Chapter Text
Though still able to fly, the Gummi ship did not escape the crash unscathed, meaning before they continued on to other worlds, Riku, Donald, and Goofy had to return to Traverse Town for repairs. Leon directed them to a man named Cid, who he claimed was the best mechanic in town. Cid agreed to work on the ship, then promptly shooed them away, leaving the trio to wander the world until the repairs were finished. Riku didn't mind exploring, since the last time he'd been there, he'd walked all over it, sure, but hadn't really paid any attention to any of it beyond what was necessary to confirm Sora and Kairi weren't there. So as he walked around, quite a few things caught his attention that he hadn't noticed during the his first visit.
One of those things was a large wooden door in the Third District with strange runes carved into it. Curious, Riku pushed past it, finding a giant cavern containing a small lake. Stepping stones led from the bank to a small island, upon which sat a strange house. The house appeared abandoned, and after hopping across the stones to reach the island, Riku found the front door completely boarded up. Walking around to the back of the house, however, he found a large hole in the stone wall, covered with a tattered cloth. He ducked inside, but barely had a chance to examine the interior before he realized there was someone else in the room: the black-clad figure from the tree house in the jungle.
"Sora?!"
The boy turned to look at him, and once again, Riku was faced with the familiar face and sky blue eyes.
"Sora!" Riku ran up to him. The blue eyes widened, and the boy took a step back. Riku was too excited and relieved to notice. "Sora, where have you been?! What's with the black coat?! Why'd you run away from me before?!"
"I... I..."
At the sound of the boy's voice, Riku paused. The face and eyes were unmistakable, the build was right, but the voice... the voice wasn't right. It wasn't Sora's. "Sora?"
"Riku?"
At the sound of Donald's voice, the boy (Sora?) turned on his heel and ran into an oval-shaped shadow on the wall.
"Wait!" Riku chased him, but once again, the shadowy doorway disappeared, leaving Riku to skid to a stop before he ran face-first into a stone wall. Not quite believing his eyes, Riku pressed a hand to the wall. Solid stone.
"Riku, what are you doing?" came Goofy's voice from behind him. Riku turned to see his companions standing just inside the hole in the wall.
"Did you see him?" he asked. "The boy in the black coat?"
"What boy?" asked Donald, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.
Riku sighed. "Nevermind." Had he just imagined the whole thing?
"Well, well," an unfamiliar voice interrupted his thoughts. "You've arrived sooner than I expected."
Riku turned to see a man with a long, white beard wearing a blue robe and pointed hat, carrying a carpet bag in one hand and what looked like a wand in the other.
"Who are you?" Riku asked. "How did you know we'd be here?"
"Why, I can answer both those questions at once," the man responded. "My name is Merlin, and as you can see," he gestured to his attire, "I am a sorcerer. Your king has requested my help."
"King Mickey?" asked Goofy, sounding hopeful.
"Precisely, Donald, Goofy." He nodded to the mage and knight respectively, then turned to Riku. "And who might you be, young man?"
"Riku."
"Ah, so you're the one who wields the key."
"What did the king ask you to do?" Donald asked.
Merlin held up a hand. "Just a moment." The sorcerer walked to the center of the house, put down his bag, opened it, and started waving his wand. "Presto!" From out of the bag, various pieces of furniture, books, and tableware emerged and, in perhaps the most perfect display of organized chaos Riku had ever seen, seemed to march themselves into a mess until it looked like the house had been occupied for years. "There now," said Merlin, apparently satisfied. "So good to be home. Ahem." He turned to Riku. "Your king asked me to train you in the art of magic."
Riku bit back a snarky "What king? I don't have a king," and instead repeated, "Magic?"
"Quite. Oh, and one more thing." He turned to a corner of the room where the air started to shimmer, growing brighter until an old woman with a wand of her own appeared.
"Hello," the woman greeted them cheerfully. "I'm the Fairy Godmother."
Fairy Godmother? Something itched at the back of Riku's mind upon hearing that name, but he ignored it for now.
"Your king asked me to help too," she continued. "I will assist throughout your journey."
"You both know the king?" Goofy asked. "Do you know where he is?"
"I'm afraid not, dear," said the Fairy Godmother.
Merlin shook his head "Not a clue, I fear. But in any case, would you like to begin?"
