A/N: I honostly don't have a clue what the hell I was talking about with Eirika and Xalfis here, or what I was trying to accomplish. I apologize. :(

Renais
Fallen Leaf Lake

Sara was hunched over in exhaustion; she had just used the last of her arrows, but still the Heartless advanced. It was all she could do to keep on moving, and not allowing them once to surround her. "They just keep on coming..." She thought to herself.

Her worst fears were realized, as she felt herself suddenly backing into a tree at the edge of the lake, and her only chance of escape was cut off by five hidden flankers. "Heh heh... So this is it, huh?" She said to herself, closing her eyes and dropping her head down in defeat; she quickly braced herself for her death when a barrage of them leaped at her, but when she opened her eyes, she saw a young, red-haired man dressed in blue standing in front of her, with three Heartless run through the tip of his spear.

"Seth!" She gasped.

He turned his head just enough for her to see the right side of his face, and then smiled; he quickly proceeded to slay the advancers. After he was certain that all immediate dangers were averted and Sara was safe, he abandoned his spear and drew out his sword to drive the cowardly away, and kill the foolish brave ones.

"Are you alright?" He hurried over to where she was laying, unfastening the ties on his cape as he went.

"Ung... I'm fine... for the most part, at least." She tried to stand, but quickly fell back to the ground. "Agh!" She grimaced in pain, clutching her left ankle.

Seth quickened his pace and knelt down beside her, making a quick examination for any cuts, or fractures. When he arrived at her right ankle, she shouted again. "Aaa!"

"A broken Talus..." He said grimly. "And a partially fractured Tibia. Can you walk?"

"I'm not sure... I can try to- Aaahhh!" She screamed, crumpling back to the ground.

"Mmm... I was afraid of this..." He muttered, tearing off pieces of his cape to use as a make-shift cast and to bandage the rest of her wounds.

"But... I don't understand. If I had all of these injuries, why didn't I realize it or notice it during the battle?"

"Both adrenaline and life & death situations will do that to you. They will block out the pain for as long as possible, and will usually end soon after the situation is over. Believe me, it has happened to me on several occasions." He said laughing, just as he finished tying on the rest of the bandages. Remembering that she couldn't walk, he opted to carry her instead.

"Never mind that! We need to get back to Renais immediately!"

"Why? What ha-"

"I'll explain on the way! Just hurry!"

**********

Eirika's head felt like it was on fire. She felt a dank, damp stone floor beneath her, and as she opened her eyes, all was pitch black. "Ooh... my head..." She pressed against the side of her head. "Where... am I? What's going on?" She stood up, turning in all directions for some light and a clue to her situation. "Hello?" She called out, her voice echoing off of each of the stony faces.

"So, you're finally awake, your highness." Said an approaching voice, carrying a bright torch in his right hand, forcing Eirika to shield her eyes, as they had not yet adjusted.

"Who... who is it?! Who's there?!"

"You don't remember? Hm... strange. And you were only out for about an hour or two."

Eirika's eyes were slowly adjusting to the newly introduced light, but were still too unfocused to make out the person before her. Her hand began to drop back to her side again, when immediately she noticed something missing. "My bracelet! Where is it?!" Her eyes darted back and forth across the dank floor for any signs of it.

"Your whatnow? Oh! you mean this?" He held up something in his hand, just as her eyes were focused enough to see again.

"Knoll...?" Upon seeing him, her gaze drifted around the room. For the most part, it was a simple dank cavern, without any modification to level out the floor. There were, however, several large pillars supporting the structure. She continued to examine her surrounds, but when she turned around, she was met the sight of a large silver door, embedded with gems, mostly diamond, zircon and ruby, spelling out something on the door, but the text was far too ancient and primitive to read.

"Oooh... so close, but no. You can call me Xalfis. Cool name, huh? Because you can't hear the 'X' sound! How rad is THAT?! I'm sure this would be a pleasant feeling for me, if I still had a heart, huh? But hey! Don't worry about it! That's what you're going to help me fix!"

"...I'm.... a little confused... what is going on right now?"

"Let me break it down for you. I'm sure you've heard of the Heartless, right?"

"Of course. Everyone has heard of them. It's a popular children's story here in Renais, about small creatures that would steal the heart of a child and turn them into an empty shell; told only to try and frighten children whenever they became a tad... unmanageable. What about it?"

