Key to Her Heart II

by The Blue Time Ranger

A year has passed since the heart of all worlds was sealed away, but true peace is always a fleeting dream. To save the multiverse from a horde of new threats, Nick, Maylin, and Haruka must once again take up their keyblades and travel through many worlds to keep the balance of light and darkness in check. But what does the mysterious Organization XIII truly want with the worlds?

1. The Adventure Begins Anew

"Papa, I'm ready."

He looked over to see his thirteen-year-old daughter standing in the entrance to the room that he and his wife shared. She was smiling as brightly as a girl her age could. And he knew what that smile meant.

She hadn't stopped, ever since the first time she'd seen it. It had completely intrigued her, especially after her father had told her the tales of what he'd done with it.

And when she learned that she could one day wield it through what he called an "inheritance ceremony", she had been adamant about getting him to allow her to undertake the ceremony.

And, like all good kids, her sweet pleading had eventually gotten through to him.

"Dear, even though I did promise you, and I don't back down on promises..." he sighed, getting to his feet. "I still think I need to ask you. Are you sure you're ready for the responsibility? You know as well as I do what I've been through."

"Oh, papa, I'm not much younger than you were when you had your fun," she laughed. "I know I can handle it. I've heard the stories, and I'm not afraid. If any of them get in my way, I'll take 'em all out!"

He couldn't help but laugh. Just like her mother.

That was all the convincing he needed, raising his right hand and summoning the Kingdom Key to his right hand. In truth, this wasn't his particular keyblade, having belonged to someone who had been very dear to him.

When his daughter had asked the first time, he had shed a few tears over the matter for the first time in many years. It still wasn't something he liked talking about.

But, he had promised to use this keyblade against the darkness. It was the little piece of light that she had left him.

"Okay, Lily. Are you sure you're ready?" he asked again.

"For the thousandth time, yes, papa, I'm ready! Let's get the show on the road already!" Lily exclaimed.

He smiled and kneeled down, holding the Kingdom Key out to Lily, who now had stars in her eyes.

"In your hand, take this key," he proclaimed. "So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And no ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love."

Lily placed her hand atop her father's where he was holding the Kingdom Key's handle, feeling a surge of power flow through her hand and through the rest of her body.

After taking a step back, a keyblade flashed into Lily's hands. It resembled her father's Kingdom Key, but with inverted colors. Wherever his was silver, hers was gold, and vice versa.

"Oh, wow, I actually did it!" Lily giggled, swinging her new keyblade, Light Seeker, a few times. "I gotta tell mama!"

And with that, Lily dashed out of the room to find her mother and show off her new keyblade.

"So, you finally did it, eh, Nick?"

Nick looked up to see Cornelia stepping into the room.

"Yeah, you know me," Nick laughed. "I figured I couldn't deny her any longer."

"Are you sure she can handle this?" Cornelia wondered, lazily summoning her own keyblade, Ends of the Earth. "You know the Heartless are still around."

"She can take those monsters easy," Nick admitted. "I'm more worried about them..."

Cornelia looked back at her husband, knowing exactly who he was referring to.

---

(To live a life of power, you must have faith that what you believe is right, even if others tell you you're wrong. The first thing you must do to live a life of power is to find courage. You must be ready to reach beyond the boundaries of time itself. And to do that, all you need is the will to take that first step...)

The Blue Time Ranger is proud to present:
W.I.T.C.H.: Key to Her Heart II
Story Created: January 2nd, 2017
Story Rated: T for Teen

Story Summary: A year has passed since Nick, Maylin, and Haruka saved the heart of all worlds from being consumed by the darkness. Things are getting back to normal in Heatherfield, but true peace is always a fleeting dream. New arrivals start pouring in, including a girl from the future who claims to be the daughter of two of the Guardians, strange new creatures very much unlike the Heartless, and a group of black-hooded tyrants who only aim to bring destruction to the worlds. To save the multiverse from these new threats, Nick, Maylin, and Haruka must once again take up their keyblades and travel through many worlds to keep the balance of light and darkness in check. But what does the mysterious Organization XIII truly want with the worlds?

Author's Notes and Explanations: Yep, it's a new year (good riddance, 2016, IMO) and that means it's sequel time! I promised as such, and it's time to deliver! This one takes place a year after Key to Her Heart HD Remix and after the third arc of W.I.T.C.H., specifically right after the end of the battle with Ari of Arkhanta but before the Trial of the Oracle saga (yes, I'm reading as much of W.I.T.C.H. as I can, thank you internets). This story is mostly based on Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, but with elements from other Kingdom Hearts games appearing every now and then.

And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to W.I.T.C.H. or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Elisabetta Gnone and Disney if we're talking the cartoon. The only things of this story I DO own are any characters created by yours truly for the story. Any characters or things I don't own, I am just borrowing with no intent of copyright infringement, only for the entertainment of my readers. The same goes for any anime, video game, or comic book series that will be represented here. Besides, if I did own W.I.T.C.H., which I don't, why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

---

Episode 1: The Adventure Begins Anew

After a quick search, Lily finally found Cornelia, excitedly chattering to her mother about her new keyblade and how she was 'finally ready to face the darkness'.

As proud as Cornelia was, she knew that Lily most likely had no clue about the biggest threat to the city of Heatherfield at the current time...

...them.

Cornelia still had bad flashbacks of the first time they had attacked the city. A bunch of strange characters in black robes had attacked Heatherfield's civic center and killed dozens of people. The instant Nick had seen the black hoods, he thought that a certain enemy of his had returned from the grave.

But then, the hooded people introduced themselves as Organization XIII before disappearing almost as suddenly as they'd arrived.

Ever since that day almost three years ago, Organization XIII had returned every now and again to cause chaos in the town. While it was nothing Cornelia and her fellow Guardians couldn't handle, Cornelia often worried about her daughter.

So that was why Cornelia decided to outright tell Lily to stay away from Organization XIII if they ever showed up in town. She couldn't bear losing her precious children to the hands of those monsters.

After promising to her mother, Lily announced that she was going to go play with her friends and rushed out to the local park.

Cornelia sighed and plopped down into her favorite spot on the living room couch. She was still pretty anxious, and she knew exactly why.

Now that Lily could wield a keyblade, Cornelia knew that it was only a matter of time before Organization XIII would find out about it. They apparently had some strange fascination with the keyblade, as one of their stated goals had been to flush out a keyblade wielder to learn of its powers.

"Everything okay, Cornelia?"

Cornelia looked up and allowed herself to crack a smile as her husband walked in and sat down next to her.

"You can probably tell why I'm so worried, Nick," Cornelia sighed.

"About the Organization," Nick stated. "I heard they were spotted recently."

"Nick, I can't stand it. What if they attack Lily when there's no way we can get to her?" Cornelia wondered. "I know you've been keeping watch over her, but they know a lot of crazy tricks. I'm scared..."

"Hey, if Lily gets in over her head, we can go back her up," Nick replied. "Why do you think I've insisted on training every chance we get for the last, I don't know, sixteen years?"

Cornelia just nodded, summoning Ends of the Earth back to her free hand. "So we can be ready in case we're ever needed. Yes, Nick, I remember the script."

"So, let's just let Lily go play with her friends, and we'll jump in if we need to," Nick laughed. "Remember, I fought a goddess and won. I'm honestly not scared of a group of hooded nutballs."

That got Cornelia to laugh, finally allowing herself to relieve her tension.

"There we go," Nick quipped. "There's the woman I fell in love with."

Blushing at Nick's comment, but flattered nonetheless, Cornelia leaned over and kissed Nick passionately, forgetting her worries if only for the moment.

---

At thirteen years old, Lily Kelly didn't particularly stand out from the crowd, but if she was being honest, she was okay with that.

Besides, seeing as how her mother was a fashion model who did ice-skating in her free time, Lily knew that she would get attention either way, as Cornelia was quite well-known around these parts.

Lily brushed a hand through her chest-length blonde hair with brown tips, making sure there weren't any stray tangles mocking her. She hated when that happened.

The thing that Lily liked most about her appearance was her eyes. Most people only saw pure brown, like her father, but those who looked closer could see a small shade of silver blending in with the brown.

Ever since her birth, Nick had believed this to be a gift from Marie, his deceased younger sister. Even Lily could still see how much that particular memory weighed heavily on Nick even sixteen years after he had been forced to kill Marie in order to save all of existence from being swallowed by darkness.

I promise, Auntie Marie, Lily thought as she crossed through the gates of Sheffield Institute. You'll be proud of me, too. I know you would.

Lily immediately set off to find her circle of friends as she always did before school started. She couldn't wait to tell them of this new development.

"Hey, flower girl!"

Lily stopped dead in her tracks, inwardly sighing in frustration. He never gives up, does he? Lily thought, turning around in her spot to face her aggressor as she always did.

"Nice clothes you've got. Do they honestly come in women's versions?" the slightly-muscled boy cackled.

"Cardin, you know that doesn't mean anything to me," Lily proclaimed, shaking her head at Cardin's insults. "I can rock either kind of fashion."

"Yeah, well, that's not why I'm here and you know it," Cardin laughed, advancing on Lily.

Ever since Lily's sixth grade year, Cardin had always been pestering her as bullies around here intended to do, and he never gave up, no matter how many times Lily had stuffed his taunts and insults. (And he shared the name with another bully her father had dealt with in another world. Oh, the irony, huh?)

"Cardin, I'm in a really good mood right now, so that's why, this time, I'm kindly asking you to shove off before I call for a teacher," Lily stated.

"Oh? And what makes you think I'm scared of a little girly-girl like you?" Cardin proclaimed.

Shouldn't have gone there, Lily thought. Should I? Eh, I'll just show it to him and watch him run away. It'll be worth the laugh.

Lily raised her hand, but Cardin had already started twitching uncontrollably before running away screaming.

"Really, you wuss? I didn't even show it off yet!" Lily exclaimed.

