Warrior Princess 4: Birth By Sleep

by vessynessy

Summary:

Kairi's Heart is lost, drifting through a realm of dreams - but she isn't the only Heart waiting to be found there. Meanwhile, her friends and family desperately search for her, while combating new and returning foes alike. But the worlds are vast, and more complicated than they could have imagined. However, burgeoning and unexpected new allies may well even the odds...

Chapter 1: Prologue: Darkness's Greatest Evil

Kairi threw up her hands and decided to stop sitting around doing nothing at all with herself.

It had only been an hour or so, but she couldn't handle just sitting there doing nothing.

So she got up, and she walked up the stairs. She went past the Accessories Shop, on down the alley. She pushed open the doors to Second District, stepping through into the familiar sight.

The wide, rectangular plaza, the raised stone walkway ringing its outer edge. The shops. The hotel.

The back alley, with the waterway and sewer.

It really was bringing back memories. Good ones, mostly.

This was where it had all began. Where she'd met and made friends.

Where she'd fought some pretty important battles, too...

Unlocked her true Princess powers - took a stand.

It was only months ago, but it felt like a lot longer.

Kairi smiled to herself as she walked past the Suits And Dresses store, turning and heading down the stairs into the plaza proper. She strode over to the fountain, standing before it, gazing at the image on the stone slab.

She turned away, going to sit on one of the wooden benches.

Then she got up again, as strange things started popping up around her! They were floating purple diamonds, ringed by purple Heart symbols, that all then shrank in on the gem, causing a flash of light and a puff of smoke...

And then there were creatures standing around in the plaza with her.

They were...two-toned, black and pink, fat cats with cute ears and tails and they were bouncing left and right and-

Oh god they have terrifying red eyes!

Kairi stepped back, raising a hand to summon her Keyblade.

But maybe the red eyes didn't necessarily mean anything? Tifa had red eyes, but she was one of the sweetest, kindest people Kairi had ever-

One of the bouncy adorable cat creatures did a backflip and then flew at her, shrouded in orange energy!

Noooo! Why couldn't you just be cute and harmless?!

Kairi easily rolled out of the way, turning back to the creature. She frowned, raising a hand - and stopped as she felt a familiar feeling shoot through her.

These creatures, she realized, were darkness.

But...they weren't Heartless? She'd never-

She gasped as she finally noticed a strange symbol on the fronts of the creatures.

She'd seen it before, just recently, in fact: it was the same emblem that had been on those knife-happy girl monsters that had come out of Alice's Heart!

What...were these things?

Kairi flipped up high into the air as two other creatures lunged at her from the sides. She landed deftly atop the stone railing, staring down at them.

She sighed.

Darkness or not...

It was a real shame she'd have to blast something so darn cute...

Kairi thrust out her hand, sending out a full powered Firaga sphere. It struck the ground in the middle of the creatures and exploded brilliantly - wiping them all away in one go.

She lowered her hand and stepped down off the railing, looking at the ground with regret.

Darkness was a really twisted bitch, wasn't she? Who designed such adorable creatures and then only used them for evil?!

Who?!

Kairi would have to keep on her guard, then.

She wasn't alone here, not at all - and she wasn't safe.

Chapter 2: One Week Later

Notes:

Oh hey, look, a new chapter! Isn't it nice when we can just smoothly continue a story lol? xD How convenient.

Xion stood on the pier of the mainland, staring out across the water at the play island.

She stared down at a large, pink and yellow seashell she held in her hand.

Kairi had helped her find one just like it, weeks ago; she'd said it was "a rare one". Special. From special mollusks that lived in specific parts of the ocean here, who went through a whole process of growing and...well, a lot of science stuff Even would probably be happy about.

Xion sighed, closing her fingers around the shell. This one wasn't that one - it wasn't the same, even if it looked the same...

It had only been seven days now, but she missed Kairi so much already. She didn't know what to do without her. Kairi was always so helpful and knew everything, and they'd had fun together, and now...now she was gone, and Xion hadn't realized how much she really did enjoy just being around Kairi until she wasn't there anymore! Just sitting with her at breakfast, or laying on the beach, or asking another stupid question just before bed and having a pillow thrown at her as Kairi's groaning voice told her to "just go to sleep already"-

"Hey, you!"

Xion startled, turning.

Two girls were walking out onto the pier toward her. One with a black-haired ponytail, and the other, with short, messy blonde hair that hung in her face.

She knew about them from Kairi - Midori and Keiko. Kairi had told Xion to never listen to anything they said and to try to stay away from them. Kairi had called them "mean girls" and "bullies", and had told Xion of a few times before when these girls had hurt her feelings...insulted her, ruined a really important island festival night for her...

It had been easy for Xion to never meet these girls before, since she was always either at home or on the play island, but now...

She'd started wandering around on her own, hoping maybe she'd see Kairi again or- something. She didn't know. She just had felt like it was better than just...sitting around?

But that was a mistake, apparently...

"...you actually that stupid? I'm trying to talk to you here."

Xion shook her head, jumping off the side of the pier into the shallow waters of the beach. She started off down the beach, away from the pier.

"Unbelievable - hey, where are you going?!"

Xion kept walking, keeping her mouth closed. She clenched her seashell tighter in her palm.

She heard splashing water and fast footsteps, and then a hand was grabbing her arm and pulling her backwards. One of the girls spun Xion around, staring at her. The black-haired girl - she was Midori, right?

"Why are you so weird?" Midori said, letting Xion go and shaking her head. "Kairi was always weird, but you...you're weirder. I guess now we know why; she wasn't even from another island, she's not even from this world!"

Xion stared silently at the girl. What was she even supposed to do? They'd probably grab her again if she tried to walk away. But Kairi and dad, and Terra - everyone - had told her she could never use her Keyblade to solve problems...to hurt people. It was for Heartless or other "real" enemies only. Like Xehanort or Maleficent. But-

"Jeez, are you always this spaced out?" spoke the other girl, Keiko, stepping forward and putting her hand in Xion's face. She waved it up and down. "Is everyone like that in your freaky other world, or what? Where are you even from?"

Xion knew she shouldn't respond. She should just try to leave again. Kairi had said these girls just liked hurting people because it made them feel good. She said if you gave them attention, they'd just "run with it" and be even worse. But her chest was tight and she missed Kairi so much already and she felt lost and alone and- "I'm a Replica. I'm from a world with science and magic you can't even understand! I was created by an amazing, extremely smart scientist who could- make your heads spin! You're - you're the stupid ones!"

She felt proud, she felt pleased. She felt good for a moment again-

"Oh, god. So that's why you haven't even blinked once: you're not even human, are you?" Midori exclaimed, laughing. "You're just some freaky science experiment - a weird little toy somebody made in some lab!" She held her hand to her mouth, her face turning red. "They didn't do a very good job, did they? You're not even close to being real. Are you even a girl? Do you even have anything under those clothes?" She gestured her hand sharply at Xion's whole body. "Or are you like a little plastic doll you swap the cute outfits off of? Ooh, let's try makeup next - I bet you'll look awful with your face smeared with lipstick!"

Xion stood there, her arms shaking. Her whole body. She looked down at herself, at her hands that were fists-

She turned away and ran, a burning feeling spreading in her chest.

She ran all the way back to Sora's house. His mom was letting her stay with him, since her and Kairi's house was gone now. Dad was staying with one of his own, adult friends; he had a lot of stuff to do for his job - for the whole town. Some important papers had gotten lost with their house, too, she'd heard him saying once.

Dad had asked her if she wanted to stay with him or somewhere else - until they got a new house ready. Xion had seen how upset and sad he'd been since Kairi's...accident...so she'd chosen to go stay with Sora instead.

Dad always looked even worse when he looked at her now.

Her having Kairi's face just made everything worse.

She'd seen it from Sora once, too, but...

Xion slowed down as she realized she was already at Sora's house. She opened the front door and walked in quietly.

"Hello, Xion."

She stopped. She looked toward the kitchen, seeing Master Terra sitting at the table with a cup of some hot drink.

Terra kept visiting her a lot now. Almost as much as dad did. He'd come over to Sora's house, or find her outside, and try to talk to her, or play a game with her, or...

"Hi..." Xion said quietly. She shuffled into the kitchen and sat down across from him, putting her hands in her lap. She dropped her head to her chest. She took a breath and raised her head again. "Why do you keep doing this?" she asked, not really caring if it made him mad with her right now.

Terra took a long sip from his drink, then set it down. He leaned forward and lay his arm out on the table. "Is it too much? Too annoying?" he said, casual and quiet.

"...Kind of..." Xion admitted.

"Sorry," Terra replied, sighing and sitting back again. "I just feel like I haven't been a very good and - present - Master to you...or Roxas. Not just being around to instruct you when you come over for training sessions, but...emotionally. Mentally. And, honestly, I figured you'd need that support now more than ever."

Xion looked down again, curling her fists in her lap. "I just want Kairi back..."

"We all do. And we've all been working as hard as we can to look for her. Ven and I have been going out to all the worlds she's been to before, Yen Sid's been searching the stars themselves, and Namine's been giving herself migraines trying to find Kairi in her own way, with those powers of hers," Terra listed off.

Xion knew all this. She knew. So why did she still feel...angry? "Can you take me to Radiant Garden?" she interrupted.

Terra paused. "Of course." He sighed, standing up and drawing his Keyblade. He opened a portal in the middle of the room. "Want me to come with you?" he said.

"No." Xion stood, striding toward the portal quickly.

She passed through it, and stepped out on the other side into the city square of Radiant Garden, in front of the gates to the castle up on the high hill.

She turned back to watch the portal vanish, then started the long walk up to the castle.

She took the alternate path that led around the lower side of the castle, and entered the basement levels.

She made her way through the halls until she came to Ansem The Wise's study. It was empty today - but the lab entrance was open. She went inside, entering the control room for the former Heartless manufactory facility.

Even was leaning over the computer, peering out of the glass window. His hand came down to smack a large button. His voice suddenly echoed out through the entire chamber. "No, no - space them out by at least five feet - thank you, Dilan! Aeleus, would you kindly connect the- take the cable to your left and put it into the great big thing to your right!" He lifted his hand from the button with a flourish, straightening up again and whirling away from the computer. He stopped, his gaze finding Xion. His face flushed strangely. "Oh...Xion. Welcome. I wasn't expecting- well - welcome," he repeated, glancing away.

Xion walked over to his side. She tried to get up on her toes to look over the computer, like he had. "What's happening?" she asked.

Even's hand reached out, coming to rest on her shoulder and firmly pushing her back down flat on her feet again. He removed his hand, shaking his head. "I finally had the breakthrough I needed to go from research and development to actual production," he began, in high and pleased tones. He even smiled as he glanced at her again! "A flash of inspiration came to me last night, and I realized what I'd been missing - the final pieces of this little puzzle! I did some rudimentary experiments this morning, drafted up some models on our systems here, and it all proved...perfectly sound. Stable. Flawless, really!"

"So - you can make these new bodies now?"

"Yes. I can. I'll want to create a prototype batch, first, simply to make sure things will be in order - that they are indeed viable constructs - but if they are successful, I should be able to produce another, final set by week's end," Even spoke on, quick and excited.

"Really?"

"Oh yes. I'll be devoting all of my time to my...masterpieces," Even concluded breathlessly.

Xion frowned, ducking her head. She clasped her hands at her waist.

"Hm? What's the matter, child?" Even spoke again, in confused tones. "I wasn't expecting whoops of joy from you, but I did think you'd be a little more enthused by the news..."

Xion gritted her teeth, turning away. She reached up and put her hands over her face.

"What in the world-" Even gasped. "Xion! What is wrong?" He sounded actually worried about her...

Xion dropped her arms, then hugged herself. She turned her head to look at him. "Am I a girl?"

Even froze. "Pardon...?"

"I was created by you - made to look like Kairi - so am I even a girl, really?" Xion went on.

Even's face flushed again. He stammered and tossed his head, then spun away from her. He breathed in, then out again. Then he turned back to her, his face calm. "You are very much...a girl, Xion, yes."

"Am I? My body isn't real. Not this one. Right?" Xion pressed, dropping her arms and stepping forward. "It looks like a girl's body, but it doesn't do anything a girl's body does - right? Nothing about it really works right."

Even's calm face twitched. He shut his eyes for a moment, his hand rising - then dropping back down again. "Yes, it's certainly true that you are not exactly a- biologically physical human female, but biology and physicality are not all that matters! Mind and Heart matter just as much, if not more, in these...these matters. If you feel as if you're a girl, then that is all the proof you need to validly be known and called as such. Even if your body were a- a six-eyed squid's, it wouldn't change what's in your Heart."

"But I'm not real. I'm...superficial. I don't need to even eat or sleep or anything. I'm a freak, a lab experiment, a-"

"Where in the world did you get such ridiculous ideas into your head?" Even cut across, staring down at her with wide green eyes. He paused. Then- "I'm impressed you used the word 'superficial', though I despise the context in which you used it. To apply such a word to yourself is-"

"But it's true!"

Even sighed loudly. He turned back to the computer, crossing his arms. "I suppose it is true, yes. Your body's appearance is merely surface level - magic and mirrors. But why should that matter, Xion? Who you are matters far more than what you are made of. You are a person, you are a Keyblade wielder, you are a fledgling scientist, and you are also a- a sister, and a daughter. And you are most certainly a girl. Unless, of course, you don't feel that way...?"

Xion looked down at her feet. "I don't know - I never thought about it before," she admitted softly. "Am I only a girl because you made me to look like Kairi, though?"

Even sighed again. "These are quite complicated questions to be asking, Xion - even for scientists and philosophers...I'm not sure whether I can answer them for you. But you're no different from the rest of us in that regard, you know."

"What?"

"Every person is born looking a certain way, and so being seen and thought of as one thing or another, by those around them. And for most of us, that is perfectly fine. But sometimes, people feel differently. The Heart and body are not quite...well, aligned, I suppose. In such instances, we do what we feel is necessary to become more comfortable with our own...appearances, and physical...attributes. It's not my area of expertise - I am not a doctor, or psychologist, I am a scientist - but..." Even shook his head, looking to the ceiling. "Regardless of your origins, Xion, are you comfortable with being seen and known as a girl?"

"...Yes?"

"Then what is the problem?"

"They said I wasn't! They said I'm-"

"Who said such things about you?" Even demanded, huffing.

"These girls from the islands..."

"What, exactly, did these idiotic children say to you?"

Xion frowned. She opened her mouth again, and for some reason found herself just telling Even about the whole thing. She was angry all over again by the end.

"You truly said that about me?" Even spoke, gazing down on her with an odd smile.

"It's true..."

"Well, what's also true is this little saying, Xion: what applies to the creator, applies to the creation. If I am so amazing for having created you, then you are so for being the one I created."

"I am?"

"Of course! You are a marvel, Xion. A wondrous, incredible person - simply because you are. Have pride in yourself, and never let anyone - certainly not foolish, cruel teenagers - tell you otherwise!"

"But I still can't do all the things humans do - what girls do. I-"

"If you're really so worked up about this, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about by week's end, should you?" Even interrupted her firmly. "I will make you human - a girl - in every way, such that it will be biological fact. Inarguable by anyone around you. You will be as you want to be - in body and Heart. Problem solved. Or do you doubt my intellect and scientific expertise?"

"No! I-" Xion stopped herself. "This is really going to work?"

"As a scientist, I cannot make any such claims before I've even made an attempt...but I believe that it will, yes. And for your sake in particular, I hope so."

"...Ok." Xion hesitated. "Can I do something to help again today?"

"If you'd like - take the elevator down to the manufactory floor, and await my instructions with the others," Even responded airily.

Xion nodded, hurrying to obey.

---

This had to be some actual kind of hell, Kairi thought.

She wasn't really sure how long she'd been here - but she thought it had to have been a good while now.

She'd been here, in Traverse Town, alone, fighting off random, endlessly spawning waves of various cute but deadly monsters for...a while.

In-between doing that, she'd been exploring the town again, visiting shops, helping herself to foods and drinks, and sleeping in the empty hotel building.

Why was she here? Why was her life like this now? Why hadn't anyone found her yet, in the most obvious place to ever look?

And why hadn't she seen a single other person around?!

She swore she was going to go crazy if this kept up.

She'd already started talking to herself.

It was honestly the dead silence that was getting to her the most.

Just this big, empty, silent town of a world.

She woke up, alone, in the silence, for another day.

She left the hotel and stepped out into Second District, her Keyblade in hand.

She wasn't getting jumped by evil, giant blue panda monsters this time. Or the swarm of purple bats that had chased her into the waterways, once...that had just been kind of embarrassing.

Kairi jumped the stone railing and landed in the plaza, heading toward the alleyway that led into Third District.

Just as she reached the mouth of it, a new enemy appeared.

A large, feline monster with huge fangs. Some kind of tiger or lion, maybe? It had a black body with green swirls on its front legs and sides. Its huge fangs, the horns, and its tail were dark purples and blues.

It didn't even look kind of cute: it just looked dangerous.

Were they just seriously going to keep getting worse?!

Maybe she really should have done what the other Princesses had, and given up her powers...

It'd been manageable with the Heartless - she had always had friends by her side - a group to beat them back with. But now, here...

It was just her.

If they just kept getting bigger and more terrible, she'd be overwhelmed soon enough. Like that massive light monster that had caused her to end up like this in the first place...

The tiger monster opened its mouth and roared, and a wave of dark energy rippled out across the ground around it like a shockwave.

Kairi jumped straight up into the air and hurled her Keyblade down at it.

It jumped to the left, surprisingly fast, dodging her strike!

Then it leapt up at her with its claws outstretched, shrouded in darkness.

Kairi crossed her arms in front of her to summon a barrier-

But the monster smashed through it, lowering its head and slamming into her with its big horns.

Kairi flew back through the air, hitting the stone ground hard. She gasped as she lay there. She hadn't expected it to be that strong. For the hit to be...that bad. She rolled over and started to push herself up again, reaching out a hand to call her Keyblade back to her-

Only to see the monster come rushing at her, each stomp of its paws on the ground causing little waves of darkness.

Kairi yanked her arm back and tried to throw herself out of the way, but she knew she wasn't going to clear it in time.

The tiger barreled into her again, took her up on its horns, and drove her back to slam into the stone wall on edge of the plaza.

Kairi's world darkened as the monster stepped back, letting her fall face-first to the ground again. She tried to breathe, tried to think, to move...

Everything was spinning...darkening, returning, darkening...

She heard a strange, whining noise, thought she saw a flash of blue...then the tiger monster was turning away and racing off away from her.

But Kairi was still just...just...

She closed her eyes, and let everything go completely black.

"...Hey...you okay?"

Kairi suddenly found herself awake again. Aware. Cold stone. Air.

She opened her eyes again, blinking up at night stars.

"...there you are. Phew. Thought you were in real trouble there for a second."

Huh...?

Kairi pushed herself up to sit, turning toward the voice, her world swimming.

She blinked blearily, squinting at a boy. A boy her age, with blue eyes and a scraggly mess of silvery hair?

Kairi groaned, looking herself over and focusing on casting a Healing spell on herself. Relief filled her body, and things steadied again. She breathed in, then out. Then, she raised her head and looked at the boy again. "Sorry if this sounds weird," she began. "but you're not some figment of my imagination, are you?"

The boy stared at her. Then he shook his head, a small grin coming over his face. He sat back, cross-legged, his hands loosely hanging in his lap. "Definitely not weird - this is sort of the place for that, right?"

"Um...sure..." Kairi trailed off. Then the realization truly hit her. "You're real!" she exclaimed, lunging forward and seizing the boy by his shoulders. "Finally - god, I thought I was going to die alone and insane here!"

"H-hey - take it easy!" the boy stuttered, reaching up to pry himself free. He fell backwards awkwardly, bracing on an arm.

Kairi pulled her hands back, embarrassment and regret rising in her. "Sorry - I'm sorry! It's just- you have no idea how great it is to see another person again!" She paused. "Oh god, this is probably what Aqua went through, but she had it a thousand times worse. I don't even know how long I've been here, but it has nothing on her ten years."

"Uh - right." The boy straightened up again, adjusting the little black jacket over his white shirt. "What's this about a friend named Aqua?"

"Oh, she's my- she was my Keyblade Master, but- she was trapped in the Realm of Darkness for ten years before I ended up helping her get out again," Kairi went on swiftly. Excitedly. She knew she was being an idiot, making a fool of herself, but she couldn't help it!

"Wow. Really? You must be someone pretty special to do that," the boy responded, smiling at her. It was earnest. She could see it in his eyes. "That's not an easy place to escape from."

"Yeah - so I've heard," Kairi agreed. She sighed with joy, with relief, with amazement, just drinking in the sight of the boy before her some more. "So, hey, why are you the only person I've seen around here in...I don't even know how long? I've been alone this whole time, fighting off those- monsters. Did you- save me from that thing?"

The boy smiled again, holding up his hands. "I'm just here to visit some friends - people I made a promise to look after - that's all. But, yeah, I did save you from that Nightmare - with a little help from Pragma. Sheesh, that was one nasty Keeba Tiger."

"Nightmare? Keeba Tiger? Pragma?"

"Yeah. You- hold on, do you not know where you are? How'd you end up here?" the boy questioned.

Kairi stood, stepping back. "Thanks for saving me, but I have questions too," she replied, setting her hands on her hips.

The boy stood slowly, nodding to her. He held up his hands again. "Okay. Ask away."

"Well, for starters, who are you?" Kairi said.

"The name's Ephemer - what's yours?" the boy answered, lowering one hand and extending it out to her.

Kairi startled, narrowing her eyes at the boy. "What did you say? Your name is - Ephemer?"

The boy cocked his head at her. He set his fist to his hip, nodding. "Yup. Figured it'd be a name you'd recognize, since you have a Keyblade and all, huh?"

"Ephemer."

"Yes..." the boy said slowly.

"Skuld and Amaya's friend? That Ephemer?"

The boy's mouth fell open, his eyes fluttering. "How do you know that...?"

"From Skuld and Amaya themselves," Kairi said, giving a wide smile. "I met Skuld a few months back, and Amaya was found a little more recently. It's a really long story, but-"

"So they did make it out after all!" the boy exclaimed, elation filling his face. His eyes starting to shimmer on the edges. "I hoped Skuld would, but Amaya...hold on, then she found a way to beat the Darkness inside her? And found some way to escape the Data World, afterward? How'd she-"

"Okay, hold on a second here, yourself!" Kairi said loudly, huffing. She pointed a finger at the boy. "You're really Ephemer? Their friend?"

"Of course I am."

"Well - how are you here, then? And, you know, my age?" Kairi went on. "I was told that that Ephemer guy went on to found Scala Ad Caelum, and grew up to have a family and stuff. So why are you here, looking like you're fifteen or something?"

"Uh, I should look sixteen, actually," the boy refuted mildly, raising a finger.

"Whatever! Answer me! Explain it! I mean, there's been some crazy stuff lately, so I suppose it could be some kind of time travel again - that's become annoyingly common in our lives, apparently - but how? Who brought you here? Or did you come here yourself somehow?"

"Do you want to breathe a bit and let me explain?" the boy said, light and joking.

Kairi glared a little. She folded her arms and raised her chin at him. "Okay. I'm listening."

"Okay, well, it's sort of like this..." the boy began, bringing a hand to his chin.

Chapter 3: Wandering Hearts

Notes:

LA LA...LA LA LA LA....MOTHA****ERS LOL. xD Been listening to the DDD soundtrack to get into the mood of the story arc. Plus rewatching DDD cutscenes. :D Have a new chapter!

"So, after everything that happened in Daybreak Town, setting up Scala Ad Caelum, rescuing some of your Dandelion friends from here - this Realm of Sleep, or Unchained Realm, whatever - and after starting a family-"

"Yes?"

"-you died at the age of twenty-seven because of some crazy infighting, and ever since then, your Heart's been just...wandering the worlds, real or 'sleeping?'" Kairi finished studiously.

"Sounds about right, yeah," the boy nodded. "Sometimes I go back to the Graveyard, but mostly I'm here in these worlds. It's a lot easier for me to keep existing here than out there. Plus, I guess I've always had a special connection with this place."

"Then why do you look sixteen?!" Kairi exclaimed. "Are you trying to be a creep or something?"

The boy looked incredibly sheepish, his face turning pink. He looked away, reaching up to scratch his scraggly silver hair. "Hey, it wasn't exactly my choice, alright? When my Heart first came back to this place, I realized dreams and wishes take bodily form here - Hearts can take on a form again, even on their own. And mine chose this appearance for me. I don't know what to tell you except that I guess I've always been young at Heart?" he concluded, with an embarrassed shrug, raising his gloved hands in the air. "I wasn't exactly that old when I passed on, you know?"

Kairi gazed at him, hard. Then she sighed, waving a hand. "Fine - I'll believe you. Just don't try anything funny. The last guy I was alone with in a dream world - well, he didn't do anything weird either, but...ugh. This isn't my ideal life situation!"

"It's not exactly mine, either," Ephemer said, subdued.

Kairi hesitated. "...Okay, that's fair."

Ephemer grinned, then turned away, his eyes scanning Second District.

"What are you looking for?" Kairi asked.

"Just those friends I told you about," Ephemer replied. "Though, it's always nearly impossible to tell which of them is actually one of my friends, or just a naturally occurring Spirit..."

"Right - the Dandelion wielders who...escaped the Data World, entered into this Realm of Sleep, and took refuge inside the bodies of their Dream Eater companions who turned into animals, and-"

"Hey, I thought you believed me."

"Hey - still trying to wrap my head around it all. I figure if I say it all out loud, it'll help speed up the process," Kairi retorted.

Ephemer glanced at her. He laughed. "That's fair."

"How exactly did you save those other Dandelions in the past? I mean, if you're expecting to get help from me and my friends to save the rest of them now?" Kairi went on.

"Well, I need Keyblade Wielders who can identify them all consistently, then help free their Hearts, and then wake those Hearts up by making them remember themselves again - which should cause their bodies to reform around them, because-"

"Because dreams and wishes take form here?"

"Right. And then, more importantly, they're going to need a path out of here, back to the real world. That's why I need people from the outside. I need people capable of getting in here and back out again, otherwise...well...." Ephemer gestured at her, looking sympathetic.

"They'll just be stuck here like I am, endlessly living out their days in a place where time doesn't seem to matter, set upon by endless hordes of evil yet cute monsters," Kairi finished.

"Yeah. I can't really do anything for them like this, even with this form of my own," Ephemer said ruefully. "No Keyblade anymore. And the path I used when I was alive is long gone."

"Right, your Keyblade was destroyed in the whole uprising thing."

"Sadly, yes. I'd still have it if I hadn't taken that last hit, but...there was no way I couldn't have," Ephemer said, serious and quiet now. "Not when they were going for my kids."

"I'm sorry," Kairi said softly, looking the boy in the eyes. The young man. She saw it, the age, the experience, for the first time, in that moment. In his eyes. On his face.

"It's alright," Ephemer replied. He gave a small, self-deprecating grin. "I've always been too cocky, I guess. Astrid was always on me about that...I should have listened. But hey, she kicked some real ass for it afterward - enough for both of us. I'd never seen her like that before. It was-" He stopped, looking at her again. "Anyways...we should get you some Spirit companions of your own. You won't last long here without 'em. They're protectors and guides through these worlds."

"Okay," Kairi said. "How do we do that?"

"Well, you're going to need to collect some Dream Pieces - Figments, Fancies, etc - and then you'll meld them together and-"

"Get my own cutie patootie of a Dream Eater," Kairi said, not ashamed of how high her voice went in that moment. Not. At. All.

Ephemer smiled, nodding. "They are pretty cute, aren't they? They're loyal, too. And powerful, if you bond with them properly - spend enough time with them."

"So where do we find these Dream Pieces?" Kairi asked quickly.

"Oh, you can find them around," Ephemer replied, gesturing vaguely. "But sometimes they also drop from Nightmares when you destroy them."

"I haven't seen anything come out of them, and I've beaten a lot of them by now," Kairi refuted.

"Well, you wouldn't, would you? Unless they'd already taken the Dream Pieces from other Dream Eaters, or devoured enough good dreams from people or world's Hearts..."

"So they store them inside themselves, like the Heartless do with Hearts?"

"I guess?" Ephemer shrugged.

"Okay. So we should find the biggest, baddest Nightmare, beat the crap out of it, and see what falls out."

Ephemer stared at her. He grinned. "I think I'm going to like you, Kairi."

Kairi stared back at him.

"You sorta remind me of one of my daughters," Ephemer added, in a half murmur, his gaze falling.

Kairi sighed. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Come on. Let's find that big, bad Nightmare for you. I know how to draw them out - but it's not really something I usually recommend..."

"Oh, we're doing this."

"Unfortunately..."

---

Why were they doing this, again?!

Oh, that's right, because Kairi was an idiot.

She flipped up over the Keeba Tiger as it lunged for her, slashings its claws.

She struck with her Keyblade, getting a glancing blow and landing behind it.

She cast out with triple Fira blasts, that homed in and struck the Nightmare true.

The Nightmare raised its head and roared, and a large field of Gravity Magic came down over Kairi. She felt like she had the weight of a boulder on her backside. She could barely stand straight, let alone think of jumping or dodging anymore.

"Hey, heads up!" Ephemer called out from the sidelines, raising a hand of blue and pink energy and narrowing his eyes in concentration. A small gold orb appeared in the air, with three white energy ropes attached to it, which connected to a larger, swirling mass of gold energy. The golden orb drifted backwards, stretching the energy ropes out...and then it was suddenly let loose with a snap, like a- a slingshot. The large golden orb flew forward in an arc, coming down to land squarely on top of the Keeba Tiger. It exploded in fiery orange light on impact!

The Keeba Tiger staggered, colorful wisps of energy trailing off of it - but then it righted itself and whipped around to glare at Ephemer.

"Awww, come on!" Ephemer exclaimed, panic on his face. "You're a stubborn one, aren't you?"

A puff of smoke appeared next to Ephemer, and then a big, fat, blue and white cat Dream Eater with yellow star eyes appeared, bouncing up and down on its squishy belly and-

Ephemer threw out his arm, calling out, "Go for it, Pragma!"

The Dream Eater - Spirit, not Nightmare, wasn't it? - bounced and hopped its way forward quicker than Kairi would have thought, then twirled and did a huge leap up high into the air. It came back down to slam into the Keeba Tiger, causing a shockwave of energy to ripple out around them. The Keeba Tiger opened its mouth and sent out a blast of Dark Firaga; the Spirit squished its whole body down almost flat on the ground, avoiding the attack before just- popping back up again like an inflating balloon!

The attacks seemed to have lifted the Gravity field off of Kairi's body! She ran forward, casting out several magical blasts of ice, striking the Keeba Tiger in the side! She slid toward it across the ground on momentum and created a barrier dome - then exploded it outward on purpose.

The Tiger was knocked to the side, off-balance. The Spirit wrapped itself in glowing energy and jumped at it, headbutting it fiercely! Then, the Spirit followed it up by lifting up off the ground by its twirling little tail and proceeding to spin like a top, casting off energy.

The Tiger stumbled under its relentless attacks - and then it poofed out of existence, leaving strange, swirling trinkets behind.

Kairi sighed with relief, starting forward and gazing down at the Spirit creature. It hopped around to look at her, extending a little tongue and whining at her. She bent down, reaching out a hand- and froze as she felt the familiar sensation.

This creature, like the Nightmares-

"It's...darkness," she said, pulling her hand back and straightening. She stepped away, looking at Ephemer.

The Spirit whined again, dropping its head and lowering itself to the ground.

Ephemer came walking over, not hesitating to drop down and wrap his arms around the creature's midsection. He grinned up at Kairi. "Let me guess - not the biggest fan of darkness? I get it; most people aren't. I was a little afraid at first, too, you know...but then I saw that actions speak louder than anything else about them. They're just animals, you know? They can't help being what they are. It's their nature. But what they do...they've destroyed themselves just to keep me and my friends safe before. They showed us the way through these worlds, at first, and showed us the way back out again, way back when."

Kairi frowned, that discomfort still worming around in her Heart. She watched the creature nuzzle into Ephemer's body, its starry eyes glowing... She took a step forward, slowly, cautiously lowering herself to her knees. She stared the creature in the face - still getting blasted with that cold feeling. That part of her screaming warning. Do not approach. Destroy. She breathed in sharply, then reached out her hand, placing it atop the creature's head.

It blinked up at her, tilting its head to rub against her palm.

"So what- is this thing called?" Kairi asked shakily, her eyes fixed to its face still.

"Oh, she's a Meow Wow," Ephemer said casually.

Kairi looked at him. She choked on a hard suppressed giggle. "Seriously?"

"Hey, I didn't name them," Ephemer responded, laughing himself.

"Then who did?" Kairi said.

Ephemer hesitated. He shrugged. "I've never been too sure. I only got the names from the Chirithies, once they'd turned back to normal, too."

"Okay." Kairi smiled somewhat. She took another breath, and started to rub and pat at the Meow Wow's cheek. "I've fought giant blue pandas before, too."

"Kooma Pandas."

"What about purple bats?"

"Those were Komory Bats."

Kairi gazed down at the Spirit, patting and scratching at its- her ears now. She looked to the swirling, sparkling glass-like objects on the ground nearby. "Are those Dream Pieces?"

Ephemer nodded. "Yup."

Kairi pulled her hand away from the Spirit, and went to pick up the objects. "Let's do this then - however it works!"

"Alright. You're going to want to focus, and then just kind of..." Ephemer began.

Chapter 4: His Choice

Xehanort lay on his side on the old, musty bed, resting his head on his arm.

Gazing at the peeling, splintered wooden wall.

He heard the popping noise, familiar now - on a schedule.

He rolled over and pushed himself up on an arm, gazing at the small being standing before the bed. Cat-like, furred, with a cape - balancing a tray of food on their bulbous head, stubby arms raised to support it.

"Here's your dinner!" the being - Chirithy - announced, in a high voice that read as clearly feminine (yet the being had no other characteristics to suggest so beyond that).

Not that Xehanort cared, either way, what this little being identified themselves as...

"Is something wrong?" Chirithy spoke again, wobbling over to the nightstand and depositing the tray onto it. They hopped back, wiping an arm at their face. "I put a lot of work into this, you know...Amaya spent a lot of long hours teaching me to-"

"Leave me," Xehanort said coldly, gazing down on the creature.

Chirithy tilted their head at him. "...Alright. Clearly I'm not cut out for this kind of thing," they sighed, turning and hobbling away toward the door.

Xehanort watched them go, relaxing again.

The little being hopped up and turned the door handle, pushing it open. Then, they stopped.

"What?" Xehanort spoke.

Chirithy did a dithering little dance, before turning back to look at him. They raised a stubby arm and pointed straight at him, standing taller. "Look, I'm still not sure I know a whole lot about how humans work and stuff, but I know how Amaya works. I know her Heart better than I know anybody's. And do you wanna know what's in it?"

"I know what's in it already, thank you-"

"She cares about you," Chirithy cut across loudly, in that high female voice. "She cares more than I've ever seen her care about anyone before - not Ephemer, not Skuld, not even me. Her Heart persisted and came back across time and space, just for you!" The being paused, gazing at him with narrowed blue eyes. Then- "It's probably even more than just that, though. The feelings in her Heart, the stuff she says to me about you, even now, all the time...I think it might be all that love stuff."

Xehanort let out a soft snort, turning his head aside.

"It is!" Chirithy exclaimed. "I'm sure of it! She loves you. She's doing so much for you here, because of love. She sacrificed her existence for you - and then came back again!"

"And it did me so much good, didn't it?" Xehanort snapped out, his voice husky and harsh. "Yes, I'm so grateful to her - for leaving me alone like that, for leaving me to-"

"She came back! She's here now, and I don't think she's ever going to make the same mistake again. She's not leaving this time - so get used to it, buster! Get used to me, too!"

"Hmph. Not a chance," Xehanort retorted. "Now get out."

Chirithy held their hands to their chest, shaking their head furiously. "Grrrrrr...No, I don't think i will!"

"You-"

The little being raced forward and took a flying leap, landing sprawled on their face on the bed.

Xehanort pulled his legs back, glowering at them. "Your presence is nothing but a nuisance!"

"I'm sure Amaya thought that about me too, once or twice over the years," Chirithy replied, pushing themself up and turning to face him. "But I stuck with her to the end - and I'll do the same for you!"

Xehanort longed to just kick the little being across the room - but he knew it would only cause him problems. Problems he didn't need. Not that he didn't have plenty already, but...

He schooled his features, turning his head away. "Well then, be my guest," he said flatly. "I won't be doing anything interesting. You'll get very bored, very soon."

"Oh, I don't get bored," Chirithy replied.

"Hmph...we'll see, then, won't we," Xehanort stated, smirking.

Silence fell on the room again.

Xehanort did his utmost to ignore the creature's presence.

"So are you going to eat that or what?" Chirithy spoke again, gesturing to the nightstand.

Xehanort scoffed, keeping his gaze on the wall. "This vessel doesn't require sustenance."

"Neither does mine, but I still enjoy a good stick of ice cream!" Chirithy said, exasperation in their voice. "Even I know food's about more than just keeping you going - it's about the taste, the flavors! And I know these are some of your favorite fruits to eat."

Xehanort continued to stare at the wall, crossing his arms and leaning back now against the headboard.

"Well then, don't mind if I do..." Chirithy murmured, hobbling past him across the bed and bending over the tray. They straightened up and turned back to him, an orange fruit held between two nubby limbs. The creature stared at him as they brought the fruit up and bit into it with a tiny mouth. They tossed their head, and made...exaggerated eating noises.

Xehanort slowly turned to look at them, raising his eyebrows. "Did you...actually just do that?"

"What?" Chirithy said, through a mouth full of food. "I can't hear you over the sound of all this- delicious- crunchy- fruit. Mmmm..."

"You're a cruel little thing, aren't you," Xehanort remarked.

"Well then I guess we've got that in common, don't we?" Chirithy responded.

Xehanort scoffed. "When have I ever done anything cruel?"

Chirithy buried their face in the fruit again, flecks and pieces flying everywhere. They stopped, looking up again. "Good point. I guess you haven't really done anything yet - but you want to, don't you? You want to go on to do cruel, horrible things for the whole rest of your life."

Xehanort gazed at them. He uncrossed his arms, letting his fist curl...and then uncurl again. "I don't particularly want to do anything - it is simply that I will do what I will do."

"Well then what about what you want to do?" Chirithy questioned. "I was created to guide and protect my partner, but even I didn't just go along with everything without questioning it, or doing anything on my own - for myself, or for her. Are you really that dumb?"

"Excuse me?" Xehanort said sharply.

"You heard me."

"Get out!" Xehanort snarled.

"I guess you didn't hear me then, either. I already said no. Deal with it."

Xehanort took a deep breath...then exhaled. "Just be quiet, at the very least."

"Why? is that what you want? I thought that didn't matter to you at all?" Chirithy said, drawing the words out. "I'm confused. Help a cat out here, would ya?"

"Now you're simply being obtuse."

"An obtuse cat with a yummy, delicious fruit, all to themselves." Chirithy bit into the fruit again viciously. "Nom nom nom nom..."

"Stop that!"

"Why? Sorry - did you...want this after all?" Chirithy bent forward, extending the fruit out to him. "I could give it to you, if you wanted..."

Xehanort seethed, sitting up straight and glowering down at the creature.

Chirithy turned away, stooped down over the tray, then turned back around with a whole, new fruit in hand. They looked at him, then gave it a small toss; it landed on his lap. "Here you go. Enjoy it...if you want to."

Xehanort picked the fruit up, still glaring at the little being. He was, again, very tempted to resort to immature, physical violence to vent his emotions - to simply throw the fruit as hard as he could, right at the thing's face - but...no, he wasn't so childish, was he? He looked down at the fruit, inspecting it. Testing its firmness. Its ripeness.

He slowly brought it to his mouth and took a bite out of it.

It was perfect. Sweet and rich, sudden and powerful - the flashes of hazy memories came back to him, of days on a beach, of a voice of warmth and sweetness so similar, of arms around his form-

He turned away from Chirithy as he began to devour the fruit in earnest now, savoring every bite of it.

---

"My friends aren't my friends - my dreams were never my dreams - everyone I knew and came to care for is dead and gone...and I am now out of time. My entire life was orchestrated by those who lived long before me, in the ancient past; I wouldn't be shocked to learn Luxu cultivated the Darkness within Baldr himself, all to cause the tragedy meant to guide me to be the one they wanted me to be for them! To do as they wanted me to do! So what is there for me? There is nothing! There was always...nothing."

After leaving her work and world for the day, and returning to check in on Chirithy and Xehanort, Amaya was surprised to be met with a tirade of tumultuous emotions, upon her entry into the room, by Xehanort. Surprised - but also...perhaps...

She watched him as she moved to sat herself in the chair by the bed. A familiar scene. A familiar place.

Xehanort seemed to have recovered himself - the mask was in place again, as he sat there. Vacant. Emotionless.

Amaya let the silence sit for a long minute. Then another. And a third. And then, she spoke at last.

"If that's true, then prove them wrong," Amaya said softly. "If you say they manipulated you, trying to mold you into the person they wanted you to be, then deny them that - defy them. If they wanted to guide you down the path they desired, then stray from that path. If they wanted you to be terrible, then be better; if they wanted you to be evil, then be good; if they wanted you to be darkness, then be the light. Spit in the face of them, and do not become the person they want you to become - instead, be nothing but your true self."

"And who would that even be?" Xehanort said flatly.

"The person I know you are - the boy I knew before they got their hands on you, and began their work on you," Amaya responded. "You are not a cruel, uncaring monster; you are not a killer, or a destroyer of worlds. You are kind, caring, compassionate, and above all, a deeply empathetic person. You are intelligent, and thoughtful...and that is why I know you are strong enough and wise enough to break free of this path they wanted you to walk down. You may be out of time, child, but your existence here still affects everything and everyone as truly and permanently as it does in your own present. Because this is our present. It is mine, and yours, now. And what we choose to do here still matters. You are as free here to make your own choices, your own road, as anyone else is. And no one can ever take that from you. Not the Master of Masters, not Luxu, not even your own, present and future self."

Xehanort gazed emotionlessly into the distance.

"And not even me," Amaya finished quietly. "I can say everything I can think of, I can try anything I can...I could hold you here to the end of time itself - but in the end, if you decide to return to your present self's side, if you choose to help him do whatever terrible things he's going to do...I cannot stop you. Your life, your destiny, is truly your own, and none other's, Xehanort."

He looked at her, blinking, surprise on his face.

"You don't have to be a scapegoat or a hero. You don't have to be your future self, or your past self," Amaya whispered. "You can be all of it, or be none of it. Child of Destiny or not, Xehanort, I loved you because of who you were - the boy I knew - not whatever man you might become. It didn't matter to me, as much as seeing you grow, and learn, and find friendship, and love, and happiness did. And I know that Moreth felt the same way. She never would have given you to me in the first place if she didn't. Made that sacrifice for you. She didn't care what you became, or who you came back as...just that, one day, you would come back to her."

Xehanort dropped his head, long, silver hair falling to shadow his face.

Amaya slowly leaned forward, and she slid her arms around his form. She held him - just held him. Silent, breathing...

Xehanort remained as still as a statue.

Then, she let him go.

She sat back, gazing at him. Then, she raised a hand, her palm facing outward.

Xehanort turned his head, staring at her in confusion and wariness. "What are you doing?"

Amaya's hand swirled with magical circles and symbols - her eyes furrowed in concentration - then, a purple light burst around Xehanort, and an aura dissipated, like heat waves off the sun. She moved her hand forward, placing her palm flat against the middle of his chest, gazing into his eyes...

"What did you-"

She drew her hand back, slowly, fingers curling - drawing out a thick tendril of silver and gold energy. She pulled and pulled...and then the mass of energy broke free of his chest. Amaya stared at it, raised her free hand, and ran it along its length.

In a wash of golden light, the energy melted and twisted apart, splitting into strands and winding around each other...arranging itself into solid mass and matter. A long, metallic Keyblade. A thin, simple, bone white weapon, with an "M" shaped guard hilt, and a dangling keychain with a bright white symbol of a Heart.

Amaya turned the weapon around in her grasp, bent forward, and brought Xehanort's hand up to rest on the handle. She let the blade go, sitting back at last.

Xehanort stared at her, disbelief and bafflement written on his face. He gazed down at the weapon, looking it over. He ran his fingers across its length. He looked back up at her, into her eyes. His free hand turned upward, and flames sparked in his palm. He gave a soft gasp, then shut his fist to extinguish them.

"What is this?" he said slowly. "Some sort of test?"

Amaya shook her head. "No."

"Then what? You've handed me a weapon - undone that binding magic of Luxu's. Why?"

"To allow you to choose," Amaya replied. "Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do - if you want to leave...then go. Or stay, if that is what you want instead. I told you: your life, your path, your choices, are yours alone. I will not...I cannot make them for you."

Xehanort gazed at her for an eternity. His fingers closed on the weapon's grip. He slid forward across the bed and slowly rose to his feet. He gazed down at her in the chair. He looked at his weapon, held before him...

Amaya gazed up into his face, blinking slowly.

Xehanort's weapon vanished in a flash of silver light, and he flashed his palm out before him. A swirling portal of darkness materialized in the room. He gazed at it - then back down at her. "You...are truly not going to stop me?"

Amaya shook her head. She looked to him, smiling sadly. "I wish I could, child. But this isn't about me: it's about you. Make the choice that's true to you, nothing more or less than that."

Xehanort lingered, for an agonizing, silent minute...

Then, he reached up, pulling the black hood over his face, hiding it in mystic miasma of blackness, and strode into the portal.

The Dark Corridor evaporated in his wake, leaving the room silent, and empty.

Amaya bowed her head, closed her eyes, and allowed her tears to fall freely onto the dusty old floor.

---

Xehanort emerged from the other end of the portal in the vast, empty Keyblade Graveyard.

He gazed around himself, at all the keys, rusted and broken.

The image of the place as it was in ancient times came to him - from the memories of hers...

A stormy night, lightning flashes, voices screaming, shouting, blades clashing, magic flying...an endless stream of Hearts rising into the heavens...

A lone girl, laying in the crossroads...

He shook his head, curling his fist.

He thrust it out to conjure a second portal - to another place.

He quickly moved through it, emerging on the other side in the familiar location: his present self's secret base of operations - an old laboratory, on an abandoned island, in a technologically advanced world. A rather impressive one, honestly.

Xehanort stood in the vast, rusted chamber, with its walkways and pillars. The raised platform in the center, with the broken arch. He glanced around-

And stopped as he felt a metal blade pressing into his back.

"Reveal yourself," came the harsh, deep tones of his present self - issued and morphed through the body of his vessel, once belonging to the Keyblade Wielder, Terra.

"Obviously, it's me," Xehanort responded, reaching up to throw off his hood, looking back over a shoulder.

His older self gazed at him. Then the weapon retreated, and he nodded. "Our connection was severed."

"Yes," Xehanort agreed. "It was removed after they grabbed me."

His older self's yellow eyes inspected his face. They narrowed a moment. Then relaxed. He turned away, vanishing his weapon and putting his hands behind his back. "It will be restored, then."

"It will."

"How did you escape them?" Xehanort's older self questioned absently, as if asking the weather.

"I - did not. Amaya- she- let me go-"

His older self whirled around, startling him. "Were you truly so taken in by their illusions?"

Xehanort shook his head, holding his older self's gaze. "She was not an illusion. She was real. I was provided with irrefutable proof."

"Were you? And then, after giving such proof, they saw fit to simply...let you go?" His older self raised his eyebrows.

"She went against Luxu's intentions, in lifting a binding spell of his and setting me free," Xehanort responded evenly. He raised his hand, conjuring his new weapon to hand. "She even forged this from my very Heart. An illusion could not have done so."

His older self strode forward, staring down at the weapon. His mouth curved. "Dispose of that immediately."

"Why?" Xehanort said.

"I didn't think myself so foolish at your age as to not realize that they may be using it to track you - straight back to me," his older self growled. "Clearly this was all some clever ruse to uncover my location - to track our movements! Destroy it, boy, now."

Xehanort glanced down at the weapon-

His older self snatched it from his grasp and hurled it out away from them. It skittered across the floor, stopping. His older self's hand rose up, surrounded by dark energy. The mass of thousands upon thousands of pulsing cubes descended from the ceiling like locusts, swarming the Keyblade, as they turned from green to bright red. They moved over themselves repeatedly, a stationary mountain layering over itself-

Until there was a great flash of silver light from within.

The cubes withdrew, revealing shattered pieces of metal and magic on the ground. And then those pieces evaporated, disappearing on the air.

His older self let out a sigh, satisfaction on his face. "Hmph."

Xehanort eyed his older self, a strange feeling in his chest. He breathed in and out. "I learned much from them - valuable information," he began. "Would you like to hear it?"

"Whatever was said cannot be trusted," his older self dismissed.

"This information came in the form of memories - shown to me by the memory witch, Namine," Xehanort stated calmly. "She does not have the ability to falsify images - merely to convey them, yes?"

His older self glanced at him. Examined him. Silent. "Yes...Very well, then. What information have you acquired?"

"The full and complete truth of the Keyblade War," Xehanort said quietly.

"Did you now?"

"Yes."

"And from whom did these memories originate?"

"From the Heart and mind of the ancient Keyblade Master, Luxu."

"Bah. I am sure his selection of memories was carefully chosen - designed precisely as they should be to mislead you in some way."

"No. I saw a great deal. Far too much, too plainly, to simply be-"

"Think, boy, think!" his older self exclaimed, throwing out an arm, his face filled with frustration and anger. "This is the same man who has manipulated our life since our school years! A fellow classmate, a comrade, whom we fought side by side with - whom we mourned - and yet...all of it was deception! You can trust nothing that comes from that man's mouth, mind, or Heart!"

"That may be true of him - but what about her?" Xehanort said, an edge to his own voice now.

"Oh? Did she show you her memories as well?" his older self countered, challenged. Mocked.

"Yes! And I saw the truth in them. I know the truth - of our dreams, the friends we had longed to meet-"

"They were merely that: dreams. I have long-since let them go. You must as well."

"The girl from our dreams, the one with the dark hair, like our mother's-" Xehanort pressed on.

"What of her?"

"She is our ancestor. We are a descendant of hers. As we are also a descendant of the Founder of Scala Ad Caelum, himself!" Xehanort said loudly. "We are a Blue Blood - we have been, all along."

His older self's eyes widened...then, they narrowed. He turned away, clasping his hands behind him once more and striding away a few feet. "Regardless of the validity of the information, it does not matter to us any longer."

"Doesn't...matter?" Xehanort repeated. "It was all that mattered! It was what we sought after, what drove our desires in the first place. Without it, we would not have-"

"I am decades removed from such a time and feelings," his older self cut across sharply. "And I had thought you were many years enough to have given up on them as well. But perhaps you are still a child after all, compared to myself."

Xehanort clenched his fist, his fingernails digging into his glove. A simultaneous, burning, yet hollow feeling was working its way through his chest.

"It is time to move on, boy," his older self said roughly, glancing back at him over a shoulder. "Now, let us-"

"Our mother's name was Moreth."

"Irrelevant information."

"The girl's name was Skuld."

"Irrelevant!"

"She exists - here - now," Xehanort persisted. "I saw a glimpse of her in Radiant Garden, before! We could simply-"

"Simply what?" his older self sneered. "Waste our precious time indulging in foolish fantasies? Pining for a person you do not even know? What, exactly, would you do, boy? Go to this woman and say hello? Do you think she would be at all receptive to such a thing? She aligns herself with our enemies. And the feelings in her Heart for us would only be dark, spiteful, and angry. Even if you would possibly delude yourself into believing this fantasy girl could be a friend, she would never see you as such! LET. IT. GO. Cease obsessing over the past, and focus on the road ahead of us!"

Xehanort stood, silent, rigid, his shoulders trembling with a rage he had rarely known. Not since the tragedy, not since coming onto the scene, witnessing all of his classmates and friends being cut down at once, scattered like toys - since Vor...

"Have we truly become so lassitude in our old age?" Xehanort spoke, harsh and quavering. "I find that highly disappointing."

His older self straightened his head, hiding his face. "Life, you will find, boy, is full of disappointments."

"You may not be interested in finally satiating our curiosities, but I still am. I am not so old as to have lost that, apparently," Xehanort said coldly.

His older self snorted, shaking his head. His fingers curled tight around the fist behind his back...then relaxed. "Then go," he said, weary and quiet. "Meet this girl if you so desire. Satisfy your boyhood curiosity...disabuse yourself of fantasy and doubts...and return to me prepared to commit yourself to the reality of the road ahead."

"She is not a fantasy; she is real. And she is our blood," Xehanort said, quiet and intense. "She is- she is family. The family we never had - the family we longed for, more than friends. Does that truly mean nothing to you anymore?"

His older self remained still, and silent.

Xehanort turned and conjured a dark portal, a product of the rage he felt in that moment still, and stalked through it alone.

As he did so, the thought rose in his Heart that - beyond the obvious, physical differences - he did not recognize himself in the other man. Not much at all...

And such a thought...perturbed him.

Chapter 5: Blood Ties

Notes:

Last few chapters have been kinda shorties, and this one's super connected to the previous one lol, so I figured I'd just give you guys another one today. xD I'm on a groove hot streak roll here lol.

Also...content warning for suicidal thoughts/dialogue stuff. Yeah...

Xehanort spied on the world of Radiant Garden from within the various Dark Corridors, listening and watching out of the invisible exits.

For hours, he existed in this solitary, dark state.

Until the time came when his efforts proved fruitful.

He had been returning to keep his eye on the central square, when he saw her.

She came striding down the street on the left.

Seeing her again, now, knowing all that he did...

Not the girl of memories - but this woman...

His Heart seized, and he was embarrassingly aware of the way his own breath...caught, at the sight of that flowing hair...

From behind, he could almost trick himself into believing this woman was truly, actually his-

He forced himself to return to the here and now - forced his Heart to stamp those emotions out.

He needed to be...he needed...

He continued watching her.

Simply watching.

He exited a portal into an alleyway, risking a more certain, closer observation. Watching her walk the winding, narrow streets between the houses and other shops.

He watched her move into a stone tunnel, through the wall that divided up the circular, walled city's districts.

He quickly cloaked himself in darkness and reappeared on the other side, out of sight of the tunnel mouth. He breathed, raised shaking gloved hands, and threw back his hood. He might have also done some smoothing out of his hair as well (who could say?).

He stood there, waiting for her to emerge.

He didn't think he had felt so unsure and nervous in his life before.

He did not get nervous!

But-

The woman emerged into light, the sun catching her face, that hair. She held a thick, small book to her chest. Not a sketchbook - but a...notebook, perhaps? A journal or a diary of some kind? He thought he had seen her with it before now, as well, come to think of it...

She didn't seem to notice him as she strode onto the new street, between small houses.

So Xehanort stepped out, boots clacking on the stone, and spoke.

"You are-" He stopped himself, realizing he hadn't thought through what he would actually say to the woman. An uncharacteristic sensation filled him again, as the woman turned sharply back to him.

Her eyes of amber widened, then a shaking hand was raised, and a Keyblade appeared in her grasp. She dropped the little book at her feet, taking her weapon in both hands. "You!"

Xehanort eyed her, telling himself he had nothing to fear from this woman, who could not possibly match his skills with the Keyblade-

And froze inside, as he realized he did not have a Keyblade anymore. She had destroyed it, impossibly so, and then, of course, just hours ago...his future self had destroyed the second one that she had given him...

Xehanort hesitated. He curled his fists at his sides. He could still manifest Ethereal Blades, if he so chose...and he did have the rest of his magical arsenal and powers to fall back on. However-

"I'm not here to fight you," he called out, trying to sound...well, casual and non-threatening. To be...friendly. He found it hard to recall the last time he had ever tried to be so, though. He felt another twinge of embarrassment.

The woman's blazing eyes said what her lips did not have to: she didn't believe it in the slightest.

Xehanort sighed, stepping forward. He raised his hands, showing his palms to her. "I mean it sincerely; I only want to talk." He paused, searching his mind - what was the word again? Ah, right. "Please."

"Stay back!" the woman said fiercely.

"I am not going to harm you," Xehanort said, exasperated and annoyed, continuing his approach. "You are Skuld, aren't you?"

"You know who I am," she said, in a voice of shaking emotion. Anger, or something else? He did see fear, but also- "Or...did you torture too many people to keep track of them all?"

Xehanort stopped. He breathed in, then out. "I can honestly say I have no idea what you are talking about. As far as I'm aware, I haven't 'tortured' anyone."

"It was right there in that castle!" Skuld shouted, throwing out an arm, pointing to the distant tower. "You locked me away in the dark, you hurt me - violated me - you- you ruined me! For ten years! I screamed until I couldn't anymore, I cried until it hurt to do that too, I-"

Xehanort stood there, feeling frustrated now. "Whatever was done, I have no recollection of it! Now, can we just-"

Skuld's weapon began to glow and crackle with powerful light energy, her hair fluttering around her. "I'm going to make you pay for-"

"If you'd just let me speak, I am trying to tell you that we are related!" Xehanort shouted over her, gritting his teeth now.

The woman stopped dead. The light vanished from her weapon, wisps on the air. "What are you talking about...?"

Xehanort tried to focus, to breathe again. This was his opportunity. He took another step forward, raising a hand to her, his palm up. "We share...the same blood - Skuld. I only just learned it myself recently, but we are- family. You are- you're my distant ancestor. And so, I am your descendant." He hesitated. He had never spoken of this out loud, to anyone before. "My...mother...her name was Moreth. She- looked so much like you. The resemblance is- rather startling, to be honest. But the connection is undeniable. And then there's my dreams- well, not my dreams, but memories that I thought were-"

"No..." the woman whispered, shaking her head. Her weapon fell to her side, held in one hand. Her face was paling. Shaking. "You're lying. I don't know what the goal is, but this trick isn't going to-"

"It was Amaya who told me," Xehanort interrupted quickly, stepping forward once again. And then again. "She showed me - her memories - our connection. She was your best friend, wasn't she? From Daybreak Town? She knew my mother, she knew I was a descendant of yours, and she agreed to care for me because of that fact-"

"Stop it, shut up, shut up, right now!" Skuld shrieked, slashing her weapon before her. She thrust it forth at him, her face taut and wild. "JUST STOP IT ALREADY!"

"I am telling you the truth! Ask her if you're unsure, then! She will tell you the same thing!" Xehanort exclaimed, his patience snapping now. "Whether you believe it or not, we are related! You and I - and the silver-haired boy, as well. Ephemer-"

Skuld lunged across the distance in a blur of motion and an aura of golden light, crackling and explosive. Her weapon swung for his midsection, shrouded in blue and gold light.

Xehanort raised his hands and summoned his twin, blue Ethereal Blades, falling into his defensive stance (one not used since his training days). His eyes widened as her blow slammed into his weapons with far more power than he could have anticipated. A shockwave of force and an eruption of light sent him flying backwards, slamming flat against the stone wall of the tunnel entrance - cracking it. He fell forward, gasping as pain flooded his backside.

He saw a flash of motion, raised his head-

And saw the woman standing over him, with her weapon raised high.

She didn't even hesitate to bring it swinging down for his neck.

Xehanort triggered his Time powers in an instant - his body flickered - and the weapon passed through, slamming down onto the stone ground where he had been. Because he was now five feet to the woman's right, rising to his feet again and raising his weapon before him.

The woman gave a downright feral growl, whipping around and setting her burning orange eyes on him again. Not just burning - but shimmering with tears- Rage and pain alike- emotions in duality that Xehanort suddenly felt hitting him in waves-

Xehanort teleported back a good fifteen feet, keeping his weapons raised. He watched her burst into a rapid run in his direction, pursuing him still. A woman beyond reason, beyond talking-

A flicker of air behind the woman suddenly stole his focus-

And then a purple blast of darkness struck the woman in the back.

She gasped, her weapon falling, her body careening forward. She skidded several feet on the stone, on momentum alone, before coming to a stop.

Dark tendrils burned on her back, wafting up from her form.

Her body trembled, her breathing coming quick and shallow...

Xehanort lifted his gaze from her - to the silver-haired visage of Terra, vessel of his present and future self.

His older self stood with one hand behind his back - his blue and silver Keyblade in hand. He lowered it with a satisfied look, his gaze on the woman at his feet. The man stepped around the woman, then he used a boot to flip her over. He stared at her face, a momentary surprise, emotion, crossing his features. Then- it was gone. He glanced over at Xehanort, arching an eyebrow. "Is there something you wish to say?"

Xehanort looked down at the woman. Her eyes were now staring up at his older self - fixated on his face - wide and jittering in their sockets. She seemed...rather terrified, now. On verge of fainting, even, perhaps. "I didn't need you to interfere," he spoke coolly. "I had the situation well under control."

His older self laughed. "Yes, I saw that - clearly you did." He waved a hand, and the woman rose up into the air, hovering beside him. "Come, boy. If you want to satisfy your curiosity about her, I will give you all the time in the world to do so - away from the heart of our enemies." He turned away, striding off into a dark portal, the woman drifting along behind him.

Xehanort nodded stiffly, following in the wake of his older self.

Back in their base, his older self gestured a hand, sending the woman floating back to rest against a metallic spire rising from the floor. He wriggled his fingers, and tattered old chains rose up from a corner and flew over to the woman, winding themselves around her - binding her to the spire securely.

Xehanort gazed at her, watching as she lifted her head, gasping with obvious pain and effort. He strode over to her, standing before her. Looking down at her.

Her head lolled back, those amber eyes alight in the dark - locking with his silver.

"Please..." came her voice, distant, breathy, and quiet. Filled with emotion.

"Please what?" Xehanort said, tilting his head down at her.

"Just kill me..."

"What...?" Xehanort frowned. She wasn't making much sense. Had his older self's attack done more harm than realized?

"I can't do this again...I won't..."

"What do you mean?" Xehanort asked, hoping to get a little clarification here.

Her head fell to one side, along with her body. Then she righted herself, her face twisting with pain. "He'll break me again. My mind, my Heart. I can't go through it again, so please, please just kill me...the pain, the experiments...I can't, I can't...just kill me this time, please..."

Xehanort frowned, as an intense wave of emotion struck him. As he gazed into that face. It was like a physical blow, her feelings. They were so intense, so extreme-

She truly meant it?

"I don't intend to hurt you," Xehanort stated calmly. "I told you: I just want to talk."

The woman shook her head, her lips moving without sound now. Trembling at him uselessly.

"Well, this is the friend you wanted to meet," came the voice of his older self, derisive. "Is the reality matching all that you expected, boy?"

Xehanort looked at the man. "What does she mean - experiments? Pain? She is talking about you, isn't she, not me?"

His older self sighed. "After I had first merged my Heart with that of Terra's, after my failed attempt at removing his Heart from this vessel, the result was the loss of my memories. My very identity. For a year thereafter, I was a man who knew not who he was, nor where he came from. Thus, I was desperate for answers. This woman was a unique subject, and one who I felt might hold the key to the return of my own memories at the time. Naturally, I did all I could to unlock her secrets. I was, perhaps, more rough with her than I should have been."

Xehanort remained silent, his eyes returning to the woman's face. Pale, wild, her hair plastered to her stained cheeks and sweating forehead... "And we have no need to...subject her to such experiences again?" he spoke.

His older self frowned. "That remains to be seen. I would not want to waste her, since we do have her here once more. I never did learn the full contents of her Heart - only fragments, and flashes."

"No need," Xehanort said, glancing at the man. "I told you already: I know all there is to know about her past. She was an ancient Keyblade Wielder, and friends with our caretaker. She was a Union Leader and a-"

"I cannot take whatever information you gleaned from Luxu on faith," his older self said firmly, annoyed.

"It was not from him: it was from Amaya. We can trust her to have been truthful to us, can't we?"

"No, we cannot! We are not even certain if that was truly her or not."

"I am certain of it."

"You are young, lacking in experience - clearly," his older self retorted. "You are too close to those years, still too capable of being influenced by boyish feelings and memories. They are affecting your judgement, your ability to read a situation."

Xehanort looked at his older self, pressing his lips together. "Are you saying that I cannot be trusted, then, as well?"

"Not in these matters, no," his older self said bluntly. "Evidently not. They held you for a week, filling your head with who knows what lies and manipulations. You are not seeing things clearly right now."

Xehanort stared at the man, disbelief coursing through him. A strange sense of- offense? Confusion? He looked down at the woman again...

Her lips moved silently, her eyes staring right at him. He knew what she was saying without needing to hear the word.

Xehanort stood, breaking her gaze. He looked to his older self, into those golden eyes.

"Something you wish to get off your chest, boy?" the man said, his eyes narrowing.

Xehanort felt a sudden touch - a pull to his black coat. He glanced down, staring at the woman's outstretched arm, straining in her binds. Grasping the very hem. Those eyes still staring up at him...

Another, powerful wave of emotions blasted at his Heart - seeping into it, permeating it- terror, panic, desperation, pleading- the face of his mother, in haziest, fragmented memory-

He pulled free of her grasp, shaking his head.

"No."

His older self relaxed, turning away. "Good. Then let us move past this childhood curiosity, and instead discuss our plans for the future. In lieu of Kingdom Hearts, and my many plans I once held for it, I will settle for another power - one that will still lead me to ascend beyond that of all others in these worlds. One that will allow me to mold and control them. It is an ancient tale all its own, of a legendary-"

Xehanort curled his fist at his side, and a Dark Portal formed beneath the woman; the darkness rose up in bubbles and tendrils, eating away at the chains rapidly, and she dropped down into it instantly, disappearing from sight. Xehanort opened his hand again, letting the portal close immediately after.

His older self whipped around, his mouth agape with pure shock and confusion. "What do you think you are doing, boy?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry: I meant no, I will not allow that to happen to her. I should have clarified." Xehanort raised his chin at the man, holding his gaze. "If she is not necessary for our plans, there's no sense in keeping her around. And you were just about to speak of your plans in front of her. I wonder, truly, which of us is not seeing things clearly. Were you not concerned that she would get word back to our enemies later?"

His older self summoned his weapon to his hand at his side, striding forward with powerful, purposeful steps. "Insolent brat! You are not here to question, you are here to obey! I brought you across time to aid in my ascension, to be here to witness it with your own eyes-"

"Forgive me if I don't have as much boundless confidence regarding succeeding at it as you do," Xehanort interjected sharply. "Only, it has been many many decades since my time, and you still seem to be no closer to it than you ever were. Plan after plan, time after time, delay after delay - failure after failure. It's more likely than not that this next attempt of yours will be thwarted as well, isn't it? Perhaps you are the one chasing foolish fantasies and impossible dreams that you will never attain."

"Hold your tongue, boy, if you know what is good for you!" his older self snarled.

"Or, what, precisely?" Xehanort responded, his fists crackling with lightning. "You can do nothing to me but return me to my own time. That's not much of a threat, now is it?"

His older self laughed loudly, a wide grin stretching on his face. "Perhaps - but while I have you here, I think you'll find I could do a great many things, before we get to such a point."

Xehanort scoffed in the man's face. "Take your best shot, then. I'll wait."

"You believe you can stand against me?"

"Perhaps. But then, that would only mean that we have both lost our minds, would it not?"

His older self's face contorted with rage. Darkness surrounded his body in an aura-

Then, it vanished. The expression eased, as the man closed his eyes.

His Keyblade disappeared.

He turned away.

"I have no wish to be in conflict with my own youthful self," his voice issued, controlled and quiet. "I suppose the mistake was, indeed, mine. I forgot what it was like to truly be where you are - when you are from - in my life. I apologize for losing my temper with you."

Xehanort stared at the man's back, surprise once again burgeoning in his Heart.

"I will let this matter go - let her go - and we can both forget this entire incident," his older self continued. "You would agree that it is for the best, wouldn't you? You saw her reaction to you - and to myself. Regrettably, your attempt at a dialogue with her has ended in failure. You are correct: she is better off being away from us. She will never accept us, and she deserves better than to be around the one who has caused her such grievous harm in the past. The best thing you can do for her now is to leave her in peace - do you concur?"

Xehanort frowned, looking down at the floor. "...Yes."

"Good, good." His older self turned to face him, a smile on his face. He strode forward, raising a hand and grasping him on the shoulder. "Now then, about these memories you've seen...if I am to determine whether they are truly factual - or not - I will need the one who channeled them into you in the first place."

"The girl, Namine?"

"Indeed. We will need to...acquire her, and then we shall convince her to do what she did for you - for me this time," the man answered, calm and measured. "As well..."

"Yes?"

His older self clapped him on the arm, then let his hand fall away. "You were right that I have also forgotten what was once held most dear in my Heart, with the passing of so many years. You had your little excursion to satisfy curiosity, to bring closure to your youth - I shall do the same."

"Not with Skuld?"

"No. With the one you claim is real, returned to us - the one whom you have spent the past week in the presence of, allegedly. I wish to meet with our...childhood caretaker, myself. If it is truly her, if you believe it to be so...I must know for myself."

"She will not come quietly," Xehanort said, a twinge in his chest. "She is probably as strong as yourself and Luxu."

His older self smiled, nodding. "If she was so willing to get you into a private place to speak with you, she will be willing to speak with me as well. There will be no need for us to fight."

Xehanort nodded back, relief in his Heart. "Yes. I'm sure she will be."

"Then I will go to see her, and you will go and wait for the opportune moment to retrieve the Princess's Nobody."

"Yes. I believe I've heard mention of a world in the Realm Between - Twilight Town," Xehanort answered. "I believe she can be found there."

"Then find her." His older self was already conjuring a portal, striding through it on his own.

Xehanort remained where he was, alone in the silence.

He gazed around himself, at the decrepit old laboratory.

He looked to the spot where Skuld had once been.

He raised a hand, clenching it into a fist.

"As you wish..."

Chapter 6: Checkmate

Notes:

New chapter! :D Wonder what happens here... xD Probably nothing huuuuge or anything.

Master Xehanort strode through the Dark Corridor, crossing into the world of Radiant Garden once more.

It would seem destiny was on his side, as it was not long after he arrived that he witnessed a gaggle of residents, along with the very woman he sought, gathering around the dark-haired one, Skuld, in the town's main square.

The woman who bore his caretaker's appearance, as well as another woman of this world, were both applying powerful Healing magic to Skuld.

"I think she's going to pull through," spoke the Radiant Garden citizen, her green eyes fixed to Skuld. "It's bad, but...not as bad as it could be."

The woman who might be Amaya gave a nod.

Xehanort watched her alone, his mind filtering out all the others.

He watched her stand, watched her attempt to move Skuld toward the castle. But the dark-haired woman refused, quite violently, and the rabble instead seemed to decide to take her to one of the houses ringing the square.

Xehanort watched the scene with annoyance. It was all very dramatic, wasn't it? He needed the woman to separate from the rest, so he could take her. Speak with her somewhere private.

He needed to get to the bottom of this - if there was any possibility...any kernel of truth to his younger self's claims...

An ember of emotion sparked in his Heart.

He crushed it, focusing his mind.

Had he truly been so emotional, so easily misled, as a youth? So naive - weak and susceptible? Well, perhaps he had, given the events involving Luxu and that Master of his, whom had met Xehanort in the Graveyard twice...

All manipulations. All for a purpose. All deception and lies.

And he had indeed fallen for them, never realizing... But he was wiser now, older now.

His younger self may need a bit more of a guiding hand to account for his youthful shortcomings, but Xehanort was confident he could get himself past it. After all, he had grown beyond it naturally, once before...all on his own.

Yes, he supposed he had been expecting rather much from even his own, younger self. These were confusing times, where the battlefield shifted and nothing was certain any longer. He could hardly expect his younger self to navigate it all with perfect clarity and grace. He remembered well his own introspections, doubts, stumblings...and failings of youth. Questioning the ways of the worlds, darkness and light, and all their complications...as well as the complicated Hearts and the emotions therein of the ones who existed upon them. Even his own - or, perhaps, especially his own...

He could allow his younger self some...some leeway in this regard. His Heart was still growing, from the boy he was, into the man he would become.

Shouting voices drifted into the hidden Dark Corridor, catching Xehanort off his guard.

He returned focus to the present, in time to witness the woman with Amaya's face retreating from Skuld, looking rather sorrowful and distraught. But not more so than the dark-haired woman herself, who wore a face of tight, wild fury, her weak body shaking from her place on a large bed.

"Get...OUT! I don't want to see your face again for-" The dark-haired woman stopped in the midst of her raging. "Please just leave me alone for a while..."

Xehanort cursed himself for not paying more attention; he might have been able to actually know what had been said, or done, to cause such a curious display of volatility between the two women. No matter: he could ask his...possible caretaker, himself.

Though, the woman who may have been Amaya did not respond to Skuld in kind; she simply nodded, composed yet sad, and turned to leave the little house.

Xehanort was pleased. This was the break he needed - the moment.

He relocated through the darkness, shifting the invisible exit of his portal to the central square once more, watching the woman stride off across it.

The square only held one or two random, insignificant nobodies. It was, all in all, rather barren.

Save for the one person who might matter...

Xehanort could see no better opportunity.

He manifested the open end of the portal behind the woman precisely, seizing her in telekinetic hold and pulling her backwards - into his physical grasp.

He held to her, shifting them through the Dark Corridor, turning from that world and toward another.

In the darkness, the woman twisted in his grasp - a golden light flashed out -

And they both fell out of the darkness into light.

He landed awkwardly and roughly on cracked dirt, dust and wind breezing across his form.

They had still reached his intended destination.

The Keyblade Graveyard.

Xehanort rose to his feet, his gaze finding the woman - who was already up and on her own. He brushed himself off, composing himself, placing hands behind his back as he inspected her figure.

She was indeed the same as the woman who had seized his younger self a week prior - some younger facade of the old woman he had known in memories of earliest years. She wore quite ordinary clothing, with a modest jacket over top. She looked...

Quite disappointing.

Her brown eyes looked back at him - squarely at his face. Her arms hung at her sides. He watched as some strange emotion burgeoned in her features - then it faded. "Xehanort," she spoke, in simple, calm tones.

"Yes." He looked her up and down again. "And you are, supposedly, the woman who raised me."

She closed her eyes, nodding. Then, she sighed. "I've already been through this with your younger self. I don't think I have the strength to do it again - with you."

"Let us get straight to the point, then: do you claim to be her?"

"I am Amaya, yes," she responded, still so simple, so calm. So factual. So...

"Can you prove that?"

"Can you believe that?" she replied, mirroring his tone and cadence. Her eyes had still not left his. "I could recount childhood memories of ours - I could tell you so many things you never knew - but the choice to believe them or not lies with you. And if I'm going to waste my time speaking so much..." She looked around herself, at a pile of broken Keyblades nearby, her eyes glinting. "I wouldn't have chosen it to be done here, of all the places."

Xehanort considered her. He glanced around, extending his finely honed, magical senses. After a minute, he spoke again. "I am willing to entertain the possibility that my younger self spoke the truth - that you are indeed her. Though how, I have not the faintest idea. Perhaps you could enlighten me."

The woman sighed again, looking down and away. She looked rather weary. She shook her head, then lifted it again. She glided her fingers over the surface of her tangled, curly black hair. After she was finished inspecting herself, she let her hands fall. Then, a single arm was raised, and - in a flash of light - a Keyblade appeared in her grasp. It was an extravagant, garish weapon, with purple handle and guard, a gold and purple blade...and it was adorned with several golden stars on the hilt, the blade's end, and even on the blade itself. There was a golden sun on the very tip of the weapon, with spikes surrounding it - meant to represent rays of light.

Xehanort eyed the weapon with fascination. Then, the woman herself. He allowed himself a small chuckle. "If you truly are her, I would not have thought a humble woman such as you would have had such a...flamboyant weapon."

"It was simple, in the beginning," she replied, giving him a smile. Warm, true. As hers always had been...could it truly be her...? "This is after several upgrades."

"Upgrades?"

"I used Mythral Shards, Adamantite, Mystic Stones - and many other materials - and infused my Keyblade with them to make it more powerful."

"Not an unheard of practice, in our circles," Xehanort remarked, nodding in acceptance.

The woman lowered her weapon to her side - yet still held it in her grasp. Her eyes found his again. Her smile faded. "Why don't we exchange information, Xehanort. A pact of honesty and truthfulness."

"What are you proposing?" Xehanort said, curious.

"I will tell you everything I know, about myself, about the past - everything. But first, I want you to tell me...about how your life has gone since the islands. Since Scala Ad Caelum. I want to know how you went from the boy I knew, to the man you are now. I want to know...the things you've done, across these worlds, to so many people. Be honest, be open, hold nothing back. I already have a good idea of the terrible scale of things you've done, and the ways you've hurt people. But I want to hear it from your own mouth, Xehanort."

Xehanort tilted his head at her, puzzled. "You ask for a pact of honesty, yet the only information you demand are things you surely already know from my enemies? You wish me to provide you with a listing of my movements and actions up until now?"

"Then you shouldn't have a problem with telling them to me, should you."

Xehanort gazed at her, narrowing his eyes. Thinking. Why demand that which she should already know? Surely his enemies would have regaled her with tale after tale of his "evils"? Was she hoping to uncover some information he may have overlooked, some clue or hint to his...? No, there was nothing to be learned of what he intended to do now from what he had once done. His attempts to gain Kingdom Hearts were all over with. The Princess of Heart and others had been at the forefront of thwarting those plans of his - she could merely ask them whatever she liked. They would doubtless be eager to tell all...

They already knew what his Heartless and Nobody had done - and what he had done ten years prior.

So why?

What was her angle? What was the point?

Assuming she was Amaya, assuming she would be truthful in return...fine, then. He would tell her what she wished to know, could have easily learned already from other sources. It was nothing to him, and after he had told her, he would get to know what he wanted from her. True, valuable information. Only he stood to gain from this exchange.

He told her the truth.

He told her of his travels around the many worlds after Scala, seeing them for what they were. Infested with darkness, grown by the teeming masses, too weak to control their own Hearts! He told her the unvarnished truth of his Heart's ideals - of his many plans gone awry. His experiments, the destruction and death, Eraqus's slaying, the taking of young Terra's body, the split into Heartless and Nobody, and their individual parts in his plans that had been played out. He watched her face the entire time - watching those eyes grow so big, watching them begin to glisten...

He felt satisfaction and pleasure, as he wove his tale on further and in more detail. He told her of the time he had been bereft of memory - the search for truth, the experiments on people's Hearts and minds, the young Princess of Heart's abduction...

He saw the way that her lips trembled. He noted how her fingers curved around the hilt of her weapon, still in her hand...

He saw the golden energy swirl around the Keyblade, casting off sparks and bursts of light. A contained, great power, on the verge of being unleashed (Xehanort was almost eager for it, to see her break, to see her lash out at him, wondering just how powerful and skilled his childhood mentor might truly be compared with himself). But, to his mild disappointment, she did not attack him. The energy faded away. Though the weapon remained in her grasp.

He watched her, simply waiting for her response. Whatever it would be. Rage? Spite? Denouncement as "evil" or "a monster"? A scolding for all of his "crimes"?

She stepped forward, suddenly...

Xehanort clenched his hand behind his back, ready to draw his own weapon in an instant...

She slowly raised her arms and- embraced him? It was so shockingly unexpected - the very furthest thing he could have imagined - that he did not even have the presence of mind to stop her.

"I'm sorry..." she spoke at last, in a voice of choked emotion. "If I hadn't disappeared from your life that day...none of this would have happened to you. And you would not have gone on to do all of this to others."

Xehanort forced a laugh, shoving her away with force. She stumbled, righted herself again, gazing at him...with sorrow. With- "I do not need PITY," Xehanort snapped out. "Spare me your foolish emotions, woman."

"It's even sadder to think that you might actually believe that. Your Heart...it was so wonderful, and bright, and true...but now...it's so broken," Amaya spoke. "But it's not too late to fix it."

"Fix it? Fix me? How will you do that?" Xehanort snarled. "Will you raise all of my friends from the dead-"

"Why haven't you?"

Xehanort paused. "Eh?"

"You have the power to bring anyone through time - with Medium and Memory, or Replica bodies," Amaya went on. "So why haven't you done it? Why not bring them all back again - let them live here, now? Master Luxu's already done it for his friends. You saw it. So why don't you do the same for yours? Or are you so broken that you don't even care for them anymore? You've even brought your own self here from the past; you can do the same for your lost friends. You can give them another chance to live."

Xehanort was, as was so uncommon an occurrence in his life...at a loss. He had no idea what response to formulate. Mainly because he... "I- have never given it thought before," he confessed, grudging and halting.

"Well then..." Amaya gazed at him.

Xehanort raised his eyebrow at her, nonplussed. "What...?"

"Do it."

"I will do as I please," Xehanort responded roughly.

"You don't care, then. They're nothing to you now. You've become so empty, you're more of a hollow shell of a man than this Nobody of yours."

"Do not presume to know the contents of my Heart!" Xehanort said furiously, stepping toward her.

The woman did not flinch, did not retreat. She simply looked him in the face - in the eyes. Directly and unfailingly. It was a level of absolute...resolve, determination, that Xehanort had never seen in anyone before. There was not a hint of fear, worry, alarm...nothing. He could almost have believed she were a Nobody. "I wouldn't do that. But I know more than you might want to admit. More than anyone. Just like you know more about mine. Because that is the bond we share, Xehanort. And it will never go away."

"Do you truly wish me to bring them back to this World?" Xehanort said, turning away instead. "They would be decades out of time - they would learn their efforts were for nothing. They would all look upon me and see not a friend, but an enemy. An evil to be extinguished. A monster to be slain. Just the same way that you-"

"I don't see a monster when I look at you, Xehanort. I see a boy who lost everything, and lost himself because of it. Don't make up lies about me. I thought we were being honest with each other."

"Regardless of your warped perception of me," Xehanort went on scathingly. "they would see differently. Shall I inflict that fate upon them? Should they be told their home was ravaged, abandoned? That their Master gave up and went into hiding like some lowly coward? That everyone they fought for was killed? That everything they believed in amounted to nothing?"

"It would be devastating, yes. But we could help them through it."

"They would try to kill me, or run to join my opposition, the moment they learned of who I am and what I have done."

"And you say that without any self awareness? If you didn't act so cruel, so ruthless and cold, people would be more willing to accept you and your goals. Your intentions and end goal might have some basis in nobility and goodness, but your actions...the ends justify the means has never been a method rational, moral people can endorse. Have you not stopped to think that in trying so desperately to save the World, that you've been doing it more harm than help? That you've become the very thing you hated - that stole away your friends, that shattered your Heart with this pain, this grief?"

"The World needs someone to stand up and lead! Someone strong - someone to dictate their destiny!" Xehanort proclaimed. "Someone willing to go to any and all lengths to save them - even if that means wiping them all away in favor of a new start. A world in balance. A World where the weak and foolish will not pollute it with their endless darkness! There will be no more Scala Ad Caelums, there will be no more Darkness plaguing the worlds! Can you not see that it is NECESSARY? What is the alternative? What is the solution? To let these worlds remain as they are? Festering? Degrading?"

"Is this really about saving the World - or is it about putting yourself atop it? You've convinced yourself that you are the only one strong enough, wise enough, smart enough to save the World. That you're the only one willing to do what needs to be done. It's arrogance. it's ego. It's pride. Even if that were true, you're not that person, Xehanort. You will never be that person. You've become too clever for your own good - or the World's."

"Then who is?" Xehanort challenged, curling his lip at her. "If I am truly the Child of Destiny, as you told me yourself all those years ago, then am I not destined to be the only one capable of doing so? Do you speak of yourself, then? Or perhaps you speak of my enemies? The ones who run around, frantically trying to salvage these ruined worlds! Fighting for what is not worth saving!"

"Someone who at least has empathy, compassion, and kindness in their Heart. Who can truly look at the problems these worlds face and try to make the best choices for them - out of selflessness, out of goodness - not out of blinded ego and bias. You see what you want to see, Xehanort. You believe what you want to believe. You don't see what is truly there in front of you. And you don't see any of the people in front of you as people, do you? You call them weak, less, you've written them all off before you even tried to tackle the problem. Why should you be the best choice for a leader when you never even tried? You just jumped to the most extreme solution possible. That isn't the decision of a good, intelligent leader - but a deluded, broken man. Truthfully, ANYONE would be a better choice than you, Xehanort. You're far too self-righteous, and far too DAMAGED to see the world clearly, let alone to make decisions for anyone."

Xehanort gazed at her, seething, wanting to strike her down - the rage coursing in his veins was unbelievable. That word she called him rang in his ears: DAMAGED. That was truly how she thought of him? That was ALL she saw him as...? Yet, as he stood there, gazing at her face, into those eyes of hers...the eyes that had not once wavered, not once flinched or shied away - eyes that had in fact intensified into a fury of pure will and determination...

Xehanort found the rage leaving him, somehow. He found his body relaxing. He bowed his head slightly, closing his eyes. A small smile tugged at his lips. "Hmph...you remind me of my old friend..."

"The friend that you killed. Did you feel any remorse, or was it another necessity for your grand plans?"

Xehanort was silent. He looked away, gritting his teeth.

"I want an answer, Xehanort."

"I do not have to tell you anything."

She laughed. "So the child I knew is still in there somewhere. That was very petulant of you!"

"SILENCE!"

"No. You will listen to me, and you will answer me."

"You believe yourself to be that powerful?" Xehanort scoffed. "I can and will silence you if you continue speaking to me this way, woman. Childhood memories hold no power over me! I will cut you down if I must!"

"Oh, child, do you think I fear death?" Amaya stepped closer, pushing her face in his - and she laughed in his face. And then, she reached down, seized his wrist...and brought his blade up to rest against her own neck. "I've already died twice before, Xehanort. I know exactly what will happen to me, and where I'll go. And it's not something I'm afraid of; it was honestly the most peaceful place I have ever been to in my three lifetimes combined. I doubt you can say the same...can you?"

Xehanort gazed at her - then he stepped back, turning away, wrenching his weapon out of her grasp.

She was telling the truth. Somehow, whatever she was talking about...he felt it in his Heart. It was the truth...

What was this? What was she? What...

"Listen to someone else for once in your life, instead of believing you hold all the answers!" Amaya spoke after him. "Closing yourself off to all advice and criticism is the act of a fool and an idiot - and it leads to terrible mistakes. If you keep your Heart and mind open, you might actually be more effective in what you're trying to accomplish. You might see better results than you've achieved so far. Because, clearly, none of this is working, Xehanort! You're only making the worlds worse, you're amassing powerful and varied enemies, and you're even further away from your goal than you ever were before. You're slipping, you're losing, and you're failing. And, most of all: you're LOST. You don't know what to do, or where to go anymore. But if you would just listen to me, I could give you direction - I could help you. Just like I always have. Just like you always have let me."

Amaya's hand was suddenly on his bare arm. He felt a surge of emotions, a wave through his body, and into his Heart.

He looked over at her, glowering. But she didn't remove her hand - nor did she even balk at the look he gave her. Not even a twitch of the smallest muscles in her face.

"You have the time, power, and patience to try something new - don't you?" Amaya said quietly. "What can it hurt you? What will you lose? What are you afraid of - simply admitting that you were wrong? That the choices you've made, the path you've chosen, was the wrong one?"

"Quiet." Xehanort made to pull away from her-

Her hand tightened around his arm, pulling him back, shocking him. "Give me a real answer. Or can I take your attempts to blow me off as a concession, child?"

Xehanort stared at her, breathing heavily. His hand twitched at his side...

"Very well..." he uttered. "Tell me, then. Tell me how you would save the World. Tell me what your brilliant plan is. If you know so much better than I, if you can see so much more clearly than I...then enlighten me!"

"First, you need to accept a simple fact of reality."

"And what would that be?"

"That the World isn't perfect, and it is never going to be. Even if you were to gain power over Kingdom Hearts, even if you used it to reset the World, I doubt the new World will be what you imagine. It won't be a perfect place, and the people within it won't be perfect either. What you want is impossible. You need to accept these worlds as they are, and fight for them as they are. You need to see the wonders and the good within them - the good and wonderful people. After the tragedy you experienced, you went around these worlds and saw nothing but more tragedy - more darkness. More losses and suffering. And you wanted to end it all. And that isn't necessarily wrong. But if you only focus on the bad, you miss all the good. The things that make life worth living to begin with - worth saving. You need to care again, Xehanort. You need to feel again. And not just grief, rage, spite, anger, hatred - but amusement, joy, happiness, love, compassion. The things you once knew, and cherished, for being worth it."

Xehanort gazed at her in silence.

"I know that you are afraid to let yourself feel again - to bond again - and risk losing it all again, but that is life, Xehanort! We fight, we love, and sometimes, yes, we lose...but we don't just give up on everything. We persevere, we remain strong, and true to our Hearts, and to the people we love. Your problem, Xehanort, is that you broke under the weight of tragedy - and you're still being crushed by it. But if you would let me, I can help you lift that weight off of you again."

"You think I am BROKEN, do you?"

"Are you not?" Amaya gazed back at him fearlessly. "Compare yourself to the Princess of Heart and her friends - after all the tragedies, the grief, the loss and punishments that you have put them through - have they ever given up? Have they ever broken? Decided to abandon their ideals, their own Hearts and the bonds they have between them? Have they decided to wash their hands of the worlds? Or are they still fighting for them, staying true to themselves, and fighting you - together? Perhaps they are the ones actually worthy of being entrusted with the World's future. Because they are strong enough not to lose Heart, to not lose themselves - unlike you. They have fought and won against all odds, against all your power and planning, and they have not seen it necessary to sacrifice an ounce of who they are inside to do it. Be honest with yourself, for once: it isn't that you're strong enough to cast off your feelings and bonds to do what has to be done; it's that you're too weak to hold on to them while still accomplishing your goals. A truly strong person wouldn't have to sacrifice anything - would cast aside nothing. You're just a very weak man who is only pretending to be strong, trying to justify it all to yourself and to others!"

The woman turned away from him, slinging out her Keyblade to conjure a portal of light.

Xehanort could only stare after her, her words ringing in his ears. Words that were incredibly familiar: strikingly so. For they had once come from his own lips, as a young man...

"They are but sheep pretending to be wolves..."

"Using hollow reasons as justifications..."

Those beliefs of his, pushed and validated by the man he now knew was the Master of Luxu, one who had planned and manipulated Xehanort's life since before even his birth...

Could they be wrong, then? Beliefs he'd been made to hold for the sake of another's schemes? To mold him into the person they needed him to be? But if it truly was the plan for Xehanort to become who he was now, to act as others desired he act, then the only true way to ensure his destiny was his own, to cast off the shackles of fate, would be to act in ways other than he was. To be counter to...

But if so, then what was left for Xehanort...? Who was he - who could he have been? Who should he be...?

If not this road...then what?

Everything he had worked for, all he had done...all he could still do...

No: he could do this! He knew he could succeed! He knew it...he just...he just...

Just before Amaya disappeared into the light, Xehanort called out to her, reaching out for her. "Wait!"

To his surprise, she stopped. She turned back to look at him, fully and completely. Her eyes found his once more.

Xehanort swallowed, hard, bowing his head. Clenching his fists at his sides. He felt more like the lost, drowning teenager in full than he had in decades now.

"What is it, child?" she spoke to him gently.

In that moment, he saw it. He felt it. Emotions flowed into his Heart once more - images ran through his mind's eye - memories of times past, and times he had never been-

And he knew...

It was her.

"...Amaya..." he breathed.

Suddenly, everything just...drained from his body. His shoulders fell, his hands uncurled, and a great, weary sigh escaped him.

The woman stood, gazing at him. Unmoving. Blinking slowly. Waiting...? For what?

"Stay - stay with me," Xehanort pleaded, in a voice that sounded so thin and weak to his own ears, even despite the youthful form he was embodying. "Tell me...about yourself. About...about- mother. Moreth - yes? And, I would like to...talk more with you about your- ideas, as well. Perhaps it is time I considered...alternative ways of thinking...different - methods to achieve my goals. Clearly, what I have been doing thus far has not been...effective. The results have not been- satisfactory. Things are only- getting out of hand. Slipping. I am...slipping. As you said, I- it is only leading to more darkness, and to enemies, and even my own younger self- perhaps it is...enough."

He stopped, staring at her, desperation clawing in his brittle Heart, truly feeling its age now, and nothing more. "I wish to see my friends again," he whispered, the truest, unburdened desire of his Heart.

She smiled. She approached him, simply and easily. Unafraid, unintimidated. Unjudging. Those eyes of hers simply...

It was her.

"If that is what your Heart wants, then I'll help you make it happen."

Master Xehanort closed his eyes of gold, his mind drifting back to remember times spent with her, and with all of them, and...with his best friend...

In the bright study room, in the world of Scala ad Caelum, Xehanort was gazing down at the sole, remaining piece on the game board, sitting in the window. Sunlight streamed through, warming him.

Eraqus smiled at him. " I told you that you might be surprised."

Xehanort smiled back, turning away. "Yeah, you got me."

"Huh? Really?"

"What?"

"It's just, you never admit it when you lose."

"That's 'cause I never lose," Xehanort declared smugly.

"Oh, come on!"

They laughed together, warm feelings filling Xehanort's Heart. So easy, so simple, when Eraqus was around.

"Ahhh...good game today," Xehanort said lightly - so easily.

"I try."

"Maybe I won't go as far as you..." Xehanort said wistfully, turning back toward his friend.

"Huh?" Eraqus looked at him in confusion.

Xehanort leaned forward, flicking at the game piece of his opponent, amusing himself. "When the World needs a defender, they'll pick you, Eraqus."

"Y-you think?" Eraqus said, sheepish - surprised.

Xehanort leaned in, gazing at the boy with a soft smile. "But that doesn't mean...that I can't be there for you."

Eraqus blinked. Then he grinned. "Yeah. And I'll be there for you."

In the present, Xehanort opened his eyes anew...and he gave a small smile. Checkmate, indeed, old friend...

Chapter 7: Shifting Tides

Notes:

Lol still on that hot streak. I can't stop myself posting new chappies. xD Sorry. Better than a months long drought though, right?! :D

Namine walked through the narrow backstreets of Twilight Town, as evening came.

The sky started to darken, letting the street lamps and lights do the work instead.

She hefted her bag of new outfits, turning to smile at Strelitzia.

She squeezed the other girl's hand and gave it a good swing between them.

The other girl glanced at her, then down at their hands. "Are you happy about something?" she said, smiling back.

"Yes. I really had a lot of fun today," Namine replied. "I love the mall. And I love going there with you."

"I like going to the mall with you, too," Strelitzia agreed, with a small laugh. "Honestly I was nervous about all this 'normal girl' stuff Lauriam's been wanting me to do - especially school - but it's been...nice. I know he said it's what our parents would have wanted for us, but I...I was still nervous. But - it hasn't been that bad. Especially with you around..."

"Thanks!"

"Y-you're welcome..." Strelitzia looked the other way, her voice catching.

Namine eyed the back of the girl's head, looking her up and down.

Strelitzia looked back at her. Her face started to turn pink. "W-what? Is there a bug in my hair?" she stammered, reaching up her free hand to pat at her head.

Namine giggled. "No. I could have said yes just to watch you freak out, though."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't! So why- why were you staring at me like that, then?"

"Like what?"

Strelitzia looked away again. Then up. Then down. "Never mind! S-so-"

"I was just wondering what your hair would look like if it was all curly - or maybe wavy - or a ponytail, or-"

Strelitzia gaped at her. "How much time do you spend thinking about my hair?!" she squeaked out.

Namine beamed at the girl. "A lot."

"Why?!"

Namine shrugged. "I don't know? It's pretty, and I bet it'd look even prettier in all kinds of different styles!"

"You- think my hair's really that- that pretty? I don't even think about my hair that much!" Strelitzia protested, looking like she was going to faint.

"I like your hair. And your face. And your eyes. And your b-"

Namine's words caught in her throat as a hand suddenly seized her arm from behind! She was yanked backwards hard, dropping her bag all over the ground! She spun around-

And found herself staring at a familiar sight.

It was Xehanort - Young Xehanort!

Strelitzia had stopped too, spinning around in alarm. Her face went white, her pretty green eyes growing huge. Then she raised her hand and called her Keyblade. "Let her go!" she yelled.

Xehanort raised his free hand - the air rippled strangely - and Strelitzia went flying backwards, hitting the wall of the alley!

"Strelitzia!" Namine cried. She set her jaw and twisted in the man's grasp, bringing her knee up between his legs with all she had.

"Ugh...!" The man gasped, his grip slackening on her as he bent forward.

Namine tore herself free and called her Keyblade, running to Strelitzia and helping her back up again. She turned back to face Xehanort, holding her weapon out. "You want a piece of this? Come on then, you stupid p-"

Strelitzia seized her wrist, pulling at her hard as she started off down the alley. "Namine, run!" she exclaimed.

Namine went along with her, trying to juggle her mind between running, looking back for Xehanort, and trying to reach out to Luxu with her powers. But she didn't have her sketchbook and it was just so unexpected and-

"Enough!" Xehanort appeared in front of them, and a shimmering barrier suddenly flashed - right in between Namine and Strelitzia, separating them. He raised a hand, and a blue light flashed out from him. Namine found herself frozen, mid step. Strelitzia was the same, her Keyblade raised, mid-attempt to slash at the barrier!

Xehanort stepped forward, grabbed Namine's arm-

A light flashed from nearby, and Namine suddenly could move again! The barrier shattered into pieces. Strelitzia gasped, falling forward on the momentum of her own swing, and hitting nothing but air. She wobbled and recovered, whipping her head up.

A wooshing noise and a swirling portal appeared in the alleyway - and out of it came- Amaya? And the actual, present day Xehanort?

"Huh?" Young Xehanort gasped, whirling around as well. "What-"

"Release her and stand down," the older Xehanort said, in a tired, quiet voice. "It is indeed enough..."

Young Xehanort stared at him. Then to Amaya. "I don't- understand..."

Amaya strode forward. "You will. Just let the child go."

Young Xehanort hesitated. He looked to his older self again. His hand released Namine's arm, giving her a little push away.

Namine immediately ran back to Strelitzia's side, grabbing her hand and turning back toward the Xehanorts.

"Thank you," Amaya told Young Xehanort. She sighed, looking to Namine. "Now...Namine - what you were kind and brave enough to help me with before - it would be more than understandable if you said no, but: would you be at all willing to do so again?"

Namine frowned. "I already showed him everything Luxu asked - and what you asked."

"Yes, you did - but now I would like it if this Xehanort could also see what the younger one saw," Amaya replied quietly.

Namine looked at Young Xehanort. "Why are you such a dick?"

"What?"

"After I just helped you - you tried to kidnap me!" Namine said angrily. "What the hell?"

"I was going to retrieve you so you could do exactly as she has said," Young Xehanort replied.

Namine stamped her foot, throwing up her hands. "So you had to kidnap me? God, did you ever think about just asking nicely? I would have said yes! You really do just like being an evil dick don't you? Kidnapping me makes me less likely to say yes, you fucking moron!"

"I-" Young Xehanort started.

"Unless the next word is 'sorry', say nothing to her," Amaya cut across the man, her brown eyes intense.

"What?" Young Xehanort turned to her. "You are saying you want me to- apologize?"

"It might make her more likely to agree to help you - but it's also just the right thing to do," Amaya stated. "No one is going to force her to."

Young Xehanort again looked at his older self, confusion and bewilderment on his face. "What is even going on here...?"

Old Xehanort (it was confusing; Namine had to mentally make it less confusing) sighed, his yellow eyes dimly gazing back at the younger man. "Just do as she asks. We have come to an...understanding. And a realization."

"What understanding - what realization?"

"You'll be told after you've done what I asked of you, child," Amaya spoke, firm and clear.

Young Xehanort's lips parted, blinking at her. Then he shook his head, turning to look at Namine. "Very...well. I...well...suppose I- a-apologize for- attempting to...take such a forceful approach when I apparently could have done otherwise?"

"Jeez, when was the last time you ever said sorry for anything? It sounds like it's been a really long time," Namine responded.

Young Xehanort's face flickered with anger. "I don't usually-"

"That will do," Amaya said. "Now - Namine? You're more than welcome to say no."

"If it makes him be less of a dick, sure," Namine said, shrugging. "I mean, if Saix can be better now...and Luxu changed, too! But...I'll do it at home. You can take them somewhere else."

"Would that work...?" Amaya asked.

Namine grinned at the Xehanorts. "My powers still work across worlds. And if I'm going to be connecting with their Hearts again, I could break them if I wanted to. Anywhere. At any time. Like this..." She raised her hands, curled her fingers, and mimed pulling on invisible strings, making a snapping noise with her mouth for effect.

Amaya smiled at her, nodding. "Then they'll have something to keep them on their toes. Thank you, Namine. And I am truly sorry for them."

"It's not your fault. You tried really hard," Namine said. "You're actually nice - and really pretty, too!"

"Thank you..." Amaya gestured at Young Xehanort. "Come. We're leaving."

"Where?" Young Xehanort said.

"You'll find out," Amaya responded. "Now: walk."

Young Xehanort glanced at his older self, then strode into the portal.

Amaya gestured, and Old Xehanort passed through it as well.

The woman lingered, her eyes looking at Namine and Strelitzia with sadness and apology still. Then she turned and entered the portal.

Namine let her Keyblade vanish, looking at Strelitzia.

Strelitzia looked back at her.

Namine let her hand go, turning and stalking back to get her fallen bag. She picked it up, examining it before nodding. Smiling. "Okay, let's get back home."

"How can you just be okay after something like that?!" Strelitzia cried, her eyes wide.

Namine frowned, confused. She shrugged. "I don't know? Why are you freaking out when it's already over? Amaya's going to take care of things. She's good, and smart. And pretty."

Strelitzia stared at her for a long time, breathing. Then she hurried forward and grabbed Namine's hand tightly. "Let's just go, okay..."

Namine still didn't get it. It wasn't like anything too crazy had happened?

---

Master Yen Sid strode through his tower, descending the stairs floating in the magical space. He waved a hand and changed the door before him into a new one, and stepped through it.

He entered into a special room - a space and time all its own. Confined, closed off.

Yen Sid raised his hand to the door behind him, sealing it off once more.

Then, he turned his attentions to the middle of the room.

The creature remained as it was, as it had been, this past week now.

Yen Sid had studied it deeply, with magic and the five senses alike. He had observed, and recorded many notes.

He had attempted to question it, as well, but its rudimentary intellect seemed not enough to sustain any kind of conversation. Nor did it possess the knowledge to sustain one with. It had no experiences to draw on, no recollections or information stored. What intelligence it did have only seemed to be there to give it the ability to strategize during battle, and to take commands and orders from Hearts of Pure Light...or perhaps solely from the specific Heart that had birthed it.

It was primarily driven by its instincts - a guiding directive. A core behavior it could not waver from. As with all animals, it could not help but be what it was - do what it did. No thought given, no higher reasoning, no questioning itself or its place in the universe...

Yen Sid closed his eyes a moment against the shining, flickering light of its form.

Born of a Princess's Heart...

As he pondered the past, light and darkness, and people and Hearts, he felt it within himself - and all around him.

A momentous shift...in the tides of Light and Darkness. The ebb and flow of fate, worlds, Hearts, and the universe itself. All of it, all connected. One thing had shifted...and caused everything else to begin to shift as well. Pieces slid over, cogs rotated, and many things clicked into place with many other things.

All in all, the grand picture had changed, now showing an altered image as a whole.

Yen Sid searched his Heart, searched the stars...straining his ears, and his senses...listening for the whispers, the voices speaking across thrumming bonds, across void of darkness...

Some were anxious. Some were excited. Some, even, indifferent (they would continue as they would, regardless).

Yet they all whispered the same, singular word - the name that defined a unique Heart - at the root and cause of this shift.

A name Yen Sid knew very well indeed.

He opened his eyes, looking to the ceiling.

"Xehanort..."

Had the Heart gone astray...finally begun to find its way back onto the right path again? After so long?

I would like to believe...my old friend and comrade...

Chapter 8: Monkeys And Cats

"I TAKE IT ALL BACK - I WANT TO STAY HERE FOREVER! I am going to find every Dream Piece I can, and I'm not stopping until I've amassed an army of the cutest, yet deadliest monsters in the entire universe! I'll lead them against my enemies, destroying them in the most embarrassing way possible! They will die in drowning humiliation!"

Ephemer looked sideways at Kairi, worried and alarmed. "Heeeyyyyy, are you okay...?"

Kairi hugged and squeezed at the Fin Fatale Dream Eater, who was floating in the air despite being a colorful huge piranha that was bigger than her torso and head combined - and about as long as she was tall! "Oh I am perfect, thank you! And so is Fin!"

"Fin, huh? Fin the Fin Fatale."

"Yes! Isn't she amazing?"

"She? Uh, sorry to break it to you, but Dream Eaters don't really have-"

"They do now. She does. Because I decided she does."

"Alright..." Ephemer raised his hands to her.

"Do you think I could ride her into battle, like a steed?"

"Uh. I'm not sure? I've never tried that before."

"Well, no time like the present, right?"

"Don't you think that's going to be really uncomfortable?" Ephemer said quickly. He gestured.

Kairi paused, frowning at Fin - and her dorsal fin separated and connected by sharp spikes running down her back. There was still the space at the front, between fin and giant horn, but...she really didn't want to risk sitting on that. She winced at just the thought of the stabbing mishaps that could occur there.

She sighed, sagging on the spot. "Fine...I'll settle for commanding her from the ground. It's probably better for us to fight side by side, anyways - to bond. Like you said."

Ephemer smiled, tilting his head. "Sure."

"I still want more Dream Pieces - and more Spirits. Fin needs friends, too!"

"Okay..." Ephemer agreed, amused.

They went to Fourth District - the largest, most open space in town. The best place to fight the Nightmares.

It was hopes and dreams - good dreams - that brought Nightmares, eager to devour them.

Kairi thought of her friends, of home, of dad and her sister, of Sora - of getting back to them all...

And the Nightmares popped up around the fountain plaza, one after another.

Kairi got to work, fighting alongside Ephemer, Pragma, and now, Fin! They battled fiercely, leaping and flying about, tag-teaming and smacking enemies between them - and Ephemer even used that strange power of his again, that he called "Reality Shift" (the ability to manifest or warp the dreaming world around you in limited ways).

Ephemer then started using a new power she'd never seen before. Enveloped in a pinkish aura, he dashed through the air toward a Kooma Panda, swirled around it, then seized it in his grasp and put his whole body into a great toss that sent it across the square, slamming into the tall, spray-painted, brick-stone wall. He looked toward Kairi, then leapt up into a flip that took him very high into the air. He spun and dashed forth through the air on seemingly nothing, then came straight down like a rocket, a cone of pink and orange energy spinning below him like a drill. He hit the ground hard, sending a shockwave of energy outward, which obliterated the last few Nightmares!

Ephemer flipped back upright with a single hand, a grin on his face as he dusted his gloves off in satisfaction.

Kairi lowered her Keyblade, staring at him. "What was that?!" she exclaimed with awe and excitement. "That was amazing!"

Ephemer walked over to her, putting his fist to his hip. "Aww, thanks. It wasn't anything too crazy - just Flowmotion."

"Flowmotion?"

Ephemer nodded. He paused, raising a hand to his chin. "Flowmotion is sort of like a Reality Shift, I guess, except it's more like an...inward state than an outward expression. You use the powers of dreams to empower your own body to do things that would be basically impossible in reality, without some serious magic and concentration. But with Flowmotion, you don't have to focus or use any magic at all. You just...go with the flow. It's sort of like a...zen state, I guess, if you know what that is?"

Kairi nodded. "I think I get it, yeah." She paused. "Do you think I could learn how to do that, too? It really was amazing."

Ephemer smiled. "I don't see why not. As long as your Heart and mind are open to it, I think anyone could do it here."

Kairi beamed. She brushed at her hair, turning her gaze to the Dream Pieces littering the ground nearby. "First things first, though..." She went over to pick the Pieces up, gathering them in her hands. She held them close, watching them glow, vibrate, and then start to float into the air. Kairi held her hands over her Heart, concentrating. The Dream Pieces melted together, and a light flashed. Blue and red and white lights swirled around a central point-

And then there was a brand new Dream Eater plopping down in front of her! A red fruit body with leaves for arms and a round yellow head with antennae sticking out and four red flower petals sticking out of the back of the head-

"Nice - a Wheeflower!" Ephemer remarked, grinning widely now. "Haven't seen one of those in a while."

"Oh my gosh I love her!"

"What are you going to name her?" Ephemer asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't know - help me brainstorm! Flower names. Come on."

"Okay. How about Daisy?" Ephemer said.

"Rose!" Kairi declared.

"Cherry?" Ephemer suggested.

"Chrysanthemum?"

Ephemer stared at her.

She stared back.

"No," they said simultaneously.

"Violet? Sunny?"

"Iris? Marigold? Dahlia?"

"Flow?"

Ephemer shrugged. "I'm all out of names."

Kairi sighed. She looked to her new Dream Eater, bending down to touch and play with her cute flappy leaf arms. "Let's just go with Cherry. I know you're actually more of a pinkish color than a red, but pink is close enough that no one will care."

"Okay - so you've got Fin and Cherry," Ephemer nodded, raising two fingers. "Please tell me you're going to stop there."

"Why would I? We're just getting started."

"Well, if you spread a bond too far, it could start to weaken. And having to split your focus between too many different things can be hard, too," Ephemer responded.

"My Heart has more than enough room, and time, for plenty of other people - and pets," Kairi stated firmly.

"If you say so."

"I do say so!"

"Okay, okay."

"So what do you want to do now?" Kairi said.

"I don't know," Ephemer said, thoughtful. "I don't usually stay here this long. There's more than one Sleeping World out there. Most of the Dandelions are spread out pretty far, across them all. I've had to travel a lot to find as much of them as I have. And they don't like to stay in one place. They like to wander off and get into trouble - which makes the task even harder."

"I am getting pretty sick of this place..." Kairi said slowly. "How do you get to another Sleeping World?"

"Well, for me, I usually just let my Heart go to sleep and sort of...just drift into one."

"Okay. I'll try that - but I've slept a lot here before, and nothing happened. I'm still here."

Ephemer frowned. "Huh. Why don't you try again. This time, try thinking about other worlds - places you've been to, and might want to see again."

"You're just guessing."

"Sorry - I'm not an expert. I just know a few things," Ephemer said, apologetic.

Kairi smiled at him. "It's okay. I'll give it a try. What can it hurt, right?"

"Right."

Kairi patted at Cherry, who did an adorable twirl in response. She smiled at Fin, stroking her face; the fish Spirit did a backflip in the air, a stream of little bubbles behind her. "Let's get back to the hotel, then. Come on!"

They journeyed back through the Districts - fighting off more randomly appearing Nightmares, too - but it was a lot easier with Fin and Cherry, now. They entered Second District at last, stepping out of the alley and into the open square (rectangle).

Kairi was headed for the stairs onto the upper walkway, when, suddenly, something started to appear in the square.

It was a collection of a dozen purple gemstones, circling around a big ball of purple mist. The crystals came together at the center, and shattered in a flash of light. Out of the light and miasma, a new Nightmare appeared. One larger and more dangerous-looking than anything Kairi had ever seen before.

It was gigantic, with a purple body, two arms and two legs, all ending in orange and yellow claws. It had on armored bracers, and a...a boxy chestplate over its torso with short striped sleeves. Its head was some kind of nightmarish, twisted, red-eyed monkey, or baboon. Its mouth opened wide, revealing sharp fangs and teeth.

Kairi summoned her Keyblade and leapt backwards, landing in her battle stance. She glanced at Ephemer. "What is this thing called?"

Ephemer looked back at her, his fist clenching at his side. "I don't know; I've never seen it before - nothing this big."

"Great..." Kairi muttered. "It's probably my fault; I'm just as much of a Nightmare magnet as I am a Heartless one, apparently."

Ephemer gave a look of confusion, then shook it off, returning his focus to the giant Nightmare.

The Nightmare dropped down to the ground with a world-shaking thud, raising its clawed limbs and roaring at them.

"Ready?" Ephemer spoke, his body glowing pink, as the Meow Wow known as Pragma popped up beside him.

Kairi nodded. "I'm ready."

They ran at the giant Nightmare together, with their Spirits at their side.

---

On the rooftops of Second District, a puff of purple smoke went unseen.

As did the small, purple and black-striped cat-like being, with glowing red eyes, a little cape, and a pouch on their chest.

The cat-like being stepped forward, peering down into the square.

Their eyes found the silver-haired boy. The boy known from across the bond of their wielder. "Oh, great, you're still around..." they said with a huff. They looked at the red-haired human girl, with her flowery golden Keyblade. A new wielder? One with such a strong light that it took no effort for the cat to feel it at all. To be blasted by it, blinded by it.

Could she be...one of the Seven Pure Lights?

That was interesting.

What was one of them doing inside the world of dreams? And with a Keyblade, to boot?

As the cat-like being watched the girl fight, they were struck by a feeling of familiarity. Similarity. Seeing this girl fighting so fiercely, side by side with Ephemer, of all the people...

The cat froze. They tilted their head, feeling a pulse in their chest.

They hadn't been able to figure out what it was that had suddenly woken them up again recently, but now...they thought they knew why.

If Ephemer was still around...and they could now feel the bond of their wielder again, connected by the darkness they'd been born from in their wielder's Heart...

Could she still be around, too?

The cat felt a flutter of joy in their Heart at the thought.

They'd promised to meet their wielder in another dream...and they were going to keep it.

Dark Chirithy turned away from the battle, vanishing in smoke again.

It was time to return to the real world at long last - and start giving people nightmares.

Chapter 9: Diving Through Nightmares

Notes:

CONTENT WARNING: Sexual harassment.

Guys, I am spoiling you for the sake of the warning: we're going to Hunchback of Notre Dame this chapter, and, you know, even in that Disney movie...Frollo is going to be Frollo to a female protagonist, regrettably.

Not regrettably, he's going to get his ass beat for it. Extremely, very badly. I am also spoiling that. Because FUCK THAT GUY. I had to rewatch the movie/DDD cutscenes and I seriously...wow. Forgot how awful they made him. Like JESUS that's dark.

Kairi gasped as the giant monkey Nightmare smacked her full on with a giant fist, sending her flying back across the square.

She hit and rolled, coming up clumsily. She winced as her foot shifted under her, twisting her ankle.

She staggered to one knee, breathing harshly.

Stamina...problems...are still...a problem!

This whole battle had been going on longer than most did for her.

Even with support, she was falling behind.

She didn't have much magical reserves left, either - she could feel it. If she had to quantify it, she'd have put it at one-fourth of its max capacity. Maybe even less...

Kairi heard a little trilling noise. She turned to see Cherry hopping her way toward her on thin air, less than a foot above the ground. The Spirit brought their long leaf limbs in toward their center, a blue and green light swirled around them, and then they jumped up and spread their leaf arms enthusiastically. Dual, green and blue light orbs swirled around Kairi; she gasped as the aching in her foot went away - as her body flushed with rejuvenation. But it was also more than that: she could feel mystic energy surging inside of her - up, up, back to full - and then still more!

Kairi straightened up again, raising a hand that glowed with blue light. She looked at Cherry in wonder. Her magic wasn't just back to maximum - it was in overdrive. And not just in capacity, either. The mystic energy itself was roiling inside her.

"Hey!" Ephemer called out to her, as he swung off a lamppost high into the air, avoiding a swing from the Nightmare. "I could use some help!" He flipped under an upward swing by the Nightmare, then planted his feet on its arm and leapt off to the side, where he bounced back off the wall with energy surging around him. He struck the giant Nightmare, staggering it.

Kairi raced forward faster than the eye could see, forming an array of Light Blades around her. She sent them flying forward, stabbing into the Nightmare's flank. She tossed her Keyblade like a buzzsaw and turned to light, darting up over it and reforming behind it. She raised her hands and cast double, rapid fire barrages of fireballs into its back. The Nightmare whipped around, swinging out an arm for her with orange energy. Kairi formed a barrier and took the hit, sliding backwards. Then she exploded her magic outward, sending it stumbling to land on its rear.

She called her weapon to hand and lit it up in golden light, then ran and leapt forward, swinging for the Nightmare's face!

She slashed across it, twirled her weapon and gave a swift stab of a follow-up-

The Nightmare brought its arms up for her as it roared.

Kairi used another instant, pink barrier dome; its claws stabbed into her barrier, and stopped, stuck part-way in. It hadn't broken. She held her Keyblade before her vertically, putting all her newfound power into it now. Then she dropped her barrier, and brought it crashing down for the Nightmare's head with a mighty yell.

The Nightmare began to shudder beneath her, light bursting out of it. Its body went rigid as it suddenly slid out from under her, starting to rising up into the air...

Then, it evaporated in smoke and shattered pieces of crystal.

Large, unfamiliar Dream Pieces came raining down into the square with the sounds of clinking glass.

Kairi lowered her weapon, sighing with relief. Ephemer came leaping down to her from the upper walkway, wiping at his forehead.

Kairi turned and looked to Cherry, who was bouncing her way back over to them now. She beamed, and bent down to give the Spirit a tight hug around her green plant stem of a midsection. "Thanks for the magic boost - and the heal," she told the little Spirit earnestly.

Cherry's eyes sparkled at Kairi, seeming extremely pleased with herself.

Kairi turned as Fin bumped into her side. She patted the fish Spirit, grinning. "Yeah, you were great, too. You really held your own against that big, scary Nightmare."

"So, hey, why did you seem to think you were the reason that Nightmare appeared?" Ephemer spoke casually.

Kairi sighed. "Because it happens all the time with the Heartless, out in the real world. It's not just the Keyblade that draws them to me - it's also that...I'm a Princess of Heart. Don't be weird about it, please," she added quickly.

Ephemer's eyes widened with shock. He stared at her, then away. Then he smiled, and nodded. "Huh...really? That's interesting."

Kairi laughed. "That works - thanks."

"Hey, no problem! So-"

Ephemer stopped, as suddenly a golden light began to shine down on them.

Kairi and Ephemer looked up at the night sky, to see a large, glowing golden Keyhole forming. She looked at him. He looked at her. His face scrunched up in deep thought. Then he smiled, crossing his arms.

"I think it's for you," he said lightly.

Kairi tilted her head at him. She looked up to the Keyhole. She put a hand to her chest, breathing, feeling...and she felt the pulse - the pull. A gentle tug, as if from a guiding hand of a friend's... She let her hand fall, raising her Keyblade, aiming it up to the Keyhole. A light shot out into it from the end of her weapon - and the Keyhole reacted in a way she'd never seen before.

The sky shattered like glass. The Keyhole itself became encased by an orange and yellow, six-sided symbol - and then, a glowing blue hexagon. And then, out beyond that, there was a ring of diamond symbols. Finally, there was a golden band of light on the outermost edge.

It was...absolutely beautiful.

Kairi turned to Ephemer with a smile. "Yeah. I think so, too."

Ephemer smiled back, a warm wind rustling at his vest, and the red scarf around his neck. "If you've never been through a Dive before...uh, just be careful. The Nightmares like to roam the paths between the Sleeping Worlds."

Kairi rolled her eyes. Of course they do. It was just like the Heartless and the Ocean Between. "I'll be careful," she replied. She paused. "See you on the other side?"

"Yeah. For sure," Ephemer said confidently.

Kairi gazed up at the Keyhole. As if sensing her readiness, a strong light blinded her, and a powerful force pulled at her, lifting her off her feet...

And then, in the very next moment, she was tumbling wildly down through a swirling magical tunnel, filled with debris from buildings and rocks, and there were Komory Bats and unfamiliar bee-looking ones floating around below her!

Okay, apparently the Sleeping Worlds were jerks!

"You didn't-" Kairi flailed wildly, slamming into a piece of a building and bouncing off to the right, violent winds whipping at her. "-have to just-" A bee Nightmare flew past her, knocking her off to the left into a swarm of Komory Bats. "-throw me into it!" she concluded, spinning her weapon around her telekinetically, lashing out at the Nightmares with a ring of furious Light magic and scattering them all.

And apparently a "Dive" was something to be taken very literally!

Kairi concentrated on gliding, turning her wild fall into a controlled descent. She used a burst of magic to dart forward, boosting herself along the tunnel.

The Nightmares fell behind - but more popped up in front of her, below her.

Kairi darted left and slashed at them as she passed, taking out two. She twisted around and thrust out a hand, sending out a homing Firaga; it neared the last three, and exploded, taking them out too.

She continued on her way - going left around a large section of a building - then ducking down beneath another one.

Then, below her, a huge, actual, intact two-story building just faded into reality, flying up at her!

Kairi flew upward, intending to go between the split rooftop-

And then something just as large appeared out of smoke and diamonds: a new Nightmare!

A huge one.

It was like a bipedal, yellow and black bee, with curled antennae and glowing red eyes. A sharp, narrow nose or beak, more like an owl's. It had a glowing green gem in a horned protrusion between the antennae, looking like a crown, almost. It was wearing a- straight up, a cinched waist, black dress, with white pearl collar, a white hem, and purple and pink teardrop shapes ringing the lower half. Emblazoned on the lower half of the dress, front and center, was that familiar symbol - the symbol of a Nightmare. It had two deadly looking arms, ending in spikes. There was a similar, huge pointy stinger sticking out from under its dress. Finally, it had four, large, butterfly wings; they were colored yellow near the base, turning to orange, then magenta, then light purple, and then deep, darkest purple. The pattern became spirals, with the ends of the wings pitch black. A two-toned inversion of colors, contrasting.

You are definitely a Queen Bee type, Kairi thought, admiring the monster's design (and fashion sense). The Heartless had nothing on Dream Eaters, in that regard. It really was too bad she was going to have to fight this thing...possibly destroy it - her?

Then again, this monster was enormous, and dangerous-looking, and she'd just come from a battle with another one like it - and she didn't have her Spirits with her here...

The odds really were stacked against her.

Maybe she should just try and get past it, then - get to the next world. Get to Ephemer again.

Kairi held her weapon out, setting her jaw.

Okay, queen: let's do this dance.

Kairi surged forward with magical power, closing the gap between her and the Nightmare. The monster immediately swiped its spiked arms for her; she twisted out of the way and flew straight on past it, darting past its head. She ducked under the building, putting out another burst of speed. She went left, then right, weaving around passing structures as she kept her speed up!

A sprawling city, split by twin river channels, came into focus far below her.

She flew on, and golden rings of light formed in front of her.

Kairi went straight for them, flying through. A four-pointed symbol appeared, and then a bright light flared.

She raised an arm in front of her face-

And then found herself falling face-first onto solid ground.

Cobblestone.

She groaned, pushing herself up and staring around her. She was in the middle of a city - the one she'd seen from above. Wooden, cramped, multi-stories buildings surrounded her. There were alleys and arches, leading down different streets and paths.

Kairi got to her feet, brushing herself off.

Whew. So that's a Dive. That's not going to be fun, if I have to do it every time I want to reach a new Sleeping World...

She looked around again, hoping to see Ephemer come striding up - but he didn't.

Someone else did.

A man turned the corner at the end of the street, walking her way. He was older, grey-haired. He wore long black robes, with purple trim - and red striped shoulder pads. He also wore a big, triangular hat. His hands were clasped together, adorned with various rings.

At first, Kairi thought he was just going to pass her by - but he stopped well short of her, startling into an awareness of his surroundings.

He gazed down on her, his eyes narrowing, his mouth curving. He looked at her - closely - up and down.

She felt not just a wave of darkness from the man, clear as day, shockingly cold and strong - but a wave of disgust up her own spine in response to the man. It was immediate, instinctive. A feeling she'd only had once or twice before, when she'd stayed out in the city a bit too late with Selphie, and- well-

"Ugh!" the man made a scoff of disgust and offense. "You bear the scars of rightful punishment for your disgusting attire, yet you still traipse down our holy streets openly!" he said with fury and passion, his hands shaking as they fell to his sides, curling into fists.

"Excuse you?" Kairi said, taking a step back, raising her arm in front of her. "What's wrong with my clothes? Actually, I don't care - it's none of your business, whoever you are!"

"Disrespectful gypsy! You dare speak to me that way!" the man snarled, stalking forward, leaning down to impose himself over her. His hand rose up and seized her arm. Painfully. "You, standing there, a little tramp who seeks to fill my holy mind with the most unholy of thoughts!" His dark eyes gazed down on her - in that way again.

"Back OFF!" Kairi closed a shaking fist of burning flames, and brought it swinging straight up into the man's stomach, casting a point blank Firaga!

The man was blown backwards across the street, rolling violently before coming to a stop. His hat had fallen off, his robes were being eaten by flames. He gasped, long and drawn out, raising his head. Dark, hateful eyes glowered at her. "You...would assault the honorable messenger of God, Judge Claude Frollo, with your wretched magicks?!" He pushed himself to unsteady feet again, swiping an arm. Kairi saw darkness flare around his hand. Then it shot up his arm, enveloping his entire form in an aura. "You vile, ungodly harlot!"

Kairi gritted her teeth and summoned her Keyblade to shaking hands. She held it before her, shifting her stance. "Fuck you, you disgusting creep!" she shouted.

"I have spent decades trying to purge my holy city of your kind - and I shall, one whore at a time! Clearly your previous punishment did not leave enough of an impression on you - but I assure you, mine will!" the man ranted, his eyes wide - leering now.

Kairi shivered, glancing away. Even on those mercifully few instances with Selphie, she had never been called these kinds of words before - and not all in the span of one encounter. Not in her life.

Well, that streak was broken, then.

Fine.

Now to do something about it!

Kairi flew forward across the street, magic rippling behind her, lightning crackling around her body, and a golden light bursting. She screamed out and slashed her weapon for the man's neck, wanting to erase that look from his face.

Chapter 10: The Angel of Light

Notes:

Okay, so, you know how I listen to KH and FF and other anime OST's to get into the mood of a certain scene, whether it's sad, tragic, happy, or epic and actiony! Well...for this chapter, I had a battle orchestra triumphant cover of Kairi's theme from Youtube playing. xD Look up "Kairi (Kingdom Hearts II) Orchestral Battle Arrange by Jericho George." :D Cause that amazing shit is what I had in my ears while writing this fight for my main girl!

P.S: The Angel of Light does not refer to Kairi though...

Kairi's Keyblade met billowing darkness - and a dark shield cracked and strained against her strike.

Billowing dark energy erupted from the man, sending her flying off to the side.

She flipped around in the air before she hit the wall. She planted her feet on it, bending her knees, and then launched herself straight back at the man again.

He turned, swiping an arm with a furious look. A wave of dark purple flames erupted, sweeping toward her.

She changed her trajectory in mid-air, flipping up over the flames, coming down with an overhead strike.

The man raised an arm, stumbling back.

Kairi's strike hit, tearing down through that arm as she landed in front of him.

The man screamed, falling back now, the darkness intensifying.

A circular wall of flames roared out from him in all directions.

Kairi cast barrier dome, shielding herself from it.

When the flame wall passed, she let it drop.

She stared around her in shock.

The purple flames were rapidly eating their way up the walls of the surrounding buildings and homes, disintegrating wooden beams and burning holes through the walls. Glass shattered and popped, exploding everywhere above them.

Kairi cast another barrier just to protect herself from that.

She heard, through the roaring flames, nearby voices of those in their homes beginning to cry out - to scream.

"What are you doing?" she shouted out, horror in her Heart. "You're going to destroy- everything!"

The man strode forward, reaching a hand of clawed fingers out to her, imperious. "You rats have infested my city for far too long! And the only solution to an infestation...is to burn them out. I will raze this city to the ground if I must, and build a shining new one atop the defiled ashes! For that is God's Divine Judgement! And judgement is mine!"

Kairi stepped back, as Nightmares suddenly began to appear all around the man. Two large elephant looking ones, a dozen Komory Bats, and even two of those Keeba Tigers!

"You, gypsy witch, will be the first to taste the righteous agony of Hellfire!" the man shouted, raising his arms to the air.

"No!" Kairi yelled, gripping her weapon and flying forward.

Frollo waved an arm again, sending another wave of fire for her.

She leapt up over it, just like before.

But this time, the Komory Bats were there to swarm her.

She slashed and turned, falling back to the ground again.

She heard roaring, and saw the Keeba Tigers racing through the flames at her.

Kairi exploded with light magic, blasting away the Bats save for a few stragglers. She did a sideflip away from the Tigers, sailing high. She righted herself in the air, hovering there. She thrust out a hand, sending out several projectiles of ice; they struck the Tigers, encasing them in blocks of ice.

"Your wretched spells are no match for the powers of God!" Frollo shouted, thrusting a finger out at her.

Over the man's head, a huge miasma of purple grew, and then-

Out popped a giant Nightmare.

It was bipedal, with a thin lower body and a muscular upper. It had a helmet on its head, and a collar of spikes. It had huge, four-barreled rocket cannons on its hands, wrapped in purple chains. It had a long, thin tail, ending in a semi-circular blade of green. The Nightmare roared, and huge wings erupted from its back, with spikes hanging from the underside, and pointing out from the tapered ends of them.

Kairi gasped at the sight. She looked around her. She looked to the remaining Nightmares. She looked at the disgusting man himself...

Her Heart burned, it twisted-

Her body pulsed with golden light, electricity crackling across her chest - right over her Heart. And then, several streaks of golden energy erupted from her chest, flying out and curving down to hit the ground in front of her.

Before her, pillars of light rose up - then shrank down and materialized into an all-too familiar form.

Several distorted, twisted, female looking monsters of light. Exactly the same as the one from the islands - and exactly the same as each other. Identical, like Heartless were to each other.

Kairi felt another pulse - and then a half dozen more lights erupted out of her, joining the others. She held a hand to her Heart, stumbling back.

The light roared between her fingers, a huge beam firing out, causing her to fall to her knees with a pained cry.

From out of the beam, a wide, burning pillar flew up into the sky. Lightning flew down its length, scorching the ground and causing stone to fly everywhere. Then it shrank down and became a large orb. Kairi watched it warp and expand, and contract, and then it exploded, blinding her.

When Kairi blinked away the light, she could only stare.

Towering in front of her was a feminine being of light - over twenty feet tall, maybe thirty. She was lanky and thin, with orange spirals and intricate patterns running up and down the visible parts of her form. Long, orange tendrils, dozens of them, hung down from her head to touch the ground at her feet. She wore a flowing, loose dress, sleeveless and thigh-length, made of orange and white light itself, with a hem lined with Heart symbols. Her clawed hands held twin, burning orange mini-scythes - sickles? Sickles burning with flames of orange energy. And from out of her backside, through slits in her outfit, huge, feathered, angelic golden wings of light emerged.

Fashion...sense...?

The giantess of light turned her head - looking right down at Kairi.

"Destroy...this Darkness?" came her voice, distorted and deep, yet feminine indeed.

Kairi nodded, and gave a weak grin, rising to her feet again. "Yeah - destroy."

"What is this? The witch summons a troupe of demonic succubi to-!" Frollo raged.

The giantess took a world-shaking step forward, slashing a huge sickle down through the air. A burning vertical beam of light energy was carved in the air, which flew forward and slammed into the giant Nightmare - carrying it backwards through the stone archway and into a wide open, huge city square in front of a massive cathedral. Pieces of stone fell down atop the Nightmare elephants, causing them to roar and struggle. A half dozen of the normal sized light monsters turned to light, streaking forward past Frollo, re-materializing before the trapped Nightmares - and not hesitating to start tearing into them with claws and shrieking voices.

The remainder turned and flew at the Keeba Tigers, who had just freed themselves of the ice, wildly slashing this way and that, leaping onto them and opening their maws wide. The Nightmares thrashed and cried out as dark tendrils flowed off of them, being sucked into the light monsters' mouths. Then, as literal chunks and pieces of them began to be ripped off, leaving gouges of dark energy in their forms.

The giantess flickered and crackled, flying forward on air like a wrathful spirit, her golden wings spreading wide. She bypassed Frollo and the elephants, seeming to just- phase through them all, going on into the huge open square. Going to engage the giant Nightmare further!

Kairi gripped her weapon and surged forward, surrounding herself in a barrier, going straight for Frollo!

Suddenly, a man in golden armor with a blue cape appeared, lunging into her path. He raised a long sword up in a flash, clashing with her - stopping her. Sparks flew at the point of impact, sputtering up between them.

Kairi startled, her feet touching the ground again. "What?!"

"What is happening here?" the man spoke. "Who are you, to attack the honorable Judge Frollo?"

"Ah, Captain Phoebes," Frollo spoke, satisfied. "This gypsy witch has attacked me - in mind and body. For which the punishment is death."

"Honorable? Do you not see that?!" Kairi exclaimed. "Look at him! That darkness, those monsters! He's insane - he's going to burn everything!"

Captain Phoebes stared into her face. His eyes flickered. He glanced back at Frollo. His eyes found the Nightmares. He looked all around, as if for the first time. At the flames. The houses. He looked at Kairi again, now. Into her eyes. She saw the conflict playing out on his face in real time. He screwed up his face, his jaw clenching... He threw another look back at the other man. "Judge Frollo, are this girl's allegations true?"

Frollo raised a hand. "This witch and her entourage of unholy succubuses has proven to me that my city is beyond saving. The only hope left is to destroy it, and rebuild. Just as God once decreed with the Flood. Though, this Flood shall be done with fires, not waters - and it will be done by my own hands!" he declared, in a ringing voice that carried, a madness on his face, as a wide grin split his features.

The Captain's gaze went to the monsters of light, then came back to Kairi. "Are you- responsible for those things?"

"Only the glowing ones," Kairi stated firmly. "And only to get rid of his! Those ones!"

"Do not be deceived by the witch's lies!" Frollo called out. "Every word from her tongue is sweet honey, meant to ensnare you. You are a man who follows orders, Captain, and I order you to destroy this gypsy witch!"

The Captain frowned. "She's only a girl, sir, surely she-"

"Stand aside, then!" Frollo shouted, stomping forward. Darkness flew out from him, wrapping around the armored man, lifting him up and hurling him into the wall. The man fell, dropping his sword with a clatter.

Kairi lunged at Frollo, conjuring Light Blades around her as she did, twirling them around her as she slashed for him!

Her blades bit into his arms and body, causing him to step back. The darkness grew around him, his eyes narrowing.

Kairi threw herself forward, stabbing her Keyblade straight for his chest.

He raised an arm-

She teleported around him in that instant, and instead thrust her weapon into his back.

It struck home, burying itself over a foot deep in.

Kairi tore it free and slashed up diagonally, then back down the same way! She slashed her blade straight across, then dragged it up to the other shoulder! She twirled and jumped up, kicking the man in the center of his back, alight with burning white gashes of energy now. He flew forward, landing on his face with a wracking gasp of a noise. The darkness around him bled away, as he raised a trembling hand.

Kairi stalked forward, strode around him, and kicked him in the ribs so hard he flew up into the air, coming back down on his backside. She gazed down at him, fury coursing through her. Her weapon shook in her hand, at her side. Sparks sputtered from the end of it...

The man gazed up at her with fear and hate alike. "You...damnable witch...Divine Judgement...awaits you...in the pits of Hell..."

Kairi's mouth twisted. She let out a shaky, hateful laugh. "You first-"

She startled back with a cry, as suddenly the monsters of light manifested around her - and descended onto the fallen man! Their claws tore into him, moving at such speeds they were blurs. His voice wailed out-

Kairi stared, her world spinning, shaking her head. Her hand rose to her chest. "Stop-" she started.

But it was already over.

The monsters retreated, and wispy dark tendrils drifted up into the sky, leaving an empty spot on the stone.

Kairi stared at them, looking all around her, as the rest gathered around her. All of them, looking at her with those burning white eyes of swirling energy...waiting...

"Enough..." she said, trembling.

The monsters turned - looking to the fallen Captain Phoebes, still unconscious next to the stone wall. "More...darkness-"

"NO!" Kairi shrieked. "I said that's enough! You're DONE NOW!"

The monsters lingered, tilting their heads at her almost collectively. Then, one by one, they evaporated, and balls of light converged on her chest.

Kairi staggered back, feeling an intense burning coursing through her body - and then it faded. She breathed, reaching up to pull sweating strands of hair from her face. She hurried over to the fallen man, dropping down and shaking his shoulder. "Hey - are you okay?" She hesitated, then cast a Cure spell.

After a moment, the man gasped, his eyes fluttering open. He turned over and stared at her. "The gypsy girl..."

"I'm not a gypsy - or a witch," Kairi refuted. "I just- I was just-" She stopped, choked. "It doesn't matter now anyways."

The man sat up, looking around. "Where's Judge Frollo?"

Kairi stood, stepping away. "He's- gone."

The man stared at her, rising to his feet - after retrieving his sword. His eyes narrowed at her. Then, he sheathed it, turning away. "The people of Paris need help - more than I need to apprehend some gypsy witch who probably did us all a service," he spoke, before rushing off past her.

Kairi breathed. She held her hands to her chest, looking down at the ground.

She heard a great roaring noise, and the world shook, tearing her from her own mind and feelings.

She looked toward the rubble of the archway - past it - into the square. She ran and leapt up over it all, landing in the square herself. She glanced around - then up. Up, up...

Atop the massive cathedral, she could see the giant Nightmare diving and darting about, as the giantess of light was standing tall on the rooftops, swinging her weapons to send out huge lancing beams of light for it. The Nightmare aimed its cannon arms, and a barrage of explosive rockets flew out toward the giantess.

She flickered and darted left, then back, then right - avoiding the brunt of the attacks. Then, she suddenly bent her legs and launched herself out into the air, spinning like a ballerina - her scythes held out from her body, creating a golden ring of energy around her. She slammed into the giant Nightmare, cutting into it and taking it backwards. The pair of them fell down to the ground, the Nightmare slamming through the front of a building, which crumbled atop it.

The giantess landed on all fours, her weapons let go, her claws digging several feet deep holes into the stone ground. Lightning and lines of light flew out from around her hands, ripping up the ground and causing miniature explosions of stone chunks. Light burst from her palms, and she shot back up to her feet, her back arching unnaturally before finally straightening out. Her fingers curled, and her weapons teleported back into her grasp.

The giant Nightmare freed itself from the rubble of the building, throwing itself forward, tackling the giantess.

She fell backwards, landing hard. A sickle slashed across the Nightmare's chest. The other was raised and slammed down straight into its face! She twisted unnaturally around beneath the monster, flipped herself up in defiance of gravity, and then lifted up and tossed the Nightmare straight up into the air!

The giantess touched her feet to the ground, her head tilting back so far it looked like she'd broken her neck - then she raised her sickles and began to twirl them. Burning energy formed into discs around them, sputtering and crackling. The discs grew and grew, dwarfing even her own width...

And then twin, burning orange beams of light flew up into the air, straight for the flailing Nightmare.

They accelerated exponentially as they moved, slamming into the Nightmare before it could react, and carrying it up further into the skies!

The giantess's attack died away. She lowered her weapons. Then she dematerialized into a streak of light, flying up into the air like a comet, leaving a golden, long trail.

Kairi stood there, watching on in pure awe.

The Nightmare flared its wings and recovered itself finally, slowing down and righting itself in the air. Its gaze fell down to the streaking light monster. It raised its huge barreled arms, beginning to fire off rapid blasts of energy.

The light comet zig-zagged chaotically, dodging and avoiding the blasts - continuing to ascend. Then, like the energy beams it had fired, it suddenly accelerated in the blink of an eye, closing the gap!

The giantess curved at the last second, darting around behind the Nightmare and rematerializing in full form and body. She closed the short gap in a flicker of motion, and Kairi saw ten, burning white claws burst out of the Nightmare's chest.

The Nightmare thrashed, trying to turn and fight - to escape.

The giantess opened her mouth wide...then wider...wider...and, like a horrific serpent, she started to just- take the monster's head into her mouth. Then, the shoulders! She got down to the arm cannons before-

Her gaping mouth slammed shut with an explosion of white light and bolts of lightning.

The Nightmare fell apart, in two, and evaporated into mist and fragments of crystal.

The giantess closed her mouth back to normal in an instant, letting out a loud, echoing shrieking noise that Kairi heard from all the way at ground level.

The giantess lowered her head in a snap - and Kairi could tell she was looking right at her. Suddenly the monster vanished into particles of light...only to reappear right in front of Kairi!

Kairi stepped back, clenching her fists.

The giantess dropped to her knees in a blur, her arms hanging limply at her sides - like a toy that had lost its battery. Just...done, and didn't know what to do with herself?

Kairi stared up into her face.

It really wasn't as terrible as the normal sized ones. The giantess looked much more definitively like a woman, with sharper, more defined features. Cheeks, a recognizable nose, even glowing white lips...

She could almost be called beautiful, really. Like an avenging angel or something...

She was much more- well, humanoid. Not so twisted or misshapen.

Kairi raised her arms, reaching out for her. "You've done enough. Time to come home," she said quietly.

The giantess's swirling white eyes fixed to Kairi, that head tilting slightly. "Return...home."

Her form faded away into light particles, leaving a large orb of energy in the air. The orb flew forward, entering Kairi's Heart like a truck.

Kairi fell backwards completely, landing on her back on the ground, gasping and breathing shallow, hands clutching at her chest, as an explosion of agonizing fire filled her-

But as soon as it began, it faded, and she gasped with relief.

As she stared up into the sky...

A light bloomed, forming into a Keyhole.

Kairi stared up at it, frowning.

She hadn't found Ephemer here. Why?

Had they gotten separated? Sent to different worlds?

Had he been sent to the wrong one, or had she?

If it was Kairi who was off course, then the only choice she had was to...

She breathed in a deep breath, sitting up. She wiped sweat off her face and stood, raising her Keyblade to the heavens.

I'll just have to find you again. Not just for me - but for Skuld, and Amaya, too.

Kairi couldn't bear the thought of finally reuniting with her friends in the outside world, and having to see the looks on those womens' faces when she had to tell them she had met their lost, old friend...and she hadn't come back with him. Hadn't brought him back to them.

No matter what it took, no matter where this new journey took her - she was not finishing it without the young man called Ephemer squarely by her side.

Chapter 11: The Meeting To End All Meetings

Notes:

New. Chapter! Two in one day, because I'm on a roll. I am rejuvenated lol. I really liked writing this one, even if not a lot of stuff actually HAPPENS...besides lots of talking. xD I just love character interactions/interplay! :) And this was one I wanted to start getting into lol. Enjoy!

Master Xehanort strode through the portal of light, emerging into a spacious and familiar study room.

The Mysterious Tower.

He had visited oft, before, yet in the years and decades of past, he had ceased doing so. It did not help that the Tower itself was always shifting and relocating itself. An ingenious defense mechanism.

Yet he could not find it within himself to marvel at it today, or ponder its exact mechanics.

Amaya - for that was who she was, there was no doubt now, after all of the memories she had shown him, both of her past lives, as well as of the ancient Keyblade War as a whole - stood beside him...and his younger self.

The notion of perpetual reincarnation having credence, evidence, as well as all the wealth of details and revelations of the Keyblade War would also usually have been things he would have savored. Plucked and examined every last detail, leaving no stone unturned in his investigations and research.

Yet...the burning desire and curiosity within his Heart were absent. Only this new, all-consuming weariness and resignation - different even from the kind of exhausted numbness that had plagued him in the immediate aftermath of Scala Ad Caelum...

He knew the truth now, the truth he had long sought after, in more rich and exact detail than he could have dreamed - and he felt nothing.

Xehanort shook his head, letting his gaze roam to Keyblade Master Luxu, who stood leaned against the wall, a facade of casualness. He looked to Yen Sid, who stood before his desk, those familiar, aged eyes staring back at Xehanort. And then, there was young Terra, a curious oddity among the rest present in the room...

"The worlds have spoken of a great change in your Heart," Yen Sid began. "I had hoped...and I see it now with my own eyes. You have realized the foolishness and devastation your crusade has brought these worlds and their inhabitants, at last."

Any other day, and Xehanort would have bristled at those words. Sneered, refuted them. Struck back, even. Yet on this day...

All he truly cared for anymore, now, was the chance to...

"Yes..." he said, quiet and rough. He gazed at his old friend, and comrade in arms. "Perhaps I...am not the one fit to lead. To...guide these worlds, as they are, toward the future. Perhaps hands more capable, who see the World more clearly, are more deserving of such a task."

"Only 'perhaps?'" Luxu spoke up. "Then you're not all the way there, dude. And there's every chance you get all whiny and disappointed again, and decide to go back to the old grind, convincing yourself allll over again that you're the best guy for the job - after all, you talked yourself into it the first time, didn't you? You need to swear it off completely, for all time. Otherwise, you're a ticking time bomb that's better off being cut down to avoid it exploding again."

Xehanort let his gaze flicker over to the ancient Master. His lip curled. But he did not respond.

"While I would not have said it so ineloquently," Yen Sid began firmly. "I do agree with Master Luxu's assessment. If you cannot fully, truly commit yourself to a change of Heart and behavior, then I'm afraid you leave us no choice but to remove you for the threat you still may pose to us all."

Xehanort closed his eyes, turning his head. For a long moment, he was silent. Then, he sighed. "I am not the World's savior; I have not saved them, only done them harm. More harm than good. It is this harm...that I no longer wish to inflict upon them. My actions thus far have only aided the spread of darkness, pain, and misery. I see that now. I believe...I am rather tired. And this is...quite enough. Cut me down if you will - I will resign myself to whatever fate awaits me. I will...accept judgement for my many and great mistakes, in the way I have handled things...and I will leave it to others better suited, whose methods might prove more effective. Younger people, whose Hearts are more true, and stronger than my own has ever been. Those who do not sacrifice morals or ideals, in the face of even the greatest obstacles, struggles, and losses," he concluded, with a look toward his childhood caretaker.

She gave him a nod of warmth and encouragement in return. Approval that his Heart somehow still...craved, despite all else.

Yen Sid gazed at him intensely. "I would like to believe that is a far more genuine expression of your Heart's state, and not your biased mind." His eyes moved to find Amaya. "If a judgement of death is decided, will you intervene?"

Amaya gazed back at him, in a face of twisting sorrow and conflict. She shook her head, closing her eyes. She opened them again, and held Yen Sid's gaze. "No. I'd ask to be the one to render it myself to him. I understand who he is, and everything he's done. I'm only giving him this chance...because I took a chance of my own. But if the danger outweighs the risk...I'll do it myself. I owe...I owe his mother that, if the responsibility must be someone's."

Yen Sid appraised her, then gave a grave nod. "That is the question we must discern here today, for good and all."

"I suppose I'm to be returned to my own time, then, regardless?" spoke Young Xehanort. "One less problem to worry yourselves about..."

"Mmm...you present a considerably lesser risk than your current self, and the few crimes you have committed at this point are lesser," Yen Sid responded. "As well, I will take into consideration that you opposed your older self in order to release Miss Skuld from her captivity." He paused. "You have been successfully bound before, in Heart and magic. It will be done again - to you, and to your older self, regardless of the outcome."

Master Xehanort's younger self showed surprise. He glanced away. In addition, Xehanort felt a wash of emotions come from the young lad's Heart, concealed from all but him: embarrassment...

Master Xehanort lifted his head. A small smile tugged at his lips, rueful. "Your magical might exceeds my own, to be sure, old friend, but not so much that it could completely eclipse my Heart in such a way," he stated, as a mere matter of fact. No arrogance, no pride. That was all gone from him, it seemed. Only this hollow...weight.

"Yes, I am aware," Yen Sid said. He looked to Amaya, and then to Luxu. "That is why myself, Miss Amaya, and Master Luxu shall be combining our power to perform the binding magic upon you. As well, we will channel the magicks of this very Tower, adding and amplifying our own to newer heights unseen."

Xehanort's mouth dropped open. Then he laughed. "Yesss...I suppose that would do it, wouldn't it. And I assume, as well, that you will want to destroy my Keyblade, as my younger self's was."

"Naturally," Yen Sid agreed.

Xehanort nodded slowly. He raised a hand, conjuring the old, silver and blue weapon. He released it, allowing it to float across the study. "Do with it what you must, then."

Yen Sid raised a hand of light, and the Keyblade was enveloped in a shimmering of particles. They swarmed the weapon, it began to flash brightly...a thrumming filled the room...and then it exploded into shards of metal, scattering on the floor. Yen Sid let out a breath, lowering his hand. It may not have seemed so, but it had taken quite an effort, Xehanort knew. Even for those of their caliber, destroying a Keyblade was no trifling feat. It required a great deal of force and power.

"You will also be aware of what Miss Namine is capable of," Yen Sid went on, to his credit, as if nothing strenuous had just occurred. "Master Luxu is opposed to allowing her to commit such an act, even upon the two of you, not wishing her to bear such a weight and regret in her life - however, he has also said that if it proves necessary, the girl will certainly go through with it regardless. Like you, she is not one to take advice or commands from others."

"I am aware," Master Xehanort said quietly. Whether the threat was valid or not, it was quite a thing, to think that at any moment his very Heart could be torn apart, his memories scattered, his knowledge lost...to the whims of a temperamental teenage girl.

"Then we will perform the binding ritual now," Yen Sid stated.

Master Xehanort bowed his head, placing his hands behind his back. Merely awaiting his fate...

Yen Sid stepped forth. Amaya moved to stand on his left - while Master Luxu positioned himself to the right.

The three raised their hands, directing their palms at himself and his younger self.

A pure white, intricate magical circle formed on the floor beneath Xehanort. A powerful, hot wind flew up around him. Around the edge of the circle, various, colored crystals began to appear, rotating and crackling with electricity. Then, lightning flew from one to the next, connecting them in a chain.

Beams of energy flew up from the tops of the crystals, and a second, identical magical circle took shape overhead.

Multicolored waves of magic filled the gap between the two magic circles, forming magical walls to fully encase Xehanort.

He merely stood there, head bowed, hands gripping tightly to each other. His younger self, in contrast, could not seem to help staring all around himself in undisguised wariness, and perhaps even fear.

Around them, the Tower rumbled, and he felt an incredible surge of magical energies that overwhelmed his senses.

The very walls began to glow, golden streams of energy flowing out of them to enter the magical circle.

Powerful bolts of lightning flew down from the ceiling, hitting the center of the magic circle above him.

The colorful walls swirled around him, and a brightest light shone around him, blinding him.

Then, it faded away.

The light, the colors, the magic circles.

The rumbling ceased, the glow faded from the walls.

Xehanort did not need to test it to know the binding had been a complete and unbreakable success. For now, at any rate; if he'd been so inclined, he was sure he could have found a way, given enough time.

But he no longer found himself so inclined.

His younger self did perform a test, attempting to conjure either magic or darkness. He failed, either way. His face settled, and his hand dropped.

"So, what happens to us now?" the younger man spoke, in a voice of attempting-to-sound-casual. But Xehanort knew himself better than that.

Amaya strode forward, and she touched her hand to the young man's arm as she spoke to him. "As I told you: in this time, your choices matter. What you do affects everything and everyone around you. And as long as you're bound to that Replica body, not even your current self can send you back to your time. You're anchored, and the only way to change that is to remove your Heart from the body. So, you're stuck here," she concluded, with a small smile. "And while you're here, you are going to be watched over, cared for, and you are going to hopefully make better life choices than you did before. Because you're going to have a life, child: a better one than you did...and do."

"What are you saying?" the young man said slowly, staring at her.

"If you would have just gotten a damn therapist, this shit probably could have been nipped in the bud," Master Luxu spoke.

The young man glanced at Luxu, frowning. "What?"

Amaya gave Luxu a look. The man shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets and glancing away. The woman trailed her hand down Young Xehanort's arm, grasping at his hand now. "I am going to be taking charge of you again. Your current self will be handled a little differently. But both of you will still be getting regular visits from people like Master Yen Sid here. You'll be monitored extremely closely. In the name of that...there is one last thing I think Master Yen Sid wants to do."

"And what would that be...?" Young Xehanort said warily, once more.

"A magical trace will be placed upon you both," Yen Sid spoke. "Embedded in your very Hearts. In the event that you attempt to flee or escape your circumstances, for any reason, you will be tracked and found again."

"Clever," Master Xehanort said simply. "But complicated to do correctly."

"I assure you, I am capable," Yen Sid replied.

"Of that, I have no doubt," Master Xehanort murmured. "You always were a notch above myself, in matters of the mystics."

Yen Sid stepped forward, raising a hand of swirling magic, burgeoning symbols in the air. Setting to work. As he did, he spoke on. "Moving on to other matters. You are aware that the scientists of Radiant Garden's castle are nearing completion of the artificial human constructs - 'Replicas' - which will be used to provide a second chance at life, and a first, to several young people."

"Yes," Xehanort said, nodding.

"They have been informed of our request for several more Replicas to be added to the bunch," Yen Sid continued. "The ones that will be used, it is hoped, to give the chance at a full life to your fallen friends and classmates, who were lost to tragedy decades ago now. They have agreed to this, and have been working particularly hard on your behalf."

Xehanort felt the flickering of emotions in his Heart. A fleeting sense of what he had not had in a long time - hope - as well as uncharacteristic...fear, and nervousness. But he nodded, working to keep it all from showing on his face. He was not certain he succeeded. "That is good news."

"Indeed." Yen Sid's eyes bore into him. He glanced at Amaya, then Luxu, sharing a strange look with the pair. Then it passed. Yen Sid finished his work, and two floating symbols of a half-moon flew to enter the chests of Xehanort and his younger self. "Now then, the last matter to attend to, is the restoration of Terra's Heart to his rightful body - and you, to yours."

Master Xehanort looked over at the young Master, Terra. The young man was staring back at him, looking remarkably serene - strong. No anger, no rage, no uncertainty.

So it came to this, then, after all.

With the aid of magic, and the differing time flows of the worlds, Xehanort's old, aging body could last him perhaps another ten, fifteen, even twenty or more years, if he was fortunate indeed.

Xehanort considered requesting a Replica body of his own instead. Even if it changed to mimic his aged appearance, it would still be a far stronger, sturdier construct at heart than his old human body - enough to last him many decades more to come, surely. And he could always alter its shape to be that of him in his younger years, to match the strength and hardiness of the construct more truly. However, he was certain such a suggestion would be rejected; they would not want to give him such an advantage, after all. Even without Keyblade, magic, or access to darkness, that would be a step too far.

Of course, standing in a room, powerless, with three extremely powerful wielders and mages, it was not as if Xehanort could have just refused to go along with what they wished, even if he were inclined to...

So he merely nodded, sighing again. "Very well."

Terra strode forward without fear nor hesitation. He looked Xehanort in the eyes. His own eyes. His own face. He raised a hand, placing it on Xehanort's shoulder.

A light glowed around them both - and then Terra's form evaporated into light, and Xehanort felt a warmth pulsing in his chest.

Again, Xehanort truly might have been once fascinated by whatever means or power the Princess of Heart had used to give Terra a corporeal form again with no Replica and no original body in sight...but he let it go.

Xehanort instead focused on what he must do next.

It was not magic, but matters of Heart and body - and thus it was one thing he was capable of, even with his Heart locked so tightly like this.

Xehanort willed his old, preserved body to return to him. It materialized before him, looking the same as it had.

Amaya summoned her Keyblade, stepping in and raising it to the center of his chest - Terra's body. The end of her weapon glowed, and Xehanort was released...

As a Heart alone, he moved across the room, reentering the only viable vessel left to him.

His own, original form.

Master Xehanort opened aged eyes, gazing at Terra. The silver hair and golden eyes, influences of Xehanort's presence, were slowly fading away before his eyes.

Xehanort looked down at himself, raising wizened hands. He clenched a fist, shaking. Already, the aches and weight were coming back to him. Such an acute awareness. He sighed, letting his arms fall to his side. He placed his hands behind his back and turned away from Terra.

"This is it, then..." he rasped, in his old voice. "Where my road ends..."

"Or perhaps this is where it begins again," Amaya spoke.

Xehanort glanced at her. Her eyes were inspecting his older form, his true form as it was, now. He shook his head. "No, there is nothing left for me."

"There is so much left for you - I'm going to show you," Amaya refuted, a firmness to her eyes. "Both of you."

Master Xehanort looked away.

"As condition of your continued existence, and a gesture of good faith to us," Yen Sid began to speak again. "I would ask, Xehanort, that you tell us what it was that you planned to do - now that you had given up on your aspirations for Kingdom Hearts."

Master Xehanort felt surprise go through him. Immediately he felt the urge to refuse, to deflect and defend, to-

But it did not matter anymore, he told himself again. It was...truly...over. This was the end. His end.

He raised his gaze to his old friend, and his mouth moved. "It was my new plan...to seek out the Ultima Weapon," he ground out, a part of him still unwilling to part with his secrets and goals so easily.

Yen Sid gasped, his eyes widening. "WHAT?! You...colossal fool, Xehanort!" he exclaimed.

Xehanort supposed it was amusing, to see his old friend in a rare moment of complete lack of composure. He could count the number of times on one hand, indeed, over their years together in the past...

"Did you truly believe you could handle such a weapon?" Yen Sid went on ruthlessly, still so aghast.

Xehanort curled his aged fist. He cocked his head at the man, gritting his teeth.

"Holy shit, the Ultima Weapon? Are you serious?!" Luxu spoke, in hushed tones of disbelief. And amusement. "We could have just sat back and let you take yourself out for us! We would have won by default! Greatest plan you ever had, man. Kudos to that!"

"What is this weapon - this 'Ultima Weapon'?" Terra spoke up, confusion written on his young face. "I've never heard of it before."

"Neither have I," Amaya stated, her quiet eyes boring into Xehanort's.

"It's an ancient legend - a myth - something that sprang up thousands of years ago," Luxu began. "From what I've gathered over the centuries, it's supposed to be the second most powerful Keyblade, after the X-Blade and the power of Kingdom Hearts, itself. Earliest legends had it that it could wipe out entire armies with a single swing - cleave mountains in two. More recent legends and stories, sprung up over time, have said it was capable of cleansing continents, or even cracking worlds in half. It varies, getting more grand and outrageous over time.

"But all the stories share the same basis: that the Ultima Weapon has achieved this by absorbing the power of the Hearts of those it slays. Every enemy it cuts down, it takes that Heart into itself and uses it to increase its power. After centuries of its use, passing it down and around - using it for personal battles and large-scale wars alike - you can imagine just how many Hearts its accumulated within itself by now...if it's true. As the name implies, it was supposedly forged thousands of years ago to be the ultimate weapon in the universe, a masterpiece of a Keyblade, unlike anything else in existence. Unique in its function and capabilities," Luxu concluded, in those faux casual tones Xehanort so loathed.

The man could at least treat the subject matter with the reverence and mystique it deserved...

"A Keyblade made to absorb Hearts, just for power..." Amaya whispered, looking rather horrified. Disgusted, even.

"There's no line people won't cross for the sake of power," Luxu said, shrugging. "Nothing is off-limits, if someone's really set on it. And there are a hell of a lot of people in the universe - in history - who have wanted nothing more...than all the power they could get their hands on." He turned, giving a squarely pointed look at Xehanort.

Xehanort huffed, looking away.

"I can't believe you were actually going to go for it, though," Luxu went on, now in gleeful tones, a wide grin stretching his face. "If even half the legends are true - man, you would have walked right into that one. Unless you thought you had some way to get around or subvert it?"

"I had...ideas..." Xehanort muttered, in half-hearted defiance - and defense of his plans. Former plans...

"Sorry, but I'm still lost here," Terra said, looking to Luxu. "Can you explain a little more?"

"Sure, sure," Luxu nodded, looking far too pleased with himself still. "No problem, kiddo. See, according to the legends, there's a major complication involved for anyone wanting to go searching for, and actually wielding, the Ultima Weapon. According to the legends, Ultima Weapon is...a much pickier Keyblade than most. It won't accept just anybody who picks it up: even if you do find it, if you try to wield it and it doesn't think you're worthy enough for that...it'll suck your Heart in, too. Turn you into just another battery - a power source, added onto the rest. The second you touched its handle - woosh. Sucked riiiight on in there, never to be seen again. Condemned to exist as a small piece of an amalgamation of raging, mournful, lost, victimized Hearts!"

The man paused, then laughed as he finished with, "Anyway, that's what the stories say."

"And yet, as we are all aware, there is always some truth to be found in legends," Yen Sid stated quietly. "If these tales were true...would you have truly risked your own Heart and plans on such a gamble?" he directed at Xehanort.

"They may have been exaggerations," Master Xehanort gnarled out, his voice croaking. "However, even were they not - I did in fact have ideas on how to avoid such a fate."

"And what were these ideas, precisely?" Yen Sid asked.

Master Xehanort growled, then dropped his old head. "Obviously, I would have tried the simplest method of testing the legends, and had someone else try and take the blade in my stead, at first. Someone under my command and control."

"Your younger self?" Amaya's voice came, with anger and shock.

"What?" his younger self startled. He looked to his elder, his lips parting. "Me? You were going to-"

"If worst had come to worst, I would have simply extracted your Heart and sent it back to its own time, safe and unharmed," Master Xehanort uttered.

"You have no idea what that could have done to him," Amaya refuted. "I still don't understand how you could become someone willing to even use, manipulate, and throw away your own self as a tool. Do you not even see yourself as a person?"

"No matter what happens here, he will always return whence he came - there is no risk for him," Master Xehanort defended, raising his head to her now. "And, after, I could have simply pulled his Heart back again, from a point a little further on."

"That doesn't mean that the hurt he feels, the things he does and experiences, don't matter," Amaya said passionately. "How could you possibly-"

"Well, it doesn't matter now, does it?" Xehanort cut across mutinously. "Obviously I am no longer going to seek that blade out...nor do anything else with my remaining years of life, apparently."

Amaya stared at him, sadness and anger etched. She sighed. "Xehanort...there's so much left to be done."

Xehanort turned away, looking out toward the large, moon and star-shaped windows behind Yen Sid's desk and chair...

And froze, as he felt a familiar thrill of sensation shoot through his Heart.

"Hm?" Yen Sid noticed his gaze, turning to look as well.

Luxu and Amaya looked, as well, both looking confused.

"What is it, child?" Amaya spoke slowly.

Xehanort narrowed his eyes at the window - and the image came into shimmering focus.

A featureless, dark humanoid figure, surrounded by purple flames, was standing within the wide sill of the large, star-shaped window, framed against the backdrop of high mountain peaks covered in trees and dirt pathways.

"...You..." Xehanort breathed, his old voice rasping and wheezing.

"Hm?" His younger self turned to look as well - his silver eyes narrowed - then he gasped with visible shock. "I see it, too."

"What is it that you are seeing?" Yen Sid demanded, wary and alarmed. "I see nothing."

"You never could," Master Xehanort responded, his gaze never wavering from the motionless figure in the window. "Only I...have possessed the ability to see the Darkness for what it is in these worlds. The True Darkness..."

"True..." Luxu's face paled. His mouth twisted. "You're saying there's one of those fuckers here, right now? And you- you can see them?"

"We have always seen them," Young Xehanort quavered, his silver gaze fixed to the sill, just the same.

Luxu summoned his Keyblade - the Keyblade of his Master's, that once Xehanort had inherited across time and ages - and stepped toward the window. "Seeing as the jig is up, why don't you show yourself," he said, hard.

The purple flames rose, billowing - and the Darkness vanished, only to reappear on solid ground, in the study with them properly now, facing Luxu directly.

It would not have taken a genius to realize that the Darkness was now visible to all present - the expressions on the faces of Luxu, Yen Sid, Amaya, and young Terra made that clear as day.

Amaya immediately moved forward, interposing herself between the Darkness, and the two Xehanorts.

Xehanort might have dismissed her as a woman ruled by her emotions, sentimental, naive...yet he had witnessed the memory of her doing so once before, for his sake. Battling, baiting, and giving her own life simply to ensure he would live on, safely and freely. Her emotions were true - not foolish idealism. She...had always had this remarkable strength of will. The strength...plain.

The Darkness turned its featureless head, a face with no eyes gazing around at them all. Unconcerned. Casual.

"You're a colorful bunch," the Darkness stated, in a genderless, yet slightly humorous voice.

Chapter 12: Old Enemy, New Ally

Yen Sid acted immediately, raising a hand, encircling the Darkness in a wall of golden, shimmering light.

The Darkness turned its head, looking straight at him. Then it stepped forward, passing through the wall of light as if it didn't exist at all.

Yen Sid gasped, stepping back. "What...?"

"We are formless; we cannot be contained by any magic or power you possess," the Darkness spoke idly.

"Cut the shit and skip to the part where you tell us why you're here," Luxu said, in a voice of undisguised rage and disgust.

The Darkness looked back at him. "The apprentice, Luxu - it's been a long time."

"Sorry, am I supposed to know you? You bastards all look the same to me," Luxu responded, flippant and short. "Just a bunch of interchangeable, worthless fucking parasites, leeching off of others' Hearts."

"Worthless parasites? No, we are superior to you humans," the Darkness stated, as if simple fact. "We are eternal, invincible, undefeatable, untouchable-"

"That's not true," Amaya spoke, with a laugh. "I trapped and destroyed four of your kind, in Daybreak Town, before. I trapped one in Scala Ad Caelum, as well. And I destroyed another when they came for my Xehanort on Destiny Islands, more recently than that. You can be tricked, you can be trapped, and you can be killed. You're not invincible or infallible."

Xehanort startled at her choice of words in that moment, unwanted emotions flaring in his Heart.

The Darkness looked at Amaya. It strode toward her, slow and purposeful. "A bold claim - but clearly it's false. The fact that you're still standing here proves that."

"If that helps you cope," Amaya responded, with a look of disdain upon her lovely face. She stepped forward, herself, standing tall over the Darkness. She looked down at it, unafraid and strong. "But trust me...by the end, I know you're going to show just how pathetic you are, becoming a blubbering, screaming mess, begging for mercy that I won't give. A toddler's tantrum. I've seen it three times before, from your kind, you Darknesses. The moment that your almighty facade crumbles...those are memories I've relished across my lifetimes."

"You shouldn't stand so close to me - you're practically inviting me to step foot in your Heart," the Darkness replied.

"I am inviting you to," Amaya stated. "I'd love nothing more than to watch you try and fail to take over my Heart. You'll cry, and rage, and in the end, you'll die."

"Brave words," the Darkness said. It vanished, reappearing in the window sill. "But I didn't come here to fight any of you."

"Then why have you come, dark spirit?" Yen Sid demanded.

"Simply to scope out the competition," Darkness answered. "To see what we'll be dealing with, in future. But I also learned something else that could be useful to us. This 'Ultima Weapon' sounds like a very powerful weapon...in the right hands."

"Hah. Go for it - and good luck with that!" Luxu barked a laugh.

"We don't require luck - only time," Darkness said simply. "We-"

Young Terra moved suddenly, in a blink of an eye, his body shrouded in a glow of red energy. He flew past the Darkness, reappearing behind it, his weapon held out. A streak of burning energy was left in his wake; the Darkness's form broke into two clouds of darkness, before reconnecting and reforming again. Terra straightened, turning to gaze at it with clear shock.

The Darkness turned its head, meeting Terra's gaze. "What did you think that was going to accomplish?" it spoke, amused. "You don't understand the concept of 'invincible' do you, human. If this is what we face, this is going to be easy..."

Slowly, the Darkness vanished into thin air.

"Is it gone, or just invisible?" Amaya said, looking to Xehanort - to both of them.

"It's gone," his younger self was the one to answer, prompt and unnerved.

"Good..." the woman sighed, turning and throwing her arms around him, pulling him close to herself.

Young Xehanort went rigid, his face going blank. "Stop that."

Amaya released him, stepping back with a frown. But she said nothing, ultimately.

Terra frowned as he let his weapon vanish, shaking his head to himself.

Master Xehanort gazed around the room. He sighed. "Now, before we were interrupted: what is to be my fate, then, exactly? Is it decided yet?"

"We will give it time," Yen Sid spoke. "An ultimate decision will not be made until after the 'Replicas' are completed, and the young people most deserving have been restored to what they should be. We would not take your life without giving you a chance to say farewells - to make amends, however much you are capable of doing so." He gazed into Xehanort's eyes. "I know the pain you have kept locked away inside. I would not deny you an opportunity for closure."

Xehanort flushed, looking down and away. "Nyeh..."

"As for this ancient being - this...Darkness-" Yen Sid went on. "it appears that they intend to make themselves very troublesome, sooner rather than later. If there is any chance that even a being like them may be found worthy of obtaining and wielding the Ultima Weapon...however small..."

"We find it first?" Luxu said.

Yen Sid regarded the man critically. "If possible, yes. We must win this race - and, at the end, we will destroy the weapon, ending its bloody history once and for all, as well as keeping it out of the hands of this...unknown enemy."

"I can give you the names of a few worlds I heard it might have popped up on," Luxu stated. "but nothing more than that. It's not even certain if the calamities and tragedies were caused by the thing, or if they were misattributed. I didn't investigate it."

"But perhaps another has," Yen Sid replied, turning his gaze to Master Xehanort. "How far into your search for the blade had you gotten, Xehanort?"

Master Xehanort clenched his teeth. He looked to where the Darkness had once stood... He let his aged body relax again, letting out a coarse laugh. "No further than Luxu, it would seem. I had only gathered rumors on a handful of worlds, in my attempts to trace its path through history and the World."

"But perhaps, among them, we will find a connection that will lead us to its final resting place," Yen Sid said. "Very well, then." He paused, looking to Luxu once more. "This Darkness spoke in plural - they work with others of their kind?"

Luxu shrugged. So maddeningly blase. "Who knows? I don't know just how many are out there, where they're lurking. But they used to be part of some hivemind - all connected, mentally and whatnot. Might just be a habit...or more likely, an attempt to keep sounding scary and mysterious. Intimidation tactics have always been their thing. They love to prop themselves up, as you might've noticed."

"There are probably more than you'd think," Young Xehanort murmured.

"Cryptic; elaborate," Luxu said, turning toward him. "Now."

Young Xehanort pressed his lips together. He shook his head, and a blank look came over his features. "After battling with the Darkness on the rooftops of Scala Ad Caelum's highest tower, in the moment I hesitated to strike it down, it took advantage of that to draw me into a shared mental space," he spoke, flat and emotionless. "The creature claimed it was not the Ancient Darkness we thought it was. It was a Darkness, yes, but something new and more recent. It claimed to have been formed from, not only Baldr's darkness, but the darkness of all of us around it. It said that Baldr had taken all of that darkness, born of intense negative emotions - doubt, uncertainty, fear and rage and grief, and most potent of all, animosity - into his Heart, and made it his own, and from that the creature was born. It claimed that this is how their strength and numbers increase, True Darknesses or otherwise - the 'otherwise' being fledgling new Darknesses like itself, I assume. Not external beings who invade the Heart of a host, but beings born from and within a host's Heart."

"Motherfucker - are you kidding?! And you just kept this little revelation of the universe to yourself, for all this time!" Luxu exploded. "You didn't think that was some real important shit to inform the whole World about - your Master, your friends?!"

"Calm yourself, Master Luxu!" Yen Sid spoke, hard and admonishing. "It is understandable, at very least, why Xehanort would not have wished to revisit the memories of that particular day. However, I do agree that the worlds would have been better served if this information had been shared with them."

"You know what, dude? The second I get home, I'm having Namine go over your Heart with a fine comb," Luxu exclaimed. "If the nature of Darkness and the universe is the level of shit you're keeping to your chest here, who knows what else we'd all have been way better off knowing?"

"Do what you will, then," Master Xehanort growled, turning his head aside. "As if I've the ability to stop you now."

"Those things can fucking breed-" Luxu went on, harsh and furious.

Yen Sid raised a hand sharply to Luxu. He gave a nod to Amaya, and to Terra. "As we discussed - I think this meeting is best cut short, before our emotions get the better of us."

Amaya thrust out her weapon, creating a light portal. She took the arm of Young Xehanort, giving a tug. "Come with me now."

Master Xehanort watched his younger self vanish into the light with his- with her. A twinge of regret and longing rose in his Heart...

"As for you - you're coming with me," Terra spoke, stepping forward, his eyes on Xehanort's.

Xehanort turned to regard the boy. The young man. Standing so tall and powerful - so certain, now. So confident. After ten years of being locked away in darkness, after an endless struggle for control...Terra had somehow clawed his way back again, and seemed to be better off than he ever was. Xehanort doubted he could have ever manipulated the young man before him, as he had the boy, once. He doubted, even, that he could have had a chance at wrestling control of this man's Heart, either...

"Hm. Lead on...Master Terra," he said quietly. "It seems I will be entirely at your mercy, then?"

Terra gazed at him. A little half smirk came to his lips. "It's not my mercy. Trust me on that."

"Hmph..." Master Xehanort waited for the young man to create a portal, and he strode through it unprompted, his aging back hunched, his hands clasped behind it.

If the witch of memories was going to be scouring every inch of his Heart soon...he would have no secrets anymore - not a one.

His entire life, thoughts, and emotions would be picked apart by another, and laid bare. And he doubted he would even realize it was happening at all (when she had intruded upon his mind earlier, to push memories into it, there had been no warning or indication that she had delved into it - it had simply happened from nothing).

Yet...he could not find it in himself to care.

---

Kairi dove through another swirling tunnel - this time with much more grace and ease than the first time.

She flew down, down...avoiding debris, fighting off Nightmares.

She thought she was actually going to have it easy for a change - until the giant Bee Nightmare showed up again, flying into the tunnel from the side.

"Ugh - buzz off!" she shouted down at it. Then she blushed, feeling glad neither Sora or Riku were there to have heard her say that. It would have been fuel for teasing for days.

She darted down at the giant Nightmare, sending out spiraling Firaga blasts that exploded on either side of it. She boosted her speed and landed on its body, slashing rapidly at it before doing a backflip and sailing away.

The Nightmare wriggled and shrieked, and summoned over a half dozen smaller Bee Nightmares out of thin air, which promptly flew at Kairi in attack.

Kairi looked around at them, focusing, then shifted her body in the air and darted forward, swathed in orange light, using her Seven Wishes technique. She blitzed past one enemy, then flew back the other way, tearing through another - then on to the next, and the next, and another...until the final blow and a boost of speed and power that obliterated three at once. She spun around out of the attack, immediately conjuring Light Blades around her, sending them at the Queen Bee. They embedded themselves up the front of its body, causing it to stagger backwards in the air.

She transformed her Keyblade into her Blasters, taking aim and firing off twin beams. Then she reverted them, flying forward. She brought out her Whip Transformation, lashing out for the Bee's midsection. The pink energy strand wrapped around the Nightmare's cinched waist several times over, tightening and burning into it.

Kairi grinned to herself, then summoned all the magic she had to increase her strength, as she pulled the whip taut, and began to spin the giant Nightmare around in the air. She spun once, twice - then she let go at just the right moment as they continued to fall together; the Nightmare flew off to the left, slamming into a whole stone building, and then a second one came flying up to smash into it, smooshing it between the two.

Kairi reverted her Keyblade to normal, then flew for the Nightmare, going into Seven Wishes a second time again. She flew left and right, back and forth across the Nightmare, leaving great energy streaks across its form, burning orange. She came out of it and flipped up over its head, then came falling back down, dragging her blade down its whole backside.

The Nightmare shrieked and shuddered- and then it froze. Smoke rose from it, and then it exploded into light and fragments.

Kairi floated there in the air, sighing in relief at her victory. Her gaze found the several, huge Dream Pieces - pulsing red, like rubies, and others that looked like DNA strands, with pink and blue strands woven around each other...

She drifted forward and gathered the large pieces in her arms, holding them close. She shut her eyes, focusing her mind and Heart, remembering times when she'd flown, and when she'd fought, and...

The Dream Pieces began to fuse together in her grasp, a light shining out. They rose up away from her, higher up in the air. Crystals swirled and flashed, spinning around each other-

And then a Dream Eater appeared.

The same Dream Eater as the one she'd just defeated.

A huge, fashionably dressed Queen Bee.

Except the symbol on this one's dress wasn't the Nightmare symbol: it was the Spirit's version of the emblem.

The colors were also different. This giant Spirit wasn't wearing a purple and magenta dress - but a purely yellow one, with black trim. The giant pearly collar also wasn't white, like the Nightmare's, but was jet black now. It was like some of the colors were just plain inverted, really. The antennae weren't yellow into green, but now yellow into lightest purple, or lilac. And the giant gem on the horn/crown wasn't emerald, but purple now.

Those big, pure red eyes were still exactly the same, though...

The giant Spirit wriggled and bobbed in the air in front of Kairi, its spike-ended arms at its sides.

If it wasn't for the clear Spirit emblem on its dress, Kairi really would have been a lot less calm in that moment.

As it was...she took in a breath, and she looked the creature in the face.

It- they-

She. Queen Bee, in that amazing dress...

Kairi smiled at the Spirit, drifting closer in the air. "Okay - you need a name," she said aloud. "Queen Bee probably won't cut it. You have that really great yellow dress going on, so...how about we keep it simple and just go with - Daisy or something? Or-" She stopped. She glanced around. "Beatrice."

She wasn't ashamed of it.

And she was willing to take any and all teasing for it once she got back home again.

If those two dolts would be willing to tease her about it once they saw she had a giant bee monster for a pet now! Hah!

Kairi looked down past the new Spirit, seeing purple rings forming below.

That was it, then.

The sign to go - she'd reached a new world.

"Come on, Beatrice," she told the Spirit, flying down past her and beckoning with an arm.

The giant Spirit dutifully followed after her, giving a high trilling noise.

Chapter 13: Just Girl Stuff

Notes:

Oh hey, look which tags are back! xD I wonder why those are there again?! :D

"Strelitzia, are you alright?"

Lauriam frowned as he stood at the door, peering inside the cramped upstairs bedroom of his little home in the backstreets of Twilight Town.

His sister turned her head to look at him through the crack, from upon her bed. Then she rolled onto her stomach, pulled her pillow down over her head, and started kicking her feet wildly in the air while letting out incoherent noises.

Lauriam blinked at the sight. He hesitated before pushing open the door and stepping inside. He strode over to the bed and sat down upon it, beside her. He reached out, touching her shoulder.

She fell silent instantly - her legs froze, mid-kick, sticking up in the air. Then, they fell rather unceremoniously onto the mattress. Her arms slid from the pillow, limply laid out on either side of her.

"Can you tell me what's wrong?" Lauriam said softly. "You've been cooped up here like this since...well, for the past two days and counting. And to be honest, it's gotten worrying at this point."

Strelitzia slowly pulled her head out from under her pillow, turning to stare at him with orange strands in her face and over her bright green eyes. "Amaya's back..."

"Yes, I'd heard - though I haven't had a chance to see her again yet..."

"I saw her two days ago..."

"Yes...you did. And?"

Strelitzia growled, slamming her face down into her pillow, putting her arms over her head.

Lauriam couldn't help the small smile of amusement, despite the situation. "Oh...This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with your-"

Strelitzia's growling intensified, as she ground her face into the pillow vigorously.

"I'll take that as a yes, then, dear sister."

Strelitzia went still, her muffled growls fading. She lifted her head again, looking at him with a now pink-tinged, pale face. "It's the same as it always was, back then..." she mumbled out. "She didn't even see me - she didn't look at me...and I couldn't get up the courage to say anything to her..."

"We could always change that," Lauriam consoled. "I could open a portal for you to Land of Departure, and you might be able to catch her there, and-"

"And w-what?!" Strelitzia exclaimed, letting her head drop with a thump. She shut her eyes, screwing up her face. "It was j-just some silly c-crush, and it's all weird now because she's way older - like you! She's pretty much your age now! I'm nobody to her, and it wouldn't c-change anything if I told her now...it would just make things too weird!"

"Why would you think that?" came the voice of Elrena, from the doorway, suddenly. She leaned against the frame, a hand raised. A little smirk on her lips. "If anything, it should be the opposite. She's all mature and curvalicious now, isn't she? That should make it even better for you to get all-"

"Thank you, Elrena, your input is appreciated," Lauriam said firmly, staring daggers at her. "But it's unneeded."

Elrena met his gaze, raising her eyebrows at him. Then she gave a small laugh, stuck out her tongue, and spun away, disappearing from the doorway.

"Anyway..." Lauriam spoke, shaking his head. "If you feel the need to get this off your chest after so long, you can go and tell her how you used to feel about her - I'm sure she'd take it well enough. It wouldn't be 'weird' at all. And maybe that closure, a confession, will make it easier for you to move on from it."

"W-what do you mean?!" Strelitzia squeaked out, her head shooting up. "Move on? To- to w-what?"

Lauriam tilted his head. He chuckled lowly. "I haven't the faintest idea - do you? Is there already someone you have your eyes on-"

"N-no! No ideas at all, thank you! I don't have m-my eyes on- on anyone!"

"If you say so," Lauriam said simply.

"You're the worst big brother ever!"

"I apologize."

"The worst..." Strelitzia reiterated, pouting now. She snatched up her pillow and sat up. She looked at him - then she hurled it at him, hitting him in the face. "You're always so mean to me!"

"Who just hit who in the face?" Lauriam said, laughing and brushing at his long pink hair.

"You d-deserved it!"

"Did I?"

"Yes!"

"Alright. I'll take your word for it."

Strelitzia hugged herself, turning away. She glanced back at him, hesitating. Frowning. "I still don't think I have the courage to tell her..."

"Of course you do. You've always had more courage than you ever realized," Lauriam refuted.

"Not enough to walk up to her and say hi when we were...the same age and stuff..." Strelitzia murmured. "I s-saw her everywhere, again and again, for weeks...months...and I never got up the guts to do a thing..."

"Do you need help, then? I could-"

"Ew, n-no!"

"Elrena, then, if you'd be more comfortable-"

"She'd just make it weird! For fun!"

"Elrena knows when to be serious. She wouldn't ruin this for you. She also knows what it's like to conceal her deepest feelings from others, too, you know. But she found the courage recently to open up her Heart, and express them to the world...and to herself." Lauriam paused. "What about Namine-"

"NO!" Strelitzia shrieked, her hands flying up to her face. She froze. "N-no...she's my- best f-friend, and- she probably wouldn't get it - she's not exactly a normal girl, right?"

"Perhaps not," Lauriam agreed, quiet. "But I know her well enough to know she'd still put her Heart into supporting you, even if she didn't understand it, exactly. That girl never does anything by half-measures."

For some reason, Strelitizia looked torn between horror at the information and...well, some form of relief and happiness. Even excitement. Then she threw herself down on her bed again, seized the edge of her blankets, and pulled them up over her, rolling over to wrap herself up in them.

Lauriam gazed down on her blanket-sheltered form, smiling. He reached out again and patted at her form.

Strelitzia squeaked, startling and squirming. She popped back up and threw off the blankets, her wild and messy hair around her face, as she stared at him. "I'll t-think about it..." she stammered out.

"Good." Lauriam smiled at her. "I hate seeing you like this, little sister."

"I hate being like this!" Strelitzia exclaimed in agreement.

---

Former Keyblade Master - and wielder - Aqua leapt down from the giant kitsune's back, landing on dust and dirt.

She strode away, examining her newest surroundings.

Over the past few days, it had started to change.

No more mountains, or forests, rivers and lakes.

Sparse trees, dry, hot air. Dusty boulders. Cliffs and canyons ahead...

A stretch of nothing - a wasteland.

She barely reacted, on hearing the sound of flames behind her now.

Natsumi strode up beside her, standing with a hand on a hip. Her bare feet didn't seem bothered by the new terrain in the least. "This is where the journey gets more challenging," she said, with a note of excitement to her voice. "But I'm sure you've had challenging journeys before, haven't you, Miss Aqua?"

Aqua glanced at her. "Yes..."

Natsumi tossed her head, brushing at her long, black hair. "That's all I get from you?" The woman tsk'd at Aqua. "We've been traveling for over seven days at this point, and you've hardly said more than a few words to me in general. Do you see me as a nuisance - or just a mount, perhaps? Or is it just that you still don't trust me?"

"No - it's nothing like that - it's just...I thought you already knew everything about me?" Aqua replied, glancing away.

"I learned a lot about you when I first scanned your mind, yes - but not nearly as much as you seem to think I did, apparently," Natsumi said, exasperated. "You could call it a...cliff-notes version of your life. An overview without much details. Some specific memories, important people, and moments you experienced - but it was only enough to get a sense of you as a person. It didn't tell me what your deepest desires are, or whether you snore at night, or who your last ten girlfriends were."

"I've never had any girlfriends!" Aqua said, flushed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I misread you - boyfriends, then?"

"No - no, I- that would be correct, it's just-" Aqua stopped, looking at her feet. She grabbed her cloak, hugging it to her form. "I haven't exactly had the time for- that sort of thing. It's always been training, or world-ending disasters... That- doesn't really leave any time for- dating..." She spoke the last word in a hush, unfamiliar and almost taboo on her own tongue. It was a vague concept she knew about, but nothing she'd ever...of course not!

"Well, it seems to me like you have a lot of spare time on your hands now, don't you?" Natsumi's voice came again, languid and slightly...amused.

Aqua's head shot up. She turned to stare at the woman. "Are you- suggesting something?"

Natsumi raised her eyebrows at Aqua, a smile curving at her bright red lips. "Oh, Miss Aqua, I wasn't suggesting anything - I was just making an observation. Someone with so much time on their hands...it would be a shame to see it all go to waste. Instead of all of this walking and not-talking...you could really make this whole adventure more enriching for yourself."

Aqua stared, flustered. She turned on her heel and stalked away, holding her hands over her chest.

She wanted to find some protest, some excuse - but Natsumi was right, wasn't she?

Aqua had no excuse anymore. No training, no responsibilities, no apprentices, no worlds to protect and no evil monsters or people to defend them from. That wasn't her life anymore. That wasn't her. It had never been...her. She was free. She could go where she wanted, do whatever she wanted, and no one could judge her for it. Certainly no one she knew...

Aqua looked back at the woman over a shoulder, from out of the corner of her eye.

She had already spent ten years in the darkest, loneliest of places, yearning for friendship...for family...

But she hadn't even realized there were other things to yearn for, too.

Because she'd never had the chance to.

To try and fail, to have and miss...

Elrena's cutting, passionate, accurate words came to the front of her mind again.

Aqua was poise. Aqua was strong. Cool-headed, proper. The exemplary Master she'd tried so hard to be. To fool herself into thinking she could be...

But Aqua was also the woman who had let Elrena talk her into something very stupid, but somehow so fulfilling, in the stupidest of ways. She still didn't even fully remember that little evening out. But...she knew how she'd felt afterward, waking up again in her room at Land of Departure. Not the head-pulsing headache, or the stomach pain, or the dizziness - but the feeling in her Heart. It had been a kind of...triumph. A vicious sense of victory. An I did that - and I can't believe I did it, sort of feeling.

Aqua was the woman who had known the worst isolation and loneliness anyone on any world had ever possibly known.

Aqua was the woman who had lost ten years of her life - and had made this insane, monumental decision in the first place because she didn't want to miss any more.

So why was she still holding herself back so much? Why was she still locking herself away? Why...was she still so afraid?

Why was she willing to let herself just keep missing more?

She was out here, adrift in the unknown. Just another woman. Well, not quite just another woman (if anyone ever recognized her here-)...

Aqua blinked, pulling herself out of her own mind and Heart. She turned toward Natsumi more fully, her Heart pounding in her chest.

It was- insane. It was impulsive, emotional, reckless and irresponsible - the sort of thing she would have scolded and frowned upon Terra or Ven for. It was them, not her...to just go running away, leaping into the unknown, doing the first stupid little thing that came into their heads! It wasn't...Aqua...

Maybe that was why she really wanted to do it.

"I- think you're...probably right..." Aqua murmured out, her lips stumbling over the words. "Only I...I wouldn't know where to start."

Natsumi's red eyes glinted at her. She raised such a pale, perfect hand to her mouth, laughing into it. "Well, we could start with talking. That would make for a wonderful change of pace. Unless you're more a woman who likes to jump straight into the action? I don't really mind, either way, you know..."

"I- well-" Aqua looked away again. "Talking sounds...okay? I can start telling you a little bit about my- life so far, I guess."

"Talking it is, Miss Aqua. I'll be happy to listen to whatever you're willing to tell me," Natsumi said, gazing at her with full sincerity.

Aqua breathed relief. But there was still a problem.

What was she willing to tell this woman?

Chapter 14: The Hope of a User

"Strelitzia and I are going to the mall and we need munny."

"Again, huh?" Luxu eyed her with amusement. He stood up and stretched, then set his hands on his hips, gazing at the two girls in the living room of their home. "What, do you think I'm just made out of munny or something, princess?"

"I mean...kind of!" Namine admitted.

Luxu laughed, shaking his head. "Alright, look, we need to start limiting these sprees of yours to once a week, or even my tidy little fortune is going to go bone dry pretty fast here. Do you even wear half the stuff you've bought?"

"You've seen me wear them!" Namine protested. "I even change clothes multiple times a day if I feel like it!"

"Have I? I don't pay too much attention to your outfits..."

Namine glared. "Well you should!"

Luxu blew a breath, putting a hand to his forehead. "I'm not going to ask why you think that. Just - here - take it - go have fun." He waved a hand, conjuring a large bag, and tossed it at her. It landed in front of her with a loud thunk and clinking metals. "Just- can you try to be a little more...conscious this time, about what you want versus what you really might want?"

Namine stood silently, then frowned. "Sure. I guess?"

"Thank you. I really would...appreciate that, kiddo."

"Okay. Bye!" Namine took up the bag, slinging it over her shoulder, then took Strelitzia's hand and stalked from the house.

Luxu watched her go, snorting to himself.

"Teenagers...fuuuun."

And it was only going to get a lot worse once the little princess had actual, real human hormones running through her body...

Well, at least he couldn't say life was boring anymore, could he?

The kid kept finding all new ways to surprise him, even now.

Luxu turned his gaze to the other kid, who had just come down the stairs into the living room. "Hey, Roxas?"

"What?"

"You're a good kid."

The boy tilted his head at Luxu. "Uh...thanks?"

"You're welcome." Luxu paused. "Hey, you want pop over to Radiant Garden? Hang with Lea? I've got some business over there to talk to Even about, anyways...gotta check on some stuff."

"I was going to ask you," Roxas said, nodding, a small smile lighting up his face.

"Neato - take your homework with you. Get some of that done before the week's up."

Roxas's smile evaporated. "Fine...I still don't get why we need to learn any of this stuff, though..."

"One day you're going to be glad you did," Luxu responded. That was what an actual parent would say, wasn't it?

Didn't believe it, himself, but...eh. He had to set an example.

---

Kairi landed in a new Sleeping World, looking around to take in her new surroundings.

It looked...unlike anything she'd seen before.

She stood in the middle of a street.

A sleek, black, shiny street, made up of hexagons of transparent glass or something, with glowing white strips of neon light on either side. There were thick, long, curving streetlights interspersed up and down the street. The symbols denoting the crosswalks of an intersection were shaped neon light strips, matching the rest.

Kairi raised her head, and gasped, stumbling back at the sight that greeted her.

Massive, black, rounded skyscrapers and other structures, glowing with blue neon lights, towered overhead. They were densely packed, side by side, interconnected by bridges and walkways that crossed over the streets far above.

She craned her neck to look beyond them, seeing lights and reflective black materials above a dense smoke covering...peeking through from some structure above the city itself! The view was obscured, so she couldn't even tell what it was supposed to be. But the fact that it dwarfed even the city was just-

A flaring orange light stole her focus, making her gasp. She watched as a- a ship of some kind came floating down out of the fog above, into the city. It was made up of a wide bridge, with two pylons hanging down on either side. Like a sharp, angular horseshoe or something. It had glowing orange lights on it. It moved down the street swiftly and effortlessly - approaching her.

Kairi stared up at it, wondering if she should wait around and let it pass, or find out who was flying it, or- or if she should hide. They could be friendly, and she'd never want to just assume anything - but after her encounter in the last world...she was still kind of on edge here.

Before she could make up her mind, though, the ship had swooped down on her, closer and faster than she'd realized. A spotlight flashed on from the front, shining down on her.

Kairi winced, raising her arm to shield her eyes, trying to squint out at the ship.

The ship came down to land in front of her, on sleek black landing gears. Then, an elevator platform suddenly emerged from the underbelly of the wide bridge.

Suddenly, all around Kairi, the street, made up of those hexagonal shapes, began to peel away and retreat down into the earth - leaving her standing on a very small ledge directly in front of the ship's elevator platform.

Standing on the platform were around a half dozen people - wearing black clothes with blue lights. Jackets and coats, etc. They stood in a line, all striking Kairi immediately as looking...afraid. Afraid and resigned.

Two other figures stepped forward, striding toward Kairi together, stealing her attention. They wore sleek black armor, with neon orange light strips, and reflective black helmets with visors to hide their faces completely.

It reminded Kairi way too much of Vanitas's getup.

These two figures were also wielding weapons - black polearms, with orange lights on the ends of them.

Kairi stepped back, almost slipping off the edge into the pit behind her.

The two armored figures stopped on either side of her. One seized her arm immediately, looking her over. Turning her, to look at her...back?

"This Program has no disc. Another stray," a morphed voice spoke from within the helmet of the figure on her left.

Suddenly Kairi was being roughly pulled forward - toward the elevator, where those other people were still just...standing on glowing white squares, with strange energy waves rippling up over their legs? Was that what was keeping them from running, escaping in that moment? Were they frozen, locked in place? Trapped?

Kairi stared at them all as she was led up onto the platform, closer - being guided toward a vacant energy tile. No way was she letting herself get trapped like that, too! And no way was she just going to let these armored guys do whatever they wanted with her without a fight! And no way in heck was she going to just do nothing when there were these people in front of her who were clearly helpless and afraid!

She didn't know what was going on, she didn't know where she was - but she knew people in need when she saw them. And she knew things weren't right with these armored guys and their big glowy ship.

Kairi summoned her Keyblade in an instant, using magic to empower her, tearing her arms out of the armored figures' grasps. She whirled and slashed across the front of one's chest, sending them falling to the ground with a cry. She ducked as the other reached for her from behind-

And spun around and slashed them across the stomach. She gave them a hard kick to send them flying backwards, hitting the side of the elevator.

Dozens of tiny blue cubes fell from a glowing white wound across the armored figures' bodies.

Kairi stared down at them, feeling a thrill of shock and a bit of horror.

But she refocused, looking instead to the people on the white squares. "Is there any way to break these and get you out of here?" she asked them quickly.

Some stared at her.

Two looked away.

One, a woman with pale skin, and a ponytail of green hair that had pulsing lines running down it, looked at Kairi directly. "You-"

Several armored figures suddenly came down from above - out of the upper level of the ship - dropping onto the elevator platform around Kairi!

Kairi immediately did a backflip, landing on the hexagonal ledge again. Then she bent her knees, and she lifted off the ground. She flew backwards to land on the street again.

The armored figures froze, weapons in hand.

The prisoners were all looking at her now, too.

The armored figures stalked forward, and the dark pit began to fill in again, the hexagons rising up to restore the street to normal. They readied their weapons as they approached her, twirling them. "Program, your illegal self-modification puts you in violation of-"

Kairi hurled her Keyblade out, spinning and glowing with energy. It slammed into the warrior's chest - and tore right through them, sending them to the ground in two separate halves, thousands of little cubes spilling everywhere. Kairi stared, horrified all over again - but the other enemy was running at her now, swinging their weapon!

Kairi leapt backwards, then rolled right and flashed up a hand, casting Firaga.

The warrior placed their weapon in front of them to block...

But Kairi's attack exploded on impact. Obliterating them.

Blue cubes flew out in all directions, flying past Kairi and pelting the walls of the buildings.

The remaining three warriors came at her together, now.

Kairi kicked off from the ground and flew up into the air, far out of their melee range, calling her Keyblade back to hand. She stretched out her hand, casting rapid Blizzagas. Ice burst on the ground around them, freezing her opponents in solid blocks of ice. Kairi flew forward and swooped down to land on the elevator platform again.

She raised her Keyblade, aiming it down at the floor in front of the white squares on pure instinct, barely half-aware of what she was even doing.

A white beam of light flew from her weapon, hitting the floor in a burst of light and sparkling energy particles.

The ship's churning engines sputtered - the orange lights flickered on the exterior - and then the white squares faded away to nothing.

The whole ship was dead silent now. Shut-down. Offline.

And more importantly, the prisoners were free.

"You - what are you?" a man asked, in awed tones. "In all my time on the Grid, I haven't heard of anything like that since Flynn..."

"She's a User - aren't you?" spoke the green-haired woman, stepping off the glass square beneath her, staring at Kairi with shining eyes and a growing smile. "You must be."

Kairi stared back at her. She looked at the others. They were all looking not so afraid anymore. More...excited. Expectant. Hopeful...

"Sorry, I don't exactly know what a User is," Kairi said slowly. "I'm just a girl - my name is Kairi. I came from...well, I'm not from around here."

"You are a User," the woman said, as if Kairi's answer was some kind of admission (despite that Kairi really hadn't thought it was). "You come from the User World! You've come to save us all from the reign of Clu!"

Kairi frowned, letting her weapon vanish and bringing her hand to her chest. The looks on the faces of these people now was just downright- reverent. Like she was some kind of- royalty, or higher being, or- or goddess, even. Like some great religious figure had just come back from the dead or something. It was really, really uncomfortable! "What do you mean 'User World?'" she asked.

The woman looked at her, then up into the stormy sky. "We shouldn't stay out in the open like this. We can talk after we find a safe place to hide, User."

That term again.

Kairi looked up into the sky as well, and saw neon orange lights emerging from the clouds, far above. She looked to the frozen armored figures on the street, still trapped soundly by her spells. She nodded to the green-haired woman. "Okay. What's your name?"

The woman smiled. "It's Cyl, User. Now come on."

"Okay," Kairi agreed, and she, along with the other prisoners, followed as Cyl took off down the street to the right.

---

After the little group had escaped down the streets, and ducked into a deep, dark alley that wound its way between towering skyscrapers, Cyl finally stopped.

The woman leaned against a sleek black wall, an arm over her chest.

Another prisoner, a woman with messy, long white hair, sat down behind a large black box with green lights on it.

The remaining few from the ship...three of them went deeper into the alley, disappearing around the winding corner. One looked at Kairi, before she jumped high into the air, flipping and twisting into a series of gymnastics that saw her disappear onto some upper catwalk of thrumming blue light strips. The last two, two men, fell flatly onto the ground, sitting together, looking...well, hopeless again. Like the adrenaline of escape had worn off, and now they were just...

Kairi frowned, looking down the alley. Then, up above, to the walkway where the woman had disappeared to. She looked to Cyl. "Where did they go?"

"Who knows? Everyone's given up on resisting Clu - or joined him," Cyl answered, sighing. "He turned the population against the Users - against Flynn, the Creator - telling everyone he betrayed and abandoned us."

"Who's this Clu person?"

"A powerful, dangerous Program. Flynn created him to manage The Grid - but Clu is the one who betrayed him, amassing followers and power. It was a coupe, against Flynn, and Tron, and all good Programs. For a long while, there was a resistance movement - but..." Cyl looked down, frowning. "The movement was crushed and broken up cycles ago. That, with the loss of Flynn..."

"Everyone gave up," Kairi said quietly.

"Better to live under Clu's rule, than to be derezzed fighting for a hopeless cause," Cyl stated. "The most any of us do now is hide, run. Sometimes people brave individual attacks, but they always get caught. Rectified, or derezzed."

"Is that what you were doing? Why you were captured, on that ship?"

Cyl gave a sad smile. "I was. Because I still believe in the Users, and I know it's what Tron and Flynn would have done."

"Do you know where this Clu guy is?" Kairi asked. "If we all worked together, maybe we could do a surprise attack and-"

"It wouldn't work," Cyl refuted, interrupting her. "He's either aboard his battleship, the Rectifier, or overseeing the Games at the arena. Either way, he's always surrounded by an elite guard of combat Programs, and an army of soldiers. And we couldn't even reach the Rectifier without Light Jets." She paused. "And then there's his personal enforcer, Rinzler..."

Rinzler? Rinzler...why did that name strike Kairi as familiar for some reason? So had the name Tron, come to think of it, now...she'd heard those names around before, somewhere. Sometime recently. But where...?

Focus, girl. "Where's this battleship of his, then?" Kairi said.

Cyl raised her head, pointing a finger skyward. "It's stationed above the city, right now. And it's surrounded by Light Jets, Recognizers, and Tank and Light Cycle patrols on the streets below."

Kairi looked up into the sky, to the dark clouds, and the rain starting to trickle down now.

"I could get up there, myself - bring at least two people with me," Kairi said. "I can fly, all on my own power. You can't tell me they could possibly expect anything like that. I could sneak past them, we could get on board, disable it - defeat this Clu guy."

Cyl gazed at her, deep in thought. "It might work. Getting on board, anyway. Once you're there, you'll have to face an army to get to Clu. Assuming he doesn't escape on his Throne Ship, which he keeps docked with it. It would practically be a suicide mission. There's no way you could reach him without raising an alarm."

"If it's the only real chance you have - if the resistance is already gone - then what's the risk if you do fail?" Kairi responded. "Look, either come with me or don't, but I'm heading for that ship no matter what. I can't just let this- this dictatorship and oppression go on, when I might be able to stop it. When I'm probably the only one with the power to stop it. You're not Programs to me, you're people - and you've clearly been hurting for a long time. So I'm going to try to fix that. It's as simple as that, got it?"

Cyl stared at her, then around at the others left. The two men, and the woman, hidden behind the black box. "More of us could come with you to back you up if we could get our hands on some Light Jets...but..."

"But what?"

"Vehicles are kept under heavy guard - in a military compound, on the city's North edge," Cyl said.

"Then we'll break into there first, and we'll all fly up to this Rectifier warship together," Kairi replied firmly.

"Or...we break in at the same time," Cyl said slowly. "It might make enough of a distraction for you to slip onto the warship - with one or two others. Then, once you've started causing some chaos inside it, we could use the Light Jets to join you later. Assuming the group that goes for the Jets survives to get back out again..."

"No, either we all go for it, or we don't," Kairi refuted. "We can get these Light Jets of yours, and then we go for the warship. I have some friends who can help us out with this, too. But no one's just going to be a distraction, or a sacrifice for others!" She looked at the group. "So, are you willing to do this with me, or not?"

The two men looked up at her. They looked at each other. One dropped his head. The other - he gave a hollow laugh, and said, "Your programming is faulty, User. You'll never succeed..."

"Maybe," Kairi admitted. "But how can I know if I don't try?"

The man shook his head at her, turning away. He set a hand on the other man's shoulder. "We don't want any part of any resistance...we just want to keep our existences in peace together."

Kairi eyed them for a moment. Then she nodded. "Well, I can't blame you or anything. You probably are smarter than me for that. If we don't see each other again...well, good luck. I hope you don't end up captured again. I really don't."

She didn't get a response. That was fine. She turned her gaze to the only one left - the woman behind the black box, with her wild hair. "What's your name?" she asked.

The woman looked up at her slowly. "Bitz," she said, in a low, husky voice.

"Nice to meet you, Bitz. Would you be willing to help us?" Kairi said.

The woman stared at her silently. She looked to Cyl. Then, up at the sky. Rain rolled down her face, over her hair. She straightened her head, and then she nodded. "For Tron," she said quietly, rising to her feet, her black trenchcoat slithering beneath her.

"For the Users," Cyl said, looking Kairi in the eyes. "We're behind you - Kairi. We'll go with your plan: straight for the Rectifier. If you can get us aboard..."

Kairi smiled. "Okay. Then...let's do this."

Three people and three Spirits against an army - to sneak aboard and storm some super technological warship.

What could go wrong?

Chapter 15: Fighting For What's Real

Kairi knew some people would tell her she was stupid for all of this.

That these people were - Programs. Data. That this world, this "Grid" was just some simulation running on some computer - out in some "real" world, or however this worked (especially since it was a Sleeping World).

Data in a dream.

Or dreams of data.

Ephemer had said that these dream worlds were trapped in endless loops, repeating the same events, over and over, until they could be woken up again. Trapped in nightmares, by Nightmares.

Maybe some people would take that and say it meant that the people of this world were doubly fake. That this wasn't all pointless just because they were data people inside a fake dream, or whatever, but because even if Kairi did change things here, even if she did get rid of this Clu guy...everything would just "reset" anyways, after. However that worked, exactly. Ephemer hadn't been too specific.

But Kairi just didn't care.

She'd seen and talked to these people. They weren't just automatons, or- or figments of imagination, running on a loop. Playing out some script, sticking to their lines. Conjured up by the Sleeping World's Heart to fill in its dreams. They were as real as she was. The fear, the hope, the emotions on their faces and in their voices and in their eyes...Kairi had seen it, and it was real.

And she'd been in another dream, before, in another situation like this one. All those months ago now. She'd told the dream versions of her best friends that they were real, too, whole-heartedly believing her own words, on that little adventure. She'd meant it.

And she meant it this time, too.

Just because they were "data" or even a "dream" didn't mean they weren't real, thinking, feeling people.

And that meant she would do everything she could to help them. To free them.

But even if they hadn't been - even if she believed that - she would still act the exact same way. Because the way it all felt here, the way they behaved, and looked...it was so real that at that point what would the difference even be? Could anyone even say, point it out?

So Kairi would be who she was, and do what she did, regardless.

Which was fly up to a giant, floating, orange glowing warship above a sprawling techno city of neon lights, alongside a giant female bee monster in a gorgeous yellow dress.

Cyl and Bitz, meanwhile, were riding atop Beatrice's head - clinging to her huge crown horn and antennae, as the rain and stormy winds whipped at them.

As the giant ship came into view, Kairi had to take a moment just to marvel at it, all context aside.

It was absurdly large - and even more absurdly long. Two-thirds of its length seemed devoted to some kind of really, really long hangar bay. The front of the ship's length was wide open, revealing the interior of said hangar bay. Near the back end of the ship, there was a big circle on one side with an open walkway, and a tower sticking up from the top.

As they actually neared the giant ship, however, it really became clear to Kairi that she had never seen anything this massive in her entire life so far.

She and Beatrice, with passengers, flew up to the wide open front of the ship - and she could only stare in shock and awe at the interior.

The massive, sprawling ceiling of the hangar, that ran nearly the entire length of the warship, was covered in blue light strips that shined down on its reflective, curved interior. On the left-hand side, a strip of orange light ran the length of it. On the right side...there was a huge beam of blue energy, running through multiple towers or structures placed at regular intervals. This huge beam of energy also seemed to run the length of the ship.

On the left side of the hangar, there were dozens of those giant, horseshoe shaped neon orange ships - and dozens of big, armored, glowing orange land vehicles too. There were also large ships with sleek wings, folded and sticking upward above them, and shiny cockpits.

There were well over a hundred (possibly several hundred) orange armored soldiers wandering around the massive hangar - patrolling walkways and docking platforms on the edges, or marching to and fro across the open floors.

An open floor that was dangerously split by a gap down the middle, for about the whole one-half or one-third of the ship's total length or so, revealing the open sky and storm clouds below.

"Still want to do this?!" Bitz's hoarse voice called out to Kairi, from atop Beatrice.

Kairi's gaze roamed the massive hangar, taking in all the armored soldiers...and then she nodded. She looked to Bitz and Cyl, and grinned. "Are they really all armed with just melee weapons?"

"Energy weapons are only possible on vehicles," Cyl replied. "They have their own energy sources; if a Program were to try using one, the energy it took from our bodies would suck us dry too fast."

"Then we have the advantage, because I am all about long ranged attacks - and air superiority!" Kairi said firmly. "Come on! We'll go right over their heads!"

She swathed herself in magic and blasted forward, right into the massive hangar.

Beatrice surged forward in her wake. The massive Spirit probably could have overtaken her - but she stayed behind Kairi all the same.

It didn't take long before the soldiers below took notice of the giant monster bee and flying teenage girl above them.

And after that it didn't take long for a repetitive, whining alarm to start echoing across the entire hangar.

Kairi pressed on anyways, rocketing down the length of the ship's vast interior.

They were almost to the end of the hangar - where multiple levels of walkways could be seen, with railing and doors leading off to different parts of the ship, proper.

Kairi grinned to herself.

They had this. It was going to work!

Suddenly, a figure stepped out onto one of the upper walkways. They weren't wearing the neon striped armor of the other soldiers below; they were wearing an all black, lighter suit of some kind, with smaller little orange lights here and there, and a rounder, sleeker helmet that was swept back. The whole, encompassing visor was curved to a downward point, at the front.

The figure stepped up to the railing, and despite that all-covering visored helmet, Kairi sensed that they were staring right...at her. They reached up their arms slowly, almost casually, their hands disappearing behind their back...and then coming back into view holding a glowing disc. Orange on the inner ring, burning white on the outer edge. Then they pulled the disc apart into two separate ones, falling into a low combat stance. They began taking slow, measured steps backwards, confusing Kairi for a moment...

And then the figure exploded into motion, into a run, sprinting and doing a high jump up onto the railing, and then leaping off of it with a single foot into the open air!

The figure sailed farther than Kairi would have thought they would - and Kairi and Beatrice were already too close to the walkways to stop, she realized.

And the figure had known that.

They came slamming into Kairi, tackling her out of mid-air, spinning with her and slashing one of those discs for her face even in the air!

Kairi shoved a hand against their chest and cast Firaga; they were blown apart, sent flying in two different directions! She hit the sleek black floor hard, skidding across it to a stop.

The black suit figure landed and rolled, somehow got their feet and arms under them, and spun around and came to a skidding halt: facing Kairi. Crouched low, that helmet's visor staring directly at her.

Kairi jumped to her feet immediately, summoning her Keyblade. Beatrice circled overhead, lifting her lower body and sending out a barrage of purple stingers shrouded in darkness for the black suited figure. At the same time, Cyl and Bitz came dropping down to land on either side of her, their fists raised in fighting stances.

The black suited figure jumped to their feet and threw themselves into a spinning backflip, avoiding all of Beatrice's attacks with fluid grace. They touched down again, then hurled out a burning disc at Beatrice!

Beatrice took it on the middle of her form, falling backwards in the air with a shriek. She wobbled and dipped low in the air before recovering.

The disc weapon, meanwhile, came curving back to its owner, who threw out an arm to catch it like a zen master to a buzzing fly.

"Rinzler," Cyl spoke, in a voice of fear and wariness.

"Rinzler?" Kairi repeated, staring at her opponent.

"He's the one who derezzed Tron," Bitz rasped, her eyes gazing intensely at the reflective visor. "The greatest champion we ever had - for Programs and Users - and he destroyed him."

Rinzler slowly rose to his feet, holding those twin discs away from his body. He tilted his head at them, and Kairi heard a low, clicking growl issue from the man. Like some kind of demon, or animal. It was honestly terrifying, and she was not afraid to admit that it intimidated her well and good-

Rinzler exploded into motion again, racing forward and hurling a disc for Kairi with a swing of an arm. He hurled out a second one for Bitz!

Kairi blocked and sent it flying off into the ceiling with her Keyblade, then ran forward to meet the now weaponless enemy!

