I do not own Kingdom Hearts.

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"Maleficent…?" inquired a low voice. A teenage boy, with dark brown hair and piercing green eyes, of no more than eighteen, stood in the doorway. His irises were tainted with a thin layer of pitch-black around the edges, and his hands were hanging stiffly at his sides. He wore a dark uniform of black pants, a black long-sleeve shirt, and a jacket that proudly displayed his heartless insignia on the back in silver—the only other color on him. His lips were curled in a scowl; something was clearly troubling him. He didn't even bother to knock on the door before entering.

"What is it, Sai?" she replied dryly, after a long hesitation. She hated being interrupted—especially by her apprentices. She tried to make it a point to keep them in line. They were both too independent.

"It seems that Keiya has gone missing again," he said harshly.

Maleficent stood, her robe billowing out around her in great folds. She looked at him expectantly. The news was nothing new—she was annoyed that he would disturb her just to inform her of it. This one never seemed to learn.

"You promised this wouldn't happen again. I had your word," He continued, taking a small step backward. Maleficent let out a short, pitiful laugh.

"I'm sure she'll come around. You needn't worry so much, Sai," She said nonchalantly. Lately, he seemed to be so touchy about Keiya's frequent excursions. It was pitifully amusing—he was trying to live up to his role. Sai stood there for another minute, waiting for Maleficent to say more. When she didn't, he backed away and exited the room.

"C'mon, Riku! We don't wanna keep them waiting!" shouted Sora from aboard the gummi ship. Kairi waved at him from the ramp then ran inside to join Sora. It was time to leave. Riku sighed and picked up his luggage then slowly walked up the ramp, which Sora closed as soon as he was on board. Then, he pressed a bunch of brightly colored buttons, making the ship lift off the ground and float in midair. Riku threw his luggage in the corner and took his seat behind Sora. The trio had been adjusting to normal life on the islands these past two years. It was a huge adjustment for Sora and Riku especially—they were used to constant action and living on the road. They all loved their home—the islands—but sitting around on the beach and play fighting with their friends was not as stimulating as it used to be. Sora and Riku had both matured very fast—Riku was now eighteen and practically an adult. He was independent and protective, and even though he still had his senses of humor and competition (those hadn't diminished one bit), he was wise beyond his years. A lot had changed since they got back. Sora and Kairi had inevitably gotten together and remained that silly, innocent couple. Riku, on the other hand, hadn't found anyone. And for a boy his age, this made his life 'boring', according to Wakka and Tidus. He wasn't interested in the things other boys his age were—living by himself on the road for a year had numbed him to that kind of stupid, jerk-ish fun. He lived on his own in a small house on the main island (to the other guys, this was 'awesome'—Riku had his own 'crib', after all), and continued to hang out with Sora and Kairi on their island, as long as they promised to keep the together-thing down to the bare minimum when he was around. They were his best friends, but he didn't want to get in the way.

Luckily, things were taking a change for the better. They had received a letter from Yuffie, Cid, and the rest of the gang in Radiant Garden inviting the three of them to spend their summer vacation with there, which meant three months of bustling city life—obviously more exciting than another summer on the islands. Sora and Kairi, though they wouldn't say so to his face, were hoping that the trip would be a healthy change for Riku, since they hadn't been off their islands in two years. Plus, it had been a while since they heard from their friends. With the push of a few more buttons, the gummi ship lifted off the ground and took off at immense speed, breaking the atmosphere and bringing them into space. Riku wasn't so sure of this whole journey anymore at the sudden realization that Sora would be piloting.

Heartless…

Everywhere I turn, heartless!

Keiya ran down the gloomy streets at top speed, soaked from the rain and shivering from the wind. Water splashed up to hit her legs when she sprinted through the puddles, as she tried to escape the hoards of heartless that appeared at every turn. Her head ached terribly—she had no idea how long she had been out there, first fighting, and now just running. She was completely exhausted and had scraped her knee a while back, so it hurt to move. The shadows chased her around every bend, through every mud-covered street. She turned down another street and ended up in an alley closed off with two streets leading into it and heartless on either side, without doors or windows to climb up. While she frantically searched the walls of the alley for something to use, she tripped over a piece of sharp metal on the ground, cutting her leg and sending her staggering into the back wall, which she groped for support. Her ankle burned and her leg oozed blood. The rain only washed it further down her leg and into her already drenched leggings. She stumbled to the ground and landed in the thick mud. She could hear the heartless coming up on either side of her—dozens of them that she had been trying to lose for hours. She tried to stand up and at least put up a fight, but when she shifted her weight onto her ankle, she just slumped back down against the wall.

