Kingdom of Corona pt2
Kingdom of Corona pt2
“What did he mean by that?” Riku turned to Aqua as he and Lea dismissed their weapons.
“I knew I sensed a strong light from Rapunzel,” Aqua said as she rubbed her chin in thought. She then turned to Riku and Lea. “But, no matter what, Marluxia and the Organization think what they are doing is ‘right’, we need to keep her safe from them.”
“Yeah,” Riku agreed. When he noticed that Lea was being quiet, he looked up and saw the redhead was frowning, deep in thought. “You going to be okay?”
“Huh?” Lea looked up, noticing that Riku and Aqua were watching him with worry in their eyes. “Y-yeah…” he said, not seeming too sure of his own words. Aqua came to him and placed a reassuring hand on his arm, giving him a small smile.
“Don’t worry, Lea,” she said as he looked at her. “We’re here for you.” Riku also smiled as he nodded in agreement. Lea seemed to get a bit bashful as he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Thanks,” he said softly, visibly relaxing.
“Now, let’s go catch up with them,” Riku stated as they headed back into the forest.
===
But, after another hour of walking, it seemed like they had gotten lost and were now walking through a dense marsh. It was so thick that they couldn’t see the sky, but it must have been night as it was pretty dark.
“How far ahead could they have gotten?” Aqua wondered as they stopped near a small clearing where they could see a small bit of the sky above them. Sure enough, the sky was dark with a few stars twinkling in the distance.
“If that pink haired bastard hadn’t bothered us, we wouldn’t be so lost,” Lea grumbled as he sat down on a log with a huff.
“Language!” Aqua said with a glare as she grabbed Lea by the ear, making him squeal in pain.
“I’m sure we’ll catch up with Rapunzel and Flynn soon,” Riku said with a chuckle as he watched the two bickering, leaning against a tree. “But with it being so late, they might have taken shelter someplace. We should do the same and look for them tomorrow morning.” The others agreed with him with a nod.
After a moment's rest they started heading through the marsh again.
“Excuse me, good travelers,” a female voice called to them, making the trio stop. They turned and saw an older woman with long, tightly curled hair in a maroon dress and dark gray cloak approach them with a smile. “Do you know Rapunzel?”
Riku looked at his companions curiously before looking at the woman. Something about her didn’t sit right with him, and he could tell just by looking at the others that they felt the same. “Yeah, but we only just recently met,” he told the woman. “Why?”
“Oh, my apologies,” she said in a sickly-sweet voice and a sad frown. “I’m Rapunzel’s mother. The poor girl ran away from home, and I’m worried sick for her. Do you know where she is?”
“Oh,” Aqua said as she rubbed her cheek with nervous tension. “I’m sorry, but we got separated from her not long ago.”
“You what?” the woman asked them, her voice slightly strained, calm demeanor quickly fading.
“We’re looking for her right now, though,” Riku added. “If you want, we could look for her together.” The woman’s smile was replaced with a frown, eyes narrowed as she brushed off his offer.
“You are of no use to me,” she said as she left them, lifting the hood of her cloak up as she disappeared into the marsh.
“So… Rapunzel ran away from home?” Lea repeated what the woman said as he looked to the others.
“She did mention before that her mother forbade her from leaving that tower,” Aqua stated as she crossed her arms in thought. “Could it be… that what Marluxia said before held some validity to it? That she would be in danger out in the real world?”
“You’re just going to believe him?” Lea asked her in disbelief, eyes wide.
“Not completely,” Aqua said as she looked at him. “But he did say we should protect her ‘from the dark horrors of the world’. What kind of darkness could put her in so much danger that she should never leave her tower?”
“Aqua’s right,” Riku said. “But, for now, let’s look for someplace to take shelter for the night.” The others nodded as they continued through the marsh.
===
After walking through the marsh for a while longer, they eventually found a small cave to take shelter in, sleeping on some moss and fallen leaves and taking turns being on guard. They had come across a few Heartless and Nobodies while moving through the marsh, so they needed to stay on alert in case more showed up when they were vulnerable.
