karyu128

Chapter 34 the Hercules cup Once again our heroes found themselves at the Olympus coliseum. For the third time the eight world travelers walked up to the tournament boards to see who would be in the tournament. "The Hercules cup. Think we're ready for it?" Asuna asked. "Heck yeah! I'm ready to show Phil that we're real heroes!" Sora proclaimed. "More like you just wanna show off." Donald retorted. "Donald's right. I'd bet you'd try to fight Hercules all by yourself If we let ya A-hyuck." Goofy said. "He's not the only one." Cloud said approaching from behind. "Hey Cloud. Are you fighting to?" Kirito asked. "Take a look." Cloud responded as he pointed up at the board. Sure enough his name was near the top. Just below Hercules. "Looks like we'll finally get that rematch." Kirito said. "No dark powers involved. I won't be held back this time…" Cloud replied. The spiky haired blonde walked back to the arena not noticing that Yuuki was staring at him. "He seems kind of familiar." She said. "What makes you say that?" Strea asked. "I'm not sure. I think it's the eyes. They're the same color, but they have a warmer look to them. Not like Sephiroth." Said Yuuki. "Maybe they're related?" she guessed. "You can always ask him after the Tournament's done." Asuna suggested. "Alright. Let's get going then." Kirito said. After signing up for the tournament our heroes fought against more and more heartless. With Yuuki in tow, the band of seven were nigh unstoppable. Eventually they were facing off against cloud. As per their agreement no dark powers would be involved which meant Yuuki was only allowed to use her sword. Cloud stood in the middle, both hands on his sword and ready for battle. "Seven against one. I suppose that evens things up." Cloud said confidently. The fight started similarly to our first fight with him. The seven of us were able to switch to avoid his attacks and make our own. However when it was Strea's turn, something different happened. Strea ran to attack Cloud from behind only to have Cloud parry Strea's Great sword with his own. The two swords colliding made a loud clang on contact and Strea was struggling to get the upper hand against Cloud. "Have to admit, I didn't think anyone would be strong enough to use that sword. Let alone use it against me." Cloud said. "Oh I use big swords like this all the time. But I think this one is my favorite." Strea said. "It definitely suits you, but I won't lose so easily. Even if it is against one of my own weapons." Cloud retorted. Suddenly orange streaks of energy energy began sparking off of cloud. A large black bat like wing sprouts from beneath his tattered red cape and with a single flap he overpowers Strea and soars into the air. With his new found flying ability cloud was able to attack from anywhere he chose. Cloud wasn't the only one that could "fly" so to speak though. After our visit to Neverland everyone had obtained a gliding ability. However Cloud was still faster and more maneuverable. For a while we had to break our formation to dodge his attacks, but luckily for us Cloud could only use fly for a short period of time before needing to land. When cloud was firmly back on the ground, Yuuki charged in to attack him. As their swords clashed over and over again, Cloud's eyes widened when he noticed the black feather tucked behind her ear. "Where did you get that?" he asked. "The underworld. Someone gave it to me. He gave me this sword to." Yuuki replied. "Did he have silver hair and a long sword?" He asked again knowing full well what the answer was. "How did you know that?" Yuuki asked breaking off her assault. "Sephiroth…" Cloud said while holstering his buster sword. "I don't know what his plans are for you, but you can't trust him. He'll lead you down a dark path. Make you think darkness is the only answer." Cloud warned. "I'm not worried." Yuuki boldly stated. "Why?" he asked. "Because my friends are with me. As long as I'm surrounded by their light, the darkness won't ever have a hold on me." Yuuki said. A small smile grew on Cloud's face at her response "So you found your light…"Cloud turned his back toward them and began to exit the arena. "Hey Phil, I forfeit." Cloud said. "W-What!" Phil exclaimed. "Hang on a sec. ya can't just-" Phil was about to say before cloud closed the door in his face. "Well. I guess you can. Alright, guess that means you guys get to fight Hercules." Phil said. "Hold on Phil. If I'm going to fight Hercules, then I wanna do it one on one." Sora stated. Phil stared wide eyed and mouth dropped at sora. "Seriously?!" he exclaimed. "A-hyuck, I told you guys he would fight Herc by himself." Goofy said. "You're sure about this Sora?" Kirito asked. Sure Sora had gotten Strong, but was he really strong enough to take on a legendary hero like Hercules by himself? "I'm not just doing this so I can boost my ego Kirito. If I can beat Hercules, then I'll know for sure, that I can save Riku and Kairi." Sora said. "You've thought a lot about this haven't you." Kirito asked rhetorically. Sora nodded affirmatively. "Alright guys, let's go to the stands. And Sora…" Kirito held out his arm towards him, his hand closed in a fist. "Win this." Kirito Said. Sora made a big grin showing off his pearly whites and brought his fist up to Kirito's. "Got it." Sora said. The final match was about to begin. Kirito and the others watched with baited breath as Sora stood before Hercules. The red haired warrior was extremely muscular. He wore Red roman armor with a blue cape that covered his back, and sandals. He also carried a gladius at his hip. Phil brought in a gong and rang it to begin the fight. The fight started with Hercules winding up to throw a big punch at Sora. Sora tried to deflect it, but the sheer force of it broke his guard and sent him back ten feet. "Hey, give up yet?" Hercules taunted while flexing his biceps. However this left an opening for Sora to attack the hero. Sora managed to get a few hits in before Hercules brought out his short sword and began spinning around like a tornado. Having seen this tactic before from Goofy, he knew exactly how to avoid it. Sora glided through the air while Hercules spun and spun until he stopped due to dizziness. "Hercules is strong alright, but he sure is clumsy." Asuna said. "Yeah, it almost looks like he's putting on an act." Kirito said suspiciously. Phil on the other hand was livid. "COME ON HERC WHAT'RE YA DOIN' OUT THERE?! GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER! USE YOUR HEAD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Phil shouted. "Right use my head." Hercules said as he lowered his head and ran towards Sora like a charging rhino. Sora raised his keyblade to block the attack and when Hercules' head came in contact with it he stumbled backward and grabbed his head in pain. Phil slapped his palm to his forehead "that flashuguma head of his. I swear that kid's gonna be the death of me." Phil ranted. "Herc! Time to pull out all the stops!" He said. "Alright, try this on for size!" Hercules exclaimed. His body glowed with a golden aura and a large golden circle appeared on the ground. He raised his hand skyward and called down lightning to strike the area. "WOAH!" Strea exclaimed. "What a powerful attack." Yui said. "HAHA! Yup! He ain't the son of Zeus for nothing! There isn't anyone that's gotten back up after that move." Phil proudly proclaimed. "I think you might want to take a closer look Phil." Kirito stated. As the dust cleared everyone saw that Hercules was panting from the exertion and Sora was still standing while wind swirled around him like a sphere. "How in the name of Aphrodite did he survive that?" Phil asked. "He used wind magic at the last possible moment to mitigate the damage from the lightning." Asuna said. "If he was off by even a second that attack would have finished him. It was risky, but it certainly paid off." Kirito said. Mom, dad, look at Sora's Keyblade. It's glowing!" Yui said. Sure enough, the keyblade was enveloped in a golden light. Sora ran to launch his final attack on Hercules. "ARS ARCANUM!" Sora shouted as he unleashed a 13 hit combo against Hercules. The muscular warrior knelt on the ground defeated by the Key bearer. After the tournament was over we were given a large gold trophy. Of course Sora opted to leave it in the coliseum lobby with the smaller trophy and plaque we had won from the Phil and Pegasus cups respectively. Hercules was extremely impressed by how much stronger sora had grown over the course of our journey. "WOW! And I didn't even hold back!" He exclaimed. "Now I finally know what you mean about strength of heart. Mine comes from Donald, Goofy, Kirito, Asuna, and all of their friends to." Sora said. "Come again?" Phil interrupted in disbelief. "If we stick together, we're unbeatable. Not even Hercules stands a chance. With them beside me, I'm ready for anything!" Sora proclaimed. Everyone couldn't help but smile at Sora's words. Someone could say his words were ludicrous. But Sora's charisma was enough to make them believable. "But that's not exactly what I-" Phil was about to say before Hercules interrupted. "Of course. Your friends give you strength. Isn't that right, Phil?" Hercules said as he scooped up the chubby little satyr. "The seven of you together-" "don't forget me!" Yui interrupted. "Right. The eight of you together make great heroes. And together as a team, I'm sure you can overcome anything." Hercules said as he held out his hand For Sora to shake. "Hey Herc, this pedestal still needs moving." Phil said. "I don't know Phil. I'm still worn out from the tournament." Hercules replied. "I'll do it." Sora said as he moved to push the pedestal. "Come on guys. Help me out." He said. "Good grief, you still wanna show off." Donald said as he got into position. "Hey it's just like he said. 'Together we're unst- unde-" "Unbeatable" Kirito answered. "Yeah that's the word. A-hyuck." Goofy replied. "Come on mommy us to." Yui said excitedly. "Okay Yui." Asuna said. Everyone began pushing the stone black forwards. With all of their strength combined the pedestal finally moved. And to our complete surprise the keyhole was in the floor right under it! After Sora sealed the key hole we all returned to the gummi ships. "You know if we left that pedestal alone the heartless may never have been able to reach it." Kirito said. "Better safe than sorry." Asuna said.

Chapter 33 Story time "So are we positive that we haven't been caught up in an elaborate plot to trap everyone in a vr mmo again?" Lisbeth asked. "For the third time, yes. Everything is real. Now are there any other questions?" Kirito asked. Lis, Silica, and Suguha raised their hands. "Ones that don't involve government conspiracies and the ghost data of Kayaba." Said Kirito. Which of course prompted Lis and Silica to lower their hands. "So where are we going now brother?" Suguha asked. "A place called Traverse town. You guys should be safe there while Sora helps us look for a way back home." Kirito said. "Our parents are bound to be worried sick. How long do you think it'll take for us to get back?" Sugu asked. "Honestly, I don't know. But I believe in Sora. If anyone can find our home again, it's him." Kirito said. After a quick warp jump, our heroes found themselves in traverse town once more. Kirito told Sugu, Lis, and Silica to wait by the accessory shop while they went to install the new nav gummi. Cid said he'd get it done in a jiffy and that he'd be right back. While they were waiting Kirito thought back to their journey so far. While finding some of their friends and his sister was good progress, they still weren't any closer to getting back home. Maleficent seemed to have a hold on Sora's friends, Riku and Kairi. And Kirito had a sneaking suspicion that Maleficent had a hand in Alice's kidnapping. Since Riku was working for her and kidnapped Jasmine, the pieces fit together. And on top of all that was the mysterious knight in his dreams. After the Phil cup, Kirito's sword skills had been returning to him in frequent intervals. And if he was to fight him again, he was going to need every skill he had at his disposal. Meanwhile, Sora appeared to be in a slump. Riku was in danger of falling to the darkness and from what the girls said, Kairi appeared to be comatose. Donald and Goofy tried to cheer him up like they usually did. "How can you be so cheerful? We're still no closer to finding your king." Sora asked. "The king told us to go out and find the key bearer, and we found you. So as long as we stick together, it'll all workout okay. Ya just gotta believe in yourself that's all." Goofy said. "Just believe…" As soon as he closed his eyes a vision flashed before him. He was floating towards a bright light. And then he watched what looked like a memory unfold. He saw a younger version of Kairi in a library. The little girl dashed to her grandmother. Her grandmother was short in stature and her gray hair was tied in bun. She wore a long purple dress and a white apron along with a brown scarf. Then she began telling a story. "Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts. The darkness spread, Swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of light survived… in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, Children rebuilt the lost world. It's the world we live in now. But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But some day, a door to the innermost darkness will open. And the true light will return. So, listen child. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away. Do you understand Kairi?" She finished. And that's where it ended. Why did he keep having these daydreams of Kairi? Was she calling out to him somehow? Sora thought. "Sora? Sooora?" Strea said while waving her hand in front of his face. Sora snapped out of his daze and noticed his friends were staring at him. "You were spacing out for a while. You okay man?" Kirito asked. "Y-yeah. Just a daydream." Sora said. Before anyone could press sora further Cid had returned, finished with his task. He said told us that the new gummi could take us to hollow bastion. But he warned us that the heartless were especially strong there. If memory served correctly that's the place captain hook said where we'll find Maleficent. Along with Riku, kairi, and everyone else she had taken. "Hollow Bastion…" Kirito said. "Everything up 'til now has been pointing us there." Asuna said. "Let's get going then." Kirito said. "You should stop by the coliseum on the way. The next tournament is being held right now. Rumor has it the winner gets a fight with Hercules." Cid said. "Will do." Sora said. "But we just got here. Do you really have to leave so soon?" Suguha asked. "Don't worry. We'll try to get back soon." Kirito said. Suguha wrapped her arms around Kirito and hugged him. "You'd better. If you don't come back, I'll find you and use you as my training dummy for a month." Sugu threatened. "I got it, I got it." Kirito said hugging her back. Their sibling hug lasted a brief few seconds before Kirito and company went back to their ships.

Chapter 32 leap of faith. Sora and company rushed to the deck ready to face captain hook. When they got there, they saw Hook standing in behind a plank that stretched over the salty him stood his first mate Mr. Smee, who held a glass case that imprisoned Tinkerbell. The salty sea dogs were accompanied by the pirate heartless clearly they had prepared an ambush for us. "Quite a codfish, that Riku. Running off with that girl without even saying goodbye." Said Hook. "Run off where? Tell me, where did he go?" Sora said while swinging his key blade in frustration. "To the ruins of Hollow bastion, where Maleficent resides. But you won't be going there." Hook said as he grabbed the portable prison from his first mate. "Unless you intend to leave your little pixie friend behind?" Said Captain Hook. The implication was clear as day. If they had left right now then Tinkerbell would suffer the consequences. None of us wanted that on our conscience. So we all stowed away our weapons and let the pirate heartless surround us. "Hand over the keyblade and I'll spare your lives. Be glad I'm merciful, unlike the heartless. So, which will it be? The keyblade, or the plank?" Captain Hook asked as he pointed his Hook at the longboard. There was a 2 second pause before everyone heard what sounded like a clock. The continuous ticking and tocking caused Hook's skin to pale as he gained a look of fear. Because he was very familiar with that sound. In the ocean below the plank floated a green crocodile. His yellow reptilian eyes stared at the captain as if waiting for his prey. His jagged teeth and crocodile grin showed that he knew someone would become his dinner tonight. "IT'S HIM! It's the crocodile that took me hand! Oh, Smee! He's after me other hand! I can't stay here! Go away! I can't stand the sight of Him! Smee, you take care of them!" Hook squealed as he ran back to his cabin, no doubt for a change of pants. Sora was the first to be sent onto the plank. The heartless backed him closer and closer to the edge. The Crocodile paddled beneath him with his mouth open wide to devour him in one gulp. Our team watched on fearfully as we dreadfully awaited the moment Sora would be sent over the edge. Sora began to panic as he was literally at the edge. Just when he thought all hope was lost he heard peter pan in his head. "Fly, Sora! Just believe, and you can do it!" Peter said encouragingly. Hearing Peter's voice managed to calm him down. Sora closed his eyes and decided to trust him. Sora jumped off the plank and plummeted towards the sea. But just before he fell into the crocodile's gaping maw, Sora flew away from it and soared into the air. His body glowed with the same golden dust that tinker bell had sprinkled on us. And in that same moment, Peter pan swooped down and grabbed tinker bell's cage away from one flabbergasted Smee. The two of them descended on the deck of the ship and peter released the little fairy. "Thanks peter." Sora said. "Hey, don't mention it. You didn't think I'd leave you and tink behind, did you?" Peter said. Sense the tables had turned, Mr. Smee ran away into the safety of the ship and left the heartless to fight us. "You're all going down!" Sora shouted. The fight against the pirate heartless began. Seeing Sora literally escaping the jaws of death gave everyone hope and the courage to fly as he did. The red pirates were no match for our newfound air superiority. But the cavalry soon came in the form of the sky pirates along with a new heartless. It looked like a pirate captain was piloting a small dingy. There were propellers on the back of the ship and on top of the sail. And on the left and right side of it were canons that rained down mortar fire from above. The ship was also equipped with a pointed almost spear like battering ram. The heartless captain tried to skewer us with charging attacks multiple times. But it had one major weakness. What good was a ship without its captain after all? Kirito charged at the pint sized heartless and knocked it off its boat. He then kicked the heartless in its chin and when it was far enough away, he dived foot first and kicked the heartless into oblivion. With no pilot the ship crashed and sunk into the ocean. "Was that another skill of yours? It looked more like a karate move than a sword skill." Sora said. "It's a move I learned from sparring with someone a while back. I call it crow combo." Kirito said. "Less talking, more fighting!" Asuna ordered. After we defeated the heartless we waited outside the door to Hook's cabin. It was time that we got some payback for Captain Hooks little ambush. Peter Pan stood beside the door and knocked. "Is that you, Smee? Did you finish them off?" Captain hook asked through the closed door. Peter Pan pinched his middle and index finger around his nose and delivered a perfect impression of Mr. Smee. "Aye, captain. They walked the plank, every last one of them." He said. Captain Hook ran out the door without noticing us or turning around. While he was looking to see if what "Smee" said was true, Peter pan snuck up behind him and gave the captain a light Poke with the tip of his dagger. The pirate jumped and squealed before turning around to see that his mortal adversary and the key bearer were still on his ship. Captain Hook grew enraged and drew his rapier ready to fight. "Ready to make a splash you codfish? Now it's your turn to walk the plank." Peter taunted. For a man his age, Captain Hook was surprisingly spry. No matter what altitude we flew at, he was able to match it by using the masts and his incredibly high jumps to his advantage. Asuna landed on the deck and fought against him. The two of them were locked hilt to hilt in an attempt to gain the upper hand. However Hook had other tricks up his sleeves. Using his hooked hand he "hooked" a pink box with a ribbon on it and dropped at their feet. Sensing the danger, Asuna ran from the "present" before it promptly exploded. "You monster. You disguised a bomb as a child's birthday present!" Yuuki said outraged. "Thank you." Hook taunted. "That wasn't a compliment you codfish!" Yuuki said. "What did you say?!" Hook responded. "Codfish, codfish, hook is a codfish!" Yuuki taunted in a sing song voice. "I'll get you, you wench!" the enraged pirate ran to skewer Yuuki with his sword, however she flew off before he could reach her. And what Captain Hook failed to realize, is that he ran onto the very plank he had forced Sora on. When he realized his grave error, he turned around and Saw tinker bell floating directly in front of his face. "Y-you're not still mad about that whole hostage thing are you?" he asked. She was. So Tinker bell promptly kicked Captain Hook in the nose. The pirate grabbed the injured cartilage with his hand and stumbled off the plank and into the sea. When he resurfaced he found himself directly in front of the crocodile. Somehow Hook defied the laws of physics by running on the water away from said reptile as it snapped its jaws and swam fast enough to keep up with him. "HAHA! Nice!" peter said. He then spit in his hand and offered it for Yuuki to shake. However Yuuki was slightly grossed out by this. So she refrained from spitting and awkwardly shook his hand. After the battle, Sora stood at the edge of the edge of the upper deck. His hand laid on the rail as he looked up at the sky. "I still can't believe it. I really flew! Wait 'til I tell Kairi. I wonder if she'll believe me. Probably not." Said Sora. "You can bring her to Neverland sometime. Then, she can try it herself." Peter said. "If you believe, you can do anything, right? I'll find Kairi. I know I will. There's so much I want to tell her. About flying, the pirates, and everything else that's happened." Sora said. "Oooo. Sounds like somebody's in love." Yuuki teased. Sora blushed at the insinuation. "Wh-wh-what?! N-no that's- -" "Sora and kairi sitting in a tree." Donald sang. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Asuna finished. "You to Asuna?!" Sora sputtered. "Hehe. That's payback for trying to walk in on me and Kirito in traverse town." Asuna said. "Weren't the lumps enough?" Sora asked. "Trust me Sora. There's no escaping it." Kirito said. While everyone laughed at Sora's expense Tinker bell came back and spoke with peter pan. He said that there was something at a clock tower that tinker bell wanted us to see. "Okay, but first let's get Sugu and the others. We've gotta take them with us." Asuna said. "That's true. Plus she'd never forgive me if I didn't tell her that she can fly here." Kirito said. When we returned to the cell that the girls were kept in we saw that Smee was passed out on the floor. There was a large bump from where he had been struck down by Suguha's shinai. "Big brother, you're back. Does that the mean the pirates are gone?" Suguha asked. "Yup. All taken care of. We just have one more thing to do. We'll take you guys along and then we'll go back to our ship." Kirito said. "Okay. Where are we going?" Silica asked. "London. We'll have to fly to get there though." Peter said. "And how are we supposed to get there? Just sprout wings and fly?" Lisbeth said. "Nope. Just a little bit of pixie dust." Peter said as he flew over them and sprinkled Tink's dust all over them. "Just believe Sugu. It actually works." Kirito said as he floated upwards. Much to the girl's astonishment. A few minutes later they were all flying through the air. Peter said to get to London they would fly up to the second star to the right of the brightest star in the sky. Suguha was exhilarated by all of it. There she was flying through the cold night air without any wings, heading towards the stars. And the best part, there was no altitude limiter saying how high she could go. For years she thought that she could only get this kind of experience in Alfheim online. But here in this new world, she could fly whenever she wanted. Sure they had to be ripped from their homes and were kidnapped by Pirates, but having her big brother come and rescue her from said pirates was like a fairy tale come to life! But of course it couldn't last. Eventually they reached London and flew down to big ben. The clock ticked down to midnight and as the bell tolled, a keyhole appeared on the clocks face. Sora brandished his Keyblade and sealed the keyhole once more. Upon doing so a little green block fell out and Kirito caught it. Wendy walked along the tower balcony and peter floated along in the air as she did. "Peter, are you really going back to Neverland?" Wendy asked. "Afraid so, but we can see each other any time. As long as you don't forget about Neverland that is." Peter said. Tinker bell was not amused however. She flew around the two of them and surprisingly floated around Suguha next. "Oh boy, she's getting steamed again. Do me a favor and look after her will ya?" Peter said. "You mean it?" Suguha asked. "Sure. Call her up anytime you want." He said. "Thank you so much." Suguha said.