Rinzler met her in the middle - dropping down and lashing out with a spinning kick that swept her off her feet! Then he was leaping atop her, a strong gloved hand seizing her weapon wrist-

A buzzing noise filled the air, and Rinzler flashed a hand up, where one of his discs flew back into his grasp! Then he brought it down on Kairi's chest.

Kairi exploded her power outward, pure and raw - panicking - hurling the man off of her and sending him flying backwards. She scrambled to her feet again-

And then Bitz was tackling her down again, flat on her face.

"What're you-" Kairi gasped.

That same buzzing noise was heard - and Rinzler's other disc weapon came zooming over their heads, back to its owner.

Oh.

"Thanks," she wheezed, as the woman got off her and pulled her quickly to her feet again. She faced Rinzler again, readying her weapon-

"We're here for Clu, remember? Not him," Cyl spoke, coming up beside her in a hurry. She spun Kairi around, pointing off down the hangar.

To the literal legion of soldiers in armor bearing down on them now, with staffs and double-ended energy blade weapons, and straight up orange energy swords, too.

"Right! Let's get out of here!" Kairi agreed swiftly. "Beatrice!" she called out.

Beatrice swooped down behind them; Cyl and Bitz turned and leapt back onto her backside.

Kairi just kicked her feet and shot up into the air, ascending swiftly. She twisted and flew for the uppermost walkways.

She glanced down, seeing Rinzler break into a pounding run - heading for the lower level walkway and connecting ramps.

Kairi soared over the upper walkway's railing, landing on her feet. She turned and saw Cyl and Bitz leaping off Beatrice onto the walkway too. Kairi raised a hand, focusing, and Beatrice vanished in a puff of smoke.

Kairi turned and ran toward the nearest, big metal doors, the doorway of which was shaped like a hexagon. The door remained firmly shut as she slammed into it with her hands!

That alarm was probably the cause.

"The whole ship is on lockdown now," Bitz hissed. "We're not getting in."

"Yes we are!" Kairi said fiercely, stepping back and raising her Keyblade. She breathed, the tip glowed - and a beam shot out to hit the door. Sparkling lights spread across it, and then it slowly slid open with a screeching noise.

"Users really are something-" Cyl began, looking at her in wonder.

Thud.

Kairi whirled around, seeing that Rinzler man come flipping up into view, in a high, twisting arch that saw him landing...precisely on the walkway's railing. He then did another, small flip and landed on the floor, his disc weapons readied.

Yeah, screw that, we're out of here!

Kairi bolted through the doorway, entering a neon lit orange corridor, Bitz and Cyl right behind her!

"This Clu guy would be up in that tower we saw, right?" Kairi spoke, as they approached a split in the hall - left and right. "That looked like a bridge or control room or something, didn't it?"

Cyl gave a quick nod as she sped up to run beside her. "Most likely."

"Okay. Then we're going- left!" Kairi declared, setting off down the new hallway without even stopping.

It was a good thing, too, because not even a second after she changed direction, one of those burning discs came whizzing past her, hitting the wall and bouncing back again in the blink of an eye!

They ran on, then took a right soon. Then, they spilled out into a large, open room with orange lighting!

There were several soldiers milling about - and guards with staffs standing in front of the door on the opposite side of the room.

They all turned at the sight of the intruders. The soldiers pulled energy discs off their backs, like Rinzler had.

Kairi threw herself forward, forming and sending out several Light Blades for the soldiers. Some landed home, embedding themselves into their armored chests. Kairi focused her mind, squeezing her fist. The swords exploded in flashes of light and power, and the soldiers were destroyed completely.

Bitz and Cyl ran for the fallen mess of blue cubes, diving and sliding across the slick floor - snatching up those energy discs in their hands. Then they turned and began to engage the guards.

Kairi leapt forward to help, cutting one across the back as they fought with Bitz. Then she and Bitz went to help Cyl out with her opponent, easily cutting them down.

An awful, clicking, growling sound echoed in the room, and she turned to see Rinzler standing in the doorway.

Just...standing there. Menacingly.

Why were bad guys always so dramatic...?

Because it works, a little voice in her head spoke up.

Cyl and Bitz moved forward, putting themselves between Kairi and Rinzler.

"Go - find Clu - we'll hold off Rinzler," Cyl told Kairi firmly.

"What?! No! That's crazy-" Kairi started.

"Go already, User!" Bitz snapped out. "You're the only one who can do anything to stop this! Only a User can-"

"Uuuuseeeerrrrr..." came a sudden, distorted voice.

The voice of Rinzler.

Rinzler's head tilted, his gaze fixing onto Kairi alone - looking completely beyond Cyl or Bitz.

"Go, please!" Cyl said, more urgently now.

Kairi stared at her, at Bitz. At Rinzler...

But if it was true - if only a 'User' could stop Clu, stop all of this...if User meant "human", in fact, as opposed to what these people said they were - programs - then...

Kairi had to trust in them...and do her part.

She raised a hand, summoning Fin and Cherry, pointing. "Stay with them. Keep them safe," she ordered, before turning and running through the open doorway into a new hallway.

She heard squeaking boots, thudding feet, the sounds of battle behind her-

And she kept running, never looking back.

Notes:

Rinzler. Is. One of my top 5 most badass silent villain warrior tropes EVER, up there with Darth Maul. And I LOVE that I get to really write him and use him in fight scenes now and just go ham on epicness because THAT IS HIS CANONICAL THING: to exist to do epic fight scenes! I LOVE how flippy and acrobatic and raw his fight style is. XD That is all.

Chapter 16: Tron's Legacy

Kairi fought her way through the ship, using Light Blades, Light orbs of explodey devastation, and basic magic to defeat her enemies before they even got close to her.

Soon, she came to the middle of the ship, and found an elevator.

She had to use her Keyblade again to open the doors, but then she rode it up - a platform that just hovered, all on its own, up a neon orange shaft. At the top, she found herself stepping out into a spacious bridge, full of large control consoles and computer terminals. There was a ramp that led up past them, to a lounge or viewing area, in front of a huge, pure glass wall that allowed one to view outside. From floor to ceiling.

Kairi gazed around the bridge, seeing people in glowing suits, with visors over their eyes - but no one in armor, and no one with weapons. No guards at all? No soldiers?

She guessed they hadn't actually expected anyone to make it to the bridge, especially not when the ship was all locked down like this.

Kairi strode forward, into the center of the bridge. She stopped, holding her Keyblade up and flaring her Light magic around her body in a crackling, golden aura. She formed Light Blades around her, pointing in all directions. "Anyone who doesn't want to be toast for a User, you should run while you still have the chance," she spoke out clearly.

The control operators all looked at her. Then they ran for the elevator. Kairi turned to watch them all cram themselves in, gathering on the platform - then the doors slid shut, and the hum of the elevator was heard.

Kairi grinned, letting her power fade. She turned back to look out across the bridge, to the lounge area. She strode up the ramp into it, then took note of another ramp, leading to an upper level. She went up the ramp to this new area, and stopped as soon as it all came into sight.

It was as spacious as the bridge below, and even had the same, floor-to-ceiling glass viewing wall on one side, except it looked more like the lounge area than anywhere important.

There was only one, single person up here.

A tall, towering, muscled man in a suit of neon yellow armor. He wasn't wearing a helmet. His face was that of a remarkably...normal-looking man's. He was maybe mid or late thirties, with combed back brown hair and blue eyes. He was standing in front of the window, his hands behind his back. But on Kairi's arrival, he turned around, giving a little sigh and-

Stopping.

He stared at her, tilting his head as a baffled look came to his face. "Who...are you now? You're not someone familiar to me..."

"Are you Clu?" Kairi demanded.

The man nodded. "Yeah...and you are?"

"I'm Kairi - a User. And I'm here to stop you - all of this. Ruling this world, hurting people, oppressing them and lying to them-"

"Another User?" Clu interjected, stepping forward with a heavy footfall. "Interesting. And how did you come to be inside the Grid?"

"It doesn't matter - not to you," Kairi responded fiercely. "I'm taking you down, right here, right now."

Clu smiled, gave a single chuckle. "Are you now. I am the most powerful Program in this system. I have an army at my beck and call. And - well - him." He gestured a hand casually.

Kairi whirled around, seeing Rinzler striding up the ramp to the upper floor.

"Your reasoning was flawed, User. You never had a chance at defeating me," Clu stated. "But I am intrigued by what you can do - how you came here. Especially with that weapon of yours. It's unlike anything I've seen in my time, and that's saying something, let me tell you. Rinzler: put on a good show for me, would you? But try not to derezz her - not just yet."

Kairi huffed, glaring at the armored man as he withdrew his twin energy discs, falling into his battle stance. Kairi took hers, gripping her weapon tighter.

"What happened to Cyl and Bitz?" Kairi called out.

Rinzler said nothing - simply staring at her with that shiny black visor.

Kairi threw out a hand with a cry, sending out triple Fira blasts. They swirled around each other and then separated, arcing outward before coming back in again for Rinzler. It wasn't the best she could have ever done - but after all the fighting just to get here, she was running worryingly low on magical reserves, honestly.

Rinzler threw himself into a high backflip - but the fireballs pursued him, accelerating. Rinzler raised a disc and slashed at one; it burst, and flames ran down his arm, burning away armor and revealing a glowing blue patch of...sinewy, connected strands of- of matter or something. His very insides? The inside of a "Program"? Rinzler flipped his discs in his hands, holding them with the faces horizontal. He threw one for the second fireball, then the other, for the third. The magic blasts struck and enveloped the discs - exploding in the air harmlessly.

Rinzler landed hard on the ground again, on bent knees. He looked up at the air - to see his discs break apart and fall to the ground, dematerializing.

"Hm..." Clu said, in a curious tone. He took casual steps off to the left, disappearing behind a short wall, then stepped back out again holding a black baton. He tossed it out at Rinzler - who caught it easily. The baton extended on both sides into a glowing, double-ended staff. With that done, Clu went and sat himself down on a chair, leisurely and relaxed, an arm resting on a knee. Like was watching a sports game.

Rinzler held the staff before him. Then he began to twirl it around his body, intricately and in a blur of motion and neon orange. He stopped abruptly, looking to Kairi.

"Not impressed," Kairi retorted to the silent challenge. "And I wasn't impressed by your little discs, either; I can do that too, you know!" She held her Keyblade up, focusing, and then split it apart into her twin hand fans, adopting a new combat stance.

Rinzler gave a low growl, his head tilting at the sight of her new weapons. Then he burst into motion, running at her, spinning his staff in front of him.

Kairi blocked and redirected, twirling around the man. She kicked him in the ribs, sending him stumbling. His whole body language read as surprised, in that moment, as he readjusted himself and faced her again.

He came at her again-

Kairi stepped back and swiped a fan, sending out a glowing green cyclone of wind magic. Another big hit to her magic reserves. It struck Rinzler, taking him up off his feet.

Rinzler spun around and around in the air as the cyclone carried him...and then it tossed him out, sending him flipping through the air to land on his side on the ground. He immediately twisted his body and flipped upright again, gazing at Kairi.

The man approached, this time, more slowly. Cautiously.

Kairi just waited for him, watching him, holding her fans before her.

Rinzler came at her with a high, jumping slash down. Kairi blocked and stepped back, then folded her other fan and thrust the stick forward, covering it in ice magic; the tip touched Rinzler's chest, and magic ice began to spread out across it, over his shoulders and arms. Rinzler disengaged, staring down at himself. He tried to move his upper body experimentally-

Kairi reverted her fans and leapt forward, slashing her Keyblade for the man instantly.

Rinzler avoided her attack by leaping back, just out of her range. He angled his staff inward and smacked it to his chest, holding it there. A hissing sound echoed, and the ice melted away and fell apart. He flexed his arms, shattering the rest. Freeing himself. Then he threw himself at her with a fury.

Kairi blocked his blow, then dodged as he came at her with the other end in an upward swing! He twirled and kicked her hard in the chest, sending her flying back. He pursued her, coming down with a great slash. Kairi rolled out of the way and kicked him in the ribs, staggering him. She was able to get to her feet again-

And then a heavy, powerful blow struck her in the back of the head.

Kairi flew forward, slamming down on her face, her Keyblade slipping from her grasp!

A heavy, hard boot kicked her in the sides, sending her flipping up into the air - and crashing back down again on her backside.

She stared up at the face of Clu...

He stepped back, and Rinzler took his place, slamming a boot down onto her midsection. The glowing end of Rinzler's staff was shoved in Kairi's face.

Clu had intervened...because she could have won, she realized vaguely. She could have beaten Rinzler - and then, maybe even beaten Clu himself...

Kairi's thoughts were interrupted by sudden, slow, heavy footsteps. She turned her head toward the ramp, and saw...someone she didn't recognize come striding up into view. Or, she did, but-

He looked like Clu, but...older, grey-bearded. Wearing black clothes and a hooded coat.

"Flynn!" Clu called out, giving a beaming smile that read as completely fake. He stepped forward, chuckling and spreading his arms (Kairi was completely forgotten now). "Good of you to join the party - but, where's your son? And the last ISO?"

The man, Flynn, stepped into the room, then stopped. He took in the sight of Rinzler, and Kairi. He looked confused and alarmed.

Clu noticed. His arms fell to his sides. "I can't believe that not only did you send me your son, but another User, too! And one with such remarkable abilities. And that fascinating weapon...I'd be interested to crack that code - figure out how it works." Putting word to actions, he stepped over to Kairi's Keyblade, and bent down and picked it up. He stared it over, up and down-

Kairi's weapon vanished in a flash, and reappeared in her grasp. Rinzler's gaze dropped to her in shock, then he shoved his staff under her chin, inches from her flesh.

Kairi wanted to just take a swing at the man, but- she also didn't want to move and get an energy staff shoved up into her skull...

And, she wasn't just magically running on empty, now. She was flat out tired, too...more tired than she'd realized. Damn you...stamina...

Flynn looked at Kairi in surprise (while Clu was staring at his own hand, curling his fingers with fascination). "You're human?"

Kairi gave a pained nod. "Y-yeah. Are you?"

Flynn nodded back. "Yeah..." he said, drawing the word out. "How did you end up-"

"It's a really, really long story..." Kairi wheezed out. "I don't feel like telling it at just this moment."

"Alright: fair enough." Flynn nodded. He raised his eyes to Rinzler, and his expression changed. Twisted into one of sorrow, grief. "Oh, Tron, what have you become..." he whispered.

"Wait- Tron?" Kairi gasped. "I thought he destroyed Tron?"

"He did," Flynn stated. "The moment he ceased to be the good man I knew, and became this...monster." His eyes narrowed at Clu as he took slow steps forward now. "I'd thought you killed him that day - but you didn't, did you? You repurposed him, corrupted him. Turned him against his friends, his allies. Everything he once stood for. Reduced him to this...I don't even know what this is."

"He serves a purpose again," Clu replied, dropping his hand to his side, suddenly focused again. Focused only on Flynn now. "He's protecting the Grid again - like he always has."

"This isn't protecting anything; this is death, and destruction," Flynn retorted. "It's oppression and injustice. Tron used to stand for peace, and freedom. Liberation." He paused, reaching up behind his back - and withdrawing a glowing blue disc. "And he can again - with this."

Clu cocked his head, frowning. "What is that...?"

"Tron's backup data," Flynn answered. "The core of his program - his memories - everything of the good man he used to be. I could always count on you to be methodical, couldn't I?"

Clu raised a hand - a finger - then he laughed, pointing at Flynn like it was the most hilarious joke. "Oh, man, I knew it! I knew that one would come back to bite me somehow! Great job, man!" His laughter vanished in an instant, all the humor suddenly just disappearing, replaced by a face of neutrality. "But, seriously, what do you think you're going to do here, Flynn? Just restore Rinzler to the way he was before? You? You're a lot of things, Flynn, but a fighter you are not. Rinzler will rip you apart."

"Yes," Flynn said, quiet and certain. "Even if it's the last thing I do today, I'm getting this disc onto that slot on his back - and I'm bringing back the good man, the friend, I once knew."

"And when you fail?" Clu said. "What then? What will happen to Sam, and that ISO? I'll be free to hunt them down at my leisure. So will Rinzler. And this time, we won't be taking any prisoners."

Flynn smirked at the other man. "Right, Sam and Quorra. They're probably already at the Portal by now - gone back to the real world. Any moment now, you'll be wiped from the face of this system with a keystroke."

Clu looked alarmed for a moment - but then he relaxed. He took an exaggerated look around, raising an arm. Then he laughed. "Hm. Well, until that happy time comes, I think I'm going to call your bluff, Flynn. Rinzler: destroy your old pal for me, why don't you."

Rinzler whipped his head up to look at Flynn. He stepped off of Kairi, retracting his weapon from her face. He strode past her, toward Flynn, his staff at his side...

Kairi stared past him, at Flynn. "Disc..." she mouthed, inching an arm across the floor and turning her palm up at him. She clenched her fingers, showing three.

Flynn gazed into her eyes, making no motion or sign that he understood her, or was on board with things.

Kairi had to take the chance anyways.

She counted her fingers down.

Three...

Two...

One.

Curaga! she screamed in her mind.

The healing magic roared through her body, restoring it instantly.

She leapt to her feet and raised her hand, while she shoved her other one forward, palm out.

Flynn cocked his arm back and hurled the disc high and fast.

Rinzler tracked its path, then spun around and ran at Kairi in an instant, his staff spinning angrily, singing through the air.

"Stop!" Kairi yelled out.

Rinzler didn't stop, of course.

She hadn't been telling him to.

Blue light flared in her palm, a wave of transparent energy rippling out in front of her, washing over Rinzler's body - draining the last of her magical reserves to nothing.

Rinzler froze, mid-stride - mid-weapon-raised-to-be slashed-into-her-neck.

Kairi caught the disc and lunged forward, twisted around Rinzler's body, raised the disc, and then slammed it into the circular slot on the back of his black suit.

The disc changed from blue to burning orange. It swirled and flickered, then faded to blackness completely. Then...it flared back to life, and the orange light morphed into a blue color again. As did the other lights on the man's suit and helmet.

"NO!" Clu roared in rage, lunging for Kairi.

Flynn moved in that moment, stepping forward and spreading his arms, a look of focus on his face.

A white light and energy rippled across the floor in a wave, erupting from his body and washing over Kairi, Tron, and Clu.

It was hot and powerful - a gusting wind.

Clu snarled and stared with wide eyes. He leaned back, then turned away, straining and groaning - as if fighting some invisible force or power. Then, slowly, he began to slide backwards across the floor, toward Flynn, as his body glowed orange, and began to flake apart, the pieces flowing backwards...straight into Flynn?

Kairi stared at the scene in shock.

"Get out of here, kid!" Flynn spoke to her, in strained tones. "Take Tron...and go! It's gonna be...one hell of an explosion!"

Kairi gazed at the man, panic and fear and sorrow filling her Heart. She looked to Rinzler- Tron, who was still just...standing there, frozen by her power, of course.

"GO!" Flynn insisted, louder, more sternly.

Kairi remained rooted for a moment more - and then she moved. She decided.

She seized Tron's arm and hauled him toward the glass window of the bridge. She raised her Keyblade and lashed out for it with a yell, causing a streak of energy to tear across it. A moment later, the glass exploded and crumbled away. Kairi took one last look back - and then she lifted off her feet in a hover, and flew out of the ship, straining to not drop the man with both hands.

She was barely keeping herself up, barely holding onto him, without magic or anything to help...

She flew out across the outer hull of the ship, dipping down and trying to put distance between her and the tower. Faster than she'd ever flown before, she thought. She really didn't know how big this supposed explosion was going to-

BOOM!

A massive white light erupted behind her, along with a wave of force and power that blew her out of the sky, sending her spiraling down to slam onto the ship's exterior.

She let go of Tron, bouncing and rolling away.

She lifted her head, seeing a huge white light and tendrils of energy stretching out in all directions...where the tower had once been.

A good portion of the middle of the ship looked eaten away at, too, by that energy. The ceiling, the curved walls. Edges were burned, revealing the huge hangar below...

Kairi gasped with pain and exhaustion, looking around for Tron...

He was laying a good distance away from her, flat on his back.

He was still in his frozen pose.

Kairi wondered how she was even going to get down from here, with Tron. She wondered whether Cyl and Bitz were okay. She...

Suddenly, the whole warship rocked beneath her, and a sputtering noise was heard.

The lights on the ship's hull dimmed, flickered, and then died completely.

And then the ship slowly began to careen forward, and down.

"No...no, no, no, NO!" Kairi breathed, straining to push herself to her feet again, one last time. "Come...on! COME ON! Beatrice!"

A huge puff of smoke, and Beatrice appeared to hover in front of her.

"Beatrice, we have to get out of here before it goes down - with us on it!" Kairi rushed out, stumbling forward.

Beatrice lowered herself down, turning, showing her back off to Kairi. Kairi did her best to grab and climb up, reaching the top of her head. She wrapped her arms around the horn. She looked to Tron, pointing. "Get him, too!"

Beatrice fluttered over to Tron's frozen form, then screeched out, sending rippling rings of purple energy at him. They washed over him, and then he was shrouded in a purple aura, and lifted up into the air. Tron flew in toward Beatrice, who crossed her arms to hug him to her chest.

"Yes - thank you! Now we have to get out of here. Down to the streets..."

Even as Kairi spoke, the ship began to plummet, faster and faster, falling away beneath her!

Fear and sadness threatened to overwhelm her, as she imagined Cyl and Bitz trapped inside, helpless, falling with it...

She closed her eyes and hugged Beatrice's horn, her throat clenched.

Soon, they were on the ground again.

Beatrice swooped down to an empty intersection, and let Tron down gently.

Kairi slid down off her back, onto her shaking feet again.

She looked at Tron, then up at the falling warship.

It disappeared from sight, beyond the tall towers.

Several tense, silent moments passed-

And then she heard a world-shaking crash, and saw a blue light flare in the distance, shining down the streets.

Kairi turned and stumbled to Tron, falling to her knees beside him.

She stared down at him, wondering if Flynn's disc backup had even worked...

What if he woke up and was still Rinzler? He'd destroy her, no contest, now...

As Kairi watched the man, she saw the blue light flare, and his arms and legs fell back onto the ground. He was free now.

The man turned his head, staring at her with that faceless, reflective visor. He slowly sat up, like a rising specter.

"Please tell me you're Tron, not Rinzler..." Kairi sighed. "But if you are still Rinzler, just...just do it. I won't be able to fight, or get away this time..."

The man tilted his head at her. A low, short growling noise emerged...and then-

"I fight for the Users," came that distorted voice, in a markedly different tone from before.

It wasn't menacing, or dangerous. It was determined, resolved. It was...

"What...is your name?" Kairi asked quietly.

"My name...is Tron."

Kairi sighed the biggest sigh she'd ever sighed in all her life. She fell back onto the ground, laughing loudly.

"What's wrong, User?"

"It's...it's Kairi. And I'm just- so, so relieved you're not going to kill me."

Tron looked at her. Then, down at the active staff weapon still in his grasp. It wasn't orange anymore, Kairi suddenly noticed: it had turned blue. Next moment, the staff retracted into itself, and Tron seemed to magnetically attach it to his leg.

The man looked back at her again. "Kairi...you are a friend of Flynn's?"

"No, I- I didn't know him," Kairi stammered. "But...he seemed like a good man. He- he sacrificed himself...for me. For you. Both of us."

"Yes..." that distorted voice came again. "Flynn was good."

"Listen - Tron - I-"

"What is that Program?" Tron spoke, his head tilting back. His gaze going to Beatrice, clearly.

"Uh - that's Beatrice. She's not a- Program. She's a...sort of a pet. That I created. It's- a long story."

"A User-created Program, made to assist."

"No- well- sure," Kairi sighed, smiling. "If that's the easiest way for you to understand it."

"I've seen nothing like her before," Tron went on. "You are a User, but different from Flynn. Your creations are different from his."

"Yeah, I guess they are. I couldn't have...even imagined a world like this one. Your Grid. It's amazing. A little dark and stormy, but...amazing."

"Flynn wanted this system to have a weather cycle, mirroring the User world," Tron stated. "He wanted us...to experience existence as Users do."

"That's really-"

Suddenly a wooshing noise was heard, and a high droning sound.

An orange neon ship with wings came swooping down the street.

Tron leapt up, stepping in front of Kairi and falling into that familiar battle stance, his weapons ready.

The ship set down - a little elevator platform came down from its underbelly - and Cyl and Bitz came stepping out.

Kairi groaned, climbing to her feet with all she had left. "Nobody- fight each other! He's not- Rinzler anymore- he's Tron! Flynn - I saw him - backup disc...put him back to normal."

Cyl and Bitz froze, staring at her. Then at Tron.

"He's Tron...?" Bitz rasped.

"He is," Kairi said firmly. "He was- repurposed? Changed. Corrupted. But he's back to being himself again, thanks to Flynn."

"You saw the Creator? Where is he? What happened?" Cyl asked.

"He...sacrificed himself...for me and Tron. To save us. I think- him and Clu both- they're gone now," Kairi whispered.

Cyl looked distraught. She looked at the ground, putting her hands together at her waist. "The Creator gave his life...for us...?"

"For him?" Bitz said, looking at Tron still.

"Yes. For Tron," Kairi confirmed.

"He's really him?" Bitz pressed.

"I am," Tron spoke for himself, simple, quiet. He hesitated, his gaze moving between Bitz and Cyl. "I wasn't myself. I...I'm sorry for the damage I caused you. All of you. I couldn't...stop myself..."

Bitz's face changed. She gave a thin smile, and a nod. "Apology accepted."

"Cyl?" Kairi said hesitantly, eyeing the green-haired woman.

Cyl looked up, her face still swimming in sadness. She sighed, shaking her head. "If you are Tron...it's good to have you back. You were our hero."

"I was..." Tron agreed, a note of sadness to his distorted, flanging voice. "With Clu gone, I would like to be again. To stand for what I used to - peace and freedom. To restore the system to what it once was, to what Flynn envisioned it could be...for all of us."

"That's going to take a lot of work," Cyl said. "From everyone."

"I-" Kairi began to speak.

But a light in the sky stopped her. A familiar Keyhole appeared above them, the air shattering, lights ringing the golden keyhole.

"What is that?" Bitz exclaimed, staring.

"It's just- my way out of here!" Kairi said quickly, raising a hand.

"A Portal?" Cyl said. "To the User world?"

"To another world, yes," Kairi hedged, sighing. "It means I have to go. These don't exactly stay open forever, I don't think..."

"Go, Kairi," Tron said, in a surprisingly gentle tone for that same, distorted voice. "Return to the User World. We will be fine here."

Kairi stared at the masked man. She looked at Cyl, at Bitz...

"I'll find a way to come back for a visit sometime," she said firmly. She meant it, with all her Heart.

She would.

She'd find this world again, sleeping or not.

"We'd welcome that," Cyl said warmly.

"Definitely," Bitz agreed.

Kairi nodded. She hesitated, then gave Tron a pat on the arm before turning away, summoning and raising her Keyblade to the sky...

As light enveloped her, she heard Tron's voice again.

"Thank you."

Chapter 17: Going Somewhere

Notes:

Skipped a day so I could take a little weekend Sunday break lol. xD I do have some new games to play, too! :D But in general lol I do not guarantee daily uploads will continue to be a thing. xD Might still get down to every other day, or two or three days. That's more normal of a pace right?!

Vanitas materialized out of shadows in the dim, abandoned lower levels of the massive, sprawling building.

Monsters Inc.

He strode down the hallway, punching open an old, metal door into a large, dusty storage room.

The room was filled, floor to ceiling, with metal racks. And overflowing on all those metal racks were long, yellow canisters.

His Unversed had scoped it out for him first - and when they'd given him just a taste of what this place had to offer...

It was like this whole world was made just for him! It was exactly what he needed, ready and waiting. And, better: it was discrete. He could stay under the radar, while still taking everything he needed.

He strode over to a shelf and pulled one of the canisters down, holding it up before him. He grinned behind his mask.

All this abundant, potent, powerful negative emotion...harvested from those who had the most powerful emotions: children.

Human children.

Terror, panic, screams and sadness...

However the people of this world were able to actually take and store emotions...he could admit it was a bit of a marvel. He was impressed with it.

And pleased.

Because it was all his now.

He used tendrils of darkness to pierce and rip off the end of the canister, and the screams and feelings flowed into his weakened form in a rush of energy and power.

He was going to be back - and better than before! He was going to take more, and more, and more, and then he was going to- to-

Well...he'd figure that out when he came to it.

For now, he was going to gorge himself.

---

As Natsumi, in her natural canine form, leapt and raced across the desert landscape, Aqua let her cloak's hood fall back, allowing the air to whip at her hair and face. The better to cool herself down.

Aqua had used Water magic a few times over the last two days in this new region - liberally, in fact - but she was wary of overdoing it and being caught with less than optimal levels of magical reserves by any unknown enemies or creatures here.

Without her Keyblade, magic was all she had to defend herself with. It had to be used much more carefully and sparingly now, more than ever before.

Natsumi soon began to slow, from great leaps and gallops, to a lighter run, to a simple walk.

Then, she stopped entirely, in a tall, narrow crevice in front of a large mountain, the side of which was littered with large boulders.

Natsumi could run at top speed for several hours - but even magically powerful beings like those of her kind got tired eventually, and needed rest.

Aqua leapt off onto solid ground again, brushing at herself. At least this area was shady, she thought.

In a burst of flames, Natsumi assumed her human form. She sighed, running her hands through her already perfect, shining black hair. She looked to Aqua with a smile. "Could I trouble you for some water on this burning day?"

Aqua nodded, smiling back. "Of course." She raised a hand, turning, and used a small exertion of earth magic to carve out a rough bowl in the dusty ground. It wasn't her best or favored element - that was always Terra's - but she wasn't hopeless at it. What she was best at was water magic. Which she used next, creating a large, swirling sphere, that she directed over to fill in the bowl with sparkling, cold water.

Most magicks could be invaluable in survival situations - primarily fire and water. Fire, for warmth and safety, and water, for being, well, the essential drink of most life in all the worlds. Obviously.

Though, Aqua had never had to use them this way before. For real, practical, simple survival...

After all, as long as a Keyblade wielder had their Keyblade, they were never truly stranded anywhere.

Unless they found themselves in the Realm of Darkness, of course...

Aqua shook her head, clearing it of the sudden surge of dark memories, and the rise of emotions in her Heart that came with them. Fear, loneliness, desperation, all over again, like she was back there and-

No! Stop it! You're free, you're safe, you're in the Realm of Light again. And you're never going to end up back in that place again!

But, then, that was also what she'd told herself after leaving her homeworld behind...and look at her now.

She'd come back to it willingly.

And now she was stuck here. Trapped. Again...

And if anyone ever saw her face, and recognized her...she'd never get a moment of peace here, for the rest of her life.

A woosh of flames snapped Aqua out of her thoughts. Natsumi was in her true form again - drinking at the water like an ordinary dog.

Aqua almost laughed at the sight. She turned away quickly, holding her fingers to her lips.

After a minute or two, Natsumi changed again - to human form. She wiped at her lips, turning to Aqua with a smile. "I'm glad I can bring some amusement to your life."

"Sorry..." Aqua uttered, blushing.

Natsumi strode away, heading further into the crevice. She looked up through the narrow gap above, where dust and dirt fell down upon them from over the cliff ledges. Her red eyes swept up the face of the mountain ahead. "I would hope you don't think I can scale this mountain," she spoke. "Even without you sitting on my back, it would be far too dangerous for me to attempt."

"That's fine," Aqua said. "We'll just have to go around it."

Natsumi glanced at her, tilting her head to the side and flashing another smile. "That would make our journey longer than it already is."

Aqua gave a small shrug, and a smile of her own. "It's already going to be such a long one that I don't think a few more hours - or even days, if we have to - is going to make much of a difference."

"What a nice outlook." Natsumi came striding back to her, standing before her with hand on hip. "One we share, thankfully."

Aqua nodded. She hesitated, eyeing the other woman. "Would you like to take a break here - for a little while? You've been doing all the work, this past week, and I feel more than a little terrible about it," she spoke - confessed.

Natsumi gave Aqua an incredibly soft look. Her red eyes glistened. "That's so sweet of you, Miss Aqua! You know, I think I will, thank you." She paused, then went on with, "We might be able to rest and get a fire going out here, but I think food is going to be more of an issue in the coming days."

"There's probably something around," Aqua said.

Natsumi gave a soft laugh. "I haven't seen too many somethings the last few days - have you?"

"We've passed plenty of- trees- and- plants," Aqua argued still. "Some of them have to be...safe enough to eat."

"Or they could be so coated in poison that the second they meet our fingers, we'll already be dead," Natsumi said, in a humorous tone. "But if you're willing to take the risk..."

"Do we have any other choice?" Aqua said, frowning now.

Natsumi sighed, nodding. "True. I suppose we don't, do we? This is turning out to be more fun than I'd thought."

"Fun?"

"It really is an adventure," Natsumi stated lightly.

"It's not-" Aqua started, annoyed now. But she stopped herself. She sighed. "Getting to where I want to go...this is important to me."

Natsumi's amusement faded. She adopted a serious look. "I understand that, of course - but why can't we have a little fun along the way? If you're so focused on the destination, you miss out on the journey, yes?"

"Yes, but..." Aqua sighed again. She turned away, going to lean against the cool, smooth rock wall. She set her arm against it, resting her forehead to her sleeve. She breathed in - breathed out. At least mindfulness training and breathing exercises could still be good for something, even if she wasn't a Keyblade wielder anymore. She pushed off from the wall and turned back to Natsumi. She gazed at the woman...

Natsumi raised her eyebrow at her silently.

Aqua slowly moved her hand at her side, swirling with water magic...and then she sent a small stream of it at Natsumi.

Natsumi blinked at her, genuinely surprised, as her hand rose to her face with a sputter. She stared at Aqua, her mouth open. Then, a wide grin came to her face, as laughter echoed in the crevice. "Well done; I wasn't sure you had it in you!"

Aqua laughed too, smiling at the woman. Relieved that such a bone-headed move had actually gone over well.

"Of course, now it's my turn," Natsumi went on.

Aqua tensed, eyeing the woman closely.

"Oh, you can relax," Natsumi said, waving a hand. "We kitsune don't take our revenge immediately - that will come later."

"Somehow that's not reassuring," Aqua murmured.

Natsumi swept over to Aqua, gazing into her face. She raised her dripping wet hand - and flicked her fingers, sending water droplets into Aqua's face. "There. How about that? You can relax now, honestly..." she cooed, spinning away and touching her fingers to her own cheek.

Aqua wiped at her face, rubbed at her eyes. "I'm going to trust you on that," she said, staring at the woman's back.

Natsumi looked at her over a shoulder, a soft smile stealing over her lips. "So you trust me now?"

Aqua gazed into those red eyes. She nodded. "Yes."

"Well then, trust me when I say I might know of a faster way of getting past this mountain than just going around it," Natsumi stated.

"What way? I thought you hadn't been to this region before?" Aqua said.

Natsumi giggled. She shook her head furiously, turning and throwing out an arm toward the mountain's face. "Simple observation, Miss Aqua. Look there, near the base, a little to the right: there's a tunnel that looks man-made. And man-made tunnels usually go all the way through."

Aqua looked, peering closely at the mountain, roaming the side of it. She took a few moments...and then she saw it. She glanced at Natsumi, blushing very hard now. "Oh...I- I didn't see it. I'm sorry!"

"It's alright; I know your eyes aren't as keen as mine," Natsumi said easily. "Few being's are, when they're up against kitsune."

"If you think that could be a faster route for us, then we'll take it," Aqua said. "It would keep us out of the sun," she added thoughtfully.

"Then it's decided. After we've taken our little break, we'll head up there and take a look inside."

Aqua smiled. Then, she found an inexplicable laugh escaping her.

Natsumi cocked her head. "Is something funny?"

"Oh, no! It's just-" Aqua stopped. Her mind flashed through the endless wanderings, in endless darkness. "I guess going somewhere...is better than going nowhere. So let's just...see where it goes."

Did it matter, if it ended in failure or not? If it brought her closer to Scarlet or not?

Here, in the Realm of Light, where time and space mattered again, she could be sure that every step would at least bring her somewhere.

And that everywhere she went would be infinitely more interesting than anything she'd ever seen in the Realm of Darkness.

Chapter 18: What Lies Within

Notes:

OMG a new chapter! And on the same day! I am setting unrealistic expectations lol, my bad. xD It'll probably peter out soon enough, just you wait... :D I really wanted to get to this particular chapter though. I mean I know I probably say that about a lot of chapters lol, but I mean it. xD I'm just sooo excited I can finally get into some of this long awaited stuff! :) It was a long road, with some long setups, but we are here!

Aqua entered the mountain tunnel ahead of Natsumi (even if the latter woman was the one with a weapon).

Keyblade Master instincts died hard, apparently. Or were they just Aqua instincts...?

It was so hard to tell where the woman she'd made herself to be ended, and the woman she really was underneath it all began...

She sent an orb of light out ahead of them, lighting up the darkness as they went further in.

It was definitely a man-made tunnel. Wooden beams framed the sides, and spanned the ceiling. A mine shaft?

They walked deeper in, minutes passing in silence, until they'd left the mouth of the tunnel behind - and its light.

Now there was just this darkness on the edge of vision, ahead and behind, as they walked on. Forever forward...

Until it changed.

The passage opened up, suddenly, into a large, open cavern. A vast chamber, with several more tunnel entrances on the far side, leading off in different directions. The walls of the cavern glistened with minerals and strange rocks. Aqua spied large, green crystals growing out of stalagmites on the dry, cracked cave floor.

Natsumi eyed the crystals as well, a smile on her lips. "Oh, how beautiful."

"They're lovely," Aqua agreed, quiet.

"And they're not YOURS!" a low voice suddenly echoed out across the cavern.

Aqua turned, looking all around her for the source - but it was impossible to even try to pinpoint it. Not with ears or eyes alone. She took a breath, honing her senses - and she turned and looked up to the ceiling, in time to see a glistening shape move in the dark.

Aqua tracked the shape now, as it moved at a startling speed across the high ceiling, darted down over one of the walls...and came to a dead stop. She raised her hand, directing her light toward it, flaring it brighter, lighting up the cavern more fully. She stepped back with a gasp, clenching her jaw as her body tensed.

A large and lengthy, milky white creature was hanging from the wall - long and segmented, like some sort of insect, with a hard shell. There were a dozen or more pale, skinny legs and feet beneath them: startlingly human-looking legs and feet. The toes ended in long, sharp claws. Rising from their backside, spread out down the entire length of their body, were skeletal, white human arms, with hands that ended in claws, the same as the feet. These arms were several times the length of any natural human limb, however. They swayed in the air, like hair in the wind.

The creature lifted the front half of their body from the wall, and a head and face came into view. White. Taut. Skeletal, like the arms and legs. But where the mouth and nose might have been, there was only skin. Furrowed, almost like it was burned, or scarred. They did have eyes, though: eyes that were several times bigger than a human's - almost too big for the face they were resting on. These eyes were pitch black, sclera and iris all - the pupils were tiny, swirling white spirals, constantly in motion, looping forever...

Natsumi stepped forward, looking entirely unfazed - except for the hand that went to her hip. The hip holding her sheathed sword, of course. "We apologize for the intrusion - we didn't know this cave was already taken," she spoke, calm and smooth, in that voice of hers.

Those huge, strange eyes moved to Natsumi - then, to Aqua. "Why should I trust the words of humans?" the voice came again, impossibly, without a mouth. "The last ones to wander through came back with dozens more...all in an attempt to kill me, and steal away what's mine..."

"I am not a human," Natsumi spoke easily. "I'm a kitsune, in fact."

"Show me," the being demanded, instantly.

Natsumi obliged them, in a sudden roar of burning flames around her, becoming her true self again. She took a great step forward, her large, red canine eyes boring into the other being's.

"And her?" the being said in response, looking to Aqua once more.

"We're really sorry," Aqua spoke quickly. "We were just looking for a way forward, and we thought this might be a quicker way. But we were clearly mistaken; we'll leave without troubling you, and be on our way."

The being hummed-

Then they suddenly rushed forward in a blur, down the wall, across the ground - stopping directly in front of Aqua. Several of those long, thin white arms shot forward, fingers curved - claws hovering all around Aqua's form.

Aqua clenched her fists, staring at those hands. She looked into the face of the being before her - into those spinning eyes...

Natsumi turned her head with a snapping of teeth, and a deep growl. She slinked forward and around Aqua, her eyes on the being now as well. Singularly focused, and brimming with a fire. Her nine tails swished behind her as a whole.

"Well..." the being said, in a soft, almost whispering tone. "the last humans who came into my home did their best to kill me on sight. You're either too scared to try the same, or...well, you are with a kitsune...that speaks volumes, these days, doesn't it...?"

Natsumi came up on Aqua's left, dwarfing her with her hulking size and hanging fur, which couldn't conceal the power and muscles in her great body.

"Kitsune are tricky to fight on the best of days - and almost impossible to kill," the being went on, more to themself than to Aqua or Natsumi. "Your heart needs to be completely removed and destroyed - or your head removed from its body. Even I know I'd more than likely lose against one of you. And I wouldn't throw away my life to get at one little human woman, no...especially not one who doesn't seem like much of a threat to me."

The being slowly backed away from Aqua, withdrawing those arms as well.

"I'm not a threat," Aqua said firmly. "I don't mean anyone harm."

"Then you can prove it to me, human," spoke the being. "I'll let you pass through my home, on account of the kitsune - but you'd best stay by her side. And if I see so much as a single finger of yours touching one of my precious crystals...I'll show you why I am still here, and a small army of humans - mages among them - are not."

Aqua gazed into the being's face. "I understand. You have my word."

"We'll see what that's worth..." came the response.

Aqua turned to look to Natsumi - up at her large, canine face.

Natsumi tilted her head down, looking back at her. She gave a very human nod, before turning and starting off toward the other side of the chamber. Her powerful, large form should have made heavy, lumbering footsteps to shake the cave - but in fact she barely made a sound, moving with grace and lightness.

Aqua followed after her, doing her best to stay right beside her.

As she walked, her Heart was troubled by the encounter. Not for reasons of primal, bigoted fears or anything like that - but because of what it said about this world. What Natsumi had spoken of, briefly, before...

This world really could use a Keyblade wielder...

Or...maybe...something else?

---

Xehanort - the one stuck out of time - stretched his arms and swung himself up in the bed.

He dressed himself in these plain clothes: a simple, grey top, with long sleeves and a loose collar. A simple pair of black pants, and black boots to match them.

He moved across the small room, to the mirror. He gazed at himself. Silver eyes and hair. He took up a brush and began styling his hair how he liked it, then strode from the room.

He stalked through the hallway, emerging into the light of the living room. He sighed as he heard the sounds from the kitchen. He shook his head and entered it.

And, yes, there she was again.

Amaya - standing there - cooking.

So careless, but so focused.

Well, she certainly had reason to be: her powers vastly eclipsed his own - and he also lacked any of his powers now. Keyblade included. He was as weak and helpless as anyone could be. A fact he still hadn't gotten used to these last few days - and probably never would.

"You're wasting time - and food," Xehanort spoke up, making his way to fall into a chair, laying an arm on the table's surface casually. "I told you: I don't need it."

Amaya turned to look at him slowly, casually, over a shoulder. Unsurprised at his presence. At his sudden voice. Or, if she was, she hid it so well even Xehanort couldn't have sensed it with his abilities. She gave a simple, small smile, a humorous glint to her brown eyes. "You're going to need it again in just a few days; you need to get into the habit again, don't you, child?"

"I am not a child, I am twenty years old, and I-"

"Oh, Xehanort, you are still very much a child - especially in my eyes," she interrupted him, with a laugh.

That laughter sent a thrill through his body - a flash of old memories. He found he couldn't be too irritated with her now, really... He sighed, looking away, out the nearest window, saying nothing in response. The morning sun streamed in, casting down on the glistening street outside. The rows of ordinary houses, with ordinary people in them...living daily, boring little lives...

"It's good you woke so early today," the woman spoke again. "I was going to wake you, myself, soon."

"Why is that?" Xehanort said, curious now.

"We're going on a little trip together, you and I - to another world," Amaya went on, every word so clear and slow, yet easy and light.

"Hm? Why?" Xehanort looked at her in honest surprise. He'd thought he would be confined to this little house, on this plain, ordinary little world, for the rest of his days, really. That to take him to other worlds would be to open up certain risks. Risks that she...that the rest of them...wouldn't want to take.

Amaya gave a stir of a pot, then fully turned around to face him - looking him directly in the eyes. "Because you've refused my last two offers to go out to the park, and because it's important for you."

"How is this trip of ours going to be 'important' to me?" Xehanort asked, confused. And more curious than ever...

"You'll see," Amaya said, turning away and going back to her cooking.

Xehanort scowled at her back, shaking his head. He sat back in the chair, putting his hands behind his head, turning his gaze to the plain white, painted ceiling.

What an irritatingly cryptic response. Really, she could simply say things plainly...

He let his mind wander as the smells and sounds filled his senses.

Minutes later, and the woman was sitting before him, pushing a plate at him.

He sat up straight, staring down at its contents. He looked at her - at that face that was just...watching him. He dropped his gaze with a sigh, took up the fork, and began to eat. He supposed she had a valid point, after all. And...

It did taste exceptionally good.

He couldn't recall the last time he'd ever eaten anything like it. Or enjoyed eating it...

But he savored it now, uncaring of the woman's ever-present gaze.

Almost immediately after he'd finished, she took the plate from him and went to dump it into the sink. Then she came back to stand in front of him.

He turned, looking up at her.

She reached a hand out, briefly grasping his shoulder.

"What?" he said, tensing at her grip, brief as it was.

"Stand up - come on," she stated simply.

Xehanort huffed, obeying.

He followed her into the living room - then stopped, staring as she moved from one window to the next, closing the heavy, blue curtains. The room was plunged into a considerable darkness, without the lights on. He could have believed it was honestly nighttime, now...

"What is this for?" he asked casually.

"For this."

Amaya summoned her Keyblade in a flash of light, lighting up the room. Then she raised it out - and a portal of swirling blue light appeared in the middle of the room.

Xehanort eyed the portal. He eyed her. Whatever this was, she wasn't going to hurt him. She never had (not physically, at least; she had certainly given him a most terrible pain in his Heart before). Though, he knew now that that had not been by her choice or intention...but an unfortunate side effect of a profound attempt to do the opposite for him...

Xehanort shook his head, then raised it high and strode into the portal with as much dignity as he could have now.

She followed close behind him, her weapon vanishing again.

Xehanort strode out the other side of the portal, taking in his new surroundings with some interest.

It was a large, open city of yellow brickwork and sturdy buildings. Decorated with plants and little statuettes. Open shop windows advertised their wares. People were coming and going, wearing cloaks and robes, and outfits much more fashionable and familiar to Xehanort.

Even with his Heart locked so tightly now, he could still sense the sheer magic in the air.

It was prevalent, here, in this world. A more mystical one, indeed...

Xehanort was relieved, really. It was a far cry from the dull, ordinary world Amaya was intent on keeping him stuck within, now.

The woman herself came stepping up beside him, the portal disappearing behind her.

No one gave it another look, on these streets. Apparently it was common enough on this world for people to simply emerge out of energy portals.

Xehanort smirked to himself with mild amusement.

"This way," Amaya spoke, moving out down the street.

Xehanort followed her again.

She led him down the street, around a corner, down another street - up a flight of stairs - and into an open square. It was ringed by various shops. A large fountain sat in the center, with ornate carvings on it, and a statue of a group of what appeared to be mermaids, situated in the middle of the fountain's deep pool of clear waters. Women of the sea, with lengthy, powerful fish-tails and bared chests.

"Has something caught your eye?" Amaya's voice came to him, as he felt her elbow nudge him.

He turned to her swiftly, opening his mouth- then closed it. "No - but if something had, did you have to get my attention that way?"

"So you aren't denying it. Interesting."

"What's interesting - what, exactly, am I not 'denying?'" Xehanort was just confused now, more than irritated. Why was this woman so perplexing, even when he now knew everything about her exceptionally unique and long life?

The woman gazed at him with a face full of humor. Her lips spread into a grin. She turned her gaze to the statue, nodding. "Well, you said it: you are a twenty year old. And they are beautiful, aren't they?"

"What...?" Xehanort looked from her to the statue. Back again. "Are you serious right now?" he said flatly, his eyes boring into her.

"Not really, no," Amaya admitted freely, that grin growing still.

Xehanort scoffed, turning his head aside. "Ridiculous. Did you bring me here to make me a spectacle? To mock and point at me?"

He heard a sigh. "I wasn't trying to mock you, Xehanort - I was trying to have a little fun with you. To bond-"

"Do I seem amused by it?"

"No. I'm sorry," came sincere, subdued tones.

Xehanort looked at the woman. He sighed, now, too. "Whatever we're actually here for, can we just get on with it?"

The woman gazed at him for a long moment. "Yes. Of course..."

She turned, heading off across the square. Xehanort strode along in her wake, trying to let his feelings of annoyance go.

The woman led him to a wide, curved storefront of large glass windows. Beneath an awning, there were two people sitting out in front of the shop, Xehanort noted: an older man, with long dark hair and beard, and a young girl. A girl rather pale, plain, with sun-yellow hair, done back into a long ponytail. She looked no more than ten, perhaps. Nothing particularly interesting about such a child. But what did get Xehanort's interest... The man may have been sitting in a wooden chair - but the child seemed to be occupying a wheelchair. And, as well...

"There you are - earlier than I expected," the grizzled man called out - to Amaya. The man's dark eyes found Xehanort, next. "Is he the one?"

"Yes," Amaya said simply.

"Am I what?" Xehanort said. "What's-"

"Don't ask questions just yet; just listen," Amaya spoke, firm and yet quiet, her eyes intense as they locked with his.

Xehanort closed his mouth. He hesitated, then nodded. Whatever this was, it certainly had him intrigued enough. An excellent change of pace from the last few days...

"So, your name is Xehanort, is it?" the older man spoke, gazing up at him with nothing but curiosity and amicability. "It's good to meet you. The name's Rowan."

Amaya looked at him again, as he stood silently there. Her gaze was silently demanding. Willing. Beseeching.

Xehanort looked down at the ground, his mouth creasing slightly. Well...he supposed he could play along - as long as it held his attention. He schooled his features and raised his head again, meeting the other man's gaze. "Well, what is this all about, exactly? Apparently I'm the only one who wasn't informed," he said dryly.

The man turned in his chair, his expression turning grave and serious, as his gaze found the child beside him. "It's about my daughter, Penny."

Xehanort's gaze slid over to the girl again, as well. He examined her closely, for several long moments.

The girl remained as she was: sitting in that seat, her glazed eyes of bright green staring straight ahead - at absolutely nothing. Her hands folded in her lap, gripping some little doll.

Xehanort returned his eyes to Rowan. "What is wrong with her?" he spoke. Even if asked to satisfy curiosity, rather than out of any real care, the words were still unfamiliar on his lips.

The other man sighed heavily, sitting back in his chair. "She was attacked, months ago, now - by the evil sorceress, Marise."

"An evil sorceress, you say?" Xehanort inquired.

"Yeah." Rowan looked over at the girl, a moment, his face twisted with sorrow and grief. Emotions that escaped the man...flowing over into Xehanort, faintly. Such powerful emotions, he didn't need physical contact to sense them. It was...uncomfortable. "It was...damn stupid, damn petty. And it was my mistake, not Penny's - but she paid the price for it anyways. I'm a magical weaponsmith, you see - finest in the kingdom, and that's not bragging, just a fact. Marise came to me and asked me to make her a sword fit for a queen. So I put all I had into the task, and when it was ready, I gave it to her. Thought that was the end of it, but..."

"But what?" Xehanort said mildly.

"A week later, Marise came back, in the middle of the night. I woke up for a drink and walked out and...she was just there. Sitting. Waiting. She had the sword in her hand - what was left of it. The handle, a few inches of mythril. She said it had failed against her enemies - that it had shattered, during a battle. So she said she was going to pay me back in kind for it. She bound me, I couldn't move, couldn't have stopped her - she went and got my daughter, brought her back out to me, confused and scared as could be...and she used magic on her. Magic that...broke her Heart apart. Shattered it. She held the pieces in her hand, as she walked out, telling me that she was going to scatter them to the winds."

Xehanort stood silently, feeling fresh waves of intense emotions. Palpable. As if his own. He looked down and away, letting out a breath. He raised his head, and found himself looking at Amaya again. She was watching him, still. Had she ever stopped? "Well...that was an interesting story - but why am I here?"

Amaya's expression changed. Her eyes narrowed at him, her lips set with anger.

Rowan simply nodded, looking again to his daughter. "I was told that you have special abilities - concerning Hearts. That you have experience with traveling, with magic, with helping people."

Xehanort now looked at Amaya with some anger of his own. What was this? What was she even doing?

In face of his anger, hers seemed to soften again, for whatever reason. Her eyes glistened at him. Her lips parted with a soft sound... "I know...that it's asking a lot of you..." she spoke out, in soft tones. "but I know that you can do this, Xehanort. I know you can help this girl. You can put her right again. You can save her."

"Why?" Xehanort said flatly.

"Because it's who you are," the woman whispered. "You're good. You're kind, and thoughtful, and compassionate. And I know you can do this."

Xehanort turned his head, looking to the lifeless child in question. Why? Why did she want him to do this so badly? Was it a test? To prove a point? A challenge? Even like this, yes, he agreed with her that he very well could still accomplish the task, however...what reason did he have to?

Well, doing so would extend his time away from that boring little world. It would keep his boredom away, itself, plain and simple. And it would probably also keep the woman from being incredibly angry and upset with him for the foreseeable future...which wasn't bound to be pleasant. He did rather like her current demeanor toward him. And he wanted to keep it that way. And...

He stepped forward, gazing at the girl's face, breathing in and out slowly. He extended his senses - not magic, not darkness. The senses of the Heart that he still had available to him. His unique abilities, as well...

He did sense a Heart within the child. A portion - a piece. But thoughts, feelings? There was nothing going on inside the Heart. Not that he could-

The girl's hands curled, and her head turned his way, as a jolt of something went through Xehanort's Heart.

He gasped, stepping away.

The child's fingers went slack, and her head dropped to her shoulder.

Xehanort stared at her for a moment, but nothing more happened. He looked to the father, Rowan, who gazed at Xehanort now with a face of pleading, of hope, of... He looked to Amaya. Her similar look, on soft features, those sparkling eyes holding his so intently...

He ruminated on that feeling, that moment, as the child had...

"I'll see what I can do," he spoke at last, gazing into his caretaker's eyes alone. "But I can't make any promises - so don't expect anything."

The wave of emotions that came off of Amaya in that moment, blasting his Heart, were overwhelming.

But not something he minded - from her...

Chapter 19: Facing Heart

"How many pieces of her Heart would you guess are out there?"

Xehanort glanced at Amaya, as they strode out from the city's edge, onto a forest path.

He put his hands in his pockets as he pondered the question seriously.

The description of the incident, the look of the girl herself, the piece of Heart he'd gotten a sense of in that moment...

"Six," he said finally. "No - seven, including the one still inside the girl's body."

Amaya looked over to him with a warm smile. Approval shining in those eyes. "That was my guess, as well."

"Then why did you-"

"It's nice to have confirmation," Amaya cut across. "I don't like to just assume anything; checking with others can make sure your findings are correct."

Xehanort glanced at her, then away. He nodded out into the distance. "Hm...true. So, then: I suppose you already have an idea of where to find these lost pieces of Heart?"

"I do," she confirmed. "If you need help, I'll be happy to give you hints and pointers - but I'd like you to do this yourself."

Xehanort let out a soft laugh. "And I suppose none of these missing pieces are in dangerous locations? I have no way to defend myself, you realize."

"I know. None of them should be anywhere dangerous - but if they are, I'm here for you," she replied calmly.

"Tch...Well, let's get on with it, then." Xehanort looked around himself, gazing off through the trees. He breathed in, and out... He stopped, raising an arm, turning and pointing. "One is there. Not far from us."

"I'll follow your lead, then, child."

Xehanort sighed. He was wary of being the one to go first - but - she was with him, and...he wasn't going to show baseless fears like that. So he drew another breath and set off into the woods, straying from the path. He walked through the brush, tensed, the entire time - much more than he'd ever admit to being. After several silent minutes of journeying, he emerged into a small clearing, with a stream of clear water curving away from him.

He tuned his senses, feeling out into the world again - and felt the pulse.

He looked around him, his gaze roamed the ground...and settled on the stream.

A glinting, fist-sized piece of blue crystal was sitting at the bottom of the water, lodged between two large rocks.

"There," Xehanort said, pointing to it. "Her Heart was crystallized to give it a form to remain here in, of course - as Hearts sometimes do naturally and instinctively, when they survive a world fallen to darkness, and become lost in the Ocean Between, as a means of protecting themselves."

"Very good." Amaya stepped forward, crouching down and reaching out a hand to the water. The piece of crystal glowed, and lifted up from the stream, surrounded by a faint golden bubble of magic. It drifted into Amaya's hand - and then it shrank down and vanished in a flash of light. The woman stood tall again, looking to him with a smile. "One down, five more to go."

Xehanort turned away, extending his senses once more. A small smile came to his own lips. "Yes. This is going to be easy - as I thought."

Amaya laughed very clearly and audibly.

Xehanort felt a bubbling of pleasure in his Heart at the sound - at knowing he'd been the cause for it. She wasn't laughing at him this time, not at all.

Yes...he did really prefer her to remain this way. Exactly as she was...as she had always been...

---

As he'd predicted, collecting the remaining five pieces of crystallized Heart was an easy enough task.

He wouldn't say it took him more than a few hours.

And the final piece, as it turned out, was inside the very city which the girl lived; it had been found in a maze of underground, vast sewer tunnels and waterways.

Thus, it was easy enough for Xehanort to make his way back out of them again, and onto the streets. He navigated his way back to the main square, and strode over to the weaponsmith's storefront with confidence in his steps.

The man was still there, waiting for them, just as before - and so was the child, of course.

"Did you-" the man began, actually rising from his seat for a change.

"Yes - you can rest assured your daughter will be returned to normal soon," Xehanort cut across. He hesitated, sneaking a glance at Amaya. Well, she didn't shoot him a glare of anger or disapproval this time - so perhaps his words had been deemed acceptable enough...

Amaya herself stepped forward bringing up an arm - a hand, palm up. Light flashed in her palm, and the floating six pieces of crystal appeared in the air, circling around each other in a ring. She gazed at them intently, her lips frowned, her eyes narrowed. Then, the pieces flew inward to a central point, and a new light flared to blind Xehanort. When it faded, he saw the pieces were all fused together - save for one, obviously missing portion at the top right.

The woman made an almost lazy gesture, sending the incomplete Heart toward the motionless girl's body. It passed through her chest, emitting a shimmering golden light before fading away again. Amaya looked to Xehanort. "If you could check for me, please - to make sure it succeeded...that it's all there?"

Xehanort stared at her. Then he strode forward, gazing down on the child and reaching out with his abilities. He found the Heart easily enough, this time. And found it whole. Not flawless, not without its seams and cracks...but he thought it was indeed on the way to mending. He released a breath, stepping away again. "It's all there - the girl should be fine come tomorrow morning."

The man stared at Xehanort, emotions radiating from him. He took a stumbling step forward, raising a hand - and before Xehanort knew it, his hand was being taken, and shaken. "Thank you-"

"Yes, well, it was easy enough," Xehanort said tersely, pulling free. He turned away, starting off down the street. "My work here is done now. Goodbye."

"Xehanort-" Amaya's voice called.

He ignored her, walking faster now, his Heart thudding unevenly in his chest...

"I'm sorry - we'll be back tomorrow to check in on things," he heard Amaya telling the man quickly. Then, he heard her fast, light footsteps behind him, catching up. "Xehanort, wait-"

Her hand was on his arm, stopping him. He whirled to face her, his face etched. "Let go!" he snapped.

Her hand released him instantly, surprising him for a moment.

"Xehanort..."

He gazed at her coldly. "What? I finished the task, didn't I? It's done. Now-"

Her face changed. It sharpened. "Let's take a walk," she said, interrupting.

It wasn't a request.

Xehanort's own face fell. He sighed. "As you say..."

The woman led the way this time, out of the city and into the woods once again. She led him down the path - on and on, until they were beyond view of the city's high brick walls. There was no one in sight, no sounds but the ones made by nature.

She stopped, at some arbitrary point, finally, and turned to face him.

He stopped as well, staring back at her. "Why did we come all the way out here?" he said, irritated.

"We both know that this distant, cold front of yours is only that: a front."

Xehanort froze, gazing at her for a moment in confusion. Then he collected himself. "Do we now?" he replied coolly.

"Yes - you're doing it right now, as you've been doing for the past several hours," Amaya went on, calm and clear, her gaze never wavering. "It's a defense mechanism, because you want to avoid caring, feeling, loving - and losing again. You don't want to take the risk with your Heart again - and because you never learned how to properly deal with grief, and sadness. But we're going to work on that, together. And I'm going to make sure you have the tools and the strength to deal with it all properly, and move forward, and stay true to yourself - the way you failed to do the first time around."

Xehanort glowered at her now. "You may have shown me all of your life, but I haven't shown you all of mine. Don't presume-"

"Actually, you have."

"Funny. I would have remembered that," Xehanort said, sarcastic.

"Not this you - older you. The current you," Amaya said. "It was the other day; I was visiting your current self, and I wanted to be sure I fully understood you - to be sure that I did know the details of your life, and what you went through. How you really, truly felt. So I could discuss it all with you properly. And now I know it all. I saw all of it. Not just the worst, but the best, Xehanort. The good. And I know the good boy I raised is still there in you."

"Do you? What could have given you that impression?"

"You saved Skuld from a terrible fate," Amaya said firmly. "You listened to her, you felt for her, and you went against your older self to set her free. To protect her. That was an act from the true Xehanort, from your good Heart and nowhere else! The Heart, the person, who knows right from wrong, innately. Who empathizes. Who has compassion. And I know you know right from wrong: I know I taught you that. You still know how to be good and decent, to act selflessly and with kindness to others...you're just afraid to now. You've locked yourself away. All of it. You're scared of getting invested - with anyone, on any level. But I'm going to show you that it's okay to do so again."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Xehanort scoffed.

Suddenly Amaya stepped forward, scoffing right back at him. She put her face in his (he wasn't intimidated!). "Tell me this, child: what is the point, then, of bringing back all of the friends you cared for and lost again, if you're just going to act like this?" she spoke, in a hushed, intense voice. "Are you going to act like this around them? Will you shun them, ignore them? Act like you don't know them? Pretend you have no more feelings in your Heart for them now? If you truly don't care, if it makes no difference to you now, then I suppose we should just go and tell Radiant Garden's scientists to scrap those Replicas. They won't be needed, or missed, after all - will they?"

"Shut up - you wouldn't do that!" Xehanort shouted, his fists curling at his sides - shaking, all of a sudden. He didn't even know why.

"Why wouldn't I?" Amaya said harshly. "Tell me why."

"Because you are good!" Xehanort hissed.

Silence.

The woman's eyes bore into his, a foot or two away. "So you count on the goodness of others, but cast aside the goodness in yourself. That's convenient, isn't it? You can count on others to act how good people will, while you act counter, and reap the benefits. Isn't that right? Well, what makes you so sure I'm good, Xehanort? You've seen that I can be as cruel and spiteful as you, when I want to be. Maybe I'm so angry and frustrated with you right now that I'm feeling spiteful again! Can you really count on my goodness to make me so wonderfully predictable?"

"Stop it! You're not- you don't-" Xehanort breathed, ragged. He wasn't sure what he was even trying to say. His Heart was twisting, it was- He spun away from her, striding off into the trees.

"No more discussing your dreams of being a Keyblade Master with them. No more joking and bonding with them. The walking carpet, fast-footed Eraqus-!" her voice called out after him, loudly. Shouting now.

"SHUT UP!" Xehanort roared, whirling back toward her. He wanted to summon his weapon, he wanted to strike her, he wanted to do a thousand different things - yet he could do none of them!

"You killed him, you know that, don't you? Your older self. You killed your own best friend! Do you want to live a life where you do that again? Or do you want to live in a world where you can be with him again, hug him and laugh with him and play chess with him again? Free and happy?"

Xehanort gazed at her, breathing harshly, quivering. "Stop," he said again. "Just stop this."

"No. If this is how you want to be - if this is the way you want to live - then that is where that road leads. But you can have the strength to choose another road instead. One where that never has to happen again. Where you can be with him again. I'm here...to help you choose that path, Xehanort. Like I've always...been here to help you. To guide you. To hold you...and care for you..."

Xehanort turned from her, staring off into the trees, putting his hands in his pockets and hunching his shoulders. He closed his eyes, bowing his head, letting his long silver hair fall into his face.

He heard her footsteps behind him. He tensed, expecting a blow, or perhaps a Keyblade in the back-

But he felt only her arms wrapping around his form, pulling him in close. Her body against his - her hair against his face. Her mouth in his ear. He opened his eyes again.

"Just be the strong, brave person I know you are...and open your Heart again, and let me help you..." she whispered to him. "Please...I am here for you physically again, but I can't be there for you emotionally...unless you open up and let me be. Let anyone be. Your friends who will be here soon, and..." Her voice trailed off, into nothing, ending in a high, breaking note.

Xehanort stood in her grasp, rigid and trembling. Staring off into the distance. His mind itself...distant. Yet the emotions he was feeling from her were invading his Heart, all the same...intense, hot, worming, clawing...

"Let go of me..." he whispered.

"Xehanort-"

"Please let me go," he quavered out, his Heart pounding in his chest now.

Her arms released him immediately, withdrawing.

He broke free, stumbling forward, wanting to run and-

But where was there to run to?

And even if he did...she would always find him again...

Why?

WHY?!

"Xehanort...I'm proud of you, for what you did today. Saving a girl's life - a child - that isn't a small thing," her voice came again, soft and kind. As she began to approach him again. Closing the distance. "It's a wonderful, momentous thing. It was good. You were good. And it should make you feel good inside."

Xehanort stood there, ignoring her for a long minute, as she came to a stop behind him - close behind him. "I feel nothing," he said flatly. "And it means nothing - a woman like yourself must know that."

"How does it mean nothing?" came the reply, simple and - sincerely thoughtful? Listening?

"Did you not consider what this evil sorceress's response will be when she hears word of the girl she ruined frolicking about again, happy and normal?" Xehanort went on, emotionless. "Doubtless, she'll return, and finish the job this time. She can't have people thinking they can escape her power, her punishments. That they can resist or oppose her in any way. That they can subvert her. Perhaps she'll kill the child, next time. Or both child and parent, simply to make an example for everyone else. In saving this girl, we've probably condemned her and her father to far worse fates. Wonderful job, indeed."

"I did consider that," the woman said, quiet, and perhaps honest. "But her father and I both decided that the happiness and healthiness of that girl outweighed the risk of reprisal. Xehanort...what-if's and probably's aren't a reason to just do nothing. To not help people when you can. You look at the big picture, you discuss your options, and you make the choice. And we already discussed this as well: they'll be leaving the city by nightfall. Finding a new home, a place far away, where it would take a very long time for the sorceress to find them. If she even wanted to expend the effort to track down a single child, a single family."

Xehanort looked back at her, frowning. "You've thought of everything, then, have you?"

"We've thought of enough to make an informed decision - to take the chance," Amaya responded. "For her sake. Because it was worth it."

Xehanort looked at his feet. "What now, then? Back to that 'home' of yours, on that plain world?"

Amaya gave a soft laugh, that he almost thought was a snicker. It made him glance up at her again. "You think it's so plain, do you, child? So boring?"

"Haven't I made that clear?"

"If you're only looking at the surface of things, yes, it might look to be," Amaya said, in casual tones. "But I can tell you that it has its share of secrets. If you're feeling so bored at home, you might spend some time investigating. If you can find out what it is by the end of the month, I'll give you a reward."

Xehanort eyed her, curiosity rising again in him. Intrigue. "Really?"

"Yes," the woman said simply. She smiled at him softly. "And you deserve a reward for what you did here today, too."

Xehanort flushed as he looked away now. "I'm not a child..." he muttered.

"I didn't know only children could be thanked and rewarded for doing good deeds," Amaya said mildly. "But if feeling good and getting rewarded does nothing for you, I suppose there's no point in going out of my way for you, is there?"

Xehanort glanced at her, his lips parting. "I- that's not-" He sighed. "I never said I didn't want it..." he muttered sullenly.

"Xehanort."

"What?"

She reached out to him, suddenly - briefly touching his face, looking him in the eyes still. "I mean it: I'm incredibly proud of you for what you did here today - and what you did for Skuld, before. That took bravery, and strength. True strength: the strength to be kind."

"Hmph..." Xehanort turned his head aside, his cheeks tinged somewhat.

"It's easy to be angry, to be cruel, to hit back, to yell and insult," Amaya spoke, her fingers caressing his cheek now...then, going up to brush at his hair. "It's easy to distance yourself, to sit and be sullen, to be cold. It's hard to keep hoping, to keep loving, and caring, and feeling. It's infinitely harder to be good in the face of what's not. It's not strength, to act the way you and your future self do - it's weakness. True strength is being strong enough to be gentle, to be compassionate, even when it's the last thing you want to be - when you feel like you just can't be anymore."

Xehanort startled as he suddenly realized her hand was still there. He pulled away from her, gasping. He blinked quickly, flexing his fingers at his sides, looking down and away.

"And I know you're strong, Xehanort. Truly strong, in the right way."

He turned from her.

He couldn't find a response.

Chapter 20: Naked Fear

Notes:

After the last chapter was an all Xehanort one, here's an ALL AQUA chapter! Got a lot of good stuff for her here! Character stuff, and some adult issues. GAY issues lol! <3 Also, this was going to be the final chapter of good old Peaceful Hearts lol...and the next one was going to be the epilogue! :D Sooo yeah...imagine if THIS was the cliffhanger I left you guys on. Lol. Would've been awesome. xD

Aqua was honestly more relieved to have made it out of the mine tunnels into the hot evening's air again than she was wanting to remain in the shade.

As Natsumi fully emerged into the dry dirt and plains that filled the horizon again, she lowered herself to the ground and looked at Aqua.

Aqua hesitated before climbing up onto her back again.

Then, they set off again across the landscape in earnest.

Racing the sun itself, Aqua thought to herself, with a small smile. A fool's attempt.

Still, Natsumi seemed to do her best at it. She raced across the land at full speeds, taking huge leaps across canyons, and up and down sheer cliffs. At times, with flames surrounding her that Aqua didn't even feel, she almost seemed to be flying more than jumping.

All the while, Aqua did her best to hold on to the kitsune's long, rugged fur (Natsumi had reassured her several times before that it would take a lot to hurt her).

As the sun fell, disappearing below the horizon, darkness covered the world, slowly.

And with the night also came the plummeting temperatures.

Natsumi probably didn't feel it much, but even in her cloak, Aqua started to feel it soon enough.

She shivered against the winds, using an arm to keep the cloak closed around her body.

Natsumi must have sensed it, or heard it, with her keen ears, because she slowed down suddenly. She came to a stop near a rocky overhang, at the base of a steep hill of dirt.

Aqua jumped down to the ground again, raising a hand of shimmering magic fires before herself. She moved for the rocky alcove, grateful for it. It was about twice as tall as she was, and was a good ten to fifteen feet wide across. It would make a nicer place to sleep than most, over these past days.

As she sat there against the jagged, inner wall of the alcove, trying to keep warm, she watched Natsumi wander about in the dark beyond - biting and ripping up dead trees, tearing off branches. Natsumi tossed her head, throwing it all Aqua's way with abandon. The other woman came back over and nudged it all together with her enormous paws. Then she flexed her tails and puffed her cheeks, blowing out a long stream of flames. The trees and branches caught, becoming a large flaming mass within moments.

Aqua smiled at her gratefully, moving forward beneath the overhang to get closer to the new source of warmth. She let her own magic flames extinguish, glad to be able to save on magical power.

Natsumi changed into her human form, strode around the bonfire, and sat herself down next to Aqua, her legs curled up beneath her. She undid her sword sheath, setting it aside. She set her hands on her legs, staring into the flames with a smile of her own. Her lips and eyes both glistened with the light...and her hair, too, was-

Aqua shook her head, looking away quickly, as a heat that had nothing to do with fire came to her face.

"It's okay - take your time," came the absent tones of Natsumi.

"Huh? What?" Aqua startled, turning back to the woman. "What do you-"

Natsumi smiled at her widely, revealing sharp fangs. "I've noticed the way you've been looking at me this past week - since the night we first met."

"O-oh - I'm sorry! I- I'm making you uncomfortable! I'll-"

"Don't be silly," Natsumi interrupted again, in amused, quiet tones. "The only one you're making uncomfortable here is yourself. And I understand that. You're dealing with a lot of complicated feelings right now, aren't you? Take all the time you need to sort through it all. I'm in no hurry."

"I- um..." Aqua trailed off, her tongue twisting over itself. She raised her hand to her mouth, looking away again.

"If it helps any, I think you'd make a wonderful partner for any woman."

Aqua shut her eyes, screwing up her face, trying not to let the high, incoherent noise escape her lips! After a long moment, she felt it was safe to lower her hand again. To breathe again. Slowly, she turned her head to look at the other woman from the corner of her eye...

Natsumi was leaning back on a hand, staring into the fires, that smile still on her lips. She looked so relaxed, so happy...

"I am...dealing with a lot right now, yes," Aqua whispered, focusing on the flames as well. "And I don't know if I can...I've never...I- I wouldn't know how to be a good partner to anyone," she finally admitted, strangling the words out.

"It's not as complicated as you're probably thinking it is," Natsumi spoke quietly. "It's just like being the best of friends - except for the little detail that you also have sex together with them."

Aqua choked on her own spit, swallowing hard.

"Really now," the other woman went on lightly. "You learn and grow together, you fight together, you laugh and screw around, you eat snacks and meals together, you support each other's interests and dreams...and you sometimes do a little kissing and such. That's all. There's no fundamental difference there, Miss Aqua: a good partner is also a good best friend, not some wholly separate thing. Trust me, I speak from experience here. If you're capable of making and keeping friends, you can manage a romantic relationship just fine. There are some extra considerations to be had, owing to the deeper level of intimacy, but in basics...it's not so different."

Aqua kept her gaze on the fire, resolute.

"Of course, if you're not ready for romance, it's hardly the only option around," Natsumi continued. "You could take the sex without the 'strings' attached, if that would be more fitting for you. We could call it a learning experience...just two people, traveling together, sharing in the most basic and instinctual, purely physical pleasures of the flesh. Nothing more. You don't have to be afraid of getting something wrong, or committing to anything, or sharing your Heart's contents. It can just be a little bit of fun, no emotions involved. Think of it as a combat training session - except that the one who pins the other down first-"

"Okay - okay! I- understand the c-concept!" Aqua blurted, whirling on the woman and raising her hands desperately. "You've painted a very- very- v-vivid picture! I fully- get it! Yes! Please...no more of that!"

Natsumi gave her a look of sincere apology, nodding. "I'm sorry. I got a little carried away, I suppose."

"It's- alright..." Aqua mumbled, dropping her head. She pulled her knees in, resting her chin on them.

She sat in silence for a long time. So did Natsumi. Then-

She lifted her head and looked at the woman.

Natsumi kept staring into the fire - like she didn't notice. She'd said she had noticed...so she was probably faking it now, too. Why? To put Aqua more at ease? That would be the kinder, trusting suggestion...

Either way - Aqua found herself looking the woman over, closely. A tremor racing through her body, and tingling sensations along her arms. Her gaze found those places on the other's form that people weren't meant to just look at...by flickering flames and burning light...a soft glow of skin and curves and-

She shut her eyes and slammed her face down onto her hard kneecaps.

Idiot! Moron! Stupid! Impulsive, primitive, thoughtless-

Coward.

Sad, lonely, coward! Who's even around to care? To judge you? Why should you care? A person's private life is theirs, and no one else's. Isn't that what you were always told? What all those textbooks talked about? Respect, privacy, consent? You have the privacy - and as long as you have the respect and consent... What would really be so terrible about it? You survived a night with Elrena. But there isn't an Elrena to talk you into your stupidity and impulsiveness this time, is there? Is that the problem? Then don't think. Don't talk. Just-

"I- you're- pretty?" Aqua's mouth blurted, as she gazed at the woman. Natsumi gazed back at her. Okay, then, that's...a start, at least. Not an encouraging one, but...too late to back out. And isn't that what you wanted? "You're - beautiful - and...why not?"

"Why not what?" Natsumi spoke, tilting her head, her eyes glinting in the firelight.

Moron. Stupid. This is just pathetic. Have you EVER been THIS embarrassing in your entire life- "I - well - I meant- training session! I would like to- train with you - but not...combat...um...you know - sex?"

Please just die. Fade away and die. Sink back into the Dark Realm and spend another ten years thinking about this night.

"I see." Natsumi gazed at her for a moment. Then, she nodded. She pushed herself up, turning to face her. She sat cross-legged, setting her hands in her lap now. "Is that really something you want right now? I have far more experience than you, Miss Aqua, and that, on top of our current situation...I do worry that I might just end up pressuring you into something you're not ready for. I don't want you to feel trapped, or pressured into anything at all."

"I- I'm not-" Aqua stopped. She took steadying breaths. She counted in her head. She met the other woman's gaze, drawing herself up. "I am a twenty-eight year old woman, who's dedicated her life to fighting monsters and evil people alike. I know what it's like to be truly trapped. I know what pressure is. And, I've refused a date before," she added.

"I do acknowledge that - and on the other hand, I wouldn't want to talk down to you or anything like that," Natsumi said, quiet and thoughtful. "But...why don't we wait until our situation is a little less dire? If we come across a nice little motel, or a town, at least." She hesitated. Then- "Besides, you are human, and I know humans much prefer intimacy to occur off the ground. A nice bed, usually, at the very least, yes?"

"I- guess that's true..." Aqua agreed, halting, looking down.

"I just think we should both take some time to think it over first. And...well...frankly, Miss Aqua, I wouldn't want to make this journey uncomfortable and awkward any more than you would. If things didn't quite work out between us, we'd both be in for a much less easygoing time together."

"That's something to consider, I suppose," Aqua said quietly, nodding.

"Try not to look so disappointed. I never said no: just that we give it a few more days or so," Natsumi said softly.

Aqua sighed, looking up at her. "I'm not disappointed."

"Another key factor in sex and romance is honesty," Natsumi remarked, non-judgmental. "If you can't give someone - forgive the pun - the bare and naked truth, it's definitely not likely to work out."

Aqua frowned. Then she nodded again. "You're right," she said, even. "There is a lot to think about first."

Natsumi smiled at her. "You're learning already."

---

The next two days of travel were...

Days of travel.

Aqua tried not to think about, let alone bring up, the discussion of that night by the fire.

Not that she wasn't- thinking about it- of course, but...

Anyway.

They moved further across the region, and eventually came to a surprise in the distance, at mid-day of their third day.

A large, reflective balloon ship was flying across the sky quickly, with burning flames behind it and spinning propellers in front of it. A large, long, metal rectangle hanging from its underside, running the length of it.

"An airship," Aqua gasped, the knowledge long-forgotten spilling from her lips before she even recognized it consciously.

Natsumi suddenly transformed beneath Aqua; Aqua, caught by total surprise and off her guard, fell straight down, landing hard and awkwardly on her rear end.

"Ow..." Aqua groaned, quickly casting a bit of Healing magic on herself.

"Oh - I'm so sorry for that!" Natsumi said earnestly, turning to look at her. "I honestly forgot you were there..."

"It's alright," Aqua said simply, getting up and dusting herself off. She looked up at the ship drifting across their field of view - heading for some high, sheer cliffs to the far right. "Do you think that ship is heading for a town?"

Natsumi turned, following Aqua's gaze. She stepped forward, narrowing her eyes. "A town...? No. A passenger outpost and airstrip...? Yes."

"You can see that far away?" Aqua said, genuinely impressed and amazed.

Natsumi turned to her with a smile. "With the help of magic - yes. If we make our way in that direction, we'll be able to take a road up along the side of the cliffs. It's a long and winding path, but it will get us there. Depending on where the ships go, and how far they go, they might be able to cut a substantial amount of time off our journey." She paused, then added, with a touch of humor, "And depending on how much money you have, of course. I shouldn't have to tell you that by human standards I'm, simply put...flat broke."

"I can pay anything that needs paying for," Aqua said, firm and swift. "Don't worry about it!"

"I'll hold you to that," Natsumi said, still in joking tones.

Aqua let herself laugh. More because she was excited at the idea of the airships, really, but...all the same.

Natsumi turned back again, Aqua leapt up onto her, and they were off.

Faster than Aqua thought Natsumi had ever ran before. She probably wanted to get them there before the sun fell.

They blazed across the dirt, leaving a trail of orange flames behind that anyone could have seen from a long ways off, probably.

As they neared the cliffs, Aqua truly got a sense of how tall they were. She also came to see what Natsumi had - a glinting, large round structure, next to a wide dock built out from the side of the cliff, far above. She also saw where they were headed: the pathway up the side of the plateau.

It was exactly as Natsumi had said: a long, winding journey, all the way up and around...but, eventually, they reached the top.

They stepped up onto the plateau at last, and Aqua gasped softly.

It all looked so much bigger up close.

That large, round building was as big as a grand castle - and the docks and airship strip were so long and wide that she was greeted by the sight of several of those huge airships sitting along them. Five, counting the one that must have just landed earlier - the one they'd watched fly in from afar.

There were also a surprising amount of people wandering around the strip - around the airships, and the large building.

Natsumi gave a little snort, catching Aqua's attention, as she lowered herself to the ground. Aqua jumped down; Natsumi assumed human form in a wash of flames.

"Okay, then. Let's figure out where we're going," Aqua said, starting forward.

Natsumi followed after her.

They crossed the airstrip, moving between two gigantic ships with open, wide boarding ramps extended from their fronts. Aqua paused, turning. She eyed one ship, then the other. She guessed they wouldn't know unless they picked one, would they? So just...pick one.

Aqua spun on her heel and headed for the closest one, weaving the crowds and streams of people disembarking - or boarding. She carefully made her way to the bottom of the ramp. She spied a man in a uniform, holding a thick black booklet in hand, and hurried up to him.

"Hello. Excuse me - I was wondering if any of these ships could take me anywhere closer to-" Aqua began, only to stop herself. The man turned to her, eyeing her now, his eyebrows raised. "-Ancewell."

The name rose from the depths of her mind, her youngest memories, after so long...

The man considered her. Then he looked down at his book, flipping through the pages. Lifting up folds and partitions. "There's a flight scheduled for three days from now that'll get you to the eastern border of Zitol. From there, you'd have to go the rest of the way to the capital on your own. And of course, you'll need a passport if you're not a native citizen."

"Yes. Of course," Aqua said. "I am a...native citizen of Zitol, don't worry about that."

The man shrugged. "It's not for me to worry about. I just take the money and see people onto the ships."

"Right. How much is it for two people?" Aqua asked, turning to indicate Natsumi.

The man told her.

Aqua frowned, taking out her pouch. She dug around in it, taking out coins, gazing at them in her palm... After an embarrassingly long time, she held her hand out to the man.

He took them from her, and deposited them into a bag slung around his waist. "Alright. The payment's good. Name and ID, please."

Aqua froze.

Stupid. Idiot. Moron! Of course she should have-

No. It was probably fine! It had been twenty years, for these people, on this world. Almost twenty-one, now, really. Surely no one would even remember...? With so much going on in the world, would anyone's mind really jump straight to- to her?

But that did still leave the problem of an ID card...

Without that, she wasn't getting on this ship, even if no one recognized her.

Sighing to herself, she turned to look at Natsumi.

"Is there a problem?" the man spoke again, clearly annoyed now. "I have a schedule to keep, lady."

Aqua stepped away, shaking her head. "No. Sorry to bother you. Keep the money."

She turned and stalked off from the ramp.

"Hey- are you serious...ah whatever..." The man's exclamation fell into half-hearted resignation.

Aqua hurried across the airstrip, her shoes clicking beneath her with every step.

What was she going to do now? It wasn't just an airship that was going to be a problem, she realized now. Even if she walked the rest of the way to Zitol, the border guards would want identification, too. She'd have to fight or sneak her way in, even if she got that far, and then-

Aqua was jarred back into reality, gasping as she bounced backwards off of something - no, someone. The other person stumbled back, raising a hand to her head. It was a woman - around forty years of age, tall and curvy, with a pixie cut of hot pink hair and glinting earrings, wearing a uniform of some kind. Military or security. For the airships, or...?

Either way, Aqua cursed herself for not watching where she was going!

Aqua raised her hands and looked the woman in the face. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying enough attention to where I was going!" she said, in her most sincere, apologetic voice.

"It's fine, just-" The woman froze in the middle of rubbing at her head. She stared into Aqua's face, her own turning pale. Her olive green eyes blinked. Her lips parted in a soft gasp.

In that exact moment, when she realized it - when they both realized it - Aqua's entire world froze.

Everything fell away. Sound. Sight. All of it was gone.

Her body tensed. It trembled. Magic and adrenaline coursed through her, from her toes up to the very top of her head. Her arms were still raised...

The woman swallowed...and then her lips moved.

"Lady Aqua...?"

In an instant, Aqua whipped away from her, stalking off the other way, toward the cliff's edge.

"Could it really be...? L-Lady Aqua, please, wait!" the woman's voice, followed by quick footsteps. "P-"

Aqua spun back around, throwing out her arm with a cry. Wind magic exploded outward, swirling in a horizontal cyclone that slammed into the woman and carried her back dozens of feet, as well as kicking up a huge dust cloud. Confused and alarmed voices rose, crying out around her.

Under the cover of that dust cloud, Aqua turned and flew for the edge of the cliff, gliding across the ground on magical power, shrouded in an aura of pink energy. She reached the edge in seconds, exploding her magic beneath her feet in a pink shockwave, and leapt out into the open air without hesitation, her long, red cloak billowing out behind her.

Chapter 21: The Start To a New Adventure

Notes:

Weeelllll...since this is no longer an epilogue chapter for another story, I had to tweak and edit it a bit to make it more of a normal chapter. :D

But seriously, now it's just kinda awkward we had a big dramatic Aqua moment and now we're just gonna... xD OH WELL. The price of freedom is steep, lol!

This chapter turned out a bit longer as a consequence, but at least it's still under 10K! Also honestly it's mostly cause it's all talking...fully fleshed out dialogue takes up a SURPRISINGLY LARGE word count. Action goes by fast, on the other hand. xD

Also I love still writing Old Xehanort cause I just get to keep hearing Leonard Nimoy's voice in my head. :) Old Nort still has his place in this story lol!

Xion was more anxious than she'd ever felt before, when Even said that the Replicas were finished.

They were ready.

She helped him bring them all up into the control room of the lab, laying them out like he asked. She did some math and counted them out to make sure they were all here: one, two, three, four, five, six...at least for this "set". Even complimented her when she voiced this, and then he left, saying he was going to tell the others it was time.

As Xion waited, she looked to the white, reclined chair. A science chair, not a comfortable armchair, like at home- or...Sora's home, now.

She frowned, looking down, joining her hands at her chest.

She went to sit in the corner, putting her hands in her lap. She closed her eyes.

Her chest hurt, and time passed her before she knew it.

Then a voice startled her.

"Xion - what's wrong?"

Xion jumped, opening her eyes again. She stared up at Even. She shook her head. Then she spoke. "It's just...Kairi should be here for this..." she whispered. "I want her to be here."

Even gazed down on her. Then he crouched down, and his hand came up and landed on her shoulder. "Well...I am here. And...you will have all of your friends here - and Master Terra, as well. Here they are now, you see?" He turned toward the doorway to the control room.

Xion looked, and saw them entering the lab together. Master Terra, and Riku, and Sora, and Ven...

"But not Kairi..." Xion said sadly.

"I'm confident she'll be found soon enough. You Keyblade wielders have a knack for that sort of thing. And the Princess of Heart herself is- very strong. I doubt she'd let herself be lost for too long, without finding her way home again."

Xion looked up at his face again. She gave a small smile, nodding. "Right...thanks, Even..."

His hand fell away, as he got to his feet and turned away with a cough. "Think nothing of it, child."

"Hey," Sora said, hurrying over to fall to the floor beside Xion. He looked at her with a grin. "You feeling okay?"

Xion shook her head. "No..."

"I guess today's a pretty big day for you, huh?" Sora agreed. "Hey, I know it can be kind of scary, but as long as you've got us around, you'll be fine! We're all here to watch out for you, remember?"

Xion smiled at him. "Yeah...I guess so. I just-"

She stopped as a blue portal appeared in the lab. Out of it came Luxu, and then Namine and Roxas.

Even looked at them, nodding to Luxu. Then he hurried away again, exiting the lab while muttering something to himself. He came back after a few minutes, with Kana behind him.

"...This had better be worth it," Kana was saying to him.

Even rolled his eyes at her. "As I've been telling you, it most certainly will be!"

"Well, now that we're all here, who goes first?" spoke Luxu, his gaze sweeping around at them all. "Draw straws? Rock paper scissors? What?"

Even gave Luxu a look of annoyance. "No one exactly scheduled any appointments with me here. Just figure it out among yourselves. Quickly, mind you - and no fighting. Everyone will get theirs; no one is going to come up empty."

"I'll go first!" Namine said brightly, perking up on her heels. Her heeled, sparkly white shoes. She also had a long white, sparkly dress on too, with sleeves on it.

"You sure?" Luxu said to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We don't know how these things will hold up."

"They will hold up perfectly well, I assure you!" Even said firmly. "If there was any chance these children would find themselves turning into puddles of goo, do you really think I'd have gone through with this so soon? I manufactured a beta batch prior to the final sets, and they all responded well within specifications, and even exceeded my-"

"Yeah, alright, I'll take your word for it," Luxu interjected. "But if she does turn into a pile of goo, I'll pay you back in kind."

"Noted," Even said shortly, his face paling. Then he blinked and looked to Namine. He pointed at the chair. "Place one of the Replicas there, if you would, Master Luxu. And handle it with utmost care."

"I've handled a few Replicas in my time," Luxu replied, as he moved to do as Even asked. He laid the Replica on the chair, adjusting it before stepping away. He put his hands on his hips, then looked around. "Well, I guess the only real question now is: who's going to be the one to transfer the Hearts of these kids over into their snazzy new homes?"

"You're the only one here who's capable of it," Terra said, simple and calm. "You're the only choice we have. I'm sure you wouldn't want to mess it all up and hurt Namine or Roxas, so I trust that you'll do a perfect job of it. But even if you weren't, you'd still be the one with more experience with the technique than the rest of us combined."

Luxu frowned. He looked at Namine, then Roxas. Then at everyone else. He threw up his hands, summoning his Keyblade. "Right, riiiight. Of course...just wanted to make sure there weren't any objections to the obvious."

Namine grinned as she stepped up in front of Luxu, spreading her arms wide. "Hit me, Luxu!"

"Never," he responded, stepping back and raising his Keyblade. He pointed it at her chest, the tip glowing. "And relax for me, all right? You're going to need to let me guide you where you're meant to go. I mean it. If your Heart tries to fight being drawn out, it could result in some major damage."

"Right - don't go doing a repeat of me," Ven told Namine, joking. But also serious...

Namine's grin faded. She let her arms fall. She breathed, nodding. "Okay. I'm relaxed."

Luxu focused, and Namine's Heart emerged into the world - leaving her Nobody body to vanish into nothing. He turned with her and aimed for the Replica body. Her Heart zoomed forward and straight into its chest.

Light burst as it took shape. When it faded, it was just...Namine, laying there now. In the exact same dress and shoes as...well, her old body? She sat up slowly, looking to Luxu. Then her eyes fell to the other white dress on the floor, in a pile atop the shoes. The other ones. "I got a free dress!" she exclaimed, beaming down at herself.

"Yeah - haha - free magic dress," Luxu said with relief. "How're you feeling? Anything different, any pain?"

Namine frowned. She took in a breath, then stopped. She raised her hands up, staring at them. She ran them over her arms, then up and over her hair. She ran the strands between her fingers. "EVERYTHING is different now...everything feels so...weird!"

"Yeah...it's going to be - a lot," Luxu told her. "But I'm going to be here every step of the way to help you get a handle on it - okay?"

"Okay!" Namine jumped up from the chair and hugged his neck.

He hugged her back a moment, then let her go, straightening up again.

She did too, and turned to look at the others. Then she frowned.

"What is it?" Luxu asked.

"Nothing...I just kind of wish Kairi was here..." Namine said quietly.

"I think we all do," Sora said, just as quiet. "But I think Kairi would also want you guys to still enjoy this, right? She'd want you to be happy."

"Yeah," Namine said, nodding to him. "Thank you."

Luxu turned and looked to Riku. "Hey - why don't you and your friend go next? She's been waiting a long time for this, hasn't she?"

"Huh? Oh...yeah," Riku said awkwardly. "A long time. Okay. Let's do it."

Luxu raised a hand and gestured, and one of the Replicas flew up and settled onto the chair again. He stepped up to Riku, raising his Keyblade. He paused. "Alright, you're going to want to hold still for this. Same deal as Namine: just try to relax for me, alright? Both of you. With two Hearts in one body here, it's going to be a little harder to separate hers from yours. If either of you makes this difficult on me...it's not going to be pretty."

"Yeah...right..." Riku swallowed, taking in a deep breath and then letting it go again. "Relax..."

Luxu breathed, too, focusing. His Keyblade glowed, and then after a moment, a Heart came drifting out of Riku's chest. Luxu turned and pointed his weapon at the Replica, and the Heart flew over to it and disappeared. Like with Namine, there was a glowing light from the Replica, and then a familiar girl was laying on the chair.

A girl wearing a silver jacket over a long blue dress. She had shoulder length black hair, and pink eyes that almost glowed.

Erin, Xion recalled.

The girl sat up almost immediately, her eyes wide open. She looked down at herself. She patted and touched her own body. She ran her hands through her hair. Then she stopped, and looked down at her chest. She tugged the top of her dress away, staring down into it for some reason. Her face went pale, her eyes growing bigger in fear and panic. "What?! Why! Why am I still-" Her voice echoed in the lab. She let her dress go and raised her arm up in front of her, staring at her skin.

She froze, the look of fear disappearing slowly. She looked around her, then at Even. She jumped up from the chair and started forward, marching up to him. "Why do I still have this?" she demanded, in a high voice of pain.

"Still have- what? What's wrong?" Even said, confused and worried.

"This!" The girl tugged her dress away again. "Look at it, it's still- it's not moving or anything, but it's still there!"

Even squinted with one eye, glancing down before looking away quickly. His cheeks were pink. "What? Your tattoo? Yes, such things would transfer if they were a particularly strong part of your own self-image-"

"It's not a tattoo, it's a mark - it's magic! It's a curse! And it should have broken, it's gone!" Erin whirled away, looking at Terra. "You said you destroyed it, you promised-!"

"I promise you now, I did," Terra said firmly, going over to her. Reaching down to grasp her arms, as he dropped to a knee. "I saw both the timers and the Hourglass itself disappear from others of your- people, that day. I'm sure it's just a remnant - like a scar or a freckle. Like Even said: it's just a part of your own Heart's self-image of itself, and how its body should look. But I'm sure that it's not real. It's just an image. A carryover."

Erin's eyes shimmered as she stared into his face. She looked down, her arms hugging herself. "Carryover or not...I suppose it just means there's no escaping it, is there? I'm always going to be marked for what I was. For anybody to see. Always just a slave...filth..."

Terra gazed at her softly. Then he pulled her into a hug.

The girl cried for a minute, before she fell silent. She pulled away from Terra, wiping at her face. Then her nose. She stared at her hand, making a face, and wiped it on her jacket. "Ugh - I guess we know I really am in a working human body again, don't we? Stupid snot and tears...I didn't miss that all too much..."

Terra smiled at her, letting her go and standing up again. "I hear you on that. I only just got my own human body back the other day, and it's been a real adjustment. The body I had before, that Kairi gave me, whatever it was...it was close - really close - but it wasn't quite up to snuff. Only now, the past day or two here, have I realized how much was missing. The contrast is...overwhelming at times."

"Yeah..." Erin sniffled, then she smiled at him. "Thanks for the hug. Sorry for freaking out like that, everybody..." she added, looking around with flushed cheeks.

"It's perfectly alright," Even spoke lightly. "This was bound to be an emotional experience for the lot of you."

Erin looked at him with sparkling eyes. Then she suddenly went rushing up to him, throwing her arms around him.

"Ah- uhm..." Even held his arms up high, away from his body, staring down at her. Then he awkwardly patted her on the back. She stepped away, and he quickly brushed himself off and smoothed out his labcoat, his face flushed. "Such thanks were hardly necessary..." he muttered.

"Sorry..." Erin murmured, looking away. "Just - thank you. So, so much...for giving me a second chance at life. The life I always wanted, but thought I'd never get. You have...no idea how much this means to me. To be here like this, to be free of..." She trailed into silence, her voice going high and choking. "Sorry!" She whirled away and ran over to Riku.

Riku stepped back, tensing and raising his hands in front of him.

The girl stopped at his side, wobbling. She turned and looked at him with a grin. "Oh. You thought I was going to hug you, too, did you?"

"I was bracing for it, yeah..." Riku said, in hushed tones of embarrassment.

"Do you want a hug?" the girl asked.

"N-no! I'm good. Thanks. Glad you're so happy though. It's really great to- well, not see you like this, but...you know...I can hear it. It's your voice. The last time I heard you like this was Twilight Town..."

"I don't think I've ever been happier," Erin replied quietly. She leaned over and brushed her arm against his, then leaned away again.

"Excellent. Now then...Roxas? If you would..." Even spoke loudly, clearing his throat as he looked to the boy.

"Uh - sure." Roxas blinked, stepping out to stand in front of Luxu.

"Relax," Luxu told him simply, giving a grin.

"Okay..." Roxas sighed.

Luxu did like he had before - and Roxas's Heart was moved into a Replica without a problem. At least, Xion thought so...

The body he left behind became shrouded in a blue glow before disappearing! A moment later and Sora briefly glowed the same, gasping and staring down at himself. He patted at his body in confusion.

"Good. Your body's rejoined with your Heart again," Luxu told him. "Your existence is whole again - stable and complete now. Same as it ever was."

"Awesome!" Sora grinned. "And Roxas will be okay too, right?"

Roxas sat up on the chair, staring at Sora. He looked down at himself. Then he stood up, and gave a small grin. "I'm good, Sora. Thanks."

"Well then, I suppose that means you're next," Even said to Xion, looking at her.

Xion stared at everyone else staring at her suddenly now. She frowned, dropping her head.

"Come now, you just saw three people go through with this - there's nothing to it, honestly," Even said, in a comforting voice. Or at least, he was trying to. "And once you have done it, you'll be perfectly human like the rest of us, remember?"

Xion nodded, smiling. "Right. I can do this."

Luxu stepped up to her, aiming his Keyblade at her...and then Xion was- floating...

She floated and heard voices and strange noises...

And then suddenly she felt everything again.

She opened her eyes and blinked. She was in the chair now. She looked around herself. She sat up - stopping when she saw what was on the floor next to Luxu.

A faceless mannequin of pure white, wearing her clothes. Lifeless. Empty. A Replica without a name or a face or even a...form.

A blank slate.

She knew this already.

Luxu looked down at it, giving a cough and a twirl of his Keyblade. "Right...you might want to take the clothes back home with you..."

Even stalked over to the Replica, picked it up gingerly, then carried it over to lay it down in a corner. He brushed off his hands and coughed into his fist as he turned back to them. "Xion can retrieve- that- all later."

Xion looked at him, blinking again. She blinked again. She opened her mouth-

She breathed in. She breathed again. And again, and again- into her mouth, past her teeth, down her throat, her chest expanding- her arms shaking-

"Xion? What's wrong?" Even was hurrying to her side, staring at her closely.

"I-" She stopped, choking. She raised a hand to her mouth. Down to the outside of her throat. She shook her head, then reached up to touch her short black hair. She gasped and jerked her hand back as strange feelings filled the tips of her fingers. She stared everywhere around her, the world spinning and dimming strangely. "I- I can't- I can't-"

"What's wrong with her?" Sora asked, alarmed, starting forward.

"It's all- everywhere- I-" Xion tried to say.

"Xion - focus, and breathe," Even spoke clearly to her, leaning forward.

"I can't, I can't, I can't-" Xion grasped at her neck, shaking her head and suddenly tumbling forward out of the chair. It hurt. Her face was hot, and her body was trembling...and then everything just...

She blinked, staring up at the ceiling...confused...?

Even was above her, staring down at her face...

"There you are," he said. "Please, just lay down and breathe, Xion. Alright?"

Xion frowned. She listened to him, though. He was a scientist, after all. He knew a lot. Everything. "What...happened to me?" she asked softly.

Even stared down at her still, silent. "You - fainted, Xion."

"What?" Xion said.

"Your body and vitals are perfectly normal," Even spoke on. "It was just - system overload. Sensory overload. Unlike the Nobodies, who are already possessed of merely converted and altered human bodies, the gulf between the levels of sensation for you was always going to be a far greater adjustment...and, apparently, shock. You fainted, Xion, because it all came to you at once, and your MIND couldn't process it all. Sort through it and filter it. Too much stimulation. Feedback. Truthfully, I should have expected this to happen - I should have accounted for it! But you- you do appear to be fine physically! Just...Just lay here, please, and focus on breathing. Go slowly."

Xion breathed in - she nodded. "Okay..." She clenched her teeth, flicked her tongue- stopped.

Even looked at her, apprehensive. Worried, still. He looked over at Sora, Riku - at Terra. "She's undoubtedly going to need time to...do that adjusting. When you take her back to your home world...you'll need to go slow with her. Watch her. Tell her- father that."

"I will," Terra said firmly, nodding.

Even stood slowly, looking over at Kana. "Well...you next, then. Unless you're going to run from the room and hide from me somewhere in the depths of the Water Purification Facilities."

Kana looked at Xion with fear and worry. She hesitated. Her hands reached up to stroke at her long, shimmering purple hair. "I don't hide...or run!"

"Of course you don't," Even said simply.

Kana strode over to Luxu, spreading her arms like Namine had. "Get it over with already. I'm already bored."

Luxu gave a small grin. "Sure. Okay." He did the procedure - and like Xion herself, Kana left a Replica behind!

Even moved Kana's empty Replica over to sit next to Xion's, straightening up and wiping his hands together.

Kana opened her eyes with a snap, sitting up quickly in the chair. She stared around her, then down at her own body. She raised a hand and ran it over her face, through her long purple hair. She poked her face, then her stomach. She jumped to her feet, wobbling. She tilted her head down at herself, raising her hands to put her palms over her chest.

"Don't be indecent!" Even exclaimed, lunging forward and pulling her arms down sharply.

"What? This body feels-"

"I'm sure it feels like many things," Even said firmly. "You can run experiments at your leisure - in my quarters. Upstairs. And remember to put on those shoes - or you'll regret it."

Namine was giggling loudly; Erin was laughing with her hand over her mouth.

"Oh, enough out of you both, please," Even snapped, rounding on them with a glare. "She needs no more encouragement!"

Kana pulled free of Even, staring at her wrists where he'd been holding them. She rubbed at them with her fingers, her mouth opening. "I know you said it was all going to be different, but I didn't actually believe you..." she breathed.

Even turned back to her. He stared at her. He nodded. "Yes, well, next time, hopefully you won't doubt my scientific opinion, will you? Now please, run along, up to your room. I'll be checking in on you shortly."

Kana hesitated. Then she grinned, twirling around on a heel and running from the lab.

"Thank goodness..." Even sighed with relief, a hand on his face.

"So, hey, what are you gonna do with those anyways?" Ven asked Even, staring at the Replicas. Xion's and Kana's.

"Well," Even began. "with Xion and Kana having vacated them, allowing them to revert to their base states, I may now be able to...adjust their builds and composition - to upgrade them, to be more in line with the latest models. Perhaps. Or...well, it never hurts to have spares in general."

Ven grinned. "So, you basically got two free ones out of this."

Even smiled too, nodding. "Yes, I suppose. Though, I'm under the assumption that we won't actually need them. Not these older versions, at any rate. Now then..." He looked to Terra, nodding. "Last one - unless you've changed your mind?"

Terra shook his head. "Not my mind - but he doesn't have much of a choice, either way. I have my body back now, but I want it to be completely mine again. No one else's."

"Very well, then." Even moved to retrieve the last Replica, setting it on the chair and stepping back again.

Terra strode up to Luxu, looking him in the eye. "When you're ready."

"Got it." Luxu hesitated, strangely, then he lifted his weapon. He pulled it backwards slowly, and a Heart came from out of Terra. He turned and aimed his Keyblade at the chair; the Heart flew over to it and vanished.

Golden light flashed from the Replica, then faded away.

Xion lifted her head to look at it better. Even glanced at her in disapproval.

There was a man sitting on the chair now. An older man, wearing a strange outfit with a long white coat over it. He had long, dark hair with grey in it, and two scars on his face. One was on his cheek, and the other was over an eye. He sat up slowly, blinking around himself. He looked down at himself, raising his hands. He stared into his palms, flexing his fingers. He gave a soft gasp. He put a hand to his chest, breathing in and out, his eyes closing again. "Hmm..." He opened his eyes, looking around at them all.

Then he looked to Terra, and to Ven.

His face showed happiness and relief - and then sadness and conflict. "Terra...Ventus..." Then he looked at Even, and said, "You should not have done this."

Even raised his eyebrows, his mouth opening. "Pardon? Surely you aren't saying you wish to remain a disembodied Heart?"

"Perhaps I should," the old man said, in a grave, rough voice. "This body - it is strong, magically-imbued - yet indistinguishably human. I feel decades younger already...and I am undeserving of it. My time is past."

"As long as there are still those out there committed to evil, powerful and great threats to the worlds," Terra began. "no, it's not. I told you before, Master: you're not getting off that easy. You're going to stick around, and you're going to try to make up for your mistakes - just like the rest of us. Take your second chance, Master. Don't let it go to waste."

The man - the master? Then this was Terra and Ven's Master, Eraqus? - looked up at Terra, surprise on his face. A small smile. Then he sighed and nodded. "You've grown far wiser than I...Master Terra. Wiser and stronger. It makes me unbelievably proud. Yet...I do not deserve to feel such for you, either. Not for you, not for Ventus, and not for Aqua. I have hurt all of you, my students, in terrible ways. Irreversible ways. And I am terribly...terribly sorry."

"Master..." Ven whispered, his eyes glistening as he started forward. "It's- it's okay..."

"No, it is not okay," Eraqus said, shaking his head. "Terra was right. Aqua was right. I should have had the strength to stand with you against evil, not against you myself. I acted in the worst of ways, the worst way any Master could...to raise my Keyblade against my own pupils..."

Ven reached the chair, and he threw his arms around the man. "Even- if that's true...it's okay now, isn't it?" he said emotionally. "We're all- you're here now. So just- forget about it, 'kay? We've got bigger stuff to worry about now anyways..."

"Ventus...you remarkable, wonderful boy..." Eraqus whispered, wrapping his arms around Ven. He closed his eyes, tears falling down his face. "I am so sorry."

"Not to break up an emotional moment," Luxu spoke quietly. "But how much do you know about everything that's been going on the last few months or so?"

Eraqus opened his eyes. He gazed at Luxu. Conflict on his face. "I know that you and I once explored a cave of wonders together, and ventured into an underworld together. That we spent many days and nights together, in a city on water."

Luxu's face flickered. He looked upset. Then sad. Then wary. Then...tired and strange. He nodded. "Pretty much everything, then?"

"Terra has told me much - and I've been watching through his eyes and listening with his ears, despite my best efforts to do otherwise," Eraqus responded slowly. "Though there are still spots that aren't quite clear to me. Missing information."

"I'm sure they'll fill you in," Luxu said quietly.

Eraqus held Luxu's gaze. "I'm sure they will."

Ven withdrew from Eraqus. He frowned. "Master - Master Luxu's okay. He saved me and my friends- from the end of the world. He's kept an eye on us all for a long time, and he's been nothin' but honest and good lately. He's- he means it. He's trying to prove himself. He already has, for some of us. He's done a lot already, for a lot of people. Good things."

Eraqus eyed Ven. He nodded slowly. "I trust your judgement, Ventus - more than I'd trust my own, at the moment," he said with a sigh.

"Sorry, but-" Erin suddenly spoke up, stepping forward from Riku's side. Her eyes were on Terra. "Before I leave, there's one thing I'd like to ask you."

"What is it?" Terra said, turning to her in surprise.

"I want to ask if you'd be willing to give me a Keyblade - the way you did for Riku."

"You want a Keyblade," Terra said, gazing down on her with calm - but surprise, all the same. He crossed his arms at her, scrutinizing her now. "You know I have to ask why."

"Because that sort of magic - that power - it's already done my people more good than we've managed in centuries," Erin began, speaking slowly, quiet and measured, as she looked up at him. Held his gaze. "You came in with that weapon and you FREED US - and led us to free a lot more of our people inside the capital, as well. I can't just ask you to come home with me, stick around, and keep doing all the work for us, can I? So, the solution, really, is for me to get one of my own."

"So you want this power...to protect your people - to save them."

"Yes. I want nothing more in this or any of these worlds!" Erin said passionately, now. "So please: can you help me do that, one more time?"

Terra continued to gaze at her. He let his arms fall away. "And that's all?"

"Well, there is something else..." Erin admitted, flushing slightly now, looking down. "I know that the Keyblade's not just for unlocking doors, or taking down barriers, is it? It can also 'unlock things' in the metaphysical sense, can't it? Hearts and the like?"

"It can, in the hands of a skilled wielder, yes. Is there a Heart in trouble somewhere that you want to free - or wake up again?"

"Not exactly. It's- it's OUR Hearts. My people's. My own." Erin hesitated. "Apart from the limits that the katani placed on our life with the Ethesi Hourglass, there was another way they shackled our Hearts, trying to control us. Pacify us. It's a separate curse - it's something in our bloodlines, passed down through the generations. It's far older, and it's not just on our bodies. It's...something no one's ever managed to break. But a Keyblade might be able to...to unlock our Hearts, and allow us to use a long-dormant power we have inside us."

Terra nodded, closing his eyes. "I've spent enough time with you to know you, Erin. You're observant, you're considerate and kind despite your circumstances, and you're also a smart girl. Your Heart is good, despite it all. You have wisdom as much as compassion. And if I had the power to just give you a Keyblade, right here and now, I would. But I can only do for you what I did for Riku: I can give you the potential to summon a Keyblade - but it might come to you tomorrow, or in a year, or even in five or ten years. You'll have to be the one to prove your Heart worthy - enough to call it to you."

"You cannot be considering this, Terra," Eraqus spoke, frowning as he sat up straighter in the chair. "The Keyblade is too powerful, and dangerous of a weapon in the wrong hands, to just go around giving to people and letting them loose in the worlds. If she's going to use the Keyblade, she needs to be brought in for training - to learn proper discipline, and responsibility, as a member of our order."

"You want a Keyblade, on the pronto? I can do it for you," Luxu spoke, striding over to Erin. "I've never actually done it for anyone before, but I know how to do it."

"You cannot-" Eraqus began.

Luxu stopped, gazing at him. He raised a hand, giving a flippant gesture. "Alright, look: unless you're planning on claiming a damn monopoly on the Keyblade, to be enforced on all the worlds by you and your specific little branch of warriors, you've got zero authority to say what others can and can't do with their own shit. If you want to try forcing me to abide by your Order's personal precepts, you're welcome to give it a shot. Otherwise: kindly stay out of it. It might shock you, but your school hasn't been around forever - and it's not the only one out there. I've seen a few, here and there, and let me tell you, they weren't half as dogmatic and restrictive as yours. Ease up a little and learn some tolerance, would you. It'll serve you better in the long run." He paused, hesitating. Then- "I don't know if you just got old, or what, but the Eraqus I knew was a far cry from the one of today."

"And the Bragi that I thought I knew was not at all the boy I thought he was," Eraqus responded, in a voice of tight anger.

Luxu nodded. "Yeah...yeah, he wasn't. And I take full ownership of that - just like you do your own monumental, fucked up mistakes. Question is, are you going to learn from yours, or keep banging your head at the same wall?"

Eraqus glared at him for a long moment. Then he dropped his head. "Do what you will, then..."

Luxu stepped up to Erin, raising a hand in front of her chest. A light flashed, filling the lab.

When it faded, Xion saw a beam of light and a shower of golden energy particles floating in the air in front of Luxu's hand. As she watched, it changed and became a solid weapon. A Keyblade.

It was silver and black - thin and long, with a slight curve to it. The end of the blade curved into a point, almost like a claw. The handle had twin guards on it that flared out on each side, with open bottoms, looking like flared, leathery wings. At the base of the blade, where it met the hilt, there was a decorated image of a sleek, scaly reptile head? A silver-scaled...something. The keychain dangling from the hilt was a long, curled tail of silver scales.

"There you go," Luxu said simply, grabbing the weapon out of the air, and then handing it over to Erin. "Now, about this hidden power of yours..." he added.

Erin simply looked at him, patient. Waiting.

Luxu set his hands on his hips, leaning forward suddenly. His face in hers. His eyes gazing into hers, up close now. After a moment, he straightened again. "With that Keyblade, and those eyes of yours - you're teyrsei, aren't you...?" he said quietly.

Erin frowned. Her eyes hardened. "What's it to YOU?" she said, an edge to her voice.

"It's nothing to me," Luxu said, holding up his hands to her. "I just know your world - a bit of the history there, between the teyrsei and the katani. And so, yeah, I can help you with this part, too. If it's really what you want. Because from what I know about it-"

"Just do it, then!" Erin interrupted swiftly, shooting a strange, almost panicked look at Riku. At all of them.

"Sure." Luxu summoned his own Keyblade again, raising it up slowly and aiming it at her chest. A moment passed, then a thin beam of light shot out from the end, striking Erin's chest. A white light flared from her body. Luxu dismissed his Keyblade and stepped away. "That should do it."

Erin looked own at herself. She raised a hand to her chest...

"But, I'll agree with Eraqus on one point, and I'll just give you this one warning: use it responsibly," Luxu spoke again. "If you do ever feel like going the Xehanort route, you can count on us being there to put the kibosh on any grand, evil plans looong before they start. Got it? No revenge killing sprees, no genocide, no dictatorships and appointing yourself empress of the universe - be smarter than that, keep your head on straight."

Erin gazed down at her weapon, looking it over. She looked up at him, meeting his gaze and holding it intently. "Understood. I will; that's a promise."

"Then you're good to go. Good luck."

"At least teach her how to summon and dismiss it before simply sending her off!" Eraqus spoke. "If this is just...going to happen like this, can we at least have some measure of- propriety? Responsibility?"

"You want to teach her, knock yourself out," Luxu told him, shrugging.

"Hey, how'd you do that?" Sora said. "You just pulled a Keyblade out of thin air - right on the spot! I thought that was impossible..."

"Forging a Keyblade is an ancient, high level Master skill that takes many years to learn," Eraqus stated. "I myself am capable of it...however, I have always believed it was best to only do the Rite of Succession, and let the Heart of your chosen naturally grow strong enough to call their Keyblade on their own - when they're ready for it."

"Yeah, sure, and sometimes you can't afford to just wait around for it to come to you," Luxu said idly.

Eraqus fixed him with a look.

Luxu looked back at him, until Eraqus finally looked away.

"Welp, now that we're done here, let's get going. Come on, Namine - Roxas - let's go home," Luxu said loudly. "We're cleared to go, aren't we?" he added, looking to Even.

"Yes, I suppose so," Even responded with a huff. "I'd have preferred to keep them all for at least 24 hours, but if needs must...Just be sure to come straight back here if anything seems to be - going awry."

"Of course." Luxu gave a big wave, then summoned another portal and walked through it. Roxas went in after him.

Namine stayed behind. She darted across the lab and seized up her old bundle of clothes, then turned and ran back for the portal, disappearing into it with a grin on her face.

Erin gazed at her weapon in her hand, then lowered it to her side. She looked to Eraqus, stepping forward. "I wouldn't mind learning a bit of the basics, I suppose, Master; I don't want to go around swinging this thing wrong, and end up taking someone's head off or something. You should always learn how to handle a new weapon properly."

Eraqus looked at her in surprise. He exchanged glances with Terra. Then he gave a small smile. He slowly stood up from the chair. He looked surprised, glancing down at himself. The he shrugged and focused on Erin again. "Well, you DO seem like a sensible girl. That's true, yes. But a Keyblade is more than just a weapon. It's a tool, and a symbol. And, more than that: it's a part of your Heart. It was forged within its depths, drawn out from it."

Erin looked at Eraqus with undivided attention, and focus. She nodded dutifully.

"Well...that's it for the first batch, then," Even said, with a wooshing of air. He ran a hand through his long blonde hair. He walked over to Xion, kneeling down beside her. "How are you feeling now?"

Xion blinked up at him rapidly. Her vision got all blurry. She wiped at her eyes-

"Don't do it so hard!" Even said swiftly, seizing her hand and pulling it away. "Are you trying to damage your eyes? They're delicate organs."

"Sorry..." Xion squeaked. She sat up, looking down at herself. She grabbed her shirt and lifted it up to wipe at her eyes - more gently. Softer.

"Better, I suppose," Even muttered out. "Do you think you can stand?"

"I- I don't know?" Xion admitted.

"Well...let's try, shall we? Posit a theory, and then conduct an experiment. A small scale experiment, mind you..." Even held his arm out to her, gazing at her face. Xion took his arm, and he pulled her up to her feet with him.

Xion let him go, stepping away. She looked around, breathing in and out. She blinked again. Then again...a lot. She wiped at her eyes with her shirt again.

Even sighed. "You, my dear, are going to need dry eye drops the rest of your little life..."

"What?"

Even smiled down at her thinly. "Nothing, nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Okay..."

"Now then..." Even looked to Terra. "If you'd take Xion home? She should get somewhere quiet and familiar as soon as possible. Somewhere she can take the time to simply...relax and adjust."

"Alright." Terra summoned his Keyblade, and created a portal. He moved over to Xion. "Are you ready?"

Xion nodded.

Sora came over to join her. So did Riku - and his friend, the girl, Erin, too.

But Kairi still wasn't here...

The person Xion wanted to be here more than anyone...

The one she needed to be here...

Xion's vision blurred again, and her throat hurt suddenly, and she blinked a lot!

"Oh dear, your first cry..." Even murmured, stepping in and putting a hand on her shoulder.

---

Many hours later, late into the night, a portal of light appeared twice over in the laboratory of Radiant Garden.

Two figures exited the first, and one, the second.

Amaya, and the younger and the current/older Xehanort, both.

Even stood on the other side of the lab, gazing at them with a tense expression. "I see you all made it here. Good."

Amaya nodded. She smiled at the man. "Thank you for agreeing to see us so late. I know it's been a long day for you."

"Well - I appreciate that - but a scientist is accustomed to working long hours into the night," Even said casually. "It's no trouble."

Young Xehanort's gaze fell to the floor - to the five, pristine white Replicas laying out in a line.

He looked to Amaya, then to Even, confusion on his young features. "Why are there five of them? I'd thought you were only going to bring...Urd, Hermod- and Vor...to this era. The fourth, of course, you insist on my using - though I'm doubtful as to whether I can even transfer over into it without my Heart being forced back into my proper time..."

"Your Heart will not be," Old Xehanort murmured, shaking his head at the youth. "Even absent an anchor, a Heart may remain in this time for a minute or two before being forced to return whence it came - long enough for you to transfer between vessels, and re-anchor yourself anew."

Young Xehanort glanced at his older counterpart. He raised an eyebrow. "Hm...well then. That still leaves the question of the fifth..."

Amaya gave a simple nod, gazing into Young Xehanort's eyes. "Yes, I did say that. Baldr would be too much of a risk, considering everything - and we know that Darknesses come with their hosts, even across time, as Ventus proved with his. And from your memories, the Upperclassmen indicated they were at peace in the afterlife. Bringing them back would disrupt that peace in a way I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate. And, honestly, at this point...it's likely they've moved on by now."

"Then who is the fifth?" spoke Old Xehanort, in quiet, rasping tones.

Amaya turned to him, meeting his golden-eyed gaze with a soft smile. "Someone very special, and very deserving of a second chance - at life, and...at so much else. This isn't just for you, it's for them...maybe even more so. Their life was cut short, and a promise was left unfulfilled. But I am going to fulfill it now, because it's become possible to see it so."

Amaya nodded to Even, who took up one of the Replicas and placed it into the white chair. She summoned her Keyblade, and raised it up before her. She breathed in, then out...

"You are going to summon this Heart across time, yourself?" Old Xehanort asked. "I was not aware you knew the technique. It is dreadfully complicated..."

"I've been spending the past week studying under Master Luxu," Amaya stated. "He says he's confident I can pull it off now."

"Hm..." Old Xehanort hummed, eyeing her closely now.

Amaya focused, her Keyblade glowed with a blue light...and then the air around the Replica began to swirl and distort.

A central vortex formed, translucent, and a Heart emerged from it into the lab. Amaya let her Keyblade dip a few inches, and the Heart dropped down to enter the Replica from above.

Both Xehanorts stared as the Replica began to morph and take a new, defined, true human form.

Amaya lowered her Keyblade with a confident, soft-spoken smile on her face, her brown eyes glinting.

The light faded from around the Replica, completing its transformation into a flesh and blood, human body.

It now held the appearance... of a woman. Tall and slender, with fair skin, and long, voluminous dark hair that hung all the way down past her waist. Long, blunt bangs fell down above her eyes. And a long, thick lock of hair was hanging down the other side of her face to reach past her shoulder, making for a lopsided, but not aesthetically unpleasant sight. She wore a long, sleeveless white dress with golden trim, and a lace collar and hem. She looked thirty or so years of age. She looked like Skuld. She looked like...

The woman stirred. Her eyes slowly opened, blinking blearily, confusedly.

Pretty, silver eyes.

Exactly the same as the ones held by Young Xehanort.

"It cannot be..." Old Xehanort rasped, turning to stare at Amaya. "You..."

Young Xehanort stepped forward, on a shaking leg. "Mo..." Whether the word was to be one or the other, it died in his throat. His silver eyes were locked to the woman on the chair, glistening. Vibrating in their sockets.

Amaya moved forward as well - going to the other woman's side. "Moreth..." she whispered. "How do you feel? Is there any pain, strangeness?"

The woman sat up slowly, her eyes sliding over to Amaya's face. They blinked, widening. Her mouth opened wide, in an "O". "Is that you...Amaya?" her voice came, soft, breathy, and shaking. And confused. But it was her voice, exactly as Amaya remembered it, after all these years and decades...

Amaya smiled. She reached out a hand, touching the other woman's shoulder. "Yes. I've been reborn again. Apparently the World saw fit to give me a third chance. And I found a way, during my third chance, to give you a second one. To fulfill the promise I made to you...when I agreed to take over the care of your son."

"Xehanort!" the woman exclaimed, in a high, gasping voice. Her hand flew up to grasp Amaya's, staring into her eyes. "My son - the Darkness - they found me, they wanted to know-"

"I know - it's okay - he's safe, he's fine," Amaya said swiftly. "It almost found him once, and it did find him again, later, but he's alive - he's safe. He came out of it fine."

"My son, my baby, where-" The woman swept her gaze across the room wildly, expecting to see him there as well.

Which, of course, he was.

Her silver eyes found Young Xehanort. His silver hair, his face. His identical eyes. It took only an instant of recognition.

"Xehanort..." she breathed again, as she suddenly rose off of the chair and hurried forward. She almost tripped on her way over to him, slamming into him and closing her arms around him.

Young Xehanort stood rooted to the spot, incomprehensible emotions raging across his face. Chief among them seemed to be plain shock, to Amaya's eyes, however.

His older self gazed at the sight, with conflict and longing and perhaps even envy...then he turned away and shut his eyes, placing his hands behind his back.

After a long time, the woman withdrew. She gazed into Young Xehanort's face, tears falling down hers. An immense sorrow twisted her features. "I knew I was going to miss so much of your life, that I was giving up so much to protect you, but this...? How long...? And why can't I remember anything from after the Darkness...?" She trailed off, looking to Amaya.

"It's been...a much longer time than you'd think it has," Amaya spoke, slow and careful. "It will take a long time to explain it all to you. But the basics are that you, and Xehanort, are both out of time. He was brought here from another time, several months ago - and so were you, now, just today. You, specifically, were brought here...from the moment you disappeared from the World. After this Darkness struck you down. This allows you to continue to live and exist in this World, in a new era - a second chance to continue the life that was cut short."

Moreth's lower lip wobbled, her eyes fluttering long, pristine lashes. She seemed to be...processing. She still looked extremely confused and almost dazed...

Amaya almost thought the woman was going to faint.

Moreth turned back to face Young Xehanort - her eyes gazed into his face - and then she did.

She dropped. Straight down. Crumpling on the floor very ungracefully.

Amaya couldn't even have moved fast enough to catch her. But she was racing forward in an instant, throwing out a hand and a Healing circle of Curaga magic around the other woman. Even moved swiftly as well, coming to check on the woman with hand and fingers, touching at her neck and wrist, his mouth twisting.

Young Xehanort took a half-step away. Then another. He drew a breath, looking to his older self. The older man's gaze was fixed to her fallen form, his golden eyes wide with fear and worry.

"Is she alright?" Young Xehanort spoke out, demanding.

Even looked at Amaya. Then, at Young Xehanort. "Y-yes - it was only a fainting spell. Any minor injuries will have been taken care of by the-"

The woman suddenly opened her eyes again, drawing a shuddering breath. She stared up at Amaya - then, to Even. She blinked.

"There? You see?" Even told Young Xehanort, looking down at the woman. "There you are, Ms...Moreth? How are you feeling? You just suffered a dizzy spell. No - lie down - don't try to get up again so soon!"

The woman fell back again, frowning deeply. "Where's Xehanort...where's my...my son?"

"Right over there," Even said, indicating.

Moreth turned her head, and her face broke over with a trembling smile. Her silver eyes lit up with unbridled joy.

"Now then," Amaya said quietly. "I think there are still three more people who you've been waiting a very long time to see again. Let's not keep them waiting, Xehanort."

"Are you- certain of this...?" Old Xehanort spoke, just as quiet. Hesitant. Afraid, even, in those golden eyes, that quivering voice, aged and raw. "They will be..."

"Won't you be there to help them?" Amaya replied, gazing at him squarely.

The aged Xehanort's mouth parted. He closed it again, looking down and aside.

---

Aqua landed on the ground at the base of the cliff, bending her knees and exerting magical power that sent a shockwave of dust out around her in all directions.

She rose to her feet again, pulling the hood of her cloak back up into place with trembling hands, and then started off into the open plains of dirt once more.

She had hardly gone a few feet when a wall of flames suddenly rose up in front of her - and then it traveled around her, encircling her.

A pillar of flames rose up from the ground, revealing Natsumi.

Her body shed streams and patches of flames, as her hand pulled her sword from its sheath and held it out before her vertically - down low, in a battle stance.

"I'm sure you have your reasons for doing what you did up there - but I think I deserve a little honesty from you," Natsumi spoke, in slow, dangerous tones. "So tell me, Miss Aqua: who am I traveling with?"

Aqua stared into the woman's eyes. She looked at the fires all around her. She looked up, up along the cliffside...to the airship docks above. Where she imagined soldiers and mages would be coming down on her from, soon enough...

Aqua returned her gaze to Natsumi - meeting her eyes. Her lips parted - closed. Then, she swallowed, and bit out the words on dry air and dust, her voice rough and harsh.

"The Crown Princess of Zitol."

Natsumi gazed at her. She blinked her red eyes, the danger bleeding from them. Her sword lowered.

"Oh, dear..." Her glistening lips curved. "Aren't you complicated."

The woman flicked her blade and twisted it around, then stabbed it back into her sheath in a sharp, precise motion. The flames died away, and she shifted her stance. She looked up along the cliff - then gave Aqua a nod. She reverted to her true from, and bowed her head to Aqua.

Aqua stepped forward on shaking legs, and climbed up atop her back.

Natsumi turned with her, and took off across the world immediately, in blazing winds and fires.

Aqua fell forward, clinging to the woman's form, closing her eyes and exhaling in pure, shaking relief.

"Thank you..." she whispered.

Chapter 22: Setting New Courses

Young Xehanort watched as Keyblade Master Luxu emerged into the dimly lit, quiet laboratory from a portal of light, his Keyblade in his hand already, accompanied by Amaya...as well as...Eraqus.

After moving Young Xehanort successfully into the latest version of the Replica vessels, the woman had gone to fetch the Old Master, for what was to come next, professing that she thought he'd be a better choice for bringing back Xehanort's- lost friends, considering his personal ties to them, and greater experience with the power over time. But, apparently, she'd gone to another place as well, to get...

Young Xehanort and his older self alike both stared at the man...though the former, because he'd last known him as a much younger...

"I still can't believe my eyes..." came an aged, yet familiar voice, shaking with emotion. Dark eyes stared back at Young Xehanort. The man strode forward...a smile breaking out over his face, and those eyes lit up, and suddenly it was-

Young Xehanort's hand was being seized, and then he was pulled into the second unwilling hug of the night. He felt the raw, powerful emotions radiating from the man, into his own Heart, immense sorrow, grief, joy and affection-

"Xehanort..." the man's voice breathed, cracking at the end.

"E-Eraqus...you really have gotten old," Xehanort murmured, his lips trembling. He felt his eyes stinging - ridiculous, after all, in the time he came from, the man was alive and well (but was the bond still there, or had it been severed that day?)... He squirmed and fought, pushing at the man, gasping. "If you strangle me hard enough, I'll disappear, you know..." he got out painfully.

The man released him immediately, pulling away. He stared into his face - tears falling now down his own. He laughed, rich and true. "I'm sorry," he said, ragged. His face turned somber. "I'm sorry, Xehanort..." He turned his gaze to Old Xehanort. "For all of it."

His older self's mouth parted, surprise and confusion on his face. "What do you possibly have to be sorry for...?" he spoke lowly.

Eraqus's lips quivered. He blinked slowly, shedding more tears. "I broke our promise, Xehanort. Remember? I'd promised you that if you got lost somewhere in the dark, that I'd dive in to rescue you...and pull you back out of it again. Yet for all these years, as you sank and sank to the very bottom...I did nothing to stop it. I didn't swim out to you, and I did not rescue you when I could have. I remained in Land of Departure, secluded, isolated. While you traveled these worlds, I...I'd given up on my dreams. After everything that happened...you were not the only one who broke that day, my friend. And because I was broken, I couldn't be there to see that there were pieces of you that needed picking up, sticking back together again. If I had...I am so sorry. If I had been a better, truer best friend, perhaps things wouldn't have ended the way they did. You would not have gone down the path you did. I share the blame in that..."

Old Xehanort looked genuinely speechless. His eyes glinted. His mouth moved wordlessly, for a moment. Then he closed his eyes, bowing his head. "Ah, Eraqus...but I am the one who broke his promise. I told you that when the world chose its defender, I would still be there for you. Suffice it to say, I betrayed that promise in the most terrible way. A way I-" He stopped. He choked. He clenched an aged fist at his side. He opened his eyes, meeting Eraqus's. "-a way I regret, truly. I...I am the one...who is- sorry, old friend."

"Perhaps what we both need now...is to do better than we did," Eraqus spoke softly. "All those years wasted, that vast divide growing between each other..." He looked to Young Xehanort. "To have a precious few of them back..."

"Yes..." Old Xehanort said simply, in tones just as soft. He turned his head, looking to Young Xehanort. "Are you listening, boy? Do not stray; stay to the path - stay...with him. With all of them. You do not comprehend...what it is to live so long without them. With nothing. Yet here you stand, with a chance to have...everything. Do not squander it...for our sakes."

Young Xehanort stood there, staring at his older self. He looked to Eraqus. To Amaya. Then... He glanced across the room, to the dark-haired woman who still looked so...lost and confused. She was sitting on the floor, her legs under her. Mo- Moreth didn't seem to have a good handle on all of this. He'd been worried about her fainting again, when Amaya had done her best to elaborate on things that- that Moreth had had questions about. It wasn't an in-depth explanation by any stretch, but it had been more than the extremely limited, initial explanation Amaya had given...

He clenched his trembling hands at his sides. He closed his mouth thinly...and he nodded to the older version of himself. "I...I will- do my best?" he said haltingly.

"Very well..." Old Xehanort replied, turning away again. Yet Eraqus moved to his side, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Old Xehanort looked at him - and then he simply allowed it to be, a small smile coming to his face, as he turned his focus to the Replicas.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road," Luxu spoke, giving his weapon a spin and aiming it forward - at all three Replicas remaining, where they lay on the floor. He bowed his head, his eyes narrowing.

For a moment, nothing at all happened. Then-

The air twisted around the Replicas, and Hearts appeared above them. Luxu directed them down into each individual Replica, lowering his weapon after they'd merged successfully.

Young Xehanort glanced at his older self; his eyes were fixated upon the Replicas, an aged face full of emotions.

Young Xehanort felt them himself, in that moment, of course - anticipation, fear, hope...but...

The Replicas flared to life and light, taking shape and form - familiar shapes and forms...ones that Young Xehanort hadn't seen in only a handful of years, yet still seemed like a lifetime ago...A time before this drab, numb state, when he'd been so happy and the world had been bright, not grey and dark...

A boy with curly, dark blue hair, wearing traditional garb of a Keyblade wielder in training...

A tall, thin girl, of grey hair styled in a ponytail, with two long tresses hanging down either side of her face, and amber eyes. Hair not quite the same color as his own, and eyes not quite the same shade as Skuld's...

And lastly, there was-

A short, small girl - who could be mistaken for one years younger than her actual age - with dirty-blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. She wore the traditional clothing of a trainee, but with a velvet, ornate cloak over top it. The arm sleeves were too big for her, hiding her hands...

Hermod and- Urd- woke first, it seemed, sitting upright with small gasps of confusion. They looked at one another, then around themselves. Their eyes found the others in the room.

"What happened?" Hermod said, nonplussed. "We were in that dark tunnel, trying to find our way out of it-"

"And we didn't," Urd said quietly, shaking her head, her amber eyes downcast. "We fell. It was too late, it was in our armor, in our Hearts, we were weakening..."

Urd's gaze roamed them all again. Then her eyes widened, as she closely looked at Eraqus - and Young Xehanort. "Xehanort...? What's...going on? What- you look older?"

"It's a...very long and convoluted story," Young Xehanort sighed, striding forward and getting down on his knees before her. The three of them. He gazed at her, at Hermod, for a long moment. His gaze fell to land on Vor, laying on her side.

Urd and Hermod looked too, staring.

"Vor? Is she alright?" Urd asked.

"You really have to fill us in here, Xehanort," Hermod spoke, looking at him, beseeching.

"Have a little patience, would you." Young Xehanort gave a soft, small laugh. He turned from them, reaching out to lay a shaking hand on Vor's small figure. "Vor..." he whispered, quavering. "You can wake up now. You are...where you belong again. With your...your friends."

The girl stirred - emotions drifted from her, into Xehanort's Heart. She turned over, and sat up, blinking around her. "Urd? Hermod! And- Xehanort...? Wait, what's going on...? Why do you look so... Where's Baldr, and the others?! We were fighting him...and he-!"

Young Xehanort stared into her face, and then he moved forward and pulled her into an embrace. "It's alright, Vor...everything is- alright now...I- I promise you. Okay?"

"Wait a second, if you're Xehanort...don't tell me that old guy is Eraqus," Hermod said slowly, pointing.

Eraqus gazed back at Hermod, slowly stepping forward. He fell to the floor, his face shifting. Then, he laughed. Laughed as much as he cried, all over again. "I'm sorry to have to say yes to that, believe me..."

"What is this?" Urd said, frowning. "With your ages, and this place we've never seen before...we had to have traveled through time somehow. It's the only thing that fits. But how...and why? And what was Vor talking about? What happened to Baldr? Why was she...fighting him?"

"As Xehanort said," Eraqus began. "It's a very long and convoluted story. But one we're going to tell you. But first, why don't we take some time to...get you settled into this new World. We don't want to overwhelm you, but...there are some people I'd like you to meet."

"Yeah? Who?" Hermod said eagerly.

Eraqus gave a small grin. "My apprentices."

Hermod, Urd, and even Vor all stared at him.

Then-

"No way - YOU?!"

"Are you joking again, Eraqus?"

"You really became a Keyblade Master...?"

Eraqus placed a hand on his heart, looking between the three friends. "I did, yes - I'm not joking, Urd. Though, I confess I haven't been a very good one..."

"That sounds more like what I'd expect from some future Eraqus," Hermod nodded.

Urd looked to Young Xehanort, tilting her head. "What about you? You look a lot younger than Eraqus, but...you must have become one, too. That's more what we'd all expect."

Young Xehanort looked at her. He frowned. He sat back with a sigh, shaking his head. "I...I'm afraid I don't make a very good one in the future, either. In fact, I-" He looked to his older self. "-I was the worst."

"Worse than Eraqus? How is that possible?" Hermod said quickly.

Eraqus put a hand up - and the other, onto Young Xehanort's arm. "This...isn't going to be a joke. But we'd like you all to listen to the full story, before passing judgement."

Vor smiled at him, and then at Young Xehanort. "We're all ears - Eraqus! It's still so weird and unbelievable!"

"Oh, it gets more unbelievable," Young Xehanort said dryly.

---

Vanitas lingered in the empty, barren house on the end of the street, on the edge of the city of Monstropolis.

He sat down against a wall, closing his eyes.

He didn't sleep - sleep was for pussies - but he did like to enter a hibernation state when he wasn't doing anything else important.

If anyone disturbed him, he'd just cut them down and find somewhere else to stay for a while...

He relaxed, truly, to himself alone, letting his mind wander...

The world faded away, and darkness cloaked all.

Nice, comforting, endless darkness...

He sank into it, a secretive smile on his face.

The blissful silence, the endless void...

Soon, memories started to fill the darkness. Images, and sounds, that passed by.

A sprawling town with a tall clocktower of double towers, with a bell hanging from it...

A dark, empty warehouse - a girl wandering alone, oblivious...

He struck out at her in an instant, from shadows, using his entire body mass to push and rip through her body and withdraw again...

He appeared in the study room, facing the gaggle of sword-wielding children, who thought they could actually defeat him - like they stood a chance...

The dark-haired one with the hat, the silver-haired boy...

Years in the Graveyard. That old man's words ringing in his ears; blade and magic cutting and blasting at him, tearing at him for every little mistake, every slip-up - and sometimes for no damn reason at all. Just because the guy seemed to enjoy it...

The Nobody, with the face of Terra, lifting him up and binding him, slamming those energy blades of red into his form - the burning, sizzling pain and agony...

Again and again and again, on a loop through his mind, swirling in the void-

Vanitas tore his way back into the waking world, gasping and sweating, tearing off his helmet and hurling it across the room with a yell.

He fell forward, slamming his fists to the ground.

Goddammit, dammit, dammit, DAMMIT...

"Stop it!" he snarled at himself. "You're not that pathetic..."

Darkness swirled around his body, then streamed off of him, curving into the air.

Huh? Vanitas raised his head, looking at it in confusion.

The darkness swirled in the air, and puffs of smoke and shattering crystal fragments burst around him. Out of the smoke came these...weird things. They looked humanoid enough, but...

Well, they looked like fucking rip-offs of him!

They were humanoid Heartless, with glowing red eyes, wearing black coats that ended in purple patterns and trimming, near the bottoms of the sleeves and the lower portions of the coats.

He remembered looking like that, for a brief time, near the start of his new existence, after Xehanort had ripped him out of Ventus's Heart against his will...but then, of course, he'd changed...because of Sora...

Vanitas rose to his feet, summoning his Keyblade and gritting his teeth, staring at them all.

There were six of them total.

Purple smoke puffed in the room, near the floor, and a little...thing appeared. A thing he recognized from old memories. A cat-like being, with a little cape, purple fur, and red eyes. Wasn't it called a...Chirithy, or some shit?

"The hell is all this about?" Vanitas spoke out, staring.

The six black coat monsters turned away from him to face the Chirithy - revealing strange emblems on their backs. Something he'd never seen before.

"I just came by to collect some dreams - create a few nightmares," the Chirithy spoke, in a high, annoying voice. "You're an interesting one, aren't you?" they said, leveling a stubby arm at him. "So much pure darkness...and so many bad memories. You're perfect for making powerful new nightmares!"

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you stay the hell out of my head!" Vanitas snapped. "Get lost, freak, before I cut you down."

The little Chirithy thing giggled. "But I'm not done with you yet."

"Yes you are."

Vanitas slashed his weapon out, sending a half-moon of blue energy forward.

It slammed into the dark coat monsters, taking them back across the room and through the wall, into the next room. The ceiling came down between them, and dust flew up. Vanitas lunged at the little creature alone now, slashing down with burning flames.

The Chirithy vanished in a puff of smoke and a cry of shock.

Vanitas's blade slammed down on the floor, causing a small explosion of wood in his own face.

He breathed heavily, staring at the ground in confusion and disbelief.

Slowly, he straightened again.

What was that little-

Red lines of energy pulsed and flew across the floor toward him, catching his attention. Red claws of energy flew up around him, aiming to curve in and pierce him!

Vanitas flickered and teleported away, reappearing nearby.

The six cloaked monsters popped up out of the ground, twirling in the air to face him before landing again.

What. The hell?!

The cloaked monsters wrapped themselves in darkness and flew at him again.

"Fuck this!" Vanitas exclaimed, shrouding himself in darkness of his own, and vanishing into a Dark Corridor completely.

---

On the play island, across the bridge, on the sandy plateau of palm trees and bushes, two figures sat on a horizontal tree trunk.

A boy of long silver hair in a blindfold, and a girl of short black hair and glowing pink eyes.

"And I thought there was never going to be a sunset that could beat Twilight Town's..." Erin's voice came to Riku, thick with emotion. Joy and awe. "Your world's just might have done it."

Riku smiled to himself, picturing the image in his mind's eye - memories he'd gotten too used to...never really appreciated anymore, as life had gone on... "They are pretty great, aren't they."

"It's amazing..."

"Hey, so, you didn't drag me all the way up here - away from the others - so you could kiss me again, did you?"

"What? No!" Erin's voice exclaimed. Then, she paused. "Is that...something that's been bothering you? I- I'm sorry, really, for that, Riku! If I took something from you, or made you feel- of course you'd have felt pressured, what am I saying! A dying girl just up and says her last request was for a damn kiss-!" she went on quickly, stumbling.

"Hey, Erin, come on - I was just trying to make a dumb joke!" Riku said quickly, holding up his hands. "I was completely on board with the whole kiss thing, alright? I was happy to- help you...with that. To give you something you wanted, that- that you were never going to get a chance to get. I mean, yeah, it helped that you were pretty, and that you obviously thought I was good-looking too, but that wasn't why I-"

"So those feelings back then were mutual? Really? And you were really all right with the kiss?"

"Yes! I don't regret it, and- and I don't want you to think you- like you forced me into it or something. Do you really think I wouldn't have pushed you away, or said no, if I felt that way?" Riku stumbled out. "I've never lacked the ability to do that; in fact, that's sort of been my whole problem...keeping people out, instead of letting them in..."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I don't want you to ever...worry about that, or feel bad about it, okay? You've got no reason to. Not at all."

There was a long, heavy silence. Then- "Alright. I believe you."

"Good. So...why did you bring me up here?"

"I just wanted to give you a more private goodbye, before heading home to my world."

"Is it another kiss?" Riku joked.

"You're sure bringing it up a lot; do you want another kiss?" Erin retorted, surprise in her voice, as much as the teasing. "You can just ask - I'll be glad to give you one again, believe me. I wouldn't regret it, either."

Riku sat there, frozen. A part of him actually, stupidly considering saying "yes" - and not even as a joke this time. But all the other parts of him had another opinion. The worst parts, that said he didn't deserve it. That said she shouldn't waste that kind of affection on a guy like him... "Not when my- friends are probably watching us!" was what actually won out in his brain, blurted out in a whiny, weak, pathetic tone that made him wince at himself. It was true: Terra, and Xion, and Sora were hanging out on the play island's beach together, not far from the plateau.

Erin laughed wonderfully, however, and gave him a pat on the arm. "Alright, then. If you're not comfortable, I won't, and that's the end of it." She paused. Then- "But, just so you know, if you ever come by my world again, the offer's still going to be open to you."

"I'll pay you a visit sometime - but, uh, as a friend," Riku agreed hastily.

"Friends who kiss?"

"As long as...no one else was looking - sure?" Riku flushed.

"You're lucky I know you're from another dimension; any other girl like me who heard that from a guy would think you were ashamed to be seen in public with filthy teyrsei scum," Erin said, casual and amused, despite the actual subject matter.

"Hey, I still don't even know what a teyrsei is!" Riku protested.

Erin laughed again, leaning over and putting her head on his shoulder. She slipped her arm through his, hugging herself to his body. "And that's why I'm not getting all offended and punchy with you about it. I know I'm your friend - not your dirty little secret."

"Great...I'm glad. You have a mean punch."

"That'd be because I'm teyrsei."

"Alright, are you going to be cryptic, or actually tell me? Is it a nation, or - like a race - or is it something to do with your eyes all being the same color?"

Erin shook her head, nuzzling it into his arm in the process. "Not here - not today. Come by my world for that visit, and you'll learn more about it, okay? I'll explain it all to you, if you really want to know."

"It doesn't really matter to me either way," Riku said. "I don't care who or what you are, or anything like that. All I care about is...that you're you. And that I- like you."

"I like you, too. You're a good guy, Riku. Don't ever doubt that, please..."

"Sure..."

"You're doing it right now, aren't you."

"No..."

Silence.

Riku sighed. "Maybe."

Erin let him go with a sigh, sitting up straight again. "It's alright. I suppose we've both got some things we need to work on, don't we?"

"I guess," Riku agreed, muttering.

"Hey - remember what I said. Don't just sit around moping: get out there and do something about it."

"Yeah...sure..."

"I mean it!"

"I know! Fine - I'll...figure something out. Happy?"

"Yes," came her reply, entirely serious - and he heard the truth of the smile in that one word. "Thank you, Riku...for being such a great friend. For bringing me back like this - saving me. For sheltering me. I'm never going to forget it."

"Neither will I..." Riku murmured, flushing.

He felt her fist smack into his arm. "Okay, you...! I get the hint. I'll just enjoy the sunset."

"You do that," Riku said, a grin coming to his face.

She deserves it.

---

After hours in his room, after the night came and fell...

Riku sighed, swinging his legs off his bed and sitting up.

He placed a hand over his chest, breathing. Feeling...

He screwed up his non-working eyes against the darkness, gritting his teeth.

Erin was gone now - back to her world. Back where she belonged. To begin a personal journey - her own war, fought against the world around her, and...maybe fought within herself.

He heard her voice in his head, coming back to him...

"Don't just sit around moping: get out there and do something about it."

Riku took those words into his Heart like a mantra, rising to his feet. He drew a breath, stretched his arm out, and reached for the darkness in his own Heart.

He conjured a swirling dark portal in the middle of his own room.

He let his arm fall, clenching it into a fist at his side.

He just couldn't stay here anymore. Sitting around, doing nothing...

He had a journey to take, too.

One he'd begun months ago, with the help of Sora, and Kairi, and Terra. One he'd left unfinished, since coming back home to sit around on his butt like this.

The road he was going to walk might stretch on without end...but he'd keep walking it, even if he never found that end.

Like Terra had said: it might take the rest of his life to ever find atonement...to make up for it all. It wasn't just something you went out and did over a weekend and called it good - not for what Riku had done in this World. What he'd helped Maleficent do to them...

I guess I'd better get started, then. Sorry mom - dad - Sora...Terra. If I could still write, I'd actually be smart and leave a note for you guys, believe it or not - tell you not to freak out, or worry...explain why I have to do this. Haha...too bad. Just another stupid choice in a long line of them. Typical me...

Riku walked into the portal without another moment's hesitation.

He didn't know where he was going, or what he was going to do (and he wasn't even confident in his abilities to navigate these worlds, all on his own, even with magical extra senses), but...

He just knew he had to do it.

Chapter 23: Dealing With the Unknown

Xion sat in the tub, her knees drawn in and her head down. Her eyes were closed tight.

She reached up and pulled hair strands from her face. She'd never had to do that before.

The water from the shower head hit her back. Hard and hot.

She breathed in and felt the warm steam in her chest.

The world went dizzy again...

Dad had come to spend time with her earlier - he had helped her with things earlier - but she was on her own now.

Why did human bodies need so much- so much- what was a word Even would use...? A sciency word...?

Why did human bodies need so much...maintenance? That sounded like a good word. A right word.

She'd watched Kairi dry and brush her hair and body in their room before - but she'd never had to do any of it herself. Kairi had joked a lot of times, saying she was jealous of Xion...

Xion thought she was jealous of her old self now, too.

It was so much simpler and easier, next to all the things Kairi always was doing...

Even would say all humans had to do them. Probably something about how it was some big, connected system and how amazing it was.

Xion just thought it was too much. Overwhelming. And...annoying.

Why couldn't she just go and walk where she wanted and not worry about anything else? All she'd ever had to really worry about was clothes, and not not wearing them in front of anyone else. But now she had...all this stuff...

Soap and shampoo and conditioner and brushes and combs, and not eating food when it was too hot, or bumping into things because it actually hurt now, and not being too hot or too cold because either one was bad for you, and trying to remember to blink all the time now, and to breathe...

And the way her blankets felt now, and the way grass smelled, and how her clothes sat on her and squeezed at her arms in places, or her neck, or how her legs moved together under her skirts and it was all just so annoying now!

There was just- so much- everywhere. All the time.

Bugs made her itch, crying made her eyes sting and her nose make a huge mess, and her throat would hurt...

She hated crying, she thought!

Sounds in her ears made her flinch, almost hurting her head sometimes. She'd had to cover her ears a few times already to block it out!

And it wasn't just hot or cold food - it was the way the food felt in her mouth! On her tongue. It all felt different, and some of it made her- well- she puked at dinner the other day... Ice cream and candy shivered down her throat, making her tremble. Sweet things made her mouth go all tight and her face scrunched up.

It was also that she had to eat food at all now! Everyone said three times a day - breakfast, lunch, dinner. But Sora had secretly told her some people only ate twice a day...which could be better...

But dad, and Sora's mom, were making her eat all three meals!

She was too scared to try to argue...

She puked a few more times, and she felt mad at them for it.

She wanted Kairi back...she wanted her sister back...

She couldn't do any of this without her! Kairi would know how to talk to her, how to explain to her, how to help her...

Kairi would probably help her go behind the adults' backs on a few things, too, without getting caught...

Kairi would tell her about things and ideas Xion had never even thought of on her own.

Kairi was strong and tough and she'd tell Xion she was strong and tough too, and Xion would believe her.

Xion cried again, noises escaping her mouth without her wanting them to, and she hated herself for it.

When the water started getting cold, she stood up and got out of the bath. She grabbed a towel and pulled it around herself, pulling open the door and walking out into the hallway of Sora's house. She walked down it for the stairs, near the front door.

She heard footsteps as she turned on to the stairs to go up them. Sora came racing down the hall on the second floor, stopping at the top when he saw her.

His face went all weird and pink as he gasped and spun around, putting his hands over his face. "U-uh- X-Xion-"

"What?" Xion frowned, stopping in the middle of the stairs, her hand on the wooden rail. She liked how it felt, at least.

"U-ummm...y-you're supposed to hold the towel a little higher up...you know?" the boy stammered out, still not looking at her.

Xion looked down at herself, at the towel around the middle of her body. "Did I not do it right?"

"Uh- n-not really, no...you need to hold it up more- more like- chest height? Got it? Wrap it under your armpits."

"Why?" Xion said. She frowned deeper. "You don't," she added.

"Well - uh - yeah, cause I'm a guy...and- you're a- you know, a girl...it's different, alright?"

"Why is it different?"

"Well- uh- ask...my mom to explain it to you. Just uhhh- please do it?"

Xion clenched her fist, then yanked the towel all the way up and closed it again. "Okay. Is this right?"

Sora slowly turned around, like he was afraid to look at her. He peeked through his fingers. Then he sighed and dropped his hands. "All good now! Yup! Good job."

Xion sighed too, starting up the stairs again. "I thought I did it right..."

"Sorry...but - you're okay now. It's all still new, it's going to take a little practice - a few tries! I didn't learn all this stuff instantly, either, you know. Nobody does," Sora replied, smiling at her. "I mean, I was really little back then, but...my mom has pictures of it all. She could tell you some funny stories. Embarrassing for me, but - funny for her."

Xion smiled back a little as she came to the second floor. "I guess..."

She walked past him, heading into the small guest room that was hers now.

She closed the door when she got inside, wanting to do one thing right and not get shouted at for it. She winced as the door closed too fast and hard, making a loud noise.

She felt anger and frustration in her chest, and she tore the towel off and threw it away. She stalked over to her nightstand and pushed all her newly restarted seashell collection off of it. Then she threw herself down on the bed and curled up, hugging her legs. She couldn't even use a towel right!

She needed Kairi back so, so badly...

She lay there for a long time, trying not to just start crying again.

She failed at that, too...

Eventually she fell asleep.

It just...happened now. No magic spell needed.

She guessed that was the only nice thing about being a real girl now, really...

It did feel nice, being in her bed, and just falling asleep like that. And when she woke up again...she didn't want to ever get up.

But she knew she had to.

So she sat up again, looking around in the dark and quiet.

She went to turn on her light and got dressed in her pajamas, then went to stand at the window.

She looked out at the beach. She looked up at the night sky.

The stars.

Which one was Kairi on now? Where was she...?

Xion sat down at the small desk, putting her arm on the table and calling her Keyblade in a flash.

Kairi's Keyblade.

She stared at it for a long time.

She must have stared at it for a really long time, because she fell asleep again.

She wasn't sure when she did...

She just knew she was suddenly waking up again with her head in her arms, on the desk, and the sun from the window was warming her hair and hurting her eyes.

She sat up and yawned loudly, then did her best to stand up. Her legs and arms hurt and felt weird, and her neck was tight and hurting too!

She raised a hand and cast Cure as hard as she could: the feelings went away, leaving her pleased.

She left her room and went downstairs. She found Sora in the kitchen, sitting with his head down, looking sad. "What's wrong?" she asked.

He startled, looking over at her. He frowned deeply. "It's Riku...he's...gone."

"Gone?"

"Yeah...his mom said she went to check on him this morning and he wasn't there! So she came over here, thinking he was with me - he usually is, I mean - but...obviously he wasn't this time. So...no one knows where he is." Sora sank down in his chair, his arms hanging. He let his head fall again.

Kairi was gone...and now Riku was too?

"What should we do?" Xion asked quietly, still standing in the entryway.

Sora looked up at her again. Then his sad face became...determined. He jumped to his feet, clenching a fist. "We go and find him! Him and Kairi! I don't care what that Yen Sid guy said! I'm not just going to leave it to Terra and Ven!" He ran past her through the hallway.

Xion turned and hurried after him.

But he stopped at the front door, turning back to look at her. He made one of those embarrassed faces again, raising a hand to point at her with a finger. "Uhhh, Xion, not that I'm not glad you're so ready to come help too, but you might want to change out of your pajamas first."

Xion frowned. Then she glared.

"Sorry - it's just - you know-"

"What? Because I'm a girl?"

"No! No, hey - nobody would want to go on an adventure in pajamas! Come on. If you got into a fight with a Heartless or something, that'd just be- embarrassing!" Sora exclaimed quickly, raising his hands.

Xion eyed him, trying to know if he was telling the truth. He probably was. Sora always did...

Still. She was starting to think being a real girl wasn't all she thought it would be...

She sighed and turned to go back upstairs. "Don't leave without me, please."

"Hey, of course I won't!" Sora said firmly.

Xion believed him.

---

When Terra came by again to check on her, and take them for training sessions, they told him about Riku.

Terra told them back about three new Keyblade wielders who were at Land of Departure now - friends of Xehanort's, from the past, who came through time or something. He also said they were really nice kids and not like Xehanort at all.

It was all so confusing to Xion...

She just nodded and said OK.

That usually worked.

They went to Yen Sid's tower next, telling him about Riku too - and Terra told him about Xehanort and his friends from the past.

"Yes, I sensed much in motion among the stars this past night," Yen Sid spoke slowly, nodding. "Some lost to us, and some returned to us." He looked at Sora and Xion. "Regrettably, your friend Riku's Heart is shrouded in darkness, and as such, it would be difficult for me to track his movements through the stars, let alone pinpoint a location. His doubts, fears, and guilts cloud my sight." He paused, then went on in lighter tones. "However, I can also say that I also sensed the return of several Sleeping Worlds, out from the dark depths of slumber and returned to the Realm of Light once more. Such a thing could only occur by the will of a very powerful mage, and the gathering of a massive amount of Light Energy...or, by the acts of a Keyblade Wielder."

"Kairi?!" Sora said hopefully.

Yen Sid gave a small smile, nodding. "I believe so, yes. It seems she has indeed been moving through the Realm of Sleep - and freeing worlds from slumber as she goes. Those who were lost to darkness at Xehanort's hands, freed of it, yet had not fully woken again like the rest. In a way, then, she continues in her duties as Princess of Heart, even in that place of dreams."

"That's great! Send us in, then!" Sora demanded, stepping forward, beaming with excitement.

Yen Sid raised a hand to him. "Mmm...Are you certain you wish to take the risk? To chase her through the dreams, when she may well soon emerge all on her own?"

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"If she continues to unlock Sleeping Keyholes - the necessary act to awaken these lost worlds - even unwittingly and instinctively, once she has done so for seven total...she would acquire the Power of Waking, herself. With that power, she could thus free herself from the dreams, returning to the Realm of Light by her own will and power. She would likely emerge on a world within the Realm Between - such as Twilight Town, where her Nobody resides. The connection between the two would be most likely to draw her there, after all."

Sora looked conflicted now, hesitating.

"On the other hand, if you dive in after her, she might well return to us, safe and sound, while you would then be the one lost and wandering, unable to escape," Yen Sid finished quietly. "To exchange one for another..."

"But she is still in there, alone..." Sora whispered.

"No, not alone," Yen Sid corrected.

"Huh?"

"A bright and spirited girl like her, possessed of heart, has likely befriended or even created Spirits of the realm," Yen Sid elaborated. "She will have allies and guides by her side, every step of the way. It is, then, a question of whether or not you trust in your friend's abilities and fortitude. She seems to be making astonishing headway, honestly. Your other friend, Riku, however...is most certainly wandering on a lonely path. One that may see him cross paths with dark forces out there in the worlds..."

"What dark forces?" Sora said, wide-eyed now.

"An Ancient Darkness, whom may or may not be working with others of their kind," Yen Sid spoke gravely. "As well...the Nightmares of the Realm of Sleep do not only threaten the world of dreams; the stars have told of roaming new creatures, unlike Heartless, Nobody, or even Unversed. I gazed upon them myself, and discovered them to indeed be Nightmares. Creatures of dreams, manifesting into reality...and causing great trouble for the good and innocent as they do so. Nightmares do not steal Hearts, nor do they kill, it is true - but they do infest the dreams of those asleep here in our realm, growing and feeding on their darkness, in order to spread and multiply. And if they get too far in this process...a person's Heart will be trapped in the dark depths of slumber and never-ending nightmares. As you can imagine, this could cause untold havoc among the worlds, if its denizens begin to fall to unending sleep, one by one...or even in droves."

"Do you think this Darkness thingy is causing it, then?" Sora asked. "I mean, it can't be Xehanort...err, either of them, since they don't have powers anymore, and they're kind of in- Keyblade Master prison, right? And Maleficent's been toast for a while - we all took care of that - and-"

Yen Sid raised his hand again, his lips twitching. "The culprit, across these many and varied worlds, could well be anyone," he said, with a hint of amusement. "To stand around guessing would see you become as old as myself. It may well be this Ancient Darkness, or it may be another evil-doer we know not of yet. So I will task you thusly: travel the worlds, battle the Nightmare threat as best you can, and seek out the source of it as you investigate. And perhaps...you may even run across your missing friend, Riku, in the course of it."

Sora faltered, looking to Xion. "I...we...but Kairi..."

"Do you believe in your friend's strength?" Yen Sid spoke. He looked at Xion. "And you - your sister's?" he added softly, with a kind look.

Xion didn't have to think to answer it. She nodded. "Yes."

"I do, but- we can't just leave her-" Sora started.

"I did not suggest simply leaving her there," Yen Sid replied calmly. "I will reach out to Master Luxu, as well as the Fairy Godmother for assistance - to enter that realm, and to possibly trace Kairi's path through it. We have many wielders of the Keyblade, many allies now, who I am sure would be willing to answer the call. You, meanwhile, must focus upon Riku and the Nightmares. You will not be alone in this task - others will journey as well, on other worlds - for it is absolutely vital that this situation be resolved as soon as possible...lest the worlds suffer for it." He paused, gazing at Sora. "Trust in those around you to act in your stead."

Sora blinked up at Yen Sid. Then he nodded firmly. "Right! Okay." He turned to Xion, grinning. "Xion, let's get back to Land of Departure. We're going to need the Highwind for this - pretty sure Kairi would be mad at us if we took the whole Purple Pestilence without her say-so, so we'll just go with the Gummiship. It's faster and smaller, so it'll be perfect for us!"

Terra gave a nod, and opened a path back to Land of Departure!

They flew down to the ground, far below the high mountain peaks and paths, where the huge lakes stretched out to the horizon.

Xion and Sora landed together. Terra came down with a flip, sliding down the side of a rocky pillar with his Keyblade. He straightened up and brushed his hair back with a grin.

"Uhhh...Terra..." Sora pointed out to the water - where the blue, small Highwind gummiship was floating against a rocky pillar. "Did someone take the Pestilence out for a joyride or something? Cause they left the Highwind behind..."

Terra frowned, looking around as well. "Well, that doesn't look good..."

"Did someone take it already?" Xion asked. "Ven...?"

"No, Ven's still up in the castle," Terra said. "It couldn't have been him. I don't think anyone else would, either. Skuld isn't a thief, Amaya wouldn't need it...and I doubt my Master would decide to take the ship for a joyride, either."

"Then who?" Sora said. He paused. "What about Aqua...?"

Terra laughed, shaking his head. "My Master made her a portal off-world; I watched her go. It wasn't her either."

"Oh - okay. Right. Ummm...then...what about those new kids? Xehanort's time travel pals?"

"I doubt any of them would know how to operate a large galleon sea vessel," Terra said with a laugh. "And I don't think their first act would be to do something stupid like that, either."

"Well, what about..." Sora froze, his face going pale. "Kairi's going to be soooo mad..."

"What?" Xion said, staring at him. She blinked a lot, annoyed. She missed being able to just look at stuff.

"I think...it might've been Riku," Sora whispered out.

"Sora - I know you have a lot of faith in your best friend, but he's blind," Terra said casually. "Even with his sensory abilities, as good as he's gotten with them, he wouldn't be able to..." He stopped too. He frowned. "But I guess that's never stopped him before, has it? And he does know how to operate a ship. At least...in theory. And if it did only go missing last night, that would line up with him going missing as well..."

"Yeah, Kairi's gonna kill him," Sora reiterated. He glanced at Xion. "Let's go."

Xion hesitated. "I...can we go home first? I should- tell dad. And what about your mom...?"

Sora frowned. "Right. Home first, then...we're going after Riku!"

---

Kairi was going to kill him, Riku groaned, clutching his head and rolling over.

He dragged himself out of splintered wood and into grass and trees. A vast forest of some kind.

He'd tried to set out on his journey of redemption on her stupid ship...and as soon as it'd crossed the Ocean Between and entered a new world, he'd lost control of it and ended up crashing into the middle of a forest.

No, not a forest, he mused, dragging himself over broken railing and shattered beams. A jungle.

It was hot, humid. Touching the trees and the leaves, it wasn't pine or oak or anything.

There were vines hanging everywhere - he almost choked himself on one.

And the sounds around him...

Different from a forest's animals and insects he'd heard before.

He breathed, leaning against a tree and extending his senses.

He didn't sense anything - just a vivid mental image of his surroundings. The trees, hanging vines, thick canopy above...the full scope of the crashed, half-buried pirate ship, with its broken mast and several trees collapsed across its decks...

The magic permeating the very air and plants. The fabric of the world.

Even if its people had no idea how to use it, it was here. It made up all matter, all life.

It drifted to and from other worlds, like some great stream.

Riku shook his head, casting a quick Cure on himself.

He really should have just stuck to the dark portals...

But risking darkness engulfing him was how this had all started.

He still wasn't as confident as Terra was about his ability to control it. To use it and not...fall into it again.

He was...

Afraid.

Yeah, he admitted it.

He was still a little afraid.

But did he have any other choice now?

Well, it was the only way he had now to get as far away from home as possible before Kairi could catch up with him...

Yeah, okay, he'd risk using a few dark portals.

Chapter 24: Doubts and Dreams

Notes:

Lol, content warning for some serious, adult sexual tension in the last section of the chapter. xD That is all. :D Yeah we are going to visit Aqua again, and I am going to delve more into her stuffs. :D Haven't checked in on her in like two or three chapters. It's been too long already!

Xion sat in the cockpit of the Gummiship, in the chair next to Sora.

Sora was in the captain's chair, in the middle. There was a third chair, on the other side of him, where Ven was sitting, with his hands behind his head. There was a row of three empty chairs in the back too, where the ladder was that led down into the cargo bay (which was full of boxes of potions and foods, filled up by Cid a while ago).

After going home and telling their parents what they were going to do (dad had been upset, but he'd said yes - that she was like Kairi, and he believed in her to go find Riku), Terra had opened a large portal for the ship to go through, into the Ocean Between.

Ven had said he wanted to go with them. Sora had agreed immediately, with a happy look. Terra had said it was probably smarter to have Ven with them, at least, since he was more "capable".

Now they were out there in the space between worlds.

It was huge and stretched out in all directions.

There were stars and colors, and big floating objects and rocks and buildings and strange crystals several times bigger than the Gummiship.

"Where do we...even start?" Xion said hesitantly.

Sora looked over at her with a frown. He looked forward again, crossing his arms. He sat back in his chair, tilting his head back with a hum. Then- "I got nothing," he sighed, dropping his arms and falling forward.

"Hey, he's your best friend. Wherever he is, you've just gotta follow the connection between your Hearts, and it'll show you the way," Ven said encouragingly. "Trust in it, Sora. Like you always do. It'll show you to him - like it did me, when I needed it most..."

Sora glanced at Ven. He nodded, then grinned. "Yeah...thanks, Ven! Okay then..."

He grabbed the controls and sent the ship flying forward on its booster engines.

"We'll find you, Riku - no matter what!"

---

Riku slashed the Keyblade through the air, tearing through and disintegrating a Soldier Heartless.

He turned and grew dark energy in his palm, crackling with electricity, and unleashed a blast of Dark Firaga. It struck the Large Body and sent it flying backwards. He leapt up into a forward flip, coming down with a blade swathed in darkness and fires, slashing down through the Large Body and crashing his weapon onto the ground. The shockwave of dark energy and bursts of lightning traveled outward, obliterating the surrounding enemies.

A Neoshadow lunged at him from behind, claws swiping with dark flames.

He dodged it without looking, just sensing and then kicking off into a gliding sidestep. He spun around and jumped up into the air, then hurled his blade down at it - along with a barrage of dark energy copies trailing in its wake.

He dropped to the ground again, breathing heavily. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.

He really should have been taking Kairi and Sora up on those sparring sessions more often - and not half-assing it with Terra, over in Land of Departure, either...

All these weeks spent sitting around, neglecting it all - himself - had had some consequences...

That was fine, though, right? He could tough it out. He deserved to have to tough it out...

This wasn't supposed to just be easy - right?

Still...first world he came to after crashing in that jungle, and he'd been set on by Heartless like this?

Or were they already here?

And what did that mean? That there was somebody else out there, like Maleficent, and Xehanort...? Someone causing pain - suffering - hurt?

Someone who needed taking down?

Riku wasn't Kairi, or Sora, or Terra...but if that was the case, he was going to do what he could, with what he had. Just the darkness in his Heart, Master Aqua's Keyblade, and this sense training of Terra's...

It wasn't enough. It couldn't possibly be enough.

But he'd do it anyways.

Because he had to.

He needed to.

He let his weapon vanish, sensing no more Heartless around. No more darkness...except what was in his own Heart.

"Right...now what?"

Maybe he should actually stick around here - do a little investigating? It might lead him to whoever was responsible for those Heartless.

Okay. Smart idea. The smartest you've had in a while...

Riku reached out with his senses, feeling the world around him...further and further out, and out...

Distant lights. Hearts. People.

He turned and set off in the right direction.

---

Aqua sat on the desert cliff, her back to a large boulder. She gazed out at the stars, at the moon, full and bright in the distance.

She sighed, shaking her head to herself. She looked over to where Natsumi was sleeping - in her human form.

She stood, turning her back to the cliff's edge. Her eyes found the special place in this endless heat and dirt: a little oasis, surrounded by rocky pillars and a jagged ceiling, set into the recesses of a mountain's peak. Greenery surrounded it, small plants and flowers. Two trees stood tall in this small haven, with fist-sized green fruits growing on their branches.

After all this traveling lately in this region - and after the other day in particular - Aqua was...incredibly grateful for this place.

She eyed Natsumi again, letting out a breath. Then she shed her cloak and strode for the deep, clear pool of water. She stepped into it. As she moved further in, the floor grew steeper, and the water, deeper. By the time she'd reached the center, it was well past her midsection. About level with the top of her abdomen, actually...

It was also cold. Very cold.

Aqua raised a hand of flames and plunged it into the waters, focusing. The orange magical flames pulsed, the light radiated in the dark, brighter and brighter - and the warmth began to spread, until the entire pool was a nice, tolerable, hot temperature. She smiled to herself as she watched the steam rise, extinguishing the magic around her hand. It had now gone from a frigid pool to a veritable hot spring!

She looked over at the other woman again, hesitating. Then she set her mouth and gathered her courage. She reached for the center of her outfit, undoing the clasps for the straps, and letting them fall. She removed her corset, then, the sleeves on her arms. She untied the strips of cloth wound around her waist, hanging down from her hips. She set it all aside on water's edge. She reached up behind her head, pushing away her hair to undo the halterneck. Then went her shoes and leggings, and her gloves. Lastly, she peeled off the bodysuit itself, throwing it aside and sinking down into the water a foot or so more, until it was up to her neck.

She leaned back, lifting her legs to let herself float, closing her eyes.

After all this traveling, all this dirt and dust everywhere...after the other day...

She'd needed this.

A routine consisting of a pass-over with a water sphere and a drying flame wasn't nearly as effective as an actual bathing session. Nor did it feel even half as good...

She breathed in and out, losing herself to it. Just...drifting...

It really was wonderful...

She didn't know or care how much time passed her by like this, or-

"Well, that looks lovely."

Aqua startled, eyes snapping open, her arms flailing. She caught sight of Natsumi, standing on the edge of the water, and dropped down into it completely with a splash. She held her breath, fully submerged in the warmth and waters. She wrapped her arms around herself, then reached up to pull at her hair-

She let out a breath, bubbles streaming up, yanking her arms back down again sharply. She shook her head to herself, then slowly...slowly let herself float back up again - letting her head pop back up out of the water's surface only. She blinked and swiped at her eyes, finding Natsumi again.

Right where she'd left her.

Right. Of course she is.

Aqua stared at the woman, grateful for the dark of night.

Natsumi stared back at her, her red eyes glinting under star and moonlight.

"I didn't mean to interrupt anything," the woman spoke again, in casual, light tones. "That was a wonderful little idea; I should have thought of it, myself..."

"Oh- no- you didn't- I was just...washing up," Aqua said, stammering.

"Would you be all right with my joining you in there?"

"W-what?"

"Oh, never mind, then. Only, there's plenty of room in that water - enough for a party...if only we had people to party with..."

"Um..." Aqua stared around her. The water was deep and wide enough to have fit...over a good dozen, if it had wanted to. Maybe even two dozen. And she supposed...it wasn't like they were going to be right next to each other. And...well, it really was just a hot spring, and hot springs usually had other people in them, and that was completely ordinary and...something a normal, experienced woman wouldn't panic about. Because there was no- no reason to panic! And she'd be being incredibly rude and selfish to just say no, you cannot share this incredibly large and wonderfully warm pool of water with me - all of one person...

"Okay," she finally said, subdued.

"Okay?"

"Yes - I wouldn't mind- it's a large pool..." Aqua clarified, feeling her face heating up. And it wasn't the steam. Why did this keep happening? What happened to years of training and composure...? Why did it all just seem to vanish, around this woman? It just left her feeling like some lost girl again...

Natsumi nodded, and she moved in the dark. She strode forward into the shallows, as her arms moved to pull away and shrug off her kimono...

Oh! She- literally isn't wearing anything under that...oh...

The other woman drifted forward, deeper and deeper, closer and closer, until she was at the lowest point with Aqua. She dipped down into it and tilted backwards, her long, shining dark hair pooling around her like a spider's web, strands glistening and spreading out in all directions...

Aqua glanced away, staring off into the distance.

Silence came over the pool. Minutes of silence.

Aqua, at some point, found it in herself to return to her previous state, leaning back, herself, floating again, and closing her eyes. She set her arms across her chest this time, however, in an impulse of self-consciousness. It wasn't as if she- cared or anything that- Natsumi's were- probably bigger from what she'd glimpsed under starlight- that had nothing to do with anything! It was just...

"So, can I ask why The Lost Princess of Zitol really went missing twenty years ago, or would that be too much?" came the drifting, soft voice of the other woman.

Aqua opened her eyes, breathing out. she looked up at the stars, focusing on them alone...

"I..." she started, but stopped herself.

"Mmm...then could I ask why she's so desperate to return after all this time - particularly when she doesn't seem to have very fond memories of that part of her life?"

Aqua froze. She gasped softly, inhaling warm steam. She drifted upright again, staring across the water to Natsumi.

The other woman righted herself as well, gazing back at Aqua.

"I thought you didn't read all that much of my life?" Aqua said, unable to help the sharp tone of accusation.

Natsumi just smiled, shaking her head. "It doesn't take a mind reader to connect some of those dots, Miss Aqua - especially after the other day. That's why I am genuinely curious...why you're making this journey at all. Why are you going back there? Is it really all for this Scarlet person? Was she someone you left behind - someone you hurt, or...someone lost, the same as you?"

Aqua looked away, pressing her lips together. She sighed, wrapping her arms around her chest beneath the water's surface. "I was the Princess, but...I never wanted to be..." she mumbled out. "Every step of the way, every single day, every- every lesson, every- stupid dress, or- customs and history and- it was a prison, for me! I spent every day in that castle, locked away, staring out the windows, wishing I could be like all the other children. Wanting to just run around and play, get lost, get hurt, get into trouble...do something silly, or stupid, and not be scolded for it. Not..." She stopped herself, taking in a quivering breath. She shut her eyes tight, screwing up her face. She clenched her fists, raised them up out of the water - and brought them down again, causing a great splash.

"I see..."

"It wasn't just that!" Aqua hissed out, her voice tight. Shaking. "It was...there was something I..." She opened her eyes, looking to the other woman. Fear pounded in her Heart. Anxiety. She drifted forward, closing the distance - and moving past. The water fell from Aqua's form, lower and lower, as she strode up out of it. She stopped when it was ankle deep. She held her arms over herself, turning slightly to look back at Natsumi. Natsumi...who was only gazing at her face, squarely. "I found out later - when I was seven. Almost eight - my birthday was only a few months away."

"What?" Natsumi asked, simple and quiet, turning around in the waters to face her fully again now.

Aqua looked down, away, her fingers toying with each other at chest height. "The complete, honest truth..." she whispered out. "You almost attacked me the other day, over what I kept from you. And if you're going to keep traveling with me on this journey, into this place, then...you're right. You deserve...the truth from me. So, I...I want to show you something. It's- the only other person still alive who knows the truth...is my Master. He helped me hide it, he kept it secret for me, for all these years. Everyone else who could have told anyone is dead," she finished, raw and biting. Biting...blood-

"I'm listening..."

"I'm not even sure what to think about it, after all this time. What to do about it. I don't know what it makes me, or- or who I even really am. I've just locked it away - threw away the key - and done my best to forget about it. To pretend I'm someone I'm not. Something...I'm not. But I can't...pretend anymore." Aqua turned to face Natsumi, and let one arm fall away. She held the other to the center of her chest, focusing her mind and magic...

A blue light glowed in her palm, a soft wind rose up around her...her body began to glow with a blue aura...

And then it all died away. It faded.

Aqua let her other arm drop to her side, and stared into Natsumi's face. Everything...bared.

The weight on her head now. The gentle hissing of water behind her back, superheated, like raindrops hitting a hot pan.

Natsumi slowly moved forward, emerging from the waters as well - standing with it around her knees. Her wide, scarlet eyes looked Aqua up and down, and all around... "Oh my goodness..." she whispered. She blinked, then she tilted her head to one side, giving a lopsided, soft smile. "Whoever gave you your name must have had a delightful sense of humor."

"The Queen of Zitol always said she gave me the name. If that was the only truth she ever really told me, then it's probably not the one I was actually born with," Aqua acknowledged quietly, hesitant. "Whatever that name was...I can't remember it."

"The queen that died twenty years ago now, if I'm not mistaken? The very same night that the Princess became the lost Princess?"

Aqua raised her chin, curling the fingers of her hands at her sides. A smirk grew on her lips, as emotions rose in her chest, tight and burning.

"Yes, that's right."

"Oh...so then, this journey of yours...is it your own mission of revenge?" Natsumi spoke, careful and quiet.

Aqua's lips relaxed, along with her fingers. She shook her head, regaining herself. "It's not revenge: I just want...the truth. And...I want to take that throne, and I want to use it to do what I want with it - not what they wanted."

"And what would that be, Miss Aqua?"

"I...I'm not sure," Aqua murmured, looking down. She crossed her arms over her chest again. "I just know...that I want to help children - people - like Scarlet. And...like me. And...you. Everything that's happened while I was away...the way that people treat each other...I want to try and put a stop to it. For- for all of you. And the only way to do that...is by being Princess Aqua Anfilia again. I'll be the Princess of Zitol if I have to - but I'll be it my way."

Natsumi gave a soft sigh, a contented, pleasing sound. She went to retrieve her kimono, pulling it on again and tying it off. Then she took up her sword again, held casually in hand, in its scabbard. She looked to Aqua with a gentle smile. "Then I'll happily continue on this journey with you, Miss Aqua." She paused. "Thank you...for being so honest with me tonight. I can't imagine how difficult it was for you." Another pause. A hesitation... "You say you don't know what this makes you, but I think I have a word that fits you quite nicely...and that word is adorable. At least among my kind, you have nothing to worry about. I hope you keep that in mind."

Aqua blushed, looking off to the horizon once more. To the stars and moon above. She could only manage a nod. "I- I should...change..." she whispered out, as shame and doubt rose up in her Heart.

"If you want that, of course," Natsumi said, striding off to the cliff's edge, where she sat down there with legs crossed.

Aqua gazed at the woman's back, then turned away, hurrying to collect her clothing.

She hesitated - then put a hand to her own chest, her palm glowing with a blue light...

She let out a sigh of relief when it was done.

Chapter 25: Her Name Is Darkness

Darkness moved through the air, materializing inside the window of the Mysterious Tower once more.

They drifted into the room, sensing and taking in everything around themselves.

The old wizard was absent from the room.

Darkness flitted across the room, hovering before the wooden door. They conjured a dark portal, and passed through it, emerging on the other side of the door - in a strange, magical area. A floating staircase, in an open, empty tower's interior. They flew down to pass through another door, into a barren room with paintings and a table.

They moved on, uninterested.

Down a new flight of stairs - into another room. Nothing of note here, either.

They moved on again.

They flew over the edge of the stairs, drifting down...pulsing dark energy, making a new pathway...and sank down through it, emerging from the ceiling of a new area.

A basement level?

They flew through narrow, stone hallways, passing tall doors of wood. They reached the end - and paused. They summoned a new portal, entering the room.

The sight that greeted them was a curious one.

A familiar girl was laying on a bed, with blankets pulled up over her form. Red-haired. Scars on her face. Open, vacant blue eyes.

One of the Seven Princesses of Heart of the current era. A Keyblade wielder, as well - one who had led the fight against the evil witch, and Xehanort's incarnations. Dismantling their schemes, alongside her allies.

Not the source of this changed future, no - but a focal point of it. A turning point.

Darkness flew forward, taking in the sight of the girl more closely now.

They felt a thrill of confusion and even shock, as their senses told them something unexpected.

The girl's Heart was missing.

That infinite, invulnerable light was gone - along with her very consciousness.

This girl's body...was simply an empty shell.

A vacant, physical form...young and strong, shaped by combat...

Perfect for a formless being to inhabit.

And since it was only the body they would be taking possession of, not the Heart, even if it was destroyed later, they wouldn't fade with it. Because their Heart was now tied to Maleficent's - not the Princess's. They would need to be caught and destroyed while within the witch's Heart - the only vulnerability they had. But they doubted that any of the girl's friends would have the Heart to strike her body down regardless...an advantage Darkness was counting on making the most of. This body...this face...

Darkness hovered above the Princess's body, and began to pour into it - to fill it, and merge with it. To permeate it. Every muscle, every bone, every cell and hair. Every inch of skin. It became...

Hers.

She opened her eyes, sitting up in the bed.

She looked down at herself, raising her hands. Flexing the fingers. She reached up to brush strands of hair from her face. Every motion, every sensation...

An ancient feeling of sorrow and longing filled her Heart, as chaotic, mixed memories rose to the surface (memories primarily associated with female forms)...memories that pulled, that drew, and settled. Memories that all felt - "right". Or at least, more "right" than the rest of the ancient collection of memories. She supposed it all came down to the...individual.

She closed her eyes and stood from the bed. She breathed out, and opened them again. She raised an arm, conjuring a Dark Corridor.

She smiled to herself as she strode into it, an aura of darkness itself protecting her new form from harm.

She was pleased with her findings today.

Very pleased.

It felt like finding home.

Stepping out of the portal on the other side, she found her host in the ancient, crumbling stone castle on the high cliff, overlooking a dark and storming landscape.

Maleficent turned -and paused, her mouth opening in surprise, fear, and wariness. Her eyes narrowed...then, the feelings eased, and she relaxed again, lowering her staff. "Is there some point to adopting the Princess of Heart's appearance?"

"Not just her appearance," Darkness responded. "Her physical body; I found it, empty, in the wizard's tower. There was no Heart."

"Interesting..." Maleficent breathed. She brought her hand to her lips, laughing. "It would seem our enemies were trying to conceal the fact that their little Princess is not quite...in her right mind - or, rather, her right body."

"Yes. And now it's mine."

"Do with it whatever you wish," Maleficent said airily. "I assume this does not mean that our Hearts are no longer - bonded - however?"

"Correct. Even if this form is destroyed, I will return to you."

"Very well. Then go forth, and begin the search for this...Ultima Weapon," Maleficent spoke. "You were quite right: I will not be troubling myself with merely controlling and manipulating a Keyblade Wielder this time. No, this time...I will have one of those wonderful little blades for myself. I will wield it with my own hands this time!"

Darkness nodded. She paused, tilting her head. "What will you do?"

Maleficent smiled at her. "Myself? I will be paying a visit to the ancient world of the Keyblade Wielders, to search its depths for the Book of Prophecies, of course. The power to conjure entire worlds - whole armies, from nothingness - will give me the power I need to begin my conquest! In lieu of this Ultima blade, of course...or perhaps in addition to it. Who can say?"

"You've never lacked ambition," Darkness mused. "Only the knowledge to achieve them."

"Quite. And your knowledge, my...old friend, has proven invaluable," Maleficent said idly. "There are secrets of this World - secrets not even known to my enemies, or to ancient Masters above Masters - secrets that are mine alone to know..." She paused, glancing at Darkness. "Ahh, ours alone to know, that is."

Darkness smiled. "We're glad to see you settling in to our partnership so well. We'll be back."

She turned and departed through another dark portal, a glow in her chest.

The security of life, and a plan, in an uncertain future, was quite the feeling.

She did not go off to begin her search for the Ultima Weapon, however.

Instead, she went to the birth world of the Princess of Heart.

The damaged world of Radiant Garden, once ruled by Maleficent.

The world kept out of the Data copies, and the projections by the Book in ancient times - yet not unwritten of in the Master's Book itself...

The events of this world had been so well protected, and so scantly documented...particularly in this era. Why?

Darkness had to know.

Originally, she had thought it was something to do with the Princess of Heart herself - the girl whose very body she inhabited now. But, now, she thought it must be something else entirely.

The Master was hiding something. Well, that man was always hiding something - a dozen things, at any given time...

What is it you're up to, my old friend?

Though, strictly speaking, those memories of familiarity that burgeoned the term were no more truly hers than the multitude of memories of once being "female"...

But, well, semantics.

With such a wide array of blended, old memories - young, old, male, female, black hair, red hair, long hair, short hair, dresses or pants, cherry or apple, music or books, patient or impatient, angry or depressed, clicking tongue or tapping fingers - what was a Darkness to do but pick and choose which ones best felt...right to them?

To collect the bits and pieces to use to reforge a personality and an identity as an individual again.

In the past, she hadn't deigned to - not as much as some of the others already had been starting to - but now...

Why not?

New era, new future - new her.

She had the time, now.

She had never been opposed to it - she had just been...too busy, before.

She wasn't all that busy anymore.

Darkness emerged out of the portal, into the ruined streets of the city. She walked out into the open, heading for the city square. She moved for the gates, up to the towering castle.

"Holyyyy shit, you're back in action, girl! Why did no one tell me?!"

Darkness stopped as a form slammed into hers from behind - as arms wrapped around her tightly. She thought it was an attack, at first, but-

A child's face popped up on her left, split by a wide grin and shining eyes. A girl of dark hair, with a large throwing star weapon on her back.

Darkness pulled the arms from her form, pushing the girl away. She gazed up at the castle.

"Uhh - heeeyyyy - earth to Kairi? You okay there?" the child spoke again, stalking around Darkness and putting a hand in her face. Waving it.

Darkness blinked. She shook her head, meeting the other girl's gaze. "Sorry. No. I'm still recovering. I don't want to talk about it," she spoke flatly.

The other girl's mouth fell open. Then she smiled and nodded. "Gotcha! Well, whatever you need, just give a shout, and the great ninja Yuffie will be there for you in a heartbeat!" the girl exclaimed, raising a fist. Then she turned and ran away, her arms behind her back.

Darkness eyed her in confusion, then turned away and continued on her path.

Humans...

She walked up the stairs to the intermediate landing - where the path diverged left and right...or continued on up to the castle's entrance properly. She chose to continue. When she reached the top, she saw a human standing at the doors. A muscular human with long black hair, wielding a sharp spear weapon.

Darkness strode up to them, stopping before them.

"The Princess of Heart? You're-" the man began, his eyes widening with surprise.

"I'd like to go inside," Darkness interrupted smoothly.

The man composed himself again. He nodded. "Of course. Go right in..."

"Thank you," Darkness said, sliding past the man and pushing open the doors.

She wandered the inside of the castle at her leisure, examining and taking note of it all. Eventually she made her way down into the basement levels. If anything was going to be hidden in this place, it would be there. She entered the long, wide corridors and rooms in the underground. She navigated it all blindly, her eyes roaming the walls and ceiling.

She turned a corner-

And let out a noise from her physical form as it collided with another human's.

A tall, blonde-haired human in a white lab coat.

"Oof! Is it too much to ask that you watch where you're going, you...you..." The man trailed off, blinking down at her. His lips parted. "Kairi...? Your friends found you, then! Your missing status wasn't so long of one, thankfully, it seems. It's- good to see you back again. Xion was having quite a difficult time of things lately; but hopefully your return can..." He went silent again, staring at her more intently. His eyes narrowed. His lips twisted.

"What?" Darkness said simply. "What's wrong with Xion-"

"Don't..." the man hissed. "You - are not Kairi."

"Of course I-"

The man stepped backwards, conjuring a blue shield in icy mist. "Don't take me for a fool, either, whoever you really are!" he snapped out. "Kairi's very presence is a radiant light upon all around her - anyone could feel it like the sun on their face, without even trying; yours is not. In fact, it's...rather the opposite. It's a deep, intense...darkness."

Darkness tilted her head. "Oh. Of course. I overlooked that."

The man sneered. "Yes, you did. Now-"

Darkness raised a hand, sending out a wave of burning purple flames, shrouded in crackling purple lightning.

The man took it on his great shield - and flew backwards down the corridor, slamming into the far wall. He fell forward, his shield skittering away. A great gasp escaped his mouth.

Darkness strode forward, lowering her arm. She stood over the man, looking down at him. "Maybe you can tell me what's being kept secret here, human-"

Light footsteps, and another man appeared around the corner to the right.

Darkness turned her head.

This man had short, light blue hair with long fringe hanging over an eye.

"Even, what happened here-" He froze, his gaze finding Kairi's form. "Kairi...? You're back? What are you-"

Darkness turned and threw an arm out, sending a blast of energy at the new arrival.

The air shimmered strangely in the corridor - and the man fell backwards to the ground with a gasp, a hand to his chest, burning with dark energy tendrils.

Darkness lowered her arm again. She turned back to the helpless one - Even? "Now, where were we? Tell me what secrets this castle is hiding. Tell me-"

The man at her feet suddenly vanished in a flash of faint light.

Darkness stared down at the empty floor, confused for a moment. She looked around her - and caught sight of the tail end of two figures disappearing around a corner.

She looked back over her shoulder, and saw that the blue-haired man was also gone.

Anger surged in Darkness's Heart.

She let out a growl, a dark aura bursting and growing around her form, rising to the ceiling and burning at the walls.

Humans!

She turned away and stalked into a Dark Corridor, trying to regain herself.

This body's trembling didn't help that - all its chemicals and reactions.

How annoying. How weak - vulnerable. How...

Sweetly nostalgic.

She stood in the endless expanse of darkness, taking in the energy as it drifted by her.

She breathed it in, then out again.

She would come back for this world later - along with Maleficent - she reminded herself, and then she would have all the time in the world to search its every corner without interruption...once they had taken it back, with a full invasion force.

For now, the Ultima Weapon was a higher priority.

She turned and headed off into the darkness, bound for a new world.

Chapter 26: The Greatest Failure

Riku kept his senses alert as he moved down the dirt streets of the town.

His ears - and the more mystical, extra senses.

He stopped as a strange, terrible smell filled his nose.

He turned, and he heard the sounds before he saw them. Swirling darkness. And then he "saw" them.

Heartless, spawning out of the ground.

Their dark shapes solid and defined, to his mind's eye. Solid darkness.

Shadows and Soldiers, they "looked" like...

Easy.

He flew at them before they knew what hit them, slicing through two Shadows, destroying them. He turned as a Soldier leapt at him with its claws. He backflipped and kicked it in the chest, stopping it. He pulled his leg back to let it drop, then stabbed his Keyblade forth to impale it through the back. The other Soldier came spinning at him like a top, dark energy swirling around it. He leapt up high over it, coming down again. He turned and thrust out a hand, sending a blast of Dark Firaga; it missed, flying past...and instead hitting a building. He winced as he heard the sounds of exploding, splintering wood and wooshing flames. He hoped that wasn't anyone's house...

He ran after the Soldier and came down on it with a cleaving swing, tearing it in half and obliterating it with a huff. He straightened up again-

And stopped, realizing there weren't any more around.

He sighed with relief, letting his weapon vanish.

Then he caught a new scent. The same...? No. Different...

He "saw" strange new shapes pop into existence out of thin air. Darkness, monsters, but...different for sure. Similar to the Heartless...but not? He couldn't have even explained it. It wasn't exactly sight, it was beyond sight, but at the same time, as someone who'd lived his whole life with sight, it just seemed like the right way to... He shook his head quickly, focusing.

He raced forward and threw himself at them, slashing and turning.

Two of them (some strange, fat cat-like creatures?) twisted around in the air to avoid his attack, like runaway balloons. They whipped around him wildly before one came flying back to slam into his back, shrouded in dark energy that burned!

Riku fell forward with a gasp, hitting hard and rolling to come up again. He stumbled, turning back and raising his weapon.

A large, winged horse monster of some kind came at him from the air - galloping on the air. It spread its wings, and a volley of a dozen dark projectiles flew out for Riku, curving and homing in on him.

He cast a dark barrier and adjusted his footing; the projectiles slammed into it, dispersing on impact. But he felt the imperfections spread across the barrier, heard the cracking sounds. It might not have held up against another volley or two. Maybe three.

What were these things, anyways?!

Why were they even here, terrorizing this-

Town...of people...

It was then that it really, fully just hit Riku.

I'm an idiot.

He hadn't heard so much as a peep this whole time. No concerned voices, no screams, nothing that usually would happen when dark monsters appeared out of thin air...

But he could still feel the Hearts around him - the people. They were all over: inside the buildings and streets around him!

So why...? What was going on here?

He'd figure it out later. First things first...

He ran and leapt up into the air, twirling and slashing at the horse monster; dark energy swirled around him, crackling with lightning, and then it spread outward like a ripple in a lake. It hit the creature and blasted it away into a building (he cringed again at the sound of shattered glass and falling, heavy pieces of wood). He flipped back in the air and shrouded himself in a blue aura, focusing his powers...

Then he teleported back to the ground and rushed forward in a blitz of energy and power, tearing through a cat monster. He blew past it and teleported again, reappearing on the left and flying for the other. He slammed into it, bladed in front of him, and took it up with him. The force and power destroyed it. He vanished again, high up in the air, turning as he sensed and heard the horse monster emerging from the broken building. He raised his weapon up, shrouding it in energy, turning it into a great big blade of darkness. He slashed it down in front of him as he dove toward the ground again. Burning dark flames and energy swiped downward, through the monster.

The creature staggered back, twisting and writhing - and then it exploded, and faded.

Riku huffed, breathing and standing up again. He raised his weapon before him, the power fading from it.

Right...now to find out what was going on.

He turned and strode toward the nearest building - stretching out his senses to the Heart within it. He found the door, pushing it open with a creak.

"Hey - it's safe to come out now," he called out. "The monsters are all gone."

He listened - nothing.

Not a sound.

It was...starting to freak him out a little, honestly.

This place was like a ghost town - except it wasn't actually empty. And that was probably more frightening than the alternative.

Riku moved forward blindly, heading straight for the Heart he could sense in front of him. He cursed as he tripped against a shelf. A scattering of little sounds and broken glass. A shop of some kind? And he'd just ruined some of their stock...

He made is way around more carefully, trying to not just focus on the Heart - but on everything else around him now. The ambient magic drifting on the air, running through the physical things and objects around him...creating a hazy sort of sense of where things were and what shape they were. How close they were.

Better now.

He strode forward more quickly, hooked a right...and stopped.

The Heart was there, in front of him. He could sense it - "see it". That swirling mass of pure energy and life. But...it was...shrouded. Shrouded in darkness, and it was dim. The owner of the Heart was alive, but it was like they were...caught by the dark? Trapped by it...?

Riku breathed out, stepping forward and raising a hand, palm out...

The Heart pulsed, and the darkness flew off of it in a sudden explosion, sending him flying back through the air!

He hit the wall hard - after breaking through some more shelves. He fell forward, landing on hand and knee with a gasp.

The darkness swirled in front of him, flowing out from the Heart...and then it took solid shape and form. Just like that.

And just like that...Riku found himself facing more dark monsters.

The ones that weren't Heartless.

The scent hit his nose again, immediately...different. Identifiable.

Riku got to his feet and pulled out his Keyblade.

He hesitated, however.

He wished Terra were here - or Kairi. They'd know what to do. How to fix this. They'd have figured out what was going on from the start, wouldn't they.

Terra would have known. And Kairi- Kairi would have taken one look at these monsters, and these people, and she would have known how to help them. Because that was just what she did. She was a hero, she was a Princess, she was the chosen Keyblade Wielder - the one worthy of it - and she was just...

All the things Riku wasn't. What he wished he could be. What he was playing at here, pretending like he could be...

But he wasn't. Who was he kidding?

Riku was no hero. He didn't save, or help people: he'd only ever hurt them.

His home world, all those other worlds, the other Princesses of Heart...and that kind, innocent old man who'd just-

A dark monster flew forward, ramming into him and sending him back into the wall, tearing him from his own head.

He hit hard, gasping again, his ribs flaring. This one had big, hard horns...

Riku thrust out a hand, blasting out with multiple Dark Firagas at once - a barrage of power. They flew out, striking the monsters and exploding around them, casting them all backwards.

And that Heart in front of him was jarred from its place, as the person was hit by the blast the same as the monsters - and then it dimmed more than ever. It became a small, weak, glinting...

Riku stared, horrified, panicked. "No...I didn't..." He threw himself forward, moving past the monsters in a surge of darkness and a flicker of air, instantly teleporting. He thrust out his fist, casting Curaga with everything he had!

The Heart slowly returned to its original state, pulsing and- brighter than before, as the magical energies swirled around it. Around the person.

Riku laughed in sheer relief-

And a roaring creature slammed into him from behind, taking him to the floor, burning claws pressing down on his backside.

Riku struggled, he panicked all over again, he called on the darkness! It pooled beneath him...and he fell down into it.

He landed in the endless, thick darkness. He groaned and tried to push himself up. He couldn't sense a thing. Just this...squeezing his Heart, trying to burn into his body from all directions...to worm its way through his skin...

He threw out a hand for another dark portal, and he got up and stumbled his way into it. He fell out the other side...into light and air again.

Riku fell to the ground, unsure if he was even still in the same world or in some other one.

But either way...he knew...

He'd messed up again - so bad. He'd failed.

What was he even thinking with this?!

That he could be the big hero? Save people?!

He couldn't even save that one person in front of him, let alone an entire town in need!

He wasn't Kairi, he wasn't Sora, or Terra, he wasn't- he couldn't-

He couldn't do this!

He was too weak for it. Too pathetic. He was just some loser, trying to play hero! Like he'd always been...since his stupid, childhood fantasies with a wooden sword, trying to impress and protect Kairi (like she needed it)...

He hissed in pain, curling his shaking body in on itself, and failed to hold back tears.

Darkness sparked, and churned in the depths of his Heart...

Notes:

Kind of a short chapter lol, sorry, and also a Riku one, sorry again LOL. But it was kind of important... xD

Chapter 27: Darkness Against Darkness Part 1

Yen Sid stood before those gathered in his tower, gazing at them.

From one to the next.

He looked beyond their eyes, however - into their very Hearts.

The four, ancient Masters of the Keyblade War - the very progenitors - a woman whom had fought on their behalf as part of their Unions (Miss Skuld), as well as Keyblade Master Terra. One other was present, as well, though she stood apart from the rest, her arms crossed - another ancient wielder, the Dandelion, Elrena.

"Thank you all for gathering here today," Yen Sid began, in clear, calm tones. "That you are all willing to lend your aid, even when it is by no means required of you, means a great deal to me - and to these worlds. I appreciate the risks you may be taking in answering my summons."

"Yeah, yeah - can you just explain what we're actually going to be doing already?" Elrena spoke, waving a hand airily about. "I can't believe I let myself get talked into volunteering for this crap..." she muttered to herself, caustic. "It was those eyes, that voice...damn you, Lauriam, and your- gorgeous lips..."

Yen Sid took a moment to eye the young woman. She was certainly not what one might have expected when one imagined a Keyblade Wielder of legend and heroic tales - perhaps that was, itself, to be expected, given she was from another time and World entirely - and yet, from what little he knew of her, from both Mickey's and Terra's past words, and Master Luxu's recent recommendations...underneath her harsh and cutting demeanor was a Heart that was true and good. Or, at least, one that was hoping to be so. She was one who had suffered, who had lost, and hurt, and so sought to prevent it from happening again by striking out at and pushing away those around her. Yet Master Luxu had assured Yen Sid that she would prove her Heart's truth if given the chance.

Yen Sid supposed the fact that she was here at all was proof of that... Her attitude may have said one thing, but her actions ultimately told a rather different tale. He almost smiled to himself, at this observation. He had known others like her, before, from his own school of the Keyblade, and had certainly met many similar characters in his travels of youth. He would happily let her act as she would, for the truth could be seen by those around her much more plainly than she may have realized, herself (or been willing to admit).

"Very well," Yen Sid said, bowing his head to the fierce young woman. "This is a matter of importance, and something rather time-sensitive, after all. Best to send you all on your way as soon as possible." He cleared his throat before continuing. "I believe all present are familiar with the concept of the beings known as Ancient Darknesses, or 'True Darkness', as it were?"

He received affirming nods and voices of assent.

"Recently, in this very tower, we were visited by one such dark spirit - a spirit that showed an interest in an ancient legend we were discussing at the time. The legend of the Ultima Weapon. It is an ancient, and purportedly, extremely powerful Keyblade - a unique and dangerous weapon. One said to be capable of absorbing the Hearts of those it strikes down, empowering itself to heights hitherto undreamt of. It is also said to be equally as dangerous to any of its potential wielders as it is to its enemies. It is of a particularly selective mind, and if said mind does not find one worthy of holding it, it will steal away their Heart, adding it to the rest as fuel for its power."

Yen Sid paused, gazing at those assembled once more, to gauge reactions and to impress the seriousness of the matter upon them.

"Both Keyblade Master Luxu, as well as the now bound and imprisoned Master Xehanort, have provided us with a handful of worlds upon which it was rumored this weapon had once been wielded - and used to wreak devastation upon their inhabitants," he went on gravely. "I would like you each to investigate one of these worlds. Divide the task between yourselves however you wish - but all must be thoroughly searched through. It is unknown how numerous our foes truly are - yet, in this, I believe we have the advantage of numbers. Sending all of you out together will allow us to cover more ground simultaneously, accelerating the search as compared to one alone."

"Tch. And you'd trust those guys with getting their hands on this uber powerful Keyblade?" Elrena spoke up, turning to thrust a finger at the Ancient Masters. "Just how old are you, exactly, old man? Because I think you're a touch senile."

Yen Sid raised his eyebrows at the woman, more amused than offended. To tell truth, it was rather refreshing to be met with such a personality. One did tire of being seen as only the wise and sagely wizard in his tower, being given such awestruck respect and deference... In its own way, it could be quite isolating. True, he had always been a rather more serious person than his peers and friends (something they had all once liked to tease him for - Eraqus and Xehanort included), but that did not mean he didn't appreciate the strength and necessity of bonds. And the warmth and levity that came with them.

"Someday I may be - yet not today, do not fear," he replied smoothly. "Should any of you find the blade indeed, your task will be to then return to me, where we will gather as much strength as needed to destroy it for good."

"And if some of us don't just go along with your orders?" the woman pressed, her lips tight, her eyes narrowing. "Like, oh, say...them?"

"Alright, please, enough of that," Ira spoke with a sigh, turning to her. The leader. It seemed he still fell into the role naturally. "We know we've made our share of terrible mistakes, but these past weeks we've done nothing but-"

"But do nothing," Aced interjected loudly, his eyes glowering at Elrena. "And who are you to point fingers at us when you were working under that Xehanort man until recently? Knowingly? Our Master took us as children, he raised us to believe the things he wanted us to - he used us and threw us away for his big plans! But at least we didn't know what they were! We thought we were fighting for what was right, to prevent something terrible! But you were knowingly a part of an Organization that-"

"Perhaps it is a risk, yes - with you as much as they!" Yen Sid spoke loudly, raising a hand to silence the arguing. He looked squarely at Elrena, holding her gaze. "You have never been one for obedience, or so I hear. Yet the risk will be taken regardless. You will all have this chance to prove yourselves trustworthy - to prove your Hearts true. Should anyone prove my trust misplaced, rest assured you will find it to be the greatest mistake you could ever have made in your young lives."

The woman faltered. She blinked swiftly. "Well...great! Glad you finally cleared that up!" she sputtered out, turning her head aside. Her arm dropped to her side - then folded across her body.

"But I am certain that none of you will fail in that way," Yen Sid said quietly. "I am sure that we have all truly learned from mistakes of the past, and resolved to do better in the now. Now...the worlds you will be visiting are thus..."

After he had finished describing the worlds, and giving the ones before him the advice to let their Hearts guide them to where they needed to be, Elrena immediately turned and seized onto Skuld's arm.

"Alright, you and me, babe - let's go!" Elrena declared, raising her free hand. "This isn't up for debate; I think we can both agree - screw those guys. Yeah?"

Skuld gazed back at her - at her hand. Then she gave a small grin and gave Elrena a resoundingly loud high five. "Yeah."

Then, in a swish of long black hair, Skuld turned on a heel of balance and confidence, and the pair of women strode from the room together.

After their departure, the Ancient Masters, Ira, Invi, Aced and Gula took their leave as well.

Leaving only Terra.

Yen Sid gazed at the young man alone.

"Do you believe they can stay true, and not let their Hearts lead them astray?" he spoke to Terra, quiet.

Master Terra crossed his arms - brought a hand to his chin in deep contemplation. "Skuld and Elrena...no question. Skuld's going through a lot right now, but...she's always done right. And Elrena...I've seen enough of her now to trust her actions, not her words."

"Indeed. And the old Masters?"

"They're...harder to pin down," Terra said slowly. "They've just come off a war, tragedy and turmoil - and they're still carrying it all in their Hearts. It's heavy on them. But Master Luxu thinks they can do it."

"And the Ancient Master, himself?" Yen Sid prompted.

Terra let his arms fall away. "I trust Namine. And I trust my own Heart's instincts. And my instincts tell me it's not so easy to fake the level of true, deep remorse that the man has expressed lately. So I'd like to trust that."

"Hmm...yes. All of this, for all of us now, hinges very much on the most basic, most human problem of trust," Yen Sid whispered. "Can we trust in each other, and stand together, or will we fall apart, and end up divided...when it matters most that we be united?"

---

Xion thought it probably wasn't smart to just fly to random worlds and hope they found Riku.

That was what Sora was doing, though. And Ven didn't seem to mind...

So Xion stayed quiet. It wasn't like she could think of anything better to do, anyways.

She also stayed quiet about wishing she was looking for Kairi instead. It made her feel bad inside...a lot.

Her new human body hurt again - in the throat - because of it, too.

She closed her eyes and turned away in her chair.

"Hey, Xion, you okay?"

Xion opened her eyes again, glancing at Sora. Then she closed them, putting her hands in her lap. "Yes..."

"You sure? You don't sound okay."

Xion stayed quiet.

Sora didn't. "Uh, look, don't take this the wrong way, but maybe you should have stayed home for this one?"

"What? Why?" Xion said, turning to him now.

"Well, it's just - like Even said: you need time to adjust to all this, right? A nice, quiet, familiar place! But traveling all these worlds with us is kiiiind of the opposite of that," Sora said quickly. "We wouldn't want to make things worse for you - hurt you in some way. He made it sound pretty important, and with the way you fainted before-"

"I'm fine," Xion said flatly, looking away again. "Thanks."

"...Ooookay. Got it." Sora leaned forward in his seat, pointing out of the ship. "Hey, why don't we try looking over there now?"

Xion looked out of the dome window of the cockpit, staring out into space. There was a world in the distance...but she couldn't tell much about it.

"If you think Riku's there, let's check it out," Ven said enthusiastically. He'd said something like that the last two worlds...

Xion sat back in her chair, saying nothing.

Her eyes were stinging again.

Maybe Sora was right; this was a mistake...

---

Riku moved from world to world, in a kind of listless trance.

Portal after portal.

Fight after fight, when monsters appeared to him - Heartless, or those other ones.

He mostly stayed away from towns or cities - from congregations of Hearts, bright to his senses. Light...shining...

He hardly slept, only ate a couple of times (when someone had noticed him, and all-but pressed some food into his hands). He sustained himself on darkness itself, used it as fuel to keep his body going.

He couldn't have said where he was, or where he was going. Or what he was even doing...

His big, inspired idea to go off and redeem himself had been nothing but a joke.

Another stupid, boyhood fantasy.

After maybe a day, or two, or three or more, he found himself stood atop a high mountain, overlooking a glowing cityscape at night that even cut through the dark of his non-working eyes. So much light...

It felt familiar, too. Was this that city world, San Fransokyo, wasn't it called...? Where they'd fought that giant Heartless together, summoned by Ansem...by Xehanort's Heartless.

It wasn't just the lights from the buildings, from the city itself: it was the people within it. So many Hearts, so bright...all gathered together... Living their lives, at peace, and happy...

"Peace and happiness? Is that what you're trying to achieve - what you really want for yourself?" came an echoing voice in Riku's mind, that sounded a lot like Ansem's.

Great...now he was hearing voices. It wasn't enough that he was such a screw-up, that everything was just...now his memories and ghosts were taunting him too?

Ansem's voice echoed around him - laughing in that familiar way. "Oh, I am very real, Riku...allow me to demonstrate."

Riku clenched his jaw, shifting on the mountaintop and shaking his head-

Cold, burning darkness erupted in his Heart, flooding his body - and then he suddenly found himself locked in place! His legs came together underneath him, and his arms moved away from him. His whole body went rigid! Every nerve and inch of skin was on fire.

"Agh- w-what-" Riku gasped, trying to move - but it was useless! "I can't-"

"Be a good boy and stop trying to resist me." The voice came into sudden, sharp focus.

"You- this can't be...real..." Riku gritted out. "You're- gone. Xehanort...you shouldn't- still be here..."

"Clever boy. Yes, the whole of the Heart I was returned to true form and shape, Recompleting my original self - but I am not the whole of it," Ansem's voice spoke lowly, amused. And crystal clear - like he was speaking into Riku's ear. "You recall when I attempted to take your body for myself, back in Radiant Garden's castle library - after your humiliation at the hands of the Princess of Heart, and even your own dream counterpart?"

Did he have to ask? Of course Riku remembered that time; it had been one of his weakest, most pathetic moments. But not for the reasons Ansem might think. "What's- your- point?" Riku hissed out, still struggling as best he could. Trying to call on his darkness...but he felt so weak, so...

"You did succeed in fighting me off, wielding darkness against darkness - but a part of my power clung to yours, and a part of my Heart remained within yours. How else could you have gotten those memories of mine at the end of our struggle?"

"So...you're just...a piece of him, huh?" Riku rasped. He tried to grin, but couldn't manage it. "Then you'll be even easier to...kick out than he was."

"I may be a fragment of the true Ansem's power and Heart, but I've spent all this time within you...embedding myself into the deepest recesses of yours...such that you have no hope of removing me. And why should you want to?"