Suddenly, Lily froze in her spot. Every single instinct her body possessed was telling her to move, and she decided to obey them, diving to the ground just in time to avoid the attack of a strange appendage that whipped through the air.

Lily came out of her roll just in time to notice what had attacked her; a strange white figure with an almost-distorted body and a zipper for a mouth.

"Oooookay, what are you, ugly?" Lily wondered, realizing that it was focusing on her. Lily raised her right hand and summoned Light Seeker, ready to fight this odd creature off.

We have come for you.

"W-what?" Lily gasped before regaining her composure and bringing Light Seeker into a battle stance.

The Dusk approached, seemingly gliding across the ground before lashing out with its tentacle-like arms. Lily simply brought Light Seeker across her body to block the strike before retaliating, starting with an overhead swing, continuing with a diagonal chop, and finishing the combo with a leaping spin attack that split the Dusk in half. The two halves then popped out of existence a second later, leaving behind silver sparkles of light.

"Okay, that was seven kinds of weird," Lily quipped. Suddenly realizing that she had a class to get to, Lily let Light Seeker disappear and bolted through the front gates of Sheffield, putting the strange creature out of her mind.

From far away, a hooded figure can be seen watching the events unfold. This figure's cloak is brown, unlike the cloaks of Organization XIII.

The figure nods to itself before turning to leave the scene, vanishing completely as if it had never been there in the first place.

---

"So, how was your day, sweetie?" Cornelia asked when Lily returned home that day. It seemed like Lily was very excited, too.

"Oh, it was awesome!" Lily exclaimed. "I made a bunch of new friends today in gym class!"

"I told you your charm was going to rub off on her, Cornelia," Nick teased as he walked in, having heard Lily arrive. "It was only a matter of time."

"Did you have any trouble with Cardin?" Cornelia wondered, having personally heard of the bully.

"Not much," Lily admitted. "He tried to mess with me as always, but this weird white creature thing scared him off. And that stinks, because I wanted to show him my new keyblade and make him think twice about messing with me anymore!"

It took a few seconds for what Lily said to register, but Nick and Cornelia let out a synchronized gasp of shock when it finally clicked.

"What? Did I say something funny?" Lily wondered.

"Lily, dear? What did that creature look like?" Cornelia asked, hoping that what she had heard wasn't coming to pass.

"It... well, it was weird, honestly," Lily stated. "It had long, lanky arms and a zipper for a mouth! I would have thought it was a costume if it hadn't exploded when I whacked it a few times..."

Nick sighed in frustration. Of course.

"Lily, I don't know if you've ever seen a Nobody before..." Nick stated.

"A Nobody? What's a Nobody? Is it a kind of Heartless?" Lily asked.

Cornelia sat down on the couch before explaining. "Lily, dear, the Nobodies are bad news. You know that when a person loses their heart, that heart becomes a Heartless, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if someone with a strong heart ever loses their heart, the empty body that's left behind will eventually begin to act with a will of its own," Cornelia continued. "That empty shell is what we call a Nobody."

"The Nobodies are generally the foot-soldiers of Organization XIII," Nick explained. "Which lends some credence to my theory that the Organization members are Nobodies themselves."

"Really, papa?" Lily asked. "Why is that?"

"You see, while Heartless only act on feral instinct, Nobodies can actually think and plan," Nick continued. "Because they possess the mind that was left behind. The one you fought was a Dusk, the most common type of Nobody. But trust me, dear, there are many others, each with frightening powers."

"And now I'm really worried," Cornelia admitted. "If a Dusk tried to attack you, then that must mean that the Organization knows about you. We may not be able to protect you forever, Lily, dear, but..."

Cornelia's stress suddenly faded as Lily hopped over and kissed her mother on the cheek.

"Mama, I know you're worried, but honestly, I'm not scared of these creepoids," Lily stated, hugging Cornelia tightly. "You and papa always raised me to be a strong woman, so I can forge my destiny with my own hands. And that really stuck with me. If those Organization wackos come calling, I'll send 'em home crying to mommy!"

Nick couldn't help but chuckle at his daughter's enthusiasm. "Lily, please never lose that innocence."

"Of course not, papa!" Lily giggled. "No matter how old I get, I'll always retain that spark of my youth! After all, you taught me that, papa."

After some more light-hearted conversation, Lily returned to her room to muse on the day's events.

"I could hear him," Lily giggled. "I actually heard him this time! Oh, Blake, I can't wait to meet you. You're gonna be the best little bro ever."

Lily summoned Light Seeker to her hands, gazing at her reflection in the shiny glow of the blade.

"In your hand, take this key," Lily stated, repeating what her father had said. "I wonder what sort of adventures I'll have?"

Feeling a little tired (she had run a lot in gym class today), Lily decided to take a nap before dinner, opting to let her mother surprise her with what was on the menu tonight.

---

"Are you kidding me?" a man with spiky red hair exclaimed, sounding quite incredulous at his orders. "It's still too soon. You're not seriously thinking of getting rid of him?!"

"It is an order. Why the hesitation?" another figure replied, idly twirling one of his many naginatas. "You have been ruthless to any who have turned their backs on the Organization. Why is this so difficult to comprehend?"

"It's not like that!" the red-haired figure shot back. "It's not that he betrayed us, he just can't come back!"

The other figure didn't seem convinced. "If he doesn't return to us soon, you know what needs to be done. Or would you rather face the consequences?"

The second figure let his weapon lash out to strike the chair the first figure was seated in. He didn't even flinch, not even when the weapon's edge sheared a few hairs off.

The group's leader, sitting in the highest chair, extended his hand and began to channel energy, lightning crackling around his hand.

"So, you'll make me a Dusk..." the first figure groaned. "Okay, fine, I'll do it! Just don't expect me to like it..."

"In our line of work, you don't have to like it," the second figure proclaimed. "You must simply get it done."

---

I definitely wasn't expecting to see a dark void surrounding me when I opened my eyes. So, where am I?

After looking around for a couple seconds, I noticed that I was standing on a stained-glass platform in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, this seemed like the only thing in this void of ominousness!

I took a few steps forward, noticing the echo. Something about this weird place is actually starting to sound familiar to me...

So much to do, so little time to do it.

I jumped slightly at the random voice from out of nowhere. Hey, is someone here with me?

Take your time and don't be afraid. The door will not open yet. Now, step forward. Can you do it?

Deciding to just humor mister weird voice, I took a few steps forward, and as I did, three strange objects appeared around me. First a sword, then a shield, then a staff. Now where have I seen these before?

Untold power sleeps deep within yourself. If you allow it to take form, it will give you great strength. Choose well.

Okay, time to start thinking, then, I guess. I looked at the sword first.

The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction.

Then, I looked at the staff.

The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin.

Finally, the shield. I noticed it actually had mama's elemental symbol on it. Weird...

The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all.

It was then that I noticed that mama's symbol was on all three of these weapons. I wonder if it's because she was a Guardian once...

Wait a minute! I remember now! This is what papa saw in his dreams before he got his keyblade! But... I already have a keyblade, thanks to papa.

If that's true, why am I in my Dive to the Heart?

I decided to answer that later, because it seemed like I wasn't going anywhere until I picked a weapon.

Maybe I'll go mama's way and pick the staff, since papa said he picked the shield.

I walked up and took the staff into my hands. The other weapons disappeared once I did, and I felt another surge of power flow through my body.

Once it went away, the staff disappeared too, and Light Seeker appeared in my hands. Um...

I noticed movement from behind me and dropped into a battle stance as at least four of those Dusk things slithered onto the platform like they thought they could defy the laws of physics.

Well, we are basically in a dream, so I guess they could.

But if they can, so can I!

One of them leaped towards me, its body squashing and stretching like an old Looney Tunes cartoon, but I moved in to intercept it with a flying swing that sent it bouncing all over the platform.

Two of them tried to pincer me, but I did a quick spin to get them to back off before rushing in and swinging as hard as I could, destroying one of them.

The fourth Dusk actually managed to get through my defense and knock me into the air with a swinging uppercut, but I righted myself quickly and swung out to slam Light Seeker into its head on the way down, taking that one out as well. Two to go.

The remaining Dusks seemed to back off, but I didn't give them that chance, dashing forward and using a technique I'd seen papa use a lot, Zantetsuken (I think that's how you pronounce it. That's what papa called it, right?), and made short work of the Dusks.

When everything was calm again, I saw a door appear at the edge of this platform.

Be careful. Beyond that door lies a completely different world. But

don't be afraid.

Well, all in who's going in, I'm sure.

I waltzed up to the door and opened it, finding myself on a much larger platform.

As I wondered why this one was so much larger, I looked up and instantly got my answer.

Seriously, this Nobody was gigantic! And all its tentacle appendages were really starting to make me uncomfortable.

I'd better just take this thing down before...

...hey, what?!

I suddenly found myself surrounded by these weird energy shackles and lifted into the air, just as this giant freak stretched over to me and stared me down with its oddly non-existent eyes.

As it reared its right hand back, obviously to throw a punch at me, I managed to break my right hand free of the shackles for a brief second and knock the Twilight Thorn back with a flying slash to its weird zipper face.

Even though the shackles reformed, I continued struggling as best I could. I'm not gonna let some Darkside ripoff take me down!

The Twilight Thorn came back quickly, stretching its arms out to grab me and toss me higher, almost as if it wanted to spike me into the platform.

Well, sorry, freak-o, but you're not getting that wish!

Noticing that I was free of my shackles, I spun around in mid-air so that I landed feet-first on the Twilight Thorn's fist, then leaping off of it and delivering a fierce overhead slash to its head that knocked it off the platform.

Before I could celebrate my victory, the platform suddenly started tilting over, revealing that mister giant freak was pulling it over to make me fall, clutching a huge sphere of energy in its hands.

