A/N: Okay, here we go! This is the reboot I promised! Not a whole lot will change in these chapters, but there are a few things that are different or added on.

As before, this chapter takes place two years before the main story, eight years after the defeat of Xehanort. Sora is 25. Alright, here we go!

Prologue

Sora ran through the streets of Radiant Garden as fast as his legs would carry him, his spikes bouncing with each step. Shadow Heartless surged towards him, beaten back only by his Keyblade. Riku and Kairi were right on his heels, and all three were panting from the speed Sora was setting, but none dared to slow down.

Leon's SOS had been serious. That was evident from the sheer number of Heartless in town itself.

The trio quickly left town, entering the path that lead to the Great Maw. The Heartless here were larger and wilder, forcing the three to slow down.

"Get out of my way!" Sora yelled, lunging forward, swinging Kingdom Key through angrily. The Heartless fell before it, and they were finally able to reach the Great Maw.

"Oh god…" Riku gasped as the three skidded to a halt, their eyes wide. Swarming before them were hundreds… no. Thousands of Heartless. They were huge, much bigger than the trio had faced in any kind of group.

"Sora…?" Kairi asked weakly, fear in her voice. Sora took a deep breath, before his face became determined.

"Come on. We have to stop them before they cause too much damage!" he said, diving forward. Riku and Kairi glanced at each other, before following him.

Riku and Sora fought in perfect harmony, their Keyblades rising and falling in unison, their backs pressed together, covering each other from all angles. It was like they were reading each other's minds as they fought, instincts honed over the many years of fighting side by side.

Meanwhile, Kairi supported them, casting healing and protection spells on the men, making sure they stayed healthy enough to keep moving. The Heartless targeted her a few times, only to get hit by a few well times spells from Kairi herself.

Aqua, Ventus, and Terra rushed through the streets of Radiant Garden, heading towards the Great Maw. Each were thinking about the SOS they had received.

"We should have bought them. The message said all available Keyblade wielders," Ven panted. "Besides, it would have been great experience for them."

Aqua pursed her lips, shaking her head. "No. They're not ready. Not for something like this," she said.

Ven glanced over his shoulder and grinned at the woman. "Didn't you think the same about me?"

"That was different! You're—" Aqua began hotly, only for the two of them to run into Terra, who had frozen just inside the entrance to the Great Maw.

"Guys…" he muttered, sounding horrified. Aqua and Ven looked around him, and their hearts crawled into their throats.

"Maybe you were right…" Aqua muttered in a halting voice.

Ven summoned his Keyblade, gripping it tight. "No time for that now," he said, diving into the surging mass of Heartless. Aqua and Terra glanced at each other, before summoning their own Keyblades and diving after him.

Ven darted through the Heartless, his Keyblade flashing as he struck quickly at each one. Meanwhile, Terra's long, sweeping blows took out waves at a time, and Aqua's magic infused attacks danced around the two, taking out the ones their Keyblades missed.

Roxas, Xion, and Lea rushed towards the growing Heartless battle, bickering with each other.

"I'm just saying, I don't think it was smart to leave them there," Lea said.

"It's not like they're going to blow up the town," Roxas countered. Lea snorted.

"You so sure about that?" he teased. Roxas rolled his eyes, despite the flash of horror that shot across his face. "No, what I'm saying is that they're going to follow us. You know they will," Lea said. "It's what we would have done, at any rate."

"I don't know. We haven't taught them how to use their gliders yet," Xion said.

"Seriously, have you two met them? They'll hijack the spare Gummi Ship," Lea said, looking at the black haired girl.

"But I have the keys," Roxas countered.

"Common, guys, this is them we're talking about. I wouldn't put it past them to hot-wire the damn—whoa…" Lea cut off as the three of them slowed, seeing the surging mass of Heartless before them. He glanced at Roxas, meeting his eye.

"We should have bought them," they said in unison, before diving in.

"I'm kinda glad we didn't," Xion muttered, following after them.

