Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to Harmonic Hearts! After our two visits to Canterlot, what is next for our heroes? Before we answer that, let's see the events leading up to the next visits. Though, fair warning:

These interludes is ONLY covering scenes that relate to what has happened in Canterlot, so there's gonna be some jumping around here and there. So if you don't know what happens in KH2FM, you might be a bit lost. Just throwing that out there.

Real quick, what do we have:

Nisha: I'm glad to exceed your expectations, that made me smile. As for the story, I have a lot of ideas I want to do with this timeline, so stay tuned.

Raximus: Pretty much, he didn't expect that at all.

johannvanguard: You'll be waiting on that, we have some stuff before getting there.

Thanks for the feedback! With that said, let's continue!

Interlude 1: The Lingering Will

During the trip to Twilight Town

Sora had finished up his story of the Rainbooms' conflict with the Dazzlings, and who Vanitas was. To his surprise, the two actually had heard of not only him, but also Ventus. They recall their experiences that was a decade ago, which he sums up as this:

Ventus was a boy who had friends named Terra and Aqua, both of which disappeared without a trace. From what Vanitas said, they now know Ven's heart is inside Sora's after all these years. Unfortunately, only Aqua knew where his comatose body is.

"That's unfortunate." Sora comments.

"Now that I think about it, he was kinda like you. Really nice, and cares about his friends a lot." Goofy recalls.

"Yeah! He didn't hesitate to help the King when he was in trouble!" Donald adds.

"Really? Guess we do share that in common." Sora agrees, "When we find the King, we should see what he knows about him."

Jump 1: At the Mansion...

The trio had met up with Hayner's gang, who was there to find this 'second Twilight Town'. After fighting off a group of Nobodies, with assistance from King Mickey, they enter the mansion to find clues. During this search, Sora takes this time to ask the King about Ventus:

"Gosh, I haven't heard that name in years. I knew him, he's a good friend I met about... ten years ago."

"It's a long story, but we encountered this guy named Vanitas in one of the worlds we visited." Sora clarifies.

"Vanitas!? You met him!?" King Mickey exclaims.

"We had to fight him. When he was defeated, he mentioned him as being his 'light half'."

"That's because the two are connected. I had to fight him with Aqua when he possessed Ventus to forge the X-Blade."

"Was that the big battle he mentioned, the one where Ven lost his heart?"

"Not ours, but the one inside their hearts. Ven won, at the cost of losing his. Me and the others hope that one day, he'll find his way back home."

Sora pauses for a moment, but decides to assure the King of Ven's heart:

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. He's resting within my heart right now."

"R-Really!?" The King exclaims, "How do you know!?"

"Strangely enough, his heart responded to Vanitas. He said that I'm why he's still here, and could be why Vanitas came back too."

"T-This is great! Glad to hear he's all right! Now we just need to find Aqua again and we'll restore him too!" The King then remembers their situation, "B-But first, we need to deal with the Organization, then we'll save them as soon as we can."

"Got it." Sora agrees before the two continue their search.

Jump 2: After The Battle...

So much had happened. After reuniting with his friends, defeating the remaining Organization members, and finishing Xemnas once and for all, Sora and Riku had made it back home. After a celebratory reunion and some serious rest, Sora and Riku were relaxing on the island where the Paopu fruit grow.

It wasn't long before Kairi shows up with a message in a bottle, one written by the King. Sora opens it to read it, his friends looking over his shoulders as he does. To sum it up:

Those from the past are what made you who you are now, but they need your help to end their suffering. The door to your next journey is ready to be opened.

"Then let's go help them." Sora simply said.

"I knew you say that." Riku smiles at his friend's compassion.

"And we'll do it together this time!" Kairi adds, "No one left behind."

"Right." Sora agrees before realizing something, "Oh right, I forgot!"

"What's up?" Riku wonders.

"This must be related to what I talked about with him before we arrived at the World that Never Was. Come on, I'll explain on the way."

The trio warp to their destination, thanks to their keyblades opening a portal for them to traverse, which the King mentions before returning to his castle. They soon arrive at the Mysterious Tower as Sora finishes up his story:

"So, Ven's heart is inside yours?" Kairi repeats.

"Yeah. All we have to do is find his body, but only Aqua knows where he is." Sora answers.

"So I was right back then, someone was hurt..." Riku recalls from long ago, "How fitting you would answer them."