"Say what?! It's been turned into a book? Hm... The Organization's Number 1 won't be too pleased to hear that. Maybe we should sue for copyright violation... well, ... it's not just a child's bedtime story. And you, my beautiful princess... are looking at the product of one of those many, many Heartless, who are under our control. Now I'm just a Nobody. Literally!"

Eirika withdrew a few feet in fear. She felt a wave of cold rush across her body, and stood paralyzed. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but could not find it within herself to produce any words.

"It's depressing, isn't it? Knowing that you were never supposed to exist… At least, I think that was the emotion I would be feeling right about now... I think... or was it joy? Annoyed? Tired. No, it was hungry. No, that's not it..." He quietly debated.

"Hmph... Now I know where we are. We're just outside the chamber where Renais' Sacred Stone is being kept. That's what you want, isn't it?"

"Huh? Um..."

"Well, let me just say that you're wasting your time. The door will not open unless Ephraim, myself, and our bracelets are present. You should have done a little more research before you attempted this." Eirika said in a smug tone.

"Is that right... well then, I guess you should have done YOUR homework. You see, Identical twins occur when a single egg is fertilized to form one zygote which then divides into two separate embryos. Although their traits and physical appearances are not exactly the same due to environmental conditions both inside the womb and outside the womb, they do have the same DNA. And since they share the same DNA, all I need is a drop of your blood or a strand of hair on this bracelet to achieve my goal." He held up a small vial of blood. "As you can see, I've already obtained Ephraim's sample, and unless you're willing to be cooperative, there is only one way to obtain either of those two items from YOU." He advanced toward Eirika, throwing away his cloak and raising his hands to attack.

Eirika reached down to her side, frantically searching for her sword. "The odds are against me..." She thought. "I know for a fact that this guy, if he's telling the truth, is a magic caster. That means that I have to keep my distance, and dash in during breaks between his attacks. Unfortunately... this terrain is not what I had in mind for this type of strategy. Rocky, slippery, dark... Darkness here is the worst factor. If I try to run in for a quick attack, a loose rock, a slippery surface, is all he needs to get what he wants. There has to be a better way..." She leaped backwards, letting her eyes dart back and forth across the field. "Alright, now quickly: examine your surroundings, look for a weakness in either him, or his terrain, and come up with the best possible counter-measure to fight against it. There has to be something I can use... but until that 'something' I need becomes increasingly obvious... I'm on my own."

"Now then... shall we begin?"

"Alright... first priority: Find cover." She raced across the terrain, finding cover behind one of the stone pillars, about twenty feet high, and seven feet in diameter. "Luckily, a strong gust was blowing toward the flame, which choked the light enough for me to get away without his knowing where I am. Perfect. I have the advantage. Now... just wait for my opening."

"You know what the best part about being a Necromancer's Nobody is?" He began, as another, more powerful, gust of wind proceeded to blow out the torch.

"Oh no..." Eirika dropped down to the ground, as the entire cave was engulfed in an abysmal darkness.

"You don't need the light to see where you're going."

Hyrule Castle Ruins

"So that's it, huh?" Link sighed. He and Zelda were seated across from each other in the official conference room (along with the Hyrule Royal Guard), debating how they should respond to the impending crisis.

"Now that you have all been brought up to speed on the situation, we need a plan of action, and while I am the ruler of Hyrule, and it is my sworn duty to decide all courses of action, I am open to any and all suggestions concerning this problem. If you have a suggestion, please share it; but be brief, as we have no idea of how long we have left."

The room fell deathly silent in a haze of despair. Each person seated at table turned to the person next to them, as if waiting for them to say something. At length, the head captain, Ezthra, stood up. He looked to forty-five, perhaps forty-six years of age. He had salt & pepper hair, which had begun thinning in the front, but had a thicker beard which had not yet begun to gray. He wore a silver breast-plate with the symbol of the Triforce imprinted on the shoulders, with the symbol of a large black bird with yellow wings in flight. His rough, rather gruff, voice boomed with an air which commanded the respect of all present. "If the Sages have abandoned us, then, taking the city's best interest to mind, I highly suggest we make a full evacuation."

The majority of the room nodded in silent approval, but at this remark Link stood up in deep protest. "You can't be serious! Even if we do evacuate the town, if what Zelda says is true, then even running won't do any good. If the Sages refuse to help us, then we'll plead our case to a higher court."

