Well I really liked the heartfelt welcome you gave the continuation this saga. For now, it'll be going somewhat slow. Hopefully not, though -w- That's my hopeful wishing though.

Anyway thanks to Leopardsplash, xXChaoticOrderXx, Antex-The Legendary Zoroark, and Twilight Dark Angel for all the reviews, story favs, and follows.

That really made my day you guys! :D

So let's get going with the next chapter shall we?

The Second Mask

Serpent Queen

I couldn't help but glare at the old man that now sat behind the desk while Mickey and I stood on the other side. The mouse held a dumbfounded look on his face from the outburst I had given when the old man first walked into the room.

Sincerely, I couldn't have cared less had he been a saint. The voice that had talked to Oswald the day I gave up and lost everything was his. He wouldn't be exempt of that.

"Gosh," Mickey said rubbing the back of his head. "You're a bright drop of sunshine, aren't ya?"

"Sarcasm aside, I believe so," I reply leaning to one side and crossing my arms before me. Staring daggers back at the old man, I throw my acerbic back talk at him. "Now, you were the one who told Os to move me from Wasteland, wasn't it?"

He nodded once slowly and averted his gaze, "It was necessary for you to be removed from his presence."

"I overheard the conversation," I counter with a nasty undertone to my voice. Really, I remembered that conversation as if I had left yesterday and not a year ago. "You said that I was absorbing too much of Oswald's powers. That is was my own powers absorbing his. That I had to leave or otherwise I'd become—what did you say?—ah, yes, a beacon for Heartless."

I paced around trying to seem as nonchalant as I didn't feel. "Now," I remark stopping and raising one hand. "I do get that after I left the Heartless took over Wasteland. What I don't understand is what you meant exactly with me absorbing his powers. What powers did the stupid bunny have besides painting horrible arts?"

"You must know by now that Oswald was an old Keyblade wielder."

And like he said, the news weren't really new to me. I had fought him and had tragically gotten my ass kicked by him. "I never took those powers though," I say with a grunt and pout. "I didn't even know he had them back then."

"It wasn't you who knew."

At this he caught me off guard but I didn't let it show. Again I hid behind my mask. "Who else, pray tell, would know in me besides me?"

"I think you know the answer to that as well."

I glare down at him through those piercing eyes of his and even I falter a bit. The few options I have I think through for a second before a single name comes to my lips through a low mumble, "Hotaru." I think through all my options of why I really came here. I want answers and they had them. At least the old man, Yen Sid, did. However, I don't think they will come without a price tag attached.

"Okay," I call raising my hands in surrender. "I get it. You might know more things about myself than I do and frankly I want those answers. Now you brought me here for a reason, correct? There should be some kind of agreement we could come up with as the civilized people we are." As I heard the words spill from my mouth, I couldn't believe the bull that was coming out. Civilized people, my behind. If anything I was the least qualified to fall under that category. "Now what did you want in the first place by calling me here?"

"That information that you obtained yourself," Yen Sid answered stoically.

"Information?"

"About Organization XIII," the mouse squeaked out as he came to my field of vision a little to my side.

"You mean..." I averted my gaze not thinking twice about. "From when I infiltrated them."

The old man nodded again with that sluggishness of his that started to tick me off. "You have information that no one else has but you. In exchange for it I shall tell you all that which I know of who you are up until when Oswald and myself found you."

Those two words again: found me. I found out the day I escaped that they hadn't really raised me like I'd thought for some time but instead had found me goodness knew where. Since that day the thought hadn't reoccurred to me but now it was a question pounding heavily in my head.

Knowing that they would fall for anything as long as it went along the correct lines I decided to lie yet again. "Actually—" But his hand abruptly stopped me before I could continue and he took my place to speak.

"Beware that your powers, although powerful, cannot deceive those who know their source." He surprised me at saying this. It had been the same attitude that Maleficent had taken when she found me. "I know you are unable to control it however if you say the lie as close to the truth as you can then it won't be a problem between us."

