Kingdom Hearts II Vol 2 Page 4

  Maybe they were here somewhere. He had to try.

  But there was no answer.

  And then they heard faint footsteps in the distance.

  Donald turned toward the sound. “Who’s there?!”

  A small box had been placed on the ground. Someone was here—they could almost see a person, but it was too dark to tell.

  Donald rushed toward the box and picked it up. “What’s this…?” He held the box up to his ear but didn’t hear anything strange.

  “Are you sure you wanna open…that?” Goofy worried. But Donald had already done so before the sentence was over.

  Inside, there was a single photograph and an ice cream pop.

  Sora took out the picture to examine it, peering at the four people in it.

  “Gawrsh, it’s the gang from Twilight Town,” said Goofy. “There’s Hayner, Pence, Olette…and…uh…um…”

  He could only name three of them. The other was a boy he’d never seen.

  But Sora said the name. “Roxas.”

  “You know him?” Donald asked, mystified.

  “No… The name just popped into my head.” Sora stared at the boy in the picture. “That’s Roxas.”

  The wave of emotion he felt reminded him of the moment when he’d remembered Axel’s name… A hint of sorrow, like he’d left something behind.

  “Hmm… But we don’t know him, do we…?” Perplexed, Donald picked up the ice cream bar.

  “Are you sure you wanna eat…that?”

  Donald popped it into his mouth before Goofy had finished the sentence. But he took it out again. “Salty! No… Sweet!”

  The ice cream floated into the air and began glowing. A beam of light shone upward and illuminated a keyhole.

  “Another gate’s open!” Sora held up the Keyblade to release a matching beam of light. They heard the click of an opening lock.

  And then brightness surrounded them.

  “Huh…?”

  They disappeared into the light.

  Keeping his breath quiet in the inky dark, Riku watched Sora and the others from a distance. He couldn’t simply tell them the answer outright, but he could give them a hint.

  He really did want to see Sora and talk. But that was impossible with this appearance.

  The things that mattered the most were what he couldn’t tell Sora. It had always been that way.

  No one would teach you the important things. You had to figure them out for yourself.

  But he could hope…that Sora might discover the secret of the two objects.

  Riku cloaked himself in the darkness and vanished into it.

  CHAPTER 3

  THE LAND OF DRAGONS

  NAMINÉ WAS TYPING AT THE MANSION’S COMPUTER. She wasn’t quite used to it yet, and slowly pecking at the letters with her index fingers took all her concentration.

  “Here…?” She turned to Axel.

  “Right. And then like this, see? Man, this is a pain, though.”

  The computer here worked nearly the same as the ones the organization had, so Axel knew how to use it to some extent. But there was still plenty he didn’t get. And when they tried to look things up, they kept meeting a “No data” message. Apparently, it wouldn’t be that simple to find out everything they wanted to know.

  Naminé let out a small sigh and looked down at the sketchbook in her lap. DiZ—no, Ansem the Wise. What is he trying to do? What is he trying to get us to do?

  Then they heard the door open. Naminé and Axel turned.

  “Welcome back, Riku,” she said. He had just returned from the brief meeting with Sora and his friends.

  “What should we do now, Naminé?” Riku asked as he reached for the little freezer under the computer. He removed a bar of ice cream and took a bite.

  “…Aw, is it good?” Axel teased. “Seriously, you’re like a little kid. Even though you look like a mean old man.”

  Riku made no response, keeping his gaze fixed on the computer screen. The comment did rub him the wrong way. But mentally, Axel was definitely older than him by at least a little. Not that you could tell from looking.

  “Axel, any idea what the organization’s up to next?” he asked instead.

  “Well, if I was in charge,” said Axel, “I’d be working on getting Sora to replenish the ranks and destroy the Heartless at the same time.”

  Riku looked up from the computer. “How?”

  “By finding someone really powerful somewhere and making them into a Heartless. If you pulled that off, there’s a pretty good chance it’d create a powerful Nobody. And then it’d be up to Sora to take down the Heartless, too.”

  Riku folded his arms. “So, do you know where ‘someone really powerful’ might be?”

  “I know,” said Naminé without turning away from the screen. “If it has to do with Sora, I know.”

  I can feel it. It might be faint now, but I can feel him.

  “What do you mean?” Riku asked, and Naminé hung her head, uncertain how to answer.

  In the sketchbook on her lap, there was a drawing of Sora and his two friends. As Riku sighed, Axel stole the ice cream out of his hand.

  “There’s plenty in there. Just get your own. And you call me a little kid,” Riku grumbled.

  At his irritation, Axel only shrugged and chuckled to himself.

  When they woke up, the trio found themselves aboard the Gummi Ship, which was flying smoothly through the Other Sky.

  “Oh man…” Sora’s shoulders slumped. “I thought I would get to find Kairi…”

  “Hmm… Y’know, Sora,” Goofy said to distract him from feeling so discouraged. “The photo and the ice cream…I wonder if they’re some sorta clue.”

  Donald picked up the thread. “Who would’ve left ’em for us?”

  “…Riku?” Sora softly said his oldest friend’s name.

  “A-hyuck! Ya think so?”

  “I’ve got a feeling…” Sora stared at the photo.

  He sensed that Riku had left this picture and ice cream for them. That his friend had been watching over them this whole time.

  When he thought of that, Sora’s spirits rose, just a little.

  “Gee, maybe you’re right,” Goofy said brightly.

  “Look, there’s the new world!” Donald dashed to the porthole. Pressing his bill against it, he could see red buildings with wide, flat roofs. “Doesn’t look like anything we’ve seen before…”

  “Hey, what if there are more Heartless? I can’t use the Keyblade…” The weapon materialized in his hand, and Sora eyed it anxiously. “That would just help the organization.”

  “But Sora, I think ya have to use it,” Goofy said carefully. “If we don’t fight ’em, the Heartless’ll just keep on hurting folks.”

  “Yeah…I guess you’re right.” He gave Goofy and Donald a hopeful smile. “Okay, let’s go!”

  His friends nodded.

  The members of Organization XIII were gathered in the usual marble hall—all five of them.

  This organization, formed with thirteen members, was now whittled down to only five. Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Saïx, and Luxord.

  Of the Nobodies who as humans had once been Ansem’s apprentices, half remained.

  “So Demyx is no more. So sad…,” Xigbar said flatly. Not a hint of emotion showed in his face. But that was only natural for a Nobody, with no heart to feel anything.

  “And we still haven’t found out where Axel went?” said Xaldin.

  Saïx scowled with displeasure at the name.

  Unexpectedly, Xemnas spoke up. “Everything is proceeding according to plan.”

  The others all turned to him.

  “What we don’t yet understand is the nature of the Keyblade’s chosen—this Sora. Saïx, you will eliminate Axel. Luxord, Xaldin, Xigbar—I have a special task for you three.”

  It was a rare occurrence for Xemnas to deliver specific orders from his own mouth.

  “Turn great hearts into Heartless and let Sora defeat them.”

 
Saïx raised his head at that.

  “And you know where to find suitably substantial hearts, I trust?” Xemnas went on.

  The other three nodded.

  “Change a great heart into a Heartless, and you might end up with an extra-useful Nobody. Leave it to our fearless leader to figure out how to replenish our personnel,” Xigbar remarked with a nasty grin.

  “Again, everything is proceeding according to plan,” said Xemnas. “Do not let anything interfere.”

  With that, he stood up and summarily disappeared.

  The ship landed at the foot of a mountain. Bright white snow covered about half the slope, all the way up to the peak.

  It was their first time visiting this world—the Land of Dragons.

  “Gawrsh, it’s kinda chilly,” said Goofy, gazing up at the snowy peak.

  “Oh, wow! I’ve never seen snow before!” Sora dashed up the slope.

  They climbed through wooded hills until they reached a ruined village amid the snow.

