A/N: I'm posting this just before E3's Square Enix Conference. And I'm hoping for more information regarding that KH3 DLC teaser we got yesterday!

Anyway, this chapter is mostly more character introductions. I gotta admit though, it was tough trying to figure out how to have some of these characters interact.

Cult of Chaos

Thaddeus and Adrian entered a dark chamber, where they are greeted by two other figures.

"Well, isn't this a disappointment?" the first figure. He had spiky dirt-blond hair with brown streaks and black eyes, wore a white lab coat and red lensed high tech goggles. Floating next to him was a mechanical drone with blade-like wings and a laser gun mounted below it. "I go through the trouble of alerting you to the girl's return home, and you two fail to dispose of her."

"The Champion seems to live up to her title," replied Thaddeus. "And now that she has the Amulet of Harmony, she will be an even bigger threat."

"And whose fault is that?" asked the other figure. This was a woman with long purple hair, a teal eye, and pink lipstick. She was also a cyborg, having a robotic right arm and both legs plated in red armor, and a camera-lens-like eye. "I seem to recall that it was your job to kill her, wasn't it Adrian?"

"Shut up, Abigail!" snapped the boy. "I underestimated her! That won't happen again!"

"Whatever! I still think I should've been sent instead. I would've killed her easily!"

"Oh sure," said the man in the lab coat. "And risk failure as a result of your prosthetics malfunctioning because they were way passed due for maintenance? Especially with your habit of toying with your prey before the kill? Not on my watch." He then chuckled.

"Screw you, Durza!" Abigail growled as she looked at her robot arm. "As much I love how useful these are for killing, I swear they can be a hinderance sometimes."

Thaddeus crossed his arms. "You wouldn't even need them if it wasn't for your own carelessness."

"No one asked you, Thaddeus."

"Enough!" a voice called garnering their attention. They all looked to see their leader. It was a woman with brunette hair with red bangs, heterochromia eyes: a violet right eye and a red left eye, and purple lipstick. She wore a long dark dress parted to expose her right leg, black knee-length boots, a red cape, a circlet on her forehead, and a black gauntlet on her right hand. Dark tattoos covered her exposed tan skin. She also held a dark staff in her left hand.

"L-Lady Evol!" Thaddeus said fearfully as he took a bow, the others followed suit.

Lady Evol walked over to her throne and sat down. "Report."

"My sincerest apologies Milady! We failed to kill the Champion of Cosmos! She was stronger than we thought. And Sora was as resilient as ever."

"And now the she has the Amulet of Harmony," Evol said with irritation in her voice. "How long must she allude us?"

"She won't run for long!" Adrian declared. "I'll see to it that that Keyblade Princess bites the dust myself!"

"And let you hog all the fun?" said Abigail. "I don't think so." She then approached the boy. "You already had your chance. I'm afraid when it comes to killing the 'Keyblade Princess' as you called her, it's first come first serve."

"You stay out of this! She's MY target!"

"Oh? And what makes you so special?" The cyborg then raised her robotic arm's claws in front of his face. "Compared to Thaddeus and myself, you're little more than a grunt."

Unfazed, Adrian shoved the arm aside. "Unlike you, I get no satisfaction from killing the weak! And you are not gonna steal my first worthy opponent that's not one of those infuriatingly strong Keyblade Masters!"

"I am afraid that cannot be helped, Adrian," said Evol. "The longer we allow her to live, the bigger a treat she will become. And now that she has the amulet, I will not take any chances. I will not risk it for your personal satisfaction."

The boy growled before he slowly approached the leader. "I have not had my real fill since I joined this stupid cult!"

"Stand down, boy!" shouted Thaddeus.

Ignoring the brute, Adrian summoned his sword. "Look, I care not for your useless god! But I'll be damned if I let anyone take away this one opportunity for me to truly feel ali-aaauuuggghhh!" He was cut off when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest.

Lady Evol had raise her gauntlet covered hand. The gauntlet began to glow a dark red aura, as a small black hole appeared to form on Adrian's chest. The boy felt like his own heart was being squeezed by his own darkness. He was then raised into the air as he shouted in pain. The sorceress then flung her hand forward and Adrian was sent crashing into a wall, an invisible force holding him in place. She glared at him before saying, "Do not forget your place, Adrian Cain! I will not tolerate insubordination! And insult the great and mighty Chaos again, and I will make your suffering worse than Inferno! Are we clear?"

Adrian grunted before saying, "W-We're...c-clear...Evol...augh!" He felt another squeeze in his heart.

"Lady Evol?" the mistress corrected.

"L-Lady...Evol..." With that, the hold on his heart was released and he dropped to the floor on his knees, breathing heavily. He looked around to see Thaddeus glaring at him, Abigail grinning smugly, and Durza just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Now then," the dark priestess said. "The Guardians of Light have proven to be quite troublesome as of late."

"That's an understatement," said Durza. "It is quite sad if you ask me. We used to be such a huge organization, with those Guardians on the ropes. But ever since they attained the Power of Harmony, we've have lost so many of our forces."

"Indeed," said Thaddeus. "We're all that's left of our inner circle."

"I say good riddance to those weaklings," said Abigail. "If they couldn't survive, then they had no right to be with us."

"The Champion of Cosmos has brought hope to the Guardians," Evol continued. "They are growing ever stronger. We will need to act swiftly and decisively if we are to change that hope to despair. It is about time we remind them why the Cult of Chaos is to be feared."