As I fell through the void, I saw the Twilight Thorn get ready to throw that sphere at me. Not wanting to be on the business end of a Spirit Bomb, I threw Light Seeker for it, my new keyblade piercing right through it and making it blow up in the Twilight Thorn's face. It crashed down onto another platform as I landed gracefully in front of it.

Oh, hey, the head's exposed! I took that as my cue to go over there and whack it a few times.

Of course, it eventually picked itself up and began firing off bolts of black lightning at me. Thankfully, they were easy enough for me to dodge thanks to my agility.

This continued for a little while until I managed to get in close during one of its lightning hissy fits and whack its zippered face a few times, causing the zipper to unravel and reveal a little bulb thing.

Not taking any chances, I leaped in and slashed the bulb thing, destroying it and causing the Twilight Thorn to explode with so much pageantry, I almost thought it looked like fireworks.

Sadly, I didn't have any time to celebrate my victory, as a huge mass of darkness began to surround my Awakening station, as if it was some creepy horror monster.

I tried to fight it, but the darkness had me completely surrounded, and I couldn't see a thing.

Faintly, I could have sworn I'd heard someone calling my name.

As I tried to gaze through the darkness, I saw another platform far off in the distance, though this one was... for lack of a more useful word, fractured. What's going on here?

Who... are you?

I gazed around, trying to find the source of this new voice. Who was here with me?

"Who are you?" I asked.

I'm a brand new heart.

"Okay, but why are you in my heart, of all places?"

Your light guided me here. I saw it shining in the distance, through the darkness that surrounds us.

"So, that's your Awakening station over there, right? Why is it broken?"

My heart is fractured. I know not why, but... what little I have left is slipping away.

Suddenly, I realized why this voice sounds like someone I've known for a long time, even though I've never heard him before.

"...Blake?!"

Yeah, it's me, sis.

"How are you talking to me if you haven't been born yet?!"

My heart is speaking to you. We made our connection earlier, before you came here. When we connected, I guided you here to your Awakening.

"Blake... why is your heart fractured?"

I couldn't tell you, sis. I have no idea.

I thought for a few seconds. If my little bro's heart was fractured, what would happen if it faded completely?

Then, a thought.

"Hey, Blake? Why don't you join your heart with mine?"

Huh?

I reached out to Blake's Awakening station, concentrating as hard as I could. The cracked parts of the station shined with a bright glow and reformed as if nothing had ever happened to it.

"There we go. Now our hearts are truly connected," I giggled. "Now nothing else is gonna slip away. And maybe, when you're finally born, you'll be strong enough to get back what already did."

Thanks, sis. I knew I could count on you.

Before I could respond, I began hearing another voice calling me.

---

"Lily?! Lily, wake up!"

Lily slowly opened her eyes and noticed that her parents were staring down at her, concerned looks etched into their features.

"Oof, that was a good nap," Lily sighed, yawning slightly before sitting up to greet Nick and Cornelia. "Is... everything okay?"

"We were worried when you didn't answer us," Cornelia replied.

Lily cast a glance at the clock on her nightstand; it read 6:12 PM. "Whoa, it's dinnertime already? Man, I must have been zonked out longer than I thought..." Lily quipped. "I just figured I'd relax until dinner, so I took a nap..."

Suddenly, everything came back to Lily, everything she'd experienced within her Awakening.

"Oh, mama, papa, you won't believe who I saw in my dream!" Lily giggled. "I got to meet Blake!"

Cornelia gasped in surprise. "You met your brother?"

"Yeah! Well, his heart, anyway, since he hasn't been born yet," Lily noted. "Okay, so I found myself in my Awakening station, and then a bunch of Nobodies tried to whack me, and..."

As Lily continued to excitedly tell her story to her parents, none of them noticed the black-hooded figure watching them from far away.

"So... this is where it begins."

---

Orube continued to pace around the tiled floor of the Congregation Hall, still confused as to why exactly the Oracle had summoned her here now of all times.

"It must have something to do with Organization XIII," Orube realized. Even sixteen years after Izanami-no-Mikoto had been silenced forever, it seemed trouble still found its way to the Earth like a magnet.

"Right you are, Orube."

Orube turned around and saw that Himerish had appeared in his usual spot, eyes closed as always.

"Your Majesty, what can you tell me about Organization XIII?" Orube proclaimed, cutting right to the chase. "Why do you believe they are such a threat?"

Himerish only replied with one sentence, but it made everything clear to Orube.

"They seek to acquire the power of Kingdom Hearts."

"K-Kingdom Hearts?!" Orube exclaimed. "But... didn't that boy seal off the door to darkness, and Kingdom Hearts along with it?"

"He did," Himerish answered. "But it is not the only route to Kingdom Hearts. Organization XIII wishes to become complete beings again, and they believe that attaining the power of the heart of all worlds will allow this. They release their minions, the Nobodies, into the worlds to cause as much chaos and devastation as possible."

"And all the hearts lost in the destruction..." Orube gasped. "They fuel the power of Kingdom Hearts..."

"Precisely," Himerish answered. "As Kingdom Hearts grows, so too does the weakness of the barricades the ancients placed around it. Nothing lasts forever, after all, and Organization XIII is prepared to take advantage of that."

"Then... what should we do?"

Himerish thought for a few seconds. "If we are to truly strike down the Organization, we must strike where they are most vulnerable... the past."

"But who can we send back?"

"Oh, I have an idea."

---

Another day, another boring science class.

That was Lily's opinion, anyway, as she sat down in her seat and prepared to try once again to outlast the class.

It's not my fault that the teacher is so boring he could even put an elephant to sleep with his droning lectures on particles and matter, Lily thought.

Still, Lily decided to just go ahead and tough it out. Next period was her favorite class anyway, so it'd be worth the wait.

Suddenly, a piece of folded paper bonked Lily in the back of her head. She turned towards its source and saw Cardin silently cackling like he was a madman.

Ooh, so help me, I'll take him down a peg yet, Lily thought.

Fifteen minutes to the end of class, the teacher's droning was interrupted by a loud crash from somewhere in the room.

"Um, teach, did your shelf collapse again?" one of the students wondered.

The teacher, hearing that, moved for the back room to check, as that old shelf was always breaking apart and sending things flying.

Before the teacher could reach the doorknob, the door unexpectedly blew off of its hinges, thankfully missing the teacher, and crashed a few feet away.

The culprit turned out to be a group of Dusks, slithering into the room with unstoppable intent. Many of the students began to flee in blind panic as the Dusks approached.

Lily jumped from her seat and placed herself between her fellow students and the group of Dusks.

"You guys just get somewhere safe!" Lily exclaimed. "I'll take care of business!"

"Listen, flower girl, I don't care how tough you think you are, nobody can stop those things unless they have a keyblade!" Cardin shouted. "You saw what they did to the mall last week, right?!"

Lily just smiled and summoned Light Seeker to her right hand, instantly silencing Cardin.

"Just get everyone out of here, Cardin," Lily replied. "You may be a stubborn bully, but I'm not gonna let you get hurt. You can do that for me, right?"

Despite his own fears, Cardin nodded, moving towards the classroom doors while barking orders to the rest of the students.

Once Lily was alone with the Dusks, she raised Light Seeker in challenge. "All right, zipper boys, let's dance."

The Dusks creeped towards her, but Lily made short work of the ones that got too close with a few horizontal slashes.

After clearing a few more Dusks away, a new Nobody appeared, this one being a strange humanoid figure with extremely long arms that were lined with serrated spikes.

"Okay, new challenger," Lily quipped as the Assassin thrust its spiked arms towards her. Lily brought Light Seeker horizontally across her body to block the double attack before striking back to push the Assassin away.

After a few rounds of this, the Assassin began to glow with a shimmering light. Lily quickly moved, grabbing the Assassin by its long arm and tossing it into the last group of Dusks, where the Assassin self-destructed, inadvertently taking the Dusks out alongside it.

Despite the victory, Lily understood that if there had been Dusks here, there were more than likely more of them spreading through the school.

"I'd better find out who's responsible for this," Lily stated, dashing out of the room and into the chaos that had gripped the school.

Lily waded through the madness as best she could, helping evacuate any students and staff who hadn't yet while cutting down any Nobodies that tried to jump her along the way.

After fighting through a rather annoying horde of Assassins, Lily finally reached the gymnasium.

"Jeez-ums, when is this madness gonna end?!" Lily shouted, swinging Light Seeker to get rid of an errant Dusk. "How many of these freaks do I have to cut down?!"

"Simply amazing, little girl."

Lily looked to her left, towards a man shrouded in a black robe that was casually strolling through the wreckage of the gym. He had shoulder-length red hair slicked back into spikes and emerald green eyes.

"Okay, I'm just gonna cut straight to the chase," Lily proclaimed. "Are you commanding these Nobodies? And, if so, are you with the Organization?"

"Pretty smart for someone who only started high school," the hooded man responded. "This is my show now, keyblade girl. My name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"What's your game, then, Axel?" Lily challenged. "What's the point of attacking the school?!"

"Oh, it's simple, really," Axel laughed. "We're trying to draw out the keyblade wielder. And I think we did a pretty good job, huh?"

Lily just grinned as she readied Light Seeker. "Oh, go ahead and psych me out all you want. I'm not scared of you freaks."

"You should be," Axel taunted. "But please try and entertain me! I'm bored enough as it is!"

"I guess being part of a group of hooded wackos doesn't always alleviate boredom, eh?" Lily teased.

"Sometimes you gotta have a little fun," Axel proclaimed, summoning two spiked chakrams to his hands. "And in this line of work, I find a lot of fun to be had!"

Lily knew what Axel wanted, and brought Light Seeker into a battle stance. "All right, then, you asked for it! Just don't go crying back to your superiors when you get your butt handed to you by a 'little girl'!"

Axel was the first to go on the attack, tossing his chakrams, the Eternal Flames, like boomerangs, the spiked wheels cutting through the air and quickly returning to Axel with each toss. Lily batted the chakrams away each time they flew towards her, waiting for an opportunity to move in closer.

