The Keyblade Master Chronicles Chapter 4: Level Four: Traverse Town Part I, a kingdom hearts fanfic

Keyblade Master Chronicles

Hey everyone! I want to thank you all for your reviews and continuing support! Everyone of you can help me write on and get new ideas!

In this chapter, a lot awaits us, especially some new characters and a few new threats! This chapter contains Traverse Town, but, because it's so large, it'll be divided into two levels: Level Four and Level Five.

Also, for those of you who have not played FFVIII or FFXI, don't worry; I'll give you a blow by blow of who the new characters are at the end of the chapter.

Okay! Enough jabber! On with the chapper!

Level 4 – Traverse Town Part I

"Can't this thing go any faster?" Haru yawned, reclining in his seat as Rion continued to fly the Gummi Ship through space. Although a few obstacles had appeared in the children's way, Rion was a sharp enough pilot to dodge them with ease. In fact, they had had little trouble for the entire flight, even if it had been seemingly over an hour. "I still don't see Traverse Town."

"It should show up on the navigator," Rion remarked, pointing to the navigator panel on the dashboard. Haru leaned over to watch it. "What does it say?"

"A half an hour away…" Haru sighed, leaning back. "I think I'll take a nap. Jila seems to have helped herself to the backseat."

The two boys looked around their seats to see Juka fast asleep in the back, drool slightly forming at the edge of her mouth. "Seriously, how can she sleep at a time like this?" Rion sighed, shaking his head and returning to the steering of the ship.

"Hey, I may follow suit," Haru yawned. "We've been through heck, that's for sure."

"It's not going to end here," Rion reminded him. "We still have to find the King's Heart and rescue Mom after finding Dad."

"Ahh, you know Dad!" Haru joked, jabbing his brother in the ribs with his elbow. "He'll just snap his fingers and save the day! He's invincible!"

"If he's invincible…" Rion said darkly, staring at the controls. "Then why didn't he stop that thing from taking Mom away?"

Haru paused, a little amazed that his older brother was questioning his father's abilities that all three had trusted for so long. "H-he…I…I don't know."

"It's strange…" Rion shook his head. "It's like this experience is making me wonder how much of Dad's stories were fantasy and how much were reality… Like I'm no longer a child."

"You never were a child," Haru assured him. "You're fifteen years old. Almost sixteen for that matter."

"But Destiny Islands was always so peaceful," Rion reasoned. "I remember always joking around, challenging the guys to fights…falling asleep during story time. It makes me wonder if I'm really ready for something like this."

"You've changed, Rion," Haru told him and Rion's head perked up as he turned to his brother. "You've become more serious. I noticed it when you reasoned with Donald back at the Castle. You didn't insist on getting our way."

"It would've been hopeless to argue," he shrugged, looking sheepish. "I realized that."

"Maybe you are more mature," Haru sighed, lying back. "A child would insist on having their way, but you were able to compromise."

"Are you upset with the new me?"

There was a pause, and Haru didn't answer. He stared back at Jila, and shook his head. "I wish she would wake up."

"ARRGH!" Rion shouted as a huge impact from the right side made the Gummi Ship shake violently, throwing him forward and Haru into the dashboard. Jila fell off her seat in the back and she woke up instantly.

"Wh-what's wrong?" she asked, shaking her head.

"We've been hit!" Haru exclaimed, reading damage reports that appeared in front of them. "What's going on?"

"Heartless Ships…" Rion murmured and Jila and Haru turned to him.

"What did you say?" Jila asked frantically.

"Donald told me that Heartless Ships might not want us to reach our destinations!" Rion exclaimed. "We have to shoot them down before they shoot us!"

"Right!" Haru nodded. "But how?"

"Haru, you grab those two controls!" Rion pointed to two joysticks with red buttons on them, and Haru nodded, grabbing them with both his hands. "Jila, you activate the shields from the panel back there on the back of my seat!"

"R-right!" she nodded insecurely, flipping down the panel on the back of Rion's seat. She saw a large button labeled "Shield" and pressed it.

A blue light erupted around the Gummi ship, then shut off once Jila released her finger. "That's how you work the shield?" She asked.

"I'm assuming," Rion nodded. "Look, I'll maneuver around them. Haru, you shoot and tell Jila when to raise the shield."

"Got it," he nodded.

The ship shook again. "Darn! A hit from behind!" Rion growled. "Jila! Damage report!"

"Shields down toseventy percentpower!" She said, reading a damage readout that appeared on the panel.

"Jila, shield up!" Haru shouted, pressing down the two buttons and firing a spray of bullets at an oncoming black Heartless ship.

"Right!" Jila pressed the shield button and the blue shield appeared, blocking a barrage of attacks from an oncoming ship. "It's off! Shields recharging!"

"Eat this!" Haru growled, pressing on the buttons and destroying another Heartless ship.

"I'm speeding up!" Rion called to the two, and grabbed a dial, turning it up. Jila and Haru both felt the sheep speeding past the normal limit.

"R-Rion!" Jila called to her eldest brother. "Shields down to fifty percentpower! Did we take a hit?"

"No," Rion muttered and the others looked confused. "I'm flying past the ship's limits. The shield power will go down gradually, but we should get there in five minutes or less."

"Shields down toforty fivepercentpower!" Jila called to Rion. "Are we going to make it in time?"

"I don't know," Rion shook his head. "But we've got to shake those troops!"

Haru glanced at the radar. "Man! Rion, watch out! There's an entire fleet on our tail! At least thirty ships!"

"I can't activate the shield!" Jila called. "We won't make it in time if we run out of fuel!"

"Once the shields go down, the ship will stop moving," Rion cursed their luck. "C'mon, baby, move it, move!"

"Rion! Three minutes and closing to destination!" Haru called to him desperately.

"Shields down to thirty five percentpower!" Jila called. "I don't know if they can't take much more!"

"Two minutes and thirty seconds!"

"Shields down totwenty sevenpercentpower!"

"Two minutes!"