Abigail grinned. "That's exactly what I like to hear! I need a chance to let loose."

"Doctor Durza, what is the status of our...secret weapon?"

The doctor put his hand on his chin. "Not ready yet, unfortunately." He then chuckled. "But rest assured, I know I'm getting close! She'll be the ultimate weapon very soon!"

The cyborg groaned. "You and that pet project of yours. How long are we gonna have to wait?"

"Patience! You cannot rush science you know?"

The mistress sighed. "We will make do for now. However, now that the amulet is out in the open, Harmony will start getting even stronger than before. To stand a better chance at combating this, I will have to make your Discord much stronger." She then raised her gauntlet, showing the four gemstones attached to it. Three circular, one yellow, one cyan, and one magenta, and a black triangular stone. "For that, I am loaning you my Abyssal Stones."

"Pardon me for asking great mistress," inquired Thaddeus, "but are you certain you want to weaken the Gauntlet of Discord?"

"As I said, I will not take any chances. The gauntlet itself will suffice for now." The stones then glowed before detaching from the gauntlet and float in the air. "Adrian, I am loaning you the Hate Topaz."

The yellow gem darted at the boy. He grunted in pain as the Topaz embedded itself onto his left shoulder. He could feel a new power flowing through him.

"Abigail," Evol continued. "You will be receiving the Pain Garnet."

The magenta stone darted at the cyborg, embedding itself onto her forehead. She then smiled in glee at the Garnet's power. "Oh I can't wait to use this power!"

"Dr. Durza, I know you are not normally a combatant, but do what you will with the Terror Turquoise."

The cyan stone darted at the doctor, embedding itself on the back of his right hand. He stared at the Turquoise with mad intrigue. "Exquisite! Perhaps this could aid me in my research!"

"And Thaddeus, I am entrusting the Oblivion Onyx to you."

The black triangular stone flew to the soldier, embedding itself onto his bare chest. "I am honored, Milady!"

Evol then stood up. "The stones will passively strengthen your Powers of Discord. And you can tap into the stones' powers at will in various ways. However, I must give you all a couple of fair warnings. First, your bodies may take a while to adjust to the stones, so do not be surprised if you suddenly find yourself in pain during battle. Second, you must use them with caution; overuse or overpowering could have serious consequences. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am!" everyone said collectively.

"Good! Now then, we must prepare for our next attack."

Adrian looked at the Hate Topaz on his shoulder. He wasn't sure what he thought about receiving a power that wasn't his own. But he couldn't really complain. If it allowed him to take worthwhile prey, then all the better for him. He then looked at his sword, which he had dubbed Bleeding Rage, and ran his hand along the side of the blade.

"Don't think you got rid of me, princess," he muttered to himself. "Next time, you're mine!"

Mizu opened her eyes and found herself in a very familiar world. A circular stained glass platform surrounded by an endless body of water that reflected the cloudy blue sky.(1) She would come here every so often in her dreams.

Looking down at the platform and noticed that the image had changed since the last time she was here. The gold background remained the same. Now it had an image of herself, standing in the middle with her Shining Hope Keyblade held in hand, and even had her new amulet. An image of Lumina flew to the around her with a trail of sparkles. Around Mizu were five circles(technically there were seven but Mizu was covering two of them). Two of the bottom most circles were a darker shade of the background, and each had the colorless facial image of someone Mizu was close to, one of was her master, Sora, while the other was her hooded guardian angel. The other three circles above were empty of facial images but were all different colors: blue, green, and red. There were also multiple silver copies of her Mark of Harmony lining the edges of the platform.

She stared at the image curiously until a familiar voice caught her attention. "Congratulations on retrieving the amulet, Mizu!"

Mizu looked to see the woman in a pink dress and red cloak with a smile. "Thank you, Angel!" She then looked at the Amulet of Harmony. "I'm one step closer to becoming a true Champion of Cosmos."

"Indeed!" replied Angel. "You've done a great job so far."

Mizu blushed as she rubbed the back of her head. "You give me too much credit. If it weren't for all that you and Master Sora taught me, I wouldn't have succeeded. I really have to thank you for your advice on how to keep myself calm. I was really scared back there."

Angel giggled. "You're welcome, Mizu. But didn't Father Christopher already tell you not to sell yourself short? Yes, Sora taught you how to wield a Keyblade and I gave you some pointers of my own, but in the end it was your own dedication that helped you get this far."

The silver head giggled. "If you say so." She then looked down nervously. "I just hope I'll be able to keep it up. I know there will be more battles to come. Am I really ready for them? I mean...what if I end up having to face...him?"

"No one is ever one hundred percent ready for anything." The hooded woman then looked down herself. "I won't lie, things will start to get tougher from here on out." She then smiled. "But believe me, you will grow stronger for it. I believe in you. And I know Sora does too. You just have to believe in yourself. And if you do face him...well, just know that you won't necessarily have to face him alone. I'll always be right here. And so will Lumina in the physical world. We're here for you."

Mizu thought for a second. In all the years this woman had been contacting her in her head or her dreams, something in her heart is always compelled to believe her in spite her doubts. She looked back up with a smile. "I guess you're right. You know, I'm really glad you're here, Angel. I can always count on you to help me feel better."

"Anytime, Mizu!"

