Kingdom Hearts II Vol 1 Read online

  Copyright

  KINGDOM HEARTS II: THE NOVEL, Vol. 1

  TOMOCO KANEMAKI,

  ILLUSTRATIONS: SHIRO AMANO,

  ORIGINAL CONCEPT: TETSUYA NOMURA, KAZUSHIGE NOJIMA

  Translation by Melissa Tanaka

  Cover art by Shiro Amano

  KINGDOM HEARTS © Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  Characters from FINAL FANTASY video

  game series © 1990, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001,

  2002, 2003, 2005 Square Enix Co., Ltd.

  All rights reserved.

  English translation © 2017 by Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  Yen Press, LLC supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  First Yen On Edition: June 2017

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Kanemaki, Tomoko, 1975– author. | Amano, Shiro, illustrator. | Tanaka, Melissa, translator.

  Title: Kingdom hearts II : the novel / Tomoco Kanemaki ; illustrations, Shiro Amano ; translation by Melissa Tanaka.

  Description: First Yen On edition. | New York, NY : Yen On, 2017–

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017016091 | ISBN 9780316471930 (v. 1 : paperback)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Fantasy. | Friendship—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic. | JUVENILE FICTION / Media Tie-In.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.K256 Ki 2017 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017016091

  ISBNs: 978-0-316-47193-0 (paperback) 978-0-316-55960-7 (ebook)

  E3-20170525-JV-PC

  CONTENTS

  COVER

  INSERT

  TITLE PAGE

  COPYRIGHT

  ROXAS—SEVEN DAYS PROLOGUE EPISODE ONE

  CHAPTER 1 THE 1st DAY

  CHAPTER 2 THE 2nd DAY

  CHAPTER 3 THE 3rd DAY

  CHAPTER 4 THE 4th DAY

  FRAGMENT Wherever You Are…

  CHAPTER 5 THE 5th DAY

  CHAPTER 6 THE 6th DAY

  CHAPTER 7 THE LAST DAY

  THE DESTRUCTION OF HOLLOW BASTION PROLOGUE AND ALONE…

  CHAPTER 1 MYSTERIOUS TOWER

  CHAPTER 2 HOLLOW BASTION

  CHAPTER 3 OLYMPUS COLISEUM

  CHAPTER 4 TWILIGHT TOWN

  CHAPTER 5 UNDER ONE SKY…

  CHAPTER 6 SPACE PARANOIDS

  YEN NEWSLETTER

  ROXAS—SEVEN DAYS

  What’s happening to me…?

  Falling…falling into darkness………?

  PROLOGUE

  EPISODE ONE

  AFTER THEY CLOSED THE KEYHOLE, SORA AND HIS friends thought they would find the princesses standing at the door in Hollow Bastion, awaiting their return. But instead they stepped through the door into a strange place shrouded in mist.

  “Huh…?” Donald cocked his head.

  “Now where are we…?” Sora mumbled, looking around. Then a strange sensation came over him.

  “Ah. It seems you are special, too.”

  At the sudden voice behind him, Sora turned. “Who are you?!”

  He saw a man standing there alone, wearing a black cloak, looking down at Sora from beneath a hood.

  “Ansem…?” Goofy said uncertainly, and readied his shield behind Sora.

  The man seemed like Ansem. But the hood covering his face made it hard to tell who it was. Tensed for a fight, Sora and his friends glared at the mysterious figure.

  “That name rings familiar…,” the man murmured, as if to himself, and then spoke to Sora again. “You remind me of him.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?!” Sora shot back, taking a stance with the Keyblade. He had no idea who the man was talking about.

  “It means you are not whole. You are incomplete. Allow me…to test your strength.”

  The man approached, gliding over the floor, and flung orbs of light from his hands. The attack struck Sora and sent him sprawling.

  “Sora!” Goofy cried, running to his defense, but the man drew twin swords from his cloak and knocked Goofy back.

  “Firaga! Thundaga! Blizzaga!” Donald hurled spells at the man, but they all dissipated harmlessly without even singeing the black cloak.

  “…Impressive,” said the man. “This will be enjoyable.”

  “What are you talking about…?!” Sora shouted, springing to his feet.

  “It is beyond your comprehension for now. Until we meet again,” the man replied softly. The blades disappeared from his hands.

  “Wait—who are you?!”

  “I am…but a mere shell.” With that, the man vanished like smoke into the air.

  Still clutching the Keyblade, Sora stared in confusion. And then a voice he knew spoke.

  “Good work, Sora.”

  He turned to find Leon standing there. “Are we back…?”

  “Something wrong, Sora?” Leon asked, seeing him looking so bewildered.

  “No… It’s nothing.” Sora grinned and ran ahead to the final battle—the fight against Ansem.

  When he came to, he was standing somewhere else. It was the edge of the world—or so he felt. Jagged, crumbling rocks jutted up from a dark seashore.

  But come to think of it, hadn’t he sat in a place sort of like this, talking about the future?

  A blue sea…a blue sky…

  The scene simply floated up in his mind, and he shook his head. That couldn’t have happened.