"Shields down totwenty percent!"

"One minute thirty three seconds!"

"Shields atfifteen percent!"

"Hey you two!" Rion shouted to his two younger siblings. "If you could stop with the constant status reports then maybe I could get us there!"

"S-Sorry!" Jila reddened. "But our shields are on their last limb! Onlyeight percentpower remaining!"

"Get ready for a bumpy ride you two!" Rion shouted, smashing his hand on the speed dial and turning it up to max. "Cause we're going max speed!"

The three felt themselves being pushed back in their seats as the images around them started to fuzz with the oncoming speed. Rion had made the speed rating so powerful that the three seriously thought that they wouldn't be able to stop in time before being hit by some sort of oncoming object.

"Rion!" Jila screamed. "Shields down toone percent!"

".5 seconds to destinat—OW!"

The ship made a huge crashing sound and all three children were thrown forward, Rion and Haru onto the glass window in the front of the ship; Jila onto the back of Haru's seat. "Owwwiee…"

"Man, what in the world happened?" Haru sputtered, separating his bruised face from the glass.

"I think we crashed…" Rion muffled, still smashed against the front of the ship.

"Oh, you think you dummy?" Jila snapped sarcastically. "It's all your fault we crashed like this! You were going way too fast!"

"If I hadn't gone faster, our shields would have collapsed on us!" Rion countered, turning on Jila. "We were more thenthirty seconds to the destination witheight percentremaining! I made the right choice!"

"Where'd you learn to fly this thing like that?" Haru asked, holding his head, as if focusing his vision.

"Donald taught me."

"But you've got a knack for spaceship flying," Haru complimented. "If I had been in the pilot seat, we would be Heartless food right now."

Rion didn't answer, but he gave a light smile to his two siblings and quickly opened up his door. Haru copied him, and Juka climbed through to the front and slid through Haru's door.

"Woah…" Haru looked at the wreckage of the Gummi Ship and Rion didn't answer him. He looked very red, and very upset that in one flight, he had already half-destroyed their vessel.

The ship's front was completely dug into the ground, obviously bent in many odd places. A wing was dangling by a few screws, and the back engines were bent to the right, as if they had hit something very hard and very fast. The front window was cracked slightly, and Rion couldn't tell if it was from the impact or from Haru and his heads coming into contact with it. "What are we going to tell Donald?" Jila asked, looking very frantic.

"Right now, the ship is the least of our worries," Rion said quickly. "First, we need to find Dad."

"I hope this is even Traverse Town…" Haru sighed. "With the speed we were going at, who knows where we ended up?"

"I'm pretty sure this is Traverse Town," Jila told them.

"Hmm?" Haru turned to her. "What makes you say that, sis?"

"Because that sign says so."

The three children looked up above their heads to see a pair of huge wooden doors that were framed by a huge wall. Above the wooden doors, there was a neon glowing sign colored bright gold that read "Traverse Town" and bore many strange arrows and dazzling lights.

"I guess we made it," Rion nodded to the other two, and, together, they walked up to the large wooden doors, opened them, and walked in.

"Woah!" Jila laughed, looking around as they closed the huge doors and saw the extent of the city they were in. It was a brick city with many lights, a café, a mailbox, a large shop, and another two pairs of large doors. "This place is great!"

"This is so cool!" Haru laughed. "Think of all the exciting worlds I've been missing for fourteen years of my life! Dad must have had the time of his life!"

"Hey…wait…" Rion stopped and the two turned around to face him. "Cid moved back to the Hollow Bastion right? Does that mean that his shop is still being run by an ordinary townsperson? If Cid's still there, maybe Dad's seen him!"

"We could check!" Jila suggested and the two boys nodded, running up the stairs of the city.

Unfortunately, a sign marked "Closed" hung on the doors and the three were denied entrance. "Man…" Jila's eyebrows arched in disappointment. "He's not here. Whoever owns the shop."

"Well…we should start checking for Dad."

"There's no need for that."

The three spun around as they heard a voice from behind them. When they focused their vision on the person, or people, before them, they realized that there was a group of three, most like them, standing in front of them.

The one who had spoken was a man who looked to be in his late twenties. He had sandy blonde hair that was covered by a head wrap colored brown with a black stripe. The wrap's tie covered part of his face and he wore a single small golden hoop on his right ear. Also, he wore a long grayish robe that revealed a bit of his chest and fell to just above his knees. The robe's sleeves were baggy and ended at his wrists, much like his black pants, which ended where his brown string-up shoes started, just under his knee. Around his waist was a red sash lined with gold. On his belt, he carried a black dagger sheath that held a dagger with a golden handle.

The man looked stern, but not so much that he seemed unfriendly. His face was serious, but the children could sense a friendly spark in his eye.

"Do you really think that they're the ones, Aldo?" A voice from behind the man, now revealed to be Aldo, asked. The carrier of the voice walked out from behind Aldo's form, showing her full form.

She was a very pretty woman who looked to be in her late teens or early twenties. She had long black hair that was up in a ponytail with only a few strands framing her face. Her eyes were a dark black to match her hair. Across her forehead was a gray band with an armored plate in the center. Her body was decorated with a crimson kimono type jacket with lighter red lining. Scale shoulder armor decorated the jacket, along with red arm plates and chain mail sleeves. Her gloves were a grayish color with white bands across them. Her leg-wear cut off just above her knees and was colored a bold crimson to match her jacket. She wore many belts across her waist, and under her shorts were red leggings that matched her black and red tall boots. On her waist was a slim, long curved sword in a black sheath. The handle was round and was decorated golden.

She seemed more serious then Aldo; the type who knew exactly what needed to be done and did it. She eyed the three children, and they felt their blood run cold. "They match the descriptions, yes, but are we absolutely sure?"

"I'd bet on it, Ayame," Aldo nodded, smiling at her. "Look, almost the same colored clothing and everything."

