A/N

Talk about a doozy of a chapter and this isn't even the craziest thing I have planned so far. Happy Halloween Month! Updates may slow down for a while. I have a LOT going on...like a lot...but I hope y'all enjoy this one.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor the Disney and Square Enix characters. Please support the original works.


Chapter 15: Switching


Sephiroth.

The name was familiar. Before Kairi could wonder about it, Sora's memories came, unbidden, to the forefront of her thoughts. A colosseum. One on one combat. A one winged warrior with power so terrible that even Sora had barely attained victory. Every muscle in Kairi's body tightened with warning, her heat beat fast and loud, her breaths quickening, her bones tingling with the need to run, duck, or fight.

The man in question did not blink as his eyes roamed from face to face.

"Disappointing."

His voice was low and filled with a reverberant, spine chilling mix of confidence and power that only the truly dangerous could achieve.

"If ripping his home in half won't bring Cloud to face me, I wonder what will."

Dread made Kairi shake. She wanted to shrink down to microscopic levels, even though she knew there would be running from this fight. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the soon to be opponent before her team, except when his single, black wing stretched, twitching as it too prepared for battle.

"Those feathers," Kairi whispered. "He cut down the gummi ship."

Max stiffened at Kairi's side, bringing up his swords.

"This isn't going to be easy," he whispered.

Kairi wanted to say, "try impossible," but if she spoke those words out loud, she felt that they may just come true, and she needed to hold on to all of her hopes because they may just be the difference between victory and defeat. Sephiroth still had not moved, despite the fact that each member of Kairi's team had unleashed weapons. Yuffie, Aerith, Max, and Kairi were completely still, like a squadron of soldiers, waiting patiently for a land mine to go off.

Sephiroth looked up to the ceiling of the chapel. The light shined down on his pale, almost translucent skin. Like a cat zeroing in on a bug, his blue-green gaze flicked to Kairi, and she felt an icy sting of terror in her chest.

"A being of pure light. Fascinating." Sephiroth calmly, easily, raised the impossibly long blade at his side. "Perhaps you'll provide a challenge. Fill the void, until Cloud arrives."

Aerith stepped in front of Kairi. "Is haunting Cloud not enough for you? Now you want to toy with Kairi as well?"

Sephiroth's smiled, revealing a row of perfect teeth that were just too white. "Still protecting him from a fate he cannot escape?"

Aerith held out her bow staff before her. "Our lives are not on a track that you can control."

"Tell that to Cloud. His heart seeks me out, even now. We will meet, whether you stand in my way or not."

Aerith's fingers tightened on her staff. "I won't let you hurt him, or anyone else."

A low, cruel chuckle echoed through the chapel. "Let us see then." Holding his sword with two hands, Sephiroth brought up the blade, balancing it parallel to his cheek. "See if resistance will cause the hands of fate to deviate from their path."

It was only because of countless hours practicing with Max, endless battles with heartless, and a bit of pure, blind luck, that Kairi was quick enough to roll to the side and avoid the incoming attack. Sephiroth's first strike had been so fast that, had she been even half a second off, his long sword would have succeeded in cutting her in half. In that same second of time, Aerith had managed to twirl away from the blade, Yuffie had vanished into a cloud of smoke, and Max had used his swords to curve Sephiroth's blade away from his torso.

But the attack hadn't stopped. Sephiroth swung his sword in wide, destructive arcs, so fast that they sliced through Kairi's reflect spells within seconds. She ducked and ran backwards, throwing fire spells over her shoulder in an effort to keep Sephiroth back. If she just had a few inches of space, she could plan her next attack, but Sephiroth's long blade made it difficult to gain distance, no matter how far she ran in the wide chapel. This left Kairi with little choice but to duck and roll, or risk losing body parts.

"Well, aren't you quick."

Kairi jumped over another sword swing. The second her feet touched the ground, Sephiroth's blade appeared under her neck.

"But not quick enough."

A cloud of smoke appeared behind Sephiroth and Kairi took her chance to duck the exact same second that Yuffie appeared through the grey mist. She aimed a massive ninja star at Sephiroth's back. Though she had succeeded in giving Kairi time to avoid Sephiroth's sword strike, Yuffie did not land a hit on their enemy. Sephirth deftly turned around and easily caught her ninja star with his sword, sliding the blade between the star's points. He twisted the blade vertically, and Yuffie's ninja star went flying out of her hand, thunking into the ceiling.

Eyes widening in fear, Yuffie could only watch as Sephiroth's blade kept sailing toward her neck, too fast for her to vanish into a cloud of ninja smoke. Something bright shined behind Sephiroth, and he turned around, slicing through several, small, yet bright, powerful orbs of light. The barrage of light spells had saved Yuffie, allowing her to escape. Sephiroth turned his attention to Aerith, who was sending volley after volley of light spells at him.

He looked absolutely bored as he walked slowly toward the young spell caster, side-stepping or cutting through her light spells one by one. He stopped, only for a moment to turn and catch Max. The boy had been charing at him, and it was all too easy for Sephiroth to block the young knight's swords. He would have counterattacked, if a lightning spell hadn't forced him to take a step away from Max.

Turning to Kairi, Sephiroth tsked. "You'll have to be faster then that. It's been watching you, waiting for the right moment to catch you."

Kairi blinked at Sephiroth's words, her mind too muddled with the need to fight and survive to understand them. The split second she had spared to think had been a mistake. Sephiroth flashed across the room toward her, his movements so quick that one would believe he could walk through a thunderstorm and still come out dry. Kairi somehow, miraculously, conjured a reflect spell around herself in those precious milliseconds. Her spell protected her from Sephiroth's blade, but not from the force of his attack.

The reflect spell shattered. Kairi was thrown backward, her back slamming hard into the chapel wall, her head cracking against the cold bricks. Hot points of pain burned up her spine and scull. She crumbled to her knees, barely awake as her eyes and jaw popped with pressure. Had it not been for the wall at her side, Kairi would have splattered flat to the floor. There were shrill, high pitched tones in her ears, and through her blurry eyes, she saw something grey and puffy protect her from a silver flash. Then, something-a ninja star?-clattered the ground before her shoe.

