A/N: Sorry about the wait, figuring out where I wanted to go with this chapter was tough. Special thanks to Kristen Verne for helping me move along.

Anyway, I'm sure some of you wanted to know a little lore behind Harmonism and the War of the Champions. Well you'll be getting the gist of it in this Chapter.

Harmonism

Mizu, Lumina, Cassidy, and Drake were currently hanging out in the castle courtyard. After all that info pertaining to the Cult of Chaos, and their rather intimidating members, the teenagers decided to get some air and process what they learned while the Keyblade Masters discuss what to do next.

While Cassidy was practicing with her Rune Lance and Drake was fiddling with his Gummiphone, Mizu had decided to play on her ocarina for a bit, this time playing a more upbeat tune.(1) Her friends found themselves quite enjoying the melody.

"Wow!" exclaimed Cassidy as she trusted her spear at air. "You're pretty good with that ocarina!"

"Indeed," said Drake. "Who knew an apprentice Keybearer could also be a good musician in the making?"

Mizu smiled at the praise. "Thanks! I find playing on this thing very relaxing. It helps relieve some of my stress. I guess I kinda needed it after what we learned about the cult."

"I don't blame you," said Lumina.

"So, Lumina," inquired the blue haired boy. "That thing you did to Cass and me earlier, was that you giving us the power of Harmony?"

The rabbit spirit nodded. "As stated before, without Harmony coursing through your body, Discord is incredibly difficult to combat. And the Cult of Chaos and their Discord Heartless are no joke. I've spread Harmony to the Keyblade Masters, who have in turn spread it to their allies in order to fight them."

"Nice!" exclaimed the green haired girl as she twirled her lance. "I bet we'll be kicking some major butt."

"The level of control one will have over Harmony will vary from person to person, but at the very least it will passively augment your physical and magically ability. However, as the bearer of the Mark of Harmony, Mizu will be the only one capable of utilizing it to its full potential, especially since she has a Keyblade, one of the seven pure lights, and her new amulet."

"Lumina!" the silver head blushed in embarrassment at such praise.

"Say Mizu!" Drake said as he put away his Gummiphone. "I was wondering about something. You never really told us about your Harmonist religion. And after hearing all that stuff about Harmony and Discord, I'm actually quite curious."

"Yeah," Cass added as she ceased practicing and rested her weapon. "I'm always up for an epic story."

Lumina looked at her master. "Might as well. It may give them some insight."

Mizu nodded. "Very well. There are several stories connected to Harmonism, but we'll cover the most important ones." She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "As you know, there are many worlds out there in the sea of stars. This was knowledge that was actually not uncommon among us Harmonists. Some of these worlds have their own pantheons of gods and goddesses overseeing them. But believe it or not, there is a pantheon that oversees the whole universe. This pantheon is led by two major deities: Cosmos, the Goddess of Light and Harmony, and Chaos, God of Darkness and Discord. This two deities were said to have been birthed by the heart of all worlds, Kingdom Hearts itself. They reside in the Spiritual Realm, a plane of existence inaccessible to any mortal, where the hearts of the deceased depart to rest. Any soul that wasn't caught in a limbo called the Final World, or taken to the depths of nothingness by the Lich Heartless, wound up in one of two places in the Spirtual Realm: Elysium, a place where good souls rest in peace and ruled by Cosmos, or Inferno, a place where wicked souls spend an eternity in endless torment and ruled by Chaos."(2)

"So basically heaven and hell," said Drake. "That's good to know."

Lumina took over. "The gods have been around since before the first Keyblade wielders! Their original duties were to maintain the balance of light and darkness together. However the Keyblade War that divided all worlds also threw their influence out of whack. The two let the mortals of all worlds rebuild for a while. But once many of them got back on their feet, the gods disagreed on the fates of the mortals. Cosmos wished for them to bask in the light and live in peace and harmony, while Chaos wanted them to be filled with darkness and seek conquest. Unable to see eye to eye, and knowing that a fight between such powerful deities would only damage all realms even further, they decided to settle it by using the mortals of the Luminous Highlands, the only world that even remembered their existence. To that end, they each created a messenger to the mortal realm to choose a champion to represent them. Cosmos created me, Lumina, and I chose a humble knight named Cid Lufaine, and Chaos created his messenger, Shada, who chose a battle craving warrior named Garland."

