Sora was secretly nervous his portal would miss its mark, but was pleased when he saw Leon talking to Yuffie on the other side.

'Got it in one.' he thought with a smirk. He looked around to see what everyone was doing.

He was in Merlin's house just as he planned. Yuffie was talking excitedly with Leon, recounting their most recent journey. Toph was being introduced to Cid and Aerith by Aqua. They seemed receptive enough of her, for which Sora was glad. He felt the pull of the new heading Wonder gave him for his next destination, and felt it was something he had to do alone. He waited until everyone settled down and as they did they started to pay more attention to him as he just stood there.

"Sora." Leon addressed him. "While you did complete the mission, the amount of collateral damage is catastrophic. You likely changed that world forever, and not for the better."

"Hey, things just kept happening. We barely had any time to just take a step back and plan." Sora defended, though not really too concerned. He sealed the Door and found the heart. As far as he was concerned all's well that ends well.

"I suppose, we could have been a bit more tactful…" Aqua said, thinking about everything in hindsight.

"Bah, Leon is just being a stiff. He knows how war is." Yuffie said, waving her hand dismissively.

"Still, Sora and Aqua are keyblade masters. They should be better than us…" Leon said, gaining a vacant stare that went off through the walls of the house.

"Hey, hey! No time for fond memories Squall." Yuffie said, lightly slapping him.

Leon snapped out of his daze and blinked hard a few times. "Right, thank you Kisaragi."

Yuffie rolled her eyes at the old surname, and bounced happily over to Sora. "So sexy, where to next? Any leads?"

"I know where we have to go next, but I can't bring any of you along." he said, already seeing the protest from Aqua and pout from Yuffie.

"What? That's too dangerous!" Aqua said.

"No fair! I wanna come with!" That was Yuffie.

"I'd love the company, trust me, but I need to learn how to dive into a closed off heart. This next world should show me how, but I have to go alone. It has to be just me." Sora explained to them.

"Wait, if we aren't coming along, what will we be doing?" Toph asked, joining the conversation.

Cid chose this moment to chime in himself. "Well it's been about two months since you all left, and now you're plus one. Why don't you stick around and help out with the town while Sora is away? Some heartless have started popping up again, and I'm sure Merlin would love to have a conversation with the little missy right here." He pointed to Toph.

"Heartless? Well, guess I can hold the home front. Maybe see how Ven is doing." Aqua said.

"Who is Merlin?" Toph asked.

"Merlin is a powerful wizard. He could probably show you how to improve your bending even further." Sora said. "Although...I guess it wouldn't really be bending anymore, huh? Maybe you will have to start from scratch as you learn to use mana."

"Start from scratch?! Hell no, don't tell me that!" Toph said, bending a nearby metal cup much to her relief. "Phew."

"Are you sure Sora?" Yuffie said, looking into his eyes with worried ones of her own.

"It's gonna be okay lovely." he said, hugging her.

Yuffie sighed into the hug. "Fine. You can go. But don't take too long, okay?"

"I'll be back before you know it!" he assured her.

Aqua walked up to the both of them and joined in the hug. "Please be careful. Even with all our power there are still forces out there that are unknown. Come back to us in one piece, Sora." she said to him.

"I love you both so much." he said, holding them tighter.

The rest of the room stood in silent awkwardness, waiting for the intimate moment they weren't invited to to pass.

Finally they broke apart, and Leon spoke up. "How soon are you leaving? We could use some of your data to beef up our security system."

In response, Sora summoned his trusty Kingdom Key and opened a portal with it. "Right now."

"Whoa so soon? Not even a quickie to celebrate our recent victory?" Yuffie said, sounding pathetic.

"Sorry hun, but the quicker we finish this quest, the quicker I can rest easy knowing some crazy universe lady isn't trying to kill me and everyone I love." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and jumped through the portal, towards his next step in the journey.


As soon as Sora stepped out of the portal his senses were assaulted with the smell of iron and red. He found himself on a beach full of white sand and metal debris that looked like support beams for buildings. A sea in front of him and was red as blood and off in the distance a big white mound of something lay. The sky had an arc of red streaking across it, and it was if the earth itself was completely silent. Then he heard soft sniffing.

Sora looked behind him and found two people. One was a young woman, probably only 14, in a red skin tight suit. She had bandages all about her and her long orange-red hair stood out against her pale skin. The other was a young boy, probably about the same age as the girl. He wore a plain looking school uniform, black pants and a dirty and wrinkled white button up shirt. It was the boy who was sniffing. Sora saw the boy move, and now the boy was straddling the girl. Sora thought that was weird, but was caught off guard when the boy started strangling the girl. Violently, he might add. The boy's face was contorted in rage, as if the girl had done some ultimate sin against him. The girl barely reacted. Sora was about to intervene when he saw the girl reach up and touch the boy's face.