Apparently, Merlin's idea of teaching Riku magic was to send furniture after him and have him fend it off with fire, ice, and lightning. Despite the strange method, Riku eventually felt he'd got the hang of magic (though he'd freely admit it wasn't his preferred method of attack), and Merlin released him with the invitation to come back and practice any time. As Riku departed the training floor, he took one last look at Merlin. The more time he spent with the sorcerer, the more he started to think there was something familiar about him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
The Fairy Godmother's method of helping, meanwhile, was apparently to give form to strong hearts who had lost their worlds and then somehow attached themselves to him. "It's your Keyblade, dear," she explained. "It designates you as the protector of the Realm of Light. So those in the Realm of Light in need of protection are naturally drawn to you. Of course, these hearts are so strong, they can provide some help to you, too." The Fairy Godmother taught him how to summon and give form to the spirits of those strong hearts, the first of which he managed was a lion named Simba.
Riku, Donald, and Goofy eventually left the magic house and made their way to Cid's shop to see if the ship repairs were done. They were, as it turned out, but Cid had barely told them so when the ground shook and a bell chime echoed through the town.
Riku grabbed the counter to steady himself. "What was that?!"
"Hmm?" Cid seemed nonplussed. "The bell at the gizmo shop is ringing."
Deciding to investigate, Riku, Donald, and Goofy went looking for the so-called "gizmo shop". As they passed through the Third District, however, Riku heard a familiar voice call out to him.
"Riku!"
Riku whipped around to see a girl with short, red-brown hair and ocean blue eyes running towards him. She looked ready to fling her arms around him, but then seemed to notice Donald and Goofy and stopped.
"Riku, where have you been?! I've been looking all over for you! And who are they?!"
"Kairi?!" Riku could barely believe what he was seeing. "Where have you been?! I saw you disappear!! Do you have any idea how worried-?!" He stopped short when his eyes caught on the three red gashes stretching across her chest. "What happened to you?!"
"Oh. This?" Kairi's hand went to her chest. "A Heartless nicked me on the island. It looks worse than it is, promise."
Riku frowned, taking his friends by the shoulders and examining the injury. Despite the angry red color of the slashes, they didn't seem to be bleeding, and Kairi's demeanor didn't indicate to him that she was in pain. "Okay, if you say so. Anyway, what happened to Sora? I thought you two were on the island together."
"I..." Kairi's gaze seemed to flick behind him to Donald and Goofy, then sank to the floor. "We got separated..." she mumbled.
Riku's brow furrowed at that, but Kairi didn't lie, and she wouldn't lie to him of all people about Sora of all things. She was probably just worried about him, Riku reasoned. Maybe even feeling guilty about losing him. He gave her his best reassuring smile. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure he made it off the island too. Heck, he's probably looking for us right now." He lifted her chin to make her look at him. "We'll all be together again soon. That's what we promised, right?"
A small smile appeared on Kairi's face. "Right."
"So don't worry. I'll take care of everything."
Kairi raised an eyebrow. "And how are you going to do that, exactly?"
Riku grinned and stepped away from her. "Look at this." He held out his hand and summoned his Keyblade.
Kairi's eyes widened. "Is that...?"
"Yup." He dismissed the weapon. "I've been to a bunch of different worlds, looking for you. And now that I know you're safe, I'll find Sora too. You'll see."
"Ahem," came Donald's voice from behind him.
"Right. With their help, of course."
Kairi frowned. "And... who are they?"
Donald puffed his chest. "My name is Donald Duck, Royal Magician to King Mickey."
Goofy waved and grinned. "And I'm Goofy, his Royal Knight! It's awfully nice to meet 'cha, Kairi. Riku's been real worried about ya!"
Kairi's expression seemed pinched for a moment, but softened at Goofy's words, and she turned back to Riku with a smirk. "Have you, now?"
Riku waved a hand dismissively, grinning. "Ah, I knew you'd be fine." This back-and-forth between them felt familiar. Normal. The only thing missing was Sora, either taking Kairi's side or rolling his eyes good-naturedly at the both of them. "Anyway, I can't wait to show you all the worlds-"
Donald cleared his throat, and Riku turned to look at him.
"What?"
"She can't come."
"What?!" Kairi protested. "Why not?!"
"It's too dangerous."
"Hey! I can take care of myself!" Kairi turned back to Riku, hands on her hips. "Tell them, Riku!"
"...Actually, he's right, Kairi. It's too dangerous."
"...What?" Kairi's face fell. She looked hurt. "But... we were supposed to explore the worlds together! What happened to 'the three of us will always be together'?!"
"We will be! But there are Heartless out there, Kairi! And you can't fight them like I can! I mean, look at you! You're already injured!"
