Sword Art Kingdom III

by Jacob Pendra-Huth

After so many years of waiting, the next chapter of SAK, with the final battle awaiting the trio of Keyblade wielders, Sora, Asuna and Kirito. With swarms of enemies coming from all sides, the heroes must not only gather the Guardians of Light, but also the Lost Princesses of Hearts, all the while doing their best not to let the enemy win, in any world, in any dimension.

7. Resolute Oasis! Discoveries of Allies!

For the next world, these are the wandering & battle themes of the world:

Wandering theme: (Final Fantasy XII OST 'The Skycity of Bhujerba')

Battle Theme: (Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII 'Chaos')

---

Swiftwing Gummi Ship

Inside the dance studio of the Switch Chamber, five of the six heroes were testing out the new dance skills they gained from the last world they visited. Using the music player in the studio, they were playing music to practice to. Currently, Kirito, Asuna and Goofy, all in Dance Stage attire thanks to the room's power, were trying to perform a dance routine together.

(Insert Tribe Cool Crew OST 'YEP YEP')

At the start of the song, the trio held poses as their bodies bounced to the beat of the music. Then after about the first seven seconds, they got out of their poses, and skipped into positions as Kirito took center before the first 'yep yep' of the song. He then broke into his, what he dubbed it, Aincrad Breakdance Style, fusing the style of breakdance with his skills as a swordsman. The results were great footwork mixed with hand movements that acted like he was swinging his sword or swords. It was rather unique, and something he was trying to get the hang of, but he was determined to learn the craft.

At the next part of the song, they swapped places, and Asuna was center, demonstrating her street jazz style she learned, though there were hints of her past ballet training and skills with a rapier into her movements, putting her dance as something graceful and elegant, yet the street jazz sexiness that made Asuna dazzle in her moves.

In the next part, they swapped places again, this time with Goofy as center, showing off his Freestyle Disco dance. While he was using his own disco moves in his routine, too, he had learned more tricks to make his dance more street-style than ever. The others were worried that his new afro for his attire would be in the way. However, it seemed like Goofy was pretty use to dancing with an afro, and it didn't interrupt his dance moves in the slightest.

In the final part of the song, they came together, with Kirito in the center, and the others on either side, as they danced together in sync with one another and in rhythm of the music. They each had their moment to shine a bit as each took their turn as the center, their different dance styles complimenting one another, before striking poses as the song ended, with Asuna in the center, and the two boys on either side.

(Song ends)

Sora and Yui, who were watching their dance routine, gave them a round of applause at their dance routine. "That was awesome!" Sora cheered, "All that practice is really paying off!"

"I agree!" Yui added, "Mama, papa, and Goofy, your dance skills are getting more and more flawless the more you practice."

"Thanks." Kirito thanked them, taking a bottled water they had nearby, and opening the top, "I'll admit, this is still pretty difficult to learn. But I admit, it is kinda fun to do."

"It's even more fun when we do it together." Goofy chuckled, seemingly not exhausted from the dancing.

"I think that's the best part of it all." Asuna stated, wiping her forehead with a towel, "Dancing by myself just doesn't make it fun at all. But dancing as a team…" She lowered her towel, smiling at the others, "…That just makes it so exciting to do!" The others nodded in agreement.

Just then, Donald's voice came over the PA in the room, calling out, "Guys! I see the next world from a distance."

"Looks like our next stop is approaching." Sora understood, "I can't wait to see what that world is like!" He raced out of the room, his Dance Stage attire reverting back to normal. Everyone else followed him out of the room, joining to see what new world was awaiting them.

When they arrived, they looked outside the Gummi ship to see the world beyond. It looked like a large city of sorts, the style of the buildings were a mixture between Mediterranean-style, with that of a desert kingdom, like Agrabah. It was clear, even from here, that the city was under construction, as well. In the center of the city was a castle, clearly made for royalty, and it, too, was under construction. Outside of the city were badlands, with greenery trying to pop out here and there.

"So our next world is a kingdom, huh?" Kirito understood.

"Hold on!" Yui intervened, "Doesn't that castle look familiar to you guys?"

Everyone gazed upon the castle for a second, then Sora gasped, "Yeah! That's the place where we fought Oberon!"

"Desolate Castle!" Donald recalled the name.

"I wonder who's now taken over?" Asuna asked.

Just then, a ring was going off from inside the ship, startling the team. "What's going on?" Sora asked.

"Looks like someone is trying to call us." Yui noticed, getting to her terminal, "It's coming from the surface of that world."

"Let's see who it is…" Kirito answered, "Open a channel." Yui did just that, and on the monitor was a familiar face. It was a young man's face, with messy silver hair and green eyes, wearing an orange and yellow opened jacket, with a silver collar that opened outwards, and a checkered scarf around his neck.

"Oh! It's you guys!" The young man recognized the group on the other side of the monitor. The heroes all gasped, recognizing who it was they were speaking to, as well.

"Hope!" Sora addressed the person on the monitor.

The young man, Hope, smiled as he said, "Welcome back. It's great to see you again."

"What are you doing at Desolate Castle?" Asuna asked, surprised to see him there.

"Actually, this is our new home." Hope answered, "And it's not 'Desolate Castle' anymore. Welcome to Resolute Oasis."

---

(Insert 'Adamas Amalee ver.', TV version)

Music intro

(Rushing through black darkness, glittering shards of light pass by. As music starts, the three main Keyblades suddenly shoot forward like shooting stars, circling around from a distance, then crossing one another, shining brightly, forming the logo of the series.)

I'm trying to understand it but it's making me numb

(Left half of Sora's serious face, the other half hidden by the teeth of his Kingdom Key.)

This swirl of karma leaving such a bitter taste on my tongue

(Right half of Asuna's determined face, the other half hidden by the Lambent Light's teeth.)

'Cause I know the pain and sorrow, it has only begun

(The upper half of Kirito's face, with glaring eyes, the lower half hidden by the Elucidator's teeth.)

Who-o-oa, Who-o-oa, Who-o-oa

(Flashing through the faces of each hero; Donald, Goofy, Yui, Mickey, Riku, Leafa, Kairi, Axel, and Kayaba.)

Now I'm surrounded by my enemies, but luck's on my side

(In the dusty fields of the Keyblade Graveyard, the camera pans around the circle of the six main heroes as they ready their weapons.)

So I shatter through the walls and change the course of the tide

(In the same field, the camera pans the opposite way around the six other heroes as they ready their weapons.)

Can't stop this surging fate like a volcano set to break, Take a breath until you're set to

(Allies of the multiple worlds they will or have visited pan across the screen, finally ending with the silhouettes of the four Lost Princesses of heart, with the one in the center opening her hands to reveal a bright light.)

face that voice of fear. That god of death that's always looking down on you

(Philia stands on a lone green hill, staring at a card with the picture of Castle Oblivion on it. She feels a hand behind her, and looks to see Flair and Hinata standing behind her, giving assuring smiles, with Tinkerbell coming out of her pocket, and Samson giving a thumbs up.)

"Do you believe yourself?" I won't stop til I've won

(Maleficent and Dr. Temna stand together, with Pete and Tears next to them, and a swarm of Heartless and shadowed foes ready to strike.)

A glimpse of that bright future that's just begun!

(Xehanort's maliciously smirking face appears, as he and fifteen others float together in a circle. Screen splits in half as half of Heartless Oberon and Gouxus take the screen, their eyes shining from yellow to violet.)

Shining like a diamond, The emotions in your heart reflect like crystal

(The six heroes team up together, taking down Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed that come across their path with their weapons, skills and magic.)

As we vow an oath that will ignite your light and mine - And we will rise!

(A Demon Tower nearly falls on top of the six, but they get away, with Kirito, Asuna and Sora in the air, performing Soul Bursts and Keyblade transformation, creating Cloud's Buster Sword, Asuna's SAO Lambent Light, and Sora's twin guns, unleashing a sword beam, ice spears, and magic shots as one.)

So many times I've gotten back on my feet to make it to this moment

(A group of dark energy orbs shoots down the trio from a cliff above, hitting them into the ground. The attack comes from Xehanort, Heartless Oberon, and Gouxus.)

It's time our prayer that's waiting in the dark. Is set free so light the spark and let it shine!

(Sora, Asuna and Kirito get back up on their feet, shaking off their injuries, and raising their Keyblades as they charge forward, beams of sunlight shining upon each of them as they all take a leap at the Organization XVI, with their friends, the other heroes, including Roxas, Xion, Recon, Terra, Aqua and Ven, joining them from behind.)

Song ends.