Slowly the boy stopped, his eyes went wide with what Sora figured was surprise. The boy watched the girls hand drop, and let go completely of her neck, instead crying into her chest bitterly. Sora saw the girl look down slightly, and barely made the three words she said over the boy's crying.

"I feel sick."

Sora knew there was a lot to unpack here, and had no clue where to begin. So he did what just comes naturally.

"Uh, h-hey guys. I'm Sora." he called out to the pair.

The boy's head whipped up and to the side to look at Sora, panic clear on his face. He spent only a second more looking at Sora before fumbling off of the girl and bolting off towards the ruins of a city.

The girl's reaction was more subdued. She simply turned her head to look at him and stared at him. And she didn't stop staring. Sora had no clue what to do. But, seeing the blood beginning to seep through the bandages, he walked up to her and kneeled next to her. He summoned his keyblade and cast a few cure spells over her wounds. He was thankful his magic seemed to work normally in this world. She noticed the green light and opened her mouth to speak.

"H-ho-how di-did you d-do tha-that?" she croaked out.

Realizing her voice was parched, Sora summoned a small blob of water and guided it into her mouth. She downed it greedily, coughing afterwards.

"Just some magic spells. Pretty basic stuff." he finally replied.

"Magic? Well, w-with everything that's happened I wouldn't be surprised…" she said, trailing off.

Sora looked at her as she just lay there, looking through him unfocused. "Um, well like I said, I'm Sora. What's your name?" he tried.

"I...I am Asuka. Asuka Langley Sohryu. The only one…" she answered, but trailed off again.

"Right...well if you're Asuka, then who was that boy that just ran off?" Sora asked, hoping to keep her talking.

Asuka's face darkened and she scowled so fiercely her teeth were visible. "Shinji...that bastard...trying to kill me...left me all alone…"

Sora took in everything she said, trying to piece things together. Unfortunately for him, he would never be able to know the whole story as things were, so he could only work on assumptions. "Hey, I saw Shinji choking you. Was he trying to kill you?"

Asuka jolted at Sora's voice, as if she forgot he was there. She settled quickly and scowled again. "Of course he was. It wouldn't be the first time either. That bastard!"

"Well hey, you stick with me and I'll keep you safe!" Sora said, hoping to build trust with Asuka.

Laughter wasn't the response he was expecting, but it was what he got. "A-as if you could save me from anything! HAhaha!"

"Hey, I'm pretty strong ya know!" Sora said, trying to play on her good spirits even at his own expense.

Her laughter quickly died and rage fueled her features. She sat up and yelled at him. "What are you, stupid!? I don't need your help, or that idiot Shinji's help! I am not weak!"

Sora was taken back by her ferocity, but kept his cool. "Hey whoa nobody said you were weak! I only want to help."

"Well I don't need your help! Why don't you go help the invincible Shinji! The savior of this world! The new god of the human race!" Asuka hollered at him. She tried to get up but her muscles failed her and she barely pushed herself to the side.

"Hey, it's okay. Let me help you." Sora tried.

She simply shot him a murderous look that promised pain if he so much as touched her.

'Yikes, I guess this is what a closed off heart is like huh' Sora thought to himself.

He watched for a few minutes as she struggled fruitlessly to get up, her wounds bleeding freely through her wrappings due to the agitation now. She began crying with her jaw so tight he swore he could hear the enamel grinding to dust. After what felt like ages, she finally managed to prop herself up on one knee. She smiled triumphantly and Sora had to be impressed with the pure grit and determination this girl possessed. She moved to get up and immediately fell as hard as one could against the sand under her.

She yelped out in pain and after a few moments lost her mind. She began screaming and hollering and Sora was alarmed at the amount of blood she was losing.

"No! Don't eat me! Stop! I don't want to Die with you mama! Stop! I'm not useless! I don't need you! I am strong!"

Sora looked on uncomfortably as Asuka broke down. Against his better judgment, he cast a strong cure spell to help her not bleed to death. As soon as the spell took effect, Asuka froze. She slowly turned her head to him.

"You bastard! I said I don't want your help!" she yelled at him. With a perfectly healed body, she found tackling him very easy. She went to pummel his face in but he managed to slap away or dodge each swing.

"Hey! I was only trying to help you! Why are you so upset?" Sora yelled over her growling and screaming.

"I'll kill you!" she screamed at him.

"What is your problem!?" Sora said, taken aback by her unprovoked violence.

"I'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'killyouI'llkillyouI'killyouI'killyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'llkillyouI'killyou-"

Asuka was interrupted when Shinji ran up with a metal pipe and slammed it against her head, knocking her off of Sora. Shinji went to follow up with more hits but Asuka grabbed the weapon while also clutching the side of her head. She swung wide decking Shinji is the jaw, making him release his grasp on the pipe which allowed Asuka to assume control of it. She swung but she was still sluggish, so Shinji managed to dodge the swings. She threw the pipe at him and it hit his shoulder, earning a cry of pain that made her grin.

