Kingdom Hearts -- Season of Light

by SoraLego278

VOL. 2-MS: The Holiday Season is underway when Sora and friends are called for another quest. Maleficent's Council is trying to destroy Christmas and rule all worlds, and only Sora himself can stop them! As his team travels the worlds, secrets are revealed and more questions are found. Can Sora's team achieve victory? Or will Maleficent & the others win? Rated T for Safety.

35. Ch35 - The Hidden Chamber

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT THE PLOT AND MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!

A/N: HEY THERE! HI THERE! HO THERE! YOU'RE AS WELCOME AS CAN BE!

WELCOME BACK, EVERYBODY! HERE IT IS - THE FIRST CHAPTER FOR 2017!
HIP-HIP-POOHRAY! HIP-HIP-POOHRAY! HIP-HIP-POOHRAY FOR ME AND YOU - AND PIGLET, TOO!

So, to start things off, I wanted to congratulate all of you who have helped me get This Far in This Story. "Why?", you ask?
BECAUSE THIS HAPPENS TO BE ABOUT THE HALFWAY POINT! THERE IS ONLY APPROXIMATELY 35 CHAPTERS LEFT TO GO!

To THAT end, I decided to try to keep This Opening Segment a little shorter. Nevertheless, I do have a few things to state here first.

(1.) Shortly after I posted Chapter 34, I noticed I somehow missed two other well-known actor(s)/actress(es) who passed away last year. Therefore, I am including them at the Start of This Chapter.
(A.) Garry Marshall (November 13TH, 1934 - July 19TH, 2016; AGE 81) - He was best-known for creating the Classic Show, "HAPPY DAYS", its spin-off, "LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY", and developing Neil Simon's 1965 play, "THE ODD COUPLE" for Television. He also was the voice of Buck "Ace" Cluck in Disney's "Chicken Little (2005)".
I find it interesting that his sister is Penny Marshall - the actress who played Laverne DeFazio on "LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY" and Oscar Madison's Secretary, Myrna, on "THE ODD COUPLE".
(B.) Richard O. Linke (October 23RD, 1917 - June 15TH, 2016; AGE 98) - He is often described as the one who "Discovered Andy Griffith". He served as the Producer/Executive Producer for "THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW", "MAYBERRY R.F.D.", "THE JIM NABORS HOUR", and "GOMER PYLE: USMC".
I was quite shocked when I learned about his death - especially since "MAYBERRY R.F.D." is my favorite Classic Show.

(2.) If you think that was all saddening news, I am afraid I have some more. Already This Year (2017), one actor from one of a Classic Show I enjoy a lot is gone, and an actress I enjoyed is also gone.
I am going to list both here - now.
(A.) Richard "Dick" Gautier (October 30TH, 1931 - January 13TH, 2017; AGE 85) - He was probably best-known for playing Hymie on the Classic Show, "GET SMART", and for starring as Robin Hood in the short-lived television series, "WHEN THINGS WERE ROTTEN".
(B.) Mary Tyler Moore (December 29TH, 1936 - January 25TH, 2017; AGE 80) - She was best-known for playing Mary Richards on "THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW", and as Laura Petrie on "THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW".
I HAD to include her since she passed away just this past week. In fact, it was the day after "Kingdom Hearts 2.8 -HD Final Chapter Prologue-".
Plus, I also saw her voice Granny Rose in the animated movie, "How The Toys Saved Christmas (1996)".

(3.) So, with all THAT aside, I also wanted to point out how I added a NEW POLL to my Profile Page! Go Check It Out! It Might Very Likely Have To Do With The Future OF This Story Series!

(4.) Yes, I got "Kingdom Hearts 2.8 -HD Final Chapter Prologue-". To be honest, I was expecting it to be a little longer than it is. In other words, I thought the new additions ("Kingdom Hearts -0.2 Birth By Sleep ~A Fragmentary Passage~-" AND "Kingdom Hearts X -Back Cover" were a little shorter than I had anticipated.
Well, at least I have a better idea what direction "KINGDOM HEARTS III" is headed in!

(5.) IT IS TIME TO READ TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT! HAVE FUN! PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO REVIEW, TOO!

---

CHAPTER 35
The Hidden Chamber

The state of the circular study was the last thing Amemi had expected. The room was very neat and tidy. A set of bookshelves seemed to surround the room from the floor up to about half her height. On one spot of the wall was a large portrait of a man with long, blonde hair, a matching mustache and beard, and blue eyes. Across the rest of the walls were various monitors showing information regarding the town, its defense, and many other things.

A group of people were gathered in the circular study. One of them Amemi easily recognized as Leon, thanks to his long, black hair and that scar on his forehead. Seated at a computer placed on a curved desk in the middle of the room was an older man with short, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a very, very thin goatee on his chin. His outfit consisted of a white T-shirt, baggy blue pants with a very wide, orange waistband, grey socks, and black shoes. He had a necklace with a rectangular charm, reddish-brown goggles, and matching gloves. Amemi noted the toothpick the man was constantly chewing on. For some reason, the man seemed to resemble a pilot.

Behind the blonde-haired man was a rather tall man sporting long, blonde hair with a shorter bang on either side of his face, and bright, light-green eyes. He was wearing a long white lab coat, grey vest, white collared shirt, black pants, silver-lined boots, and a purple ascot.

There was another man also standing in the study. His steel-blue hair was styled into long bangs that covered the whole right side of his face, leaving just one of his bright, blue eyes visible. He was decked on it a white lab coat, purple ascot, black V-neck shirt, and large, silver-trimmed boots.

Amemi's mind started to move. Two of these people reminded her of the villainous Dr. Two-Brains — one of WordGirl's enemies. Their white lab coats seemed to have the same design, with the notable exception of their pockets being deeper. Plus, neither one had messy, white hair, let alone a mouse brain attached to the side of the temple. Therefore, it was probably safe to presume they were far from mad scientists.

Sora strode up to the desk. The pilot and scientists looked up. The man with the toothpick grinned. "Hey! Look who decided to come all the way down to this level!" he said.

"Hiya!" Sora waved. He smiled using his oversized, sideways-crescent moon-shaped mouth. Amemi had to shake her head slightly when she saw this reaction. Her brother was still being himself. Despite everything they had been through, one thing would never change. And that was it.

The two scientists did not smile. The one with the long, blonde hair gave a curious grin as he eyed Amemi and Indigo. He placed his hand against his chin like he was in deep thought. "Very intriguing," he commented. "Who might your latest companions be?"

Sora gave a blank look at the scientist. "Huh?"

"He means, who are your new friends?" the scientist with the steel-blue hair clarified.

"Oh!" Sora gave a nod of understanding. He gestured to the sandy-haired teenager beside him. "This's my sister, Amy."

"'Amemi', he sister quickly corrected. "Sora, when will you learn to introduce me properly?"

Sora rubbed the back of his head. He gave a large grin and his eyes shifted to the ceiling. "Uh, well…. "

He hastily turned his attention to Indigo. The angel was standing to his right, the opposite of his younger sibling. "This is Indigo," he announced, placing his right hand onto her shoulder. "She's an angel — the one we were looking for."

Indigo rapidly slid her feet to the right. Sora's hand slipped from her shoulder. When he realized she had widened the gap between the two, he shook his head. The angel turned to the group at the desk. "My name is Indigo," she introduced. "The Angel of Hope."

The long, blonde-haired scientist's interest seemed to grow. His grin grew larger. "An angel who resembles a butterfly," he observed. "This really piques my curiosity."

Indigo crossed her arms. "I am not a butterfly," she stated. Her smile turned into a frown. It almost looked as though she was going to start scolding the scientist for making a ridiculous assumption. This sight made Amemi want to roll her eyes and smile. It seemed like Sora influenced everyone he met.

Sora gestured to the group around the desk. He gestured to the two scientists, then at the man at the desk. "This is Even, Ienzo, and Gramps."

The pilot-man slammed his fist onto the desk with such force, the papers on it shuffled around a little. "I told ya not to call me 'Gramps'!" he sternly stated. His teeth crunched his toothpick so much, it snapped in half. "The name's Cid!"

Sora gave a quick nod. "Oh, yeah! So, what's up?"

"Tron found something of interest," Even replied.

"It was locked deep inside the database," Ienzo added.

"But yer friend sure knows how to hack his way around wit' ease," Cid grinned. He opened a paper box on the desk and picked up another long, thin toothpick. He causally placed it into his mouth and continued to chew. His arms flew behind his head and he leaned back in the chair.

Leon shook his head. He strolled up to Sora. "Cid used to be a chain smoker," he grinned. "But toothpicks are the next best thing for him."

Sora was a bit lost, yet he nodded anyway. He had no idea as to why Leon had chosen then to share that piece of information. Then again, he had learned how the founder of one of the greatest animation companies in the known universe had smoked on a regular basis most of his life. The only main times he hadn't were whenever he was around children. Yet, in the end, he had developed an illness from all the smoking. That illness ultimately led to his demise.

Indigo stepped forward. "So, what you are telling us is someone named 'Tron' found something unexplainable inside a computer system?" she inquired.

"Exactly," Ienzo nodded.

"Tron is a program our former ruler, Lord Ansem, modified after acquiring an old system drifting throughout the endless space between worlds," Even added. "He still exists inside the computer system. Just the other day, he found a hidden file deep within the database, and we have reason to believe…. "

The scientist went into so much more detail, Sora nearly started to doze off. His eyelids became heavy and started to close. He already knew what Even was saying. After all, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, and Indigo had not there in The Grid. They had not explored the Non-Sleeping World, so they would certainly be a little lost with that much. Plus, Launchpad, Indigo, and Amemi had never been inside the computer, too.

"…To put it simple," Even finished. "Tron has uncovered a secret file inside the system. It may lead to someplace deep within the castle's basement."

"The room where Xemnas tended to wander off to," Ienzo specified. Even turned to gaze at him. Ienzo returned the stare. "That's what Xigbar told me."

Sora paused in thought. He wondered what room the pair were talking about. Recalling how he had learned the two had used to be members of Organization XIII, he had the feeling the room was of some significance to Xehanort. If Xemnas had often wandered off to it, chances were it contained some clues as to what else Xehanort had in store.

After all, it now appeared the corrupt, yet powerful, Keyblade wielder's scheme was much more complex than ever before. Whatever he was planning now might have something to do with that chamber. Even if there was nothing recent in there, perhaps there was a clue to Xehanort's past and his true ambitions.

Sora gave a nod. "Okay! We'll check it out!"

He glanced at his team. Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, and Indigo all gave nods in return. Sora turned back to the desk. "So, how do we get inside this room?"

"Ya'll need some passwords," Cid informed him. He scooped up a piece of notebook paper from the desktop and held it out. "Even and Ienzo wrote them all out on here for ya."

Sora nodded to the pair of scientists. "Thanks," he said as he accepted the paper from Cid. He looked over the text on it.

Keyblade

Kingdom Hearts

Vanitas

Angels of Light

Book of Prophecies

Heartless

Midnight Town

His eyes grew. There were a total of seven terms. Sora recognized a few of them. The rest looked either completely new or just did not seem to make any sense whatsoever. He had the feeling there was some significance behind each of the seven passwords Xehanort had inserted into the computer's database. He had never met an evildoer who did not have a reason for creating such things.

When he saw the term, "Angels of Light", his mind jumped back to when Violet had first told him about such. Perhaps he had been hastily in calling her a liar — and "The Stupid Demon of Nightmares". If such a password was on this list, chances were those "Angels of Light" truly did exist!

"Follow me," Leon said. He headed for a bluish-black corridor in the side of the study. Ienzo was directly behind him. With nods of approval, Sora, Amemi, Indigo, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad all trailed along after the twosome.

---

Not far down the corridor, Amemi looked down. She stared in complete astonishment. The lime-colored floor was transparent, like a thick window. She could see all the way down to the very bottom of the massive room. The sides of the chamber were lined with scarlet-colored lasers that were pointing at the floor far below. The space in the room was so immense, the world-renowned luxury liner, RMS TITANIC, could easily have fit inside — with several feet to spare.

Although she was awestruck at the view like a tourist seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, Amemi quickly followed the others a few more steps until they were all gathered in another, small room. On the right wall (behind them) was a large device that seemed to resemble a laser of some type.

Amemi did not really notice it. Her eyes had descended upon a large computer with a sea-green monitor and large, black keys. She was amazed, having never seen such a Hi-Tech computer. Back on the islands, the nicest computer she had seen was a smaller, yet not as nice, system.

"This is amazing!" she declared, rushing forward to the keyboard.

"Hey!" Donald snapped as the teenager bumped into him in a hurry.

Amemi slid to a stop. Her feet screeched against the floor as she halted. She threw her hands onto the keys. "Okay!" she said aloud. "Computer! Where is my homework?"

Nothing happened. Donald and Goofy exchanged looks of perplexity. Launchpad just stared at the computer. Indigo had her arms crossed. Sora looked a little worried and uncomfortable.

