He had to speak to the king of this world without a moment to lose. If Shang insisted on getting in his way, Riku had no choice but to knock him out for a bit.
He became aware of the emperor’s quiet gaze and let out a breath in relief that the man seemed not at all agitated by the commotion.
But that was only suitable for an emperor.
Riku approached the throne.
“Huh? Everything’s fine…” Sora scanned the city streets, which were perfectly peaceful.
He still wanted to find that man in the black cloak, but protecting the city was their first order of business.
“This way—to the palace!” Mulan called. “We have to warn the emperor and Shang!”
“Who’s Shang?” asked Donald.
“The son of General Li. He’s protecting the emperor now, and he’s very brave…”
Mulan’s cheeks flushed pink as she described him. Donald and Goofy exchanged a look.
“Anyway—we have to hurry!” She took off running.
They followed her through the city, but just as they were about to reach the palace gates, yet another swarm of Heartless blocked their path.
“Not again!” Donald groaned, his shoulders slumping.
“Let’s make it quick!” Sora hurtled straight into the swarm. It took only a few seconds to end the battle.
They ran across the wide stone-paved square and headed into the palace. Inside, it was unexpectedly quiet.
“Gawrsh, maybe there’s nothin’ goin’ on here after all?” Goofy scratched his head and took the lead. The others fell into line behind him.
“There he is!” Donald pointed with his wand. There, at the door to the throne room, stood someone in a black cloak.
“Stop!” Mulan shouted, and the man turned deliberately toward them.
She braced for a fight, along with Donald and Goofy, while Sora instead stepped forward.
But the man before him now, dressed in the organization’s black cloak—this couldn’t be Riku. His build and his height weren’t the same.
And yet…he’d felt it, fighting on the snowy mountainside. The impression of Riku.
Sora let out a tiny sigh and spoke up. “…Riku?”
The man pushed back his hood. “Nope. Never heard of him,” he said scornfully, gesturing with one hand.
A cluster of Nobodies appeared—Dusks.
As Sora held the Keyblade ready, the man simply left them to fend off the Nobodies and disappeared into a dark rift.
“C’mon,” said Sora, his voice low.
“What made you think that was Riku…?” asked Donald.
He couldn’t get himself to answer, facing the Nobodies instead.
But that was Riku. I know it was.
Sora knew the man they’d just seen wasn’t Riku. But the one on the mountain was.
“Aw, Sora…,” Donald fretted when he didn’t reply, then shot off a spell. “Blizzard!”
They had Mulan and Mushu fighting with them, too, and soon the Nobodies were gone.
But Sora stared into space with the Keyblade in his hand.
If that was Riku, why is he going around dressed like the organization? Is he on their side now?
Why wouldn’t he say anything to me?
“Guess it wasn’t Riku,” said Goofy, peering at Sora with a hint of concern.
The boy only hung his head.
“Sora, hurry!” Mulan flung open the doors to the throne room. “The emperor and Shang are in danger!”
Inside, a handsome young soldier stood ready to defend a dignified old man with a white beard.
The former could only be Shang, and the latter was undoubtedly the emperor of this land.
“We saw a huge monster fly out of the mountains toward the city!” Mulan reported.
“Ah. So it is as the young stranger said,” the emperor remarked to Shang.
“What stranger?” asked Donald.
“Not long ago, we had an unfamiliar visitor steal into the palace,” said the emperor. “Shang battled with him but was quickly defeated.”
Shang’s gaze was fixed nervously on Mulan. He looked away. “To my dishonor…”
“It seems this young stranger was the man in black I’ve heard whispers about,” the emperor went on.
At that, Sora perked up. “Did he mention the name Riku?”
“He didn’t offer his name. Rather rude, in fact.”
“Rude? Then it was Riku!” Sora couldn’t help a little hop of joy.
Behind him, Donald and Goofy exchanged a worried glance. It was Donald who gave voice to Sora’s doubts. “Riku’s in Organization XIII now?” he whispered to Goofy.
