Author's Note: Alright, now we're getting into the real story chapters. I'll still have the snippets here until I get to the worlds those snippets take place in, but once I get to the worlds being used here the chapters will be written as missions. Basically, if you want to skip chapters (or missions), you can just skip to the ones that say "Mission Failed" or "Mission Complete", which is where the important parts of the story will be, without being lost. My last note will be everyone's ages. I will let Sora and Kairi be 16 and let Riku be 17. Anyway, without further ado, enjoy this chapter.

The view was beautiful from his position over the marketplace as he took an admirable glance at the setting sun. When his eyes descended to search through the city, he was surprised by what he saw. The snow on the rooftops and the glow of a few choice lanterns gave the city a warm, inviting glow as he eyed some of the shops beginning to close for the evening hours. Even the snow embedded in the crevices of the cobblestone gave the roads a fascinating sense of age. Homes were more decorative as Christmas lights were being hung along the rims and gutters by different citizens of all ages. With the colors glimmering on some rooftops, the cobblestone streets became the highlight of the civilian night life. Just as the wintry holidays were approaching in his world, they were approaching in this world. It made him miss his home terribly and wonder about his old friend Scrooge McDuck. As he walked a bit further into town, eyeing the hustle and bustle of the townsfolk, he came across Scrooge's ice cream shop. He closed up the freezer but had another shop next door to it that had a few citizens inside.

Deciding to walk in to see if who he was looking for was inside, he came across the old duck dressed in his business suit. The shop was actually pretty nice; in fact, it was something really special and unexpected from the old duck. The floor in the middle was a black and white checker pattern with towers of colorful candy along the walls reaching to the ceiling. A chandelier in the middle was lit with different pastel colors and the bulb covers were shaped like either jawbreakers or bubblegum pieces. On the left side was a play area for children. There were piles of gold, candied jewelry, and of course paper money chocolate bars that the kids could have fun with. Now that was expected from the duck. Aerith was inside of the playroom watching a few kids just as a few adults were. He couldn't fully see inside of the playroom, but it was pretty colorful with the lights beaming from sconces on the ceiling and the floors being colorful polka dots. He didn't get much of a chance to see what was on the right side of the shop before someone called him.

"Hey, it's King Mickey!"

Yuffie was behind the register of the shop, waving at him to catch his attention. She was wearing an orange apron and long gloves like sleeves almost. At least from what Mickey could see. Aerith turned around to walk out of the playroom and greet the visitor while Scrooge stopped giving Yuffie orders for just a second to see if she was fooling around again. When he wasn't tricked by Yuffie's outburst, he chuckled in surprise and walked towards his friend. Yuffie gave her last few customers their hot cocoa and bags of Christmas candy before putting the munny away and hopping over the counter to greet him.

"Long time, no see!" Scrooge greeted, shaking Mickey's hand. "What do you think, hm? McDuck's Confectionery! Ha!"

"It's amazing, Scrooge!" Mickey complimented, hopping about to see a table of candy behind the spinning wheel he was in front of. "Look at all the people having fun and enjoying it. Now that's the holiday spirit."

"It is wonderful, isn't it?" Aerith asked, smiling brightly at Mickey.

"Hiya!" Yuffie greeted, hopping around cheerfully.

"What are you doing away from the register?" Scrooge lectured, standing akimbo.

"Duh, I came to say hi. He's my friend, too, y'know," Yuffie argued in return, pointing a finger at the duck. "Plus, he has that playroom on the right named after him. We called it the Mouse House!"

Mickey gasped lightly and blushed a little before he said, "Aw gosh! Thanks, you guys. I wish I could stick around a little longer, but I need to find Leon. You see, we're in a bit of trouble. Do you know where he is?"

"The last time I spoke to him he was by the bailey," Aerith responded with a concerned hum, folding her arms over her pink apron to think.

"That was this morning," Yuffie said, waving Aerith's answer off. "Around lunchtime, he was doing some rounds. He's kinda like a cop now."