Amemi failed to notice. She pressed a key. When she saw it had made a small window appear on the monitor, she smiled with delight. She pressed another key. Once more, nothing happened. She started pounding onto the keys like a concert pianist. A long series of complete gibberish appeared on the screen.

m Mkv';,s,';cmldl;":v,ml;L:dmvm:fnklcdcdnk'/ mkvf'[;mlc'. Mkc ;.MLcmlkmcd,lxsnkcl;csmkx,';zsmlzs. Mkdvmlcl;cl'c.;,vmm;cvmlvdnvdlvdmnkvml,vldml;m SD;lmvmlv; l,;mlvfnll[]k [;

"Give it a rest!" Even shouted.

"Take it easy!" Ienzo said in turn.

Amemi immediately stopped her pounding. She slowly spun around to see the two scientists scowling at her. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all were hiding snickers. Launchpad was just grinning. Indigo had her arms crossed and eyes closed; she was grinning and slowly shaking her head. Leon was standing in the back with his arms crossed.

Taking all this into account, the sandy-haired youth gave a shy smile and threw her arms before her chest. Her hands started to fidget against each other. "Sorry… I've never seen a computer like this one before."

Leon shook his head and smiled. He could tell Amemi was acting just like Sora. When Sora had first seen this exact computer, he had behaved in the same manner. The only difference was Sora had nearly broken the machine. Amemi had come close, yet she was still a long way off. Either way, they had acted in a similar manner. Like brother, like sister!

Amemi stepped to one side. Sora and Ienzo approached the computer. The latter conducted a few, long keystrokes before a window appeared on the screen. It contained a dark-grey circle surrounded by seven rectangles. The cursor was highlighting one of the rectangles like it was a clue. With a grin, Ienzo turned to the brown-haired seventeen-year-old. "It's all yours," he said, gesturing to the keypad.

Sora gave a nod. He took a step closer to the machine. Ienzo stepped a few feet back, still keeping his eye on the computer. Sora leaned over the keyboard as tapped the keys with his index fingers. He was not as accustomed to such Hi-Tech technology like this machine, so he still did not know how to "speed-type" as he had decided to call it. After he typed in the first term on the list, the cursor moved to the next rectangle. The same thing happened once the young man finished the second password. One by one, Sora calmly typed in the seven passwords. Once he had done each term inscribed on the list, he gave a large smile and stood straight and tall. "There!" he declared with pride.

Ienzo folded his arms. "Didn't you forget to do something?"

Sora swung his focus to the scientist. "Huh?"

Ienzo shook his head slightly. He uncrossed his arms. He then leaned over and pressed the ENTER key. A message appeared on the screen, indicating the computer was in the process of loading the data the passwords had accessed.

Sora could only grin. His arms hastily flew behind his head and his grin grew larger at the same time. "Right! I knew that."

"Yeah, right," Donald teased.

"A-Hyuck!" Goofy chuckled.

Sora spun around. "Hey!"

The three burst out laughing. Launchpad found himself laughing along, although Amemi had no idea why he was. Indigo simply shook her head, knowing the three friends were acting silly.

The sight sounded like something that was common amongst the spikey-haired teenager, the duck magician, and the knight.

A dinging sound came from the computer. Everyone whirled their attention directly to it. The message on the monitor read,

PASSCODES ACCEPTED
CHAMBER PASSAGE UNLOCKED

"What's this?" Sora enquired, strolling back to the machine. He stared at the text as though looking for a hidden word or two. Recalling the computer had once shown messages about the data inside being all messed up, he wondered what this could mean. What "chamber passage" was it referring to? Did it lead to the room Even and Ienzo had mentioned? The one they had claimed Xemnas had gone to on a regular basis?

The room suffered a slight quake for a brief second. It was short-lived, yet still enough to make everyone jump, except for Even and Ienzo. Donald hopped onto Launchpad's shoulders until he realized he was clinging onto the pilot. He quickly leapt off. Goofy grabbed the nearest handrail and clung onto it. He peered over the edge of the walkway, his eyes grew wide in surprise.

"Hey, fellers!" he called. "Thuh floor down there is openin' up!"

All eyes turned to the tall, anthropomorphic dog. Sora, Donald, Launchpad, Amemi, Indigo, and Leon hurried over to see what the knight had. Sora's azure eyes grew wide as he gazed deep down into the bottom of the enormous underground room. At the bottom was an oval-shaped landing.

That was what had seized their attention. The middle of the landing was opening up like a car's sunroof. The metal floor just slid aside, revealing a dark corridor with a ramp leading down.

"That must be the way down," Sora surmised. He had a feeling the mysterious passage would lead straight to whatever chamber Xehanort had built in this world.

He turned to Even and Ienzo. "How do we get down there?"

"There is an elevator on the other side of the computer station," Even explained. "Just push the blue button to go down. Use the red one when you wish to come back up."

Sora gave a nod. He gestured for his teammates to follow. Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, and Indigo all chased the Keyblade wielder past the computer and to the walkway on the other side. They rounded a few corners and came to a stop. The doorway before them was shut.

"How does it work?" Donald asked.

Sora took a step closer to the door. It opened. He took a quick look inside. Seeing nothing unusual inside the elevator, he signaled for the others to join him. They all nodded and did so. Once everyone was inside the elevator, Sora pushed the blue button. The doors closed. The lift shook a little as it proceeded down, down, down, down into the castle's basement.

The silence seemed unbearable. Sora felt a yawn coming on. He fought against it, but it won out. Due to the lack of Heartless and Nobodies to face inside the castle, he had begun feeling bored. If this was the peaceful state Leon and the others wanted, they could have it. He would rather be out and about, slaying Heartless and taking down evildoers.

The platform stopped. The doors opened. Sora's team casually strode off the elevator and onto the landing. From here, the oval-shaped platform looked enormous. Sora gazed back up and saw the computer station looked puny being so high up. He knew it was because of the room's massive size. Still, he wondered how deep they had ventured into the castle's basement. Plus, how much further would they be travelling underground?

The group came to a halt when reached the opening in the landing's center. It now looked large enough to swallow Herbie when he was flying through space. The passage looked a little brighter, yet the pathway seemed to curve around. In fact, as he peered into the opening, Sora noted how there was a deep shaft leading straight down through there. The walkway appeared to be circling it like a wide, spiral staircase.

He turned to his companions. "C'mon," he told them.

The others gave nods of approval. Goofy took out his shield, just in case anything happened. Sora turned back to the passage. He readied himself to charge inside.

"Wait," called a rather monotonic voice.

Sora and the others whirled their head back to the elevator. There was Leon, running their way. Ienzo was directly behind him. The two stopped when they reached the passage's opening.

"Hey, what's up?" Sora questioned.

Leon stepped in front of him. "We need to make sure this passage is safe," he replied. "We don't want anything happening to the leader of the Radiant Garden Reconstruction Committee."

Sora gave a nod. He knew Leon was just trying to ensure his safety. He knew he sometimes would get himself into trouble, even if it was by accident. The worst time had been when Goofy, Donald, and him had nearly become those hyenas lunch back in the Pride Lands. If Scar had not summoned the hyenas at the last second, the three friends would have ended up as mince-meat and that world would have been forced to fend for itself. Not to mention, Xemnas and the rest of the Organization would have gotten their hands on the power within people's hearts.

He and the others watched as Leon and Ienzo knelt down to examine the entrance. Ienzo reached into one of his pockets and held up a flashlight. He flipped it on and pointed the beam down into the shaft. "It looks dangerous," he remarked.

Leon gave a nod. He rose to his feet and turned to the group standing by. "Sorry, guys, but this doesn't look safe."

Sora pounded the side of his chest. "We can handle it."

Ienzo flipped the flashlight off and stood up all the way. "You may make it down the ramp, but you might not make it past any traps down there."

Sora was startled. "Huh? What… 'traps'?"

"I remember when Xehanort built this place. He and Braig spent a lot of time planning it out. I never saw the plans myself, but I remember them talking about adding traps. Braig liked the idea, saying it reminded him of the movies."

Ienzo smiled. "He always was a fan of Indiana Jones…. "

Sora folded his arms. "So, what you're saying is, we can't go down there until we disarm those traps?"

Leon reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, handheld device. "Right," he approved. "And we have a 'Master Trap Maker' in the committee."

He flipped the top of the gadget open, revealing it to be an older flip-phone — one that you flipped the top up to open the cover (like Zack Fair used in "Final Fantasy VII -Crisis Core- (2007)"). After a few minutes of talking on the device, Leon put it away and turned back to face Sora and the others. "Yuffie's sending Sam Simon and Chelsy," he informed them. "They should be helpful down there."

Sora nodded in acknowledgement. He recalled who Chelsy was. That young woman had shown how skillful she was at a bow and arrow. She did not seem to have a very high-spirited attitude, and she seemed to unleash quite a bit of fury onto the Heartless when they had attacked the town's marketplace. Even so, Sora had the feeling her heart was in the correct place, which would explain why she was a member of the Radiant Garden Reconstruction Committee. He also knew she was one of the leaders — under himself, of course!

As for Sam Simon, the brown-haired young man had no clue who that was. He had never met anyone with that name before. He wondered who else on the committee he had not met now. Maybe the team was growing so quickly, it would take him years to learn the identities of every single member. Except, he had no intention of staying in this world for such an extensive period of time. He would rather be stuck in a classroom back home than wandering through a foreign world constantly. True, he did hate the idea of classwork, yet it still felt a tad more enjoyable than repetition in his adventures in these other worlds.

Time now seemed to go slowly. Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad all peered down into the passage. When they saw the dark-purple arrows at the start of the ramp, they gulped (just not at the same time). "This does look dangerous," Donald commented.

Goofy tugged his collar. "Gawrsh…. "

"Let's hope there aren't any real dangers waiting down there," Launchpad added. "Mister McDee and I explored plenty of lost temples to know where traps and where they aren't. But this one seems to have another Prak-Ti-Kal Doiker inside…. "

Indigo was standing a few feet away from the three. Her arms were crossed and she gently tapped her right foot against the greyish metal of the landing. At least her tapping did not echo about the space….

Several feet from where the angel stood, Sora and Amemi both sat down beside each other. They kept their eyes on the group, still wondering when the two Yuffie had sent would be arriving.

"Sora?" Amemi asked. "Do you have idea what to expect down there?"

Sora shrugged. "I've never been down there before," he admitted. "I haven't been in a lot of caves or tunnels in all those worlds, but the ones I have seem to have lots of Heartless in them."

Amemi looked away. "Oh," she sighed.

Sora smiled and put his hand on his sister's shoulder. "Don't worry! Once Chelsy and that other guy get here, we'll be handling it together."

Amemi swung her head around. "You sure?"

Sora gave a nod. "Yeah! I've never lost a fight against the Heartless!" he paused. "Well, at least not in a cave or tunnel like this one. Maybe the ones in Atlantis were a little strange…. "

"'Atlantis'?!" his sister nearly jumped. "You've been to Atlantis?!"

Sora gave another nod. "Yeah!" he took out his cellular phone and turned it on. He switched to the photo gallery and found the image he had taken while on the cliffs opposite the ancient city's ruins. He held it up. "See?"

Amemi stared at the image. Her eyes grew wide in amazement. "Wow! All this time, we were told it was a myth."

"Not anymore. I met Princess Kida, too!" he paused. "Well… now she's Queen Kida. I saved that world's Light."

Amemi gave him a nod. She paused for a few moments. "When did you go there? I wasn't there!"

"It was before we found you. You know, in Pocahontas's world. The world before that was Atlantis."

Amemi buried her face into her hands. "I miss out on all the fun!"

"That's not true! You were there when Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and I stopped that war! You helped me stop that giant Heartless Frollo was controlling. I can't forget how you bought that yellow dress at Kim Possible's favorite store. And, you did help the Beast forgive Belle and stop Forté."

Amemi paused (again) to think. Perhaps her brother did have a point. She had had a larger role in saving those worlds than she had given herself credit. After all, they were not just world travelers. All these worlds were clearly calling for help and, unless they got some, they would be left in ruins — or worse, destroyed.

She nodded herself. A smile formed upon her lips. "Thank you, Sora. You know how to cheer me up."

Sora gave his sister and nod and smiled himself. From the perspective of the sandy-haired teenager, her brother's smile seemed to be the brightest it had been in a long time.

A series of footsteps seized everyone's attention. Sora, Amemi, Indigo, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad all turned their attention into the direction of the elevator. A pair of young people were quickly strolling over.

Sora stood up. He recognized one of them as Chelsy, thanks to her long, somewhat messy, reddish hair, yellow eyes, and her colorful, Medieval-designed outfit. Plus, there was that sky-blue bow and those violet-tipped arrows. Overall, he thought her appearance was a dead-giveaway as to her identity.

That, and he had never seen her smile, let alone grin or smirk.

The other figure stood out to him, although in a completely different way. It was a tall, young man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. He was decked out in a pilot's uniform, which included the distinct brown coat with matching pants. His boots were a light-brown color, and there was a navy-blue helmet placed on his head with matching goggles. His thick, winter-like gloves were a dark shade of green; they seemed to match the color of the evergreen tree species. His goggles were pushed up onto his helmet, revealing his smiling face and deep, blue eyes.

