This is Part One in the Sentinels of Darkness series. This is the story on which the rest of the Series is based.

Enjoy!

I do not own Kingdom Hearts

Ruled by the Princess Lia, Kingdom Hearts prospered; but like all things, the peace didn't last. "My Lady," the Captain of the Guard entered the throne room and bowed, "we have visual confirmation, Abis is raising an army on the far side of the Dark Forest."

A young woman, dressed in pale blue with burgundy hair, pressed her hand to her chest. "I had hoped we were wrong." Her sapphire blue eyes shone with tears, then she took a deep breath and composed herself. "Alert the troops, Captain Rhys. We cannot allow Castle Destiny to fall."

"Of course not," Rhys agreed. "After all, this place is the source of all Magic." The man sighed. "With your leave, My Lady."

"Of course." The captain left and Lia allowed herself to shed the tears that had been building behind her eyes. "Why…? Abis… why?"

All too soon, Lia was garbed for battle and standing with her army on the Plains of Netral. She daren't let Abis get too close to Castle Destiny. Her eyes widened at the sight of Abis' forces; where had he gotten so many people bent on destruction? "Stand strong, my Lady." Her general spoke, his face grim. "Do not give them the satisfaction of seeing your fear."

"I fear not for myself, General. But for the fate of my Kingdom."

"I believe we all share that fear." Then a shout came from Abis' side and the two armies surged forward, meeting with a crash. The battle raged for hours before both sides withdrew; nearly a quarter of the warriors that had come to the battle never left it.

Lia didn't even try to hide her tears as she looked out over the carnage. "The War of Chaos has begun… what will become of us now?"

Derek looked up from his sword as a white flag came into view. Princess Lia was trying to negotiate. Again. The man sitting next to him stood eagerly but the black haired teen only ducked his head and concentrated all the more intensely on his weapon. General Abis had ordered that the next ambassador from the Guardians of Lia be killed as soon as they got to Camp.

The sound of fighting echoed briefly; then a scream cut through the air, followed by laughter. Derek closed his eyes: the Ambassador was dead.

"Yo, Derek!" the man came back, a gleam in his eyes. "You missed another fight, man."

Derek didn't even raise his gaze from his sword. "It sounded like you had it under control, Myrrh."

Myrrh snorted, sitting back down next to him. "Maybe, but you still missed it." Derek chose not to comment.

The next thing Derek remembers clearly is a sharp pain in his side. He opened his eyes blearily, trying to remember what happened. Oh, yeah. There had been another battle. He fumbled weakly for his belt and managed to drag a potion from its pouch. He poured it into his mouth and the pain faded. Pulling himself into a sitting position, he looked around. There were dozens of bodies strewn across the ground but no sign of the two armies. And no sign of any other survivors left to die.

Gritting his teeth, Derek forced himself to stand and look around; he nearly fell back to the earth, but not from his injuries. For the first time, Derek actually saw the damage the War had done to the land.

The past ten years had not been kind to anyone, he knew that, the black X tattoo over the corner of his right eye was proof enough of that; he had been seven when the War of Chaos had broken out, when Abis' men had kidnapped him, when he had been branded a Servant of Abis and sent to training. Derek barely even remembered his old life.

The ground was cracked and barren, the burning ruins of a town not far from him. The blood seemed to have leeched into the very sky, turning what was once a crystalline blue a far more sickly hue. "What have we done?" He whispered, green eyes roving the carnage. "What in the world could be worth all this?" He remembered all of the Guardian Ambassadors that had come -come seeking peace, an end to the war. And he remembered their dying screams.

Abis was insane. That was the only explanation. General Abis and many of the Servants were insane.

Derek shuddered and, fighting the urge to retch, stumbled from the battlefield. He couldn't do this anymore. He wouldn't go back to the Servants, but there was nowhere else to go; the Guardians would never let him get close enough to reason with them. Not with the mark of Abis on his face.

He would just have to make his own way, then.

