Kingdom of Corona pt3
Kingdom of Corona pt3
Their time of peace was short lived as the three of them soon sensed the presence of darkness behind them, making the trio groan. They stood up and turned to see several Dusks and Reapers spawning in the empty courtyard connected to the docks.
“They couldn’t have picked a worse time to appear,” Riku growled as he summoned Braveheart, taking down a Dusk before he charged for a Reaper.
“They just don’t know when to sit back and appreciate something,” Lea said with a glare as he took out a few more Nobodies with a Firaga.
“Then we should just end them while they are here,” Aqua added as she activated Spellweaver, taking out a good portion of them while freezing those that got too close.
With their combined team effort, the Nobodies were dealt with and no more spawned, even as the trio waited with bated breath. After a few minutes, they dismissed their weapons and looked out at the water. Most of the lanterns had disappeared into the night sky, only a few staying behind, leaving only a little bit of light, but just enough for the three of them to notice that Rapunzel and Flynn were not in their original place.
“Where did they row off to?” Lea questioned as they scanned the water. “Maybe they came back while we were fighting?”
“But then they would have met up with us by now,” Riku remarked. Aqua started getting a bad feeling in her stomach as she looked further out across the water. Just then she noticed a boat on the shore across from them.
“That must be them,” she said as she pointed out the boat. It was too dark to see any movement, but it was the best they could do from here. “We should investigate.”
A few minutes later they were outside the kingdom, walking along the sandy shore across the water towards the boat. When they got there, they couldn’t find anyone in it, but they did notice two female figures walking off into the forest, one of them with long blonde hair.
“It’s Rapunzel!” Riku stated when he noticed the blonde girl. He couldn’t tell as it was so dark, but the other figure looked like the woman claiming to be her mother, an arm wrapped around the girl. Riku started to follow them when a dark corridor blocked his path.
“Show some decorum,” Marluxia said as he appeared from the darkness, making the trio glare at him. “The girl has found her dear mother, so let them be.”
“And why does that matter to you?” Riku demanded from him as he tried to look past him, seeing Rapunzel disappear into the forest.
“Because she is far too important,” Marluxia said. “She must remain out of sight within her tower, and live out her days with Mother Gothel.”
“And what, keep her locked away like in a cage?” Lea said with a sneer, making Marluxia smirk at the redhead.
“Exactly like that.” The three wielders looked to him in shock as he looked over his shoulder where Rapunzel disappeared to. “Rapunzel’s hair holds the magical power of healing. And yes, Mother Gothel wants it all for herself.”
“Magic healing hair?” Aqua reiterated with a shocked voice, drawing the attention of the other boys. “The stall owner at the festival told us a story… about how the princess was saved as a baby with the aid of a magical flower that held healing properties, and then she was stolen away the next day. That’s why they hold the festival on the princess’ birthday… The same day Rapunzel was born…” Aqua gasped in realization when she looked up at Riku and Lea, their eyes growing wide.
“Rapunzel is the lost princess?” Riku declared in shock, turning back to Marluxia. It all made sense now: how Rapunzel was drawn to the lanterns that appeared only on her birthday, and how her magical hair was tied to the same flower that saved her and the queen. “Then that means Mother Gothel isn’t her real mother! She’s the one who stole her away!”
“And if her actions will protect her, preserve her… then she is doing the Organization a favor,” Marluxia said with a smirk, making the trio glare angrily.
“What do you want with her?” Aqua demanded as she stepped forward, ready to fight to get past him if needed.
“Let’s just say she’s keeping Rapunzel safe for us,” Marluxia said. “An extra pawn in case you fail to find replacement guardians of light. A new Seven Princesses of Hearts to fill out the ranks.” Riku remembered Xigbar saying something similar back on Olympus, about how they would need to get new guardians if Sora ‘fell too far’.
“So, you just plan on using her for her light!” Aqua exclaimed as she summoned Master Keeper. “Well, I won’t allow that! She deserves to know the truth, to be with her real family!” Marluxia glared at her.
“If you plan to make a scene, then I will need to put you out of commission.” Marluxia then raised his hand and sent a wave of darkness at her.
“Look out!” Riku shouted as he pushed Aqua away, taking the blast himself.