"Sam, Chelsy," Leon said to the two. "We'll leave you two to handle things here."

"No sweat!" Chelsy agreed.

"We can handle anything!" the pilot affirmed. He nudged Chelsy in the latter's right arm. "Am I right, Chels?"

Chelsy rolled her eyes. The look on her face told Sora she did not approve of the young man's remark and/or nickname.

Leon gave a nod to them. "Take care down there."

He headed for the elevator. Ienzo was directly behind.

Now alone on the landing, the pilot and Chelsy turned their attention to Sora, Amemi, Indigo, Donald, Launchpad, and Goofy. "Hi there," the pilot introduced with a wave and enormous smile. "I'm Sam — the world's best pilot!"

Launchpad scowled. "Hey!" he announced, striding forward. He stopped when he was face-to-face with the young man. He pointed to himself. "My crashing skills are better than anything you can come up with, buddy!"

Sam scowled back. It appeared the two pilots were at a complete stalemate. Neither one would be backing down until the other did. Donald rolled his eyes. Goofy ahyucked. Amemi shook her head. Indigo crossed her arms.

Sora shook his head, knowing they did not have time for such nonsense. He approached Chelsy. "So, how're we gonna explore this place?" he asked, referring to the passage.

Chelsy held out her bow. "It won't be easy heading into such unknown territory," she declared. "I'll lead us safely through this dungeon!"

Sora summoned his Keyblade. "Hey! This is my team! I'll lead us!"

Amemi nearly jumped back. She had never seen her brother get so assertive over something like this! Then again, it was more-than-likely due to him being accustomed to leading the team everywhere they went on their quests.

Sensing another standstill stuck on them, Indigo uncrossed her arms and marched up to where Sora and Chelsy stood. She shoved her way between them and used her hands to hold them back to the sides like a referee barging into the middle of a boxing match. "Cut it out — both of you!" she barked.

Sora stared at the angel in complete surprise. Until now, Indigo had come across as being rather calm and shy. He had not seen her being so forceful. Her antennae were curved in a way that they resembled a submarine's periscope watching an enemy's ship.

Then again, he and Chelsy had mixed up into a heated debate. Perhaps it had been too much for the angel to tolerate. Violet had also shown herself to possess a breaking point. He remembered how Violet had once scolded him for eating so sloppy. He still did not see the big deal with such behavior. His Mom had told him the same thing, but "manners" and "etiquette" still sounded like pointless rules as far as he was concerned.

Indigo strode through the pair and stopped when she reached the open passage. Her eyes followed the ramp leading down deep into the castle's foundation. She spun her attention directly to Sora and Chelsy. "I recommend both of you lead. Plus, my decision is final, so it is not a request!"

Donald and Goofy exchanged confused looks. Had the angel just said two different things in the same line? It sure sounded like she had. The last time either of them had seen such an incident was in that classic show about a patrol boat's crew during World War 2. In one episode, the boat's commander had told the crew they were going to throw their base's captain a birthday party. When the crew had rejected the idea due to being on foul terms with their main commanding officer, the commander had told them exactly what to do; he had finished by saying, "And you're going to do all this of your own free will — and that's an order!"

Oxymorons…. What would anyone do without them?

Knowing they had no choice, what with the angel taking a stand, Sora and Chelsy both gave in.

---

The shaft was dark, yet still illuminated enough by the bluish and reddish colors in the thin columns for everyone to see as they strolled down the ramp. The walkway seemed to spiral down like a motionless carnival spinner. Or… something like that.

Sora kept his eyes on their surroundings. The shaft was a black color, although it was still slightly brighter than the night sky from The World That Never Was. The ramp was decorated with irregular black shapes. None of the designs looked familiar to him. It all looked so random.

As he looked around, Sora started questioning why Xehanort had constructed such a place. It felt really gloomy, which made sense. Yet, outside of that, there was nothing that stood out about it. Just like Xehanort's scheme. Everything the Keyblade wielder had done had seemed to lead up to him gaining access to the χ-blade. The Door To Darkness…. Organization XIII…. His meddling in others' lives…. Still, with all the harm he had done, surely there was more to his conspiracy that it seemed. What else did he have in store? What was he going to do once he got his hands onto the χ-blade? He did not know, nor did he truly want to know. Chances were, it might be something so terrible, he would wish he had not learned about it.

After a long walk, Sora and Chelsy reached the bottom of the shaft. Before them was a large doorway with a faded silver coating. A pair of dark-purple arrows were situated on the door and pointing to the ceiling. It almost felt like they were telling the two to proceed.

Sora looked back. Amemi and Indigo were almost to the bottom of the ramp. Sam was directly behind. Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad were a few yards behind him. Goofy was touching his chin and gazing around the area. The look in his eyes told the brown-haired youth how uncomfortable he was feeling.

After a few minutes, everyone was gathered at the doorway. Sora turned to face the silver door. "Let's keep going," he declared.

The others nodded in turn. Sora took a step forward. The door opened like a hatchway from a military establishment in a science-fiction movie. The group headed inside. They found themselves strolling down a long hallway. The ceiling was a whitish color, similar to a certain castle Sora had once explored a long time ago. He just could not recall the castle's name, only its appearance.

He had been having such memories coming to him ever since Riku and Violet had saved him from Xehanort's trap in the Realm of Sleep. Still, where they had come from in the first place?

The dark-purple tiles of the floor seemed to form an endless grid. To Sora, this resembled the inside of Ansem's computer. That was particularly the case for the infamous Game Grid. The walls seemed to have a pattern between the two designs. Both sides matched each other like a mirror's reflection.

Each of the white spaces also contained a doorway. A barred, diamond shaped window indicated the room had probably been used as a cell… or at least it was intended for such use. A pair of chains criss-crossed near the floor, preventing any possible access to any of the rooms. To top it off, each door also possessed a white box-like device to the side. The device resembled a control panel with a keypad and large, black button.

Sora kept his eyes peeled for trouble. Ienzo had told them Xehanort and Braig had probably rigged this place with traps. Recalling how Ienzo had remarked about Braig's fascination with Indiana Jones, Sora had to shake his head. He knew about the clumsy, yet still extremely intelligent, archaeologist. He had seen three of those movies. His Mom had always enjoyed Harrison Ford's acting. She told him repeatedly how he was one of her favorite actors because his performances always felt so genuine.

He hoped they would not end up having to flee from a giant boulder. Unless Braig had taken the fictional stories literally.

"This place sure is spooky," Goofy muttered in a soft voice.

Sora had to admit, the knight did have a valid point.

A blast of air rushed past his face. Everyone froze. Sora swung his head to the right. A spear had stuck itself straight into the wall. The weapon's handle wobbled like it had just been flung at a target. "Whoa!" the seventeen-year-old exclaimed.

Donald and Launchpad rushed behind Goofy's shield. Amemi jumped behind her brother. Indigo froze and her antennae stood up on end. Sam whirled around and pulled out a small, black, rusted handgun.

Chelsy was the only one who took the initiative to inspect the spear. When she was close enough, the young woman touched the weapon. The handle wobbled again. That was when a second blast of air occurred. Seeing that a second spear was headed her way, the reddish-haired woman leaped to one side. The spear missed and slammed into the wall — four inches away from piercing her chest.

"Just as I thought," Chelsy announced, nodding to the spears. "This whole place must be booby-trapped."

Sora gave a nod of understanding. He had seen spears like those ones before. Except the last time had been in one of the movies about that fictional archaeologist. If he recalled correctly, there had also been a rolling boulder to avoid in that sequence, too.

Boy, would they be in trouble if Xehanort and Braig had actually chosen to fortify this place exactly like that ancient tomb!

Chelsy took a step forward. Another spear shot across the room, missing her by several feet. She looked down at the floor. Sora did the same. To his surprise, the young woman had repeatedly been planting her feet on floor tiles that were a little brighter than the rest. He saw many others in the room that were set in the exact same color. They were hard to make out, mainly since the floor was covered in black tiles. Yet, there were still plenty with a shade of black that seemed to resemble extra-dark gray. He wondered if this had been Xehanort's way of getting through the passage without setting off any of the traps.

"Let's keep going," Sora told the others. "But let's be careful not to step on the lighter tiles."

"Uh, what lighter tiles?" Goofy inquired, lowering his shield. "Them floor-y tiles all look the same."

Amemi squinted as she swept her eyes across the corridor. Her eyes suddenly lit up like Thomas Edison's first incandescent lightbulb. "I see them!" she declared.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her new, metallic slingshot. Using a small stone, she aimed for one of the farthest tiles. She released the band. The stone soared all the wall down the hall and bounced directly off the tile. A set of sharp blades swooped in from the ceiling and sliced through the air before coming to a halt.

Donald and Launchpad both yelped in total shock. Indigo gave a nod. "Okay," the angel said. "As long as we avoid tiles with that color, we shall be safe and sound."

Everyone else gave of nod. They all had the feeling the angel was correct. Sora gave a nod in return. "Let's go!" he decided.

The group proceeded down the corridor. As they hurried along, Goofy and Donald each nearly stepped on a lighter floor tile. Fortunately, Launchpad shoved Goofy to one side. Indigo grabbed Donald and temporarily held him back.

At last, the group neared the end of the passage. To their relief, they had passed most of the trigger-happy floor tiles. Only a few more of them awaited ahead. At the end of the hallway ahead was a large doorway. It was curved, like the shape of a wooden doorway from a Medieval castle. However, this one was white and contained two distinct markings on it. One of them was clearly the logo of Organization XIII. The other was the same shape, only upside-down. The perimeter around the doorway was decorated with a silver-colored chain.

"This must be it," Sora realized. He had the feeling through this very doorway was the chamber Ienzo and Even had described. The one where Xemnas had tended to wander off to visit. Perhaps they would find some clues as to what Xehanort was up to now.

Maybe, just maybe, he could learn what the terrible Keyblade Master had done to his Aunt Shelly. Following his adventure in the Realm Of Sleep, Sora had learned from Violet how Master Xehanort had harmed several other Keyblade wielders in addition to them, Riku, and King Mickey. It turned out, his Aunt Shelly had been among them. He knew that meant Xehanort was the very reason why his Mom had not seen her sister in years.

He knew he needed to learn what exactly had happened to her. Then, and only then, would he be able to track her down and rescue her from wherever she was being held. He was quite certain Xehanort was holding his Aunt Shelly someplace. He could just imagine the reaction his Mom would have when she saw him coming home with her older sister.

Sora took a step towards the door. A dark portal suddenly appeared in the corridor, a few feet from the doorway. Sora halted in his footsteps and summoned his Keyblade. Donald got his wand ready. Goofy held up his giant shield. Launchpad readied his dark-purplish-colored gas-gun. Amemi aimed her slingshot. Indigo's mystical wand appeared in her hand. Chelsy readied her bow. Sam checked if his handgun was loaded. It was, so he pointed it for the dark portal.

A figure emerged from the dark portal. To Sora's shock, it was a young man sporting short, brownish hair and green eyes. A navy-blue headset covered his head like an air-traffic controller. If it was not for his black-hooded coat, Sora might not have made the connection so rapidly.

"You?!" Sora declared. He recognized this guy from one of his previous quests. He remembered how the man had stolen the Olympus Stone back at Olympus Coliseum. Later, he had somehow barged his way into the battle in Hollow Bastion.

The man halted in his tracks when he saw the group. "You!" he shouted in alarm. A bluish iPod fell out of his hand and clattered onto the floor.

"What're you doing here?!"

"What are you doing in this hallway?!"

Sora and the man stared at one another. They scowled. "Stop saying what I'm saying!" they scolded simultaneously.

When the two young men continued to scowl at each other, Amemi stepped forward. "Okay, you two. Break this up!"

Sora and the man shifted their gazes to her. The former was caught by surprise. When was the last time he had seen his little sister get so assertive? Then again, it had seemed like a lifetime ago! That, and he had been arguing with a former member of the Organization XIII.

The sandy-haired teenager turned her focus to the brown-haired young man in the black coat. "Who are you supposed to be?" she interrogated, crossing her arms. She still had her slingshot in hand.

"I'm Medy," the man announced. He beamed and waved to the girl.

Amemi waved back. She did not know why Sora was acting so mean to this guy. He was not an enemy. He was too friendly for that. Well, then again, Erik had seemed the same way back at Middleton High School, and yet he had turned out to be one of Drakken's minions. She wondered if the same thing was true here.

She folded her arms and turned her eyes specifically to Medy. "Why are you here?" she questioned.

Medy hesitated in his response. "I… I was… I was looking for some guy called 'Genesis'?"

The young man's large grin caused Sora to scowl some more. "I knew it!" the spikey, brown-haired teenager barked. He pointed his Keyblade at the man in black. "You're trying to keep us from going inside!"

Donald brandished her wand. "But we'll stop you!"

