Kingdom Hearts: Sea All That You Can Sea in Gamer's Gaming

The Road So Far…

Sora, a young boy from the Destiny Islands, searches for his friends Riku and Kairi after the destruction of their home. Chosen by the Keyblade to combat the Heartless, Sora is accompanied by Donald and Goofy, loyal subjects of Disney Castle in search of their king, Mickey, who is also a Keyblade wielder. The Keyblade, a weapon that is capable of locking or unlocking almost any object, is one of the only weapons able to combat the Heartless, a race of dark beings bent on stealing the hearts of any living thing, whether it be people or worlds. The Heartless are being commanded by a consortium of villains including Jafar, Hades, and Captain Hook. These villains are led by Maleficent, an evil sorceress in pursuit of power over all things. In her quest for domination, she found and decided to help Riku, feeling that the darkness in his heart was strong enough to overtake him. Sora, Donald, and Goofy used a gummi ship to travel from world to world in search of their friends. After combating the Heartless on many worlds, such as Wonderland, the Olympus Coliseum, and Agrabah, the trio set off in search of another world. Along the flight path, however, they encounter and are swallowed by a gigantic whale. Inside the whale, the group meets Geppetto, a puppet maker, who was swallowed by the giant whale Monstro while searching for his son, Pinocchio. Pinocchio, a wooden puppet brought to life by the power of the Blue Fairy, is the ward of our own chronicler, Jiminy Cricket. Jiminy, charged with being the conscience of the wooden boy, does his best to keep Pinocchio on the straight and narrow, though the boy tends to be mischievous and often gets himself into trouble. Inside Monstro, the trio also encounters Riku once more, though Riku himself has changed, and not for the better. Riku coerces Pinocchio into following him farther into the body of the great whale in an attempt to kidnap him and figure out how a puppet could have a heart. Riku, it turns out, has found Kairi. Kairi has fallen into a deep sleep as a result of having her heart taken by the Heartless. Riku is searching for ways to restore her and thinks Pinocchio may hold the key. However, as bad as Sora wishes to help Kairi, he feels in his heart that his friend has gone down a dark path and makes ready to fight him. Before the two can clash, however, a giant Heartless drops down between them. Though the trio defeats the Heartless, Riku manages to escape in the melee. With Pinocchio saved and back with Geppetto, the group is expelled from Monstro with a mighty sneeze caused by all the fighting within him. The trio returns to their home base of Traverse Town to find Geppetto and Pinocchio safe and sound with a new home. With a new High Jump ability at their disposal, the trio set off to search for their friends once more…

Now…

Sora, Donald, and Goofy spent some time exploring worlds they had already been to, hoping to strengthen themselves in preparation for their next battle. After conquering the Pegasus Cup at the Olympus Coliseum, the trio took trips through Wonderland, Agrabah, and even revisited Monstro. Using their new abilities, the trio managed to discover even more of the lost dalmatian puppies. As they finished their run through Monstro, the journal that Jiminy had been keeping revealed they had managed to find fifty-seven puppies, leaving only forty-two left to find. A trip back to Traverse Town to check on the puppies gave the trio not only a feeling of satisfaction, but rewarded them with more items from Pongo and Perdita, including a Torn Page. With a new page in hand, the trio returned to Merlin’s House to return the page to the mysterious book. Shrunken and back to the book, Sora found a new area uncovered with a tree and a swing hanging from it. Looking closely, Sora once more was sucked into the pages of the book. Entering an area with a wooden bridge, Sora spied Pooh and Piglet leaning over the railing of the bridge, looking down at the stream below. Piglet happened to notice that something was floating in their direction. Pooh wondered what it could be until the figure got close enough. Pooh recognized their old friend Eeyore and called out to him. Eeyore floated along in the water, saying hi to Pooh and asking if they could pull him out of the water. Pooh watched Eeyore float right along under the bridge. Sora, sensing an opportunity to help, ran down to the stream and jumped in, pulling Eeyore out onto land. Eeyore thanked Sora and Pooh for the assist, as if that bear even attempted to move his fat ass. Eeyore said that while he was floating, it seemed as if something was missing. Piglet, who had wandered toward the donkey’s backside, noticed that Eeyore’s tail was missing. Eeyore didn’t seem too concerned, wondering where his tail had went this time. Sora and Pooh offered to take a look around for Eeyore’s tail…and of course, here is Owl, showing up out of nowhere. Owl suggested searching for it from a high place, as that would be the quickest way to find the missing tail. Sora asked if perhaps Owl could fly up and look for them, but Owl said that his eyes weren’t what they used to be. Owl then pointed out a swing attached to a tree that overlooked the whole area and suggested taking Pooh up there. Sora guided Pooh up to the swing and sat the pudgy little bear down on it. Owl told Sora to give Pooh a push and to keep pushing right before he got to the bottom of his swing to make him go higher and higher. After a few false starts, Sora finally managed to get the swing of things…see what I did there? Pooh flew off into the sky and came crashing down on a little tent made of twigs that Rabbit was building nearby. Underneath the rubble, Pooh and Eeyore discovered Eeyore’s tail. With his tail returned, Eeyore seemed a little less morose and thanked everyone for their help. Pooh wished that they could put the Hundred Acre Wood back to the way it was as easily as they had helped Eeyore find his tail. With that, Sora returned to the book itself. The torn page became an item that taught Sora a little more about the power of time, changing Stop to Stopra. With a stronger magic in hand, Sora returned back to normal size and the crew set off in search of their next challenge.

