Adaira's lough danced off the rock walls of the mountainside at the sight of the chaos. The demi-god made quick work of her Composers. No matter. She'd summon a few more before engaging him herself. The young sweethearts locked in combat were far more entertaining. The girls' pleas and cries for him to fight the power of her siren song was the embodiment of amusement. Her precious 'protector' didn't falter even once despite his love begging him to come to his senses. Adaira couldn't help but feel a swell of pride for just how airtight her ability was. Between that and concentrating the power of her Talisman into the commands of her song that boy wasn't going to put a toe out of line until she commanded otherwise.

The false princess turned back to the demi-god. Shame the foes she sent his way didn't seem to be wearing him down as she would have preferred. No matter. She did enjoy a challenge. With the delicate poise of a true princess Adaira walked amongst the fray to the demi-god. The girl wasn't going to be a bother. Her enslaved sweetheart was proving to be more than enough to keep her busy.

A Composer blinked out after being struck with the magical fishhook and hurled into the side of the cliff. Another had been hooked around the waist and sent flying off the side. The world's champion turned to face her. He looked eager for a fight. Good. Eagerness while facing a futile endeavor made the fall so much sweeter to witness. Adaira held out one arm to her side. In her open hand a long, sturdy quarterstaff appeared. One of, if not the simplest of weapons, perhaps but in the hands of a skilled user could indeed be quite dangerous. Like a fencer preparing for a match she elegantly took her stance.

"Ha! You mean to beat me up with a stick?"

"Pride goeth before the fall," Adaira reminded.

"The same could be said of you."

He was strong and no stranger to combat. The former she didn't find at all impressive. His tactics were crude and brutish. The only skill she couldn't predict was his ability to transform. However that appeared to be the only one. The randomness of timing kept her on her toes but the princess found herself overall disappointed with the lack of finesse. Perhaps a more versatile fighter would better satisfy. Well, the faces he made after landing a fair hit against him were very satisfying. For every time he struck her he struck him three.

"We're going to be at this a long time if that walking stick is the best you've got,"

"Oh, it isn't. And I certainly have no desire to indulge any longer than I've had."

"Indulge?" He bristled.

Adaira ignored him. She held her quarterstaff close before her with both hands. The delicate, near-invisible carvings and glyph-like symbols across the staff lit up. A bright spark flashed from it. When it faded the staff had changed. A large blade had formed at the top and small curved blade at the bottom. But the neon blue blade wasn't truly a blade at all but a finely shaped mass of pure laser-like energy. Thin sparks of pink energy crackled occasionally off it. Once again the hero's expression was quite satisfying in its astonishment.

The first Nobody closed her eyes. After a long yet gentle exhale she sang out a single, heavenly note. At her musical command six more Composers surrounded Maui. Just behind them three others appeared equidistantly from each other. The three were lither than the others. Both arms were thin with small hands. Instead of a book it held a conductors wand.

The hero was wise to be on his guard. However the events that followed happened in too rapid succession for him to do much about. The Conductors raised their spindly arms. The Composers held a hand over their opened books. In perfect sync the Conductors long wands slashed through the air. Empowered by their musical leaders the songbooks of the Composers floated and glowed. The wands danced faster. The books glowed brighter. The Composers thrust their mismatched hands forward on either side of their books in unison.

A terrible concussive din erupted from the songbooks; hitting Maui on all sides. He cringed from the blast. No sooner had the Conductors deemed him incapacitated all three of them lunged forward, their wands brandished like rapiers. The Composers ceased the blast so not to harm or impede their allies. The hero did not have much time to recover before the Conductors were on him. Adaira smiled. Let him obliterate her Nobodies. They had all already succeeded in their task. A great triumph swelled within the false princess as a small green stone clattered to the ground in the fray.

Learn to fight mercilessly yet focused against a friend so there will be no reservations when fighting a true foe.

That was the lesson. That was one of the first lessons. For years it made sense. But now…Rachel had no idea what to do when a friend was the foe. And that friend was Riku. He had been more than a friend for a while.

Words to him fell on deaf ears. Pleas went unanswered. Nothing on his face gave away any clue he could hear her. Once or twice Rachel thought she saw something flicker in Riku's eyes but he otherwise did not falter. This was him battling unhindered. Whatever magic that horrid princess possessed she hadn't just been blowing hot air about her abilities. And this was her special power as a Nobody. That kind of power couldn't be negated just by a counter-spell.

She knew magic. But magic wouldn't work. Words hadn't worked. Adaira wouldn't just let him go. Rachel didn't want to hurt him but under the spell he was certainly trying to hurt her. Would that spell break if she knocked him out? She should be taking out this frustration on Adaira. Rachel wanted to be fighting for Riku, not against him. And Adaira had just been standing there! They may has well have been a theatrical troop performance she was casually enjoying. Breaking off to take the fight to Adaira was impossible. Riku stayed in close quarters the entire time.

Words were exchanged between Maui and Adaira. Rachel couldn't discern anything else other than she'd finally engaged in combat. Maybe the control was concentration based. She had to try again.

"Riku! You know who I am. You know what you mean to me. Think what I mean to you! You can resist her, I know you can!"

Riku's attack pattern did not falter. Rachel finally became aware of just how hard her heart was beating. It wasn't from the exertion of combat. Panic. Panic and dread. It had been growing from a slow boil. Each failed attempt to break through to him burned up the heat little by little. Now the kettle was beginning to whisper.

"Riku! Listen, please! I know you would never hurt me! I know you don't really want to fight me!"

Even to Rachel her words felt more desperate than convincing. She, the one who could talk to anyone about anything couldn't grasp words of power when it really counted for something so important.

A golden sound seemed to get the attention of the very air. Adaira had disengaged from Maui and sang out a long, single note. Several lesser Nobodies immediately answered. That only held Rachel's attention for a moment.

Riku had stopped fighting.

There was a chink in the armor. She only had total control over one target at a time. The power lessened when split.

Rachel swung around to face him, catching the teeth of her Keyblade against his. It would take a second to disconnect them. This might be the best chance she was going to get. Rachel stepped forward and kissed him. Riku didn't react but he didn't push her away either.

"Let that be your strength," She whispered. "Come back to me."

The opposing push of their Keyblades lessened slightly. Though his eyes were still sullen and empty, something stirred deep within them. He looked directly at her. Rachel's heart swelled with hope.

Riku attacked.

"You disappoint me, demi-god. I would have expected getting this away from you to be much greater challenge. Tell me, just how did you become this worlds champion?"

Faster than a seagull after a bagel crumb Adaira swooped down and snatched the Heart of Te Fiti the moment it stopped skidding across the ground. Maui let out a roar of rage the second after it happened. Needless to say the Heart at risk was more than enough to give the hero to all his second wind. The stun attack from the lesser Nobodies was shaken off almost immediately. Electric blue light burned bright from the etchings of the magic fish hook. The Conductors and Composers never stood a chance.

Graceful as a deer Adaira leapt across the slopes of the cliff, avoiding all of Maui's attempts to hit her.

"She's got the Heart!" He yelled to Rachel.

Rachel heard Maui's shout but barely registered he was speaking to her, much less about something so important. Something had gone blank in her mind. Riku still saw her as an enemy. But he had looked right at her! He responded to her kiss. But it didn't last. What else was there to try? Riku couldn't be lost to her. She wouldn't let that happen! But what was she supposed to do!?

"Riku," Adaira called casually.

"No! Nonono! Don't listen to her!"

Once again Rachel's pleas proved futile. Riku disengaged from combat to follow Adaira. This time he directed his long-range attacks to Maui to widen the distance between them.

"I don't want to hurt you, kid, but I will if I have to."

"In a moment you won't have a choice,"

With a delicate sweep of her arm Adaira raised a shimmering dome around herself and Riku. It was mostly transparent and moved like water flowing upward against glass. Maui brought the still-glowing fish hook down against it repeatedly but to no avail. All the knowledge Rachel possessed about barriers and force fields told her well-constructed ones were nearly impossible to break through. Even then she fought the urge not to join Maui in the attempt.

Adaira let out a satisfied sigh. She held the Heart to the sky, allowing the sun to gleam off the smooth surface.

"At last we can move forward," She said mostly to herself. "And to that end I can't very well leave you free to pursue me. Adaira glanced coyly to Riku.

"Don't you dare!"

Rachel shot an acid green beam of energy at the false princess. It hissed and crackled when it hit the barrier. Adaira smiled but otherwise barely acknowledged the attempt. She stood very close to Riku. Delicate fingers combed his hair behind his ear. Riku didn't so much as blink.

"Get your disgusting hands off of him!"

"He doesn't mind. Do you, my pet?"

Adaira took a long gentle inhale. Once again even the essence of nature itself seemed to react to the angelic sound. Notes fluttered across her lips but, same as before, the song itself was wordless. Again siren-like orders could be heard even though she wasn't actually speaking them.

Riku, did you see that? They are trying to hurt me. You will not let that happen. The very thought fills you with rage.

Immediately Riku straightened up. He stood tense. His grip on his Keyblade visibly tightened.

"No…" Rachel said weakly.

You want to hurt them. Listen to my song. Kill the demi-god. Bring the girl to me broken. Nothing will stop you. You want them to hurt. You will stop at nothing until this task is finished. Do whatever it takes. Make me proud, my pet.

Adaira stepped back. A dark corridor formed behind her. The barrier dropped.

"You're not getting away!" Maui roared.

With a great leap he made to come down upon the false princess with a titanic blow. He never came close. Hardly more than a blur Riku appeared before him and deflected the attack. They exchanged several blows before gravity reminded it couldn't be cheated forever. By the time their feet touched solid ground again Adaira was long gone.

"NO!" Maui bellowed. "We have to get to Te Fiti right n-! Out of my way kid!"

Riku wasn't waiting on anyone or anything. The young Master struck hard and in rapid succession. Maui matched him almost blow for blow. The times he didn't hardly mattered. The size of the fish hook made getting around it difficult. At first Maui did what he could not to hurt him too badly. However it didn't last. It couldn't. Riku was fighting without hesitation or reservation. Anything less than a merciless, calculated strike he gave back harder than he was getting.

"Could use a little help here!" Maui yelled.

Rachel jumped when addressed. Her mind had frozen. Not enough useful thoughts were moving forward. Fearful ones moved about easier than a fish swimming downstream. Kill Maui? Hurt her? This wasn't by any means the first time a foes' power or abilities left her feeling intimidated or wrestling with the doubt she could emerge victorious. But those time hadn't left her crossing Keyblades with the one she loved. He had to be fighting Adaira's control. He had to. But it didn't show. She had to help him. Abut she didn't know how.

"Anytime!"

Reluctantly Rachel gripped her Keyblade and engaged in the battle.

Two opponents changed nothing in the way Riku fought. If anything his blows became more brutal. He only used the basic magic spells of the Keyblade but even those seemed to have gotten some kind of a boost. After countless sparring sessions with him Rachel knew many of his combat patterns. At the tower, recognizing inevitable patterns provided opportunity exploit them and the opponent the opportunity to further adjust and improve. However, Riku was completely off the reservation. Rachel couldn't understand how that was possible. She'd always know him to be a strong yet refined fighter. What she saw know was purely seek and destroy. Perhaps worse than the focused path of destruction were his responses to the ebb and flow of combat.

When an attack from Riku was successfully blocked or deflected his entire body language changed. He bristled. He glowered. It was as though self-defense was the worst of all cardinal sins and enraged him to his core. Reversely, if a powerful blow knocked Rachel or Maui off-kilter even a little his entire atmosphere changed again. It was comparable to watching a wild animal spot wounded prey and recognizing the opportunity of the kill so long as it acted quickly.

That was it for Rachel.

Twice he came after her in such a way. Each time Maui blessedly jumped in so she could get to her feet and heal herself. But the experience had shaken her. The way he looked at her…in that moment she was just prey. He didn't see her at all. In that moment the fear she'd been holding at bay took root and wasted no time growing its flowers of helplessness and releasing its seeds of doubt.

What if he really was in a place she couldn't reach?

A bitter cold bore through her all the way down to her bones like beetle grubs on a tree. She couldn't lose her Riku. What good was she to him if she could help when it really mattered? Of all times she wasn't strong enough.

"Riku!" Rachel screamed his name. She couldn't take a proper breath afterward as her inhale was cut short by a sob. Her throat hurt. Her body shook. Inside felt cold and tingly while her skin felt flushed and hot.

"SNAP OUT OF IT!"

Up until Maui shouted and pushed her out of the way Rachel hadn't registered at all that she hadn't moved. When her mind came back to the fight Rachel nearly dropped her Keyblade in shock from what she saw. Maui and Riku were locked in a stalemate; weapons crossed and each pushing for control against the other. Only a lot happened in the few seconds Rachel had zoned out.

Riku's right am was engulfed in black miasmic flames. The Dark energy dripped up and down his Keyblade before falling off as wisps of smoke.

"No. No…"

Precious few things in nature had the hearing power to report Rachel had said anything at all. Riku's fight against the Darkness had been long and hard. He'd told her as much. She'd seen the struggle in his eyes. She'd sensed the shame in his heart. But she had seen the triumphs too. Riku had confided in her time and time again. He'd let her stand by his side and often guide him out of the shadows that haunted him. He'd called her his Light, the distant candle flame he would forever search for when things around him got dark. But now…the way he was using the Darkness…he would never do that. How could she shine bright enough to get him through this?

After another great din shook the young Master out of her frightened thoughts Maui's hook lit up like a blue sun. With a powerful push and burst of energy Riku was blown back several yards. He landed on his feet with a single twist like a jungle cat but distance between combatants had been achieved.

Rachel didn't see much of this. As soon as Riku was out of swinging distance Maui bolted back to her. In a series of fluid motions Maui grabbed her arm, twisted so she was lifted and above him and transformed into a giant hawk. There wasn't a lot of time to make observations when your focus was suddenly on holding on for dear life so not to fall victim to merciless Gravity.

Maui successfully gained altitude and distance by the time Riku recovered himself and located them again. Blessedly his current state the young Master had not remembered he too had a pixie dust pouch and could have pursued from the air.

The only thing whiter than Rachel's knuckles as she clawed into Maui's feathers were the clouds above them. Maui made a wide, slow circle around the rocky cliffs. The demi-god was no fool. He knew that grip had little to do with hanging on. Turning his head around as far as he could Maui chittered and shrieked as gently as a raptor his size was able.

Rachel buried her face in the mane of feathers, impossibly gripping tighter. Composure would come even if she had to force and beat it into herself. With the edges of her eyes pink from the strain of holding back tears she straightened up.

"I'm okay. We need a place to figure out what to do next."

Maui gave an affirming squawk and dove to the thickest portion of the jungle.

No sooner had she chosen a direction the pair were immediately pursued.