Using both Oblivion and Oathkeeper, Roxas surged forward, clearing a path through the dark beings. Xion stayed at his back, covering him, while Lea darted out in random directions, using a combination of his own Keyblade and fire magic to obliterate the Heartless.

At one point, a group of flying Heartless surged towards them, forcing Lea to launch himself in the air to take them out. As he flipped backwards to land on his feet, he spotted the two other groups.

"Sora's here," he panted, throwing his Keyblade much like he used to with his Chakarams.

"Good," Roxas grunted, blocking an attack with Oblivion. He skidded back a few inches.

"So is Ven's group."

"Great. We need all the help we can—ARGH!" Roxas dropped back a few steps as one of the Heartless managed to get under his guard, clawing his stomach and shredding his shirt to ribbons. Lea quickly destroyed it, while Xion rose her Keyblade, her version of Kingdom Key, into the air.

"CURA!" she cried, and green light flowed over the blond. He sighed in relief.

"Thanks," he said, before diving forward once more.

The most unlikely trio ran through the now deserted streets of Radiant Garden. The one in front was a young woman of about eighteen, dressed in black. Lines of blue light glowed throughout the clothes, and her short black hair bounced with each hurried step.

Just behind her was a boy, about thirteen, dressed in black and green, his hood up. Attached to the hood was a pair of black cat ears, and a fake tail swung from his pants. A messy tuft of pale blond hair stuck out from under his hood, falling into his eyes.

Bringing up the rear was another young woman, the same age as the first. She was dressed in a long red and gold Chinese silk robe, which she held up a few inches to keep from tripping on it. A red sash trailed behind her, and her long black hair was tied up into a loose bun, pinned back with a red and white lily flower hair comb. She looked between her two teammates and bit her lip.

"Um… I think this, uh, might be a bad idea," she said, her soft voice almost unheard by her two companions. However, they both knew her well enough to interpret her hesitant expression.

"I know they said to stay home, and that this might be dangerous, but I don't care. It's going to be AWESOME!" the boy cried, jumping into the air excitedly.

"It was illogical. The SOS said for every available Keyblade Wielder. We were available," the woman in black said reasonably, almost in a monotonus voice.

"Yes, but—" the woman began, only to be cut off.

"Don't worry, Mei! We can make it into a game! Who can beat more!" the boy said, slowing slightly to run alongside her.

"This is not a game, Chuck," the woman in black scolded.

"Oh, c'mon, Mora. You're just a big, stupid fun-burglar," Chuck whined, pouting at her. The woman in black, Mora, rolled her eyes, before turning to the entrance of the Great Maw, which they had just reached. She stopped, letting the other two catch up.

"Oh my…" Mei whimpered.

"I told you this WILL BE AWESOME!" Chuck yelled, his voice rising with each word until he was yelling. With a flourish, he summoned his Keyblade. It had a brown pentagon shaped handguard and a blade made of silver wire in the shape of a wooden toy sword. The teeth of the key was made up of five gold doubloons of varying sizes, and at the end of the chain was a small doubloon. Twirling the blade, Hidden Treasure, he dove forward.

Mei watched after the boy, fear and worry fighting for dominance on her face. She winced slightly as a set of claws just narrowly avoided him.

Mora, on the other hand, watched the battle through narrowed, calculating eyes. Finally, she reached back with her left hand, pulling a black disk with blue light free from where it was docked on her back. Her Identity Disk in one hand, she summoned her Keyblade in her right hand.

Mora's Keyblade, like her outfit, was completely black with light blue lines etched into it. The handguard and teeth of the key were identical to her Identity Disk, with blue rectangles of light arching off the teeth, and a rod connecting the two disks. At the end of a glowing blue chain was the ISO symbol, a circle next to a sideways 'T.'

"Mei," Mora said, readying her weapons, Identity Disk in her left hand, Keyblade, Dual Identity, in her right. The other woman turned to her, her eyes still wide.