I grumbled something that I didn't even understand under my breath before taking a deep breath. He was right. I couldn't stop lying. For some awful and inconceivable reason I couldn't stop myself. It was on pure instinct that I lied using my powers. I had done it ever since I had enough conscious to think for myself. And now he wanted me to lie with the truth. The only way I could do that was when using one certain mask. But right now the mask I had that is Sora's was chipped with missing pieces. Ever since Naminé rearranged his memories back together, I've been unable to correctly use his mask without it failing on me. When it failed I resorted to my basic lying mask that simply covered up every word I said with a lie.

Should I even try?

"Master, although the young boy's mask is damaged it could be usable with the amount of energy I can emanate now. However, it could cost a bit more of rearranging than usual."

Shit. I didn't want that either. It hurt way too much. But the way I see it, there was no other way. So in the end I used Sora's mask to pull out the truth out of my stone heart.

"I don't think any information I got would be of any use to us," I confess averting my eyes to look down. "Their leader knew from the beginning that I was a spy without even me knowing. I had been setup for his own machinations. All information that I gathered was something we already knew and even the tiniest part that we didn't must have been deliberately given to me to divert my attention. I should have been more diligent but nonetheless I was caught off guard completely. So nothing that I know now is any different or useful than what you know."

As I finished relating everything I could as close to the truth as possible I let the mask slip off as the neutral one appears. But the moment it slips off, the crackling of energy begins rearranging itself upon my arm and this time it extends past it towards my chest making it hard for me to breath.

"Ayano!"

I hold out my hand when I hear Mickey call out in worry. It would pass, all I needed was time. This exchange turned out to be one of the quick ones and ended in minutes with Rinto resting on my shoulder.

"What just happened?" he squeaked out with a baffled demeanor.

"How long have you and your other half been separated?"

My eyes come up to glance at Yen Sid quizzically. How could he possibly know something that only I knew? Specially when the only one who was supposed to know and had told me about it in the first place was Rinto.

"Answer my questions first now that I've answered yours," I say defiantly instead still holding to my left shoulder. "You said a year ago to Oswald that I had to leave because of what my powers were doing. How exactly do you know of them? And what do you know of them?"

"Some years ago, I knew someone who, although didn't have the same ability as you, held a very extraordinary visual ability," he began explaining having understood my conditions.

My brow furrows at this. There's different types?

"She alike you had a very strong ability that caused her many difficulties. Her powers would intensify greatly through periods of her life and those times required her to be moved around from world to world. Back then, there wasn't much knowledge of your kind of power. Even now little is known about them because of the scarcity of their wielders."

"This other woman," I ask curious but choosing my words well. "What happened to her?"

Yen Sid's gaze fell down as if in deep sorrow. "She perished in battle almost eleven years ago."

Well, so much for being able to speak to her about my powers. My hand comes up to scratch the back of my neck before letting out a sigh. "All right then, how do my powers attract Heartless?"

His glance returned to me with the same piercing stare that they had before. "If left to stand too much in one place they begin sending strong waves of negative energy. These are powerful enough to travel through worlds and through the corridors between them. As I said before they serve as a beacon." He motioned his hand to my hand that held my aching shoulder. "The energy lash you just felt are those exact waves."

"I've never been physically hurt before by these waves. What makes it so now?"

"There are two ways for strong fluctuations of the negative energy from your powers to start resonating. One comes with natural aging, as the user matures so does their power becoming more stable as the years pass. Because they are balanced the energy does not lash but instead exits the body in steady resonances. This results in a longer span of time from which the beacon grows. By last year, you at the age of fifteen had released enough resonances throughout Wasteland that the Heartless were drawing dangerously close to it. That is the reason why I called for your extraction from there."

"And the second?" Mickey asked seemingly curious of this as well. His curiosity in itself was...curious to me.

"In order for the negative energy of those powers to fluctuate in a normal pace there must be a countering force that balances it out. It is just like there are opposites of everything in the worlds to maintain balance within themselves; these powers of yours work in no different manner. A human being holds two parts of itself that remain balanced through their existence: the light half and the dark half. Through growth and maturity we begin to gradually tip the balances in either direction which allows us to become either beings of light or beings of darkness."

"Like the Heartless or any other being of the light," I conclude somehow following along with all of his wise babble.

