Keys to the Kingdom

by MiniJen

Thirteen Keys, scattered across the worlds. Whoever holds them all is destined to rule the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts. As both light and darkness scour the worlds for these keys, Sora finds himself caught between standing alongside his friends as they fight for the light and struggling against the encroaching darkness invading his own heart. KH3 AU.

24. Chapter 23: The Lost Empire

Heyo! I'm back after something of a short hiatus from this fic. And with finally, another start of another Disney world. I gotta say this one was a lot of fun to work on. I have to admit I'm a little less familiar with Atlantis: The Lost Empire than I am some of the other Disney worlds in this fic, but I still think this turned out really well (seriously Atlantis is basically MADE to be in a KH game and I'm baffled that it hasn't happened yet). Anyway, with all that out of the way, let's get started!

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Chapter 23: The Lost Empire

They'll try to change your mind
They'll try to change your heart
But they will never understand
Who you are
And you'll still believe
And you know, you must go

It came out of nowhere; a massive explosion that overtook both the sky and sea alike. In a blinding flash, the ripple effect of the disaster was immediate as it swallowed everything in its wake. Those who had witnessed it raced to warn the great city of the coming devastation that was set to befall them, but there was no need; even as it swelled over the distant horizon, the coming cataclysm could be seen by all.

Darkness filled the sky as the citizens scrambled to find some semblance of shelter from the approaching storm, in the uncertain hope that they could somehow be saved from it. Little did they know that their very city itself was already starting to do exactly that.

Yet as it did, its heart took something from its people. It took a wife from her husband, a mother from her daughter, a queen from her people. A heavy price paid for the sake of saving them all.

And so it did. And so they were. Or so it seemed.

For in a single day and night of misfortune, the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea…

---

After nearly a month of relative downtime, venturing out into an entirely new world was something of a strange, yet welcome change of pace for Sora, Donald, and Goofy alike. Or rather, a return to their usual pace, one that all three of them knew would take some getting used to. Still, they had each largely agreed to proceed slowly and carefully when it came to this first venture, or at least that's what Donald and Goofy had miraculously convinced Sora to do.

Yet even as the trio began to make their way through the wide, earthen caverns they found themselves in upon arriving to this new world, Donald and Goofy could tell that much of the bravado and excitement Sora had shown on the way there had suddenly diminished. Because instead of leading the way as he usually would have done, instead he trailed behind his companions, gripping his arms in something of a loose hug as he glanced around the dark caves apprehensively. The captain and the magician exchanged a worried look after they both spared a brief glance back at Sora, their shared concern for him quite palpable even now. After all, even if he'd mostly recovered physically from what Maleficent had done to him, that didn't necessarily mean he'd fully healed in every other regard yet. Even if he liked to act as though he had.

"Gee, I wonder where we'll find a Key around here…" Goofy wondered aloud, trying to strike up a casual chat.

"Who knows?" Donald replied, using a flame spell cast above his scepter to light their way through the lengthy cavern. "What do you think, Sora? You are the one who brought us here, after all."

"Hm?" Sora flinched as he suddenly tuned in to the conversation, leaving his myriad of much more pressing thoughts by the wayside, at least for now. "Oh, uh, yeah… Well, I'm pretty sure there is a Key here, but as usual, I… don't really know where it is or how to get it…"

"I'm sure we'll figure it out, just like we have a bunch of times already," Goofy said with an encouraging grin.

"Besides," Donald added. "If your Keys Instinct is picking up on a Key here, then at least that means the Organization hasn't gotten their hands on it yet."

"Gawrsh, Donald, I thought you didn't like us callin' it the Keys Instinct," Goofy noted, chuckling.

"Eh, it's growing on me."

"They may not have this world's Key," Sora interjected, his tone completely lacking the levity of his companions' as he gripped his arms tighter. "But I'm sure they have a whole stash of other Keys by now. After all, they've had plenty of time to get them thanks to me…"

"Sora, how many times do we have to tell you?" Donald huffed fervently. "What happened to you wasn't your fault!"

"And neither is whatever the Organization might have done while you were down and out!" Goofy soundly agreed.

As if on instinct, Sora wanted to immediately argue against both of those claims. Because ultimately, he was the one who had bargained his own freedom away instead of finding another solution. He was the one who had fallen for an obvious trap in trying to escape instead of seeing it coming and outwitting it like he should have. He was the one who had succumbed to the poison, the pain, the darkness that had strangled him, suffocated him, overwhelmed him completely instead of having the strength to fight back and resist it. And perhaps worst of all, he was the one who had wasted an entire month on largely idle recovery instead of getting back to searching for the very Keys that could spell the difference between light prevailing or darkness enshrouding all.

And if that was indeed what ended up happening, if the Organization did end up claiming the rest of the Keys and Xehanort had his way, then Sora knew there would be no one to blame for such a horrific turn of events other than himself. That was a plain and simple fact he'd known for a long time now, essentially from the moment their search for the Keys had first begun, an obvious constant, an unspoken truth that was always hanging right over his head. A truth that nobody else seemed to accept other than him, not even the pair that was tirelessly searching for those Keys alongside him. "Y-yeah… I know..." he finally conceded, avoiding their worried gaze as he realized arguing for that truth would only be a waste of time they didn't really have on their side anymore.

From this reluctant, half-hearted admittance, neither Donald nor Goofy were particularly convinced. "Are you sure you're up for this?" the magician asked, stopping to turn to him as the captain did the same.

"Cause if you're not," Goofy continued. "Then you know we can always go back to Radiant Garden so you can-"

"N-no!" Sora protested without skipping a beat. "I'm fine! I'm ready for this, I know I am. We need to do this-I need to do this. I can't just sit around trying to get better forever, not when there's still so much we need to do."

"But all that stuff can afford to wait until you're feeling better," Goofy assured patiently.

"I am feeling better!" Sora reiterated, though once again, neither of his companions seemed to really buy it.

"Look, Sora," Donald began with a sigh. "We know the poison is gone and you can use your Keyblade again, but like we've already told you who knows how many times now, you shouldn't push yourself so hard. Especially not after what happened to you."

Sora let out something of a harsh, involuntary scoff at this, hating the mere mention of his brief, yet awful time spent in Maleficent's clutches and the equally horrendous memories that came along with it. "Y-yeah, what happened," he muttered, walking past both of them. "Which means it's over, and we don't have to talk about it because it's done."

"B-but, Sora-"

"Now, come on," he succinctly, almost coldly interrupted as he pressed on ahead through the tunnel. "I-I think I saw a light up ahead."

Though the conversation was all but over, both Donald and Goofy were far from content with how it had ended. Because clearly, as much as he might have said or pretended otherwise, Sora was still struggling, both with his past pain and present problems alike. But any attempts they made to get him to actually talk about either of those things and his honest feelings toward them always seemed to hit a dead end of dismissiveness. Dismissiveness they both knew would have to come to an end sooner or later, but for now they had no other choice than to let it linger. After all, if Sora was right about one thing, it was that they had another Key to collect.

So the trio forged on through the caverns, which were every bit mysterious as they were dense and deep. Though largely obscured by shadows, there were still scattered fragments of ruins strewn about: a battered column here, a broken statue there, though aside from those hints of faded society, there didn't seem to be any signs of life, friendly, hostile or otherwise, anywhere in sight. That is, outside of the fairly fresh tire tracks and footprints the trio had no choice but to follow as they pressed ever deeper into the unknown. And in time, those trails they were tracking eventually led the right to their source, and the realization that they were far from the only travelers traversing these tunnels.

Because as they emerged into another large and lofty room of the caves, the trio was met with a peculiar sight; a makeshift campsite, in the midst of being set up by a group of about 50 or so people. Said group seemed to be some sort of segmented army or some other similar sort of crew based on the rather disheveled uniforms a handful of them were wearing as they tended to their small caravan of trucks, tanks, and even a vehicular drill. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were mutually fascinated as they ventured out into the bustling camp, none of them even thinking about how out of place they were when compared to everyone else. That is, until someone else noticed that fact instead.

"You three! Hold it right there!" A sharp shout caught the trio off guard as they turned to see a tall, blonde, authoritative woman marching swiftly toward them with a severe scowl on her face all the while.

"Oh, hi," Sora tried offering her a friendly greeting, though he was almost immediately cut off.

"What are you doing?" the woman demanded harshly. "How'd you get down here? I've been keeping a careful headcount on all our men since the sub went down, and I know for a fact that none of you are part of that count."

"Uh, well…" Sora began uncertainly as the woman skeptically glanced all three of them up and down. "We came, uh, down here-wherever here is-to look for-"

"Look for what?" the woman raised an eyebrow, her hand slowly, discreetly drifting toward the pistol strapped to her hip.

"A Key!" Goofy informed obliviously.