"What about the one in the middle?" Ayame asked, pointing to Jila. "We can't know if its truly the person we're looking for until they…"

"If you'rrre going to keep bickerrring about it, why not just make them brrring out theirrr blade?"

The last of the trio stepped out from the background, making her presence known. This one was the most shocking of all to the children, mainly because of two simple features.

She had cat ears sticking out of her short white hair, and a cat's tail. While the children viewed these features with wide and curious eyes, the woman turned to Aldo and Ayame, obviously annoyed with their indecisive behavior.

The woman was wearing a white tunic with blue, gold and red lining in the middle where the clasps were. It also hood bunched in the back, lined with gold, and long sleeves that were also lined with blue and red. She had on plate armor gloves that were adorned with silver and golden designs. Her legs were decorated with the same plate armor, as were her feet. On her back were a gigantic green colored bow and a quiver full of arrows. Across her forehead was a golden circlet.

"Rrreally!" The children noticed how the woman rolled her "R's." "It's rrridiculous how you two arrre acting! Let's do what we came to do! Quistis told us to brrring these thrrree back, am I corrrect?"

"I wish you'd drop that annoying rolling," Aldo sighed, shaking his head. "Fine. Quistis did tell us to bring them back. They match the descriptions well, enough, so…"

The three turned to the children, and Aldo flashed them a brief smile. "Sorry, but we've got to abduct you."

"HUH?" The children screamed simultaneously.

"No need to make such a fuss," the cat woman snarled. "Rrreally!"

"Semih, give them a little credit," Ayame scolded her. "From what we've heard, they're supposed to be great warriors."

"Wow," Jila smiled to her two brothers. "We've got a reputation!"

"Fine! Feh!" Semih sighed, throwing her hands into the air. "But we've got a mission, and I'm not about to abandon it!"

"Semih's got a point," Aldo shrugged, pulling out his dagger. "I'm sorry, but if you won't come quietly, we'll have to fight you!"

"A fight?" Jila asked, and the three immediately pulled out their keyblades. "Who are you guys?"

"Those blades!" Ayame gasped.

"Yep, they've got to be the ones!" Aldo nodded. "Anyway, now you've GOT to come with us! We've got a few people who want to see you real bad…"

"They must be working for the Heartless…" Rion whispered to the two and Haru nodded.

"C'mon Jila, we've got to fight them," Haru told her, and she nodded to him.

Rion raised his head to talk to the three. "Sorry, but we're a little busy, so I'm afraid we can't come with you!"

"Man, why'd you have to go and make things difficult?" Aldo asked, sighing. "Fine! Ladies, I'm afraid we've got a fight on our hands!"

"Gladly," Semih nodded, taking out her bow.

"Right," Ayame said automatically, drawing the long blade, now revealing it to be a long katana.

"Man…" Rion shook his head. "We'll never beat them if they gang up on one of us at a time. Haru," he turned to his younger brother. "You take the woman in red. The one with the long sword."

"Huh?" he asked. "I-I can't hit girls!"

A swift wind made Haru back up suddenly. "Ack!" he shouted as he saw Ayame standing in front of him, her katana drawn. Haru looked down at his green shirt to see a razor thin cut in it. He gave a low gulp.

"I'd be more worrying about yourself," Ayame told him sternly. "Do not hold back, or you will regret it!"

"Who should I take Rion?" Jila asked.

"You take the cat woman," he told her, staring at Semih. "You're pretty fast, and you'll need speed to dodge those arrows of hers."

"So you're taking the man with the dagger?" Jila asked and Rion nodded. "Right! Here I go!"

The three jumped from their cluster towards their determined opponents.

"Oh, I see!" Semih nodded as Jila ran towards her, Keyblade outstretched. "So I get you, do I?"

"Right!" Jila nodded, throwing her blade forward, only to have Semih sidestep her and pull out one of her arrows.

"Watch out! We kitties are tougherrr then we look!" She fired the arrow, and Jila moved her head out of the way just in time to dodge it.

"HYAH!" Jila threw her keyblade forward, making Semih back off quickly, her bow still in hand. Jila stood up, ready to engage Semih again. "I'm tougher than I look too!"

Semih smiled, and licked her lips from anticipation. "This is going to be a good fight."

Meanwhile, Haru was having his own trouble with Ayame. Not only was she fast, Ayame sword was long and could reach Haru if he strayed too close. It was therefore nearly impossible to get in close enough to attack the Katana bearing beauty. "Man!" Haru snapped, jumping on top of a large box just as Ayame pierced it with the tip of her blade. "You're tough, lady!"

"Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment," Ayame spoke, jumping with lightning fast speed onto the box next to Haru. Haru only had a split second to block her strike with his keyblade. The two swords grinded against one another, and Haru could tell that Ayame was putting her full strength into her attack.

"KYAH!" In a lightning fast motion, he fell to his back and grabbed her ankles with his legs, throwing her over the boxes and making her topple to the ground. Kneeling up, he looked down at Ayame, who was just gaining her footing. He wiped his brow and gave her a small smirk. "Your sword may be powerful, but I doubt you can outmatch my footwork."

Ayame gave me a small smile and brought her Katana to an attacking stance once more. "We'll see about that, young warrior."

With Rion, he and Aldo had yet to make a move on each other. Each were simply circling in front of the closed shop, Aldo's dagger drawn and Rion's keyblade at the ready. "Why don't you attack?" Aldo asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm not attacking cause all I've got is this puny dagger," Aldo sighed forlornly, holding up his golden engraved dagger. "Very nice, and the craftsmanship is excellent, but it's no good for fighting."

"You're a good con artist," Rion narrowed his eyes. "But not good enough to fool me."

"I see," Aldo shrugged. "Well, how about this?" He sheathed the dagger and Rion's eyes widened at the move. "I won't even have a weapon. How's that?"

"Why are you giving me such an advantage?" Rion asked, a little confused by the man's plan.

"Maybe I like you," Aldo shrugged. A smirk then appeared on his face. "Or maybe I'm trying to lull you into a false sense of security and I've really got a deadly attack up my sleeve. Take your pick."

