I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, but even with the Christmas Break and all, my life has just not allotted me writing time. I hope this chapter and the next few make up for it.

Disclaimer: This again? By the time I finally finish this epic, I hope Kingdom Hearts will still not belong to me. Because if it did, I'd probably screw around with it too much.

The Beginning

Chapter XXXVI: The Seventh Keybearer

Kairi was walking. That was all she knew as she silently moved through the pitch blackness around her. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear; all of her senses had gone numb while the darkness pressed itself around her. The only thing she could feel was its oppressive cloak binding her to this place, clinging onto her body like a parasite. It crawled its way around her, bringing her pain. Her movement's purpose was from the sole thought running through her mind.

She had to get away.

Her speed increased, and the darkness increased its hold, tightening the strands, already invisible in the pitch, that wound around her. The girl struggled, flailing her arms wildly in an attempt to break free. Success! Kairi broke free and ran, the dark following her relentlessly, trying to keep its prisoner of the light trapped. Kairi tripped and fell with a groan of despair and anguish. She turned onto her back and stared fearfully with unseeing eyes at the darkness as its oppressiveness enveloped her like a shadow once more. Kairi summoned the Oathkeeper to her hand in desperation. Holding the angelic keyblade aloft, she perceived that the darkness had halted, seemingly afraid of the light emanating from the white blade. Kairi nervously got to her feet, holding her captor at bay with threatening slashes of her keyblade. She felt the oppressive cloak lift away completely and held her left hand out behind her, light radiating from her fingertips. The light ripped through the darkness, and a hole leading out opened. Kairi didn't spare a glance behind her as she fled her prison into the light.

Her senses returned to her as she stood panting in the sunlight, the entrance to the dark realm closing behind her. She shakily brought a sweaty hand to her glistening forehead. She was shaking all over, and the bile in her throat threatened to rise even now after she had escaped from the place where all her dreams had been naught but ash and despair filled her heart.

A warm sea breeze greeted her, and her open mouth tasted the salty air as it passed through her lips. The soothing sound of waves breaking on the shore washed over her for some minutes while she calmed down. Kairi took one last deep breath and released it slowly before looking up from her beige-green boots.

She was standing at the base of the bent trunk that belonged to the paopu tree. There were still several of the yellow star shaped fruit mixed in with the broad green leaves in the tree's canopy. She turned her auburn clad head away from the tree and looked instead at the mountain that rose high on their small island, far enough away from the little islet where she stood now to be imposing. The mountain's peak was shattered, and many large rocks from its side were strewn about the beach, giving it a craggy look instead of the sandy white shores that had graced it previously. Entire sections of catwalk and parts of the wooden play buildings had been obliterated by the rockslide. The waterfall had been completely blocked off by a large stone, but water still trickled down its sides into a now overflowing pool, a small river of water streaming down towards the beach and ocean. The hole to the secret place was still there, but the vines covering it had been blown away and were now strewn about on the ground, withering into brown. The entrance was much larger now, and some of the rocks had been blasted right out of it, some unlikely candidates had been flung much farther than others. Kairi looked to the base of a nearby palm tree and saw the rock she and Sora had drawn on embedded deep within the wood.

A hand touched her shoulder and Kairi released the Oathkeeper before looking up. The owner appeared to be a tall teenage man, dressed in radiant blue armour. She removed his helmet and saw blue skin covering a handsome face, but his eyes and lips were black and hard as iron. Beautiful bluish brown locks flowed down his face, but they couldn't detract from his eyes and lips. Kairi could immediately feel that she disliked this man immensely, and it must have showed on her face. A yellow paopu fruit suddenly appeared in his hands and he shoved it towards her.

"You know the legend of this fruit princess," he said, his voice full of malice. "You and I shall share one here and now, and you shall be eternally bound to me, your knight of light." Kairi shook her head fearfully, but she wasn't sure why she was afraid until she felt how clammy his hand was as it touched an area she would currently have scolded Sora if he touched, pressing her closer to him. The knight pressed further with the paopu fruit and Kairi recoiled, but it was in vain; he was too close. The star shaped fruit rubbed against her mouth, and hard though she tried to resist, he was able to slip it under her clenched teeth and Kairi bit down into the fruit's flesh. Under certain circumstances (such as sharing one with Sora), she would have said that it was the most succulent fruit she had ever tasted, its sweet juices running down her throat and the corners of her mouth; but now the juice was bitter, and the fruit tasted like ash against her tongue. Kairi gagged and tried to spit it out, but the knight refused her and sealed her fate with a kiss. She desperately wanted to retch, to throw up into this horrendous man's mouth for doing this to her, subjecting her to the cold and dead feeling of his lips on hers. But her body disobeyed, and she couldn't do anything. Kairi's vision started to cloud, colour draining from everything she saw, leaving it as shadows. The knight broke the kiss, smirked and chuckled evilly as she swallowed. He raised the fruit to his own lips, preparing to bite into it. Kairi suddenly felt that she would rather be back in the prison of darkness she had just escaped from than be back here.

A blast of ice suddenly struck the man on the side of the head and he dropped the paopu fruit in surprise. Kairi looked in the direction the ice had come from and her sapphire eyes and heart filled with hope.

"Get away from her you bastard," Sora growled, holding the Oblivion's frosty blade tightly in his hands as he stood on the catwalk to the islet. Ohtarmon and Menelmon stood next to him, glaring at the knight in anger. The three of them seemed to glow with light, spreading colour back to the world. Kairi wanted to give a cry of joy, say something to them, but no sound escaped her lips. Sora glared down at him in a cold fury. "Hades," he spat, "I should have known earlier." The knight swung around and faced Sora and the digimon, drawing a dark blade rimmed with black fire from a hidden scabbard as his armour melted away to reveal the Lord of the Dead in his black robes, blue flames rising from his bald head.