Chapter 31 Hostage crisis Naturally the heartless came out to play as soon as we left the storage room. In addition to the red, sword toting pirate heartless, there were blue ones that flew around with wings on their backs and attacked with their fists. Normally aerial enemies like these were a nuisance in such tight spaces, but Peter Pan's own ability to fly leveled the playing field. It also helped that he was a natural fencer with the dagger he carried. He flew around cutting down the heartless left and right with the numerous techniques he had learned while Fighting Captain Hook. After we defeated them, Peter pan let loose a bird call to symbolize his Victory. "Why do we always run into the weird ones?" Donald said to no one in particular. "Don't know. But you gotta admit that his flying ability is useful." Kirito said. "I wonder how he does it." Asuna said. "Flying's easy. I'll show ya." Peter said. Peter put his fingers in his mouth and made a loud whistle to call back Tinker Bell. The little fairy still looked steamed from her last altercation with Donald. "Aw, haven't you cooled off yet Tink?" Tinker bell turned her back to peter and crossed her arms. Although peter grabbed tinker bell by her wings and flew over us. Golden dust powdered down on us like a salt shaker. The dust sprinkled on our clothes, but nothing in particular happened. "Just a little bit of pixie dust. There, now you can fly." Peter said. Donald jumped in the air and flapped his arms like they were wings, but then he fell to the ground face first. Tinker bell pointed at Donald and laughed at his failed attempt. Meanwhile in the captain's quarters Riku was giving orders to Captain Hook again. Apparently Wendy and the other girls they had captured weren't one of the seven princesses that Maleficent had ordered to be captured. Riku wanted to toss them overboard to lighten the load. But Captain Hook went to a lot of trouble to kidnap Wendy. And the other girls were rather rowdy. He still had a bump on his head from where one of them hit him with a wooden sword of all things. Maleficent kept her plans very private. Even Riku didn't know the extent of them. "Just what is maleficent planning anyway?" Hook asked. "Who knows? As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back, I couldn't care less." Riku said. "Hmph. You're wasting your time! The heartless have devoured that girl's heart. I'll stake me other hand it's lost forever." Said Hook. "I will find it. No matter what." Said Riku. There was a brief silence in the room until Mr. Smee spoke through the horn. He reported that Sora and company had escaped and had joined with Peter Pan. "Blast that Peter Pan! All right, then! Bring the hostage to me cabin, Smee! Hop to it!" captain hook ordered. He would have peter's head if it was the last thing he did. The Key bearer and his crew were simply an added bonus. "Nope." Yuuki said closing a cabin door. "Nothing here." Strea said closing another door. "Not in here either." Asuna said. "Where could they be?" Sora asked. They were now in the fourth room of the second floor of the ship. And so far they had yet to find Wendy and the other captives. Suddenly tinker bell began chiming rather noisily. Peter floated up to see what the fuss was about. Footsteps could be heard on the floor above us. The footsteps clacked on the wooden floor until multiple girls could be seen crouched over a metal bracket on that allowed us to see the floor above. There was a girl with brown hair dressed in a long blue night gown with a ribbon tied into the braids of her hair. The girl had to have been Wendy because she knew who Peter was. What took Kirito by surprise however, were the three girls next to her. The first two girls were dressed in the uniforms of the school the SAO survivors all attended. Both of them had brown her, but one was short and the other had pigtails. The first was Rika Shinozaki. In game her hair was dyed pink and we call her Lisbeth or Lis for short. She's a blacksmith by trade and she maintains and sometimes makes new gear for us. The second girl is Keiko Ayano. Another member of our party. In game we call her Silica. She gained notoriety as a beast tamer in game when she tamed a small blue dragon she named Pina. She named it after her cat in the real world and they grew very close. Despite being an NPC, Pina acts more or less like a real pet and even goes so far as to risk her life to protect her master. And the third girl was dressed in kendo gear. She had short black hair and black eyes. This is Suguha Kirigaya. Kazuto's little sister (technically cousin). Suguha is very dedicated to Kendo. She's even made champion in the junior league two years in a row. Naturally her skills translated well in both SAO and Alfheim online. In game she had long blonde hair tied into a pony tail that went down to her waist and bright green eyes. In SAO she's one of our main attackers, but in ALO she plays a support role. Despite the circumstances, Kirito was glad to know they were alright. "KIRITO!" they all exclaimed. "Are you guys okay? They didn't hurt you did they?" Kirito asked. "No, but the guy with a hook for hand took my shinai. That was the only weapon we had Kazuto." Suguha said. "Okay. Just sit tight Sugu. We'll get to you somehow." Kirito said. "One more thing. Is there another girl up there with you?" Asuna asked. "Y-yes. She's sitting in the corner on the other grate. But she hasn't said a word since we met her." Silica said. "It's almost like she's under some kind of trance." Lisbeth added. "That's Kairi! She's okay right?" Sora asked. "She's still breathing. As far as I can tell she's fine, but she's totally unresponsive." Suguha said. "You must hurry though. The pirates are coming." Wendy said "What?! I'll be right up there!" Peter said. Sugu and the rest of the girls moved a dresser in front of the door to their room a while ago. Now the four of them had to push against it to make sure no one got in. meanwhile Sora was looking up at the grate Kairi was sitting on. 'Kairi… if you're alright please give me a sign!' Sora prayed. As if in response to his plea, Kairi's hand twitched. It was a small movement, but Sora was able to notice it. And that was enough proof for him to know that Kairi was okay. Unfortunately, the strength of the four girls was not enough to keep the intruders at bay. Riku knocked each of them out cold and took Kairi up to the Captain's quarters. While searching the rooms of the ship, the group found a ladder that led up to a hatch on the roof. Conveniently enough the hatch brought them straight to the captain's quarters. When they got there they saw Riku holding Kairi in his arms. Sora pleaded with Riku to stay where he was, but it had no effect. Shadows made their way from beneath the door to the outside until they stood in front of Riku. And from the shadows rose the Shadow of Sora that Riku created. With its dark key blade in hand, the shadow attacked us and provided Riku with an opportunity to escape with Kairi. Sora's shadow was able to fight exactly like he did. Not only that, but he possessed the shadow heartless ability to flatten itself on the ground to give itself invulnerability albeit temporarily. On top of that, the room we were fighting in was so small that coordinating attacks was difficult. Strea was reduced to supporting us with magic since she couldn't pull of the wide movements her great sword required without hitting anybody accidentally. And as if that weren't enough, Sora's shadow began duplicating itself. "Seriously?! One Sora I can take, but this is too much!" Donald raged. "What's that supposed to mean?" Remarked Sora as he cut down one of the duplicates. "Oh! Hey guys, the fake ones can only take one hit." Sora informed. "Alright. Since the fakes are so frail, we can defeat them as soon as they pop up." Asuna said. "Then the real shadow will be a piece of cake. Let's get him!" Peter said. Thanks to Sora's quick observation we were able to defeat Sora's shadow in minutes. Upon its defeat the shadow sunk into the darkness whence it came. After the battle was over Kirito locate Suguha's Shinai. The wooden bamboo practice sword was mounted on the wall along with other weapons Captain Hook had acquired. We managed to find the other hatch in hook's cabin. We took the ladder down to the corridor that led to the room the girls were imprisoned. Sugu, Lis, and Silica had woken up shortly after our arrival. But Wendy was still unconscious. Peter pan tentatively picked her up and said that he was leaving to take her back home. The boy flew off fast and left us to fend for ourselves. "Big brother, what's going on? Why are we on this weird ship? How is that guy able to fly? What are those black creatures? And why do you have swords and dress like you do in games?" Sugu asked. "That's a lot of questions." Donald said. "A talking duck?" Silica said. "So you're Kirito's sister. I ain't surprised since ya ask lots of questions. But that's good 'cuz it means you're smart like he is A-hyuck." Goofy said. "Um, thanks Mr. Dog sir?" Suguha responded. "You're welcome. And just call me Goofy." Goofy said. "Are we sure we're not daydreaming?" Silica said. "Well for one it's night time. So it wouldn't be daydreaming." Sora joked. "Okay. And you are?" Lisbeth asked. "I'm Sora. Kirito and Asuna have really been helping out on our Journey. Kirito is an awesome warrior. And Asuna's a wizard in the kitchen and on the battle field. I'm glad they've got my back." Sora said. The three girls blinked once, twice, thrice, until Lis just started laughing. "Uh, what's so funny?" Goofy asked. "Nothing! It's just so typical that Kirito finds this big world saving quest and decides to help out anyway he can. And Asuna's always first along for the ride." Lisbeth said. "Now that you mention it, that's the one thing that's familiar in this situation." Silica said while smiling. "I guess Kirito doesn't change in any world we're in." Suguha said. "Am I really that predicable?" Kirito asked. "Kirito, don't ask questions you already know the answer to." Asuna said. "Well I think that's enough chit chat. Right now we have to take care of Captain Hook so we can get out of here." Kirito said. Kirito returned Sugu's stolen shinai. "Do you think you three will be safe in here until we come back?" Asuna asked. "Yeah. The heartless don't come in here. And if a pirate shows up I can take him." Suguha said. Kirito nodded knowing that Sugu could take care of herself. "Alright guys let's swash some buckles!" Sora said. "Don't ever say that again." Donald said.

Chapter 30 Jolly Roger The gummi ships high wind and high wind D were traveling through interspace side by side. The ships were connected to one another via a cylindrical docking tube that extended from both sides of the ship and locked in place towards the middle. Allowing the passengers of both sides to safely float between each ship. Asuna was once again cooking for her the others while they sat at the table. Kirito was once again telling Sora about his various exploits in the virtual world while Jiminy took notes in his journal. The cricket was no doubt adding more details to the biographies he kept on everyone we had met. "So there was another black swordsman besides you?" Sora asked. "For a while there was. Genesis was a beta tester alongside us and other players in a game called Sword art: Origin. The players called him that because he wore black clothes and used a large two handed sword. He wasn't exactly a nice guy. He abused the power he had in the virtual world by waiting for raid parties to whittle down a bosses HP and striking down the boss himself to rob players of their rewards." Kirito said. "How rude." Donald said. "That's not all. He had another alias. "The god of cheats." Genesis tampered with his amusphere so that he could use digital drugs in game. By creating an artificial high, he was able to fool the system and go beyond the game's normal limits." Yuuki said. "That's totally not fair. Didn't he get caught?" Sora asked. "Yup. Genesis asked me to meet him in a dungeon for a duel. I contacted Seven, one of the game's developers, and asked her to listen in on us. Then I tricked Genesis into revealing his secret. After I defeated him, his account was deleted and he was sent to prison for illegally modifying his amusphere." Kirito said. "Gawrsh, he went to jail for cheating in a game? If it was that risky he shouldn't have done it!" Goofy said. "That's right. The government doesn't want a repeat of the SAO disaster. So laws regarding virtual reality are super strict. His actions simply weren't tolerable at the time." Kirito said. Asuna began placing plates of food on the table. Each plate had a nice helping of rice and curry. "Well, you both might have been the black swordsman, but I think you wear think you wore it better than he did." Strea said. "Uh-huh. I mean sure you're both showoffs, but Genesis was totally self-absorbed." Yuuki followed. Asuna placed the last plate in front of an empty chair and sat down to eat with everyone. "THANKS FOR THE FOOD!" Alarms began blaring all over the gummi ship. Everyone hustled over to the command deck to see what the trouble was. "What's going on? Are the heartless attacking? Is there an asteroid field?" Sora asked. "There's a ship just off the port bow. It's big, heavily armed, and it's about to ram us." Yui said. "What do we do?" Goofy asked. "It's likely that they'll try to board us. Our ships are too small for us to fight on. We'll have to board them before they hit us. Everyone get to the transporter." Kirito said. "Aye-Aye captain!" They all saluted. "You're really getting into the leadership role huh Kirito." Asuna said. "Well, to be honest I think you or Sora would be better at it." Kirito said. "Really? What makes you say that?" Sora asked. "Well, Asuna's led a Guild before. She came up with all the formations for boss raids back in aincrad. She kept people safe, she has a natural ability to take charge, and doesn't take nonsense from anybody." Kirito said. "And Sora, you're friendly, brave, honest, and loyal to a fault. You have a strong conscience and most importantly, a good heart. Put all those things together and you have a leader that never leads anyone astray." Kirito said. "Wow… I don't know what to say. Thanks Kirito." Sora said. Asuna started giggling to herself. "What's so funny Asuna?" Kirito asked. "Oh nothing. It's just, this is the first time you're making friends our age that aren't girls." She said. "TH-This again? Why do you guys always say that? I don't have a harem I just have friends who are girls!" Kirito stated. "I didn't know you were such a chick magnet Kirito." Sora said "And just like that, the moment is gone." Kirito said. The transporter instantly beamed them down to the pirate ship. The ship itself was large and wooden. The hull and ramps were painted red while figure head a skull painted gold. The ship had three masts with white sails. And on the crow's nest there was a black flag with a skull and cross-bones. Looking around, Sora could see that he was the only one on the deck of the ship. "That's weird. I could've swore chip and dale fixed all the bugs with the transporter." Sora said. "I didn't think you'd come Sora." The voice behind him caused Sora to gasp. He turned around to see Riku standing on the upper level of the deck. "Good to see you again." Riku said. "W-Where are the others?" Sora asked. Something about this was off to Sora. Normally the transporter would put them all on the same area. So why was he here by himself? Was it setup? Was Riku capable of this? "Are they really that important to you? More important than old friends? Instead of worrying about them, you should be asking… about her." Riku side stepped to reveal Kairi sitting on the floor. Her eyes were open, but she had a vacant expression. Almost as if she were unresponsive. "Kairi!" Sora exclaimed. "That's right. While you were off goofing around, I finally found her." Riku said. Sora was about to run up there to see her, but a man with a Hook for a hand blocked his path. Captain hook was accompanied by his first mate Mr. Smee. He was a short old man with a pot belly that wore a red sock like cap, a white and blue striped shirt, shorts, and sandals. There were also two pirate-esque heartless that carried black swords. "Riku, why are you siding with the heartless?" Sora demanded. "The heartless obey me now, Sora. Now I have nothing to fear." Riku said. Nothing to fear? Didn't he know what happened to everyone else that used the heartless? "You're stupid! Sooner or later they'll swallow your heart!" Sora said. "Not a chance. My heart's too strong." Riku scoffed. "I've picked up a few other tricks as well. Like this for instance." Riku raised his hand and pointed his palm toward Sora. Suddenly, Sora's shadow rose from the ground and floated in front of him. If it weren't pitch black and didn't have yellow eyes it would've been an exact likeness of him. "You can go see your friends now." Riku said walking away from him. Then a trap door opened beneath his feet and he fell to the ship's storage room. "Let's get underway already. And keep Sora away from Kairi until we're ready to land." Riku ordered. "Hmph! That scurvy brat thinks he can order me around!" Captain hook complained. "What shall we do captain?" asked Mr. Smee. "Nothing! The hold is crawling with heartless. Let them keep an eye on the brats." Said Hook. "But captain, you-know-who is also down- -" smee said before being interrupted. "Shhh… Did you hear that, Smee? Oh, that dreadful sound!" said hook fearfully. "N-no captain." Smee said. Captain hook looked directly at Smee and grabbed his shoulders. "Are you quite sure? Did I imagine it? Oh, my poor nerves…" said captain hook woefully. "Ya don't say?" Kirito said. "Yeah, it was definitely Kairi. I've finally found her!" Sora said. "All right! Then let's go up and talk to her." Followed Goofy. "Sounds great. Okay, but first… How about getting off!" Donald asked. He, along with Kirito and Goofy had wound up in a four person pile up when Sora had fallen on top of them. And of course instead of helping, the girls were laughing at the hilarity of it. After that, Sora got up and looked through the slot on the storage room door to see if the coast was clear. We were about to make our way back up to the deck when a red haired, pointy eared boy wearing green clothes, a small green hat with a red feather and a dagger sheathed on his belt made himself known. "Who are you?" Goofy asked. "I'm the answer to your prayers." Donald sighed and began tapping his foot as he was want to do when someone annoyed him. "Okay, then. Fine. Have it your way." He said. "But you're stuck in here to aren't you?" Asuna pointed out. "No. I'm just waiting for someone." He said. As if on cue a small, golden light entered the room the light left a path of glittery dust as it moved towards him. Then the light faded and we saw that it was a fairy with blonde hair tied in a bun wearing a little green dress and slippers with bells on them. "Tinker bell, what took you so long? Did you find Wendy?" he asked. The little fairy made a buzzing sound as it talked. Only Peter could understand it. "Hold on. There were other girls there, too?" he asked. The little fairy crossed her arms as though she were mad about something. "Are you crazy? There is no way I'm gonna leave Wendy there!" he said. "Aha. She must be pretty jealous." Donald laughed. Of course Donald's rude remark caused the little fairy to float up to him and kick Donald in his big duck bill. Despite her size, the kick was hard enough to shut Donald up and make him dizzy. Then Tinker bell flew out the door leaving us to fend for ourselves. "Come on Tink! Open up the door!" he asked. "Ahem." Sora said. Peter Pan looked toward Sora and saw him holding the keyblade in one hand and the other hand was covering his mouth. Seeing no other options, he decided to team up with the ragtag group. "I'm Peter Pan." He introduced while holding out his hand. Sora introduced himself as well, but when he reached out to shake Peter's hand, Peter yanked it away. "Okay, We're in this together, but only 'til we find Wendy." Peter said.

Chapter 29 Oogie's house of horrors After returning with Sally and the "memory" the doctor had asked for, Dr. Finklestein tasked us with locating the mayor and the last ingredient "surprise". As promised Strea's head was firmly placed atop her neck and held in place by a ring of stitches. With Strea in tow, our heroes were skulking about the graveyard once more. "These stitches are so itchy." Strea complained while scratching at her neck. "It could be worse. He could've use staples. Little metal barbs that stab into you, it just feels wrong." Yuuki shivered. "That sounds painful." Donald said. "It's just slightly uncomfortable, but staples are easier to remove and they don't tear like stitches do." Yuuki said. "Suddenly I am very thankful for healing magic." Sora said. "That's the spirit." Jack said. When we found the mayor he was takins stock of the Halloween decorations they planned to use. We asked him where we could find "surprise" and he handed us a box with a crank on the side. "So "surprise" is a Jack in the box." Kirito said. "But I'm not in a box." Jack said. A bead of sweat went down Kirito's head. 'I can't tell if he's being serious or not.' He thought. "Should we wind it up and see what's in it?" Asuna asked. "No, no, no, that would ruin the "surprise". We need to take it back to the doctor as is." Jack said. "You're the boss." Sora replied. The nine of us brought the "surprise" back to Dr. Finklestein's laboratory and he immediately went to work. The mad scientist placed the forget-me-nots and the jack in the box on the table with the heart and the other ingredients and started up the ominous electrical device once more. The coil, brimming with electricity, zapped the strange organ and the other ingredients vanished. Whether the doctor's experiment was successful or not had yet to be seen. "That should do it." said the doctor. Dr. Finklestein picked up the heart container and was wheeled over to the heartless to begin the transplant. But before he could start, Barrel leaped from under the table and blocking his path. The doctor tumbled out from his chair and dropped the container which bounced in to the hands of lock. With their prize captured, the trio of tricksters ran back to their master's hideout. "Does this kind of thing happen often?" Yuuki asked. "It's become a recurring event recently." Kirito said. "Imbeciles! Now is not the time for idle banter. You must apprehend those hooligans and retrieve the fruit of my hard work!" Dr. Finklestein commanded. "Roger. So where do we start looking for them?" Sora asked. "Those three work for Oogie Boogie. The only place they would go is to his manner of miscreants. Follow me!" Jack said as he pointed towards the door and marched onward. Jack Lead us to a large hill with a curl at the top of it. The curl at its apex began to unwind and moved towards a cemetery wall and created a bridge for us to walk or in Asuna's case slither across. When we arrived at Oogie's house we saw Lock, Shock, and Barrel riding in a walking bathtub towards a room at the top of Oogie's enormous estate. The sheer size of it was impressive. But it looked like the whole house was constructed haphazardly with pieces of statues, cages, and other houses. It looked like the slightest breeze would cause the entire structure to collapse, but it stood none the less. We carefully made our way across the board walks and rope bridges and made sure to avoid areas that had suffered wood rot and the rather obvious traps. Eventually, we scaled our way to the top room where the three pranksters were. When we opened the door to their room we saw them toss the heart down a shaft. No doubt to deliver it to their master. The three of them cackled with glee at the completion of their task completely unaware of Jack Skellington's approach. The walking skeleton tapped each of them on the shoulder. When the three of them turned around jack pulled at his jaw and it stretched like clay. He showed of his sharp pointy teeth and released a bone chilling screech. The three of them huddled together in fear of the pin striped suit wearing skeletal monster before them. "You three are in a lot of trouble." Jack stated. "We're sorry, we won't do it again. It was all Barrel's idea, please don't hurt us!" shock begged. " Quiet! Now, you three are to return to Halloween town and apologize to Dr. Finklestein. And as punishment you are to work as his assistants for a whole year." "A whole year?! That's so boring!" Lock complained. "Jack placed his bony fingers in his mouth again. "Okay, okay, we'll do it!" Barrel said. "Good. Now tell us where to find Oogie Boogie." Jack ordered. "Pull that lever. It'll unlock the entrance to his lair. Look for the green door with his face on it. Please don't tell him we told you, he'll get really mad at us!" Lock said. "Got it. Now get out of here. Chances are this place is going to be a pile of rubble by the time we're done." Kirito said. The trio nodded and ran out the door as fast as their legs would carry them. "Look at 'em go! You scared the living daylights out of them Jack!" Sora said. "Thanks. I'd like to think I scared them straight, but knowing those three they'll be up to their old tricks again someday. Now let's get that heart back." Jack said. We scaled our way back towards the foundation of Oogie's house and just as they had described found a green door with Oogie's face on it. We opened the door and entered a large circular room. Theinner circle was a pit made to look like w wheel one would find in a casino. And one the outer edge on the opposite side of where we stood was Oogie Boogie, holding the still beating heart the doctor had created. Jack demanded Oogie return the heart at once. "You want it? Come and get it." Oogie shoved the oversized organ down his throat and swallowed it whole. Jack watched in rapt attention as if he was observing an experiment or show. "Now let's see if I can get their attention. Oh, Heartless!" Oogie called. Kirito and the others readied their weapons expecting to fight a horde of heartless. But Oogie only managed to call two gargoyles to his side. "This is it?" Oogie asked. Judging from the results, it seemed that the heart did not in fact have the ability to control the heartless. Kirito guessed that Oogie had intended to call either more heartless or a big strong one like they had fought before. If Oogie could only call those two, then the heart was a total dud. "Nobody disrespects me! Nobody!" Oogie angrily shouted. The fight started when a Gust of wind forced us into the pit. The two gargoyles Oogie summoned gave chase and attacked us. The heartless stood no chance as they were defeated by Yuuki and Sora. Being the gambling man he is, Oogie's weapon of choice were dice. He tossed fiery dice that exploded when they hit the ground. And red dice that triggered various booby traps. These traps were rotating scythes that moved up and down and rotated in the opposite direction the floor beneath us was moving in. the second trap was several buzz saws that we had to jump and duck to avoid. And the third trap was a firing squad of tin soldiers holding muskets. Lucky for us said firing squad was basically a fixed turret that stayed in one place and could only fire in one direction. Somehow, Sora figured out that hitting the dice and throwing them back at Oogie, prevented the traps from activating. And By extension, caused the five panels at the center of the wheel to glow. When one of the panels was stepped on, fences would rise up and entrap oogie in the section they were raised in. and the section of the wheel we were on rose to meet the high ground Oogie held. Oogie couldn't overcome so many of us and we all tore him to shreds. Bugs began to spill out from his torn seems and he wailed in agony as he was reduced to nothing but an empty burlap sack. The Heart Oogie had swallowed was no longer beating and laid there lifelessly. "So that heart was a failure. Sally was right, the heartless are too dangerous to control." Jack said somberly. "You can tell her that when we get back to Halloween town." Asuna said. After we exited the Oogie's lair we made our way back to the entrance to the graveyard. We were about to leave the place for good when the ground began to shake and Oogie's house became clouded in smoke. "What's happening?" Yuuki asked. "This is what we call part two." Kirito said. "You've done this before?!" Yuuki exclaimed. When the smoke cleared we saw that Oogie had somehow become one with his house. It looked Oogie had swallowed his house and parts of it we sticking out through the holes in his body. There were dark blobs on dotted throughout the entire structure. According to Jack Oogie was using them to draw from the power of darkness and make himself more powerful. If we could destroy them then Oogie and the house should come apart. "Alright we have a plan of attack. Take out the blobs. Destroy the house. Just watch out for the heartless and that big flaming lantern in his right hand. Let's do it!" Asuna shouted. And so we jumped to the bottom of the canyon all except Asuna who couldn't climb like the rest of us in her Lamia form. Instead she stayed at the top and coordinated our attack. Thanks to her, we were able to find each blob quickly and easily while avoiding attacks from the heartless and the house itself. When the last dark blob was destroyed the house came crumbling down and all likeness of Oogie boogie had vanished. "Is it over?" Yuuki asked. A blue light began to glow from the ground, the light formed a large keyhole on the ground. Sora used his keyblade and shot a beam of light up high. The light scattered into several smaller beams and fell to the ground and outlining the keyhole. The keyhole clicked to signify that it had been locked and the light faded. "Now it's over." Kirito stated. We had returned to the doctor's laboratory where he and Sally had awaited Jack's return. We told them that the experiment was a failure and That Oogie would no longer be able to bother them. "Well I suppose that's one good thing to come out of this debacle. Still, what went wrong? Emotion, memory, we had all the necessary ingredients. But is there more to a heart? And what is a heart anyway? I can't seem to figure it out!" Said Dr. Finklestein. "Who knows? Maybe somethings are beyond science." Yuuki said. "Preposterous! Everything is explainable through science! I just need to figure out the science of the heart." said. "Then I guess you've got more work to do right doctor?" Yui said. "Oh sally, why didn't I just listen to you?" Jack said depressingly. "Don't feel bad Jack. We'll come up with another plan for Halloween." Sally said as she held Jack's hands in her own. "And next time, we'll do it together." Said Sally. Jack smiled as he looked at sally. As the two shared the moment Sora and the others left the lab and returned to the gummi ships. "I've gotta say Asuna, I'm surprised you didn't freak out here as much as you do when Lis tells ghost stories." Kirito said. "Well, after visiting so many worlds and fighting so many heartless, I think I'm used to it now. Don't get me wrong, I'm still freaked out sometimes, but now those stories just seem silly by comparison." Asuna said. "I guess fighting monsters will do that to ya." Kirito said. "So where to next?" Yuuki asked. "The next world. Set a course Yui. We'll follow Sora and Dock at 18:00 for dinner." Kirito said. "Aye-Aye captain" Yui said. "Are we really still doing this?" Yuuki asked.