"I told you already Link! The three Goddesses were the ones to recall the Sages in the first place. They can't help us either..." Zelda reminded.

"Then what are we supposed to do?! Just run away?!"

"Use your head, boy!" Ezthra chimed.

"What?!" Link turned to him.

"Look at what we're up against! We are going up against one of the three Goddess' own siblings! If even the creators of Hyrule, the Sages, and even the Triforce are afraid of their own brother, then what chance have we? If we are to survive this calamity, then our wisest choice of action would be first to flee to a safe haven, and then make further plans."

"Yeah, but...!" Link began to speak, but found himself unable to argue with Ezthra's words. "Fine... but I don't like it."

"It is settled then. Your highness..."

"Very well, Ezthra. We will begin immediate evacuation of the populace, civilian and military personal alike. Now go!"

Mushroom Kingdom
Archives

"Well, if we don't get out of here soon, we're going to have a lot more problems than just some 'magical trinket' hurtling toward the earth." Mario groaned, pacing back and forth from wall to wall, either out of excitement or sheer boredom.

"Oh yeah? And what are they?" Peach sighed, leaning against the wall, obviously becoming bored herself.

"Number one is the obvious problem: food. The Mushroom Kingdom Archives were never meant to be used as a bomb shelter for weeks on end. Number two: We have at least three hundred tons of rubble on top of us; I doubt the ceiling was meant to carry that kind of weight."

"Now now, lad, not all hope is lost yet." An elderly voice sounded from behind a row of books.

"Toadsworth!" Peach gasped, rushing over to hug him.

"Yes, I am quite alright, your highness. I've been through worse than this! Ha-ha!" He laughed with a light heart. "And you, young man..." He began to scold Mario. "We don't need that type of cynical attitude in this situation. Not to mention something that all of you are overlooking."

"We are? And what is that?" Toad asked.

"That Mario has little to no knowledge of architecture, and how the building process works, and that you're blindly taking whatever he says as fact."

"What are you talking about?" Peach wondered.

"What would be the first thing an architect would do if he were designing an underground archive?" The elder Toad questioned them.

"......" No one answered.

"They would have built an extra, alternative exit that would take them as far away from the castle as possible, of course! Which is exactly where I just came from." He smirked. "Now come on! We have a job to do!" He signaled for them to follow him.

Mario grabbed the torch from against the wall and followed the crowd as they walked deeper into the library. At length, they came to a large door, about fifteen feet high, and ten feet wide. Mario raised the torch to try and make out the symbols imprinted on it. There were seven stars positioned in a circle, and each of the stars had a unique personal design on them. On one was a large, grey, handlebar mustache, much like Toadsworth's, while another had a cute pink bow on its head. "What is this?" Mario asked.

"This, my well 'stached friend...." Toadsworth began, pushing the doors open. "Is our next step in assuring both our survival, and the eradication of this beast."

As the doors burst open, a blinding, almost burning light escaped from the doors, illuminating even the night sky above the wrecked castle. As the light dispersed, they could clearly see inside. As they looked closer, they saw a powder blue orb hovering in the center of the small room without any supports. Peach was the first to comment on this marvelous sight. "T-t-this i-i-i-is---!" She stammered, unable to come to grips with what they were seeing.

The Milky Way Galaxy
Samus' Ship

Samus tossed and turned on her bed for what seemed like hours. She and Descent had been flying non-stop for almost twenty hours straight, and had been arguing the entire time. The two of them had finally called a truce until they landed, which gave Samus enough time to catch some much needed sleep. However, something in her mind had been keeping her awake, and no matter how many times she banished it from her mind, it continued to torment her curiosity.

"What's the matter, Lady? Bad dreams again?" A familiar voice sounded on the over-head speaker.

Samus jerked up from her bed at that sound. "Adam?!"

"Who else would it be?!" He shouted.

"But, didn't Descent get rid of you?"

"Well, sort of. All he really did was rerouted me from the entire ship's OS to only your quarters."

Almost half the load that weighed on Samus' mind had been lifted upon hearing this. Soon, she felt as though she could finally get some sleep and decided to lie back down... only to be awaked by the sound of her door sliding open. "Agh...! What is it now?!" She fumed, tossing a pillow at him.

"Zero hour."

"Excuse me?"

"We're nearing Earth's orbit. Suit up."