"Yes?" she asked softly.

"Start summoning." Mora threw her Disk forward and dove after it, into the fray.

Mei took a deep breath, calling her own Keyblade to hand. The handguard was a delicate red petal shape, and the blade was a thin green rod. The teeth of the key was formed by a white and red lily, much like the one in her hair. A long, thin silver chain swung gracefully from the guard, ending in the same lily as the teeth and Mei's hair.

Gripping her Keyblade, Honorable Bloom, tightly in one hand, she reached into her robe and pulled out a charm. It was pink, with paler pink bubbles through. Taking yet another deep breath, she held the charm up.

"Morph!" she cried, forcing her voice a little louder. The charm flashed, and a small creature made of pink good and two large eyeballs flew from it with an excited trill. Mei held a hand out for it, and the anamorphous goo landed in her palm. With a smile, she nuzzled him against her cheek, before letting the goo fly forward.

Morph turned into a small sword and began slicing through the Heartless, joining Chuck, who was darting around and striking the creatures from behind, and Mora, who was flipping through them, her Keyblade and Disk spinning. Whenever one of her friends would take a hit, Mei would cast Cure. Finally reaching the summon time limit, Morph darted back to Mei, whipped around her excitedly, and vanished.

"Thank you," she said softly, before preparing to summon once again.

"Now that is a battle." Standing on top of one of the cliff walls hemming in the Great Maw was another trio. The man who spoke, a seventeen-year-old with the figure of a body builder, was crouched at the edge of the cliff, a fierce smile on his face. Just behind him stood another man who had the body of a lithe dancer. The second man ran his longer fingers through the first man's golden locks.

"You and your battles," he said with a warm smile, shaking his head, his light purple ponytail following the movement. The first man stood, glancing back at the second.

The last member of the trio, a young woman of nineteen, rolled her eyes at the two, adjusting her red fedora over her white and purple-tipped hair. She then eyed the Heartless below them.

"Are we sure we're ready for this?" she asked.

"I was born ready, Kaya," the first man said, his fierce grin still in place. He shrugged a large, bronze shield off of his back as easily as if it were a toy, and summoned his Keyblade.

The handguard was triangle in shape, with the blade of a gladiator's sword. A curved boar's tusk made up the teeth of the key, and a thick chain swung from the guard, ending in the constellation symbol of the Greek God of War, Ares. His hand clenched excitedly around the leather grip of his blade, called Boar's Tusk.

"Don't forget about us, Bion," the other mand said, summoning his own Keyblade.

This one had a round handguard with a microphone at the bottom, perfectly opposite of the slim blade comprised of a silver rod. Twined around the rod, starting at the handguard, were two black wires that formed a music note at the point, making up the teeth of the key. Next to the microphone, off-set in a unique way for Keyblades, was a silver string that ended in a single black music note. The man twiled the Keyblade, Silver Crescendo, in his hand so that he held it in a reverse grip.

"Never, Jasper," Bion said, before looking over at Kaya. The woman sighed at their obvious flirting, but summoned her own Keyblade as well.

The handguard of this one resembled the crest of ocean waves. The blade also resembled a wave, blue and spotted with small fish and starfish. The teeth was made of a closed, brown and gold treasure chest, and the chain ended in a tiny model of a three-mast galleon ship. She smiled slightly at the blade, called Mysteries of the Sea.

With Bion in the lead, his shield poised in front of him, the three slid down the cliff. He easily rammed the grounded Heartless that were on the slope, while Kaya took out the flying ones with basic fire and blizzard spells.

As they slid, Jasper took a deep breath, bought the microphone part of his blade to up his mouth, and sang, his deep voice resonating through the trio. His wordless song was fast, designed to get the blood rolling: It was his Battle Cry. All three members of the group glowed with a soft red light, and each felt their strength growing.

"It won't last long. Make it count," he told the other two as they reached flat ground.

"Right," they said. Kaya then turned and dove into the fray. Jasper smiled, they turned to Bion.