Chapter 28 to make a heart. The mayor of Halloween town was waiting for us just outside of the doctor's lab. But rather than the rosy cheeked jolly face he had before there was a pale white face with yellow eyes, green lips and pointy teeth. Apparently this was the mayor's distressed face. "Jack! Jack! We have a major crisis! The heartless are completely out of control! We can't stop them!" the mayor said panicked. "Hmmm… maybe our experiment triggered something." Jack said while scratching his head. "Everything will be fine mayor, you have nothing to worry about." Said Jack. Donald glared at jack and began tapping his webbed foot. "You know we're going to have to fight them right?" Kirito said. "Well you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs." Jack replied with his ever present optimism. The heartless of Halloween town lived up to the world's name. Besides the ghost heartless we had seen before there were mummies with long limbs and razor sharp claws. And gargoyles that camouflaged themselves to look like statues so they could make surprise attacks. The mummies had a pattern of jumping really high before landing on the ground to make a sweeping attack with their hands. And as if flying wasn't enough for them, the ghosts and gargoyles could turn into a gaseous state to avoid attacks while they got in close to land hits of their own. Using her new form to her advantage, Asuna was able to coil around them the moment they materialized to prevent their escape as she plunged her rapier through her victims. Kirito's new legs allowed him to jump higher than he normally could and his sense of balance improved, allowing him to balance himself on things he wouldn't normally be able to. Like a ninja from anime, he slew foe after foe and leapt into the air and landed on top of a guillotine. "My, my, your skills are impressive. You all would be great additions to this year's Halloween if this experiment with the heartless doesn't work out." Jack said. When the battle was over our heroes grouped up behind jack as he lead them to the graveyard. "Hey Jack I was wondering about something. I know this place is called Halloween town, but you keep talking about Halloween like it's just around the corner. Do you know what today's date is?" Asuna asked. "Of course, it's October 7th. Halloween is just over three weeks away. There's still so much to do!" said Jack. "October 7th. That's daddy's birthday!" Yui said excitedly. "It is? Why didn't you guys say anything sooner? We totally would've partied!" Sora said. "I didn't think that much time has passed." Kirito said. Their world had disappeared around the middle of September. Which means that they had to have been gone for at least four weeks. Time really flies when you aren't watching it. "And Asuna's birthday was a week before yours. We missed it!" Yuuki exclaimed. "So how old are you guys now?" Goofy asked. "I'm 18 now. And Asuna's a year older than me, so she's 19." Kirito said. "K-Kirito! You're not supposed to talk about a girl's age like that!" Asuna said embarrassedly. "Come to think of it I don't know how old everyone in our group is. We should compare to see who the oldest and youngest is. I'll go first, I'm 16." Yuuki said. "I'm 14." Sora said. "Strea and I were created when SAO was created. So technically we're four. But this body makes me look like I'm ten. And Strea looks about as old as mommy does so let's say she's 19 to." Yui said. "Do you think we should join in Donald?" Goofy whispered. "No way! We're senior citizens compared to them." Donald quietly replied. "Gawrsh do ya think so? A-hyuck." Goofy said while covering his mouth. Jack led us to the graveyard and stood in front of a grave that bore the head of a dog with long ears. And right before our eyes the ghost of that dog rose from the ground. Its body was like a thin white sheet and it had a glowing orange nose. "Zero! Have you seen Sally anywhere?" Jack asked. The dog spirit's ears shot upwards and he flew right though Asuna causing her to shiver. Zero went behind a gargoyle statue and a soft gasp was heard. The gasp came from a zombie woman with pale blue skin and long red hair. Her body had numerous stitches that held her limbs and head in place. She wore a patch work dress that was mostly green, yellow, and brown. "Is something wrong Jack?" Sally asked. "No, everything is going great! We're going to have the best Halloween ever!" Jack said enthusiastically. "All we need now is your memory." He said. "Memory? You mean this?" Sally said as she showed us a hand full of flowers. "What are those?" yui asked. "They're scorpion grass, but people call them forget-me-nots. In the language of flowers they mean fond memories, loyalty to ones friends, and true love." Sally said. "So that's what the doctor meant by memory. Phew, for a second I thought it would be something… unsavory." Asuna said. Sally gave the flowers to Jack and he admired them in his bony grasp. "Jack, I have a bad feeling about this. Why don't you try something else? There's still time." Sally pleaded. "Nothing could beat what I've got planned! Once we give the heartless a heart, they'll dance just as I envision it. Trust me, you're going to love it!" Jack said. Sally looked as though she had doubts about Jack's plan. The heartless were very dangerous creatures. Sora and the others hoped jack knew what he was doing. With sally in tow, the group headed back to Dr. Finklestein's lab. All was quiet in the graveyard until three young children hopped out of the coffin in the far back. The first was dressed in red and wore a devil's mask. The second was dressed in purple and wore a green mask along with a witch's hat. And the third wore purple clothes with bones to make him look like a skeleton along with a skull mask. In order they were Lock, Shock, and Barrel. Halloween town's most infamous pranksters and henchmen to Oogie Boogie. "Did you hear that?" Barrel asked. "Yeah, I sure did! A heart! What should we do?" said lock. "Gosh, you really are stupid! Isn't it obvious?" said shock. "Tell Oogie Boogie!" said Barrel. The three nodded at one another and laughed evilly. When the pranksters returned to their master's lair, they immediately told him about Jack's plan. Oogie let loose a frightening laugh and the three huddled together in fear. "A heart? That bone head Jack is really making a Heart?" he guffawed. "I'll be Jiggered! That works for me! Ooh, when I get my hands on that… well I've got no hands, but I'm still gonna nab that heart and control the heartless." Oogie said as he laughed maniacally.

Chapter 27 Night of the dancing Heartless? The world we landed on was different from other places we had been to. The town was decorated from head to toe in pumpkins, spider webs, gargoyle statues, and other spooky, macabre architecture. Just like in Atlantica, Donald used his magic to change our appearance and blend in with the locals. Sora's face was partially covered by an orange devilish mask and dressed in black. His legs were covered in black socks and wrapped in blood red bandages. His usually fingerless gloves were replaced with ones that made his fingers look like claws and his teeth were sharp and pointed like a vampire's. And he had a small cape with bat like wings. Donald was wrapped from head to webbed toe in old bandages like a mummy, but the most bizzare thing was that his midsection and his right elbow and wrist had vanished making it look like his upper half and right hand were floating. Goofy had a large silver screw drilled into the top of his head and his nose was replaced by a metal cone with a small jack-o-lantern on the tip. His right eye became a bright red while his left was a gray spiral. He wore a tan turtleneck sweater and a tattered yellow patchwork-jacket. He had black suspenders attached to green equally tattered patchwork pants. His shoes were torn and showed his black furred toes. Kirito had grown goat like horns on his head and sprouted a tail with a snakes head at the base of his spine. His coat and shirt were gone exposing his torso and his arms had grown blue fur. And from the waist down is legs had morphed into blue furred goat legs. "This is so weird." Kirito said as he tapped his new cloven hooves on the cobblestone pavement. "Really? I think you look like a boss!" Yuuki said. Yuuki had taken on a furrier appearance like Kirito had, only she looked more like a werewolf. She had grown lupine ears atop her head and purple fur on her arms and legs. Her fingers and toes had grown black razor sharp claws and her teeth looked just as sharp. She worea white t-shirt and a pair of overalls that went up to her chest with straps that went over her shoulders. Her right pant leg was worn while the left had a yellow patch on it. And she had a long purple wolf tail. "Yeah. You look just like the gleam eyes on floor 74 of Aincrad." Said Asuna. Asuna's upper body was the same, but from the waist down she had an eight meter long albino snake's tail. Her ears were pointed and she had white scales around her neck. "Hmmm. I wonder why you guys changed and I didn't." Strea said as she placed her hand on her chin. Unfortunately when Strea tilted her head, it came off her body and fell on the ground. This in turn caused everyone to scream. "Hey why is everything upside down now?" she asked. "Um Strea, don't freak out… but… oh I can't say it! It's better if you just see for yourself." Said Asuna. "What are you talking about? See what?" Strea asked. As strange as the situation was, Kirito grabbed Strea's head by her cheeks and her eyes widened when she saw that she had literally been decapitated. "AAAAAIIIIEEEEE! What happened to me?!" she shrieked. "It would seem that Donald's spell has transformed us into monsters of various folklore. If I were to guess, I would say Strea has become a Dullahan." Said Yui. It seems that Yui got lucky in the transformation department. Her outfit was now a black dress that went down to her ankles and she wore a Witches hat. Otherwise she was completely normal. "Dullahan?" Sora asked. "Dullahans are a type of fairy. In mythology they're headless horsemen that foreshadow a person's death. Although sometimes they can be seen carrying their heads." Yui said. "Well that's interesting and all, but can someone please put my head back on my body where it's supposed to be!" Strea demanded. "We could try, but unless we can find a way to make it stick, I think it's just going to keep falling off." Kirito said. "Well that's just great. So I guess my body is supposed to carry me like a basket ball now?" Strea asked. "Looks like it." Sora said. "I wanna go back to the ship." Strea cried. "That would be ill advised. I mean what if you leave and your head is still detached? You would die instantly." Yui said. "You're mean!" Strea complained. As soon as our heroes entered the Halloween town plaza they saw several floating ghost like heartless. Excluding Strea they drew their weapons ready to fight. But something was up with these heartless. They weren't attacking. Instead they were being used in what looked to be some kind of performance. A short strangely cone shaped man was speaking through a megaphone. He wore a tall top hat, a tie made to look like a black widow spider, and a red ribbon on his waist coat that said Mayor. "And now, allow me to introduce the master of terror, the King of nightmares- - Jack Skellington!" the heartless stood in two rows and raised their hands in a wave motion as they parted to reveal a skeleton in a tuxedo rising from a fountain with his bony hands crossed on top of his chest. The skeleton man then struck a pose for his audience. The mayor ran up to jack with his short stubby legs and applauded. "Bravo, Jack! Bravo! Those ghosts will be a big hit at this year's Halloween!" the mayor said. "Thank you, thank you. But their movement still needs work. It's not scary enough." He said disappointedly. "I want to strike bone-chilling terror. I'm going to consult the doctor." Jack said as he walked to the doctor's lab. "Then I'll go attend to the decorations." The mayor said. This Jack Skellington clearly had no idea about what the heartless were or the threat that they posed. It was their responsibility to make sure that the heartless didn't hurt any innocent people. They needed to follow Jack and make sure he didn't do anything dangerous. When they arrived at the lab, they saw jack was examining a heartless that was strapped down on an experiment table. "I don't understand. Maybe the guidance system was damaged in the explosion." Said Jack. He was speaking to a short man with pale chalk white skin with an enormously large cranium. The man was dressed sat in a powered wheel chair that he moved with levers on each side. His tiny hands were covered by large black leather gloves the man's eyes were covered by a pair of sunglasses with circular frames. "Nonsense. My devices are always perfect!" he proclaimed. Jack was looking through a book on the from the doctor's collection when an idea came to him, "Oh I've got it!" he said. "Why, of course! The heartless need a heart! Doctor, do you think we can add a heart to that device?" Jack asked. "Certainly. A heart's not all that complicated. Let's get to work." The doctor said. Jack began to read off instructions from the book. "To make a heart, first take a container with a lock…" Dr. Finklestein did exactly what he said and hoisted up and dirty brown heart like organ that was somehow still pumping and was locked in restraints. The lock had a big keyhole on it. "We need the key to this thing first!" he shouted. "What do you think sora? Should we help them out?" Kirito asked. "I think so. If we can give the heartless hearts, then we won't have to fight them anymore." He reasoned. "It's worth a shot." Asuna said. So Sora brought out his keyblade and used it to unlock the container. Jack was pleased with the result. "My, that was amazing! Uh, and you are…" "Sora." "Well done, Sora! I'd like you to be a part of this years Halloween." Said Jack. "What's this Heartless doing here?" Sora asked. "Oh, the heartless came to town just recently. What's frustrating, is that I can't get them to dance with me! So the doctor and I are trying to improve the guidance system. He's quite a genius! So doctor, let's continue. The ingredients for a heart: Pulse. Emotion." Jack said pointing to a croaking frog. "Terror." The doctor interrupted by bringing out a large spider. "Fear." Said jack. The doctor dragged his leather gloved hand across a piece of glass that made a high pitched squeal. "Hope and despair." Jack said as he brought out a pair of snakes that were eating each other by their tails. "Mix them all together, and we have a heart!" the doctor pulled a lever and several machines began whirring to life and brimming with electricity. A tesla coil above the heartless electrified the specimen and it sat up. The ghost like heartless drooped its head and lay back down, motionless. "It failed!" the doctor exclaimed. Jack placed his hand atop his head in despair. "Hmm. Maybe we're missing some ingredients. Let's try adding memory!" the doctors fore head popped open like a lid on a trashcan and he was literally scratching his brain. "I think I'm gonna be sick." Asuna said while covering her mouth to hold back the bile rising in her throat. "Sally! Sally! Good-for-nothing girl! Don't know why I bothered creating her!" the doctor said as he did a 180 in his wheel chair and put his lid back on. "Sally's got the memory we need. See if you can track her down." The doctor said. "No problem. Sora, would you like to come along?" Jack asked. "Sure." Sora said. "Hey doctor, do you think you could help us with something?" Kirito asked. "Of course boy, what seems to be the trouble?" he asked. "Well our friend here has been, well… decapitated." Yuuki said. "We were hoping you could reattach her head for her." Yui said. "Of course, my Sally loses body parts all the time. I always keep a needle and thread on me so I can stitch her back together. She'll be good as new by the time you bring Sally back." Said Dr. Finklestein.

Chapter 26 High wind D "So you have this thing called a keyblade, and you're travelling to new worlds to save them from those monsters in the Arena?" Yuuki asked. "That's the gist of it. We're also looking for our friends and a way back home." Said Kirito. "Then what are we standing around here for? Let's go!" Yuuki said. "Well uh, the thing is-" Goofy said before being interrupted by Sora. "Oh come on. You're not gonna make up another excuse about our ship being full are you?" he said irate. "The cockpit is getting kind of cramped though." Kirito said. He then imagined the 6 of them bickering about their lack of space while Yui and strea were in the pilot's chairs. Yui grew more irritated as they got louder and louder and shouted at the top of her lungs "I WILL TURN THIS SHIP AROUND RIGHT NOW!" Kirito's little thought bubble popped and he shivered at the scenario. "No sweat. We've got your backs." Yuffie said as she walked up to us with Leon in tow. "What do you mean Yuffie?" asked Donald. "Cid figured you guys might be having some space issues after you brought Yui and Strea to life with that genie wish of yours." Leon said. "You guys have a genie?!" Yuuki interrupted. Leon continued speaking like he hadn't heard her. "So he and Geppetto have been working with the chipmunks on a new ship for you." He said. "Yup he figured two ships would be better than one. So now you guys can pick up any strays you come across and bring them back to traverse town. That's where they were supposed to go after all." Yuffie said. "Wow, I honestly don't know what to say. We can't thank you guys enough." Kirito said. "You scratch our backs, we scratch yours. Just make sure you keep defeating the heartless and sealing those keyholes." Leon said. "You got it Leon." Said sora. And so our heroes parted ways with Leon and Yuffie and headed back to their ship. It turns out that Leon and Yuffie had docked the new ship next to theirs. The new ship was pretty much identical to the old one. The only difference was that it was painted black while the old one was red. "Oh my god we have our own space ships. That is Awesome!" Yuuki said. "Yeah it's pretty cool. So how are going to divvy up the crew?" Kirito asked. "Well I think I'll stay on the high wind." Sora said referring to the red ship. "The king told us to find the key bearer, so Donald and I'll stick with Sora." Said Goofy. "You guys will need help flying the ship so I'll go with you." Strea said. "So I guess that means Asuna, Yui, and I will be on the High wind D. What about you Yuuki?" Kirito asked. The girl in question grabbed onto Asuna's arm. "That's easy. I'll go where Asuna goes. That way I'll get to eat more of Asuna's yummy food." Said Yuuki. "W-wait can't we trade or something? I like Asuna's cooking to. Come on, I'll give you Goofy." Said Sora. "Tempting, but no. Besides, with the ships docking systems we can still all eat together." Said Kirito. Sora sighed in relief "Thank goodness." 'I feel like I'm being used.' Asuna thought. Our heroes were now flying through interspace looking for the next world. Yuuki stared in awe at the majesty of space from the comfort of the High wind D's flight deck. "Wooow. Space is incredible. And you and Strea really know how to fly these ships Yui?" she asked. "Uh-huh. Mr. Cid taught us everything he knows about space travel. I know how everything works from the drive core to the ships Ailerons. Of course learning is easy when you're a highly intelligent AI and can download and process hundreds of gigabytes of information in seconds. Of course now that I'm a human being, you could say that my processing power is limited." Yui said. "I hadn't even considered that. Human biology is completely new to you two. You and Strea are practically newborns." Yuuki said. "It's a bit strange, but I like that I get to live in the same world as mommy and daddy now. From now on I can live with them in both worlds. And that makes me really happy." Yui said with a smile on her face. Hearing Yui say those words made Kirito and Asuna happy as well. Kirito knew that bringing Yui and Strea to life might cause some issues, but seeing his daughter happy is what matters to him. Sure he could've used that wish to bring back his home world or even wish for his friends and family to be brought to traverse town. But he knew this was the right choice. And in his opinion it wouldn't be much of an adventure if everything was handed to him on a silver platter. "Oh! I think I see something! Is that… a giant jack-o-lantern?" Yuuki said. "It's probably another world. They come in all shapes and sizes." Kirito said. "We haven't been to this world yet. Which means there's probably another keyhole there." Said Asuna. Kirito sat down in the middle chair of the flight deck. "Sora and the others have probably spotted it by now. Set a course Yui. Our destination is that giant pumpkin." Kirito said pointing at the new world. "Hehe, aye-aye captain." Yui saluted. "Aw, how come he gets to be captain?" Yuuki asked as she sat in the left chair behind him. "To be fair, Kirito is usually the leader of our Parties online." Said Asuna as she sat in the chair to Kirito's right. "If you wanted it then you should've grabbed the captain's seat first. Full speed ahead Yui." Kirito ordered. "Sir, yes, sir." Yui responded. and so our heroes set off for the next world.