The cloaked figure made its way into Arabia, catching a several people's attention. The mystery person went straight up to the leader of the town. "You need to evacuate. Now." a male voice stated. "The Armies are coming here next."

"Thank you, sir." the leader began getting the word out. "But who are you?"

You could just see a bit of the man's chin in the shadows of his hood, enough to know that he had smiled slightly. "No one of consequence. Just a wanderer."

After the battle, the Wanderer stepped onto the blood-soaked ground and bent over the first body he came across, he stood up a minute later, shaking his head before moving on to the next one. The time passed slowly, but then he seemed to find what he was looking for. A young woman, marked as a Servant, was still alive with blood dripping from a nasty gash at her collarbone.

The Wanderer lifted her gently and poured a hi-potion down her throat. The girl groaned as the potion brought her back into consciousness. "Wh-?"

"Shhh… save your strength." he whispered, pulling a regular potion out next and dribbling some of it into her wound, causing her to cry out as it tried to heal the damage as best as it could.

"Wh-who are you?" She finally was able to ask.

"Someone who wants to help." He bound the injury and helped her into a sitting position.

"Thank you." He nodded and stood, offering her a hand. She took it and got gingerly to her feet. "What were you doing here?"

"I come look for survivors after every fight." He responded. "I don't always find any, but sometimes I run across people like you."

"So what do I do now?"

"That's up to you."

She considered for a while, her golden hair - stained with blood and sweat - falling in front of her eyes. "Can I come with you?" The Wanderer inhaled sharply at her request. "I don't want to go back to the Servants… and besides… I like the idea of helping people instead of just killing all the time." She stared at him pleadingly, her eyes the same shade that the sky used to be.

"I could use some company." he finally responded and her face lit up.

"Oh, good!" she tilted her head and he suddenly realized that she couldn't be any older than fifteen. If that. "I'm Storm, by the way."

He pushed his hood down, revealing messy black hair pulled back in a low tail and brilliant green eyes. "Derek."

The man came to with a groan, his body ached terribly. When he managed to open his eyes, he saw a cloaked figure kneeling over him, a bottle of elixir in his hand. "Stay still. Your body isn't up for moving just yet."

"Who are you?"

The figure huffed a laugh. "Someone who wants to help." He handed him the elixir and the tired Guardian accepted it.

"Then thank you. I honestly expected to die here."

"I know the feeling." The hood moved to suggest that the man under it was examining him. "You're a Medic for the Guardians?"

"Yes." A sudden suspicion rose in his mind, though it didn't fully compute. "Which side are you on?"

The other man hesitated, then slowly lowered his hood, his patient tensing as the sign of Abis became visible. "If we had to choose, we would be with the Guardians. But mostly we just want this War to end."

"We?"

Just as he asked, another person appeared next to them. "There was no one else."

"Not surprising. What were you able to get?"

"49 potions, 34 hi-potions, 26 elixirs, 19 ethers, and 8 panacea." The girl listed, lifting a bag from her side.

"You take potions from the bodies?"

"They aren't using them anymore." The man responded. "And it was an elixir I took from the last battlefield that saved your life."

He ran a hand through his light brown hair. "I see your point. My name is Aiden."

"Derek." the man shared.

"Storm." the girl piped in, lowering her own hood and revealing yet another sign of Abis. Aiden wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Derek met his eyes. "Neither of us chose the sigil on our faces."

"At the beginning of the War, Abis raided a bunch of towns and took the children into training." Storm explained and Aiden blinked before looking at them all the more closely. Yes. They were both quite young; anywhere from fourteen and eighteen he would guess.

"Both of us were in the same position you were, injured in battle and left to die on the field. I've been on my own since the Battle of Nightmare Hill and I found Storm after Arabia." Derek explained, standing. "Can you stand?" With a little help from both of them, Aiden did so.

"So… you search for survivors after every battle?"

Storm nodded. "We also act as an advanced warning. Because we follow the armies around we can usually find out where the next battle is going to take place before they get there. Then we warn the town so people can get away."

