#khocweek2025

Sigurd's eyes practically bulged from his skull as he saw the state of the Founder's statue. It was a hot summer day in Scala ad Caelum, and the statue had been prepared accordingly by the city's two most eccentric residents. A large blanket was wrapped around its waist like a sarong, two large seashells had been fastened to its chest, and on its lips...was that ice cream!? An inflatable pool sat at the foot of the statue, and on its shoulders sat the culprits themselves, Brain and the amnesiac newcomer Kris.

Brain wore a simple pair of black swimming trunks and his iconic hat. He leaned back, finishing off his ice cream as he gave a casual wave to Sigurd. "Yo, Sigurd! Aren't you hot in that?"

Sigurd let out an exasperated sigh, turning towards the statue's other shoulder as he crossed his arms. Kris wore a light blue one-piece, with sheer pink frills around the legs. Her own ice cream was left forgotten in her hands, as she scooted, flustered, behind the statue's ear. After a moment, she leaned out, pointing a finger accusingly towards Brain, who chuckled as he raised an eyebrow.

"Who, me? Sure, this may have been my idea, but..." He paused, leaning forward and pointing at her with his popsicle stick. "...the ice cream was yours."

The Vacation at Destiny Islands

I throttled out in the ship and went a little too damn fast, sending a plate of my favorite treat (Mom's dipped madeleines, if anyone was wondering) flying off the table. Needless to say, I was pissed. "Are you fracking kidding me!?" I cursed loudly, leaving out any strong language in case some young impressionable people were to read this... which was the norm for just about the whole report I made. With the loss of my comfort food, we booked it to Destiny Islands. I promised Strelitzia that I'd follow through with a double date and I'm gonna honor it.

We arrived to the world after a quick detour to Twilight Town. Evidently, we were going to spend a few days there and Mom had a batch of my favorite food on standby if I were to unintentionally waste some of them. That said, it was a trip for some clothes and I wanted the entire gang to be there. It was a long overdue vacation for them. The last big beach vacation was in Daybreak Town.

Either way, we were there for a lot of fun in the sand. Hard to say it's been a long time since I've been to this world, with the last time being the victory trip after defeating Xehanort... And then having to cheer Sora's mom up after her son was blipped to Quadratum. Here? It's a homecoming for Sora and a good day for everyone close to Sora. Donald and Goofy were there building a sand castle, Terra, Ven, and Aqua were setting up some sort of slushie maker, and Lea, Isa, Roxas, and Xion were playing frisbee far from where Donald made the sand castle (hey, the Royal Wizard isn't above it all) I was raring to head into the water until I realized I had no swimwear on and neither does everyone else. While Strelitzia and Cel took Kairi someplace else to keep Sora's return a surprise until further notice, Sonic was helping Ciel 2 with a bit of a science presentation in the town. This meant the Daybreak Crew got the beach. We all changed into our swimwear and hit the beach. I jumped in the water and got a mouthful of saltwater, but I couldn't care less. I was willing to let loose for once. Hell, my shirt was a quick drying shirt, but I forgot to take it off at first. Eh, it dries fast so why the hell not?

While I was swimming, I picked up a good deal of thalassa shells. Figured Strely might like a necklace made out of them and my little sister might love a similar gift. I put the shells somewhere safe and kept swimming and having a blast with the crew until it was sunset. Once it was sunset, we recreated a core memory from our last beach trip back in Daybreak Town and posed at the nearest lighthouse in town. It worked.

Finally was that beach date. First we got changed into normal wear to get ready for the surprise. Sora was hidden in the cave that ultimately started his path to being a Keyblade Wielder (and in my eyes, a Keyblade Master now that he has some experience as an individual wielder when riding solo). When Kairi got here, Riku gave us the cue to lead her to the cave. "Well, just follow us here and we'll show you the surprise," I said. Oh, Ciel. You really are a genius, I thought to myself. It wasn't long for us to bring out the big surprise. "Sora!" Kairi exclaimed as she reunited with the person who saved her numerous times. Hard to say that having a bit of training under Aqua made her more confident at being a Wielder. "Kairi!" Sora exclaimed soon after. The two shared a hug. Before the long overdue beach date could happen, we decided to give the two enough time to process the reunion. To keep a long story short, I'll recap the days until the big one hit.

Day One: Reunion and beach day.

Day Two: I went shopping for some food to make while I'm here, even though Sora's mom was doing some of the cooking, I was the one who had grill duty. It was a seafood platter for everyone except for Sonic, who hates seafood if you're familiar to his reactions to any seafood dish in Sonic Unleashed (and the fact that he hates Canned Horror like everyone else, including a god), instead opting to make a batch of chili dogs up to his standards (which is a blend of spicy hot and sweet). (Author's Note: See Sonic the Hedgehog: The Official Cookbook for the recipes for Sonic's Signature Chili and The Perfect Chili Dog on how the blue hedgehog likes his chili dogs.) They were pretty damn tasty when I had one!

Day Three: It was another beach day and everyone was involved. Some surfing and swimming and I tried to surf with my Keyblade. It somehow worked. We all ate at a ramen shop that one of the locals knew and Ephemer may have guided me here, given Xehanort was his descendant. Even the fallen Keyblade Master had a favorite place growing up.

Day Four: It was the day of the double date. Strelitzia and I met with Sora and Kairi at the pier in town for some sort of fair. As much as I was traumatized by what happened at the Arcadia Summer Fair, it wasn't enough for me to swear off fairs and I learned that dark humor is the best way to cope with some messed up crap. Just don't make a joke about the Heartless attacking the fairgrounds. I hate those jokes. We went on a Ferris Wheel, rode roller coasters, and managed to surprise Sora and Kairi with a story of how Strely and I had our first kiss. When we headed back to drop off Sora and Kairi, Strelitzia and I wanted to go back to the pier again for a bit of fun. We did and it was a continuation of that beach date I owed Strelitzia a while back. The usual PDA of hugging and kissing ensued and we went back to where we were staying at by midnight. We then went to sleep.

Day Five: The Crew and I bid our farewells after one last trip to the beach. Everyone who lives outside of Destiny Islands left by evening and I went home by the time Twilight Town went into it's eclipsed state, which is akin to night given it lasts for a night. I was tired and ready to hit the hay, but I can rest knowing I had a hell of an adventure. Until next time, we meet.

Take care.

That's all, folks!