Chapter 25 soldier After their fight in the Pegasus cup, our heroes stood in the coliseum lobby along with former opponent, Yuuki Konno. "Why the hell are you fighting in the coliseum?!" Asuna asked. After the masked fighter's identity was revealed, Asuna didn't know whether to feel happy or angry. She was happy that Yuuki was to know that Yuuki was okay despite what happened to their world. But she didn't understand how Yuuki was able to not only walk outside of her hospital room, but fight in a tournament filled with heartless and other strong warriors. Yuuki Konno was a dear friend of Asuna and every one of their friends from her and Kirito's world. But Yuuki is or was supposed to be very sick. At a young age, she and her family contracted a rare drug resistant strain of acquired immune deficiency syndrome from a bad blood transfusion. The disease had killed her parents and her older sister Aiko. Ever since Yuuki was little, she had to be kept in a sterile room, and she was subjected to severe medical treatments to treat the diseases her body couldn't resist. In the past few months Asuna had been receiving medical reports from Yuuki's doctor Dr. Kurohashi. Yuuki began showing signs of recuperating and she had even started walking practice. But it should've been impossible for her to be here and of all things fighting in the real world. "I guess I've got some explaining to do huh?" Yuuki asked rhetorically. "Take your time Yuuki. Tell us everything that happened to you." Said Kirito. "Alright. I guess it all started after that big storm hit us." After the storm had taken their world, Yuuki found herself in a very dark place. The cold stone floor stung her bare feet and she felt a chill from the air in her pale white hospital gown. Looking around she saw sconces holding torches of blue fire and a river that was a sickly green color. "Wh- what is this place? Where am I?" she asked. But nobody was there to answer. "Well, this looks like a cave. And there's a breeze blowing. Maybe if I follow the air flow backwards, then I can get out of this place." And so Yuuki began a slow trek through the dark depths. Progressing through the cave was an uphill struggle for the 15 year old girl. The cave had winding tunnels that seemed to go on forever, But Yuuki's method of traversing them proved effective and she proceeded without much issue. After what seemed like hours, she came across a man sitting near a small campfire. The man had long silver hair and wore a black and red coat that exposed his muscular chest. He had silver pauldrons on his shoulders and the sleeves of his coat had small bat like wings. But those were nothing compared to the enormous bluish black bird's wing on his back. Around the man's waist was a brown belt with a silver belt buckle that bore the letter M. he carried a very long sword that looked like it was about seven or eight feet in length. "Um… excuse me. I'm wondering if you can tell me where I am." Yuuki asked. The man looked at her with his piercing blue eyes. A sly grin appeared on his face. "Can I?" he joked. "Please tell me where I am and how I can get out of here!" Yuuki asked. "Very well. You little girl, are in the underworld. A place the dead go." Yuuki's eyes widened and her heart all but stopped. "The dead? Does that mean I'm… and you too?" she asked. "No. if we were, then we would be floating in the Styx with the rest of them." He said while pointing at the river. Yuuki sighed in relief and walked towards the campfire. "So if you don't mind me asking? Are you an angel?" Yuuki asked as she looked at the single wing on his back. He chuckled at the question. "Not in the way you think. I didn't come here to rescue little girls that wondered away from home." He said. "Oh. That's too bad. I could really use some rescuing right now." She said. "The strong live and the weak shall perish. That is the way of the world." He said. "…eak." She muttered. "You'll have to speak up little girl." He said. "I said I'm not weak!" she pointed her index finger towards him. "Just you watch, I'm gonna get out of this place. And then I'll make you eat those words!" Yuuki spoke. "What is your name little girl?" he asked. "It's Yuuki Konno. And what about you Mr. Angel?" she asked. "You may call me Sephiroth." The man stood up and plucked a feather from his wing. "If you can make it to the top, then we shall see if your words match the will of your heart." He gently placed the feather with in Yuuki's short brown hair so it would rest on her earlobe. "Until we meet again. Yuuki Konno." Sephiroth disappeared right before her eyes in a flash of darkness. Yuuki placed her hand on the feather he had left her. Its presence felt reassuring to her. It felt like she had a guardian angel protecting her. For better or worse she couldn't tell. She chose to think meeting Sephiroth was a good omen and began spelunking through the underworld to find the exit once more. Yuuki didn't know how to explain it, but as she kept walking and walking, she felt better. It was like every step she took brought her closer to the strength she possessed in the virtual world. But feeling it with her actual body felt so good! She walked faster and faster until she broke into a mad dash and ran through the underworld's depths. The hospital gown was starting to feel like a hindrance to her, so she tossed it aside and ran head long into the darkness. As she passed through the torch filled halls she felt the shadows coalescing around her body until they covered it completely. The dark sinew created boots around her feet and the material spread until it covered each part of her skin. When it spread to her Chest the darkness created an emblem similar to the one she and her big sister had created for their guild, the sleeping knights. The darkness spread until it covered her head. Once its work was done, it receded down to her neck and her hair was back to its long length and purple coloration. And her eyes were a bright red and they allowed total clarity in the dark. She placed her hand on her Chest where the emblem lay. 'My friends. I can feel all of them with me.' She thought about her old guild mates and all of her new friends who survived SAO. She found the glowing staircase that led to the world above and saw the image of Asuna and all of her friends waiting at the top. "I hope all of you are ready. Because I'm coming to see you for real this time!" Yuuki ascended the stairway until finally she saw it. The bright blue sky and white fluffy clouds. For the first time in ages, the sun's light shone on her face. She clenched her hands in fists and raised her arms skyward. "WOOOHOOO! FREEDOM!" she exclaimed. "So that's the power you have. I'm actually impressed." Yuuki turned around to see sephiroth ascending the stairs behind her. "Hehe. I told you I wasn't weak." Yuuki said. "So it would seem. You've overcome your frail body's limitations. And the power of darkness has purged all weakness from it." Sephiroth said. "You are no longer the weak, sick, girl you were before. You are a survivor, a warrior, a soldier." He spoke. Yuuki looked at the dark material covering her body and the emblem on her chest. "So that's what this is? The power of darkness…" Sephiroth plucked another feather from his wing and it grew into a dark saber. The weapon had a curved single edge on one side and the back was jagged and saw like from the pointed feathers. The handle was covered in bright blue wrappings and bore a chain at the bottom with no ornament. "Hehe. If you keep yanking them out like that, you'll run out." Yuuki joked. Sephiroth smiled and handed Yuuki the new weapon. The girl took the sword by the hilt and felt its weight in her hands. The blade was light as a feather and wickedly sharp. The light from the sun allowed her to see her reflection in the dark colored metal. "So if we aren't in the underworld anymore, then where are we now?" Yuuki asked. "Olympus coliseum. It's a place where warriors gather to test their strength." He said. "Wow. That's so cool!" Yuuki said excitedly. "You should take this chance to hone your abilities. Participate in the games, and you'll find worthy opponents." He said. "Do you think I'm ready for that?" Yuuki asked. "Are you?" Sephiroth responded as he descended into the underworld. Yuuki smiled at the familiar joke. "You know I am!" she responded. The two of them parted ways with one another Yuuki went to participate in the games while sephiroth went back to the deepest depths of the underworld. "And that's how I got here. I went to the coliseum's storage to look for real clothes that would fit me and then I started kicking butt in the Arena. I thought if I stayed here long enough that I'd find you again. Turns out I was right on the money. But I never thought Yui and Strea would be here. You guys must have had quite the adventure." Yuuki said. The tale she told us sounded phenomenal. Traveling from the deepest depths of the underworld and ascending to the surface all on her own was nothing short of a miracle. "So you're saying that…" Kirito spoke. "Mmmhmm. No more HIV, no more aids, no more weird anagrams and strange words. I'm 100 percent cured! Isn't that great?" Yuuki said. Asuna pulled Yuuki into a hug as tightly as she could and cried. "I'm just so glad you're okay! After our world disappeared, I was so worried something had happened to you." Asuna cried and cried on Yuuki's shoulder. She was so happy to see her again. Yuuki returned the hug and placed her hands around her back. "Me too. I'm so glad I get to see you like this. Not just in the virtual world or in my hospital bed hooked up to monitors and iv drips. I'm glad that for the first time, I get to see you in the real world. And that I've managed to live this long and that I get to keep on living with you and everybody." Yuuki said with tears rolling down her eyes. Author's note: so when i posted the last chapter i got an anonymous review asking why Yuuki was alive. and since i can't reply to anonymous reviews i figured i would answer here. in this chapter. so in case no ones has figured it out yet, this story uses the continuity of the sword art online Video Games rather than the anime. that's why this story has characters like Philia and Strea who are game exclusive characters. and in the video game timeline Yuuki Konno is still alive. for how long in the games that will be i'm not sure, but since she is alive there, she's alive in here. so i hope that answers some of the questions you guys have. if you want to know where you can get these games, you can find them on the playstation store. in chronological order the games are SAO hollow fragment, SAO lost song, SAO Hollow realization, and the newest one that was released a couple of weeks ago Accel world vs Sword art online Millenium twilight. if you've ever wondered how the game of sword art online is played, then these are the games for you. i hope you guys like this chapter.

Chapter 24 the masked gladiator. After saying our goodbyes to Ariel we boarded the gummi ship. Donald used his magic to return our bodies back to normal. "I never thought I'd miss having legs." Kirito said as he patted each of his legs. "It was a little strange being turned into sea creatures, but at the same time it was kind of fun." Said Asuna. "Yeah, back in the islands I swam in the ocean a lot, but I've never been so deep underwater before. It looked so cool." Said Sora. "It was quite the experience, but I'd like to get to dry land soon." Said Kirito communication system beeped and the screen turned on to show chip and dale. "Hey guys. How was your trip?" asked dale. "Very wet. Why are you guys calling us? Is there anything wrong with the ship?" said Donald. "Nah, the gummi ship is okay. We just heard that Olympus coliseum is holding another tournament and figured you guys would want in." said chip. "It looks like you got your wish Kirito A-hyuck." Said goofy. Yui inputted the coordinates for Olympus coliseum and we warped there instantly. I didn't think the calculation system Cid installed had been ported over when genie brought her and Strea to the real world. It makes me proud that Yui can remember all of that information. Who knows? Maybe someday she can have a job out in space like in those old sci-fi shows. When we entered the coliseum gates we saw another billboard had been placed next to the Phil cup billboard. "The Pegasus cup." Said Asuna. "Do you think there's anyone we know?" Asked Strea. "I don't think so. Except for the top seed, all the other seeds have heartless in them." Said Yui. "Then who's at the top?" asked Sora. "Someone called the masked fighter." She responded. "Well one things for sure. We can't leave that many heartless running around." Said Kirito. "You're right. There's no telling what would happen if they escaped the arena." Said Asuna. "No problem. We'll clear them out and fight this masked fighter guy for the top spot while we're at it." Said Sora. "It might be harder than you think." Hercules said walking up to us. "That masked fighter is pretty tough. He's got a bunch of moves I've never seen before. Every match he's been in has ended in less than a minute." Said Hercules. "He's that strong?" Donald asked. "Well, we haven't fought yet, but I've seen enough to know that he's tough to beat." Hercules said crossing his arms. "But something tells me that if anyone can beat him, it's you guys." He said. "Thanks Herc." Said sora. After talking to Phil and signing up for the tournament, we made our way to the arena and waited for the first round to start. In the shadows of the cage there was a person, short in stature, covered from neck to toe in a dark, sinew like substance. Around their waist was a white feathery skirt. The person's face was covered by a helmet with an effeminate mask. They carried a short, curved jet black sword that was shaped like a bird's wing. The person in question looked at the newcomers. The masked fighter looked especially interested in Asuna. As the team of six advanced through each round, Yui sat in the stands cheering them on. The girl was absolutely giddy as she watched her parents and sister fight alongside Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "Wow they're creaming those guys. 'Course it's kinda easy when you have a big team like they do." Yui turned her head slightly to see that Yuffie and Leon were in the stands as well. The two of them sat on either side of Yui to watch. "Yeah, mom, dad, and Strea are a good team already. And Sora, Donald, and Goofy make them even better." Yui said. "Still, their last opponent won't be so easy." Leon said. "Huh?" Yui asked confused. "Well it's like this. Before you guys got here, Leon and I tried taking him on ourselves. But he beat us without even breaking a sweat." Yuffie said. Yui's eyes widened at the info. Kirito barely defeated Leon when they fought before. If the masked fighter defeated Leon so easily, then this was going to be really hard for them. The final round had started. Our heroes were squaring off against the masked fighter. The masked fighter dashed towards Sora and attacked in a single bound. Sora managed to block the incoming attack, but his opponent slid passed him and kicked Sora in his back. The masked fighter swiped at Donald only to be blocked by Goofy's shield. The masked fighter disappeared in a dark flash and struck down the two of them from above. Kirito made a running attack with his twin swords, but the masked fighter blocked it. Kirito began to hammer down on his opponent's sword hoping to either break his guard or wear down his stamina. But the masked fighter used his free hand to fire a blast of blue flames on Kirito at point blank range. The attack sent Kirito crashing to the other side of the Arena. Strea and Asuna ran to their side to make sure everyone was okay, but the moment strea crossed the other side of the Arena, the masked fighter raised his hand towards them and a wall of blue fire rose in the center of the ring. The wall of flames was so high and the flames burned so intensely, that there was no way to get passed it. Which meant Asuna would now have to fight the masked fighter one on one. The masked fighter readied his fighting stance and beckoned Asuna with the fingers on his free hand to come fight. With no other options, Asuna held her rapier in a similar stance as her opponent. The two of them slowly moved in a circular manner waiting, each waiting for the other to make the first move. When both fighters were faced horizontally parallel to the flames, they attacked. The metallic clang of sword against sword could be heard as they slashed, stabbed, and parried against one another. Asuna ducked to dodge a blow from her foe so she could attack his legs. But the masked fighter made a small jump to avoid the attack. Asuna seized the opening and made an upward stab at her opponent that pierced his shoulder. The masked fighter backed away from Asuna and held his wounded limb. Asuna could see the bit of skin from where she had pierced her opponent. "So you are human under there. I was starting to wonder." Asuna said. The dark material covering the masked fighter's body repaired itself and covered the wound. The masked fighter's sword began to glow with a purplish hue and he charged to attack Asuna. Asuna's rapier glowed in a blue light and she did the same. The two moves collided and force created a small explosion that covered the area in dust and smoke. Everything was eerily quiet. When the debris settled, it revealed Asuna standing above her opponent. The masked fighter's mask was cracked. "Mother's Rosario. There's only one other person I know of that has that skill." Asuna said. "So you figured it out. I was hoping I'd get to fight you some more before I used it. But you're even stronger than I remember Asuna." As the masked fighter spoke the mask began to crumble. The cracks spread throughout the helmet and the whole thing shattered. Long strands of purple hair billowed outwards. Around the masked fighter's forehead there was a red bandanna and his, or rather her face. Was that of Yuuki Konno. The darkness around her body dissipated and she wore a white dress and sandals with straps that went up her calves and shins. "So what's up?" she asked casually while closing her eyes and showing off her toothy grin.

Chapter 23 Ursula's wrath! We traveled to the sunken ship we had found before. Thankfully the shark wasn't around to attack us again. The entrance to Ursula's lair was hidden behind a large rock that was painted with a purple sea serpent to ward off intruders. The door was way too big for us to move, but Sebastian found a hidden switch. Hidden between two large rocks. Sebastian was able to swim through the crevice and press the switch that opened the door. We navigated the undersea cave until we reached Ursula's grotto. The grotto's exterior was a tall tower modeled after the sea serpent on the front door. As we swam through Ursula's lair we discovered little plant like creatures with eyes that were rooted to the floor. "What are they?" Asuna asked? "Ursula's prisoners. That sea Witch makes deals with unwitting victims and then drains the life outta them." Sebastian answered. "Ursula lives only to make us sea folk suffer!" he said. "We have to stop her. For everyone's sakes." Ariel said. We reached the center of Ursula's lair the room was shaped like the belly of a monster. Her cauldron sat in the middle boiling some kind of brew. Ursula herself sat inside a large sea shell shaped chair. "Come on out!" said Donald. "Your time has come!" said Sebastian. The sea witch was not happy to see us. She crawled out from her chair with a nasty scowl on her face. "Donald and Sebastian screamed in fright at the sight of her. Ursula called her two pet eels to assist her and the battle began. Ursula tossed a potion into her cauldron and it began spewing balls of fire throughout the room. "Remember the plan!" shouted Asuna. We split into two groups. Sora, Donald, and Asuna concentrated their magic attacks on Ursula's cauldron while Kirito, Goofy, Strea, and Ariel kept Ursula and her pets off their backs. Despite being turned into a sea turtle, Goofy's spin attacks hit as fast and hard as ever. Although Ariel proved to be more adept having live her whole life under water. The two of them fought off Flotsam and Jetsam while Kirito and Strea fought Ursula. Ursula spun around like a propeller and her tentacles struck anything in her way as she laughed. However, the moment she stopped she was wide open for attack. Normally a great sword like Strea's wouldn't be much use under water, but Ursula's boulder like body made her an easy target. The plan was working perfectly that is until Ursula's cauldron began to glow with a bright light. "Um guys, I think think we might have over done it." Said sora. "It's gonna blow!" shouted Donald. "We gotta get out of here!" said Sebastian. "But the Trident!" said Ariel "There's no time!" Said Kirito. The eight of us swam out of Ursula's Grotto as fast as we could. When we escaped through the jaws of the sea serpent tower, the head exploded and the tower crumbled. "That was close." Said sora. "Do you think she's… you know?" Ariel asked. "I wouldn't count on it." said Sebastian. The water around us began to swirl and created a whirlpool that blocked our exit. Inky black clouds formed around the rubble of Ursula's grotto. "The sea and all its spoils bow to my power!" Ursula's voice echoed around us. The sea witch emerged from the rubble and used the trident's magic to grow to gargantuan size. A crown similar to King Triton's was now on her head. Sora and the others knew that this was going to be their hardest fight yet. Ursula cast a spell and thunder rained down in us endlessly. "Normally I don't hit girls in the face, but for you I'll make an exception!" Said Kirito. The seven of us charged in from various directions hoping to overwhelm her. Ursula spat powerful bubbles to keep us at bay though. "We need to split up again! Kirito you lead the assault team. Donald, Ariel, and I will concentrate on supporting you guys with magic." Said Asuna. "You heard the lady. Let's take her down guys!" Kirito said. "Ha! Insolent fools it's not over until the fat lady sings!" Ursula said. "Well then you'd better start singing!" Sora retorted. "Why you! Get ready for this!" Said Ursula. She raised the trident skyward and called down a huge surge of electricity. It created an electrical wall around her that none of us could touch. However it soon dissipated and we were able to attack once more. Ursula was brutal, even going to the point of trying to eat us alive. But kirito would not let anyone be devoured by a giant sea creature again if he could help it. When Ursula tried to swallow him again, he summoned his second sword and jammed each blade between the top and bottom rows of her teeth. "Everyone! Send some Magic attacks right down her throat!" Kirito shouted. "That boy is either brave or crazy!" shouted Sebastian. "It's probably both, but it's our best shot right now." Said Asuna "You heard the man! Let's turn in her insides into fried calamari. Now fire!" said Sora. Donald, Asuna, and Sora sent fire balls right into Ursula's mouth. Each spell flew past Kirito as he held her gaping maw open. Soon her smoke rose from her mouth as her lungs were burned. The sea witch expelled a torrent of air as she lost her ability to breathe. Kirito dislodged his swords and let the current blow him away from Ursula's mouth. Electricity crackled below the ink and smoke that covered Ursula's giant tentacles and she began to sink into the depths below. When she disappeared a golden light shown from the center of it all. When the light faded Triton's trident was there, ready to be claimed. Ariel grasped the trident in both of her arms and smiled. "We did it… let's head back to the palace." She said. When we arrived at the palace we saw Yui sitting on Triton's lap. The two of them were laughing together over a story he told. "Ariel always comes up with the strangest names for things. Why just the other day she- -" Triton cut himself off when he saw we had returned with the trident. "I'm afraid story time is over now. Go on little one, they're waiting for you." Said Triton. "Okay. And remember what I said about controlling your temper." Yui said as she swam towards us. "In and out, deep breaths. I remember." He remarked. Ariel swam up to her father and gave back the trident. "I'm so sorry daddy. This is all my fault." Said Ariel. "No, no, it's my fault. You followed Ursula, because I wouldn't let you follow your heart. And when you found that crystal, I lost my temper and destroyed it." King Triton said. "Oh yeah, the crystal! Why did you destroy it?" Goofy asked. "That crystal held the power to reveal the keyhole. The keyhole is dangerous. I had to keep you away from it at any cost. Now, I have one more request for you. Key bearer will you please seal the keyhole?" Triton asked. "Of course. That's what we had in mind from the start." Sora said. "Where is the keyhole daddy?" Ariel asked. "You should know better than anyone. It's in your grotto. Now, take my trident with you. You'll need it to reveal the keyhole." Said Triton. "Okay daddy." Ariel grabbed the trident and we all swam back to Ariel's grotto. Ariel held trident as it began to glow. Like magic, it floated up to the plaque that once held the crystal. The trident's magic created a new crystal and they began to resonate with one another. A single magic square almost like glass appeared bearing the world's Keyhole. Sora raised his keyblade and stars gathered around it once more as it shot a ray of light towards the keyhole and locking it. The keyhole disappeared after its sealing. "Tell me, sora. Your world, what's it like?" Ariel asked. "Oh, about that… I'm sorry for lying to you." Sora said. "It's alright. Besides, if you can travel to other worlds, maybe I can too." She said as she swam upwards looking at the skylight of her little grotto. "So many places I want to see… I know I'll get there some day. I'll find a way somehow. I'm sure of it." she said hopefully. "Well, if you find it, do me a favor and leave me out of it." Said Sebastian.

Chapter 22 Peace and ruin We followed Ariel to her secret grotto. The entrance was hidden behind a large rock, but it was easily moved. Ariel was a collector of sorts. Inside her little grotto were shelves of treasure chests, pottery, mirrors, books, and other human made things. And on the bottom most shelf was a blue plaque shaped like a trident. "I think all these things are from the outside world. Someday, I'm going to see what's out there. I want to see other worlds. Does that sound strange?" Ariel asked. "No. Not at all. I used to feel the same way." Sora said. Kirito elbowed Sora in the ribs. "I- I mean I still do." Said Sora. "Hey why don't we try looking for that key hole you mentioned." Ariel suggested. "But didn't your father say-" Strea said before being interrupted. "Oh, he treats me like a little girl. He never wants to let me do anything. He just… He just doesn't understand." Ariel said. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe he's trying to protect you?" Kirito asked. "He's over protective. If he had his way I would never be outside the palace. You even heard him say it." She had them there. And we did need to find the keyhole. Plus Ariel knows her way around. We didn't have a choice. So we followed Ariel to keep her safe from the heartless. Ariel brought us to a sunken ship. The ship had many holes in the hull and a few of its windows were broken. Whether the ship had been brought down by a storm or a sea battle was hard to tell. When we entered the ship's cargo hold we found a single chest in front of the ship's back windows. Sora approached the chest ready to open it with his keyblade. "SORA LOOK OUT!" Kirito shouted. "Huh?" the boy said. When he looked at the window he saw a huge shark swimming towards the ship. Its jaws were raised, ready to devour its prey. "WOAH!" Sora swam away from the window as fast as he could. The shark crashed through the ship and shattered all the glass. It tried to squeeze its way in, but the shark was simply too big to fit. Eventually it gave up and went somewhere else, but deep down, we knew that it wasn't done with us. As soon as we left the ship, it was going to attack. A black substance sprayed around the cargo hold and it became hard to see. "What is this stuff?" Sora asked. "I think Donald and I inked ourselves. I'm sorry." Strea said. "Well, I'm sure you didn't mean to." Asuna said. "I'll take care of it. WIND!" Sora said. As quickly as it appeared, the octopus ink was blown out of the ship's interior by Sora's magic. "Phew. You saved my life there Kirito. I owe you one." Sora said. "It's no trouble. I'm sure you would've done the same for me. Now let's see what's in that chest." Kirito said. When Sora opened it, they found a crystal trident shaped crest. It looked like it would fit in the plaque in Ariel's grotto. "Well this is a good find, but what do we do about that big shark?" Ariel asked. "It looks like Sora's wind spell blew all that ink around the ship. We've got perfect cover." Asuna said. "You're right! He can't see where we'll come from. And if we swim fast enough, then we won't have to fight at all." Yui said. "Hooray for involuntary body functions!" Strea cheered. We didn't waste any time and swam back to Ariel's grotto as fast as we could. We managed to avoid the shark and arrived safely at our destination. Sora placed the crystal trident on the plaque in Ariel's grotto and we waited to see what happened. "Ariel, you've disobeyed me again! I told you not to leave the palace!" We turned around to see King Triton had barged into Ariel's treasure trove. His eyes widened when he saw the crystal trident and he raised his own trident to destroy it. Ariel pleaded for him to stop, but it was too late. The sea king shot a bolt of electricity and the crystal trident was smashed to smithereens. "How could you…" Ariel left her grotto distraught at what her father had done. "Young man, you're not from another ocean. You're from another world aren't you?" the king asked rhetorically. "Huh?!" Sora gasped surprised. "Then you must be the key bearer." Triton said. "How did you know?" Sora asked. "You may fool Ariel, but you can't fool me. You don't know your dorsal fin from your tail. As the key bearer you must already know. One must not meddle in the affairs of other worlds." Triton said. "Of course I know that! But…" Sora said. Looking back Sora had done a lot of meddling. It was for the good of the worlds and their people, but he had meddled nonetheless. "You have violated this principle. The key bearer shatters peace and brings ruin." The king said. "That's not true! Sora's a nice person! We came here to bring peace to your world and protect it from the Heartless. We even protected Ariel, your own daughter who you just sent off crying!" Yui defended. Triton stared at the little girl before him. This child had the audacity to berate a king in defense of her friend? But she also had a point. Perhaps he had acted too harshly towards Ariel. "I thank you for defending my daughter. But there is no room in my ocean for you or your key." He said as he swam back to the palace. Sora looked at the keyblade he held. 'Shatters peace and brings ruin? What did Triton know about the keyblade that I don't?' sora thought. Meanwhile, Ariel was knelling over a rock as she cried her eyes out. The distraught mermaid was completely unaware of the two eels that were watching her. "My, my, the poor child suffers such deep sorrow." Said Flotsam. "What a pity. If only there were something we could do…" Said Jetsam. "Wait… Maybe she can be of some help." Flotsam said making their presence known to Ariel. "Yes. Maybe she could be of some help to you." Said Jetsam. "Who are you talking about?" Ariel asked. "Oh she would surely help you." Said flotsam. "She'd make all your dreams come true." Said Jetsam. The two eels twirled together in a double helix and an inky black darkness appeared around them. "Ursula can help." They both said at the same time. "You called my dear?" said Ursula. The sea witch had purple on her human features and her black octopus body covered her rotund body like a dress. "You're Ursula? Well I was wondering if- -" Ariel said. "It's all right. Helping others is what I live for. Let me guess. You wish to see other worlds. That shouldn't be too hard." She scoffed. "After all, your new friends came from other worlds." Ursula said. "What?" Ariel asked surprised. "But they had special help- - that mysterious key." Ursula said. Ariel was saddened by this. Why had they not told her? And she even told them she wanted to see other worlds to. "Now, now. Cheer up, sweetie. You have something special too. Now listen carefully. I think the key hole they seek, is somewhere in the palace. Now, my dear, if you can take me there without your daddy knowing… I can help you get to these other worlds you long for. Do we have a deal?" she asked. Ariel was hesitant, but she wanted to see other worlds so badly. And she also knew not to judge people by appearances and rumors. "Okay." Ariel said. Meanwhile our seven travelers were heading back to the palace. "So why are we heading to the palace again?" Goofy asked. "I think King Triton knows more than he's letting on. He knew about the keyblade, so there's no way he can't know where the Keyhole is." Kirito said. "Okay, but why aren't we looking for Ariel? She looked so upset." Asuna asked. "We can't interfere Asuna. Whatever issues Ariel has with her dad have to be worked out between the two of them." Said Sora. When they arrived at the palace halls, they were surprised to see a large octopus woman cackling as she held the king's trident. Triton sat on his throne powerless while Ariel was concerned for her father's wellbeing. "The trident is mine at last! And I couldn't have done it without your help, my dear." She said. "Ursula, no! I didn't want this!" said Ariel. "Why not? Aren't you tired of following your daddy's orders?" she asked. "Oh, yes. We had a deal, didn't we? Time for a little journey- - to the dark world of the Heartless!" the sea witch exclaimed! "We cannot find the keyhole." Said flotsam "The key hole is not here" said jetsam. "What?" she turned around to see the group of seven swimming towards the throne room. "Why, we have company. I'm afraid you're a little late handsome." Ursula said as she disappeared into inky darkness. "The trident… we must get it back." Said King Triton. "Let's go!" said Sora. "Wait, I'm coming with you! My father is hurt and it's all my fault. I have to stop Ursula!" said Ariel. "That's right! I'm right behind you, Ariel!" said Sebastian. "Ursula draws power from her cauldron. To defeat Ursula, you must strike her cauldron with magic." Triton said. "Thanks for the tip." Sora said. "Yui, you should stay here with the king. We don't know what kind of tricks Ursula has up her tentacles. It's too dangerous." Asuna said. "Okay, but promise me that you and everyone will come back safe." Yui asked. Asuna hugged Yui close to her chest. "I promise. Be a good girl while we're gone okay. And don't bother Triton too much." Asuna asked. "Okay." Yui said. and so six heroes set off with Ariel and Sebastian to defeat the sea witch Ursula.

