ACT 1

Gone Home

Back in 1944, when he had been infiltrating Germany in order to free his son Sam after three years out of contact, Paladin never thought he would find any sight as gruelling as the death camps. He'd gone weeks without showering, days without food, about 36 hours without water... and yet the dulled pain he felt from the prisoners, the faint traces of hope being crushed to dust, was more unbearable than all of that combined. He had vomited for days afterwards.

Never again, he swore to himself, never again would he allow such suffering. And once again he had failed his vow.

Everything was somewhat faint at the moment – holding down the sucking wound on Kairi's chest, feeling blood seep through his fingers, the sight from the ship's viewport as they shot through space. He thought he heard a shriek as Aqua fulfilled her agreement to fix Sora's arm, a snapping sound following shortly after that he could not bear.

The landing at Disney Castle was silent in his mind, made fitting by the grey cloud cover hanging over the courtyard that the group marched across. He and Terra, the dark-haired friend of Aqua, each held a side of the makeshift hamper Kairi now lay upon. Yen Sid hung from Lea's shoulder, the old man's face pale and drifting out of consciousness.

And then he blinked, finding himself to be sitting on a bench, surrounded by the other still-conscious Masters. Aqua was leaned against Terra to Paladin's right, Ventus was staring at the floor on his left.

Never again, hadn't he said?

The door to the hospital room opened, and Sora walked out, sporting a cast on his right arm. "They say she's unconscious but alive," he said quietly, slinking into the bench opposite him.

Paladin saw the watery eyes, the catch in the kid's throat. For a moment he could close his eyes and simply step away from the pain, just as the years had taught him. Cut out the suffering, thrive in the chance for revenge. But something felt wrong this time. He wanted this kid, this young boy whose friend may very well die, to have comfort in this moment of peril.

"She's strong, Sora," Paladin spoke in a calming tone, "she can make it through this. I believe it."

Sora glanced up at him, his eyes reddened. "You're sure? She... she seemed so distant."

Beside him, Riku patted him on the shoulder. "We're still alive. If we made it, so can she."

"Right," Paladin affirmed with a nod. "Just have a little faith."

Sora wiped his eyes, giving off as wide a smile as Paladin imagined his heart could manage. "Okay. Faith, it is."

It would be hours later before Mickey exited the room and gave the news. Their hearts prepared to plummet with the expected words, yet he had only hope in his voice. "Come on, everyone. They're waking up now."

Paladin entered behind the Masters, keeping his distance out of respect. He saw a pair of gurneys were now occupying the recovery room, holding Yen Sid and Kairi in resting positions. Yen Sid appeared to still be in slumber, but Kairi was yawning loudly and stretching out her arms.

"Hey guys," she finally said as her hospital gown settled around her. "What's up?"

Sora was the first to hug her, running through the crowd of visitors and practically leaping arms-first at Kairi. Then, presumably realizing he could be crushing his critically injured friend, he loosened his embrace somewhat and settled for gripping Kairi's arms, his face lighting up with joy.

"Are you alright? Did they treat you well? Did it sting? Does it still hurt? I can cast a healing spell or two if it helps. I was losing it out there, you would not believe..."

Kairi silenced him with a tender kiss on the lips. "I'm alright. Don't worry so much, knucklehead. I'm alright."

"I couldn't help it, Kai. My heart hurt. I mean, you're..."

She held his face with her hand, staring into Sora's eyes with passion. "I know."

The two touched their heads together, hands intertwined. It was a moment outside of time, a bubble of security and joy that the two seemed to relish, not realizing anyone else was present. It was their time together and all the watching eyes and smirks in the world didn't matter to them.

He envied their youthful passion, their ability to love so unconditionally. He remembered the sensation of his own ray of sunshine touching her head with his, his beloved, the keeper of his soul.

I don't want this moment to end.

He remembered her shimmering blue eyes that reminded him of the country sky, and the way her smile crooked at the tip in just the right way to make his heart soar, and the little dimples in her cheeks that showed when she laughed. She loved to laugh.

We're gonna be a family, John.

Again the urge to cough came up, and he silently excused himself to have a hacking fit a few doors down. The blood wasn't as viscous and plentiful as before, so it was easy to wipe with a sleeve.

When he returned to the other room Yen Sid was now awake and surrounded by his pupils. The old master had regained some of his peach colour, but there were hints of grey around his eyes. Upon seeing Paladin, the old man gestured to get him to come closer.

Paladin approached, standing between Lea and Mickey. Yen Sid coughed lightly, then began to speak in a raspier tone than usual. "We have much to discuss. Please, all of you, I would like to address Mr. O'Riley alone."

The other Masters didn't dare question the wishes of an injured old man, and so they filed out one by one. In the rear was Sora lifting Kairi from her bed, staying behind her to ward off any wandering eyes. Finally, it was just the two of them – Paladin and Yen Sid.

