i'm getting saddened by the lack of reviews. ' and i meant that last threat.

REVIEW DAMNIT.

Recap:

The creatures were still, only squirming in their spots. Then at what seemed the same second, two things happened.

/end recap

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First, the dense crowd of Heartless sprung as if timed at the black-haired girl. Second, or maybe that happened first, the girl, who looked not much older than Riku, smirked before twirling her staff in front of her, stirring up a small whirlpool. Some of the opponents were sucked in, but most were able to stop in time. Then, the whole Keyblade crew watched in amazement as the whirl froze solid. They couldn't see the top or bottom, but it seemed as if she'd trapped herself in it. Also stunned, the Heartless watched for a second as well. A small cracking sound was heard, and it steadily grew, giant crevices appearing in the frozen whirl.

The Heartless turned in an attempt to escape, frantically spanning out. But before any got very far the attack exploded, sending what the gang saw as icicles out in every direction. They varied in size, but all flashed out past the girl, who still held her staff, unharmed. Her smirk stayed victiorious as the spears did their job, effectively slaying all her opponents. But it faded as she met Sora's gaze. Her eyes, which could now be clearly seen as a light blue, hardened in anger as she raised and pointed her weapon at the group. "Who are you?"

Sora wasn't the only one that flinched at the cold voice. "My name's Sora. This is Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kairi, and King Mickey." He pointed to each individual in turn as he said their name, and moved to the side as Kairi was floating behind him. "I see." Her voice was layered with contemplation and amusement. A slim, pale hand reached back to push a loose strand of black hair that shined dark blue in the sunlight. "You can call me..." She paused for a second. "Karina will do."

Each member of the Keyblade party studied the girl. Pale skin, in the water she had a dark blue mermaid fin, cold light blue eyes that seemed deep and unreadable, black hair that floated carelessly in the water, and a cover of two pale yellow shells. Her build was normal, not very thin or muscular for a female. She studied them with the same blank expression.

"So, I've never seen you around here before." Sora said, a reflexive attempt to be friendly. The girl shrugged. "I was told to come here recently after some news came to my..." Another strange pause, "family." She stared at him for a second, analyzing. With a flick of a pale wrist, a thick icicle had instantly formed in front of Sora, the point right at his neck. Startled, the boy swam backward enough to summon his Keyblade and reflexively destroy the offending object. "You have the Keyblade..." The girl was speaking as casually as if they were discussing the weather!

Sora stared at her incredulously. She stared back, interested yet somehow angry. "I've heard the legends and had heard the rumors that you were back...now I can say I met you all." Again, her tone held a wonderous mixture of sarcastic amusement and careful resentment. Riku looked interested. "Rumors?" She studied him through narrow eyes for a second before answering. "Yes. Among my family, information gets around fairly quickly. There was a rumor from some others that events in other worlds had revealed the Keyblade wielders had returned." The silver haired, neon-green finned boy nodded at her vague, winding answer.

The one called Karina watched with careful eyes as the group of Keyblade wielders and their company drifted in the water, murmuring about their plans in this world. She heard catches of names she didn't recognize and occasional muted squabbles about what to do. Obviously, she was not quite invited into the fold. Disregarding their behavior, the mermaid turned and swam off around a cliff, one of her hands now covered in darkness.

Bringing it up to her ear and mouth, she murmured. "They're here. I've met them, and they don't know anything. And the Heartless are wild now, somehow. You know what that means..." Her eyes closed for the answering orders, open ear straining for any noise that would alert her of the other's movements. After a moment, she nodded and hummed, the darkness dissipating to reveal just her pale hand. She swam back to the group, who were still whispering urgently.

A dark eyebrow rose as Karina watched, eyes reflecting cold, uncaring patience. Nobody noticed her for another minute until Sora looked over his shoulder. "Uh..." "What are you doing in this world?" She asked, cutting off his stammering before it began. "We're trying to find someone." Sora answered. The girl floating in front of him 'hm'ed. "What are you doing here?" She shrugged. "I was sent to survey this world. And then the Heartless seemed to lose control." Sora shared a concerned look with a select few others in the group.

"Do you know what could have happened?" She looked thoughtful for a minute. "The only thing I can think of is if they have no master. Or their current leader is making them attack randomly." Sora sighed. "Didn't Maleficent have the Heartless after we left her and Pete in the Castle?" He turned, blue eyes searching his party member's for answers. Mickey nodded. "Yep. They should have been able to beat them, and probably got out before the Castle collapsed and the world faded. That means Maleficent should have control of them." Riku added oh-so-helpfully, "Apparently, not anymore. It's not like her to be so unorganized."