"Had enough?" Axel taunted.

"Not on your life!" Lily exclaimed, dashing in and juking around another chakram throw to land a few hits on Axel's prone form. Axel responded by sliding around to Lily's backside and spinning his chakrams in a spiral attack, the weapons surrounded by fire as he wielded them. Lily was surprised by the attack and knocked forward a few feet, but landed gracefully and none the worse for wear.

"Man, if only I had some water or ice magic right about now," Lily quipped before going back on the offensive, swinging multiple times to deflect Axel's chakrams until she could reach him, landing a few solid swings before finishing with a graceful overhead chop, causing Axel to slide back through the rubble.

"Don't make me mad!" Axel shouted, the Eternal Flames spinning around him and surrounding him with a tornado of raging flames. Axel then began to move closer to Lily while surrounded by his fire tornado, as if daring Lily to come any closer.

Lily took a few steps back to keep her distance before catching a glimpse at the ceiling above them. Smirking, Lily took one more step before flinging Light Seeker out so that it spun through the air and struck all of the fire sprinklers on the ceiling before returning to Lily's hand. The damaged sprinklers began to spray great deluges of water that covered the entire area of the fight, instantly dousing Axel's fire tornado and leaving him surprised.

Lily took advantage of the distraction to rush up and deliver a powerful four-swing combo to Axel's prone form, finishing by swinging her keyblade upwards and blasting Axel back with a field of ruby-red magical energy around her.

"Hmph, not bad, girlie," Axel conceded. "You fight quite well for a newbie."

"And don't you forget it," Lily laughed.

"But... should you really be worried about me right now?" Axel quipped, opening a corridor of darkness and retreating before Lily could piece it together.

For one terrifying moment, Lily's thoughts were still.

Then, the realization hit her like a speeding truck.

Not wanting to waste any more time than she already had, Lily bolted out of the gym and onto the streets of Heatherfield, hoping beyond all hope that she wasn't too late.

Mama! Papa! Blake! Please, please, PLEASE be okay!

Lily flat-out ignored the chaos going on around her as she raced for home, focused only on making sure her family was okay.

"Move it!" Lily shouted as a horde of Dusks intercepted her path, only for Lily to obliterate them with one swing each.

A few more blocks, and Lily arrived at her home, only to find exactly what she feared; the house was in shambles, with various holes carved into the foundation of odd shapes.

Not wasting a second, Lily kicked the front door open, after which it fell off its hinges and clattered uselessly to the ground, and rushed in to find her parents.

"Mama?! Papa?!" Lily called.

A whooshing sound, followed by another sound Lily didn't want to imagine, drew her to the living room.

Lily was so shocked that she nearly dropped Light Seeker upon seeing the completely unmoving bodies of her parents. Nick even had the Kingdom Key clutched in his right hand, as if he'd attempted to fight off their attackers.

Her entire body shivering with fear, she rushed over and put two of her fingers to Nick's wrist. No pulse.

Lily didn't even want to cast an errant glance at the chest wounds that Nick and Cornelia had suffered, no doubt what had inevitably killed them.

Lily dropped to her knees, the tears beginning to fall, as she started crying, grieving for the loss of the people she cherished more than her own life.

Just then, movement caught her eyes. Flicking her tear-streaked gaze upwards, Lily saw another hooded figure slinking off.

"YOU!" Lily screamed.

The hooded figure turned to face Lily, grinning wickedly from under the hood. "Ah, the prodigal child. Sad to say that you are too late."

Lily felt something in her mind snap, and she let out a tortured wail that seemed to echo in the now-empty household. Nick's Kingdom Key suddenly disappeared and rematerialized in Lily's left hand.

"What?!" the hooded figure gasped.

Lily didn't give the figure a second to react, dashing in and wailing on him with both Kingdom Key and Light Seeker, pouring her sorrow into her attacks.

Before Lily could deal a decisive blow, however, the figure wrapped itself in a cloak of darkness and teleported away.

"Sorry, girl, but I must take my leave."

And with that, the figure faded away as if it had never been there in the first place.

A few seconds passed in agonizing silence before Lily walked up to her parents' dead bodies, clutching both of her keyblades tightly.

"Mama... papa..." Lily gasped, already on the verge of another breakdown. "I swear... I swear I'll avenge both of you... you and Blake didn't deserve any of this..."

Before Lily could formulate any kind of plan, however, a bright column of light surrounded her, and she felt the strange sensation of her very being being transported to somewhere far away.

When she could see again, she found herself standing in the center of Candracar's Congregation Hall, which only served to confuse Lily, as Nick had always said that the only mortals allowed into Candracar were the Guardians of the Veil and wielders of the keyblade.

Did... did the oracle summon me? Lily thought, trying in vain to stave off the tears.

"Be not afraid, young one. You are indeed here at my behest."

Lily looked up to see the Oracle, Himerish, staring intently at her.

"No doubt you understand the threat that Organization XIII poses, my dear," Himerish proclaimed.

"Then why am I here?!" Lily shouted. "I need to be out there, looking for a way to avenge mama and papa! I don't want them to have died for nothing!"

"Calm yourself, Lily," Orube responded. "I understand how you feel, but we must look at this situation carefully. Organization XIII is unlike any foe we have ever faced before."

"To that end, I have summoned you here to propose an idea," Himerish stated. "Organization XIII has grown far too powerful in this time frame."

Lily clutched Kingdom Key and Light Seeker tightly, trying to think of something she could do, until she caught on to something that Himerish had just said.

"Wait... did you say 'this time frame'?"

"Indeed," Himerish answered. "Lily, as the Oracle of Candracar, only I possess the power to do this, but I must be sure it is something you wish to do."

"Anything, your majesty," Lily immediately answered. "Anything to avenge mama and papa."

Himerish stood to his full height and raised his hands, calling his keyblade into existence. This keyblade had a smooth, cylindrical, grey shaft that tapered outward at both ends, a boxy guard, made up of two small, light grey boxes and copper rods, the base of the guard connected to the grip, and both sported several small indentations lining them. The teeth were in the shape of an angled "C", and the keychain token was the personal symbol of Candracar's ruling staff.

"Lily, I intend to send you back in time so that you may defeat the Organization before they can rise to power," Himerish proclaimed. "But I must warn you, as well. I will only be able to send you back. You must find your own way home once your mission is complete."

"I'll do whatever I have to," Lily proclaimed. "Mama and papa always raised me to be someone who never gives up, even when the situation is really bad."

"Well said, my dear," Himerish stated, raising Master Keeper above his head.

("Passion –opening version-" by Utada Hikaru plays)

Bright chains of light surrounded Lily, eventually attaching themselves to her body as Himerish worked his magic. Lily closed her eyes and let the magic wash through her body, eventually feeling a sensation that she could only describe as her soul dissolving only to reconvene somewhere else.

The last words Lily heard as her vision temporarily closed down were...

"Good luck, Lily. This whole world is counting on you."

---

A whole year has passed since the city of Heatherfield and the world surrounding it was brought back from the depths of eternal darkness.

Nobody remembers what had happened on that fateful day. No one, that is, except the small group of people responsible for bringing the world back.

And one of those people was on his way to school now.

"Ugh, honestly, why do I still have to take this wretched biology class?!" Nick Kelly, honorary Guardian of the Veil and wielder of the keyblade, groaned as he crossed through the gates to Sheffield Institute. "I just about lost my lunch when mister teach announced we were getting to dissection early... UGH..."

"Well, at least we're getting it out of the way, right?" the girl to Nick's left giggled. This was Cornelia Hale, Guardian of Earth and Nick's girlfriend of about a year. "I know it's your least favorite class here..."

"Thank god for that, says this observer..." Nick groaned, reaching out to hold Cornelia's hand.

Nick had actually been in love with Cornelia for a long time, though due to her then-ongoing relationship with Caleb, Nick could only watch from the sidelines. After a nasty breakup, Nick had entertained the idea of a chance with her, but had been separated from her and his other friends when Heatherfield had been swallowed by the darkness.

Near the end of his previous adventure, after the Guardians had been reunited, Nick had finally revealed his feelings to Cornelia, unsure if he'd ever get another chance. Thankfully, Cornelia had accepted his feelings, and the two of them had been going steady ever since.

As they walked into the school itself, Nick still caught some roving eyes staring his way with unbridled jealousy. As Cornelia was very popular at Sheffield, many students were honestly surprised that Nick and Cornelia had hooked up, and others were jealous that Nick had gotten to her before they could have.

Eh, teenagers will be teenagers, I guess, Nick thought.

Biology class was first for Nick that day, and he definitely wasn't looking forward to it.

As the class continued, however, something strange actually managed to get Nick's mind off of dissection.

As Nick was gazing out the nearby window, he noticed a small black shadow slithering across the ground.

Nick knew that despite sealing off the heart of all worlds, Kingdom Hearts itself, the Heartless threat continued to roam, though there was apparently much less Heartless activity since Kingdom Hearts had been locked away.

Despite this, Nick hadn't found his world's keyhole yet, so until he could find it, he made it his mission to take down any Heartless that showed up before history could repeat itself.

After hastily excusing himself from the class, Nick rushed outside, following where he'd seen the shadow moving.

Once he'd reached the outdoor gym area, which was thankfully devoid of anyone but him, the shadow stopped and multiple Heartless spawned around him, mostly just the non-threatening Shadows and Soldiers.

"All right, dark boys, let's dance," Nick quipped, summoning the Kingdom Key to his hands as the Soldiers bum-rushed him.

Nick countered the jumping strike with a quick three-hit combo before finishing with a spinning slash around him that cut down any Heartless that tried to get close.

A few Neoshadows spawned as Nick continued to cut down the Heartless, but Nick wasn't surprised by this, simply keeping his cool as they approached.