Rion didn't respond.

"Triple shot!" Semih called and three arrows fired from her bow at Jila. Jila yelped and dodged them quickly, falling to the ground on her knees. "You'rre a quick little on, arrren't you?"

"I-I guess…" Jila breathed heavily, rising to her feet and holding out her keyblade. "But once I get in close range, there's no way you'll be able to beat me."

"Ahh, a smarrrt obserrrvation," Semih smirked, loading her bow again. "But…the question is…" She fire the arrow, only to have it whiz right past Jila's face and stick straight into a wooden sign behind her, vibrating back and forth from the force. "Can you get within close rrrange?"

"I'm willing to try!" Jila screamed, running forward, her keyblade held forward. Semih loaded her bow again and quickly shot another arrow, but Jila was ready for it. She dodge the arrow just in time, the threw her keyblade down on Semih!

"Man!" Semih shook her head. "What a rrrush!" Semih had raised her bow just in time to block Jila's attack and throw her off. "How lucky I am to be fighting the legendarrry keyblade masterrr!"

'Huh?' Jila thought to herself, looking puzzled at Semih. 'What's she talking about? Haru and Rion are both Keyblade wielders too…'

"But let's finish this, shall we?" Semih asked, taking another arrow out of her quiver and loading it in her bow. This one, surprisingly enough, was colored a pale yellow. "I don't want to keep Quistis waiting now."

"Quistis?" Jila asked, looking up. "Who's she?"

"Don't worry," Semih smiled. "Once I beat you, you'll find out!" Semih loaded her arm back, and Jila gasped as a soft pulsating lightning gathered around the arrow. "THUNDER SHOT!" She screamed, and the arrow whizzed out of the bow, Jila dodging it just in time, only to have a small pulse of the thunder hit her.

"ARRGHH!" She screamed as she felt the pain from the spell hit her.

"Heh! Even if you can dodge the arrow, you can't dodge the thunderrr!" Semih told Jila, standing above her. "It's my special technique."

'Man…' Jila gritted her teeth. 'Now even I dodge, she can hit me…what do I do?'

"You're good on your feet!" Ayame shouted to Haru as her sword made another sharp swipe against his red-handled Keyblade. The two had been having a close combat duel, Haru: no an amateur when it came improvising attacks. Right now, the two were skitting around the alleyway, their swords constantly colliding. "But why not try and attack instead of just blocking my blade?"

"All right!" Haru smirked. "But you asked for it!" He swiped her sword away and jumped up straight in the air, catching a nearby window sill.

Ayame looked up at him, her eyebrows narrowed. "What? Are you running away! Disgraceful!"

"Who ever said anything about running away?" Haru smirked, and then pushed off the brick wall hard with his feet. His Keyblade straight out in front of him, he speared Ayame back, making her fly against the brick wall from the impact. Haru landed with utmost grace and gave her a defiant smirk. "Had enough?"

"You're a smart warrior," Ayame granted him, wiping a bit of blood from her lip. "I shall give you that. But, I'm afraid, young one, that you've counted this battle over before it has yet finished."

"I'm too fast for that heavy blade," Haru countered. "If you can't hit me, how to expect to win?"

"Quite simply," Ayame smiled, and then, in a fleeting motion that only lasted a moment, she had jumped up onto the roof of a nearby building. "I intend to corner you."

"H-how'd she do that?" Haru whispered frantically to himself. "She just jumped two stories!"

"What's the matter?" Ayame called from her perch above Haru. "Can't you jump up here as well with those quick feet of yours?"

"Dangit…" Haru gritted his teeth and held his blade in front of him. "Even if you're up there, you can't hit me if I stay down here!"

"Which is where an improvised attack comes in!"

Haru blinked and Ayame was gone. She had already jumped from her space situated comfortably on the rooftop, and was now standing gracefully on the edge of a fence. Haru looked up, but Ayame was gone again, now on a windowsill, and then, jumping to the other one. She jumped back and forth, gaining momentum until she was just a red blur to Haru's eyes.

There was no way that Haru could catch Ayame, she was going much too fast, and at any time now, when he dropped his guard, she could attack him head on. Surrounded by the red blur that was Ayame, Haru held his Keyblade out, hoping that it would provide some sort of defense against an oncoming onslaught.

"So, what's it gonna be?" Aldo asked as he and Rion circled each other for what seemed to be the hundredth time in front of the closed shop. Aldo obviously had the advantage, even though both had not even laid a finger on one another. Aldo was cunning, and knew how to mess with Rion's head. Rion, however, kept a straight poker face to the best of his ability. "You have two options. Attack me and see if I really am defenseless or I'm just bluffing." Aldo gave a wide grin, as if Rion's decision was a fun game to him. "Or, you stay there and wait for me to make a move."

'If I attack him head on, he could hit me with some sort of attack,' Rion thought to himself, sweat collecting on his brow. 'Or I could win the battle. If I stay at this range, he may find a way to attack me anyway. But…' Rion stopped, and his eyes widened, as if he had just realized something. 'If he really had a great attack that only would work at short range, then why didn't he just use it before? Why give me the option of not attacking at all? He must've known that with a sword I would use close range combat. If he didn't tell me at all, he would've had the obvious advantage.'

Rion nodded to himself, his decision now hardened in his mind. 'This guy's smart, and I know what he's up to. He's bluffing and hoping that I'll come quietly. Well, I'm sorry Mr. Sneaky,' Rion smirked. 'But I'm afraid I've figured out your trick.'

"HYAH!" Rion cried, lunging forward with his blade extended to attack Aldo. Rion expected to see Aldo look horrified, but, the truth was quite the opposite. He was smiling.

"So, close range combat I see?" Aldo smiled. "So, you assumed I was bluffing. Of course, that's what the evidence would point to. Unfortunately…"

The next thing Rion knew, he had the wind knocked out of him by a huge mass of ice and spikes and he was thrown backwards onto his side. He rolled helplessly on the brick ground, still trying to recover his breath. Aldo smirked and walked over to Rion, his hand slightly icy. "Unfortunately, evidence can sometimes point to an extremely wrong conclusion."