Sora smiles at his comment as they approach the entrance. After the short trip up, they arrive at the study to find Master Yen Sid and King Mickey.

"Your Majesty, we got your message. How are we saving them?" Sora gets right to the point.

"Glad you came as soon as you did. Thanks to your encounter with Vanitas, we now know where Ven's heart is." King Mickey answers.

"Before we touch upon the subject further, there's something you three must know." Master Yen Sid interjects, "Thanks to your efforts, the Heartless and Nobody of Xehanort were stopped. However, they will now return to their point of origin, reviving him to a whole once more."

The trio were surprised at that as he continues, "He's rather cunning, with many plans to use against us. We need to be prepared for whatever they may be."

"Which is why we need to find those three as soon as we can." King Mickey adds.

"There's also another matter." Yen Sid then turns to Kairi, "Kairi, you are our newest keyblade wielder here. I understand you'd be eager to help, but you've yet to adapt to your new powers."

They then hear a ringing sound, which was coming from King Mickey. Pulling out a special phone, Chip and Dale appears on the screen:

"Your Majesty! There's danger at the castle!" The former shouts.

"A strange portal appeared in the room where the Cornerstone is being held!" The latter clarifies.

"Don't worry, I'm on my way!" King Mickey assures them before putting his phone away, "Sorry, Master Yen Sid. I'm needed back home."

"Understandable, Mickey. Let Sora and Riku accompany you, I still have much to discuss with Kairi."

King Mickey nods before turning to the others, "We better hurry!"

"Right!" Sora agrees before feeling his hand get grabbed, which Kairi gives her lucky charm back:

"Be safe, okay?"

"Y-Yeah, we'll be back soon!" He assures her.

Putting it in his pouch, he left with Riku and the King in tow, leaving Kairi with the former Keyblade Master. She turns to him with a determined look:

"Please, teach me what I need to know about the keyblade."

Yen Sid nods before pointing out, "Before we get to training, I'll have the three Good Fairies give you more proper attire. They'll assist in mastering your new powers."

Disney Castle

The trio arrive at the castle and hurried right to the throne room. They were expecting some Heartless or something on the way, but that's strangely not the case. Reaching the Cornerstone of Light, they find Donald and Goofy standing inside:

"Donald, Goofy! Anything come out yet?" The King asks the two.

"Not yet, Your Majesty!" Donald answers, "But, the energy emitting from it is rather odd."

"How so?" Riku asks.

"Donald said that it was similar to what we felt back at that barren wasteland." Goofy answers.

"You mean the one that Vanitas sent you to?" Sora recalls, which Goofy nods at:

"Yup! Though, I wonder what it might have been..."

"Only one way to find out." Riku said.

"Right." King Mickey agrees before telling them the plan:

"Donald, Goofy, you two stay here and guard the castle in case anything dangerous comes out. Me, Sora, and Riku are going in."

"Yes sir!" The two exclaim with a salute.

Sora and Riku prepare themselves as the King lead the way, entering the portal.

?

The trio enter to see a barren wasteland, just like what Donald and Goofy mentioned. Rock pillars were here and there, but they stood on a flat cliff that towers over miles of empty sand. Gusts of wind carry it throughout, so they couldn't see much beyond the edge.

A sudden whirlwind of sand appears in front of them, making them summon their keyblades out of instinct. It lasts for a few moments before settling down, revealing an armored man, kneeled down and resting his hands over the hilt of a keyblade. The three were surprised as only one question rings in their minds:

Is this one of the lost keyblade wielders?

They kept their guard up as a voice seems to be coming from the armored man, like an echo.

"Aqua... Ven..." That answers their question before he continues:

"Keyblades? Who are... I know you three. We've met before, way back when." He turns his head a little, towards Riku's direction. "You, you're the one I chose."

"Me?" Riku whispers before remembering something, "Then, this is..."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" King Mickey asks him, which he nods:

"Most likely. This must be Terra."

"Terra?" Sora repeats out loud, which got a reaction from the voice:

"Terra... that name sounds familiar."

Sora eases himself a little, "We've been looking for you and your friends. We need your help to stop Xehanort."

"Xe.. ha... nort... Xeha...nort..." The voice repeats.

The trio then sensed something emitting from the armor. They can feel it... a menacing rage:

"XEHANORT!"

