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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn	By : RotSeele Category: Kingdom Hearts > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3168 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Fifty-Two - Atlantica

The palace was incredibly clean for being under water. Kaoru noticed that first before he noticed that the stone had been carefully carved into intricate designs and fanciful images that could and would last under the harsh environment it was in. After they had been given something to eat and were allowed to rest and relax for a minute without the constant guard, the king, whose name was Triton, allowed the two of them to explore the palace under the condition that they came when he summoned them and that they didn’t wander where they shouldn’t. And since there seemed to be guards wherever they shouldn’t go, it was pretty easy for them to keep to where they should be. Which was how they ended up in a long hallway that seemed more like an art gallery than a normal part of the palace.
There were no tapestries as he understood them, but there were weavings made out of seaweed, dyed different colors just like a normal tapestry would be. Each one Kaoru saw seemed to tell a story of some kind, from the inception of the kingdom of Atlantica to portraits of the late queen and King and all the princesses. Two caught Kaoru’s eye in particular. One was a portrait of a red-headed girl with a joyous, adventurous smile about sixteen years of age, and the other was of the same girl but older, standing on a beach with a human male with black hair and blue eyes, and a little girl about twelve or so, who shared the man’s coloring but the woman’s beauty. It wasn’t lost on Kaoru that the mermaid in the one painting was the same woman standing on that beach.
“She became human?” Kai questioned, studying the same two paintings.
“Looks that way.” Kaoru replied.
“That’s Ariel.”
The two of them turned to see a small yellow and blue-striped fish behind them. The fish swam a little closer, as if he was shy about being seen talking to the two strangers, but also happy at being given the unlooked-for chance to talk about someone important to him.
“Who’s Ariel?” Kaoru asked at the same time Kai said, “Who’re you?”
“I’m Flounder!” the fish said gaily, his voice still holding a hint of boyishness but right on the cusp of being an adult. “And Ariel is my best friend. Of course, she doesn’t live here anymore, but I can go see her whenever I want.”
“Was she a princess?” Kaoru asked Flounder.
“She was the youngest princess. But she’s queen now.” Flounder swam closer to the portrait and pointed at the dark-haired man. “That’s her husband, Eric, and that’s their daughter, Melody.”
“Flounder, Triton said that he’d never expected to see Keyblades here again. Was someone here before?”
The fish turned to look at Kaoru and Kai. He rubbed his fins together, a completely human gesture in its nervousness. “Sora was here before, a long time ago. But he hasn’t come here to Atlantica in the times he’s visited since Ariel got married and left to live on the surface.”
Kaoru looked at Kai before returning his attention to Flounder. “Sora visits here?”
“Well, he visits Ariel. He hasn’t come around lately, though. I think the last time he was here was just after Morgana was imprisoned.”
“Who’s Morgana?”
“That,” came King Triton’s voice from the doorway of the hall, “is what we’re going to discuss.”
Kaoru and Kai looked at each other and then down at the king. Triton was staring at them both, pointedly ignoring Flounder it seemed. The two boys followed the king out of the hall and through the palace until they reached the throne room. Triton seated himself on the throne on a high dais, leaving Kaoru and Kai floating below him on the floor. Around them were armored guards and several court officials, including Flounder and an elderly red lobster that sat by the king’s right hand. There were others as well, those who weren’t court officials but obviously important enough to be part of the proceedings.
Triton held out his hand and one of those non-official-important-looking mermaids swam over quickly and handed him a rolled up scroll. She bowed and departed, returning to her original position. Triton read the scroll, then set it aside and steepled his fingers as he leveled his icy blue gaze on Kaoru and Kai.
“I would ask that you forgive me for your treatment,” Triton began. “When I received word that three strangers were inspecting Morgana’s prison, I immediately dispatched my forces to intercede however they may. I did not realize you two were Keyblade wielders. I believed that you and your friend were there to help those men and Heartless steal that iceberg, not stop it.”
“Our friend, her name is Rinally, she went with the iceberg to see what those men wanted to do with it.” Kaoru said. “She’s alone on the surface, and we don’t know what’s happened to her.”
Triton smiled and it looked like it hurt him to do so. “That’s easily answered. It seems your friend has met my granddaughter and is safe within the palace. It seems she has helped put an end to a collector of strange and magical things, and she’s been trying to discover the whereabouts of the sailors and ship that had taken her and Morgana in the first place.”
Kaoru let out a breath of relief and Kai relaxed as well. Kai pointed to the missive. “Is that from her?”
“It is from my daughter, Ariel, stating the events as she knows them. Your friend Rinally also told her about a mysterious figure named Lorne. Does that name mean anything to you?”
Kaoru shook his head. He looked at Kai. “Lorne has to be part of the Brotherhood.”
“He’s got to be why those jelly-pus Heartless were there helping those guys take the iceberg. They were Brotherhood creations, not real Heartless.”