---

Resolute Oasis, Airship Hangar

Under the orders of Hope, instead of teleporting down to the surface like they usually did, Donald and Yui guided the ship down towards an open hangar bay. They brought the ship in slowly, and descended it down, until it landed safely on the landing equipment inside the hangar. They powered the ship down, and opened the hatch to the ship, revealing Hope and another familiar pair of characters. One was a middle-aged, dark-skinned man with an afro, wearing a green and black-trimmed engineer's coat with silver buttons fastening it together, khaki trousers with a black belt and a silver buckle, black boots, and a pair of holsters strapped to his thighs, where his guns were.

The other was a young lady around Asuna's age, her hair in braided twintails that reached her waist, held by red and white feathery ribbons, bangs reaching her neck on either side of her face, and a metal hairpiece underneath the back of her hair. She wore a red and black-trimmed dancer's tank top, with white frills and a silver metal collar, a poofy pair of black shorts with filigree designs on them, red strings and ribbons that held up her shorts, white stockings, red bands that crossed at her ankles, and brown leather shoes.

"Well, ain't you guys a sight for these old eyes." Greeted the man.

"Hi, there!" The young lady waved to the team.

"It's Sazh and Penelo!" Goofy recognized the faces, while Sora led the others off the ship, happily greeting the trio.

"It's so great to see you guys again!" Asuna greeted them, "But, what are you doing here, anyway?"

"Yeah. Last time we saw you guys, you were returning to your world after we defeated Oberon." Kirito recalled.

"That's true. But when we all awoke, we found ourselves in this strange land." Hope explained, "One thing we did know was that this place was not either one of our original worlds."

"It…isn't?" Sora asked, surprised.

"But I thought defeating Oberon, and closing the Door to Darkness would free all the worlds, and you guys would return to them." Kirito recalled.

"We thought so, too. We're still researching into it." Hope responded.

"The point is that this world is now our new home, and we're doing our best to reconstruct it into a functional society." Sazh explained, "Everyone is giving their all to make sure Resolute Oasis is safe and thriving."

"Oh, does that mean Light, Vaan and the others are here, too?" Asuna asked Penelo.

"Yeah. Lightning and Snow are the ones keeping an eye out for Heartless, who do seem to come up here a lot." Penelo explained, "Balthier and Fran are out searching the world for resources, as are Vanille and Fang, so they don't come around here often. And Vaan is…" she looked a little frustrated as what she was gonna say next, "…Vaan's…shirking his work to go explore."

"It's hard to keep him in line…" Sazh sighed.

"What about Ashe and Basch?" Donald asked.

"Ashe is now the town's ruler." Hope answered, "And Basch is the head of her guard."

"Wow! That's amazing!" Sora gasped.

"Well, she was a princess before coming to Yusnaan, so it made sense for her to rule." Penelo pointed out, "She wasn't totally up to the task at first, but ended up chosen by majority votes. Though there are some other person that arrived recently who are trying to get one of their own to have that job."

"Some other person?" Asuna echoed, wondering who it was.

"So are you guys still doing the same tasks as before?" Yui asked Hope.

"Yeah. I'm still researching on the Heartless and all other creatures related to them." Hope explained, "Speaking of which, I made some discoveries in the midst of when we were apart. I can update the scanner if you'd like."

"Oh, sure!" Yui answered, taking off the scanner device around her ear, and handing it to Hope.

"I'll make sure your ship is as right as rain while Penelo gives you guys a tour of the town." Sazh assured the team.

"Just be careful with it. It technically doesn't belong to us." Kirito warned him, "She'll have your head if you damage it."

"That's why we don't let you drive." Donald told Kirito and Sora, getting a 'hey!' From the two boys, while the others laughed at the mockery.

"Come on! There's so much we have to show you guys!" Penelo told the team, and she led them out of the hangar.

The area outside had several large hangars around, each big enough to fit one or two Gummi ships like theirs inside of it. "This is the main station for airships to be at." Penelo explained, "We use them for mainly storing our ships here, since half of the hangars are not in use. Let's head into town, and I'll show you more."

As they started to make their way over, Sora started, "So, if you guys were sent to this world instead of your own, were there any others that arrived here?"

"Some, though others did look like they returned to their worlds." Penelo explained, "Those Fairy Tail folks, the martial artist group, and a few others are no longer around here anymore, so their worlds probably returned to normal. But some also arrived in this world, too. Whether they were originally from this world, or they ended up whisked away like we were, we're not sure."

"Well I did meet Cure Black, White and Luminous some time after we defeated Oberon." Asuna recalled, looking to Yui, "We even met a whole lot of other people like them, too."

"Yeah! So many Precure!" Yui recalled, looking back on it.

"And get this; there's this one other group that came here by the same person who told us about the Keyholes of Bonds. I think I remember them before during our fight against Oberon."

"Wait…Mistress Gretinal sent someone here?" Goofy realized.

"But who could it be?" Donald asked.

"And why do I get the feeling it'll be someone we never expected?" Kirito questioned as they made their way out of the airship station.

They couldn't help but noticed how shabby the streets were. Despite being called an oasis, there wasn't really much to call it that. Buildings were still under development. Greenery wasn't really around in the streets, and pieces of the ruins that they encountered before when it was still Desolate Castle were lying about the place, not removed from the scene. It was clear that they were still in development of making this place hospitable.

They were making their way towards the streets that would lead them towards the West Wing of town, which according to Penelo was on the edge of the shopping district, when Heartless appeared in front of them. There were Shadows, Pogo Shovels, and a new Heartless that was the same size as Soldiers, had a ball-shaped body, a red ring wrapped around it, stubby little feet, and large arms and two-claw hands that ended up being used as his feet.

"Okay, what kind of Heartless are those things?" Kirito asked.

"Hope still has my scanner, so I can't answer." Yui pointed out.

"I think Light called them 'Talonclaws'." Penelo answered, backing off, "I think I can leave it to you guys to handle this, right?"

"Leave it to us!" Asuna answered, and the team went to work on the Heartless. The Pogo Shovels were pretty clumsy fighters, and their pounces were easy to avoid. The Talonclaws had strong kicks with their talons, and even did spins with their claws out, but were rather slow, so they were easy pickings, as well.

The team cleaned up the place of the Heartless, though one more Shadow appeared, and was taking a charge at Kirito from behind. However, just as he was about to turn and take it out, a familiar screech came from above, and a stream of bubbles came down upon the Shadow, paralyzing it. He looked up, and was startled to see a familiar, light blue feathered dragon. "That's-!" He gasped.

There was a battle cry, and they looked ahead to see another face that shocked the SAO trio. She shot forward with her dagger, which glowed a light blue light, unleashing a Rapid Bite Dagger Skill, destroying the Heartless. She sighed in relief, sheathing her dagger, and smiling as she looked at Kirito.

"Silica?!" The Black Swordsman exclaimed, seeing the familiar young ally of his in this world.

"Pina?!" Yui followed, as the said feather dragon landed on Silica's head.

Silica had a completely different look, with orange hair pieces holding her hair in pigtails. She wore a silver and brown armor chest-piece over her orange and white-trimmed sleeveless turtleneck top that exposed her belly button, short of the same color, with brown buttons holding them up, a leather belt loosely holding them up, complete with an orange sheath for her dagger, detached sleeves and leggings with buttons at the thighs and upper arms, brown, long-sleeved gloves with silver metal pieces on the end of the sleeve and fingers, and brown, wide-brimmed shoes with armored heels and toes.

"Kirito! Asuna! Yui!" Silica greeted, "It's so great to see you again! Same to you, Sora, Donald, Goofy." Pina chirped in agreement.

"Never mind that! What're you doing here?!" Asuna exclaimed, "And more importantly, how?!"

"So you guys know one another?" Penelo asked.

"Yeah. They're from Kirito and Asuna's world." Goofy answered.

"It's pretty awesome to see her again." Sora noticed, then started to put something Penelo said before together, "Wait…was she the one that Gretinal sent here?"

Kirito and Asuna looked baffled at Sora's assumption, then to Silica, Kirito asked, "Is this true?! Did Gretinal send you here?"

"Y-Yeah…" Silica answered, very nervous due to Kirito and Asuna's reaction to her being there, "Me, Liz, Klein, Agil and Sinon all arrived here."

The new that more than just Silica arrived here nearly floored the couple, and Yui was just as stunned as they were.

"But why would she send them here?!" Asuna questioned in an exasperated voice.

"I thought we weren't suppose to involve people like our friends in other worlds!" Kirito pointed out, "What the heck is going on here?!"

Just then, something in Asuna's back pocket was glowing, getting the attention of Donald as he called it out, "Look!" Everyone looked to Asuna as she pulled out a communication crystal, which was inactive until now.

"Is that like the communication crystal on the Gummi ship?" Sora asked.

"It is, but it only worked in our dimension." Yui explained.

"Well, we ARE in our dimension, so I guess it works now." Asuna understood, and she activated it to reveal Gretinal as a holographic image.