"Guess again. I'll throw you out, just like before!" Riku said firmly.

"Are you so certain of that?" Ansem said idly, still sounding so amused. "I don't think you'll be repeating such a feat. You're right, Riku: you've let your darkness become weak - vulnerable. A lone, flickering candle compared with the roaring flame it once was. All because you threw it away - gave it up. Let yourself grow soft. And what was it for? Friends that will never look at you the same way again? Parents that will never understand you? A home that you will always see the same way? A stagnant, isolated little prison, surrounded by water. And now here you are, completely in over your head, messing with things beyond your ability to understand...without the tools to even do the job right."

"Shut up. I'm never listening to you again," Riku snapped.

"Why not?" Ansem's voice came again, with mock surprise. "Haven't I always been there for you, boy? From your earliest years, I was the one who stood with you for hours, listening to your every fear and doubt, and worry - and, as you grew into the young man you are now, your desires. Unlike your friends, and your paltry darkness, I have always been there for you. I have always helped you when you needed it most. And I have always shown you the door to your greatest desires..."

"Let me guess, you promise you can do it again, right?" Riku retorted.

"Oh, no," Ansem said, chuckling to himself. "As I am now, I find myself lacking something as well. But I can give you the key to obtaining all that you desire...if you have the strength for it."

"You don't know a thing about what I desire."

"But I do, Riku. And I also know that as you are now, you will never obtain them. Not without me. No, without me, you will never be the hero, you will never be strong, and you will never get the girl." Ansem paused. "Without me, you are weak, and pitiful. A loser. Is it any wonder that the Princess of Heart chose Sora over you, at every turn?"

"I'm not listening to you."

"Accept my help, and I will give you the power to be all that you want to be - to take what you want," Ansem continued, his voice hardening. Strengthening. Getting louder in Riku's ears. "What you desire. What you deserve! You can take Kairi's Heart from that idiot boy - claim your prize!"

Riku gritted his teeth and screwed up his eyes. Had he actually been taken in by this sort of talk before? He just felt sick now. "Kairi isn't a prize to be claimed! And do you honestly think she'd even just- go along with it anyways? You obviously don't know a thing about her. She'd sooner grab my hand and make me stab her through the heart than ever-"

"Well, how about the other girl of your desires? Erin, isn't that her name?"

"Shut up..."

"She is already well experienced in the art of obedience. Accustomed to taking commands. She is riding the high of independence now, but it will never change what she was born to be: a slave. But she could be your slave. You would only need to use my powers to break her, to make her submit to you-"

"SHUT UP!" Riku screamed, darkness bursting from his body - and suddenly he was free again. "YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT WEAK? PATHETIC? YOU'RE THE ONE WITH NOTHING - NO BODY, NO POWER, NO FRIENDS WHO GIVE HALF A SHIT ABOUT YOU! Your Nobody's gone, you're hanging around in my Heart, trying to tempt me with words because that's all you have - and you're failing at it, because you don't understand me, or anyone, and you never did - and even your Recompleted self and- time traveling self from the past have been caught and turned into helpless, defeated losers! You're finished! Everything you ever did, everything you ever were, it amounted to nothing! So just give it up already!"

"...Are you finished?" Ansem's calm, quiet voice echoed. "We've known each other for a long time, Riku - so I'm willing to overlook this outburst and offer my forgiveness. I shall give you time to...think things over. My other offer will remain open to you, if you have you the courage to take it."

"NEVER!" Riku said harshly, breathing heavily. His Heart suddenly seized, agony rolling through him, bringing him to his knees. He clasped a hand to his chest, gasping. "What are you...doing?"

"The pitiful darkness inside your Heart has been tempered, that is all."

"You think I needed your help? I was doing fine without you!"

"Were you? Wasting away in your room, hiding from all that you fear? And now - for these past several days? Wandering from world to world, accomplishing nothing, stewing in your own inadequacies? Please, Riku..." Ansem laughed loudly, ringing in his ears. "But perhaps you require a more proper motivation..."

"What-"

Darkness roared inside Riku, a dark sphere exploding out from his chest and enveloping his body!

He fought and thrashed in the dark-

And then he was free.

In a dark void, infinite and cold.

Standing on a circular platform, awash with dark energies.

Ansem himself was there, standing before Riku.

Riku could sense him, smell him, and- "see" him. Solid, defined darkness, in the shape of a powerful, towering man.

"WHAT IS THIS?" Riku demanded, drawing his Keyblade in an instant, that warmth comforting in his palm.

"I will give you a reason to fight - to use the darkness," Ansem spoke. "Fight me, here and now, boy - or surrender your body to me!"

"I threw you out before, and I can do it again!"

"Let's see, then, boy..." Ansem said, spreading his arms, a dark aura flowing around him as he rose off the platform. Darkness burst behind him, and a familiar monster erupted into being. A Heartless, strong and muscular, with antennae and a hole in its chest, and a tattered tail instead of a lower body.

Riku took a breath, bringing his weapon up into his battle stance...and then it lowered a few degrees. He stepped back, a sigh escaping him. A tired, weak sigh...

What was the point? Ansem was right, wasn't he? Riku was no hero. He wasn't strong. He couldn't...

"Don't give in to him," came a sudden, whispered voice in his ear that sounded...a lot like Erin's?

"Huh? Erin...?" Riku gasped.

"Hm...?" Ansem's voice came, puzzled.

"Fight!" came the hurried, urging voice of Kairi now, in his other ear.

"I can't..." Riku whispered. "I'm not like you...I-"

"I'm yours, not his; use me." The voice that replied to him, from directly behind him...sounded like Sora...

Riku turned-

And sensed no one and nothing. In his mind's eye, it was the infinite darkness. No solid form, no Heart, no...anything.

"You disappoint me, boy," Ansem's voice came. "If you cannot gather your courage or strength, then this body belongs to me."

The Heartless flew forward, shrouded in dark energy, its arms seizing Riku up!

Riku gasped, struggling.

Darkness burned at him, it entered him!

Those demonic hands were crushing him, squeezing the life out of him...

He couldn't get loose, he couldn't breathe, he...couldn't...

"Do you want help?" echoed the voice of...Terra...

Riku's Keyblade fell from his grasp, clattering on the platform and vanishing. Riku's chest felt like it was going to explode...

"I'll assume yes, in this case," spoke Namine's voice.

A wall of furious darkness erupted from out of the pillar, disintegrating the arms of the Heartless and sending it flying backwards into Ansem!

Ansem slashed his arm in front of him, knocking the monster aside with a snarl. Then, his deep voice gasped. "W-what...! I-Impossible..."

"Hm. Pitiful, am I?" The voice of Kairi returned.

Before the wall of darkness, something new rose up from the floor - taking shape...

Riku raised his head, reaching out his senses...

And he gasped too.

"What- are you?" Riku rasped out, pained, wincing as he held his ribs.

A shadowy figure stood in front of Riku - facing him. A figure of pure darkness, with a burning aura of dark flames. Humanoid, but featureless. All Riku could "see" was...just some vague human shape made out of darkness. But the fact that he could even "see" that much, that sharply and clearly, told him how powerful and intense this dark entity had to be. It was like a Heartless, but...also not a Heartless. This was something else. He just knew it. Didn't know how he knew - but he did.

That featureless, vague human head cocked, darkness rippling against darkness's backdrop. "I should think it was obvious." The voice was Erin's again...but speaking in intonations and a whole- cadence she never would. Most notably, her accent sounded off. Weaker, thinner. Like whoever was trying to imitate it wasn't perfect at it. Didn't have it quite right. Whoever...or, whatever...

Memories of Traverse Town came back to him - of all that Master Luxu had told them about. Things he'd only half paid attention to at the time. But...he remembered enough.

"You're one of those - Darknesses...?" Riku gasped out.

"Yes - yours!" The formless dark figure turned and became truly formless - a cloud of darkness - and flew at Ansem. The wall of darkness parted around it - and then it moved behind it, like a trail. The dark figure darted around Ansem and his Heartless, swirling like a cyclone. A dark cocoon materialized around them, pulsing, growing...

"WHAT?!" Ansem's muffled voice screamed, raged-

But then the cocoon shrank down, and vanished.

The darkness washed away from the platform, and the void...flashed with a sudden light.

Riku gasped, suddenly finding himself laying on the ground, atop the mountains, feeling the cold winds biting at his body. He breathed in, out...rolled over and pushed himself up on dirt and rock, into a sitting position. He looked down at himself, raising a hand to his chest...

What was happening inside his Heart?

The mental war seemed like it had become some kind of...physical one. Or- well...whatever...?

"...It's nothing to panic over," came the voice of Erin, once again - this time, echoing around him in reality, like Ansem's had before!

Riku panicked.

Notes:

Because without Repliku, Riku still needed one of his own... xD You have NO IDEA how long I've been looking at this plot point on my outlines and wanting to be there already!!! And HERE. WE. ARE!

Chapter 28: Darkness Against Darkness Part 2

Notes:

Look at that, two lengthy chapters in one night! Well, it is a Friday, and I have creative brain fuel in the form of soda lol! xD I'm in hyper mode! Also hey look, DISNEY STUFF! That's weird... :D

"GET OUT OF MY HEART!" Riku screamed, whirling this way and that, his fists clenched. Shaking.

Darkness suddenly shimmered in front of him - resolving itself into that vague, genderless, shadowy human shape with a flaming aura.

"This is the best I can do for you," a voice spoke - one that wasn't anyone's Riku recognized. He wasn't even sure whether he could pin it down as a- a boy's voice or a girl's? Or maybe it was both, strangely enough? "But I can't remain this way for long: I'll have to return to you soon."

"Never! And- why were you in my Heart? Are you working with Ansem!" Riku shouted.

That genderless voice sighed. "If I was working with Ansem, I would have let him take control of your body."

...Right. "Well - I still don't want you in there any more than I do him! So get lost!"

"It's not a matter of what either of us wants. If I remain outside of your Heart for too long a time, I'll disappear - fade away into nothingness."

"Good!"

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"I believe I just saved your life - and nothing else. Why do I deserve death, in your eyes?"

"Just stop it. I know all about your kind," Riku said firmly. "All you do is cause chaos, destruction, and death. I'm not letting you trick me into being used for that. I've had enough of that to last a lifetime."

"Yes, we've established that I'm a Darkness - but I don't believe I am one of the Ancient Darknesses that the Keyblade Master, Luxu, told you about before. I'm not a foreign invader: I was born in your Heart, just hours ago now - that's a fact I'm sure of."

"Right," Riku snorted. "That's what you're going to try to sell me on, is it? That you're something like what Vanitas was to Ventus. Or - what we all thought they were to each other. Just his darkness ripped out, personified? Except that was all a big lie, and we all know what the truth is, so don't even bother trying it!"

"I understand your suspicions, but I promise you, I have no intentions of hurting you - for the simple fact that you are my host, if nothing else can convince you. You know my kind needs to reside within a human Heart to survive; what would be the point in doing anything that would bring you to harm? That would be antithetical to my own basic instincts."

"I know what your instincts are. You manipulate people, you hide in their Hearts, you use them, and you destroy them - and everyone else around you."

"Wrong. Darkness's nature is to grow, to spread - against the borders of the light that pushes back at it. Just as light wants to shine in every corner, washing away every last shadow. But I'm more than my instincts - as you are. You can use darkness as a power for good...and I can decide to act, myself, as a force for good as well."

"And why would you decide that?" Riku said.

The Darkness tilted their head at him. The dark flames swayed. "Because you did."

"I only do straight answers. Try again."

"You're different from other humans. You don't look at darkness and see evil, monster - not normally, at any rate. Not when you aren't fearful and panicking. But that isn't fear of the dark, it's fear of what the darkness holds. But darkness itself? You know better than that. It was that core belief, that truth - along with everything you've been feeling and thinking these past few days - that's shaped me into the being I am upon my birth." The Darkness paused. Then- "You aren't Kairi, or Sora, or Terra. You aren't Erin. You aren't the hero. You aren't strong enough to be one. You thought to yourself, again and again, that anyone else could do it better-"

"I know what I've been thinking!"

"Well, there's your answer," came the response - now in very identifiable smug tones. "I was born within your Heart in response to your desires: I'm the one who can do it better."

Riku stared with blind eyes. He blinked them rapidly. Then he burst into laughter. "Y-you?! Right! Yeah right!"

"I didn't think it was all that funny."

"Shut up!"

"Rude."

"Don't care. Get out of here. Now."

"Do you know what humans call it when someone acts hostile and rude toward someone else for being born a certain way, or as part of a certain group? It's called bigotry. Prejudice. And in this case - speciesism."

"W-what? Are you...are you calling me- racist or something? Seriously?"

"What else would you call this? I deserve a thank you from you, not distrust and mistreatment."

"Shut UP!" Riku hurled a fist out, sending out Dark Firaga.

The dark fireballs passed straight through the shimmering dark figure, and evaporated harmlessly in the open air behind it.

"Now that was just disgusting of you. If I had been a physical being, you really would have just attacked me out of anger like that? You would have blown a defenseless person off this mountain? You really aren't cut out to be a hero, are you..."

Riku breathed hard, pausing. He lowered his shaking fist, uncurling his fingers. "Go. Away," he breathed, turning away.

"As I said: I can't. Well...I could, perhaps, but I would need to fully detach myself from and vacate your Heart - in favor of nesting within others. But the average person's Heart isn't very good at handling darkness; who knows how long they'd last? But your Heart...it's special, Riku. I felt it the moment I awoke - the second I was born inside it. You can take the darkness in, and handle it without weakening. Without hurting. You can handle me."

"No, I can't..." Riku sighed. "I couldn't stop Ansem this time. I couldn't win. And I haven't been able to save even a single person, this whole time...I haven't helped anyone!"

"We could help them together - if you let me. Just like we always have. You and me, Riku: you and your darkness. You just need to have confidence again. And you need to trust in me, not fear me. Because I am your-"

"You aren't my darkness! You're just some- thing hiding in my Heart! And you're crazy if you think I'd work with you. Maleficent, Ansem...I'm not getting manipulated by anyone else like that, ever again!"

"I'll let my actions speak louder than my words, then..."

The Darkness rippled, and then it shrank down to a single flame...and vanished.

Riku reached out with his senses, straining to feel the world around him. Magic, light and darkness, Hearts...

Nothing.

But could he trust that...?

He put his hand to his chest, a tightness seizing it.

Odds were that that- thing hadn't listened to a word he'd said to it, and had just snuck its way back inside his Heart again.

It was probably waiting, watching...

If it was, Riku had another reason to keep going like this. Well, two reasons: he had to keep it, and this- remnant of Ansem as far away from his friends and family as possible.

He turned away and threw out a hand, summoning another dark portal.

He had to keep moving.

Through the darkness - and then into light again.

After emerging, he stopped, as a warmth and sun and familiar feeling hit him.

He listened to the sounds, he smelled the air...

And realized where he was.

Disney Town?

King Mickey's home world.

He could feel the brilliant light of it all, without even any effort.

He turned his head, and his senses were blinded by the radiant light in the distance - the castle, he knew. He'd sensed it before. A light unlike any other. Powerful, strong...

In this world, Riku felt...a little more relaxed, immediately.

He knew the light of this place was so strong that the Heartless couldn't even show up here.

Though, that meant there was no one to try to help...

Not that he could have - like he knew what to do. But...

He sighed, shaking his head and starting off down the curved streets of this familiar town. He wandered for a while, until he'd found his way to a wide open space.

A park or square.

He sat down on some grass, pulling up his knees and putting a fist to his cheek.

It was nice here... He wished he could have stayed. Just...

"Help! Someone - heeeelp!" a high voice cried out, breaking Riku's moment of tranquility.

He startled, turning, extending his senses. A Heart - a person - crossing the square. Fast. Light, quick footsteps pattering away. A kid?

He got to his feet, tensed, searching out for Heartless. He felt a cold darkness wash over him - like a wind. A draft, down the streets. He turned in that direction...and realized it was the same direction as the kid was coming from.

"You - you have to help me!" The kid - some girl? - made a beeline for him and stopped right in front of him. A small hand grabbed his, pulling.

"Look, I-" Riku started, pulling away.

"We should help her." The voice...that Darkness!

Get out of my head!

"Either you help her, or I will."

"Please..." the kid's voice broke through again. Breaking, itself. Scared. Panicked. Desperate.

Riku tried not to sigh. "Alright - what do you need help with?"

"It's my mom! She fell asleep and she won't wake up. And then- then there were these- monsters- and she told me to run and get help..." the girl rambled, breathless.

Monsters. Someone who fell asleep? Could it be...those other dark creatures again? The ones from that empty, silent village...?

But...

"I- I don't know what I can do to help," Riku admitted painfully. "I'm sorry."

"I might."

Shut UP! You're not getting anywhere near these people.

"I already am - because you are."

There it was, then, huh?

Confirmation.

This thing had just slipped back inside his Heart!

"Please, you've got to try, please..."

Riku gritted his teeth, then clenched a fist at his side.

Maybe he couldn't help the sleeping person, but he could defeat the monsters. He could...do what he could. Right?

He could do this.

He couldn't mess this up...

"Okay!" he said firmly, and summoned his Keyblade in a flash. "Where's your mom - where are the monsters? Can you take me to them?"

"This way!" the girl declared, and she was off.

Riku hurried after, down the streets. "Hey - uh - what's your name?" he said quickly as they moved.

"Pistol! Pistol Pete!"

"Wha-? Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously! What's yours?" The girl responded, her voice whipping back to him on the wind.

"It's- Riku."

"See, that's a dumber name!" said the girl whose name was...seriously Pistol? Who named their kid after a gun?!

Riku ground his teeth together. Hard. Whatever, focus on more important things!

They raced down the streets, until finally the girl stopped. She darted to the right, and Riku heard the swinging open of a wooden door. He followed after her, finding the door in question to be a heavier one than he'd thought. He pushed through and entered the cool and shade of the home.

He came to a skidding halt as the darkness hit him.

It was the same scent, alright. And the dark shapes milling around the room, around the Heart...were the same. The Heart was the same, too, as that other one...It looked, faded, dimmed, caught. Trapped...

Riku turned his head, realizing the kid was still in the room. "Hey - go outside where it's safe! I'll- take care of this."

The girl didn't move for a moment - and then she did. She exited the house with heavy panting.

Riku focused his senses on the monsters without even trying, bringing his weapon up.

Then he paused.

He'd made this mistake before. Twice, actually (with that light monster of Kairi's).

He wasn't doing it a third time!

Riku turned and bolted from the house, skidding into the streets and doing a backflip as the dark creatures chased after him.

He sensed the girl, and turned and threw out an arm to her. She retreated further down the street - hiding just behind a corner.

"Excellent! You handle them, and I'll see what I can do about the woman's Heart."

What? No - you stay away from her!

No response.

Dammit! No-!

The monsters converged on him, attacking with projectiles.

Two of them were birds of some kind, and the other was one of those fat cat types again.

Riku darted forward and slashed through the birds, leaving a trail of energy behind him. He flipped up and rained down a dozen dark projectiles, pounding them into the ground. Then he teleported behind the cat creature and gave it a furious uppercut, sending it skyward. He leapt up after it, slashing furiously and repeatedly! He juggled it- until it poofed.

He landed again, lunging for the nearest bird, thrusting a fist of Dark Firaga. But this time, he didn't let it go: he held it in his palm, and let it explode point blank. He shrouded himself in a dark aura, protecting himself from the brunt of the blast, and did a backflip as the force hit him. He landed on a knee, skidding backwards and catching himself with his free hand.

The bird was gone.

One monster left!

He closed the gap in a burst of speed, sheathed his blade in dark energy, and swung it outward. It cleaved through the monster and obliterated it in one blow.

Riku breathed, letting the energy fade, letting the darkness recede into his Heart. He straightened up, and was relieved to sense the girl still where he'd left her.

Not for long, though: she immediately came running forward - slamming right into him and hugging his midsection.

"You're from another world, aren't you! That was cool!" the girl exclaimed, as she didn't stop hugging him.

"Huh? Why would you think that?"

"You wear weird clothes and have a sword like the King does," the girl responded.

"Uh...right. Smart kid."

Why was this conversation starting to sound really, eerily familiar...?

Riku shook it off and gently tried to pry the kid loose, pushing her away. "Hey - why don't we go see about your mom?"

The girl jumped back from him instantly, gasping. "I forgot mom!" She grabbed his hand and started off down the street again - pulling him now.

Riku stumbled, following - letting her (honestly, he'd lost track of which direction the kid's house was; fighting was disorienting). He was led back inside the house, into the familiar smells and telltale shade. To that familiar, faded Heart...

The girl suddenly stopped, causing Riku to bump right into her. She was clinging to him again, letting out a high noise of fear.

Riku could "see" why.

That Darkness was swirling into existence, right next to the kid's mom.

"Hey - you! Get-" Riku called out, raising his weapon and thrusting it forward.

"Got her. She should wake up now."

Riku pried the kid loose and pushed her behind him, starting forward. "I said-"

"And I said: the woman is fine!" came the Darkness's voice - rising with anger. "If you'd just give it a minute-"

The Heart suddenly flooded with light, flaring brightly, casting away the dark shroud around it.

Riku lowered his weapon, his senses bathing in that sudden rush of heat...

"Mom...?" the girl's voice came, quiet. Hesitant.

A groan. A shuffling noise. The Heart - the person - rose up from the floor. "Pistol...?"

The Darkness vanished in a swirl of energy.

Riku moved forward hesitantly-

The girl ran past him, straight forward.

Two light, shining Hearts grew brighter together.

Riku felt a small smile coming over his face. He felt that warmth, he felt-

"You...did you-" came a new voice. The mother's voice. "That sword...do you work with the King?"

Riku hesitated. It was technically true that he did know and had met that King Mickey before...had fought a giant monster with him before. But... "Yeah. We've beaten dark monsters together before."

"What's your name, young man? Please."

"Riku..."

"He fought those monsters and saved you!" the girl said enthusiastically. A far cry from calling his name dumb.

"My name is Peg! Peg Pete!" the woman said chirpily. Then she was suddenly coming forward and taking his hand, squeezing it hard. "I don't know how I can possibly thank you for what you did today!"

"N-no thanks needed," Riku stammered, trying to pull his hand free politely. "I was just...in the neighborhood?"

"You're like a real hero!" said the girl, her voice getting higher pitched than it already previously was.

"Uh...yeah? I guess..." Riku murmured, his face heating up. He wanted to say he didn't deserve it, but- "Look, I should...go."

He turned away, heading for the door as he vanished his Keyblade.

"Thanks for helping, Riku!" the girl called out after him.

Riku stepped out onto the streets again, smiling to himself.

He'd actually...done it?

One good thing.

Saved one person. Helped one person.

He set off down the street, feeling lighter and better than he had in...days now.

"I get no credit?" came the familiar voice.

Right beside him.

He stopped, whirling, raising his hand-

"You took care of the monsters, but I saved her Heart."

Riku froze. He closed his fingers...and slowly let his arm fall. "You're seriously telling me you...did that? Woke her up? Saved her from whatever that was?"

He "saw" that featureless head tilt at him again. "Do you think you did it, then? What exactly did you do for her? I'm curious. Go on: tell me."

Riku stepped away, letting out a breath. "Alright, but you expect me to just- believe that you did? Why - why would you...?"

"Hmph. Because I chose to - just as you did, Riku. That's all there is to it."

Riku stood there for a long time, thinking hard. Sensing. Feeling. "If I believed you on that...how did you save her, then? What did you do in there?"

"I entered her Heart, and found her in a nightmare. There were more of those monsters inside of her; I took care of them easily enough - and then she woke."

"That's it...? She was just- having a bad dream? And that somehow made monsters appear?"

"Yes. The darkness of her dreams, and the monsters already inside her Heart, were keeping her trapped in that sleep."

"...Right...Okay. Sure."

"You're being very sarcastic right now; I don't appreciate it."

"You...really did help her?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes!"

"I think you're projecting."

"What?"

"Projecting - it means to misread onto others what your own-"

"I know what projecting is, and I'm not doing it!" Riku cut across, glowering at the dark shape in his mind's eye.

"...Right. Okay."

"Hah. Funny."

"No more than when you did it to me."

Riku frowned, looking down and away. He clenched his hands, lifting them...

"If you really can help more people like her...then prove it," he said slowly, hesitantly.

"You want to go back to that first village."

"How do you know that?"

"...I am inside your Heart, remember?"

"Not right now, you're not."

"Well, no - but there is still a bond between us. One through which I can sense your emotions, thoughts, and intentions, just the same. I haven't fully detached from your Heart, in this state - only temporarily left it, and materialized my essence outside its confines. But I will need to return to it, in time."

"Right, okay." He turned away, raising a hand to conjure a dark portal.

That's not going to get creepy or anything fast.

"I'll try not to listen in on your Heart's contents, but it might be a losing battle."

Why don't you start doing that right now.

"...Alright. Starting...now."

God, what the hell was he doing?

This was insane, it was dangerous, it was unbelievable...

So why was he doing it?

Chapter 29: Interval: Young Xehanort

Notes:

YAY, another scene I already have had pre-written and wanted to get to for a while now exists in this chapter! xD It was so fun! :)

Young Xehanort lay in his room for long hours, deliberating.

Then he swung himself up and strode across the room, stepping out into the hall.

He went to the living room, quiet and hesitant.

The dark-haired woman of silver eyes- Moreth- mother...sat on the couch, tapping through the channels of the television broadcast.

"...Outbreak of unexplainable insomnia, which continues to grow. More and more people find themselves falling to a deep, irreversible slumber. In relation, the rise of these strange creatures, similar to the dark beasts that plagued the world months ago now-"

Click.

Mother turned the channel away from the news, and to some...children's show.

Xehanort watched her, hidden, curious.

Watched her watching the show, now, with interest of her own...

With sadness and longing.

He sighed softly, then stepped out through the entryway.

Mother turned swiftly, looking on him with surprise, with a wash of joy and a glistening to her eyes - and then it all faded. She pushed her hair from her face. "Xehanort..."

Xehanort took in a breath. He walked over and sat down next to her, stiff-backed. He set his hands in his lap. "Mo- Moreth..."

They sat in a highly uncomfortable silence.

For a long, several minutes.

"I-" Xehanort stopped. He started again. "So - this...show...it interests you?"

"It's cute - and funny," said mother, in a quiet voice. A small smile on her lips.

Well, Xehanort didn't do "cute and funny"...he wanted to roll his eyes at the mere words. But, coming from her lips, in that voice he'd thought he would never hear...a woman he thought he'd never get to meet...maybe it wasn't so unbearable. "Well...I'm- glad to hear that?"

Mother nodded.

Her smile faded.

The silence returned.

"What interests you...?" Mother asked softly. "What do you like to do for fun - with your friends?"

"I..." Xehanort had to actually think about it. He felt the creeping of embarrassment. "Chess. Alba and Ater. I play...played...all the time, with- with Eraqus. My...best friend."

Mother turned to him. Her leg touched his, an acute awareness of...warmth and weight and a jolt that went through his body. A flash of emotions burgeoned in his Heart: relief, hope, pleasure... Hers, not his? "Let's play together, then."

Xehanort stared at her, shocked. "I...what? You...want to play a game with me?"

Her smile returned, bright and full, more than it ever was before. Her eyes glinted at him. "Yes. I'm sure you'll beat me - I've never been good at logic, or puzzles, or that kind of thing - but..."

Xehanort gazed at her, a shaking breath escaping his lips. His eyes stung at the edges, as a feeling pierced his Heart. He forced his lips to twist into a comfortable smirk. "I'll be sure to go easy on you."

Mother stood - jumped, more like. It startled him, honestly. She clapped her hands - actually clapped. "We'll need to go buy a set from a shop. Amaya left me money in case we needed it...a lot of money..." The woman disappeared into the kitchen quickly - and returned just as fast, carrying a small bag. She went to the front door, twisting the locks. She pulled it open - then stopped, turning to look at him. "Come."

"I don't know if Amaya would like my wandering this world so freely - and without supervision," Xehanort said, shrugging and showing her his palms.

Mother gave another, small smile. There was a humorous light to her eyes now. "Luckily, you'll be with your mother!"

Xehanort blanched. He looked down, aside. Then he pushed himself up, starting forward. "I...suppose so, yes..." he murmured out in agreement.

In all his childhood fantasies, dreams, and wonderings - he'd never once imagined his mother to be someone like this. Had he not inherited any of his personality from her...?

At any rate...he was glad to be out of the house again.

Even if it did involve nearly half an hour of walking, just to reach the nearest store - a massive mall building, bustling with activity.

Xehanort put his hands in his pockets as they walked inside, suppressing irritation at all the noise and chaos. So many people - so many children. Annoying, loud, unaware-

"Are you alright?"

He turned, startled. "Fine," he said flatly.

Mother stared at him still, frowning. "Alright..."

They wandered through the main floor, passing shelves and shops - until they'd found the only one that mattered.

One full of board games and other useless children's games.

There was no Alba and Ater here - but there was chess. Some surprisingly well designed sets, by the looks of them. Though, they seemed fairly expensive...

Mother followed his gaze, gave a smile, and then she pulled two of the very expensive ones from the shelves.

Xehanort stared at her as she moved for the checkout counter, trailing after her. "Do you even have that much money?" he spoke, with faint amusement. "What does Amaya's job pay her? I wasn't aware being a waitress was very lucrative here."

Mother gave a...small, soft, high laugh. The first time he had heard her laugh in his life, he realized...and it sounded- rather pleasant.

"Waitress is her day job, as I understand it..." she spoke, stepping up to the counter and placing the chess packages atop it. She dug into the bag, sifting through it until she'd retrieved...handfuls of bills with high numbers on them. She set them out on the counter, to be taken by the cashier. After she'd collected her purchases, she turned and set off again, leaving the shop.

Xehanort followed her. "Implying she has some other job?" he spoke, curious now.

Mother glanced over at him with a smile. "A night job."

Xehanort blinked at her, puzzled. "Which would be...?"

Mother stared back at him for a moment, a confusion on her face as well, for some reason. Then, her expression changed to one of- mortification. A pink tinge filled her pale cheeks. She shook her head quickly. "She's offered her services to the world's governments - fighting the monsters showing up lately, in secret."

"Yes...Nightmares, as I understand it," Xehanort nodded. "And that pays well?"

"Most of the weapons here can't do anything against them - not for long," mother sighed, looking...heartbroken. Upset. "Not forever. But a Keyblade can; she's been waking people up again, stopping more of them from forming."

"And it pays well?"

"It's not about the money, for her," mother said, glancing at him with a strange frown.

"I'd thought we were talking about the money, though," Xehanort said, confused now himself.

Mother blinked. The strange look cleared. She nodded. "Yes: it pays really well, apparently. More than she could ever need - more than we could need."

Xehanort nodded back, smiling as best he could. "Good, then."

After a long and precarious journey back to the house, Xehanort took one of the chess sets from her with care and deftness - his fingers brushed with hers, sending another strange jolt through him - and began to set things up on the kitchen table. After he'd finished placing everything meticulously, he sat back in his seat, raising a knee and resting an arm.

Mother sat down across from him after a long drag from a glass of water, leaning forward to gaze down on the game board. Her hair spilled forth, hanging over it all. Her silver eyes narrowed, taking it all in. Then she shook her head, sitting back again and meeting his gaze with a smile. She brought her arms up from her lap beneath the table, reached for the board...and then slowly, carefully began to rotate the board. She moved it until the pieces were now on the opposite sides to what they had been.

Xehanort stared, perplexed. "Huh?" He looked from the board, to her face. "What? Were the colors not to your liking...? It makes no difference to how the game is played," he said. Quite an awful thought struck him in that moment: had his mother actually...never even played before? "You...have played chess before, haven't you?" he ventured, disturbed at the very notion.

She smiled again - her eyes glinted - and she shook her head. "I don't think that I ever have, I'm sorry...Could you explain the rules to me, please?"

Xehanort gazed at her, his mouth dropping open. Then he glanced down, schooling himself again. He reached out to pluck up the Queen's piece, shining and polished, and weighted. Glistening glass. He tossed it up and caught it again easily, before placing it back down again. "Alright, then...starting from square zero..." he murmured out. "Fantastic."

"I'm sorry. If it's too much trouble-"

"How have you lived thirty years and never once played a game of chess?" Xehanort muttered, incredulity seeping into his voice.

He heard her laughter again, causing him to look up.

"I told you I wasn't very good at that kind of thing," the woman spoke lightly. She tilted her head, then raised her free hand, curving her fingers, as if around the handle of an imaginary weapon. "I haven't summoned my Keyblade since my training days, either."

"You - have a Keyblade?" Xehanort said, surprised. He shouldn't have been (he did recall, in Amaya's memory, something about his mother having 'not even drawn her weapon', a taunt by the Darkness). Yet he was, all the same.

Mother lowered her hand, giving a nod that was almost...embarrassed? "It's been a really long time since I used it."

"Why? Even in my time, having a Keyblade is a great honor - a source of pride," Xehanort spoke. "It means you're Blue Blood."

The woman nodded again. She looked down into her lap, folding her hands there. Her shoulders rose, and then fell. "I have pride in my lineage - I know my ancestry - but I always took more pride in my present...and the future I wanted to make for myself."

"A future that didn't involve a Keyblade?"

"No. My interests have always been more domestic."

Xehanort frowned at her. His first instinct was to deride that statement - and any other talk of domestic things. But he refrained, at the look of happiness on her face in that moment. If she was so easily pleased by...such simple matters, then he wasn't going to be cruel to her. He didn't think that he could...nor did he want to. "I suppose we all have our dreams," he said vaguely.

"Xehanort..."

"Hm?" He glanced up.

"I love you."

He froze, sensations rolling through his body and Heart. "...what?"

She leaned forward, looking into his eyes with her identical own. "I love you. So much. I always have, and I always will. No matter what the future holds, no matter what you've done."

"Well...this version of me hasn't done anything yet - have I?" he strangled out, looking away. "And now it looks like I never will. Even my older self seems to want me to take another road..."

"No, but I still-"

Xehanort clenched his fist in his lap, leaning forward and fixing his eyes to the board. "Can we play already, or not?" he said tightly.

He remained staring intently at the glinting pieces, at the neat, perfect squares...

"Yes...of- of course we can. What are the rules?"

Xehanort sighed, letting some of the tension go. "Well, I suppose the most important rule wold be..."

After explaining it all to her in the simplest of terms, they began the first game.

Within the first minute or two, Xehanort immediately saw and mapped out a dozen ways he could have effortlessly beaten her.

He didn't, of course.

Oh, did it make him miss Eraqus, however...an actual challenge, being pushed, strategizing, every step of the way, being kept on his toes...

This woman was a child compared with him!

Her fingers fumbled with the pieces - she flinched and apologized when she'd dropped one with a loud clatter - she let seven different obvious moves pass her by, and she failed to get a single piece of his...except the ones he actually took pity on her for and let her have, subtly and discretely.

"...You're only...how old are you?" came her pained voice, toward the end of the game.

Xehanort shook his head, glancing up at her. It wasn't that he hadn't been paying attention because he was just so focused on the neck-and-neck game - it was that it was so dull he was starting to glaze over it all. "Sorry?" he said blandly.

Mother smiled. "I was just wondering how old you were, exactly."

"Twenty," Xehanort said, shrugging. He nudged a piece across the board - not taking an obvious path to victory, once again. "Why?"

"I was just wondering..."

"What?"

"You still have time - so much time," mother went on. "Time to find yourself - to find love, family, even-"

"W-what? I don't need any of that ridiculous-" Xehanort stopped himself, gazing at the woman's earnest face, peering at him across the chess board. He looked down, picking up and toying with a piece in his hand to occupy himself. This was his second chance at life, wasn't it? He'd spent the last life, purportedly, in utter loneliness and self-absorption. Obsession. Such that he'd become an aged, single-minded husk of an old man. He'd seen it with his own eyes. And if he was not going to go down that path again - then what else was there for him? The light of friendship, yes, and a chance to be the hero of light he'd dreamed of - one who stood as equal to Eraqus, his friend and brother - but now there was also the chance for...

Perhaps even more? Avenues unexplored, things he'd never considered in his first life, certainly...? He had never had his mother in his life before, after all (nor Amaya)... So perhaps...

"Well, I am still only twenty," he finally murmured. "I suppose there's no sense in ruling anything out - seeing where things might go?"

Mother's smile was one that made his Heart twist, in that moment, along with the wave of emotions from her.

"That's the spirit," she said warmly. She looked down at the board, studying it before making a move. The most rudimentary, flawed of moves, but still, technically a move. "If you ever do go down that road in life, no matter how briefly, or how far you go along it...what kind of person would it be with?"

"I've never given it a thought," Xehanort said honestly - quickly. Staring intently down at the board now, himself.

"No lucky women in your sights, then?"

Xehanort clenched his fist in his lap, adjusting his posture a minutia. He leaned back and looked out the window of the kitchen. He forced a laugh. "I hardly think anyone would consider themselves lucky to be with the man who almost destroyed the universe - who ruined so many worlds, destroyed countless innocent little lives."

"The man who turned away from that path. Who stood up to that man, to save the life of a woman in need-"

"The man who was himself."

"Another version of himself - one who'd lost so much, become so empty and warped, to the point that he-"

"I'm aware of my future self's shortcomings, thank you," Xehanort said sharply.

"I'm sorry..." Mother's voice was high - almost...was that a trace of actual fear he felt from her Heart?

Xehanort sighed, looking at her out the corner of his eye. He pretended to lean forward and reach for a piece to move - but really, he could have beaten her so many times now already. He stopped himself, then made the move anyways in full. He took one of her last pieces and drew closer to total victory; he could beat her in two more moves, without even thinking about it. "It wouldn't involve any women, if I were to be forced to imagine such a future for my current self," he muttered out, nearly to himself alone. "I have figured out that much about myself, even at this age..." Long before, actually...

He glanced up at Moreth, as she paused in the middle of reaching for one of her last pieces (she couldn't seem to decide on one, agonizingly for Xehanort to have to watch).

She was only smiling at him. Those silver eyes shining... "A lucky man, then."

"Still no," Xehanort said, feigning boredom as he sat back, rolling his eyes.

Mother laughed. "Well, I'm still going to keep imagining it for you - until the day you make it real. It's a mother's prerogative."

"If you say so," Xehanort shrugged, still doing his best to be disinterested. And disaffected. "I wouldn't know."

Mother looked hurt. He felt the flash of emotion from her, as intense as a wound.

Xehanort winced, quickly dropping his head again.

A multitude of unsaid things remained between them. Things even Xehanort hadn't the courage to take a stab at, just yet...

"I'm sorry..." Mother whispered. "I always will be."

And yet, for this me, sorry still can't change the past, Xehanort thought. He didn't voice it; he didn't want to see that look on her face again. Feel that emotion again.

Didn't want to be the cause of it, even as his own emotions rose in response - primarily, a kind of quivering anger...

Though, from the actual look on her face right then...Xehanort somehow thought she might have known what he was thinking.

He did his best to reign himself in, to mask his face, and he took her last piece, knocking it over with a sharp flick.

"I win," he stated coolly.

Mother gazed at him, her face twisting. Her mouth parting... Then she nodded, looking down to the board. Her hair fell down to hide her features. "You're very good - I'm proud of you."

"For being good at chess?" Xehanort said, his Heart easing a few degrees.

"For being so intelligent - so skilled and strategetic. It's wonderful!" she spoke, so- passionately and brightly.

Xehanort looked at her. "Really? I have it on good authority that those are not, actually, my best traits. Not for anyone else, at any rate. If I'd been less intelligent, I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did..."

Mother gave a high laugh, raising her hand to her mouth.

Xehanort blinked at her. "I wasn't joking..." he murmured, flushing deeply.

What was it with these women and laughing at things that made no sense?

Chapter 30: The Importance of Identity

Notes:

LOL sorry this is the last big Riku chapter for a while...juuust had to set some important stuff up...hence the title of the chapter! :) Plus it helps me flex my DISNEY MEDIA CONTENT muscles again, since I really haven't done that in a while and I was kinda unconfident about writing Disney stuff honestly... :( But I think I can do it again now! I'm all limber lol. Honestly my anxiety was kinda getting bad about it...I think I beat it back a little though... :)

I think, in the wise words of my AU Namine...I just gotta TRY. if it's kinda bad, it's kinda bad, but at least I can say I TRIED and went for it!

Riku stepped out of the dark portal, into a place he hoped was the right one.

A familiar one.

He listened, he took in the air, he extended his senses outward...

He was definitely in the middle of some village. But was it the right one? There were so many worlds, so many places, and he'd just been drifting through them lately and-

"I think I deserve a name."

Riku was pulled from his thoughts. "What?" he said, on reflex more than anything.

Then he realized: it was talking to him again.

"And a gender identity," the voice came again. "Calling someone an 'it' is considered very hurtful and dehumanizing, you know. You could at least say 'they.'"

Riku paused, a pang going through his Heart. A sense of acute shame creeping up his neck. "Uh...right - sorry..." he muttered out.

"An earnest apology - excellent." A pause. "You should help me come up with a name."

"What? Me? Why?"

"Obviously because you created me."

"Hey, I didn't do anything, you just- you said you just sort of popped up, or whatever. I didn't even know you were there until you...showed up and got rid of Ansem." Riku hesitated, frowning. "What did you do to him, anyways?"

"I only locked him away, deep inside your Heart," the Darkness answered. "But he isn't gone from you. In time, he may even break free again, and try to take your body for himself."

"Of course," Riku scoffed. "Guess it was too much to hope I'd be rid of him for good..."

Silence.

Riku began to walk around the village, down its dirt streets, trying to attune his senses again.

"I think that I'd like to be a girl."

He stopped again. "What?"

"My gender identity - I think I'd favor being known and seen as a girl by others."

"Um...sure. Okay?" Riku said, awkward. This really wasn't his thing - feelings, girls, whatever...

"You hold many girls in high esteem - Kairi, Aqua, your mother-"

"I think I hold just as many guys in high esteem," Riku countered, flushed. "Terra, Sora, Ventus..."

"True. But I think being a girl holds more appeal for me."

"Well - great...good for you?"

"Thank you. And for my name...I'll need to think on it some more."

"You do that." Riku said, annoyed. He started moving again, took a winding turn. He couldn't sense any monsters around...but he did sense the Hearts. Dozens of them, all around him still. They were...asleep, then, huh? Trapped in sleep...?

Suddenly, its- their- her? voice came back to him. And it was a girl's voice, this time. But it wasn't Erin's, or Kairi's, or anyone else's. It was...its own voice?

"Cognis."

"Huh?" Riku stopped. Again. Sighing loudly. He hadn't missed this part of having someone else in his Heart...

"That's the name I've chosen for myself: Cognis," came it- her voice again. It was a quiet, subdued, lofty, and raspy sort of voice. A lower pitched voice, as far as girls went, Riku thought. It was just as slow and...almost pondering as her voice had been previously, when it hadn't even had a pitch or inflection to it. It was a voice that said that she wasn't really...in a hurry to get anywhere; like she had all the time in the world. To sit and think, to talk, to act.

"Right. Good," Riku said shortly.

"It comes from the word 'cognizant'. It means 'alive' or 'conscious.' To cognize is to perceive, to know, or to become aware of something. In my case, what I'm cognizant of is awareness and consciousness themselves."

"Neat..."

"I pulled the word from your own memories, you know. A history lesson, I believe. Several years ago. You were-"

"I was probably...not...paying attention," Riku murmured, his face heating up.

Silence.

"It was dumb school stuff!" Riku defended. "None of it even matters now, does it? It's not exactly going to help me here..."

"It helped me to discover a name for myself," Cognis stated factually.

"Yeah, well, that's you - not me."

"I suppose..." came her response - with a dash of humor.

He could have believed she was smiling, if she was able to...

Why was he imagining a formless dark entity smiling like some- some actual, real girl?

"I'd say it's because...you're beginning to believe me," came Cognis's voice, a raspy whisper in his ear.

A pleasant...whisper.

What happened to not reading my mind?

"I said I would try - and that it would probably be a losing battle, I believe."

That's convenient.

"If you really thought so, you should have said something earlier," her voice came, irritated and- offended, almost. Definitely plain exasperated.

Like it- she had reason to be, with him. He was the one with some dark being hitching a ride in his Heart!

Riku growled, clenching his fist. "Just stop talking, alright? I need to focus here."

"Yes, look at all the nothing there is to focus on here," she responded. "You go on and do that..."

Really? Even the one supposedly on his side was going to mock him too? "Ugh. Look, I don't need this from you! I already have Ansem, apparently, so you can just-!" Riku began to shout, angry.

An echoing roar drowned out his own shouting voice. Loud, heavy footfalls pounded up the street...and then stopped, with a skidding noise and a spray of dirt and dust that made Riku cough.

"What in the-"

"Grrrhhh...I knew someone had been through here recently," a deep, growling, monstrous man's voice came. It sounded more like a beast than a human's, to Riku's ears. "But...just a boy." The voice quieted, tinged with frustration and regret.

"I'm Riku - who are you?" Riku called out, tensed still. That voice was powerful, and his senses told him a lot about the Heart in front of him; mainly, that the man's Heart was swirling with angry, furious darkness. A bubbling volcano, waiting to explode...

"Gah. That's none of your business," the voice snarled. "Get lost, child!"

"Hey, I was here first. You came to me-"

"Agh! Don't talk back to me, or I'll-" The man's furious voice suddenly stopped. There was a silence, then, swift footfalls. Left. Right. Forward. "You...can't see me, can you?" he spoke on, subdued and awkward now.

Riku let his fist go at his side, shifting his stance warily. "...No. I can't. Look, I didn't come here for a fight or anything. I came to- to try to help the people here. What's your name?"

"...You can call me Beast."

People on other worlds really did have weird names, didn't they?

A part of Riku was excited, however. The part of him that had longed to see them, to be out here like this. To adventure and meet people. He was finally doing it, after a fashion. And not with Terra, or Sora, or Kairi hanging over his shoulder, either. He was doing it on his own...truly and freely, like he'd dreamed of.

He could do this...couldn't he? He really...

"Alright. Beast," Riku said. "Nice to-"

"What do you think you can do to help these people, boy?" came the man's deep voice again, gruff and short. Derisive.

"Uh...well...it's not exactly me, it's- a, uh- friend..."

"What friend?" Beast demanded. "Tell me!"

Darkness materialized beside Riku - taking that shape and form again. It- "He means me."

"I mean- her," Riku agreed, giving a nod. "You can call her-"

"Foul creature!" Beast bellowed, and that Heart burst with dark energy as it moved forward. A dark aura cloaked the man - revealing a vague sense of a shape to Riku. Revealing that this "Beast" was more like his name than Riku could have thought! A hulking, powerful...beast-man of some kind!

Claws of dark flames swiped at Cognis, as the beast-man ignored Riku completely; a massive shoulder still checked him, knocking him aside with an oof of pain.

"H-hey, she's okay, she's here to help too!" Riku said quickly, backpedaling and recovering.

Beast swiped at Cognis again, roaring - then again, and again, and again, his arms passing right through her with no effect at all. "RUUAAAARGGGHHHH! WHY WON'T YOU FALL, MONSTER?!"

"Please stop him before this gets embarrassing," Cognis's voice came, mild and annoyed.

"HEY!" Riku shouted, stepping forward. "She can wake these people up! She's done it before! So just calm down, alright?!"

Beast stopped abruptly, mid swing. He slowly lowered his arm, turning toward Riku. "She...can? Can she? And who is she - what is she? She smells and looks like the creatures infesting my castle - and this town! The ones that put Belle into a sleep which I can't wake her from! And all of my servants!"

Riku held his ground as that voice rang in his very bones. "Does it matter? All that matters is she can help. She can do it. I promise you that. So this - Belle..." He paused, trailing off. Hadn't one of the other Princesses been a woman named Belle...? It was probably a coincidence. There were a lot of Belles on a lot of worlds, right?

"What about Belle?" Beast growled, with definite warning now.

"If you'd give me the chance, I can help her," Cognis spoke for herself, quiet and yet certain. Firm.

"Grrr...if you say you can help Belle, you'd better be telling the truth," Beast rumbled out. "Come with me - both of you!"

"We came here to help this whole town," Riku said firmly.

"Belle first!" Beast snapped, almost- petulant. Like a kid.

"Fine - alright!" Riku agreed swiftly, raising his hands. "I guess it doesn't matter what order we do this in."

"Good. Now come!"

A swishing of cloth and heavy feet in the dirt, and that Heart began to retreat from Riku.

Cognis vanished from "sight" again. Returning to his Heart...

Riku heard her voice in his head, echoing.

Well, he seems like a very calm and composed sort of person.

You think? Riku thought, sarcastic as she was. So...you better really, actually be able to help him here. I'm pretty sure he'll rip ME to shreds if you mess it all up...and you go with me if that happens, right?

Right. Don't worry: I have a record that speaks for itself.

Let's see if you can go two-for-two, then.

Oh, the outcome is patently obvious.

Riku followed Beast out of the village - up a winding forest path, then, along a sheer cliffside road. Finally, they came to a...castle?

A huge, sprawling castle.

Riku could "see it", in his mind's eye: it was lit up with magic. It was bathed in it. Shrouded by it...

There was a massive, long stone bridge leading up to the front doors.

Riku followed Beast across the bridge, and the man pushed those giant doors open easily. Riku slipped through, and found himself in a wide open courtyard, with statues lining it. They continued on, finally reaching the actual castle entrance, apparently.

Entering the castle properly, Riku found it to be a...huge, wide open space again. Footsteps echoed, magnified, traveling far distances. There was a dusty, musty smell to the place.

Does one man honestly need all of this space? How gratuitous, Cognis remarked.

Okay, are you just going to be the peanut gallery now, or what?

Do you want me to be more than a peanut gallery, then?

Yes!

Alright...there are pillars a few dozen feet to your left and right. Doors lining the hall. Plenty of statues, too. On the far side of this room, there's a staircase that splits in either direction - east and west. There's a large door ahead, on the landing. Would you like me to go and see what's on the other side?

Riku walked on without really thinking or sensing anything now, stunned. Feeling...strange. Embarrassed, humiliated, nervous- and... He hadn't even- realized that- You can see! Everything. You...

Hmph. Of course I can, came Cognis's smug voice.

Riku continued on in silence, trailing after Beast, thinking. Feeling. He recalled Terra's words, from months ago now...and his own worries and protests...

"Just because you can't see the worlds doesn't mean you can't still figure them out in other ways. You have six other senses," Terra had been saying to him...

"Wait, six...don't you mean five? Or, for me now, technically...like - four, maybe?" Riku had murmured. He'd just felt embarrassed, then...

"No - you have six: touch, taste, hearing, and smell. And then there's your Heart and your magic. You can sense the light and the dark, and magic itself. It's all around us, like the air itself. Currents, concentrations, and what's in people's bodies and Hearts. And a skilled mage, and someone in tune with their Heart, can learn to sense all of that. To see it, to hear it, and even some people have said they can smell it. How a person's body and Heart interpret all that input...it's different for everyone."

"That still won't help me figure out what color something is, or..." Riku began, after a moment of hope that was then dashed. Fallen back into the dark...

"Then ask."

"Huh?"

"Ask for help," Terra said simply. "Just ask someone what color something is if you want to know."

"Just...ask? Come on, isn't that a little stupid?" Riku muttered, his face growing hot again. Very heated.

"Not if it's necessary," Terra said gently. "And I think you're going to have to learn that, too, Riku. There's absolutely zero shame in asking for help when you need it. From anyone, for anything."

In the here and now, Riku thought about those words of wisdom from the man. Thought about them, deeply and truly. He knew he had a problem with- pride, ego. Yeah, he knew it damn well. But...

He swallowed, hard.

Hey...uh...Cognis...?

Yes?

This- this Beast guy...do you think you could...try to describe him to me?

I suppose I can try. Let's see...he's tall. Broad-shouldered. Muscular. Brown fur. A tail. These little curved horns. Blue eyes. He has fangs and claws. And he wears a long, purple cape.

Riku took in the information eagerly, painting the picture in his mind's eye, applying it all to the vague outline he had from his senses, and the sounds of footsteps and that voice. Mixing it all together. For a few moments, he was quiet. He was... Thank you, he whispered, sincere and hoarse.

Hm...you're very welcome.

Riku followed Beast up the stairs Cognis had mentioned - they turned right (Riku's hand found the railing). They went up into another area, navigating a few corridors, until they'd reached the end of the hall. Beast swung open a wooden door, and Riku walked inside. He sensed the Heart immediately (Cognis helpfully informed him a woman in a yellow dress was laying on a bed, in a deep sleep).

And that information was...genuinely helpful, actually.

It solidified it even more for Riku that this...was the same Belle.

The Princess of Heart...

Except - she wasn't one anymore, was she?

With that darkness around her Heart that he could so plainly "see"...

"Please..." came the voice of Beast. Softer, quieter, than it ever had been before. "If there's anything you can do to help her...that's all that m-matters to me now..."

Riku breathed, raising a hand to his heart. Hey - you're up. Don't screw it up. And don't prove me wrong, remember...?

Are you actually hoping I won't, now? Interesting.

The Darkness formed in the room - into that vague person - and walked toward the dark-shrouded Heart of a Princess. Former Princess? It- she raised an arm...and then became wispy tendrils on the air that flowed into that Heart, disappearing into the rest of the darkness around it. Inside it...

Riku stood, waiting, tensed. Hiding his shaking hands as best he could. Trying not to sweat. If he was wrong, if this went bad...if Cognis...if it was all a lie, a trick, if he was really just insane for even considering trusting- but he couldn't be wrong about her, he couldn't be wrong about this...because if he couldn't trust her, if he was wrong about her, then Sora, and Kairi, and Terra, and everyone else were wrong about-

Light suddenly burst from the trapped Heart, blasting away the darkness! A formless cloud of dark energy drifted up above it, and then came floating back to stop before Riku. It twisted and condensed, becoming that "familiar shape" again. Cognis, as she wanted to call herself...

"That was more difficult than I'd thought, but it's done," Cognis spoke loftily.

Thudding footfalls, and Beast had moved forward. To the woman's side. "Belle...? Belle! Wake up...please... There's so much I need to tell you - to apologize for...and..."

A high voice drew a gasp of air. The Heart pulsed with light, and the woman - Belle - was moving. "Beast...? What's going on? I've been having horrible dreams, and I couldn't wake up..."

"It's alright now - you're safe. I..." Beast paused. "They saved you from this wretched curse."

"Who are..." Belle's voice went quiet. Then- "You - you're Riku, aren't you? Kairi's friend."

Riku startled. He flushed, turning his head away. "Uh...y-yeah...um..."

"First you helped save me from Maleficent at Radiant Garden, and now this," Belle spoke on, in firm, grateful tones. She moved forward, off the bed. Stepping on light, quick feet. "I don't know how to thank you."

"You- don't have to. I-" Riku began. She'd really just left out the fact that he was part of the reason she'd been there in the first place?

"He didn't do anything, really: it was me," spoke Cognis.

Belle drew in a sharp breath. "A-and who are you...?" she trembled, still trying to be firm. Brave. Were all Princesses like that? Riku had thought it was just a Kairi thing...but here was this ordinary woman, trying to sound like that to some formless dark entity.

"My name is Cognis - it's nice to meet you, Ms. Belle."

Now the Darkness has manners, huh...? Where was all that with ME?

Politeness meets politeness - and rudeness meets with rudeness.

"Did you really- save me?" Belle spoke again.

"Yes," Cognis said simply.

"Well then...thank you - Cognis. I'm very grateful," Belle said earnestly.

Riku coughed. "We're not finished yet. There's a whole town full of people stuck like this."

"Belle's home town," Beast spoke softly.

"You can really help everyone? Oh, that's wonderful!" Belle exclaimed.

Riku gave a small smile. "Yeah. I think...we can."

You believe me now, then.

Yeah...I think I do.

Chapter 31: Hand In Hand

Notes:

Holy CRAP I realized we hadn't seen Kairi in like 15 chapters I'm pretty suuuure....Did not realize! :D Let's get back to our main character shall we?! xDDD

Kairi emerged from another Dive to a new Sleeping World (her fifth, now)...

And opened her eyes to a strange and...familiar place?

She stood in the middle of a dark alleyway, with tall, dark buildings lining it - pipes and machines, metal railings interspersed.

Rain fell down on her from above, as thunder boomed, and lightning flashed.

She stared around her, raising a hand to her chest.

What was this world...? What were these feelings? Why did she know it? Why...

She shook her head and ran forward down the alley. She took a turn, then another - and then another - and burst out into a wide open space. Some city square, with the faces of skyscrapers around her now, glowing with neon signs. A towering skyscraper stood out from the rest, in front of her, framed against the sky. It had a huge, flickering TV screen on it. Images and colors flashed across it, but she couldn't really make any of it out...

Kairi blinked against the rain, wiping at her eyes uselessly to try and clear them.

She shivered and hugged herself.

She looked around her, gazing up past the central skyscraper...and a soft gasp escaped her.

There was a massive, sprawling, white castle in the distance - floating high in the sky?

Her Heart thudded in her chest; a pain shot through her head.

She raised a hand to her head, letting out a groan.

She breathed deep, screwing up her eyes...until it faded.

And then she knew.

She opened her eyes and dropped her arm to her side, gazing up at the castle in the sky.

"...Namine," she mouthed, her voice completely drowned away by the rainstorm.

She'd heard enough to suspect just where she was - what this place was...

But if she was really here, then...was she even in the Realm of Sleep anymore? Had she somehow...fallen out of it? However that worked?

But she hadn't found Ephemer again yet, she hadn't-!

Suddenly, the storm froze.

The thunder ceased, the lightning never came again - and the rain...it was frozen in the air, all around her.

Kairi stared in pure confusion.

She guessed it was a dream realm, so anything could happen, but this was just weird...

The raindrops all began to migrate away from her, to the edges of the concrete square - where they then coalesced and grew to become huge walls of rushing water...boxing her in!

Kairi looked up, and saw the raindrops overhead were forming a ceiling of water as well (flying was out, then).

What was going on?

She summoned her Keyblade, her gaze wandering from one side of the square to the other. She cast out her free hand, calling Fin, Cherry, and of course Beatrice to her side together.

Moments passed, in stillness and silence. Then, dark swirls of energy rose up from the ground, all around her - surrounding her.

Large, intimidating new Nightmares appeared in the square - towering...dinosaurs! Over a half dozen T-Rexes, and four armored, bulky Triceratops ones with long, deadly, curved forward-facing horns!

Kairi stared around at them all, faltering. Freezing.

How could she possibly take on all of these things at once?

"On your left, babygirl!" a voice echoed out.

"Huh?!" Kairi whirled, trying to find the source of the voice-

A skyscraper exploded on her left in a burst of light, huge chunks of debris flying out across the square. Kairi cast an instant barrier dome to shield herself; her Spirits all vanished in puffs of smoke, squeaking in surprise!

A glowing figure darted out of the broken building like a comet, knocking house-sized pieces aside. The pieces of the building drifted away into the air and hovered, revealing themselves to be solid inside, with white lines. The figure stopped right in the middle of the square, the light and blurriness catching up to them. The cage of water shattered, falling down in one great waterfall, flooding the ground and spreading outward...draining off a sharply cut ledge of a cliff into a...blue void, behind where the skyscraper on her left had once been?

Luxu straightened up tall, arching his back and cracking his neck. He worked an arm, then conjured that black Keyblade to his hand. He gave it a twirl, resting it on his shoulder. He turned his head to look at her with a sidelong grin. "Hey!"

"What are you-" Kairi started, letting her barrier fall and stepping forward.

Monstrous roars echoed around her. The Nightmares threw off the debris, stomping out into the open square again. The T-Rexes raised their heads and let loose streams of purple flames.

"Hold that thought for me, would you?" Luxu said swiftly, turning on a heel - and vanishing in a flicker of air.

A bubble of inverted colors rippled out from where he'd last been, expanding out to cover the entire square. Kairi covered her arms as it rushed over her - but nothing happened to her?

The monsters, though, were all frozen where they stood.

Luxu's image suddenly materialized in front of them - all of them, simultaneously - his blades singing and slashing, and stabbing, leaving trails of white energy behind. The copies all vanished, and the real Luxu reappeared in the center of the square. He looked around himself, exaggerated, then raised a hand and snapped his fingers.

A vortex of purple and white energy burst to life overhead, growing as large as a truck in seconds. A great pulling force erupted in the square, tugging at Kairi with incredible force - but she stayed where she was?

Luxu turned to her, and raised a hand to point down at her feet; Kairi glanced down, seeing a swirling purple magic circle beneath her...Gravity?

The air snapped, and the monsters were moving again. They were sucked up into the vortex immediately, swirling around in the air, slamming into each other, and were eviscerated by the white tendrils of energy ringing it. The vortex shrank down to the size of a marble, and then it exploded violently - destroying the Nightmares completely.

Luxu gave his weapon another twirl as he strode toward Kairi, the vortex fading away in moments. The force and power dying down.

Kairi looked down at her feet, finding herself free again. She returned her gaze to the man, holding an arm up in front of herself. "Okay, I held my thought - now tell me why you're here," she spoke out.

Luxu's Keyblade disappeared as he stopped in front of her. He set a hand on his hip, giving the other a little gesture - indicating Kairi herself. "Saving your life - and bringing you home."

"What? No!" Kairi exclaimed, automatic.

Luxu eyed her, his face scrunching up in pure bafflement. "Eh...No?"

"No!" Kairi said firmly. "I'm not leaving without Ephemer!"

"WHAT?" The look of shock and confusion on the man's face was priceless (a part of her really enjoyed it). "Look - Kairi - Ephemer's dead. He died a long time ago. So whatever you saw in here was probably just a stand-in by a world's-"

"No, he was REAL!" Kairi interrupted fiercely, glaring up at him. "He saved my life in Traverse Town, he told me about Dream Eaters, and about his life before - his wife, Astrid, right? And his daughters! He told me he lost his Keyblade in a fight. He said his spirit, his Heart, was hanging around here so he could look after the Dandelions. When the Data World fell, their Hearts went to sleep, and their Chirithies took them inside themselves and became Spirits to protect them here in this place. Ephemer was waiting a long time, hoping for Keyblade wielders strong and skilled enough to come here and find them all - and help them get back to normal, so they can go back to the real world again."

Luxu was silent, his expression shifting several times in rapid succession. He stared down at her with parted lips. Then, he nodded, and grinned. "Alright. There's no way you could possibly know any of that. So...I believe you. Ephemer's still around, taking care of the Dandelions. Trying to find a way to save them all, even now. Besides, it's not one of the craziest things I've ever heard before."

"Great - now leave me alone so I can get back to looking for him."

"I thought you said he saved your life and gave you the world's biggest exposition dump?"

"We got separated when I did my first Dive - between Sleeping Worlds," Kairi said, frowning. "I don't know if it was him, or me, but...it doesn't matter, either way! I'm NOT LEAVING WITHOUT HIM! I'm going to bring him back to Skuld and Amaya! So get onboard, or get lost! I didn't need to be rescued, thanks!"

Luxu gazed at her in silence again, for a minute. Then he nodded, his face turning serious. "No, you didn't - but the worlds do. The real worlds, out there."

"What?"

"Some dark shit has started making some moves - big ones," Luxu went on quietly. "A True Darkness - and the Nightmares, from this place...they've started leaking out into the waking world, started going after people there. Causing trouble." He gazed at her, his face...soft. Kind. He gave a small smile. "The worlds could really use their Princess of Heart back...and a damn capable heroine."

Kairi stared up into his face. She bit her lip, looking away.

"Your friends need you, too, you know. Everyone's heading out to try to fight this threat - put a stop to it all. Including Sora, and your sister. And your friend Riku's gone missing - the consensus seems to be that it was voluntary, but we can't rule anything out."

Kairi glanced up sharply. "Riku's gone?"

"Apparently," Luxu said. "Terra thinks he stole your big old pirate ship, by the way."

"He WHAT?! HE STOLE MY SHIP?!" Kairi exploded, her voice going high.

Luxu winced, giving his head a little shake. Then he grinned, pointing at her with both hands. "Haha! Didn't you steal it in the first place?"

"Law of acquisition!" Kairi retorted. "I won it in a duel with an evil pirate who wasn't doing anything GOOD WITH IT anyways! So really, I LIBERATED IT! In the name of justice!"

"Man, the things kids tell themselves...But, seriously, a lot's happened while you've been away, and there are a lot of worlds and people that need you right now. So come on."

Kairi glared, stepping away. "I told you: I'm not leaving without Ephemer. I won't just leave him here - or any of those other kids!"

"I wasn't saying to just leave him here - any of them," Luxu said patiently, showing his palms to her now. "I'll send you home, and I'll stay back here and look for Ephemer and the rest of the Dandelions. Whatever his big plan is to rescue them all, and see them back to the Realm of Light - no offense - but I doubt you have the unique powers needed to pull it off. On the other hand, you know: I probably do. If it involves the Power of Waking...well, I'm also the only one capable of popping in and out of this realm whenever I feel like it. So I'll handle stuff here, and you get back to your friends and family. Do what you're meant to do - what it's in your nature to do."

Kairi gazed at him again. She brought her hand up to brush at her hair, turning away. "My nature is to help people...and to not just leave something half-finished when I make a promise."

"Then I'll carry the promise for you."

"Right. You."

"They're more my responsibility than yours, you know. I should have been the one to save them all, back then, and I should be the one to put it right NOW. Save them all, and see Ephemer back to his best friends. But you have a job to do out there...Kairi."

Kairi stared off into the distance, silent. Conflict raging in her Heart.

"You know...I don't think I've ever even told Namine this - but telling you is about as good...or maybe better," Luxu spoke, in a hesitant, quiet tone. "I used to wonder, if that whole endless determination and fire of hers was...hers...or yours. And I see it now, in you. She definitely got it from you. People like her, and like you...you never give up on a damn thing. You're always hoping, always pushing, fighting on, sticking to your guns. You've got...probably some of the strongest damn Hearts I've ever witnessed in my entire life - and that is saying a lot, considering how long I've lived for. The places I've been, people I've seen. But you...you keep pulling impossible rabbits out of your hat. You DO the impossible. You make - flat out miracles. Things even I can't even begin to understand how you do what you do. But you keep doing them anyways. And maybe it's your Heart, or being a Princess of Heart - but either way...I'm envious."

Kairi looked over at him, surprise coursing through her.

"The fact that, even though you've been lost in this place for a week, fighting off Nightmares, searching for a lost spirit, and you still want to just stay here and keep on with it...to choose to trap yourself, to choose to keep fighting through hordes of monsters - all for a promise, or because it's just right, because you know it in your Heart...I've never been like that before in my life," the man continued on, shaking his head. "Oh, when Namine got through to me, when I made the choice to toss everything aside for her, I think I tasted it - but only for a moment. It was a sample, a temporary high. But that's not how my Heart is all the time - not like yours is. And I wish...I wish it could be. I wish...I could be like you, all the time. Because you...you and her...you're two of the most amazing, strong, and constantly perplexing-slash-frustrating people I have ever known in over a millennia.

"Now, me? I don't do hope. I don't do brave to the point of insanity. I don't do infinite strength, and dedication, and compassion, and determination. I'm the guy who gave up on hope. Gave up on everything. But you...like I said: you don't give up on a damn thing. You never have. And I admire that, more than I've ever admired anything."

"But you still want me to just leave...?" Kairi said softly. "You want me to give up..."

Luxu shook his head again. He drew in a breath, ran a hand through his hair. "It's not giving up. It's...leaving it to others. It's...trusting. And taking all that strength and hope and putting it elsewhere...where it's needed more right now. I guess that's the question, isn't it? Can you trust me...to do this?"

Kairi let her chin fall to her chest. She sighed. "I want to..." she admitted. "Namine trusts you, and I trust her powers...but you just-"

"I made a terrible first impression on you, I know," Luxu interrupted, in a rough voice. "Do you think that for all this time, all the centuries of my life, that I haven't regretted being the universe's biggest bystander? Letting tragedies and death and darkness pass me by, not lifting a finger to stop any of it? Even in the lowest, darkest depths of my apathy and resignation...I never stopped feeling them. Every time. They piled on, the weight got heavier, year after year. I'd have had to really be a Nobody to not have felt any of it. But, even then, I would have grown a Heart back in due time...and it would have all come back to me. I'm the guy who- who's probably lived with the most- the biggest pile of regrets and remorse than anyone in history has ever! I wasn't just- just snickering behind people's back, I wasn't...I'm SORRY, kid! For EVERYTHING! And for a million things that you have no idea about! But most of all...I'm sorry for you."

Kairi startled, looking into his face - a face of twisted emotion, of...his eyes were glistening. "You're sorry for me...? Why?"

The man took in a deep breath, then let it go. He met her gaze, squarely, intently. "I'm sorry...because I saved Skuld and not you, nine years ago. I chose to break my cover, to save one girl and not another. I picked the one I knew. The one I'd made a promise to protect, and look after."

"W-what...?"

"I knew what Xehanort did, that day, in Radiant Garden," Luxu spoke, his voice cracking. "You think I wasn't watching him, more closely than even he knew? He had amnesia, and I had more power and autonomy than he'd ever know. I watched him set the Heartless on your house that day, and I saw you run from that house, all the way to the gates of the castle. And I saw him take you - saw him put you in that pod-"

"S-stop...why- why would you tell me this...?" Kairi said, in a high, small voice. A distant voice... "WHY?"

"Because I want to prove that I'm done lying - done hiding. Even if it ruins the hell out of any chance that you do have of trusting me. And because you deserved to know."

"That- that doesn't...even make...sense..." Kairi breathed, in and out, fast and shallow - her world darkening on its edges, as images and sounds flashed through her mind-

"I know...it's a bit of a paradox, isn't it? You know, I hate complicated shit, but- I guess I'm pretty complicated, myself..."

Kairi stared past him, through him, unblinking - her body trembling. Her weapon at her side... Then it slipped from her grasp, her head pulsed with pain, and she fell over sideways, as her world went completely dark...

"...hey - come on..."

Kairi opened her eyes in an instant, the world rushing back to her. She groaned and sat up, clutching her head. She looked around, then her gaze found him.

She bolted up straighter, throwing herself back. She startled as her hand smacked into metal. She looked down to see her Keyblade - laying on the ground beside her, separated from her.

She grabbed for the handle immediately, looking back at the man.

Luxu just sat there - on the ground, his knees drawn in, his arms around them. "Welcome back, kiddo."

"What happened?" she said instantly.

Luxu shrugged his shoulders. "You fainted - or some equivalent, considering you're actually just a Heart at the moment, and not in your actual body."

"What?"

Luxu's face flickered. "What do you remember last - before arriving in this realm?"

Kairi frowned. She glanced down. "I was asleep - dreaming. It was important. It was...something to do with being a Princess of Heart. About- NOT being one anymore, I guess. I met...these two other girls - other Princesses, or- past Princesses, I think - and then- I lost a fight, and there was this huge monster, made of light, and...then I woke up in Traverse Town. Here."

"Yeah, that huge monster of yours almost gave your island home one hell of a bad night."

"WHAT?! What happened - is everyone okay?! What about-"

"Everyone's fine over there - though, the whole World Order thing's been shot to hell," Luxu replied. "Hard to keep things hidden when people see a second sun appear in the night sky, and a group of magic wizards pushing it out through a big old, dark tear in the fabric of reality. I had to go and help your father explain the finer details of the whole multiverse thing - magic and Keyblades and whatnot - to the people of your island." He paused. Then- "Your house is gone, by the way. Sorry."

"What happened to the house?! Is dad okay? Is Xion-"

"They're all fine! It's just the house," Luxu cut across her again firmly. "Your little slumber party princess test went all wonky, apparently, and that's what kicked things off. You blew your house up - scorched it to ash. Completely nuked out of existence."

Kairi stared at him for a long time. Then she fell back onto the ground again, putting a hand to her forehead with a groan. "Oh god, dad's probably so upset with me! I ruined EVERYTHING, I- and Xion-!"

"He didn't seem to care about the house all that much - mostly you," Luxu said quietly. "Everyone's been trying to find you, you know. Get you back. While your Heart's been here, your empty body's been kept safe by Yen Sid."

Kairi closed her eyes, screwing up her face. She raised her hand, then smacked it back down again on her forehead - as a fist. "How long has it been since I...went missing here? Time is weird here."

"A little over a week now."

"A week?!" It didn't seem like that long to her. But at the same time, it felt like so much longer...?

"Yep." Another silence. A pause. "I've got some good news to share with you, too, though, if you're up for hearing it. Just happened the other day...or whatever - time's weird here, yeah."

Kairi opened her eyes, sitting up again. She looked down at her weapon, and let it vanish. She breathed in and out, and looked the man in the eyes. "Okay, what's the good news?"

He told her all about it, in detail. Details she hung onto - both in joy and relief, and in worry and panic.

Riku's friend had been saved, and sent back to her home world (and given a Keyblade, to boot). Xion and Kana, Namine and Roxas, all had successfully been moved into Even's new human Replica bodies. And even Aqua, Ven and Terra's Master, Eraqus, had been restored to life again, after spending so long in Terra's Heart - in secret.

Good to neutral news - or even bad news - was the news that Xehanort and his time traveling, younger self had both been...caught, neutralized, stripped of power and weapons, and were now being monitored and locked away. The older one, in some Keyblade Master magic prison beneath Land of Departure's castle, and the younger one...off on some distant world, under direct care of the woman, Amaya.

Kairi supposed other good news was the return of three Keyblade wielders in training - friends of Xehanort's and this Master Eraqus - who had been lost a long time ago...the ones Luxu had briefly mentioned back in Traverse Town, months ago now, when he'd told his whole story. How he'd once trained with Xehanort and Eraqus, in that world of Scala Ad Caelum...

Hermod, Urd, and Vor. Kids, not much older than Kairi or any of her friends.

Good, innocent people, who hadn't even had a chance...and who hadn't had a clue what Xehanort would go on to become. Luxu had said they were still "dealing with the shock of it all", which was probably a huge understatement.

Then, there was also the return of one more person across time: apparently, Xehanort's...birth mother. A woman named Moreth.

The way Luxu told it, the woman was a lot like Amaya, in that she'd had nothing to do with - and no idea about - what her kid would go on to do and be...because she hadn't had the chance to be there for him at all. She was a kind, caring, and soft-spoken person - a normal person, unlike her son.

Again, Kairi couldn't help but draw the parallels between Xehanort and herself. Thinking of her own birth mother, her own ABANDONMENT, and then, her own adoption into a life and a little family on Destiny Islands...

Except even Xehanort's birth mother had apparently always wanted to see him again - unlike Kairi's, unlike...Rynn. Xehanort's mother had given him away to another to protect him from Ancient Darknesses, and the hope of some heroic prophecy - not because she hadn't- hadn't given a shit!

Kairi was actually jealous of Xehanort now! And wasn't that just really pathetic?

The younger one, not the older one, at least. Apparently he was given some leniency here because he'd actually saved Skuld, stood up to his older self to do it, but...

Kairi still remembered the jackass from her first visit to Traverse Town, who had fought her as a "test".

Well, maybe that was why it was only some leniency. Hopefully.

But beyond that, she guessed he really hadn't...actually done anything terrible yet.

It would be like if Riku was plucked out of time from before the islands fell, and was just told everything he'd done...would do. Would he do them again? Or would he not?

Young Xehanort had seemed fully onboard with doing everything again - until recently. Until now, where...Luxu said he was starting to doubt, to change course. Not that he had a choice, being powerless and monitored and all, but...

Kairi supposed it wouldn't even be fair to hate or judge somebody for what their future self had done - when they literally, physically...chronologically hadn't done any of it yet. And maybe now...actually wouldn't...

If someone had come back in time and told her she'd done something awful, she thought she'd be pretty upset and defensive about it, seeing as from her perspective it hadn't even happened yet.

Yes, it did mean the younger Xehanort was capable of it all - but the choice to go through with it was still his. And if he made another choice, chose another path...

She wasn't going to try to stand in the way of that, was she? She'd made that mistake with Riku, before, she reflected intensely. He'd been trying so hard to prove himself to her, to all of them, and she hadn't made it easy... She'd just been so mad, so upset - so hurt. Too much to see the truth of his Heart. To see...

She couldn't make that mistake again, if this- time traveler Xehanort was really going to...to be different from his older self. To be better. To never have to go on to do those things in the first place...

And...she couldn't make that mistake with someone else, either...could she?

"...So, yeah, that's everything that's been going on lately," Luxu concluded. "You're all caught up."

Kairi looked at him, closely. Silently.

"What?" the man said, tilting his head at her and frowning.

"I want to trust you. I want to believe you, and I want to give you a chance," Kairi said. "A real chance. To really...prove it."

Luxu looked at her, attentive. Patient. Silent.

"I can't go back just yet," Kairi went on. "I trust Sora, and my sister, and Terra, and Ven, and everyone else out there to save the worlds - to help people, to save them and protect them. None of us ever did anything we did alone. We didn't get half as far as we did...without each other. Working together. Having each other's backs. So I'm staying here, and I'm going to find Ephemer, and I'm going to help him find and put his Dandelions back to normal - and then we're all leaving this place together!" She breathed in, gazing into the man's dark eyes. "But it's not just them: it's everyone in these worlds - the people I've met here, and helped already. If you really want to prove yourself...then help me to help them. Help me save the people of these worlds. Sleeping or not, dreams or not, 'real' or not - help me do that! Because to me, they're as real as anyone else, as you or me. And I can't just ignore them, and let people suffer. I can't let evil just...go unchecked."

The man gazed back at her for a minute. Then, he nodded. "Alright." He got to his feet, stepped forward, and extended a hand down to her - palm up. "Let me help you get up, first - call it a good faith gesture."

Kairi hesitated. On one hand, she hated being treated like some weak little girl, or worse - some dainty princess - but on the other hand...

Don't snub him on this - same mistake, remember?

Kairi reached up her hand to grasp his, and she let him pull her to her feet again. She looked at him, still, emotions warring in her Heart. Then she looked away. She sucked in a breath. "Thank you - for telling me what you did," she said, hurried and quiet.

"I just told you a lot of stuff. Which part are we talking about here?"

"The part where you told me the truth - even if it could have been extremely counter-productive and risky," Kairi said, breathless now, gazing intensely at a broken building. "You didn't have to...ever. I never would have found out on my own - but you did it anyways. You- you did the right thing. So...thank you...Luxu."

"The right thing, huh... You know, one of the things that even kept me going was telling myself that that was all I ever wanted to do..."

Kairi breathed. She turned and looked the man in the eyes. "Then let's go and do it - together."

"Where do you want to start?"

A light shined from above, and a Sleeping Keyhole appeared in the stormy sky.

Kairi gazed up at it with a smile, stepping forward and raising her Keyblade.

Luxu nodded, eyeing her sidelong. Then, the Keyhole. "Yeah...that looks like a good place to start," he murmured to himself.

Chapter 32: Tearing Through Dreams

Master Xehanort raised his head, lifting his aged form off of the bed, as the door to the gleaming white chamber opened.

The double doors swung open with a flare of light down the center (where they met to make the seal).

The pulsing chains along the walls dimmed.

He was not met with the sight of whom he would have expected, however - not entirely, at least.

Eraqus entered the chamber, accompanied by Hermod, Urd- and Vor.

Xehanort stared at the trio, his Heart seized by pain, by joy, by nostalgia...the complicated emotions of life. Emotions he would have, up until recently, forced himself to shun - and yet, now...he found himself welcoming them. Taking them all in and embracing them.

The three children - just children; they would always be children, for they had never had the chance to be anything more - stood before him, gazing back at him with undisguised emotions of their own: trepidation, anxiety, perhaps even fear. There was curiosity, there was mild horror, as they took in sight of his eyes.

Xehanort snorted softly, bowing his head and shutting his eyes. "To what do I owe the pleasure of such a visit?" he spoke.

"We wanted to see you again, with our own eyes," spoke Urd, tentative.

"Yeah, and we have a few questions to ask," said Hermod.

Xehanort opened his eyes. He raised his head, taking in the sight of them again. Drinking it in. He gave a small smile. "Ask away, then. I have no secrets, nor reasons to refuse to give answers to you."

"We've been thinking lately..." Urd began. "About what happened to us - before, and after. About the dreams we once shared. We talked about them with each other before, if you can remember?"

"Yes...I remember that day," Xehanort said quietly, his voice hoarse.

"The thing is: where did our dreams lead us to?" Hermod said, shrugging and then crossing his arms. "An early grave," he said, blunt and casual. "We all failed, and passed on. We didn't do much, did we?"

Xehanort gazed at the boy, his mouth parting. He closed it, glancing to Eraqus. "It would seem not, no..." he agreed, hesitant to voice the words. To hurt these children. How strange, yes? One who'd not had a problem hurting many a child to achieve his goals - and yet, these three...

"If becoming Keyblade Masters isn't for us..." spoke Vor, at last, stealing all of Xehanort's focus. "Then what IS? That magic mirror told me I couldn't become one - so I tried to make it easier by separating from my friends on my own. At least, that's what I thought I was doing. But then I realized how much of a mistake it was. I realized the only place I belonged was...with my friends...no matter where life took us, or what we became or not! I wanted to be with you! But, if I'm not Keyblade Master material - if none of us are - then what are we meant to do?"

Xehanort eyed the small girl intently. He tore his gaze from her with force of will, looking to Urd, and then to Hermod. And then, to Eraqus. "There are many roads one may take in their life, my friends...I became far too fixated on one path alone, on one solution to this World's myriad of problems. To focus on only one possibility, to the exclusion of the multitude of others, is pure folly. Keyblade Master? Protector of worlds, with sword in hand? That is hardly the road you should lock yourselves to...at your young ages. Even the dreams or aspirations you hold now, that you may cling to and believe will be forever...one day you will surely find yourselves reconsidering them. Finding a better one - one more agreeable with the truth of your Hearts."

"Yeah, we got that part, tell us something we don't know," Hermod responded.

Xehanort gave a small chuckle, pure and mirthful. "Go forth into these worlds, into your lives that you have fully ahead of you, and discover the answer for yourselves. And do not limit yourself to the Keyblade - to this small world of ours. Set your horizons far beyond that. A librarian, a chef, an artist - who can say what you will be? Simply explore, and go where your Heart takes you. Do not set store by family expectations, or anything else."

Vor nodded, holding her hands at her waist. Then she came forward, approaching Xehanort, staring up at his face.

"Vor-" Urd started, a wariness to her tone.

"I would not hurt her," Xehanort said softly. He paused. "It is more likely she would throw me across this room than any alternative, in fact. Do you not remember the boulder?"

"The what?" Hermod said, looking at him. He looked around, to Urd, then to Eraqus.

Eraqus shook his head, his lips twitching. "A story for another day."

Vor stopped before Xehanort. She screwed up her face, then she shuffled the last few feet of distance and hopped up to sit on the bed with him. She looked at him - away. Her hand slowly moved to touch his knee. Then, up to his arm. "Xehanort..."

"Vor..." he replied simply, his voice rasping, as emotions surged at her touch.

The girl shocked him in the next moment, by suddenly turning and throwing her arms around his body.

He sat there, in this shock, for a long minute of time. Then, he raised a shaking, old hand, and placed it atop her head.

She blinked up at him - at his hand. "You really are old..."

Xehanort laughed. "Yes...I have thoroughly wasted my life, Vor. Be sure that you don't fall into the same trap. Live a good, full life - give back to these worlds, in a way that benefits them, not worsens them."

Vor gave a small nod, then hugged him all the more, pressing her face against his form.

It was the strangest thing...Xehanort could not quite recall ever being hugged this way before in his life. Not by Eraqus, and certainly not by his friends in his actual time and age of youth...

Perhaps by his caretaker, by Amaya...yet he could not conjure a single memory of such either. Nothing that did not smack of fantasy and desperation, at any rate.

But this, here and now, with Vor...

It was certainly real.

A wonderful, warm reality he was undeserving of...

---

Kairi leapt for a Nightmare, slashing and yelling out-

It exploded into smoke as a blur of motion and light streaked in front of her.

Kairi aborted her swing, landing and stumbling, twisting on an ankle!

Luxu's hand shot out to catch her shoulder - steadying her, as he turned back to face her.

Kairi glared mildly, letting her weapon vanish and setting hands on her hips. "Okay, do you have to be a complete show-off with everything you do?" she said.

Luxu grinned down at her, as he twirled his weapon intricately with a single wrist's turns and twists, before resting it on his shoulder. "Yeah, actually, I kind of do," he admitted freely.

"Why...?" Kairi asked.

"A millennia of holding back, and now I'm free to just let it aaaallllll out? Come on." Luxu tilted his head at her and pointed at himself - pointedly. "Pure catharsis, pr- Kairi."

"Well, I suppose I can let it slide then," Kairi said, letting a small smile come to her face as she turned away.

"I appreciate it."

"You'd better!"

"Heh..." Luxu turned away, gazing off into the distance. "You know, The World That Never Was didn't actually count as a Sleeping Keyhole," he said, offhand.

"Why not?" Kairi said.

"Because it's a special world, able to exist in the Realm Between and the Sleeping Realm simultaneously."

"So did Traverse Town not count, then, either?" Kairi asked.

"Hmm...no, I think that one counted," Luxu replied, raising a finger - tapping the air in her direction.

"Why? What's the difference?"

"Traverse Town becomes whatever someone needs it to be, but it doesn't actually have the properties of The World That Never Was. So, it probably just put itself to sleep on its own, in order to be here for you when you needed someplace to land safely. And then, when you unlocked its Keyhole, you sent it back on its way to the Realm of Light again. Simple."

"I guess that makes some kind of sense," Kairi nodded. "So I need to save three more worlds to get this Power of Waking, then, not two."

"Yep. And then you can go and portal straight to wherever Ephemer is now."

"Is that how it works? I thought it was just for traveling between Sleeping Worlds - or going between this realm and the Realm of Light. And for waking up and restoring lost or sleeping Hearts."

Luxu let his weapon fall from his shoulder, dismissing it at his side as he turned back to her. "Look who's been paying attention - full marks! The Power of Waking has a few different facets to it - ways that you can use it. And one of those other ways is to use the ties with the Hearts of those you're close to in order to open a pathway directly to another world...and if that connection is strong enough, or if you have a lot of them in one place, you can even pop out directly nearby said people you're connected to. No need to go searching for them on foot once you get there. Opening Light Portals can work the same way, if your bonds - and Heart - are strong enough..."

"So, the stronger or more numerous the connection, the more precise it is."

"Sometimes, yeah - but don't go counting on it," Luxu replied, shaking his head at her.

Kairi nodded, then looked out to the horizon. She strode out onto the narrow cliff of flowers, gazing at the cloudy skies and colorful landscape - the sparkling lake below. She put her hands behind her back, the breeze swaying at her hair and clothes. "Even with all the Nightmares, this is a beautiful world - isn't it?"

Luxu shrugged. "Guess so? I've never really been one for the whole 'admiring the world's natural beauty' thing."

"Well, maybe you should. You've probably been to more worlds than anyone else alive...seen so many amazing things...you never once cared to just stop and look?"

"It was sort of my whole M.O not to care - so, no." Luxu paused. "Well, there might have been a moment or two, early on, but...trust me, it lost its luster after a while. I can't even remember anymore."

"Sounds like a waste."

"Yeah, well..add that one to the list of titles: World's Biggest Waste."

Kairi looked back at the man. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"No...you're probably right," Luxu sighed. "Don't get your panties in a bunch about it."

"What?!" Kairi's jaw dropped. She glared. Hard. Then she sighed, too, throwing up her hands and stalking away.

"Alright, look, I-"

Luxu broke off in an instant, and then a roar of flames blew past Kairi!

She whirled and leapt to the side, summoning her weapon!

But the attack hadn't been aimed for her.

She looked out from the cliff, and watched as the streaking comet of fires split into a dozen more, which all surged across the sky toward some large, flying Nightmare! It was some kind of bipedal bird monster, with a pointy wizard hat, and riding on an actual, glowing magic broomstick!

Luxu's attack converged on the Nightmare in seconds, curving inward and slamming into it in rapid succession; explosions went off in the air, one after another, lighting up the sky and creating loud booms that disrupted the clouds, punching swirling holes in them.

After a few moments, the explosions ended, and the smoke parted.

The Nightmare was twisting and vibrating in the air - and then it blew up in a puff of smoke, leaving large Dream Pieces to float on the winds...

Kairi stared up into the sky. Then, at Luxu. She relaxed slowly, letting her weapon disappear.

"Sorry..." Luxu offered, reaching up to rub his neck. "Didn't mean to freak you out, pr- Kairi. My bad."

Kairi exhaled, then turned and kicked off from the ground, rocketing into the open air. She flew across the sky, reaching the Dream Pieces. She twisted and darted about to gather them in her arms. She hovered with them, focusing on them as she squeezed them all together...

The air flickered nearby, and Luxu appeared in the air with her - seemingly standing on thin air, like it was solid. He raised a casual hand and gestured to her. "Hey. What exactly are you doing up here - and what are those things...?"

Kairi glanced at him. "You don't know? I thought you knew everything."

Luxu shrugged. He grinned. "Never actually, technically been here before, to be honest - not till now."

"I'm using the Dream Pieces left behind by that Nightmare to create a new Spirit version of it. I hope, anyways. That's how it worked with Beatrice..."

"Right - your big buzzy bee buddy. Hah, want to try saying that ten times fast?"

"I'd really just like it if you could stop talking for a good ten seconds straight, at least," Kairi replied.

"Gotcha! No problemo." Luxu mimed zipping his lips, then crossed his arms, his eyes focused on her.

Kairi breathed, and pushed the Dream Pieces together, fusing them in a flash of light. She drifted backwards in the air, squinting at the ball of light and swirling crystals...

Then it burst, and smoke flew out, as a new Spirit was born! It did seem to be the same exact one that Luxu had defeated - just with different colors now, and the Spirit emblem on its hat.

The bird creature fluttered its wings and looked around, craning its neck. Then it flipped off the broomstick and curled the "fingers" on the end of a wing around it, holding it like a magic staff now. The glowing orb at the top swirled mystical blue.

"Okay, what do we call you," Kairi pondered, beaming at the Spirit. "How about...Flappy? Maid Magic? Wingy...?"

"How about burnt chicken? Overdone turkey?" Luxu spoke. "Good on a stick?"

Kairi glowered. "Stop making suggestions! You're awful!" she snapped out.

Luxu raised his hands to her. "Alright, alright - I was just joking around."

"Well, stop. My new friend needs a serious name! So unless you can actually help-"

"How about Comet - or Star?" Luxu said. "It had a neat little trail behind it..."

Kairi stared. She smiled, tilting her head. "So you can appreciate the beauty in the world."

"Only when I'm forced to," Luxu joked, looking away as he scratched his hair.

"Comet it is, then!" Kairi declared, turning to beam at her new Spirit. She floated forward and squeezed them into a hug! And Comet hugged her back with their fluffy wingy bird arms!

"Great, new friend - awesome job - now shouldn't we get going? This world's a bust. At least as far as finding Ephemer is concerned...and there doesn't seem to be anybody around in need of help, does there?" Luxu went on.

Kairi let Comet go, drifting backwards. She frowned, looking around. Then, up at the clouds. She paused, waiting. Five seconds. Ten...

No Keyhole appeared to light her way.

Why?

Comet's- former self- had been a pretty big, unique looking Nightmare, to Kairi's eyes - surely they'd been the one responsible for keeping this world trapped in this looping dream...

So why wasn't the Keyhole appearing now?

Kairi looked at Luxu, giving her head a shake. "I don't think we are done yet. No Keyhole."

Luxu blinked at her in surprise. Then he nodded. "I guess we're not," he agreed. "What now, then - Kairi?"

Kairi looked around herself - down to the ground. Off over distant hills and cliffs...

"We'll just have to go figure it out. Come on."

Chapter 33: Natural Beauty

Notes:

Yaaay, two chapters in one day again! xD I feel great on this Friday night. :D I get so productive when I have snacks, creative brain juices, and just a paycheck again lol! Really lifts the spirits! No. Pun. Intended! Also I got to watch FANTASIA again for this. Which was SOOOO GOOD. :D The great thing about this series is I get to rewatch old Disney classics lol. For research!

Kairi soared out across the landscape of differently colored flowers, bushes, and trees, marveling at it all anew.

She couldn't help it, really.

Purple shrubs, pink trees, ugh! It was all so gorgeous! Like some kind of surreal painting or something! She felt like she was in a painting, almost!

Kairi dove sharply, giddiness in her Heart, gliding down and swooping below the treeline. She landed in the middle of the forest - plunging from light, into a sudden world of surprising darkness.

She blinked around, looking upward. She hadn't realized the tree canopy was so thick. The trees themselves, so close together down here.

A little thud and a dark shape to her left announced the presence of Luxu, coming down to join her.

Luxu looked around, too, then flicked a wrist; a large, shining orb of light burst to life, drifting up above their heads to light up the area.

"Any particular reason we're down here?" Luxu spoke casually. "Did you see something, or sense something, at least?"

Kairi shook her head. "No - I just felt like it," she said, a little defiant. Then she paused, giving a small grin. "Though, that might have been my instincts talking - in which case, I'm still right after all, so..." She stuck out her tongue at the man.

Luxu rolled his eyes, turning away. "Well tell your instincts to be a little more specific about what we're doing here, why don't you. A little elaboration goes a long way."

"Says the most cryptic guy on the face of this or any world."

"Exactly," Luxu responded - and he flashed a little grin of his own now.

"Well..." Kairi started slowly, looking around again. She started forward, raising a hand half-way to her chest.

Had it been her instincts, or just pure and random whim? There was still so much going on inside herself that even she didn't understand...it was hard to sort it all out, to distinguish between it all and...

Kairi's thoughts trailed away, as light began to glow ahead of her. Then, to her left, and her right! Glowing little lights were...gently coming to life around them. They rose up into the air, drifted off of trees, and formed in mid air itself. She stared at them all, wary, but...she didn't feel like they were a threat?

She watched as the glowing lights, in the dozens now, began streaking chaotically this way and that all around the forest, in intricate patterns, creating a lightshow as they left misty, glowing trails behind them. Particles of gold were sent scattering about, showering down on leaves and branches. They were all kinds of colors, these comets of light - primarily greens, reds, orange, purples and pinks, it seemed like...

A purple streak of light flew closely past Kairi's shoulder, then slowed and turned - and Kairi saw it was a miniature, thin, winged- nude woman? The glowing was from her body, the same color as the light - it was so intense that it just obscured most of her features, except for her figure and her swirling tresses of hair. A fairy - like Tinker Bell?

The fairy flew off to a tree. She twirled and slid down a leaf, landed and did a pirouette on a branch, then threw her arms out and tossed her head, sending showers of gold particles onto the world. Then she jumped off and darted away, under a vine, through a bush, and started to spin and flip her way around a bundle of flowers! The flowers began to glow, to bloom and open...releasing seeds...seeds that began to float on sprouts of pulsing white. Another fairy came flying in toward the flowers, and the pair of them did a backflip and sent the seeds scattering out, fast and far through the forest!

Kairi's ears were filled with jingling, chiming noises, faint and small. She frowned, tilting her head. She put a hand to an ear...

Then, slowly, sounds came to fill the air around her, swirling about. It was music! Chiming, dancing music - like the fairies... No, the fairies were dancing along to the music, Kairi realized. She saw it now! As she listened, and watched, she saw their movements conformed to every chime, every singing of a string's chord!

"Either I'm going insane again, or there's music playing from nowhere," Luxu's voice came, nonplussed, turning his head this way and that.

"I think it's them. And it's beautiful..." Kairi breathed. She stepped forward, bringing her hands to her chest.

"Them...?" A pause. "Oh. Great. That's greaaat...Well, they look pretty busy - so why don't we get out of here and find whatever's causing the problem in this world."

"No! Not yet. Maybe they can actually point us in the right direction, or...well, it might be some kind of big taboo to just snub them and walk away from a performance in progress!"

Luxu turned to her, gazing down on her strangely. "Are you making any excuse to stay and watch this prancing troupe of sky-dancing nudists for any particular reason? Is that where she gets it from after all?"

"What?" Kairi said, looking back at the man, confused.

"What?"

Kairi stared harder.

Luxu coughed, then spun around and whistled. "Forget I said anything-"

"Nope - too late! - spill it! What are you even talking about now?"

Luxu raised a hand to run it over his hair, letting out an audible sigh. Then he turned back to face her. "Alright. Whatever. I guess you are her 'mom' or whatever..."

"We're talking about Namine. What about her...?" Kairi said shrewdly, planting hands on her hips.

"Okay, it's like this: I'm ninety-nine percent sure she's gay - that last one percent being reserved for the possibility that she bats for both teams, if you know what I-"

It honestly took Kairi a second to register what the man was saying. But when she had- "WHAT?!"

"Ow..." Luxu said blandly, backing away and shoving a finger in an ear. "You know what, I think I actually do prefer hanging out with Namine better; she's a hell of a lot quieter, as far as teenaged girls go. Not so bad, really..."

"Shut up and tell me more about my gay daughter!"

"Is that a, 'I'm so happy I could scream' tone, or a 'I'm so pissed off I could scream' sort of voice? It's honestly hard to tell."

"Wait, why would I be mad?" Kairi said, baffled.

Luxu sighed. He raised a hand, giving a flourishing gesture. "I don't know what kind of paradise your little islands are, but out in these worlds, there's this thing where people hate each other for being different, and we call that-"

"I know what discrimination and bigotry are," Kairi interjected, serious and firm. "The islands aren't perfect. But it was our earlier tribes and clans that had issues with those from other islands for...having issues with people who loved or lived differently than how they thought was right - so my island, at least, has always been really great about that, historically. It's been law and right for over a century now!"

"Yeah, but there's still no accounting for individuals, is there?"

"No - true - but I'm not one of them. Never."

"That's great! Okay! Awesome. Glad we cleared that up, then!" Luxu said quickly, giving a winning smile and a double thumbs up. "Just had to be sure and all...for her sake."

"So what's the deal? Give me all the details," Kairi demanded.

"Well, I'm pretty sure her big, shining gay Heart is set on a certain redhead with a flower motif - and I'm also pretty sure Namine herself doesn't even realize what she's feeling or experiencing. She didn't even have a proper human body until a few days ago or whatever, so that just compounded it. And now...well, I wasn't too thrilled with having to leave her at Lauriam's place while I came to find you - no offense. It's just that I swear to all the various worlds' gods, there is a fifty-fifty chance I return home to find out she somehow discovered a way to get herself pregnant by another girl. You travel the worlds like I have, there's all kinds of magic and sciency ways of accomplishing that, you know - I mean shit, people get creative-"

"Okay, too much information, but I get it!" Kairi giggled, brushing at her hair and shaking a head of flushing cheeks. "You don't need to paint me a picture!"

"Sorry."

"Just - go on. About Namine."

"Well, that's pretty much it?" Luxu said, shrugging.

"What about Strelitzia? How do you think she feels about it? Does she know, or-"

"Last I talked to Lauriam, seems like she has similar feelings in return - not sure whether they've told each other about their own feelings, though, Namine and Strelitzia," Luxu went on. "Teenager shit is way too complicated for me, let me tell you..."

"Well, maybe you-" Kairi began.

Her words were drowned out by a loud screeching noise, and the sounds of crashing, breaking trees.

A wide, purple spiraling stream of energy waves was ripping through the forest, blowing trees apart and slicing them in half. It left a wide trail of open ground across the forest floor. The waves of energy also rippled over the fairies, disrupting their dances and sending them flipping wildly about! Two of them fell into a pond with a splash, while the others were sent slamming into the broken trees and branches!

The massive wave continued on - sweeping Kairi away with it as well!

She was blown off her feet, tossed high into the air, slamming through branches and brush before she could even-

Luxu suddenly was there, catching her in his arms and sliding backwards in the air - and then, across the dirt. He bent his knees and came to a halt. He straightened up and immediately set her down again. "You okay?" he spoke quickly.

Kairi moved her arms and legs tentatively. She groaned, putting a hand to her head where it had smacked against a thick tree branch. "Mostly." She cast a quick Cure on herself, gasping in relief as the throbbing pain dulled significantly.

"Good. Stay here."

"Please one-shot that thing," Kairi agreed swiftly.

Luxu vanished in a flicker of air - reappearing high in the air, above and behind the latest Nightmare.

Kairi craned her neck to examine the creature, fixing her eyes onto it intently.

It was actually a lot like the fairies of the forest, themselves, she found. A tall, shimmering, nude female humanoid figure, of purples and blacks, and magenta and orange colors, in swirling patterns down its body - arms, legs, torso to waistline. It had big, round red eyes, and magenta and pink tendrils hanging down from its head like thick locks of hair. It also had six big, long butterfly wings, sharp and pointed on the ends. Its arms ended in long, narrow cannon barrels.

Kairi sighed internally. WHY were these things always so pretty? At least she had two comforts to compensate for the necessary, evil deed: one, its threat to this world and its people was going to be ended soon; and two...

You are SO going to be MINE!

Luxu thrust out a hand, a swirling magic circle of red in front of it. A moment later and an identical, large circle appeared on both the ground below and in the sky above the Nightmare. Bolts of lightning flew down and up from them, connecting them to each other - trapping the monster. The circles glowed, and a huge pillar of energy shot up between them, becoming a solid beam.

After a few seconds, the Nightmare's shrieks filled the air- and then stopped.

Luxu let his hand fall. The magic circles vanished, the beam fading.

The Nightmare was gone - only large, floating Dream Pieces left behind in its place.

Kairi looked around herself, spotting glowing streaks of light rocketing off into the dark distance of the forest - the fairies were getting the heck out of dodge. And she couldn't blame them. Though, she would have liked to have been able to talk to them, check if they were okay or not. Maybe offer a Healing spell or two... But she guessed if they were well enough to fly off like that, they didn't exactly need it...? She hoped so, anyways.

She sighed and flew up to Luxu - well, to the Dream Pieces, let's be real here!

Kairi smiled as she took them in hand, beginning the merging...

The new Spirit burst to life in smoke and crystal shards! Tall, winged, and very womanly! They - or maybe she, really? - was a pleasant light red coloration, for the most part (main body and wings), with the spiral patterns on the arms and legs, and torso and stomach being a darker shade, that melted gradually into dark orange colors on the ends. Her cannon weapons were purple and blue hues, distinguishing them from the rest of her. Her hair was the same - shades of purple at the roots, down into deep blues at the ends. She had slitted, narrow yellow eyes, like all the Spirits seemed to.

"What are you naming this one?" Luxu asked, a humorous note to his voice. "I've got a few suggestions, but they're probably way too inappropriate for a princess's ears."

"Okay, that's just gross, thank you for keeping that to yourself," Kairi responded, rolling her eyes and feigning a puking noise. "I'll think of a perfect name for her, of course!"

"Of course."

"Well, let's see, she's a fairy type, so...what's a good fairy name...?"

"S-" Luxu started to say.

"I'll stab you if it's something disgusting or degrading!" Kairi interjected fiercely.

"Spectra," Luxu finished, innocent and calm.

"Spectra? Where did you get that from...?"

"She looms over her enemies like a specter of death?" Luxu offered up with a shrug.

Kairi gazed at him intensely for a moment. Then she nodded. "Sure. You tried really hard, so I'll go with it - as a gesture of good faith," she replied, teasing. "And you are the one doing a lot of the work now, so you should have some say in their naming rights."

"Thanks - Kairi. I'm weeping for joy here."

"Do you want me to change her name then?" Kairi said, glowering.

Luxu laughed, shaking his head. "I don't care either way."

"I really don't see whatever Namine did, you know. Why would she like choosing you to spend time with?" Kairi spoke. "You're so cynical and wishy-washy. Like god, loosen up, have some fun - get invested, think positive for once!"

Luxu's mouth twisted into a scowl. He looked away with a sigh. "I'm still asking myself the same question, you know. No clue why she even latched onto me. Some newborn, desperate need for attention - probably all it was, at first. Because you're right: I'm not the most encouraging, supportive guy. I don't do positive attitude."

"Well, start doing it!"

Luxu glanced back at her sharply. Then he let a breath go. He ran a hand over his hair, sighing again deeply. "I am trying...believe it or not. You try living thousands of years, then get back to me on the subject. See how well you can really keep up this attitude of yours. If you could even find it in yourself again...after so goddamn long..."

Kairi sighed, looking down. She grasped at her arm, frowning. "I'm sorry. You're right about that: I can't even imagine what it must be like. And even I can't say if I'd even stay the same person at Heart. I'd like to think I'd never lose what I value most - what I love - and how and who I am in my core. But...people do change. And even I'm not immune to that." She took in a breath, looking up at the man. "If you need help with trying...you do have a lot of people around you who could help you out, you know. I- I mean- Master Aqua's gone...but Terra doesn't seem to hate your guts too much, and then there's other adults, like at Radiant Garden, or-"

"I know, I know," Luxu cut across, slow and quiet, raising a hand. "Already met and talked to a few people before now - but...the past few months I've kind of let it fall to the wayside, anyways. I guess a millennia of being a reclusive loner is too ingrained in me for my own good. But I'll...try to claw my way out of the habit again, let's say. Okay? Once we're back out there, and everything's all hunk dory...I'll look some people up again. Start something. I don't know what. Maybe a game night, or a chess club? Who knows."

"Okay," Kairi said simply, giving her best smile to the man. "That sounds like a nice plan."

"Yeah..."

Kairi looked up to the clouds and purple and orange sky above, of fading light...

"There's still no Keyhole," she remarked, frowning now again with some real worry.

"Hey, you wanted to be the big hero and save the worlds - so, we keep going till we make that happen, right?" Luxu said, amused.

Kairi nodded, screwing up her face in determination. "Right! Come on, Spectra!" she told her new companion firmly.

She blasted off across the open sky again, keeping her eyes and ears open for anything amiss.

Chapter 34: The King of Darkness

Kairi flew across the world, over the forests and past lush hills.

She soared over mountains, and entered a changing landscape.

It grew more barren, empty. Rocky and dark.

She spotted an old town in the distance, at the base of a huge mountain. It had a cemetery on the outskirts.

It looked abandoned, run-down - the whole thing.

As Kairi flew over the town, she suddenly saw the mountain shift.

The top moved - the blackness spread and opened...into huge black wings, revealing a massive monster of a figure! Some giant devil or demon, with swept back horns, fangs, and glowing eyes of pure yellow. Kairi's first instinct was to think it was an actual Heartless - but-

The giant creature lifted its head, and looked out at Kairi...and then it crossed its arms and gave a wide, deliberate smirk.

A deep, powerful male voice echoed out with laughter across the world, as a long clawed finger tapped at its- his arm.

Kairi slowed to a stop in the air, staring out at the monster across the distance. She turned to look at Luxu; he'd stopped too. "That isn't a Dream Eater," she said.

"No - just a part of the dream," Luxu replied, shaking his head. "I don't know what this world had going on in it before it fell, but man..."

"Yeah, he feels like he's going to be a problem, all the same," Kairi said firmly.

"Heh. Alright, then. Let's go be heroes, slay the evil-doer."

"You mean you," Kairi teased. "There's really not much point to me fighting anymore, is there?"

"Nope. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Hey, want to see something cool?"

Kairi grinned. "Sure. Impress me again."

"As you command, my princ...ess," Luxu trailed off, turning in the air with a genuine frown. A look of surprise on his face.

Kairi looked, too.

The huge devil had raised his arms, fingers splayed, like he was conducting an orchestra. And in response...

Innumerous spectral beings and demonic monsters rose up from the landscape. Swathed in cloaks, or nude female spirits with long white hair flowing behind them, riding steeds of darkness.

As Kairi set eyes on the giant devil, she watched as skeletal figures were plucked up by it and then dropped into flames of the volcano. They were scooped back up in the giant's dark hands again as pure fire. Then, in a burst of smoke they became naked flaming women, dancing alluringly in its palm, literally. Another burst of smoke, and they were more monsters, unceremoniously dumped onto the side of the volcano as the giant devil smirked to itself in satisfaction.

Kairi stared in shock, and even a bit of disgust at the callousness of the giant monster. This was a world of beauty, even the people living in it being so free and natural - but this devil just took it and perverted it, twisted it like that... She had found even a part of herself admiring those demon fire women, in their beauty and grace, for a few moments...and now it just didn't matter. Did the devil even comprehend such a thing? That was the real waste, here. This monster's corruption and destruction of natural beauty!

Suddenly a swirling silver stream of energy flowed around the monster, across the land, guiding the spirits and monsters to their master...in the dozens, no, hundreds!

And it wasn't just them: Nightmares were appearing out of thin air in huge numbers, of all shapes and sizes! Rams and dinosaurs and cats and tigers, swarms of bats and birds and owls... Smoke burst and crystal shattered all over the place, seeming to have no intention of stopping.

"What do we do?" Kairi said quickly, getting her head back into the game again. Focusing.

"Darkness's greatest weakness is light - and that's your specialty, not mine - so why don't you fight that thing, and I'll keep the armies off your back?" Luxu said.

Kairi looked at him, in a moment of frozen time. Then she nodded. "Okay!"

She attacked the giant devil, with Fin, Cherry, Beatrice, and the newly created Comet and Spectra!

Luxu created a giant barrier bubble around the giant at the top of the volcano, isolating Kairi and her Spirit companions; the Nightmares and monsters slammed into it with high wails and shrieks, clawing and pounding at it (or squishing against it), before sliding off of it and turning their focus to him.

Floating skeleton heads and winged, bare breasted harpy monsters swirled around Luxu, as multicolored walls of flames burst all around him and became a swirling vortex!

He raised his Keyblade high, then gave it a long slash down in front of him. A purple, warbling beam of energy was torn through the air before him, flying down to the center of the vortex. It hit the center and was sucked in, becoming a spinning ring that exploded outward, washing away the flames and doing away with the vortex entirely.

Luxu aimed his blade out, and hundreds of energy ropes flew out toward the hordes, individual dark barrier bubbles capturing them all. He slashed his weapon sharply, sending them all slamming down to the ground, the barriers bursting with light and power on impact, disintegrating those within, and sending the teeming masses flying everywhere.

He raised a hand to the air, a massive magic circle appearing overhead, spinning and glowing. Then, huge beams of energy came raining down on the world, scorching every inch of it in a continuous barrage! Each strike of a beam obliterated huge swathes of enemies, leaving large holes in their swarming forces.

"Haha! Damn does this feel good!" he crowed, echoing across the land. "Come here you little bastards, I've got enough for everyone!"

Kairi didn't really have the time to contemplate the thought that the man was actually possibly losing his mind now; she twisted and flipped in the air to avoid a swipe from a huge monstrous arm, then darted forward into Seven Wishes, flying back and forth across the devil's face!

Fin and Cherry attacked its exposed stomach, biting and blasting it with magic. Meanwhile, Beatrice and Spectra were blasting its backside with their own attacks - a barrage of stingers, and dual waves of powerful pulsing energy rings. Comet swirled around overhead, casting down what looked like Dream Piece orbs to strike at the monster, which exploded on impact in color and light.

The monster flared his wings and raised an arm, sending out a barrage of fireballs in all directions.

Kairi flipped around his body and put herself right behind the neck, focusing on slashing and stabbing into it as much as she could, growling and grunting! She flipped back and sent out a dozen Light Blades into its neck, then swiped her hand and twirled her body, tearing them out the side and forming them into a ring around herself. She flew forward and began to spin them furiously, casting off light and electricity as they grew into bright, huge blades that ripped into the dark monster's form!

The monster flared his wings with a roar, and a blast of fire shot up around it. The wave of heat and force sent Kairi flying back to slam into the inside of Luxu's barrier dome. Her Spirits had all been pushed far back away, too.

Ow.

She pulled her legs up under her, put her feet to the barrier, and kicked off again, flying straight for the monster!

She noticed Comet wrap themself in a barrier and vanish quickly - reappearing a good distance away from the monster. They flipped in the air and raised their broomstick like a magic staff, the end glowing brightly. Pink lightning bolts streaked in the air from nowhere, and swirling little pink magic circles began to appear around Comet! From out of the faces of the circles rose...Spirits? More Spirits! One, two, three, four, five, six...and after they'd emerged, another round of them spilled out too! They were all the same kind: big, majestic birds with green and gold color schemes, and armored helmets on their heads.

The armored birds immediately went to attack the monster from all angles, sending out energy attacks, or going into diving teleports that saw them disappearing and reappearing too fast to keep track of!

Kairi beamed at Comet in wonder-

And a giant, dark fist slammed into her entire body.

Kairi flew back through the air, flipping and flipping - until she hit hard on a rocky path that wound up around the top of the volcano peak.

She gasped and climbed to her feet again, staring up at the monster.

He was staring back down at her, for a moment - smiling to show pointed fangs.

Then he was being set on by the Spirits again, turning and swiping at them, and blasting out with fireball barrages.

Fight now, give that magic bird all the love and attention they deserve later! Kairi told herself firmly.

She surged straight up into the air, surrounded in a golden aura. She raised her Keyblade and flashed forward, slashing across the monster with a huge beam of energy. She flipped back and sent out a stream of dozens of fiery orange orbs of light, bombarding the devil's backside and causing explosions on impact. She ducked and weaved as it spun around with a wave of flames. She tossed her Keyblade out and teleported to it, right in front of the monster's face, and then transformed it into her blasters. She shoved them in his face and unleashed a flurry of bolts, point blank. He reached up with a giant clawed hand for her-

Only for Beatrice and Spectra to come flying into it, knocking it aside! Beatrice twisted around and fluttered her great wings, then she opened up a little mouth and shot out a stream of glowing gold strands that wrapped around the monster's arm. She lifted up and backwards into the air, pulling it taut.

Spectra rose up directly in front of the monster, and aimed her energy wave cannons, the thin barrels pointed right at his face. Kairi leapt out of the way, and the rings of purple energy waves were unleashed on the monster, damaging him continuously!

Fin was darting around the monster's lower half like a frenzied, well, fish, biting and chomping at every bit she could, with bursts of dark energy. She did a backflip, opening her mouth wide, and sent out a stream of intense energy at the monster's body.

Cherry, floating along the path below, did a twirling dance and threw up their little leaf arms, and a healing glow shrouded Kairi's body.

Kairi felt a wave of gratitude as she readied herself for another attack.

She flew up high, raising her hands and focusing her light. An orb of fiery energy grew above her head - to the size of a baseball, then, a big beachball...and then a really big one. Kairi held all that power, channeled it, glaring down at the monster...and then she let it go, swinging her arms down!

The fiery orange ball of light traveled down, down...and slammed into the monster's face - and then exploded with a wash of light and force that sent Kairi skidding backwards in the air, wobbling!

When the light faded...the devil was holding an arm up over his face, wisps of smoke trailing off his body, which was now beginning to vibrate and fade...

The monster looked up, right at Kairi, with a snarl of a face. Then the look cleared, and he brought his great arms in around his body - followed by his vast wings, covering himself completely. Then...he vanished in a shimmer of air, sinking down into the volcano.

The barrier dome suddenly fell away, and a light shined above, casting away the clouds and lighting up the landscape.

Kairi sighed in relief as she looked upward, seeing a Keyhole forming there.

"Well that should not have happened at all..." came the voice of Luxu. "Must've been those hundreds of Nightmares I exterminated in the background of your epic battle."

Kairi turned, looking down to see him floating up to her.

Her Spirits also came floating in, drifting around them in the air now. The others, the ones summoned by Comet...they dispersed, disappearing in puffs of smoke all around the volcano.

Kairi waved to them, then turned and gave Fin a pat. She gave Cherry a stroke of a leafy arm. She beamed up at Beatrice, then gave Spectra a wave. She finally looked to Comet. She drifted over to them and gave them a hug. "You were all great - but you were the best," she whispered secretively, grinning at them. "You really came through for all of us in this fight. Thanks, Comet!"

"You done playing with your new pets, or are we going to still be here when this world transitions back into the Realm of Light?" Luxu spoke, a humorous tone to his voice now.

Kairi drifted away from Comet, looking to Luxu now. She smiled at the man, tilting her head. "We can go, if you're so impatient."

Luxu laughed a single, barking laugh. He rolled his neck, giving a gesture of an arm. "I've had enough of this 'beautiful' little world for one day, if it's all the same to you."

"If you say so. Come on - two more worlds left, then we'll be able to find Ephemer!"

Kairi turned and held out her Keyblade, vanishing into light.

"It's not a guarantee!" Luxu's voice came echoing to her, exasperated. A pause. Then- "But I guess that's more of your boundless hope and optimism, isn't it?"

Chapter 35: Cold Hearts

Notes:

Look, a Xion Sora Ven chapter finally! Lol. xD Weird...Also some other unexpected faces appear! The long term story cooking is still COOKING, and it begins NOW! Muhahaha. :D Sorry it's kinda short as heck though...politic election stuffs going on...kinda put a damper on my writing the last two days or so. Especially today. But I will come back swinging, with the next few chapters being hopefully more on the longer side, to really dig into this XION FOCUSED STORY AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENTS. :)

Xion skidded to a stop, wobbling. Then she ran and flipped up into the air, flying over the heads of the monsters - Nightmares.

She cast Blizzaga down at them, freezing them in blocks of ice. She landed and spun, slashing across the closest one with a light trail. The ice shattered and the monster vanished in a puff of smoke.

Sora flipped and slashed up in mid air, hitting a flying owl monster. He kicked off of it and flew at another one, slashing through it and rolling when he hit the ground. He came up and around, casting Gravity; the flying monsters dropped to the ground, beating their wings, unable to get up again.

Xion cast Fire multiple times, hitting them all.

Sora did the same, finishing them all off.

"I didn't expect these things to be so colorful and- squishy," Sora said, sighing and lowering his Keyblade. "I almost feel bad about having to fight them!"

"Yeah, they aren't exactly Heartless - or Unversed," Ven agreed, with a small laugh, as he did the same. "They're almost funny little things..."

Xion blinked at them. She didn't really get how they were "different" from any of the other monsters they had fought before. And they had to be destroyed - so she would. It was simple.

Her whole body suddenly shook.

"You okay there...?" Sora asked slowly.

Xion reached up and pressed her hands to her own arms, crossing them in front of her. Even just doing that made so many sensations go through her palms and over her arms themselves - and she didn't like any of it! "It's cold," she said out loud. It was true; that was why she had trembled in the first place. She knew Even would have told her something like her body was warning her, and she should listen to it...

"Oh - hey - want my jacket, then?" Sora spoke again, pulling at it away from himself.

"That's not going to help her arms too much," Ven remarked, with a quiet laugh.

"Oh, right...uhhh-"

"I'll be fine. Let's just go," Xion said flatly, walking forward and going past the two boys, dropping her arms to her sides again.

She tried to just look ahead, down the street of falling snow and ice. She didn't like the lights on the fronts of the metal buildings on either side of her, shining and pulsing and changing as she moved. She didn't like the distant sounds of clanging metal and vehicles moving on wheels. Crunching and roaring and echoing. She didn't like the cold air hurting her nose, or her lips, or her hands, or-

More Nightmares appeared in front of her from smoke.

She summoned her Keyblade again and ran forward with a cry, her chest tight and heaving-

There was a loud wooshing noise that hurt her ears, causing her to bring up her hands to cover her ears, and suddenly a bunch of green energy blasts came streaking down from above, destroying the Nightmares.

Xion turned in the direction of the blasts, lowering her hands and staring up into the sky.

A red blur came down from the dark skies to hover in front of Xion, with green jets of fire or energy coming from the bottoms of their feet. The shape came under the lights.

Xion breathed out in surprise, the air cold and misty and visible.

It was a female figure with crimson red skin, darker red hair hanging down her back, and glowing scarlet eyes to match the rest of her. A glowing, yellow crystal burned in the center of her forehead, beneath messy bangs of dark red hair.

"What's..." Sora came running over to Xion, with Ven behind him. He looked up at the figure. Then to Xion. He grinned widely and let his Keyblade vanish. "Hey, Xion, isn't that your friend - from Traverse Town?!" he said excitedly, pointing.

Xion nodded, smiling as she stepped forward, dismissing her weapon. She craned her neck to look at the girl. "Imra! What are you doing here? Is this your home world?"

Imra's head snapped down to look at Xion. She didn't smile back. She didn't blink at her. She didn't even look...happy, or like she even knew Xion?

"Comprehension error." The girl's voice was as empty as her eyes - flat, emotionless. Why...?

"Imra, are you okay? Why are you acting so-" Xion started again, frowning now. This wasn't like the girl from Traverse Town at all! The Imra Xion knew was always moving, talking, she was swaying and motion and confident and graceful and- expressive, the word came to her (probably from Even).

"Hold for identification." Imra's voice cut Xion off, like she hadn't heard her at all. The girl's eyes flickered, and a yellow beam of light burst out of them, sweeping over them all suddenly. Just as suddenly, it faded away again. "Zero matches found."

"Imra, we're friends, we met in Traverse Town, remember? You taught me how to spraypaint, and you told me about-"

"Comprehension error; data not found," Imra cut her off flatly. Again! Her arms suddenly came up, and her hands transformed into wide gun barrels, swirling with green energy. She aimed them right at Xion. "Unregistered individuals will be detained for processing and interrogation. Please do not resist, as I am authorized to use lethal force under Protocol Thirteen."

"Wait, WHAT?" Sora exclaimed, gaping up at her. "You're gonna 'detain' us...?"

"Correct," Imra stated. Short. Simple.

Sora looked over at Xion. "I thought you guys were friends!"

"We are! I don't know why she's acting like this," Xion said, desperate and confused. "She's different from Traverse Town! She's not...herself?"

"I am legally obligated to provide you with a single warning before utilizing lethal force: you have five seconds to drop your weapons and kneel down," Imra spoke again.

Xion was even more confused, until she saw Ven still had his Keyblade in his hand. "Imra, please-" she said, turning back to her friend.

"Five...Four...three..." the other girl started to count down, in that emotionless voice.

"Can't you see something's wrong with her? We have to help her!" Xion pleaded, rounding on Ven - and then Sora. "Please don't hurt her!"

"Two..." Imra's voice echoed out on the cold air.

Ven nodded to Xion, letting his weapon vanish. "Okay - no more weapons - you don't have to blast me or anything!" he called up to Imra, raising his hands to her as he lowered himself to the ground. "I'm doing what you asked me to!"

Imra lowered her arms, reverting them back into - well - arms again. She descended from the air, touching down on the ground with her feet. "Your cooperation is appreciated," she said, with no appreciation at all.

The girl walked up to stand in front of Ven, raising a hand to him. A green ring of light swirled around her wrist; it traveled down her hand and left her fingers, shooting out through the air at Ven. It struck his chest with a flash of light, and then a crackling ring of green energy was around his body - trapping his arms at his sides.

"Huh?! Oh c'mon, I'm already doin' what you said..." Ven complained, twisting and wincing as the electricity flickered against his body.

"Noted - your cooperation is appreciated," Imra repeated...in exactly the same way she had the first time.

Ven pouted and looked at Xion. "Why am I the only one she zapped?"

"Well, hehe, you were the only one with your Keyblade still-" Sora began. His words were cut short with a yelp, as a green energy ring flew out and bound him, too. "Awww..."

Ven perked up, laughing at Sora.

Xion frowned, turning back to Imra. "Imra, you-"

Imra raised her hand to Xion, and a green light flew out of it.

Xion gasped as the energy ring formed around her, burning and tight! "Imra please, tell me what's wrong!" she cried.

Imra stood like a statue, staring at her. "Comprehension error."

Xion let her head drop, her throat tightening.

Comprehension error, she thought, in horrible agreement!

"Please remain here, and make no attempt to run; reinforcements will be arriving shortly," Imra told them.

Xion closed her eyes tightly, taking in a cold breath of air.

She wished Kairi was here, for the hundredth time. Kairi would have known what was wrong with Imra - and she would have figured out how to fix her.

But Kairi was gone...

All Xion had was herself. And she had no idea what was even happening.

---

Darkness stood on the rooftops, after rematerializing herself and her new human body from a billowing cloud of intangible dark energy itself.

She looked down at the three figures - Sora, Ventus, and Xion. Captured by world's locals, it seemed.

A small, strange part of her found that to be...

Disappointing.

When the time came for confrontation, they were not going to offer her much of a fight, were they?

But the rest of her was pleased: she would have more time to explore this world - to find the clues to the past, and the history of the Keyblade known as the Ultima Weapon.

This might have been a world at war, but they kept very good records.

She had learned something that sounded promising, buried in all of those records and historical accounts.

She had not expected the boy from the Book, and the two modern wielders, to be here - but she wasn't concerned.

Darkness would have more than enough time to stay ahead of them, and follow this lead.

Chapter 36: Dangerous Emotions

"Please just talk to me; we're friends!"

Xion tried again, but Imra didn't even look at her now. Was she just..ignoring her now? Why?

What's wrong with you, Imra? I know this isn't like you at all...

After minutes of being stuck like this with Imra, in the cold, loud sounds echoed in the streets, and a large vehicle came around the corner. It was bigger and more complicated than any of the trucks Xion had seen on the islands. It was like a big box with a bunch of bits and pieces sticking out of it. It had glowing lights on its sides. A large door opened at the back of it. It opened down, instead of to the side, becoming a metal ramp; several people exited the vehicle.

They had dark red skin, like Imra, but they looked...what was the word Even would have used? Organic? "Flesh and blood". They didn't seem like "androids" or "machines" or "robots" like Imra was. Their eyes were dark greens and blues, and purple colors - and so was their hair. They were wearing dark clothes, and had long, glowing green weapons in their hands - guns. Were they the same kind that Imra had in her...arms?

Imra walked past Xion, not even looking at her, and went to talk to one of the people from the vehicle. She said some things Xion couldn't really understand, and then the group of armed people were coming over to her, Sora and Ven.

"Alright, up you kids get. Come on," spoke a short woman, who wore a hat and had her dark purple hair in a ponytail. "Let's make this easy - we don't want anyone to get hurt."

"What's wrong with Imra!" Xion said loudly, standing up awkwardly on the ice and stone without being able to use her arms. "What did you do to her!"

The woman looked at her with a frown. Her purple eyes blinked with surprise. Then she sighed and gave a small smile. She turned and raised a hand, pointing to where Imra was standing motionless now. "That's not her, kid."

"Huh?" Sora exclaimed, staring from Imra to the woman.

Xion frowned now too. "What do you mean it's not her? She looks just like her, she has her voice, she- I know she's my friend, and I want you to put her back!" She couldn't control her own voice. It was already shaking from the cold, and it just got louder before she even knew it!

The woman gave another sigh, her feet shifting on the ground. The ice crunched under her boots. "It's just another machine, hon. One of a couple dozen batches out there now."

"No, it's Imra, I know it's her, I know-!"

"The Imra I think you're talking about here-" the woman spoke firmly, interrupting Xion. "-I know you kids think she's some kind of roaming superhero, but she's not. She's not a friend, she's not a hero. She - it - is just a malfunctioning, corrupted piece of military hardware. It's a runaway war robot. And while it's still following some of its programming now, protecting and rescuing the odd person or two...we have no idea when that might suddenly just flip, and it goes from helping people to hurting them. You can't see the dangers, I know - but it isn't something to look up to, or to put some kind of trust in."

Xion stared at the woman, swallowing hard. She looked to Sora, and Ven.

"Well if that's not her, then where's the real Imra?" Sora asked.

"That's classified information," said the woman simply.

"So you do know where she is..." Xion murmured.

"Please, tell us where to find her," Sora said, beseeching the woman.

"Sorry, kid, but that's not for civilians to know. Especially not unregistered ones," the woman replied. "Now, why don't we just-"

Xion jumped up and forward, flying over the woman's head. She landed thrust her hands forward at her sides, sending two fireballs into the woman's back.

The woman gasped and fell forward, landing hard on the ground. Her weapon flew out of her hands.

"Xion, what are you-" Sora gasped.

The others in the group turned their weapons to Xion.

Imra turned her arms into weapons too, and aimed them at her.

Ven jumped forward, sliding on the ground and twirling his legs and body. Wind magic grew around him and swirled upward, then it flew out in all directions, sending the group of armed warriors flying. Imra skidded backwards and hit the side of the large vehicle, denting it with a loud thud. The wind magic also seemed to break the ring of energy around Ven's body, freeing him. He summoned his Keyblade and raised it up to the sky, calling out: "Sleep!"

Swirling rings of light blue energy appeared around the warriors, and they all fell to the ground immediately. Except for Imra.

Ven turned toward Imra as she started to fire at him without hesitation. He dodged her and ran forward, then rolled and came up in front of her. He smacked her arms away with his weapon, then he thrust it forward and sent a stream of yellow lightning out.

The lightning hit Imra in the chest; it covered her body as she twisted and spasmed, and then she slumped forward and fell to the ground.

"Imra!" Xion exclaimed, racing forward.

"It's- not her, remember?" Sora spoke up quickly, hobbling to her side.

Ven turned and aimed his Keyblade at Sora - a light flashed, and he was free from the energy binding. Then he did the same thing for Xion, too.

Xion moved her now free arms to touch Imra's head. Or..not Imra? Not the Imra she knew...? But still...a girl... She looked back and up at Ven.

Ven blinked rapidly, taking a step back. "Is she - okay? I didn't think that'd...hurt her that bad..." he murmured out.

Xion looked back down at- not-Imra? She looked at Sora, hopeful.

Sora hesitated, then got down on his knees and reached out for the girl who wasn't Imra. He touched her head, then her shoulder. He gave her a small shake. "She's probably just...unconscious. I mean, if Ven didn't actually mean to...then she can't just have-"

Not-Imra suddenly sat up straight, her eyes flickering. Her head turned, and then her arm shot forward as her hand seized Sora's throat. She brought her legs up under her, and with a loud explosion of noise and green energy, she was shooting up high into the air - with Sora in her grasp! The girl hovered in the air, then she flipped her whole body forward and threw Sora back down again!

Sora flew down toward the ground, face-first, his arms wildly flailing. Before he hit the ground he slowed down and started to fly forward - but he still hit it. He hit with a loud cry, sliding forward on the ice until he stopped. He sucked in a breath and sat up, groaning. He looked over to Xion, raising a hand with a pained grin.

"See? She's fine!" he called out. "Aw crap!" he added swiftly, casting Reflect in a dome around himself, as not-Imra rained down green energy blasts on him!

"Stop!" Xion cried.

The girl ignored her still!

Xion stared up at the girl, her Heart beating in her chest. Then she breathed, and kicked off from the ground to fly up into the air. She summoned her Keyblade and aimed it forward-

Not-Imra twisted and darted at her faster than she could react! One of her arm weapons turned back into a normal hand - that she used to grab the front of Xion's top and pull her forward.

Xion brought up her hand and placed it against Not-Imra's chest, looking into her eyes. "I'm sorry!" she whispered out.

Not-Imra gazed back at her. "Compre-"

Xion cast Firaga.

Xion and Not-Imra were both separated from each other in the air by the large explosion.

A gust of wind from Ven swirled around her, catching her as she fell. She landed gently on the ground.

Not-Imra fell backwards and down, fast and hard. She hit the street, cracking stone as she bounced off of it, and spun wildly into a streetlight. It bent and curved around her, then fell over and hit the ground, the glass of the light shattering and going out.

Xion lifted her head to look at the girl, gasping.

Not-Imra's body was burned and sizzling with smoke. Her red skin was pitch black in streaks and patches now. Her hair was peeling away and torn up. Her left arm was bent in a way it probably shouldn't be, with sparks of yellow electricity coming out of where her elbow was. The yellow crystal on her forehead was flickering, sparking. A strange humming sound was coming from the girl's whole body.

"I'm sorry," Xion squeaked, holding her hands to her mouth as she stared at the girl. She moved forward on shaking legs until she stood in front of her. She slowly lowered her hand and reached out to the girl...touching her unhurt arm.

Not-imra's forehead crackled with yellow jolts, and her head twisted and jerked to look at Xion. Her red eyes flickered, glowing, then not, then glowing again... "Cr-critical- damage sustained. P-p-power regulator- failing..." her voice came, sputtering and stammering. "U-Unit F-Fourteen re-requesting backup..."

"I'm sorry...I just...wanted you to stop..." Xion pleaded. "We didn't have to fight, we didn't have to do this..."

Not-Imra raised her broken arm, her fingers brushing against Xion's, where Xion's hand lay on her other one... Her mouth formed a small frown, her eyelids fluttering-! Then the arm fell sharply, hanging limply in the air. "Compre-hension...Erroooor..." Her voice warbled and stretched out the last word...and then it faded away. Her eyes went dim. Her head dropped.

"Hey..." Sora's soft voice came, as he stepped up next to her. He put his arm around her and hugged her with it. "We should go - to find...your Imra."

Xion shoved the boy away with a cry. She stalked off down the street, then stopped. She hugged herself in the cold.

"Imra's not going to want to see me now. I took one of her sisters away from her..."

"She wasn't giving us much of a choice," Ven spoke quietly. "I'm sure your friend'll understand..."

"Ven's right, Xion."

Xion turned back to look at Sora. Her lip wobbled. "But what if he's n-not?"

"Well...we won't know until we find her, right?" Sora said slowly. "And if she's in some kind of trouble, she still needs our help. Your help."

Xion sucked in a deep, cold breath. She nodded. "Ok..."

She strode over to the unconscious warrior woman with the ponytail, grabbed her shirt and pulled her up from the ground with magic strength. She shook her. She frowned, then she hit her in the face.

The woman startled and twisted to look at her. "What just-"

Xion summoned her Keyblade in a flash of light, holding the blade across the woman's throat. "Where's Imra?" she said flatly.

"Hey! Xion, wait!" Sora called out, stepping forward with shock.

The woman looked down at the weapon, blinking with wide, confused eyes. She swallowed. "What is this?"

"Where's. Imra," Xion repeated tightly, her chest burning and squeezing.

The woman's eyes looked around her, at the damaged street, at the vehicle, at the fallen warriors, and then at Not-Imra. Finally, she looked up into Xion's face. "Kid, do you know what you've just brought onto yourself here today? I don't know how you kids even did this, but attacking a whole squad, destroying a military war machine... It's not just imprisonment for this sort of thing, it's execution! You'll be marked as kill on sight, you understand that?!"

"We've fought worse before," Xion said. "You can send as many people at us as you want; we're still going to...fuck them all up. And we'll keep fucking them all up until we get to Imra!"

"Xion - enough!" Ven's voice came, sharp in the cold air. "Put her down and come on. We're wasting time. And it's not...this isn't right, acting like this. So just - stop. We'll find Imra on our own."

Xion let the woman drop to the ground, straightening up and turning to walk away. She vanished her Keyblade in a flash as she walked past Ven and Sora.

She stepped over to the vehicle and walked up the ramp into it. It was wide but narrow, with a row of seats on either side, along with bits and screens and things on the walls above them.

Maybe something in here could help find Imra, since these warriors had come from it.

"...Thessa Base to response team, come in? What's your status? Over."

Xion turned, seeing one of the screens flickering. There was an image of a person on it, their face filling it up.

She walked toward it, staring into it.

"Who are you?" the voice issued from the screen again.

Xion paused. She raised her hand, waving it in front of the screen.

"Yes, civilian girl, I can see you; please identify yourself and-" the voice spoke with a huff.

"Is Imra at this Thessa Base place?" Xion asked.

The person on the screen looked confused, blinking at her. "Civilian girl, PLEASE explain-"

Xion raised her fist in ice and slammed it into the screen. The ice spread over and through the inside of it, as pieces of frosty glass fell. Electricity sparked around her hand.

She didn't feel it at all.

She turned and walked further into the vehicle, peering at the other screens closely.

One of them had to say something about Imra!

Notes:

Unhinged Xion is best Xion lol! xDDD She is full feral now! :D She had that Kairi in her all along...except worse! Cause Xion still kinda has no strong sense of morality or any of that important stuff. :D Oopsy!

Chapter 37: Of Cats and Robots

Notes:

Now we getting into the good shit. xD I'm so excited for this one lol. Some long awaited stuff people been commenting about comes to fruition! :D

Between Xion, Sora and Ven, they found a map inside the vehicle - on a screen - and figured out the direction of Thessa Base from where they were.

Xion had begged them to go with her to this place to look for Imra.

Both of the boys had argued against it, saying they "couldn't just go attacking people like that" or "breaking into places". Ven had said that was "what the World Order is meant to protect people from".

Xion had argued back that these people were- making more of Imra. Imra sisters. Sisters who didn't seem...right. And they had called Imra herself all of those things - like corrupt, or "malfunctioning", and that they didn't seem to see her as a...a person. It was like...the Organization and Replicas. And that was wrong, right? Either way, they had to look into it - and stop it!

Sora had finally agreed to that, to Xion's relief.

Ven had still said he didn't like the idea...but that he wasn't going to "leave the two of you to do somethin' stupid like that alone." He had also stressed to Xion that they had to try their best not to actually kill anyone. He said they didn't know "how many of these guys are bad guys or not".

Xion had agreed.

And now they were here.

Xion glided through the air above the rooftops and streets, with Sora beside her. Ven was running and jumping across the roofs, with bursts of wind magic and speed, a light green glow around his whole body. Then he jumped out high and threw his Keyblade out, turning it into his glider to fly on.

She looked out ahead of her, past the edge of the city, across snowy fields and a winding road of dirt and ice.

To the huge, domed metal building in the distance, surrounded by high metal walls with weapons sticking out of it. Huge barrels - cannons. "Like for wooden ships, but...probably more dangerous," Sora commented on them.

Xion flew out toward it at top speeds, cutting through the cold airs and winds.

She dipped down low to the ground, across the snow.

The metal walls came closer and closer - and the cannons didn't attack.

Soon Xion was right up to the wall. She curved up and flew straight up into the air, hovering above the base's courtyard.

There were all kinds of metal vehicles everywhere, and lots of people - most of them with weapons.

In a metal tower on the wall, to her left, someone moved, looking out at her.

Xion turned. She raised a hand and cast multiple Blizzard spells; the projectiles flew out, one after another. One hit the half-wall of the tower, the other, the edge of the roof. The third passed straight through it, causing the person inside to duck down out of sight.

"Hey - Xion!" Sora's voice.

She turned. He pointed toward the huge dome - to the large metal doors at the front that had just opened.

Xion turned and flew down for the doors, blowing through them and past a group of shocked warriors.

Sora was right behind her, followed by Ven, who was getting off his Glider.

Ven raced out ahead of them and slashed his weapon repeatedly, faster than Xion could track with her eyes, leaving a dozen trails of light in front of him. The light beams shot out together and sliced through another metal door blocking their path; the door fell apart into pieces, burning and clanging on the floor.

Ven leapt through it and raised his Keyblade. "Warp!"

Dark purple orbs flared around a half dozen warriors inside the next room, squeezing around them...and then they all vanished, their voices fading.

"Woah! What was that?! I thought we weren't gonna..." Sora started, gaping.

"That was just the Warp spell," Ven said quickly, laughing. "It just teleports your enemies someplace else, don't worry."

"Where?" Sora pressed.

Ven shrugged, turning and pointing in random directions before giving up. "Some other room here, or maybe somewhere outside? I dunno. It'd put them somewhere safe, though - not like, inside a wall or anythin'."

"Okay!" Sora said, relieved and beaming.

They moved on into the building together.

But Xion found it was a confusing maze of hallways and rooms - and the big, wailing noise everywhere, along with the flashing red lights didn't help at all! It made it really hard to even focus!

Luckily they found a big map on a wall, that Ven and Sora were able to quickly figure out together while Xion guarded them. There was a place on the map, on the lowest level, that said: Engineering And Robotics Floor.

Imra was a robot (but she was also a person!). Xion felt in her Heart that it was the right place to go to find her.

They moved through the hallways, knocking away and knocking out any warriors they came across.

Ven, Xion and Sora even used Blizzaga together to block off a hallway behind them with a huge shiny ice wall.

They came to a large room at the end of a hall, and went into an elevator.

They rode it down, deep underground.

One floor, two floors, three floors...five...six...seven.

The elevator stopped and the metal door slid open.

Xion jumped out, holding her Keyblade in front of her.

Three more warriors stopped in their tracks and attacked.

Sora jumped in front Xion and cast Reflect; the green energy blasts were absorbed into the magic shield.

Ven rolled past Sora and slashed his Keyblade out, sending a blast of wind to hit the warriors. They flew back into the wall, and then fell down to the floor, their weapons falling out of their hands. Unconscious.

Xion continued on, left, then right, then forward, then left again...then another right, and a right, and straight on...

Until they came to a large, wide metal door at the end of a much wider hallway than the others so far. There was a sign above the door that said the same thing as the map had upstairs: Engineering And Robotics.

Xion looked at Sora and Ven.

The three of them raised their hands, casting out explosive Fire magicks, battering at the center of the big door together.

The metal burned, twisted, and melted away into a great big hole, the edges glowing.

It was wide and tall enough for them to walk through.

So they did.

Xion raced through first, her heart beating fast.

As she stepped through it into a dimly lit room of red light, she saw something move in a corner.

She raised her Keyblade and turned-

And a large Nightmare came running at her, with horns on its head!

Xion leapt out of the way and slashed at it, causing it to stumble to the side.

Sora came flying in, slashing down on the Nightmare, then left, then right quickly. Then he did a twirl and kicked it back at Xion with magical strength.

Xion thrust out a hand to hit it with Blizzard, then lunged forward and thrust her Keyblade into its colorful body.

It popped in smoke and crystal pieces, disappearing.

Ven came walking in, his weapon at his side, a frown on his face. "The Nightmares are in here, too?"

"Then that means there are people in here who are sleeping - trapped," Sora said with sympathy and sadness.

"If they did something to Imra, I don't care," Xion said flatly, turning on a heel and striding away.

"Xion..." Sora said after her, worried.

Xion moved through the dim red room, through a doorway into a new one. Then, into a new hallway with three different directions to it - left, right, or forward. She chose forward. She came to the heavy metal door at the far end of it, and blasted it apart with a Firaga and a heaving breath of tiredness.

She strode through it...and stopped. She stared at the sight in front of her.

"Imra...?"

In a large room full of big machines and devices, Imra was in the middle of it all. She was hanging from a big, glowing metal ring device. There were lights flickering around her, on the ends of cables that were...attached to her? Sticking out of her - or into her...? Her arms were spread out from her body. The yellow lines across her body were pulsing, white light beads running down them like waves on an ocean. Her head hung forward, her eyes gazed out with no life in them at all. No glowing red light to them.

There were beeping and booping screens and computers near Imra, with letters and numbers on them. One of them had a weird image of Imra on it, it looked like.

It was her. Xion just knew. She felt it inside of her.

This was her Imra.

Xion wanted to just run to her and free her, to hold her and talk to her and...

But she hesitated.

She was afraid of what Imra would say when she found out what Xion had done to her sister...and she was afraid of messing this up, too. What if she hurt Imra? What if she- pulled a wrong cable, or...?

Sora and Ven came walking in behind her, their shoes echoing on the metal floor.

Xion blinked, as suddenly a high, nasally girl's voice echoed throughout the large room.

"Meddling Keykids...Oh, this SUCKS! You guys are always ruining everything, no matter what the era, aren't you!"

Sora turned this way and that, on guard. "Who's there?!"

Ven gave a sudden gasp, his hand going up to his head.

"Huh? Ven, what's wrong-" Sora started, turning to the boy.

Dark purple smoke and crystal shards exploded in front of them - and something appeared on the floor in front of Xion. A small creature, not even up to her knees, barely. It looked like a cat, but on two stubby legs, with stubby arms? It was fluffy and fuzzy, and had ears and a nose and black markings on a deep purple body. It had round, pure red eyes. There was a small pouch or purse hanging from its neck, on its chest. There was a yellow, five-pointed star symbol on the purse. It wore a long cape behind its back, colored reddish purple (Xion wished she was better with colors)?

"Huh?" Xion blinked down at the creature. "Another Nightmare?"

"Not just any Nightmare, thank you very much!" that high girl voice spoke again - from the little creature? A Nightmare that was talking...? "I'm-"

"A Nightmare..." Ven began. He stopped, opening his eyes wide as he stared at the creature. "...Chirithy."

The little creature crossed its - her? - arms, giving a little hop and a twirl. "There we are! Finally, some respect around here."

"Chirithy...? Those little guys that you guys all partnered up with- back in the day?" Sora said, faltering and cautious. "But how can there be a Chirithy...Nightmare?"

"I...don't know," Ven said, his voice shaking. "I...I just...want..."

"Ven...?" Sora stepped closer to the boy, reaching out to touch his arm. "Hey - are you okay?"

"Chirithy!" Ven suddenly cried out, throwing his fists down at his sides.

A new puff of smoke poofed in the air in front of Ven - and then, from down out of the air came a new...Chirithy? Except this one...was gray with black stripes, and had...blue eyes? It - she? - landed in front of Ven, flat on her butt. She looked up at him, tilting her head and putting a stubby hand to her chin. "Huh?! Ven...? You- you called me...? I didn't think you were ever going to...I thought you didn't n-need me anymore-"

A high voice sighed loudly, annoyed.

Chirithy...Ven's Chirithy? turned to look at the other one - the purple Nightmare one - along with the rest of them.

"What a baby!" the Nightmare Chirithy exclaimed, pointing an arm out. "You really had to go and call that weak little thing here? All its going to be good for is getting the stuffing knocked out of it."

"Oh no..." Chirithy - the grey one - said, in a high voice of alarm. She jumped up to her feet and spun around, hobbling forward past Ven, Sora and Xion. She raised her arm to point right back at the purple Chirithy. "How is one of you still here?"

The Nightmare Chirithy giggled loudly into her hand. "How is one of you still here? That's the real question."

Chirithy looked back at Ven. "My partner never disappeared - his Heart was still here...it was just moving really fast, all on its own. So I didn't disappear. I just went to a place where I could wait for him to ever become whole again..."

"I wouldn't have bothered," Nightmare Chirithy said, waving an arm. "He doesn't seem worth the wait, does he? Him and the others - and my partner - they didn't survive because they were special or something. They just got lucky the Master had plans for them..."

"Who was your Partner?" Chirithy asked, quiet and curious. "Are they still here, too?"

Nightmare Chirithy laughed again. She turned away with a hop - and went hopping and skipping up to Imra! "That's just what I'm here to try and find out," she spoke, quiet and serious, now.

"Stay away from my friend!" Xion shouted, starting forward.

Ven lunged after her, grabbing her arm tightly and yanking her back with surprising strength. "Xion, don't!"

"Let go - I'm not letting that Chirithy thing hurt Imra!" Xion yelled.

"Xion-"

"Okay, so he's not completely stupid," came Nightmare Chirithy's voice. "You should listen to him, kiddo. If you try and get in my way, well...I've got a few friends who might have something to say about it."

Nightmare Chirithy raised an arm, looking back at them over a tiny shoulder.

Smoke puffed and darkness swirled on either side of her, and two black-coated figures appeared to flank her! Their coats' hems and sleeves had reddish purple patterns on them. Inside their hoods, it was pure darkness, with glowing red eyes staring out.

"Woah..." Sora gasped, staring at them in fear and wariness. "What kind of Nightmares are those?"

"The very strong, very dangerous kind!" Nightmare Chirithy said, in a voice of high glee.

"Is that why you're doing all of this? All of these worlds, all of these Nightmares? Just to draw out your partner?" Chirithy said loudly, in a voice of anger now. "What if they're not even here anymore?!"

Nightmare Chirithy looked back at her fellow Chirithy. Then, at Ven. The little purple cat creature gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Then they're not here anymore?"

"What about everyone else?!" Sora exclaimed, stepping forward. "You don't even care?"

Nightmare Chirithy gave another shrug. "Not really, no."

Sora's Keyblade shook at his side, as he gritted his teeth at the Nightmare Chirithy. "Grrr..."

"Now be good little boys and girls and stay put. This little toy has some awful dreams in her head, and I want to bring them out for you all to play with..." Nightmare Chirithy said, turning back to Imra and raising a stubby arm to her...

A dark aura surrounded Imra, tendrils flowing out of her, up into the air, like snakes...

"NO!" Xion cried, ripping her arm free of Ven, racing forward and raising her weapon.

"Xion, don't!" Ven yelled after her, trying to grab her again.

One of the cloaked Nightmares was shrouded in swirling red and orange energy, its eyes flashing. Then, a line of red and black energy shot out across the floor toward Xion!

Xion stopped, staring down at her feet, where a circle of black and red energy was swirling.

Then the energy suddenly exploded upward into a pillar, carrying her up into the air along itself!

A burning orange energy surrounded Xion's body, holding her in the air - and then red and purple tendrils and balls of light exploded and tore their way in and out of her body like worms and apples, and the aura burned around her and she couldn't move-

And then suddenly it let her go.

She dropped to the floor, landing on her face, her weapon clattering away from her.

Xion's whole body burned...she could barely move...her eyes blinked at darkness on the edges...sound faded in and out... Flashes of light and voices around her...

Xion tried to raise her trembling head, moving a hand a few inches forward...for...

Imra...

The girl's eyes suddenly flashed to life in the dark, bright and red.

Chapter 38: Getting Closer

Notes:

The chapter in which I suddenly remembered the existence of B PLOTS lol! xDDD I can have stories running CONCURRENTLY! What a wonderful concept! :D LOL. So here you go! A meaty chapter with some side dish! I feel the creative power flowing through meeee, I am on my A game here this week lol! <3

Skuld walked through the streets, following after Elrena.

"I hate this place...I hate this place...I haaateeee thiiiis plaaaceeee...."

Elrena trudged through the hot, deep sands, tugging at her own legs and brushing furiously at her skirt. She let out a high whine, raising a hand over her eyes and turning to look at Skuld with a pouting face.

"I think we're almost there," Skuld offered quietly, with a smile.

"Oh, are we? Greaaat! That makes the last seven hours out here allllll better!" Elrena exclaimed.

Skuld wanted to laugh. The old Skuld would have laughed - the teenage girl she'd once been, outgoing and sociable as she'd been, unafraid to voice herself. But the woman she was now...she just stayed silent.

She wondered if she was ever going to get back to really being how she was. If she could ever be that person again. Maybe not. Maybe it was just...that far too much had happened to ever go back. Too much pain, and loss, and years lost, and damage...

She could reclaim fragments and pieces of that girl - but the woman she was now...maybe it was just that that woman would have to build herself up on her own, and find her own way forward? Decide who she wanted to be, in absence of anything to guide her...

Skuld sighed, shaking her head and brushing back long dark hair - hot, sweaty strands under this world's heated, desert nature.

It was a familiar world to her - from the past, from the future. From the Book. From her missions for her Union...gathering Lux, slaying Heartless...

But this wasn't a projection.

This was real, and present.

They'd stopped by a few settlements - towns, and one large city - asking around for anything that might be...strange or different. Things to look out for, that the residents wouldn't necessarily realize were...

No one had said anything that sounded like any Darknesses - but there was talk of roaming spirits in the desert, that attacked people and cursed them into deep sleeps.

Nightmares.

And they had also learned of something that might be a sign of the Ultima Weapon's use here, a long time ago.

Old scripts and images of what looked like a Keyblade, talks of strange swords of light...

And a place deep in the desert sands.

A place called the "Valley of Glass".

It was a natural wonder - or maybe it was cursed grounds.

The way people had talked about it made it sort of unclear to Skuld...

"The one time...I wish I still had my stupid coat!" Elrena was ranting again, pulling Skuld out of her thoughts. "Of course, it's black, so it would just make everything a million times worse! But at least the coverage would be something...uuuuggghhhhh! Xemnas was an idiot for deciding our uniforms should be black, by the way! He sent us on recon missions all across these worlds in them - like it wasn't going to make us stand out from everyone else like a sore thumb!"

"Complaining makes you happy, doesn't it?" Skuld voiced.

"It makes me not want to die, yes!" Elrena responded, emphatic. "It's the only thing distracting me, so don't try and stop me, girl!"

"I wouldn't," Skuld said, with a small laugh. "I like you how you are."

Elrena stumbled, twisting to look back at her. "What?"

Skuld tried to give a small grin to the woman, reaching up to push her hair back again. "I like you the way you are, Elrena."

The other woman frowned. Then she shook her head and whirled away, hauling herself up a sand dune. "Whatever! Just going to chalk that one up to the heat getting to you..."

"Maybe it is," Skuld agreed, quiet. She climbed the sandy hill after Elrena, clambering up to the top. She pushed herself up and brushed at herself, straightening up again.

Elrena was frozen at the top, staring out in front of her.

Skuld followed her gaze, a soft gasp escaping her lips.

The "Valley of Glass" was apparently something literal.

It was a massive, deep...inexplicable valley, several hundred feet wide, and twice as deep. The edges were sharp and jagged, like upturned scales, or sheets of ice. Deep on the bottom of the valley, in the sparkling, gleaming depths, there were waves and furrows and tall, spiraling pillars of thick glass that looked more like actual ice or crystal than anything. There were pockets and smaller gorges and holes in the floor and the bottoms of the walls. Some of them even looked like far-extending tunnels...leading into shadows...

"Okay, even I've got to say it: hoooooly shit," Elrena uttered.

Skuld exhaled. "Holy shit," she agreed, in a murmur. Just to try it out, really; the teen girl she had been would never - but the adult woman she was? Maybe she wanted to try it on for size...?

"Welp, let's get down there!" Elrena exclaimed. She gathered her legs under herself, then exploded out of the sands and flew forward in a soaring leap of magical power.

Skuld coughed and sputtered, running dusty, sweaty fingers through sand-embedded strands of hair.

How many showers was she going to have to take to fix this once this was over?

Because, one thing that hadn't changed from girl to woman was the amount of pride she'd always taken in her natural appearance - especially her hair. It had always been an effortless beauty. A family trait - inherited from her mom - that even her sister had had...

It was being ruined now, though.

Skuld sighed again, heavily, dropping her hand to her side and starting down the sand dune.

The things she sacrificed to save the world, she supposed...

---

Imra's body shined with a light and a force of hot wind, the dark aura evaporating!

The cables snapped off of her, flailing in the air.

The yellow lines on her body glowed brightly.

The crystal on her forehead was crackling and shining.

"What the heck?!" Nightmare Chirithy squealed, stumbling back and falling onto her butt. She raised a hand, pointing up at Imra. "You- you...HOW?! You were in such a deep sleep!"

Imra hovered in the air, her eyes narrowing. Then she flew over Nightmare Chirithy's head, blowing past her with a burst of green jets from her feet. She raised her arms, and from out of her hands burst rippling green beams of energy that looked like fire. She slashed down at the back of one of the Nightmares in black coats, cutting it straight down and causing it to stumble forward.

The other Nightmare turned and sent out a dark circle with a Nightmare symbol on it, and four red and black tendrils curving out of it. The tendrils closed in on Imra like claws, trying to cage her as they got near her!

Imra twisted and boosted herself out of it with one leg, then flipped around and turned her swords into cannons. She fired rapidly at the Nightmare, striking it and sending it flying backwards with bursts of green energy with a gold aura.

The Nightmare slammed through a big metal machine, darkness eating away at it and making it fall apart. It continued on until it hit the far wall. It fell forward onto a knee...then it rose up and hovered a foot off the ground, and began to glide forward swiftly, like it hadn't even felt any of the damage!

"You really do ruin everything!" Nightmare Chirithy exclaimed. "Well, have fun with my friends! I'd love to stick around and watch them tear you all apart, but I've got places to be! See you never again!" She crossed her stubby arms and turned her chin up at them all, and then vanished in a puff of smoke!

A green glow suddenly surrounded Xion, and all the pain and blurriness faded away! Everything became clearer, breathing was easier, and the burning was gone.

She jumped up and flashed her Keyblade back to her hand.

One of the Nightmares sent out a dozen purple energy bolts for her, its red eyes gleaming at her!

Sora leaped in front of her, casting Reflect around them both.

The energy bolts hit his barrier, cracking it and breaking off pieces of it - a small hole appeared in it...then it burst open and evaporated in a flash of light!

Sora stumbled backwards, knocking into her with a gasp. "Oops - sorry!" he said, holding his weapon up and going into his battle stance again.

Xion stepped up next to him and raised her own weapon, determined.

A barrage of firebolts came flying across the room, slamming into the Nightmare and sending it staggering to the side. It flipped and twisted, dark tendrils coming off of it, unable to get its footing back. It fell down to one knee, its hooded head falling forward.

Then a swirling Keyblade of white energy flew across the room, tearing through it and snapping back again for a second strike!

Ven rolled forward into view, coming up in front of Sora and Xion, his weapon in his backwards grip. "These guys are way too tough - let's get outta here!" he called out. "Even I don't think I'm gonna be able to handle 'em! Maybe if it was just one, but two of them? Too powerful! All we can do is smack them around, but no way we're actually beating them!"

Imra twisted in front of the other Nightmare and hovered horizontally, kicking her feet across her enemy's face and burning it with the jets of green energy themselves. She landed and did a spin, crouching down with one hand on the floor, her feet kicking up sparks around her. Then she raised her free arm up as a cannon, and charged up a strong, green sphere of energy and let it loose into the Nightmare's chest!

The Nightmare flew back into the circular metal device that had once kept Imra trapped, crumpling it into twisted metal. But the Nightmare burned with a red and orange aura, melting it into nothingness and burning away the computers around it, too.

Imra did a big backflip that made her sail all the way over to land next to Ven, Sora and Xion, her hair flying out and shimmering.

Xion couldn't help smiling for some reason. This was the Imra she knew! The girl who moved so well and smooth and graceful, who was confident and precise and made everything look like...art? She didn't even know how she knew that phrase - maybe she'd read it a textbook, or a normal book at some point? - but she liked it. And she thought it fit Imra perfectly.

"Let's go then!" Imra said, in a firm voice of emotion and life, as she nodded to Ven.

Ven nodded back- then startled and looked down. His friend Chirithy, the grey one, was hugging his leg and blinking up at him with blue eyes. He bent down and awkwardly picked her up in one arm, holding her to his body.

Then the four of them turned and went for the exit together - Ven lagging behind to hurl out some more, powerful spells at the Nightmares that tried to follow them, blasting them back again (Chirithy clung to his arm, her high voice crying "Hey, don't drop me!").

They raced through the hallways together, and entered the room with the big door (and the melted, big hole in the middle of it).

Before they could reach the big door, though, it slid open on its own!

Dozens of armed warriors were coming down the wide, metal hallway on the other side!

Xion, Sora, Ven and Imra stopped.

Ven glanced back behind them, his eyes narrowed. "I think we lost those Nightmares - but...looks like we've got a new problem now." He turned to Imra, adding quickly: "We're trying not to hurt anybody, okay? Or, at least not kill anyone..."

Imra smiled at him, pushing back long red hair over a shoulder. "Don't worry: I'm a pacifist."

She bent her legs and blasted forward on green jets of energy, flying down the hallway! She raised her hands in front of her, and a green wall of energy appeared in front of her. It was curved and smooth, not like the magic hexagon shapes of Reflect spells or Barriers. The warriors fired their weapons at her, but they hit the energy wall and disappeared into it. Imra twirled herself horizontally in the air, letting her arms fall as she got close to the enemies. She flipped forward and landed in the middle of them, turning and punching one in the side of the head. She lashed out with a leg to send one flat onto her face; she kicked the woman in the head, knocking her out too. She raised her hands and threw them out to either side, and green energy rings flew out to bind two more warriors.

Ven aimed his Keyblade out, stepping forward. "Sleep!" he cried.

His spell fell over the enemies, and they all slumped down with a series of clatters and thuds.

Imra froze. She looked down around her. Then, over to Ven. She tilted her head at him. She let her arms fall and came walking back over to them. "That's a lot more effective than how I was going to do things," she said with admiration on her face. "I knew you Keyblade heroes had magic, but nothing like that."

"Maybe I could teach you someday," Ven said, grinning at her.

Imra blinked. She raised a hand to her cheek. "Can an android even use magic?" she asked thoughtfully.

Ven nodded to her with enthusiasm. "Sure! Anybody can learn to use magic - if you get the training in. Doesn't matter where you're from or- or what you're...made of. Magic's everywhere, all around us, and inside us all, too."

Imra beamed at him. Then she looked to Xion, stepping forward and reaching out to grab her hand. "I'd like to learn magic with you sometime."

Xion blinked at her quickly, a squirming in her stomach. She looked down at their hands. Then she smiled. "I'd like that, too!"

She could almost forget that she still had to tell Imra something terrible...

"So it is magic, is it? Magic and monsters," came a voice from down the hall suddenly!

They all turned to look, and saw a tall woman standing there in a fancy black suit. She had short dark green hair with a braid wrapping around on one side.

Ven held his Keyblade up in front of him, while Sora and Xion took their battle stances again.

The woman raised her arms up to them, away from herself. "I'm not looking for a fight - just a conversation," she called out. Her eyes fell to the warriors on the ground, roaming over them all. She moved forward slowly, and bent down to put her hand to one of their necks. Her expression flickered as she straightened up again. "Can we all have a reasonable discussion together?"

"Maybe...who're you?" Sora said, lowering his weapon.

"Commander Lyn Zahn," the woman answered. "Commander of this base."

Sora hesitated, looking to Ven. To Xion. To Imra.

"We did kind of break in..." Sora started.

"They kidnapped Imra - they locked her up!" Xion exclaimed, turning to point a finger back through the doorway.

"Something I'm willing to reconsider, and classify as a mistake," said the woman - Lyn. "If you'd be willing to sit down with me...and have a talk. Please."

"Imra?" Sora spoke, looking at the girl. "What do you think?"

Imra eyed Lyn, her eyes narrowing. Then she blinked, her body relaxing. "I don't think she can do much if she wants to put herself in a small room with all of us. She's putting herself more at risk than we are. I'm willing to talk - that's all I've tried to do with anyone for all these weeks. The problem is no one's ever wanted to listen to me."

"I'm willing to listen to you," Lyn said, firm and quiet.

Imra was quiet for a minute. Then she nodded.

---

It was a small room, Xion thought.

Sora had sat down in a chair immediately, putting his hands behind his head and leaning backwards.

Xion followed his lead and sat down next to him, putting her hands in her lap. She was glad all the flashing lights and loud noises were over now, if nothing else!

Ven sat down on Sora's other side; Chirithy sat in his lap, tilting her big head back to blink up at him.

Imra stood near the door with her arms crossed.

One of her arms was a big glowy cannon.

The woman, Lyn, walked around the small table and went to pick up a small device with a screen on it from a desk. Then she sat down on the other side of the table - facing them all. She tapped and moved her fingers across the screen, hidden from them. Then she looked at them all.

"Soooo...what did you want to talk about?" Sora spoke first, flashing a smile and tilting his head to the side.

Lyn eyed him strangely. Then she made a little noise, and set the device on the table, right in the middle.

"Did you know that four hours ago, there was an unauthorized access to a military terminal within one of our nearby outposts?" the woman began speaking quietly.

"Huh?" Sora sat forward, staring down at the screen. He picked it up and looked at it. "What's that have to do with any..." He gasped, his eyes going wide. "WHAT?"

"What?" Xion said, at almost the same time as Ven did.

"K-Kairi?!" Sora exclaimed. "But that's IMPOSSIBLE! She-"

"What do you mean, Kairi?" Xion said quickly, twisting to look at the screen too. Sora turned it to show her.

She stared at it in disbelief.

On the screen, there was a recording - a video - showing a hallway of metal that looked a lot like the ones here. There was a computer on the wall, with a big screen.

After a few seconds, a hazy purple darkness appeared in the hallway, and...Kairi formed out of it?

Kairi stepped up to the computer, tapping and frowning at it. She worked it with her fingers quickly and expertly. The screen flashed with images and words Xion couldn't make out. Then Kairi raised a hand, and tendrils of darkness drifted out and seemed to- enter the computer? After a moment she stepped away, turning away from it. Then she stopped, as several warriors with weapons came into view.

The girl who looked like Kairi tilted her head, as green energy blasts flew out at her!

They struck a dark purple barrier, splashing at it without doing a thing.

Then Kairi raised her arm, and several thick, purple tendrils of darkness shot forward; they moved through the warriors' bodies and curved upward, lifting them up into the air on them. The warriors squirmed and dropped their weapons - then the dark tendrils exploded, and so did they, in flashes of purple light.

Glowing purple light particles floated down to the floor in front of Kairi.

She lowered her arm, and then a dark smoke surrounded her, and she disappeared into it.

The recording stopped there.

Sora dropped the little device like it had burned him, turning to Lyn.

"You know this girl," Lyn stated. She wasn't asking a question.

"It CAN'T be her! It just can't be!" Sora said firmly, shaking his head. "It has to be some kind of..." He trailed off, looking to Ven. Then to Xion. "It's NOT her, no matter what. It's just impossible."

"Can I ask why?" the woman spoke. "There are many things we thought were impossible until recently - supernatural monsters, strange portals appearing in strange places, and now all of this...Chirithy, nightmares - teenagers with supernatural powers."

"We're from- different worlds," Sora replied, as Ven grimaced and looked away (Xion thought he almost rolled his eyes, too). "There are whole other worlds out there, with a lot of different people, with a lot of different abilities and powers. And these monsters - they're called Nightmares, with a capital 'N' - they come from out of people's dreams. Bad dreams. Nightmares with a LOWER CASE "N'. Their whole purpose is to spread more bad dreams, to make more of themselves."

"Alright. And that...'Nightmare Chirithy'? It's the one in charge of them all?"

"I guess so, yeah," Sora agreed.

Lyn nodded, taking a breath. "Let's talk about this girl again, then. What is she to you? A friend, or an enemy from some other...world?"

"She's- that can't be the real Kairi," Sora amended instantly. "But...the real Kairi is my best friend. She's a hero. She fights and protects people on all kinds of worlds. But the girl on that screen there...that's not her. It can't be. Literally."

"Why is that?" The woman seemed to be actually listening. Curious.

"Because the real Kairi is a Princess of Heart. She uses the power of Light. Her Heart is Pure Light. Darkness can't even touch her. It can't get inside her. So if this girl is using darkness...it's just not her. It's some kind of trick, or illusion, or- even a- like a clone. A person made to look like her, maybe even to think they are her...but they're not!" Sora finished firmly, loudly.

"I see. Could you tell me why this girl would want to access historical records on an ancient battleground site?" Lyn said.

"Huh...a battle?" Sora said, confused.

"Almost two hundred years ago, in a great war between our ancestors, someone unleashed some weapon of mass destruction," Lyn began. "Some accounts say it was a sword, but we're more inclined to think it was actually some kind of cannon, or explosive. Or even a pulse device of some kind, if soldiers of the time weren't mistaken about it being something handheld. Though how our ancestors could have come up with something that powerful, with that small of a size at the time...it wasn't in any of our power at the time, as far as anyone knows."

"A sword...?" Ven whispered. He glanced at Sora. "Sora, do you think it could be that Ultima Weapon - the one that Terra said that that Darkness was searching for?"

"'Ultima' weapon? Darkness?" Lyn inquired, frowning. "What is that?"

"I guess it could be," Sora said to Ven, nodding slowly. "If it is, that means we need to catch up to her - and stop her - whoever that is."

"What is this weapon, please?" the woman insisted.

"It's some really old, really powerful Keyblade - uh, like the swords we use - that's been used and moved between different worlds," Sora explained. "Apparently some really old, really bad guys are after it now. And if they've found it here, we have to stop them from getting to it!"

"The site has been thoroughly investigated and excavated over the last century; no remnants of the weapon itself have ever been found there," Lyn said calmly. She paused. "Though, if it's something supernatural, we might have missed something. Something we can't see, or touch...but you children could?"

"Maybe," Sora said. "Look, let us go, and we'll go after her. We'll stop her. And if that weapon is still around...it's better for all of you that we destroy it. You don't have to risk any more soldiers, going up against things and people and powers you don't have a clue about how to fight!"

The woman raised her eyebrows at him, gazing at him silently. She looked to Ven and Chirithy, to Xion, to Imra. "You're just children...but the way you fought, the restraint you all had today to not even kill a single soldier in this base...zero casualties...somehow you have more skill, precision, and moral conviction than most of my own soldiers - than half the people I've personally served alongside, in my younger years." She eyed Sora, and gave a small smile and a nod. "In respect for that - and the feeling that you'd all find a way to break out of here anyways if I refused you, just as easily as you broke your way in - I will let you go. You'll go straight to the battleground, and no one will give you trouble along the way. Your images will be distributed and entered into our military databases as...highly classified agents - to prevent any future incidents. Monsters, magic, other worlds...we don't want any more trouble with it all. Not here on ours. We have enough problems to worry about, to put it bluntly."

"And what about me?" spoke Imra.

The woman eyed her for a long moment. "You didn't kill a single person here, even after we captured you - even when it might have been easier to do so. An escaped captive would have been justified in her use of force...but you went out of your way to be non-lethal." She hesitated, then sighed. "But even if I believed you weren't a threat to us after all, I doubt I could convince my own superiors of the same. But...I think I can let you go again...and give you a bit of a headstart."

"Thank you. It's not much, but it is something, I guess," Imra replied, shrugging her shoulders and leaning back against the wall. "I'll just have to try not to get caught again," she added, with a small smile.

The woman blinked at her, surprise flooding her face. Then she nodded. "You're welcome...Imra," she said slowly, strangely.

Imra tilted her head. "Are you calling me by my name, or are you calling me your Intelligent Machine for Reconnaissance and Assault?"

"I don't know what I'd call you," Lyn replied, quiet, shaking her head.

"How about 'alive?'" Sora said. "She's a person, not just some robot - can't you see that? She thinks and feels, like anyone else does! You can't just treat her like some- object, like a table or a chair! She has a Heart all her own!"

Lyn stared at Sora, then to Imra. Her eyes flickered. "Maybe there is something more to her - I don't know. But, I am willing to be more open to the possibility, in light of recent events..." She brushed at her hair, standing up. "I'll escort you all to the front gates - and point you in the right direction of the site. If this girl of yours is there, if she is planning to find some weapon of mass destruction - the one from that day...then stop her. Or at least remove her from this world. Because this is all...far above even my pay grade."

"We'll do our best," Sora said, smacking a fist to his chest as he jumped to his feet. "This is kind of what we do!"

Lyn gave him a smile. "I'm relieved to hear that. Now come."

Notes:

Lol, now you finally get the full scope and origin of Imra! :D From her very conception back in Warrior Princess 3, when I brainstormed her character and backstory/world for a new Xion friend character, I had her in mind as a kind of obvious ASTROBOY/MEGAMAN expie lol. <3 Had to come up with the fitting acronym too! :) I was proud of myself for it. I guess it was easier to make her name first and then work BACKWARDS to get an acronym though? :D

Chapter 39: False Images

Xion, Sora, and Imra flew through the air together - while Ven was on his Glider (Ven was carrying Chirithy).

They flew over the snowy landscape, going past trees and hills covered in ice and snow.

They passed by a mountain, and then they all stopped in the air.

"Woooah..." Sora gaped, peering down at the ground ahead of them.

Stretching out below them was a huge...crater? A wide, sunken pit of frozen dirt, filled with a lake of ice on the bottom. The crater was...probably as big as Radiant Garden? The whole city, in its walls.

Xion peered around the edge of the crater, at the sharp cliffs of dirt.

She gasped in the cold as she saw a figure standing out against the white and blue colors!

They were standing on the very edge of the cliff, facing the inside of the crater. The big, long drop down into it if they just took one more step...

"Is that...Kairi?" Xion breathed. It was easy to see the head of red hair on the snow.

"Not her," Sora said instantly. "But - yeah. It must be...whoever's using her appearance. Come on!"

Sora darted down and low, heading straight for the figure at the cliff.

Xion flew after him, summoning her Keyblade as she did.

Imra flew after her, and Ven brought up the rear.

The three of them flew nearer and nearer. Lower and lower. The closer they got, the more Xion saw that it was Kairi. Or at least someone who looked like her...

Was it someone like...herself? Another - Replica?

But who could do that besides Even? And why would they...?

For the same reason Xemnas had made Xion? And Kana? To have a living weapon - a tool to command, and send out into the worlds to do their work for them?

They landed in the snow, only a few feet away from the back of the girl who looked like Kairi.

The snow crunched under their feet. Especially when Imra landed heavily.

Ven reverted his Glider and dropped down a few feet, landing hard. He stepped forward with his Keyblade flashing to life. Chirithy hopped down off of him into the snow.

Sora summoned his last, moving forward too. He opened his mouth, closed it. Then raised a hand to the girl's back... "Hey!" he called out uncertainly. "We- we know you're not Kairi - obviously she can't use darkness - but...just who are you?"

The girl let out an audible breath in the cold, dead silence that carried on the air.

She turned around to face them.

And she did look exactly like Kairi, in Xion's last memories of her!

The same clothes, the same hair, all the same scars...

Xion stared at the image of her sister.

The other girl looked back at her - at them all - without surprise or warmth or anything. She blinked at them, just looking at them. She looked at Ven, and then down at Chirithy, a flicker of curiosity or interest there - but then it was gone.

"Look, whoever you are, if you're here looking for that Ultima Weapon-" Sora started.

"I was going to look for it - but you all came here and interrupted me," the girl finally spoke. In Kairi's voice. But...it still didn't sound like her. It was like with- Imra's sister, from earlier. It was just...wrong. Different. "But, I suppose if we are all here now, why waste the opportunity?"

"What?" Sora said, confused. "What do you mean, oppor-"

The girl looked down at herself, tugging at her clothes. "How do humans fight like this...?" She waved a hand over her front, and her body rippled with darkness. Her clothes changed to something different. It now looked like what Riku had worn before - and Vanitas - except it was dark purple, with silver lines on it. The half skirt hanging down the backside of her body was a lot longer, and was also tattered and torn up. Especially on the ends of it. It was also purple and black, with streaks down it like melted ice cream or dripping paint. The girl looked herself over, raising her hands and flexing her fingers inside fingerless gloves. She raised a hand up to her face, covering it...then she breathed out, and lowered her hand again a moment later.

Xion gasped.

The scars on Kairi's face - the big one down the side, from her ear to her chin - were glowing purple now, like they were cracks and energy was trying to get out of her through them. Her eyes were also not Kairi's usual blue - but a deep, almost glowing purple color!

"That's better now, don't you think?" the girl spoke, tilting her head and giving a smile for the first time. But the smile, like the rest of her, just looked wrong.

"Who- what are you?" Sora stammered, stepping backwards.

The girl gazed at him. "I am True Darkness - but you can call me simply...Darkness."

"True...Darkness...?" Ven gaped. Then he clenched his jaw, a glare on his face now. "Then you're the one Yen Sid warned us all about! You're like Vanitas."

The girl...Darkness...looked at Ven. "The boy from the Book of Prophecy - the one fated to travel into the future...and carry one of us with him. Vanitas? Is that what it's calling itself now?"

"Why do you look like Kairi?" Sora demanded. "Did you do something to her?! Out with it!"

The girl shook her head slowly. "I didn't do anything to her; I have simply inhabited her empty body."

"What? But, then...you've been sneaking around - spying on us all! Why? Why did you take her body? What do you want?"

"We want the Ultima Weapon."

"Now it's 'we'?" Ven said. "How many of you even are there...? Are you working with Vanitas?"

Again, the girl shook her head. "While I would like to see my fellow True Darknesses again, I haven't come across any of them in this era yet. Nor the one that now calls itself Vanitas."

"Why would you just tell us that?" Sora spoke. "If you're even telling us the truth."

"Because it doesn't matter to us, either way," said the girl. Her eyes turned to Sora, and then they glowed a brighter purple. A dark aura flowed out of her, and she vanished into a strange mist. Then, the mist swirled in front of Sora, and she was standing there in front of him.

Sora jumped back, raising his Keyblade to her.

She strode forward still, raising a hand with a dark aura to grab his weapon. She yanked him forward and he smacked right into her, then stumbled back again. Her hand stayed on his weapon, while her free hand flew up in a blur to...touch his cheek? Her purple eyes swirled, tendrils of dark energy escaping the edges of her eyes where tears would normally come from. "Interesting."

"What're you even-" Sora stammered, his eyes wide now.

Darkness vanished in a flicker of air, reappearing a dozen feet back from them all. She looked down at her hand, using the other to touch and caress at her palm. Her lips frowned. "What a strange feeling. This body seems reluctant to harm you."

Sora blinked at her. "What...?"

Darkness let her hand fall to her side, curling her fingers: a dark bladed weapon appeared in her hand. It was long and thick, colored deep purple, with streaks of red running down the blade's length. The guard had a purple heart shape with three small, purple, glowing crystals set into it. It looked like it should have been heavy, but the girl lifted it up in front of her without any effort, looking it up and down. She smiled, then slashed it down to hold it at her side, away from her body. Her eyes found Sora again.

"I think I'd like to test that. It is an unexpected variable, and it needs accounting for," she stated flatly.

"Hey, wait, we don't have to fight! Can't we just talk-" Sora began.

Darkness flashed forward in a blur, dark energy trailing behind her. She stopped in front of Sora and raised her weapon high - then swung it down for his left shoulder!

Sora dodged and rolled out of the way, coming up and raising his weapon to guard.

Darkness straightened, turning her head to him.

Ven leapt for Darkness at the same time Xion did.

"HEY, WAIT!" Sora exclaimed, shocked.

Two barrier walls of dark crystal shimmered on either side of her, blocking Ven and Xion's weapons with bursts of sparks!

Darkness looked to her left, then right. "Were you actually going to destroy the Princess's body?" she said, in a voice of mild surprise. "Perhaps I misjudged you after all..."

Xion pulled her weapon back, stepping away with a gasp. She sucked in a deep breath, her shoulders shaking. She backpedaled and shook her head firmly.

Ven hesitated longer, but then he stepped away and lowered his weapon - but he still kept glaring at Darkness, his lips pressed tight together. He let out a shaking breath of cold air, visible.

"We can't hurt her!" Sora pleaded, narrowing his eyes at Ven and Xion, looking between them as he stepped forward. "What's wrong with you guys?!"

"You feel deeply for this body," Darkness spoke, looking solely to Sora. Like she hadn't just been attacked at all? "I can feel it. Your emotions. Your Heart. It is so small, so weak...taking you for a new host would be easily done. I could drown you - or...wrap you around my finger. Couldn't I?"

"W-what?"

Darkness closed her eyes, tilting her head back. "Yes...there it is. That was the feeling..." she breathed. She opened her eyes, lowering her head again. "You desire her. A dull, ordinary, weak little boy from a nowhere island who wants to be with a princess."

"Uuuuhhh, I don't like where this is going - canwejustfightactually?" Sora spilled out.

"Why be with a princess when you could have a queen?" Darkness spoke on, ignoring him. She raised a hand in front of her, then gestured at herself. Dark energy rippled from head to toe, and a purple light flashed from her chest. When it faded, her appearance had changed!

It was still...Kairi...but she was a lot taller, and had longer red hair hanging down her back and shoulders, and she was wearing this long purple dress with a slit in the side that went up to her hip, and she just looked... She looked older, that was what it was - right? She looked more like...like Elrena's or Skuld's ages, maybe? Xion wasn't sure.

"Okay, that's enough!" Sora yelled, slashing his Keyblade and aiming it at Darkness. "You're just sick is what you are! Stop using Kairi like this!"

"Why would you deny your own desires?" Darkness said, tilting her head at him, looking confused and strange. A light flashed again, and then the image was gone. She looked like Kairi again as Xion knew her.

"I don't- desire her, I care about her! She's my best friend!" Sora exclaimed fiercely. "And I won't let anyone use her!"

"What are you going to do to stop me? None of you can defeat me in combat, and even if you did, that would only destroy the body of this girl you 'care for.'"

Sora clenched his fist, looking down at his feet.

"It doesn't matter to me," Darkness went on absently, raising a hand to trail a fingernail down over a glowing purple scar. "I have a Keyblade to search for here; begone with you."

She vanished in a cloud of darkness again.

Xion looked all around herself, tensed and shaking.

Imra shot up into the air on green jets of energy, floating high. Her head turned this way and that - then she froze, staring down into the crater. She raised an arm to point. "She's down there now."

Xion ran to the edge of the cliff, with Sora and Ven. Chirithy stumbled forward in the snow, huffing and puffing, before she jumped up and seized onto the back of Ven's leg.

"You've really grown, haven't you?" Chirithy spoke up to Ven. "I don't remember you being so hyperactive! I'm happy for you, of course, but it sure makes it hard to keep up with you now..."

Ven looked down at her, looking amused and confused both. He gave a small grin and bent down to lift Chirithy up in his arms again. "Why don't you go someplace safe for now?" he said, his grin fading to seriousness. "This doesn't seem like the best environment for you, and I don't wanna risk you getting hurt after we just found each other again..."

"But I don't want to be away from you after we just found each other again!" Chirithy protested. "If something happens again and I never get to see you again..."

"It'll be okay - I've got my friends with me," Ven said quietly, but firmly. "And, hey, I pulled through last time, didn't I?"

"Yeaaah, buuuut-"

Ven shook his head. "Please - Chirithy. Just...go to Land of Departure. My home. You can tell my Master I sent you - that you're a really good, really old friend of mine. Just hang out there with him until I call you back again, okay? When it's safe again."

Chirithy gazed up at him. Then she sighed, nodding. "Okay...but you call me back as soon as you can, alright!"

"Hey - I promise. Ya won't have to wait as long as last time!"

Chirithy gave another nod, and then she vanished in smoke.

Ven sighed, then gave his Keyblade a twirl and looked down over the edge of the cliff, down into the huge crater's bottom. He looked to Sora, and Xion, and then up to Imra. "Okay...are we ready?"

"Ready for what? We can't hurt her - I won't! Kairi still has to come back, she still needs her body!" Sora said fiercely.

"I didn't mean destroy her!" Ven said quickly, raising his hand and looking apologetic. "I just meant - you know - try and trap her? Knock her out or somethin'? Get her with a good Sleep or Bind spell? And then maybe we can find a way to get that thing out of there."

"Oh...yeah. Right..." Sora relented. "Sorry."

"It's alright. I get it."

"I'm ready," Xion stated.

"Me too," came Imra's answer, as she came gliding down to land next to Xion.

"Okay, then let's...do it," Sora said, raising a fist.

Xion nodded, and they jumped down into the crater together.

Ven slid down the curved, steep side, all the way to the bottom, jumping out on a blast of wind magic.

Xion, Sora and Imra just flew their way down to land at the bottom with him.

They raced across the ice together, toward Darkness.

Darkness looked up and turned her head. "Oh. You're doing this," she spoke, casual. Like she still didn't care. Like they weren't a danger to her. "If you insist..." A dark aura grew around her body, with tendrils of energy floating off of her.

Xion leapt forward with a yell, swinging her blade for the girl!

Darkness lifted her head, and a dark barrier shimmered in front of her, blocking Xion's attack in mid air.

Sora darted around her left, thrusting out a hand of ice magic to cast Blizzard.

Imra flew around the girl's right, then burst forward and just...hugged her. Wrapping her arms around her tightly.

Darkness disappeared in a burst of purple darkness; Sora's Blizzard struck Imra in the chest and ice began to grow over her chest and arms.

Darkness reappeared a few feet away, letting out a high sigh.

Ven aimed his Keyblade out at her, yelling: "Sleep!"

Darkness looked at him. Her dark aura rippled faster and grew larger for a moment, blasting away the swirling blue magic around her from Ven's spell.

Ven stared at her, his weapon lowering slightly. "Huh..?!"

"Did you-" Darkness began.

A green light flew out from the side - and a green ring of energy was bursting to life around Darkness's body, trapping her arms at her sides. Imra darted forward, her fist drawn back, and then slammed it into the side of Darkness's head!

Darkness took the hit, her head tilting to the side several inches. Then she blinked, and her gaze flickered to Imra. "Ow," she said flatly. Then the dark aura exploded around her, sending Imra, Xion, Sora, and Ven all flying away from her. Darkness vanished in a dark cloud, reappearing behind Ven even as he went skidding backwards on the ice. She raised a hand and sent out a huge, swirling beam of darkness at his back!

It hit Ven, launching him forward through the air. He flipped and twisted - then he hit the ground, sliding and rolling on the ice. His Keyblade fell out of his hand and slid away.

"NO - VEN!" Sora was yelling. Screaming...

Xion gasped where she lay on the ground, trying to get up again...

Sora somehow did get up again, and raced forward, his Keyblade raised. He stumbled a little, but he kept going.

Darkness looked at him. She raised her hand, and that sword from before appeared in her grasp. She brought it up and blocked Sora without effort. Her eyes blinked, and then she gave a small smile.

"What's..so...funny?" Sora demanded, gritting his teeth and trying to press his weapon against hers with shaking arms. It barely moved an inch.

"I think this body is enjoying this."

Xion heaved a breath, casting a Cure on herself and climbing to her feet again. It only helped a little. "You...mean...like an or-"

Darkness's aura exploded as she suddenly shoved her sword out at Sora. A dark trail of energy flew outward with the motion, lifting Sora up and carrying him over a dozen feet high into the air.

Sora sailed high...and then came falling back down to land hard on his side. His intricate white and blue Keyblade came flying down, stabbing itself into the ice next to him - and then it vanished.

"Sora?" Xion gasped, staring at him.

Imra flew at Darkness from behind-

Darkness turned, raising an arm, and stopped Imra in her tracks with a hand on her chest. Darkness narrowed her eyes, and dark energy exploded outward in orange and red light, sending Imra flying back again. Imra slid back on the ice, flat on her back, her chest burning and dented...

Darkness suddenly vanished in a flicker of air - and then reappeared in front of Xion!

Xion slashed her weapon on instinct!

Darkness's body swirled strangely, and Xion's weapon passed through her completely. Her weapon arm came swinging upward in a blur-

And Xion felt pain explode in her stomach.

Pain...warmth...burning...

Her whole body trembled, as she tried to look down at herself.

Darkness pulled her weapon back again, and Xion saw a burning hole in her stomach that had darkness coming off of it...

Oh. That's probably not good... she thought distantly. She fell backwards and landed on the ice. She didn't really feel it...

Xion turned her head, trying to look to Sora...Imra...Ven...

They were all still...on the ground, like her...

Not moving either...

Were they...?

Was she...?

Fading away...?

But...she hadn't even gotten to...have her first..."period" yet...

Well...oh well? She'd been...scared of it anyways... And she wouldn't have known what to do about it...without...

Kairi...

Xion's eyes closed on their own, as the familiar feeling of sleepiness washed over her...

"XION!" a clear, loud voice cut through the darkness.

Suddenly a light shined in the dark, through even her eyelids - even in the bright, snowy daylight.

Xion pushed away at the sleepy feelings, trying to force her eyes back open. She squinted against the sudden lights, her head pounding, her chest burning...and looked up at...

A tall, muscular man's back, with long brown hair...and a familiar, wide, powerful Keyblade at his side.

"Master...Terra?" she whispered faintly.

He turned his head, and he smiled at her over a shoulder. His free hand lifted at his side, and a green aura shrouded it. Then, the same thing happened to Xion's body.

"Everything is going to be all right now - I promise you."

Terra raised his hand, curled it into a fist, and smacked it against his shoulder armor. Light flashed around him, and his armor appeared, with his helmet and full, billowing cape in the frozen breeze.

Chapter 40: Shades of Darkness

Keyblade Master Terra gazed out across the icy grounds, looking to Sora, and to Ven, and then, to the third, unknown person - a girl with red skin and hair...

Ven was unconscious - but alive. So was the other girl, it looked like. Terra cast Cure on both of them...but they didn't wake. It would take more, then, to help them.

And Sora...there were particles of orange light drifting off of the boy's body now, that hadn't been there a few seconds ago. A sign of critical condition. Fading energy, magic, and life soon...if left untreated...

Terra stretched out his hand, casting a Curaga circle around the boy, pushing a great portion of his power and magic into the spell.

The green energy swirled around and beneath the boy's form...and then, he saw the particles of light cease, and the glow around his body faded.

Terra let his hand fall, relief flooding his chest.

He glanced back at Xion, and raised his hand to create a Light Portal directly around her.

The light swirled and burst, briefly, before fading. Closing shut - and causing her to disappear with it.

He raised his Keyblade to aim out at Ven, doing the same for him. Then, Sora. And lastly, the unknown girl with the red hair.

Finally, he looked straight ahead - at the twisted image of a dark and corrupted Kairi.

This girl, this enemy, had simply stood there the entire time - letting him get his friends and pupils to safety. An act (or non-act) that spoke volumes to Terra already.

A girl whose scars glowed with energy, whose eyes were like dark stars, and who wore an outfit strikingly similar to Vanitas.

A girl whose very aura was billowing around her form, casting off invisible waves that reached Terra - and told him of just how great a strength she possessed.

But not an insurmountable strength. This wasn't a boast, or arrogance - he just thought he had a proper measure of that power against his own...at least, at first read.

Terra raised his Keyblade up slowly, and then held it out in front of him in one hand, shifting his stance, one leg back, one forward. His body turned to the side.

"Did you do this to them?" he spoke out to the girl, hard.

The girl responded with a tilt of her head, and a smile. "I did," she admitted freely, in careless tones. "It was too easy, honestly. But they insisted on forcing a fight with me. I was willing to leave them alone. But if none of you are going to leave me be..."

She even sounded exactly like Kairi, Terra thought to himself with shock. It didn't read as an illusion, either. Some kind of magical trick. It was a real, physical girl standing before him...who looked and sounded exactly like Kairi.

"Who are you?" Terra spoke again, staying his blade...for the moment. Of course his every, raging instinct coursing through his veins, flooding his body, wanted nothing more than to throw himself forward and tear this girl apart...but he was a Keyblade Master, ten years stronger and wiser now. Not that headstrong, emotional young man anymore. Ten years in the desert did a lot to teach a mind patience and restraint...

"You don't recognize me? Oh. Of course you would not - not like this. We met before, recently, in that Tower. You tried to cut me in half, if I recall correctly."

"You're that Ancient Darkness?" Terra said, shock going through him. "But you have a form now. How? And why does it look like Kairi?"

"Because this is the Princess of Heart's body itself," said the Darkness, raising a hand to their (her?) chest. "And I must say, I think it suits me."

Her...body itself...? They- she- must have gone back to the Tower, then, and taken it without any of us knowing. Of course, none of us detected...her before, did we? Only Xehanort...was able to do that...

Maybe Terra needed to pay the man a visit soon...to ask him about how he even was able to do that when no one else could. There were a lot of things Terra wanted to confront the man about, to be honest - but he'd prioritized the worlds and the mission (and Masters Eraqus and Yen Sid's wishes) over pursuing personal feelings and matters.

But, back to the matter at hand: If that was Kairi's body...then he couldn't risk hurting it - her - could he?

No, as much as he wanted to just destroy the girl in front of him and tell Kairi she could reside in a Replica body like her sister...

No.

He was going to get Kairi her body back, and he was going to force this Darkness out of it - one way or another. Even if he had to knock her out, tie her up in chains, and drag her back to Land of Departure and throw her in the same Chamber as Master Xehanort himself.

He'd made a promise to Kairi's father that he would do everything in his power to protect her, and to bring her back home safe and sound.

And Terra was going to keep it.

"If you're having second thoughts about hurting this-" Darkness began.

Terra crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, a trail of billowing darkness behind him. He swung his Keyblade within a millisecond of getting in range of the enemy - twisting it aside as he did.

The girl vanished in a flicker, her expression changing to one of genuine shock.

Terra flickered forward again instantly, right in front of her, his hand lashing out - grabbing the front of her top. He turned and pulled - slamming the girl face-down on the ground. He aimed his Keyblade down at her, and golden chains exploded out of it, wrapping around her form and tightening.

The girl thrashed and flipped herself over, staring up at him with wide purple eyes. Darkness flowed out of her, to no avail. "What- how are you-" she gasped out, her voice flooding with pure emotion now: real fear and panic.

Terra flashed his palm down at her, pulling up another huge portion of power and magic he had in him. "SLEEPGA!"

A swirling blue magic circle formed beneath the girl, and a blue clock shimmered in the air above her. The hands of the clock rotated rapidly, a furious ticking noise filling the air, speeding up, faster and faster...

The girl let out a growl, her eyes fluttering. darkness flaring around her wildly as she resisted it (impressively, to Terra, really). Then, she fell to it; she dropped down to the ice, flat on her back, her eyes closing. Her chest rose and fell, shallow and calm.

Terra stood over her, gazing down at her. Watching her.

Slowly, he knelt down next to her, his armored knee sinking into the ice and cracking it. He reached out a gloved hand, touching her cheek-

Darkness erupted out of the girl with sudden, wild fury and force!

Terra was blown backwards, skidding on the ice, his armored boots digging grooves into it with a loud scraping noise. He bent forward and crouched down, cancelling his momentum and coming to a halt by slamming his gloved fingers straight down into the ice itself.

He lifted his head, seeing a dark barrier flash to life around the girl's form.

She rose up into the air, the dome becoming a complete sphere. Purple lightning crackled over its surface, and orange and white energies swirled.

The girl rotated upright again, and her eyes flashed open.

Her arms came to meet in the middle of her chest...then she threw them out away from herself, as darkness exploded out of her once more. Waves flew off in all directions, along with zig-zagging lines of energy.

The girl gazed down at Terra directly...and her head cocked, and a smirk came to her lips. She raised an arm to the sky...

Terra followed the motion, looking up - and froze at what he saw.

High above, ringing the edge of the whole crater, dark orbs were shimmering into existence. One after another, dozens upon dozens, traveling along the edge. The orbs burst, tendrils of darkness swirling, and Heartless appeared in their place. Dozens, a hundred...? Several hundred?

Terra turned on the spot, looking all around him to keep track of them all.

They were all the same: Neoshadows. But...larger than the ones he'd seen before - and different, too. They had rougher forms, like they were made of thick, interwoven tendrils. There were blue, glowing lines on their faces and down their arms and legs, which ended in dark purple claws. Their antennae were purple and magenta colored.

"Don't be afraid," came the girl's voice - Kairi's voice. Amused. Mocking. "They won't hurt you unless I tell them to. They recognize True Darkness when they see it, even with no greater will or intentions of their own. They recognize the Greater Darkness they spawned from, so long ago now. It was we who gave rise to them, in our attempts to create our own forms again. But, even after we did, we still learned the painful lesson - that it would not save us from degradation. These dark shapes are inadequate for the task; they cannot hold us, protect us the way we need them to. Only a true, human form or Heart can do that."

Terra clenched his weapon tightly, turning to gaze up at the girl now, directly - straight back - through his helmet's visor.

"But they are useful in their own ways, still," the girl spoke on. "I can call on them, I can create them myself, or I can reshape them. I can do anything I want with them. And what I want to use them for today..."

"What are you going to use them for?" Terra called out to her. He didn't want to - a part of him feared the answer. But if she answered truthfully, it might help him fight her on it.

"Power."

Tendrils of darkness shot out from the dark sphere, in the hundreds, rising up into the air like serpents - and finding their way to the Heartless on the cliffs above. The dark tentacles shot into the Neoshadows' chests...and then the Heartless began to glow with a magenta light, to vibrate violently. Then they started to disintegrate. Peeling away, and evaporating into nothingness. The dark tendrils pulsed, shifting from purple to that same magenta color, as they flowed back...into the dark sphere.

No: into the girl inside of it.

The Heartless soon were all gone - only the girl remained.

The dark barrier vanished in a flash of light, and the girl floated down to land on solid ground again.

Her body rippled now with a magenta aura, tinged with blood red closer to her skin. Her purple eyes shifted color, becoming a burning scarlet.

"Now..." she spoke out to him, meeting his gaze with a blaze of anger. "Let's try that again. You will not catch me off guard this time."

No, I don't think that I will, Terra silently agreed.

He steeled his Heart, grasping his weapon tighter, and gathered the power within...

The girl flew forward across the distance in a glide, a swirling red, curved barrier in front of her, billowing out around her and trailing behind like a comet.

Terra shifted his stance and leapt out of the way, skidding and turning-

The girl vanished - and reappeared overhead!

Terra rolled out of the way as she came crashing down onto the ice.

Her barrier sunk down into it by several feet, caving it in. Dark energy flew out beneath the ice and exploded, causing chunks and pieces to fly up into the air (ranging from small fragments to house-sized masses).

Dark energy shrouded the airborne pieces of ice - and then they came shooting down for Terra like meteors.

Terra cloaked himself in an aura of golden light, turning and blasting off to the left, gliding over the shattered ground. He zig-zagged, avoiding her attacks as they rained down for him! He glanced back quickly as he dodged and kicked off of a house-sized mass of ice-

And saw a new, purple, icy mass, the size of Land of Departure's very castle, lifting free from the frozen lake now - rising up higher, and higher...

The girl herself appeared above it, in a swirling dark cloud. She glowered down on him.

It was in that moment that Terra considered the possibility that he was actually in over his head a little.

But he had his promise to keep...

What about the duty you have to your apprentices? And to Sora now, and even Kairi, now that Aqua isn't around to be their Master anymore? You have to live, you have to make it back to Xion, to be able to protect her, and give her the care she needs. If you disappear here today, fighting a battle that doesn't need to be fought...

Terra twisted to the left and flew upward - he slashed through a car-sized chunk of ice, fragments pelting his armored body. Kairi needs her body back.

But not this second. Survive, and come back with more force of your own than this Darkness can handle - like she called these Heartless to herself to gain the power to overwhelm you...like she's just about to do. You're a Master now - you need to think like one, remember? Not every fight has to be won, here and now...to call it a victory. And not every victory comes immediately. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes you have to wait. Sometimes...it takes a long time, to come back and do it right. To set things right. But if you're patient...if you endure...if you just hold on...someday... Come back again when you DO have the strength to protect the things that matter. Come back with your friends, with your allies, with everything you need to assure that victory. We've already waited ten years...we can wait a little longer.

Terra dodged and ran up the side of the second house-sized mass of dark ice, leaping off it at the top to soar away with a burst of wind and speed. I know that - but I can't just give up yet. Not yet. This isn't all of my strength, or skill. I'll retreat after I've given the most of myself - for Kairi's sake.

For her sake? Or is it yours? Can't live with yourself if you don't, can you? You don't want to carry more guilt, more shame, more regrets. Your Heart's already so heavy with them, burdened, for all these years...whether it was while we were trapped in Xehanort's Heart - or alone in a dusty, barren desert of death and ancient weapons.

Terra gritted his teeth inside his helmet, letting out a roar and a burst of dark energy as he formed a massive purple crystal blade from his actual Keyblade - and slashed it down with burning purple energy for the third, house-seized ice mass. It split in half as it bore down on him, crashing down to the ground below and shaking the world.

And all the while, that massive castle-sized hunk of ice loomed above him still.

What was the girl even waiting for? That Darkness...? Why not just send it down at him - crush him here?

Terra flew up high, curving past and around that massive mass of ice - coming level with the girl herself, above it now. He gazed across a great distance at her; she didn't seem concerned or upset that he'd just bypassed her great threat of an attack. He tossed his Keyblade up and formed it into his Cannon Transformation; he charged up the energy...and unleashed a massive beam for her.

It struck a crimson barrier, beams of light flying off left and right - but not piercing it. Not hitting the girl at all.

Terra reverted the transformation and held his Keyblade before him vertically, gathering darkness, feeding it, burgeoning it in massive amounts, billowing out of him in an aura of his own now...

The girl's face, across the distance, flickered now. She looked...curious. Maybe even a little confused, if he was reading the face of Kairi right...knowing her looks and expressions so well by now...

"This isn't going to work against her. Her powers are far stronger than yours!"

Terra froze, losing focus for a moment. He turned his head left and right.

He'd just heard a voice - but where had it come from?

It hadn't sounded like anyone he recognized...

It had been a girl's voice - lofty and low. Assured and slow.

A cold feeling went up his spine - one that had nothing to do with the weather of this world.

He unleashed his power in a massive torrent, a swirling stream of energy bound for the girl.

"...I did warn you," that voice came again.

Terra's attack slammed into his enemy's barrier again. A purple light flashed, and a shockwave of force and energy went out across the sky.

The girl's dark aura grew higher, and then it seemed to...separate from her. A second cloud of darkness was rising up over her head now...and then the dark cloud faded into the shape and form of a giant Heartless.

The Heartless was a huge, lanky wolf creature, jet black with glowing yellow eyes. It had pieces of black armor on it that glowed red. Its tail was a bush of purple flames behind it. Its claws were dark purple, as well. It opened its mouth, revealing sharp purple teeth and roiling dark flames.

The girl turned herself into a dark cloud, that rose up and seemed to enter the Heartless...then she came floating up out of its back...and sat down on it like a trusted steed.

"Say hello to Hyrrokkin!" the girl declared, with an actual grin on her face now. Yet it still looked nothing like the Kairi Terra knew - there was no real joy that reached her eyes.

Terra was confused by the girl's whole phasing act, staring at her. Then he noticed the Heartless had a new, thin red aura around its body.

But what did that mean?

"Oh, here we go..." came the mysterious voice again, with a sigh of annoyance. "Yes, go and help the idiotic meatsack throw himself at the vastly superior and empowered Darkness, and her incredibly powerful attack dog! Fantastic idea!"

"What?" Terra responded finally, aloud, in pure confusion now.

"Hold still, PLEASE."

"What are you-"

A dark aura flared around him - washing over him - and then shrinking in on him!

It curved around him, it swirled and shifted...taking him into a world of pure darkness...

And then it was receding, revealing a familiar world of light.

The Land of Departure's throne room?

Terra stumbled forward - out of the Dark Corridor (for that was what it had been). He reached up and tore off his helmet, casting it aside and turning back.

The Dark Corridor's exit disappeared into wispy tendrils.

He stared for a moment, then looked back out across the chamber.

No sign of Xion, Ven, Sora, or that other girl. No sign of his Master, either...

That didn't mean they weren't here - in fact, it probably meant something better: that the Master had moved them for better care.

But that voice, and that Corridor...

Terra shook his head, letting his weapon vanish, along with his armor. He started forward across the room-

Only for the sound of a new portal to erupt behind him.

He whipped back, seeing the Dark Portal rise from the ground. He summoned his Keyblade back, wary.

"Aaaaaahhhhhh!"

A familiar voice echoed in the room, as a familiar blurry figure came flying headfirst out of the portal - landing flat on their face in front of Terra with a meaty thud.

The portal evaporated - and then that voice from before filled the room.

"There. You can thank me later. Or now, if you'd like. I know I'd prefer it. Humans are such idiots; you might forget, if we wait too long!"

"Who's the...racist now, huh...?" Riku groaned out from the floor, responding to the voice as he pushed himself up, touching his nose gingerly. He froze, his head turning wildly - then focusing in on Terra. Blind blue eyes blinked up in the direction of Terra's face rapidly. "Wha...? Land of Departure...Terra...? Oh you've gotta be kidding me! You did not, Cognis!" he erupted furiously, falling back onto the floor and slapping a hand to his forehead.

"Hm. I did," came that lofty girl's voice - now sounding incredibly smug and pleased with herself.

"Riku...what's going on here? What was all of that? What is...this?" Terra asked, trying to reach for calm and patience as he stared down at the boy. His apprentice. The only thing stopping him from being more on his guard was the fact that Riku wasn't freaking out, or scared, and was seemingly talking to this...omnipresent Voice as if they- she- were another one of his friends. Otherwise...

Riku swung himself up to sit, cross-legged, dropping his hand to his lap. "Whatever...fine...we're already here. Let's just...get this out of the way first..."

"Wait! First he has to promise not to try and kill us."

"He wouldn't do that to me," Riku protested against the voice. He hesitated, then ducked his head. "Hey, you wouldn't, would you...?" he hedged out to Terra.

"I think every Master's had a time when they wanted to kill their students," Terra spoke. "But I'm not feeling particularly murderous right now, no."

"Seriously," Riku insisted. He sighed loudly, raising a hand to thread it through his long, messy hair. "And- and your Master is a literal, actual example of that. So if he freaks out and wants to try and-"

A part of Terra was sad, upset, even, to think that that was how these kids saw his Master. But, then, it was natural, wasn't it? One terrible mistake could define a person - erase a whole legacy of good. It was so difficult to rebuild, from something like that, to claw back trust or faith. And he told himself it made sense, in that these new wielders...had never even known his Master the way he had. They hadn't seen him at his best, his most caring, his patience, his gentleness...his warmth. For all the years he'd raised Terra, and Ven, and Aqua. The way he'd always held Aqua's console, and silence, in face of Terra's attempts to break it... The man's respect and compassion, and his humorous and goofy side that sometimes emerged (a surviving remnant of the boy Terra now knew he'd once been in old memories - practically a class clown!)...

But these kids knew none of that. They had none of those memories or experiences.

All they had...was how it had all ended.

And as for the other part of Terra...

"Whatever's happened, whatever's going on here," he began, firm and hard, kneeling down in front of Riku, and reaching out for his shoulder. "I would never let him hurt you. Understand? Even if it meant going against him, fighting him...I've done it before, and I will do it again. But I don't think anything you've done out there...could make things come to that. Okay? So just tell me...what's going on with you."

Riku turned his head aside, taking in a nervous, long breath. Then he let it go. "Alright...Cognis? You can show yourself to Terra. He's...cool."

"I'll be the judge of that," came the voice again. The girl...named - Cognis?

A dark form shimmered into existence next to Riku - resolving itself into a vague, human shape with a rippling aura of purple flames.

Terra tensed - and breathed. "Riku..."

"Her name's Cognis - she's a Darkness, yeah!" Riku started, swift and stumbling. "But, apparently she's...she said she came from me. My heart. My darkness. She's- she's good. She's helped people out there. She's- she saved me from Ansem. Err, Xehanort's Heartless-"

"WHAT? How is that-"

"It's not actually him, it's a piece of him, I guess," Riku amended. He raised a hand to his chest. "In here. Cognis - she locked him away, saved my life, when he came back and tried to take over my body again. And ever since then, we've been traveling around, helping people who've been falling asleep - fighting these weird monsters out there-"

"Those are Nightmares."

"Huh? Oh...that makes a lot of sense now, actually," Riku said. "Right. So...Cognis and I...have been saving people from Nightmares. Waking them up. One of them was even a- Princess of Heart. Or, former Princess, I think? All Cognis wants is to help people. And I mean that's all she wants to do. It's sort of annoying, really. But that is all she's done - she's never done a single bad thing to anyone. She's even been helping me 'see' again. Describing places and people to me, you know? I took your advice, about- swallowing my pride and just asking for help, and I asked her and she did it for me. She's good, she's- kind, even. Considerate. Sort of overbearing about it all, too, now...it's like having a second mom with me out there."

"Yes, it's such a terrible thing, having someone to force you to eat and drink what you need to keep living," the girl's- Darknesses'...Cognis's voice came, in exasperated tones. "Or to make sure you don't run into a wall, or embarrass yourself by tripping over a barrel, or a table. Or-"

"See what I mean?!" Riku exclaimed, throwing his hands up with a groan. "She never shuts up!"

Terra fought against twitching lips. "I think I do, actually, yes..."

"Anyways, look, I didn't believe her at first either," Riku spoke on hurriedly. "But after seeing her save people, seeing her interact with people who just- see her as another Heartless, a monster or a demon...I believe her now."

"I believe you, Riku." Terra said quietly, after a long minute of silence, and thinking. He looked to the rippling dark figure. Where eyes of a face would be. "It's not like I'd think you had some long-standing, mass hallucination, or that you made all of this up for some reason, is it? If what you've seen, and felt, and heard out there - from her - is the truth...then it's the truth. If you trust her, and you're vouching for her...then I'm willing to extend the same hand of trust. From one person to another - darkness or not."

"You mean it?" the boy said, sounding so hopeful and earnest for a moment - and like a boy.

Terra gave a resolute nod. "Yes. I mean it. I'll give...Cognis, a chance - until she proves me wrong for it. But until I have a valid reason to do so, I'll protect her from anyone who thinks different. If you say she's done good, saved lives, then that's all that matters - not what she is."

"Alright...thanks," Riku murmured. "And what about- your Master? I mean, I get it, he's not the biggest fan of darkness - most people aren't. And it is for a good reason, right? But-"

"You should probably go somewhere else while I...ease him into the idea," Terra said delicately.

He wasn't looking forward to it at all. Like Riku had said: his Master had valid reasons to fear. And more reasons to hate...from childhood memories and experiences...

But Terra would have to make him see differently.

And if his Master was steadfast, stubborn, refusing and resolute in his stance and views...

Terra thought that he might even be willing to pull a page from Aqua's book, if it came to it.

Take his apprentice...and leave.

If that was what it took to keep him safe.

It would mean leaving the other children, but if they, at least, would still be welcome here...

Terra hoped they'd understand.

He also hoped it just wouldn't come to something as drastic as that.

Notes:

The paths are converging!!! xD Weird. That's not supposed to happen, is it?! :D

Chapter honestly went through some heavy last minute revisions, because I got some way better ideas and decided not to blow my load on this one chapter. xD Why don't we just let things cook a little LOL...I'm onto something here! :D

The advantages of having flexible plot outlines! xD

Chapter 41: Dance Dance Revolution

Notes:

Oh crap lol, chapter turned out way longer than I thought it would be. xD It's not easy stuffing interactions and stuffs into here, you know! :D Soooo we're gonna continue next chapter...at least! <3 Because I want to write MORE, personally lol.

Well, it had taken a while - and they'd shattered a few mountain tops along the way (fighting his Master in nearly his prime again, with that new Replica body of his, had been a serious eye-opener) - and he'd had to say some things to the man that he'd never thought he would have to (or need to), but in the end...

Terra thought it had gone really well, all things considered.

Considering all the alternative ways it could have gone. For either of them. Or both of them.

They returned to the Land of Departure's castle together, ascending the steps and walking the entrance hall in rustling, broken armored suits.

They came up to the second level, into the throne room.

Sora and Ven were up and about again - evident by the pair of them sitting on the thrones themselves, engaged in some deep and loud conversation. Ven's little friend (Chirithy) was sitting in the space between the chairs, looking between the two of them like a ping-pong match, as if desperate to keep up with the boys.

The two boys, and Chirithy, turned on Terra and Eraqus's arrival.

"Woah! What happened out there?" Sora said, jumping to his feet.

Ven did the same, starting forward quickly, looking downright horrified (his Chirithy friend hunkered down between the chairs, pressing to them and peering out at the scene with wide blue eyes). "Terra - Master - what-"

"Relax, Ven - we just had a discussion," Terra said, raising a hand.

Ven eyed his broken, falling fragments of glowing magical metal doubtfully. Pointedly, too.

"Alright, we had a very spirited discussion," Terra amended. "But the point is: it's fine now. Is Riku still where I last left him?"

"Probably..." Ven said hesitantly. "I dunno."

"Okay," Terra said simply. "Thanks, Ven. I'll be back in a minute."

He summoned his Keyblade, shed his armor, and turned away to conjure a portal of light. He strode into it swiftly. He emerged on the other side, on the beach of the small island off the mainland, in Destiny Islands.