"...Key?" the woman repeated as she pulled her hand away from her weapon. "What in the world are you-"

"Lieutenant!" The conversation was abruptly interrupted by the arrival of a man who was every bit as intimidating as his apparent lieutenant. He was a good bit older with a large, sturdy build, though surprisingly enough he seemed to be much more amicable than the rather hostile woman he came to stand alongside. "What appears to be the problem here?"

"Commander Rourke," the woman acknowledged her superior with a terse nod. "Looks like we've got three stowaways on our hands, even if it makes absolutely no sense as to how. They say they're looking for some sort of Key-"

"A Key, hm?" the commander, Rourke, mused curiously as he turned to the trio. "Who just who might you boys be, exactly?"

By now, several other members of the crew had gathered around to spectate on the encounter and try to make some sense out of this trio of newcomers, though Sora addressed them all evenly as he introduced himself and his companions. "I'm Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy, and we are here to look for a Key, but first, do you mind filling us in on where we are and what's going on?"

"Are you kidding?" the lieutenant asked with an incredulous scoff. "How do you end up hundreds of leagues below the sea, make it past that leviathan monster that took most of our crew out, and trudge all the way down here without having a single clue about where you are?"

"Ease up a bit, Helga," Rourke said, crossing his arms. "It's not like we're entirely clear on where we are right now either. Well, other than underground, that is."

"A truly marvelous place to be!" another crew member, a stout, begoggled man, piped up enthusiastically from the sidelines.

"Speak for yourself, Mole," the much taller, muscular, yet easy-going man standing alongside Mole remarked swiftly. "I don't know about everyone else, I'm really startin' to miss the sun. A man needs his vitamin D."

"Vitamin D? Aw, phooey!" an elderly, eccentric man huffed indignantly. "That's all that newfangled doctor talk o' yours, Sweet. Everyone knows the only vitamin anybody needs is L. For lard!"

"Pfft, maybe according to you, Cookie," a young, overall-clad woman noted dryly, hands on her hips. "But some of us actually like eating real food."

"Lard's the realest food there is, little lady!" Cookie protested brashly.

An older, rather deadpan woman among the group scoffed dryly. "It's about as real as my ex-husband's-"

"Packard!" Helga interjected just in time.

"Hey, I have a question," another member of the crew, a tall, lean, mustached man asked in a thick forign accent, addressing the trio in particular. "How did you three get down here in the first place? 'Cause if you used dynamite, that's my department. And if you used nitroglycerin, that's also my department."

"Um… no?" Sora replied, a bit confused. "We actually got here in a-" He stopped short upon catching the warning glare Donald was sending his way, a silent reminder to maintain the world order, something he was admittedly out of practice with after a month of not needing to do so. "In a… very boring way! Like, really, really uninteresting. In fact it was so boring that I'm getting tired just talking about it." As he tried to play off his rather awkward answer with a faux yawn, Goofy barely managed to stifle an amused chuckle while Donald face-palmed in annoyance. At the same time, none of the crew really seemed to buy this rather lame excuse as they exchanged dubious glances amongst each other.

"Yeesh, poor kid's a bit of a mess, huh?" Dr. Sweet remarked to the teen girl beside him, aside.

"Yeah," she smirked. "He's almost as bad as-"

"Incredible! Unbelievable! Outstanding!"

"Speak of the linguist…" Mole muttered as everyone eyed the one who was enthusiastically running to join the rest of the gathered group.

He was a fairly young man, thin and lanky and quite excitable as he rushed to meet the trio in particular. "T-this is amazing!" he adjusted his large glasses with a wide grin as he looked over each of them curiously before turning back to the rest of the crew. "Don't you all know who they are?"

"Yeah," the mustoniached man said bluntly. "They just told us who they are."

"No, no, no," the linguist shook his head. "If they're all the way down here, this close to where we're going, and they're dressed like-well, like nobody I've ever seen topside before, at least-them being able to speak English is a little unexpected, but I guess anything's possible-s-still, there's only one logical explanation: they're Atlanteans!"

A beat of skeptical silence passed amongst the crew at this, though the trio met it with blatant confusion above all else. "We're... what?" Sora asked, puzzled.

"Atlanteans!" the linguist repeated, opening up some sort of journal filled with practically unreadable text that he presented the trio eagerly. "Y-you know, from Atlantis? Lost city, buried at the bottom of the sea for thousands of years? It is where you guys are from, right?"

"...Uh, I don't know… Is it?" Sora looked to Donald for a definitive answer, unsure of what to say to properly maintain the world order in this instance.

"No," Donald answered flatly, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"Oh." Sora turned back to the linguist. "Then I guess we're not. Sorry."

"W-wha-but… how…" he trailed off, frowning as he flipped through several pages of his book.

"Alright, that's enough, Mr. Thatch," Rourke interjected, placing a hand on the linguist's shoulder. "I'm sure our new… friends here don't want to be bothered while in the middle of looking for… what was it again, a lock?"

"A Key, actually," Sora corrected before turning to the somewhat disappointed linguist with a smile. "And don't worry, you're not bothering us. What did you say your name was again?"

"Milo," the linguist introduced himself with a bright grin, extending a hand out in greeting. "Milo Thatch, expert linguist. And cartographer. And expedition guide-" He stopped short as Rourke cleared his throat quite intentionally. "T-though that last title is completely unofficial."

"Cool! It's nice meeting you, Milo," Sora smiled, returning his handshake.

"So, what was that Atlantis place you were talking about earlier?" Goofy inquired, curious.

"You mean you haven't heard of it?" Milo asked, baffled as he looked between the three. "S-so, let me get this straight, you guys somehow wound up all the way down here, right next to the very entrance to Atlantis-or at least it's just about the entrance according to the Shepherd's Journal here-and you don't even know what it is in the first place?!"

"Yes, we've already established that none of this makes any sort of sense, Thatch," Helga spoke up boredly as some of the group started to disperse to get back to their prior business. "There's no need to beat a dead horse."

"Well, unless it's a piñata," the mustached man pointed out. "But that's not really a horse, it's a donkey. And it's not really dead either, it's paper. But you still give it a good beating either way-"

"Alright, Vinny, we get it," the teen girl cut him off sardonically.

"W-well, anyway," Milo addressed the trio, getting the conversation back on track. "Atlantis is an ancient, powerful civilization that was destroyed centuries upon centuries ago by some huge catastrophe. Most believe it's just a myth, but this book right here, the Shepherd's Journal, has an exact map showing where it is. And even though it's taken us a lot, and I mean a lot to get here, we're almost there. Atlantis and all its secrets should be just over that bridge." He nodded to the long, narrow passage that led even further into the unknown darkness up ahead, or rather, to something else altogether.

"Whoa… that's amazing!" Sora said, both him and his companions equally fascinated by Milo's description of the mysterious city. "So what are you guys gonna do once you get there?"

"Well, we're-"

"We're gonna find a bunch of old treasure, bring it back, and get filthy rich," the teen girl piped up plainly, with just about every member of the crew soundly agreeing with her.

"Uh, yeah… well, as Audrey so… eloquently put it, they're mostly in it for the money," Milo said with a small, awkward chuckle before his previous excitement sparked back up again. "B-but what I want to see is the power source the Atlanteans used to make their civilization so advanced-my grandfather used to tell me all sorts of old legends about it when I was a kid. The journal almost starts detailing more about it, but then it just… cuts off. Almost like there's a missing page. But it still mentions something called 'the Heart of Atlantis'..."

"A Heart?" Sora exchanged an intrigued glance with Donald and Goofy at this. "You don't think…?"

"Could be…" Donald mused, knowing that the heart of a given world wasn't exactly an uncommon thing for them to come across at this point.

"Yeah, it could help lead us to the Key!" Goofy agreed, voicing exactly what the other two were thinking and hoping for.

"You're looking for a Key?" Now it was Milo's turn to be immensely interested (even more than he already was) as he put the journal away and pulled out a small notepad instead. "Mind telling a bit more about it? After all, you fellas think it might be in Atlantis, then it must be something worth looking further into."

Sora was more than ready to tell Milo whatever he could on the Key, glad to have already made a fast friend in this world who was eager to aid in their search. Yet before he could even get a word out, Rourke cut in once more. "Now, now, Mr. Thatch, let's keep our eyes on the prize here," the commander said coolly. "Especially since we're so close. You wouldn't want us to get distracted on some… wild Key hunt, would you?"

"It's not a wild Key-" Sora was cut off as Rourke put up a hand to silence him, though Milo was ultimately the one to speak up instead.

"W-well, commander," the linguist began, adjusting his glasses. "I just thought maybe we could benefit from-"

The entire conversation was starkly interrupted as a sudden explosion rattled the entire platform the crew's camp was being set up on. As everyone rushed to retain their footing from the quake, the source of it soon became clear as a swell of noisy panic arose from various other members of the crew either rushing for their weapons or rushing to safety. "Monsters!" a handful of soldiers cried out as they ran past the startled group.

"What in the-" Rourke didn't get a chance to finish as Helga suddenly swept in front of him, her pistol drawn as she swiftly took aim and fired at one of the sleek, white "monsters" rushing for them.

"W-what are those things?!" Milo asked, aptly alarmed as he pulled the Shepherd's Journal back out and began frantically flipping through it.

"What, you mean that fancy book of yours doesn't have all the answers this time?" Audrey taunted as she managed to beat back one of the creatures with a stray piece of pipe.

"N-no!" Milo gasped as Dr. Sweet narrowly managed to push him out of the way of a flying monster's attack. "I've never seen or heard of monsters like these at all!"

"We have!" Sora exclaimed, not wasting any time in summoning his Keyblade as Donald and Goofy also brought out their own weapons.

"They're called Nobodies-" Goofy informed, deflecting an attack with his shield.

"And they're more than their fair share of trouble!" Donald huffed as he shot down a handful of swarming Nobodies with a lightning spell.

"We can take care of these guys," Sora tightened his grip on his Keyblade, preparing to join the fray alongside his companions, though hesitating at the same time. "Commander, you should get your crew out of here. This could get dangerous."

"My crew can handle more than a little danger by now, son," Rourke retorted. However, he did stop short upon noticing just how much more effective the trio's weapons seemed to be in dealing with the rampaging Nobodies compared to the more traditional autillary of his troops, which only seemed to stun the ctreautes at most. "Then again, it never hurts to have some… insurance. If you boys think you've got this covered, then we'll leave you to it. Everyone!" he called to the struggling crew at large. "Fall back! Let's get into the caves! Move it!"

No one argued with this command as they all rushed to gather their supplies, narrowly avoiding the ever-growing horde of Nobodies as they packed whatever they could back into their vehicles. Everyone largely scattered amidst the noisy chaos of both the attack and the attempt to escape from it, but amidst it all, Sora, Donald, and Goofy remained together to face the threat head-on. Or rather, the latter pair was facing the threat just as they always would have, yet as they did, Sora had still yet to take a single swing of his Keyblade. Instead, he remained still, upholding a battle-ready stance but not making any actual advances against the crowd of Nobodies surrounding them. He almost, almost did, but every time he started to move his Keyblade to attack, his nerves always managed to hold him back at the very last second.

And each time they did, Sora silently, yet woefully reminded himself that he had been poisoned, weakened, his strength sapped to the point that he wasn't even sure if he could hold his own in a fight as simple as this anymore. True, he had participated in plenty of practice skirmishes with Leon and Axel and the others back in Radiant Garden, but an attack like this wasn't just mere practice; it was the real thing. A real, tangible, dangerous threat that, if he was perfectly honest with himself, he was far out of practice when it came to standing against. His strength had been taken from him before, but at least then he'd had the verve and the perseverance to build it back up again. But now, here he was, weak and weary as he found himself trembling in legitimate fear before a pack of simple-minded, low-level Nobodies of all things, creatures he'd torn through and taken down with ease so many times but couldn't even muster the courage to raise his Keyblade against now all because he'd lied before; he thought he could do this, he thought he was ready, but he wasn't, he couldn't do this, he wasn't ready-

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy's shared cry of alarm only partially broke him out of his spiraling internal panic. With a sharp gasp, he glanced up at the pair as they finished off another round of Nobodies, though those monsters were quickly left by the wayside as they raced for their frightened young companion with another warning cry. "Look out!"

Sora spun around just in time to see the large, blade-wielding Nobody towering over him from behind, its weapon held high in preparation for a brutal attack. Unable to do much else, he only had time to raise his Keyblade to block the heavy swing, which ultimately ended up knocking him back hard as it landed squarely against his weapon. The Nobody wasted no time in gearing up for a similar blow now that Sora had fallen, slightly injured, to the ground, though this time, that blow landed against Goofy's shield instead.

The next several minutes only barely registered for Sora as he hardly even felt present within them. The ringing in his ears was practically deafening as his entire body continued trembling uncontrollably, his heart racing as his breathing turned short and shallow. He was only vaguely aware of the remaining Nobodies still swarming all around them, vaguely aware of the crew's vehicles roaring into motion so they could make their hasty escape, vaguely aware that his Keyblade had disappeared from his now-empty grip, vaguely aware of Goofy doing his best to defend against the largest monster among them, vaguely aware of Donald shaking him by the shoulders, asking him a barrage of frantic questions that he couldn't answer because he couldn't speak, he couldn't move, he couldn't think-

And suddenly, he was on his feet again, running, or rather, being pulled along by Donald and Goofy, who had apparently decided to leave the horde of Nobodies behind altogether. As completely detached from reality itself as he still felt, Sora was only really able to pick up on snippets of what they were saying as the ran to catch up with the fleeing crew: "-what's wrong with-", "-won't answer any-", "can't get him to snap out of-", "-knew he wasn't ready!"

"I-I'm not ready!" Sora suddenly spoke up, his voice tight to the point that he felt like he was choking on it. All at once, the heavy haze he'd inexplicably fallen under abruptly lifted, dropping him right back into the present moment, as hectic and frenzied as it was. Even so, he stopped short just at the start of the bridge, pulling his hands out of his companions' grip as he looked between both of them, completely distraught, "I-I'm not ready for this," he repeated, his breathing so tense and erratic he was practically hyperventilating. "I'm not-I-I can't-" He stopped short, his own palpable dread put on pause the moment he felt the bridge they were on suddenly jolt with a sickening crack. Donald and Goofy felt it too, though no one on the caravan of trucks and tanks steadily rumbling across it seemed to, even as the weight of those very vehicles wore the ancient structure's integrity down immensely.

"The bridge!" the trio exclaimed in startled unison, the past few minutes completely forgotten as they all ran together to warm the others. However, they didn't even have time to do that as the bridge suddenly began to crumble completely. The near end of the structure snapped apart from its base, its equally time-withered other end following suit immediately after, something that everyone on the bridge felt this time as it shuddered violently beneath them. In an instant, the bridge itself began to slowly collapse, the collection of vehicles on it starting to roll backward as the incline became steeper and steeper. Several of the stalled trucks collided into each other as they slipped further down into the chasm, miraculously landing on solid ground as the bridge fell completely. Amidst this, Sora, Donald, and Goofy rushed to jump into one of the trucks, largely to avoid being crushed as the vehicles continued tumbling down in an unstoppable, chaotic landslide.

And yet, that landslide did eventually come to a stop, a dramatic, disastrous one as the caravan finally came to a crashing halt at the bottom of the pitch-black ravine. In the immediate aftermath of this crash, all went deathly silent, with everyone thrown into complete darkness as everyone tried to regather their lost bearings. Rourke was the first to pipe up, striking a match to shed some light on the otherwise very dark area all around them. "All right, who's not dead? Sound off."

He was met with a series of disheveled moans and mutters, but for the most part, the entire company seemed to be fine, if not much worse for wear. The same couldn't exactly be said for their vehicles, which had been tossed and strewn about all over the bottom of the pit they now found themselves in. A cursory damage report from Audrey revealed that only two of the rigs had been absolutely totaled, but the rest would fortunately still run. Mole attributed their incredible survival to their surprisingly soft landing at the bowels of a long-dormant volcano, one that had the potential to lead to a route directly to the surface. A route that, as trapped and directionless as they all currently seemed to be, the crew was heavily considering taking.

Still, they weren't exactly bringing their search for the lost city to an end quite yet. Repairs to the busted vehicles were soon underway as supplies were re-accounted for and mostly minor wounds and injuries were treated. Amidst this buzz of activity, Sora, Donald, and Goofy had slipped away to the sidelines, mostly to recuperate from that last battle and its fallout in whatever limited way they could.

"I-I don't know what happened," Sora began, sitting on a piece of rubble as Donald and Goofy anxiously fretted over him. "I just… froze up, and i-it was like I was in a total fog, and I… I'm sorry…"

"Don't be sorry," Donald said with a tired, yet understanding sigh. "You said so yourself, you're weren't ready for this. And we should have thought more about that before we came all the way here."

"Maybe we left Radiant Garden too soon," Goofy added, frowning. "Do you want to go back? I'm sure Leon, Kairi, and the others wouldn't mind if we-"

"N-no, we can't go back," Sora insisted as he rose to stand, hoping to show the pair that he had more resolve, more courage left in him than the panicked cowardice he'd shown earlier. "We still have a Key to find, and besides, if Nobodies are here, then the Organization can't be too far behind. Which means if we leave, everyone here will be in danger. We have to help them."

"But what if that happens again?" Donald asked, genuinely concerned. "We won't get very far if you keep shutting down every time we run into a bunch of Nobodies. You know that."

"I won't shut down," Sora countered firmly, trying to convince himself just as much as his companions. "I can't, not again. I may not have been ready this time, but I'll do whatever I can to be ready next time. I promise."

Despite his earnesty, Donald and Goofy still exchanged a worried glance, neither of them too keen on re-experiencing what had just happened. Seeing Sora completely freeze up, his eyes glazing over into a distant, empty, terror-filled stare, his breathing short and strangled, and his words and reactions completely non-existent had shaken both the captain and the magician quite a bit. Both of them had already reached the unspoken agreement that he still needed more time to recover, if not physically, than mentally, from the torturous ordeal he'd been through. But of course, that was a sentiment that Sora didn't seem to share in the slightest, even if he probably should have.

"Sora… you know we just wanna help you, right?" Goofy asked kindly, carefully.

"That's right," Donald soundly agreed. "And we wanna do that now more than ever after what happened to-"

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to talk about that!" Sora suddenly interrupted quite harshly, his hands in tight fists at his sides.

"Well, maybe we should!" the magician countered just as severely, even though the captain wanted to take a much calmer approach. "For all you know, talking about it instead of you just bottling it all up might actually help you!"

"H-help me?!" Sora scoffed incredulously. "How in the worlds would talking about how I was captured and poisoned and tor-" He sharply cut himself off before the loathsome word, the horrific, yet all too true thought, could even escape him. "It wouldn't help," he finished coldly, not knowing if anything actually could at this point.

Though Donald let out an irritated huff at this, Goofy was quick to step in much more rationally and even-tempered. "If you're not ready to talk about it, Sora, then you don't have to," he said, putting on a small, reassuring smile. "But we want you to know that whenever you are, Donald and I will be right here to listen."

Sora finally allowed himself to ease up a bit at this, turning to meet the pair's genuine, encouraging expressions. A part of him did actually want to accept their encouragement, their solidarity, the support they were both so clearly willing to give him. And yet the thought of voicing the nightmares of the recent past, or even worse, his newfound growing fears for his future, to anyone, including two of his closest friends and companions, was more than he could really hope to bear. So once again, he didn't. "Ok," was all he said as he started to head back to rejoin the others.

Not knowing what else to do, Donald and Goofy followed him, though the rather forlorn trio didn't get very far before they were pulled aside by the pair in charge of the rest of the crew. "There you boys are," Rourke greeted the trio with an easy grin. "Glad to see you're all still in one piece after all that. I was just telling Lieutenant Sinclair here about how you three managed to distract those… 'Anybodies' or whatever they're called so our crew could make a clean getaway. Well, almost clean…" he said, glancing over the wreckage of vehicles behind him.

"I might have had you three pegged all wrong at first," Helga added smoothly, yet almost insincerely. "You might be just a bit more than you're cracked up to be with impressive work like that."

"Y-yeah… impressive…" Sora said with a forced chuckle, knowing that they must not have gotten a good look at how absolutely unimpressive that last skirmish really was.

"All this to say that if we all are in fact heading to the same place," Rourke continued. "We'd appreciate it a great deal if you fellas came along with us for the rest of the way. Never hurts to have a bit of extra muscle on hand, especially with things like them roaming around." He nodded up to where the bridge had collapsed from, where they'd supposedly left the flock of attacking Nobodies behind.

"Oh, yeah, of course," Sora agreed with a small smile. "We'd be more than happy to join you guys."

"You can count on us!" Goofy chimed in brightly.

"Plus, we can look for that Key along the way," Donald reminded.

"Just like we always do," Sora smirked, finally showing a bit of levity that he'd previously lost. A small, but reassuring sign for both of his companions to say the least.

"Well, then welcome to the team," Rourke said with a satisfied nod. "I'm sure Mr. Thatch will be the first to volunteer to help you look for that Key of yours. Won't you, Thatch?" The commander paused, only to receive no answer from Milo. Largely since Milo wasn't even there to begin with. "Thatch?" By now, several of the other crew members had picked up on the linguist's alarming absence as they began to shine their flashlights around through the darkness to try and spot him, even if by all accounts, he was seemingly nowhere to be found. "Thatch!"

---

Milo wasn't exactly sure what had knocked him out in the first place, but he was aware of the low, whispering voices conversing somewhere near him before he even really regained consciousness. When he finally did groggily open his eyes, he was met with a sight that shocked him stiff. A group of strange, possibly humanoid figures was crowded around him, though their large, monstrous masks made what they really were rather unclear. All the same, Milo seized up in apt terror as they drew in closer with their spear-like weapons, still muttering amongst themselves in a language he was only barely able to recognize thanks to years of careful study. He was more than ready to get up and flee from these mysterious beings, though a sharp, sudden pain lancing through his shoulders kept him pinned to his place on the ground. One of the masked figures leaned down beside him as he gripped the small, but steadily bleeding wound near his collarbone, one he must have sustained during the chaotic fall from the bridge. He almost didn't notice the figure lift its large mask either, until he finally caught a glance of the woman who had been hidden behind it.

She was beautiful, to say the least, with warm skin, captivating features, and bright ocean-blue eyes with a distinct tattoo of the same shade resting on her cheek under one of them. Her hair was pure white and hung long and loose and free, taking on the almost mystical azure glow the gleaming crystal hanging around her neck put off. She moved slowly, awe filling her expression as she leaned in closer to Milo, who was every bit as stunned by her as she seemed to be by him. She focused on the cut on his shoulder however, pulling her crystal close to it for a moment before abruptly pressing her palm against it. Milo gasped in reactionary pain, yet it was very quick to fade, just as the cut itself did as the woman pulled her hand away, the glow that had surrounded it and the spot she had rested it upon disappearing without a trace just as much as the wound itself somehow had. As bewildered as Milo was by such an inexplicable miracle, when he glanced up to the woman again, he caught her offering him something of a wry, almost playful smile just as she dropped her mask back over her face, hiding it from view once more.

No more than a second later, a large crash rattled through the cavern, prompting the woman and her similarly-masked companions to abruptly take off running. "H-hey! Wait!" Milo called after them as he scrambled to his feet. Somewhere behind him, the crew's drill, as well as the rest of their functional vehicles were clearing a rocky rise to approach him, yet the linguist paid them no mind as he hurried after the group of mysterious warriors once again. "Who… who are you!? Where are you going?! Come back!"

Milo got no answer as he essentially bounded between stones to try (and fail) to catch up to the group. Still, he'd never been one to give up so easily as he continued pursuing them over the difficult terrain, even as they slipped through an opening that flooded hints of light in through the edge of the otherwise shadowy cave. Yet as soon as he emerged out of that opening himself, he found himself stumbling upon the very thing he'd dreamed of finding for as long as he could remember.

From his spot on the edge of the grassy cliff, Milo didn't even turn as the drill burst through the cliffside behind him, nor did he pay any mind as the others all rushed to join him, the trio leading the pack to make sure he was unharmed. Yet as they did, each of them was immediately struck by the very same sort of awe that had already hit the linguist as they took in the grand sight that lay before them. A massive plateau of crystal blue waterfalls poured down into the molten lava that flowed in the chasm far below it. And, resting atop that plateau at its very heart was what could only be described as a towering spire of a city.

"Sweet mother of Jefferson Davis!" Cookie was the first to pipe up amongst the dumbfounded group.

"It's beautiful," Audrey said with a dazzled smile.

"Golly, it sure is…" Goofy agreed, thoroughly amazed.

"Oh yeah," Sora let out a relieved sigh, already sensing the immense, almost mythical energy emanating from this incredible place. "There's no doubt about it. There's definitely a Key here…"

"No kidding," Donald remarked, though even amidst his sarcasm he was still clearly impressed by the view.

"Milo, I gotta hand it to you," Dr. Sweet slapped a hand onto the linguist's shoulder. "You really came through." Before Milo even had a chance to respond, the celebration was swiftly cut short as the group of masked warriors from earlier returned, jumping down from their hidden perch to take up their spears against the crew with a round of rowdy war cries. "Uh… I take that back," Dr. Sweet recanted nervously.

For their part, the crew prepared their own pistols and muskets for a possible brawl, and as a precaution, Sora, Donald, and Goofy called upon their own weapons and took up a defensive stance too. The warriors inched in closer, though despite brandishing their spears, they made no apparent moves to attack, though their bizarre, ceremonial masks alone gave them a generally unsettling, unknown vibe overall.

"Holy cats, who are these guys!?" Rourke asked Milo as he reached for his pistol.

"Uh… y-you know how I was wrong earlier about Sora, Donald, and Goofy being Atlanteans?" Milo began, nodding apprehensively to the warriors before them. "Well, I-I think these guys might actually be Atlanteans."

"What? That's impossible!" Helga protested crossly.

Before Milo could argue his case, one of the warriors, namely the woman who had healed him earlier, suddenly spoke up, her tone harsh and authoritative as she spoke in a language none of the crew could understand. Well, almost none of them. "I think it's talking to you," Mole muttered, pulling on Milo's arm.

"What's she saying?" Sora asked the linguist, aptly confused.

"I… I think she's speaking Atlantean…" Milo frowned, stepping forward carefully. While he wasn't quite fluent in the long-dead language, he made a basic attempt at communicating, hoping to at the very least communicate to the warriors that they meant them no harm. The woman took pause at this, removing her mask once again to reveal her simple, mostly-blue attire as she continued speaking with the linguist. Their conversation was largely unintelligible, shifting through several different languages entirely until Milo ventured a question that the crew could actually make out. "And… what about this? Do you understand this?"

"Yes, I do!" the woman responded with a bright, excited smile. A ripple of relief washed over both groups as the other warriors removed their masks, greeting the crew amicably as they all put their weapons away.

"We are explorers from the surface world," Rourke addressed the warriors slowly with a broad, confident smile. "We come in peace."

"Then welcome," the woman said cordially as she motioned to the place she called home. "To the city of Atlantis! Come!" She ran back to Milo, grabbing him by the hand and eagerly pulling him along after her. "You must speak with my father now."

With this, the crew was on the move once more as Rourke sent half of the group back to the shaft to salvage whatever they could from the wreckage. The rest followed the Atlanteans' lead across the long, narrow bridge toward the legendary city itself. Most everyone was in flux between excitement at their incredible discovery and contentedness that they were finally back in some form of structured society. However, Milo was by far the most elated on the way to the city as he spent the time enthusiastically detailing his notes both old and new to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, who were quite intrigued to hear them given how fascinating and potentially helpful the information might prove to be.

"Someone's having a good time," Helga remarked to Rourke, aside as she largely tuned the linguist's ramblings out.

"Like a kid at Christmas," Rourke agreed with a dry smirk.

"...Commander," the lieutenant spoke up after a beat of hesitation. "There were not supposed to be people down here. This changes everything."

"This changes nothing," Rourke retorted coldly. "Why else do you think I wanted some extra… 'muscle' to come along?" He sent a subtle nod back at the trio as they continued to keep pace alongside Milo.

"If push came to shove, do you really think those three would be up to it?" Helga asked, doubtful. "They all seem a bit too… wide-eyed and innocent for that, especially the kid."

"Well, if they don't have the stomachs for it, then that's hardly a problem," Rourke scowled, patting the pistol strapped to his belt. "It'll just be a matter of tying up some… loose ends. Might as well get used to the idea, lieutenant, 'cause I have a feeling we're gonna have to do a lot of that down here."

"As long as I walk out of the whole thing with my cut, then you can tie up as many loose ends as you want, commander," Helga remarked, just as nonchalant about the implied horrific act as Rourke had been. An act that they both had every intention of carrying out if things did in fact go awry.

If Atlantis had been impressive from a distance, it was even more incredible up close. The city was made up of towering, beautifully designed buildings and towers, with ancient monuments naturally decorated with vibrant fauna that seemed to be completely unique to Atlantis itself. Despite supposedly being "lost", the city itself was actually well populated as Atlantean civilians paused their usual activities to watch the caravan of newfound visitors make their way through the square on their way to the palace. The woman continued to lead the group all the way to the throne room, where her father, none other than the king of Atlantis himself, was waiting.

The king was well-on in years, though his long white beard and regal, yet simple attire commanded respect even as he reclined against his low throne. His face was adorned with same of the same sort of clean blue tattoos his daughter had, albeit more of them as one passed over one of his eyes, both of which seemed to be completely blind based on how pale and empty they were. The princess greeted him in Atlantean as she led the way through his semi-submerged chamber, bowing low in reverence to him. Somewhat familiar with the city's customs, Milo also bowed, encouraging everyone else to do the same, and while the trio respectfully did, Rourke and Helga remained standing throughout the entire exchange.

The king made something of a calm, yet dismissive remark, one that his daughter tried to protest in apparent frustration. He was quick to shut her down, however, his tone alone making it quite clear that he was far from pleased by the unfolding situation. "Your majesty," Rourke spoke up evenly. "On behalf of my crew, may I say it is an honor to be welcomed to your city."

"Um, e-excuse me?" Milo tried to interject, having actually largely understood the preceding conversation. "Commander?"

"You presume much to think you are welcome here," the king said with a disapproving frown.

"Oh, but sir," Rourke continued anyway. "We have come a long way looking for-"

"I know what you seek, and you will not find it here," the king insisted. "Your journey has been in vain."

"But we are peaceful explorers. Men of science-"

The king let out a harsh, almost disgusted chuckle at this. "Men of science," he repeated coldly. "Just the same as the last unwelcome visitor who arrived just a short time ago hailed himself to be? The same visitor who came claiming to offer his knowledge before unleashing a plague of dangerous creatures upon my people, forcing them to hide themselves away in fear? Try as you might to convince me otherwise, you and your followers are no better than that menace in the black coat."

"A black coat?!" Sora suddenly exclaimed, Donald and Goofy both instantly sharing his alarm at this news. "What did this guy look like? Where is he now? Did you-"

"Er… Sora?" Milo stopped him anxiously as he glanced back over to the king. "Now… might not be the best time…"

"My city has already seen enough sorrow caused by outsiders like yourselves," the king rose to stand, his stance on the matter quite firm. "Return to your people. You must leave Atlantis at once."

"Oh, your majesty," Rourke let out an incredulous chuckle at this. "Be reasonable. I mean, we don't even know anyone in a black-"

"Um, sir?" Milo interrupted.

"Not now, son."

"Trust me on this," the linguist pleaded earnestly. "We better do as he says."

Rourke contemplated this advice for a moment before strangely seeming to comply with it. Or at the very least, try to make a last-ditch compromise with it. "May I respectfully ask that we stay one night, sir?" he asked the king. "That would give us time to rest, resupply, and be ready to travel by morning."

"Hm…" the king mused, still clearly against the idea, though he finally conceded all the same. "Very well. One night. That is all."

"Thank you, your majesty," Rourke agreed with a small nod as the group began to take their leave. Even as they did, however, Milo couldn't help but spare a glance back at the princess, who merely saw him off with a sad, almost disappointed sigh. Her disappointment only continued to linger as the doors closed behind the group, leaving her alone with her father.

"Your heart has softened, Kida," the king said, lying upon his throne once more. "A thousand years ago, you would have slain them on sight."

"A thousand years ago, the streets were lit, there were no strange monsters roaming around, and our people did not have to scavenge for food at the edge of a crumbling city!" Kida protested, using her crystal to reignite the lantern above her father.

"The people are content-"

"Because they do not know any better!" the princess argued resiliently as she tended to the ailing king. "We were once a great people. Now we live in ruins. The kings of our past would weep if they could see how far we have fallen."

"Kida-"

"I know just as well as you do what the man in the black coat did," Kida huffed indignantly. "But what if these new outsiders are different than he was? What if they truly came to help? If they can help us unlock the secrets of our past… perhaps we can save our future."

"What they have to teach us," the king concluded tiredly. "We have already learned."

"Our way of life is dying," Kida implored, practically desperate at this point.

"Our way of life is preserved," the king countered, enclosing his hands around his daughter's. "Kida, when you take the throne, you will understand."

For now, the most Kida knew she could really do was accept her father's wisdom in an argument she never really won, even if she didn't want to simply understand. She yearned to fix what had been broken for her people for so long now, to bring them out of the darkness and back out into the light. But now, standing just outside this very room, was what could very well be the only real chance for her to do exactly that. And that wasn't a chance she was about to pass up, even if she had to go over her father's head to do it.

---

"So… how'd it go?" Dr. Sweet asked as the small group that had ventured into the throne room emerged to join the rest of the crew.

"Well…" Milo began, recounting what he'd overheard of the royal family's conversation. "The king and his daughter don't exactly see eye to eye. She seems to like us ok, but the king… I dunno, I think he's hiding something. And then there was that whole thing about some guy in a black coat…"

"We might know something about that actually," Sora said, exchanging a knowing look with Donald and Goofy. "Whoever that guy is, he's gotta be with Organization XIII. They're the ones behind the Nobodies we saw back in the caves, which are probably the monsters the king mentioned too."

"Great, so now we've got some whole other pack of wackjobs to compete with?" Rourke asked, disgruntled.

"The Organization must be down here lookin' for that Key too," Goofy inferred.

"But they won't get it if we have anything to do about it!" Donald chimed in firmly.

"No, not this time, they won't," Sora agreed, refusing to let the Organization get the better of him like they had over a month ago now. "I just wish we had more time to search the city for it. One night isn't gonna be even close to enough time to look around a place this huge!"

"Tell me about it..." Milo morosely agreed, jotting down whatever notes he could about the city before it was too late.

"You know, somebody really ought to talk to that princess," Helga spoke up with a cunning smirk.

"I will go!" Mole readily, eagerly volunteered.

"Someone with good people skills…" Vinny added thoughtfully.

"I will do it!"

"Someone who won't scare her away," Dr. Sweet continued on the same train of thought.

"I volunteer!"

"Someone who can speak the language," Packard noted as dryly as ever.

"For the good of the mission, I will go!" Mole exclaimed with a dutiful salute.

"Good man, Thatch," Rourke pulled Milo out of his notes with a pat on the shoulder. "Thanks for volunteering." While Mole let out a round of mournful sobs over missing such an opportunity, Milo was simply caught off guard by the mission he'd suddenly been entrusted out of the blue.

"Go get 'em, tiger," Audrey teased, offering the linguist a light punch on the shoulder as most of the crew began to file out of the palace.

"W-wait!" Milo called after them anxiously, though they left him behind to his task all the same with only the trio staying with him. "Oh geez, I don't know if I can do this… W-what am I supposed to even say to her?!"

"Well, you sure did seem to hit it off with her before," Goofy pointed out.

"Yeah, but how am I supposed to convince her to go against her father-who, might I remind you, is the king of Atlantis-just to let us stay here just a little longer?" Milo asked, clearly stressed and frazzled by the concept.

"Don't worry," Sora offered him an encouraging smile. "We'll help you talk to her."

"Yeah, since she might know something about that Key too!" Donald added in agreement.

"Thanks, fellas," Milo let out a relieved sigh. "So, we should-Oh my gosh, she's coming!" He let out a startled gasp as the throne room door began rumbling open behind them. Without warning, he pushed the trio behind a nearby large pillar before joining them in taking refuge there out of sight himself. "O-Ok, we can't take no for an answer," the linguist whispered to the trio, his tone serious and bold. "How's this sound: 'I have some questions for you, and I'm not leaving this city until they're answered!'?"

"Uh… well, it's… intimidating?" Sora ventured with a small shrug.

"Good! That's good," Milo grinned, steeling his confidence the best he could. "Now, we just need to wait for-" He stopped short upon peering out from behind the pillar, only to find that the princess was nowhere to be found. "Huh?" he stepped out of hiding, confused. "Where'd she-"

The linguist jolted in surprise as a hand suddenly clasped over his mouth, his free arm pinned tightly behind him as the princess herself caught both him and the trio completely off guard. "I have some questions for you, and you are not leaving this city until they are answered," she said, offering all of them a teasing, knowing smirk.

"O-oh yeah?" Milo broke free from her hold somewhat, trying to come across as stern as possible. A front that was very quick to waver entirely. "W-well, we-I… o-okay-"

"Shh!" she covered his mouth once more as she began to pull him away. "Come with me. All of you, quickly!"

"Where are we going?" Sora asked, curious, though the princess was just as quick to quiet him too as she nervously glanced back toward the throne room. After seeing they were in the clear and out of her father's notice, she motioned for the entire group to follow her out of the palace entirely, though they stayed close to it as she guided them through one of the city's many semi-ruined structures.

"Oh, there is so much to ask about your world!" the princess exclaimed with a bright grin as soon as they were outside the palace walls. "You are a scholar, are you not?" she asked Milo in particular as she pulled him up close beside her. "Judging from your diminished physic and large forehead, you are suited for nothing else! And you!" She turned to walk backward to face the trio. "With the powerful weapons I saw you wielding earlier, you three are a band of mighty warriors, yes?"

"Gawrsh, I guess you could say that," Goofy chuckled bashfully.

"Eh, we do our best," Sora nodded with a modest grin.

"Atlantis could use such noble might at a dark time like this," the princess sighed, sparing a glance at the grand view of the city they were getting from their high vantage point. "We have tried fighting those strange monsters the man in the black coat brought with him on our own, but I fear our strength may not be enough to stop them…"

"Speaking of the guy in the black coat," Sora began, eager to know more about who they'd be dealing with this time. "Do you mind telling us a bit more about him? Your father said something about him coming here offering to help?"

"He did, and then just as quickly, he unleashed those vile creatures upon us," the princess huffed disdainfully. "No one has seen him since, but we have seen plenty of those monsters putting my people in peril in the meantime."

"Those monsters are called Nobodies-" Goofy informed.

"And the man in the black coat is from Organization XIII!" Donald added.

"And we've been trying to stop them both for a long time now," Sora finished, resolved. "So if they're trying to hurt your people, we'll do whatever we can to help you out."

The princess offered the trio a genuinely grateful smile at this. "Thank you. Your courage and kindness will not go unnoticed, er…" she stopped short, somewhat uncertain as she looked between the group.

"Oh, that's right!" Milo said, facepalming. "We were never properly introduced. I-I'm Milo‒Milo Thatch, and this is Sora, Donald, and Goofy."

The princess nodded cordially at each of these introductions before giving one of her own. "My name is Kidagakash."

"...Ki-Kidamaschnaga?" Milo attempted, exchanging a glance with the trio, who were just as baffled as he was. "Uh… you got a nickname?"

"Kida," she chuckled, amused.

"Ok, Kida," Milo smiled. "I can remember that. So, going back to those questions I-or I guess you mentioned earlier-"

"Ah, yes!" Kida grinned, suddenly stealing Milo's glasses so she could try them on herself. "What is your country of origin? When did the flood waters recede? How did you-"

"Whoa, hey, wait a minute," Milo interjected, reclaiming his glasses from her. "We have a few questions for you too. So let's do this, ok? You ask one, then we'll ask one, then you, then us, then… well, you get it."

"Very well," Kida smirked. "What is your first question?"

Milo looked to the trio on this, though given his already abundant curiosity on Atlantis as a whole, they graciously allowed him to go first. "Well, ok, uh… how did you get here? Well, I mean, not you personally, but your… your culture. I mean, how did all of this end up down here?"

"It is said that the gods became jealous of Atlantis," Kida began to explain as she continued leading the group across the bridge they'd just reached. "They sent a great cataclysm and banished us here. All I can remember is the sky going dark and people running and shouting. Then, a bright light, like a star, floating above the city. My father said it called my mother to it…" The princess let out a soft, wistful sigh. "I never saw her again."

The others took on a solemn, sympathetic tone at this, though Milo was ultimately the one to speak to it. "I-I'm sorry. If it's… any consolation… I know how you feel. I lost both of my-wait a minute. Wait just a minute!" The linguist shook his head as he looked to Kida in disbelief. "Back up. W-what are you saying? That you remember because you were there?"

"Yes…?" the princess raised a confused eyebrow.

"No, that's… that's impossible," Milo countered incredulously. "Because I mean, t-that would make you… y-you know, 8,500 to 8,000 years old!"

"What?!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy exclaimed in stunned unison by such an outlandish proposition.

Yet even so, Kida confirmed it like it was nothing at all. "Yes."

Though there was plenty of shared, dumbfounded shock to go around at this news, Milo did his best to play it off a bit better than the gaping trio did. "Oh, w-well, uh… you look pretty-er, pretty good for your age!" he said, forcing out a chuckle as he tried to suppress an awkward blush. "Just, uh… y-you got another question for us?"

"Yes," Kida nodded, her tone turning serious as her sights settled on the trio. "You said you were familiar with the man in the black coat. Do you know what he is seeking here? I doubt that the extent of his plan is just to send his monsters out to cause simple, mindless chaos."

"You're right, it's not," Sora shook his head. "He's here for the same reason Donald, Goofy, and I are: to look for a special Key that-"

"A Key?!" Kida gasped the moment she heard this, her eyes going wide with fascination. "What does it look like? Do you know?"

"Yeah, it should look like this," Sora summoned one of the handful of Keys the trio had collected so far. "Why? Do you know anything about where we could find one here?"

At first, Kida offered no answer as she looked over the Key with wide eyes and an immensely fascinated expression. "It is real…" she whispered, awestruck.

"Kida?" Milo inquired, curious.

"My people do not remember most of the old legends and stories we once treasured before we were lost," the princess began. "But there is one that my mother used to tell me when I was little-I-I cannot recall much of what she said, but it was something about a key that can unlock the heart of the world…"

"That's gotta be it!" Sora exclaimed, knowing that a legend that rang so closely to exactly what the Keys were and what they were for couldn't be a mere coincidence. "Did that story say anything about how to find it?"

"N-no… I… I don't remember," Kida sighed, disappointed.

"The heart of the world…" Milo mused, flipping through his notes. "That must be the Heart of Atlantis!"

"What?" Kida asked, confused.

"The Heart of Atlantis," Milo reiterated. "Legend has it that your people possessed a power source of some kind that enabled them to become, well, basically much greater and more advanced than any other contemporary civilization. So if that Key is somehow connected to it, that means-"

"It's just like what we were talking about before!" Goofy chimed in.

"If we can find that heart-" Donald started.

"Then we'll find that Key!" Sora finished, already trusting such a solid lead.

"That's all I needed to hear…"

The entire group was caught completely off guard by this sudden intrusion into their conversation, one that came from behind one of the several pillars lining the walkway they were on. The one who had been apparently eavesdropping soon stepped into view, a man clad in an all-too familiar black coat that Kida was the first to recognize.

"You!" she shouted, pulling out a small, yet sharp knife as she took up an offensive stance. "How dare you show your face again after bringing those wretched creatures here to attack my people! I command you to take them and leave Atlantis at once!"

"My apologies, your highness," the man said, offering the princess a bow of clearly fake respect. "But I simply cannot leave until I've obtained what I came here for."

"You mean that Key, right?" Sora asked distrustfully, summoning his Keyblade as Donald and Goofy also took up their own weapons.

"Ah, Sora…" the Organization member's already haughty grin widened. "How… refreshing it is to see you again…"

"Again?" Sora looked to his companions in confusion, though neither of them seemed to recognize this particular Organization member either. "Uh… have we met before?"

"Oh, that's right," the Organization member mused. "I've been told you wouldn't remember a thing about our first-and last-encounter, and sure enough my colleagues were correct. I'd almost be interested in looking further into the intricacies behind your surprisingly complex memory loss… if I actually had the time to care about it."

"W-what are you‒ugh, whatever," Sora scoffed dismissively, not bothering to put any weight into the Organization member's cryptic claims. "You heard what Kida said: take those Nobodies of yours and get lost!"

"Now, now, that's no way to treat one of your soon-to-be associates," the Organization member chastised. "Besides, I'd be remiss if I didn't at least re-introduce myself. I am Vexen, Organization XIII's most premiere scholarly mind."

"Another scholar?" Kida questioned dubiously, glancing over to the linguist beside her.

"You sure aren't acting like one by sicking monsters on a bunch of innocent people!" Milo added with a firm scowl.

"That was merely a tactical move," Vexen said smoothly. "One meant to remove any potential obstacles out of my path. For you see, much like you and your motley crew, I'm here solely on matters of... research. And it just so happens that we also all seem to be here seeking answers about the exact same thing: a Key."

"You won't find it before we do," Sora shot back sternly. "And you won't be walking away with it either, not this time!"

"Oh, on the contrary, Sora," Vexen countered with an even grin. "I'd say I'm already well on my way to finding it, especially with the very helpful clue you and your friends just provided me with. The Key being tied to the heart of the world itself is hardly a novel concept; in fact, it's rather obvious, all things considered. But this so-called "Heart of Atlantis" is a promising lead, one that warrants a more thorough investigation indeed…"

Upon hearing this, Milo made sure that the Shepherd's Journal was safely tucked away out of sight as he spoke up as unflinchingly as he could. "W-well, you won't get very far if you're looking for the Heart either. As far as any of us know, it could be just about anywhere down here."

"Your concern is touching, but hardly necessary," Vexen scoffed, unmoved. "I have a feeling I'll deduce the location of both that Heart and its Key sooner or later. Though I suppose we'll just have to wait and see just who gets their hands on the prize we're all after first. But for now, since you all appear to be in a stand-still when it comes to your own rudimentary "research", why don't I leave you something to preoccupy your time with?" With a snap of his fingers, Vexen summoned both a pack of various Nobodies, along with a dark corridor for him to take his leave through. "Best of luck to you all," he turned to go, though not before offering the group one final devious smirk. "I know this goes without saying, but whoever makes it to the Heart first… wins."

With this, Vexen took off, leaving his Nobodies behind as they swiftly lurched forward to attack. Kida leapt to meet them first, armed only with her small knife and her own agility, yet she faced the monsters bravely, even if they clearly outmatched her. Donald and Goofy prepared to join her, and this time, Sora steadied his resolve to do the same, despite the nervous dread already starting to spark up in his heart once more. Though before he could run ahead into the fray, his companions were quick to stop him in his tracks.

"Sora, take Milo and hide!" Donald shouted, firing off a water spell at the Nobodies right off the bat. "We can take care of them!"

"Y-you don't have to tell me twice!" Milo said as he scrambled to take cover behind one of the nearby pillars. Sora, on the other hand, wasn't about to flee from this fight so easily.

"What? No!" he protested, upholding his steady grip on his Keyblade in the hopes that it could steady his nerves as well. "I can help this time!"

"We just don't want you freezing up again," Goofy said patiently even as he deflected a Nobody's attack using his shield. "Don't worry; like Donald said, we can handle this!"

"B-but… I…" Sora trailed off, unsure of how to argue his case further as his companions essentially kept the skirmish as far away from him as possible. And while he certainly did want to rush forward, Keyblade at the ready, to join them, ultimately he complied with their wishes and fell back behind another pillar.

But even as he leaned against that pillar, Sora couldn't help but feel largely bitter, both toward his companions and toward himself. Because even now that he had recovered, now that the poison was gone and he was actively able to use his Keyblade again, Donald and Goofy were still acting like he was every bit as incapacitated and incapable as he had been a month ago. They were acting like he was fragile, like he needed to be taken care of. Like he was weak.

And yet, that was a claim he couldn't even really argue against, especially after how he'd faltered in fear during that last battle. Even now that he felt at least a bit more prepared to face this new horde of Nobodies, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't seize up in terror again this time, or next time, or any time after that. The truth of it was, if that did in fact happen again, it was something he had no idea how to stop or control or break out of it. But that didn't mean he still wasn't going to try.

"Ugh, that's it!" Sora huffed impatiently, wasting no time in stepping out of hiding so he could properly join the fight. "I'm helping whether you guys want me to… or… not…" He paused, releasing his prepared grip on his Keyblade upon seeing that the skirmish was just wrapping up as Kida finished off the last of the Nobodies while Donald and Goofy tended to their own minor injuries from the brawl.

"See?" Donald said as he and Goofy looked Sora's way. "We told you we had it covered."

Sora didn't respond to this, instead glancing away crossly, his hands in tight fists at his sides. He knew well that all either Donald or Goofy wanted to do was help him, but lately that assistance felt as though it was coming at his own expense. Because instead of feeling like an equal member of the team alongside his companions, all he felt now was that he was far too feeble and useless to even be a member of that team at all.

"Is everyone ok?" Milo asked as he stepped back into the open himself.

"Yes," Kida replied, putting her knife away with a frustrated sigh. "Despite their numbers, those creatures are weak and cowardly, much like the man who brought them here."

"Say, about that Vexen fella," Goofy said to Sora and Donald, aside. "Wasn't he the one Ienzo warned us about? What did he say his name used to be again? ...Even?"

Donald nodded with a stern frown. "Looks like he went back to the Organization after all."

"Ugh, who cares about that?" Sora scowled, crossing his arms. "The only thing we need to worry about is keeping him from getting that Key."

"Gee, I guess that means we should be more careful from here on out," Goofy noted. "We don't want him overhearing any more clues we might find about it."

"I know a place we can go where he will not be able to spy on us," Kida spoke up, already taking off toward it. "Follow me."

The others didn't argue as they went after her lead, keeping a close eye out for any further signs of Vexen as they traveled down to one of Atlantis' lower levels. Yet as they slipped away, none of them noticed that they were still being watched, though not by the devious researcher. Rather, a lone figure stood upon one of the city's higher precipices, its long cape flowing gently in the wind as it kept its sights set on a familiar presence within the group below. A presence that had stolen something from it long ago, something that it had every intention of getting back, no matter what it took.

---

Kida took the group to a place that was, by all accounts, quite secluded: a low-level cove closed off by crumbling ruins entangled in ancient greenery. As far as any of them knew, they hadn't been followed there, which allowed their discussion of the Heart and the Key to continue as they slid down into the surprisingly open area.

"So this… 'Heart of Atlantis'," Kida began, looking to Milo in particular for answers. "How did you come to learn about it?"

"Oh, well, I read about it in this," Milo pulled the Shepherd's Journal out, which Kida quickly took so she could look over it for herself. "If it weren't for this book, we never would have made it down here in the first place."

Confusion and curiosity mingled in the princess's expression as she glanced over the book's cryptic pages. "You… can understand this?" she asked slowly.

"Yes, I'm a linguist," Milo pointed out, eager to see if she knew anything else about the Heart itself. "That's what I do, that's my job. Now, back to the matter at hand-"

"This, right here-" Kida interrupted, practically shoving the book into his face. "You can read this?!"

"Yes, yes, I can read Atlantean, just like you." Milo stopped short as Kida pulled away, looking over the journal fretfully, though she didn't seem to be understanding any of what it said at all. "...You can't… can you?"

"No one can," the princess informed wistfully. "Such knowledge has been lost to us since the time of the Mehbelmok."

"Oh… the Great Flood," Milo translated, largely for the sake of the confused trio beside him.