When one of the Neoshadows attempted to leap through the air to catch Nick by surprise, Nick simply met the creature with a Hurricane Period, spinning through the air to slice the Neoshadow in half.

Nick smiled once the last Heartless had been vanquished, letting the Kingdom Key rest on his shoulder. "Nice to know I've still got the moves, huh?" Nick quipped, the question seemingly aimed at his keyblade, of all things.

Maylin had questioned why he'd been talking to his keyblade a lot lately. Haruka had actually been the first one to figure out that Nick was actually speaking to his deceased sister Marie, who this Kingdom Key had come from.

DANGER! DANGER! MOVE, NOW!

Nick decided to obey his mind's abrupt orders, juking to the side just in time to avoid the spiked edges of a ring-like weapon that cut through the air just where he had been not seconds prior.

Going into a roll to pick himself up quickly, Nick readied the Kingdom Key for a fight, only to easily notice the black coat this new arrival was wearing.

Immediately, Nick began to fear the worst. After all, the last person he'd seen wearing that black coat had been...

"All right, who are you?!" Nick shouted.

Nothing but silence from the hooded figure. Nick decided to just take this freak down and worry about it once he had room to think.

Just then, the figure lifted his chakrams over his head and channeled fire energy into them.

"BURN, BABY!" Axel shouted, slamming his chakrams into the ground. This created a large ring of fire around the two of them, effectively trapping them where they were.

The ground under the two combatants transformed into a surface of magma and cinder, and even though Nick wasn't being burned alive (most likely due to his keyblade's power), he did feel his energy slowly draining.

Guess I need to beat this guy quickly, Nick thought, charging into battle.

Axel tossed his chakrams like boomerangs, though Nick simply ducked and weaved to avoid the sharp pinwheels before moving in for an attack of his own.

"You won't forget this!" Axel shouted, fire energy surrounding his body as he began to attack like mad, his chakrams whipping through the air from multiple directions and striking Nick multiple times before he could react.

After a few rounds of this, Axel leaped into the air before tossing his chakrams into the ground, this action causing jets of flame to shoot up from the ground and send Nick crashing to his knees.

"Oh, is the keyblade man upset because I'm beating him?" Axel taunted.

"Oh, don't think I'm done yet," Nick growled. "If you only knew what I've accomplished..."

"Hey, I know what you've done," Axel laughed. "And honestly, I'm not impressed!"

Axel took this opportunity to charge, knowing that Nick couldn't defend himself this time.

But just as Axel swung his chakram to end it...

"PAPA!"

A bright flash erupted from high above the battlefield, and Lily wasted no time in drawing both of her keyblades and slashing as hard as she could to intercept Axel's attack, pushing the fire-wielder back a few steps.

Lily landed gracefully on her feet, swinging both Kingdom Key and Light Seeker in a direct challenge to Axel.

"So, you found your way back, too," Axel quipped, as if he wasn't surprised in the least. "I guess you're tougher than I thought."

"Stow it, you jerk," Lily growled. "You know exactly why I'm here."

Not waiting for any sort of answer, Lily rushed forward, performing an X-slash with her keyblades that knocked Axel into the air. Lily followed quickly, the two attacking each other rather quickly, until Lily knocked Axel back to the ground with an overhead slash.

Pouncing on her chance, Lily fell back to the ground and drove both keyblades into Axel's chest, causing pillars of light to erupt from around Axel that cleared away the magma floor and allowed Nick to slowly regain his strength.

"Now beat it," Lily proclaimed. "I'm not in any mood for you."

Axel did seem to realize that, understanding that if Lily was back here, that meant they had to change their plans. But, it wasn't anything that they couldn't handle, right?

"Well, this is where I take my leave," Axel stated. "Don't have too much fun without me, kiddies."

Axel summoned a corridor of darkness and disappeared into it, leaving Nick to wonder what exactly had happened.

Lily simply scoffed before turning back to Nick, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Nick asked, confused as to why Lily looked like she would start crying any second.

Before Nick could utter something to calm her down, Lily burst into tears and threw herself at Nick, clutching him tightly as if letting go would be the end of her.

Completely at a loss as to what was occurring, Nick simply hugged Lily back, trying as best he could to console the crying girl in his arms.

"It's... it's really you, isn't it?" Lily gasped. "I'm not seeing things?"

"What's wrong?" Nick asked.

Lily looked up at Nick. Yes, they were the same eyes.

"That's all I needed to know," Lily stated. "I should probably get going. I've got business to take care of. It was really nice seeing you!"

Before Nick could get any answers out of Lily, she had rushed away. Nick thought of something he had hear her say before she'd arrived to save him from Axel.

Did she call me 'papa'?

"HEY, BUDDY!"

Nick spun around and noticed that Maylin Rae and Haruka Rose were running towards him, their keyblades already drawn.

"Hey, guys, been a while," Nick quipped. Ever since Izanami-no-Mikoto had been vanquished, Maylin and Haruka had returned to Candracar to continue their duties, seeing as how both of their home worlds had been destroyed by the Heartless. Even though all of the worlds that were taken had been restored after destroying Izanami-no-Mikoto, they still hadn't found their worlds, but decided to keep searching.

Occasionally, the two would drop by Heatherfield to visit, seeing as how they and Nick had formed an unbreakable bond over the course of their journey. Maylin in particular was very affectionate with Nick, despite knowing that he had a girlfriend now (in fact, it was Maylin who inadvertently pushed Nick into confessing his feelings to Cornelia in the first place), though thankfully Cornelia didn't seem to mind.

"Far too long, in this girl's honest opinion," Maylin giggled.

"So, what brings the two of you here on a day like this?" Nick wondered.

Haruka sighed heavily, twirling her keyblade, Rumbling Rose, around in her right hand. "I wish we could say it was just to visit our friend, but... the Oracle requested your assistance, so we came to get you. The other Guardians are already there, too."

"Jeez, that bad?" Nick quipped. "Wonder what's up?"

Inwardly, Nick wondered if it had something to do with Axel and Lily, and why they were here of all places.

"Well, let's not keep the Oracle waiting, shall we?" Nick stated.

"That's my pal!" Maylin laughed as Haruka activated the device mounted on her wrist, surrounding all three of them with a bright sheet of light.

A few moments later, Nick found himself in the cockpit of the Gummi Ship, Maylin and Haruka's preferred method of interworld travel.

"Wow, you guys remodeled the Gummi Ship?" Nick quipped, noticing how different everything looked now.

"Well, when you're flying around in this thing for a year straight, you tend to get bored of the design," Maylin admitted. "So we basically said 'screw it' and completely remade our Gummi Ship! We refitted it with all the latest tech, including a gigantic Navi-Gummi straight from Kiva herself, so now we can visit a whole lot more new worlds!"

"Honestly, it was pretty fun building a whole new ship," Haruka stated. "You should try it sometime, Nick."

Their conversation finished for now, Haruka planted herself in the pilot's chair and pressed a few buttons, the Gummi Ship roaring to life and coasting through the Lanes Between, a veritable hyperspace tunnel of pathways across the many worlds.

"Hey, I don't see any of the places we went to last time," Nick quipped.

"That's because they all went back to their original places when we beat miss hood," Maylin stated. "The worlds we've visited are still around, they're just back where they belong. Who knows, maybe we'll run into them again on our trip!"

Maylin surprised Nick by walking up to him and hugging him tightly. "I really missed you, buddy."

"I missed you, too, Maylin," Nick laughed.

"All right, we're here!" Haruka exclaimed. "Prepare for landing!"

---

"Still as majestic as ever," Nick quipped. "So, you two have just been hanging around here when you're not exploring?"

"Pretty much," Maylin stated. "Still haven't found our worlds yet, but we'll keep looking for as long as it takes."

"There's a lot of worlds out there, and ours could be anywhere," Haruka admitted. "But we're persistent. You of all people should know that by now, Nick."

Nick just nodded as the trio entered the Congregation Hall, where, just as Haruka had said, the Guardians of the Veil were already talking with the Oracle.

"We have arrived, your majesty!" Maylin proclaimed, catching everyone's attention.

Himerish stood to his full height, attention now on Nick and his friends. "It is good that you are here. Now, have you seen the queen yet?"

Naturally, Nick was confused. "Huh? Queen? You mean Elyon? I didn't know she was around here..."

"Yes, the queen has been quite busy of late," Himerish responded. "Therefore, it would seem that the task of instructing you falls to me."

"Hey, Cornelia, did Elyon ever tell you about this?" Nick asked.

"She just said she had some things to do," Cornelia answered. "I'm honestly not sure what it entailed..."

Before Cornelia could expound any further on this strange revelation, a horde of Dusks emerged from all around, along with a few Assassins.

"W-what the hell?!" Maylin exclaimed, immediately summoning her keyblade, Counterpoint. "What are these things?!"

"I've never seen monsters like this before," Haruka quipped, summoning Rumbling Rose. "Stay on your guard, guys!"

Nick said nothing, summoning the Kingdom Key, but inwardly noticed that something about these creatures reminded him of Axel. Why, though?

Shaking it off for the moment, Nick rushed forward to meet one of the Dusks, slashing through it and causing it to explode in a shower of sparks.

Maylin reached for one of her spell coins and tossed it into the air. "Force, know my plight! Release the light! THUNDER!" Maylin shouted, striking the spell coin with Counterpoint as it fell down. The coin's ancient text flared with a bright glow, and bolts of lightning rained down from above, making short work of the Dusks she'd targeted.

Haruka danced around the stretchy bladed arms of an Assassin before jumping back in to strike multiple times, ending with an overhead swing that created a radial pink shockwave to destroy the Assassin.

But, in a rather disturbing twist of déjà vu, it seemed that more Dusks would spawn for every one that was vanquished.

"Oh, this is hopeless!" Maylin exclaimed. "Stop rapid-spawning, you freaks!"

Suddenly, an Assassin's arm stretched out and struck Maylin in the back, causing her to collapse to her knees.