"My goodness. Do you realize you're taking your shock to seeing your friends to a tremendous level?" She questioned Kirito and Asuna.

"She's been watching us?" Sora asked in surprise.

"What's going on here?" Kirito demanded, "Why did you send our friends to this world? I thought we weren't allowed to do such things!"

"That is true in most cases. However, this world is special enough that I allowed it. Plus, they do have experience with being involved with the same trouble as you guys." Kirito and Asuna looked to each other, not denying the latter fact.

"What's more, I did seem to notice that your friends did feel left out of your adventures." Gretinal continued, "So, while you guys were in the other dimension, I decided to pop over to your world, and offer them an opportunity to help out a different world, while exposing them to new cultures and allies."

"It's true…" Silica answered, getting their attention as she looked a bit guilty at her friends' worries for them, "Mistress Gretinal said it would be okay to travel to this world, as long as we help rebuild it into a functioning society."

"But how did she do this?" Asuna asked, "If Pina is here, and you can use Dagger Skills, then she must've used the virtual world. Did she use the same trick Ansem used on us?"

"Somewhat, though it wasn't as complex as traveling to an alternate dimension." Gretinal explained, "I had some people I know build a machine that replicated the one DiZ used to bring you to Twilight Town and, using a special code that I only gave to your friends, they could create a gateway that led them to this world. I even changed their attire to fit in the environment better." Silica giggled as she did a twirl for the team, showing off her new attire, causing Pina to fly off of her for a moment.

"That's pretty incredible technology! And you created that so easily?" Kirito asked, perplexed.

"It wasn't easy at all." Gretinal retorted, "But I believed your friends were worthy enough to earn this opportunity, and it was worth making it for them."

"Wait, what about their real bodies?" Asuna asked, "Will they be able to return to them?"

"Of course, I did! I'm not like Ansem." Gretinal stated, "If you want proof, why not go to Liz's Blacksmith shop to see the machine?"

"Liz has a blacksmith shop here, too?!" Asuna exclaimed.

"Yeah. She's actually learning smithing from those creatures you call Moogles, here." Silica explained, "Come on, we'll show you where it is!" She turned and raced down the street, leaving the heroes to look at one another, wondering how something like this happened.

"Well, I'd better leave the rest of the explaining to your friends. Good luck!" With that, Gretinal's image vanished, and the crystal stopped glowing.

"Gretinal sure is funny!" Goofy chuckled.

"It's like she just does things by her own whim." Asuna sighed, feeling drained from this shock.

"Still, I would like to see everyone else again." Sora told them, "Let's go see them!" Kirito and Asuna looked to one another. As worried as they were for their friends, questioning right now whether it was good or bad for them to come here was not gonna get them anywhere. For now, they decided to reunite with their friends, and followed Silica to the blacksmith.

---

It didn't take the team very long to arrive to the smithy. When they entered, they saw that the majority of those who were told were here were already there. Lisbeth was right behind the counter of the blacksmith shop, with a pair of Moogles helping her out. Liz's attire had changed just like Silica's, wearing something more befitting of a blacksmith rather than a fighter. Her red and white colors were the same, though she had more frills, from her collar, to her skirt and poofy sleeves, to the ends of her long-sleeved white gloves, which had ribbons attached to the ends, as well. She wore a thin red ribbon choker, a necktie, and a brown belt with a silver buckle around her waist. As for her footwear, she had long brown boots with light brown straps.

Sinon and Klein were also there as customers, wearing new attire as well. Sinon's hair wasn't blue like in ALO or GGO, but her normal black hair, and she even wore glasses, like she did in real life. Her attire consisted of a light green open top with straps around her upper arms, and a mini crop top underneath that exposed her midriff, light green cloth pieces that wrapped around her waist, and went down the out parts of her legs towards her knees, held by blue belts, blue short shorts, black long boots with silver metal pieces on her front and heels, black fingerless gloves, with black, white and green cloth wristguards, and a blue scarf with metal piece fastening it around her neck, as well as on the two ends of the scarf. On her back, she had a dark green quiver with an assortment of arrows.

As for Klein, his attire was similar to all other attires he wore; looking like a samurai than anything. His black bandana around his messy brown hair had a yellow emblem on it. His garb was mostly red, black and brown, with yellow trimmings and white cloths bounding around his arms, wrists and waist, fastened by metal pieces, and a few pieces of leather armor. He had baggy gray pants on, along with knee-high boots with red stripes at the feet and metal pieces there, as well.

The trio heard the team entered, and turned to see the familiar faces. "Kirito, my man!" Klein greeted eagerly.

"Hey, Asuna, Yui!" Liz greeted as well, "Surprised to see us?"

"Sora, Goofy, Donald. Good to see you guys, too." Sinon called out to the last three.

"Hey, there." Sora greeted.

"Guess, you're all here, after all…" Kirito sighed, "But where's Agil?"

"Working at a different shop in this town." Klein answered, "It's actually a bar and an apothecary. You should go check up on him."

"I will." Kirito answered.

"So, where's this device that sent you guys here, in the first place?" Asuna asked, looking about.

"Just in the back room." Liz answered, poking a thumb behind her to the door that led to the said room, "Only a handful of people know about it apart from us, mainly the Oasis Restoration Committee, or the O.R.C, for short."

"Orc? A restoration group that's named after a destructive monster?" Kirito questioned.

"Yeah, we found it weird, too." Silica admitted.

"But even so, why did you guys end up coming here?" Asuna asked, "I know you felt a bit envious about our world traveling, but we did it so you wouldn't be in these messes."

"Don't worry about it." Sinon assured her, "It's not like we haven't been in dangerous situations before."

"And we're not just talking about SAO, either." Liz pointed out, "There's the time Aincrad was sent to the other dimension. Then those Heartless and Unversed attacking Saitama."

"Oh, and let's not forget we helped in that big war against Oberon, too!" Klein added, "Face it. We've been flung into this for a while, now."

Kirito looked down for a moment, seeing the point he was making.

"They do have a point." Goofy admitted.

"Yeah, Kirito, Asuna. You guys don't have to worry about them here." Sora assured them, "I mean, Light, Snow and the others are helping them out, right?"

"Heck yeah!" Klein answered eagerly, "In fact, Sinon and I have been helping Miss Lightning and Snow in patrolling the city and taking out any Heartless that are around." He sighed and looked up with a daydreaming expression, "She has the whole package. She's strong and beautiful when she's taking out Heartless. And her cold yet focused demeanor just adds to her charm. Why hadn't I met her sooner?"

"As you can tell, Klein's head over heels for her…" Liz whispered to Asuna.

"It's a lost cause…" Asuna muttered back.

"Ah, let him daydream. He'll figure it out." Liz assured her.

"So, you guys are all able to fight in this world, too?" Kirito asked Sinon.

"You make it sound like we weren't preparing ourselves for the worst." She retorted, taking a green compound bow that was next to a sheathed katana on the front desk table, "Mistress Gretinal created new avatar figures for us before we arrived, along with allowing us to access skills like we use in ALO. Though, we can't use magic or fly, but we're not complaining."

"It almost feels like we went back to SAO all over again…" Silica compared, "But this time, we can actually log out."

"Thank goodness for that." Kirito sighed in relief.

"So, what do you do around here, Silica?" Yui asked, while Klein took his katana off of the table.

"Pina and I are helping out with deliveries and guidance around town." She explained, while the feathered dragon rested on her head, "We're doing more small tasks here and there."

"That sounds easy." Donald stated.

"It is, but I sometimes want something a little more challenging…" Silica admitted, "I'm still constantly treated like a little kid compared to everyone else."

"You'll get your chance." Sora assured her, causing her to smile and nod in response.

"And I'm to assume that you're running this shop?" Asuna asked Liz.

"Yep. You're looking at the brand new, IRL Lisbeth's Blacksmith Shop!" She answered, putting her hands on her hips in pride, "It's not as easy as the virtual world, but I've been learning. Especially with these guys…"

By 'these guys', she meant what was flying down from the second floor above her; Moogles. Three of them, to be exact.

"That is right, kupo~." One of them sung as they surrounded Liz.

"Mog and Gretinal may have convinced us to help, but this is still one of our Moogle Shops, too, kupo." The second one pointed out.

"It's still irritating that you would put your name on the shop and not ours, kupo!" The third one argued, "This is the thanks we get for helping you in teaching our ways, kupo?"

Lisbeth, her expression getting more irritable with every sentence they said, finally walked forward, and turned with a stomp to the Moogles, barking, "Yeah, but you guys have no finesse in running a business! Your cutesy attitude towards this shop won't get you far. I, on the other hand, can run this shop, make it successful, mature, and never have a disappointed customer. So zip your whiny mouths!" The three Moogles were terrified by her stern, business-girl expression. Clearly, despite her learning from them, she was the boss in this shop.

