Wahoo, watashi wa kattaze: Woot, first HB chappie up. And EVIL EVIL Eriks. Poor, misled little boy. Yay.
Notes: An Eagle Ceremony is the Ceremony where a boyscout is awarded his official rank as Eagle Scout. And Stromwind wasn't all that bad a guy. He was genuinely sorry that he had to cause her so much pain to kill her. But next time you see him reincarnated, he's just psychoticly evil. Zombie Druid! Muahahahahaha. Anyways... I'm glad everyone liked the fight scenes. Welp, read and reveiw, kiddos!

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- - -

"So you're back," said Elias.

"Yes," said Eriks quietly.

"And the girl?"

"The seventh Princess of Heart is being brought up now," he said. It had been strange. She hadn't seemed all that much like a princess, unlike some of the others. "So where's the old bear?"

"He was...defeated," said Elias coldly. He turned away from the boy, his long, black hair swishing quietly in the still halls of Hollow Bastion. "The Keyblade Master is coming here as we speak."

"Damn it," cursed Eriks softly. "I was actually kind of fond of the old bear."

They were quiet for a moment.

"The Keyblade Master will pay," the boy growled lowly. Elias, with his placid half a face, did something that, by those who did not know Elias, and know that he never showed emotion, might have been considered a smile.

"I think it is time... that you met the Master," said Elias Daemonwing.

-

It was down many empty corridors and through doors that Elias had long since locked off from him that Eriks finally found himself staring at an enormous set of iron-bound double doors. They creaked open as if they were as old as time, and the castle echoed with their vibrations when they slammed against the wall with titan slowness.

"What is this place?" asked Eriks in awe as he stepped into the darkness.

"This is the chamber of the Master," said Elias as the doors began to close behind them. There was a loud slamming as they came together, and the two of them were left in darkness. Then there was a light before them, and Eriks was amazed by what he saw.

"It's... you," he said softly.

YES. IT IS I.

"I thought you'd... disappeared. We used to see you so often."

I HAD, FOR SOME TIME. BUT I WAS HERE.

"So you're the one trying to bring back Arcadia?"
There was a pause.

YES... I AM. THERE IS... SOMETHING I MUST DO. AND FOR IT, I NEED THE POWER OF THE WORLDS... THE POWER... OF KINGDOM HEARTS.

"The hearts of all words," explained Elias. "Our master has great plans in mind. He shall bring this world to perfection."

YES, MY APPRENTICE. AND NOTHING MUST STAND IN OUR WAY. ESPECIALLY THE KEYBLADE MASTER.

-

"So this is it, huh?"

These were the Rising Falls. It was here that rocks floated, water was solid, and falls rose.

"Yeah... welcome to Hollow Bastion," said Arc solemnly.

It was a short series of leaps and jumps to get up the floating platforms. Once, Orchid mistimed the leap to a moving platform, but luckily discovered the water below to be solid, but not hard enough to hurt. It was a rough climb back up, since her arm still hurt, which was to be expected, considering only a few hours ago it had been broken. Otherwise, Montblanc had got her feeling good as new.

Soon, they were on the last platform, this one at the top of the falls, and marked with a gateway, the top of which shot off a long beam of light, which carried off to the castle, which was some distance away.

"Figures. Of course the transport isn't here," sighed Arc. "And I suppose it'll bring a buttload of Heartless when it does get here."

Orchid walked over to the shallow pool in the middle of the floating chunk of land as they waited. For reasons that she could not say, she summoned the keyblade, then touched the Mage Bloom's tip to the water's surface. The water rippled out from the blade, and the reflection in it changed.

"Hey, guys... look at this," she said, eyes transfixed on the water.

"What is it, kupo?" asked Montblanc as he and Arc walked over.

Images flashed on the still surface without sound. Sora, but several years younger, there with a duck and a dog, Donald and Goofy. And there, a boy the trio didn't recognize. Orchid assumed it was Riku, whom Sora had mentioned many times in his story. He was saying something, and from the look on the other boy's face, it didn't seem that Sora liked it. Riku reached out his hand, and the keyblade disappeared from Sora's. It then reappeared in Riku's, as the Kingdom Key. And with that, Riku left, and Donald and Goofy followed, albeit reluctantly. And Sora was left with nothing but a wooden sword.

Then it was over.

"What... was that?" asked Arc.

"Kupopo... I think that was in Sora's story," suggested the moogle. "Maybe the keyblade caused echos from the past?"

"Maybe... but we can discuss later," said Orchid, looking in another direction. "Here comes the transport."

"There's only one person..." reported Arc, peering at the shape on the platform.

"That's strange, kupo..." said Montblanc nervously. "What do you think they're up to?"

"It can't be..." whispered Orchid. She couldn't yet make out any details, but there was a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't sure if it was nervousness, shock, or anxiety. She found herself stepping away from the gate, back towards the pool. As the transport came closer, she could make out spiky hair, a jacket, and pants, all in black. The person held a sword easily in his right, for now she could tell it was a boy. And she knew, that as soon as the transport stopped, he would open his eyes, and dark eyes that she had grown up with would be staring out at her.

"Who is that?" asked Arc as the transport neared the platform.

"...Eriks," said the girl softly.

The platform came to a halt under the gate, and the boy opened his eyes and looked at her. The eyes, cold and filled with rage, truly scared her. But soon, the warmed with a mixture of emotions, confusion, surprise, happiness.