A red Gummi Ship was floating in the space between worlds. Piloting this ship called the Highwind was Keyblade Master Sora himself. He had finally turned on Gummiphone, having been keeping it off for long periods of time because one of the cult members was apparently VERY tech savvy, and he didn't want take any chances. He was about to make a call but he couldn't help but look back at one of the passenger seats, where his apprentice, Mizu, was currently sleeping, with Lumina napping on her lap. The girl was exhausted after retrieving the amulet, so he decided to let her sleep.

He couldn't help but stare. He had grown quite attached to the girl over the years. Dare he say, he had actually come to care for her like he would his own daughter. And he was proud that she was able to accomplish something on her own. Perhaps she really was ready to go out on her own. He sighed at the thought. He really didn't want to let her go, but it would be for her own good. If she was to truly become stronger, then she couldn't depend on her master being there for her all the time. He's witnessed himself what can happen if someone lacking in experience gets pulled into an all out war.

His thoughts were interrupted when his ringtone went off. He answered his Gummiphone, and was greeted by a dog's face on the screen. "SORA! HOW YA BEEN, BUDDY!"

"Shhh!" Sora hushed. "Can you keep it down? Mizu's asleep right now."

"Oops! Sorry! We noticed your signal turned on and I got excited."

The man chuckled. "Good to see you too, Goofy."

Then a duck's head squeezed next to Goofy. "Sora! Long time no see!"

"Same to you, Donald!"

Then the phone on the other end was grabbed and now the screen displayed a mouse with Donald and Goofy look over his shoulder. "Ha-ha. Good to see you're doing alright, Sora."

"Likewise, Mickey!"

"So what's going on? I know you wouldn't have turned your Gummiphone on if you weren't intending on checking in."

Sora took a quick glance at Mizu before answering, "Well, you should know that Mizu here has just retrieved the Amulet of Harmony."

Mickey jumped in surprise. "Really? I didn't think that would happen so soon."

"Whether we think she's ready or not, we can't deny this little stalemate with the cult won't last forever."

"Whelp, I can't argue with that."

"We also have a slight complication. Apparently the amulet is incomplete and its four Celestial Stones are scattered across other worlds."

Mickey put his hand on his chin. "That does complicate things."

"I'd like to give you a detailed report in person."

"Ah, perfect timing! We've just called for a meeting here."

Sora smiled. "Nice! I'll see you all there!"

He hung up before setting a course for Disney Town. He looked back at Mizu again and he jumped in surprise. A star had appeared next to the sleeping girl. He had seen stars like this before, but never with a golden glow nor in the physical world. He noticed Mizu's amulet was faintly glowing, and wondered if that had anything to do with this. Before he knew it, the star had morphed into the shape of a ghostly figure, a woman in a cloak. Sora was stunned at the sight, but more than that, something struck him in the heart as he observed. He felt a very familiar sensation, and was overcome with a heavy mixture of happiness and sadness.

The ghostly woman reach her hand out to the sleeping Mizu and petted her hair gently. She then looked toward Sora, and after a short pause she gave him a warm smile.

Sora looked like he wanted to say something to the ghost, but then Mizu started stirring awake and the ghost vanished, and Mizu's amulet stopped glowing. Sora looked disappointed that he didn't get to talk to her, but realizing Mizu was waking up, he quickly looked back at the course he was flying. The girl stretched as her spirit companion also stirred awake and followed suit.

Sora soon said, "Have a nice nap?"

Mizu rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "I think so."

Lumina hopped atop her partner's head. "Me too!"

"So where are we headed, Master?"

"To Disney Town," Sora answered. "A meeting had just been called, and we're gonna attend."

"I see. It's been a while since the last time we saw everyone."

"Indeed it has. We need to catch up what's been happening recently."

"It is good to know that the Power of Harmony has been helping you all through this mess," said the spirit. "And now that the amulet is out in the open, Harmony should start getting stronger."

"That's good to know."

Mizu thought for a moment. "Hey, you think we'll run into those two new friends I made a few years ago? I kinda miss them."

Sora thought for a second. "It's possible. Last I heard, those two had taken an interest in Gummi Ships. So who knows?"

With that, the Highwind flew through space to its destination.

In a fun and cheerful looking land, an aircraft was flying through the air. The craft flew straight at first, but then it started performing rather dangerous stunts.

"Cassidy!" a male voice shouted. "Could you cool it already!?"

"Oh, come on, Drake!" a female voice called back. "Where's your sense of fun!?"

"You're wild flying flung it over board!"

Soon a bang could be heard within the craft and it started shaking and descending.

"Whoa!" Cassidy exclaimed. "What just happened?!"

"I told you this prototype was not yet ready for your level of hotdogging!" Drake snapped. "We're gonna crash!"

"Not if I can help it!"

It was rough, but somehow the craft was landed at the right angle to skid along the ground before stopping near the town gates.

Soon, the cockpit opened up and out leapt a seventeen year old girl with teal-green hair tied in a pony tail, light-brown skin, and red eyes. She wore a black sleeveless shirt just small enough to expose her navel, a red cross-belt around her chest, grey fingerless gloves that reached her elbows, brown shorts with a black belt, black leather boots that reached her knees, and a pair of yellow goggles on her head. "Oh yeah!" she shouted. "See Drake? I told you I'd land this thing safely."

