The forest had begun to wake up for the morning, and so had the quartet of travelers bound for Mistral.

Summer lifted her foot above her head and delivered an axe kick to shatter the now-empty shelter she and Cloud had built. She grabbed fistfuls of the branches used in its construction and threw them aside haphazardly, and within moments, there was nothing left of their shelter aside from the thin cordage tied between a stake and a tree branch. She untied the cordage and stowed it and the stake in her bag.

"That'll make it harder to track us," she stated plainly to Oscar, who was standing nearby. "We need as little evidence that anyone was here as possible."

"You think Hazel's still after us?" Oscar asked.

Yes, the voice in his head said.

"Well, yeah," Summer said at the same time. "I told you he's tenacious, right?"

"What did the two of you ever do to him, anyway? Why'd he try to kill you?"

Summer paused in her frenzied movement and looked down at the ground. "Is Ozpin explaining this to you, or should I?"

"Go ahead, Miss Rose," Oscar felt himself say, or rather felt Ozpin's words pass through his mouth.

"Hazel's sister was a Huntress-in-Training at Beacon," Summer explained, looking back at Oscar. Her usually somewhat cheerful face was completely devoid of mirth. "I was asked to chaperone them for a training mission. The Grimm presence in the area was too much for the five of us — I called in the evac, but Gretchen's Aura broke while we were holding the LZ. Her wounds were too heavy, and she died in the operating room."

Ozpin added: Summer blamed herself. Hazel blamed the both of us, and swore revenge.

"It was years before I met Hazel again — as an enemy," Summer said. She flipped her duffle bag open and stowed her cape inside, plucking out a thick red poncho with a white pattern emblazoned on it. She slipped her head through the neck hole and adjusted it. "When I made my trip into the Grimmlands, he was waiting for me."

"I see," Oscar said.

"Sorry, wait, what?" Yang asked, walking up to them, the bag holding her dismantled tent in her arms. "I missed most of that."

"Yesterday someone working for Salem tried to kill me," Summer said blasély. She pantomimed the separation of train cars that had occurred with her hands. "We got away from him by severing the rear half of the train we were on."

"Oh," Yang said.

"He might not be tracking us," Summer stated. "We were both on a direct line to Mistral. I'd like to get there ahead of him, but even if we don't, a lone agent can't topple Haven — and they need the Spring Maiden to unlock the Vault anyway." She rolled her neck and flipped the front of her poncho over her shoulder.

"I don't think 'he might not be tracking us because he knows where we're going' makes me feel much better," Yang said.

Summer shrugged. She glanced over to Cloud, who was stretching a slight distance away. "How are we doing this? That bike's not big enough for the four of us."

"Get as much luggage as you can on the bike," Cloud said, pointing at their piled-up bags and then to Yang's motorcycle. "We'll move faster that way."

"You sound like you've done this before," Yang said.

"I have," Cloud said, coolly adjusting his hair with his other hand on his hip. "Used to be a motorcycle scout."

"No kidding, you ride?" Yang asked excitedly.

Cloud nodded. "Something like that. Never owned a bike of my own, though."

Summer hauled her bag over and began lashing it to the motorcycle. As Oscar lugged his backpack over to her, he said, "So, you said that you went to Hollow Bastion next. That's where Maleficent's base was, right?"

Summer reached over and began tying the other end of her cordage to Oscar's bag. "Hey, you were paying attention. Yeah, it was."

"Is this more of your story?" Yang asked. "I was wondering what exactly the Heartless are, like, are they just Grimm in space or what?"

"Yes and no," Summer said. "Well, actually, let me explain."


"Summer."

The glimmering shooting star hadn't faded, and the Blackjack was hot on its tail.

"Summer."

Summer Rose blinked and turned around. She blinked again, her eyes focusing and unfocusing. She realized she actually hadn't blinked in a while and rubbed her eyes.

Cloud was standing in the cockpit behind her. Worry was evident in his furrowed brow. "You've been piloting for hours. I'll take over. You should get some food, or rest up."

Dimly, she became aware of the gnawing pain in her stomach and fatigue in her bones.

"Yeah," she said. Her voice felt hollow. She unfastened her restraints with trembling hands.

Cloud slipped with practiced ease into the co-pilot seat. "I'll let you know if we get anywhere," he said as she stood up.

Summer made her way down into the lounge. The enchanted servants were having a quiet discussion that sounded like distant static to her ears. She opened the door to the captain's quarters, unfastened and dropped her gun belt on the ground, and collapsed in bed.


Summer woke up underneath the blankets. Her feet had been shucked of her boots at some point, her bracers had been removed, and she'd been covered in her bed's thick quilt. She didn't know who to thank for the kindness.

She slunk out of bed and into the lounge. The lights were down in a simulacrum of nighttime. The Beast's servants had gone to sleep on the couches, so she quietly ascended into the cockpit and slid into the pilot's seat. Cloud glanced over at her but looked back at the instrumentation after a second.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"I've been following your star," Cloud said, pointing ahead to where its tail was still visible. "I don't like where it's leading us." His gaze flicked back to her for a moment. "Did you eat anything?"

Summer's stomach grumbled. "No. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah."

"I'll make something."

Summer descended into the lounge. She boiled some water in the kettle and made two cups of instant noodles. She delivered one up to Cloud before returning for her own, and then another couple trips for tumblers of synthetic milk.

"They've still got a minute." Summer slid back into her chair.

"Thanks," Cloud said. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah. Maybe. I'm better physically. I'm not tired any more, at least. I just feel terrible." Summer slumped down. She grabbed her cup of noodles and began to swirl them with a pair of chopsticks. They weren't quite done; the entire block of noodles rotated, slowly loosening as Summer pushed them around. "Just so guilty, and miserable, and powerless."

Cloud sighed. "I know the feeling."

A moment of silence passed between them as Cloud opened his own noodles all the way and they began eating.

"Can we talk?" Cloud asked.

"Absolutely," Summer replied. "What about?"

Cloud was silent for a long moment. "Your friend Aerith."

"Interesting start to a discussion," Summer said, glancing at him over her noodles. "You looked like you saw a ghost when she walked in."

"I did," Cloud said, a great weight seeming to press down on him. "Hers." He took a deep breath. "My memory's all screwed up, but I remember her. I remember her dying."

Summer sucked in a breath through her teeth. "She certainly hasn't mentioned coming back from the dead. Cid brought her, Leon, and Yuffie over from their home about ten years ago. You're sure?"

"Positive."

Summer clicked her tongue. "Does this have anything to do with the man you're hunting?"

Cloud nodded.

"He killed her," Summer concluded.

Another nod.

Summer sighed, pinching her brow. "This weighs on you a lot, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

Summer looked down at her noodles, wisps of steam billowing up from it. "I don't know what's going on," she said. "And whether or not you — connect, reconnect, just talk with this Aerith, I don't know if that's going to help your pain or make it worse. But I can tell you that I regret a lot of things. My last conversation with my partner wasn't very good and I'm going to keep regretting it. I'm going to go home, I'm going to make sure that Tai and my daughters are okay, and then I'm going to hunt down Raven Branwen and slap her before kissing her guts out."

Cloud laughed, despite the tension. "Kissing her guts out? How's that supposed to work?"

"I'll make it happen," Summer declared boldly.

The navicomputer began to beep. Cloud spun in his chair to read it. "We're coming up on a world," he reported. He spun back around to face Summer. "It's Hollow Bastion. Looks like our shooting star is heading there, too."