"Wow, and here I thought Uncle Scrooge was a tough businessman…" Donald muttered, sort of frightened.

"She isn't as greedy, but she's just as determined for success." Kirito noted, "I can't say I don't feel sorry for those Moogles."

Liz cleared her throat after dealing with the little fairies, and turned with an innocent smile to the others as she continued, "So, back to what I was saying, I have learned new techniques in blacksmithing, including item synthesizing and even new ways of improving your Keyblades, too."

"Really?!" The three Keyblade wielders exclaimed, startling the blacksmith owner.

"Y-Yeah… I learned from the Moogles that they knew how to upgrade and modify Keyblades."

"But, I never even HEARD of that being done before!" Sora pointed out, "You're saying I could've upgraded my Keyblades before, and none of the Moogles mentioned this to me?!"

"W-We only started to learn about it ourselves, kupo…" Moogle #1 stammered.

"Yeah…It started with this one Moogle who was working for this shady group." Moogle #3 explained, "He said something about 'Gear' modifications, and we ended up experimenting on that, eventually learning to simplify the technique, and allow us to upgrade Keyblades through materials. Why don't you allow us to show you, kupo. Start by handing us all the materials you guys found up till now."

The heroes took out all the material they found, and placed it on the counter. Liz and the Moogles all took them, and placed them in a storage compartment that glowed a bit. "With this, we can use the materials no matter where you are, kupo." Moogle #2 explained.

"Now, for upgrading your Keyblades." Liz continued, "Kirito, why don't you start us off by handing me yours?"

"Why me?" Kirito asked.

"Because I said so, now hand me your Keyblade." Liz held out her hand, beckoning Kirito to handing over his weapon, who looked hesitant, but decided to trust her. He produced his Elucidator, and placed it on the table, and Liz took it in both hands delicately.

"Let me see what this one needs…" She started, and she examined the medallion of the Keyblade carefully. The Moogles all surrounded her, examining the Keyblade as well.

"Looks like Flourite and Wellspring Shards, kupo." Moogle #2 noticed.

"We have six Flourites, as well as an abundance of Wellspring Shards, kupo." Moogle #1 noted, "If we split them amongst the three Keyblade wielders, we can upgrade each Keyblade two times!"

"Then let's get started." Liz declared, and she pulled out a blacksmith hammer, and took the Keyblade and materials to a part of the shop no one could see. From the customer's perspectives, they could hear the sound of clanging metal, the sight of something shining, and the grunts from Liz every once and a while. After all was said and done, Liz came back with the Keyblade, placing it on the table in front of the heroes. "There you are. Pick it up, and see if you can feel a difference." She instructed him.

Kirito took his Keyblade, examining it. For a moment, he couldn't tell the difference. However, after a second, he could feel something. "Yeah…there does seem to be a different feeling to it than before." He admitted, "It feels stronger."

"Yes! It worked!" Liz declared, "Not bad for my first time! Glad it worked out…"

After a second, Kirito exclaimed, "Wait, my Keyblade was a test to see if you could do it?!"

"Do you see any other Keyblade wielders in this town?" Liz asked, "I'm just glad it ended up easy to do. Otherwise, who knows what might've happened." Kirito really felt like he was used as a guinea pig for her, and feared what would've happened if it didn't work out.

"So, now that I have the technique down, time to move onto the rest of you guys." Liz started, looking to Sora and Asuna, "Hand me your Keyblades." The two handed Liz the Lambent Light and Shooting Star Keyblades. She brought them to the back room, gathering the materials she needed, and started to work her magic behind walls. After a good while, she returned the Keyblades to their owners, who felt their Keyblades strength and magic power improved through her work.

"Thanks for the improvements!" Sora thanked Lisbeth.

"No prob. Thanks for the materials." She responded, "And hey, anytime you guys need an upgrade or need and item synthesized, let me know. It'll help me improve my skills if I keep doing those kinds of things."

"Sure thing, Liz. We'll come back to give you the materials we've gathered when we can." Asuna assured her.

"Actually, we sent up holo-shops in every world, so you can speak to us anytime, kupo." Moogle #1 explained.

"That works out well." Kirito answered.

"Come on. I wanna show you more of the city!" Silica told the team, "We'll make it to Agil's bar, but we'll be stopping by a few places along the way there." Pina chirped in response to this.

"Sounds like a plan." Yui agreed.

"We'll get back to patrolling." Klein told Kirito, lightly punching him on the shoulder, "See you 'round, Kirito."

"Yeah. Don't do anything stupid." The black swordsman answered.

"It's already too late for that." Sinon stated, walking past the two boys and out the door.

"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?!" Klein demanded, racing after her. Everyone watched the two leave, still arguing outside. Asuna couldn't help but laugh a bit as they did. They said their farewell to Liz, and left with Silica and Pina in the lead.

"So, where is Agil's bar?" Asuna asked as they walked.

"It's in the Eastern Quarter of the city." Silica answered, "We'll be stopping by a few places along the way. I do have some deliveries to take care of…"

---

They hadn't even walked a minute from Liz's Blacksmith Shop before Kirito and Asuna heard someone call out, "Well, look what the cat dragged in." The voice was familiar, and the two turned to see someone they did not expect. She had brown eyes and curly golden-brown hair underneath the hood of her brown and taupe jacket with green trimmings. She also had her familiar whisker marks on her face, too. She had a black, white and light green top with a large green turtleneck, her midriff exposed, but she had black straps crossing down her sides. She also had beige pants with brown pieces at the ends, two belts that crossed one another, with two satchels attached to one. As for footwear, she had brown and white shoes.

"Is that…?" Asuna started.

"Argo!" Kirito exclaimed, surprised the most to see her.

"Long time, no see, Kii-bou, Aa-chan." The girl greeted the pair, walking up to them.

"I didn't expect you to be here, as well." Kirito noted, looking to Silica and Pina, "Why is she here? She wasn't involved in the other events."

"No, but she ended up getting the info out of us." Silica explained, "Or, to be more accurate, she got it out of Klein."

"That guy needed some details on this one female Player he was interested in, so I gave him some personal info I gathered in exchange for this crazy story." Argo explained, snickering a bit, "Too bad the info didn't work in his favor. Girl thought he was a stalker and nearly got in trouble for it. Got what he deserved, if you asked me." Asuna and Silica nodded in agreement.

"So, who is this girl?" Sora asked, "Another friend from your world?"

"Yeah. This is Argo." Kirito introduced her, "Back when we were trapped in SAO, she was an information broker."

"She…breaks information?" Sora questioned, which was answered with a couple of looks that expressed 'how stupid are you?'.

"No. An Info Broker buys and sells information to people." Yui explained, "Papa told me that he had so much help from Argo during SAO thanks to the info she sold to him."

"Glad to see you sing my name in high praise, Kii-bou." Argo told the black swordsman, who rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "I already got info from you about Yui, though. Can't believe a AI ended up becoming a real-life person, though. That part you did leave out, along with anything else involving this crazy quest you're on."

"It's really suppose to be a secret. Plus, we didn't want to get you involved." Asuna explained.

"Welp, too bad. My curiosity peaked at this info, so I wanted to learn more. One thing led to another, and I was introduced to Gretinal, who allowed me to come to this place as an info broker for this place."

"So, you're now buying and selling info here, too?" Kirito asked.

"Yep. Materials, locations of treasures, enemies, characters, I can buy and sell all sorts of things to you guys." Argo explained, "I'm always in the neighborhood, so if you need anything, or have any info to sell, then I'll strike a deal with you guys."

"That'll work for us." Sora understood, looking to the others, "I bet we'll find all sorts of things from other worlds to sell to her."

"It would be beneficial for us to get info we don't know about from her. She is fair on her prices." Kirito explained.

Suddenly, Jiminy hopped out of Sora's pocket, adding, "And I can store any information we get or can give to her on the Gummiphone, too." The team nodded in agreement to this.

"Speaking of which, I should ask for a bit of info on these folks I haven't met yet." Argo started, looking to Sora, Donald, Jiminy, and finally Goofy. She stopped talking when she saw him, then made a cat-like scream and leapt away from him, surprising the team.

"What's wrong?" Goofy asked, confused at her reaction.

"Wh-What's wrong?! I was not told one of your friends was a dog!" Argo exclaimed, scared at the sight of him.

"Oh… I forgot you can't stand dogs." Kirito recalled, looking to the captain of the guard, "Sorry, but she might need to take some time before she's comfortable around you, Goofy."

"But why? Goofy's a friend!" Sora argued.

"Yeah! He may be slow, but he's not a threat!" Donald argued.

"But I move faster than you, Donald." Goofy pointed out, oblivious to what he actually meant.