He nods lethargically before continuing. "In the case that either part becomes corrupted or ceases to exist within us, the balance is put out of the equation. There is none from that point onward. By this point, the light and dark sides have been physically separated in real time and space making them two separate beings. One of pure light, the other of pure darkness. One cannot exist or perish without the other. This unbalance then becomes a great crevasse from which the negative energy overflows. It augments the strength of it but at the same time makes it uncontrollable for the user. Eventually without either part finding a replacement for the side it lost, it will be overwhelmed by its incompleteness and cease to exist all together."

"I'm not balanced so my ability is back firing at me," I mumble under my breath.

"Now this brings me to my original question. How long has it been since your two halves separated?"

I remained quiet for a while trying to absorb everything in. It was hard but doable. In minutes, I began by telling him one single thing. "It's almost been a month."

"Mm," he mumbles while contemplating the situation for what it was.

"How long do I have realistically?" I asked much more grimly than I had intended to.

"It hasn't been long so your prospects are still quite good. However, if you do not wish to cease existing then you must find the side you lost and regain it."

"How though?" I asked not able to grasp that one concept. Hotaru left me. Goodness knows where she is.

"For this...you will need a Keyblade Master."

"Keyblade Master?" I asked confused. "What for?"

"I see." I turn to Mickey who was holding his chin with one of his gloved hands. His brows were furrowed, deep in thought. He looked up to Yen Sid as if ignoring me. "A balance between dark and light are concepts that are held closely to the heart. A heart is made up of equal parts. When matters of the heart are concerned, normally a Keyblade is necessary to break the bonds that unite it to a corporeal body and even to its subsequent parts. So in theory, it would be obvious to say that if to mend a torn heart is what you want, you would need the same thing that liberates them when they are in captivity."

Whoa. I was amazed at how the mouse could use such sophisticated language. Like this he almost sounded like Oswald. I shook my head. As fancy as that was, it had escaped me. I turn to Yen Sid, "Come again."

"A Keyblade serves to unlock a heart. But it can also be used to unite the heart together; a piece with a piece or a heart to a body. It your case, it would be to reunify your two halves and return them as a whole. Its powers are such that it allows it that ability," he explained shortly.

"So in order to not disappear I need to find Hotaru and bind her back to me. Not only that but to make things more complicated I also need a Keyblade to forcefully unite us back together." My arms come to cross themselves before my chest while I mindlessly recap all that they had said. "That sounds just splendid," I say sarcastically with a tired sigh. "I don't even know where to start looking!"

"I might have some inkling of where you could begin your search." My eyes land on him as he caught my attention with that sentence. "Just like you, she too searches for the side that she lacks for she cannot exist for long without disappearing altogether as well. And since I presume she does not want to return to you willingly, she will then search for another being that alike you was physically separated into their two halves."

"Does this only happen to us? I mean, the ones that have these powers like mine?" I asked a bit curious.

"Apparently so," he answered with a nod. "I have not yet encountered a being that so rigidly followed the lines of what a heart consists of like the ones who hold the your abilities."

"You seem to know quite an awful lot about them considering that only one friend of yours had it," I say a little skeptic. "Where exactly did you learn all of this?"

He motioned his hand out and suddenly a book from one of the shelves came hovering over to us and swiftly landing on the desk facing him. Flicking his wrist he made the book rotate to face me.

"This is a book relating the myth of the Serpent Queen. Although it is a myth, all legends come from a bit of truth. If you wish you could read it and find that it portrays what I told you about your ability. At least in the basic concept. Everything else, I gained through my old friend." He nodded towards the door from which they had both come from. "In the meanwhile, if you would like, the three good fairies that reside on the other side of that door could help you to get accommodated for now while you wait."

"Wait?" I blurted out without wanting to. "Wait for what?"

"I forgot to mention in my letter," Mickey started turning to me. "You can't go back to where Riku and Sora are. Not right now at least. Your powers are overflowing and are becoming the same beacon that Master Yen Sid mentioned before. Heartless are now swarming around Twilight Town awaiting to unite to a heart seeking its dark side."

"That's why they annoy me like flies on honey," I input tapping my chin. Another sigh escapes me when I speak again. "What was the catch anyway? Why would you exchange such valuable information?"