"Just how many lives have you saved?" Aiden asked, a smile forming on his face.

Derek shrugged. "Two on the field, and I don't count how many make it from the towns."

"So where we headed to next?" Storm asked, glancing at the sky.

"I think they'll be going to Garden, we need to get there before they do." her companion answered, taking the bag of potions from her. He turned to Aiden. "Will you need help getting back to the Guardian's camp?"

"I'm tired of war. I was a healer before it all started."

"Well, we follow the War, so you won't get away from it completely." Derek started and Storm perked up. "But maybe you could be a Healer again. If you want to come with us."

"I'd like that." Derek held out his hand and Aiden shook it, the shadows in his chocolate eyes lifting a bit.

"Welcome to the Wanderers." Storm offered with a grin.

"Glad to be here."

They weren't far from Savanna, standing on yet another battlefield. The three Wanderers split up, checking each body briefly for any signs of life and, finding none, gathering any potions they may have had on them. Then a shout came from one of them.

"Found one!" Storm called, kneeling next to the person. "Aiden we're going to need you over here!"

Aiden hurried over, then gasped at the girl in front of him. "Pyrrha!"

"You know her?" Storm asked as he cast a healing spell.

"Yes, we were in the same regiment, I was a mentor of sorts to her. Go help Derek check for any others, I can handle this." Storm nodded and headed off.

"A-Aiden?" A weak voice asked incredulously. "Is that really you?" Aiden pulled a potion from his pocket and handed it to her, propping her up to make drinking it easier.

"It's me. Just take it easy Pyrrha."

"But you were dead." the scarlet haired girl protested. "You were marked dead after Chinatown."

"I almost was." He responded. "But then Derek and Storm found me. They saved me, and I've been with them ever since."

"Why not come back to the Guardians?"

"Because I'm tired, Pyrrha. Now, I have the chance to try to save people, instead of just killing them." Aiden looked into her amber eyes and tried to make her understand. "We're the Wanderers; we warn the towns before either army gets there, and then go looking for any survivors afterwards. We save who we can." Derek and Storm came over at that moment. "Anyone else?"

"Just one." Derek responded, his voice carefully level. "But they were beyond the help of magic." Aiden nodded sadly, those were probably the worst to face. The ones they couldn't help.

"So what did you do to them?" Pyrrha asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

"We ended their suffering."

Aiden pulled Pyrrha to her feet and steadied her. "We'll drop you off at the Guardians camp."

"Can't I stay with you?" Pyrrha pleaded in a small voice, not wanting to leave the man she had come to see as a father figure. Aiden looked at Derek and Storm.

"The more the merrier I say." Storm quipped, smiling.

"If that's what you want to do." Derek nodded, tying a pouch to his belt.

Pyrrha grinned, surprised that she could find even a small amount of joy in these dark times.

This had been a particularly vicious battle; nearly twice the casualties as any of the others, and only outdone by the first battle of the War. Four people made their way into the carnage.

"Over here!" Pyrrha called pulling out a hi-potion and pouring it carefully down the throat of a Servant, who to Pyrrha's horror couldn't be any more than thirteen.

"I've got one too." Derek announced as he tended to a Guardian woman.

"I think that's it." Aiden came over to Pyrrha and started helping. "There was one other that was too far gone." Storm went over to Derek and handed him an elixir from the ones she had gathered. Aiden lifted the girl into his arms and carried her to the edge of the battlefield where he would have more room to help her. Between Storm and Derek they managed to bring the other woman over there as well.

The young girl opened her eyes blearily, the indigo iris cloudy. "Where am I?"

"You're safe." Pyrrha assured her, running a hand through the girl's choppy black hair. "What's your name?"

"...Nixa…"

"I'm Pyrrha."

"You're a Guardian…?" Nixa looked terribly confused and Pyrrha could sympathise.

"Technically, I'm a Wanderer, not a Guardian. But yes." She smiled gently at her. "And you didn't choose to be a Servant, did you?"

"No. But it's all I've ever known. I was two when they took me."