"See?" Kirito told Argo, "Goofy's not a danger to you or anyone, as long as you're not using Heartless or something like them."

"Nyaa… I'll still keep my distance, all the same." She answered hesitantly, slowly creeping back to the team, "So, mind getting me info on you guys. I'll buy it off of you, too, if the info is good." Jiminy handed the Gummiphone over to Argo, who actually had her own Gummiphone made by Hope. They traded information to one another, and after examining it, decided the info was good enough for 2000 munny. It would have been more, but she felt like she wasn't able to make anything from the info of anyone from the other dimension who wasn't involved with the one they were in. She did, however, get one bit of info from one world that worked.

"EEEH?! Yuuki's alive?!" Silica exclaimed, after hearing what Argo read out loud.

"Yeah, we were pretty surprised ourselves." Asuna admitted.

"We're still trying to wrap our heads around HOW she ended up reviving in another world." Kirito stated.

"Well, I'm glad our Zekken is doing okay in the other world." Argo stated, closing the deal on the info she bought, "I'll be able to use this for some good trading. And for an added bonus, I do have something that I'll give to you guys." She pulled out a glowing sphere from her pocket, handing it over to the heroes.

"What's this?" Sora asked, taking the sphere.

"Record Spheres. They're basically little videos of what we've experienced." Argo explained, "This one was made at the day we arrived. Check it out…" She held it up high, and the sphere shined brightly, striking the very minds of the team.

---

(Flashback) Inside the room behind Liz's Blacksmith shop, the scene showed the only people in there being Mistress Gretinal, Lightning, and Snow.

Both Lightning and Snow were wearing new attire, with the former wearing black leather-looking chestpiece with a white high collar, white and gold-trimmed cloth pieces hanging from each of her shoulders like capes, a white cape piece with a pocket that protruded from the lower left-hand side of her chestpiece, going to her ankle, a white miniskirt with a gold belt hidden underneath her chestpiece, pointed black heels with filigree leggings that went up to her knees, a gold leg ornament on her right thigh, and light brown leather gloves. She also had her mechanical-looking red, black and silver sword underneath her leg cape, and a red and yellow shield on her upper-left arm.

Snow's attire was much cleaner than it was before, with his short, blond, swept-back spiky hair exposed instead of his bandana before, and his beard slightly shorter. He had on a dark red shirt underneath a dark gray trench coat with frayed hems and an arm piece on his left arm.. He had dark gray jeans with a leather belt and silver buckle, black and light gray shoes with silver buckles on the back, black gloves that zipped up, and the same pendant that he wore before around his neck.

They were all staring at a large, cylindrical machine that was hi-tech, with a computer with three terminals on it. Sitting at the computer was a short elderly-looking figure. He had a single tuft of white hair that stuck upwards like will-o-wisp on his head, his eyes were hidden by black rimmed glasses with blue, spiraled lenses, and his mouth only had one rectangular tooth sticking out. He had on a white lab coat fastened by two buttons, a red shirt underneath, and floppy brown shoes.

"Is this thing suppose to work, lady?" Snow asked, examining the machine, "I know you said it was made from a genius, but I'm still not sure having this old kook make it was a good idea."

"Are you insinuating that I don't know who to trust to make such devices?" Gretinal questioned Snow, giving him a warning glare that could send chills down anyone's spine, even Lightning's, based on how she averted looking at her, "Need I remind you that without me and my friends, you guys wouldn't have gotten this far in rebuilding this town…"

"Hey, can't a guy be a little suspicious about some things?" Snow asked, backing away from the Keyblade Master in defense, "I'm just saying this guy might have a few screws loose. So I'm just making sure."

"Well, I do know Elvin is…eccentric, but his intelligence is not one to be questioned." Gretinal stated, "Speaking of which, I believe our guests should be arriving soon. Is the transporter ready?"

"Ooh, don't you worry, Gretty. I'm just activating it as we speak." Elvin answered, tapping away at the computer with great speeds. The machine started to whir and whistle, lights from its exterior started to light up, followed by the hollowed interior's ceiling and sides. Finally, after a few seconds of this, a light shined from the center area, and stumbling out of the machine first, into the room, was Klein. He was followed closely by Liz, Sinon, Silica, Pina, Agil, and finally, Argo.

Agil was also in new attire, wearing an iron-colored chest plate with orange trimmings, complete with a shoulder guard on his left shoulder, a green and black long-sleeved shirt underneath, a brown and orange leather waistguard and belt, black pants, and steel-toed boots with its' leather matching his waistguard's texture and color. The same was said about his armguards. His two-handed battle-axe was on his back.

"Jeez, that trip was trippy." Klein stated, looking behind him to see everyone else and the machine.

"Looks like we all arrived in one piece." Agil noted, looking down himself, "And in new attire, too."

"Whoa! That's neat!" Liz exclaimed, looking at her dress, "I didn't even notice the change from our fairy looks to this."

"Err… I don't usually show this much skin, though…" Silica noted, noting her skimpy top. She then noticed Pina landing on her head, looking down at her and chirping, causing her to ignore her attire and added, "But at least Pina came with us."

Sinon pulled off her glasses, noting, "I even have my glasses? Are they for authenticity to my real-life look?"

"That is exactly what it is." Gretinal answered, getting the team's attention, "I had some help, but I adjusted your avatar's appearances to fit into this environment. In any case, welcome to the Resolute Oasis, children."

"So…this is really IRL?" Argo asked, looking about, then flexing her fingers, "Guess I do feel more texture here than I do in the virtual world. This is pretty freaky…"

"I still made sure you guys had your weapons on you." Gretinal explained, indicating the team's weapons, including Liz's mace and shield that were attached to her belt, as well as Argo's claws. They inspected their weapons as Gretinal continued, "That being said, the only powers from the virtual world that were transferred with you were your weapon skills. Magic, abilities, and even your wings, were all left behind. You wanna learn how to use the powers outside of your world, you're gonna have to learn it from them." She indicated Lightning and Snow next to her.

"Hey there. So you're from the same world as Kirito, Asuna and Yui?" Snow asked, stepping forward to meet them.

"Yeah. We sort of saw one another during that big fight, right?" Klein asked, looking from Snow to Lightning. He looked enamored at the sight of her beauty.

"That's true, but we never had proper introductions." The blonde-haired man stated, "I'm Snow Villers. This here's Lightning, but she prefer's Light." Snow paused for a response from Klein, who was still distracted by Light.

"Is something the matter?" Light asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?" Those that knew him, however, kinda felt what was gonna happen next

Sure enough, Klein bowed his head to Lightning with his hand raised out as he greeted, "Hello! I'm Klein! I'm 25, single and looking for a-." Before he could finish, he ended up slammed over the head by Liz's shield, making him hit the floor, startling those who didn't know him.

"That's enough out of you, ya moron!" Liz growled.

"Honestly, he's so dense…" Sinon sighed, shaking her head.

"You wanna make a bad first impression for us?" Agil questioned him.

"And this was shortly after that info I sold got him nearly arrested." Argo noted, while Silica merely gave an awkward giggle at this.

"Sorry about him. He…has issues." Liz apologized, looking down at Klein, who clasped his hands over the injury.

"Not the first person I dealt with that was this stupid." Lightning admitted, giving a secretive side look at Snow, knowing his blunt behavior.

"Anyways, I'm Lisbeth. Call me Liz." The blacksmith introduced herself, putting away her shield and raising a hand to Lightning, who took it and shook.

"I'm Silica. This is my partner, Pina." The dragon tamer followed, while her partner chirped in greeting.

"Sinon." The markswoman said simply.

"I'm Agil. A pleasure." The bar owner greeted.

"And I'm Argo." The info broker finished.

"They are all reliable allies of Kirito, Asuna and Yui's world." Gretinal told Snow and Light, "I'm sure you can find jobs that best suit their abilities in this town."

"We'll get them together with the others and see what we can do with them." Snow assured her, looking from her to Light, who nodded in confirmation, before looking back at the new group of allies for the O.R.C. (Flashback ends)

---

The Record Sphere ended, bringing everyone back to the present once more. "That was a crazy feeling." Yui noted.

"It was like we were right there with them." Donald stated.

"I know. These Record Spheres are pretty dang impressive." Argo praised, looking at the Sphere, then handing it over to Kirito, "I usually find more records like those, and they are found everywhere in this world, taping all kinds of scenes without people knowing. When I find them, I do sell them to others if they want it. I'll keep any good ones involving our gang for you guys, but you gotta have the munny to see them. It is technically information, even ones that might be fun to watch."

Silica looked a little trepidatious as she asked, "Please tell me you won't be selling ones that will be embarrassing to us? I would much rather that if situations like that show up, I don't want anyone to see me in them."