"Cover me?" he asked.

"For you? Always," Bion answered with a smirk, before turning his back on the man and raising his shield in a protective stance in front of the male Singer. Jasper smiled, a small blush racing across his pale cheeks.

"So not the time, guys!" Kaya yelled, having heard the exchange. Jasper blushed more, but cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

"All eyes on me!" he yelled, before beginning to dance. He twirled his Keyblade and spun, his hair and sash flowing with each fast movement of his Fast Dance. Power filled his two team mates, and suddenly, Kaya was moving a lot faster as she dodged and struck at the Heartless, using a combination of melee and basic spells.

Between her magically enhanced speed and her magically enhanced strength, the Heartless fell quickly before her. Meanwhile, Bion stayed firmly in front of the dancing Jasper, protecting him from any Heartless that came near.

Yet another trio reached the Great Maw from the path leading from town, the tallest member, a young man of sixteen with light brown hair, stumbling to a halt.

"Oh god," he gasped, his electric blue eyes huge. The shorter guy of the group, also sixteen, stepped forward with a grin, dropping his hand onto the taller one's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Collen. We can take them!" he said brightly, his purple eyes glowing with optimism. The taller one, Collen, turned and looked at him for a moment, before smirking and ruffling the boy's blue-black spiky hair.

"I know, Kai. It was just shock," he said.

"Well then, we better hurry," the last member, a short, curvy sixteen-year-old girl said, stepping forward, her long black hair swirling around her. She turned and smirked at the other two, her teal eyes narrowing slightly in challenge. "I mean, we didn't disobey our masters just to come watch, right?"

"Of course not, Gina!" Kai exclaimed, before summoning his Keyblade. The handguard, much like Kaya's Mysteries of the Sea, was in the shape of a wave crest. The blade, however, was round and brown, resembling the trunk of a palm tree, and the tip and teeth were formed by four palm-tree leaves arching off. Hanging from a piece of ship twine was a starfish. He twirled his blade, Tropical Breeze, and looked at the others.

Collen summoned his Keyblade. The grip was much longer than a standard Keyblade's, made to be a two-handed grip, with a thin, black hexagon shaped handguard. The silver-blue blade was also longer than a standard Keyblade's, curved like a Katana, and three crystals of various shades of pale blue and purple made up the teeth of the key. A silver chain swung from the handguard, ending in a small crystal. Collen flipped his blade, Crystal Breaker, over his shoulder with a smirk. "I'm ready," he said.

Finally, Gina summoned hers. It had a round light blue handguard with a yellow and pink seashell placed at the cross piece. The blade was much shorter than even Kai's, with the base a dark blue. The color faded to light blue, then to white at the point. The end of the blade curved into a half-fish shape that almost looked like half a heart, creating the teeth of the blade, and the colors faded from white, to light pink, to yellow. A small, yellow fish made up the keychain.

"Let's go," she said, gripping her blade, Healing Waters.

Collen dove forward first, sweeping his Keyblade from side to side with both hands, clearing a path. Kai ran forward, jumping over Collen and doing a front flip in the air, bringing his Keyblade down on the Heartless as he dropped onto them. Collen and Kai fought well together. Kai was constantly moving, ducking under the long horizontal reach of Collen's blade on instinct, while the taller bow continued to swing his blade at the Heartless around them.

Meanwhile, Gina clasped her Keyblade in front of her chest with both hands, took a deep breath, and started using one of her healing abilities: Pray.

As the group moved forward, they found themselves close to another trio: Mora, Chuck, and Mei. Despite the danger surging around them, Kai slowly found his focus drifting from the Heartless to Mora as she fough, her graceful body moving from strike, to block, to dodge and throw in fluid movements.

"Kingdom Hearts, grant us light to heal the battle borne wounds of darkness. Kingdom Hearts, grant us—Kai, stop getting distracted!—light to heal the battle borne wounds of darkness," Gine, who was right near the boy, chanted, not missing a beat as she reprimanded her team mate mid-pray. Kai jumped, not expecting that, and chuckled sheepishly.