“Gawrsh…” Goofy cocked his head.
Come to think of it, he hadn’t told Donald or Sora or even the king, but the one who’d helped him before had been in the organization, too, black cloak and all.
So maybe that meant that Organization XIII wasn’t made up of only bad people…
Goofy shook off the thought. Organization XIII wasn’t made up of people at all. They were Nobodies.
“Goofy?” Donald eyed him dubiously.
Shaking his head to himself again, Goofy thought harder. If Riku was in the organization…
“What did that man come for?” Mulan asked the emperor, while the others were lost in thought.
But before he could answer, the palace shook with a terrible roar. Shang dashed to the emperor’s side.
“I’ll check outside!” Mulan whirled toward the door.
Shang didn’t like that idea. “Mulan!”
“You protect the emperor, Shang! I’ll be fine—with them!”
“Y-yeah!” Sora nodded jerkily. “That’s right!”
“Oh yes, I’m aware. We need not worry while you defend us.”
Sora blinked in surprise at the emperor’s words. What could Riku have told him…? But there was no time to ask.
“Hurry!” Donald started moving first.
“Okay, let’s go!”
They ran back up the corridor out of the throne room and opened the doors. Outside, the Heartless they’d seen on the mountain were about to wreak havoc.
The four nodded to one another and ran out into the wide square. The Storm Rider floated above, staring down at them.
“How can we defeat it?” Mulan asked, just as a fierce gust of wind swept down from the mountains.
It flung Sora into the air. “Wh-whoa!”
He wasn’t actually flying, but the wind made it possible to jump much higher than normal.
“All right. Donald, use your magic! Mulan and Goofy, stop this thing from moving!”
“Got it!” Mulan grabbed on to the Storm Rider’s tail as it wriggled just close enough to the ground, and Goofy in turn grabbed ahold of her, anchoring her against its writhing body.
“Here goes! Blizzard!” Donald let loose a spell, and the Storm Rider spun around toward him. The metal plates on its body began clashing and clanging.
“Sora! Quick!” Goofy called, hanging on to the creature’s tail along with Mulan—but it flung him off, and he crashed into the paving stones.
“Goofy!” Donald ran to him, while overhead Sora clung to the Storm Rider’s horns.
The boy managed to slide onto its flat forehead and gain footing, then stabbed it with the Keyblade. It thrashed its tail in pain, throwing off Mulan, and fell with a roar. Finally, it stopped moving.
“Mulan!” Sora leaped down from the Storm Rider’s head and tried to get to Mulan and Goofy. The creature flailed limply and crashed into the roof of the palace. Heavy tiles scattered every which way.
“Look out!” Sora cried—but a shadow like black lightning streaked toward them to cover Mulan.
It was Shang, letting the dangerously large tiles shatter against his armor. Then the pair got to their feet, still holding each other.
“We did it!” Sora jumped triumphantly. As he watched, the Storm Rider dissipated into light, and the freed heart rose into the sky.
Mulan an
d Shang stood unmoving, gazing into one another’s eyes—until eventually they realized that everyone else was watching and edged back from each other, flustered.
The trio laughed. As if their glad laughter was the cue, fireworks lit the sky in celebration.
“You have served our nation bravely. It would please me to grant you a boon,” the emperor told them, solemn and stately. “What do you wish for?”
Sora took a step forward. “The guy in black who came to see you… Will you tell me what he said?”
The emperor leaned toward him slightly. “That is all you request?”
“Yes.”
Seeing Sora’s earnestness, he nodded. “In this land, there are currents of power known as the dragon paths. They give life to both man and nature and are the source of our good fortune. But it would seem someone of evil intent disturbed one of our dragons and transformed it into what you call a Heartless. I believe that young man came to warn me of the danger, which would have allowed me to alert and prepare my troops.”
Sora wondered at that turn of phrase. “…Would have?”
The emperor chuckled. “I was about to—but then he told me the situation had changed.”