Medy shook his right index finger at the group. "You don't want to go through all that again," he furrowed his brow. "Remember? I told you not to judge anyone by their appearance."

Sam lowered his weapon. "He has a point," the pilot indicated. He gestured to the others one-by-one. Everyone else shook their heads or crossed their arms. He sighed. "Why doesn't anyone ever agree with me?"

Sora jumped into his signature fighting stance. "I stopped you before. I can do it again."

Medy's scowl swiftly transitioned into a glare. "Silence, you stupid traitor!"

In a flash of Darkness and water, a droplet of the latter suddenly showed up in the young man's hands. It swiftly transformed into a bluish item that resembled a guitar in the form of Organization XIII's logo. This was Medy's sitar, his own, distinct weapon. Once it had appeared, the man spun around a few times like he was rockstar. Goofy and Launchpad's eyes followed the instrument's twirling until they became dizzy.

After one final twirl, Medy positioned his sitar to his hands and called out, "Dance, water! Dance!"

Before Sora could rush over and deliver a singly attack, dozens of water clones appeared in the space. Sora sighed deeply, recalling this trick from before. While everyone else focused on eliminating the clones one at a time, Sora rushed around until he found one shaped like a musical note. He seized the watery thing and spun it around like it was a chain. The clone slammed into a few dozen other clones and eradicated them.

He hurled the note-shaped clone into the horde. The clone smashed into several more clones, eliminating all of them in no time flat. He then proceeded to the next musical note and repeated the same process. It took a few note-shaped clones, yet in the end, all of the water clones had been terminated.

Taking note of how Medy was now a little worn out, Sora dashed over and slashed his Keyblade through the enemy. The young man yelped with each blow the Keyblade wielder dealt.

"Water!" Medy suddenly shouted. A series of giant raindrops descended from the ceiling. Sora found himself jumping back to avoid getting hit by most of them. Goofy slid over across the now-drenched floor and protected the young man from the rest.

"Fira!" Donald hollered. A blast of flames flew from his wand and struck Medy in the side. The young man yelped as he leapt into the air in surprise.

Amemi found herself sliding across the floor. Just as she was about to lose her balance, she aimed her slingshot for the enemy. Her shot bounced clear off Medy's head, causing the man to get distracted long enough for Sora to bang the side of the Keyblade against him.

Chelsy slid over to the sandy-haired teenager and helped steady her. The golden-haired woman shot an arrow at Medy. She did not miss her target. The arrow struck Medy in the back, forcing him to jump in alarm.

Sam fired his handgun at the enemy. His shot knocked Medy back onto the floor. Launchpad used his gas-gun the same way and caused their opponent to start coughing. When he saw the eerie-green smoke rising from the bullet, the duck-pilot checked his weapon. He gave a grin. "I forgot I added the poison magic to it…. "

Now, it was Indigo's turn. With her soaked wings dragging along behind, she ran up to Medy and jumped. She flipped over and over as she flew over his head. She pointed her mystical wand at the young man and shouted, "Light!"

A burst of Light-filled energy swarmed from the wand's star-shaped tip and slammed into Medy's eyes. He was blinded long enough for Sora to rush over and slice his Keyblade in a diagonal swipe across the former Nobody's back.

Medy's sitar fell from his hands and clattered along the floor. He grasped his left shoulder and winced in pain. "Blew it again," he deeply sighed.

The room shook. As the vibrations grew, Sora's eyes grew wide. "Woah!" he heard Goofy yelp. "We'd better take cover!"

Knowing the knight was correct, Sora and the other members of his team dashed to the side. They reached the nearest doorway in the side of the hallway and Sora pointed his Keyblade to it. To his relief, the weapon unleashed a beam of Light that unlocked the doorway. Once the chains fell from the entrance, the group rushed inside. They all whirled around in time to see what was the cause of all the commotion.

---

Medy rose from the floor and picked up his sitar. "Huh?" he asked, noticing the group hiding in the side room. He wondered what Sora and his friends were hiding from. The loud rumbling from behind drew his attention. He glanced back in time to see an enormous ball of granite heading his way. "Uh-oh!" he yelped.

He immediately began running for his life.

---

The gigantic boulder continued down the corridor. Medy was fleeing directly before it. Sora had to shake his head at the sight. Clearly, Braig and Xehanort had taken those movies to the literal standpoint. He could not think of any other reason why the boulder had been there. It made sense that they two had indeed taken inspiration straight from the "Indiana Jones" franchise.

"Looks like the coast is clear," the seventeen-year-old young man declared. He turned to the others. "We can keep going now."

He stared in surprise. In the middle of the dark room, he saw Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, Indigo, Chelsy, and Sam all gazing upon a metal bed. A white sheet was draped over it. As he drew close, Sora noticed the sheet's shape resembled that of a human. "Hey, what's up?" he inquired.

"I think we're in someone's grave," Sam mentioned.

Chelsy rolled her eyes. "Of course we are!"

"We was wonderin' who this was," Goofy explained.

Amemi took a step back. "Don't look at me! I'm not uncovering somebody's dead body!"

Indigo stepped back in turn. "Please forget asking me! I cannot stand the sight of a decaying person."

Donald held his nose. "And it stinks!" he complained.

"Well, it takes some getting used to," Launchpad grinned. "This reminds me of all those temples and tombs Mister McDee and I explored."

Jiminy Cricket hopped onto the spikey-haired youth's shoulder. "Sora, what should we do?"

Sora sighed. He knew it was all up to him. It always was. Only he could make the decision to see who the mystery person was. He reached for the cover. His hand froze. Was this a good idea? Somebody had probably been buried here who knows how long ago. He could still make out the stench of rotting flesh. It did not really bother him much, not after wandering through that massive Elephant Graveyard.

Then again, maybe this person had been put here for a reason. Even if they were deceased, perhaps Xehanort had left a clue behind. For all he knew, this was probably one of the bodies belonging to many innocent people Xehanort and the others had experimented on during their research regarding the secrets of the heart and the Heartless.

He held his breath and yanked the cover up enough for him to see. He hastily threw it back down. After taking a few moments to catch his breath, he turned to the others. "They have a light-blue dress on," he informed. "Must be some girl Xehanort experimented on."

Indigo turned back to face him. "Who was her name?"

Sora shrugged. "I don't think I want to know."

Deep down, he had the feeling he probably did know the figure's true identity. He had caught a glimpse of a rusted nametag on the tattered dress of the skeleton's remains. Despite the corroding, there were enough letters available to make out the name, "Jewel Forest". The only person he knew who shared that particular last name was Mike's niece, Phoebe. Recalling how Mike had explained about the loss of Phoebe's parents during a plague years ago, Sora wondered if this was the place where Phoebe's mother had been buried.

If so, did that mean all those other doorways down here contained more of the people Xehanort and the others had harmed? Why would they leave their bodies in such a place? Perhaps they were trying to cover their tracks? He did not know.

What he did know was all this harm had been brought about because that old Keyblade Master wanted to get his hands on the legendary χ-blade and start another Keyblade War. He had already hurt a multitude of others, destroyed many worlds at one time or another, ruined countless lives, and now he was getting ready to destroy the whole universe.

And only the spikey, brown-haired seventeen-year-old Keyblade wielder and his friends could stop him. They needed to stop him — no matter what might happen!

He turned to the exit. "C'mon!"

The others followed him back into the passage. Medy and the boulder were nowhere in sight. Rather than ponder over whether or not the young man had managed to escape from the enormous stone, Sora decided to keep his focus on the goal. He turned to the doorway at the end of the corridor and raced for it. The others were directly behind it.

When he reached the door, Sora pushed against it. The doors would not budge. No matter how much pressure he put against the doorway, it remained shut. "Looks like it's a no go," he sighed.

"Must be locked," Goofy pinpointed.

"Every lock has a key," Chelsy stated.

"Yeah!" Sam declared. "A magical key — like in the video games!"

Everyone stared at him. The pilot grinned. "That was a line from one of my favorite video games," he added.

Chelsy rolled her eyes. She leaned in close to Sora. "Sam's a huge fan of the new 'Final Fantasy XV' video game."

Sora gave a nod, even though he was a little lost. The only other person he knew who liked that video game series was Riku. However, the silver-headed young man was a fan of "Final Fantasy VII".

"Try using your Keyblade, Sora," Amemi spoke up.

Sora gave another nod. He pointed his Keyblade straight to the doorway. Following a beam of Light, the door opened. Sora led the way into the room. As he stepped inside, the new surroundings quickly caught his attention.

The room was a circular chamber with dark-grey walls and a matching floor and ceiling. The walls were decorated with lots of huge shapes that resembled the logo of Organization XIII. Each of the shapes seemed to be attached to long, white chains that led to a large, dark throne in the center of the chamber.

Sora took a few minutes to examine the throne. He thought he had seen something like it at one time. He had no clue why, yet it felt like his heart was telling him there was something "special" about this seat. Was he supposed to sit in it? Or was this all just something he would have to ask King Mickey and Master Yen Sid about later? Maybe so. Those two always seemed to an answer or two for just about everything.

A colorful piece of torn paper caught his eye. It was stuck partly under the throne. Wondering what it was, Sora got down and pulled the paper free. He stared at it in astonishment. The colors were bright and cheerful, unlike the rest of the room. There were illustrations and lots of text filling up the page.

It did not take long for the seventeen-year-old to realize he was holding a page from The 100-Acre Wood. He instantly slipped it into one of his jacket's pockets.

Sora returned to his feet and took a longer look around the underground chamber. Goofy was eyeing the logos on the wall. Sam and Chelsy were standing guard at the doorway, even though they were facing into the room. Launchpad was slowly searching the ceiling for… something or other.

A fallen suit of bluish armor caught his eye. The armor bore shades of silver, black, grey, and blue colors. It included a silver breastplate in the form of an upside-down crescent moon. There was a dark-visored helmet that including two, silver prongs on either side that angled diagonally downwards

Stabbed into the floor beside it was a key-shaped sword with a circular guard that was somewhat jagged around the edges. The upper half of the guard was black, the center was gray, and the bottom was white. The handle featured a simple, gray rod. The shaft was thin with a navy-blue color and silver tip. Two diamond-shaped bumps were attached to the base of the shaft. The weapon's teeth were comprised by a rectangular frame lined with four short, blunt spikes; all were a navy-blue color, too. The teeth had three silver pieces bent at right angles — two on the inside corners of the frame, and one on the inside center.

When he saw the sword had a set of keychain links with a waterdrop-shaped charm, Sora's eyes lit up. He took a few steps toward the weapon. That was when he saw Amemi and Donald were observing the armor and weapon.

"Sora?" Amemi asked. She pointed to the sword. "That looks like your Keyblade."

Donald shook his head. "That's not his Keyblade!" he gazed at the weapon himself. "But it is a Keyblade."

Sora turned his full attention to the Keyblade. For some reason, the shape of it felt familiar. He was not sure why, just that it did. "I wonder whose Keyblade this was," he softly said.

Indigo approached the spikey-headed young man. When she saw the Keyblade and armor the angel cautiously neared the former. She reached out her hand and grasped the Keyblade's handle. Sora, Amemi, and Donald all watched in awe as the angel easily picked up the weapon, removing it from its place. A small gap remained in the floor.

Indigo eyed the weapon. "This is an interesting weapon," she commented. She turned to Sora. "It looks a little like your Keyblade."

Sora had to smile. "It is a Keyblade."

Indigo's eyes lit up. She took another long look at the weapon in her hand. Realizing the young man was correct, she nodded in comprehension. "I did not know Keyblades could look so different," she admitted.

A loud yawn flooded the chamber. Everyone swung their focus to the middle of the room. Launchpad was stretching with his eyes closed. He moved his arms so slowly, it seemed quite dramatic, almost like the pilot was dozing off on a stage before a live audience during a comedy show. He leaned back and sat down into the throne.

A wave of energy rushed through the room. Sora and the others jumped in complete surprise. The brown-haired youth took note of how the chain-like designs along the walls and floor were starting to glow. It looked as though electricity was flowing from the throne through the chains to the shapes along the walls.

"Launchpad!" Donald yelped.

As if on cue, Launchpad hopped out of the throne and onto his large feet. The glow stopped suddenly and faded out. The room became as dark as it had when the group had first come inside.

Sora was puzzled. Had Launchpad done something to the throne just by sitting in it? He had no clue what exactly had happened. There was just not enough information to explain the bizarre display they had witnessed.

Donald was shocked. He scowled at Launchpad. He had the feeling the pilot had messed up the chamber's throne. He did not know how, just that it was the only explanation that did make sense. He had witnessed the duck pilot's flying for years, and he still doubted King Mickey's decision to make the latter the head of the castle's Royal Air Force.

Goofy was perplexed. Once Launchpad had plopped down in the throne, the room had glowed so unexpectedly, the knight had literally jumped and landed on one foot. Having feared the worst, he was now curious about the cause of the glow. Where had it come from? There weren't any Heartless close by. Were there?

Indigo was a little shaken. When the room had begun glowing, her antennae had started wobbling. A strong sensation of Darkness had appeared in the room. While she was unsure where it had originated, she did know it had something to do with the throne at the center of this underground chamber.