"Hollow Bastion," Summer repeated. She set aside her noodles. "Leon warned me about this place. Some witch is using it as her base."

"Maleficent," Cloud said. "I've heard about her. Hades didn't like her, but they were working together."

"Then we'd better eat up," Summer said, picking a huge mouthful of her noodles up with her chopsticks and slurping them down as quickly as she could. "We're gonna need it."


The Blackjack entered the atmosphere some distance from anything of import. They flew over purple canyons for a time until a town came into view.

"Now we're talking," Summer said.

The town was surrounded on all sides by great gray stone walls. One of the sides had been breached long ago. The Blackjack flew low over the breach and into the town. The cobblestone streets below were teeming with Heartless.

"Hollow Bastion, dead ahead," Cloud said coldly. He pointed at the massive castle at the center of town. Massive clockwork and steam contraptions hung off stone and marble. The massive crest of the Heartless was emblazoned across the castle's front. "Remember, Maleficent has been using it as a home base. There's no telling what sort of Heartless are inside."

"Awfully ominous," Summer said, adjusting her approach.

"There's the front entrance," Cloud pointed out. Indeed, Summer could see the massive gates of the Bastion. Beneath it were strange, rising waterfalls. There had once been a bridge over the falls leading to the castle's gates, but most of it had crumbled away; a magical ropeway had been rigged up to serve as its replacement. Cloud continued, "It'll be easier to get in through a postern. Bring us around to the back of the castle."

"Got it." Summer gunned the throttle and flew past the castle. The Blackjack whipped around and Summer prepared to land it on a large circular platform at the base of the castle. The landing itself was far, far rougher than Summer would have liked, but nobody complained.

Summer shut down the ship and climbed down into the lounge. Cogsworth, Lumière, and Mrs. Potts were all stretching their legs (so to speak, as two of them didn't have proper legs).

Summer reloaded Halbmond and Thorn and kitted herself with additional ammunition and supplies.

"Ready?" Cloud asked.

Summer looked over and was stunned for a moment; Cloud had shed his red cloak. He raised an eyebrow at her as if to ask if it were a big deal and she shook her head in response.

"Ready," Summer replied finally, slipping the last of Halbmond's magazines onto her belt. She turned to the trio of servants. "We're sorry to leave you like this, but we're going up there to find out what happened to Belle and the Beast." Summer pointed to one of the control panels in the lounge. "If there's a Heartless attack, the swivel blaster can be controlled at that panel."

Lumière saluted. "Understood, mon capitan." The other two nodded vigorously.

Summer looked at Cloud. "Well — ready?"

With a nod, Cloud said, "Yeah. Let's go."

They disembarked and closed the cargo door after them. Cloud pointed to a small, innocuous entrance down some steps. The depths of the castle had seen few visitors in the last nine years, and was falling apart. Peering in from outside, it was dark and eerily silent. Summer clipped a flashlight to her belt and gave a thumbs up to Cloud, and the pair walked in.

The tunnels beneath the castle were dark and dank. There was the lingering odor of still water and large copper pipes. They wandered for a while in the dark, their path illuminated by small flashlights.

Summer stepped up to a rubble-clogged staircase that led upwards. She peered up into the rubble, trying to look for any space large enough for either of them to squeeze through. Finding nothing, she stepped back. "Completely blocked. Hope this isn't the only path up," she muttered.

They continued trekking through the corridors until they came to an intersection that was large enough to be a room in and of itself — and standing in the intersection was the blunderbuss-wielding Heartless.

Cloud silently drew the Buster Sword.

"This guy," Summer said, drawing Thorn. "Any thoughts?"

Cloud's voice was focused and serious. "He didn't like fire last time. Watch out for the claw."

Summer plucked a shell banded with red paint to denote its payload of Synthetic Fire Dust from the belt at her hip and slotted it into the hollow center of her revolver's cylinder. She flipped it closed. "Got it."

The Heartless snarled and leapt for Summer. She whirled around, sidestepping and delivering a roundhouse kick that slammed it back; she punctuated the exchange with three shots from Thorn.

Cloud stepped in with a charging thrust from his Buster Sword, knocking the Heartless back further.

Her Semblance engaged, Summer slipped past Cloud, planting a freshly-drawn Halbmond in the Heartless's stomach.

It roared in agony, batting Cloud aside with its claw and jamming its blunderbuss in Summer's face and firing. Summer flew across the room and into the wall—

—with Halbmond still firmly embedded in the Heartless's stomach.

Summer pulled herself out of the small crater she'd created and spun Thorn on her finger. "Alright," she called out, tossing the spinning revolver from her left hand up into the air and catching it with her right. Her thumb slammed down on the hammer. "Let's boogie."

Summer ran forward, firing the remaining standard rounds in Thorn's cylinder. The Heartless furiously swiped for her; her Semblance engaged and she narrowly ducked beneath it. Her leg shot out in a lightning-fast kick, dropping the Heartless to its knee as it followed through on its swipe.

The Heartless's other arm, holding the blunderbuss, swiveled around to point at her.

Her left arm came up and slammed against the Heartless's arm, knocking it aside. Simultaneously, her right hand came up, pointing the secondary barrel of Thorn directly at the Heartless's chest. Her left hand reached out and grabbed Halbmond.

As she did so, the Heartless's claw came around, its tips slashing through her Aura, her shirt, and her stomach.

Summer pulled the trigger. The Heartless was thrown back, quickly-spreading flames covering it. Summer pulled Halbmond free from the Heartless's chest as it flew backwards.

The Heartless stumbled around, trying to put out the flames.

Without hesitation, Cloud slammed the Buster Sword through the Heartless's back and it slumped over, dead, before dissolving into ichor. He spun the sword around in a flourish before clipping it to his back.

Summer let out a shuddering, shaking exhale of excitement from where she'd fallen.

Cloud offered her a hand up. "You alright?"

Summer grabbed her stomach as she took Cloud's hand and got to her feet. She winced in pain. "It's not deep. Just grazed me."

"I'll take a look at it, but—" Cloud jabbed a thumb towards one of the intersection's exits. As he did, Summer noticed there was a dim, pale light coming from it. "—I don't want to patch you up in the dark."

Summer nodded. Cloud supported her as she shambled towards the light. Around the corner, the hallway shifted to nicer, cream-colored walls and blue carpet, with an ornate-looking wooden door at the end of the hall.

Summer opened the door and stumbled into the room.

It was a brightly lit, circular study with dust coating almost every surface. Bookshelves lined the perimeter, and on the walls were scientific diagrams of the body and heart, along with a massive portrait of a handsome yet severe-looking man with brilliant silver hair. At the center of the room was a desk that was shaped roughly like a kidney bean. Books and debris had been scattered around carelessly.

"Nice digs," Summer said, shuffling over and sitting on the desk. She winced and pressed her hand into her stomach. "I am almost going to feel bad about bleeding all over the place."

Cloud looked around, visibly unsettled at the study as he gently shut the door behind them. He shook his head and strode over to Summer.

Summer pulled out the small medical kit from her bag and flipped its lid open.

"Won't need it," Cloud said, flipping his bangle over to reveal several marble-sized spherical gems.

Summer had seen them before, but the way he presented them made her curious. "What are those, anyway?"

"Materia," Cloud said. "Condensed mako energy. They're how I use magic." He tapped a green one. "This one is for healing." The green glow of healing magic began to coalesce around the gem and Cloud directed it into Summer's wound, which sealed shut, leaving only the blood that surrounded it.