Pyrrha winced in sympathy, then looked over to where Aiden was helping with the other woman. "Come with me." She helped Nixa to her feet and they went over to the rest of the group.

"...My name is Mirage." the woman was saying to Aiden. "Thank you for saving me."

"It's what we do." Derek answered, throwing back his hood so he could get a better look at the sky.

"Servants of Abis!" Mirage gasped, staring wildly at who she now realized were three Servants, her hand going to her sword.

"Don't give me that." Derek muttered, glaring at her slightly as Aiden grabbed her wrist to keep her from drawing her weapon.

"We're the Wanderers." Storm cut in, leveling her own glare at the platinum haired woman. "We hold no love for the Servants of Abis. Our main goal is that there is still a world left after this wretched War. Someone has to, since everyone else seems to have stopped caring."

Mirage's mouth moved soundlessly for a moment, her grey eyes wide, then she hung her head. "Forgive me. I of all people should know that not everything is as it appears."

"What do you mean by that?" Nixa's voice was timid and everyone looked at her: everyone reacted with horror and outrage as they looked at her. She was even younger than Storm.

"I, as my name suggests, am skilled in the art of illusions." Mirage answered, then asked. "How old are you, child?"

"Twelve." Nixa answered and Aiden's face darkened. "At least, that's what one of the trainers told me."

"Despicable." Pyrrha spat. "What won't Abis do?"

"Become a woman?" Storm teased, attempting to lift even her own darkened mood.

Nixa snickered, then burst into full blown laughter, doubling over as she did so. "Sorry. It really wasn't all that funny… but…"

"I like you." Storm decided. "Derek, I'm keeping her."

"Whatever you say, Storm." Derek grinned, Nixa's laughter was infectious.

"I would like to stay with you as well." Mirage added. "So long as you will have me."

"Of course, Mirage. You're welcome to stay."

"That's enough!" A man with yellow eyes and stringy black hair looked up from the writhing form beneath him.

"Stay out of this."

"No. You've had your fun, Myrrh. Let her go."

Myrrh glared at the other man, a man powerfully built with spiky blond hair and sapphire eyes. "Make me."

The man grabbed Myrrh by the throat and threw him off the injured girl. As she sat up weakly, he glanced backwards at her. "Get out of here, gel." Obediently she scrambled to her feet and fled the scene.

"Traitor." Myrrh growled. "You're a traitor, Tyr. And you know what happens to traitors." Tyr's only response was to slide into a defensive stance. He never got a chance to attack, though, as a bolt of lightning struck him from behind. The rest of their team had arrived. "Traitors are eliminated." Myrrh hissed into the half conscious man's ear. "Lord Abis doesn't tolerate an unfaithful Servant."

"So… be… it…" Tyr managed to gasp out, causing Myrrh to kick him in the head and everything went black.

The Wanderers had doubled back to Smuggler's Cove, the Servants of Abis were camped not far from there and they needed to see what information they could gather.

"What the?" Nixa gasped, stopping in front of a bloody figure lying in the street.

"What do you think happened?" Aiden asked, casting a high-powered healing spell on the injured man.

"Well…" Derek considered.

"I… I know what happened." They turned to see a young woman standing in a doorway, she clung to herself as though she was injured, but an unopened potion was in her hand. "You can save him… right?"

"I will do my best." Aiden answered, not looking up from his work.

"Now, tell us what happened." Mirage prompted gently.

"He… he saved me. So they attacked him." Derek and Storm exchanged glances at her words. "This other man had attacked me… and he pulled him off." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "They called him a traitor. Said that traitors deserved to die. But he doesn't! He saved me, and…" she broke off and Mirage went to comfort her.

"Someone give me a hi-potion and a panacea. He's not going to last long if I can't reverse some of this damage." Aiden ordered, going into Healer-mode. Pyrrha hurried to help him, Nixa trailing behind as she often did.

Several hours later, the man groaned and tried to open his eyes. "Take it easy. You were hurt badly."

"Tell me something I don't know…" The man grumbled, then realized that he didn't recognize the voice and his eyes snapped open. "Who are you?"

The face of a dark-brown eyed man met him. "The man who saved your life." He answered steadily. "My name is Aiden, and yours?"

"Tyr." As he spoke his blue eyes roved the area they were in. It appeared to be some sort of cave, and he could hear the ocean beating against rocks nearby. "Where are we?"

"In a cave outside Smuggler's Cove, the entrance is only accessible at low tide, and even then it's hard to find unless you know it's there. We use it to hide from the Servants." Another voice answered the question and Tyr looked to where the sound had come from. "I'm Derek." the man introduced himself and stepped closer, the shadows no longer hiding his face.

"You're a Servant… but you hide from the Servants?" Tyr questioned, but then realized that Aiden hadn't had the sigil.

"We're the Wanderers." Derek answered. "If any of us went back to the Camps, we'd probably be considered Deserters."

"But everyone thinks we're dead." a new voice broke in and a girl with hair the color of spun gold, also marked as a Servant, walked into the cave. "So at least we don't have anyone searching for us."

"What do we got, Storm?" Derek asked the girl.

"We've covered for the disappearance of his body." She answered, nodding to Tyr. "And Mirage is still with the girl."

"Is she alright?" Tyr asked, realizing which girl they were talking about.

"She's fine, Mirage is our best Healer after Aiden." Derek assured. "She was worried about you. You're quite the Hero, aren't you?"

"I just…" Tyr trailed off, trying to put his desires into words.

"You were tired of the pain and destruction." Aiden filled in the silence gently and Tyr nodded. "That's how we all feel. So, given the chance, we walked away from the War, and started trying to limit the damage as much as we are able."

"Towns have been empty by the time we get there…" Tyr realized, "Is that you?"

"Yes."

Tyr remained silent for a long moment. So be it. His own words echoed in his mind. "I would join you." Derek came over to his side, emerald eyes met sapphire. "I am a traitor to the Servants, I find no joy in death, not as many others do."

Ironically, just as he stated that, the rest of the Wanderers entered the cave. Derek exchanged glances with all of them. "What's ours is yours, Tyr. Welcome to the Wanderers."

Derek helped Storm to her feet. "That one was worse than usual." He commented, looking around to locate the rest of his friends. The latest earthquake had indeed been a bad one; great chunks of the ground had caved in and portions of the landscape was almost unrecognizable.

"This is the War's fault, you know." Mirage murmured, tending to a scrape on Nixa's shoulder. "It's gone on for so long that it's disrupting the balance of the Land."

"At the rate this is going," Pyrrha commented darkly, "there won't be a world left for anyone when the War ends." It had been twelve years now since the beginning of the War. Twelve years of senseless bloodshed and destruction.

"It has to end." Aiden stated.

"Well, yeah… but HOW?" Storm asked. "Saying that it has to end is a waste of words when we have no way to stop it."

"So long as Abis holds any sort of power, nothing will end." Nixa whispered. "Everything started with him."

"Killing Abis wouldn't end the War." Tyr growled. "There are too many in the Servants who have become just as bloodthirsty as him."

"But without a General, they would be weakened for a little bit. Maybe enough to give the Guardians the upper hand. They want the War to end as much as we do." Nixa argued her point.

"Are we seriously considering what I think we're considering?" Derek asked suddenly, making everyone realize WHAT exactly they had been discussing. "Are we going to try to assassinate General Abis?"

There was silence. Nothing but the sound of the ground cracking around them could be heard for a long while.

"Nothing else has worked." Aiden stated finally. "But are we willing to try?"

"I can't stand by anymore." Storm announced. "I can still see every single battlefield in my sleep, the faces of the people we couldn't save are branded in my mind."

"We have to do something." Pyrrha agreed and there were multiple sounds of agreement.

"Then it's decided?" Derek asked, his voice low. "We will take up weapons again?" He drew his utility knife and stared into the reflective metal.