The next morning, Riku found another way out of the cave by scaling a short wall, which led them to a narrow canyon. When they made it through, they found themselves in a different part of the forest. And somewhere in the distance they could hear two familiar voices.
“That must be them,” Riku stated as the wielders hurried ahead. When they came around a small bend they stopped and stared at the sight before them.
Rapunzel was hugging and petting a white horse with a saddle like it was a large dog– the horse even wagging its tail in excitement as the girl praised him– while Flynn was pressed against a tree, trying to get away from it. When Rapunzel looked up, she saw Riku and the others approaching them.
“Oh, you made it!” she exclaimed as she ran up to them, the trio smiling as she did.
“Good thing you guys are okay, too,” Riku remarked as he saw the white horse approach them, giving the newcomers a stern look that made them all nervous. “Who’s your new… friend?”
“Oh, this is Maximus,” Rapunzel said as she patted the horse on the neck. “He’s been chasing Flynn around for some time, but now we are all friends.”
“As if,” Flynn said as he stayed as far away from the horse as possible, but Rapunzel ignored him as she turned to Maximus.
“Maximus, this is Riku, Aqua, and Lea,” she said as she introduced them to the horse, who leaned in and started sniffing them like it could tell if they were dangerous or not based on that. “They’re my friends, and have been helping me along the way.” Maximus then pulled back and nodded his approval, and it almost looked like it was smiling at them.
“Let’s go,” Flynn said, gaining everyone’s attention. “The kingdom is just up ahead.” And with that Flynn took the lead again with Rapunzel right behind him. Riku, Maximus, and the others took up the rear.
“Should we tell Rapunzel that her mother is looking for her?” Aqua asked the boys curiously as they started to reach what looked like a large lake where there was a bridge connecting to a town surrounding a large castle.
“Maybe after the lantern thing tonight,” Riku said as he watched Rapunzel run ahead with a bright smile on her face, Flynn just behind her as he smiled. “She said that she would return home afterwards, so we can wait until then. Don’t want to spoil her good mood.”
===
When the group crossed the bridge and entered the town, there were obvious signs that some kind of festival was going on, what with the streamers and banners hanging from the roofs of buildings, stalls and carts containing various goods scattered about, and the many people walking around, chatting and laughing. They realized that whatever kind of festival that was going on that day with the lanterns must be a big deal here.
“Excuse us,” Aqua said politely as she approached one of the stall owners, Rapunzel and Flynn having already wandered off so the trio stuck together. “We are not from around here and were just passing through. What seems to be the occasion?”
“Oh, my, we don’t usually get tourists here,” the older woman said with a bright smile, handing them each a stick with a candy apple on it. “Here, dearies! My treat!”
“Oh, thank you,” Aqua said with a smile as they took the treats, giving it a lick.
“You’re welcome! So, the festival is to celebrate the birth of the princess, and every year it ends when we send up lanterns into the night sky,” the stall owner said, but her smile quickly turned into a sad frown. “However, 18 years ago, the princess was stolen from her crib the night after her birth.”
“That’s terrible!” Aqua exclaimed while the boys looked to her in confusion.
“But, if the princess is gone, why do you keep having the festival?” Riku asked the older woman.
“Because her birth is of great importance to the king and queen,” she said with a sad smile. “When the queen was pregnant with the princess, she became deathly ill and would have died, but the king saved her– and the princess– by feeding them a magical golden flower that is said to have amazing healing properties. The princess was born with beautiful golden hair similar to the petals of the flower, and to celebrate her birth the king and queen released a lantern into the night sky the day she was born.” The woman looked up towards the castle where the king and queen were most likely preparing for the festival. “They still hold the festival and release the lanterns every year in hopes that the lost princess will see them and return home.”
“What a sad but beautiful story,” Aqua said with a smile, the boys agreeing with smiles of their own. The kind woman gave them a bright smile as she opened her arms to them.
“Now, no more sad frowns! Go out there and enjoy yourselves!”
“Thanks again,” Riku said as they waved to her, eating their candy apples as they walked through the town. The woman was right: this was a festival, and they were meant for taking it easy and having fun. This must be the break that they needed.