"In exchange all we ask is that you aide Sora in his upcoming quest. With the looming threat that Organization XIII posses, we will need as much help as we can obtain," he requested blatantly.

I contemplate this while averting my eyes. My eyes dart to both when I sigh again while massaging my neck, "You know, I was already planning to help Sora out anyway. That little punk can't seem to hold his ground much without any help anyways. So you basically gave up your info for nothing."

"Thank you, Ayano," Mickey said with a grand smile of gratitude on his face. I couldn't help but smile back and nod.

I grabbed the book from his desk before glancing up at Yen Sid and mumbling a hushed 'thank you'. I pointed towards the door with my thumb, "Is that were your good fairies are, then?"

He nodded once more, "If you ask them kindly, they will provide you with clothes befitting the journey that you are to embark in. As well as some special garments that I have kept that belonged to Oswald. I believe they will help you immensely on your quest of finding your other side."

I nodded and start heading over to the door. I stop just when my playful side begins to emerge, "Just for the note, this doesn't mean anything. It was a simple exchange of information. I shall see whether or not I take you up to par for it." As I say this last part I wiggle the book he gave me up to them and enter the room. Through it I find yet another similar room with shelves of books and other stuff around the circular walls. In it I find three short ladies in different colored garments: red, blue and green.

"Oh my!" the red robed lady called noticing me. It seems that I had interrupted them in the midst of their little tea party. Literally. "It seems we have a visitor, my dears." The other two turn to face me and I avert my eyes as they jump a bit startle. More than likely they had just seen my eyes that ever since Rinto became more powerful had become brighter than even their former selves back in Wasteland.

"What a rare sight to see a young girl in this battle," the green one said with a sweet older woman's voice.

"But a girl's power is needed in any fight," the blue one said fiery.

The red one shook her head lightly and faced me again. "We were told by Master Yen Sid of your arrival. Is there something you might want?"

I gulp down the knot in my throat, "I was going to ask if you could perhaps do something about my clothes." Instantly they prop up as if enthusiastic and jump from their seats walking over to me. Soon they surround me while talking amongst themselves. When I hear them talking about a design for my clothes I immediately but in.

"Um, I kinda had some sort of idea for that," I say to them loud enough to hear me. They jump again startled and turn to look at me.

"Well, you are going to be the one wearing them," the red one said with a mild chuckle. Picking a wand from under her sleeve, she whisks her wrist and a little light shoots out towards the table making a notepad and pen appear on it. "Go on, child. Tell us what you had in mind." I nod and head over to the table and take a seat while taking the notepad. I begin drawing something and the fairies intervene from time to time to make their own input as to what would be more efficient for fighting and whatnot.

Some hours pass before we all hear a creak from the main door. Turning to it, we find Yen Sid coming inside the room. "I see you all seem to be getting fairly well."

"Plenty, Master Yen Sid," the blue fairy—Merryweather—called with a huff.

"She's quite the artist," Fauna said with a small giggle.

"She's been helping us decipher just what she will wear," Flora said as she comes close to Yen Sid.

He nods and from under his sleeve he picks up something that I hadn't seen since a year ago.

"My Star Shard!"

Now fully restored, I saw the purplish blue hue of the star that had guided me off my homeland the first time. Yen Sid nods assuringly, "It was brought to me by a small, harmless Nobody."

"Echo..." I mumble dropping the notepad a bit. I missed him. Him and Hibiki.

"Flora, Fauna, Merryweather," he calls as he gives Flora the Star Shard. "Oswald's armor should be locked away in the lower floor. It should be restored and made to Ayano's size. Fuse the Star Shard as well into it."

"Fuse it?" I ask as the fairies leave to do the task given to them.

"It shall allow you to travel most diligently about the worlds. The armor itself will contain your powers from overflowing in its real time, slowing them down."

Giving him a curt nod, I stand up leaving the notepad with our finished product in it. I glance up at him, "I had a question that I forgot to ask of you." I averted my eyes not knowing if I really wanted to know the truth of this one. Nonetheless I mustered up my courage and asked, "Oswald said that you all had found me. Where did you find me and why didn't any of you tell me?"

His own gaze shot down and then he motioned me to sit back down. I did and, curiously enough, he sat down with me on the chair right in front of me.