"That was cool!" Sam declared aloud. He waved his arms into the air with excitement. "Do it again!"

Chelsy reached her arm out, blocking the pilot. "Not so hasty!" she stated. "This requires some additional investigation."

Sora gave a nod. "I had the same idea."

"Yeah," Donald approved.

"But, uh, how are we gonna find out without sittin' on thuh throne?" Goofy inquired. "We ain't no kings."

Sora crossed his arms. Perhaps the knight had a valid point.

---

As she watched the others debating what to do, Amemi rolled her eyes. She could (somehow) feel a strong sense of curiosity growing from deep inside. She was not sure how it was possible, only that the feeling was strong and had a tight grip. Just like that one song the singer, Jack Johnson, had sang. The Curiosity was impossible to stop. Just like the little monkey, Curious George.

She had to know what was going on here.

She strode up to the throne. Her head shifted to the others. They were still in the midst of their discussion. Clearly, none of them had arrived at a specific plan-of-action. As long as it was still up in the air, she might as well try to figure things out on her own. What harm could come from trying something new?

She turned and slowly leaned backwards into the throne. The moment she sat down, she could feel a strange presence. Her eyes could make out the chains along the floor starting to glow again. The strange feeling she was having started to grow in power. The longer she sat, the stronger the feeling became.

"Amy?!" she heard Sora declare.

Amemi watched as her view quickly blurred and became as black as the moonless, starless night sky. That was when she saw a series of images pass through her mind. She could feel strong emotions and dark feelings as the scenes flashed by.

She wondered if these visuals were also passing through her heart as well as her mind….

---

On a distant shoreline was a young man with silver hair that was spiked. He was staring out at the sun; the star was setting faster and faster. He smiled and what seemed to be a look of curiosity filled his golden eyes. He said to no one in particular, "This world… is just too small."

"Yes, it is," a deep voice said to his left.

The young man shifted his gaze. He was now face-to-face with a figure completed covered from head-to-toe in a brown robe. "Who are you?" he inquired.

"I am you," the figure replied. "Or, I am what would eventually be you."

The young man raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing on my island?" he demanded to know.

"I came to see you," the figure answered. "And to seek the door to this world. This world has been connected. Tied to the Darkness. Soon to be completely eclipsed."

The young man a sinister smile.

---

The ruined building appeared to have once been a gigantic structure. Pieces of gears and chains were strewn about the debris. Through the gaps in the cracked and half-crumbled walls, sand had drifted inside. The heat was so intense, it felt like it could melt even the tiniest piece of an ice cube.

The sound of shoes crunching against the ground could be heard. An older man with silver, balding hair and a matching goatee was strolling through the ruins. His skin was a dark tone and his eyes were yellow. His back was crooked and he hunched over as he walked. His clothing consisted of a white and black coat with an inner red lining worn over a white shirt with two thin black belts, white gloves, and tall, black boots that reached all the way up to his calves.

The man approached another figure in the shadows. His pace slowed as he drew closer. The other individual turned to face him. It was an older woman with long, raven-black hair and lime-colored eyes. She was decked out in a long, black dress that seemed to perfectly outline the sides of her slender figure. A long, black cape dangled behind her, and she had a pair of black heels strapped onto her feet. Her long eyelashes seemed to flutter when she saw the man coming closer. Her bluish lips turned into a sneaky grin. "Hello again, Xehanort," she said in such a soothing voice, it felt like the devil was speaking in her place.

"Yes," Xehanort nodded in return. "It's been a while, Mizrabel."

Mizrabel opened her arms wide. "Come closer, dar-ling."

Xehanort stopped dead in his tracks. "I don't have time for this. I came to warn you."

Mizrabel's grin sank. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"Yen Sid and Eraqus know you have survived. They are planning to stop you. You must flee while you can."

Mizrabel gave a nod. "Thank you for your warning, but I can handle myself, dearest. You need not worry about your dear, old mother."

Xehanort gave a nod. "Yes, I suppose not."

Mizrabel held out her hand. With a few black swirls of magic, a black-hooded raincoat appeared. "This ought to prove useful until we can see each other again."

Xehanort gave another nod. He knew the older woman was correct. He would certainly have a use for the raincoat, its color, and its distinct design….

---

The Sun was streaming down before the large, golden-white castle. A man was seated on the first step. He was a tall, young man sporting spikey, brown hair, blue eyes, and slightly-tanned skin. He was wearing a black, skintight shirt with red straps that criss-crossed over his chest, wide tan pants, and golden-black shoes. He had a plain, black wristband on his right wrist, and there was a piece of golden armor with was appeared to be a on button on his left arm. A small, golden emblem was attached to his belt; it resembled the logo of Organization XIII, only upside-down.

He was frowning. "There is Darkness in me," he muttered to himself. "So what does that matter? I know I'm strong enough to hold it back."

"Yes," a deep, gruff voice declared. "You are indeed strong. The Darkness is nothing to fear."

The man jumped to his feet at the sound of the voice. He spun around. Standing at the top of the staircase and before the castle's main doorway was a tall, hunched, older man with a silver goatee and bald head.

"Master Xehanort," the younger one realized.

"And yet," Master Xehanort spoke. He started down the long flight of steps. "How frustrating that Eraqus refutes its power. Why, you could train with him forever, and still, you'd never be a Master in his eyes."

"But why?" the brown-haired man inquired. "Help me understand, Master Xehanort — what is it that I have failed to learn?"

The older man reached the last step and strolled on by. "You are fine as you are. Darkness cannot be destroyed. It can only be channeled."

The younger man nodded and bowed politely in respect to the elderly Keyblade Master. "Yes. Thank you, Master."

A long bell rang out through the land. The brown-haired man nearly leapt in surprise. He spun around and raced back up the stairs to the castle's entrance. As he left, the older man gave a sneaky grin. A dark portal opened before him. Just after he stepped through, the opening vanished without a trace.

---

The landscape looked dustier than a desert. In reality, it was a dusty wasteland where lots of wind blew across the ground. In the distance, an occasional dust-devil could be seen spinning around like a twister.

A bright light appeared in the sky. A small, orange-brown-golden vehicle flew into view. Seated on it was a young man all clad in armor that matched the vehicle's color. The man was sweeping his eyes around. All at once, he stopped and stared down below. Standing on a high plateau was a tall, hunched, older man with a silver goatee. The figure seemed to be awaiting the young man's arrival.

"Master Xehanort," the young man realized. He circled around the area to the other side of the flat-topped rise. He came to a stop. His vehicle and his armor quickly vanished. There he was, back in his spikey-brown hair, black shirt, wide tan pants, and black-golden shoes. "I have been to other worlds. I know all about the things you've done. I just don't understand why."

The older man looked down. "Someone had to safeguard the Light… from the demon I unleashed," he sighed. "You must know about the boy by now — the one in the mask. His name is Vanitas. A creature of pure Darkness."

He clenched his hand close very tightly as though recalling what had happened. "One of my making."

"Vanitas," the brown-haired man repeated. "Are you telling me he came from you?"

"He came from Ventus."

"Ventus?"

"Yes. Vanitas is the Darkness that was inside your friend. It was an accident. While training with me, Ventus succumbed to Darkness, and there was but one way to save him — strip that part of him away. And thus Vanitas was made. In the process, I damaged Ventus's heart in the most horrific way. So, I did what I felt was right and left him with Eraqus. I knew the boy could not stay with me, the man who did him such grievous harm…. "

The older man turned away. He covered his face with his hand. The young man sighed deeply, knowing how the other one felt. "Master Xehanort," he said. "Ventus has gotten a lot better since then. You shouldn't blame yourself for trying to save him."

The older man glanced at the brown-haired one. "Well…. Thank you, lad. You know how to put an old man's heart at ease."

The younger man grinned, knowing he had done something to help the older one. A thought crossed his mind. His grin faded. "Master… why is Vanitas still free?"

The older man turned around to face him. "Ah yes. Well, I did my best to contain him the moment he emerged, but…. "

"He managed to escape," the younger one finished.

The older man nodded. He started to walk on past the brown-haired young man. "Vanitas uses the Keyblade to sow seeds of Darkness. And now, you see — the worlds teem with his ghastly underlings."

The younger man gasped. "The Unversed!"

"He has no control over the Darkness in his heart. The Keyblade is not his to bear. He is an abomination beyond hope of salvation," The older man stopped and turned around. "Led me your strength, Terra," he pleaded. "Right this wrong that I have wrought."

The younger man paused in thought. "But I have no idea where to find him."

"What I can tell you about Vanitas amounts to this," the older man said. "His Darkness is drawn to the Light, which he seeks to disrupt… and then destroy. It seems to reason that he will strike next in the City of Light, Radiant Garden."

The brown-headed man jerked his head up as though he had just had a dark vision. He shook it off and frowned with a serious look in his eyes. "Don't worry, Master. I'll take care of Vanitas."

---

The underground purification facility was a rather large, rather empty place. It almost looked like a massive, man-made cavern beneath the town's outer gardens.

As he strolled across a large, steel platform, a young man sporting spikey, brown hair and blue eyes. He looked both ways as he continued across the landing. He grinned, seeing nothing bad around him. He reached the railing and stopped. As he leaned over to see what was below, something caught his eye. He spun around, spotting the tall, hunched, older man with a silver goatee and bald head chained to a pipe high above.

"Master Xehanort!" he declared in alarm.

"The old coot certainly knows how to take punishment," came a voice. "Just like I know how to deal it out."

The young man swung his eyes to the walkway leading to the landing. A man was heading down below. He had brown eyes, upturned eyebrows, and dark, shoulder-length hair that was slicked back. He was decked out in a guard's uniform with a dark-grey jacket, a black belt, and white gloves that were decorated with a curled heart symbol. He also had black, knee-high boots and a tattered, red scarf. In his hands were a pair of Arrowguns shaped like crossbows. They were silver-colored with metallic purple lines. The same curled heart symbol decorated them.

The spikey, brown-haired man scowled. "You monster!" he snarled, summoning his Keyblade. "What're you after?!"

The guard grinned and pointed to the Keyblade. "That thing right there. It's called the 'Keyblade', isn't it? Yup, it seems like these days, everybody's got one of those," he glanced up at the older man chained to the pipe. "Even grandpa there. When I nabbed him, he told me all about it — what a weapon like that can do," he turned back to the young man. "How could I not want one?"

The young man furrowed his brow and started to clench his teeth. "Well you'll find they're picky about their owners."

The guard only grinned. "Ha! If I heard the old guy right, you're what they call 'Keyblade Master' material. So if I defeat you, that makes me the real keyslinger, if you catch my drift."

He lightly tossed one of his weapons into the air and caught it. "Not the most-polite way to go about it, but what can you do?"

The young man lurched forward, ready to swing his Keyblade at the guard. The latter jumped back. "Uh-uh!" he shook his finger as a warning. "One more step and the coot goes boom. You think I'm gonna fight fair? As if! That key's too powerful for us to go mano-a-mano."

The young man glared with intensity. The guard readied his Arrowguns and fired several bullets. The brown-haired man held up his Keyblade and managed to deflect most of them. When the guard started firing another round, the young man lost his balance and tumbled backward onto the platform.

"For a Keyblade Master, you're not very — what's the word — good," the guard scoffed. He gave a sinister grin.

The young man started to sit up. A sharp pain shot through his back, stunning him for a brief moment.

"What are you doing, Terra?" the older man shouted from above. "Fight!"

The young man jerked his head up. "But Master, you'll—!"

"Never mind me! You must fight! You can't let this ruffian win! Think of your Master, Eraqus! The shame he and your fellow pupils will be forced to bear! Use the Keyblade!"

The brown-haired young man rose to his feet. He readied his Keyblade and started to glare darker and darker. The guard smirked at the sight. "Pfft! So much for the bluff," he remarked.

Before the guard had a chance to strike, the young man reared back. With a stern expression, he leaned forward and sent a powerful blast of dark energy flying from the tip of his Keyblade. The dark blast slammed straight into the guard's face and knocked the latter onto the platform. The guard grabbed the right side of his face. He groaned in agony. He looked up with his other eye and gasped. A second blast of Darkness was about to shoot out of the Keyblade. The blast went flying through the air and struck the chains holding the older man. The chains easily fell off.

The guard returned to his feet. He was in so much pain, he bounded out of the facility as fast as he could jump.

The brown-haired young man was appalled, realizing what had happened. "This power…. "

"Well done, Terra," the older man congratulated as he strolled over. "You have taken yet another step forward."

The young man seemed to be filled with shock. "But I was consumed by anger… hatred. That was the power of Darkness!"

"Darkness that you channeled!"

The brown-haired man shook his head. "No," he stated, allowing his Keyblade to disappear from his hand. "I succumbed to it — just like when I stole Princess Aurora's heart of Light. I can never return home now. I'm a failure."

"Then don't," the older man extended his hand and grinned. "You can be my pupil."