The silver head continued once again. "Cid was blessed with Cosmos's light, becoming first person to use the Power of Harmony, while Garland was gifted Chaos's darkness, becoming the first wielder of Discord. They each gathered their own armies, sharing their power with them, and fought numerous battles against each other, thus began the War of the Champions. There are several known adventures Cid and three of his most trusted allies had during the war. From rescuing a princess from Garland's grasp, to defeating his generals known as the Four Fiends."

Cassidy whistled. "Sounds like this Cid Lufaine was quite the hero."

"He was a legend, given the title Warrior of Light, and his order of knights became known as the Knights of Harmony." Mizu then looked at her incomplete amulet. "He and Lumina even sought the help of an alchemist to forge an artifact that would help boost his power and those of his allies: the Amulet of Harmony."

"Wow," said Drake. "So that's what your new amulet is?"

"Yes, although it's currently missing it's Celestial Stones. While amulet itself can increase the power of Harmony, I'm told that the Celestial Stones hold their own powers, capable of augmenting the abilities of the wearer and their allies. Supposedly, the Courage Emerald boosts speed, agility, and instinct, the Power Ruby boosts physical strength and durability, and the Wisdom Sapphire boosts magical prowess and perception. And then the Purity Diamond can bind the other three together and unlock the wearers full potential. I'm gonna need to find them before I even think about challenging Evol."

The blue haired mechanic thought for a second. "Does that thing happen to have a Discord counterpart?"

"Actually yes!" the spirit confirmed. "Garland and Shada created a similar artifact called the Gauntlet of Discord, although the powers of its Abyssal Stones are quite different from the Celestial Stones. The Hate Topaz can convert anger into power, the Pain Garnet can inflict various forms of torture, the Terror Turquoise can cast illusions that are very real, and the Oblivion Onyx can drain the energy of others and turn it against them."

"Yikes," said the green haired pilot. "Those sound tricky to deal with."

"But back to the story, none of Cid's adventures compared to the final battle. Garland was seeking more power to crush his enemies once and for all, and went as far as wanting to obtain the power rivaling that of the gods. Using the Gauntlet of Discord's power, he was able to gather the negative energy generated by the conflict, until he transformed into an imitation of Chaos himself and began slaughtering friends and foes alike. It was a gruesome fight, but Cid and his three allies managed to power him down, before Cid and Garland ended up killing each other in a final duel. And unfortunately for the messengers, being bound to our champions and being heavily drained of our own powers during the battle, their deaths resulted in Shada and I being put into a deep slumber to regain our strength over time until ones with the right hearts awakened us once again."

"Man!" said Drake. "That's really rough!"

"While the battle ended in a draw as far as the champions were concerned, the war as a whole was won in favor of Cosmos, and Chaos admitted defeat. After the destruction the war caused, they both agreed to never again interfere with Mortal Realm, and let the mortals themselves decide their own fates. And with the spirits slumbering and the artifacts locked away, both Harmony and Discord eventually faded away. At some point other worlds manifested their own pantheons of deities, and while Cosmos and Chaos could observe these worlds, they agreed to let their respective pantheons govern them as they saw fit. They even left the souls of their worlds to their own afterlives, only collecting those from worlds that didn't have their own. Centuries have passed, and the stories of the Warrior of Light faded into legend."

Mizu then looked up. "Cid died a hero. And his comrades honored him by keeping the Knights of Harmony alive to protect the Luminous Highlands from any threat. Over time, the worthy knights and mages would undergo trials to receive the holy light to become paladins and clerics. My own family has been part of the order for generations. As a matter of fact, we were always said to be descendants of Cid himself, something that Lumina confirmed to be true."

"Wow!" Cassidy beamed. "To have such a hero for an ancestor! And now you're basically his successor!"

"It's...overwhelming to say the least."

"So what kind of things do harmonists do?" asked Drake. "Are there any strict rules and rituals they follow?"

"Nothing too strict," the silver head answered. "Although the Knights of Harmony fight to defend the lands from monsters and other threats, Harmonists in general are peaceful people. We are taught to never judge anyone without an acceptable reason. And it is our policy to avoid conflict whenever possible. We always want to try and see the good in people whenever possible. At least, most of us do."

"Most of us?"

"There have been reports of some... overzealous Harmonists. These people either misinterpreted our goddess's will or take our faith to misguided extremes. I've heard some would abuse their own kin for not following their faith as strictly as them, and others who would demonize a person for the most minuscule of reasons, sometimes for reasons they had no control over."