"Heh, sorry," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head, before returning to battle. Collen, who had felt the pause in the steady stream of weak healing magic when Gina halted her chant, glanced over at the boy with a soft chuckle before returned to the fight, Gina's steady chanting keeping them strong.

By the time the Heartless were finally defeated, all of the warriors were exhausted. Most of them collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily or letting the healers of their team take care of any missed injury.

Collen, however, was not one of them. He stabbed the point of Crystal Breaker into the ground, using it to keep himself from collapsing, and limped forward, his eyes glued on the Dark Castle that stood stark against the sky in the distance.

"Collen?" a surprised voice called as he made it halfway across the Great Maw. He turned to see Riku sitting on the ground. Sora and Kairi, who were next to him, looked over as well.

"Master," Collen said, bowing his head in respect to his Master. "Sorry I disobeyed, but this is my home. I couldn't not come help to defend it," he explained. Riku glanced at the others with a sigh, before pushing himself up with a soft, tired groan. He walked over to the boy and crossed his arms.

"Kai and Gina came too, didn't they?" he asked. Collen smiled slightly and nodded.

"Yes."

"Called it," Sora said, putting his arms behind his head and laying back. Another soft sigh escaped Riku, and he shook his head, looking back at his apprentice.

"Where are you going now?" he asked.

"The Dark Castle. We need to see why the Heartless came, and why they converged on this spot. Right, Master?" he asked. Riku looked thoughtful, before nodding.

"Yes. Sharp instincts, Collen," he said, causing his apprentice to grin. "But I'm coming with you." A frown crossed the boy's face.

"With all due respect, Master, you're exhausted," he said.

"So are you," Riku noted, looking pointedly at how Collen was supporting himself with Crystal Breaker. The apprentice looked down, then chuckled at himself.

"Right. Touché," he said. Riku chuckled at him as well, and the two moved through the now empty Great Maw and onto the thin, winding path leading to the Dark Castle in silence.

It wasn't until they were deep in the shadows of the cliff walls on either side of the path that Riku broke the silence.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" he asked.

"Hm?"

"Since you've been here. Seen your home world," Riku clarified.

"Oh. Two years, since you started training me, Master. I mean, I love the Islands, but…"

"There's no place like home?"

"Yes."

There was silence for a few more minutes.

"I wish I could have seen you fighting today. It would have given me a good chance to assess your skills," Riku suddenly said wistfully.

"Well, Master, perhaps next time you could bring us with you," Collen suggested with a grin, not looking up at the man.

Riku laughed at that. "Fair enough."

"You should have seen us, Master!" Somehow, Kai had managed to retain his boundless energy, despite the battle. He now bounced over to his Master, Sora, where the brunette still laid on the ground. Kai threw himself down to sit next to him, while Gina, who had followed Kai, grinned, crossing her arms and looking at Kairi.

"Oh yes, Master. You should have. Collen was busy fighting while I kept their butts alive, and what is this bone head doing? Gawking at Mora," she said teasingly.

"Hey!"

Sora, who had opened his eyes and was listening, snorted, sitting up and putting a hand on Kai's head, ruffling his already messy blue-black spikes.

"We really gotta work on your getting distracted thing, Kai," he said. Kai pouted.

"Yes, Master."

"So what happened to you three staying home?" Kairi asked.

"Sorry, Master, but Collen was going to come either way, and we couldn't let him come alone," Gina explained. Kairi's stern face softened.

"Makes sense," Sora said, dropping his hand from Kai's spikes.

"We told you to stay home," Roxas said sternly as he, Lea, and Xion stood in front of their own apprentices, having found them almost immediately after the battle. Mora stepped forward, bowing her head slightly.

"I apologize, Master. I had read the letter you received and found it illogical for us to not come and help, when it asked for all available wielders."