"Sora! Kairi! You got so big!" squeaked Yuffie, who had come to greet them at the docking area. Sora and Kairi had practically jumped off the ship in midair. Riku took his time carrying all their bags and joined them leisurely.

"And Riku! You look so grown-up! Not too popular with the ladies, I hope," she joked. In all honesty, Cid, Leon, Cloud, and Tifa were still a little weary of Riku. They knew he was a good kid- they just had never been close to him. Since he wasn't as outgoing as Sora, it was hard to tell what he was thinking. Yuffie and Aerith couldn't trust him more, though, so he wasn't totally unwelcome.

Riku chucked Sora's bag at him flawlessly and watched as Sora struggled to catch it. Then, he handed Kairi's to her gently.

"Long time no see, Yuffie," he said casually.

"Well, c'mon! We have rooms for each of you—we just finished building our Restoration Committee headquarters! We have so much room now!" she exclaimed. The four of them made their way through the crowded streets, admiring the outdoor markets and street performers. It was a peaceful city, thanks to the Committee. They still had a lot of work to do in the way of repairing the castle, but the town seemed to be in high spirits. People were all taking care of their property and fixing up the gardens to make the town as pretty and proud as it once was.

The Restoration Committee headquarters was a large one-story complex that extended about half a city block in each direction. It was a little ways off from the main town, and was made of brick. It had moss and vines growing in just the right places and even had a small garden in the front (thanks to Aerith.) It was a very pretty building, and, as Yuffie explained, used to be a schoolhouse. The townspeople had decided that a new one should be built closer to the town, so they no longer needed this one. There were offices in the front and a wall separating the public part of the house to the private part. People could come and go with suggestions or problems and not disturb the residential part of the house.

The private quarters had a large living room with a conjoined kitchen and dining room—as homey as it could get. It even had a small infirmary off to the side. There were two hallways going off in either direction, both containing bedrooms. There were more than enough guest rooms, and Sora, Riku and Kairi were amazed to find that they had their pick of completely different shaped and designed rooms. Afterward, they all met back in the living room and greeted the rest of the group.

"It's so good to see you all again," said Aerith, hugging each of them.

Cloud grunted a 'hello' to show his acknowledgment, and Leon shook their hands, expressing rather monotonously how great it was to have them over.

"Ooh, have you all seen the town yet? What do you guys think?" asked Tifa, who was setting the table for dinner.

"It looks great! Everything is so clean and pretty!" exclaimed Kairi. Sora was standing next to her, holding her hand. (Riku was accustomed to ignoring the couple when the PDA began.)

"Well, look who dropped in to say hello!" said Cid, who had just walked in.

"Hey Cid!" greeted Sora, rushing over to hi-five him.

Riku stayed silent for most of the greetings. He had chosen a room with a wide window (there were curtains so he had privacy) and a desk in the corner. It had a shiny wooden floor and a nightstand of the same light wood. Sora and Kairi had chosen rooms next to each other a little ways down the hall. The other Committee members' rooms were scattered in the other hall.

"So, how have you guys been? We haven't been able to contact you for two years…" asked Tifa.

"Aw, the usual. We've actually been bored," stated Sora. "The Islands are nowhere near as cool as this place, right Kairi?"

"Yeah—we don't have any city-life. Everything is suburbs and Caribbean," she said, giggling.

"Well, how 'bout you, Riku?" asked Cid.

"I'm fine," he said simply. "Just making sure these two don't get into too much trouble." He glanced at Sora and Kairi, over excited and hand in hand. Everyone sat down for dinner at the long dining table—Cid sat at one end and Leon at the other. Everyone else was scattered. Yuffie gave Leon a look that said 'get on with it,' and Leon coughed and put down his fork, all eyes on him.

"Well, of course we wanted to have you three over for the summer, but there's a little problem…"

"What is it?" asked Sora, always hyped up for action.

"Maleficent is causing trouble again. She has an army of heartless."

Sora nearly chocked on the food he was trying to swallow, and Kairi slapped him on the back to help him along. Riku's eyes shot up in an instant, obviously surprised to hear that name again. He harbored immense dislike for the witch who corrupted his mind with dark thoughts; he hadn't heard anything about her in so long—he had almost forgotten that she was still somewhere on the loose. It felt like a loose knot or a thread left untied-a lingering problem.

"There's more. She has an apprentice."

"An… apprentice?" asked Kairi, as if she'd never heard the word.

"A girl about your age. We don't know her name. From what we could dig up in secret reports, she has actually lived with Maleficent for quite some time. An 'adopted daughter', for lack of a better term, but she's never fought or gone on any missions in the past that we're aware of. Riku, have you ever come into contact with her?"

