Merry Christmas, everyone!

I know, I know, I'm crazy late. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean for it to take this long! Finals came after the last update, and when I got home, the great river of life swept me off my feet as soon as I hit the end of my first semester. And with Christmas here, my life is only going to get busier until the New Year.

Thankfully, however, I was finally able to stat getting writing time a couple days ago. Now, here I am!

I wanted to give a shout-out to all my reviewers. You guys have really kept me encouraged while I was writing this story. Thank you so much to:

readingchameleon

Chirithy 564

SuperSonicBros 123

You guys are awesome!

Okay, now for the story. Enjoy!

"The Keyblade War never happened."

Nightly's words rang out through the small room. Her blank stare bore into nothingness, as if she were asleep.

"Nightly, are you okay?" Aqua asked.

"Shh," Chirithy shushed. He twisted in her arms, reaching up to her face. Pressing his forehead to hers, he said in a low voice, "Sleep."

Immediately, Nightly's eyes drooped, as did her posture. Swiftly, she began to crumple to the floor. Chirithy hopped out of her arms and caught her head as she hit the ground. He gently laid her head down, looking around at everyone, each holding a horrified and concerned expression.

Chirithy sighed. "I know that looked bad, but trust me, I had to do that."

"What did you do?" Kairi asked.

"Why did she say the Keyblade War never happened?" Lea added.

Chirithy was quiet for a second, a paw on Nightly's head. "She said the War never happened…because, in her mind, it never did. I've taken away all memory of the Keyblade War that I could. But such a large memory wipe has its…side effects. I put her to sleep because her mind draws a blank, which, well, causes what you just saw."

"Why take away her memory?" Kairi asked.

"Her friends asked me to," Chirithy replied simply. "It's part of the fight she keeps talking about. They don't want her to remember the Keyblade War, but because of her morals, she's bound to remember it again. The argument is them trying to convince her to change the way she thinks, but I know that it just isn't going to happen."

"Why don't they want her to remember?" Riku asked.

Chirithy replied, "They…um…" Chirithy's words faltered. He drew a breath. "Nightly…fought…in the Keyblade War."

"W-what?" Mickey stammered. "That's impossible. Everyone who fought in the War perished."

"Not everyone," Chirithy replied, his gaze falling back to Nightly. "Nightly is the sole survivor of the Keyblade War, and her friends don't want her to remember because they don't want her to live with that burden on her shoulders."

"What, were they hoping to hide that from her forever?" Lea asked.

"Pretty much," Chirithy replied with a shrug.

Aqua spoke up, having been thinking during the whole conversation. "No matter what her friends think is best for her, keeping that secret from her is only going to push her away from them. She needs to know what happened. Her friends will be there to help her through it, and she will be better off knowing the truth, it will only make her stronger."

Chirithy gazed up at Aqua. "That makes a lot of sense. I never thought of that." Chirithy appeared to smile, if a bit sheepishly, rubbing his head. "Usually I just follow orders. I want what's best for Nightly. I guess I need to stop following orders for that to happen."

Aqua offered a smile to the Spirit. "Let's get her back to her friends. I think they're due a much-needed talk."

"Yes," Chirithy replied, turning his attention to Master Yen Sid. "Master, could you please point us in the direction of Daybreak Town?"

Master Yen Sid's eyes widened at the mention of the world. He closed them, adopting his usual serious look, this time with a grave air. Knowing the little creature would not like what he was about to say, he reluctantly spoke. "I'm afraid," he said, "no one has seen hide nor hair of Daybreak Town since the Keyblade War."

A sinking feeling in Chirithy's stomach made him feel like he was being crushed into the floor. "What do you mean?"

"The Keyblade War shattered what was left of the world as a whole, and the pieces spread and reformed into what the worlds are as we know them today. With this large split, Daybreak Town disappeared. Some believe it to be destroyed completely, while others think it may rest within the Realm of Sleep."

"If it's in the Sleeping Realm, I can go find it," Riku volunteered.

"No," Yen Sid fired back, silencing Riku. "If it were there, you or Sora would have encountered it during your Mark of Mastery exam."

"But it couldn't have been destroyed completely," Chirithy piped up. "Nightly and the other wielders were there afterward."

"What other wielders?" Kairi asked. "I thought Nightly was the only one left."

"There was a small group of wielders, her friends included, who didn't go to war at all," Chirithy explained. "They're called the Dandelions, and Maser Ava put them together to fly away from the world when the War came around. They were the only ones meant to come out of the War. When Nightly's friends found out she had gone to fight in the War, they went to go get her. They got there just in time to take her away before she…well, let's just say she almost let go." Chirithy finished with a quiet voice and a bowed head.