Roxas sighed at his apprentice. "Mora, us telling you to stay put automatically made you three unavailable," he said. Mora frowned slightly, not seeing the logic in that statement.

"Oh come on! We helped, didn't we?" Chuck asked, his green eyes widening slightly. "You needed all the help you could get."

"He has a point," Lea, who had been listening with his arms crossed, said, glancing over at Roxas, who sighed. He then looked back at his apprentice. "So how'd you get here?"

"Oh! That's easy! I pick-pocketed Master Roxas as you guys were leaving!" Chuck said brightly, holding up the keys for the Gummi Ship that Roxas had been sure was in his pocket. The blond quickly checked his pockets while Xion's giggles grew into full blown laughter.

"Chuck!" Roxas gasped, before scowling at Lea, who was also laughing "Control your Apprentice!" Lea continued to laugh.

"Either way, they did a good job," Xion said, stepping forward and putting a proud hand on the shoulder of her own apprentice, Mei. "I thought I saw someone summon Bambi. Good job, Mei, she said.

Mei blushed brightly, but smiled and bowed. "Thank you, Master."

"I told you they were ready," Ven said with a grin at Aqua as those two and Terra walked over to their own apprentices. Jasper's deep voice, singing his Soothing Melody to heal their teammates, had alerted them to the apprentice's presence. Aqua watches as her apprentice finished his song, and the green light around those three faded.

"Yes… I guess you're right," she sighed, before frowning slightly. "But they still disobeyed us."

"Jasper looked up upon hearing those three, and bit his lip.

"Uh, guys," he muttered to his teammates. Bion and Kaya looked over, before quickly lining up, clearly more disciplined then the rest of the apprentices.

"True," Terra said to Aqua, "but every great story begins with a small act of disobedience. Right, Ven?" he said.

"Right," Ven said with a laugh as they stopped in front of their apprentices. Aqua shook her head the two two, before instantly going into mother hen mode.

"Are you three alright? No injuries?" she asked, studying the three of them.

"None I couldn't heal, Master," Jasper said. Bion and Kaya both nodded in agreement.

"You three just couldn't stay away, could you?" Terra asked, looking specifically at his apprentice. Bion grinned back.

"The letter said all available Keyblade Wielders, Master," the gladiator reminded him.

"And if these two were coming, someone had to come to make sure they didn't get themselves killed," Kaya said. Ven grinned at that.

"Wait, I thought that was my job as support," Jasper muttered, causing Bion to chuckle.

"You know, Kaya, sometimes I think you sound more like Aqua's apprentice then mine," Ven joked. And like that, the tension over the group was broken, and all six of them laughed. Finally, Jasped looked back at his Master.

"Master Aqua? We're not going to be punished for disobeying, will we?" he asked. The woman sighed.

"No, I guess not. But don't take this to mean it can happen again," she said sternly.

"Yes, Master," the three apprentices chorused gratefully.

"Oh, no…" Collen gasped. He and Riku had made their way through the castle to the Grand Hall, home of the Keyhole.

Neither expected to find the Keyhole open, with darkness pouring out of it. Collen looked up at Riku, his blue eyes swimming with worry.

"Master? What do we do?" he asked.

"Re-lock it," Riku replied, stepping forward and pointing his Keyblade, Way to Dawn, at the source of darkness. After a moment, the tip of his blade flashed, glowing brightly, before shooting out a beam of light. It sliced right through the darkness and vanished into the Keyhole. There was a loud click, and the darkness slowly faded.

"That should calm the Heartless down," he said. Collen nodded, and the two made their way back to the others.

"Master?" Collen asked, looking up at the man.

"Hm?"

"What could have unlocked that Keyhole?"

"Honestly, Collen? I don't know."

Master Yen Sid awaited in his Tower, King Mickey standing beside him. The nine Keyblade Masters, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Lea, Xion, Aqua, Ventus, and Terra were downstairs, on their way up. Yen Sid had called them here, straight from Radiant Garden.