  Then he glanced down at himself. He was wearing unfamiliar black clothes—a cloak, to be precise. He knew he was seeing himself for the first time, but strangely, nothing about his appearance seemed wrong.

  “So, you’ve arrived,” said a voice behind him.

  He turned and saw a figure much like himself—someone wearing a black cloak, face completely hidden under a hood. His own expression was most likely concealed from the other man, too.

  “I’ve been to see him.”

  Him?

  He nearly asked who the other man meant, but he had a vague sense that he already knew. He bit back the question.

  “He looks a lot like you.”

  Right—and I probably look a lot like him. He and I are two sides of the same coin…

  “Who are you?” he asked the other man.

  “I’m what’s left. An empty shell. Or maybe I’m all there ever was.”

  He frowned slightly at the man’s evasive reply. “I meant your name.”

  Yes—he wanted to know the name of the person standing before him.

  “My name is of no importance. What about you? Do you remember your true name?”

  It sounded almost like the man was taunting him. He opened his mouth to respond…

  To say his name. The name of the one in the very depths of his memory.

  “My true name…is…”

  And here…the story begins.

  CHA
PTER 1

  THE 1st DAY

  UNDER THE SOFT LIGHT SPILLING IN THROUGH THE WINDOW, Roxas slowly opened his eyes.

  “Another dream about him…,” he mumbled, then stood up on his bed to fling the window wide open. The warm, faintly humid summer air rushed in. His chestnut hair shone honey-gold in the light. From his room on the second floor, Roxas could see a broad swath of the town.

  A dream… Ever since the beginning of summer vacation, Roxas had been having the same dreams every night. Dreams of a vivid blue sky over a brilliant sea of the same color, and a boy, named for that sky. The boy’s name was…

  “……Sora.”

  Roxas murmured it to himself and blinked his blue eyes.

  The boy in the dream, Sora, had a smile as bright as the sky. He seems nice enough, Roxas thought. But he couldn’t quite say how he felt about the boy.

  From a distance he heard the bells ringing. That was the town’s distinctive landmark—the clock tower above the station. The two bells that stuck out from it on each side told time for all the citizens of Twilight Town.

  Roxas stretched and hopped off his bed. He took off his pajamas—a plain white shirt and capris—and dressed in a white jacket and black pants before leaving his room.

  Roxas headed to the usual spot—an old storage space under the train tracks. His friends were already there, Hayner and Pence and Olette, chatting about something.

  “Hey, Roxas,” Olette said, noticing him.

  “Oh—hi.” Roxas looked back at his friends, each seated in a corner.

  “Roxas, you gotta hear this, too!” Hayner blurted, a bit loud, as usual. He wore pants and shoes with a camouflage pattern and a black T-shirt emblazoned with a skull, and as always, his wavy, light-brown hair was impeccably styled. “Man, doesn’t it tick you off?” he said to the others.

  “Yeah, that’s just wrong,” Pence agreed, angrily shaking his head, though his bristly black hair didn’t ruffle in the slightest. It looked coarse enough to hurt if it were to fall in his eyes—maybe that was why he wore it bound up in a hair band. He wore an oversize basketball shirt by Dog Street, featuring the brand’s logo and stylized dog character chasing bones. It suited his sturdy build perfectly.

  “Seifer’s gone too far this time,” Olette added. Her orange tank top with the four-leaf-clover design at the hip was her favorite shirt. She always regarded everyone with kindness, no matter what. Even Seifer.

  “I mean, it’s true that stuff’s been getting stolen around town. And we’ve never gotten along with Seifer. So if he wants to think we did it, I can’t really blame him. What’s really driving me nuts is that he’s going around tellin’ everybody that we’re the thieves! Now the whole town is treating us like a bunch of criminals! Have you ever been this mad in your life?” Hayner ranted all in one breath, and jumped down from the wooden crate that made his usual perch, shaking a fist. “’Cos I haven’t. Nuh-uh, never. So, what to do…?”

  Hayner turned and stared at Roxas, who hadn’t quite been listening.

  Roxas paused, surprise crossing his face, and then he jumped to his feet. “Um, well… We could find the real thieves. That would set the record straight.”

  “Hey, that sounds kinda fun,” Pence said, getting out of his chair.

  Not quite satisfied, Hayner stuck out his lips in a pout. “What about Seifer?”

  Beside him, Pence rushed to the box that they called the treasure chest and rummaged through it.

  “First, we gotta clear our names,” Roxas said. “Once we find the real culprit, everyone will get off our back.”

  “Oh no!” Pence looked up from the box, holding a compact camera.

  “Now what?” Hayner shot Pence a look, offended by the interruption.

  “They’re gone! Our are gone!”

  Roxas, Hayner, and Olette all ran to look in the box.

  “What? How? All our are gone?” Olette said, and then touched her throat, looking nervously at Roxas.

  Not only were their things gone—the word itself was gone…?

  “Stolen…,” Roxas said. “Even the word got stolen?”

  Hayner nodded and caught his eye. “There’s no way Seifer could’ve done this.”

  Roxas nodded in reply.

