This one's a short introductory chapter in which I continue to shred personal envelopes, 'cause I introduce a character that does something I don't do: Cussing like a sailor!

Yeah; I don't swear, but this character will; after I explain at the end, I think you'll understand why.

And I'm warning y'all: The character will make y'all totally wig out, so buckle up for it!


"All through the night, I'll be awake and I'll be with you." –Cyndi Lauper, All Through The Night


Chapter 29: City Streets of Darkness
Sora and Roxas stood side by side before the tallest building in The World That Never Was, the light rain falling silently on their dark red cloaks. Sora looked over at his brother.

"I'll bet we're thinking the same thing," he said quietly.

"We probably are," Roxas smiled a little.

"I hoped I'd never have to come back here," they both said and laughed in spite of themselves.

"Isn't this about where you two met?" Ame asked.

"Sort of," said Roxas, "Actually, I appeared out of nowhere and spirited him away for a minute. But I left him back here afterward. This is also where I met Riku for the first time." He looked at Riku thoughtfully. "I still don't know how you managed to fight with that blindfold on."

"I've been meaning to ask you about that," said Ame as they walked on, "Why did you wear a blindfold?"

Riku tugged on her hand and the two of them stopped; she looked into his troubled eyes, brightened by the neon reflections in the puddles. He touched foreheads with her like they were sharing some deep dark secret, or like he was confiding something extremely personal to her.

"My eyes couldn't lie," he whispered, "They're the only thing that can never lie. In order to protect myself in the realm of darkness, I thought I had to be able to fool myself. If I could hide everything inside, nothing could hurt me outside. You know how well that worked out." He sighed and closed his eyes. Ame's hand gently pressed itself to his face and she tried to pass her strength to him. Riku opened his eyes.

"For the record," he murmured, "I would never lie to you, ever."

"For the record," she smiled softly, "me, neither." He smiled back, wishing he could spend forever just staring at her like this.

'The sooner you get done with this mission,' said his inner voice, 'the sooner you can marry her and stare at her all you like.'

He kissed her forehead and said, "Come on."

"Mm!" she nodded with a happy blush as he took her hand. They ran to rejoin their friends and they all ran together, popping off random Heartless as they went, heading towards the imposing mass of stone and magic that was the castle. They stopped at the edge where the bridge usually met the street. The bridge was gone.

"Whelp," said Mickey, "at least it doesn't look any different."

"We'll see about that," said Sora as he stepped up with the Ultima Weapon. He pointed it up at the castle and light circled the Keyblade before shooting a beam straight for the front door. The sparkling blue bridge steadily zoomed down to meet their side. Without a trace of hesitation, Mickey led them up at a run; every heart was pounding, every inner voice screaming, "What the heck are you doing? I don't want to go in there!"

They went anyway; there was simply no other choice.


"MALEFICENT!" called Sora as they stood in the place he'd defeated Xigbar, when Kairi had taken her desperate leap from the balcony they were now facing.

Well, Sora and Mickey were facing it; the others were in a back-to-back circle on full alert with weapons drawn. Sora made sure to keep Kairi right next to him.

"I know you're here, Maleficent!" he tried again, "Last time we spoke, I heard you'd be moving in! It's a little late, but my friends and I thought we'd throw you a little housewarming party! It's never a party without you!"

The group waited in tense silence for a while, long enough for the undertone of humor to die down. Kairi became a little afraid; everyone became a little tense.

Finally, that familiar sound broke the silence, the sound of a dark portal materializing that made Kairi and Ame jump slightly. It seemed like slow motion as the dark witch stepped out of the darkness. Ame's heart beat faster as she gazed on one of Sora's worst foes.

Sora was very taken aback; she looked so different! He didn't think it was possible, but the dark circles under her eyes were darker! Her cheeks weren't just sunken, they were concave! The rest of her face was as pale as Xehanort's had been! He could barely tell, but she was thinner than a scarecrow with her clothes hanging limply on her skeleton body like they were crying for someone to kill them and end it. She stood tall, but her knuckles were white as she clutched her staff for dear life. All in all, it was a far cry from what she had been; any hostility he was going to inflict on her took an immediate jump back from the shock and he dropped his defensive stance.

"Maleficent," he said with soft shock, "what happened to you?"