A blue and red blob with two long, silver things battled against a long, silver flashing light. The duel wielder, Max, she realized, was barely able to keep up with the lightning fast slashes and strikes of his opponent, but, through sheer force of will, he was able to keep the long, silver blade away from Kairi long enough for someone in a pink dress to appear before Kairi's eyes.

A gentle hand touched Kairi's shoulder.

"Healing wind."

A flutter of spring air tingled on Kairi's back and head. Her pain evaporated, and the distant grunts, slices, and roars of her allies, still in battle with Sephiroth, became louder. Kairi's vision came back into focus, and she found herself looking into Aerith's concerned eyes.

"Can you stand?"

Kairi wobbled to her feet, just in time to see Yuffie and Max take a blow from Sephiroth's weapon. Yuffie flew backward, but was able to stop herself from hitting the wall by flashing away in a puff of grey smoke. Max's shoulder hit the chapel's rubble, hard. His eyes rolled in his head, hissing escaping from his clenched teeth as he tried to fight through the pain. Before Sephiroth could advance on her friends, Kairi summoned several bolts of lightning. Though Sephiroth easily dodged, she had at least succeeded in keeping him from attacking Max while he was down.

Turning to face Kairi, Sephiroth looked at her in much the same way a cobra would look at a shivering mouse caught in its scales.

"I've met one that uses darkness. It is coming for you, girl. And it won't stop until it has dragged you to the depths and forced you to fulfill your final purpose."

Aerith stepped protectively before Kairi, summoning an aero spell. Sephiroth glanced at the swirling vortex of wind surrounding the two women, doing nothing more then raising a single eyebrow.

"There's no challenge in fighting you."

His sword flashed, ripping through Aerith's spell like wet paper. The blade kept slicing through the air, straight toward Aerith's side. She reacted, moving backward, but there was no way she could outrun Sephiroth's deadly speed. Kairi reached out, bellowing a fire spell that sailed over Aerith's shoulder. It collided into Sephiroth's arm, succeeding in pushing him back only a single step, but that was enough. Kairi only needed one second of time to reach out, grab Aerith and-

Aerith was gone. So was the chapel. Kairi was face to face with an invisible heartless, one that was using her shock and surprise to aim its sword at her gut. Instinctively, Kairi stabbed her sword right through the invisible's neck, making the heartless explode into nothing. Before she could even think, two neoshadows grabbed her ankles. Slicing through the two heartless on the ground, Kairi finally had the time to look around.

She was no longer in the chapel. She stood on one of the crumbling, outdoor balconies of the castle. All around her, Donald, Goofy, and Leon were busy hacking through heartless. Kairi never got the chance to ask them what was going on, as she quickly was thrown back into battle. It wasn't until the last heartless was defeated, no more then five minutes later, that Kairi finally had time to breathe, to realize what had just happened.

She had switched places with Sora.


Riku's senses told him that there was a platform up ahead, one that was smoothe and sturdy enough to jump onto to. He had been guiding Mickey and Luna as the three of them climbed down the cliff side into the abyss. Mickey and Lunafreya made sure to follow his advice to the letter, jumping from one rock face to the next, skirting cliffs and climbing down rough walls. Waving at his friends, Riku jumped onto the next boulder.

A moment later, he felt Mickey easily hope down at his side. Turning, Riku reached out and grasped Luna's hand, helping her cross.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure," Riku responded politely.

Luna pointed her trident downward. "I sense a great mass of darkness below," she whispered. "We're close to the bottom."

She was right. The scent of darkness was thick. Through Riku's mental landscape, he could feel a flat surface ahead. Something was off though. As they moved downward, he realized that scent of darkness was fading, and there were echoes from far below, almost as though the bottom of the pit was...moving.

"That's quite a fierce expression," said Luna. "Is there cause for concern?"

"No," Riku replied.

"Are you certain? The light within you weakened for a moment."

Riku swallowed a lump in his throat. This was so weird. Usually, he was the one sensing feelings though reading other people's auras. Not even Kairi could sense what was going on inside Riku's heart. To know that Luna was picking up on slight twinges of his concerns by feeling the light, or lack thereof, within him was a little unnerving. Riku had spent so long getting his darkness under control that he had never really thought about how the light inside him worked.

"I'm just focusing on a way down," Riku lied.

Either Luna believed him, or she had the sense not to bring up something he wasn't ready to talk about. Had Riku been able to see, he might have caught the knowing and worried look on her face. Trying to steer the conversation away form him, Riku asked Luna about her home world. She described something akin to a fairy tale: a world of long, terrifying nights, sprawling plains, deserts, marshes, gods, and kingdoms with massive metropolises, and ancient kings that could conjure all manner of weapons out of nothing.

"There is even a city that is constructed on the water. Truly a magnificent place. Gondolas take you from one section of the city to the next. I had been staying there, preparing for my nuptials and attending to my duties as oracle, when I suddenly arrived here."

"Nuptials?" Mickey repeated, a glint of excitement in his tone. "Who is the lucky fiancé?"

Luna's voice tingled with a shy yearning when she spoke. "A childhood friend whom I treasure with all my heart. You remind me of him, Riku."

Riku felt his face light up with heat. "R-really? How?"

"A focused, young man that cares deeply for his friends. One that isn't afraid to face danger or hardship if it means doing what is right. It's these qualities that make the light within you shine. And the qualities you share with my beloved."

Riku had to turn away so that he could cough, or else he might accidentally let out the awkward laugh that was begging to jump out of his throat.

"Gosh, I hope we can get you home soon," said Mickey as he jumped down onto the next platform. "It wouldn't do for such a lovely lady to miss her own wedding."

Giggling softly, Luna took Mickey's hand and jumped down next to him. Riku used this time to slip ahead of them, skirting a small cliff face toward the flat surface. Those few seconds of alone time were used to try and rub off the annoying heat in his cheeks. By the time Luna and Mickey had caught up, Riku was sure his cheeks were no longer blazing red. Though his heart was still beating stupidly fast.

