Chapter 53 Plans in Motion.

The group returned to The Gummi Ship, back in their original outfits, much to the Hoshidan's relief.

"Thank the gods. I did not want to go back home looking so pale." Kaze sighed.

"Like I said, it was just my magic that helps us blend in better." Donald said. "Though I do have to admit. Our outfit change for when we went to Christmas Town was not expected."

"But it was definitely welcomed. I'll take that second outfit over turning green." Takumi commented.

"I just prefer Christmas Town in general." Sakura said softly yet embarrassed over her freak out when that Hanging Tree spoke to her.

"Who was the girl that was with Maleficent?" Sora asked.

"She said that her name was Flora, and she was from the Ice Tribe." Jiminy said while sitting on Sora's shoulder. "But what is this Ice Tribe?"

"They're a tribe from Nohr that exist up further to the north of Nohrian territory. Sadly, I don't know too much about them having never been there before. But from what I heard, they posses' power over ice, and their home is located in a very cold environment." Takumi said.

"But now she is all the way out here with Maleficent." Kaze said.

"Maybe Maleficent grabbed her when she took Takumi." Goofy offered.

"So, she's using her?" Sakura asked.

"But she didn't seem to be brainwashed like Takumi was." Jiminy commented.

"Perhaps they struck a deal then?" Donald guessed.

"That's not a bad guess there, but sadly we don't have much to go on. What do you think Corrin?" Jiminy asked Corrin who wasn't paying attention.

"Huh? What?" Corrin asked snapping out of his thoughts.

"We were taking about that Flora girl." Sora said.

"Oh right. Sorry about that." Corrin said sheepishly.

"What's with you? You're not normally one with his head in the clouds." Donald asked.

"Sorry but…I just feel like I know her." Corrin said.

"She definitely seemed to know you." Takumi commented.

"Maybe I met her in Nohr then? But how long was I there for?" Corrin asked.

"Well, mom and I found you on the beach about nine years ago, I believe." Sora said.

"And the Cheve incident happened eleven years ago." Kaze added. "So, if we're correct, you were there for about two years."

Corrin nodded. "I guess so. But sadly, my memories of my time in Nohr are still very foggy. I've gotten some early memories of my time in Hoshido back, but Nohr is still mostly a mystery. The only thing I can remember is a fortress, my sister Kamui, and…some guy."

"Some guy?" Sora asked.

Corrin nodded. "Some kid my age that I was playing with. It was a boy, so I don't think it was Flora. But that's all I got sadly."

"Her outfit kind of looked like a maid." Sakura commented.

"Oh yeah it did. Maybe she worked for the royal family or something." Sora guessed.

"I do recall when I saw Lady Kamui in Nohr, she did have a man dressed as a butler with her." Kaze said remembering when he and Rinkah were forced to fight Kamui in Garon's castle.

"Wasn't there a guy dressed as a butler that showed up to help Kamui during our…battle?" Sakura asked.

"I think so." Takumi said. "And now that I think about it, there was a girl that looked a bit like her with pink hair alongside Kamui when I fought her in Dia."

"Really?" Sakura asked and Takumi nodded.

"Well, judging on that butler and maid you mentioned, I think it's safe to assume that she did work the Royal Family of Nohr at one point." Jiminy said.

"She might be a retainer then. That butler and maid definitely seemed to act like Kamui's retainers." Takumi said.

"A what?" Sora asked confused.

"A retainer. A trusted follower to a noble. All of us in the Royal family currently has two each." Takumi expalined.

Sakura nodded. "My retainers are my best friend Hana, and a guy named Subaki."

"Mine are a girl named Oboro and a guy named Hinata." Takumi then looked at Sora. "I think the two of you would get along really well."

"Really?" Sora asked curiously.

Kaze nodded. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you two were long lost twins or something. Not only do you hold a few physical similarities like your wild brown hair, but your personalities aren't too far off."

"Cool! Now I want to meet him." Sora said excited.

"Though speaking of retainers Kaze, are you one as well?" Corrin asked curiously.

Kaze shook his head. "I am a solider serving Hoshido, but I am not a retainer to a member of the Royal family. Though my elder brother Saizo is a retainer to the High Prince Ryoma."

"A retainer to the High Prince? That sounds awesome!" Sora said excited.

Kaze lightly chuckled. "My clan has long since served the royal family for many years." He then turned to Donald and Goofy. "What of you two? Does this King Mickey have retainers?"

Donald shrugged. "Technically me and Goofy can count as his retainers, but King Mickey hasn't ever had much of a need for them."

"But back to the matter at hand, if that Flora girl is a retainer, then it could be possible that a Nohrian royal family member is here as well." Takumi said with concern.

"I don't think so. During my time in Nohrian captivity, I overheard some guards talk about how uncooperative the Ice Tribe has been as of late. There were even some talks of rebellion. Though those are just rumors at best, there is a possibility that she is acting on her own." Kaze said.

"Well, whatever her reason is, hopefully next time we can get her away from Maleficent. If by what happened to Riku is anything to go by, working with that witch will only end badly." Corrin said remembering how Riku was when they encountered him inside of Monstro, on Hook's ship and especially at Hollow Bastion.

"For once I agree. If only to mess with that witch." Takumi said.

"Well, for now, take some time to rest. I'll inform you all when we approach our next world." Donald said. The others nodded and headed to their rooms. Once he was alone. Donald started to pout as he remembers what Santa told him.

"Temper. I don't have a temper." He grumbled.

Twilight Town:

Kairi was walking towards the train station with Hayner, Pence, and Olette as Olette held her pouch that was filled with munny.

"Excellent work Kairi. There's more than enough for a train ticket, so your journey should have a solid start." Olette said.

"Thanks. So, which train will I get on?" Kairi said.

"The one that stands out the most. That's the one Sora and Corrin boarded. You'll know it when you see it. Trust me." Pence said.

"Though are you sure you want to go? I mean, Sora did say he was coming back." Olette asked.

"I know. But…I'm just so tired of waiting for those three. I want to get out there and help them." Kairi said.

"One train ticket please." Hayner said at the ticket booth.

"And which train will you be taking today?" The lady behind the booth asked.

Hayner and the others looked, but they didn't spot the train they were looking for.

"Hey. Where is that one train? The tacky one that was here a while ago?" Pence asked.

The lady frowned. "I have no idea. Honestly, none of us even know where it came from. Some guy in a black coat came by and told us to reserve it for four people. After it left, it never came back. Sorry."

"Oh. I see. Thank you for your time." Kairi said as she walked away. The other three followed her.

Kairi sighed as she stepped outside.

"Sorry Kairi." Hayner said.

"It's fine. I probably should have known it wasn't going to be that easy." Kairi said.

"Well, like I said before, Sora did say he was coming back. Just be patient." Olette offered.

"In the meantime, let's get some sea salt ice cream. That will cheer you up." Hayner offered.

"Sea Salt Ice Cream?" Kairi asked.

"WHAT?! You've never heard of Sea Salt Ice Cream? It's one of the best treats around!" Hayner cried out in shock.

"Calm down Hayner. She's not from around here. Probably where she's from, that flavor isn't as popular as it is here." Pence offered.

Hayner just gasped in shock.

"Ignore him. Let's go get some ice cream." Olette said as she grabbed Kairi's hand and took her to the ice cream shop.

The group got their ice cream, ate it, and then Hayner moaned that none of them were winners as the group headed back to the Usual Spot.

"So, what did you think?" Pence asked.

Kairi shrugged. "It was alright."

"Well, well, well. I haven't seen her around." A voice called out.

The four turned to see Seifer lounging on a bench with his lackeys Fuu, Rai, and Vivi nearby.

"Is she a transfer student or something?" Seifer asked.

"Oh. It's just them." Hayner dismissed.

"Just ignore those jerks Kairi." Olette said.

"I think people who ignore others are extremely rude." Seifer called out as he stood up and approached Kairi. "What's your name?"

"Back off Seifer!" Olette growled.

"I'm just saying hello." Seifer said.

Kairi stepped forward to prevent an argument from starting. "My name is Kairi. I'm here looking for a friend of mine." She greeted with a bow of the head.

An up-close look at Kairi caused Seifer's face to turn red.

"Uh…your friend…What is she like?" Seifer asked.

"Don't waste your time Seifer. Kairi's looking for her boyfriend and his brother." Hayner said causing Kairi's face to go red this time.

"H-He's not my boyfriend!" Kairi stuttered.

"Now, now. Don't be bashful." Olette teased.

'I really can't escape this anywhere.' Kairi groaned.

"Uh Seifer, shouldn't we get going?" Vivi suddenly asked.

"Oh, right. I'll catch you later Kairi." Seifer said as he and his group got up and left the Sandlot.

"Wonder what they're up to." Hayner commented.

"Probably looking into that investigation." Olette said.

"Investigation?" Kairi asked curiously.

"I mentioned it when you first showed up here. Schools are closed due to some investigation going on in the tunnels nearby. Apparently someone thinks there's monsters down there or something." Hayner said.

"At some point during summer break, some damages happened to the underground sewers. After they were repaired, the workers went onto their normal cleaning when one of them started to freak out that there were some monsters down there. With the school being so close, the town decided to postpone school starting up again for safety reasons." Pence said. "From what the guy described, they were like shadow bugs or something with yellow eyes."

'Shadow creatures with yellow eyes, that sounds like Heartless.' Kairi thought.

"Well, standing around isn't going to solve anything. Let's get some ice cream." Hayner said.

"Is that your answer to everything?" Olette asked.

"What, you don't want any?" Hayner asked.

"Hey, don't go putting words in my mouth!" Olette cried.

"I think I'm good." Kairi said.

"Really? Well okay then. We'll be at the Clock Tower if you decide to join us." Pence said.

Kairi nodded and waved goodbye to the three friends.

'Heartless...they were part of the problem that started all of this.' Kairi thought bitterly as she headed towards the tunnels.

Kairi made her way to the tunnels and snuck inside without anyone seeing her.

"This is it. It's time to see the fruits of my training." Kairi said to herself as she headed down the steps.

Kairi wondered down the tunnels looking for said Heartless. Sadly, she had no idea where she was going.

"They said it was near the school, but I have no idea where the school is. Maybe I should have asked for directions." Kairi sighed. "No, if I did that, they might follow me and Heartless are dangerous."

Kairi continued to walk around the tunnels, until she came to a more open square shaped area.

And as she did, several Shadow Heartless appeared.

"Looks like I was right. All right then. Let's hope my magic training paid off.

Kairi put her hands forward and fired a Fira spell at one Shadow, destroying it. The remaining nine Heartless jumped to attack her.

Kairi barely managed to jump out of the way from being dog-piled as she shot a Thundara spell, destroying another Shadow.

"Ugh. What was that dodge move Sora and Corrin always used? Dodge Roll? How do I do that? Just somersault out of the way?" Kairi muttered as she tried to dodge another Shadow, but the Heartless managed to hit her shoulder with its claws.

"GAH!" Kairi cried out in pain. "H-Heal"

A green light engulfed Kairi as the injury she sustained vanished.

'I don't really have the magic to just keep blasting them. Maybe if I can lure them into one spot, I can blast them all at once with a strong spell.' Kairi thought.

"Haste!" Kairi shouted as her body was enveloped in a bright light. She started to move in much faster than normal as she lured the remaining Heartless into the center of the area. "Now, Comet!"

Small meteors rained down on the group of Heartless, destroying them in an instant. Once the Heartless were gone, Kairi slumped to the ground in a sigh of relief.

"This is a part of what Sora and Corrin had to deal with..." Kairi muttered but then she smiled. "I-I won. My training is starting to bare some fruit."

Meanwhile in the Lanes of Between:

Axel stood in place rather annoyed as his attempts to find Kairi were coming off rather empty.

"Damn it! Where did she go?" Axel growled. Then he sighed. "Calm down. Calm down. Getting worked up isn't going to find her faster. Now let's think for a second. Instead of thinking of where she ended up, first let's think of who summoned that Corridor of Darkness that she left through. I doubt she, a Princess of Heart did it…I don't think it was the others ether. As far as I know, they haven't realized what I'm after. Plus, if they did, they likely would have targeted me back on the islands since I'm technically a deserter."

Axel then sighed again. "It's still so ironic that after what I said to Roxas, here I am on the run myself."

He then shook his head and went back to his thoughts. "There isn't much of us out there that can use them as well so I've just narrowed down my options. I don't think it was Namine. She could barely form one when I last so here not too long ago, so that leaves Riku and DIZ. I'm willing to bet Riku was the one over DIZ, so where would Riku send her? With Sora? That will screw up my plans if he did. To the King's place? No. Last I heard, even Xemnas can't summon a Corridor of Darkness to that world."

Then a thought came to him.

"Wait a second...Twilight Town! DIZ and Riku had a base in Twilight Town! It would be an obvious place to hide, but sometimes that is an effective way to hide." Axel said in realization. He then smirked. "Very cleaver Riku, but looks like it wasn't cleaver enough."

Axel summoned a corridor of darkness. It was time to put a plan in motion.

Back at the World That Never Was:

"It would seem that Axel is on the move." Xemnas said as he and the rest of the Organization sat in their chairs within the meeting room.

"I just got back the piece I needed to track him down. Axel will not get far. The fool never was good at thinking ahead." Saix said.

"Hey quick question here." Demyx called out.

"What is it?" Xemnas asked.

"Axel wants Roxas back, right? Would it really make a difference if we have him back? I mean, we just need a Keyblade wielder. So does it really matter if its Roxas or Sora?" Demyx asked.

"And once again, you paint yourself as a fool." Xaldin sighed.

"HEY!" Demyx cried out.

"Roxas is a traitor. What use would we have for a traitor?" Xaldin asked.

"Not only that, but Sora's ignorance of us collecting hearts from the Heartless he slays makes it easier to for us to use him to finish our Kingdom Hearts." Luxord added.

"And it seems from our meetings with him, that Roxas hasn't bestowed his memories to Sora despite returning to him." Xigbar added.