Cass winced. "Geez, I guess even a peaceful order can have its extremists."

Mizu sighed. "Nothing is perfect, unfortunately. But these reports have been few and far between."

"Some people just end up missing the point and going overboard," Lumina lamented.

"As for rituals, like I said, we don't strictly enforce anything and let each person or family worship Lady Cosmos however way they want. The most dedicated Harmonists, however, pray to our goddess at least three times a day, and gather at the local church to sing our praises once a week. We treat her as though she was our loving mother. We have a baptism ritual, where anyone from ages seven and up bath in a holy spring to be blessed with Cosmos's love. That is when we are considered officially part of the Harmonist family." The champion then looked at the sky. "I was so excited for my baptism, as my parents taught me so much about the faith, and I was eager to officially join. Who knew that mine would change my life in a lot more ways?"

"What do you mean?" asked Drake.

"It was her baptism that awoke me from my slumber," the spirit answered. "You see, the Shrine of Cosmos, where the townsfolk of Mizu's home attend church, also housed my sleeping form. I would only awaken when a worthy soul, one with a particularly strong light, bathes in the shrine's spring. Being a Princess of Heart, holder of one of the seven pure lights, Mizu was pretty much guaranteed to do so. Personally, I never expected to be awoken by a child, but I am bound to her nonetheless, and it cannot be undone. Not that I mind though, as she's been great company and I actually learned to have fun thanks to her, something I didn't get to do while I was bound to Cid." She then lowered her head as her wing-ears drooped. "Unfortunately, it was that same day that the Cult of Chaos attacked. They sensed my awakening and sought to kill my chosen champion and put me back to sleep."

Mizu closed her eyes as she clutched her heart. "My home town was destroyed, and my parents were killed. I would've been dead too had it not been for Master Sora. He saved me just in the nick of time and took me under his wing. He trained me to be a Keyblade wielder while we traveled, hiding ourselves from the Cult."

Cassidy winced. "That...is rough!"

"Understatement of the year!" replied Drake.

The sliver head sighed. "It...hasn't been easy. But I know I can't let it stop me. If I don't do my duty as the Champion of Cosmos, I would only dishonor those who died that night."

Lumina then floated onto her master's shoulder. "And I'll be right here beside you, Mizu, every step of the way."

Mizu smiled as she petted her spirit, "Thank you, Lumina."

And don't forget, I'm here too, Angel said in her head.

The silver head mentally giggled. Thank you, Angel.

The blue haired boy crossed his arms in thought before saying. "You said that Harmony and Discord both faded away until recent years. Harmony was brought back thanks to your awakening. If the cult has Discord than does that mean the other spirit has awoken."

The rabbit shook her head. "If Shada had awoken, I would have sensed him, even in my slumber. It would appear that the Cult doesn't have their Champion of Chaos... at least not yet. The only other source of Discord in the Mortal Realm I know of is the gauntlet, so Evol must have gotten her hands on it."

"Well good to know they're not as strong as they could be," said the green haired girl.

"I wouldn't consider that necessarily a good thing," replied the boy. "It just means they have potential to be even more dangerous than they already are. If the Guardians of Light were already struggling before, imagine adding the Champion of Chaos and Shada into the mix."

"Indeed! Let's be thankful that for now we don't have to worry about it. Right now, the best course of action is finding the missing Celestial Stones."

"I agree," said Mizu. "But where do we even start looking?" Suddenly, her amulet started flashing a blue light, drawing everyone's attention.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Cassidy. "What's it doing?"

"It must be reacting to one of the Celestial Stones!" exclaimed Lumina. "One of them must be on this world!"

"We'll that's convenient," said Drake. "But what now?"

Mizu looked at the Amulet and remembered what Father Christopher said about letting it be her guide. She took deep breath, and focused her thoughts on the amulet and the stone it was detecting. Soon a ball of blue light emerged from the trinket and started floating off. Wasting no time Mizu started running off after it, with Lumina flying behind.

"Hey! Wait up!" shouted Cassidy and she began to follow after them.

"Hold on!" shouted Drake. "Shouldn't we wait for the Guardians to finish their meeting?"

"Ah! Don't worry about it! Get your butt moving before we lose the trail!"

The boy groaned before following suit. "They're not be happy about us running off like this."

Little did any of them know, they were being watched by a flying drone above.