“The Brotherhood?” Triton asked.
Kaoru looked at the king and began to speak of the adventures he and his friends had had up until their arrival to Atlantica. He told the king of the Brotherhood, their goals, their designs, everything that he and Kai and Rinally had discovered. He finished by saying, “If Lorne is part of the Brotherhood, then it can’t be for anything good that he’s taken Morgana. Even if he isn’t, there’s still a chance someone from the Brotherhood his behind this.”
“When we arrived here, I sensed a powerful Darkness.” Kai said. “We followed it there, to that iceberg. I don’t think Morgana is dead, but whatever magic bound her keeps her that way. If we can find her before Lorne or whoever manages to break that enchantment, we can put her somewhere no one will ever be able to find her again, and we can deal with Lorne.”
Triton was silent for a long while. He was staring off into the distance, stroking his beard. No one dared to speak while the king thought on the words stated by the Keyblade wielders, and no one dared to even move, as if the motion would cause the king to lose his concentration. Kaoru and Kai glanced at each other, wondering what was about to happen. Then Triton shifted, drawing his golden trident across his lap. He stroked the prongs of the weapon absently, his face a severe frown.
“There are places in this ocean where my people are forbidden to go.” Triton said, his voice low. “Places with deep trenches that contain nightmarish things. If you can retrieve Morgana before she can be freed, then one of these places will be a better prison for her. As for this Lorne... I fear only you and your Keyblades will be able to deal with him.”
“We came to this world for a reason,” Kaoru said, “and if the reason is to deal with him, then we’ll do it. We just need your help to reach our friend Rinally and the kingdom on the surface.”
Triton shifted to lean close to the red lobster, and the two spent some time whispering to one another. Then the king sat straight in his throne and stroked his beard a few times. Then he said, “What were your names?”
“Kaoru.”
“Kai.”
Triton nodded. “Kaoru, Kai, I will offer you my aid as I can. I will have my people prepare a proper prison for Morgana where no human, whether from this world or outside, will be able to find or reach her. And I will ensure that her Darkness will not be able to reach out to anyone, either. Kai, I would like your help with that, seeing as you seem to be sensitive to the Darkness.”
Kai nodded. “I’ll help. After we solve the problem we’re facing now.”
Triton made an agreeing noise and rose from the throne. Everyone snapped to attention as the king moved down from his throne to and moved to stand before Kaoru and Kai. He put a hand on each of their shoulders and gave them a tight squeeze. “I’m counting on you two the same way I counted on Sora once upon a time. He helped my daughter twice. I’m asking the two of you to help her now, and my granddaughter. I’ve had enough of this war between Light and Darkness, and I want to keep both my kingdom and the surface kingdom safe.”
Kaoru looked up at Triton and smiled. “Don’t worry. We’re here to keep everyone safe. We’re going to get to the bottom of this, and we’re going to make sure nothing like this can happen again.”
Triton nodded and released them. He turned to a guard then and gestured. “Take them to the seahorses. Make sure they reach my daughter safely.”
The guard bowed deeply to his king and then gestured for Kaoru and Kai to follow him. They went, and Kaoru glanced over his shoulder toward Triton. It struck him then that the king of Atlantica was quite old, and that the power he’d used to incapacitate Kaoru had taken a lot from the merman. Triton stared after them, his expression resigned but hopeful, the kind of expression a man wore after he’d experienced something like this far too many times before and hoped that he would never experience it again.
The guard led them through the palace to what seemed to be the stables. Within the building was a collection of seahorses, each one far larger than the ones Kaoru was used to. They actually looked like horses, except that they didn’t have legs. One, a lilac and grey creature, stuck its head out of its stall and stared at the passing three with hazy sea-glass green eyes. Kaoru stared back, unable to help it. Kai pointedly ignored the creature and continued to follow the guard into the stables.
The guard spoke quietly with several of the stablehands there, and then Kaoru and Kai were embroiled in a flurry of movement. The stablehands pulled out a pair of seahorses that favored each other in coloring and began to put tack on them. As they did that, several more guards appeared and, with their original guide, began to saddle more of the seahorses. Without a word, the stablehands gave the reins of the two mounts to Kaoru and Kai, then disappeared back into the stable. One of the guards quietly instructed the two boys how to mount their seahorses and how to sit in the saddle and grip the reins, then mounted her own seahorse and moved the creature into position beside Kaoru. The other guards took up positions beside Kai, and before and behind them. Kaoru gripped his mount’s reins tightly as the leader gave the order to move out, and the seahorse he was one lurched forward, racing with its brothers out of the stable, the palace, and Atlantica entirely.
In the open water, they moved speedily, but it wasn’t fast enough for Kaoru’s liking. Still, he didn’t complain. He trusted Triton’s guards to get them to Rinally without much incident. It still was going to take some time for them to reach the kingdom on the surface, and Kaoru hoped that Rinally would be okay on her own for a little while longer.
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn