Chapter Twelve: Aim

Maleficent's return had definitely rattled everyone in Hollow Bastion that wasn't a heartless. But out of all of them, Ventus had become the most panicked. Much to Leon's annoyance, "Listen, calm down. What exactly is this keyblade you're worried about?"

Ventus paced, unallayed by Leon's cold comfort, "χ-Blade. It's a keyblade made from pure light and pure darkness. It's the only way to access the true Kingdom Hearts. It's what people fought over in the Keyblade War long ago."

Naminé's eyes widened as she heard the explanation, "χ-Blade. You and your friends fought Xehanort to stop it from being made before you got separated."

Aerith shook her head. "That's quite a bit to unpack there. I suppose that if Maleficent wanted such a weapon, gathering the Princesses of Heart wouldn't be a bad place to get pure light."

Yuffie nodded, "So Maleficent might be trying to gather the princesses again to take another shot. Where do you think she'd be going?"

Ventus looked to the skies. "She used to be doing her work in a world called Enchanted Dominion. I'll head there to see if I can stop her."

Naminé stepped forward. "I want to go with you."

He seemed surprised. "Are you sure? I'm the one that brought Maleficent back. I ought to be the one to deal with her."

"That doesn't mean I can't help. You're the one who showed me the power." She held the cards in her hand. "And we've been stronger together with it. I know that if we work together...we might be able to stop her."

"I…" Ventus trailed off sighing. "I know we'd have a better chance together. But I don't know what else to do without giving her too much time."

"Alright then, I'll come with you." Everyone turned to look at Yuffie. "I mean, you said it yourself Cid, I'm only distracting you with most of the heartless gone. If you want me out of the way, it'd probably be better if I went along with them. I might not have a keyblade, but neither did Goofy or Donald and they were alright with Sora. Besides, I could probably give Naminé some tips."

Ventus considered this, while he wasn't quite as panicked as before, he was still a bit unsure. "I'm not sure we can all fit on the glider."

Naminé nodded sadly, "Right. The two of us can just barely stand on it."

After a moment, Cid sighed, "Fine, I guess you can take my ship. Yuffie, you know how to fly it right?"

"Yessir!" She saluted.

"Now remember. If it comes back in pieces it comes out of your wallet." He glared at the Ninja, who seemed nonplussed waving him off.

"Relax. I won't bring it back in any worse condition than you would. Anyway, you just parked it near the front right?" With Cid's annoyed grunt and a nod she turned to head out. "I'll see you guys there!"

Aerith walked over to the girl in white, kneeling down to look her in the eye, "Naminé, before you go. I want to teach you summoning. If we had more time I'd be able to go more in depth, but since you're all in a hurry I'll just go over the basics."

Naminé was a bit surprised "Are you sure I'd be able to pick it up just like that?"

"You seem to have a handle on using those figments. I think you can pick up a simple summon easily enough." Aerith reached into her bag and held out a small gem, glittering in the sun. She passed it over to Naminé, "Hold it in your hand, can you see the being it calls out to?"

"I...think so…" Like a lost memory, the shape was there. Wild and longing to run free. She just needed to make it real.

"Then reach out, and say its name." Aerith encouraged.

A name? Of course, it's name gave it definition. Gave it form. Slowly, one came to her. "Chocobo?"

In a flash, a large yellow bird with small wings and long legs appeared. It studied the young summoner curiously. "Kweh?" Slowly, she raised a hand and began to stroke it's feathers, the bird preening at the attention before vanishing. Naminé looked to her hand, and saw a green card with an image of the bird on its face.

"You see? You're a natural." Aerith said proudly.

"Thank you!" Naminé gave a small bow. She turned to Ventus. "Alright. I'm ready to go!"

Smiling, he turned to Leon and the rest. "Don't worry. We'll put down Maleficent and be back before you know it!" and went with Naminé down the stairs.

Cid finally began to relax a bit, "Not happy about lending them the ship, but with the kids gone I might be able to get some work done."

Suddenly, a small flash of light, and a person sized cloud of smoke appeared. The group on the balcony quickly grabbed their weapons. "Ah! Finally!" Only to relax as they heard the voice. "So good to see the castle without so many heartless." The cloud dissipated, revealing a very old man in blue robes, with a brown suitcase.

"Good to see you too Merlin." Cid grumbled.