  The place had been burned down deliberately, or so it seemed. The small houses were charred black, and the scorched timbers here and there told a vivid story of misery.

  “This is terrible…,” Sora breathed.

  Goofy kept walking into the center of the village. “Ya think the organization did it?”

  Even as he said it, they caught sight of someone—a man in a black cloak, like the organization members, over at the other edge of town.

  “Wait!” Sora started chasing after the figure, but another voice called out to them.

  “You three!”

  They stopped in their tracks and turned to see a boy with glossy black hair and fine features, slender enough that his ability to move in armor was surprising.

  “Uh, sorry, can’t talk,” Sora told him. “We gotta catch that guy…”

  “I’m following him, too,” said the boy.

  The trio exchanged glances.

  “What’s your name?” Sora asked.

  “I’m Mulan—er, I mean, um…” The boy looked at the ground in apparent frustration, and then a tiny dragon poked out from behind him.

  “Ping!” the dragon exclaimed.

  “Hey, little guy,” said Goofy, leaning toward the dragon.

  “What now? Excuse me? The name is Mushu! And I may be little, but I’m also lithe, lethal, and legendary! Now y’all scram before I get my dragon dander up!”

  “Um…” Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at one another again. This was an odd pair they’d encountered.

  “Mushu is one of my family’s guardians,” the boy explained. “I am Ping, son of Fa Zhou.”

  “How come you’re pretendin’ to be a boy?” Goofy wondered.

  Ping, or Mulan, looked sheepishly at Mushu. Sora and Donald jumped in surprise.

  “You’re a girl?!” blurted Sora.

  Encouraged, Mulan grinned. “…You didn’t notice?”

  “Never would’ve guessed!” Sora could still hardly believe it, peering at Mulan to see what he’d missed.

  “Well, maybe I don’t have to keep it up for now,” she murmured to Mushu.

  “I’m Sora,” he introduced himself. “That’s Donald, and that’s Goofy. We’re—wait, what are we doing? We gotta catch that guy!”

  Mulan nodded.

  Riku ran through the mountain snow and came to a rocky ridge. With a glance behind him, he let out a deep breath.

  Sora saw me!

  But he probably has no idea it was me in this cloak. Actually, even if he saw my face, he still wouldn’t know who it was.

  Still, Riku was a bit rattled—just a tiny bit.

  He didn’t want Sora to see him like this. But he wanted to help.

  He stared at the white powder under his feet. It never snowed on the Destiny Islands. It was the first time he’d ever seen it.

  It might be fun to play around in this snow with Sora.

  Pretty childish, but…well, nothing wrong with that.

  A hint of a smile came to Riku’s face—and just then the mountainside rumbled. He looked up to see a swarm of Heartless streaming from the summit, straight at him.

  In a way, he might get his wish after all.

  The four climbed through the snow.

  “I heard snow was cold, but it’s really cold…,” Sora mumbled, gazing up at the soaring peak.

  His mind began to wander. It could be fun to play in, though, if Riku and Kairi were here.

  Mulan was watching the summit, too. “Hmm… It looks like he got away.”

  “How come you’re after somebody from Organization XIII?” asked Goofy.

  Mulan turned to him with a blank expression. “The what?”

  “The guy we just saw,” replied Sora, still searching the mountainside. “He’s one of them.”

  “The bad guys!” Donald gestured angrily with his wand.

  “I knew it,” said Mulan. “There’s a rumor in the Imperial City about a spy in black lurking in the mountains. I was up here tracking him, but when you arrived, I lost him…”

  “Sorry,” Goofy had to say.

  “No, don’t apologize. But I wonder where he could be.”

  As she glanced up again, a rumble shook the mountain.

  “What was that?” Mulan lowered her center of gravity.

  They could see huge numbers of Heartless advancing down from the summit—straight toward them.

  “Here, too?!” Donald jumped, gripping his wand, and struck out ahead.

  Goofy followed. “Guess we gotta take care of ’em.”

  “Showtime, Mulan!” Mushu crowed, appearing atop her head. She nodded.