"I did not want to worry the others," said Yen Sid, coughing lightly as he spoke. "This conflict has already brought more damage than I expected, and I do not particularly wish for any more of my former pupils to be harmed."

"Of course," Paladin responded, nodding respectfully.

"Then you must understand what I mean when I say you must go to Earth. You must confront this evil and vanquish it, away from where it can do harm."

"Master Yen Sid, all due respect, I know this. I know the stakes. But... Thanatos is a special kind of villain. He plays mind games, he calculates his moves, and he leads people into situations from which there is no escape." Paladin tried so hard to impart his frustration, his repeated failures, but it came out as belligerent whining.

"I understand your hesitation. I especially understand given your time in the Realm of Darkness, but there are no other options. What you choose to do on your world is your choice, but my students are off-limits. Thanatos must be stopped at all costs."

Paladin sighed, then shrugged. "Very well, it will be done. Come to think of it, I should still have allies and resources on Earth. 2015 can't have changed that much, right?"

"Tell me," Yen Sid suddenly enquired, "did you say you came here in 2015?"

"Well, a 2015, not necessarily my native one," Paladin pondered. "But that's besides the point. Why do you ask?"

Yen Sid, despite being visibly tired, gave what appeared to be a concerned look. Then it faded as he shook his head. "It does not matter. Go now, and right the wrong that has been committed."

Paladin nodded once more, turning his back to leave the room, but additionally to ponder further on this interaction. What exactly had Yen Sid meant by that question? And why did he get the creeping feeling that the Earth he left wasn't as he left it?

Aqua liked sitting atop the towers of the castle, staring into the distance. It was a lot like much of her childhood years, where she'd find the highest point of the citadel and look up at the sky. She'd point to stars and wonder, Will I ever get to visit them one day? Or she would spot a flock of birds and try to count them, enamoured by their colour and their ability to coordinate as a group.

Today, quite clearly, wasn't right for nostalgic reminiscing. But she still couldn't help the feeling that times were better before she'd ever heard the word "Keyblade".

The others had gathered to discuss what their plan of action would be. To say there was initially division would be generous. Despite being laid up, Sora and Kairi were the most vocal about intervening – Sora made what she considered to be one of the better arguments in its favour, and surprisingly one of the simplest.

"He knew something, why else would he bring up the drain of the light?" the younger Master had said. "If he's causing the Heartless to appear, then we have to go. Or it could get worse."

Riku, reaching over to rest his hand on Sora's shoulder, disagreed on the grounds of their last fight. "He was prepared for us. Look at how easily he beat all of us, even Yen Sid. I can't imagine another fight would make a difference."

Roxas, Lea, and Xion all favoured staying, to Riku's approval. Isa was indifferent, though he offhandedly suggested sending some of their allies in their place. Namine, Ventus and Terra supported Sora's argument, leaving Aqua as the odd vote out. Mickey was still watching over Yen Sid but had asked that his vote be for staying - "We must hold out hope," the wise mouse had said, "that Paladin can stop this threat at its source."

So now, in her own place of peace, Aqua could mull over the two options (three, if Isa was to be taken seriously) and come to a decision. Was it better to risk everything on a single trip, or would showing restraint in these matters be more prudent?

She sighed sadly. To be young and ignorant again...

"I thought I'd find you in exile," she heard from behind her, looking up to see Paladin sit down at her side. "I know you want your space, but I just want to be clear – no one has to accompany me. I can handle this. No one else needs to get involved."

"I know that," Aqua answered frankly. "We want to. They want to, anyway. I don't really know what the best course of action is here, but I feel as though this mission of yours matters above all else."

Paladin gave a grunt. "But do you believe it? Because if this is all about the democratic process, I will walk out now."

"It's not like that," she answered exasperatedly, "it's just... we've been through a lot. Not just today but for the longest time. They're going to be divided about what to do because, with all we've suffered and all we've bore witness to, I can't honestly say any of us want to go to war again. I certainly don't."

"But you understand my position, and why I have to do what I do."

"Yes, of course. But this isn't about you, John, this is about a lot of good-hearted people coming to terms with one of their greatest fears: a foe so evil, so cruel, so unbelievably unrepentant that he crushes the light, and the fair, and the just through sheer force of will. No one claiming to be a hero could possibly ignore that."

She turned to him. "Right, John?"

Paladin was silent, worrying her. There was a dullness to his eyes that she hadn't noticed before, something that contrasted with her memory of a man absolutely enthralled by the dream of going home, communicating his deepest desire through the shine in his otherwise stoic expression. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but something about her friend felt lost and confused, broken even.

Then he began to smile, throwing off her analysis. "Well, at any rate, you have my approval. Boy, it's going to be a good old fashioned adventure. Venturing to a far off land, experiencing the sights, battling evils great and mighty. Who knows," he winked, "we might find a prince or two for you along the way."

She raised an eyebrow, confused as a person could be. What in the great cosmos had happened to her friend John, the lone Paladin with stoicism as a face mask?

"Uh, great. I guess it's settled," she managed to say. "I'll go tell the others and we'll make our way to the Tower."

"Excellent. Radical. Far out, Aqua." Paladin spoke in rapid succession, getting up and walking back down the passageway he came before she could inquire further about the giant brain-eating parasite currently wrapped around his head. Because, as far as she was concerned, that was the only reasonable explanation for what just happened.

"Lea, you don't have to do this," Isa said to his friend as they stood by the Gummi Ship being prepared for launch, with Roxas, Xion, Namine, and Riku nearby. "Just because we know crazy people doesn't mean we have to be crazy people."

"Hey, I'm the funny one. You're the grumpy smart mouth one, remember?" Axel snarked. "Besides, I can't pass up the chance to be a hero – and could you imagine what those Earth girls must be like? Hell-o."

"Pervert," Isa said with a small smirk.

"Seconded," shouted Kairi as she settled into her reclining chair in the ship's rear. She had been eager to fly but it was universally agreed that the recuperating girl with two fresh stab wounds probably shouldn't be flying the fancy space ship. Sora, always the gentleman, had elected to both come on the mission and join her aboard the ship – despite her insistence that she didn't need a nurse.

Lea shrugged them off. "Ah, more for me. Let's get a move on, go be heroes."

"In a minute," Paladin shouted, carrying a moderate sized wooden box in his arms. He had shaven his beard down to a thick moustache and goatee, and his hair had been clipped down to a short length.

"What do you have there, Paladin?" Riku, who was leaning against the Gummi Ship, asked innocently.

"Something special and full of wonder," Paladin said sweetly. "Now hush. You'll see once everyone's here."

Finally the blue-haired beauty that was Master Aqua, accompanied by Ventus and Terra in the midst of saying their farewells, came striding into the launch chamber from which the Ship was due to depart. She had probably been arranging plans with Mickey in her absence, Paladin noted. Aqua had her head turned toward her friends, only looking at Paladin at the last second.

"What... the..." Aqua muttered.

"Excellent, all of us are here," Paladin addressed the assembled masters. "Now... allow me to prepare myself."

He then promptly dropped the box on the ground, wiped his feet on the cobblestone walkway, and stepped onto the box while straightening the tie of the business suit he'd decided to wear (Now, when combat's almost guaranteed, he chooses to change out of his jumpsuit? Aqua thought to herself). From a breast pocket Paladin pulled a series of cue cards and began his eloquently written – and not at all pre-prepared speech.

"Ladies, gentlemen, hermaphrodites and squid monsters, I am here to wish you the very best for the coming mission. I pains me to think you and I may be casualties in the great conflict that is life, but, well, shit happens. I believe that when our forefathers said that the universe is our oyster, they intended for us to outlive them significantly so as to properly enjoy that. Obviously they didn't know about lung cancer rates skyrocketing." He glanced around to gauge a reaction, but upon seeing the blank expressions coughed and mumbled, "Tough crowd."

"Regardless, we are heroes in the making and whether we defend the homeland or go out into glorious battle we will define the years to come. We will vanquish our foes. We will avenge the fallen. We will wipe the Communist threat from the face of the – oh, crap, hold on." Paladin removed the cue cards and began to write replacement lines with a pen from his handy-dandy breast pouch.

"Okay – blah, blah, blah, foes. Blah, blah, blah, fallen," he said going through the motions. "We will make Thanatos wish he didn't fuck with this or any universe, and we will show that we can hold the line just as effectively as any before us. There will be holes left in reality by the conflict, certainly, but if and when we survive this we will fill them with our experience and our passion and our sizable throbbing – um... power?" This sounded a lot better when it was about beating the crap out of Stalin.

Paladin scratched his head, trying to find better words than those on the cue cards. "Uh... the heart of the Keyblade is the soul of the heart, that longs for the... uh, heart of the person. And the biggest heart of all is the one that we can fill together... with, um, something hearty and touchy feely. So... yeah, peace out, people, and see you all on the other side."

Without daring to look at anyone, he stepped down from the box, tucked away his cue cards, and promptly walked onboard the ship. As he crossed through the hatch, he noted quickly, "Aqua flies. I call shotgun."

Aqua pulled back the steering wheel as the ship crossed through an asteroid field. Normally she'd be attentive and focused on driving, but her mind was overwhelmed by her need to analyze and interpret her experiences. Sora and Kairi were in the far back, Riku and Lea were lounging in the secondary flight seats, and Paladin... he was up in the co-pilot chair next to her, fiddling with his fingers.

She stared at him as he literally twiddled his thumbs, glancing up occasionally to look out the viewport.

"I know that look," she heard him speak.

Aqua sighed. "You can't blame me – or anyone, really. I mean, what the heck was that?"

"That, my lovely blue-haired friend, was genius writing incarnate," bragged Paladin, his head now upright, "mixed with more than a little weariness. I'm fine, really."

"Sure, you are," Aqua said with a worried smile. "Is it the darkness?"

He saw him turn away to stare out at the cosmos, entranced by a distant explosion of light in the distance. "I'm fine. I'm just... a little tired, that's all."

She turned the wheel slightly to the right to avoid hitting a smaller world, still keeping Paladin in her peripheral vision. She noticed he was again concerned with his fingers, rubbing his hands all over like he was washing them.

"Tell me again about Earth," Aqua asked. "Tell me what you remember."

"What I remember. Huh. I remember the beaches being kind of coarse, but that's expected. There's sand everywhere. I remember steep mountains where you could freeze solid, vast forests dripping with rainwater, oceans that smelled of salt and felt liberating to the touch." Paladin paused, closing his eyes. "Mmm. Home."

"It sounds wonderful," said Aqua. "Please, tell me more, come on."

Paladin opened his eyes and gave her an incredulous look. "Really? You're quite the curious one, aren't you?"

"You're just figuring this out now? After we spent 500 days getting to know each other?"

"Well... I knew you liked to intuit things. A lot," said Paladin. "But I thought you had more restraint, Master Aqua."

Aqua chuckled, but shook her head. "First, respect the title, Paladin. Second, do you not recall that I've spent years sitting on a dark, gloomy excuse for a beach. I still don't know what's fashionable, let alone anything significantly useful. Now spill – what's waiting for us on Earth? Don't hold back. Be descriptive."

Paladin sighed at this proposition and shrugged. "Okay, you asked for it. But I warn you – talking to the guy with billions of years of experience is probably unwise. Kinda boring, you hear me?"

"Come on, how tedious could it be?"

Not an hour later, when the ship settled with a bump near Yen Sid's Tower and everyone in the passenger area was awoken, Aqua had begun to realize how thorough billions of years could be when told by – for lack of a better term – a crazy person.

"...So once the dinosaurs began to die out, I went about constructing a crude shelter and practised filtering my air for the next few thousand years. I figured once the dust settled, I could begin setup for some semblance of civilization. I mean, it wasn't the last Ice Age yet so I still had plenty of time before spears and torches came into play, but still I had my instructions..." Paladin continued on and on about achieving dominance over the forces of nature, but Aqua was far more intrigued by the fluctuating translucent disturbance on the world's edge.

"Is that portal safe?" Aqua asked, interrupting Paladin's spiel.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it's perfectly fine," Paladin reassured her, "just so long as we stay in single file and don't sneeze."

"Oh, alright, those seem like reasonable condit- wait, what was that about sneezing?"

"Uh," said Paladin, "nothing. Just don't sneeze, or cough, or shake, or laugh, or cry, or vomit, or express any valid human emotion at all. At any point."

Aqua gave him a concerned look. "Seriously?"

"No, I was just yanking your chain. Don't worry so much, flower child," said Paladin, "all's well in the house of heroes."

Lea, who was now awake, could only respond with an incredulous "What!?"

Aqua shook her head and moved to open the hatchway leading out of the ship. Riku had his hands laid back behind his neck and was yawning after having taking a nap. Sora and Kairi had their own ritual for naptime which Aqua noticed as she passed them. It involved the two of them switching spooning positions. Evidently, it was Kairi's turn to be the outer spoon.

Dust still clouded the air as the group set ground for the first time since yesterday. Bricks and stones lay strewn across the grass, as a haze lightly clouded the sun above. It left everyone feeling uneasy, off-balance, as though something had ripped a part of their very soul from them. It was unpleasant and everyone had something to say.

"It feels wrong, guys." Sora said, walking off the ramp onto the grass.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Riku responded. "To think, yesterday we were at peace, with not a worry in the world. Nothing to do, nothing to fear."

"And now we're hunting after a cyborg who's gone to a world we know nothing about," said Kairi. "Kinda makes you think."

"Makes you think we're all really bummed out, yeah," spoke Lea. "Let's not get too down on ourselves. I'm sure everything's gonna be perfectly fine."

Aqua silently moved towards the distortion, placing her hand through it. It disappeared in mid air but reappeared attached to her arm when she pulled back. It had felt warm to the touch, like a sunny day, and pulling back her hand had left her with a chill.

"I'll go first," announced Paladin, "and make sure everything's good on that end."

She nodded as her bearded friend strolled towards the portal with his hands in his pockets. He seemed to not realize the gravity on the situation and didn't really care that he could be throwing himself into mortal danger. He whistled as he strode through the distortion and disappeared.

30 seconds passed, then a minute, then two minutes. Finally after five minutes, Lea had had enough. "I just want to have a little fun and get some payback. Is that too much to ask?" he grumbled as he practically leaped in the portal.

"Wait! Don't!" Sora shouted as he chased Lea through the portal. Aqua tried to grab him, but he vanished before she could grip his arm.

"SORA!" Kairi shouted. She also attempted to run for the portal, but by virtue of her having to hobble Aqua was able to stand in her way. "C'mon, Aqua, I'm not letting him go off on his own."

"Kairi, you're limping and he's gone. We'll do what Paladin said, okay? Single-file. Riku, behind Kairi," Aqua ordered, standing in front of the redhead. She wanted Sora to be safe just as badly (well, not in the same way), but she had a responsibility to the other masters. Riku filed in just behind Kairi, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Ready, Aqua," he spoke with confidence.

"Alright," said Aqua, "let's move." And the three marched through the distortion one-by-one, vanishing into the ether.

Paladin was not a stupid man. He'd watched empires fall and armies disintegrate often enough to know how to deal with it. Sometimes it was a matter of running faster than the slowest man, other times it required an epic last stand to turn the tide. Despite his inability to figure out chess he could easily claim to be one of the best living strategists on Earth – not the best, but among them.

So he was racking his brain, trying to figure out how he'd ended up facing down half-a-dozen still-active turbolasers firing rapidly the second he'd walked out the portal.

The distortion came out in the right place – the ruined remains of a starship's control room, far from any base of operations he could rely on. The jet black panels were jutting out of every wall, with wiring strewn every which way and sparks occasionally flying. The giant turrets rising out the floor, however, were not as expected and put him in a bit of a mood.

"I thought you said we'd be having a blast," spoke Lea as he settled behind the same computer console as Paladin for cover, "not that we'd be blasted."

"Forgive me. I'll just will these death machines to shut off and we'll just go on our merry way. Oh, and then we'll ride on a magic carpet and sing Kumbaya. How's that sound, you fire-headed loud-mouthed prick?"

"First off," Lea shouted over the laser fire as Sora fell from the portal behind a bent girder, "I've done my fair share of riding on a magic carpet, and let me tell you it's a lot more fun clinging for your life on one of those than getting shot at by these. Second, I might be loud-mouthed, but you'll always be the Weird Nutty Speech Guy."

"At least I don't look like my hair was screwed by Satan and given the chair," Paladin retorted.

"Who the hell is Satan and do you still have his number?" Lea asked. "'Cause when we're done here, you're gonna wish you had my awesome hair. Oh, wait, I forgot you like the shaggy dog look, my apologies."

Paladin scoffed, seeing Aqua and Riku fall behind some debris. "Shaggy dog? More like worn-in gentleman. I'd like to see you try my style. You'd probably come off as a pitiful hobo. Got some change, got some change... that's what you'll sound like as a hobo."

Lea gave him a thumbs up and a cheeky smile, as Kairi appeared and leaped behind another console.
"Excellent comeback. Really well thought out. I'm glad to see such wit and intelligence in an ally."

"Same to you. Ready in three, Fire Nymph?"

"Ready now, Clown Boy."

"Fuck you."

"Thank you."

"CHARGE!" Paladin shouted at the top of his lungs, as he and Lea both leapt over the console and spun around to kick a pair of turrets. The turrets bent on an angle and snapped, sparking as they fell, allowing Paladin to run ahead for the other end of the room. He spotted Lea summoning a fire-themed Keyblade and slicing through another turret, but he paid him no mind as he spotted his target through the laser fire – his twin blades, stuck in the floor tiles, crossed in an X.

Right where he left them.

A bolt of energy shot past his face, forcing him to dodge quickly. Unfortunately, that left him unprepared for a volley of laser blasts that approached faster than he could dodge. He braced for impact – and heard the distinctive swish of a Keyblade. His eyes opened to the sight of Sora deflecting energy bolts with the Kingdom Key as Kairi stabbed at the turret from behind. After a few stabs in its dome, the whirr of its cells firing energy came to a halt and it ceased firing.

He charged for the blades, gripping and pulling them loose from the floor in seconds. The touch of the handle, wrapped in distinctive blue cloth, filled him with memories – slicing through hapless foes, leading the charge for Charlemagne's army, raising them in the glory of victory, the beautiful ping that came when you struck another blade. It gave him warmth, the kind of warmth one gets from being a true, worthy hero. A rising sense of status and authority that almost gave him goosebumps. Almost.

Seeing Aqua blasting one turret with her namesake and Riku crushing another while redirecting its energy bolts drew him back. He eyed the last turret, to his right, and charged at it while zig-zagging across the deck. He felt the heat of its bolts surge past as he leapt onto the turret's dome, stabbing his blades as he fell. He pulled the blades downward and pulled loose, spinning to the deck's centre to avoid the final volley.

With a shudder, the turret sparked and collapsed into slices. Its parts fell as though they had been sliced with a bread knife, collapsing on one another. He heard a crunching sound and some sparking behind him, sounds that satisfied him.

But he also felt dizzy, perhaps the effect of spinning so aggressively. He coughed a little, and felt a burning metallic taste come up. Ick... He wiped his mouth with his hand, not wanting to dirty his suit. It was still classy, still relevant, still worthy of the maintenance.

Lea, panting, came up from behind him. "Take it easy... friend," he spoke with each breath, "we got 'em. We got... them... good."

"We're not done yet," Paladin announced, edging towards a smashed viewport. "We've still got a ways to go."

The other masters, tired but satisfied, came to look out beyond the shattered glass. The skyline was dark with a faint red glow, illuminating a thick jungle in the distance. Threads of light shone through vine and bush, casting a light shadow across the curved form of the ship below their feet. Each of them glanced down and took in the massive curve of this structure, this enormous saucer embedded in the very earth.

"How do we get down there?" Lea asked.

"Carefully," said Paladin.

Carefully, Sora noted, meant slowly rappelling down the side of the ship while tied into re-appropriated power cables, moving in a chain to ensure everyone travelled at a consistent speed. Lea went down first, followed by Riku, then Sora, Kairi, Aqua, and finally Paladin. Sora being between Kairi and Riku was an order Paladin claimed would make sense if they fell.

If we fall, Sora thought, the order won't matter much.

"Gently, people, gently," Paladin spoke from the top of the chain, waving whenever they needed to move. The group slid slowly and steadily down the sloping panels, edging closer and closer to the downward curve, where the plan was to gauge the height of the drop and set up another chain of cables accordingly. They only really had enough cable for this section, after all.

Sora took care to step around any jagged metal shards or burnt holes in the hull, of which there were many strewn about. He could see where the ship had suffered critical damage – along the side, stretching well beyond the downward curve – that indicated it was brought down internally. The metal jutted outward, the burn marks spread outward, various panels were barely holding against the hull. Whatever had brought this thing down had done so from the inside.

It frightened him that he could analyze that. It truly scared him that in two years he'd gone from being an innocent kid to a master strategist and seasoned warrior, with countless acts of destruction and violence in his wake. He'd never wish that kind of regret on anyone.

His back bumped against Riku, who had stopped for some reason. Kairi, in turn, came to a halt because Sora stopped, and Paladin halted his movement.

Sora turned around and saw that Riku and Aqua had both turned their heads toward the rising sun, entranced by something in the distance. Now that he thought about it, there was a distinct whirring sound growing in volume, like something endlessly rotating. He turned and saw the shadow of something bird-like crossing the skyline, hovering increasingly close to the wreckage.

"What's the hold-up, kiddos? We're on a tight-" Then Paladin noticed the whirring, and turned his head toward the shadow. Sora looked at him and saw an expression of, what? Caution, curiosity, paranoia? No, fear. Restrained by a stoic demeanour, but it was still fear.

"Paladin," Aqua spoke quietly, "who knows we're here?"

Slowly, eyes still fixated on the shadow's approach, Paladin responded, "I couldn't honestly tell you." Then he turned to Aqua. "But I don't want to be here to find out. Keep moving."

She nodded and continued to slide for the edge. Everyone followed suit.

But not a single eye shifted from the shadow, which was now clearly visible. It was an aircraft the likes of which Sora had never seen – a curved metal structure with two wings, at the centre of each a spinning set of blades. He felt the air moving faster as it approached, the whirring sound now louder than ever.

He had not, however, paid much mind to a loose panel under his feet.

Sora lost his grip on the cable as he fell on his belly, sliding across the hull with reckless abandon. He had also managed to knock down Riku and Lea, who were now presently falling faster than him.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" the three screamed as they approached the edge.

He felt the cable lurch with the weight of the other three – Kairi, Aqua, Paladin – as he watched Riku and Lea slide over the edge. He couldn't see them anymore but he felt their weight. Scrambling to grip a handhold of some sort, Sora felt his Keyblade materialize in his hand.

No, this isn't the time. Wait...

With a small cry of "Hah!", Sora stabbed the Keyblade as hard as he could into the cracks between some loose panels. It stuck, causing him to lurch as his fallen friends settled. He gripped the blade with all his might turning his head downwards. "Riku, Lea, you guys alright?"

Riku cried out, "Yeah, Sora, we're fine."

"Speak for yourself," he heard Lea say. "I'm the one hanging upside-down staring straight at the jungle floor. Looks like a thirty-foot drop, just for the record."

He nodded, knowing full well they couldn't see him, and turned his attention back to the others. "How about everyone else? Kairi, are you okay?"

"I'm just fine," Kairi said, giving him a smile, "just... tell me when you're gonna do that next time."

"Kids," Paladin started, but was interrupted by the whirring sound becoming deafening as the vehicle circled directly behind him.

"ATTENTION! YOU ARE TRESPASSING ON PRIVATE PROPERTY! STAND DOWN AND PREPARE FOR TERMINATION!"

Paladin did a double take. "Wait, what."

"REPEAT, YOU ARE TRESPASSING AND WILL BE SUBJECT TO IMMEDIATE TERMINATION!"

Sora looked over his shoulder. Through the viewport of the vehicle he could see a helmeted figure leaning over some kind of console.

"Paladin," Sora asked aloud, "is he talking to us?"

"And what, may I ask, does he mean by -"RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

"Everybody MOVE!" Paladin shouted.

Sora dodged to the left as the surge of metal pellets shot past him, impacting against the hull. He saw the cable taking the brunt of the fire, getting torn up, then finally- SNAP!

"SORA!" he heard Riku shout as the weight lessened on his body. He wanted to reach out his arm and grab the sliding length of cable, but the remaining cable tugged in another direction, pulling him from the edge. Sora gripped and pulled the Keyblade loose, grabbing onto the cable with the other hand and following where it lead. As it turned out, Paladin was being proactive about the new threat.

"Dodge and weave, kids, dodge and weave," Paladin shouted, deflecting some of the pellets with one of his swords. He swung the blade like a professional, not letting the fact that he was doing so one-handed with the other hand gripping his lifeline get in the way of the art form. It was clean and fast, just one swift volley after another, metal deflecting metal.

Aqua and Kairi were also deflecting fire as Paladin threw all his weight into flinging their cable back and forth, which Sora assisted with by following Paladin's movements. The vehicle brought around another round of fire, which Sora sliced with his Keyblade quite easily.

He swung and swung, slashed and slashed, pushed and pulled against the cable, trying to see if the vehicle would show its weakness. It too weaved, but only slightly and only to hit the group at different angles.

Which meant a single strike could be all it took to turn the tides.

"Paladin," Sora shouted, "I'm gonna cut loose."

"WHAT!?" Paladin shouted back.

"Just trust me. Keep drawing its fire."

He readied his Keyblade in the real world, preparing it to slice through the cable. He saw Aqua and Kairi responding to his request with a few blasts of fire and ice sent at the vehicle, which caused it to begin tipping but kept it in roughly the same location. But inside, he paid no mind to anything but his own struggles.

I need to call upon those powers which I thought gone. The Final Form, my ability to float... Keyblade, give me strength.

He felt a surge of pure light shoot through his body, and could imagine his clothes had shifted to a white colour with black decals. The warmth in his heart and the feeling that his friends were with him, the sheer energy those provided flowed through his body, fuelled his will, gave form to his power. His left hand grasped around a second Keyblade – this one had a jagged handle, so it must be Oblivion. His regular Keyblade shifted in his hand to take a more smooth form, appearing as the white Oathkeeper blade with a curved tip attached to a coloured star.

In one smooth motion, he sliced the cable tied to his waist and pushed free from the hull, shooting forward. The vehicle was directly in his vision, its twin cannons slowly swivelling to catch up with him. But he was gliding through the air faster than they could move, his blades outstretched and ready to slice...

Sora swept the blades through the cannons, slicing them in two, and stabbed them into the undercarriage of the vehicle. He glided across its underbelly, carving wide tears through the thick metal, willing electricity to shoot out of the blades.

He heard glass shatter and a pair of shouts. The rear of the vehicle came loose as he slid out from underneath and floated behind it, allowing black smoke to plume out. He landed on the makeshift platform, which he now saw was the hatch, and charged into the fold. Two soldiers dressed in armour turned to him, armed with rifles, but he simply smacked one with Oblivion and blasted the other with a fire spell.

A door was ajar, leading to a cockpit with a busted viewport. He stepped in, only to duck as one of the pilots stabbed at him with a knife while the other tried to regain control of the spinning vehicle. "I'm sorry for this," Sora spoke as he hit his attacker in the stomach with Oathkeeper, watching him fall in pain. Then, he pointed his blades at the other pilot. "Bring this down and help my friends."

"Uh, sure," the pilot said nervously, "whatever you say."

Within seconds, the smoke had cleared as Paladin and the other gathered aboard the commandeered vehicle. Kairi simply sat down in relief while Aqua settled into the pilot's chair. "Looks a little like the gummi ship," she commented as she began to fiddle with the controls.

"Easy does it," Paladin spoke as he looked down the four captives with Sora. "So kid, what do we do with this quartet?"

"I think we should let them go," said Sora.

Paladin shrugged, then turned to the conscious pilot. "Tell me, what brought you here? Why should I consider my young friend's request?"

The pilot, looking uncomfortable, tried to speak with confidence but ended up stammering. "I'm just an en-en-entry level recruit, sir. I- I don't even carry a weapon. I was just told someone was trespassing and we needed to intervene. I didn't know Carl would open fire."

"Carl?" Paladin asked. "Your fellow pilot? His name's Carl?"

"Yes, yes sir, Carl. He was in charge, he took our orders to mean terminate. I just – I didn't want any trouble."

"Well, you let a colleague opened fire on people you don't know and you didn't intervene. I'd say you got trouble now. And let me tell you, I don't quite appreciate-" Paladin stopped, his ears peaked by something. "Aqua, lift off now!"

An explosion smashed nearby, rocking the ship. Sora gripped a handhold as tightly as he could. Kairi grabbed onto her seat.

"Damnit. You son of a bitch," Paladin swore, pulling free a pistol from the side of his jacket and firing four times. Once for each prisoner. The conscious pilot collapsed, splattering on the torn hull.

Kairi covered her mouth, eyes widened in horror. Aqua turned back and shouted, "Paladin!" Sora could only watch as Paladin, a cold look on his face, turned to Aqua. "I said lift off!"

"I'm going down for Riku and Lea..." The hull was rocked with another explosion, this one shaking even Paladin.

"No time. Lift. Off. Now," Paladin said.

Aqua saw the look on his face, and Sora recognized the look she gave in return. The last time she had looked like this, she had been told to let the others take lead in the battle against Xehanort. A determination brewed underneath the surface, but it was tempered by resignation to the reality of the situation. That time it was her not being in the physical state to fight that madman. Here it was something else, some bond between the two that Sora couldn't quite comprehend.

Hatred? Rivalry? Love?

But in an instant, Aqua nodded. She pulled the control stick and activated the flight mechanism, giving Sora a sense of floating on air. He watched Paladin sit down, holding the pistol in his hands, before he himself sat down and prepared for the long ride ahead.

How long had it been since the death camps? How long had it been since he last killed, for that matter? Paladin understood a number of things about himself, but he couldn't quite grasp what came over him. What had possessed him to take that measure?

Christ, he was tired. He just wanted to lie down for a bit and think things through.

The sun was fully risen for quite some time before Paladin got up to check on Aqua. Kairi had fallen asleep by the hatch, which he'd thought to close to avoid the Kazakhstan incident. Sora was staring into space on the other side of the dropship, his eyes almost glazed over. He wished the kid hadn't seen that. He wished no kid would ever have to see that.

Hell, he never wanted any violence or suffering. He just wanted to be a hero.

Aqua tinkered with the holographic map, checking the geographic details with what she could see from the cracked viewport. At the moment, however, she seemed fixated on a particular detail.

"Paladin," she asked, "what's Shanghai?"

"Shanghai?" Paladin repeated. "That's a major city in the country of China, notable for its prominent ties to global trade. Why do you ask?"

"The map says we're approaching it. We should be passing over a hill in a few seconds, so we'll get a glimpse of it," she reported. "So what's it like?"

"Oh, it's got a large cityscape, lots of skyscrapers. I remember them saying that in 2020, they hope to start constructing a second level to the city."

"A second level?" Aqua pondered.

"Yeah, an actual artificial layer built on top of the existing architecture. I've... seen it done elsewhere."

"Wait," Aqua noted, "you said they planned on starting construction in 2020."

"Yes, I remember that quite well. It seems like a pipe dream."

Aqua turned to him, giving him a confused look. "What year do you think it is?"

This, in turn, confused Paladin. "Um, 2015, as it's always... been?"

"I think you should take a look at the console," she responded.

Paladin glanced at the console. A lot of fancy technology, some of which resembled the time he left, some more advanced than his comfort level could handle, but – there, smack dab in the middle, was the digital time and date display. It read: 12:01 on 15 July 2022.

"Wait," he muttered, "that can't be right."

"Paladin..."

"That means I was in the Realm of Darkness for seven years."

"Paladin..."

"What?" He glanced up to see Aqua pointing out a shape in the distance. Over the hill, gleaming with the light of day along the edge of the Yangtze, stood a massive three-level range of structures he could not have conceived of in his wildest dreams. The bustle of life and machinery was still there, but the place they called home was expanded, built up by the times, made a symbol of his worst fears.

Welcome home. Wish it still felt like it.