Riku was there, standing on his own. Waiting. He turned to Terra immediately, nervousness written on his face.

"It's safe now," Terra told him.

"Define 'safe' for me in more exact details, please," came the voice of Cognis. Her voice was definitely full of...unease. He would have even said anxiety.

"I'll be right beside you the whole time, and my Master just wants to give his assurances to you in person," Terra said.

"Is that code for something?" Riku muttered. "Like, 'Keyblade to the face?'"

"Trust me, Riku. Nothing terrible is going to happen to you. Either of you. I made him see reason." And I didn't have to kill him this time to do it, Terra added to himself with relief.

"Okay..." Riku said, nodding tightly.

Terra grasped the boy's shoulder, giving him a nod. "Come on. It'll be fine. I promise. You know I'd protect you if I had to. You know I did for Ven. And I care about you just as much as him."

"Yeah...thanks..." Riku murmured, his cheeks flushed. "I know. I - I trust you. People just...Cognis has already been attacked before. It didn't do anything to her, but...if it had been me instead..."

"I'll make sure it's not," Terra stated firmly. "One way or another."

"Okay. Let's do it, then."

"Isn't there someone you forgot to ask?" Cognis spoke.

"Right. Are you ready for this?" Riku said quickly.

Cognis's voice sighed. "Not really, no - but in the interests of self-preservation, I have to go and protect my host."

"You won't have to," Terra assured her. "Riku will be fine."

"Hmph. We'll see."

Terra led Riku back through the portal, stepping back into the throne room.

He stopped, facing his Master.

Riku was...actually sort of hiding behind Terra at this point.

A reminder that he really was still just a boy - no matter how much he might try to deny it himself, or play it off.

"Alright," Terra spoke clearly, meeting his Master's gaze. "Can we have an open-minded, productive conversation? Just...a talk?"

His Master's aged, scarred face tightened. He blinked slowly, glancing down. "Yes."

"Okay, then." Terra looked back to Riku. "Cognis - if you'd feel comfortable showing yourself...please."

The girl of darkness materialized next to Terra, taking that featureless form.

Eraqus gasped sharply, taking a step backwards. His hands curled to shaking fists at his sides...

"It's alright," Terra said to the man calmly. "We're all fine here - everything's fine."

"Hello, Keyblade Master Eraqus," spoke Cognis, in soft, quiet tones. Her voice slow and clear. "I can't say if it's a pleasure to meet you yet - but I suppose I can thank you for allowing me to be here at all. That's encouraging...somewhat."

It struck Terra then, like that old saying, about how animals were often just as afraid of people as people were of them. But appearances and missteps and the like could cause them to react to each other in...mistaken ways. To scream or attack, when if they'd have stayed calm and respected each other, things could have gone differently. More peacefully. It was clear to him that both Eraqus and Cognis were as afraid and wary of each other as the other was, in that way. And a misstep could create a terrible incident for either of them...or both of them.

"You have a pleasing castle, I suppose," Cognis was speaking on. "The crystal and gold aesthetics are pretty enough - if a bit much, in my opinion. It's almost overdecorated, really. Wouldn't a simpler design have been easier on your eyes?"

Well...no one could say the entity of darkness wasn't trying, Terra thought, trying to hold himself back from laughing.

Eraqus simply gazed at her formless form, working his jaw and swallowing several times over. Then, he finally found his voice. It was rough and low, and as guarded as could be. "I was recently reminded...of the tenets and precepts a Keyblade Master, and a man, holds to. The most important ones being never to judge by one's appearance - and to not presume one's guilt before innocence. As well, there is the notion that one cannot be judged due to the actions of others of their...kind. Across these many worlds, we are all individuals. Unique. And thus worthy of...a fair shake. Even one such as yourself."

He paused, deliberating, before going on. "I would like to believe, and trust in the judgement of my apprentice - over myself, and in regards to his own. If it is said that you have truly committed no harm, no evil, and have indeed aided the innocents of these worlds in this time of strife...then I am willing to believe in that - as impossible as it may seem. For what has this World been to me lately but filled with the most impossible stories and revelations? Miracles and fairy tales?" His gaze fell to Ven, and a small smile came to his face, easing it a few degrees. "My own apprentice comes from the era of the ancient Keyblade War of legends..a Princess of Heart wields a Keyblade, and fights alongside those who use the power of darkness...and they also fight alongside many individuals already whom any proper Keyblade Master would consider extremely unorthodox at best...or entirely unsuitable."

Eraqus looked into Terra's eyes, finishing with, "But perhaps that is to their credit - that they trust in and see goodness within the Hearts of those others might have simply written off, or shunned for being...less than light, or 'pure'. Their Hearts and minds are more open, to possibilities, to change - whereas an old man like myself has only stagnated, and failed because of it. And because they have taken these risks, these chances, and seen what others are unwilling to...the potential within the imperfect, the best of things in the worst of people...they have accomplished feats and wonders I can scarcely believe. They have fought and won, against so many odds. I suppose...that I've become so old that I've forgotten how determined and miraculous the Hearts of youth can be. Or perhaps I never truly knew, even in my own younger days...

"But you've all shown me how very much there still is to learn about this World, and the people who inhabit it. As well...as the true depths of the capabilities of the Heart. I see now how foolish I was to think myself a wise Master at all. I was too fearful, and too comfortable with the known. I did not broaden my horizons, I refused to see beyond my own narrow scope. I was a failure of a mentor as much as a Master. A failure of a father, as well. While Xehanort went too far as a Seeker, I went too far in the other direction, and sank into complacency. If I had been a little more curious, myself, a little more willing to step off the beaten path, as he always was so willing to do...perhaps I could have been there to see...to know..."

Eraqus sighed, closing his eyes and brushing at long locks of dark, grey-streaked hair.

"Maybe," Ven said. "Maybe that's all true, Master."

Eraqus looked at him, surprised.

Ven held his gaze. "But you can change that now. 'Cause that's kinda what we do here, all of us. We try to do better, make things right. And isn't that what you always told us? That you never stop learning? Growing?"

"Yes...you are right, Ventus. Perhaps it is not too late for me after all. To change, to learn and grow - to be a better man than I was. To broaden my horizons, and deepen my understanding of this World. To open my mind and Heart to new...possibilities. New ideas. Perhaps even...new ways of doing things." Eraqus looked at Cognis's shimmering form, hesitating. "Even new ways of...looking at the World, and the beings that live in it."

Eraqus gave a soft, old laugh, suddenly.

"What?" Terra asked curiously.

Eraqus shook his head, raising a hand to his chest. "I've only just remembered the words of a departed, fellow Keyblade wielder... What they tried to tell me back then, I did not understand - I disregarded it, even. But, now, I think I see...the truth of his words. Even back then, they knew, and tried to pass the knowledge on to us..."

"What're you talking about, Master?" Ven said, frowning.

"When I was your age," Eraqus began, gazing at Ven. "I once journeyed deep into an Underworld, in search of the Hearts of the deceased. I was able to find them, and speak to them one last time. They told me that after they had passed on from this world, and been left with only their Hearts, that they had a revelation of sorts. About the nature of the World, of light and darkness itself. They said that they came to believe there was no clear difference between the two, and that it was a matter of beliefs. That people want to believe they're right, so anyone who goes against them is wrong, making them 'darkness' in the eye of the beholder. They said that, perhaps instead of creating a divide between light and darkness...maybe there was a way for everyone to co-exist.

"I ignorantly, brashly proclaimed to them that I would make it my duty to destroy the shadows in the Hearts of men, and only the shadows. Heimdall's response was simply this: Your lives are not ours to judge, but yours to lead. Broaden your horizons and find your own answers." Eraqus laughed to himself again. A bitter, mocking laugh - directed at himself. "I was a blind fool then, and I am a blind fool now! He was right all along, of course...they all were. I was simply too stubborn and dogmatic to see it. Even Xehanort was able to seek other possibilities, and see beyond the straight, the narrow, and the obvious. He was always the one to look deeper, to think so hard about everything, to analyze and rethink it all again...to ask the complex, hard questions. I was never like that."

Terra nodded to the man, stepping forward. "Like Ven said - and as I kept telling you: it's not too late to change that. To do it differently now. To do better. Open your eyes, and make some changes within yourself, as well. Change yourself...and change how you see the World."

Eraqus gave him a nod in return, silent and deep in his thoughts. He bowed his head for a long moment. Then, he raised it again, and looked once more to Cognis. "I would like to honor my departed friends' final words...and find a way to co-exist with- an individual like yourself...Cognis. If you would give me the chance to prove myself...that this old dog can still learn a few new tricks."

"Hm...I suppose I understand you're taking something of a risk with me," Cognis replied. "So, I suppose I can take a risk with you as well. I understand where your views come from - but I really do hope you'll come to change them, with enough time. And after I've proven myself trustworthy as well to you."

"It will certainly take time," Eraqus agreed, slow and careful. "But I would like to believe we can...find that way to co-exist together."

"I'll prove myself - to all of you," Cognis stated, her featureless head turning - as if looking at Terra, and Ven, and Sora.

"Hey, you don't have a thing to prove to me," Sora said with a wide grin, placing his hands behind his head. "If Riku's okay with you, then you're okay with me! He might be a little stupid sometimes, but he does know how to pick his friends...hehehe!"

"Hah...funny guy," Riku responded dryly. But his lips tugged into a little smile, despite his best efforts. "But if I'm so great at picking friends, you just proved yourself wrong by even saying that."

"What? And how's that again?" Sora challenged, his arms falling to his sides. "Huuuuh?"

Riku grinned in Sora's direction, crossing his arms. Then he laughed.

Sora laughed along with him.

"I'm willing to give you a chance, too," Ven said quietly to Cognis, gazing at her. "I know what Vanitas is capable of - what he's done - but you're not him. And you're not that other Darkness we met out there, either. You're the one...that showed up and saved Terra from her. And if what Riku says is true, then...then you're choosing to be different. And I think that's what matters, more than anything else. Not just Light or Darkness - no, more than just Light or Darkness...we're all free to choose. To decide who we are. Kairi said something similar to Vanitas himself, before. And I think she was right. I think even he...still has a chance to make a choice in life. I dunno if he'll actually ever take it or not...but it's there. So...we can always hope."

Ven trailed off, then gave a little shrug.

"So then...we're all going to be all right with each other for now?" Terra spoke up. "We've agreed to give each other a chance, at least?"

"Yes," Master Eraqus said, quiet but resolved. "You have my word. I know that I haven't inspired much faith in you as of late - any of you; Ven, or my wayward Aqua - but...I would like to regain that trust...and your respect again."

"Good. I'd like that, too," Terra said earnestly.

"Yeah," Ven agreed. He paused, looking to Terra. "Hey, I've got a question for you, though."

"What's the question?" Terra said.

"How'd you even know to come find us - or where to even show up? Especially when ya did?" Ven asked. He looked to Cognis and Riku. "How did you guys know to show up, too?"

"Namine," Terra said simply. "I was out searching worlds, when she contacted me - put an image in my head, and told me you were all in horrible danger."

"Yeah - we got the same thing," Riku stated. "It's still crazy that she can just do that to any of us, whenever she wants..."

"Well, I'm just glad she can," Ven said lightly. "Or we all would've been toast!"

"Maybe we should hop over and find her - give her a thank you," said Sora, smiling. "She's still hanging around Twilight Town, right?"

"Probably," Terra said. "If you want to, I can take you over there now."

"Cool! Let's go!" Sora said instantly.

Terra grinned. "Okay." He looked to the others. "Play nice, please. I don't want to come back and find the whole castle in ruins. I already had to see Xehanort destroy this place once before."

Eraqus's face flashed with pain and hurt alike. But he nodded. "I gave my word - Master Terra. I will see it upheld."

"Good."

He was turning away to create a portal - when a voice rang out from across the room.

"Did...Heimdall really say all of that?"

He turned, spotting Urd, Hermod, and Vor together - huddled near the top of the stairs, peering around a thick green pillar.

"Did you really talk to the Upperclassmen like that?" Urd went on, stepping out and walking forward. Vor hurried along behind her. Hermod put his hands behind his head, bringing up the rear.

Eraqus turned to them, walking out to meet them - raising his hands to grasp Urd's arms. To stop her. "Yes. Every word was true. Theirs, and mine."

"But even after everything...they said they wanted us to 'co-exist' with darkness?" Urd said, looking past him to Cognis with clear fear on her sharp face. Glinting in her amber eyes.

"They did."

"And you want that now, too?" Urd said, her voice trembling now. "You want us to just accept that- thing? They made everyone disappear, they made us disappear-"

"Yes, one did - but not this one," Eraqus said quietly. "I don't ask you to accept or understand - only to try, and perhaps one day come to see...as Heimdall and the others saw. That the world is a more complicated place, and that such sharp conflict and division are perhaps more dangerous than anything else. What pits us against each other, keeps us apart. Stops us from...perhaps...understanding each other."

"It's EVIL and HORRIBLE and YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!" Vor yelled. The girl's face screwed up as she moved forward, and shoved at Eraqus.

To Terra's shock, his Master was flung backwards.

Eraqus flew back a dozen feet, before he got his footing again, skidding to a halt. He gasped, a hand going to his midsection, where the girl had shoved at him. He gazed at her, hunched over. "Vor...I understand - Xehanort and I have both lived with that same pain for the rest of our days. But we cannot let that pain...overwhelm us, and blind us. That was Xehanort's mistake...and my own, in my own way as well. But you - all of us - we have the chance to be better now. To grow and change, and learn from mistakes of the past. Do not waste it on hate, and anger, and revenge."

Vor's small face changed. She blinked, staring down at herself in shock. She clasped her hands together and put them over her mouth, her eyes glistening. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"It's alright..." Eraqus wheezed, walking forward slowly. To stand before her again. He reached out and touched her head - her cheek. "I understand. I know. Truly. But we need...to overcome this, however we can. Accept the wisdom of those we lost, who even in their absence offered us a glimpse of the truth of the World and of Hearts...though we were not ready to see it, then. I hope, now, in time, we will."

"You've always gotten ridiculous ideas into your head - but this is just..." Urd trailed off. "It goes against everything we were taught..."

"Yes, it does," Eraqus said. "But should teachings themselves be absolute...or should they evolve over time? Being questioned, and revised?"

"Now you sound like Xehanort," Urd sighed.

"He did have some right ideas, from time to time," Eraqus said, with slight humor. "He was right that you should question things, and find your own conclusions. As Heimdall and the others also told us to do."

"Well if that's what you want, I'll give it a try," Hermod spoke at last, shrugging.

"You can't be serious!" Urd exclaimed.

"Who do you think I am, Eraqus?" Hermod replied. "Of course I'm serious. If it was what even the Upperclassmen wanted, I think we shouldn't be so quick to just ignore it. That sounds a little disrespectful to the deceased, doesn't it?"

"They weren't thinking straight-" Urd began firmly.

"Urd. Please. Do not fall into the same trap I did," Eraqus said. "Learn from my failings, and be better than me - not only Xehanort and his. Go beyond rules and teachings, and try to see what is in front of you. Feel with your Heart. What do you see? What have you heard? Has this being...this Cognis...acted or spoken in a way remotely threatening? Has anything been said of their actions prior to coming here that painted a negative picture? Some roaming evil? Some terrible deed? Open yourself, Urd...Try."

Ud looked out across the room again, to Cognis. She shivered visibly. Then she sighed, dropping her head. "I...I won't strike it down, but I can't just accept it either."

"That's good enough, for now," Eraqus told her. "I only ask you to keep an open mind, and give this being a fair chance." He looked down at Vor. "Vor...?"

The small girl gave her head a fierce shake, letting out a shaking breath. "I can't - I won't!"

Eraqus sighed, dropping down to one knee, to be more on her level. "I understand. Do you think this isn't an extremely difficult decision for me to make as well, myself? To even consider? But we must try to."

"No!"

"Will you at least give me your word that you won't attempt to harm Cognis - through Riku? Or Riku himself?" Eraqus spoke. "You wouldn't strike a defenseless, innocent person, would you?"

Vor lowered her hands slowly. She shook her head, her mouth agape. "Of course I wouldn't! I'm not EVIL!"

"Of course you're not evil," Eraqus whispered, his face flickering. "You're only scared, and overwhelmed. But you can't let it control you, Vor...or you'll be driven to do the unthinkable. Believe me when I say...I know. I fell to my own emotions, once, and attacked my own pupils you see before you. And I am here, again...to try and make that right. To be a better man than the one I was on that day."

Vor screwed up her eyes. "I'd never do anything like that!"

"I once thought the same," Eraqus countered softly. "About myself - and Xehanort. Could any of us have ever thought he would go on to do all that he has done? No. it was inconceivable to us. And yet...it happened. You may say that now with conviction, but what of tomorrow? A year from now? Ten years? You must make the choice now, today, to avoid going down that path, Vor. Or you may find you have somehow wandered off the path, into a dark and dangerous place, before you even know it."

The girl dropped her chin to her chest, raising her hands to her heart. "Just keep that thing away from me!" she exclaimed, and she whirled away and ran for the stairs, disappearing down them in a flash.

Eraqus gazed after her, then sighed and rose to his feet again. "Urd, Hermod - I trust you'll act with decency and politeness." He turned to look at Terra, nodding to him.

"Alright, Sora, let's go," Terra said, nodding to the boy. "If anyone else wants to come-"

"I think it's probably best if I do," Riku said quickly.

"Me too," Cognis agreed, vanishing into thin air.

---

After stopping by Lauriam's place, they were informed that Namine had gone off with Strelitzia to the Twilight Town mall.

So they traveled up and west through the hilly streets and alleys, until they'd found the right place.

The huge, wide building in a space all its own.

They wandered through the inside, threading crowds and passing shops.

It took a few minutes, but eventually they found them.

Well, Sora spotted them.

They'd been passing rows of shopfronts when Sora had suddenly let out a gasp, turning and pumping his fists.

"Cool - they have arcades here, too!"

"Too bad I can't kick your butt at them anymore," Riku lamented, with a small grin, that was both amused and genuinely bothered. He followed after Sora regardless, into the dimly lit area.

Terra sighed and followed the boys in, smiling to himself.

He guessed they weren't exactly on any kind of schedule...

Terra walked between rows of bulky machines and flashing screens, trying not to knock over any of the genuine kids and teenagers hanging about the place.

Up ahead, in a wide open space, Sora and Riku had both stopped.

Terra picked up his pace a bit, catching up to them and staring ahead. He stopped next to Sora, letting out a laugh. He crossed his arms, grinning.

In a large open area, there was a huge screen with a platform in front of it, that had gathered a small crowd. Upon that platform, in the middle of the crowd, stood Strelitzia and Namine together. The pair of them were engaging in a furious and intricate dance atop the platform - lighting up two sets of five buttons beneath their feet. They spun and twirled around each other, locks of hair flying everywhere, grabbing arms and shoulders, twisting and bending to blitz their feet and even their hands down at the buttons underneath them. It should have been chaotic and frankly a little ridiculous...but they were doing it, moving like one person instead of two, in sync as any two Keyblade Masters could ever have been. It honestly impressed Terra greatly, and he wasn't even their Master.

It was all coordination, skill, agility, speed, and flexibility.

At one point Terra watched Namine bend herself over backwards, letting Strelitzia do an outright flip over her to change places. It was completely unnecessary (and probably also impossible without a little help from magic, at least for these girls) - but they'd done it anyways...to the pleasure of the crowd, it sounded like. It was a good spectacle, to be sure. Strelitzia flipped herself back upright again from a handstand, whirling back toward Namine with fierce and swift feet below her - a wide, beaming smile on her face.

These girls were real showgirls. Or maybe just plain show-offs, Terra thought in amusement.

Either way, they looked to be having the time of their life, and Terra was reluctant to ruin that.

After a minute more, the girls' dancing came to an end. They spun together in a circle, tapping at the buttons on rotation, and then came to a final halt. Arms in arms, standing incredibly close together. They were both breathing heavily, exertion and sweat on their faces and in their hair. Strelitzia blinked rapidly, her eyes flickering about Namine's face. Then she shifted their joined stance, her lips parting, her face moving forward an inch or two-

"WOOOH! THAT WAS AWESOME, YOU GUYS!" Sora exclaimed, racing forward.

The two girls jumped apart, both stumbling and turning to face the boy.

"Please tell me he did not just do what Cognis says she thinks he just did..." Riku's voice came, aghast.

Only Terra's years of training and discipline kept him from outright slamming his hand to his forehead. "He did..."

"Cool," Riku said, failing to suppress a bout of sudden laughter. "Now Kairi's going to have a reason to want to kill him as much as me. I guess we'll be together in that Final World place later..."

"You know, I never took you for a romantic," Terra said casually.

"W-what? I'm not! It's just that even I know there are some things you just don't screw with!" Riku exclaimed. "I had no idea he could be that tactless...but man, he sure does like to prove me wrong, doesn't he."

"Why don't we go drag him away before the girls rip him apart themselves."

"Do they look that upset about it?"

Terra shrugged, then flushed. "I'm not exactly an expert in teenage romance, Riku. I have no idea. I only suggested it to be on the safe side."

"Yeah, alright. He can owe me for bailing him out of something stupid again," Riku said with a grin, starting forward.

---

"Uh - hey - Ven?" Riku spoke, entering the boy's room hesitantly.

"Hey?" Ven replied. "What's up?"

It'd been a day since everything that had gone down in Imra's home world. Since that Darkness in Kairi's body...

A check-in with Radiant Garden had revealed the startling news that said Darkness had actually gone there for some reason - and had been caught out by Even and Ienzo.

Terra had then gone over to speak to Yen Sid. Apparently the old wizard had been really apologetic and shocked by the revelation. Maybe just the fact that his mysterious tower wasn't some impregnable fortress...

Who knew?

Riku sure didn't.

He'd just been focused on looking out for any Keyblades that might end up in his back when he was least expecting it.

He'd made some rounds today, though, checking in with Xion, and her friend and all. Xion was apparently still pretty bad...but her friend was at least better off. Sort of. Well, she was a robot, so...it was hard to tell?

Anyway...

Riku shook his head, clearing it of thoughts. "Sorry - but - that other Darkness you had inside you...that Vanitas guy...he has a physical form, doesn't he?" he spoke out again. "I mean, he's not using a Replica, right? He's - all off on his own? Because you gave him a body? You've done it twice now-"

"Yeah - I know. What're you asking about it for?" Ven said, a bit sharp now.

The little Chirithy thing- girl? jumped in Ven's lap.

She was...one of the strangest things Riku had ever sensed. "Seen." Honestly. She was this swirling, misty, fuzzy...thing, around a small little wispy core of a Heart.

It wasn't light - it was darkness - but it also didn't even read like darkness. It read more like light, in that it was...almost "bright", despite being dark, and...

It was just a massive, mind-breaking paradox of a thing to try to wrap his head and senses around.

So he stopped trying.

Tried to just focus on Ven alone.

"For Cognis," Riku answered the boy's question. "I wanted to ask how you even...did it. Both times. I figured maybe I could do the same thing for her. That way she'd...be on her own, instead of hanging out in my Heart all the time, you know? It would be better for everyone - both of us. It'd make things...a lot easier. And, I mean, however you and Vanitas did it...I think Cognis is more deserving of a life and body of her own than he was."

Ven sighed. "Okay - um...listen, I'm not all too sure how I did it. I just sorta...reached inside, for the darkness there - for him - and then I...I drew it all out and I kind of just...pictured him how he always was to me. And...then he was...back again. Solid and all. So I s'pose, for you and Cognis...try to do that? But - picture some kinda body for her? Try to...will her solid?"

"Try to will her solid? Right. Got it. Thanks..."

"Hey, if it doesn't work, ya aren't losing anything, are you?" Ven responded, with a small laugh.

"I guess not," Riku agreed. "Okay...let's give this a shot, then..."

He closed his eyes, placing hand to his Heart. He reached his mind inside, feeling for the ever present darkness...searching for her...

He sank down into the dark, into his own...

The world seemed to jump, like waking up from a dream of falling, and Riku was suddenly standing on a platform of light.

Cognis was there. Her vague, human shape stood in front of him.

"Hey, I-" Riku started.

"I did hear everything. You're kicking me out," she said, quiet. Almost...

"Are you actually UPSET or something?" Riku said, frowning.

"Why shouldn't I be? This is the closest place to a home I've ever known," Cognis spoke. "It's...comforting, being here with you."

"Don't think of it like that," Riku said, shaking his head (trying hard to ignore her- sappy girl talk). "I'm not kicking you out. I'm...helping you...uh, take the next step in life? You won't have to just be some freaky ghost hanging around anymore. You'll be able to...walk around, look with eyes and- pick things up with hands or whatever. Open doorknobs."

"Oh yes, I'm just thrilled at the idea of being able to finally open doorknobs. This is going to be really worth it. This will really be the peak of existence."

"Come on! It's a huge upgrade for you. Hey, maybe you'll even be able to eat some great food, yourself, now, too. Or...uh, well, you said you wanted to be a girl, right? So you'll be able to do...girl stuff? Like, uh - shopping? You can try on- dresses or whatever? Right?"

"..."

"...Hey, I'm really trying here, can you work with me a little?" Riku pleaded, his face burning.

Cognis sighed. "I suppose...that would be the decent thing to do. Alright: I'll admit, I am curious about the idea of furthering my explorations of the female gender in a...more concrete form. And yes, the pun was intended in full."

"Well...yeah, there you go, then!" Riku strangled out. "See? It'll be...fun."

"We'll see, yes. Alright. Whenever you want to try this, I'll just...go along with it."

"Okay. Uh..."

Riku closed his eyes, breathing in, then out. He tried to focus, to imagine some...physical body for her? Like Ven had said. Give her a shape, a solid form...Will it to be, to exist...to happen...by his power and will alone...

After a few moments, the light of his Heart Station burned brightly, shining up around them both.

He felt himself lifting off the platform, into the air...with Cognis...?

The light swirled around her misty form, intermixing with the darkness, bright "white" fires mixing with the dark purple...

Then everything went white, overwhelming his senses-

And he found himself back in Ven's room again.

"Did it work?" he said, turning immediately to Ven.

He reached out his senses - and turned to the right. He stopped as he "saw" her.

"Hm..." Cognis's voice hummed.

"Uh - Ven?" Riku turned his head toward the boy. "Something happened, right? It worked?"

"Y-yeah...something."

"Cognis?" Riku said, "looking" back to the girl...the Darkness. He felt her with his senses again, and found...she wasn't a formless shape anymore. She was definitely- defined now. Solid. But... "Are you - uh - okay there...?"

"Hm? Oh. I...think so."

"Well what happened?" Riku asked, a little annoyed now. "Somebody describe the situation for me here."

"Alright," Ven started. "You know how the whole reason Vanitas looks like Sora is because after he was torn out of my Heart, my Heart was broken. Then Sora's Heart connected with mine, and he fixed my Heart by giving me his light - which also affected Vanitas. Either because he literally had the other part of my Heart with him too, or just because we were still connected, no matter what the exact details were."

"Yeah - I get all that," Riku nodded. "What does any of that have to do with why you're being weird about Cognis now? Or why Cognis is being weird about Cognis," he added stupidly.

"Well...I think somethin' similar mighta happened here with you two, in some way or other, 'cause..." Ven coughed. "She definitely has a- a body and all that."

Riku stood there for a moment, absorbing the boy's words. He choked, feeling a heat go up his neck. "Ven...dude...are you trying to say she's a bombshell or something and you're really attracted to her? Because that's weird, dude!"

"It is weird!" Ven exclaimed, agreeing. "Uh - I didn't mean she's- I'm not- I just meant- in general, her whole...it's weird!"

"WHAT'S weird? Use your words!" Riku exclaimed back, frustrated. "Stop beating around the bush and just-"

"She looks a lot like you, okay?" Ven said, in a petulant, honestly sort of pouting voice. Like he was younger than Riku. "Like she's your twin sister or something! It's weird..."

Riku stood there for a minute, absorbing that information. Sitting with it. Mulling it over... Then-

"WHAAAAAAT?!"

"Does anyone want to hear my opinion?" Cognis herself spoke up, in pleased tones. "Because I think I'm going to like it after all."

---

"Why do I have to cover my chest with a towel when you don't have to, but you haven't said a thing about Imra walking around completely naked?"

Sora's mouth fell open. He looked at her, then away. Then back at her. "Xion..."

"What?"

"Did you...did you just hold a grudge?" he said, sounding afraid.

Xion looked down at herself, raising her hands. "I'm not holding anything?"

Sora blinked at her. "Nevermind...Uhhhh, look, it's- kinda different with...Imra..."

"Why?" Xion demanded sharply.

"Well - because she's not really - you know...she doesn't exactly look like a- normal girl. She doesn't have the same...uh...parts on her, okay? Like you do. Parts that, uhhh, girls shouldn't really be...showing people. Get it?"

"Imra has boobs."

"W-well - yeah, I guess, kinda, but..."

"This is all just stupid!" Xion exclaimed. "You're stupid, your stupid rules don't even make sense, and I hate-" she went on, sitting up now-

Pain burned through her, making her voice choke and cry. She fell back onto the bed again, gasping and screwing up her eyes!

"Hey, take it easy, okay? Are you alright?"

"NO!" Xion exclaimed, in pain and frustration. "Why is it different just because I'm a girl, but it's not different for Imra, but it's different for you? Why can't I just walk around how I want to?!"

"Ummm - okay, okay - look, if you really wanted to you could go to the east side of the island! Some of the beaches over there, I think - they're different about it!" Sora said quickly, raising his hands to her. "Or- north! Past the mountains, you know? Hehe. There's some places up there with uh - some different, not stupid rules about that kinda thing where people can just...you know...walk around however you want like that. And I mean...technically I guess we don't really have rules about it in our area, it's just more like a- strong suggestion? Nobody would really throw you in jail for it or anything, but it'd make people do some real double takes...staring and stuff...just because it's sort of still a- a thing you don't see everyday. But uh...if you were just sunbathing on the beach or something that'd be fine with most people?"

"Is that why you freaked out then? Because you weren't used to it?"

"Uh, well, I mean...sort of. But the other part of it was I was just trying to help you get all this human social stuff right, you know? Just - pointing something out that you might want to know. Like, if you're in other people's houses, you've gotta respect their rules, right? And if my mom had seen you going around like that, she probably wouldn't have been too happy. At least, not if you made it a habit! But a little mistake is fine!"

"But you keep making me feel like I made a HUGE mistake!"

Sora stopped. He frowned at her. "I do?"

"YES!"

"...Oh. Well...look, I'm sorry - okay? I never meant to make you feel this bad about it. It really wasn't some big, terrible thing. Just a- a little slip-up. And I mean, I guess I kinda overreacted, but I was mostly just embarrassed... Ugh, Xion, look, this isn't really my thing, alright? I'M not a girl. Kairi-" He stopped again. He sighed. "I wish Kairi was here. She'd probably know how to explain all of this to you the right way..."

"Probably..." Xion agreed quietly. "I wish she was here too. You're terrible at explaining things."

"Sorry..."

Xion sighed now too. "...It's OK..."

"No, it's not..." Sora sighed again. "You're still pretty mad at me."

"I just don't...get it."

"Well, when we get Kairi back, you can talk to her about it all you want..." Sora offered. "It's just - uh - complicated, you know? On a few different levels."

"I guess..."

Xion guessed it didn't really matter right now - she wasn't even at home anymore. And it didn't matter until Kairi came back, either.

"Can you go ask Terra if I can drink another Potion yet?" she asked instead, trying to just let all the feelings go.

"Sure!" Sora said instantly, jumping to his feet. "Be back in a sec!"

"Thanks, Sora," she said softly - trying to be sincere. To smile.

"Hey, no problem!" Sora said cheerfully, hurrying out the door.

Xion turned her head away, her smile disappearing.

After only a few minutes though, she heard a knock at the door.

"Hello - would it be alright if I came in?" spoke a new voice.

Xion was confused, but then she remembered what the others had said earlier. It must be Cognis. The girl. The Darkness. Like Xion was a Replica...and a girl now.

"Yes!" Xion said loudly.

The door opened, and the girl walked in.

Xion almost thought she was Riku at first. But all the differences made it more obvious after she blinked.

She was thinner, maybe taller by a bit? Her face was different, too - maybe smaller? Rounder, too? And her eyes were a different kind of blue. A darker color. Like the deep ocean blue. Her skin was paler than Riku's, too. And her hair was a lot longer than Riku's: it went down to her waist, and it was...fluffier? There were a lot of messy bits sticking out of it. She had a long curved bang down over her forehead, that stopped between her eyes. There were two other, fluffy locks of hair that curved down on either side of her face, down past her chin. The color of her hair was also more...pure white than silvery-blue or purple?

The girl was wearing a thin blue dress that looked big and long on her. It was like the one Kairi had worn once here. It was one of Aqua's?

"Hi," Xion said, trying to smile at the girl.

The girl smiled back. "Hello, Xion. It's nice to meet you."

"You too..."

"How are you feeling? I heard you were injured. Badly."

"It hurts a lot...but I'm taking Potions. Terra said it should be OK soon."

"That's very good to hear." Cognis stepped over to the bed. She looked down at the chair. "Can I sit with you, Xion?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

The girl sat down in the chair. She put her knees together, tilting her head down at herself with a frown. "Hm...it's strange, having a body like this. Everything feels...well, feels, I suppose. This hair, this body, these clothes on this skin..."

"Yes! I hate taking showers and I hate it when I hit my fingers on things and clothes rub against my boobs and sounds are everywhere and when something smells terrible it almost makes me puke! I puke anyways from trying to eat things, but I don't need to do it more! And it's so annoying that you can't be too hot or too cold, you have to be in the middle, and if you don't blink for a long time it makes your eyes hurt and things are just horrible all the time now!"

"...Well, that sounds like there a lot of bad things going on in your life right now," Cognis said. "You haven't enjoyed being human, then?"

"Not really!" Xion said honestly. "Not much..."

"Hm..." The girl looked down at herself. She raised her hands to tug at the loose and low down collar of her dress. She shrugged and shook her head. "My chest feels fine, personally. And I can't say sounds or smells have bothered me yet."

"You don't look like you really have boobs, though," Xion said, peering at her closely.

Cognis looked at her, tilting her head. She laughed. "Hmph. That's really rude, you know. I'll also have you know that I very much do have breasts - they just aren't as prominent as yours!"

"Sorry..."

"I suppose it's alright," the girl muttered. "It's not like I could talk about any of this with Riku. Well, I could, but it wouldn't be a very productive conversation... And you're more similar to me than I am to him and the rest of them, aren't you?"

"I...guess so?"

"Excellent. I'd like you to tell me more about your experiences as a human girl - if you wouldn't mind. I'd like to know what to expect for myself."

"Well..." Xion frowned, thinking hard.

Chapter 42: Acceptance

Notes:

Ooookay, gonna need ONE MORE chapter here lol! Also kinda...turned into a Riku chapter... xD OOPSY. Brain bug happened, sorry! :D :D I think this is EVERYONE'S story, though, so it's okay! :)

"I really am just another girl."

"Of course you are!" Xion said, smiling at Cognis from her bed. She felt a lot better now, after an Elixer. She could sit up and walk around now (but not too much). Terra had also still said she had to wear the bandages around her stomach for a while longer... She wondered if she was going to have a big scar of her own now, like Kairi? The thought made her feel happier for some reason. She hoped Kairi came back soon so she could show it to her!

Cognis sighed, shaking her head. She brushed at her long fluffy hair locks, pushing them from her face. "I suppose human prejudices and traumas run too deep to change overnight. But I was prepared for that - so I'll endure it."

"You're like Imra. A lot of people in her world are scared of her for stupid reasons..."

"I didn't say they were stupid - in fact, I think their fears are really understandable. Though...on an individual level, it is bothersome."

"They'll stop being scared of you soon!"

Cognis glanced at her. She gave a small smile, blinking her eyes slowly. "Yes, I'm sure they will. I'm hopeful, anyways." She paused and stood up from her chair. "Thank you - for the talk - Xion. it was very enlightening. I think that you and I could be...friends."

"I'd like to be your friend," Xion agreed. She hesitated. "I...know how it is to be lost and confused, and to have no friends. So - I can help you...I mean, I'll try to!"

"Oh, thank you - that's sweet of you," Cognis said softly. She made a small sound like a laugh, then she turned and strode out of the room with her hair swishing behind her.

Xion smiled as she watched her leave. Then she tried to just relax again for a while.

Eventually Imra came to see her!

Xion stared at her friend. Her chest still looked hurt - and it was all burned and black instead of red still, too...

"Imra! Are you okay? Should you be walking around yet? Terra keeps telling me I can't!" Xion exclaimed.

Imra smiled as she came over to sit next to Xion's bed. She looked down at herself, raising a hand to rub at her chest. "I was made to withstand heavy artillery on battlefields, luckily; most of my internal systems are fine." At Xion's confused look, she added, "I can walk around just fine without hurting myself more, don't worry. I'll have to go back to my own world to get fixed, though."

"Oh. That's good?"

"It is." Imra smiled again. Then she frowned. She looked down, putting her hands on her red knees. "Xion, I'm sorry I couldn't help you get your sister's body back. I'm sorry we failed."

"It's OK. I'm sorry you got hurt...You didn't have to come with us..."

"I know. But I don't regret it. That's what heroes do - and what friends do for each other, isn't it?" Imra replied.

"Yes...but- I still don't think you should have come. You just woke up and then you went into a fight and you got hurt!"

Xion stopped, closing her eyes and letting out a sharp breath.

A voice inside her Heart that sounded like Kairi said: You did the same thing!

She blinked at Imra, looking at her friend. "Can you...go to Terra and tell him...to go get Even and bring him here? I need to talk to him..."

Imra nodded as she stood up again. "Okay." She paused. "Who's Even?"

"He's my creator," Xion said brightly and proudly.

---

"So we need to bring Even here, and Amaya," Terra spoke. He looked to his Master in the throne room. "Do you know where to find her?"

Eraqus gave a small nod. "Yes - I've been to the world she calls home several times now, to see...Xehanort. I can see to her for you."

"Alright. And I can go to Radiant Garden for Even," Terra nodded back.

Eraqus turned and summoned a portal with his Keyblade, departing without another word.

Terra did the same, crossing over to Radiant Garden.

He stepped out of the portal, entering directly into the castle's laboratory.

A dark-blue-haired man turned, caught sight of Terra with a wide eye - then covered the reaction quickly. "Keyblade Master Terra - what brings you here today...?" he spoke in casual tones.

Terra, for his part, did his best to ignore not only the other man's reaction to him, but his own Heart's sudden flicker of recognition in response. "Ienzo - right? I was looking for Even..."

"Is there something wrong with the Replicas?" Ienzo said curiously. And with what Terra saw as genuine concern, as well.

Terra smiled, shaking his head. "Not exactly. Xion is just...having a bit of a tough time right now - coming off a badly ended fight - and she's hoping to speak to him about it, I think."

"Oh! In that case, he should be back-"

"Who should be back from where?" a voice rang out.

Terra turned to see the man he was looking for come striding into the room.

Even stopped, staring at Terra - then his face twisted into a smile. "Master Terra...do you bring good news or bad news this time?"

"A little of both, I'd say," Terra replied. "Xion just got back from a pretty bad fight yesterday, and she wants to see you. She asked me to come and get you."

"Take me to her," Even said instantly, hurrying forward. "Is she all right? What are her injuries? I don't imagine she's coping well with it!"

Terra stepped back, turning and gesturing to the portal. "She's recovering well, all things considered. She was stabbed through the stomach, by a dark sword."

Even looked downright stricken, now. He disappeared into the portal of light in a near run now, rushing past Terra.

Terra looked to Ienzo - a flash of a feeling in his Heart again. He shook it off. "Sorry to cut and run like this. It was nice to see you again," he offered.

The other man gave a nod. "No need to apologize, Master Terra!"

Ienzo probably really meant that, Terra thought wryly. He gave one last nod before turning to leave again.

He strode back into light, and returned to Land of Departure.

As he stepped out again, he saw Ven standing there - with his...friend? Companion? Chirithy. Partner from the Ancient Keyblade War era (Terra still marveled at the thought, even now, about his young friend).

"Hey, Ven," Terra greeted. He looked down to Chirithy, smiling at- her? He hadn't really asked, just assumed - they all had, it seemed. But, on the other hand, Chirithy hadn't spoken up to correct anyone this past day or so, either... "Hi, Chirithy."

He hadn't asked if she had a name beyond "Chirithy" either. Was it a title, or the name of her- species? Well, she responded to it just fine, and even Ven just called her that, too, so...maybe that was alright as well?

"Hi..." Chirithy responded, looking up at him and waving a small arm.

There was something there, but Terra didn't know if it was...

"Hey, Terra, did I just see Even a second ago?" Ven spoke up. "He ran right through here - barely stopped to ask me where Xion was..."

"You did - he's here to visit her," said Terra.

"He looked pretty worried..."

"Yeah," Terra agreed. "He cares about her a lot."

Ven smiled, nodding. He glanced down, then picked Chirithy up, holding her in his arms. "We expectin' any other visitors today?"

"Amaya - the Master went to get her," Terra answered.

"Huh? Amaya? What for?"

"To see about helping Riku get rid of the piece of Xehanort's Heartless still inside him," Terra stated. "She has the ability to extract and manipulate Hearts, so hopefully she can just pull him out of there and be done with it - and Riku can have some peace of mind again."

Ven frowned. Then the look cleared. "Yeah! Hope she succeeds at it."

"Me too, Ven. Me too."

"Hey, I've gotta go back to Imra's world for a bit," Ven said suddenly.

Terra gazed at him in surprise. "Why?"

Ven grinned. "'Cause somebody sorta has to get the Gummiship back before someone finds it. World Order, right, Master Terra?"

Terra huffed. He grinned back at the boy. "Right. Go."

"Got it," Ven said brightly. "Be back before you know it."

---

"XION!"

Xion startled at the sight of the man as he rushed into the room.

She hadn't expected him to be here so fast - or to be so loud.

She felt more pain go through her body. She clenched her teeth and hissed - then immediately tried to relax again.

"Xion - I apologize for startling you - are you alright? How are you feeling? Have you been adjusting to humanity well enough...?"

Xion closed her eyes and breathed. She opened them again and watched Even as he came closer. He stared down at her for a moment, then he sat down.

"No. I hate this," she said flatly.

Even's mouth opened. His jaw worked silently. Then he closed it again. "Well...all right, then... No one can accuse you of being dishonest with your feelings, can they? Alright, Xion: tell me what you're thinking. Tell me...what's happened."

Xion told him. She told him more than he probably asked for. She started from almost two weeks ago now, when she'd first gotten this new body and gone back to the islands. She talked about all of it - and then, she got to now. To Imra's world. To the cold, to the feelings, to- to- that Darkness girl, and the pain and fear and all of it! And then...

"Sora tried to tell me to stay on the islands, he said- your advice- about taking time to adjust to things- but I didn't listen, but now I think he was right...you were right!" Xion exclaimed, as her eyes blurred with tears. "I made a big mistake! I should have stayed home, I should have- d-done what you s-said! Everything is just horrible, and I hate it all! I hated- the way my Heart felt! It was like it was heavy and squeezing me and my body was just shaking and I did bad things to people that made Ven and Sora really upset and mad at me! I don't know what h-happened to me, I just- they said terrible things about Imra and I wanted to find her so bad!"

Even eyed her in silence, blinking at her. He sat back slowly, putting his hands in his lap. "Yes, Xion, it sounds like you had your first experiences with the human emotions we call anger and hate. Possibly even rage. The emotions in your Heart triggers the response by your body - a flooding of chemicals, like adrenaline, or the increase of testosterone. The fight or flight response. It's meant to put you in the 'right' state to prepare for a stressful or dangerous situation...though it can also misfire at inappropriate times or moments. And constant stress and turmoil can also cause degradation of emotional control, and irregular outbursts...which can have negative consequences for those around us. Yes, if you had heeded my advice in the first place, you would have been able to ease into it all, to learn to manage it all properly and safely, while in a safe and peaceful environment. You certainly did yourself no favors by running off into these chaotic, dangerous worlds like this instead!"

"I'm s-sorry...but I- I'll go back, now," Xion choked out. "I understand now. I decided...I want to go back to the islands. I can't- all of this is too..."

"Too much?"

"Yes..."

"Well, realizing you've made a mistake, and choosing to rectify it, is something to be praised," Even said quietly. "Too many emotional, simple-minded fools out there in the World are far too proud to do so. To admit to an error, to step back and look at it from another angle, or to just erase it all and start over again. Or, far worse: they keep running into the same wall, pushing themselves on and on, destroying themselves in the process. But a scientist...has the intelligence and maturity to self-reflect, to analyze a problem, and then find the solution. They check their answers. Emotions have their place, no doubt, but stubbornness, arrogance, or ego can prove to be real hazards. I'm incredibly relieved to see that you, my little assistant, do not have those flaws."

Xion smiled at him...then she frowned and looked away.

"What is it, Xion? If you're still feeling some kind of guilt or regrets over your emotionally-charged actions, let me tell you that it is fine. We all make mistakes - even scientists. No one is perfect. However-"

"I d-don't want to be just your a-assistant..."

"What?"

"I know you keep saying...you wouldn't be a good parent, but you did make me! You're my parent, and I'm your daughter, so why won't you ever call me that?"

Even stared at her, shocked. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, letting out a long breath. Then he opened them, looking at her again. His mouth was curved and tight. "I wasn't- aware that that was something that was even troubling you, Xion...I didn't know- that was something you- wanted from me..."

"I...it's not? I don't know?" Xion said slowly. She looked away, confusion inside her now.

"Well, i...suppose - strictly speaking - factually...yes, you are my- d-daughter of sorts. If that is a title you'd- prefer to be called by, I can certainly see about...making an effort. But even I'm not perfect, Xion. Far from it. I've told you."

"I don't care. I just want you."

"Then I will...do my best for you, of course. Now, is that the extent of the emotional burdens you were looking to unload onto me, or is there more you'd like to say?"

Xion looked at him. She gave a small smile. "I think that's everything...?"

"Good, then." Even coughed loudly and stood up. He straightened his coat. "Don't hesitate to ask for me again - and don't disregard my advice again, either."

"I won't!"

"I believe you...ah...ahem- ehm...d-daughter?"

Xion beamed. Then she stopped. She looked at him with nervousness rising in her Heart.

"What now...?" Even asked, eyeing her.

"You were the one who gave me the advice...and you're a really good scientist, and you know so much about Replicas and - me - in the first place..." Xion started. "So...logically wouldn't the best place for me to be to- adjust to these...experiences...wouldn't it be at Radiant Garden? With- with you...?"

Even swallowed loudly. He looked away quickly. "T-that- that is...well reasoned, yes, Xion...I suppose you're correct. It would be more to your benefit to simply remain...nearby to me, if you have further questions or- difficulties. And Radiant Garden is a peaceful enough world again, these days, if a bit rough around its edges. Barring any ancient dark spirits intruding with stolen bodies, that is..."

"So...can I stay with you? Just for a while? Please? I'm really well behaved! Kairi even got mad at me for it, because I didn't want to just- disobey- well..."

"Your adoptive father, yes," Even said quietly, raising a hand and waving it. "I've watched you about the lab, Xion. I know full well how good you are at behaving yourself. You've proven yourself to be an excellent scientist, and a keen, studious young girl."

"So can I?"

"I'm honestly not quite sure I'm up for the task of taking full responsibility for your- care like that," Even replied slowly. "Not to mention I have my hands full already with managing Kana. A-And I'd still need your- adoptive family's permission. I can't well just steal you away with no word or warning. It would be irresponsible and, quite frankly, suspect in the eyes of others. And scientists are responsible. So, we'll go to your islands and ask first. If the answer is yes, I will be glad to have you closer to me for a short while...but I make no promises about the quality of your experiences. Understood?"

"Yes!"

---

Far below the castle, Riku sat down on the shores of the vast lakes at ground level, that ran around and between the tightly clustered mountains, and on out into the open fields of grass and hills.

He took in the scents, the wind - the voices of Sora and the other kids playing around together in the waters. Time traveling Keyblade wielder kids...those old friends of Terra's Master...and Xehanort.

Cognis sat down on his right with a little huffing sound.

Then he heard the heavy sound of someone else sitting down to his left.

"They look like they're having fun," Cognis spoke, first to break the silence.

"Why don't you go join them?" Riku said.

"And ruin this hair and dress? I don't think so."

"Whatever," Riku muttered, turning his head aside. He shifted his posture, feeling his arm bump against cold hard metal. He shook his head and cleared his throat. "So...Imra...right?"

"Yes?" came the girl's voice. Casual. Friendly enough.

"You're really a robot or something?"

"I am."

Riku nodded. "...That's cool."

"You think I'm cool?"

Riku shrugged. "Sure. Robots are cool, aren't they?"

"Most people on my home world don't think so," Imra replied, with a laugh. "I'm happy to hear it's different on other worlds."

"Yeah...well, it might just be a 'me' thing," Riku went on, with a small laugh of his own now. "Most people hate and fear Darknesses, too - but I've got her hanging around like this...and I don't mind it too much." He nodded vaguely to his right.

"No one here has seemed to care about what I'm made of," Imra said. "Not Sora, not those three other kids, not Xion, not Ven...not even Master Terra, or his Master, either. It's...been surprisingly nice, this past day here. It was like that in Traverse Town, too, for the two years I spent there after my world fell to the Heartless. At this point, I've already thought about just leaving my own world behind. Why shouldn't I, if there are better ones out there that I can go to? Places where I can be free to live without being afraid of getting hunted down, or shot at, or captured and shut down...? They succeeded once already. It was Xion, and Sora and Ven who saved me from that yesterday. Here in these worlds, with all of you, I'm more than just a runaway, broken machine."

"If you want to do that, then do it," said Riku. "People do it all the time, right? Move to a new place for a better life, or a job, or whatever? New city, or a new island...so why not another world? It's the same thing. I wouldn't judge you for it or anything. Who cares? Do what's best for you, you know? What makes you...happy and all. Gives you peace. I said something similar to a friend of mine before - a girl who lives in a pretty bad place of her own, like you, I guess. I meant it then, too."

"Thank you, Riku," the girl responded, quiet and thoughtful.

"Uh - yeah - you're welcome," Riku murmured, flushing.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed by being kind to someone," Cognis said. "It was sweet - and legitimately wise advice."

"Shut up..." Riku told her firmly.

Cognis sighed loudly. "You'll never be a hero at this rate. If you can't even-"

"Hey, I didn't ask!" Riku snapped.

"...No, I suppose you didn't. I'm sorry," came Cognis's quiet, subdued tones.

Riku sighed now too, putting a hand to his face. "Just...I'M sorry, alright?"

"I'll accept the apology - this time," Cognis replied. "Let's just let it be-"

"Riku!" Terra's voice suddenly called out, as new footsteps pattered across the rocky, dirt shoreline.

Riku got to his feet, turning. "Yeah? What?"

"Why don't you come here and I can introduce Cognis to someone."

Riku took a breath, turning and looking down to where he knew Cognis was still sitting. He reached out with his senses - and found the second Heart next to Terra's. It was bright, strong, glowing with light...but also swirling with a good amount of "visible" darkness.

"It's okay," Terra's voice spoke again, firm. "I already explained to her about Cognis. She was honestly more receptive to it than I'd thought she would be, all things considered."

"Are you sure?" Riku questioned, taking hesitant steps forward.

"I'm sure," Terra stated.

"Is she sure?" Riku pressed, turning his face in the direction of that other Heart. He took a step to the left, putting himself in front of Cognis, his fist clenched at his side.

"In my lifetimes now," came the woman - Amaya's - familiar voice. "I've met and befriended many, many people, from all different worlds, and cultures, and who came in all different shapes, sizes, and forms. Not just humans, or even others that shared an organic form. I've seen Hearts grow in the most unexpected, but perhaps, the most simplest of places. Inside worlds of data, inside a children's doll or toy. Most of them wouldn't even be considered 'real' by others, regardless, because they were projections of a book, or data on a computer, or figments of a dream plane. But I considered them all as real as myself. Because I believe that as long as you have a Heart, you can think, and you can feel, just the same as anyone; we're all the same, in that regard. At our cores. Where it truly matters.

"I've known the Darknesses to show emotions and irrationality, just the same as any of us, as well. They've shown rage, and hate, and cruelty, and even fear and panic. And if they are capable of experiencing negative emotions, then it follows that they must be capable of feeling positive emotions too: joy, love, compassion, and even empathy. Across these worlds, across time and history, and the multiple lifetimes of memories I have inside of me, I've never known one who ever did show that other side of a Heart's emotions. But I would like to think that...given enough time, on enough worlds, throughout all of history...somewhere, at some point, one did.

"Maybe there was doubt, or a circumstance that led to one finding an unexpected joy, or attachment, or love, or caused them to feel regret or remorse toward their victims. To show compassion, or empathy - if not sympathy, at least. As long as a being has a Heart, they can always feel, and they can always choose. Even the worst, most unlikely of individuals. That path is always open to them, waiting for them...even if they would never take it. We humans are that way, in all our worlds and our histories, and the terrible things we've done to each other - so why would Darknesses be any different? At least, I'd like to believe that. That every sapient individual...has the capacity for good, for change."

Riku let a quick breath go, nodding slowly. "So - if you ever came across one like that...you'd- really just let them be? I mean, you'd...give them a chance?"

The woman's soft laugh came to his ears, surprising him. "Are you forgetting that I am the woman who raised one of the most terrible human beings this World has ever seen? I don't give him a chance because he's human - I give him the chance because I want to believe he's capable of taking it. Even in face of a Darkness, I'd be the World's worst hypocrite to not give that same chance to one of their kind...if an individual did exist who proved to be different from the rest I've known."

"You really mean that? It's not just all talk?" Riku said sharply.

Silence, again, for a moment. "Yes. I mean it." The woman didn't sound offended or anything by his tone. Just like she'd...taken it in stride. Seriously considered the question. "If I ever found a Darkness like that, I'd be willing to hear them out, and give them the chance to prove themselves. But I can say with full confidence that I never have...until today, apparently."

Silence. Again. It stretched on for a long minute of time. Then another.

"I hope you mean that," spoke Cognis. He heard her rising to her feet behind him at last. He felt her soft, human form brushing against his backside. She was standing way too close. "It's not a picnic, being surrounded by people who'd like to destroy you on sight. In fact it's been really stressful..."

Amaya moved forward, slowly, her footsteps light on the ground. She stopped again; she was right in front of him and Cognis now. "I'd sacrifice my own life to save others in a heartbeat - but never someone else's. Especially not a child's. Or someone who hasn't done anything wrong. You're Cognis, then?"

"Yes. And you're the woman with a long track record of destroying people like me," spoke Cognis, subdued. Reserved now. It was the strangest thing to hear from her...

"Only because they presented themselves as clear threats and dangers to everyone else around them," Amaya responded, simple. "We didn't even know they were there, until they showed themselves to us and told us what they did. What they intended to do. So, why don't you tell me, Cognis: what do you intend to do?"

"Mainly, to keep living," Cognis replied. "But, beyond that...I only want to keep doing what I've been doing, with Riku: I want to help and protect people."

"I've never met a Darkness that wanted to do anything but hurt people. Why are you different?" Amaya asked, in a voice of genuine curiosity. Interest. And hope...

"Because Riku is different. His Heart, the way he looks at darkness. And because his strongest, most ingrained desires, thoughts, and emotions during the time of my birth played a part in shaping me and mine. I'd imagine it's the same for all of us Darknesses, when born in a human Heart. I can't speak for the Ancient Darknesses - but for me...that was how it worked."

"And when were you born?"

"Almost two weeks ago, now."

"Why do you want to help people? Only because you inherited Riku's desires? Or is there any real sense of sympathy, or empathy, or compassion inside your Heart? If you're only following a script, or going through the motions, we have to all ask ourselves what happens when you decide to stop - when you tire of it, or find that doing something else feels better. As I told Riku, truthfully: I'd like to believe even your kind are capable of the same things as the rest of us...but your kind has never given me an indication of that. But if you, personally, could...I would like that very much, Cognis. I'd like...to have my hopes proven right."

Riku turned his head, taking in the "sight" of Cognis in the darkness. Darkness on darkness... He wanted to hear her answer to this as much as Amaya did. Because he hadn't thought about it, himself...

For a long time, Cognis was silent, however. Motionless. Then, finally, her head moved - tilting to one side. And her voice came.

"I think that my behavior and sense of morality does mostly stem from Riku's influence, yes - but...whenever there's been someone in need, I have felt an...urgency to be the one to do so. And whenever I have helped someone, gone through the efforts, I have felt something else inside of me. This feeling, I'm not sure I have a name for it. It isn't the same as Riku's emotions; I don't know whether it's happiness, or empathy, or something else. But, I do think that it feels...rather pleasant."

"And what will happen if this feeling ever stops?" Amaya said. "If the high of emotion becomes less and less, over time? If the pleasant sensations of saving a life ever wane? If you grow bored of it, tired of it? Even we humans experience burnout, exhaustion, frustration. Do you have any other desires besides that? Any inclinations? Any ideas for a future? For your place in the World in general? In society? Will you live peacefully, or not? What will you do, Cognis?"

"I...don't know," Cognis stated, in a quiet voice. "I haven't thought about it."

"Think about it now. Try. Tell me."

"How should I know?" Cognis said, exasperation filling her voice now. "I was only born over a week ago, wasn't I? I suppose I'd do whatever my curiosity led me to do."

"And that would be...?"

"Whatever things people usually do!" Cognis retorted, irritated. "Living in a house, watching sunsets, eating ice cream - swimming and fishing and surfing. Learning and discovering. Trying on clothes and makeup. Singing or dancing! I'd make some sort of life for myself, I'm sure! As long as it was with Riku...I'm sure it would be very pleasant - and peaceful, yes. I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to harm anyone. What would be the sense in that, anyways, when people like yourself, and Master Luxu, would come and destroy me for it immediately? You'll probably destroy me anyways, simply for being! And Riku along with me!"

Riku felt his face heating up at her passionate words - at what she'd said about him. He shifted uncomfortably on the spot, and took a little step to the side away from her.

"I won't destroy you," Amaya said quietly, after a moment's silence. "If you truly mean all of that, then I don't have a reason to. If you mean what you've said...then I am willing to give you a chance to prove it - Cognis. And I'll defend you from anyone else who isn't willing to do the same, as well."

"Do you really mean that?" said Cognis, a sharpness to her voice.

"I promise you that I do...if you can promise me, first."

"Hm...alright. Yes: I promise that my intentions are honorable, good, and peaceful. Even if I stopped helping people, I wouldn't turn to hurting them. That would go against any sensible, reasonable sense of self-preservation for myself. But, as well...it simply wouldn't be right. Harm for harm's sake? Cruelty and sadism? That's just wrong."

Amaya made a soft noise. A surprised noise. Then her voice came, warm and quiet. Earnest. "Then I promise you."

"Excellent. What now?" Cognis said, in a mix of blase and sarcasm.

"Now I need to do what I came here for - to see if I can help you with your problem, Riku," the woman's voice spoke - directed at him now.

Riku swallowed, trying to relax his hands at his sides. "Can you?"

"It should be simple enough: find his Heart's fragment inside of you, extract it, and destroy it. But I'd hope...he'd go peacefully at this point."

Riku couldn't help the scornful laugh that rose up in him then. "Somehow I doubt he's going to just live and let live here."

The woman sighed quietly. "Yes...that's what I'm afraid of, too. Skill with a sword, or physical strength mean little in matters of the Heart, of Light and Darkness. I have the ability to extract and transfer Hearts, but I don't have the Power of Waking; if he resists my attempts from the outside, I can't just go inside and try to attack him at the source - to weaken him and drag him out directly. That would be a lot more effective...but..."

"I won't get my hopes up," Riku said.

Silence.

"Well, if you're ready to do this...everyone else should go up to the castle. Just in case," Amaya stated.

"Right," said Terra. He called out to Sora and the others - to Imra, and Cognis - telling them all to clear off.

Cognis was the only one to refuse. Riku probably should have seen it coming.

Terra and Amaya both just took it in stride.

The breeze flowed across the water, it brushed at clothes and hair, filling up the silence now, with Sora and them all gone.

It was just Riku, Cognis, and Terra and Amaya.

When the woman summoned her Keyblade, Riku tensed. He sensed it, perceiving the blade as a glowing, concentrated shape of light. The woman raised it up before her, aiming it at Riku. A light flashed at the end of it, and a beam of energy shot out into Riku's chest.

Almost immediately in response, darkness surged in Riku's Heart - encasing him in an aura - as he felt a burning, tearing feeling go through it!

"Agh!" he exclaimed, hand going to his chest with a gasp.

The feeling got stronger, pulling, ripping, BURNING-

"Infernal woman!" a strained, deep voice erupted from Riku's mouth, layered over his own and uncontrollable. "Do you really think you can rip me from this body- so easily...? This body is mine, this darkness is MINE, and YOU are nothing but an intrusive...weakness! I am so deeply nestled into this boy's Heart...that I..."

As another burst of pain tore through his body, Riku fell to his hand and knees, his fist striking the ground. It was just like before- he couldn't even- get control of himself again...! WHY?

"Tear me from this boy's Heart if you can! But what will be left of him after you've succeeded?" said Ansem, through Riku's gritted teeth. "The damage you'll have done to him...will eclipse anything I could have! So- by all- means...continue this fight with me, woman!" He threw back his- Riku's head, giving a loud and wild, crazy laugh. "Perhaps he'll end up like poor Ventus - muhahahaha!"

Riku screamed out as fresh agony ripped through him, his hand clawing into his chest-

The glowing blade dropped, and the beam of energy evaporated.

The pain faded almost instantly; the dark aura receded.

Riku gasped with relief, his shaking hand curving into the dirt below him. He let his head drop, free and in control again.

"Are you alright? I'm sorry," Amaya spoke quickly, starting forward now. Her voice full of sadness and guilt, and doubt-

Riku's Heart roared; his hand flashed up, and a blast of Dark Firaga exploded against the woman's chest!

He watched that Heart fly backwards, a light fading into the dark distance - heard the noise of pain and the thud on the dirt. The clatter of a Keyblade.

"Riku!" Terra's voice called out. "Fight this - you're stronger than him. You've done it before, you can do it again. I know you can - you know you can!"

"I- can't-" Riku gasped heavily, screwing his eyes shut against the pain. The tight, unyielding nature of his every muscle and bone, rebelling against him... He was rising to his feet, his fists shaking at his sides - couldn't stop himself!

Darkness pooled at his feet, tendrils rising up around him, encasing him...

Behind his back rose a solid, dark shape - a broad-shouldered, large Heartless with a hole in its chest and long antennae. No legs, but powerful arms, with hands bigger than his own torso! The monster let out a low rumbling noise behind him, and then those huge, powerful hands were laying themselves onto his shoulders. A dark, heavy, cold weight...

"This boy...belongs to ME!" the deep voice yelled out in triumph, in malevolence, reverberating on the air itself.

"Xehanort!" Amaya's voice came, suddenly and sharply, calling out. "Let him go!"

"Stop interfering! YOU have no power over ME!" the man shouted back at her.

"XEHANORT-" her voice came again, rising and hard.

"My NAME...is ANSEM!" the words burst from Riku's mouth, shaking and rageful. A pause, trembling lips, and then...a wide grin split Riku's face. "But if you insist on wielding this BOND against me...then I will respond IN KIND!"

Darkness exploded out of Riku, and visible, solid chains of crystalized darkness were flying forward!

Terra leapt back - Amaya, to the side, her Keyblade rising-

The dark chains wrapped around Terra, lifting him up and slamming him down!

The other chains encased Amaya's Keyblade, ripped it from her grasp, and then surged around her! Multiple layers enveloped her, squeezing at her - her voice echoed with pain and shock - and lifting her high into the air. Suspending her there!

"Hahahahaha! You weak-Hearted fools! You see how little you mean to me?! You cannot control me, you cannot manipulate ME! I have no pathetic human Heart to lose to sentiments, to resurrected little friends, or to mentors and mothers! They are remnants of a worthless Heart that failed to achieve its goals! An old man who faltered at the end - swayed by the pretty words and face of some juvenile woman of scattered dreams and far-off memories! Your existences are superfluous to mine, your presence only drags me down! But I will not allow this weakness to continue festering! I will CUT IT ALL OUT! I am stronger, purer, a superior being! I am everything HE failed to be! And I SHALL PROVE IT!"

The darkness swirled up around Riku, smothering him, freezing him...pulling him down...

Into that pool...

Those strong, dark hands pressing down on his shoulders, finger wrapping around his whole neck...

Squeezing...choking...

Riku closed his eyes, falling further into it all, letting it just...

What was the point, anyways?

In fighting?

He'd fail again. He'd lose.

He always did...

Against Kairi, and Sora, against Nightmares, against his own self...

...We really need to work on that confidence.

Huh...?

What was...that other voice...?

Obviously, it's ME. Who else would it be?

Riku opened his eyes, jerking his head against the hands, the finger crushing his throat. Cognis? How can you be talking to me like this again? That would mean you're...here...but if you're here, then you're not out THERE anymore. And if you're not out there-

You needed help, so I came back to you.

What...? So you just- you just gave up that body...? Threw it away?! Just to- I don't even know if I can do it again for you...What if that was your only chance?

Hmph. Ventus was able to do it twice; I'm sure you still have one more form left in you to give me. Not that that was my foremost concern when I made the choice.

What WERE YOU thinking...?

That I'm YOUR only chance. Now, stop moping, and let's stand up and get ourselves out of this.

C-Cognis...

He almost wanted to blurt out the sappiest, Sora-esque thing and just flat out tell her it was sweet, or- or something, that he was just so-

You think I'm sweet? Well thank you. I think you can be really sweet as well, when you want to be, came her sudden, soft tones. Soft, warm...humorous. We'll have to work on that, too.

Back to reading my mind again, huh? I can't say I missed THIS.

You'll just have to get used to it again.

Riku smiled, a warmth fluttering in his Heart, batting back the coldness, forming a small space in there... "Yeah," he said, aloud, clear. Confident. And...elated. "I will-"

Darkness rushed up around him, batting at him and burning him, smashing into him in waves-

Then it all exploded outward, rippling out into the void.

And then the void took shape and form.

A great expanse of solid dark matter.

Ground, walls, a ceiling.

Twisted, sinewy tears and holes littered the walls around Riku, like some kind of cage.

The giant Heartless behind him suddenly let him go, and vanished into melting darkness.

Riku turned, free now again, extending his senses in confusion...

He didn't need them to sense the man's emergence.

Ansem- Xehanort's Heartless, rose up from the floor, into shape and form himself. The one Riku was familiar with. Not the powerful, imposing man of silver hair...but a vague figure shrouded in a robe.

Riku "saw" the robe now, though, for the first time in his life.

It was no different from the dark mass inside it: it was made of pure darkness, shaped to mimic the appearance of a robe.

Behind the robed figure, the large Heartless rematerialized with a roar, spreading its arms as dark fires rippled around it in an aura.

Suddenly, a dark, humanoid form shimmered to life next to Riku. A familiar one, with an aura of dark, intense flames all its own.

"Riku: raise up your blade," Cognis's voice came, firm, right next to him.

Riku "gazed" at her, then turned his head toward Ansem and that other Heartless... He breathed out - breathed back in - and brought up his hand with a flash of light, conjuring Rainfell.

"That's interesting..." Cognis spoke again, suddenly, with a little hum.

"What's interesting?" Riku said, baffled.

Cognis's form shrank down to nothing...and then reappeared behind Ansem - facing the large Heartless.

The Heartless dropped its arms and turned in the air toward her, a low hissing noise escaping its mouth. Its great head suddenly...bowed?

Cognis tilted her head up at the creature in response.

Ansem turned, the hood of his robed form bending and shifting. A vague arm rose up to "point" at her. "What are you doing...?" his smooth, worried voice came. His robed head tilted, next, to look at the Heartless. "You're mine to command, not hers."

"Oh? Really?" Cognis responded mildly. "Because I was under the impression that you are just a human at Heart, whereas I...am True Darkness. Why should any creature of the dark recognize your authority over mine?"

"Silence, parasite," Ansem said coldly. "Consume her - and then destroy the boy's Heart, so that I may take it for my own and-"

"Destroy him."

The powerful Heartless immediately turned, and backhanded the robed figure across the face.

Ansem flew backwards across the caged arena, slamming into the wall - and bursting into a broken, tattered cloud of darkness and hanging matter. "W-WHAT? That is- impossible. I am...a Heartless myself! I am the only one with thought and will! I am the one who commands them, I lead and direct them over all others!"

Cognis laughed. "Apparently not anymore."

The Heartless surged forward across the ground, gliding toward Ansem, with hands of swirling, large, fiery energy balls.

Ansem's form burned away, and he became the short-lived visage Riku knew from before - from fighting him at Radiant Garden, when he'd had that Nysa girl's body under his control. The silver-haired man in the long coat. He raised a hand, and yelled out, sending a blast of dark energy to meet the Heartless.

The creature took it in the face, the energy vanishing, drifting back and raising its arms with a screech to block the attack.

"I wonder." Cognis said, almost at random, to herself. Then she glided forward, toward the Heartless...and then disappeared into it?

A sharp aura of energy glowed around the Heartless - and then it twisted out of the way of Ansem's attack and flew forward again, gliding along the edge of the stream of energy. It vanished in a cloud of darkness before reaching Ansem - then reappeared beside him. A dark hand raised, and an intense light flashed to Riku's senses, overwhelming them.

Ansem staggered to the side, gasping. He whirled to face the Heartless, blasting out with twin energy projectiles.

The Heartless evaporated - reappearing above him, slamming down on him with both hands glowing with an intense aura of power!

Ansem vanished in a flicker of air, reappearing a few feet away, his arms held rigid at his sides, fingers curved into claws. "What is-"

"That's how she did it, then," Cognis's voice echoed.

The Heartless vanished in a dark cloud once more...and reappeared next to Riku.

He turned sharply, raising his weapon-

"Don't worry: it's just me," Cognis's voice came again. Came from the Heartless itself?

"What? Are you...inside that thing?" Riku said warily.

"Yes. Are you ready to fight now? We'll do it together."

Riku hesitated. Then he nodded, turning back to Ansem and raising his blade up horizontally - level with his eyes. He extended his free hand, burning it with dark flames.

"Yeah. Let's do this - together!"

Chapter 43: The Silver-Haired Melee

Notes:

Okay I couldn't fit some of the scenes I wanted to in this chapter either lol, OMG. I kinda went nuts and it's now on the longer side soooo...next NEXT chapter will be the actual wrap-up and fallout scenes! xD And then MOVING ON! :D I'm sorry LOL. When the plot rolls up, you gotta just give it time to shine and breathe, you know? :D Can't help it.

Riku leapt forward in a blur of motion, darkness trailing behind him, as he brought his Keyblade down for Ansem.

Ansem brought his arm swinging upward, and a double-bladed staff weapon - comprised of twin, dark swords on either end of a long pole - manifested to block Riku's strike. The man twirled the weapon in a swirl of dark energy, and a stream of flames and winds flew out to push Riku back!

Riku skidded back on the ground, throwing himself into a backwards flip before landing again. He thrust out a hand, sending twin blasts of Dark Firaga for Ansem!

The man slashed his staff before him, then raised his own hand; a dark barrier burst in front of him, blocking Riku's attack completely with a fiery explosion.

The flames cleared...and then a barrage of a half dozen Dark Firagas came flying for Riku in return. Homing blasts, curving and aiming for his chest - dead center!

Riku squared himself, preparing to conjure a barrier wall-

Cognis - in that Heartless's body - appeared in front of him instantly.

A shining barrier flashed before her, taking Ansem's attack...like it was nothing!

"Hey - I had it!" Riku protested.

"No you didn't," she responded. "Yours would have broken."

Riku shook his head, then ran at Ansem in a burst of darkness-enhanced speed.

Ansem waved a hand as he lifted up into the air, and a dozen fiery orbs of dark energy appeared around him.

They flew forward across the arena, and immediately began firing off thin, concentrated laser beams at Riku!

Riku leapt right, teleported to the left - threw himself into a backwards dive that saw him pass between four separate beams. He came up and raised an arm to cast Barrier, blocking a rapid fire barrage from the beams in front of him still. To his shock, the force of the beams hitting his barrier sent him sliding back several feet.

Cognis was there again, hovering in the air, twisting and punching with fists of dark energy, bursting the orbs and causing the laser onslaught to cease.

Ansem appeared above Riku, bearing down on him with his weapon poised to stab him through the top of his skull!

Riku threw himself to the side and spun around, bringing his Keyblade slashing for the man - but Ansem landed with a powerful shockwave and lines of flames that caused Riku to pull back from his strike. Pillars of fire rose up all around Riku in random places, one after another! Riku went into a high backflip to avoid it all, coming down to land far outside the reach of the chaotic mess of energies.

Ansem straightened up, and lifted up into the air once more. He held his arms at his sides, and a dozen or more orbs of fire arranged themselves in a halo above his head - and below him. They all fired off their beams, connecting to each other in cross-cross patterns, forming a burning wall of beams around him. Or a cage. Then he turned and glided forward - toward Cognis.

"Hey-!" Riku tried to call out to her.

Too late.

Ansem slammed into the Heartless's backside, the energy burning and ripping into it, pushing it across the arena forcefully. Tendrils and chunks of dark energy were flying off the Heartless's body. Ansem yelled, and then a fiery curved wall of energy flared in front of him, and he surged forward with sudden speed and power to slam Cognis right up against the twisted, sinewy wall!

"SINK INTO THE DARKNESSSSSSS!" he roared, pushing more and more power into it!

Shockwaves flew out across the wall, and a powerful light burst around Cognis's temporary form!

Ansem drifted backwards, letting lasers and energy fade, giving his bladed staff a spin in a strong hand.

Cognis's Heartless form was peeling away, evaporating...melting. A low roar was heard, those strong arms reached up to the heavens...and then the monster fell down in the air and disappeared in a burst of smoke.

A light flashed briefly, and then Cognis was left floating there, a formless dark cloud in the air.

"Heh. Did you think I didn't know the weaknesses of my own creation as well as its strengths?" Ansem's voice echoed out with satisfaction, with malevolence and contempt. "You will use nothing I have given you against me! Now submit to me, boy! Save yourself the pain of this, of what is to come..."

"Never!" Riku retorted strongly. "You're just a shadow, Ansem, and I'm casting you out of my Heart - for good!"

"Really? And then what?" Ansem responded. "You think you can be a 'Hero of Light?' Where there is light, there will always be...shadows!"

"Heh," Riku scoffed quietly. He "looked" to Cognis. She teleported herself back to his side, hovering next to him once more. "A hero of light? Nah, that's not my style. I'll be a Hero of Darkness."

Ansem laughed, loud and mirthful. Not even sadistic, or cruel, or mocking. Just plain amused. "A hero of darkness? You are more naive than I ever could have imagined you, boy! You think these worlds, these shining people in them, would ever accept a Hero of Darkness?!"

"I guess we'll find out," Riku said.

"Stupid boy!" Ansem barked out another laugh. "You waste your time and efforts on this World and its people. I can put your Heart and body to far better-"

Cognis disappeared, and reappeared in front of Ansem, surging forward at him with her entire "being", becoming a streak of dark energy.

She passed through Ansem's chest and emerged out of his back - leaving a large, burning hole in him, straight through. Like that Heartless of his.

Darkness poured from the wound, flowing out into the arena, as Ansem's voice roared with pain and fury.

Cognis took on that humanoid shape again, standing behind Ansem. A shadowy hand raised, and swirling dark energy flowed up around Ansem, a cyclone of power that shot up to the high, inky black ceiling.

"Riku - strike now!" her voice called out firmly.

Riku nodded, then raced forward, blade held at his side. He kicked up dark flames with each step, speeding across the distance in seconds! He lunged forward to close the last few feet's gap, stabbing his weapon forth into that dark cyclone!

Ansem's voice erupted, echoing, shaking the dark arena; the cyclone grew and flew outward, carrying Riku backwards and sending his Keyblade flying from his grasp!

Riku hit hard, skidding on his back and rolling to a stop.

The arena suddenly began to disintegrate around them, falling apart into dripping liquid and black goo.

Until all that was left was the pure, dark void itself.

His Heart Station wasn't even there anymore - it was lost to all this darkness, to the infinite depths...

Ansem was gone, too, now - Riku couldn't sense the man anywhere!

What he did sense, next moment, were the dozens upon dozens of fiery orbs that appeared all around him in the void - lighting up his senses like stars in the night. They surrounded him in a sphere, pulsing and swirling...

Then they began to fire off at him.

Cognis was there in front of him, suddenly expanding and moving to envelop him in a cocoon of living, swirling energy; Ansem's energy beams assaulted her formless mass, burning into it and causing ripples across it...but they never pierced it, never reached Riku. She was either straight up blocking them, or...more like dissipating and absorbing the energy somehow? Taking it into herself...

The beams intensified and fired one after another, in great sweeping patterns across the interior of the sphere - bottom left to upper left, upper right to bottom right, from below and above together, from left and right, alternating...and then they all charged up, and fired off as one, from all directions at once!

Even with Cognis blocking it all out, the heat was still insane to Riku, heating his skin, causing sweat to break out in his hair! And the light...well, "light"...it was like staring at a sun. It was blinding. He couldn't have sensed anything beyond it if he'd wanted to!

Was it ever going to let up-?

"TIME STOP!" a deep voice shouted, echoing in the void.

And then the omnidirectional assault of laser beams suddenly stopped.

Instantly.

Cognis's formless...form melted away from around Riku, and he extended his senses out into the void again.

He frowned as he felt some strange...still energy hanging in the air, in the void. The energy orbs were all just...gone? Then he reached out further, and found...a familiar, fuzzy, blurry mess of- energy and matter, around a small, tight little Heart. That Chirithy thing...uh - girl? of Ven's...? But Chirithy wasn't the only thing there; there was a glowing, spherical shape with spikes sticking out of it, and then there was...the other Heart. It wasn't a Heart Riku thought "felt" familiar to him, unlike Chirithy's... But at the same time, it sort of felt like-

"Fascinating," came a young man's deep voice, casual and curious, echoing in the void. "Such tremendous darkness - inside as much as outside of your Heart - and yet, for all of it...for all that you're practically drowning in it...you remain. Present and strong within its deepest depths. You're practically untouched - yet your Heart is not a beacon of light, as a Princess's is... I'd like to find out how that's even possib-"

"Hey! Stay focused, kid! You know what Amaya said-" came Chirithy's voice. But she? sounded different from Ven's. Not that the voice was different, but the...tones, the sentence structures, that was all different. Like the difference between listening to Kairi, and Xion or Namine. Same voice, way different manners of actually speaking.

"Hmph," the other, male voice gave a soft, suppressed laugh that might have been more like a snort. "I know. We'll take care of the problem at hand, first."

"Alright, who are you?" Riku spoke out, drifting up into the air, his weapon held at his side. Cognis came flying up next to him, rippling in flames.

The light and power of a Keyblade burst in the darkness, flashing against Riku's senses. A solid, simply-shaped weapon was held by the newcomer. A guy, whose voice actually sounded kind of familiar - as familiar as his Heart, in a strange way he couldn't really...

"The one here to save your life-"

"It's Xehanort," Chirithy's voice interjected. "The one from your era's past."

"WHAT?" Riku exclaimed, raising his weapon and going to his battle stance. "Why would he even be here? Let alone to- save me?"

"Because Amaya asked him to-" Chirithy spoke again.

"Because this piece of my future self's Heartless is threatening to take away some of the only people in this World I care for," Xehanort- the younger Xehanort's- voice cut across, with an outright huff. "Dealing with it at the source will free them from his grasp. Now, are you finished asking time-wasting questions, or can I deal with the problem now for you? Since you obviously failed to do so yourself...inability to die to it or not."

"Do you have to be an ass about it?" Riku responded, flying forwards.

"If you can't handle the simple fact-"

"HEY! Stop it!" Chirithy's voice erupted. "You've got a job to do here, remember?! Jeez! Focus a little! I really don't like it here; I don't want to be here longer than I have to be, okay?"

"Of course," Xehanort (fucking Xehanort's) voice came, cool and controlled. "So: Heartless - why don't you show yourself to me. It will save me the trouble of tracking you down, myself."

"I'm not out of this fight yet," Riku said sharply, giving his weapon a slash, and flaring a hand of dark fires.

"Not that it will mean much - you didn't seem to be making any headway."

"Alright, you-" Riku started, annoyed.

"So the weak boy and his little pet come to join the fight for this body, do they?" Ansem's voice rang out. Darkness swirled in front of Riku, Chirithy, Cognis, and...the time traveler Xehanort, and Ansem appeared.

A light flashed, and suddenly they were all in a solid space again. It wasn't the same, round arena like before; this was a vast, four-walled chamber, a few hundred feet by hundred feet wide, and tall. The walls were shifting, dripping darkness, like waterfalls. The floor was a rippling solid darkness, like the surface of water.

"You will all lose - FALL - to my all-consuming DARKNESS!" Ansem shouted out at them.

Xehanort...strode forward, and raised his Keyblade up - in what Riku realized with a start was a battle stance strikingly similar to his own. "I don't think so," he responded to Ansem, in a voice of confidence. Smugness, more like. Riku could hear the smirk in the guy's voice. "All that this battle needs to come to an end...is me."

"You disappoint me," Ansem spoke, stepping forward himself, crossing the dark distance. He stopped a few dozen feet away, and raised an arm - a palm facing upward. "Why commit yourself to this course of action? Why defy me, fight me, instead of aiding me against these misguided heroes of light and their allies? You are young yet; alone, we cannot succeed in our goals. But if we were to work together...you, myself...and even our Nobody counterpart..." He paused, clearly waiting for an answer. But Xehanort didn't give one. So Ansem continued on. "Side with me, boy, and I'll release your beloved mentor from her chains, and leave her unharmed. We will leave this world together, and we will-"

"All of them," Xehanort's voice cut across, low and cold.

"What...?" Ansem said, puzzled.

"You have all of my friends bound in chains," Xehanort spoke. "Hermod, and Urd, and Vor...and Eraqus. Even as we speak, you squeeze the life out of them. And you expect me to just let bygones be bygones? To accept the promise that you won't hurt them...when you've already hurt them?" His voice rose at the end, that cold, tight control slipping into a near shout. An angry, contemptuous shout. "No...I'm going to destroy you - and I am going to enjoy doing it."

"...Very well," Ansem said, hard. "Then you truly are just as worthless as the rest of them!"

Ansem flew up into the air, huge, intense, swirling orbs of dark energy appearing on either side of him that dwarfed his own body in size! His double bladed staff appeared in his hand again - and in the other, a dark, sinewy shield, large and curved, with spikes and tendrils along the edges. There was also a large...mouth in the middle of it, with sharp teeth, and dark fires shimmering inside its maw. Oh yeah, and one, big, blinking eye above that mouth, near the top of the shield.

Well, that's disgusting, came Cognis's voice, to Riku alone. A quiet, unbidden whisper of a thought...? From her?

But Ansem wasn't done yet; darkness rippled over his form and burst outward, and then the man was suddenly wearing...armor. Dark, heavy armor. Hard shells and sinewy tendrils, spiked shoulders, pulsing energy cores on the chest, shoulders, and embedded into the knee guards. He wore a twisted helmet with an open back, letting his long hair flow out of it. The visor of the helmet was open, too - it looked like a mouth as well, teeth surrounding his face, and a big blinking eye on the front, as well as on the back, behind his head. From out the back of the armor hung a half dozen tendrils of darkness that glowed with energy, and were shrouded in a miasma...like plasma or gas.

"Interesting, but worthless," Xehanort's voice came, with a small laugh of amusement. "Let's see if you really can keep up - Riku, isn't it?" the young man addressed Riku directly, idly. Then he flickered forward in a teleport, slinging his weapon up over his head; a dozen huge icy masses formed, and they flew forward toward Ansem, homing in on him.

Riku raced forward, holding his Keyblade in front of him and sending out a barrage of a half dozen Dark Firagas, pushing his power into it!

Ansem raised an arm, and a huge wall of sinewy darkness rose up between him and them - blocking their attacks, solidly and firmly. He let his arm fall, and the wall melted away into the floor again.

Then the two huge dark spheres flew forward and rose up into the air, and suddenly unleashed a rainstorm of deadly dark projectiles in scattershots.

Xehanort flickered and vanished, reappearing a dozen feet ahead, far past them - going straight for Ansem.

Riku dodged to the right, then left with a handspring; the scattershot attack hit the ground, leaving fiery streaks and exploding on impact!

The outburst of power Riku sensed in that moment from them made him glad he hadn't gotten hit.

Cognis suddenly flew past him, straight for one of the giant spheres. She flew into its core, tendrils stretched out from it...and then it began to shrink and shrink until it disappeared with a flash, leaving only her there in its place.

The other orb darted forward in the air, getting right up above Riku - and unleashing its attack again, several times in a row, right down onto him!

Riku threw himself forward - then rolled left - then jumped to the right again. The explosions went off on the ground around him, missing him by inches. He blew a breath and cloaked himself in a dark aura, and sped forward furiously, lightning crackling across his body.

Cognis went for the other sphere, to do the same thing to it that she'd done to the first. Destroy it, or...absorb it? Whatever she was doing! All Riku knew was that it worked, and so he wasn't going to complain about it.

Meanwhile, Ansem was engaged in a fight with- Xehanort - Young Xehanort - up ahead!

Xehanort slashed his Keyblade, and in an instant it had become an energy whip - a cord that lashed out sharply for Ansem, striking him on the chest. It came back, then flew out again! Ansem took it on his shield, then leapt forward and slashed his staff weapon for the younger man.

Xehanort teleported behind him and sent out a quick barrage of a dozen energy bolts; they slammed into Ansem's back and burst. Ansem staggered and turned, but...he was moving in slow motion now? Xehanort flickered away again, reappearing in front of the man and reforming his Keyblade. He did a swift backflip and slashed his Keyblade; a burning "X" of fire magic flew out and slammed into Ansem's chest, sending him flying backwards off his feet in that slow motion state. Xehanort suddenly burst with magic, and then there were...a half dozen copies of him surrounding Ansem?

The copies carried narrow beam sword weapons in their hands - which they all used to immediately start just beating the hell out of Ansem! They were all over the place, slashing and stabbing, teleporting and casting out with that burning X attack!

The real Xehanort, the one with the Keyblade, teleported up into the air, then lashed his whip down for Ansem - the end glowed as it pierced the man's body, hooking him, and then he was yanked up high into the air. Xehanort darted forward and began attacking the man himself, directly, with his Keyblade in mid-air.

"Out of my way!" Riku yelled as he leapt up high into the air, soaring forward and turning his Keyblade around in his grasp, pointing it down. He came down on Ansem's floating form with a yell, and stabbed his blade down into his chest. The end of his blade glowed and swirled with light...and then a beam exploded out of it, piercing the man's body and shattering the armor.

Ansem's slow motion state ended, and he flew straight down and slammed into the ground, gasping, a hand reaching for his chest.

Riku let the beam fade, and dropped to his feet before the man, letting out a tired breath.

Ansem's armor burned away - his weapon vanished from his hand. Wispy tendrils rose from him, as fragments of his dark form began to disintegrate off of him.

The man's deep laughter suddenly came, low and chuckling.

"I wouldn't be laughing," Riku told him. "You lost. It's over, Ansem."

"Over?" Ansem responded, in pained, malevolent tones. "This- is hardly- the end of me, boy... You think you've destroyed me...? As long as you hold darkness in your Heart, that darkness...will in turn always hold me. I...will always be here inside of you...waiting for the day when I've gained the strength to return. And on that day...I promise you, boy...I will take away everything and everyone you love. I will destroy your island, I will thrust my blade through your friends' bodies, and I will burn away your family in darkest flames - all while you are helpless to stop it! And then...I will do the same to you and yours: 'Xehanort.'" He paused, satisfaction and sadistic glee in his voice.

Riku turned, and found that Young Xehanort standing nearby - facing Ansem, Keyblade in hand.

"I will make you watch as I crush the life from Hermod, from Urd, from poor little Vor! She will die a second time - by your hands! I will burn your Land of Departure to the ground, and then I will return to obliterate Scala Ad Caelum simply because it is your home! I will bind you, and I will strike down Amaya while you watch! And then, boy...I will find the greatest weakness of your Heart - that mother of yours - and I will enjoy every moment of her suffering-"

The glowing cord of an energy whip flew out in the blink of an eye - the air rippled strangely - and then Ansem screamed as a dozen or more strikes burned into his face and chest almost simultaneously.

Ansem gasped as the assault ended, falling back to the ground...and bursting into nothingness.

"...I'll remember that," came Xehanort's flat, emotionless voice.

There was a noise and a puff of "visible" smoke to Riku, and that fuzzy Chirithy's form was standing in front of them.

"Look at that, you did it!" Chirithy said. "Nice job, kiddo! I knew you could do it. Now let's get outta here. This place is still creepy."

"Yes," Xehanort said, in that same, flat tone. "Let's go."

It was honestly unnerving to Riku...not that he would have said it aloud to anyone.

Chirithy turned and raised a stubby arm - there was a strange flash and a swirl of fuzzy energy wisps...and then that glowing orb with spikes on it appeared again.

Xehanort stepped forward, raising his Keyblade to it.

A glowing stream of energy flowed out from him, into the orb...

Riku startled as he realized the same thing was happening to himself.

It flowed off of him, a light shined from the orb-

And then Riku was gasping upright on dirt and rocks, air around him, scents hitting him, and the sound of gentle lake's ripples filling his ears.

"Riku!"

Terra's voice.

The man was there beside him - grasping his shoulder tightly.

"Are you alright?" Terra asked firmly.

"Yeah - fine," Riku said, turning his head and extending his senses. He found the fuzzy Chirithy again, and the other Hearts...more than a few around him, honestly.

He recognized all of them, after a moment.

Terra's Master, Eraqus, those other kids - Hermod, Urd, and Vor - that Amaya woman, Xehanort, and-

"Sora?" Riku jumped up to his feet, turning toward his friend. "I thought you guys were all up at the castle? What are you even doing down here again?"

"While you were fighting- Xehanort's Heartless on the inside," Terra began. "my Master came down to try and fight him out here. But he ended up caught in those chains, the same way I was - and Amaya was. And the same thing happened to the other kids when they tried to come and help, too..."

"I know we didn't really stand much of a chance," Sora said quickly. "but we couldn't just sit around up there and do nothing! Not with everything going on out here."

"Well, I think it's the thought that counts," Terra told him kindly. "After that, Amaya's Chirithy showed up with Xehanort, who...somehow broke the binding lock on his Heart, and fought Ansem one on one. He couldn't win, either, though - not with Ansem holding Amaya and the others hostage. That was when Chirithy stepped in and made a...strange portal. They disappeared together, into it...I guess into your Heart?"

"Yeah," Riku nodded, as he put the pieces together from Terra's story. "So you guys got your butts whooped out here," he remarked. "We did a lot better on our side of things, thankfully. Cognis and I - and..."

He turned his head, toward the Heart of- Young Xehanort.

"Hey," Riku called out to the guy.

"What?" came the simple, neutral response.

"Thanks for the backup," Riku said, honest. "I really don't think we could have won that one if you hadn't shown up like that."

Silence, for a long moment.

He heard a little thump, then Xehanort's voice clearing its throat.

"You're...welcome, I suppose?" the guy said haltingly, quiet. "Do try not to make a habit out of attacking those I care for in future, though; Should this happen again, I can't promise you'll come out so miraculously unscathed."

"Right back at you," Riku stated.

More silence.

Another little thump, and a little gasp of either annoyance or exasperation from Xehanort. Then-

"...I cannot control my other selves, obviously - but no harm will come from this me."

"Good enough, I guess," Riku said with a small grin.

"Yes, well...I'll be heading back up to the castle, if no one minds? I'd like to spend a little time with the friends I almost...lost again," Xehanort went on, his voice holding a near imperceptible tremor at the end.

The guy was shaken, Riku thought. But holding it together scarily, really well.

Nobody called the guy on it, though, either way.

That Amaya woman spoke up, but all she said was, "I'll go with you."

"So, did you beat the guy?" Sora asked, giving Riku a one-armed hug.

Riku sighed and pushed Sora's arm away, ducking his head. "No...not for good. He's still there, somewhere deep inside of me..."

---

"Where are we going?" Cognis spoke, her shimmering form manifesting beside him, as Riku walked the halls of Land of Departure alone, in dead of night.

"I don't know. Anywhere but here. I just...have to leave."

"Again. Why? I thought you liked being around your friends."

Riku sighed. "I do, but this isn't about...what I like to do. It's about what I have to do."

"You're still feeling guilty for what you did before."

"Yeah. I am. I did some messed up stuff, alright? And I still feel so terrible about it all. The guilt, the shame, remorse...it's all still here. I can't let myself just get stuck hanging around on my butt again, like I did back on the islands! And now that we know there's no easy way of just getting Ansem out of my Heart, either, it's- it's more important than ever that I stay away from everyone. If he takes me over again, he's going to go right for them. He'd make me hurt them...or worse. You heard him! You know what he promised to do! So...the best thing I can do is to keep doing what I've been doing. What- what we were doing. We were doing good, Cognis! We were really- really helping people. I was...I felt like a real hero for once in my life. I felt like...I was finally starting to make up for it all."

"Riku-"

"No. Look, I've made up my mind - and my Heart. I'm doing this. You can come along, or not - just don't...don't try to stop me. No throwing me through any more portals!"

"I was trying to help you by reuniting you with your friends!"

"I know. And It was good to...see everyone again - your Heart was in the right place - but that's not the right place for me. Not yet. That's not the...road I have to walk." Riku brushed at his hair. "Look, Cognis, you say your whole thing is that you want to help people, right?"

"Of course it is."

"Then help me. Help me do this. Help me fix these feelings in my Heart, help me ease the guilt, the pain. Help me be a better guy than I have been. Help me to help other people. Because I can't do this without you, alright? You were right. I need you, I need to trust you, and I need you by my side for this. I need you to be my eyes, and my- my partner. Okay? So, help me to do what I need to do...to find peace with myself. To make amends with the people out there that I've hurt. The worlds I've ruined. You said I made you to be a better hero than I could ever be - right? So help me to be as good as you! Please... And help me keep my friends and family safe..."

"...Alright," her voice came, soft and simple. "If this is what you need, I'll help you...for now. But you should at least leave a note this time before running off."

"Okay. Yeah. That's smart. Thank you..." Riku said with relief and gratitude. "Let's do that."

"You're welcome." She paused. "You're going to have to let me take control of your body in order for me to write the note for you. Do I have your permission?"

Riku froze, for a long moment. Then he breathed. "Uh...yeah. Sure. I trust you, Cognis. You wouldn't make me do anything weird..."

"Of course not. Just tell me what you want me to write - or think it, if that's easier for you."

Riku stopped, and began to think.

---

Hey, guys. If you're reading this, then I'm gone again. Is it that much of a surprise? The reason I'm gone is the same reason I left the first time. The reason I have to get back out there again: I was a terrible guy, I did a lot of bad things, helped worse people do worse things - and I need to make it all right now. At least, as much as I can. And I need to do it on my own. Well, not on my own: I'll have Cognis with me, every step of the way. And it's better that I do this, too, with her, because she can keep Ansem in check until we find a way to safely get rid of him for good. This last, final piece of him. It's the best way I know to keep you guys safe from that. You know he'd use me to hurt you - probably try to stab you guys in your sleep or something like that. And there's no way I'd ever let that happen. So I'm gone. I'm getting back out there. I have to, alright? For my own peace of mind. You guys don't understand what it's like to have this weight in your Heart, always there. You're all good, you're heroes, you're better people than I am. You don't have anything to worry about. But me...

Look, I'm just going to ask this once here: please, don't come after me. Don't come trying to drag me back. And don't ask Namine to track me down, either. That's creepy. Seriously.

I can't say when I'll be back, or if we'll run into each other again, but I can promise you guys this: I WILL come back. When I'M ready - not when someone else tries to force me to. So just accept that, please, and LET ME DO THIS. This is MY PATH, MY CHOICE. This is the road I HAVE TO walk.

Just...I guess I just want you to know that it's a road that WILL lead me back home again, to you - someday. But that day isn't today. Or tomorrow. Or next week. I can't say when. But I'll know it when I've reached it. When this weight, these feelings, are gone from my Heart.

Signed, Riku

P.S: If you guys happen to get Kairi back before I see you again, tell her I said hi, and I'm happy for her, and I'm glad to have her as a best friend. I don't deserve her. Or you, Sora. Keep being the heroes I know you are - and maybe one day I'll catch up.

Chapter 44: Realizations and Choices

Xion walked slowly into the Land of Departure's dining hall with Even, a squirming feeling in her stomach that she was sure had nothing to do with food (or the injury she still had there).

Everyone was there together.

Her Master, Terra, and his Master, Eraqus; there was Sora, and Imra, and Ven was back now; Hermod, Urd and Vor were there - sitting next to the Xehanort from the past, who was sitting next to Skuld's friend Amaya. And Chirithy was there. Ven's friend Chirithy, and Amaya's friend who was also Chirithy?

The two Chirithy? Chirithies? were sitting on the table together, eating ice cream from big bowls and making high noises.

"Hey, so what should we call you guys?" Sora said, looking at the two - Chirithy? Chirithies? - as he ate his own ice cream desert. "I mean, you have to have names, right? You can't both just be 'Chirithy'...?"

The two- Chirithy? looked at him. Then at each other. Then Ven's Chirithy shook her head. "Oh, we don't really work like that."

"You guys might have been created, as Spirits and all, but you have your own Hearts, don't you?" Sora pressed. "All that time with Ven and Amaya and the others and you never...wanted names of your own? You're people too!"

Ven's Chirithy tilted her head at him. She raised a hand and waved it. "It's okay - really. Just Chirithy is fine!"

"What about you?" Sora said, to Amaya's Chirithy, leaning forward now. "You really never thought about it? Doesn't it at least get confusing if you were all called Chirithy...?"

Amaya's Chirithy stared at him. Then she looked at Amaya. She raised a stubby arm to her face.

Amaya smiled at her Chirithy friend, setting down her spoon and pushing at her curly brown hair in her face. "I think he does have a point there, you know. It was always so confusing, back then. And remember what I told you? We have to live our own lives now, and make our own way in these worlds. You're not just a companion, or a Spirit, or a creation. You're not a servant, Chirithy. You're my friend. And I'd like to be able to call my friend by their name. I think my friend deserves a name, just like anyone else. You're just as important and equal to the rest of us."

"Uuuhhhh...." Chirithy said uncertainly. "Weeeeeeellllll...."

"Why don't you just try it?" Amaya prompted quietly. "You don't have to make it permanent."

"I've never thought about it before, though! What kind of name would I even pick?" Chirithy said loudly.

"What about Star?" Sora said, gesturing. "You know, because of that star you've got on your bag there?"

Chirithy and Amaya both looked at Sora in surprise.

Sora flushed, grinning. He looked away, putting his hands behind his head. "What? I have good ideas sometimes!"

"Let's just go with the kid's idea," Chirithy said quickly. "Star's fine, I guess." Then she (they, hadn't Amaya said?) lunged forward and started to eat out of their bowl again with their face stuck in it.

"Um, Chirithy, are you sure you don't want a name, too?" Ven spoke quietly to his friend. "I mean, we were together for...years...and you- like they said: you deserve a name of your own. You're not just my partner or nothin'. You're my friend. And you've got every right to choose for yourself - your life, and your name. It just- doesn't feel right to just...call you Chirithy. Like you're some- disposable, replaceable...thing. 'Cause you're not. You never were."

Ven's Chirithy pulled her head up out of the bowl. She looked at him, blinking her blue eyes. She raised her hands to her mouth. Xion heard sniffles from her, as her eyes got all squinty. "I...I g-guess if you put it that way...? And it's not like I'll be stuck with one forever, right?"

"Right!" Ven encouraged, beaming.

"Alright..then I'll choose a name - for now!" Chirithy looked at the other one. "If they're going to be Star, then I'll be..."

"Sun?" Sora suggested.

"No..." Chirithy refuted.

"What about 'Moon?'" Ven said, smiling.

Chirithy looked at him, tilting her head. "I guess I like the sound of that? It's better than Sun, anyways...Moon it is?"

"Haha. Well, nice to meet you, Moon," Ven said softly.

"Sure?" His friend - Moon, now - said with a shrug of her shoulders. Then she was eating again, causing ice cream to fly everywhere.

"Hey, Xion, by the way!" Sora said, turning to wave to her. "And Even. What's up?"

Even flashed a thin smile to Sora as he strode forward. Xion held onto his arm for support (for her stomach stab wound). "Nothing of monumental importance, I can assure you all. Just a little matter Xion and I felt the need to inform you of - concerning herself."

"I...I'm going to stay with Even at Radiant Garden for a while - if dad says yes, I mean," Xion said quickly, blurting it out. "I just...after what happened in Imra's homeworld...after how I was..." She avoided Sora and Ven's faces. "and with all of this stuff that comes with- being a real girl now- I should have listened to Even. And to you, Sora. I shouldn't have tried to...go out and fight and stuff before I was ready. So...I'm going to stay with Even so I can...learn how to deal with all of this?"

"Hey, that's okay," Sora said, firm and instant. "Ven and I both could tell you weren't having the best time, you know. I didn't like seeing you so uncomfortable, or even hurting like that. So - just do whatever you think will help you! You know Kairi would say the same; she'd be behind you, all the way on this."

Xion felt relief flood her body. She nodded at him. "Right...she would. Thanks, Sora."

"No problem," Sora smiled at her. "I hope you figure it all out - and I hope you have fun, too."

Xion nodded again, silent. She looked to Imra, taking a breath. "Um...Imra...can I- talk to you? Please? Somewhere else? Alone?"

Imra stood up from the table immediately, walking over to her. "Sure, Xion."

Xion wished the other girl would have hesitated a little more...

She turned and hurried away out of the dining hall entryway, into the marble hallways. She walked away down it, then stopped.

Imra stopped too.

"What is it, Xion?" she asked quietly.

"Imra...I...I did something horrible in your world..." Xion started, shaking. "When we first got there...I met another girl who- looked like you. I thought she was you! But she wasn't. And she- we ended up fighting, and she wasn't- right, and I- I killed her, Imra, and I'm sorry! She was your sister and I took her away from you and I'm s-sorry...!"

Imra tilted her head, blinking. Then she shook it, her long red hair shimmering. She stepped forward and hugged Xion gently. She was hard and metal, but she actually felt kind of...warm and nice? "It's alright, Xion."

"H-how is it alright?!" Xion choked out, crying now.

"Do you know why I was locked up in that base? The way you found me?" Imra spoke quietly. "My makers weren't happy with me being able to think for myself, so after they captured me, they used my blueprints and neural net scans to create more of me - me's that aren't...so much trouble like me. That can't think or feel for themselves the way I can. They weren't like me, Xion; they weren't capable of that. They really were just true drones. Machines. What you destroyed wasn't different from a truck or a car."

Xion blinked. She pulled away, staring at the girl. Frowning. "But...how can you say that? How do you know? You don't know!"

"Xion, I do know-"

"NO!" Xion shouted, shaking her head firmly. She held her shaking hands to her chest. "When I- when I hurt her, so badly, after she- just before she... She touched my hand, she looked at me, she was confused and upset and it was REAL Imra! For a moment she was real! She wasn't all wrong anymore, whatever was controlling her - it went away! And I saw a girl! Just like you and me!"

Imra looked shocked. She stepped back, bowing her head. Her long hair fell forward. Her hands twitched at her sides, her fingers tapping at her thighs. After a minute she lifted her head again, looking at Xion. Her face had a deep frown. "I believe you, Xion...but this changes everything..."

"Not for m-me...what I did to her..." Xion whispered.

Imra stepped forward and grabbed Xion's hands, pulling them away from her chest. "If she was capable of thinking and feeling, just like me, and you say she was 'wrong', then...then you did break whatever was controlling her. Her programming, or something else. I don't know. But you did, and...and you were there for her when she woke up. I'm sure she was grateful for that, Xion. You said she touched your hand, didn't you? You were there for her, at the end, and that probably meant a lot to her...in the moment she finally found freedom. And when I go back to my world, I might be able to find her and help her," she concluded with a smile.

"R-really...?" Xion said hopefully. "But I- hurt her so badly- and she...she wasn't moving or anything after..."

Imra gave a small laugh, letting Xion's hands go. She brought her hand to her chest. "I told you we were built to withstand a lot of damage, Xion. And one of the advantages to being a robot at all is that shutting down doesn't necessarily mean the end of us - as long as her CPU and memory were intact enough...well, there's a chance I can repair her. Wake her up again. She might not remember a lot, or have other...problems...but she'd be awake and aware again."

"Are you- s-sure?"

"I'm sure!" Imra said brightly, giving her a swift hug again. "And thank you for telling me, Xion. I know it must have taken a lot of courage to."

Xion cried again - but she felt so relieved and happy, so how did that even make sense?!

She wiped at her eyes furiously - then stopped. Even would say something if he saw her doing that again!

Imra took her hand and they went back to the dining hall. They sat down next to Sora together.

Even was sitting tall and straight with Terra, his hands in his lap.

"...If you can make those Portals into Hearts and Dreams, could you find Kairi for us...if Luxu hasn't yet?" Sora was asking- Amaya's Chirithy, Star. Or was it Ven's, now named Moon? "Or at least just go check up on them...? There's a lot they probably should know about by now - like that Nightmare Chirithy we met in Imra's-"

"What?!" Amaya's Chirithy (probably) said, in a high voice, wobbling their arms on the table as they almost fell backwards.

They were probably Star - because Amaya reacted too.

The woman's face showed shock and fear, and she almost jumped right up from her seat! Then she sat down again, letting out a short, sharp breath as she looked at Sora. "A Nightmare Chirithy?" she said, in a tight voice. "Where did you see them? When? Please, tell me everything."

Sora looked taken aback. He blinked at her. Then he looked at Ven, and Ven's Chirithy - Moon! "It was when we went to go rescue Imra there. Uh, suddenly this purple Chirithy with red eyes showed up, and Ven said it was a Nightmare Chirithy. Then Moon and that purple one talked a bit-"

"What did they say?" Amaya interrupted, her lips forming a frown. A big, pursing frown. She looked to Ven's Chirithy - to Moon. "Please. This is very important."

Moon looked a little scared. She glanced at Ven, then looked at Amaya again. She put a hand to her chin. "They said they were the one spreading the Nightmares across all the worlds in this era. They said it was to try and draw out their wielder; they said their partner was one of the ones who survived, like mine."

Amaya's mouth opened, her eyes fluttering. Her hands gripped the table tightly. She dropped her head suddenly, her long curly hair falling over her shoulders.

Star hobbled across the table quickly and threw themselves at her, into her lap. They hugged her arm and patted at it, making high noises.

"I'm guessing you know whose partner this Nightmare Chirithy belongs to...?" Terra spoke softly, after a minute of silence from everyone.

Amaya sniffled and raised her head. She shook it, then wiped at her nose and eyes with a napkin. She drew a shaking breath and let it go. Then she looked out at them all. She looked really upset now still... Her lips opened, but she didn't talk. They closed again. She looked down at her Chirithy friend...

"It's okay to tell them the truth; I don't think these guys will blame you or anything..." Star said quietly, blinking up at her as they put their hands against her abdomen.

Amaya nodded silently, shakily. Then she looked up again. She looked at Terra - and then at the younger Xehanort for some reason. Her mouth opened again...

"I...I think they might be...mine."

---

Xion was happy to get away from Land of Departure, really...

It was less noisy and everything at Radiant Garden's castle.

After getting permission from dad, Master Terra had made her and Even a portal to Radiant Garden next - right into the castle.

Xion had wanted to carry her bag of stuff, but Even hadn't let her. It wasn't much, really, since the old house had gotten destroyed - just clothes and blankets and some seashells and tutoring textbooks (and other books), and a bunch of different menstrual items (dad had said "Just in case", and that it was because all the stress and fighting and stuff since she became a real girl might have "delayed it" or even "stopped her from actually getting her first period at all for a while").

Xion's stomach didn't even really hurt that much now, and she could walk and everything...but Even had still said no.

Even led her through the castle hallways in silence. They went up a lot of stairs and through a lot more hallways on higher levels, before he finally stopped in front of a door. There were a lot of identical doors up here, with a lot of windows spaced out that looked out onto the city. Down to the main square and the front gardens and the walls.

Xion felt weird the whole time, walking silently after him.

"Xion? Are you alright?" Even's voice came to her. He was staring at her with a frown.

Xion frowned too. She blinked, then looked up at him. "I..." She stopped as a thought came to her head. "I think it's- Kairi..." she whispered.

"What? What about her?"

Xion looked around her. She looked out the window. She raised her hand to her chest. "I think I'm feeling things from Kairi. Her memories, anyways? She used to live here."

"Yes...yes she did..." Even said quietly, looking uncomfortable. "I do recall- seeing her around the castle, once or twice, I believe. She was a regular visitor..."

"I have some of her memories," Xion said. "I remember this world, too. That's why we thought we were...biological sisters at first."

Even nodded, smiling down at her. "Yes, quite. It was a natural misunderstanding. Though, you did not have 'some of her memories', precisely: what you had were copies of her memories made into data, which was then input into your artificial Heart to-" He stopped suddenly. His cheeks went pink. He shook his head and quickly moved to grab the handle and open the door in front of them. "Ahem, at any rate: here we are. These are my quarters. Kana's already been residing here - though I use that term very loosely - but there is a space for you in here, as well. Fortunately, the construction workers and engineers were generous in their creation of such...upper level suites." He gave a snort. "Or rather, they were all prone to extravagance and over-designing..."

Even strode inside, and Xion followed him fast.

She had to blink a lot when she walked inside!

It was white and smooth, and really big inside. It was a living room, with a big fireplace and a large TV attached to the wall above it, and hanging lights, and several couches and chairs arranged around two tables. She looked past it all and saw into a dining room? It had a long table with chairs around it. And past that was a kitchen.

"This way, please," Even said, taking her shoulder and pulling her away in another direction.

He led her down a wide hallway with doors on either side of it. He opened the last door on the left, of three. It opened into a dark, large bedroom with a large bed with see-through curtains, and a desk, and a large wardrobe with glass doors on it. There was also two other doors inside it!

Xion stared in confusion. She'd never even known a bedroom could have other rooms inside it like this!

But Even opened up the doors anyways and peeked inside them, then gave her a look and a nod.

Xion went to look into them, too. One led into a narrow, long space that had lots of shelves...a very big closet? It could have been its own other room! And the other one led to a bathroom. It was big and square, and had a huge bathtub along the wall that was so tall she thought it went up to her chest!

"It's quite a lot of wasted space, in my opinion," Even said, waving a hand. "But, I suppose it's better to have the space and not need it, yes?"

"Yes?" Xion squeaked.

"Exactly." Even strode over to the bed and set her bag down on its end. "Now then...ahem: why don't you unpack all of your things, put them in their proper places, to start with, and then we'll...well, you can do some relaxing first. This is meant to be a quiet, peaceful place for you, after all. You can...break your new bed in? As far as I know, it's never been used - for obvious reasons."

Xion didn't really know what those obvious reasons were...but she nodded anyways. "Ok." She moved forward and got onto the bed carefully, sitting down at the end of it. She started to unpack her bag, pulling out her blankets and clothes. The bed already had blankets and everything though...

Even stood watching her for a minute, but then he gave her a smile and left.

Xion frowned, then focused on unpacking again.

She took out all her seashells and set them on her bed. She looked at the big desk, then to the nightstand with its tall white lamp. She gathered them all up and crawled up the bed toward it. She opened up the top two drawers and started to sort through her shells, putting the same ones on the top of the nightstand, others in the first drawer, and others in the one below that one. When she was happy with it, and feeling less strange and nervous, she sat back and closed the drawers carefully.

She slid off the bed and gathered up her clothes to sort out next, putting them all into the wardrobe and in the drawers below the big glass doors.

After that...she got her one of her sciency books out and went to lay on her bed with it. She opened it up and started reading - but mostly looking at the pictures. It wasn't a textbook: it was an extra book. She had a few of them. This one was about animals and stuff. Like the places they lived and what they did.

She just wanted to try to understand things better, and not be so stupid and useless, always looking at Kairi and others for answers and explanations...

She wanted to be smart and knowledgeable - like Even!

---

Xehanort stood in the Mysterious Tower, listening to the old Master (supposedly a future friend of his) speak with Amaya and Terra about recent events.

Concerning this Nightmare Chirithy, that rogue Darkness now in the Princess of Heart's empty body...and then, more specifically, events concerning himself.

"I understand you called a Keyblade to you, in nearly the same instant that you shattered the lock we had placed on your Heart," Yen Sid was saying now, gazing at Xehanort.

Xehanort simply nodded. "Yes...I suppose you're going to destroy it now, as you did to my older self's weapon - and replace the bind on my Heart, as well."

"That remains to be seen," Yen Sid spoke. "Your reasons for doing so - and capability to break the binding spell at all - could only have come from a place of true, desperate need. A pure Heart's desire to save, to rescue, and to protect - and so a miracle answered your desire in response."

"Hmph. Or perhaps I was just being incredibly selfish," Xehanort said idly. "I cared not for any of the rest - only my own friends."

Yen Sid gazed at him intently, with a force and a power that nearly made him break. Balk. Flinch. "Delude yourself no longer, my old, yet very young friend. Not that such attempts at after-the-fact deception and deflections could sway us; we have already seen the truth of your Heart, the power and light it shines in its most dire hour."

Xehanort froze. He looked away, twisting his lips. "I suppose you've already gone to the witch of memories and analyzed and picked apart my Heart, then?"

"No," Amaya spoke to him. "We know what we saw with our own eyes, Xehanort. You acted with bravery, with selflessness and true strength, and nothing else. Just the same as when you made the choice to save Skuld for no gain or benefit. And I'm truly, deeply proud of you for it. You saved not only us, but Riku, too...and potentially even his family and friends, if- Ansem was going to have his way. And you should be proud of that - not ashamed or embarrassed. You did so much good today."

Xehanort gazed resolutely at the far wall, his hands forming fists at his sides. His Heart seized, and his face grew warmer despite all attempts to just control it.

"And I know it can't have been easy to be around Cognis, either," Amaya added quietly.

Xehanort scoffed. "Is that what it's calling itself?"

"That's what she calls herself, yes," Terra spoke firmly.

"I don't know how that thing even convinced you, or Eraqus, of all people-"

"Then the only reasonable explanation is that she's telling the truth, isn't it?" Amaya cut across him. "A truth of intentions that even Eraqus saw in her. Something that made him willing to see reason, and give her a chance, at least. The same chance everyone here is giving you."

Xehanort drew in a sharp breath, digging his nails into his palms now. His shoulders shook...

"My Master is willing to have an open mind, and change his views and stances on things - long held beliefs and ideas," Terra spoke again. "I know that wasn't an easy thing for him. And it wouldn't be easy for you, either. Especially because you're kind of famous for that, aren't you? Stubborn, unwavering belief in your own beliefs. But your older self was willing to change, to reconsider things - and I'd thought so were you. If your friends can do it, why can't you? I guess they're just better people than you, is what it comes down to, isn't it?"

Xehanort remained silent, rage in his veins.

"You know your older self took Vanitas under his wing - as his apprentice - for four years straight," Terra went on. "He must have changed his stance a little, too, to do that, instead of just destroying him - and Ven along with him. If he could do that, I'm sure you can at least tolerate the existence of Cognis, can't you?"

Xehanort turned to glower at the man now, his lips shaking with cold fury. His new Keyblade appeared in his hand in a flash of light before he even registered it was there, honestly.

Terra simply looked at him - in the eye. Blue eyes hard, unyielding. Strong.

"How can any of you just accept this?" Xehanort hissed, rounding on Amaya, and then Yen Sid. "After your history with those creatures - after seeing one of our very enemies is one of them!"

"Cognis has proven her good intentions by helping Riku to save lives, and wake people from sleep," Amaya said firmly. "She also proved herself today again by not hesitating to shed that form he gave her to dive into his Heart and fight Ansem with him."

"As the Spirits prove, and as Riku and Terra prove to us, not all forms of darkness are malevolent," Yen Sid stated. "The world is not so simple - surely that is something you have always known, Xehanort. These Darknesses are as unique as any other being, and thus will be judged by their individual acts, not those of their entire species. Or should we indeed use such a measurement? Should we simply tar you with all the crimes and actions of your other selves, combined? Hm?"

"Do not compare me to those parasites!" Xehanort shouted, stepping forward. "They stole everything from me, they destroyed my home, shattered my very Heart itself with agony and misery! And you demand I make nice with one now?!"

"As we are all attempting to make nice with you, after all the misery and agony you have festered upon these multitudes of worlds and trillions of lives, yes!" Yen Sid responded, raising his voice to a thundering volume. It shocked Xehanort, as a magical force and wind flew out across the room along with the words! Sheer power. "If you are truly so incapable, truly still so blind, then we shall be done with this and return you to your proper time - and to what fate you have set for yourself, Xehanort! You are an unyieldingly arrogant, hypocritical, and supremely inept young man, as well as a fool of the highest order! We have granted you mercy, clemency, and generosity - yet you take it all for granted, and would not find it in yourself to give even a morsel of the same to another? One who has at least proven themselves with numerous good and selfless deeds - something which you cannot say for yourself! SO BE IT, THEN! THERE IS NO HELPING YOU, NO SAVING YOUR HEART! YOUR OWN BEST FRIEND HAS FOUND IT WITHIN HIMSELF TO CHANGE - THE ONE I WOULD HAVE LEAST THOUGHT ABLE TO DO SO!"

Yen Sid raised a hand - and energy burst up around Xehanort with an incredibly fury and power!

Xehanort raised his Keyblade-

Only to find himself frozen to the spot as a blue light flashed from his right.

Amaya! Why?! For this - for a Darkness - WHY?!

"WAIT! You can't just send me back like this!" Xehanort exclaimed, panic coursing in his Heart now. He turned his head to her - and was shocked that he even could. He looked at her - in the face - and saw a look of calm...calm and sadness.

"Why?" came her one word, quiet reply, over the whirling winds of Yen Sid's magical entrapment.

"I haven't even- had the chance to say goodbye to- it isn't fair!" Xehanort burst out.

"I didn't think you cared about what was fair," Amaya said quietly, remarkably calm still. "Why should we? It's just more of your double standards - rules for others, but not for you. But it's just like I told you before: what happens when you miscalculate, and others don't play by those rules you expect them to - just like yourself?"

A golden energy pooled around Xehanort's feet - and then it began to crawl its way up his body, aiming to envelop him in a heat and a squeezing- were they going to just entirely obliterate his body to loose his Heart from its vessel? They couldn't- they wouldn't-

"I did what you asked of me!" he yelled out. "I saved all of them - the boy, Riku - and I said nothing about that thing in his Heart! I fought against my own, future Heartless! Haven't I proven myself today?!"

"Perhaps you were doing it for selfish reasons," Amaya said simply, blinking at him. She took a step back, bowing her head. "How can I know? How can any of us?"

"I- what? You said it yourself, it was the same as with that Skuld woman - I saved her for no gain, no reason but- empathy, altruism! I felt the pain in her Heart, I knew what she feared, and I helped her!"

"Are you saying that you can change? That you can-"

"YES! Yes - god knows if Eraqus can do it, so can I!" Xehanort said loudly, beseeching her now with his eyes alone. That energy was nearly to his chest now... "If my friends, and you - those directly harmed and killed by Darknesses - can see something in one of their kind that's worthwhile, anything at all, then I- I will try, just the same! Just do not do this to me! Please! I will change, I will give- them a chance!"

Amaya looked to Terra. Terra looked at her. They looked to Yen Sid...

The old Master's hand lowered, and the energy circle died away - and so did the energy encasing Xehanort's very body.

Xehanort gasped in sheer, miraculous relief and whooping joy-

Amaya strode up to him, and reached out to place her hand on his cheek. "Tell me you realize the gravity of your future mistakes - tell me you know how wrong that path was. Tell me that you're truly willing to be better than that, here, and now. Not just talk - do it."

"Y-yes, I do - I realize...I know it all!" And he did know it, he realized. He truly did. Because- "Being around you, and mother, and these others, I've felt it all - in your Hearts! It ripples out and invades my own Heart, it seeps into me, it settles there, it's a weight and an anguish and a sorrow and it's more than anything I've ever felt or been capable of bearing! And I don't want to feel any of it anymore! I want to- make it stop! I don't want to feel it again in...in anyone's Heart, on any world out there! Like that man you had me help, and that girl - her name was Penny! I felt her Heart connect to mine, I felt her in there, even broken as she was, and I- I helped her, I saved her, i made her whole again. That is what I should be doing, not- what my current and future selves have done. That is what I- want to do. I want to do...to be...better. I want to walk a better path with you, and with Vor, and Urd, and Hermod, and Eraqus. I don't want to be alone, to regret! I want to walk with you all together, embracing it all! I- I won't take anything for granted...I swear it!"

Amaya's palm flared with a light, and Xehanort found himself able to move again. Her hand slid down his body - his arm - to his hand. The one grasping the Keyblade.

He felt the pulses of her emotions, strong and blinding.

"Then...let's walk together. Cognis has had her time to prove herself - now it's your turn, Xehanort. You're going to put that new weapon to use...for the right reasons."

"What...whatever you want from me - I'll do it," Xehanort said hoarsely. He meant it...truly.

Amaya gave him a small smile. A tight and nervous smile, strange to see on her face.

"We're going to go out there and help the people of these worlds - and we're going to find a Nightmare Chirithy."

Chapter 45: The Lost Princess

Notes:

Okay we're gonna hang with Aqua for a little while now! <3 I love her.

Aqua strode into the small town in the dusty desert, grateful for it - even if it carried some risks.

Natsumi would have said the risk made it more exciting (in fact, she did say that).

They got a room in a small, dirty motel together. Which was still enough for Aqua to be grateful for...considering...

Just having a bed to fall onto again was almost heavenly.

The shower worked, too - with hot water and everything!

After guiltily using it all up, she returned to fall onto the bed in her undergarments (her outfit hanging to dry), curling up under the sheets and resting her head on the pillow.

After a few minutes, Natsumi entered their room again - with a small bag of food and drinks. The woman set them down on the nightstand, rickety and unstable as it was, then came to sit on the bed.

"Oh my, this is a problem, isn't it: neither of us thought to ask for a room with two beds!" Natsumi remarked, humor in her voice.

Aqua rolled over and looked at her, sitting up on her arm. "What? Oh! I'm sorry - I really didn't mean to just-"

"It's okay. I'll happily sleep on the floor like a good dog," Natsumi joked, laughing into her hand.

"No! No - we - why don't we just...share?" Aqua strangled out. She paused, watching Natsumi, who was blinking at her with surprise now. "I mean...after all this time together, I've kind of gotten used to sleeping with you. I- I mean- um- against you. Your- true form. All the fur. It's...warm. And soft. And...and so what's the problem if we sleep together as- like this?"

Natsumi smiled at her, nodding. "Agreed. But only if you're comfortable with it."

"Well, I am the one who suggested it," Aqua replied, a little indignant.

"Of course you were. Then we'll have no problems, will we. Just two traveling companions sharing a warm, subpar bed together for a night or two," Natsumi stated leisurely. She put her words to actions, and pulled her legs up and got under the blankets next to Aqua. She turned to face Aqua, then scooted in and put her head on the pillow too...putting their faces and bodies very close together. "Well, isn't this just lovely...and cozy."

Aqua groaned, rolling onto her back and putting her hand to her forehead. "This is terrible - and it's not going to work for me."

"Do you want to sleep on the floor, then?"

"No...never mind! It's fine. I'm not leaving this bed until morning..." Aqua muttered.

Natsumi giggled, right in her ear. "If that's what you want, Miss Aqua."

"Please, just call me Aqua...I think we've moved past formalities by now."

"Okay. Aqua. Not Princess Aqua, then? Or even Future Queen-"

"No!" Aqua snapped. She paused. She sighed. "Sorry..."

Natsumi blinked her red eyes at her, gazing at her. "If I might ask another intrusive question of you, Aqua..."

"Go ahead..." Aqua sighed again.

"If you're so intent on getting back to your home territories - to your kingdom and castle - why have we been going through this journey so secretively and slowly?" Natsumi spoke on, quiet. "Why are we running and hiding like this? Wouldn't it be faster and more effective for you to simply step outside, cast off your hood and declare yourself the Crown Princess of Zitol - and get yourself a non-stop ticket home? Why did you run from the one who recognized you at the airship docks before?"

Aqua froze. She rolled over completely, putting her back to the woman.

Because declaring herself Princess in foreign territories would make her the biggest, most irresistible target for kidnapping and ransoming her world had ever seen - by hostile nations, bandits, mercenaries, bounty hunters, and crime syndicates all.

Because she realized she was enjoying this adventure with Natsumi, and she didn't want it to end. Because she knew it would end when they reached the capital, Ancewell - when Aqua would have to be princess again, and Natsumi would have to return to her own territory and home region...and life.

Because a part of Aqua still wanted to delay this as much as possible, dreading returning to that life and role again like nothing else.

Because...

She...

Aqua rolled back the other way, looking Natsumi in the face. Very closely. Very close. She breathed out, warm and tired. And trembling. "I...Natsumi...?"

"Yes?"

"Would you- if I wanted to- could we...maybe...k-kiss?"

There. Aqua had said it aloud. And there was no forgetting it, no taking it back.

"Well, I suppose we could..." Natsumi said thoughtfully. "When do you plan on us doing this, exactly, Aqua, dear?"

"I- ummm..." Aqua flushed, working her jaw. "Right now?"

"You'll have to ask me properly, Aqua. How could we ever kiss if you can't even say it to me straight - oh, no puns intended!"

"Um...well then: Could I...please...kiss you?"

"Of course you can! I'd be delighted to have you kiss me."

"Okay, then..." Aqua lifted her head and inched forward, closer to the woman. She gazed into those crimson eyes, opening her lips and tilting her head...

Their mouths met and pressed together.

All she could think about was if anyone in her life could see her now...in this dirty, terrible motel, laying with this woman - kissing like this...!

Aqua pulled away, raising her hand to cover her mouth. She shut her eyes and breathed out through her nostrils.

"I'm- sorry!" she choked out.

"Whatever for?" Natsumi said, soft and kind.

"I..." Aqua shook her head, rolling over and drawing her knees in, hugging them with her arms. "I don't know..." she whispered out, her Heart beating erratically in her chest. "I don't want-" She stopped herself.

"What don't you want, Aqua?" the woman said gently behind her. "Please, communicate with me."

"I don't want this to end!" Aqua said, tight and high. "I don't want you to go - I don't want to be left alone again! With all of this...with them, with those walls, and that place! But it's all going to end when we get there. I'll have to be stuck in there again, trapped, and you...you'll go away. Back home. If we start to do this kind of thing, I'll just end up..."

"Heartbroken, and abandoned?"

"Y-yes..." Aqua whispered.

A soft, slender hand with long nails lay itself on Aqua's bare arm...fingers caressed her skin gently...

"Whoever said this story had to end that way?" Natsumi said, just as gently. "Now that you've told me what's had you so upset and worried, what if I decide to stay with you in Ancewell - at least for a few weeks or so? A few months? This journey of ours is already taking so long, what will a few more be? You told me that yourself, remember?"

"You'd...do that?" Aqua said, quiet, hopeful. Surprised... "Really?"

The hand of Natsumi's moved up to Aqua's face - to her hair. Brushing at it.

"Have you known me to say things I don't follow through on, Aqua? We Kitsune have a strict code to live by. And keeping our word is one of them."

"I...sorry...it's just..."

"What?"

"I don't know," Aqua breathed. "I don't know. Can I just- kiss you again? More?"

Natsumi gave a small laugh. "I suppose you can...as long as it's not just a means of running away from your problems and fears. We need those to be out in the open, to have healthy discussions together."

"I- no? I just...what more can I say? So - back to kissing."

"Well, alright. I'll take you at your word. But we're going to continue this discussion of ours later..."

Aqua turned back to face the other woman again; her cheek found its way right into Natsumi's waiting palm, on the pillow. Aqua blinked with surprise. Natsumi smiled at her in that mischievous way she had...

And the kissed again.

They kissed...a lot.

So much that Aqua honestly...lost track of- everything...

All that existed or mattered...was this fire.

And then, the fire rose, and grew, and became something altogether different and more exciting...

She hesitated to use the word taboo again - it was far from as if Keyblade Wielders were forbidden from romantic relationships, or even sex (with others, or each other); and there had been plenty of historical, notable, married partners, triads and quads, and even those who had kept their families and children with them - but for her personally...yes, maybe it was just a little taboo feeling...

It was a vague thing and concept she'd read in fiction novels, or heard from people around her in her younger years, or been taught about by her Master through educational library books. But for it to be a very real thing here, now...

Nothing really had prepared her for it. The reality of it. It was a slow, quiet, sort of- awkward thing, wasn't it?

But over time, she did get more confident, more assured, with Natsumi there, and over time it did become something more...well, something that felt really good. Good and soft and hot and-

And then she was shedding tears and she didn't even know why.

---

Aqua found herself waking again in softness, warmth - and utter confusion.

Then she remembered the previous night, in fragments and pieces...

Oh...

She had...really done all of that, hadn't she?

And that - and that other thing - and even...

Had that really been...her? Part of her, maybe. Most of her. Not all of her...

You're still hiding. Masquerading as something you're not, a voice in her head spoke, high and vicious. A girl's voice. How are you going to help people like Natsumi as princess if you can't even be your REAL self...?

Aqua closed her eyes tight, putting her hands to her face. Shut up! Besides, what place could a tail even have during-

"Mmm...good morning, Miss- just Aqua," came Natsumi's voice from behind her, breaking her out of her own mind's struggles. "You really are just Aqua after all we did together last night, aren't you?"

"Please stop," Aqua said swiftly. "Just - don't! I need...time to- process it all," she went on haltingly. "Okay?"

"...Of course. I'm sorry for being so insensitive. I'll give you all the time you need," Natsumi said seriously, quietly.

The arms retreated from Aqua, and the warmth left her backside.

"So, would you be open to continuing that discussion we were having the other night?" Natsumi spoke, accompanied by the sounds of her light footsteps moving around the little room.

"It would be too dangerous - and not to mention stupid of me - to just walk outside and declare myself the princess," Aqua said, rolling over to look across the room at the woman now. "Too many people out there would be wanting to capture me, and use me for political bargaining, or to get some kind of big reward. I doubt I'd even make it to Ancewell if I did that. Not without being hounded by the people I don't want hounding me. Not that I want anyone from Zitol to hound me, either..."

"Is that any way for a princess to speak of her own subjects?" Natsumi's mild voice came, as she stood peering out the window's tattered curtains. The sun caught her long, shimmering dark hair, and reflected off her kimono... "Do you have such a strong disdain for the very people you say you want to help, Aqua?"

"N-no! Of course not!" Aqua protested, firm and quick. She pushed herself up to sit on the bed; the sheets fell away from her. She blushed and gathered them all up again, holding them over her body.

Natsumi turned and looked at her with red eyes of glinting amusement. Cherry lips curved into a wide smile. But she didn't say anything. Not about that, at any rate... "Hmm, I'm not really inclined to believe you about that, sadly. Can you elaborate, please?"

"W-well, I- it's not the people in Zitol, it's...more the people at the top?" Aqua spoke on, tight and cautious. "The ones with power. The ones who use that power to hurt and abuse others. Who start these- fights- run these campaigns and- write all these laws, and... It's those people I'm not too fond of."

"And you're going to put yourself on top of the highest peak - the one with all the power, writing all the laws in the lands."

"No - it- wouldn't work like that, exactly," Aqua murmured, looking away. She drew on old memories, childhood lessons, and knowledge...as much as she hated having to. She'd have to get used to it, right? "It's not a dictatorship - there's still a High Council below the Queen. They're...advisors and delegates. And they all have almost as much of a say in how things are run as the Queen does. And...while I've been missing for all this time...they've probably fully taken over running everything now on their own. But that's going to change, obviously."

"Obviously," Natsumi hummed.

"I've spent years of my life learning discipline, and responsibility - and how to wield power responsibly," Aqua said firmly, looking at the woman now. "I've been to so many other worlds, I've learned about so many different ways of governing. Some ways work better than others, some last longer. Some are more complicated. Some work for...some people, but wouldn't work for others. But at the heart of it is this: a ruler should serve her people, and act in their best interests. She shouldn't abuse her power or status for greed, or personal gain, or selfish desires. A leader is selfless, and strong, and looks out for the weak and helpless, and the needy. She's kind, and good. And that's exactly the kind of leader I want to be. Even if it ruffles some feathers...I want to look out for all peoples. Not just- humans."

"And are you going to do that while looking like a human yourself?" Natsumi asked quietly. Pointedly. Staring back at her. "Or do you plan to reveal your true form at some point in all of this?"

"I...I'm not sure," Aqua said honestly, biting down on the words. "Should I throw it all off, and walk into things...as I really am? Or- should I just get into the place i need to be, and do it later? When things are...secured? Stable?"

"I'm sorry for not being a high society member, but please tell me: would it disqualify you from taking your rightful place as Princess, and then Queen, if you were to simply walk into Ancewell as your true self?" Natsumi said delicately. "I don't pay too much attention to the other nations; are there terrible laws about that sort of thing?"

"I wouldn't know that, either," Aqua sighed. "Not anymore. I guess...that's part of why I don't want to just- be so- upfront like that about it. Not until I even know...if it won't bite me in the butt, and ruin any chance I even have of doing this at all. There are magical ways of verifying someone's identity, so I think they would have to accept I am who I say I am, true form or not, but...they might also just be able to get away with calling me an imposter, who fooled them all somehow, and tried to take the place of their lost ruler..."

"Oh!" Natsumi perked up - her fluffy white ears perking up too.

"What is it?" Aqua said.

"Is being bitten on the butt something you'd like from me in future?"

Aqua stared, her jaw dropping. She closed it again, pressing her lips together and turning her head aside. Her hand buried itself in the sheets at her chest. "I- t-thought- we were having- a serious discussion!" she strangled out.

Natsumi blinked at her, looking genuinely puzzled for a moment. Then she smiled, nodding. "Of course we were. I'm so sorry. I suppose my brain just gets so fuzzy after a good night of sex. Kitsune afterglow, you see... But please continue!"

"Um...that's- it's okay," Aqua stammered. She shifted on the bed, reaching up to brush at her hair. She hesitated, frowning. Flushing. "Is...do people really do that during...?" she asked, blurting.

"Oh, there's all kinds of things people do during sex - as we discussed very seriously last night," Natsumi said with a beaming smile. "But we're having another discussion right now, aren't we?"

"Y-yes...right! So..." Aqua swallowed hard, trying to compose herself again. "I don't want to make a decision about it, either way. The- true form thing, not the- butts- thing!" she added hastily, seeing a new glint in the other woman's eye!

"Of course; we're on the same page again," Natsumi said casually. "Did you think we weren't?"

Aqua gave a mild glare, then sat back and turned away, crossing her arms over herself fully.

"Oh, really now, there's no need to pout. Though you do look absolutely adorable right now..."

Aqua wasn't sure if she wanted to keep glaring, or take the compliment that made her feel so warm and wonderful inside (and made her feel like actually squealing, like normal girls did). "A-anyways...That's the extent of that discussion! Really. Can we get dressed and get ready to go now?"

"Yes, we can."

Aqua turned to look at the woman. "Could I have some privacy, please?"

Natsumi gave her a smile, a nod, then strode off into the bathroom and shut the creaky, stained door behind her.

Aqua got to her feet, jumping up and throwing the sheets aside! She squinted and scanned the room, her gaze roaming the floor space. How could her undergarments have just disappeared in such a small space? And where were her accessories? Her sleeves, her sashes and ribbons...?

Oh. There you are! One of you, at least...

She gathered up and put on her outfit again, piece by piece. Bodysuit. Corset. Straps. Gloves. She felt a lot better now, as she smoothed out her arm sleeves and tugged her cloth sash around her waist again. Finally, she strode over to pick up and swathe herself in her red cloak, clicking the clasp above her chest into place. She pulled the hood up and looked to the bathroom door. "Okay - you can come out now. Sorry it took so long..."

Natsumi emerged, happily striding forth. "It was no trouble for me, Aqua. I want to give you the time and space you need to feel as comfortable as possible with me - especially after such a powerful first experience for you."

"W-well...thank you," Aqua mumbled, flushing again. She grabbed for the doorknob and pulled open the motel door. "We should- go now."

"If you want us to, then we will."

"Right..."

Aqua stepped out into humid air and a blinding sun. She regretted it already. She raised a hand up to her forehead, shielding her eyes...squinting out at the world.

Her heels crunched on the dirt road as the town streets came into sharp relief.

She lowered her hand and looked to her left, then her right-

And she froze, a soft gasp escaping her lips.

The pulsing, ocean blue orb, the size of her fist, was drifting down the street from on high - above the rooftops. Its core swirled with a fractal mirror of a shape, an ever-changing mass, reflecting the environment around it.

Scryer's Eyes!

But why was it here?

How?

Had Zitol's army really found her this quickly - or was it someone else's...for someone else?

They could have looked at a map, and tracked her direction, and then gotten ahead of her - come to intercept her - she guessed. Natsumi probably did stand out, racing across the world in flames like she did...

Or, it was just kind of obvious to them where Aqua was heading: toward Zitol. Toward Ancewell. Toward her "home".

She looked to Natsumi; the woman was standing, tensed, a hand on her sword hilt at her side. But her red eyes were on Aqua's face alone, in that moment...

What should I do? Just do what Natsumi said - throw off my hood and LET THEM find me? But I don't know...what they'd do to me - much less to Natsumi. If they think I'm an imposter, traveling with a kitsune... And I'm not ready for this to end, not yet. Either way. It's selfish, it's idiotic, but I just want...I WANT. Is that really so wrong, after SO LONG...being SO TIRED...?

But, on the other hand, if Aqua did keep this up - kept going, dodging, running, hiding - that would only turn this from some "fun adventure" into a serious run for their lives. More Scryers, maybe even mages and soldiers - bounties, warrants for Natsumi's arrest...or execution, for "kidnapping" Zitol's lost princess. It would be a huge misunderstanding, but a reasonable one to make. And Aqua couldn't let Natsumi face that level of scrutiny, infamy, and danger, all because she wanted to...what? To keep playing at being a free woman? Some ordinary woman off on some whirlwind, exciting adventure?

It was anything but.

It couldn't be.

Not with Aqua.

The dangers, the stakes - it was all too high to play games.

But, if she just got this over with, declared herself, proved herself...ascended to her birthright - she could add "giving the princess/queen ample free time" to the list of things she wanted to do. Change about the way this world worked. There was no way she was going to let herself just be locked up in those palace walls all over again! And there was no way she was going to be the kind of leader who just sat up on some throne, judging and ruling from above, instead of down here with her people themselves! In the streets, on their level. Letting their voices be truly heard.

It was a lot, it was going to be...a lot of big changes for Zitol - for the High Council in particular - but...Aqua was determined to do it. She was confident she could.

She just...had to take the first step.

The first step on a path from which there would be no going back.

Aqua brought a hand to her chest, and took a deep breath of hot, dusty air into her lungs.

"You should go; I don't know what's going to happen to me - or to you," Aqua told Natsumi, as she let the breath go in a quaver. "You can hide, disappear - I won't tell anyone we were traveling together. That we even met-"

"Oh, Aqua, I admire the nobility - but I think it's far too late for that," Natsumi interjected lightly. "So many people saw us together on the airstrip, and I'd imagine people have seen us together here and there, too. Even if you tried to keep me out of the story, others would be able to find me regardless. Really...I think we're almost stuck with each other now, aren't we? Neither of us will get a day of peace again..."

Aqua blushed, nodding to the woman. "If- if you're sure. They could hurt you, or worse. I don't know what's going to happen. I don't want to put you in harm's way...I really don't..."

Natsumi's lips spread wide, into a full grin of teeth and fangs. "Isn't that the exciting part? Rest assured, Miss Aqua: I can fight my way out of an ambushing battalion of humans if need be. You know we kitsune are so very hard to put down!" She said it so cheerfully, so proudly...

Aqua gave another, short nod, and turned away to look down the street. She strode out into it, putting herself squarely in the path of the oncoming scrying orb. She reached up her hands and cast off her hood, her eyes fixed to the approaching magical sphere.

The orb floated closer and closer to her, warbling and bobbing in the air...until it came to a halt a dozen feet in front of her. It descended and swooped in closer to her, suddenly, swiftly. It circled around her, coming to a drifting halt in front of her face now. Directly.

Aqua took another breath, and looked straight into its reflective core as she spoke to it. To whichever mage was on the other end of it, controlling the search...

"I understand you've been looking for your lost princess. Well: you found her. I am Aqua Anfilia Tel-Rho Hurnestra...and I'm ready to come home."

She let her breath go, and glanced at Natsumi.

Natsumi raised her eyebrows at her in response. Then- "That was an impressive number of names," she said quietly, amusedly. "My people rarely go past two."

Aqua failed to suppress a snort, her hand going to her mouth.

"Well - now you know why I like to just go by Aqua."

Although, even that name might be something to cast off at some point, depending on what she learned...

Chapter 46: A Train To Pain

Aqua stood waiting in the streets, off to the side - under the shade of a building's awning.

After her great declaration...that just left the awkwardness of waiting around for something to actually happen.

Whatever would happen here.

She wished she had a Keyblade...or just a weapon - any weapon...

Relying only on magic, even for her, was a path to limited fighting capabilities - even when combined with hand to hand combat. She was a sword mage fighter for a reason - not a pure witch or sorceress! Her magical powers were meant to compliment and support her sword-fighting...not to be relied on completely on their own. She had never trained for that kind of fighting. She wasn't the type who could just wave her hand and perform great feats of pure magic and power, raising golems and structures, or teleporting on a whim, or turning invisible-

Her senses suddenly rang in her ears, alerting her to a presence. A danger.

She turned to look around herself, then stared straight ahead.

Directly in front of her, in a flash of blue light, the air shimmered, and a person became visible to her, their shape and colors all melting into place, like someone was painting with a brush on the very air itself. A three-dimensional canvas.

Some kind of invisibility spell...

It was a mage - that much was obvious. They were also a woman (again, something more than obvious to Aqua). This woman was in her mid or early twenties - slender, average height. She had shoulder-length hair that was a two-toned coloration - the left side was a vibrant purple, while the right was a faded lemonade pink. Her bangs were parted to one side, covering her right eye. Her visible left eye was a forest green, like pine trees. She wore a long, loose robe of purple and black, with hanging tassels on the sleeves and around the waist straps. There was also a hood on it - but it wasn't currently up. She also looked to be wearing small, tight purple ankle-boots. Lastly, Aqua took notice of the symbol stitched onto the chest of the woman's robes; it was familiar, in some way, but Aqua couldn't really recall from where... She was sure it had something to do with the Zitol military, however, so this was definitely...probably the one who had been searching for her through the scrying orb.

For a long moment, they stood staring at each other. The woman's visible eye blinked, an arm rose up, and then...

"Oh...my...gods!" the woman's voice came, high and breathy and hushed. "You are totally one hundred percent the lost princess, aren't you?! I'd bet on those odds!"

Aqua blinked. She glanced over at Natsumi, whose beautiful face held a similar look of complete surprise. "I-" Aqua started, then stopped. Then started again. "Yes. I am her. I mean - I am me. I'm...that princess. Of Zitol." She stopped, sighing and flushing intensely. "I'm sorry, I just wasn't...expecting a warm welcome, I guess...but it's- a relief!"

"It's sooooo much more of a relief for the rest of us, trust me!" the woman went on, in excited tones as she stepped forward, clasping her hands into fists in front of herself. "But we have to like, make sure you're actually her and all, you know, and that it's not just me!" She paused, swallowing. Then she shook her head and gave a wide grin. "Sooooo...hold still, I promise this magic's not gonna kill!"

Aqua took in a breath, raising her arms slowly out of her cloak and holding them up. "A-Alright...I'm not moving. I understand that you have to make sure." She hesitated. "What's your name, by the way?"

The woman hummed as she waved her hand about in front of her, causing pink lines to be drawn in the wake of her fingers. She drew and formed a sigil - then tapped at it. It flashed brightly, and began to pulse regularly now...almost like a heartbeat. "Special operatives like me can't just go giving out our names to anyone who asks! But if you're really the princess then I'm not going to...risk getting...assigned a horrible task?" She spoke haltingly, losing her enthusiasm and falling into uncertainty, her grin fading to a frown. She exhaled out of her nose and hung her head. She raised her hand smacked herself on the side of the head. It looked painful to Aqua. "I'm sorry, that wasn't my best; this really is life's suckiest test..." the woman spoke again, with a moan.

"Are you...okay?" Aqua said hesitantly, staring at the woman now in bafflement. And a little worry, honestly.

The woman perked up startlingly fast, setting her hand on a hip, and twisting her other one into a thumbs up. "I am totally okay! But the fact that you asked really made my day!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, but I have to ask," Aqua sighed, trying to be delicate. "Why exactly are you-"

"Why am I rhyming all of my sentences?" the woman cut across, quick and peppy. "I get that it's like, totally annoying - but I'm not just...just..." She faltered again. She furrowed her brows, then shook her head and threw up her hands. "Toying!" she burst out with.

"Okay..." Aqua said slowly. "I'm sorry, but I still don't quite understand..."

"Oh, it's like this whole looong and boooring story," the woman replied. "But the short version of the story is that I was cursed by this huge bitch of a witch - hah, that one was free - to only be able to speak in, like, poetry? Rhymes, you know! It was punitory!"

Aqua stared at the woman in both horror, and shameful, well, sort of...inappropriate amusement. She stamped it down immediately! "I- see. That sounds terrible!"

The woman grinned, waggling her fingers at Aqua. "Don't be sorry; it usually makes me the life of the party. Annnd as time's gone on, I've kinda figured out that there's at least a little bit of wriggle room with it than I first thought...at first...turn...on?"

Aqua tried to give the woman a comforting smile. She looked at the pulsing symbol, focusing on it quickly. "Has this spell told you who I am yet?"

"Huh wha- oh yeah, yeah, totally, the spell already did its thing like, ten seconds ago!" the woman said swiftly, waving a hand enthusiastically (and wiping away the sigil like erasing a cloud). Then she dropped it straight to her side, taking a deep breath and becoming suddenly serious and calm. She dropped down to the dirt, to one knee, bowing to Aqua then and there!

"Oh, please, you don't have to do that!" Aqua said, blushing and waving her hands. "Please stand up! It's okay. I- if you've gotten proof I'm the princess, then can you tell me your name now?"

The woman jumped up again like a spring. She beamed at Aqua, her eye shimmering now as it fixed to her. "I'm S.R.O Vivian Vars, at your humble service, Your Highness!"

"S...R...O?" Aqua frowned. Why did that sound familiar, too? A history lesson, some important...

"Serene Rose Operative, Your Highness," Vivian helpfully informed. Really, very promptly.

Uncomfortably promptly, to Aqua...

"Of course - Serene Roses," Aqua murmured, as the flash of a memory returned to her at last. The information...as scant as it still was, admittedly. The Serene Roses were just what Vivian had said: a special, secretive military organization that served the royal family directly, carrying out orders and missions that sometimes required a...different approach than the usual soldiers and armies. But mainly, their day to day job was to protect and guard the royal family by staying close by, and looking out for imminent threats. They were mostly made up of mages, weren't they? Highly trained, and highly powerful ones. The best protection anyone could have in this world.

Aqua remembered being surrounded by them as a child. And she remembered the times when she'd managed to escape the castle to go see Scarlet (usually from out of a bathroom, or her own bedroom, the only places she could be alone and have privacy) - only to have the Roses appear out of nowhere and drag her back again...

"...can I say, Your Highness, that you look incredible for your age!" Vivian was saying. She took a strange, long pause, before swallowing and speaking again with, "It's way better than the state we all thought we were going to find you in, after all this time - just ask our best mages."

"Thank you, you're very sweet," Aqua told her kindly - and embarrassedly. She coughed into her hand, turning to Natsumi and gesturing to her. "Anyways, this is my...traveling companion, Natsumi...just Natsumi. She's been helping me make the long, hard journey across the continent to reach home again, after so long. I couldn't have gotten this far without her. She's incredible, really."

Vivian looked at Natsumi, then at Aqua. Then she looked past them - to the old, squat motel building. Her lips tugged into a wide smile. "I'm sure she is, Your Highness! But it's time for the Serene Roses to take it from here - only the finest! If you'd please come with me, I'll escort you to-"

"Sorry - one moment, please," Aqua interrupted, holding up her hand. "Sorry!" She quickly turned to Natsumi, facing her fully. "Are you sure you really still want to do this?"

Natsumi smiled at her. "Things seem nice enough, for now. Besides...what else would I do, Miss Aqua, really?"

Aqua stared at the woman in silence, for a long moment. The thought came to her that she might not have been the only one running away, hiding, delaying inevitable feelings and experiences. All of Natsumi's talk of adventure, excitement, her willingness to just abandon her home and everything else to follow Aqua across the world...was it all just the most blindingly obvious way of avoiding having to think about or deal with her feelings of loss, and grief, and anguish...over her children...? Okay, Aqua would give the woman credit and say she probably did just have this naturally easygoing and upbeat attitude, but beyond that...

"Okay," Aqua said softly, smiling back.

"Forgive the impertinence, Princess, but are you bringing this woman with you?" asked Vivian, hesitant.

"Yes, I am," Aqua said firmly, drawing herself up as she turned back to Vivian.

Vivian peered at Natsumi critically, actually leaning forward, with hands on her hips. Then she leaned back and gave a nod. She put her arms at her sides and gave a brief bow to Aqua. She cleared her throat loudly, schooling her features. "As you say, Your Highness. Let's go, then - this is a train we don't want to miss. Literally, it's...it's a train."

"Alright," Aqua said carefully. "Lead the way, please."

"Yes, ma'am!"

There was some of that peppiness again, then. Aqua had really wondered where it had gone, replaced with this attempt at professionalism...

She really didn't want people to start being all- formal with her and such. She'd rather people just- be themselves. Princess or not. Future...Queen...or not, too! Respect for authority was nice and good, yes, but when it came at the cost of bonds, and led to people suppressing their own Hearts and personalities..that was a step too far to Aqua. Becoming a Keyblade Master hadn't been worth the rift it had caused between her, Terra and Ven...she knew that was the truth now.

So why had she made such a stupid decision again...?

Well, there was no taking it back now.

She couldn't leave this world; she was stuck. Trapped. Condemned.

Again.

Aqua sighed to herself. Loudly.

They walked to the edge of the town, where, after waiting for around an hour or so, a train did arrive. A long, metal, bulky but rounded train. Vivian got them on board by showing a small ID card to the ticket collector, in a secretive and discrete way. Aqua had insisted on paying, though, and had given the conductor woman the money anyways - for herself and Natsumi, at least.

Inside the train, as they moved through the carriages, Aqua noticed it wasn't exactly the most crowded of places. There were a lot of seats, dining cars with tables and such, even - but few actual passengers.

Vivian led Aqua and Natsumi to a specific carriage, and opened a sliding door to a decently sized room (length-wise, at least). It was taking up a good portion of the train car's space all on its own, was why. It was a well-decorated, expensive-looking room, compared to the rest of the train; a carpeted floor, hanging lights, a framed, large round window, a set of table and chairs all its own, and two large beds with polished nightstands of dark wood.

"Is this all...really necessary?" Aqua said hesitantly. "It's all just a bit - much."

A high, girly voice whispered in her ear, reminding her that she had lived most of her life in two separate, extravagant castles.

Which, Aqua admitted, was true - but she'd stopped seeing the Land of Departure as anything like Ancewell's royal palace...a long time ago. She'd just seen it as...a home. A place she loved. A place she was safe. And happy, for the first time in her life. A place where she had friends. And even...maybe something like a family.

"Don't worry; I'll be in the next room over," Vivian said instantly, with a beaming smile. "I won't get in the way of your sleepovers - or hangovers! Yes, nailed that one..."

Aqua blushed; Natsumi just laughed, loudly and heartily, a hand to her lips.

"We'd appreciate that very much, thank you," Natsumi told Vivian warmly.

"S-sleepovers, yes; hangovers, no!" Aqua still tried to clarify. She honestly hadn't tried to drink since her last, past night out with Elrena...which was a while ago by this point!

"Her Highness can do what she wants," Vivian responded, that smile still fixed into place, as she gave a swift and low bow. "At least until her debutante." She paused. "I don't really know what kinda life you've been living these past twenty years...but it's not for my ears. I just hope it's been a good one, if I can say so, and not, like, one that's been...full of tears?"

Aqua frowned, looking away. Then, down at her feet. She blew a breath and raised her head. "Of course you can say so. I appreciate the concern for my- well-being! And I think I can say that, while my life...definitely hasn't been easy at times...I think the good I've had in it did come to outweigh the bad. I think it's still outweighing it."

"I'm so glad to hear that, whew, what a relief!" Vivian exclaimed. She froze, then cleared her throat and schooled herself again. She gave another bow, then retreated to the door. "I'll keep this brief, and just...go and...stop giving you- grief?"

"Of course. You can do go and do- whatever you want," Aqua told her, feeling pity for the woman now. "Just - relax - have some water. Erm...you're off duty for now?"

"Oh thank gods - by your leave, Your Highness!" Vivian said breathlessly, disappearing through the doorway and closing it shut behind her swiftly.

Natsumi eyed the door. She turned and went over to one of the large beds, and sat down on its ironed sheets. "Well, she's an amusing person, isn't she. I wouldn't mind getting to know her better sometime. Though she is a 'special operative'. Her entire demeanor could just be an act to make us drop our guard."

Aqua moved to the bed to join the woman, laying down on it with a loud sigh. "I hate to agree with that - but you could be right. If you are...it's definitely working."

It was a real conundrum, wasn't it?

On the one hand, she wanted to just be able to take people at their word - at face value.

On the other hand...she'd been fooled before. Terribly fooled.

Xehanort, Maleficent...Luxu...

Was she going to let herself be a fool again, or was she going to go with her instincts (and training)?

What did her Heart say about this Vivian woman?

Well...it said she was genuine.

But could Aqua trust that?

She knew well, too, how Hearts could lead people astray...

"I want to trust her - but let's keep our eyes peeled," Aqua said finally.

"And our ears open," Natsumi nodded, smiling.

Aqua smiled too. "Yes. Those too."

---

The train's journey wasn't a short one.

In fact, it was one that would take several days. Four days, if it made good time on its all-encompassing route across the continent.

Aqua spent the first two days talking with Natsumi and Vivian, and exploring the train (despite Vivian's protests that it was "dangerous" and that she had to "look out for the Princess's safety above all else"). She was adamant in her resolve to not let this decision end up with her being trapped again. Anywhere. For any reason.

On the third day, Aqua woke feeling a little more comfortable and a little less...completely jarred by life on a constantly moving train.

It was certainly one of those new experiences she'd been looking forward to having out here.

Aqua ate some breakfast and went wandering down along the train cars - with Natsumi beside her, and Vivian trailing along behind her (she always insisted on being close by, at least, "just in case"). Aqua didn't really want to act like she had in her childhood and try to give the woman the slip or anything, because she liked to think she was more mature than that by now - and because she wasn't at that emotionally furious and frustrated point with her bodyguard...yet.

And at least it was just one woman, this time...not an entire, suffocating retinue. One woman who was pleasant to be around, at that! Not some wary, stern, faceless person, like she remembered them all being as a little girl...

Although...speaking of which...

"Do you really have to just...wear that all the time?" Aqua spoke, as she sat down in the spacious and entirely empty lounge car, on a velvety cushioned sofa. She gestured to Vivian's robes. "Even out here, in these desert areas?"

Vivian sat down on her left, a good few feet apart from Aqua - while Natsumi sat on her right, significantly closer. Vivian turned and gave Aqua a nod and a smile, her eye glinting. "If it was a normal outfit, it'd be totally sucky, sure - but it's our uniform! It's magically enchanted and enhanced to make sure that...no matter what the situation or environment...we can still...optimally perform."

Aqua smiled back, nodding. "That's good," she said, in honest relief. She had honestly wondered if Zitol's military wanted their elite and secret operatives passing out from heat stroke all the time...

She turned in her seat to look out the window, watching the world passing by. The deserts were becoming more bountiful - shrubs and plants were much more common, dotting the landscape. She even spotted creeks and streams, and a full, rushing river near a mountain. They would be out of this region soon, and into more green pastures. Literally. They would have to pass through a border checkpoint, and then on through a new area, where they would finally get to the edge of Zitol territory, and-

Suddenly the glass shattered in Aqua's face, the wind howled - and an arm reached in, grabbed her by the neck, and tore her out of the train car before she even knew what was happening to her!

Aqua's whole body was pulled out into open air, caught in a steely grasp - and then she was being pulled upward...and then slammed down onto the whipping, windy metal rooftop of the train, hard enough to knock any remaining air out of her lungs.

She gasped for that air, her hands found the hand still squeezing at her throat-

And then her mind caught up with her situation, and she realized she was staring up into a face.

She realized...she was staring up into a familiar face.

It was older, it was worn, it was cut, it was dirty, it was gaunt - but the undeniable proof of identity was still there on that face, after all this time... An older, faded, curved and jagged scar that started from under the right eye, and curved down to just underneath the lips.

Deep, blood red eyes gazed down on Aqua, wide and jittery. Tangled, long strands of darkest red hair that bordered on black whipped about wildly. But the owner of that hair didn't seem to care...to notice...all she had her eyes on...was Aqua.

Aqua forgot to even struggle, let alone breathe, as she stared up into that face. Her mind barely registered the darkening edges of her own vision, or that the hand squeezing the life from her wasn't even flesh and blood, but dirty, scratched, mechanical steel that could have matched the train's rooftop itself...

She couldn't give voice to the shock, confusion, and horror she felt in that moment. All she had was her thoughts...and old, childhood memories that flashed before her eyes.

Scarlet...

Scarlet suddenly pulled her up off the roof of the train, then slammed her back down again. She bent down low, pushing her face into Aqua's, baring teeth out of trembling lips, her eyes narrowing into slits, burning and shimmering. Then, the woman's face went lower; Aqua felt the hot breath against her ear, whipped away by the winds. And then the voice...for her alone...

"You're not even going to try to fight me? After all this time? You owe me!"

Something inside of Aqua started to work again.

She brought her knee slamming up into Scarlet's stomach, gathered magic inside her in an instant, and hurled her off with superhuman strength.

Scarlet's hand wrenched free of her throat - and then woman herself was taken by the wind, rolling and slamming across the roof of the train car. In all that twisting and turning, though, at some point she got her hands under her - and her metallic limb punched down into the metal roof and stopped her wild movements in their tracks. She crouched there, low, and her head whipped up - those eyes staring at Aqua again. Burning with-

Not that wild fury or insane rage from before - oh, that was there, yes - but accompanying it now was...something that Aqua knew well on that girl's (now woman's) face: happiness. Joy. As rare as it was...

Aqua slowly stood up, sucking in air as the world rushed back to her in full. She tilted her hand at her side to show her palm; a swirling purple, magical gravity circle formed under her feet, and then purple particles fluttered up around her. She let her hand relax, letting the magic circle vanish, and began taking casual, confident strides toward...Scarlet. Unaffected by the train's barreling speeds, by force or pressure, or winds now.

Scarlet gazed at her with genuine surprise. Then her lips spread into a wide smile as she slammed her flesh-and-blood hand onto the train, a purple light bursting up around her as well. A quick flash - and then she was standing up too, now, like they were inside the train rather than outside of it.

Suddenly, a roaring of orange flames exploded up between them - a massive hole was burned through the rooftop in an instant, the edges charred and melted. From up out of that hole came Natsumi, her sword out and in hand - and Vivian, who landed in-between Aqua and Scarlet.

Vivian's eyes instantly found Scarlet - as did Natsumi's.

Scarlet's eyes flickered from one to the other, and then past them, straight to Aqua. Her hands curled at her sides, her hair swirling about her face and shoulders...

Then she exploded into motion, throwing herself forward.

Notes:

YES Scarlet is unashamedly kinda inspired by Winter Soldier and also NERO from Devil May Cry lol! xD I will not deny that. :D Imitation is a form of flattery or whatever, right? And it's not like it's not a TROPE to have cyborg badass lone warriors in fiction. Kai Leng anyone? Ghost In The Shell? xD I rest my case and feel no guilt.

Chapter 47: Staying On Track

Aqua thrust out her hand, sending out a speeding comet of twisting strands of blue energy at Scarlet.

In that same moment, Natsumi and Vivian acted too: Natsumi slashed her blade down in front of her, sending a burning line of fire at Scarlet; Vivian took a darting step forward - then vanished in a flash of blue, reappearing behind Scarlet and thrusting out a hand of ice magic.

Aqua's attack reached Scarlet first; the small blue orb of light flashed in front of Scarlet, enveloping her in a crystal blue barrier dome. Natsumi and Vivian's attacks struck the barrier, cracking it and burning it...but not breaking it.

Both women looked at Aqua, questioning.

"It's Scarlet!" she said to Natsumi. She looked to Vivian, adding, "She's an old friend - I want to subdue her, not kill her!"

Natsumi gave a nod, swishing her blade and shoving it back into its sheath. Then her body burst into flames, and her large, true kitsune form materialized atop the train. Her great size and powerful paws probably should have dented in the roof a little, or something like that - but it didn't. She was looking as light as a feather...or a ghost.

Vivian did a double take, her bangs fluttering out of her face to reveal both of her eyes, wide with surprise. But not outright shock. Then she turned to Aqua and bowed her head swiftly. "As you command, Princess Aqua!"

Aqua tried not to wince at the shouted out title.

Scarlet was standing inside the barrier dome, looking around at it. She reached out a hand to touch it; the magic crystal rippled with rainbows of light. She dropped her head, and her hand.

Aqua strode forward, standing before her. Gazing in at her. "Scarlet - why?"

That was the only question that needed to be asked.

Scarlet didn't respond. She sank down into a crouching position, her head still bowed. Her prosthetic arm reached down, her index finger touching and tracing at the train's exterior...

"You were the only friend I ever had - the first friend I ever made in my life!" Aqua tried again, loudly over the winds. "WHY? What did I do to you - what did I EVER do to deserve this now?"

Scarlet finally glanced up at her. Sharp and sudden. "It's not what you did - it's what you didn't do." Her voice was tight and quivering, brimming with fury. With hate. Like her eyes... "But you're going to make up for it now finally...as my handsomest bounty. The biggest payout anyone could hope for."

Bounty...? Then, Scarlet was a bounty hunter now...and Aqua was her target. Her prey. Her hunt.

Natsumi must have been right about a lot of people knowing and seeing them across these past few weeks. Especially since the airstrip. Enough to not only get Zitol searching, but anyone else who wanted to find her - and use her for selfish, greedy gains.

Like Scarlet...

Because Aqua definitely doubted that the woman really cared about whatever money she was going to get, and more so about the personal satisfaction and revenge for...whatever it was that Aqua had done to her. Or hadn't done. Clearly, Scarlet had strong feelings about whatever had happened in her life since the night Aqua had disappeared, though...

That was the root of this. The cause of it all. Not just for Scarlet, but for the entire nation. One little girl's disappearance was all it took...to ripple out and cause so many unintended side effects, for so many years to come. All Aqua had been thinking about at the time was her own freedom - an escape from it all. Selfishness and pettiness. Self-centered, emotional, greedy. Forgetting all about-

Scarlet shrouded her metal fist in flames and suddenly slammed it down into the roof. Magic fires exploded beneath her, washing up around her in the barrier dome, obscuring her! By the time Aqua dropped the barrier and the smoke cleared away, Scarlet was gone. There was a large hole in the roof where she'd last been standing.

Aqua immediately started toward the hole that Natsumi had made, intending to hop down into the train again. But suddenly Scarlet came flipping up behind her, landing with a thud of boots and flying fists shrouded in yellow magicks - she must have climbed out through the window to sneak up on her like that!

Aqua closed her fist, her mind calling up a powerful but rarely used spell in her mind in an instant of subconscious focus and, yes, panic: Teleport. In a flicker of air and a pink light, she vanished as Scarlet flew at her, and reappeared right behind her. Aqua immediately struck out, punching Scarlet rapidly in the back with fists of glowing pink magic, then she dropped down and spun low to sweep the woman's legs out from under her as she was off-balance.

Scarlet fell. But as she fell, she twisted in the air, coming down on Aqua face-to-face. Her hands seized Aqua's wrists as she landed atop her, her eyes burning into Aqua's. Then, Scarlet drew her head back, and slammed it down onto Aqua's face.

Aqua cried out in shock as much as pain! That wasn't how you did combat!

In the next moment, a hard fist struck her in the gut, causing her to gasp and go rigid. Then, she realized it was more than just the shock and pain of the strike: Scarlet had hit her with a blast of Paralysis magic! The yellow motes of light floated around Aqua, binding her in place awkwardly.

Vivian raised a hand of purple, flickering light, stepping forward with a look of fear and concern on her face. A look and a reaction Aqua didn't think could be faked, not on the fly, not so strongly...

Scarlet leapt to her feet again, hauling Aqua up with her swiftly. She held Aqua in front of her like a living shield, pressed against her from behind, an arm going around her neck - that steely metal hand finding her throat again.

"Nobody move - unless you want to help me give her some pain," Scarlet called out. "I don't care what condition she's in when I turn her over for my reward...just that she's not going to die any time soon."

Vivian froze in the act of moving to attack.

Natsumi gazed down on Scarlet with narrowed, ruby eyes. Her great muzzle drew back in a loud, rumbling growl, showing off rows of sharp, deadly teeth.

Scarlet took a step backwards, dragging Aqua helplessly along with her!

Natsumi leapt forward with a sudden roar and burning flames!

Scarlet threw herself backwards, over the edge of the train, and kicked her foot off the curved side as she fell. Magic burst beneath her, sending her and Aqua flying out into the air.

As Natsumi came for them in the air, the flames flashed around her, and suddenly she was in her human form again. She twisted and flew past Scarlet's shoulder, her sword flashing with an orange glow.

Scarlet let out a gasp of pain, and her grip on Aqua was broken.

Leaving Aqua to hit the dirt, bounce on it hard, and come to a rolling, violent stop against a collection of shrubs - and a short little tree with a handful of orange leaves.

She sucked in air and did her best to look around with only her eyes. She saw Natsumi land in the dirt - facing Scarlet, who was just rising to her feet in a flipping of long hair and dust.

Aqua gasped at the sight of the woman's glowing, cleanly cut metal stump, inches down from her shoulder. That was what Natsumi had done - what she'd targeted in that unconventional transforming strike of hers. The severed metal limb itself was laying in the dirt, a few feet away from Scarlet herself.

Scarlet looked at Natsumi with eyes of undisguised panic, and fear. Then her gaze found Aqua...and narrowed.

Natsumi lunged for Scarlet with a great roar.

Scarlet twisted out of the way and dodged to the left-

Only for Natsumi's other paw to come swinging down on her. Natsumi's great limb slammed Scarlet down flat on the ground, pinning her there with a heavy thud. Scarlet stared up at her, thrashing and raising a hand of flames...but she let it go when Natsumi's gaping jaws snapped and snarled inches from her face.

"Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods!" Vivian's wailing tones came, as she thudded into the dirt in a flash of blue light. She came racing over to Aqua, her face the picture of distress. She raised a hand to Aqua, and Aqua suddenly was able to move again. Vivian immediately turned away, did an actual hop, and raised her hands to grab her own head on either side. "My first real assignment since entering the Roses and I'm the girl who found the lost princess - but I'm also the girl who totally proceeded to screw it all up by letting the lost princess get snatched by some crazy merc while I was sitting right next to her; could anyone have ever messed it up any less?! I was practically useless - you did all the work, Princess! I'll be demoted first thing we get back, or just kicked out of the Roses completely, or maybethey'lljustexecuteme...and that's a fact!" she finished, breathless and wild.

"It's okay - I don't think anyone could have expected something like that to happen!" Aqua said loudly, rising to her feet and walking over to the woman. "If anyone does have some kind of problem with you for this, I'll make sure it gets resolved, okay?"

Vivian froze in the middle of violently, repeatedly stomping a boot into the dirt, punctuated by swears. She turned slowly, shoulders cringed, and peered at Aqua through a single eye. "Wait, really...?"

"Yes!" Aqua said firmly, giving her a smile. "Why wouldn't I? You didn't do anything wrong. It was just...a situation no one could have predicted. But it wasn't anyone's fault."

The woman's eye shimmered as she turned to more fully face Aqua. Her lips opened, glistening... Then she suddenly hurled herself down at Aqua's feet, prostrating herself before her with outstretched arms and loud crying sounds. "O-oh m-my goooods! We are totally, completely not w-worthy of y-you, my P-Princess! Whyyyy, why, why, WHY were we deprived of such a generous and kind ruler for all these years?!"

Aqua stepped back, incredibly taken aback. "T-thank you, thank you - but I think you need to compose yourself! We need to figure out what to do with Scarlet - and the train that's about to pass us by and leave us stranded out here...again."

Vivian shot upright with a gasp, looking horror-struck. She sucked in a long breath, wiped at her eyes, and leapt to her feet again. "Right, right, right! Her Highness's wisdom knows no bounds! So let's turn things around!" She cleared her throat and moved swiftly for Scarlet and Natsumi. She raised a hand half-way, dropped it, then raised it up again. She flashed her palm out to Scarlet, and in a flash of light, the other woman fell away into sleep, her eyes closing slowly. "Okay, well that's that deal with! Now what to do about the train...? Could your kitsune friend get us back up there in a- a- jiff?"

Aqua looked at Natsumi - who was already nodding her great big head in response.

"Oh, great!" Vivian exclaimed, beaming. "Hop on and we won't be late!"

Aqua strode forward quickly, while Vivian raised her hand to Scarlet again; a glow surrounded Scarlet, and her unconscious form rose up and lay itself across Natsumi's backside. Aqua jumped up onto Natsumi, followed by Vivian.

Natsumi immediately turned and exploded into speed and motion, running alongside the train! It was incredible, really, to have a comparison now with her; she was running so fast that the train quickly looked like it was standing still...and then she even started to overtake it, the sounds of her feet on the ground getting faster and faster! After a few seconds of this, Natsumi turned her head and jumped up into the air. She sailed up well above the train, coming back down to land on its rooftop with the lightest clang.

"Okay, I totally see why you like her - DER!" Vivian's high, joyous tones shouted out.

---

Binding Scarlet up in their room probably wasn't the smartest choice - but it was the only one they had.

Aqua didn't think the woman would be doing much of anything with only one arm...

She sighed heavily as she knelt down in front of the woman, staring into her sleeping face. She reached out and adjusted the one-handed, metal binds Vivian had placed on Scarlet (courtesy of the train guards). Vivian had also put an enchantment on them - a spell that would give Scarlet a terrible shock if she tried reaching for any magic, casting any spells of her own.

Vivian had said it was "Usually really effective - but some people learn to power through it...buuuut let's just hope that's not the kind of trouble she'll be able to give!"

Aqua watched Scarlet for a long time, not moving.

Natsumi came and went, once or twice - while Vivian stayed near the door the whole time.

Aqua just ignored her.

She only had eyes for Scarlet.

After what must have been an hour or more, Scarlet finally stirred. She woke up.

Her head jerked upright - her eyes fluttered - her body tensed...and then it drained away, as her gaze met Aqua's.

The tension in Scarlet's body, anyways - not the seething, burning anger and hatred in her eyes.

"What didn't I do, Scarlet?" Aqua said quietly, immediate. "I don't understand how you can hold me responsible for whatever's happened to you while I was gone. If it was something I could have personally done something about, though...I want you to know I would have. And I am sorry, for whatever...has happened in your life. But I don't think all of this hate, and anger towards me is justified."

Scarlet sagged where she sat, her head falling to the side - her chin, down to touch the shoulder of her missing arm, where the burned, metal base piece was still there, attached. The woman's eyes closed, and a short breath was let free. "You were just like everyone else. You still are."

"What do you mean?" Aqua asked, trying to be calm, fair, patient - understanding. She wanted to understand her oldest, and first friend...she really did...

"I get it now," Scarlet said, with a soft laugh. "I see it now. I never saw it before, but...can you blame a girl?"

"What do you get, now, Scarlet?"

"You were screwing with me - you set me up."

"What?" Aqua was more offended than anything else.

"It was all a big trick from the start. Find the lost, homeless kid, give her all those little trinkets and coins, straight from the palace - then vanish, and let her get caught with it all. Let her take the fall for the disappearing act."

"Scarlet, that's- not what happened at all," Aqua said tightly, swallowing. She'd almost laughed, too, almost just flat out called the woman ridiculous. But she couldn't do that to her... "I really wanted to help you! I wanted to be your friend! Whatever happened after I disappeared, I am sorry, but I had nothing to do with it! If I had known...if I'd come back sooner...I would have been there for you. For all of this!"

Scarlet's eyes opened, and her head came up again. Those eyes gazed at her, lips twisting. "That's a real comfort to the nine year old girl that your soldiers snatched up and threw into a dark hole for years."

"W-what?! Why- how could they do something like that?" Aqua exclaimed, horror going through her. Squeezing at her Heart (along with the shock, the guilt...).

"They said it was all those trinkets and coins of yours," Scarlet spoke, in low tones. Low, bitter, hateful tones. "That night you did your vanishing act, they showed up and took me, locked me up in some dark dungeon of yours. Said they knew I had something to do with it. That I knew where you were. Who those people were who'd attacked the castle. Where some armored warrior of a guy was, who'd been the last one seen with you." The woman laughed again, and her eyes shut as she drew in a shaking breath. "I kept telling them I didn't know anything, I kept telling them, but it took them a while to finally listen to me. But even after they believed me, they kept me in there - in chains, in a little, stone cell. For a long time..."

"How long...?" Aqua whispered, gazing at the woman's face.

"Six years. I know that because they let me out a few days after my fifteenth birthday."

"Why would they keep you in there for so long if you were innocent? If you never- and you were a child, you-!"

"I guess they forgot," Scarlet's voice came, pained, but somehow casual. She shrugged her shoulders, keeping her eyes closed still. Her head fell back, resting against the wall. "I was easy to miss - a little girl in a dark little space - and they had a lot more important things to deal with, like the attack on the castle, and their missing, precious princess. But eventually someone must have remembered me, and thought I shouldn't be there. I thought it might have been you - finally. I hoped it was you. But you weren't there, were you?" The woman's eyes opened at last, gazing up at Aqua. There was that hate, yes, but...the pain, too. Pain, and pleading. "You never came to clear things up, order my release, or just to visit...to mock me, to gloat, at how stupid the dirty peasant was to fall for your whole game. I would have liked that. But you never even did that. I just didn't exist to you. You didn't even care enough to hate me, to taunt me! Where were you?!"

Aqua bowed her head, closing her own eyes. She let out a trembling breath. She raised a hand, curling it into a fist...and then she dropped it.

Where had she been?

Running. Hiding. Focusing on herself.

On some desire to be a good little hero, a warrior of light...

A Keyblade Wielder, and then a Master.

But for all the worlds and people she'd helped...she had ignored the one that mattered the most.

The one...where all the difference in the World could have been made.

If she had just...left when she was first going to, when she was ten years old - with what she'd learned, with her Keyblade called to her, even at the time, she could have come back and changed everything. She could have cut Scarlet's horrific, sickening ordeal short at "just" two years. She could have explained, she could have reached her, she could have...

But now, after twenty years...was it all too late?

Too late for Scarlet, and too late for this kingdom?

"I see you still keep them with you," Scarlet's voice came again, breaking through Aqua's raging storm of thoughts and emotions.

"Keep...who?" Aqua said, confused.

Scarlet looked past Aqua, nodding her head.

Aqua turned, looking to Vivian. A very shocked, pale-faced looking Vivian; she'd been listening to it all, of course. "What do you mean, keep them with-"

"They were the ones who grabbed me - and the ones who tortured me, for all those weeks after they got me," Scarlet's stated, in a harsh voice. "Serene Roses...I guess they lived up to the name, because they all looked pretty serene about it. Not one of them ever stopped, or refused to do it."

"That's just insane!" Vivian exclaimed suddenly, in a high voice. "We never would have done something like-"

"You did," Scarlet cut her off, flat and clear. "You all did."

"Who was it...?" Aqua said, in a quavering voice, as she reached out to gently touch Scarlet's shoulder. The shoulder of her absent arm. "Could you describe them to me? Faces - maybe names? If you can tell me, I'll make sure they pay for it. I promise-"

"Even if I believed you, I couldn't," Scarlet replied. "They were all cowards - they covered their faces. I only saw their eyes."

"She's lying! She has to b-be!" Vivian spoke again, insistent. Shaking. "The Roses wouldn't do that; the second they realized she didn't have anything to do with that night, they would have set her free. Why would they keep a k-kid for all that-"

Aqua stood in a flicker of air and a flash of pink - she reappeared in front of Vivian, staring down on her.

The woman flinched, stepping backwards. Falling silent.

Scarlet wasn't lying. You couldn't just fake that kind of emotion, that pain and loneliness. Memories of trauma, isolation. Aqua knew that personally, herself...Scarlet wasn't lying about this.

...But neither was Vivian.

Not that Scarlet would ever accept that, or believe it. Not that Aqua would ever blame her for that. But could she still get Scarlet to believe her? Could she start to fix this, to make amends, now? Or was it really just...too late for that?

Well, even if not for Scarlet, Aqua was going to make someone pay.

So that, at least, nothing like this could ever happen again.

Chapter 48: Understanding Each Other

Notes:

Oh hey the B plot came back! xD Wonder what I'm cooking there...? :D

Also Aqua's totally not getting to the capital until like next chapter, or two, cause...B plot took up word count. xD The price you pay lol!

"Well that glass canyon in the desert was oh so pretty or whatever - but a huge bust! And every world since has been the exact same thing!"

Skuld sighed, nodding as she followed Elrena through the field of flowers in the middle of a dense forest.

It didn't seem like this world would be any different than the last two on the list to investigate that they had visited, either. There wasn't even anything remarkable about it, as far as she could tell...nothing out of place or noteworthy. Nothing magical or strange.

Maybe they were just in the wrong part of this world?

Skuld looked up into the sky of blue - at the snowy mountains in the distance ahead of them. Several of them in a tight group. One of them, on the left, had a large portion of it carved away on one side. That, at least, was something interesting. But was it worth looking into?

"...not going to find a damn thing like this! Ugh! You know what? Let's just move on! I vote new world! This one's completely-" Elrena was ranting still, stomping out ahead.

"What are you looking for? Maybe I can help?" a voice came suddenly in the still forest.

Elrena froze.

Skuld stopped too, looking around. Wariness in her Heart. "Who's there?" she spoke out.

"I'm over here!" the voice came again.

Skuld turned on her heel, scanning the treeline. She heard a rustling sound, and tilted her head back to look upward. Had the voice come from-

Several sparking knives flew over Skuld's head, stabbing into the tree's trunk, beneath the branches.

"What is WRONG WITH YOU?!" the unknown voice exclaimed. The leaves rustled, and a small, blue bird emerged out of the tree, darting overhead and flying in a wide circle. "I usually have better experiences with humans!"

Skuld gazed up at the little bird, gasping. Then she smiled, rolling her neck and looking to Elrena.

Elrena looked back at her, jaw dropped. Then she shook her head furiously and crossed her arms. "Nuh-uh! No! I am not asking the bird for directions! If I need their help, I'll turn them into crispy chi-"

"My friend is trying to tell you how sorry she is - she's not very good with words!" Skuld said loudly, raising a hand to the sky. She crooked her wrist and extended a finger. "Could you come down here for us? Please? We're lost and we could use some help from someone who knows this place."

The bird flew down in a spiraling path, darting around Skuld before coming to a sudden fluttering stop on her outstretched finger. They twitched and cocked their head, looking at Skuld's face.

Skuld gave a smile. "Thanks. Again, we're sorry about that. She's the type to attack first and ask questions later...she's very defensive. And sensitive."

"Ughhhhh..." Elrena growled out, stomping off, then starting to pace, tapping her fingers on her arms.

"See?" Skuld's smile turned to a small grin now. "Anyways, I'm Skuld, and she's Elrena. What's your name?"

The bird fluttered their wings at their sides, hopping around on Skuld's finger. "Bella. But youuuuu...you can understand me?! Humans never understand me! Any of us!"

Skuld found herself laughing, and it felt good, and natural, and easy again - like with her friends, during her time in Daybreak Town. For that moment, she almost felt like herself again, fully. The words were definitely coming easier to her right now than ever before in recent memories. Like she was almost back...at the top of her game. "I guess we're just...different from most humans here on your world."

"On my world? What's that mean?"

Skuld paused. She frowned. She smiled again. "Never mind. Bella, what we're looking for is something...like a big hole, or - something like that mountain over there." She raised her other arm to point into the distance. "Do you know anything about it...?"

Bella twitched their head away, looking to the mountains. "There were a lot of humans over there recently - they came through the whole forest with their noisy vehicles and guns. They were going inside these tunnels at the base of that strange mountain. But then this other human came out of them, and there was this big light, and then all of their vehicles were broken, and a bunch of people I've never seen before came out of the ground. They were scary and dangerous, with yellow eyes like the sun, and they were made out of smoke!"

Skuld blinked at Bella, then looked over at Elrena. Pointed. Victorious.

Elrena sighed, rolling her eyes and putting a hand to her face. "Okay, so talking to the bird wasn't useless after all - how was I supposed to know that?!"

"You could have given them a chance first," Skuld replied, gazing at her squarely.

Elrena held her gaze, her lips working silently. Then she threw up her hands with a groan. "Fine - lesson learned - I'll keep it in mind for next time we come across any talking animals! Can we get a move on already? It sounds like the Heartless...and probably someone leading them who needs a good beatdown!"

"How long ago did this happen?" Skuld asked Bella quickly.

"It was just after my morning meal, so...an hour ago?" Bella responded promptly.

"Thanks," Skuld said again, smiling down at them. "You've been a huge help to us. You can go back to your business."

"It was mostly a pleasure, humans!" Bella declared, bolting off of Skuld's hand in a flutter of blue feathers and soaring off toward the trees.

"Okay, let's go," Skuld told Elrena, summoning her Keyblade and raising it up before her. She focused on the mountains ahead of her...and conjured a portal of light.

"Wait a minute, in-world portaling like that still works?" Elrena said, incredulous.

"Apparently," Skuld said with a laugh, striding forth into the portal.

Elrena hurried after her. "Don't you dare leave without me!"

They passed through the portal, stepping out on the other side into a different environment from the forest. An instant, stark change.

The portal of light shut behind them with a snap.

Skuld stopped in her tracks, staring around her in silent horror.

It was...like the site of a war.

Twisted, burning vehicles were scattered everywhere. There were broken weapons, and fallen helmets all around the area. The ground was punctuated by both sizable craters, and large spires of blackened, twisted strands and pulsing blue strips of energy. Those spires immediately sent a coldness down Skuld's back. She knew what they were: darkness! Constructs of physical darkness.

"Damn...these guys really didn't stand a chance, from the looks of things," Elrena remarked. "I guess the little bird was right."

"Let's just see if we can find what we're supposed to find here," Skuld said quietly, taking a breath and moving forward. She set her eyes on the dark, jagged entrance to a long, deep tunnel of rock and stone leading into the broken mountain. "And keep your eyes peeled for Heartless."

"Yeah, yeah - I'm already on it," Elrena murmured, as her Keyblade flashed to life in her hand. "Why does this just feel like Daybreak Town all over again...?"

---

The last day and a half of the journey to Zitol's capital was one Aqua spent...well, dreading. Worrying.

Vivian had gotten them through the border checkpoints easily and discretely enough. They were into the edge of Zitol's territory now - into a more hilly, grassy expanse, split by rivers, lakes, and distant mountains with snowy peaks.

Aqua had tried to keep talking with Scarlet, trying to...she wasn't sure, to be honest. Rekindle a friendship? Earn forgiveness, even if it was for something she hadn't actually done? It didn't matter much: Scarlet had gone completely silent, after that first, revealing conversation. And Aqua didn't know how to get her to talk again...but she wasn't going to try and force her to. She just hoped...that her words really reached the woman's Heart, through all of the hate, and anger, and misconceptions...the pain, and blame...carried for so long.

Words from her own Heart.

"I know what it's like to be lost in the dark - trapped - all alone," Aqua spoke softly, as she knelt before the woman on the floor of the train car. Watching her. "Nothing but yourself, your own worst, most desperate and terrible thoughts, and feelings. Doubts, fears - thinking it's all just hopeless, that there is never going to be an end in sight...a way back into a world of light. Up until...almost a year ago now, I was all alone in darkness like that, with no escape. I was there for ten years."

Scarlet lifted her head. Her eyes flickered...her lips parted - and then pressed thin again. But she was still looking - paying attention now...

"So many times, in that dark place, all by myself...I considered just giving up - letting myself die," Aqua said tightly. "But the memories of the people I knew, and the places I'd been...they kept hope alive. And developing the habit of talking to myself kept my sanity alive," she added, in a mutter, looking away for a moment. "Not that I think honestly had much of it left, towards the end. I started to slip, to break - doubts and weaknesses in my Heart growing louder and louder. A twisted voice, an image of myself, an illusion that confronted me with the worst, weakest parts of myself. And the images of- people I knew were there, too. I kept seeing them, and I didn't know if they were there to give me hope, a glimpse of happiness, or...if that dark place was taunting me again. But I came to a point where I didn't care anymore if they were phantoms: I just missed them so much, I'd take anything - to see them, to talk to them again! Even if they were just illusions conjured up from my own delusional, insane Heart."

Aqua looked Scarlet in the face, leaning forward on her hands and knees. "You wanted to know where I've been: that's where I've been, since I was eighteen years old. It was a terrible, magical place...another dimension, a realm where time itself didn't seem to matter much. Where the only company I had besides mockeries of illusions of my friends...were hordes of deadly, dark monsters. Creations of smoke and shadow. Ever-present. Always hunting for me, if I stayed in one place too long. I guess, all this to say, Scarlet...I understand. More than most. I think it would surprise you."

Scarlet let her head fall to her shoulder, her eyes blinking...and, for a moment now...losing that hateful, intense look for first time. But then, it was back, as she looked up at Aqua again. Into her eyes. "That doesn't tell me where you were between eight and eighteen."

Aqua sat back again, her breath catching. She looked down, putting hands in her lap. "You know I was never happy being the princess. I just needed- I needed to get away from it all! I needed...and it was more complicated than you probably think! The things that happened that night...the things i learned, and saw...I needed an escape! I never thought that by leaving like that - that you'd suffer so terribly for it! I- I was eight years old, Scarlet, I couldn't have thought ahead, or considered something like that! I was just thinking about...the present. I never set you up, I didn't trick you...I was just a little girl doing what was best for herself in life: just like you always were. And I never blamed you for that, did I? So you can't blame me now!"

"You still haven't answered the question: where were you?"

Aqua frowned. She glanced up at Scarlet. "I was dedicating my Heart and body to training...to become a warrior. Someone who fought for truth, and justice, and order and light."

"Was I the first person you were going to come back and fight for?"

"I- I was going to come back home again - when I was ten. I was going to leave my Master, I was going to come back and- it was always my intention to use everything I learned from him to come back and use it for-"

"But I guess you never did, did you? I don't remember seeing you outside my cell when I was eleven."

Aqua fell silent. "No...I decided to stay, to learn more, to get stronger! I was still in training when I was eighteen! I'd just- passed the test to become a Master, myself, free to go where I pleased - but there was a- crisis, a dangerous enemy who betrayed my Master, destroyed our home! It was battle after battle, and then, in the final battle with the man himself, I...I fell into that dark realm, all alone. There was never time."

Scarlet laughed, turning her head aside, closing her eyes. "You should have just come back for me..." she said, in a wavering, high tone that sounded a lot more like the girl Aqua once knew.

"I know...and I'm sorry. Really. I'm really, really sorry..."

Scarlet didn't respond to her.

"Scarlet...I- I'm here now. We're both here, we're both free. We..." Aqua shook her head as her own words died on her lips. She shook her head and got to her feet. "Maybe it is too late," she murmured, turning away and striding for the door.

"You owe me an arm now, too..."

Aqua stopped, turning back to look at Scarlet. To her surprise, the look that she caught on the woman's face, for a brief moment, almost looked like... Aqua nodded, and curved her lips into a small smile. "I'll find someone to...work on that for you, when we reach the capital." She paused. "And I promise you that, no matter what happens, I'm not going to leave you again."

"No, you'll leave me to rot again."

"No! I- while, yes, you still should be tried and sentenced for all of this here - attacking a passenger train, and trying to kidnap me - I'm not going to let anything happen to you...like before. I'm here now, Scarlet. And I'm going to make sure you're treated properly - even if you do have to do the time for your crimes."

"Oh that's reassuring! Do you think they're not going to want my head for this?! It's not going to be six years this time; it'll be the rest of my life, locked up, in the darkest, deepest hole they have again! I'd rather you just killed me right now than let that happen to me!" Scarlet exclaimed, with passion - but hate. With fear. Fear and panic.

Aqua walked back over to her friend, and sat down in front of her, dropping to her rear. "I could speak on your behalf - I could argue at your trial for-"

"Trial?" Scarlet's voice came, full of disbelief. "They didn't give me one of those the first time! When I was nine years old! They didn't even have real evidence of- of anything, and they did it all anyways! What makes you think they'll give me one now, either?"

"I'll make sure they do this time!"

"What makes you think they're going to be fair about it? The woman who went for their princess - again, in their eyes. They're going to want to kill me, or just lock me away again forever, and they won't bother with any of that crap. Especially not now - with the way they are now about anyone who isn't human..." She stared at Aqua, those wild eyes wild with desperation now, not anger or contempt. It was pleading. "Though I guess if you really were away for all this time like that, you don't know much of anything about the way the world is now...do you?"

Aqua gasped softly, eyeing the woman in return. Was she willing to believe Aqua...? She must be, if she was trying so hard now to...reach out to her...for help...

"I've learned enough to know it isn't...pretty," Aqua said quietly.

Scarlet nodded tightly. "Especially in Zitol. I got out of there as soon as they threw me back onto the streets. I spent a while doing things I didn't like, earning money how I could - using my new age, the only thing I had to me at the time - and let myself be taken outside their territories. After that, I struck off on my own...started to make a life for myself, earning that money by taking blood from others, instead of letting them take blood from me. I found I was good at it; the skills of a good thief are surprisingly applicable to a good bounty hunter."

Aqua nodded, silent - just...wanting to listen to her friend. Trying not to judge her. If there was anything Aqua owed her, it was probably that, at the least... And she knew now that...she couldn't possibly judge her, could she? She knew the worlds were so much more complicated than a life lived inside of gleaming castle halls, or as some shining warrior of light against monsters and villains of darkness. The choices people faced, the lives they had to lead...it wasn't easy, or simple. Her experiences across these worlds had shown that to her clearly; who was she to judge - to judge Natsumi, or Scarlet, or...anyone?

"So just kill me before we get there," Scarlet spoke again. "I know your promises don't mean anything - they didn't then, and they don't now. You're not going to be able to make this some nice, clean affair like that. But the fact that you think that...you are still the same delusional princess in her castle, aren't you? You don't know a thing about how the real world works. What it's like for me. What it's always been like for me..." She shook her head, falling into silence, turning her head away.

Aqua watched her friend for several, long minutes. Scarlet didn't move again, and she didn't speak again; she was back to ignoring Aqua, to being silent.

Aqua looked around the empty train car. She looked at the door. She looked to the window. She looked back to the woman in front of her, slumped and bound against the wall...

Scarlet's words came to the forefront of her mind again... "You owe me."

Aqua stood slowly, stepping back to the far side of the room, and raising a hand of swirling, burning fire magic. She extended her arm, flashing her palm: a Firaga sphere of orange, with a core of blue and white, grew in front of her body - grew and grew until it was nearly as large as her own torso...

Scarlet stared at her, the fires reflecting in her dark red eyes. It wasn't hate, and it wasn't fear anymore, either. It was just...excitement. Anticipation. Eagerness.

"You owe me."

I know...I do.

Aqua swung her arm out to the right, and unleashed her spell.

A huge section of the train's metallic wall disintegrated, wind and pressure pulling out the table and chairs, ripping off the chandelier, flinging out one of the beds and a nightstand...

And Scarlet's one-armed form.

Aqua stood there, gazing out into the passing landscape, of tall-grassed hills and distant mountains of boulders and snowy tops.

The door slid open, and Vivian was stumbling inside. Her gaze widened at the sight, then swiveled to find Aqua. "Princess Aqua! Are you- you- damnit-"

"I'm fine," Aqua said quickly, turning to smile at the woman. "Don't worry."

"Don't worry? There's a giant hole in the middle of the train - care to explain?!" Vivian paused, then quickly added, with fearful eyes, "All due respect, Your Highness, of course!"

"I guess you were right about people fighting through the pain of that anti-magic spell of yours," Aqua said, looking away, out the side of the train again. "Scarlet built up an incredibly powerful Firaga spell of hers - I kept telling her to stop, I thought she'd just end up hurting herself too much...but then she cast it, and then she was gone."

"Well she won't get far! I'll-"

"No," Aqua said firmly. "Like you said - she isn't going to get very far out there. So we'll leave her be. Besides, having her on this train just brought danger to its passengers. We've already done enough damage here. We'll...leave her to fate. But we have a schedule to keep, don't we? It's more important that I get home again as soon as possible - especially if there are more people like her out there who would want to come after me."

Vivian stared at her for a long moment. Then she nodded, reaching up and brushing at her bangs. "Right...As you command, My Princess. Let's- find you a new car where we can sit tight."

"Of course," Aqua said, smiling.

She spared one last look for the passing world.

Please don't make me regret this...

---

After her own incredibly guilt-inducing and controversial actions, Aqua almost immediately went wandering the train cars until she found Natsumi - in a dining car, with an expensive glass in one hand, and rich little fruits in the other.

After talking with the woman for a while, Aqua thought she felt reasonably better about it all.

With that assurance in hand, Aqua turned the discussion to something else - something new. A half an hour later, and Aqua felt ready to...make another choice (one that would hopefully prove far less troublesome to her own Heart). She left the dining car behind, giving Natsumi her heartfelt thanks, and went to Vivian's private room.

"Your Highness!" Vivian said, jumping up from her bed on sight of Aqua's entry. She gave a swift bow, and watched her face closely. After a long moment, she took a breath and spoke again. "Is there something I can do for you, Princess?"

Aqua took a breath of her own, stepping forward - after locking the door behind her. "Listen: I've been...away, for all this time. Isolated. I haven't heard much of anything about the wider world. But what I've heard from Natsumi doesn't make me feel good."

"What have you...heard from her?" Vivian said slowly - cautiously.

"I saw how you reacted to Scarlet's story the other day. To her treatment. You have a kind Heart, don't you?" Aqua said quietly.

Vivian froze. She frowned deeply, her eyes dropping to the floor. "I'd like to think I do...and if it's really true..."

"What do you think about the way that Zitol - and other parts of the world, too - treats non-human races? People? I remember the way things were as a little girl, and it wasn't...like this." Aqua hesitated. Then she sighed. "At least, I don't think that it was. But what did I know, always up in my castle?"

"Back then, I would have been, like, three," Vivian said, quiet as well. Uncertain. "so I don't really know how things used to be." She paused, glancing up at Aqua. "But I know it isn't right! It's totally wrong, it's- gross, disgusting, evil, discriminatory...it's not- it's just not right."

"You consider non-humans to be equal to humans, then?"

"Of course I do!" Vivian exclaimed, head coming up now. Offense, outrage on her face. "Why wouldn't I? I'm not some crazy bigot - that's what's true!"

"I wasn't accusing you of anything," Aqua said calmly - firmly. "I was just...trying to be sure of something before I- told you something. An incredibly personal, long-held secret. But I need to know if you're...going to be an ally or an enemy."

"What is it, Princess?" Vivian said, starting forward, raising her hands to her chest. "You can tell me - I'll keep your secret! I'm totally, like, already cool with your kitsune friend; I won't offend!"

Aqua gazed at the woman for a long moment, her eyes narrowed. Vivian held her gaze well enough, her green eye shining back at Aqua with earnestness, with passion...

Aqua blinked, and nodded. "Okay, then. Prove it. Please...because I really want to trust you. I need someone I can trust with this when we get to the palace..."

She raised her hand to her chest, calling on her magic, and letting it wash over her form with a shining light...

Aqua stretched her body, her muscles (familiar and unfamiliar), shedding it from the now awkward confines of her cloak. She held her hands before her, arching her back and working her shoulders. She felt it all so acutely...so strangely, so-

It probably should have been freeing or comforting or something like that. But it wasn't. It just felt...uncomfortable and awkward. It made her feel such a flighty sense of anxiety and worry, made her Heart and stomach do flips, made her want to just-

"Please say something - or attack me...whatever you're going to do now," Aqua blurted out, meaning it fully. She just wanted it over with...

"Holy shit - the High Council's gonna throw a fit!"

"And...and what about you?" Aqua pressed, gazing at the woman intently.

Vivian fluttered her eyes, looking all around herself. Her arms came up to wave about furiously in their long sleeves. "M-me? Hey, it's totally fine with me! I'm cool with it, see!" she exclaimed frantically, with a beaming smile.

It was nervous and uncomfortable, but...Aqua thought it was real.

She took solace in that, at least.

A sign of good things to come.

Notes:

P.S: Skuld and Elrena are in BAMBI'S world...because I just thought it'd be hilarious and in-line with Kingdom Hearts canon to make BAMBI'S WORLD hold some ancient, deep, dank Keyblade lore! xDDD I DO honestly miss that kind of integration of movies and lore, like in KH1/2 kinda lol...Triton knowing about Keyblades, Genie saying he heard about a Keyhole before...etc... :D So I did a bit of it myself lol. Bambi is lore critical!!! Muahahahaha.

Chapter 49: The Demon Princess

Notes:

Ooookay, sorry it's been a few days since last chapter, lol. It is actually NOT cause I was lazy or anything like that. xD It's just that this is a HUUUGE Aqua chapter and I decided screw it, I'm letting it BE A BIG AQUA CHAPTER! xD It's a heavy 10K-er lol. Sooo enjoy it! :D Finally revealing and doing some big Aqua stuff here, seriously...huge strides. <3 Eeeeee!

Also some other stuff happens too lol.

Skuld walked through the dark cave tunnel, holding her Keyblade out in front of her.

Elrena walked behind her, glancing back every now and again.

They had been walking for a few minutes now, following the only path there was, when something changed.

The cave shook - and there was an echoing, distant boom of a sound that came rushing down the tunnel from somewhere ahead. Somewhere far and deep inside the mountain?

"Okay, I think we should take that as a clear sign not to keep going deeper into the spooky cave!" Elrena exclaimed, stepping forward and seizing Skuld's arm.

Skuld turned, looking at her with a frown. "It's okay to be afraid - I am too - but we can't stop now. We have a job to do."

"I never said I was-!" Elrena started, fury etching itself onto her face.

Another boom and a tremor rocked the tunnel, and then a cacophony of high, tiny voices came whispering up the tunnel - along with dozens of small, glistening spiders on the walls and ceiling.

"Run away!" "Run away!" "Run away faster!" the voices sang out, fearful and panicked.

Elrena shrieked, blasting out a hand of wild electricity-

Skuld seized her arm and yanked it down, causing the woman's attack to scorch the ground at their feet and light up the cave in a great flickering. She held the woman's arm, glaring at her as they stood there - as the spiders all passed them right by.

Elrena stared back at her, her lower lip trembling. She tore her arm free and shoved Skuld in the chest, stalking off down the tunnel quickly.

Skuld held a hand to her chest - a memory flashing in her mind of another girl hitting her in a similar way. In that memory, Skuld had gotten up again, and confronted that girl...her best friend, who she'd thought was lost. Who she'd thought there had to be a way to save - to free - if she could just...her and Ephemer both, working together...

Skuld shook her head, brushing at her long dark hair, and strode after Elrena. She grabbed the woman's arm again tightly, yanking her back around.

"What the hell-" Elrena yelped.

"Are you scared of insects too?" Skuld said.

"W-what? No...what's there to be scared of? Tiny little nothings?! Don't insult me!"

"They're not just insects here - they're people like us," Skuld stated firmly. "You would have killed them."

Elrena's jaw dropped as she stared at her. "Whatever - let's just-" she started, making to pull free again.

Skuld held on tighter and yanked the woman in closer, her face twisting and shaking. "No. You're not just going to blow this off and run away like a coward! Stand and fight for once in your life!" she said furiously, her voice rising.

Elrena's expression turned sharp and deadly, her eyes narrowing. "Oh, you want me to FIGHT?" she hissed out. "Be careful what you wish for, babe!"

"Enough with this!" Skuld shouted, whirling with the woman and slamming her back against the cave wall with a thud. "This isn't Daybreak Town anymore! We're not doing missions, we're not preparing for some war! Do a little self-reflecting and get over yourself! Just admit you were wrong and apologize for nearly erasing innocent lives! It was clearly an accident - so what is even the problem? What's wrong with you, Elrena?!"

Elrena stood rigidly against the wall, her eyes blinking wide at Skuld in pure, complete shock. Her face went pale, and her lips shook as they parted. A sharp breath was drawn in, and then let go, quivering.

"ELRENA-!" Skuld yelled, pushing her face closer to the woman's.

"I don't KNOW what's wrong with me, okay, mom!"

Elrena's high voice choked itself into deathly silence. Her green eyes fluttered, jittering in their sockets as they gazed out at Skuld...

Skuld stared back, shocked. Confused. And... She slowly released the woman, stepping away from her. She let her Keyblade disappear, raising her hands. "I'm sorry, Elrena. I didn't know- I didn't- mean to- I-" Why were her words failing her again now of all times?

Elrena whirled away from her with a high scream, raised her weapon high, and just started slashing at the tunnel wall with uncontrolled emotion. Each strike tore deep, burning gashes into the stone; lightning flashed in the dark, bolts flying off in all directions, scorching holes in the ceiling, floor, and the wall behind Skuld.

Skuld stood there, silent, trying to find the words - but she just couldn't again. Her weapon hung at her side, the end pointed at the ground.

Eventually, Elrena stopped. She'd tired herself out, and then she just fell forward against the ravaged stone, bracing on an arm. Her every breath was a deep, desperate gasp. Her back was shaking. Her hair was a mess of tangles and sweat now.

"Being human again fucking sucks..." Elrena's voice echoed, with a choked laugh.

"Well...you're not...alone in it," Skuld got out, halting, struggling. Hating herself for it more than ever before. She'd never been a girl who struggled to give voice to her own thoughts or feelings (except for in one area, of course). "You have friends now, Elrena; we're all- here for you!"

The cave rocked - dust and dirt fell down onto their heads. A distant noise roared down the tunnel...or was that a voice?

Elrena shoved off from the wall, turning to face her. "Just be here to help me kick some ass," she said, with false, strained vigor.

"Alright," Skuld said, trying to give a grin she didn't feel, either, in that moment. "Let's go kick some ass together."

They hurried further down the tunnel together, until it opened up into a large chamber of uneven ground and pools of water that looked like they could get really deep. There were great, thick stalagmites of smooth, carved stone rising up toward the high cavern's ceiling.

"WHERE'S THE BLADE?!"

A familiar, high voice of a girl echoed around the chamber.

Tendrils of pulsing, red darkness suddenly shot out from behind a stalagmite in all directions, impacting the walls and ceiling and exploding on impact.

The cavern trembled; pieces of burning rock fell down onto the ground, littering it, and hissing as they sank into the pools of water.

Skuld held out her weapon and rushed forward around the large stalagmite - and stared at the familiar visage of Kairi? The face was the only thing familiar about her, though.

The girl was wearing some dark purple and silver-trimmed bodysuit, with fingerless gloves and a long, tattered waist-cape that dragged along the ground. Her eyes were a deep purple, and the scars on her face were now burning lines of purple energy, like a darkness itself was seeping out of her...

Darkness.

That was all Skuld felt from the girl.

A girl who should have been all light, a warm and blinding presence - was all darkness now.

The girl herself turned and looked at them. Then she looked down and gave a loud, echoing sigh in the silence. "Ugh...I miss being invisible."

Memories flashed again in Skuld's mind, unbidden.

"Fools."

The voice of her best friend came from behind her.

"What?" Skuld said, turning in confusion more than anything else in that moment.

"This is why people cannot defeat darkness." Amaya's voice spoke, flat and quiet.

Then the girl lunged past Skuld, straight for Ephemer! Ephemer only barely turned around in time to block her strike!

"Amaya! What's wrong with you?" Ephemer gaped at her.

Skuld stared at her friend in horror, in disbelief. In PANIC. She let her Keyblade vanish and raced forward. "Stop!" she cried, putting a hand on Amaya's shoulder.

Amaya raised her weapon arm up-

And brought the steely hilt of her blade slamming back into Skuld's gut. Skuld was knocked around on the spot completely, and sent falling several feet off to the side, hitting the hard, cold floor on her face...

"Amaya's Heart has been lost to darkness," her friend's voice came again, in the wooziness and bursting pain in her stomach.

"No..." Skuld gasped in horror, lifting her head and staring at Amaya...

"-okay, clearly you're not actually Kairi - so who are you?" Elrena's voice broke through Skuld's memories, dragging her back to the now.

Skuld stepped forward, raising her shaking weapon in hands. She breathed in, letting it go...calming. Steadying. Focusing.

The girl looked back at them - then, right at Skuld. Into her eyes... "One of the Union Leaders. It has been...a while, has it not?"

"No..." Skuld whispered. "This shouldn't even be possible-"

"It isn't," the girl herself cut across flatly. "The Princess's Heart isn't here; I am only using her vacant body. Now that we have that out of the way, I am going to destroy you both and continue what I was doing before I was interrupted."

"No, I think we're going to destroy you," Elrena said, spinning her weapon and raising her free hand of electric-coated knives.

"No!" Skuld shouted. "If that's still- Kairi's body- then we have to get it back! We can get it back for her!"

The girl- the Darkness tilted her head, her lips pursing into a small frown. "What is it that is so special about that Pure Light that every single one of you wants to 'get her back' so badly?" She paused, then shook her head. "Well, it doesn't matter to us. You will not get in our way here."

She raised a hand, and snapped the fingers of her fingerless gloves.

Darkness sparked around her in an aura; Heartless appeared out of swirling dark vortexes, instantly. Flying, muscular ones of jet black skin, with holes in their chests, wielding large swords - Invisibles, Skuld recognized them as!

Then, a final, thick tendril of energy flowed out from the Darkness, to a point right in front of Skuld and Elrena...and formed into a new, but similar creature. This one was bigger and more muscular, and wielded twin blades of gold handles. It had a tail with a thick, triple-pointed blade on the end of it. It had a mess of glowing, red and orange horns on its head, and its neck...was wrapped in twisted red tendrils that looked like a scarf.

The Darkness looked at Skuld and Elrena, then raised an arm and pointed her finger at the large, red-scarfed Heartless. "Have fun with my Dark Inferno X," she said flatly, vanishing in a billowing cloud of dark purple smoke.

"Can you handle Invisibles?" Skuld asked Elrena quickly.

"What am I, some fresh-faced noobie of Daybreak Town? I fought worse with my parties before - bigger, too," Elrena retorted.

"What about the big one?" Skuld said, looking to the scarf-wearing Heartless. A "Dark Inferno"? It didn't really matter that the name came from a Darkness itself - identifying the enemy was a basic part of any battle. Identify the enemy, find its weaknesses, and defeat it!

"Still fought bigger," Elrena scoffed. "Oooh, it's sooo scary! Yeah right. We're making mincemeat out of this thing!"

"Yeah!" Skuld set her jaw, gave her weapon a slash, and channeled her power into it, glowing it with a white aura and blue crackling electricity...

She flew past the Dark Inferno, slashing a wide, white crackling beam sword through an Invisible - obliterating it in one strike! She turned and slashed her Keyblade furiously in front of her, sending out a half dozen, crescent-moon blade beams for another Invisible. The Heartless took the barrage on the chest, flying backwards through the air, smoke trailing off of it...then it twisted and righted itself, and vanished into thin air. It reappeared to her left, slashing down for her with its own sword. Skuld jumped to the right and gave a quick swing of her weapon at the Heartless, hitting it with another two blade beams. She jumped up high into the air, spinning her weapon and thrusting it down at the battlefield as she charged up her energy quickly.

A swirling beam of gold and blue was unleashed, with a spiral of energy around the beam like a serpent around a tree branch.

Her attack destroyed an Invisible, hit the ground, and exploded into a blue and white dome of expanding energy. The dome caught another Invisible from behind, burning into it and destroying it. Elrena did a swift, forward flip and suddenly made a copy of herself; the two versions of her did a spinning kick, sending the Dark Inferno flying back through the air with a burst of yellow lightning.

The Dark Inferno slammed into Skuld's energy dome, going rigid as it was burned and eaten away at-

Then it suddenly disappeared.

Skuld's attack dissipated as she dropped to the ground with a heavy breath.

Dark Inferno reappeared, hovering in the air, its feet glowing white. It surged forward with shocking speed, leaving a trail of white flames behind it! It slashed at Skuld furiously, leaving trails of black and white energy in its swords' wake!

Skuld blocked one strike, blocked the next, then blocked a powerful double-bladed uppercut. She skidded back on the uneven ground with a gasp-

The Heartless floated up and into a speedy arc, coming back down on her right, and began attacking her again instantly!

Skuld threw herself backwards, then jumped away to the left!

The Heartless went into a spinning forward dive through the air, a swirling magenta energy surrounding it like a comet.

Skuld cast a powerful barrier spell and jumped straight up with a burst of magic. The Heartless hit her barrier and rebounded off of it in a wild backflip. Skuld swathed her blade in energy, and flew straight down at the Heartless, stabbing her blade into its chest and slamming it into the ground. Golden light burst around them, pillars of energy forming. Skuld tore her weapon free and went into a high backflip, as the energy pillars all flew inward to envelop the Heartless.

Elrena darted up to the pillar of light in a blur of motion and duplicated herself four times over. Her copies all leapt up into the air and hurled down lightning daggers - causing explosive lightning strikes to come down on the Heartless from four different directions at once.

Skuld landed on a knee, wobbling before righting herself again with a quickly placed hand on the ground.

Their attacks dissipated, and Dark Inferno was revealed.