Chapter 21 under the sea After winning the Phil cup and claiming the great sword cloud had left, our heroes were travelling through inter space once more. Yui was sitting in the pilot's seat flying the ship while Strea sat in the copilot's chair polishing her new weapon. The the five world travelers were sitting in the kitchen dining on a much deserved meal prepared by Asuna. "Okay spill it. How did you do that?" Sora asked. "Do what?" kirito said. "You know, that thing with the glowing swords and that super cool combo!" Sora said. "I'd like to know to. That was one of your dual wielding skills from SAO. And not one of the easier ones." Asuna said. Its true starburst stream was one of his most powerful sword skills. It took Kirito months of grinding to learn it. 'I thought sword skills from SAO would be hard to pull off. But when I felt that rush of power it felt like I could do anything. Maybe if I practice with it I can use more of my old attacks. Even THAT skill seems feasible now.' Kirito thought. "Um hello? Earth to Kirito." Asuna asked. "Let me handle it." Donald said. The duck mage hopped off his chair, walked up to Kirito, and swiped the sandwich from his dinner plate. "Hey my sandwich!" Kirito exclaimed. Donald held the sandwich away from Kirito and began tapping his foot as if he were waiting. When kirito looked at the rest of the table he could see everyone was staring at him intently. "I guess there's no escaping it now." Kirito said. So he told the Sora, Donald, and Goofy about the dream he had the day they had returned to traverse town after escaping Monstro. And about the mysterious keyblade warrior in it. "You had that dream to?" Sora asked. "Huh? What do you mean Sora?" Jiminy asked. "Well… They weren't exactly the same, but the place he described, the weapons, and the questions. Those were in my dream to. And it all happened the day before I got this." He held up his hand and summoned they Keyblade. It was pretty simple looking. A gold rectangular hilt, black handle, and oddly enough, a key chain at the end with a mouse emblem that looked like king mickey's seal. The blade was silver color, about a yard long, and was cylindrical. The space between the teeth looked like the crown necklace that Sora wears. "Well hey! If Sora had the same dream that Kirito's having now, then maybe Kirito can use the keyblade to. A-hyuck." Goofy hypothesized. 'Of course! Why didn't I figure it out sooner?!' Kirito thought. "Goofy you are a genius." Kirito complimented. "Gee, thanks Kirito. That means a lot comin' from someone smart like you. A-hyuck." He said. "So can you do it? Summon a keyblade I mean?" Sora asked. "Hmmm…" Kirito held out his hand and concentrated. He was trying to call out the weapon the armored man used, but it just didn't work. He could feel it like it was waiting for him, but it wouldn't respond. "It's not working." Kirito said. "Aw phooey." Donald said while taking a bite from Kirito's sandwich. After the first bite Donald's face turned red and he screamed "WAAAAAAAAACK!" while running towards the sink and drowning his head in it. "What was in that sandwich?" Sora asked. "Hot sauce. And wasabi. I like spicy food." Kirito said while taking a bite from his reclaimed meal. After Donald had cooled off we arrived at the next world. But there was a slight issue. It was entirely submerged in water. "Okay guys prepare to land." Donald said. "Land Where? In the sea? We'll drown!" Sora said. "Don't worry my magic will take care of it. Just leave everything to me." Said Donald. "We're coming to." Said Yui. "Alright. But if things get dangerous you find a safe place to hide okay. And Strea, promise that you'll keep Yui safe." Kirito said. "Sir yes sir." Strea saluted. Donald's magic enveloped us and we were all teleported to the deep sea world. And our bodies were changed to match the environment. Donald's lower half became that of an octopus with blue and yellow tentacles. Goofy had turned into a sea turtle, but his head was still the same. Sora, Kirito, Asuna, and Yui became mermaid and in the boys case merman esque. Sora's lower half was blue and dolphin like. Kirito was shark like and had a triangular gap in his dorsal fin. Asuna's mermaid tail was an albino white with subtle hints of red like a koi fish. And yui's lower half was pink and had little specks of gold in her scales. Asuna and Yui wore clam like bras to cover their chests. How clams had string that could be tied around there backs they had no idea, but were thankful none the less. And Strea had an octopus like body. Her purple octopus skin covered her pale white human features like a dress and her tentacles had soft pink undersides. "This is going to be a big adjustment." Kirito said while looking at his new body. "It looks like Yui's figured it out." Asuna said. Yui had taken to being a mermaid like a fish to water. (Pun intended) "Look Mommy I'm swimming! And my tail looks so pretty!" Yui said. "That's great honey." Asuna said. "The ocean's so salty. I've never felt anything like it before. It's amazing!" Strea said. "I'm kinda used to it." Sora said. That made sense since Sora was an islander. It wasn't long before we were found by the locals. Another mermaid with long red hair and a green fish tail, along with a yellow fish with blue fins and stripes, and a small red crab were swimming towards us. "Come on, Sebastian!" the mermaid said. The crab now identified as Sebastian begged the mermaid who he called Ariel to wait and not leave him behind. However he panicked when he came face to face with an upside down Donald and swam for cover behind her. "Relax, Sebastian. They don't look like one of them. Right flounder?" she asked the yellow fish behind her. "I don't know. There's something weird about them." Said flounder. Sora began to laugh nervously. "What do you mean?" he asked. Ariel began to swim around them. "They do seem… a little different. Where are ya from?" she asked. "We're from kinda far away. And we're not really used to these waters." Sora said. In a desperate bid to sound convincing. Fortunately it worked. "Oh, I see. In that case. Sebastian can show you how to swim around here." She said. "Ariel, King Triton will not like this!" he said. "Oh don't worry." Ariel said. After a few minutes of tutoring from Sebastian everyone was able to move around in their new bodies without much trouble. "Good job. Now let's move on to self-defense." He said. "Sebastian!" Ariel exclaimed. When we looked where she pointed, we saw a group of jellyfish like heartless swimming towards us. "Class is over! Good luck!" Sebastian said as he swam away slowly you'd think a crab would realize he moves faster on the ocean floor. "Yui go hide with Ariel. We'll take care of these things." Kirito ordered. "Right." Yui and Ariel swam off into a small alcove while Sebastian and Flounder hid inside a giant clam. Kirito thought using two swords underwater would be ineffective so he only used one. His black blade slashed through the jelly fish like a butter knife through jelly. Thankfully these Jelly fish didn't have poisonous stingers like the ones back home so they didn't have to be cautious with their movements. And despite its heavy weight Strea was able to put her great sword to good use on the larger ones. The large jelly fish heartless broke into smaller versions of itself when they were beaten and we all moved in as a group to eliminate them. Due to their fragile nature, the battle was short lived. Ariel and Yui came out of hiding and Sora used his keyblade to pry open the giant clam Flounder and Sebastian used for shelter. Sebastian was worried that the heartless were attacking the palace and Ariel asked us for help. We gladly accepted. She said to follow the trident shaped markers to reach the palace and not get lost. As we explored the sea bed we saw marvelous sights like coral reefs, schools of fish, and thermal vents creating ocean currents. It was too bad the heartless were here and scared everything off when they appeared. When we arrived at the palace plaza we saw stone pillars and arches similar to the ones in Olympus coliseum. The palace itself had similar architecture along with tall pointed spires and a glowing golden light. As we swam towards it more heartless showed up. These heartless were green and looked like scuba divers. They had propellers on the back of their heads that gave them greater speed and carried tridents as weapons. Hoping to avoid a fight we booked it to the palace. The heartless followed us through the halls and as we split up to avoid them, they were destroyed by a golden bolt of electricity. "That was to close." The blast came from a merman sitting on a throne. He had a blue fish tail, held a golden trident, was very muscular, had a long white beard and hair, and wore a five pointed crown on his head. "As long as I have my trident, I will not tolerate those creatures inside this palace!" He said with Authority. "Hi daddy." Ariel said. "Oh Ariel! When will you listen? It's dangerous out there! Strange creatures lurk outside." He said while looking at the seven of us. Sebastian coughed to get everyones attention. "Behold. You swim before the ruler of the seas: His majesty, King Triton." The crab introduced. "And who are they?" The king asked. "They helped us fight off those creatures." Ariel explained. "They don't look familiar." Triton said. "We're from an ocean very far away." Sora said. "Yup. We came to find the keyhole." Goofy said. "The what?" Triton said surprised. "What's that?" Ariel asked. "Well it's a- -" goofy was about to explain before being interrupted by Triton. "There's no such thing! And certainly not here." He said. "But daddy!" Ariel said. But a look from her father told her to be quiet. "Ariel not another word. You are not to leave the palace. Is that clear?" he said sternly. Ariel didn't say a word and simply left the throne room. We decided to follow her. "Hmm… perhaps I'm being too strict with her. I'm just concerned for her safety." The king said as he watched Ariel swim off with her new friends. "Of course your majesty." Said Sebastian. "But I must admit, now I'm quite curious about this keyhole." He said. "That need not concern you, Sebastian. Have you anything to report?" Triton asked. "It's just as you suspected your majesty, they seem to be coming from Ursula's grotto." Said Sebastian. "I knew it. That sea witch is up to no good again. I see exile from the palace has taught her nothing." "He said angrily while stroking his beard. "Yes, she poses serious danger." Sebastian said. "And I told you to keep Ariel away from such danger, did I not?" the king said. Not wanting to become King Triton's next victim, Sebastian quickly swam to Ariel's grotto. It was the place Ariel was most likely to be After all.

Chapter 20 the games begin. After we celebrated Yui and Strea's Arrival to the real world we decided we should hit the road again. We were on our way to Olympus coliseum to participate in the games. It would be a good opportunity for Sora and the others to test themselves. Especially since Leon and Yuffie were in it as well. If leon was holding back against Sora as he claimed, then this would be interesting. When they arrived at the coliseum, they saw that a roster for the tournament had been posted. "The Phil cup." Sora said. "It looks like the tournament is going to be a king of the hill battle. If you win all the rounds then you'll win the whole tournament." Yui said. "And look who's at the second seed." Donald said. At the top of the board were Leon and Yuffie's names. It looks like whoever wants the top spot will have to go through them. Which was perfectly okay with Sora and Kirito. They looked forward to the challenge. They entered the lobby to speak with Phil and enter the tournament. A large sword caught the group's eye. It was a large, double edged great sword with a purplish hue and a golden X shaped cross guard. "I see that blade's caught your eyes to." Said Phil. "what's it doin' here?" goofy asked. "Well ya see, that blond guy with the big honkin' sword you guys fought before brought it. Said he wanted to apologize, so he offered that sword as a prize for whoever wins the tourney. And let me tell ya, it's drawn a lot of contenders." He said. 'I bet hades made sure most of them were heartless. Although that doesn't seem to have stopped Leon and Yuffie.' Kirito thought. Phil signed the five of us up for the tournament. Yui and Strea sat in the stands to cheer us on. "WOOHOO! DO YOUR BEST GUYS!" Strea shouted from. Of course Phil took notice of her and decided to put on the charm as he put it. "So, how'd those guys score a cutie like you toots?" Phil said while using his hand to comb back the few strands of hair on his balding head. "That's Strea and she's my little sister. Mommy and daddy are fighting with Sora in the tournament right now." Yui said. "LITTLE sister?! And those two?!" Phil exclaimed while pointing at Kirito and Asuna who were in the middle of fighting a large body heartless. Kirito was distracting it while Asuna attacked from behind. "Yeah that's right." Strea said. Phil decided to walk back to the lobby so who could cry in a corner without being seen. 'She was such a hotty! How could she be related to them? Why must the gods curse me so?!' he thought. After eight rounds in the tournament the group of five was facing off against the gun blade swordsman Leon, and the great ninja Yuffie. "You better not be holding back this time Leon. Because I came for a real fight!" Sora said. "You've come this far. Holding back isn't a luxury I can give anymore." Leon said. "Ooh look at you Squall, talking all serious and stuff." Yuffie said. "I told you not to call me that." He said. "Enough chitchat, let's rumble!" Sora said. And just like that the final battle for the Phil cup began. Leon ran up to us and leapt into the air for an aerial attack. When the five of them dodged out of the way, Yuffie threw her shuriken in circular arcs to catch us when we were off guard. Their team work was impeccable. If we were going to win against them, we would have to divide and conquer. Asuna and Goofy went to fight Yuffie while Sora, Donald, and Kirito kept Leon at bay. True to her ninja nature, Yuffie used a hit and run style with her shuriken for ranged attacks and cartwheeled away, or used smoke bombs whenever Asuna got close. Fortunately, Goofy's shield was able to block most of her throwing stars, and Asuna's agility allowed her to keep up. However even Goofy couldn't block Yuffie's attack when she charged her shuriken with magic to supersize it. The giant glowing shuriken whizzed by Asuna and left a cut on her cheek. Yuffie leapt into the air and caught each shuriken she had thrown over the course of the battle. "What's the matter? You aren't giving up are you? That would be way too easy." Yuffie taunted. "Not on your life!" Asuna shouted. As soon as Yuffie landed, Asuna charged at Yuffie. Her rapier glowed as she unleashed the sonic blade technique she learned from sparring with Sora and Kirito. With each thrust Yufffie was left unable to attack or defend and when the final strike hit, Yuffie collapsed in defeat. Meanwhile Leon was contending with Sora and the others. Similar to when he first fought sora, his movements were slow, and his demeanor was calm and composed. After one of them would attack he waited to deal a big hit to Sora or Kirito. However dealing with the two of them was troublesome. Similar to his team work with Yuffie, the two of them covered for each other and when he focused on one the other would strike. It was time for Leon to up his game. He began charging magic into his sword and the blade glowed with a bright light as it grew in size. "It's over!" he shouted as he ran towards Kirito. With a vicious uppercut leon slashed Kirito, leapt into the air, and hit him again on the downswing. The attack sent shock waves that knocked Sora and Donald off their feet. Yui and Strea gasped when Kirito was hit. Strea grabbed Yui and hugged her close so that she couldn't see. It looked like Kirito was down for the attack tore through his shirt and his breastplate had barely saved him from a lethal blow. The armor fell and clattered to the ground as Kirito knelt on one knee. He stabbed his sword into the ground and held onto it as support. He could barely hold on to his other one. Sora tried to attack in retaliation, but Leon knocked the wind out of Sora with the back of his blade and sent him flying into one of the pillars. Donald used a blizzard spell hoping to hit Leon with opposite magic, but Leon's firaga hit the spell before it could cluster and the back draft blew Donald away. Believing his work to be done he turned around and began a slow walk towards Asuna and Goofy. Kirito closed his eyes feeling like he was about to faint. 'Is this the best you can do? Fight boy! Fight like your life depends on it! You must overcome your limitations!' in a flash of light Kirito saw he was back in the place from his dreams. The man in armor stood in front of him with keyblade in hand. "There is no time to waste boy. You must defeat the foes in front of you if you are to survive against the forces of darkness." He said. "But he's so strong! How am I supposed to fight Leon, let alone defeat him, if I can't stand on my own two feet right now?" Kirito asked? "That man has learned how to surpass his limits. If you are to defeat him, you must do the same." He said. "It's not like I can fight like I do in Sword art online. At least not without the system helping me." Kirito said. The armor clad swords man walked up to Kirito and placed his hand on top of his head. "That is merely your perception. If you believe you can fight, then you will! All you must do, is will your strength to return!" in a flash of light Kirito had found himself back in the coliseum's arena. Feeling his strength return he got back on his feet and into a fighting stance. "Hey Squall! I'm not done yet!" Kirito shouted. Leon stopped midstep and turned to see Kirito was standing up again. And more importantly he had called him by his real name. No one was allowed to do that. Not until he restored peace to hollow bastion. "Yuffie really needs to learn how to keep her mouth shut. More importantly. Are you sure you can still fight in the shape you're in?" he asked. "I was holding back before." Kirito taunted. "Alright punk. Have it your way." Leon said. He was more than confident he could take on Kirito in his weakened state. So when he readied his weapon, he was surprised to see that Kirito was already in striking range just a second after he finished speaking. "Starburst stream!" Kirito's swords glowed a bright blue color and he unleashed a string of attacks one after another. Leon was left helpless at the 16 hit combo and as the last two hits hit him, the gunblade was knocked away from his hand and the tip of the sword in Kirito's right hand was poised directly at his abdomen. Kirito had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in an instant. "I believe your exact words were 'it's over.'" Kirito said. "Now you're getting cheeky." Leon countered. Kirito lowered his swords and they dematerialized. "Kirito!" Asuna shouted. He turned around to greet her when he saw not only her, but Sora, Donald, and Goofy had jumped in the air and were about to put him at the bottom of a dogpile. Which they succeeded in. Strea held Yui on her shoulders while they cheered from the stands at their victory. His friends praised him for his win and asked if he was okay. The questions were all rapid fire and it was hard to tell who was asking what. But honestly he was just glad to have this moment with them.

Chapter 19 Rebirth. When Asuna said magic training involved hitting the books, I didn't imagine we'd actually be hitting the books. Apparently Merlin's idea of training was using the furniture as moving targets and having us shoot random spells at them. But Asuna said there was a method to his madness so I was inclined to believe her. Still I never thought magic training would be so physical. I guess even mages need to be fit. After an hour or so we headed back to the gummi ship. We were excited to tell Yui and Strea the news. I still can't believe Genie would go that far for us. He's a real friend. I hooked the laptop up to the gummi ship so the battery wouldn't die while we talked. As usual both Yui and Strea were on my browser. "Welcome back daddy." Said Yui. "Did anything interesting happen while you were out?" Strea asked. "Uh-huh. Lots of things." Goofy said. "Did you find a place for Mr. Geppeto and Pinocchio?" Yui asked. "Yup. Turns out a new house was built in the first district while we were away. They'll be living there from now on." Said Sora. "That's good to hear." Strea said. "Yup. Now that Pinoke and Geppeto are together again on solid ground, I bet Pinocchio will be a real boy in no time." Jiminy said. "There's more." Donald said. "Really, what else?" Yui asked. "Well do you remember when we went to Agrabah and met Aladdin and genie?" Sora said. "Yeah. We found Philia there to. I wonder how they're doing?" Strea asked. "They're probably looking for treasure. You know how Philia is." Kirito said. "Come on, Kirito tell them already!"Asuna begged. "Oh, right. Well during Sora's fight with Jafar, I used the lamp to ask Genie for help. My first wish was for genie to hold off Jafar while Sora grabbed his lamp. And I used the second wish to teleport us back to Aladdin's house." Kirito said. "You said Genie grants three wishes right? What happened to the third one?" Strea asked. "I didn't use it. I gave the lamp back to Aladdin and he wished for Genie's freedom. But Genie says he can still honor my third wish. I can use it for anything." Kirito said. "Wow really? That's great! Do you know what you're going to use it for?" Yui asked. "I have. I'm going to use it to bring you two to the real world." Said Kirito. Their eyes widened like saucers at what they heard and both of them were speechless. "EHHH?!" They both shouted. "H-he can do that?" Yui said. "He said he could do anything. And given the scale of his power, I believe it." Kirito said. "So that means, we get to be real people? I can meet you, mom, sora, Donald, and goofy as a real girl?" Yui asked disbelieving. "Oh Yui, you already are a real girl. You'll just be moving from the virtual world to the real one." Asuna said. "But… won't I just get in the way? I'm a little girl after all. You'd just be protecting me all the time." Yui asked. "Oh, that doesn't matter one bit." Donald said. "Yeah, because that's what family is all about. Even if ya were big and strong like your parents, they'd still protect ya. And we would to because we're friends. A-hyuck." Goofy said. "Yeah and look at Donald, I'm sure you're taller than he is and he's still useful." Sora said. Which in turn triggered another of Donald's famous tirades. "But what about the gummi ship? Won't you need us to pilot it?" Strea asked. "Well Cid programmed that stuff into you right? So it would still be in your heads shouldn't it?" Asuna said. "That's right. We should be able to retain any information in our data banks." Yui said. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get started!" Sora said. We headed to the first district so that there would be more room for Genie and the girls. While we were at it we invited Agil, and the other residents of traverse town to witness the deed. Everyone waited anxiously to see the girl's arrival. "Genie it's show time!" Kirito shouted. Pink sparks shot from Kirito's sword once again and in the same manner as before the sparks swirled together as they created blue smoke as genie appeared swooping down to give Kirito a high five. "Oh I just love performing in front of an audience! So master, are you ready for your final wish?" he said. "Just Kirito's fine. And yes." Kirito said. "Alright! Just say those magic words and all your dreams will come true!" Genie said. Kirito opened the laptop and placed it on the ground. "Are you guys ready for this there's?" he asked. "We're ready. There's no turning back now." Yui said. "Just think, when we get out I can hug you for real now. And Asuna, and Sora, and, Donald, and Goofy. Oh I'm just gonna hug everybody. Everybody gets a hug!" Strea said. "Okay Strea." Kirito said standing up. "Alright Genie. I wish for you to make bring Yui and Strea to live here in the real world." Kirito said. "Sniff. Ya know. You and Al are the nicest guys I ever met!" he said while blowing into an oversized handkerchief. "Alright! Two Girls ala genie coming right up!" genie said with his usual flare. He shot two balls of pink light at the laptop and it began to glow with a bright light. As the light intensified one could see Yui and Strea being reconstructed in the real world as their pixels were converted into the human essence. When the light faded they stood in front of the laptop dressed in their normal clothes. "Well, my work is done. Genie over and out." He said disappearing in a puff of smoke. "Daddy!" Yui said as she ran up to me. I picked her up in my arms and held her as tight as I could. "This is real. It's really you Yui." Kirito said. Asuna and Strea came to join the embrace. Strea's bear hug was as tight as ever as she hugged the three of us. Seeing the perfect opportunity Agil took out his phone and took pictures. "The whole Kirigaya family. That's one for the wall." Said Agil. "But, I thought they weren't married." Cid said. "Pfft. Technicality." Agil said. "Besides, you don't need things like jewelry or blood to be a family."Aerith said. "Wise words lass. It's the bonds in our hearts that matter. And theirs' just might be what turns the tide against these troubled times." Said Merlin. Sora, Donald, and goofy joined the fray as well. Even though they had seen them on a computer screen, it was their first time meeting Yui and Strea. Donald and goofy made funny faces that mad Yui laugh while Sora found out how strong Strea's bear hugs were as she literally lifted him of the ground. Needless to say, it was a great time for everyone.

