Kingdom Hearts: Scattered Memories

Chapter 12

(Author's note at the end of the chapter.)

Everyone cleared the area as countless Soldier Heartless turned their focus on you and Oswald. "You ready?" Oswald asked. "I guess so." You said. Suddenly, Hector stood next to you, ready to fight. "Hector, what are you doing? You should be somewhere safe!" You said. Hector shook his head. "I'm not gonna let you fight these things on your own, even if you have Oswald with you. Let me help." Hector said. You sighed. "Fine. Just be careful."

You quickly ran towards the closest Heartless and started to attack. Oswald and Hector went to do the same. You kept knocking down the Heartless one by one, starting to get used to fighting them off. You turned to Hector and saw that a Soldier Heartless was about to attack him from behind. "Watch out!" You shouted as you threw your Keyblade. Hector quickly got out of the way as your Keyblade took down the Heartless. "Thanks, kid!" Hector thanked before continuing the fight. Oswald cast lightning on the rest of the Heartless, ending the fight.

"We sure took care of them more quickly now that we have an extra hand." Oswald said, referring to Hector. "But now we have another problem. Miguel is now out there in this big city all by himself." You said. "But we know where he'll be going. He'll be at Ernesto's party." Hector said as he pointed to a giant tower that was brightly lit. "Great! Let's get going." Oswald said. "Well, it's not exactly easy to get in. You need an invitation to get in, and the whole point of this contest was to win an invitation." Hector explained. "Which we didn't win..." You said. "So, what's the plan?" Oswald asked. "I think I have an idea. Follow me." Hector said before running off, you and Oswald following after him.

Hector guided the two of you through shortcuts and back alleys, thankfully without any Heartless appearing. It took a while, but the three of you made it to a warehouse where music could be faintly heard inside. Hector turned to Oswald. "Alright. I need you to sneak inside to the top floor and take a Frida Kahlo costume. Make sure to get the fake unibrow and wig. I'm sure Ceci won't notice one missing." Hector said. Oswald saluted before entering the building. "Now we wait here until Oswald gets back and then I'll explain my plan." Hector said as he sat on a nearby crate. You sat on a crate across from him.

Music could be heard in the distance before you broke the silence. "So... you were talking about blessings and being forgotten earlier. Can you explain to me what that means?" You asked. Hector raised an eyebrow. "How come you don't know?" He asked skeptically. "W-Well... I suffer from memory loss, and I've forgotten a lot of stuff. Including that." You quickly said. I mean, it's not a complete lie. Hector seemed to buy it as his face softened. "Well, this place is built on memories. When someone is remembered, either by stories that are passed down or by putting a picture of you on an ofrenda, you get to cross the bridge and visit the Land of the Living." Hector explained. "Really?" You asked, interested. "Yeah, and you get to visit your family one night of the year: Día de Los Muertos." He answered.

"But you said that you're being forgotten." You said. "Yeah..." Hector said. "So you don't get to cross the bridge, or see your family." Hector frowned. "That's right, kid. When no one remembers you in the living world, you disappear from this world. We call it The Final Death." You stare down at your hands. "I'm sorry." You said. "Don't be. You shouldn't have to worry about it. I'm sure you're well remembered." Hector said. Your eyes shift to your scars as a thought came to mind. "If a family member suffers with memory loss, does it still count as being forgotten?" You asked. Hector slightly winced. "Sí. It still counts." You looked away as you hugged yourself. "If this so about your memory, then don't worry. I'm sure you'll get them back." He said. "You really think so?" You asked. Hector nodded. You smiled.

"Anyways, you haven't explained what a blessing is." You said. "Right. It's a bit complicated and hard to explain, but a blessing is used to undo a family curse. In Miguel's case, he needs a blessing from a family member to send him back to the Land of the Living before sunrise." Hector explained. "And Miguel is going to Ernesto de la Cruz to get his blessing because he's his great-great-grandfather." You pieced together. "Bingo, but Miguel promised to put my photo up on the ofrenda if I took him to Ernesto." Hector said before showing you a picture of him when he was still alive. Now everything is starting to make sense.

Oswald soon returned with the costume neatly folded in his arms. "I've got the costume. Are you gonna tell us your plan now?" Oswald asked as he handed the costume to Hector. "Yeah. Since we lost our ticket to Ernesto's party, I thought of a way to get in without a ticket." You and Oswald exchanged confused glances as Hector started to put on the costume. "I'll dress up as Frida Kahlo so that we can get in. No one will ever say no to Frida Kahlo." Hector said. "And we can pretend to be your body guards. That's a great plan!" You said. "Will you be able to pull off as Frida Kahlo?" Oswald asked. "I've done this once before. Don't worry." Hector answered.

Once Hector was fully dressed, all three of you quickly made your way to Ernesto's tower. The whole tower was lit up as multiple trams made their way up and down the tower. People were waiting in line down below as a party was going on at the top of the tower. "You two ready?" Hector asked. You and Oswald nodded. Hector walked ahead as you and Oswald were closely behind him. Everyone in the line gasped as they saw Hector, confusing him for Frida Kahlo. "Yes, it is I. Frida Kahlo, and these two are my new bodyguards." Hector said in what you can assume to be a Frida Kahlo voice. "It is an honor, señora." A guy in charge of the line said as he let all three of you pass. "Gracias." Hector said as you all entered a tram. As the doors to the tram closed, you noticed Hector's fake unibrow was starting to come off. "Psst. Your unibrow!" You whispered. Hector quietly gasped as he noticed and quickly fixed it before anyone else would notice.

As the tram made its way to the top of the tower, you decided to tell Oswald what you learned from Hector to pass the time. He seemed to pick up the information fairly quickly, now understanding Hector and Miguel's argument earlier. Once the tram came to a stop, you all excited to see all the guests leaving the mansion to see the fireworks that was happening. "Miguel probably found Ernesto by now and is most likely inside with him." Hector said. "Alright. Let's go find him."

(I'm so sorry this took so long to publish. Truth be told, I've actually been playing Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix because I wanted to get a better feel of the combat to use for this book. Why KH2's combat? Because of the different situation commands used for certain boss fights. It what makes those boss fights so memorable, and I want to do something similar. I hope you understand. And if not, that's completely fine. See you in the next chapter.)