been helping me.” Maximus seemed to have his doubts at first, but once he figured out they were Rapunzel’s friends, he tossed his head with pride and nodded approvingly. “Come on, the Kingdom’s not far,” said Flynn as he got back to his feet, rubbing his stomach. Beyond the forest was a lake, and beyond that was the magnificent castle town around the royal palace. Sora and the others walked along the shore until they found the stone bridge leading into town. “Wow…!” Rapunzel practically danced her way across the bridge with Flynn and Maximus in tow. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were not far behind. “Rapunzel sure looks happy.” “She does.” Watching her running ahead with glee filled Sora and his friends with happiness, too. As merry music drifted over the bridge toward them, the trio followed Rapunzel, Flynn, and Maximus through the gate. Everyone here seemed to be having a wonderful time; some of them were even dancing in the streets. Goofy caught some snippets of conversation as they walked by. “They’re sendin’ the lanterns up after dark,” Goofy told Sora. “Cool!” Sora cried excitedly. “We don’t wanna miss that!” When they reached the plaza, there was a huge mural standing in the center, a mosaic depicting a little princess between the king and queen, with an inscription on it.