Warping back to where they found Monstro, the trio continued along the path away from Agrabah and towards a whole new world…gee, I’m just full of it today, aren’t I? After a short trip, the group came upon a world that seemed to be contained entirely in an underwater cave. Donald told the group to prepare for landing, but Sora seemed to freak out a little, wondering where they were going to land without drowning. Donald assured Sora that with his magic, they would be just fine. The group disembarked from the gummi ship…right into the middle of the ocean! Well, I guess we should have expected that. What the trio couldn’t have expected is that, when emerging into the world, they would be completely transformed. Goofy had become a turtle, Donald had the lower body of an octopus, and Sora had become a merman. The group seemed a little taken aback by the changes, but swam around, trying to adjust. Goofy and Sora seemed to get the hang of it. Donald, on the other hand, was stuck floating upside down. While the crew adjusted to their new bodies, a mermaid came swimming through a nearby tunnel with a fish and a crab hot on her tail…well, maybe not the crab. He called out to the mermaid, telling her to slow down and revealing her name as Ariel. In an effort to catch up, the crab swam up forward, right up to Donald’s face. Both crab and…um, duck-topus screamed out. Ariel to Sebastian, the crab, that our trio didn’t look like one of “them”. Her fish buddy, Flounder, wasn’t so sure. Sora laughed nervously and asked what he meant. Ariel swam around Sora and agreed that the group did seem a little different, asking where they were from. Sora told Ariel that they were from far away and weren’t used to these waters. Sora continued to laugh nervously as Goofy and Flounder took in each other and Donald and Sebastian seemed to stare each other down. Ariel offered their help, saying Sebastian would show the group how they swam around there. Sebastian balked at the suggestion, telling Ariel that King Triton would not like it. Ariel sighed and told him not to worry. Sebastian, with the wind…er, water…taken out of his…sail…gills…hey, how to crab’s breathe anyway? Well, properly put in his place, Sebastian set about showing the group how to swim. After giving the trio a few pointers, Sebastian told them to try tagging Flounder a few times to get the feel for how to move. It took the trio a little practice, but pretty soon, they were able to keep up with Flounder with little trouble. Sebastian suggested moving on to self defense, but suddenly Ariel called out and pointed back into the tunnel that she and her friends had emerged from. A group of swimming Heartless had appeared and were making their way toward the group. Ariel swam off into another tunnel while Sebastian and Flounder hid within a nearby shell, leaving the group to do what they do. It took little time for Sora and company to adjust their combat abilities to their new underwater settings and they were able to dispatch the Heartless with little effort. After the battle, Ariel returned from the tunnel and Sora struck the shell, opening it to release the other two. Ariel told Sora that the Heartless had chased them there. It suddenly occurred to Sebastian that the Heartless may also be heading for the palace. Ariel suggested that they head back right away. Flounder seemed to worry that they would encounter more enemies on the way back, so Ariel asked the group if they would come to the palace with them and told the trio to follow the trident markers to find their way. With that, the group set off. The main Heartless enemy that the group encounter was called a Sea Neon. Shaped like a jellyfish, the Sea Neons were essentially Atlantica’s version of Shadows. They liked to attack in numbers, but rarely were much trouble for our trio of veterans. After swimming through tunnels and all around the ocean floor, picking up treasures hidden within seashells, the group finally made their way into Triton’s Palace, where Ariel’s fears were confirmed. The Heartless had made their way into the palace and were attacking. The group encountered more Sea Neons, as well as Search Ghosts and a new enemy, the Screwdiver. The trio managed to dispatch all of the enemies in the outer part of the palace and made their way to Triton’s Throne. The group swam forward into the throne room, pursued by Heartless, until a bolt of lightning blasted forth and destroyed the Heartless. An old merman sat on the throne holding a trident. Triton, perhaps? Yes, it is of course the old king of the ocean and father of Ariel. Triton proclaimed that as long as he had his trident, he would not tolerate the Heartless to enter his throne room. Ariel swam up to her father, but shrunk back as the old merman wondered out loud when she would listen to him when he told her not to leave the palace as it was dangerous. Ariel looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn’t get out the words. Triton told her that strange creatures lay outside the palace as he took in the sight of our trio. Sebastian formally introduced Triton to the group. Triton asked who the group was. Ariel told him that they had helped fight off the Heartless. Triton, however, was not entirely convinced that they could trust these outsiders. Sora told the ruler that they were from an ocean very far away and then Goofy opened his big mouth, telling Triton that they were searching for the Keyhole. Ariel perked right up, asking what the Keyhole was. Triton was quick to kill the conversation, however, insisting that there was no such thing in Atlantica. Ariel pleaded with her father, but Triton cut her off, telling her to silence and that she was not to leave the palace. Ariel looked defiant, but swam off with the trio following closely behind. Triton, meanwhile, slumped, wondering if, perhaps, he was being too strict. After all, he was just concerned for his daughter’s safety. Sebastian understood his king’s concern, but admitted he was curious about the Keyhole. Triton got a stern look on his face, telling Sebastian that the Keyhole did not concern him before asking if he had something to report. Sebastian reported that the Heartless seemed to be coming from Ursula’s Grotto. Triton exploded, having confirmed his suspicions that the Heartless were the sea witch’s doing. Triton realized that exiling her from the palace had taught her nothing, then asked Sebastian why he had not kept Ariel away from the danger as he had commanded the crab. Sebastian stuttered and drew back from the mighty king.

Back with the group, Ariel met with the trio outside of the palace. She told them to meet her in her grotto as she had something to show them. Inside Ariel’s Grotto, Ariel showed the trio all of the neat stuff that she had collected from the ocean that had come from dry land. There were books and bells, chests and candle holders, gizmos and gadgets of all kinds. Ariel told the trio that she collected all these things because she wished to travel to other worlds. Sora could sympathize with such a desire as he used to feel the same. Ariel seemed confused that it was only used to, but Sora quickly caught himself, saying he still did. Ariel then suggested that they look for that Keyhole the trio had mentioned in the palace. Sora reminded her what her father had said, but Ariel grunted, saying her father treated her like a little girl. She sighed, saying that her father just didn’t understand her desire. The group swam out of Ariel’s Grotto. However, lingering above was an evil looking eel…or two. In another part of Atlantica, a woman spied on Ariel and Sora, proclaiming that they would never find the Keyhole. However, she thought that Ariel may prove useful and she had the Heartless on her side also. The giant octopus woman laughed and proclaimed to herself that Triton’s day was coming. Outside of Ariel’s Grotto, the group was attacked by more Heartless, including a new one, called the Sheltering Zone. It looked just like a giant Sea Neon and would break up into a group of them if attacked. The group dispatched a few groups of Heartless, making their way back to the Undersea Cavern area. Here, the group found a dolphin swimming around and beckoning them to follow him. Sora grabbed ahold of the dolphin’s fin and was taken for a ride through some undersea currents to an area that had been previously inaccessible. Exiting out of a tunnel, the group came upon a sunken ship. Sora and group made their way into the sunken ship. As they made their way to a nearby treasure chest, however, they were attacked by a giant shark! The shark was unable to get inside the ship, but the group knew they would have to deal with it to escape. Before exiting the ship, though, Sora opened the chest and found what looked to be a crystal version of Triton’s trident. With the trident in…fin, I guess…the trio exited the ship to face off against their sharky foe. As vicious as he looked, the shark proved to be a less than worthy foe for the experience of the group. With the crystal trident, the group exited out through a tunnel in the lower part of the undersea cave. The group found a blocked water geyser in the cave they entered. Upon hitting the geyser, water sprayed forth and knocked a chest out of a hole it was blocking in the ocean floor. Swimming up through the hole, the group found themselves right back outside Ariel’s Grotto. After retrieving the treasure from the chest, the group made their way back inside the grotto. Back inside the grotto, Sora placed the crystal trident into a recess in the cave wall that was shaped like the trident itself. The group was rewarding themselves for a job well done when, from behind, Triton called out, angry that Ariel had disobeyed him once more. However, his