Then out of the cockpit stumbled a sixteen year old boy with navy blue hair and brown eyes. He wore a black and gold vest over a white long-sleeve shirt, brown work gloves, blue cargo pants with a tool belt, beige work boots, a beige backpack, and a pair of green goggles on his head. "Yeah, and you did a number on her in the process," he sighed. "Did you really have to push my fighter jet so hard, Cassidy?"

"Hey, isn't that what prototypes are for?" Cassidy replied as she stretched. "Pushing to their limits to make improvements?"

"These parts aren't cheap, you know," said Drake as he pulled out his phone and started fiddling with it. "And do you know how much hard work I put into her? Seriously, this is my first big solo project and now its gonna take weeks to repair."

"Oh, don't be a baby. At least I didn't total her beyond repair, right?"

"Well there's that. But still she won't be flying anytime soon." The young engineer then put his phone away. "Okay, Horace is gonna pick her up. May as well head to the hanger and check on my other project with Chip and Dale."

"Oh great!" The young pilot chirped. "I am so looking forward to trying that out!"

The two started walking through the town as Drake said. "I hope you take it easy on the first flight. Outer world travel is much more treacherous than air travel."

Cassidy snickered. "That just makes it all the more fun!"

The boy sighed. "You know, you've really got to cut these dangerous stunts. It's not good for your health...or mine...or any passenger you take."

The girl groaned. "Aw, quite being a worry wart! It's like I always say: If you're not taking risks, you're not really living!"

"But that shouldn't come at the expense of others. And besides, how do you think I'd feel if anything actually happened to you?"

Cassidy paused for a moment before sighing. "Fine, I'll try to tone it down." She then looked up at the sky and then spotted something soaring in the distance. "Hey, is that a Gummi Ship in the sky?"

Drake quickly pull out a pair of high tech binoculars from his backpack, and looked to the object himself. "Indeed it is, Cass. And not just any Gummi Ship, that's the Highwind!"

"Highwind! " the girl perked up. "Isn't that Sora's ship?"

"That's correct!"

"But then that means..." Cassidy then got a little giddy and grabbed the boy's hand. "Come on, Drake! Let's hurry!" And then she ran as fast as she could while dragging him with her.

"H-hey! Slow down!"

The Highwind landed in the Gummi Hanger. Sora stepped out of the ship, followed by Mizu with Lumina on her shoulder. They were immediately greeted by three familiar faces: Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. The latter two quickly ran up to Sora and tackled him to the ground as they all had a fit of laughter.

"We missed you so much, Sora!" said Goofy.

"No kidding!" said Donald.

"I missed you guys too!" replied Sora.

Mizu couldn't help but giggle at her master's reunion with his old partners.

Mickey then walked up to them. "We're really glad you're here, Sora, and you too, Mizu."

"As are we, Your Majesty!" replied Mizu.

Mickey then took a look at the amulet around the girl's neck. "So that's the Amulet of Harmony?"

Mizu nodded. "Incomplete. But yes."

Sora stood back with Donald and Goofy. "So, has anyone else made it yet?" asked Sora.

"Nope, you're the first ones to arrive," answered Mickey

Suddenly two people came bursting into the hangar. "YO MIZU!"

The silver head smiled at the new arrivals. "Cassidy! Drake!"

Cassidy ran up to Mizu and pulled her into a bear hug. "It's so good to see you again!"

Mizu could barely breathe in the older girl's crushing grip. "C-Cass! I can't breathe!"

Cass released the young Keybearer. "How have you been? It's been so long!"

"I've been doing fine. But what are you two doing here? I thought you were living in Radiant Garden."

"We are," answered Drake. "We just took temporary residence here a few months ago to work on our careers, especially after gaining a fascination with Gummi Ships. Chip and Dale have actually been helping me build my own ship."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's over there, actually," Drake point to an orange ship with some red fire decor.

"Nice!" exclaimed Sora.

"I call it the Phoenix!"

"It's practically finished," said Mickey. "Chip and Dale are just doing some triple checks to make sure it's functioning properly and safe to fly."

"I hope they don't take too long," said Cassidy. "I've been itching to fly this thing for a while now."

Drake gave the green head a deadpan stare. "Just remember what I said to take it easier. I really don't want you to wreck it even worse than my prototype jet fighter."

"Yeah yeah, whatever!"

"Well, it's good to see you two haven't changed," said Lumina.

Cassidy then took notice of Mizu amulet. "Oh, I'm liking that necklace you're wearing. It looks good on you."

"Thanks," replied Mizu. "It's actually the Amulet of Harmony."

"Amulet of Harmony?" asked Drake.

Before anymore could be said, a portal opened up nearby. In walked a tall muscular man with brunette hair and a small beard, wearing brown outfit, and gold armor on this left arm. "Well well! Look who decided to join us!" he said as the portal closed behind him.

"Good to see you too, Terra," replied Sora. "How's Aqua and Herba(2)?"

"They're doing fine," answered Terra. "Aqua is actually prepping Herba for her first real mission."

"Really? You think she's ready to go out on her own."

"She'll be supervised in this first one, but I believe she's earned a chance. Doesn't stop me from worrying though."

"Believe me, I know what you mean." Sora glanced in Mizu's direction. "I'd be lying if I said the idea of letting the baby bird leave the nest didn't worry me as well, even if they have proven themselves capable of handling things without your help."

Terra then glanced at the girl as well. "Has Mizu actually done so?"