"Wh-why…why didn't you use that attack before?" Rion panted, recovering his lungs. "I-it would have…it would have worked just as well at long range."

"I wanted to mess with your head for a bit," Aldo shrugged. "And it worked perfectly."

Rion struggled to his feet, using his Keyblade as a makeshift cane. "Wh-what was that attack?"

"Magic," Aldo told him. "You see, it works like this." His hand turned a bright red and what seemed to be a mass of fire grew in it. "FIRE!"

The fire shot towards Rion. He did his best to dodge, the fireball sent at him singed his right arm, and he cried in pain, grasping it. Panting slightly, getting over the pain, he looked at Aldo, who was now powering up another attack. "That power…"

"ARRGGH!" Jila fell to the ground as another bolt of lightning from Semih's arrow hit her in the back. Semih was already loading another arrow, this one once again shocked with the lightning power. "N-no fair! Stop using those!"

"Hey, battles arrren't about being fairrr!" Semih snapped and Jila's eyes widened. "It's about winning at all costs! Being fairrr might get you killed one day!"

"N-no way! My Dad always said that being fair in a battle is most important!" Jila retored, rising to her feet. "Whenever we fought our friends on Destiny Islands, the game was always fair!"

"This isn't a game!" said Semih coldly and Jila winced at the harsh tone. "I thought you of all people would underrrstand that!"

"Huh?" Jila looked up in confusion. "What do you mean… "Me of all people"?"

"Enough talk!" Semih released another arrow, and Jila dodged again, only to the lightning shock her again.

She winced from the pain, but she did not cry out. She grasped her shoulder, her Keyblade dangling in her hand. Tears were coming to her eyes. Was there really no way she could win…?

She glanced at her Keyblade and felt the water in her eyes start falling down her cheeks. "I thought…I was a hero…because I had this…" she whispered to herself. "But…if I can't even beat an enemy with a legendary weapon…maybe…" she bit her lip. "Maybe I'm just weak."

But her tears evaporated from her face as she threw her head up in realization. A bright smile came over her face as she rose to her feet once more triumphantly, this time holding out the Keyblade proudly. "What arrre you up to?"

"You said fights aren't about being fair!" Jila smiled. "So I'm going to use something other then my weapon!"

"What could that be?"

Jila didn't answer, she just bent down, took off her shoes, ripped off the rubber from the sole, and grasped it in her hand. She then put the shoe back on, now slightly off balance due to the height change. . She grasped her Keyblade with her now soled hand and stared triumphantly at Semih, as if she had already won just by doing the extremely silly wardrobe change.

"Wh-what arrre you doing?" Semih asked, completely dumbstruck. "You must have gotten shocked too much! You'rrre going loony!"

"Oh no," Jila shook her head. "I'm completely fine! Just try to shoot another one of those arrows at me!"

Semih growled and her ears and tail perked up in anger. "Fine! Cocky one, arrren't we?" She loaded another lightning arrow, this one pulsating with even more electricity then before. "EAT THIS!" She fired the arrow straight at Jila and Jila gave a triumphant smile.

"HYAH!" Jila held her Keyblade out and the arrow hit it dead on! The electricity flowed through the blade, and Jila's rubber sole, acting as heavy padding from the electricity, made sure that she herself wasn't getting shocked. She smiled at the lightning pulsated through the blade and she then looked at Semih triumphantly. "Now, time to get a taste of your own medicine!"

In a swift motion, and the shocked Semih completely immobilized from surprise, Jila ran forward, her Keyblade still positioned in her hand, and made a swift hit across Semih's body.

"ARRGGHH!" Semih cried as the channeled lightning electrocuted her with three times more power then any shock Jila had received due to the channeling and the swift cut. She writhed from the shock, then fell to her knees, obviously in serious pain. "Y-you…I can't believe it. How'd you come up with that trrrick?"

"I remembered the rubber on the soles of my shoes!" Jila said triumphantly. "If the electricity could be channeled through the metal in the Keyblade, I was sure that I could strike you with the same power your arrows struck against me! Only since the Keyblade is much more conducting then your arrows are, the attack was even stronger!"

"And the rrrubber was to make surrre you didn't get shocked as well…" Semih shook her head, smiling lightly. "You beat me. You rrreally arre the legendarrry Keyblade Wielderr."

"G-good…to…hear…it…" Jila laughed, then, collapsed in front of Semih from her exhaustion. Semih shook her head and patted Jila on her shoulder.

"Kind of irrronic that you should be capturrred afterrr winning the fight…" Semih smiled at Jila. "But, at least you can come back to wherrre you belong, rrright?"

"Attack already!" Haru snapped to Ayame. The two were still in the alley, and Ayame had yet to make a decisive move. She was still a blur, jumping from fence to windowsill, to roof, to crate, to wherever she could get her feet on. Haru desperately tried to follow her movements, but it was impossible.

"Don't even try to know where I'm going to attack from," Ayame's voice spoke, but it was in echo, as if bouncing off the alley walls. "I'm moving so fast there's no way that you can catch me."

"Says you!" Haru snapped, slicing his Keyblade near a crate, only to cut thin air.

"Getting frustrated are we?" Ayame asked. "Do you know how momentum works?"

"Umm…not really…"

"Momentum is the constant speed of an object, or how fast it's moving," Ayame told Haru. "It's determined by mass and velocity. But, if I increase my velocity, I can increase my momentum."

"So?"

"That's the scientific definition of momentum," Ayame told him, Haru still looking around for a sight of the crimson beauty. "But there's another one that's used more often. Momentum is the gaining of speed in a certain path."

"Again, so?"

"You're not really a scholar are you? Anyway, if I keep going in the same path, then I can increase my speed until you can't even see where I'm going. It's quite simple, actually. I'll just keep getting faster until the wind from my movement carries my body by itself."