“He said a certain wacky trio had arrived, and they would take care of things,” Shang explained.
Sora looked at Donald and Goofy. He couldn’t imagine those words coming from anyone else but his old friend… “That’s gotta be Riku!” he exclaimed.
Beside him, Donald hung his head.
If he was wearing that black cloak, did that mean Riku had joined Organization XIII?
“What’s he doin’ hanging out with the organization?” Goofy mumbled.
Sora wasn’t discouraged. “No idea. But at least I finally know he’s okay. That’s good enough.”
Good enough, he thought again.
Even if Riku was in the organization now, Sora was glad just to know that he was all right. Really, really glad.
“Now then, Fa Mulan.” The emperor turned to her. “Do you have a request?”
Mulan stared at the floor, seemingly tongue-tied for some reason. “Could Shang—I mean, the captain…”
“Go on, child.”
“Could you please grant Captain Shang a vacation?” she said a little too loudly.
“I hardly expected such humble requests…” The emperor rose from his throne, slightly nonplussed, and stepped toward Mulan. “But in this case, I’m afraid I must refuse. Captain Li’s responsibility is to protect the emperor.”
Mulan looked down again, her disappointment obvious.
“However, Fa Mulan…”
“Yes, sire!” She raised her eyes.
“Would you be willing to serve alongside him in my guard?”
“What?!” Mulan and Shang both exclaimed.
The emperor turned. “Two reeds are stronger than one. But the choice is yours.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Sounding delighted, she made an obeisance with one palm against her fist. Then she went to Shang.
As Sora looked at them together, he noticed his vision growing blurry.
“Sora…?” Goofy set a hand on his shoulder.
Donald peered into his face. “Crying for joy?”
“I’m not crying!” Sora turned away and scrubbed at his eyes. He was not.
There was no reason to cry when he was glad. Riku was alive.
I want to see him. I have so much to tell him.
Riku…!
Sitting down on the threadbare sofa, Riku bit into a sea-salt ice cream bar.
He and Naminé and Axel were idly passing the time in the parlor on the mansion’s first floor, each with an ice cream bar in hand.
“You’re in a pretty good mood,” Axel remarked.
Riku glanced up.
“Seeing Sora just made you that happy, huh?”
“I don’t feel like telling you.” A little smile crossed Riku’s lips as he took another bite.
“Y’know, it’s creepy when you smile with that guy’s face,” Axel said dryly, following suit and nibbling on his own ice cream.
Silence fell over the room. He paused in his munching to stare hard at Riku, then finally asked, “What is Sora to you?”
The question caught Riku off guard. He groped for words.
On the sofa opposite him, Naminé spoke up instead. “Sora and Riku are best friends.”
Axel’s eyes crinkled as he remembered his own best friend—the only friend he’d ever had, in fact.
“If your best friend goes away, you’re sad, and if you get to be with them, you’re happy,” Naminé added. “Isn’t that how it is, Axel?”
“…That’s about the size of it.” Axel nodded and sat down on the remaining empty sofa, staring at the sea-salt ice cream he held.
“So you are capable of sincerity,” said Riku.
Axel only shrugged at the jab and finished his ice cream pop.
CHAPTER 4
BEAST’S CASTLE
THE GUMMI SHIP SPED THROUGH THE OTHER SKY to the next world. In contrast to Sora’s high spirits, Donald and Goofy looked despondent.
“What’s Sora gonna do if Riku’s really with the organization?” Donald whispered to Goofy, making sure their friend wouldn’t overhear.
“Hmm…” Goofy folded his arms, frowning as he thought.
Sora poked his head in between them. “Hey, what’re you guys whispering about?”
“Uh, gee…”
“Er…”
Donald and Goofy looked at each other.
“Is it about Riku?” Sora asked.
They nodded sheepishly and avoided his eyes.
“So what if Riku is in Organization XIII? It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not!” Donald objected with a scowl. “Those are the same guys who kidnapped Kairi!”