The Heartless vibrated and jerked on its backside, darkness flowing off of it. Then suddenly red energy swirled around it, rising up like a cyclone before being sucked into its body. The Heartless rose up into the air again, its eyes flashing. Then it slashed its weapons and went into a rapid twirl, casting out a shockwave of red energy!

Skuld was blown backwards off her feet, despite throwing up a quick barrier of orange - despite bracing herself in the moment. She flew back across the chamber...only for Elrena to appear in a blur of motion and sparks and catch her. Well, it was more like the woman allowed Skuld to bump into her bodily and grabbed her shoulders like she thought Skuld was toxic to the touch...but even so...

At the same time, two of Elrena's clones materialized and raced forward at Dark Inferno, leaping and teleporting about the Heartless, blasting and striking with lightning and daggers. The Heartless roared and whirled about to throw them off and slash at them - but they leapt and teleported out the way.

"Thanks, Elrena," Skuld said, turning to look at the real woman, herself.

"Let's just blow this joint, okay?" Elrena said swiftly. "That old Keyblade probably isn't here either, that Darkness bitch gives me the creeps, and that Heartless actually might be too tough to beat...so, yeah. I'm over it."

"Yeah - me too," Skuld agreed, nodding. "Let's go, then."

Elrena gave her a look of relief, and they both turned to run from the cavern - back into the dark, narrow tunnel for the exit.

They raced through the long tunnel, and to Skuld's surprise, that Dark Inferno monster didn't pursue them. They made it to the entrance without trouble, emerging out into the light of the world again. The rocky, ruined open area at the base of the broken mountain.

The two women came to a panting stop together. Skuld pushed at her hair, over a shoulder and behind her ears, and she turned to give Elrena a small grin.

To her surprise, Elrena gave a small, light smile back - before looking away quickly with flushed cheeks.

"Well," Skuld started lightly. "there's only one world left on our list. After that, we can go back to our friends and-"

"Have a really well-deserved break and some killer sex?"

Skuld stared at the other woman, her jaw dropping, as her face burned. "I- I- appreciate the offer? But I didn't think we were that close. I'm also not- you're pretty, but other girls don't do anything for me like that...like they do for you...I just like guys, okay! So - I guess - yeah...Thanks, but no thank you!"

Elrena stared back at her. For a long time - then, she burst into high peals of laughter. She turned away, staggering off and clutching at her stomach, her voice echoing across the mountainside. Her face flushed intensely, her eyes shimmering! "Oh- my- god! You- you actually thought- y-you thought I meant YOU?! I was- obviously- talking about my current and only boyfriend! Hunky, sexy, long pink hair - goes by the name of Lauriam?"

"O-oh! Oh my- of course you were! I'm- so sorry! I-" Skuld exclaimed, mortified with herself.

"WOW, girl, where was your mind even at?" Elrena demanded, through uncontrolled chortling, her hand going to her mouth. "Do I even want to know?! No, let's face it, I have to know! Are you really that vain, or is that 'I just like guys' statement of yours a little bit more flexible than you want to acknowledge to yourself?"

"I'm- I'm not- I'm sorry!" Skuld said hopelessly, covering her face in her hands and turning away.

"No, no, no - don't be sorry! You've always been one of the baddest baddies around, you know that, right? Even with your whole plain jane look these days, you're just- effortlessly beautiful! And that whole goth thing you had going on back in the day - whew!" Elrena said swiftly. "You should go back to that - seriously. You rocked it, and it's not even my style! All that leather, studs and chains-"

"Alright - thanks for the fashion support, I'll consider it, but I really-" Skuld began, trying to get things back under control.

"People are so confusing..." a familiar voice cut across Skuld's words.

Skuld immediately clenched her teeth and spun around, drawing her weapon again; Elrena did the same, recovering astonishingly fast from her laughing fit - and transitioning into a state of panic and fear, standing upright and rigid.

The Darkness was standing a few dozen feet away, next to one of the dark, twisted spires. Watching them. Still...using the girl's body - Kairi's.

"Oh, great, you," Elrena spat, making an ugly face. "Way to interrupt an actually nice moment for me! Do you have any idea how rare those are for me? They don't come around very often!"

The Darkness gazed back at her blankly, with glowing purple eyes. An aura of energy suddenly shrouded her, and a huge blast of darkness shot up into the air above her. The darkness swirled and grew...and became a huge, unknown Heartless to Skuld. It was like nothing she'd seen in her years of fighting in the- Old World!

The Heartless was a huge wolf of some kind, with four long, slender limbs and a sleek body. It was black as night, with burning yellow eyes. It was over twenty feet long! It was adorned with solid, black armor, that had spots of glowing red energy on it. Its powerful tail of thick, twisting strands of darkness held a bush of purple flames on the end of it. Its claws were dark purple, as well. Within a mouth of sharp, large teeth, there were purple flames waiting to be unleashed...

The Darkness turned into a dark mist and flew up into the air, passing through the Heartless's body before reforming atop it - sitting on its back. A red aura flared around the creature, becoming a permanent, burning outline.

"You humans are actually becoming somewhat annoying to me now," the girl's voice spoke out. "So Hyrrokkin here is going to destroy you for me."

Skuld looked at Elrena. Elrena looked at her - pale-faced, lips shaking and open.

"Open a portal!" Skuld told her, as she ran and leapt for the giant Heartless, holding her weapon high - channeling all the power she still had into the weapon.

The giant Heartless, Hyrrokkin, opened its huge jaws and sent out a wide swathe of burning purple fires for Skuld.

Skuld created a barrier around herself - but the force and power of the flames sent her flying backwards at high speeds! Her barrier dome slammed into the ground and sank half-way down into it, leaving a new crater in the earth. Skuld pushed her power into the barrier, diverting it all away from her blade - and then the flames died.

Skuld let her barrier fall with a gasp, jumping up out of the crater - just in time to avoid a giant clawed limb bearing down on her! The Heartless's attack caused a shockwave of purple and orange energy to fly out across the ground.

"Hey - portal's open, come on!" Elrena's voice called out from afar.

Skuld looked to her, then gripped her weapon and raced across the dirt.

The giant Heartless leapt in front of her with its entire body, those large yellow eyes staring straight at her.

Skuld kicked off the ground and went into a high, twisting flip - taking her over a swiping blow and up over its backside. She turned her body in mid-air as she passed the Darkness, and she threw out a hand to seize the girl's collar.

Darkness blinked, in that moment of slowed time, pure confusion seeping onto her face. "Wha-"

Skuld tore the girl's body off the Heartless, sailing down to the ground on the other side. She slammed the girl face-down into the ground (silently praying for forgiveness for the move) and then shoved the point of her Keyblade into the center of her back. She drew up her magic and cast the strongest Time spell she knew, in a blinding flash of blue light and an expanding bubble of distorted air and colors.

The girl beneath her disappeared in a sudden flicker of air, vanishing from her grasp!

Skuld whipped around in time to see Hyrrokkin's flaming claws slam into her, sweeping her aside. She flew through the air - and stopped as she slammed up against one of the broken, burning vehicles.

The Heartless immediately chased after her, its claws pounding deep into the ground, creating burning grooves in it. It roared, lunging the last few feet, its claws swinging down for her!

Skuld had barely even pushed herself up again.

"HEY!" Elrena's voice yelled - as a powerful, thick lightning bolt flew down from the sky, striking the top of the Heartless's head precisely. Blue and yellow electricity exploded at the point of impact.

Hyrrokkin came to a skidding stop, shaking its head. Then it turned and went for Elrena, who was standing a good distance away - with no light portal in sight.

Elrena stood there watching it, waiting for it. Then she leapt up high into the air, doing a frontflip. She duplicated herself in the air, and two clones both darted down as streaks of lightning, slamming into the Heartless's backside. They slashed copied Keyblades at it as they ran along its body.

The real Elrena raised both her arms, shrouded in lightning, then she put them together and thrust her palms out at the Heartless. Twin, powerful blasts of lightning flew at the Heartless, separated by blue and yellow spheres of electricity. She let out a cry of exertion, and the powerful spheres moved down the lightning lines and hit the Heartless directly in the face.

The Heartless reared back, turning its head away, taking the hit on its armored side. Then it opened its mouth and sent a powerful torrent of flames at Elrena, washing away her lightning attack like it didn't matter at all!

"Shit!" Elrena exclaimed, pure shock on her face, as the fires rushed at her.

A shimmering, huge curved wall of a barrier, made up of four rows of blue crystal appeared in front of Elrena; the dark fires struck it, and parted around it on either side harmlessly.

Hyrrokkin ceased its attack and turned its head to Skuld's left.

She looked, too, and stared in shock.

The unrobed, unmasked young woman who Skuld knew as Master Invi was standing there, her weapon held out in front of her. Purple eyes narrowed, her lilac hair of curls flowing in the wind.

Hyrrokkin raised its head, then started for her-

Only for a streak of white energy to slam into the side of its head. Then, next moment, dozens more streaks of energy began to slash all over its body, as if by an invisible blade. The giant Heartless staggered to the side, smoke drifting from its body as it thrashed and roared.

And then Ira came leaping at it from behind one of the broken vehicles, swinging his Keyblade down at the monster. His weapon slammed down on its backside, a rush of green light flew down through its body to spread across the ground...and then it all exploded upward in a furious blast of energy and winds, hurling the giant Heartless a hundred feet high into the air!

"Invi!" the man called out, turning to the woman quickly, his long blue hair fluttering in his face.

Master Invi gave a simple, brief nod, then aimed her weapon up at the Heartless, tracking its arc. Her Keyblade glowed with an icy mist, and then she slashed it across herself.

Several dozen, huge chunks of ice formed in the air around the Heartless, and then flew inward to slam into it as one. The Heartless was encased in a huge mass of ice in a flash of blue light above - which immediately began to plummet to the ground.

Ira gazed up at it, adjusting his stance and holding his weapon before him. As the giant Heartless fell down toward him, he thrust his weapon upward, unleashing a stream of great, glowing white swords into it. They pierced the ice and Heartless both, carrying it back up into the air. Miniature explosions went off around and inside the Heartless as the blades dissipated...and then a great white light flared, and it exploded into smoke and particles of blue magic.

The two Masters lowered their Keyblades, looking to Elrena and Skuld.

Invi came walking over to Skuld, and she extended a hand down to her - palm up.

Skuld took it, frowning. She let go and stepped away as soon as she was up again.

"Okay, what are you slimeballs doing here?!" Elrena exclaimed, stalking up to Ira and jabbing a finger at the man. "This is our scoop! Get lost!"

"We didn't actually find anything here," Skuld reminded, in a reluctant murmur.

"Don't tell them that!" Elrena hissed, glaring at her.

"This isn't a competition," Invi said, frowning at Elrena.

"You think you can just swoop in and steal the credit after we did all the work?" Elrena said to Ira, ignoring Invi. "I'm guessing all of your locations were busts!"

"They were, yes," Ira said calmly, gazing back at her. "So we thought it would be best if we helped with investigating some of the other locations - that's all."

"That's all, huh? Yeah right. Glory-stealing bastards..." Elrena muttered, whirling away from him now and coming to Skuld's side.

Ira's fingers curled at his side...then he sighed and his hand relaxed. "This isn't about glory or credit: it's about protecting these worlds, and doing what we were asked. Helping with what we were asked to help with. That's all we want to do."

"Well, great job!" Elrena snarked. "How many worlds have you been to, and not a single sign of that stupid Keyblade?"

"How many worlds have you two been to so far?" Invi spoke up.

"Us? Pfft - waaaay more than you guys, that's for sure!" Elrena said quickly, waving a hand. "And let me tell you, this last one on our list...I'm really feeling like it's going to be the one. So why don't you two skedaddle, 'kay? You're not taking this from us!"

"Fighting against each other instead of talking to one another, and working together, is what led things to ruin before," Invi replied, quieter now. "We were all sent on the same mission here: we should do it together."

"Fuck that - Skuld, let's go," Elrena said instantly, turning away with Keyblade in hand. She thrust it out viciously, conjuring a portal with a more dramatic than usual explosion of light, energy, and electricity.

Skuld remained where she was. She gazed around her. She looked to where Hyrrokkin had once been. She looked at the scars of battle. She looked to the tunnel entrance. She gazed down at her own hand...

She sighed heavily, raising her head and pushing back her hair. "Go if you want to, Elrena, but I agree that we'd be better off doing this together."

Elrena did a genuine double take. Her mouth twisted. "Are you kidding me? After everything, after the Graveyard, now you're going to go all sappy, hippy, 'let's all hold hands and be pals' on me? I saw you that day, you were a fucking lunatic and I loved it! You can't seriously be thinking about just-"

"I'm not going to let myself end up like my sister!" Skuld said, loud and fierce. "She- hated me, so much, for so long! She mocked me, and insulted me, and hit me, and then she acted like I didn't exist anymore when we got to Daybreak Town. And then, apparently, at some point she even joined the Dandelions, and still couldn't find it in her to come and talk to me? To apologize, to- to-" She stopped, choking on her words, struggling again. She breathed in, then out again harshly. "She was the only family I had left, and she didn't want to be anymore. She ruined us, she ruined- everything! All for what? Anger? Spite? Pettiness? She could have come to me and we could have made up, we could have been together at the end...I would have accepted it if she'd tried. But she never did. She was just that lost in her own awful feelings, I guess. But I won't do that. I don't want to become that kind of person. Someone-"

"What? Like me, too?" Elrena hissed.

Skuld stared at the woman, fully, unflinching. "You said it, not me."

Elrena let out a scream, throwing herself forward - and then her fist slammed into Skuld's face.

Pain exploded in Skuld's nose as she cupped her hands over it, stumbling backwards in shock. Blood dripped between her fingers.

"Fuck all of you, then!" Elrena shouted. "I don't have to do that crap, I don't have to see them again for the rest of my life! I don't have to-"

"Of course you don't," Skuld said thickly, through pain and blood. "That's- your choice. But this is just...mine."

"Yeah - a really fucking offensive choice!" Elrena snarled. "Way to just spit on the graves of all the kids that these assholes led to their deaths - and probably murdered personally, in the actual war!"

"Go, if you're going to go," Skuld hissed out in pain. "Just go..."

Elrena stared at her, her lower lip trembling. She looked at Invi, then Ira. "Fine! I'm on my own, then! Like always. I'll find this stupid blade all by myself, and then you'll all look like losers!" She spun on her heel and strode into the portal alone.

The portal closed, and silence reigned.

A green light flashed; Skuld felt the pain in her face fade. She lowered her hands and wiped her nose furiously on her shirt sleeve. She looked to Invi, and her hand of swirling green particles.

"Thanks..." she murmured reluctantly, glancing away.

---

Aqua stood before the door of the train car, resting her forehead flat against the glass.

She gazed out the window, watching as the forests and grass fields and lakes all melted away...replaced by an intricate, sprawling cityscape.

The capital city of Zitol: Ancewell.

Stone and metal. Arches, signs and lights.

It was already so late in the evening, it was hard to make much out, honestly. Anything that might have been familiar, or...

And it had been so long; time itself had probably done its work to change a lot of what Aqua once knew of this place.

Not that she had seen much of it before, anyways, had she?

But what she did recognize was the towering, intricate royal palace of lights and towers in the center of it all - that which the city surrounded on all sides.

The elevated train tracks ran throughout the city, passing above and between all sorts of buildings. Until it took a wide, long curve, and began to slow to a crawl. The train inched its way into the station. It was a wide open place of various tracks and platforms, with a high glass dome of a rooftop stretching out above it all.

Despite being such a big place, it didn't seem to have many people around it.

Well...no one who looked like an ordinary citizen.

The train stopped, the door slid open, and Aqua was faced with dozens upon dozens of soldiers. Ordinary ones, with bladed and technomagic weapons, in lines and in groups on patrol. Then there were the towering suits of metal armors, glowing with blue lights on them, eight or ten feet tall, with reflective black visors. Despite their size, they were sleek, and armed with various weapons, close range and long, attached to various points on the armors. And of course, there was the legion of figures in robes - the Serene Roses, at the forefront of it all.

A dozen more of them suddenly appeared in a half-circle in front of Aqua, in flashing blue lights.

Oh...

Aqua stared at them all. She looked around the platform. She drew a breath and stepped off of the train, drawing herself up (without her red cloak, which honestly made her feel more vulnerable). Vivian stepped off in her wake, stepping up beside her. Natsumi lingered behind them, her hand on her hip, just above the hilt of her sword (despite all her talk of excitement and adventure - and her own combat capabilities - the look on her face was tense).

"Let's not all beat around the bush - not for a matter as potentially momentous as this," came a female voice, as one particular member of the Roses came forward from the rest. A woman - tall, slim. Her hood was up, like the rest, but Aqua could see her face. She was a woman in her forties, with brown eyes, pale skin, and what looked like a shaved head. Her robes had some extra silver trim on them, and the insignia on her chest was more ornate, surrounded by a decorative border that made it into a crest. "Operative Vars - you've confirmed this woman's identity?" she spoke directly to Vivian.

Vivian gave a firm nod, straightening up some more, herself now. "Yes, ma'am! Ms...Overseer Ravamar! Like, a dozen times at this point...and the spells all came back saying the same thing: Princess Aqua is who I bring!"

That was very true, Aqua thought wryly; since revealing her true self to Vivian, the woman had to have cast the identity revealing spell a dozen more times in just the past four hours of their journey alone! Every time Aqua turned back to the woman, she'd see that symbol floating in the air (before it was hastily wiped away again).

The woman in charge, it seemed - Overseer Ravamar - stepped even closer to Aqua, until she stood in front of her directly. She slowly brought up a hand, of long fingers and nails, and drew the pink, magic sigil in the air. After a moment, it started to pulse, as predicted. The woman's face changed under the hood. Her fingers curled back toward her palm as her hand fell to her side now. The sigil faded from the air. The woman's gaze found Aqua's face, wide and blinking.

"You are the lost Princess...Aqua?" her voice came again, quiet, with the slightest tremor to it.

"Yes," Aqua said, loud and clear. "I am Aqua Anfilia Tel-Rho Hurnestra - daughter of Queen Jade - and Crown Princess of Zitol."

"We can't be hasty about allowing someone to just waltz in and claim the ultimate authority and power in our kingdom," Ravamar said slowly, recovering herself. "We'll need further confirmation."

"Of course - I understand," Aqua said simply.

"But, in the event that you are who you say...and as preliminary evidence seems to suggest..." The woman bowed her head in respect. "You'll be treated with utmost care and dignity, princess."

"I'm glad to hear that," Aqua stated, her mind flashing back to Scarlet's face...and story. Even without her Keyblade, if it came to it, she knew she could fight her way out of a situation like that...unlike Scarlet.

"Multiple mages will cast the identity spell on you - as well as others," Ravamar spoke. "We'll also be doing a blood ritual - your sample will be compared with those of the departed Queen, as well as your...the princess's from her childhood."

Aqua gave a nod and a smile. "Understood."

All of those irritating-at-the-time medical tests and health check-ups as a little girl were going to pay off, then. Fantastic. They'd always been so concerned with her being healthy and alert...not so much happy...

Then the thought came to her, suddenly: did those sorts of tests and rituals reveal someone's non-human nature, even if altered by body transmogrification magicks? If they did, then how many people had really known her true nature as a child - even when she herself hadn't...? Was it not just the Queen? Had others known, too? Or had the Queen done some personal selecting of staff, and swearings to secrecy? There were far too many questions in her head now. Things she had never even considered as a girl.

Surely the Serene Roses would have been in the know, being her constant guards and whatnot? They would have to be, in case the spell failed or an accident happened, or...something like that. Wouldn't they?

But it had been such a shock to everyone that night, twenty years ago...so maybe not.

Maybe only the Queen had ever truly known...

Aqua blinked, shaking her head and focusing again. "Right - let's go, then. The sooner we get this all over with, the better. I've been away for so long..."

Ravamar was watching her with curiosity now. Then she nodded, and the look cleared. "Yes, you have, princess. Come with us, then."

"I'd like to have Operative Vars by my side," Aqua spoke, in firm tones. "She's proven to be a wonderful person, and an excellent bodyguard. And she was the first one to find me again - and she saved my life. I think she could go far in the Roses." She paused, turning to meet Natsumi's gaze. "My friend here, Ms. Natsumi, will also be accompanying us. I couldn't have gotten this far without her, on this long journey home. She's been a guide and a companion, and she deserves commendation for it."

Ravamar's gaze flickered to Vivian. Then, to Natsumi. Her expression was unreadable. "As you wish, Your Highness. For their roles in bringing you back safely to us after all these years...we'll see what we can do. If your identity is fully confirmed, they'll have my personal gratitude, I can assure you."

"Wonderful," Aqua said lightly, flashing a smile. "Let's go, then. Not to the castle, I presume?"

"No, not the castle," Ravamar said simply. "SR Headquarters."

Aqua was relieved to have gotten such nice rest after Scarlet's attack, such that her magical reserves were fully charged and ready.

Natsumi wasn't the only one capable of slaying her way through a whole battalion, after all.

All she needed was to get her hands on a sword again.

Because, while she may not have had her Keyblade anymore...Aqua still had her armor.

It was always with her - right there on her left arm's sleeve.

---

After being put through what must have been a dozen different tests and spells - including three separate blood tests - everyone finally seemed satisfied that Aqua was who she said she was.

Or at least, they were forced to finally concede to it.

Either way...sitting there still in the medical ward, Aqua knew there was one more thing she had to do.

She looked to Vivian - and then Natsumi. She breathed in and nodded to them; the two women nodded back.

"Overseer Ravamar," Aqua began, getting to her feet, her hands at her sides. She gazed at the woman in question. She glanced around at the other Serene Rose Operatives in the room - to the Healer at the table on her right.

"Yes, Your Highness?" came the woman's considerably warmer reply than before, with a bow of a head.

Aqua could have just let it be...let things stay that way. Not let anything change. Let people keep assuming. But, being fair, she didn't know how this would go - it wouldn't do to keep thinking in worst case scenarios, really! And she had talked it all over with both Vivian and Natsumi on the train ride here. She was doing this; she could do this. It was...probably best to. So...

"Did any of these tests tell you I wasn't a human?" Aqua blurted.

Ravamar's face shifted. She frowned, looking more puzzled than anything else. "Sorry, Princess?"

"Did any of your tests tell you that I'm not part of the human species?" Aqua repeated, slower, clearer.

Ravamar's eyebrows raised. Her mouth opened. Then closed. She looked over at Vivian. "Operative Vars...what is Her Highness talking about?"

"Okay, it's crazy, but it's true! It took me a bit to believe it too!" Vivian said swiftly, stepping forward. "After she showed me, and explained a little about it, I ran and re-ran the tests - it's not in jest!"

Ravamar looked directly at Aqua now, drawing breath. "You're not human?"

Aqua straightened her back, lifting her chin. "That's right."

"But you'd still claim to be Princess Aqua Anfilia-"

"I don't claim; I know I am. So do you, with all your tests."

Ravamar was silent. Then- "Explain, as you did to Vars."

Aqua breathed out, nodding. "I'm not sure I can. I only learned about it when I was...seven years old - a few months shy of eight."

"Around the time prior to your disappearance?"

Aqua shook her head. "On the night I disappeared."

"So you claim you're not human, and you also claim you didn't even know until you were seven?"

"The Queen knew," Aqua stated firmly. "I don't know if she was the only one - I was hoping to judge whether or not any of you Roses also knew...or my personal physicians from my childhood. Whatever her reasons, she didn't tell me - and I'm not sure whether she did or didn't tell anyone else, either."

Ravamar gazed at her a moment, then she gave a small laugh. Disbelief and humor both. "I was as fresh into my training as Operative Vars there, back then; I didn't become Overseer overnight. If anyone knew back then, I wouldn't have been privy to the information either. And believe me, this is a great shock to me."

"A bad shock?" Aqua said, narrowing her eyes. She let her fingers spread at her side, sparking with blue electricity.

Ravamar's eyes darted down to her hand - then back up to her face. She slowly shook her head, taking a step backwards. Her hands came up, palms out. "No. I have no personal objection to non-humans."

"What about a non-human Queen?"

"If that Queen could do a good job of things, it wouldn't matter to me," Ravamar said firmly, looking Aqua in the eye. "Operative Vars should have told you I could be a good ally to you...Your Highness."

"She did," Aqua said flatly. "I wasn't going to believe her without seeing it for myself." Especially after Scarlet...

"Fair enough," Ravamar agreed. "You have my word that you're perfectly safe here. Word of this won't go beyond-"

"Oh, it's going to," Aqua interjected.

"What?"

"I want it to," Aqua elaborated. "Things for non-humans within our borders, and in other nations, I've heard, aren't at their best. They're quite terrible, really. And I'm going to change that. But even I can't do it all alone. I need friends, support."

Ravamar eyed her, then looked down. "You plan to - come out, then?"

"Yes."

"A lot of people aren't going to like that - to put it lightly," Ravamar said quietly. "Your safety might even become...very questionable."

"Are we talking about harassment, or assassination?" Aqua said bluntly. She grew a Megaflare in her right hand, raising it up before her, palm up. The orb swirled with a core of blue and white, growing to the size of a beachball. "I think I can handle it."

Ravamar's eyes widened at the sight of her spell. "I think I speak for everyone in this kingdom when I say we're all very interested in where you've been all this time..."

Aqua closed her fist, extinguishing the flames between her fingers. She let the lightning of her left hand fade, flexing her fingers at her side. She shifted her stance and set her hand on her hip. "Maybe I'll tell that story someday. But you didn't answer my question, Ms. Ravamar."

"Both - from inside and outside parties and individuals," Ravamar stated, regathering herself. "If you really do plan on doing this, it's not going to be easy. For you - or others." She looked to Natsumi, pointed. "Are you willing to risk their lives, too? Or the lives of those who might be hurt across the kingdom?"

"Acts of cruelty, violence, and incivility are not the fault of the victims - or the ones who simply want to exist," Aqua said sternly.

"Of course not," Ravamar said quickly, shaking her head. "Forgive me, My Princess - I only wanted to be sure you were aware of the...possible consequences. I wasn't trying to blame you for them."

"You're willing to be an ally, then?"

"Yes. I am. And there are more among the Roses than you'd think who feel the same way - or even more strongly. Some have non-human family, children or spouses, and some are even non-humans themselves...though you'd be hard-pressed to notice. An organization like ours has never been able to discriminate when it comes to hiring...and I've been firm in not allowing us to."

Aqua nodded. "Okay. If I can trust you on that...then, okay."

Ravamar hesitated, looking around her. At the other Roses. At the Healer. "Your tests did not reveal your non-human nature, and nor did your samples from childhood...whatever it may be. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything when faced with full-body, high tier transmogrification - the magic alters your body at the cellular level. And if it was the Queen who ordered it done for you, it would have been done by the best in the world." She paused. "Forgive the impoliteness, but- could I see what that nature is, Your Highness? I'm curious if we could run another test in your...true form...and what the results would be then."

Aqua gazed at her, silent, thinking hard. She looked to Vivian, who gave a nod and a small smile. She looked to Natsumi, who was simply...looking at her. Telling her that it was her judgement, her call to make.

Well, it was one she was going to make anyways, to the entire world...so why not start now? She was going to have to- get used to it all...after all...

If she was really going to be doing this. If she was really going to- come out like this, and doing it full time. In public, openly, in front of everyone and anyone!

Aqua raised her hand to her chest, and focused her mind and magicks inward...

She felt the shifts in her body come again. Inside and outside. She closed her eyes and inhaled - exhaled. She opened them again...and turned to face the full-length mirror next to the hospital bed.

It was funny, or maybe just odd, to think that she had been in this...form...more than a few times by this point, now (and all of them very recent) - and yet she'd never actually seen herself in it. She hadn't even known what she herself looked like!

She knew now.

Aqua saw herself, for the first time in her life.

She saw...what her mother had seen - what those soldiers had seen that night - and what...what Eraqus had seen. What he'd seen, and still assured her, over and over...that she wasn't some monster. A creature. A beast. A...

Aqua still looked mostly like herself, she supposed - except for the parts that weren't familiar at all. The parts of her that were...all new. Literally. The first things to stand out to her were what had stood out to her even without a mirror: the- long, curved, thin horns coming out of the top...front of her head. They were smooth, sleek, and a dark blue coloration. Aqua strode closer to the mirror, gasping at herself softly. She noticed next, from this, that all of the teeth in her mouth had changed; they were all sharp, and jagged triangles. She shook her head, stepping away, holding her hands to her chest.

Her fingernails had definitely grown, she thought, looking down at them personally. They were strong, long, sharp claws now that more smoothly transitioned out of her fingers than her- human nails. They were several inches long, and dark blue, like the- horns were.

Aqua let her hands fall, twisting and looking at herself in the mirror again. She moved her shoulders, her arms - the muscles of her back. The new ones...

Large, wide, powerful dark blue wings flared out on either side of her - behind her, blocking light and sight! They seemed to be...as wide or wider than her own torso - from neck to waist - and as long as her own body itself, completely? She breathed, she twisted again, trying to keep the mirror in sight, straining her feet on her heels and- A long, thin cord of dark blue flesh and muscle came whipping up from below, and something hard smacked her in the nose!

She startled, gasping and raising a hand to her face-

Until she realized!

Oh...Oh!

That had been her.

Just her.

She breathed out, trying to relax, trying to focus as she gazed into the mirror...

The long, thin, powerful tail of blue came twisting back down in front of herself. The sharp, heart-shaped bone on the end dangled in front of her. The tail had to be as long, if not longer, than the length of her own body!

Aqua slowly turned, looking down at her own- well...rear end, trying to find where the thing had come from! Flushing furiously, she looked to Natsumi. "Would you tell me if I had a...hole in my unitard...?" she stammered out.

Natsumi gazed at her seriously. Then she craned her neck, her eyes lowering. "It's nothing noticeable. Those sashes and ribbons of yours are excellent coverage."

"Thank you..." Aqua murmured, sighing in immense relief.

"You really didn't know," Ravamar spoke quietly, gazing at her strangely now. Or, not so strangely. It was a look of sympathy. At least, Aqua hoped it was that and not pity.

"N-no...I didn't..." Aqua muttered, turning back to the mirror again. She tried to breathe, to flex her back muscles - her wing muscles, the long length of a foot of bone and tendons that connected wings to upper, middle back... The wings snapped shut, startling her a second time! She cursed herself, literally, as she tried to calm down! She was glad no one else could see her burning face too well. And that no one was laughing at her.

"If you plan to go to the castle now, My Princess, would you mind if I escorted you there?" Ravamar spoke, in a- a kind tone. "We're going to need to do some explaining over there, and I can make sure things go more smoothly."

Aqua eyed the woman, turning to her. She had to turn fully - because she could barely look over her own shoulder anymore! That was going to be annoying...How did her- people even live like this?

"I wouldn't mind at all," Aqua stated. "In fact, I think I'd appreciate it."

Stepping out of that medical ward, with everything that she really was just- bared to the world...was probably one of the most nerve-wracking things she had ever done, or could ever remember.

Was it supposed to be freeing? A happy moment of- of liberation and joy?

She didn't feel any of that.

All Aqua felt was the anxiety, and fears, and worries, and doubts.

Not just for herself, either - but for Natsumi, who walked beside her so closely (so unashamedly by contrast, with her canine ears sticking up out of her head now, too, and a bushy tail coming out of the back of her kimono, of white fur streaked with blood red).

Aqua had also asked Vivian to accompany them, rather selfishly.

Overseer Ravamar had accepted it without question, telling Aqua: "Any Rose is yours to command as you see fit."

Aqua held her tongue from sarcastically responding with, "Funny that I never had that impression of them as a girl."

Ravamar led them to another room, where a raised platform of glowing blue lines, letters, and numbers inside of a circle sat in the center. A magic circle of some kind. No, not just a magic circle: a circle carved into the stone itself to make a rune platform. An enchanted platform.

Ravamar explained it was a teleportation pad - one which could be keyed to take the Serene Roses anywhere across the kingdom where another pad existed. And, of course, there were several of them spread throughout the royal palace - some obvious, and some more...concealed.

Aqua laughed aloud at that. She regretted it when the others looked at her, causing a rush of embarrassment. "Sorry - it's just - that certainly explains a lot about my childhood..." she elaborated, in a quick little murmur.

Was this how they had always been able to find her so fast, practically no matter where she was in the castle - or the capital city?

Ravamar had raised a hand with a swirling magic circle around her wrist. Letters, symbols, and digits glowed in a sequence - she closed her fist - and then a light flashed, and Aqua felt herself floating.

The sensation was brief, however, before she was suddenly finding herself stumbling forward on an identical magical platform...in an unfamiliar room.

Well, unfamiliar in the sense that obviously she had just been teleported into the castle - but it was still familiar to her as being somewhere inside the castle.

Ravamar strode forward, toward a wooden door. "This way, Your Highness."

Aqua hurried to follow-

She heard a thwap of a noise, and turned in horror to see Vivian stumbling to the side, a hand on her cheek - a heart-shaped red mark burning there!

"O-oh my- I'm so sorry! I- I didn't-" Aqua stammered hurriedly.

Vivian looked at her, flashing a wide smile, and twisting her hand into a thumbs-up as she righted herself with a snap-hop. "No worries, Princess Aqua! Just thank the gods there was no around with a camera!"

"Y-yes..." Aqua agreed, her voice going high for an instant, uncontrolled. She threw out her hand with healing magic, watching the mark on the woman's face fade.

"I suppose you'll need to practice with that thing, won't you," Natsumi said quietly, sidling up to her and taking her hand - patting at it. "It isn't your fault you never learned before - were never taught, growing up."

"S-still..." Aqua breathed, shaking her head. She carefully extracted herself from Natsumi's grasp, and moved toward the open door where Ravamar waited (now so, so awfully and keenly aware of her own- additions).

She didn't even have enough mental concentration to look around herself - at the walls, the familiar halls again. Not that she would have wanted to... No, that, the rush of memories, she wanted to delay as much as possible...

They ascended many stairs and strode through more empty hallways - until they came to a pair of large, double wooden doors in the middle of a spacious hallway decorated with statues and potted plants.

Oh.

Try as she might, this place, she remembered.

It was...

The meeting room.

The last place she had ever wanted to be, but that everyone else had kept dragging her off to...to watch and learn.

She really hoped that conversations in this room still did not go on for hours and hours and hours. Yes: she could hope that things were a little faster these days. Surely, in twenty years, they had found ways to expedite discussions.

Well, the Queen had always known how to do that - she would just speak up and say "Do this" or "Do that", and that would be the end of the meetings. Though, whenever Aqua had been there, she got the feeling that her mother had deliberately let things run on...for the sake of the learning experience.

Aqua strode forward and shoved the doors wide open, revealing the dark, long room - with that meeting table in it. Ornate, polished wood. The several dozen odd chairs ringing it, high-backed and cushioned.

At the far end of the table was the Queen's chair - throne, more accurately. A comfortable, absurdly fancy throne. Identical to the one in the actual throne room.

Ravamar flicked on the lights, causing Aqua to blink the suddenness of it away. She looked across the room, bowing her head and nodding to the throne. "Your Highness," she spoke simply.

Aqua looked at her. She looked to Vivian - who had strode away and taken up a position to the left of the double doors. She looked to Natsumi...

Natsumi gave her a small, glistening-lipped smile, her eyes warm and encouraging.

Aqua stepped over to her, gently taking her hand. She turned and started around the long table - pulling the woman along with her. Across the soft, pristine carpet floor, her shoes barely made a sound.

When she reached the throne, she sat down in it gingerly. She turned her head. She smiled at Natsumi, in a way that was more a little smirk she couldn't help. "Make yourself comfortable, please. I insist."

Natsumi blinked at her. Then she giggled, and promptly sat herself down on the floor beside the throne, getting into a cross-legged position. She lay her sword across her lap, resting her hands on its length. She shrugged her shoulders, shaking her long strands from her face.

Ravamar gazed at Aqua across the room, nodding to her. "If you're ready, I'll call the High Council - and this meeting to order."

Aqua took a breath, sitting straight in her chair. She paused, frowning and shifting. She glanced back, realizing that - of course - this chair was not designed for a...demon princess. Her wings were being folded and squished uncomfortably, and that wasn't even getting into her bent and coiled tail!

Aqua shifted around some more awkwardly, blushing, before giving up on it. She set her hands in her lap - then lay them on the chair's cushioned arms.

She looked out to Ravamar, giving a short, uncomfortable nod.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," she said honestly.

Chapter 50: Taking Control

Notes:

Okay following up an uber long chapter with more of a shorter one lol. xD Gotta balance the scales. :)

Unfortunately, meetings in this room were still very much the same as before.

After the initial reactions of shock and outrage to Aqua's very presence - and appearance - by the high Council members, things had just devolved into arguing and raised voices.

Ravamar had taken charge of it all, explaining the situation in firm, clear tones.

Then, the council members had demanded proof.

Ravamar had assured them about the multitude of tests Aqua had already undergone - but apparently that wasn't enough.

Aqua had to sit there as Ravamar performed several more of those spells on her all over again, in front of these people. She tried to be patient - composed - calling on her Keyblade Master training in full...but it was starting to fail her.

"Hey!" she shouted out, slamming her hands down on the table as she leaned forward.

The voices all stopped, faces turning to look at her now.

Aqua took in a breath before speaking again (though, quickly, before anyone had a chance to jump in). "At this point, it's an indisputable fact that I am Aqua Anfilia Tel-Rho Hurnestra - yes? You all just saw Ms. Ravamar perform several of them on me - and they all came back positive. You've all also personally noted that I do in fact have a striking resemblance to the lost princess...me!"

"Well...the spells seem to indicate such, yes..." one voice said, reluctant.

"It's also a fact that twenty years ago, as well as today, there were - and are - no laws that say a non-human can or cannot actually be a member of the royal family, the princess, or the future queen," Aqua stated firmly.

"Yes, but-" another voice spoke up, among the muttering rest of them.

"It's also a fact that the Queen knew of my true form, and yet she kept it a secret from all of you - and even myself!" Aqua went on loudly. "I don't know what her reasons were for doing this - maybe she had a non-human lover, or she wanted me to be some symbol of hope and unity between peoples and nations - but that was her business as Queen. And now, it's my business as the one and only, still legally recognized Crown Princess of Zitol - and soon to be newly ascended Queen - regardless of my heritage or race. So, regardless of my heritage or race, I will be recognized and respected as the highest authority in this nation, and the laws we all abide by will continue to be abided by, until such a time that that becomes no longer...the facts of the matter."

Aqua gazed around the hall, meeting every one of their gazes with cold blue eyes and a raised chin. "Yes?"

After a long silence, slowly, voices and murmurs of ascent and agreement filled the room. Some were more or less enthusiastic than others - but she was surprised to notice that two people seemed pleased, and smiled at her with what she judged to be genuine warmth. Or at least a kindness.

"Wonderful," Aqua stated, nodding. "Now, I've been away for a long time, obviously, so I'll need people who can help me get back up to speed with...current events - and past ones. I remember most of my lessons, and education, but I'll need to do some real brushing up again on it all. Customs, traditions - things like that, for the most part. I'll need a...legal advisor, but-"

"What's with the kitsune - Princess Aqua?" spoke a voice, in an undisguised voice of displeasure. Distaste.

Aqua looked across the room, toward the voice. She found the speaker, and held the woman's gaze. "Her name is Natsumi, and she is going to be staying here for a while as an esteemed guest and friend of mine. I expect her to be given every respect and courtesy." She hesitated, then gave a smirk of her lips. "I guess, like Queen, like Princess...because she's my lover - and she is very good at it. She's also very good at fighting - the same as I am. Oh, that's right: you should all know that I've spent the last twenty years being trained rigorously in swordsmanship and magecraft. Combining the two has made me a very good fighter, if I say so myself."

She didn't need a keen eye to spot the skeptical looks - or to hear the voices of disbelief or derision.

"Okay, so you all need some proof of that, too," she said loudly, raising a clawed hand. Many eyes were drawn to it, and mouths fell silent again. She took the moment to breathe, and to think, fast. "How about this: a few days from now, why don't we have a - public dueling ceremony. I'll fight against the best soldiers our kingdom has to offer, and our best can fight against each other - put on a good show. It can be a celebration of my return, and a way to let all of our people know that they have a strong, capable leader who's willing to fight for them...literally if need be. I can also use the ceremony as an opportunity to...take the time to show them that there's someone willing to listen to them, and give voices to those who might not be able to make themselves heard at all. We could even organize a parade, or a march, too. And, of course, I'll be out there like this," she concluded, gesturing down at herself.

Clear, louder voices. Protests. Strong protests and noises of disbelief again.

"It will be a display and a reminder to our people that we're not just a nation of strength, but unity and compassion - as I'd like to believe we've always been!" Aqua said, loudly over the voices, her own brimming with passion now. "A continuation of what the Queen, my mother, intended to do...and left behind as her legacy to be remembered. I think that in these past two decades, in my absence and hers, you've all gotten too far away from that. But I aim to change that, and set it right again. Our people will know the true ideals that drive this kingdom. Because true strength...is having the strength to be gentle - to be kind. It's so incredibly easy to hate, to give in to blind fear and panic...but forgiveness? Understanding? Empathy? Kindness and compassion? That can be really, really hard sometimes. I know that. But I think if we all work together at it...we can make it much easier for everyone."

"I don't want to step on people's toes," Aqua finished, flashing a wide smile. "I'm sure you've all been doing a wonderful job managing this kingdom without me, and I'd like you to continue doing that...at least in part." She paused. "Until my coronation, of course."

She didn't mean a word of it, of course: she fully intended on stepping on as many toes as she had to in order to right this ship...her ship.

---

"Elrena!"

Skuld stepped out of the light portal, spotting the woman immediately - as Invi and Ira followed behind Skuld.

Elrena stopped, turned - made a face at her - then snorted and whirled away again.

Skuld gazed after the woman, breathing out through her nostrils. She looked down at herself, at her hands...

She clenched her weapon hand into a fist, and went striding after Elrena.

"Hey!" she said, loud and angry. "Don't ignore me!"

Elrena stopped again with a huff. She turned back again. "I don't have a thing to say to you anymore, so-"

Skuld swung her arm up and across herself with force and muscle, and, for the first time in her life, she punched someone in the face. Her fist collided with Elrena's cheek, sending the woman spinning away and falling to her hands and knees.

Elrena stayed there on the ground, her hand flying to her face. Then she turned and looked up at Skuld, her mouth open in pure shock. "W-what the- hell? I thought you didn't do petty revenge or whatever?!" she exclaimed, still sounding supremely stunned.

Skuld gazed down at her, raising a hand and flicking her long, dark hair over a shoulder. The hand she'd struck Elrena with remained at her side, quivering. Throbbing. "That wasn't for revenge; it was making things fair."

Elrena blinked up at her. "That's the same thing!"

Skuld shook her head. "No, it's not. Because what I think you would do is push my face into the dirt, stomp on my back, and kick me in the ribs a hundred times; I'm just going to leave it at this, let us be even now, and hope you learn an actual lesson from it."

"That- makes no sense..."

Skuld took a step forward, drawing her foot back sharply-

"Hey!" Elrena flinched, shrinking away and throwing up an arm.

"So do you want me to just keep beating you into the ground?" Skuld said. "Or don't you? I'm just such a damaged, stupid woman, really - it's confusing."

Elrena lowered her arm slowly. She let her head fall, sucking in a sharp breath. She got to her feet again, her hand still pressed to her cheek. "Okay - we're even..." she murmured, glancing away. "I got you, you got me. We're squared or whatever."

"We got them back in the Graveyard fight, too," Skuld said, glancing back at Invi and Ira.

Elrena shook her head viciously. "No, that wasn't enough to- that was different- and it was Luxu's stupid idea in the first place, so it-!"

"Can you at least be smart enough to use them for their power - or as meat shields to throw between us and our enemies?" Skuld interrupted. "It's not working with them - it's making them work for us now. They can fight all those Heartless and Nightmares for us, they can go up against that Darkness again - and we'll be the ones to get the reward at the end without lifting a finger, you know? What do you say? You know we didn't stand much of a chance against what that Darkness threw at us...but they did. So let's use that to our advantage!"

Elrena stared at her again. She looked to Ira and Invi. "...Okay. Fine. Let's go, meatshields - no talking." That said, she started off ahead again, all on her own.

Skuld lingered behind still, letting out a sharp breath and brushing her hair back out of her face with her shaking, hurting hand.

"Whose Union was she from, and why did Ava ever choose her to be a Dandelion...?" Invi murmured.

"I hope it wasn't mine," Ira said quietly. He looked at Skuld, hesitating. "But I see why she chose you - as a Dandelion, and as a...'New Union Leader.'"

Skuld looked down, putting her aching fist into her palm and shifting on her feet. "I don't think that was Ava's doing - only Brain... I think the rest of us were chosen by your Master."

Ira frowned. He nodded, then looked away, himself. "Even so...you're a credit to these worlds, Skuld. The people living in this era are lucky to have you. I can't say the same for myself."

Skuld sighed. She raised her head, looking the man in the face. No mask, no robes, no hoods. Just a man...who was now around her own age, funny enough. Or, she was now around his age. Time travel was all so confusing, wasn't it? "I appreciate the gesture - Ira."

"HEY! Meatshields, pick up the pace! I need you front and center or you're useless to me!" Elrena's voice came shouting back to them.

Skuld looked between the two- former Masters. She shrugged her shoulders, flashing a small smile. She gestured toward Elrena with her head.

Ira and Invi strode after Elrena together without a word.

Chapter 51: Learning Pains

Aqua, with Natsumi and Overseer Ravamar behind her, strode through the halls of the palace until she came to the door to the queen's private chambers.

"Your Highness-"

Aqua stopped, turning to gaze at Overseer Ravamar. "Yes?"

The woman took a moment to gather her thoughts, clearly taken aback by such a prompt response. "I agree with most of the things you said back in the meeting room - and I even agree that the only way we're going to make any progress with this is to take a hard stance - but...if I could speak freely?"

"Of course," Aqua said simply. "Do you have some kind of concern?"

"I don't think the idea of a dueling ceremony will get the results you're hoping for."

"The results I'm hoping for are to dissuade anyone from trying to assassinate me," Aqua said shortly.

Ravamar gave a nod. "I'd suspected that, Princess. But a public combat ceremony is only going to invite challenge by default. Worse, still: if you're overestimating yourself - or underestimating Zitol's finest - your performance is just going to embolden the sort of people who are going to want to take a shot at you. Whether you do well or not...I'd request that you reconsider." She paused, going on quickly with, "The idea of a march or parade was a good one, for what you're trying to do - but I think you should cancel the duel."

"I'm willing to consider it," Aqua said. "But wouldn't cancelling make me look weak? The council members are bound to spread rumors. That would probably embolden people more than anything. I can't let people think I'm some defenseless, helpless woman like that; I want it made clear exactly what I can do if I have to!"

"Understandable, Princess Aqua. But, coming right out of the gates with a show of strength like that-" Ravamar said patiently, gazing at her with reproach.

"I've already said I'll consider it," Aqua stated firmly. "Whether I act on your advice or not, however, is still for me to decide."

"OF course, Princess." Ravamar bowed her head. "I only ask you to think it over. Will you be needing anything for the night?" she asked, changing topics.

"No. Thank you," Aqua said, softening her tone now. "I'll see you in the morning, Overseer Ravamar. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of things I'll need your help with."

Aqua watched the woman leave, then turned and pushed the door to the queen's chambers open, stepping inside.

It was so spacious and extravagant. Green carpet, a curtained bed big enough for four adults, a writing desk, dresser, makeup table and full length mirror. Floor-to-ceiling windows that framed the doorway out onto the balcony, that overlooked the city. Multiple wardrobes and walk-in closet that was more like an entire dressing room. Paintings of scenery on the walls - flower fields, a sheer cliff with multiple waterfalls...

Aqua shook her head and twisted around to look at Natsumi. She gave a small smile and said, "Well, there's more than enough bed for us to share this time."

The woman laughed, nodding. Then she yawned, patting at her lips. "It has been an exhausting time lately, hasn't it? A nice, long nap would be lovely right about now..."

"Yes," Aqua agreed, whole-heartedly. "It really would."

She hesitated, then just crawled onto the bed, clothes and all. She lay down on it. Rolled onto one side - then the other. She sighed, trying to figure out how to even get all these new- parts of herself in order! Would these horns end up puncturing a pillow? What if she woke up stuck to the headboard?! What was she supposed to do with her- tail? Try and curl it around her middle, or just...sort of let it hang off the bed...? And these wings...great, big, leathery wings! She tried to work her back muscles, hoping to put the one not trapped under her own body more...behind her actual back instead of hanging over her shoulder...

As she struggled with herself, Natsumi followed her lead and got onto the ridiculously large bed with her. She inched closer to Aqua, until their forms were touching.

Aqua blinked, gazing into the woman's eyes. Her gaze flickered to Natsumi's lips, shining and red and close now - she flushed and mentally kicked herself. This- probably wasn't the time for anything like that. Was it? She needed a nice, full rest if she was going to get things done tomorrow...and in the days to come. But, she had, in fact, slept very well after that one, special night with Natsumi before...even as awkward and- nerve-wracking as it had all been at the time, the following morning had seen her feeling more...relaxed and comfortable with herself than she had in...well, perhaps ever.

But could she even just - ask for something like that again now? Had it been a one time thing, or...? And what would Natsumi think of her, after what she'd said to the council? Would she think that Aqua only saw her as a- a source of sex? This woman was- definitely more than that to Aqua by this point! She was...a friend. She was...

Natsumi's hand touched her arm.

Aqua startled. She trembled. Her face burned even harder.

"Can I ask what you're thinking about right now?" Natsumi said quietly.

"Erm- just- things..." Aqua stammered, letting out a quivering breath. "Probably- stupid things..."

"Well, my ears are wide open for you," Natsumi said with a smile. She raised her arm to point at her kitsune ears, and they wriggled atop her head.

Aqua wasn't really one to think of something as being- well, cute or some such...but she thought that had been really cute.

"Would you want to- d-do what we did...before? Together? But - here...? Or is that too...?" Aqua trailed off, stammering again. Flustered beyond belief now!

Natsumi's fingers caressed Aqua's arm as she tilted her head at her. Her lips curved into an incredibly amused smirk now. "My, my...sex in your hated mother's own bed? Someone has a much wilder side than even I could have imagined...not that I'm complaining."

"W-what? No, no! No, I didn't- that wasn't why I-!" Aqua started furiously, rolling away from the woman, her hands going to her face!

Why had she even tried opening her mouth? This was just- a stupid, giant mistake, it was- she was-!

An intense smell suddenly filled her nose - burning?

Aqua dropped her hands and rolled out of the bed, jumping to her feet, her eyes sweeping the room, her body tensed and shaking! Her eyes found the bed, where a flame was growing in the sheets, eating at them! She swirled a hand and tossed out a large stream of water magic, dousing it with a hiss of smoke. "Where did that come from? Did you see any-" she started to Natsumi.

"Relax, Miss Aqua - it's just you," Natsumi's voice came, as she slowly, casually just...sat upright on the bed.

Aqua paused, staring. "W-what? Me...?" She was just confused. She hadn't had any kind of...incidents of uncontrolled or misfired magicks since she was a child! And- and it had really only happened once or twice!

Natsumi pointed a finger, a small smile on her lips again.

Aqua turned, twisting at the hip. Then she frowned, focusing...

Her tail came swinging out in front of her; the heart-shaped blade on the end of it was shrouded in a large, burning bush of dark blue flames!

"Why am I on fire?!" Aqua yelped, swinging a hand to hurl a sphere of water at the fires. They enveloped the flames, diminishing them to a flickering candle...but not extinguishing them! "Why won't this go away, why can't I-"

"Aqua: RELAX!" Natsumi insisted, raising her voice now. Aqua thought it was probably the first time she ever had actually raised her voice - it gave Aqua pause. "It's normal for demons - or so I hear."

Aqua eyed the flames still, her hand raised and swirling with more water magic. "Normal? How is this normal? My- tail is on fire...!"

Had it been on fire that night as a child? She couldn't remember - she'd been too focused on so many other things at the time! Although, now that she did think about it, she probably had been on fire when she'd first revealed her true form to Natsumi, that night in her self-fashioned hot springs. She did recall the noise of- sizzling water. Burning rain. And it hadn't been from her self-made hot springs...

"As I understand it, it's an automatic, natural biological reaction to - well, passions," Natsumi was saying - explaining.

Aqua did her best to focus and somewhat calm herself. "Passions...? As in...?"

"Well, anything that gets the heart racing too fast, I suppose," Natsumi continued. "Lust, arousal, anger, rage - intense moments of stress in general. Anything that results in high levels of adrenaline coursing through your body. It's just fight or flight, you see? Your body preparing itself for one hell of a fight...though it can get itself mixed up with incredibly exciting nights. Biology and evolution are strange that way, aren't they?"

"I...yes, but..." Aqua said slowly, looking away. She crossed her arms, then glared at her flaming tail end. "But this is ridiculous! How does anyone of my- my people even...sleep together if every time they do, they end up with- with flaming butts that could set the whole bed on fire?! Never mind - just - how do I make it stop?"

"I don't have the answer to your first question - but the second one should be obvious to someone like you," Natsumi said lightly. "Breathe - calm yourself down. Meditate. It's a part of your body, isn't it? You're the one in control of it. So control it..."

Aqua nodded, sitting in the middle of the spacious floor and crossing her legs. Closing her eyes, and breathing. Her Keyblade meditation training coming back to her. Mindfulness, attunement...control of herself and her body...

"You know, Miss Aqua, I enjoyed what I heard back in that meeting room from you...especially the part about us being lovers. The looks on those people's faces was a sight I won't soon forget!" Natsumi's voice spoke on, in the silence, rich with humor and delight.

"Oh - really? I actually was going to apologize to you about that - I thought I might have gone too far with it..." Aqua murmured out. "That was- kind of what I was worrying about a minute ago, honestly..."

"Oh, no - you didn't go too far at all. Though, that is an interesting question," Natsumi said thoughtfully. "Does one night of passion a lover make...?"

Aqua focused on her breathing even more intensely. "I wouldn't know. Does it?"

Natsumi's soft laugh came to her ears. "I'd say it does, yes." She paused. "Something else you said that caught my interest was what you said about your mother. From my prior understanding, you didn't have such a positive view of her. And yet you painted such a rosy picture back there..."

Aqua took in a sharp, quick breath. She opened her eyes, her lips curving into a tiny smirk. "I don't. We never had a good relationship, and after...on the night I left this world, when I learned about this-" She gestured down at herself awkwardly. "-she showed me the truth of her Heart. She was rotten and vile inside. The world is better off without her! My Master might think it was all some mistake, but I think-" She stopped. She breathed. "Whatever her reasons really were for having me, for keeping this a secret...I seriously doubt they were benevolent ones. But, now that she's gone, and there's no one to contest it, I figured I could at least put her to good use. Her memory can serve people better than she ever did in life; she can be remembered for something good, instead of something terrible - which is more than she deserves. But it's not for her: it's for everyone else."

"I see. I'm sure she'd be really pleased about that."

"Not a chance," Aqua laughed. "But I hope that, wherever she is now, she can see me here." She paused, looking to Natsumi up on the bed. "I wanted her room because, well, for one thing, it's going to end up being my room soon enough as it is, and for another...I really wanted the chance to get to search it for anything about myself. About why she did have me - why she kept it such a secret. She might have been a terrible person at Heart, but she must have kept journals, or letters, or something, as the queen. I hope she did, anyway..."

"I see. Well, we'll have to conduct a thorough search in the morning," Natsumi nodded. She lay herself back down onto the bed with a fresh yawn, drawing her legs in to curl into a ball. "Are you going to join me up here, Miss Aqua?"

Aqua breathed deeply - and released it. She focused her mind and body...and twisted her long, whip of a tail in front of herself. The blade on the end was now just simple...simple bone. No blue flames anymore. She breathed in again, then out again. Once more. She shook her head slowly. "I think I'd still be better off sleeping here on the floor. At least, until I figure this all out."

"Alright. Well then - goodnight, Aqua. I hope you sleep well down there."

"Goodnight, Natsumi."

Aqua looked around her, then lay down on her side, resting her head on her hands and drawing her legs in.

In all honesty, she...probably was not going to sleep well at all. But she had to do the best with what she had!

---

Xion woke up in her new room in Radiant Garden's castle.

She dressed and combed at her hair, and then walked out to the suite's big, wide open living room area.

It was quiet. Nice quiet.

Xion walked into the dining room, and then into the large kitchen. She opened up the cabinets and found something she thought she could eat safely (without risking just throwing it up again).

It had been a few days here now in Radiant Garden.

The feelings from Kairi's Heart and memories were still there...but she thought she was learning how to ignore them now. At least, she hoped so. She had been making her own memories here now, after all...newer and stronger ones. Well, that was what Even had said...

Even was probably sleeping still...or he was somewhere else already. He never spent much time here in the suite - not even now that he had finished making the new Replicas and helping everyone who needed helping.

But neither did Kana (Xion was kind of glad about that...).

Xion startled as she heard loud, fast footsteps. She turned and saw Kana rushing into the kitchen!

Kana stopped, wobbling on her feet. Her long purple hair swayed behind her. Then she smiled widely and came closer to Xion. "Hey," she said as she started to open the cabinets herself.

"Hi..." Xion said cautiously.

Kana pulled out a box of cookies, dug out a bunch of them in her hand, then stuffed them in her mouth. She bit and chewed and then threw her head back and swallowed hard. Then she turned and held the box out to Xion. "Want some? They're tasty!"

"No...no thanks," Xion said, backing away now.

Kana shrugged, then took out two more cookies and ate them both at the same time. She then jumped up on the spot and sat on the top of the counter, her legs swinging off the floor. "I'm so bored here!" she said loudly. She rolled her neck and looked over at Xion. "What did you say everyone was doing out there? You said you went out and got into some crazy fights, and you destroyed soldiers and robots, and some new monsters that aren't Heartless?!"

"Um...yes?" Xion said. "We're- they're...trying to stop all the Nightmares from...attacking people and putting them to sleep. And...looking for an old Keyblade called the Ultima Weapon. And a Darkness girl who took Kairi's body..."

"That's what I need to be doing, too!" Kana exclaimed, jumping down from the counter and throwing the cookie box aside (it slid across the counter and fell to the floor). "I'm not like you; I can't just sit around staring at words in books, or looking at computers like Even does! I need to fight! I need to be out there! I need to save the world! Oh, yeah: I'll be the hero of the entire World!" Kana raised her arm, and Aqua's Keyblade appeared in her hand - well, a replica Keyblade, like Xion's was of Kairi's - and she used it to make a swirling, big portal of light in the middle of the kitchen. "You can stay here if you want - I'm out!"

Kana walked forward quickly - then she stopped.

"What...?" Xion asked hesitantly.

"I need my motorcycle first!"

"I- I don't think you should go..." Xion started. "I don't think Even would...want you to go."

Kana looked at her, frowning. "So? Screw him. He's not going to be able to complain when I come back to him as the hero who saved every world in existence."

"I...I guess?"

Kana kept frowning at Xion. Then she approached her quickly - and hugged her, lifting her off her feet and squeezing her. She dropped Xion with a thump on the hard floor. "Right - I'm going to get my bike. See you around, little Replica sister!"

"B-bye..." Xion gasped, holding a hand to her chest!

Even was going to be so mad...

---

Xehanort sat on edge of the forest, upon a boulder, gazing into the firelight.

Smoke rose to the night sky.

A familiar scene, to be sure. Yet other things about this were also now...the same. In ways that...bothered him.

He sighed, leaning back and looking upward.

"What is on your mind, child?"

Xehanort let his head fall, his gaze finding the woman sitting on the ground nearby, her legs drawn close to herself. He looked at her for a long moment - then away again. "Nothing worth mentioning."

"If something is worrying you, you should talk about it," Amaya replied quietly. "Opening your Heart to others isn't only something that refers to your empathic abilities. You have so many people here for you now - you always did."

Xehanort frowned, closing his eyes and tilting his head back. Then he opened them once more, looking back at the woman. "Hmph. It really is nothing. I was just- thinking about the others..." he responded, halting.

"Eraqus and the likes?"

"Him - Vor...Urd and Hermod. Yes. And...mo-" Xehanort stopped. "Mother."

"Are you worried about her?"

Xehanort gazed at Amaya. He turned his head, his cheeks growing warm. "Of course I am...she's my mother..." he murmured out. His mind flashed with the face of his future Heartless - ringing with those words, and the waves of pure hatred and disgust, malice, that he had felt from the man in his own Heart. From his own Heart...

Amaya suddenly stood. Her Keyblade appeared in a flash of gold.

"What are you-" Xehanort began, confused more than wary.

"If you wish to see her again, we can go back," Amaya stated. Her expression in that moment was...and the emotions he felt drifting off of her Heart... "I couldn't take you to see her before - I can now. Whenever you want."

Xehanort's lips parted, as he blinked at the woman. He shut his mouth, shook his head. He spread his palms to her. "My feelings are not so drastic as that..." He hesitated, looking down now. He swallowed. "Well...perhaps they are," he amended, in a whisper.

"Xehanort-"

"He threatened her. My future self's Heartless," Xehanort said, quick and flat. "He threatened all of you. Eraqus, Vor, Urd, Hermod...even you. And - mother, too. And given that that Riku boy was allowed to just walk away, with that Darkness- girl in his Heart, no less, as well as my Heartless...forgive me for taking those threats to Heart. I'm sure he's capable of making very good on them, isn't he?" He frowned deeply, dropping his head. "Aren't I...?"

"Do you trust Eraqus to protect her?"

"Do I trust my best friend with the life of my mother? I'd like to - but I'm rather keenly aware of the fact that sometimes there is nothing you can do!" Xehanort responded fiercely, lifting his head up sharply. "And I'm also rather keenly aware of the fact that Eraqus and the others were all useless the last time they were confronted with my Heartless! No one else is simply going to cut the boy Riku down to protect everyone else that matters, so...yes, I'm worried!"

"Riku is not your enemy. He's a victim, and what he needs is help, not execution simply because it would be more convenient for all of us..or just for you. You made the wrong choice with Baldr before - you made the right one when you chose to go into Riku's Heart and help him there. Don't doubt that now."

"Isn't that so easy for you to say - you have no one you care for on the line!" Xehanort snapped.

"I have a lot of people I care for on the line," Amaya refuted firmly. "I have you, and Moreth. And Skuld is out there risking her life as we speak - one of the first, best friends I ever had, reunited across the impossibilities of time and space...just as you and your mother were, and your friends. We all have people we love, and fear to lose, Xehanort. That's life. But what you do in response to that fear is what matters."

"What would you suggest I do, then? Hm?"

"Well, if you're so worried about her, and if you don't feel like you can trust her to stay safe in Eraqus's hands - then we could ask her to stay with us here instead," Amaya said. "If she was willing to be closer at hand, she would be easier to protect...with your own hands. We could even suggest having her brush up on her Keyblade training, so she can better defend herself."

"She would never be ready!" Xehanort protested. "Against my Heartless? My future self? Against these Nightmares? Against this renegade Darkness? Never."

"No, she wouldn't - but she would be better off than she was, would she not?"

"And what use is that?"

"Every bit helps, Xehanort. Every inch, every second, every swing of a blade. Every moment. It. Matters. Moments in which either of us can be able to intervene, and shield her, and save her!"

"Yes, you were such a help before, weren't you? Bound in chains by a boy of fifteen, who barely-"

"Even the greatest Masters, the most powerful mages, can be caught off guard - taken by surprise," Amaya said, in a calmer tone. "Even me, and even you - your present self. You know this. This led to his defeat ten years ago, and the ruination and halting of all of his plans for the World. The fortitude and bonds of three young people, in the face of his almighty powers. Terra's powerful emotions and strength of will, that lingered in his very armor. Master Aqua's willingness to fight and sacrifice to save her friend's Heart. Even Ventus's willingness to destroy his own Heart to save them from Vanitas. And of course, there were the actions of Kairi and her friends in recent months that stopped your Heartless and Nobody alike in their tracks. It should serve as a lesson not to consider yourself invincible or untouchable, no matter how old or powerful you become."

"Well then...that's even more of a reason to-"

"To what? Xehanort, I know that it's difficult, but I think you need to stop spending so much time on the negatives, on fears and doubts, and instead look at things more positively. Stop seeing the darkness, and start seeing the light. Don't obsess over what you can't do - think and plan for what you can do. And learn to be content with that. To accept that there are in fact limitations to yourself and your abilities. I told your future self this, but you need to hear it as well: the worlds - and people - are not perfect. You aren't perfect. And they will never be. You will never be. And you must accept that. You can look around and see darkness, and threats, and all the negativity of the World...but if all you do is that, you miss out on experiencing all the good - on living well."

Xehanort stood, clenching his fists. "Do you think I'm not trying? I did in fact take even my future self's wisdom by experience to Heart, to not waste this chance I've been given! To not wind up as the raving, obsessive, pathetic shell of a man he did, alone and empty, so incurious, so devoid of all that even this me at this point in my life still values! The man that he is, and that my Heartless is as well, apparently! Seeing my future selves, fractured and broken as they all are - do you think I-" He stopped. He breathed. He whirled away, stalking off. "I don't take it for granted...having everyone and everything I lost back in my life again now," he said tightly. "Eraqus, Vor and Urd and Hermod, and even you...and of course, the chance to meet the mother I didn't get the chance to, in another life and time..."

Xehanort closed his eyes, raising a hand before himself. A shaking fist. "That is why I am so worried for them all - for her especially. Because I know so well how quickly and easily you can just...lose everything. And then you're nothing - you're shattered. A remnant of the person you once were, to whom nothing even matters anymore...apparently even including the chance to get them all back again, seeing as you so correctly pointed out that my future self could have done this himself ages ago..."

"I understand how you're feeling. Let's go and see her, then. You can ease those worries, at least. Or request her help in doing so - as I suggested. But simply getting lost in it all is going to do no one any good." The woman paused, briefly. Then- "I am glad, proud, that you did decide to tell me any of this. To open up to me about your feelings and thoughts. That is good - that's healthy."

Xehanort took in a deep breath, and let it go again with...no small amount of relief in his Heart. He turned back to his mentor, gazing on her. "Let's just focus on what we're all out here for. The sooner we can end this, the sooner I'll have nothing to worry about at all. Or at least...comparatively little to worry about," he muttered.

Amaya watched him, her eyes scrutinizing his face. Then she nodded. Her Keyblade vanished. "Alright. I just hope you do realize...how powerful this is. How much of a miracle it is. The chance to say the things you never got to say, or always wanted to say...I know, because I speak from experience, Xehanort."

Silently, Xehanort returned to his rock of a seat; Amaya sat beside him on the ground, now. Close. He looked down at her for a moment, in the fire's light. He hesitated. "I won't become my future self - any version of him. Seeing my human self, and now my Heartless, I... No matter how negative I get, I'm not going to risk throwing this all away. Losing them all again. Even the few years I've lived without them, my Heart's emptiness, and loneliness... I wouldn't want to go back to that again. Not when I know...when he knows what it's like to live a long, lonely life without them. Not when I know...where that road leads. To go from someone who- cares about you all, to someone who could threaten you all like that..." He flushed, turning away and crossing his arms. "I- suppose what I'm really trying to say here is...thank you."

"For what?" came Amaya's soft, surprised tones. Honest surprise.

"For all of this," Xehanort said quietly, staring off into the dark distance now. "For making this all possible - for coming back to me, yourself, I suppose - and for keeping the promise to let me see my mother someday. Even if it was after a fashion, and through a twisting, doubling back path across time...I still finally got to meet her because of you. This version of me that I am, here and now, got to meet her - and to have all of my friends back again. So: thank you."

"I can't take all the credit - or even most of it - but...you're welcome," Amaya said warmly.

He didn't need his abilities to know what the woman was feeling in that moment.

He turned to look at the flames again. Into the burning light...

And he let his lips curve into a small smile, embracing the feelings in his own Heart that matched with hers.

Chapter 52: The Things Never Said

Eraqus entered the dining hall of the castle. He paused as the strong scents filled his nose.

He strode slowly down the table, eyeing the woman with...bemusement. He stopped, clearing his throat.

Moreth startled rather terribly - water splashed across the floor as she dropped the mop and turned to face him sharply.

"Apologies, I-" Eraqus began quickly.

"It's alright!" the woman cut across him, her face flushing as she brushed long dark hair from her face. Those familiar silver eyes...eyes rich with life and expression (as Xehanort's had not been in so long). She gazed back at him, hesitant. Nervous, even. She picked up and set the soapy, wet mop into the steel bucket, and folded her hands at her waist. "I'm sorry - if you needed to get through here-"

"No, no...it's only..." Eraqus trailed off. He crooked a small smile of amusement now. "This castle is heavily enchanted; it's never needed...cleaners or workers. And I think Xehanort would try and kill me again if he came back with the impression that I had turned you into a servant, or- castle maid."

The woman, Moreth, winced, bowing her head suddenly.

Eraqus cursed himself internally - you always did have the worst timing for trying out jokes.

"I'm sorry, that was inappropriate of me," he said quietly. "I-"

"Is that the kind of joke you two make with each other?" Moreth spoke, raising her head again, a smile suddenly growing on her face. "I can't judge what relationship my son has with his friends - especially two boys!"

"I..." Eraqus flushed now, awkwardness in his Heart. Perhaps a change of topic was wiser at this point. "You truly don't need to do any cleaning like this. Xehanort entrusted me with your safety, not so I could put you to such hard work."

The woman seemed to brighten, strangely, shaking her head. "I do have to clean. It's not hard work at all. It's busywork - it's what I like doing! And it's sort of what I need to be doing right now, too, or I'll go insane with all the fear and worrying in my Heart right now..."

"...I see..." Eraqus nodded slowly.

"Those enchantments on this place you mentioned before must be failing, because I've found a lot of spots that needed cleaning already," the woman went on, cheerful and confident now.

Eraqus eyed the woman for a moment, then, unable to help himself, he laughed. "Well - as long as you're doing what you're doing of your own free will...I appreciate your services, Ms. Moreth."

"Please, you're my son's best friend - just call me Moreth!"

"...Alright. Moreth."

Moreth tilted her head at him, a smile on her lips again. "I haven't wanted to get in your way these past few days since I came here, but...could I talk to you about my son?"

"Of course. Is there something in particular...?" Eraqus winced at his own choice of words - something in particular? How about the whole list of atrocities and falling to darkness, how about the fact that I'm currently keeping his present self under lock and key in my basement? How about the fact that-

"I know...about all of the bad things he's done - the person he became," Moreth spoke quietly. "But could you tell me about the person he was - the friend you knew him as? You have to have stories, don't you? Funny little stories, cute little memories...? You're his best friend! I know those other children are also his friends, but you were the closest to him, weren't you?"

Eraqus stared into her hopeful face. He gave a small smile and a nod. "I believe I can think of a few excellent ones to tell, yes. Let's see now...ah, how about the time when-"

A loud, roaring noise echoed from somewhere above.

Eraqus froze, turning his head to try and trace the source of the noise. He glanced at Moreth. "Stay here, please," he said firmly, and he raced out of the room.

He hoped it was nothing. He couldn't fail his new promise to Xehanort now: the promise to look after the mother that Xehanort had not told him of before in their lives...

---

Kana tied her hair into a long ponytail, stuffed it down the front of her shirt, then aimed her Keyblade out in front of her, revving the engine of her bike and lifting the front wheel as she sped into the portal!

She flew out the other side and into a...large, open room with crystals and high windows and thrones. Some throne room for a castle.

She slowed down and set her foot down to come to a sliding stop on the slick floor! She almost lost her balance completely - but she saved it. It was a real rush of excitement in her chest.

She'd already had some of this new hair ripped out before, and taken a fall she wouldn't have blinked at before...but she had now! She'd felt pain before, but pain now was so much more...painful. And strangely pleasurable at the same time.

Anyway...Kana swung a leg off her bike and pulled her ponytail out of her top, letting it hang behind her back. She let the Keyblade vanish from her hand.

She heard racing shoes, and an older man with long dark hair in white robes came running up some stairs into view. It was that Eraqus man - the one who had taught her- originator to use the Keyblade and all that. Kana watched him as he drew closer, feeling a rush of emotion in her chest. The things she sometimes felt with Even, or Xion, or Aerith and Tifa. Happiness, affection, joy...whatever you called them all.

"Aqua...?" the man said as he stopped in front of her. Then he shook his head, closing his eyes. "No - apologies - you...are not Aqua. It's Kana, isn't it...?"

"Yeah?" Kana said, shrugging and smiling. "And you're Eraqus. The guy who got a new body, like me. You trained Aqua."

"Y-yes, I did..." Eraqus gazed at her, frowning. He sighed. "I'm sorry. Do you...need something? Is it an urgent matter?" he spoke, eyeing her motorcycle strangely.

"Yes. I want you to tell me where to start looking for the Ultima Weapon - or where to find all these Nightmares. Or - no, wait! - that Darkness that's out there!" Kana stated.

Eraqus blinked at her in surprise. Then he smiled at her. "You intend to offer your help?"

"I intend to save the worlds," Kana replied. "I think I can knock it out in a week or two. This will all be over, and you can all thank me for it: you're welcome!"

The man stared at her some more. Then he laughed. Loudly. Echoing in the throne room.

"I wasn't being funny," Kana said, frowning.

"No, no, of course not," Eraqus said quickly, his hand on his chest. "Forgive me - it's just...you truly do resemble her in more than looks, don't you, Miss Kana? At least...in her younger years..."

"Sure. Whatever," Kana said dismissively. "Can you tell me anything useful or not?"

"I could - perhaps. However..."

Kana stepped forward, leaning in to put her face in his. "What?!" she demanded excitedly.

"The Nightmares can be found on many worlds by now; a blind search would see you come across them soon enough," Eraqus said. "As for the Ultima Weapon, or this Darkness foe of ours...I am not the one who could tell you that."

"Then who is? I'll talk to them." If she had to...

"That would be Master Yen Sid. He-"

"Where do I find him?"

Eraqus closed his eyes, a smile on his lips. He shook his head again. "I can open a path for you to his tower, if you truly insist..."

"Oh, I do. I really insist! If you keep holding out on me, my swords will start to insist, too," Kana said, patting her hands down on her sword hilts hanging from her waist. "And you don't want that."

"There's no need for threats, especially against your own allies," Eraqus said calmly. "I will open a portal, and you may pursue your goal as you see fit."

"Then do it! I need to get out there already!" Kana said impatiently.

"As you wish, then."

After the man did what she asked, Kana jumped onto her bike, spun it around, and sped off into a new portal!

She emerged out the other side - into an empty room with a desk and a chair and some shaped windows.

There was an old man at the desk, with a pointy blue hat and a white beard. He stood up immediately, his jaw dropping, a hand raising.

Kana skidded to a stop and ended in a forward wheelie; she twisted her bike around on the momentum and slammed it down onto the ground again with a high laugh. She tossed her head and turned to grin at the old man. "Are you Yen Sid?"

The man stared at her some more, for a long minute. Then he slowly lowered his hand, putting it on his desk. "Yes...I am? And you are-"

"Kana. Eraqus said you were the guy who could tell me where to go to find Nightmares and some Darkness to fight," Kana said swiftly, waving a hand. "And an Ultima Weapon Keyblade?"

The idea of this ultimate weapon really appealed to her. There would probably be a lot of fighting over who got to use it, and if she could be the one to use it...imagine what kind of fights she could fight with it - and win!

"Indeed..." Yen Sid said slowly, still staring at her with bugged out eyes. "I...believe I can point you in the right direction. However, if you are to join this mission, I must warn you-"

"Just give me the directions, skip the warning," Kana interrupted.

Yen Sid sighed. He stroked at his long beard, raising his eyes to the ceiling. "If what the stars tell me is true...perhaps a warrior of your- caliber will be needed indeed, soon. Very well. The world you must go to is thus..."

He waved a hand, and a swirl of smoke appeared in the air. Out of the smoke formed a hazy image - of a world, and people!

"Hold this image in your Heart, and conjure a portal, and you may yet be able to reach it," Yen Sid told her.

"Okay - I got it. You really were helpful," Kana responded, beaming.

Yen Sid blinked. Then he gave a thin smile, bowing his head. "I am glad to hear it - I do strive to be."

---

Eraqus had watched the young woman go - younger in so many more ways than one would think (in mind, in Heart, and in experiences) - and turned away with a small shake of the head.

He was beginning to make his way back across the throne room, when a new portal of light burst into existence in front of him.

He braced himself for the woman's sudden return, wondering if he would need to actually jump out of the way of an oncoming vehicle this time-

But he relaxed as he saw the two figures striding out of it.

"Xehanort?" he spoke, staring at the young man. The young version of his best friend. The version that was still...his best friend. Said best friend was wearing a mask of an expression - though Eraqus could see the cracks in it, that revealed true emotions underneath... He looked to Amaya, questioning.

"He decided he wanted to come by for a visit," the woman said simply, quietly. "To check in with you - and his mother, of course-"

"Stop," Xehanort's murmuring tones came, as he glanced away from Eraqus and Amaya both. "I think I'm capable of speaking for myself, thank you."

"Of course..." Amaya nodded, closing her mouth and bowing her head. "I'm sorry."

Xehanort let out a sigh, and finally looked Eraqus in the eye. He strode forward - then stopped in front of him. His silver eyes blinked, and shifted. They shined now, like they used to, as his lips quirked. A small, humorous smirk, so familiar and so welcome on that face. "I wanted to be sure you weren't in need of rescuing again - that was a pitiful showing against my Heartless the other day, you know. It didn't inspire much confidence in me in regards to your 'Master' title. Apparently they just give it out to anyone, don't they?"

Eraqus found himself smiling in return, his Heart glowing with warmth. This was Xehanort - his best friend - pure and true. For this moment, at least...he was back. And perhaps, as Terra had said, and as Amaya had spoken of...perhaps he could truly bring that boy back for good. If he upheld his promise, lived up to it, this time. If he just... "Even with this new, strong body, I'm still a little rusty, I'm afraid. I promise to do better next time," he said, half in jest, half serious.

"Hmph. You'd better," Xehanort replied, gazing at him intently.

Eraqus gazed back...

Then, they both began to laugh at the same time.

"Well, if you want to see your mother again now, she's in the dining room," Eraqus said, recovering himself. "She's hard at work - cleaning."

Xehanort blinked. "What...? Cleaning?" He frowned. "I thought I asked you to keep her safe, not turn her into your personal maid!"

And there it was, Eraqus thought wryly. "I haven't! She's doing it by her own free will; she's said it keeps her mind off of...negative thoughts. Like worrying about you. She seems to enjoy it, honestly."

Xehanort froze, his mouth open. His cheeks tinged pink as he looked away quickly. Then, down at his feet. "My mother...enjoys...cleaning?" he said, halting, murmuring, as if unable to believe the words.

"Apparently so," Eraqus said, restraining a grin now. "Is that a problem for you?"

"Well, it's definitely not what I imagined...but I suppose so long as she's truly acting of her own free will, I'll nix the thoughts of seriously killing you again," Xehanort muttered. He drew a breath and straightened. He looked Eraqus in the face, entirely serious now. And yet still seemingly...uncomfortable or embarrassed. "Eraqus, I-"

"Yes?"

"I just..." Xehanort hesitated. Then- "I suppose I should apologize for...the things I never said, or got the chance to say." He glanced at Amaya, then focused on Eraqus once more. "Apparently, even in all the decades after my time, I never told you about...well, my mother. Or Amaya. Or...where I grew up. Perhaps I should have. Best friends do share that sort of thing with each other, don't they?"

Eraqus stared at his old, young friend in pure shock. And amazement. And...raw emotion. He swallowed, blinking quickly, and offering a smile to the young man. He shook his head. "We all have our secrets, Xehanort. Things we'd rather not talk about - even with the closest of friends, or even family. Things that...are our right to keep to ourselves alone. I never asked after the first time because I wanted to respect your right to that." He paused. "And because you seemed to get really annoyed with all the questions, and I didn't want to ruin a chance at friendship."

"Well, seeing as keeping it all inside of me didn't seem to...work out too well for anyone...perhaps...the alternative could yield better results?" Xehanort spoke slowly. He gave a small, almost nonchalant shrug. "Who knows?"

"I'll be glad to listen to whatever you have to say, old buddy," Eraqus said, smiling again.

Xehanort stared into his eyes. "I should also seriously apologize for killing you in the future..."

Eraqus looked down, his smile fading. "Well, I certainly don't want to say water under the bridge, or anything that would condone the act - but I am alive and well again now. Stronger and better than ever, in fact. And the you that got to that point, that did such a thing, is not the one that stands before me-"

"And I never will be."

Eraqus blinked, his head shooting up.

"I- just want you to know that, as well, I suppose," Xehanort went on, in almost a stammer. "I...do not want to ever get to a point where I could- contemplate such a thing, let alone actually go through with it. It's...I suppose I can see how I would, over enough time, with the right mindset and-" He stopped, shaking his head. "But I'd like to do everything possible to avoid that fate for myself...and for you. I know that must mean nothing, coming from the man who proved himself capable of it, but-"

"Xehanort...it means everything to me," Eraqus whispered. "It means so much, to hear you say this with such conviction. If it's forgiveness you seek, I give it to you. Just...yes, don't do it again," he awkwardly concluded, with a laugh.

Xehanort nodded, quite seriously. "I promise you, I won't." Then his face flickered, his body eased, and and then he gave a smile of his own. Light, and equal, and true. "Anyway, with that all out of the way now, I think I'd like to see my mother again."

"Of course," Eraqus agreed happily. He looked to Amaya, pausing.

The woman flashed a small smile, simply nodding. "You two go. I'll have my own company."

As soon as she finished speaking, smoke burst in front of her, and her Chirithy friend - named Star, now - appeared in front of her. "Huh? Oh, hey, champ! Need something?" they said immediately, gazing up at her.

Amaya sank to her knees, then sat back on the floor fully. She held out her arms, her smile widening. "I just needed someone to spend a little time with - while I give those two some time together," she replied, nodding up at Eraqus and Xehanort.

Star turned with a hop, looking up at them as well. They nodded, raising a stubby arm. "I thought it was going to be something a little more important than that...but okay, I guess?"

Amaya bowed her head and let her arms fall, looking embarrassed now.

Star turned back to look at her. They shook their head and went to climb into her lap, laying their head against her body. "Sorry - I can tell you need this...so I'm here for you!"

Amaya smiled, placing a hand atop Star's head to stroke and caress at them. "Thanks...I can always count on you, can't I..."

"You bet, kiddo!" Star exclaimed happily.

"Well then..." Xehanort spoke, clearing his throat and shaking his head at the small being. "Eraqus - let's go."

Eraqus nodded, and strode off across the throne room - with Xehanort by his side.

Chapter 53: Push and Pull

Notes:

GOD. DAMMIT. *CRIES* I was editing and saving several different chapter drafts, and rearranging them, and somehow I- I ERASED SEVERAL PARAGRAPHS! GONE! They're not HERE or on FFN docs! I think I accidentally COPIED OVER a chapter with another chapter's contents by mistake, because I realized the chapter count was kind of funky last night vs the actual CONTENTS of the drafts, and then I had to correct it...OH GOD. :( I guess I'm just posting this chapter as is, and next chapter will have to just be...I don't know? I don't think I could even just rewrite it all from memory. It was so good and complete. Nooooo...

Aced slashed his Keyblade before him, creating a single blade beam that formed into a black hole, sucking in the Nightmares with unrelenting force.

The vortex closed and vanished, leaving the area clear again.

"Annoying little creatures..." he muttered, lowering his weapon and looking around himself. The tall grass fields of rolling hills were empty of any enemies now. Sparse trees stood in the distance - the only thing worth noticing.

"I kind of like them," Gula said casually. "They're interesting, at least."

"Interesting? Well, I guess if you like infestations," Aced laughed. He glanced at Gula again, then shut his mouth and let his Keyblade vanish. "Anyway, how many worlds do we have left to search for this Keyblade?"

"Just this one, now," Gula replied. "I hope the others are having better luck than us.."

"Ira and Invi?" Aced gave another laugh, setting his hands on his hips. "Those two probably haven't even gotten more than one or two worlds down their own list! They're probably too busy doing things like- holding hands or- staring into each other's eyes to notice anything going on around them!"

"If you're jealous, you can just say it, you know..."

"W-what?! Who said I was jealous?! That would be ridiculous-"

Gula looked at him.

Aced's mouth opened as he froze. He swiped an arm and turned away with a growl. "I'm not jealous, I'm just- worried about them! They're letting themselves get...distracted! If they're so busy with each other, they're not going to be paying enough attention to their enemies!"

"Riiiight...keep telling yourself that, if it makes you feel better."

"No one asked your opinion, anyways!" Aced snapped, whirling back to the boy. "And- and you know what I think, Gula?"

"Nope...but I'm sure you're about to tell me anyways."

"Grrr. I think all these shots you keep taking at me are just a cover for your own feelings!" Aced spoke firmly.

"My feelings? For who? Invi?" Gula said, laughing now in disbelief. Mockery.

"Hah, no - because that's right, isn't it? You were always so close with Ava, weren't you? That's why you've been so desperate to find her!" Aced retorted fiercely.

Gula laughed again. He shook his head, clenching a fist at his side. "As always, you can't see past your own emotions, can you, Aced? Ava was the closest friend I had out of any of you, yes - but I didn't think of her like...that. Not like you and Invi."

"Well, I-" Aced started, stumbling over the words, not even sure of what he was going to say (damn Gula's quick tongue and cool head!). Fortunately, he didn't have to come up with anything as, next second, a swirling portal of light appeared nearby, and a blur of a shape came speeding out of it!

Aced turned and summoned his weapon back to hand, holding it high.

Gula spun around and held his out, too, in one hand, on guard.

The speeding shape turned out to be a vehicle - with a person riding on it! It came to a spinning halt in front of them, allowing Aced to see who was riding the contraption.

"You?" Aced exclaimed. Then he paused, staring as the- woman turned to look at him. No, it wasn't that woman - the new era Keyblade Master, Aqua (who wasn't even one now, anyways!). It was that...artificially created person - what was the name again?

"Oh - hey," Gula said, lowering his weapon and striding forward with a shrug. "Kana, right?"

Kana, that was it! Aced had known that! He'd definitely been about to say it, if Gula hadn't beaten him by- by like one second!

Aced let his own weapon fall to his side as he hurried forward. "What are you doing here? How did you even find us?" he asked the woman whose name was Kana, and he had known that!

Kana shook her head, then reached down into the front of her- very small, sleeveless, torso-exposing top to pull out a long, twirling ponytail of shimmering dark purple hair. She flashed a smile as she swung one of her...long legs off the seat of her vehicle. Two differently colored, thin swords clattered at her waist, hanging from the belt of her...incredibly short- shorts. Her shoes crunched on the dirt and grass as she shifted her stance. "I'm here to save the worlds - and, a wizard did it."

Aced opened his mouth - then he froze in pure confusion. "Huh?"

"Do you mean the old Master, Yen Sid, who gave us all this mission?" Gula said.

Kana nodded. "Yes."

"Right. So he sent you to us as backup, did he?" Aced spoke up quickly. "Well, sorry to tell you, but we don't need-"

"So when do we get to fight? What are we doing here?" Kana spoke over him, stepping forward and leaning into his face! Her lips spread into a wide grin, her eyes- shined at him, all purple like her hair... "Where's Darkness? Where are these Nightmares? Or that Ultima Weapon?"

"H-hey!" Aced exclaimed, shoving out at the woman and stumbling backwards. "Don't get so close to me - and- and one question at a time, alright?!"

Kana leaned back, setting her hands on her hips - above her swords. "Okay. So?"

"I'm sure we'll stumble onto more Nightmares soon enough," Gula stated. "We haven't seen any sign of that Darkness, though. Or the Ultima Weapon. This is the last world we have left to search before we go back to Yen Sid's Tower."

"That's lame," Kana stated back. "Though, we'll probably find it within the hour, with me here now."

Aced stared at her. Then he burst into laughter. He gasped for air, regaining himself as he saw the look on her face. "Oh- oh, you're being serious? Who do you think you are, exactly?"

Kana frowned at him. She shrugged. "I'm Kana. Who are you?"

"Aced! Ancient Keyblade Master, and the strongest one out of the five Foretellers!"

"Wow - don't pull any muscles patting yourself on the back there..." Gula murmured.

"Do we need to have a repeat of our battle before, in Daybreak Town?" Aced glared at the boy. "As I recall, it took you, Invi, and Ava just to challenge me! And even after that fight, I still stood tall and took you down-"

"How strong is 'strong?'" the woman said, stalking forward again and - getting right into Aced's personal space! Her face was- manic! Crazed! What was with this woman? "Show me! Let's fight. Now!"

"Wha...? You- you're still being serious, aren't you?" Aced said slowly.

"Of course I'm being serious - why wouldn't I be? Will you fight me or not - please?" the woman added, as some kind of afterthought.

Aced grinned. He raised his Keyblade to rest it on his shoulder, puffing out his chest. "Well, I can't say no to a challenge! But you're going to wish you'd never made it."

"Are you serious right now?" Gula said, staring between the two of them. "We're not going to just have you two-"

"Stay out of it, Gula!"

"Yes we are!"

Aced and Kana spoke at the same time.

"I don't see what the harm is in a little friendly sparring match," Aced went on.

"YES! Exactly!" Kana said passionately, beaming at him. She threw herself into a sudden series of backwards handsprings, culminating in her whipping out both those swords of hers, and holding them out away from her body. Her- slender, curving- body... "Okay, let's do this!"

Aced shook his head furiously, then brought his weapon out in front of him, held in both hands. He turned and strode off across the grass, before stopping again, turning back to face the woman from afar. "Okay - but don't start crying when you lose to me! I'll have you under my blade in a minute, tops!"

Kana laughed in a high, light tone. She twirled her swords and hopped on the spot. It was- surprisingly distracting for Aced. "No, I'm going to have you under my shoe in...thirty seconds! No, ten!"

"...Fine, this is happening today - okay," Gula murmured, backing away a good twenty feet or more. "Do whatever you guys want. I've never been able to talk any sense into you, have I, Aced?"

Aced ignored him, focusing only on Kana. He grinned at the woman as he changed his stance, and weapon position. "I'm ready whenever you are - Kana! Give it your best effort; I won't taunt you too badly for losing!"

"I'm going to taunt you forever after I win," Kana retorted, with a grin of her own.

"Prove it-"

The woman flew forward in a rush of speed and power, gliding across the ground itself - not even running!

Aced turned his weapon aside and took a step back-

And blocked her.

Dirt and grass exploded all around them, creating a cloud of dust and shredded grass blades.

But when it cleared...

The woman was being held back by Aced's defenses, strong and steady.

Though, to be fair, Aced had been surprised by the amount of speed and force the woman had in her - it just wasn't enough to get past him!

The look on her face was one of total shock and confusion.

"Hah! Not bad..." Aced said, in tones of exertion. "Not bad at all. But...now it's my turn!" He set his jaw and pushed out against her, sending her skidding backwards across the ground, and he ran at her and came down in an overhead strike!

---

"I'd like you to...refresh yourself on your training - with Eraqus."

Xehanort watched the plain, pure surprise play across his mother's face. She was such a...surprisingly easy to read, simple woman. An open Heart. He hesitated to think the word "weak", but...was it not an accurate observation...? Sticking strictly to facts...

Mother gazed at him still, her lips pursing, her head bowing. "I don't use my Keyblade...I haven't, since I was a teenager."

"Well, it's time to start using it again," Xehanort said.

"Why...?" mother asked, her eyes downcast now.

"Why? Because there are monsters running amok, attacking people and plunging them into wakeless sleep?" Xehanort spoke, with disbelief - and confusion. "Because my own Heartless threatened your life, and I'd feel perhaps slightly better if I knew you weren't going to be cut down instantly should he come to make good on his promises of cruel, spiteful revenge?" He watched the woman, pausing. "Isn't self-defense something everyone should know how to do? Seeing as you already lost your life once to a Darkness, I'd think you would be much more interested in not falling to the same fate again. Do you really want to just let yourself be helpless against any of our enemies?"

The woman still seemed hesitant and even anxious. Xehanort couldn't comprehend it. Then it seemed to clear, and she looked him in the eye and gave a small nod. A small smile, too. "Well, if it's going to give you some peace of mind, I'll do what I can - but it won't amount to much. I was a rather hopeless student," she admitted, with flushed, pale cheeks now.

Xehanort stared at the woman, his lips parted. "But you...did complete your training, didn't you? At very least?" he asked, hoping for the confirmation.

"Oh, I did! You don't have to worry about that; I didn't wash out or anything like that," mother spoke quickly, with a small laugh of embarrassment. "It was just never what I wanted for my life - so after I was done with it all, I went my own way and didn't look back."

"But then...why did you even go through the training in the first place?" Xehanort said, still so very confused.

"Because it was what my mother wanted for me," she replied, quiet. Nervous again. "Your grandmother. And great-grandmother before her, and great-great-grandmother - I think you can get the idea?"

"I can understand family expectations, yes..." Xehanort conceded, quietly now, as well, nodding. "I'd just never thought my own mother wouldn't have..."

But hadn't he, in fact, been exactly the same? He hadn't wanted to become a Keyblade Master for any noble reasons, had he? From the very start, all he'd wanted to do was to gain the power, means, and knowledge with which to travel these worlds and search for his long-lost "friends". Heh...Amaya's friends, that was, he now knew. All the same...his intentions had certainly never been about saving lives or helping people. And if he could have found any more convenient alternatives to that road...he would have taken it. Of course, there had also been the far less justified, more generalized reason than that of finding lost friends: boundless yearning and curiosity to see what was beyond his own little island home.

Xehanort shook his head, looking at the woman anew. His mother. He hesitated, then took in a breath and gave a small smile of his own to her. "Well, in all honesty, I suppose we're more alike in that regard than you'd think," he told her softly. "Becoming a Keyblade Master has- had always been more of a means to an end for me, rather than an actual goal in and of itself."

Xehanort shook his head again and looked around the dining room. He looked to the door. "Anyway - I should be going now."

"So soon? We barely talked," the woman said instantly, stepping forward, her hands turning in the folds of her dress. Her silver eyes were wide, and glinting as they fixed onto his face... "We've barely talked the last few weeks since I- was brought here. You stayed in your room at Amaya's house instead of..." she added quietly, almost fearfully. Still not finishing the sentence.

Xehanort glanced away, an uncharacteristic sense of- unease inside his Heart. Nervousness, even. "I..." He drew breath. "I did," he acknowledged tightly. "But I- would like to try and change that. We'll have plenty of time to talk after this- crisis is over. The sooner we bring it to an end, the sooner I can return to you. Just stay here - and try to train yourself up a bit. I'll see you soon."

He turned away, striding for the exit.

"Please, wait!" A slender, soft hand had seized his, pulling at him.

He stopped, turning back to the woman (despite that he could have done a dozen different things to get her to release her grip on him). "What?" he said, still somewhat irritated.

She let him go and straightened, stepping away. Her hands came together at her waist. The expression on her face was all uncertainty and doubts. A conflict played out in full view of anyone around her (Xehanort honestly couldn't imagine being that way - he certainly preferred holding his feelings closer to his chest, even with those few he truly cared for). "I...could I- give you a hug before you go...to remember me by?"

Xehanort tensed. "What...?"

The woman's whole body fell, her head dropping. "Never mind...I'm sorry I asked!"

Xehanort stood there for a long minute of time, rigid. Gazing at the woman without seeing her. He only felt the emotions in his Heart - emotions that were strong and uncontrolled, and thus could of course...only be hers. He turned away, closing his eyes. He opened them again to see her still standing there. The turmoil in her Heart was not less than it was; he felt that clearly, still.

"Goodbye - Moreth." He closed his mouth, gave the woman a small nod, and left the room swiftly.

---

Aced slashed his Keyblade out, sending a wave of pure force and air at the woman in front of him.

She leapt up over it in a twisting flip, landed, and then suddenly raced forward and threw her whole body against his!

He fell backwards, shocked as he hit the ground. He brought his blade up in front of him, only for Kana to twist her body and capture his entire arm between her legs! She curled herself inward and slammed a fist into the side of his head!

"What are you doing? This is a Keyblade duel, not some lowly street brawl!" Aced exclaimed furiously, letting his weapon vanish and seizing onto one of her legs to try to pry her off!

"This- is- a- fight!" Kana refuted, still doing her best to just pummel every inch of his head and face she could reach! "Whoever wins - wins!" she said breathlessly, with triumph in her voice. "And I- am going- to win!"

"Alright- if that's- the way you want this to be!" Aced brought his other arm up and loosened the woman's hold on him! Managing to bring his strength to bear now, he lifted her up off of himself and threw her aside!

The woman rolled away across the ground, getting her footing back and coming up on hands and knees. Then she threw herself straight back at him!

Aced caught her as she closed the gap, lifting her up and then slamming her back straight down onto the ground again; she landed flat on her backside with a great gasp of air, her face filled with shock and pain. Aced heaved a breath and knelt down on her torso, pacing an elbow across her throat. "Looks like I still won!" he declared. "Face it, you just can't compete with me when it comes to strength!"

The woman gazed up at him, gasping in air and striking at his arm, clawing at it - but not with some fearful, mad desperation: with a fierce grin twisted on her face! She tried to extract herself from underneath him, trying to use her legs for attack or leverage. But Aced held her firmly, his full body weight bearing down on her.

"Do you concede?" Aced demanded.

"Not...yet..." the woman strangled out, her face changing color, as a wheezing laugh was released.

"Just let her up before she passes out," Gula said, concern in his voice. "I'd say this was a solid win in your favor, Aced. Good job."

"This match is over now, alright? Stop fighting so I can let you go," Aced told the woman, gazing down on her.

Kana kept fighting for another minute or so, to Aced's incredulity, before she finally seemed to realize she wasn't getting out of this. She relaxed under his grasp, her arms falling to her sides. She nodded her head jerkily and shortly up to him.

Aced released her and stood, stepping away.

The woman immediately sat up - then fell onto her side, hand clutching at her chest as she choked and coughed.

Aced frowned, kneeling down before her. "Are you alright? I hope I didn't..."

She wasn't choking, he realized slowly, as her voice became more clear, and the color of her face returned to normal - no, she was laughing again. She was sitting there, battered and dirty, and still laughing! She raised her head and looked at him with a smile, her eyes sparkling. "You did beat me," she admitted raspily. "But I'll beat you next time - count on it!"

Aced stared at her, then he laughed, too. More out of amazement than anything else, to be honest! He grinned at the woman as he stood up again. "Oho, I doubt that - but I look forward to seeing you try!"

Kana gathered her legs under herself and sprang up to her feet again, unsteady and raising a hand to her forehead. She still somehow found it in her to grin back. She strode off to retrieve her two lost blades, then went and sat herself down on that motorbike of hers. She leaned forward and turned a head of shimmering, curtained purple hair to look at him again. "That was a lot of fun - thank you!"

Aced blinked at her. Then he raised a clenched fist. "Heh. Yeah, it was, wasn't it! However...we still have our mission."

"Look who remembered," Gula said, with a snicker.

Aced whirled. "You just keep quiet, would you?!" he said loudly, feeling his face grow warmer for- some- reason.

Notes:

Is this the start of an Aced/Kana ship of the crackiest, most epicest power couply/blood knighty proportions?! Bitch it might be! <3

Chapter 54: The Princess's Coronation

Notes:

Okay, massive new chapter here! <3 Some big things happen here. :) I'm really excited and happy to write it all lol...even if maybe it's not my readers' favorite plot thread to follow. It's fuckin MINE! xD

Aqua stepped off the train and out onto the elevated platform in the middle of Ancewell's largest park. She found herself stopping in amazement, turning her head to take in the views around her.

It was absurdly large, really! It was a circular area, comprised of several miles of green grass, small hills, and even several full, deep lakes. There were three river streams that went all around the park, connecting and passing on from the three gigantic lakes. Trees dotted the grounds, giving shade to cobblestone paths winding in every direction. It was encircled by high stone walls around the perimeter, with large gated entrances.

Aqua strode forward to the edge of the platform, grasping the metal railing as she stared out ahead. She ignored her honor guard completely.

Honor guard - a fitting name. It was a matter of trust and honor that these people, handpicked by Ravamar, weren't going to try to backstab her - very literally. That they were the ones who could be trusted. That Ravamar herself could be trusted. That Vivian could be trusted... But, on the other hand, Aqua couldn't let herself go down that route, could she? Becoming paranoid and untrusting like that...it was no way to live. For anyone. Trust was...always a risk - but it was one she still had to keep taking.

Aqua had abandoned the idea of the dueling ceremony, very reluctantly, as well as even the idea of a parade or march of some kind - in favor of speeding along an even more hated and protested idea: her official coronation ceremony. If she wasn't going to be showing people why it would be a terrible idea to try to attack her before becoming queen, then she'd just have to take her place as the new queen before anyone decided to try anything...would-be assassins, and High Council members, too. She didn't think they could actually do anything to contest or delay her ascension...but she wasn't going to sit around and give anyone time to work something out.

Whatever did or didn't happen, she thought securing her place was the most important thing to do early on - whether that be physically, or legally.

Aqua stepped away from the railing, looking down at herself instead. She lifted her feet to click her heels underneath her ridiculously long, dark blue and black dress. She smoothed out the lace segments and hanging decorations, of criss-crossing strings and annoying black diamond crystals on thinner strings around the hem. She let out a breath through the ridiculous, ceremonial, fully-face-concealing mask she was forced to wear today, because apparently that tradition hadn't died (and did in fact need to be respected). She had only agreed to go along with any of it after both Natsumi and Ravamar had spoken to her about "picking her battles" and "not unnecessarily shunning truly harmless traditions". Aqua guessed "irritating" was a far cry from anything oppressive, or discriminatory, or really harmful to anyone...

Besides, she reminded herself that she was very much an adult woman now, and so she could in fact tolerate a day of all this pomp and circumstance with grace, poise, and dignity.

It probably also helped that she did have a much less annoying honor guard of Serene Rose members around her than her childhood. Very loosely "around her", at her insistence; they were spread out across the train platform, taking up discrete and spaced out positions, observing and on guard. But not crowding her, like she remembered as a child.

Aqua had told them she could handle herself quite well if worst came to worst - and, also, she didn't want civilians being scared off by a constant circle of robed mages! She needed to be free to really walk on her own, and interact with her people naturally. Whatever form those interactions took - positive...or more negative. Even on a day like this. Well, maybe especially on a day like this. The most important day...

She sighed behind the mask, shaking her head. She reached up to adjust the dark blue hood she wore, as well. Another annoyance. She glanced down at herself again. She was, at least, very grateful for the tailors: she had managed to find and enlist the services of a well-known, well-respected non-human specialist from within the kingdom, to help make a dress both "fit for a queen" and for a demon (a draconic woman who was, herself, of course, familiar with creating outfits that accommodated for and integrated wings and tails and such).

Aqua looked out across the vast park again, and its sprawling landscape. She looked far out, and below her, to where the huge stage was being set up by magic, with its great, overhead ceiling of lights and a mushroom top shape...

She'd been told it was going to be beautiful, come evening - when the dark came, and all those lights lit up on it. She had also been told it was riskier to do her ceremony so late in the evening, that the dark would hide and permit too many threats and unknown variables. But Aqua had stopped being afraid of the dark itself a long time ago, by now. And whatever might come for her from out of it...she could deal with it.

The park was really so, so large, though...a concern all itself.

The amount of people that were going to be in attendance of her coronation ceremony...Ravamar had told her it was very likely to be a mind-shatteringly massive amount - in the several hundred thousands! And that was still a fraction of the total number of citizens living in Ancewell as a whole city: over ten million people!

Aqua knew she had never even seen, no, never even imagined so many people in one place in her life! She still couldn't imagine what it was going to look like, standing here now, looking at this massive expanse of park land...

She guessed she would see tonight.

---

Terra leaned forward in his chair as he watched Sora pilot the Gummiship, Highwind, out of the Ocean Between and down into the skies of a new world.

The third world Yen Sid had given him to investigate, on the search for the Ultima Weapon - he'd taken the last three leads, after the other two search parties had claimed all the rest.

As the ship descended, they emerged down out of a starry sky, into a world of night. Gazing around out the viewing windows, Terra saw grass fields, rivers, lakes, and stretches of nearby forest. Far out ahead, he saw a vast, sprawling, circular city of lights and colors. It seemed to all be built up around a central, grand palace or castle, with multiple towers surrounding it, connected by enclosed walkways or corridors.

"Why don't we land somewhere over there," Terra said, pointing out ahead. "We can walk to that city, see what we can learn from the locals."

"Aye aye," Sora said, pushing the ship into a swooping dive, speeding toward the ground.

The Highwind soared low over the grassy hills, landing in a field behind a particularly steep one. They disembarked from the ship. Terra stopped, turning and sighing. He held out a hand of blue magic, and cast the strongest Vanish spell he could; a blue dome rippled outward, expanding to encompass the Gummiship. Then, slowly, the air warped, and colors and shapes began to fade, until it looked like nothing was there at all anymore. Terra grinned in relief, letting his hand drop. "There. That should stop anyone from coming across it for a while." He paused. "Though I'm not too sure how long it'll last, so why don't we try and do this quick?"

"How long is long...?" Sora said uneasily.

"Maybe an hour, maybe a few more?" Terra replied, shrugging. "I put a lot of power into it, that's for sure."

"Nice bit of magic," Ven complimented, smiling at him. "Aqua'd be...proud."

Terra gave a small smile back. "I'm sure she would be," he agreed easily.

The strain was still there. The aching, the pain. The guilt. His own mistakes, again, that had led to Aqua leaving like that...

He shook his head to clear it of those thoughts and emotions. He took a breath, nodding to Ven and Sora. "Come on."

They strode up over the hill, and began making their way toward the distant city.

They found a long, dirt road at some point, which made the journey a lot easier and clearer, thankfully.

Just follow the path.

After some time, they reached the city's edge. They strode in past large, sparse warehouses and factories, and then winding roads of clustered homes, it seemed like. Past those, they reached the inner districts of the city. Taller buildings, narrower streets - lights and shops everywhere.

Metal vehicles of all kinds drove on down the streets, past them.

People walked by, too.

All of them, Terra noticed, seemed headed in the same direction...

"Hey, has anyone noticed that-" Ven started, at almost the same time the thought occurred to Terra.

"Everyone's going the same way? Yes," Terra said.

"Wonder what's up with everybody," Sora remarked, frowning slightly.

"Well, there is one way to find out," Terra muttered. He quickened his pace to catch up with some passersby - two men in their thirties, walking down the street arm in arm. "Hey, sorry to bother you, but could you tell me where everyone is going here tonight?" he spoke casually, offering a smile.

The two men stopped. One of the guys turned back to stare at Terra. He looked to Ven and Sora behind him, relaxing somewhat. "Have you been living under a rock or something?"

"Something like that - we're not from around here," Terra replied simply. "Sorry. We came from pretty far away, honestly."

"It's the coronation ceremony for the new queen," the other man spoke up, giving a small laugh. He shook his head to himself. "The long-lost princess finally came back to us, and apparently she's eager to take her place up on the throne."

"Long lost princess?" Terra said politely. "How long was she lost for? What happened?"

"You really don't...? I guess you would have been too young at the time," the man said ruefully. He looked at Ven and Sora with a small grin. "You two especially. Zitol's little princess, Aqua, went missing twenty years back, when she was only eight, after an attack on the castle by a small army of demons. She's just recently-"

"Huh? Wait a second, did you just say AQUA?!" Sora exclaimed loudly, staring.

The man stared back at him in bafflement.

"Sorry - he's prone to random outbursts," Terra said quickly. "So this princess of yours...she went missing twenty years ago? When she was eight years old? And- and how recently was she found again?"

"About a week ago by now, I think," the man stated. "But she only just got back to the city a few days ago, or so they say."

"What does she look like?" Ven said faintly.

The man shrugged at that. "No one really knows yet. She's been holed up in the castle for days, and today, she'll be in full ceremonial garb, won't she? We'll get our first look at her at the coronation. But, there are rumors going around that she's not...well, human, herself," he finished hesitantly.

"Right. Can anyone go to this coronation? When does it start? I assume it's tonight?" Terra said.

"We're heading there now," the man replied, nodding. "It starts in about an hour. It's open to anyone - free of charge. Though, you can dash any dreams of getting anything close to front row seats."

"Okay. Thank you." Terra gave a nod in return, then started forward swiftly down the street.

Ven and Sora hurried to keep up with him.

"There's no way it's our Aqua, right?" Ven said, catching up to Terra. "There's gotta be plenty of people in the World named Aqua...and they said she wasn't human. Our Aqua's definitely a human girl. So it really can't be her."

Terra kept walking for a minute, silent. Thinking. Pondering... "You're probably right - but..."

"But what?" Sora said, from Terra's other side.

"Well, it's just that we do know Aqua's been back on whatever world she originally came from for these past few weeks now, and-"

"Come on! Don't you think if Aqua was an actual princess she would've told us at some point?" Ven exclaimed.

Terra frowned. He shook his head. "No, I don't think she would have, Ven. You know that, for as long as even I've known her, she's never wanted to talk about her past. It's probably always been for a very good reason. The same as it is for you..." he added, with a pointed look.

Ven faltered. He sighed, then nodded. "Guess you've got a point there. We've all got stuff we don't want to remember...It was different for me, though - I had amnesia! Like Kairi." He paused. "Do you think Aqua's had amnesia this whole time, too, and that's why she didn't want to talk about it...?"

"Well, I don't think there's some limit on the number of people allowed to have amnesia," Terra said, offhand. "Whatever she does or doesn't remember, though, she always kept it locked up tight in her Heart. And the Master helped her to keep it that way - and I did my best to learn how to respect that. The same with you."

"So...if this is really our Aqua..." Ven started, quiet and slow. "She's not gonna be too happy to see us, is she?"

"Maybe not me - I'm sure she'll be glad to see you and Sora," Terra said, with a self-deprecating grin.

"So you really think it could be Aqua?" Sora asked.

"I think it might be," Terra answered, nodding. "What I know about Aqua...it might all line up. Or it's one heck of a coincidence."

"What do you mean?" Ven said. "What do you know about her that I don't?"

"Honestly, next to nothing," Terra said. "I'm just saying: a girl who went missing twenty years ago - when she was about eight years old? A girl who was only just found recently...? Aqua had already been the Master's student for about two years by the time he took me on too, when I was twelve years old. She was ten when I met her, so, two years before that, she would have been around eight years old. And they said she was found a week ago? When Aqua left two or three weeks ago - and suddenly this princess reappears again? It would all line up pretty well. Too well...that's all I'm saying."

"But- they still said she wasn't- well, y'know, human?" Ven insisted. "If it is our Aqua...why wouldn't she have ever just- been herself around us? Keyblade Wielders are taught not to judge people like that - it doesn't matter what you look like, or what world you come from! And, I mean, I'd never have had a problem with it - and I know you wouldn't've either! We're meant to be-!"

"I know. I'm sure she had her reasons," Terra repeated with a sigh. "I'm sure they were good, personal reasons, in her mind. And it doesn't have anything to do with trust, or friendship. It was just her right to keep herself...to herself. It'd be no different than if she was...keeping a different idea of her gender identity or romantic attractions a secret, than what we might just assume naturally. Either she'd tell us when she felt ready, or she wouldn't. But it would never be for us to decide for her." He paused, shaking his head firmly. "But this is all just assuming it's true, and not just some big coincidence."

"I thought we stopped believin' in coincidences a while ago," Ven said seriously.

Terra gave a breathy laugh, all the same. "We did, didn't we? Well, the only way to know is to go and find out - see this 'princess Aqua' with our own eyes."

"Let's go, then!" Ven said, breaking into a full on sprint now. "We've gotta know, one way or the other!"

Sora followed after him, beckoning to Terra.

Terra sighed and followed after them, picking up his own pace to match.

It was easy to find a route to...wherever they were meant to be going: just follow the people.

Eventually, they came to what looked like an expansive park area, surrounded by high walls, with large iron gated entrances.

Only after getting inside, through those gates, and walking along a path for a minute or two did Terra really start to comprehend how expansive this park area really was. All these hills, trees, a few nearby river channels that wound their way around the park, connecting into and out of a huge lake or two...

This whole area had to be several miles across, in every direction. It was like an untouched slice of the wilderness plains outside where they'd parked the Gummiship.

After several more minutes of walking, they walked up a large hill, and came to a sight that made Terra stop in his tracks, purely just...overwhelmed.

There wasn't much ground to see in front of them anymore - just a veritable sea of people, stretching out everywhere. And on the other side of it, there was a huge, wide stage of some kind, with a tall structure with a mushroom-shaped top above it. It was littered with all sorts of flashing lights, and beaming spotlights.

"Woah..." Sora gasped. "Do so many people really live here?"

"Probably," Terra answered, still awed by the sight, himself. "The city itself is pretty...huge."

He looked around, then started off toward a large oak tree, standing beneath it at the top of the hill. Ven and Sora came to join him - both boys flopping down to sit on the grass in nearly the same moment.

Terra almost laughed.

But his eyes were on that stage, across the distance...over all those teeming masses of people.

"Hey, so, has anyone wondered how they're even going to do this for the people like us - way back here?" Sora said loudly. "I can barely see anything - forget hearing any princesses or queens making some fancy speech or whatever, you know!"

"People find ways," Terra shrugged. "They probably have something worked out."

It took...a bit more waiting for something to happen. Maybe half an hour, of just milling about. Ven and Sora had started playing rock-paper-scissors together, at some point.

Then-

Terra spied movement on that distant, large stage.

"Hey - it might be starting now," he told the two boys, pushing off from the tree and starting forward. He sat down next to Ven, drawing his knees in. His eyes focused on that stage...

The boys stopped their game, turning their attention to it as well now.

Slowly, from out of vast, velvet blue curtains at the back of the stage, a lone figure emerged. A woman, it looked like, for sure. She came to a stop near the edge of the stage - front and center. But Terra could barely make out any details. Hardly...

The multi-colored spotlights above rotated, and shined down on her. Others swept out around the world from on high, creating beams of light in the night with sparkling motes visible within them.

The front of the mushroom-shaped structure suddenly rippled, magic particles spreading out across it - forming into a large, projected image of the woman herself, with hazy edges.

Terra glanced up, noticing a small, magical orb hovering high in the air over the crowds. Was that sending the image out somehow...?

Then he leaned forward, concentrating on the vast image in the air. The edges might have been hazy, but the center of it was crystal clear, almost solid against the stars. Terra could finally see details. So many details.

The woman wore a long, intricate blue and black gown, with accessories and other decorations hanging from it. She had large, leathery, dark blue wings behind her body. Her hands were folded at her waist, clasped together, long clawed fingers hanging down. She also had two long, curved, dark blue horns coming out of her head, near the front. And then there was the tail - long, whip-like, flexible. As long or longer than her own body itself. There was a heart-shaped blade on the end of it, which was shrouded in blue flames as it swished about behind her. Topping it all off was the full face mask she wore, hiding her features completely - which complimented the dark blue hood she had on, that was part of her dress.

"Woooah! That's their princess - erm, new queen?" Sora gasped.

"She looks really beautiful," Ven breathed.

"Those wings look awesome - and that tail is so cool!" Sora went on, grinning. "Don't you think, Terra?"

Terra smiled. "That's Master to you - but, I suppose she does look pretty cool," he admitted lightly.

"Pretty, too?" Sora pressed.

Terra shrugged, shaking his head. "You can't even see her face - I couldn't possibly judge that. And besides, looks aren't everything."

"You hear that? He didn't say she wasn't," Sora said to Ven, in quiet aside.

Terra peered more intently at the huge image in the sky...at the woman. This princess. He thought, beneath that hood, and on the edges of the mask, that he saw a glimpse of blue strands of hair...

But he couldn't be sure. The image wasn't exactly focusing on her face - it was capturing all of her, from head to toe.

The woman, this Princess Aqua's masked face turned left, then right, slowly sweeping over the crowds. Her shoulders shrugged, visible on the huge, projected image of her - a sigh, or an intake of breath to steel nerves?

A slender, sleeved arm rose up - a long-clawed hand raised to them all.

And silence swept across the massive crowd.

Hundreds, thousands of people, and they all went quiet for her. Just like that.

It was sort of unsettling to Terra, to be in such a massive crowd, but for that crowd to be so completely silent.

The princess lowered her arm again to her stomach, resting it atop the other once more.

From the massive, hanging velvet blue curtains, a line of two dozen robed figures emerged. Along with one in more distinguished robes...

The figures stood back behind the princess, silent and still.

The one in the more unique robes strode out ahead, until they'd reached the princess's side. From the large viewing image above, Terra realized it was a woman - of brown eyes and a shaven head. This robed woman reached up and threw off her hood, turning to face the princess.

The princess turned to fully face the woman now, as well. She bowed her head slightly.

The robed woman stepped forward, closer in to the princess. Then she looked out to the crowd, into the dark masses, as she spoke. As her voice, amplified, echoed out to Terra startlingly clearly, as if she were only a few dozen feet away (probably by some kind of magic). "I, Overseer Onterosa Ravamar, am honored to be chosen to unveil to you all...our long-lost princess, and, in moments, rightful Queen of Zitol. But not only our lost princess, but someone who will be the first non-human queen that this kingdom has ever had. Heir and chosen of the late Queen Jade." The woman, Onterosa, looked into that ornate mask of the princess's. "If I may, Your Highness?"

The princess, visibly in the enchanted view portal again, definitely took in a great, nervous breath. Then, her head gave a clear, firm nod. Silent, but conveying a strength and confidence now.

Onterosa raised her arms slowly, her hands gently coming up to remove the hood, firstly. Then, to touch the princess's cheeks. To caress her, and hold the sides of her mask. Her fingers worked into the seams...and she gently pulled it away...

The side view of a face, brushed strands of light blue hair...

Then the princess turned to fully face the crowds, raising her head high, blinking out at them all with familiar blue eyes on a familiar, yet unfamiliar face.

"No way..." Ven's voice gasped out.

"Huh?! I-is that really...!" Sora exclaimed.

"Aqua..." Terra said quietly, needing to say it to really believe it. He'd suspected, of course, but he hadn't given it a serious consideration. And that was still nothing next to actually seeing it confirmed, now, with his very own eyes...

Onterosa stepped back and away, going into a smooth, respectful kneeling position without even looking or pausing for it. She bowed her head low, resting an arm on her knee.

Terra returned his focus to the princess - to the woman - to what was undeniably...Aqua.

Okay, yes, she had those great, big bat-like wings, she had that incredibly long, whip-like tail with a burning blue shroud of flames on its end, and she also had those long, curved horns of dark blue, as well as, of course, those long...claws...but-

But she was still Aqua.

Just...Aqua with...some extra parts to her?

Or, parts she had always had to her, but had never shown...

Given the whole situation playing out in front of him - this entire city, this world, a castle and a princess - well...could Terra honestly blame her? Be mad at her for it?

No, not really.

He'd always known there was something about her past - something she'd kept buried, locked up so tightly in her own Heart and mind. Something the Master had vehemently defended her right to keep private. Something Terra had gotten hints and clues about, from time to time, over the years of earning her trust and friendship...

But he still never could have imagined anything like this.

Even so...

He couldn't be any more upset with her about it than, say, with Ven about his once-mysterious past - amnesia or not.

Clearly, there wasn't just the idyllic, fairy tale life of a princess in her palace here, was there? No, not with the look he'd seen Aqua get in her eye, not with the cold, harsh quaver of her voice in those fleeting moments...

He'd known there was something painful there, something sad, maybe. Something that hurt - or scared her. So badly that she never wanted to revisit it.

But if she was here now...if she was...if his Aqua was about to become a queen of an entire nation...

Was she in pain again? Was she hurting again? Was she sad again, being back here, being surrounded by all of this...?

Was there anything he could do to help her?

She was definitely going to be upset with him - for being here at all, when she'd done her utmost to keep her life and past a secret, private, for all these years.

Though, to be fair, it wasn't as if Terra had chosen to come here - his Heart, and the worlds, had guided him here on a separate quest, for a whole different reason.

Or...had it?

Was he actually meant to be here...for Aqua? Him and Ven, both?

Just because Terra didn't believe in some immutable fate didn't mean he didn't acknowledge the guiding hands of the Hearts of the worlds themselves - and accepted their guidance. Some would call that "fate" or "destiny", regardless, though...just a matter of degrees, or specific definitions.

A single, loud clacking noise echoed out over the world.

Terra blinked, staring at Aqua again.

As was everyone else.

She had lowered herself to the stage floor, her dress pooling around her. She bowed her head slightly.

Another of those robed figures had come forward, with their hood down. Another woman, with features similar to Aqua's. She was holding a silver, ornate crown, with black gemstones embedded on the front of it. The woman stepped in front of Aqua, bent down...and carefully, gently placed the crown down onto her head - snug and fit. Her fingers worked at two, looping straps near the front, which secured the crown to the base of those twin...dark blue horns. Her work finished, the woman retreated again, giving a nod.

Aqua rose to her feet again, raising her head high, the crown gleaming on her head, shining under the lights.

"Well..." came Aqua's voice. Undeniably her voice. As if she stood hardly a dozen feet right in front of Terra. "I think this is the part where I'm supposed to make some kind of big speech - but, honestly, I'm not here to make speeches. I'm here to actually do things."

She took another step forward - and then a third. She strode up to the very edge of the large stage, looking down at the people closest to her. Then, she took another step off of it - and onto a rippling pink magical platform. She took a step again, down to a new pane of invisible magic crystal, save for that pink energy swirling beneath her... She was conjuring her own set of invisible stairs, Terra realized.

Aqua descended her self-made steps, until she'd come to solid ground - standing on the grass before the crowd. Her gaze roamed over the front rows, moving from person to person, face to face. Then, she walked forward, her body easing, her lips curving into a light smile. Her eyes...they shined with sudden warmth, with a kindness. A softness.

Not as rare a sight as someone might think, if you spent enough time with Aqua, and knew her well enough...

But, just the same, that didn't exactly mean it was common.

And it was all the more noteworthy to be happening here, like this, in front of thousands of people.

There was a girl at the front of the crowds. Ten or so, maybe. With long, dirty blonde hair hanging down her back in interwoven braids. She had...similar features to Aqua. Small wings on her back, little- stubby horns sticking out of her head, and a small, thin tail, as well. Except her features weren't blue in color, but a light pink.

Aqua stopped in front of the girl, kneeling down in front of her. Then she reached up to undo the straps of her crown, and she lifted it off her head and held it out to the girl. "Hi. Would you like to wear this for a little while?"

"Does that mean I get to be the new queen?" the girl asked, her eyes wide, a grin on her face.

Aqua tilted her head at the girl, her smile growing. "I think it could, someday! What's your name?"

"Izalla..." the girl said quietly. "But people just call me Izzy..."

"What a lovely name. People just call me Aqua; my full name is way too mouthy, really," Aqua said, grinning now.

The girl gave a small laugh. She frowned at the crown, her eyes fixing to it. "I don't think I can wear that - it's not going to fit me."

"Really?" Aqua said, with faux surprise in her voice. She turned the crown over in her hands, examining it from all angles. "Why is that, Izzy?"

"It's too big for my head."

"Is it? You know, Izzy, I think this crown could fit perfectly on your head - on anyone's head."

"No it can't..." the girl frowned, looking down.

"Well, why don't we give it a try, and let's just see, okay?" Aqua said patiently.

The girl sighed, looking back up again and nodding. "Okay..."

Aqua smiled at her, and she gently leaned forward, moving to place the crown onto the girl's head. As she did, Terra saw the magic shimmer around the object, and he saw it warp and warble...changing its size. A shrinking spell - Mini.

Terra smiled. Clever, Aqua.

"There we are," Aqua sighed, sitting back, hands on her knees. She turned and raised a hand to point up at the viewing portal above them all. "Take a look - don't you think it's perfect on you?"

The girl whipped her head up, staring at the enlarged image of herself from a wholly different angle. Capturing the gleaming crown, snug on her head. Her eyes went huge, her jaw dropping. Then her lips closed tightly as she looked at Aqua. "You used magic to do that," she said accusingly.

Aqua nodded. "I did. Do you think there wasn't anything extra involved in making this work for me, too?" she replied, gesturing down at herself. Her dress, her body's new features. "It's what I did to make things work, and it's what we're all going to do to make things work for everyone else - people like you..like all of us. We're going to make some changes, do a little magic...and make things much more right, and comfortable, and accommodating for everyone not born human. And someday, maybe it will be perfect, too. Maybe the day you become the next queen."

Izalla's face shined with joy and hope and wonder- and then it all slowly faded away again. She shook her head, messy locks swaying. "I still can't. You have to be a princess in the royal family - I don't even have a family..."

"You don't?" Aqua said, shocked. Soft. She reached out to the girl, touching her cheek. Caressing her. "I'm so sorry, Izalla..."

"So - see?" The girl just shrugged, crossing her arms over her middle now. "I'm not a princess so I can't be a queen. So you can have this back." She reached up and pulled the crown off, holding it out. Her lip trembled as she looked away from Aqua.

Aqua's hands found the girl's, grasping them, and the crown. She looked her in the face, nodding seriously. "You're right about that, of course. You have to be a princess first, just like I was. If you're not sure about being a queen just yet, how about a princess? It's funny, there aren't any laws saying that a non-human can't be the princess - or that the royal family's children can't be adopted in. Trust me, I checked; I had questions about my own place here, too. But everything says that I do belong here. And I think I could find you a place, too. But what do you think, Izzy?"

The girl looked Aqua in the face, shock and awe on her own now again. Full and beaming. And then, again, it was tempered. It fled her little face. "But...you can't just adopt someone like that. Especially a demon..."

Aqua laughed gently, patting at the girl's hands and shaking her head. "Of course I can, Izzy: I'm the queen, remember? And if I want to give a girl like you someplace safe, and warm - a place she might come to call a home, and even a family...then I'm definitely going to, no matter what anyone else thinks or says about it. So...would you like the sound of that?"

"Y-yes...?" the girl answered, like she wasn't even sure she believed it.

"Wonderful. Then..." Aqua placed the crown back onto the girl's head, and turned to look for Onterosa. She beckoned the woman - then, she looked to another woman, off to the left. This woman was tall and curvaceous, wearing a flowing kimono, with long, jet black hair done up in a bun with a stick through it. She had a long, thin, and curved sword attached to her waistbelt. Her eyes were a gleaming scarlet. This woman came forward immediately, no gesturing required on Aqua's part, as if they were of the same mind. "Why don't you keep that for a bit longer, and Overseer Ravamar, and my friend Natsumi here can get you up to the castle?"

"But I want to stay here with you!" the girl exclaimed immediately, her eyes going wide. She threw herself forward, seizing onto Aqua's arm wholesale!

Aqua teetered, blinking.

The robed figures on the stage startled, moving forward.

Aqua's head whipped up and snapped around, her eyes narrowed in a familiar, icy glower. Her free hand shot up, waving sharply.

The robed figures stopped, bowing their heads and stepping away again.

Aqua's face eased, her arm falling. She put on a smile, bringing that arm in to pat the girl's head. "Oh - of course - I'm sorry!" she amended, nodding. "Silly me. We'll all stay here for a little while, and then we can go up to the castle together. How's that?"

"Better..." the girl said bluntly. Then she blanched, releasing Aqua and quickly backing away.

Aqua grinned, laughing again. "I think so, too."

The girl's gaze turned to the other two women, scrutinizing them. Then she looked up at the dark-haired one - Natsumi? Izalla's eyes found the white and red-tipped ears atop her head...the fluffy white, red-streaked bush of multiple tails behind her back. "You're a kitsune?!" she exclaimed. "And you're friends with the queen?"

Natsumi gazed down on the girl, her eyes shimmering. She nodded and fell swiftly to the ground, mirroring Aqua. "That's right," she said. "I am both a kitsune and a friend to the queen!"

"You have a lot of tails - how old are you?"

Natsumi laughed, a hand to her mouth. "Oh, quite old, thank you, dearie!"

As the kid began to pester the woman with more questions, Terra let his gaze fall from the viewing portal. He looked to Ven and Sora, instead.

Ven caught his eye, looking unsure of himself. "Hey...d'you think we should go and tell Aqua we're here? If she's the queen now, they're probably not gonna just let us walk up and talk to her after this - 'specially if she goes back to that big castle of hers..."

Terra gazed at his friend. He looked out to the projected image of Aqua, thinking. "If nothing else, she should be told about the situation with the Nightmares, and that Darkness. She isn't using a Keyblade anymore, after all; I don't think these people, or her, would be too effective at combating them...not now."

"Right. Okay!" Ven said brightly, relief on his face. He jumped up to his feet. "C'mon, Terra! Maybe she won't be too happy to see you, but you can't just duck out - Keyblade Master's duty. You've gotta be the one to tell her what's going on. You said it yourself."

Terra sighed, nodding, getting up as well. "I don't see why Aqua was even so happy about becoming a Master; it's definitely a lot less glamorous than I always thought it'd be," he said, only half joking. "But if duty calls...alright. Let's go."

The only real question was how they were going to get past the massive crowds.

Terra eyed the park, sweeping his gaze over the dark edges of the area.

Maybe they could go around - come in from the side, where it was clear?

That seemed like the best plan of action.

He gestured to Ven and Sora, and started off down the curving hillside, heading off to his left.

Chapter 55: Shades of Blue

Aqua thought things were going...rather well, all things considered.

Really well.

There were a surprising amount of voices out there in the crowds that were...actually cheering for her. Encouraging her. Calling out to her with- with support and happiness and...

Of course, she heard the other voices, too. The ones that were buzzing and angry, howling and yelling. A blur of insults or obscenities. A lot of them...probably in languages she'd never heard before, and couldn't even understand.

Thankfully, no one had broken the unspoken line at the forefront of the crowd. No one was crowding her. No one was grabbing at her, or throwing things at her, or anything else terrible she had been expecting.

And as long as she just tuned them all out, and focused on what was right in front of her...she thought she could make it through this night in one piece - and with her sanity intact (and dignity).

That one thing in front of her being little Izalla - Izzy.

A little girl that just- reminded her of Scarlet.

The girl had caught her eye immediately, at the forefront of the crowds, her face shining with such an excitement and eagerness, despite the dirtied, worn clothing or messy hair...or the actual dirt.

Aqua had felt the stirring of emotions in her Heart - and she couldn't have just ignored them. Not with this. Not when little girls like Izzy were...exactly the reason she was doing any of this at all. Girls like Izalla, and like Scarlet...and even, a bit, herself...

"Can you do the mallini with me?"

Aqua blinked, looking down at the girl again. "I'm sorry - the what?"

The girl stared up at her, frowning. "The mallini!"

"Sorry," Aqua said again, sincere. "I don't really know what you mean. I have been a lost princess for a long time..."

"What about before that? How can you not know what it is? Every demon does!"

Aqua sighed, flashing an apologetic smile. "Well, believe it or not, I didn't grow up knowing...what I was. All of this...I didn't know about any of it until I was about your age. I just thought I was a human girl." And, after, of course, she had been desperate to keep pretending she was one. "Do you think you could explain it to me, please?"

The girl looked her up and down critically - or, well, no, more like she thought Aqua was actually stupid. She stepped back, then looked back at herself, her thin tail twisting forward. The tiny little, arrowhead-shaped blade on the end was pointing straight at Aqua. "Take your tail and do this first," she instructed primly.

Aqua breathed in, nodding. She looked back at herself, the same way, focusing her mind and furrowing her brows. Her tail curved itself outward in a big, sweeping motion, then finally found itself in the right position. More or less... "Like this?" she asked the girl lightly.

The girl gave her another up and down look. She nodded. "It'll work."

"Okay. What next?"

"Your tail has to wrap around my tail, then we..."

As Aqua saw movement on the edge of her vision, as she saw three figures emerge from darkness into the light, her heart stopped beating. Everything froze, around her, and inside of her. Sight and sound were gone.

It was only those faces, those images...coming toward her across the grass.

Here. Right here.

Right now.

Was she losing herself again? Was she seeing things again? Was her Heart deciding to just...manifest her worst fears, on the worst night it could happen?

Aqua slowly walked forward, her gaze fixed to those two visages. Specters. Phantoms.

She reached out a hand-

And her fingers touched them.

Her long, clumsy new claws poked into Terra's chest.

No. No...why. Why...? It can't be...They can't be! I...

They couldn't be here. They couldn't be standing in front of her. They couldn't see her like this.

They-

"Aqua...are you alright...?" his voice came to her, distant and echoing. "Aqua..."

"Aqua - hey!"

"Aqua?"

Aqua felt a hand on her arm. She turned slowly, blinking. Red lips and eyes, dark hair...Natsumi. Right... Fingers caressing her sleeve, stroking at her...a soft voice speaking... Something...

Where was she? What was she doing? What were they doing-

"What are you doing here?" Aqua's voice came out of her, sharp and quavering, bringing the whole world itself back into sudden reality and focus. A coldness filled her chest, spreading through her body.

"We didn't exactly mean to come here," Sora said quickly. "We just- uhhhh-" He stopped suddenly, glancing around them. Then, up at the viewing portal, which was still very much focused on Aqua - and on all of them, too, now.

The reminder of an audience caused Aqua to freeze, as well. She was sure that wonderfully embarrassing reaction was also caught by the Scryer's Eyes for all to see. That in mind, she immediately did her best to compose herself, schooling her features and drawing herself up tall. She looked straight at Terra with an icy glare. "Whatever you're here for, we'll discuss it up at the castle - if it's important."

Terra held her gaze, his face the perfect picture of sincerity and earnestness. "It is." He glanced around them, pointed, as he added, "It concerns the safety of everyone here - not just in this city, or kingdom...but the world. You know we wouldn't be here if it didn't."

Aqua let out a quick breath at his words, catching the incredibly-obvious-to-them-alone meaning. She turned her head and body, looking at Natsumi. Then, past her, to where a confused and lost Izzy was standing. Ravamar was standing near her, an arm held out to hold back the other Serene Rose members who had come forward now.

Aqua felt it again. Her Heart's guilt. The pull of things like duty, honor, responsibility. Her gaze found Izalla again...

"...Alright." She turned away from them, striding over and holding out her hand to Izalla.

Izalla came forward and took it, clinging to it surprisingly tightly.

Aqua gazed down on her, sighing. "I'm sorry, but I think I am going to need this back now, just for a bit," she said quietly, eyeing the crown.

The girl looked upset at having to part with it, now. But she gave it back, all the same.

Aqua took it in hand, cancelling her spell and letting it return to its normal size. She pulled it down onto her head, took the girl's hand again, and looked to Ravamar. "Please get us the fastest way back to the castle. It's apparently a matter of...national security?" she said tersely - and painfully vaguely, she was aware.

"Of course. Come with me - Your Majesty."

Oh. Right. Of course.

Aqua was no longer Her Highness, but Her Majesty now.

She really was...Queen, not Princess.

Demon Queen...

And now the last people she ever wanted to know about it...were standing right in front of her.

Seeing her here, like this...

But, funnily enough, she just felt so cold and numb in that moment that she couldn't even feel the shame or embarrassment. The need to hide herself, to try to turn away from them with it all.

She was sure it would all come flooding back into her Heart sometime later, though...

She blinked, looking around her again. At the crowds. She raised her head to look at the scrying orb floating high above. She breathed out. "I'm sorry to cut all of this so short, but everyone should go home now!" she said loudly. She paused. "Thank you for how many of you even showed up tonight - it was...more than I could have ever imagined, and I'm grateful for it! Truly! And...and in the coming days I'll do my best to make it up to you - that's a promise!"

As gracefully as she could, she bowed her head, then turned to follow Ravamar across the grass - down a curving path that led away from the stage, and the masses of her citizens.

With Izzy by her side, and Natsumi, Terra, Ven, and Sora behind her.

And a rear guard of Roses trailing in their wake, now looking extra alert and tense.

Wonderful... Aqua thought wryly. It was going so well...but they had to come here and ruin it.

---

The fastest way back was an empty-of-anyone-but-them express train journey across the city, which stopped a few streets away from the gates of the castle's stone forecourt.

They passed through the gates together, and then through the plaza - of statues, fountains, and decorated pillars.

Aqua led the way through the halls of the castle, silent, until they reached the Queen's chambers - her chambers, now...

She directed Natsumi and Izalla inside the room (promised the girl she'd see her again in a few minutes), then strode away again. She went to the empty room of a castle maid (there were a lot of empty rooms in this castle), opened the door, and gestured for Terra, Ven and Sora to enter. After they had, she looked to Ravamar and the other Serene Roses that made up her personal guard.

"Go and...stand guard at the end of the hall," Aqua said firmly. "I'll be having this conversation in private."

"Your Majesty, if it really is something that concerns the security of the kingdom - or worse-" Ravamar began, respectfully.

"I'll give you all the important information and...relevant details, later," Aqua interjected, holding the woman's gaze. "But this is probably going to be extremely sensitive information. Choosing who to trust with it...will be something for me to carefully consider. We both know not everyone in this kingdom is going to be a fan of me; I need to be careful here." She had spoken no lie. She was pleased with herself for that, at least.

Ravamar gazed back at her for a moment. Then, she nodded. "Of course - My Queen."

Aqua watched the Roses go - then, she flicked her wrist, creating a magical barrier in the middle of the corridor, cutting it in half. She turned and strode into the maid's quarters swiftly. She turned and shut the door behind her (very, very carefully, as, at the last second, she remembered her absurdly long tail was something she had now)...and then she took a breath, and finally turned back around again to face them. The last people she wanted to face in her life now.

She looked at Sora, first. Then, to Ven. And finally - Terra. She felt it, then - the sudden wave of embarrassment, shame, self-consciousness, anxiety and panic. Oh, yes, there it was now. She did her best to breathe normally - and to curl her tail up behind her body. She shrugged her shoulders; her great wings half-opened, bristling, before snapping shut again. Painfully audibly, in this little room.

"So, hey, did you just get those, or have you always had them?" Sora spoke up, beaming at her. "I think they're awesome, either way!"

Aqua stared at him, cringing, holding her hands at her waist. She looked down over herself again - at her ornate, ridiculous gown. Then, she let out a shaking laugh. She raised her head again, shaking it as she became conscious again of the new weight dragging it down that were her horns (did her kind live with neck problems from those?). She reached up a trembling hand to brush at her hair. "Th-thank you, Sora...but you came here for a reason. So let's hear it," she said, looking to Terra alone.

Terra nodded, shifting his stance and crossing his arms. "Has there been anything happening on this world that seems odd, first of all? Like, for instance, strange dark monsters that cause people to fall asleep - or spawn from them?"

Aqua shook her head instantly. "No," she said, unhesitating. She paused. "Not that I've heard, at least. What kind of monsters are you talking about? Those don't sound like the Heartless - or Unversed."

"They're not," Terra agreed. "They're a different kind - called Nightmares. They're being spread through the worlds by a...being called Chirithy. A Nightmare Chirithy."

"Chirithy..." Aqua looked to Ven, frowning. "Like...from-"

"Yeah," Ven said quietly, nodding. "Amaya thinks it might be hers - I guess she had two Chirithies somehow. A Spirit and a Nightmare. The Spirits are good, and the Nightmares...not so good."

"Okay, then," Aqua said. "That's...something to keep an eye out for." She gave the boy a small, thin smile. "Thank you, Ven."

"There's more," Terra spoke again.

"Of course..." Aqua murmured, sighing. "Tell me."

He told her. All about some ancient, terrible Keyblade, called "Ultima Weapon", which they were all searching the worlds for - a weapon that stole the Hearts of its victims, using them as fuel for its power! They were trying to find it before an even more ancient being of Pure Darkness found it first, one from the Keyblade War era (Ven's true origin). A being that was now inhabiting Kairi's stolen body. Because Kairi...had lost it. She'd been lost, her Heart gone to the Realm of Sleep! She'd been lost there for almost two weeks now, by this point!

Aqua felt so many emotions on hearing the news. Guilt, regrets, remorse...the desire to just cast everything aside and go and rescue the girl - her former apprentice! Her abandoned apprentice...

But apparently Luxu was already on it. Sent in to save her.

Aqua had scoffed hard at that part, not bothering to hide any of her feelings about him.

"Yen Sid believes he can be trusted," Terra said in response.

"And Masters can never be wrong? Make terrible mistakes?" Aqua retorted. She paused, tossing her head. "How is Xehanort doing, by the way? Is Master Eraqus still fawning over him?"

Terra looked at her, frowning intensely. "The Xehanort of the past...he hasn't done the things that the one we know has. In fact, he saved Skuld from his current self - and Riku, more recently, from his own Heartless."

"Obviously it's all just deception and lies from him - that you're falling for again!" Aqua said firmly. "When he finally shows his true colors, who's going to have their life ruined this time? Maybe Sora will be the one lost for a decade in the Realm of Darkness! Or Kairi's Heart will stay lost like this for ten years! She can wake up and realize everyone she knew and loved are ten years older, that ten years of her life were lost to her! Maybe that Darkness using her stolen body will go on to ruin her name and image, the same way Xehanort did yours for the people of Radiant Garden!"

Terra flinched horribly at her words.

She didn't regret them - or the ones she said next.

"Honestly, Terra: I thought you would have learned something from all of this! That you couldn't possibly still be this stupid - but I guess I was wrong! You moron."

Terra closed his eyes, his head dropping. His arms fell away from his chest. Then he breathed in and gave a nod. He opened them again, and looked at her with a small, crooked smile. "Heh...thanks, Aqua."

"W-what..?" She blinked, utterly confused.

"For telling me how you really feel - thank you," Terra clarified, light and amused now. "And you might be right...but I do know what manipulation looks like now. And what I've seen from this younger Xehanort...it looks like the truth. Don't get me wrong, I can easily see in him...the qualities that make him the kind of guy who'd go on to become the one we all know and hate - but his Heart seems to be truly set on avoiding that fate, going down that road of destiny. It's rough, it's precarious, and it's small and new...but I know it's real. And that's worth giving him a chance over. Because if we don't give someone the chance to change...they'll never take it."

"Believe what you want - just don't come back to me begging me to help fix your mistakes when it all goes to hell again," Aqua said coldly. "Now, was that everything you had to tell me?"

"Well, I got my body back from current Xehanort; he's locked away, and had a lock put on his Heart by Yen Sid, and others," Terra stated evenly. "So that threat is over, at least."

"It's not over until he's gone - for good," Aqua refuted flatly. "But I can guess that the reason he's still around is that Eraqus thought it was too hard to erase him from this World. He's just weak like that, I suppose."

"No, it's because Keyblade Wielders aren't executioners. Not of defenseless prisoners."

"A man who can raise mountains with a wave of his hand is never defenseless!"

"He can't do that right now."

"He's Xehanort - he'll find a way to break the lock - and then everyone's going to pay for it," Aqua snarled.

Terra nodded to her. "Well, until he does, I'm not just going to walk up to him and cut him down like that."

"Then you're weak, too!" Aqua burst out. "I had faith in you once, Terra, that you weren't as weak as the Master so clearly thought you were - that you could prove you had what it took to be a Master - but I was wrong! I was very wrong about that."

"I'm sorry I've caused you to lose faith in me, then, Aqua," Terra said quietly, nodding again. Just- accepting it! "But I'm glad to hear that you once thought differently - even in defiance of the Master."

Aqua's jaw quivered. She shut her mouth tight, turning her head away. "If that's everything, you can go now."

"Yen Sid gave us all a list of worlds to investigate that were believed to once be places where the Ultima Weapon was sighted...and used," Terra spoke, slow and careful. "This world was the last world on my personal list. I didn't know it was yours, Aqua, I swear - I never would have come barging into your life this way if I had. And I suppose i just want you to know, too, that...it wasn't like the Master told us to come here or anything like that. He never betrayed your trust. He's kept this secret for you, for all your life, even from me, and Ven. Even now."

Aqua looked at him, her lips parting. Then she pressed them tight again. "Tch. So he didn't betray me like that, no. But that doesn't make anything else okay between us. Or between you and me."

"I know," Terra said softly. "But just because things are broken, and hurt, with you and me...doesn't mean that we can't still do what's best for this world, does it, Aqua? For your...people?"

"What would you know about my people?" Aqua said, pointedly spreading her arms - and her wings, in a rush of motion and snapping air.

"Nothing," Terra said, shrugging. "But I know you're strong, and good, and kind, and I know that no matter how much you're hurting, you're not going to let that get in the way of doing the right thing for those in need. So I'm asking you, Aqua, not even as a friend, or a Keyblade Master - just as one person to another: please, help us figure out whether or not this Keyblade is here...on your homeworld. Help us...help you...to keep them all safe. After that, we'll leave - and leave you be - if you want that. That is what Keyblade wielders do, after all - we're discrete in our ways, never doing more than we have to."

Aqua's rigid body eased, as she let loose a long woosh of air. Her arms fell to her sides; her wings collapsed behind her back again, settling. She looked to Ven and Sora... "Okay," she said quietly, finally. "Come with me, then."

She strode out of the room, the three of them behind her. She turned and saw her barrier was still there - and so were the Serene Rose members, on the other side of it. So they'd respected her rule, trusted her choice, even if it was probably a little unorthodox for a queen...that boded well. She raised a hand and dispelled the barrier in a shimmer of crystal, striding down the hall toward the Roses. She stopped before them, looking squarely to Ravamar. "Overseer Ravamar," she spoke. "These are Keyblade Master Terra, and Keyblade Wielders Ventus and Sora. They're very accomplished, but very discrete, wandering warriors. And the information they've come to me with tonight is of the utmost urgency."

Ravamar simply nodded, gazing at her attentively. And very seriously now.

"Somewhere in this world of ours, at some point in our history, there may have been an ancient Keyblade that was wielded by someone, who used it to cause...devastation - mass scale loss of life," Aqua spoke on. "It was an extremely powerful, extremely mystical blade - which also had the power to steal and trap the Hearts of its victims, as well as anyone it found unworthy of wielding it. Now, just...off the top of your head, does that sound in any way familiar to you? It would have been used in some kind of battle, or war, in a way that would have left a...very large and obvious scar on the world in its wake. As testament to its power."

"There have been many battles and wars in our past, many of which left great scars on the land - sites of death and destruction," Ravamar said, considering. Thinking. "Mostly, these come from times when large numbers of mages came together to wreak havoc on their enemies, in ways they couldn't have done alone. But...for a single blade to do such a thing...that's more the realm of fairy tales and legends."

"Well, sometimes those can be true," Aqua stated. "More true than you'd think, at least. And that is why I'd like for you and the Roses to give these three your full support in their investigations into this matter. I also want them to be given full...access to any old, secret, or well-guarded scrolls, tomes, or anything of that sort that might be here, or in libraries or museums, or even over at SR Headquarters. Anything that can help them track down this old weapon faster. Once it's found, no one is to touch it, and it's to be destroyed immediately - understood? I don't want anyone getting the stupid idea that they're somehow going to be worthy of picking the thing up...and paying the price for it. It's a weapon of mass destruction, and if it does exist...it's better that it winds up in no one's hands again."

Ravamar stood for a moment, processing, perhaps. Taking it all in. Then she nodded, bowing to Aqua deeply. "Understood, Your Majesty."

"Good." Aqua paused. She pressed her lips tight. "The only other thing left to inform you about is...to be on the lookout for a- a girl of fourteen, with short red hair, and scars on her face. She's...pursuing this blade, this- Ultima Weapon. She is an incredibly powerful...dark magic-user. She would also have the ability to summon- creatures of darkness, as well. But she isn't a real girl at all - it's a very old, dark...spirit inhabiting the empty body of the girl's. She's very dangerous, so I won't tell you to make this a priority over your own safety, but...if it's at all possible to secure her, or banish the spirit from her body somehow, without destroying that body...please try. The girl might have a chance of getting it back again - reuniting her lost Heart with it."

Ravamar was silent again, for a minute. She bowed again. "We'll do our best to uphold your wishes, Your Majesty. And I want you to know that I truly appreciate your concern for our well-being."

Aqua gave a small smile, nodding. "Of course." She nodded to Terra, Ven, and Sora, and spun around to walk away.

"Aqua-" Ven's voice came calling out to her.

She stopped. She composed herself before turning around again. "Yes...?"

Ven gazed into her face, for a long moment. His own shifting, his eyes gleaming. Then he shook his head, dropping his chin to his chest. "Nevermind..." he mumbled.

Aqua's Heart twinged. It twisted, more like. She sighed. "After this is over...come back here - they'll let you in. We can talk, then, before you go. Okay?" she spoke, soft and quiet.

Ven's head came up sharply. He stared at her, blinking fast. He smiled at her. "Okay!" he agreed, nodding.

Aqua gave one last nod - flashed a smile at Sora - then turned and continued on her way to her royal chambers.

To keep hiding from her past, to avoid remembering it for as long as she still could - until the moment came when she finally just wouldn't be able to anymore.

---

Xion wandered the basement of Radiant Garden's castle alone.

She walked the halls, looking at all the broken stone and twisted pipes.

She took a turn down a new hallway, in an area she hadn't been to before. She saw dirty, stone stairs leading down into darkness.

She stopped at the top of them, looking down.

Where did this go...?

She knew the underground lab went down a lot further than the basement, since the...artificial Heartless chamber was so- vast and deep that you needed an elevator to get down to the ground floor of it, but...

But there were parts of the actual castle that went down further, too?

Xion bit her lip, thinking hard. Furrowing her eyebrows as she looked down into the dark. She had to analyze, like Even always said to. Observe, and theorize. Well, this was stone - not metal or glass, like the lab. That meant it was older, not new. It was...dusty and broken in places, too, which probably meant...no one had been here in a while? If it went so far down like this, then did it lead to another area of the lab? Or did it lead into some other place, like the...Water Purification Facility beneath the outer areas of the city?

She didn't know. She...needed more data to...make a conclusion!

So she started down the old, stone steps, her shoes echoing in the silence.

She walked down until even the light of the basement was gone, and it was just pitch black now. She put her hand out on the wall and stopped. How long were these stairs? And how was she supposed to observe if she couldn't see anything?

Xion frowned, thinking again. Then she conjured her Keyblade and raised it up. She focused her magic. "Fire!"

The fireball grew and glowed brightly on the end of her weapon - but it stayed there, just like she'd hoped it would! Like she wanted it to!

She looked down the stairs now, but...she couldn't see that far, really...

At least it was better than before.

Xion continued down the stairs, until she finally reached the bottom.

She stepped into a new hallway. It was dustier and dirtier than the ones in the basement above her. But it looked...similar? She walked down the new hallway. Soon she found an intersection, that went left and right, both. She thought about it, then went to the right. She walked forward down the hall...and came to another intersection. This one had three different ways to go: left, right, and forward. She chose left this time.

As she walked on, she realized she hadn't really been- observing. Analyzing!

There didn't look like there was much to analyze though...

It was just dark, and dirty, and dusty. It was more broken pipes and pieces of stone on the floor, or chipped off from the walls.

Xion was starting to think she wouldn't find anything interesting here at all-

Her Keyblade suddenly flashed with a golden light, and then it vibrated in her hand and swung out to her right! It pulled her whole arm with it. She stared in shock and confusion - but she tried to calm down when she remembered this was just how Terra had said Keyblades worked. They had minds of their own, and "sometimes they like to help their wielders out. You should try to be in tune with your weapon - to listen to it."

So Xion breathed, and turned toward where the weapon was facing, keeping her arm out. She could see a lot better now that her Keyblade had this golden light around it; it was lighting up a huge section of the hallway, better than her fireball had been doing! But why was it trying to point her...here?

It just looked like a blank wall to her.

There was a broken, twisted pipe, and a...a black spot on the wall, like - a burn? Fire? Magic? Had someone hit the wall here before?

Xion frowned. She tilted her head down at her Keyblade. "I wish Keyblades could talk," she said quietly. "then you could just tell me what's going on here!"

"If Keyblades could talk, how would we EVER get ANYTHING done?" a voice suddenly echoed in the hallway! "Can you imagine if I ACTUALLY gave them the ability to do that? It'd just be chattering in your ear, twenty-four-seven!"

Xion whirled to her left, startling and swinging her weapon arm around! She felt her heart beating in her chest fast. Her arms were shaking again. She held her weapon down in front of her, in both hands, staring into the dark. "Who's there?" she called out.

From out of the dark, Xion heard footsteps, and then saw a...a figure in a long black coat walking into the area lit by her Keyblade! They had boots and gloves, and a hood up - hiding their face in some magic darkness her Keyblade's light didn't even break through...

"Why are you wearing that?" Xion demanded loudly. "Are you- from the Organization...?" But the Organization didn't exist now, did it? So why would someone wear that?

The figure stopped. Their voice came to her again. It was a- a male voice. Like an adult man's, Xion thought. "The Organization?" he said, in a confused voice. Then he startled, reaching up to rub at the back of his hooded head. "Oooh, riiight, riiight! Can you believe those jokers? Give a guy a nifty new coat, and he goes and starts a whole world-wide trend with it! Ahhhh, but I suppose at least he brought them back into fashion for the first time in, ya know, forever! Though he didn't have to cannibalize the brand in the process...Noooboooody remembers who really wore it first, do they? Nope! They just think of the latest band first!"

"Um- who- who are you?" Xion asked, slightly lowering her weapon. She observed that if this man had wanted to hurt her, he could have just attacked her in the dark instead of walking up and talking to her. Right?

"Just a guy out for a stroll - like you, right?" the man said back, leaning back and putting his hands on his hips. He twisted his body suddenly, his hooded face staring at the blank wall. "Oooh, I see! Interesting! Yes, very interesting... Keyblades might not be able to speak, but I think yours was trying to get you into here." He gestured a hand at the wall, then straightened up again.

Xion stared at him, then at the wall. "What's in there? Isn't it- just a wall? Or...is there something behind it?"

The man laughed, raising a hand - a finger to her. He jabbed it at her. "Bingo! You're one smart kid, aren'tcha?"

"I'm trying to be - thank you!" Xion said, smiling now and fully lowering her weapon. This man was nice. He didn't even sound scary or threatening at all. "So, what is in there?"

"What's in there? What's in there?!" The man walked forward, and he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. He bent down, putting his hood near her ear. "Come on, sweetpea, do ya really want me to spoil the surprise for you?" he said lowly to her, in a murmur. He lifted his hand off her and stood straight again, stepping back. He flourished his arm and pointed at the wall with both his hands. "Why not listen to your Keyblade there and find out for yourself?" he said, in a loud and enthusiastic voice.

Xion stared at him again. Then she giggled, and turned to raise her Keyblade to the wall again. "Ok. What do I do? Do I-"

But her Keyblade glowed brighter, and then suddenly a beam of thin white light shot out of the end of it! It hit the wall...the wall rippled and glowed...and then there was a door there! It was a big, solid, metal door...no, double doors. It had a big metal archway around it, with swirling lines and patterns on it, and at the top, on either side, there were what looked like...crystals? Shaped like diamond decorations? Or they were diamonds?

The man gasped in shock, jumping on the spot. He put his hands to either side of his head. Then he started to clap loudly, looking to Xion. "Fantastic job, kiddo! Amazing stuff! That thing really isn't just some cheap knock-off, is it?"

Xion stopped, frowning. she looked at her weapon, then at the man. "What do you-" She stopped again. "Oh. You know I'm a Replica?" she said anxiously.

"I doooo - and it doesn't matter to me in the least!" the man said firmly, waving an arm.

Xion relaxed again, smiling. "Thanks."

"No problemo! And hey, we're kinda ignoring the elephant in the room, aren't we?"

"What elephant?" Xion said, looking around in confusion. Could an elephant even fit down here?

"The door, you adorable little munchkin!" the man exclaimed, turning and gesturing again. "Don't you want to know what's behind it? I know I do! I'm just giddy with anticipation here! The suspense, it's too much!" He raised a hand to his forehead, turning away from the door.

"Oh, right. Ok!" Xion stepped up to the big door, and she started to push it open in the middle. The two halves of the big doorway were heavy, but they moved for her, letting her step through!

Xion stumbled into a dark room - and then lights flickered on inside.

She straightened up and looked - and then she froze.

Images swam before her eyes, voices echoed in her ears! Fear filled her whole Heart- panic- terror- like when she first saw Castle Oblivion, but worse, so much worse! She winced as pain shot through her head, stumbling backwards. She raised a hand to her head, groaning.

"Grandma...?"

She felt hands on her arms - she felt fingers pressing into her skin and moving. Stroking her? Like dad always did when she was upset, and needed comfort... Daddy was always there for her when she needed him, like after she fell from that tree when she was six and-

Xion gasped, pulling herself free and turning around!

The man jumped back, raising his hands to her. "Hey, woah, woah, woah - it's just me, sweetpea!" he exclaimed quickly. "Take it easy with that thing - you could really hurt somebody!"

Xion stopped. She stared down at her arm. At her keyblade being aimed out at the man. It was shaking so badly. She lowered it and let it vanish, letting out a shaking breath. She hugged herself tight, shaking her head. "S-sorry! I'm sorry-"

"Heeey, no big deal, so don't sweat it!" the man said, waving his hands. "Come ooon, pull yourself together, little scientist. Gotta analyze this amazing new find, don'tcha?"

"Huh?" Xion shakily turned on the spot, and stared.

There was a huge...glowing glass orb of blue energy in the ceiling? With pipes leading to it from across the ceiling? There was a big machine of some kind below it, with pipes and cables leading off to the walls. There were...two...metal pods docked with the machine. On the left and the right. There was a control panel of some kind in front of the machine, too...with glowing buttons and stuff... There were glowing, greenish spikes of light around the machine, too, lighting up the room a bit more.

"T-this is...that place Kairi was so scared of before..." Xion whispered. She was scared too. But was that- her scared, or Kairi's scared...? "This is...how she got- to Destiny Islands...when she was younger..."

"It sure is..." the man said, in a quiet voice. He stepped up to her and put his hand on her shoulder again. His hood turned, leaning down to her. "You can see the missing pod, even, can't you. No doubt about it. This is the place."

Xion felt a strange feeling in her back suddenly. Not like an itch, or pain, but...something weird. she turned to the man's dark hood. She pulled away from him, closing her shaking fists at her sides. "How could you know about that?" she found herself saying loudly. "Xehanort...was the one to send her to the islands like that. And- she never told anyone except- well- us...and...I guess maybe Aerith and Tifa and all of them...but- and you said 'spoil the surprise', like you...already knew what was in here-"

The man stepped away, raising his hands and shrugging his shoulders. "Alright, you got me - no need to strain yourself putting all the clues together," he said with a sigh. His arms slowly fell, and then moved behind his back. He stood up taller, suddenly. "The Princess of Heart went on an important journey aboard this ark, once upon a time..." he spoke on, suddenly in a much different tone of voice. This one was definitely- threatening and dangerous. It was so low and cold and- "...and now I need you to take one for me, as well, Xion."

"W-what? You know my name?" Xion said, her voice high and choked. Then she froze. "W-what do you mean, me? You- you want to put me in that thing again?! NO!" The words screamed from her throat as her weapon appeared, and she jumped forward and swung it down for the man!

The man's arm came out from behind his back, his hand raising up-

Xion's Keyblade disappeared out of her hand, causing her to twist and stumble past the man, falling onto the floor, hard, in a panicked and confused mess. She gasped as she landed on her hands and knees. She twisted and looked to the man...

He turned toward her, curling his fingers - and her Keyblade appeared in his hand...?

Xion stared for a long time. She looked down at her own hand, concentrating. But nothing happened! She whipped her head up to stare at the man again. Was that- really her- Keyblade? But- "How did you...do that? You- you took it from me?"

"Irresponsible little girls don't deserve such weapons," the man's voice came, cold and quiet still. He lowered his arm, her weapon to his side. He closed his fist, and it vanished in a flash of light. He strode forward, looking down on her. "And little Replicas need to learn how to behave."

Xion raised her fist with a yell: "Firag-"

The man waved a hand, the air rippled, and she slid backwards across the floor and hit the wall of the room - really hard.

She tried to move, but suddenly she couldn't! She was frozen, stuck...

"Case in point," the man said, with a heavy sigh. "Kids these days - no respect. It's a crying shame. Why, back in my day...well, let me show you how we did things back in my day, sweetpea."

The man started forward, his boots echoing hard on the floor in the silence!

Xion tried to move again, she tried to use magic, but she just couldn't do anything! Why? What had he done to her? How...strong was he? Who was he? Why...why was this happening to her? Why here? Why?

Someone help me, please! Sora...Terra...Riku...Roxas...Kairi!

I don't want to go in a box again...

The man suddenly stopped, turning away from Xion. A strange...growling noise filled the room?

Xion tried to move her eyes, but she couldn't see-

"I knew there'd be a rat problem down-" the man said to himself.

A blue blur flew down from the corner of the ceiling, from behind some pipes, slamming into the man!

The cloaked man went flying backwards across the room, slamming into the machine! The metal broke, and sparks flew out of it as the lights flickered! He gasped and fell forward, then straightened again. "Well that's just the worst timing imaginable!" he said loudly. "What even are you, you little freak of nature, you?"

Xion stared at a small blue...creature standing in the middle of the room now. It was fluffy and had four stubby arms with claws, and big black eyes, and...antennae? Like an insect. It also had long ears too that were shaped like...tubes? Or instruments?

The creature bared its teeth at the black coated man. "Meega Stitch! Aloha!"

The man tilted his head. "...I was not prepared to deal with this today. I'm just gonna head out. See ya!"

"RAAARGGH!" the blue- person? Stitch? They jumped and flew at the man again in a blur, so fast! "Not getting away!"

A golden light suddenly shined out from the man, and he was gone when Xion finished blinking.

"Huh?" Stitch slammed into the machine - and broke it! They disappeared inside it, leaving a hole in it with sparking wires. The lights on the machine flickered and faded. But the big blue sphere in the ceiling still glowed. After a moment, Stitch came tearing back out of the machine, flipping and landing on the floor. They looked around, then clicked their fingers and swung a small arm. "Darnit..." They turned and raced up to Xion, standing in front of her. "You...Xion...okay?" they said, slow and halting.

Xion nodded. Then she stopped. She could move again? She tested it by sitting up, leaning back against the wall. She smiled at the blue little being. "I'm OK - thanks to you. Your name's...Stitch?"

Stitch nodded. "Ih - yes. My name Stitch."

"Thanks for saving me, Stitch..." Xion said shakily, her eyes going blurry. Oh no. "I- I was so scared and-"

"It okay, all okay - don't cry!" Stitch said quickly, waving their arms and stepping forward. "Stitch know...what it like to be- afraid. But Xion not have to be now. Ih. Nothing to scare now. Bad man gone."

Xion gulped in lots of air, nodding. "R-right...he's gone now."

But...who had he been?

And why had he tried to do that to her a- to do that to her?

Notes:

Sooo yeah...SOME STUFF HAPPENED. xD And I FINALLY DID IT: LOOK, STITCH IS HERE!!! YAYYYY. <3 I rewatched the movie today to get inspired for it lol!

Chapter 56: An Isolated Tragedy

Notes:

Yesssssss! :D Finally got to use a scene that's been sitting in my drafts FOREVER! Literally months! <3 I'm suuuper excited and happy I got to put it onto the actual page at last lol! Muhahahaha!

Xion wandered back through the dark, following Stitch.

He (he'd answered her question of if he was a boy or a girl with boy) had said could see in the dark.

It didn't take long until they were at the old stairs again. Xion went up them quickly, reemerging into the light of the basement level.

She turned and ran through the hallways, reaching Ansem's study room. She passed through it into the lab, hoping Even would be there - like he always was...

She raced down the metal corridor, onto the glass walkway, and took the turn into the control room's doorway. Relief filled up her Heart as she saw him there! He turned to her sharply, looking surprised and annoyed.

"Xion? Why in the worlds are you running through the-" He stopped, his gaze falling to Stitch. "And what is that?!"

"He's Stitch - he saved me!" Xion said quickly.

"Saved you...SAVED YOU FROM WHAT?!" Even exclaimed, rushing forward now! "What's happened, child? Are you injured?"

"I- not really?" Xion replied, staring up at him as he grabbed her arms. "I was exploring and I found some old stairs, so I went down them and found another basement below this basement, and- my keyblade acted weird and then this man showed up in a black coat-"

"What?"

"-he showed me a secret door to a room with a big machine in it - I've seen it before - it's how Kairi got to Destiny Islands, and- and he was going to put me back- put me in there...too?" Xion came to a slow, confused stop, sucking in air and squeezing her eyes shut. "Stitch saved me from him, and he disappeared. He- He was so nice at first, but then- I was really scared, and-"

Even's arms suddenly let her go - she opened her eyes in confusion and hurt - and then he was grabbing her again and he pulled her against him. His arms wrapped around her body. He was hugging her?

"Thank heavens you're all right..." his voice came, quiet and breathless. He then suddenly let her go again, turning to look down at Stitch. "And thank you - Stitch, was it? - for saving her life. For keeping my- my daughter from harm."

Stitch tilted his head up at Even. Then he gave a wide smile of teeth and raised a hand in a thumbs-up. "Ih. Stitch knows...ohana - family - very important. Not lose...family. Yeah. Or forget." Stitch's smile faded. He lowered his arm and looked down, putting his four hands together. His ears drooped. "Stitch's family still...lost."

"I can help you find them," Xion said quickly.

Stitch looked up at her. He shook his head. "My family...Stitch will find on own. Ih. It okay. Thanks - Xion." He paused, staring up at her. "Friend?"

"We can be friends," Xion agreed, beaming.

"Stitch see Xion again, soon - me find friends, too..." Stitch told her. Then he suddenly turned and ran out of the lab, on all of his limbs!

Xion stared after him, frowning. She looked at Even.

Even sighed, shaking his head. "Well, that...Stitch certainly isn't from this world. Curious...I wonder how he even got here at all...or when..."

Xion threw herself at the man and hugged him tightly.

He gave a little gasp, glancing down at her. Then he raised his hand and patted at her head. "This isn't a free license to start attaching yourself to me, you know..."

Xion giggled.

"But I suppose if it's something you need right now, I can't deny you - I am responsible for you at present...which does include seeing to your emotional well-being," Even muttered on to himself.

After a minute, Even gently pushed her away, looking down at her.

"Xion...there are two things I'd like to ask you now."

"What?" she said, nervous.

"Can you tell me about this black-coated man? And can you take me to this...secret room?" Even said quietly.

Xion stared up at him. She bit her shaking lip. Then she took a breath, and nodded. "I think so...as long as you're with me."

Even smiled at her. "Oh, i think we can - we need - to do better than that, for something like this."

---

Her name was Cognis.

"She" was a "her" at all, like her name, by choice and intent. But there was something else inside of her...a drive, a calling. A desire.

She didn't think it was so different, being a...being born with instincts and urges. In her case, these consisted of the instinct and urge to do good in the worlds: to help when she saw those that needed it. To save when people needed saving. To protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

Humans would have just called that "empathy", or perhaps only sympathy. Which...would in fact have proven that she did have those inside herself after all. That she always had. Still, Cognis...wasn't sure she recognized it as such. But did it matter, really, if in the end the results were the same?

But what of the other instincts inside her? The desires of a Darkness? The desire to...expand. Spread. To grow. To see. To explore? Were those primal instincts borne of malevolence, or were they more benign and innocent? Hm. She supposed it didn't matter to her, personally: all sapient beings had instincts - and all chose to rise above them, with conscious thought and feeling. She was no different there.

Cognis was...content, here, with Riku. Being bonded to him. Being within his warm, wonderful, and singularly unique Heart. She supposed she might even call it something of a source of "pride". Or...even more.

Now, she would have liked to say he was hers, and hers alone - but that, regrettably, would have been a lie.

There was still the unwanted intruder she had tied up in the basement level of Riku's Heart.

After the time-traveling Xehanort had severely damaged and weakened Ansem's essence, his fragment of being, Cognis had gone on to do as she had before, and made sure to wrap the fragment up in her own power, and cast it down into the abyss.

But, just like before, she knew it was only a matter of time until he regained his strength and power...and returned to trouble Riku once again.

Her host. Her partner. Her...

Her what? What word beyond those first two could apply to them - describe them, and their relationship?

Family?

Perhaps.

Cognis pulled herself  from her thoughts, paying attention to the world around her again instead. The sprawling city streets, surrounding the great castle in the middle of it all...

Riku did well enough navigating open streets and spaces by himself, as well as crowds, but more intimate and complex locations...he wasn't so good at that.

And he did need her to be ready to describe the things and people around him in all the details he couldn't see for himself, of course. A job and task Cognis thought she had come to...rather enjoy. It definitely kept her own mind occupied, while Riku did all of the walking and door-opening and the like. Having an assigned job meant she wasn't going to get too bored in here.

Maybe she was starting to regret giving up that physical body she'd had so briefly, after all.

Hm...

There were definitely advantages to being a formless wraith of darkness - yet it came with disadvantages as well. But was the tradeoff worth it...?

Her ancient ancestors must have thought so...until they realized what they'd lost - hence, why they were so desperate to regain physical forms now.

So then, perhaps-

"Hey - Cognis? What's that?"

She returned her focus to the world again, looking around herself in all directions, simultaneously, with an eyeless sight, emanating from Riku's body in an invisible aura of energy. She didn't need to ask him to elaborate: she could tell what he was sensing, what he was thinking about in that moment. What he was pondering on as being "odd".

She looked up into the sky, focusing on the orb hovering overhead, above the rooftops of the buildings. It looks to be some kind of magical floating sphere - blue in color, with a fractal core, she responded, projecting her mental "voice" across his Heart and through his body, such that he would hear her within and from outside himself.

"A...what?" Riku murmured, as a wave of his emotions came to her easily. Easily sensed - embarrassment.

It's like a broken, twisted mirror, Cognis elaborated promptly - quite happily, too. It's constantly shifting in on itself, reflecting the world around it. It actually looks really pretty.

"...Right. Thanks. What's it doing? Is it some kind of attack drone, or what?"

I don't know, Cognis admitted. But as long as it's not hurting us, it's probably safe to just ignore it.

"Just ignore it."

Yes. Problem?

"I don't like it."

I can tell - why?

"Because it's just- floating around up there, and it's- creeping me out, alright? What if it's watching us?"

Cognis sighed audibly. Do you really think it's watching you, a random boy in a street full of people?

"...Look, it just bugs me, okay? I've got a bad feeling about it."

Then go somewhere it can't see you.

"Right. Okay."

Riku immediately turned and stepped off the street, passing into a long, curving, and narrow alleyway.

In the dark and seclusion, Cognis flowed out of his body, manifesting and shaping herself into something approximate to a humanoid figure. She "walked" ahead of Riku - the better to warn him of incoming obstacles and terrain changes, and to give him something "solid" to lock his senses onto and follow.

He'd made a joke the other day about it that had made her laugh - calling her his "Guide Darkness".

Cognis led their way down the long alley, rounding the bend. She took notice of the stairs and doors flanking them - the narrower side alleys, as well. After a minute or two more, she stopped, turning her head (even though she really had no need to - it was more to clue Riku in on the direction from which something had caught her attention).

"What is it?" Riku asked, stepping up beside her.

"There's a courtyard, through here," Cognis said, projecting her voice aloud now from her own "body", and raising an arm to further indicate. Pointing through the entryway of stone, to the surprisingly spacious, stone courtyard, hidden between the surrounding buildings. "It's rather large, with plenty of benches, statues, and plants decorating it. There's also a fountain on the far side - can you hear the water?"

Riku cocked his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowing. He nodded. "Yeah. I hear it. Is there some other reason you're bringing this place to my attention?"

"Well, I did think you could use a rest," Cognis said, factual. "And me, as well."

"Do you even need to rest? You don't sleep, do you?" Riku said, surprise in his Heart - reaching her.

"Not in the way you humans do, no - probably not," Cognis agreed. "but I do get mentally tired of doing the same thing, over and over again, or simply from constantly thinking about things - and I also think I have sometimes fallen into something of a...hibernation state, almost, really. It's strange. But I suppose that's just what Darknesses do when we aren't active."

"...Sure," Riku said. "Let's...take a break, then. I guess I could use one...we've been working pretty hard these last few days now."

"Really? Just like that, you take my advice? I'm proud of you."

"Shut up..."

Cognis laughed, audible, for his benefit.

Riku went and sat down on a bench in the middle of the courtyard, facing an iron fence with wreaths on it.

Cognis teleported herself over to stand by his side, allowing her mind to relax now, somewhat.

After several listless minutes, however, Cognis saw it again above them: that magical orb was back.

Riku - stand up. We should go, she spoke to him mentally, letting herself evaporate into shapelessness, and flow back into his Heart and body.

Huh? Why? What's- Riku's thoughts came back to her, silent as well. But he obeyed, jumping to his feet. Then he stopped. He tilted his head back. That thing again...? I told you it was following me!

Yes, it seems like you were right, she admitted. Though, that shouldn't be something to gloat about-

Blue lights flashed around them in the courtyard, and Cognis saw several people materialize out of thin air - over a dozen of them, in long black robes, with hoods on, and symbols on their chests.

"Hey! What's-!" Riku started, clenching his fist and summoning his Keyblade with a swing of an arm.

The figures all raised their hands, and swirling blue mist flew out at Riku, as well as great flashes of blinding yellow light!

Cognis was unaffected by the mist, of course - but not the light. She couldn't see through what she couldn't see through. Even being formless didn't help with that - no more than it gave her the ability to see through walls.

Which meant she was as blind as Riku.

Which meant that she was helpless to do anything, before she realized Riku's feelings and thoughts were fading, and his body-

His body fell forward to land on the stone ground, his Keyblade fallen from his grasp. It clattered beside him, echoing in the silent courtyard.

The robed figures all lowered their arms. One stepped forward.

"Good work," the woman spoke to the others. "It's not a redheaded girl, but it's still a dark spirit. It probably moved..." She trailed off into silence, her eyes widening.

Wispy tendrils drifted off Riku's form, and an aura of purple energy enveloped him. A light flashed, and he was surrounded by a barrier dome of purple, translucent crystal.

Cognis flowed out of his body, manifesting herself in front of him - her faceless visage gazing squarely at the robed figures in front of her.

"Knocking my host unconscious...that wasn't the smartest thing you could have done," she stated quietly, anger brimming in her voice. In her core. "In fact...that was the worst thing you could have ever done here today. But-"

The woman at the forefront flashed out her hand, sending out a blast of blue lightning; the attack flew through Cognis's form, and struck the stone wall behind her with a small explosion of burnt rock.

The others conjured weapons in their hands as they backed away, spreading out into some formation. Some strategy - that was going to prove completely useless to them.

"But," Cognis continued on, slow and clear. "I'm still going to give you all the chance to toss your weapons away, and lay yourselves down on the ground. Do that, and you'll be left alive and unharmed. Anyone who hasn't done so is going to die today, right here and now. I cannot be touched, or harmed, or contained - I'm formless, in the truest sense of the word. So, consider how much you really value your own lives. You have five seconds."

The robed figures all stared at her. Then, at each other.

The leader conjured and raised a blade of her own, and lunged forward - with the rest following suit.

Hmph. Very well. I do regret the loss of life - but my host's safety takes priority over all else!

Cognis flew forward in a streak of dark energy, passing through the leader's chest, and then quickly whipping back again. The woman fell. She turned her featureless head, gazing without eyes upon the others. One man's weapon dropped with a clatter upon the ground as he stumbled back, shock and fear written on his face. Cognis flew into a furious whirlwind of motion, darting from one to the next, forcing her formless body through theirs, piercing and burning through flesh to reach and strike at their very Hearts. They all fell to her, one by one, within seconds - their attacks not touching her, their barriers not preventing her from reaching them.

Except for the one who had dropped his weapon.

After the last of the others had hit the ground, Cognis rematerialized in front of the lone, living man.

Around her, the bodies of his fellows faded away to nothingness, taken by dark energies, evaporating into tendrils on the air, and purple light motes.

"W-what are you...?" the man whispered, gazing upon her in quivering terror.

"I believe I told you to lay yourself down..." Cognis said softly, tilting her head at the man.

The man startled, then hastened to obey, putting his hands over his head as he did.

"Hmph. At least one of you was actually smart." Cognis flickered away, reappearing near Riku's unconscious body. You need to wake up sooner rather than later, Riku. Please.

But he couldn't do it here; that orb was still there in the sky, after all - it would probably signal for reinforcements soon.

So Cognis stepped forward, through her own barrier dome, and crouched down to put a hand on Riku's arm. She carefully, slowly enveloped him in an aura of blue, and created a Dark Corridor beneath him.

She sank down into it with him, ensuring he was protected the entire time.

Chapter 57: The Girl In The Pod

Riku groaned as he came back to awareness again, sitting up on...cold sand?

"...Ugh...What...? Cognis?! What happened? Where-" he started.

"Calm down - you're fine now," her voice came to him. From his left. Audible and directed. She was still in that formless, humanoid shape of hers. Sitting beside him.

"Where...are we?" Riku said slowly, listening to the sound of waves, feeling a frigid breeze on his body. Cold sand under his hands, still...

"The Realm of Darkness."

"WHAT? How did we get there? Why are we-" Riku exclaimed.

"Well, I needed a safe place to put you while I waited for you to wake up again, didn't I?" Cognis said simply.

"So you brought me to the- the homeland of the Heartless? Are you crazy?! What if they'd attacked me in my sleep, or-"

"There aren't any Heartless in this part of the Dark Realm," Cognis said, calm and quiet. "And even if there were, they wouldn't do anything to you, as long as I'm here by your side."

"Well...alright. Can we go back to the Realm of Light now? I'm awake now."

"Of course we can." Cognis stood up. She raised an arm, and a dark portal appeared in front of him. "I'm sorry if I frightened you; I should have remembered you knew about Master Aqua's time here before - naturally it would have made you panic."

"Uh - thanks? No- no big deal. As long as I can just walk through this thing and get out of here again..."

"I promise you."

Riku turned his head toward her. He tried to smile, nodding. "Hey, I trust you."

"Thank you."

"Those people before, in that world - they mentioned a dark spirit inside a girl with red hair," Cognis spoke. "They must have surely meant the Ancient Darkness inhabiting Kairi's body. They were searching for her, and only found us by accident."

"So, what? You think that means that other Darkness is actually back there...?"

"Yes."

"And...you want us to do something about it, don't you," Riku guessed.

"Why not? It might not be fighting Nightmares, but it is still a way of helping people - protecting them."

"Protecting people, huh..." Riku murmured, bowing his head. He sighed - then, he paused. "What about those people back there who attacked us?"

"They're not a problem for us anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I took care of them for you."

"What...? What did you do?" Riku exclaimed, clenching his fists, trembling, as he leapt to his feet now!

"Why are you getting upset?" Cognis said, confusion in her voice. "We were attacked - you were incapacitated - and I was left to protect you. To save you. And that's what I did, Riku! Because you're my-"

"Cognis: tell me what you did!" Riku demanded, stepping forward, putting his face in hers. Not that she had a face. A vague shape of a human head, made out of darkness.

"I acted to defend you - to save your life!" Cognis responded, firm and angry now. And sounding upset, herself now. "You should be thanking me-!"

"Thanking you?! For WHAT? For fucking over my reputation on a whole 'nother world?! How can we even go back there now if whole- armies of people are going to want to do what those ones did?! They're going to want revenge, don't you get-"

"It was self defense!" Cognis shouted. "They outnumbered us, they knocked you out without even saying hello! I mourn the loss of life too, Riku, truly - and contrary to what certain users of Light might believe, I didn't enjoy it either! But I don't regret doing what I had to in order to keep you safe! And I won't ever apologize for that! But I can apologize for making things more difficult for you on that world, in future," she finished, quieter. Hesitant, almost.

"What the hell, Cognis...I thought you were supposed to be some kind of hero?" Riku said shakily, falling down to the ground, flat on his rear. He raised his hands and slammed them against his face. "How could you just..."

"I did give them the chance to stand down and live - I told them," Cognis spoke, in strained tones. "And I did spare one of them who actually listened to me. But the rest...Riku, they attacked us, they didn't give me a choice. I had to protect you. And in this formless state...I'm not exactly equipped for non-lethal takedowns. It was either all or nothing. And they made their choice, clearly. Even after I told them how it would end. How can you judge me for that? It's not very fair..."

Riku sat for a long time, or maybe no time at all (according to Aqua, "time" didn't really exist here). He just sat there, listening to those waves, and thinking.

After a long while, he finally moved. He spoke.

"You're right, Cognis. And I'm sorry." Riku swallowed, running a hand over his hair. "And- thank you, for saving me. But...it doesn't mean you still didn't- complicate things for me now, on that world. For both of us."

"I know that," Cognis said quietly. "And I'm sorry for that. All I was thinking about was you - not whatever impact it would have on the future. I didn't have much time to sit and think."

"...Yeah, I get that," Riku replied. "And I don't- I don't blame you for it, alright? At least you messed something up trying to do something good; I messed everything up doing terrible things. Hey, I guess that just means even Darknesses aren't perfect, huh?" he tried to joke.

"Of course we're not perfect; Amaya would never have been able to get one over four of my kind if we were. And Ventus never would have bested Vanitas, either."

"Then why do you sound so broken up about it?" Riku questioned.

Cognis was silent. For a long time. Then-

"Because if I was perfect, I wouldn't have complicated things for you," she whispered. "And I wouldn't have upset you so badly, or- made you so mad with me..."

Riku felt his stomach squirming in that moment, at her words. He wasn't the greatest at this feelings stuff at the best of times - comforting people - and right now...how was he supposed to find a way to comfort a being of formless darkness? He couldn't have even given her a hug or a pat on the arm if he'd wanted to...

"I'm not mad at you-"

"Yes you were: I felt it, remember? I feel everything from you."

Riku clenched his teeth. He screwed up his eyes and let out a breath. "Okay...yeah, I was mad at you. And that was wrong of me, okay? I'm sorry about that. But I'm not mad now. I'm just more...mad at the situation, I guess. But you- you did the best with what you had, and you protected me, and...I'm grateful for that. You are a hero, Cognis - you're good at Heart. And I'm lucky to have you here with me." He paused, frowning before going on. "And, look, about non-lethal takedowns...I do think you might be wrong about that. You know I use Dark Firaga, right? There are other Dark-based spells you can use, too - Dark Thunder, Dark Blizzard, etc. I sort of learned them from Maleficent, of all people. So...next time we get into a situation like that, why don't you try some of those?"

"...I never thought about trying to use Dark-Elemental Magicks," Cognis's subdued, embarrassed voice came. "Though, I'm not sure I can even cast magic in this formless state."

"Hey, Nobodies can cast magic, right? And...so could Terra - or, the him that was just a suit of armor," Riku said with a shrug. "And you are darkness, so I don't see why you shouldn't be able to cast Dark Spells, by all accounts."

"Hm..." Cognis stepped forward on the beach, raising an arm of rippling pure darkness. After a moment, Riku "saw" the magic burst from the end of her hand, flying out into the dark...as a large chunk of frothy, dark ice. Her arm slowly fell to her side again, as she turned back to face him.

"Guess that answers that, doesn't it?" Riku said, trying to grin at her. "Nice spell."

"Wrong," Cognis said flatly. "Now that I know I could have done this the entire time, my guilt is immeasurable and my day is ruined!"

"Well...my day's ruined too, so, at least we're still in the same boat here?"

Cognis let out a heavy, lengthy sigh. "Let's just go back to the Realm of Light."

"Yeah," Riku nodded, getting to his feet again at last. "We can track down this other Darkness - maybe clear up this whole...misunderstanding, and maybe get Kairi her body back, too."

---

Xion felt a lot more confident when she stood in front of the large doorway again...into that room.

The dark, sub-basement hallway was lit up with lights now, which helped too.

But what really helped was all the others with her this time.

Even was there, of course - but so were Ienzo, and Ansem The Wise, and Dilan, and Leon and Cid, and Cloud and Tifa, too!

Dilan stayed close to Ansem, while Leon, Cloud and Tifa entered the room first. They all had their weapons with them (except Tifa, who didn't need weapons because she had her fists).

"Remarkable..." Ansem said. He shook his head. "To think such a room has been here this whole time..."

"Makes you wonder what else people got up to in here, in secret," Cloud said, crossing his arms and looking at Even.

"If I knew this was here, why would I have personally come and gathered you all up to lead you straight to it?" Even responded. "I would have told Xion to just keep it to herself, were I so nefarious. Heavens knows the girl would have listened to me without questioning it. But the fact is: I enlisted all of your help - for Xion."

Tifa strode forward slowly, her heels clicking on the floor. Her eyes swept around the room, then settled on the big machine in front of her. "This place...and Xehanort really...?" She looked back at Xion, frowning. "It must have been terribly frightening for Kairi. And for you, too..."

"So why did you bring us here?" Cloud said to Even, letting his arms fall, gazing at him. "You want us to destroy this thing?"

"Destroy it?!" Cid exclaimed, rushing forward now. He hurried past Tifa and turned to face them all. "Are you crazy, kid? I ain't never seen a contraption like this before in my life - but if Xehanort's the one who made it, then we shouldn't be so hasty here! We've gotta take it apart, get a look inside - see how it all works! Figure out what else he might've done with the blasted thing! After we've got everythin' we can out of it, then you sword-slingers can feel free to go to town on the thing! Look - there's a console right here, and it looks like it's still got power, despite the damages..."

Cid went to a control console in front of the machine, staring at glass number gauges and glowing little screens and buttons. He tapped some buttons, then flicked a switch back and forth. He tapped at a screen and bent forward. "Hmmm...let's see here...I'm no computer wizz, but I think I can get something from this..."

"I can help you there, if you'd allow me," Ienzo said, starting forward. "I'm fairly good with computers, if I say so myself."

Cid glanced at him, pausing. Then he shrugged and stepped away. "Why not? Take a crack at it if ya like - but I want to take a wrench to the mechanical bits as soon as possible."

"If this machine is what sent Kairi off to some other world, are you sure you want to be messing around with it?" Leon asked. "Something with that kind of power could make a pretty big explosion if something goes wrong, couldn't it? And it's already damaged enough as it is."

Ansem The Wise looked at the machine, then he sighed. "I would agree with young Leonhart. I, too, am most curious to plume the depths of Xehanort's secrets...but we must be cautious, Ienzo."

Ienzo tapped at some buttons and flipped some switches. Then he stopped, turning to look over a shoulder. He looked conflicted. "Are you sure, Master Ansem? We can't know how long this machine will stay in a functional state, all on its own. If it fails before we get anything out of it-"

"The Keyblade Wielders have Xehanort himself in their custody," Ansem spoke, cutting him off. "Anything that can be learned, can be learned by interrogating the man himself. Some things, little Ienzo...are best left forgotten."

Ienzo frowned. Then he nodded. "Of course, Master. Just let me at least find the way to power this machine off - to prevent any explosion or fire hazards..."

"Mm. Very well," Ansem nodded.

The room was silent as Ienzo worked the console. As he stared at the screens and gauges. He looked around the room, at the pipes and cables from the machine. Then he murmured to himself and started tapping at more buttons one after another. "Now this should just-"

The blue sphere in the ceiling suddenly glowed! It swirled with light, as energy started to blast out of the ends of the pipes on the ceiling. A loud high noise filled the room!

"Ienzo, what has happened?" Ansem demanded loudly, looking wary and shocked.

"Not to worry, Master, I just misjudged the-" Ienzo started quickly, waving a hand as he started tapping at the controls again furiously.

Sparks flew out of the holes in the machine Stitch had made - the console started to beep and flash red!

Ienzo stared down at the small screen on the console, freezing. "What in the...?"

Then, in-between the ring of pipes around the ceiling, tiles of stone slid open, and strange...pointy things with glowing ends popped out! They sparked with electricity - and then they all rotated and shot blue beams down at the machine.

The pod on the left lifted up and tilted itself upright with a whirring noise, the inside through the glass window starting to glow...

It got so bright and white that Xion could barely look at the pod anymore!

Then it all stopped. The noises faded, the lights were turning off - all over the machine, and on the pointy things from the ceiling - and inside the pod...

Even the green pointy lights in the room were dimming too.

The whole room was just dark now.

Cid's voice echoed, cursing, then his flashlight turned on. He looked around the room, then at the machine. "Guess we did blow the thing's last fuse...damn shame..." he mumbled, reaching up to rub at his hair.

"There, you see, Master?" Ienzo spoke nervously, stepping away from the machine and raising his hands. He flashed a wide smile at them. "It's off now!"

Ansem shook his head, looking like he was trying hard not to smile.

Even was just looking at Ienzo with disappointment. He shook his head too, crossing his arms. "Well, I suppose we can't argue with the-"

"Hey - guys...?" Tifa's voice came, quiet and confused. "You should come look at this..."

Xion blinked in the dark as Cid's light swung around the room - to the pod on the left, where Tifa was standing right in front of now.

"What?" Cloud said, stepping forward cautiously, a hand going over his shoulder - to the handle of his big sword.

Tifa stepped out of the way, her hands going to her waist.

Cloud leaned close to the pod, then looked at Tifa. "What the hell?"

"Alright, brutish fighters, please move, so as to allow the actual scientists to..." Even began, stalking forward quickly. But as he strode around to the front of the pod, even he went quiet. His face paled, his jaw dropping. "What...in the world...?"

"What's everyone freaking out about-" Cid said, throwing up his hands and striding over to join them. Then he stopped. "Ah...huh...well that sure ain't right."

"What's going on?!" Xion said, taking a breath and hurrying forward! She was a scientist too - and she couldn't stand not knowing what was going on here either!

Ansem The Wise, Ienzo, Leon and Dilan all came up to crowd behind her.

But Xion didn't notice.

She was just looking through the glass of the pod's door in total confusion and shock.

It didn't make sense.

How? Why?!

Science was failing her! Observations were useless because what she was observing was...impossible!

Inside the pod, there was a small, thin...girl. Sleeping, her eyes closed. She wore a white dress, and she had a necklace around her neck with a small teardrop pendant on it. She had a head of short, red hair. She was...really young? But Xion still knew who she looked like (even without all the old photos around the destroyed house back on the islands, or from Kairi's photo album from her grandmother). The girl in the pod was...

"Kairi?" Xion whispered.

Notes:

Muhahahaha...hahahahahhaha...HAHAHAHAHA!!! xD Okay I'm done now. Sorry. Just - have fuuuun with that! :D :D :P :P ;) ;)

Chapter 58: A Kairi By Any Other Name

Xion stood in front of the door to the spare room in Even's castle suite, holding her hands to her chest.

After getting..."Kairi" out of that machine, that metal box...Even had said she was alive - breathing and everything. But she still didn't wake up when Even had tried to get her to - or when Tifa had tried to, after him.

So Ansem The Wise had said to bring her out of that place, and bring her here instead, until they "uncovered how she came to be." Tifa had carried her all the way up here, and put her in the spare bedroom - on the large bed.

Even had then gone and asked Aerith for help with- this girl, because Aerith was "adept at handling the children of the city - in ways I'm obviously not." He had also said something about her being good with magic, and "sensing things"...

After waiting a long time, the door opened, and Aerith and Even both came walking out. Aerith strode past Xion with a small smile and a wave, continuing down the hallway.

Xion stepped forward, opening her mouth as she looked to Even.

"No, as far as I'm aware, she isn't a Replica," Even spoke before she could, looking at her with a small smile. "The child reads as indistinguishably human, in every possible way. And, no, she hasn't woken up yet...for reasons unknown to me."

"But...I read as human now too, don't I? I'm indistinguishable too? You said I would be. So how can you know?" Xion asked.

Even crossed his arms, nodding at her in surprise. "Well, put simply: I can't - you're right about that, Xion. Short of separating her Heart from her body, and seeing whether or not it reverts to a base form...as even your current Replica body should were that to occur...no, I can't tell. Well, I could, perhaps, but those tests would require certain tools, and would be...unnecessarily traumatizing, no doubt."

Xion stared at him, frowning. Her mind went back to Castle Oblivion, when she'd first met him...as Vexen. When she had first learned what she was... "Please don't do that to her!"

"I assure you, I would not," Even said firmly, looking upset. "I shouldn't have treated you that way, either. I am sorry for that, by the way - deeply sorry, still..."

"Oh. It's OK," Xion said. "I haven't really thought about it in a while..."

"Well - good...good. Ahem. At any rate, whoever or whatever the girl really is, I'm sure a five year old is of no real threat to any of us. So, if this is part of some elaborate scheme by an evil-doer - perhaps that black-coated man you encountered - I'm certain we'll all have nothing to worry about," Even concluded. He paused, then added softly, "And, I'm sure that whatever is going on here...it is no fault of hers. She's likely an unwitting pawn, or tool...even some kind of bait. That is Xehanort's style, after all."

"But if she's not a Replica, could she be a...Nobody? Does she have a Heart?" Xion said, furrowing her eyebrows in thought.

"A very pertinent question; myself and Aerith both could not sense the presence of a Heart within her, no," Even said, looking at her with approval. "Though the woman did sense a consciousness - the girl seems to be either dreaming or remembering things in her sleep." He paused, shaking his head. "Anyway, as I understand it, even at such a young age, Kairi was still a Princess of Heart - which should at least rule out the possibility of time travel, yes?"

"Yes! She's been a Princess since she was a...baby?"

"Then we can indeed safely rule out time travel - thank goodness," Even said in a murmur, looking relieved. "Which does leave us with a Replica, or something similar. Though, even my earliest Replicas had artificial Hearts. It's almost the inverse: a perfect human body, yet no Heart... I would be more inclined to go with the Nobody theory, if she weren't so young...and of course the way in which she even materialized within that pod at all. That's not at all how the process works; there's no consistency with the knowledge we have. It simply doesn't fit. Thus, we must look for alternative explanations."

"Like what?" Xion wondered.

"A random girl who was made to look like Kairi by magical means, for whatever reason? A girl who is perhaps a Nobody - similar to the relation between Roxas and Ventus?" Even elaborated, turning to stride away now, raising a finger. "A girl transported to us via that machine - if it can send people out, it must surely be capable of bringing people here. A world-traversing device like that would be of little utility if it weren't capable of retrieving pods or passengers as well. Though from where the girl was retrieved...and why she would even have Kairi's appearance at all...or why Xehanort would have gone through all these efforts..."

"Can't we just go and ask him?"

Even stopped, turning back to her. He lowered his arm and crossed it over his chest. "Yes, I intend to - Merlin is being informed by the Restoration Committee as we speak. His magical capabilities will be able to transport me to the home of the Keyblade Wielders, where, with any luck...I will get a straight answer out of Xehanort."

"Ok..." Xion looked down. Then up again. "Can I do something to help?" She wanted to do something - even if she still couldn't summon her Keyblade anymore, since that black coated man had taken it (she'd tried a few times now and it didn't work!).

Even considered her. He nodded down at her. "You can. In fact, I think you are the best candidate to wait with the girl, in case she wakes before I return."

"Me? But...what am I supposed to- say to her? I don't know if we're sisters or anything, or-"

"Anything, really. Talk to her, show her your books - feed her snacks," Even said, waving a hand. "The point is to have someone on hand to keep her calm, and occupied. I'm sure you can do that, can't you?"

"...I'll try?"

"Good. And if you can't, go and look for Aerith or Tifa - understood?" Even added.

"Yes!" Xion said quickly.

Even left the suite, leaving Xion alone.

She stood there for a minute, staring at the door to the room with the girl in it...

Xion didn't want to just call her "Kairi" if she was a Replica or something...but she had to call her something? At least...until the girl could give Xion her name, herself?

She breathed in and out again, then walked through the living room and dining room to reach the kitchen. She filled up a glass of water and got a box of cookies, then carefully carried them back through the suite. She pushed open the door slowly and walked inside the large and clean bedroom.

The girl was still sleeping - under the blankets, on the bed. Her hands were on her stomach.

Xion shuffled forward as quiet as she could. She put the water and cookies on the nightstand, then went to get the chair from the study desk. She dragged it over to the bed and sat down in it, staring at the girl closely now.

It was kind of...strange? The old pictures of Kairi didn't really... This girl was just so small and thin. A lot smaller than Xion had actually thought!

She was so small because she was so young in age. Xion knew this was how normal people lived and grew - grew up. They weren't like her, already as big and developed as she was, even if she wasn't even a year old yet. It took normal girls a long time to learn and grow. That was why people had parents: to keep them safe when they were so small and helpless - and not smart. At least, Even had said that once...

Xion sat there watching the girl for a long time, just thinking about all of this more and more. The thought came to her that she would have looked like this if she was really a real girl...but with black hair. She would have been this small, and strange, and maybe Even would have picked her up and carried her like Tifa had carried this girl...? Xion might be human now, but she still wasn't...and had never gotten to be...a real girl. A normal girl. She didn't have a photo album, she didn't have stories like Kairi had with her dad, she had never been a baby. She didn't have biological parents, even if Kairi's dad was her dad now, and Even was also her dad...

She still didn't have a mom. She'd never had a mom...

She wondered what it would be like if she did.

But, if she could get a dad from adoption...then couldn't she also get a mom too?

The thought came to Xion then: why hadn't Kairi gotten a mom...?

Why was it "just" dad?

She knew Kairi's dad had had a wife before - but why didn't he have one now? Why hadn't he given Kairi a mom again?

Was it too late to get a mom now? It wasn't too late for Kairi to adopt Xion as her sister, or dad to adopt her as a daughter! So- so it couldn't be too late to get a mom too!

Xion wanted a mom!

She'd ask Even to get her one - and if he said he couldn't, she'd ask Kairi's dad.

And if he said no too...she'd find one herself! Like Kairi had adopted her as a sister first!

But what kind of mom should she have...? Not one like Kairi's biological mom - she'd been terrible, from what Kairi had said before. So what about...someone like Aerith? Or Tifa! They'd both always been so nice, and they'd let her live with them in Traverse Town before, and she'd met Imra because of Aerith, and...they were perfect moms! Could she just ask them to be her moms? Could she have two moms? She already had two dads...

But maybe that was just too many parents?

She didn't want Even or dad to think she was...greedy, or selfish?

Maybe just one mom, then. Just one really good mom, to-

Suddenly, the girl moved, startling Xion out of her thoughts.

Xion blinked quickly, sitting back in her chair and putting her hands in her lap. She watched- Kairi, open her eyes slowly.

The girl...sat up in the bed, blinking too. She looked all around her. Then she looked at Xion.

"Hi?" Xion said quietly. "I'm Xion. What's your name?"

The girl blinked again, looking down at herself. Her small hand came up to touch her necklace. She closed her fist around it, her mouth opening as she gave a small gasp. Then she raised her head to look at Xion again, quick and sudden. "My name's...Kairi," she said, slowly and quietly. Her face looked confused.

Xion stared at the girl for a moment, then she nodded and tried to smile at her. "Ok - Kairi."

The girl looked around again. "Where am I?"

"Radiant Garden's castle," Xion answered quickly. That should keep the- Kairi calm, right? She'd been here before, lots of times. She'd liked being here...with her- her grandmother. Xion was proud of herself for thinking of that one so fast.

Kairi was staring back at Xion again. She looked confused again, too. Her tiny face frowned. "Did I fall asleep? Do you work at the castle?" Without waiting for Xion to answer her, the girl suddenly kicked off the blankets and jumped up on the bed! She shook her head furiously, then jumped off the bed to land on her feet. She wobbled, catching herself by grabbing Xion's chair.

"Um - I live here...kind of," Xion said, caught off guard by the girl's sudden motions! "I work in the lab sometimes."

"Nice to meet you, Xion - bye!" Kairi said, and then she was hurrying past Xion to the bedroom door!

Xion jumped up and spun around, watching the girl. "Where- where are you going?" she said anxiously.

The girl stood in front of the door, tilting her head back to stare at the doorknob. She reached up on her toes to try to grab it, but she couldn't reach it still.

It really made Xion realize how small she was, again-

Kairi suddenly huffed and jumped up, grabbing the handle and turning it before letting go. She brushed at her hair and pulled the door open!

"Wait - please, I think you have to stay here!" Xion exclaimed, rushing after her.

Well...as long as she stayed in the suite it was probably okay? Right? But if she went wandering around the whole castle, or even the city, and got lost...Even would be really mad at Xion for that!

Xion stepped out into the hallway, just catching the girl's red hair and dress disappear around the corner into the living room. She ran after her and skidded to a stop.

Kairi was standing in the middle of the spacious room, staring all around herself. At all the furniture and the TV and things. Then her head turned and her eyes found the suite's exit door. She ran straight for the door, jumping before she reached it and slamming into it really hard (at least, it looked painful to Xion). But the girl didn't seem to mind it; she pulled the handle as she slid down it, swinging the whole door open as she hung from it! She let herself fall the few inches to the carpet, shaking her head.

"Kairi, please just wait!" Xion called out, starting forward.

The girl froze. She turned and looked at Xion now, her face...upset? "I have to find my grandma!" she said loudly, firmly.

Xion stopped too, looking...down at the girl (it was weird to have to look down at someone instead of up, like she always had to do with Even and other adults, herself). What was she supposed to say to the girl? She wasn't Kairi - the real Kairi - but if she thought she was Kairi...wouldn't it still upset her to tell her...what had happened? Wouldn't it still- make her sad? But she couldn't just let the girl go running off like this! "I...Kairi...I don't think you're- going to find her," she whispered hesitantly, feeling her Heart squeeze inside her chest.

"Of course I'm going to find her; I know how to get home!" the girl replied, giving Xion a look that was so much just- Kairi Kairi that it hurt her to see..even on a tiny face like that. "I can do it on my own if I want to."

"Kairi please-"

"I have to find grandma!" the girl suddenly shouted, her face twisting up. She spun away and ran out the door!

No, no, no, no! Xion ran after the girl, panic in her Heart!

The girl was already half-way down the castle corridor - how was she so fast if she was so small?!

Xion chased after her, calling out to her desperately!

But Kairi ignored her!

"Kairi please, please just stop, please!"

The girl led Xion around the castle, down stairs, around corners - until Xion realized they were near the front entrance! The girl- this Kairi really did know where she was going!

"Kairi, just stop, you can't go outside, you-"

The girl kept ignoring her, running up to the front door and slamming her whole body into it with an oof! The door creaked open - enough for her to slip out through it!

Xion threw herself against the door and pushed it open further, stumbling out into the sun!

As she and the girl emerged from the castle, the former Organization member and guard, Aeleus, turned quickly with a gasp of surprise and confusion. He tensed and closed his fists- then he froze.

The girl was standing there, staring up at him too. Her face was as surprised as his. Then she breathed with relief and threw herself at him, seizing onto his arm. "Aeleus, you have to help me!" she exclaimed.

Aeleus stared at her for a moment more, then he relaxed and shook his head. "Help you with what, child?" he said, clearing his throat.

"It's my grandma!" Kairi cried. "I have to find her!"

"Your..." Aeleus paled, his mouth opening. Then he clenched his teeth. "Come with me, girl. Let's get you back inside-"

"No! Didn't you hear me?! I have to find her!" Kairi yelled, letting go of him and stepping backwards. "I- I think- something bad happened to her...I think she's- hurt..."

"Then you should wait inside the castle where it's safe," Aeleus said firmly. "I'll- find out what happened..." He glanced away, swallowing.

Kairi stopped, her fists shaking at her sides. She brought them up to her chest, turning to stare at the castle suddenly. She looked all- confused again now. She backed up further and further, blinking and looking up at the whole castle now. She looked around her quickly, left and right. "W-what...happened to the castle...?"

Aeleus stepped forward and grabbed her arm, starting toward the front door now. "N-nothing to worry yourself over. Just get inside - relax, and-"

"What happened, Aeleus?" Kairi demanded, digging her feet into the ground and trying to resist him. But she couldn't at all. "What's going ON? Where's grandma, why is the castle all broken? Where's-"

"It was just- an accident - everything's fine now," Aeleus gritted out, dragging her through the doorway now. "Please, calm yourself - Kairi-"

"NO!" Kairi shouted out, using her free hand to punch and hit at Aeleus. He didn't look like he felt it at all though. Kairi's face was red and her lips were shaking, and her breathing was fast and loud now. Her eyes were going everywhere. "Let go, let me go, now! I have to find grandma, she's hurt, I have to find her! LET. GOOOO-!"

Kairi's necklace suddenly flashed with a bright blue light, blinding Xion and making Aeleus gasp!

As Xion blinked away at the sudden light, she saw...

She didn't see anything!

Kairi was gone?!

But-

"Where did the girl go?" Aeleus said aloud, aghast.

Xion squeezed her eyes shut, hugging herself now.

Even was definitely going to be really mad at her for this one!

Notes:

This chapter: When your dad leaves you to watch your younger sibling LOL. xD

Where did she go?! Any bets? :D I know of course...and it's hilarious as hecks. Also cute!

Chapter 59: My Tiny Best Friend

Notes:

Don't mind me, just getting in a bit more fluff and cuteness before shit hits the fan lol. xD We are gonna need it - and be grateful for it later...

Sora stared out the window of the airship in awe and wonder, grinning widely.

They'd done a lot of researching, and Ven had prooobably found a real lead on this Ultima Weapon - so that was where they were headed.

That Onterosa woman had wanted them to just use some teleporter thingy to get there, but after getting a look at the giant metal ships flying over the city, Sora had said no way - there was no way he was going to miss out on this experience! It wasn't like that Darkness was around here for sure or anything yet - or that she'd gotten some kind of lead ahead of them, either - so what was the harm in taking the scenic route? This was Aqua's home world, after all, too - Sora wanted to see all of it! The place where his Master had come from! Former Master, anyways...but still! And besides, the trip was still only going to take an hour or two.

Onterosa had told them she'd meet them there, then - that her mages and soldiers would go on ahead to "try to secure the area". Which suited Sora just fine.

Exceeeept...welllll...

After about half an hour Sora kinda got bored of looking at the scenery.

He crossed his arms, tapping his fingers. Then he sighed and turned from the window, walking back through the length of the ship's viewing lounge area. He went into the narrow metal hallways and found the room he'd gotten with Ven (Terra had his own). He twisted the metal handle and opened it up with a creak, stepping into the passengers quarters.

"Hey, Ven!"

Ven sat up on his small bed quickly, looking to Sora and giving a smile. "Uh - hey, Sora..."

Sora stopped, frowning at the older boy. "Everything...okay?"

Ven shook his head with a sigh. "Just - thinkin' about Aqua."

"It's a lot to take in, huh?" Sora said, going to sit down on his own little bed. "Who would have thought Aqua was an actual princess- I guess, queen now?"

Ven laughed softly, nodding. He lay back on his bed again, putting his hands behind his head. "Yeah...but, who would've thought I came from where I did, either, right? When I come from..." he said softly. "I can't really be all too mad at her, can I?"

"Hmmm..." Sora hummed, thinking. Then he shrugged. "I guess it's not really for me to say? She is my Master, and a friend, but...you've known her way longer than I have."

Ven paused, turning to look over at him. "...Thanks, that's helpful, Sora..." he said, in a sort of whining tone.

Sora grinned. "Sorry? I dunno what to really say? I mean - she's still Aqua, right? Like you're still you, no matter what. Or like...like Kairi's still the best friend I grew up with, Princess of Heart from another world or not-"

A blue light suddenly shined in the small room, blinding Sora and Ven!

Sora startled and covered his eyes with an arm, squinting around in the small space; Ven sat up fast, shocked and on his guard.

As Sora let his arm fall, blinking as the light faded with swirling blue energy...he couldn't believe his eyes! It was impossible, but it was- "K-Kairi...?" he said uncertainly.

It was Kairi - but the Kairi as he remembered her from when they'd first met. When she'd been...really little, and first shown up on the beach out of nowhere, the night of that meteor shower (well, he knew better now what it had been!). A lost, scared kid, who'd needed a home, and friends. She looked exactly the same as in those memories - the one standing right in front of him!

She was blinking around herself, holding her hands over her chest - her necklace, which was glowing, blinking and sputtering...before it went back to normal. Her eyes found Sora, then Ven, then...back to Sora.

Sora kind of just stared back at her, still just so shocked and- totally confused.

Kairi blinked at him, her face slowly changing. Her eyes widened, shimmering blue, and her mouth fell open with a high, small gasp.

"Uhhh...Kairi...?" Sora finally spoke again. "How'd you get so small...?! Wait, and how'd you get back from the Sleeping Realm? Where's Luxu?"

Kairi blinked at him rapidly, then shook her head fiercely. Then she shrugged. She tilted her head at him, then rushed forward and- hugged his legs?

Sora froze, staring down at her. He gave Ven a helpless grin and a shrug of his own. He reached out and patted Kairi on the head. She definitely felt real. But what even was this...?

"Ven, ummm, I think you should go get Terra, and-" Sora stopped. He shook his head. "Actually, just go tell Terra what's going on, annnd then you can come back here and make a portal to- Aqua?" he amended quickly, realizing it probably wouldn't be the best idea to let a Kairi who looked like this come face to face with Terra...

"Got it!" Ven nodded, jumping up and leaving the room quickly.

With Ven gone, Sora focused on Kairi again. He frowned a little, pulling his hand back. "Soooo...you don't know how you got this way - or here? Anything...?"

Kairi looked up at him, shrugging again. She let his legs go and climbed up onto the bed with him, turning to sit next to him. She sighed, then leaned against him and grabbed his arm now.

Sora raised a hand to his forehead, shrugging again too. "Okay...I guess we'll figure it all out later..." he murmured to himself.

It was completely weird, but Sora was still happy to just sit there with Kairi for a while; even if she was like this now, it was still Kairi.

But, wait...how could she have that necklace again now? Hadn't she given it away to her-

The door opened again, and Ven came striding in. Sora noticed the way Kairi startled - and hugged him even tighter than before.

"Okay, Terra says it's probably a good idea to take her to Aqua - she's good with magic and all that stuff, so she might be able to figure out what's goin' on here," Ven announced. He summoned his Keyblade and turned, creating a swirling light portal in the room that almost left no space for anyone to walk!

"Uh - right!" Sora got to his feet, then turned to look at Kairi. "Ummm...come on, Kairi - let's go see Aqua. Maybe she can put you back to normal-"

"Aqua?! You know Aqua!" Kairi exclaimed, suddenly jumping down to the floor.

Sora...stared down at her (it was still weird). "Uhhhh...yeah? Kairi, do you not- remember Aqua?"

"Of course I remember her!" Kairi said, staring up at him with a- way too familiar expression. Usually the one she gave him when he was being a "doofus" or some other word she liked to use with affection. "She's the lady who saved me!"

"Right..." Sora said slowly, feeling more confused than ever. "Let's go see her, then. She can probably help you again, now, okay?"

"Sure!'

"Uh - okay - then...just..." Sora awkwardly offered her his hand. She grabbed it immediately and stepped closer to him, flashing a wide smile now up at him. "Okay, here we go - through the portal. I'm guessing you don't remember light portals either, do you?"

Kairi immediately shook her head, turning to eye the portal warily.