Kairi's expression turned stormy, and she crossed her arms. "So I'd just be in your way. Is that what you're saying?!"
"You know that's not what I mean." Riku stepped forward, putting his hands back on her shoulders. "I know this isn't what we imagined. But once I find Sora and help these guys find their king, I'll be able to focus on taking care of you guys. Then, we can go explore like we always said we would. Alright?"
Kairi huffed and looked away from him but stayed silent. Riku knew his friend well enough to know she wouldn't admit he was right, even though she knew she'd lost the argument.
"Alright. Why don't I introduce you to Leon and Yuffie? They're good people, and they can take care of you until I get back."
Kairi didn't answer, but didn't fight Riku as he led her to the small house where Leon and his friends had made their base. The man himself was there, along with Cid, Yuffie, and a young woman in pink who Donald and Goofy seemed to know, introducing her as Aerith. Kairi was cordial enough to the strangers, though she clearly wasn't happy about being there, if the way she was refusing to even look at Riku was any indication.
Once introductions were out of the way, Cid turned to Riku, Donald, and Goofy. "You guys ever heard of Maleficent?" Riku shook his head. "I heard she's in town."
"Who is she?"
"A witch, man, she's a witch!"
"She's the reason this town's full of Heartless," Leon added. "Don't take her lightly."
"She's been using the Heartless for years," Aerith said.
"We lost our world thanks to her," Leon continued. "That was nine years ago."
"That's awful!" Donald exclaimed. Riku nodded, trying not to think about how he'd helped Destiny Islands fall. He glanced at Kairi, who seemed to be listening intently to their story, and wondered how she'd react if he told her. Would she understand? Or would she be horrified?
Aerith interrupted his thoughts. "I've been thinking about the bell in the Second District."
"The one that rang a while ago?" Riku asked.
Yuffie nodded. "The one above the gizmo shop. There's a legend about it, you know."
"But it's all boarded up," Aerith said. "No one can get in."
Cid waved her off. "Heck, go check it out. Ring it three times. See if anything happens."
Riku left with Donald and Goofy to do just that, promising Kairi he'd come say goodbye before he left the world.
It didn't take the trio long to find the bell now that they knew where to look. Riku rang the bell three times as instructed, each time hearing the sound of something in the plaza moving. The third chime was followed by the same sound, along with what sounded like water. When Riku went to look, he saw that the fountain's central mosaic had rotated to revealed a Keyhole. Riku ran to seal it, but found his way blocked by a Heartless like the one that had attacked him, Donald, and Goofy when they'd first met. Having improved greatly since then, the trio made short work of it, only for the Heartless to flip itself upside down and into a new form. The three of them still beat it into submission, though Riku found himself infinitely more grateful for Merlin's magic lessons by the time the fight was over.
Finally, the Heartless dissolved, and Riku was able to seal the Keyhole. With that mystery solved and Traverse Town safe from further Heartless attacks, it was time for the trio to depart for more worlds. As promised, however, Riku first went to say goodbye to Kairi. When he got there, however, only Aerith was waiting for them.
"Riku!" she exclaimed upon seeing him. "I'm so sorry! Your friend slipped away from us when we heard the bell. Leon and Yuffie are out looking for her, but..." She trailed off, looking worried.
Riku frowned, but then sighed. "She's probably just upset about not being able to come with us and needs some time to herself. There are a lot less Heartless now that the Keyhole's been sealed, so she should be alright. She'll probably turn up once she's cooled off. I'll come back in a bit to check."
Aerith nodded, and Riku turned to leave, only to pause and look back.
"There's... no way for her to get off-world, is there?"
Aerith shook her head. "Not without a Gummi ship, and the only ones here are yours and Cid's. The only other way would be through very powerful magic, but no one I know possesses that kind of ability."
Riku nodded, feeling reassured, and left the house. Kairi would be fine, he was sure. She was just being stubborn, like always. Once he found Sora, everything would be fine. He had a way of getting through to her Riku himself had never quite figured out.
Unknown to the Keyblade wielder, a girl with ocean blue eyes was watching him depart with his companions, a figure in a black cloak standing behind her with a hand on her shoulder.
"I did warn you."
The girl shook her head. "Riku's not like that. You'll see. I just need a chance to talk to him without the king's servants."
"If you say so, my child. In the meantime, why don't we return home and look into your... other problem?"
The girl nodded, but her eyes didn't leave Riku until the large, double doors had closed behind him. Only then did she turn and follow the cloaked figure into the dark portal.