"So the Keyblader finally figured it out!" he roared in a chuckle. "You're pretty slow for a hero you know. Maybe you don't even deserve that title and should just go back to being a Junior Hero." Sora dipped his head down and spoke in a voice that Kairi couldn't hear. His head suddenly snapped up and fires stirred behind his irises. He flew at Hades, his toes barely skimming the wooden walkway. Ohtarmon rushed up behind him, his large mace ready in his burly arms. Menelmon screeched in on her wings, her brown eyes flaring in her haste to protect her partner. Light spread from both Menelmon and Kairi's digivice and a moment later Menelmon had digivolved into Soronmon. The black steel of the Oblivion met the dark blade Hades carried and sparks flew from the contact. Ohtarmon came in with his mace, breaking against Hades in a white explosion. Soronmon flew high above them and icicles rained down on Hades.

Fire came from Hades' remaining hand while he held off Sora's keyblade with his sword and he swiped out against Ohtarmon. The champion grunted as he took the blow with his armour before he blocked a fireball with his mace. Kairi stopped watching as an icy specter of Soronmon's head crashed into the God's back after he had sent Sora flying away from a fireball fired at point blank range. A sharp pain was developing deep within her heart, as if pure darkness was within her, clawing at her insides, making her cold. Warmth came from her side and Kairi searched for its source. She withdrew the charm that she recognized getting on Whamon's head and tossed it into the air.

Out of a white mist grew an intense light coming from the charm. All the colour returned to Kairi and the cold left her forever as the light flooded within her and the three others nearby. The light vanished and Hades growled at her in anger.

"You little bitch!" he roared as his skin turned red and flames spouted all over him. "I'll destroy you for taking away my powers of darkness!" He raised his sword, but it was blocked by the Oblivion as Sora appeared in front of him out of thin air.

"YOU WON'T LAY A FINGER ON KAIRI!" Sora bellowed as a golden light glowed from his chest. Ohtarmon glowed with the same light, and Kairi realized that he was digivolving to the next level. His body grew until he stood at eight and a half feet tall, and the light dropped to reveal his new form. His armour had gone from shining steel to burnished gold, and his helmet now covered his entire head, the sides jutting out in front and two small, white swan wings sprouted from the sides. Not even a visor was present on it as the only open holes were those of his eyes. The silver pattern of a glittering seven pointed star was on the helm. His mace was gone, to be replaced instead by a radiant golden lance and a red tower shield. Sora's crown was embossed in gold in the center of the shield and the image of a white hawk with its wings raised and talons bared crossed over the crown, clearly displaying how close the two partners were.

"Shivering Spear!" the ultimate level digimon yelled, striking out at Hades with his golden spear, which had turned to a silvery-blue as it dropped in temperature. He struck Hades with his lance at the same moment that Sora dug the Oblivion into him, and the God of the Underworld vanished in a puff of smoke and flame. Sora turned around and gave Kairi a comforting grin as she smiled. Kairi's smile slipped off her face when a shadow passed over Sora. Her eyes glazed over in horror as she shakily pointed behind Sora. She wanted to warn him verbally too, but her breath caught in her throat and her mouth wouldn't form the word 'Maleficent'. Sora turned around just as Maleficent thrust at his chest with Hades' dropped sword. His partner was faster on the uptake though and drove his lance in the way, so the sword only struck his arm instead of his heart. Maleficent still smirked and vanished as quickly as she had come. They all gasped as Sora's arm suddenly grew dark, very dark. It swung around on its own accord as it became as black as pitch and knocked his Sora's partner away. Golden light formed around the digimon and he de-digivolved back to Ninquemon.

Sora struggled to restrain his arm, but it moved as if it had a mind of its own and he was no longer in control of it. It suddenly lurched forward towards Kairi and grasped her by the throat. The eyes of both her and Sora became teary as her feet left the ground, Sora's dark arm started to crush the air out of her windpipe. Kairi couldn't breathe, she could barely see while she struggled against its touch. She wanted to scream at the pain she was experiencing.

Unbeknownst to her, she really was screaming. Screaming her lungs out from atop Whamon's giant brown head as she slept through the worst nightmare she'd ever experienced. Keys held onto her in his arms, bracing her head with his left arm while a look of confused pain adorned his face. It grieved him to see Kairi in this much pain from something as seemingly insignificant as a dream. Aiwemon was perched on his shoulder and had one wing wrapped around Keys' head, trying to comfort him while he too looked worriedly at Kairi. Menelmon had wrapped her wings tenderly over Kairi's stomach and was looking concernedly at the poor girl, shaking her softly. All the other digidestined and digimon were up and surrounding them, trying to piece together just what was happening to her.

"Why is Kairi screaming so much Matt?" T.K. asked his older brother, clinging onto Matt's leg. Yamato could only blinkingly stare at the girl as she writhed in pain.

"I don't know T.K.," he whispered in fear. Sora knelt down and touched Kairi's sweating forehead.

"She must be having a nightmare," she said. "But it has to be worse than any dream I've ever had for her to be reacting like this."

"What's happening up there?" Whamon asked worriedly. "Are we under attack?" His questions went unheeded as Kairi screamed once more, startling all of them.

"Her actions are so illogical," Izzy said. "No dream, no dream could cause a person to cry in pain like that."

"Unless the pain was coming straight from her heart Izzy," Sora replied, looking up from Kairi's clammy forehead to glare disapprovingly at the computer genius.

"This is scary," Mimi said from a kneeling position, Palmon holding her back comfortingly.

"I've never seen anything like this," Joe said anxiously. "I've had to deal with first aid stuff before, but how do you give first aid to someone suffering from a nightmare?"

"Kairi's in pretty bad shape," Gabumon said, retreating a step as she howled and jerked towards him. "Do you know any reason as to why she would be acting this way Keys?" The teen shook his head with a tear welling in his eye.

"No," he breathed, his voice catching in his throat. "I don't know." He hated not knowing what was happening to her. He hated it then and he hated it now, only more so. This time she was in his arms, and it felt all the worse as compared to the last time she was in a position like this. Because unlike when she had lost her heart, there was nothing he could do this time. Tai and Agumon exchanged glances while Menelmon gently rocked Kairi with her wings.

"Kairi," she whispered, "wake up. Please wake up." Her howls slowly ceased and her breathing steadied, but tears started streaming down her cheeks.