The armored warrior stands up to his feet and grabs his keyblade, making the trio brace themselves.

"H-Hey, we don't want to fight you!" Sora tries to dissuade the man, to no avail.

"Looks like we have no choice." Riku points out, "Get ready!"

Objective: Defeat the Lingering Will! (BGM: Rage Awakened)

The trio kept their guard up as the armored warrior charges in swinging, transforming his keyblade into a drill on the third strike. The three manage to dodge them, quickly retaliating with magic. Mickey casts Pearl, Sora casts Blizzaga and Riku fires a volley of dark flames.

The armored warrior swiftly dispatches them, his keyblade transforming into a whip to swing around himself. The trio rush in upon seeing an opening, Sora landing a combo ending with Guard Break, followed by Riku and Mickey landing their own combos. They land their finishers, Darkstrom and Aerial Strike respectively, knocking their opponent away.

The armored warrior retaliates fast, swooping in with a passing slash. He managed to land three strikes on the trio and lands, soon transforming his keyblade into a bow. While still recovering, Sora was shot by a light arrow, binding him in place:

"Sora!" Riku calls out, quickly warping to save him.

He attacks the armored warrior, who leaves himself open during this, and lands Dark Break to stop the spell. Mickey jumps in soon after, locking him down with a rapid flurry of jabs. Riku fires a dark volley point blank, further stunning him before Mickey lands Aerial Spin, launching the opponent away.

Riku quickly uses Cure Potion, healing Sora who fully recovered from the spell:

"You all right?"

"Y-Yeah, looks like he isn't just brute force." Sora comments.

"Keep your guard up!" Mickey warns them, as the armored warrior was on the offense again.

Transforming the keyblade again, he raises it over his shoulder to reveal a large cannon. The teeth acted like pistons, the guard spinning to charge up, before blasting a large energy sphere. The trio quickly separate as the sphere starts to track, following the King for its target.

He jumps on a nearby rock pillar, leaping off with a powerful thrust to send it back. Hitting the armored warrior, he was stunned in midair as Sora calls for Riku:

"Let's do it!"

"Right!"

The two activate Session, blitzing their target with a dual combo. They briefly back off before going back in, performing Last Saber for a barrage of jabs. Following it up with Dark Cannon, they cycle between the two before backing off again.

This time, they return by performing Master Hearts, attacking with energy extended blades on their keyblades. Following by XIII Blades, summoning eleven blades along with their keyblades, they cycle between the two for maximum damage. The two then warp away to finish their limit:

Throwing their keyblades up in the air, Sora's cloaked in light and Riku's in darkness, the blades create a magnet effect to trap the armored warrior. Once they did, the blades rain down rays of energy upon him before flashing white, returning to their wielders. Once they share a friendly fist bump, Mickey meets up with them as the armored warrior lands.

Throwing his keyblade up, he jumps as it transforms into a glider to ride on. Dodging its charge, it soon comes back to try again. While Sora and Mickey dodges him, Riku warps in to intercept him with a dark volley.

The glider spins around to avoid the flames as Riku warps away, reappearing above to rain down more volleys. The armored warrior casts Blizzaga, shooting icicles out to attack him, but were intercepted by Sora casting Thundaga. Mickey fires two Pearls to track him down, only to be stopped by him casting Magnega.

Jumping off, the glider transforms once more into a bow, making the trio dodge light arrows coming at them. One almost hit Sora again, but Riku blocks it with Dark Shield and retaliates with Dark Firaga. The armored warrior teleports away before it hit, but he didn't reappear anywhere.

Instead, there were these strange 'Bits' that flew around the trio. They were a bit confused before seeing them charge up, quickly blocking incoming lasers. Mickey leaps up to attack, destroying some with ease, only for them to be replaced. Blocking another set of lasers, they then disappeared.

"Where did he go?" Sora looks around to see Terra's gone.

His answer comes diving in, slamming his keyblade right between the trio. A strange spell was cast upon impact, affecting them as he pulls his keyblade out of the ground. They try to retaliate with magic, only to feel a jolt stop them from doing so.

"What's happening!?" Riku exclaims.

"The spell, it's stopping our magic!" King Mickey answers before seeing two blue crystals floating near the armored warrior:

"We have to break the curse!"

"Right!" Sora and Riku agree as they try to charge at their opponent.

