L&DH: Welcome again, wonderful readers!

Salem: So what's up this time around?

Vanitas: Yeah, is Freckles gonna wake up, or are we leaving without her?

Tegan: ZZZzzzzzzzz…

Angelique: Well, she iz under a sleep spell. It may take time for Tegan to wake up.

L&DH: Well, you'll just have to see. Remember, I don't own anything except for this story and its original characters. Enjoy!


Everything was dark. It was like being at the bottom of the ocean, so far away from any source of warm light. Tegan couldn't see anything as she floated weightlessly.

Last thing I remember, she thought, I was in the Bailey. Damn, what happened?

"Hello! Hello, anybody here?" Tegan listened to her voice echo in the darkness around her.

Tegan…

A far-off voice called out to her from the dark. She twisted and turned around, trying to find the source of it.

"Tegan…come over here…"

Tegan felt herself drifting in a random direction (she wasn't really sure what was left or right). Pulled by some unseen force, she wandered until she came upon a bright light. It floated aimlessly and pulled her to it like a magnet. For some reason it called to her.

"Come into the light Tegan…Just follow my voice…"

Tegan's finger barely touched the light when it exploded around her. Now she found herself in that white hall once more. The door was still there, with it's chains and lock, but she wasn't alone. A person stood in front of the door. A boy with black hair wearing red and black clothing.

"Vanitas?" Tegan called. The boy turned around and smiled cockily at her.

"Bout time you showed up, Freckles. What took you so long?"

He walked up to her. Tegan looked at him suspiciously.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" she asked. "More importantly, where IS here?" The ravenette shrugged.

"Hell if I know. I was hoping you would tell me. What do you think's up with the door?"

The two turned towards the mysterious door. The chains seemed to glow slightly. But it was the lock that interested Tegan. Looking closer at it she noted how the shapes on it seemed a bit odd. Three stars and a flower (a rose?), all carved into the padlock. The plate with the carvings looked like it would be able to rotate, making Tegan think of a combination lock.

"I wonder if those are supposed to be keys…" she wondered. "Those stars…"

She pulled out her Wayfinder and held it up against one of the slots. It looked like it would fit. She placed it in one of the slots and heard a small click.

"That's it!" she exclaimed. "Wayfinders! That's the key!" Tegan bounced on her heels as her mind whirled. One mystery solved. Now she needed two more Wayfinders. Then she might be able to see what's in this room!

A dark chuckle made her freeze. Slowly, she turned around and was pushed against the door. The chains pressed painfully into her back as a hand closed around her throat and lifted her up.

"Agh…W-why?" she choked. Vanitas smiled down at her evilly.

"What?" he asked with mock innocence. "You can't say you didn't see this coming. You of all people know what I am. Or did you think a few words would really change that. Man, talk about pathetic!"

As Tegan struggled Vanitas pressed down harder on her throat. His eyes glowed with evil intent as he leaned forward. His face was close to hers as she gasped for breath.

"I'm pure Darkness," he whispered into her ear. "And that much will never change…Well; it's been fun, Freckles." His eyes narrowed. "But now I think it's time to stop playing 'friends'."

Vanitas lifted his arm and Tegan felt a sharp, sudden pain coming from her chest. Her strength had vanished in an instant as she struggled to breathe. Looking down, she saw Void Gear stabbing clean through her chest. Looking weakly up, Tegan saw blank, emotionless gold eyes starring back at her.

"Later, loser. Wish I could stay but-"

"Oh no you don't!"

Something slammed into Vanitas, knocking him away. Tegan slumped forward and gasped as the Keyblade jerked out of her chest. It was strange. There was immense pain, no doubt, but she wasn't vanishing. Void Gear got her heart, so why wasn't she disappearing?

A figure landed in front of Tegan, pointing a Keyblade at her. A beam of light shot out from it and headed directly to her heart. There was a click, and then everything faded.

When she opened her eyes again, Tegan was standing in a circular room. The walls were all white and chains flashed along them, like a roll of film. In front of her were a large white chair and a smiling boy sitting in it.

"Ven!"

The young Keyblade wielder grinned.