"Kairi, Kairi," Keys gently called. "Open your eyes." To their immense relief her eyelids slowly fluttered open, but they had barely caught a glimpse of her cerulean irises before they were buried in Keys' shoulder. Aiwemon took flight from the sudden crash into his partner as the rookie lost his balance. Keys hesitated for half a heartbeat before wrapping his arms tenderly around her, Kairi sobbing her heart out to him. Nobody spoke or made any noise while they simply sat there, Keys rubbing Kairi's back comfortingly while she clutched him as closely as she could.

"It was worse this time," she said through her sobs.

"Worse?" Keys asked worriedly. "What do you mean worse?"

"Remember when I told you two nights ago about that dream I had?" Kairi asked shakily. "It was much worse this time." Keys' eyes darkened as the memory of what she told him came to mind. He brought her closer and placed a hand comfortingly to the back of her head. Kairi winced when she felt it as his left.

"What is she talking about?" Tai whispered to Menelmon. "Did she say anything to you about a dream?" The little rookie shook her head and glanced anxiously at her partner. She opened her beak to speak but stopped when Keys began before her.

"Kairi I'm so sorry," he cooed before falling silent for a minute in thought while Kairi slowly calmed down. He pulled her back and looked deeply into her eyes, wincing inside that they still held fear. "Will you tell me what you saw this time?" he asked hesitantly. "Other than that you cut off my arm." The others around them gasped at what he said but Kairi shook her head.

"No," she whispered painfully. "It's still too fresh. The only way this could be worse is if it actually happens." Kairi stood up shakily and walked away from the group. Keys watched her go, saddened at the distance she wanted to put between them but knowing that she just needed a little time alone to think. As soon as she was gone though, the others crowded around him, demanding an explanation in hoarse whispers. Keys didn't answer immediately and took to looking at Kairi with worry.

She needs more comfort than I can give, he thought dismally. I know she's glad that I'm here for her, but I can't make the pain go away like someone else can. He sighed sadly as his thoughts strayed to his mother and Kairi's foster mother.

She needs her mother now more than me. Why, oh why did Maleficent order Cossex to kill them all? The only ones we have to look to for support now are each other, but what we need most is an adult figure who cares so much more for us. Much though we all like to get away from them sometimes, we need them more than anyone else. Who do we turn to for guidance through life now? He suddenly noticed the other digidestined's pestering and frowned at them as they broke his musing.

"Okay fine," Keys relented. "Two nights ago, the day before we came to the digital world, Kairi had a nightmare like this one. Only she hadn't been screaming or crying in agony. In fact I only woke up when she suddenly clutched my shirt. All I got from her then was that in her dream we were by a special tree back on our world and she cut off my left arm."

"Why would she dream about something scary like that?" T.K. asked.

"What's so significant about that?" Matt asked, glancing back at Kairi. Keys didn't answer immediately, but looked instead at Aiwemon and Menelmon.

"You both remember when we called you in," he said directly to them. "You remember the platform we all stood on." They both nodded in affirmation while the others looked at them in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Agumon asked Aiwemon quietly. The bird digimon looked at the larger, but still small, tyrannosaur.

"We'll tell you later," he whispered back.

"We each have our own stained glass platform," Keys continued, acting like nothing had happened. "Every being does but not every being sees theirs. I've seen mine. And on it, my arm, my left arm, is metal." Mimi snapped a hand up to her mouth while the others, including his partner, looked at him in horror.

"You see why this is hurting Kairi so much?" Keys asked. "If she's the one who cuts off my arm, then… no, I won't say it. I don't really want to think about it." He looked away from them and suggested something about them going back to sleep while he would keep an eye on Kairi. They all hesitantly agreed, but not before sharing a nervous glance with each other. Despite the dark things they had already encountered, this was far more sinister than anything they had ever planned on encountering. Tai and Sora walked further away from the others and stood silently, staring up at the stars while unconsciously glancing at each other from time to time. Finally they caught each other's eyes and they both blushed lightly.

"Tai I'm worried about them," Sora said at last, finally plucking up the courage to speak.

"Huh?" the goggle-headed leader replied, looking over at Keys, who was watching Kairi anxiously as the girl fell asleep again.

"Can't you see it in their faces Tai?" Sora asked in concern. "Look at Keys. I know he's trying his best, but he's wallowing in despair inside."

"Yeah," Tai said, looking at the older boy. "I see it now. They've bitten off more than they can chew, and it wasn't them that decided to eat."

"Something bad has happened," Sora whispered. "I knew it as soon as I saw that star vanish and remembered what Kairi told us about when that happens. And then when they came out of those trances I saw pain and grief in their eyes. Something really bad has happened recently. The side of light, our side, is losing." Tai nodded.

"Yeah," he agreed. "But what help can we give them? I mean, we're just kids."

"And so are they Tai," Matt answered suddenly from nearby, having overhead much of the conversation. He approached the two with his hands in his jean pockets but kept his eyes on Keys. "They may be a few years older than us Tai," he said. "But they're still kids too. But unlike us they've seen and fought things far worse than Devimon, except now they're fighting a battle they can't win without help."

"I ask again then," Tai said quietly. "What help can we give them?" Matt shrugged.

"Cheer 'em up," he replied nonchalantly. "Help them find their crests. I don't know. Something, anything to help out the worlds."

"Should one of us go with them?" Sora asked. "Help them out that way too?" Tai shook his head.

"No," he answered. "Aiwemon and Menelmon are already going with them, but I don't think we'll be able to handle things on the Digital World if more than just them leave the group." Matt and Sora looked down uncertainly, none of them meeting the others' gaze.

"So then we just cheer them up and make their crests a priority then?" Sora said uncomfortably, shifting her glance towards Keys again. He had his head in his hands and was rubbing his eyes. "I feel that we should be doing more for them."

"What more can we do?" Tai asked, rhetorically and dismally.