They quickly rejoined Rapunzel and Flynn, followed along by Maximus. At some point Rapunzel had her hair braided up so that it no longer dragged along the ground, decorated in various flowers and ribbons. As the group enjoyed the festival, they played games and ate snacks together, and Flynn even bought Rapunzel a small purple flag with a gold sun embroidered onto it. Aqua could tell that Flynn seemed to be enjoying the festival along with Rapunzel, if the smiles he kept sending her way gave anything away. It seemed that the reluctant rogue had taken a liking to the blonde-haired girl.
“I never got the chance to ask you this before, but what brings you and your friends here, Riku?” Rapunzel asked the silver haired teen at one point. The two of them were sitting on a bench in the town square, eating small cups of a type of ice cream while Flynn, Aqua and Lea stood in line to get their own. Rapunzel’s was pink in color, most likely strawberry and Riku’s was green mint. “I may not have left my tower or seen many people in my life except for my mother, but I can tell that you’re not from around here.” Riku stuck his spoon into his ice cream before he replied.
“I came here from far away to look for a friend of mine,” he said with a small smile to hide the frown he had before. “His name is Sora. Something bad happened to him and now he’s running away from me, thinking it’s for the best. Aqua and Lea offered to come and help me find him.”
“What bad thing happened to him?” Rapunzel asked with a worried frown, the small chameleon, Pascal, peeking out from her shoulder to shoot its tongue out and lick the ice cream.
“He was… cursed, by some very dangerous people,” Riku said, thinking of the best way to describe Sora being corrupted by Xehanort’s darkness without needing to explain too much. “The last time I saw him, he told me he didn’t want to hurt me or our other friends, which is why he is running away and I’ve been looking for him.” After a moment Riku looked up to see Rapunzel giving him a sad frown. He then gave her a small smile as he sat up straighter. “But, you don’t need to hear me complain about that. It’s your birthday today: you should be having fun.” It took a moment but eventually Rapunzel smiled as she got up to join the others as they arrived at their sitting area, cups of ice cream in hand.
“It seems like you really care about Sora,” she said softly. “I hope you find him.” Riku gave her a warm smile as he stood up.
“What are you two whispering about?” Flynn asked them curiously, Rapunzel shooting him a bright smile.
“Secret,” she said with a giggle, making the man cock a brow in confusion. Aqua and Lea looked to Riku curiously, but he just waved his hand in dismission.
The group dispersed again as they walked around the square, checking out the booths and their wares. The keyblade trio joined together as they stopped at a colorful mosaic at the back of the square at the base of the castle walls. They examined it as a little girl came up and placed a small bouquet of flowers at the bottom of the mosaic where there were more flowers and several lit candles.
“It’s for the lost princess,” the girl told the three of them when she caught them watching her. Aqua looked up and examined the mosaic. On it she could see a man and a woman– most likely the king and queen, based on their attire– and in the arms of the queen was a baby with a full head of golden hair. The blue haired woman examined the girl in the mosaic closely. She seemed to look familiar.
Suddenly, music began to play behind them, so they all turned to see that a small band had started to perform. And at the center of the square was Rapunzel, dancing happily. Many people began to gather and watch her dance, clapping along with the music. As the young girl turned towards them, she reached out a hand to them.
“Come and dance!” she called out to them. Aqua gave her a big smile as she skipped forward, taking the girls hand and they began to spin around, laughing as they did. Pretty soon, others got pulled in and started dancing along with them.
“I don’t think I’ve heard Aqua laugh like that since she’s returned to the realm of light,” Riku remarked as he watched them dance, the mentioned woman twirling around other dancers like a ballerina. Lea nodded in agreement, clapping along with the others.
Just then, Aqua skipped towards the boys and looped her arms around theirs with a big smile. “You boys should join us,” she said with a laugh as she pulled them forward.
“No, wait—WAH!” Riku exclaimed as he nearly fell forward, Rapunzel taking his other hand and spinning him around. The silver haired teen could feel his face heating up in embarrassment as he tried to join in, nearly tripping a few times. He never really did anything like this when there were parties or festivals back on the islands, preferring to either play the games or watch Sora and Kairi dance. He looked up and saw that Lea was also extremely embarrassed, but he was smiling brightly as he laughed. Pretty soon, Riku’s cheeks began to hurt from laughing as well. He didn’t even notice when Flynn somehow joined in on the dance or when they all got pulled into a train and started dancing in a circle. Sora would be having the time of his life if he was here.