"Hey, Tegan. Glad I got to you in time." He hoped off his chair and walked toward her. "You feel okay? Not hurt are you?"

"Um...No. Ven, what's going on?" she looked around. "Is this like last time, when you and Xion helped me?"

"Yeah. I was worried; I didn't think I would make it in time to help. You were in a Nightmare, Tegan. Luckily, my heart heard it and I came to help!" He put his hands behind his head and smiled. "Good thing too. That was a nasty one."

Tegan lifted an eyebrow. She was in a nightmare? But how? And what did he mean by…

"Your heart? What do you mean?" she asked. "Why would your heart hear? It's in Sora."

Ven shook his head and held up Tegan's Wayfinder. She gasped and snatched it from his hands, clutching it to her heart.

"When I made your Wayfinder, I connected our hearts. It was pretty easy, actually. You had already started a connection."

Tegan blinked. "What do you mean?"

Ven smiled brightly. "I think it's because you connected with Vanitas. By making friends with him, you gained access to the other side of his heart, me…Speaking of Vanitas, that nightmare of yours was kind of weird…"

Tegan made confused sounds and looked at him. "What? I had a nightmare that I was at some door and Vanitas attacked me. Why doesn't that make any sense? Sounds pretty normal to me, given what's happened..."

Ven leaned back in his chair and frowned. He looked like he was deep in thought.

"The Nightmare Vanitas said that he was pure Darkness, but he isn't. At least, not any more. I know there's Light in his heart…"

Tegan nodded. "Yeah, me too. But where did it come from?"

Ven shook his head. "You know, I'm not really sure. When we fought, I could couldn't see a shred of light in the darkness of his heart. Something must have changed over the years between then and now." Ven's mouth opened wide from a yawn. "Huh. Looks like I'm going back to sleep for now. Stay safe Tegan. You are REALLY important in what's coming up."

As Tegan felt her vision blurring, she heard Ven call out one more thing.

"Oh! And keep an eye out for the Path-"

….

….

Tegan opened her eyes and let out a shriek. Bolting upright, she knocked heads with a certain Dream Witch who had been hovering over her.

"Sacre bleu!" Angelique cried, attracting the attention of everyone.

"Tegan!"

The group all rushed around.

"Are you alright, Tegan?" Kairi asked as she helped the girl up. "You've been out for a while now."

Tegan looked around and saw that she was back in the castle. After assuring everyone that she was fine, Tegan was filled in on what had happened. She was surprised to learn about Angelique's powers, shocked to learn about Dante, and fascinated by the fact that the Vessels had been after her.

I wonder what they need me for? She wondered. She jumped when a hand clamped down on her shoulder.

"Boo!" Turning around, she glared at the smiling face of Salem.

"You're here too? I thought you were still sore about everything." The boy shrugged.

"Eh, live and learn." He said nonchalantly. "I get over things pretty quick nowadays…But that's not the point. Check out what I found while you were out, Sleeping Beauty!"

Salem pulled out a slender, blue metal object and Tegan grinned.

"Rainfell!" she exclaimed. "You found Aqua's Keyblade!" Salem swelled with pride.

"You bet! I'm just that awesome!" A snort of laughter burst his ego-sized bubble.

"Yeah, right." Vanitas rolled his eyes. "All you did was fall through the wall it was hidden behind. If anything, I'M awesome for finding it in the rubble."

While Salem argued with Vanitas over bragging rights, Tegan noticed someone missing.

"Hey, where's Lea?" she asked Sora and Riku.

"He left." Was Riku's reply.

"Yeah, he said he wanted to do some searching." Sora expanded. "Lea's more of a recon guy in our group." Tegan nodded and looked over Rainfell.

She felt immensely honored to be able to look at it. Out of all the Keyblades, this was perhaps Tegan's favorite. Cautiously, she bent down to pick it up, unaware of the many sets of eyes on her. Her hand grasped the handle and lifted it up gingerly. Many brows went up as they all thought the same thing. Why hadn't the blade vanished from her hand?

"What in the…" Tegan looked at the Keyblade suspiciously. Salem caught her confused look and chuckled.

"Confused, aren't you?" he asked. "Why is the Keyblade remaining in your hand, you wonder. Well Tegan, my Anima friend, let me show you."