"Why, Sora," said the elegant witch without smiling, "How kind of you to visit my lonely estate."

"Lonely?" he repeated, "What happened to Pete?"

"He is of no further use to me," she answered, shifting her staff with both hands, "He is lost to the darkness forever."

"Maleficent, what's going on?" Sora asked, stepping towards her a bit.

"Do not pretend to be concerned about my health," she sneered, "You are here about the Princesses of Heart."

"So you do know something about this!" quacked Donald. Maleficent snapped a livid gaze on him.

"Silence, you vile, half-witted bird!" she snarled, "Your voice has grated on my nerves for the final time! If I ever hear you speak again, the only sound you make will be from my hand around your throat! (She pointed her staff at him.) Do you understand me, you squawking simpleton?"

No one said anything; they just stood there in open-mouthed dumbfoundment, staring at Maleficent with her staff pointed at Donald, panting from the exertion of her outburst but with the anger still blazing defiantly in her eyes. Her hands trembled as they tried to hold the hostile pose, but exhaustion overcame her pride and she banged it back on its end (having nearly fallen over) and leaned over it.

"Maleficent! What the h—'s going on?" A sharp young female voice cut through the castle. With as much grace as she could muster, the witch drew herself back up with that same smile of hers.

"Nothing at all, my lady," she said as calmly as ever, "I was entertaining our guests while we await your grand entrance."

"D—straight, you are!" said the voice, "You'll wait as GD long as I please and not a f—ing moment sooner!"

"Of course, milady," Maleficent placed a hand to her chest and bowed to her right. A girl was striding toward them with a commanding stride; she stopped beside Maleficent, allowing an astonished Team Hunt to get a good look at her.

She must have been about twelve years old, with small rounded cheeks, a pointed chin, and a high forehead. She had a small nose that looked like she was wrinkling it with disgust when she was angry, and she looked like a person who was always angry. Her hair was silvery white and reached her bottom and was tied back at her neck, and her bangs made something of an M shape around her face. She came about to Sora's chest at full height. Her skin was pearly with a hint of a tan and her eyes were an icy blue with piercing red rims, like they couldn't hold back the fire raging within her. She was wearing an open white lab coat with a shirt and shorts underneath.

"Hmph," she sniffed with her hands on her hips, "So you're the Keyblade Warriors. Look like the d—Village People to me. I don't have the patience to deal with all of you s—heads, so you…" She pointed at Ame. "and you…" She pointed at Kairi. "…can go."

At her word, black vapors appeared at Ame and Kairi's feet, sucked them in, and disappeared. Before the boys could call out, the young girl snapped her fingers and had them bound with their hands behind them and covered by what looked like hands of darkness that shot up and dragged them to their knees.

"Now, then," she asked, "Which of you sons of b—es is Sora?"

Sora whistled a short high note.

"That'd be me, sweetheart," he said grimly. The girl's eyes zeroed in on him and she marched over to him and leaned down to look at his face.

"No s--," she said, glaring at him, "You talk pretty big for a murderer!"

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Don't try to BS me!" she shouted, "Do you have any GD idea who you're talking to? I suppose you don't bother to learn if a guy's got a family before you do him in! does that make you feel big? Does that give you a rush? Do you have any MF—ing idea what you've done?"

"HEY!" Riku interrupted, "Instead of swearing out like a drill instructor, why don't you cut to the part where you tell us who you are?"

"Oh—ho!" said the girl as she rounded on him, "Look who's got the big cajones! I guess you like talking down to little girls!"

"And I guess you can't be aggressive unless you tie people down first," Riku smirked, "So who's the coward here?"

"Shut the f—up, cupcake," said the girl, "You're just as guilty as Sora." She walked back to stand in front of them with her back turned.

"I've waited so long for this," she murmured, then spun around to face them.

"My name is Xerena Hart!" she declared, "Xehanort was my father!" She pointed an accusing finger at Sora.

"And you killed him!"


Author's Review:
Yes, yes, I can hear you all wigging out on my computer! LOL

By the way, Xerena's name is pronounced like a "Z," like everyone else's names are. Good grief, she swears like a sailor! I got the idea from a clip I saw from "Full Metal Jacket." LOTS of swearing in that one.

I'm pressed for time again; next chapter will start with Ame and Kairi and their adventure in wherever Xerena sent them! See y'all!