"So…you're just going to keep getting faster?" Haru asked.

"Yes," Ayame told him. "But, if I break that momentum at exactly the right time, I'll have perfect speed in which to deliver the final blow of this battle."

'Dangit…' Haru bit his lip as Ayame continued to circle him. 'She's just going to keep getting faster with that dumb "momentum" science thing until she's got the perfect attack lined up to take me down! How am I supposed to beat that?' Haru closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. 'Okay Haru…all you got to do is break that "momentum" thing that she's got going on. But how? She's going way too fast for me to know where she could possibly be. Even my fastest attack might miss. It's all too risky.'

Haru's brow furrowed. He knew he was running out of time. Ayame was getting faster and any moment know, she would break out of her cycle and attack him dead on.

…Break out of her cycle…

'That's it!' Haru thought to himself, laughing slightly. He turned towards a window sill that the red blur had passed just a few moments ago, then passed again, and again. Ayame was going so fast now, Haru knew he couldn't catch her just by attacking random spots where she might be. He knew what to do.

"HYAH!" In a fleeting motion, Haru bent down on his knees, mustered all the power in his legs that he could, and jumped as high as possible up to the windowsill.

"I already told you! I'm too fast for your blade to attack!"

"That may be so!" Haru nodded as his hand grasped the sill. "But if I stay in your path of motion, then you'll have to run into me sooner or LATER!" With a muster of muscle strength, Haru threw himself onto the sill, and the next thing he knew, Ayame had collided with him and the two were falling to the ground. But Haru was ready. He grabbed Ayame's waist and turned her around in the air to face the ground.

The two fell, and Ayame took the brunt of the fall, landing painfully on her arm. "ARGH!" She screamed and Haru blinked as he felt hard ground. He got up off Ayame and looked at her on the ground. He himself had a few bruises from the fall, but he guessed that Ayame was in much worse shape.

"Here…" he held out his hand to her, and she looked up, taking it. "You okay?"

"How did you think of that?" Ayame asked, feeling her arm. "Blocking my path. You didn't even know how momentum works."

"But you told me," Haru reminded her, smiling. "I may not be the smartest guy around, but I can listen pretty good! You said that you had to move in the same path and that the wind from your cycle carried your body by itself! Therefore, stopping and redirecting your path before you ran into me would be completely impossible. My sword strokes may have been to slow, but if my entire body was in the way, there's no way that you could have dodged me."

"You…you really can work well in battle," Ayame smiled, walking over to the edge of the alley and looking at the starry night sky. "I'm amazed. You have defeated me."

"Heh! Thanks!" Haru laughed boastfully. "You fought really well too, though!"

"Unfortunately…" Ayame sighed, holding her shoulder and clutching her Katana with her other hand. "I cannot let you leave this place without coming with me."

The next thing Haru knew, Ayame had grabbed a small box and thrown it at his head. The box made full contact with the off guard Haru's head and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Ayame walked over to him, shaking her head. "You may be a powerful warrior…but your name says what you're all about."

"BLIZZARD!" Aldo fired more ice spikes Rion's way, and Rion dodged just in time to miss the brunt of the attack. He winced as a spike passed his arm, causing a small cut. Rion was already bruised, cut, and battered from the magical battle with Aldo. What had once been a battle of the minds had turned into an all out battering of Rion on Aldo's part.

Rion didn't know how he could combat Aldo's powerful magic that was being constantly fired at him. "FIRE!" Aldo threw another spell, and Rion was thrown back by the force of the fire ball.

"Darn…" muttered Rion as he rose to his feet, his blue-handle keyblade supporting him. "This fight is way too one-sided!"

"I don't know what you're doing over there!" Aldo called to Rion in response to Rion's observation. "Why don't you use some of your magic?"

"Huh?" Rion looked up at Aldo, confused. "B-but…I don't have any magic."

"Yeah you do!" Aldo said. "Are you trying to con me or something?"

Rion looked at Aldo, desperate to find out what the man could possibly mean. Rion didn't have access to magic, as far as he knew that is. He had never been able to conjure up Fire and Ice into his hands from sheer will power. On Destiny Islands, no one had been able to cast…

"Firaga!" yelled Rion letting the heavy blaze fly from his Keyblade at Darkside.

He HAD used magic! Twice before! First when they fought Darkside in the strange stained-glass room and once more when they fought him on Destiny Islands! But Rion didn't know how to control that magic… It had just come from nowhere.

"I…I can't use it," Rion told Aldo. "I forgot."

"You…you forgot?" Aldo asked, flabbergasted. "That's too bad."

"It was really powerful magic too," Rion told him. "Way more powerful then what you're firing."

"Well of course," Aldo nodded. "My magic is second rate compared to yours."

"How do you know about my magic?" Rion asked, eyeing Aldo suspiciously. "How can you possibly know about it?"

"I'd guess we all know about it," Aldo shrugged. "You're pretty famous you know."

"I-I am?" Rion asked, his eyebrow quirking.

"Yeah, you and your companions," said Aldo. "But now's not the time. I've got a fight to win!"

"I can't let you!" Rion shook his head. "I'll find a way to use my magic again!"

"Well," Aldo smiled at Rion and powered up his energy again. "I'm afraid I can't let that happen. BLIZZARD!" The spell threw itself from Aldo's hands again and Rion rolled to get out of the way of the ice spikes.

"THUNDER!"

Rion fell to the ground as the shock came down through his body. "Arrgh! What the?"

"You thought that I just had those two simple spells?" Aldo asked. "Nope, I've got loads more in my stock."

'His list of surprises is endless…' Rion thought bitterly. 'If only I could access that magic like before!'

"FIRA!" A new, more powerful flame leapt at Rion, and he was thrown back from the new power. He cursed his luck as he lay like a helpless worm on the ground. His closed his eyes and curled his fists in frustration.