Smoke gently rose from the chimneys of many huts in the early morning light, their thatched roofs taking in the last of the star and moonlight. A tall tree stands in the middle of the village, and atop it is perched another hut. A stream trickles in from the east of the village and drops down a set of rocks to become a small waterfall before the stream then leaves towards the beaches to the north. It is an old village, protected by a seemingly thin palisade wall. Beyond to the south and immediate east a wide belt of forest lay, and the village backed up against the shores of the sea to the north and west. The year is 50 B.C., and Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely… One small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders. And life is not easy for the Roman legionaries who garrison the fortified camps of Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum, and Compendium.

These camps were situated in a ring beyond the forest, in an effort to keep the Gauls penned in like rabbits. Aquarium resided the furthest west of the four, swiftly followed by Totorum a few miles to the east, southeast; conveniently putting it the furthest away from the village. Laudanum came next, striking further north and east, and Compendium hugged the coast, furthest east but closest to the village.

Dawn broke over the coasts of Armorica, and the innocent cock crowed in the Gaulish village as the first golden rays of the Sun peeped over the horizon. Almost immediately the rooster was joined by a voice raised in song as a person strode out of the hut on the treetop, striking a melody on a lyre. The sky began to rumble and dark storm clouds started to envelop the sky above the village as the bard continued to sing off key to greet the new day, discord blaring through his song like a flashing neon light. A burly man with blonde hair and thick burly mustache (also blonde), wearing a pair of red pants and a black apron left his hut. The man quickly went to the anvil sitting in front of the hut and heaved a block hammer from beside his anvil into his muscled arms.

"BE QUIET CACOFONIX!" Fulliautomatix, the blacksmith roared, flinging the hammer at the bard. The song was promptly abandoned as the hammer struck the bard in the head and the gathering storm clouds dissipated. The bard's, Cacofonix's that is, singing, while great to his own ear, was more frequently frowned upon by the other inhabitants of the village. He was dressed in a blue and white checkered shirt and white breeches, a red cape draped across his back. Cacofonix recovered from the blow and instantly stormed to the edge of the platform baring his fist at the blacksmith.

"Barbarian!" he yelled, with his sleek blonde hair and mustache molted from the hammer blow. "You wouldn't know art if it hit you in the face!" Without warning a fish with a horrendous odor, tossed expertly from outside the hut directly below Cacofonix's, struck the bard in the face.

"You've finally found a use for your smelly fish," Fulliautomatix said approvingly to the fishmonger, standing outside his hut. Unhygenix was much like the other two with his blonde hair and mustache, except his hair was braided back behind his head in a long tail. He was plumper than Fulliautomatix, with less muscle and more fat. His black shirt covered up part of his red pants, with a brown leather belt that threatened to burst running around his midriff. The fishmonger's eyes bulged as he looked at the blacksmith.

"How dare you insult the freshness of my fish!" he cried, grabbing a nearby herring and flinging it into the Fulliautomatix's face. The man roared in rage more than loud enough to wake everyone who wasn't already awake and rushed at the fishmonger, the fish that slapped him swinging wildly in his hands.

"I wouldn't call it very fresh if it reeks worse than a Goth!" he yelled, taking a mighty swing at Unhygenix. The fish slapped him across the chest and Unhygenix bellowed back into his house as he grabbed a fish from the only basket he had brought outside.

"Bacteria dear, keep the rest of the baskets inside! Hide the lot!" he swung at Fulliautomatix with his fish like a sword, smacking the blacksmith across the ribs with it.

"Why you!"

"I'll have you know sir that I import my fish fresh every week from Lutetia! Only the finest!"

"And by the time it gets here it's gone rotten!" Fulliautomatix retorted. "I wouldn't feed your fish to the Romans!" The fight escalated, and within moments Geriatrix, ninety-three years young, had spotted the brawl and was running towards it merrily, his walking cane raised.

"Punch up!" the short elder called in his dark blue shirt and white breeches. Few needed reminding of the quarrel brewing between the fishmonger and blacksmith though, as men from all over the village began arriving to take part in the fun. A small warrior in a black shirt and red breeches slowly came out of his hut and strode towards an old man watching the fight from afar near the front of the warrior's hut.

"Good morning Asterix," the man said humourously, looking at the punch up.

"Good morning to you too Getafix," the small warrior said, a twinkle in his eyes as he too watched the fight. The druid Getafix stroked his long white beard, chuckling slightly to himself. He was robed entirely in white, with a red cape on his back and a brown belt holding up a golden sickle. A curl of white hair flowed from the back of his otherwise bald head and grew around the upper portion of his ears before swinging down and joining the beard. His white mustache was distinguishable from his beard though, resting overtop of the larger sculpture of hair and parting down from each side of his bulbous nose. Asterix was quite the opposite of the druid, short but stout, with a bulbous nose to match all the Gauls of the village. His bald spot was completely covered by a small iron helmet with white angelic wings pointed upwards and back slightly. Dashing blonde hair curled around the back of his head and over his ears, while he too had a blonde mustache similar to the others. A green belt with three golden circles in the center was over his shirt, and strapped to it was a blue scabbard with intricate golden lacing that protected his prized short sword. Also on the belt was a small green gourd.

"They're at it again eh?" Asterix asked the druid warmly, watching the fight slyly. "Still going on about Unhygenix's fish?" Getafix giggled and placed a finger to his nose.

"If they ever send any fish to the Romans they may try to feed us to the lions for the creation of biological warfare," the druid said wisely. Asterix gave a dry chuckle and glanced behind the druid to the hut that was just across the path from his.

"Hm," Asterix said. "Obelix hasn't come rushing out of his hut yet. Do you think something might be wrong?" Getafix smiled and shook his head.

"No," he said. "He's probably still sleeping off that eighth boar he had last night. If I've told him once, I've told him a hundred times: Don't exceed your limits." Clouds formed again overhead as Cacofonix started to sing once more from inside his hut. Getafix grumbled as rain started to pour and lightning flashed.

"Cacofonix will scare away every boar in the forest if he keeps that up," he growled to himself. Asterix watched dismally through the rain as Fulliautomatix quickly took himself away from the fight, grabbed an axe and started swinging at the base of Cacofonix's tree. The bard instantly stopped singing and rushed outside of his hut, his face livid.

"Stay away from my tree you unsophisticated mongrels!" he yelled in anger, baring his fist at the group below him while the rain stopped and the clouds dispersed. A fish slapped him in the face again and Cacofonix fell off the platform directly into the brawl. Within moments he was attempting to strangle Fulliautomatix with his lyre.

"Hey, here comes the chief," Asterix said, pointing at the largest hut. Chief Vitalstatistix was rushed out of his hut, being borne on his blue white circular shield with a great white star painted on its center by his two shield bearers. The chief was a man of imposing girth, not as muscled as Fulliautomatix, yet not as chubby as Unhygenix, and his head sported orange hair unlike the traditional blonde of the other villagers or white of old Geriatrix and the druid Getafix. A bald spot was covered by the helmet he wore, two small white wings with black tips darting out from its sides. His red cape billowed about behind him in his green shirt and vertically striped blue and black breeches. A sword lay in a golden sheath strapped to his right side on his thin white belt.

"Will you all stop it!" he roared, causing the brawl to come to an abrupt end in a compromising position for several people. "There is no discipline anymore in this village. You will all bow down to me and my authority." He suddenly slipped off of his shield as his two carriers left it to bow before him.

"Not you!" he roared in frustration.

"But chief," one of them mumbled. "You said all."

"You two nimrods are supposed to keep me up!" Vitalstatisitx yelled with a reddened face. "You're both really getting me down!"

"Aren't we supposed to be keeping him up?" one bearer asked the other.

"I think so," the other replied, looking uncertainly at the chief. Asterix and Getafix chuckled quietly to themselves while the rest of the villagers broke off randomly from the fight, going this way and that about their business. Asterix turned his head at the sound of quick and heavy footfalls and saw his best friend Obelix with his little dog Dogmatix rushing out of his hut.

"Don't start without me," he yelled, moving towards the Unhygenix's hut.

"It's too late Obelix," Getafix said. "They've already finished." Obelix grumbled and shuffled his feet with his hands behind his back.

"It's always the same," he muttered. "They go and have a nice fight without me whenever the Romans aren't acting up. I haven't had a nice punch up in four days!" Obelix was a unique specimen among the residents of the Gaulish village. A menhir delivery-man by trade, addicted to wild boar, and not fat, he was in his own words well-covered. He was much more well-covered than either Unhygenix or Vitalstatistix. A small round helmet was perched on top of his head and red pigtails came down on either side of his head with a short chop of red hair around the back. Black bowties were on the bottom of his pigtails and his short horizontal whiskers made the look. Obelix wore no shirt, but only a pair of breeches with a very wide waistline that had vertical blue and white stripes, held up by a green belt with a golden buckle. Vertical stripes were the slimming variety after all.

"You slept in didn't you Obelix?" Asterix asked slyly. "I heard about the eighth boar from Getafix. You know that if you eat too much you'll fall asleep."

"But Asterix," Obelix reasoned. "It was only a little boar, hardly counts as half of one I'd say." Asterix chuckled and shook his head.

"Why don't we go hunting to fill that belly of yours?" he said, already moving down the path. "I promise you that if we find a Roman patrol, you can have them all to yourself." Obelix brightened up at the prospect and hurried along after Asterix, his little Dogmatix yapping excitedly as he followed his master.

Riku, Yuffie, and Max arrived in the middle of a forest path, not quite knowing where they were as they looked around at the lush foliage.

"So where exactly are we?" Max asked in a subdued voice as they started walking randomly. Riku shrugged his shoulders.

"The computer said that this world was called 'Gaul'," he replied. "Whatever that means?" He spotted a rose bush to the side of the path and quickly swiped a flower in its full bloom without the others noticing. They walked for some time, not meeting a soul along the path, but enjoying the stroll through the wilderness none the less. Riku glanced over at Yuffie and saw her face softening as she slowly ambled as she walked to his right with Max in the lead. Max stopped suddenly in front of them and started peering ahead with narrowed eyes. The road made a three-way fork about ten feet in front of them, and the three paths diverged in such a way that they couldn't see anything further than a foot into each path.

"What is it?" Riku asked. Max made a motion for him to be quiet.

"I can hear something coming down each side of the path," he whispered quietly.

"Heartless?" Riku asked. Max shook his head.

"No," he replied, "people. But the ones on the left are wearing armour and are marching in formation."

"How can you hear that?" Yuffie asked. Max smiled and raised one of his floppy ears.

"Sometimes it pays to be part canine," he said. "Shush! I hear them." Voices coming from the left hand side suddenly reached their ears.

"I sure hope we don't meet any of the Gauls today," the voice of a Roman soldier carried over to Asterix and Obelix, Obelix carrying two boars underneath his arms and Asterix with one over his shoulder.

"Be quiet Tooloudus," another soldier whispered while Obelix dropped his boars and began rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"Romans Asterix," he said pleasantly. "Romans!" Asterix simply grinned at his companion and moved down the path with Obelix and Dogmatix at his side until they reached the bend. And there stood the dozen Romans in their finest blue legionary armour, who upon taking site of the Gauls instantly froze in fear. Asterix also saw three other people down the other side of the fork in the road out of the corner of his eye, but they weren't Romans so he paid them no mind.

"IT'S THE CRAZY GAULS!!" the leader of the patrol screamed in terror, dropping his weapons and biting his nails.

"Ooh, can I Asterix?" Obelix asked, bounding up and down behind the small warrior. Asterix simply laid his boar down on the ground and leaned up against it, examining his nails and regarding the quaking Romans with disinterest while the three on the other side of the road started to run forward to their aid.

"Like I said Obelix," the cunning warrior said, grinning at the well-covered Gaul, "they're all yours." Obelix quickly rushed past him and grabbed an unlucky legionary by the foot and started swinging him around wildly.

"Run!" the patrol leader screamed. "Run for your life!"

"Too late!" the legionary who was being swung around like a tetherball roared wildly in pain as he smashed into several of his fellows.

"These Romans are crazy," Obelix muttered as he punched one of them hard enough to send him crashing into two fleeing legionaries' backs. "I haven't even started yet and they're already worn out." Asterix looked up from his nails at the three people who had rushed to their aid, standing stock still with gaping mouths, completely speechless at the one-man menace wrecking havoc against the Roman legionaries. One of them had long silvery-lilac hair draping down his back with long bangs that obscured his eyes while another he could only describe as some kind of dog-human, but the strangest was the third companion. She was evidently the only female of the group and had short raven hair, and was wearing breeches and boots. Incredibly short breeches that left the majority of her legs bare! Even though Asterix had been a steady bachelor, just the sight of those gorgeous legs started to tempt him.

"I take it you aren't from around here," Asterix said, removing himself from the boar carcass and striding up to the three, taking great care not to look the woman in the eyes, or legs. The one with the mixed hair colour smirked at him as he was brought out of his trance while Obelix continued to pummel the few remaining Romans.

"No," he answered. "We aren't." The boy then looked over at Obelix and frowned, rubbing the back of his head. "We thought you might have needed some help," he said unsurely, "when we heard the soldiers. But it looks like you can take care of yourselves on your own."

"That we can," Asterix answered stretching his arm up to shake hands with the boy, "er…"

"Riku," the boy answered, bending down to shake the Gaul's hand. He then indicated his companions with a motion of his hands. "Max." The dog-like boy raised his hand and bent down to shake Asterix's. "And this is-"

"Yuffie," the girl said icily, glaring at Riku while she shook the small warrior's hand. She got up and stalked away, throwing her nose in the air as she passed Riku. Asterix placed his hand beside his mouth and leaned towards Riku.

"Bit of a stick in the mud?" he asked. Riku sighed and shook his head.

"No," he replied. "She's just angry with me." Asterix cringed.

"That can be a pain." Riku nodded in the affirmative. Asterix turned his head and saw Obelix coming towards them, Romans moaning on the ground behind him while he held a stack of helmets in one hand while Dogmatix yipped happily at his heels.

"Join the legion they said," one of them muttered. "Have fun and adventure they said."

"Be quiet Cowardus," another said.

"I feel quite refreshed Asterix," Obelix said. "But they felt a bit soft to me; Ceaser should really train them more before sending them to us." Asterix gave a dry chuckle and waved to the three companions.

"Obelix, allow me to introduce you to our new friends: Riku, Yuffie, and Max." Obelix looked pleasantly at Riku and Max, but he dropped his helmets in surprise when he saw Yuffie and buckled over, hysterical laughter coming from his mouth despite his efforts to conceal it.

"Obelix be quiet," Asterix shushed quietly. Obelix let out a guffaw of laughter in response. Yuffie's eyebrows narrowed and she came towards him. "I'm sorry," Asterix apologized, removing his helmet and placing it in front of his chest. "He's never seen a woman in breeches before." Yuffie's face went blank before she looked down at herself. Her head returned to its normal position and she glared at Obelix.

"That's alright Asterix," she said hardly. "What would this fatso know about shorts?" Obelix instantly stopped his laughter and smacked Yuffie up into the sky.

"I am not fat!" he bellowed while committing the deed before placing a hand to his chest in indignation. "Just well covered that's all."

"Yuffie!" Riku yelled, running to a spot beneath her to catch her when she fell. Asterix didn't notice this though as he brought a shaky hand towards Obelix, shaking with rage.

"You hit a woman Obelix!" he bellowed. "How dare you!" Obelix looked indignantly at his friend.

"She called me fat Asterix!" he retorted. "How very untrue."

"Obelix you're really starting to get me down! I would never hit a woman!"

"Oh sure! Mr. Asterix would never hit a woman if she called him short! Or if she kissed him without his permission." (A/N 1)

Riku was paying no attention to this as he caught Yuffie in his arms. She clutched onto him tightly, her fierce grip startling him. She opened her eyes after she heard his slight chuckle and stared at him, preparing to scold him. Riku could see it coming, but she had stopped when their eyes met, so close to each other. Riku thought he saw a faint blush come to her cheeks, but it was gone in a flash.

"Thanks," she muttered, getting out of his arms. Riku steeled his heart and kept a hold of her hand.

"Yuffie wait," he said quietly. The girl turned and looked at him coldly. Riku sighed and drew his gaze away from her; he couldn't bear to look into her eyes.

"Yuffie I'm sorry for making you worry," he said quietly. He slowly looked up to meet her eyes and drew the rose out of his back pocket. "Can you forgive me?" Yuffie's expression softened and she took the rose from his hands before she stuck it in her hair. She giggled slightly and stretched onto her tiptoes and patted his head.

"Good boy," she said with an approving smirk. "Don't do it again." She finished with the slightest kiss on the cheek and moved a few paces away from them to observe Obelix and Asterix forgiving each other for their argument.

"Um," Max said cautiously in confusion as he approached Riku. "What just happened?" Riku wasn't quite sure himself. Yuffie's reaction blew him completely out of the water and was not what he had expected at all. Did this mean he had salvaged what precious relationship he had with his crush?

Crush, he thought in confusion. Is it just a crush we have? A small, passing fancy brought together through what looked like imminent death? It would explain why he felt more tickled and made him blush whenever Yuffie smiled at him than he believed Sora did when Kairi did the same. The same feeling bubbled in his chest as when he had had that crush on Kairi. As far as he knew, his best friends' love was far deeper than what he thought he might have for Yuffie, but they'd also known each other much longer.

"I think," Riku replied, "she might have forgiven me. Do you know if falling in love takes time?" Max almost jumped at the question.

"Well, yeah it takes time," he replied as if it was the most obvious answer in the universe. "You can't truly fall in love with a person when you first lay eyes on them. It needs to develop. Why do you ask?" Riku didn't answer the question but Max nodded anyway. "Ah… you don't quite know if you love Yuffie yet."

"Why are these things never clear?" Max gave a dry chuckle behind him.

"Would they be any easier if they were?" he asked wisely. Riku grunted slightly and smiled.