In a laboratory, Doctor Durza was putting the finishing touches on his next experiment. He attached a few cables onto the Terror Turquoise now embedded on his wrist. These cables extended to a machine which had another set of cable attached a figure strapped to a table. A raspy moan was uttered from the figure.

"That should do it," the mad scientist said as he turn to his subject. "Now then, let see if anything happens after channeling the very power of terror into your body."

The Turquoise then glowed with power before Durza flipped a switch. The cables powered up and transferred energy from the stone to the figure. The doctor was experiencing a hint of pain due to being attached to the stone, but that was nothing compared to what his subject was experiencing. The figure was wailing in pain as the power was being infused into it. Suddenly, something popped out of the figure's body, prompting the doctor to shut off the machine. At first, it appeared to be a puddle blue shadowy substance, until it morphed into a shadow-like creature with red eyes.

Durza smirked at this development. "Extraordinary!" he chuckled. "At last a sign that we are making progress! Perhaps I should request the others to lend you a taste of their Abyssal Stones later." He then noticed the figures arm twitching a little, and seemed to faded out for a second but then returned to normal. "Hmm... a slight malfunction? No matter. Probably just a minor glitch that should be fixable."

He turned to the creature that was spawned from his subject. It leapt up to attack him, only for him to pull out a gun and blasted it with a pulse wave, blowing it away. One of his drones flew in, launched a few cables which wrapped around the creature, restraining and shocking it, then carrying it to a capsule, sealing it inside.

Soon, a beep came from a computer. Durza pressed a button and a window displayed on the monitor, show Mizu on the move.

"Well, look what we have here. Perfect timing!" He then pressed a few more button and two more windows popped up, revealing still images of Thaddeus and Abigail each with an audio meter. "Good news! The Champion of Cosmos is within the vicinity of Disney Town!"

Thaddeus's voice sounded. "Excellent! Two birds with one stones!"

Then Abigail's voice sounded. "Oh, let me get a crack at the girl! Where it she?"

"She's on the move," said the doctor. "I'll send her coordinates to your cyber-eye. In the mean time, my weapons are on standby, ready to be unleashed once the attack starts."

"Good!" said Thaddeus. "Adrian and I are almost in position to begin the assault."

"Good hunting! And Abigail, do be careful with my equipment this time."

"Oh ha ha!" the assassin said begrudgingly. "Just be ready for when I deliver her head on a platter!"

With that, the transmission cut off. Dr Durza then turned back to his subject who groaned tiredly. "Soon, my dear, you will be the Cult's greatest asset!" He chuckled in delight.

Mizu and the others chased the blue light out of the castle grounds. The wandered through the town street until they exited the gates and into a nearby forest. They kept going through until they came across the bottom of a waterfall. The blue light soared into the waterfall and disappeared.

"That ball of light went into that waterfall," said Cass. "Now what?"

Drake examined the river, which looks too treacherous to swim in. He then looked at the waterfall closely. "I see a narrow pathway that leads inside."

With that, the three kids slide along the narrow path with their back against the wall, while Lumina floated above them. They made it inside to find a large cavity that seemed to be empty aside from some rocks.

"What happened to that ball of light?" asked the green head.

"I don't know," answered Mizu. "It just vanished."

"Now what? This place seems awfully empty."

"It had to have brought us here for a reason," said Lumina.

Drake started examining the walls with his hand. "There's gotta be something here." His hand then brushed against something that felt distinct. It appeared to be some kind of carving in the rock covered in damp dirt. Brushing the dirt off to get a better view he saw a familiar shape. "Hey Mizu, check this out! It looks just like your amulet."

Mizu approached the carving, taking note that her amulet flashed much more frequently the closer she got. Lumina perched onto her master's shoulder, as they both stared at it. The girl instinctively reached out and touched it, and the carving glowed a blue light. Suddenly the Champion and Spirit were shrouded in a blinding light that caused Cassidy and Drake to shield their eyes. When the light subsided, the two looked to find that Mizu and Lumina were gone, but the carving still glowed.

"What the hell?!" shouted Cassidy. "Where did they go?!"

Drake touched the carving again, thinking something might happen, but nothing did. "This thing must've transported them somewhere."

The green haired pilot then touched the carving herself and again nothing happened. "But where, and why isn't it working on us?"

The blue haired mechanic thought for a moment. "If I had to wager a guess, I'd say they were most likely transported to where they'll find the Celestial Stone, and that this thing only responds to the bearer of the amulet and Spirit of Harmony."