Axel watched Xigbar usher the rookie into the dark corridor towards the Enchanted Dominion. Larxene, lounging in the drab couch, looked over to Saïx, "So, any chance I might be able to get in touch with Marluxia? See how he's doing?"

"He is currently preoccupied with his own work managing Sora. It would be wise not to distract him." The man intoned. The air twisted and a Ninja and Assassin appeared, each moving towards their masters. "It would appear that you two have your duties to attend to."

Nothings where whispered in the way that only made sense to the recipient. Once finished, Axel shrugged. "Guess I get to go see what Maleficent's up to after all. Ventus seems dead set on taking her down."

Larxene snorted, not bothering to move, "Don't you mean we?"

"Correct." Saïx spoke, "You will both need to ensure that the keybearers do not meet an end at Maleficent's hand. We would prefer not to lose them at this juncture."

Larxene raised her eyebrow, "Don't we have more keyblade wielders? You know, I could just grab Naminé and we could go make Sora our puppet pretty quick. No need to waste time protecting an idiot that wants to rush to his death."

Saïx's glare did not waver, "This is an order from Xemnas himself. The keyblade wielders are to be protected so that they may gather hearts for us."

"Fine, fine, whatever the boss wants then." With that, Larxene rose up from her seat.

Axel gave a mirthless chuckle, "Well, this'll be interesting to explain to Xigbar."

"As well as to your new friend?" she asked as she opened a new dark corridor.

The assassin shook his head, "Friend? That's a bit much, isn't it? I'm just making sure they don't cause trouble for the Organization down the road."

"Yeah, guess that's as much as we get." And so the two departed into darkness, leaving Saïx to look out the window toward the dark sky. Gaze fixed toward the gathering hearts beginning to take shape.

"Though it may not have begun as we envisioned it. Soon we shall have all we have sought for. The key, and the kingdom."

Vexen appeared from the portal, "Well, things are progressing well with the data integration, though I'm having some issues with the basic personality." However the Academic's entrance went unnoticed by its inhabitants. All of them focused on the crystal ball. "Are you still watching the princess? If we captured her, she might be useful as leverage."

Marluxia grimaced. "She has a keyblade."

"A What?" Vexen was incredulous, "When? How?"

"Almost as soon as we were able to pinpoint her location." Zexion elaborated, "As it stands, she has been making her way through the heartless on each floor. Though I doubt she knows the direction she must take."

The academic shook his head, "How could she even be wielding it with any proficiency? Our reports indicate she has no combat capability."

"Neither did Sora, and he was able to defeat Ansem." Marluxia was focused on the girl in the crystal casting a flame to defeat yet another heartless. "And we also know that she was able to hide her heart in his. Perhaps she has gained some knowledge from her time within? Or perhaps this is the strength of a Princess of Heart unleashed by the keyblade?" In the projected Image, the princess threw her keyblade into her enemies, having it return to her. "She might prove useful.

"I will test her." Lexaeus broke the silence, and everyone turned toward him.

The schemer raised an eyebrow, "You're certain? We might be better served having Vexen take the opportunity to analyze her."

The stalwart shook his head, "He is busy with one replica. It would be unwise to ask him to work on another. I will determine if her power has merit." And so he vanished into darkness.

Kairi took a moment to catch her breath and lean on one of the pillars. Unfortunately, there was very little she could do to take her mind off things. All she could see were halls upon halls of endless marble. It made for a rather monotonous journey through this floor. But if it was for Sora and Riku, she could go on. Ready to move again, she ran down the corridor, arriving at yet another room. Fortunately, she could see the doorway on the other side of the room had a set of stairs. "Finally, I can make some progress. Hope the next floor looks a bit better."

Suddenly, the doors slammed shut. "Kairi, Princess of Heart." a new voice spoke. And between her and the door, a dark portal appeared. One that vanished, leaving behind a mountain of a man in a black cloak looking down at her.

"How do you know my name?" She held her keyblade ready. She could tell from his hardened eyes that this man was here for a fight.

"We know much. We have been watching you in this castle. The keyblade you possess has power. But is it enough?" He raised his arm, and in a flash, summoned a colossal tomahawk that he hefted to his shoulder.

She settled into the stance she had gotten used to fighting through the heartless. "It's plenty enough to help me save my friends."

He raised his foot, and brought it down in an echoing stomp. Immediately, the path behind Kairi was barred by a pillar of rock. "I am Lexaeus. Number Five of the Organization. Show your might or prepare to die."