attention quickly turned to the crystal trident the group had found. After staring at it, wide-eyed, Triton raised his trident and destroyed it’s crystal doppelganger. Ariel asked how he could do such a thing and swam away, upset at her father. After Ariel left, Triton turned on the trio. He knew that they were not from another ocean, but from another world. The group was shocked and then were shocked further still when Triton said that Sora must be the Keybearer. Sora asked how he knew. Triton ignored the question and told the trio that they might fool his daughter, but they could not fool him. Triton then chided Sora, reminding him that, as a Keybearer, he was not supposed to meddle in the affairs of other worlds. Sora tried to defend himself, but Triton told him he had broken his one guiding principle by bringing ruin and shattering the peace of his world. Goofy tried to defend Sora, but Triton would have none of it. He thanked Sora for saving his daughter, but told him there was no room in his ocean for him or his keyblade as he swam away. Meanwhile, in another grotto, Ariel had her face covered with her arms and was crying. From behind her, the two evil looking eels appeared. They saw that Ariel suffered a deep sorrow and wondered if there was something they could do. Ah, but perhaps Ariel could help them and, in return, perhaps someone would be able to help her. Yes indeed, Ursula could help Ariel. The eels swam around each other and merged into a cloud of smoke, from which Ursula, the sea witch, emerged. Ariel wanted to make a wish and Ursula told her that helping others is what she lived for. Pfft, yeah right. Sadly, Ariel bought into her bull....well, you get the idea. Ursula surmised that Ariel wished to travel to other worlds and told Ariel that her new friends were from another world, but they had special help: the Keyblade. Ariel seemed down, but Ursula told her that she had something special too and leaned close to make a deal with her, but the scene switched back to the trio before Ursula could reveal her plan.

Back in Ariel’s Grotto, Flounder told the group that he wanted to look for Ariel, but he was kind of scared. The trio told Flounder not to worry and that they would find her. Sora, Donald, and Goofy then set off to find the wayward princess. They decided to check the palace first. As the group made their way in the direction of the palace, the scene shifts to Ariel, who has already arrived at her father’s throne room. Ursula told Ariel that she believed the Keyhole was somewhere inside the palace. Ursula told her that if she would help Ursula get into the palace, Ursula would help her get to new worlds. Back at the entrance to the palace, the trio arrived and fought through more Heartless, including a new Heartless known as the Aquatank. This Heartless was carried by a group of Screwdivers and would not attack unless provoked. But you can bet your ass we are going to provoke it. With the Heartless dispatched, the trio made their way to Triton’s Throne. Inside the throne room, Ursula raised Triton’s trident in triumph. Say that eight times fast. Ursula thanked Ariel for her help, but Ariel cried out that she hadn’t wanted this. Ursula asked her why not. Was she not tired of following her daddy’s orders? Then Ursula remembered her promise to Ariel and told her she would send her to a new world…the dark world of the Heartless! The sea witch’s plans could not be completed, however, because, as her eel minions told her, the keyhole was not inside the throne room. Ursula seemed about to blow her top, but Sora and crew appeared from behind. Ursula told him that he was a little late and then disappeared with the trident. Ariel looked distraught as Triton slumped back into his throne. Triton told Ariel that they must get the trident back. Sora made to leave, but Ariel stopped him and told the trio that she was going with them. Oh, and Sebastian agreed to come too. Maybe he can distract the eels with yummy crab morsels or something. I don’t know. In any case, as they made to leave, Triton called out, telling the group that Ursula drew power from her cauldron and that the only way to defeat her was to strike her cauldron with magic. With that advice, the group took off in search of Ursula’s hidden headquarters, which Triton suggest might be in the direction of the sunken ship as that was where Ursula always seemed to come from. Fighting through waves of Heartless, the group made their way back to the Sunken Ship. As they swam around, they found a rock with a strange symbol on it and, nearby, another odd looking rock that stood out from the wall, but was out of reach of the group. Sebastian offered his help and pressed the rock in. The wall with the strange symbol on it began to shake and lowered itself into the ocean floor, revealing a new passage. The group struck up their courage and swam inside.

