Hello again, this is the next chapter. Some of It will be in Sora's POV, but he will meet up with Lightning.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy were created by Square.


Luxerion-City of Light

In Radiant Garden Castle, Sora had been busying himself with keeping in touch with everyone over in Baron and helping to fight off Heartless and Nobodies at the town. Since Twilight Town and the Destiny Islands had seemingly merged with Kairi's homeworld, the Radiant Garden kingdom just got bigger. His wife, Kairi was helping to run things, both were busy as ever.

Sora was in the midst of patrolling the town when a mailmoogle approached"Mail call, Kupo."

"Is something up?" Sora took a letter from the moogle, patting it gently before going to read it.

'Sora, I hope everything is fairing well for you and Kairi, Ven's condition still hasn't improved, Tyler and I have yet to be able to wake him. Actually, neither of us are really any closer to a solution, despite my efforts to amass enough holy power to awaken Ven. And there's something I need your help with, there have been a series of deaths in Luxerion, lately at the hands of the Heretic Children of Etro. Someone called the Shadow Hunter is supposedly in league with them, I cannot just abandon my post to take care of the situation, myself. And should the Savior appear, please help her. It is foretold that she is who will carry out Bhunivelze's will to save all souls for guidance to the new world.

I know you may have mixed thoughts on this, and rightly so, given Saxito's predictions... But you are the only other hope the dying world has besides the Saviors and the God of Light.

Sincerely, Aqua.'

Sora closed the letter and frowned for a second, it sounded like things were currently rough in Luxerion, but he is with the Alliance of Harmony. Regardless, Aqua needed help, and he couldn't let their respective factions' differences get in the way. Sora sent a reply, then headed back into the castle to let Kairi know he's going out.

Kairi was at the castle library, enjoying a short break from her duties with a nice book to read. Sora eventually came into the library, a letter in hand"Kairi, I have to go out, again. There's trouble in Luxerion, but Aqua's too busy to handle it herself. And I have to find this 'Savior' and help with something."

"I see. I understand, just be careful. But Taios and Serernia's wedding is in a couple of days, don't we both need to be at Ocean Beach for that?" The red-head asked"And isn't Aqua currently the head of the Order of Salvation?"

"Yes, but Aqua's got her hands full. And I will be at Serenia's wedding, I promise" Sora smiled.

Kairi smiled back"I know you will, Sora. In fact, I'm coming with you, Captain Caeden and Lady Alexandra can take care of the everyday stuff, and Roxas and Xion can protect the people in our absence. Riku's got things covered over on the Destiny Islands. Don't forget, I can use a Keyblade, too."

"All right, just stay close" Sora nodded.

Kairi sent for a soldier to inform the other officials before following Sora out of the castle. The red-headed queen paused"You know, Luxerion is quite a distance from here, we should visit the Gummi Ship Hanger."

"Okay, then" Sora headed over to the hanger. A group of engineers were at work, fixing up ships and stuff. Overseeing the newest model was a certain blond young man and a purple-haired young woman.

"Trent, Arianna, how are things?" Sora greeted.

Trent turned"Oh, hey, Sora. Everything is going great. High Commander Xander sent us here to help oversee the completion of the newest Gummi Ship type, its supposed to be quite the speed demon and pack powerful lasers and turrets. Earth technology is being incorporated into the model, of course."

Sora beamed"That sounds great, what's it called?"

"Actually" Trent scratched his head"We wanted you to be the one to name it since we're using Radiant Garden's hanger, the other hangers are booked with construction of new ship models of their own and maintaining current ones."

"Hm." Sora thought for a moment, then said"How about calling it the Astral Eagle?"

"Awesome name" Trent beamed"Here, we'll show you what it looks like."

Sora nodded and went to see what appeared to be a large-scale Gummi ship with metallic and steel parts incorporated into it, painted black with red, blue and yellow linings. The bullet turrets were mostly yellow, with white laser turrets"That's incredible."

"Isn't it?" A brunette young man exited the ship"Its all set, Miss Shera is fine-tuning the engines, so it should be good to go."

"Awesome, Mid" Sora nodded"Anyway, Kairi and I need a ship to Luxerion, there's trouble from a band of heretics calling themselves the Children of Etro."

"Heard about that" Trent grimaced"As if the rivalry between the Harmony Alliance and the Salvation Order wasn't bad enough. Those Heretics are supposedly on the lookout for someone they call the Savior."

Sora shrugged"Well, we're not about to let the heretics get away with it, Aqua contacted me and asked for help, I also need to find the Savior and protect whoever it is. The Order really believes in Bhunivelze."

Trent shrugged"Yeah, they do. But who knows of Bhunivelze will really transport all of those souls to the new universe. If you want, you can use the Astral Eagle right now. It can take you anywhere, but its about as fast as a typical airplane for now. It still needs to be upgraded sometime, but it should work."

"So, you guys going out?" A voice came as a certain blond Blitzer and brunette Summonor approached.

"Tidus, Yuna, when did you get here?" Kairi asked.

"Just now, Riku asked us to check on you two" Tidus replied"Looks like you're headed out on another adventure, Sora."

Sora nodded"In a way. You guys coming?"

Yuna nodded"Yes. I don't know what's going on, but you'll need all the help you can get."

"Well, let's go" Trent grinned, the group headed into the ship.

"We added a medical bay, a couple shops and a galley for everyday purposes" Mid explained"Miss Shera and I will be handling maintenance. My grandfather and his blond counterpart Cid Highwind are very busy over at Ocean Beach."

Sora beamed"Sounds like we got everything we need, where's the cockpit?"

"At the front" Mid pointed toward a set of double doors.

Sora nodded, and the group headed to the front of the Astral Eagle. There was a navigation station and a pilot seat. Trent addressed Sora"If its all right with you, I'll take care of Navigation while you steer the ship."

"I don't mind" Sora smiled.

"All righty, the S.S Astral Eagle is ready to rock" Trent grinned.

Yuna smiled"Well, I guess I will be in the medical station, my white magic will be useful there. I will fight alongside you though, if its necessary."

Mid nodded"That leaves the engine room for me and Miss Shera, she said she'd like to meet you sometime, Sora."

"I will keep it in mind" Sora smiled, sitting down on the pilot chair. They activated the Gummi Ship and flew out of the hanger.

Sora grinned"Time for business" and steered the vessel towards Luxerion.


Leaving San Mugil, Lightning strode off in the direction of Luxerion, keeping an eye out for transport. A Chocobo Farm was not far from here, surprisingly as she approached it.

"Hm? Oh, hey" a Rancher greeted Lightning"Come to ride any of our Chocobos? If you need a lift back to civilization, Luxerion is not that far away, just a quick ride to the train station and you can go there."

"That would be appreciated" Lightning nodded.

"All righty, just hop on one of our Chocobos and ride to the station. It will return here once you dismount, its part of its training in case it was ever stolen" The Rancher explained.

Lightning nodded, then went to the nearest Chocobo and mounted. Riding it out of the ranch, she sped off until she reached a train station near a remote village. She dismounted and went to the person standing beside it"How much are tickets to Luxerion?"

"Oh, about one hundred gill" The person replied.

Lightning paid for the ticket and boarded the train, sitting back as she waited for the train to arrive at the city of light. The train ride took a couple of hours, but she eventually arrived at the town.

"Hm." She looked around as she left the train station, but eventually came upon a dead body with a remarkable resemblance to her"What the?"

"The so-called Children of Etro claimed yet another victim" came a bitter voice as a blue-haired keyblarer who still looked to be in his teens approached.

"Tyler?" Lightning recognized him"Do you have any idea who did this?" She pointed at the body.

Tyler glanced at her"Oh... Hey, Lightning... Sorry, I've been too busy to do any real investigating, My mom said something about enlisting aid from Sora to help deal with a group of fanatics calling themselves the Children of Etro. The Children of Etro are targeting... Well, oddly enough, all of the recently deceased girls looked kind of like you, Light. It could be they're trying to find the Savior..."

"I see" Lightning frowned"But why?"

"Who knows? And they left this message" Tyler elaborated"That the wicked Savior shall die at the hands of the Shadow Hunter... My best guess is that they fear that see the Savior as just another murderer... But the Savior is supposed to guide souls to the next world, I can't imagine who wouldn't want that..."

Lightning nodded"I'll be careful, and how are Aqua and Ven?"

"My dad still hasn't woken... Mom's still doing what she can" Tyler shrugged"I was just on my way to buy supplies... I know what you came here to do, so good luck with that... Just teach those Children of Etro and the Shadow Hunter some manners for me while you're here. I have to get busy gathering stuff, I'm researching a spell or something along the lines that could revive my dad from Maleficent's sleeping curse... I can't concentrate on keeping the peace here in Luxerion at the moment. Oh, and I suspect that the murderers show up in this square after sunset."

"Good luck with that, and I will do what I can" Lightning walked towards the watchtower, it was getting close to dusk. Tyler had gone the other way in the meantime, the brunette heading back to the Chapel once his business was done.

Lightning hid until she could barely spot several white-hooded figures passing by, she contacted Hope"Hope, did you hear everything?"

"Yeah, and Tyler's understandably too out of it to do much about the heretics. Ven's coma must be really bad. But we don't yet know how to save them, your main concern for now is the Children of Etro and the Shadow Hunter, we don't know just what's going on entirely."

Lightning nodded, then waited as the hooded figures walked a ways away before following them quietly, minding her distance. The Children of Etro seemed unaware of her presence.

They unknowingly led her at the entrance to a cemetery, where one spoke on a public phone to say the passcode. Lightning watched as the hooded figures headed inside, the gate closing.

"So, that's where the Heretics are going" a voice from a nearby bush said.

"Who's there?" Lightning asked.

A familiar young silvette boy and blond girl emerged, almost recognizing the older Warrior of Cosmos when they saw her"Light?"

"Luneth? Refia? What are you doing here?" Lightning asked.

"There have been some problems in Luxerion, lately. Tyler asked me and Refia to come and sort out the so-called Children of Etro, they're killing random people with pink hair, apparently" Luneth shrugged.

"And all those deceased women looked like me..." Lightning put two and two together"It must be me they want. Are you with the Order of Salvation?"

Luneth shook his head"Not exactly, but Tyler is still our friend, and Aqua is still our ally, she's just... Well, I dunno how to explain it, with Ven in a comatose state and Tyler all depressed. Everything's pretty messed up nowadays. Ingus and Arc are back at Sasune, protecting our princess.."

"I am also trying to track down the Children of Etro, and there is this mysterious Shadow Hunter" Lightning shrugged.

Refia frowned"It sounds fishy enough to me. Oh, and we heard that guy give a passcode on that phone over there. If we hurry up, we can catch them."

Lightning nodded"That's nice, but I think I'll be fine on my own. Can you give me the code?"

"Its 5732, we found those odd numbers in different parts of town" Luneth replied"But Ref and I can help, safety n numbers."

"All right" Lightning went to give the code in the phone to whoever was monitoring the gate. As soon as the gate opened again, Lightning and the two Light Warriors headed into the cemetery.

"Sure is spooky, here" Refia remarked.

"Yeah, but I bet we can beat whatever is in here" said Luneth, boastingly.

Lightning held up a hand to silence the two younger warriors when she came upon a pole which is surrounded by the Children of Etro. A young woman was tied there, the fanatics chanting under their breaths"Return from the darkness, our mother."

"Etro Fanatics my foot" Luneth muttered under his own breath, getting ready to cast Firaga on the Heretics.

"Don't get too reckless, Luneth" Refia whispered.

Lightning gripped her gunblade"Let's do this."

The three charged from their hiding places at the surprised Heretics. Several of them began to try to surround Lightning, while Luneth and Refia engaged a couple of the ones that were closest to the hostage.

"Need some help, there?" A familiar brunette man in purple hopped into the fray, knocking down a couple of the heretics attacking Lightning.

"Noel, you're the Shadow Hunter?" Lightning asked, recognizing him.

The man nodded, slashing at the heretics. Luneth and Refia joined in.

"So, you're behind this?" Lightnig asked.

"You think I'm with them? Fanatics with blood on their hands?" Noel said, incredulously.

Lightning nodded curtly as she kicked back one of the heretics and slashed him"You sure have taken your time, they grew restless and started killing anyone who even looked like me!"

Noel sighed as he drove back the other fanatics"So I should've found you earlier and saved their lives!"

Luneth cast comet on a Fanatic, knocking him out"Well, these guys were total pushovers." Refia wordlessly went to untie the hostage.

Noel shrugged and headed onward to the northern alleyways of town.

"Noel has always been on our side, why would he be after you?" Luneth asked.

Lightning shrugged"I don't know, but I must do this on my own."

Luneth hesitantly nodded"Okay, Ref and I will go tell Tyler what happened and return to Sasune. Good luck, Light."

Lightning nodded, and followed Noel in the direction the Shadow Hunter left. She found her way to the back alleys and proceeded to the very back. The Shadow Hunter himself stood there, expressionless.

"Light, I never imagined I'd have to do this" Noel pointed his blade at her.

"Well, I thought something like this would happen, buy why?" Lightning asked.

"To ensure the coming of a better world" Noel replied"I have no other choice."

Lightning hesitated"I see." Drawing her gunblade, she said"Then bring it on."

Noel readied himself and charged with a flurry of combos. Lightning parried as best she could, getting nicked a couple times. Undeterred, she jumped back and let loose with a couple Firas. Noel dodged and rushed at her with a flurry of slashes. Lightning dodged and parried, retaliating with thunder spells and a spin attack.

Noel dodged the thunder spells, but was knocked back by the spin attack"Urgh... Right, this isn't over." He darted forward with another slash, only for Lightning to parry and swing upward. Noel quickly jumped back to avoid a thrust and darted forward with a combo of his own, which Lightning barely managed to parry, getting nicked in the process.

"You're really good, as I would expect" Lightning shot forward a thunder spell after healing herself, driving Noel back.

Noel gasped"You haven't changed all the much yourself, yet you seemed different."

Lightning shrugged"Yeah, so what's happened? My sister's death wasn't your fault, if that's what you're thinking."

Noel grimly nodded"Yeah, and Snow, Hope and I did what we could after all that. With Sora and Taios' help, we barely managed to keep the chaos at bay. I never could forgive myself for what happened to Serah."

Just then, a group of Dragoon and Samurai Nobodies appeared, followed by a few Shadow Heartless. Lightning looked around"Wha-? Is Saxito here, then?"

"I don't see how" Noel replied, bashing back a couple Samurai Nobodies.

"Saxito time traveled to this era" Lightning replied as she fought off a couple shadow heartless"As unbelievable as this may sound."

"Makes sense, I guess" Noel sighed, slashing a few more Nobodies before turning his attention to the nearby oracle drive and destroying it. Even if he and Lightning both survived this unexpected encounter and she happened to be too tired after this, killing Lightning was not something Yuel would've wanted him to do.

"What?" Lightning was surprised, looking away for a moment, only to have to block a Samurai Nobody's attack.

The gummi ship lowered itself as close as possible, and three more people emerged: Tidus, Yuna and Sora. They jumped into the fray, tackling as many Nobodies as possible. Lightning and Noel turned their attention back to the skirmish and helped rout the Dragoon Nobodies, while Sora blasted the Shadow Heartless with Thundara and Fira.

"Close call" Tidus looked around"But why did we end up here, again?"

"Well. Trent did mention that the Astral Eagle is not very fast" Sora shrugged, then turned his attention to the two"Light, Noel, is that you?"

Lightning nodded"Yes, what are you doing here?"

"Well, we were asked to come help take down a fanatic cult calling itself the Children of Etro" Sora elaborated"Guess we missed the action. I also was asked to find the Savior and help however I can."

Noel nodded, then turned his attention to the damaged oracle drive as the sprit of Yuel appeared.

"Huh?" Tidus glanced at the apparition.

Yuel addressed Noel, warmly"Thank you... Noel. But its time you let yourself be free of your guilt. We shall eventually reunite, keep on living."

Noel nodded"I will." He then turned to Sora"I know I've been scarce, but I couldn't bring myself to face anyone after my part in Etro and Serah's deaths."

"Don't sweat it" Sora smiled"Well, would you two like to join us onboard the ship? We got stuff to talk about. Actually, we'll be spending the night, and then doing what we can. So, how are things?"

"Peachy" Lightning shrugged"The Children of Etro have been killing people who even looked like me, I ran into Noel along the way. And I suppose I can use some rest, but I will need to keep moving if I am to complete my mission."

Noel squared his shoulders"And I'm done living in the shadows, I'm going to be more active from here on. I gotta keep protecting Luxerion. Guess I better apologize to Aqua when I can."

Lightning was about to say more when Hope's voice came in through her transmitter"Light, its getting closer to dawn. At six AM each day, you and Kain will be transported back to the Ark."

Lightning grimaced"So, not only does Bhunivelze want me as his agent, but he gives me a curfew. I'm fine with it."

"Is that Hope? How is he?" Sora asked.

"He's fine, but he's been regressed back into his thirteen-year-old self" Lightning replied to Sora"Is that ship the newest model?"

Sora nodded"You can say that, the Astral Eagle's got the same functions as the old Ragnarok II, but with better armor and weaponry. Ragnarok II is right now the flagship of King Taios' personal fleet, took a lot of work to replace and repair the destroyed parts So, the mess with the Etro Fanatics and the Shadow Hunter is over, right?"

Lightning nodded"Its is. And you don't need to keep your ship here on my account, I'm going elsewhere after this, not exactly sure where, though."

"Well, in any case, can you let Tidus, Yuna and me go with you? I asked Kairi to help run things on the Astral Eagle" Sora requested.

Lightning paused for a moment, turning off her transmitter so that Hope doesn't have to hear this next bit"That's not... Up to me. And by doing this, you'll likely be acting as Bhunivelze's pawn yourself. Aren't you against him?"

Sora nodded"That's okay, I understand. Instead of going with you, we'll just provide backup whenever you think you'll need it." He handed Lightnign a comlink that Mid programmed"This will let us keep in touch. I'll stay on the ship and keep an eye on things, besides, there might be some other stuff I need to do. The moment Bhunivelze wakes, well, I'm not letting the world be destroyed if I can help it."

"Thank you for your support, Sora" Lightning nodded, taking the comlink"But we can't say for sure whether Bhunibelze is bad news or not, yet. I was told he will send us all to a new world. But I'm only doing this for my sister."

"I understand" Sora smiled"I'll just hang around and go do my own thing until you need me. I have to check on things in Radiant Garden too, occasionally, so, we'll see you around. Might run into each other in one of the other worlds."

Lightning nodded"Same to you" and activated her communication device again so that she can contact Hope and get ready to be transported to the ark.

Sora, Tidus and Yuna headed back on board the Astral Eagle to rest.

"So, what now? We managed to make contact with Light" Tidus addressed the brunette keybearer.

Sora squared his shoulders"We'll check stuff out in the other worlds, and we'll want to be discreet about this, but we'll try to help Light in whatever way we can, let's fly this ship away from Luxerion for now, don't want to raise suspicion."

Tidus nodded"No problem."


Well, how is it? Sorry if I'm not making any sense, but I wanted to try and have Sora play a major role, despite Lightning being the central character in this fic.

Please feel free to review.