"Darn…"

"Hmm…seems Semih and Ayame have your two little friends." Rion's eyes leapt open and he rose to his knees immediately to see Aldo looking over at Semih, who had Jila in her arms, and Ayame, who had thrown Haru over her shoulder. "I guess they were no match for them. Once I corral you, our job is done."

"GUYS!" Rion cried out to the two, but they did not respond. They were out cold, and Semih and Ayame, although they looked extremely wounded, had complete control over them. "GUYS, WAKE UP!" Rion felt tears coming to his eyes, and he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"Rion?" Rion turned around to face his mother as she held the small toddler Jila in her arms. Haru was running around the house, playing with their father. Rion was five and had been playing on the ground with his toys. He looked up at his mother as she put Jila on the couch and sat down next to him. "Rion, honey, why don't you play with Jila?"

"I don't want to play with her," Rion responded, putting another piece in the puzzle he was playing with. "All she ever does is drool and get in my way! I don't want to play with dumb little kids!"

"Rion, bite your tongue!" Rion looked up at his mother's harsh scolding. Her face looked angry. "Haru and Jila are your younger siblings! You're the big brother! You have a responsibility to take care of them!"

"But I don't want to…"

"Look Rion," Kairi smiled, enveloping her oldest son in a soft hug. "Sometimes, Daddy and I aren't going to be here."

"Wh-where are you going? I don't want you to go Mommy!"

"I'm not going anywhere," Kairi chuckled soothingly. "But…if your Daddy or Mommy isn't around, you've got to take care of Jila and Haru. Will you promise me that you'll do that?"

Rion looked down at his puzzle, and then back up at his mother. "What if I can't, Mommy?"

"You'll be able to," Kairi assured him, giving him a soft kiss on the head. "So, do you promise me?"

"I…" Rion gave her a smile and nodded. "I promise Mommy!"

"What's wrong with you?" Aldo asked curiously. Rion was shaking on the ground, tears filling up his eyes, threatening to fall down his cheeks. "You okay?"

"I failed, Mom!" Rion clenched his fists and pounded the brick ground. "I couldn't protect them… I'm sorry."

"Hey!" Aldo called to Rion. "Hey there! You in there? Have you lost your mind? This is just perfect. Hey Semih, Ayame, bring those two back to Quistis! She'll deal with them there."

…Deal with them there…?

"No."

"Huh?" Aldo looked back to see Rion rising to his feet, his fists that held his keyblade shaking.

"I said no."

"What are you talking about?"

"YOU'RE NOT TAKING THEM!" Rion cried, and held out his Keyblade to face Aldo. "YOU'RE NOT TAKING THEM!" A powerful energy gathered in his keyblade, and a blue icy wind gathered around him, making his hair lift from the wind. He stared at Aldo, his eyes red, bloodshot, and looking to kill. "I WON'T LET YOU!" He held his Keyblade straight out in front of him and cried:

"BLIZZAGA!"

The stream of magical ice shot forward, knocking Aldo off his feet and ramming him straight into the wall behind him. The ice pinned him against the hard brick, and he coughed a bit of blood from the impact. "My…what power! You remembered your magic after all!"

"Yeah…and now…and now you're going to, let them…" Rion didn't finish his sentence as he felt his strength being drained from him. In a second, he fell to the ground with a dull "thud" and was out cold.

"What in the worlds was that?" Ayame asked, helping Aldo break free of his icy prison. After about a minute of struggle, they were able to break out as Semih walked over to them, staring at Rion. "That magic…it must be them after all."

"No doubt about it," Semih shook her head. "All of them hold the skills of the thrrree we'rrre looking forrr."

"Then let's bring them back," Aldo sighed, feeling his stomach. "Ouch…I'm going to feel that in the morning, that's for sure."

"Quistis is waiting," Ayame reminded them, placing Haru over her shoulder once more and beckoning them forward. "Come."

Semih nodded to Aldo and walked over to Jila. She picked her up gently and followed Ayame. Aldo heaved Rion over his shoulder and followed the two females.

"Man…" Aldo shook his head, looking at Rion. "And you said you had forgotten how to use your magic. I wonder what brought on that powerful burst."

Rion, of course, did not answer, but faintlygrimaced as the three walked on, passing through the large doors that led to the next district of Traverse Town.

"Hmm…?"

A fuzzy image came to the eyes of Jila as she blinked a few times. Finally, her vision focused and she found herself staring at a green ceiling in some sort of small room. "Where…where am I?" She sat up, rubbing her head to see Rion and Haru sitting in chairs, just waking up themselves. "Guys?"

"Wh-where are we?" Haru asked, rubbing his head. "Ow," he winced. "That box still hurts."

"I thought that they would kill us the minute they took us to this Quistis person," Rion sighed. "It seems that they have other plans for us."

"Are we in danger?" Jila asked, biting her lip.

"I can't say for sure…" Rion looked at his feet. "I…I'm sorry I couldn't stop them… I'm so sorry guys."

"Hey, don't sweat it," Haru said, clamping his older brother's shoulder. Rion looked up and saw Jila smiling at him from behind Haru. "Man, bro, you sure have picked up on this "maturity" thing."

"I think we all have," Jila sighed. "This situation is serious, I've come to realize that. It isn't just some game on our Island anymore."

"You're right," Haru nodded. "We could've been seriously hurt or killed back there. Whatever's happened to Dad, he's in serious trouble, just like we are."

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you..."

"Rion," Haru smiled at his older brother. "Hey, I never answered your question back in the ship. About whether I liked the new you or not?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You're fine just the way you are, bro," Haru told him assuringly. Rion looked up at him, a look of surprise on his face. "You're Rion, and you'll always be Rion, even if you get a little more mature here and there. Hey," he winked, "you had to grow up sometime."

"But at least we're here together!" Jila smiled at her brothers and threw her arms around them. "As long as we have each other, we're okay, right?"

Rion smiled and nodded to his sister. Haru blushed a light red and nodded, as if embarrassed.

"Are you sure these are the right ones?" A muffled voice asked from outside, and the three children stood up, their eyes narrowed.