"This Maleficent has the Heartless, you say?" Karina spoke from behind Sora, butting into the conversation. "Well, we think so..." Sora offered half-heartedly, shaking his head. The girl let out an uncommital noise. "But then again, we don't think so." Sora hung his head, a deep frown etched onto his face. Riku picked up the explanation. "She's not likely to do this. Maybe someone beat her..." His head snapped up as a small gasp escaped.

For a split second gazes were traded like lightning between a few faces, each confirming a morbid theory. "It's likely, but not positive." Mickey settled the unease among the group. Karina had one eyebrow raised again in question, once again ignored, though her eyes did narrow.

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(In another world...)

One hooded figure sat with their head bowed and face held in their hands. The other was sitting up straight, one leg crossed over the other. Her arms were lazily splayed on the arms of the pure white chair. The first heaved a sigh. "So much could go wrong..." A shake of the head was all she could finish. "We're not strong, Athenyx'b. Xehanort could betray us. The few we have left could die!"

"Xamaris, enough. We've lost all we will lose. Xehanort will not dare betray us, he needs our strength," she spat the word out, "to defeat the Masters." She stood, and pushed back her hood to reveal long, light brown hair and determined and hard green eyes. The other girl followed suit, shaking out her longer dark brown hair. Worried eyes locked on the calmer girl. "We can't be sure, though, right? What if--" "Xamaris!" The female winced, not used to hearing Athenyx'b's voice so rough and bitter. "Listen to me." Hesitantly, Xamaris nodded. "Xehanort would never usually ally himself with us unless he was set to gain more.

"He's new back in the worlds in his true form, so he needs time to stall and gain his strength. The Heartless, I think, will be what he goes after first. They have a master somewhere, Xelcra is out gathering information now. It matters not, so long as either we or Xehanort control them. Either way, both our goals are to force the Masters to destroy Heartless to get Kingdom Hearts. There is no way he would betray us until we've done what he wants, but before that we need our part of the deal."

Xamaris nodded, grudgingly searching for any opposition to her friend's argument.

"And after that? He gives us Kingdom Hearts, we get our hearts back, then what? Do we go back to our lives? Do we remember?" She shook her head furiously, upset. "I'm so tired, Athenyx'b. I want this over..." The other relaxed a bit and lowered her head. "Me too."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

(Back in Atlantica...)

Sora sighed. "Great, just great..." Kairi shot him a sympathetic look. Riku was frowning slightly in thought. The Disney Castle trio were talking amongst themselves in a close-knit circle a few feet away. Karina floated nearby, not really doing anything, just like everyone else. A blank look was on her pale face as she scrutinized the newcomers.

Sora, she thought, was very intriguing. A mix of pain, light, loyalty, and tiredness mixed in one stressful fighter. Lots of potential. Riku she quickly made note of, more power and a past stained deeply by darkness, saved by the light. Terribly wise and knowing. Kairi she was wary of. A great amount of power, possibly more than her friends, but helplessly locked up and made of far too much light to be healthy. Young and naive.

King Mickey Karina did not like. Old and well-known of both dark and light, but carrying a heavy load of loyalty and subtle arrogance. Lonely and wise. The other two, Donald and Goofy, were amazingly similiar but at the same time very different. They stuck together subconsciously, but the white one was much more short-tempered and outspoken. They'd both seen darkness, but hardly touched it. Loyal followers.

This wasn't good. The Heartless were changing masters. She closed her eyes. Could they already...? She knew her family wasn't behind this. It could only have one explanation, and the revelation brought a distasteful curl to her mouth. They were stubborn fools, and would all die soon. She didn't regret it a bit.

The current picked up and everyone began looking around, whether to find the source or a place to hide unknown. Smaller bodies started to drift away, quickly grabbing on to the rough rocks to anchor themselves down. Karina and the Keybladers were the first to feel the power surge. All heads whipped to the side, and over a few hills of sea cliffs and coral was a dark cloud expanding upwards.

"Again?" Sora whispered to himself, but the stranger called out. "It's the Heartless! Move, quick!" She had to yell to even have a chance of being heard. With a flash of light reflected off dark hair and white skin she turned around, swimming violently fast away from the cloud, which was now moving toward them. Kairi let out a yell, Sora thought it might have been his name, before an arm grabbed him and began swimming away. Blue eyes vaguely saw a blur of white and black as Mickey, Donald, and Goofy turned down a small crevice and dove into the hidden shadows.