"Sorry, Sil-chan, but business is business. Unless you can buy it off of me before Ki-bou here does, then it's just business."

Silica looked flustered as she looked hesitantly to Kirito, who demanded, "Why am I being singled out for buying something like that?!"

"I dunno. Maybe it's because you end up in those kinds of situations with those girls?" Argo answered, "My reliable sources back home do let me know."

Asuna and Silica both blushed, wondering who these 'reliable sources' were, and how much did she know. Sora, Donald and Goofy were wondering what these 'situations' were. Kirito placed a hand over his face, shaking at Argo's misguided understanding of what really happened during those times.

"Just come back and give me more intel about other worlds in this dimension, and I'll give you guys info and records on things." Argo told the group, "Pleasure doing business with ya."

"Yeah. Thanks, Argo…" Kirito sighed, walking away, already mentally drained from the last minute. And this was only one of the stops on their way.

---

In their next stop, which was a minute walk from where they encountered Argo, they ended up in Magia Street, a place that, according to Silica, housed many kinds of people who studied a bit of magic. She also explained that the team was also learning a bit of magic themselves.

"Thanks to Vanille and Penelo training us, we've been learning a bit of magic each." Silica explained, "I can use the Water spell, Liz is handy with Thunder, Sinon can use Aero, and Argo's learning Gravity."

"What about Agil and Klein?" Yui asked, "Won't they learn?"

"Knowing Klein, he's probably not learning magic because of his 'samurai' code of honor, or something…" Kirito muttered, recalling what he is like.

"He has actually learned the Flamestrike technique from Sazh." Silica explained, "And Agil is learning a bit of Earth magic, but he tends to stick to his duties as a bar owner."

"I didn't know there was such a thing as earth magic." Sora noted, looking to Donald, "Did you know about such magic?"

"A bit, but it isn't as well known as other magic." Donald explained, "Never really payed attention to it."

"It kinda fits him, what with him being a Gnome fairy class back in ALO." Asuna pointed out.

"Here's the next destination." Silica told the team, and they stopped at another building, which had a golden-colored iron gate around a large shop, with an archway over the path to the store. It was a two-floor building, and it was a light-colored, welcoming place, with a glass prism on the central part of the roofing. Over the front door was the name 'Maho-Dou Magic Shop' on it.

"Hey, does this place look familiar?" Sora asked, looking up at the store.

"Yeah. Doesn't it kinda look like that store in Yusnaan with those little witch girls?" Goofy recalled.

"The DoReMi shop!" Donald recalled the name of the store, too.

"Yeah. It does feel like that…" Kirito muttered, looking up at the store.

As the team drew closer to the door, the door flung open, and out shot a familiar character. It looked like green blobby figure with beady eyes and a rather large mouth, with a single spiral of hair on her head, riding a dust pan. However, the heroes recognized her as the cursed witch, Patina.

"It's you kids!" She barked, flying directly into Kirito and Sora's faces, startling the pair, "You and those friends of yours both ran out on your bills before you paid them!"

"P-Patina!" Sora stammered, scared slightly at her.

"Ran off? What are you talking about?" Kirito asked.

"Do I need to remind you?" Patina grimaced, pulling out a list with a snap of her finger, "Helping you wake that girl up from her sleep, AND granting your three friends the power of the Soul Drive! And with the period of time you haven't paid, it's only increased. Now, it should be around 560,000 munny."

"WHAAAAAT?!" The six exclaimed in shock at the ridiculous price they owe.

"But we don't even have CLOSE to that amount on us!" Asuna argued.

"Not my problem!" Patina retorted, turning her head in ignorance, "You'd better start working here until you pay off your debt!"

"Come on!" Sora grimaced, looking a bit dismayed at this.

"PATINA!" Shouted a group of young voices from behind, causing the cursed frog to sweat a bit. Everyone looked around to see four familiar faces. One of them was a small fairy lady, the size of Yui in her Pixie form. The other three were girls who were about eight years old, dressed in childish witch attires. The central character was dressed in pink, and had red hair tied into chignon buns. The one on her right was a girl in orange, her brown hair was held in a ponytail, held by an orange bow, with a long fringe on the right side of her face. The one on the left side was dressed in blue, and she had dark blue hair curling outward behind her. The team recognized the fairy as Laralie, and the three girls as Dori, Reanne, and Mirabelle, respectively.

"We already chose not for them to pay for anything!" The fairy lady told Patina, "After all the trouble they went through for us, they deserve that at least."

"Hmph! They may have gotten us out of that world, but that doesn't mean our world's returned yet." Patina argued, "We're still stuck here."

"But that doesn't mean many other worlds have been saved." Dori noted, "We even got access way back to the Witch World again."

"Plus, one of our friends did return, too." Reanne added.

"So I'd say they deserve havin' their debt scrapped into the trash can like it should have been." Mirabelle finished.

Patina looked stubborn, and didn't want to admit that they were right. However, one look at the four, and she growled, "Don't look at me like that… Alright, fine! But I'm still keeping fifty percent of that fee to those friends of yours!"

"So, you guys ended up not able to return to your world, too?" Sora asked the girls, who shook their heads.

"First Lightning and Vaan's gangs, and now them?" Kirito muttered, in deep thought, "Why are so many worlds still not returned to normal?"

"Maybe…they're asleep?" Asuna assumed, "They could be in the realm between, like all those other worlds we visited in the Mark of Mastery."

"Or it could be something else entirely." Kirito pointed out, "Something really doesn't add up…"

"So, who's this new friend of yours?" Donald asked.

"That would be me." Answered a voice. They all turned to see a new girl, also in the same witch-like attire as the other girls. She was as young as them, dressed in purple, and her purple eyes were a bit different from her colleagues. Underneath her witch's hat, her deep purple hair was about chin-length, with a part of it held in a curled side-tail, held by a scrunchie, and her forelocks curved inward to frame her face.

"Hello." She greeted the team of heroes as she approached, "I'm Ellie Craft. I guess I should be thanking you for helping me."

"Ellie was actually in the Witch World when our world was taken over by the Heartless." Laralie explained, "She said it was sealed off from the Human World to prevent the darkness from going through. Fortunately, they ended up making a connection with this shop, and she came through."

"It's a shame, but I guess I'll have to put my idol career on hold until we can return back." Ellie sighed, "Or maybe I can start a career, here."

"Oh, you're an idol?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah. She's pretty popular at home." Reanne explained.

"That sounds nice." Donald stated.

Silica cleared her throat, and magically produced a decent-sized package for Patina, "I was told this was for you guys and your shop, and the delivery was just recently prepared to be sent, so I brought it here as fast as I could."

"Ah! That's more like it!" Patina responded eagerly, "With this, the store can bring in a whole bunch of customers, raking in the dough!" She cackled mischievously at this.

"What kinds of things do you sell here?" Sora asked, "Can you do Soul Drives and Finishers like you did before?"

"We do, but we do sell magic-based products, as well." Dori explained, "Wands, Fans, accessories, you name it."

"Yeah. Since Liz's Blacksmith shop is focused on Shields, Fans, armors and other physical-based things, this shop focuses more on the magical-based objects." Silica explained.

"Well, it's a shame our powers have altered since we last met." Kirito told them, "None of us use Soul Drives or their Finishers. Asuna, Yui and I are using a new power called Soul Burst."

"Soul Burst?" Ellie asked, confused.

"Do you know about that power, Patina?" Dori asked, looking at the green blob, who had a dumb-founded expression, "Uh… Patina?"

"I SPENT ALL THAT PURCHASING FOR NOTHING?!" She exclaimed, startling the rest of the team. Her eyes went blank, and she passed out.

"Oh, no!" Laralie as the three witch apprentices nearest to her gathered about her.

"This…might cause our shop to be closed for a bit." Mirabelle told the others, "Might wanna come back when Patina recovers."

"Sure…" Sora answered, as the six heroes, along with Silica and Pina, left the girls to move to their next destination.

---

After some walking, including a bit of Heartless fighting in the process, the team ended up at their next destination. It was a building that looked like a mid-1800s style building that looked similar to ones found in Traverse Town. However, there was a sign hanging in front of it, which had an apple core surrounded by slices that took a fan form, with the name 'The Diced Apple' on it.

"This is Agil's shop." Silica told the team, pulling out a pair of packages via magic, "It's actually both a bar and an apothecary."

"A what?" Sora asked, confused by the term.

"A place that sells medicines, like potions and ether." Yui explained.

"I didn't know Agil was into making medicine." Asuna noted.

"He doesn't." Kirito retorted, looking to the sign, "And I doubt he would name the place into something like the 'Diced Apple'."

They entered into the building. The interior had a half-and-half look, with many wooden tables and chairs filling up the majority of the place for customers at the bar, including a bar stand, where Agil was standing behind, checking inventory. However, there was another stand in another section of the interior, with several shelves containing jars and such filled with herbs and liquids of sorts, and containers containing fruits, herbs and powdered ingredients.