"Yeah I just got done letting her venture into a dangerous cave to retrieve an important artifact, where she ended up fighting a bunch of Discord Heartless and a Cult grunt all by herself."

The taller man whistled. "That's very impressive!"

Mizu put her hands behind her. "Really Master Terra, it was nothing. Besides I had Lumina with me."

"But I stayed out of your fight with the cult member on your request, and you won without me assisting once." Lumina pointed out.

Terra chuckled. "Now that doesn't sound like nothing to me." He then turned back to Sora. "You see? We both know they'll never truly grow if we don't let them. Trust me, Aqua and I made that mistake before."

"Yeah, I know."

Soon, another ship landed in the hanger, a white ship.

"Ah, the Twilight has arrived," said Sora.

Once the Twilight docked, a spiky blond in white leapt out. "Sora! What are you doing here?!" he asked in delight as he ran over to him.

"Long time no see, Roxas!" Sora exclaimed as the two grabbed each other's hand in a pumped fashion.

"No kidding! You missed out on a lot!"

"I know!" The brunette then looked around. "Hey, where's your wife? I thought she'd be here too.

"She's back home." Roxas then scratched the back of his head. "Someone kinda has to stay behind to provide for the kids."

Sora was taken aback. "K-kids? You mean... Since when?"

"Almost a year ago," the blond answered. "Twins, to be exact."

"Wow! It really has been a long time since I last checked in with you guys. But congratulations man!"

"Thanks, Sora."

"So what did you name them?"

Roxas then looked down with a sad smile. "Well,...we decided to name them...after our fallen friends."

Sora flinched but gained a sad smile of his own. "I see. I'm sure they would be honored."

"I sure hope so. Anyway, she and I have been taking turns working at the bistro and going out on the field. And thankful Olette is more than willing to babysit the twins for us."

"That's good to hear. Man I can't wait to see them for myself."

Roxas then looked to Mizu. "And how are you doing, Mizu? Is Sora being a handful yet?"

"Hey!" Sora protested.

Mizu giggled. "No, Master Roxas! Master Sora has been just as good a teacher as ever. No problems at all!"

"He better have been. Some of us have been worried this knucklehead wouldn't make a good teacher."

Donald and Goofy both laughed at Sora's expense, to which he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah! Laugh it up!"

Terra shook his head in amusement. "Well, considering Mizu just completed her first solo mission, I'd say Sora must be doing something right."

Sora then scratch the back of his head. "Well, I think it helps that she's been such a good student."

"You can say that again," said Lumina. "She's got talent for sure, though she is rather modest about it."

"Lumina!" Mizu blushed in embarrassment. If only she could tell them that she had a guardian angel in her head that was also helping with her training. But Angel made her promise to keep it a secret. Besides, she was afraid everyone would think she's crazy.

Soon, yet another Gummi Ship flew in, this time a purple ship.

"Hey, it's the Falcon." said Drake.

Once the Falcon docked, a silver haired man in black stepped out. "Sora! I didn't expect to see you here!"

Sora smiled. "Good to see you too, Riku!"

Then Drake approached, dragging Cassidy with him, and bowed to Riku. "We are honored by your visit, King Riku."

Riku sighed. "I'd really rather you not treat me like a king while I'm away from home."

Mizu giggled. "Whatever you say, Master Riku."

The older silver head looked to Sora. "You still haven't gotten her out of those formal habits, huh?"

Sora shrugged. "Try as I might, she still insists on calling some of us Master."

"Might as well not waste your time," said Lumina. "With a paladin for a father and a cleric for a mother, etiquette is just etched into her soul."

Plus it's always fun to mess with Sora this way, Angel's voice sounded in Mizu's head, to which she mentally nodded.

"So anyway, Riku, how's the family?" asked Sora.

"They're doing all right," Riku replied. "They're taking care of things back home in Radiant Garden."

The spiky brunette smirked. "Bet little Suigetsu has grown since last time I saw him."

Riku chuckled. "Oh, he has alright. Though I swear he's gotten a little too mature for his age."

Terra laughed. "He probably takes after you in that regard! When I first met you, you seemed a little too smart for a five year old."

"Very funny! Would you believe that he actually wants to be a scientist?"

"Oh really?" asked Sora. "Doesn't want to be a warrior like his old man?"

"He still sees it necessary to be taught self defense, but yes, he's rather fascinated by the scientific department. He's actually started taking lesson from Ienzo."

"Hopefully he doesn't get carried away with experiments," said Roxas, "like some other scientists I know."

"Oh don't worry! We're making sure to drill into his head that some mysteries are better left alone."

Cassidy looked around for a second. "Boy, a bunch of Keyblade Masters in one place. Something going on?"

It was Riku who answered. "I called for a meeting. I had just got some new intel. And seeing how Sora and Mizu have decided to join us, it may be about time we discussed our next move against the Cult of Chaos."

"Right!" said Mickey. "Let's head to the castle library."

The Keyblade Masters then started walking out of the hanger, along with Donald and Goofy. Mizu, Cassidy, and Drake followed suit, lagging a few paces behind as they decided to catch up.

Cassidy turned to Mizu. "So you must have gone on quite the adventure with Sora, haven't you?"

"Indeed," the silver head answered. "So many different worlds out there. Of course we didn't really sightsee all that much, as we were more focused on my training, and staying out of Cult's sight as much as we could."