But just before the Assassin could take advantage of this chance, a figure leaped out from the nearby shadows and struck with its own keyblade, easily destroying the Assassin. The figure continued to hop around the room and swing its keyblade to easily destroy Dusk after Dusk, thinning the horde quickly.

By the time the figure decided to stop moving, all of the Dusks had been destroyed. And now that the figure had stopped wildly jumping around, everyone else could see her as clear as day.

It was Elyon Portrait, High Queen of Metamoor and the Light of Meridian, her royal dress flowing from her movements and her Starlight keyblade held proudly in her right hand.

"Your Majesty?" Nick quipped.

Elyon quickly raised a finger on her free hand. "You can't tell anyone I was here, got it?"

Before anyone could question what she meant by that, Elyon swung Starlight hard enough to create a portal, most likely part of the Veil, and jumped through it, the rip in reality closing immediately after.

"Okay, I've gotta ask... WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?!" Maylin exclaimed, picking herself up. "We suddenly get swarmed by strange creatures, only for the queen to save us and then suddenly bail on us?! What's going on here?!"

"Yeah, Your Majesty, I think we'd all like to know that, if possible," Haruka replied. "Is there anything you can tell us?"

Himerish raised his hand, and an image of a Dusk popped into existence before him. "First, we must speak of the enemies you will encounter on this quest," Himerish proclaimed.

"At times, if someone with a strong heart and will, be they evil or good, becomes a Heartless, the empty shell that is left behind begins to act of its own accord," Himerish explained. "An empty vessel whose heart has been stolen away... A spirit that carries on even as its body fades from existence... for you see, Nobodies do not truly exist at all. Nobodies may seem to have feelings like us, but it is a mere trick of the mind. They only pretend to have hearts. Do not be deceived."

"Nobodies... they don't exist..." Nick whispered, taking in all of the information.

"Now then, the being you see before you is known as a Dusk," Himerish continued. "The most common form of Nobody. But, there are many others. Some larger, and with frightening and unique powers. Be vigilant, as on your journey, you will meet an alarming number of these Nobodies, who will all attempt to harm you. Still, they are nothing but empty vessels, destined to melt back into the darkness. However..."

The image of the Dusk disappeared, and in its place now stood three black-hooded figures. Nick immediately recognized the figures as similar to Axel, the one he'd fought before being summoned to Candracar.

"The beings you see before you now are much different," Himerish stated. "They are very powerful Nobodies, indeed, and they form a group called Organization XIII. It commands all of the lesser Nobodies. While Heartless rely on nothing but feral instinct, Nobodies can think and plan, and it seems they are working towards a goal of sorts, but what it could be, I even I am not sure."

Himerish glanced towards where Elyon had made her rather hasty exit. "Perhaps Elyon has sensed the danger and journeyed forth to fight it, and hopefully to answer the riddle of the Nobodies and Organization XIII."

"Hey, I just fought one of those Organization stooges before we came here," Nick stated. "He probably would have toasted me if this strange girl hadn't shown up and drove him off. Odd thing was, she was wielding two keyblades, so that's what I'm confused about."

"Perhaps the reason for her being here is linked to whatever Organization XIII is planning," Himerish proclaimed. "Maybe she, too, knows of the threat they pose, and is shadowing them wherever they go in order to halt their plans."

"Then, whoever she is, we'd better find her fast," Nick stated. "I don't know if she's strong enough to handle them."

"Before you speed off on your quest," Himerish proclaimed. "I have a special gift for you, young master of the keyblade, to better prepare you for the journey ahead."

Himerish raised his hands and summoned his own keyblade, the Master Keeper. He moved it in wide circles, in arcs around his body, before aiming its teeth towards Nick. Before Nick could ask what was happening, his body was surrounded by a blinding white glow, magical energy swirling around him.

When the light faded away, Nick landed on his feet, wearing an entirely new uniform. Over his now navy blue shirt with a red patch in the center, he now wore a black hoodie, with silver pauldrons lining his sleeves. His pants, similar to chaps, were colored black on the outside, and a navy blue on the inside, lined with silver-white edging. Yellow straps crisscrossed around his pants, held together with a black belt. The pants featured red pockets with a black cross over them, his gloves were colored black on the outside and white on the inside with a yellow line running around them. Nick was also wearing large black-yellow shoes with silver soles, a zipper running across the top, and black straps holding them together with buckles here and there.

"Holy..." Nick quipped.

"Lookin' good, buddy!" Maylin giggled.

"Oh, yes, he looks very dashing, doesn't he?" Haruka laughed.

"Now, these are no ordinary garments," Himerish explained. "They will allow you to 'harmonize' your own energy with that of the world you are currently in to grant you amazing new powers. Also... well, take the orb."

A bright yellow orb appeared in front of Nick, who reached out to take it.

"Watch what happens."

Haruka suddenly disappeared from sight as Nick was lifted into the air by an invisible force, silver light surrounding his new clothes. After a second, Nick threw his arms outwards, and the silver light surrounding him exploded outwards, eventually reconverging onto his clothes.

When the light cleared, Nick had indeed transformed. Most of his clothes had turned to black and shades of a reddish-pink color, and a white fleur-de-lis emblem was imprinted on both of his pant legs. He was also wielding both his own Kingdom Key and Haruka's Rumbling Rose at the same time, and his eyes had shifted to Haruka's strawberry pink shade.

"Whoa, what just happened?!" Nick exclaimed, though in this form, it sounded like he and Haruka were talking at the exact same time.

"Your new garments will allow you to merge with your friends and combine your powers," Himerish explained. "Think of it as an extension of your new 'Harmonization' ability, except you can perform this transformation whenever you wish."

"Because Harmonization is specific to each world, right?" Valor Form Nick replied. "Since each world's energy is different."

"You catch on quick," Himerish proclaimed. "So, chosen wielder of the keyblade, that is your mission. Track down and destroy Organization XIII, and find the girl that saved you."

"Roger that," Valor Form Nick responded before splitting back into Nick and Haruka.

"What are you guys gonna do?" Haruka asked, glancing at the Guardians.

"We're gonna stick around, maybe try to find some more intel on this Organization," Will replied before cracking a smile. "We'll leave the hero work to you."

"You sure you guys don't mind sitting this one out?" Nick wondered.

"Hey, after what we just went through, I think we've earned a break," Irma laughed, waving her hand. "Being a Guardian can really get stressful sometimes, even if it's worth it helping people out."

"We'll call you if we ever need backup," Maylin stated, spinning Counterpoint in her hand. "You know we're just a Gummi Ship away."

None of them knew that they were being watched from a faraway world by a group of black-hooded figures, none other than Organization XIII themselves.

"Doth my eyes deceive me?" Xaldin proclaimed. "Does this boy really possess the power to wield the keyblade? He's nothing but a mere child."

Xigbar merely chuckled. "Why not give him a chance? It means he's straight as

an arrow and pure of heart, unlike all of us here."

"He'd better be, or else he is of no use to us," Saix proclaimed.

"I truly hope he's enjoying himself on this little journey of his," Luxord stated, picking through the cards of his deck. "Perhaps he would like a hand to determine his fate."

"Hey, as long as it works in our favor, right?" Demyx responded, hoping the others wouldn't notice his nervous twitching. "We'll just let him do all the heavy lifting for now, then we'll all jump in if we have to!"

Xigbar, however, wasn't fooled. "Such bolds words from the likes of you. Are you saying that you'll volunteer to take care of business if and when things go wrong?"

Demyx sputtered a few times. "Huh? What, me? Oh, no, you've got the wrong guy. I don't think I'm comfortable with that..."

Xigbar turned in his seat and grinned. It was too easy to freak Demyx out.

"You act like you have a conscience or something," Xaldin taunted. "When was the last time any of us felt anything?"

"Truer words have never been spoken," Luxord admitted, letting his cards disappear for the moment. "I guess the fun will have to wait."

"You do understand what happens to those who lose their purpose?" Saix stated, as if reminding everyone present of that fact. "They inevitably destroy themselves."

"Gentlemen. And ladies."

Larxene smirked at that. At least he didn't forget, unlike certain others...

"The hero of the keyblade has embarked on his latest quest," the leader proclaimed. "Make sure that it is something he will never forget. Now, go."

That said, everyone except the leader teleported away, leaving the leader by himself to contemplate on the journey ahead.

---

"And, just like that, the keyblade trio is off on a new adventure!" Maylin exclaimed once they had returned to the Gummi Ship.

"Problem is, I only see one other place we can go right now," Haruka stated, pointing ahead towards a structure that resembled a town surrounding a large castle.

Suddenly, the memories came rushing back to Nick. "Wait a minute, I think we know this place!" Nick exclaimed. "Like I could ever forget what happened here... that's gotta be the Blue Sky Kingdom!"

"Hey, yeah, it is!" Haruka gasped. "Well, let's not waste any time and check it out! Prepare for landing, everybody!"

---

At the very top of the castle tower, someone can be seen pacing around the viewing room, apparently waiting for a sign of something.

"I guess they really did finish him off," Black Fang stated to nobody in particular. "And this castle isn't anything like I expected it to be. No shine, no nothing."

Black Fang slammed a fist into a nearby wall in frustration. "Now what's going to happen to our plan?!"

A strange sound, like glass shattering, caught Black Fang's attention, and he marched outside and noticed the shattered shards of a mirror lying on the ground.

His gaze traveled upwards, and he grinned as evilly as he possibly could.

---

"Whoa, this place looks amazing," Maylin gasped as the trio walked into the Castle Town Market. "Looks like everything's back to as normal as it gets around here."

"And especially considering that we've never actually been to the kingdom itself, just the castle," Haruka stated.

"And, if possible, I'd like to stay away from the castle for a while," Nick proclaimed, forcing the dark thoughts to the furthest corner of his mind. "I don't exactly have good memories attached to what happened there..."