Standing behind that area was a young lady, around her late teens, with an average height and petite build. She had green eyes and short, bright red hair. Her attire consisted of a red-orange dress with flower patterns on her top, and gold trimmings on her skirt, with gold buttons on the waist. She had a white shirt underneath with poofy sleeves and gold cufflinks, and a golden medallion on her chest with a red-orange ribbon on it. She had yellow, stripped leggings underneath, and brown leather work boots. Around her neck was a yellow scarf, with the tails going down her back.

At the jingling of the bell signaling them, Agil and the young lady turned to the door to see who was coming in. "Well, look who finally showed up." Agil noticed the six heroes, "Surprised to see us here?"

"The surprise wore off after seeing the rest of you guys." Kirito answered, "But I am not surprised to see your bar empty."

"Hey, it's not totally empty." Agil argued, poking a thumb at someone in the corner. A young man was there, with short, spiky black hair, yellow cat-like eyes, and a scar on his forehead. He wore a gray and dark gray short-sleeved jacket that looked on the formal side, a black untuck shirt underneath, gray pants with light green fastens around the pockets, and dark gray and black boots.

He was sipping his alcoholic drink when he noticed he was being watched, and raised a hand at the heroes, who waved back at him. "He's a usual customer here." Agil explained, "Apparently, he's suppose to be a royal messenger of sorts, but he's also her bodyguard." He looked to the red-headed girl, who approached the team at this moment.

"I take it that these are those friends you spoke so much about?" She asked Agil, looking to the heroes.

"Yep. Half of them are from my world." Agil explained, "That'd be Kirito, Asuna and Yui, here. The others are their friends, Sora, Donald and Goofy."

"Nice to meet you." Kirito greeted.

"Hey, there." Sora followed.

"Nice to meet you." The young lady greeted the group, "My name is Shirayuki. I'm currently running the apothecary."

"So while Liz and the witch apprentices handle armors and weapons, the healing supplies are your department." Kirito summed up, to which Shirayuki nodded in response to this.

"She actually hand-makes the potions and such here." Agil explained.

"You make them?" Asuna asked, amazed, "What did you do in your own world?"

"I'm an herbalist. A court herbalist, to be exact." The young lady answered.

"Yeah, she and the Master are pretty close." The cat-eyed man suddenly approached the team without them noticing, "And by 'Master', I mean the prince of a country from our world, Zen."

"Wow! So you both work for a prince?" Sora asked the two of them.

"Yeah. I'm Obi, the Master's messenger." The young man introduced himself, "I also serve as the misses guard when the Master isn't around to do the job for her."

"Sounds like he cares a lot about you." Asuna noted to Shirayuki, who blushed at the words.

"Donald and Goofy both serve King Mickey, so I guess they understand, too." Sora noted, looking to his friends.

"Yep. I'm the Captain of the King's guard." Goofy declared.

"And I'm his royal magician!" Donald added pompously.

"A magician, eh?" Obi chuckled, "Never had anyone like that in our world."

"So your world was also lost, too?" Kirito asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah. Our world ended up swallowed by darkness, and when we came to, we ended up here." Shirayuki explained, looking sad at this, "It was just me, Zen, Mitsuhide, Kiki and Obi who ended up here. No one else…"

"I'm sorry…" Asuna apologized.

"So where are these other guys you mentioned?" Sora asked.

"They're at the castle right now. Zen's actually the Master I was talking about." Obi explained, "He didn't seem to keen on the idea, but Mitsuhide was insistent."

"Knowing Zen, he probably found a way to escape him and is exploring the place." Shirayuki chuckled, looking to the heroes, "I'll introduce you to them sometime."

"I would like to meet him, too." Yui answered.

"Well, here's your packages." Silica told Agil and Shirayuki, both containing the signs that said 'fragile' in bold lettering.

"Thanks, Silica." Agil thanked her.

"These are just the ingredients I needed. Thank you." Shirayuki followed.

"You guys should come back later." Agil told the team, "Shirayuki can even make teas that can heal you just as good as the usual stuff, and even taste good, too."

"We'll give it a shot when we have the chance." Asuna assured them, "Let's keep moving, guys."

"Right. See ya!" Sora waved goodbye as Silica led the team out of the store.

"Stay safe, Agil." Kirito added. Agil nodded in assurance as the door closed behind.

As they wandered away from the place, Kirito stopped, looking a concerned about something. Everyone else stopped and looked to him. "What's up?" Asuna asked him.

"It's just…with so many people in this world who have lost their own worlds, it makes me wonder if their worlds were not restored yet, or if something worse happened." Kirito's words sunk into the team, making them just as concerned as he was.

"I'm betting Gretinal might know about something." Jiminy Cricket popped out of Sora's jacket, "After all, based on that scene we saw from that Record Crystal, she has been helping the residence of this world out with getting things set up."

"And knowing her, she might've started looking into the disappearances of the citizen's worlds." Asuna added, turning to Silica, "Did she mention any of this to you guys?"

"Mmm…not really." Silica answered, looking to Pina, "She just basically told us to help out the citizens as best as we could."

"We'll just have to trust that she is trying to find the source of the problem." Yui told the team, "And we should find out what's happening, too. We can't just rely on her."

"Right. We'll keep an ear out for any clues." Kirito understood, with the team nodding in agreement.

---

They doubled back to Magia Street again, with Silica recalling a package she forgot to deliver back there. It was actually in a part that was secluded around some rather taller buildings. The path was rather crooked, leading into a place that could work as a haunted two-story house, with black, jagged fencing, leafless trees, windows glowing on either side of the door like eyes, and a smokestack on top that smoked. There were some pieces that made it less spooky, like some red machines on either side that had glowing green screens on them, and a satellite dish. There was also a large metal floor door on the right side of the building, easily able to fit some sort of aircraft in it.

Both Silica and Asuna looked scared as they approached the building, with the former shuddering, "I-I know the person who lives here, and he is a nice man, but his house always scares me."

"Just what kind of place is this?" Kirito asked, looking at the mansion, "Looks like it could fit in a place like Halloween Town."

"Please don't remind me of that place, Kirito…" Asuna whimpered, recalling the spooks of that world.

"It belongs to that guy we saw in the Record Crystal. The one who made that machine." Silica explained, "He is a close friend of Gretinal, and a great genius, but his prime research is something I'm sure Asuna wouldn't like."

"What…?" Asuna questioned, worried about the answer.

Suddenly, a pair of what appeared to be green ghosts appeared out of the mansion, with one holding a baseball, while the other picked up a bat from the ground and they started to play a game with them. The sight caused Asuna to squeak in terror, and hide behind Kirito, who was startled.

"Are those ghosts?!" Sora gasped.

"They don't look like Heartless." Goofy noted.

"They aren't. These ghosts are actually from his world." Silica explained, "This house is actually his research lab, where his prime subject is in studying ghosts."

"He studies…ghosts?" Asuna whimpered. She placed on a bit of a fake innocence as she continued, "You know what? I'm just gonna step back outside of this place. Why don't the rest of you go in and meet this guy, okay? Bye." She turned and high-tailed it out of the place.

"Still afraid of ghosts…" Kirito sighed, "You'd think the Heartless and such were scarier."

"Well, I'm not afraid!" Donald declared, "Come on!" He stomped his way towards the entrance of the house. He was halfway between the fence and the door when he heard a crack, turned, and ducked as the ghost's baseball zoomed right over him. The ghosts in question looked to him, the one with the bat scratching his head at the sight, while the other laughed. Donald angrily rose to his feet, and squawked in fury as he chased after the ghosts, who flew through the house wall, causing the duck to slam into it, not able to go through like them, and fall backwards.

"Well, they seem like tricksters, but they don't look harmless." Sora noticed, "Let's go meet that guy." Goofy gathered up Donald, and they all entered inside the building.

(Insert 'Professor E. Gadd lab theme')

The inside of the building had all the necessities for living, but the lab was the one part that covered a third of the interior. There was not only a research table, but machines that whirred and whizzed, and a large-screen computer with several monitors attached and machines, each measuring certain things and displaying numbers, reminding the team a lot of the computer back in Traverse Town. Sitting on a stool at his computer was the very same little old man they saw before on the Record Sphere. There were even a couple of the ghosts they saw before were helping out, whether it be sweeping the floors, or reading journals.

They got close to the old man when he turned to the sight of the heroes. "Ah! So you are the group of heroes who I heard so much about from Gretty." He recognized.

"Yep, that's us." Sora answered.

"You know Gretinal?" Yui asked.

"Yes, my dear. She and I go way back." The old man answered, "But before I tell that story, I want to introduce myself. I'm Professor Elvin Gadd, but people call me 'E. Gadd'."