"Came to finish the job third child!?" she said.

"It's because of people like you that living hurts so much! Selfish, cruel, people who want everyone to hurt just like them!" Shinji shot back at her.

"Fuck you! You don't know anything about me!" she yelled back to him.

"I know everything about you! You'd rather die and let me die than help or be helped!" Shinji screamed at her. He went to kick her chest and she fell to the ground.

'Fuck I keep forgetting how strong he is when he's upset' she thought in panic as shinji threw himself on her, choking her once again. 'Not this time!' she told herself, forcing her hands up to Shinji's throat and choking him right back.

Sora just watched the two in awe, amazed at the depths of personal hatred they have for one another. Then he realized he was supposed to be getting through to them, and went to shove Shinji off of Asuka. He was stopped by Asuka who kicked his hand away, and he stared at her in surprise. Did she want to fight with him? Was this their twisted version of affection or something?

Eventually, and somehow, they both managed to choke each other out at the same time. Shinji fell on top of Asuka and Asuka went limp. They both just lay there, almost looking peaceful. Sora shook his head wondering how the hell was he going to get anywhere with these kids.

"You won't." came a voice behind Sora.

Sora turned around, keyblade already drawn, and faced the owner of the voice. It was a pale naked woman, her skin glowing white with blue hair and blood red eyes.

"What? Who are you? Were you just in my head?" Sora asked.

"I am Lilith, the mother of the children of dust in this world." Lilith answered him.

"Lilith? So, wait, you know about the other worlds?" Sora asked, trying to get a feel for her.

"I know of the worlds I know of, and can only assume there are many more. But I do know of you." she said.

"What do you know about me?" he asked, guarded.

"You are a keyblade master. Warriors of light who travel the cosmos, maintaining balance wherever you can. And unless I heard you incorrectly, your name is Sora." Lilith said.

"Well I'm not technically a master but I'll take it...So, what happened here?" he asked.

"That...is a long story." Lilith said, looking down in shame.

"I don't think the kids will be waking up anytime soon, so please, I need to know." Sora said.

Lilith sighed. "Okay. Kingdom Hearts is the Great Mother of creation. Due to just how vast creation is, she was able to devote entire solar systems to projects she was interested in. This particular space, she devoted to the Seed of life, which would be held by Adam, and the Seed of wisdom, which is held by me. The seeds would land on different planets, and grow into trees. From those trees, life would be born. Each tree would sprout different forms of life depending on where they were planted. Adam went on to plant many seeds, 17 to be precise. I only planted one seed, here on Earth. The tree that grew here created the human race. I tended to my children, and wanted them to learn to love and understand one another. Where Adam went for quantity, I went for quality." Lilith explained.

"Well, the world doesn't really reflect a species devoted to love and understanding. The world looks torn in half, and the smell of blood is on everything. What happened?" Sora asked.

Lilith continued. "Oh, my poor doves. They grew, and prospered. But they grew apart from one another. They put up barriers in their hearts, and separated from one another. They became individual souls and took full advantage of the wisdom inherent in each of them. They developed A.T. fields, a physical barrier that would keep them from truly becoming one. But they prospered, and made the Earth their own. The further they became from my original intention, the weaker I became until I was just a useless husk of my former self. Eventually, it grew to the point that Adam went to intervene on my behalf, but he was too weak to really do anything so the humans with their science trapped him and kept him for their own purposes. This is when the true trouble began."

"So wait, why did Adam bother to come help you? Are you two friends or something?" Sora asked.

"Our relationship is rather...unorthodox. We constantly bicker over who had the better method of creating life, but we wouldn't let any harm come to one another. His children hated me fiercely though. They see me as a threat to their father, and in a way I suppose I am." Lilith answered.

"Huh. So a love hate relationship…" Sora mumbled, looking over to Shinji and Asuka who were still sound asleep.

Lilith went on. "Well that hatred for me transferred over to my own children. Once Adam was captured, his children came for him. One after another they came for him. They wanted more though. They had their father's pride, and wanted to prove they were the best life forms even over their brothers and sisters. They came for me to destroy me, and merge with their father. You see, Adams children were of the tree of life. Instead of creating barriers between themselves, they embraced one another. Billions of souls merged into one, forming one being. Humans called these beings Angels, after the messengers of god that would come from the sky. 17 trees of life meant 17 Angels, and they were powerful. Each one had a heart stone, or core, that held all the souls that merged. If that were destroyed, then the Angel would simply dissolve into the primal liquid of life, effectively killing it."

"So, the human's lost? Is that why the world got destroyed?" Sora asked, completely enthralled by the information.