"You know, Drake and I have actually be delving into combat ourselves since last time we saw each other." The green head then summoned a polearm with a wide, gold and silver spearhead with a smooth, round, blue gem embedded in it. "Check this out! This Rune Lance is capable of channeling elemental magic through it. Fire, ice, lightning, wind, water. It's quite handy, and a thrill to use."

Drake then summoned what looked like a mechanical staff with a glowing red gem. "This is a Magitek Staff. Casting magic is a breeze with this baby. And not only that, I can even charge energy into the gem for harder physical attacks if my enemies get too close."

"Wow!" said Mizu. "Have you guys been in any battles?"

The blue head shrugged, "Not much more than run-of-the-mill Heartless. We have yet to fight one of those...Discord Heartless, I think they called them, though."

"Well, you'd be hard press to fight off Discord Heartless as you are now," said Lumina. The rabbit spirit then flew onto the heads of both Cassidy and Drake, pass the Power of Harmony to each of them. "There! Now Discord shouldn't be impossible for you to fight against."

Cassidy was visibly confused. "Wait, what did you just do to us?"

"Well, explain later," answered Mizu. "Right now we have a meeting to attend."

Soon, everyone entered the castle Library where they were greeted my another mouse in a queen's attire. She noticed the two familiar faces she hadn't see in a while. "Oh, Sora, Mizu! I didn't know you were attending this meeting."

"Yeah, we kinda invited ourselves after hearing it from Mickey," replied Sora. "How have you been, Queen Minnie?"

"It's been swell! How about you?"

"A lot of progress has been made with Mizu's training. Just got done letting her retrieve a Harmonist artifact all on her own."

Minnie smiled with glee. "Oh that's wonderful news! She must really be getting stronger!"

Mizu chuckled nervously. "Th-thanks your Highness!"

"Alright," said Mickey. "Now that everyone available is here, we should begin this meeting."

"Hold on. Are those two privy to this information?" Terra asked pointing at Cassidy and Drake.

Cassidy put her hands on her hips. "Oh come on! Don't start actively leave us hanging now. Everyone has been so tightlipped about it, but I really want to know what this Cult of Chaos actually is."

"I agree," added Drake. "Cass and I lost our home world because of them, and we're tired of being out of the loop."

Mizu gave Sora a pleading look, making him sigh before saying, "Let's let them in on this. They're the closest things Mizu has to actual friends now, so I think they deserve to know what's going on. Besides, while I have been training Mizu to combat them, I've never actually told her anything I knew about them."

Donald looked at Sora with a deadpan expression. "Seriously? You haven't said anything to her about them."

Sora chuckled as he scratched the back of his head nervously, "I was waiting until I was confident she was ready to take them on."

"Sora! What are we gonna do with you?"

"I don't see anything wrong with that," said Goofy. "Sora is just looking out for her."

"It's okay," said Mizu. "I don't blame him. But...now that I have the Amulet of Harmony, I think I should know as much as I can."

"Very well," said Mickey with a sigh. "A quick refresher shouldn't hurt anyone." He then held out his hand and a transparent image appeared. It was a symbol similar to the Crest of Cosmos, except it was purple, the heart was upside down, the wings were more jagged, and the ring around it had four prongs on the cardinal directions of it.

"The Cult of Chaos is an organization that worships the Harmonist God of Darkness and Discord, Chaos," said Sora. "They showed up on our radar over fifteen years ago, and have caused major trouble ever since."

"That long, and you still haven't taken care of them?" asked Cassidy.

"Do not take them lightly," said Riku. "Trust us, there's a reason they're so dangerous, and that's largely due to the Power of Discord."

"Power of Discord?" asked Drake. "What's that?"

"Think of it as a boon to the Power of Darkness," answered Terra. "If you thought Darkness alone was destructive, add Discord into the mix and it cranks that up to eleven, if not fifteen. Not only does it give their darkness a major power boost, but it also makes their bodies much more durable than normal. So much so, that it takes more effort for even a Keyblade alone just to lay so much as a scratch." The image changed to that of a standard Shadow Heartless, which was joined by another Shadow, except with magenta eyes as oppose to yellow and was shrouded in a dark red aura. "Even worse is that they can use it to power up the Heartless, turning them into Discord Heartless, making them even more deadly than before."

Mickey made the Heartless images disappear and replace them with one of a figure covered in shadow as he continued. "They're led by a mysterious dark priestess named Evol Reficul(3). Not much is known about her, but her subordinates claim that she's a very powerful sorceress."

"You sure she's not one of those leaders who's all bark and no bite?" asked Cassidy.

"Don't count on it," answered Roxas. "You wanna know how dangerous she is? We've dealt with our share of dark sorcerers and sorceresses before, and while we have yet to encounter her personally, from what we've been hearing Evol puts every one of them to shame. She single handedly destroyed the most powerful sorcerer we know, Yen Sid, and took over his tower."

Mickey looked down in sadness. "He was a retired Keyblade Master, my own teacher, and our most reliable source of wisdom. That was the Cult's first act against us that put them on our radar. However, we had no means of combatting their Power of Discord. Without Master Yen Sid, we didn't have so much as a clue what we were dealing with."