Storm's knife was revealed next. "We will take an active stance against Abis."

"We will do what we can to end the chaos." Aiden agreed.

Pyrrha stood and moved next to her Father. "Whatever it takes."

Mirage nodded as her own knife glistened in the weak light. "No matter the stakes."

"We won't turn back." Nixa's eyes were hard.

"Even if it costs us our lives." Tyr finished, and all seven knives touched, sealing their oath.

A gleam of light appeared around their knives and hands and, as they pulled away in shock, seven unfamiliar weapons were in their hands instead.

These are the Keyblades. A weapon to open doors and unlock destinies.

Derek stared at the weapon he somehow knew was called Dark Beacon. It was made of black metal in a gothic filigree configuration with a white jewel resting in the teeth of the weapon.

Storm's was Indigo Twilight and the teeth were made of several curved spikes while the entire blade was dotted with sapphires.

Nixa's was dark purple and oxidized gold, the handle being two curved wings and the teeth of the blade being a wing as well. She called it Fallen Angel.

Tyr's blade was huge, colored black grey with oxidized gold, its teeth was reminiscent of a bat wing. It was called Hero's Sacrifice.

Pyrrha's was Midnight Eclipse, colored black and navy it looked like a moon and star.

"Keyblade?" Aiden mused, looking over his weapon, Shadow Guardian, gunmetal grey and red it's teeth looked a bit like a backwards scythe. "I don't think I've ever heard of such a weapon."

"I have." Mirage shared and the others looked at her expectantly. "The X-blade, pronounced either Key or Kye depending on who you ask, is the legendary weapon of Kingdom Hearts. According to legend, it's the most powerful weapon in existence, capable of bringing both salvation and destruction."

"Salvation or Destruction… but which it brings is decided by who wields it, right?" Pyrrha surmised.

"Right." Mirage nodded, testing the weight of the silver blade made of wrapped chains she called Obscure Illusions. "My guess would be that these are lesser versions of that blade."

"Well then." Storm banished Indigo Twilight then summoned it again with a flick of her wrist and gleam of blue. "Let's go write destiny."

The next battle, neither army made it into Treehouse Terrace. Princess Lia and General Abis were both told the tale of seven cloaked figures with strange weapons that took out as many as wouldn't retreat. That battle ended with the least amount of casualties of the entire War.

Abis flew into a rage, these upstart strangers were hindering his plans. Getting in the way of his bloodlust.

Lia simply wondered who these warriors were. And she was grateful that someone seemed to actually be capable of making a difference.

Said warriors were up in one of the trees of Treehouse Terrace. "Y'know…" Nixa practiced summoning Fallen Angel a couple times. "I don't think we can be called the Wanderers anymore. We've done too much."

"That's okay." Derek responded, raising Dark Beacon. "Because from now on, we're the Sentinels."

"The Sentinels." Tyr repeated, grinning. "I like it."

"I need to go to Castle Destiny." Mirage told them, somewhat randomly.

"Okay…" Pyrrha drew the word out. "Why?"

"There's something I want to look up." The woman responded, counting her stock of potions. "I have an idea that could end the War, but I need more information."

"If that's the case, let's do it."

"We can't all leave the Armies, though." Storm pointed out. "Why don't Mirage and Aiden go to Castle Destiny while the rest of us stay here?"

"I'm in." Aiden agreed, exchanging a nod with Mirage.

The other Sentinels continued to stand between the Guardians and the Servants, and casualties were at an all time low. Nearly two months later, Mirage and Aiden met back up with them.

"Did you find what you're looking for?" Nixa asked, hugging Mirage in greeting.

"We think so…" Aiden answered, pulling a journal from his cloak. "It's not easy though."

"Talk us through it." Derek invited, sitting down on a crate in their hideout.

The two Sentinels explained their research, Mirage using magic images to make her point. It was complicated, just as Aiden had said. But the details weren't the hard part.

It was what it would cost to do it.

"I think it's our only choice." Pyrrha broke the silence that they had fallen into after Mirage' and Aiden's explanation.

