Takeo: A Fractured Heart (Wattys 2019)

Chapter 9: Agrabah

               Takeo and Emileigh's Gummi Ship came out of Warp Drive mode, and before them, was a desert world. Takeo let out a loud sigh.

               "Really? More sand and heat?" groaned Takeo, lowering his head and setting it on the control panel.

               Emileigh let out a laugh, "What, you prefer ice and snow?"

               Takeo looked up at Emileigh, and groaned again, "I'm not saying that. I've never even been anywhere else other than Traverse Town."

               A confused look came across Emileigh's face. She had so many questions for Takeo, but decided to keep them to herself, as she knew something was going on with Takeo personally.

               They turned their attention back to the world, and brought the Gummi Ship in to land. They put it down in the middle of a dune, as it was near was seemed to be the only city for miles and miles.

               Emileigh and Takeo hopped out of the Gummi Ship, and looked towards the city. There was a large building in the middle of the city that shined brightly, reflecting the scorching sun to every corner of the world. 

               Emileigh looked over to Takeo, "Are you sure we should be here? It looks like they don't want anyone in that city." said Emileigh, pointing towards the gate that led into the city.

               The gate was guarded by several large men who were carrying swords, and patrolling around the gate area. Some of them looked a little spooked, while there were a few who looked just as emotionless as Takeo. Did something happen? Was it the Heartless, or was something else happening in this world? Whatever the cause of their fear may be, Takeo and Emileigh were here to look for clues leading to the man in the black coat. 

               Takeo started to walk off towards the gate, and Emileigh did a quick jog to catch up to him. "Are you really sure you want to do this? We could find a different way around." 

               Takeo shook his head in disagreement, "We need to find out why those guards look so spooked. If it's the Heartless, then we need to try and help get them out of this world. If it's something else, then we'll just ignore it." he said, never breaking the line of sight he had on the gate. 

               Emileigh let out a worried sigh. She noticed Takeo's attitude had changed drastically since they left Olympus Coliseum. "Is that man in the black coat the cause of his attitude change?", Emileigh wondered to herself. Whatever the cause was, she decided she would keep an eye on him to see if certain things would make him act different.

               Takeo and Emileigh made it to the gate, and a guard shouted at them, "Hey! You two! Stop right there, the city is closed!" he said, waving around his sword. Takeo and Emileigh looked at each other, then back at the guard.

               "The city is closed? What's going on?" asked Emileigh, looking around for danger.

               "The Palace was attacked a couple days ago by these strange dark creatures that appeared out of nowhere." said one of the guards that was cowering in the back. The guard that was in front looked back in frustration, then let out a sigh as he turned back around.

              "He's right. Since those creatures attacked, the city has been closed down tight, and we have orders to not open the gates until we are certain that they are not a problem anymore." said the guard that had originally shouted at Takeo and Emileigh.

               "We could try and help you with your problem." said Takeo. The guard chuckled in amusement.

               "You two? Help us? Ha! What do you guys have that we don't?" asked the guard, mocking the two. 

               "Sir! Look over there!" shouted one of the guards that was near the wall. He pointed off to the right of Takeo and Emileigh. There was a dark spot in the sand where several Purebloods had emerged. Takeo and Emileigh looked at each other, and nodded their heads at the same time, as they had the same idea.

              Takeo and Emileigh held their right hands out in front of them, and their Keyblades appeared in their hands. The guards gasped in amazement, and backed off to let the two deal with the Heartless.

              The two leapt towards the Purebloods, and started to swing at anything that looked like a Heartless. They very quickly dispatched the Purebloods that had appeared, as they were the weakest of the Heartless. But the black spot on the ground was still there, despite all of the Heartless being defeated.

               "Look out behind you!" shouted one of the guards by the wall. Takeo and Emileigh turned around, and they saw more Heartless that had grown up out of the ground. These Heartless were different from the ones they had just fought. These ones had armor on, and held their arms out to their sides as they sloped in every different direction.

               These Heartless were also ones that appeared in Takeo's vision back in Traverse Town. That felt like so long ago now. But these Heartless were not only different because they had armor on, but because they had some sort of emblem on their chest area. It was a Heart symbol with a sort of X through it. This caught Takeo off guard, but not enough to affect his confidence in fighting.

               Takeo swung at the Heartless, making them fade away in just a few swings. But something different happened after they were defeated. Instead of just dissipating into smoke, the Heartless actually released a heart into the air, which floated up and up until Takeo and Emiliegh couldn't see it anymore.

               "What is that?" said Takeo, staring at the heart float into the air. Emileigh walked up beside him, also watching the heart.

               "You just released a heart, and led it to Kingdom Hearts. It was trapped inside that Heartless, and by defeating it, you restored a small piece of light." Emileigh explained. Takeo had a confused look come over his face, and then shook his head. One of the guards walked up behind them.

               "You guys look like you can handle yourselves pretty well. Maybe you can help us after all." the guard said, admitting that they could handled the Heartless better than the guards. He motioned for them to follow him, and he led them through the gates.

               The guard led them to a large palace. It looked fit for a king, so they assumed that whoever lived inside of it would tell them what they need to do.

               Once at the doors of the palace, the guard stopped and turned to face Takeo and Emileigh, "You two wait here. I'm going to go and get someone." The guard walked away, and disappeared into the Palace. Emileigh and Takeo looked at each other, both of them slightly worried about the situation in Agrabah.

               They heard footsteps approaching, so they fixed their posture, straightening their backs and putting their hands to their sides. A woman in an almost teal looking outfit stepped out. She had a tiara on, and a separation in her clothing on the stomach.

               "Hello there. My name is Jasmine. I was told you could help?" asked Jasmine witha smile on her face. Takeo and Emileigh looked towards each other, then back at Jasmine. They had a lot of storytelling to do.