  “Okay. Time for some recon!” Hayner dashed out of their hangout. Pence and Olette followed him.

  “All right!” Roxas moved to catch up—and the world began spinning. “…Huh?”

  The strength drained from his legs, but by the time he realized he was crumpling to the floor, darkness was swallowing his mind.

  A deep voice spoke from somewhere.

  “His heart is returning. Doubtless he’ll awaken very soon.”

  But…Roxas didn’t know who it was.

  It’s already been one year since I promised him, Naminé thought.

  Sora was asleep in the flower-bud capsule. It had been a year since he went in.

  She looked away, down at the floor. Maybe we’re just being used.

  “…Naminé.”

  Slowly she turned to face the person addressing her.

  The man wore a black cloak, the same as those in the organization. There was kindness in the eyes that she glimpsed beneath the hood—eyes that could never lie.

  She’d spent this past year doing nothing but drawing pictures…but for him, it had been a very hard year.

  “It won’t be much longer.” His gaze was fixed on the sleeping Sora.

  Everything he does is for Sora…and for all the worlds. So what about me? What am I doing here? Naminé asked herself.

  “He seems lonely somehow,” he said.

  “I wouldn’t worry.”

  A small smile curled the edges of Naminé’s mouth. She returned her attention to Sora.

  Soon… Soon, Sora will wake up.

  But then what will he do?

  And what about us? Do we have to meet the same fate as that false one, the Replica? Is there no other way?

  Naminé thought of the chestnut-haired boy who had come into being in the same moment she had.

  What…was that voice just now?

  Roxas looked around. He knew he’d heard someone speaking. About his heart returning.

  “Roxas?” He raised his head to see Pence peering anxiously at him. “C’mon, let’s go.”

  “Yeah…”

  Pence grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, and they left the space under the tracks. Outside was a sloping back alley, leading up toward the station and down to the sandlot.

  “Roxas, what’re you doing?!” Hayner shouted from downhill.

  If they ran straight ahead, they would come to the tram common at the center of town.

  “Hurry up!” Hayner yelled again.

  “Okay!” Roxas chased after Pence.

  But that voice…where did it come from?

  And those dreams…about Sora. What does it all mean?

  “Over here!” Hayner called.

  Roxas followed his voice through the gate and dashed into the plaza.

  The stillness of the room was only broken by a mechanical sound.

  The only light in the dim space came from the computer screens. A man headed toward one of them and typed something on the keyboard.

  The man’s face was wrapped in red cloth bandages and black leather belts. There were things he had to record. The experiments that had led to all this… The root of all these evils was within him.

  Little electronic noises broke the room’s silence.

  “It seems we have some contaminants…,” he murmured to himself.

  The man’s name was DiZ. It stood for “Darkness in Zero.”

  This was the name he’d chosen for himself—and the burden he’d brought upon himself.

  “Time to get this investigation under way!” Pence declared when Roxas caught up. The four of them gathered in the middle of the common to confer.

  “Did you find out who’s been robbed?” Hayner asked.

  “Sure did!” replied Pence. “Wallac
e at the Item Shop, Jessie at the Accessory Shop, Auntie Elmyra at the Candy Shop…and…”

  “That’s practically everyone in town who runs a shop!” Olette exclaimed.

  “Well, I guess we’ll have to go around and ask them one by one,” Hayner said with a sigh.

  “You’re right,” Roxas agreed. They headed to the Item Shop.

  “Roxas,” Wallace started before any of them could get a word in. “Never thought you’d do such a rotten thing…”

  “We didn’t steal anything, okay?” Roxas said.

  Wallace only shook his head. “I’d like to believe you, but…who else would take that stuff?”

  “Could you tell us what got stolen?” Olette asked, standing beside Roxas.

  “As if you kids didn’t already know,” Wallace said icily. “Look, I’m not gonna talk to you. Go to the Accessory Shop and ask Jessie.”

  Apparently there was no doubt in his mind that Roxas and his friends were the thieves.

  “What a drag… Well, we better talk to Jessie.” Hayner spun on his heels and fixed his sights on the Accessory Shop.

  Pence followed suit. “Even if Seifer was spreading rumors about us…didn’t Wallace seem a little too convinced that we’re guilty?”

  “Yeah, well, it’s Seifer’s fault! Why else would everyone think it was us without any evidence?” Hayner said.

  Pence and Olette both tilted their heads in thought.

  “Hey…are all of us suspects or just me?” Roxas wondered aloud.

  “Saying you are is the same as saying all of us are!” Hayner clenched his fists.

  “But…” Dejected, Roxas lowered his head. Wallace definitely suspected me and no one else.

  “That’s right,” Pence said. “Besides, you’d never be able to steal things on your own without getting caught.”

  “I guess so— Hey! What’s that supposed to mean, Pence?”

  When Roxas looked up, Pence covered his head against retaliation and sprinted ahead.

  “Well, it’s true,” Olette giggled. “There’s just no way you could pull off anything so scandalous.” She took off after Pence.

  “Aw, c’mon! You too, Olette?!” Roxas complained, and chased after them.