Kida paused for a moment, glancing around the area before she suddenly grabbed Milo to pull him along after her once more. "Here, let me show you something." The trio followed them as they went a bit further into the cove, where Kida pointed out three large shapes hidden away under an even larger sheet. She pulled that sheet away to reveal what seemed to be three identical stone statues, each of them quite impressive even as they rested completely dormant alongside each other.

"Whoa…" Sora mused, fascinated as he, Donald, and Goofy stepped forward to get a better look. "They kinda look like fish."

"They appear to be some sort of… vehicle," Milo added as he got in closer to inspect them himself.

"Yes," Kida nodded. "But no matter what I try, they will not respond. Perhaps if-"

"Way ahead of you," Milo grinned, leaning forward to look over the Atlantean inscription written onto one of the vehicles. "Ok, let's see what we got here… It says… 'place crystal into slot'..."

"Yes, yes, I have done that!" Kida huffed, exasperated.

"'Gently place your hand on the inscription pad'..."

"Yes!"

"Ok… did you turn the crystal one quarter turn back-"

"Yes, yes!"

"While your hand was on the inscription pad?"

"Ye-" Kida paused her anxious pacing at this. "...No."

"Ah, see? There's your problem right there," Milo grinned as he rose to stand once more. "That's an easy thing to miss. You know, you deserve credit for even getting this far." Kida offered him a dry look at this, one that the linguist responded to with an anxious chuckle as he stepped back to let her take over. "Uh, w-why don't you give it a try?"

The princess did so, removing her crystal necklace and following Milo's instructions as she worked with one of the vehicles. And sure enough, it worked as the runes carved onto the vehicle instantly lit up bright blue, it's unknown engine roaring to life as it suddenly rose to hover just above the ground entirely on its own accord.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Goofy exclaimed, expressing the awe they all felt at such an impressive sight.

"Can the other two do that too?" Donald asked curiously.

"Let us find out…" Kida moved to activate the pair of accompanying vehicles, and sure enough, her crystal quickly got both of them up and running, much to the group's shared, growing excitement.

"Oh, t-this is great!" Milo exclaimed, absolutely elated as he stepped up to one of the vehicles. "With this thing, we could see the whole city in no time at all!"

"We could use them to find the Heart, and the Key!" Sora chimed in with newfound hope that this search might not be so difficult after all.

"And they could be used to track down the rest of those monsters spread throughout the city," Kida added, resolved and eager to do what she could to protect her people. "What are we waiting for? Let us go at once!"

"Ok, then we just have to figure out how to steer them…" Milo said as he carefully climbed onto one of the vehicles. He extended a hand out to help Kida up onto it, though she was easily able to vault up onto the seat behind him, gripping his shoulders as she tried to make sense of how to control it.

"Perhaps if you tried pressing this?" she leaned forward past him to place her hand against the inscription pad once more. The vehicle reacted instantly, bolting forward with the pair still on it. As Kida retracted her hand to hold onto Milo for dear life, he rushed to slow its speedy pace by throwing his hand down on the pad himself, though that only resulted in the vehicle taking a sharp turn upward. The pair let out a shared cry of alarm as their vehicle rocketed up out of the cove entirely, leaving a very frantic trio behind.

"Milo! Kida!" Sora shouted after them before glancing back down to the pair of remaining vehicles before them. "We've gotta follow them! C'mon!"

He ran ahead to hop onto one of the vehicles, Donald and Goofy doing the same as they shared the other one. Needless to say, none of them had the faintest idea on how these strange vehicles actually worked, which was why they all took off in a very similar, haphazard manner to how Milo and Kida had before them. Fortunately, they somehow managed to avoid crashing into the cove walls (despite several close calls) as they eventually broke out of its upper exit at equally rapid speeds.

Now that they were out in the open air far above Atlantis itself, controlling the vehicles became much easier since there was relatively little to crash into up there. Milo and Kida seemed to have gained control of their own vehicle as well as it had slowed to a much more manageable pace, one that, with a little bit of doing, Sora, Donald, and Goofy eventually managed to catch up to.

"Hey! Are you guys ok?" Sora asked the pair over the rushing wind as he pulled his vehicle up beside theirs.

"W-well, we're not dead, so yeah, I'd say we're doing pretty good," Milo let out something of a relieved chuckle as Kida sent a wry grin his way. He stopped short, however, as he spared a glance over the edge of the vehicle, which by now was flying quite high above Atlantis itself. This high vantage point allowed a full, incredible view of the ancient city and its towering, titanic spires and structures. It was a beautiful sight, to say the least, one that Milo couldn't help but be rather emotional about, especially considering just how much it took for him to finally get there.

"What is wrong?" Kida inquired, leaning in closer to him as she noticed the tears starting to well up in the linguist's eyes.

"Oh, i-it's nothing. I just… got something in my eye," he quickly wiped those early tears dry as he allowed his content, genuine smile to take over. "You know, my grandpa used to tell me stories about this place as far back as I can remember. I just wish he could be here with me to see it now..."

"I am sure he would be proud of your perseverance," Kida assured warmly.

"Thanks," Milo returned her kind smile, though he was quick to perk up once more as he looked back to the trio flying nearby. "Alright, fellas, let's find that Heart and its Key!"

"Right!" they exclaimed in solid, unified agreement. Milo led the way as he pushed his vehicle oneward, allowing it to go a bit faster so they could circle the city from above. The trio followed suit not far behind him, each of them quite impressed by the wide layout of Atlantis they were getting from above. But even beyond that, the ride itself was quite thrilling as their vehicles zoomed easily through the sky (or at least through what counted for the sky in a place as buried below the depths as Atlantis was). It was a liberating, exciting experience for all of them, one that would hopefully help lead them to the answers, and perhaps even the precious prize they were searching for.

And yet, even that was too much to really hope for. The group had just rounded another wide lap around the city, yet there were still no apparent signs or clues pointing toward what they needed to find. They were just about to take their search back down to the ground, when a sudden boom erupted from somewhere far below them, one that was just as easily heard by the group flying high above. However, before any of them could so much as take a glance down to see where the clamor had come from, a massive beam of blinding energy shot up from below, directly at them. And in seconds, that beam tore through the tail of the very vehicle Sora happened to be riding on in an explosive, devastating blast.

The fallout was immediate as the immense force of the blast knocked Sora off the vehicle, which was already completely ruined as it ran out of power on the spot as it began to fall from the sky. The next several moments that followed went by far too slowly and far too quickly all at once, and just like before in that first fight against the Nobodies, Sora hardly even felt aware for any of them. Instead, everything happened in a distant, muddled blur, from the sharp burst of pain that flashed through his body as a result of the explosion (which had only narrowly missed hitting him), to the fading sound of Donald, Goofy, Milo, and Kida alike all sending panicked, alarmed shouts after him from above. In fact, he barely even realized he was falling at all, plummeting through the air at what should have been a terrifying rate. That is, until he landed.

Fortunately, said landing happened in one of the many deep bays surrounding the city. The moment Sora splashed hard into the cool water, he was instantly snapped out of his former spell of shock. The sharp sting of his sudden landing was all but forgotten as he sunk deep into the water, accidentally taking in a mouthful of it as he let out a sharp, involuntary gasp. Choking on the lack of air, he panicked and wasted no time in swimming toward the surface, realizing that he'd fallen in relatively close to a stony dock of some sorts. And even better yet, as he raced to break out of the water and back out into the air, he noticed a hand reaching into the water, as it extended out to apparently help him.

However, as he reached it, the hand suddenly lashed out, grabbing him by the wrist and harshly yanking him up out of the water. Sora didn't have much of a chance to see who his supposed "rescuer" was as they roughly pulled up onto the stony ground, which he collapsed against amidst coughing and choking out the water he'd inadvertently swallowed. Yet even then, he had barely any time to recover, much less make sense of what had just happened, as a pair of metallic feet suddenly stepped into his field of view.

Wearily, Sora managed to glance up to find a sight that was just about the very last thing he'd been expecting. Because standing right before him was a sturdy, armored figure, dully shining gold and orange with a long, tan cape unfurled out behind it as it gripped a powerful Keyblade in its hand. An armored figure that Sora knew he'd seen before, that he'd faced before in battle. And, an armored figure that was steadily moving its Keyblade into place high above his prone, defenseless form with the obvious intent to destroy.

"Finally," it spoke, hints of vengeful anger filling its otherwise hollow tone as it prepared to finish the job it had started over a decade ago. "I've found you… Xehanort."

---

Ohohohoh man! Looks like I'm leaving you all on a cliffhanger again! And on the Lingering Will showing up no less, oh man, aren't I a stinker? ;) Anyway, this oughta shape up for something really interesting at the start of the next chapter! Along with all of the other cool things I've got planned for the second half of our Atlantis adventure! But for now, don't forget to leave your thoughts about this chapter in the REVIEWS! Stay safe out there! Until next time! :)