"That was almost six hours ago!" Scrooge argued, waving Yuffie's answer off. "I would check Merlin's house if I were you. He came here earlier around three o'clock to buy some candy and told us he was looking for Leon, too. The old wizard said he sensed something off like a strong, formidable presence was on its way here. Your best bet is finding Merlin to see if Leon is still investigating. The townspeople definitely wouldn't want a repeat of what happened 12 years ago if the presence is something like that."

"Hm, I wonder if Maleficent is returning," Aerith whispered. "Is Ansem the Wise in trouble again?"

"I'm not sure..." Mickey said, thinking to himself. He then said, "Sounds like whatever's happening right now goes deeper than I thought. Thank you for the information. I better see if I can catch up to Leon."

The three nodded in response and watched as King Mickey ran out of the candy shop to try to find Leon. Although he was worried about the recent events happening, Mickey was rather proud of Leon. He was a protector of his world without a keyblade! As he descended downtown to the Borough, he caught sight of Ansem the Wise's castle. It was still lacking its once truly regal glory and was still trying to be repaired from the looks of it, but it seemed safer to venture near it with the Heartless gone. He barely walked more than a couple of steps before he was stopped by a familiar voice mingling with a completely foreign one.

"I can sense Merlin's presence just over there in that house. Oh, I hope he'll be able to help you."

"Thank you, your majesty, but... it's not really me I'm concerned about."

He gasped at the familiarity of the feminine voice and hurriedly ducked behind a house to spot his beloved queen with a fairly powerful Heartless. It was almost by no coincidence that King Mickey found Queen Minnie in Radiant Garden. While he was completely suspicious of the dark creature she was with, they seemed to be on friendly terms. That was the suspicious part. This Heartless that was accompanying Queen Minnie was acting as an escort for her. After the Heartless whispered his last words, Minnie laid a very gentle hand on its arm and gave it a small smile to cheer it up.

"Well, you certainly won't be able to help your friends with that attitude!" Minnie said with a giggle as she lectured the normally feared creature. "If you worry and fret like that, you'll never get a thing done. If you put it into your mind that you'll help your friends no matter what, you'll go above and beyond what you set out to do."

The Heartless grunted at the queen and then said, "Thank you, your grace. If I put it into my mind that I want to be forgiven, will you accept my apology for taking you away from your home?"

Minnie gasped in response at the Heartless and stood before it in silence. Mickey was also surprised by the creature's words and slowly stood up straight from his hunched position with a little more trust in it. This creature was different from the rest, even from Ansem the Heartless, and he seemed to have befriended Minnie. He had never heard of a Heartless having human emotions like remorse, worry, or regret before. After a moment passed, Minnie leapt into the creature's arms and laughed happily. She clearly accepted its apology, making Mickey come from the shadows and leap down to meet them, but she soon sensed something amiss and looked into the sky.

Minnie sucked in a light breath and said, "Shinnosuke! Look at the stars!"

Shinnosuke, the samurai Heartless, and King Mickey looked into the sky and saw a star enlarge to twice its size before turning blue and then disappearing. Mickey's suspicions immediately came back, knowing that this phenomenon meant that a world had descended into the darkness, and he rushed to Minnie's side. He summoned his keyblade to his side and charged at the large Heartless. Shinnosuke heard Mickey's footsteps but was surprised when Minnie stood before him to protect him.

"Mickey, don't!" she shouted, arms open to shield the Heartless.

"Minnie!" the king called out in shock from her actions. He came to a stop but didn't completely surrender to her. His fighting stance was still in place and his anger had soon taken over him. He then tried to explain to her, "That Heartless is tryin' to trick ya, Minnie. You saw that world descendin' into darkness."

"Mickey Mouse, if this creature wanted to hurt me, don't you think he would've done it already?" Minnie asked, firm in her decision to protect the Heartless. She turned around to face the Heartless and went behind him to slowly push him forward. She then stood next to him and said, "Now then, let's try something new. King Mickey, this is Shinnosuke. He has two friends named Fait and Melvin, and he is very close to them. Yes, he is a Heartless just like his other friends. Shinnosuke, I'm sure you must know King Mickey since you all knew me but I'll introduce you anyway. Like you, King Mickey has two friends named Donald and Goofy. Yes, he is a guardian of light like several others."