The brown-headed man looked up in total astonishment. The older man continued as he drew closer. "Master Eraqus, you see, is so afraid of Darkness, that he, too, has succumbed — not to Darkness, but to Light. It shines so bright, he forgets that Light begets Darkness."

The young man gasped, certain the older one had a valid argument. "And Aqua and Ventus," the older man went on. "Their lights shine too bright."

He pointed to the other man's chest. "It is only natural that they cast shadows on your heart."

The young man looked down. He seemed to be in deep thought. The older man continued to speak. "Eraqus…. He is such a fool! Light and Darkness, they are a balance — one that must always be maintained. Terra…. You are the one who shows the true Mark of Mastery, but he refuses to see it."

He turned to face the brown-haired man directly. "And I know why. It is because he fears you. Join me."

He clasped their hands together. "You and I can do the worlds much greater good, by wielding Light and Darkness in equal shares."

"Master Xehanort," the young man started to say.

The older man nodded. He started towards the exit and stopped. "See more worlds, seek out the Darkness that upsets the balance, find Vanitas, and bring an end to him…. "

He squeezed his fist shut as he emphasized the word "end". He turned to the brown-headed young man. "Master Terra."

The young man jolted into full focus as though a bolt of lightning had sent a high amount of electricity racing throughout his body. When he saw the older man's grin, he politely bowed into submission. The older man turned away and strolled off.

---

The large, desert wasteland came into view once again. That was when the small, orange-brown-golden vehicle soared into view. The same young man all clad in orange-brown-golden armor was seated on it. He flew against the gusts of dusty wind and quickly reached a high precipice. Standing at the top was a tall, hunched, older man sporting a silver goatee.

The older man looked up as the vehicle drew close. "Master," the armored man said. "You wished to see me?"

"There is no time to lose," replied the older man. "I have terrible news. Ventus has stumbled upon the secrets of his origins."

"Ven? I just saw him. Did something happen?"

"Ventus is on his way home. If you could have seen the fury in his eyes, I fear he is capable of anything. I fear the boy may try to force the truth out of Eraqus."

The older man looked directly at the younger one. "Terra, you must go see to your friend's safety."

The young, armored man nodded. "Of course!"

He soared away into the sky. He failed to notice the older man giving a soft, sinister snicker.

---

The sky was on the verge of sunset. The tall, golden castle still remained attached to the sides of the mountain peaks. Those long chains had managed to hold it in place all those years….

The brown-orange-golden vehicle flew overhead and started to take a dive towards the stone plaza just outside the castle's main entrance. The armored young man stared straight ahead in alarm.

Two figures were gathered on the plaza. One of them was a young man sporting brown hair that was spiked in the back and blue eyes. He was wearing a short-sleeved jacket, black pants with beige leggings, and armored boots.

The other was an older man sporting black hair that was tied into a short topknot with one bang falling to the right side, a short beard, and a mustache. He was decked out in a white, red lined full-length coat with a hood, a navy-blue shirt, and large, armored shoes. There were jagged scars over his right eye and left cheek.

To the alarm of the armored man above, the older man with the black hair was raising a Keyblade towards the brown-haired teenager. "…But you must exist no more!" declared the older man.

He swung his weapon at the teenager. An attack of golden chains flew at him.

The man in the air had seen enough. He swiftly transformed his vehicle back into his Keyblade and dove in. "Ven!" he shouted as he landed between the two.

The attack vanished. The older man looked up in shock. "What?!"

"Master!" the man yelled. "Have you gone mad?"

"Terra! I command you — step aside!"

"No!" the young man's armor disappeared, revealing his spikey, brown hair, black shirt, and wide, tan pants.

"You will not heed your master?"

"I won't!"

The older man looked down. "Why do all my attempts to reach you fail? If you do not have it in your heart to obey, then you will have to share Ventus's fate."

A tear slid down the man's cheek. He rushed forward. The spikey, brown-haired man quickly found himself locked in a heated clash against the black-headed man.

"Enough, Terra!" the brown-haired teenager shouted. "He's right!"

"Quiet!" the brown-headed man shouted back.

"Terra…. "

The older man jumped back. He reared back and set a powerful blast of Light flying at the two. The young man and teenager went flying backward. As the former stood up, he grabbed the latter. He stared straight ahead, seeing the older man was about to launch another attack. With a deep breath, he scowled. "You may be my Master," he declared in a strong tone of voice. "But I will not let you hurt my friend!"

The older man gasped. "Has the Darkness taken you, Terra?!"

The younger man pointed his Keyblade behind him. A portal suddenly appeared. He tossed the teenager into it. As the portal closed, the brown-headed teen raised his hand out. "Wait, Terra!"

The portal sealed shut. In a matter of seconds, the two Keyblade wielders were locked in a long series of blows. Each time one of them tried to overtake the other, their opponent would block and counter-attack. Before long, they resorted to utilizing magic. The brown-haired young man launched attacks covered in pitch-black Darkness. The older, black-haired man continued to use various forms of pure Light.

After several minutes, the two were so fatigued, they could hardly stand up. As they gasped for breath, the younger one stared in complete shock and alarm. "What have I done?! Master! I just… wanted to keep Ven safe."

"No, you were right," the older man returned. "I failed you, Terra. Perhaps I've no one to blame but myself for the Darkness inside you. And now, I've done worse — raised my Keyblade against you and Ventus."

He looked down. "My own heart is Darkness!"

A blast of dark energy slammed into the older man's back. He fell to his knees, dropping his Keyblade in the process. The weapon clattered as it landed onto the stone plaza. The young man knelt and reached out his arms. The older man fell forward. His body vanished away before the young man could catch him.

The young man gasped in alarm. He fell to his hands and knees and started to shed tears. "Master Eraqus!"

He started to mourn his teacher. A series of footsteps followed. They stopped short. "What a sight," murmured a deep voice. "Why do you trouble yourself with remorse, Master Terra? The man was bent on doing harm to your friend, his own pupil."

The brown-headed man looked up and gasped. Standing before him was the tall, hunched, older man with the silver goatee and yellow eyes. "Master Xehanort!" he exclaimed in complete alarm. "Why?!"

The older man turned away and strolled to the edge of the plaza. "You know, at times I find your progress quite striking. But you still fall short. Let all that anger out, my boy. Give your heart over to Darkness!"

The younger man raised his Keyblade. "What do you mean?!"

"Still so blind," the older man spun around. He now had a stern look in his eyes. "Then I will make you see. Come to the place where all Keyblade wielders leave their mark on fate — the Keyblade Graveyard!"

He reached out his hand. A large weapon appeared in it. It was a Keyblade witha spikey, black guard that resembled demonic wings, a horned, demonic head just above the handle, two barbed shafts, and teeth resembling a battle axe split into three nearly claw-like protrusions. In the middle of the blade was a demonic eye. "There you will watch your dear Ventus and Aqua meet their ends, and the last Light within you willdie!"

Without another word, the older man pointed his Keyblade into the sky. A beam of Darkness surged from the weapon and created a small ball of Darkness in the air. The ball rapidly grew in size. Before long, the sunset had been replaced by a strong, hallowing, dark wind. The wind rushed all around, shaking the long, golden chains attached to the castle.

The older man gestured all around. "You won't need a home anymore where you're going!"

The brown-haired young man looked around in alarm. "What?!"

He turned back in time to see the older man leaving through a dark portal. "Xehanort!"

He rushed at the portal. The older man was too quick and the portal sealed shut behind him. The young man was left all alone. He found himself watching as the castle's entire right wing broke free and got dragged into the dark sphere above. The plaza shook so suddenly, he lost his balance and had to stay down as an entire section of the plaza was torn away like Cookie Monster had taken a bite out of it. The wind grew stronger, tearing away the long chains from the castle and the nearby summits.

He looked up in time to see the castle's far left tower get pulled into the Darkness. Now knowing what the older man was capable of, he scowled and carefully rose to his feet. He reached into his pocket and held out a small, orange trinket. "Aqua, Ven…. I won't let him hurt you!"

He clutched the item as tightly as he could. With his closed fist, he jabbed the button on the armor attached to his shoulder. He brown-golden-orange armor returned. He tossed his Keyblade into the air. The weapon transformed into the same vehicle as before. He hopped onto it and rode into the air.

Before long, he was well out of sight.

---

It was after nightfall. The brown-haired young man was atop his vehicle and soaring up to the top of a tall rocky tower. When he landed, his vehicle turned back into his Keyblade and disappeared. His armor also vanished, revealing his clothes underneath.

He scowled straight ahead. There was the tall, hunched, older man with the yellow eyes. "Admirably done," the man approved. "I knew this was a journey you could make — over the unseen wall that divides Darkness and Light."

He extended his arms in delight. "And I was not wrong, Terra!"

The brown-headed youth clenched his teeth. His Keyblade appeared in his hand. "My friend, Ven…. You tell me, Xehanort, what did you do to him?!"

"Why," the older man said in a rather calm tone of voice. "I did him a favor and freed the Darkness inside him. Alas, poor Ventus never had the fortitude for such strenuous trials."

The young man could not hold back any longer. "Xehanort!" he yelled in a state of total anger, rage, and hatred.

He rushed forward and swung his Keyblade at the older man. The latter held out his own Keyblade and stopped him short. He turned his gaze to the right. "Go take what Ventus owes you. And take Aqua's life."

The brown-haired man turned around. There was the boy in the black mask — Vanitas. The boy raced to the edge of the cliff and dove over the side. "NO!" the young man declared.

He shoved the older man back and hurried to stop the boy. Just as he drew close to the cliff's edge, the older man appeared. The brown-headed man jumped back, realizing his enemy had warped over.

"You see how powerless you are to save them?" the older man asked. He raised his arms into the air. "Savor that rage and despair. Let it empower you!"

The young man could no longer hold in his anger. "You will pay, Xehanort! Was my Master — no, my father, Eraqus not enough for you?" he declared. He started to show signs of strong Darkness emerging from within. "Leave myfriendsALONE!"

The older man grinned at the sight of the other man's Darkness. "Yes, boy, that's it! More! Let your whole heart blacken with anger!"

The brown-haired young man clenched his fists and teeth. With a loud yell, he began unleashing a tremendous amount of dark energy. With all that Darkness under his control, he charged at the older man and struck him over and over again. The villain retaliated, only to get blocked and countered repeatedly.

Within two minutes, the older man collapsed. He gasped for breath. The younger man approached him, ready to deal a final swing and eliminate his opponent.

A great quake shook the area. The older man looked up in marvel. He pointed behind the younger one. "There! You see?"

The younger man looked puzzled. He turned around and gasped when he saw the fiery column towering into the sky.

"The χ-blade has been forged!" the older man declared.

The brown-headed youth was appalled. "Ven!"

The older man rose to his feet. He turned his Keyblade toward his chest. "And now, Terra, it is time for the finalunion!"

The younger man whirled around in time to see the older one using the Keyblade to unlock his heart. "What?!" he exclaimed.

"At last, our moment is here," the older man said as his Keyblade vanished. His heart left his body and drifted into the air. "Out with the old and brittle vessel, and in with a younger, stronger new one!"

The young man looked completely speechless at the display.

"I swore I would survive… and be there to see what awaited beyond the Keyblade War," the older man continued. He pointed straight at the brown-haired young man. "And now it is your Darkness that shall be the ark that sustainsme!"

In one, swift action, the young man hastily pressed the button on his shoulder. His armour appeared. He froze, the older man's heart already having taken possession inside him. At the same time, the older man gave a dark grin as his body disappeared from sight.

The younger man removed his armor, one piece at a time. There he was, standing proudly upon the rocky tower. The only exceptions were his now-white hair, his amber eyes, and his darker skin tone.

With a grin of his own, the man said, "This heart belongs again to Darkness. All worlds begin in Darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it. It grows — consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the Darkness whence it came."

He looked up in delight. "As you can see, Darkness is the heart's true essence!"

---

To say he was feeling more than pleased would be an understatement. Minutes before, the pair of scientists had been struck successfully and were fading away into Darkness. With both of their hearts turning into Darkness, he knew his current objective had been accomplished.

"Hey!" a voice hollered from the other side of the room. In came a tall man with a long, black ponytail. Although he was wearing the same purple-colored uniform as the rest of the city's Royal Guard, he also had an eyepatch over his right eye socket and a scar on his left cheek. "Xehanort! You wanna fill me in on this 'unethical experiment' of yours?"

He summoned a Keyblade. It's dark appearance and bat-like design was more than enough to make the soldier feel uneasy. "I am… "

"Wait," the soldier exclaimed. "Do you remember now? Or did you never lose your memory?!"

Instead of answering, he rushed over and stabbed the soldier in the left side of the latter's chest. "That's not my name! I'm not 'Xehanort'!"

Moaning in agony for a couple minutes, the soldier muttered something inaudible before collapsing onto the floor of the lab. A heart escaped his body as he began to be consumed by Darkness, too. He gave such an evil smile, it would've driven Maleficent into a state of discomfort.

"My name is… Ansem!"