They then jump back, avoiding a sudden whip attack before he teleports again, followed by another cannon shot. This time, the sphere tracks down Riku, who warps away to avoid it. Despite this though, it still manages to track him down around the battlefield.

Sora performs Dodge Roll to avoid the drill gauntlet, quickly going in with Flash Step. Mickey jumps in with a spinning spiral, followed by Sora landing a combo, ending it with Explosion to launch him up. The two then notice Riku coming in fast, having the sphere still following behind him.

He leaps up at the armored warrior, grabbing his arm before throwing him into said sphere. The blast was enough to break the curse, allowing the trio to cast magic again, before the 'Bits' suddenly make a return.

Quickly surrounding them, Sora casts Reflega to deflect the lasers and bounces the damage to destroy the 'Bits'. A second set came in soon after, but met the same fate in no time. Once they were gone, the trio see the world around them darken.

The armored warrior has reappeared, charging up a massive attack as a powerful aura surrounds him. Dispersing it in a burst, he comes flying in like a freight train. Quickly thinking, Sora activates his Drive that transforms his clothes into a pulsing silvery-white:

"Get back!" He warns, signaling the two to move.

He swings his keyblades out as the armored warrior closes the distance, clashing blades with his barrage of swings. Narrowing sidestepping a thin shockwave, the latter rips his keyblade in two before spinning them around himself. Sora copies this, spinning his keyblades diagonally before switching to dual vertical.

Rising higher into the air, the two soon separate as the latter reconnects his weapon and swings twice, intercepted again by Sora's blades. He then teleports, making Sora quickly react to the thrusts with Final Arts. Reappearing again, he unleashes a flurry of slashes that Sora deflects with Final Strike.

He then dives in with his final slash, which Sora avoids by jumping and counters with his own dive:

"It's over!"

Sora slams his keyblades into the armored warrior, carrying him into the ground below. Riku and Mickey brace themselves as the impact pulsed a shockwave, however brief it was. A cloud of smoke was made from it, which disperses as Sora leaps back to the two.

The armored warrior got up to his knees and turns his head towards the trio, more so Sora as the voice echoes once more:

"Your power... it feels familiar."

"Familiar?" Sora repeats.

"The power... that connects to Aqua. And to Ven's heart."

"...You're not Terra, are you?" Sora said, but it's actually Ventus speaking through him. "You're... what's left of him?"

The armored warrior stood up to his feet as the voice responds:

"All I have, is my contempt for Xehanort... and the memory of a promise. I have nothing more to bestow upon you, only the burden."

Sora felt a tear fall upon his cheek, which he takes as Ven's tear. The armored warrior then stabs his keyblade into the dirt, kneeling down once more like before. Riku and Mickey realize what this meant as Sora reverts from Final Form:

"So he's like Vanitas? A remnant of their former selves?" Sora compares the two aloud.

"You said Vanitas is still himself, though. 'Terra' here seems to be... like a ghost of sorts." King Mickey points out.

"Both of them are seriously strong for being shells." Riku comments, "Either way, this isn't the Terra we met back then."

Sora then gets an idea and turns back to the Lingering Will, "Hey! Do you remember what happened? Before you became this way, I mean?"

There was heavy silence for a moment before the voice eventually answers:

"Xehanort stole my body, using the darkness in my heart to take over. While my mind resisted, he had already taken my body, even after I defeated him."

"...Well, we're trying to help your friends come back. You may not be 'Terra', but your promise is to help them, right? Why not come with us? I know you'd want to see them again... at least, I think so."

The armor tilts its head up at Sora's proposal before it stood back up:

"Very well."

"Great!" Sora cheers and turns to his friends, "Come on, let's go!"

Riku and Mickey were impressed as the four go back to the portal, returning to the castle with a new ally in tow.

And done! Kept this one shorter than the others, as I wanted to cover the post game stuff that has a story significance. So the big thing I did:

Lingering Will has become a party member! I mean why not, dude's just hanging around in the graveyard, might as well give him something to do. Including the mention of Ven's heart, the implication of Aqua's whereabouts, and what happened to Terra, we are about to go on a rescue mission! For those wondering what timeline we're in right now, I'm just doing what Dream Drop Distance should have done.

Also when this is posted, it'll be around Thanksgiving! Wish you all a delicious feast with friends and/or family, stay safe out there!

With that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!