"Roxas had his chance, and he failed. Him being back would only be more of a nuisance to us than anything." Xemnas said ending the conversation. He then turned to Saix. "Do be sure that Axel is stopped. And if he opposes, erase him."

Saix nodded and left. Xaldin, Demyx, and Luxord all left as well leaving only Xemnas and Xigbar.

"How fares the plans in Hoshido?" Xemnas asked.

"So far so good. Ryoma is losing himself more and more to his grief. I think once Nohr begins its invasion, he will be all set to become a Heartless." Xigbar said.

"Good. And how is our prisoner?" Xemnas asked.

"Still as silent as when I took her. I have her pendant right here by the way." Xigbar said taking a gold and black pendant with a blue jewel in the center, connected by a golden chain. "Though I may ask, why do you need this again?" He asked as he tossed the pendant to Xemnas.

"From what we saw back in Hoshido, when she sang, this pendant glowed and Kamui was able to be calmed. I am curious on how she was able to do that." Xemnas said catching the pendant with ease.

"Even after all this time, that scientific curiosity has not been lost to you." Xigbar chuckled. "But I get it. If her song can calm others, it would make turning Ryoma into a Heartless more difficult. But even if she dose try and escape, without her pendant, she shouldn't be able to use her powers like that."

Xemnas said nothing as he pocketed the pendant.

In an Unknown world:

A laboratory was currently covered in smoke as Vanitas stepped forward with his Keyblade in hand.

Before him were two humans and a few…creatures.

In terms of the humans, one was an elder man with grey hair, and wearing a white lab coat and tan pants. The other was a girl ruffly in her early teens. She had dark blue hair tied in twin pigtails. She too was wearing a lab coat with a red shirt underneath and a yellow skirt.

In front of them were three creatures laying on the ground in pain.

One was some kind of red giant mushroom on an orange bug with white eyes that had no pupils.

Another was a tan humanoid creature that looked like it was wearing a purple tunic and kilt. Its hands were two big red boxing gloves.

The last was a pale green quadrupedal dinosaur like creature that had red and white petals around its neck and two long yellow antennas on its head.

"Megaree...Monlee…Parasee…" The girl muttered in fear and pain as she and the old man were also on the ground in pain.

"Wh-What are you?" The old man asked with anger in his voice.

"Now, now. No need to get too angry. All of this would have been avoided if you two would just cooperate with me in the first place. Now then. Give me the information on this 'wish maker' and I will be on my way." Vanitas demanded.

"N-No! We need Jirachi's powers to help our friends." The girl argued.

"Very well then." Vanitas said as he raised his Keyblade at the two and started to charge up a spell.

"W-Wait!" The old man cried out. "We surrender. If you promise not to harm us or our Pokémon any further, I'll give you the data."

Vanitas lowered his Keyblade and smirked beneath his helmet. "There now. Was that so hard?"

The two growled as the old man handed a disk to Vanitas.

'First that armored man and now this guy? I don't know how these people found out about Jirachi, but with how things are going now, we might need a miracle ourselves.' The old man thought as handed a disk to Vanitas.

And that's a wrap!

So, Kairi got to fight some Heartless. Sure they were just Shadows, which is no different than in KH2, but she doesn't have a Keyblade, nor does she have Riku to help her. And yes, I gave her the comet spell. I didn't want to give her a super magic attack like Meteor just yet, but I saw Comet as a decent middle ground. I know Holy would likely make more sense, and maybe she will get it in the Fates arc, or in KH3, but for now, I'm saving that spell for someone else.

And as for Seifer getting a crush on Kairi, that is not going to lead to any love triangle. It was just something I saw in the manga that I thought would be fun to just throw in. Kairi will not have any romantic feelings for Seifer.

But next up we go to the Pokemon world. The ending of this chapter does heavily hint on what the Pokemon world will be about, and I did also reveal it to some of you in a PM, but for those who don't, you'll see next chapter. I'll talk more about it next time.

And once we are done with the Pokemon world, we get to the big climax in Hallow Bastion. I am really looking forward to writing it and I hope you all will enjoy it. And Corrin might even meet a certain childhood face there. But before we worry about that world, lets focus on the Pokemon world.

Be sure to follow and review and I will see you all next time.

The Fan: Huh?

Guestwithideas: The coliseum isn't a bad idea for Takumi's darkness. I'll consider it. As for Sun and Moon, no I'm not doing it. I get what you're saying, but I already had this planned for quite a while. Plus I feel this idea works better for Vanitas than what would be given in Generation 8. Though I have pondered a Pokemon and Kingdom Hearts crossover in the future, so maybe? I don't know right now.

Also, asking for Azura to hurry up and show up like that isn't really helpful. Please be patient.