"How ironic…" Kirito muttered to himself.

"My research has been all about understanding ghosts and other forms of paranormal activity." E. Gadd explained, "But one day, I ended up meeting not only Gretty, but the Heartless, too. Zounds! They were a menace. But it intrigued me to look into them, specifically ones who emulate similar manners to that of ghosts. It was quite fascinating, by boogity!"

"So, you research the Heartless, just like other people have?" Sora asked, while a couple of ghosts appeared right behind him, looking curiously at both him and Goofy.

"Well, my primary research is in ghosts, but if I find a connection between them and Heartless that would prove useful, I would be more than happy to share it with you lot."

At this point, one of the ghosts started to pull on a tuff of Sora's spikes, which annoyed him to try and smack the ghost, only for it to go through the plasma body, making the ghost laugh. The other one had raised one of Goofy's ears, who wasn't nearly as bothered. When the ghost decided to go through one ear and out the other out of sheer amusement, Goofy made an expression of uncomfortableness for a second, but he didn't get angry. Finally, the two ghosts took Donald and Goofy's headwear, and placed it on their heads, giggling at one another for what they were wearing. Donald snatched his hat back angrily, firmly placing it on his head again.

"Here, I brought this for you." Silica told E. Gadd, handing him a tube-shaped package to him.

"Ah! Thank you, my dear." He thanked her, taking the tube, "I was almost out of blueprint paper."

"Blueprints for what?" Yui asked.

"For Gummi Ship designs." E. Gadd answered, "I do have a knack for making some rather good designs, if I do say so myself. And some that can be pretty powerful, if I may add."

"So we can buy Gummi Ship designs from you?" Sora asked, while Donald raced after the two ghosts, irritated by their fooling around with them.

"In-deedy." He answered, "I also have a special collection of blueprints I am especially proud of, but I will only give them to you in exchange for something I want."

"And that would be…" Kirito started.

"Photographic evidence of ghosts, or ghost-like beings, too." E. Gadd answered, "Bring me enough photos like those, and I'll give you some of my finest designs."

"Shouldn't be too hard with our Gummiphone." Sora stated, holding out the said device. He heard a crash, and everyone turned to see the two ghost in-between a large kitchen pot, with Donald feet hanging out of it as it rolled along the ground.

"We should probably get out of here before things escalate any further." Kirito told the team, who nodded in agreement. They pulled Donald out of the pot, and waved goodbye to E. Gadd and the ghosts before leaving the place.

Donald was angrily squawking back at the house as Kirito and Sora dragged him along by his arms. "I really hate those ghosts!" Donald squawked angrily.

"They don't mean any harm." Yui assured him, "I'm sure they were just curious about all of us."

"And they did seem like the playful kind, too." Goofy noted.

"You should've seen what they did to Sinon when she encountered them…" Silica started, then she blushed as she added, "Actually, maybe Asuna and Yui should be the only ones."

"Well, let's just go there when we need to, okay?" Kirito told the team, who nodded in agreement, and they exited out of the dark area they were in, returning to the main streets once more.

---

When they returned, the heroes all saw Asuna again, with three other people with her; Klein, Penelo, and Lightning, the latter being in the same garments as they saw her in the Record Sphere.

"Light!" Sora noticed happily. She was, after all, the first person he met when they crash-landed in Yusnaan for the first time.

"Sora. You okay?" She asked him, to which Sora nodded in response, albeit questioning why she would ask that first.

"I was just explaining to Light about our power changes." Asuna explained, "Like how I can't use her Soul Drive, and neither can you guys use Snow or Vaan's."

"Right…" Kirito understood.

"She also explained about your power loss." Light noted to Sora, "This isn't like the last time you came to this dimension, either, is it?"

"No…" Sora sighed.

"It really sucks that you guys have to start over like this." Klein pointed out to the rest of the team, "But we've all done conversions to other games before. This shouldn't be anything different."

"But there's more at stake than just what was in the games, Klein." Asuna retorted angrily, "It's gonna be even more dangerous that fight against Oberon."

"Right, since he, Gouxus, and the rest are now part of Xehanort's sixteen darknesses." Kirito noted, "We don't even know who all of them are."

"And we still need to find the other Guardians of Light to fight against them." Donald added.

"Okay, okay! Sorry…" Klein apologized, feeling ganged up at the moment.

"So, do you know where to start?" Penelo asked the group.

"Well, according to Gretinal, we need to start by finding four Lost Princesses of Heart." Asuna stated, "She gave us vague clues as to who they should be, but the one thing we do know is that they are in this dimension."

"Lost Princesses of Heart?" Silica echoed.

"Well, if you're looking for a princess, maybe Ashe could be one of them." Penelo suggested.

"Maybe…" Sora responded, "Though, I don't think just being a princess will be enough."

"Right. Besides, Kairi is not royalty, but she is one of the Princesses." Kirito pointed out, "And the four Lost Princesses aren't fully aware of the light in their hearts, either."

"Well, I'll leave that task in your hands, since you know it better than the rest of us." Lightning stated, "In the meantime, we have other matters to figure out."

"Like, what?" Yui asked.

"The soul pieces that are still within us." Asuna asked, looking to Kirito and Sora, "Our Soul Drives may be gone, but the soul pieces still remain within us. We ended up wondering if we could channel them in some way?"

"You mean…using them like Soul Pacts?" Kirito asked, to which Asuna nodded in response.

"But…what about mine?" Sora asked, touching is heart, "Vaan, Naruto, and Pit… Their pieces of their souls helped me so much before, but I can't use them anymore."

"True. Lightning and I were discussing how we could help you use those, as well." Asuna told him, "So far, we can't really think of anything." Sora, Kirito, Donald, Goofy, and Yui all looked to one another, wondering if there really was any way to use them at all.

"Maybe you guys should ask an expert." Silica suggested, "Who was it that helped you with those powers before?"

"Well, that would be Light and the others." Sora answered.

"And Patina and the witch apprentices." Yui added.

"Then let's go there to see if we can't find a way to use those soul pieces again." Kirito told the other five heroes, who nodded in agreement.

"I'll come with you." Lightning told them, turning to Klein, "I want you to go back to patrolling again."

"Yes, ma'am!" Klein saluted her, before taking off to do his duty with gusto, though really to impress Lightning, as most who knew him could tell, and gave expressions of ridiculousness at his actions.

"I'd better go take care of a few more deliveries." Silica told the others, "I'll see you later!"

"Take care of yourself, Silica!" Asuna told her as she and Pina flew off to their next destination.

"Bye, Pina!" Yui called out, to which the feathery dragon chirped in response to this.

"I'll go try to find Vaan, then." Penelo spoke up, walking away, "You might need his help using that soul piece in you, Sora."

"That's thinking ahead." Sora agreed, "I can't wait to see him again." With those guys gone, the rest of the team started to make their way towards the magic shop once more, hoping to get the answers they sought, and unlock the lost powers they once had.

---

Elsewhere, The Forgotten Tomb

At the southern edge of the town, which was still filled with debris and ruins of what it once was, a small group had just destroyed a fallen pillar that opened up an entrance into some catacombs. A tall broken wall nearby was blocking out the sun, and they were standing in the shadows of it, their bodies mostly hidden. However, they were all clearly young ladies, around mid to late-teens

"Well, that took a while." One of girls stated, "Great going, Samson, Flair."

"Heh! No problem!" A gruff male voice answered, oddly coming from one of the girls.

"So you think there's treasure down there?" A young girl's voice asked, again coming from the same figure.

"I hope so." The first girl answered, "But I bet there's Heartless down there. Traps, too."

"Let me check." The third girl stated, focusing her pale eyes at the entrance, the veins around her eyes popping out as she did, "You're right. I definitely see the darkness of Heartless down there. There are some other creatures that have some different kind of darkness, but they don't seem that tough, either."

"More than Heartless down there, huh?" The first girl asked, slowly stepping towards the entrance, "Could it be Unversed? Or some other form of darkness? Well, it doesn't matter…" Her head came into view in the sunlight, revealing a girl with short, brown hair, blue eyes, and a confident smirk.

"Once we set our sights on a treasure, we're going to get it." Philia declared, "Let's go, Heart Sisters!"

---

Next Time on Sword Art Kingdom III:

Forgotten Friend! Meet the Heart Sisters!

---

Note:

-Penelo's attire is the same as her attire in Final Fantasy Tactics A2.

-Lightning's new attire is based on a variation attire of her Equilibrium attire of FFXIII Lightning Returns.

-Snow's attire is the same as his FFXIII-2 attire.

-Silica and Liz's attires are highly based on their original concept art for SAO.

-Sinon, Klein, Argo and Agil's attire are their Hollow Realization attire.