Chapter 18 Repayment. When Asuna woke up, she was surprised to see that Kirito wasn't in the room. She inspected the room's perimeter and saw that the door to the balcony had been left open. She got up from the bed and walked towards the balcony to find Kirito. He was standing at the edge and his hands gripped the railing. "Good morning Kirito." She said joining him at the balcony. "Good morning Asuna." He said. "You're up early. Guess that means you're excited." Asuna said. "That's one word for it." Kirito muttered. "Huh?" she couldn't make out what he said. "I just really want to get to Merlin's as soon as possible. See if my theory works." He said. "Okay…" Asuna said "Is something wrong?" Kirito asked. "It's just, you have that look on your face right now. The one that looks like you're about to fight to the death." Kirito took a deep breath and sighed. "I guess I was a little tense." He said. "More like a lot. Did something happen?" Asuna asked. "I just had this weird dream. I was in this dark shadowy place and I was fighting someone." Kirito said. "Was it laughing coffin?" she asked. Laughing coffin was an assassin's guild in sword art online. Kirito and Asuna had fought them more than once. The guild was made entirely of players. Some of them didn't believe that people died for real when someone was killed in game. Some of them didn't care and joined anyway because that was how they preferred playing. And others saw it as an excuse to murder people and get away with it. It was a video game after all. The courts could argue that the killers weren't aware of the consequences of what they had done. "No it wasn't anyone from SAO. I don't know who he is. But I do know one thing. He had a keyblade Asuna." Kirito stated. "A keyblade?!" Asuna said shocked. "Yeah. He was really strong to. He beat me faster than I could blink." Kirito said. "What do you think it means?" Asuna asked. "I get the sense that he's someone I'm supposed to overcome. That if I defeat him then, maybe I'll learn some new power. But it feels like I'm lightyears from reaching it." he said looking up at traverse towns ever present starry sky. He was about to go into another one of his doldrums when he felt Asuna hugging him. "I know you wanna beat that guy as fast as possible. But if he's as strong as you say, then I don't think it's something you can do right away. You just have to be patient. And who knows? Maybe fighting isn't the answer at all. There are other ways to be strong you know." She said. "How is it that you always know what to say?" Kirito asked as he hugged Asuna back. "I'm your girlfriend, that's my job. And it's your job to listen to me." She replied. "Yes ma'am." Kirito joked. Suddenly there was a loud thud coming from right behind them. They turned around to see the door was open and on the ground were Sora, Donald, and Goofy in a dog pile. "I told you we should've just used a glass." Donald complained. "Well excuse me for wanting to actually hear them." Sora remarked. "Um, fellas..." Goofy said pointing at kirito and Asuna. "So why were you spying on us?" Asuna asked. "Well you guys were kinda taking a while." Sora said. "Uh-huh. We thought you were being all lovey-dovey, a-hyuck." Goofy said. The two of them blushed and separated themselves from each other. Which in hindsight they probably should've done when they heard the crash. "And you just walked in?" Asuna said rhetorically. "I told them not to do it." Donald tried to convince. "You liar!" Sora said indignantly. "Shut up!" Asuna said giving each of them a whack on each of their heads as comeuppance. "Next time, wait outside the door politely." Asuna said walking back into the red room to get her things. Soon the five of them were at Merlin's house again. Not only did they have to train, but Kirito needed to speak to the fairy god mother to confirm his theory. "Good evening Sora. I trust you and your cohorts have been cohorts have been keeping up in your studies?" Merlin inquired. "Sure have." Sora said. "Good, good. And I trust sir Kirito has caught up to you and dear Asuna?" he guessed. "More or less. Is it alright if I talk to the fairy god mother? I need to ask her something." Kirito said. "Well of course my dear boy. This is after all, a place of learning. And as your tutors, it is our mission to answer your questions to the best of our abilities." Merlin said while stroking his long beard. "So where is she anyway? Sora asked. "Why in that tiny little stage coach of course." Merlin pointed out. On the floor was a small white horse drawn carriage. Blue sparks appeared above it and the fairy god mother stood in its place. "Hello again Kirito. Ah, and you've brought friends with you. Have you found any more summon gems? You haven't been rough with them have you?" she greeted. "No ma'am. I haven't found any gems yet, but we did meet someone who's agreed to let us summon him." Kirito said. "Oh goody. May I see him? It's nice to know you're making friends. Such a good boy." She said while pinching Kirito's cheek. "h-hey cut it out." Asuna and the others laughed at his embarrassment. "Well he's kinda big. So we should probably go to the practice room." Sora said. "Of course. Lead the way." A panel from merlin's ceiling floated towards us and we all hopped on it. The panel floated to back to its place and we were in a room with mostly orange carpeting and a lot of furniture. Maybe if Merlin moved his books up here then some of this could be moved. But he is a wizard so who are we to judge? "Alright let's see him then." Merlin ordered. "Alright, it's show time genie!" Kirito's sword released bolts of pink light that swirled together and created blue smoke, and from that smoke came the Genie. "My, my, he looks like a strong one." Said fairy god mother. "You are too kind. Would the lovely mademoiselle care for some assorted chocolates?" genie said making a heart shaped box of chocolates appear in his hands. "And quite the charmer to." She said taking one of the chocolates from the offered box. "So fairy god mother, there's something I want to ask you." Kirito said. "Yes what is it?" she asked. Kirito told them about their predicament and his theory about summoning magic. "Do you think it will work?" Kirito asked. "Hmm. Hard to say. Historically it's never been done before. And magic and technology usually don't work well together." Merlin said. "Yes. And the risk is far too great to consider. If something were to go wrong, then Yui and Strea would be lost forever." The fairy god mother said. "So you're saying it's a bad idea?" Asuna asked. "I would love to reunite you with your friend and daughter, but even if it were within my abilities to guarantee their safety, my magic is only temporary. I can make dreams come true, but all dreams end." Said the fairy god mother. "There is another option." Genie spoke. "Huh? What is it?" Sora asked. "You see Kirito was my master once. That means he got three wishes. And he used two of them to help you win that fight with Jafar and escape the cave of wonders. So even though I'm a free agent now, I still owe my good pal Kirito one more wish!" Genie said while dressing himself up in a lawyer's suit and presenting an oversized contract. The bottom line read 'one wish left'. "You'd do that genie?" Kirito asked. "Of course Kirito. You and Al are the best masters I've had in ten thousand years. You deserve to be happy with your family. And trust me, you're not gonna find another gal like Asuna, believe me, I know. I've looked." He said. But then his body began to fade. "Oh! Looks like my time is up. Call me again when you want that wish granted!" and the genie disappeared. "Well now, I do believe you have found your solution. It may not be what you had expected, but it is what you needed yes?" Merlin said. "Yeah it's great! Asuna we can see- hmph!" Kirito was suddenly tackled by Asuna and a fierce lip lock ensued between them. "Oh my!" Gasped Fairy god mother. Goofy then covered Sora's eyes with his hands and Donald grabbed his arms. "Hey, come on. It's not like I don't know what they're doing!" Sora said. "Yes but this story is rated T." said Merlin. "You're breaking the wall again Merlin." Said fairy god mother.

Chapter 17 awakening. Kirito found himself in a very strange place. The sky and everything around him was pitch black. He could only see the circular stain glass floor beneath him. The back ground was mostly blue and depicted Himself along with the floating castle Aincrad. Next to Kirito's face there were four other people each depicted in a circular frame. There was Asuna, Yui, Strea, and Suguha. An ethereal voice spoke from seemingly nowhere. "So much to do… so little time… Take your time. Don't be afraid." glowing lights appeared one after another each creating a pedestal that bore a weapon. The first pedestal had a staff, the second a shield, and the third had a sword. "Power sleeps within you. If you give it form. It will give you strength." It seemed like the voice wanted him to choose one of the items. For Kirito the choice was obvious. He walked towards the third pedestal and picked up the sword. "The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the path you choose?" the voice asked. "Yes." Kirito said. "No hesitation. A fine quality in and of itself." In a flash of light the sword disappeared. "Your path is set. Now what will you give up in exchange?" Kirito wanted to prioritize offense over defense so the shield was the obvious choice. "The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Do you choose to give up this power?" the voice asked. "I can still protect my friends with the sword. And I need magic to accomplish my goal." Kirito said. "Very well." The shield vanished from his hands and the pillars each disappeared. Then a winding stair case made of stain glass appeared on the edge of the enormous column he stood on. Kirito walked along the stain glass path until he reached another column similar to the one he was on before. The only difference was that the shades of blue were replaced with Golden yellow and red borders. And standing in the middle of it were three people he recognized. A girl with short dark hair dressed in green that wore glasses. This was Shino Asada. The second was a man with spiky redish brown hair dressed in red samurai styled armor. His name was Tsuboi Ryoutarou, but everyone calls him Klein. And the third person had brown hair and wore a lab coat this was Akihiko Kayaba. The person who created sword art online. The last person Kirito expected. The first person to speak was Shino. "What are you so afraid of?" she asked. Thinking back the most terrifying time for Kirito was when he lost his friends in the moonlit black cats guild. If he had just told them his level sooner, then maybe they would still be alive. "Being indecisive." Kirito said. After he answered, Shino vanished and Klein asked a question of his own. "What is it you care about most?" Klein asked. "My friends of course." Klein smiled and vanished just like Shino did. Now Kayaba was the only one left. "What do you want out of life?" Kayaba asked. There were many things he wanted. He wanted to be strong enough to protect his friends. He wanted to see new worlds and rare sights with Asuna and his friends. Maybe there was a way he could have both. "I want to broaden my Horizons." With his answer received Kayaba vanished just like Klein and Shino. Soon another path appeared for Kirito to follow. Knowing what to do, Kirito followed the path until he reached another Column. This time the stain glass back ground was midnight blue and dotted with stars. Standing in the middle of it was a man in full armor. The metal was white and outlined with gold with the exception of a blue chassis around his midsection. The helmet had two curved spikes on the sides of his head and one on top. A visor like mask hid his face. On top of the visor was a gold heart shaped emblem. The most notable thing however was the long Key shaped sword that he carried. Kirito immediately recognized it as a keyblade. The rectangular hand guard shined like silver and was connected by magenta colored rods that were used in the cross guard. The key chain at the end was entirely black and carried the same emblem that was on the man's helmet and midsection. The blade was black and cylindrical and the teeth of the key was thin and shaped similarly to the letter E. "Who are you?" I asked. The armored man raised his keyblade ready to attack. "Who I am doesn't matter. What matters right now, is if you have the strength to resist the darkness!" he charged in blindingly fast leaving afterimages as he did so. Kirito barely had enough time to summon his sword to block it. It was a struggle for kirito to hold off the attack. "You must give darkness no quarter in your heart! Lest it consume you!" Kirito used the weight and force of his attacker to slide away from him. He leapt into the air and summoned his second sword knowing he would need it. As soon as he landed, Kirito ran towards the armored stranger while dodging blasts of light fired at him. But just as he was about to attack, he was ensnared by chains. "You still have much to learn." With Kirito restrained the Keyblade wielder was able to swiftly defeat Kirito with a single strike. Kirito gasped as he woke up, breathing heavily. He was still in bed at the red room and Asuna was still asleep next to him. 'What was that? A dream? It felt so real though. Like I was in another place. And who was that guy? He had a keyblade. I thought Sora was the only Keyblade master. And he was even stronger.' Kirito thought. "I need some fresh air." kirito said as he got up and walked towards the balcony in the alleyway.

Chapter 16 Family Since we couldn't take Pinocchio and Gepetto with us, we decided to return to traverse town since it was the safest place for them. The warp gummi Cid installed for us saved loads of traveling time allowing us to travel to worlds we had visited before in seconds. When we entered the gates of the first district we headed for the accessory shop to catch up with Agil. "Yo, Kirito. Haven't seen you in a while. I was begging to think you had kicked the bucket." He scrunched his nose offended by a bad smell. "Although ya do smell like it." He said. "Well we were close to being digested a few times." Sora said. "Do I even wanna know?" Agil asked. "Giant whale swallowed our ship. Marine biologists are wrong." Asuna said. "Noted… I'm sorry, but you guys need a bath." He said pinching his nose shut. "Know where we can find one?" Donald asked. "As a matter of fact, Aerith told me she runs a bath house in the second district. Said she took a part time job so they can stay afloat." Said Agil. "That reminds me. We picked up an old guy and his son and they need a place to stay. We were hoping Leon could set them up." Kirito said. "Is that right? Well Leon and Yuffie left for some tournament that's being held. But I'm sure Aerith or Cid can move get them settled. There's even a new house right here in the first district that no one's bought yet." Agil said. "That's perfect. You're a life saver Agil." Kirito said. "You know it." after the two of them fist bumped the group of five left for the second district intent on finding the Bath house. They really needed it. The bath house was a traditional onsen with natural hot springs and a bamboo wall to separate the men and women's sides. Upon Aerith's insistence we used the showers first so the bath water wasn't contaminated. After a quick shower the boys practically ran to the men's side while Asuna and Aerith went to the womens. "Aaaah. I haven't bathed in so long." Asuna said. "I can imagine. It must be difficult when you're the only girl in the group." Aerith said while Scrubbing Asuna's back. "Well, there's Yui and Strea, but they're inside a computer." Asuna said. "I Suppose." Aerith said. Asuna became lost in thought. 'It's too bad Kirito and I didn't have our Amuspheres with us before we lost our world. I wonder when we can go back to the virtual world.' "What are you thinking about?" Aerith asked. Startled out of her doldrums, Asuna realized she had been quiet for a while. Maybe it would be alright if she told Aerith what was troubling her. "It's just… I've been thinking about Yui and Strea. I know I can see them on Kirito's computer whenever I want, but I want more than that. Without them, our family just isn't whole." Asuna said. Meanwhile on the other side of the fence. "Your family?" Sora asked. "Yeah. Yui is our Daughter and Strea and Yui are sisters so she's part of the family to." Kirito said. "How did that happen?" Sora asked? "Well it was over a year ago. Asuna and I were still on our honeymoon in SAO. We found Yui unconscious in the forest and brought her back to our house. When she woke up she had lost her memories." "How did that happen?" Donald asked. "The details would go over your heads. Anyway, she had no memories from before we found her, so she thought that we were her parents. So we took her in. and we were one big happy family." Kirito said. Back on the other side. "That's so sweet." Aerith said. "Yeah. Strea's more of a friend than a daughter, but I'm glad she and yui have the bond that they do. I just wish there were some way we could visit them. I want try using magic, but I don't know how it would affect them and I have no idea where I'd start." Asuna said. "Maybe you could ask Merlin for advice?" Aerith suggested. "I thought about that, but I know Kirito will want to make some virtual or augmented reality device instead. And I think that might be the safest option." Asuna said. "Hmmm. If only Ansem the wise was here. I'm sure he could help you." Said Aerith. "Ansem? I thought you said he studied the heartless?" Asuna asked. "He studied other things to. There were even rumors that he developed a device that could deconstruct a person's molecular structure and digitize them." Asuna couldn't believe it. That sounded like something from science fiction. Then again sci-fi and fantasy was starting to become the norm for her. "Do you think if we found your world, that we could find that device?" Asuna asked. "It was just a rumor. And our world is teeming with powerful heartless. But if it does exist, it would definitely be in Ansem's laboratory. But only Ansem would know where it is. And he disappeared when our world fell nine years ago." Said Aerith. "Oh... well a slim chance is better than none at all. Thank you Aerith." Back on the men's side. "And that's how Yui and I saved Strea and how she became part of the family." Kirito said. One could practically here the gears grinding in Sora, Donald, and Goofy's heads as they tried to comprehend what they just heard. "Computers are weird." Sora said as Donald and goofy nodded in agreement. "So um, why don't ya build one of those gizmos so you can see them again?" Goofy asked. "Normally that would be the first thing I'd do. But now that I know magic exists I want to see if there's a way I can bring them to the real world." Kirito said. After he summoned Simba for the first time, Kirito had been pondering a way to do the same with them. But he could only summon Simba for so long and he didn't know if he could handle two summons at once. "Then you should ask merlin. He knows all kinds of stuff." Goofy said. "Yeah. And I'm sure that the fairy god mother knows more about summoning." Kirito said. "You'll figure something out." Said Sora. "Yeah, cause you're a smarty pants. A-hyuck." Goofy joked. "You're smarter than Sora at least." Donald remarked. "Hey!" Sora then splashed Donald with hot water. Naturally a water battle ensued with the three of them while Kirito just watched. After their much needed bath, the quintet of heroes decided to rent rooms at the inn. Sora, Donald, and Goofy rented the green room while Kirito and Asuna were in the red room. The bed felt so comfortable after spending so much time on the gummi ship. As Kirito and Asuna lay down on the bed they were both wondering how to broach the topic of Yui and Strea. "Listen I-" they both said at the same time. Of course this caused the both of them to laugh and forget about their stress. "You first." Asuna said. "I've been thinking about Yui and Strea." Kirito said. "So was I. It really sucks that we didn't have our amuspheres with us when we got sucked up into that vortex. I want to hold Yui in my arms again so badly." Asuna said. "I know. I do too." He said. "Do you think you can rig up a full dive system in the gummi ship we can use?" Asuna asked. "The thought did cross my mind, but I want do more than just build a vr system." Kirito said. "What do you mean?" she asked. "I think we should talk to Merlin and the fairy godmother. I want to bring them to the real world. And I think we can do that with summoning magic." Asuna was surprised by his words. After all he was so tech savvy. Surely making a vr device wouldn't be a problem for him. "Do you think it's possible?" Asuna asked. "I think so. If what fairy god mother said about summon gems is true. Then I think the same principle applies to summoning Yui and Strea from my laptop." In theory it made sense. If summon gems were containers for their summons, then the laptop was a container for Yui and Strea. "But if you do summon them, it would only be for a few minutes right? If you built a vr system then we could see them whenever we want." Asuna said. "Well I would, but then we'd be leaving Sora, Donald and goofy alone on the ship. And I do not want to crash or get swallowed again." That got him a chuckle from Asuna. "You make it sound like they're totally careless. Sure Donald has a short temper and Goofy is clumsy, but Sora has a good head on his shoulders." Asuna said. "That's only one out of three. And sora gets caught up in their shenanigans to." Kirito argued. "Don't act like you don't like it. Getting mixed up in messes with them is part of the fun." Asuna joked. "I guess. But I still want to do more for Yui and Strea. They should get to see the worlds to. And I know Sora and the others would get along great with them." Kirito said. "I know they would." Asuna yawned. "It's getting late. We should get some sleep." "Fair enough, we'll talk more tomorrow." Kirito said. "I love you." Asuna said going to sleep. "I love you to." Kirito said. And with that the two of them drifted off into slumber.

Chapter 15 friend or foe? "Why do you still care about that boy?" Maleficent asked. Riku's behavior disturbed her. She believed that Riku would prioritize capturing Pinocchio's heart to help his precious Kairi. So why was he toying with that meddlesome key barer and his lackeys? "He has all but deserted you for the keyblade and his new companions after all." "I don't care about him. I was just messing with him a little." He said nonchalant. "Oh really? Of course you were." Maleficent teased. "Beware the darkness in your heart. The Heartless prey upon it." she warned. "Mind your own business!" Riku snapped. 'It's always the same warning with her. What does she know? I'm nothing like Jafar. I'll do whatever I want.' Riku thought. Sora and company had managed to track down Pinocchio again. But the boy just wouldn't go with them. They chased him into what they believed was the whale's stomach when they found Riku again. "Riku. What's the matter with you? What are you thinking? Don't you realize what you're doing?" sora asked. "I was about to ask you the same thing Sora. You only seem running around and showing off that keyblade these days. Do you even want to save Kairi?" Riku said. "Why don't you drop the act already?" Kirito said. "Huh? What do you mean?" Sora asked confused. "I know you're working for Maleficent. I saw you kidnap Jasmine back in Agrabah." Kirito accused. The others gasped at the news. Sora was beginning to feel doubts about Riku. And Kirito to an extent. He wondered why he didn't say anything earlier. "There's still one I just can't seem to figure out though. Why did you do it? Sora always speaks so highly of you. So why would you betray him like this?" Kirito demanded. Riku simply scoffed at him. "Tell me something. Would you hurt one friend if it meant saving another?" before Kirito could answer they heard Pinocchio scream. When they found Pinocchio, he was trapped in the maw of a heartless. The big pink monstrosity had attached itself to the whale's organs like a parasite and held Pinocchio prisoner in the cage that Kirito assumed was its stomach. Including Riku, everyone began to attack the parasitic heartless. It attacked with the tentacle like arms on its head and in the tiny room were all in they were hard to dodge. This thing clearly had the advantage in territory. But we had the advantage in numbers. While it was attacking one of us, the others were hitting the sides. We were on the verge of defeating it when it made a hasty retreat. The spot it was standing in before opened up to reveal a large hole. The parasite cage spat out Pinocchio and retreated further in to the bowels of the whale. When Pinocchio fell into the newly opened hole, Riku jumped in to catch him. Knowing he was up to no good and that we wouldn't have enough time to back track, we jumped into the hole to. Surprisingly enough the hole led back to monstrous mouth. The water had receded and revealed more shipwrecks the whale had swallowed. "Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Please! Give me back my son!" Geppeto pleaded. Riku stood atop one of the wrecks and held the unconscious Pinocchio with one arm. "Sorry old man. I have some unfinished business with this puppet." Riku said. "He's no puppet! Pinocchio is my little boy!" Gepetto stated. "He is unusual. Not many puppets have hearts. I'm not sure, but maybe he can help someone who's lost theirs." He said. "Wait a minute. Are you talking about Kairi?" Sora asked. "What do you care about her?" Riku said. But he didn't wait for an answer and simply walked off. The group of five used the surrounding shipwrecks to their advantage and climbed to the vantage point Riku had previously held. The exit Riku used was directly above the entrance to the maze of monstrous insides. We were starting to wonder if Monstro wasn't an ordinary whale or if marine biologists had simply never been inside an actual whale before. As we made our way up various organ like plat forms we reached a hole similar to the one that brought us back to Monstro's mouth. We could tell the room it led to was Monstro's actual stomach since it was filled with the noxious fumes of stomach acid. Luckily there were more than a few platforms for us to stand on. And Riku was standing on one waiting for us along with Pinocchio. "Let Pinocchio go Riku." Sora asked. "A puppet that's lost its heart to the heartless. Maybe it holds the key to helping Kairi." Said Riku. The silver haired boy then held out his hand towards Sora. "How about it, Sora? Let's join forces to save Kairi. We can do it together." He said as he walked towards us. Sora wanted to help Kairi more than anything, but he knew the way Riku was doing things was wrong. He knew Kairi wouldn't forgive them if they saved her at the cost of someone else's life. So Sora drew his keyblade, ready to fight if he had to. "What? You'd rather fight me? Over a puppet that has no heart?" Riku asked. "Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience." While sora was talking Jiminy cricket hopped to the ground and ran towards Pinocchio as fast as his little legs would carry him. "You might not hear it, but right now it's loud and clear. And it's telling me that you're on the wrong side!" Sora said. "Pinocchio! Pinocchio!" Jiminy said frantically. "Jiminy… I'm not gonna make it." just then, pinocchio's nose grew longer. According to jiminy it only did that whenever he lies. So it must not have been as bad as they thought. "Oh! I guess I'm okay!" Pinocchio said. Jiminy was literally jumping for joy now that Pinocchio was fine. But the celebration was interrupted. Before the fight with riku could begin, the parasite cage fell directly in front of Riku on the center platform. Since his mission failed, Riku took the opportunity to escape in another dark portal. The fight with the parasitic heartless was different this time around. Since it had effectively taken center stage, we were forced to use the platforms on the walls to launch magic attacks and jumping strikes to avoid being burned by the stomach acid. And to make matters worse, its two tentacle like arms were able to use that very acid to launch an acid spray at thing that had changed since then was that after taking a certain number of hits, the cage that was its stomach opened up to reveal it's weak point. A small black sphere served as the monster's core. Asuna seized the moment by leaping in the air and thrusting her rapier through the heartless the dark sphere. The orb solidified and shattered like a glass vase and the heartless began to fade away like the others. The whale's stomach then began to violently convulse and we knew we had to get out of here and back to the ship. Since it was on the way we managed to get Gepetto, Pinocchio, and their cat and goldfish. We boarded the gummi ship and braced for impact as Monstro spat us out. "Look at that father! We're free! "Yes Pinocchio. We've escaped the belly of the beast thanks to our new friends. We can't possibly thank you enough." Gepetto said. "We're just glad we could help." Asuna said. "Yup. Any friend of jiminy is a friend of ours." Sora said. "I see. So does that mean you'll be going with them Jiminy?" Gepetto asked "Well gosh. I'd like to, but I'm Pinocchio's conscience it's my job to take care of him until he becomes a real boy." Jiminy said. "You should go with them Jiminy!" Pinocchio said. "What do ya mean Pinoke?" Jiminy asked. "After watching you and Sora help out me and father, I know right from wrong now. You never gave up on me even when I was following Riku. I know I might make mistakes along the way, but I won't give up on fathers dream. Because that's my dream to." Pinocchio said. "Not a single fib. Why Pinoke, I think you just might be starting to grow up." Said Jiminy.