A clattering of armor resounded, and the trio looked up to see a group of Soldiers running across the nearby rooftops before disappearing in a spiral of darkness.

"Yep, looks like we've got some fighting to do," Haruka quipped. "Let's see if we can find the Pretty Cures."

And so, the trio made their way through the Castle Town Market, making sure to check out everything they could. After all, it was their duty to investigate everything they could in a new area.

"Hey, hey!"

Nick was the first to catch a little fairy creature waving towards them. He knew that fairies were common around here, being that each Pretty Cure had a fairy companion to assist them.

"I see you've got some really interesting materials there," the fairy stated. "My name's Synthie. You wanna synthesize something, you just come to me!"

"I didn't know fairies could synthesize," Haruka admitted.

"To some of us, it's just a hobby," Synthie replied. "It's a great way to pass the time and sharpen our skills. Hey, how about I make you guys something with the materials you've got? On the house!"

Haruka smiled as Synthie brought out a list, most likely of what Synthie could make and what she'd need to make it.

"Hmmm..." Haruka scanned the list while Maylin checked the materials they currently possessed. "How about that one? Can you make one for each of us with these?"

"No problem, honey!" Synthie laughed, spinning her hands around and causing the materials to spiral around the little fairy until they eventually coalesced into three copies of a wrist-mountable amulet with crescent moon decorations embedded into it.

"Et voila!" Synthie proclaimed. "You just created the Moon Amulet! Raises magic skills by a good chunk, and since I know one of you is a mage, it'll help you out tons in the long run!"

"Thanks, buddy!" Maylin giggled, mounting her Moon Amulet onto her wrist and feeling the extra magic power surge through her body.

A strange sphere of light swept through the area, passing right by the trio and stopping under an unaware Soldier. The sphere erupted into an upward geyser of energy, instantly taking down the Soldier.

"Um, what was that?" Maylin asked.

"It's the town's new defense system!"

The trio looked ahead and noticed a girl about their age standing there at the top edge of a nearby stairway. With her long blue hair and matching eyes, her impossibly frilly red ballerina outfit, and a rose-shaped top hat, she looked very stylish indeed.

"Oh, sorry, where are my manners?" the girl gasped. "My name's Tsumugi Orihara. I heard you guys were in town, so I figured I'd... oh, hey, watch out!"

Nick just barely summoned the Kingdom Key in time to block the attack that a Dusk was flinging at him.

Sure enough, the trio had been suddenly surrounded by Dusks.

"Oh, man, not this again!" Maylin exclaimed, readying a spell coin.

"Hey, Haruka? Maybe now would be a good time to give our new form a test run?" Nick offered.

"I was waiting for you to say that," Haruka laughed as she walked up to Nick and reached out to touch his shoulder.

Silver light exploded from Nick's clothes, causing Haruka to vanish, and when it cleared, Nick was back in Valor Form, wielding Kingdom Key and Rumbling Rose alongside each other.

"All right, let's rock!" Valor Form Nick proclaimed, leaping right into the action and attacking like crazy with both of his keyblades.

While this was happening, Maylin began lashing out with Counterpoint, striking each Dusk with her keyblade while adding elemental spells into the mix for flavor. Over the year since Izanami-no-Mikoto's defeat, Maylin had gotten much better in direct physical combat while also supercharging her attacks with her own spells to create some truly devastating moves.

Valor Form Nick swung both keyblades around, slaying Dusks left and right, before performing the finishing move, Brave Beat, a dual-bladed tornado attack that lacerated everything around him.

Once the horde of Dusks began to thin out, even Tsumugi jumped into the fray, striking out with many kick-based attacks to take down the last of the stragglers. During Tsumugi's attacks, Nick couldn't help but notice the black bands around Tsumugi's ankles.

"And clear!" Maylin exclaimed. "Stupid Nobodies don't know who they're messing with, eh?"

With the area calm again, Valor Form Nick split back into Nick and Haruka. "Say, Tsumugi, what are those things on your ankles?" Nick wondered.

He definitely caught the way Tsumugi sputtered slightly, even if she didn't know that he had.

"Um... well... I, I just..."

"Hey, we won't tell anyone who doesn't already know," Maylin proclaimed. "Scout's honor!"

"You were never in scouts," Haruka sighed.

"Th-that's beside the point!"

Tsumugi giggled at their antics before adopting a rather serious expression as the four of them made their way to a large dwelling on the outskirts of the market area. "A few years ago, before the Blue Sky Kingdom was taken by the darkness, I was in a... rather bad accident. I lost all feeling in my legs after that, and since I've been training to be a ballerina dancer for most of my life, it was devastating. But just recently, my new fairy partner Feng was able to give me these anklets. He feeds his own power into them and that power goes into my legs so I can use them again, as long as I have these. I... don't know how long it'll last, but I'm going to make the most of my time."

Nick had a feeling that there was a lot more to it than just that, but seeing as how Tsumugi clearly didn't want to explain any further, he decided not to push the issue and let Tsumugi tell the full story on her own terms.

"Well, here we are!" Tsumugi giggled.

"Wait, wait, how'd you know we'd be in town?" Maylin quipped.

"Oh, I'm a friend of the Pretty Cures," Tsumugi answered. "And they knew you'd be back eventually."

Tsumugi pushed open the door to reveal all five of the Happiness Charge Pretty Cures working at an expansive computer station.

"Welcome to the Blue Sky Kingdom Restoration Committee!" Tsumugi proclaimed, catching the attention of the Pretty Cures.

"Hey!" Cure Lovely exclaimed. "We missed you!"

"Well, looks like you guys are still in top form!" Cure Princess proclaimed.

"I knew it," Cure Fortune stated. "I figured you'd be back eventually."

"You should know us by now, Fortune," Maylin responded, hefting Counterpoint proudly. "Wherever there's trouble, we come a-callin'!"

"Speaking of trouble..." Cure Honey cut in. "Since you're here, we were hoping you'd help us with a problem we're having."

"Like we're gonna say no?" Nick teased.

Cure Fortune just smiled, crossing her arms. "I forgot who I'm dealing with here."

"Hey!" Maylin exclaimed.

Cure Tender took a few steps towards the still-open door. "Follow me to the bailey. I think there's something you three should see."

Cure Tender raced out into the streets, leaving the trio to catch up.

"So, Tsumugi-chan, how are your legs feeling?" Cure Lovely asked.

"Still as strong as ever!" Tsumugi giggled. "I really can't thank Feng enough for helping me out. I might still be able to achieve my dream yet..."

"Just keep on fightin'!" Cure Princess giggled.

Just outside the Committee HQ, a shadowy presence can be seen fleeing from sight, as if it had been observing events there.

---

"Take a look out there," Cure Tender proclaimed once they'd reached the bailey. Nick walked up to a nearby viewing point and peeked out, only to see a rather disturbing sight.

The Great Maw, the large canyon area surrounding the bottom level of the Blue Sky Castle, was absolutely flooded with Heartless of all shapes and sizes.

"We're trying to return the Blue Sky Kingdom to its former glory," Cure Tender explained. "Who knows, maybe even something better. We've got a lot of work to do, but I'm sure we can handle it. Only problems are that..."

Cure Tender then pointed to an empty valley just outside the Great Maw, where two Dusks could be seen creeping across the ground. "...and that. What exactly are those things?"

"They're Nobodies," Haruka explained. "They're basically the cast-off body of someone who turned into a Heartless."

"And the Nobodies are being commanded by this oddball group called Organization XIII," Maylin continued.

"You called?"

Nick immediately summoned the Kingdom Key to his hands. "Who said that?!"

"You're doing well."

"This calls for a celebration."

At this, a horde of Dusks and Assassins began to spawn into existence all around the keyblade wielders.

"Okay, this is just getting stupid!" Maylin growled, sending a Thunder spell into the horde, scattering them around. "Why can't you zipper freaks leave us alone for one hour?!"

Haruka leaped over an Assassin as it stabbed out at her, vaulting over its head to slash it in the back so Nick could finish it off with a Blitz, a flying jump slash to the Assassin's face.

Cure Tender let a crowd of Dusks surround her, then began to gather energy into her palms. "Tender Starfall!" Cure Tender exclaimed, slamming her palms to the ground and discharging a shockwave of light purple star-shaped projectiles, instantly vaporizing any Dusks who were caught in the wave.

While the Dusks began to thin out, a new Nobody appeared in the fray, a humanoid figure carrying four sharp swords.

"All right, new challenger," Nick quipped, rushing in to strike at the Samurai, only for it to immediately slash at Nick, forcing him to bring up his keyblade to deflect the attack.

Nick took a few steps back, then noticed the Samurai holding one of its swords up, completely still. Nick recognized the stance it was taking, and did the same.

Time seemed to stop around the two as they waited for their opportunity to strike.

Nick noticed the Samurai twitching, and made his move, striking out with a savage forward chop that destroyed the Samurai.

"The keyblade. Truly, a marvelous weapon. If only it were in more... capable hands."

His task finished, Nick rushed back to the bailey and rejoined his friends in searching for the source of the voices.

"Show yourselves already!" Nick shouted.

And sure enough, a large flare of darkness erupted from high above, at the top of a far-off wall, and when it faded, thirteen figures wearing black coats could be seen. All of them except the leader were unmasked.

"All right, now we can settle this, weirdos!" Maylin proclaimed.

"What a shame," the leader proclaimed. "And here I was hoping we could be friends."

And with that, the Organization disappeared again, cloaking themselves in corridors of darkness to move on with their own plans.

"What, so they're just going to run away?" Maylin groaned. "What a gyp!"

Just then, another corridor of darkness formed in front of them, and a member of the Organization stepped out from it. He had piercing gold eyes, black hair with several grey streaks tied into a ponytail, and was wearing an eye patch over his scarred right eye.

"Hey, hey, what's the big idea?!" Maylin shouted, raising Counterpoint towards Xigbar.