"Yes, Quistis. They match the descriptions and everything. Hey, if you don't believe us, ask Squall." Aldo's voice could be heard outside the door as well.

"Squall, you come in and check with me. You'll know if it's them."

"I've told you a million times, it's Leon now."

"Please! Enough of your immature name changing! You let me call you Squall before."

"Around these guys, it's Leon, got that?"

"Leon? Squall?" Haru asked. "That name sounds familiar. The "Leon" one at least…"

"Yeah, it's on the tip of my tongue," Jila nodded. "Who is it?"

"Well, whoever he is, this Quistis person is about to make her presence known," Rion told them. "Be cautious."

The lock clicked and the doorknob turned slowly. The three children drew their blades and waited for whatever was on the other side of the door. The door swung open slowly and two people walked in, followed by Aldo, Semih, and Ayame.

The first was a man with dark brown hair, a scar across his face, wearing a leather jacket, white shirt, and Lion Necklace. He wore black pants with tall boots and many belts. He looked to be in around his forties, maybe a little younger.

The woman that walked behind him looked much younger then the man, but the children could tell that they were around the same age from the way they acted around one another. She wore a tight pink top that revealed her navel and had no sleeves. She wore black gloves and a tight pink skirt and tall black boots to match. She had curves galore, and her hair, a lovely blonde, was kept up in a bun with a ponytail of hair streaming down. With bright blue eyes and slim lights, this woman was definitely the word "knock-out" personified.

"I'm assuming the woman is Quistis," Haru whispered to his siblings and they nodded. "And the man is…Squall."

"So, here you go," Aldo nodded to the two. "The three you wanted. We found 'em walking around town. They put up quite a fight, kicked all of our butts, and then passed out cold from exhaustion."

"So therrre you go!" Semih nodded to Squall and Quistis.

"We've fulfilled our mission," Ayame added.

Squall stared at the three children with his bone-chilling eyes, and then said, quite distinctly: "You're all a bunch of idiots."

"HUH?" The three asked, backing off. Aldo had interjected. "What are you talking about? We have the three you want right here!" He pointed to Jila. "Sora!" His finger moved to Haru. "Goofy!" And finally, he pointed at Rion. "And Donald!"

"Sora…?" Jila asked, pointing to herself.

"Goofy?" Haru asked, a little miffed.

"Donald?" Rion wondered out loud.

"They match the descriptions perfectly," Aldo said to the two again. "Red outfit with Keyblade," he pointed to Jila and she fingered her red vest. "Green clothes and a goofy expression," he pointed once again to Haru and Haru grew slightly mad at being called "goofy expression". "And a blue ensemble with high magic powers!" He pointed to Rion, and Rion didn't even bother to answer.

"Oh yes," Quistis murmured, obviously angry about the mix-up. "Of course, they match the descriptions perfectly! Except for the fact that Sora is MALE, Goofy is a walking DOG, and Donald is a DUCK."

"You three really screwed up this time, didn't you?" Squall asked, shaking his head. "Who are these three? And why do they have…" He stopped, and his eyes widened. "Where did you get those?"

He ran over to Jila and yanked the Keyblade out of her hand. "Ow!" She winced, but the minute Squall had got his grip on it, the Keyblade disappeared and flown back into Jila's hand.

"It's the real thing…" Quistis whispered to Squall. "They really are Keyblade wielders."

"This is impossible," Squall shook his head. "But it's happening. Hey, do you think they know anything about Sora?"

"They might," Quistis nodded. "We should bring them to the others."

"…Whatever…" Squall walked over to the three children. "You're coming with us. They're some people we want you to meet."

"Are you working with the Heartless?" Haru asked.

"No, actually, quite the opposite," Quistis responded, stepping forward and smiling gently. "We're against the Heartless. We need you to come with us to see a few people and help us explain a few things."

"You don't have a choice," Squall told them. "You're coming with us."

"Squall!" Quistis snapped.

"That's Leon…"

"Well, if we don't have a choice," Rion sighed, standing up and sheathing his Keyblade. His siblings followed suit and nodded. "Then we'll go with you."

"Perfect," Quistis smiled. "My name is Quistis Trepe. Pleased to meet you."

All three children shook her hand, then turned to the man, as if expecting him to make an introduction. But, they were disappointed as he, Aldo, Semih, and Ayame walked out of the room and into a hall. Quistis turned to them and smiled warmly. "Shall we go?"

"Umm…yes!" Jila nodded, and the three children stood up, looked after the others in the hall, and then followed Quistis out of the room.

The End of the chapter! My God, that took forever! That fight scene was the majority of the chapter, but man, have the kids got a lot in store for them! Man, I have to finish Traverse Town next chapter! Hope I can do it! (I may to divide it into three chapters, but I don't think I'll have to.)

Anyway! Don't forget to review!

Sammy

Omake: Character Profiles

Aldo (FFXI): Aldo is the leader of the Tenshodo and the first canon character you see in Final Fantasy XI. Losing his sister to a band of beastmen at a young age, Aldo has learned to fend for himself in Jeuno. The Tenshodo is involved in a lot of underhanded deals, and are also involved in the pirate city, Norg.

Ayame (FFXI): Ayame is a Mythril Musketeer of the Republic of Bastok and a Samurai. As you can see, she uses a Katana in the story, and her costume is almost identical to her costume in Final Fantasy XI. Ayame is a proud Musketeer, who's just a powerful as she is beautiful.

Semih Lafinah (FFXI): Semih is a Mithra (Cat woman) and the leader of the band of Rangers in Windurst. She's also a private friend of the Star Sibyl, the leader of Windurst. Semih is the lovely woman who sends many adventurers out on missions. She's sharp with a bow and hopes to uncover the truth behind many strange happenings in Windurst.

Quistis Trepe (FFVIII): Quistis Trepe is Squall's instructor in Final Fantasy VIII and a member of SeeD. She's confident and a definite leader, although she sometimes questions her own abilities.