“Riku!” Aqua and Lea shouted when Riku was thrown back, landing on the sand with a dazed look. Everything had turned hazy, and he couldn’t keep his eyes open. Marluxia clicked his tongue, but just smirked as he turned away and opened another corridor.
“This ought to keep you busy,” he said as nearly a dozen Dusks spawned along with a few Reapers, surrounding them as Riku’s vision quickly turned dark. “Don’t want your precious friend to be taken by the darkness while he sleeps, now do you?”
===
It took many hours before the Nobodies stopped spawning, leaving Aqua and Lea exhausted as they collapsed to the ground, gasping for air as they dismissed their keyblades. The waves had continued for so long that the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon.
“Riku?” Aqua gasped as she crawled over to the teen, running a hand over his hair. “Riku, answer me!”
“Marluxia said he was asleep,” Lea gasped as he leaned over to check on Riku, seeing the even rise and fall of his chest. “It must have been a sleeping spell he cast on him. That was always his thing, before.”
“But why hasn’t he woken up?” Aqua asked him, voice full of worry. “And why did he have to take the spell for me?”
“He must not have wanted you to get hurt,” Lea said with a strained smile, covering his own worry. “We didn’t know that it was a sleeping spell. He must have done it to protect you.”
Those words must have struck something in the woman as her eyes filled up with tears, but she quickly shook her head as she held them back. “It was still a stupid thing to do,” she said, her voice wavering slightly. Lea chuckled as he leaned back on his arms, looking up at the sky.
A few minutes later they heard the sound of hoof beats. The two looked up and saw Maximus galloping towards them, Flynn on his back, only to come to a sudden halt next to them.
“Whoa, what happened?” the rouge asked them, looking over their disheveled appearances, his eyes landing on Riku. “Is Riku okay?”
“He got hit with a sleeping spell and won’t wake up,” Lea said as he sat up better, looking over at the sleeping teen. Flynn stroked his chin in thought.
“An unresponsive sidekick…” he murmured as he looked over the teen. His eyes then lit up with an idea. “I got it! Max, give him a wash!” The white stallion neighed as he stepped forward, leaned down, and gave Riku a nice long lick up his face. Aqua and Lea watched in amusement as the horse did it a few more times before the teen let out a groan, his eyes blinking open.
“Riku!” Aqua gasped with joy, smiling brightly while Flynn smirked and Maximus grunted happily.
“Good job, Max,” Flynn said as he patted the horse’s neck, making it beam with pride.
“What happened?” Riku asked as he sat up with some help from Aqua, wiping off the horse saliva on his face. The woman gave him a glare as she smacked him across the back of his head, making him yelp in shock.
“That was for taking the attack for me,” she said with a frown, but it quickly melted into a smile as she hugged the boy tightly.
“I did what…?” Riku mumbled in confusion, still in a daze until the memories from last night rushed back to him, making him gasp. “Rapunzel’s in danger!” Riku stated as he got to his feet along with Aqua and Lea.
“Yeah, she’s being held prisoner in Mother Gothel’s tower,” Flynn said with a frown. “Some weirdo with pink hair let it slip while his goons attacked me. Now it’s time for a rescue. You guys with me?”
“Yeah,” the trio exclaimed together.
===
Once they’d figured out how to get four people to fit onto one horse, Maximus galloped through the forest as fast as he could go with the extra weight, making a beeline for Rapunzel’s tower. After making it through the canyon and the marsh, they were not much farther away when multiple Heartless and Nobodies spawned in their path, blocking the route ahead. Most likely sent by Marluxia to stop them.
“You go on ahead and help Rapunzel,” Riku told Flynn as he, Aqua, and Lea got off Maximus and summoned their keyblades.
“Thanks,” Flynn said with a smile as he directed Maximus around the enemies, the three wielders dispatching them quickly before they had a chance to follow them. Once they were gone, they ran through the forest the way Flynn had gone, taking out more enemies as they spawned. As they got closer to the secret passage to the hidden clearing, more enemies kept appearing, draining their energy as they continued on.
“There’s too many of them!” Aqua exclaimed as she took out a few Dusks with a Blizzaga. The young woman and Lea were both still worn out from fighting the Nobodies most of the night and had yet to take a break.