"Oswald had been doing reconnaissance on a world that had been uninhabited for years by then. The world you know as Hollow Bastion."

My brow furrows at not understanding this. "But I thought Maleficent had been in that place all that time."

He shook his head, "Even before the evil witch took over the world after its downfall, it was a world like any other inhabited by beings of light. It was almost nine years ago that he found an underground facility in an old home. Upon discovering this, he called me and we both went to investigate. It was odd to us that the place had been completely untouched by the Heartless." He averted his gaze, "It was made clear to us as we searched in further of its secrets. The place had been sealed off by powerful magic in order to protect it. However I think it was placed there in order to protect what resided in there: you."

"Me?" I say a bit hoarsely. My eyes lingered on his face for him to continue.

"Yes. A small child of no more than six years of age slept encapsulated. We liberated her from her imprisonment. And all you knew when you awoke after we let you free was your name and nothing more."

My eyes wander about towards the floor while my mind takes everything in. Finding my voice once more, I inquire further. "All this happened in Hollow Bastion?" He nodded for an answer. "So you really did find me then." Finally processing everything, I stood up. "There's no point brooding over it now. I have to help Sora. I'll figure out what happened eventually once everything is dealt with."

He stood up and proudly nodded. "A wise choice. Don't let the fear of the unknown stop you from seeking out the truth."

I nod back and smile. "By the way, why do you have this armor of Oswald's?"

"After we found you and he decided to take you in, he wanted for you to know nothing of the Keyblade or of the struggle between the worlds. He decided to leave everything behind with me."

"All except his Keyblades," I interject after he finishes. "I saw them when I was small. He never used them though and as I grew older I never saw them again."

"That is because as you grew older your powers grew themselves. Being the eyes that deceive, they absorb other pieces of heart to hide itself. As time passed your powers began to absorb Oswald's and took his ability if momentarily for those years of summoning it."

"Did he tell you that he can wield them again?"

He nodded lethargically, "He told me quickly after he met you months ago. He used the Extracting Thinner I gave him to take back his ability from your powers."

"I see," I murmur and was about to continue the conversation when we heard the door open. The good fairies come in with Flora still carrying the Star Shard in her hands while Fauna and Merryweather carry pieces of what I guess was what Yen Sid said was Oswald's armor. The armor was nothing more than broken pieces of a blue and black metal. They placed them and the Star Shard on the table before motioning me to scoot back. Flora shooed me off to the center as Flora and Merryweather began to rearrange the two items that they had retrieved. "Now dears, together." All three fairies flicked their wands at the objects and managed to fuse the two together.

The light that came from it blinded me and made me raise my hand to my eyes. Once it ebbed I looked at it and saw the armor that was once blue and black change darker chrome colors of red, gold, and black. The pieces were neatly placed on the table awaiting to be used.

"There," Flora said.

"Good as new," Fauna agreed.

"Shall we try it on you?" Merryweather asked me and turned towards me.

"Um, sure. But I don't know how you're going to—" but Yen Sid came up to the armor itself and tapped at something with his finger. With that he made it all glitter and become one single piece, a shoulder piece. It still resembled the same fiery armor that I had seen but on a small shoulder piece and in the center a gem glittered in bright reds and golds. The Star Shard. Although it was clearly a different color the glimmering was the same.

He grabbed it and gave it to me. "Wear this on your left shoulder and I will show you how to use it."

I didn't really like that he was being so cryptic with this whole armor thing. Nonetheless I strapped it on my left shoulder where my snake tattoo resided. I moved my shoulder around adjusting it. "Okay, it's on."

He nodded and continued, "Now fist your right hand and tap the center of the shoulder piece with it."

I glanced at my hand as I fist it and looked over my shoulder. "Like this?" I ask and tap it slightly. Suddenly a bright red and gold light engulfed my sight. Just then I felt as it engulfed my body in its warmth and just as suddenly replaced by the armor that they had repaired. I turned towards the mirror and gasped at my reflection in it. The armor that had been on the table now was on me and I had to admit it looked pretty damn cool.

The visor gave me a more obscured vision but it was okay. The armor itself wasn't heavy but it looked like it would take quite a beating.