"Alright - thought so," Sora muttered, nodding. "They don't hurt or anything, don't worry. You just walk through it - nothing to it! Okay?"

"'Kay!" Kairi agreed.

"Okay, how about we do this on three- hey!"

Kairi took off for the portal, dragging Sora forward! He got his feet moving and straightened up again, giving a small laugh; it was definitely Kairi, all right!

They passed through the portal, running through and coming out on the other side in the middle of Aqua's...castle (that was also still sort of weird to think about, honestly). Ven emerged right behind them, letting his Keyblade vanish - and the portal itself, too.

"Alright, why don't you let me take the lead now, huh, Kairi?" Sora said, turning and grinning down at her. "Unless you know where to find Aqua on your own in this whole, big castle?"

Kairi looked up at him, frowning. Then she nodded. "Okay - but you have to carry me!" she said quickly.

"Carry you...? Why?" Sora said, baffled.

"Because I want you to, silly!"

Sora sighed, then he grinned. "Okay," he said, kneeling down in front of her. "I guess you are pretty small now, aren't you? It'd take you forever to get anywhere."

Kairi huffed at him in response, then she hurried forward and threw her arms around his neck. Sora wobbled as he stood up again, wrapping his arms around her awkwardly. She gasped and clung to him with her legs now, too.

"Hey, I'm not going to drop you," Sora told her, reassuring. "I've- got you, Kairi. Okay?"

Kairi put her head against his chest and shook it, making a strange little high noise. "...Just in case," her voice came, in a high whisper.

"In case...what...?"

Kairi didn't answer, though.

Sora shrugged, shared a look with Ven, and started walking.

He made his way down the corridor, opening door after door, until-

"Sora? Ven? What are you doing back so..." Aqua came racing forward across the large bedroom, slowing as she reached them. She frowned, her eyes finding Kairi. She looked to Sora - then Ven. Her lips pressed thin, an exasperated noise escaping her still. "Okay, this is bordering on the grossly irresponsible at this point! How did this even happen? I'm going to have to go and have serious words with that Even man!"

"Huh? Wait, you think she's some kind of-" Sora started. Kairi suddenly broke out of his grasp, falling to the floor with a thump.

Kairi turned and looked at Aqua, her face lighting up. She ran at her and hugged her immediately. "It is you!" she cried. "Aqua..."

Aqua gasped, staring down at Kairi. She lowered herself to a knee, pushing her back and looking her in the eye. "You remember me?" she spoke, slowly and carefully.

"Why wouldn't I remember you? You did save me last year!" Kairi replied.

Aqua stared at her face for a moment. She smiled, nodding. "I did. I...Kairi, do you remember how you ended up here, exactly?"

Kairi gazed back at Aqua, frowning now. "I- something happened to my grandma, and then I was running, and I- I woke up in the castle with this girl, and I found Aeleus, and then there was a big flash of light and I was here! With them." She turned back to point at Sora and Ven.

"I see..." Aqua said quietly.

"Something's wrong with the castle; it was all broken..." Kairi said, in a hushed voice. "I don't want to go back there."

"Okay. Then...I want you to wait here for a minute, please. I need to talk to these two." Aqua stood up, taking Kairi's hand and guiding her over to a chair in front of a table with a mirror. "Just sit here. I'll come back."

Kairi got up on the chair, then turned to look at Aqua. She hesitated, then nodded. "Okay..."

"Thank you!" Aqua smiled at her and turned away. She strode out the door, gesturing at Sora and Ven. They followed her out quickly.

Aqua strode away down the hall a few feet before stopping and wheeling back around. "Okay, Sora-" Aqua started. She froze, as her long tail swung out and struck against the wall - and stayed there, the blade on the end of her tail embedding itself into the stone.

Sora stared. Ven stared.

Aqua flushed, turning away swiftly and reaching out with her hands to grab her own tail. She gritted her teeth and pulled it free with a yelp, stumbling in her heeled shoes and dress. She let out a breath, quickly brushing herself down before turning back to them like nothing had happened. "Ahem - Sora, what did you think some five year old Kairi could possibly be other than some kind of Replica?"

"I mean...I just thought she might've been our Kairi, but- turned into a kid again...or something," Sora said slowly.

"Except she only seems to have memories up to her current age - or, apparent age," Aqua countered. "How would you explain that part?"

"Someone erased her memories somehow?"

Aqua sighed, shaking her head. "No: obviously that can't be our Kairi. She said she came from Radiant Garden's castle...and came here in a flash of light..." She trailed off, her expression deeply thoughtful. "And she appeared to you, before you two brought her here to me?"

"Yeah," Sora answered. "Why?"

"Well, that's what my protection spell did for her the first time - our Kairi, that is," Aqua said. "If Replicas can copy our magical abilities, and even our Keyblades and their powers, I have to wonder if they could have copied the spell I put on Kairi's necklace, too."

"Maybe," Ven spoke up quietly. "Or she could be a time traveler - like me and my- old friends. Or...Young Xehanort..." he finished, even quieter, looking away from Aqua. "It'd fit with only havin' memories up to that point, and then ending up here - in our time."

"Maybe - but I don't see why anyone would see any use in bringing a five year old Kairi to this era of time," Aqua responded. "What could she possibly do for anyone that our actual Kairi couldn't also do?"

"Well, hey, Replica or time traveler or not - she's still just a kid, right?" Sora said. "So she needs someone to look after her here!"

"Are you volunteering? No offense, Sora, but-" Aqua started.

"Huh? No - I'm not a great babysitter - I was talking about you," Sora said with a laugh. "Ven and I need to get back to Terra, to check on this Ultima Weapon thing, soooo...it's not like we can take her with us into danger."

"Of course not," Aqua said firmly. "You two go - I'll take care of this...girl. When you come back, we can take her back to Radiant Garden together. She mentioned a girl was there when she woke up, and Aeleus, so they probably are fully aware she's missing right now. But, if she doesn't want to go back there...so much so that she triggered my protection spell, and found her way to you...it's probably best to just keep her here for a little while."

"Sounds like a plan," Ven said, grinning. "C'mon, Sora."

"Right!" Sora nodded.

Aqua stood watching as Ven summoned his weapon and opened up a portal in the hallway. Just as they were about to go through, her voice called out: "Ven!"

Ven stopped, turning back. "What?"

Aqua took a deep breath, looking down at her feet. "Be safe out there. And- and could you tell Terra for me..."

"Tell him what...?"

"Tell him I'm- sorry- for what I said earlier? I just..." Aqua stopped, letting a sigh out again.

Ven gazed at her, giving a small smile. "Of course I'll tell him. But...it'd probably be better if you told him yourself. If you just came with us, you could do that," he added - offered to her.

"I- I know, it's just-" Aqua stammered, then fell silent. She raised a hand to her face and turned away. "I have so many things to do now - to take care of. Izalla, this new Kairi now...a whole kingdom..."

"Maybe when we get back, then," Ven said lightly.

"Yes! I- yes. I will," Aqua said quickly, glancing up at him now, her cheeks flushed.

"Hehe, let's do it, then!" Sora said, turning and raising a fist to Ven. Ven laughed, grinned, and returned the fist-bump. "We'll be back before you know it, Aqua - uh, Master...Queen?"

"Just Aqua, please," the woman insisted, embarrassed.

"Got it!" Sora said, waving and racing into the portal. "Take care of Kairi for me!"

Chapter 60: Dreams of Condemnation

Notes:

Okay...So it begins. Hold onto your butts. xD Say hi to solid chapter 60.

Kairi and Luxu emerged out of the Dive, into a new Sleeping World.

The last Sleeping World - the seventh one Kairi needed to unlock the Keyhole of, and free it from sleep...and get herself this Power of Waking. The power she needed to track down Ephemer, finally!

She landed on the ground, staring around her critically. There wasn't much to see: it was a field of rolling hills and tall grass, with distant mountains in the background, under a moonlit sky and a sea of stars. Except, in the distance, on a far, high hill, she thought she saw a...warmer, orange light? Like - a house...?

Kairi felt the thrum of her Heart - the pull - the instinct. The things she'd learned to listen to, on all these adventures now. In all these strange and mysterious situations. So she listened to it, and raised an arm to point, turning to Luxu. "I think we should go check that out, first."

Luxu looked where she was pointing. He nodded, shrugged. "Sure - why not? It's the only interesting thing about this place so far."

"Let's hope this one's easier than the one where we found Comet and Spectra," Kairi said, more to herself now, dropping her arm to her side. "If we can just get in, wipe out the Nightmares, and get out again, that'd be great..."

"Having trouble keeping up the optimism?" Luxu remarked. "I thought that stuff was eternal?"

"Only when I'm around you," Kairi replied, sticking out her tongue at the man.

"Ow - that one might have actually hurt me a little," the man said, holding a hand to his chest and flashing a grin.

Kairi eyed him. "Sorry."

"Hey, I was kidding - relax, p- Kairi," Luxu said quickly, dropping his hand and giving it an airy wave.

"Are you sure?"

Luxu frowned at her now, cocking his head. "Look, that's sweet of you or whatever, but I'm a tough dude. I'm gonna regret going and getting all emotional with you earlier - having that heartfelt moment - if you're going to start thinking I'm actually sensitive..."

"I think you are more sensitive than you let on - but it's not really about that," Kairi replied, putting hands behind her back.

"Yeah? Then what's it about?"

"I just want to make sure we're okay - that I'm staying in the fine line between teasing and...well, actually giving you a hard time still," Kairi stated quietly. She flipped her hair out of her eyes and looked at the man squarely now. "I'm really sorry for that, you know. I shouldn't have been going so hard at you these past few weeks. I just...haven't been able to stop being so wary of you. But...it's different now. I don't think you're someone I need to be wary of - are you?"

"Well, personally, I'd say keep being wary - that's healthy in a girl your age - because only idiots blindly trust, and..." Luxu trailed off at the look on her face. He shook his head and threw up his hands. "But, whatever, not going to look a gift horse, am I? Not that I need a teenage girl's trust or approval - but it might make things a little less mentally trying, yeah. One less person giving me constant side-eyes, and tossing shade. So: sure? I accept the apology, and you can chill out with the whole trying-to-burn-a-hole-through-me-with-your-eyes thing from here on out."

Kairi smiled at him in relief, and warmth. "Then we're okay?"

"Yeah...yeah, we're okay. Can we get going?" the man said, shaking his head at her.

"Yes."

Kairi turned, strode off, and burst into flight, soaring across the grassy fields and hills - toward the tall, high one in the distance, atop which sat what was definitely a house, she saw now. She zoomed over to it, rapidly approaching. She slowed and touched down right at the top of the hill - right in front of the steps to the front door.

It really was just a house - a small, one-story little cabin of a home. Made of wood and stone. A single, clean glass window next to the front door, allowing a look into the interior. Kairi saw a cozy little sofa, a rug before a fireplace and mantle...an old, large piano up against a wall...

Luxu appeared beside her in a flicker of air, startling her.

"Sorry," he said instantly, offering a small smile of apology.

Kairi just shrugged, flashing a smile of her own and striding up to the front door of the cabin. She grasped the metal, curved handle, and turned it, pushing the door wide open. Stepping through, she was hit with an immediate warmth. A warmth, a pleasant smell, and a sense of just...coziness. Homeliness. Luxu stepped in after her, immediately going off across the living room to explore the small kitchen. Kairi walked further in, herself, and went over to the fireplace.

There were pictures on the mantle. Pictures of what looked like a family: there were two women in the photos - maybe mid thirties - one with long, electric blue hair, and one with dark green. One pale skinned, the other, with a bit of a tan. In the most prominent of pictures, they were sitting on the same sofa to Kairi's right. And, sitting between them on the sofa, was a girl. A girl in a green dress, who shared the dark, shiny blue hair and pale skin of one of her mothers (she looked like a mini-clone of the woman, honestly). She looked about Kairi's own age, maybe a little older? But, the most striking thing about the girl was the fact that she had two differently colored eyes - one of dark blue, and the other a dark green...

"You find anything interesting?" Luxu's voice came, as his footsteps thudded softly on the wooden floor (the well polished, clean wooden floor, Kairi noted now).

Kairi carefully picked up the picture by its frame and held it out to Luxu. The man took it, staring down at it with furrowed eyebrows.

His expression changed, his face paling, his lips parting slightly...

"What is it?" Kairi asked.

Luxu shook his head, setting the photo back on the mantle and turning away. "Nothing."

"Clearly it's not," Kairi refuted.

"Just forget it."

"Hey - if you really want me to trust you more, you should open up a little here," Kairi insisted, firm but quiet. "Tell me what went through your head just now."

Luxu took in a deep breath, then let it go again. He reached up and ran a hand over his dark hair. Then he turned and looked back at her. For a long time, he was silent. Then, he spoke, in a murmuring voice. "Just sort of reminded me of my own parents, for a moment there. Like I said - it was nothing."

Well, that was really the last thing Kairi could have expected to hear for an answer - an explanation of his reaction. But it did make sense now... "Oh. Sorry I asked, then. We really can just forget it."

Luxu drew another breath. He brought a hand up to his face, rubbing at his jaw. He shook his head and shrugged, then went and sat down on the sofa. He fell into it, more like, sitting back and sprawling his limbs.

Kairi stared at him, then slowly went to sit down next to him, her knees together, her hands in her lap.

"Go ahead and just ask..." Luxu's voice came to her, as he gave her a side-eye. "I can see how badly you're just struggling to contain yourself here. So ask."

"I won't ask," Kairi replied softly. "Just...tell me anything you're comfortable with, okay?"

"Hah...way to put it right back on me..."

"Sorry..."

"Whatever. It's no big deal. They're millions of years and some change, loooong dead and gone," Luxu said. He swung himself up to sit properly, drawing his arms and legs in. He leaned forward, setting his hands on his knees. Gazing out at the fireplace, now, intently. "I didn't even really remember them, myself, until Namine went in there and showed them to me. I was never sure if what I even still had in my head were real memories, or just made up dreams to convince myself I actually had a past..."

Kairi turned, watching the man silently.

Luxu continued to look into the fireplace, shifting his hands around and clasping them together. "Their names were Taira and Suko - my moms. We lived in this cozy little village together...happy little family and all that. Till the Darknesses showed up. They destroyed the place, killed and consumed everyone in it. My moms...in front of me. They told me to run, to get away. And like the little coward I am, I listened to them. I ran, and ran, and...then the Master of Masters found me - and the rest is history. Literally."

"Well, they don't have to be forgotten anymore. Namine knows their names - and now I do, too," Kairi said softly.

Luxu gave a ghost of a laugh, his lips quirking into a half-smirk. "Yeah. Sure...thanks, princess. Kairi - sorry."

Kairi watched the man's face, hesitating, before speaking again. "Hey..."

"What?"

"What was done for Ven and his friends, and your friends, and Xehanort and his...and his mother...could you do the same for yours?"

Luxu turned slowly to look at her. His hands squeezed together in his lap. "Probably...but I'm not going to go twisting time into a pretzel, abusing the ever-loving shit out of it, just for me. Besides, I'm a little too old to need my mommies here again, aren't I? No, they're...they've been dead, and gone, and- I've long-since accepted the loss. Grieved, come to terms, and moved on. I don't need to go dragging it up again, dragging them millions of years across time, just to satisfy some...emotional catharsis or- whatever. So much shit there'd be to even explain to them - where would I even start? - and then there's me. The kind of guy I am, the shit I've done. Watched. Lived through. You think they'd have a good time of it? Xehanort's mother was damn near rocking herself in a corner when we first brought her here - imagine what my moms would go through? How they'd feel about it all? Could they even understand it, come to grips with it? And how the hell would I even be able to relate to them, or them, to me? I already see it with Xehanort, and his mother...the problems there...I don't need that for me and mine. I'm good."

"Okay," Kairi said, after a long minute, nodding.

Luxu looked at her in surprise. Then he gave a small smile. "Yeah, well...thanks for bringing it up. I appreciate the concern or whatever. You're a good kid. You really are."

"Thanks. I do try to be," Kairi replied, with a small grin in return.

"Welp..." Luxu said, getting to his feet. "think that's it for me - therapy session over. Let's get back to it, why don't we? I'm feeling much better now."

"Alright," Kairi agreed, getting up too.

She strode into the kitchen, then rounded the corner into a small hallway. There was a back door to the cabin - and a split in the hall that went off to the left. Kairi chose to take that left path, walking into a dark, narrow space. She found an open door on her right, which revealed a small, tidy bedroom. She checked the door on her left - and found another room. A girl's room, for sure; there were dresses and other outfits strewn about the room, over the bed. At a makeup table, there were a dozen bottles of nail polish, blush, eyeliner, etc...

"Messy kid," Luxu remarked, peering inside, over Kairi's head.

Kairi laughed, shaking her head and elbowing her way back out past the man. She continued down the hall - and stopped in front of a door at the end of it.

It was a thick, metal door. A thick metal door with a metal bar across it, and several different kinds of padlocks, and heavy chains.

"Well that's ominous," said Luxu.

"Thanks, captain obvious," Kairi said, rolling her eyes. "Can you get us through here without blowing up the house?"

Luxu laughed, setting his hands on his hips. "Yep - as easy as breathing. Here: watch." He stepped forward, raising an arm absently. His hand glowed with purple energy - the air warbled around the door, and a purple aura surrounded it - and then it suddenly began contorting and folding in on itself, like a crumpled up piece of paper! The door shrieked and sparked as it crushed itself down into a sphere the size of a baseball - then the purple energy faded, and it dropped to the floor with a heavy thunk.

Luxu lowered his hand, turning to Kairi and giving it a flourish. "After you?"

Kairi smiled, nodding and striding forward, through the doorway - and into a dark stairwell of stone. She raised a hand of golden light, lighting it up as she stepped down it. It was steep, long, and narrow; it led deep beneath the ground. But to where? Kairi continued on, until she finally reached the bottom, and got her answer.

The last steps brought her into a small, dirty, stone room - with another door on the other side of it.

Another heavy, metal, locked-up-tight door.

She turned to Luxu and pointed.

He gave a grin, stepping up and repeating the same feat as before with no effort whatsoever.

With the new door gone, Kairi peered into...more darkness.

Luxu raised a hand again, and sent out a large ball of light into the dark - arcing up high toward the unseen ceiling. It lit up the room for them as it glowed brighter and brighter, revealing...

A girl?

A girl on the far side of this new, dirty, old, stone room. A girl, herself, in heavy chains. Chains and actual manacles. Her wrists, her ankles - and her neck. A short little chain, keeping her to the wall!

But it wasn't just any girl.

Kairi recognized her as the girl from the photos upstairs!

The girl was wearing a tattered, dirty orange and red dress, of ruffles and lace, and she herself was dirtied and worn - injured - but it was her.

The long, messy tresses of dark blue hung down her shoulders - and those strange eyes of different colors squinted out at Kairi under the bright light.

In the light, Kairi saw a silver chain necklace around the girl's neck - where a large, diamond-shaped, ruby gemstone glistened, reflecting the light.

Kairi started forward-

Only to be stopped as Luxu seized her arm tightly, yanking her back.

Kairi stumbled, whirling. Glaring. "Let go-"

"Don't tell me you're just going to walk over there and free the girl," Luxu said lowly.

"WHAT? Why wouldn't I?" Kairi bit out.

"You saw the doors," Luxu responded. "You don't lock someone up this damn tight unless there's a reason for it."

"They do if her parents were abusive psychos!" Kairi retorted fiercely. "People do terrible things like that for no reason, every day - you'd think someone who lived so long, saw so much would know that from history! Now let go, or I'll make you! What are you even afraid of? I thought you were all powerful and old? Are you that scared of a locked up, hurt teenage girl?"

Luxu twisted his lips - then he let her go and stepped away. "Fine - good points. Just be smart. Keep your head on straight here, okay? I don't want to see you get hurt. That's all."

Kairi kept glaring at him, meeting his gaze. She spun away and strode into the room without a word more. She walked up to the girl, stopping in front of her and dropping to her knees. Just a few feet away. "Hey," she said softly. "I'm Kairi - what's your name?"

The girl blinked at Kairi, turning her head left and right against the chain - rolling her neck strangely. She raised shaking, thin arms...then let them fall with a heavy jangling of chains.

"Right - let's get you out of those first," Kairi whispered, crawling forward and raising a hand of ice magic. She carefully grasped the girl's wrist - finding it so bony and frail - and pressed her hand to the binds. Her ice magic spread across it, enveloping it in blue magical ice crystals. She focused her mind and power, and then, with a burst of golden light, the binds fell apart in a scatter of icy metal fragments on the floor. Kairi repeated the process for the other arm, then moved down to do the same for both of the girl's ankles. Then, Kairi scooted forward and reached out to gently touch the one around the girl's neck.

The girl stared at her, into her eyes, face to face. Her eyes jittered in their sockets, her lips letting out a quivering breath - she was clearly terrified.

"It's okay," Kairi whispered out. "Last one."

She exerted her power once more, and pulled with hands of golden light, breaking the binds apart. She fell back onto her rear, catching herself with her hands.

The girl fell straight forward after her - falling right onto her.

Kairi reaffirmed her position and brought up one arm quickly, enveloping the girl - holding her to her body. She stared down at the girl's messy blue hair in surprise. In sympathy and in worry. Then she turned her head and did her best to look back at Luxu, who had come into the room as well at some point. "Heal her," she said, meeting his gaze. "Help her."

Luxu's gaze flickered to the broken pieces of ice and metal, the chains still hanging from the wall...then he nodded and strode forward, raising a hand of swirling green magicks.

The girl stirred in Kairi's arms, a high gasp emerging from her. She turned her body around and raised her head a few inches...a bruised, dirty green eye alone squinting at Kairi's face from behind a messy of dirty hair strands.

Kairi smiled down at the girl, shifting her grasp on her - and her awkward place on the floor. "Hey. You're okay now - alright? You're free. You're safe. Could you tell me your name now, do you think?"

The girl's eye slowly closed, quivering. Stained tears escaped the edges, falling down her cheek. Kairi felt the girl starting to tremble against her - as the girl shook her head.

"Okay..." Kairi said. "We can get to that later."

"Kairi..." Luxu's voice came, surprisingly soft. Gentle, even.

Kairi looked up at the man.

"I know you said not to bring it up - but you know this is pointless. This isn't real. She's not...real," Luxu went on, slow and hesitant. "As soon as we unlock the Keyhole-"

"The world wakes up, I know," Kairi cut across, quiet. "But the world's Heart dreams of what it last experienced before it fell to darkness, right? Then that means...when this world does wake up - after - there is going to be a real girl out there suffering like this."

"Yeah...smart girl...but - that still doesn't mean-"

"I know," Kairi repeated. "But I told you: real or not, if it feels real, if they act real...then what even is real anyways?! Who gets to even decide what 'real' is or not? A real world, or a real PERSON? And how can I act any differently than I would out there, in the 'real world?' How could I live with myself if I just threw up my hands and went, 'Okay, well, it's all just a dream, so I'm going to go kick puppies into shark-infested waters, and taunt orphans for losing their parents?'" It's not a game! And it's not a test. Or an excuse. I wouldn't treat it as one, anyways. Maybe you would...but I'm going to be who I am, no matter where I am. And that means helping this girl too, the version of her that is right in front of me - the one I'm holding in my own arms as we speak!"

Luxu stared at her, his eyes widening. His mouth opening. Then he closed it, turning away - looking away.

Silent.

Chapter 61: Lucidity of Absolution

"Alright - Cognis: if you were an ancient Darkness looking for some old Keyblade, where would you be?"

Riku stood on the dark outskirts of the city, leaned against an old wooden fence along a dirt path. The sounds of insects chirped around him in the night. The bright stars in the sky shined, even against his senses, without even trying.

"How can I possibly answer that?" Cognis replied. "We're individuals, the same as anyone else; I can't predict the actions of another of my kind any more than you can-"

"Can you just guess?"

Cognis sighed. "...Fine. A library - or a museum. Or perhaps that castle in the middle of the city. Anywhere there'd be secret, ancient knowledge that might reference this...Ultima Weapon," Cognis sighed. "I'd say the castle would be our best bet - people in power do like to hoard knowledge to themselves, historically."

"You want us to break into a huge castle...after what we were just involved in on this world?"

"You did say you wanted to clear up the misunderstanding. It was an unfortunate accident. Who better to plead your case to than the highest power in the lands?"

"Breaking into a castle isn't going to convince anyone we're not the bad guys!"

"Yes...that's true. I wouldn't want to go around causing any more undue alarm. We could go to the entrance, then, and wait for their ruler to come to us. Then we could talk...smooth things over. Obviously you're not a redheaded teenage girl. And it was self defense. And...I did spare one life. We'll have a witness to our actions."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. I'm trying to give you a way to fix the- problem I made for you on this world. To make it right."

"...Sure. Why not? If we just try and go to some library or museum, we'll probably be attacked again anyways... It doesn't matter where I go. So why not go to the place where I might be able to...clear this all up?" And admit to my guilt.

"I heard that last part."

"I know you heard it."

"Hmph. Well, if we're going to do this, I think I'm going to need a form that's a little more...palatable to the average person."

"You want me to give you a body again?"

"No - I believe I can reshape my own appearance, to an extent, thank you," Cognis murmured. "This formless darkness can already be molded into a humanoid shape, or a cloud of darkness, or, maybe even other shapes. And from your memories I do know that the Ancient Darkness, now called Vanitas, once took on the appearance of Keyblade Master Ava in order to trick Ventus. If that's possible, then..."

Cognis went quiet, for a long moment or two. Then, suddenly, her dark form rippled. The aura diminished, the solid black human-shaped core twisted and warped, to Riku's senses...and then some- layer of energy or light seemed to wash down over her, from head to toe. After it was finished, it- stayed there like that, glimmering in the dark. Riku couldn't detect her aura of dark flames, and he couldn't even "see" her dark shaped form anymore. What he "saw" now from her was that...new layer, which gave a detailed- appearance. It was still darkness, but it was like...like darkness shaped by magic, or aided by it?

Either way, whatever Riku was "looking" at...he "saw" long hair swaying behind her now, he saw a defined face, he saw glowing orbs of light that were "eyes", and he saw...what looked like a glowing, flowing...dress?

"What did you...do to yourself?" Riku gasped, trying to make sense of it all.

"It looks like you were right, of course: I can use other forms of Dark-based magic," Cognis replied. "An aspect of darkness is the power to create illusions, to a limited extent and degree - I've simply cast one over myself to mask my true form. Or, at least, the true form I even show to the rest of the world...as even that is, itself, just a way of presenting myself to others in a way they can understand."

"Uh...right. So - what do you look like now, exactly?"

"Hm." Cognis's voice hummed, sounding happy and amused. "I've taken on the visage of that physical form you gave me so briefly before, back in Land of Departure - it wasn't a bad look for me."

"Okay. Great. Let's get to this castle, then, and...do this before I actually change my mind, and realize how stupid and crazy your plan really is."

Cognis turned and raised a slender, defined arm - and a dark portal appeared.

Riku hesitated a moment, then walked through it.

He stepped out the other side into a wide open space, he could tell that much by himself - from the echoing footsteps, the sounds of water around him...multiple, distant fountains?

"This is the castle's forecourt," Cognis informed. "The front doors to the palace are ahead."

Riku breathed, extending his senses...

The castle, he found now, was full of magic. There were- hot spots, throughout it, and little clusters and groups of...things, and...the walls themselves almost had a faint glow to them, letting him perceive them solidly on his own. And the magic in the air, the flowing energies around him, filling the space between him and the castle...it told him how far he was from it, after a fashion. They met, those magicks, melding and colliding into each other...

He thought he had a pretty good idea of his surroundings now. But, just to be sure, he asked Cognis to do her thing, and keep an eye out for obstacles.

Striding forward slowly and carefully, he made his way to what Cognis said was the middle of the courtyard - and a place with no obstacles in any direction for a good two dozen feet or so.

"Alright, we're here. Now what?" Riku muttered.

"We need to get their attention, that's what."

"Cognis-"

"I'm not going to hurt anyone - you can do it yourself, if you'd like," she spoke quickly, reassuring.

"Do what?" Riku questioned.

Cognis made a little noise of...amusement, that was- probably almost...cute?

---

Aqua strode through the halls of her palace - wandering aimlessly, honestly. Her wanderings saw her to the entrance hall of her castle, her steps echoing.

It was probably something of a holdover from her time in the Realm of Darkness; better to just walk, and walk, and keep walking, than to just sit and wait...and worry.

Doing something was always better than doing nothing - it had been essential, in that place...

She felt a little guilty about leaving that new, little...version of Kairi with Natsumi - like she'd left Izalla with her, too. Not that Natsumi seemed to mind: in fact, the woman had seemed delighted to take on the task of...babysitting them both. Even so, Aqua couldn't help the feelings gnawing at her Heart.

Being a princess, and now a queen...she was definitely already starting to feel fed up with just sitting around, holding meetings and conversations, instead of actually going out on her own two feet to do something productive! Something real and tangible. All of this was just...words and minds, and waiting.

She was even still waiting for her personal advisor to return with the right documents needed to officially adopt Izalla. She wanted to get it done and signed as soon as possible - to make sure no one could try to contest it. But...

Suddenly, one of her guards came bursting out of a side door into the entrance hall.

"Your Majesty - we need to get you deeper inside the castle."

"Why?" Aqua said, tensed. "Has something happened?"

"It's just outside - a silver-haired boy and a girl - they've been firing off magic spells, demanding to see you!"

"What? A silver-haired boy...? This boy, is he wearing some kind of blindfold over his eyes?"

"Er- yes, Your Majesty? Do you- know the boy?"

"I do - and if he is who I think he is, he's not a threat to any of us," Aqua stated, hurrying forward. "I'll talk to him; I want everyone else to stay back!"

"But, Your Majesty-"

"Am I or am I not your queen?" Aqua snapped, rounding back on the man.

"...I'll see your command relayed, My Queen."

"Good."

Aqua strode over to the large, double doors that led out into the courtyard, and she pushed them wide open. She stood there for a moment, as she suddenly remembered her new body parts...but then she remembered that Riku wouldn't be able to see her.

She strode forward into the stone courtyard, passing statues and going around a large fountain - and spotted the boy.

He stood in the middle of the courtyard - encased in a shimmering dark crystal barrier dome - with a...girl of silver hair standing next to him? Yes, the guard had mentioned someone else with Riku, that was right...but who...?

The girl looked about the same age as Riku - with dark blue eyes and voluminous hair, long fluffy bangs framing her face and hanging over her eyes. She was barefooted, wearing a simple, long silver dress with straps and no sleeves. Seeing them side by side, it was immediately apparent to Aqua that they shared similar facial features - did Riku have a sister this whole time? Or had he not known? Or..

"You've got to be kidding me..." Aqua said, exasperated.

"Huh...? A-Aqua?!" Riku gasped, startling. "It's actually you? What in the world-"

"I think I should be asking you the same question," Aqua interjected. "What are you doing here? Ven and the others didn't mention you were here too. And who's this girl with you? And why does she look so much like you? Don't tell me she's your Nobody...or another Replica!"

"Uh...no, she's not-" Riku started, then he stopped. "Her name's Cognis, alright? And she's a friend. And a - don't freak out on us - a...Darkness. Like...like Vanitas, I guess. Sort of. But Cognis is-"

It took Aqua a moment to process the boy's words. But once she had- "WHAT?!"

Riku flinched, stepping back, even inside his barrier dome. Then he breathed out, straightening up. "Just listen, okay?" he said firmly. "You know there's nothing more to darkness than what we carry with us - or what someone else brings into our Hearts with them," he continued. "And Cognis isn't even just darkness - she's a person all her own. She's got feelings and thoughts! And she's good! She's saved people from Nightmares, done real good in the worlds. Side by side with me. Just like me and Terra have done with darkness - the way you yourself have. You know it's not that simple. Darkness doesn't mean evil."

"Riku, if that girl is like Vanitas-"

"Back at Land of Departure, a few days back, we met your Master, you know. And even he agreed to give her a chance!" Riku exclaimed.

"What...?" Aqua froze, then she burst out laughing, in high peals. "You couldn't possibly have convinced him to-!"

"We didn't - Terra did," Riku interrupted. "It took a while, and...a bit of a fight, I think, but he did. And if that guy can give Cognis a chance here, I know you can, too. Why would we be here at all, like this, to- to admit...if we didn't feel guilty about it? If there wasn't any remorse? She didn't want to do what she did - but it was self-defense! And she's still sorry about having to do it at all. She's not just- darkness - she's a person first. Like anybody is. She's not Vanitas, okay? Even Ven knows that, and accepts her!"

"What...?" Aqua said, blinking now. "Riku, what are you talking about? What did that girl do...?"

Riku shook his head, raising a hand to run it through his hair. "Look, some dozen odd guys in black robes attacked us earlier, out of nowhere, and- they knocked me out, first thing, and Cognis...she did what she had to to keep me safe. We're pretty sure they were looking for the Darkness inside Kairi's body - uh, you wouldn't know about that-"

"I do know, actually - I met Ven, Sora and Terra not two hours ago," Aqua stated.

"Oh...well, then - yeah. Those guys were looking for her, and they found us - and...they attacked us. So we- defended ourselves. Cognis protected me...the only way she knew how."

Aqua stood silently, looking away from the boy. Looking around her, instead. On the edges of the courtyard - she saw the Serene Rose members laying in wait, observing. Hearing all of this... She refocused, staring at the boy's face now. The earnestness, the emotion... She looked to the girl. Into dark blue eyes blinking back at her. Lips forming a thin, twisted frown. "Do you really feel sorry over what you did - Cognis?" she spoke out.

The...girl's face fell. Her head nodded, that voluminous, shiny silver hair swaying. "Yes..." her voice came softly. "I acted because I thought I had no other choice - to protect Riku. But, even he showed me there were alternatives. If I'd known that beforehand, I would have taken them. I regret having to take those people's lives...though I do feel compelled to point out that I did give them the chance to back down. And I did spare the life of the one who listened to me. That should be proof enough of my intentions, Master Aqua. And my feelings..."

Aqua gazed into the girl's face now, into those eyes. She looked away, to Riku, instead again. "...What is it- that you want to do now? Why are you here?" she asked.

"We just wanted to clear things up - explain ourselves to whoever was in charge of that whole- misunderstanding?" Riku sighed. "And...we want to find the Darkness that actually needs stopping. The one those guys were really after. The one that has Kairi's body. If we could find them, maybe I could- do something good for Kairi, get her body back for her."

Aqua eyed the boy - and the girl - for a minute of silence. Thinking hard. She raised a hand to her chest, and breathed. "...I know you've always just wanted to do good in the worlds, Riku - and if I can believe that even the Master has somehow found it in him to give this- Cognis girl a chance...then I guess I have to do the same." She hesitated. She paused. "We shouldn't...judge people by appearance, or- species..." she murmured out, looking away. "I know a little of what that's like lately, and it's not pretty - it doesn't feel good. It's..."

"Thank you, Master Aqua - I appreciate that," Cognis said, in heartfelt tones.

Tones Aqua...thought she wanted to try to believe. Riku was right: it wasn't that simple. Her mind went to Scarlet, to the choice she'd made in regards to the woman - to her oldest friend, with such a complicated past and now, present. A dark and tangled mess. And would Riku really just...make up a whole, insane claim of visiting the Master, and convincing him to actually give this girl a chance instead of striking her down...? It was ludicrous - impossible. One Aqua could easily verify by asking Ven and Sora, and Terra, himself.

"Y-yes, well..." Aqua drew herself up, stepping forward. "If you want to catch up to Terra and the others, I can point you in the right direction. There's an old ruin, a hundred miles to the south-east - that's where they were headed." She turned and pointed with an arm - then flushed as she remembered Riku was, still, of course, blind.

The- girl- Cognis, followed her gesture, however, and nodded. She gave a small smile. "Thank you. We'll-"

"Yes - thank you," a new, familiar voice came.

Aqua turned - and saw someone familiar step out from behind a large statue in a shimmering of darkness. It was Kairi, but...her eyes were a deep purple, and her scars that adorned her face were exuding dark energy, like cracks in her very being. She was also wearing an outfit way too familiar to Aqua: it looked like Vanitas's suit (or, the one she herself had taken on during battles, when she'd experimented with drawing on darkness the way Terra and Riku did).

Aqua closed her fist and made to summon her Keyblade - before she remembered she didn't have it anymore.

Riku conjured her weapon, her Rainfell, and turned to face the new Darkness.

Cognis turned, too, sharply, her face showing great surprise.

The Darkness in Kairi's body smiled at them and spread her arms. Dark energy exploded off of her in all directions, causing Aqua to raise an arm and brace herself-

When she lowered it again...the Darkness was gone.

Aqua turned to Riku and- Cognis. "Go!" she said urgently.

"Okay!" Riku said, nodding, as Cognis raised up a hand to create a dark corridor inside of their defensive barrier dome. The boy stopped before entering it. "We won't let you down, Aqua - Cognis will prove herself to you, too. I know she will."

Aqua couldn't find a proper response to that, by the time boy had gone...and the girl with him.

The dark crystal of the barrier dome fell apart, sparkling on the stone ground.

She looked around her, and she gave a deep and heavy sigh.

Had she just made a terrible mistake again?

Or was what her Heart was telling her...right?

At least, she mused, she had something to do now.

She had to investigate this...Riku incident.

And she had to verify the claim that this Darkness named "Cognis" had actually shown someone mercy.

If these things could be proven true...Aqua would be willing to believe them.

---

Kairi helped the frail, dirty girl up the long, cold stairs, supporting her with magical strength (and a boat-load of determination).

Luxu walked behind them, quiet still.

Kairi was glad the girl could at least walk a little (even if she still wasn't talking). She guided the girl down the hallway, stopping in front of the open door to the bedroom of messy dresses and makeup accessories. "Do you want to rest in here for a bit, or-" she started to ask.

But the girl shook her head furiously, causing Kairi to go silent.

Kairi nodded. "Okay. What about the living room, then? Or...outside? How long has it been since you saw the stars?"

The girl turned her head, her face close to Kairi's. She opened her mouth, swallowing visibly - then she closed it.

"Well, let's try the sofa for now," Kairi decided, starting to walk again. She helped the girl through the house, into the cozy little living room, and carefully lay her down on the blue sofa. She straightened up after brushing the girl's hair out of her face gently, and turned to look at Luxu.

Luxu gazed back at her, frowning. Then he shook his head and sighed.

"What?" Kairi said, challenging.

"Nothing..." Luxu said quietly. He held up his hands as she opened her mouth. "And I mean it. Look, I get it: you're always going to be you, and you're always going to do what your little Heart wants of you. That's just who you are - plain and simple. And I told you before...I admire that. I respect it. I do. I'm just...I'm still trying here, okay? Rome wasn't built in a day - give me some time to change my spots, alright? Old habits, and all..."

Kairi sighed. She nodded. She smiled at him. "Okay. You're right - I can't expect you to really change overnight. But I can see...that you are trying. So, thank you."

"Yeah...Sooooo, why don't I help out a bit here and just..." Luxu raised a hand to the girl on the sofa, and magic water flowed out to her. It formed into a watery tendril that caressed at her face - clearing away dirt and grime with magical efficiency.

Kairi watched closely, relaxing again.

After a minute, Luxu let his hand fall and his magic fade. The girl looked a lot better now - at least, her face did. It was almost completely cleared up.

Those differently colored eyes blinked away at the dripping water, and her head turned as she locked eyes with Kairi. "W-why...?" came a high, cracking voice - as the girl suddenly spoke for the first time.

Kairi stepped forward quickly, dropping to her knees in front of the sofa. "Hm? Why what?"" she said softly.

"Why...are you helping me...?" the girl spoke again, slow and halting. "I don't- deserve it..."

"Of course you deserve it," Kairi refuted. "You obviously needed it. I couldn't just walk away and act like I never found you down there, could I?"

The girl's eyes closed. "You should have..."

"Why do you think that?" Kairi asked quietly.

"I'm evil...and dangerous..." the girl quavered. "All I ever do...is bring death- and destruction. You should have left me alone. Everyone needs to just...leave me alone..."

Kairi shook her head. She reached out slowly, and she touched the girl's face. She stroked at her hair. "I don't believe that," she said firmly. "Did your parents tell you that? The women from the photos - right?"

"Don't touch me!" the girl suddenly exclaimed, shrinking back on the sofa - away from Kairi's hand. Her pale face went paler, her eyes wide. "I'm just going to hurt you!"

Kairi drew her hand back, placing it on her chest. "Okay - I won't touch you again - I'm sorry. But I don't really believe that last part. Besides, how could you even hurt me...when you're hurt so badly yourself?"

"You shouldn't have found me. No one should find me. But they keep finding me..." The girl was talking to herself now, clearly not even seeing Kairi anymore, or listening to her. Then the girl blinked, and suddenly she was looking Kairi in the face again, aware and present. Her shaking pale lips formed a frown. "How- are you here, and not down there...? You're a Heart...and he's-" She looked to Luxu, her voice catching. She swallowed, blinking fresh tears down her face now.

"Wait, you know I'm a Heart...?" Kairi said, staring at the girl.

"It doesn't make sense..." the girl murmured. "You can't be a Heart and be here. No one ever comes here - no one ever sees me..."

"Well, I am a Heart, and I am here," Kairi said, sitting back and brushing at her hair. "As for the how...well, I'm a Keyblade wielder. We both are. See?" She raised her hand slowly, and summoned Destiny's Embrace in a flash of light and flower petals.

The girl instantly froze, mid-sentence. Her eyes fluttered, and then locked onto the Keyblade.

She was so still, Kairi could have mistaken her for a statue. It reminded her of Xion, almost...It was almost like this girl suddenly wasn't even-

"You came here from the outside, not the inside, didn't you? You used the Power of Waking, didn't you?"

Kairi froze now, too. "W-what? You know about-"

The girl blinked, and suddenly her face was awash with horror. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

"H-hey, no, it's okay!" Kairi said, frantic now. Alarmed, really! "Shhh - I know, World Order and all that stuff - but it's okay! You can talk about it with me-" She reached out to touch the girl's arm, hoping to comfort her, to calm her.

The girl stopped her panicked apologizing, jerking back from her again. "Don't!" she cried - wailed. "You're- you're not worthy of touching me...I don't want to hurt you!"

Kairi let her hand drop, backing away quickly. "I'm sorry - my mistake. I just wanted you to know it's okay. You don't have to be afraid of anything."

The girl breathed in and out shakily, screwing up her face and sinking down onto the sofa again. She finally seemed to be calming down, and on her own, too. After a minute or so, she opened her eyes and looked to Kairi. "You're not worthy of touching me..." she whispered.

Kairi tilted her head at the girl in pure confusion. Mostly because, well, usually when someone said something like that, it was said with arrogance - it was snoody, haughty. But the way this girl said it...it was like a warning. It was spoken with sadness, with fear. Kairi swallowed, letting her Keyblade vanish, and setting her hands together in her lap. "Why?" she said simply, quietly. "Why am I not worthy of that?"

"Because of my curse...I don't want it to consume you..."

"Okay. Well, I won't touch you, then," Kairi said, nodding. "Listen, do you feel like you're ready to tell me your name now? Please?"

The other girl hesitated for a long time. She looked confused. Then she nodded back. "My name's...Ozma?"

"Ozma." Kairi beamed. "Okay. It's nice to meet you, Ozma."

The girl blinked at her, still looking confused. "I..."

"Alright," Luxu spoke loudly. "Kairi, kid, can I see you outside for a minute? Please?"

Kairi turned and looked up at the man. Into his face. A serious, grave face. She sighed, standing. She glanced at the girl - Ozma. "I'll be back in just a second, okay?" she said brightly, flashing a smile.

The girl gave a slow nod, then tilted her head back and shut her eyes.

Kairi followed Luxu out the front door of the house, out onto the top of the grassy, high hilltop.

"What?" Kairi said immediately.

Luxu stopped a few feet away, then turned back to face her. He pushed his fingers through his hair, letting out a breath. "Tell me you realize that that girl was practically screaming at you not to trust her - or come within a mile's radius of her. Tell me that there were some serious alarm bells ringing in that little head of yours, at least."

Kairi gazed at him, silent. Then she nodded. "I'm not stupid, okay? I know. I heard everything she said - and even my Heart's telling me that not all of it is just low self-esteem issues or...abusive reinforcements. She knows we're not even from here, she knows about the Power of Waking, she knows I'm just a Heart right now. That's too much for some...average, random girl to just know. Especially a girl...born from a dream. I know there's something more going on here...but I'm still not willing to let that be an excuse to just start treating her like she's- hostile. If she is some kind of danger, or a threat...I'll react to it when it happens appropriately. If we have to fight, we'll fight. But until then...innocent until proven guilty, right?"

Luxu sighed, nodding as well. "Right. Sure. But if things go tits up here-"

"Really?" Kairi interjected, rolling her eyes.

Luxu paused. He gave an almost sheepish grin. He shrugged. Then he got serious again. "Look, I'm not saying start treating her like the spawn of Satan or whatever - I'm just saying...maybe we should start asking some questions here? Get to the bottom of this, before it blows up in our faces."

"Okay - agreed - but it's not going to be like an interrogation or something," Kairi said.

"Hey, I didn't say interrogate her...I just said ask a few pointed questions," Luxu replied, raising his hands.

"Well, alright. I will. Since you're the stronger one here, why don't you just watch my back - in case anything terrible does happen," Kairi told him.

"Gotcha. Then we've got a plan."

Kairi nodded, and turned to stride back for the front door. Luxu's voice came again, stopping her.

"You know what else is weird that I've noticed about this world?"

"What?" Kairi said, looking over a shoulder.

Luxu raised an arm, gesturing grandly around himself. "Where are all the Nightmares? A girl locked up in a deep, dark basement like this, injured, and clearly sporting some pretty bad self-image issues...and not a single dark monster was drawn to her - or has spawned from her thus far? She's primo material for them, but there's nobody home but her..."

Kairi felt a chill go down her spine, as she glanced around, herself, now.

It was true.

Where were all the Nightmares?

Kairi guessed she did have a few questions for this girl, Ozma, after all.

Chapter 62: The Ultima Weapon

Notes:

It's time...

Even appeared at the "Land of Departure's" castle entrance in a flash of light and a very discombobulating sensation. Magical transport was definitely not his preferred method...

But, nonetheless, he turned to wave off - and thank - the old wizard, Merlin, for his assistance, before striding up the stairs to the front doors.

In the entrance hall, he was met rather quickly by the Keyblade Master, Eraqus (who, upon recognizing Even, relaxed somewhat).

"What brings you to this world?" the man asked, not mincing words. "I sense it's not for a social visit."

"In a sense, actually - yes, it is," Even responded airily. "I'd request to be allowed to speak to the 'Master Xehanort' you have here - it's of great importance...and a certain urgency."

The man's face showed surprise. Hesitation. "What is this urgent matter?"

Even explained, in quick and in basics, the recent discovery in Radiant Garden - and Xion's attack by an unfamiliar man in a black coat.

After he had finished, Master Eraqus sighed heavily, and nodded. "I see...come with me."

Even was led down the hall - where the Keyblade Master stopped before the wall. Said Keyblade Master conjured the weapon, and aimed it out ahead; a section of the wall vanished in a flash of light, revealing a door. Double doors of pristine white, with pulsing chains on them.

A very familiar door indeed...

The door was opened, and Even stepped into an even more familiar chamber. This one was not the barren, reclusive hideout of a king with a throne - but instead, a pristine, tidy prison room.

And the prisoner himself...

A wizened old man, in long coat and boots, seated at a desk - writing something on a sheet of paper.

The old man - who could only be the true, complete Master Xehanort - turned and looked up at their entrance. The writing utensil was set aside, and he pushed back his chair and stood slowly. His arms hung at his sides, his gaze flickering between Eraqus and Even.

"Now this is truly a surprise..." his voice came, croaking and gnarled. "I admit, you are the last person I would have ever expected to come to visit me - in fact, you were not even on the list...Even."

"I'm sure," Even said flatly, squaring his shoulders and striding forward into the room. He stopped before the man, gazing on him, closely and personally now. He examined the man a moment, then gave a small scoff, shaking his head. "Look at you - a locked away, feeble old geezer," he continued on, with a wide sneer. "You were never half as clever as you thought you were - were you, Xehanort? Nor as impressive. No...for all that you tried to present yourself as...this is the truth of you, for all to see."

Xehanort's aged lips quirked into a twisted smile, as a chuckle escaped him. He moved his hands behind his back, turning his head aside. "Is this truly why you've come all this way? To take such petty shots at me in my helplessness and isolation? I suppose your egotistical need for the satisfaction could no longer be ignored..."

"Not that it doesn't bring me great satisfaction," Even admitted freely. "but that isn't the reason I'm here, no."

Xehanort looked him in the eye, nodding, his smile fading. "Then by all means...continue."

Even turned away, taking up a slow pacing, and crossing an arm across himself. The other raised a lecturing finger. "Oh, certainly. It's the strangest thing, you see. There I was, minding my own business, when my little Xion comes to me out of nowhere, out of breath and scared out of her wits, with a tale of a hidden room down in our castle's sub-basement level...contained within which was a vast and complex piece of machinery - some energy source above, and three...no, two strange pods flanking it. According to her, this machine was the means by which Kairi was transported from Radiant Garden to the Destiny Islands - by you."

Even stopped, turning sharply, and letting his free arm fall across the other, over his chest. He narrowed his eyes at the old man.

Xehanort simply blinked his golden eyes back at him. He bowed his head, letting out a small breath. "Is that all?"

"Oh no, no, not at all," Even went on, his fingers tightening around his own arms. "She also claimed to have been attacked by a mysterious man in a black coat. As it is your trademarked uniform-"

"Obviously you would suspect I had a hand in these events," Xehanort interjected, straightening up tall now.

"Did you not?"

Xehanort met his gaze, his face falling into neutrality. "No. With every power available to me locked away, with my Keyblade destroyed, with myself being locked away in this chamber for every hour of my days now...do you truly believe I could have orchestrated some attack on your failed Replica? And even if I had somehow been able to do so - to contact someone outside this place, this world - what purpose would it serve me, rather than devising a plan to enact my own escape?"

"Her name is Xion, and she is a living girl!" Even snarled, stepping forward swiftly, shoving his face into the old man's. "I see you still have zero value for human life! A point of consistency between all versions of you! Why would you order something like this done? I know the answer, and it's really rather simple!"

"Oh? Do tell."

"Petty revenge and cruelty," Even snapped. "You could never resist yourself, could you? And it's been clear for anyone to see that there are no limits to your depravity! So why wouldn't you find a way of striking at us now? At her, simply because you can - because you know it will hurt?"

Xehanort gave a snort, and he turned away, striding off across the room of white. "You still haven't let it go, then?"

"Haven't let it...NO!" Even shouted, throwing his arms down and stalking forward. He seized the old man's arm and spun him around forcefully. He looked him in the face, the blood coursing in his veins. "No, I have not let go...of what you did to little Ienzo!"

"You will need to be more specific - in my old age, my memory fails me-"

"Don't you dare play stupid with me now!" Even hissed, shaking the man. "I can never forget the look on your face that day - that damn smirk you gave me as you cut Ienzo down in front of me! You deliberately waited, you struck him down first, just to make me watch it happen! Just so you could relish in the pain and horror you inflicted on my Heart...while I still had it. He was a child and you stole his Heart from him...his very CHILDHOOD itself! And all to wound me - because your pride stung too great from how I was a much better, more intelligent scientist than you ever were...or would ever be!"

Xehanort gazed at him with an infuriating calmness - no, a void of expression at all. He lowered his gaze to Even's hand, then looked up at him again. "This is not what you came here to discuss with me. Or is that discussion over? If so, I would very much like you to unhand me - and leave me be."

Even quivered, he saw red, he wished to tear this frail old man apart with his bare hands - but reason won out, as it always did. The Keyblade Master, Eraqus, would hardly let him beat down his defenseless prisoner...and Even would rather not suffer the humiliation of having to be restrained, himself, like some wrong-doer. Some common thug. No, he was a scientist. A man of intellect, of...

And Xion, and...yes...

Remember why you're here.

Even released the man, whirling away and stalking off. He pushed a hand through his long hair, shoving strands from his face. He let out a long, shaking breath, and adjusted his lab coat meticulously. He drew in another breath as he smoothed his uniform out, before finally turning back again.

"This machine of yours - we triggered its function quite by accident, when we went to investigate it," Even spoke coldly. "The results were rather perplexing. Honestly, I've no idea what to make of it. Hence, I am here for answers. And you will give them to me."

Xehanort gazed at him from across the room. "I truly don't know what you refer to."

"Let me explain, then. No - let me ask you a very simple, direct question: why did a five year old girl bearing the appearance of the Princess of Heart materialize within one of those pods?"

The old man's face showed pure shock now - to Even's immense satisfaction. Yet...that did not tally up, did it...? "What...?"

"What do you mean, what?" Even said loudly. "It was your machine, your hidden room, your secretive little plans! Are you seriously going to attempt to tell me that you don't know-"

"This girl - what is her level of stability, in body and mind? Does she possess consciousness - self-awareness? What is her physical state of being?" Xehanort's suddenly eager, swift tones came, interrupting Even.

Even gazed at the old man, seriously considering telling him he wouldn't tell him a damn thing - purely out of pettiness and spite. To deny him answers, deny his curiosity. Leave him with nothing! Yet...he needed answers. They needed answers. He was a true scientist - and he could not let his Heart's emotions get in the way of the search for truth. For the knowledge...that would benefit them, and bring clarity.

"Her body is as human and stable as can be," Even said tightly. "As for signs of consciousness - yes, we have observed that she has an active mind, albeit while still asleep; she's either dreaming or remembering something. Though, curiously enough, we did not detect a Heart."

"I see. And how long ago was she...discovered?" Xehanort asked promptly.

Even suppressed the urge to deny him, again. "Hardly an hour ago now."

"Hm..."

Even glared. "Now that I've sated your horrid sense of curiosity, you are going to explain to me exactly who and what she is, and where it is she comes from. And, of course, you will tell me what it is you have planned for her."

"In this instance, I can freely admit that there is no plan," Xehanort said, chuckling to himself. "Her existence...was never meant to be. Not yet, at any rate...not like this. She was a mere possibility - a possibility, it seems, that has become a certainty, after all."

Even narrowed his eyes. "Elaborate."

The old man certainly obliged - though how much of it could be trusted...was very suspect...

But it did make...logical sense, in many ways.

Still, as the old saying went...

Trust but verify.

And Even very much intended to verify.

---

The big, metal airship finally landed again, to Sora's relief!

"Is this it?" Sora said, jumping off the side of the metal ramp onto the ground.

He glanced around, but it didn't look like much of anything to him...?

It was just a bunch of grassy fields, and hills, under the starry night's sky. There were mountains in all directions, surrounding the area. But...

"This weapon we're looking for, if there is some trace of it, will be somewhere over there," came the voice of the woman, Onterosa Ravamar, as she came striding up to them from out of nowhere! She turned and pointed out across the fields, the hills, up to a really tall one - where it looked like there was some kind of...rubble, or ruin atop it...? "Or, more specifically, under there..."

"What's that?" Sora asked, frowning into the distance. "It looks like some old castle?"

"It is an old castle," Onterosa nodded to him. "This used to be the capitol building of the nation that pre-dated Zitol - over six hundred years ago. They held less than half the territory we have now, and they weren't well-liked. There were constant battles, wars, and struggles - for everyone, in those times, to be fair. But a night came when an opposing nation reached far into the kingdom, making it all the way here, to the castle. A siege was held, one that lasted for weeks on end. Until..."

"Until what?" Sora said eagerly, eyeing the woman.

""Well, legends and exaggerated tales talk of a curse or calamity that was unleashed on the land - something that destroyed the castle, obliterated both sides' armies, and scarred it for ages to come," Onterosa went on slowly. "It's said that it took generations for life to return - all of this greenery, the flowers, the trees, that stream over there...none of it existed a few centuries ago. It was a barren, blackened landscape where nothing at all could grow or live. So, for a long, long time...no one ever tried. The site of defeat was abandoned, and eventually forgotten. But the stories don't end there: the legends also say that this calamity spread across the land in wake of the castle's destruction, claiming the lives of hundreds upon hundreds, in village after village, in burning flames of goddess-like wrath."

"...And - t-that's really what we're out here looking for?" Sora said, with a nervous laugh.

"You can always go wait at home," Terra said seriously. "This might be too dangerous for you - even for Ven."

"Huh?! No - hey - I'm good, Master Terra!" Sora said quickly, standing tall and raising a hand in a salute. "Let's get this Keyblade! But, uhhhh...where are we supposed to start?"

Onterosa nodded her head toward the distant hill, and the old crumbling castle. "There were tunnels built beneath the castle, that stretch out in every direction - into deep, carved caverns of stone. Some were for storage, others for shelter - and others were for hidden escapes. If anything about this old weapon survived, it would have likely been hidden somewhere down there. A record, a simple image or message on a wall..."

"How well-explored are these tunnels?" Terra asked.

"Not very - not until recently," Onterosa replied, with a small smile. "Most people still fear the wrath of a goddess, or the 'curse' of the lands. No one's wanted to come poking their head around the place. And for good reason: for centuries, around the area, there have been constant claims of 'mysterious disappearances.'"

"Well, let's hope it's mostly just superstition and coincidences," Terra said, giving a nod.

"But we don't believe in coinci-" Ven started.

"Quiet," Terra said, with a small shake of his head as he crossed his arms. "You'll jinx us."

Ven went quiet, wide-eyed. He glanced away and crossed his own arms. "Think we're already pretty darn cursed by this point...considerin' our lives so far..." he murmured.

"It can always get worse," Terra said lightly.

"Or better!" Sora remarked, grinning. "Skuld came back and everything, right, Ven? And you found Lauriam and Elrena again, too."

"Right," Terra agreed, smiling. "Good attitude, Sora. Let's go, then, and hope for the best." He looked to the Onterosa woman, giving her a nod. "Are your soldiers around, too?"

The woman nodded back. "My operatives are already searching the tunnels, yes. Some, in person, and others...they felt safer just using remote viewing magic. I would have ordered them all into the tunnels, but we might need a reserve guard hidden around the place - just in case."

"We'll join the search, then. We might be able to find something your people can't," Terra replied.

"You know, I'd heard of those ancient legends about the Keyblade - weapons of ruin and destruction, according to some, or protection and salvation according to others," Onterosa spoke casually. "But I never could have imagined there were any active wielders still in the world today."

Terra eyed her for a moment. He shrugged, flashing a grin. "We're a very discrete group - we only appear where and when we're needed. Otherwise, we have a policy of non-interference with...world events."

"So discrete as to have the whole world believing you haven't existed for thousands of years..." Onterosa said, smiling thinly and raising her eyebrows. "I'd love to know how you pull that trick off."

"Well, hang around us long enough and you might find out," Terra said lightly. "Now, I think we have a search to get on with."

Onterosa sighed. She shook her head, then reached up to throw her hood back. "Right." She stretched out her arm away from her body - and in a flash of purple light, a thin, long black scythe appeared in her hand! She twirled it around and held it down low, facing outward, like it didn't weigh anything to her!

"Cool weapon!" Sora remarked, eyeing it with excitement.

"Thank you," the woman said, with a small laugh. "I don't get much occasion to use it..."

---

Kairi walked back into the cabin on the high hill, striding across the living room to stand before the girl on the sofa.

She lowered herself down to her knees, watching the girl's face.

Ozma.

Ozma's strange eyes opened again, and looked back at Kairi with fear and uncertainty.

"Hey," Kairi said lightly. "How are you doing in here?"

The other girl gave her head a small shake, her dark blue curls rustling.

"Ozma, listen, what you said earlier, about the Power of Waking, and me being a Heart..." Kairi went on, taking a breath. "Are you from the Realm of Light, like us?"

Ozma blinked at her with her two differently colored eyes. Her lips pursed into a frown. Then she shook her head again. "No...I live here. This is my home. I belong here."

"Okay. But you're not a- someone that this world's Heart dreamed up?" Kairi said quietly, slowly. "It doesn't matter to me if you are, I just-"

"I know I'm not real," Ozma interjected, in a quavering voice. "I'm imaginary - just a dream."

"But you know you're...in a dream? From a dream? Why? How?" Kairi whispered. "I mean, I've been to a lot of dream worlds by now, and no one else ever...knew that. Why do you?"

The girl's face scrunched, looking confused. "I don't know...I've always known..."

"Okay..." Kairi took another breath, nodding. "Hey, Ozma, do you want to go outside? We could lay out in the grass, look at the stars together. How long were you down there in that basement?"

"I don't know..."

"Well, it seems like it was a really long time. Can I help you up? Get you outside?"

"To see the stars...?"

"Yeah."

"...Okay."

"Okay! Up we get, then!"

Kairi smiled at the girl, and helped her to her feet. She supported her as they left the cabin behind, stepping out onto grass and dirt. Into a cool breeze, and a light of the moon...and all the stars above. Kairi led the girl a few feet away from the house before stopping, setting her down there. Kairi sat down with her, joining her in the grass.

Luxu strode out behind them, standing on the top steps of the cabin's entrance - faux casual, for sure. His arms were crossed, his eyes were fixed to Kairi...no, to Ozma.

Kairi refocused. She drew her knees in and put her arm around them, turning to smile at Ozma.

"This is a lot better, isn't it?" Kairi said, warm and encouraging.

The other girl sat there awkwardly, her legs sprawled, bracing herself on a shaking arm. Her head turned toward Kairi, her lips quivering. A soft gasp escaped her. Then she fell backwards suddenly, landing flat on her back in the grass with a thud.

"Hey - are you okay?" Kairi exclaimed.

Ozma blinked up at her - no, past her. "T-the stars..." her trembling voice came, awed and- tinged with sadness.

Kairi watched the girl a moment. Then, she nodded, and she lay down in the grass next to the girl. She wanted to just take the girl's hand, comfort her, talk to her - but she knew the girl wouldn't react well to it. The girl had warned her twice, after all...

She focused on the night sky, herself, taking in the sight of a full set of stars, bright and beautiful... "They're beautiful, aren't they?" she whispered out, glancing over at Ozma.

"Y-yes..." Ozma quavered. She closed her eyes, turning her head away.

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked.

"Everywhere I go...the stars burn. They burn, and I leave scars on them - like yours..." Ozma's lips exhaled shakily. "I always hurt them. I don't want to - but I do. Like I'm going to hurt you."

"Why do you think that?" Kairi said, taking a calm breath. "Ozma? You said something like that before, about not wanting to hurt me? This - curse of yours, right? What are you talking about? Please?"

The other girl was silent, her curls licking at her face in the breeze.

"Are you a Keyblade wielder, too?" Kairi asked quietly. "Did you used to know a Keyblade wielder? Is that how you knew about the Power of Waking?"

Ozma's lips parted, her eyes opening again. She glanced over at Kairi, sidelong - afraid. So, so afraid...but of what? "Me...wield a Keyblade...?" She sounded so- baffled, in that moment. Then- she laughed. A high and shaking sound. But a real one.

"What's funny?" Kairi said, with a light smile.

Ozma suddenly froze; her laughter died instantly, her mouth slammed shut. She looked away from Kairi once more.

Kairi cursed herself. She was sure she'd almost been- on the verge of something. The girl had really been...relaxing! Opening up, there. Or at least about to! She-

"You're so nice to me...no one's ever been this nice to me," the girl whispered suddenly, tears falling down her cheeks anew. Glistening, under starlight. Falling to the grass, streaking down the blades like morning dew. "I w-wish I didn't have to hurt you - I really do! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"You keep saying that, but how? How are you possibly going to hurt me?" Kairi said, pushing herself up on an arm now and turning toward the girl. "Ozma. Please! Please just talk to me - I can help you! That's all I want to do here: so help me do that!"

Ozma shook her head fiercely, her arms wrapping around herself, her eyes shutting tight. Her whole face screwed up, as her head slammed back into the ground suddenly! Once - twice - again, and again! "Stop, stop stop! I don't deserve you, and you don't deserve me! You're just going to make it worse!"

"Ozma, listen: whatever happens, I'm here for you, okay? I'm here, and whatever bad thing you think is going to happen - we can face it together! We can-!"

"I'm going to burn you!" Ozma shouted, shaking her head and slamming her hands down over her face, covering it. "I'm going to burn this entire world again! And you can't stop it - you won't be able to stop ME!"

"I don't believe that!" Kairi said firmly, shaking her head. "You haven't shown me a single thing about you to back it up, for one, girl. But, for another, you haven't done anything terrible so far! All you've shown me is a girl who's hurt, and afraid, and confused - but not a girl who could do anything close to...something like that! So unless you've got something to back it up, you've got to stop it with this talk of-"

Ozma's large, diamond-shaped, ruby inset pendant necklace suddenly began to glow - a faint orange, in the core...to a full, burning red in the night. The girl gasped, sitting upright with more speed and strength than Kairi would have thought she had in her right now. She dropped her head, staring at her gemstone necklace in shock. Then her lips closed, and she seized her hair in her hands and started furiously shaking her head - her whole upper body! Twisting left and right...writhing! "No! No, no, no...! Please no, please, I'm s-sorry, Kairi, I'm sorry-"

"Hey! It's okay!" Kairi said, reaching out to grab the girl's shoulder without thinking. "It's okay-"

"I can sense them, they're here - I'm sorry-"

"What are you even sorry for?!" Kairi shouted, seizing the girl's face now, forcing her to just look her in the eyes. "Ozma - hey! Come on, girl, work with me here - talk to me! Just tell me-"

"Your friends!" Ozma suddenly screamed in Kairi's face - causing Kairi to jerk back, both in shock at the volume and the contents of her words. Tears were streaming down the girl's face in full now, smearing the last of the dirt left on it, passing over little black freckles. "Your f-friends, and her-"

"What do you mean, my friends?" Kairi demanded. "Ozma, please-"

The world around them suddenly changed; the air warped and warbled - the distant mountains drew closer in - the moon and the stars shifted colors...to a burning red, streaked with orange, almost like an aurora. Like flames dancing in the air. Like...

"OZMA, WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Kairi yelled out, jumping to her feet.

The other girl whipped her head up, flinching back from Kairi on the ground. Then, her eyes fluttered, as she stared into Kairi's face... "I'm the ultimate weapon...and they found me."

"Ultimate weapon?" Luxu's voice came, as he suddenly appeared in a flicker beside Kairi. "What're you talking about, kid? Come on-"

"The Ultima Weapon!" the girl exclaimed, fast and high, looking terrified of Luxu. More than she was of Kairi. "I kill and I destroy, and I ruin, and it's what I was made to do!"

"What?" Luxu gaped, looking more shocked than Kairi had ever seen him before. Truly shocked.

"Are you saying you're a- you're that old Keyblade?" Kairi questioned intently. "But how can a person be a-"

"You have to get out of here - please!" Ozma spoke over her, as if she hadn't heard her again. Her eyes glistened, staring up at Kairi - pleading. "The m-mirror - in my room - it can get you out! Go to your friends, and get away from this world, please-"

Suddenly, the ground itself split open beneath Ozma. A multitude of- of twisted arms burst out of the earth, seizing onto Ozma...and starting to pull her down into the black pit!

"No!" Kairi summoned her Keyblade in an instant, slashing down fiercely! A blade beam cut through an arm, severing it with a flash of light - and then the whole arm evaporated in a smattering of golden light motes... She slashed again, and again, reaching down with her free arm to grab for Ozma-

But more and more arms kept coming, half a dozen more, a dozen- a mound of chaotic limbs! Their combined strength wrenched Ozma from Kairi's single-handed grasp-

And the girl disappeared down into the darkness.

"NO...no..." Kairi cried, backing away from the black pit, staring down into it in horror. Then she clenched her teeth and stepped forward, lifting a foot over the edge-

"HEY!" Luxu was tearing her backwards violently, almost off her feet! "What the hell were you just about to do?"

"I'm going in after her - I'm going to get her-!" Kairi exclaimed, whirling and struggling in the man's grasp.

"She wanted us to save ourselves! And it sounds like, your friends, too - probably Sora, maybe Ven? Who knows? But if she thinks they're in some kind of danger, are you really going to just let them stay that way to go chasing after this girl...instead of honoring her final wish?" Luxu spoke urgently, almost rambling. His dark eyes gazing down on her. "I'm sure as hell not! I made a promise to those kids, and I'm going to damn well keep it!"

Kairi stood on the edge of the pit, staring down into it. She looked at Luxu. Then, away - to stare at the distorted, red world around them... She breathed, she closed her eyes and turned her head aside. I'm sorry, Ozma...I'm sorry. She opened her eyes again, giving Luxu a simple, tense nod.

He gazed at her still, for a moment - then he let her go, stepping back and raising his hands to her.

Kairi spun on her heel - and raced for the front door of the cabin.

She burst inside, flying through the living room, down the hallway - into the girl's messy bedroom! She looked to the makeup table immediately, hurrying over to it. What was she supposed to even-

"Keyblade wielders, remember? Key- oh, would you move out of the way?" Luxu's voice came, as his hand roughly pushed her aside. His arm rose up, with that black Keyblade in hand; its end glowed and sparked, and a thin beam of light flew out to strike the mirror...

It rippled, it began to glow - and then it suddenly grew. It expanded out in all directions, forming a tall, wide, almost liquid-like...was it a doorway?

"Hey! Come on - stop screwing around!" Luxu snapped, his hand prodding her in the back.

Kairi wanted to turn and glare at the man, but-

She squared her shoulders, took a breath, and threw herself forward into that rippling mirror of a doorway.

Thankfully, she didn't just embarrassingly slam head-first into an actual, solid mirror.

Instead, she passed through it, a cold and wet sensation passing over her skin and clothing, as a bright pink light enveloped her...

She felt the light's warmth, she felt herself floating, drifting across a void of space and time-

And then Kairi flew out into a dim, cold place, and found herself landing in a heap on some very solid ground.

"Ow..." she groaned.

Luxu came flying into view past her, stumbling and staggering - but he twisted and stopped himself from falling over completely. "Woah! Haha, that sure was a trip. Oh, hey..." He stepped forward and stooped down, offering a hand to her.

Kairi took it without hesitating, letting him pull her up again. "Thanks. But where do you think we-"

"K-KAIRI?!" familiar voice exclaimed.

"Master Luxu?" stammered another, in disbelief.

Kairi whipped her head around, staring across the dimly lit, large cavern she seemed to have appeared in. She blinked in the low light in disbelief. "Sora, Riku?!" she exclaimed, taking in the sight of them - and Ven and Terra, too! She raced forward, and she threw herself at Sora, wrapping her arms around his neck!

Sora hugged her back, after a moment of uncertainty, his warm hands on her back. "Kairi..." he said happily. "It's really you this time!"

Kairi drew away, trailing her hands down his arms - to take his hands. She gazed at him, smiling a moment. Then she tilted her head, registering his words. Her hands slipped from his as she stepped away. "Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Uhhhhh...it's kind of a long story?" Sora said, hedging, grinning at her. "So, what's been going on with you?"

"It's kind of a long story," Kairi repeated, raising a hand to her mouth and laughing into it with all the emotions in her Heart right then. She turned to Riku, stepping forward and hugging him, too.

"H-hey! Uh...I guess you really missed me, too, huh?" Riku said awkwardly, turning his head away and raising his arms to the air.

"Of course I did, you dummy!" Kairi responded, pulling away. "You're still my best friend, too, you know!"

"I am? Great..." Riku blushed pretty hard - but she saw the smile on his face, all the same.

Kairi looked to Ven, and Terra, and then- to the new girl? Wait, there was a new girl? "Hey - I'm Kairi - who're you...?" she said, letting Riku go and turning to this new girl.

The girl - a girl who looked startlingly similar to Riku, really - froze on the spot. She looked back at Kairi, blinking deep blue eyes. Then she looked to Luxu. "I'm...Cognis. I'm-"

"It's a long story for us, too!" Riku interrupted loudly. "And we have bigger things to worry about right now!"

"You too, huh?" Luxu spoke. "What's the situation?"

"That Darkness is around here somewhere - looking for the Ultima Weapon still - and she's swarmed the place with powerful Heartless in hopes of slowing us all down," Terra stated. "What's the situation with you two?"

"We might have found this Ultima Keyblade of yours," Kairi said hesitantly. "In the Realm of Sleep, we found this girl...well, I'm not really sure she is a girl- I'm not sure how it could even be possible, but she said she was-"

"She's some kind of avatar or personification or what-have-you of the Ultima Weapon," Luxu interrupted. "Anyone familiar with the term 'Collective unconscious?'"

"Nope," Ven said instantly.

"Uuuhhh..." Sora trailed off, baffled.

"I can't say I am," Terra admitted, shrugging.

"Nor can I, sadly," spoke that- girl Riku look-alike. Cognis.

"Beats me, too," Riku said with a shrug.

"Well, whatever - all you need to know is that it means this Keyblade's got a real mind of its own," Luxu said, waving a hand, exasperation and frustration alike passing over his face.

"But that mind didn't seem to want to do anything awful..." Kairi said firmly. "She was so sad, and scared, and-"

"She also said she was going to burn the stars, and nobody was going to be able to stop her," Luxu interjected, hard. "Maybe she feels bad about it, maybe she doesn't - but she didn't make it sound like she had any choice in it, either way, did she now? So I say we take her warnings seriously here, and-"

"Oh, by the way, Ven!" Kairi said suddenly, turning to the boy.

"What-?" Ven started, tilting his head at her.

Kairi threw herself at him and hugged him tight before letting him go again. "I really missed you, too!"

"Haha, I missed you too..." Ven replied, blushing and beaming at her, giving a laugh.

Kairi drew a breath, looking to Master Terra.

"You don't have to hug me, too, if you don't-" Terra started.

Kairi hugged him anyways.

He gave her a single pat on the back before gently pushing her away.

"Alright, you've literally hugged everybody in the group by now - did you get it all out of you yet?" Luxu spoke, sighing and raising a hand to gesture. "From the sounds of things, we're all down to the wire here - let's lock in and do this, alright? That girl said she could sense you guys - so the Ultima Weapon must be somewhere nearby," he went on, looking to Terra.

Kairi finally looked around herself again in more detail, taking the world in. Not that there was much of anything to really take in...

It was a huge cavern, of smooth, carved stone and rock. Rounded on its edges. There were stone pillars interspersed around the place, and tunnel entrances leading off into the dark, ringing the vast cavern. In the center of the great cavern, Kairi saw...

A set of stairs on all sides of a raised, round stone platform, thin and wide. And atop the platform, there was a pedestal. A faint, red glow surrounded it, seemingly coming from nowhere.

"What about there?" Kairi said, pointing.

"We were just about to look into it," Terra remarked, with a small grin. "Before someone came flying out of a spontaneous doorway of light right in front of us."

Luxu nodded, turning and immediately teleporting across the great cavern - reappearing directly on the platform, in front of that pedestal of eerie red light. He set his hands on his hips, turning and twisting, examining it with exaggerated motions.

Kairi ran and kicked off from the ground, flying across the cavern after him. She touched down on the platform behind him, watching him up close now. Sora and the others came up behind her (Sora being the first to reach her, after going into a glide, himself). Kairi turned and gave him a light, affectionate smile for a moment, before focusing again. Terra, Ven, Riku, and the new girl who might possibly be either a hidden twin sister or a brand new Replica (not that Kairi would care; she was the last person who'd care, considering Xion), named Cognis...stepped up onto the platform last, after a minute.

"So, is this Keyblade here?" Sora asked Luxu, gesturing.

Luxu straightened up and turned, looking at him. He flashed a little grin, shrugging. "My ancient and well-honed powers of observation all say: no clue."

"Thanks for being useless," Kairi said, with a grin of her own. "You're a huge asset to the team! What would anyone do without you?"

"Hey, you want to take a crack at it, be my guest," Luxu responded, waving an arm and stepping away.

"Gladly." Kairi stepped past him, approaching the empty pedestal. She set hands on her hips, leaning down to stare at it closely. She straightened up again, then closed her eyes and brought her hands in to her chest. She breathed. She sensed, she concentrated, she...

Ozma...if you really are somehow connected to this Ultima Weapon - or if you ARE the Ultima Weapon - then talk to me again. If you can still hear me, wherever you are...show me where you are, and let me help you again. Please.

A burning, orange light suddenly flared behind Kairi's eyelids - lighting up the dark. A warmth fluttered over her, a blast of hot air! She opened her eyes again, and stared at the pedestal with a soft gasp.

Orange and red flames were forming in the air above the pedestal - twisting and flickering...like a candle. It flared, it grew, it cast off sputtering tendrils and orange embers...

And then, in a flash of orange light-

A Keyblade appeared out of thin air, floating there above the pedestal.

It was a...beautiful Keyblade, as much as it looked- deadly and dangerous. It was a weapon with a white, orange and red color scheme. Its handle guard was comprised of white spikes, or mini swords arranged around the grip like wings. Two long, orange spikes jutted down past the hilt, enclosing it, meeting with two smaller, white spikes on the very end of the hilt that pointed upward. The handle itself was black, with diamond-shaped links in a chain, that shifted from red to orange colors. Where blade met the top of the handle, there was a narrow, elongated orange Heart shape set into the metal.

The blade itself was long and thin, and made of dark steel or iron. It ended in an arrowhead of a point. It wasn't too remarkable on its own, Kairi supposed. But the rest of the design...wrapping around it was a beautiful mess of metal filigree, all pointing downward along the blade, and colored that orange and red hue, like burning flames (they were also sparkling).

Up past that, white and dark grey filigree stuck out at an angle, looking almost like a wing or something? And at the top of the blade, forming the "teeth" that stuck out to one side...was a half-circle of pristine white metal filigree, with orange diamonds on an array of spikes. In the middle of these diamond-shaped spikes, there was another Heart symbol - but this one was empty. It had an orange, inner lining, separating the empty inside from the white outside.

Finally, there was one last, orange-diamond spike sticking down out of the bottom - sticking out to the right side of the blade, all on its own.

Well, no, that wasn't it. There was one more thing: the keychain hanging from the end of the hilt. It was several interlinked arrowheads of white, like chains, leading to a little charm of swirling yellow and orange. Like an amber gemstone?

Terra strode forward quickly, his hand seizing Kairi's shoulder and pulling her back. His gaze fixed to the Keyblade...then, it turned to sweep over them all.

"No one touch it," he said clearly, firmly. He looked to that girl, Cognis, specifically, as he added, "I think even a formless being like you might get trapped inside it, too."

"The same thought did occur to me," Cognis replied simply, in such a low, lofty sort of voice. "Don't worry; I'm not nearly that stupid."

Terra smiled. "Glad to hear it."

"What the hell do you mean 'formless'-" Luxu startled, whipping around to stare at the girl, his mouth twisting, his eyes-

Darkness suddenly flickered on the other side of the pedestal - billowing out into a large cloud - and out of that cloud...

The mirror image of Kairi herself appeared?!

A twisted, dark version of her - with some dark suit on of purple and silver trim, all tattered. Her eyes were a glowing purple, and the scars on her face were emitting darkness itself, like the stuff was just leaking out of her!

"W-what- who-" Kairi gasped.

"It's that Darkness - she's been using your empty body, since you fell into the Realm of Sleep," Terra said quickly - tersely.

Kairi stared in shock. Then, anger quivered in her Heart. Outrage. Her hand closed into a fist at her side...and she summoned her Keyblade.

The other her- the Darkness, she gazed back at Kairi, and she scoffed. Her eyes swept over them all, across the pedestal. Through the haze and glow of the floating weapon... "Do any of you really think your blades are going to be enough to defeat me and mine? None of you will have the strength to defeat me - not even you, Master Luxu," she added, with a specific look at the man. "I will destroy you all, I will destroy your worlds, I will rip this future apart and make it my own! You pathetic, irritating, persistent little gnats!" Her voice rose with anger, her face etched with it all - with hate, disgust, frustration and impatience! All things Kairi didn't like seeing on her own face too much.

"Is that right? Well then, we've just got to cut you down before you lay a finger on it, don't we?" Luxu hissed, twirling his own weapon and raising it up.

"And destroy the Princess of Heart's body?" the Darkness said, looking right at Kairi now. Then, she looked to Sora. "Condemn her to a life as a mere Heart?"

"There's no way you're going to do that to her!" Sora said instantly, whirling on Luxu. "You can't-"

"He won't," Terra said, in a hard voice, looking to the man as well. His Keyblade appeared in his own hand in a flash, held at his side, large and powerful. "Will he?"

Luxu turned, glancing at Terra. Then, at Sora...and then Kairi. He froze. His teeth gritted, his eyes screwing up. "Grrrr...are you people kidding me?! We can have Even cook up a new body for her, right as rain! If it's good enough for the others, it's good enough for her. But you are not going to just pass up the chance to destroy one of these damn parasites because of a little-"

"You have your arguments, you humans - I'll be taking what is mine," the Darkness said idly.

"Try it!" Luxu snarled, whirling and thrusting his blade out at her instantly. "I'll obliterate you before you can blink."

"No, you won't," Terra ground out, turning now to fully face Luxu, stepping forward. Intimidating. Threatening. Not that Luxu looked very threatened by the move...

For a long, frozen moment of time, no one moved. No one breathed. They stared at each other. That Darkness, at all of them...and them, back at her.

Standing on either side of that pedestal - that Ultima Weapon between them.

Luxu and the Darkness.

Kairi and the Darkness, with her own face...

Then-

A dark barrier flew up between them with a flash of purple light - and the Darkness flew forward with a trail of dark smoke behind her, her hand outstretched!

Luxu vanished in a flicker of air-

Terra acted too slow, passing through empty air as he made to grab the man-

Suddenly, a large, green flaming fireball slammed into the Darkness from behind, exploding against her.

She went rigid, fingers inches from the Ultima Weapon's handle, a pained scream escaping her. Her eyes were wide with shock and confusion - and then she fell backwards with a thud, her arm falling to her side.

What...?

"Oh, dear - were you planning to betray me?" a horribly, instantly familiar voice echoed out around the cavern...

Green flames flashed on the platform, and a black cloaked figure materialized in a woosh. A staff with a glowing green orb on the end in her hand.

Kairi stared in horror.

"Maleficent?" she gasped. "We beat you!"

"Son of a bitch," Luxu's voice came, flat and hushed. He stepped forward, his gaze locking with Maleficent's. "So this is where - when you come back, is it?"

"What?" Kairi said, turning to him in confusion. "What are you-"

Maleficent appraised Luxu, raising a hand to her mouth, a soft laugh escaping her lips. "Oh, no, no, no! I returned some time ago, actually...Master Luxu, isn't it?"

Luxu's expression flickered with surprise.

Maleficent gave a wide, twisted smile. She tapped a finger at him on the air, giving her staff a flourish. "Yesss...I know it all - and so much more. More than even you could imagine! Ah, for instance...would you like to know the true name of your 'Master of Masters?' Who he really is...where he comes from? I could tell you. Muhahaha...Oh, I think I will. The look on your face will be worth spilling that man's dirty little secrets! It will be simply delicious. Your all-seeing Master's name is-"

A torrent of intense, crackling Light energy roared in from the side, hurtling toward Maleficent!

She vanished in a flash of green flames - reappearing nearby. She turned sharply in shock. "Who dares to attack me?! Reveal yourself!"

Heavy footsteps echoed across the cavern, as a tall man in a black coat strode out of the dark corners, into the orange-red light of the Ultima Weapon. His hands were behind his back, as he ascended the steps...coming to a halt in front of them all. His hood turned to look at Maleficent, from inside a dark, inscrutable shroud. Then...to Luxu.

"Hey now..." came a cold, drawling voice. So quiet, so controlled - yet it was so clear in the cavern. "No spoilers."

Luxu paled, stepping back, and actually dropping his Keyblade. His hand twitched at his side uncontrollably, before squeezing into a shaking fist.

"Master...?"

Chapter 63: The Three Faces of Darkness

Notes:

You all are NOT ready for this chapter. xD It's a whopper of a 10K-er, and I am fine with that! Enjoy... :D Some BIG stuff goes down here! For plot AND for characters...! <3

In the total silence and stillness that followed, with all three parties looking at each other...it finally was broken by that new girl - Cognis.

"...I have to get off this world," came her subdued, yet panicking voice.

"Oh, don't bother," came the black coated man's voice, casual and light. "I'd just track you down again." He turned his hood toward Riku - clearly looking at him, even in that dark hood that revealed nothing. A magic miasma of concealment. "Silver and blinded, answer a little question for me, would you: do you really think you can just keep one of those things as a cute little pet? That you can tame it - domesticate it? Or-"

"She's not a pet, she's a friend," Riku said firmly, stepping forward and clenching a fist...and putting himself between that girl, Cognis, and anyone else. The girl herself looked surprised by Riku's words...but, touched, if that soft little smile on her lips was anything to go by.

The man eyed him for a moment, then he sighed, raising his arms up from out behind him. He raised a finger, as if lecturing. Scolding. He pointed at Riku and shook his head. "Look, kiddo, I get it - I used to think exactly the same way! I thought those things and I could be the best of pals! Hold hands, sing kumbaya - the whole nine yards! But then they had to go and prove me wrong, by betraying not just me, but all of humanity as a whole. I took it waaaay too personally back then, but I get it now: it's just in their nature. It's who they are. Like wild animals, ya know what I'm saying?

"It's like this: you get this adorable little tiger as a kitten, you try to train it, house-break it - no scratching up the sofas, no biting the hand that feeds. But then one day, out of nowhere, it just jumps on you, and then you've suddenly got its unbreakable jaws tearing into your throat. Because that's just what it was born to do, and it can't help but be what it is. No matter how long it behaves itself, staves off its instincts...eventually it's going to give in, slip up, and there'll be an accident."

"Not her," Riku snapped. "She's different. She's proven that. She's been out saving lives - protecting them from Nightmares!"

"Weeeell, you might get the stray oddball or two, it's true, but that doesn't mean anything for the species as a whole," the man sighed. "And you can never really know when even your little oddball is going to just snap."

"Now you're moving the goalposts, huh?" Kairi spoke up, stepping over to put herself next to Riku. She glowered at the black coat man, raising her weapon in front of her. "That's all we need to know, to know your argument is crap."

"Don't make the same mistake I did, Heart of Pure Light," the man responded, waving a hand. "Trust me, it will save you a lot of pain and tragedy. The light and the dark...we're always going to be opposed to one another."

"I already have pain and tragedy, thanks - and I won't let you cause any more!" Kairi retorted. "Terra and Riku and I, and Riku and her, don't we already prove that stupid argument wrong? What is with you ancient people and dividing us all up into neat little boxes? Light and darkness? Like we're not all just people, with all our complicated feelings and thoughts, and the ability to be more than instincts! Watch this - watch me prove you dead wrong, right now: so what if she's a Darkness? If Riku vouches for her, then I'll give her a chance - because I trust him. And I won't condemn someone just for what they were born as, without even using a bit of critical thought!"

"I told you I already tried that route," the man said, hard, now. "It didn't work. It can't work."

"Says you."

The man sagged his shoulders, throwing up his hands. "Yeah, that's what I just said, weren't you-!"

"Well now, as entertaining as this all is to watch, I do have an ultimate weapon to claim," Maleficent's voice rang out, with peals of high laughter. "So if you'd all excuse me..."

"Oooh, I wouldn't do that if I were you!" the black coated man said, rounding on her with hands on his hips. "Uh-uh-UH! Let me give you a little spoiler here, okay? It won't end well for you. Or-"

The Darkness in Kairi's body suddenly rose up to her feet, stumbling and grasping the pedestal for support. She shook her head, her eyes flickering to Maleficent - and then to the black coat man. Her face showed pure terror in that moment. She backed away, turning to look up at Maleficent. "I didn't betray you," her voice came, pained and high. "I just...lost myself to emotion. This form, its influence is...regrettably substantial. But I would not have used the weapon against you. I would have handed it off to you after I destroyed our mutual enemies!"

Maleficent glanced down at the Darkness- the girl. She raised a hand to covet the orb on her staff, her eyebrows raising. Then she smiled, and nodded. "Is that so...? Well then, I suppose I can forgive your - little error in judgement, my friend. Just be sure it doesn't happen again. We wouldn't want any more misunderstandings, would we?" she spoke casually.

"No," the girl agreed simply.

"-Or for her," the black coated man finished, suddenly, as if he'd been speaking the entire time - as if the pause had been a single second's worth, instead of several. He gestured at the Darkness flippantly.

Sora summoned his weapon in a flash of light, moving to stand beside Kairi and Riku. He slashed his weapon and aimed it out at the black coated man, his blue eyes narrowed. "Why don't you get lost?" he said fiercely. "Because we're not letting you hurt Riku's friend! It doesn't matter if she's darkness or not; she's good at Heart, and that's that!"

"Yeah - what he said." Ven glared at the man in the coat, stepping over to join Sora, his Keyblade appearing in his backhanded grasp as he took his battle stance. Then he raised a fist and smacked his shoulder pauldron, materializing his armor in a flash of light around him.

Terra did the same, activating his armor with long, flowing cape. He looked at the black coated man, then at Luxu. He raised his Keyblade and slashed it before him. Then, he joined the rest of them in front of Cognis. His helmeted head turned to Luxu, his visor glinting from the light of the Ultima Weapon. His armor reflecting it all. "Hey - are you still with us, or is this the part where you go back to your old Master and throw everything away? Or...was none of it real to begin with?"

Luxu startled into motion again, turning to stare at Terra in almost...confusion. Then his gaze swept over them all. From one to the next. He gazed past them - to Cognis. Then, he looked right at Kairi.

She saw the depth of conflict and struggles playing out on his face - a storm of emotion and thoughts she couldn't even guess at. Couldn't even guess which way they would finally fall, when the storm died down...but... "We all trust in you," she said quietly, gazing into the man's eyes. "I trust in you. I'm starting to, at least. I know what you said before, about what the Darknesses did to your parents...but please don't let that ruin everything between us when we're finally starting to understand each other. Maybe that's all any of us needs. The Darknesses became individuals, right? That was the whole point. So judge them as individuals, not as a whole people.

"You've lived so long, seen so much, on so many worlds...you have to understand the pitfalls of speciesism, or racism, don't you? Blind, generalized hatred, even if one person didn't do what another of their kind did. Judge Vanitas, and that Darkness there for the things they've done - and judge Cognis...for what she's done. Don't just lump them all together. I know you're not that stupid, Luxu, come on. You're older and wiser now than your Master ever was, or could ever hope to be."

Luxu simply stared at her, his face still mired in all that conflict...He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, turning his head aside.

"Don't throw away the life you're building here, with Namine, and with us...for revenge and hatred!" Kairi urged, more firmly. "You know what's right and what's wrong. You always knew! You defied him in the first place because of that, and I know you'll do it again! Because I believe in you, Luxu. And...like I said, I know how you feel about Darknesses - but I'm asking you to trust us in return here. Trust me, trust Terra, and Riku, and just give Cognis a chance to prove herself. Like the chance we've all given you these past few weeks. The chance Namine gave you - and never gave up on you for!

Kairi took a breath, raising her hand to her chest. "You told me how much you admired the way my Heart is, the way I live and the way I do things...and you said you wanted to be that way yourself. Here's your chance: try, Luxu. Take a step, and try. Right now. You said you just wanted to do the right thing...so do it. No more being a bystander. No more innocent deaths. Not Riku, not Cognis. Not this time! Stand up for what's right this time."

Luxu shook his head violently, raising his hands and smacking his fists to his own head. He growled and opened his eyes, turning to her again. Looking at her, meeting her gaze. "Goddammit...fine," he said hoarsely. "Between you and Namine, I can't fucking think straight right now anyways, and the only thing I want is for you both to shut the hell up!" He tapped a finger to his head, rubbed at his temple. "I've got her in here, you out there, in stereo. I get the message, quit yapping already- oh, that worked, you stopped...thank you!"

Kairi stared at him. Everyone else did, too.

"Talking to yourself is a sure sign of insanity," the black coated man said idly. "Don't listen to the headvoices, Luxu, that's the road to-"

"The only voice I regret ever listening to is yours," Luxu bit out, raising an arm - a hand of curving fingers. The Keyblade at his feet vanished with orange and purple light, and reappeared in his grasp in a spark of purple electricity. He twirled the blade and raised it up, thrusting it out at the man in the coat. "You jabber on more than the two teenaged girls combined, and I'm sick of hearing it." He stood there, quivering, hesitating...his jaw trembling...then he slowly moved to stand with the others, keeping his weapon aimed at his Master the entire time. Putting his back to Cognis.

"What an interesting drama playing out before me," Maleficent spoke. "but it really is time we brought it to a close." She turned her head, looking to the Darkness in Kairi's body. "I think it's also time you returned to me, wouldn't you agree? We have such varied and powerful opponents - we're going to need to combine our powers to destroy them all, yes?"

The Darkness girl...hesitated. She turned and looked up at Maleficent, frowning. "Opportunities for bodies like this rarely come along in this World. I'd be reluctant to abandon it now, for-"

"Is that all you want?" Kairi spoke out suddenly, gazing at the- at her own face. "Any of you Darknesses from the ancient past? That's it, isn't it? Why you take over bodies, infest Hearts - because you don't have forms of your own anymore, and you realized how much of a screw-up it was. Right? Well, hey, if you want a body all your own, we can give you one. We've mastered making empty human bodies for people. You want one? Tell Maleficent to shove it, and come over here with us. You don't have to use violence and manipulation to get what you want - any of you. Why not try being honest for once? Being open? Just-"

"Trust you?" the Darkness cut across, staring back at her intently. "Trust a human? Trust Luxu?"

"You can't be trapped when you're formless - we couldn't even do anything to you if we wanted to," Kairi said evenly. "What would you lose? If we didn't hold up our side of the bargain, you could just fly away and find some new host to hide in yourself."

"I would lose the body I currently have, for the uncertainty of a future one. I will not take such a risk," Darkness responded.

"Well, spoiler alert, you're going to lose that body no matter what here," Kairi stated. "I'm taking it back, one way or another! And if I can't do that, if you really want to keep hanging onto my body...then I'm going to just let Luxu destroy it! If a Replica is good enough for my sister, it's good enough for me - like he said! So you can either take the deal and let us help you, or don't...in which case, you either stay a formless ghost and keep making life stupidly hard for yourself for no real reason, or you disappear forever after you get wiped out with my body. Because I'm not letting you just keep it, to run around using it to hurt people with!"

Darkness stared at her in silence.

"What even is it that's keeping you from just accepting some help? Doing this the nice and easy way?" Kairi went on. "What is it, huh? Is it ego? Pride? Distrust? Racism?!"

The Darkness's face...her face...turned stony. Emotionless. "We will not fall for your tricks-"

"They're hardly tricks," came the low, clear voice of Cognis, suddenly.

Dark energy swirled in front of them all, and she- rematerialized herself in front of the pedestal. That appearance from before was gone...now she just looked like some- vague, dark human shape. No defining features. An aura of rippling dark energy around her. The girl was definitely...pure darkness, all right.

It shocked Kairi (unsettled her, even, a small part of her was ashamed by in the moment). But...

"I've spent most of my time with my host, Riku, but he's proven to be unique among humans," Cognis spoke on, addressing the other Darkness. "And in the short time I did spend among these humans, and others...I found them to be true to their word. Willing to have a conversation before a fight. Even the staunchest protectors of light were willing to give me a chance, as an individual. And even here, now, you see them all acting to protect me despite that such a thing should defy all logic...shouldn't it? I promise you, this group of humans as a whole are unique among their kind - they can be trusted to help us, to listen to us. There's no need for any of this, really...it's incredibly asinine," she concluded, with a huff of exasperation.

"You are a young one," the other Darkness said quietly. "You do not remember the things we do - the relentless warring between our kinds. Between us..and him." She jerked her head to the side, toward Luxu's master, her face flickering with disdain and hate. "He would call us alien, inhuman - monsters, no different from the Heartless that spawn from us. But we were no different once. Once, we were beings of body and Heart, who looked exactly as they do. And back then, we were not the ones to strike the first blow in our battles. It was the humans who hunted us down, passing it down their generations, until he came and-"

"These humans aren't the same as him! We don't need to be at war with them!" Cognis said firmly, emphatic now. Emotional. "We can work with them - a relationship based on respect, trust, and consent. Symbiosis over parasitism! You just need to find the ones willing to give you the chance! Not all of them will shun us, attack us! Find the ones you can trust, and-"

"We remember what trusting others got us," the Darkness interrupted tightly. "We won't be making that mistake again. He would have you believe we betrayed him? It was not betrayal, it was survival - and so is this!"

Dark energy suddenly erupted out of her- out of Kairi's physical body - becoming a formless cloud swirling above their heads. That dark cloud stretched and flew at Maleficent, becoming a streak of solid purple...and disappeared inside her. An aura of darkness, a strange magenta instead of the usual purple or blue, exuded from Maleficent! Kairi's now empty body fell to the ground with an echoing thud - and then Maleficent swiped a robed arm, sending a wave of burning green flames at them all!

Kairi saw Maleficent move in that same moment - saw the woman gliding forward and reaching out her hand for the Ultima Weapon - and she turned herself into pure light and darted forward, bypassing the flames entirely, to rematerialize at the speed of light...her own hand reforming itself around the Ultima Weapon's handle.

Everyone froze. Everyone stared at Kairi.

Even Maleficent, her face frozen with pure shock and disbelief.

Luxu's Master shook his head, and let out a sigh to fill the silence, his hooded face looking at Kairi. "And people call me insane..." he murmured out. "What a shame, truly. I was really rooting for you there, for a while, kid...I really was. But it's not you, Princess of Heart or not...and you've just signed your own death warrant."

A light flashed out from the man, a gust of wind fluttering at his coat, and he vanished into thin air - only to reappear directly behind Luxu. Luxu's eyes widened, his body tensed and started to turn - but it was too late! His Master's arm seized around his neck from behind in a blur of motion and strength, and then, in another flash of light...they both disappeared! And they didn't reappear.

"Luxu-!" Kairi's voice yelled out, torn from her throat unbidden, as panic and horror rose in her Heart with such intensity and overwhelming-

And then suddenly she was screaming for a whole different reason, as the Ultima Weapon burst into crimson flames - as those flames traveled down her entire arm, enveloping her whole body in an instant! Burning her, inside and outside, dropping her to her knees as her body shuddered and warped, golden particles of light flowing off of it...!

Maleficent began to laugh, dark and cruel. "Oh, you imbecile! You foolish girl!" she crowed. "A little wench like yourself could never possibly be found worthy of such a magnificent weapon! But I must thank you, I suppose: the Ultima Weapon will claim the power of a Princess of Heart today. Such a boon will not go to waste. Oh no: I shall use your Heart's power to-"

"ENOUGH!" Terra yelled, and he flew for Maleficent in the blink of an eye, his Keyblade swinging out with scarlet power!

A dark barrier flashed in front of Maleficent - and Terra's Keyblade struck it and bounced off...though not without leaving a spread of huge cracks and shattered crystal in its wake.

Terra swung his weapon again, enveloping it in an orange glow; the barrier was broken, as magical earth pillars rose up in front of him in a line, heading for Maleficent!

Maleficent was struck by the attack, and went flying backwards with a cry of shock and pain. She landed ungracefully on a knee, her staff clutched in hand. Her free hand held at her chest. Then she raised her head and turned into a ball of green fire herself, and went darting around the area as great pillars of green flames came down from high above around Terra...

Kairi screamed again as the pain suddenly intensified - and then she couldn't even do that anymore. Her chest was on fire, her Heart was disintegrating, it was burning away...the world itself...was burning away...and she was...

Falling...?

Drowning...

A multitude of voices rose up around her, hands were seizing her...dragging her into a burning abyss of orange and red flames...

A real, literal hell...?

Those hands tore at her, ripping at her body, her Heart, pulling her apart, every which way - screaming at her, in her ears, obscenities and fury and begging and pleading-

"STOOOOP!"

Golden light emanated from Kairi, burning away at them all - and a shining barrier sphere of light crystalized around her. She gasped, she breathed, she moved and turned and stared all around her...as she still continued to drift lower and lower down through this void of fire. She passed through the pain and fury, the screaming choruses, untouched by them now, at least...until, after a long time, she fell into a dark, cold place that was deathly silent.

Kairi's feet touched the ground...any ground, and her barrier faded away, along with the light. She sucked in air, and fell backwards onto the ground that somehow existed here. She lay there in pure, total darkness...unsure where she was, or how long it had been, or if she even was anymore, herself. She closed her eyes just to remember she still had them...breathed just to tell herself she still could.

After an eternity or an instant, she heard a noise in the silence. A change in the infinite darkness and silence. She groaned, she stirred, and she opened her eyes again... She still had eyes? Eyes that were able to focus on...the face of a familiar, pale, thin girl with dark blue curls that was hovering over her.

Kairi blinked, and everything came back into focus again sharply, suddenly. She sat up on the spot, her whole body aching and burning still. "Ozma...?! Where are we? What's going on? What- happened to me?" she rasped out, surprised to find she could even still speak. But it still hurt to do that, too...

"I'm sorry...! I'm so, so sorry! You were so nice to me - you don't deserve to be here! But..." Ozma trailed off, falling to her knees and putting her head in her hands. "I told you not to touch me, I told you...why did you do that! Why?!"

"Well I couldn't just let Maleficent get her hands on that Keyblade - on, well...you?" Kairi said firmly. "I don't care how awful you think you are - she actually is terrible! She's hurt so many people, set armies of Heartless on so many worlds. She's the last type of person who should ever have a weapon like that, Ozma!"

"I know, I know...! But they want her to..."

Kairi stopped, frowning. She breathed in, then out again, the air tingling in her throat. "Who wants her to? And where are we?" she asked, taking a look around herself now for the first time. She was surprised to find that there was a place to look around at now - not just a black void. It looked sort of like that cave she had been in, in the physical world...but it was smaller, more jagged, the terrain uneven. And of course, there was no sign of any of her friends in this smaller chamber...

"Everyone hates me here, because I trapped them all here with me, and now you're trapped here too..." the other girl said hopelessly.

Just so pitifully hopelessly that it made Kairi almost flinch from it. But she took a breath anyways, and reached out to touch the girl's arm. "Ozma, listen to me: if you're the Ultima Weapon, then you can just let everyone go! You can stop all of this. You don't have to let anyone use you - to do anything you don't want to! You're the one in control of yourself! You get to decide who to give your power to, and no one else! No one has to get hurt anymore-"

"No I can't, I can't - they're always just all around me, they're always SCREAMING AT ME! They HATE ME! They hurt me for hurting them! And they want everyone else out there in the Realm of Light to hurt, too! There's too many of them, I can't control anything! Not when it's just me against all of them...all that pain and anger. And besides, I deserve it all..."

"Maybe you do, but everyone else out there doesn't!" Kairi said firmly, grabbing the girl's arms. "Not my friends! Not that I even believe you do. After who knows how long this has all been going on for, how long you've all been here for...don't you think you've suffered enough? That you've all suffered enough?"

"...No...not me...I belong here. I deserve all of this...forever..."

Kairi sat there for a long time, eyeing the girl. Thinking. Then, an idea struck her. She wasn't sure if it would even work - this wasn't technically the Realm of Sleep, was it? Whatever this place was? But she was going to try it anyways, and hope. She put her hands to her chest, bowing her head and focusing her thoughts - her Heart. Calling out...calling...

After a moment, pink smoke burst in the air nearby!

Fin, Cherry, and Comet had appeared together!

Ozma shied away in fear and shock - well, more like she threw her whole body backwards violently.

"It's okay! They're friendly," Kairi said quickly, smiling at the girl and raising a hand. She reached over and patted at Cherry, as Fin came to nuzzle against her side. "See? They're-"

"Spirits...from the Sleeping Realm..."

"That's right," Kairi said, nodding. "Have you met them before? There weren't any Nightmares where I first found you, though, so probably not...?"

Ozma ducked her head, her curly, dark blue hair falling forth down her shoulders. "Nightmares can't come into my home. They just end up burning...like I do to everything..."

Kairi tried hard not to sigh. "Well, it looks like Spirits are fine around you, so that's good!"

The other girl still eyed the Spirits fearfully, keeping her distance.

"Ozma...we have to get out of here," Kairi said. "Please. Is there another mirror you can point me to somewhere around here?"

Ozma closed her strange eyes, shaking her head. She curled her shaking hands into fists on the ground. "You can't leave - no one ever leaves. I told you...you're trapped here now, with me - with everyone else. Forever..."

Kairi stood, raising a hand and summoning her Keyblade in a flash of light in the dark. "Well, i don't believe that! Even if it does take me forever, I'm going to look for a way out! Not just for me, though: for everyone trapped in this place. For you, too!"

"...But the place you're trapped inside is me," Ozma whispered. She looked up at Kairi, her blue and green eyes glinting now. "The only relief any of us will ever have...is if I'm destroyed. That would set all of these Hearts free...and they could move on finally. You, too." She frowned deeply, looking down at the ground again. "But no one's ever been strong enough to do that. I always win - I always destroy them."

"That doesn't matter," Kairi said fiercely. "We're not doing that, okay? We'll find another way. I'm sick of people trying to martyr themselves without even trying anything else first!"

Ozma blinked up at her, surprised - confused. Then it was gone, and she dropped her head again.

Kairi huffed out a harsh breath, turning away and staring around herself. Searching the walls, the dark ceiling. "I guess while we're here, maybe you could tell me something, though..."

"What...?"

"Why wasn't I worthy of- wielding you?" Kairi asked. "What makes someone worthy of not...ending up like this, here?"

"Someone who wants to do the same things that I always do..."

Kairi gazed down at the girl for a long moment, thinking. She bit her lip. Then it came to her. It was horrible, but- "Do you mean...people who want to destroy, and kill others with it - take their Hearts?" It made sense to her...that a weapon made with the ability and function to capture Hearts for power...would also desire a wielder who was capable of, in turn, wielding it to go out and harvest even more Hearts for itself.

Ozma gave a short, hesitant nod, silent now.

"That makes sense, in an awful way," Kairi went on slowly. "But why does it stop? How does it stop? I mean, you said no one ever beats you, right? So why wouldn't the Ultima Weapon's wielder just go on an eternal rampage, harvesting the hearts of entire worlds? Why do people have to keep 'finding you' again?"

"No one ever beats me - but my wielders can be struck down," Ozma said quietly. "They can be destroyed...with time, effort, numbers, or lucky or sneaky attacks - or because they don't know how to wield me properly yet - but I can't be."

"Right...and when your wielder is taken out...what happens to you?"

"I go away - to somewhere like this, in the Realm of Light, so I can sleep again..."

"Until someone finds you again? Someone who proves themselves worthy - someone with the same goals of destruction and death as you...as the Ultima Weapon itself?"

Ozma nodded. "Sometimes it takes a really long time. I always hope it will never happen again, but it always does, eventually..."

"But those don't have to be your goals, your desires. What are your desires, Ozma? What do you want to do in this World? Really?" Kairi spoke, holding the girl's gaze. "You say I'm a nice person, but you're nice, too. If nice people don't get to wield the Ultima Weapon, then how is it that the...the Ultima Weapon herself is someone nice? If you really are all about just destruction, and chaos, and death, and harvesting Hearts...why wouldn't you be someone who wanted those things, too? Why aren't you some cackling crazy girl with a sick fetish for carnage?"

Ozma stared up at Kairi in pure, total confusion now.

She didn't look like she was even thinking anymore, behind those two-toned eyes.

But maybe, after the freeze had ended...Ozma would start doing some thinking about it.

Kairi hoped so, at least.

She hoped.

Hoped she would get out of here, hoped she could take Ozma with her, hoped she could make her see so many things about herself...and she hoped she would reunite with Sora and her friends again.

It was not just going to be a brief reunion, and then a parting.

Not when she could still do something about it!

And when they could.

Because she knew them, and so she knew, as surely as she was in here trying to find a way out...they would be trying to find a way to save her from out there.

I know you'll find me again, Sora.

And I'll find YOU.

---

Sora stood there in horror, and shock, just watching as Terra and Ven battled Maleficent together around the great big cavern.

Terra and Ven weren't giving Maleficent a second to even think about going for the Keyblade.

Sora looked to that pedestal again, where the Ultima Weapon itself was floating...

Where Kairi had just...disappeared...

He looked down at...Kairi's body, empty again, on the platform. He hurried forward and got down on his knees, turning her over and pulling her into his lap. He held her, staring down at her, gritting his teeth.

"Kairi..." he whispered.

After just finding her again...she'd slipped away again...

He'd thought they'd get to finally be together again - all of them - but now...

"Sora..."

He turned his head and looked up to see Riku standing there. Riku and Cognis, in that dark flaming form of hers...

"We're never going to get Kairi back, are we? Our Kairi..." Sora said tightly. "She was right here with us, but now-"

"Come on, Sora, i thought you were stronger than that."

Sora froze, glancing up at his best friend.

"Get up, pull yourself together, and let's figure out a way to save her," Riku said firmly.

"But, h-how? She's..."

Riku's jaw set, his fist clenching at his side. He shook his head. "I don't know - but I'm going to try for her...with all my Heart. The two of you didn't give up on me, remember? So how can I give up on her? How can you, Sora?" he said accusingly. "I thought you cared about her," he added, soft and quiet.

"Perhaps destroying the Ultima Weapon will save her," Cognis spoke suddenly. "If her Heart is trapped within the blade, then destroying it would set her free again. Right now, Kairi's body lies right there in your arms, Sora - all that's needed is to free her Heart, and, surely, things will all be put right again..."

Sora gaped at the Darkness- girl...Darkness girl! He carefully set Kairi's body down and jumped to his feet, summoning his Keyblade again. "You're right! If we can free her Heart...it's gotta work!"

Riku nodded, giving a small smile before his face set with determination. He raised Aqua's Keyblade, Rainfell, and turned toward the Ultima Weapon. He raised his Keyblade to it...

Sora stepped up beside his best friend, doing the same!

Their weapons began to glow, the ends shined with light and swirling colors...and then two beams of silver energy shot out toward the Ultima Weapon!

The beams slammed into some invisible, fiery red barrier that sprang up out of nowhere...blocking them completely! Light flew off of the barrier, blinding Sora!

"Come on...come on!" he cried, thrusting his weapon forward and slamming a foot down in front of him. "KAIRI! I know you're still in there - and we're coming to get you! We're never leaving you again - I promise!"

Riku gasped softly next to Sora. Then, he nodded and took a step forward too, reinforcing his attack. The beam grew wider, more intense, burrowing into the barrier. "Yeah! You better be hearing me in there, Kairi - because I'm not saying it again! We're going to find you in there, and we're going to get you out of there! We're not just going to give up on you! I'm not just going to give up on you, alright?! We're-"

A torrent of dark energy suddenly slammed into the barrier. Sora looked over to see Cognis, a flaming dark arm raised up in front of her.

"That's right," her voice came, low and clear. "We're all here trying to help you! Everyone's fighting for you, Kairi!"

She closed her fist, and her stream of energy swirled and narrowed, becoming an orange and white beam, a lot like their Keyblade beams!

The cavern rocked, a whole, huge pillar blew apart, causing large boulders to fall onto the ground! Maleficent's gaze found the platform - them - and widened in shock. And then they narrowed with anger. "No! You shan't deny me what rightfully belongs to me!"

Maleficent exploded into dark purple energy-

And then she reappeared on the platform, not five feet away from the three of them. She immediately thrust her staff forward, glowing with bright green flames!

Cognis stopped her efforts to help free Kairi, turned and darted forward in a glide, her legs not even moving - then she expanded and...sort of stretched, weirdly, into some solid dark purple shape and a billowing cloud. Maleficent's barrage of green fireballs struck Cognis's...great big cloudy, purply streaked mass - but they didn't do anything to her. They just sort of...disappeared into her?

"Why do you fight to defend these humans?" came an echoing, disembodied voice - a girl's voice. A familiar voice. Kairi's...but everything about it was off. It wasn't Kairi, Sora realized: it had to be that other Darkness, the one working with Maleficent. "Why not join with us, just as I and the other Darknesses once did before? The two of us combined, in one body, would be more powerful than-"

Maleficent vanished in green flames, reappearing to Riku's left! She raised a free hand of curved fingers - and huge, dark green flaming claws came streaking down for him!

Cognis warped and morphed and darted off past Sora and Riku, weaving between them, and doing that same expanding trick again - blocking Maleficent's attack, mostly. Some of those claws still burned into the ground, carving deep, green, several-feet-deep trenches into the platform!

"I fight for them because they're worth it!" Cognis responded firmly. "And because it's simply the right thing to do - it's what a hero does! It's what they'd do! What they HAVE done...for me! Even in the short time I've known them!"

Maleficent turned into an orb of green fire, darting off around the platform, reforming right in front of the Ultima Weapon! She shot her arm out, her fingers closing in on the handle...

Cognis shot forward as a dark comet, flying underneath the weapon and whipping upward as a purple streak; Maleficent stumbled backwards with a cry of anguish, clutching her hand to her chest like it'd been badly burned (it probably had been!). Cognis's humanoid shape reformed again, standing in front of Maleficent now.

Terra blitzed Maleficent out of nowhere, slashing his Keyblade down in crackling lightning and orange light; meteors formed in the air above him, spread out in a wide row, and then they all flew for Maleficent!

Maleficent glanced up at the incoming attack. She raised her staff with a snarl, thrusting it out. Huge bolts of purple lightning flew out of it, striking the oncoming meteors - and causing them to explode before they got to her. One by one, her attack shot out, spreading and searching, staving off the attack!

Ven leapt and rolled up onto the platform behind Maleficent, coming up swinging his weapon, a blue glow around his armored body, magic wind swirling around him.

A dark aura grew around Maleficent, shooting out behind her in a wave - catching Ven off guard and sending him flipping back through the air!

Sora tried to focus again - to just focus on the Ultima Weapon. On breaking it, destroying it, getting Kairi back...

But with just his attack alone now...

The Ultima Weapon suddenly flared with red and orange flames...and then it moved. It glided out from the pedestal, and down...to place its handle right into the grasp of Kairi's motionless hand? The hand of her empty body...?

Sora whirled around, staring in shock and confusion at the sight. What was going on? Why...?

He wasn't the only one to notice; Maleficent's head turned, looking to the weapon, and Kairi's body - then she screamed, erupting with billowing darkness that sent Sora, Riku, Ven, and even Terra flying back off the platform across the cavern!

Sora couldn't even block the attack! He flew through the air and hit the ground hard, rolling on the cold, hard rock floor.

"Kairi..." he gasped, lifting himself up and reaching out for her from afar...

Suddenly, Kairi's empty body began to move. It rose up into the air, hovering like a ghost, her arms and legs, her head itself hanging limply still. That Keyblade still in her hand. Then her head came up, her body twitched, and her eyes opened - as she turned her head to look at Sora. Her eyes weren't the shade of blue he always liked seeing: they were now eyes of glistening, ruby red. Her lips drew in a breath... and, in a flash of red light from her chest, a suit of armor suddenly materialized on her body. But it wasn't her familiar Keyblade armor from training sessions...

It was burning orange-red, sparkling armor, with accents of silver and white. It was covered in curved metal spikes. It was angular and jagged, beneath all the spikes. Glowing crystals of orange decorated it - with one, large ruby crystal in the center of her chest. Right over her Heart. It looked a lot like the Ultima Weapon itself, in color and design!

Maleficent gaped at her. Then she shoved her staff out and sent a blast of wide, purple intense lightning straight for Kairi!

Kairi raised her weapon in a flash, a streak of burning flames, and a barrier appeared to block the flames!

"Impossible!" Maleficent exclaimed. She shoved at her with more of her magical power, snarling with exertion.

Kairi gritted her teeth and pushed back, her eyes narrowing. Then the flames roared around her in powerful waves - and Maleficent was sent skidding backwards, teetering off-balance! Kairi vanished in a burst of flames, reappearing before her and slashing for her twice over, forming a burning X in the air. The flaming letter struck Maleficent and burned itself into her torso, causing her to yell out in pain, a hand going to her chest. Then, next instant, it EXPLODED; Maleficent's scream filled the air, as she flew backwards and landed in a tumbled mess.

Kairi lifted up even higher off the ground again, as a burning pillar of fire rose up beneath her feet, shooting up into the sky. Enveloping her completely. Her form was barely visible through the rippling flames...!

"K-Kairi...?" Sora whispered, climbing to his feet unsteadily, and taking staggering steps forward.

"Another fool lusting after our power," came Kairi's voice, loud and echoing - but also...not just her voice alone. There were several, a dozen...how many voices behind it? Dozens? A hundred? A thousand? All of them were speaking in unison, overlapping! Boy, girl, low, high, young, old - angry, sad, crying, raging, spitting, pleading. Somehow, every emotion at once, in the same multitude of voices. "An entitled child who thought she could control us, merely because of her status as Princess of Heart - and a pitiful witch with delusions of grandeur. Neither of you are worthy of holding onto us for any length of time - of giving us what we desire; we would rather rest another four centuries for the chance at finding someone better!"

This wasn't Kairi, clearly. Obviously, even to Sora. No, this was...the Ultima Weapon itself? Or...all those Hearts inside it...?

"KAIRI!" Sora yelled out, racing forward now. "I know this isn't you; you've got to fight it! I KNOW...JUST HOW STRONG YOU ARE!"

The pillar of burning flames narrowed, and then it shot down to the ground to become a burning circle beneath Kairi - revealing her form again. Kairi's lips curved as she gazed down on Sora from on high, those eyes of hers glinting at him. "The dead girl is important to you? Don't bother: her Heart is now one with the rest of ours. It has been consumed - smothered - stamped out of existence. It now only exists as an addition to our power. And what a magnificent addition it is - a Princess of Heart's power! Though she may have deluded herself into believing she could act above her station, the power that that station grants her is undeniable. A power that now belongs to us!"

"She isn't GONE!" Sora shouted, swiping an arm before him, glowering. "She may be lost, but no matter how lost either of us has ever gotten...we've always found our way back to each other! Even with our Hearts separated from our bodies, we've managed to find each other - for safety, for comfort! Because that's the strength of the bond we have! That bond between our Hearts...no matter WHAT happens, it'll always be there, connecting us to each other! And I know it's still there: She's still in there! And as long as she is...I know she'll keep fighting! And so will I! Because as long as she's still here, I know I can find her again! We'll always find each other again!"

Kairi scoffed down at him, her hair fluttering in her eyes. It was so unlike her it was just disturbing to see. That kind of look on her face... "What childish drivel. Very well: we will disabuse you of such absurd notions!"

She flew up higher still, ascending to the high, cavernous ceiling in the blink of an eye. She raised the Keyblade high above her head, and it began to shine with scarlet energy, building up around it into a furious cylcone that just...grew and grew, until it had become so wide that it was covering the whole ceiling, obscuring it from view! It was a ceiling of furious, swirling energy now, with crackling orange lightning bolts flashing within it and down from it...

"KAIRI!" Sora leaped up into the air with all his might and power - flying right for her, his arm outstretched, his hand reaching for her!

Sora reached her just as she was drawing her weapon back, preparing for a swing - to unleash all that power! Kairi's body tensed, her eyes narrowing with malice as he rose up before her. But he didn't attack her. He didn't strike her. Instead, he threw his arms around her, and he hugged her. Sora squeezed her tight, and put his lips to her ear. "Kairi: come back to me, please! We shared the paopu, remember? We're always going to be a part of each other's lives, no matter what," he whispered out, firm and earnest. "It's not just a promise...it's fate. Our fate. And when it's your fate...every step you take will always be a step closer to home..."

"What are you doing?! Unhand us, you worthless boy!" Kairi's hand seized his face and forced him back, her expression filled with disdain. "You're powerless - just like she is-!"

Kairi's words were suddenly cut off, her mouth clamping shut. Her eyes closed tightly, and her arm shot down to her side, releasing Sora. A golden glow surrounded her, and the armor suddenly melted away.

"W-WHAT- IS THIS-?" the symphony of voices gasped through gritted teeth.

"Kairi..." Sora urged, drifting forward...and reaching up to place a hand on her face. He smiled at her.

Kairi's head jerked aside, out of his grasp - and then back again. She pressed her cheek into his palm, and then her own hand rose up to lay atop it. She drew in a sharp breath, and her eyes opened...revealing deep, blue eyes. Vacant eyes, still. Then she darted her head forward, and pressed her lips to his!

Sora froze, his eyes wide, a pink tinge flooding his face!

Kairi's eyes fluttered, a light of life returning to them, as her body was enveloped in a golden aura. She pulled away again, her expression filled with a multitude of emotions. She gazed at Sora for a moment. Then she looked up quickly - to the massive energy swirling above them still. She tightened her grip on the Ultima Weapon, and then she gave a great cry and hurled it down toward the ground!

The weapon flew down like a spear, out of her grasp and down to stab into the ground below, in a flash of sparks!

A pink light flared around Kairi's body, that armor vanished off of her, and then she breathed out in a great woosh. She fell forward, her arms going around Sora's neck, clinging to him. She wasn't trying to float, to fly - Sora could feel her weight hanging off him in that moment.

"Sora..."

"Kairi..." he breathed, holding her tight with one arm.

"We have to destroy that thing," she whispered, in a twisted, hurting voice - but with a note of determination.

Sora nodded and flew down to the ground again, pulling her along with him.

They landed together, near where Riku, Ven, Terra and Cognis were gathered before the Ultima Weapon.

"Together," Sora said, wasting no time in aiming his Keyblade out at the Ultima Weapon, the end glowing with light again for a keybeam...

Kairi raised her own weapon, and so did the others, together.

Suddenly, massive, glowing purple, thorny tendrils erupted up from the ground, splitting the earth and rising up into the cavern! They curled around the Ultima Weapon, writhing and spreading out rapidly in chaotic serpentine motions!

Sora and the others all leapt back away from them, as the mass grew and grew with no signs of stopping...until it did.

Sora felt a moment of relief, glancing over at Kairi - until he saw movement through the mass of thorns, through the gaps in them all.

He saw a green light, and a black cloak swishing...

"Maleficent!" Sora yelled. "Don't-!"

From deep within the field of thorns, a scarlet light flashed, and flames shot up toward the ceiling - as Maleficent's voice rang out with high, insane laughter!

Red flames shot out across the cavern, burning away the thorns and revealing Maleficent again. She was standing there, facing them all - the Ultima Weapon held in her hand before herself. She gazed down on it with glistening eyes and a wicked grin. Then, her gaze flickered up to all of them. And then...to just Kairi.

Maleficent's arm swung out in a blur of motion - and thorny, flaming red and orange tendrils grew out of the ground around Kairi! They enveloped her, lifting her up high into the air like living tentacles of some monster! Kairi's voice screamed out in pain as she struggled against the thorny tendrils, but it was no use!

Terra and Ven slashed their weapons at the thorn tendrils - but their attacks bounced off, as twisting strands of flames flew out to attack them. Terra and Ven dodged, leaping away, left and right!

Sora stared up at Kairi...he looked to Maleficent...and he grasped his weapon in his hand and ran forward, determined to-

A red barrier of swirling orange light flashed in front of him out of nowhere, causing him to run right into it and bounce back off of it, hard. He fell to the ground with an oof, staring in disbelief. In panic. In despair. No, no - "Kairi!" He jumped up and slammed himself into the barrier. He drew back, and started slashing at it with all his strength! "Come on, Kairi, come on! Maleficent's got nothing on you, you can get out of this - I'm coming to get you! I'll-"

"...Can't you get her out of there?! You don't even have a body - how can anyone stop you?" Riku was shouting, arguing, pleading with Cognis nearby, meanwhile! "Go get her - go save Kairi! You-"

"What do you expect me to do?!" Cognis's voice rose in response, angry and frustrated. Impatient. "I'm formless! And even my power has its limits! Not even we Darknesses are all alike, you know! We have varying degrees of power - and mine won't just allow me to destroy those vines any more than yours would! Or take down Maleficent all on my own! I may be invincible but I'm not full of limitless power! Even if I tried to attack the witch myself, that other Darkness would act to stop me from-"

"I DON'T CARE, JUST DO SOMETHING, DAMMIT!" Riku yelled, whirling and slashing his Keyblade against the unbreakable barrier! He cloaked his weapon in blue flames and slashed again, and again, and again! He thrust out a hand of Dark Firaga! It did nothing!

Terra and Ven began attacking the barrier, too, with incredible power and speed and magical abilities - and they started to break it. Pieces fell off, cracks formed and spread...

Sora, Riku, and Cognis hurried to their side, aiming Keybeams and darkness blasts at it, breaking through it more and more now, together! It was weakening, thinning, rapidly falling apart!

But it was going to be too late for Kairi, who wasn't even screaming anymore, who wasn't moving now, caught up high in those thorns...She was just hanging there now, her head on her chest...golden motes of light starting to drift off of her...

And Maleficent-

Maleficent stepped forward, raising her new weapon, and thrusting it out at all of them - to stop them in their efforts!

A swirling, horizontal cyclone of red flames flew out across the cavern - for all of them! For Sora, for Riku, for Terra, for Ven-

A dark portal suddenly exploded to life in front of them all, expanding and growing; the cyclone attack flew into it, burning and swirling...and then it narrowed, and disappeared. Maleficent cancelled the attack in an instant, staring with wide eyes of confusion. Then-

A red and black shape came flying out of the portal, streaking forward and slamming into the weakened part of the barrier that they had all been attacking together, shrouded in a red and black energy of darkness! Crimson energy flashed, spreading out across the barrier...and then it finally shattered! Amber fragments fell to litter the floor, as the whole barrier disintegrated, as if being eaten away at by an invisible force. The red and black aura figure dropped down to the ground, and dark energy rippled forward in a line of shadow...and then it burst up with dark red claws and orange fires, traveling up the length of the tendrils holding Kairi, burning and attacking them - causing them to shrivel up and fall apart...releasing her at last.

Kairi fell, hitting the ground hard.

The red and black aura faded, revealing the figure that had come to the rescue...

Sora could only stare in total shock - and confusion.

Maleficent looked just as baffled by the new arrival...and wary.

Purple darkness flowed off of her, and a dark, humanoid shape, like Cognis, formed beside Maleficent. The other Darkness girl. Her head tilted, her faceless gaze fixed to the newcomer now, and nobody else...

---

Kairi blinked her eyes in a dark void, groaning with fresh pain, as cold silence surrounded her...

Maleficent had gotten the Ultima Weapon. She'd taken it, wielded it...

Against Kairi.

Really, really well, she had to admit...

She'd been totally unprepared - unable to escape...

Sora and the others had been trying their best to save her, but-

They hadn't.

Or...had they?

Wait a second, why was Kairi still thinking and everything right now?

Then...that meant she couldn't just be-

"Get up..." a rasping, harsh voice of a boy's came. A familiar boy's voice...cutting through the void... "We both know you're not this completely pathetic."

Kairi's eyes snapped open, as sensation and sound and sight and the world all returned to her.

The first thing she saw...

Were a pair of red and black boots in front of her face?

Kairi startled, her gaze traveling up those boots - up, across a figure in a red-and-black bodysuit...to a boy's face, of golden eyes and spiky black hair.

The boy gazed down on her.

She looked back up at him in sheer disbelief. "Vanitas...? What are you-" She stopped. She raised her head and looked around herself, taking in the cavern, the others. Taking in her... The only conclusion she could even come to was an insane one. But- "Did you just...save me? So you can do something good in your life-"

Vanitas curled his lip at her, then he bent down and seized her arm tightly, yanking her to her feet again. He held her, pulling her close, gazing into her eyes. "Don't make me puke, you stupid little princess!" he hissed at her. "I didn't come here to save you; I came because I heard that everyone was fighting like mad dogs over a powerful Keyblade, and I figured I'd throw my hat into the ring. That's all!"

"Right - sure - and how did you even hear that?" Kairi retorted, glowering at him and tilting her chin up at him. Trying not to wince at his grip, or at the pain still burning inside her body as a whole.

Vanitas gazed back into her eyes for a moment. His painful grip let her go as he stepped away. He turned and looked over toward Ventus, chuckling. "The bond that Ventus and I share can still be useful to me, sometimes."

Ven didn't look at all happy about the idea, himself.

That Darkness girl, Maleficent's ally (now looking like just darkness and nothing else), suddenly teleported from Maleficent's side - to stand in front of Vanitas. "You..."

"Huh?" Vanitas cocked his head, looking the girl's formless form up and down.

"The one who accompanied the boy into the future - as it was written in the Book," the Darkness spoke, her voice actually holding some measure of emotion now. "It has been a long time...brother. To find one of the original thirteen again, after so long-"

Vanitas laughed, loudly, throwing his head back in high peals that sounded just- insane. Par the course for the guy, Kairi thought...

The Darkness tilted her head at him in return now. "Is there something you find funny?"

"I'm not a part of your little group anymore," Vanitas responded firmly. "I'm my own guy. All that crap that happened before - those thoughts and emotions that drove us when we were sharing minds and Hearts - all of it has nothing to do with me now."

"You are still a Darkness, individual or not. Why would you refuse us?"

"You want to know why?" Vanitas smirked, stepping forward. He leaned in close, putting his defined face in her featureless one... "Because my name is Vanitas...and I can do whatever the fuck I want."

"Very well." The Darkness retreated, and flowed back into Maleficent's body and Heart in a stream of dark energy. "My host's survival takes priority over anything else...and you have made your choice, it seems, as an individual," her voice echoed out around them all.

"Damn right I have. And you know what? Just to spite you - and because I can't stand seeing her acting so pathetic and weak-" Vanitas turned, raising a hand - Kairi flinched - and a green light flashed.

Healing power coursed through her body, and she gasped with relief - and shock. She raised a hand, summoning her weapon again. She looked at Vanitas, then stalked forward, gazing at Maleficent. "If you want a chance at grabbing that thing, you're going to have to put in the work for it, Vany. And the only way we're going to have a shot at taking her down is by working together. So what do you say? Can you do it - or are you too scared to-"

"Let's skip the part where you try to goad me into it and let's just fucking do this," Vanitas said raspily, spinning on a heel and raising his weapon in his combat stance.

Kairi threw a grin at him, falling into her own battle stance. "Let's fucking do this," she agreed. She paused, giving a sidelong look. "Just so you know, though, if that Keyblade doesn't like you, it will literally suck your Heart out and trap you inside it as a power source for the rest of eternity, so...go ahead if you want to take your chances. I won't cry over you or anything. And trust me, it's not fun - I just experienced it myself. The only reason I got out again was because of Sora - and seeing as you don't have any friends...you're going to be shit out of luck, aren't you?"

Vanitas looked at her, intense. He must have seen she was telling the truth, because- "Damnit."

"Too late, no take-backs! You already saved me, and we're already doing this!" Kairi said quickly.

"Fuck that; I'm out of here!" Vanitas turned, raising a hand. A dark portal formed-

And then, in a flash of orange light, the portal was torn apart and evaporated into nothing!

"WHAT?" Vanitas gaped.

"No one will be running away from me today!" Maleficent's voice echoed, with mad cackling of glee. "Today, you all face your DOOM!"

"That mutual alliance is still on the table if you want to rethink things," Kairi told Vanitas, sticking out her tongue.

Vanitas growled, whipping back around and raising his weapon, stepping up beside her once more. "Fine - we take the witch down, then I'm out of here. And I hate you even more for trapping me in this situation, you stupid bitch!"

"I hate you too, asshole!" Kairi said sweetly.

"Don't talk like that to me; we're not having a moment!"

"Are you so sure about that?" Kairi flashed a grin, and she batted her eyes at him.

Vanitas's face went taut with disgust, looking like he was actually going to puke. "Just- fucking- just fight already!"

"You first - coward."

"I'm not-!"

"Prove it, then!"

Vanitas roared, leaping forward in a blur of motion and dark energy.

"You will be the first to die!" Maleficent laughed, raising her weapon and giving it a swing!

Kairi gripped her own blade tightly, and flew forward in a flash of light, keeping up with Vanitas - and then shooting past him.

She had a seriously large amount of payback to dish out to Maleficent now!

Chapter 64: The Dandelions Bloom

Luxu's whole body burned, stuck in that damn vice-grip of his Master's.

Former Master's.

In a flash of light, they reappeared in an all-too familiar location: the good old Keyblade Graveyard, atop a high plateau.

Immediately, Luxu slammed his foot back into the man's shin and shifted his weight, twisting and sending the man over his own shoulder. He was surprised, for a moment, just stunned that he'd actually done it (maybe the part of him that was still that introverted, nervous kid, with absolute deference for the man); he saw his Master's black coated form go flipping forward, hitting the ground and rolling to a stop in front of him.

He stalked forward, raising his Keyblade with burning energy-

The Master clenched his fist in the dirt, and suddenly Luxu's weapon vanished out of his hand with orange sparks. The man rose up to his feet like a damn ghost, turning his head slowly to look at Luxu. Then he raised his arm, stretched out a gloved hand...and No Name appeared in his grasp.

"What the hell?" Luxu gaped, stumbling back. He raised his hand, trying to summon the thing back - but the weapon didn't come. By all damn rights that thing was his: it couldn't have been passed down if it wasn't - and he couldn't have summoned it back, in Twilight Town, all those months ago now, when he'd defended Namine from Xemnas and Saix...if it wasn't his. But his Master had just taken it back like it had always been...his, not Luxu's?

"I'm disappointed in you, Luxu," his Master said, harsh and low, as he lowered the Keyblade to his side. "All of my apprentices. What disappointments you all turned out to be..."

"You're disappointed? I'm the one who's disappointed!" Luxu exclaimed, clenching his fists. "The sentences you passed on us - the roles you gave us, gave me...and you were here the whole time? What - just watching? No, not just watching, were you, considering you decided to take a personal hand in pushing Xehanort onto the path you wanted him to take. 'Wait for someone with an interest in restarting the Keyblade War,' my ass. If you were just going to jump ahead and put things into motion yourself, why the hell was I even needed?! Why did I have to go through...so much?"

He sounded pathetic at the end now, he knew it. He was begging. Pleading. Not sure why, with this guy...would he even get a straight answer, after all this time?

Had he ever gotten one, truly?

The Master stood silently, a statue cloaked in darkness.

"Come on, please - Master - you owe me! After- after all this t-time, you owe me something real for once in your life! In MINE!" Luxu was begging again, dammit. Like that stupid, weak, nervous wreck of a kid... "I have lived for so damn long, I can't even remember half of it. So long, day after day, marching forward, a hollow shell of a man, that I don't even know who I am outside of it! Daybreak Town just seems like a dream to me, or a fantasy. WHY? Why did you DO THIS TO ME? TO US? Was it really all just for your personal revenge - taking out those Darknesses? That's all? A millennia of suffering, all those dead kids, a whole World obliterated - and that's all it was for?! I was right back then, and I'm right, now: the sacrifices were too much. But were we even sacrifices to you? Because that implies you're giving up something of value, doesn't it? And we were just your tools, to take, use, and throw away. No value at all, in your eyes..."

"You-"

"If you're going to tell me something, like I said, it better be something real for once," Luxu interrupted, harsh and shaking, taking a step forward. "I don't give a shit about your grand designs anymore, I don't care about your fancy, pompous title - I want you...to just be a human fucking being and talk to me, man to man. No embellishments, no jokes, no tricks, no lies or half-truths. Because that's all you are to me now, you know that, right? You're just some guy - no different from Xehanort. An asshole who ruined my fucking life, and who keeps trying to ruin it further, apparently. And I am going to be straight with you: Keyblade or not, I'm going to fucking kill you after I get my answers from you. With my bare hands, right here, right now, if I have to. I'm going to choke the life out of you...but not before I rip that damn hood of yours off so I can watch the light leave your eyes while I do it."

The Master sighed, bowing his head low. His hood fluttered in the winds. "Why don't I save you some of the trouble, there, then... Don't say I never did anything for you."

His Master's arm slowly rose up - he grasped his hood, throwing it back...

And, for the first time in his long, long life, Luxu gazed upon the face of his Master.

"You want to talk, man to man?" the Master spoke. "You want a straight answer? You're going to have to do something for me first-"

"Oh, fuck off!" Luxu hissed. "I'm not your pawn anymore. I'm not doing a damn thing for you - not one more thing! We're through. I'd rather continue on with no answers than become your errand boy again. Get that through your head. You mean nothing to me, you're nothing to anyone! You're no one's Master, and you're not half as important to the World as you think you are! You're just another in a long line of genocidal, self-justifying psychopaths across history. Hell, you're the precursor of self-justifying psychopaths!"

The Master simply gazed at him...with a visible face of just...cold, hardness. Unaffected by Luxu's words. Unmoved. "That Nobody girl's really done a number on your Heart, hasn't she. She's got you wrapped around her little finger."

Luxu froze. He clenched his fists at his sides as he gazed back at the man. "Choose your next words very carefully."

"You want something real, but real and fantasy sometimes have a very messy line between them. Sometimes you can't even tell what's real or what's not, can you?"

"I told you to cut the bullshit, too. God, can you seriously not say a single thing without sounding like a fortune telling vending machine-!"

"I was hoping to use the Replica, Xion, to bait the Princess of Heart across worlds," the Master's cold, flat tones cut across. His eye bore into Luxu's... "But that went sideways, both with her, and with the Princess herself...considering - and the only machine capable of the feat is now damaged beyond any timely repair. But, I suppose I was using the wrong bait, for the wrong person. You've already been there before, and you didn't even know where you were - when you and Lauriam went to retrieve his lost sister. The Power of Waking can get you there again, now...if someone with a powerful enough connection to your Heart is sent over."

"You stay the HELL away from Namine! From any of these people! Just leave everyone else out of your shit, for once! You're clearly more than capable of doing it all yourself, so why not just fuck off and save us all the headache? Do it yourself, whatever you're even trying to do here, over all this time!"

"What I'm trying to do is to find a way to put a permanent end to this war between light and darkness."

"Like that isn't the vaguest shit I have ever heard in my life, dude."

"Well, I tried being specific with you once before - if you'll recall, you didn't take it too well, did you? Which leads us all...to here. To...this." The Master raised No Name before himself, gazing down on it. "I told you once before - this isn't some heroic tale. The things that have happened, and will happen, are terrible, and I take no joy in them. But it's what has to be done. So-"

"Stop talking," Luxu snapped. He opened his fists and spread his arms from his body, conjuring twin, thin, long black swords to hand. "I am really sick of hearing your voice, dude."

"You really think you can kill me?" the Master said idly. "Right here, right now? Just like that? Luxu, kid...you're not that guy. You were never that guy. You were never going to be that-"

"I said SHUT UP!" Luxu flew forward in the blink of an eye, swinging his blades for the man with all he had.

A man with an incalculable body count. A man proven to be the worst danger to the World ever seen - and would see again. A man who'd just admitted to trying to use Kairi's sister, Xion, for something (whenever that had happened)...and who'd just said he was going to use Namine the same way - just to try to control Luxu. Get him back under his thumb again.

Whoever this man even was - Luxu found he just didn't even care. It didn't matter who he was, or where he came from, or what his boohoo crybaby kiddy backstory was. All that mattered was whatever plans he still had, spanning time and space, with all its layers and intricacies...

All that mattered..was that he couldn't be allowed to see them come to fruition again.

Not here, not now. Not with these children.

No more innocent deaths. No more being a bystander.

Luxu was going to do what was right: cut the head off this man and end all his plans, before they could start to affect the people in Luxu's life now. The people who didn't deserve to get saddled with his shit. Namine, Roxas, the Foretellers, the Dandelions, Kairi and her pals- no, just Kairi's friends (the girl herself was probably, now, gone...lost...). Then there was good old Eraqus, and even the likes of Terra and Aqua... People who had all already suffered enough.

Of course, part of that was Xehanort's fault, and part of it was also Luxu's fault...

Like he'd said once before, in total truth and honesty: time to clean up his mess - once and for all.

---

Kairi leapt and slashed for Maleficent, flipped to the side and cast out with several Light blades!

Maleficent blocked them all with a barrier wall of crimson crystal; Kairi's blades exploded against it, leaving the woman herself unharmed.

Kairi quickly threw herself out of the way of a retaliatory blast of multiple purple lightning bolts-

And felt the air leave her lungs as she smacked into someone else. She bounced off, stumbling back to the right and twisting on a heel.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, you clumsy idiot!" Vanitas was glaring at her as he righted his own footing again, too.

"What, afraid if you touch me for too long you'll catch cooties?" Kairi said, laughing. "Is the ancient Darkness actually scared of-"

A barrage of several dozen green fireballs, arranged in the air above Maleficent and let loose on the cavern, caused Kairi to cut herself off and backflip away!

Kairi jumped back, left, then cast Reflect as fireballs flew past her. One struck her barrier dead on, exploding in green flames; her dome held against it...but she had to put a lot of power into it, really fast! She'd have to be quick with that, she thought, if she didn't want to take a really bad hit.

She let it fall as the fireball onslaught ended, relieved - and refocusing.

Maleficent flew forward with a shroud of darkness around her, orbs of purple materializing around her and blasting out with beams of intense dark energy for all of them - Kairi, Sora, Ven, Terra, Riku, and-

"Hey, here's an idea!" Vanitas was shouting out at her as he popped up nearby, from out of a dark pool on the ground. "Why don't you summon that scary light monster of yours again and set it on the witch? Give us some real backup here - or at least a distraction!"

"Why don't you summon your monsters?" Kairi shot back, as she twisted her body out of the way of an energy beam like a dancer. If I try to call out mine, I don't think I'll be able to stop them from just going after you and Cognis instead of Maleficent! The two Pure Darknesses will be more of an irresistible snack to them than the dark-Hearted witch with just one Pure Darkness inside her! How good are you at directly controlling your Unversed, anyways? Could you even keep them from attacking the rest of us?"

Vanitas's face...actually showed hesitation. Doubt. Uncertainty. An energy beam lanced out for him; he flickered and teleported a few feet away, leaving an after-image behind. "I don't know," he admitted, grudging. "I've never had to care who they went after or not - I just let them loose, and let them do their thing."

"Would you like me to summon some Heartless?" Cognis spoke, appearing near them suddenly in a shimmering of dark purple energy. "I could bring some powerful ones here to send against Maleficent and-"

"No, no! It's fine, thanks!" Kairi said swiftly. "No Heartless! We already have them around here, don't we? Terra said you guys already got into some fights before I showed up, so...let's not make that worse! Besides, do we even know who they'd listen to, between you and that other Darkness girl? I mean, who has the higher rank or whatever in this situation, you know?"

"Hm...good point - it was just a thought, anyways," Cognis replied. She teleported over to Vanitas, reforming right next to him. "Hello. Vanitas, yes? I-"

"What the hell is your deal? Get out of my face!" Vanitas snarled.

"I was just getting a closer look at you - there's no need to be so-"

"Did I ask for more information? Get lost!"

"-rude," Cognis finished, irritation in her voice. "Really rude!"

"I don't care!"

"And the World doesn't care about you - you're nothing but a scab on it!" Cognis paused. "Hm. I guess your color scheme fits you perfectly, doesn't it? A black and red, disgusting, shriveled, dead waste of human flesh!"

"Wow! Awesome burn, girl!" Kairi exclaimed, grinning at her. She twirled and raised a hand for a high-five - then put it down again in embarrassment when she realized the girl wouldn't be able to even touch her, right?

"Thank you," Cognis said, practically purring with pleasure.

"Whatever," Vanitas snapped, whirling away. "I'm so hurt - you got me! I'm just going to go cry in a corner like a weak little moron!"

"Please do - it's not as if you're contributing much to this battle as it-"

"Hey - you three - less talking, more fighting!" Terra's voice called out. "Keep focused!"

"Sorry," Cognis said immediately, disappearing into thin air.

Kairi transformed her Keyblade into her blasters, aiming them out at Maleficent and firing them off with a rapid spray of energy bolts.

Vanitas slashed his Keyblade out, sending a triple Firaga for Maleficent.

Darkness swirled around Maleficent like a cyclone, rising up toward the ceiling; their attacks just disappeared into it completely, like debris caught in a tornado.

Then, that cyclone suddenly burst outward, expanding in a powerful wave of crackling purple energy and fires.

Kairi leapt up high in nearly the same moment that Vanitas did. She flipped forward and squeezed the triggers of her blasters, sending out twin, powerful beams for Maleficent.

Maleficent raised the Ultima Weapon, a barrier wall appearing to block Kairi's attack again.

Kairi dropped down to the ground again, landing easily on her feet. Vanitas came down beside her, letting out a huff.

"Stop being a bunch of cowards who are too afraid to get up close," Vanitas spoke. "I doubt the witch has ever held an actual sword in her life before today; she's using it like a long range mage weapon. So press the attack and throw her off balance! Have some guts!"

Kairi stared at the boy, her mouth opening. "That's actually a good point!"

"That's because I'm not a total moron, unlike you," the boy sneered.

"Well I don't see you taking your own advice!" Kairi snapped out, rolling her eyes.

"I'm not going to run in and do it alone, and get myself destroyed again," Vanitas retorted. "Like I said: I'm not an idiot!"

"...Okay, another good point," Kairi admitted. She looked around for Sora, catching sight of him rolling out of the way of one of Maleficent's lightning blasts nearby. She saw Riku teleport between blasts in flickers of air, a blue aura around his body, like it was just nothing to him in that moment. "Hey! Sora, Riku! Let's rush her on three!"

Sora turned, giving her a surprised look - then a smile and a nod. "Got it!"

"Ready when you are, Kairi," Riku agreed.

"Okay!" Kairi said loudly,breathing in and out, and reverting her Keyblade to normal again. "One...two...THREE!" She threw out a hand to create an array of a dozen burning orange orbs of light around herself, and then she transformed her body itself into pure light and flew for Maleficent! Her magic orbs streaked behind her like a trail.

Kairi flew straight past Maleficent, rematerializing behind her; all of her floating orbs of power came flying in toward Maleficent in a barrage!

A dark barrier dome rose up around her with a flash of light, as Kairi's attacks struck it and the ground around Maleficent, exploding in rapid succession.

Riku and Sora appeared on Maleficent's left and right, their Keyblades slamming against the barrier to little effect either!

Darkness shimmered out from Riku, a wispy stretch of flowing tendrils that bypassed the barrier...and made contact with Maleficent's body.

"WHAT?" Maleficent gasped, her face overcome by panic and fear. She whirled toward Riku - and the barrier suddenly collapsed!

Kairi took the chance instantly, lunging forward and slashing her weapon for the woman's flank!

Sora twirled his Keyblade and fired off a Blizzaga at her backside!

Darkness surged around Maleficent, a swirling orb of dark energy catching Kairi's Keyblade precisely in some mini vortex - trapping it! The dark wave rose up and deflected Sora's attack, too, sending his spell toward the high ceiling.

Riku held his weapon firm, and leapt forward with a horizontal slash, his blade covered in blue energy!

He cut through the dark aura of Maleficent's - and then cut through her!

Maleficent cried out, green flames shimmering around her as she vanished into thin air.

"Where did she go?" Vanitas's voice came, annoyed.

Kairi looked around in confusion at the boy's words - but they were true.

Maleficent hadn't even reappeared yet.

Ven and Terra were standing back to back, their weapons raised, a flaming aura around Ven, and a golden aura with lightning around Terra.

"Enough with this!" Maleficent's voice suddenly echoed out in the cavern, from nowhere and everywhere. "This Keyblade will do. I have all that I need now. And now...it is time I retook what belongs to ME! My old castle, my old WORLD! And wiped away the vermin infesting it, once and for all! As well as the gang of miscreants that felled me once before! Come, Princess of Heart - heroes of light! I want to watch you fail so miserably to save your 'Capital of Light!' AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The woman's insane laughter faded into a heavy, shocking silence in the cavernous chamber.

"Hah. Well, good luck with that, heroes," Vanitas spoke, raising a hand of darkness, and conjuring a Dark Corridor. He lowered his Keyblade and strode toward it.

"I thought you wanted the Ultima Weapon?" Kairi said. "You're really just giving up? You really are a coward - and a bully. The first sign of any resistance, and you bail out! Weakling!"

Vanitas stopped, on the edge of his portal. "What, you want me to stick around and act like some do-gooder - save some stupid world, full of stupid little helpless people? Get real. I'll just let all of you handle her for me, and the second that Keyblade's out of her hands - it's going to go to mine."

"We're going to destroy it - her and the Keyblade," Kairi refuted. "You won't get a chance at it!"

"Heh...we'll-"

A bright white light suddenly flashed nearby - and a figure appeared, flying forward to slam onto the hard rock ground with a thud.

Kairi whirled, staring. Then she was rushing forward, raising a hand for a Curaga spell. "Luxu!" the name tore from her throat on reflex, instinct, horror and panic fluttering in her Heart.

"And that is my cue to get the hell out of here!" Vanitas exclaimed, rushing into his dark portal. It snapped shut behind him immediately.

"Luxu, are you okay? What happened-" Kairi said, falling to her knees beside the man.

The man rolled himself over, gazing up at her with a pained grin. His whole body was burned, with magic, with light, and his clothes were a tattered mess. "What's it look like? I got my ass kicked, thanks, princess- Kairi, sorry..."

The others came over, too, hovering around Luxu and Kairi. Sora and Ven cast Healing spells too - then Terra joined in, casting a powerful one of his own. A much more powerful one.

"So...what happened with you guys?" Luxu gasped out, staring up at them all.

"Maleficent has the Ultima Weapon, and she's going to destroy Radiant Garden!" Kairi said quickly, passionately. "She wants to take 'her' old castle back...and destroy the people who beat her last time, there, too."

"Really...? That sucks..." Luxu said vaguely, turning his head aside and giving a pain-wracked laugh. "Hey, Kairi-"

"What?"

"Why are you still here? Last I saw, you'd just grabbed Ultima Weapon...were you actually worthy of it?" the man spoke quietly.

"It's complicated," Kairi sighed. "It did take my Heart...but I came back."

"Oh...of course you did. Some new trick you pulled out of your- hat?"

"Something like that..."

"Awesome. Well, glad you're not lost forever to us. I would have missed you. I never doubted I'd come back and just find you standing there, right as rain, you know - that's just what you do. Hey, why don't you help me up, here, and we can get back to the Realm of Sleep..."

"What? Why-"

"Because we've still got promises to keep, don't we?" Luxu rasped. He looked at her again, meeting her gaze directly. He sucked in a breath, blinking up at her. "And I think while I was being beaten senseless by my old Master, he actually knocked an idea into my head. Might be a long shot, but..."

Kairi gazed down on the man. She looked to the others. To Sora. Her Heart was torn, twisting, her head a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts...and then it settled. She bent down and grabbed Luxu's arm, using magic to help her pull him up to his feet again (thankfully, he also helped a little, himself). She looked to Sora again, and opened her mouth. "I can't come back just yet - not fully. There's still...something I have to do."

"What?" Sora said, confused. "Kairi, what're you-"

"There are a lot of lost people I need to help, in the Sleeping Worlds," Kairi said. "I'm not finished yet - not until I find them! I made a promise, and I'm seeing it through to the end."

Sora stared into her face. He raised a shaking fist...then he lowered it, fixed a grin, and nodded firmly. "Okay. See you soon, Kairi!"

"I promise you will," Kairi replied, just as firm. "Just - go to Radiant Garden. Keep my home safe for me, Sora. Don't let it fall to her a second time...please!"

"I promise you I will," Sora said, determined. "I'll protect it with everything I've got!"

"I know you will," Kairi said, smiling at him brightly. Warmly. With all her Heart (with the memory of a moment of clarity after a long dream, of her lips against his...).

Sora was probably thinking about the same moment, because he suddenly was blushing hard and looking away from her.

"Alright..." Luxu's voice came, rough and coughing. "Realm of Sleep Express, now departing the station...haha..." He raised an arm, and his Keyblade appeared in hand. He aimed it out, its end glowing...and a pink, crystal orb with spikes around it appeared in a flash of light.

"Are you going to be okay...?" Kairi said, worry worming in her Heart.

"Good thing about being in my original, twenty year old body again - I'll be able to sleep it off," Luxu replied, with another painful looking grin. Less pained, but still...so really pained.

"Okay," Kairi said simply, nodding. Focusing...as the light from the orb glowed brighter, and particles of energy began to stream off of both her and Luxu, flowing into the orb itself...

After passing into a world of light and fluffy warmth...Kairi found herself emerging out of it into sharp clarity again.

In a familiar place.

"Traverse Town?" Kairi gasped, staring around the Second District in confusion. "But...why is it still here? I thought you said it would have gone back to the Realm of Light?"

Luxu stared around himself, too, holding an arm across his stomach. He took a limping step forward, then stopped, wobbling slightly. "It should've. Unless...it knew it was still needed here again?"

"Needed for what? Us...?" Kairi said quietly, pondering. She shook her head, looking to Luxu. "So what's your idea - for finding Ephemer, right? And the other Dandelions?"

Luxu turned to stare at her, for a long moment. Then he exhaled, and limped over to fall onto a bench near the fountain. He leaned back against it, breathing in and out shallowly, just...sprawling his limbs there.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kairi demanded, hurrying over to sit next to the man. She raised a hand and cast another Cure as she spoke. "You're not going to- d-disappear, are you...?"

"Eh...if I did...I'd just drown my Heart in darkness and turn myself into a Nobody again..." Luxu said, breathless, and strained. Laughing. "Of course, the coming back from that part would be trickier, but it'd still save my hide to make the transition in the first place...and we all know I'd grow a nice little new Heart back, of course. Hacking the universe - isn't it great when you know the rules?"

Kairi leaned over, placing a hand on the man's leg with a frown, gazing up into his face...

Luxu turned to stare back at her, a strange look on his face. He scooted away from her, actually shying his whole body from her. "H-hey - I appreciate all this concern and whatnot, but I don't need any accusations, thanks. I already almost helped Xehanort destroy the world, I'm not trying to add that to my rap sheet-"

"Huh? OH! S-sorry - no - EW! It just really seems like you're about to die on me here!" Kairi exclaimed, shrinking back now as well, holding her hands to her chest.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm probably closer to it than I've been in a looong time...but I'll pull through, thanks to all your Healing spells," Luxu replied. "You'd be surprised how big a difference some prompt medical treatment can make."

"So-"

"My idea - yeah, right. I should probably tell you before I die on you, huh?" Luxu flashed another grin, then sat up straight with a heavy groan. "If you'll recall, back during our battle against that giant devil that might or might not have actually been a Heartless...or a dream of a Heartless, at least...one of your little Spirit friends summoned a bunch of other Spirit allies to help out, yeah?"

"Yeah. Comet," Kairi agreed. "What does that have to do with finding Ephemer? He's not a Spirit."

"Nope, he's not - but all those other Dandelions are fused with Spirits, aren't they?" Luxu said.

Kairi stared at the man, disbelief and hope growing inside her.

Luxu smiled. "There you go...now the gears are turning, eh? We might not be able to find Ephemer himself again just yet...but what he wanted to do - what he wanted people like us to help him do...We might be able to do that for him, even if he won't see it just yet."

Kairi jumped to her feet, calling out: "COMET!"

The Spirit appeared in a puff of smoke before her, floating on their magic broomstick/magic wand.

"Hey - Comet - you know how you summoned those other Spirits before, in our fight on that volcano mountain?" Kairi spoke quickly, immediately. She stepped forward, grasping the Spirit's big, green wing arms. "There are some really special, really old Spirits I'd like it if you could try to summon here for me. They're...different from the rest of you. They're not- natural Spirits. They were called...Chirithies? They should have...human Hearts sleeping inside them. Can you find them, please? Bring them here? At least some of them. As many as you can find!"

Comet stared back at her, tilting their head. Then they let out a bird caw noise and pulled out of her grasp, fluttering their wings. They raised their magic wand high, glowing with power on the end...

Magic circles began to appear on the ground, all around them, littering the stone...their centers glowed and pulsed...

Then, from up out of them rose dozens of Dream Eaters, of all kinds - cats and tigers and cute bunnies and birds and owls and fish and even crabs and insects...

They all spilled out onto the world, in a symphony of high squeals and barks and caws!

They just kept coming, more and more, bouncing off each other and squishing together - until the magic circles flashed closed in puffs of smoke at last.

Kairi stared all around her, across the plaza, and in the air above her.

She tried to do a count, but it came out to dozens and dozens. A hundred? Two hundred? More?!

Luxu was looking around as well - overwhelmed, just like she was.

"Okay, that's a lot." Kairi looked to Luxu, frowning suddenly. "How are we supposed to know whether or not these are the Dandelions or just...random Dream Eaters, though?"

As Kairi stood there, the answer came to her. The obvious answer! She held a hand to her chest, turning and striding toward one, specific Spirit - a Meow Wow.

Kairi gazed at the Spirit, into their eyes. She raised her hand to her chest...breathing out...and fell to her knees.

A swirling image formed in front of the Spirit, hazy and shrouded in a rainbow of colors: a girl - her age - with light blue hair in pigtails, and icy blue eyes to match...freckles and an off-center nose...wearing a pleated green mini-skirt and a matching green sports top. There were three glinting, different colored gemstone bracelets on her wrist - amber, ruby, and sapphire...

A name, a whispered voice in her ear, came to her from everywhere and nowhere...

Cynthia...

The girl's image gazed back at Kairi for an eternal moment...and then her eyes closed, and the image faded away in a wash of multicolored light.

"...Hey? You okay, pr- Kairi?" Luxu spoke, striding up beside her.

Kairi startled, turning to Luxu. She looked back at the Spirit. No, at the GIRL. "I saw her Heart - sleeping, in the dark!" she spoke. "Her name is Cynthia!"

"Eh? How...? And are you saying this Spirit is-"

"Yes! She's a Dandelion! Anyways, I don't know how I do what I do. It's just- something I can do - I guess from being a Princess of Heart," Kairi said quickly. "I haven't done it in a while, though, and I didn't even think of it when Ephemer told me...that he needed people who could identify which Spirits were Dandelions and which ones were just - normal creatures. But I can do this! And you...you can help her - right now!"

Luxu gazed into her eyes. He nodded, looking to the Meow Wow and raising his Keyblade slowly. "Okay, Cynthia...Get ready for one hell of a culture shock..." he murmured, as his weapon was shrouded it in a pink light...

That strange, pink crystal orb appeared to float in the air again, with those floating spikes around it.

"Let's call this a test run. Start with just...one...kid." Luxu glanced over at Kairi. "See you soon."

Kairi nodded silently, letting her arms fall to her sides.

The orb glowed brightly, and Luxu began to- disintegrate into a stream of light particles, which flowed into the orb itself. It was the strangest method of travel Kairi had ever seen, really...

Kairi stared at the floating orb for a few moments, alone now. Well, not alone. She looked to the Spirit - to Cynthia - and saw a glistening of light and golden motes on her chest.

He went...into her Heart.

Kairi knelt there, watching the Spirits all around her - keeping an eye on the one specific Meow Wow.

Waiting...

After a minute or two of time...something happened.

The Meow Wow's body glowed pink, energy particles drifting off of them, and then a light burst from within, blinding Kairi.

Crystal fragments flew off in all directions, from a great puff of smoke!

Luxu sort of- reappeared, falling backwards...stumbling back into existence again. He almost lost his footing, but regained it quickly. He glanced down at Kairi, then looked ahead - the same as her, in that moment.

The Meow Wow was gone - in their place now was the girl herself: Cynthia. The girl was floating a foot off the ground, in front of Kairi. Her eyes were closed, her face...full of peace and a smile. Then, slowly, she drifted down and landed on her side on the ground...still sleeping?

"Is she-" Kairi started, quiet.

"She should be good to go," Luxu said, just as quiet - his eyes rapt to the girl. "Just...give her some time. Her Heart probably has to do a full reboot or something. But she'll wake soon enough...fully and completely."

Kairi nodded. The man didn't sound too confident, but...she wanted to believe he'd succeeded. That they could do this. For Ephemer. And for these kids, themselves, of course.

Suddenly, in front of the sleeping girl, another, smaller puff of smoke poofed in the air. A small, grey, cat-like little creature appeared on the ground. With big eyes of blue, a little nose, stubby arms, and a cape! They were also wearing a little bracelet on their left arm, that looked similar to one of Cynthia's own.

The creature gave a high yawn, stretching their arms and arching their back. They put a stubby arm- hand- to their face. Where their mouth would be. Or...was? Maybe? Somehow?

This had to be one of those Chirithy beings Ephemer had talked about before, Kairi realized. The description definitely fit.

"Oh, FIIINAAALLYYYY!" they- she? exclaimed, in a high, girlish voice. They hopped forward on two feet, raising an arm to point right at Luxu. "What the heck took you so long, Master Luxu?"

Luxu stared at the being, visibly, extremely confused.

As confused as Kairi felt, probably, in that moment.

"What- what're you talking about?" Luxu said.

"The Master told us it was all going to be okay...to trust in his plan..."

Luxu continued to stare down at the creature - the being. "Are you saying...that all of it - the Dandelions, the Data World, the trap for the Darkness - all of it was done with the foreknowledge that what happened would happen? That the trapped Hearts would fuse with you little guys, and that you'd escape into this realm, leaving the Darkness safely behind - all to allow you to wait to be rescued one day in the far, faaaar future...?"

"Of course!" the being said with a huff. "You didn't really think he'd do all of this without a backup plan, did you? He told you himself, didn't he?"

Luxu blinked. His mouth twisted. His jaw worked, grinding his teeth together. "You know...if you pre-plan a resurrection ritual, then go off and commit murder, then bring your victim back to life - it doesn't invalidate the fact that you committed the murder in the first place, you little shithead! Did you even think about the trauma and pain and terror that was going to engulf your wielder's Heart - your PARTNER'S? Did you even care? My Master sure as hell didn't, if he thinks it's all right as rain, just because he thought he had some clever little idea to not make it permanent in this instance! But you know what is still permanent. Fucking. Murder? All those other kids, hundreds of them, thousands, who went off to fight and die in that Graveyard! All for what they thought they believed, all against each other, caught up in strife and conflict and years of spite and anger that they probably all forgot the reason for it in the first place! Not that there ever was one! So you...YOU - and HIM - can go to HELL!"

The Chirithy stumbled back, clutching little arms to their chest. Their big head fell, their cat ears dropped. They sniffled, their eyes brimming...

"Unless you're going to tell me he actually had some grand scheme to save them, too..." Luxu whispered out.

Kairi saw the undisguised, raw emotion on the man's face in that moment. The desperation, the pleading, the- HOPE...such hope, on the face of a man who had said he didn't DO hope...yet here he was willing to do so again, after so long.

The little Chirithy raised their head, looking up at Luxu. They raised an arm, pointing up at him directly. "You..."

Luxu's mouth dropped open. His eyes shuddered in their sockets. "Me...?" he rasped.

"He said...he sent you there to watch for a reason...didn't he?"

For a long moment, there was silence.

Then, Luxu gasped outright, stumbling back from the Chirithy. His weapon vanished from his hand. "That- clever...b-bastard...IT WAS SO SIMPLE! All along! And he set it right up, right from the start - with those simple, long-standing instructions of his. Tied right into my fucking role, and it just passed me on by without me even realizing...!"

"What?" Kairi demanded.

Luxu turned to her, his face lit with- honestly kind of a frighteningly manic grin. She wanted to be generous and say excited, though. "Everything that anyone could ever need to bring all of those kids back...it's right there. It's always been right there. And - right here." He raised a hand, and sharply tapped a finger to his own head.

Kairi shook her head, uncomprehending. "Are you saying you can save...the people who fought in the actual Keyblade War? Not just these Dandelion survivors...?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying. And that is exactly what I'm going to do, first thing we get out of here! I'm saving them all: I'm bringing them all back again. Because I'm the only guy who can!"

Kairi smiled at him, nodding. "That's great!" She paused. She looked down at the Chirithy. At the girl still laying there... "But we need to save all these Dandelion kids first. And then we need to get to Radiant Garden!"

Luxu's face froze. Faltered. Then he nodded, growing serious. "Yeah...Right. Of course. And it's not like they're going to lose out on the chance, if they wait at least a few more days...and we'll probably need the time to even figure out what to do with them all - can't just dump a couple thousand kids into the worlds, right?" he murmured on. "Gonna need to find them all nice places to stay - some good homes, and- hell, an army of really good therapists! Can't just spit them all out and say, 'Okay, you're here, good luck with life - P.S: here's all the shit you missed out on, and have fun with all that PTSD!'"

"Right..." Kairi said faintly, as the realization set in for her, too. She was just glad to be a kid, herself, in that moment; all that incredibly complicated planning and such could be left to actual adults.

"Ooookaaaayyyyy..." Luxu said, looking around himself, at all the several hundred odd Spirits milling about the Second District plaza. "Our test run went perfectly, so let's hunker down and do this for real. This is going to take a while. Luckily, we're in a place where time has no meaning, and I'm also a dude with loads of experience at doing the same shit for a really, reaaally long time." He took a breath, cocked a grin, and gave his Keyblade a twirl with a flick of his wrist (and a wince of pain). He looked to Kairi, his dark eyes glinting. "Don't get bored without me, kid."

"Oh, I won't. I think I have enough to keep myself occupied now - for a while," Kairi replied, grinning at him.

"Have fun, then. See you in a minute...or thirty." He paused, and he smiled. "With all of these kids being Dandelions together, spending those two years in the Data World after the war...they're bonded to each other. Which means I should be able to just go from one Heart to the other, by following those connections between them. So, you know, you won't see me actually pop out again for a while."

"I'll be waiting for you," Kairi said simply.

Luxu nodded, and turned to set his gaze on a nearby Spirit. He shrugged, raised his Keyblade, and summoned a new Dream Portal...disappearing into it in light.

Kairi sighed to herself, and situated herself comfortably on the ground, looking to the Chirithy. "Hey - I'm Kairi. It's nice to meet you, by the way. I'm a Keyblade wielder."

Chirithy looked back at her, slowly relaxing. They hopped forward and stared up into her face. "A Dandelion?"

"No," Kairi shook her head, smiling. "I'm a...new wielder - from this era." She paused. "I guess, then...the Dandelions did succeed in their mission - right? To see the Keyblade's legacy endure, and to see light live on? Because I'm also kind of a Princess of Heart..."

"WHAT?!" Chirithy threw their arms up in shock. "You're not kidding?"

"Nope." Kairi beamed.

She felt bad about it, next moment, when Chirithy just started bawling their little eyes out in front of her!

Notes:

Some big stuff happened this chapter, yaaay! <333

If you know the rules of KH time travel, you will be able to figure out how Luxu's gonna save all the Keyblade War victims/fighters. xD When I as the author came up with the idea, it honestly shocked me how perfectly plausibly it fit with the canon rules, and also the plausible way in which the MoM could have set Luxu up to be able to do it! It's probably not going to be canon, but it fits so well I'm taking it and using it. :D Of course, it might just work because Nomura made the rules so loose and overpowered that you can do anything if you set it up right...

*Points to that BULLSHIT that is Ansem SOD going back in time, then TRANSFERRING HIS TIME POWERS TO HIS YOUNGER SELF TO ENABLE HIM TO MOVE FORWARD SEPARATELY as a haxy loophole* xD

Buuut either way! :D

Chapter 65: The Darkness Has Arrived

Notes:

OMG LOOK A CHRISTMAS CHAPTER! xD Weird. <333 Also I did decide to split the finale chapters a bit, at least once lol, so you get this which is actually like half of a much huger chapter. :D :D :D ENJOY! And Merry XMAS lol!

Kairi looked all around her, watching over the many minutes of timelessness, as person after person emerged out of the Spirits.

Light after light - accompanied by a growing gaggle of little Chirithies, as well!

She was seriously wondering how she was going to even begin handling the situation on her own at this point, with no Luxu in sight yet. What if they started to wake up? What if they were upset, or angry, or just plain too confused to want to listen to her...?

"You sure work fast..." a voice called out across the Second District plaza, filled with amazement and wonder.

Kairi whirled, wary and alert - and then she relaxed as she saw the person approaching her from out of the alley.

A "boy" of silver, scraggly hair and blue eyes, wearing a red scarf.

"What the- were you here this whole time?!" Kairi exclaimed.

"No - but I've been here for a little while now," Ephemer replied, shrugging and grinning. He hurried across the square, maneuvering between the sleeping forms of children laid out on the ground (and their Chirithies). "After we got separated, I figured I'd come back here to wait for you. When you're lost, go back to where you started and stay put, and you might get found again, right? I thought you might come back here at some point - either to look for me, or because you'd given up on the search."

"I never gave up," Kairi said firmly. "In fact, I made it out of here, back to my friends, but I chose to come back again to finish what I started. Luxu and I, both."

Ephemer startled, blinking at her with wide eyes. "Master Luxu's here, too?"

"Yeah - he's cool!" Kairi said quickly. "He helped you guys out before, back in that...Data world. He's the reason your plans succeeded at all. He helped Brain, and he's been looking out for all of you since then. Especially Skuld."

"Really?" Ephemer frowned, thoughtful. He crossed his arms, then gave a nod. "I guess Master Ava wasn't the only one trying to go against what was fated, then, huh?"

"I think it's sort of more complicated than that," Kairi said quietly, shaking her head. "For a long time, he was just going along with things, for the most part...until recently. In fact, he kind of just got into a big fight with his old Master, and now I seriously think he's dying on me and he just doesn't want to worry me... Anyway, he was the one to come up with the idea here - to save the Dandelions, like you wanted. And he even thinks he has a way to...save the ones who actually fought in the Keyblade War itself. Though, I don't want to get anyone's hopes up! He hasn't shared the details with me yet!" she finished quickly.

Ephemer gazed at her for the longest time, looking shocked, disbelieving, then so, so hopeful... But ultimately, he grew serious, giving her another nod. "Fair enough - for now," he said. He let his arms fall away, looking around himself now. At all the other kids, still in slumber. He looked to the nearest group of Chirithies, going over to them and bending down before them. He smiled at them. "Hey there. Is it too presumptuous to ask if you recognize me?"

The Chirithies looked at him. Then at each other. Then - back at him.

"Union Leader Ephemer," one spoke cautiously.

"Well, I haven't been that in a long time," Ephemer said lightly. He reached out a hand, touching the Chirithy on the head. "I just wanted to thank you guys...for looking after your partners so well, for all this time. Without you protecting them, we wouldn't be able to rescue them here now at all."

"We were only doing our jobs," one Chirithy said quietly.

"Well, you did a great job," Ephemer replied earnestly. He straightened up again, turning and coming over closer to Kairi. "I assume Master Luxu's doing all of this, then?" he said to her, with a vague gesture toward the nearest, pink flash of light, that resolved itself into another kid.

There weren't that many left now, Kairi realized. And not a lot of space left in Second District, either. They really should have gone to Fourth for this...there was that huge actual fountain square, and the massive open space in front of the mail building...it would have been so much less cramped!

"Huh? Oh - yes!" Kairi said quickly, flushing as she pulled herself out of her thoughts. "He's using the Power of Waking to - well - wake them all up...I think. Something like that?"

Ephemer laughed. "Yeah - that'd do it."

"So, are you ready to see your friends again?" Kairi said softly, smiling at him. "It's not just Skuld and Amaya, you know - really long story - but it's Ven, and Lauriam, too! And Elrena. They're all here. They all made it out, that day. It's- like I said - a long...really convoluted story, but in the end, they found each other, and...they're all okay now. Not perfect, maybe, but - doing okay. And getting better all the time, I think. Ven's a really good friend of mine, actually!"

Ephemer stared at her in awe, his eyes sparkling now. A smile growing on his face. "Everyone really made it out, then?" He paused, his smile falling away. "Hang on, though, you didn't mention Brain in all this. Just...the end of the Data World..."

Kairi looked away, putting her arms behind her back. "He did make it into the future, from what I know...just...not here, with everyone else. He lived...in the past - um, my past, I guess - but from what I do know he had a good life? He had a family, a place to call home..."

"Yeah...I knew he'd reappear at some point - I knew exactly when - but I guess I was just hoping he might have skipped forward again...to get to be here with everyone else," Ephemer murmured out. "I guess I can't blame him for not, though, can I? If he found a place for himself, and a family...I'm happy he got to live a life of peace, on his own terms - not the Master of Master's, or anyone else's."

Kairi drew a breath, raising her head and giving a slow nod. She really couldn't even imagine what that would be like - something like what Aqua had gone through, but...so much worse. Over such a longer timespan. To survive a terrible fate, to find a place of peace, and even to find love like that. To maybe have to make a choice between staying there, in that life, or...journeying on still, to find your friends you hoped to see - the ones you'd lost. But without even a guarantee of when they'd pop up again, or on which world, or if you could even find them again before you passed on anyways...

What would she do, if she were in that situation - faced with such an incredibly massive choice like that? A decision so...final? To settle and accept, or...to not? She thought she knew the answer, for herself. For her...waiting wouldn't have been good enough. To just stay put, wait, and hope for her friends to reappear, and come back to her someday? No. It would have eaten at her, after a while...and she would have made the choice to go out and look for them, ultimately. And keep searching until she found them again. No matter where, or how long it took, or what the dangers were. She wouldn't have stopped until she reunited with them - with Sora, and Riku, or Xion!

"Yeah," Kairi whispered, shaking her head to clear it. "His life was his, and he lived it."

Another light flashed to Kairi's right; she turned - and saw Luxu reappearing out of it on unsteady feet, with an actual breath of exertion. A quick glance around revealed to Kairi that every Dandelion kid was back to normal now!

"Hey - Luxu!" Kairi said loudly, catching the man's attention. "Look who I found - well, he found us..."

Luxu turned - then he froze. His gaze found Ephemer. Ephemer looked back at him, frowning.

"Are you really Master Luxu?" Ephemer spoke.

"Depends if you're really Ephemer..." Luxu replied.

Ephemer strode forward, up to Luxu. He gazed up at him, putting his hands on his hips. He glanced down at Luxu's Keyblade before returning his gaze to the man's face again. "If you are Master Luxu...then, according to Kairi here, I should really say thank you."

"Thank you? For - what?" Luxu looked just - totally thrown. Floored, even.

"Helping us all escape Daybreak Town into this future - going against your Master, your role, to save us. Helping Brain. And...looking after Skuld, and the others, too, in the here and now."

"You shouldn't thank me for that..." Luxu murmured, turning away. "I could have done a hell of a lot more, kid. I should have done a hell of a lot more. For all of you."

"Like you're doing now? Kairi also tells me you've got a plan to save not just the Dandelions here, but...the ones who actually fought?"

"Not my plan - it's an idea. It's...from my Master," Luxu said quietly, hesitant. "I think I actually get what he wants me to do here, for once. Not that that makes any of what he did before alright or anything - it's still totally screwed up, and-" He cut himself off, gritting his teeth. He let a breath go, and looked back to Ephemer. "But at least I can give them another chance here. The same chance we've all been given. Me, my friends...yours."

"And you think I should regret thanking you?" Ephemer said, with a small grin. "You're already doing more than any of the other Masters - except Lady Ava, of course."

"Right... The other Foretellers are here, but not- not Ava," Luxu sighed. "I know she went off to try to thwart the Master's plans, long before anyone else did, but...I haven't seen a hint of her across all these centuries. I even tried to summon her across time with the rest of my friends, but she didn't come. I couldn't find her Heart anywhere. Not where she should have been...where I last knew she was. It's almost like she's just...disappeared off the face of the whole World itself..."

"If nothing else, I hope she found a place for herself, somewhere out there," Ephemer said solemnly. "I hope she lived a life that was hers, no matter what happened to her."

"Yeah..." Luxu murmured, glancing away again, his face etched with guilt and doubts. He gave a sudden, hacking cough, holding an arm over his stomach and doubling over.

"Okay, you seriously don't seem okay right now!" Kairi exclaimed, rushing to the man's side and grabbing his arm. "We need to get you to Land of Departure - get you some potions- no, Elixers! You need to rest and-"

"No rest for the wicked, kid," Luxu said, with a pained laugh, straightening up and pushing her hand away. "Anyways, Ephemer, look - what was your whole plan for your Dandelions, after saving them? Throw them back into the fight? Or give them a chance at normal, peaceful lives? It might've been some grand design, but they did succeed in their role: they kept the light alive, all that Lux was released back into the darkness to start rebuilding and restoring the worlds, after the big Break. And now they're here...in the world they saved. They deserve some permanent R&R in it, don't you think?"

"My hope's always been for the second option," Ephemer replied, quiet and earnest. "but I know I'm not going to be able to stop anybody who wants to keep fighting - especially when it's all they know."

"We could take all their Keyblades away - bind their Hearts, or destroy the weapons outright," Luxu said, hard. "If that's what it takes to get these kids to realize they-"

"...E-Ephemer - is that you...?"

Kairi startled, looking around her. She saw one of the Dandelion kids was waking - sitting up, with help from a Chirithy in a little purple dress (a dress that matched their partner's).

"Cotyle," Ephemer said, starting toward the kid with a smile. "Good to see you back! You always were an early riser, weren't you?" He got down on a knee and put a hand on the other boy's shoulder.

Cotyle blinked at Ephemer, slow and uncertain, with eyes of purple eyeshadow. Purple matching lips formed a small frown. "What happened to everyone...? Where are we? How did we-"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Ephemer cut across, quiet.

"Daybreak Town...falling apart?" the other boy whispered. He dropped his head, shaking it. His hands tugged at long, sparkling bell-bottom sleeves of purple and black. "I know Master Ava was always sure a war was going to happen, but nothing ever did. Remember the day that bell rang? Everyone was so tense, things were so...I thought for sure that was the day - but after that...nothing. Until...everything just went dark, and the sky- and- the whole town was tearing itself apart."

Ephemer gazed at the boy for a long time, guilt and regrets on his face. He gave a small nod. "That war did come to pass, Cotyle. The day that bell rang, that was the day of the war. We Dandelions survived it, just like Ava planned for - but not in a way we could have thought we would."

"Huh? What are you...saying?"

"It's a long story, and it's complicated - I think we should wait for everyone else to wake up before we tell it," Ephemer said. "Alright?"

Cotyle stared at him. Then the boy nodded. "Alright..." His eyes roamed the district for the first time, taking in the sight of all the rest (and the Chirithies). Then his gaze found Kairi, and then Luxu. "Who's-"

"Well, that girl's name is Kairi, and that guy is...it's Master Luxu," Ephemer said slowly.

"The Foreteller that disappeared?"

"That's right," Ephemer said. "He wasn't involved with any of the Unions - like Ava. In fact, he's the reason you're all here now. He saved your lives - from the day that Daybreak Town fell apart. Okay?"

Cotyle eyed Luxu with doubt still. But then he sighed, nodding. "Okay. If you say he's fine, I trust you, Ephemer."

Ephemer stood quickly, turning away, a pained look on his face.

---

Xion didn't notice it until she passed by the outer windows again, on a nervous walk.

The cloudy sky was even darker than usual, and there were flashes of purple light inside them.

She felt cold again.

A hazy memory rose in her mind; this was familiar. And her Heart didn't like it.

She raced through the castle, down to the front entrance.

Xion stopped quickly as she saw King Ansem with Ienzo, Dilan and Aeleus.

"What's happening?" she said.

"That is what we are trying to determine," Ansem told her.

"Can I help?" Xion asked quickly.

"I think not," Dilan said firmly, shaking his head at her, his long black hair swaying. "You no longer have a weapon; you should remain inside the castle, girl, where it's safe."

Xion looked at him. She looked to Ienzo.

He shook his head at her, too. He raised a hand and conjured a large, thick black book, holding it close to himself. "Please, stay here," he told her. "If you were to get hurt...it wouldn't do my Heart any good. Or-"

A sparkling white light flashed in the entrance hall, and Xion turned to see two people appear: the blue robed wizard, Merlin, and Even.

"Finally, back home..." Even started to say, then falling silent as he looked around himself. He took in everyone's faces, and their weapons. He tensed. "Has something happened again?"

"Kairi- that girl- I mean, the young one from that machine - she disappeared and I'm sorry-!" Xion started.

"Never mind that for now," Ansem interrupted her, raising a hand to her. "There appears to be a larger problem at hand, for all of us - a storm of darkness hangs over our city once again. Though who is responsible..."

Even gazed at Ansem for a moment, his lips twisting. Then he nodded and turned sharply to Xion. "Stay put: without your Keyblade, you'll only be a distraction."

Xion frowned, dropping her head. But she nodded at her feet, anyways. "Ok..."

Even called his big blue shield to his hand. "Ienzo: remain here with Xion as well. Someone needs to be here to protect her - and to guard the castle, of course."

Ienzo opened his mouth to argue with Even - then he closed it, nodding too. "O-of course."

"I'll stay and guard them," said Aeleus, looking to Ansem. Ansem nodded to the man with approval.

"Let's go, then," Even spoke to Ansem and Dilan, hurrying for the front doors already.

"Well now, I suppose someone better inform the Restoration Committee about this!" Merlin said, drawing himself up. "I'll meet you all in the town square, once everyone's been brought up to speed!"

With that, the old wizard vanished in another flash of light.

Ienzo turned to Xion, looking down at her. He smiled at her, and offered his empty hand to her. "Well...this way, Xion."

Xion looked up at him. She looked at Aeleus. She nodded and took Ienzo's hand with a sigh.

If only that man in the black coat hadn't taken away her Keyblade!

She was useless now! Helpless!

Worse: Even had said she'd just get in the way!

---

Isa sat on the wall of the city, overlooking the blue canyons and flat grounds that used to be beautiful, clear waters of a great lake.

Beautiful...he hadn't appreciated it before. Now, all he had were memories.

All they had, he amended, with a sidelong look at Lea, were memories.

Memories of better days. Days he was partially responsible for ruining - destroying. All for the misguided pursuit of power. Losing his sense of purpose, his true and original goal...

To save someone. To protect them.

A woman whom now needed no protection at all - who was more capable of defending herself than Isa or Lea were.

They hadn't even been the ones to rescue her, even: that credit belonged to the ancient Keyblade Master, Luxu - formerly known as Braig, and countless other names...

Isa sighed, shaking his head and biting into his ice cream stick.

He was grateful to have a home again - that this home and its people had even accepted him back at all - grateful to have Lea back, grateful to have these new memories together. And yet...

It could never measure up to the old memories, could it?

The scenery, the warmth, the...childish, foolish innocence and merriment.

Of course, Lea still brought much of that last part, even now - something else Isa was grateful for - however-

A light suddenly flashed above, as the sky began to change. The overcast clouds were growing, spreading, and...growing darker. Purple light flashed within them, along with the rumble of thunder.

Isa dropped his ice cream, turning to look at Lea in the same moment his best friend did the same.

They both knew very well what this meant - what it was a sign of.

And it could never be anything good.

They leapt to their feet together, hopping off the wall and racing down the walkway to street level. They moved swiftly through the winding roads, between houses and shops and other buildings, until they'd come to city's square. Crumbling, dead, cracked...but still there. Still...hanging on.

And very much crowded by others.

"What is going on?" Isa asked, looking at those gathered: it was the bar owner, Tifa Lockhart, Cloud Strife, Aerith Gainsborough, Yuffie Kisaragi, Leon, Cid Highwind, the familiar faces of Dilan and Even, as well as King Ansem himself, surprisingly. The blue robed wizard, Merlin, was also present.

"What's it look like?" Cid responded, twirling a toothpick in his mouth and pointing upward. "Town's got a bad case of the darkness again - looks about as bad as it was nine years back, too, don't it? The day...well, everyone here knows what I'm talkin' about!"

Isa inwardly cringed, feeling the guilt and regrets in his Heart again. Indeed I do know...

"Okay, so we've got darkness - but what about Heartless?" Lea spoke quickly, gesturing vaguely. "I don't see any around, oddly enough."

"Oh, they'll be comin'," Cid said darkly. "Trust me, kid, they're a-coming..."

"Lord Ansem, we should get you back inside the castle," Dilan spoke, with insistence as he looked to his king. "If the Heartless are going to return to this world, you can't be simply left out in the-"

"No, Dilan," Ansem refuted, raising a hand, his face hardening. "If the darkness is to come to our world again, then this time I shall meet it head on - and defend my citizens and my home!" The man extended his arm out, curving his hand, and a weapon appeared in his grasp. A large, round-barreled, pulsing blue firearm. A rifle or a cannon, perhaps.

"W-what the- what in the worlds is that?!" Even exclaimed, gaping.

Ansem gave a small chuckle, hefting the large weapon in both hands and holding it in front of his chest. "A weapon I have had in development for some weeks now, courtesy of the denizens of The Grid, expressly for a situation like this one. I will not be idle as my world falls to darkness again; I will fight alongside each and every one of you. And if we are to fail, and perish, then we shall do that together as well, my esteemed apprentice."

Even sputtered, then closed his mouth. He eyed the weapon with intrigue, yet remained silent. He gave Ansem The Wise a nod of affirmation, of acceptance. "A gallant sentiment, Master Ansem - but let us all hope that last part does not in fact come to pass, yes?"

Isa looked to Lea, nodding to his friend and conjuring his weapon behind his back. Lea summoned his twin chakrams in bursts of flames, holding them loose at his sides. "We will see to it that it doesn't," Isa spoke, awkward, yet trying to express the truth of his Heart in that moment.

"Well, not on your own," Lea told him, with a small grin. "Don't go doing anything too crazy here, or you'll really start to make me worry about you, buddy."

"Nothing done on this day will be done on our own," Ansem spoke again, firm and loud, his gaze sweeping out over them all. "If we are to defend our city and our loved ones, we will do it together. Matters of trust, old grudges, lingering feelings, must all be set aside for the common good of Radiant Garden. Understood?"

Leon uncrossed his arms, stepping forward and giving a nod. He looked to Dilan, to Isa and Lea. He raised a hand and slashed his arm across himself, summoning his own gunblade weapon. "That's right. If we're going to do this, we can't be getting in each other's way - or trying to settle old scores. I've trusted you people enough up to this point; I'll trust you in the field of battle."

"Just don't let us down!" Yuffie said, conjuring a large throwing star and twirling it around her. She rested it over a shoulder, giving a wide smile and pointing a finger at Isa and Lea. Then she dragged her arm over to point at Dilan and Even. "Or Yuffie Kisaragi will hunt you douchebags down! We ninjas don't usuallyyyyy do assassinations - but if you let the town go poof a second time, I'll be making an exception for you!"

"How frightening," Isa said dryly, unable to help himself.

"Oho, you're going to find out, sucker, if you go and blow it!" Yuffie retorted, stalking forward and reaching up her hand to-

Poke her finger to his forehead.

Isa stepped back, raising a hand on reflex, glaring down at the girl. Then he heard Lea's laughter - glanced over at his expression - and he forced himself to sigh and relax again. He lowered his hand to his side, and gave Yuffie a thin smile, the best he could do. "I expect no less...great ninja Kisaragi."

The girl blinked up at him in disbelief. Then she beamed and spun away, hopping off across the square, back to Leon's side. "Hehe! Hah, hah, hiya!" she exclaimed, doing rapid air punches of excitement.

"So, how do we do this?" Cloud spoke up, looking to Ansem and giving a nod of deference. "You got some kind of plan of attack? We each take a section of the town, or what?"

"Look at you, being a team player!" Aerith remarked, flashing the man a smile of pride and pleasure.

"Didn't get very far with the solo act, the last nine years, did I?" Cloud responded honestly, spreading his arms at her. He cocked his head, giving a small smirk. "Figured I'd switch it up a little today."

"Hmmm..." Ansem hummed in deep thought, surveying them all once more. Inspecting the square, and the surrounding buildings and the streets leading off in both directions. He looked to the main entrance of the city, that led to the outer gardens. "As we do not understand the full scope of the looming threat, I would suggest we do indeed begin to-"

An incredibly loud roar of thunder echoed through the world, accompanied by a bright, concentrated flash of purple light.

Isa looked up - as they all did - to see the clouds swirling around a central, purple light, like a vortex. The light flared again, and from down out of it came a sudden streak of green fires; the green flames shot down toward the ground - striking the town square, not thirty feet from them all.

The flames rippled, turning from green to crimson...and then a figure, tall and black, rose up into view.

A familiar witch, with green skin, yellow eyes, and black horns - Maleficent?

The evil witch raised an arm, holding...not her typical, magical staff weapon, but a sparkling, intricate sword that looked shockingly like a...a Keyblade?

"Boy, they just let anyone have those things these days, huh?" Lea said - saying what Isa was thinking, yet wouldn't have said himself. "But where in the World did you get it?!" he added in alarmed exclamation.

Maleficent gave a raise an eyebrow - a smirk of her lips. Her yellow eyes roamed over them all, unconcerned. Amused, even. "Ah, you are...Axel, isn't it? Former minion of our mutual associate, Xehanort- err, Xemnas, yes?"

"The name's Lea - get it memorized, lady!" Lea twirled his weapons, giving a little grin that did remind Isa of Axel indeed. A grin holding a hint of malevolence. "Not that you'll live long enough for that!"

Lea spun his weapons in flames, holding them telekinetically at his sides, and then sent them hurtling toward Maleficent!

Maleficent stood motionless, blinking disinterestedly as the danger approached her. The flaming chakrams were stopped several feet in front of her by a dark crystal barrier, invisible until the moment of contact; Lea's weapons exploded in sparks and fire, vanishing into thin air.

Lea stared in shock, then shook his head and raised his hands to call his weapons back again.

"Have you come for our world yet again, vile witch?" Ansem spoke, loud and hard, as he stepped forward. He aimed his large weapon out at Maleficent, its barrel humming as the blue neon lights flashed brighter.

Maleficent turned her head, giving him a wide smile. "Why yes, as a matter of fact I have," she said, with relish. "I will make my demands very simple for you - wise king Ansem: vacate this city and surrender my castle to me once more, and this need not get any more terrible for you all. I care not where you rats scurry off to, or what holes you hide yourselves away in...so long as you don't poke your noses out around me again. However...if you attempt to put up some pitiful, futile resistance, as you did before, know this: you will be obliterated! I will show no mercy, no quarter, and I will destroy you all, and the denizens of this city...as well as burn the city itself to mere ash! I will be a generous woman and give you...five minutes to carefully consider your response."

Ansem looked at them all - gauging their faces, their stances. Then, he looked squarely at Maleficent. "Your so-called generosity is unneeded, witch. Our answer is clear: we will fight for our people and our home, to the last breath!"

Maleficent's eyes burned - as did the Keyblade in her hand, crimson shimmering flames erupting to shroud it in a mystical aura. "Oh...we were so very much hoping you would say that, my dear king. Very well, then: you will drown in our supreme darkness!"

The woman erupted into flames, shooting up into the sky like a comet; she disappeared into the clouds, which rapidly expanded out in all directions, and began casting down purple bolts of lightning!

A fierce wind grew to billow at them all, and, in the flashes of purple lightning, Isa saw uncountable numbers of Heartless emerging from the clouds...

Descending upon the city of Radiant Garden once more.

---

With help from Luxu, Ephemer addressed the crowded Second District.

He spoke to the Dandelions - all awake now - and told them about the Master of Masters, and the Book of Prophecies, and the war that came to pass...and then, how the Dandelions survived it. He told them about the Data version of Daybreak Town, and...about their memories being erased, of the day the war began.

"In taking away your memories of the day of the war, and in letting the Data copies of your friends and family persist in that place, we thought we were committing a lesser evil. That we were sparing you pain - grief, loss. The burden of the unimaginable tragedy that befell the entire World - and your loved ones," Ephemer spoke, clearly and loudly, his voice carrying across the crowd. "But all we did was take away your right to know the truth...and to accept and handle that truth on your own terms. As well, as new Union Leaders, the decisions we made about the situation at the time, and about all of you, should have been made with everyone's knowledge and consent." Ephemer fell silent, gazing at them all, his expression anguished. "It was wrong, and for that - for all of this - I'm sorry."

"How did you even do that - erase our memories? How do we know you're not lying to us all now?!" a girl's voice called out, from somewhere in the crowded plaza.

"It was-" Ephemer looked down. Then up again, at the Dandelions. "We asked your Chirithies to help us do this - through the connection they share with you, and the power over dreams that they have as Spirits."

Gathering up a bunch of aggrieved, angry, sad, confused kids with magical swords and powers like this...it was inevitable, Kairi thought, what happened next.

Voices cried out in shock and fear, the crowd shifted, as flames burst somewhere inside it - sending people scattering. Keyblades were flashing to life in the district, barriers were shimmering into existence as the kids swiftly began to pick themselves up and react to the magical explosion.

"HEY!" Luxu yelled out, raising a hand instantly.

A wave of yellow energy flew out across the plaza, like fluttering pollen. Magic circles burst to life beneath the Dandelions and flashed with light; those behind or within barrier domes gasped as their magic walls vanished instantly, allowing the swirling yellow magic particles to reach them still. Immediately on contact with Luxu's magic, the kids all froze up. But it wasn't time magic: it was paralysis.

Kairi looked out across the square, to see a lone figure in the middle of the parted crowd - the source of the explosion?

It was a girl. A girl who stood there now, paralyzed. She was bent over awkwardly, breath ragged, her face and hair a twisted mess. Her eyes were glinting. Her Keyblade was buried inches deep in the concrete, in the aftermath of a swing - an attack. Buried in front of a glowing, fading little Chirithy.

"E-Eva..." Chirithy gasped, falling to the ground and reaching a stubby arm out to the girl. "W-why-"

"WHY DID YOU HELP THEM DO THIS TO ME?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY...MY BEST FRIEND!" the girl exploded - raved. Screamed down at the being (apparently, Luxu had left the Dandelions with the power to still move their eyes and mouths). "How could you trick me like that, lie to my face, for so long?! About-"

The Chirithy's body burst with pink light...and broke apart into crystal fragments on the air, just like the Nightmares Kairi had defeated here before, so often in her journey through these worlds.

Eva gazed down at the empty spot where her Chirithy had once been. For a moment, her face changed. Her lips parted, and her eyes softened - fluttering with shock and confusion. Like she couldn't even believe herself. Then she was turning her gaze to Ephemer and Luxu as best she could, her jaw setting, her teeth grinding and shaking. "EPHEMER! Where are they - where are my brothers?! Did they disappear in the war - was I just talking to virtual copies of them for the last two years, without even knowing they were dead?! TELL ME!"

"Eva, calm down!" came a voice from one of the other Dandelions - another girl, frozen nearby to Eva. "Ephemer and the others - they were kids like us. And he's telling us the truth now. He was just doing what he thought was best for us all! He-"

"Is he?" the girl snapped at her friend. "How do we know that? He still hasn't answered me!"

Luxu sighed, then raised a hand again. His palm flashed with light, a golden magic circle swirling in front of it. Suddenly, chains shot out across the plaza, disappearing into the girl's chest! Briefly, they reappeared, swirling around her body - and then, with a distinct click of a lock...locking, her Keyblade vanished from her hand.

"Y-you- what did you do to me?! WHAT DID YOU PEOPLE DO THIS TIME?!" the girl raged.

"Look, I understand that this is all terrible, and traumatizing, and fucked up beyond belief - and you've all got every right to be angry and bitter about it!" Luxu spoke out, loudly. "But anyone who wants to get all violent and murdery about it is going to have their weapon and magic sealed away. So why don't we all just take some deep breaths, and channel our feelings a little more productively here! Alright?"

"You bastard!" Eva yelled. "Why don't you cancel your spell and I'll show you a more productive way of channeling my feelings!"

"If I wasn't already half dead as it is, I'd be willing to do that," Luxu replied. "I deserve a hell of a lot from you kids, and I wouldn't hold it against you. But-"

"DO IT, THEN! COME ON, GET OVER HERE, COWARD!"

"Sorry - not today," Luxu said simply.

The girl raged at him, cursed him, straining to break her paralysis - to no avail!

"Okay, can someone please get her to chill out here!" Luxu called out. "I don't want to have to cast any more magic on you kids! But my next spell is going to be Sleep, if I have to!"

"I'm not stopping until you tell me what happened to my brothers!" Eva roared.

"I don't know - I'm sorry," Ephemer said, stepping forward and raising his hands. "We weren't...keeping a headcount. And we weren't there, at the Badlands, to know who every-"

"LIAR! YOU DAMN LIAR, EPHEMER! EVERYONE ALWAYS THOUGHT YOU WERE SO COOL, WE ALWAYS LOOKED UP TO YOU - YOU CAME AND WENT FROM SO MANY PARTIES, ALWAYS HELPING PEOPLE...BUT IT WAS ALL BULLSHIT, WASN'T IT?! YOU'RE A LYING, MANIPULATIVE-"

Luxu gestured vaguely; a blue bolt of shimmering magic flew out and slammed into the girl's chest. Eva gasped, fearful and shocked - then her eyes closed, and she fell backwards on the spot with a thump.

"Alright, look," Luxu began to speak, stepping forward and sweeping his gaze over the crowd. "Feel however you want about all of this - hate me to the ends of the earth - but the fact is, I'm the one that brought you all back from eternal sleep here today, and I'm also the only one who's capable of bringing back everyone who fought and died in the actual war! Your friends, your loved ones...your families. You can want me and the other Foretellers dead as much as you like...just hold off on it for a little while, would you? Because if you did actually manage to kill me right now, you'd lose any chance you ever had of seeing those you lost again!

"I won't make excuses for myself or my friends - I'll just say this: we were lied to, and manipulated, and used by our Master, just as much as any of you were. We were all tricked into fighting each other, starting some pointless war, falling into death and chaos and darkness...and all for what? So, hey, here's an idea: instead of continuing to fight each other, why don't we choose a different path for once? A different fate? Because continuing that war...that's just what the Master of Masters wants from us. It's what he always wanted. Are you going to play into his hands, even now? Hate each other, distrust one another? Hurt and kill one another, friends and family, all for no goddamn reason?

"Forget the hate, the blind rage and conflict. Remember the bonds you share, the connections forged between your Hearts. The times you all spent together - those years you had with one another. The time before the war. And now think about this: here, in the time after it...what do you really want to do? Who do you want to be? Do you want to be all about just hate, revenge, spite and fury? Or do you want peace, and happiness, and love...and- and healing? With your friends and your family right by your side again? That's what I'm offering you all - all of you kids. The chance to just be kids, not warriors, not tools or pawns! I'm giving you all the chance to live again!"

Luxu took a breath, closing his eyes a moment. "You were chosen by Ava to be the light of the future - so be the light, not the darkness. Shine your Hearts with joy, and hope, and love, and kindness...as you live your lives. Trust me when I say I know all about wasted time - and I don't want to see you kids waste yours now. You're all still so damn young, you've got no clue...and I don't want you to royally blow it." He paused, then continued on. "So now, can I undo my Bind spell on you all, or is someone going to want to go and commit another murder? Whether against a Chirithy, or me, or Ephemer - that's not going to fly! Am I clear?"

Kairi heard a lot of quiet, desperate voices of reassurance. Acceptance.

"Okay..." Luxu waved a hand, and, with a flash of light, the Dandelions all began to move again.

Still, Kairi saw many Chirithies vanish in puffs of smoke, with cries of wariness and fear toward their human friends...partners. She heard others trying to apologize tearfully. And she saw many of the Dandelions trying to comfort and reassure their Chirithy friends in turn - patting at them, hugging them and picking them up.

And she heard several voices call out to Ephemer, and even Luxu, expressing that they weren't going to blame them - and apologizing on behalf of the girl, Eva, even.

It was such a tension-filled situation, so charged and raw still...but Kairi thought...maybe there was a chance of getting past it without any more terrible incidents...

---

Destroy them...destroy them...Devour them...Give them to us...Destroy them ALL-!

"SILENCE!" Maleficent shouted, curling her fist of her free hand and shaking her head fiercely. She raised the "Ultima" Keyblade before her, glowering at it with narrowed yellow eyes. Her mouth twisted. "Darkness, what in the world is happening with this weapon?" she demanded, her voice echoing out through the blue canyons of this ruined world of Radiant Garden. The city itself's crumbling walls visible in the far distance...

The shadow's voice responded to her - in the irritatingly familiar tones of the Princess of Heart, Kairi, still: The Ultima Weapon possesses a mind of its own - you knew this. Now you deal with the consequences. If you didn't want to, perhaps you should have chosen another plan to acquire a Keyblade: for example, taking a hostage and forcing the gullible young man, Terra, to perform the Bequeathing with you. You could have had a Keyblade all your own, with no mind to talk back to you.

And yet I have YOU, Maleficent thought wryly.

Darkness's voice came in soft laughter, echoing around Maleficent. We could just give in to its demands and wipe them all away. Why do you not?

"I aim to conquer all worlds!" Maleficent declared firmly. "There is no joy nor point in ruling over a dead world....and no triumph to be had in simply wiping away my enemies with a swing of a blade. I want them to suffer, I want them to struggle and fight before they drown at my feet! I want to savor this day, Darkness, my old friend! For I have waited so very long for it, have I not?"

You have, yes. But in letting them live, you give them the chance to defeat you. Don't let your overconfidence blind you again. An individual human is no threat...but when banded together, they become something more. That IS how they destroyed you last time, isn't it?

"...Yes...yes, it is," Maleficent agreed, disdainful. "Rest assured, when I've finished having my fun with them, I will destroy them all at last. And they will be helpless to stop it. No matter how many of them are together this time, my power now vastly eclipses their own. Your strength and mine combined! And now, this weapon of legends! And we can grow stronger still, you and I, can't we?"

Potentially, yes, Darkness spoke, musing. The absorption of darkness into a vessel can increase its power to great heights - but as I have told you, from personal experience, too MUCH power in one body can lead to degradation, and, ultimately, destruction of said vessel. If we take in too much, hold it in ourselves for too long - your body will fall apart, and you will die again, Maleficent. And I will go with you.

"Yes, as you told me," Maleficent said vaguely. "but if it comes to a point when it does seem, against all odds, as if these humans will defeat me again...you will give me all the power I need to obliterate them! In the short term, the risk can be taken, I think."

Indeed it can. But we must be careful with it. That is all.

"Hm," Maleficent laughed. "You know, for a being of Pure Darkness, you're far too cautious. Overly so."

Caution has seen us survive this long. You should learn from it.

"Perhaps..."

Chapter 66: The Siege of Radiant Garden Part 1

Notes:

BEHOLD...THE CHONKIEST OF CHONKERS!!! xDDD But it's so worth it, because of all the good stuff I got in here! <3 EEEEEEEEEEEEEE! IM SO EXCITED TO FINALLY BE HERE!!!! :D :D :D :D :) :) :) :) <33333 WE'RE IN THE...ENDGAME NOW!!!

Sora stepped out from the portal Terra had made - from Aqua's world, to Radiant Garden, and was immediately met with a sight that shocked him to his core.

The whole world was dark and stormy, like the night the islands fell, with streaks of purple lightning flashing across the sky. Except the clouds weren't clouds at all: it was swirling, wispy darkness itself, which was dropping Heartless down on the whole city! It seemed endless. There were Shadows, but also flocks of flying Heartless, too, that looked like reddish-black bats, and Darkballs and other variations of them, with fire and water and even rock bits around them. As Sora watched, a large, swirling orb of dark energy floated down out of the sky to touch the ground; wispy energy and tendrils twisted and stretched out, forming into a Darkside! But this Darkside was...incredibly tall. It roared and straightened up, and huge black wings burst from its backside!

Two more orbs fell to the city, and became strange, dark purple Darksides that also had bigger wings than the normal type!

"Let's go!" Terra's voice came, clear and strong.

Sora startled, turning to look at the man. "But there's so many of them-"

"Then we do what we can," Terra said firmly, his helmeted visor turning to look back at Sora. He paused, silent a moment. Then- "I think now would be the perfect time to try your own armor out, outside of training sessions. If you take a bad hit, it can save your life. Trust me."

Sora blinked. Then he nodded. "Oh yeah! Got it!" He raised a hand to his silver crown necklace, touching it with two fingers. It flashed brightly, and his armor formed over his body, minus the helmet. He gave his Keyblade a swing, shifting his arms and legs experimentally.

"Ready, Sora?" Ven said, eyeing his armor with a small smile.

"Ready," Sora confirmed.

"Okay - go!" Terra ordered, rushing down the dark street with billowing cape.

Sora hesitated, looking to Riku. He tried to grin for his best friend. "Are you ready, Riku?"

Riku nodded, raising a hand to summon Rainfall. "Yeah. Come on!"

Sora nodded back, and they set off into the dark streets together.

---

Looking around at the Dandelions in the second district, Kairi still felt the tensions.

But...it was lessening, now. The last few minutes had seen people starting to talk to one another, separating into groups and trios and duos - family and friends finding each other again (and more than just friends in the other sense; Kairi had also observed more than a few people exchanging some deep, heartfelt kisses!).

Most of the Dandelions were sitting around on the ground now, or taking up spaces on the various benches around the square - or filtering up onto the outer walkways. Just giving each other all some more space to breathe, and take in their surroundings, Kairi thought with a smile.

But as she looked out across them all, she spied something that made her smile fade.

In a corner beside the fountain, next to the wooden doors leading to the back alley behind the hotel (a neat little shortcut of a tunnel), there was a girl on her own. She was resting on her knees, her body slumped forward. Her head hanging, and her arms wrapped around herself. She had a head of shoulder length, shiny auburn hair with uneven bangs, and sickly pale skin. Though, from the way she was shaking (crying?) Kairi thought she might just be sick. But...

Kairi weaved her way through the milling crowds of Dandelion kids - survivors - until she'd reached the fountain. She approached the girl slowly, coming to a stop before her. "Hey," she said quietly. "Are you okay?"

The girl shook her head, her hair swaying.

Kairi took another few steps closer, and lowered herself to her knees in front of the girl to mirror her. "What's wrong? If it's something you don't want to talk about, that's okay! But, if it's maybe something we could help you with-"

"It's not m-me, it's h-her..." the girl's high, trembling voice came. Quick, breathy. But she was talking, at least... "I don't d-deserve to be here, not when she isn't! Why did I l-live and not her? She was in that Data World with m-me, I k-know she was real, so why...? Why isn't she here now?" The girl raised her head, gazing at Kairi with a face of twisted grief and anguish. With desperation. "Why didn't they s-save her too?"

"Save who?" Kairi said kindly. "You shouldn't give up hope just yet; I'm not even sure if this is every lost Dandelion out there - and there's still the...actual fighters from the war that I know Luxu will do his best to bring back. As many as he can."

The girl gazed into Kairi's eyes for a moment, then her head fell again. She shook it, once more, with a long, sharp exhale. "We were only saved because of our Chirithies - because they protected us for all this t-time, right? So, then...she couldn't have been s-saved, either way..."

"Luxu's done some amazing things lately, you know - brought people across time itself, to give them another chance," Kairi spoke. "I'm sure if we talk to him about it, he can figure out a way to-"

"It's okay," the girl said, tight and quiet. "You're a nice g-girl - b-but you don't have to lie to me, too. I know the truth: my b-baby's dead."

"Huh?" Kairi startled. "Your- baby...?"

The girl gave a shaking nod, staring at the stone ground. "Cassiopeia."

"Cassi...opeia?"

"Y-yes..."

Kairi breathed. She reached out, gently touching the girl on the arm. Stroking her. Then she sat back and turned, raising a hand to gesture at Luxu, making very pointed and direct eye contact; the man came forward swiftly, stepping around the groups and sitting kids. He reached them in no time, sucking in a deep breath of air before letting it go again.

"What's up?" he said, looking between Kairi and the other girl.

Kairi looked to the girl again, herself, biting her lip. "Hey - sorry - I didn't catch your name. Could you-"

"Kat - Katerina," the girl supplied flatly, with a hitch.

"Kat, then," Kairi said, smiling. She glanced up at Luxu. "Kat here told me...in the Data World with her, she said she had a- baby? Her name was- Cassiopeia?"

Luxu's expression flickered. His lips parted, his eyes closing. He was still for a long time - then, he gave a slow nod. "She wasn't the first - probably not the last, either," his voice came, in a distant murmur, full of emotion. "Big surprise, right? You get a bunch of unsupervised teenagers, throw them into daily life or death situations, give 'em a whole town to run around in and live together in...stuff's bound to happen. That is the natural result, eh?" He took in and let out another breath, pained this time, and finally opened his dark eyes again.

Luxu lowered himself to the ground with the two girls. He fell forward onto his knees, reaching out to touch Kat's shoulder. Gazing at her hidden face intently now. "Hey...Kat, right? Can you look at me here for a moment?"

Kat sighed, then raised her head again, obliging him.

"Good," Luxu said quietly. "Your Cassiopeia...was she with you at the very end - when Daybreak Town fell apart? And how old was she?"

The girl shook her head fiercely, sucking in air. Then- "She was almost a y-year old! After that day, when the bell rang, and the war didn't happen - we thought so, anyway - me and my boyfriend, we- well- we thought it was past us! We thought we could l-live our lives out, from then on, t-together. Fighting Heartless and gathering Lux still, but...at least without a w-war things could stay peaceful for Daybreak Town, you know! For the Dandelions! And we were supposed to be the future, s-so I guess we sort of took that literally, and so after about a year of peacetime we decided to just-"

"I know, I know," Luxu said swiftly. "So she was a year old...when Daybreak Town fell apart? At the end? Just to confirm here?"

Kat nodded, blinking now - tears falling down her face now. "Yes. I just... One moment e-everything was fine, and then there was this storm, and things were shaking, and- BREAKING...and I just did what I could and I gathered her up in my arms and then- the roof came down on us and I can't...remember...what happened n-next...? Was there a light, or did everything go dark...?"

Luxu gazed at her for a long moment, his eyes searching for...something. Then he slowly raised a hand, summoning his Keyblade at his side. He stood up again just as slowly, like he didn't want to spook the girl. "Okay, Kat - could I just take a little look at your Heart here real quick? Please?"

The girl nodded, looking at the ground before climbing to her feet as well (with some help from Kairi). He arms fell to her sides, hanging there now.

Luxu aimed his weapon out at her, the end shimmering with a soft light...then, he lowered it, his expression shifting again. It was something Kairi would have put best as incredulity, maybe? Some strange mix of disbelief and...some other things.

"Hey - I think it's going to be okay, kid," he said softly. Surprisingly softly, Kairi thought.

"What? H-how can it ever be okay?" Kat said, blinking up at Luxu in bafflement.

"Because Cassiopeia is fine. And she's fine because of you - because you did what any good mom does, and protected her with all your Heart when it mattered most," Luxu continued, grasping the girl's shoulder again now.

"What? Are you saying she's really-" Kat started, still sounding confused more than anything. More than hope, certainly...

"She's alive - around. Closer than you think, actually. Back where she came from," Luxu said.

"W-what? You mean-" The girl looked down at her stomach, clasping a hand there.

"No, not there." Luxu shook his head, pointing to the center of her chest. "There. Your daughter's brand new little Heart is safe and sound, inside yours. If you had her with you at the end, you must have taken her into your own Heart without even knowing it - to keep her safe, asleep. In the most comforting place she could ever be again."

Kat was still looking at him like he was joking - pulling the cruelest prank ever. A terrible lie. Then she blinked, and she breathed. "She's really h-here - with me again? B-but, is there some way to...?"