  “Don’t forget about me!” Sora ran after them.

  Suddenly, he thought he heard someone call his name.

  “Wha…?” He turned—and found the man in the black cloak. “It’s you!”

  He held the Keyblade ready, but the man only shrugged and pointed to something behind Sora.

  Without thinking, he whirled around, and the sight that greeted him was a swarm of Heartless. “Whoa!”

  Apparently, they would have to take on this sneak from the organization and the Heartless all at once.

  “Guys, over— Hey, where is everyone?”

  He would have to act alone. Sora rushed at the man in black, and the Keyblade clashed against his opponent’s blade.

  Huh…?

  Something felt strange. Sora paused, mystified—but the moment he did, the man knocked him away and sent him tumbling into the cold powder. “Gah!”

  He braced himself for another attack, but now there was a mob of Heartless between them.

  The man in black tore through the mob toward Sora, knocking them aside.

  The Heartless and Organization XIII were both enemies of Sora. But when he saw this man taking down Heartless before his eyes, he got the odd sense that maybe this one was helping him.

  But what was that other feeling I had? What did it mean?

  Sora got to his feet and dashed toward the man. “Yaaaargh!”

  But the man lightly dodged, almost as if to mock him, and Sora ended up in the snow again—this time face-first.

  “Hey, what gives?!” he complained, spitting out a mouthful of wet slush, and the man beckoned him in a challenge. “You better not be making fun of me!”

  Scattering the Heartless, he tried rushing the man once more. The Keyblade and the other blade met with a clang!

  For all the fighting they were doing, the man’s breath wasn’t labored in the slightest, and he never said a word.

  Something does feel strange… Wait, Sora realized. I’m fighting someone from the organization, but this is kind of…fun.

  Here he was, surrounded by throngs of Heartless, trying to fight someone who seemed to outmatch him, and he was enjoying himself.

  “If you think you’re gonna win, think again!” Sora slammed into the man and knocked him flat on his behind. Without losing a second, he leaped in and brought down the Keyblade, but the man rolled out of the way and jumped up with an
arrogant shrug of his shoulders.

  “Hey—you’re running away?!” Sora shouted, as the man sprinted back in the direction they’d come from. “This isn’t over!”

  He began chasing after the man—and stopped in his tracks.

  This exhilaration… Now he remembered.

  It was the same as sword fighting with Riku. Like they used to do every day on the beach.

  “He… No, why would he…?” Sora murmured.

  That couldn’t be right. This was impossible.

  Well, not impossible—but there was just no way.

  And yet…

  “Riku…?” Sora tried to catch up, but there was no trace of the man now.

  “Sora!” Goofy called, jarring him out of his contemplation.

  “There you are!” Donald came running with Mulan close behind him.

  “Didja get him?” Goofy asked.

  “Hmm? Oh…” Sora just gazed after the man, still distracted. “He’s gone.”

  “You lost him?” Donald scolded. “Well, quit staring into space already!”

  “Um…” Sora turned awkwardly to Mulan. “So, what should we do now?”

  “I think we’d better get off the mountain,” she replied.

  “Yeah. Okay,” Sora agreed. The other three began trudging down the slope.

  Belatedly, he started after them—but not before one last look. There was nothing to be seen but a whiteout of snow. He was gone.

  The mountain rumbled again, shaking under their feet. Donald peered toward the peak and jumped in alarm. “Wak!”

  Where the swarm had appeared before, there was now one enormous Heartless. It had huge reptilian, clawed hands, with a snarling face resembling that of a guardian lion statue, and its body was covered in metal plates.

  They prepared for another fight, but the Storm Rider sailed over their heads, down toward the foot of the mountain.

  “It’s heading for the city!” Mulan cried, and they clambered as fast as they could through the slush down the mountainside.

  At that moment, Riku was crossing swords again, this time with an Imperial Army man in the palace.

  “You won’t get near the emperor!” Shang growled, but Riku took the split-second chance to thrust Soul Eater forward, and he crumpled slowly to the floor.