"Maybe not," he relented. His sixth sense suddenly sprung into action and he looked around, his face hardening. "You feel them?" he asked, his eyes sweeping amongst the bodies of the semi-conscious Roman legionaries. He heard Max unsheathe his sword from the scabbard that was slung across his back.

"I can smell them too," he said angrily. "Damn heartless reek of darkness."

"Excuse me Riku," Asterix said, looking up at him. "But why are you tensed up? These are the only Romans about."

"They aren't the only enemies here though," Riku growled, hunting with his eyes for his prey. His aqua gaze spotted a small dark blotch flitting along the ground around their group. Way to the Dawn appeared in his hand and he dashed past Asterix and Obelix's startled expressions to run his blade through the shadow as it took form. It vanished in a puff of darkness and he turned around to look at them. Yuffie pulled out her shuriken and began sweeping the area with her eyes, but Asterix was taking a glug out of the small green gourd that he had strapped to his belt. After a slight pause, the small warrior flung himself at Riku, his eyes blazing. Riku was taken by surprise, and the next thing he knew he had been punched straight into a tree, which toppled from the force of the blow. He heard Dogmatix howl in despair, but his eyes only registered the enraged face of Asterix as the small Gaul pressed himself up against Riku's torso, one fist raised to punch his face.

"How do you have that?" he growled, inclining his head towards Riku's keyblade. Riku looked at it for a half a second before scowling at Asterix.

"What's it to you?" he retorted, feeling anger surface within him. He brought the Guardian out of him and it reared up, grabbing Asterix. As soon as the Gaul saw what it was though, he instantly softened up and smiled at Riku.

"So you're the new wielder of Dawn then," he said in recognition of the Guardian's colouring. "Old Balhafa kicked the bucket then?" Riku stopped and had the Guardian set Asterix down gently, but he still looked at the Gaul with suspicion. He brandished Way to the Dawn in front of him, hoping to intimidate the small man. His effort was in vain though as Asterix simply yawned and folded his arms, smirking at Riku.

"You can't frighten me, wielder of the keyblade," he said pointedly. Riku started at the accusation, but any question he might have posed was silenced when he heard Yuffie's shuriken whipping through the air.

"Riku!" Max called. "They've arrived." Riku scowled at Asterix.

"We'll talk later," he said, moving towards the battle zone. Asterix smiled and rubbed his chin as the boy left.

"It's been a long time since I've seen another wielder," he mused to himself. "I wonder what brings him to Gaul." He then ran forward after Riku. They had arrayed themselves in a ring, with several black creatures surrounding them. They appeared to be made only of the darkest shadows as they took the form of men, sharp claws on their hands and long, pointy antennae-like ears. Asterix shivered as he was pierced by the gaze of a set of yellow eyes.

Riku moved forward first and struck his blade against one of the neoshadows, tendrils of darkness starting to leak out of the wound he inflicted on its shoulder. Max bared his sword in front of him and glared at the heartless.

"This is for Roxas and Naminé!" he roared as he charged into the ring. He impaled his sword straight into the head of one of the enemies and it vanished entirely from the mortal injury.

"By Toutatis!" Asterix bellowed, rushing the ring with Obelix at his side. The two Gaulish warriors each delivered a punch to the heartless and the neoshadows plummeted towards the trees, turning into mists as they struck against the trunks of the mighty oaks.

"Let's eliminate these heartless," Yuffie said, slashing her shuriken at a neoshadow, only to find that it was the last one.

"Asterix," Obelix asked, "would you please tell me what those shadows were? They aren't something new that Ceaser's sent are they?" Asterix shook his head.

"I don't think old Julius sent these things," he muttered. "But all the same we should tell Getafix and Vitalstatistix. The village needs to be warned. They give me the creeps." They picked up their boars again and started moving out with Riku, Max, and Yuffie in tow as they left the Romans on the ground.

"Okay," one of them whispered. "They're gone. Let's go back to Totorum."

"Heartless you say?" chief Vitalstatistix asked.

"Yes," Riku answered. "They roam the worlds, stealing hearts from living creatures to increase their numbers." A council meeting was being held in the chief's hut as usual, Vitalstatistix sitting high up on a chair with his shield under him. Asterix, Obelix, and Getafix were present as well as Max and Yuffie.

"I wouldn't worry about us if I were you Riku," Vitalstatistix said. "The only thing we Gauls fear is that the sky will fall on our heads."

"You should fear the heartless at least a little," Max said sheepishly. "They aren't to be trifled with." Getafix raised a hand with his finger pointed up importantly.

"Never fear Max," he said. "We have a secret weapon that not even the heartless will be able to overcome."

"Really?" Yuffie asked. "What is it?" Getafix smiled slyly.

"The reason why the Romans have never been able to conquer our little village," he said, "is because of a special potion of my own concoction. It gives the drinker superhuman strength, as I think you all witnessed in your scuffle." Riku groaned and patted his stomach.

"So that's why it hurt so much when you knocked me into that tree," he said, looking over at Asterix. "Which reminds me, how do you know of the keyblade?"

"Keyblade?" Getafix said in surprise before the little warrior could answer. "How do you know of it?" Riku summoned Way to the Dawn into his hand as an answer.

"It's the only weapon that can truly defeat the heartless," he said. "My friends and I have only wielded keyblades since they started causing trouble summer before last. I don't know how long Mickey has had the keyblade though."

"King Mickey Riku," Asterix corrected slyly. Riku nodded.

"Sorry, King Mic-" he stopped and started at the small warrior.

"How-?" Max asked, but he was interrupted when a weapon abruptly appeared in Asterix's hands. Its hilt was carved like two boar tusks, leaving the bottom open. A keychain that resembled a horned cap helmet hung off of the end of a brown handle. The blade was brown as oak with a pattern of a black wild boar fleeing for its life down the shaft towards the tip of the blade. A curved golden sickle reared up near the brown tip of the blade.

"Is that-?" Riku asked in shock. Asterix nodded.

"This is the Indomitable," he said, "my keyblade." Riku's complexion cleared and he chuckled in realization.