"Get her back out of you again? Yeah, I can think of a way or two," Luxu said, reassuring. Giving a smile. "But the simplest way...it might be the best way. Seeing as the first part of my theory was right, let's see about the second half - alright? If you'd let me help you again...?"

The girl looked up at him with shining eyes now, her lips trembling. She was starting to believe. "Please. I h-have to see her again, I have to hold her, I have to know...with my own hands...I don't c-care what you have to do or how you do it, just please...if she's still here...if she was saved, too..."

"Okay." Luxu breathed, nodding and stepping away. He ran a hand firmly through his hair, shaking his head. He stopped, glancing around himself. Looking actually embarrassed, kind of. It was sort of cute to Kairi. "Can everyone give me some room here, please? I need space to work! Especially if we're talking about a baby here!"

The Dandelions nearest did their best to migrate back across the rectangular district, filtering into the wider half near the alley some more, and the gadgets building that looked like a church on the outside for some reason (Kairi had never really known why). A lot of them even just went back into the alleyway itself, to free up more space for the rest, now.

Honestly Luxu probably didn't need even this much space, but...

"Thanks!" Luxu called out, before turning back to the girl before him. He raised his Keyblade again, holding it in both hands now. "Okay, now if I'm right, this isn't going to need any fancy stuff - just some good old Power of Waking to awaken and retrieve her Heart. If I'm right, just...god just let me be right, and we can just do this simple and easy for a change..." His weapon glowed with swirling blue energy, the end pulsed with a golden orb...

Kat startled, staring down at herself, where a pink light was growing in the middle of her chest - shining out, bright and shimmering.

In the next moment, it wasn't a Heart that emerged from the girl's body, Kairi saw immediately: it was a crystal. A pink, shimmering crystal gemstone, the size of her fist. It was like...almost like a Summon Gem, really? Or was it straight up a Summon Gem? A Heart encased in crystal to protect it...?

Luxu's weapon fired off a beam of light at the gemstone, there was the sound of a lock opening, and then the gem flashed with pure white light to light up the district!

As the light faded, the crystal melted away, revealing...a baby. A real, actual little baby, floating in the air, their eyes closed in a peaceful sleep.

Kat stumbled forward immediately to take the baby - her baby - into her arms. She held her baby to her chest, tight and close, her head bowed. The girl's tears fell onto the baby. After a few moments, she sniffled and raised her head again, looking to Luxu. Her lips quivered, spreading into a beaming smile. "T-thank you..." she choked out.

Luxu actually blushed, turning away and rubbing at his neck. "Yeah...well, just doing the bare minimum here..." he murmured out.

Kat looked down at her baby again, then she turned and moved to carefully seat herself down on one of the benches (a trio of Dandelion kids moved for her, staring at her and the baby in wonder and curiosity).

"Whew...so that was- a real thing that just happened," Luxu muttered, letting his weapon vanish and turning to Kairi. "Amazing world we live in, huh?"

"Yeah," Kairi said honestly, smiling at him. She stepped closer to the man, putting her hands behind her back. She leaned in toward him, dropping her voice low. "But if she's not the only one - aren't there others around here who need the same help? What happened to all of them? I can't imagine they were all able to do the same thing..." she whispered, sad and uncertain. She knew miracles were only miracles because they were rare in the world; not everyone got a happy ending, no matter how hard you tried, or hoped for it. Things like this, like Cassiopeia, like what Kairi had done for Sora, and for others, and things like what Luxu had done for Namine and Xion and the rest...those things were special and miraculous because they were so rare, and impossible, and yet were. But...in life, more often than not...these things were the exception, not the rule.

And, Kairi realized that, for all Kat's talk of a boyfriend - there was no boy around her now, was there? Had he not been a Dandelion, or-? No, he'd had to have been a Dandelion because she'd said he was in the Data World with her - and you sort of needed two people to even- you know! Do that kind of thing! But then why was there no one sitting over there with Katerina...? Did Kairi dare even go and ask...? Or was it just...another loss, another pain, another tragedy in this girl's story? A story Kairi couldn't possibly judge her for, either way!

Luxu shifted, catching her attention. His face darkened, suddenly, to an almost frightening degree. Then it cleared, and his face was just - vacant. Empty. His eyes were empty. No...haunted, and tired. He looked up at the twinkling night sky, his hands curling into fists that he then shoved into his pockets. "I said she wasn't the first..." he whispered. "Before the war, before Kingdom Hearts disappeared, and all the worlds fell except for Daybreak Town...and the Data World inside it...it was an easy problem to deal with. Their trusted Chirithies would convince them of the best option: to send them away to distant worlds, to be cared for there. If they couldn't, well...they got spirited away anyways, in the night."

"And after? When there was just Daybreak Town...?" Kairi said quietly. "When everyone went into the Data World, that would have left the real Daybreak Town empty, but still standing. So...were they all just- kept there?"

"No. Most cases, like Katerina said - we made sure to keep- parents and babies together. Moved them over into the Data World together," Luxu went on, in almost bored tones now. "With the end coming, no matter what - or so we'd all come to believe, to convince ourselves - it was 'the best we could do', right? At least let them get another year or two together in there. At least let them be together when the end came, even for them. They'd served their purpose, right? The Dandelions in the Data World had kept gathering Lux, which was used to rebuild the worlds and restore them from the darkness. So...that was it."

"You didn't try to find a way - talking to their Chirithies, moving them into the actual Realm of Sleep here? Surely there were sleeping worlds back then, if they'd all fallen to darkness and broken apart? Wasn't there somewhere to put them?" Kairi said, her voice breaking as much as her Heart in that moment.

Luxu straightened his head, and turned to look at her with those dark, dead eyes. "There probably was," he said. "but you're right - I didn't try to find it. I wasted two years fucking around, when I could have done something...found an answer back then, not now."

"But - you can use that time travel power still, can't you?" Kairi asked. "Like for Xehanort's friends, or- you can just bring them here, no matter what...happened to them?"

Luxu blinked. His face flooded with emotion again, with color. He nodded. "Yeah. I think so. Not sure if we're going to need specialized Replicas, for newborn Hearts, or...if I could find another solution. But I can try. I will try. Whatever it takes."

"Luxu-"

"Hey - do you think a person could be someone's Medium?" Luxu interjected, with a rough laugh.

"What?"

"I'm just saying - to a newborn baby, to a newborn Heart, what counts as 'a deeply personal object' to them? And what even counts as an object, really?" Luxu went on. "From talking to Lauriam and Elrena, from how they got here, I don't even think a Medium has to be an actual, physical object. Like a hat or a scarf. It could be a flower, or...a lightning storm. Or the wind. Those are facets of nature, yeah, but they are real properties of matter, energy, and existence, you know what I'm saying? Figure that's why they worked, still. Their elemental magicks were deeply personal to them, ingrained in their fighting styles and weapons, and that counted. So...do you think the very mother and womb that a baby came from could count as their Medium? Wouldn't that be something, huh? All poetic and shit: a mother herself and her love brings her baby back to life."

"I'd like to think it would," Kairi answered, sighing. She raised a hand to her chest, curling her fingers. "That does sound amazing. And I think-"

Suddenly, the world flashed around her in a white light, everything falling away.

Images filled her mind, flashing by - Radiant Garden, Sora, Riku, all the others - so many Heartless, all around, falling from the sky like dark rain, endless, massive and towering-

Please...if you can hear me: they need HELP!

The voice echoed in Kairi's mind and Heart - Namine's voice - distant and distorted, like hearing her through a hazy dream, from a half-awake state...

And then the void vanished, and the world came rushing back again.

Kairi turned to Luxu, who was just lowering a hand from his forehead with a pained look. "Did you just-"

"Get a brain blast of a message from Namine? Yeah," Luxu replied swiftly.

"We have to go, then!" Kairi said, lowering her hand to her side, curling it into a fist.

Luxu nodded. "We do - we will." he coughed, turning and stalking away, looking all around him and raising an arm. "ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY LISTEN UP! I think it's about time we got you all out of here and back into the real world again!" He summoned his Keyblade and slung it forward, immediately conjuring a pink orb of a portal...gate thing again. Was that really just what portals between the real world and dream worlds looked like? He looked over at Kat, on the bench with her baby still. He beckoned to her specifically. "Come on - mothers and babies first. It's going to be fine, no pain, just warmth and light and fuzzies and goodness! When you come out the other end, you'll be someplace safe. A place for Keyblade wielders!"

"W-where? Is something happening again?" Kat asked instantly - as did many other, nearby voices.

There was an aura of tension again - and concern now. Wariness.

"You'll go to Scala Ad Caelum - Ephemer knows the place," Luxu said loudly, a bit impatiently, staring around himself. He nodded to the "boy", as Ephemer himself came forward quickly. "It's a whole ocean world of clean, beautiful cities on water - and it was a place for generations of wielders to not only train, but live and thrive! It'll be perfect for you kids, alright? I promise!"

The Keyblade Wielders all stared at Luxu. They looked at each other. Mutterings and voices echoed over top one another.

"You still haven't told us what's going on!" a voice called out.

Luxu sighed, shaking his head. "Nothing you need to worry about - I'm going to go and handle it...as soon as we get you kids squared away! So help me out here, okay?"

"Is it the Heartless?" a girl shouted. "They came from the future, right? Are they here?"

"Yes - it's the Heartless, okay? And a whole world is about to suffer from them if we don't get things moving here!" Luxu exclaimed, glaring at the girl in particular.

"What can we do to help?" another girl called out, with two-toned, red and blue hair in a ponytail.

"What can you do to- NOTHING!" Luxu yelled. "Get it through your heads, PLEASE: the whole war was a fucking scam - a lie, alright! NONE OF YOU kids should have had to fight - especially the ones who actually did! And you never will again! So just - fucking stay out of it and just be kids, living the happy little lives you actually deserve! You deserve to be free, to be normal. No trauma, no grief, no Keyblades! Just...finding a place in the world, like anybody else! So go through the portal and do that, for the love of god! Or I'm going to start casting some magic again here!"

All the wielders looked to Ephemer, in the silence that followed.

Ephemer looked back at them all, seeming surprised and sad, more than anything. But he drew himself up, tugging at his scarf. "I'm sorry, but what Master Luxu's saying is all true!" he said loudly. "What we were fighting for, the Unions, all of it was planned for us by the Master of Masters. The war was just a part of his scheme, and us? We were just playing our parts for him. We were made to hate each other, to fight each other! And we Dandelions...maybe we weren't really the lucky ones after all, for being spared. Chosen to continue on. But we're all here now, and we all have a chance to make better lives for ourselves - free and true. No more Unions, no more fighting, no more grief, and sadness, and anger! That, at least, is something I KNOW Master Ava would have wanted for us...and what Master Luxu wants for us, too. It's what Ava tried so hard to do - to undermine the Master of Master's plans...FOR OUR SAKES! So please...let's head into the future together. A peaceful, brighter future! A future with no war - a future BEYOND war!"

The Dandelions slowly started to obey, moving toward Luxu's portal thing.

Ephemer strode through the crowds, reaching the lone Kat (and Cassiopeia). "Hey. What do you say we take her someplace better?" he said, smiling down at the baby. "Scala's a beautiful place, with more free living space than you could dream of, by now. Not to mention, it should still have everything you could need to take care of her. We can get her some blankets, get you to a fireplace - anything you're going to need. There's plenty of shops."

Kat looked up at him, uncertain. She looked to Kairi - then to Luxu. She nodded, rising to her feet. She strode carefully over to the portal, stopping before it. Ephemer came up behind her, placing a hand on her back. Kat still looked to Luxu again, lingering. "You promise it's safe?" she spoke.

Luxu looked taken aback, for some reason, in that moment. Then he nodded and flashed a wide smile. "Safest place anyone could ever be right now, yeah. I promise."

Kat looked to the pink orb, and raised a hand to it. It flashed brightly, and she and her baby vanished into particles of light.

Luxu blew a breath of relief, setting his hand on a hip. He nodded to Ephemer. "Go with them; look after them. I'll inform some people about the situation, and we'll check in on you after things are over."

Ephemer gave a nod. Then, a grin. "That was my promise to them." He looked to Kairi, his grin shifting into a heartfelt smile. "Thank you - Kairi. You and...Master Luxu, both. Even if this isn't everyone yet, it's more than I could have dreamed of."

"You're welcome," Kairi said simply, smiling back. "And, hey: as soon as this is over, I'll grab Skuld, and Amaya, and tell them- you're back."

The "boy" looked back at her, clearly touched. "Thanks again, then, Kairi. I'll look forward to that," he said - which was probably one of the most understated things ever. Then he turned and walked toward the portal, vanishing into it with the others.

Kairi and Luxu remained, until Second District's denizens filtered out - down to nothing. Not a soul left but them.

Luxu twirled his weapon and aimed it at his portal again; it shimmered with energy, its core flashing orange. "Alright - you ready? We've got to stop by Yen Sid's for a second, and probably old Eraqus, too, but...then we're off to save a world. It would just really suck to leave a bunch of kids on an empty, pristine world and not tell anyone they were there, you know?"

Kairi nodded. "Right. Good thinking. Let's go!"

---

Sora leapt forward, slashing and twirling his Keyblade, cutting through several Heartless at once and blasting the others away with an explosion and lightning bolts!

But...they just kept coming.

He ducked and batted a Neoshadow away with an armored arm - then he paused, grinning to himself. The armor really did help, didn't it? He turned and slid forward in a blur of motion, kicking through the Neoshadow with burning energy, disintegrating it. he hopped to his feet again, stumbling and huffing, his free hand going to his knee.

He straightened up and looked up at the sky - seeing all the Heartless still coming out of the stormy sky. More and more and more...

There was never going to be an end to it, was there?

Maybe it was all just-

A flaming spiked chakram flew past him, striking a Large Body and exploding, sending it flying backwards.

Sora whirled, seeing Lea hurrying up the street. The man raised a hand to summon his weapon back - well, one of two. "Hey!" Sora said, drawing himself up and racing to meet him.

"Yo, Sora!" the guy greeted, giving him a little salute and a grin. "Don't stop moving, or the darkness will overtake you - got it memorized?"

Sora felt a surge of emotion in his Heart. Not his feelings - couldn't be. But... "Got it," he replied brightly, grinning back. He leapt forward in a flash, slashing his weapon.

Lea leapt back and out of the way, gaping in shock and confusion. "HEY, what's the big-"

Sora came slashing down through a lunging Neoshadow, landing with a heavy thud of his armored boots. He stood up again, turning back to the guy.

"-idea..." Lea finished. He let out a woosh of air, waving one of his weapons about in his hand. "Don't scare me like that, okay? A little warning next time would be appreciated!" He paused, then laughed and shook his head. "Still not used to even having a Heart that can get the bejeezus scared out of it again..."

"Keep moving and you won't have that problem," Sora replied, raising a fist to thump at his armored chest.

"Now you're just rubbing it in," Lea retorted, exasperated. "But - gotcha. I'll take my own advice." He turned and quickly threw out a weapon, sending it spinning through several approaching Heartless.

"Let's go, then!" Sora said, turning to race down the streets.

Lea followed after him swiftly, his weapons at his sides.

They turned a corner into a small plaza, with a little fountain and some benches, surrounded by shops and multiple intersecting cobblestone streets - where one of those Darksides was waiting for them.

It was one of those weird purple ones, instead of the usual black ones. Though, Sora was sort of glad Terra and some of the others were the ones handling that huge black one with the wings, that stood taller than any of the buildings by a huge margin!

Sora immediately ran at the Heartless. It slammed its arm down on the ground and sent out a shockwave, which he jumped over, continuing forward. He went into Ars Arcanum, his blade glowing with light as he began to rapidly slash and bash away at the Heartless's hand!

Lea stood back, throwing his weapons at its face from afar, calling them back repeatedly and doing it again. Every time they hit, they detonated with great explosions that flashed in the night.

Sora came out of his special attack with a final crashing blow, drawing his breath in and straightening. He looked up at the Heartless just in time to see its other arm come swinging around for him! He jumped up into a high backflip, sailing over it and coming down again. Then he ran forward and leapt up high, soaring into the air again. He drew his blade back and slashed at its face directly, twirling and flipping around, leaving streaks of energy in the air that staggered the giant Heartless. He gave one last twist in the air and put all his might into a fierce kick, sending the Heartless falling back to the ground with a crash!

He dropped down onto its torso, twisting his blade around and stabbing it straight down with a burst of energy!

Lea flipped up onto it as well, slashing and twirling madly, enveloping the whole Heartless in flames!

They turned and nodded to each other, then leapt up high into the air as one. Lea spun his chakrams in front of him, as Sora did the same with his Keyblade. Sora thrust his weapon down at the Heartless, sending out a beam of white energy; Lea sent out twin streams of flames from the face of his weapons down at the enemy as well.

The Heartless writhed and roared, trying to get up again, raising an arm to block their attacks - whether on purpose or not! It gave another roar, its chest hole lighting up, and a barrage of purple energy orbs flew out of its chest for them, homing and gaining speed as they came!

Sora cast Reflect, while Lea twisted in the air and darted off to land on a nearby rooftop.

The energy orbs missed Lea, and thankfully only hit Sora's barrier, exploding on contact.

But the Heartless wasn't done; it did the same move again, and then again, and again - filling the air with over a dozen orbs!

Sora held his barrier in place in the air as the assault came; he was sent backwards in the air, his barrier cracking and straining. He cried out, its surface shimmered, and then it exploded outward with power, casting the orbs away into the air. He dropped down to the ground again - and immediately had to roll away from a slamming hand of the Heartless's! Sora retaliated with a Firaga, which struck it in the chest and caused it to jerk backwards with a great flash of light and orange fires.

Lea spun and hurled his weapons out from the side, hitting the Heartless in the side of the head and burning right through it with a burst of smoke!

The Heartless shuddered, raising its arms, and then it exploded into nothingness.

Sora let a breath go, but didn't lower his weapon. Or his guard.

Lea came leaping down to land beside him, letting out a breath of his own. "So, do you think this is ever going to-"

A roar echoed out, and they both turned to see the towering winged Darkside being felled - by what looked like the combined efforts of Terra, Ven, Dilan, Cloud, and someone's magical blasts from below (Aerith's maybe? She was the best mage Sora knew!).

"-end?"

"Haha, yes!" Sora exclaimed. "Now nobody has to worry about that thing anymore, at least."

"Don't break out the cakes and coffee just yet; it's not over until that icky sky is blue again - or at least not all icky with darkness," Lea said with a sigh.

"Right, I know! Just-"

Purple lightning bolts flashed in the sky again, streaming down and curving to meet one another from different directions. The clouds burst open, and a dark orb flew down again from them. It came down rapidly, stopping above what looked like the central square - where Terra and the others all were. It grew and burst open, revealing a huge, armored wolf-looking Heartless! The monster landed on the ground with a heavy thud that resounded across the city, shaking the ground itself.

"Well that doesn't look good for them!" Lea exclaimed, alarmed.

"Let's get back there and help them out, then!" Sora said, already running forward.

"Hey, kid-!" Lea called after him.

If he was going to tell Sora not to help his friends-

Another huge orb came dropping down, right in front of Sora!

He skidded to a stop, gasping. Staring as the orange energy exploded out of it, revealing a new, rapidly forming Heartless.

It was a huge, quadrupedal beast Heartless, of purple skin with magenta tendrils, and glowing blue lines along its flank and on its face. It had a long, thin tail with spikes on it, and around its two front legs were...metal chains? Like it had escaped from somewhere? But Sora didn't see any kind of emblem on it that would have marked it as some kind of- artificial experiment or-

"LOOK OUT!" Lea's voice shouted, as the giant Heartless leapt forward with slashing claws in a blur!

The Heartless's clawed limb slammed into Sora, sweeping him aside!

He rolled and stopped in a clinking of armor, gasping for air. Wondering what had even hit him, really... He got to his feet again, wobbling. He looked down at himself, seeing cracks in his armor now - but it was still in one piece, mostly-

The Heartless leaped at him again, suddenly!

Sora dove out of the way this time, rolling and coming up with his weapon in hand.

The Heartless slammed into and broke through the front of a shop building. The roof and walls caved in on it, dust kicking up. Darkness exploded, blue flames rippling off the monster, casting the debris away and freeing it. It whipped back around, its tail tearing up more of the building without care, its glowing eyes fixing on Sora and Lea again.

"I get the feeling this thing's going to be a lot harder to take down than a Darkside..." Sora murmured, tightening his grip on his weapon.

"Ya think?" Lea responded, hurrying over to Sora's side again. He took a step back and raised his weapon in front of him, his eyes fixed on the creature's face. "Maybe we should get some backup..."

Suddenly, a flying, glowing figure of a pinkish aura came down from above, swinging a huge weapon with spikes on the end of it. They bashed the Heartless on the head, and a rush of blue flames spread out to envelop its body, as a shockwave rippled out below it from the force! The building's debris was vaporized, and the ones next to it were blown apart too, collapsing. The figure flipped up off the Heartless, sailing down to land next to Sora and Lea.

Then, in the next moment, a huge swirling shuriken of energy flew down to strike and spin against the Heartless's face before flying back into the air - where it was caught by a twirling, flipping Yuffie! The girl came down to land on Sora's right, doing the splits and striking a pose before getting up again.

"And the great ninja Yuffie nails her heroic entrance, dazzling and enchanting those she's saved - the monster's would-be victims!" the girl said to herself gleefully. She sidled up to Sora and gave him an elbow in the ribs, along with a grin. "Hey, dude - nice armor!"

"Hey!" Sora replied, beaming at her. "And, thanks!"

"Isa..." Lea spoke, turning as the other figure rose up tall - the one with the huge weapon.

Long blue hair hung, framing a face with an X scar, and eyes of strange, pale glowing yellow. Almost like the Heartless themselves, Sora thought.

Lea gripped his weapon tighter, his eyes narrowing intently at the other man's face. "Isa...are you- still you?" he spoke, tense.

Isa turned his head, gazing at Lea with those pure, empty eyes, that aura fluttering around him. Then, the man gave a single, slow nod.

"That is so awesome..." Yuffie said, in hushed tones.

"Okay," Lea murmured. "Let's do this, then."

Sora didn't really know what was going on - but he was glad for the backup!

The four of them faced the Heartless together.

They ran forward to engage it before it could make another move against them! It swept its yellow eyed gaze across them, then blitzed forward and swung a claw of purple flames! They all leapt up over it, flying past the Heartless and scattering: Lea hurled his chakrams at it from the left; Isa swung and dragged his spiked weapon against its right flank; Sora came down in front of it and gave a swift uppercut at its face before backflipping away again; and Yuffie went high, doing a strange rapid motion with her hands before slamming them together. Smoke burst out of her hands, and suddenly there were two dozen copies of her hovering in the air!

The Yuffies? all twisted and twirled, then flew down for the Heartless with weapons poised and glowing!

The Heartless raised its head and leapt up at them, going into a spinning frontflip like a buzzsaw, casting off dark energy! It tore through several Yuffie clones, causing them to disappear in smoke! The others slashed at the monster's sides as they passed it, throwing their weapons as one. The Heartless came out of its spin, hovering in the air for an eternal moment.

Sora thrust his Keyblade upward, sending out a quick beam of light for its underbelly!

Lea threw his chakrams up at the same spot - and Isa...the guy bent his knees and rocketed up into the air, spinning and twirling his weapon with a crimson glow. He roared out and gave a mighty upward swing, striking the Heartless's underside!

The Heartless's body shuddered, energy waves flew out across the sky - and then it shot up high into the air, flying dozens of feet up past Yuffie's clones!

The clones all disappeared, and a single, real Yuffie dropped down next to Sora with a triumphant noise. She held her weapon low and then cast it upward, spinning with blue energy toward the Heartless.

Sora, Lea, and Yuffie's attacks all continued assailing the Heartless-

But it wasn't enough!

The Heartless began to fall again, faster and faster - until it slammed into the ground like an anvil, rocking the earth, shattering stone, and sending out dust up and down the streets!

Sora braced himself, coughing and holding an arm in front of him.

He squinted through the dust, and saw those yellow eyes...shift into burning red?

Isa's glowing frame flew at the Heartless from the right, swinging his great weapon at it again!

Those eyes darted away and around Isa in a streak of crimson, and then Isa was suddenly sent flying down the street, skidding on the ground.

Yuffie twirled her weapon and raised it high, causing a mini tornado to form out of green magicks; the dust was sucked up and cast out into the sky, clearing the street.

But the Heartless...it was invisible?

Invisible, except for those red, glowing eyes!

Sora held his weapon up before him, gritting his teeth and preparing himself. He shifted his stance-

And suddenly, a white light shined in the sky, casting away the dark clouds and purple lightning!

All of it was swept away, revealing the normal, blue skies again, clear and true.

A thin, powerful pillar of burning white energy flew down from above, striking right in front of the castle - the central square? Then suddenly there were waves of white energy washing out across the city, like ripples in a pond! They raced over the buildings, down the streets, pulsing and warbling - and disintegrating the Heartless they swept across! Even the giant, invisible Heartless in front of Sora - he watched it get enveloped in the energy waves as they repeatedly passed over it, he watched as it began to glow bright from within...and then it exploded into smoke with a fading roar!

They didn't affect anyone or anything but the Heartless, it seemed like.

After a few moments, though, the waves ceased, and the pillar in the city's center thinned and disappeared.

Sora looked at Yuffie, and Lea, and Isa (who now looked normal again - and with a pretty shocked look on his face). "Okay, now we definitely have to get to the square!" Sora declared, beaming and racing off with renewed vigor.

The others followed after him, keeping up!

It didn't take them long to navigate the empty streets now. Soon enough, Sora was rounding a corner and running out into the open square. He looked around it, then down into the plaza itself, the lowered ground with the four ramps. He saw a lot of faces he recognized, of course - there was Terra and Ven, Cloud, Aerith, Dilan, Ansem The Wise - and two that hadn't been there before. One of them was Master Luxu, and the other-

"Kairi!" he called out, stumbling as he made to dispel his armor, while at the same time racing down the ramp!

She turned swiftly, spotting him - her face breaking into a beaming smile. "Sora!" she cried. Then she was running forward, too - coming to meet him!

They did meet, there in the square, at the foot of the ramp; Kairi kept running, even after Sora stopped, slamming right into him and hugging him around the neck!

"Oof! Good to see you again, too!" Sora gasped, hugging her back.

Kairi held onto him for a long few moments, before finally letting go and pulling away. She gazed at him, in the eyes, smiling still, her own blue eyes shining softly. Her hands traveled down his arms, to grasp his.

"So, I guess if you're here now, then that means you helped those people in the Sleeping Worlds you wanted to help...?" Sora went on, smiling back at her.

Kairi nodded. "Yes. Luxu did most of the work - but, yeah, we did. Though, we got back here so fast because we also got Namine's message," she added.

Huh? Namine had sent out some kind of message? Well, made sense that Sora wouldn't have heard it: he was obviously already here! "That's good - we really needed some reinforcements. But, uh, who were the people you helped, exactly? You didn't exactly say..." Sora hedged.

Kairi tilted her head at him, her smile shifting. "The Dandelions."

"The- Dandelions? Like, Ven and Lauriam and- from the Keyblade War?" Sora said slowly.

"Yes, those Dandelions," Kairi said, with great satisfaction in her voice. A joy, a relief, an excitement shining on her face, too. "We-"

"Hey, stop making goo-goo eyes at each other and come over here!" Luxu's voice called out, interrupting. "We need to make a plan of attack here before I possibly kick a bucket!"

Kairi startled, jerking her hands away and whirling around. She glanced at Sora, then raced for the middle of the square to meet with the others.

Sora went to join them all quickly, trying to act normal after realizing he'd sort of just been totally holding hands with Kairi in public...! Not that that was the most important thing to focus on right now (and he had already actually been kissed by her in front of his friends before too), but- anyways! Yeah!

"Right - sorry - what's the plan here, then?" Kairi spoke quickly, eyeing Luxu with a level of warmth and respect that sort of surprised Sora. But, then, he guessed they must have been doing a lot in those Sleeping Worlds, since he'd obviously found her, and then they'd gone on to find and help the rest of the...Dandelions.

Sora was just happy to see her softer side back again, at least for Master Luxu. Honestly, he liked her when she was all fierce and strong and- well- but he also liked her kindness, her compassion, her understanding side, too. He really liked it...

"Well, that attack I just pulled off just about drained my reserves to almost empty," Luxu was saying, sighing as he looked at Kairi. "It was already getting lower and lower after the Sleeping Worlds, and then the whole fight with my Master just sucked it down waaaay more than I'd have liked it to be. And now, after saving the Dandelions, and what I just did..." He shrugged, spreading his hands at them all. "I'm not getting away with throwing up a giant city-enclosing barrier again. Not with that level of strength or complexity. I mean, I could manage a medium strength, basic one, but even that, I'd say I'd only be able to hold it for about half an hour or so. Maybe less. I'm on fumes, guys."

Kairi leaned over and patted the man on the arm. "You don't have to do everything for us - there's a lot of people here who can pick up the slack. And - what about Amaya? Didn't you say she was about as strong as you?"

"Yeah, but she's not here, and I'm not sure if she's quite that-" Luxu began.

A dark portal suddenly opened up, and out of it came-

"Oh, hey, Riku!" Sora said, waving and grinning. "Guess what? Kairi's back - again!"

Riku stopped. He turned his head - facing right toward Kairi. He hesitated, then he gave a small smile. "I noticed before you even said anything. I sm- sensed her Heart. It's hard to miss."

"Wait, sorry, were you going to say you smelled me?" Kairi said loudly, stepping forward, her face etched with incredulity. And maybe a bit of offense.

"Hey, I bet we all smell - we've been doing a lot of non-stop fighting recently, and-" Sora started quickly.

"No, I wasn't going to say that - way to read into things, Kairi!" Riku interrupted, setting a hand on a hip and turning away, waving his free hand. "Pfft."

"Actually, you-" echoed the familiar voice of Cognis.

"Shut up!" Riku exclaimed over her, his face flushing.

"And that is still a thing that exists..." Luxu's voice came, tight and controlled, as he looked at Riku. He looked really tense, like he was actually grinding his teeth and everything now.

"Hey - remember: no racism!" Kairi said firmly, jabbing him in the arm with a finger.

"Ow. Right. Because across time and space, after all the terrible shit I've been and done, the one thing I'm not going to want to let anyone call me is racist..." Luxu murmured out, looking away.

"Uh, yeah! Racism is pretty awful!" Kairi exclaimed. "And pointless, and stupid, and irrational, and-"

"I get it - I know!" Luxu exclaimed right back, throwing up his hands. He winced, lowering them and reaching over himself to rub at his shoulder. "Can I just have five seconds to try and come to terms with the fact that-"

"Oh...of course the source of that power would be you!" a voice called out, rough and low.

"Huh?" Sora turned, as did everyone else. He spotted a guy up on a rooftop, overlooking the square. It was a guy in a Radiant Garden uniform, with long dark hair and wearing an eyepatch. Oh, right: that was the actual guy, Braig, wasn't it? The guy Luxu had- well- done a terrible thing to, and taken his life and body from him. Like Xehanort had to Terra.

Luxu turned too, his gaze lifting to the man on the roof. His hand shook and curled at his side, Sora saw - then it relaxed again. "Yep!" he called out, in a high, cheery voice. "I'm sorry to disappoint you!"

"Braig - come down here, if you would!" Ansem called, stepping forward.

The man, Braig, shifted on the roof and sat back on it in a lazy position - an arm raising, holding a glowing magic arrowgun. "No offense, boss, but I think I'll stay up here for now - with these right here in my hands! You know I'm a good scout; I can pull lookout duty for those Heartless whatever-you-call-its!"

Ansem frowned, but then he nodded. "As you were, then!"

Braig raised a hand, giving a thumbs-up. "Thanks, boss man!"

"Fucker's going to shoot me in the back the first chance he gets..." Luxu muttered darkly. "It's not enough to have to worry about Heartless, or Maleficent, or that other Darkness...god fucking dammit Ihatemylife..."

"I'm sure he wouldn't-" Kairi started softly.

"It only takes one, good, surprise shot," Luxu cut across, surprisingly fierce, his voice low. "And with as beat to hell as I am right now...one good shot will take me out, one way or the other."

"Then go to Land of Departure! Rest, get some potions in you!" Kairi said, in an insistent tone. "It doesn't sound like you're going to be much help here as it is, does it? So just go. Or go to Scala Ad Caelum and help look after the Dandelions!"

Luxu blanched. He sighed heavily, ending in a cough. He wiped at his mouth, shook his head. "Look, I just..." he began.

"We're not alone Luxu! You're not alone anymore! Just get that through your head! You don't have to-" Kairi started furiously, grabbing the man's arm.

Suddenly, bursting light and warbling noises filled the central square.

Sora whirled, staring all around himself as Light Portals started to appear all over!

Out of one portal came Ira, Invi, Skuld and Elrena!

Another, near that one: Lauriam, along with Strelitzia.

A third portal to Sora's left opened up, and striding out of it together were three armored figures. The helmets vanished in flashes of light, revealing those kids - Xehanort's friends: Urd, Hermod, and Vor!

A good distance off to the right - Aced and Gula, the other two Foretellers, and ancient Keyblade Masters. Both of them stopped, turning to look back at the portal suddenly.

"Is she coming, or are we just leaving her behind...?" Gula spoke.

"I'm sure she's-" Aced started.

A roaring noise of an engine echoed, and then a motorcycle came flying out of the portal - and atop it was Kana, her hair fluttering, her laughter ringing out. She spun around Aced and Gula before skidding to a stop, planting a foot on the ground sharply.

"Tell me I didn't miss any of the fighting! It looked incredible in that vision!" the woman exclaimed, staring around at them all, her lips spread into a wide, sort of scary grin.

"Yes, you did, actually," Luxu said flatly. "Sorry. Go pout about it up in the-"

A new light suddenly flashed in the square, drawing all eyes to it.

Sora stared in confusion; it wasn't a round, Light Portal, it was more like a...glowing, shimmering golden, rectangular - doorway? A doorway of light? "Huh...?"

A lone shape emerged out of the strange doorway of light - resolving itself into a familiar figure, at least. A girl, of short black hair and pink eyes that seemed to glow. She held a Keyblade down at her side - but raised it up to stare at it for a moment, frowning. She shook her head and smiled, then, lowering it again. "Thanks, I guess..." she murmured.

"Huh?! E-Erin? Don't tell me that's-" Riku exclaimed, starting forward.

"Don't tell you what?" the girl who was definitely Erin replied, starting forward as well. She met Riku in the middle.

"How can you be here? What-" Riku sputtered on.

The girl laughed, shaking her head and brushing at her hair. She held her Keyblade up again. "I dunno - I just heard that message and saw that a world really needed some extra help, and I wanted to be that help, and then...this thing gave me a path here, I suppose?" She shrugged her shoulders.

"Are you sure about this?" Riku said quietly. "You just got your life back, you-"

"Hey, what, do you think I've been sitting on my ass sipping champagne the past few weeks?" Erin said, half teasing, half serious. "I've been risking my life for my own world, thank you very much - and I'll come and risk it for someone else's, if I've got the ability to do it! Just like you and Terra did for mine! That's the whole reason I'm even allowed to be back in the world of the living, remember? So let me repay the favor, alright?"

Riku stood silently, struggling. Then he sighed, and nodded. "Okay."

"Not that I needed your permission or anything like that - but thanks," Erin replied, crossing her arms - her whole Keyblade swinging across her body in the process.

"Sorry..." Riku offered feebly, blushing now and bowing his head. "I just- you're a friend, you know that?"

The girl grinned now, her eyes shining. "So are you - but you never saw me whining and trying to stop you from interfering in my world-"

"That's because you were dead!" Riku said, in a high voice of disbelief.

"Exactly!"

"...That doesn't even make- sense..."

"And that is how I win, and you lose," the girl said sweetly, turning away and stalking off to join the rest of them in the center of the square. "Hey, Kairi! Sora."

"Hey," Kairi greeted, giggling.

"Hey," Sora echoed, giving Erin a smile. "Good to-"

Light swirled in the square again, near the middle this time: out of it strode...eh, the time traveling Xehanort, and the woman, Amaya, friend of Skuld, and also a Dandelion. And also...apparently she'd been a lot of things, was the point! Anyways!

"Sorry we're late," Amaya spoke out, her voice calm and ringing. She turned her head, giving a pointed look at Xehanort - the young time traveler one. "We got...held up."

Xehanort flushed, turning his head aside with a little "pfft" noise. Then he spotted his friends, and immediately stalked over to them, his face flashing with alarm. Worry. Fear. "What are you three doing here?" he hissed. "Are you trying to throw away your lives as soon as you got them back?"

"Whether we want to keep being Keyblade wielders or not," Urd started, clear and firm. "we decided we couldn't just sit back and wait while people were in trouble."

"And now you're here, aren't you?" Vor spoke up, stepping up to Xehanort. "We're all here together. The way we belong."

Xehanort looked at Urd, then down at Vor, his lips parting. His eye twitching. Then he looked to Hermod. "Tell me you're not actually still this stupid. I don't remember you being this stupid - but then, loss and longing can taint memories, can't they?"

Hermod shrugged, flashing a smile and putting his hands in the pockets of his long green robe. "I don't want to jinx us, but I just figured, you know...one last hurrah?"

Xehanort blinked at the other boy. "...Oh my goodness you actually are, and always have been, this stupid."

"Yeah? And what are you doing here, you little shit?" Luxu spoke up, striding over to face the young man. The young Xehanort. "What do you think you're gonna do? No powers, no Keyblade?"

"He does have a Keyblade again - and access to his powers," Amaya spoke calmly. "He broke his seal."

"WHAT?" Luxu exclaimed.

"He broke it to save Riku's life," Amaya stated firmly.

"Actually, it was more to save the lives of my friends - and yourself, of course - but-" Xehanort began.

"Quiet, child," Amaya scolded, turning with narrowed brown eyes.

"He did...save my life, actually," Riku spoke up, raising his hand awkwardly. "He was a bit of a dick about it, yeah, but - come on, he's Xehanort, right? I knew Ansem- err, his Heartless pretty well, and we all know how he was. Right?"

Everyone stared at Riku.

Riku probably felt it, blind or not, from the force of all those gazes alone. Because he definitely cringed in on himself, dropping his arm limply to his side. "...Forget it?"

Sora snickered, unable to help himself. Kairi couldn't help a giggle, either, so Sora felt better about himself in that moment.

"Ahem," a woman's voice was cleared, and heeled shoes stepped forward. It was- Invi, right! The ancient master, with the long, shimmering hair of lilac. "Just to confirm, we all received the same message, then?"

"From Namine? Yeah," Luxu nodded. He looked around, frowning. "But where the actual hell is she? And what the fuck is wrong with YOU?!" he went on furiously, striding toward Lauriam suddenly. "My Master fucking threatens her, and you just - what - left her sitting alone at home?!"

"I wasn't aware your Master threatened her, obviously," Lauriam defended, in even tones - though his eyes narrowed, after blinking in surprise. "I did leave her and Roxas behind at my place, though, yes. I didn't think you'd be any happier to see them come here with me. About as unhappy as I am that Strelitzia here managed to convince me to let her come along, I imagine..." he concluded, with a little frown down at his sister.

The girl in question flushed, but raised her head and tried to look firmly back at the man.

"Alright..." Luxu said, slowly relaxing again. Nodding to Lauriam. "Well, in this specific circumstance, yeah, I'd prefer it if she came here, actually. So - Namine - if you're screwing around in my Heart again, I am actually giving you permission to come here. Right now, in fact."

He waited, looking around himself, raising an arm to gesture.

A long silence filled the square.

"Are you crazy or something?" Kana called out, in amused tones, her lips curving.

Luxu whirled, gritting his teeth and glaring at her. "No. I'm just- where the hell is that girl?!" he shouted out in frustration - and a little worry, now.

"...Waiting for the perfect moment to make a really, really awesome and dramatic entrance!" a high voice echoed out across the square, from everywhere and nowhere. "Because if there's one thing I actually learned from you, Luxu, it's PRESENTATION!"

A Light Portal burst to life on one side of the square, and out of it came...lines of trooping, blade-wielding silvery beings! Nobodies, right?! They marched out and spread out into a half-circle. Then came a flood of squiggly, flying forms. And then, twirling, flipping pink-colored Nobodies, wearing bell bottom pants, beanie hats, and with singular, long strands of flesh hanging from their heads that looked like braids of hair!

"What the..." Elrena started, unable to even finish her sentence.

Finally, Namine came bursting out of the portal, her arms raised, swirling with icy mist, as she did a spin that flowed a long blue dress around her. She wobbled and righted herself, almost falling over, her heels clicking. "Dammit - ow!" she swore, glaring down at her feet. She growled, then lifted her foot and ripped off her heel and tossed it away. Then she did the same for the other. She straightened up with a swinging mess of hair in her face, turning back to look at the portal. "Roxas, come on, your cue was like twenty seconds ago!" she hissed out toward it.

"Oh...sorry..." echoed the lone, dull voice. Roxas came trudging out of the portal, looking around himself. "Hi."

A dozen of those odd sword wielding Nobodies broke their line, moving forward and adopting a spiral pattern of smooth motion around Roxas. The pink female looking Nobodies flipped and twisted toward Namine, leaping over her and grasping each other's hands and legs to toss each other about in intricate routines and-

"NO, NO! STOP - JUST STOP!" Namine cried, raising a hand and shaking her head fiercely at them all. "Just forget it, everybody, it's too late now! We tried, but...it's- it's not going to work out anymore! The timing is all off!"

"We would still like to dance," came a soft, female voice on the air, with a strange sensation jolting through Sora's Heart and mind.

"You're Dancers, that's all you do!" Namine exclaimed, exasperated.

"Exactly."

"Ugh...do whatever you want - but it's over, okay? Just- OOF!" Namine's words were cut off, as Luxu suddenly teleported straight in front of her - and then grabbed her into a hug. "Luxu, are you trying to choke me to death?! I just got this body!"

"Oops - sorry - of course not! It's just-" Luxu backtracked, immediately letting her go and stepping away.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just - uh - can we all focus here now?" Luxu said, coughing loudly and turning away from Namine.

Namine beamed, hugging him tight from behind before letting go again. She looked around the square, her smile growing wider still. "People actually came!" she said excitedly. Relieved.

"Yeah, apparently they did," Luxu agreed, with a note to his voice that sounded a lot like the same kind of pride Sora's mom had with him, when he did something great. "So you really did all this? Reached out to all these people?"

"Yes! It wasn't just you and Kairi - I reached out to all the Hearts I could, tracing one to the other, asking them to come and help us! Even Hearts connected to other Hearts," Namine said with satisfaction.

"Well good job. Now-"

"Oh, that's not everyone."

Luxu did a double take. "You have more?"

"Do you want more?" Namine said.

Luxu looked around again. He shrugged. "All things considered - we might need the extra help, yeah."

Namine grinned. "Then I might have more. It depends on who actually answers my call...we just have to wait a bit, I think."

"Alright, then-" Luxu started.

A shining light suddenly flashed in the sky, coming down like a- an actual, blue comet of energy!

Everyone turned, drawing weapons and tensing.

The comet hit the ground with a flash...and when it faded, three figures were in a heap on the ground. Three people Sora recognized!

It was King Mickey, along with Goofy, and Donald!

"Oh, good! We made it, fellas! And it looks like just in time, too!" Mickey exclaimed, untangling himself and leaping to his feet. Goofy got up as well, helping Donald to his feet too.

"I hate that blasted thing..." Donald croaked, glaring at the Star Shard in Mickey's hand.

"I dunno, I think it's kinda fun," Goofy said with a smile. "It's excitin', at least!"

"There's one more," Namine remarked, with a little giggle into her hand. "Now what about..."

She looked around the square. She held her breath, then raised a hand, showing all five fingers. She started to count down. "Okay, watch this: five...four...three...two...one!"

Silence. Stillness.

"Shit," Namine huffed, stomping her foot and lowering her hand.

"Hey - what'd I say about cussing? If the school calls me up one more time, I swear to fu-" Luxu started.

"You do it all the time! You are literally doing it in this conversation!" Namine argued.

"There is no conversation about this. Just, for once, do what I-"

"What the-!" Riku exclaimed, catching Sora's attention. Riku raised his arm up sharply, as a light flashed in his palm. His Keyblade appeared with a woosh, blowing at his hair. The weapon vibrated, glowing, and then Riku swung his arm out jerkily, aiming the weapon out into a clear space in the square.

"Uh, Riku, what are you doing?" Sora said, staring.

"It's not me, it's the- Keyblade!" Riku said.

"Let it do what it wants to do," Terra said calmly, starting forward. "Trust your weapon, Riku."

"R-right? Sure, fine...Okay..." Riku murmured out quickly, taking in a breath and letting it go again. His arm steadied, his grasp on the handle relaxing somewhat. "Alright, do whatever you're even-"

The end of the weapon swirled with light, and a beam shot out of it. It stopped at some random distance away, in mid air, and the air flashed there like the beam had hit an invisible barrier. A blue and white light bloomed on the ground, rising up and shining, forming an archway - no, a doorway. Then, the light began to fade, and an actual door took shape? A door of gold and white, with gemstones in it, and a fancy handle. It looked almost like the doors in land of Departure?

"That's weird," Sora said aloud. "Wonder what it leads to?"

Or...was it the other way around?

The door suddenly swung open with a scraping noise - and a figure burst out of it...twisting and stumbling, before falling onto the ground in a tangled mess.

"Ow..." came the low, moaning woman's voice as she rubbed at her ankle. "That wasn't the greatest-"

"...Aqua?" Ven said, staring.

Master Aqua, with those wings and horns and that long, long tail and all, suddenly looked up sharply toward Ven - and then to Terra. Then, she froze. Slowly, her eyes began to move around the square, taking everyone else in.

"There's another one," Namine said, pumping her fist to herself alone.

"Um...Master Aqua, you didn't look like that last time I saw you...?" Kairi started, hesitant and shocked. "What..."

"K-Kairi?" Aqua looked right at Kairi, her lips parting. Her cheeks flushed deep pink. She blinked at Kairi for a moment. Then she just dropped her head and literally threw up her hands, slumping on the ground. "Fine...I guess this is just how everyone gets to know about it..." she murmured through clenched teeth. Pointy teeth now, right, Sora remembered at the sight of them again. Aqua reached for her feet, tearing off and tossing her shoes across the square. Then she got up again, her long, black and blue gown flowing around her legs.

Aqua looked around, then turned to one side, hiding her tail behind her back and raising her hands to cover her horns. "PLEASE can everyone stop staring...!" she begged, in strained tones.

Terra nodded. Then he elbowed Ven pretty firmly.

"Ow! Hey, you were lookin', again, too...!" Ven grumbled out.

Kairi suddenly beamed, racing up to her Master and hugging her. "Aqua!"

"K-Kairi..." Aqua smiled uncertainly, lightly hugging her back. "Hi...I-"

"That's an amazing dress - where did you buy it?" Namine's voice exclaimed, high and breathy. "I neeeeeeed it!"

"O-oh, I- I didn't buy it, it was tailor made. For my..." Aqua clenched her jaw again, glancing around. Then she sighed. "...my coronation. That I am still mad at some people for ruining!" she went on tightly, her eyes glaring coldly at Terra.

"Coronation?! Wait, are you a-?!" Kairi exclaimed.

"Yes, I am a- a queen! Can we not go into it right now?" Aqua pleaded.

"So you were a princess this whole time?" Kairi went on, gushing. "I guess I wasn't the only warrior princess after all, huh, then, was I?"

Aqua waved a hand. "Oh, shush!" She pulled away, turning on her heel sharply. "Now: WHAT is going on here? All I heard was Namine asking for help - and an image of Radiant Garden in my mind. I wanted with all my Heart to come and help, with how urgent she made it sound, and then...that door appeared for me, and I was here."

"Uh - well, I guess your old Keyblade really wanted you here for this one," Riku murmured. The weapon flashed with light in his hand, as if in agreement with his words.

Aqua stared at her old weapon with a measure of fondness in her eyes, for a long moment. Then she gave a small laugh, and a nod. "Well...thank you," she said quietly. "But that doesn't explain why-"

"Maleficent decided to come here and try to steal my home again," Kairi said quickly. "Our home," she added, with a look at the residents of the world. "She got the Ultima Weapon. It's-"

"I know - I met with Ven and Terra earlier..." Aqua started. She paused. "Sorry, did you just say Maleficent?"

"Yeah - she turned up to get the Ultima Weapon. She's the one working with that Darkness girl," Sora said quickly.

Aqua's mouth twisted. "Of course she is..." she muttered darkly. She sighed, shaking her head. She looked over to Riku, suddenly. "I met Riku earlier, too. I assume he-"

"Wait, Riku?" Sora startled. "You met him there too, before us...? What was he even doing in your world anyways?" he went on, frowning now as he glanced at his friend. "He didn't exactly tell us why he was there..."

"We're not going into that right now, either," Aqua said firmly.

"Yes - we need to come up with some plan to defend this world, sooner rather than later," Cognis spoke up, as her form shimmered and took shape next to Riku.

"What is that?" Ira said, tensing and whirling to stare.

"...Darkness!" Lauriam hissed, his eyes narrowing to blue slits. His Keyblade appeared in his hand with a flash, and then, in a swirl of rose petals, he teleported - straight in front of Riku.

Where he swung his sword for Riku's neck before anyone could even react!

Chapter 67: The Siege of Radiant Garden: Interim

"NO!" a high voice screamed out, that wasn't Kairi's own.

No, Kairi didn't react in time to even have a hope of saving her friend! Sora didn't, either! But for Kairi, she was just so- so completely shocked that a guy like Lauriam would do something like this that she just- she didn't- And now it was already too late. Way too late.

Luxu hadn't moved, either - either because he was still too beat up and hurt, or shocked, too, or...maybe a part of him wanted to let it happen (a dark part of Kairi thought)...

Regardless, it wasn't any of them who reacted in time to save Riku.

It was the most unexpected of people, who disappeared suddenly in a flicker of white light, and reappeared right in front of Riku - facing Lauriam with her arms outstretched.

Strelitzia.

Lauriam's face, in a slow motion moment, shifted from that inconsolable rage and hatred...into pure shock and horror. But even he couldn't stop himself at this point - the blade was already swinging, with all his speed and might. Momentum was carrying it...

His Keyblade swung down in an arc, aiming for the shoulder of the person before him: unstoppable.

Someone tried - Kairi saw a pillar of purple, magic ice sprout up out of the ground, growing in an instant - but...even that wasn't enough.

Lauriam's Keyblade struck the pillar of jagged, dark ice - slowed, tore, struggled - but continued on still through it, cleaving it to reach its unintended, unwanted target all the same.

Strelitzia's face, pale and freckled, and determined, lit up with the light of the streak of energy that the Keyblade left behind, across her body. From left shoulder, down to her right hip. Then, she blinked, her expression shifted...and she fell backwards, her long, orange hair fluttering in front of her like ribbons.

Riku himself moved, dropping down and catching the girl in his arms before she hit the ground.

And then the world was speeding up again to Kairi.

There was movement, shouting, yelling - so many people and so many voices-

The pillar of ice crashed to the ground again with a shattering noise, pieces flying everywhere.

Lauriam's Keyblade hit the ground with a great clatter in its wake. Then he himself followed it, falling to his knees before his sister, his blue eyes wide and fixed to her. "N-no...no...Strelitzia, w-why...?" he whispered.

Even as the likes of Luxu, Amaya, and Aerith took the girl from Riku and began to cast Healing spells on her, Strelitzia looked past them all...her eyes, too, only for her brother. Even now... "B-because...this isn't...you..." her weak, quavering voice came, responding to him, like a ghost. "I can't...see you like this...a-again. I w-won't. I told you, before...remember? I reached out to you...across time and space...just to try to reach your Heart. So why did you...do it again...?"

Lauriam stared at her in shock. Then he shook his head furiously, raising his hands before him, staring at his palms. "Maybe this is just...who I am inside..." he answered, his own voice a trembling, emotional mess.

"No! My brother...is kind, and loving. He cares...and understands. He doesn't hurt people...for no reason like that..." Strelitzia refuted, her green eyes narrowing, holding more certainty, more strength, even as she struggled against...terrible injury. "Just remember that...please..."

"I'm sorry!" Cognis's voice came, distressed and husky, as her faceless face "looked" down on Strelitzia. "I couldn't form the ice fast enough to stop the attack - I tried, but it wasn't enough! Riku-"

"Hey - don't freak out - it's okay!" Riku said quickly. "I know, okay? You tried your best, you actually-"

"I have had ENOUGH of this!" Cognis's voice erupted again suddenly, as her form warped and rippled fiercely, her humanoid shape twisting to become a cloud of pure darkness. She surged forward to hover before Lauriam, her aura burning and sputtering erratically around her core. "It isn't enough that all of you worthless, pathetic fleshbags have to hate me for no other reason than that I exist - but you go after Riku?! One of your own? A child? A necessary sacrifice to get at me? A noble, innocent hero of a boy was going to die so you could strike out at an innocent being who has done nothing with her existence but save your stupid little lives, time and again now?! Are you pleased with yourselves?! ALL OF YOU? ARE YOU PROUD?! CONGRATULATIONS FOR WHAT YOU'VE ACHIEVED: POSSIBLY KILLING YOUR OWN SISTER! YES, IT SURE WAS WORTH IT, WASN'T IT?!"

"Cognis!" Riku shouted, leaping to his feet. "Stop, it's-!"

"You're telling ME to stop?!" Cognis shouted, her form expanding, growing more and more... "Tell all of these disgusting, idiotic PEOPLE to stop! Your human Hearts' emotions blind you so deeply that you cut down anyone in your way to get at your perceived enemies, never even stopping to think to judge if one is even an enemy or not before you decide to kill them! Perhaps if you had, we'd not need to BE enemies at all-"

"COGNIS, ENOUGH!" Riku yelled again - not with anger, Kairi noted, but fear. She didn't think it was fear for himself, though.

"NO!" Cognis responded fiercely. "They are going to apologize to you, to ME, to Strelitzia, and then they can all go and-!"

"T-thank you..."

Cognis stopped. Her form shrank down in an instant, to a beachball sized cloud of darkness, with a purple core. Her aura rippled as she drifted backwards. "What..?"

Strelitzia blinked up at the dark cloud that was Cognis, her lips frowning. "You...did try to save me...didn't you? You made the ice...? Thank you...for trying... And I'm s-sorry...for my- stupid, stupid, stupid brother..."

"...You're welcome - Strelitzia, isn't it?" Cognis said softly, slowly. Subdued, and also maybe...tinged with embarrassment now? Or shame.

The girl nodded her head weakly. "And you're...C-Cognis?"

"Yes. I'm sorry I couldn't stop the blow completely, I really am," Cognis replied, her voice twisting with guilt and regret now.

Strelitzia gave a thin, shaking smile. "It's...okay. I'm sorry my brother attacked you like that. People really shouldn't...judge others without knowing them...should they?"

"No: they shouldn't," Cognis said, flat and dull now. "Yet, they always seem to."

"I hear that one, sister," Erin spoke out, striding forward across the square - to stand next to Riku. To stand before Cognis's shimmering form. "It's a real pain, isn't it? If we could all just be seen and judged as the individuals we are, instead of some sweeping 'whole'...it sure would make life a lot easier!"

Kairi took Sora's hand, stalking over to Riku as well. She summoned her weapon to hand, gazing around her fiercely. "Okay, look, I'll just make this simple: anyone who has a problem with Cognis here - you're the problem, not her! Instead of being all hateful or self-righteous about yourselves, why don't you try and stop and think about that for even a single second! She's not the enemy, she's not the bad guy here: you are, if you're going to try to hurt or kill her or Riku, like this, for what? Just because she's made out of darkness?! Why don't you go cut down every human being out there with a nose piercing, because you hate the way it shines in the sun! That's how stupid you all are! But I can at least try to protect innocent people from your flailing stupidity! If you can't not try to kill innocent people here, then get lost! We don't need your help, thanks for nothing, assholes!"

"What she said," Luxu spoke, rising to his feet and turning from Strelitzia (though he left a green, swirling magic circle beneath her, still). "Let's all calm the hell down, and let's address these elephants one by one here, okay? We'll start with the Darkness sized elephant first - then we can move on to the Xehanort sized one. Amaya, I know you've got your own issues too, but can we just-"

"I've already met her," Amaya said, firm and calm, not looking away from Strelitzia as she held healing hands over her form.

"And...? I'm hoping you chose to be on side 'give her a chance', all things considered," Luxu responded.

"This individual girl - yes," Amaya stated.

"Great! Then we're on the same page there; whew, man, I really didn't want to have to fight you!" Luxu muttered in relief. "Though, that still leaves four other people here that could be a real problem..."

Amaya stood, nodding, and summoned her Keyblade to hand as he stepped up beside him. Her gaze found the Foretellers, flickering from one to the next - they already had their own Keyblades out. "I don't want to have to fight the Masters again, either - but I will. I won't let an innocent person be harmed...either of them! I gave them that promise, and I'm going to uphold it," she finished, turning to look at Cognis directly. At her and Riku, both.

"What about you, mouse king?" Luxu called out to Mickey, looking to him across the square. "Are you blinded by the light, or are you smarter than I hope you are?"

"Well, I know the darkness can be pretty scary - but that's not an excuse to go around hurting people like this!" Mickey started, slow at first, but then firmer and louder. "Especially somebody who hasn't done anything wrong yet. Gosh, I mean, I've seen how it can be used for good before, myself, and that really opened my eyes. And, why, right here we've got so much light and darkness together, all ready to stand against what threatens this town - so why don't we all just work together? That's why we came here, right?" Mickey concluded, staring around himself intently. He nodded and raised a fist, then scurried across the square. He stopped before Cognis directly, gazing on her shimmering humanoid shape. "Besides, if you're with Riku, you can't be that bad, can ya - Cognis, wasn't it? It's nice to meet you!"

Mickey offered her his hand, gazing up at her still (maybe a bit uncertain, but he was).

"I hope you won't think I'm being rude by not shaking your hand - I quite literally can't," Cognis responded. "But I would like to - Your Majesty."

Mickey laughed, lowering his hand. "Haha! It's fine! And don't bother with that Majesty stuff, either, okay? Just call me Mickey. Any friend of Riku's is a friend of mine!"

"Awesome - NOW: guys," Luxu called to his friends, stepping forward - toward them. "You want to lose your minds over phantoms in the dark again? Really? How'd that end for you last time - how'd that go again? Why don't we instead just take some deep breaths here, and talk shit out with one another before things spiral out of control. Huh? Alright? Maybe we can avoid another tragedy that way!"

Invi gave a hesitant nod, her eyes still narrowed at Cognis. At those in front of Cognis, protecting her. "Agreed...but why - if this is one of the beings responsible for Daybreak Town's-"

"BZZT!" Luxu's voice rang out, shaking his head. "Wrong, girl - wrong girl."

"What...?" Invi said, baffled.

Luxu sighed, giving a one-armed shrug with his sword arm. "This one, specific Darkness has nothing to do with any of that stuff - I can attest to that, personally, considering I was there at the time...and watching everything go down in the Data World. There were a handful of Darknesses around, doing sneaky shit - but this one isn't one of them. So, what's your grievance? What's our grievance, honestly?"

"It's a being of pure darkness - surely it can't just be trusted-" Ira spoke up now, stepping forward as well, tightening his grip on his weapon at his side.

"Who said anything about trust?" Luxu responded. "I sure as hell don't trust her yet - maybe never will, call me a hypocrite, everybody - but I'm sure as hell not going to kill her for no damn reason other than that she exists. Or, I guess more accurately, I'm not gonna go cutting down the Riku kid to get rid of her. That's the whole reason I walked out on the Master, you know! Because he was going to do that to us! To all of you guys! You really want to do that to someone else now? You want another dead kid on your rap sheet? Really? Because personally...I'm sick of doing awful shit to innocent people! All I want to do now is...what's right and good. What about you?"

"You know, I just saw the Master again, by the way - fought him," Luxu went on. "Who do you think did all this to me? And he did say some interesting things, in conversation with another Darkness. Don't know how much can be trusted or not, but he's got some personal history with their kind, and he still seems pretty set on genocide, it seems like. And genocide is bad, kids! Wiping out a whole people, darkness or not, because of personal issues...that's no bueno, in my book. How about yours?"

"The Master was here?" Aced spoke out.

"Yep. And now he's gone again," Luxu said idly. "Who knows where? To do who knows what? All I know is...I don't want a part of it. Do you? Want to go along with his fucked up plans again, unwittingly? Or do you want to consider maybe he's wrong, and maybe...we give people a chance? Maybe there's- another side, another story here? Maybe like the whole war, that conflict he pushed you into with each other, maybe he's here pushing for us all to be against these beings too - light against darkness, blind and unthinking? Now I'm not saying all of them are great or misunderstood or whatever - I'm just saying...maybe we take this on an individual basis? The ones that have proven themselves to be threats to the World...and the ones that haven't yet?"

"How do we know the Master was really here?" Gula said. "That you really are-"

"Okay, here!" Namine cried, stomping forward, her eyes narrowed at the Foretellers.

The four all gave gasps, startling and reaching for their heads.

Namine continued glaring at them all, her hands curled at her sides.

"Happy now? Does that answer your questions? Now can we skip all this and make sure my friend doesn't die because you all wanted to be fucking stupid idiots?!" Namine went on furiously, whirling away and stalking toward Riku and the others. She stopped next to Lauriam, then drew back a foot and kicked him in the ribs!

Lauriam gasped in pain, looking up at her, distraught. "Namine - I'm sorry..." He looked to his sister. "I'm sorry," he repeated to her, heartfelt. Then, he looked to Riku... "I- I am sorry to you, too. I didn't-"

"Apologize to Cognis," Riku stated flatly, crossing his arms.

Lauriam turned his gaze to her shimmering form. For a long moment, he was silent.

"Lauriam, please... She hasn't done anything wrong...but you have." Strelitzia's voice came, intense, firm. "I can't- I won't call myself your sister- when you're like this! Okay?"

"I...I am sorry - Cognis?" Lauriam spoke, quiet. Hesitant.

"Apology accepted - I suppose you have more understandable reasons than most to lose your head," Cognis said. "You did lose your sister to one of my kind once before. However, I am not that person. I'm nothing but myself, just as any of you are."

"Quite right, quite right, my dear!" the wizard Merlin's voice came, as he suddenly appeared out of shiny light particles (along with a highly discombobulated set of Even, Leon, Tifa, and Cid!). "Why, shame on all of you!" he said sternly, poking his wand around at them all. "As a good friend of mine once said - or, eh, will say: just because you can't understand something doesn't mean it's wrong! Who are any of you to decide what's evil and what's good? And- and to just declare one person as this or that...horrendous! I'd hoped these many worlds would hold more enlightened thinkers than my own presently does! But I have to say, I'm rather disappointed, oh yes indeed! Dreadfully disappointed!"

Luxu nodded to Merlin, then returned his gaze to his friends. "Come on, guys, don't fuck this all up now. New era, new understandings. Put your weapons away, please. It- it tore me up having to see you guys fight each other back then, and I don't want to have to fight you all now! Just- just put 'em away, and...give the girl a chance. Same chance as us. If we're wrong, we can find a way to deal with it later - a way that doesn't involve sacrificing another innocent kid, at least! It's just...it's just one."

"Sorry, what did we just walk into?" Even spoke out - though no one answered.

"Hang on, is that-" Leon startled, his eyes finding Xehanort. He grasped for his weapon behind his back-

"And what in tarnation is that?!" Cid exclaimed, jabbing a finger out at Cognis (eliciting a heavy sigh from the girl).

"He's alright; he's here to help," Amaya stated fiercely, stepping up in front of Xehanort, her eyes narrowing at Leon. "Don't try it!"

Leon stopped, gazing at her. He looked around at the others. Apparently he realized that no one else was really freaking out...and decided to follow their lead, at least for now. Somewhat. He lowered his weapon, but still stood with his eyes fixed to Xehanort, all the same.

"And that...?" Cid insisted, looking to Cognis.

"She's here to help too!" Riku shouted, frustration and anger in his voice. "Can everyone give her a break?!"

"Very well, Luxu," came a soft voice. It was the woman of billowing lilac hair, Invi, who lowered her Keyblade next moment. Lowered it - and relaxed - but didn't let it vanish. "I'm willing to give...her, a fair chance. And you might be right about this just being another part of the Master's plans for us - but I'm not sure, according to your own words before about Daybreak Town..."

"Cognis wasn't even there for any of that!" Riku shouted again, throwing up his hands now. "She was born like two weeks ago, okay? And can everyone stop trying to kill us, please?! I'm almost getting used to it at this point..."

"I won't let anyone hurt you," Cognis said firmly.

"We won't let anyone hurt you," Kairi stated, turning to smile at her friend - even if he couldn't see it.

"Yeah," Sora agreed. "Either of you guys!"

"I guess she deserves a chance..." Gula's voice came, with a sigh, as he let his weapon fall too. His vanished, as he closed his fist tightly in a shimmer of particles of light. "I'll trust you, Luxu. Your memories are clear enough," he added, with a look at Namine -  a nod of appreciation. "The Master didn't come off too great in them."

"No, he didn't," Ira sighed, too, his own weapon disappearing as well. He shook his head, raising a hand to run it through long blue hair. "I'm not inclined to trust him again, now more than ever. It's clear that he...he always had his own motives. And in hindsight, perhaps biases that cloud his judgements. Ours have been clouded the same, before - I don't want to let it happen again. If you say this- being has done no harm, then...she's better than us, at least."

"Awesome," Luxu said simply. "Aced - as usual, you're the last one. Want to pick up the pace with that thinking brain of yours? If you can?"

Aced startled, blinking at Luxu. His jaw clenched - then relaxed again. He stared at Cognis intently...then he let out a growl, threw up his hands, and let his weapon vanish. "Even if I said I thought this was a terrible idea, and wanted to fight over it...it would be me against so many of you all! I'm not sure I could win that one. And...I've had enough of being the world's fool - so why not?" he finished tentatively. "Like Gula said - your memories of the Master were clear enough to me. If he wants us to think or do something, at this point it's probably...safer to just do the opposite."

"Ah, man, that last reason there is why I like you," Luxu said with a laugh - a truly relieved laugh. He let his weapon vanish, and gave a look around the square. "So, are we all cool here - everybody?" He looked at Xehanort's three friends, and raised a hand to them. "What about you guys?"

The guy, Hermod, gave a nod and a small grin. A shrug, too. "We've already met her a few days back, too. We're cool with her."

"For now..." Urd said hesitantly, nodding too. "We're trying to be, at least. Eraqus thinks-"

"Eraqus knows about her, too?" Luxu cut across, his eyebrows raising. "And he didn't go apocalyptic on her? Or the kid?"

"Oh, he tried," Terra spoke up, stepping forward now across the square. "I talked him down from it - after a fashion. I guess the only one that leaves is..." He looked to Aqua, pointed. Questioning.

Aqua stared back at him, raising her chin with a little scoff. Then she sighed, dropping her head again and shaking it. "I've already met her as well - I'm the one who sent Riku and her to you earlier."

"So that's why you were in Aqua's world!" Sora exclaimed, turning to Riku with a smile.

Riku froze, for a moment. Guilt and conflict crossed his pale face. Then he shrugged, turning his head away. "W-well, that's not exactly-"

"We're not dealing with that right now," Aqua interrupted, swift and firm - again, like she had before, Kairi noted. "Later, Riku..." she added, in a soft tone.

Riku hesitated, then gave a nod, still facing away. "Right. Radiant Garden needs us."

"Okay. Good stuff," Luxu nodded. He turned, waving an arm out. His gaze found Skuld, standing on her own near Ven and Cloud. "Skuld...?" he said quietly. "You good?"

Skuld took a breath, bowing her head, her long hair spilling forward. Her hands rose up, as shaking, pale fists - then they fell again. "I wouldn't want to judge someone based on what others have done..." she spoke quietly, almost inaudible. "It's not fair or right to think that way."

"Good to hear," Luxu replied. His gaze scanned the square - landing on Elrena next. "Elrena?"

The woman stood in the middle of the crowd, near Gula and Aced still - her arms just...at her sides. Her face was pale and taut. Her green eyes were fixed to Lauriam - had they been, this whole time...? At Luxu's voice, calling her name, she startled, as if coming out of some deep thoughts. "Huh? What?"

"You good over there, or are you going to be a problem?" Luxu said evenly.

Elrena's lips parted, exhaling sharply. Then she shook her head, setting a hand on her hip while raising the other to wave it about airily. "What? You think just because Lauriam goes crazy, that means I'm going to join in like an idiot? Like we're - what - joined at the hip now? Please! I am an independent woman who has her own thoughts and feelings, thank you very much, asshole!"

"And what are those thoughts and feelings? Different from his?" Luxu pressed.

Elrena eyed Lauriam again. Then, her gaze flickered up to Cognis. She snorted, shaking her head again. "Different from his, okay? Happy now? I'm team give purple blob a chance, alright?! What else am I going to say? I'm an evil bitch, myself, and everyone's giving me a chance! So - there!"

"That does make me happy to hear, actually, yeah," Luxu said, giving her a smile.

"Whatever...just leave me out of it..." Elrena muttered, looking away and crossing her arms with a huff, her cheeks tinged pink.

"Okay. So, Skuld and Elrena, and what about-" Luxu went on.

But whatever he was going to say was interrupted - by the appearance of another portal of swirling light, blues and white hues, intense and powerful.

Out of that portal came a tall figure with strikingly similar features to Skuld, Kairi saw - and she realized who it must be, based on what Luxu had told her before about the woman, a second before it was confirmed.

"Mother?" the younger Xehanort gasped, staring at the woman with wide, blinking silver eyes. Eyes exactly the same shade as the woman herself. "What are you doing here? How did you even-"

The woman who could only be Moreth raised a hand, and in a flash of gold light a Keyblade appeared. It was a simple keyblade, with a silver blade and a blue handle (that looked similar to Riku's short-lived, first Keyblade, the one he'd named Kingdom Key). Moreth gave the weapon a little shake, giving Young Xehanort a humorous smile. "It took me a few tries, but I did remember my training. I came to see if there was anything I could do to help-"

"No!" Xehanort said, instant and firm. "You can't fight, you-!"

"Thank you for being so worried for me, but I never said anything about fighting," Moreth cut across, firm. "I know I'm not good enough to be much help in that area." She looked around herself, flashing a smile at them all as she put her hands at her waist, holding her weapon like a shy schoolgirl. "But good Healers are just as important in a battle, wouldn't you say? I think I can manage to cast some good Cures for people who need it..."

"Some would say we're more important!" Aerith spoke, looking to Moreth and giving a smile of her own in return. "Welcome to the support team!"

Moreth nodded to Aerith, giving a small wave, her cheeks flushing.

"And there's the next elephant we've gotta tackle here," Luxu murmured, turning on a heel and stalking toward Xehanort. Stopping directly in front of him. "You - what the hell are you even doing here? You're supposed to be on house arrest. So go home and be a sulky little shit while the rest of us actually save some lives here."

Xehanort looked at them all, then to Luxu. He glanced at Amaya - then he took in a breath. "Sorry to disappoint you, but actually, I'd like to help," he said quietly.

Luxu looked at Amaya. She looked at him, then at Xehanort, calm and intense. Sizing each other up? Or communicating silently?

"Let me fight with my friends this time, instead of being helpless, cut off from them while they...disappear," Xehanort went on, louder now. Firmer. Determined.

"And everyone else?" Luxu said. "What about the town? You give a shit about it, or just your buddies?"

"Let me help- all of them, too," Xehanort said, halting, gazing around again. "Let me be- what I was. What I wanted to become. What I...what you hope I can become here. Let me prove myself. Let me prove...that I want to be so, as well."

"Nice words - but let's see if they're just words." Luxu looked to Namine. "Namine: peek into his Heart for me, why don't you? Tell me what you see there. Right now."

Namine looked at Young Xehanort, her face scrunching up. Her hand raising to her chest. After a long few moments, she breathed out, her hand falling. "He's telling the truth; he doesn't want to be a total dick anymore. And he doesn't want to become an even worse one, either. No matter what happens, he's...going to try to avoid going down that path. That's what I feel from him - what's in his Heart."

"Regardless of the truth of his feelings, I don't think he's ready for this yet," Amaya started softly.

"I'm ready and willing - I...I promise you all that," Xehanort cut across her, hesitant. Uncertain, despite his own words. Or... He looked to Skuld, suddenly. He blinked, his eyes widening and relaxing. His expression...trying to be something like disarming? Or non-threatening? "I'm sorry - for what my older self did to you. For the pain and harm he caused you. For what I..." he blurted, only to stop again at the end, trailing off.

Skuld stared at him. She strode forward, looking him in the eyes. She stopped next to Luxu. She was taller than Xehanort. She gazed down at him now, up close. "You listened to me, and you helped me that day - you saved me. You said you only wanted to talk, and that was all you did. I want to believe what I saw that day. And it wasn't you - it was your future self. I can't hate you for something you didn't do. And if you want to do things differently..." She took a shaking breath. "I'll accept your apology. And I'm willing to give you a chance to help. We need all the help we can get here."

"Fine. But if you do anything other than helping to save people here today, protecting this world, you'll be getting my blade through your chest - and I don't care what your mommy or adopted mommy wants. I'll cut you down and take the heat for it. Got it?" Luxu said harshly, glowering at Xehanort. "We all get one chance here - don't waste yours."

"Got it," Xehanort said mechanically, looking away.

Skuld's eyes drifted away from Xehanort, her body relaxing now - and found Moreth; Moreth looked back at her, tilting her head.

Moreth stepped up to Skuld, letting her Keyblade vanish with a nervous little glance down at it, like she'd forgotten it was still there. She smiled at Skuld, then bowed her head low. "You must be Skuld - my ancestor, from the Keyblade War. It's...it's wonderful, to have the chance to meet you, if you don't mind my saying. My family's Keyblade legacy was never something I was too interested in, but I have to recognize how special it is to get to meet such a historical figure from it!"

Skuld looked downright shocked at the idea of being a "historical figure". Then she smiled back, raising a hand to brush at her long locks behind an ear. "It's not a direct relation, as far as I understand it - but I'm happy to meet you, too. Even if it's so distant...we are related, I guess."

Moreth straightened. She tilted her head again, eyeing Skuld's face - examining, roaming her gaze. "I love your hair, by the way - it's beautiful!"

"Huh?" Skuld blinked. Then, she laughed. Laughed at the absurdity, maybe, more than anything. "Oh - well...yours, too! I suppose I'm glad my family's genes are still so strong, after all this time..." She paused, eyeing Xehanort. "Though I guess it doesn't show itself in MALES, does it?"

Xehanort startled, his head whipping around. "Hm?"

Moreth gave a small laugh, her hand going to her mouth. "No, it doesn't seem like it does!"

Skuld laughed with her.

Xehanort looked between her and Moreth. He frowned, then shook his head and turned away, his cheeks flushed.

"Hey," Kairi called out, starting forward now. Feeling it was safe enough to leave Riku's side - and address her own unfinished business. "If you're really here to help, I'm not going to complain about it - but I still remember you being a huge jerk in Traverse Town! So, you've got a lot to do if you really want to prove you're not the same evil asshole anymore...or at least that you don't want to be that guy anymore. But I gave my friend Riku a chance, after everything he did, and you technically haven't done anything yet, have you? So I can give you a chance, too. Just don't ruin it, okay?"

Xehanort gazed at her coolly, his chin raised to her. He balked as Amaya's elbow got him in the ribs. He turned to glare at her - then he sighed. He looked back at Kairi, his face actually softening. Shifting. Somewhat, anyways. He gave a small nod. "I assure you, I meant every word I just said. Check with your Nobody, Namine, if you wish to ascertain my-"

"Okay, good enough," Kairi interrupted. "You could have left it at that first part."

Xehanort gave a small snort, turning away from her again.

Kairi was happy to let him. She turned away, too, heading back for her friends. As she walked, she heard the voices behind her talking, low and quiet, and rushed - Skuld and Amaya.

"...Skuld, I just have to tell you how sorry I am for hurting you-"

"Don't. It's okay. Well, it's not okay - I wish you'd learn to speak up by now - but I wouldn't have known when the right time to bring up something like- Xehanort being related to me and Ephemer would have been, either... It doesn't matter now, either way, anyways, does it? And I don't want to spend the time we have together again being mad at you..."

Suddenly, Kairi found herself stopping. She looked over at Luxu - finding his gaze. Meeting it. She turned to glance back at the two women (who were in the middle of a hug now). She looked at Luxu again; he gave her a little nod. It was time. It was smart - like Luxu's decision to go tell Yen Sid and Master Eraqus about them being back. And Kairi just thought, too, that telling them right away...well, no one knew what tomorrow would bring. Better to tell them now, and risk not being able to at all, right?

So Kairi turned on her heel and started back toward Skuld and Amaya, stopping before the two women. "Hey," she spoke out, tentative. "Skuld - Miss Amaya?"

The two broke their hug, turning to look at Kairi together.

Skuld looked at her with a little frown of curiosity - Amaya, with a tiny smile.

"What is it?" Skuld asked.

"Well..." Kairi began, taking a breath. She glanced away, to where Luxu stood. She dithered. She put her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels. "Well...um...you see, while I was in the Realm of Sleep...I found out about some people who were- missing for a really long time," she said, slow and halting. "The Hearts of the Dandelions - from the Data World. They merged with their Chirithies, a-at the end, and escaped into the Sleeping Realm. And...Luxu and I found them, and we- helped them regain human forms again. Helped them wake up, remember themselves. We're not sure if it's EVERYONE, but...we found a lot. And they're...they're out, now. They're back. Them and their Chirithies. We sent them to Scala Ad Caelum, for now."

Amaya stared at her, her lips parting, her eyes glistening. Skuld gave a soft gasp, raising her hand to her mouth. The two women looked at each other, then, back at Kairi.

Kairi threw another look to the side - to Luxu. She turned back to the women, bringing her hands in front of her now. "But that's not everything. Before Luxu found me in there again, I met someone else there. Someone who saved my life. Someone who you two are going to be really happy to see again," she spoke, soft and happy. "We couldn't have even saved the Dandelions without him."

"Him? Who...?" Skuld said slowly - quietly.

"Ephemer."

"E-Ephemer?!" Skuld exclaimed. "He's- he's- he-" She stopped, choked. Swallowing. She looked to Luxu, swiftly turning, her mouth agape.

Luxu gazed back at her - at Amaya - and gave a nod, along with a small smile. "It's true. He's in Scala, right now, with the rest of them. And that's not all," he continued. "I think I've got a way to bring back...everyone who fought in the war, too. Not just the Dandelions we saved."

"You do?" Amaya whispered, stepping forward sharply. "How?"

Luxu hesitated, now. He gave a look around, at everyone else who was now watching him pretty closely - like a sporting event. Listening in on his words. Kairi's words. Their whole conversation with Skuld and Amaya, really. The hesitation cleared, though, and Luxu drew himself...and began to speak on with confidence. Explaining his plan, his thoughts. And the plans for the future, if he could pull it off right.

"If I can do it - I really don't want to get anybody's hopes up here, okay? In theory it's sound, but in practice, I'm not too sure," Luxu was saying loudly. "If I can...they're going to need a nice place to live their little lives out, going forward. A safe, peaceful place. Some world that doesn't get much trouble, no conflicts, no wars. A lot of sunshine and light. Nothing's perfect, but...they deserve the best they can get."

"Gosh, I think my world would love to help them all out!" Mickey spoke up, stepping forward and beaming up at Luxu. "It's no stranger to the knowledge about other worlds, and it's always been a bright and cheery place! People are willing to help each other there, all the time! I'm sure I could talk to some people about it - if you'd have me!"

Luxu gazed down on King Mickey. Then he nodded. "If we survive this, I'll be in touch, for sure - I appreciate it, your kingliness. Your world's the best I can think of, myself, off the top of my head...and that's saying something."

Mickey laughed happily, nodding back.

"Amaya...?" Skuld's quiet voice came, uncertain.

Kairi turned, seeing Skuld looking at her friend, a hand on the other woman's arm.

"I want nothing more than to go to Ephemer, right now, and hug him just the same as you," Amaya whispered. "But-"

"Just like before - you're going to be here to try to help who you can in the battle," Skuld finished, smiling at her friend. "You were braver than I was, Amaya. I joined Ephemer in the Dandelions, instead of staying behind with you like that. I guess I gave up on everyone, and you didn't..."

"I don't think it was ever that simple," Amaya refuted, shaking her head. "For any of us. 'Keykids' or Masters alike," she added, with a look to the Foretellers. To Luxu. "Life is rarely ever that simple. But sometimes it is...and sometimes..."

Xehanort stepped forward, his shoes clicking, suddenly. "I'd be interested in meeting him as well. After all, not only is he the founder of Scala Ad Caelum, but he's also allegedly my very ancestor."

Skuld and Amaya both turned to look at Xehanort in surprise. They stared at each other. Amaya gave a small smile, a small nod.

"If you're good, we can make that happen, sometime," Amaya replied to him.

Skuld glanced Amaya, then, she gave something like a- badly suppressed chortle. "You really did become a mo-"

"Why do you look like that?! Why don't I look like that?!" Kana's voice erupted in the square, along with rapid footsteps. "Can you actually fly with those?!"

Kairi whirled, tensed - then she relaxed again with a little laugh at the sight that met her.

Kana was right in front of Aqua - grabbing her arms and looking her up and down critically, a beaming look on her face.

"W-well, I'm not too sure, myself!" Aqua stammered, shoving Kana back and stumbling away, her cheeks flushing. "Um...ask- Even about it?" She paused, shaking her head. Then- "I think I should be able to fly, though, yes...but I haven't tried yet..."

"That could be handy in a fight," Ven spoke, smiling at her somewhat. "No more glider!"

"Though, how are you going to fight, Aqua?" Terra said lightly. "You don't have a Keyblade anymore..."

Aqua froze, staring at him. She flushed again. "I- wasn't exactly thinking of that when I..."

"Oh - I've got you - here!" Kana's voice came, along with a flash of light. Her Rainfall...replicated Keyblade appeared in her grasp - which she then flipped around with one hand and offered the handle out to Aqua. "You can keep it, if you want it; I already have my swords - I like them way better," she added, patting a hand down at her waist, where her twin swords were sheathed at hips.

Aqua stared at her doppelganger, her blue eyes blinking. Glinting. Her hand slowly raised, and long clawed fingers closed around the handle of the Keyblade. A light shined beneath her palm, and she raised it up and stared at it, her lips curving into a warm smile. She looked at Kana again, tilting her head. "...Thank you? That is actually so- so sweet of you!"

"It's not like I like it - it wasn't a big deal," Kana shrugged, turning away and stalking off again.

"Kana..."

"What?" the woman said, her head snapping around, her face puzzled.

"I think I am actually...incredibly proud of you right now," Even said, in a hushed voice.

Kana beamed, setting hands on her hips. "You'll be prouder after I save this whole world by myself."

"No, no, let's not get ahead of ourselves here!" Even said quickly, with an actual, high laugh. "Let's just focus on-"

"Kairi?!"

Kairi looked toward the castle suddenly - seeing her own doppelganger with dark hair racing through the broken gates into the square. Behind her was Ienzo, and Aeleus! "Xion?!" she exclaimed. She frowned, then, as the realization finally hit her. "What were you doing in the castle instead of out-"

She never got to finish the sentence, as, next second, Xion had run up to Kairi and flung her arms around her, hanging onto her neck with a cry.

"Ack- bleck- hey, sis! I get the feeling you're not letting me go for the next MONTH..." Kairi choked out, wrapping her arms around her sister in turn.

"I'm so sorry I wanted to find you it was so terrible I hate food and air is bad and my hair is stupid and crying burns and I'm so happy you're back before I had to go through my first period - the bleeding one, not the ones on a piece of paper!"

"Okay, okay - hey, I'm back now!" Kairi said with a strangled laugh. "It's all going to be okay! And- you don't have to worry about THAT. I'll help you through it, sis..." she murmured quietly, flushing somewhat. "What were you doing in the castle, though? Why weren't you with- Sora and the others? You-"

"I lost my Keyblade-" Xion started, muffled.

"What? How can you lose a-" Kairi started right back, shocked. And just confused!

"It was my Master's fault, apparently," Luxu stated flatly.

"WHAT?" Kairi drew away from her sister, whirling. "How could he have-"

"I don't know," Luxu said. "I'll need to see that memory of hers to figure it out. But he did the same thing to me before we fought. Somehow he can just...take Keyblades from other people, like that." He raised a hand, snapping his fingers. "And it doesn't seem to matter if they're 'real' or Replicas, either."

All the Keyblade wielders in the square (of which there were a considerable number of them) all reacted pretty viscerally to that news.

"Wait, if he did the same to you, how do you still have yours now?" Kairi asked.

Luxu frowned. He sighed. "He gave it back to me. After he beat the hell out of me, he tossed it down to me and just...disappeared. Guess he felt like he'd made his point: he can beat me with or without it - it won't make a difference if I have it."

"Okay, well, as terrifying as that is to contemplate, don't we have something else to be-" Kairi began.

"Quiet, all of you!" came the voice of Young Xehanort, sudden and sharp.

"Hey, asshole, we're-" Kairi rounded on the guy, furious.

"We have an unwanted guest!" Xehanort cut across her, an arm raised to...point out across the square? He was pointing...at a building rooftop nearby?

Kairi looked, and saw absolutely nothing. "What? It's just a building. Are you-"

A flame of darkness rippled to life on that roof, briefly flaring up into a shimmering human shape...which then vanished instantly.

Kairi fell silent immediately, her cheeks hot.

"Okay, enough with the socializing! We need to come up with a good strategy for defense before they make another attempt at it!" Luxu said loudly, quickly. "Invi, Aced, Gula - the three of you can patrol the city. Help out where you can, alright? Ira, Amaya, and King Mickey - I want you guys up there in the castle's highest floor maintaining a barrier, for as long as you can. Pool your power and focus on that above all else. The rest of you can take care of stragglers that make it in past the main gates...or try busting through the walls themselves-"

"Hold on a second - who put him in charge, of all the people?" Braig spoke, leaping down from the roof.

Luxu turned, tensed, his eyes narrowing.

Braig narrowed his eye back, raising and twirling a gun.

Ansem The Wise looked to Aqua and Terra. To Mickey. Then, to Kairi. "Of all these people who have come to answer the call to defend my world, I know not of their strengths or weaknesses, or capabilities. I will not be the fool to attempt to play battlefield commander over people I do not know. I am a king, after all, not a general. In this matter, I shall trust in Master Luxu's judgement."

"And what does make him most qualified for that?" Aqua spoke up.

"Because I'm the one guy who's either worked with, watched over, or actually fought against damn near every last person in this square - and that's not an exaggeration and we all know it!" Luxu snapped. "Yourselves included - time travelers included!" He went on, with a look toward Xehanort and his friends. "So yeah, I'd say I am the one and only guy uniquely qualified to know where, when, and how you should be doing things in a battle like this. If you want to go off and do your own thing and not listen to me, fine - do that. But you screw over Radiant Garden in the process. Either trust me or don't, but we don't have time for this shit anymore! So make your choice and stick with it!"

Aqua glowered at him silently.

"Aqua, please," Ven spoke, gazing into her face.

Aqua looked back at him. She looked to Terra. Then, to Kairi. She sighed, nodding. "Fine. There's no sense disagreeing when I'm clearly outnumbered - and saving Radiant Garden is more important right now."

"Hallelujah - then we're in business," Luxu said.

"We are - you're not. I really think you should sit this one out too!" Kairi said firmly. "If you're really the only hope the remaining Dandelions and Keyblade War fighters have, then you staying here like this is just selfish and irresponsible. You're risking THEIR chance, risking EVERYTHING! Please - trust us again!"

Luxu looked at her, conflicted. Surprised. "How about this - I'll sequester myself safely in the depths of the castle? I can be on hand, I can rest and recover a bit, but I'm out of the way."

"And what if Maleficent gets so impatient and frustrated she decides to just destroy it?" Kairi retorted. "You need to go off world, Luxu! Go to Scala, just go, please! For them...for Ephemer, and Cotyle, and- and for Katerina and for Cassiopeia!"

Luxu looked around. Then he let out a growl, shaking his head. "Fine. Alright! I'm out! If you guys can trust me, I can trust you with this! Just...try not to die, okay? And- good luck. Namine, come on. Roxas can stay if he wants, but you - you're with me! No arguing."

"But Strelitzia-" Namine started instantly.

"Why don't you take her with you?" Aerith spoke up suddenly. "Anywhere will be a better place for her to recover than staying here on a battlefield."

"If my sister's going, then I'm going with her," Lauriam said instantly, climbing to his feet at long last. His face was ashen, and his demeanor subdued. Drawn in. His powerful, muscular, beautiful presence seemed a lot smaller now, frailer. Weaker.

"Okay, let's go," Luxu said, immediately turning to create a portal of light with his Keyblade. "Namine - now. Please."

Namine hesitated, still, looking to Kairi and the others.

"You can keep an eye on things with your powers, can't you?" Kairi said quickly. "If things get really bad, then you can come in and help us out. We'll probably need it by that point."

"Alright..." Namine agreed. But she still lingered. She shot a look at the other- the "Lesser" Nobodies around the square. "You guys - thanks for answering our call. Can you stay and help them for us?"

Voices echoed out, in the depths of Kairi's mind and Heart, giving...assurances. It was still so strange, but she guessed these Nobodies didn't really have mouths, so it made sense they'd use some kind of telepathy.

"We will serve our liege," came one disembodied voice above all else.

And then another: "As our mistress wishes, our help will be given to this town."

"Thanks," Namine said, smiling and waving out at them, before turning and running into the portal.

Lauriam walked alongside Aerith and Merlin as they used magic to float Strelitizia over into the portal, as well.

Luxu stood alone now, looking around the square. He looked to his friends...to Cognis... "Don't let me down, guys. I've got every faith in you to do the right thing," he called out to them. Then he turned and strode away into the portal.

It disappeared behind him; Aerith and Merlin lowered hand and magic wand, looking relieved together.

Silence filled the square.

Everyone looked at everyone else.

"Well now, let's get moving, people!" Lea's voice rang out, as he raised an arm and gave a fierce grin. "We have a city to protect, right?"

That got everyone going again, inexplicably.

As Kairi watched Ira, Amaya, and King Mickey race toward the castle, she realized...

They were all, really, actually following Luxu's plan.

"Well...I daresay it's time for old Merlin, the great and powerful wizard, to roll back his sleeves!" Merlin chuckled to himself, drawing himself up and giving his wand a flourish. "Yes, yes, I'll make that wretched witch regret bringing her monsters to this world! It's seen trouble enough!"

Merlin vanished in a shower of sparkles, leaving Kairi blinking and rubbing her eyes.

And wondering just what it was the old wizard was up to!

Notes:

YAAAAAAY. Some massive stuff is FINALLY FREE FROM MY DRAFTS AFTER LITERALLY WEEKS! :D I'm SO EXCITED AND HAPPY! :) :) BEEN SITTING ON THIS SHIT FOR SOOO LONG NOW!

Chapter 68: The Siege of Radiant Garden Part 2

"Our enemies have called reinforcements."

Maleficent turned on the blue cliff, as the dark figure materialized there with her. "Yes, I suspected as much," she said dryly. "Is there anything...else?"

"It was Luxu and the other Foretellers - with others, as well," Darkness continued. "Any one of them are more than capable of destroying us on their own, even as we are now - even with that weapon, and the power I sense from it." Her dark and featureless head tilted down to the Ultima Keyblade, nodding to it.

"And you are...so certain of this, are you?" Maleficent said delicately, turning away to gaze out upon the crumbling city once more.

As she watched, she saw a great blue light flash from the highest tower of the ruined castle, and a swirling of energy wisps around it; golden beams of light flew up and separated the clouds, then curved outward and down, striking the stone wall surrounding the city. The space between the light beams filled with glistening golden crystal hexagons - a magical barrier dome, now surrounding the entire city.

"Very," Darkness said flatly - rather pointedly, Maleficent thought with irritation. "And they will not stand idle, Maleficent; they will come for US. I'm certain of that."

DESTROY THEM - DESTROY THEM ALL, NOW - BEFORE THEY DESTROY US-!

"Gah - CEASE THAT AT ONCE!" Maleficent shrieked, turning and slashing her new weapon out across the air; a beam of burning red fiery energy flew out in front of her, expanding and accelerating - until it sliced off the top of a distant, blue mountain...and then exploded in a flash of orange light. "I will destroy my enemies at my leisure - I am the one in control of this battle, of you, of ALL OF YOU!" she raged.

The voices did not return.

Maleficent breathed, relaxing again as she looked back toward Darkness. "If they are such a threat to me, then drown them! Push them to their limits, exhaust them. Keep them so busy scrambling to defend that little town of theirs that they will have no choice, no chance! If they have called for reinforcements, then do the same! We will match them in power, and exceed them in numbers!"

Darkness stood silent for a moment. Her head turned, her faceless eyes gazing out at the city and its gleaming barrier. Then, she nodded. "As you wish - partner. But to match them in power will require...additional preparations."

"Then make them," Maleficent ordered.

Darkness vanished into its namesake.

Maleficent looked out across the blue canyons, and smiled to herself as she saw the massive pools of darkness beginning to swell up from the ground itself...to unleash hordes of new Heartless in the thousands!

Yes, she had Darkness on her side - she had superior numbers - she had a trump card to play, if needed, and...as well...she sensed this Ultima Weapon had still yet more power to give. Far more.

Had she only the time to learn how to...tap into it.

Well, that time would come, after this rabble was dealt with, and this battle had seen its ultimate conclusion - the sole, obvious conclusion.

---

Kairi flew up high into the air, standing atop the outer wall of the city with Keyblade in hand.

She gazed through the glistening golden barrier of huge magic panels - out to what should have been plain blue rock canyons and mountains.

What greeted her instead was...darkness.

Massive, swirling expanses of darkness, like dark portals stretched out across a mile or more! There were multiple of them on the horizon, to her left and right. Did they surround the entire city?! From out of those giant dark corridors, of course, Heartless were emerging in droves. Hundreds, thousands? More?

The teeming masses of dark shapes and glowing eyes were spreading out, covering the landscape more and more.

So many Heartless...More than she had ever seen before in her life, in one, single place...

And all of them were moving toward Radiant Garden's walls - drawing closer and closer.

Kairi shook her head furiously, gripping her weapon tight and turning away from the sight beyond the city walls.

She looked out over the ruined streets-

And startled as a gold light burst beside her!

It was just the blue wizard, Merlin, thankfully!

"Oh, sorry to startle you, my dear - I just have a little something to do here, real- quick like, you see?" Merlin spoke swiftly, raising his hands - one of which held his magic wand.

"Oh - go ahead," Kairi said instantly, smiling and nodding to the man, lowering her Keyblade.

"Yes, well, ah..." Merlin hurried forward, peering over the edge of the wall. "That's looking particularly dreadful, isn't it? Why don't we..." He shook his head and raised his wand, then turned and pointed it out at one of the large construction cranes nearby. "And a-one, and a-two, and a-three...there!" he declared, shooting off a blast of sparkling energy at the crane. The large machine was enveloped in sparkles - and then it started to warble and bend. The long neck twisted and curved, lifting the huge rusted claw hanging from a cable.

The cable itself rose up like a twisting serpent in the air, the claws on the end squeaking open and closed like jaws of some creature!

"There you are, now- now, eh, make your city proud, you hear?" Merlin addressed the- magical crane, wagging his wand at it. He turned to Kairi, giving her a nod of satisfaction before just- vanishing again!

Kairi stared at the spot where the old wizard once was. She looked at the twisting, squeaking crane.

"Hi?" she said awkwardly, smiling and waving.

The crane's neck squeaked as it moved up and down at her, waving back.

---

"What's happening?" Skuld breathed.

Skuld stood on the streets of the city, with Lea and Tifa, watching all around her in wonder as golden particles of light streamed in and out of buildings - only to emerge again with a line of...enchanted items?

Cooking utensils, tools, and furniture were all floating and hopping their way outside, squeezing through doorways and windows.

"Must be old Merlin's handiwork," Lea said, incredulity on his face all the same. "Had no idea he could do anything like this, though...really taking the cake here-"

Low on the stone, thick outer wall of the city, suddenly Skuld saw a wispy dark portal forming! It seemed to seep out of the wall itself, growing and pushing its way into existence - like it was fighting for space, strangely. It did widen, though, and Skuld was startled by a half dozen Neoshadow Heartless bursting out onto the streets out of it!

Skuld raised her Keyblade immediately, preparing to fight.

Suddenly, however, from out of the doors of Seventh Heaven, a line of...alcohol bottles came zooming out into the street. They curved toward the Heartless and hit the street with a series of clatters, rolling all around them. The corks popped open, spraying their contents everywhere.

Then, a matchbox floated into the street; Skuld watched a lighter slide out, bend its head and strike a flame, and then throw itself at the Heartless.

The Neoshadows went up in a roar of orange flames, that then turned to gold. A light flashed, and the Heartless exploded into wisps of smoke!

Skuld lowered her weapon in pure shock, staring.

"Those were some of my best stock..." Tifa said, hushed - pained.

"Hey, at least they went up in flames for a good cause!" Lea said, giving the woman a pat on the shoulder. "Literally!"

Skuld gave a small laugh.

Lea whirled, staring at her. "Hang on a second! is there someone who...actually gets my jokes?!" he said excitedly. "You know, for a best friend and all, Isa sure doesn't come off like he appreciates me at all, but-" he went on, in low tones.

"I always appreciated you," Skuld replied, smiling. "I missed your voice, Lea - and all those jokes you tried to tell to cheer me up, on those dark nights I waited for rescue..."

"Well I guess I've still got the touch, since I can still get you to laugh a little now, too," Lea said, pleased with himself. "Expect more where that came from, then. I'm a bit of a talker, even in a battle."

"Oh, that's fine," Skuld replied, grinning now. "Two of my friends were talkers, too - even in a fight." She felt the pangs in her Heart again, but then she remembered the unbelievable, amazing news Kairi and Luxu had brought her earlier. She remembered that Ephemer wasn't gone - he was back. He was here. He was waiting for her. "Ephemer - and Brain. They joked, even against a Darkness..."

"They sound like my kind of guys," Lea responded earnestly.

"You'll get to meet Ephemer, at least, now," Skuld said - just to say it, honestly. To hear it aloud, from her own mouth. To make it that much more real.

It was just out of reach...just beyond this battle.

Skuld intended, with all her Heart, to live to see her first, best friend once again.

---

Isa turned and slung his weapon out, sending a line of blue fires and a shockwave to obliterate a crowd of Morning Stars - Emblem Heartless, irritating and armored spheres of spikes.

Cid Highwind came up short on the creatures, lowering his glowing lance weapon and cursing. "Dammit, kid! You're robbin' me of all my finest moments!" he exclaimed.

"Or perhaps you're just too slow, old timer," Isa said flatly - albeit with a small, curving smile.

'Hey now, let's not go slinging around words like that!" Cid said quickly, raising a hand. "You cut me like that, boy, people might start thinkin' you're still-"

Suddenly, his words were cut short by swirling silver and black strands - and the appearance of a half dozen...

"-a Nobody?" Cid finished, staring.

Isa narrowed his eyes as well, at the new arrivals: Berserker Nobodies. Tall, lumbering, strong creatures with weapons similar to his own. Of course, they had once been "his" personal legion to command...

"The Berserkers heed the call of the Dancers for aid, My Liege," a deep, baritone voice echoed in Isa's mind - deep and baritone, yes, but certainly not identifiably male or female, one way or another.

"What in the hell?" Cid gaped, clasping his head and shaking it.

"The Organization no longer exists - why would you-" Isa started, his eyes further narrowing into mere slits at the creatures.

"We no longer hold loyalty to the one who lied to us, who used us - but we will continue to be loyal to the ones who...were true to their Hearts. True enough to restore them for themselves, and for each other, on their own power. And who gave us all the knowledge to do the same, if we so wish. That path, or the path of Recompletion. Perhaps, through this, today will be our day."

Isa frowned, scrutinizing the beings around him still. Then, he gave a short, reluctant nod. "Very well. Your...assistance today is appreciated."

As Saix, of course, he would not have thought twice about using other beings - let alone these ones - for his own gain. Using them up and tossing them aside, as if they were nothing at all. Yet, now, as Isa once more...it couldn't have been more obvious to his Heart that they were NOT nothings. They were not just slaves, creatures to be used and thrown away after he'd finished with them. They were human once, too...and could still be again. And for that, they deserved to be treated with...respect and dignity.

No, not merely because they'd once been human - but because they existed at all, as they were, with the ability to think and...in time...even to feel again, even as they were.

"Fight well," Isa stated, and he turned to race back into the battle himself.

---

Aqua turned and slashed through a Large Body Heartless, bypassing its armored front and barrier. She kicked it and sent it flying through a building, then turned and ran toward a collection of Neoshadows harassing Ven!

She leapt up high into the air, bringing her weapon up, shrouding it in ice-

And stopped as something suddenly pulled at her, catching her and slowing her in the air! She swallowed from the sharp motion, lowering her weapon as she hovered there for a few seconds-

Then she dropped, touching the ground again quickly.

"What-?"

She turned, twisting her body-

And stared at her wide, open blue wings!

Damn these things! she swore to herself alone, in a moment of sheer disbelief and anger.

They were throwing her fighting style off!

Every one of these new parts of herself were throwing her fighting style off!

There was no way she could even keep fighting like this...like this.

Even Kana's Replica Keyblade felt odd and off in her hand, and that just contributed to the whole...situation! Aqua's Heart could sense that it wasn't the true Rainfall. And the Keyblade itself seemed to almost be taking offense to that in kind, really...

"Aqua? Are you okay?" Terra's voice came, as he appeared in front of her with a thud of armored boots and a flowing cape.

"Fine - just-!" Aqua startled, closing her mouth and glaring at him. "Focus on the Heartless, not me!"

Terra eyed her a split second more, then he nodded and turned away, going to fight several Invisibles.

Aqua breathed in, raising a hand quickly to her chest. A white light shined, and flashed brightly.

She felt her body shift and morph, as the magic swept through her and outside of her body - changing it again. Making it...human again.

It felt right. It felt like a relief.

It probably shouldn't have.

But Aqua thought it was the only way she was going to be able to do this, here, today.

She just didn't know her own, true body well enough to know how to fight with it effectively!

Aqua could deal with that later, on her own time and terms - but for right now, she had to be the best fighter she could be. In the best- form for the job.

And that meant being in the one she had known all her life, and trained in.

Aqua reached down, ripped off the hem of her beautiful, expensive gown with no small measure of guilt (silently apologizing to the tailors who had put so much work and effort into it!), and then went to rejoin the fighting alongside her friends.

Neoshadows lunged at her from out of an alleyway, suddenly!

Aqua turned sharply, raising her guard-

Silvery streaks wriggled through the air, slapping the Heartless away in mid-air. They dropped down and formed into silvery beings in suits - or, were their bodies the suits...? Zipper mouths unzipped on them as they looked at Aqua. Then they started to flip and float off down the street, going to help Ven now.

Aqua's lips parted. She blinked after them. Then-

"Thank you?" she said quietly.

---

Xehanort swung his Keyblade, sending out a dozen ice projectiles to strike the Heartless around him, exploding into icy masses and destroying them instantly.

He flickered away, reappearing in front of Vor and raising his hand to cast out with Time Magic - freezing the Morning Star in its place as it came spinning for her with swirling energy. He slashed his Keyblade dozens of times in the span of an eye's blink, eviscerating the Emblem Heartless after its time-locked state came to an end.

Xehanort glanced back at Vor - down at her.

She gazed back at him, a hand over her mouth. Her eyes glinting. "Wow! You've gotten so much stronger!" she exclaimed, lowering her hand to reveal a beaming smile.

Xehanort's lips curved into a smile, just the same, the Heart's emotions, as ever, so uncontrollable... "Give it time, and so will you," he told her.

"Maybe, but right now it doesn't seem like there's much point in us fighting," Urd spoke, with a little shake of her head in disbelief.

"Every Keyblade helps, right?" Hermod countered. He looked at Xehanort, grinning. "Right?"

Xehanort nodded. "Right."

He frowned and turned away as his eye caught more Emblem Heartless approaching - the namesake, red emblems shining on their bodies.

He wanted to laugh at the irony of these creatures, now, honestly; creatures projected from the far past, that he had fought in his time...that turned out to be creatures he himself had created in the future - in this future.

Another thought came to him, though, in the next moment, making his Heart squirm...

If he was responsible for the Emblem Heartless, then by extension...did that not mean he was responsible for Vor and the others' deaths...at the hands of Baldr and his conjured Emblem Heartless, Hringhorn?

By chain of causation and convoluted causality, as awful as it was to think...he was forced to admit to himself: Yes. Yes, he was.

He had killed them all - his friends and classmates. Just as he had gone on to kill Eraqus...however necessary he may have convinced himself it was at the time, in some future time...

And it bothered him in the now.

Greatly.

But it was more than that, he thought, to himself alone: he thought it was even things like guilt and...even remorse...

He shook his head fiercely, clamping down on his Heart's emotions.

That would never have to come to pass, here and now, in this time - with this him.

If it was the last thing he did, he would not let it.

He would not let himself.

Any version of himself.

And...he would not let the others he cared for perish on this day, either - Amaya...and- his very birth mother (certainly, he would have to save the foolish woman from her idiotic idea that she could come here and "help"!).

Xehanort would swear by that, if nothing else.

Because the worst part of all this, he thought, was the fact that he now had people he had to worry about again!

And such worries were...distracting!

---

Elrena darted past Cloud, ducking under his huge sword and slashing her Keyblade through several Heartless with a blade beam of lightning!

Cloud shrouded his sword in energy and darted around her three times in a row, obliterating the Morning Stars that came crashing down from above.

Elrena turned as she saw a dozen odd flying little weirdos, the Green Requiems and Scarlet Rhapsodies or whatever, coming their way over the rooftops. Weird little jar and wizard hat...things! She glanced at Cloud, then tossed out several lightning knives to strike his long sword, coating it in blue and white electricity.

Cloud glanced at his sword, at her, then he ran forward and leapt up into the air, twirling his blade above him; the lightning swirled around him and rippled outward, catching and zapping the flying Heartless - connecting from one to the other in a chain. The guy dropped back down again, straightening up with a small smirk. He looked to Elrena, giving her a nod. "Thanks for the charge."

"Whatever. You've got a sword that big, you might as well put it to good use," Elrena responded, turning her head away...hiding her own little smile. "Not that I'm saying you-"

A streak of purple with a flaming purple aura darted and twisted down the street, coming around a corner.

Elrena turned and raised her blade-

The dark streak flew past her and Cloud, swirling around the outer edge of a large dark portal forming on the ground...a giant, dark hand rising up out of it. The portal began to shrink down until it snapped shut with a burst of purple particles.

The dark streak stopped, a hovering cloud on the air. It twisted into the shape of some dark figure, standing there on the street now. Facing them.

"You're welcome," came the low, girl voice - the voice of that ally of a dark being, what's her face? Cognis, wasn't it?

"Thanks," Cloud spoke out, short, giving a little nod toward her.

"I'm sure we could have taken it - whatever was coming out of there," Elrena murmured. She paused. "But - thanks, sure!"

"I'm sure you could have," came that voice again. Her voice. "You both seem like strong, capable fighters."

"Okay, don't butter me up here," Elrena laughed. "That's when I start thinking something's off, you know!"

That dark, featureless head tilted at Elrena. "Strange - but, alright. Can I say I like your hair, though, at least?"

"W-what?" Did this Darkness chick- thingy- have the hots for her? Gross! "Now I definitely know you're evil; I'm in a committed relationship and you're hitting on me?" Elrena responded, pointing a finger sharply. "Back off, girl, or you're getting a knife in the back when you least expect it!"

"What...?" Cognis shook her head. She huffed at Elrena! "I wasn't- physical attraction is rather meaningless to me! Especially in this form. I was only saying that I admire the way you style your hair, because I was thinking about doing it that way myself when I get a body again. My physical form's hair is long - perhaps a little too long, in my opinion. That's all."

"...Oh..." Elrena muttered, her cheeks flushing. "Well - wait a sec, you actually like my hair like this?" she questioned.

"I did just say that, yes," came the calm, even girl's voice.

"Huh. I guess if even a Darkness or whatever you are compliments your hair, you're doing something right..." Elrena went on to herself. Lauriam kept insisting it was good, and Strelitzia, too (not that Elrena cared what the kid sister thought!). Now this what's her name Cognis, as well? She ran a hand through her hair, giving a smile to the girl of darkness. "Thanks?"

"You're very welcome. I-"

"Hey, girl talk on your own time," Cloud spoke up, stepping forward. "There's still a battle going on here - dunno if you two noticed it."

"I might appear to only have forward facing eyes like the rest of you, but I'm actually looking in all directions simultaneously," Cognis responded, in some real lofty tones to Elrena's ears! "Not that the Heartless would even try and attack you two while I'm nearby - it seems they'll go docile in my presence and obey my commands, at least without the other Darkness present."

Elrena blinked at the dark girl, incredulous.

That head turned in her direction, dark flames rippling. "What?"

Elrena laughed. She laughed high and loud, pointing a finger at the girl.

Cognis sighed. "I don't understand humans, really I don't..."

"You're a fucking nerd!" Elrena exclaimed, gasping for air. "A total geeky little freak, aren't you? Oh, this is too good!"

"Oh. And now you're just being mean."

"No!" Elrena said quickly, straightening up again. "No, no, no! We're cool! Hey - I'm just saying, it reaaaally messes with the whole 'intimidating immortal darkness blob monster' image you'd think you'd have on first sight! But I like it!"

"You do...?"

"Yes! It's fun! Come on! It's fun," Elrena reiterated, flashing a grin. "And you know what? You can keep the compliments coming, if you wanted."

"Hm...well, I guess...nice skirt?" the girl said uncertainly. "The color's pleasing, at least to me."

"You know what? Me too!" Elrena said happily. "That's why I chose it."

"...I'm gonna go find some Heartless to whack," Cloud announced, holding his sword at his side and turning away with a sigh, heading off down the street.

"'Kay! Bye!" Elrena said cheerily. She turned back to Cognis, smiling. "So, you're basically invincible here, aren't you? Immortal, unkillable, and untouchable - like some dark ghost thing? On top of that, you can just tell all these Heartless to screw off?"

"Yes...?"

"Then why haven't we already won?!" Elrena exclaimed, throwing up her hands.

"Because my power still has limits - and I can't be everywhere at once, either," Cognis replied, sounding like she hated to admit it, herself. "As well, anything I could do, the other Darkness can counter me - just as I counter her, as you saw a minute ago."

"Bummer..." Elrena sighed. "Buuuut - at least you can make this easy for me by making these buggers hold still while I turn them into mincemeat! Right?!"

"Hmph. Of course; that is what I've generally been doing on this battlefield. I wanted to stay with Riku...but he insisted I go off and play support for everyone else, and monitor the tides of battle, as well." Yeah, the girl definitely sounded like she did not like that one. Not one bit!

"Come on, then - support me!" Elrena beamed, twirling her weapon.

"Alright. But not for too long - there are others who could use my help as well."

"Fine by me!"

---

"Hiyah! Take this, and that - and THIS!" Sora's voice cried as he leapt this way and that, slicing and dicing his way through Heartless!

Kairi watched him with a smile, appreciative of his movements, his shiny armor, his hair-

"Hey Kairi, watch this!" Sora said, startling her as he looked her way. He cast out with a Wind spell, swirling green air forming a sphere around him. Heartless were sucked up and thrown around; Sora then cast Thundaga, raining down lightning bolts on them helplessly, destroying them all!

"That was awesome, Sora," Kairi said, beaming. "How about you watch-"

A line of dark flames flew down the street, obliterating the Heartless nearest to Kairi. Riku came striding up, twirling his weapon with a grin. "Watch what?" he said casually. "Doesn't look like there's anything for him to watch..."

"You-" Kairi started, whirling furiously.

But she stopped as suddenly, a coldness blasted over her, along with an eruption of dark energies.

Kairi looked back to Sora - only to see that he...wasn't really Sora anymore?!

He was- he was- like a Heartless, suddenly, again. Shadowy, with glowing yellow eyes!

WHAT?! But how? Why?! Shouldn't that have not happened again since he got his body back? At least, she had assumed he had only turned into some dark monster because he hadn't had a body at the time...her pure light giving him form again being turned BACK into pure darkness...So how was this possible now?!

Sora moved in an instant, shocking her! He flew toward her - no, he twisted around her...and started attacking the gaggle of Heartless behind her?

"What just happened to Sora?!" Riku yelled, his face pale, his mouth agape. "Kairi-!"

"I don't know! He- he did it back at Castle Oblivion when we were fighting Xemnas, but I thought it was just because he didn't have a real body at the time!" Kairi exclaimed swiftly. She paused, watching Sora closely. Then, she realized it. "It looks like he's only attacking Heartless, at least! He's not interested in us!"

"Well, still, can you bring him back out of it!" Riku asked Kairi, panicked and afraid. "I know if anyone can, it'd be you, Kairi!"

Kairi smiled at him in surprise, her cheeks warm - then she frowned. She hesitated. "I- I don't know. Last time, he just kind of got knocked out of it after Xemnas trapped him with some powerful attack - but I really don't want to have to hurt him THAT badly just to stop this!"

Riku gripped his Keyblade, stepping forward. "If that's what it takes - we'll knock some sense into him and-"

"NO!" Kairi said fiercely. She put a hand to her chest and breathed, then she ran toward Sora. "Sora!"

He came out of his whirling frenzy, hovering in the air and twisting around to look at her. A dark face, an aura that screamed danger at her. Glowing yellow eyes...

"Sora - come back to me," she said, calm and clear, stepping closer. "It's time to stop, okay? You have to come back now! This isn't right, this isn't you!"

Sora dropped to the ground on all fours, like some wild, dark beast. He tilted his head at her.

Kairi stopped in front of him, and she unhesitatingly raised an arm to place a hand on his cheek. Sora startled, a strange aura warbled in the air around him. His eyes flickered, dimming and then brightening again. Kairi gave him a smile, looking into those eyes. "You brought me back when I was lost in the Ultima Weapon...when I was desperate and scared, trying to escape, to find something to hang onto. And then I heard your voice, and I felt your hand on my cheek, like I'm doing to you now...and I knew if I had one chance left to do ANYTHING it was going to be showing you...showing you...how I really, really, have ALWAYS felt about you!" she finished fiercely, yet still in nothing but a whisper.

She took in a breath, shaking her head. "Are you hoping I'll return the favor - give you another kiss?" she teased, trembling. "It's like a fairy tale...and I don't mind us being the princess and the prince together. As long as we're TOGETHER. Because, the thing is, Sora...I know we're still 'just' teenagers or whatever, but I think I lo-"

Sora's body suddenly flashed with light, the darkness evaporated off of him like a second skin being stripped away, and the tendrils of dark smoke faded. He fell forward onto hands and knees, sucking in a long breath, like he was coming up for air out of the ocean waters. He raised his head and blinked at her, his face full of confusion. "K-Kairi...? What just...happened? Were you- saying something? I heard you, but I couldn't...I can't remember?"

Kairi withdrew her hand, stepping away and flushing intensely. "You turned into some Heartless monster again - like before, against Xemnas, you know? Castle Oblivion?"

"WHAT?! But I thought...I'm supposed to be fine now, aren't I?!" Sora exclaimed, jumping to his feet again. "Body and Heart together again? So how is that even possible!"

"I don't know - but I don't think it's something to get too worried about?" Kairi said swiftly. "You didn't hurt anyone - you really seemed more focused on the Heartless than anything else. Like you were just focused on fighting Xemnas, last time. And you came back to us, didn't you? We can figure it out later. But right now, we need to keep fighting!"

Sora stared at her with a deep frown, his eyes troubled. Then he nodded, raising a fist. "Right...Okay! Just - keep an eye on me, just in case?" he added hesitantly. Uneasy, now.

Kairi giggled, then she grinned. "I always have my eyes on you, Sora - or have you really never noticed it?"

"Oh boy..." Riku said, facepalming and turning away.

"Jealous, Riku?" Kairi challenged, turning to him with hands on hips.

"Haha. No. I'm over that, Kairi - you're not all that, believe it or not," Riku responded, a fierce grin on his face now, too. A teasing to his voice. "It'd just be real embarrassing if you two got struck down in a battle because you were too busy being weird lovebirds or something."

Kairi laughed, slashing her Keyblade. "Fair enough!" she agreed lightly. "Thanks, Riku - what would we ever do without you?"

"Hey, you said it," Riku retorted. "You were always as bad as Sora about the raft, too, you know."

"And you're still going on about that?" Sora spoke up, smiling at his best friend. "Come on, Riku!"

"You two come on," Riku replied, more serious now. "We have a fight to win."

Kairi nodded to Sora, taking a breath. Focusing again. "Let's go, then!"

"Right behind you, Kairi!"

"Yeah, I bet - right where you love it..." The words escaped Kairi's mouth before she could think to stop them.

Sora and Riku both gave loud, incredulous and embarrassed groans.

"Oh, shut up - it's your faults!" Kairi exclaimed.

"How is it my fault?!" Sora and Riku yelped at the same time.

"Well, obviously, growing up with two boys...you corrupted me!" Kairi accused, pointing a finger.

"Hah," Riku said instantly, snorting. "The sexism doesn't suit you, Kairi. You were already corrupt from the moment you showed up - no pinning that on us. Remember when you were six - a bit after we even first met - and you asked to see Sora's toy sword, and then you just immediately went and whacked him in the face with it?"

"That was an accident!" Kairi burst out.

"Maybe that was, but even I know it wasn't much of an accident when you got frustrated later, and just hit me in the shins with it to win our sparring match..." Sora said, a wide grin on his face as he peered at her.

"Hey, you do whatever it takes to win, okay?" Kairi defended, grinning back at the boy - and trying her best not to blush again.

"Exactly," Riku said smugly, nodding to her. "And that's why we never let you in on it again. Swordfighting takes honor, and respect - and you always had zero of that. The dojo never would have taken you as a student."

"Oh, you want to talk to me about honor and respect now-" Kairi started, disbelieving.

Suddenly, the stone wall of the city exploded in a wash of dark energies, blasting the three of them over onto the ground.

From out of a swirling dark portal, a tan sleeved arm emerged. Then another. And a third. And then, on the other side of the portal's edge, three more! A serpent's head emerged - followed by a whole, large slim body! The giant Heartless rose up, maybe over fifteen feet tall, brandishing huge, curved swords! Its free hands held burning orbs of energy at its sides. It set its eyes on them, and then it was enveloped in a burning crimson flame aura of power!

Kairi, Sora and Riku immediately sprang into action!

Kairi threw out a hand to send a barrage of quick, explodey light blades at the thing's arms; Sora went for its legs into a Sonic Blade attack; and Riku went high for its face, rising up and aiming his blade out at it, casting several Dark Firagas in a row!

The Heartless rose up off the ground to levitate, and was enveloped in a swirling barrier sphere of orange and pink light - which blocked all of their attacks!

Kairi's light blades exploded against it uselessly - Sora's first Sonic Blade attack bounced off, causing him to stumble backwards - and Riku's Dark Firagas exploded into smoke to no effect either!

The Heartless's eyes glowed at them. Then it raised a hand, and a half dozen swirling, magical orange tornados of wind magic sprang up instantly around them! The tornados moved furiously, encircling them, herding them, closing in on them - combining into one super tornado!

The insane gusts came with an insane heat that had Kairi gasping as she was lifted up and twirled around in the air - before being launched out of it at high speeds, slamming against a rooftop so hard she lost her breath...and maybe cracked her head a bit?

Or a lot...?

Ow...times ten...

Kairi raised her head woozily, just in time to see a barrage of tightly packed triple fireballs slam into the giant Heartless's face (it had dropped its weird barrier, it looked like).

A giant shuriken of energy flew across the Heartless, slicing into its arms and curving around again.

Then, a gust of furious winds kicked up around the Heartless, and in flashes of silver light, a barrage of a dozen blue spears came striking down on it from above, hitting the ground and creating shockwaves!

Finally, a huge mass of ice erupted at the giant Heartless's feet, catching it in the chin and sending it stumbling backwards to slam against a building...unfortunately kind of wrecking it (more than it already was; all that construction work meant zilch now, sadly!).

Leon, Yuffie, Dilan, and Even arrived on the scene together, racing up the street!

Kairi shook her head and jumped down from the roof, sailing down to meet them. Sora came stumbling out of an alleyway with a moan, supporting a limping, wincing Riku.

"Are you okay?" Kairi said to Riku instantly, gasping. She threw out a hand to cast Cure!

Riku gasped with relief, bowing his head and gingerly testing his left leg, putting weight on it. He nodded to Sora and stepped away, raising his Keyblade up. "I am now - thanks," he murmured gratefully.

"Let's take this thing down," Leon said firmly, holding up and aiming his gunblade at the Heartless as it began to recover from its tumble, rising up to float on the air again.

"Right!" Kairi said, determined.

---

Xion stood at the castle's front doors, staring out around the city helplessly.

She looked past the walls, to outside the city. All around it, in all directions, it was just...blackness and glowing eyes and blue bits and reds. It was Heartless, everywhere, crawling over each other and making big hills of darkness... It didn't seem like it was ever going to stop!

She looked at Ienzo, and then to Aeleus.

She stared down at her hand, trying and trying to just make her Keyblade come back...but it wouldn't...

Why am I so useless?!

Chapter 69: Interim: Master Xehanort's Choice

Master Xehanort sat by the window, gazing out on the distant mountain peaks of Land of Departure.

He heard the door open, and turned to see Eraqus stepping inside.

Xehanort eyed his friend's face, his stance and demeanor...and rose to his feet slowly, placing his hands behind his back.

"Something wrong, old friend?" he spoke casually.

"A world I hear you're very familiar with has come under the siege of darkness - Radiant Garden," Eraqus responded tersely.

"Oh?" Xehanort inclined his head at the man. "Hm...and you've come to me with this matter, why? Do you suspect I have a hand in it?"

"I do not, no," Eraqus said quietly. "But that does not mean I hold trust in you now. What you did to my apprentices, Xehanort...to my children...to my sons and to my- to my daughter...and what you did to me - how could I ever trust you again?"

The pain and anger on the man's aged face was vast, and deep-felt. Xehanort could see that. And his Heart twinged at the sight of it. He looked down and away, clenching his fist behind his back. He gave a nod at the floor. "I have earned that, yes..." he murmured lowly. "So then, why is it you have come here, Eraqus? What is the reason for this visit?"

Eraqus sighed heavily. "Urd, Hermod, and Vor have gone to Radiant Garden's defense. And I think that my apprentices will surely be there as well. I have vowed to myself, and to them, not to repeat my own mistakes, Xehanort. To remain behind, in isolation, to cower when I am needed...in face of the choices required of the brave. And yet-"

"You feel you cannot go to aid your apprentices in defense of that world - because someone must remain to watch over myself," Xehanort ventured, raising his head again. "To ensure I do not make a daring escape." He chuckled, bringing his arms out from behind him and spreading them at his old friend. He showed his palms, wriggling his fingers. "What can I do in this state, in this place, Eraqus? You should feel more than safe enough in going. Surely it will not take long?"

"And yet, it only takes a moment, doesn't it?" Eraqus said, quiet, his gaze intense. He strode forward, standing directly before Xehanort. Looking him in the eyes, his own dark ones narrowed now. "A moment to steal a young man's body...a moment to cast a woman into the depths of the Dark Realm...and a moment to strike your unsuspecting, best friend in his back. Why would I give you one more moment to do something terrible and unexpected, Xehanort?"

"Whether you are across the castle or across the worlds - I will remain here, as I have. Do you not think I could have escaped these past few weeks if I wished to? You have already given me many days and nights here, on my own, to do whatever cleverness I may devise. Though, regardless, I confess I have no desire to escape. What would I do? Where would I go? With so many enemies now, with all my plans laid bare? With the threat of the Princess's Nobody...with Yen Sid's tracking spell on my very Heart? How far would I get, before it all ended in failure...as all I have tried to do always does?"

Eraqus simply looked at him with those blazing eyes...

Xehanort gave a small smirk, cocking his head, as he once might have. "You truly flatter me, old friend, to believe I could still manage to pull off some master plan in this state, in this place. I am as powerless and at the World's mercy as I have ever been in my life."

"You have many roads left open, left to the future - as Even's earlier visit has proven still," Eraqus countered. "What else is there, out there, that you have done and left behind...left waiting...for the opportune moment?"

Xehanort's smirk faded. He lowered his arms to his sides, slowly. He shook his head. "Nothing that could be of any use to me now, here, I assure you. I am quite thoroughly beaten; you have me in checkmate, old friend."

"Or perhaps that's only what you want me - all of us - to believe."

"Believe what you will," Xehanort said, snorting and turning away. He strode to the window, gazing out of it fully. Out, to the sky above. "But if your apprentices need you...you should go to them, should you not? Your mistake, from before." He paused, looking back over a shoulder, his lips twisting to a frown. "Certainly, our friends need you to help them, Eraqus - do not leave Urd, Hermod, or Vor...to disappear again. Their loss played a part in shaping my Heart into what it has become, and me, into the man I am. Do not allow us to lose them again. Do not allow my younger self...to lose them again - or he will certainly be lost to you again, as well. And that...will be quite the problem for the World."

"Do you remember that letter you sent to me?" Eraqus spoke, after a long moment.

Xehanort simply nodded.

"It was quite heartfelt, wasn't it?" Eraqus went on. "So very convincing - convincing me you cared for Terra, that you had changed, that you were so remorseful over our fight. Such that I actually allowed you back into my life again with open arms. And what did you do with that chance? What did you always intend to do with it? It was nothing but a ruse, a means to an end. So, as you stand here now, speaking such words of sorrow and heart - tell me: what reason do I have to ever believe them?"

Xehanort turned to face his friend again, bowing his head once more. "I offer no defense for my actions, Eraqus. They were terrible. I was terrible. Yet, I was desperate. I convinced myself it was what I must do...and so I did. But I did regret fooling you like that...and even more so, striking you down as i did. I did struggle with myself...with whether or not I could truly go through with it-"

"Yet, in the end, you did do it anyways. Forgive me if I take no comfort from the notion that you regretted it. Clearly it wasn't enough to get you to take a step back and reevaluate your course of action!"

"Indeed," Xehanort whispered his agreement. "I deserve your fury, old friend. And I deserve no forgiveness. I have shattered our friendship, and your trust. You have no reason to believe my words now, no. But don't act based on my words - but on your own Heart. Do as it wishes you - what is true."

Eraqus closed his eyes, letting out a long breath of air. Then, he opened them. "I want the word of my childhood friend...whether that boy still exists anywhere inside of you, to any degree...that you will still be here when I return. That there is no trick, no plan, that your attempts to urge me away from this castle now are not manipulation, but some remnant of true care and worry for our friends and classmates. That some part of you truly doesn't wish to see his younger self become as terrible as you have, to make all the same mistakes again."

Xehanort stood taller, gazing into his friend's face. He gave a small smile, simple and true as it could ever be. Or had been, in quite some time... "I promise, Eraqus: I will be right here."

Eraqus nodded, then activated his armor and summoned his weapon. He created a portal in the middle of the room of white. He turned his armored head toward Xehanort, lingering for a long moment... Then, he simply walked away - he disappeared into the light, the portal closing behind him with a snap of blue lightning.

Xehanort was left there in the silence, alone, his Heart feeling rather hollow.

He shook his head to himself, going to sit at his writing desk with a creaking of old bones and a relieved sigh. He gazed at the pages, neatly stacked, that contained what he had already written in recent days. He would hesitate to call them any sort of manifesto - and yet, it was what they were, was it not? A chronicling of his thoughts, feelings, and ideas over the course of his long, long life now. Theories of the Heart, of data, dreams, and worlds unimaginable... Now that he knew his end was definitively on the horizon, he felt the need to at least ensure...that the truth of himself could be seen by those he still called friends. A truth written in his own words, nothing more or less. And he felt, as well, that his discoveries and research should not go to waste either. Perhaps it could find use by someone out there...whether for good or ill. He simply did not want to see it all vanish - along with himself.

He would not, at very least, let it be said he had accomplished nothing - whether it was "evil" or "good". He had done things, things no one else had! He had discovered, he had learned, he had pushed boundaries! And he would see that recognized: immortalized. Not the legacy of an apprentice, no - but the legacy of the mind. His mind.

Smiling to himself, he took a new page in hand, sliding it in front of him, and took up a pencil.

He touched it to the page-

"Watcha writing there, buddy old pal?"

Xehanort froze. He let the writing tool slide through his fingers - and grasped it squarely in his palm. Then...he dropped it. He stood slowly from the desk, and turned around to face the owner of the unexpected voice.

The voice he had not heard now in decades.

Xehanort's eyes found the man - found him exactly as he had been the last time they had met: clad in a hooded, black coat.

However...Xehanort was not a foolish young man anymore. And if the likes of Master Luxu could be believed on one thing alone, then this man...this man who had once given Xehanort his name, along with a flash of light magic...

Xehanort stepped forward, gazing into the dark shroud beneath the hood. He placed his hands behind his back to mirror the other man, and raised his chin to him. "Hello again. It has been quite a while...Theron."

The black-coated man gazed back at him, motionless. Then he sighed, bringing his arms out from behind him. He raised a finger to Xehanort as he began to walk forward, admonishing. "You know, I said at the time there was no harm - but I just knew it was going to come back to bite me..." he spoke, in low, cold tones.

Xehanort tilted his head at the man, remaining straight-backed and tensed. He curled his fists behind him tightly. "Are you here, then, to finish me off? Tie up a loose end - after I failed to do as you planned for me?"

The man stopped before him. His fingers curled on his raised hand, then unfurled again. That hand stretched out, moving toward Xehanort's form...

And a gloved hand was placed firmly on Xehanort's shoulder.

"Kiiiid, coooome ooooon - don't talk like that...I'm here to spring you from this place!"

Xehanort blinked at the man. He shrugged his shoulder and shoved the man's hand off, stepping away. "How did you even get into this room without the proper Keyblade?" he spoke, looking past the man to the still magically sealed doors, with their pulsing chains of power.

"How did I do that? Pfft, it was easy!" The man laughed, raising his hands with fingers spread. He shrugged, curved the fingers of one hand - and in a flash of light, the Master Defender appeared in his grasp! "I had my own copy of the key made."

Xehanort gazed at him, his mouth agape. "How...? Not even a Replica weapon could register as the true-"

"I'd tell youuuuu...but then I'd have to kill you!" The man let the weapon vanish, turning away and crossing his arms. "Suffice it to say, we don't have time for that right now, anyways," he continued on. He uncrossed an arm, lazily slinging it out, and a portal of pure, golden swirling light appeared in the room, blinding Xehanort. It had a tall, rectangular shape - like a doorway. "Now come on. We can chat later - I know this great place we can stop at. I'll get you a taco."

Xehanort stared at the portal, then, at the man himself. "There is a tracking spell placed on my Heart. My powers and magic are locked away, and my Keyblade has been destroyed."

"I can get that off in a jiffy - I'll break the lock for you - and I can forge you a new one," the man listed off casually. "You a sour cream kinda guy, or-"

"The Princess of Heart's Nobody will be able to find us via access to my Heart and memories. Nothing you or I plan for now can ever be safe from her gaze," Xehanort interjected, irritated.

"Don't worry - I've got a plan in place already to deal with that annoyingly convenient and overpowered ability of hers," the man said airily, with a wave of a hand. "I didn't just decide to come and do this on a whim, you know! There was a lot of prep-work that went into it, beforehand. I'll snatch her up, keep her neutralized, and then we'll be home free to-"

"Leave."

"What?"

Xehanort gazed into the man's hood. "Leave me be," he said harshly. "I will not be your pawn again. You will not manipulate me into doing your work for you."

The man's arm slowly fell to his side as he turned back to face Xehanort. "First Luxu, now you...? Why do you guys make me do this? You know, I don't particularly want to do this - be the big bad guy here and whatnot - but you guys are all kinda just leaving me with no choice here but to start playing hardball. I don't relish it...but if this is where we're really at...so be it," he finished coldly. He strode forward, spreading his arms. "I'm going to tell you how this is going to go: you will do what I want you to do, exactly as I want you to do it, because if you don't, I am going to pop over to Radiant Garden right now, grab all your cute little friends and loved ones, and then I am going to do absolutely unspeakable things to them until or whenever you don't comply - and I know you speak the same language as me in this regard. I don't have to say it because you'd do the same thing, wouldn't you, Xehanort?"

"Leave them out of this!" Xehanort snarled, his fists quivering at his sides.

"No, see, that is what a good person would say!" the man replied sharply. "But we both know you're as far from a good person as possible - just like me. So I feel no guilt about doing whatever it takes to make you fall in line. So what's it going to be? Come along and do as I say without a fuss - or make things really unpleasant for everyone you actually, surprisingly still care for? Hermod...Urd...adorable little Vor? How about - Amaya? She's certainly been an unexpected little variable I'd love to finally account for in all this. Or...what about your mommy dearest? Hm? Moreth, isn't it? The mother you never got to meet...and now that she's here and all, the only thing she's going to experience is suffering and pain - and all because of you. That is what you do best, though, isn't it? Bring pain and suffering to the innocent? So do I."

Xehanort gazed at the man, shaking with rage and powerlessness like he had never felt before.

"Ends justify the means is such a bitch of an ideology, isn't it?" the man tssk'd. "Anyone can use it - and when you find a guy who's just as willing to use it right back against you as you were to everyone else...you really gotta be careful about that, don'tcha?"

"I will not help you," Xehanort gritted out. "I have...done these worlds enough harm - with nothing to show for it, in the end..."

"Well, ya know the old saying, riiight? If you don't succeed...try, try again. Sure, your plans exploded, my plans exploded - but we can't give up after a little failure. We just need to pick ourselves up and...chart a new direction here. So come on, let's brainstorm a little! If you don't...well, you know what happens now if you don't, I'm not gonna repeat myself. It sure was one menacing, villainous speech, eh? Oscar-worthy!"

Xehanort looked away, and closed his eyes. He let a breath go free.

"Look, buddy - spoiler alert - if you don't come with me, right now...you're gonna die here today," came the man's carefree tones. "And I don't mean that as a, 'I'm trying to be all threatening and evil again' thing: I mean that, in a little less than an hour from now, if you're still sitting here moping, some really pissed off guys are gonna show up and give you a bad case of a blade through the heart. Your literal heart, not your...metaphysical one!"

Xehanort opened his eyes. He turned to look at the man again. "And you are here to, what, then? Change my intended fate?"

"I'm giving you the chance to change it, yes. Opportunities like this don't come around every day. It's a limited time offer. Very time-limited - time sensitive."

"Don't bother; leave me to my fate."

"Okay, what? Why?!"

Xehanort laughed softly, smirking at the man. "Because I am old, and I am tired. And I am honestly, quite thoroughly beaten. And I think, after these many, many years...I would welcome a rest." He paused. "And if it is true that all Hearts return to the great Kingdom Hearts, then...well, I may finally unlock its secrets from within, won't I? I am sure I will have endless amounts of time to explore its depths...from my natural place in it, returned to it at last. The true and proper way."

"...If you don't comply, I'll make it your younger self. You gave him such heartfelt advice before, didn't you? About not repeating your mistakes - going down the same path? Do you want that to mean nothing? For him to waste his vaunted second chance - his one shot at redemption, hallelujah? A happy little life with his friends and family, which you were denied? I can use him; I can torture him into being just as bad as you - or, hell, maybe even worse. Who knows? We'll just have to see. Hey, do you think I can get him to cut down his mommies this time around, along with his friends? How far can you fall, Xehanort? How far could you really go? You may blame me for manipulating you, but everything you did was done on your own power and will. Your path was your own, and you could have stopped at any point. All I did was give you my ear, and you took it as validation and encouragement."

Xehanort's smirk fled him. He narrowed his eyes at the other man, his mouth twisting. "Don't..."

"Then step through the portal," the man said coldly. "A single step is all it takes...right? If you have the courage for it. Can you make the hard choices when they're actually hard - when you have something to lose? Or do you only make them when you have no one and nothing left in your life? Will you do this to protect them, or will you stay here and consign, not only yourself, but them to their fates? Can you make that decision and live with it because you know you won't be around to see it? If it's out of your sight, it doesn't matter? Even for me...that would be cold."

Xehanort shut his eyes tightly, his Heart whirling with emotions. So powerful, so complicated - as the Heart had always been...

What could he do?

One last act of apathy, cruelty? One, final decision to damn others to suffer and perhaps even die?

Would he close his Heart off, one more time, and shut it all out until the end came...?

Less than an hour, if this man was to be believed...

And yet, Xehanort had a hope of sorts, did he not?

In the form of his final, most secretive plan - a plan that was rather more a theory and speculation than anything else...

One more to explore the new world...

Even if he were to truly perish today, in Heart and body both, there was still a chance...

But that would only save him - not them.

And...for the first time again, in so many decades of his long life..

He wanted so badly to save someone else's life. To protect them. All of them. The very people he had been too late to save, once before, as a teenager. The very catalyst for the start of his walk down the dark road he had walked...

Eraqus...Hermod...Urd...Vor. Amaya - the woman as good as - and my actual...mother...

But to save them, he was being asked to walk a new path, one just as dark, in all likelihood. He was being asked to do yet more terrible things, to more innocent people...

And in that moment, he found he did not want to anymore.

He did not want to do it again.

He had done enough!

"Tick tock, tick tock..." came the man's voice, idle and quiet.

Xehanort opened his eyes, drawing breath. "If I agree to go with you, to give my full cooperation - you will leave those I care for alone?" he said, hard.

The hooded man nodded. "You have my word. As I said - I don't want to do this...but if it's necessary, I will. But, if you can just make this easier for both of us...that would be great. So help me out here, Xehanort."

Xehanort put his hands behind his back, grasping one, shaking wrist in the other hand...

"Very well..." Master Xehanort lied, in feeble and defeated tones - as he had learned to.

"Seeee, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" the man said with great relief, raising his hands to point at Xehanort. "Don't look so glum about it: I'm not going to make you do anything too morally despicable. I'm not you, ya know; I'm not interested in plunging all the worlds into darkness, or mass harvesting Hearts or anything like that. Nothing like that is required for my plans. Now, uh, speakin' of my plans...we're gonna need some doo-dads, some people, aaand more importantly: we're gonna need a bit of time, sooo...feel free to get comfortable. Oh, but first there is one other little matter I need to...sort of take care of here!" he added on quickly, with an embarrassed laugh. He raised a hand, waving it out; in twin flashes of light, two white, featureless human figures appeared on the floor.

Replicas...? Procured from Even's lab, most likely - from the prototype batch the man had created before the final ones, the ones that had actually been used...?

Xehanort stared at the man, questioning. "What are these for? One to ensure I don't die of old age on you too soon, I presume, and the other...?"

The other man laughed, waving a hand airily. "Oh, no, no! Neither of them are for you! Well, not this you, if you know what I'm saying..." The man's hand moved in a circular motion in the air, a light flashing in his palm. That copy of Master Defender was in his hand again. "Let me just-"

The man suddenly flickered forward in a flash of light, and that Keyblade's end was being driven into Xehanort's chest before the latter man could even react.

Xehanort gasped, staring down at himself, as a light burgeoned in the center of his chest...as a swirling orb of pink and orange light began to emerge...

"...kick this party off a little early," the man finished, his voice quiet and cutting.

Chapter 70: The Siege of Radiant Garden Part 3

"...small Kairi showed up out of nowhere! Apparently she came over from Radiant Garden."

The voice of the boy, Sora, drifted through the darkness.

The darkness shifted.

"Huh?! Sora, are you sure you didn't hit your head anywhere in these caves?" Riku's voice came next, echoing.

"It's all true! We-" Sora spoke again.

"Hey - we need to stay focused," Terra's voice said. A voice that sparked equal parts familiarity, disdain, and- "The Heartless are everywhere - and we need to get to this Ultima Weapon before that Darkness does."

"Oh, right - sorry!" Sora exclaimed. "I'll tell you all about it later, Riku!"

"...I can't wait to hear it..." Riku muttered.

So, she had been made material, then? A distant thought, a far flung theory. An idea meant to remain nothing but an idea...left forgotten, ultimately. And yet...

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, returned his fragmented thoughts to the present.

Trapped in a prison of darkness, inside the dark confines of Riku's Heart - made by a Darkness.

Darkness within darkness...within darkness.

A deep, endless, winding prison through which there could be no escape, no breach, no horizon.

For most people, this would have been their forever - their eternity of existence, until they finally drowned.

But Ansem had vast experience with existing in all-consuming darkness. He knew how to keep his mind and Heart afloat, he knew how to navigate its raging storm and violent waves - and he knew how to find the cracks, the breaks, that led to the outside world.

He knew the path he must take.

He had always known it.

And, with this futile battle at hand against the evil witch, Maleficent...with the allied Darkness that called itself "Cognis" vacated from Riku's Heart (though not fully cut off from it; no, that bond remained, as ever, an invisible, invincible tether between parasite and host)...perhaps it was time to-

Suddenly, Ansem felt a pulse in his fragmented shard of Heart, accompanied by the...resurgence of the familiar mental link to his Nobody counterpart? It was a unique bond they shared; an awareness of one another, an acknowledgement of existence, and sometimes even the passing of thoughts and emotions over the years, as they each had separately worked toward the same goal, on the same plan. And for that bond to be felt again now...

Yes, Ansem knew his path.

And so, without reserve or hesitation, he made his move at last.

He pushed and tore at the confines of this dark prison, he found the weaknesses and pushed his essence through, merging with it and passing through it! He navigated the endless darkness and squeezing pressure as only he could - until he emerged out of Riku's Heart! He brought all his strength to bear, as the boy was distracted with this pointless battle against mindless Heartless, and he seized control of the boy's body once more.

But only, in this instance, to do one thing: he made the boy freeze completely, as the Heartless swung a fist of dark energy for his body.

The attack connected - Ansem felt the agony as much as the boy did, in that moment. But unlike Riku...Ansem embraced it, and he used it.

While the boy was laid on the ground, consumed by his pain and shock - weakened - Ansem left his Heart behind in full, at last.

Ansem was still nothing but a fragment encased in darkness - vulnerable and regrettably weak, himself - but it was enough.

Enough...for this journey.

"Cognis? No - ANSEM!" he heard the boy gasp out in his wake, fear and panic in his voice as he realized.

Ansem would have smirked at the boy as he departed, had he the body for it. Not yet, however. He rose up above the streets of this ravaged city, and flew toward the destroyed castle in the center of it all, a mass of formless darkness around a glowing core of orange-purple.

It was time.

His original's younger self was a weak, foolish boy fallen to human sentimentality - friends and a mother - while the elder was just that: a weak, frail old man who had let himself be captured by his enemies!

If they could not see this through...then it fell to the better pair to complete the mission! The stronger! The ones not marred by humanity, not vulnerable to the Hearts' weakness!

Ansem glided into the castle, navigating its halls swiftly and effortlessly (memories of a year spent in these walls). He flew down into the basement, passing through his Master's study room, and onto the laboratory.

He stopped at the sight that greeted him there in the control room: Ienzo - Aeleus - and the little Replica that called itself "Xion".

Hmph.

While he could not do much to harm them in this state - neither could they do anything to hurt him.

Ignoring them completely, Ansem shot out over the edge of the walkway in a streak of darkness - and went straight down. He reached the bottom of the manufactory. Reached the open entrance to the spiral staircase that led deeper still underneath this castle. He descended straight down the middle, bypassing the stairs and reaching the very bottom. He faced the doorway, finding his first real obstacle. Even in this state, he could not just phase through walls. But he had ways to get past such things, all the same.

He focused his dark essence around himself, shaping and molding it - into a facsimile of a body, shrouded in a brown robe. It was only temporary...and all he needed, for the moment. Ansem raised a cloaked arm that wasn't an arm, pointing at the door and concentrating his powers: a blast of blue fires erupted, striking the door...and blowing it wide open in twisted metal.

He glided through it, into the long hallway, glancing left and right into the cells as he passed them. Empty, empty, empty...

The door at the far end was soon before him.

Ansem blew it open the same as the last, and stepped through.

The throne was no longer there; instead, arranged in a half-circle around the chamber, hanging from metal racks, were white, featureless human bodies, like life-sized dolls. Faceless mannequins.

Eight of them, in total.

Pristine, new, and fully functional.

Ripe for the taking.

Ansem approached the nearest Replica, raising a robed phantom limb to it, his body shrouded in a blue outline-

A portal, or doorway of pure light burst to life in the chamber, surprising Ansem, causing him to turn.

"Not that one, buddy! Unless you want to deal with pesky little human problems the rest of your glorious life!" a voice issued, as a black-coated man stepped through.

A familiar voice - from a familiar figure. Fleeting, hazy, old...but-

Stepping out beside the man, came Ansem's originator, confusing the Heartless further.

The black-coated man gestured with a hand, and a light flashed as a new Replica appeared on the floor at Ansem's feet.

Ansem looked at the man - then, to his original self. The old man stood with his hands behind his back, his posture hunched. "What are you doing with him?" Ansem spoke out, demanding.

Xehanort twisted his face into a grin. Amused? "It is not by choice - but I am, as you can see, rather helpless."

"Hahaha...So you are..." came a new, yet familiar voice.

Ansem gazed past Xehanort and the man in the coat, to see his Nobody emerge from the portal of light now. He felt their mental link surge again - the intention, the message coming across with no spoken words. Ansem looked down at the Replica at his feet. After a moment of hesitation, he moved forward, and began to enter it. To merge with it, and bond with it...and become it. A moment later, he found himself opening eyes and breathing with lips. He sat himself up, testing arms and legs as he pushed himself to his feet. He looked down at himself, shifting his stance - his boots clicked on the floor. Then he raised his head to look at the others in the room.

Ansem glanced at the black-coat man. Then, Xehanort. And finally...Xemnas alone. He gazed at his Nobody, his other half, into the identical eyes of amber.

"Now, since we are all here...perhaps you can finally explain what is happening," Xemnas spoke, with a look at Xehanort, his hands forming fists at his sides.

"I will tell you what has happened," Ansem spoke, in low and silky tones, as he turned his gaze squarely to Xehanort. "Our originator's younger self has fallen to human sentimentality - human weakness. A Heart softened by lost little friends, or by the love of a mother. He has given up on our shared vision - all of our plans. Everything we were created for to begin with. And as for the present version of the man - he allowed himself to be captured by our enemies, to be bound and imprisoned. Perhaps he couldn't bring himself to hurt his old friends either. 'Sentimental in old age' is a common saying for a reason, isn't it? The true man of vision and power...would not have given in so easily to them, submitted himself like a badly behaved dog."

Ansem paused, gazing at Xemnas now, once more. "But we are purer beings...stronger. We are not human; we have no such weaknesses. And we...will not fail as he has, younger and older selves alike!" he finished, loud and resounding. "Pathetic. Weak. Humans!"

Xemnas's gaze held his. Then, they flickered over to Xehanort. They looked him up and down...

"Indeed..." Xemnas stepped in front of Xehanort, and flexed his wrist at his side; a beam of crimson energy burst from his palm. He stood facing the old man in silence for a moment. He looked to the black-coated man, who simply stood there beside Xehanort - watching on with a turned, hooded head.

Xehanort himself was merely...gazing down at the floor. His face weary, his golden eyes dull. His head bowed.

"You have nothing to say?" Xemnas spoke again. "No defense nor protest? No clever attempt to save your life? Or is he going to be your shield?" he added, with a nod to the black-coated man.

"Meeeee? I wouldn't dream of getting into the middle of your family drama - I'm just here to watch!" the man said, raising his hands and stepping away. "Carry on like I'm not even here...just - aha - ignore me!"

Xehanort raised his head again. He gazed into Xemnas's face - then, to Ansem. He gave a low chuckle. "You are not pure, nor strong," he spoke, in quiet, rasping tones. "You are shades, comprised of the worst aspects of my Heart - the weakest aspects. You will not succeed: you cannot succeed - because I could never have. And you have only inherited my failings, my shortcomings and weaknesses. No...the ones truly worthy of leading the way to the future, for the true betterment of the worlds...it was never to be myself. It is the Princess of Heart, and her friends and allies, who will be the ones to do that. They, who can see what we cannot...who see so much more clearly than we do, lost in this haze of darkness, and ignorance as we are."

Xemnas's eyes became slits. His mouth twisted.

Xehanort raised his chin to the man. "Heh... But rest assured: I will be seeing you again - sooner than you may think-"

Xemnas raised his arm, and plunged the red blade forth.

A light flashed, and suddenly the black-coated man was between Xemnas and Xehanort - his gloved hand grasping Xemnas's blade. Stopping it in its tracks.

Xemnas gasped, staring into the dark shrouded hood. "What?"

"I know, I know - you wanted to have your big, dramatic, 'independent woman' moment here!" the black-coat man said, humorous and casual. "But as much as I sympathize with your desire to burn a hole in the old man's heart, I kiiinda need him for my own evil plans! So...I'm just gonna stop you right here, and say good luck to you, good sirs! But I sort of really just need to take him! You might think he's useless, but I can't let this mind go to waste!"

Xemnas tore his weapon free and stepped away - then immediately brought it back, swinging it at the man in front of him.

The black-coated man burst with a flash of bright light and hot winds...and when it faded, he was gone. And so, too, was Xehanort gone with him.

Xemnas lowered his arm slowly, turning to look at Ansem.

Ansem gave a small shake of his head. "Let it be. He means nothing to us - either of them. We have ambitions to achieve...together. It was always us, for near of a decade, after all...wasn't it? It is no different now. Only now we will not be acting on the will and orders of another...but on our own."

Xemnas frowned - then his face went blank. He nodded, his crimson blade vanishing. "Let us be on our way, then," he agreed, emotionless and simple.

Ansem turned, conjuring a dark portal. He glanced around at the Replicas, then gave a lazy gesture of a hand; the Replicas flew off the rack and zoomed into the portal, disappearing one after another. After they were secured, he beckoned his counterpart, watching him pass through first - but not following him just yet. Already, ideas were coalescing in his mind. He was going to put these Replicas to very good use, in time. He just needed to take care of one last thing - needed to make one last...vital acquisition.

Another dark portal formed in the room, suddenly - and out of it came the Princess of Heart, as well as Dilan and Even, and two Radiant Garden fighters...one with a gunblade, and the other with a giant shuriken weapon.

Speaking of his final acquisition...

Ansem looked at them all, smirking lightly.

"Thank you for bringing yourself to me." Fortune did favor him today, didn't it?

The Princess tossed her weapon out in a streak of light, her body vanishing-

Ansem flickered out of existence instantly - and reappeared directly behind Even. He seized the man in a vice grip, and shrouded them both in darkness, moving them into a Dark Corridor on the spot.

And taking them far out of reach of the Princess or her companions.

---

Kairi slashed through thin air, stumbling in surprise.

She whirled around on the spot, her weapon raised-

And saw Xehanort's Heartless disappear into darkness with Even!

"NO!" she yelled, even though it was far too late to do anything about it!

Why?! Why? Why...?

Why was Ansem back now...why had he come out of Riku in the first place back there...and more importantly: what did he want with Even?

Kairi would have said the obvious answer was: to give him a new body...but apparently he already had that covered? So - what?!

She heard a sudden, echoing, distant voice cry out - high and distressed.

Her own voice.

She turned and ran from the room, down a long, bright hallway lined with doors - this was the dungeon area, built under the lab - until she came to the incredibly long, spiral staircase. She kicked off the ground and just flew straight up through the shaft. She hurtled up and burst out into the manufactory again, going higher still and darting in to land on the walkway. She could already see into the control room - Ansem was there.

So was Xion, and Aeleus, and Ienzo - on the ground, not moving. Wisps of darkness drifting off of them...

Ansem was doing something at the computer, typing and hitting buttons quickly and smoothly, his gaze on the flickering main screen.

Kairi's own eyes were drawn to the screen. It was flickering with static, shifting rapidly between images, numbers and letters scrolling around them - familiar faces, familiar weapons? She thought she saw Dilan's lances in there, and the faces of Isa and Aeleus-

She startled as she glimpsed a black-haired girl - a familiar Keyblade - and then-

Herself?

The image remained, fading in and out in static...but it was her. Her from...years ago? A much younger her...?

Kairi gripped her weapon and leapt forward with a yell-

And slammed face-first into a barrier of rippling energy!

She bounced back, stumbling and gasping.

Ansem straightened up tall, turning and giving an infuriating smirk. He raised a hand and gave one last keystroke, and the screen went black and dead. He turned away and grabbed a disc that popped out of a slot, stowing it in his long white coat. He raised his hand to create a dark portal in the room, then paused. He turned back to the computer, raising his hand of dark energy-

And a powerful blast flew out to strike it, exploding into burning flames.

"HEY!" Kairi yelled out at the man. "Why don't you stay and fight, huh?! Or are you too scared to lose to me again?"

Ansem's smug look didn't leave his face as he looked back at her. "Hmph. I have all that I need, Princess; and, soon enough, you will be...redundant to me."

Then, he left. He walked through the portal, which closed behind him.

Kairi screamed in frustration and anger, going to ram her fist into the barrier - only to find herself windmilling as she fell forward into the room!

She recovered, taking in a harsh breath and pushing at her hair furiously. She raised a hand of ice magic to blast out at the computer, quelling the flames after a few moments of effort. Then, she went to Xion's side!

"Sis!" she cried, falling to her knees and grasping the girl's arms. "Are you okay? Come on, tell me you're okay! You have to be!"

After a moment, Xion gave a high moan and shifted under her grasp. "Kairi?" She sat up slowly, gasping and clutching at her chest. "What- happened?"

"Ansem happened," Kairi sighed. "Xion - I'm sorry, but he- he took Even..."

"What...?"

---

Sora leapt up over the giant Heartless's head, spinning and slashing down at it with all he had!

He cast Magnet as it brought its arms up to swing its huge blades - causing them to get sucked up above its head, stuck there!

Kairi and the others had gone after Ansem, and Riku was still too hurt to fight anymore, so that just left Sora to deal with this thing...on his own.

He wasn't having much success at it, though.

This thing was just way too powerful!

And he was getting tired...physically and magically! They'd all been practically spamming spells this fight - to little to no effect on the Heartless!

Still, it was all they could do - all he could do now, alone. So he set his jaw and cast Fira rapidly as he flew back in the air to dodge a blow from the monster, hitting it in the face and chest. He darted up high and readied his weapon to cast Blizzaga-

But the Heartless suddenly swung both its swords up at him, creating two huge, flaming beams of darkness that flew for Sora way too fast!

He tried to dodge them, but they were too big, covering a wide area!

Sora cried out and raised his weapon before him to try to just block it-

Suddenly a figure came shooting up from the ground below, getting right in-between him and the Heartless's attack; the flaming beams of energy were blocked, bending and evaporating as a light flashed in front of Sora's rescuer!

Sora dropped back down to the ground with them, staring with a relieved smile. "Hey - thanks for that! Thought I was toast..." he said casually.

Mickey's royal knight, Goofy, lowered his smoking shield, turning to give Sora a warm smile of his own - and then a thumbs-up. "Not on our watch! Just stand back and let us take care of this big feller!"

"Uh- us...?" Sora started to say.

Lights were suddenly flashing everywhere, with high noises and streaking particles of light behind fast-moving comets - no, fireworks? There were fireworks popping up all over the sky, out of thin air, shooting and curving down to slam into the giant Heartless from all sides! Dozens and dozens, and they just kept coming, more and more showing up to replace the others as they hit the Heartless and exploded into- well- fireworks displays!

Donald, the royal magician, came floating down from the air, surrounded by a magic aura. His staff weapon was pointed out at the giant Heartless, his face determined.

The Heartless roared and thrashed about, stumbling back against the outer wall as the barrage continued!

It was incredible!

But it stopped soon, and the Heartless was righting itself!

"Oh phooey!" Donald said, gasping and lowering his weapon, that light fading from around him.

"Ya sure you don't got another one in you, Donald?" Goofy said quickly.

"WACK?!" Donald turned, looking annoyed. "If I did, don't you think I'd be-!"

"I'll deal with it!" a voice called out, as another figure came down from the rooftops! He had a Keyblade - wasn't he one of Luxu's friends?

The guy slashed down across the Heartless, straight down, leaving a huge orange beam of energy behind! The Heartless reared back, roaring. Then, the energy beam suddenly grew wider and wider, and then it bent forward and started to wrap around the Heartless. The weird energy attack seemed to just...eat it? It totally surrounded it, and then it snapped closed with a rush of wind and orange light particles...and the Heartless was just - gone?

Sora stared, amazed as much as just sort of...ridiculously confused. But, hey, at least it was dealt with! He lowered his weapon with a heavy sigh, wiping at his face and looking to the Keyblade wielding man with a grin. "Hey - thanks for the help! You're...uhhh-"

"It's Aced, and don't mention it!" the man said, grinning back and resting his weapon on his shoulder. "It was all too easy for me."

"We softened it up for you!" Donald exclaimed, offended, throwing his arms down at his sides and stalking forward. "You can't take all the credit!"

Aced flashed Donald a grin, laughing. "Well if you did, it wasn't by too much..."

"Waaaack!" Donald fumed.

"Ohoho, we're just glad you showed up when you did!" Goofy said quickly, stepping forward. "We're all on the same team here, right?"

Aced gazed at him. He nodded. "Mm." He hesitated. Then- "Take care of yourselves," he said, before turning and jumping high into the air, soaring off over the roofs!

Sora stared after the guy, amazed.

"My Duck Flare spell was still way more impressive... " Donald grumbled.

Goofy laughed, holding a hand to his mouth.

Sora laughed too. Then he remembered. "Riku!" he exclaimed, turning and racing into the alleyway. He found Riku right where he'd left him - slumped against the side of a stone wall of a house. "Hey - are you still doing okay here?"

Riku raised his head with a pained grin. "...I've never felt...better."

"Gosh, what happened to yer friend?!" Goofy's voice came, as he walked up behind Sora, with Donald in tow.

"He got hit pretty bad by that giant Heartless back there," Sora explained quickly. "And I think...Ansem leaving his Heart didn't help him either." It had looked like it hurt Riku as bad as the Heartless attack. Sora looked at Donald suddenly. "Hey, can you try to help him? You know Healing magic, right?"

Donald startled. He looked at Sora, then at Riku. "Of course I do! Step aside so I can do my work!" he declared, stomping forward and raising his staff determinedly.

Sora stepped away, beaming. "Thank you!"

Donald glanced at him with surprise. Then he nodded and gave a small smile. "Don't thank me yet - I don't know what I can do for him yet..."

---

Gula flipped back through the air, landing on the roof as the dark energy streaked past him.

He leapt forward swiftly and twisted, slashing his weapon with red energy-

The Heartless seemed to slip down and away from him in the air like it was made of smoke itself, turning to face him almost like it was taunting him.

Gula arced down to land on another roof, looking out at the Heartless as he raised his weapon again with a small smile of appreciation.

This Heartless was large, and looked to be nothing but a flowing white cloak with black, sinewy arms attached to it that also formed the hanging sleeves.

The Heartless darted forward in a blur, circling around Gula and swiping at him with burning blue arms.

Gula went into a frontflip to avoid the attack, turning to face it and slicing out with a blade beam.

The Heartless shot straight up to evade his attack easily, then it flew straight at him with arms outstretched, like a specter, or a phantom.

Huh. Phantom...not a bad name.

It was a worthy enough opponent for a name, to be sure.

The Phantom Heartless swiped an arm, causing twisting strands of blue flames to shoot out for Gula!

Gula raised his weapon to create a barrier around him - and was shocked when the flames spread across the barrier's surface, enveloping it...and blinding him to the outside world.

He let his barrier fall-

And the Heartless punched him in the back with a large fist of burning energy.

Gula was sent flying down through the air, twisting and gasping in pain. He hit the ground and bent his knees, skidding on the stone-

The Heartless came down on him in a blur, right in front of him, an aura of magenta fire around it. It crossed its arms, and then it unleashed a barrage of red and orange energy bolts!

Gula jumped high, sailing backwards and slashing his weapon down for the monster. His blade beam flew down and struck it dead on, causing it to fly backwards and slam into a building - but it wasn't out for the count.

So it was fast and strong. Real strong.

That's...going to be a problem.

Gula landed on the roof and held his weapon in front of him in both hands, in a guarded stance.

The Phantom rose up as befitting its name, his long white cloak billowing beneath it, its arms spread wide.

"Okay, let's try-"

Suddenly, huge silvery beings with large mallet weapons materialized around him. They flipped up and seemed to disappear into their weapons, which became shrouded in auras of energy; their weapons flew forward and began to strike and swing out at the Heartless madly!

The Heartless took a blow, then another - then it darted up to dodge - but another was above it, coming swinging down for it! The Phantom was launched down to the streets.

Gula leapt down after it, racing forward and swinging his Keyblade. He sent out burning red energy lines across the ground for it!

Phantom darted up and forward, flipping head over heels - shrouding itself in flames. It came spinning down for Gula, its attack sputtering and growing in a line.

Gula dodged left, slashing at the monster. He hit it dead on, cutting through it with wispy black smoke. It whipped around and lashed out with an arm in mid-air!

A strange being wearing peach pink pants and a hat came flipping through the air, knocking the creature's hand aside. Two more came twisting around the Phantom, shrouded in auras of light, seizing a limb each and doing impossible flips with rotating limbs, that saw them flip the Heartless around and hurl it away down the street!

The three beings darted forward toward the Heartless, dropping low and spinning like tops, their feet and singular, long hair strands leaving streaks of energy around them. They slammed into the Heartless, causing it to stagger further-

The Heartless erupted in flames, blasting them all away from it and rising up into the air.

Two of the beings slammed into nearby buildings - and disappeared with bursts of light and wisps of energy...

Had they just been...? Just like that?

Gula didn't know exactly what or who these beings all were - but he knew they were allies in this battle, and that...was all that mattered.

He set his jaw and ran for the Heartless, slinging his Keyblade upward! Strands of red energy flew out, twisting and wrapping around the Heartless, squeezing tight and trapping its arms. He leapt up high over its head, yanking his weapon upward - pulling the thing up into the air with him.

He went into a furious flip, heaving his weapon and bringing the monster swinging up overhead...and then sending it slamming back down again!

It flew down and hit the ground with a great crash, flat on its back, its arms splayed.

Those big guys with the big weapons appeared again, slamming down onto the monster, pounding it into the stone repeatedly!

Gula dropped back down to the street. He held his weapon horizontally in front of him, raising his free hand to the blade. A red aura grew on it. He squeezed his fist with a breath of exertion; a pool of red energy grew beneath the Heartless, strands rising up to loop around it, pinning it...

"Hey - get clear!" he called out to the beings of silver.

They obeyed him, twisting and- growing back into themselves and drifting backwards on the air strangely.

But that was it.

The pool began to glow, and then it erupted with blinding energy, a column of crimson light shooting up into the sky.

Gula held his attack, pouring his magic into it, his eyes narrowing against the intensity of it all.

When he finally let it fade, he was relieved to see the Heartless in the process of disappearing - nothing but smoke on the winds.

The sole remaining being of hat and singular ponytail appeared in a swirling of strange energy - right in front of Gula. Up close now, Gula saw a mouth visible. A jagged, strange mouth, but it was one.

"Thank you for the help," Gula said quietly. "And - sorry about your friends."

That uneven mouth broke open, that head tilting to one side with a strange jerking motion (like a bird's, almost). Then-

"Do not mourn for them," an echoing, wispy...definitely female voice filled Gula's mind. "They are only being Recompleted - and to do so through an act of selflessness...should be cause for joy, yes?"

Gula nodded uncertainly. "I...suppose?"

"Then let us continue to dance together, while we can."

Gula startled, staring at the being. He smiled. "Sure."

Chapter 71: The Siege of Radiant Garden Part 4

Notes:

Okay sorry this one took a few days longer than usual lol! It was new year and I actually kinda wasn't satisfied with the original draft, something was just bugging me, so I did some more editing and additions here to make it betterer, lol! xD IMO anyways. :D Soo yeah that took a few extra days. <3 But I'm pleased with it now! So enjoy! :)

After making sure Xion was going to be okay - and the others, too - like Aeleus and Ienzo) - Kairi left the castle behind and flew across the city to rejoin the battle.

There were several being waged around the city, she could see now from her high vantage point. Which one should she join?

Which one needed a little extra help?

She knew where she'd left Sora and Riku, but...she couldn't see any giant Heartless over in that direction anymore. So, that had to mean they were good now?

Which meant...

She went right, gliding over the rooftops and dipping low, descending into the streets themselves. She took sharp turns and darted around construction equipment and other large machines, finding herself in the industrial district. She flew down under metal walkways, slipped between two huge pipes - and flew out into a wide open area surrounded by rooftops and other tubes and machines.

Kairi glided to a halt in the air before several armored figures slicing through Heartless - as a silver-haired man teleported and leapt around a giant one. It was, of course, Xehanort: the young one. The time traveler. The jerk from Traverse Town, all those months ago now...almost a year, wasn't it, by this point? As crazy as that was to think about...

Kairi cleared her mind and Heart, gripped her weapon, and darted forward before she could think about it again.

The giant Heartless was some kind of mechanical monstrosity; it had a forward facing head with horns and huge insect-like mandibles, and a long, segmented body behind it comprised of rotating rings of steel. Each ring had spikes sticking out of them, that glowed with red energy. There were four rings per segment - and six separate segments. At the end of the last segment was some kind of huge turbine or engine.

Kairi waved a hand and sent out beams of yellow light to strike the Heartless's face, then flipped up and came down with her Keyblade! Her weapon hit the Heartless with a clunk and a shower of sparks - and she bounced right off it! She flipped back through the air and hit the ground, skidding across it on a bent knee. She whipped her head up to stare at it; it didn't look like she'd done any damage at all!

As she stared at the Heartless, it suddenly arched up, then back down again and...dove into the ground itself! It tunneled down and down, until its whole, lengthy armored body had disappeared into a giant hole of burning stone!

"It's a creature built for defense - it will take far more power than you possess to do it any real harm," came Xehanort's voice, just as she remembered it. Just as insufferable and condescending as she remembered it.

She turned to glower at the man, straightening up and twirling her weapon. "You have no idea how powerful I am! I've gotten stronger since we last met," she retorted, biting. "A lot stronger."

"Feel free to show me, then," the man replied, with a twist of his mouth into an infuriating smirk.

Oh, I WILL! Kairi leapt back twice, to the edge of the construction site, and brought her hand up to clasp it over her chest. She breathed in, breathed out...she reached into her own Heart, searching out the light...the light within the light... Her body began to glow, a heat burning throughout her limbs, her chest...energy swirled around her, fluttering at her hair and clothing...

Get out here...Angel! she thought fiercely - commanding.

A huge beam of light and lightning erupted from out of Kairi, shooting up into the sky and enveloping her!

She felt the searing pain bursting out of her Heart as the orb of light emerged from her chest...but she stayed on her feet this time - unlike in the Realm of Sleep!

She remained standing as the pillar of light dissipated, and the energy orb burst with power and wind in front of her...to form into a familiar, giant woman of light. Over twenty feet tall, slender and thin, made of golden light itself. Her little sleeveless mini dress was the same as before, with the glowing Heart symbols around the hem. Her body, too, was the same as before: she had burning orange symbols and patterns up and down her visible arms and legs - her "skin". Long, clawed fingers held huge, twin energy sickles of burning orange flames, ready to battle again. Her hair hung down her backside, composed of dozens of glowing strands of orange light.

And of course, her most striking feature, in Kairi's opinion, was the same as before, as well: her huge, golden angels wings of pure light, which materialized behind her back and flared out with a swirl of glowing feathers.

"What's-?!" Hermod exclaimed, whirling with wide eyes and fluttering curls of blue.

"It's...light?" Urd breathed, staring in wonder.

"She's so pretty!" Vor exclaimed, her eyes blinking up, wide and glistening.

"What in the World is that?" Xehanort's voice came, in pure shock.

"My answer to your Heartless," Kairi said, sweet and triumphant. She strode around Angel, raising a hand to snap her fingers up at the giantess, gazing up at her. "Okay, girl, listen up: take THAT THING down!" she ordered, turning to sharply jab her finger at the armored Heartless, just as it came rising up out of the ground like some burrowing insect, in shrieking metal and burning stone.

Angel obeyed instantly, rushing forward in a streak of light, passing right through Kairi herself with a gust of hot winds! Angel dematerialized her weapons immediately, reached down, and seized the Heartless by its huge mechanical mandibles! She heaved with her whole body, lifting up into the air...and pulling the Heartless up with her, bit by bit, slowly revealing more and more of its long, segmented form. She rose up with it, higher still, above the rooftops, into open air. Then she began to glow with orange light, flashing and flickering, lightning sparking around her. Her long tendrils of hair rose up and curved around her, long blades forming on the ends of them as they began to pierce the Heartless in the face and head. Angel let out an inhuman shriek, deep and powerful yet still so feminine, as she whirled around sharply in the air and released the giant Heartless!

The Heartless flew through the air, over streets and buildings - and slammed into the inside of the city-wide barrier with a great crash!

Angel's arm rose up, flickering and sputtering - and a huge, long, golden broadsword appeared in her grasp. Her hair tendrils reverted to normal, their ends began to vibrate and glow with golden orbs of light...and then she was unleashing a barrage of orange light beams at the Heartless in mid-air. All of this having taken place in under a second - in the time it had taken Kairi to blink.

Angel's attacks struck the Heartless all across its body in rapid succession, bursts of dark smoke bursting as the armor melted away in patches...

Then the Heartless was falling back down toward the ground again.

It hit somewhere near the outer wall - with a powerful, world-shaking quake and a roar.

Kairi set a hand on her hip as she turned toward Young Xehanort, a grin on her face. "What do you think about that?"

Xehanort blinked at her, for a moment looking totally flabbergasted, still. Then his expression was schooled into neutrality, his eyes narrowing. "I think it's not finished yet." He looked to his friends, gesturing, as he turned and leapt high into the air, soaring over the rooftops.

Kairi kicked off the ground, herself, shooting up high to soar over the buildings as well. She flew toward the scene of battle; Angel was just coming down on the Heartless in a streak of light and crackling lightning, stabbing her giant broadsword into the top of its head!

The Heartless roared and tried to shake her off - but Angel remained. She tore her blade free of her own accord, in a swift and sharp motion, an instant snap of an arm - from down to up. Then, she raised her free hand to the sky, and overhead an array of a dozen more giant swords appeared. Angel swiped her hand down in a flicker of electricity and that unnatural snap-movement of hers...and the giant swords descended like bolts of lightning themselves. They slammed into the Heartless's elongated body with great thunderous booms, energy exploding around them, and shooting up into the sky in their wake!

The Heartless began to glow from the inside out, yellow and orange light shining through swirling dark mist...

Angel bent forward in a blur, leaning her form over the Heartless's body - her hair swirling around her as if she were underwater. She reached down, seized the Heartless's short horns, and tore its head back and up. Her mouth opened wide, stretching and crackling with energy...then her body turned to a burning orange color in its entirety, as she let out a long, continuous screeching noise! The Heartless began to shudder and squirm, breaking apart! Powerful torrents of darkness were flowing up off of it - and finding their way into Angel's gaping maw.

Angel just- sucked it all up, like a vacuum, the Heartless disintegrating from end to front! After a minute, all that was left was the head and face...and then even that was gone in a burst of smoke, that then was devoured by Angel.

Leaving nothing behind now.

Angel straightened up tall, arching her back as she raised her arms before her, twitching and sparking, her hair flicking about like electric cables-

Then, a light flashed out from her, shining blinding white!

Kairi covered her face with an arm, gasping, blinking. When the light faded, she squinted at Angel from afar in shock.

The woman of light was different now! Gone was that little mini dress of hers; she wore golden armor now. She had two new arms sticking out of her shoulders, beneath her normal ones. And above her head was a glowing, rotating...literal halo of light.

Kairi recalled Yen Sid's words of before - about how it was said that these creatures of light could multiply, and gain strength and power through the absorption and purification of darkness. Was that what had happened here? Was Angel...stronger now, from beating and absorbing the darkness of that giant Heartless? But how strong was too strong? What if she got so strong...she wouldn't listen to Kairi anymore? What if...

Kairi shook her head firmly, then darted forward and swooped down to land on the ground before Angel; the giantess turned instantly, sensing her, and looked down on her. The giant sword vanished from her hand as she fell to one knee - waiting on her princess, just like she had last time, after the end of her last battle...

But this battle...

"We're not done yet," Kairi told her. She paused. "Stay close to me, and focus on the Heartless. Nothing and nobody else, you got me?" she said firmly. "The only darkness here that we have to fight are the Heartless! Nothing else matters!"

Angel dipped her head, her defined, sharply feminine face gazing back at Kairi. Her glowing lips parted... "Understood," came her deep, womanly voice (so powerful, so beautiful, so...still a little unnerving - and cause for way too many ethical questions to arise in Kairi's mind).

"Good!" Kairi said. "Then come on! We're going to find more giant Heartless threats to take care of!"

She looked to Xehanort and his friends, gave a vague wave of her hand, then turned and flew off into the air again (grateful to be away from the guy as fast as possible, honestly!). As she soared away, this time, Angel flew up after her; Angel's giant form was matching Kairi's speed and pace exactly and easily, like she was a ghost that weighed nothing at all.

Kairi turned to give the woman of light a small (nervous) smile, before focusing on the city stretched out ahead of her.

Who needed help next?

Flashes of light and sounds of battle came from her left, a few blocks off from the main square...

Kairi saw two familiar figures flip up high into the air - Sora and Riku, together - and...

She shot forward, angling herself down and coming onto the scene!

The sight of the giant Heartless before her actually gave her pause, just because of how- ridiculous it looked. Incredulous! It was a few feet taller than Angel - and just as definitively female! It was a giant Heartless with- curves for days, a cinched waist to absurd degrees, wearing some form-fitting red dress with green gemstones embedded into it. Around the waist, and around the wrists. It had padded shoulders, bell bottom arm sleeves, and a gold metal choker with green gems in it. It also had a gaudy, big green stone ring on one hand. The hand that was holding a long, ridiculously sharp-ended magic staff - with, yeah, a huge emerald set into the top of it! Topping it all off in terms of ridiculousness, was the bushy, black-and-grey tail sticking out behind it. Was that a cat's tail...?

Well, whatever!

You're going down, Lady Heartless!

Kairi landed in the streets, just as Roxas came slashing past the giant Heartless! He came down near her, landing on bent knees. He straightened up and looked at her, giving a small smile. "Hey-" he started. Then he saw Angel. "What-"

"Angel: get her!" Kairi commanded, throwing out her arm to point at the Heartless.

Angel obeyed, flying forward and spreading her four new arms wide; light shined and grew in her palms, and then she was thrusting her arms forth and letting loose a barrage of large orbs of light! They weren't just yellow, but had cores of blue and white, Kairi noted. They struck the Heartless dead on, driving it back into the buildings behind it and pinning it - pummeling it relentlessly!

"Woah! Kairi!" Sora exclaimed, flipping down from the air and racing over to her, with Riku in tow. "Is that one of your- light monster thingies?"

"Yes," Kairi confirmed.

"I thought those things were too dangerous to just let run around like this?" Riku spoke warily. He had a really good reason to be, Kairi acknowledged. "And this one - that light...that power-"

"I know - but I have her under control," Kairi said, reassuring. "She's the only one I...have here."

"Well - I just hope you really know what you're doing here," Riku replied quietly. "If that thing turns into another problem..."

"If she does, I can just call her back - right here," Kairi said firmly, raising a fist and smacking it to her chest. "I did it in the Realm of Sleep - and I did it with the others, before, too!"

Riku frowned, but he nodded. "Alright, Kairi." He paused, frowning even more deeply. "If you're back out here, I'm guessing you didn't beat Ansem for good or anything, though, did you?"

"Is everybody in the castle okay?" Sora said quickly. "Xion was over there, right? And Ansem was headed there. Did he..."

"Ansem got away," Kairi admitted tightly, clenching a fist. "Xion, Ienzo and Aeleus are fine - but...Ansem got away, and- he took Even with him. And Ienzo said...it looks like he also took all of the spare Replicas with him, too. So that's going to be a problem someday, I think-"

A high, echoing shriek filled the air, along with a burst of light.

Kairi turned, in time to see Angel with all four clawed limbs stabbing into the Heartless and lifting it up over her head, orange energy pulsing up her arms and shining out through her hands - through the Heartless's body. The Heartless dropped its staff weapon with a clatter...and then it was shuddering and evaporating in purple flames.

"See? She's fine!" Kairi said, turning back to her friends with a grin. "We've got nothing to worry about, you guys!"

"Awesome!" Sora said, beaming.

"Yeah," Riku nodded, giving a little smile of relief. "Now go find more giant Heartless for her to pummel."

"Sure!" Kairi agreed. She darted forward, giving Riku a hug. Then she hugged Sora. She saw the surprise on their faces. Riku's especially. She just...after seeing Xion like that, down in the castle lab, she- she didn't want to see Sora or Riku that way, either! She turned to Roxas - who stepped back from her with uncertainty. She laughed, gave him a little wave, and ran past him down the street. "Stay safe - Angel: follow me!"

Kairi launched herself up into the air again, rising fast and high - and she was relieved to see Angel come shooting up beside her in a streak of light energy.

I've got this. No problem! Ansem will have to be a problem for another day, though...

---

Kana raced around the giant Heartless and slashed it across the butt twice. She twirled her swords and stabbed them forward-

The Heartless lifted one of its four legs and slammed it back at her faster than she would have thought it could; it hit her whole torso, a shockwave of purple energy flew out around her, and she flew back wildly down the street. She rolled and flipped- and hit the stone wall of a building!

A gasp flowed from her lips as she fell forward onto her hands and knees. She felt the aching spread through her back. She felt the throbbing in her head. She felt the burning with every breath of air. She felt...

Kana raised a hand to the back of her head - let out a hiss and a laugh as she drew her hand back sharply. She stared down at her fingers, seeing the red...

She grinned to herself as she got to her feet again, picking up her blades. She flourished them and slashed them down at her sides, eyeing the giant Heartless as it turned around to face her again.

A blue, glowing, four-legged monster with flame designs on its body. Two curved horns on its head, curving in toward a big, long cone horn in the middle.

"I like you!" she called out giddily, racing forward with her weapons held behind her. "You're fun!"

Kana swathed her weapons in electricity, flashing them forward and sending out twin streams of blue electricity. Her attacks struck the Heartless's face, staggering it. The lightning flew across its body's surface, enveloping it. She flipped up high, sailing over its head and coming down to land on its back. She slashed and stabbed wildly at the creature, laughing high!

The horns started to glow with energy, red flames shimmering on the end of the middle one-

Kana lunged forward and slashed both weapons straight across the horn, horizontal!

The Heartless roared - the energy sputtered out, and the flames faded.

Kana lit up both her weapons with ice and fire, then went into a furious spin, her blades slashing at those horns multiple times in a second! Energy swirled around her, dizziness took over her body - and she slipped. Her foot slid out beneath her, and she was falling off the side of the large beast before she realized it!

She twisted and hit the ground hard on her side, her mouth crying out with surprise and pain again.

The Heartless turned its head, opened its mouth, and sent a stream of red flames at her in an explosion of light and power!

A blue comet of sparkling energy flew in front of the Heartless to stop in front of Kana, and then a barrier dome of shimmering blue crystal popped up around her! The flames burned all around the barrier, blocking Kana's view of anything else...then the barrier exploded outward, and the flames washed away.

The giant Heartless was turning away from Kana, going to fight two familiar armored figures...and one familiar non-armored woman, of course.

Aqua raced over to Kana, breaking away from the two armored figures of Terra and Ventus. She looked down at Kana, her face - concerned. "Are you okay?" she spoke.

Kana jumped to her feet again, nodding and beaming. "Fine! This Heartless is slow and stupid; it's not much of a challenge."

Aqua shook her head. "Be careful - overconfidence kills. If I hadn't seen you fall like that, you wouldn't be here to say that."

Kana frowned. She glanced away, her face flushing. She drew herself up, twirled her wrists to spin her swords, and surged toward the Heartless in a blast of magic, gliding above the ground!

Aqua flew past her and up into the air on wind magic, twisting and twirling with strands of pink energy around her. She slashed her Keyblade, sending down dozens of strands to slice and dice at the Heartless's body rapidly, all over it.

Kana pulled up short, casting Firaga multiple times in a row, her orbs of fire flying out and curving around the Heartless to hit it on both sides. She felt the warmth and pressure surge in her body in the aftermath, and she raised her blades and let it burst out of her; her body was shrouded in a red and orange aura of light. She lunged forward and started slashing and spinning, creating streaks of flames and explosions!

Aqua came flipping down to land on the Heartless. She raised her Keyblade up, fire swirling around her and flowing into her body. It exploded out of her, and she rose up to hover in the air, as six wide pillars of burning flames formed around her. She drifted forward toward the front of the Heartless, the large fire tornados spinning around her - passing over and around the Heartless's central horn.

The Heartless roared and staggered to the side, shaking its head.

Aqua adjusted her position, staying above it, and flashed her palm down at it; the tornados lowered beneath her and came together into one super cyclone, burning and enveloping the Heartless's whole head and front limbs! This kept up for a few seconds before the cyclone started to fade. As soon as it did, Terra flew across the Heartless's face, leaving a trail of red energy and flower petals behind him. Then, Ventus threw his Keyblade at the Heartless's face immediately after; his weapon, glowing with energy, did several boomerang passes back and forth, cutting into the Heartless repeatedly!

Aqua flipped off the Heartless, landing near Terra and Ven. She nodded to them; Terra spun around and slammed his Keyblade down on the ground, glowing with orange light: a huge mass of glowing magical earth erupted beneath the Heartless, lifting it up off its front legs. Ven and Aqua thrust their Keyblades forward, and a wide tornado of swirling green winds erupted around the Heartless - picking it up off the ground, slowly raising it higher into the air!

"Wooow...." Kana found herself saying, breathy.

Maybe fighting with other people could be its own kind of fun, too? She had enjoyed her time in that digital world with those castle members, and others - Aeleus, Even, Isa...

And she did like Isa...

Kana shook her head, ignoring her new body's strange sensations, and ran forward and leapt up into the air! She formed a magic platform beneath her and quickly jumped off it again, surging higher, her swords held above her head - glowing with ice and fire magicks! She accelerated and thrust her weapons up into the underside of the giant Heartless!

She twisted her body in half, planting her feet on the underside of the monster. Then she tore her weapons free and kicked off again, flipping back down to the ground! Her weapons left long, glowing blue and red trails behind - one burning with fire, the other forming a line of ice.

Aqua, Terra and Ventus all leapt up into the air, soaring above the Heartless. Then, they came back down, slashing at its body as one!

The green winds faded, and the Heartless fell back down in their wake with a crash, its legs splayed around it.

The Heartless let out a roar and raised its head, purple energy and lightning swirling around its horns, a crimson aura of fire lighting up across its body-

Suddenly, a blur of a figure flew at the Heartless from out of a side street (that dark-haired child person from the square); her fist struck the Heartless in the face with a loud yell. Air and dust exploded up and down the streets, a shockwave of energy following in its wake. The nearby houses were blown apart, and the Heartless went flying backwards, rolling wildly until it came to a stop on its backside!

The dust cleared away, revealing the girl. She was stood there in the street, bent forward, one arm hanging down limply. She was breathing loudly, her voice shaking.

"Woah!" Ventus gasped, staring at the girl with wide blue eyes. "Erin? How'd you...?"

That was her name! Right. Erin.

Aqua and Terra were watching the girl, too. Terra looked worried, though, for whatever reason. Aqua was just shocked.

Kana just felt...impressed. She knew she couldn't do anything like that - unfortunately! But how could a little child person be that strong? That definitely wasn't normal, was it?

A blue beam of light came down from the sky, its end sharpening to a glowing point that pierced the helpless monster - and then exploded it from the inside out!

Kana saw a figure with long, shimmering hair of light purple come down to land in the street, holding a Keyblade.

It was that Invi woman!

Kana still felt a little annoyed that so many people were just showing up to steal her fights from her - but she wasn't as annoyed as she could have been...

Maybe there really was something to this whole "working together" thing?

---

Maleficent waited for Darkness to return to her side - to report on the progress of the battle.

Darkness's report...was not one that pleased Maleficent.

"Oh, these creatures are hopeless..." she lamented, stepping forward on the blue cliffside and grasping her new Keyblade in hand. "Clearly, our enemies are too powerful and intelligent to be done in by mindless beasts and monsters. No, this requires a more - powerful and intellectual touch, itself. I think it's time we took things into our own hands, my friend!"

"You plan to confront them personally? That isn't a smart idea," Darkness stated flatly, her form rippling beside Maleficent.

"Ah, but with your overwhelming strength - the power of true darkness? And...the power of this Keyblade?" Maleficent responded, soft and delicate - a smile on her face. "Together, we should be a match for them, wouldn't you agree?"

Darkness gazed at her in silence for a moment. She looked out to the city, then, down at the Heartless below, stretching out in all directions. A field of blackness and glowing lights. A field of writhing, living darkness...

"Well?" Maleficent prompted, a bit sharply.

Darkness looked at Maleficent. She nodded. "Yes - our powers combined should allow us to contend with any one of them. But two or more, and you will still need to be careful."

"You worry far too much," Maleficent said lightly. "Grant me the power I seek, and I will give you a demonstration that should set your mind at ease."

"Very well."

Darkness rose up and became a formless cloud. She swooped down from the cliffside, gliding over the endless fields of Heartless; as she moved, she weaved and swirled around, becoming a streak of purple. Hundreds of tendrils of dark energy rose up from the Heartless, flowing toward Darkness. She continued like this for a minute more before returning to Maleficent - and flying straight into her chest.

The tendrils of dark energy followed suit; Maleficent gasped, stumbling and raising a hand to her chest...

Purple flames burned along the tendrils of darkness, surging up into Maleficent's core! The Heartless swarms began to evaporate in groups and patches, rising up as purple smoke and particles of light...

Dozens, dozens, more and more and MORE!

Maleficent raised her arms to the skies as the power roared within her, and enveloped her body! She laughed high and giddy as she felt it all!

The dark tendrils of power ceased, disappearing into smoke, after several moments.

Maleficent breathed in, then out, lowering her arms. She gazed down at herself, the flaming purple aura still surrounding her. She grinned widely to herself. Yes...this is it! The true power - the true DARKNESS!

She looked at the Keyblade in her hand, raising it up before her. "If you wish to see these idiots and fools destroyed at last, you will GIVE ME THE POWER to do so - here and now!" Maleficent demanded of the weapon, loudly and clearly.

In an instant, the weapon roared with red flames, rushing down its handle to envelope her arm - and then her entire body! A new aura intermixing with the aura of darkness!

A new power intermixing with Darkness's! Adding to it, multiplying it, to new heights unimaginable!

Maleficent lowered her shaking arm, stretching it out to aim the weapon forth: straight at that city of rats surrounding her castle. She called upon and channeled all of this newfound power...and let it loose across the world, in a huge beam of burning red, orange, and purple energy alike!

Her attack stuck at the front of the barrier, just above the main gates of the city! It burned and flared against it, light and energy casting out in all directions - then it punched through suddenly! Her beam roared across the city, burning through buildings and striking the rocky hillside that the castle sat upon. There was a distant explosion on impact, blowing out a huge hole in the side of the rock face, in a violent flash of red and purple light!

Burning flames began to eat away at the barrier on city's edge, melting it away like acid to expose the city to the world. To the masses of endless darkness that surrounded it.

Maleficent lowered her weapon with a deep breath of hot air, her heart beating quick in her chest. She stepped forward and onto a magical platform of rock, and began to zoom across the landscape toward the city.

It was time to put an end to these irritants, once and for all!

---

Aqua gasped as the massive beam of energy struck the barrier around the city - as it pushed and fought against it...and then won!

The gigantic beam shot across the city, striking the barren rock face that was once a beautiful green hill of trees and grass, exploding with a flash of violet light and an earthquake that rocked the whole city itself.

Red and orange flames burned the barrier away, leaving the city exposed to what lay beyond.

Aqua quickly turned and ran, leaping up high to the city's outer wall. She stepped up to the stone half-wall, raising her weapon - and she froze.

Her weapon fell to her side as she took in the sight around the city.

Endless...darkness. Writhing, squirming...burning eyes and glowing bodies...flames and power and...

There was no way they could possibly...that anyone could possibly...

A golden light suddenly flashed behind her, causing her to turn sharply.

She saw, from the streets below, a mass of glowing orange chains shoot up high into the sky! The chains separated and arched outward, striking the walls. Light flashed from the chains, and in an instant, a swirling orange barrier was surrounding the city, with images of chains pulsing and swirling across its face!

Aqua gazed down at the source of the chains - the point where they'd emerged - and her jaw dropped open in pure disbelief.

"M-Master...?" she whispered, to herself alone.

There he was, standing in full armor - something she'd only seen once or twice before, when she was little, and then, during examples for how to create and conjure her own...

Aqua stood there for a long minute, even as she saw Ven and Terra race up to the Master to talk to him. Even as that Erin girl, and Invi, went to greet him as well. Even as Kana went to invade his personal space, circling around him and staring at his armor! But Aqua just...

Well, she wanted to just hide up here on this wall forever. She wanted to just...leave, hide, disappear, she wanted-

The Master pulled his helmet off, and he looked up at her. Right up at her.

She saw his face change, his mouth move - mouthing her name: Aqua?

Aqua took in a shaking breath, tightened her grip on the Keyblade of Kana's...and she stepped off the wall, slowly falling down to the ground again with aid of magic. She touched down easily, gently, and she walked forward, her eyes only for that man.

She stopped before him, rigid and silent.

"Aqua..." he breathed. "You came to aid these people as well? I-" He stopped, suddenly, eyeing her up and down. Her gown of blue-black extravagance and torn intricacies. "I see..." he murmured, giving a small smile and a nod. He looked to Terra and Ven, questioning. Terra gave a silent nod in return, answering.

"You don't see anything," Aqua said dismissively, turning away and slashing her weapon to hold at her side, her cheeks burning now.

"No, of course not," Eraqus said, with a glint in his eyes now.

"Aqua's a queen now!"

Aqua whirled, outraged. Furious. "VEN?!"

"W-what? I thought- you said before- I thought the Master already knew...?!" Ven exclaimed, flushing and backing away, raising his hands.

Aqua glared. Hard. Her lips shaking and tight. A growl issued from deep in her throat.

"Don't let her throw me in a dungeon or somethin', Terra!" Ven said, moving behind his friend.

"She wouldn't," Terra said.

"I'm considering it," Aqua shot back.

"That would be an abuse of power," Terra replied.

"Or maybe it's the proper response to someone giving away top secret information to- unwanted parties," Aqua snapped.

"Your coronation was a public event," Terra said evenly - his lips twitching now. Infuriatingly. "You can't possibly call that top secret-"

"Please, Terra, Aqua - don't we all have something more important to focus on at the moment?" Eraqus spoke up, raising a hand.

"Yes," Aqua ground out. "Focus on-"

The city trembled again, as a purple and red light exploded against the chain barrier - and persisted, flashing and flaring on the other side!

Eraqus whirled around, raising his Keyblade with a glowing orange aura. He gritted his teeth, holding it higher still...

The barrier began to crack, glowing pieces falling to the ground...

Then, huge scars and burning lines shot out across it, over the whole city, and it broke apart into twisted fragments and particles of amber on the air!

Eraqus let out a great gasp, slumping forward and lowering his weapon. He heaved deep breaths, sweat falling down his brow. Then he straightened up tall, wiping at his face with the back of an armored glove. "Such power!" he breathed. "What is the enemy we face here today?"

"Maleficent," Aqua bit out shortly, turning and leaping back up onto the wall once more.

But this time, Terra, Ven, and her Master followed her - as did Erin, Kana, and that Invi woman.

Though, speaking of the witch herself...

Aqua gazed out across the open air, seeing Maleficent hovering on a platform of earth - with an ornate, decorated Keyblade of white, red and orange in her grasp, that sparkled and burned with an aura of red flames.

Maleficent looked back at her - right at her. Her eyes widened with recognition. Then, they narrowed. She raised her weapon for a strike, and swept it out across herself horizontally!

Unleashing a massive wave of burning flames onto the city.

If Maleficent was truly this powerful now...what could they do?!

Aqua felt the sheer terror, and panic, and ultimately...pure defeat settle into her Heart again.

The old voice telling her it was pointless to keep fighting, to keep walking - to just give up, sit down, and let them have you.

Let it take you.

The endless, overwhelming...

The air between Aqua and the oncoming wall of hellish flames suddenly warped and shifted - and then a pink light burst in front of her! It grew huge and bright, it was so- so blinding!

Aqua blinked in confusion, staring as a huge wall of...of swirling pink and blue energy formed in front of her, stretching out left and right, and rising up to the sky; this strange wall blocked the wave of fires, the air twisting and bending around the flames strangely.

Puffs of pink smoke burst in the air, one after another - revealing little grey cat-like creatures with capes, hovering with glowing auras of pink light. Some appeared atop the strange pink and blue wall, and others appeared on the actual city wall, flanking Aqua and the others.

All of these little creatures held stubby hands out, swirling with energy.

"Alright! Let them have it!" a voice called out. A firm, loud, boy's voice.

Aqua turned, gazing skyward to see a...boy of silver, messy hair hovering above them - a red scarf fluttering in the winds of power.

He flashed his palm forth, and a white light flashed.

The vast pink and blue wall of translucent energy stretched out bigger still, then it curved at the bottom to cover the ground, and curved at the sides, and began to move forward, scooping up legions of Heartless, in the hundreds, in the thousands! It cleared a huge swathe in the ground, making the ground visible again. The magical wall began to close in on itself on the far side, forming into a giant sphere...

Maleficent vanished out of its way in a flare of dark mist, to Aqua's disappointment.

The giant sphere of pink energy glowed and swirled, and then it exploded with pink light!

All the Heartless inside it were vaporized - and the ones surrounding it were sent flying in all directions, and blasted up into the air! The burning winds whipped at them all, destroying hundreds more stragglers even in its wake!

"Great job, but we're not done yet!" the boy called out - to those little creatures?

The creatures lowered their stubby limbs, turning to nod to each other. Then they began to vanish in pops of smoke. Well, some of them. Others remained on the outer wall. But where were the others going...?

Aqua looked around, and got her answer, when she saw dozens of them popping up all along the rest of the outer wall. They were surrounding the whole city, as best they could, it seemed!

The little creatures flashed with pink auras again, and then they were shooting up into the air atop...massive...translucent clocktowers? They were pink and blue, twin-towered. A bell hanging in the space between. Those bells began to rock, ringing out with great gongs and chimes; with each chime, waves of pink and blue energy pulsed outward, rippling through the air and across the ground, obliterating the Heartless in huge numbers! They rang out again and again, clearing out more and more!

After almost a minute of this, the towers dematerialized - but the Heartless were still around the area in such great numbers!

"Let's go one more time, if you can!" that boy's voice rang out once more.

Aqua stared around her, watching as suddenly blue, glowing...lines, or cables began to appear outside the city. They crossed each other, they dipped low and curved up again, they turned to make sharp bends left or right. There were dozens upon dozens of them, everywhere. Then, she saw the tram cars burst to life, attached to the cables, hanging from below. The trams shot along the cables, following the paths, swinging violently left and right, doing full rotations! They bashed into Heartless, caused great tremors and shockwaves on the ground, and sent the creatures of darkness flying into the air in droves again - where other tram cars came flying by to slam into them, reducing them to black smoke.

"I can hardly believe it..." Invi's voice came, from Aqua's left. Full of shock, and wonder. "Chirithies...?"

Aqua glanced at the woman, then away.

Another puff of smoke appeared - right next to Ven.

Aqua turned, startling.

Ven looked up at her, crouching down to put a hand on the little cat's head. "It's okay, Aqua - she's a friend. Her name's Moon. She's a Chirithy - uh, kinda a long story?"

"I still don't know if I like the name..." the- being said, in a girl's voice, as she raised an arm like the others of her- kind, glowing with energy.

Aqua stared, her mouth falling open. Then she closed it quickly, giving a small smile and a nod. "Okay..." she murmured, deciding to just- go with it for now.

On the outside of the city, the cable cars were disappearing in particles of blue and pink light. The cables themselves evaporated, as well.

In the immediate area, most of the Heartless were...completely gone, now - on all sides of the city.

Though, further out, in the canyons, Aqua could still see legions of waiting dark monsters.

It was almost incredible to Aqua, to see so many Heartless on one world, yet to not see that world fall to darkness itself!

But, of course, Maleficent was the only thing keeping that from happening: because she wanted this world for herself.

The greedy, selfish woman that she was!

Aqua glared across the landscape, until she found the woman in question again.

Maleficent was far back now, and hovering high up in the skies.

If she thought she was untouchable - guess again!

It was time to end this, to end her - like Aqua should have, ten years ago!

She raised her hand, and smacked her palm to-

Her bare arm.

She blinked, looking down at herself.

"Shit," she swore aloud.

A little thud sounded beside her.

She turned, seeing that silver-haired boy touching down on the outer wall.

Ven turned, too - and stared with a pale face and a slack jaw.

"Ephemer?"

Ephemer? The name rang in Aqua's mind. So this was that boy, then? The friend from...the ancient era, and the one who-

The other boy looked back at Ven, his blue eyes shining back...as his face twisted into a wide grin. "Ven...it's been a while, huh?"

"Ephemer..." Invi's voice came.

Ephemer turned away from Ven, looking to the young woman now. His expression shifted for a moment - but then he nodded. "Master invi." A pause. Then- "You don't look at all how I always thought you would. I pictured you as more of a blonde haired type."

Invi blinked at the boy, her cheeks flushing, her lips parting. "I- I'm sorry...?"

Ephemer flashed a small grin. "Anyways - what's going on here now?" he said seriously, looking to Ven. He flickered his gaze over Terra, Aqua - then, for some reason, he lingered on Eraqus, surprise flitted over his features...but then it was gone quickly. "Never mind - I think it speaks for itself," he answered his own question, before anyone could speak. "Looks like we got here just in the nick of time, huh?"

Aqua gave her head a small shake, looking at Ven in amusement. This was definitely a friend of his.

Chapter 72: The Siege of Radiant Garden Part 5

Notes:

I AM LITERALLY POSTING THIS AT 3 AM AND I DON'T REGRET IT LOL! I SAID I WAS POSTING IT "TONIGHT" AND I NEED TO KEEP MY PROMISE. XD TECHNICALLY IT'S STILL MORE TUESDAY NIGHT THAN WEDNESDAY MORNING! :D At least according to MY whacked out sleep schedule!!! xD

P.S: Next chapter will be the final REAL chapter, with the next one or two more being extended "Epilogue" chapters! :)

Luxu sat slumped on the bench, on the docks of Scala Ad Caelum.

It felt weird being back here - weirder to be here out in the open. No cloak, no mask of a face. Just him...

He shook his head and gritted his teeth, holding his arm over his stomach and sitting up straighter.

He looked down the docks, where Namine was leaned over the railing, gazing out at the ocean blues - and chatting it up with some of the other kids. It was such a...normal scene, wasn't it? One he'd seen a million times, on a million different worlds. But this time, this scene...with this kid...it looked like something special. With all of these-

Namine suddenly stopped, blinking quickly, her face getting a familiar look on it. A pale, concerned look.

Luxu got to his feet immediately, starting forward even as the kid turned to look at him. "What?" he said simply. He knew she'd tell him.

"I wasn't looking at Kairi's memories - I was focusing on other people - but I just checked in on her again, and Xion too, and- things are going really badly there, the barrier's all broken and they're trying to get it back again and- and-"

"And what?" Luxu said firmly. He really had to teach the girl the art of getting the important information across first - concisely and quickly-

"And- Ansem and Xemnas are back, too!" the girl blurted.

Luxu bit back the surprise of the news as best he could, eyeing the girl. "How long ago was this?" he asked. If she'd only just checked Kairi's memories again now, and found out...then it could have been a while ago, dammit! "Where are they now? And what the hell do you mean the barrier is broken?" he added harshly, aghast. The combined powers of Ira, Amaya, and King Mickey - overwhelmed? Overcome? Could the witch of darkness really have gotten that much more powerful, just from that damn Darkness, and that Ultima Keyblade...? If she had...

"...I don't know - it was like ten- ten minutes ago? Ansem and Xemnas, I mean!" Namine was saying uncertainly, holding her hands at her waist. "The barrier problems just- just happened - are happening." She paused in her babbling. Then- "Do you want me to find them? I- I think maybe I could find Xemnas and see what he's up to! Remember our fight in Twilight Town? When I sent him that memory of yours? I didn't really think about it then, but now I think there's some connect-"

Suddenly the air flashed with golden light behind Namine - a cloaked figure appeared right behind her, a gloved hand seized her upper arm - and then they both vanished again in a blinding light!

Luxu hated himself for it - wasting seconds. But for a long moment or two, he just...stood there, staring at the space where Namine wasn't anymore. Where she'd been taken from him...by somebody who could only be his old Master.

He summoned his Keyblade to hand, raising it up and focusing his Heart (ignoring the crowd of kids around him who were freaking out, themselves now, about Namine's disappearance - and his actions now, too). He called on the connection to Namine, using it to open a portal of light. He knew it wasn't likely to bring him straight to her - power of waking didn't work that way, unless you abused the hell out of it - but he hoped it would. He hoped he had a powerful enough bond with the kid by now that it would just...just take him to her! Just let him get her back!

"Master Luxu, what's going on?" Ephemer's voice cut through the world. Through it all.

Luxu turned to see the guy standing there. He breathed in, then out. "If you want to help, now would be a great time; gather up the Chirithies and get over to Radiant Garden. They could use the power of dreams right about now," he said shortly, as his portal of light appeared before him in a flash. He rushed into the portal with nothing more said, ignoring the pain shooting through his body, ignoring the labored breathing it brought to his lips and throat. Ignoring the Dandelions still.

Luxu emerged on the other side...into Twilight Town?

Why the hell would his Master kidnap the kid, then just bring her back to the world they called home?

Unless it was bait.

Of course it was bait; everything with that guy was a plan inside a plan, a hidden agenda you didn't even realize until it was in motion - or until after it was done. He made you focus your eye on the ball in one hand, while he did some crazy shit with the other one...

That was how he operated - always.

So, odds were, whatever he was doing with Namine right now wasn't even what he truly intended! It was just a distraction. The ball in one hand.

Like that mattered to Luxu, though.

Either way, he was going to find her, and get her back. It was as simple as that!

And if he was catching on to how his Master thought and planned for things at all, he thought he knew where the guy would stash Namine. Where he'd be waiting for Luxu.

Luxu let his weapon vanish as he hurried down the street, taking a quick duck into a side alley. There, he summoned his Keyblade back again and created a new portal, focusing his mind on the image of home - the house on the green hills. He rushed through it, stepping out at the front door. He blasted it open with a wave of a hand and an exertion of telekinetic magic, marching inside, his every senses attuned and alert.

But...

It was silent.

Empty.

The furniture and everything was all there, sure - but no Namine. No Master.

Luxu searched the whole house anyways, over the next few minutes. Precious minutes he felt like he'd wasted, for the first time in his long life...

Because they turned up no results at all, either.

Growling to himself, trying to keep his cool, Luxu whirled around in Namine's room and conjured another portal. He returned to the streets of the city, and began searching them quickly. He kept his eyes peeled as he passed people by. He looked through shop windows and homes, as he made his way down the inclined streets. After too many minutes more, after checking a few side streets, Station Heights, the Sandlot, etc, he emerged into the Tram Commons area. It was damn crowded today, which was going to make this way too difficult!

And how much time had he already wasted on this?! Ten minutes? Twenty?

But, no, no. He was patient, he was good at this. He was an expert at moving through crowds - keeping his eyes peeled, his ear to the ground - this was his element, his craft, after millennia of-

Suddenly, he froze.

He didn't mean that he stopped moving in any way of his own accord - no: his whole body itself suddenly just- stopped. Like a powerful Time Spell had been cast on him, locking him in his own body. Except he hadn't seen, heard, or felt a single thing to indicate a spell being cast on him.

And it wasn't just him: everything had stopped. The crowds. The tram running its line around the area. The birds taking off from a shop's rooftop. A mouse leaping down from a garbage can being hauled out of the sewer tunnels by workers...

Sound itself.

All conversation, all the clicking and scraping and grinding.

Even the winds themselves, the breeze of cool air against the planted trees and potted plants scattered about the plaza.

Luxu tried to reach into his Heart, tried to reach for magic, for power - but even for him, he knew it was useless; once you got hit by Time Magic, once you were locked in...you were stuck. Until your enemy either lifted it, or until it faded naturally over time.

No spell could last forever, after all. Especially not the kind that took a hell of a lot of power and energy to cast.

Luxu just had to wait it out...

But for the entire Tram Commons to be frozen like this...? Could his Master really be that powerful? And to do it with no sign of a spell, no ripple of air, no flash of light, no...

No.

The answer was: he wasn't.

No magic, no effect, not even the extra sense that was so well honed to detect magic around him!

No...it wasn't magic or a spell. Which left another option. An explanation that would actually make sense for why the Master would just bring Namine to "Twilight Town" immediately after kidnapping her. And it would also be something that was more than within the guy's wheelhouse of skills and abilities, considering everything with the Book of Prophecies, and the Data Worlds set up on Daybreak Town's main computers.

Yeah - that had to be it, Luxu thought: this was another data world. Another cage, another trap, prepped and ready to go...

Anything and anyone within it would become data, including real people like himself or Namine - which meant they could, theoretically, also be controlled, edited, or influenced in all the same ways that objects and people made out of data could be. If you were in the system, you were fair game. You put yourself at the mercy of the gods on the outside, who ran that world.

Which...he had just done.

Suddenly, he heard a sound in the soundless world.

Footsteps echoed on the ground, and he saw a cloaked figure emerge from the crowds - striding up to Luxu.

With no Namine in sight.

"Hey, buddy," his Master's voice came from beneath the hood. The man set his hands on his hips, his hooded gaze clearly looking at Luxu (why was the guy even bothering to wear that thing still, when Luxu had already seen his face?). "Here we are again, huh? Well...since you seemed so upset with me before about being too unspecific and vague for your tastes, I'm going to be as blunt as possible for you here, okay?"

Luxu could do nothing, still, but stand there, frozen, breathing. Staring at the man before him. And damn did he try to do something...anything!

"You're not going to find Namine." The Master raised a hand, flourishing it. "Well, you might, after a few decades of searching, and a bit of luck - but even if you did...you won't find her to be the same girl you knew, so it's a little pointless to try, in my opinion. Now, I want you to know this sincerely, kid: I have no intentions of harming her. I just need her and her annoying powers out of my way for...the next year or so, let's say. So, here's what I'm going to promise you, Luxu: if you can leave me - and her - alone for the next year, then, in a year's time, I'll return her to you, safe and sound. Sound body, sound mind. You can go back to your little house on the hill, you can sing and dance, birthdays and Christmas parties, everybody's happy."

Yeah, like I'd believe that, coming from you...

The Master let his arms fall to his sides, stepping forward and beginning to walk circles around Luxu. "I know what you're thinking - how can I trust you? You can't; of course you can't. I'm the guy who blew up the world...the guy who sent all those children to their deaths. I'm the guy who started a war just to buy...a little time. But, ya know...aren't those same kids happy and free, right now, over in Scala Ad Caelum?" The man moved in front of Luxu again, raising a finger. "And didn't I give you the key to the salvation of the entirety of the lives of the ones that fought in the war itself, as well...? I know you figured it out by now - finally. Why do you think I'm letting you hang onto my Keyblade still...? Oh, speaking of which...are you really going to spend all your time trying to get Namine back? Maybe even force me to have to take measures to stop you...more permanently? But if that happened, why, those poor souls would never get a chance to live again!"

Luxu's Master was behind him, now, unable to be seen. All Luxu heard was the voice - right in his damn ear...

"What's it going to be, Luxu? One girl, versus a couple thousand girls and boys? Waste your efforts and time trying to save one person...when you KNOW you can save so many others? I told you I had a plan in place to save them all, didn't I? I told you I wasn't sacrificing anyone - and haven't I kept my word on that? The Data World, the Spirits tied to the Dandelion's Hearts, so that when the time came they'd know what to do...giving them an escape hatch into the Realm of Sleep? And now...you, and that graveyard, and what you KNOW you have to do..."

The Master brushed his cloaked arm against Luxu as he came around him again - to stop in front of him. To face him, close and intimate. The Master hesitated, then reached up and tossed back his hood - revealing that face to Luxu for the second time. That sole, blue eye blinked at Luxu, meeting his gaze directly. "Even if it's a little roundabout, and it takes a while, I think I've proven I do keep my word. So now: you have my word that in a year's time, if you just sit tight and stay out of my way, I will personally give Namine back to you - happy, unharmed, and free to live as she pleases. You waited a millennia to fulfill your promise to Brain, to Ephemer, to Skuld...to Ventus...Elrena and Lauriam. So - what's one more year, Luxu?"

The Master took a single step forward, his arm coming up, his hand to the sky-

And Luxu suddenly found himself being consumed by blinding light.

He gasped - realized he could gasp - and slammed flat onto his back on the stone docks of Scala Ad Caelum again.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

Luxu groaned, blinking up at a face framed by long pink hair, blocking out the sun...

He couldn't find it in him to give an answer to the guy.

He shook his head, screwing up his eyes as a fresh pain ripped through his chest.

I'm sorry Namine...but I am going to have to make you wait a little while...

He had a promise to keep...a whole army of kids to save - literally.

He was the only one who could, and the damn Princess of Heart was right, and the Master was even right, in his twisted way...

He had to save them all first, while he could. He had to do...the hard, right thing first - the selfless thing, not the selfish, obsessive pursuit he wanted to go chasing after (to who knew what effect?).

And then, after he had secured all of those kids' their futures, he was going to go after Namine. No matter what the Master said, no matter how long it took.

If he had to spend decades searching for her, he'd do it without hesitation: because this time, at least, he'd be marching through time in pursuit of something worth it.

Luxu smacked a fist to his forehead and forced his burning body to sit up. He pushed himself to his feet - glad for the helping hand of Lauriam's, in the moment. He looked around himself...and froze.

He whirled back to Lauriam, making his own neck muscles scream. "Why...are a lot of kids missing?" he ground out.

Lauriam stepped away, but held his gaze. "They went to help Ephemer - and the others at Radiant Garden."

"And you let them?!" Luxu shrieked.

"Kairi defeated me rather handily back in Castle Oblivion, as you'll recall; what did you expect me to do against several dozen trained Keyblade wielders?" Lauriam responded, low and swift.

"Anything but sit on your ass and let them just- GAH!" Luxu spun away, raising his weapon to conjure a portal again, focusing his mind on Radiant Garden. "You flower-haired moron!" he snapped back at Lauriam, before stomping into the portal on shaking, aching legs.

He was not letting this happen - he couldn't let it happen! All these idiots wanting to play hero, wanting to run headfirst into danger...! After he'd just brought them all back from the dead, practically!

He was going to break every last one of their Keyblades with his own two hands if he had to, he swore it!

---

Kairi stared all around her in wonder, watching the Chirithies appear and create great constructs of energy and light that just obliterated the Heartless all around the city, in a radius of a mile or more! Several miles!

She turned to look at Angel, raising a hand to her. "Hey - you can rest now. You did great, but it's time to sleep!"

Angel looked down on her...then she nodded, and dematerialized into particles of light and a swirling orb. The orb flew down and struck Kairi in the chest, disappearing. A brief, hot feeling filled Kairi's body...and then it faded away.

Kairi breathed with relief, brushing at her hair and swinging her weapon at her side.

Just as she was about to start flying again, a portal of light appeared beside her.

Out of it came Ira, Amaya, Mickey, and Leon, Yuffie and Dilan!

"Oh - hey!" Kairi said. "What's everyone doing here?"

"We're going to back up our friends in their decision to go straight for the enemy," said the ancient Master, Ira, turning and aiming his weapon out across the city - pointing to where Terra, Ven, Aqua, and an armored figure that had to be Keyblade Master Eraqus? as well as what looked like Invi, Kana, and Erin, were all leaving the city limits...heading toward a distant, floating Maleficent. Kairi roamed her gaze along the wall, and saw a familiar, silver-haired boy standing there, too, watching them all go...a gaggle of Chirithies around his feet...

"Okay," Kairi agreed.

Ira nodded, turned and cast out his weapon to create a new portal.

Kairi and the others followed - but she found herself in the streets of the city again.

More specifically: right back in front of Sora and Riku, in the city's central square. Others were there too, now, though: Isa, Cid, Lea and Skuld, King Ansem. Aerith and...Moreth? were both there as well - casting dual healing spells on Lea and Cid, who both looked to be in bad shape. King Ansem looked pretty terrible, too, but he had either already been treated, or was waiting for his own round of healing. He was slumped on the ground, a broken, melted giant weapon beside him.

"Are you okay?" Kairi asked, gazing at Cid with worry.

"Don't worry yer little head about me - I'm just not as spry as I used to be," Cid said instantly, flashing a smile at her. "Nothin' a quick spell won't fix up again. Then I'll be back in the action. I'm not missin' a shot at Maleficent while I can!"

"Everyone else seems to be going after her now, too," Kairi said, agreeing.

"If any of us were smart, we probably would have done that from the start!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Ahem. I'm fine, too, by the way - thanks for asking..." Lea spoke up, waving a hand.

"Are you okay?" Kairi said, turning to the man with a small smile.

"He's fine," Isa interjected. "He learned a lesson about running his mouth instead of concentrating on a fight. That's all."

"Well, anyone who's still able to fight..." Ira began, creating a portal in the square, swirling and blue. He was the first to stride through his own portal, disappearing.

Dilan stood there, eyeing it like he really wanted to go through it - but in the end he stayed. He walked over to kneel beside Ansem The Wise, placing a hand on his ruler's shoulder.

Amaya looked at Skuld, the two women communicating silently. Then they both went into the portal, striding through it quickly.

Mickey looked around the square, then gave a firm nod and disappeared as well, summoning his Keyblade to hand.

"Are you guys still good to go?" Kairi asked, turning to Sora and Riku. "It's okay if you're not. You can say so."

"I'm ready," Sora said firmly.

"I can still fight," Riku confirmed.

Darkness shimmered around him, and a dark shape formed beside him. "We can still fight," said Cognis.

"Okay," Kairi said, nodding to the girl quickly. "Let's go, then!"

She turned and raced into the portal, Sora and Riku right behind her (Cognis, too, flying alongside them as nothing but a dark cloud of purple).

---

"Our enemies continue to call in reinforcements to thwart us. We should do the same!" Darkness spoke to Maleficent, firm and urgent.

"Are you simply a coward? If my enemies want to confront me and my newfound might, I shall give them all of it!" Maleficent snapped, as her gaze was focused across the distance - to where her many enemies were leaving the city walls behind, on gliders and on foot, in favor of coming to them.

"We cannot fight against the Foretellers together!" Darkness responded harshly, anger and panic in her core. "We can't keep track of so many enemies at once. We need to divide and conquer them once again! You WILL lose, Maleficent, and I will abandon your body long before you die! I will not let you take me with you because of your blinding hubris! I will leave you and take my POWER with me! I can always find a more worthy host - and partner!"

Maleficent's Heart and mind shifted. Darkness felt it, through their bond. Anger, outrage, shock... Then- "Very well! But I want to destroy the girl, Aqua, as well as that fool Terra! And the Princess of Heart and her friends, as well!"

"Of course you will. But the Foretellers need to be dealt with in their own way - separately, and carefully," Darkness said, placating.

"Ordinary monsters clearly won't do; scour the depths of Hell, and bring me the worst your Realm has to offer!" Maleficent said harshly. "The strongest, the most wicked and terrible of the dark's depths!"

Darkness obeyed, wordless and swift. Her mind reached across realms - searched out into the darkness, across endless expanses, into deepest crevices and depths...beneath the waters...beneath the earth...across time and space itself...for the strongest of Heartless, the greatest of darkness...

She found them, these creatures of the deep and dark, mighty and ancient - and she called them up from those depths; massive dark corridors grew on the ground, spreading across the land, and giant Heartless of multiple limbs and black tentacles began to emerge into the Realm of Light...

Darkness beckoned them forth, more and more, before moving on. Searching onward, through the rest of the endless dark. Then, quite suddenly, she touched a presence. She felt...someone? Someone - not something? What was this? A deep, great mind in the darkness...? Could it be...? Another...Darkness?

Respond, she mentally commanded, her darkness touching that darkness. Connecting with it. I know you are there. Respond to me, now.

The dark presence shifted...darkness and matter parted to allow it to lift its head.

You dare to call upon my form, fledgling! a mighty voice boomed in her head. You dare to command ME?

Darkness almost scoffed. I am a True Darkness - one of the Original Thirteen-

As am I... came the voice again, resonating, rumbling. And unlike you, fledgling, I am one of the Seven Greaters! I command powers not even YOU can comprehend, Lesser Shadow!

Darkness hesitated. Had she a face still, she would have frowned. Had she hands - they would have been curled into fists. Then I ask for your help today, in finishing what we started eons ago. Master Luxu survives, as do the Foretellers. The Master of Masters' apprentices. His legacy. His machinations, continuing on to this day. But today, they are all here before me. We can end them all, here and now, at long last.

Silence. For an eternity.

Then-

I no longer care for the endeavors of those past, came the deep, powerful voice, amused now. But, I suppose, in honor of memories of a bond once shared, and as a favor to a fellow member of the Original Thirteen...I will agree to lend my aid. But when I grow tired of the task, I will return to my domain again, fledgling - whether they have been destroyed or not. I will not trouble myself over mere humans. It matters not, to me, whether they live or die. I am Darkness; I am eternal.

That is acceptable. Had she a mouth, Darkness would have sighed in relief.

The deep voice echoed with laughter.

The connection was severed.

And Darkness felt the realms begin to shift, and part...to make way for their arrival.

---

Kairi was stepping out of the portal, emerging out into the blue rock expanse outside the main city gates, when something happened to stop her in her tracks.

Something that stopped all of them (even the ones up in the air on Keyblade Gliders).

The earth began to tremble again. The air itself vibrated, and grew colder.

Huge pools of darkness were forming out ahead, over canyons and hills of blue - and giant monsters the likes of which Kairi had never seen before were coming up from out of them! One, two, three, four, five, six...

They were like living mountains themselves. Huge monstrosities, with six limbs, huge glowing eyes of red, a multitude of swaying, hanging tentacles with swirling red and purple patterns on them...and giant mouths, misshapen, with sharp teeth and breaths of magenta flames. They were like massive, sinewy, black insects. Like beetles or something!

But that wasn't all.

Suddenly, the blue ground ahead began to split apart physically, a huge chasm opening up in it! Wider and wider! From up out of it came tendrils of purple smoke - darkness! And then...a huge plume of lava! Orange, burning, magma. It fell back down onto the ground, splattering and burning, and spreading...melting its way across the rocky ground...heat shimmering, dead plant-life melting and burning away. Crystal masses glowed and exploded like shards of glass! And then, a dark, solid shape came rising up out of the ground and dark smoke...rising up from the lava pool itself.

It looked like a dark mound, or a mountain's peak...but as it continued to rise...Kairi realized it was a terribly familiar kind of dark shape.

Huge, black wings unfolded with massive gusts of air and burning waves of heat - confirming Kairi's worst fears.

It was that...giant, dark devil from the Realm of Sleep?

How? Why? Why was it here? How could it be here?!

"Oh dear...Chernabog?!" a high voice exclaimed.

Kairi whirled, to see the wizard Merlin appearing in a puff of smoke. "Huh? You know what that thing's called?"

"Why, yes, indeed I do!" Merlin stammered, looking upon the rising dark shape with fear and alarm. "The great and dreadful Chernabog was the most powerful enemy Master Yen Sid ever faced, back in his heyday - and only narrowly defeated! He sealed him away in a volcano, unable to truly destroy him for good! However, when the days turned to night, the King of Darkness could sometimes still emerge again to do harm..."

"Well, Luxu and I beat it before, in the Realm of Sleep," Kairi said uncertainly. "And we have his friends with us, so...we should all be able to take it down, right?"

Merlin did a double take. He stared at her. Then he shook his head, waving his wand at her. "No, no, no! What you defeated was either a conjuration of a dream of the real thing, or, if you were faced with the real Chernabog, he merely decided not to bother with you anymore, and went back to sleep of his own will and choice! You have no idea the danger he poses! The King of Darkness is-"

Chernabog rose up out of the pool of lava, higher and higher, revealing actual legs - a whole lower body it did in fact have. It crossed its arms and narrowed its glowing yellow eyes down at them all. Then it uncrossed its arms, raising them high...stretching them out with fingers splayed - like it was going to play the piano or something - and it gave a big, wicked grin.

A shadow from nowhere suddenly...swept across the world. It darkened the sky, it chilled the air, and it blackened the land. It stretched out in the shape of...giant shadowy hands, encompassing the entire city and the landscape surrounding it...stretching on and on, over the canyons and mountains...reaching the masses of distant Heartless still writhing on this world.

Then, Chernabog raised his hands up, fingers curling, like some kind of conductor of an orchestra.

The Heartless masses in the canyons and hills all began to...vibrate and break apart, becoming smoke and purple light motes on the winds. All this smoke and energy began to flow across the lands - flying right over to Chernabog. It all poured into his dark form, an aura of intense purple flames surrounding him!

"No, no, no, dear me - we must stop him at once!" Merlin cried, looking horrified.

Kairi raised her hand to her chest, burning her light bright and hot, and materialized Angel right out in front of herself in a pillar of light and electricity. Gasping, she raised an arm to point-

Angel took off in an instant, without any direction at all. She became a zig-zagging streak of light, going for Chernabog with a high shriek!

Chernabog's head turned, his yellow eyes narrowing at Angel, his raised arms lowering. He watched her, he tracked her as she darted her way toward him. She materialized into humanoid form, raising a huge sword of light for a swing-

Chernabog swung out a mighty arm faster than Kairi could blink, striking Angel, and causing her to vanish in an explosion of light and golden particles.

Kairi felt it in her Heart; Angel hadn't teleported, or been just...temporarily taken out of action - she'd been destroyed.

In one hit.

Chernabog turned away again, raising his arms, continuing to absorb the flow of Heartless masses - and this time, Kairi saw that he was slowly starting to get...larger and larger.

Kairi heard a thud nearby, and turned to look. The other Foreteller, Aced, had just come flying down to land on the ground with the rest of them.

She heard racing footfalls, and saw the other of Luxu's friends, Gula, come racing out of the main gates - along with Donald and Goofy!

"We must focus on subduing Chernabog if we're to have a hope of saving this world!" Merlin's voice cried out again - echoing, magically swirling around Kairi. Around everyone, no matter how far away they were?

A portal of light opened up suddenly to Kairi's left - and out of it came Xehanort and his three friends...as well as Cloud and Tifa, to Kairi's further surprise!

"Stay close to me," Xehanort told his friends firmly. "We'll fight together."

"Always!" the girl, Vor, said, her eyes blazing with determination.

Xehanort gave her a tiny smile, and a nod that read to Kairi as...actually nervous. Afraid, even. But then it was all gone.

The guy was disturbingly good at either stamping out or disassociating from his own emotions and Heart!

Which...yeah...that explained a heck of a lot about him, didn't it? And the kind of man he had become - could still become...

Kairi shook her head, looking up at the now gianter-sized Chernabog...

She kicked off the ground with a cry of battle, soaring across the land like a missile!

A burst of lightning flashed beside her, on her left and right; she saw Elrena running beside her on one side, and on the other was Tifa, swathed in lightning of her own!

Merlin swished his wand, and Cloud and some of the other non-flier - or speedy - types were sent soaring into the air in a swirling of magic particles!

Invi, Aced, Ira and Gula reached Chernabog before anyone else, raining crashing blows and explosive barrages of magic onto Chernabog! Shockwaves blew through the air, great booms echoed out, and lights flashed to blind Kairi!

A swirling light portal appeared above Chernabog, laid out on its side - facing down; Isa, Donald and Goofy, and Yuffie came dropping down out of it, onto Chernabog's now huge body!

Another one appeared in its wake, dropping Xehanort and his friends into the battle!

King Mickey leapt up into a high, spinning flip, a light surrounding him. He slashed his Keyblade for Chernabog, and a swirling circle of energy flew out at the dark devil. It struck Chernabog in the back, staggering him!

Chernabog roared, and began swinging his arms and casting out with barrages of dark energy balls and beams of red energy in all directions!

Kairi flew low to the ground still, dodging and weaving furiously as she approached the monster's feet. She closed the gap and turned up sharply, shooting up along its body and rising up in front of its face. She thrust her blade forth, unleashing a barrage of Light Blades! Then she twisted and flew left as several energy beams shot for her from a hovering orb of crimson - some dark drone thing! As she flew around and over its left wing, several dark energy balls flew past her and curved around again - making her realize they were following her! And closely!

Kairi twisted and cast an instant Reflect dome-

The dark orbs struck her barrier, one, two, three - and broke through it, sending her flipping back wildly in the air!

Kairi fell, her hand to her burning chest of purple smoke-

A figure flickered into existence on the edge of her vision - and a hand seized her wrist tightly.

Kairi jerked to a stop, hanging in the air. Her head came up - and her eyes looked into the face of Xehanort.

He gazed back at her, blinking those silver eyes...

Then he swung her around and tossed her back toward Chernabog violently and powerfully - disappearing behind her again with a flicker of air.

Kairi flipped forward and landed on Chernabog's arm, taking her Keyblade and immediately stabbing it down and dragging it along the length of the limb, racing up toward the shoulder! She tore her weapon free as she was bucked off, flipping off to the side and falling down in free-fall. She triggered her flight powers and dove under the wing, coming up behind the monster's back. She raised a hand to her chest, focusing her power...and let loose with a barrage of light beams, striking it in the backside.

Chernabog swung around again, a huge wing coming for her like a vast wall of darkness.

Electricity flashed past her, and an arm was wrapping around her waist and pulling her out of the way in seconds! Kairi whirled, shaking her head from dizziness, and saw Elrena flipping up over Chernabog's shoulder, disappearing down to the front of his body (with a little wink and a two-fingered salute).

One of the giant beetle Heartless lumbered its way into view on Kairi's right. She saw a dark cloud fly toward it, and pass through it; the creature flashed with a red glow, its eyes shifting colors to yellow - then it turned, opened its huge mouth, and sent a massive stream of dark fires at one of its own kind! The flames struck it like a tidal wave, washing over it and blasting it over onto its side from sheer heat and concussive force!

Then, the Heartless with the red aura suddenly rose up into the air and- just exploded, black smoke flying out across the ground. Cognis remained in its place, gathering herself again before darting off toward another one that was getting closer to the city to Kairi's left!

Chernabog suddenly roared and spread his arms and wings, blasting out with shockwaves of energy - sending them all flying backwards through the air!

Kairi righted herself long before she hit the ground, but some of the others wouldn't have been so lucky, in any other situation: she saw Sora dart down to grab Cloud's arm, supporting him; she watched Terra, aboard his glider, twist and dive low to catch Skuld and Yuffie both; she caught a glimpse of Ven blasting his engines on his own glider, pulling Aqua onto it by the hand.

Chernabog, now with room and space again, raised his arms up like before - but this time, he didn't absorb the Heartless into himself. He did something...different. Different, but familiar to Kairi. Horribly familiar. The ground trembled again, and from up out of it came streams of twisting green energy. And on the waves of that energy came...spirits of some kind? Ghosts? Green and sparkling, twisted and decayed. But it wasn't just spirits this time, either: it was physical bodies. Dead bodies. Corpses. Skeletons. They burst up out of the ground, in splinters of wood, from- from coffins and ancient graves...buried under blue rock!

They flew up into the air, and their eyes lit up yellow as they set their sights on Kairi and the others. Then they surged forward like one great mass, moaning and growling!

Kairi twisted out of the way of one - a cold, boney hand seized her wrist as a skeletal face hissed at her, the other reaching for her neck-

She slashed her Keyblade up and turned her head aside, lopping off the skeleton's arm and watching it fall to the ground below.

Sorry, she said mentally, heartfelt. Whoever you were!

Ghostly spirits surrounded her, flying past her. She glowed her body with light and exploded it all outward - and was relieved to see them all disintegrate into wispy particles on the air. Hopefully she hadn't just destroyed them forever forever, and had just...laid them back to rest again. Free from Chernabog's control. She had to believe that, really...

Huge golden chains suddenly exploded up from the ground - where Keyblade Master Eraqus stood alone in front of Chernabog - winding around Chernabog's arms and legs, tightening and binding him in place! They even wrapped around his wings and yanked them in tight against his back, crumpling them!

No one needed to be told that this was a prime opening for an assault!

Everyone began launching powerful attacks and energy blasts, blade beams and sword strikes and magic spells in spades!

The Foretellers, Amaya, King Mickey, Terra and Aqua, and Donald Duck were the heaviest hitters by far - but the rest of their attacks did seem to affect Chernabog too!

They were all dealing major damage to the giant monster of evil and darkness!

And then, suddenly, a whole bunch of new magical beam attacks and magical projectiles came flying in to strike at Chernabog's front!

Kairi twisted in the air and looked down to the ground again. Behind Eraqus, she saw a swirling blue portal...and she saw several dozen people her own age with Keyblades out and hands raised!

She recognized one from afar - that boy, Cotyle, from his stylish purple dress!

It was the Dandelions!

A part of her was excited, and relieved, and happy - but another part of her was worried and nervous.

But these people had all been fighting long before she had - and many of them were actually a few years older than her. Some of them even of age, or over, by island standards. So who was she to try to tell them not to be here? Not to help? She and her friends were always trying to help, just because they could, after all; she'd be a total hypocrite to try and pull that card.

Still...she was really relieved she didn't see Katerina in the gaggle of Dandelions below. If that girl had actually chosen to leave her baby behind to come and fight a battle...then there would have been something to say.

Kairi was so glad there wasn't.

Her eyes were drawn to another familiar figure, though - Ephemer. She watched Ephemer say something quickly to a girl of long red hair (a lot darker than her own), and then that girl raised a hand to summon a...second Keyblade...which she then gave over to Ephemer?!

Ephemer raised that Keyblade up, aiming it at Chernabog. The other Dandelions followed his lead. A white light shined beneath them all, swirling around them all together...and then multiple beams of energy flew up to hit Chernabog in the chest! The beams widened, fusing together into one huge beam of white energy, increasing in intensity and burning around Chernabog, enveloping his upper body!

Chernabog's body exploded with dark energy, Eraqus's chains shattering! He roared and flew up high into the air in an instant, a blur of motion and darkness streaking below him! He thrust out his arms, his giant palms burning with dark energy, aimed right for the Dandelions-

Invi, Gula, Aced, and Ira all came slashing down on Chernabog's arm with powerful energy blades! They twisted in the air in front of him and cast out with simultaneous attacks: Gula sent out a barrage of red energy strands; Invi slashed her weapon to send out over a hundred orbs of blue energy that clung to Chernabog and pulsed, causing his body to start hissing and disintegrating into smoke; Aced gave a great thrust of his weapon, blasting Chernabog in the chest with an orange beam of light; and Ira twirled his weapon, causing dozens of huge, white swords of energy to appear and come down on Chernabog from above!

Kairi watched Chernabog retreat, his wings coming in front of him suddenly to encase him like a cocoon.

The air warped around him, a dark purple barrier flashed to life around him like a true cocoon, taking hits and cracking under the Foretellers' attacks still - and then he vanished.

He just disappeared, in a huge burst of dark smoke, his body disintegrating wholesale.

Like he'd never even been there in the first place.

Kairi breathed out with relief, glancing around her to take stock of the situation now. Those giant Heartless monstrosities were all gone, too - Cognis must have done her work on them while the rest of them had been fighting Chernabog! And with Chernabog himself gone, it looked like the ghosts and skeletons were also disappearing! No more fighting them needed, thankfully! So that really just left-

"Aaarrrgghhhh! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL MYSELF, THEN!" a high, female voice echoed out in pure frustration and rage - Maleficent!

Suddenly, twisting strands of crimson flames flew across the sky - heading for the Foretellers!

Invi dodged - Gula dodged - Aced tried to block...and failed, taking the attack on the chest and falling backwards, his weapon slipping from his grasp! As for Ira...well, Ira barely got out of the way of the attack meant for him, and then went flying down after Aced.

Ira caught Aced's arm and slowed their descent, touching the ground gently.

Maleficent suddenly appeared right in front of Invi in a burst of dark smoke - and she thrust the Ultima Weapon right for her chest!

Invi twisted out of the way, slashing her own weapon back in return with a streak of white energy.

Maleficent simply stood there, as a flaming orange barrier rose up to take Invi's strike. The barrier shuddered and cracked, but it held. Maleficent smiled at Invi, and then she...turned that Keyblade of hers right around, and- stabbed herself in the chest with it?

What?!

Kairi stared in pure shock and confusion.

What in the heck was the woman even-

Maleficent's insane, high peals of laughter rang out, as she spread her arms to the world! As purple and red flames surged around her, as the distinct sound of a lock clicked, and then...

She exploded with energy and fires, her body stretching and morphing - growing and transforming...

Into a dragon?

She was now a huge, spikey, fierce black and purple dragon with glowing yellow eyes!

"...I forgot she could do that!" came Aqua's sudden, mortified tones, in the utter silence of the moment.

Maleficent spread wings of purple - which rippled with darkness and suddenly grew twice as big - and let out a roar, shaking the world and causing purple flames to spread out around her in a wave!

Everyone leapt back or up, dodging the attack. Getting out of Maleficent's reach!

Maleficent ducked her long dragon head, her eyes narrowing at the Ultima Weapon, which was now hovering before her. Then, suddenly, the Keyblade flashed with light and shot toward her chest. The second it made contact with the dragon, orange light spread across Maleficent's form...and Kairi watched as silvery, spiked armor began to grow and envelope her dragon body. Silver, with red and orange accents, and pulsing, orange gemstones - a huge one on the chest, and on her four legs, and several of them running along her flank, on either side of her spine.

Okay, so Maleficent was now a huge, powerful, armored dragon!

Kairi swallowed her fears, gripped her weapon, and ran at Maleficent with a yell.

The battle was on, then!

And they were still going to win it!

---

Luxu appeared in Radiant Garden's central square. finding it practically barren - if not for Aerith, Moreth, Ansem The Wise, and Dilan.

Where the hell was everyone...?

He heard a familiar voice scream - the voice of the damn witch herself - and saw flashes of light on the edge of his vision. He turned sharply, looking out over the city's rooftops.

Oh. That's where they all are!

Luxu teleported across the city in a flicker of air, reappearing on the outer wall. He leaned against the half-wall of stone, taking in a breath as pain wracked his body suddenly. He lifted his head to look out across the blue plains - where he could see a whole small army of people gathered, engaged in a battle. A battle against one individual: Maleficent, all right, in her dragon form (though, it was a hell of a lot different from the way Luxu knew it usually looked). That small army being half the people he knew, and the other half being the goddamn Dandelion kids he also recognized!

"Dammit...!" he breathed harshly, slamming a fist against the wall and trying to climb his way back up it again. To stand up again! "Come on, just hold together a little-!"

A distinct noise sounded from behind him and to his left - an all-too-familiar noise.

Luxu pushed off the stone wall and threw himself to the side-

And a burning pain erupted in his side, as a glowing, pink diamond-shaped crystal burst out of his stomach.

He gasped, staggering and grasping at the wall, his other hand going to his abdomen.

He heard the thud of feet hitting stone.

He turned his head - and looked at Braig.

"Goddammit, this is not the time!" Luxu snarled, panic and fear rising in his Heart.

Braig aimed his arrowguns at him as he strode closer, giving a malicious smile. "Actually, it's the perfect time. You're about to keel over already, all on your own, aren't you? What better time is there for me to take my shot? Get revenge for-"

"-for ten years of stolen life, a ruined eye, and being made a prisoner in your own body - I know, I know," Luxu hissed out, struggling to his feet again with all he had now. "I don't begrudge you that, but dude, could it not have waited until after a whole city wasn't in danger?! Innocent kids?! COME ON!"

Braig's eye narrowed. "Don't play self-righteous with me. There's nobody around to watch your act. It's just you and me up here..."

"Whatever!" Luxu rasped, shaking his head and staring down at his stomach wound again. "If you're going to do this, just do it already! The sooner I-"

Braig strode forward swiftly, suddenly, kicking out at Luxu with a boot. He nailed Luxu in the ribs, sending him backwards - onto the ground. The other guy came forward and didn't hesitate to stamp a foot down on Luxu's stomach, aiming his gun down at his face.

"Fuuuck, that one- hurts..." Luxu choked out, his body spasming without any input from him. He sucked in air as best he could through the fresh waves of agony, gazing up at Braig. "Look, I don't suppose...a heartfelt apology would stop you from pulling the trigger?" he went on, trying to be as calm and clear as he could. Fearless.

Braig stooped down, planting the barrel of his arrowgun right against Luxu's forehead. He cocked a tight, intense grin. "No."

"Figured," Luxu laughed - wheezed. "Then how about...if I told you I could bring Ilse back to life?"

Braig tightened his grip on his weapon, digging it into Luxu's skull. "Don't say her name to me!" he growled.

"You know I can do it. You know I've already brought back a whole bunch of people, in a whole bunch of different states and situations - including across time," Luxu went on calmly. "Xehanort gave you the offer, once before; I can promise you I'll do it for real. But if you kill me right here and now...you'll never see her again. You'll lose that chance. I guess it's a question of what's really more important to you, in your Heart: revenge on me - or giving her a second chance, for her own sake alone?"

"And you'd do it? No favors, no cost? You'd just do it?" Braig said intently. "Because you're that nice of a guy?"

"Doesn't matter why I'd do it. Wanting you in my debt, wanting to cozy up to Ansem The Wise, wanting to look good to my kids...but you know I'd do it. I have done it - even for a World destroying piece of shit like Xehanort. So, do you want to take advantage of that too, for Ilse, or do you want to lose her forever...with a pull of a trigger?"

Braig gazed down on him, his jaw quivering. His eye narrowing to a brown slit. His grip shifted on his weapon...

"This isn't going to be the end of me, either way," Luxu spoke again. "Even if you put a bullet in my head, I'll just turn myself into a Nobody and come right back: and then, I'll be coming straight for you. And trust me, what I can do to you...you won't come back from. If you want to go full masks off...go ahead, light that candle. I'll know what you did, and I'll come for you - and then I'll disappear into these vast and many worlds, never to be seen again. Just like I've done countless times over the past millennia. You think I care about the consequences? Or retribution? Hah. I'll be long gone, for so long that any of these people today will be dead and gone - mere memories in the annals of history. And I'll take my kids with me, I'll get a new name, a new face, and history will forget I was ever here...or that you even existed, once upon a time. You'll have killed yourself, accomplishing nothing. But me? I'll live on, drinking some fine wine and kicking back on a tropical island somewhere...because I always do."

Braig's trigger finger twitched - and then it moved.

---

Atop a high, blue cliff, a lone figure in a red and black bodysuit sat on the edge, one leg raised - an arm resting casually across it.

His spiked black hair fluttered in the winds. His yellow eyes gleamed, focusing on the climatic, intense battle going on below him.

Vanitas's gaze found the Princess of Heart...

His hand clenched into a fist...and then it relaxed again.

Whichever way this all even shook out...it was bound to be an interesting little show.

Especially with that freak-of-nature little princess at the center of it all.

She really was one hell of a curiosity, wasn't she?

A real anomaly.

A Pure Light, a Princess of Heart, and yet...

"Heh..." Vanitas grinned to himself.

Chapter 73: A Perfect Union of Light and Darkness

Notes:

OKAY HERE IS THE FINALE OF BBS AT LAST!!! <333 I am sorry for taking a two week break lol, that was NOT intended! I was having IRL money and food troubles, and I was stressed to HELL for a bit there...but it's good now! :D Got it all sorted, and I was able to sit and focus on finishing off the finale chapter here tonight! :) I had most of this done weeks/months ago, but now I finished it off and polished it and added a lot more stuff honestly! <3 It's a super intense and emotional chapter...SO ENJOY! LOTS of great stuffs happens here, some big and obvious, some more subtle, and I made myself cry writing parts of it lol.

Kairi flipped high over Maleficent's dragon form, slashing her blade - which clinked off of the silver armor with a flash of sparks.

She landed again on bent knees, holding her blade in front of her with gritted teeth.

Only magic attacks seemed to be doing much of anything to her - and only a select few in this fight seemed to even have the power to do more than make the witch stagger!

Though, these Dandelion kids...they were really something amazing, watching them work - and watching them together! Some of them seemed able to fight in ways that would have put Kairi, Sora, and Riku together on their butts! And it probably wouldn't have been too much of a challenge, either! She thought one or two of them could even have made Ven, or even Terra and Aqua work for a victory. A battle against a dark empowered, ancient Keyblade armored witch-turned-dragon probably wasn't the time to start getting all self-conscious or comparative or anything - but a teensy part of Kairi really couldn't help it! At least Ephemer had the excuse that he only looked like a kid still! Thank god...

Kairi turned into light, zipping around Maleficent and reappearing on her right. She cast out with several blasts of pure light energy, causing glowing orange spots to appear on her armor - but it didn't melt through or anything. Like she'd hoped. It had been too much fighting today already, maybe, that was doing her in - her dang, old stamina problems rearing their ugly head! Or maybe Maleficent was just too powerful now? Armored and burning with those flames...?

Kairi thought about trying to just unleash Light creatures onto Maleficent - what if she just went all in? Made a whole bunch of them? Or one massive one, like-

No! She couldn't. She didn't know if she'd even be able to control a whole- horde like that, especially around people like Riku or Terra! And these Dandelions definitely had their share of Heart's troubles...darkness. No, the idea was way too dangerous, too risky. Kairi would just have to do her best, push herself to her limits, and hope her contributions to this fight were enough - even if it was small, even if it was only just enough to tip the scales...the right moment, the right timing. Even if it was just a split second of a distraction from someone else's attack - every bit helped. Every hit counted.

So Kairi would keep hitting the witch, as much as she could, for as long as she could - until something or someone brought her down!

Maleficent flapped her wings, exploding with wind magicks and hot flames that washed over Kairi, sending her flying backwards (along with everyone else, barring the Foretellers and Master Eraqus, who stabbed his Keyblade into the blue ground and braced himself on his armored boots). Maleficent suddenly darted up into the air, ascending dozens of feet in seconds...and then she shot forward just as fast, accelerating across the skies - straight toward the city, over its high stone walls! She opened her mouth wide and unleashed a wide stream of green flames, crackling with purple lightning, in the blink of an eye; the attack streaked down to land in the east district (the construction zones), and exploded on contact. A dome of dark energy and green flames that just expanded outward, swallowing up walkways, pipes and buildings, melting away construction equipment and huge machines! It grew so large it reached the edge of the city itself. When it met the high, thick stone wall, the energy pushed out against it and caused it to explode...and fall apart.

Burning stone fell, along with a long, curved section of the city's outer wall.

And the rest of the construction zone was left in blazing orange flames - normal flames that were already quickly starting to spread!

Maleficent turned her dragon head to the right, and opened her mouth to unleash another attack: this time, one aimed straight down at the center of the city - at the central square!

Kairi kicked off the ground and soared into the air, hurtling toward Maleficent like a comet - but she knew she wasn't going to reach her in time. Not even close! No one was - not Sora, flying beside her, or Ven and Terra on their gliders, or even-

Glowing blue and white strands of light shot across the sky, as pink smoke burst around Maleficent, and these thick energy ropes ensnared her dragon form, wrapping around limbs, wings, and, most importantly - her dragon jaws. They tightened around her, curved at the middle and drew back up in the air...and then the Chirithies around her aimed their stubby arms down at the ground, and the energy binds pulled on her with warping air and a thrumming noise; Maleficent was sent hurtling toward the ground like she'd been launched from a slingshot.

No, Kairi thought, that was exactly what it had been. A giant...energy slingshot!

Maleficent plummeted, thrashing as she fell. Her binds burst on her wings, they melted away at her foreclaws...and then her jaws opened wide with a great roar! She slowed, stabilized, and whipped her head around with narrowed, glowing eyes to glare murder at the Chirithies. She opened her mouth and wasted no time in sending a huge stream of flames their way!

The Chirithies popped away in puffs of smoke before the attack reached them.

And then the Foretellers, Amaya, Eraqus, and Terra were there in the skies, attacking Maleficent together; the Foretellers and Amaya had just flown up on magical power (or maybe taken really high jumps), while Terra had used his glider. As for his Master...his armored form was shrouded in a golden glow, with golden wings burning behind his back like flames!

Kairi surged forward across the sky to join them, zooming past Maleficent and blasting her in the face with a beam of light energy; Maleficent's head reared back from the attack, her eyes blinking - it didn't look to have done much to hurt her, but it did make a nice distraction for the stronger fighters.

Good! Then she was doing her job right in this battle! She was doing her part.

Kairi spun and twisted in the air, turning back to look at Maleficent - just in time to see, surprisingly, Erin come dropping down out of a dark portal, slashing with her Keyblade.

Maleficent moved like a serpent, twisting out of the way and swinging her tail around, catching Erin square across her front in an instant; Erin was launched straight back and down through the air in the blink of an eye, crashing through a rooftop of a house like it was tissue paper. A shockwave of force rippled out from the building across the streets, and then it collapsed on top of her!

Kairi gasped, then set her jaw and flew down toward the ground! She landed in front of the ruined house, coughing from all the dust. She raised a hand and cast a swirling of wind magicks, which sucked all the dust up and sent it up into the sky. She set her eyes on the ruined home, seeing - just a mess. She started forward - stopping as a new dark portal swirled to life beside her. She turned sharply, but, it was just Riku. Riku and Cognis; the Darkness girl appeared in a haze of shadow, immediately walking forward into the ruined building.

Cognis walked through broken beams, fallen roof shingles and mounds of furniture and collapsed sections of walls - her dark aura burning around her, and burning it all away. Clearing a path! But-

The building creaked, and suddenly fell in on either side of her! Magic, purple ice mounds grew rapidly around Cognis, rising up and blocking and redirecting the fallen walls and ceiling pieces. Supporting the collapsing structure crudely.

Kairi didn't hesitate to race forward into it, ducking under a beam, and slipping past Cognis. She went deeper in, until she found Erin; the other girl was flat on her back, pinned to the shattered wooden floor by heavy beams and a mess of stone bricks. She was almost buried. But she was alive, breathing - Kairi could see it plainly, thankfully! More creaking came from behind her, and she saw Riku making his way through the mess as well - a lot more slowly and clumsily, though.

"Are you okay?" Kairi asked Erin quickly, getting down next to her.

The girl looked at her with shining pink eyes, her lips twisting into a small grin. "Fine - thanks! I can...get myself out of here. But you guys are going to want to get as far away from me as possible; I don't want you getting caught up in it, alright?" she said quickly - with a strained tone. Was it just pain, or something else...? "It's probably going to be a pretty big explosion of magical energies here!" The girl paused. She hesitated. Then, in a murmur, she added: "If this witch wants to make this a dragon fight, she'll get one..."

Kairi stared at the girl, into those eyes, trying to parse her words. But, ultimately, she simply nodded. "Okay!" She jumped to her feet, turned and grabbed Riku's arm, and started to drag him back out of the destroyed home.

"Hey - what are you-" Riku protested immediately.

"She's going to get herself out - and we don't want to be near her when she blows the whole house up," Kairi said firmly.

Riku still resisted her, but...not as much anymore. Kairi stumbled out onto the stone street again, and let him go. Cognis flickered into being beside him, her "face" focused on his. Searching for something there? Waiting for something...?

Whatever was going on in that girl's noncorporeal head, Kairi didn't get to find out - because there was an explosion, next moment. An explosion of bright pink and white light, and burning winds and pressure, originating from the damaged house...and expanding outward! It swept Kairi and Riku up, sending them flying down the street together. Kairi hit and rolled, gasping with pain. She came to a stop, trying to orient herself again immediately. She raised her head swiftly, and saw a burning pink beam of energy shooting up into the sky!

Suddenly the world trembled, and a great...roar filled the air. Kairi's jaw dropped as she saw a long, shifting shape begin to emerge from the pink light pillar - some kind of dragon?! It was huge - wide, and lengthy for sure; more and more of its long, serpentine body just kept coming out of that light pillar, after the dragon head. A head of slitted, glowing pink eyes and gaping jaws of swirling pink fires. The dragon had glistening pink scales, and shaggy, black fur down along the length of its spine. It had four slender, clawed limbs - but no wings? A wingless dragon. But how was it flying, then...? How was...she...flying?

An image flashed through Kairi's mind - a memory - of a Heart Station. A Princess's, seen weeks ago, in a dream and a meeting...with a girl who had the same pink eyes as Erin. That girl's Station of Awakening had had depictions of dragons on it - which meant-?

"Erin..." Riku breathed beside Kairi, his neck craned, his damaged eyes wide with shock and disbelief. "That's her. She-"

"Yeah, your girlfriend turned into a dragon - admire it later!" Kairi said, with a small smile as she summoned her weapon to hand again.

"Yeah, she did- wait, she's not my-!" Riku course-corrected, mid-sentence, his face turning pink.

Kairi kicked off the ground and shot up into the skies again, her smile turning to a little grin.

Maleficent was a raging storm in the air all her own, though, now - ducking, darting and waving, casting out with roaring flames and swiping attacks that sent out energy waves every time! And her armor was just still- practically impenetrable, it seemed!

Kairi slashed at the woman - ducked under a sweeping tail and a wave of orange flames - and then Luxu's friends were there again, around Maleficent. Invi created some huge blue sphere that surrounded Maleficent, circles of energy sparking on its interior surface that immediately began blasting her with lightning in great, thunderous booms. Aced raised his weapon high and gave it a great downward slash, creating a wide, orange energy beam that shot forward and melded into Invi's barrier sphere, turning it blinding white. Ira gave his weapon an almost absent swing in front of him, and hundreds of glowing white swords appeared around Maleficent, and then they flew in at her in an endless barrage! Gula held his weapon before him, swirling with a red light, then he thrust it forward, and tendrils of red energy flew forward and disappeared through the barrier as well - though just what they were doing (attacking Maleficent or reinforcing Invi's barrier) was a mystery to Kairi.

Darkness exploded within the barrier, along with a great roar, and Invi suddenly let her barrier drop - revealing Maleficent wasn't trapped inside it anymore!

Maleficent suddenly appeared behind Invi in a great burst of purple smoke, claws already swiping for her: and they connected. The latter woman let out a loud cry, her face twisting with shock, and she was sent hurtling toward the ground, her Keyblade vanishing from her hand. Ira turned immediately, darting down through the air after Invi - but before he reached her, Ven came swooping through the sky on his glider to catch her. Ven balked under the weight, his whole glider wobbling, but then he straightened out, heading down for the ground with Invi safely.

Aced let out a yell of rage as he flew for Maleficent, unleashing a rapid series of slashes and beam attacks! Maleficent took them head on, but she was knocked back through the air repeatedly, staggering and thrashing, her armor chipping and burning in places now...

Gula flew forward and swung his own weapon out, striking those burning spots with energy attacks of his own, capitalizing on it!

And then, suddenly, Erin was there - her massive, elongated body of pink glittering scales surging across the sky! She was truly massive - much, much bigger than Maleficent. Four, five, six times her size? More? At least length-wise! She slammed into Maleficent with a roar, her front claws wrapping around the witch's body, dragging her through the air like a toy. Erin twisted and curved downward, going into a sharp dive...then she whipped back up and swung her body with the motion, releasing Maleficent from her grasp; Maleficent flew across the sky and slammed into a blue, rocky mountain!

The mountain shattered, crumbling atop Maleficent, burying her, and causing her to fall down into a deep blue canyon below.

Erin's glowing pink eyes narrowed down at Maleficent, then she opened her jaws and let out a huge stream of pink flames like an explosion! The attack accelerated down and into the canyon, striking Maleficent even as she was trying to recover from the impact - to get out from under those rocks. The effect of Erin's attack was an explosion: a massive explosion of pink energy, and a flash of white light. The canyon was blown open wider on either side, and the energy flew down the front and back of the canyon to escape into the open blue plains.

There was silence, for a moment. Stillness, as dust and smoke swirled in the canyon, filling it up and obscuring everyone's vision. Then-

Maleficent's dragon voice roared, echoing in the air, as red flames exploded out of the canyon, melting the rocks and clearing away the smoke. She flew up into the air, straight for Erin, like a rocket; she slammed into Erin with her whole dragon body, bodyslamming her! A red light flashed at the point of contact, and Erin's lengthy dragon form was thrown across the sky like Maleficent had been moments prior. Erin twisted and tumbled, arcing down and hitting the earth. She bounced, flew up again, then hit the steep face of a blue plateau. The rocky plateau broke in half, the huge top section falling down onto her - crushing her between them!

Maleficent opened her jaws as she gazed at her fallen foe, her glowing yellow eyes widened - and then...she laughed. Her voice echoed, high and malevolent. It was shocking, striking, somehow, to Kairi - to hear that aware, normal, human voice coming out of such a huge, evil creature. But then, this was just showing on the outside what this woman had always been on the inside, wasn't it?

A light suddenly flashed in the air before Maleficent, and Eraqus was there - hovering in front of Maleficent directly, slashing his Keyblade and sending out those glowing orange chains again; they wrapped around Maleficent's body and limbs, binding her like the Chirithy had. He raised one armored hand off his weapon this time, however, and two crackling orbs of light magic swirled around Maleficent, unlike anything Kairi had seen before. Or felt. They had an outer edge and an inner core, and they pulsed and began firing continuous streams of light energy at Maleficent, burning away at her, but they were...

They were powerful, yes, but they were also - constrained. Controlled. It was incredible, and so different from Kairi's own attacks. Kairi might have had raw power and pure light, but Master Eraqus...he had experience and skill. His attacks were refined, not wild blasts of raw energy. It was really the difference between training and innate talent or ability.

Eraqus let his attack go on his own, then darted down toward the ground, the chains dragging behind him - pulling Maleficent along with him! The burning wings of light behind his back burned brighter and stronger, accelerating them both! The man reached the ground in seconds and whipped around, slinging his weapon as he did; Maleficent was slammed down onto the earth with a mighty crash, blue rocks shattering beneath her and flying up into the air! Eraqus slashed his weapon again, letting the chains go, causing those hunks of blue rock to glow with light, and then he swiftly directed them back down onto Maleficent like shooting stars, or meteors!

Terra and Aqua came slamming down onto Maleficent in the wake of the attack, out of a blue portal, slashing for Maleficent's head - or maybe her neck? Terra was glowing with orange energy, and his attack caused a shockwave to fly out beneath Maleficent, along with burning lines or cracks in the ground. Aqua left a trail of pink energy behind her as she landed; she immediately went into a high backflip, waving a hand as she did. A dozen large, lilac energy orbs appeared in front of Aqua in the air. She landed on a magical pane of glass, then slashed her weapon out furiously, sending the orbs flying down to bombard Maleficent in the face!

One of the Dandelions, Cotyle, was suddenly there, racing out of another light portal and leaping past Maleficent; he went into a furious twirl, like a ballerina, the sparkling hem of his dress glowing with energy and turning it into a buzzsaw as it cast out around him. He slashed down the length of Maleficent's flank, coming out of his spin behind her on unsteady, stumbling heels. Four other Dandelions appeared near him in a flash of white light, a blue barrier shining around them all that blocked Maleficent's retaliatory swing of a tail!

More portals began to appear around Maleficent, and others were coming back to join the fight: Ephemer came down onto Maleficent's backside, along with Skuld and Elrena, all of them doing quick slashes before leaping or teleporting away again; Yuffie ran in front of Maleficent, twirling her weapon and throwing it out straight - letting it loose, aimed for her face. Kairi raised a swift hand on instinct, and Yuffie's weapon glowed with light and burning energy as it met its mark. It exploded on impact, causing Maleficent's head to rear back high, shaking it and snarling. Yuffie looked at her weapon in confusion as it bounced back into her hand - then the girl shrugged and grinned, leaping backwards out of Maleficent's reach.

Maleficent sent out a blast of flames that curved sharply, swirling around her and rising up to become a cyclone of purple fires!

"Everybody get clear!" King Mickey's high voice called out suddenly.

Kairi turned, and saw Mickey, Amaya, Merlin, and Donald Duck standing together before a blue portal, a swirling white circle of magic beneath them, glowing with power and hot winds. Strange, differently colored crystals appeared around the outer edge of the circle, pulsing with light...

Then, a huge golden crystal appeared in front of the four, and it unleashed a huge beam of white, blue, and gold energies! The energy beam flew toward Maleficent like a serpent, winding and curving - until it met the cyclone and disappeared into it. There was a moment, a pause - then a blinding white light erupted within the cyclone, burning its way out of it and disintegrating the darkness! It swirled and rose up into a cyclone of its own...and then it all came down on itself to form a swirling energy dome. A dome that shrank and shrank, squeezing in on Maleficent...passing over her, revealing more and more of her...

Until it became a glowing white point beneath her, that then disappeared with a wink of light.

Maleficent stood there on all fours, her head twisting, twitching, blurring strangely, her claws slamming down and digging into the ground - then lifting up and repeating the motion.

"What was-" Sora started to ask.

"Time magic - but a kind unlike any I have ever..." came the voice of Young Xehanort - quiet, trailing off. Kairi glanced at the man, and saw a look of actual shock and awe on his face. But then it was gone, and he was flickering forward and slashing out at Maleficent with his energy whip Keyblade transformation, raining a flurry of strikes onto her dragon torso, throat, and face.

Everyone else took advantage of the opening too, unleashing strikes, energy blasts, and magic spells! The other Dandelions were coming out of new portals, and then Cloud and Tifa were there, and Goofy was flying around madly like a rocket, hitting Maleficent and creating large explosions...

Maleficent's body was immersed in dust, smoke, and rubble, pieces of armor falling apart now majorly, those orange crystals cracking and shattering! They were breaking through, they were finally-

"AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!" Maleficent's voice wailed out, as dark smoke burst out of her and swirled around her. The purple smoke sucked back inward like a vacuum, and Maleficent went with it in a swirling of purple light motes.

Kairi was on guard this time, waiting for the witch turned dragon to reappear somewhere for a sneak attack-

But Maleficent didn't appear anywhere nearby. She appeared high, high up in the skies - and she wasn't a dragon anymore. That giant form burned away in green flames, leaving her there in her normal black robes again...with the Ultima Weapon in her hand, raised over her head. "MORE, MORE, MOOOOORE! MORE POWER!" her voice screamed out, cracked, ragged, desperate and shaking with rage. "ALL THE POWER YOU HAVE TO GIVE - BE MIIIIINNNNEEEEE!"

"NO!" Kairi flew up in a streak of light, twisting her weapon for a strike-

The world trembled, the air cracked, and a sphere of red flames and orange lightning erupted out of Maleficent, flying out in all directions - expanding in the blink of an eye. it struck Kairi, sweeping her away and carrying her...tossing her across the skies before she could even try to get her bearings again.

Kairi flew through the world, sailing down and hitting the blue earth of a plateau. She skipped across it more than once before slamming into a rocky outcropping - which exploded in dust on impact, falling apart around her and atop her.

She lay there, gasping, her whole body aching...her left arm hanging limply. Her right, outstretched, and under a huge, heavy boulder. Her Keyblade lay a dozen feet from her, dusty and charred...

Broken?

No...no, it wasn't like- Riku's- it was still whole, it was still good...right?

Kairi blinked as she heard another great crack, and raised her eyes to the skies above. She saw red lightning racing out across the sky, saw clouds of crimson energy rumbling like thunder clouds...she saw blasts of red lightning shooting down in flashes of light that lit up the darkening world, saw dark figures trying to dodge around it all...in the air and on the ground...

She tried to suck in a breath, tried to move, but...

Come on, please...come on, get up, move...work, body...

But it wasn't...

She strained, she cried out from pain - and she fell back again. Her head hit the blue ground, and her eyes stared up into the sky. She found Maleficent again, gazing at her distant form, shrouded in flickering red electricity and power...

How could they face this power? How could anyone? It was power beyond power, it was insane, it was incredible, it was terrifying...

Was there even any power that could match it, overcome it...?

In this world, in any world?

Kairi twisted her shoulder with a cry, bringing her free arm up and touching her chest - on instinct, on some muscle memory, maybe. For what? Her necklace that wasn't there? Or her Heart?

What could her Heart do - even the Heart of a Princess...?

One Princess alone...

But if this didn't stop, if Maleficent wasn't stopped, here and now, what kind of devastation and death was she going to go on to wage on all the other worlds out there? On all those people who lived in them? Kairi couldn't let that happen! She wouldn't! She wasn't going to just let it be this way! No matter what, no matter what it took from her, no matter how hard it was!

Not these worlds, these people - all the worlds, all the people! The same people, the worlds over...under the same sky.

The same-

Kairi's Heart thudded in her chest, her entire body washing through with a strange vibration - a sensation - along with a sudden rush of warmth. A golden glow began to shine in the middle of her chest, radiating outward, filling her limbs with a burst of inexplicable...strength again. A power?

Kairi wasn't sure in that moment what did it - what caught her attention. She just knew that something did. She looked up again, she blinked, and squinted into the sky - at Maleficent's flickering silhouette? No. At something...beyond it. Behind her. Above her. Something...what was that...?

A faint, blue hue, a mirage, above and behind the clouds of red lightning...? A shape...? A shimmering, glowing...heart-

"Things aren't looking too great for you, are they?"

Kairi twisted her head around as best she could under the rocks, and saw Vanitas leaning against a boulder, his arms crossed.

He was here, too? Had he been here the whole time-

Kairi felt that strange thumping inside her chest again, causing her to suck in air. It was different, this time, though. It was as if it was telling her, urging her...as if...

She closed her eyes, exhaling...and then: she knew what she had to do.

Kairi became light itself, escaping from beneath the rocks and reappearing out in the open with a flicker, as easily as breathing. Her arm shot out, calling her Keyblade back to hand without even looking at it. Her gaze was fixed squarely onto Vanitas's face - his yellow eyes.

"Vanitas!" she said suddenly.

"What?" he said, mimicking her tone, pushing off from the boulder and dropping his arms.

Kairi stepped forward, and she spoke the words swiftly and unthinkingly: "Clash with me - just the two of us!"

"WHAT?" Vanitas gaped at her outright, shocked.

"Merge with me - right here, right now. My Heart of Pure Light, and yours of Pure Darkness! No fighting each other, no struggle! It didn't work with Ven because of that, right? But I'm willing to make it work with us!"

"Are you fucking joking-"

"Do you want a taste of true ultimate power, or don't you? I sure do!" Kairi responded. "I could really use it right now!"

"Emphasis on you, right?" Vanitas replied, narrowing his eyes. "Because I know there's no way in hell you'd propose doing this without intending on being the one in control-"

"Just shut the hell up already and DO IT!" Kairi snapped out.

Vanitas stared at her for a long moment. "What's my motivation? Why would I bother?" he said, faux casual. Because she damn well knew it was fake. His eyes told the real story. That glimmer of disbelief, of hunger, of greed, of anticipation...past the shock, past the disbelief...growing...

Because that was just the way he was.

Kairi held Vanitas's gaze, and gave a grin and a flip of her hair out of her face. "Why? Because I'm giving you the perfect chance to wield ultimate power - and to use it to freely whack your greatest current threat," Kairi responded, holding his gaze and giving a grin. "I'd do it all by myself - savor it all, myself - for what she did to my homeworld here, for now and for nine years ago, but I'm willing to share a little of my vengeance with you. Don't tell me you'd pass that up? To get to drive the X-Blade itself into her chest, to see the look on her smug bitch face disappear as she fades from this world? Because of YOU! And you get to take out that other Darkness, too, right along with her... This is your chance to prove you're really your own person, to declare yourself Vanitas, slave to no one: once and for all! Not Xehanort, not some ancient hive mind - just you."

She paused, putting hands behind her back and turning away, starting to walk away. "You know what? Why am I even asking you when I can just go ask Riku's new friend, Cognis? She's a Darkness - and unlike you, she's actually a good person, too! I'm sure she'd be happy to do the merge with me! And once we've taken out Maleficent together, maybe we'll come back down here for you too! What are you gonna do about it...? Let's see if the X-Blade is enough to destroy a Darkness permanently, why don't we?"

"Alright, wait!" Vanitas's voice called out, sudden and panicked.

Kairi stopped, turning to look at him over her shoulder.

Vanitas gazed at her, then glanced up at Maleficent, who was teleporting and flashing across the skies still, fighting against all those others...

Kairi looked, too, seeing Eraqus cast those glowing chains down to the earth - and rip out a massive chunk of land, swing it up, and send it flying toward Maleficent. She blinked, and returned her gaze to Vanitas.

Vanitas's golden eyes met hers again, as well, in almost the same moment...and then he grinned. "Heh...No idea how the hell a girl like you ended up a Princess of Heart - but I think I actually like it." He summoned his own weapon and fell into a battle stance. "You're a little freak."

"Stop trying to make me puke and start trying to actually fight me," Kairi said, spinning to face him and raising her weapon in a flash - speaking with full taunting. Utter mockery.

"Shut the hell up already!" Vanitas snarled, flying at her and swinging his Keyblade Immediately - no warning, no preparations.

"Just try and make me!" Kairi swung hard, letting out a blast of light energy, sending Vanitas flipping backwards. "Or are you too scared of becoming a pretty little princess that you're going to wuss out on getting the complete, true X-Blade's power?! How pathetic is that!" she called out, rushing forward.

"STOP GIVING ME ORDERS!" Vanitas roared, flying at her in a rush of power and energy. "AND STOP...GOADING ME, DAMMIT!"

They met there, blades to blades, face to face - and then light and darkness flew off in all directions, swirling them - their weapons vibrating, glowing...entwining...

And a dome of swirling light and energy grew around them, before BREAKING, becoming a massive pillar of flaming energy that rose up into the heavens.

Maleficent whirled in the distance, gazing from afar, face etched with undisguised panic and horror. "WHAT?! NOOOO!" she shrieked, in a voice of duality: her own, and Darkness's.

As the burning energy continued to rise, Kairi rose up within it - levitating high into the air inside of it. Her eyes were closed, her body surrounded by a golden glow...

---

Kairi opened her eyes, finding herself standing in a familiar place.

Her Heart Station - her Heart itself.

The surface of it, anyways. Its stained glass images shimmering up at her...

She saw a flash of white light in the center, and then the light washed out across the left half of the circular platform. It flashed brightly at her before fading...revealing a new image. A new part of the image: one that was purple and red, and showed Vanitas in a slumbering pose, and smaller images of Ven, and the old man Xehanort, and...a swirling haze of darkness itself, vague and formless and on its own.

Kairi sensed it before she heard the voice - the gentle click of boots on the glass behind her.

"So, here comes the part where you strike me down and take control, isn't it."

Kairi turned to face Vanitas - fully. She gave him a look, rolling her eyes. "Don't be a dummy," she said.

Vanitas glared at her, his weapon appearing at his side in a flash of blue flames.

Kairi ignored it, and she turned away from him again. She stepped over to the other half of the platform, and crouched down to touch the image of the boy on the surface. "If you're having second thoughts about this, you can still back out."

"Or how about I defeat you and take control of-"

"I thought I told you not to be stupid," Kairi said, quiet and even, not looking up still.

"...You really think you could win against me? Alone?"

"This is my Heart, and light never really goes away, even if you throw it into the deepest darkness," Kairi spoke on casually. "Kingdom Hearts is proof of that, isn't it? The ultimate proof. Even the end of the world, the end of everyone and everything, and the millions of years that have followed...weren't enough to extinguish its light. And it's back now, right? So, yeah, maybe I do fight, and I lose - but I wouldn't go down for good. And not forever. So if you want to try it, go ahead. But it wouldn't be smart of you. You know my Heart itself can't even be touched by darkness, just like Kingdom Hearts. Plus, I have my Light monsters I could call up from out of here, so-"

"Alright, I get it," Vanitas snorted.

She heard the woosh of flames - and glanced up now to see his weapon gone from his hand, which was now curling into a fist at his side. She gave him a little grin, then shook her head and looked down at the platform once more. She reached out to tap at the image, to touch her finger to the image of the boy's face. "It's okay if you're afraid to do this, you know - I kind of am, now. But-"

"I'm not afraid."

"It's scary, I know," Kairi went on, heedless. "To think of what it means to really just...give your whole being to somebody else like that - even temporarily." She looked up, over at the boy. "And that's your whole deal, isn't it? You want to be you, not a part of someone else. Because that was what you came from...some great big amalgamation of dark beings, who split off and become individuals again. But, as individuals...I don't think you really know who you even are, do you? That's the thing. You don't know who you are, or who you want to be."

"Pfft, I didn't ask your opinion, thanks," Vanitas scoffed, crossing his arms and turning away. "Keep your sappy girl crap to yourself; you don't know a fucking thing about me."

"You don't know a thing about you. Even if you got the Ultima Weapon, or if you did beat me here and keep the X-Blade for yourself - I think you wouldn't even know what to do with either of them, Vanitas. You're like a dog chasing a car. You want power, but you don't even know why you want it, or what you'd do with it if you actually got it. You don't have any personal goals, or motives, or any sense of direction. Because you're 'just Darkness', right?"

Vanitas glared death at her - silently. Standing rigidly, still as a statue now.

Kairi smiled at him, and stood slowly. She looked at her own side of the Heart station...and raised a hand to it, a golden light swirling around her fingers. The platform glowed, and from up out of the glass came panes of magic - panels, with moving images and moments on them. Her moments. Her memories. Images from across her life: Radiant Garden as it was in childhood memories; the islands and the fading sunset; laying on the beach with her friends; hugging and kissing her dad, snuggling in his arms; laughing and playing with Selphie...and so much more.

"Nice home movie - what, is it supposed to make me all teary-eyed, boohoo I-wish-I-got-a-hug-in-my-life?" Vanitas's snarky tone came, as his lip curled in derision.

"Have you ever had a hug before?" Kairi countered, starting toward the boy.

Vanitas's face flickered, his eyes darting up and down her body. He stepped backwards sharply. "What are you doing?" he snapped.

"Eraqus never would have accepted you, if you'd been dropped off with Ven - he would have killed you the second he laid eyes on you," Kairi stated, stopping before Vanitas.

"No shit. Your point?"

"We'd accept you," Kairi continued. "We have Cognis - and Riku and Terra. You know it's true. Being free to be on your own, and to be you...you could be with us. Nobody would hurt you, like Xehanort did. We'd make sure of it. And-"

"I thought you wanted me as far away as possible," Vanitas said, laughing and turning away. Striding off across the platform. "Now you're saying you'd just - what? - welcome me with open arms? Please."

"If you were just open to giving it a try - yeah, we would," Kairi said. "Obviously we'd have some ground rules, like no tormenting or killing anyone for no reason, but shouldn't that be easy for you? You went four years under Xehanort without doing anything to hurt anyone, didn't you? You're capable of self-restraint. You're not a mindless monster, like your Unversed. You're like Cognis: a thinking, feeling individual. All you'd have to do is have the courage to step up and say yes. We'd make it work."

"God, you are really such a girl, aren't you," Vanitas's sneering voice came, as he kept his back to her. She saw both his hands become fists... "I told you before: I don't need that crap. Why would I waste my time-"

"What time are you even wasting? It's not like you're doing anything, are you? And it wouldn't cost you anything to give it a shot. If you hated it, you could just leave again. No problem. What are you afraid of, Vanitas? Having someone actually give a shit about you? Being made to feel such icky human emotions? Rage and hate are emotions too, you know, and you seem to love those a whole lot. So why not friendship? Affection? Care? Compassion? Empathy? Why are those so scary to you that you won't touch them with a ten foot pole?"

"Because I don't give a shit about any of that-"

"Are you afraid to have it, and then lose it?" Kairi cut across. "Is that it? You're a drifter, and you were used and hurt, and you're scared that if you ever know anything different, you'll get a taste for it and then just lose it? You're afraid you'll like it, and never get it again? There are so many good, amazing feelings and things to do in the World - in life - but you get none of it. Because you-"

"Stop trying to make this about stupid fucking feelings!" Vanitas snarled, whirling around, his face taut, his eyes burning at her. He stalked forward, boots thudding. "What is it with you and making everything- mushy?! You're a delusional, naive little-"

"If it's nothing to you, then let me give you a hug," Kairi interrupted firmly, holding his gaze. Not backing away. Not flinching. "It's meaningless crap, right? It's not a feeling, it's not a sensation, it's just some body posturing. Motions of your arms. Some stupid little human ritual. One that the powerful, awesome Vanitas of darkness can surely handle...can't you? Or did I find your ultimate weakness? I can ward you off any time I want by offering you a silly little hug?"

"Shut up!" Vanitas growled. "Aren't we supposed to be merging into one being here?"

"Hug me and we will! How are you going to stand being in my body if you can't even touch me, huh? Are you just going to self-combust and go flying out of my body because you can't even handle-"

"Enough with this!" Vanitas summoned his Keyblade, raising it up sharply. "I'll just beat you and take-"

Kairi turned into light and teleported backwards. She reappeared, spreading her arms at Vanitas. "Beat me and take my body all for yourself? Great plan!" she said sarcastically. "Not, actually! Like I said, even if you beat me, I'll still be around, and you can be damn sure I'll fight against you with everything I have - which will probably cause you to fail. Or I beat you, like Ven did before - and Aqua, on the outside. She shattered your imperfect X-Blade, remember? You lost on both counts - so what makes you really think you'd win this time, Vanitas? The only path you've got here is to accept!"

"I don't have to accept a thing," Vanitas said - pettily. Petulantly.

Kairi grinned. She waved her arms, wriggled her fingers. "Come on, you can't let me just put my arms around you for like two seconds? That's really what stops you from getting the X-Blade? I wish I could go back in time and tell Ven that trick, that would have really saved a lot of-"

"STOP IT!"

"Stop what? Are we just going to sit in here like this forever, or what? Tick tock, Vanitas!"

"Grrr...just- shut up and let me think!" Vanitas snapped, stalking off to the left. Then, the right. He was like a caged animal, pacing furiously. He drew in and let out shaky, uneven breaths...

Kairi stayed silent, watching him.

After a few moments, or maybe a few hours, he stopped. He turned toward her, slowly, jerkily. Then he took in a deep breath and stepped forward. One step. Two. A third... He stopped in front of her, staring into her face, his own contorted and tight now. Like he was repulsed, or- expecting something bad to happen?

"So?" Kairi said softly, raising her eyebrows.

"Whatever - just do it and give me the fucking X-Blade," Vanitas ground out, his whole body vibrating. "You damn freak...I really can't understand humans..."

Kairi gave Vanitas an equally soft smile, raising her arms and stepping in - and she hugged him. She held that hug for an eternity or only a moment...breathing in and holding her hands on his back.

"...Are you done yet? I don't see any merging into the ultimate being in the universe," Vanitas's raspy voice came, right in her ear. "Where's the X-Blade?"

"Maybe you have to actually do your part in it, too - did you think of that?" Kairi said back. "We can't fight the merge, right? So relax, and let yourself just...be with me. I bet it'd only take a second...a moment...to make it work. But it has to be real, on both sides of this. If you can even find it in you to do that. If not...then I guess no X-Blade for you, sorry."

"Grrrr..." Vanitas growled out, long and suffering. But it faded. He stood there like a statue in her grasp for another eternity. Then - movement. His arms rose up, mechanically, and enveloped Kairi's small form. Kairi honestly expected him to tighten his grip, to squeeze her - try to crush her, more like - but...no, he was barely touching her. It was like a ghost...or someone handling garbage.

"Whatever's holding you back still...just one moment," Kairi repeated. "One instant. One flicker of a feeling. That's all. Just be willing to do this, really."

"I am willing! I want the X-Blade, I want to end that upstart witch and her Darkness, for daring to think I'd give a shit about-" Vanitas cut himself off sharply. His arms tensed around Kairi. She felt his hands suddenly come inward...and fists touched her back, fully and squarely. Trembling fists. "I'm my own guy, I'm no one's apprentice, or-"

"I get that, you know. I do. Being tied to terrible people, to thing you don't like, that sucks. But not all ties are bad. Friends are good to have. Friends can help you win fights, you can have fun beating the hell out of your enemies together," Kairi whispered out casually. "Aqua and Ven beat you together. You were alone. You're always alone. But you don't have to be. You could have that, too. Some backup, someone to stand with you. Someone to add their strength to yours. Someone you can draw more power from, yourself. Or how about just me? I'd be your friend, if you'd let me. Well...frenemies."

"Frenemies...? What the hell is that?"

"Enemies who are also friends," Kairi said.

"...How is that even possible?"

"I don't know? Maybe it's not. But for you and me...I mean, I'm a freak, so maybe I can just do things like that? And maybe you can, too. If you're an individual, then you're not like other Darknesses, are you? So aren't we two of a kind...? And one of a kind?"

"Now you're just...trying to confuse me..." Vanitas murmured.

"Sorry."

"Whatever. If this doesn't start working soon, I am seriously going to just cut you down and try my luck with-"

"Just relax. Take a breath. Try, Vanitas. I know you can do it. You have a Heart, one that's no less capable than anyone else's...as much as you want to deny it. But we're trying to get past that denial here."

Vanitas did listen to her, surprisingly. He took a deep breath, and let it go again. Then another. And another... His hands shifted against her. Fists...uncurled. And his gloved palms were touching her back now. His whole being relaxed against her, as he took a new breath in again.

"...Frenemies, huh?" came his voice, quiet and rough, and strange. A breath in her ear, that echoed in the void around them.

"Yeah. Frenemies."

"Stupid..."

A light shined between them, within them, glowing brighter, a hot wind swirling around them both-

---

Kairi opened her eyes of blazing blue - which shifted into a melting gold. Her clothes changed in a wash of light; she was now wearing a flowing, armored gown of purple and white. In multiple layers around the lower portion of her dress, there were strings of gold, which held dangling red and black gemstones. Finally, a golden crown of intricate wire weave materialized atop her head, with a big, glowing blue sapphire on the front of it.

Kairi exhaled, raising her weapon, holding it out before her horizontally. In a flash of light, it changed - morphing to become a new weapon entirely: it was the X-Blade, in its fullest glory. True and complete. She just knew it - knew it because he knew it, the memory rising in her mind as clearly as if it were her own. Because in that moment, it was. The X-Blade was comprised of two crossed Kingdom Keys (that was weird?) forming the hilt, a wire frame decoration dividing handle from blade, with an extravagant, sparkling blade itself, of shifting hues of greens and yellows, with a V-shaped cutout near its base.

Kairi felt the new sensations of doubt and uncertainty, hers and his, still. She set eyes on Maleficent across the distance...and then she felt the things they both were so familiar with - the feelings they shared: rage, hate, spite, and vengeance.

Maleficent's mouth twisted, and she rushed at Kairi as a streaking comet of green flames!

Kairi's arm raised in a blur, and blocked the blow.

A shockwave of force exploded in the air, flying out around them and blasting away the clouds - revealing the massive, glowing blue moon above, shaped like a heart. Light rays shined down on the world, lighting up the darkness, bathing the streets and the city.

Kairi blinked, face to face with Maleficent now, and her lips spread into a feral grin. "Heh. Second most powerful Keyblade in existence? Meet FIRST!" she spoke out, in a dual voice - her own, and Vanitas's. "And...a little EXTRA!"

She twisted her weapon and flicked it in an explosion of golden light, and Maleficent was sent flying backwards in the air.

Kairi flew up into the sky, pointing her weapon up to the blue moon. All around her, all across the sky, hundreds of golden keyhole portals appeared like stars. She rippled with an aura of light, and then she suddenly split apart into hundreds of doppelgangers. Physical, and indistinguishable. Each one flew out in all directions, passing through keyholes - emerging out of others - moving in a chaotic blur. A swarm, a school of fish. They emerged from Keyholes all around Maleficent, slashing across her and smacking into her, punching and kicking, pummeling her!

Maleficent screamed, blasting out with dark energy, scattering the doppelgangers. She swung her weapon and turned her head frantically. Then she looked up.

The true Kairi hovered far, far above, almost invisible against the backdrop of Kingdom Hearts.

"Want to see something only a pretty princess can do?" she called out. She paused, smirking and tilting her head. "That one was for you, too, Vanitas."

"SHUT UP!" her own voice and lips answered herself a moment later, her face turning disgusted and embarrassed.

"Let me do my thing!"

"Then DO I-"

"-stop fighting and I will!"

"FINE!"

Kairi twirled around in the air, raising her free hand and breathing out...then in... She brought that hand in, glowing with light, to touch her chest. A burning light flashed out from her, and a golden barrier dome surrounded her - just before Maleficent slammed into it with the Ultima Weapon. Maleficent's attack exploded against it, the force and flames washing backwards around her...leaving Kairi's barrier blackened and cracked. Kairi ignored the woman, however, focusing herself inward. Or upward...

To the great, blue Heart-shaped moon above her head.

If you can hear me, whatever or whoever you are up there...I need your help to save this world of light of yours, please. Not just for me, or for humans, or for light itself - but for EVERYONE who wants to just live here in peace together. Light or dark, Princess or Darkness. People like me, or like Cognis! I don't know if that was ever your intention, or if you even HAVE one...but it's MINE!

Kairi felt her Heart pulse in her chest - one after another, suddenly. One, two, three, four, five, six...and a seventh. Little chimes rang in her ears on each one. Then...

Kingdom Hearts responded. The blue moon began to burn brighter, and then it shifted into a burning gold color.

Kairi gazed at Maleficent, and made her move: she let her barrier fall and she thrust the X-Blade forward, unleashing a massive, concentrated beam of energy in an instant!

Maleficent raised her weapon and blocked it, gritting her teeth and holding her ground, yelling out! Her weapon flared with red flames, and she pushed back at the beam!

Kairi drifted back in the air, watching the flashing end of her energy beam starting to...recede. It was being pushed back at HER! A bead of light splitting the two - the golden beam of hers, and the purple beam of Maleficent's. Red flames surrounded Maleficent, wafting out like tendrils, or hazy waves like that of the sun's, stretching out hundreds of feet across the sky behind her...

NO! No, come on - please! I can't lose this, WE can't lose this! she pleaded silently.

But the beam was still coming closer, more and more, accelerating now...picking up speed and momentum...

---

"She's losing," Cognis's voice came to Riku's ears. Clear. Soft. And fearful.

"What?" Riku said, half even paying attention. The amount of sheer power and energy and light that was being thrown around in the last minute alone was just...overwhelming to his senses. He'd been left frozen bit it all, on the ground, immersed in doubt and uncertainty.

"Kairi's going to lose!" Cognis said, louder, firmer - fiercer. It startled Riku, honestly. "Unless someone helps her..." she went on, quieter, again. A strange not to her voice... "Hm...I wonder..."

Suddenly, darkness burst from Riku's chest, floating out into the air.

"HEY! What the- Cognis?! What are you doing?" Riku exclaimed. The stream of energy fully separated itself from him, becoming a dark cloud hovering before him in the air...

"What I've always done."

Riku froze. "Cognis, look, whatever you're going to do here-"

"I'm sorry."

"For- what?"

"I guess I'm really just a Darkness after all...because I know how much I'm going to hurt you."

"Cognis, wait-"

Cognis's formless mass flew away from him - shooting up high into the sky...toward Maleficent.

---

The beam was closing in on Kairi, against her will, against everything...

COME ON, FIGHT - FIGHT FOR YOUR WORLD, FIGHT FOR YOUR PEOPLE! Kairi screamed out with her Heart, to the great Heart in the sky above her.

The help came from below, however. From the ground far below her, multiple golden lights flashed, and then individual streams of gold energy came flashing upward. They twisted and combined, becoming one huge beam - one that struck Maleficent and enveloped her in light.

The Ultima Weapon flashed with a red light, and then the crimson flames were all suddenly sucked in across the sky, wrapping around Maleficent in some protective barrier.

It blocked the attack from everyone below - and freed her up to continue her battle with Kairi, to push out against her again...and to keep winning it.

Suddenly, a dark cloud came flying up from the ground - straight for Maleficent. It engulfed the woman - and then it shrank down into her and disappeared.

Maleficent's face changed, her focus shifted. She gasped, her grip on her weapon relenting somewhat. "W-WHAT?! WHAT IS-!"

The beam stopped, it warbled and thinned...the flames around Maleficent sputtered and waned...

The golden Heart above Kairi's head shined pure white, in a sudden burst of light! Kairi pushed again with all her might; the beam burst into a pure white color, roaring down through the sky for the witch. It slammed into her, breaking through her flame barrier, and then it enveloped her in a light of its own. It was so powerful and so bright that she disappeared within it! The attack from below shot up into the sky as well, crossing with Kairi's beam to make an X - with Maleficent in the middle of it.

Somewhere in it all, Kairi glimpsed a sudden flash of orange flames - Maleficent's voice cried out in confusion and rage - and then purple smoke exploded as two voices screamed high.

And then the light faded, the two beams died away...and nothing was left in their wake.

Maleficent was gone.

All that remained were particles of purple light on the air.

Kairi took in a breath, and breathed it out in a snort.

That was it? Your big revenge for your little world and all its people? That was way too quick. Too easy. I would have made her suffer, have some FUN toying with her!

Kairi frowned, shaking her head and lowering the weapon to her side. I know, she agreed, silently. But I'll take what I can get. And so should you.

Sure...whatever...

Is that disappointment? I guess ultimate power really ISN'T all its cracked up to be!

...Meh...

Kairi hovered there, letting out a long woosh of air. She turned back in the air, and brought the blade up in front of her vertically. She gazed up at Kingdom Hearts, smiling, watching it change from pure white back into that beautiful, pleasant blue again.

"Thank you," she said softly. She paused, sensing, feeling, listening... "I know you're still hurting, I can tell you're not quite ready to come back yet - are you? Or maybe you just don't have the strength for it yet. Not by yourself. But maybe...if you let us all help you out there...worlds, and people, too...because that's sort of what we do, right? Even if we're worlds apart, divided by walls and space...we all still share the same sky. One sky, one destiny. The connections between our Hearts will always be there, bringing us together again. Not just people, but between the worlds, too. And you...you're still connected to all of us, too - and you always will be. So let's use that - okay? Let us guide you back out of the darkness, and light your way home again. Let us heal you...give you something back, after all that you gave us. Let us pull you back up from out of that place, together."

What are you doing? Vanitas's voice echoed, purely confused. What's with all this sappy girl crap AGAIN? Do you really never STOP with it?

Kairi ignored him, clenching her fist over her chest. Her Heart. She raised the X-Blade higher still, aiming it straight up now...

Everyone who can hear this, anyone who's willing to help, please...lend us your strength!

WHAT...ARE YOU...DOING?

Kairi closed her eyes, a smile coming to her lips.

What my grandma wanted me to do.

...The fuck's a grandma?

Kairi's body began to glow, as Keyholes formed all across the skies, stretching out in endless directions, over even the horizons. Streams of light and dark energies flew out from the keyholes, twisting and curving, making their way up, up...toward Kingdom Hearts. More and more keyholes appeared still, layering atop and between all the others, thousands upon thousands, millions upon millions...

New beams, of blue light now, flew from one Keyhole to the next, ricocheting and connecting them all to one another, and lighting them up in the sky into one, great, seamless tapestry of light...multiplying and searching each other out, faster and faster, more and more...

Kairi spread her arms and drifted backwards, and a golden light emerged from her own chest, flying up to Kingdom Hearts.

Dozens of other lights shined from below, lighting up the city like Christmas, and shot up past her, all around her in the air. From the streets, from the damaged walls, from the windows and chimneys of ruined houses...the residents of Radiant Garden, the survivors...

---

Down far below the shining moon, Riku stood on the blue ground, his every senses blinded by its sheer power and intensity...It was beyond description, beyond anything he'd ever...

A light left his body, flying up into the sky...

Like Cognis had, he thought. Like she...but she...he'd sensed it, he'd "seen" it - her leaving, her going up there, and then Maleficent... And Cognis with her...

Suddenly, golden, warm motes of energy swirled around him, flowing down from above.

Riku lowered his head against Kingdom Hearts, and the swirling energy particles, holding his hands in front of him as the emotions swirled in his Heart...

And gasped, as he blinked at his own hand.

He blinked again. And again. He looked...he looked to the left, then to the right...as the world began to fade in, to resolve itself from pure light...into shape and form and distance, and COLORS.

Riku rapidly blinked now, ducking his head still and just...staring at his own, shaking hands. He clenched his fingers, over and over, watching them move.

"Riku...?" Sora's voice came beside him, along with his footsteps. "You- okay?"

Riku let his hands fall, and raised his head high, craning his neck...to gaze upon Kingdom Hearts now, with the fullness of sight again. It burned at his eyes, and the world shimmered, and his blurry eyed vision found the fluttering dress of purple that was Kairi, floating high above it all still. Riku gritted his teeth, twisting into a trembling grin, as tears rolled down his cheeks. They were caught by the warmest of breeze, taking them off into the air, whipping out past him.

"Riku?!" Sora gasped, hurrying forward and reaching out for him. Grasping him on the shoulder.

Riku looked at his friend - his best friend - right in the face. Into his blue eyes.

Sora stared back. "R-Riku...? Your eyes - hey...can you-"

"I can see," Riku trembled out. "I can see again."

"That's- a-awesome!" Sora gasped. "But- how...?"

Riku looked skyward again, sucking in a breath. "I don't know - but I think it has something to do with Kairi..." he said slowly, his voice full of emotion.

Sora looked up, too, beaming now, his grip tightening on Riku's shoulder. "It always does, doesn't it? She's pretty great."

"Y-yeah..." Riku agreed, nodding. He blinked again, and took another look around - just because he could again.

He saw, suddenly, a wave of pure light and rippling energy particles sweeping across the land, from distant horizons. All around the city, it swept inward, over the mountains, filling the canyons, obscuring the blue, cracked rocky world...and then blasting over Riku himself.

He held his arm up in front of him with a cry - but...nothing. He slowly lowered his arms...and stared all over again, his mouth dropping open.

All around the city, grass and trees and flowers were sprouting up across the hills, on the mountains, and in the canyons sparkling water was rising up to fill them, gushing down crevices and river channels...filling up the lake all around the city walls again.

"Uh - maybe we should-" Sora started swiftly.

"You're the one that can fly!" Riku laughed.

"Right!" Sora grabbed Riku's arm and lifted off into the air, rising high together. He turned, and he glided out over the waters rising to surround the city walls. Sora set Riku down on the top of the outer wall, landing beside him, himself.

Riku looked out at the mountains and water before turning away - around - and was in time to see the city itself being bathed in gold lights as well. To see it changing. Houses were repairing themselves, cracks in the stone streets were sealing themselves over, and the castle was tilting and straightening up in its place on the central hill. A hill now littered with tall, lush pine trees and bright green grass...

Kairi...thank you.

---

High above, before the shining, blinding light of Kingdom Hearts itself, Kairi stared up into it, her eyes wide and tearful.

A watery smile on her face, her lips quivering.

She rose higher up, drifting slowly into the light...

Until it enveloped her, and she was floating in a white void...

She was being cradled, caressed...

A dark haze flared around her, and then it melted away - and an orange orb of energy with a core of blackness flew out of her chest and disappeared.

Kairi breathed out, raising a hand to her chest. Vanitas was gone, then...

And yet...

The X-Blade remained in her grasp.

Kairi glanced down at it - then up again, as she saw something move on the edge of her vision. She squinted into the distance, as a vague shape and color began to emerge from the void, floating in toward her...coming to meet her...?

It was...

A girl? A girl her age...?

The girl came closer to her, hovering before her...

She had short-cut golden hair like the sun, a long bang down one side of her face, and ice blue eyes of great cheer...wearing a simple pair of pants and a sleeveless top...

"W-who...who're you...?" Kairi said, finding her voice thick and emotional, for some reason. A lump in her throat formed immediately, as a gasp came from her lips. Her Heart seized tightly in her chest, on mere sight of this girl...

The girl stopped before her, floating a mere foot away from her, eye to eye...

She raised a hand, setting it on a thin, flat hip, and tilted her head to the side. Her mouth spread into a grin. And then...her plain lips moved...

Kairi's Heart stopped.

Her arms fell to her sides, the X-Blade slipped from her grasp...her lips opened, parting and trembling...as tears anew rolled down her face, and fell into the boundless void below her to trail after the glistening X-Blade.

Her shimmering gaze was only for one purpose, one reason - could do only one thing: drink in the face of the girl before her for eternity. But, then...her throat clenched suddenly, and her lips formed the words of their own accord, IN RETURN...

The girl's eyes shimmered just the same, as she gave a great nod. Her grin returned, wide and broad. She drifted closer still, her hands taking Kairi's...

Kairi looked down between them, to her violently shaking hands, as if she'd just emerged from the cold of the ocean itself...bursting her head up above the waters after so long...

Then, she raised her head, and met the girl's gaze again.

The girl's face showed sorrow and joy alike now...as she released Kairi, and began to drift backwards into the void.

Kairi pressed her lips together tightly, shaking her head. She stared after the girl...She raised a hand, reaching out for her...

"Please..." she whispered out, her voice echoing all around her. "Please don't go..."

The other girl, shrouded in light now, distant and fading, gave a sad shake of her head...

"MAKI!" It ripped from Kairi's chest in a scream, high and desperate and TERRIFIED, with an explosion of golden light-

The void flashed around her, and Kairi was falling backwards.

Falling...falling through the clouds of white and the blue of day, a hand outstretched still, reaching up toward the blue moon of Kingdom Hearts...

Her tears escaped her eyes, whipping up into the air above her.

Kairi fell, and fell, and fell, a castle coming into view on her right, a tall stone wall to her left, in front of lakes and rivers and rolling hills of a rising sun...

Her hand closed into a fist, coming down to her chest...

She shut her eyes, a desperate sob releasing into the world. The thought filled her mind, blocking out all others: let her fall, let her HIT, let her FADE - LET ME FIND HER AGAIN, AFTER SO LONG-

"KAIRI!"

Something large and fast slammed into her from the side and below, seizing her and wrapping around her!

Kairi opened her eyes, gasping, crying, and twisting around - to see Sora.

Sora dropped down to the stone streets of Radiant Garden, holding her in his arms. He looked down at her, breathing a great sigh of relief, his eyes shining down on her...

"Kairi...are you okay?" he said, in the gentlest of voices of worry...and care... "What happened up there? You suddenly just disappeared, and then...you fell. You were falling and I-"

Kairi looked up at him, blinking quickly. Her lower lip trembled, as her mind flashed to that void...to that girl...

"NO!" She shook her head with a cry, and buried her face in his chest, clutching at his jacket. "I'm NOT okay, Sora! I'm not okay..."

"Okay, hey, it's gonna be alright now...I've got you, Kairi...I've got you..."

"Stop call me Kairi, human!" Her lips moved of their own will, the words bursting free, twisted in pain and scathing- "And PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT! Do you have ANY IDEA who I am? My NAME IS-!"

"Huh?!" Sora's face became a deep frown, his eyes widening in alarm. "K-Kairi! What are you SAYING?"

Kairi froze. She blinked up at him, tears sliding down from the corners of her eyes. Eyes that had just been narrowed into slits. She relaxed her mouth, which had been a twisted kind of snarl...

"I- I don't know..." she whispered. "I don't know who I even am right now, Sora..." she continued on, pleading, begging, desperate - terrified.

Sora adjusted his arms, holding her closer, bowing his head to her. Squeezing her...

Kairi put her head to his chest and shut her eyes tight, letting the world fade away...

Until a voice came to her, flat and cutting.

"I know the feeling."

Kairi opened her eyes - Sora turned - and she saw Vanitas standing there in the street, in shade of a house's canopy of purple shingles.

Vanitas's Keyblade was at his side. His face was a mask. His golden eyes gazed at Kairi alone, directly. There was no malice, there was no fear, there was...nothing. He stood there for a long minute, still as a statue. Silent. Then, he turned away, and stepped toward a swirling dark portal.

"HEY! Vanitas!" Kairi called out sharply.

He stopped. He turned back, just slightly, the edge of an eye visible over his shoulder. The side of his face... "I know: if I step out of line, you'll send your abominations to rip me apart," he spoke, flat and simple. "I know the deal, so just give me a break already, Kairi." He froze, his eyes widening. His mouth opening. He raised a hand slowly - then dropped it, half-way up to his chest. He shook his head and strode into the portal quickly - it snapped shut behind him in dispersing energy.

Kairi and Sora looked at one another in disbelief and confusion.

---

Atop the wall of Radiant Garden, Riku stood gazing out at Erin.

She'd moved again - gone and...perched atop a tall mountain above the great lake surrounding the city, grasping the side of it with her claws, upending those newly formed pine trees and greenery.

Then, Erin turned her dragon head, and glowing pink eyes of cat slits stared back at him across the distance. She roared, and leapt out and made a beeline for him, serpentine in the air.

"W-what?! Hey!" Riku yelled. "ERIN, DON'T-!"

She opened her jaws wide, spinning in the air as she neared him - and then she clamped down precisely onto his body, trapping his midsection between sharp teeth as long as his arms!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Riku shouted, panicking, terrified, struggling!

Erin went shooting out across the city, circling the castle. She landed on its spires and bridges, clawing at it, gazing down around her.

Everyone below was staring up at her, fearful, wary.

Then she raised her head, and launched herself out in a new direction. She surged into the distance, the city growing smaller and smaller with every second to Riku's eyes!

"Erin...!" Riku gasped out, raising a hand of dark power. "I don't want to have to do this - but you're TRYING TO EAT ME RIGHT NOW, so...sorry!"

Riku screwed up his face as he prepared to hurt this girl who the last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt...

He charged up dark flames in his hand and slammed it into Erin's face - uh, snout?

The reaction was immediate.

She roared again, her jaws opening - releasing Riku into the air - and seemed to almost...stumble in the air, wobbling and tilting to one side, which sent her into a careening fall toward the ground.

Riku was also falling now...falling with her, after her...

And he couldn't think of a way to save himself.

He twisted and turned, the ground getting closer and closer, winds rushing past him-

Suddenly, the air rippled around him, a strange black aura squeezed around his body - and he stopped dead in the air, about ten feet from the ground.

"Huh...?" Riku breathed. "What's..."

"Hmph. This makes twice now, if I'm not mistaken..." came familiar, drawling tones.

The air flickered in front of him, and a silver-haired young man appeared - a hand raised, a smirk of amusement on his face.

Riku stared down into the face of the younger Xehanort. Into glinting silver eyes. Casual, easy eyes, not cold or even malevolent. Still... "Thanks - you can put me down now," he murmured, embarrassed and annoyed.

Xehanort raised an eyebrow. "As you wish." He let his arm drop - and Riku dropped flat on his face with a grunt of pain. "You're welcome, by the way," the man added leisurely, already turning away - his gaze going to Erin.

Riku scrambled to his feet, racing past the man toward her immediately.

"Are you trying to get yourself eaten alive on purpose now?" Xehanort's voice came. "You'd be smart not to get any closer to her in this state; clearly, your friend's transformation has caused her to lose her semblance of self. Her mind has fled her."

"Is that a long-winded, dick way of saying you're - what? - worried about me?" Riku responded.

Xehanort snorted, shaking his head. "It's not my concern nor fault if you want to approach the dangerous, rampaging, giant lizard. By all means, go running right up to your friend and make some impassioned plea for her to return to her senses. It's not likely to end well for you." He paused. "Though, I admit, it'd be a disappointment to see you perish so foolishly - your Heart is singularly unique, and I also admit that it...interests me."

"Glad to be interesting - I'll take my chances," Riku said, taking a breath and starting toward Erin again.

She was laid out on her side, her eyes closed. Caught under a mess of tall, heavy pine trees and their deep green branches. It was a striking sight for Riku - something he just took a moment to stare at in...kind of wonder. Seeing colors like this again was just...

He never thought he'd miss...be so happy to see something as simple as seeing the trees, or the grass, or the sky...and he wasn't even the type of guy to care about things like "the beauty of nature" or anything (though, sunsets had often been an exception). Man, he'd taken so much for granted - and you never knew what you'd had until you lost it, wasn't that how the saying went? He thought it was true, now, personally. And he was never going to take it for granted again. Any of it.

Riku approached Erin's head, clenching his shaking, sweating hands at his sides. He took a deep breath. "Erin..." he said quietly. "Hey...it's Riku. You need to wake up. And- and if there's some part of you still in there, you need to not try to eat me again, too."

He heard an amused snort behind his back - which he ignored.

Erin's slitted, glowing eyes opened with a snap, one, large eye turning to fix onto Riku. Her head raised, her nostrils letting out a huff of hot air.

Riku stepped forward, raising a hand to her...and made contact.

She tensed, she blinked at him, suddenly. He swore he read confusion on her face...dragon face.

"Erin," he said again, deliberate, and clear, holding her gaze. Those big, pink eyes...

Suddenly, Erin's body was enveloped in light, and it all began to disintegrate away...into pink light mores on the air. From the tail up - all the way to her head. And then, after it was gone, Erin was back - the human girl - standing before him. She stood there in a swirl of pink particles...with a long mess of black hair hanging down past her waist?

She stared at him with vacant eyes - then she blinked, and she breathed. "Riku...? What's going on? Where are - where's-" She stopped, looking all around her, then at him. Her eyes found his, roaming his face. "You can see me? Your sight's back?"

"Yeah...I think Kairi did it," Riku said quietly.

"What happened? Did we win...?"

"Yeah. We won."

She beamed at him. Then she threw herself forward and hugged him, her long hair flying out behind her. She pulled away quickly, twisting and reaching down to take long strands of hair into her hands. She frowned at herself. "Did you do something to my hair...?"

"No. It was just- like that. After you came back from...wait, do you not even remember?"

"Remember what?"

Riku blew a breath, reaching up to facepalm. Then he smiled at her. "You turned into a dragon, Erin. To help fight Maleficent."

"Wha...?" Erin looked away, hugging herself. Then she swore loudly and spun away, stalking off through the forest. "DAMMIT! So that secret's out, is it?! Well...I guess it doesn't matter now, does it? We won, anyways. How exactly did we win, though?"

"I'll tell you what happened during the battle if you tell me how you turned into a dragon in the first place," Riku said, grinning. "I think we're both missing some important context here."

"Right..." Erin turned back to him. She adjusted her clothes, then shoved strands of hair over a shoulder. "I'll tell you everything I know - but...you first!"

"Alright." Riku stood there for a long moment, staring at her.

"W-what? Is there something else different about me now?"

"N-no! No, you're perfect- you're- I mean-" Riku stopped, looking down. He stared at the ground, at the blades of grass, the dirt... "I just never thought I'd get the chance to see your face again. To see anything again..." he said, choking on the words.

"Well, look as long as you like. I'm not going anywhere, I think," Erin said, in that so-teasing tone of hers, her eyes shining at him. Her lips forming a little grin.

"You're not? Don't you want to get back to your world now?" Riku sort of hated how...hopeful he sounded to his own ears. Or...more like desperate?

"I think I need to take some downtime to figure this all out," Erin said, gesturing to herself with a laugh. "And this world - it's so beautiful now - I'd like to explore it a little more..." she added, looking around slowly.

"Yeah...I'd like to see more of it, too," Riku whispered.

He wondered...if he couldn't ask Kairi about that. Maybe it was something they could do...together? Or maybe that was too personal? He probably hadn't earned that right from her yet...

Or ever.

But that was...okay.

Notes:

This is not the END just yet though! There's gonna be a few extended epilogue chapters coming like tomorrow lol! Because there is a lot of post battle stuff to do with everyone, and to set up for the future more... xD But mainly, HONESTLY, these guys have all earned a break! :D So I want to write them just chillaxing for a bit lol. Big Avengers Age of Ultron party scene vibes, if you know! :)

The next story arc/book is going to be called "Warrior Princess 5: New Horizons" - just to spoil people btw lol. :D Think of what that means and implies...cause it's a lot. xD

Chapter 74: Epilogue I: The Aftermath

Notes:

HOLY SHIT I am sorry this took me a week lol! xD I fell victim to scope creep! :D I just kept adding and changing more stuff and now it's...yeaaaaah. Definitely an EXTENDED epilogue chapter. :D OOPSY. <3 Have fun with it though lol?! There is a lot here. And a lot of ANSWERS finally! I put everything I wanted into this and I don't regret it!

And we still have two more epilogue chapters to go lol! xD Then I will be fully satisfied with ending this arc off! :) Epilogue II and Epilogue III. <333

Kairi and Sora gathered with all the others in Radiant Garden's central square once again.

Except this time...it looked like the one from her memories of childhood: truly radiant. Beautiful. Whole. Pristine. Clean. Even the flower beds were blooming again, slowly, with golden light motes drifting off of them...

And in the sky above them all, the blue moon still hung there. Though, now, it was obscured by passing, fluffy white clouds and the blue sky's own hues.

Riku returned out of a portal of light, his face pale and troubled - with Young Xehanort (the guy immediately stalked off toward his friends after scanning the crowds), and Erin (the girl had long, wild dark hair down her back now - Kairi wasn't going to question it).

Wasn't going to question it, buuuut...

"Hey - nice new look," Kairi told the girl, grinning at her.

Erin grinned back at her, reaching up to touch her own hair. "Thanks! Though, I'm still not sure how I ended up with it..."

"That makes two of us," Kairi giggled.

"It does, doesn't it? Right back at you, you know," Erin responded, gesturing.

Kairi stopped, looking herself over for what felt like the first time. Oh, right...all of this. How had this even happened again...? Maybe a tiny part of her Heart had wanted to spite Vanitas a little, just...totally subconsciously. Yeah. That made sense.

"Thanks," Kairi returned, grabbing her dress and giving her most exaggerated and silly curtsy.

She looked away from the girl - toward Riku instead. She looked into his face...and tried not to startle as he turned to look back at her. Sora had said Riku had gotten his sight back somehow - that Riku also said he thought it had something to do with her! Honestly, she wanted to take credit for it - she didn't want to admit she'd had no idea and hadn't done a thing...at least not...consciously? Maybe? But, it wouldn't really be right to do that. If it was going to make Riku start being all grateful and stuff toward her now, she really didn't want to abuse that...or have those misplaced feelings from him in the first place!

Riku looked at her, and he actually gave a small smile, his eyes shining in a way they hadn't in a while - or, if they had lately, it was rare. He looked more like the easygoing friend from her childhood...from their younger days. Before...

But then the smile left him, and his eyes were distant and distraught. His whole face just...fell.

Kairi stepped over to him, taking a breath. "Hey."

"Hey..." he said back, quiet.

"What's wrong?" she said simply.

Riku looked at her...then, away. "Cognis. She...I- I don't know. I don't want to think it, but she- she-"

"What?"

"She left me, she told me she- she went to try to help you beat Maleficent, and- and now Maleficent's gone...and I haven't heard a word from Cognis!" Riku said quickly, rambling. Taking in quick breaths of panic now. Fear. "I can't hear her voice, I can't- I can't feel her, Kairi! She's not here...and if she's not here, then-"

"Okay, hey - we'll figure it out," Kairi said, reaching out to touch his arm. "I'm sure she's not gone forever, right? She's probably...maybe a little lost, but I'm sure she'll find her way back to you. You can't jump to conclusions. Okay?"

Riku took in a deep breath, his face twisted...then he nodded, letting the breath out again. "Y-yeah...okay. No need to freak out yet... Just- keep your eyes peeled for her?"

"Of course," Kairi said softly, smiling at him, holding his gaze. She stroked his arm with her fingers before letting go. "And if she is really, really lost, then we'll find her - like you guys found me."

"Yeah...thanks, Kairi."

"No problem!"

But...she remembered that moment at the end, when that dark cloud had flown up and entered Maleficent's body, and now it made a horrible sense what it had been... But she wasn't going to give up hope yet - not by a longshot. Like she'd told Riku. They'd all come back from a lot worse before - Cognis could, too! She had to.

Kairi watched Riku turn and stride off across the square alone - watched Erin go to join him anyways, almost immediately. She smiled after the pair...

And then turned her focus to the Dandelions. Toward Ephemer, and the gaggle of Chirithies around him.

"You guys all did great..." Ephemer was saying, reaching down to pat and stroke at them. He straightened up, looking at the other Dandelion kids. "And you all did, too. If all the Unions could have worked together like we did back there..." He shook his head ruefully.

"E-Ephemer..." came a quavering, quiet woman's voice. It was so high and wobbly, though, Kairi almost mistook it for a girl's...

Ephemer turned - looking to where Skuld, and Amaya stood together. He blinked, looked away, then down at himself. He raised his hands up, staring at his palms. Then he sighed. His body glowed with light briefly...and when it faded, his form was melting away - changing. Becoming something new. He grew taller, lankier, his face and body morphing and-aging. The form of a boy gave way to that of a young man's.

His true age and form, Kairi realized. She was seeing it for the first time.

And so was everyone else.

"What the- Ephemer?" a Dandelion girl exclaimed, staring with wide green eyes. "What-"

"Sorry, everyone," Ephemer said, reaching up to scratch his head - raising his other hand in a wave. "It's kinda a long story, but it's been a little longer for me, too, since we last saw each other - and I just wanted to hang onto a form you'd all be more comfortable with for as long as I could. A..." He turned, again, to Skuld and Amaya. "A face you'd recognize," he finished quietly.

Skuld and Amaya were both speechless, it seemed, staring back at their friend in silence.

Ephemer stood there for a long moment as well, his arm slowly falling from his head - then he grinned. "Why the long faces? I thought it was only Amaya who was the shy one."

Skuld stared at him, her eyes shimmering, her lips shaking. "E-Ephemer...? It really is-it's really you...? You're here?"

"Yeah, it's really me, Skuld. I'm-" Ephemer began.

Skuld ran forward across the square, heels clicking on stone, and threw herself at him, hugging him around the neck, beginning to cry in earnest.

Ephemer brought his arms up, holding her. He looked past her, to Amaya. "Still not much of a talker, huh?"

Amaya, tears silently falling, walked forward slowly, and joined her friends in a group hug, a watery smile coming over her face. "You're late..." she whispered, with a choked laugh.

"I do seem to keep breaking that promise, don't I?" Ephemer replied, in quiet murmur. "I'm sorry..."

"You came back, in the end. That's all I care about," Amaya quavered. "You're here, now."

"We're here," Skuld said, emotional, breathless. "We're together again."

"Yeah..." Ephemer agreed softly, his eyes shining. He extracted his arms and hugged the two women back, both, holding them close now. "It might've taken longer than we thought, but...we found each other again."

Skuld buried her head in his chest. Amaya rested her forehead to Ephemer's shoulder.

Ephemer brought one hand up to stroke at Skuld's hair, threading it. The other hand came up to rest on Amaya's back, caressing and patting at her.

Kairi smiled at the sight, then turned away as she caught movement on edge of her vision - Sora had come to her side again. She glanced at him...and somehow her hand found its way into his.

He startled, looking over at her. He looked into her eyes...then he smiled, and she felt his fingers interlacing with hers.

"Kairi!" she heard a high, identical voice to her own call out.

Kairi turned, and saw Xion running across the square (with Ienzo and Aeleus, too!). She broke from Sora, racing to greet the girl - and sweeping her into a hug. "Hey! Are you still doing okay?" she asked immediately.

"Yes! Is...is everything over now? Is everyone safe?" Xion asked in return.

"Yeah. It's over. Maleficent, at least...and hopefully that- Darkness with her," Kairi said, pulling away. "The Ultima Weapon's out of her hands, at least..." Thinking back on how it had happened, now, it struck her that the weapon had vanished first, and then Maleficent had been destroyed. The weapon had disappeared from the woman's hand of its own accord. Did that mean...had Ozma finally found her courage, and decided to be assertive and take control of things there? Kairi hoped so. She really, really did...

"Sorry, what do you mean just Maleficent?" Ephemer's voice came. "Is there someone else we need to be worrying about?"

"Ansem - Xehanort's Heartless," Kairi said, pulling herself out of her thoughts quickly. "It's a really long story - but we keep killing him and apparently he keeps coming back. And he just came back again and-"

"He attacked the castle laboratory, stealing all of our prototype Replicas," Ienzo spoke up, stepping forward, a look of anxiety on his face. "And that's not all - you also said he'd stolen data from our main computers." He paused. "Though, whatever it was isn't retrievable by us, considering the state he left it in. With time to examine the internals, we might be able to..." He trailed off, shaking his head helplessly.

"Not just Ansem - it's Xemnas, too, apparently," came a new, familiar voice. Young, but simultaneously old - weary and tired.

Kairi whirled, watching as Luxu came striding down the ramp, down into the square. He looked...better than earlier, but still noticeably terrible. He was clearly still in a lot of pain. There was also a clear hole burned into his stomach that definitely hadn't been there before. "Are you okay?" she said, concerned.

Luxu waved her off, flashing a grin. "Right as rain, thanks. Enough about me, though; let's talk about you."

"Me?"

"I leave you alone for five minutes, and you go and pull the X-Blade out of your butt, and summon Kingdom Hearts?" Luxu responded, gesturing at her - then, up at the sky. "How the hell did you manage that, anyways?"

Kairi eyed the man. She grinned back, setting her hand on her hip. "Vanitas."

"What?"

"Yep. I convinced him to join Hearts with me."

"...But that shouldn't have worked- how the fu- what did you-" Luxu stopped, his mouth shutting with a snap. "You know what? Okay. I'm done questioning your ways, princess - just gonna go with it from here on out..."

"Hehe, good!" Kairi giggled into her hand. She paused, dropping it again. "Oh! Though, when I was up there, I kind of dropped the X-Blade - before I fell - did anyone see it?" she added quickly, looking all around her, to everyone.

"You just kind of dropped the X-Blade-" Luxu began, in high, strangled tones now.

"I had other things on my mind," Kairi said shortly. "Anyone?" she said again, louder, more firmly now. "Please?"

"I didn't see anything fall through the sky before you did," Sora answered promptly. "And I never took my eyes off you."

"So, no different from usual, then?" Kairi replied swiftly, automatic.

Sora blushed - but then he grinned and rubbed at his neck. "Heh..."

"I never saw anything fall, either," Luxu added, shaking his head with a frown now.

"Neither did I," said Terra, calling over.

Kairi sighed, looking to the Dandelions. "Anybody? What about you guys?"

Ephemer gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry - no."

"Maybe someone took it," Aqua spoke, a sharpness to her voice.

"Okay, if you're accusing me-" Luxu began, rolling his eyes.

"You - him," Aqua stated, turning to gaze across the square - at Young Xehanort. "That's always been his goal, hasn't it? And now it was finally here, right in front of him. Who's to say he didn't-"

"Yes, stealing the X-Blade out of the air while there are several dozen potential enemies below me makes perfect sense," Xehanort interrupted coolly, gazing back at her with sharp eyes of his own. "As if you wouldn't have all mobbed me immediately, or blasted me into oblivion, just as we all did to the witch, Maleficent." He paused. "For the record, however: I saw nothing fall before the Princess of Heart did, either. Certainly not the X-Blade; whatever happened to it after she vanished into that light, I had nothing to do with it."

"It might be somewhere none of us can get it, now," Amaya spoke, stepping forward. "Somewhere out of any of our reach. And that's probably a good thing - I think it's a tempting object for anyone, naturally. We could probably all see ourselves wielding it for our own reasons..."

"Right," Kairi said quietly, nodding in agreement. "It's probably good that it just- disappeared again."

"Are you sure you don't just still have it...?" Sora said hesitantly. "I mean...you summoned it - used it - so doesn't that make you its chosen wielder now or something?"

Kairi paused. She looked down at her palm, raising her hand up. She frowned, focusing. Narrowing her eyes...envisioning that glistening blade again...

Nothing.

She shifted her mind, focusing on another weapon instead-

And Destiny's Embrace flashed to life in her hand.

She lifted her gaze and raised the weapon up over her head, showing it off to the square. "It looks like I only have my Keyblade again - no X-Blade everyone, sorry!"

"Okay, that's that problem solved, then," Luxu stated. "We've got some more to deal with, though. Like I said-"

"Yeah - you said Xemnas is back too?" Kairi said, lowering her arm and letting her weapon vanish again.

"Namine said it - was trying to tell me something about him, before..." Luxu sighed, putting a hand over his stomach wound and giving a bad cough. "That's another problem, anyways; my Master has her."

"WHAT?!"

"He took her - nabbed her right in front of me," Luxu went on, rough and pained. But not physically, this time. He glanced aside, gritting his teeth. "I followed, I tried to find her, but- I'm ninety-nine percent sure he has her stashed in some data world. He had this prepared, which means it's not going to be easy to get her back...let alone find her to begin with, in there. He didn't hurt her or anything, as far as I can trust his word...he said he just needs her out of the way for about a year, then he'll give her back to us."

"And you can trust this guy's word?" Kairi said, eyeing Luxu intently.

"I don't know," Luxu said, raising an arm to spread his hand at her. A single palm. He shook his head, and looked her in the eye. "I'd like to say he's an untrustworthy bastard, and everything he says is a lie, but...you know, the best lies are a mix of truths, and some of the things he said...might've been convincing. Of course, that was the whole problem back in the day, that started it all, wasn't it? He was always so damn convincing and charismatic...so I don't know. But either way, I'm not going to just wait around while he has her. I'm not giving him a year. I'm going to go after her, and I'm going to find a way to bring her back out of there."

"We'll-"

"No, you're not coming with me," Luxu said harshly, instant. "You can see for yourself what he did to me. All any of you kids would be is a distraction at best, or more hostages for him to hold onto at worst. The only ones who have a chance of lasting ten seconds against the guy are me, my friends, and...possibly Amaya and King Mickey over there." He paused, then gestured vaguely toward Terra and Aqua. "And maybe those two, given their track records so far - kudos where its due."

"So you just want us to sit around at home while you go after Namine?" Kairi said tightly.

"Exactly, yes," Luxu replied. "Anyone ever tell you that part of fighting a battle is knowing when to pick your battles - or knowing when you're outclassed? You know how many fights I walked away from, held myself back from, or in, when I could have dogwalked them? You need to learn that, too. Sometimes throwing yourself into a fight does nothing but harm, to you and those around you. So yeah, I want you kids to go home, sit tight, enjoy some well-deserved peace and quiet time with family and friends, and let those better qualified handle facing off against my Master." He hesitated, gazing into her eyes. "Don't you trust me to save her?"

Kairi stared back into the man's face...then she sighed, looking down. She nodded at her feet. "Yes. I trust you, Luxu. And okay - you're right, too. Running in there and getting in over our heads would just make things worse..."

"Thank you. I promise you I'll get her back. And you know I keep my promises," Luxu's voice came again, intense and quiet. "Even if it takes countless millennia - I damn well keep them."

Kairi looked up, and she nodded again. She smiled. "I know."

"Good. Now I need time to come up with a strategy, and Ansem and Xemnas probably won't resurface for a while, either, anyways," Luxu went on. "Whatever they've got planned, it's going to take time. So...everybody can just chill out here, alright? Relax a little, kick your feet up, finally. Until you need to go boots on the ground again. When that happens, we'll call you up and figure out who can go where, and do what - make the most of your skills and abilities. Speaking of relaxing: I need to find a place to take a loooong nap, thank you very much. And-or pass the hell out...same difference."

"You can come to-" Terra started.

"No!" Aqua said instantly.

Terra looked at her. His lips quirked, his blue eyes shining. "You're not a Master anymore, remember? Or the Master of the Castle. I think technically Master Eraqus is again."

Aqua froze, looking caught out, or maybe actually just confused for a moment. Then she set her jaw and looked away.

Her Master, Eraqus, looked at her with amusement too - an almost mischievous, playful look. Then it was gone, as he schooled his features into professionalism.

"You could come rest up on the islands," Sora spoke up suddenly.

Kairi turned to him in surprise.

So did Luxu.

"Eh? Thanks for the offer, but-" Luxu started slowly.

"My mom's kind of been asking me when you're going to be brave enough to come back over again, you know - so you really should accept the invite if you know what's good for you," Sora said quickly, a little grin on his face now. "Trust me."

Luxu's face flickered. Something...crossed his features. Then it was gone. He shrugged - winced in pain. "Whatever - sure. Fine. One couch to hack my lungs up on is as good as any other." He summoned and slung out his Keyblade, creating a blue portal of light. "You first, kid; I've been to so many places I couldn't remember where you even lived on a good day, trust me."

Sora lingered, looking to Kairi. She just smiled and nodded to him encouragingly. He nodded back, then strode into the portal, with Luxu in his wake.

"Well then..." Aqua started hesitantly, looking to Kairi in a- honestly a strange way. She looked to Terra, and Ven. "I think there's something else we still need to...catch some of us up on. Not that it makes any sense whatsoever, but..."

"What?" Kairi said curiously, tilting her head at the woman.

Aqua, Terra, and Ven did their best to tell her. About some - some little kid version of Kairi who had shown up out of the blue, who was currently hanging out at Aqua's royal palace on her homeworld (Aqua had a royal palace now, by the way! That was a whole OTHER thing to try to get her mind around!).

"WHAT?!" Kairi exclaimed in response to the information.

"Aha, it's all true, I assure you," Ienzo said quickly, raising his hands and stepping forward. "The girl's story does start from here, as she alluded to, to the Keyblade Masters," he went on, gesturing up at the castle.

"Okay, can you tell me how this even happened, then? Please?" Kairi said weakly, turning to the young man.

Ienzo quickly told her - with interjections from Xion, and Ansem The Wise - describing a place Kairi never wanted to think about again...

But that place was where this- impossible little girl version of her had come from. From that very contraption...that very- machine.

"Okay...and- no one really knows where she came from or anything?" Kairi said, feeling odd, talking about herself in a...third person? "I mean, she's not- me from the past, or-"

"We don't have any concrete theories yet, as to that, no," Ienzo said apologetically. "However-"

"I...believe I have the missing pieces to this puzzle of yours," came the sudden, aged voice of Master Eraqus, as he stepped forth. He had a look of tiredness and sorrow on his face. "I was there while your friend, Even, was visiting with Xehanort in search of answers. I can't claim to understand...most of what was discussed between them, but I can get the general gist of it, I think," he went on slowly. "And if my explanation isn't sufficient, we can return and ask Xehanort for clarification."

Ienzo looked to Eraqus with hope. The same look Kairi was sure she gave the man, in that moment. "Please, explain! We'd welcome any information you have!" He hesitated, frowning. "Especially now that Even himself has gone missing...taken by Ansem- Xehanort's Heartless, that is."

Eraqus began to speak to them, gesturing with a hand...relaying the information from Even and Xehanort as best he could (Ienzo asked for "exact words" at several points for clarity's sake).

Kairi listened raptly, her mind on overdrive - especially when Ansem The Wise mentioned The Grid, and Tron, and suddenly all of that clicked into place as a whole separate thing in her brain! But she had to refocus on the current issue pretty quick. Though, at the end of it all, she thought...she did understand. The gist of it, anyways, like Aqua's old Master had said-

Suddenly, the strangest feeling shot down Kairi's spine, and filled her Heart.

She gasped, touching her chest and looking around in confusion. "Huh...?"

"Kairi? What's wrong?" Aqua asked, taking a sudden step forward, her face etched with alarm and worry.

"I- I don't-" Kairi started.

The air in the sky above suddenly twisted and warped, and then it parted. A rainbow aurora grew and shimmered in front of some...opening in space itself? And then, out of that opening came...some kind of energy? They flowing, green, pulsing, twisting- strands of green energy. No, like...flowing rivers? They came down toward the city, surging around it, wrapping around it like some big...green tornado or something! It swirled and sputtered, a howling wind picking up, fluttering at clothing and hair of those in the main square. It blew dust up and down the streets. It threatened to tear those newly reborn flowers in the beds right out of the dirt!

"What in the name of-" Cid started loudly, looking around himself and raising a hand to his head.

He wasn't the only one; everyone was on alert now. Confused, wary. A little afraid, too. Especially the newly returned Dandelions.

"What?" Aerith's voice came, high and concerned. It was distracted, almost, like she wasn't paying attention. Then, Kairi saw the woman just go dropping to the ground; Aerith turned her head and put her ear to the stone. Her hand touched the ground...caressing at it. Then she gasped, straightening up and staring at her hand like it had been burned, holding it in the other. Staring into her palm...

"What's wrong?" Kairi asked, striding over to the woman. "Do you know what's going on?"

"It's...the lifestream. Its flow is - agitated," Aerith spoke, slow and quiet. "Radiant Garden - her Heart - she's..."

"What? Dying?" Kairi asked, alarmed. Worried. "Is something wrong with-"

Aerith slowly shook her head, her long curls swaying. She turned from Kairi, her gaze roaming over the square - over everyone present. "No - worse: she's ANGRY."

"What does that mean for us?" Ephemer spoke up, frowning, glancing up at the sky again.

"I don't know. I just know that she's furious - at all of this," Aerith said hesitantly. "What that...Chernabog did, and what Maleficent brought to this world again - that her children were used against her like that, puppeted by that- monster... All that pain, and anger, and sadness...and darkness. She's fed up with it all. She wants it to end. And, with the state she's in right now...I think she'd be willing to do anything to make that happen, no matter who she ends up hurting. Even us. After all, she can exist without us walking around on her body. To her...I don't think it would make too big a difference."

"Do you think you could - talk to her?" Kairi said, stepping forward, a hand to her chest. "Tell her that we were the ones out here fighting for her? That we got rid of Chernabog and Maleficent - that she's okay now? That she doesn't have to be upset anymore?"

Aerith frowned. She looked down. "I could try, but, I mean...all I can really do is pass my voice on to the others, and hope they deliver my pleas to her. But as things are now, I think...my voice would just end up lost, in all the screams...and wailing...and fury. One voice in a chorus, drowned out by all the rest." She paused, gazing at Kairi now, into her eyes. "I think you'd have much better luck getting through to her directly than even I ever could, sweetie."

Kairi blinked at the woman, her lips parting. Then she closed her mouth tightly, and nodded. She dropped her hand, turning away and running across the square - toward the castle.

"Kairi! Where are you going?" Aqua called after her.

"To talk to someone!" Kairi kicked off, flying up toward the castle.

She didn't know how she knew, but she knew. She just knew. Her Heart knew. And she let it guide her.

She flew into the castle, navigating its halls, listening to her Heart fully, her mind barely even working anymore except to keep her from slamming into walls.

Kairi swooped down flights of stairs, entering the basement levels. She passed pipes and gears, taking turns in the maze beneath the castle...until she stopped, at sight of an out of place door on the wall.

It was a simple door - a door like any other, that fit the aesthetic of the castle itself, and any other door in it. Except this door was sparkling, glowing, and there was a golden, big shiny Keyhole emblazoned on its face.

Kairi touched her feet down and summoned her Keyblade, raising it up and aiming it out; a thin beam flew out immediately, striking the door...and causing it to swing open.

She didn't hesitate to step forward, grasp the handle, and open it. She walked inside, hand to shield her face, as she looked at the swirling, pulsing mass of energy in the empty chamber. A burning, writhing, great orb of orange and pink light...

Radiant Garden's Heart.

"Hey," Kairi said, quiet. Awkward. "Listen, um - Ms. Radiant? Miss RG-"

The great Heart burst outward, its colors shifting briefly to a startlingly intense orange.

"Okay, look, sorry - but - my name is Kairi, I'm a Princess of Heart, and a Keyblade wielder, and a native of this world!" she went on swiftly, holding up her hands. "I was born here, born from you, and today, me and so many other people out there who were also born here were out there fighting for you! We were fighting to protect you, to save you! To stop what Maleficent and that Darkness were doing out there! To you - to your body, to your children, living and passed on! It was awful, it was wrong, and it makes me angry just thinking about it too! It's infuriating, it's disgusting! But I'm telling you this: please, don't take it out on us - the ones trying to HELP YOU! Because it's-"

Kairi paused, sucking in a breath. "It's okay now! You're okay now. Alright? Everything's okay again now. You're safe now, and we're all safe, too, and- and you're healed. Kingdom Hearts itself...healed you. You are...so bright, and peaceful, and beautiful, and colorful, and full of wonder and flowers and smells and LIGHT and JOY and LIFE! And you can't screw that all up now, throw it all away! Because we all want the same thing - your children want the same thing, for you, and for ourselves! I know it's- still maybe not perfect, and it was a tough fight just to get here - maybe the toughest I've ever fought...but we fought it! And we're here now! So..."

Kairi sighed, shaking her head. "Look, I don't really know if you can even hear me, or understand me like that - with words and ideas - but..." She clenched her fist, and brought it in to smack against her chest. She focused her light, and she burned it bright, flashing it out of her body, to reach the swirling, large Heart in front of her. "I hope you understood THAT. From light to light - from Heart to Heart. If you can feel this, right now, right in here...in me...then you know! We're home. You're home! So just- just chill the hell out, girl!"

She breathed a ragged breath, staring at that great Heart before her for a long moment...

Then, suddenly, the energy began to fade. The swirling torrent of power slowed, the orange became a duller shade, with more of a brighter pink core...and the great Heart even shrank down a good few inches.

Kairi felt the change immediately, inside her body, and in the air around her.

She breathed out again, and she relaxed, letting her arm fall to her side.

She smiled with relief.

"Thank you."

---

The Master of Masters stood on the grassy hilltop, gazing up at the true, blue moon shaped like a Heart.

Now wasn't that just something... Seeing it framed in the sky again, pure and bright...

The Princess of Heart and her friends might all believe it was the fusion with the Heart of that Darkness that did it - but that wasn't the case.

Noooo, no...no. The Master knew differently; he knew there were multiple methods by which Kingdom Hearts could potentially be summoned back - except...for this one. The Seven Pure Hearts, themselves alone, having called Kingdom Hearts back from the depths of darkness...? That was a new one, even for him!

But it did mean that there was possibly an easier route to take to achieve his plans now - a lot less rigamarole!

It simplified things, for sure.

And the fact that the Princess had summoned it back at all - not to mention how she'd found her way back out of the Ultima Weapon, a feat that should have been impossible, by all rights... Maybe...maybe she really was the one for the job...

She'd finished one-half of the job, after all - no need for any of that Xehanort business, either. Thirteen Darknesses, yadda yadda, bringing more pain and chaos to the worlds in the process. Nope! They could safely nix that part of the grand plan.

Which meant...

"Time for a sliiiight change in plans."

---

Kairi was honestly terrified to return to the islands again.

From everything Luxu had told her, and from what Xion and others had been saying now too...well, they'd been giving her reassurances, sweet and nice as they were - but Kairi just couldn't take any of it in.

After getting back, just - stepping right on out of a portal in the middle of Sora's house, Kairi let Xion take the lead to...to their new home.

Because she'd blown the old one to smithereens. Because she'd...

And it only hit her, just then, as she walked along the beach toward a large two-story house (only a few over from Sora's, actually), the magnitude of what she'd done that night. What she'd really DONE...

All of Xion's things, her old seashell collection, her clothes, her-

And Kairi's own things, her own clothes, and...her grandma's cookbook, and- the photo album.

And then there was...everything else!

All of-

Kairi stopped as she saw him, saw him rushing out of the front door of the new house and coming right up to them. She tensed and shied away, like she never had in her life before (at least, she thought, not since she was so little, since her first days she barely remembered here, when she was actually quiet and jumpy and scared and-).

He hugged her. He hugged her and squeezed her and kissed her and-

Kairi cried. She started sobbing into his chest, grasping and hitting and shaking her head furiously against him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm SO SORRY D-DADDY-"

"You have nothing to be sorry about, honey-"

"YES I DO! The HOUSE, the whole- islands- and- and now everything's all screwed up, I- I ruined it all, and- Xion's stuff, and-" Kairi pulled free of his grasp, stumbling back, staring into his face through blurry vision. Her lip quivered. "Y-your wife's things...I- I am s-so sorry-"

"Kairi, stop. I am not mad at you for that - I could never be angry with you for this. Do you understand? It was just a- a magical accident, and I'm never going to blame you for it!"

"B-but- h-her belongings, your-"

Dad stepped forward, gently taking her arms as he stared down into her face. "Honey, listen to me: I promise you I'm not upset. I'm not mad. Now, I can't lie and say that...it's not a loss. But those things - Gemma's things- they were just things. I don't need them to remember her by. As long as I still have the memories of our time together, and the feelings in my Heart - the way she made me feel - then that's...that's enough. It's all I need. I can keep her spirit alive, with or without her physical belongings. Okay?"

"O-Okay..." Kairi whispered, nodding her head.

"Okay." Dad hugged her again, gently, softly, for a long minute. Then he let her go again, and he took her hand. "All I care about is that you're home now - you're back now. Like they promised. They brought you back to me. And I don't- want you leaving for a really, really long time this time, honey," he went on, with a shaky laugh. "So let's get you inside, you and your sister, and I can show you both your new rooms. You'll get to decorate again, and-"

"Wait."

Dad stopped, staring at her. "What is it?"

Kairi sucked in air, reaching up to brush at her hair. "You- you were wrong about one thing, you know, dad..."

"What was I wrong about?" he said seriously, attentive, even if a bit thrown off now - confused.

Kairi looked up at him, trying to give a small, trembling smile. "When you said...that this was all a- a world I was born into, that I was a part of, and that you couldn't understand it, or be a part of it too. You were wrong about that."

"How so, honey?"

"...I- I'm not saying do it today, right away or anything, but..." Kairi took another breath, speaking on now with a bit of nervousness. "Sometime soon, I- I'd like to take you to see...the place I grew up. Radiant Garden. I- I didn't want to before, because it was just so- so different, and damaged, and people were struggling there, but now...well, don't ask me how, but it's better now. It's like it was in my memories. And that version of the world...I want to share it with you, just once. I could show you the castle, and- and my grandmother's house. If you...wanted to see it."

"Of course," dad said, simple and soft, smiling at her in full. "I would love to see...where you were born."

"Really...?"

"Yes. If you feel like you want to do this, share that with me, then I'm...honored, honey."

Kairi nodded thickly, and started crying all over again. "T-thank you..."

Dad sighed, stepping back and craning his neck to look at the sky. "Though, I think everyone here is going to have a few questions for both of us about that. I know I do. Could you explain it to me, honey?"

Kairi blinked at him, tilting her head. "What? Um-" She turned, looking up and following dad's line of sight. She gasped at the sight that greeted her.

There, in the blue sky of Destiny Islands...was the faint, distant shape of a blue, glowing moon shaped like a Heart.

"Holy shit-" she started, before catching herself. She glanced at dad guiltily (ridiculous in this situation, probably, right?) - but he just looked at her with amusement...and anticipation. "Um...well...that's..." she continued, struggling. "...You can completely blame that one on me, daddy, for sure. It's a long story..." And she wasn't even sure how it was here on the islands now - was it following her or something?!

"I can't wait to hear that story," he said humorously.

"Well, hold your horses a bit on that one, because- there's- maybe...something...else," Kairi continued, halting and awkward.

"Alright...what else is there?" dad asked.

"Aqua's- getting her now. They should be here soon. It's um...really hard to explain, and I'm not sure I even fully get it," Kairi said slowly. "But there's this-"

A blue portal of swirling light flashed into existence in the grass to Kairi's left. She turned sharply, tensing - then relaxed as she saw who came out of it.

Aqua, of course, and...a little, thin, redhead girl with blue eyes who was clinging to the woman's hand for dear life, her face full of anxiety and fears.

Knowing about it was one thing, but seeing it in person, herself was something totally different.

Kairi admitted, she stared at the kid. The kid...version of herself. It was- just sort of strange!

Though...

"Uh...Ahem - Kairi, honey, what exactly...?" dad's voice came, definitely strained now. Bewildered.

"Like I said: it's kind of difficult to explain," Kairi said quietly.

Dad looked at her, frowning. "Did you...make another - 'Nobody?'"

"No..."

"Is it something to do with...that time traveling business, then? Is that- you you...from the - past?"

"Still no." Kairi refuted, laughing and brushing at her hair. "That was kind of everyone's first thought, but...we know better now, for sure. It's- not that."

"Okay - I give up then," dad said, spreading his hands at her. "What is the explanation here, honey?"

"Okay, so, Xehanort had kind of- this- scan he took of me, when he- took me. A scan of my Heart and body, put into a computer, I guess. From a- machine. And from those scans, he..." Kairi said slowly. "He wanted to use them to study me, if I was a Princess of Heart, to learn about my Heart and what makes it special. And, with enough time and research, he thought maybe someday he could even use it to...create- artificial Pure Hearts, if he ever- lost the real ones or something, I guess. So then, a couple hours ago now, some people at the castle accidentally triggered the machine, and that- hidden process, which resulted in...her."

Kairi looked at the girl with apology, with empathy. The girl was staring back at her, her face blank and strange now. Did she even understand a word of this? Would Kairi, at that age? Hell no. "So, here she is. A flesh and blood- copy of me, made from a kind of technology that- turns data into matter, and back again, I think. Though, that doesn't make her any less real than you or me - it's just where she started from; Hearts can grow anywhere, even inside of data. And she- she's going to have her own little Heart soon, if she isn't already starting to get one. So- so- so she's here now, and I guess we're all just not sure what to...do with her..." She trailed off, her face growing hot now. She looked up at dad's face - silent...and pointed.

Dad eyed Kairi for a long time. Then, he nodded, and sighed. "I took in a little red-haired girl once before, who found herself in an unfamiliar world - scared, confused, and alone. It wouldn't be any trouble for me to do it again," he began quietly, gazing at the little girl in question with contemplation. "Raising you was a gift, Kairi, and the chance to get to do it all over again..." He chuckled to himself with amusement. "But...like with you, and Xion, that is something we're going to have to...discuss first. A long, thorough discussion. And we should probably have it with the people who...found her, to start with? They might have different plans than you or I about where to...place her."

"...Okay," Kairi agreed, quiet and reluctant. "Sure. That sounds- sensible."

"Having said that...if you need someone to look after her for a while-" Dad went on, raising his gaze to Aqua's, with a little smile.

"That would be- very appreciated," Aqua said, a bit fast - a bit strained. A little flush to her cheeks. "Thank you. It's just that I...it was only temporary, myself, and there are so many responsibilities I have now in my life, It's-"

"I hear you. And it wouldn't be much trouble to take her in for a bit," dad said kindly, nodding.

"Okay, then," Aqua breathed, releasing that tension from her body and face. She gave a small smile of her own now. She heaved her shoulders, and looked down at the girl beside her. "Well...Kairi...what would you think about..."

---

Kairi, Xion, and dad spent some time with- with the girl (Kairi really hated just calling her that, but it was so awkward and confusing and what were the alternatives just yet?).

After a few hours, they actually got her rooted to the couch, her attention glued to the television screen. Which freed Kairi up to move to the brand new, spacious kitchen with dad to talk.

"So...?" Kairi was saying, leaning against the shiny new table of polished wood, looking at dad.

Dad sighed, running a hand over his hair. "Well, if it's like you say - like she says - If she...believes she lived and grew up on your birth world...I wonder whether she wouldn't feel more comfortable there instead?"

"Everything is pretty much back to normal over there now," Kairi said thoughtfully. "I'm sure they could find a home for her there...I could ask King Ansem about it. He helped me before - and when I was little, too, I think..."

"Maybe we should do that, then."

"Are you saying you don't want her here?" Kairi asked, surprised, honestly.

Dad shook his head. "I'm saying that this sort of thing can never be about US, Kairi. When you're older, and if you ever- properly- well...if you want to, of course, maybe you'll find that out someday. Especially in cases like these. Your focus has to be on doing what's best for her, not for yourself. Even with as much as we might want to keep her here, if she'd be happier, more comfortable, and have a better life ahead of her living elsewhere...then you have a duty to try and give her that. To let her go. And let her live it there, with others."

"But her situation is so- not normal! What if it just gives her bad memories? Or what if- what if she just becomes upset because she's expecting-" Kairi bit her lip hard, silencing herself. "She thinks she's me - fully and truly! Her last memory, like it was yesterday, is of being with- with my grandmother. The day I...the day I was k-kidnapped, dad! Her last memories are of Xehanort taking her, setting the Heartless after her! They're..."

"Then I'm sure there will be plenty of people there who can explain it all to her more properly and- tactfully, and help her to understand it, and accept it, in time," said dad simply - gently. "No, it probably won't be the easiest transition in the world - it's probably going to be long and hard for her, but...you have to have faith that she can do it. And that she can get the help she needs to do it. You have to hope...that they'll be okay, in the end."

"She's going to have existential CRISES when she's older!" Kairi exclaimed. "Heck, she's going to have existential crises now; everybody's skirting around it at the moment, but she has to be TOLD - sooner rather than later, right? It's just going to hurt more if they let her keep thinking-" She stopped for breath, sharp and quick, before rambling on. "Seriously, how do you grow up knowing you're- a data copy of someone else just- materialized out of thin air by some computer and- and laser system, and thrown into a 'real world'? That you were made just to copy someone else? That your life isn't even yours, that all the memories you have, that your wholesale belief in your own identity is just- NOT TRUE? No matter how much you'd swear it is! As surely as you or me would say, right now, that we are who we are: as surely as I'd say that I'm the 'real' Kairi, and that you're my real dad! How is she even going to HANDLE THAT?!"

"Maybe that's a part of why it would be for the best that she grows up and lives her life over there, instead of here," dad said, calm and firm. "If she has a life and a world of her own, apart from you, it might be a whole lot easier for her to...cope with it all. To LESSEN the risks of any...existential crises. Or to help her through them. If she has that level of separation there, she won't be comparing herself to you, or- wishing she had this, or- that you had it 'first,' or...things like that."

Kairi pressed her lips together, looking away. Then, she dropped her head to stare at her feet.

"I know you feel responsible for her - but part of growing up is also knowing when something isn't...or shouldn't...be your responsibility. Knowing your limits, knowing what you can and can't do. And knowing when to let go when it would be best for the one you're responsible for. Sometimes, the most responsible thing to do is to...relinquish those responsibilities - hand them over to someone else."

"Okay..." Kairi agreed at last. "If you really think so, I can make sure she gets sorted out over there...but I- I want to check in on her and stuff!"

"If she wants you to, of course," dad stated evenly.

"Right," Kairi agreed, nodding.

She gave dad a last look before departing - to take a proper tour of this new home of theirs for herself.

It was substantially bigger than the previous one, that had been immediately evident - just the living room, kitchen, and dining room were way more spacious! It was a lot of empty air, really. And there were more than a few spare rooms on the ground floor, and up on the second floor too! It also had an entire basement going for it, which...was probably honestly just a lot of empty space that was never going to get used for anything.

Or...heeeey, maybe NOT, Kairi thought, grinning to herself now, as a little nugget of an idea started to take root...

Well, she'd give that little idea some time to sit - everybody it would involve probably wanted to just take it easy for a while first...

And besides - there were still some things Kairi had to take care of, beforehand, too.

The big battle might have been over, but it had left them all with some pieces to pick up in the aftermath...and some answers.

Kairi found her way up the stairs, down the hall, and into the neat and bare bathroom.

She closed the door with a gentle snap, and then put herself squarely before the mirror.

She gazed at her own reflection - into her own face, and her own blue eyes.

She shrugged her shoulders, taking a big, deep breath and letting it go again.

She smiled at her own image, tilting her head to one side.

"Earlier," she began, speaking lightly and casually. "when I fell from the sky - when I was with Sora - that was you, wasn't it...Hikari? It's nice to finally meet you. I didn't think you were really real, in here with me...but you are here, aren't you. You're real."

Kairi stared at her own image, blinking at herself. Waiting. Feeling. Sensing... Hand raising to her own chest...

For an eternity, she remained like this...waiting...

No response came, though, in any discernible form or manner.

But that was fine.

"It's okay, you know - about earlier," Kairi said, still in light tones. "Whoever you are, however you got here, however long you've been here - Sora and I aren't mad at you for earlier. It must have been really confusing and scary for you, right? If you've been sleeping all this time - like our friend Ven was, inside of Sora - to wake up and be in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar body...in some stranger's arms like that, too...it's understandable that you'd freak out a little. Anybody would have. But we're not going to hold it against you. Okay? I'm not holding it against you. I don't know what it was that woke you up, exactly, but...I guess it was just awkward timing."

She stood, silent, waiting - but, again...nothing.

Kairi took another breath, leaning forward and grasping the counter top. Peering at her own image more closely. Into her own eyes...deeper still...

"You know about Hina, right?" Kairi spoke softly. "I met her - she was the one to call me by your name. She knew you were in here, somehow. I think...she was looking for you for a really long time. Were you friends? Girlfriends - wives, maybe? Or are you sisters? Either way, I don't think she was someone bad, or anything like that. I think she really misses you...I think she really wants to see you again. So maybe, if you come back out here, and you talk to me, we could work together to find her, and reunite the two of-"

"Don't speak of her to me!" The voice came bursting from Kairi's own lips, overriding her own movements and intentions, as a heat glowed in her chest, and then a light flashed out from her body. A voice that definitely wasn't hers - a voice that was the mature voice of a woman's, definitively.

Kairi startled horribly - embarrassingly - but she immediately tried for calm. She breathed in and out, raising her hands up to her own mirror image. "Okay - okay! I'm sorry! Maybe we don't talk about- what we're not going to talk about, then! That's okay - Hikari. It's fine! I'm going to respect your boundaries here! Okay? That's off-limits!"

The heat faded from her Heart, settling down again - and the residual, intense, sharp feelings faded with it.

A stabbing of emotions, all conflicting and yet intertwined, in the complicated way life's feelings always were - anger, bitterness, sadness, grief, fear, joy, longing and nostalgia...and LOVE.

Which meant that was definitely a topic to stay as far away from as possible.

Especially considering that uncontrolled, unbidden burst of light that...Hikari had caused, just by feeling - making her presence known.

And without Even, or any spare Replicas anymore...this was...

It was going to be a delicate situation to handle here, for a while. That was fine, though! Baby steps, right?

This was an unknown person, and even without her feelings sensed so sharply and so briefly in that moment, Kairi could guess that she had probably been through some bad things before. She'd have to have, to have ended up inside Kairi like this - like what had led to Ven being with Sora...

She somehow didn't think Sora or her had ever had to be careful with Ven, though - had they?

No, this was different. Of course it was different. This Hikari woman...was a whole different person. And whatever troubles she had...were all her own.

Well...

They were sort of both of theirs, now, Kairi thought with a sigh.

"So..." Kairi started carefully. "Do you think you'd be willing to tell me a bit about yourself? Hikari? Where you came from, who you-"

"Just let me SLEEP again, child!" came the sudden and sharp response.

Kairi tensed at her own lips being stolen from her again. Tensed at the sharpness of the reply itself. But she made herself relax again. She smiled - nodded to herself in the mirror. "Okay...Sure! Just...whenever you're ready to talk to someone, I'll be here for you. I'm Kairi, by the way. But maybe you already know that."

No reply. No feelings. Nothing.

Kairi blew a breath, pushing off from the sink and turning away. She opened up the door and stepped out of the bathroom, content to respect the woman's wishes - for now, anyways.

If she wanted space, needed time, that was just fine.

They all did.

Kairi just-

Her body stopped dead of its own accord, as a feeling twisted in her Heart, and that voice not her own came from her lips again.

"I just want to sleep again..." The words were whispered, quavering with a deep, intense pain. Agony - and a pleading tone.

Images rose in Kairi's mind, flashing before her eyes suddenly: a great castle and a city of shining crystal - a woman of pale skin and white hair holding a glowing sword to the throat of a familiar blonde teenage girl - a cottage in the woods - a familiar, blue, Heart-shaped moon in the sky, BREAKING APART as tendrils of purple energy tore at it-

And then suddenly it was like a heavy metal door had been slammed right in Kairi's face - knocking her Heart and mind back from it all. The bursting of emotions instantly vanished, and the images disappeared - leaving Kairi blinking at the hallway's wall.

Kairi breathed, shook her head to get her bearings again, and slowly made her way downstairs again.

But, at the bottom of the steps-

"Where are the other seven princesses?"

Kairi stopped, hearing the voice again, echoing around her. She stopped because something about the question sounded- off, to her. Something...but what-

She sucked in a quick breath. "Sorry, you mean six, right?"

"I know what I said, girl; answer me!"

"There are only seven Princesses of Heart," Kairi said, firm and calm as she could be. "You're probably still a little confused-"

"Then the eighth never came to be at all, did she...but she WILL."

"What are you-"

That metal door slammed shut on Kairi - again!

Yeah...okay...

This was probably going to be less smooth for Kairi than things had been for Sora and Ven.

Great...

---

In the world of Radiant Garden, out in the grassy plains beyond the mountains and great lake surrounding the city itself, Kairi found herself at base of a large hill overlooking a forest of tallest pine trees.

Not coincidentally, it was the same exact spot that Kairi had seen in her babyhood memories, once: the beautiful, huge tree of otherworldly purple leaves on a hill...where her mother had once stood with her.

It had been three days now, and everyone had made arrangements to just...find a place to come and be together, really. Kairi had recalled the place, the fleeting memory, and had suggested it (letting her Heart guide her to the right spot, out from the city's edge).

And now they were here.

All of them.

Kairi had checked in with Hikari, twice a day - morning and evening - just talking, trying to get her to talk...but...no luck. Maybe the woman really had gone back to "sleeping". Ven had said most of his time was spent in a dream state, even after Kairi and Sora had talked to him, and woken him up and all in that fight against Vanitas...

So maybe that was just what Hearts did in other people's bodies, because they had nothing better to do...or no energy to do anything else?

Maybe it was normal.

If so, Kairi was happy to let Hikari keep doing it. She didn't want to- to push her or anything. She really didn't.

But she was still kind of worrying about it...

Another thing that kept worrying at her Heart and mind was, of course, the little her. That was a whole different, huger thing still. The girl - little Kairi (Aerith had pointed out that plenty of people shared the same name, so why couldn't she just keep the name if she wanted to) - was apparently a "ward of the castle" now, temporarily, at least. Like Ienzo had been. At least, until they could find- little Kairi a family and a home to be placed with that were willing and ready to take her...and tackle her extremely unique and abnormal circumstances and problems that would probably arise from them. Although, Ienzo himself had pointed out that he had spent so much time at the castle that he'd taken to it, and had asked not to be sent away from it. Which Kairi supposed was another option if the girl really wanted it, too...

But, given that the whole "Xehanort castle takeover and turning everyone into Nobodies" thing had happened a year or so later, nobody would really know what the ultimate fate of Ienzo would have been in that situation - right? Well, regardless, Ansem The Wise had assured Kairi (and dad) that if little Kairi did want to choose the same thing for herself in a more long term sense, they'd be more than willing to accommodate her on it, and accept the responsibility of being her legal guardians.

As for the whole...the whole not being Kairi-Kairi thing about her existence...

Well, Kairi was kind of glad she hadn't been there for that part...

It had been Ansem The Wise, Tifa and Aerith, and Ienzo who had all- sat the girl down and tried to...sort of explain it to her in a way that would even make sense to a girl her age. They hadn't really gone into it, or framed it as her being, you know, a person spontaneously created out of a computer or anything - because that wasn't really so important right then, was it? No: they'd instead told her how she was a girl, who...had just sort of been given Kairi's looks and memories, because- a bad dude had wanted her to...be Kairi.

Which Kairi guessed wasn't untrue - and was probably the better way to tell her. The best thing to focus on, anyways, too, right? A way little Kairi could even begin to understand herself, and accept her situation, and...get help to move forward from there. Kairi hoped, with enough time and enough talking through it, the girl really could come to terms with it all...and grow beyond it. Like Xion had grown past being a tool, a Replica, and a "copy" too, in her own way now (and even kind of saw it as a source of pride lately, Kairi had noticed, at least in how it tied her to Even).

Good luck talking to little Kairi, though; apparently she'd been pretty quiet lately, most of the time. Maybe she was just confused and lost, or maybe she was absorbing it all as best she could. Processing it. Dad had said Kairi had been the same way, for the first few weeks after she'd first shown up on the islands...getting her to open up and just talk had been a challenge, he'd said. Though-

Ugh. Kairi shook her head furiously, looking all around her - out across the grass. Across the forms and faces of all the others there.

She was supposed to be here today to get away from worries! They all were.

And also for something else - something more basic.

"Hey!"

Kairi turned, seeing Sora standing there. He dropped down right beside her - and held out a nice sandwich to her.

She smiled at him and took it, taking a bite immediately. "Thanks! This is good."

"Yeah, they are," he said, smiling too. "So is this," he added, gesturing up at the sky - at the world in general. "The view's incredible out here. You were never kidding around, when you said your homeworld used to be something."

"I wasn't," Kairi agreed, with a soft laugh. "I never thought I'd get to see it again this way..."

"What do you think it was that did all this?" Sora said casually, leaning back on his hands and looking at her. "I mean, not just restoring your world, but Riku's sight, too..."

"Well it obviously wasn't me," Kairi said, with another laugh. She leaned back too, raising her free arm to point up into the blue sky...beyond the clouds - to the giant Heart shape there behind them. "It was that, I think."

Kingdom Hearts.

With help from people here in Radiant Garden, and Terra over in Land of Departure, Kairi and them had all been able to work together to confirm...the strangest thing ever: Kingdom Hearts wasn't following her or anything - it was somehow just...present in the skies of multiple worlds simultaneously. Maybe all worlds, even; Terra and Ven had said they'd gone out to visit a fair few over the past few days...and Kingdom Hearts was just now always there, in every single one of them. Day or night.

Which people like Luxu and Master Eraqus had repeatedly also been pointing out was going to cause...change. To all the worlds. To the people that lived in them. Especially on the multitude of worlds that didn't even have a concept of other worlds. How would people react to the ever-present Heart-shaped moon? A sign of an apocalypse, or just a bad omen? A product of an enemy, or an experiment, or magic gone wrong? A sign from or a representation of an actual god or goddess...? Was that even too far off the mark, with what Luxu and Eraqus had said about the thing - that most people who knew the legends about it believed it was some primordial origin point for the whole multiverse and all the people living in it? The thing that the Realm of Light and all life had spawned from...?

It was definitely going to change things - not for all good, no, but...hopefully not for all bad, either. A mix of both.

One change that might definitely be bad was...well, Luxu had said there were going to be a lot of people wanting to try and take it for themselves, whether they understood it - or how to even do that - or not. And considering everyone in Radiant Garden had confirmed they'd heard Kairi's heartfelt bid for help in restoring Kingdom Hearts from the depths of the Dark Realm...considering just how many other portals and lights had come to answer the call...

Kairi couldn't actually disagree with Luxu's cynicism this time; it was likely the entire multiverse knew she was the reason for Kingdom Hearts being here now, again - and thus...also that coming after her was going to be anyone's best bet at obtaining control over Kingdom Hearts and its power.

Even if she really didn't have the X-Blade anymore, she doubted anyone else was ever going to believe that...

Which...was going to be a massive pain in her ass moving forward. A lifelong, sharp, stabbing ass-pain!

Why did she do these things to herself, really? Why did she do these things, plain? Why?

Spur of the moment, impulsive stupidity - that's why! Except this time it might have just screwed her entire-

"Kairi? You okay there?"

Kairi startled. She blinked. She shrugged, smiled, and quickly took another bite out of her sandwich. "Fine, Sora! Sorry! I was just thinking about everything..." She paused, gazing at Sora, biting her lip now. "As to your question, though: I asked it for help, and when it did, I gave it some help in return - we all did. And it looks like that was enough for it to escape the darkness, and be here with us again. So I think maybe...restoring Radiant Garden, giving Riku his eyesight back - maybe that was its way of saying thank you."

"That's a pretty amazing thank you," Sora said happily. He hesitated, glancing over at her again. "Annnd...what about that girl you saw - when you disappeared up there? How do you think she figures into all of this? I mean...do you think she- she could have been like...like that Ozma girl you mentioned was for the Ultima Weapon...? But - you know - for Kingdom Hearts itself...?"

"No," Kairi shook her head. "I think she was something different. I think...the way she made me feel, how my Heart reacted to her...I don't think it's a coincidence that Hikari finally woke up inside of me immediately after that."

"So you think she was someone Hikari knows...or, knew?"

Kairi nodded, smiling. "Mhm. No idea what the connection is, but - they were close. Those feelings I had, if they were Hikari's...it was someone she lost a long time ago, and hadn't ever seen again - until that moment. She was weeping for her."

"Wow...buuut - the way you met her, how you saw her in whatever that place was..." Sora started slowly, hesitating again.

Kairi looked at him again. She held his gaze. Her lip trembled slightly. "Yes...I- I think she's g-gone," she whispered out. "She's somewhere else now - like Erin was, I think. But...different, at the same time. Maybe...where we all go."

"Yeah...maybe...but then again, some of us come back," Sora said lightly, pointing out across the grass - to where Amaya was sitting, with both Skuld and Ephemer (Amaya's Chirithy companion, Star, was curled up next to Amaya in the grass).

"Maybe - maybe some of us, or maybe we all do, and we just don't know it," Kairi shrugged. "I don't think even she has the answer to that one."

"Probably not," Sora agreed. He gave a little frown, then went on with, "And - what about...what you said she asked about? About the Princesses?"

"I don't know," Kairi sighed. "Everybody from Luxu to Terra says it makes no sense and in every legend or story it's always been seven and only seven. On all worlds, across all time, that's consistent. It's never once been any different."

"But...you still think there's something to it," Sora remarked.

"I do." Kairi said simply. "Call it Princess's intuition," she added, with a little grin. "I just feel like...yeah, like there is something to it. It makes no sense, it goes against a millennia of knowledge and stories, but...I can just feel it somehow." She sat in silence for a minute, then shook her head. "Anyways, hey, this isn't the kind of stuff we should be talking about right now, is it? This isn't sandwich conversation!"

"Hehe, sorry!" Sora laughed, then sat up straight and set his hands in his lap. He turned away from her - looked away, suddenly. "Maybe instead we could talk about..." he began, a strange note to his voice.

"What?" Kairi said.

Sora turned back to her - revealing a blushing face. He reached up to scratch his cheek. "Uhhhh...weeeeellllll...when you came back from being trapped inside the Ultima Weapon."

"Oh." Kairi breathed. "That!"

"Yeah...is it- okay if we do? It's been a couple of days, and-"

"Sure! It's cool! If you want to talk about it - or need to-"

"I mean, not- need, just-"

"I probably should have said sorry way earlier!" Kairi blurted, looking away as her face grew warm.

Sora blinked at her, puzzled. "Huh? Why?"

"Well, because I just kind of laid it on you, you know?" Kairi went on firmly, glancing back at him from under her bangs. "In the most out of nowhere, inappropriate situation ever! And-"

"Well, it was kinda unexpected, sure, but I didn't mind it!" Sora said swiftly. "I thought we already knew how we felt about each other - right? It wasn't that big of a surprise for me, Kairi. Annnnd if it was what you needed to come back to yourself, then how can I ever be upset with you about that?"

"Because I probably could have done something besides planting a kiss on you without asking!"

"Maybe - but it doesn't bug me, so- you don't have to freak out about it, Kairi, okay? Have you been worrying about it these past few days?"

"Yes! My dad and your mom would both say it matters, you know! It's not just- boy to girl, it's- I should have-"

"We were in an emergency...life or death situation! It's not that serious! Come on, Kairi!"

Kairi snorted to try to hide a giggle, covering her mouth and falling back onto the grass.

Sora laid back with her, turning his head to look at her still. "You really don't have to worry about it..." he said, suddenly quiet, and more serious. He paused, then gave a wide grin as he added, "I kind of liked it, you know."

"Did you?" Kairi said, slowly lowering her hand.

"Duh!" Sora laughed. "What? Want me to prove it to you?"

"Oh? How would you do that?"

"Well...I mean, if you're so worked up about it, you could ask me...you know...if you could do it again? Then I could tell you how I feel about it?"

"Wow! Smooth, Sora! You really know how to secure a kiss out of a girl."

"Hey, it's my first time trying!" Sora joked.

"Well, I guess, as far as first times go...it wasn't bad. In fact, it just might work."

"Really...?"

Kairi grinned at him now. She scooted closer to him and rolled onto her side, propping herself up on an elbow. "Maaaybe..."

"Go on then, ask me!"

"Hehe...okay! Ahem: would it be okay with you if I...kissed you again? Properly this time?" Kairi said quietly, gazing down at his face.

Sora pushed himself up as well, gazing into her eyes now, level. Direct. Close. He gulped audibly. Then he nodded and smiled at her. "Yeah...I mean - yes. Definitely - fully yes!"

"Thank you. Okay...then..."

Kairi reached up to touch his cheek. His spikey locks of hair hanging down. Then, she leaned it, and she just - did it.

Kissed him.

Again.

She kissed Sora.

Her Sora!

And oh god all the feelings and sensations that filled her Heart, her stomach, rushed through the rest of her body and up her arms and all of it was just so, so-

So completely and totally inappropriate for a public place with like two dozen people watching her - yes, remember where you are, remember that you can't just jump on him and grab him by the face and just totally go full Selphie-approved steamy romance novel-

Kairi pulled away from Sora with the most supreme act of willpower she had ever had to conjure in her entire life, gasping breathlessly in the aftermath!

Sora was just as flushed and breathless as she was, staring at her with wide eyes of fluttering pretty lashes and-

"Eugh, someone please blind me again - I want to go back to when I couldn't see stuff like this!" a familiar voice said loudly, making Kairi and Sora both jump.

"RIKU, YOU-!" Kairi started, whirling and scrambling in the grass. She glanced down at her hand, then picked up and chucked her smooshed sandwich at Riku as hard as she could!

"H-hey! I waited until you guys were finished to make the joke!" Riku exclaimed, backing away with raised hands. "I could have interrupted you guys - spoiled your big moment!"

Kairi froze. She eyed him critically, up and down. She glanced at Sora. Back to Riku again. "Ooookaaay - point..." she said slowly. "Thank you...?"

"You're welcome," Riku said, lowering his hands and giving a small, awkward grin. "It was about time, you know, you two."

"Now I feel really bad about throwing that sandwich at you..." Kairi murmured, blushing and looking down. "That's actually really cool of you, Riku."

"You think?" Riku said, voice genuinely surprised.

"Yup. But now it's just getting awkward..." Kairi trailed off.

"Hah. Alright. Well, don't let me get in the way of things."

"There's nothing to get in the way of! It was just- one- one!" Sora said swiftly, stammering. "We're- done now! Right, Kairi?"

"Yeeaaaah..." Kairi dragged the word out, strained and flushing still. "We're...totally done now. One and done..."

"Cool," Riku said flatly, turning and stalking away.

Kairi raised her head, looking at Sora.

Sora looked at her.

"You didn't really mean that about one and done, did you?" Sora began.

A grin grew on Kairi's face, slowly. "Only if you don't."

"I wouldn't say no to it happening again," Sora said almost instantly.

"Then it'll probably happen again," Kairi confirmed. "Later!"

"YES, AWESOME!"

Kairi blinked at Sora. Then she burst into giggles. "it was- pretty awesome, wasn't it?" she agreed, through her fits of high laughter.

After her recovery, she sat up again, taking another look around.

Terra was talking to Lauriam and Strelitzia (the two siblings both rather more subdued than usual); Ven was grinning and laughing about something Yuffie said; Elrena was kind of just off on her own; Invi and Ira were sitting together, with the former leaning against the latter's shoulder, her long lavender hair fluttering in the breeze; Aced was seemingly trying to cajole Master Eraqus into a sparring match; and Gula, the last of the Foretellers, was having a low conversation with Aerith.

Ven's Chirithy partner, Moon, was still snoozing under the food table, flat on her stomach.

Young Xehanort was sitting with his knees drawn in, an arm resting across them, watching everyone else too. He was sitting beside Moreth. They weren't touching or anything - but, Kairi thought that the mere fact that the guy had chosen to sit right next to her, that close to her at all, said something pretty significant all by itself...didn't it?

Xion, Roxas, and Lea were sitting together, as well - eating in some super comfortable, super silence. It made Kairi smile to see it.

Lea's friend, Isa, much like Elrena, was sort of just standing stiffly off on his own, looking either really out of place or really uncomfortable (she guessed he wasn't much of a social gathering type of guy). Kairi watched him - and Elrena - and then she saw the two look over at each other and lock eyes for a moment. Then Elrena huffed and turned her head away pointedly; Isa sighed, looking down at the grass and shaking his head. Awkward...

Erin was there, too, sitting with Urd, Vor, and Hermod - chatting it up, laughing and smiling, the four of them. The girl still had that long hair of hers now...though it was a lot more brushed and tamed now compared to when Kairi had first seen it a few days back.

King Mickey was talking with Tifa - while his court magician Donald was seemingly in a debate about magic and spells with Merlin. Captain Goofy of the Royal Guard wasn't here, though (apparently he'd had family stuff to do, back home on their world).

Which left-

A Light Portal burst to life in the grassy field, and striding out of it came the familiar figure of Luxu - youthful in appearance, but confident in movement (and a lot swifter and stronger now than a few days ago; he seemed to have healed up almost completely now, thankfully).

"Hey - I miss anything good?" Luxu spoke out, waving an arm vaguely and theatrically, a grin on his face.

"Well, you've been missing some pretty delicious sandwiches, if I say so myself!" Aerith said perkily, beaming at him. She pointed to the food table set up in the grass - an actual buffet table, more like, with how many people they had here to serve. "Help yourself."

Luxu gazed at her, then shrugged and slinked his way over to the table. "Don't mind if I do, then..."

So now they had Luxu here, Kairi thought. But they were still missing a few others - Leon, Cid, and Cloud, etc. Kana. Kana probably wasn't going to show up today, though, considering...

Considering that the woman had left Radiant Garden two days ago, despite a lot of people's attempts to talk her out of it, according to Aerith; Kana had taken the news about Even really hard, and had gone out to find him on her own. Yen Sid was trying to track her down, but...he had said she kept moving between worlds too fast to pin her down.

Kairi just hoped the woman would be okay out there by herself...

And then there was one other key, important person! Someone else who was also running late, like Luxu. Well, not that Luxu was late...more like he had actually been undecided on if he'd show up here today or not. But she was glad to see he'd decided to come! Now what about the other person...?

After getting himself a good sandwich, Luxu heeded Aerith's beckoning and went over to sit with the woman - and Gula.

"Nice world, huh?" Luxu said casually, dropping to the grass with the other two.

"It is," Gula agreed. He hesitated, frowning somewhat and looking down. "I wish Ava were here to see it - to be with us all. To see her Dandelions, and, soon enough...all the others from the war, as well." He paused again.

Luxu frowned, too. He avoided Gula's gaze just the same. "Yeah...she deserves to enjoy a beautiful day like this with friends more than any of us."

"Are you any closer to finding out what happened to her?" Gula pressed.

"No...but - I think there is someone who might," Luxu said slowly. "The Master."

Gula looked up sharply. "You think the Master would know what happened to her? But then, that would mean you think he had something to do with her strange disappearance."

Luxu smiled slightly. "Right on the money, Gula. He planned every damn detail of that war - in accordance with what he saw, and what he wanted to accomplish - and given that that also seems to have included actually ensuring the survival of both the Dandelions and the fighters in the war after a literal millennia...I think even I've gotta wonder if he didn't plan something for Ava, too. If he knew where she'd end up, or- if he was even the one to make her disappear for whatever reason. Maybe he needed her here, in the future, with us, as part of his grand plans. Or maybe not yet...but soon? Either way, it can't hurt to ask if he knows anything. Though, whether he'll give me a straight, honest answer about it is a whole other issue."

"If you plan to ask the guy about her, then you must know how to find him, don't you?" Aerith said quietly.

"Not exactly, not him." Luxu shook his head. "But I can pop over to that data world of his again where he's got Namine and force him to show himself to me - again. If he wants to keep her from us, he won't have a choice. So, I've got him on call, in a sense, at least for now. Maybe for one more time, before he decides to take other measures to stop me from 'getting in his business.'"

"You'd better use it wisely, then," Gula murmured.

"Trust me, I will," Luxu promised, his jaw set. "I'll ask about Ava, and whatever he says - if I can come back from it - I'll tell you, first thing."

"Thank you, Luxu," Gula said gratefully, with a small smile.

"Yeah...well-"

A new portal suddenly formed on the hillside - and Kairi turned swiftly, hopefully, to see who she expected to see: Aqua! The woman stepped out onto the grass, stopping immediately as all eyes were drawn to her. She shied away somewhat, her cheeks flushing; those big, blue leathery wings of hers folded around her body like a shield (Kairi thought it was cute!). She wasn't alone, though: behind Aqua, out of the swirling portal, another woman emerged! A woman who was tall, and gorgeous, with a pale skin color, as well as long, shiny black hair and red eyes.

"Sorry for being late - and sorry if this counts as party-crashing..." Aqua spoke hesitantly. She turned to look at the other woman - her friend? "This is Natsumi - she's a- f-friend, from my...h-homeworld," she added, stammering over herself. "I hope it doesn't bother anyone that I brought her..."

"Not at all," Terra said, getting to his feet and walking over to Aqua. He smiled at her, then nodded to the other woman. "It's good to meet you - Natsumi."

Natsumi inclined her head back at him, graceful and slow. Her red, bright lips curved back at him, too. "It's a pleasure to meet you, as well, Keyblade Master Terra. Though, I freely confess the only reason I came here today was the allure of getting to see another world," she spoke easily, with amusement and yet confidence, despite the blunt words.

Terra just laughed, nodding again. "Understandable. I won't begrudge you that. But I do hope you'll end up sticking around because of the people, instead of the world."

"Oh, I'm sure I will," Natsumi replied, giving a long, roaming look around the area - her eyes flickering from one face to another.

"Well, I'm glad to have you here," Terra stated - looking at Aqua directly, alone, now. "Help yourself to some food and find a place to relax."

"Thank you..." Aqua murmured. She glanced over at Natsumi, then stalked off toward the food table, her long tail whipping about behind her, swishing a shroud of blue flames at the end of it!

Kairi watched her former Master as she got some food for herself and her friend - watched as the two women sat down together in the grass. Watched, as, after a minute or two, Aqua seemed to start to relax - and then turned toward Ms. Natsumi, and took her hand in hers, in the short space between them! Kairi beamed at the sight (then quickly looked away as Aqua gave a flushed, nervous glance around her - so clearly self-conscious!). And Kairi was not going to ruin it for the woman!

She was just happy for her - really happy - for her old Master, and woman she could call a friend.

She was happy for the Two-hundred odd Dandelions, too: some were at Land of Departure now, a few were over at Yen Sid's tower, a lot of them were even here on the world of Radiant Garden, but the majority were being found a place on Mickey's world - the mouse king had made good on his promise, pretty quickly. At least for them - bringing back and sorting out all those Keyblade War fighters was still...a much more extensive task that was still on the horizon. Kairi hoped the Dandelion kids were taking it okay; it couldn't be easy to just sit tight and wait for all your missing friends and even family to come back to you. Luxu and Mickey and the other adults were all adamant that this couldn't just be rushed, though...it was going to take a month or two before they would be ready for it.

Especially Luxu, on that point. He was...the lynch-pin here, after all. And he had said that, without Namine to help out here, it was going to be a lot more...trying and uncertain, he thought. But he still thought he could do it, on his own. Just...

Kairi shook her head. She just hoped it would all work out for everyone.

Movement caught her eye, pulling from her thoughts.

Terra had stood - gone over to Aced and Eraqus, now.

"Anyone who wants to spar, feel free to join in," Terra was saying - waving a hand and calling out across the field. "It's going to be a basic session - pure skill, no magic. Mark of Mastery style. We're still trying to take it easy here today, right?"

Amaya got to her feet and came striding over to Terra, her weapon appearing in a flash.

Terra turned to face her. "You want to get in some training?"

"I think I could use it. We all could," Amaya replied, with a small smile.

"Good point," Terra agreed easily. He considered her, "And seeing how well we stack up against each other can help us better figure out how we'll all work alongside each other - discover our strengths and weaknesses - against any new enemies out there...or old ones."

Old enemies - like Ansem, or Xemnas, or...even the old man, Master Xehanort himself (the one Terra, Ven, and Aqua had fought before). The old man who had vanished from his prison, somehow, without the key, it had been reported by Eraqus after the battle; he'd gone back to Land of Departure and just...found the old man gone. It alarmed Kairi as much as it infuriated her - and she would have expected the Keyblade Master to be in a similar state at the miraculous escape of his prisoner, but...the old Master just seemed tired and sad now.

Yen Sid hadn't even been able to find the older Xehanort, either; apparently whatever tracking spell they'd had on him was gone now, too...

"Mind if I joined in, too?" spoke Ephemer, standing and coming over to Terra. "It's been a while since I used a Keyblade - the attack on this world was the first time in a really long time - and I have a feeling I'll be needing it again soon."

Skuld stood as well. "And me? I'm not as good as I could be - the siege showed me I still have room to improve..." she spoke quietly.

"Sure," Terra replied, nodding.

Others asked to join in on the "sparring session", too, then - Luxu and his other three friends, Invi, Ira, and Gula.

Gathered together now, they all stood around looking at each other for a minute.

"Tell you all what," Terra began, clear and loud. "Since there's ten of us...let's make this a team based fight. Five against five. One side will get Luxu, the other can have Amaya. Then we'll divide Ira, Invi, Aced and Gula up into pairs of two - two for each side. Just to try and even out the levels of power a bit better. We don't want this too weighted in one direction."

Luxu shrugged, stretching and working his arms - cracking his neck audibly. "Whatever you want, dude."

After of arguing over team compositions, the final versions were:

Terra, Skuld, Ira, Gula, and Luxu - versus Ephemer, Invi, Aced, Amaya, and Master Eraqus.

"Hey - hold up - I'm tagging in!" Elrena's voice suddenly rang out, as she stalked across the grass. "I'll be on my bae's team, of course!" she added, sidling up to Skuld with a soft smirk.

"Sure - though now the teams are uneven," Terra said lightly.

"I could join you."

The older wielders all turned.

Xehanort had stood, leaving Moreth behind as he approached the gathering of fighters.

Terra gazed at the guy for a long, silent moment. He shared a look with Eraqus - then, he nodded. "Alright," he said, simple and even.

The younger Xehanort went and joined Eraqus's team (of course, right?).

After a moment of pause, Xehanort turned and looked at Ephemer. Stared at the young man, for a long few moments, intense and inscrutable.

Ephemer looked back at him, cocking his head. "Hm?" he said curiously. "What's up?"

"What's...up?" Xehanort said, incredulous. "The Founder of Scala Ad Caelum stands before me - and on top of that, according to her-" He gave a gesture to Amaya. "-I also carry your blood in my veins, and you ask me why I'd take an interest in you?"

Ephemer gave a small laugh, then flashed a grin. "Fair enough. I'm glad to have you on my team, by the way. From everything I saw during the siege, you're a talented guy."

Xehanort blinked. He glanced at Amaya. Then, Eraqus. "Well..thank you?" he said, embarrassed.

"Okay," Terra said, clearing his throat. "So, then, the final teams are: Me, Skuld, Ira, Gula, Luxu, and Elrena; and the other is - Ephemer, Invi, Aced, Amaya, Master Eraqus, and Xehanort."

"Why did you say my name last?" Elrena huffed, glaring.

Terra laughed.

"I'm serious, you ridiculously hunky bimbo!" Elrena exclaimed.

Terra laughed harder - so did a fair few of the others.

"Well, I think I can say that's a first for me in life," Terra said happily. "Thank you, Elrena."

"And come on, their team is so stacked!" Elrena went on. "They get Invi and Aced, and your Master? Who do we have?! Gula? YOU? We're losing this one!"

"I'm glad you're so confident in my abilities," Terra replied.

"And mine..." Gula murmured, frowning at her. "I was a Union Leader too - I'm not a slouch."

"You've always been a slouch," Aced said with a barking laugh. "That's why we're going to win!"

"Let's not get too competitive about this," Invi spoke up. "That's what started all of this to begin with."

"I'm sure he knows this is just a friendly match," Ira assured.

"At least pipsqueak-nort is on the opposing team," Elrena said, eyeing the young man with a leering smirk. "That's going to make this so much fun."

Xehanort stared at her. He looked to Amaya. He hesitated. He glanced at Eraqus, strangely. Then- "Protect me," he said dryly to Amaya.

Amaya looked back at him, surprised. Then she laughed, warm and rich and loud. She reached out and patted his arm. "Always, child," she said, with a dash of humor.

"I can't remember the last time I heard you make a joke," Eraqus said, eyeing Xehanort with delight on his aged face, making it look decades younger (and wiping it clean of the sorrow - had that been the point?). "You do still have it in you after all, don't you - old buddy!"

Xehanort gave a tiny, half-smirk. "Hmph...well, you looked like you needed it - this is almost as sad as you were after Baldr. At least you're not crying your eyes out every night over my elder self, this time."

Eraqus stared at the younger version of his friend, his eyes sparkling. His lips spreading into a wide smile. He stepped forward and clasped Xehanort on the arm, squeezing. "Thank you for trying to cheer me up. It's nice to know you still care."

Xehanort looked away, his cheeks flushing. "Don't mention it..." he said, in a murmur now.

"Well now, just in case - considering the volatile mixtures we've got here..." Luxu spoke, coughing. He raised a hand, and in a flash of light, a swirling, white crystal barrier dome appeared in the field around all the fighters. It was a generous hundred feet or more in diameter.

Kairi eyed them all for a moment, then turned away to Sora. "Hey, so, if they're all going to be busy with that, why don't we..." She gestured to her left.

Sora beamed, leaping up. "Yeah."

Kairi stood too, and they made their way over toward the group of Erin, Vor, Urd, and Hermod. As she walked, Kairi looked pointedly at Riku; Sora gave a huge wave, calling the other boy over loudly.

Riku pulled his hands from his pockets and came to join them with a shrug.

Kairi glanced over to where Xion was - still hanging with Roxas, and Lea. The girl looked pretty comfy where she was still...Kairi didn't want to disturb that. But there was one person who looked kind of lost now: Ven.

Kairi beckoned the boy, smiling over at him. Ven looked surprised, but then he grinned and came to join her and the other kids. Yuffie, consequently, threw up her arms and came racing over as well!

After a few moments of nervous shuffling and unsubtle glances, Lauriam's sister, Strelitzia, also came to join them all. Lauriam looked after her with a small smile on his lips, sitting back on the grass by himself now.

"Well look at all of you!" Aerith's voice came, suddenly. The woman strode over to them with a basket on her arm. She did a twirl and dug into it, and pulled out a...sports ball? And then several frisbees, which she tossed out onto the grass haphazardly nearby. "Looks like more than enough for some fun and games; you can't let the adults have all the fun, can you?"

Kairi and the others stared at the woman.

"Does she usually just carry around children's toys?" Urd said uncertainly.

"Probably," Kairi said with a giggle. Just to watch the other girl's reaction, really: the way her amber eyes blinked back at her was hilarious.

"Oh, you!" Aerith laughed, waving a hand at Kairi airily. She hopped backwards and stalked off again, waving back at them with a beaming smile. The woman went to Tifa's side, sitting down with her and sharing a brief kiss.

Kairi and the rest of the kids all looked at each other in the wake of the woman's departure - then, at the ball.

Sora lunged forward and seized it up in hand, tossing it up with a grin and catching it again. He got to his feet and held it to his chest, grinning down at everyone. "Hey, what's everyone waiting for? Let's play a few games! We'll do kickball - easy, right? We could even set up goals!"

"How are we going to set up goals in a grass field with nothing?" Riku said, rolling his eyes - but he was standing, all the same. The first to stand.

Kairi got up too, and the rest of them followed suit quickly.

The answer to Riku's question came in the form of Aqua.

Aqua came forward nervously, wings shuffling, tail flicking behind her - but she raised a hand, and with a flash of light, two half-spheres of blue crystal magic appeared in the grass, on their sides like tipped over bowls, and separated by several dozen feet.

"Woah - cool!" Sora said, beaming at Aqua. "Thanks!"

"Yeah - thanks," Kairi agreed, grinning at the woman. "I had no idea you could even do something like that."

Aqua flushed, but smiled at the praise, her eyes glistening. "It's only a little creative application of magic - nothing too crazy..." she said, all the same, though. "Enjoy your game," she added, before turning and going back to sit with her friend, Ms. Natsumi.

Well, before they could play, they needed teams, too, like the adults did. It took...probably a lot faster for the kids to sort themselves out into teams than it had the adults and their sparring session.

The teams ultimately ended up being: Kairi, Sora, Riku, Ven and Erin - and Urd, Hermod, Vor, Strelitzia and Yuffie. They'd had to divvy up the likes of Erin and Vor, because, apparently, according to Xehanort's friends...Erin wasn't the only one who had superhuman strength.

On the side of it all, Kairi observed Moreth getting up and going to sit with Lauriam, starting up a conversation with the man - though, Moreth was keeping her eyes on Xehanort, and Lauriam, Strelitzia.

"Kairi - we're gonna start now!" Sora's voice came. "You want to focus a little?" he added, with a grin.

Kairi huffed, pushed at her hair, and gave a grin back. "Sorry! Okay - let's do this!"

And so, the game was on.

It became apparent to Kairi, though, pretty early on that...winning wasn't going to be easy.

Even with Erin on her side.

"Time for our secret weapon - Vor, go for it!" Hermod called out, diving past Sora and tossing the ball at the petite girl in mid-air.

Kairi raced across the grass and threw herself at the girl, tackling her wholesale and taking her to the ground! "Got you!" she declared, wrestling for the ball the girl was holding close to her chest now.

Suddenly, Vor just- stood up, with Kairi clinging to her backside!

"Woah!" Sora gasped, hurrying forward to help take the ball...and stop Vor. Which...yeah...

Riku came in on the girl's right, seizing her arm. Ven stood in the girl's path and spread his arms to block her way toward their goal.

Vor almost casually threw out an arm, sending Sora sprawling - then she started to move forward, dragging Riku and Kairi with her like nothing!

"What the-!" Riku exclaimed.

Kairi let her feet hit the ground again and dug in her heels - but it didn't stop Vor! The other girl ducked her head and kept going, almost pulling Kairi off her feet now!

"How...is she...so...strong?" Kairi huffed, trying to get any purchase whatsoever here - and failing!

"I don't know - but don't let her...reach the goal!" Sora gasped, leaping back in again and trying to block Vor physically now without hesitation.

Erin suddenly came- flying in low, seizing Vor's leg, trying to weigh her down with her whole body weight.

Which also failed!

"Oof! I think she might be stronger than ME, and that's saying something!" Erin groaned, straining to hold onto Vor's ankle as she was now being dragged face-first across the grass!

"Pull harder...!" Kairi breathed to Riku, twisting and glaring at him. "Are you even pulling?!"

"I'm- doing- the best- I can!" he huffed, face screwing up as he dug in his heels and yanked on Vor's left arm. He kicked up dirt and grass as he dug deep grooves in the earth.

"I can still stop her from-" Ven started to assure.

His assurances meant nothing!

Vor suddenly lunged forward, dragging them all with her as she bodyslammed Ven, sending him flying backwards! She shook her arms and legs, sending Riku off to land hard on his side, dislodging Erin, and pushing Sora off to land on his backside on her right. As for Kairi...

Vor reached back with her freed arms now, seized Kairi's top, and pulled her up and over her blonde head and threw her away like a missile!

Kairi hit the grass on her stomach, skidding across it before coming to a messy stop. Her hair and clothes were full of dirt and green grass stains, now!

She raised her head up just in time to see Vor kick the ball straight at the goal, unopposed: the ball streaked across the field and hit the back of the barrier - shattering it completely!

Off to the side, Aqua startled and sat forward, staring with an open mouth. "W-what?!"

"Well, looks like we win!" Hermod said with a grin, going up to Vor and patting the girl's shoulder. "Nice work."

"It was really impressive," Urd agreed, smiling at Vor as she joined her teammate.

"With you on our team, there's no way we can lose!" Yuffie exclaimed excitedly, racing up to Vor and giving her a hug. "Those suckers are in for a long, never-ending beating! Hah!"

"I'm totally glad she's on our side and not theirs!" Strelitzia breathed with relief, pushing back her hair and smiling.

"Don't get too cocky," Kairi said, getting up and trying to brush herself off. She let out a woosh of air, rubbing at her chest. "That was still just the first round! Now we know what to expect out of her."

"Yeah - once we pull together, we're going to take this game back!" Sora agreed, getting up too - though, wobbling a little.

"Are you kidding? We got wiped," Riku groaned, sitting up and putting a hand to his head.

"Giving up so soon?" Erin said, pushing herself up as well. "Come on! We can still win this; get it together!"

Riku shook his head, then gave the girl a grin. "Right..."

They went again - and lost again, sadly. They won the third round, though! Lost the fourth, and the fifth...won the sixth, and then the seventh (barely, admittedly). If Kairi had thought her team would win on the athleticism and experience that Sora and Riku brought, well...that was a mistake; apparently, years of keyblade wielder training also made you pretty fit and agile for sports games, too. Who knew it was so widely applicable?

After the eighth game - which included the frisbees and some jury-rigged extra rules to go with them - Riku said he was done, and stalked off on his own. He climbed up the hillside, and sat down under the tree of falling purple leaves at the top.

Alone.

Kairi played another two games with the others before she called a universal break, and went trudging up the hill to check in on Riku.

"Hey!"

Riku looked at her, startling - then, away from her. "Hey..."

"Are you doing okay?" Kairi asked, falling down into the grass next to him. Awkwardly leaning against the base of the tree.

Riku gritted his teeth, screwing up his eyes...and shook his head. "I just-" he began, then stopped. "I just...MISS HER. And I can't stop thinking that she's really gone - just like that. I know, no giving up hope! But it's been days - she has dark portals, she- if she was really still around, she would have come back by now! She knows where the islands are, she knows where my house is, probably, too - from my memories, you know? And- she definitely knows how to get back to Radiant Garden. But she's still just...gone. So how can I not think she's just...just dead?"

"Riku-" Kairi started.

"Even if she is..." came a new voice, carrying up the hill. Kairi turned to see Terra striding up toward them (it looked like the sparring session had been ended, too, by now - or at least paused). "...then she sacrificed herself to save an entire world." Terra stopped before them on the hill. He knelt down in front of Riku, looking into his face. "She gave her existence to defeat a very powerful, dangerous enemy. Two of them at once. She never should have had to...but the fact that she did...I think it says all anyone could ever need to say about her. And that sacrifice will be honored by everyone, for years to come."

"Great...too bad she's not around to enjoy it!" Riku snarled, his fist shaking.

"I know..." Terra reached out to touch the boy's shoulder.

Riku shook his head and pulled away, leaping to his feet, gasping and choking, slamming his fist to his chest. He staggered down the hill, away from the tree. He grabbed his head in his hands and let out a guttural scream. A cry of pure pain, anger, frustration.

Everyone stopped and looked - kids and adults alike.

"SHE'S GONE - SHE'S GONE FOREVER, AND ALL OF YOU ARE JUST SCREWING AROUND LIKE NOTHING'S HAPPENED!" Riku shouted out at them all, swiping an arm. "I bet...you're all HAPPY she's gone! None of you even cared about her anyways, did you?! She was just some- monster to you! Just darkness! No big loss or anything!"

"Riku - I know you're in a lot of pain right now, but-" Terra started, coming up behind him again.

"YOU DON'T CARE EITHER!" Riku shouted, a dark aura flaring up around his body as he whirled around toward the man.

Kairi gasped, racing down the hill - but Terra put out an arm, stopping her.

Terra stood his ground, gazing at Riku calmly. "I care. And I'm so, so sorry that you might have lost a friend, Riku. And I'm sorry for her, that she-"

"AND WHAT GOOD DOES THAT DO HER?!" Riku yelled out. He turned, his eyes scanning the field - roaming over every person in it. "None of you offered to bring her back, nobody said a thing to me about- about using magic to try to find her, like that old Yen Sid guy is doing for Kana! Nobody is out looking for her, like your precious scientist, Even! And nobody said anything about pulling her through time, or- BECAUSE YOU'RE ALL HAPPY SHE'S GONE! YOU THINK THE WORLD'S BETTER OFF FOR IT!"

"If she's gone, then we can't bring her back without bringing back Maleficent - and that Ancient Darkness," Luxu spoke up, stepping forward. "And if we got rid of Maleficent, it'd just send her back, too."

"Bullshit!" Riku growled. "You don't care about her - you're real happy she's gone! Just another Darkness to cross off the list, right?! You can't even say her name! She wasn't even a person to you!"

Luxu stood, motionless, his face etched. Pale. Then he looked down and away. And then, he raised his head again, and looked Riku in the eyes. "Look, I- I'm sorry, kid - alright? We were all- I was wrong about her. She-" He stopped. "Cognis was different, in the end - she had something...something good in her, after all. But that doesn't change the way it works - you know Vanitas came forward with Ventus. So I can't just-"

"SHUT UP, JUST SHUT UP!" Riku shouted. "Nobody needs to hear more lies from-!"

"Riku..." a voice echoed - a girl's voice, low and hesitant.

Riku froze, suddenly, as darkness swirled in front of him like a miniature tornado.

The tornado receded, faded...and coalesced into a shape.

Everyone stared.

A dark, featureless human figure stood before Riku, rippling with purple fires in the light of day.

Riku gritted his teeth, his face twisting into an incredulous look. Disbelief, daring hope... "Cognis...?"

"Yes," came the simple girl's reply - in her familiar voice.

Riku gasped, staring intently, his eyes and lips quivering. "C-Cognis..." he breathed. "What're you- where have you BEEN?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE G-GONE FOREVER...I thought I lost you...!"

The figure's head tilted. Then, it fell. Had she eyes, she would have been looking at the ground at her dark, wispy feet. "I'm sorry - I have a very good explanation for it..."

"W-well, I'd- love to hear it!" Riku said, with a choked laugh.

"I was...entangled," Cognis said uncertainly. "I lost myself for a while...and it took longer to find myself again."

"What?" Riku said. "What does that mean?"

Cognis looked around at everyone. Then, just at Riku again. "After I left you, and invaded Maleficent's Heart in order to take control of her body - to cause some chaos in there," she began slowly, hesitantly. "the other Darkness...she didn't take too kindly to my presence. She...tried to do something to me, something even I didn't know my kind could do - not in that way, not...as a practical means of attack against another of us. It shouldn't have been possible for formless Darknesses to fight, but...she fought. She attacked me."

"Are you alright?" Riku said quickly.

"I'm fine now," Cognis said, just as quickly. Nervously? "At least, I think that I am..." She paused, then continued. "Just as my ancient forebearers once joined together to become a formless whole, she- she tried to...assimilate me. To consume me. Her mind, her will, her force of emotion and personality, and overwhelming, ancient memory...darkness wrapping around darkness, shrouding me, devouring me, bit by bit, taking- taking away from me. Putting...pieces of herself into me. It was so- it was confusing, and- terrifying."

"But you're okay now?" Riku said, more firmly. Alarmed now. "You're still you...?"

"Yes!" Cognis said, firm and swift. Assuring. "I'm a hundred percent me - there's nothing to worry about there! As I said, for a time, it was confusing, I was lost and afraid...but I managed to find my way out of it, and break free of her- essence again. I separated us once more, and I fled from her. I found myself in the Realm of Darkness, then; I spent a lot of time trying to...remember myself, might be the best way to put it. It took me time to recover, to...come back to myself, afterward. But I did manage to do it..."

"How?"

"Hm - you."

"Me...?" Riku said, confused.

"I thought about you - the time we'd spent together - the memories of yours I'd seen and learned from. The emotions your Heart held...and the things you've made me feel, even in our short time together so far. Having that focus, it kept me grounded - it allowed me to pull myself back together again. After that, I only had to use our bond to access your current and recent memories to find out where you were - and here I am," Cognis concluded.

"Right - okay," Riku grinned at Cognis now, stepping forward. "Well, next step is to give you a body again, because I seriously want to just hug you, and I don't care who even-"

"No."

"What? No...?"

"No," Cognis said again. She looked to Xion, for a moment. "There were some aspects of being human that I enjoyed - but others...I could tell they were just going to be irritating. I don't think I want to try it again just yet...to...commit to it so wholly, yet."

"But, Cognis, you-"

"Don't worry: I'm fine with being a freaky ghost - for now," she said humorously. "I...guess I just need time to...get up the courage," she went on, halting, admitting. "Please give me that time, Riku."

Riku sighed. He nodded. "Alright. Sure. Take the time you need."

Cognis's dark head turned, her face...facing Luxu. "Thank you for saying as much as you did about me just now, by the way - as far as eulogies go, it was more than I expected from any of you. It was kind of you, and I hope it was the truth."

Luxu's face twitched - his whole body ran through with a shudder. Then he let out a slow breath through his nose. He reached up and actually pinched it for a moment. Then- "...Yeaaaah...well - you're- welcome," he said, struggling.

Kairi smiled at the man, letting him see it - know it.

He flushed a little, looking at her in surprise for a split second, before he turned away and stalked off.

Cognis looked around herself, at all the others again. Her dark image shimmered with a light, and her silver-haired human appearance asserted itself - masking the true state of her.

"IS THAT WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE?!" Riku exclaimed, rearing back from her with his jaw dropped open.

Cognis tilted her head at Riku, blinking at him. "Ventus told you-"

"Yeah, he said it - but seeing it for myself..." Riku put a hand to his head, letting out a woosh of air and turning away. "Now that I even can see again - it's just w-"

"Oh, come on, Riku - she's cute!" Kairi said loudly. She smiled at the girl of darkness. "Having a cute new sister is nothing to freak out about!"

"And if I'm weird for looking like this, then so are you, naturally," Cognis said to Riku, in smug tones. "Seeing as I derived my appearance from yours."

"I didn't even finish my sentence! You can't use thoughts against me," Riku grumbled (or pouted, Kairi thought with a giggle). "That's not even fair..."

"He kind of has a point there," Kairi said lightly to Cognis. "Everybody has times where we think bad things - but it's what we actually say and do that matters."

"Hm...right, then. I'll cut him some slack there," Cognis agreed, with a small smile. "Now: is this a picnic, or a celebratory party?"

"Both," Kairi said.

"And am I...welcome at it?"

"Of course you are!" Sora, Kairi, and Riku all said, almost at the same time together.

The three startled, blushed, and shared a glance with one another.

Then they all laughed.

Cognis's face shined with a smile. "Thank you..."

---

Aqua stood in her old room at the Land of Departure.

She looked out the window, at the starry night sky - at the white moon gleaming...and the other moon. The blue, Heart-shaped one, omnipresent now.

She sighed, striding to stand before her full length mirror.

She examined herself, twisting and turning. She roamed her body with her own hands...

She dropped them, letting out a shaking breath.

Everything about her was so different, and yet her room was exactly the same as she'd left it...

Then maybe...

What if things didn't have to be so different...? What if...

Aqua looked at herself in the mirror once more. She reached up to touch her horns, dragging clawed fingers down along them, tracing the contours. She shuffled her wings carefully - willing them not to pop out and hit anything again (it was so embarrassing!).

She took in a breath, raised her chin, and spun on a heel and stalked from her room. She walked the halls of the castle, leaving the east wing's top floor and going down the narrow, spiral staircase to the lower one. She moved down the hall, past doors-

And the one at the end of the hall creaked open, a figure stepping out into moonlight from the windows on her right.

Aqua stopped dead - staring into the face of her former Master.

Eraqus gazed back at her. He looked her over - up and down. Then, he gave a small smile and a nod. "Aqua - don't mind me, I was just going to-"

"Stop."

Eraqus did stop. Immediately. He looked at her in silence.

A silence that held for a long minute of time. Then...

"I am sorry, Aqua," he said, quiet, gentle - emotional. "For all that I have done, for how I failed you - all of you. And...for what I couldn't do. But I am...glad...to see you like this - embracing your-"

"My what?" Aqua snapped. Admittedly, more harshly than she'd even intended in that moment. Just a little. "My true self?"

"However you see it," Eraqus said softly. Carefully. "With this form - and, earlier today, in Radiant Garden, with that woman...Ms. Natsumi-"

"I don't need to hear it-"

"-you seem happy," the man went on. "More happy, and more relaxed, than I can remember from you - save for rare times. And you've achieved that on your own. And that, I'm proud of. I know I have no right to...but I feel it all the same."

Aqua looked out the window, to the moon and the stars, her lips frowning deeply. Her Heart seizing. Fluttering. "...Thank you."

"If I could ask - were you simply going for a walk, or were you going back to your homeworld?" Eraqus spoke again.

"I do need to get back," Aqua stated, looking at the man again, reluctant. "There are things I have to do..."

"I understand. But I would hope - that you wouldn't mind coming back for a visit or two?"

"I..." Aqua started. She stopped, closing her mouth. She ducked her head. Then she breathed. "I can't make any promises - but I think I...wouldn't mind that. From time to time."

"Terra and Ven will be pleased - and so will your former apprentices, I'm sure."

"Yes..."

"If you'd allow me, Aqua, I'd like to give you a gift. You could consider it a...token of apology."

"What gift?" Aqua said, glancing up at him in surprise.

Eraqus gives a mischievous smile. "Well now...I'm aware that you have that artificial blade of the woman, Kana, still - but if you'd prefer to have the real thing again..."

"What? Are you saying you'd- but you always said you didn't approve of that practice."

"I have - and in recent days I've also realized that we could all stand to be a little more...flexible in our minds and methods," Eraqus replied. "So, if you'd allow it - perhaps just this once...?"

Aqua stared at the man. Then she nodded, stepping forward a little. "Okay."

Eraqus stepped forward as well, raising a hand. His palm showing to her. He narrowed his eyes in concentration...then, a light flashed in the dark, lighting up the hallway - and their faces. The light resolved itself into thin, twisted metal: a Keyblade.

Aqua took it from the man slowly, carefully, staring down at it intently. Examining it in silence. It was a long, thin sword: it had blue bat-like wings and a blue flame shroud on the blade's guard. There was a long, winding blue metal strand that wrapped itself around the blade like Christmas lights on a tree, starting from the base of the blade and going up to the tip. At the end of the strand of winding metal, parallel to the blade's end, there was a narrow, sharp arrowhead shape - like the end of her tail - giving the blade a two-pronged end. The keychain hanging from it...it was her blue Wayfinder, though now surrounded by a white, fanciful image of what she recognized to be Natsumi - in her natural form. A kitsune, curled up around the Wayfinder...

Aqua looked up at her Master, into his face, his eyes...her lips parted...

"Thank you..." she said quietly.

---

Riku walked through the portal of light, leaving the islands behind and stepping out into a...large, round office, or study room.

The star and moon shaped windows looked out onto a sky of blue and fluffy white and pink clouds - and distant mountain peaks...

This was the place, then - Master Yen Sid's Tower. Getting to see it for the first time now...he sort of found himself distracted by it all. Just looking around.

The old Master was there waiting for Riku, though - sitting at the desk. Patient, composed. A long beard of white, and robes and a blue hat.

On Riku's entry, Yen Sid rose to his feet, beckoning.

"Ah, Riku - thank you for responding to my summons so promptly. This will not take long."

Riku stepped forward, stopping before the desk. He looked down at it - getting a little distracted just looking at it. Then he flushed, shaking his head and looking up again. "Uh - right. What exactly am I doing here? Master?" he added, after a moment.

Yen Sid smiled at him, inclining his head. "Is the girl known as Cognis also with you at present?" he spoke, in a calm, neutral voice. Non-judgemental, as far as Riku could tell...

"Yeah - she's- she's always with me, now," Riku said, hesitant, still.

"Excellent," Yen Sid replied. "Might you ask her to reveal her presence to me? This will include her as well."

"Uh-"

Darkness shimmered beside Riku - resolving itself into Cognis. Her true form. But that changed, quickly, as it did now; she immediately cloaked herself in an illusionary image, of a girl with silver hair and dark blue eyes (yeah, it was still weird).

"Hello," Cognis spoke, simple and quiet, gazing at Yen Sid squarely. Her chin raised.

Yen Sid smiled at her, nodding to her. "Greetings, Cognis. It is good to meet you at last. I would like to thank you for the part you have played in assisting with the Nightmare threat - as well as your valiant actions during the battle against Maleficent."

Cognis's face showed surprise. Then, her expression shifted again - a smile coming over her lips. "Thank you; it's nice to meet you as well, Master Yen Sid."

"Well, we're here - so why are we here?" Riku spoke up again, coughing.

"Ahhh...I will not leave you in suspense any longer," Yen Sid said lightly. "I wonder, young Riku, if you couldn't summon your Keyblade for me."

"Um - sure?" Riku raised his hand, focusing-

"I do not refer to the Keyblade that once was Master Aqua's, of course," Yen Sid's voice interjected suddenly. "but to your true and original weapon - the Kingdom Key, if I am not mistaken?"

"Huh?" Riku stopped, staring at the man. "That- it's broken - Aqua..."

"I realize that," Yen Sid said, his beard twitching. "Mightn't you humor an old man, all the same?"

"Even if I did summon it, wouldn't it just be in pieces?" Riku said, unable to help himself.

Yen Sid stared at him in silence.

Riku sighed, glancing at Cognis. She shrugged at him, looking as confused as he was (figured, really - if she only had access to the knowledge he had, then she couldn't know what he didn't know...). "I'll give it a try," Riku said finally. He breathed in, then out, focusing on his hand. Focusing his mind on the image of that first, short-lived weapon...calling out with his Heart...

In two separate flashes of light, one after another, the Keyblade's remains appeared suddenly upon Yen Sid's desk.

Riku stared in honest surprise; he hadn't expected it to work at all. He looked at Yen Sid. "Alright...what now?"

"Now, with Cognis's help, we may yet be able to repair the blade, and even strengthen it," Yen Sid stated.

"WHAT? YOU CAN DO THAT?!"

Riku flushed as Yen Sid stared at him.

But the old man just laughed, raising a hand and hovering it above the broken halves of the Keyblade. His hand glowed with green light. "In certain circumstances, yes. Just as experienced, skilled Masters may forge weapons from the Hearts of others, they may also be capable of repairing or strengthening a Keyblade - fusion being the most common method. However, one may also add certain gemstones or other items to their weapon, giving it additional powers or abilities. The art of Keyblade repair, fusion, and upgrading is one that takes many years to even begin to learn, let alone master."

"But you've mastered it?" Riku guessed.

"Oh, I would never claim so," Yen Sid refuted, shaking his head. "But, I admit, in younger years, for a period of over a decade or so, the art did interest me greatly. It is something that also requires a great power and skill with magic, you see - and magic, too, was more my focus than the physical and practicals of combat and blade-swinging."

"What materials do we need to repair Riku's weapon?" Cognis spoke, a note of interest to her voice.

Yen Sid lowered his hand at last, and looked at her. "First, we will need another Keyblade to act as a base - the materials to fuse with the broken halves...and fuse them back together again. Secondly...well, I believe you, Cognis, possess all we will need to succeed in this endeavor."

"I do...?" Cognis said, tilting her head at the man. "Please explain."

"You are aware, of course, that Keyblades of darkness do exist as much as those of light," Yen Sid spoke again. "The dark counterpart to Kairi's blade, which was used to seal away the Door To Darkness in tandem with its light sister. Such Keyblades appear on the dark side of a world where a Keyblade wielder gained their weapon, if that world falls to darkness. However, even Keyblades in our Realm of Light may become infused with darkness as a means to empower them - creating blades in balance, of both the light and the dark. However, such practices are naturally spurned by most wielders in these worlds..."

"But not you?" Riku said.

"Certainly not," Yen Sid stated simply. "Darkness is merely one half of our world - and with rare exceptions, there is no separating it from light. It exists in tandem with light, in every world and every Heart. It is folly and foolishness to deny it, to shun it or to ignore it - to one's own detriment. One who has lived their life in light will find themselves weak in the face of darkness."

"Right..." Riku said quietly. "So-"

"Now, you may summon Aqua's Keyblade," Yen Sid said - was that a joke? He looked kind of amused, at least.

Riku obeyed, calling Rainfell to hand. "Okay - what now?"

"Now...we begin." Yen Sid waved a hand, causing the two pieces of the broken Kingdom Key to float up into the air - to hover in front of Rainfell. He looked to Cognis. "If you could direct your dark energies at both Rainfell and the halves of the Kingdom Key..."

Cognis looked uncertain, but then she nodded. She raised an arm, and dark energy flowed outward. Not some raging torrent, but a gentle stream of it; it flowed around the two pieces of Kingdom Key, and swirled up around Rainfell...

Yen Sid narrowed his eyes at the weapons, giving his hand another wave...then he closed his fist.

The two pieces of the Keyblade flashed with light, shuddering in the air - and Rainfell began to vibrate in Riku's grasp, too! The broken pieces of Kingdom Key drifted closer to Rainfell, those shining lights merging within a swirling cloud of darkness...and then a singular, great light of gold and purple flared.

Riku covered his face, gasping in shock. After a moment, the light faded; he let his arm drop, and stared at the weapon he now held.

It definitely wasn't Rainfell anymore!

It was the Kingdom Key - but it was different. The blade was now a deep purple, with a streaking pattern of gold and silver going up around the shaft like...like someone had smeared paint on it or something, almost? The handle was still black, but the guard around it was now silver and blue. The keychain was a...two-toned, purple and blue Heart with- stitches across it?

All in all, Riku thought it...wasn't bad.

He turned it this way and that, looking it over. Then he turned to look at Cognis, grinning at her. "Want to-"

"I couldn't hold it even if I wanted to," Cognis interjected, before he could even finish - a humorous look on her face, and note to her voice. "But, the offer is sweet of you," she added quietly.

Riku looked away quickly. "Right..." He breathed in, lowering the weapon, and focused on Yen Sid.

"Thank you, Master," he said, heartfelt, giving a respectful, full bow.

Chapter 75: Epilogue II: The Witch In The Darkness

"You are fading. Even the timeless nature of this place can't stop that."

Darkness gazed upon the dark witch's form - a wretched mess of tattered robes and burnt flesh, splayed out on the dark ground of the Realm of Darkness.

She felt the rush of satisfaction at the sight - this woman's fading flame of life. Why wouldn't she? She had extricated herself from the woman's body already, in full; she was apart from the witch, now, and so could take her time to watch her suffer...and die.

It was true that the other Darkness, the one calling herself Cognis, had escaped her grasp - but it didn't matter to her. That "Cognis" was just another...oddity, like the one that had named himself "Vanitas". But Vanitas had been one of her own - a sibling...a member of the original thirteen. And now...

Darkness cast the thoughts from her mind, focusing upon Maleficent again.

"W-what...are you...doing? Cease standing there and...assist me!" Maleficent's voice came, ragged, angry. Paltry. "Heal me..."

"And why would I do that?" Darkness responded idly. "You've been a terrible host, Maleficent."

"Wh-what? How- dare you-"

"Case in point," Darkness cut across, anger of her own seeping into her voice. Finding an expression...in expression. "After everything I did for you, all the efforts I went through to save you once before - what did I get out of it? What did you give me in return, Maleficent? I agreed to be your partner - your equal - but you've done nothing but snap orders at me and treat me like one of your piggish underlings! And worse still: I've been forced to contend with your pathetically inflated ego, which has only ever led you to ruin!"

Maleficent's eyes narrowed, focusing up at her - brimming with spite and seething hate.

"You never learn, Maleficent! You think yourself so clever, so confident and powerful - but time has shown you, time and again, that you are nothing but an insect in a world of giants. It's always the same: miscalculations and overestimations. This led to your demise before - that saw you trapped in your past, where we first met, and I had to shepherd you out by the hand like the useless creature you are - and it has led you to your demise yet again! Only this time, you almost dragged me down along with you - and that...is...infuriating. It's maddening!"

Darkness stopped sharply - stopped her tirade of words, of emotion, as well as dragged back all of her dark energies that had been expanding and growing, escaping her without her notice. She gathered herself again, quite literally, compressing and shaping herself into the humanoid form once more.

She stepped forward, and knelt down before the witch.

"How about this, Maleficent: if you can prove to me that you are capable of learning from your mistakes, and overcoming your own incredible, insufferable arrogance - I will do what I can to save your life once again." Darkness paused. "All you have to do for me...is apologize for the way you've treated me thus far, vow to do better - and then actually do better. You will apologize, you will treat me as the equal partner I am - with respect and due consideration - you will listen to me when I advise you to do something smart instead of something stupid, and you will ask me to heal you. I want to hear a 'please.'"

"...I don't- ask for anything - nor do I take orders from-!"

"Then your life ends here - for good this time. And all because your pride is apparently worth more to you than your very existence. What a pitifully self-defeating creature you are..."

Darkness let her visible form, the dark shape and aura, vanish - becoming truly, formless, invisible darkness, no different from the ambience of this realm itself. She became part of it, flowing upon it, drifting and spreading...she became the air and the world itself.

And she waited.

The witch cursed her, denigrated her. Spit at her and vowed petty vengeance upon her. But, eventually, such words faded from her lips - as life began to truly slip away from her weakening body.

Darkness simply watched. For a moment, or for minutes on end, she watched - until...

"P-please..."

Darkness coalesced, "standing" before Maleficent. "Please what?"

"...heal me - save my life again..." Maleficent said weakly, her yellow eyes flickering up to Darkness's shadowy presence.

"I want to hear you say it in full; I want to be sure we understand each other this time."

"Please...heal me..." the woman uttered, her eyes closing now, slowly. Patches of darkness grew on her body, beginning to slowly overtake her physical form.

"That's a start," Darkness said idly. "I'm still waiting to hear the apology - and it must be genuine. I will know if it's not - and if it's not, then, after I've entered your Heart, I will tear it apart from the inside out."

For another, long moment - or perhaps many minutes more - there was silence, broken only by Maleficent's fading, shallow breathing.

Maleficent's eyes opened. Her lips parted - closed. Then, trembling lips spoke the words. "I...apologize."

Darkness turned into a cloud of formless flames and energy tendrils, spreading out above the woman to block out the dim sun of the Dark Realm.

"We will see..."

Chapter 76: Epilogue III: A Stirring Across Worlds

Notes:

Okay sorry it took a few days for the last two epilogue chapters lol! They're also a lot shorter than I intended - becauuuse I decided to do some reshuffling and stuff due to how I want to begin the next book as a whole, and some changes I made to my outlines, so I don't have to try to cram so much shit into the ending bits here lol. xD I can just do some little teasing and let stuff kinda breathe again... :)

Enjoy the last two bits of BBS! <3

Miiight take a week long break between now and next book, maybe I dunno! The draft for it expires next Sunday lol soooo...kind of have a deadline here either way. :D

Mikala Orius Verne stood in the spacious, marble lounge, at the top of the tallest spire of his castle.

He crossed his arms over his chest, gazing out of the floor-to-ceiling windows that encircled the room, allowing a three-sixty-degree view of the surrounding cityscape.

But his eyes weren't on the little towers and buildings below him. No, all those weak little lights didn't matter to him in the slightest...

He had eyes only for one light.

The great, shining blue one in the night sky - shaped like a heart.

He smiled to himself, giving a little snort. He ran a hand through his dark, lusciously fluffed hair.

The thing had appeared just days ago - able to be seen from all the worlds spanning his ever-growing empire, or so it had been reported to him.

That damnable, ultimate light...the thing ancient wars had been fought over, to shatter the World!

It would bring war and devastation again, he didn't doubt that - but he was well and ready for it.

Although...it wasn't Kingdom Hearts itself that had him interested. No...there had been something else of even greater interest to him...

The message heard in the Hearts of people the worlds over, the image of a figure in mind's eye...

Red hair, blue eyes - dressed to kill...

A teenaged princess, holding the greatest weapon of legends and myths in her hand! Unimaginable power and control over all reality and Hearts (or so the legends said)...

...In the hands of Rynn's little brat.

It was the damndest thing, wasn't it?

The shock of his LIFE, more like!

He still couldn't quite believe it...

But come on - the resemblance was uncanny! He'd spotted it immediately, blinded and stunned as he was at the time. Irrefutable.

For all Rynn's faults, she'd been one hell of a looker, even at her worst!

And her- HIS daughter was exactly the same in that department!

Stunning, radiant, beautiful-

A Princess of Heart (like mother, like daughter, there, too), who had also wielded the most powerful Keyblade in all the multiverse! The PROGENITOR of ALL Keyblades! Somehow, she'd gotten her hands on it!

The strongest daughter for the strongest man.

No question about it: he had to find her - meet with her - bring her home! Start training her, teaching her! He had to learn everything about her, had to-

Of course...there was the little problem of the Seven Lights Accords, which forbid anyone, from any territory, from searching out and harboring any one of the Seven Pure Hearts - a necessity to avoid mutual and potentially universal destruction, as in the ancient legends; it was in no one's interest to actually have another full fledged Keyblade War on their hands - which also, naturally, extended to the X-Blade and Kingdom Hearts themselves, buuuut...

When that Pure Light was his daughter, of flesh and blood...his rights and duties as her father and parent (and King of a rightful heir) trumped all else in the World. Who could possibly deny him? Challenge him on that?

So...where to start?

The obvious place would be the homeworld of Rynn, of course.

He wasn't overly thrilled with going back to that Capital of Light again - he still had some bad memories in his Heart about it - but...

To find this kid?

HIS kid?

His true heir?

Forget Senna or June! They were proving to be huge disappointments anyways...

Hell, forget Linnea, if Rynn was still kicking, at least when it came to producing worthy, powerful children! He was sure he could find the right words to sweet talk his way back into her good graces, especially after so long...she'd probably forgotten all about that rocky little period in their time together.

Still, even if she had, he'd take it slow - feel things out first. No reason not to.

Especially if he wanted to keep his movements a secret from his enemies, and even his allies - and the secret of his daughter's existence itself.

As long as no one knew she was his yet...as long as no one ever learned about Rynn, either...

And he'd never said a word of it to anyone, since that day. It had been too infuriating, too embarrassing - to have been bested by a weak, half-dead-on-her-feet Rynn in that way! Almost damn near killed by her! If he hadn't gotten the finest magical healing treatments in all the worlds, within minutes of his departure from that world...

Infuriating, embarrassing - and yet...somehow a source of pride and admiration, still.

If he could just tame that wild woman again, bring her to heel again...he could even have a hell of a strong fighter for a partner - a queen. But not too strong, of course...and he'd still probably need to watch his back around her, give her a good reminder of who was boss every now and again (no need to go making the same mistake twice)...

Linnea was practically useless on that front - good for nothing but legal crap, paperwork, and day to day issues that all the little people of his empire wanted to yap his ear off about. After first yapping to the Advisory Council. Thank god for THEM; that was why THEY were there, too.

And, he considered, as he had a bit more, over the years lately...a strong and powerful daughter would make a strong and powerful vessel, when the time came to jump ship...

Technically there were a hell of a lot of bullshit laws and constitutions about THAT, as well - all about morality and ethics, yadda yadda - but if there happened to be some kind of an attack or accident, which happened to leave the body empty...it wasn't hurting anyone to put it to use again. Better to get some use out of it, really - like individual organs to be donated to the needy. In such specific circumstances, whole bodies could be up for grabs...donated to someone who needed it, legal and signed.

It was...something to think about.

But for now...

He had to track down the girl, herself. And he had to prepare himself to put his best foot forward - just as he had for Rynn, years ago. He had to go slow, handle this situation with some real finesse; he needed to scope things out first, learn who his daughter was, what her life had been like, and how she had come to acquire the X-Blade. Because if she had the X-Blade...force would probably only cause things to go badly for him - like it had with Rynn, the last time they'd seen each other. He'd lost his cool, made a huge misstep, he knew that! And he'd payed for it damn good, for a long time. Enough to really put his life into perspective.

He wouldn't make that mistake again, with his daughter.

But, given time, and the right words, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that he could entice his daughter into the proper way of life - into ascending up from whatever ordinary little life Rynn had her living all these years. The girl had somehow found her way to the X-Blade, to commanding Kingdom Hearts itself, after all! She was clearly destined for so much more! She just needed a guiding hand, that was all...the hand of a father.

And if she proved to be a little more reluctant about the idea...well, he'd take no real pleasure in finding a way to force her to accept her rightful place, her true destiny and birthright. Get that X-Blade from her, or get the proper leverage over her - there was always something. And some things...just had to be done. Lessons had to be learned the hardest damn way. He knew that all too well, himself: his own parents' brutal training sessions and lessons spoke for themselves. Oh, he'd hated them all at the time - but looking back now...what could he say? They'd made him the man he was today. A strong, powerful, assured leader of an entire empire! It wasn't a job for the faint of Heart - the meek, or the weak. You had to be commanding, powerful...and at the top of your game.

His wayward little girl might hate them just the same - might even hate him - but in time, he was sure she'd come around, just as he had. It just might take a while...

Patience and time - those were going to be the key here...

---

Merron raced through the tall grass as the hover skiffs flew low and fast behind her.

They overtook her, swinging around, the scumbags aboard aiming rifles and pistols at her!

She stopped in her tracks, facing those barrels down.

"You gave us a good chase this time - but you'll never get far enough away," the human's rough voice called out. Taunting her. "We'll always find you, my little pet. And now that we found you again...time for your punishment. Hopefully it will make you think twice about doing this again."

Merron stepped back, shaking her head, curling her fists. she swallowed hard, willing her body not to shake.

She used to be strong - powerful - flying through the darkness, devouring anything in her path! She was free, she was EVERYTHING...and now she was nothing.

Nothing again - because of her. That girl, that princess: Kairi! Her and her little friends had taken it all from Merron! Taken away her power, her safety, her wonderful dream...

it was worse now than ever before, though, wasn't it? She wasn't some girl on some boring planet anymore - she was the plaything for thugs and monsters. Bandits and pirates. Living in a cage, being flown from one planet to the next...

No way to escape it. No way out.

Those Heartless had given her power and freedom before - but they weren't around anymore. Nowhere to be seen.

Why?

Because of Kairi! She'd destroyed them all, taken them all away from Merron!

And Merron was stuck now, in this powerless, weak little body...

She couldn't do a damn thing - much less kill these pirates, or destroy their ships! Oh, but if she had still been what she once was - what the Heartless had made her - she would have! She would have eaten them, she would have ripped their ships in half and smashed them against the cliffs, or thrown them into the oceans! She would have watched them sink, burn, turn to nothing as she watched from above! She would have crushed them in her claws! And then she would have gone on to rip and tear at everyone and everything else in this world, for what she'd had to suffer through! And THEN, she would have gone out into the other worlds to find that bitch, Kairi! To snuff out her light little Heart and crush the place she called home, to make her scream and beg, to make her helpless and weak, until-

Red, shining flames burst in the air in front of Merron, causing her to shriek - and the pirates to fire!

The electrified laser beams shot out for her-

Merron fell back and threw her arms up over herself futilely-

But their shots didn't hit her.

She felt a wash of heat and some strange pressure - she heard their voices crying out - and then came the heavy thuds.

Merron lowered her arms, and she stared with a slack jaw.

The pirates' boats were upended - one on its side, the other, upside down. The pirates themselves were strewn about the grass before Merron...their bodies shimmering with red flames.

In front of Merron, a swirling orb of red fires suddenly morphed into a...a sword of some kind?

A weapon?

A burning, strange-

The weapon suddenly pulsed, the air warping, as something washed over Merron - reached deep inside of her...

Tendrils of red flames shot out of the weapon, touching each of the pirates; they immediately began to...disintegrate? Into particles of orange light. Those particles flew toward the strange sword, disappearing into it.

Merron stood slowly, staring around herself, shaking. She looked to the weapon hovering before her.

The strange weapon that had...come to save her? Protect her?

A powerful - magical weapon, wasn't it?

Something from another world...

Something that might be...

The weapon pulsed again - as if it was inviting her...as if it was...

Just what she was looking for.

Merron moved toward the weapon, cautious and wary. Her fingers touched the handle...finding it warm, comforting. She breathed, and wrapped her fingers around it fully.

A light flashed out from the blade, blinding her - as a feeling of pure heat and power swept through her body!

---

Claudia hovered through the air, leaving her bedroom behind in favor of the balcony under starlight.

Under moonlight.

Her long, white hair hung behind her - and her long, red velvet cape beneath her, draping across the floor.

Blackened arm sleeves ending in red, sinewy gloves rose up.

Eyes of yellow fixed upon the blue, Heart-shaped moon shining above.

She took in a breath, flipping over onto her side, setting her fist to her cheek and shifting her legs together in casual defiance of gravity.

How long had it been since she had last seen that curious, radiant thing? Since she'd first split off from the rest of the Darkness, becoming one of thirteen - or was it one of seven...? Seven within thirteen...? Such a long time ago now, she had almost forgotten, really...

But here it was again - with all the other memories it brought to mind.

She exhaled slowly, closing her eyes, letting her red lips curve into a frown.

Things were about to get...annoying, weren't they?

Notes:

Annnd that wraps up Warrior Princess Birth By Sleep! We're DONE lol! Yaaaay! :D Super excited for the future though! We got PLACES to go and things to DO I am so hyped for. <333

Also...the character in the last segment here is actually a Final Fantasy character in disguise. Five points to Gryffindor if you can guess who she is lol! ;) Cause you know, I still do want to use FF characters in my universe more than canon does...and it just fit so scarily perfectly...

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 6 of Warrior Princess Series