Riku thought for a minute. He vaguely remembered the other villains talk of 'Maleficent's daughter', but always assumed they were joking about something. They were always making weird comments, so he never bothered to take them seriously. He couldn't remember seeing anyone… But surely that kind of information would have been kept secret from him.

"No… No one ever said anything about her to me," he replied truthfully, although a little hesitantly to make sure there was nothing in his voice that would make Leon even more wary of him. It annoyed him beyond belief that he had to watch his moves like this, that their ally was still examining him for signs of betrayal. But he knew that if he were in Leon's shoes, he would want to keep his home and friends safe in the same fashion.

"Well, apparently she's been helping Maleficent with some dirty work lately, and has great skill in handling darkness. Nothing you wouldn't expect from Maleficent," said Leon, his arms folded across his chest. "There's been an outbreak of heartless in Traverse Town, and we'd like to go there tomorrow to fix it."

"Alright! Finally, some action!" shouted Sora, who had just recovered from his shocked and depressed state.

"So tomorrow, Sora, Riku, Leon, Tifa, Yuffie an' I 'ill go down to Traverse Town 'n beat up some heartless," said Cid. "Aerith, Cloud and Kairi will stay to make sure Radiant Garden runs smoothly."

"Will Maleficent be there?" asked Riku suddenly.

"We don't know where she's set up base," Yuffie replied. "She could be anywhere."

The next morning, after breakfast and a quick re-cap on the mission, Sora, Riku, Cid, Yuffie, Leon, and Tifa set out for Traverse Town in Cid's favorite gummi ship. Traverse Town looked more or less the same, except it was raining really hard and the lights were out. They split into two teams. Cid, Yuffie, and Leon would go to the second district, and Riku, Sora, and Tifa would go to the Third. The first was still safe. Cid locked the gummi ship and set the alarm (not that it would do any good if someone was already taking off with it) and hesitantly left it in his old garage.

"Hey, Riku? You alright?" Sora asked as they walked off the ship.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" he asked with a forced smile.

"I dunno… you haven't really been the same since we got here… are you okay with this mission?"

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about that," he said, smiling for real this time.

"Who'd have thought that Maleficent would take an apprentice, huh? It's weird that neither of us has ever fought her."

He nodded. "It's strange that she would rather fight you herself then send her student…"

"And you really never saw her? Not once?"

"No. It's a surprise to me, too."

Sora yawned and stretched. "Well, let's just get this heartless thing all wrapped up, like old times! The sooner we get back, the sooner we can check out the town." he said, summoning his keyblade as they approached the door to the third district. "Hey, who knows? Maybe you'll find a girrrrllfrieeeend in Radiant Garden! That's a loooooong distance relationship!"

"Shut up, Sora," Riku said, shoving him over to the side.

Riku, Sora, and Tifa steadily made their way into the Third district, managing to keep clear on heartless along the way. One they got there, however, they found dozens of heartless infesting every corner, all in groups. They couldn't walk two feet without summoning more and more each time. The whole place was covered in them, and the rain only made it that much harder to see. Sora jumped down and began fighting in the middle of the district, making sure to run around and summon as many as possible and take them all on at one time. Tifa stayed close to the sides, fighting them off little by little, more strategically. Riku went up to the small alleyway and began fighting off groups of two or three. They never seemed to stop coming, though—he had to wonder if the invasion would ever end. He made his way to the top, effortlessly slashing his way through the heartless, when he saw a whole group of them in a little alcove, gathered around in a pile. He walked over slowly, and saw that they were on top of someone. His eyes widened and quickly slashed through them, then pulled the person up out of the corner they were lying in, still fighting off heartless. They continued coming at him from all sides—they seemed to be infinite, and dangerously relentless. One of them even managed to land a hit at his leg before he disposed of it. Only after he finished did he look down to see who he had just rescued.

In his arms was a girl with long, orange hair, cuts and blood covering her skin. She had fallen unconscious during the attack, and was hanging limp against him. She wore a short black dress that came to her knees and had slits in the side, with torn up black leggings underneath. Her clothes were ripped up and soaked from the rain and her blood, but luckily he had gotten there in time. What was she doing out so late, in the middle of an invasion? He lifted her up bridal style, and began walking back to meet the others, when he noticed a black spot on the underside of her wrist. When he looked closer, he saw that it was the black heartless insignia—the same one he'd worn when he was working for Maleficent. It wasn't a tattoo, but it looked permanent. Riku stopped dead in his tracks.

Wait… this can't be… Maleficent's…?

Author's Note: June fifth, twenty-ten. This must be the fifth time I redid this chapter—I'll never be satisfied with it. I fixed some quotation errors here, and will continue to do so for the other chapters little by little. Chapters three, four, six, and eight have yet to be re-written, so I would really like to fix those originals as soon as I can.