"This is awesome," I say under my breath as I admire it in the mirror. The best thing about it was that the visor was dark enough on the outside that it made my bright glowing eyes invisible through the outside.

"The Star Shard fused to the armor will allow its old travelling guidance system to reboot. Also, the armor itself will restrain your powers from overwhelming your body," Yen Sid said to me.

"And it's a pretty nice color too," Fauna added making me chuckle.

"It is actually," I admit and tap the left shoulder piece again letting the armor recede back to the single piece of armor. I whistled amazed at this kind of stuff. "Who knew the stupid bunny had stuff like these. Pretty cool."

"Oh dear!" Fauna called glancing down at the notepad.

"What is it, dear?" Flora asked startled.

"It'll ruin Ayano's concept," Flora said showing me the drawing of my outfit. I chuckled while Yen Sid shook his head at their lightheartedness.

I glanced at it and imagine something up in my mind. Taking the notepad and the pen, I change some things on the left shoulder. "Maybe if I do this..." I mumbled and redraw it a bit. "There. You ladies think this is possible?"

"Mm," Flora mutter glancing at it. She finally nods in agreement, "It should be no problem at all."

"We should get started. This design will take some time to make!" Fauna said as she goes about gathering materials followed by Merryweather.

"Give us a couple of hours child and this will be a complete success," Flora said as the two others disappeared in a twinkle of light of their color. Flora followed swiftly behind them in a twinkle of pink light.

"What a enthusiastic bunch," I mumble and touch the shoulder piece on my left shoulder. I meant to touch the tattoo of the snake but with the shoulder piece I couldn't do that now.

"That door will lead you to a vacant room in which you can rest for the time being," Yen Sid told me pointing at one door. "Rest while the good fairies finish your garments and then you shall depart."

I turn to look at him and nod, "Thanks again. For everything." He nodded in response and left as I headed to the room he had told me about. Entering it, all I saw was nothing but a small bedroom with a wardrobe and a bed facing out through a star-shaped window. It looked over the outside facing the grounds where the train had left me hours ago.

Meanwhile I waited, I read through the book Yen Sid had given me. It was a child's book and it was about a serpent queen who was sad and angry at the world. A world that judged her, calling her a monster for a power that she never asked. A power brought upon her by snakes. She wished to use it for good but all she saw it was good for were bad things. The queen thought she would be alone forever with no one to call her friend. One day a human came, saw how truly special she was and blah, blah, blah. It was no different than any other fairy tale.

The similarities of the snake queen and me were striking from the colored pictures and text. Red eyes, the snakes...being called a monster. There were too many coincidences to blow it off as a simple child's story. Putting it aside, I laid down on the bed and slowly went off to sleep.

"Dearie, wake up!" I snapped awake at hearing Flora's startled voice.

"What's the matter?" I say groggily, being fully awake with the fairies in my room.

"We're finished with your garments," she told me as the others nodded.

"Master Yen Sid said that you should get ready. You are to depart soon and he wishes to speak to you before you leave," Fauna informed me sweetly before she and Merryweather dragged me off of bed still half asleep. I yawn as I stand before them.

"Alright," I say as I rub my eye. "Give me the clothes so I can change."

"Silly girl," Merryweather called huffing. "We're going to change you!"

"What?!" I called startled, now fully awake. "I can do that fine by myself!"

"Ready dearies?" Flora inquired as they flicked their wands together like before and shot strings of light my way. I shut my eyes and expected anything. "Alright, open them up." I cautiously did so but stared amazed at what they had come up for me.

"Oh, it's gorgeous!" Fauna fawned over it.

"A perfect work, if I do say so myself," Merryweather said proudly.

"What do you think, child?" Flora asked me.

I gave myself a once over through the mirror and couldn't help but admire their work. I had a pair of crimson shorts and over it a slick black skirt lined in red. To the side of the skirt was a red ribbon tied with the ends double stripped in gold. My top was a sleeveless red top that was very well fitted to my body.