"Gee, I wonder what's taking them?" Mickey muttered. Yen Sid smiled slightly.

"Their apprentices are with them," Yen Sid said. "I imagine they're telling them to stay downstairs while they come up here."

"Oh…" Mickey sighed. "I can't believe every single one of them has an Apprentice. It's been so long since there were so many active Keyblade wielders, huh Master?" he asked. Yen Sid glanced at his former apprentice and nodded.

"It has, though I fear this is a sign of things to come," the sorcerer admitted.

Before Mickey could answer, the door opened, and all nine masters entered, lining up in front of the desk.

"Well?" Master Yen Sid asked. It was Riku who stepped forward.

"With the help of our apprentices, we managed to defeat the threat to Radiant Garden. But… me and my apprentice entered the Dark Castle, to see what had attracted them there in the first place. It was the Keyhole. It had been unlocked," he explained.

"What!?" Mickey gasped.

"And we know the Princesses of Heart hadn't been used," Sora added, looking at Kairi.

"No, they weren't. All are safe in their individual worlds," Yen Sid agreed. "Which means, a new power must have been used. Are you sure it was the Keyhole?" he asked.

"Yes, Master. I… I'll never forget where Radiant Garden's Keyhole is." Riku glanced away slightly. Sora and Kairi looked at their friend in worry, while the other Masters looked away politely. Riku took a deep breath and looked back at Yen Sid. "Besides, I relocked it myself."

"Then it is as I feared," Yen Sid sighed.

"Master?" Mickey asked.

"As I was just telling Mickey, I fear the rise in Keyblade Wielders is a sign that something is coming."

"Something?" Terra asked. "Surely not something worse than Xehanort?" A collective shudder ran through the group at the mention of the man they had defeated eight years ago.

"No way! Nothing can be worse than Xehanort," Sora replied with a grin. "Right?"

"I don't know," Yen Sid admitted, standing and walking over to the moon shaped window, looking out at the star studded sky. "But more Keyblade wielders are appearing all over the worlds. Too many to train one on one."

"No problem!" Sora said with a grin, putting his hands behind his head. "We can each train more than one. Like…" He hesitated for a moment, thinking. "Like factions of some kind."

"No," Ven suddenly said, stepping forward. "I refuse to do that. Wielders should work together. Splitting them into factions, into Unions, feeds natural competition, which leads to disaster."

A heavy silence fell over the room at his words. Lea was the one to break it.

"So what's your, Roxas's and Sora's excuse?" he asked teasingly. The corners of Ven's mouth twitched, breaking him out of his serious mood.

"That's friendly competition and completely different than what Sora was suggesting," he said, trying to stay serious.

"Doesn't seem friendly all the time," Lea countered. Sora grinned.

"He has a point," he said, motioning to Lea. He then grew serious. "But you're right. I didn't think."

"You never think," Roxas muttered.

"Hey!" Sora gasped indignantly, turning to face the other blond.

"Hmm… how about a school type of set up?" Mickey suddenly suggested.

"A school?" Aqua asked.

"Yeah. Each of you can teach a different class, and share apprentices!" Mickey explained. Xion nodded.

"That would make them more well-rounded. After all, each of us have something different we can teach," she said.

"And teaching these things like a class would let us teach a larger amount of people at one time!" Kairi added.

"So, what do we call it?" Terra asked. Kairi stepped forward, pulling her star shaped charm from her pocket. Seeing this, Aqua stepped forward, pulling out her Wayfinder.

"You based that off of the fruit from our island, right? Off of these charms?" Kairi asked.

"Mhm. Because that fruit ties together destinies," Aqua admitted. Kairi grinned at her, and understanding dawned on Aqua's face.

"Paopu. Paopu Academy," she said.

A/N: Okay. Here we go. The end of the reworked version of this chapter. Hope you like the changes!

Kaya belongs to Wolfiered23

All other OCs belong to me