The trio made their way through the Den of Tides and into the Tidal Abyss, finally emerging into Ursula’s Lair. The fat, purple sea witch octopus thing was there waiting for them. Donald and Sebastian tried tough talking, but one mean look from Ursula and the pair of them lost their swagger. Ursula cast something into the cauldron in the middle of the room and the fight was on. Remembering Triton’s advice about the cauldron, Sora and Donald focused a series of magic attacks on the cauldron itself. After the concentrated attack of magic on the cauldron, Ursula’s magic turned back on her, knocking her silly. The trio took it as their cue to attack the sea witch directly. Though her eels, Flotsam and Jetsam, tried to help their mistress, they too were beaten mercilessly. When Ursula came to, Sora and Donald refocused their attacks back on the cauldron. After a few back and forth exchanges, first attacking the cauldron, then attacking Ursula, the sea witch finally fell in defeat. Flotsam and Jetsam disappeared into an explosion of green and black smoke, stunning Ursula. Ursula insisted that they would pay for defeating her and escaped through a nearby hole. Ariel told Sora that they needed to go ahead and get the trident back to her father. The group learned the Mermaid Kick ability, which would allow them to travel against undersea currents. The group made their way back through the caves, past the sunken ship, all the way back to Triton’s Throne. Triton thanked the trio for their help and complemented their new swimming ability. With that out of the way, the group headed next to the Calm Depths and swam against the current to a tunnel across from the one the dolphin had brought them to earlier that had led to the Sunken Ship. The trio entered the new area which brought them deep into the middle of the ocean. There, Ursula awaited the group, calling them fools and saying that she now ruled the seas as she still had Triton’s trident in hand. With a twist and a whirl, Ursula cast a spell which raised a great black murk from the bottom of the ocean and grew herself to giant size so that Sora was half the size of her eyeball. Jeez, that sucks. Giant ugly purple sea witch-topus Ursula attacked the group with balls of lightning and snapped her teeth at them when they got too close. Donald began attacking with spells while Sora and Goofy did their best to wear down the sea bi-…well, wear Ursula down physically. Sora and Goofy pressed the attack, with Sora healing himself as needed, and Donald did his best to support the group from afar. Finally, after enduring thunder and bubble blasts as well as Ursula trying to eat them for supper, the group defeated the evil sea witch. Ursula collapsed and was sucked down into the murky depths, leaving behind Triton’s trident…finally. The group returned the trident to Triton, with Ariel apologizing for her behavior. Sora asked the king not to be angry with his daughter. Triton, surprisingly, took the blame upon himself. He reasoned that if he had just let his daughter follow her heart, she would never have followed Ursula. He said that he never should have lost his temper and destroyed the crystal trident. Goofy chimed in, asking why he had destroyed it. Triton admitted that the crystal had held the power to reveal the Keyhole and that as dangerous as the Keyhole was, he had needed to keep them all away from it at any cost. With the location of the Keyhole revealed, Triton had one last request: that Sora seal the Keyhole. Triton told the group that his trident also had the power to reveal the Keyhole. Sora agreed immediately, telling the ruler that sealing the Keyhole had been their intention all along. With Triton’s trust, he revealed that the Keyhole was in Ariel’s Grotto, bequeathing the group with more knowledge of lightning, uprgrading the Thunder spell to Thundara, and handed over Ansem Report 3. Before leaving the palace, Sora asked Jiminy to show him this new report. In it, Ansem queried whether the shadows that crawled beneath the castle were people who had lost their hearts, incarnations of darkness, or something else entirely. The only thing he had learned for sure was that the shadows were completely devoid of emotion. Even as he was writing, the shadows were multiplying below ground. As he noticed they were those who lacked hearts, Ansem dubbed the creatures Heartless. With yet another piece of the puzzle in place, Sora and company made their way to Ariel’s Grotto. Inside the grotto, Ariel used the power of the trident to reveal the Keyhole. Sora raised the Keyblade and locked away the Heart of Atlantica, protecting Atlantica from the Heartless once more. With the Keyhole shut, Ariel asked Sora what his world was like. Sora immediately apologized for lying to Ariel about being from another ocean. Ariel forgave him. After all, she figured, if they could travel to other worlds, maybe she could too. Ariel promised that someday, she would figure out how to visit these other worlds. Sebastian moaned from the entranceway, saying that if she did figure it out, to just leave him out of it. With their adventures in Atlantica complete, Ariel gave Sora an item from her collection: a keychain known as the Crabclaw, which Sora equipped. Thanking Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian, the trio returned to the shell in Triton’s palace where they were able to board the gummi ship and took off once more…