The music ended and the dancing stopped, everyone clapping and cheering. Riku looked up and saw that Rapunzel and Flynn were standing at the center of the square in each other’s arms, looking at the other with smiles on their faces.
“To the boats!” someone called out. Everyone stopped clapping and started to chatter with excitement, moving around the square. Riku joined Aqua and Lea as they wondered what was going on. Aqua noticed the stall owner from before talking to a large man at another stall and approached them.
“What’s everyone doing now?” she asked the older woman curiously, the man holding circular paper items at his stall.
“It’s almost time to release the lanterns,” she exclaimed when she saw the tourists from before. “After the king and queen release the first lantern after sunset, everyone else in the kingdom releases their own.” She then took three of the items from the man’s booth and gave them to the trio along with three small candles. “Here! Your own lanterns that you can release if you so wish to.”
“Thank you so much,” Aqua said with a bright smile as she took hers while the boys got their own. Riku popped the paper object open and saw that it formed a small paper lantern made with lightweight paper and golden suns painted on it.
“Even though the lanterns are meant for the lost princess, they do have multiple uses,” the woman said with a smile as she got her own paper lantern. “We also send them up with wishes for the coming year, such as having a fortunate year or for a good harvest. Whatever you desire, really.”
“Thanks,” Riku said as he waved goodbye to the woman, leaving for the docks with Aqua and Lea. When they reached the docks, Flynn was already in a boat with Rapunzel, Maximus sitting off to the side, watching them.
“We’ll be back later,” Rapunzel said with a smile as Flynn rowed the boat out to the water, away from the other towns folk who also decided to take boats. The three keyblade wielders got their lanterns ready, waiting until the right time to release them.
“So, what are you guys going to wish for?” Lea asked the other two after sitting in silence for a while, the sky and the kingdom completely dark now. “I’m wishing, when he comes back, to take Roxas back to Twilight Town, where we will buy all the sea salt ice cream we can afford and eat until we can’t eat anymore.”
“That sounds awful,” Aqua said with a chuckle, the boys laughing with her. She then looked down at her lantern.
“Mine is that Terra and I will wake Ven, and that we will make it through this journey safely, together,” Aqua said with a smile, running a thumb over one of the painted suns on her lantern. Riku looked down at his lantern, then pulled out Sora’s crown charm from his pocket, examining it with a smile.
“Mine is to find Sora, and bring him home,” he said, holding the charm to his heart. The others looked to him with warm smiles on their faces. “Of course, I’ll bring him back after I smack some sense into him, for being an idiot and running off like that.” The three of them broke out into laughter at that again.
When the silver haired teen looked up to the sky, he could see something small and glowing flying above their heads. “Look!” he pointed it out, the others looking up in awe when they saw one lantern floating into the sky. Then there was another, and another, and soon the dark night sky had lit up with what looked like a thousand glowing lanterns. The once dark sky and waters were now glowing with a warm golden light that reminded them of the sun, much like the designs painted on their lanterns. With Lea’s help, they lit the candles of their lanterns and smiled as they released them into the air, one by one.
For Terra…
For Ventus…
For Roxas…
F̴͖̩́ o r ̵͙̌͆̂ ̴̗̑͘ ̴̮̯͊͂ ̸̯́̓͘X ̷̖̓͌̈́ ̶̞̉̃i̷̠̞̫͛̀ ̷̛̛̩̾ ̶͖̼̥̏̈́̍o̸̠̤͖͐ ̷̛͇̜̅ ̸̰̫̞̇n̶͉͖̈̉ ̴̧͂̂̀.̷̜̀ ̷̬͔͋̈̐.̸̠̹͛͜ ̸̪̦̠̽.̷̝̿ ̶̗̰̞̒͋̐
For Sora…
Once the lanterns floated into the air, dancing around each other along the way, the three friends sat back and watched with awe and hope for the future. If only they knew that the journey ahead would get harder before the end.