“But he tried to help Mulan’s world,” said Sora. “He told the emperor that the organization was there. So he can’t be working against us, right?”
“Well… Okay, but…” Donald looked down in a confused slump.
“Axel’s one of them, too,” Goofy said brightly. “But he helped me out.”
“When?!”
Sora and Donald both leaned in close to grill him.
“You never told us that!” Donald fumed.
“When you fellas went on ahead without me at Hollow Bastion, he sorta gave me a hand,” Goofy explained. He didn’t sound upset about it.
Sora cocked his head. “What’s that mean?”
“Beats me.” Donald shrugged.
“Maybe Axel’s not such a bad guy…”
Sora thought back to that feeling he’d gotten when he saw Axel. Something familiar, something sad. He put his hand to his heart, clenching his fist there.
Hayner, Pence, Olette…and Axel.
He didn’t know why, but when he thought of those four, something in his chest ached.
And Roxas.
It was different when Sora tried to think of him—his head felt foggy, and something itched at the back of his mind.
“But he’s the one who nabbed Kairi!” Donald argued again.
Sora looked up at that, trying to clear his thoughts.
“But, uh, didn’t he say he was sorry?” Goofy pointed out.
“Are some of them good guys and some of them bad guys…?” Donald wondered.
“Anyway, let’s get going,” said Sora. “Maybe we’ll find out more.”
The trio nodded.
Naminé, Riku, and Axel were gathered back in the computer lab, in the basement of the “haunted” mansion.
They hadn’t managed to extract a single piece of useful information from the computer. Naminé let out a tiny sigh and opened her sketchbook on top of the keyboard. She’d drawn a picture of a fearsome beast. Riku peeked at it over her shoulder.
Naminé turned, looking up at him. “Someone you know?”
“Yeah…I’ve met him before.”
The Beast had a ferociously strong heart—its strength of will alone had taken him t
o Hollow Bastion to save one of the princesses, Belle.
“Looks strong,” Axel remarked from behind them.
“Yeah. He is,” Riku said, sinking into thought.
His heart is even stronger than his body. It’s exactly the kind of heart the organization wants…
“But someone that strong won’t just do whatever the organization says,” Naminé murmured.
“Well, this is their chance to show how persuasive they can be,” Axel said with a bitter smirk.
Beside the Beast, who had once been a handsome prince, stood a man in a black cloak.
“It’s time you dealt with the girl. She’s scheming to take everything you have,” said Xaldin, his hood pulled low to hide his face. “Your castle, your treasures…and then your very life.”
The Beast hung his head. His castle was a desolate place, ruled by a monster.
“Trust no one. Feed your anger. Only rage will keep you strong!”
“I’ve had enough of strength. There’s only one thing I want…” The Beast gazed, unmoving, at the glass bell jar around a single red rose.
What he wanted was—
“Hah,” Xaldin spat. “To love and be loved in return? Who could ever love a beast?”
The Beast whirled again, his cape rippling. He glared and let out a roar of fury.
“Good. Let your anger rise!”
With that, Xaldin vanished.
They disembarked from the Gummi Ship and stepped into a shadowy castle hall.
“What…is this place?” Sora swiveled his head this way and that, bewildered. It didn’t look like anywhere they’d been before.
“It’s huge!” Donald waddled to the middle of the immense foyer.
“And kinda gloomy, don’t ya think?” Goofy hunched up his shoulders, a bit spooked by the dreary atmosphere, and glanced back at Sora.
“Yeah…I wonder who lives here.”
Just as Sora began to follow them, a terrible growl echoed through the castle, shaking the very air.
“Wak?!” Donald hunched up, too, his glance darting around. “What was that?”
“Hey, haven’t we heard that somewhere before?” said Goofy, cocking an ear.
Sora tried to do the same, and they heard another roar.
“Beast…?” he said softly.
“Right! It’s the Beast!” Donald hopped once in relief.
They knew that roar, after all—it was the Beast who’d fought beside them in Hollow Bastion.
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