Chapter 14 the belly of the beast In the far off world of Hollow bastion Maleficent and her gathering of villains were discussing how to proceed with the loss of Jafar. Hades merely sighed in disappointment. "That smarmy vizier could have had'em. If someone had stuck around to give him a hand." The fiery god said. Of course he was referring to how Riku just left him there to fend for himself. He didn't really care about Jafar, but he'd take him over Maleficent's little protégé. "Hey, I did my part. I brought the princess didn't I?" Riku rebuked. "Yeah, and ya got caught by that little gamer twerp. Now he's gonna tell your little friend key boy, that you're working with the bad guys." The god argued. "It matters not. The boy was bound to find out eventually." Maleficent spoke. "As for the royal vizier, he was beyond help. Consumed by his own hatred. One should beware of letting it burn too fiercely." She jabbed at the hades' own tendency to erupt. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Lighten up. I'm as cool as they come, okay. By the way, kid, have we got something special for you." He said to Riku. "Huh?" Riku asked. Sure they had given him a room and board, but he didn't feel like these people were the gift giving type. "We had a deal yes? You help us, and we grant you your wish…" a magic green circle appeared in the middle of the table. Maleficent's magic produced an image of Kairi as she slept. "Kairi!" he exclaimed. At last his efforts had born fruit. "Go to her. Your vessel is waiting." Maleficent ordered. Soon a man entered wearing a red coat, a feathered hat. And a cravat. He carried a cutlass at his side, but his most noticeable feature was the hook in place of his hand. "Just remember, this is no pleasure cruise. It won't be a pleasant voyage." Said Captain Hook. Something was off. "Why are you doing this for me? What's the catch?" he asked. "Catch? What's the catch? Silly boy. You're like a son to me. I only want you to be happy." She said in a sickly sweet tone as she held her hand up to his cheek. Riku slapped the hand away and took a few steps back. "I seriously doubt that." He said. Riku knew a trap when he saw one. He wasn't going to succumb to Maleficent's magic. "Believe what you wish. But lest we forget, I kept my end of the bargain." Maleficent said. Seeing her point, Riku opted to walk off and not say anything. As he walked off with captain hook, the pirate told him how Kairi had yet to wake up and how maleficent believed she had lost her heart. This troubled Riku. If Kairi had lost her heart, then how was he supposed to wake her up? Apparently Maleficent had offered a solution. In the belly of a whale, there was a puppet that had grown a heart of its own. If he could take that heart and give it to kairi, then it was possible she would awaken from her comatose state. Maybe the darkness was getting to him, but Riku felt that the ends justified the means. He didn't care what he had to do, so long as Kairi was safe. Meanwhile, our heroes were traveling through interspace once again. The second quadrant was vastly different from the first quadrant and much more dangerous. Unlike its counterpart there were many more asteroid fields and rather than stars there were many variations auroras and gaseous formations that created all kinds of colors. Honestly it looked like someone had sprayed the universe with tie dye, but it was truly magnificent. The flight routine Cid programmed for Yui and Strea worked out surprisingly well give that their primary programming was for psychology. Perhaps Cid knew more about artificial intelligence than Kirito believed. "Hey look at that!" Goofy shouted. When we looked, we saw a whale was somehow swimming out in the vast reaches of space completely unaffected by the lack of air or water. "That's Monstro!" Jiminy said. "You know him?" Donald asked. "He's one mean whale of a whale I'll tell you. Monstro has sunk many ships and killed many a sailor in the world I come from." The cricket said. "So we should stay away from it." said Kirito. "He's so big. He could probably swallow the entire ship if he wanted to." just as Asuna said it, the whale turned around and charged towards us. "Thanks a lot Asuna, you jinxed us!" Sora said. "How is this my fault?!" she asked. "Well you did say it could eat us." Kirito said. "Et tu Kazuto? I thought you were over the fishing incident." Asuna said "You left me to die woman! And I thought we agreed to never speak of that!" Kirito exclaimed. "Um guys, it's getting closer." Sora said. "Oh, don't be such a baby. I killed it didn't I? And you even got to eat it." Asuna argued. "Mmm, that was good. And the soy sauce you made really brought out the flavor." Kirito said drooling as he remembered how delicious that giant fish was. "You're thinking about dinner at a time like this?!" Donald shouted. The whale was at ramming speed and its mouth was raised, ready to devour its prey. It was too late to escape it. We braced for impact as the large sea creature devoured us. When we came to, we found ourselves in the jaws of the whale. Its teeth were massive and razor sharp. Inside its mouth there was a large body of water and dozens of shipwrecks piled on top of one Another. Jiminy wasn't kidding. To our surprise we found a little boy searching through a chest on top of one of the wrecks. He wore a yellow shirt and red overalls along with white gloves and a yellow hat with a red feather. The boy carelessly tossed items out one after another Jiminy recognized him as his friend Pinocchio. The puppet pulled out a large green gummi block and headed towards a ship that was mostly intact. At Jiminy's request we followed the little wooden boy. He brought the gummi block to an old man and said that it could help get them out of the whale. He wasn't wrong, but they would need more than that single block to build a ship. "Oh, my. So the whale swallowed all of you too? My goodness." The old man said. "Yeah, looks like it." Sora said. "My name is Geppetto. I'm Pinocchio's father. When we got separated, I traveled all over, looking for him. Thank goodness we're together again." He said happily. "So Pinocchio's your son? So why is he… you know?" Sora asked. "A puppet. It's quite alright my boy." said Gepetto. "You see I used to be a puppet maker. I put on shows for all the little girls and boys. It brought me great joy to see the smiles on their little faces. Then one day I made my dear Pinocchio. At first he was like my other creations, but when I went to sleep, a blue fairy brought my Pinocchio to life and I was so happy." Jiminy hopped off Sora's shoulder and onto the deck of the wooden ship. "Ya see, there's more to the spell that Pinocchio to life. If Pinocchio's a good boy, then he'll become a real flesh and blood boy just like you sora, or even you Kirito." Jiminy explained. "But that Pinoke doesn't know right from wrong. So the blue fairy made me his conscience. He's a good boy, but he has habit of telling tall tales. And a lie is just as plain as the nose on your face. Especially in Pinoke's case. And he's always wondering off." Said Jiminy. "So we should probably go after him right?" sora said pointing to Pinocchio as he went to explore the whale's insides. "Pinocchio come back!" Jiminy shouted. Luckily Pinocchio hadn't gone very far when we found him. "Come on Pinocchio. Gepetto's worried about you. This isn't the time to be playing games." Sora said. "But I thought you liked games sora? Or are you too cool now that you have the keyblade?" from another cavity inside Monstro, Riku appeared standing behind Pinocchio. "Riku! Wh -what are you doing here?" Sora asked. "Just playing with Pinocchio." Riku said casually. "You know what I mean! What about Kairi? Did you find her?" he asked again. "Maybe. Catch us and maybe I'll tell you what I know." Riku then grabbed Pinocchio by the arm and ran off with him deeper into the whale. "I'm starting to not like him." Asuna said. "You don't know the half of it." Kirito muttered. And so began the search for Pinocchio and Riku inside Monstro's belly. The whale's insides were all mazelike and squishy. The walls were purple and spotted with a litany of cells and other microbes. And of course there were more heartless to fight. Maybe Monstro's violent nature attracted them? Or maybe he had simply swallowed them out in space. Either way the heartless were in our way and had to be dealt with.

Chapter 13 a promise to keep As we flew back to Agrabah on Aladdin's magic carpet, which was sort of cramped with all of us on it by the way. Genie was enjoying being out in the world again. "Ah, Fresh air! The great outdoors!" Genie said while flying through the air. "I take it you don't get out much?" Sora joked. "Comes with the job kiddo. Phenomenal cosmic powers. Itty-bitty living space. It's always three wishes, then back to my portable prison. I'm lucky to see the light of day every century or two." Kirito and Asuna thought that was pretty sad. Even though genie was an immortal cosmic being they couldn't imagine being isolated from existence for centuries at a time. They could barely handle SAO for two years. "Say, genie, what if I use my last wish to free you from the lamp?" Aladdin asked. "You'd do that?!" Genie exclaimed. He couldn't believe his pointy blue ears. "Genie, it's a promise. After we help Jasmine." When we arrived in Agrabah, Aladdin took us straight to the palace suspecting she might be there. His hunch was confirmed when we saw Jasmine standing outside the palace gates. Unfortunately Jafar was there to. With the Princess cornered with nowhere to escape, Jafar turned his attention to Aladdin. "Setting your sights a little high, aren't you, boy?" he questioned. "Back to your hole, street rat. I will not allow you to trouble the princess anymore." He sneered. Jafar believed he had the upper hand. Jasmine was captured and the six of them couldn't contend with the heartless and his magic. Seeing no other choice, Aladdin held the lamp behind his back and used his second wish to have Genie rescue Jasmine. The genie then appeared behind Jasmine and swept her away from Jafar's clutches. "One wish left! You're making this really easy you know? Genie said in his usual tone of optimism. But Jafar was clever, he knew Aladdin possessed the lamp and as he predicted, brought it straight to him. "So sorry boy. I'm afraid your second wish has been denied." Right on cue Iago swooped in and pilfered the lamp from Aladdin's grasp and gave it to Jafar. Now that the lamp was his, the genie would do what he commanded it to do. "I'm sorry al!" genie said as he was forced back into the lamp. With her rescuer gone Jasmine fell straight into a red pot. But this was no ordinary pot. It sprouted insect like legs and revealed a yellow eye inside it. Jafar commanded the pot spiders to attack us and left with his prize. Two centipede like heartless burst free from the confines of their pots and the pot spiders lined up between them and acted as a body for the creature. As it tried to escape we could here Jasmine's cries for help. Fortunately for us pottery was very easy to break and a poor choice for body parts. Even with the pot centipede's feelers and antennae brimming with electricity to keep us at bay they weren't so quick without their precious pots. However when the fight was over Jasmine was nowhere to be found. Believing Jafar was no longer in the city, we headed back to the desert where we found Aladdin. As soon as we arrived the ground shook as a stone lion's head rose from the desert sands. According to Aladdin this was the entrance to the cave of wonders. We entered the lion's gaping maw and descended down into the dungeon below. As we progressed through the cave of wonders we encountered not only heartless, but numerous traps as well. There were boulders rolling down ramp ways and fixtures that sprayed water geysers from their mouths. It seems the point of the traps was to force victims to fall into the chasm below. But like all dungeon traps they had a pattern to them. The boulders were slow and released one at a time, while the geysers erupted at timed intervals. Once the heartless were taken care of we carefully navigated each obstacle and advanced to the next room. The next room had more traps and once again more heartless. But this time there was a stair case leading to the caverns depths while the way forward was blocked by a stone pillar in the door way. "How'd you get past this Aladdin?" Kirito asked. "This wasn't here before when I was searching for genie's lamp." Aladdin said. "Either Jafar's changed things, or there's more to the cave of wonders than I thought." Either way it seemed that their only option was to follow the stair case in to the depths. As we descended into the cavern Aladdin told us more about the cave. "There used to be a curse here. If anyone touched treasure other than the lamp, the cave would trap its victims and burn them alive in magma." He said. "Sounds like one heck of a booby trap." Donald said. "Is that why the entrance was buried when we found you?" Asuna asked. "More or less. Abu couldn't keep his hands off this ruby. It was nearly as big as he was." The fez wearing primate screeched offended at his friend's statement. "Well you did." Aladdin scolded. "Anyway as soon as that happened carpet flew us out of there. But he wasn't fast enough and me and Abu got stuck in that sand." Aladdin said. "Didn't you have any friends to help ya out?" Goofy asked "There was somebody else with me. But she go blasted off by one of those water spouts while I was chasing Abu." The monkey cooed sadly knowing it was his fault. "She saved me from falling down here. I don't even know if she's okay or not. I didn't even know her for long, but she chose to help me anyway." When we reached the bottom of the stair case we saw a network of underground rivers connecting to various other caves. From the looks of things it seemed that no matter where you fell from the top you would always fall into these rivers. "Abu, no!" Abu had scampered off towards a stone statue of a monkey holding a large ruby. When Abu touched it the ground shook and various pathways rose from the water, connecting each cave. "Maybe the curse was lifted when you found the lamp Aladdin." Sora said. "Maybe…" Aladdin said. As we explored the underground network of rivers and caves we found a large pillar protruding from the water and rising to the floors above. Part of it was misshapen and looked fragile. "I bet if we hit that with magic then the door would open up." Sora said. "Worth a shot." Donald followed. "Hey fellas, I think ya might wanna look at this." Goofy said. Goofy pointed to a figure curled up in a corner. Her clothes were damp and she was shivering from the cold. "It's you!" Aladdin exclaimed. He ran up to her relieved to see that she was alive. "You're freezing… Kirito hand me your coat. Everyone else make a fire." Everyone did as he instructed. Soon were all sitting around a fire while we waited for her to regain consciousness. After a few minutes the hooded girl in Aladdin's lap woke up. "Aladdin? You came back for me?" she asked. "It's a bit more complicated than that. I'm just glad you're okay." He said. "Whose coat is this? It looks like it's more than you can afford. Did your magic genie wish it up?" She asked. "Hey the genie's real!" Aladdin countered "but the coat belongs to one of my friends here." He said. "Is that so?" the girl then turned to the alleged friends and was surprised by what she saw. Aside from the spiky haired boy and the dog and duck she recognized two of them. "Kirito? Asuna?" she asked. 'We hadn't introduced ourselves yet. How could someone from Aladdin's world know our names? Unless…' Kirito thought. The girl lifted up her hood and lowered the mask covering her face. She had blue eyes and short blonde hair. It was Takemiya Kotone, or Philia as we knew her in SAO. "Philia!" we exclaimed. "It's nice to see you again. I'm glad I'm not the only one who survived that weird storm." Philia said. "How did you meet Aladdin?" Asuna asked. "It's kind of a long story. See I was walking around Agrabah trying to figure out how I got here when this little monkey pilfered the apple I um… Pilfered." Abu grinned bashfully as he recalled that particular instance. "When I chased after him I found Aladdin. He scolded Abu for getting caught and gave back the apple." Philia explained. "That's when I told Philia about the Cave of wonders. Not everyone can keep up with Abu as well as she did. I thought she'd come in handy." Aladdin said. "Oh you thought huh? Where was that thought when I saved your butt?" Philia said. "Hey, I'm sorry okay!" Aladdin apologized. "Hehe. I'm just pulling your chain. I know you would have done the same thing for me." She joked. "So if you don't mind me asking, who are these weirdos?" she asked. "I'm Sora. This is Donald and Goofy." Sora introduced. Philia looked at Kirito and Asuna for an explanation. "We'd like to tell you everything, but we don't have much time." Kirito said. "We've gotta help Aladdin save Jasmine and genie from that mean old Jafar." Asuna said. "About that." Aladdin spoke up. "Philia's too weak to fight right now. I think it would be best if you guys helped her get out of here." He said. "I'm not that weak!" she said. But she nearly fell over as she stood up. Aladdin caught her before she hit the ground. "He's right. We'll use the carpet to fly you back to the city." Kirito said. "Fine…"she acquiesced. With their new plan made the group of six split up. Kirito and Asuna helped Philia back to the cave entrance while Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Aladdin went after Jaffar. While Kirito saw Aladdin's logic he was disappointed that he wouldn't get to fight Jaffar with the others. But Philia's wellbeing came first so he'd suck it up. When the three of them made their way outside Asuna helped Philia on to the carpet. He was about to get back on when Asuna stopped him. "Carpet will fly faster if he's just carrying the two of us. And I know you really want to fight Jafar. Just promise me you'll come back." Asuna said. Of course she wanted Kirito to come with her, but Sora and the others would need all the help they could get against Jafar and the Genie. And the faster she and philia made it back to Agrabah the faster carpet could come back for them. "You're sure about this?" Kirito asked. "Yeah." She then kissed him briefly. "For luck." She said. Asuna then flew off with Philia and carpet while Kirito went back to the cave of wonders. When kirito made his way back to the room with the staircase he saw that the pillar blocking his way to the next room was now lowered until the top was now part of the floor. When he went to the next room he saw it was filled with piles of gold coins, jewels, and other treasures. As he made his way through the room he pocketed a hand full of coins and jewels and grabbed a dagger with a gold hilt and hand guard. A ruby was embedded in the hilt. The blade was a shiny silver color and had an eight pointed star etched into the blade. It even came with a scabbard. He knew how much Philia loved treasure and she would hate it if they came back from their excursion with nothing. Satisfied with his small plunder Kirito went to the next room. When he arrived he saw that the floor of the final room had collapsed. Sora and the others were in another room beneath him. It was filled with magma and there were platforms rising and falling as they chased after Iago while avoiding the attacks of a big red genie. "I must've missed a lot." Kirito said. He looked around the rest of the room and to his surprise he saw Riku carrying princess jasmine like a sack towards a dark portal of some kind. "Hey! What do you think you're doing? RIKU!" The silver haired boy simply ignored Kirito and walked through the portal with jasmine in tow. The portal then disappeared and all that was left was genie's lamp. A plan formed in Kirito's mind and he made his way towards it. He rubbed the lamp and genie was released from the lamp once again. "Kirito! Boy am I glad to see you! Jafar used me to show him the keyhole. Then he made me fight sora and dear, sweet, Aladdin. And then he made me turn him into a genie like me! It's just so CRUEL!" He said while crying literal rivers and blowing into an oversized handkerchief. "So that's Jafar down there." Kirito said "Bingo! Sora and the others are after Jafar's lamp so they can suck him back in, but he's giving them a hard time of it. Seeing my precious Aladdin dodging lasers and fire balls makes me oh so worried. And the fact that it's that no good Jafar makes me so mad. Oooo I just wanna give him a good old one two!" he said making boxing gloves appear on his hands. "Well it's your lucky day Genie." Kirito said "my wish is for you beat up Jafar 'til your hearts content!" he said holding the lamp. "With pleasure!" Genie zoomed towards Jafar, his fist raised to hit Jafar in the face like a Rocket. And with a satisfying Ka-blam, Jafar's attack was interrupted by the blue genie. "What is the meaning of this?!" Jafar demanded. "I got myself a new master Jafar! And his first wish was for me to beat you like a drum!" He then summoned a pair of drumsticks and beat them on Jafar's head. Jafar quickly moved away from him. "Insolence! I am an all-powerful genie!" he shouted "News flash bucko! I've been at this Genie gig ten thousand years longer than you have! And I know exactly where to hit!" genie then grabbed Jafar by his tail and spun him around like a top and when he built up enough momentum, he tossed him like a log and sent him crashing into the stone wall. "Jafar!" Iago screamed dropping the lamp. "Uh-oh!" before Iago could retrieve it, Sora grabbed the black lamp and pointed it at the red genie. "Okay Jafar! Back to your lamp!" the lamp unleashed a swirling red vortex and it sucked in both Jafar and Iago. After that intense fight the cave was ready to collapse. There was no way the carpet could get to them in time. Kirito used his second wish. "Alright genie, take us back to Aladdin's house!" Kirito said. "You sir, on a roll today!" with a snap of his fingers the Genie teleported us to Aladdin's small apartment. Unfortunately they had failed to save Jasmine. As they sat in Aladdin's apartment wondering what to do. Aladdin wanted to come with us, but we couldn't take him with us. We weren't allowed to just take people to other worlds. And even though philia wasn't from Agrabah, we couldn't take her since it wouldn't be fair to Aladdin. "Uh, earth to al. Hello? You still have one wish left. Look, just say the word. Ask me to find Jasmine for you." Genie told him. He wanted his freedom more than anything, but he was willing to give up another 10,000 years to that lamp if it meant Aladdin could be happy. "I…I wish…for your freedom genie." Aladdin said. "Al!" genie said shocked. As if on cue, a pink light show appeared beneath genie and a vortex swirled around him. He screamed and when the vortex disappeared he had two legs clothed in baggy blue pants and brown shoes. The golden cuffs on his wrists unlocked and clattered against the floor. "A deal's a deal genie. Now you can go anywhere you want. You're your own master. But if you can, it'd be great if you could go along with them and help Sora find Jasmine." Genie crossed his arms and turned his back to Aladdin. "Sorry, Al. I'm done taking orders from others. But… A favor, now that's entirely different. I guess I could give that a try." He said with a smart Alec grin. "After all, we're pals right Al? Just leave it to me." He said with his usual enthusiasm. "Thanks Genie." Before they left Kirito gave Philia the treasures he collected from the cave of wonders. All save two, which he kept for himself. The blonde treasure hunter squealed in excitement and thanked Kirito with a big hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! I swear I'll repay you somehow!" "It's a gift Philia. You don't have to do anything." Kirito said. But she wouldn't hear any of it. "Nonsense! You don't give someone a bunch of gold, jewels, and a fancy dagger. And not expect anything in return do you?! I owe you big time and that's that!" Philia said. Seeing no way to argue with her Kirito just agreed to it. With their mission in Agrabah concluded, the group of five promised to find Jasmine and returned to their ship.