"Wow," Summer said. "Still felt very weird." She looked at Cloud, who was pointedly looking down at the ground. "What's wrong?"

Cloud looked around before shaking his head. Reluctantly, he admitted, "This place dredges up memories I'd rather not think about."

"It is a little creepy," Summer said, looking around. "No windows, in the basement, giant picture of…" She looked at the portrait again. "Whose place is this, anyway?"

"Ansem's," Cloud said.

"How do you know?"

Cloud pointed to the desk Summer was sitting on. "You're sitting on some of the missing pages of Ansem's Report."

Summer looked down. Indeed, the stack of papers she'd sat down on had a header that proclaimed them the work of Ansem. She shifted slightly and picked them up, rifling through them. "Part two, four, six, ten…" She looked up, irritated. "We don't even have half the missing half!" She huffed and began to skim it. "Extract darkness...amplify...wait, subject's heart collapsed?" She reread it carefully and looked up at Cloud. "Uh. This is bad."

"How bad?"

"'Human experimentation' bad," Summer said, passing him the part of the report she'd been reading and began to read the next part. She stopped cold midway through. "Oh gods. The Heartless aren't just monsters." She looked at Cloud. "They're hearts. People's hearts."

They spent some time in the study, reading Ansem's Report carefully. Summer lounged in the large and ominous high-backed chair behind the desk, silently glaring at the compiled research notes of what was very quickly turning in her mind from a benevolent sage and researcher to a certifiable monster.

"'My path is set,'" Summer read aloud. "'I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses.' I think Ansem wants Sora and the Princesses — and I think Belle might be one of them. It'd explain why that Heartless kidnapped her."

"Hold on," Cloud said. "But why?"

Summer flipped back a page. "Uh, he thinks that bringing together the hearts of worlds will allow him to become all-knowing, and somehow the princesses and the Keyblade are part of this process. I'm not convinced he's exactly sane, or necessarily human any more."

"Really," Cloud said. He paged through his half of the Report. "Then what does Maleficent have to do with this? Is she working for Ansem?"

"No idea," Summer said. She tucked the pages she'd been reading into her bag and reached out as Cloud handed her his half. "Whatever's going on, I don't like it. Let's go."

Cloud adjusted his sword's placement on his back as he stood up. "Then let's mosey," he said.


From the intersection where they'd fought the blunderbuss-wielding Heartless, one of the branches led up out of the castle's undercroft. As they emerged from the underground, the presence of lit torches and large stained glass windows meant Summer and Cloud could switch off their flashlights.

They wandered through long-abandoned halls and quarters. In the guard quarters, Summer spotted a board game abandoned in the midst of a session. It had gathered a layer of dust and cobwebs. She shook her head and continued on.

They emerged from the guard quarters out onto a balcony overlooking the rising waterfalls.

A brass platform had been rigged up, a magical conduit leading upwards. Summer stepped on with Cloud a pace or two behind her.

"How do we activate it?" Summer asked absently.

Very abruptly, the platform began to move upwards. Summer stumbled and Cloud caught her hand.

"Thanks," Summer said.

"Incoming," Cloud said. Summer turned to where he was looking.

A flock of draconic Heartless were flying toward them. Summer whipped out Halbmond and Cloud pulled out the Buster Sword, but the Heartless flew past and down, towards a balcony below them and nearly halfway across the castle.

Summer stepped toward the edge of the platform and peered down. She regretted it immediately; they were at a dizzying height. But she looked down at the balcony where the Heartless that had flown past were dive bombing someone.

In the chaos she caught a glance of familiar silhouettes and colors, tiny in the distance as they struggled against the airborne Heartless.

"It's the Beast," Summer said happily. "And he's with Sora and…those other two!"

"Donald and Goofy," Cloud supplied, looking down at them.

The platform jerked as it stopped its ascent and began moving laterally around one of the large towers, putting the other group out of sight.

"We gotta get over there," Summer said.

"Might be a little delayed," Cloud replied as one of the flying Heartless landed on their platform. He stepped forward and swung the Buster Sword as if it were a massive baseball bat, sending the Heartless off into empty air. It whirled around before stopping itself with its wings and screeching at them.

As Cloud moved and swung, the platform rocked heavily and Summer stumbled against one of the supports, clinging onto it for dear life. "Careful," she shouted.

Cloud, who had wrapped a fist around one of the other brass supports, nodded. "Yeah. Bad idea." He turned towards the Heartless and his gauntlet crackled with energy. "Calling lightning!"

A bolt of lightning slammed through the Heartless, the thunderclap sounding an instant later. The Heartless exploded into black mist.

"Yow, that got 'em!" Summer yelled triumphantly.

The thunderclap echoed and it continued echoing. Several of the flying Heartless stopped, before diverting over towards the platform.

"Okay," Summer said, pulling out Halbmond in rifle form and firing wildly into the incoming flock. "We gotta get off this thing!"

"On it," Cloud said, looking around. At least twenty feet above them were the crumbling parapets of the tower. Cloud put the Buster Sword on his back and ran towards Summer.

His left arm wrapped around Summer and he leapt up. She continued firing into the flock of Heartless as they slammed, talons-first, into the wall behind them.

Cloud's hand wrapped around a parapet. He lifted Summer up and she pulled herself up and over the battlement before reaching down and helping Cloud up.

Three of the flying Heartless slammed down beside them.

Cloud unslung the Buster Sword and, in the same motion, brought it down onto one of the Heartless. There was a loud squelch as it impacted. He whirled around, smacking another Heartless aside.

Summer stabbed the last of the grounded Heartless in its chest and whirled around to face the remaining flock. She blanched when she got a good look at them — rather, how many of them there were.

"I think we gotta go," she said to Cloud.

Cloud nodded, running for a set of stairs that led upwards into the tower. Summer scurried after and into the interior.

There were more Heartless inside — large, armored ones bearing shields with faces of snarling, snapping beasts, and ones that reminded Summer of mages from an old illustrated fantasy book she'd read during her combat school years.

Cloud stopped cold, Summer sliding in right beside him.

"I think we gotta go that way," she said, pointing to a door on the far side of the Heartless swarm.

"You mean through all of them."

Summer cocked her head and reloaded Halbmond. "If you want to take your chances with all of the ones outside, be my guest."

"I'll make an opening," Cloud declared, stepping forward with the Buster Sword in hand. "Get ready."

The Heartless backed off slightly as he began to approach. He lowered his stance, blade not-quite-parallel to the ground, and edged in closer. Summer warily followed, both her guns drawn.

One of the shield-Heartless stepped forward and attempted to bash Cloud.

Cloud counterattacked, the Buster Sword swinging around in a wide arc and slicing through the Heartless's shield, killing it. He dove to the left as a mage-Heartless raised its staff to call lightning atop of him and cleaved through another Heartless. He brought his sword back up and charged forward with a thrust, clearing a path nearly to the door.

Summer ran for it, throwing aside a Heartless that stepped in her path and firing at any mage-Heartless that prepared to cast.

Cloud carved through another Heartless and ducked through the door. Summer grappled with one of the Heartless's shields as it bit at her and threw it and its wielder aside before following.

They emerged onto a bridge that stretched from the tower's top floor to the keep of the castle. They ran for it, the Heartless pursuing.

There was a blast of heat and the bridge before them was lit aflame. They slid to a stop. Summer turned cautiously, and the bridge they'd come immolated, the Heartless perishing in the flames. Summer turned again to see where it'd come from.

Atop a thick, squat tower was perched a massive dragon whose scales were pitch-black to the point of seeming to absorb light. Green flames trickled like saliva out of its mouth. It had clearly been wounded several times over, but was still looming menacingly over the pair. It flicked out its tongue at them.

"So, ever fought a dragon?" Summer asked, voice a little smaller than her usual.

"Yep," Cloud supplied nonchalantly, drawing his sword again. "Mountains around my hometown were rife with 'em. They weren't this big, though."

"Not the answer I was expecting, but okay," Summer said, pointing her sword at the dragon. "Well, Mr. Dragon Slayer, what's your game plan?"

"We get to the roof; it's more open." Cloud pointed at the dragon. "Wings first. If we can keep it grounded I can deliver a lethal blow." He hefted the Buster Sword up onto his shoulder confidently.

Summer nodded, flicking Halbmond into rifle mode. She slapped in a clip of high-pressure rounds. "Get to the roof. Clip the wings and bury five feet of steel in its gut. Got it."

They ran through the flames as the dragon took off before almost immediately slamming down on the bridge behind them. Summer had nearly reached the wall when she leapt, pointing Halbmond down and firing to kick herself upwards and onto the rooftop.

Cloud landed beside her. They turned around to witness the dragon's head and neck pop up beside the roof's edge.

Summer pulled out Thorn and shot it in the eye. It recoiled before snapping at her at such speed that only a Semblance-enhanced dodge let her evade. The dragon clambered up, the rest of its body resting on the wide, open rooftop.

The dragon brought one of its clawed feet down, a shockwave of energy reverberating over the roof. Summer leapt over it, firing her guns into the wings. Meanwhile, Cloud dove in and sliced open a fresh wound on its belly.

The dragon howled in pain and took flight upwards, flames dribbling out from its jaw.

"I don't like the look of that," Summer said. "Got a backup plan?"

Cloud pulled at the knot of bandages just below the Buster Sword's hilt until it came loose, the bandages beginning to unravel. It revealed a pair of materia set into the blade — one a vibrant green, flecked with black, and the other a pure blue.

"Can you get me above it?" he asked.

"Of course I can," Summer said. She turned around and crouched down to offer him a piggyback ride. "Get on."

"Seriously?" Cloud asked, climbing onto her back.

"Just hold on tight." Summer slapped a new magazine into Halbmond and held it with her right hand. Her left arm supported Cloud's leg.

Summer took off into a run. She poured her remaining Aura into accelerating her body's movements and leapt straight up with all the force of a cannon. The wind blurred her vision; she angled towards the dark splotch of dragon with every high pressure round fired from Halbmond's barrel.

The dragon flew higher still, fire building in its mouth. Summer groaned as the telltale click-click of Halbmond's trigger signaled the end of the magazine. "Looks like you're gonna have to jump," she ground out.

"Got it."

Cloud adjusted himself and leapt from Summer's back. He rocketed upwards as Summer shot back down to the roof. Summer landed, groaning in pain as her body cracked the stone rooftop.

Above, Cloud shifted the Buster Sword into position, the fluttering bandages falling away completely.

He slammed the sword into the base of the dragon's neck. His momentum carried him up its body and he kicked off it, a massive wound trailing over its entire body. He could feel the heat as the dragon launched flame into the air ineffectually.

As he reached the apex of the leap he spun around. The materia slotted in the Buster Sword glowed as a half dozen meteors coalesced into existence around him. They fired, slamming the dragon downwards into the Bastion until it was nothing more than a thick, black ichor.

"Wow," Summer said, as she surveyed the damage.

Cloud flipped and landed on the rooftop. He slumped, leaning on the Buster Sword for a moment, before collecting himself and sheathing the sword.

"Pretty good," Summer said, huffing and puffing.

Cloud nodded, a faint smirk on his face. "Thanks. We should get inside before more of those Wyverns attack. Where's the nearest entrance?"

Summer pointed further up the roof to a small hole in the wall of the keep.


Summer stepped through the hole in the thick stone wall. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the relative darkness of the interior before she could see properly. She was high above the floor of a grand hall. At one end of the hall was a grand machine, an apparatus of unknown purpose with dozens of massive copper pipes snaking through the room. Exposed wiring sparked and crackled with electricity. At the center of the room was a copper portal shaped roughly like a heart, with swirling energy contained within.

The hall was filled with the sound of clashing metal — at first Summer thought it was some component of the massive machine, but she soon recognized it as the rhythm of battle.

There, on a wide platform before the machine, Sora and Riku were fighting.

Since she'd seen him last, Riku had gotten his own Keyblade and black, form-fitting clothes. He twirled and attacked with lethal grace, waves of dark energy spilling off his attacks. But Sora had improved, too. His footwork was cleaner, his swings definite. The pair were matched nearly evenly.

Cloud slipped in to stand beside Summer. "What's happening?"

"I'm not sure," Summer said. "Let's get down there." She leapt from the balcony onto the stairs leading up to the main platform, where Goofy was attempting to wake an unconscious Donald.

Cloud landed beside her and strode over, green-colored energy swirling around his bangle. He knelt down and held his hand over Donald. The energy flowed from the bangle over the golden fingertips of Cloud's glove and into the duck, who suddenly awoke with a wheezing gasp.

"Sora," Donald said weakly.

"Relax," Summer said, kneeling down slightly. "We've got it from here." She stood and darted up the stairs, sliding Halbmond out of its sheath.

Goofy looked up as she ran up the stairs. "Watch—"

At the top of the stairs, Summer slammed into a near invisible barrier that flared into visibility as she hit it. Caught off guard and now off-balance, she tumbled back down the steps to land on her behind. Her sword tumbled from her grasp.

"—out," Goofy finished.

"Ow," Summer said, rubbing her forehead.

Beyond the invisible barrier, Sora and Riku continued to fight.

Summer picked up her sword and sheathed it; she stepped back up to the barrier, feeling it with her hands. It was warm to the touch and flared into visible light every time she touched it. Her five fingertips created five near-identical circles of light as they touched the wall.

Behind the wall, Riku raised his blade above his head, his feet leaving the ground as dark energy swirled and coalesced around him. In an instant, he sped directly for Sora, tip of his Keyblade pointed for Sora's heart.

Sora caught the attack with the flat of his own Keyblade. Riku's attack ground against the Keyblade's metal, sparks flying all around.

"There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" Sora shouted, throwing Riku back into the machine's piping. The other Keyblade tumbled to the ground, spinning out of reach. For an instant, Riku looked surprised before he seemingly faded into nothingness.

Summer, who had been pressed against the wall, stumbled forward as it ceased to exist.

"I hate that thing," she muttered, glaring at the spot where the barrier had been.

The hall shook. Summer flicked her gaze to the portal at the center of the machine. This close, she could practically taste the dark energy radiating off of it. "That's not good," she muttered to herself.

"The Keyhole," Goofy said.

Sora stepped up, raised his Keyblade to seal it—

—and nothing happened.

"It's not complete," Goofy lamented. "It won't work!"

"Then how do we complete it?" Summer asked, stepping up to it. "Or turn it off? Or anything?"

"Maybe we gotta wake Kairi up," Goofy suggested. Further down the hall's central platform, Summer finally noticed the prone body of a young girl around Sora's age with dark red hair.

Summer gazed intently into the portal as Sora stepped backwards.

"Sora!" Goofy called out a moment later. "Hold on!"

Summer whirled around. Sora was holding Riku's Keyblade up to his chest. He turned his head to look at them and flashed Donald and Goofy a wide, reassuring grin.

"Kid," Summer yelled, eyes wide.

Sora gently pressed the Keyblade's tip into his chest.

The Keyblade shattered almost at once, fragments of light splitting off and drifting away in the air. Another fragment emerged from Sora's chest, drifting over and into Kairi.

Sora's eyes closed, as if he were merely falling asleep. A gentle smile formed on his mouth as he began to fall backwards.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted, getting up from her spot on the ground and stumbling forward towards Sora. She arrived an instant too late, his body already dissolving into motes of light which drifted upwards into the ceiling.

"Shit," Summer said quietly to herself as the five of them gathered around where Sora had been moments before. Something in her senses tingled and she whirled around right before a man's voice interjected.

"So, you have awakened at last, Princess."

Summer stepped forward and drew Thorn. With her other hand, she guided Kairi behind her.

The man standing there was clad in a dark long coat, with dramatic silver hair and piercing yellow eyes.

"Ansem, I presume," Summer said, cocking her revolver. "Don't move."

Almost as if on cue, Donald and Goofy stepped up beside her, brandishing their own weapons. Behind her, Summer could hear Cloud draw the Buster Sword.

"The one and only." Ansem gave a slight flourish with his arms. "The Keyhole is complete at last. You have served your purpose, and now it is over."

Behind his shield, Goofy whispered, "Do you think we can beat him all by ourselves?"

In response, Donald only supplied a tense, "I don't know."

Ansem strode forward, seemingly uncaring of the presence of anyone save Kairi.

Summer's finger curled around the trigger.

Ansem seized abruptly before she fired. His calm features darkened into anger. "What?! Impossible!"

Before him, an intangible Riku appeared, arms raised to somehow hold Ansem back. "You won't use me for this," he declared, voice strained. His eyes flicked to the group, but to Kairi in particular, who was peering out from behind Summer's cape. "You have to run! The Heartless are coming!"

Summer could feel them before she saw them; out of the Keyhole within the portal poured dozens, if not hundreds of Heartless of all shapes and sizes. Tiny Shadow-types, winged and goggle-wearing Soldiers, one that looked like nothing more than a black sheet fluttering in the wind, a six-armed beast with silver shotels…

"Run," Summer said as the wave began to pour from the portal. "Run!"

Without warning, Cloud scooped Kairi up in his arms. "Hold on," he said. Her fists curled around his shirt. Donald and Goofy ran as soon as he'd absconded, and Summer followed as the Heartless surged forth, Ansem's body moving against the wave, drawn inexorably into the portal and towards the Keyhole.

"This way," Donald shouted, directing them out of the hall and through a passageway into the castle's apparent chapel.

They ran out the doors and through another passage into open air. Cloud leapt for one of the many brass platforms, the rest of the group making their own desperate leap and landing safely. Summer slid as she landed, letting out an undignified squeak. She nearly fell off the opposite side, but Goofy caught her arm and pulled her back onboard before she'd made it halfway off the platform.

Above them, the tide of Heartless was dispersing into open air, the airborne Heartless ascending up into parts unknown and the others pouring out like a waterfall.

"There," Donald quacked, jumping back off.

"Where are we headed?" Summer asked as she and the others followed.

"Our Gummi Ship," Donald responded.

They burst into what must have once been a grand entrance hall. Summer had little time to admire it as they ran down the steps.

"Wait," Kairi shouted. Cloud stopped cold, and the others did so as well. "What about the others?"

"Others?" Summer asked. She realized what the girl had meant an instant later. "The other princesses! Shi—shoot!"

"There's a Heartless after us," Donald announced. Summer whirled.

Sure enough, at the top of the stairs—

—was a tiny Shadow-type Heartless. It tilted its head at them, one of its antenna twitching absently.

"That's it?" Summer asked.

"It looked bigger," Donald said meekly.

"Easy pickin's," Summer said, drawing her revolver and twirling it. She cocked the hammer and the cylinder rotated into place, a cartridge sliding into firing position.

"Wait," Kairi shouted, wiggling her way out of Cloud's carry and hurrying over to push Summer's gun down. She turned. "There's something different about him."

"Him?" Summer asked, blinking.

Kairi stepped forward, kneeling down before the Heartless. "...Sora?"

Summer felt a chilling sensation work its way up her spine, every hair standing on end all at once. She turned around.

From every shadow in the room golden eyes lit up.

"More of them," Cloud said.

"Eyes up! Perimeter formation," Summer called out. It struck a long dormant chord in her heart — commanding a team of four to protect something. When was the last time she'd done that?

"This time, I'll protect you," Kairi declared to the perhaps-Sora-Heartless.

The horde began to swarm. Goofy and Donald charged in.

"I said to form a perimeter," Summer yelled after them, slicing a Heartless in half. She kicked another aside with the thick heel of her boot. "Where's your team spirit?! Was it that I didn't come up with a name?!"

Cloud slammed through several small Heartless with his sword. Sweat sheened his brow, and several cuts laced his arms. Summer, too, felt the exhaustion hitting her. Her Aura was stretched thin, and activating her Semblance in bursts was more painful with how thin it was.

Kairi's yell cut through the din and Summer whirled around. The girl was covered in Heartless, but her arms had curled protectively around one.

There was a burst of light that made Summer's eyes burn. Her hand came up reflexively to cover it, and when she pulled it away, Sora was standing there, embracing Kairi, the Heartless around them disintegrating.

"Whoa nelly," Summer said.

The Heartless had been repulsed by the immense diffusion of light but they quickly turned back towards the scattered group.

A familiar roar cut all of them off.

"The Beast," Summer said thankfully.

The Beast leapt over the massive carved fountain that served as the hall's centerpiece. He landed on a Heartless, eviscerating it, and then moved forwards and around, massive claws tearing apart Heartless.

"Go! Now!" he shouted, a Heartless latched onto his arm.

"Come on," Summer rallied, giving a massive wave with her left arm.

The rest of the group tore through the waves of Heartless; the creatures, it seemed, were distracted by the massive threat.

From the doorway, Sora shouted, "Come with us!"

"I told you before—" The Beast smashed the Heartless on his arm into the floor and whirled around to throw one that was clinging dearly to his cape. "—I'm not leaving without Belle! Go! More of them are coming!"

Summer jerked Sora's arm backwards and out the door. "We've gotta go," she said.

Outside, Summer could see the swarms of Heartless emerging from Hollow Bastion's keep spreading out, ascending into the skies.

The group took off in a dead sprint for the massive ropeway platform hanging just off the ledge. Once they were all onboard, Donald hit it with a spark of Thunder and the platform began to move down and away from the Bastion.

It led down into the rising waterfalls where the bridge had once been, ruined platforms and large rocks leading further inwards. There, at the far end, was Sora's red-and-yellow gummi ship — the Highwind.


The interior of the Highwind was far more cluttered with things than the Blackjack — and it didn't help that the ship itself was smaller than Summer's battered former freighter. No, the Highwind was designed almost exclusively for transporting a small squad of people, with minimal amenities involved.

"Make yourself at home," Goofy said with a wide smile, directing them into the cramped combination galley and dining area, with a table for maybe four at most. Then Sora, Donald, and Goofy made their way into the cockpit, and moments later the ship's engines thrummed to life.

Summer sat down, wincing as she bent her body to remove her gun belts. "Just Semblance overuse," she said, which did nothing to quell Kairi's obviously concerned face or Cloud's less obviously concerned glance.

Cloud set aside his sword and sat opposite her, which left Kairi obviously mentally weighing which complete stranger she would rather sit next to. Eventually, she sat next to Summer.

"You were really cool back there," Kairi said to Summer, before looking down and blushing.

"All part of the job," Summer said. "So you're Kairi."

"Yeah."

Summer shifted her cloak around so it covered her body. "I'm Summer." She nodded across the table. "He's—"

"Cloud." The mercenary adjusted his hair, leaning back in the bench seat. He glanced at Summer, who was leaning into the intersection of the bulkhead and the bench. Her head was leaned back and her eyes were closed. "Are you asleep?"

"No!" Summer said, opening one of her eyes. "I'm totally awake. Trust me." She shut her eye again and almost immediately fell asleep.


"Summer. Summer! Wake up!"

"Gawrsh, she's really asleep."

"Muuhhh," Summer groaned, shifting around away from whatever was shaking her vigorously. "What?"

"You gotta wake up," Cloud said. "We're here."

Summer sat up and rubbed her eyes. They were still aboard the Highwind, in the small dining area she'd fallen asleep in, but the vibration of the ship's engines had ceased. "Where's 'here'?"

"Traverse Town, hyuck," Goofy said from behind Cloud.

"How long was I out?"

"Nine hours." Cloud offered her a hand. "Come on. Leon wants to talk with all of us."


"Great, you three are here," Leon said as Summer, Cloud and Goofy trudged into the guard headquarters. He was leaning against the wall, with Sora and Donald standing near him. Yuffie, Aerith, and Kairi were all sitting on the bed; Aerith's hand was gently resting over Kairi's.

"Yo," Summer said, still slightly groggy.

"Sora's already told me about some of what happened," Leon said. "Darkness is pouring out of that Keyhole."

"That explains all the Heartless everywhere," Yuffie said, far too perkily for the situation.

Summer pointed around the room. "Wait, shouldn't one of you three be out there if there's so many Heartless?"

Leon cleared his throat. "Don't worry. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie are handling things outside while we have this meeting."

"So if it's a Keyhole," Sora said, "I just seal it like the others."

"Maybe." Leon folded his arms. "But that's not your ordinary Keyhole. No one knows what'll happen when it's sealed. It might do very little, or it might restore the boundaries between worlds as they are, or it might undo all of this destruction." He looked over at Summer. "Anyway, I want to hear your side of the story."

"Okay," Summer said, sitting down. "Cloud and I almost got captured by pirates and we ended up being shot down by some Heartless over another world, where we met Belle and the Beast. Belle, who is a Princess, got kidnapped, the Beast chased after her, and we narrowly escaped the world's end. We followed them to Hollow Bastion and found—" She set her bag on the table and whipped out the collected pages of Ansem's Report. "—this." She tossed the bundle to Leon.

"This is…Ansem's research," Leon said, paging through it.

"Most of it," Cloud said.

"Oh," Sora said. "We have some of the rest of it."

"Let's hold off a moment," Leon said, handing the pages back to Summer.

Summer slid the pages back into her bag. "By the way, in case you didn't know, Ansem's probably responsible for the Heartless infestation of Hollow Bastion and the destruction of a lot of these other worlds."

"Yeah," Sora said. "And he has Riku's body, or something like that!"

Leon nodded. "Got it. Anything else, Summer, Cloud?"

Summer leaned back in her chair casually. "Well, we killed a dragon."

"I thought we killed the dragon," Donald said.

Cloud gave him a shrug. "Didn't look like it to me."

"That must make it double-dead," Summer said. "Anyway, we walked in on the last part of Sora's fight with Riku, or Ansem, whoever that really was, and we helped extract Kairi." She tilted her head. "So what's our move?"

"I'm going to seal the Keyhole and save Riku," Sora declared.

Summer's fist hit the table. "We're going with you." She looked around. "Not only am I bound and determined to stop Ansem from destroying all the worlds, but my ship is still at Hollow Bastion with a bunch of the residents of the Beast's Castle, and I'd feel bad leaving them there." She sheepishly looked at Cloud. "Well, I can't really speak for you, actually."

"I keep getting dragged into things. But yeah," Cloud said with a nod. "I'm up for it."

"Then we're going too," Aerith said, standing. "It's our home."

"Yeah," Kairi said, standing up beside her. "Let's go."

"You can't go," Sora objected. "It's way too dangerous."

Summer spun around to glare at him. Sora stepped back as she strode towards him. "You're kidding me, right?"

"She is a Princess of Heart," Aerith chimed in. Aerith glanced over to Cloud. "Besides, she'll have a very capable set of bodyguards."

Cloud returned her glance, a slightly puzzled expression on his face. Aerith blinked in response before giving him a sheepish, slightly confused smile.

Leon cleared his throat. "Alright. Resupply and get some rest. We're going to get Cid's ship loaded up. And tomorrow—" He smirked. "—we're going home. All of us."


The anticipation before a mission wasn't necessarily one of Summer's favorite feelings, but it definitely brought her energy up. She threw it immediately into preparation upon waking up the next morning.

She ordered ammunition at the Moogle Workshop and began hunting for better armor than her leather bracers. She found it late in the (ostensible) day at the carpet of a traveling salesman in the First District — a Moogle with slightly darker fur tinged a golden color whose name was Stiltzkin. He had a brown-and-yellow camouflage bandana tied around his head, and Summer had to admit it looked undeniably and incredibly cute.

"Those ones," she said, pointing at a pair of silver bracers laid out on the carpet.

"You want to buy these for two thousand, two hundred, and twenty-two munny?"

"Yep." Summer reached into her bag and forked over the munny.

Stiltzkin smiled at her; Summer found it adorable. "Thanks, buddy. I should be able to continue my journey thanks to you." He handed her the pair of bracers.

She sat there, on the edge of the carpet Stiltzkin had laid out, unfastening her worn leather bracers. She threw them in her bag. Her new bracers came in two parts: a pair of long fingerless black gloves that nearly came to her elbows, and the metal which fit around it. She put them on carefully.

By the time she'd returned to the house, the rest of the crew had assembled, sitting on the bed and chairs piled around.

Cloud had scrubbed the Buster Sword free of the rust and dirt that had accumulated around the now-missing bandages. It still bore some scratches, but the steel shined.

Leon tapped the now blank-whiteboard as Summer entered. "We'll be borrowing Cid's Shera in addition to Sora, Donald, and Goofy's Highwind." He wrote the names of both ships side by side. "We should expect heavy resistance on approach and landing."

"There's eight trained fighters. We should put a full team of four on each," Summer said plainly, pulling out a chair with her foot and sitting down. "Four's a nice round number."

Leon looked around. "I think that splits you and Cloud."

"I'll go with Sora's team," Summer said.

Leon wrote their names down underneath Highwind on the whiteboard, and the remainder of the names under Shera. "Got it. Cloud, you're riding with us." He cleared his throat. "Now, we're going to be landing at the bottom of the Rising Falls and making our way to the Bastion's entrance hall. Once we're inside, we'll head up to secure the remaining Princesses and seal the Keyhole. Any questions?"

There was a tense silence in the air for a moment, but Summer couldn't find any pertinent questions rattling around in her brain. Evidently, neither could anyone else.

"Then let's get going," Leon concluded. "And good luck."


The group drew stares and attention from the residents of Traverse Town as they made their way through the districts out to the gummi bays.

They boarded their gummi ships. Summer followed Sora's crew onto the multicolor Highwind while the rest of the group boarded the sleek silver Shera. Summer saw Cloud and Aerith chatting as they loaded some equipment and she smiled slightly.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy chattered as they prepared the ship.

"Here we go again," Summer said, standing at the back of the three-seat cockpit of the Highwind as it lifted out of its docking bay and shot off into the sky. Opposite it, she could see the Shera performing near-identical maneuvers.

As Donald keyed up the warp drive, Summer slipped down into the galley. She sat at the table and forced any misgivings she had down.

A threat like the Heartless required the maximum response. Her own search for home could wait until the universe no longer teetered on the edge of destruction.

Couldn't it?

She knew she was missing more and more of her children's lives, and it hurt.

"You're doing this for them," Summer said to herself.

She pulled out her Scroll. Taiyang was the picture-taker of the two, but she surely had some pictures of Ruby and Yang. She sighed as she saw the "NO CCT SERVICE" tag atop the notification bar and flicked over to the photo-viewer application.

She aimlessly flicked through her photos, smiling at memories they dredged up.

She lingered on a family portrait Taiyang insisted they do, if only to quell his parents' requests for more photos of their family to hang on the wall. It was of the five of them, with Summer and Taiyang sitting down, Ruby and Yang on their respective laps, and Raven standing above the both of them, her hand on Summer's shoulder. She was even smiling faintly.

Summer shut her eyes and exhaled.

When she opened them, a pair of chipmunks wearing tiny aprons were standing on the table.

"Gah!" Summer near-shouted.

"Hey!" one of them said.

"Howdy," the other greeted. "Who're you?"

Summer took a deep breath before she answered, "Summer, Summer Rose." She held out a hand, hesitated, and curled up most of her fingers to offer only her index.

"I'm Chip," one introduced himself, shaking Summer's finger.

"And I'm Dale," the other said, shaking her finger much more vigorously.

"We were wondering what that was," Chip said, pointing at Summer's Scroll, still clutched in her left hand.

"This?" Summer said, holding up her Scroll.

They both nodded enthusiastically, making some overlapped and indistinct "uh-huh" noises.

"This is my Scroll," Summer said, flipping it over and setting it screen-up in front of them. "It's a multipurpose communications device. The earliest ones used to be personal organizers, but then they added the features of a phone, a CCT terminal, a media player, and nearly anything an actual computer can do. Mine's also equipped with an Aura sensor so it can read my vitals."

The chipmunks played with the touchscreen for a while, flicking through menus and photos and apps.

"We could make something like this," one of them said.

"Yeah, yeah, but with gummi tech," the other concurred, pushing the Scroll back to Summer.

Summer smiled. "Heh. Best of luck with that." She cocked her head slightly, looking at their aprons again. "So, what do you two do on the ship?"

"We're the ship's mechanics," Dale said.

Summer blinked. "Do you know how to replace the primary power coupling for a warp drive?"

"Of course," Chip said.

Summer smiled brightly. "That's great! My ship broke down and I wanna get it repaired. I don't have a ton of money but I can pay!"

Summer was interrupted by Sora's voice from the entryway to the galley. "Uh, Summer?"

Summer's head turned to look over at him. "Yeah?"

"I wanna ask you something," Sora said. "Uh, in private."

Summer's gaze flicked to the pair of chipmunks. "We can work out payment later," she said, grabbing her Scroll and standing up. She slipped the device into a pocket and stepped into the hall where Sora was standing.

Both of them stepped into the berth. Summer sat on one of the bunks, leaned forward as there wasn't enough room for her to sit upright underneath the upper bunk. Sora sat down on the bunk opposite her. They sat in awkward silence for a moment, neither making eye contact.

"You wanted to ask me something," Summer said gently.

"I want to know what you're fighting for," Sora said. "Everyone keeps telling me I'm a hero, or I'm supposed to be, because of the Keyblade, but…all I really want to do is get back home with Riku and Kairi. And, and you always seem so…strong. So I thought you must have some reason to fight."

Summer blinked, sighing. She looked Sora in the eye. They were downcast, a blue that reminded Summer of rain about to fall. She pondered a moment, turning the words over in her head before they left her mouth. Eventually, she spoke. "My father was a member of a tribe of warriors. Defending people from the Grimm, to him, and to me, is a sacred duty."

"But, just as important as that is to me, I want to protect my family, and I want to see them again. Just as you want to go home and see your friends." She ran a hand through her hair. "Listen, I can't give you a reason to fight. That's something you find for yourself. And when you do, protect it with all your heart."

Sora nodded. "Thanks, Summer."


They dropped out of warp hours later, the Highwind's slightly newer warp drive dropping them out seconds before the Shera appeared beside them.

Summer, freshly awakened from a nap by the jolt, shambled up into the cockpit. She glared down at the innocuous looking world before them, the castle visible even from this distance.

"No Heartless," Donald remarked.

The approach to Hollow Bastion was remarkably and unsettlingly quiet. Even the town had significantly fewer Heartless as they flew over it.

They landed down in the Rising Falls. Summer was out the hatch first, hand on the hilt of her sword.

Leon was first out of the Shera, holding his own gunblade, Revolver, in a ready stance. Behind him, Yuffie, Aerith, and finally Cloud and Kairi stepped out of the ship. From behind Summer, Sora, Donald and Goofy took up ready positions.

"If anyone says it's too quiet, I'll punch 'em," Summer said loudly.

"Let's move out," Leon declared, raising his left hand and gesturing to advance.

They made their way upwards toward the Bastion. The massive doors were still open, and they walked in easily.

The entrance hall wasn't quite so barren. A few Heartless still lingered, but Summer drew Halbmond and Thorn and dispatched them in a hail of bullets.

"Secure the perimeter," Leon barked, looking around.

A massive brown shape slammed down before them, but as it rose, Summer realized it was merely the Beast. He looked worn and tired, and fresh wounds covered his body.

"You returned," he said, hunched in pain. "Belle is still here. Up there, in the keep. You may need my strength." He began to stand, but winced as he did so.

Aerith ran forward, her staff raised. Green light enveloped the Beast and his fresh wounds began to seal, but he remained doubled over. "You need rest," she said, patting his fur as he laid down.

"We gotta get Sora up there," Summer said to Leon, jerking her thumb up at the ceiling. "Cloud and I can take him. Watch over the Beast for me."

"Not without us," Donald declared. Goofy stood up a little straighter at his declaration, holding his shield up.

"On it," Yuffie said.

Leon cleared his throat. "Stay safe, Rose." Summer gave him a curt nod in response.

"Kairi," Summer said, stepping up to the younger girl. Summer got down on one knee and slid her survival knife and its sheath out of her boot. "I want you to stick with Leon. And take this." She held out the knife with the handle towards Kairi.

"You're giving me a knife?" Kairi asked, staring down at the blade with wide eyes.

"If it helps, think of it as a good luck charm," Summer said. "I forgot to get you a sword or something, but I'd rather you not be defenseless."

"Okay," Kairi said awkwardly, her hand gently wrapping around the knife. She pulled it an inch out of its sheath and stared at the sharp edge before closing it.

Summer stood, glaring up at the far exit to the hall. "Alright. Sora, let's seal that Keyhole," she said, cracking her knuckles.


The Heartless grew in strength and numbers as they ascended Hollow Bastion. But their combined strength cleaved a path up through the castle via stairs and lifts.

They eventually boarded a massive platform whose path took them over the entrance, before the massive crest of the Heartless. As it transited across, no Heartless attacked them.

Summer stared at the grand crest. Half was stonework, and the other was brass, almost visibly melding with the pipes carrying steam up the castle's side. She squinted, trying to make out a black shape atop the crest.

Standing atop the crest was a man in a hooded black coat that reached down to his ankles. Something cold traveled up Summer's spine as she looked at the man. Even from this distance — even without seeing their face — Summer knew the man was observing them. To what end, she could only speculate.

The unknown man vanished in a burst of darkness.

Cloud stepped up beside her. Lowly, he asked, "Could you make out their face?"

"No," Summer said quietly. "He was wearing a hood. But I think he was watching us."

"Hey, whatcha lookin' at?" Sora asked, walking up behind them.

Summer pointed at the crest. "There was someone up there. He had a black coat on, and I think he was watching us."

Sora nodded.

From behind him, Goofy asked, "Ansem?"

Summer shook her head. She reloaded her revolver. "I don't think so. He wasn't dressed the same. Not that we're not already watching out, but be extra careful, everyone."


Summer opened the large door cautiously, using the back of her forearm to push it open while her hand was wrapped around the grip of her revolver. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the difference in light.

On the other side of the door was the castle's chapel, dimly lit by sunlight streaming through stained glass and burning sconces along the wall. Around the room were the six princesses, some kneeling or sitting in quiet meditation, most of them with their eyes closed in concentration.

Summer looked back and gave a short nod that the coast was clear, slipping her revolver back into its holster. She continued opening the door to let the others through. The door's hinges creaked slightly as Summer continued to open it, and one-by-one, the princesses looked up and over at the group filing in.

Summer recognized Belle immediately, her golden dress still radiant. "Summer," Belle said, hurrying over.

"Sora," one of the other Princesses said, standing up. She was a young girl with blonde hair and a simple blue dress with a white apron tied around her waist.

"Alice," Sora said, shocked.

"The Beast is fine," Summer said as Belle stopped before her. "He's wounded, but I left him in the care of some of my friends."

"Oh, thank you," Belle said, hugging Summer, who awkwardly wrapped an arm around her.

"You're here at last," a princess in a shimmering white-blue gown said. She looked down at the Keyblade still in Sora's hand. "We've been waiting for you, Keyblade hero."

"Where's Ansem?" Sora asked.

"Gone," another princess said. She was dressed in a gown that was a deeper blue than the other princess. Her dark eyes looked faraway. "He disappeared into the darkness of the Keyhole. Swallowed by it. I can't forget the look on his face. He…was smiling."

"The tide of darkness has only gotten worse since," a black-haired girl said. "We've been working together to hold it back."

"We can't hold out for much longer," another princess said, her large golden earrings swaying as she shook her head softly.

"Alright," Sora said, face serious. "Then let's seal the Keyhole."


They reached the Great Hall quickly. Heartless continued to trickle out of the Keyhole and swarm the massive room.

Summer fired Thorn's central chamber to ignite a massive Heartless's backside before planting the blade of Halbmond into the stomach of one of the mage-like Heartless. She watched Sora smash his Keyblade through one of them, and it evaporated as a gleaming crystal heart shot out of it.

She thought to herself, but where does the released heart go?

And then she was back into the chaos of the melee, Semblance engaging to slip around a shield-bearing Heartless. She slid Halbmond through its back.

Donald fried a pair with a massive bolt of lightning as Goofy pounced on another with his shield. Cloud deflected a Heartless's shield bash, his Buster Sword slamming through the Heartless's arm before swinging around and planting it in the Heartless's head.

They advanced up the steps onto the central platform. The Heartless were packed tighter closer to the Keyhole. Sora and Cloud charged with identical thrusts of their respective swords, batting aside a swath of Heartless.

Summer slipped past them, kicking aside a small Shadow-type Heartless as she passed through the portal and into the pulsing purple-and-green void beyond.

Whatever sixth sense she'd developed for sensing Heartless was overwhelmed by the darkness as she plunged into it. Bile rose in her throat and she nearly threw up. A steadying hand rested on her back; she looked over. It was Cloud.

Sora charged in further, toward the Keyhole in the distance, but he — and Donald and Goofy just behind him — slid to a stop as a massive tusked Heartless emerged from the darkness.

"A Behemoth," Cloud said, hoisting up his sword. He glanced back at Summer. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Summer replied, slapping a new magazine into Halbmond. "Just like Cerberus, right? Stagger it and then go for the kill?"

"Right," Cloud said as they began to approach.

Sora had clambered atop the beast and was furiously whacking its horn with his Keyblade while below Donald bombarded it with Gravity magic. Goofy, for his part, was attacking one of the frontal hooves.

Cloud charged in, leaping and bringing the Buster Sword's entire weight down on the opposite hoof. The Behemoth howled in agony, rearing back before leaping forward and spinning around.

Sora was thrown from his perch atop its neck. Summer flipped her grip on her sword so it was pointed down at the ground and slid to a stop, catching him in her arms. He blinked, looking at her. She slid him off to stand on his own feet.

"Stagger it," she repeated to him. "Then we'll go for the kill."

"It definitely doesn't like when I hit it in the horn," Sora said.

"Keep at it," Summer said, patting him on the back. "Let's go!"

They ran for its legs, Sora slipping under its chest to climb up its rear legs as Summer leapt, slicing at its horn with Halbmond. It roared as she followed through, landing beside Cloud.

"Horn's the weak spot," she called out as he smashed his sword into its hoof.

"Good," he said, "because it's got tougher skin than I thought."

Above them, Summer heard Sora smack the horn with a satisfying thwack. She stepped back as the Behemoth slumped down, lowering its head nearly to the ground.

Cloud ran over to its face, hefted the Buster Sword above his head, and brought it down on the Behemoth. He leapt forward, his Buster Sword coming up and smashing into the horn. As he followed through, he assumed a defensive stance — not a moment too soon, as the Behemoth shook its head and lightning crackled around its horn and over Cloud. He winced in pain.

The Behemoth's tusks slammed him away. Summer looked away for an instant and its hoof slammed down onto her, knocking her down. Her Aura — already drained from the fight up the Bastion — cracked into visibility and broke as the Behemoth leapt for Sora and the royal retainers, energy gathered in its horn and tusks.

Summer flipped over onto her stomach, accompanied by a sharp, painful gasp — her wound had reopened. With trembling hands she picked herself up. Across the way, Cloud was charging in.

Balls of thunderous energy emanated from the Behemoth's horn, throwing Sora, Donald, and Goofy back. Sora held fast, his hand reaching out for his discarded Keyblade, and it reappeared in his hand instantly. He threw it at the Behemoth, and the beast slumped down.

Cloud leapt in, carving three slashes into the Behemoth's forehead.

As Summer got to her feet, something slammed through the giant Heartless's midsection from above. The Behemoth roared, rearing back and stomping its hooves one final time as it began to break down.

The object was still stabbed in the ground and Summer looked over at it.

It was a katana — a nodachi, if Summer remembered what Old Mistralian Raven had taught her in regards to weapon classification. It was exceptionally long even for a nodachi. The tip of it was buried in the darkness, but Summer could guess its length — at least seven feet.

A seven foot katana.

Summer's eyes flicked over to her companion.

As he looked at the sword, Cloud's eyes widened, and then hardened in a glare.

"Sephiroth," he growled.