Terra clenched his fist. "We spent more than seven years in a losing battle against them, failing to protect other worlds from them. And worse we..." He then looked down in sadness. "We lost some of our closest friends because of them." Everyone else had the same sad looks on their face, although Mizu noticed that Sora's looked the most pained out of all of them.

Both Cassidy and Drake looked at each other, and back at everyone in understanding. "We're so sorry," they said.

Riku continued. "It wasn't until just eight years ago that we finally gained a leg up, after we discovered the Power of Harmony."

"I take it Harmony is a boon to Light?" asked Drake.

"Correct! And it has proven to be the perfect counter to Discord. Not only can it greatly strengthen the Power of Light and fortify our bodies, but it can also add its properties to elemental magic. And through experimentation we also discovered that it can even add its properties to dark powers as well, though to a much lesser degree."

Sora took over. "We discovered Harmony when us Keyblade Masters sensed a sudden burst of light from a distant world."

"That would be me," Lumina interjected, "waking up from centuries of slumber thanks to Mizu here." Mizu twirled some of her hair as she blushed nervously at the attention. "I am able to grant the Power of Harmony to others, allowing them to combat Discord more effectively."

"And after that," Roxas continued, "we were finally able to actually fight back. They still prove to be very formidable, but we've been able to at least push back some. We've even managed to cut the some of the Cult's inner circle down. They're as resilient as ever though, and recently we've been at something of an impasse, with neither side really gaining any true ground."

"We've been able to cut their inner circle down to five members, including Evol herself." Mickey then wave his hand and the shadowy image disappeared. "We'll start with the youngest member."

The new image that popped up was familiar to Mizu. "Adrian," she said.

"You know him?" asked Riku.

"I just fought against him, when I went to retrieve the Amulet of Harmony."

Sora crossed his arms. "Yeah this kid is a new one for me. He's a little younger than I would've expected from the Cult."

"Adrian Cain," said Terra. "We're not sure how long he's been a member, but he showed up on our radar just last year. Riku and I have had our fair shares of encounters with him. This boy is a young swordsman who seems to have a lot of anger issues. His darkness and Discord are strong, and he's the most aggressive of the bunch. However, he's also definitely the weakest. Although he has surprised us a few times, he's never once been able to overpower us Keyblade Masters."

"Not much else is known about him," said Riku. "Although...from what I hear, this kid supposedly massacred his entire hometown...at age ten."

Sora, Mizu, Drake, and Cassidy all winced at that. "Seriously?" asked Sora. "All by himself?"

"I can't say for sure. It seems a little farfetched for a ten-year-old to even pull off such a feat. For all I know, it could be an exaggeration. Also, it seems to contradict what I've observed from him. I've caught him shouting at civilians demanding strong opponents to fight him. Unlike the other Cult members, he seems to have no interest in attacking bystanders, and only seeks to fight worthy opponents. Whether it's because he has at least some sense of honor, or just doesn't consider bystanders worth his time, I can't be sure."

Mizu crossed her arm. "When I fought him, he seemed to get a thrill from the fact that I was giving him a 'real fight'."

"That seems accurate to how he first fought us," said Roxas. "But that quickly turned to anger and frustration at his inability to beat us. As of now, he's not much of a threat to us. But I suggest you still keep your guard up. We have no way of knowing if and when he'll surprise us."

"Moving on," Mickey said as he changed the image to a man in a lab coat, and a mechanical drone floating next to him. "This is Doctor Mordred Durza. He is a crazed scientist, and brains behind Cult's operations. He seems to have an expertise in multiple areas, including technology. And he seems to have no regard for the dangers of whatever research he conducts."

"A mad scientist," Cassidy remarked. "Go figure!"

Terra continued. "This man had managed to steal valuable but dangerous research data. He rarely ever shows himself in person, opting to send one of his surveillance drones instead. The few times he does appear is usually when something in particular catches his interest."

"I did recently grab some new intel regarding him," Riku interjected. "Word is, Durza is working on some kind of...secret weapon for the Cult."

"Secret weapon?" asked Sora. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Unfortunately, I got nothing on what this secret weapon could be. The Cult is being tightlipped about it."

"Well, I guess it wouldn't be much a secret weapon if we already knew what it was," said Drake.

Roxas crossed his arms. "I'm more concerned about whether this is a mechanical weapon or a living one. We may have scene his mechanical creations, but I still wouldn't put passed him if it was the latter."

"Either way," said Mickey. "Despite never actually fighting us directly, there's no telling what this scientist is capable of."

Mizu shuddered. "Something tells me I don't want to know what kind of things he does."

"But now we move on to one of the two deadliest members of Evol's inner circle."

Image changed to that of a woman with robotic parts. Mizu had never seen this woman before, and yet somehow just looking at her sent an eery chill through her spine. She looked to her master and noticed that his fist and teeth were clenched and seemed to be trembling with anger at the sight of this image. However he seemed to calm down as soon as Riku put a hand on his shoulder.

"This is Abigail Striker," said Roxas. "As I'm sure you can tell, she's a cyborg. She's also a deadly assassin."

"An assassin huh?" said Drake. "I imagine those prosthetics would make it very difficult to sneak around. They look a bit heavy, and hard not to make noise with."

"As if that matters to her," Sora said with disdain. "She's not the kind of assassin who kills for money. She's the kind that kills for pleasure; for sport." He sounded as though he was trying his best to stay calm and hold back his anger. And while he kept himself from raising his voice, his tone made it clear that he didn't like this woman at all. Mizu looked at her master with concern. Her normally optimistic master showing genuine contempt. Something in the back of her mind told her that Sora had something personal against this Abigail.