Shinnosuke bowed down before Mickey on both knees and said, "Pleasure to meet you, your majesty."

Mickey was flabbergasted by Shinnosuke's politeness and willingness to accept him as an associate of the queen. Though frightening in appearance, Shinnosuke was virtually harmless as he kneeled before him. Mickey smiled a bit and said, "Huh! A harmless Heartless? Didn't think I'd ever meet one of you in this place. I'm glad you didn't hurt Minnie, Shinnosuke, but what on Earth are you doing here?"

Shinnosuke rose to his full height and said, "Queen Minnie said a wizard named Merlin could help me and my friends. She led me here. Unfortunately, since that world disappeared, that means my friend could be very weak right now. That star (or really that world) that you saw disappear has actually gone to a very different realm - one that's not of darkness or light or anything in-between. You two should hurry and return home ASAP. With your world unguarded, it'll make it too easy for us to invade it and possibly destroy it. I think Pete might be on his way there now. He saw us talking earlier. Thank you both for what little you could do."

In a swift flash, Shinnosuke leapt high into the air and double-jumped onto a rooftop. Mickey tried to call him back, but the heartless opened a corridor to darkness and left with a small wave to bid his farewell. Minnie and Mickey looked after him with concern and wished the Heartless luck as he went back to join Maleficent's side. The two looked at each other and then to Merlin's house. Whether it was to help Shinnosuke or not, they still had to see the old wizard. The sound of footsteps caught their attention and they turned to see a familiar pair of long legs dressed in leather pants and belt buckles approaching them.

Mickey smiled at the man and said, "Oh, it's you, Leon."

Leon quipped his lips in a sort of smirk then said, "Aerith and Yuffie said you were looking for me."

The weight on his back was almost unbearable. He could barely breathe, but, for his friend, he would keep pushing. His eyes were closed, silently praying that he would run into something and be able to stop to catch his breath for a moment. Man, was he heavy! He looked down at the grass underneath his feet and noticed the grass was gradually reaching up to his cheeks. That meant they were getting close to a meadow. Melvin was anxious as he carried Fait by piggyback to some trees in a small forest. Burning could be felt in his eyes and his throat was straining to form a lump in the center of it. He was scared for Fait. He couldn't hide him forever, especially not in the Realm of Darkness. Melvin couldn't begin to explain how he and Fait wound up in the disjointed Forest of Thorns. He just remembered Fait putting Enchanted Dominion to sleep and then everything was a flash of light. Once he came to, Fait was on the ground and weakened by the amount of power he had to use for such a task. Why did Maleficent want Fait to take another test of mastery? She already named him a keyblade master, right?

"Fait..." Melvin whispered, burning starting to impair his vision as it began to blur. "You're such an idiot! Why did you take this mission knowing your powers were weak? You haven't been fighting for three years. It's a miracle you remember anything at all! I should drop your heavy butt, but...! I can't... You're my best friend."

Fait remained silent as Melvin struggled to carry him to a comfortable clearing so the blonde could rest. He had to stop for a moment to breathe, but he would drop Fait for sure if he did. Forcing himself to keep going and panting along the way, Melvin finally reached a patch of glass near some frozen fireflies and magic stones. He kneeled down with a thud and then slowly pulled Fait off his shoulders and positioned him comfortably. Melvin was beyond worried for the boy he was watching over. Fait risked more than he should have for a doomed world. He risked more than he should have for his friends, too. All because of the small bits of light in his broken heart. Melvin wondered if he would have risked nearly as much as Fait did if he had more of his own heart.

"Please wake up, Fait," Melvin said, feeling a sob escape him. "I'm scared. Everything's burning up. I don't why."

"Because you're sad," a familiar voice said.