"So what do we do now?"

"I guess the only thing we can do is wait for them to get back."

"Ugh, you know I hate waiting around."

"Come on, Cass! Patience is a virtue."

"Not one of mine!"

"Let's just head back outside, get some air, and be on the look out for any Heartless."

Mizu and Lumina found themselves in a mysterious place. It seemed to be a white circular platform with three altars. These altars each had a blue crystalline object shaped like a sphere with large spikes on six sides.(3) And everything else was a blue void.

"Where are we?" asked the silver head.

"I looks like that carving transported us to some kind of pocket dimension," answered Lumina.

"Do you think we'll find the Celestial Stone here?"

"You will," called a voice. "But obtaining it will not be that simple." The duo look to find a translucent star, a Lost Soul. The star then morphed into the shape of an elderly man with a large beard, and dress in a robe and a pointed hat with star and moon pattern on it. The man then bowed. "Greetings, Mizuhime Tenshi. It is an honor to finally meet a Champion of Cosmos. My name is Yen Sid."

"Yen Sid?" asked Mizu. "As in Keyblade Master Yen Sid, who trained King Mickey? The great sorcerer who aided the Guardians of Light in their war against Xehanort?"

"The very same," said the fallen master.

"What are you doing here? And where are we?"

"This is one of the pocket dimensions that I created to hide the Celestial Stones."

"You're the one who hid the Stones?" asked the rabbit spirit.

"Yes. A long time ago, I discovered the Amulet of Harmony and sensed a power unlike anything I had felt before. After studying what I could about Harmonism, I decided that the Amulet's power was too great to be out in the open. So I removed the stones and hid them in these pocket dimensions that only the bearer of the amulet can enter, to prevent their power from falling into the wrong hands."

"That does make sense. Unfortunately the guardians could've really used the full power of the amulet against the Cult of Chaos."

Yen Sid sighed. "I did not foresee my own end. In my lifetime, I always turned to the stars for guidance, and insight on current events and possible futures. Some messages I can read clearly, while other not so much. Before my demise, the stars gave me a message that a powerful darkness was approaching, a darkness amplified by the god of darkness himself. I knew that the Power of Discord was upon us. I had sent a message to the Guardians of Lights to come to my tower. I was planning to inform them of Harmonism, the Power of Harmony, and the Amulet. I even had the perfect candidate for the Champion of Cosmos."

I wonder who that would've been, Angel seemed to mutter to herself in Mizu's head. The silver head got the sense that her guardian angel had a few guesses to who it could've been, but chose not to pry, believing it didn't matter now.

"But before any of them could arrive, Evol Reficul herself somehow managed to enter my tower. She knew that my wisdom and insight was a threat to her conquest. Armed with the full power of the Gauntlet of Discord and her already powerful dark magic, even I was no match for her." He closed his eyes in shame. "I... never had the chance to warn the Guardians, or point them in the right direction. And now they have payed dearly for my lack of foresight. Wouldn't be the first time I suppose."

Mizu held her heart in fear. "Evol is that powerful? How are we supposed to compete with that."

The sorcerer looked at her with a firm gaze. "Your best chance right now is to recover the stones I have hidden, but unfortunately it won't be that easy. To make sure the new Champion is ready to wield such power, I have set up a series of trials to prove their worth. Surrounding us are three portals that will transport you to a different section of this reality, each giving you a different test. This particular space houses the Wisdom Sapphire, and so you will be facing a Test of Intellect, a Test of Memory, and a Test of Value. Complete these three tasks, in any order you choose, and you'll be given one final test. Pass, and the Sapphire will be yours."

The Champion felt nervous about these trials. She couldn't help but worry about failing, but at the same time she felt that she needed this. To her, this was just another way for her to prove to herself that she deserved her title. After a brief pause, she nodded. "I understand. I'll do my best, Master Yen Sid."

"Good! Now go forth! The Trials of Wisdom await you!" And with that, the ghostly sorcerer vanished.

Mizu looked at the altars as their crystal portals started glowing, beaconing her to come forward. She closed her eye and put her hands together to pray to her goddess for luck. She then approached one of the crystals and place her hand on it. A voice then sounded, "Are you ready to take the Test of Intellect?"

The silver head hesitated for a second before answering, "Yes."

And with that Mizu and Lumina were transported to some kind of cavern.

The voice then returned. "Not all problems can be solved through brute force. There are times when one must sharpen their mind to find the solution. Clear this cavern to pass the Test of Intellect."

The Champion crossed her arms in thought. "The objective sounds simple, but something tells me there's more to this cavern."

"I agree," said the rabbit spirit. "So shall we proceed?"

With a nod, Mizu began jogging through the cavern with Lumina flying behind her.

Soon they hit a road block, a wall of thick ice had blocked their path. The girl summoned her Keyblade and swung it at the wall a few times, barely making a scratch. "Wow, this ice is very thick."

"Indeed," said Lumina. "Well, this is your test. Any ideas?"

Mizu giggled. "Well, it's obvious isn't it?" She then pointed her Keyblade at the ice. "Fire!" She then casted several fireballs at the wall, quickly melting a hole in the ice. "That was easy."

"Keep your wits about you, Mizu. I doubt that's the only puzzle here."

They continued through the cavern and soon another roadblock occurred. This time it a metallic wall that looked ancient. It had three large lucid gems adorning its center. Upon closer inspection, Mizu could see what appeared to be seams on the wall. "Look like some kind of door."

"So it would seem."

The girl tried to move the door open with her bare hands, but no matter which direction she push, it wouldn't budge. She crossed her arms in thought. "There's gotta be some way to open this." She looked around the area and noticed a three lucid orbs on top of posts that seemed to be made out of the same metal at the door, spread out from each other. She walked up to the nearest orb and examined it closely to find some kind of mechanism in it. Seeing the three orbs and the three gems on the door, Mizu surmised that she was supposed to do something with those devices. She had to turn them on somehow, but she didn't see a switch or anything.

Then an idea popped in her head, as she raised her Keyblade and called, "Thunder!" as a bolt of lightning struck the orb, which promptly glowed with electricity, and motors could be heard. She looked back at the door to see one of the gems glowing. She smirked at the progress, but then frowned when the gems dimmed again and the device she activated powered down. What was she supposed to do now? After thinking it over, she decided to try her thunder spell again, this time she decided to activate all three of them as fast as she could. She stood at the center of all three devices, before casted her spell again as each orb one after the other. She successfully activated them and all three gems on the door glowed and then the door finally open, slowly lowering and finally letting her pass.

"Not bad!" said Lumina. "You're getting the hang of your spells."

Mizu giggled. "Practice makes perfect."

The duo press onward until they came across a large gap on the ground. The pit was thankfully not too deep to the point where she could see the bottom, but the ledges were still too high to jump up. The gap was too far for her to jump across either. The walls were too treacherous to climb or wall run on, with the sole except of the wall that would take her back up to the ledge she was on in case she fell. They also noticed that there were many geysers shooting out from the bottom of the pit.

"Well, this seems much trickier," the spirit said.

"Yeah," replied Mizu. "How am I supposed to get across?"

"Well, while you figure it out, I'll just be over here." Lumina then flew over to the other side of the pit.

"No fair, Lumina!" The girl pouted. "I can't fly like you can! And I haven't figured out Master Sora's gliding technique either."

Lumina giggled. "Hey, it's your test, remember? I can't be holding your hand through it, now can I?"

Mizu rolled her eyes before grabbing her chin. She spent a few minutes racking her brain on what she's supposed to do to get across. Her mind soon turned to the geysers. There had to be something she was supposed to do with them. She noticed they seemed to be bursting in a certain pattern. Analyzing this pattern, she noticed that some of them one after another formed a straight line to the other side. And soon it hit her. She readied her Keyblade, pointing it forward. She had to time this just right. "Blizzard!" she called as she shot out an ice projectile that generated an icy rail along its path. When reaching each geyser as it erupted, the spell froze the water, form more of the rail. Once it was finished Mizu quickly used the rail sliding technique her master taught her to grind along the icy rails across the pit, landing in front of her spirit companion.

"See? I knew you could figure it out." The spirit congratulated.

They look on and saw that a dead end with a blue crystal shaped like her Mark of Harmony. As they approached it, the voice returned. "You will find that physical strength will not always get you through. You must also have a strong mind, not only to be smart in any situation, but also to raise your inner strength through magic. You have done well. Now touch the crystal to end this test."

Mizu did as she was told, and the crystal glowed. And before they knew it, she and Lumina were transported back to the platform, the portal they had previously used was gone.

Mizu took a deep breath in relief before looking to her companion. "One down, two to go."

The Guardians of Light had finished their meeting and were ready to tell Mizu what they had decided on. But Mizu and the others were no longer in the courtyard so they decided to look for them. On there way out, Sora couldn't help but think about the decision they made and couldn't help but reminisce when he was made the girl's caretaker.

-Flashback-

The Guardians of Light had gathered in the Radiant Garden Castle Library. Sora, Riku, Roxas, Terra, Donald, Goofy and Mickey were there. And the women were there as well, the blue haired Aqua, the blond haired Naminé, and the black haired Xion. They were speaking with the Spirit of Harmony, who had just finished explaining Harmonist gods and the situation.

"Gawrsh," Goofy said somberly. "I can't believe something like that happened."

Naminé then put her hands up to her chest. "That poor little girl! I can't imagine what's she's going through."

"And to think," Roxas said as he crossed his arms, "if we only had the Power of Harmony sooner, our friends could've been saved."

Donald turned to Mickey. "Do you think Master Yen Sid knew about this?"

"Golly, I can't say for sure," the mouse said. "Maybe...this was what he was planning to talk to us about before he fell."

"But the Champion of Cosmos..." said Xion, "that's an awfully heavy burden to place on a child."

"It was not my intention to do so," said Lumina. "But unfortunately it's already been done."

"And there's nothing you can do about it?" asked Sora.

"I'm afraid not. Once the bond has been made, it cannot be undone. I cannot change Champions on a whim."

The Hero of Light looked over to the desk where Mizu sat on a chair, looking down depressed. Next to her sat a girl a few years older than her with short brown hair. She seemed to be trying to comfort the silver head, but with little to no success. There was also a boy few years younger than Mizu with short blond hair. He seemed to be drawing stars and moons on a piece of paper. They were within earshot, but gave no indication they were listening to the conversation, though Sora was betting that they were.

"I guess all we can do is protect her and make sure she is ready face the Cult," said Terra.

"We should bring her to the Land of Departure," said Aqua. "She could train in the art of the Keyblade alongside Herba." The brown haired girl seemed to perk up at this idea, only to frown at the next thing that's said.

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Riku. "Mizu has become the Cult's primary target. Young or not, they see her as their greatest threat. Who knows the lengths they will go to find her and kill her? Keeping her in one spot for an extended period of time is a bad idea."

"I agree," said the spirit. "Until she is ready to face them herself, she needs to be kept in hiding. Our best bet is to keep her on the move."

"But then who should be her guardian," asked Mickey. "Not only do we need someone who can not only keep her safe, but also train her to defend herself."

The group thought for a moment before Goofy said, "Hey, what about Sora?!"

Sora seemed taken aback by this. "M-me?"

"Are you crazy, Goofy?" asked Donald. "What does he know about teaching?"

"Well, I just figured that since he is the best out of everyone here, he'd be the obvious choice."

Naminé giggled. "I don't see why not! His track record for stopping bad guys and defending the innocent speaks for itself."

The hero scratched his head. "I-I don't know. Donald has a point, I don't know anything about teaching. I mean, I'm self-taught when it comes to fighting."

"Don't forget," said Aqua, "Terra and I gave you guys proper lessons the first chance we got after Xehanort's defeat."

"Besides," said Terra, "all you have to do is let your experiences speak for you. I'm sure you'll figure out a how to teach in a way that not only suits you, but a way she'll pick up on it, no problem."

Sora was about to protest, when he felt something grab onto his leg. He looked down to see Mizu herself clinging to him desperately. She looked up at him with pleading eyes.

Riku couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. "Looks to me like she wants you to be her guardian, Sora."

Roxas smirked. "And I think as the Champion, she should have a say in who she goes with."

"Aww," Xion cooed. "She wants to be with her hero. Isn't that cute?"

Sora couldn't help but stare at the now orphaned girl. For a moment he saw an image of a red haired girl flash in his mind. And now his heart was telling him what to do, and he just couldn't ignore it. He took a deep breath before saying. "Okay...I'll do it."

-Flashback End-

Sora had really grown fond of the girl over the years and trained her as best as he could. He did find it surprising how well she took to his lessons, even though he barely knew what he was doing. Regardless, he cherished every moment with his apprentice. What he was about to ask of her was going be hard, but also necessary for her growth.

His thoughts were interrupted when the earth suddenly shook.

"What was that?" asked Roxas.

As if to answer his question Discord Heartless started appearing all over the town streets.

"Discord Heartless!" shouted Terra.

"So the Cult of Chaos finally got the nerve to attack my home!" said Mickey.

Riku then ran up a building to get a better view. "And it looks like they're serious too, I think see some of Durza's toys running amok!" he shouted as he spot a lot of the doctor's surveillance drones flying around shooting laser blasts, as well as large four-legged walkers with shooting laser cannons. One building after another was getting destroyed. Civilians were running around in a panic.

King Mickey clutched his fists and turned to his subordinates. "Donald! Goofy! Gather as many troops as you can and launch an immediate counterattack and help get civilians to safety!"

"You got it, Your Majesty!" they both shouted before storming off.

"Roxas! Find a good location and start summoning 'reinforcements'!"

"I'm on it!" Sora's former Nobody ran up to the rooftops.

"Terra! You focus on those walking tanks! Try to minimize the damage they do!"

"Got it!" the muscle man dashed through the streets.

"Riku! You get in front lines and support whatever district needs it!"

"Alright!" the Warrior of Dawn leapt across the rooftops.

"Sora! Find Mizu and make sure she's alright! Odds are they know she's here! Give her the instructions, then join the fight!"

"Right!" the Hero of Light replied. "What about you, Your Majesty?"

"Someone has to defend the Cornerstone of Light. The Heartless may not be able to enter the castle, but with the Cult you can't be too careful."

Sora nodded as the King darted back to the castle. He then ran into town to begin his search. "Mizu! Please be safe!"

A/N: And there you have it. I hope you all liked the lore.

Footnotes:

(1) I picture her playing Sora's theme this time.

(2) I based the naming of the two afterlives off of the Soul Calibur series, namely the spirits of the two opposing swords, Soul Calibur's Elysium and Soul Edge's Inferno.

(3) Basically think of those portals from KHDDD and KH3.

Changes from the original:

*Celestial Stone Collecting: In the original, prior to events of the story, the Keyblade Masters randomly found three out of the four stones, and not knowing their true nature, they hid them in ethereal obstacle courses, and at the end they themselves challenge Mizu to a duel before giving her the stone they're guarding. Thinking about it nowadays, it doesn't make much sense to them to deliberately halt her progress in attaining the stones in such dire circumstances. They had the ability to just give the stones to her, so you'd think just doing so upon realizing their connection to her amulet would've been more practical. So for this version, I decided to remove any involvement from the Guardians in hiding them, as well as making the trials to obtain them more than just generic obstacle courses.

*Yen Sid: In the original, Yen Sid never made a single appearance, nor do I recall ever mentioning him. Since I had started writing the original sometime after KH2's release and thus I didn't think his role as a guide to the heroes would be expanded on in other games, I wasn't sure what to do with him at the time, so in the end I left him out. For this version, I decided to have him killed off prior to the events of the story, because I'm pretty sure its unrealistic to think that the Guardians would be having this much trouble with the Cult of Chaos while he's around to provide them with wisdom and insight, and even point them in the right direction to the means of combating them. So I had it so that the first thing the Cult did that garnered the Guardians' attention was to dispose of him before he had a chance to provide them with the crucial information. And it was just during the writing of this chapter that I decided to have it so that Yen Sid was the one who hid the Celestial Stones and set up these trials in the first place.

*Terra, Aqua, and Ventus: Only Aqua showed up in the original version of my story. Since Birth by Sleep came out during the original's writing, she ended up showing up late into the story, while Terra and Ventus didn't show up at all. The reason being I wasn't sure what Terra and Ventus's fate were going to be come KH3, and Aqua was the only one I was certain was going to come out all right. In that story, she served as the master of three OCs, who have been scrapped in this version. Now both Terra and Aqua are training their own daughter, Herba. As for Ventus...well...

*Sora and Mizu's relationship: In the original, Sora did rescue her once as a kid, but didn't see her again until she was older since her tragedy didn't happen until then. I wanted Sora to be like a surrogate father to her, but in hindsight, I don't think I did a good job at that, especially considering those two hadn't actually spent enough time together to be that close, with only thing tying them together is subconscious connection due to [spoiler], and that alone would've been kinda weak. In this new version, they've spent 8 years together, and as such a surrogate father-daughter relationship becomes more plausible and I'm planning on making more flashbacks on their time together to flesh it out more.