"So, she almost died?" Lea bluntly asked, only to receive an elbow to the ribs from Kairi.

Chirithy laughed ironically. "Yes. Right before the end, I put her in a dream so I could say goodbye. I remember she looked up at the sky, and a light broke through the clouds. She said, 'Is it my time?'" Chirithy looked up in memory. "I don't know where that light came from. It wasn't part of the dream I created. And when her friends came, I woke her up so she could talk to them. This time, both the light and I were there, in reality."

"You weren't like that before?" Aqua inquired.

"Usually we Chirithies can exist in reality for only a few minutes at a time, just long enough to talk to our wielders and send them to their next mission. Then we watch them from the parallel 'dreamscape', jumping back and forth whenever we need to to give advice." Chirithy replied, making air quotes with their paws at the last word. "But for some reason, after that night, I've had an increasingly difficult time getting back to the 'dreamscape'. I can put Nightly to sleep, and send her into a dream, and see her dreams, but I can't actually be there."

"As unusual as that is," Lea said, "I'm guessing you don't want her to realize any of this, right?"

"Yes. Please, it would be best if you pretended I never told any of you this. Aqua, if we ever find her friends, I'll ask them about what you said. Thank you for showing me a different way, and I agree we shouldn't hide this from her forever, but her friends need to realize that, too, before we can do anything."

"Okay," Aqua nodded, a winning smile on her face.

"We should probably just let her rest for now, she's had a long day," Riku suggested. He approached the sleeping girl and gently picked her up, taking her to one of the rooms Yen Sid had prepared for the coming wielders.

Aqua addressed the two wielders standing to the side. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met."

Lea, as smooth as ever, extended a hand and said, "My name is Lea. Got it memorized?"

Aqua gave an amused smile and took his hand. "I'll try. My name is Aqua."

"It's good to meet you, Aqua," Kairi piped up, taking Aqua's hand after she shook Lea's. "My name is Kairi."

Aqua's brow furrowed at hearing Kairi's name. Suddenly, an image of a little girl with a small bouquet of flowers entered her mind. She blinked, and the young woman who stood before her smiled that same sweet smile.

"Kairi…" Aqua repeated, "…it's so good to see you again."

"Again?" Kairi asked. "Have we met before?"

"When you were very young," Aqua replied. "We met at Radiant Garden. I saved you from a swarm of Unversed and you gave me flowers."

Kairi stared blankly at Aqua. "Radiant Garden?"

"Yes," Aqua replied as Riku once again entered the room. "Why? What's wrong?"

"What?" Riku asked, seeing Kairi's expression.

"Radiant Garden," Kairi repeated, letting go of Aqua's hand, her gaze panning to Riku. "Radiant Garden, Riku."

"What about it?" he returned.

"That's it," Kairi said, a smile breaking across her face as she approached her island friend. "It's Radiant Garden, Riku. That's it, that's where I'm from!" She jumped in excitement, throwing her arms around Riku's neck, who caught her in confusion, still trying to understand what he heard.

Understanding finally dawned on his face. "Wait a second," he said, putting her down, looking her in the eye. "Radiant Garden is your homeworld?" At Kairi's ecstatic node, his own smile adorned his countenance. "That's great! How did you find out?"

"Aqua told me," Kairi replied, looking to the Master with a bright smile. "She said we met sometime at Radiant Garden when I was really little."

"Really? That's great, thank you, Aqua," Riku said.

"Um, you're welcome," Aqua replied, "but I'm not sure what I did, exactly."

"I don't remember my homeworld," Kairi stated. "But from what Lea told me, Radiant Garden fell to darkness. When that happened, I must have been sent from there to Destiny Islands, where I met Sora and Riku."

"You really don't remember anything about your homeworld?" Aqua asked in disbelief.

"Only my Grandma," Kairi admitted. "And a room full of books. That's it."

"I know the castle in Radiant Garden had a library," Lea said. "I never saw it myself, though. Apparently used to live there, maybe you'll be able to go inside."

"Okay," Kairi nodded. "I'd love to, but I know we have things to do, first."

"And the first thing would be for all of you to get some rest," Yen Sid decided. "It seems your newest journey has arrived. It would be best for you all to sleep before you set out."

"Yes, Master," was the mass-reply. With nods of goodnights, the friends, old and new, left to their separate quarters to sleep.

"Master Yen Sid," Mickey began.

The retired master looked down to his old apprentice, awaiting to hear what was troubling him.

Mickey continued, "I've been wondering about Nightly ever since we met her. She says she was in Enchanted Dominion when it fell to darkness, and that's where Aqua found her, in an area of Enchanted Dominion. But if she's from Daybreak Town…" Mickey trailed off.

"Yes, I have been thinking about that, myself," Yen Sid admitted.

"Exactly. If she's from Daybreak Town, how did she get to Enchanted Dominion?" Mickey asked. "If the legend is correct, the missions the children of Daybreak Town were sent on were projections of the future—meaning their missions were fake, a mere fabrication."

Yen Sid replied, "Yes; but while that is true, the skills they learned were all too real, as seen by the outcome of the War. Perhaps, after the War took place, access to the other worlds was opened as well."

Mickey hummed, closing his eyes in thought. Yen Sid stated, "There is something else troubling you, my friend."

"Yes," Mickey nodded. "Her friends. If they are aware of what happened to her in Enchanted Dominion, that she left Daybreak Town, they may be looking for her. Maybe we should be looking for them as well."

Yen Sid nodded his slow nod. "Perhaps our next motive should focus on finding her friends as well as retrieving Ventus. Perhaps Ven's heart will reveal itself in due time."

Mickey nodded. "Hopefully so. Thank you, Master. Goodnight." Mickey exited the room, leaving to his quarters.

"Nightly."

Nightly opened her eyes to a bright sky of daybreak. She moved her head back and forth, seeing light yellow buildings with purple roofs surrounding her. "Huh?" she asked herself, pushing herself up to her elbows. "I'm back?" She pushed herself up off the ground, struggling to her feet.

"Nightly." That voice again, coming from behind her. She turned, gasping at who she saw.

"Ephemer, Skuld," she said. The two wielders who spoke her name sat on the lip of the fountain, staring straight at her. "I…I'm sorry I ran, I just didn't want to argue with you anymore. Can we just talk about it?"

The two wielders stood, their blank, unresponsive stares tearing through Nightly's heart. "Guys?" she asked timidly.

To her question, they did respond, but not the one she was looking for. In two flashes of light, both wielders tightly gripped their respective Starlights, crouching in a fighting stance.

"Guys?" Nightly asked again, stepping back from her friends. She summoned her own Starlight when they suddenly lunged at her. She barely had time to block them, their Keyblades locked as Ephemer and Skuld kept up their stares, not recognizing Nightly.

Nightly pushed away from her attacking friends, backflipping away from them. "What's gotten into you two!?" she shouted.

This time, when Ephemer rushed forward in an attack, Nightly noticed something off about his Keyblade. Caught in a trance, she blocked him again instead of dodging. A wisp of darkness swirled off his Keyblade, brushing her face as it passed.

"Darkness?" Nightly asked herself, seeing the inky blackness spread from his Keyblade up his arms and to the rest of his body. She once again pushed him away, turning in between Ephemer and Skuld, whom she now noticed also had darkness swimming around her. The darkness spread, leaving their bodies and surrounding the area, turning it into a void of nothingness.

"What happened to you?" Nightly questioned, concern for her friends flooding her voice.

She barely felt it at first, but as it crescendoed, it was unignorably present. The ground was vibrating, beginning to shake more violently with each passing second. With it, the sound of crushing earth began to rise as well. Nightly gasped as she saw cracks forming between her and her friends.

A split in the rock on either side of her joined at a point, connecting with another crack that had formed between her friends. The ground shook and the rift between the three wielders began to widen, pulling apart and separating the friends.

"No!" Nightly yelled, running to the edge, only to find it too large to jump over. She sent Starlight away, reaching for her friends but knowing it was hopeless. They still held the blank, dead looks in their eyes, Keyblades readily drawn for a duel.

Nightly lowered her hand, staring back at her friends. "Where are you?" she finally asked.

Finally, a response. The darkness around her two friends took shape, growing thicker and more solid. The darkness solidified, created a dark, twisted image where her friends once stood. Where Ephemer was, there was now a tall castle with slender towers. A hole in the highest tower seemed to resemble a clock.

"Castle of Dreams," Nightly breathed. Turning to see the image that had formed around Skuld, she saw what appeared to be a small cottage with a chimney and a soft, sloping roof.

"Dwarf Woodlands," Nightly stated. She blinked, realizing what she had to do, and just how close she had been. "Okay," she said, "I'll find you. I promise."

No sooner had she said the words, she felt something grip her wrist. Looking, she gasped to see a thick vine made of darkness fastened tightly around her. She tried to pull away, only for more vines to show up. They twisted and turned around her, getting tighter and tighter until they suffocated her.

Nightly gasped awake.

And that's it for this one! Again, I'm sorry it didn't come out sooner. I don't want to promise the next one will be out sooner, but I will say that I strongly feel like it will be out sooner. Starting a new semester makes it easier to write, and my next big break won't be until closer to my next finals.

So, let me know what you guys think about the story so far! Our heroes will begin their newest journey in the next chapter.

See you guys soon!