The coat that we had the most trouble redesigning was even better than the original. Instead of having both long sleeves it only had the right sleeve while the left wasn't there. Instead of it, the red armor shoulder piece went splendidly with it. The double breasted coat itself was warm and seemed to go well for any kind of climate. I could either leave it open and tie the ribbon it had behind me to keep it from bothering me or I could close the three sets of buttons that ended at my hip as the rest flowed open below to my knees showing my skirt but not my top.

My scarf was neatly folded inside so that nothing but the folded side was seen from the outside and it covered my chin and up to my nose. My hood itself was furred with grays and whites on the edge and it ended conveniently right were my scarf would be. Just were my coat ended was where my knee high boots start. They had gratefully left my old boots that let me fight so comfortably. They simply cleaned them up and changed the color from brown to black with gold latches over black stockings. Along with them, on my left thigh was the holster for Ares that was neatly placed there. My hair went back to its original all dark blonde color and with the same red clips holding my bangs from one side back.

"I love it..." I swooned and twirled to see the armor glitter under the light. I turned to them with a smile on my face. "Thank you so much for this!"

"You're most welcome sweetie," Flora said with the other two nodding in agreement.

"You should go meet up with Master Yen Sid," Fauna said as she shooed me along.

"There's no time to lose," Merryweather called as they disappeared again and left me to walk inside the studio alone.

Inside I was met yet again by the old man Yen Sid. I stood before his desk as he began speaking to me shortly after. "So I see they have given you what you needed."

"They did a magnificent job at it as well," I say sticking my hands into the coat's pocket. "They told me you wanted to speak to me?"

He nodded before going on, "On this journey, Sora will be going against enemies that you are well acquainted with."

"Organization XIII," I mumble under my breath letting my scarf hide my mouth.

"And he will need your help. However you have a mission to undergo yourself, to find your other side that has escaped you."

"How will I find her though?" I ask not really sure.

"Shadows are created from the light. If you pursue the light, you will surely encounter the shadows," Yen Sid replied rather cryptically. "If you follow Sora's footsteps, you shall find something in his midst."

"Follow and help the midget. Gotcha. Anything else?"

"The only gateway that is open as of now leads to Hollow Bastion." I couldn't help but think back at what he had told me before. "Sora will head there first if anything."

"Is he awake yet?"

"I am not certain but Mickey has gone to guide him to this very same place in order to be informed of the situation. Although he, along with Mickey and Riku, successfully closed Kingdom Hearts, darkness always will exist as a balance. But now Organization XIII is disrupting that balance. To what end, we do not know."

I bit back my tongue. In all my time there I never once found out what they were really after. All I knew is that they treasured Roxas' powers above all others. "I will be at his side but I will not show myself. By now the Organization must have a target on my head. I will help him how I can."

He nodded, grateful. "Now, there is something you need to see. Your armor comes along with a very particular mode of transportation," he said while motioning to the outside of his window. I ran up to it and watch as what looked like a motorcycle floated in mid air. It had the shape of it, at least that was what Oswald called it. I had seen a portrait that he had drawn with the brush of his. This one however was not as bulky but much thinner as if made for a woman and instead of black and blue, this one was mostly red with black and gold hues.

"Sweet."

A sudden tooting of a train catches my attention making me look down towards the terrain. There I see as the train tracks begin to appear again and soon the train that brought me here follows suit.

"It's the train," I call to Yen Sid who looks out the window as well.

"It must be Sora and the others. Mickey must have sent them here," he explained.

"Did I spend three days here?" I ask astonished that I hadn't noticed the passing of time if that had been the case.

"Time passes differently between the worlds and their different spaces," he clarified as he went back to stand by his chair. "You must leave. Sora cannot find you here."

I know he can't. Otherwise he would be asking countless questions that I wouldn't be able to answer him. With a curt nod, I hit my shoulder piece with my fist and let it engulf me with the armor.

I turn to him before leaving, "Thanks again for everything. Tell Mickey as well if you see him." He nods and I jump out towards the bike and quickly get used to the feel of it under me. I gear it up and go away towards the space between worlds were the gates awaited and where I knew my first stop would be Hollow Bastion.

My real birth place.

Sorry about the motorcycle part :3 I couldn't find any other way to describe it. Well it's 6k of words so that's plenty. I'll write the third chapter up when I have time :) Hope you liked this.

Don't forget to review for cookies ;D