Shinnosuke walked towards his friends and stood above them. Fait was just lying there with his hood uncovering his head to show blonde and black hair lying on the left side and spanning out a bit. His eyes were closed and mouth parted slightly from what could have been a grimace of some earlier pain. His right arm lay across his stomach as though he were reaching out to the pain growing on his sides somewhere, and his left arm was completely stretched out along the length of his body. Shinnosuke could feel the light dwindling within Fait, which meant putting Enchanted Dominion to sleep nearly took half (if not more) of his life, but he soon began to worry when he saw Melvin grieving. His worry soon grew as he looked up at their surroundings. They were sent to the Forest of Thorns! The Heartless in the Realm of Darkness were merciless to those who had a sliver of light within them.

Shinnosuke then kneeled next to Melvin and placed a claw on his shoulder to comfort him. He nodded at him and said, "That's good. It means you're getting closer to a fully recovered heart."

"I don't care about being human! I just want him to be okay," Melvin said, sobbing. "He can have my stupid light if it'll help him."

Shinnosuke looked at Fait and felt his own eyes beginning to burn. He then said, fighting through his own sadness, "That's not what he would want. He promised us that he would help us find our light no matter what happened to him. Besides, he's not dead. Just a little weak. We can give him some of our power to help him heal. He'd do the same for us."

Melvin sniffed a bit to shake off his frustrations and said, "Yeah, you're right. I wish he'd come up with a backup plan every now and then, though!"

"That would be nice," Shinnosuke remarked, gathering a bit of his energy into his hand. He placed his hand on Fait's chest and watched him absorb it and begin to relax. He looked back at Melvin and said, "Maybe that's why we're older than him. We need to make it look like our mission only failed halfway to protect Fait. What was the last thing Maleficent told you to do?"

"That's the thing. Our original mission was to release the Heartless on Enchanted Dominion, but she changed her mind at the last minute and told Fait to put the world to sleep instead," Melvin replied. "She wants to test Fait again for the Mark of Mastery. I think she's looking for a guy named Yen Sid in some tower to do it. What were you supposed to be doing?"

"I was supposed to steal the Cornerstone of Light," Shinnosuke answered. "I had to distract the king first and wait for Maleficent's next order."

"Right, but you took the queen instead," Melvin said. "Your part of the mission was done."

Shinnosuke gasped a bit before saying, "After I took her away, we went to Radiant Garden to find someone named Merlin. The king was there looking for him, too. I stayed behind for a little while to see what the king planned to do while I kept the queen. He and a few others split up."

"That means Disney Castle is unguarded," Melvin added. "You just need to return to Disney Castle and wait by the Cornerstone before Pete gets to it. Don't tell him about anything that happened with us. If Maleficent asks, just say it was easier to get rid of the king by capturing the queen."

"You need to go to Traverse Town ASAP," Shinnosuke said, narrowing his eyes a bit. "Pete actually did succeed in capturing the princess of heart and was on his way to you and Fait. As soon as the idiot wakes up, either make your way there first or see what Maleficent wants. I don't know if she's changing all of her plans or not, but we can't take any chances."

A low growl and some flapping caught the friends' attention. The two looked up to see Fait's companion, Cynthum, perching himself on a boulder near Fait. Cynthum was a sizable hooded vulture with colorful plumage on his torso and tail feathers. His wings were pure black and bluish-purple sheen under lighting. His chest was more orange and yellow, but he had blue feathers embroidering it and his feet. His nails were exceptionally sharp and made his talons look dangerous to touch. The most peculiar detail about the bird had to be its eyes. They weren't a particular color like red or black or brown or anything. They glowed white with some specks of ethereal blue and purple. Sometimes, Fait calls Cynthum majesty because he believes his appearance seems more regal than scary. Cynthum quietly stood on one talon and summoned the light from Fait's heart into it. He growled, eyes lighting with power, and summoned his darkness to mingle with the light. He was rebalancing Fait's power! When the vulture was complete with his task, he released the light in his talon and guided it back to Fait's heart. Fait let out a sigh, making Cynthum dismiss his power, and relaxed on the patch of grass like he was taking another nap.

Melvin nodded and said with some relief, "Thanks, Cynthum."

The vulture growled in response and nestled on the boulder before he also closed his eyes to rest. Melvin and Shinnosuke looked at each other and nodded before Shinnosuke disappeared into a corridor of darkness. Both were hoping Fait would be okay by the time the samurai returned.