A small flash of something to the right drew his eye. He strolled over and noticed a glowing circle above the computer's monitor. He reached out his hand and touched it. A projection appeared within the circular shape.

In it was an image showing a vast portion of space. Not the space he was familiar with. It resembled outer space, only with countless zeros and ones strewn about. Various "worlds" could be seen. In one spot, he saw the name "Cyberspace" listed.

The image changed to one showing a large island in the middle of nowhere. It was completely surrounded by water. For a moment, he thought it looked familiar. That was when he saw the various buildings on the island were constructed from plastic bricks. Even the residents resembled plastic toys. He could hear a voice saying, "And you're listening to L.E.G.O. Radio — reminding you, if you're not listening to L.E.G.O., you're not listening to the radio!"

The image changed again. A large, two-story school came into focus. The flagpole outside flew a flag bearing a rocket-powered school bus. A group of people — eight students, one teacher, and one green lizard — all climbed into the bus. The bus suddenly transformed into a space shuttle-like design and flew into the sky. There was a loud, "WAHOO!"

The image changed once more. This time, it showed a large, well-built city. That was when a gigantic meteor headed for the skyline. At last moment, a girl about ten years old soared into the sky and caught the meteor. She was decked out in a reddish body suit with a matching helmet and yellow cape. The symbol on her suit's chest resembled a golden star in the middle of a shield.

A voice shouted, "WORD UP!"

The image changed, again. This one showed a large, greenish turtle flying through the air. The top of the shell looked like a glass sunroof. Beside the turtle, two falcons were flying by. They both had human faces and a paw-print on their chests. One was blue and the other was a dark-green. A voice declared, "ACTIVATE CREATURE POWER!"

The projection faded and the circle vanished from sight. Having seen all this, he gave a sinister smile.

---

With the World of Choas destroyed and most of his power gone, he rose up into the air. Well, it was not exactly "air". The area was called "The Endless Abyss" for a reason. All around was nothing except pitch-black emptiness.

Before him were a group of three individuals. One was a teenage boy sporting spikey, brown hair, azure eyes, and wearing oversized yellow shoes, white gloves, red shorts, and a crown necklace.

Another was a short, anthropomorphic duck with white feathers and blue eyes. He was wearing a blue magician's uniform.

The third was a tall, anthropomorphic dog sporting large eyes with nearly-connecting pupils, a big snout with two teeth, and huge feet. His outfit consisted of a green sweater, black vest, baggy yellow pants, and armored shoes. He also had a pair of tiny, reddish goggles pushed onto his forehead. There was a large hat atop his head.

He gasped for breath as he turned to face the three who had defeated him. "It is futile," he stated. "The Keyblade alone cannot seal the Door To Darkness."

He spun around. In the distance was a large set of white doors. The design above them resembled stained-glass windows. "Kingdom Hearts," he declared, reaching for the doorway. "Fill me… with the power of Darkness!"

The doors opened. Flakes of Darkness started to appear from the other side. As it flowed out, he gave a grin. "Supreme Darkness!"

"You're wrong!" the young man behind him yelled. "I know now — without a doubt — Kingdom Hearts is Light!"

As if on cue, beams of Light came streaming from the other side of the doorway. He shielded his eyes from the Light. When he could look again, he gasped. "What the…? Light…? Huh…? But why… ?"

He never received an answer. A brilliant array of Light burst through the doorway. The Light struck him directly. He could feel himself being engulfed by the bright rays of sunshine. He could also sense his being fading away. In just a matter of seconds, he was gone — vanquished by the Light's powerful rays.

---

He was alone in the underground chamber. As he sat down, he could sense another presence in the room. His eyes wandered to the fallen suit of armour before him. Just looking at the shape brought back so many memories. His life as a Keyblade Master. His time as a Heartless. His dealings with the other people he had encountered at one time or another.

With a smile, he nodded to it — and the Keyblade struck into the floor beside it. "It has been a long time, friend…. "

---

"AMY!" Sora hollered as loudly as he could.

There was no response. There was his sister, slumped in the throne. She was not moving, let along breathing. He rushed over. He grabbed each of her shoulders and shook as fast as he could. Her head only fell forward as though she was unconscious or…. He refused to think about it!

Donald charged over and held his wand high. "Curaga!" he shouted.

A flowery shape appeared over the sandy-haired girl's head. She stirred for a moment. Then, she stopped, again. Sora looked down in disbelief. He could not believe his luck. After all they had been through, it now seemed his sister was gone… for good. She was not waking up, just lying slumped in an underground chamber. "Amy," he said, tears starting to form in his eyes. "Please get up!"

"She must be knocked out," Goofy suggested.

Sora turned his head to the knight. "What do you mean?"

"She ain't wakin' up. She must be off in them Sleepy Earls."

Donald frowned at the tall dog. "That's 'Sleeping Worlds'!"

"Oh yeah! A-Hyuck! Just like when I got Ventus's name mixed up."

Donald slapped his face so hard, his hand left a mark over his large, right eye. "Now — after twelve years, you get his name right!"

Sora shook his head and jumped to his feet. "What's the matter with you guys?!" he yelled. "Amy's not waking up! We know that! But she's…. she's my only sister!"

Donald and Goofy exchanged looks of surprise. They had not foreseen their friend lashing out his frustrations on everyone else. Goofy and Donald paused. They now wondered if Xehanort truly had done something terrible to the spikey-haired young man. It would certainly explain why he had been acting so serious these days. He had shown signs of wanting to stab Rourke with the Keyblade way back in Ancient Empire. He had nearly given up trying to resolve the problems in Jamestowne. He had fought — and shoved — Judge Claude Frollo off the cathedral rooftop in La Ville de Sonner Les Cloches. In Middleton, it had seemed Sora was starting to like school — something that was completely out-of-character for him. He had almost left the Beast's Castle in the hands of Forté, without even giving a second thought. He had also attacked Mortimer back in The Outback.

Clearly, something was definitely going on here. They just were not 100% sure what it was. Hopefully they could find the underlying cause of this mystery before it was too late. For all they knew, Xehanort had implanted the Darkness to rid himself of Sora altogether. They knew only time would tell.

And — hopefully — time itself was on their side.

Indigo strode past the two. "Let's take her upstairs to the medical wing," she offered. "Aerith and Myrna can look after her while we try to solve this mystery."

Sora gave a nod. "Yeah! Good idea!"

He had the feeling Indigo's choices were always going to be better than his own….

---

Time was moving slowly. Sora slouched in his seat as he looked at the blank, yellow wall across the waiting room. Donald was pacing back and forth before him. Goofy and Launchpad were seated side by side in two chairs a few feet away. Both had picked up some Highlights magazines and were flipping through them.

Sora gave a deep sigh. He looked up at the wall. A large, diamond-shaped clock was fastened in place where all could see it. He wondered why the clock was moving so slowly. Had time itself actually slowed down? It even looked as though Donald's pacing had slowed. Perhaps time was literally moving at a snail's pace. Maybe even at a sloth's pace. Maybe it was about to stop altogether. He hoped not!

If time itself suddenly halted, then Christmas Day would never arrive. Plus, he would never learn whether or not his sister was alright. After leaving the chamber, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Indigo all encountered Aerith and Myrna at the bottom of the ramp. The two had quickly strapped Amemi to a stretcher and rushed her back upstairs. The group had followed behind. Only Chelsy and Sam had remained down below. The two were determined to find any possible clues in the underground chamber. Whatever the clues led to, no one knew. They just had to find something. Perhaps Tron could help them make sense of it from there?

He wondered if that was what Leon, Cid, Merlin, and the others had in mind. Then again, probably not Merlin. He was whole-heartedly against computers and any Hi-Tech machinery.

He continued to gaze at the wall. Through the yellow paint, he found himself seeing a large, crooked tree. Sparkles of light shimmered through, leaving long trails of magical dust. The more he watched, the bigger the sparkles of light became.

One of the sparkles stood out to him. It resembled a human being, only with wings. Their gold hair was tied into a bun, and they were wearing a strapless, green dress and matching shoes. They had white pom-poms on their shoes.

Another sparkle flew up beside the first one. This one also resembled a human being, only they had whitish hair that was spiked. They were decked out in a cyan strapless tunic, teal knickerbockers, and a pair of flat shoes on their feet. Like the other figure, this one also had white pom-poms on their shoes.

Sora's mind froze. Was he seeing this correctly? Could it all be in his imagination? Or was the world telling him something? He was totally unsure. After all, one of those figures resembled his friend, Tinker Bell. That could not be correct. She was nowhere near the Radiant Garden! …Or was she? No, she could not. She was either staying at Peter Pan's hideout, or she had returned home to Tinker's Nook.

His mind continued to wander. The last time he had visited Tinker Bell's world had been when the world itself was trapped deep in slumber. Now that he, Riku, and Violet had awakened all those Sleeping Worlds, he wondered what had become of them. Were they all really safe and secure? Or was this new threat endangering any of them? He had been to several worlds so far, and he was yet to see any of those worlds from the Realm Of Sleep. Deep down, he had the feeling they were all out of harm's way.

Either way, he hoped he would get to visit at least one of them on this quest. He could see the world when it was awake for a change. Maybe he could see how Rapunzel and Eugene were getting on. Perhaps he could check in with Tinker Bell and her fairy friends. Jiminy Cricket would be delighted to see Pinocchio and Geppetto safely at home. It would be interesting to see what became of Wart — Arthur, knowing he most-likely was currently the ruler of Camelot. He wondered whatever would have become of the Musketeers, now that Princess Minnie was Queen Minnie. What about all those creatures living inside the songbooks of the Symphony of Sorcery?

He had a feeling it would be sooner rather than later. He would get to revisit one of those worlds on this new quest of his. He was excitedly wondered which one he would get to see. Who would he meet? What new adventures would await him?

"Sora?"

He felt someone tapping him on the shoulder. He swung his head to the left. There was Indigo. The angel had been sitting beside him the whole time. Last he had checked, she had been reading a book all about mythical creatures. He wondered if Tinker Bell was among the ones listed in there….

"What is it?" he asked.

"Myrna called us back," the angel replied. "Let's go!"

Sora gave a nod. He followed Indigo out of the waiting room. They strolled through the doorway leading to the infirmary. Myrna was waiting for them. Sora noted how she was wearing her nurse's uniform.

The teenager led the group down a row of beds to one where Aerith was already busy. When she saw the group coming, the brown-haired woman rose to her feet.

"So, what's up?" Sora enquired.

"Amemi is okay," Aerith told him. "Her heart was overloaded with memories."

"Dark memories," Myrna specified. "Those can be very dangerous!"

Sora paused in thought. If what the two said was true, then somehow some of those "Dark memories" had slipped into Amemi's heart while she was sitting on the throne. How was that possible? He wondered if Xehanort had put them there. Why? Had Xehanort been up to something dangerous in that chamber?

Aerith turned her focus straight to Sora and Indigo. "I wish I knew how this happened."

"She was sitting in a throne in the underground chamber," Indigo explained. She shuddered a little at the thought of the passage leading to the room. "I always thought it was a little spooky down there."

Sora gave a nod. He could tell the dark corridor had given the angel a sense of insecurity. Of course, he knew it was nothing compared to Halloween Town!

Amemi started to groan. Everyone spun their attention to the bed. The sandy-haired teenager was tucked under three layers of blankets. She sat up and gently placed her left hand against her head. "What… happened…. ?"

Sora turned to Aerith. "Should we tell her?"

Amemi looked around the room. She suddenly gasped. Her eyes grew big and her mouth hung open. "He's back!" she shouted. "He's coming for us!"

Sora leaned in close. "Amy? What're you saying?"

His sister grabbed his jacket and pulled him in close. Her eyes were wild and she was taking in very short, very light gasps of air. "He's going to destroy everything!"

Sora stared at his sister. What did she mean? Had something startled her? He hoped she was still recovering. It was not like her to panic like this. Although, based on what she had just said, she was relatively calm, all things considered. Then again, that last statement did not make sense to him. Why had it even crossed his mind?

Aerith rushed to the bedside. Sora found himself bumped into as the young woman hurried on past. She leaned in close to Amemi. "It's okay," she said in a soothing voice. "You're safe here. No one's going to hurt you."

Amemi stared at her. Sora thought he saw a flicker of something amber-colored in his sister's eyes. "Xehanort…. He's lurking," she said between gasps of air. "Here… in the shadows… close by… I… I… I can feel him…. "

She leaned back and fell onto the pillow so suddenly, the outside part of the pillow burst. Several feathers flew all over the immediate area. One of them landed on Indigo's antennae. The angel grabbed her nose. With a series of jerks, she unleased a giant sneeze. Dust flew from the floor and landed over everyone.

Myrna brushed off her arms. "What a mess," she commented. "Aerith, I'm going to get Bert."

Aerith gave a nod. "Okay. Please hurry back."

Myrna smiled. "You know I will," the sparkles on her cheeks seemed to be glowing. She turned to Sora and Indigo. "The exit is behind you two."