Lilith continued to answer him. "No, the humans won. See, the Angels came one after another. But humans were brilliant. They fashioned giant machines after Adam that were powerful enough to fight the Angels. Unfortunately the machine could not reach the level of a soul and the power it holds, so they had to trap female human souls in them as those are what take after me the most. Then they used the children of these mothers as pilots for the great machines, for the most part. It was sad, but effective and my children are nothing if not practical. So, they defeated every Angel, and all was well. For all of ten minutes. The humans who knew about Adam and I as well as the power we held together, wanted to use us to merge everyone in the planet into one being. They wanted to make one supreme being above all others, not an Angel but a God. But, not everyone was on board with this plan. So they had civil war, though it was terribly one sided."

"Wait wait, so they beat all the Angle's, then go and kill each other!?" Sora said surprised.

"Yes. Such is their nature. For you see there was one Angel left, the 18th Angel. The human race. Themselves." Lilitih said woefully. "But humans are stubborn and willful creatures. Their science truly knows no bounds. The creator of one of those giant robots put her own soul into it, to ensure that a piece of humanity will always stand. She would be a testament to eternity that states 'we were here'. But the pilot of her machine, poor Shinji, was unstable. The enemy broke him, and he became the vessel for the new God. But those in power miscalculated. See they created a clone of me, using that smart scientists DNA and mixing it with some of my own. This form you see before is that being, Rei. They wanted to keep me controlled in a human form they could sedate and manipulate. It was hell for me, but I found solace in Shinji's kind and innocent heart. I took a liking to him as did Rei, and instead of being used by the people who created me I took Adam from them, and gave myself over to Shinji. He alone became the God of this new world, and he alone would determine the route humanity would take."

"He had all the power, so why did he make it out like this?" Sora asked, gesturing to the surrounding area.

"Alas, he was still a broken child. I made my children with the intention to never impede on their free will. I believe life can only flourish when left to its own devices. So for better or worse I chose him. We were all bonded for a time, Adam's influence was too strong to overcome outright. But I found that some people actually preferred it this way. There was no pain, no misunderstandings. Everyone was laid bare and we knew and felt everything about each other. There were some with strong personalities however, some that were so closed off that they retained their individuality. But of them only two were so strong as to escape that heart stone. Asuka, who was so averse to someone knowing her inner workings that she chose loneliness over connection. Shinji was at the center of it all. He saw everyone and learned the why and how of them. He found a different truth, that maybe letting others in wouldn't be so bad, but that it only has meaning if it is actually another being. Not a soup of souls. So he left the heart stone as well. But…" Lillith trailed off.

"But?" Sora encouraged her.

"But you saw what happened. The moment they saw each other, the hatred came flooding back and they tried to kill each other! Oh…" Lilith said, tearing up.

Sora saw the distress on her face and went to hug her. She felt like air against his body, and he found himself quite liking the warmth she had coming off of her. She let him hug her and returned it after a moment.

"Is there anything I can do? It sounds like there is so much pain and darkness. It's my job to set that right, and I have a special interest in those two." Sora said into her ear.

She let the goosebumps roll over her body at the sensation of his breath. "What's done is done, and there is nothing left for those two except hate. Their poor undeveloped minds are stumped now and won't be able to go any further. There is only one possible way you could set things right."

"Let's do it then." Sora said with no hesitation, giving her her old sunshine smile.

"I can send you back in time, a few months before this all began, just before Shinji begins his battles with the Angel. If you can get him to open up and accept kindness, and somehow save him from the foul plans laid out for him, I believe he will make the right choice when he ascends to divinity." she told him.

"Wouldn't it be better to just avoid the whole god thing altogether?" Sora asked, confused.

"No. It is bound to happen, I cannot send you back far enough to stop those gears from turning. We can only try to steer which way it goes. You have to try to not change too many things, nor reveal that you know too much. Your enemies are all geniuses and vastly resourceful. Sometimes, you may have to let something play out. All you can do is run damage control and hope for the best. This solar system is closed off from the World, and we have our own time here so you won't be able to leave once I send you back, but only a few days will have passed in your regular time out there. Are you willing to set right this wrong, keyblade master Sora?" Lilith said.

"Well, the road ends here anyway if I don't succeed. So, I'm ready." Sora said.

"Thank you, this means so much to me. You have gained yourself a powerful ally this day. Now I will send you back. Best of luck." she told him, giving him a chaste kiss as she touched his heart and willed him back in time.

'Heh, not everyday I get to kiss a literal goddess' were Sora's final thoughts as he felt his consciousness leave him.


Author's note: Quick transition into the next world, I know. But this is my favorite world. It'll be one of the hardest to write because it's so damn serious but I'll manage. This one Sora is going Solo. Some screen time for the rest of the gang next chapter, then we dive right into the madness. See ya then.