The twins followed the strange man named Braig through the empty streets of Transverse Town, the twins learned. From what Braig said, Transverse Town was a safe-haven for residents of lost worlds. And unlike their world or any other world, Transverse Town can't fall to the darkness…but it could be attacked. The creature that attacked them was called a "heartless", a creature manifested from the darkness in someone's heart that has recently died. The thought alone that a person could turn into these…monsters scared the twins. Never in their lives they heard of such a thing and to make matters worse, their parents knew and fought these creatures a long time ago. Why would they hide such a thing to them, Aeris wondered. It was probably to protect them, to let them believe that the horrors of the worlds would never manifest again. This seemed to surprise Braig.

"So…you mean to tell me that your parents, vanquishers of darkness of whatever they call themselves, never told you about the Heartless?"

Nico shook his head. "No. Never."

"What the hell do they tell you then?"

"Missions on other worlds," Aeris answered. "For the Keyblade Masters."

"Ah, so you know about Keyblades, huh?"

Nico shook his head. "Not really. All we know it's a weapon of some kind."

Braig sputtered his lips. "Jesus, did your parents just put you in a glass box that sad 'fragile' or something?" He muttered something under his breath as he tapped a cigarette box on his wrist, grabbing the small white and yellow tube with his teeth and lighted it. He took a couple puffs before adding, "Okay. Crash course with Braig. Keyblades are…weapons, like fuzz-head—"

"Hey!"

"—said. They are crafted to defeat things made of darkness. And like the name, they are keys that could open any lock. Even a lock on a world." He glanced his shoulder to see confusion in the twins. He let out a long groan. "Aaaaaand that went right over heads. Great. Okay. Uh…long story short, their weapons only a select few can use. They beat the crap out of heartless and unlock doors. Story time over."

"Then what was that dark stuff we saw at home?" Aeris asked Braig. At the raise of his eyebrow, she continued, "It was like it was some kind of fog, or a monster that had some kind of rage to it…was that Heartless?"

"Uh…no. That is a totally different thing," Braig answered. He flicked his cigarette away, crushing it with his boot as he walked over it. The twins avoided it. "Look, kiddo, that is a conversation for another day. Probably left for someone more qualified than me." He turned to face the twins, stopping their progress in the empty streets. "All that matters right now is finding my friend. Or at least find someone to take you two in. Whatever comes first. My friend preferably the first thing—" His head snapped back when he heard a noise. He reached behind his back as he turned, grabbing his crossbows. "Which one of you has the best shot?"

"Uh…Aeris always beats me at Duck Hunt—"

"Have no idea what that is but good enough." Braig tossed Aeris one of his crossbows as their shadows bubbled. "Don't but your finger on the trigger until you know what you're shooting at. Those things sting like hell if you get shot."

Nico's eyes widened. "What, wait—?!"

"Heartless incoming, squirts!" Braig yelled. He looked at Aeris. "Show me what you got, Silver."

The nickname surprised Aeris, since she was still processing why she was given a crossbow. "Excuse me—?" As soon as the first Heartless appeared, he opened fire, making it poof into a black cloud. The black cloud swirled against the ground, making the street dark. The cloud collapsed on itself before exploding, the dark purple particles going everywhere. A sea of Heartless arose and came out of the walls of buildings. Their heads and hands twitched demonically, their beady eyes staring at the three. Without any warning, they lunged. Aeris' pupils shrank at the sight, her teeth clenching tightly. She slowly rose her borrowed crossbow and trigger. Red bolts of lightning zipped out of the barrel, turning the Heartless to dust. But with every shot she and Braig made, it seemed to make the Heartless multiply. She yelped when a Heartless jumped at her, clawing at her legs, trying to climb. Nico ripped the Heartless off of his sister and stomped on its head. They glanced at Braig, who was picking off Heartless with ease. Out of the corner of her eye, Aeris saw the Heartless massing into a vortex. She ran over to him, her brother hot on her tail as she shot at passerby. "Braig! Behind you!"

Braig spun around and gasped lightly. "Oh…shi…" He charged up his crossbow and fired multiple shots at once. The bullets surrounded the vortex and hit the heartless, red light shooting through each one, making the tornado crumble. But it wasn't enough. More Heartless added onto the tornado, making it grow slowly. Knowing that he couldn't take them on, he grabbed Aeris' arm with his free hand. "Forward!" He burst into a sprint, with the twins in tow. He fired the ground ahead of them, getting the cobblestone become visible for a moment. Aeris took his example, firing over her shoulder at the Heartless. Their path they made behind them turning dark, only seeing a mass of yellow eyes staring at them hungrily.

Worry filled Nico's voice as the Heartless came closer and closer, "U-Uh…Braig…?!"

"There!" They continued to run, Braig put his crossbow away to reach a handle. He hauled a tall door open. "Go!" He stepped to the side so the twins could get in first. As soon as they came through, Braig closely followed. The door slammed shut behind him. Aeris pointed her crossbow at the door banged from the other side, the Heartless trying to get through. The wooden door creaked under the stress, the large bolts shaking with each impact. The three backed away from the door.

Aeris froze when she felt two small circles embedded into her back. A mature female voice commanded behind her, "Drop your weapons. Now." Hesitantly, Braig and Aeris dropped their weapons. "Now turn around. Slowly. Hands behind your head."

Aeris gulped as she, Nico, and Braig placed their hands behind their heads. They turned slowly to see a young woman, maybe in her early twenties standing before them. She had on a light purple shirt with darker purple long sleeves and jeans. Her skin was tawny in color and her striking yellow eyes pierced through the shadow her white and purple hat made. In her hands was a shotgun. "World."

"Uh…what?"

"World." The woman repeated. "Which world are you from?"

It was Nico that stammered, "U-Uh, we're from the…the Destiney Islands."

The woman's eyes widened and slowly lowered her own weapon. "Destiney Island…?" She glanced between the twins. "There are survivors…?" She unloaded her gun and placed the shells on her pocket, resting the gun on her shoulder. "Are the Masters with you?" When she saw the confused glances of the twins. "Master Sora? Master Katie?"

"Master Katie?" Aeris repeated. "As in Katie Heart?"

"Yes. You know them?"

Nico nodded. "Katie is our mom."

"Your…?" The woman squinted at Nico before they widened. "Oh my…you're…you're the Heart Twins. My name is Clementine. I'm a friend of your mom's. Come on. The others would want to see you."

"Others?" Nico repeated.

Clementine nodded. "We thought…we thought you were all dead."