"So that's how you knew I was a wielder," he said. "I had no clue there were more wielders that we didn't know about out in the worlds."

"You mean the King didn't tell you." Asterix said.

"No," Yuffie answered. "The only wielders we know about are King Mickey, Riku, Roxas, Naminé, Kairi, and Sora."

"And Sora, Roxas, and Riku are masters," Max added. Asterix looked down glumly.

"What happened to everybody?" he asked. "There used to be so many more. Now we're down to only seven?"

"There's a problem too," Riku said. "Even with another wielder on the job. We all have an enemy of the worlds out there, and her name is Maleficent." Before he could elaborate Asterix raised a hand to stop him.

"Sorry, nothing doing," he said. "I vowed I wouldn't leave our world again after I came home from the war." On that note, he left the hut of Vitalstatistix, Obelix following him with Dogmatix.

"War?" Riku asked, looking out the doorway at Asterix's retreating figure. "What war?"

"Eighteen years ago a two year long war across the galaxy ended," Getafix said. "Asterix was found to wield the keyblade by another wielder by the name of Caleb when they were scouting our world for any signs of keyblade wielders of the dark realm, whom the war was against. Apparently they had managed to find a way to cross over into the Realm of Light, and were invading our worlds to make all of us slaves and servants to their will. The fighting never reached Gaul, but Asterix was forced to leave and Obelix went with him, along with a full barrel of magic potion that I made for him. After they returned, Asterix vowed he would never leave our world again."

"Why did Obelix go with him?" Max asked. "As far as we know, he doesn't wield a keyblade." Getafix shook his head but smiled pointedly at the doorway.

"No, Obelix is not a wielder," he said. "But he is eternally bound to Asterix through friendship and wouldn't let Asterix leave without him. Plus, Obelix doesn't need any magic potion. He fell into a cauldron full of it when he was a baby, but if he were to have any more the effects could be disastrous." (A/N 2)

Yuffie folded her arms and sighed. "So that's it. Because he wields the keyblade, Gaul will be fine. But apart from that, Asterix won't help."

"Don't be so certain Yuffie," Vitalstatistix said, waving a finger at her. "I'm sure that something will happen soon that will change his mind. But in the meantime, why don't you stay in the village for a while? We'll give you a proper Gaulish welcome."

"That seems alright," Riku said. "But where will we stay?"

"You came on a Gummi ship didn't you?" Getafix asked. "It has a special transformation ability that will allow it to 'fit in' with other buildings in an area. You can fly it down outside the village and have it turn into a look alike of one of our huts. None will be the wiser." Max smiled.

"Thanks for the tip Getafix," he said before vanishing up to the ship in a flash of light. Vitalstatistix almost hit the ceiling with the height that he jumped, added to the fact that he was already close from the height of his chair.

"Where did he go by Belenos?" he asked. Riku and Yuffie simply laughed and they turned to look at each other.

"You know," Riku said with a gleam in his eye. "If we're going to fit in here for a while, you'll have to wear a dress."

Yuffie looked absolutely livid at the idea.

"Scaredsillius! What happened to you and your men?"

"Well Centurion Newyearus," Scaredsillius, the leader of the patrol, began. "We were on patrol, as ordered sir, and the Gauls came out of the woods and caught us by surprise."

"How many were there?" Newyearus asked.

"Well… two," Scaredsillius said unsteadily. "But it was the big fat one and the little menace."

"By Jupiter," Newyearus said in exasperation as he plopped down onto his bed within his pavilion. "Those Gauls make us the laughing stock of the entire Roman Army, and those two especially." He looked up and saw that Scaredsillius was still there. "Anything else?"

"Actually, yes sir," the legionary replied. "After the fat one maimed us, there were these strange black creatures that appeared." Newyearus sighed. This was the sign, his men had finally snapped.

"Strange black creatures eh?" he asked kindly. The entire patrol nodded their heads.

"Yes Centurion," Scaredsillius continued. "There were about six of them, and they made us shiver with eerie yellow eyes and sharp claws. They looked more like physical shadows if you take my meaning sir. And there were three other people who arrived. They weren't Gauls by any rights, but one of them was a woman, and another looked to be part dog if you take my meaning." Newyearus shook his head.

"No I don't take your meaning Scaredsillius," he replied in a sigh. "You're all dismissed, and I'm recommending you all take a few weeks off on leave." The joyous faces of the apparently addled legionaries gave birth to a wry smile on the Centurion's lips, but as the worn out patrol was leaving one of them turned and looked at the Centurion.

"I heard the tiny menace say that the shadows scared him Centurion," he said. Newyearus' eyes brightened at the legionary's statement and he abruptly stood upright, becoming tall and erect in his pavilion.

"What did you say Cowardus?" he asked in genuine curiosity. The legionary started at his leader's sudden movement and a hand flew into his mouth, already chewing on his nails.

"I said that Asterix, the little one, said that the, I think those other three called them heartless, scared him." Centurion Newyearus was happier than he would be if he could've proudly presented Ceaser a laurel from winning the Olympics. (A/N 3) He thumped the legionary on the back.

"Cowardus my lad," he whispered manically as a plan came into his mind. "I have a special mission for you." Cowardus gulped.

"Me Centurion Newyearus? Me?" Newyearus grinned.

"Yes," he whispered. "You."

(A/N 1) See Asterix and the Secret Weapon

(A/N 2) See Asterix and Obelix All At Sea

(A/N 3) See Asterix and the Olympics

As I said above, I am sorry for not updating. And bear with me for the chapter lengths, they all will be long. I have a lot to go through and only four more chapters to do it in!

Also, none of you actually guessed who the summon character was. So here's the clue again, with a little added help.

Summon Charm Description: A white creature that seemed to be made entirely of white light.

Summon Charm Clue: He is one of four Light Spirits that help the sacred beast in one of the latest installments of a highly popular video game series.

Added Clue: He is the first Light Spirit Link encounters in Twilight Princess.

Plus, another reason for why I have not been updating is that I started watching Stargate SG-1. Awesome series.

May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk