A/N: Tried to get this out before New Years, but procrastination really kicked my butt. Before we get start, a couple of notes I wanna address.

So anyone else getting problems with the PM notifications? My page still tells me when I get new PMs, but I don't receive any emails notifying me of said PMs. I still get email notifications for new chapters and reviews, but not PMs for some reason. If more people are noticing this, then they really needs to fix that. Fortunately I'm almost always monitoring Fan Fiction so it's not too big a problem for me. And if your experience this too, you might wanna check more often until this technical issue is fixed.

And I need to rant for a moment but I'm getting VERY frustrated with Deviantart right now! I was switched to this new Eclipse version without my consent, and ever since I've been facing MAJOR TECHNICAL PROBLEMS! Images won't show, and many options refuse to work period. I click on certain options and LITERALLY NOTHING HAPPENS! I can't even post anything new on the site! Even the option to switch back to the old version doesn't work! I've had my share of minor issues that only last a few days, but this has been going on for over a month now! I really don't know why this is happening! It could be my computer, or my internet browser, but this is just ticking me off! Oddly enough, Stash and DA Muro seem to be working just fine, be I haven't dared try post anything saved in there! I'm hoping this gets fixed eventually, but something tells me it might not happen until I get a new computer!

But in other news I am very excited for the Kingdom Heart III Re Mind DLC coming out next week. Not sure if I'll be able to get it right away, but I still can't wait.

Wisdom Sapphire

Mizu touched the second portal, the one that led to the Test of Memory, and she and Lumina found themselves in some kind of dungeon. Soon the mysterious voice spoke once again.

"Memory can often be the key to solving a problem. Ahead of you is a labyrinth of many differing paths. Clear the maze to pass, but be forewarned, one wrong turn and you will have to start over. The mural next to you shows the layout of the maze as well as important clues you'll need. Study it carefully before you proceed."

"A maze?" aske Mizu. "And one I can't afford to make a wrong turn?"

"Looks like you really have to memorize where you're going in order to pass," Lumina commented.

The girl looked up at the ceiling. "It's too bad there's no way to have you observe the maze from above with that ceiling covering the labyrinth."

"Now that would've been too easy, would it?"

"Touché." Mizu then looked at the mural to find that the Maze was pretty big. She studied the mural as hard as she could. When she touched her finger on the blueprint to see if she could trace a path, she was surprised to see that she was leaving a mark on it and she traced. And when she traced back, the mark disappeared. This should make the correct path easier to memorize. It took a while, but she managed to draw a path from one end to the other. She studied the path as best as she could.

After deciding she gazed into it enough, she took a swing at it, jogging in with Lumina on her shoulder. She made the first few turns easy enough, until she made one uncertain turn and suddenly found herself shouting in terror as the floor beneath her collapsed, and she fell into a bottomless pit. She blacked out for a short moment and came to right back at the start of the maze unharmed.

"Wow!" The champion said as she shook out of her daze. "They weren't kidding about starting over after one wrong turn."

The spirit looked back at the mural. "At least the path you drew is still there."

After reexamining the mural, Mizu tried again. She had a better time until she found a close door.

"What the!" Mizu exclaimed. "This wasn't on the mural. Now what?" She noticed a set of five orbs in front of it. She touched one of them, and it glowed a blue light. She touched it again and it turned a different shade. And another shade after a third touch, and then back to the first shade after a fourth. Mizu racked her brain as to what she was supposed to do, when the orb she turned on, started flashing until suddenly a bright light enveloped her, and she was back at start again. "What? What happened? What was I supposed to do?"

"Better check the mural again," suggested Lumina.

The silver head did just that. She looked on to try to figure out what she missed, when she quickly noticed something to the side of the maze. Three sets of five circles each lined up horizontally, and the color of each circle varied from three shades of blue, the same shades that orb was switching between. "Well, I'm an idiot," she lightly chastised herself. "They literally told me there were important clues to keep in mind, and I missed this. This must be the clues to the doors in this maze. I'm supposed to make the orbs at each door a certain set of colors to open them."

"Don't beat yourself over it. It's easy to overlook certain things."

After studying the maze and the circles carefully, Mizu took another shot. When she came to the first door again, she tried lighting all five orbed the correct colors and the door opened. After that, it was smooth sailing, only making a mistake one other time, and that was it. She reached the last door, and open it to fine the crystal straight ahead.

Mizu wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Whew! That was a brain teaser."

"Good job, Mizu!"

"Those who forget past mistakes are often doomed to repeat them. And often times, it takes remembering an important detail to figure out how to press on. You must commit as much information as you can to memory, as it could save your life one day. Well done!"

With that, Mizu walked up to the crystal, ending the test.

Roxas was leaping across the buildings, slaying whatever Heartless or enemy drone that got in his way. When it was calm in his immediate vicinity, he looked around the building he was on.

"This should do it," he said as he slammed his palm onto the roof and a large sigil that resembled a white upside down heart with a few thorn-like protrusions appeared. "Alright, I think I set up enough summoning glyphs. Now time to activate them."

The Dual Keyblade Master began waving his hands around as the glyphs he laid out began glowing brighter. As he was doing this, a bunch of Armored Knight Heartless appeared on the same rooftop. They approached him slowly as he clapped his hands together. One of the Heartless leapt up with its sword and dove toward Roxas...only for it to be sliced in two by a white creature carrying swords and coated in a gold aura. After that more white creatures with gold auras appear, including ones with elastic limbs, and floating flowery ones with scythes.

The white creatures called Nobodies, empty vessels who had their hearts stolen whose wills were strong enough to act on their own, had taken a liking to the former Nobodies that commanded them in the past, Roxas especially. After the fall of Organization XIII, the creatures had been left with nothing, and with their lack of purpose and true emotions, they felt only a desire to serve a master. As such they had become more than willing to serve the former members of their old masters as they're needed. They have proven useful from time to time, especially against Discord Heartless after they figured out how to power them with Harmony. Unfortunately, while they are generally stronger, Nobodies are much less common than Heartless, and because of that it's very difficult to summon a sufficient number of them whenever they wanted. And so for the war against the Cult of Chaos, they've opted to only summon Nobodies when the situation calls for them.

The Samurais, Dusks, and Reapers all slew the Discord Heatless, and the Harmony Nobodies from every summoning glyph placed in the city rooftops scattered across the battlefield.

With his work done, Roxas summoned his Oathkeeper and Oblivion Keyblades and charged into the fray.

Adrian stood on one of the rooftops, Bleeding Rage sword in hand, watching as the Disney Castle Guard struggled against the invaders. Only when the Harmony Nobodies started assisting them that they started putting up a decent fight.

The boy just grunted in disgust. "How pitiful! These losers aren't worth my time!"

He turned to leave the area when a Berserker Nobody landed in front of him. It swung is hammer-sword at the boy, who blocked with his sword and was knocked back. He then attacked back, clashing with the Nobody several times before he blasted it in the face with a dark fireball and subsequently sliced it in the shoulder. It staggered back a little, but quickly retaliated by shrinking its body to expand its sword, and then leapt high and came crashing onto Adrian. It then started bashing him into the ground repeatedly before whacking him into a wall. Before he could regain his bearings, a bunch of Dusks ambushed him and began piling on top of him.

Soon a dark glow shown from within the pile as the Nobodies were blasted off of the boy with a loud shout. The Hate Topaz on his scarred shoulder was glowing as he was coated in a dim yellow aura mixed with dark mist. The Berserker leapt to attack him again, but Adrian let out a shout as he swung his blade now channeling the Topaz's power and sliced right though its hammer-sword and cut the Nobody in half. The Dusks attempted to pile on his again, only for him to spin around with his sword and unleash a wave of dark explosions around him with yet another shout, destroying them.

Once the coast was clear, the aura died down and Adrian grabbed his shoulder in slight pain. He looked at the Topaz with awe. So this is the Power of Hate, he thought. He had to admit, that rush of power coming from his new Abyssal Stone felt exhilarating. The urge to use it again was hard for him to resist. But enough using it on disposable husks. Let's REALLY test this thing!

With that, he leapt off the rooftops to find suitable prey.

Mizu and Lumina entered the Test of Value and found themselves in a place much different from the previous tests. They seemed to be on top of a stone structure surrounded by waterfalls. The blue sky, some trees, the sound of birds chirping. It was quite the peaceful scenery. They noticed that there where three blue translucent stars floating on the platform. Were they Lost Souls? Interestingly, each star had a Keyblade or two stabbed into the ground next to it. Before they could question it, the voice returned.

"What is your reason for fighting? It is a question one must ponder as a step towards realizing one's true potential. At times one must look inside oneself and reevaluate one's values and priorities. What do you value most that is worth fighting for? These Lost Souls will each ask you a question based on your values. Answer them as truthfully as you can."

"Questions?" asked Mizu. "As in personal questions?"

"Sounds like it," answered Lumina. "But don't worry about it. Just be true to yourself when you answer them and I'll bet you'll be fine."

"Okay." The silver head let out deep breath before approaching the first Lost Soul. This was the only soul that had two Keyblades instead of one. One looked like it was designed to be easily wielded in reverse, what with the handle not being aligned with the shaft. It had a dull gold guard, a dark grey shaft, and the teeth having a wing like shape. The Keychain token is a green gem with two silver flurries of wind spiraling around it. The other Keyblade, had an appearance Mizu found hard to describe in simple words outside of its mixtures of blacks, yellows, and blues.(1)

When Mizu approached the Soul, a flash of light occurred and the star was replaced with a young man sitting on the ledge with his back turned. He had spiky blond hair, s black and white outfit, and a pauldron on his left shoulder. The man's hairdo made the girl immediately think he looked just like Roxas, but she quickly realized there was something different about him.

Without even turning around, the man spoke, "What is the one thing you cherish more than anything else?"

Mizu was confused when suddenly three possible answers were implanted into her mind, as if beaconing her to choose between them: 1) My Faith! 2) My loved ones! 3) My family lineage! She did not expect it to be multiple choice. She found herself a bit conflicted. She cherished all three of these things almost equally highly. How was she supposed to choose just one? After a minute, she realized she had to figure out which one she'd prioritize over the others. She crossed her arms as she contemplated each answer.

She was proud of her lineage, being a descendant of the previous Champion, and her family being part of the Knights of Harmony for generations. She wanted to do her best to honor that legacy. But thinking about it, she couldn't help but question if lineage really defines her as a person.

Her Harmonist Faith was something she held true to her heart. She believed in the will of her goddess with all her heart. She had to wonder what Lady Cosmos or even Lumina would think of her if she didn't choose her Faith. But then is it really right to answer that just to pander to someone else?

Then she thought of her loved ones. She thought about her late parents and the Head Priest Christopher, and how sad she felt when she lost them. And she thought about Lumina, her Master Sora, her guardian Angel, and all the friends she made since the disaster, and how they helped fill hole in her heart. They all really made her feel warm inside. Heck, now that she thought about it, she supposed she could count Lady Cosmos as a loved one, as remembering what she was taught about the goddess's love, as well as praying to her as often as she could always helped her feel better despite her loss.

With that in mind, she finally had her answer. "My loved ones!"

The young man then turn his head toward her, revealing more of his Roxas-like features. "Loved ones..." he said with a smile. "That's a really great thing to have." And with that another flash of light and he was gone, even his Keyblades. Mizu was confused as to what happened to him, but decided not to question the test.

The rabbit spirit then decided to speak. "You looked like you were really racking your brain there. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Mizu replied. "Multiple different answers just popped into my head after he asked that question. I...have to confess, one of the options I was given was 'My Faith'. I hope you or Cosmos aren't mad at me for not picking it."

Lumina couldn't help but giggle. "While I appreciated your concern for our feelings, you really have nothing to worry about. Lady Cosmos isn't one to hold grudges, and would certainly not hold it against you for choosing your loved ones over your religion. In fact, our goddess actually prefers her followers to live as their own individual people and think for themselves. As for me, I've known you for a long time, and I can understand why they mean that much to you. Besides, I know for a fact that you include me and the goddess among your loved ones, so I'd say no harm done."

The Champion couldn't help but smile at her spirit companion's words. "Thank you, Lumina."

She then approached the next Lost Soul. The Keyblade next to this one looked like it had a red chakram for a guard and a stream of fire for the blade which swirled to form the teeth. Its Keychain token looked like a smaller silver chakram. Another flash and the star was replace by a man leaning in back on a pillar, again facing away from Mizu. He looked older than the previous one. He had fire red hair that had much longer spikes than Master Sora, and he wore black.

Without looking he spoke. "What are you so afraid of?"

Like before, three options popped into her head: 1) Losing those that I care about! 2) Letting my worst enemies have their way! 3) Disappointing my goddess! She honestly was surprised a certain person wasn't on the list. But considering the options she was given, she guessed that fear of a specific person or thing was not what this test was looking for. Regardless these answers were tough to choose from, as they all seemed to play on her anxieties in all this.

Disappointing her goddess was definitely something she didn't want to do. Even after the tragedy, she was a devoted Harmonist. She counted herself lucky that the Guardians of Light were able to salvage some of the Harmonist scriptures from the disaster so that she could learn as much as she could about her faith. The thought of letting Cosmos down, especially as her chosen champion, was heart wrenching.

Letting her worst enemies have their way was pretty obvious. If the Cult of Chaos were allowed to continue their campaign, countless people would suffer at their hands. And as the Champion of Cosmos, it was her duty to fight the forces of Discord. If she were to fail at stopping them, she didn't think she'd be able to live it down.

Then she thought about losing those she cared about. She already lost people in her hometown's calamity, and it felt like having her heart torn to pieces. All the new people she met over the years since then had put those pieces back together, and she was grateful for them. But the thought of losing them too? She didn't believe she could bear that pain again. Yeah, the last thing she wanted was to lose everything all over again.

Having decided, she answered, "Losing those I care about!"

The man turned to the girl, showing his green eyes. "Losing those you care about..." he said as he gave her a sympathetic smile. "Can't blame you for that." And just like before, he and his Keyblade vanished in a flash of light.

Mizu sighed in relief as her rabbit spirit approached. "A very understandable fear."

"I'll admit, at first I was expecting to have to answer a specific thing...or person, not a concept."

"Personal fears can be overcome. Fear of loss is a broader concept... and those types of fears almost never go away."

The girl nodded in understanding before turning to the last Lost Soul.

The Keyblade next to this one had an indigo guard that somewhat resembled Sora's Kingdom Key in shape, a gold shaft, and three indigo and gold shooting stars, one as the teeth, one with two opposite tails at the base of the shaft, and one as the keychain token. The lost soul then turned into a young woman staring into what looked like a natural spring. She had long raven hair, and wore white shirt under a black vest and a dark gray skirt.

Soon she spoke. What do you wish?

This time the answers that popped up were: 1) To prove to myself that I'm worth something! 2) To fulfill my duty as the Champion of Cosmos! 3) To protect what's precious to me! This was a tough one. All three of this things were something Mizu wished to accomplish so much. How was she to choose this time?

Being the Champion of Cosmos was a very high honor among her people. And as the chosen one, she wanted so much to fulfill her role, so she could honor her ancestor's legacy, and make Lady Cosmos proud of her. And fighting against the forces of Discord, the Cult of Chaos, was the best way to go about that.

Proving her worth was also a big deal for her. One thing she had always struggled with was her self confidence. Losing your home and love ones and almost getting killed yourself could do that to you. But she didn't want to be a burden to anyone. She desperately wanted to prove not only to others but to herself that she could follow in her parents' footsteps, that she could be the champion she needed to be, that choosing her was not a mistake, and most importantly... that she was worth saving.

As she thought about protecting what's precious to her, a realization dawned on her. Her reasons for her answers to the previous questions also applied to this answer. She cherished her loved ones so much and she didn't want to lose them. Why wouldn't she want to protect them? She then remembered something her master told her, that he always drew strength from the bonds he makes with others, and that his wish to protect those he bonds with was what always kept him going, no matter what his objective was.

With all that in mind, her answer turned out to be obvious. "To protect what's precious to me!"

The girl turned to the Champion, showing her brown eyes. "Protecting what's precious to you..." she gave her a gentle smile. "That is a very noble goal indeed." And with that, the last Lost Soul and Keyblade vanished.

"She's right, you know," Lumina commented.

Mizu giggled in response. "Just following Master Sora's example."

Soon the voice returned. "You cherish your loved ones. You're afraid of losing those you care about. You wish to protect those precious to you. You value the wellbeing of others more than your own, a noble quality in a holy knight and Keyblade wielder. And while you value other things just as much, you answered with certainty where your priorities lie. Hold true to your beliefs as you move forward, for in the end that is where your inner strength will come from." And with that, the voice was gone. And a crystal appeared in middle of the platform.

"Strange," said Mizu. "I feel like this test wasn't as stressful as I made it out to be."

"Well, the point of this test seemed to be to reevaluate your priorities, and you had to think real hard to figure out what comes first for you." Lumina then perched on top of Mizu's head. "You know, I bet Lady Cosmos would be proud of the answers you gave."

"You really think so?"

"Of course! I think the answers you gave are exactly the kind of mindset the Champion of Cosmos should have, one that puts the needs of other before your own."

The girl giggled, "Thank you, Lumina." She then looked around at the spots the Lost Souls were. "Still...those Lost Souls...I can't help but wonder what happened to them."

"The fact that all three of them appeared to be Keyblade wielders and one of them looked identical to Roxas...somehow I don't think that's a coincidence."

Mizu nodded in agreement before she heard Angel mutter to herself, They were such good people, with a hint of sadness. The silver head got the sense that she new these people, but once again chose not to pry. She just touched the crystal, ending the test.

Drake and Cassidy were sitting outside of the waterfall, waiting for Mizu to return. Both were passing the time in a different way. Drake was tinkering with a device in his hands, while Cassidy was playing a starship rail shooter game on her Gummiphone.

"Any idea when she'll be back?" asked Cassidy.

"Can't say for sure," answered Drake. "Let's hope not too long. The Keyblade Masters are probably wondering where we are." He then finished tightening a screw and set the device down. It was bronze plated with a white Z-27 painted on the side and a camera lens. "All right, little guy. Let's boot you back up." He then press a couple buttons near the camera. A blue light lit up and it started floating. He then pulled out his Gummiphone and starting fiddling with it. Soon the screen started displaying what the drone was seeing. "Looks like your systems are running smoothly."

The emerald haired pilot finished the level she was on and paused her game. "You and your need to tinker with that drone."

"Hey, if I don't give him regular maintenance, he could break down without warning."

"You sure like to talk to and about your toys as if they were alive."

"Sorry if you think treating my own creations as if they were children is weird. I'm still learning how to program artificial intelligence."

"If you say so."

The blue haired mechanic then fiddle with his phone and the drones began to ascended into the air, until it was above the trees. The drone then began rotating as he watched the screen. "Displays looking good, as are the camera controls." He then winced as the screen displayed an unsettling sight. "Oh crap!"

"What is it?"

"Disney Town! There's a lot of smoke coming from it. Not to mention flashing lights and explosions."

Cass put away her phone. "That doesn't sound good."

Suddenly, Drake's phone started ringing. The boy answered it and the display showed Sora. "Drake!"

"Master Sora?" said Drake. "We just saw smoke coming from the town, what's going on?"

"The Cult has launched an invasion. Discord Heartless are everywhere, as well as Durza's robots! Where are you guys!?"

"Mizu's amulet kinda led us to the outskirts of town. We think it was reacting to one of the Celestial Stones. We were brought to a waterfall north of the town. We found a carving that matched her amulet, and when she touched it, she and Lumina just..." the boy hesitated, "kinda...disappeared..."

"What!"

"P-probably to where the stone is, I-I'm sure she'll return soon! We're still waiting for her right by the waterfall."

Sora sighed. "Alright! Hang tight! I'll be there soon!"

"Um, Drake..." Cassidy pointed toward the trees where a bunch of Discord Heartless were appearing.

Drake looked at the Heartless before speaking onto his phone again. "You might wanna hurry, because we have company." He then hung up, and summoned his Magitek staff. "Let's hope the Power of Harmony Lumina gave us doesn't fail."

Cass summoned her Rune Lance, which she twirled in excitement. "Oh yeah! Time for us to kick butt!" As the Heartless surrounded them, she began charging energy into the head of her spear. She then leapt high into the air and called, "Falcon Dive!" as she trusted down, skewering a Lance Soldier into the ground and unleashing a shockwave that blasted the closest Heartless to her upon impact. She then began swinging her spear, swiping and stabbing at every Shadow that came at her. Suddenly another Lance Soldier began flying around like crazy carried by its living lance, and striking her from her blindspot several times, before she finally managed parried it, knocking the Heartless off balance. She then swept her spear at its legs, tripping it onto the ground, before impaling it. She then saw more Heartless charging at her. She smirked as she gathered energy into the head of her spear. "Sonic Joust!" she shouted as she trusted her lance forward at blinding speed, running through several Heartless and blowing others away in the shockwave.

Meanwhile, Drake gathered his magic and pointed his staff. "Blizzara!" he shouted as he unleashed a gust of ice, freezing a bunch of Heartless. A Shadow then flanked at him from the right. Once he spotted it getting too close, he gathered magic into his staff's gem, causing it to glow, before swiping at the creature, dispatching it. He then found himself dodging a few ice chunks from two Blue Rhapsodies. He pointed at them and shouted, "Fira!" and he launch two consecutive fireballs, blasting both Heartless into ash. He then got blasted from behind, knocking him off his feet. He turn to see a Cannon Gun charging up another shot. Thinking fast, he raise his staff and shouted, "Magic Arrow!" and conjured a magic projectile that darted toward the Heartless and into its energy charging nozzle. Upon impact, the monster exploded, blasting any nearby Heartless away.

The duo continued to take out the Heartless, while also taking a few hits themselves, as neither were used to dealing with the Discord variety. They found themselves having to watch each other's backs from time to time, such as Drake freezing a Red Nocturne about to shoot a fireball at Cass, or Cass throwing her spear at Hammer Frame about to slam itself onto Drake. It went on for a while until the monster were finally cleared out.

Both panted with exhaustion. "Wow," said Drake, "so those were the Discord Heartless."

"They put up a decent fight," said Cassidy. "But they were no match for us."

The blue haired mechanic raised his staff as he called, "Cura!" and a green light healed bother their wounds in seconds. "Don't get cocky, Cass. If that's the kind of enemies we're gonna be dealing with, we're gonna have to remain vigilant."

"Yeah, yeah!" The green haired complained. "Whatever you say!"

"Let's rest up, but keep our eyes open in case more show up. Shouldn't be much longer before Mizu gets back."

Little did the two know, that they were both being watched by certain cyborg.

Mizu and Lumina found themselves in a large white circular platform in surrounded by an endless blue void. On the platform was a blue mural of a turtle.

Soon the voice returned. "Well done, bearer of the Amulet of Harmony." Then the mural glowed as a blue mist began gathering in front of the duo. It took the shape of a ghostly turtle, not dissimilar to the mural. "You have completed the Trials of Wisdom, and shown your sound mind and knowledge. However, you have one more test before you can claim what you seek. You and your spirit must prove your worth through combat." In a flash of light, the turtle was replaced with a figure whose body appeared to be made of silver, clad in a blue sage's robe that had a turtle motif, and holding a long scepter. A pair of wings that appeared to be made of water sprouted from its back. "Defeat the Sapphire Sage, and the Wisdom Sapphire will be yours." The Sapphire Sage started hovering above the ground as it readied its scepter.

The Champion of Cosmos hesitated at first, but she summoned her Shining Hope Keyblade and readied herself. "You ready for this, Lumina?"

The Spirit of Harmony began floating off her master's shoulder. "Ready when you are, Mizu!"

There was a short pause before the Sage made the first move by pointing its scepter at the girl and unleashed a large fireball at her. Mizu and Lumina split up and dodged the attack. Mizu then launched a Pearl spell, which was deflected by the Sage's scepter. Lumina flew behind it, and launched a Luminous Sphere, hitting it in the back, causing it to stagger forward. The girl then charged at it with her Keyblade, but her strike was block by a last second barrier, knocking her away. The sage then raised its scepter which was sparking with electricity. The duo's sixth senses kicked in as they started moving quickly as lightning began falling all around the arena. As she frantically avoided the bolts, Mizu charged energy into her Keyblade and threw a Strike Raid on her opponent. The attack struck the silver figure, ending the thunderstorm.

Lumina attempted to charge at it with an Angelic Spin, only to be blocked by another last second barrier. The Sage then started gliding around the arena while firing a barrage of fireballs. The spirit warped to her master and casted Divine Protection around them while the champion gathered her magic. Once the fireballs slowed down, Lumina ceased the barrier and Mizu immediate unleashed a Blizzard spell that manage to incase the Sage's scepter arm in ice. The duo quickly rushed in and struck it a few times before they were blasted away by an invisible force. The Sage thawed its arm and began conjuring icy spikes from the floor. The Keybearer dodged a few of them but then one of them struck her thigh from behind, causing her to fall on her knee. Then before she could recover, all the ice around her exploded into chucks, knocking her onto the floor.

As Mizu struggled to get up, her opponent started charging its magic while pointing its staff at Mizu. But just as it fires, Lumina darted into its arm, throwing off its aim as the projectile missed the girl. The spirit then followed up with a point blank sphere to the face, blasting it into an invisible wall at the edge of the platform. She then quickly perched on her master's shoulder. "Healing Light!" Lumina emitted a yellow green light that enveloped Mizu, healing her woulds and soothing her pain as she stood back up.

The Sage then began conjuring a storm of Magic Arrows that darted at the Champion one by one. But Mizu gathered her energy and focus as she started waving around her Keyblade with grace. "Luminous Flurry!" She unleashed a flurry of light projectiles one after another, colliding with the a good chunk of the arrows, but there were too many of them. Fortunately, Lumina finished healing Mizu and projected her barrier. Once the arrows ceased and the barrier dispelled, Mizu dashed forward while firing a few Pearl spells at the Sage, while Lumina flew around firing Luminous Spheres. The Sage conjured a barrier blocked the projectiles.

When the Champion got close enough, she leapt as she twirled her Keyblade in front of her. "Prism Windmill!" Her attack collided with the barrier and began grinding into it while Lumina used her Angelic Spin to do the same. As the duo continued grinding, the barrier began to slowly crack. Soon the barrier shattered, and the two's attacks struck their opponent hard.

But then the Sapphire Sage teleported high into the air before raising its scepter. The duo was stunned when a giant sphere of light was forming above it.

"That is huge!" exclaimed Mizu. "Do you think your barrier can defend against that?"

"Unfortunately I don't think so!" answered Lumina. "That thing feels a lot stronger than my barrier could take.

"Now what do we do?"

"Mizu! Let's try our combo!"

"Okay!"

Lumina then started glowing and began flying loop-the-loops in front of her master until a ring of light is formed. "Magnifying Halo!"

Mizu then pointed her Keyblade at the giant sphere and the ring aligned itself between the Keyblade and the sphere. The champion then began charge energy at the tip of her blade as the Sage then threw the sphere at the duo. "Piercing Light!" she shouted as she fired a beam of light. As the beam passed through the Magnifying Halo, it was enhanced, growing wider and stronger. The beam collided with the giant sphere, halting its descent. Mizu was struggling to maintain her beam and the attacks kept pushing at each other. After a bit, the beam finally pierced through the sphere, which promptly bursted into harmless sparkles, and Mizu's attack caught the Sapphire Sage, burning through it until it disintegrated.

Mizu then collapsed on her knees in exhaustion. "Cosmos, that was tough!"

"Indeed!" Lumina agreed as she slumped on her masters shoulder. "But we did it! We got through our first major battle together!"

The girl smiled at this. "Yeah, I guess we did."

Great job, Mizu! Angel said.

Soon the blue mist reappeared and reformed into its turtle shape. Then the voice returned. "Congratulations, Champion of Cosmos! You have proven yourself worthy! The Wisdom Sapphire is now yours! With it, you can enhance your magical capabilities! Use its power wisely!" Then a blue circular gem descended from above. The ghostly turtle turned back into mist, which then absorbed into the Sapphire.

The Wisdom Sapphire then floated to Mizu and fitted itself into one of the circular slots on her amulet. She felt a power surging through her. A blue aura surrounded her, a pair of water wings sprouted from her back, and her outfit changed color from purple to blue and also gained a turtle motif. The name 'Sage Form' popped into her mind. Soon she returned to normal. "Wow!" she said. "I've never felt such power before."

"And we've only just begun to unlock the full power of the Amulet of Harmony," replied Lumina.

"Well done, Mizuhime!" The duo turned to see the ghost of Yen Sid again. "You have certainly proven to be quite capable as a Champion of Cosmos."

"Thank you, Master," replied Mizu.

"So could you tell us where the other stones are?" asked Lumina.

"I could tell you... but I'd rather you go out and search on your own."

"What? Why?"

"Think of it as part of your test. And more importantly as...on the job training, so to speak."

The girl tilted her head. "On the job training?"

The ghostly sorcerer began stroking his beard. "Tell me something, Mizuhime. Putting the amulet aside, do you believe you are ready to face the cult head on?" Mizu could only look down with hesitation. "You have trained under Master Sora for eight years. However no amount of training alone can truly prepare you for your greatest challenges. There are times where true combat experience can be the difference between life and death. One of the biggest mistakes I've made in the past was sending someone severely lacking in experience into an all out war. It was a mistake that caused a lot of suffering, and has weighed heavily on my heart even after the damage was miraculously repaired. Even after you obtain all the Celestial Stones, it won't matter if you can't use their power to their fullest, or if your unable to fight without their power, as there's no guarantee they'll help you in every situation. And your inexperience with or without the stones could be your downfall. The Cult of Chaos is not to be trifled with. If you are to face them in battle, you will need to gain as much combat experience as you can."

He's right, Angel's voice told Mizu. Anything can happen on the battlefield that could cost you if your unprepared.

"Hard to argue with that," said the rabbit spirit.

"The amulet will guide you to the stones as needed. But in your search across the Realm of Light, you will surely find new worlds that are in need of a Keybearer's assistance, and encounter many Heartless to fight. That should help make you stronger, grow accustomed to your new powers, and better prepare you for the real battle."

The champion nodded. "I understand, Master Yen Sid."

"Good! Now then, that is all I am able to tell you for now. We will speak again another time. Go forth! Your journey awaits you!" And with that, Master Yen Sid vanished once again.

Mizu took a deep breath. "Well, I guess its time we head back."

"Yeah," replied Lumina. "Drake and Cassidy are probably wondering what happened to you."

With that, they walked over to the portal that appeared after receiving the sapphire, and upon touching it the duo was transported out of this pocket dimension.

A/N: And there you have it. Mizu obtains her first Celestial Stone. I hope you all liked how I executed her trials.

For the Test of Value in particular I was trying to give her options for each question that all applied to her, so that in a way there was no real right or wrong answer. Like Lumina said, it was more about figuring out where her priorities lie.

Footnotes:

(1) Since I can't figure out how to describe it in simple words, I'll just tell you its Missing Ache, specifically its Level 25+ form from KHUX.

Changes from the Original:

*Nobodies: In the original they were enemies primarily commanded by FF villain, Exdeath. I chose him as their commander due to his obsession with the void. This time around however, with some of the former members of Organization XIII returning as human, I decided to make them allies to the heroes who primarily serve said former Nobodies, especially Roxas. And given that I had the Heartless powered by Discord, it only made sense that I powered the Nobodies with Harmony so that they'd stand a chance. However, due to fact that Nobodies are not as common as Heartless, they're unable to use them very often, and usually reserve them for situations such as this.

*Roxas, Namine, and Xion: Outside of a couple flashbacks, these three did not appear in the original at all. The reason for this was because at the time I was not confident at all that they would ever come back as their own people. I had just accepted all three of them as parts of Sora and Kairi and that was the end of it. Obviously after KH3 that changed, and I decided to include them in my new version.

*Ventus and Lea: So I'm not gonna try and hide it now. Yes, two of those Lost Souls were indeed Ventus and Lea. And yes, the fact that they are Lost Souls means they are dead in this story. My reason for killing them off prior to the events of this story? All I'm willing to say is that they're deaths, plus Yen Sid's, were result of me feeling the need to have more than just one casualty as a result of the Cult's campaign. But thanks to an idea given by Kristen Verne, I found a use for them even in death. As a side note, Lea didn't appear at all in my original version, mainly due to the 'recompletion' process being unknown at the time of writing. I was planning on having him show up in my previous attempt at rewriting, but obviously that's been canned.

*Skuld: As you've probably guessed, the third Lost Soul is Skuld from KHUX, who is highly speculated to be the identity of Subject X, an amnesiac teenaged girl mentioned several times in KH3 who was kept in Radiant Garden's lab for a time and even met Lea and Isa at least once, but then she was sent away presumably by Braig. As I'm sure you can tell, she's also dead, if not from a future game then definitely by the Cult. Fun Fact: I was considering using Strelitzia at first, but decided not to retread her Nameless Star role from KH3.