They had reached the bottom. The scent of darkness slapped Riku in the face, and he summoned his soul eater, concentrating his hearing. No heartless. Yet. He felt vibrations of darkness beneath his feet, and all around them.

"It's almost like being back in the realm of darkness." Riku mumbled.

"It is really dark in here," Mickey agreed. He came to Riku's side, raising his keyblade.

Riku felt a tingle of magic and realized that a light orb was burning at the end of Mickey's keyblade. Mickey and Luna would have less visibility to work with, Riku realized. Though the darkness did not affect him, his friends relied on their sight more then he did. Riku steeled himself, vowing to make sure neither Mickey, nor Luna get ambushed.

Lunafreya giggled again.

"What?" asked Mickey.

"Just another glimmer of noble light."

That annoying rush of heat was back in Riku's cheeks. Luna's light was so strong, that when she had giggled, her aura had flashed bright. It reminded him of whenever he was nearby Kairi and she was in a ridiculously good mood. Or when he had combined his power with Alice's. He felt giddy again, like he wanted to jump up and whoop, but he forced down the feeling, and trudged ahead.

"Come on. We have to rescue that construction worker."

"Of course," Luna and Mickey agreed.

Riku swore he heard them move toward each other and share a tiny, secret laugh before they began following him. Where were heartless when he needed them? He was standing in a wide canyon, where the walls and floors practically breathed darkness, so why wasn't there a single heartless to distract him from thinking about the light in his heart and how Luna had the weirdest, most accurate, sense of how he felt.

An echo reached Riku's ear. He stopped, lifting his soul eater. Behind him, Luna and Mickey stood back to back, preparing for battle. Darkness was moving beneath their feet, through the deep earth. Riku jumped just moments before the darkness came to the surface, the sharp ridges of a heartless' back almost slicing into his feet. A moment later, the burrowing heartless burst out of the dirt completely, followed by several others. A whole wave of them flashed forward toward Riku, Luna, and Mickey.

The King jumped onto the walls of the canyon and pushed off, using his sling-shotted moment to slice through a row of heartless. Then he fried the next group with lightning magic, lighting up the canyon. The surviving earth core heartless sizzled, lightning buzzing through their bodies, temporarily immobilizing them. Riku took this time to gather darkness around his blade. He charged, and after several quick slices of his burning weapon, Riku emerged on the other side of the darkness hard next to Mickey. The heartless behind the two friends disintegrated. Mickey gave Riku a high five for a job well done.

"That was easy," said Riku.

"Too easy. If there's one thing I know about heartless, it's that they're tricky."

"I don't sense any coming our way for now, so let's find that construction worker while we have a chance."

Luna walked by the two friends, pointing her trident into the darkness.

A fluttering breeze caressed Riku's chest, and he realized the light was coming from Luna's weapon.

"I can sense a small glimmer of light ahead. It must be the civilian."

Riku focused. Weird. He didn't feel anything. Still, he knew when to take a step back and let others lead.

"Take us to him, Luna."

Mickey kept close to the lady's side as she took point. Riku brought up the rear. As he followed Luna, he had a strange feeling. There were vibrations in the air, as though something were moving nearby, but he felt no shape. All around him were points of darkness that were oddly...connected. Like streams outstretching from a great river, all the darkness had a source. He just couldn't figure out where the source was.

Luna stopped. "The trail ends here."

Mickey looked around. "I don't see anyone."

Luna turned in a circle. She inched closer to a wall, raising her staff. Riku bolted, grabbing Luna's arm and pulling her aside. The sound of rocks splitting apart reached his ears and he felt dirt scrape against his skin, but he smiled, knowing that he had pulled Luna away just in time. Then he grimaced as he felt the shape of the creature that had come out of the wall.

A thick, stony, earth core, the size of a bus, ripped though the wall. Its teeth snapped as it pounded into the center of the canyon. It turned its huge body so fast, that Luna, Mickey, and Riku had to jump back to avoid getting smashed into the cliff walls by its huge girth. Rearing back, the creature roared, and thousands of heartless came bursting from the ground, the walls, scurrying toward their leader like ants protecting their queen.

Riku lunged, about the charge toward the leader, when something grabbed his arm. He turned to give Luna a confused look.

"No! The civilian is trapped inside that big heartless."

Just as the words were out of her mouth, Riku felt it. A tiny, almost imperceptible, glow of light was resonating deep within the massive earthcore's stomach. If Luna hadn't warned him of it, he never would have sensed it, and now, he was out of time. Because Luna had stopped him, they were quickly surrounded by legions of smaller, earth core heartless.

Mickey, Luna, and Riku had no choice but to fight the armies, even as the large ringleader dug back into the dirt, content to wait for its prey to exhaust themselves by fighting its underlings.

"They just won't stop coming," Mickey grunted as he smashed a few heartless with his keyblade.

"We need to take out the big one! All these little guys are connected to it. I can feel it!"

Mickey opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out instead was a gasp, followed by a terrified cry.

"Luna!"

Riku concentrated on Luna's light, and felt the darkness surrounding her. She was blasting the groups of heartless before her, not once noticing the earth cores that were slowly creeping up behind. Gathering darkness in his hand, Riku focused on the group of heartless that were moments away from tearing Luna to shreds. He was about to release his spell, but then the darkness around him was gone. His senses struggled to adjust, warning him that he was no longer in the canyon, no longer surrounded by heartless, no longer by Mickey, or even Luna. He was standing before Aerith and he was about to shoot his dark firaga spell right into her face!


"Say, Leon, you mentioned that the town's defense system was down. What's that about?"

Leon's footsteps echoed on the stone balcony of the castle. When he turned to face Goofy, the wind howled behind him, sending his long, brown hair fluttering over his forehead. Brushing his hair away from his eyes and scar, Leon's ever-present stoic expression melted into a face of clear exhaustion.

"Cid and I had just finished setting up a brand new defense system for the town. Hostiles, such as heartless, would have been dealt with, without putting the civilians at risk. We had the system up and running in the castle, but..." Leon rubbed the scar that ran between his eyes.

"When the castle was cut in half, the system went down with it," Sora concluded.

"Affirmative. Taking down emblem heartless is easy. They can't multiply like the purebloods do, so it's rare that we run into one now. But here, in this castle, there is a huge infestation. Without the security system to keep them occupied, and with the castle split in two, we're the only thing standing between the heartless and the free for all buffet that's waiting for them in town."

Sora moved to the edge of the balcony they stood upon and looked down at the town below. He stared at the chasm that ran through the center of the town. Mickey and Riku could handle whatever was down there, Sora was sure. And yet, a tiny, shaky voice in his heart questioned him. What if something went wrong? What if Riku and Mickey were hurt?

Sora thought about Disney Town, and the level of chaos that had followed after it Beast's Castle had combined with it. If he had gotten to Hollow Bastion earlier, Sora wondered, could he have stopped whatever cut the world in half? Could he have helped that little boy in town, the one with the bunny. Could he have protected the boy's father? If he were just a little bit stronger...

Goofy tapped Sora's shoulder, snapping the boy out of his thoughts. Then, Donald put a hand on Sora's hip. Sora glanced down at his friend, surprised to see a pleading look in his friend's eyes, instead of the usual annoyance. Donald and Goofy looked as though they were about to talk, but Sora put on the biggest smile he could muster and moved away from them, marching ahead with his head held high.

"Come on! Let's go show those pureblood heartless who's boss. No sense standing around here."

Jumping onto a broken archway, Sora turned to face a cliff. Half of the castle wall had crumbled away, showing the inner rooms and walls of the castle. Pipes jutted out of the rooms below, hanging over nothing. Few of the castle's many elevators were still working, but the party was able to find one lift that was able to take them to a higher level. The lift was bigger then the others, the size of a small arena. Stepping onto it, the party jerked when the lift began to move up.

Fifteen seconds later, Sora felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Next to him, Leon summoned a silver weapon that was half revolver, half blade. His instincts proved to be spot on, as he quickly sliced the three heartless that appeared right before him. The neoshadows quickly vanished into nothing, but nine more appeared in their place.

"Ready for another round?" Sora asked Donald as the two of them stood back to back.

"Let's get 'em," the duck hissed.

A series of lightning spells from the two friends fried all the heartless, but the second they went down, a battalion of darkballs came to take their place. Goofy charged, smashing the darkballs into the elevator floors. While they floated by the floor, Sora and Leon came by to hack them in two.

Leon's strikes weren't as quick as Sora's, but what they lacked in speed, they made up for in sheer brute force. One heavy hit from Leon's gunblade was all it took for row after row of heartless to go down. By the time the elevator had reached its stop, all of the heartless had been taken care of.

Leon and the trio stepped off the lift, entering into yet another battle as hundreds of pureblood heartless swarmed down the remaining walls of the castle toward them. Without civilians to watch out for, it was easy to clear the next army of heartless, especially with Leon's skills. Though his weapon was slower, he was not, easily dodging, rolling, spinning, and jumping high just to deliver devastating blows that cleaved the heartless into oblivion.

The battle ended. Donald and Goofy bumped chests, celebrating. Even Leon cracked a small smile when he said, "Good work."

"On to the next one?" Sora asked, grinning.

Leon nodded. Then he quickly turned around as a loud crack echoed from behind him. A huge chunk of the castle wall crumpled, rubble falling down into the depths below. It wasn't close enough to cause them any harm, but the party cringed when the debris crashed into the floors down below. Sora quickly turned around, looking into the town, staring at the chasm, as though expecting it to break apart much like the castle he stood on.

"Sora," Donald scolded, "do you remember our rule for traveling together?"

"Rule?"

"No frowning. No sad face. Remember? Our boat runs on happy faces."

Goofy tilted his head to the side. "Ya have been frownin' a lot lately. What's wrong?"

Sora's lips stretched into a smile, but it was clearly forced as his jaw twitched.

Donald shook his head and spoke. For once, there was no irritation whatsoever in his tone. He didn't even tap his foot impatiently. "Come on, pal. Tell us the truth. What's on your mind."

Sora cast a look at Leon. "We really should keep going, shouldn't we?"

Leon didn't bite. "Talk to your team. That's what a good leader does."

Sora pressed his lips together, his brows furrowing as he looked from face to face. Finally giving up, Sora looked down at his palms. "Do you remember what happened in Agrabah? How bad it was when Dr. Facilier and Jafar attacked it? Or Mr. Arrow? Or the King of Atlantis? Those darksides in your world? Is this our fault? Because we meddled in other worlds?" Sora gestured to the split castle they stood on, and the broken town below. "And now this. I couldn't stop any of it from happening."

Donald crossed his arms. "Did you forget what Locke told you? You can't always save everyone. You just have to keep doing what you can."

"I know that, but the feeling doesn't go away!"

Sora stomped his foot, his voice rising. Donald and Goofy didn't flinch. Instead, they reached out toward their friend. Before they could touch him, Sora continued speaking. His voice was quieter, but the shining in his eyes was more intense.

"It's my job to keep the worlds safe. Look at all that's happened. This isn't like Disney Town. We got lucky no one was hurt there. Here, so many people were..." Sora swallowed. "I failed. I couldn't protect this world. Maybe if we had gotten here earlier, if I had been faster at defeating that swarm back in Twilight town, we could have done something."

"That's not true." Goofy finally put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Ya can't blame yourself for things you can't control."

Sora shrugged off Goofy's hand. "You don't get it. When all of this started, I was so happy, at first. For a little while, I was excited that the worlds were coming together. It meant that I could see all my friends again, that we wouldn't be separated. Now, I feel horrible for ever thinking that. I didn't even help Ariel find her dad. She sent me away before we could."

Something thumped Sora, hard, on his back, sending him stumbling forward a few steps. When he regained his balance, he looked over his shoulder at Leon.

"Ow?"

Leon didn't seem the least bit sorry. He gave the younger boy a stern look. "Anyone would be happy to see their friends again. There's no shame in being excited about that."

"But-"

Leon put up a hand, stopping Sora. "Listen, I know how hard it is to be the leader, to have to put on a calm face for those that depend on you, to shoulder all that responsibility, to have to deal with everyone's expectations." Leon walked to a pile of rubble, putting his hand on the broken concrete and stones. "This isn't the first time that Hollow Bastion has been all but destroyed. I didn't let Ansem's destruction of my home stop me from coming back and fixing this. I won't let this setback stop me now, especially for the sake of those that depend on me."

Sora hung his head. "You're right. But I still feel awful."

Leon put a hand on Sora's head. "That's normal. I'd be more worried if you didn't feel that way."

"How do you deal with it? I'm still trying to do the right thing, but the bad feelings don't go away."

Leon waved his arm at Donald and Goofy. "You have good friends here, ones that worry. Take it from someone that knows. Sometimes it's important to open up and share your fears with them."

Donald and Goofy winked at Sora. "We'll always have your back," they said.

"Lucky for both of us," Leon continued, "that we're not alone. I couldn't have taken down all those heartless without your help."

Hope blossomed in Sora's chest. It was cool, like a breathe of fresh air that cleared away all the smoggy concern in his head, but there was still a smudge of dirt in his heart, still something that he was too afraid to say out loud.

"You're right. With my friends by my side, I'm sure we can handle anything. Alone though..."

Donald gave Sora a suspicious look. "What do you mean?"

Sora shrugged. "It's nothing really. Just a silly thought. No big deal."

"You face didn't look like it wasn't a big deal."

Sora groaned. "Come on, stop giving me grief. We've got heartless to clobber."

He ran ahead of the group, squeezing through narrow openings in the rubble to the next open balcony of the castle. Donald and Goofy watched him move, pausing to share a worried look with each other. Leon came up behind them, and cleared his throat.

"I was like him once. I didn't want to lean on people, thought I had to handle my emotions on my own. Sora will tell you when he's ready. All we can do is look out for him until then."

"Sora's not the only one that feels bad," Goofy admitted. "I don't like seeing my friends' home destroyed. I wish there was more we could do."

"You've done enough."

Goofy didn't look so sure, so Leon gave him a small smile.

"This reminds me of when we met in Traverse Town."

"Why?" asked Donald.

"Sora was all down in the dumps then too, worried about finding Riku and Kairi. And you two, all serious and concerned about your king. Now look how far you've come, how easily you recognize each other's feelings."

Goofy giggled. "You've changed too, Leon."

Leon's serious, calm expression didn't match his tone. "Don't tell, Yuffie."

Goofy pretended to zip his lip. "Not a word. I promise."

Donald took a deep breathe, and then put his hands on his hips. "Let's go. Someone's got to be there to knock some sense into Sora." He stomped after his friend. "What would he do without me? If he thinks I'm leaving him alone then he's dumber then I thought!"

Goofy turned to grin at Leon, who shrugged in response. For anyone that knew Leon, even the tiniest bit, they could have easily spotted the slight uplifting curve of his lips.

Catching up to Sora, the party quickly entered another battle. As adrenaline took over their minds, they settled into another round of instinctual teamwork. Donald and Goofy tag teamed with magic and brawn, while Sora and Leon ran around, thinning out the crowds. Sora cut through a neoshadow, and was about to move on to the next target, when something caught his eye. Just as the heartless had burst into dust, a green twinkle had glinted off its body.

Sora stared as a star shaped charm clattered to the ground. He picked up the charm, and realized it looked like the one Riku had shown him back at Yen Sid's tower. For a moment, he stared into the charm's shiny, mint-green glass. Then a shadow flashed overhead, bringing him back to battle. An invisible heartless that was flying his way. Slipping the star charm into his pocket, Sora swung his keyblade with his free hand.

His keybalde swung through empty space. The castle around him disappeared. He stood in a deep, dark pit. All around him were flashes of light and the angry grinding of heartless' teeth. King Mickey ran by Sora's side, his eyes desperate as he reached out to someone.

"Luna! Look out!"

Sora spotted her. The Lady in White. She was using her glowing trident to blast away a strange, spiky, burrowing heartless. She was too busy dealing wit the heartless before her that she did not notice the group of burrowing heartless leaping up from the ground behind her.

Sora pointed his keyblade behind him, bellowing, "Firaga!"

The force from the spell sent him rocketing forward, the wind whipping in his ears. He flew toward the Lady in White, shouting.

"DUCK!"

The pretty lady hit the deck, and Sora flew over her head, easily using his momentum to cleave through the six heartless that had almost succeeded in chewing the Lady in White to pieces. He even cleared away the ones that had been in front of her. The moment he landed, Sora turned toward the lady.

"You okay?"

She blinked from the ground, quickly pushing herself to her feet. "You? Where's Riku?"

Realization hit Sora like ice water. "We switched."

The Lady in White grabbed Sora's shoulder, shoving him aside so that she could blast the incoming row of heartless. Sora whistled, watching the light flash from her trident.

"I will have to show you my gratitude later. The fight is still upon us."

"Right!"

Sora jumped back into battle. Getting into the groove of teamwork as trickier with the Lady in White, Luna, but it didn't take for Sora to match her rhythm. He attacked the heartless that got to close, allowing her to blast the ones in the distance with her light spells. King Mickey appeared at Sora's side. He spoke, filling Sora in whenever there was a break in the heartless' attacks.

"There's a leader heartless. Riku said that if we took that one down, we would stop all the the others," Mickey panted, roasting another legion of heartless with triple fire spells.

"Okay. We look for the biggest, ugliest one. Those tend to be the leaders in my experience," Sora replied.

"It's not that simple," rasped Luna. "The leader heartless has swallowed a civilian."

"Then that leaves us with one choice." Sora looked at Mickey. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

The King nodded. "We trap it, like the swarm in Twilight Town. Ms. Luna, how big of a blast can you make with your light spells?"

"I can engulf this entire chasm if given the time and concentration."

"Then it looks like we're on guard duty!"

Lifting his keyblade, Mickey shouted a reflect spell. The magic glass surrounded Luna. She stabbed her trident in the ground, and Sora spared a second to gawk in awe as her weapon glowed, brightening to a brilliant gold like the sun itself. Closing her eyes, Luna breathed deep, gathering light. The heartless all turned toward her, their yellow eyes widening, their mouths opening in hunger.

Sora and Mickey zipped around Luna, deflecting heartless. The king zigzagged through heartless, cutting through whole groups with lightning fast cuts, while Sora alternated between ranged magic and quick jabs. It was slice and retreat, as he had no time to wait and see if a heartless went down. All he could do was make sure to keep them away from Luna as she glowed, brighter and brighter, lighting up the dark pit they stood in, until every nook and cranny of the cliffs surrounding them could be seen, until the heartless had to close their eyes from the brightness.

"Sora!" Mickey screamed, pointing. "The red one!"

A burrowing heartless the size of a buss had burst from the wall above Luna's head. Crimson mist wafted from its spikes. Its mouth opened wide. From inside it's mouth, Sora saw the civilian's hand. The heartless was moving toward Luna and fast. With all of his energy, Sora grabbed Mickey and flung the king up into the air.

Mickey zoomed toward the red heartless.

"Reflect!"

A ball of magic glass surrounded the heartless, keeping it from burrowing back into the dirt. At the same time, Sora used lightning to fry the heartless surrounding Luna. Now that he was sure Luna had a few seconds of safely, Sora leaped toward the red heatless. He broke through the magical glass, but the force of his attack sent the heartless careening backward, away from Mickey and Luna.

Jumping right into the heartless' mouth, Sora was surrounded by complete blackness. It felt as though his hands had sunk into gooey, thick mud, but then his fingers enclosed around the civilian's wrist. Gritting his teeth, Sora pulled with all his strength, and the unconscious man collapsed onto his chest. Holding the civilian close, Sora summoned his keyblade and shouted an aero spell.

The wind sphere tore up the heartless from the inside, cutting through its innards. Sora summoned another aero spell, then another, and another. The heartless around him exploded, blasting into pieces. Sora fell, but, before he could blink or yelp, a warm, cushion of light surrounded him, as both Luna and Mickey caught him.

Sora sat between the two of them, gasping, watching the remaining heartless pop and vanish now that their ring leader was defeated. Mickey gasped in relief, bumping his first with Sora.

"Well, that was some fast thinking. Good team work!"

Luna smiled, bowing. "My deepest gratitude. Had you not protected me earlier, we would not have saved this man."

Sora gave her his best grin. "No sweat, ma'am. Besides, shouldn't we be thanking you? I didn't know you could fight as well as heal."

Luna's laugh was soft, like butterfly's wing. She knelt down and put her hand on the civilian's forehead. The man was slumped across Sora's chest, completely out cold. Luna's cure spell lit up his skin, bringing color to his grey face. He groaned in his sleep.

"He will be all right," said Luna. "But he will not awaken for some time. We'd best find a way out of this chasm before then."

Mickey and Sora put their shoulders under the civilian's arms. As they hauled the unconscious man toward a path that led up the canyon, Mickey asked Sora what had happened right before he switched places with Riku.

"I was in the castle, fighting heartless with Leon and the others. Riku must be there now."

Luna covered his mouth. "He must be facing something powerful. I can feel his light weakening from here."


It took every ounce of Riku's control, concentration, and will power for him to move his hand and release his heavy, dark firaga spell. The darkness flew past Aerith, missing her by an inch, but hitting someone that had been right behind her. Riku froze in horror as he felt his dark spell collide with a man. Then, his senses pushed past his fears. The man he had hit had been swinging a long, massive blade at Aerith and the spell had succeeded in making him stop his attack so that he could nurse his injured shoulder instead.

There was no time for Riku to feel any relief. Darkness pounded on his head. Thought not as all consuming as what he had felt back on Neverland, it was enough to make him feel as though heavy chains were bound tightly around his body, weighing him down. Riku pushed past the headache, forcing his senses to take in his surroundings. Max and Yuffie were nearby, he could hear their desperate breaths as they struggled to regain their feet.

"You, boy, where did you come from?"

Riku hissed at the sound of that low, dangerous voice. Aerith stepped in front him, but all Riku could focus on was the dark aura of the man that had just spoken. A man with a single wing, standing in the middle of the room. Riku tensed when he felt the cold pressure of a blade. The man had regained control of his body, no longer hindered by Riku's attack. Darkness wafted off him, and Riku recognized that scent.

"You're the one that cut the gummi ship out of the sky," Riku realized.

"I had felt a darkness on that ship. So it was you. And here I was hoping that Cloud was still nearby."

The man took a step, walking around Riku. As he moved, Riku took in the man's shape. He had a single, angel wing on his back.

Aerith raised her bow staff. Across the room, Riku felt Max and Yuffie tensing for battle as well. They gasped when the one-winged man laughed.

"I see now. A boy that can control the darkness in his heart. So, you are the one that it fears. And for good reason, it seems." The man rubbed his shoulder. "You are the only one that has managed to damage me so far. Impressive."

"What are you talking about? What's afraid of me?"

"Explaining things to you is not my concern. Rather," the man lifted his sword, "show me your strength."

The air vibrated with pressure, giving Riku only a second of warning. He threw Aerith out of the way, and shifted into the darkness before the one-winged man's long sword nearly sliced off his arm. Yet, even when Riku came out of the darkness, he was fighting for his life, ducking and dodging swords strikes that were so fast, he could barely think. Not even Hook's fury hurricane compared to the one-winged man's assault, as his long sword gave him both reach and deadly precision.

There was a brief break in the one-winged man's attacks when Max came up behind their opponent. Even with Max's extra help, the boys could barely hold the one-winged man back, and their stamina was running out fast.

"Healing wind!"

A flutter of spring energy lit up Riku's skin, momentarily reducing his fatigue. In response to the healing spell, the one-winged man turned toward Aerith.

"Such a nuisance."

A dark orb of energy pooled in the one-winged man's hand. The darkness coming from him was familiar, and when Riku figured out why, he was absolutely aghast.

"NO!"

He lunged at the one winged man, slicing through the man's wing with his soul eater. Grunting, the man barely flinched, as he turned around to engage with Riku once more. His injury did not slow him down in the slightest, even when Yuffie began to join the attack, hitting and vanishing into smoke before the one-winged man could retaliate. The attack went on and on, an exhausting, desperate crescendo of pure defense as none of the fighters could find an opening to attack. Even slipping into the darkness gave Riku no edge, as the man could somehow predict where he would reappear.

It was a losing battle. Soon, only Riku and Yuffie were left standing, as Max's exhaustion had caused him to slip, taking a direct hit, leaving Aerith no choice but to catch and protect him. Yuffie got desperate. Instead of her usual hit and retreat into smoke strategy, she waited too long to vanish, attacking furiously with her giant ninja star. Because she prioritized offense, and because the one-winged man was quick and precise, the enemy's long blade hit Yuffie, hard, on the hip.

Only Riku remained. He managed a few seconds of uneasy peace, putting distance between himself and the one-winged man.

"Why that creature is so fixated on you, and that girl of light, is beyond my understanding. Still, you managed to survive this long. I suppose some that interest is warranted."

"What can I say? I'm too stubborn to just give up."

The one winged man didn't laugh at Riku's quip, but it didn't matter. If he could keep the man talking, to buy just one second to think, maybe he could gather enough energy for a single counter attack.

"What's this 'creature' you keep talking about?"

"A being of such powerful darkness that even I am curious to see where its machinations lead."

"Why is it after Kairi? Why is it 'afraid' of me?"

"Foolish questions for one that is about to meet his end."

Those foolish questions had saved Riku's life, because in the next instant, the one-winged man darted forward, sending a barrage of quick slashes Riku's way. The boy blocked each attack, but right before the last one hit, he slipped into the darkness, reappearing behind the one-winged man. Immediately, Riku's opponent turned around, and Riku did not duck or dodge. The one winged man's sword bit into his shoulder, but Riku did far worse. Pushing down the burning pain in his shoulder, Riku forced down his soul eater, and sliced right into the man's chest.

The one winged man, reeled back, but he wasn't done. Riku fell to his knees as pain exploded on the right side of his body. The one-winged man was already lifting his sword, ready to cut Riku down the middle the same way he had halved Hollow Bastion.

A pair of keyblades came sailing out of nowhere. The one-winged man jumped. In the air, he was blasted with a series of lightning spells, and while he was busy dodging, Leon appeared before him. Deftly parrying the one-winged man's blade, Leon held him back long enough for a blast of powerful light to blind the one-winged man.

Riku gasped as Luna, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and Kairi surrounded him. Everyone, except Luna, faced the one-winged man. Riku could no longer focus on the battle, as his arm became numb, his shoulder screaming in agony, and his exhaustion winning over his stamina. He fell forward, but rather then hit the floor, he fell into a set of soft yet firm arms. Someone pressed their forehead against his. A whisper reached his ears.

"Blessed stars of life and light, deliver us from darkness' blight."

Luna's voice was followed by white, hot, pure light that cascaded over Riku's body. He gasped, feeling electricity run through his veins. The pain he felt was gone, and something deep within him awoke, something he hadn't felt since he was a child. Try as he might, he couldn't help giggling. His senses extended without his concentrated effort, and he realized that the tide was turning.

Now facing several more opponents, the one-winged man was slowing down, but only by the tiniest margin. Mickey, Sora, and Leon relentlessly attacked, each taking advantage of the openings made by Donald and Kairi's magic spells. Goofy defended the fighters with his shield, catching several strikes from the one-winged man's sword. Aerith and Kairi ran around, healing any downed party members, making them rise back up to put pressure on the one-winged man. Max, and Yuffie joined the battle once more, yet still the combined power of all their friends was barely enough to hold the one-winged angel back.

Then, there was a powerful blast of magic as the one-winged man summoned pillars of deadly fire. The flames surrounded him, catching every one of his opponents, succeeding in throwing them all back. Sora, Kairi, and the others, managed to land on their feat, but each of them were either gasping, or nursing wounds.

"Quite an army that has amassed here," said the one-winged man, "but I grow tired of this battle. There's no challenge, and it is keeping me away from that which I truly seek. If Cloud is not in this world, then there is no need for me to remain here."

Before anyone could move, the one winged man flew up, slipping through the broken roof of the chapel, leaving only black feathers behind. In the silence that followed, it was Riku who spoke first.

"Who," Riku heaved, "was that?"

"Sephiroth," Aerith answered, a note of disgust in her voice. "A nightmare that keeps haunting Cloud."

"Do you require more healing?" Luna asked Riku. "You look ill."

"He doesn't use his own darkness," Riku whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Leon asked.

"Sephiroth. He draws darkness from other people. He almost used mine to attack Aerith earlier. I couldn't let that happen."

"Whaaaaaaat?" Yuffie's surprise echoed in the chapel. "You mean, you managed to hit him with that dark fire spell earlier, only for him to absorb it and almost use it to hurt Aerith?"

"Yes."

"Oh man! And that guy's after Cloud! We've got to warn him!"

"We're not going to tell Cloud anything," said Aerith, a low warning in her tone.

"Huh? Why?" These questions were spoken by Riku, Yuffie, Kairi, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Max.

Aerith shook her head, a distant, sad note in her voice. "Cloud is obsessed with chasing Sephiroth, but what's he's really after is a shadow of his own grief. If he learns that Sephiroth sliced Hollow Bastion down the middle, just to draw him out, it will only feed his obsession. Facing Sephiroth won't set Cloud free. It will only trap him further. So everyone, please, if you run into Cloud, don't tell him Sephiroth was here."

"Aw come on!" Yuffie groaned. "You know I stink at keeping secrets!"

Riku stood, facing Aerith with a hard line on his lips. "You don't believe that Cloud can defeat Sephiroth?"

"I," Aerith sighed, "I don't know. I just know that it won't save him from his grief."

"And what about Sephiroth? Do you really think he'll stop looking for Cloud? It sounds to me like they're going to find each other sooner or later."

Riku tensed. Kairi had grabbed his arm and Sora reached out to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you should stop," Sora and Kairi said.

Across the room, Yuffie went to stand at Aerith's side. The older woman let out a small sob, accepting Yuffie's soothing hug.

Swallowing, Riku said. "I-I'm sorry. It's just that I know what it's like to chase a dark obsession. And running away from it doesn't help. But, I'll respect your wishes. I won't tell Cloud anything."

Aerith didn't respond. She simply nodded in gratitude. Everyone, except Leon and Riku hung their heads. Leon walked away from the group, mumbling under his breath, unaware that Riku could hear him several feet away.

"So, that's why Cloud said he could never truly be at peace here."

Luna tapped her trident onto the stone floor, catching everyone's attention. "Pardon my interruption, but may we leave this dreadful place? Our business here is done, yes?"

Leon faced the team again. "You're right. Thank you for all your help, Miss. Now that we know what cut our world in half, and with culprit gone, we should go back to town and regroup."

"This doesn't feel right," said Sora. "Can't we at least warn Cloud that Sephiroth is looking for him?"

"He already knows," Leon said curtly.

He made his way across the room. Aerith had been looking up toward the ceiling. She let out a tiny gasp when Leon put his hand on her shoulder.

"Tifa's with him. She'll keep him from straying too far."

"I know she will," Aerith whispered back to Leon. "But Cloud has a hard head. And Riku might be right. If they meet-"

"If that happens, then we'll be there to back him up. We're a team after all, whether Cloud likes it or not."

Aerith covered Leon's hand with her own. "We are a team. Thanks for helping me remember."

"Man, today is the worst!" Yuffie grumbled. "All that, and we still have work to do. And to think, before this world smashing problem started, we were going to use Cid's ship to fix up the castle. Now it feels like we have to start from scratch! And we have to fix the city too!"

"It'll get fixed."

Leon said this with such certainty that it brightened up everyone's spirits. A little. Kairi finally let go of Riku's arm in favor of hesitantly approaching Mickey.

"I have a favor to ask. I know that Disney Town is a little chaotic right now, but I'd like to call some people over if that's okay."

Mickey must have smiled at Kairi, because her light brightened. "Of course. Just let me know who you want me to summon."

Kairi bowed, a small note of happiness returning to her voice. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Lunafreya let out a tiny squeak, one that made everyone turn toward her. Clearing her throat, she bowed to King Mickey.

"Forgive me, Majesty. I was not aware of your royal lineage. Had I known, I would have given you the necessary deference."

Mickey shrugged. "Aw, there's no need for that. Besides, it's not like this is my kingdom."

Yuffie walked over to Kairi and thumped her hand on the red headed girl's shoulder.

"If there's anyone you should be showing deference to, it's Kairi here. I mean, after all she's-"

Kairi slapped her hand over Yuffie's mouth. "Nope! We are not talking about that!"

Yuffie wiggled her mouth away from Kairi's hand. "What? Does it make you uncomfortable or something? I mean, you already are a princess, shouldn't you be used to having people show you respect by now?"

Sora tilted his head to the side. "What are you talking about?"

Riku snorted. "Sora, you seriously haven't figured it out?"

"Can we please stop talking about this?" Kairi begged.

"Actually, I want to see this play out," Max said. He put his arms behind his head, adopting a relaxed but playful pose by shifting his weight to one leg.

Kairi seemed to grow more annoyed by his nonchalance. "But-"

"Come on," Riku teased, "don't tell me you don't want to see Sora's face when he finally gets it."

Kairi's protest vanished, a little giggle escaping her. "Okay, I admit, I do kind of want to see that."

Sora stomped his foot. "Hey! I'm still here. Come on, tell me what the big secret is!"

"It's not really a secret at this point," Yuffie mumbled.

"Then why does it feel like I'm the only one not in on the joke?"

Donald, quacking quietly, walked over to Sora, happy to not be the grumpy one out of the two of them, for once.

"Sora, use your brain. Who was Kairi's grandfather?"

"Ansem, but we already knew that."

"Good, good." Donald patted Sora's thigh like a knowing professor teaching his student some obvious knowledge that only a fool would overlook. "And who was Ansem exactly?"

"He was our enemy. What does this have to do with Kairi?"

Donald shook his head. "Wow, you really haven't put two and two together."

Sora snorted. "All right, fine. You win. I give up. Will you just tell me already?"

"Come on, pal," Goofy offered kindly, "you can figure it out. Just think: was Ansem only our enemy, or did he have another role?"

Sora was silent for a moment. Riku could almost hear the gears in his head turning.

"He was the leader of," Sora's words slowed, "Hollow Bastion."

Sora turned to face Kairi, raising an shaking finger to point at her.

Kairi laughed. "You were right! His face is priceless!"

"No way." Sora smacked his hands to his temples. "Wait, wait, wait! If Ansem was the ruler here and he's gone now, does that mean that Kairi is now the ruler of Hollow Bastion?"

Max and Riku began fake clapping. "By George, I think he's got it," they deadpanned.

"Bingo!" Yuffie snapped her fingers. "Kairi here is the true heir to Hollow Bastion."

"I think you mean, Radiant Garden," said Kairi.

Aerith took a step forward. "You remember."

"Remember what?" said Sora and Riku.

"Radiant Garden," Kairi recited. "That's Hollow Bastion's true name. When I was little, there were flowers in every part of the town, and in front of the castle. My grandma and I used to tend to them."

"We won't be using Hollow Bastion's true name just yet," said Leon. "Not until we've restored the world to the way it was before."

Kairi put her hands on her hips, standing straight, pride radiating out of her confident pose. "I think I might know just the person to help with that."


Jiminy's Journal

Sephiroth (First appeared in Final Fantasy VII, 1997): A deadly swordsman that wields such destructive power, he is able to slice a whole world down the middle. It is unknown why Sephiroth insists on facing Cloud in battle, but it seems the two are fated to meet, with only one emerging the victor.