CHAPTER 6

Sora's POV

I groaned as I sat up from my bed, only to find out... it wasn't a dream. I sighed in dismay. I heard Piri yelp in pain and looked towards the direction it came from.

"Ow, Yuffie..." she complained as a girl wrapped up her shoulder.

"You definitely over did it, again as usual, Squall!" she said to a man and he growled.

"For the last time, it's Leon." Piri giggled at this and finally looked at me.

"Sora!" she got up and hugged me. Her shoulder popped, "OOUCH!"

"I told you not to move," Yuffie said, "Now get back over here!"

Piri rolled her eyes and smiled, " 'Kay!"

As she rewrapped her, I saw the oversized key, along with Piri's keyblade and necklace, leaning against the wall next to Leon. "The keyblade..."

"We had to get the heartless off of us," she winced, "Yuffie! Too tight!"

"Wait, what?" I asked and Piri sadly looked to the ground.

"It turns out that how they were tracking you and your friend," Yuffie informed, who finish helping with her shoulder wrap.

"Good thing this isn't my shoulder I am using to fight with," Piri smiled and stood up.

"It's the only way to conceal your hearts from them. But it won't work for long." He said and Piri gave him a dirty look.

"I really don't like you!" she mumbled.

"What makes you think I like you, either?" she crossed arms and tapped her foot, looking away. He hmphed at this, "It's still hard to believe that you are the chosen princess, of all people." he said while picking up the necklace. Wait a second...

"WHAT? PIRI'S A PRINCESS!?" I shouted and they hushed me. I covered my mouth.

"Yeah, it's hard to believe, but nonetheless..." the necklace disappeared and reappeared around her neck. the two keyblades did the same and she handed me mine.

"Would you both shut it! I don't like this as much as you two do."

"How come you don't want to be a princess?" Yuffie asked.

"I'm not that 'princess' material, at all!" I sighed at this.

"Sure... but you are more responsible than I am! Plus, that's really cool."

"I guess," she frowned, "I just wanted a normal life!"

After an eerie silence, Leon started talking about the heartless, how there's darkness in every heart, and this guy named Ansem. I looked at Piri and a tear ran down her face.

"Grandpa Ice Cream..." she whispered, almost where I couldn't hear her.

"Piri?" she snapped out of her daze and shook her head.

"It's nothing." she smiled, "So, how did you know it was me?"

"The power you possess. Have you seen anyone's memories?" Yuffie asked.

"Well, I haven't seen yours or Leon's, but I've seen some of my friends'." I tilted my head.

"What kind of princess are you?" I asked.

"The princess of memory." my mouth formed an 'O'.

"It is said that the princess has a balanced heart, meaning she has great power." Leon said, "Where you can create memories, as well as destroy them."

"If you destroyed someone's memories, that would also mean you would destroy their heart." Yuffie added, "Does that mean you can create hearts if you create memories?"

"Pick and choose, I guess..." Piri said, "But, everytime I do see other people's memories, I get a headache." she growled, "I don't wanna be a princess with this much power.

"Tough luck," Leon leaned against the wall, " You clearly have it."

Piri jumped at him but Yuffie held her back, "Listen here, you bloody bastard! I lost my home to the darkness, two times! I don't need your shit right now!"

I gasped, "Wait, what happened to our home, our island?" Piri stopped and glared at the ground. "But what about Riku and Kairi?!"

"Riku..." Piri waited to say something but something else was holding her back.

"Kairi..." I remember I did see her... right before she went through me.

"You know what, I don't know." Leon said and Piri rolled her eyes.

"Exactly how would you know?" Leon glared at her, "That glare doesn't scare me."

"Yuffie, Let's go meet with Aerith. There are-"

"Leon!" Yuffie pointed at heartless that were in the room.

"Yuffie, go!" Leon shouted and she left the room, "Sora, Princess, let's go!" I seen Piri's face. A face that said, 'yuck!' I think she really didn't want to believe that she was one.

We followed Leon out the window to the third district.

khkhkh

Riku's POV

The sound of rushing water is what my consciousness flew back to me. I opened my eyes to see walls of water rushing upward. I got to my feet, only to feel pressure on my body.

"Where am I?" I looked around, I was in another world. Then I remembered Piri's face. Was it worth it? Breaking her heart for this? And what about our friends where are they?

"Sora! Kairi!" I gulped and began to feel more guilt in my heart, "PIRI, I'M SORRY! CAN YOU PLEASE ANSWER?!" No response. Was I the only one who made it of the the islands? If so, they must have ended somewhere else. How was I going to find them?

khkhkh

Piri's POV

Me and Sora fought our way through til we came to the third district. I heard some kind of noise followed by yelling. I looked up and saw two people falling towards us.

"Sora, look out!" I yelled. He looked up and we tried to get out of the way but they fall on us. I managed to get a better look upon who landed on us.

"The keys!" the duck said.

"I feel the power coming from the necklace that girl she has!" the dog said.

"The princess!" they said in unison and the ground shook violently. Slabs of stone blocked all the exits. Purple and black armored body parts and assembled themselves into a giant heartless. Me and Sora attacked the hands while the dog and duck attacked the feet. When those were out of the way, all of us attacked the torso. From the neck area, a heart emerged and disappeared into the sky. After everything settled down, the duck explained why they were in town.

"You were looking for me and Sora?" I asked and they nodded.

"They, too, have been seeking the wielder and the princess." Leon told us.

"Hey, why don't you to come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel." the dog suggested.

Sora mumbled, "I wonder if we'd be able to find Riku and Kairi..." Sora said and I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It would be possible," I held out my wayfinder, "We might even find my sister, too!"

"Yeah, I guess..." I frowned at this.

"But you two can't come looking like that, understood? No frowning and no sad face, okay?" the duck said.

"Yeah, you got look funny like us!" the dog said.

"This boat runs on happy faces!"

My frown softened and I sweetly smiled, "Sounds good to me!" I looked at Sora. He was still sad. "Sora, if I am happy, how come you're not-"

He surprised me with a silly grin and crossed his eyes. I snickered at this.

"Nevermind..." We all laughed at him.

"That's one funny face!" the dog said, laughing.

"Come on, Sora, can we go with them?" I giggled, "It sounds like it would be fun!"

He grinned and nodded, "Alright, we'll go with you guys!"

"Donald Duck," he said.

"Name's Goofy," the dog said.

"I'm Sora."

"Piri, but you guys can call me Pi since we are friends, right?" I put my hand in the middle.

"Right!" they said in unison and put their hands in.

"All for one and one for all!" Goofy said.

We headed out to the ship- Donald called the Gummi Ship- but Sora stopped me.

"Piri, what did you mean by you lost your home twice?" he asked.

"I lost my world, The Land of Departure, then Destiny Islands."

"The Land of Departure..." he repeated, "Wait, so you finally remembered? Awesome, sis!" I sadly smiled at this.

"Well, I remembered my friends Terra and Ventus, too. As well as Master Eraqus. but... not the rest of my family."

Sora hugged me, "I'm sorry..."

I sighed and pulled away, putting up a ghost of a smile, "I'll remember them... sooner or later."

khkhkh

No one's POV

Meanwhile...

The four new friends were unaware that they were being watched. A small projection of the keyblade wielders and the king's friends appeared.

"These little squirts took down that heartless! Who'd have thought it?" one said.

"Such power is the two keys. The children's strength is not their own." another said.

"Why don't we turn them into a heartless? That'll settle things quickly enough!" the third said.

"And the brats' friends are the king's lackeys. Swoggle me eyes, they're all bilage rats by the looks of them." a fourth said.

"You're no prize yourself." the last one said, mocking the fourth.

"Shut up!"

"Enough," all of them turned to their leader, "The keyblade has chosen him. Will it be him who will conquer the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow him?" she focused closer on the princess. She gasped at the resemblance of a certain keyblade master, "This girl... is Aqua's sister."

"She's alive?" the first one asked and the leader nodded.

"Yes, the power she contains is excessive." she evily smiled. "She might be useful to us, as well.