The Keyblader shook his head and pulled out of whoever had grabbed him, getting caught back in the current and tumbling several times before grabbing hold of a jutting piece of coral and holding on for dear life. He felt it before he saw it, but snapped up his head in time to see a could of black pierced by bright, searching yellow eyes barreling right towards him. Sora froze in momentary panic and let go of the coral, opting to curl up tightly and be carried away by both current and Heartless...

A groan escaped him as Sora opened his eyes, bringing a hand up to rub his head. He must have hit it on something... Blue eyes opened and scanned the surrounding dark cliffs and bright coral, sunlight streaming through clear water. He didn't recognize where he was, and didn't see anybody anywhere. The Heartless were gone; so were the King, Goofy, and Donald. That girl Karina was nowhere to be found, and he couldn't see Riku or Kairi anywhere either. A jolt of panic shot to his stomach.

The circular area he was in was quiet and bright and calm, and Sora wondered for a second when the Heartless had gone and the current had stopped. "Well, I guess it's gone now..." He murmured to himself. "Maybe I should go find the others." He looked himself over to make sure that nothing was seriously hurt or broken, and was startled by the thought of his items. He'd brought the books!

Frantically he pulled them out, the larger light brown and white book bearing Pooh Bear and himself brought a small smile to his face. After making sure it was undamaged (he'd had quite enough of that, thanks), Sora replaced the tome, now gently holding a smaller book, dark brown, sturdy leather binding untouched by the water. There were faded words on the spine and cover, but so old Sora couldn't make them out. It was made for a travelling fighter, he mused: small and tough, easy to carry...and hide. A slight frown marred Sora's face as he opened to the same marked page and read the passage once again.

Those fools are misusing the power of the Keyblades. To use such a gift to merely keep order in the worlds is a waste. I know a much more useful path for their power. However, I do despise the idea of the others discovering my purpose, so I have resorted to planning in the dark. One day soon I will rise against the others and show them the true power of the Keyblade.

A chill ran through Sora at the words. Xehanort was going to pay for his stupid greed. It had caused endless waves of consequences for decades, but now was the time to end it. No more fighting after this. Defeat Xehanort, go home. For good.

Sora, bored and curious and more than a little annoyed at the little book, couldn't stop flipping a few pages and eyeing a furiously scribbled entry cut off sporadically by large burn marks and rips.

Fool... dark hearts--lessness

I... --ower

Should... soon, but

That was all he could make out, and Sora tilted his head in confusion. This was written later than the first entry he'd read. Was this after he found the darkness? Was the book damaged in a fight? The brown haired boy flipped a few pages before and after that entry, but none were as mutilated as the one. Without pausing Sora turned back a thin chunk of pages to an earlier entry, also clean of marks of any kind except scratches of an eager hand.

The Keyblade... wow. It's just amazing. The fact that I'm not alone is both a comfort and annoyance. I'm not sure if I get along with the others well yet. I suppose I'm just a lone-wolf type. Time will tell. We set off to train tomorrow.

A new journey...

Sora sighed. Xehanort had had this for a while. Since before he was a Keyblade Master. Well, Sora thought bitingly, at least Xehanort had a Master to learn by and people like him nearby for help. He'd been thrust into the journey alone and afraid, forced to make it his own.

The brunet shook his head to clear out the negative thoughts, tucking the diary a bit regretfully back into its hiding place. With another scanning gaze over the clearing, the brunet swam forward, rounding a corner and floating ahead into the maze of cliffs and coral.

Meanwhile, Riku and Kairi had managed to slip into a crevice before the current of Heartless could catch them, and now had been shoved past the scratching rocks to a small pocket half-shadowed by a jutting cliff. Here they caught their breath, Kairi looking back out for a few minutes as the cloud of darkness continued to roll past. Once it faded away, however, she turned to Riku anxiously. "Sora! Where is he!? I thought you grabbed both of us!"

Bright green eyes studied the worrisome girl as a frown decorated Riku's face. "I did grab both of you, but Sora shook me off. He probably thought I was a Heartless." But Kairi was still frowning. "Don't worry, Kairi, we'll find him. Or he'll find us first. And remember, we lost the King, Donald, and Goofy, too in that mess." Kairi let out a sigh and her head dropped. "I guess you're right, Riku." She raised her head and put on a grin. "Let's go find them." The bright-finned boy nodded and swam ahead, making sure to hide his worried expression from his friend.

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End it here. Next time: the end of Atlantica and a special romantic chapter ahead!