"Geez," said Cassidy. "What exactly happened her to get that many robot parts?"

"Those were mostly our doing, believe it or not," said Terra. "Even with her Discord, she's always had the most fragile defenses. Unfortunately she's one slippery snake. No matter what kind of damage we do to her, she somehow manages to escape."

Riku continued. "She's a sadist who gets a rise out of inflicting pain on others, asserting her dominance over anyone weaker than her. And make no mistake, that arm of hers is well equipped with deadly weapons, those legs grant her impressive mobility, and that eye of her makes it difficult to hide from her. We're pretty sure Durza's the one who outfitted her with them all. Trust us when we say, if you ever encounter her, never turn your back on her."

Mizu shuddered again. "She sounds so scary."

"Fortunately, her tendency to toy with her prey instead of killing them outright has worked against her more than once," said Mickey. "Doesn't make her any less dangerous. And then we get to the last one."

The image then changed to a large muscular man. Mizu immediately clutched her heart in fear at the sight of him. She knew this man well. It was the same man who led the attack on her home, who killed her parents, and almost killed her too had it not been for her master.

Relax, Mizu, called Angel, it's only a projection.

I know, but still...

"This is Thaddeus Tomahawk," said Terra. "Arguably the mightiest of the inner circle, and said to be the closest to Evol herself. He is a stalwart warrior, and a ruthless commander."

"What's with his fashion?" asked Cassidy. "He has armor on all four limbs but none on his chest? He must really like showing off those tattooed pecs and abs."

"Don't let that seemingly obvious weak spot fool you," said Sora. "Remember what we said about Discord granting greater durability? Well, Thaddeus takes that to a whole knew level. Even if we succeeded in striking him in his exposed chest, it was literally impossible to lay so much as a scratch on him without Harmony. And even after we gained that power, he's been doing his hardest to keep his defenses fortified."

"Wow!" said Drake. "Talk about thick skinned. I supposed his exposed torso is just his way of flaunting that durability."

"But defense is not all he's got," said Roxas. "His physical strength is astonishing, and his power is very destructive. He's pretty much a steel wall with heavy cannons. He's definitely the most powerful of Evol's subordinates."

"He also commands the Heartless with cunning strategy," said Riku. "He has personally brought countless civilizations to ruin."

Mizu looked down fearfully. "L-like my hometown." Drake and Cassidy looked at her with empathy.

"Without a doubt," said Mickey, "he's the biggest threat next to Evol." The image then disappeared.

"So why is the Cult doing all this anyway?" asked Cassidy. "What do they even want?"

Riku crossed his arms. "We're not exactly sure what their motivation is other than they claim to be doing this in the name of their god, Chaos. All we really know is that their goal is apparently to extinguish all light in the universe. How exactly they plan to accomplish this is anyone's guess. We may not know what they really want, but whatever it is, you can guarantee it just can't be good."

Their was a pause to allow the teens to take all this in. Soon Mickey spoke, "Whelp, now that that's out of the way, we need to discuss what our next move should be, especially now that Mizu has the amulet."

A/N: And I'll end it there, since this chapter once again turned out longer than I expected. I hope I did alright with the first impressions and character interactions. And I hope the first major exposition dump of the story was done well.

Man, three chapters of the same story in a row. I need to get back to my others projects.

Footnotes:

(1) Basically think of her surroundings as a fusion of her Dive into the Heart and the Final World.

(2) Latin for 'grass'.

(3) Both parts of her name are anagrams, I let you figure it out.

Changes from the original:

*Villains: In the original, the primary antagonists actually consisted of Final Fantasy villains. They didn't have a set group name at first but I called them Dark Fantasy in my previous attempt at rewriting. These villains were Kefka Palazzo, Exdeath, Cloud of Darkness, and Golbez. I chose Kefka for his iconic status, and Exdeath and Cloud of Darkness because I thought they'd be fitting commanders for the Nobodies and Unversed respectively. As for Golbez, well I needed an overall leader, even though he'd turn out to be a puppet of the true villain. This time, however, I decided that it was probably for the best that I focus on OC antagonists, and any Final Fantasy villain I decide to include will be a side villain at best. There were four OC antagonists in the original, two of them were scrapped which I'll explain later when I talk about scrapped OCs, while the other two I'll talk about when they show up in the story.

*Targeting Mizu: In the original, the aforementioned Dark Fantasy was after Mizu because they needed her pure heart along with the other six to complete a ritual. This time, however, the Cult of Chaos's goals have nothing to do with the Seven Princesses and the reason they're targeting Mizu is because as Lumina's chosen champion they consider her their greatest threat.

*Adrian and Durza: So fun fact, these two OCs have actually been on the back burner for years. They were originally set to appear in a sequel to Keyblade Princess that I had planned to write but never got around to doing so. Why I decided to have them debut early, I won't say outside of feeling the need to make them more relevant.

*Gauntlet of Discord: While Mizu's amulet was in the original story, Evol's gauntlet was not. When thinking through the plot of this rewrite, I decided that the Amulet of Harmony needed a Discord counterpart. And just like the amulet has its Celestial Stones, the Gauntlet of Discord has its own set of stones called the Abyssal Stones that are now being used to power the baddies up.