Salem stood in the center of the room, hands poised like an entertainer. He twitched his left hand and a small knife shot out of his sleeve. It was another purple one. Now that she had a better look at it, it reminded her of one of Larxene's kunai.

"Observe." He gestured to his knife. "Now there is nothing up my sleeve…And presto!"

Salem ran his other hand against the knife, palm sliding down the flat of the blade. Light surrounded it as the knife grew drastically. He tossed it up in the air and when it came down it was a Keyblade!

"Whoa!" Sora cried. "How did you do that?!"

Salem grinned.

"Easy. You see, for centuries the Anima and Keywielders had fought and lived together in harmony. Eventually it got to the point where their cultures, fighting styles, and people blended together. Keywielders gained Anima powers; Anima were chosen by the Keyblade. Soon the Stigma—our weapons— gained a unique ability. An Anima's Stigma could become a Keyblade in order to perform certain tasks. This is why Keyblade wielders can use a Stigma, and why Anima can wield a Keyblade. And that concludes Salem Kurokami's History Lesson."

He dismissed his weapon and bowed. While some, like Vanitas and Riku, rolled their eyes, the others stared at him with amazement. Angelique clapped good-naturedly while Sora was begging for a shot with the knife. Tegan and Kairi just stared at the Rainfell.

"You know, I wonder…" Kairi shot Tegan a devilish grin. Tegan returned it whole-heartedly.

"Wanna try?"

The two girls summoned their weapons, Kairi holding her Keyblade patiently while Tegan stared at her Saving Grace.

"Hey Witch-man," she called. "How does one go about this?" Salem postured with the air of an old sword master.

"One must become one with the blade, young grasshopper." He pretended to act "wisely" and stroke an imaginary beard. "You must become one with it, heart and soul. This is the key to proper Soul…"

"Haha, I think she get's it Salem." Kairi giggled.

Salem's eyes popped when he looked in the girls' direction. There they stood with triumphant grins; Destiny's Embrace in Tegan's hand and Saving Grace (in Keyblade form) in Kairi's. Salem muttered something about "upstaging, show-off redheads" when Vanitas cleared his throat.

"As much as I love seeing Say get his ass thrown off stage, shouldn't we get rolling?"

The others nodded and made their way out, saying good-bye to the Apprentices and giving their thanks. As they approached the square, Salem nudged Angelique's shoulder.

"So, Miss Dream Witch. What now for you?"

The witch snapped her fingers and was surrounded by colorful smoke. When it cleared, her clothing changed. The shawl was gone, replaced by a purple and white mini-dress that had shoulder guards and a bunch of belts around her midsection. Hanging from a sheath on the back of them was her staff and she wore long arm covers with zippers on them. Light purple tights and metal shoes covered her legs and a small item bag was strapped to one of them. Her hair hung in two neat braids. When seeing some shocked looks, she sighed.

"These are my normal clothes." She explained. "Zey are a little too flashy for what I was doing earlier, so I changed them. Now that I 'ave no need of them, I can return to the normal ones. Zey are more battle-ready, no?"

Angelique brushed some hair off of her shoulder. "I 'ave a feeling zat if I am to find and fix my brother, I must travel with all of you. May I have ze pleasure of zis?"

"Sure!" Sora smiled big.

"Of course, you need to rescue your brother!" Kairi exclaimed.

"The more the merrier!" Tegan announced.

And with that, Angelique Versailles became the next member of the group.


L&DH: And so the real adventure begins! Tune in next time for our very first world ark! This world happens to be one of my favorites, so I'll give you a hint as to what it is. Think Tim Burton, okay?

Tegan: Thanks for the hand there, Ven.

Ventus: No problem. *looks over to the side* Um, Vanitas? Dante? What are you doing?

Vanitas: *grumbling over a game controller* Getting my butt kicked by a half-pint, that's what…

Dante: *grinning* You're just jealous that I am the superior Marvel VS Capcom player. With this Dante, I am unbeatable!

Tegan: Well, while those two try and beat each other up, thanks for tunning into this installment of Heart and Soul! Remember, feedback is always appreciated! Bye!