“Then just ignore the small fry and book it!” Riku shouted as he took out a Shadow in front of him and ran for the hidden entrance, Aqua and Lea right behind him as they ignored the remaining Shadows and Dusks. They made it into the clearing, the tower still there on top of the hill as the light of the rising sun cast an eerie glow on it as it peeked over the cliff side. The teen didn’t know why, but he had an uneasy feeling that something bad was going to happen. “Let’s go,” he said as they ran for the tower.
Just as they reached the base of the tower, they heard a scream. The three of them looked up and gasped when they saw someone fall from the window. Based on the cloak wrapped around their figure, it was Mother Gothel. The falling figure suddenly stopped midair and was engulfed in darkness. The trio jumped back as Mother Gothel was transformed into a large tree-like creature with four arms and an almost snake-like body, the Heartless emblem on its forehead between its large yellow eyes. The monstrous Heartless let out an ear-piercing shriek as it came after the three guardians.
===
After some time, Riku was able to deliver the killing blow on the Mother Gothel Heartless, the creature giving out one final shriek as it was engulfed in light and vanished. The trio stood there in shock, gasping with exhaustion after having fought the creature for who knows how long. Riku gasped as he looked up at the window near the top of the tower.
“Rapunzel!” he shouted as he grabbed onto some vines attached to the tower and pulled himself up, trying his best to climb the tower with the others right behind him. Aqua had used up all her magic in the fight and couldn’t summon any Aero spells to launch them to the window, so they had to make do the old-fashioned way. After some time, Riku pulled himself up onto the large window sill, sitting on the edge as he gasped for air. That was when he heard someone crying. He looked up and gasped at what he saw.
In the center of the room, Rapunzel was on the floor with Flynn in her arms, crying softly. Her hair had been cut at the nape of her neck, her now short hair a dark brown while the rest laid around her, also dark from its loss of power. Flynn was mostly limp in her arms, gripping his side tightly as he grimaced in pain. Riku saw to his horror the blood oozing past his fingers, a long bloody dagger a few feet away.
“S-stay with me, Eugene,” Rapunzel sobbed as she took his other hand and placed it against her cheek. “’F-flower, gleam and glow… Let you p-powers shine…’”
“Rapunzel…’” Flynn gasped as he opened his hand and cupped the girl’s cheek softly, his voice growing weaker. Riku could sense Aqua and Lea joining him on the window as he also heard them gasp softly.
“Y-yes?” Rapunzel sniffled, looking down at the man. He gasped a few more times before he gave her a small smile, his darkening eyes full of love.
“You… were my new dream…” Rapunzel choked on a sob as she gave him a wet smile.
“And you were mine…”
And at those words Flynn closed his eyes and gave his last breath, going completely limp in Rapunzel’s arms. The young girl’s body shook softly with her cries as she hugged him tightly. Riku heard a small sniffle and turned to see Aqua with a hand over her mouth, eyes filling with tears as her shoulders shook. He took her other hand in his own and gave it a squeeze that she returned. Lea looked over to his friends with sorrow in his eyes, wrapping an arm around them both. The three friends could hear Rapunzel sing something softly.
“’Heal what has been hurt,
Change the fate’s design,
Save what has been lost,
Bring back what once was mine,
What once was mine…’”
The room went completely silent except for Rapunzel’s pain filled sobs, large tears rolling down her cheeks and falling onto Flynn’s.
Just then, the room began to fill with a soft golden glow that grew brighter by the second. Riku looked up in confusion along with Aqua and Lea. Rapunzel soon noticed the light and looked up. Long strands of glowing golden light that bared a striking resemblance to her hair circled around the couple and the entire room, and then flowed into Flynn’s wound, forming what looked like a five-petal flower. Rapunzel watched in shock as the flower glowed for a moment longer before fading away, and that was when she noticed that the wound wasn’t bleeding anymore.
Everyone jumped when they heard a soft breath leave Flynn’s mouth, followed by a confused, “Rapunzel…?” Said girl looked down and saw Flynn blinking up at her.
“Eugene!” she gasped happily. Flynn blinked a few times before he gave her a small smirk.