"Orca?" he asked. "Is that really you?"

"Y...yeah," she said unsteadily.

"Wait..." he looked down, and saw what she held in her hand. "You're the Keyblade Master?"

"Damn right she is," said Arc gruffly. "And who the hell are you, kid?"

"My name is Eriks," answered the boy, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Show better respect for the servants of the Master."

"You've... changed, Eriks," Orchid said quietly.

"Yes," he said, calming down. "It's been rough, y'know? And, I just... I think we've all changed."

"Eriks...please, just stand aside," said Orchid. "We need to go through here, and stop all this."

"You don't understand, do you?" asked Eriks. "The Master... he's... well, it's not important who he is, but what's important is what he's doing."

"Destroying worlds? Killing innocent lives?" asked Arc spitefully.

"No!" shouted Eriks, swinging Excalibur at him. "He's gathering power. He needs it to restore the worlds. All the worlds.... our world, Orca. He's going to bring back Arcadia. Return everything to normal. Make everything better."

"That's a load of crap!" raged Arc. "How can you believe that? Haven't you seen what the Heartless and the Shadowless have done?"

"Shut up!" yelled the boy. "This doesn't involve you!" He sighed. "And I know. You think they're bad. But... it's just what they are. They seek to return all hearts to the one great heart. They serve us. They are helping the Master. So he can right everything."

"You expect us just to stand here and eat this load of bull?" growled Arc.

"No. I expect you to believe the truth, and to give me the keyblade."

"What?" said Orchid, snapping out of her daze.

"There's one last thing we need. We need the power of the keyblade," said Eriks.

"Why should we give it to you?" spat Arc.

"Please... just, trust me," urged Eriks.

"Trust you? You litte-"

"Arc!"

The man turned, his face stunned. Orchid was looking at Eriks, but the anger on her face was clearly directed at the other man. He stopped, and stepped back, then sheathed his sword.

"Will you do it?" asked Eriks hopefully.

"I...I..." Orchid stuttered. She looked down at the keyblade in her hand. A wave of nostalgia flooded over her mind, as images of home ran through her thoughts. She wanted to go home, so badly. Just to go home, where it was safe. And then everything would be better again.

"Please," he implored. "Just please...Orchid."

All was silent as they waited for her desicion.

Slowly, she raised the hand holding the keyblade and held it in front of him. He raised out his hand to her. There was a shimmering, and then the keyblade was gone from Orchid's hand. Now it was in Eriks's.

"Thank you."

And then there was a flash of light, and he was gone.

-

It was quiet as they rode the transport back up.

"How could you...?" growled Arc lowly, breaking the silence.

"It's for the best," replied Orchid. "He's going to fix everything."

"What are you talking about?" he shouted. "You've just killed us all! You've seen what the Heartless do!"

"I trust Eriks!" she yelled back.

"What, and you don't trust me?" raged Arc. "You haven't seen him since this whole thing's started!"

"He's my friend!"

"Yeah? And who was the one getting your back all these times, huh? Who was your friend then, huh?"

"No, Arc, you don't see-"

"You don't see, Orchid! He's with them. The other side, you know? Elias, Stromwind, my brother... all those guys! They wanted to kill us. Kill you, specifically! And now you just handed them, the key to our salvation! Now the key to our destruction! Are you listening to me?"

"SHUT UP!"

There was silence then, except for the sobbing of a little girl.

"I...I just want to go home, so badly. And Eriks...he said...he said..."

Arc sighed.

"Yeah...sorry... I know how you feel... my brother... Dar'ck, the other one... he's in there too, y'know?" he said softly, gently patting the girl's shoulder. "Look... I mean... Eriks... he means well... but he's been misled. We have to go in there, and help him. Get him away from all that. End this whole mess. But we can't do it without you."

She sniffled, and sighed a little.
"We need you, Orchid. Everyone needs you, kupo," said Montblanc quietly.

"Eriks needs you," added Arc.

Silence. Then a shuffling as she wiped the tears away.

"Yeah..." she said softly. Then with more conviction, "Yeah. Let's do this."

-

"Orca? What are you doing here?" asked Eriks, turning and facing them as they strode into the entry way of the castle.

"Eriks..." she said. She stopped, then gritted her teeth and continued. "Eriks, I can't let you do this. I...I'm sorry, but I can't."

"What are you talking about?" he said. "Why can't you understand?"

"No, Eriks," she said. "You're the one who doesn't understand."

"What are you talking about?" he questioned, a faintly dangerous tone at the edge of his voice.

"I can't let you have the keyblade," said Orchid firmly. She held out her hand. Eriks's arm jerked as he tried to hold on, then his hand floated up, and the keyblade disappeared from it, reappearing in Orchid's.

"You..." he said angrily.

"I'm sorry, Eriks," said the girl. "You don't really know what's going on. I have to do this."

"You killed Stromwind. You tried to ruin our plans. And now you want take the keyblade?" Eriks raged. "You might have been my friend once, but not anymore!"

"You've... really changed..." she said, stunned. "You... you're not Eriks anymore."

"Yeah, then who am I?" he shouted, drawing his sword, Excalibur. "Tell me who I am!"

"I don't know who you are, but you're not Eriks!" she yelled back.

"Then... I guess we're no longer friends," he said softly. "Now die."