Sora and Indigo followed the golden-haired teenager down the row of beds. Sora glanced back at his sister. He hoped she was okay. For all he knew, something tragic had occurred down in that chamber. The look in her eyes reminded him of how Riku had looked when he had finally found his friend in Organization XIII's castle. Back then, Riku had possessed the appearance of Ansem, The Seeker of Darkness.

He just hoped there was no correlation between what happened to Amemi and what Riku had gone through.

They strode through the doorway. Sora took one last look back. That was when he noticed Amemi's bed was situated directly beside the "Jane Doe" girl from before. Curiosity returned to his mind. He still wondered who that mystery girl was. Her short, reddish hair kind of reminded him of Kairi….

He shrugged it all aside and followed the others out into the waiting room. Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad were all there, awaiting their return.

"Well?" Donald asked.

"How's yer sister doin', Sora?" Goofy inquired.

"She's gonna be fine," Sora replied. "Something really weird happened down there."

"I hope she was not possessed by a Demon," Indigo said. Sora noticed how the angel had tucked her wings around herself like a blanket. Her eyes were huge and her mouth seemed to be quivering. He wondered if she was completely concerned about something or other.

Launchpad raised an arm. "Maybe she was possessed by that 'Zen-ha-court' guy!"

Donald glared at the pilot. "That's 'Xehanort'!"

Launchpad crossed his arms. His grin became a frown. "Yeesh! Last time I say anything to you!"

Donald's glare swiftly turned into a sneaky smile. "Good!" he said. He shook a finger at the pilot's beak. "I don't like your 'comments'. You're just a big, fat palooka!"

Sora had heard enough. It was bad enough having seen Donald yell at Goofy throughout their adventure. Now, the magician was taking it out on Launchpad. How long was all this going to continue? He could not handle it much more.

"Guys," the brown-haired youth declared. "Cut it out — now!"

Donald and Launchpad swerved their eyes to the Keyblade wielder. Sora saw the shocked looks in their eyes. His eyebrows rose, complete confusion in his mind. "Huh? What're you looking at?"

"Gawrsh, Sora," Goofy blurted. "You was bein' mean."

Sora nearly jumped into the air. "Hey!"

Indigo sighed and rolled her eyes. When Donald and Sora started to yell at one another, the angel had heard enough. She scowled and slammed her left foot down with all her might. The noise it create drew everyone's attention. "Stop it — all of you! You are all getting off-topic! Let's keep our train-of-thoughts on schedule! Alright?!"

She glanced at each of the others one at a time like a sergeant in the U.S. Marines inspecting each of his men. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad all stared back at the scowling Indigo as though they were soldiers. The reaction Indigo was giving reminded Sora of a show about a marine soldier named Gomer Pyle. The look on her face resembled that group's leader, Sergeant Vincent Carter. At least the angel was truly a lot nicer that Sergeant Carter.

Once Indigo saw she had everyone's attention, she crossed her arms. "Now, let's all apologize to each other."

Sora turned to Donald and Goofy. "Sorry, guys. I don't know what came over me."

"Aw phooey," Donald said with a smile.

"You're just bein' you, Sora," Goofy complimented. "It's like I always say, 'Ya can't be nobody but yerself'!"

Donald turned to the Captain of The Royal Guard. "You never say that."

"But I meant ta say it."

Donald slapped himself in the face.

Myrna shook her head. She stepped over to Sora. "For the record," she told him in her very high-pitch voice. "I don't remember 'Xehanort', but I do remember Aeleus and Ienzo both talking about him."

Sora crossed his arms. He had the feeling the reason why Myrna did not know much about Xehanort was simply because she was a newer member of the Radiant Garden Reconstruction Committee. Well, as far as he knew, she was. Or had she also been a member way back when? He did not know, and he probably would never know. Besides, it more-than-likely was unrelated to what was happening now anyway.

Sora turned to Myrna. "So, what do we now? Just hang out around here?"

Myrna shook her head. "There's still Heartless causing trouble outside. You should go help Leon and the others in town. It's getting serious."

Sora had to admit, Myrna had a point. The Heartless population had seemingly doubled since the last time he had been there. He wondered if something strange was going on….

He shrugged it all aside. "Okay," he said. He stepped to the door. He gestured to Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Indigo. "C'mon, guys!"

The others nodded and hurried after him. Sora watched them all head out the door. He turned back to Myrna. "We'll be back later. Have fun!"

"Thanks!" Myrna waved goodbye. Sora followed his companions out of the room. The young woman sighed. "How is cleaning floors fun?" she muttered to herself.

She shrugged it all aside and headed out. She had one task to complete now. Find Bert and ask him to help clean up the dust and scattered feathers.

---

The sun was bearing down a little more than earlier. The dust clouds from all the construction crews hovered from close by. All the workers and machinery created so much racket, it seemed to echo all around.

Fortunately, most of the noise was too distant to bother anyone at the castle's entrance. Sora strolled out of the castle and past the guards, Dilan and Aeleus. Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Indigo were directly behind.

Sora was walking at his normal pace. His hands were tucked into his jacket pockets. His head was tilted forward and he sighed softly ever few minutes. He was having a challenging time keeping his mind on the current objective. Although he knew he needed to focus on resolving the Radiant Garden's Heartless crisis, he could not help worrying about Amemi. He had made a promise to his Mom that nothing terrible would happen to his little sister. He had kept it all these years….

And yet, it seemed he had now failed to keep that promise.

Behind him, Donald and Goofy kept giving each other looks of concern. Ever since Goofy had mentioned the possibility of some of Xehanort's Darkness still dwelling within Sora, the two had silently decided to keep an eye on him. Despite all the major, and sometimes hostile, clashing the pair had been through (particularly in Ancient Empire), they had maintained their focus on the spikey-haired seventeen-year-old they had befriended a few years before.

They had the feeling Goofy's theory might actually be correct. If Xehanort truly had implanted Darkness into Sora's heart, what then? How would they get rid of it? What should they do? Maybe King Mickey could be of some help….

Launchpad's mind was in a completely different place. He pictured himself flying with his family in one of their many flying shows. How he longed to soar like a bird once more. To be free among the clouds. Being the head of the Disney Royal Air Force just was not good enough for him….

Indigo was keeping an eye on the space around the group. She rubbed her arms every now and then. Her antennae wobbled here and there, indicating the presence of Darkness was nearby. She knew the Heartless were in town, and she had the feeling the source of the majority of this power was coming from somewhere just outside the city's limits.

Deep, deep, deep, deep down, she had the sensation some of that Darkness was also inside Sora. She had sensed it back at the Beast's Castle — just after she had met the young man. She hoped she was wrong. Yet, still, she had the feeling she was not. Chances were, something — or someone — had put that Darkness inside him. She wanted to know who it had been and why they had done such a terrible act.

The group headed down the steps to the dirt road below. As they strode along the dusty path, a strange feeling passed through Sora. He froze, sensing what seemed to be a jolt of some kind. It appeared to be a mixture of both Light and Darkness. He knew he had felt this same sensation before. He just did not know how or why. What was going on here?

"Sora?"

Sora spun around. The others were eyeing him closely. Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad all seemed completely baffled. Indigo stood tall with her arms folded. "Huh?" he asked. "What is it?"

"You stopped walking," Donald indicated.

Indigo cocked her head a tiny amount. "Are you sure you are feeling alright?" she asked, her right eyebrow rising in suspicion.

Sora gave a deep sigh. There was no point in holding it back any longer. He pointed to the castle's foundation. "Every time we walk by, I get this… feeling. I dunno why, but it feels… weird."

"Are ya sure?" Goofy asked.

Sora gave a nod in return. "Yeah!"

Launchpad took a quick sweep of the immediate area. "There's nothing around but those workers and their equipment. Maybe one of them's a mind-controller?"

Donald rolled his eyes at the duck-pilot's statement. He shook his head. "Nothing seems out of the ordinary," he said.

Indigo stepped over to Sora. She looked him straight into the eyes. "I can sense you are telling the truth, Sora," she told him. "I can see it in your eyes."

Sora grinned. He was relieved that at least one member of his team did not have any doubts about what he was talking about. He leaned back and placed his hands behind his head. "I dunno why, but this feeling's so familiar to me."

Indigo nodded to him. She stepped past the Keyblade wielder and took a few angel-sized paces (which are rather small compared to a normal-sized human's paces) closer to the castle's foundation. She stopped and squinted. Her eyes followed the entire side of the castle's exterior.

Her eyes halted not far from the castle's entrance. Amongst the building's stone foundation, a large crack was present in the wall. It seemed large enough to drive a semi-truck inside and back out again. That was not all. She sensed a feeling of… strong Darkness?!

She whirled around to the others. "There is a cavern underneath the castle," she informed them. She pointed her left hand into the direction of the cave's opening. "I can sense a strong Darkness coming from inside."

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad all approached the angel from both sides. To their surprise, there was the opening. To Sora, it looked like a gigantic drilling machine had tunneled its way into the castle's foundation.

"That must be it," Sora remarked.

"That looks dark," Donald pinpointed.

"Yeah," Goofy gulped. The knight, duck-mage, and Launchpad all quivered at the thought of going into the unknown cavern. For all they knew, it was loaded with tons of Heartless and other monsters. Maybe even… the legendary "Children of The Night"!

Sora strode towards the entrance. "Let's check it out!"

Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad all looked down in despair. It seemed Sora was absolutely fearless when it came to exploring dark, dismal, and possibly dangerous places. It did not matter if it was a completely undiscovered territory. He was willing to wander around in it for hours — if they would let him, that is.

The brown, spikey-headed youth gestured for the others to follow. "C'mon!"

He raced for the cavern. Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad were seconds behind.

Indigo was about to do the same when her antennae began vibrating even faster. Her eyes grew wide. She hastily cupped her hands around her mouth. "Sora!" she shouted, using her hands to magnify her voice. "Let's be careful down there!"

There was no response. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad were already approaching the cave's entrance. With a dismayed sigh, Indigo slowly trailed along.

"When shall he learn to look before he leaps?" Indigo murmured to herself. "He is so naïve!"

Deep, deep, deep, deep down, she believed that was just the way Sora would always be. The naïve Keyblade wielder she had come to call her friend.

---

A/N: SHEESH! THAT WAS QUITE A LENGTHY CHAPTER! NOW, WASN'T IT?

Of course, for a Chapter of such SIGNIFICANT IMPORTANCE, perhaps I should go over some things Here - And Now!

(1.) Yes, Amemi's behavior with the computer was inspired by the way Sora treated it in "Kingdom Hearts 2". Why not have her do something similar? After all, she IS supposed to be Sora's Sister!
PLUS, all that gibberish Amemi typed was something I made up on the spot. In fact, I pounded [(lightly)] on my own keyboard the way Sora did. THAT is what I ended up with!

(2.) I might have Broken The Fourth Wall a handful of times in there. I will not state exactly where, in case anyone decided to read the Opening and Closing Segments first!

(3.) Okay, so I HAD to include all that "INDIANA JONES" Stuff in there! I am not a fan of "STAR WARS", yet I NEVER said anything about "Indiana Jones", now did I? Besides, I thought it gave some Comic Relief, too!

(4.) Yes, yes! Medy is supposed to be Demyx's Somebody! I purposely chose that spelling since it is the closest to the English word, "Melody". That, and the name "Myde" has been used a little too much for my liking.
FUN FACT: The actor who voices Demyx is Ryan O'Donohue, who also played Randall Weems in Disney's "RECESS"!

(5.) I MIGHT have stated this before, yet I might as well do it again.
CHELSY AND SAM SIMON ARE TWO OF MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!

(6.) The part where Sam Simon mentions "A magical key — like in the video games!" is a reference to Prompto Argentum from "Final Fantasy XV"!

(7.) I think you can take a guess at what "unknown chamber" Sora's Team found themselves investigating!

(8.) All those memories Amemi witnessed (and technically felt) were mostly from "Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep". The rest were either original, or they were based around scenes from other KH Games.

(9.) DO NOT WORRY! Amemi is alright! Like Aerith and Myrna said, She just suffered from exposure to an overwhelming amount of memories.

(10.) So, what do YOU think is up next? What "CAVERN" are Sora, Donald Duck, Goofy, Launchpad McQuack, and Indigo headed into?

YAWN! That was a LOT of information to go over, was it now? To THAT end, I shall make This Part brief.

In other words, I have nothing more to say.

So Then, I'll See You Next Time!
In other words, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!

REMEMBER THIS - A MINIMUM OF 214 IS REQUIRED FOR THE SEQUEL! IF 240 ARE POSTED, I WILL INCLUDE A "SNEAK PEEK" FOR THE SEQUEL ITSELF! HOWEVER, THAT/THOSE GOAL(S) MUST BE MET BY THE TIME THE-SECOND-TO-LAST-CHAPTER IS POSTED! THAT WAY, I WILL HAVE TIME TO ANNOUNCE WHETHER OR NOT EITHER GOAL WAS MET!

This Is SoraLego278 Saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!" Plus, "Have A ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH DAY!" In Addition, "FLY WITH YOU ALL LATER!"