“Did I ever tell you that I’ve got a thing for brunettes?”
“Eugene!” Rapunzel cried out as she wrapped her arms around him, Flynn hugging her back tightly. Riku let out the breath that he had been holding in the whole time as he visibly relaxed. Aqua let out a happy tear-filled laugh as she wrapped her arms around Riku in a warm hug, joined shortly after by a smiling Lea, making the usually stoic teen stiffen up at the unfamiliar contact. After a moment Riku wrapped his arms around his friends as they hugged each other.
===
A short time later the whole group joined together again at the base of the tower along with Maximus.
“So, you are going to return to your real home now, Rapunzel?” Riku asked the now brunette girl with a smile, said girl beaming brightly.
“Yeah. I can’t wait to finally meet my real parents after so long.”
“The role of ‘princess’ will fit you perfectly,” Aqua said, making Rapunzel giggle bashfully, toeing the grass with a bare foot.
“And the kingdom couldn’t have asked for anyone better,” Flynn said with a smile, making Rapunzel blush even more. “And I couldn’t have asked for better sidekicks!” The three wielders chuckled at that.
“Well, good thing we haven’t seen any more Heartless or Nobodies lately,” Lea added. “But, just in case they come back, keep your eyes open for them.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Flynn said with a voice full of confidence. “I won’t let her out of my sight.”
“Aw, Eugene,” Rapunzel said sweetly as she took his hand in her own.
“Eugene?” the three wielders repeated in confusion. Flynn looked to them in confusion until he chuckled.
“Oh, yeah. Flynn Rider isn’t my real name,” he explained to them, rubbing the back of his neck with a smile. “It’s actually Eugene Fitzerbert. I never told you guys before.”
“Makes sense though,” Riku said with a smile, looking up to Flynn– no, Eugene. Rapunzel then gave him a small pout.
“Hey, I thought you were only telling me your real name,” she said to him, making the young man chuckle again.
“Oh, don’t worry,” he said as he leaned towards her. “I saved plenty of Fitzherbert-y secrets, just for you.”
“What are you love-birds whispering about?” Lea said accusingly, with an almost cat-like smirk on his face. Eugene and Rapunzel looked to the redhead in embarrassed shock.
“Th-that’s none of your business!” Eugene gasped at them, his face completely red. At his reaction Riku, Aqua, and Lea couldn’t help but let their laughter flow, followed by Rapunzel and even Maximus, getting Eugene even more embarrassed. Once their laughter died down, Rapunzel smiled at them.
“Will we get the chance to see you all again?” she asked them curiously.
“Maybe one day,” Riku said with a nod. “Once I find Sora, I’ll bring him back for the festival next year.” Rapunzel smiled brightly as she ran up to Riku and hugged him tightly, making the silver haired teen freeze up in shock.
“I wish you luck on your journey,” she said softly as she continued to hug him. After a moment Riku gave her a small smile as he hugged her back.
Not long after Eugene and Rapunzel got on Maximus’ back and headed for the kingdom, the three wielders waving goodbye to them.
===
Sometime later, Riku, Aqua, and Lea were back in the gummiship, flying to the next world as a new gate opened for them. Riku set the ship for auto-pilot as the other two stretched out, yawns escaping them as they did. They really needed a break after fighting so many Heartless and Nobodies without taking a rest at all, and their next destination would take a few hours to arrive so now was their chance.
“That festival sure was a lot of fun,” Aqua said as she curled up on one of three cots set in a separate compartment below the cockpit, out within moments of her head touching the pillow as she snored softly. One of the various addons Donald and Goofy added to the ship were resting areas for when they had long trips ahead of them, or, if they needed to sleep after a lot of fighting and were low on Potions and Ethers.
“So, do you really plan on taking Sora back next year?” Lea asked the silver haired teen as they got in their own cots.
“Yeah, Sora would love it,” Riku said with a small smile as he heard Lea take in slow even breaths, falling asleep just as quickly. As Riku closed his eyes with the crown pendant in hand, he could almost imagine being back in that square with Aqua and Lea, Rapunzel and Eugene dancing at the center of the square as the music played while all their other friends danced around them.
And, next to him, an arm locked around his own, was Sora dancing away with a bright smile on his face.