"We're running out of time, anyway." Storm spoke just as the earth trembled beneath them. "I rest my case."

"I've already proven what I would give up to protect Innocents." Tyr commented, bringing to mind the bloody mess they had found him as over two years ago.

"I say we do it." Nixa added, nodding.

"We wouldn't have done the research if we weren't willing to go through with it." Aiden stated and Mirage voiced her agreement.

All eyes turned to Derek. To the reason they were all here. To their leader. He had his eyes closed, deep in thought. "Derek?"

His eyes opened, and they were like steel. "It's time to end this War."

The Servants of Abis and the Guardians of Lia both arrived on the Plains of Netral, their Leaders with them, as per the request. A letter had been received by both Princess Lia and General Abis, signed only "The Sentinels". Lia came in hopes of seeing peace, and Abis had been angry enough at the missive to go through with it.

Seven cloaked figures stood in the middle of the Plains. Lia and her General approached cautiously, whilst Abis and his Second did the same from the other side of the divide.

"Are you these… Sentinels?" Abis spat, his yellow eyes nearly glowing with malevolence.

"We are." A male voice came from what appeared to be the leader. "And we have decided that your pointless War has gone on long enough."

"I only do what I must to protect my people!" Lia defended.

"And the destruction around you is protecting them how?" One of the other Sentinels asked, a woman this time. The ground trembled beneath them. "Look around you, Princess. How many people have died?"

Tears coursed down Lia's face. "I fear for what Abis would do if he were to win. That is why we fight."

"You, General Abis. What excuse do you have for this War?" A third voice asked, once again male.

"I have no reason!" Abis seethed. "But I will not stop until I've wiped Lia and her Guardians off the face of the earth!"

"So be it." The leader intoned and, in a soft gleam of dark light, each of the Sentinels was holding their weapon in their hands. Seven hoods fell back, revealing four Servants of Abis and three Guardians.

"Traitors!" Abis howled at the Servants, lunging for the leader, only to come up short as said man's blade met the General's chest at his heart. "Wha-" The man dissolved into black sparks.

As though it was a signal, the other Sentinels made their moves. Tyr attacked Abis' Second, doing the same thing to him, while Pyrrha engaged General Rhys. Lia gasped as Rhys dissolved into a white sparks, then felt a pressure on her own heart, looking down she met intense blue eyes that very nearly matched her own. "It has to be done." Nixa whispered, and Lia dissolved into white sparks.

While the others were fighting, Aiden, Mirage, and Storm were preparing the last of the spell they were going to perform. "Now." Aiden announced and all seven Sentinels knelt, planting their Keyblades into the earth while the tremors got worse. Shocked gasps came from both sides as those who would not have laid down their weapons all dissolved into sparks as their Leaders had.

A purple barrier, intermixed with gold and black swirls, stretched between the two armies. Inside the barrier the Sentinels still knelt, but they were slowly dissolving into purple sparks. "It is done." A voice resounded, sounding like all seven Sentinels voices merging. "Darkness shrouds the Abyss and cuts it off from the Light."

At last the trembling of the ground became too much and Kingdom Hearts splintered into countless islands floating in space. Separate but connected.

Nightmare Hill became known as Halloween Town. Arabia changed to Agrabah. Chinatown was now The Land of Dragons. Castle Destiny became Disney Town. Smuggler's Cove was now Port Royal. Treehouse Terrace changed to Deep Jungle. And the Plains of Netral were now called the Badlands - a place that would one day bear host to yet another great War.

Time turned on, and the truth of Darkness, Light, and Evil, faded into myth, and then was forgotten. Now, Darkness was feared, loathed by those who counted themselves among the Light, and considered Evil. But Darkness still remains, keeping the Abyss from ever truly consuming the Light.

Which is why, no matter how Dark it gets…

...There is always a Door to the Light.

Okie-day... that happened. Honestly it kind of wrote itself, except that the Sentinels' Keyblades gave me fits...

***Wayfinder***