Hello there everyone here is chapter 3 of sanctuary. I know that it's been a while since I updated but I'm ready to update today. Hope you like it.

I don't claim kingdom hearts at all.

Chapter 3

Falling soldiers

The five of them split up to find anyone willing to give information about the heartless queen. It seemed like it would be a long shot especially since said queen has taken refuge in the princess of hearts. With Kairi under her influence and Merlin dead, it seemed like their quest would need an unbelievable miracle if they were to succeed.

Riku was wandering around when he saw what appeared to be bricks and piles of Junk where master Yen Sid's house should have been. Some of the bricks were smashed to pieces while the one's that remained intact were severely burned almost like charcoal. Some even appeared to be ashes on the ground or broken in half. Being the intelligent teen he was, he knew that it had to take more than one person to destroy that building. It would be impossible for even a master like Yen Sid to survive such a hostile attack. It was official, Radiant garden was now in ruins. As the silver haired teen prepared to leave he found himself surrounded by a group of dozens of shadow heartless. As quickly as they appeared they disappeared. Riku walked about 50 feet and was soon swallowed by a shadow of darkness, carrying him into the ground. It appeared that one by one the troops were falling.

Sora and Axel were searching for maleficent. They knew that if anyone had knowledge about the heartless queen it would be her. After all, as many times as sora confronted her and as much as she controlled the heartless, she had to know something about their queen. Maybe she would tell them about her. Maybe the witch would even help Sora and his friends save Kairi. They could dream couldn't they?

The two teens continued to look around the post apocalyptic world of Radiant garden, there were no signs of life to be seen, it was like the only survivors of those attacks were Leon and Yuffie.

"I don't see anyone around." Sora said to himself.

"Thanks for the news, captain obvious." Axel said sarcastically. Then he spotted a figure dead ahead. As they got closer the Silhouette was getting larger and clearer. Said silhouette appeared to be wearing a black dress and have hair that stuck out like a devil's horns. It was none other than maleficent one of the heartless' former masters. It seemed like Sora's mission was accomplished.

"Maleficent!" he called. But the witch didn't give any response. She just stood there, almost frozen in her footsteps. Sora went to her while Axel followed. The key blade wielder suspected that it could be a trap or an illusion that led into a trap. But he was going to find out what Maleficent knew and what he could do to help Kairi.

"S-S-Sora…" She called. Her voice was faint and raspy. "H-Help….me…"

As soon as they got to maleficent they saw that her legs were now stone and the rest of her body was flesh and blood. Something very serious was happening to her. It would only be a matter of time before the witch's body was turned into solid stone. Whatever she knew she would have to tell them promptly.

"Maleficent, do you know anything about the heartless queen?" Axel asked blatantly. She was still stuck in her position but of course was still willing to talk, not that she had much time.

"She is not a force to be tampered with." Maleficent began. "The heartless queen is a most terrifying force that should never be challenged by anyone. Not even someone as much of a threat as you. She can exist in any form she chooses and can house herself in any body she chooses. Unlike the darkness that I control, the queen can control a person with even the purest of hearts. That is why it chose your friend Kairi. "

She then handed Sora a Key-blade, it looked very similar to his only it was slightly smaller, and the edges were a lot sharper, they didn't look so but they were. Then she handed Axel yet another sword that looked like the one he had, only that it might be a little more powerful. It wasn't long before half of her upper body was covered in stone.

"Who did this to you?" Sora asked.

"It was her…" She said. "The heartless queen used her magic to turn my body into stone. Nautilus is the one responsible for her being unsealed from the darkness; you must defeat him before trying to rescue your friend. The only way you can defeat him is…" before she could finish her sentence, the rest of her body became stone cold. Was she really gone for good? Could she be brought back if Sora defeats the queen and saves Kairi.

"Now what do we do?" Axel asked. Sora thought and thought. He had to find out what to do to bring Kairi back.

"I guess we should meet up with the others and go to twilight town; maybe we can get reinforcement from there." Sora said.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Axel reluctantly agreed. They went back to the town square to wait for the others. Roxas and Namine were waiting there.

"Any luck finding maleficent?" Roxas asked. Sora's emotions were starting to get the better of him. He tried his best to keep his composure.

"Yeah, she told us all about the heartless queen and her power and about Nautilus releasing her from the abyss. " Sora answered.

"That's great!" Namine said. "So what happened? Where is maleficent?" Despite being his enemy, Sora found it extremely difficult to tell her and Roxas what happened to her.

"She… got turned to stone…" he answered dryly. There was no emotion from the boy. In fact, he was so overwhelmed with emotion that he couldn't show even one ounce of it. After finding out what happened to maleficent and how the queen got released from her prison, they were about to head to the gummi ship but was soon overcome with worry for riku's whereabouts. They decided to stick together to look for Riku. They searched all over the former Radiant garden but there was no sign of him or anyone for that matter. They went to Leon and Yuffie, Hoping they knew where their friend was. Unfortunately they didn't have great news

"Sorry, Sora but we haven't seen Riku since you guys arrived." Yuffie said.

"Are you sure?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Yuffie replied. it looked like the adventure was getting tougher even though it was just starting. Kairi was possessed, Merlin was dead, Yen sid was nowhere to be found, Maleficent was turned to stone and Riku had gone missing. Once they boarded the gummi ship, the concerns started to rise.

'Who knew that trying to bring Kairi back was going to be this rough? Sora thought. Roxas turned to Sora to see if he would have any ideas about how to defeat their enemies.

"Any plans about how we can stop Nautilus and the queen?" Roxas queried.

"We're going to see if anyone in twilight town can help us." Sora answered.

"I just hope Riku is alright." Roxas commented.

IN THE WORLD THAT NEVER WAS

The heartless queen, still in Kairi's body was flipping her new hair. Oh, how she loved her new body and how beautiful she looked in Kairi's body. She was looking for a way to summon the heartless and keep anyone from interfering with her plans. She saw some of the heartless coming back from Radiant garden; they were holding an unconscious Riku as they approached her not so gracious presence.

"I love how you foolish children think that you stand a chance against my magic." She said to Riku. He may have been unconscious but she thought that he could still hear what she was saying and she loved that thought.

"Your friend sora was a fool to challenge me, I am the queen of the heartless, My babies will not be overcome by a mere child, I will never be defeated by such a puny weapon like that pathetic keyblade of his. My babies are about to eliminate him right now. "She explained.

"Enough! Leave Riku alone." A voice called.

"You will be silent girl." the queen said. "You will never free your mind dear Kairi. Your friends will soon be no more. *Evil laugh*"

Riku was then transported to a dark force field. He was imprisoned in there along with King mickey Donald, and goofy.

That was chapter 3 everyone. I know that it wasn't as long as the others but hey, I'm a little lazy. Anyway chapter 4 should be up as soon as I can. See you. Please review.