"Oopsy-daisy," Xigbar laughed.

Nick took a few steps towards Xigbar, brandishing the Kingdom Key threateningly. "Move."

"Now, do you really think it's polite to shut me down like that?" Xigbar groaned.

"I said get out of our way, or else!" Nick shouted.

"As if," Xigbar replied. "You can talk all you want, but it won't do you any good."

"Then we'll make you move," Haruka proclaimed, raising Rumbling Rose. "Sound fair?"

"Now, see, that would work on any other old dude," Xigbar stated. "'cept I'm not like that. I'm with the Organization, after all. Nothing 'any old' about me."

Nick just scoffed at that. "Yeah, that's real tough talk for someone who just lounged on the sidelines and let his Nobody flunkies do the fighting for him!"

Xigbar sighed in exasperation. "You know, I think you've got the wrong impression."

"What, you gonna cry?!" Maylin taunted.

"As if," Xigbar shot back. "How about I remind you how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is?"

"I'd like to see you try," Nick growled.

Xigbar suddenly started laughing, as if something about Nick's expression amused him. "That's RIGHT! She always gave me that same exact look!"

Nick swung his keyblade threateningly, daring Xigbar to come closer. "I guess you think you can psych me out with your random babbling, huh?"

"Gee... I just don't know," Xigbar proclaimed. "Be a good boy, now!"

And with that, Xigbar opened another dark corridor and vanished into it.

"What a nutball," Maylin stated, twirling Counterpoint in her hands. "Who gave him that same look?"

"I think he was just trying to confuse us," Haruka replied.

"Yeah, only one me!" Nick proclaimed.

As Nick turned to make his way back towards the Restoration Committee HQ, he suddenly felt a surge of power flow through his body and into his keyblade.

"You okay, buddy?" Maylin wondered.

Nick said nothing, simply holding the Kingdom Key aloft.

Energy began to gather around the Kingdom Key's teeth, before eventually absorbing into the ground blow Nick and creating the shape of a crown under his feet.

Wind began to swirl around Nick's body as he channeled his power, eventually forming into a large keyhole in the sky. Nick jumped back, spinning the Kingdom Key a few times before aiming and firing a beam of light from the keyblade into the keyhole, which flared brightly before vanishing.

"Whoa, what was that all about?" Maylin wondered. "I thought we already sealed this world's keyhole."

"I think... I think I just opened a new gate," Nick stated. "Remember how you guys said that all the worlds we visited went back to their original places when we beat Izanami-no-Mikoto? Maybe that also meant that the pathways to them kinda got scrambled, too. I'll just bet that whenever that happens, it means we've opened a new pathway to another world."

"And when that happens, we've gotta get back to the Gummi Ship, right?" Haruka replied.

"Pretty much," Nick stated. "It means that the worlds are calling."

"These Organization guys sound pretty tough," Cure Tender proclaimed. "Be careful out there, okay?"

"Naturally," Maylin quipped as Haruka activated the teleporters to return the trio to the Gummi Ship.

And, just as they had expected, there was a new reading on the map program.

"Hey, Nick was right!" Maylin exclaimed. "We're picking up a new world!"

Haruka, however, saw that something wasn't right with what she saw on the map.

"Wait a minute..." Haruka gasped, turning the Gummi Ship around and confirming what the map was telling her; both Heatherfield and Candracar had disappeared from the Lanes Between, a strange swirling vortex having taken their spots on the map.

"Hey, what happened to Heatherfield?!" Maylin exclaimed. "And Candracar, too, for that matter! They both just... I don't know, vanished!"

"Probably one of the Organization's tricks or something," Haruka quipped. "I guess all we can really do is keep adventuring until we can get them back."

So, with nowhere else to go besides back to the Blue Sky Kingdom, the Gummi Ship set sail through the Lanes Between towards the new structure out on the void. It appeared to resemble a large mansion surrounded by an equally giant forest.

"The rich and the restless, eh?" Maylin giggled.

"Well, shall we land and see what's up?" Haruka stated.

However, the Gummi Ship seemed to bounce off of an invisible barrier around the world.

Before Maylin could start venting about the slight, Nick noticed a smaller door just outside the world structure.

"Hey, look at that," Nick stated. "Maybe we gotta take care of whatever's in there to open the way to the world."

"Good thinking," Maylin stated. "Let's go, fearless pilot!"

Haruka just laughed as she piloted the Gummi Ship into the now-open door, and into a hyperspace-esque tunnel of light.

"Welp, through the tunnel and around the bend, who knows where this crazy ride will end?" Maylin sang as they continued through the tunnel.

"I see the entrance!" Haruka exclaimed as a large keyhole of light formed far ahead of the Gummi Ship's path. "Full speed ahead!"

The Gummi Ship picked up speed and flew into the keyhole, coming out the other side into a large asteroid field.

"Incoming space rocks!" Nick exclaimed.

"Let's rock, guys!" Haruka responded, pressing the Big Red Button™ and transforming the Gummi Ship into its Highwind Mode. With their preparations complete, the Gummi Ship rocketed off into the asteroid field, weaving through the malevolent space rocks while firing their lasers on any they couldn't dodge in time.

After making it through the asteroid field, the Gummi Ship entered a strange structure. It was clear to all three pilots that the structures here were connecting the largest asteroids together, as if someone or something had used this area to set up a base of operations.

"Think it was the Organization?" Maylin wondered.

"Has to be," Haruka quipped as Nick manned the weapons systems to shoot down any Heartless ships that got too close. "I don't think the Heartless are smart enough to create something like that."

As the Gummi Ship made its way through the asteroid base, Nick continued to notice an odd presence on the ship's scanners. But every time he tried to get a good look, it vanished from sensor range.

"What was that?" Nick wondered.

"What's what?" Maylin asked.

After passing through the last of the large asteroids, an immense creature flew out from the shadows to face down the Gummi Ship.

"Holy crap, that's a new one!" Haruka exclaimed.

The odd creature began to lash out at the Gummi Ship, forcing its pilots to take evasive maneuvers. But for every direction the Gummi Ship dodged, the creature would strike at that point as well, forcing the ship to keep on its toes.

"Wow, this one's tricky," Haruka stated. "I haven't met a Heartless ship yet that could outplay my Gummi Ship!"

"That's because it's not a Heartless ship," Nick proclaimed, pointing towards the symbol on the strange ship's hull. "That's a Nobody ship!"

"Wait, what?!" Maylin shouted. "Now there's Nobody ships, too? Jeez, this nonsense really needs to chill!"

"How about we just go Falcon on him and blow him out of the sky, then?" Haruka stated, punching the Big Red Button™ and causing the Gummi Ship to transform into Falcon Mode.

After managing to dodge another swipe, the Gummi Ship flew up and aimed for the Nobody ship's head.

"Now chew on this, freak boy!" Nick shouted, firing off a powerful energy cannon shot that exploded on contact with the Nobody ship's head, creating a flare of light as the ship was torn to pieces, allowing the Gummi Ship to fly around the explosion and into another large keyhole, through the same hyperspace tunnel, and back out to the Lanes Between. The door they'd entered the asteroid base through shined with an otherworldly glow and vanished, and the barrier surrounding the world structure dissipated as well.

"So I was right," Nick quipped. "We must have to clear the routes connecting the world to be able to visit them in the first place."

"But why? It wasn't like that the last time," Maylin groaned. "What the heck changed?"

"Probably for protection," Haruka answered. "Maybe some strange force that guides these worlds sensed the threat that Organization XIII poses, and added to its defenses to make it harder for people who don't have a means of interworld travel like us."

"It's really the only thing that makes sense, honestly," Nick replied.

"Well, then let's get down there and see if any of those hoods wants a beating," Maylin proclaimed, clenching her fist tightly.

"You know it, girl," Haruka laughed. "All right, everybody, prepare for landing!"

But as the Gummi Ship descended towards the floating islands, Nick caught a glimpse of something odd on the very edge of the Lanes Between.

Upon as close of an inspection as he could make with the distance between them, he noticed that it was someone completely clad in dark blue armor, riding on a really strange-looking glider.

What the heck? I thought you had to have a Gummi Ship to travel through the Lanes Between? Nick wondered. Eh. I'll worry about that later. Right now, it's time for our new journey to begin.

But Nick couldn't get the strange sight out of his mind, an odd feeling passing through his mind that he would eventually meet whoever this person was.

To be continued...

---

New Drive Form acquired!

Valor Form

Form Focus: Merge with Haruka's spirit to attain great strength.
Drive Gauge Points Used: 3
Advancing Form Ability: High Jump (Jump higher than you ever could before.)
Action Abilities:
X-Split: Delivers a cross attack to any surrounding enemies.
Spiral Blow: Delivers a swift spinning attack when surrounded.
Over the Horizon: Leap towards faraway targets with a jumping attack.
Valor Shot: Deals a powerful ground combo finisher to knock a target off its feet.
Brave Beat: Deals a powerful ground combo finisher to successively attack several targets at once.
Spiral Strike: Unleashes a powerful finishing combo move that pierces through a single target.
Sonic End: Unleashes a powerful finishing combo move in a rapid midair attack to several targets at once.
Retaliating Slash: When knocked down, quickly regain balance and counterattack.

---

On the next episode:

Maylin: And just like that, our next adventure has begun!

Haruka: And why do I get the feeling we've been to this world before?

Maylin: Doesn't look familiar to me. We landed in a mansion, of all things! And a pretty gigantic one, at that!

Nick: I'm with Haruka on this one. I've seen that crest somewhere before, I just know it...

Haruka: See, he agrees with me. Maybe it's a similar world, but a place on it we haven't explored yet.

Maylin: Well, then let's go! We've got an adventure to tackle!

Nick: Next time on W.I.T.C.H.: Key to Her Heart II, "The Last Remnant"!

Nick, Maylin, & Haruka: May your hearts be your guiding key!