Chapter 12 one thousand and one nights. In a land in a faraway place there were two ominous figures walking the streets in the desert city of Agrabah. The horned witch Maleficent, was accompanied by the sultan's royal vizier Jafar. Jafar was a tall thin fellow that wore black and red robes made of silk. His turban was black and bore a red feather attached to a red jewel at the base. He carried a magic scepter shaped like a cobra made of solid gold. Maleficent had come for a report on the location of Agrabah's keyhole. According to Jaffar, the heartless were still searching for it. Then a red parrot came flying to Jaffar's side. This was Iago, Jaffar's most trusted henchmen. Together the two of them plotted to overthrow the royal family for quite some time. Of course that was before Maleficent came to his doorstep and proposed the alliance they and other villains of the various worlds now shared. Iago had been sent on a scouting mission to locate the sultan's daughter, princess Jasmine. However despite Iago's bird's eye view, he had failed to locate her. "The girl is more trouble than she's worth." Jafar sneered. "You said you had things under control." Maleficent scolded. "Agrabah is full of holes for rats to hide in." He spoke. "But why worry about princess Jasmine? With her or without her, surely this world will be ours when we find the keyhole." Jafar questioned. Maleficent had yet to let him see the bigger picture. "We need all seven princesses of heart to open the final door. Any fewer is useless." She spoke. "Well, if the princess is that important, we'll find her." He then summoned a group of humanoid heartless wearing desert garb and turbans to cover their faces. Jafar ordered them to locate princess Jasmine and bring her back to him. The heartless followed Iago on the hunt as they wielded their scimitars like bandits. "Don't steep yourself in darkness too long. The heartless consume the careless." Maleficent warned. Jafar laughed at her warning. "Your concern is touching, but hardly necessary." He said as he left to join the search. Little did they know, the woman they were searching for had been spying on them the entire time. Upon their arrival to Agrbah, our heroes were set upon by the heartless once more. The bandits came with scimitars swinging in an effort to defeat them. The heartless of this world seemed to be stronger than the ones they had encountered before. But they persevered and managed to fight them off. After their victory they took shelter in a nearby storage room to escape the sweltering heat. "Is it just me, or are they getting harder to fight?" Donald asked. "Sure seems like it." Goofy said. "That must mean we're getting closer to whoever's controlling them." Sora said. "It makes sense. The boss would probably want the best minions with him." Kirito said. "Maybe if we find someone, we can ask them what's going on." Asuna said. After they explored the Bazaar they searched the Alley ways of Agrabah. As soon as they entered the alley way, a woman dressed in blue. She was hiding behind a couple of crates so clearly she didn't want to be found. But she asked for attention so she must've thought it would be safe to talk to us. She told us about how the royal vizier commanded the heartless to dispose of the sultan and how she escaped with the help of her friend Aladdin. "Aladdin? Where might I find this street rat" a voice spoke seemingly from nowhere. We looked upwards to find Jaffar standing above us. "Jasmine, allow me to find you more suitable company, my dear princess. These little rats won't do, you see." Jafar said mockingly. Sensing a fight was coming we each drew our weapons and Asuna told Jasmine to escape. Jaffar looked at Sora as he had yet to meet the key bearer in person. "Ah, the boy who holds the key." He said. Not wanting to dirty his hands, Jaffar summoned more heartless to attack us while he left to find Jasmine. They appeared one after another in an attempt to keep us busy. It was clear that jaffar had left them as a distraction for us. After we defeated the heartless, we left the city to search for Aladdin. We knew the princess would be able to hide from Jaffar, but Aladdin was in danger since Jaffar knew he had helped her. As we walked through the harsh winds of the desert wondering which way to go, a magic carpet came flying towards us. It acted like it was alive and from the gestures it made, it wanted us to get on. With no other options we decided to trust it. We flew out into the desert until night had fallen. The carpet had taken us to circle of rocks in the middle of nowhere. In the middle of it there was a man and a little monkey struggling to escape a pit of quicksand. Even if they managed to escape though, the heartless surrounded them. 'The heartless had no reason to be out so far away from the city. The man in the pit has to be Aladdin.' Kirito thought. So Sora and the others rushed in to save him. Sora, Donald, and Goofy fought off the heartless while Kirito and Asuna reached out for Aladdin. Kirito held Asuna as she reached for Aladdin. The struggling man reached out and managed to grab her hand before he was completely submerged. The two of them managed to pull Aladdin and his pet monkey from the pit. However the heartless were still present and saving Aladdin had exhausted them. Seeing no other choice Aladdin pulled out his trump card. "Genie! Get rid of these guys!" he said as he rubbed the old oil lamp. Soon a trail of blue smoke was released from the lamp as the genie appeared. He had blue skin, pointy ears and was bald with the exception of a pony tail in the back and a beard on his chin. He wore gold bracelets and a red sash on his waist. His top half looked human, but from the waist down he had only a wispy pointed tail. "Wish number one coming right up!" he said enthusiastically. With a snap of his fingers the heartless all disappeared in displays of pink fireworks. With the threat abated, we all flew away on his magic carpet and explained what was happening in Agrabah while Aladdin was away. "I see… thanks you guys." He said. "So what were you doing out here?" Sora asked? "Same old stuff. Hunting down legendary treasure. Just paid a visit to the cave of wonders." Aladdin reminded Kirito of his friend Philia from back home. In their little group, Philia was the treasure hunter and she always had dibs on cracking a lock on a door or treasure chest when we found one. She also knew how to spot dangerous traps and told us how to avoid them. You could say she's an expert on the subject. 'I wonder if she wound up in another world like Agil and his wife did? Maybe she's here? This place would be perfect for her after all. A treasure hunter's paradise.' Kirito thought. "While I was there, I found this magic carpet. And this magic lamp." Aladdin said. "Legend has it, that whoever holds this lamp, can summon the- -" "Please, kid, leave the introduction to the professional. The one and only GENIE OF THE LAMP!" The genie loudly interrupted. He then grabbed the lamp and rubbed it. "Rub-a-dub-dub the lamp and have your dearest wishes granted. Today's winner is… Aladdin! Congratulations." he said as he rained confetti on him and shook his hand. "Any wish?" Donald asked. The genie wagged his finger at him. "Patience my fine feathered friend!" he then split into three duplicates of himself with each of them holding up three fingers. "Any three wishes! A one wish, a two wish, a three wish. Then I make like a banana and split!" as he counted down each of the duplicates including himself disappeared. "Our lucky winner made his first wish- -" he then poofed next to sora and held up his hand as if they were speaking privately. "And let me tell you, what a doozy that wish was- -" he then floated back to back with another duplicate. "So he has two left." "So, master, what'll you have for Wish Number Two?" he said while using his tail as a microphone and putting the spotlight on Aladdin. "Hmm, how about making me a fabulously wealthy prince?" Aladdin asked. "Ooh! Money! Royalty! Fame! Why didn't I think of that?" the genie said as if he'd granted that particular wish before. "Okay, you asked for it! A hundred servants and a hundred camels loaded with gold!" he then pressed his fingers like he was dialing a phone. "Just say the word and I'll deliver it in 30 minutes or less or your meal's free." The enthusiastic genie then threw his arm around Aladdin's shoulder. "Hey I'll even throw in a cappuccino!" "No thanks. I think I'll put that wish on hold until we reach Agrabah." He said. "Uh, why a prince?" asked goofy. "You see, there's this girl in Agrabah named Jasmine. But she's a princess. And I'm… Aw, she could never fall for a guy like me." "Oh! We gotta get back to Agrabah! She's in trouble Aladdin." His eyes widened at the news. "What? Well, c'mon, let's get going!" Aladdin said. In a sense Kirito was in the same boat Aladdin was. Asuna came from a wealthy family and her mother wanted her to marry a wealthy man. She only tolerated Kirito because Asuna loved him and the last choice Asuna's parents made for her potential suitors was into some shady business and got arrested. Sugou was a lot like Jaffar now that Kirito thought of it. They had the same mannerisms and spoke the same way. Hopefully they could save Jasmine in time and help Aladdin see that he didn't need things like money and status to get Jasmine to like him.

Chapter 11 truth and Lies. Leon and the others were waiting for us at the small house. It was a modest place to say the least. Although it wasn't taken care of if the wall paper peeling of the walls was any indication. Leon and Cid explained that someone named Maleficent was in town. Apparently she was a witch that could call upon the heartless. She was the reason traverse town was filled with heartless and why Leon, Cid, Yuffie, and Aerith left their world nine years ago. Leon believed that she acquired the ability to control the heartless by studying Ansem's report. According to Aerith, Ansem was the leader of their world and he was dedicated to studying the heartless. Unknown to them, Maleficent was standing outside with riku at that very moment spying on them. "You see? It's just as I told you. While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he quite simply replaced you with some new companions." Riku simply watched sora believing annoyed by the fact that he was just being lazy and hanging out with his new friends. Rather than looking for Kairi like he was, Sora was just goofing off like he always does. Riku thought. "Evidently, now he values them far more than he does you. You're better off without that wretched boy. Now, think no more of him, and come with me. I'll help you find what you're searching for…" Fine. If Sora couldn't get off his butt to look for Kairi, then he'd just have to find Kairi himself. Riku left with Maleficent returning to her lair in Hollow bastion. Soon after the bell there was a small quake as the bell in the second district rang. "What was that?" Sora asked. "What was the bell tower in the second district." Aerith answered. "Rumors say if you ring the bell three times then something happens." Yuffie said. "You should check it out before you leave." Followed Leon. With nothing else to do we went to the second district. To reach the top of the tower we went through a brightly colored room filled with gizmos and other mechanical contraptions. After that it was a simple matter of climbing the ladder to the roof. When we rang the bell the first time the fresco in the fountain plaza rotated revealing another fresco. As it turned the fountain displayed light show and sprayed mist as it rotated. The same thing happened when we pulled it a second time. But on the third chime the fresco turned and revealed Traverse town's Keyhole right in the middle of the fountain. As we made our way to the fountain plaza a magical barrier was raised to protect the keyhole and in the same manner as before the guard armor heartless fell from the sky as if seeking revenge. This heartless was no stranger to us and we knew how to fight it this time. We fought it in the same pattern as before when the Armor heartless showed us a new trick. The torso turned until it was upside down and now its hands were acting as its feet and vice versa. As it floated in the air its mask opened to reveal a shadowed face with glowing yellow eyes. Its new method of movement made it faster than before and its attacks became unpredictable. However the Odd armor shared the same trait as its counterpart and split itself to attack us individually. This proved to be its undoing as each of its limbs were quickly destroyed once again. Instead of its tornado attack, the head and torso floated in the air and fired blasts of energy at us like a cannon. Kirito thought it was time to use the new spell he had learned. "Appear, King of pride rock, Simba!" in a flash of light the Lion from his vision appeared on the physical plain. Simba and Kirito began charging their magic energy and as it reached its peak Simba released a mighty roar that rebounded the armor's magical blast back at itself. The armor exploded from the force of its own attack combined with Simba's, releasing a captive heart upon its defeat. Sora and the others stared in awe at the power of Kirito's summon. "Just when and how did you learn that?" Asuna asked kirito. He pulled out the summon gem Leon had given them. "He came from this." Kirito said. "while you guys were training with Merlin, this woman calling herself the fairy godmother told me this was a summon gem and taught me how to use it." they all stared at the gem in wonder. "Wow. Do you think we could learn how to summon him to?" Sora asked. "I don't see why not." Kirito replied. Asuna just laughed "And you said you weren't interested in learning magic." "It's not that." Kirito defended. "I just think I'm a better swordsman than a magician." Said Kirito. "I take it that means you'll be hitting the books with me and Sora then?" Asuna joked. "There's books?! Aw, you've gotta be kidding me!" kirito complained. We all had a good laugh after that. Soon Sora sealed the keyhole of traverse town and we returned to the first district to see if Cid had finished upgrading our ship. When we arrived we saw Cid was waiting for us with Kirito's laptop. Kirito trusted Cid, but he didn't like it when people messed with his things." "Um, Cid why do you have that?" Kirito asked hoping that he hadn't tampered with it. "The chipmunks told me about your little scuffle out in interspace." Cid said gruffly. "So I installed a few programs on your two little AI's here." He said. "YOU DID WHAT?!" Kirito and Asuna shouted. Kirito grabbed the laptop from Cid and immediately opened it up to check on Yui and Strea. When he saw them yui was wearing a pink suit with black boots and white gloves and she wore an old fashioned flight cap with goggles. Strea was wearing a similar outfit, but the color was purple and the zipper on her jacket was unzipped a little bit to show off her cleavage. "What did you do?" Kirito asked. "I just installed some flight routines for your ship. And a calculation system for the warp gummi I installed for free by the way." Cid scolded. "It's alright Kirito." Strea assured him. "Cid didn't change our programming at all. He just added to it." "Yeah. It was like going to flight school. It was super fun." Yui said. "And the outfits?" Asuna asked. "We made them." Strea said pointing at herself. "It's pretty easy for Yui and I to alter our clothes and even our avatars." "It's just like customizing your avatar in the character creation engine in SAO or Alfheim online." Yui said. Kirito was relieved that Cid hadn't caused any permanent damage to them. "So you two are going to be flying the ship from now on?" Sora said. "Just when the auto pilot is enabled." Strea said. They then showed us a digital presentation of them flying in and old fighter plane with two sets of wings stacked on top of eachother. The plane had two seats and strea was sitting in the back manning the guns while yui was in the pilot's seat. "It's pretty simple. Strea handles the weapons system while I do the flying." Yui said as the presentation showed them doing loop di loops and shooting down other planes. "But what if the ship gets damaged? Will they get hurt?" Asuna asked concerned. "Ain't no need to worry about that little lady." Cid said "the laptop has to be manually connected to the ship for them to fly it. And even if they are their programs'll stay on that there computer. So there's no risk to them at all." Asuna was relieved that their safety was guaranteed, but she shuttered at the thought of Strea being in charge of the weapons system as she imagined hundreds of people fleeing in terror of the bubbly girl shooting lasers at them. She then shook her head to rid herself of the idea. Strea wasn't like that after all. "Okay that checks out." Kirito said as he examined their individual data matrices. But could you please not mess with my daughter's programming again." Kirito asked. "Whatever floats your boat." Cid said. With their business in traverse town concluded, the five of them returned to the gummi ship ready to explore the worlds beyond the first quadrant.

Chapter 10 whispers in the dark. In a world far away from our heroes a group led by a certain horned witch was using magic to spy on them. "What drew the heartless to that world?" asked Jafar. The world Sora and his friends were just at remained untainted by the heartless until they arrived. He wanted to know if it was the boy chosen by the key or if it was another outside force. "The hunter called them there. It was his lust for power that was the bait. But it seems the bait was too tasty for his own good." Maleficent answered. Another entity cackled at her answer. "Yeah, he got chomped instead!" the strange figure was known as Oogie Boogie. A resident of Halloween town and local pest. He was a literal bag of bugs. "A weak-hearted fool like him stood no chance against the heartless. But the boy is a problem. He found two of the keyholes." Jafar said as he approached the opposite side of the table where Maleficent stood. "Fear not. It will take him ages to find the rest. Besides, he remains blissfully unaware of our other plan." Maleficent spoke as she conjured an image of the group of five. "Yes, the princesses…" Jafar answered. "They are falling into our hands, one by one." Maleficent said. "Speaking of which." She looked to see their latest captive had wondered into the chapel. It was Alice the young girl was terribly frightened by the band of villains and she soon passed out in fright. Meanwhile Sora and company were on their merry way back to traverse town. Now that they had found the other half of the nav gummi they were ready to have Cid install it. We also wanted to ask Leon if he knew anything about the keyholes we had found in the worlds we had visited. We soon returned to the first district and immediately went to find Cid. As usual he was near the entrance to the second district behind the accessory shop. We showed him the completed gummi and he offered to install it in exchange for a favor. He gave us a tattered old book titled "Winnie the Pooh" and asked us to return it to an old man in the third district. He told us to look for a wooden door with red fire insignia. He said it would take a while to install the gummi anyway so we agreed to help him out. Lucky for us the first district was also connected to the third district so we didn't have to go very far. The door Cid mentioned had no knob or handle and appeared to be locked. Seeing the fire insignia on the door Sora thought using a fire spell would unlock it. He launched a fire ball at the door and surely enough the door slid upwards allowing us passage. As we entered the mysterious door we saw an old stone house with a straw roof sitting on a small island in the middle of a lake. The only way across was by hopping across the floating stones between the shore and the lake. When we reached the island and entered the house we saw it was completely empty. 'Was Cid trying to play a prank on us?' Kirito thought. Meanwhile, sora seemed to be in a kind of trance. "There's something about this musty place." Sora turned around surprised to hear the familiar voice. Standing there in this seemingly abandoned house was his friend Kairi. She had short red hair, blue eyes, and she wore a white tank top and a short pink skirt. "It reminds me of the secret place back home. Where we used to scribble on the walls. Remember?" Sora couldn't believe the person he was searching for was standing right in front of him. "Kairi?" Sora asked reaching out to her. "Sora?" he was broken out of his trance when he heard Goofy call his name. "Are you alright Sora?" Asuna asked concerned. "Uh, yeah. It was just a daydream." He tried to play it off with a laugh. "Well, well. You've arrived sooner than I expected." An old man had entered the house. He wore a blue robe with a long pointed hat and was carrying a wand and a brief case. His long white beard flowed down to his slipper covered feet. "You were expecting us?" Kirito asked. "Of course." He replied. "My name is Merlin. I am a sorcerer and I spend much of my time traveling. It's good to be home. Oh! I just recalled your king asked for my help." "King mickey?" Donald asked. "That's right. Donald, Goofy, and who might you three be?" Merlin questioned. Sora did the introductions "I'm Sora. This is Kirito and Asuna." "Ah, so you're the one with the key." Merlin remarked. Merlin opened his brief case and with a wave of his wand item after item filled the room until it looked like a proper home with a bed, study, and piles of books. He then told us that the king asked merlin to instruct Sora in magic. Asuna asked if merlin could teach her as well. "Of course. The more the merrier as I always say. We can start anytime you like." "One more thing. Cid asked us to deliver this book to you." Kirito gave the book to merlin "he said he repaired as best he could, but I think there are some pages missing." Kirito told him "I see. Merlin placed the book on a desk so it wouldn't be lost in his other ones. "This book leads to a special world. I'm afraid in my clumsiness, I cast a spell that scattered its pages across the many worlds. I hate to trouble you, but could you please look for the pages in your travels? It would mean a great deal to me." He asked. We promised we'd keep an eye out for them. When we told him we were going to see Leon he said that they he was in the waterway beneath his house right now. Merlin said he could transport us there right now. He waved his wand once again and the floor we were standing on began to lower to the caverns below like an elevator. Surely enough Leon was there practicing his swordsmanship while Aerith watched. He noticed us approaching and stopped to talk. We told him about the worlds we went to and the keyholes that the keyblade locked up. "That's good. Every world in the stars has a Keyhole. And each one leads to the heart of that world. There's one in this town as well." Leon said. "According to Ansem's report, the heartless enter unlocked keyholes and do something to the world's core. Eventually it disappears." Aerith said. "So that's what happened." Kirito said upon hearing their explanation. "That's why the keyblade is so important." Asuna realized. "It's the only thing that can keep the worlds safe. And Sora is the only person that has one." Leon finished. Sora looked at the keyblade as if he was looking at it for the first time. Only now realizing the responsibility he carried. Before we left leon told us to meet him at a small house in the third district and gave us a stone of some kind. He said he carried it around for luck and thought maybe we could use it. We then returned to Merlin's house so Sora and Asuna could start magic training. Kirito opted to sit out since he felt he would be fine with just his two swords. As Kirito put it a jack of all trades is a master of none. He knew magic might help him later, but he opted for sword training instead. After practicing the sonic blade technique they had acquired from cloud Kirito returned to the house and sat on the bed casually tossing the stone Leon had given them as he waited for Sora and Asuna to finish their lessons. "Oh, my dear boy, you musn't be so rough with him." A voice spoke out of nowhere. Kirito looked around to see who it was when he saw dozens of sparkling blue lights come together and formed what appeared to be an old woman. She was dressed in blue as merlin was, but in place of a hat she wore a hood and her wand was a small white baton whereas Merlin's was large and made of wood. "What do you mean him? Do you know what this is?" Kirito asked. "That, my dear, is a summon gem. Summon gems are made when someone with a strong heart has lost their world to darkness. Even if they've lost their body, their will lives on in that stone. I can teach you how to summon them forth and they will be your allies in battle." the old woman said. "You can do that?" Kirito asked. "Indeed. I am the fairy godmother. And I exist to make dreams come true. Bippity Boppity BOO." With a wave of her wand and her magic words the summon gem glowed and filled Kirito's head with arcane sorcery and the image of a lion standing atop a rock formation. The clouds parted and light from the sun shined down as he roared. "Simba." The name floated in Kirito's head as the image faded away. "Woah…" Kirito said after feeling the power from the new spell in his arsenal. 'Maybe magic was a skill worth learning after all.' Kirito thought. When Asuna and Sora returned from their training upstairs we left for the third district. Upon arriving we saw a soldier heartless that was quickly dispatched by a boy with short silver hair. He wore a yellow vest and blue cargo pants held by straps on his belt. Similar straps were also on his vest and formed an x across his chest. The sword he carried looked more like a large bat's wing and it had a blue eye where the hilt connected to the blade. "There you are Sora. What's going on?" "Riku!" sora exclaimed. He then walked up to Riku and proceeded to mess with the boy's face to make sure he was real. "Hey cut it out!" Riku said. "I'm not dreaming this time, right?" Sora asked. "I hope not. It took forever to find you." Riku stated. "We see him too if that helps." Asuna joked. Honestly they were glad Sora had found one of his friends. But he was such a goofball that it's hard not to mess with him. "Wait a second, where's Kairi?" Sora asked. "Isn't she with you?" Riku responded. From Sora's despondent look he could tell that wasn't the case. Riku tried to cheer up his friend. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure she made it off the island, too. We're finally free. Hey she might even be looking for us now." Unknown to Riku there was a shadow heartless rising from the ground behind him. "We'll all be together again soon. Don't worry, just leave everything to me. I know this- -" Sora drew his keyblade and defeated the heartless in a single strike. "Leave it to who?" Sora boasted as he held the keyblade. Riku was surprised to see how strong Sora had gotten since they left the islands. Kirito was more impressed by how much stronger sora became in the short time they journeyed together. "I've been looking for you and Kairi, too with their help." Sora said. "Who are they?" Riku asked. "Ahem. My name is- -" Donald was about to say before he was interrupted by Sora. "We've visited so many places and worlds looking for you." Sora stated. Riku looked skeptical. "Really? Well what do you know? I never would've guessed." "And guess what? Sora's the keyblade master!" goofy proclaimed. "Who would've thought it?" Donald said sarcastically. "What's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked. As the two were about to get in another argument Kirito and Asuna intervened by hitting them on the head and telling them to knock it off. Sora dropped the keyblade covering his sore spot and Riku picked it up to examine it. "So this is called a keyblade?" Riku asked. "Hey give it back!" sora demanded. He tried chasing after him, but Riku was too quick. After he was done looking at it Riku tossed the keyblade back to sora. "Okay. So you're coming with us right? We've got this awesome rocket. Wait 'til you see it!" Sora said. "No, he can't come!" Donald said. "What? Why not?!" Sora asked. "There's no room!" Donald stated. He wasn't wrong. The gummi ship only had enough room for five people. Even if Asuna and I shared a room to make space for Riku, his weight would slow us down. While Sora and Donald were arguing Riku disappeared. While sora was mad at Donald for forbidding Riku from coming with him he was glad Riku was okay.