Chapter Thirteen: Recon

'Show your might, or prepare to die.'

The words were delivered calmly, but Kairi was hardly calm as Lexaeus leapt through the air, bringing the tomahawk down over where she stood. She had enough time to dodge, but was knocked back by the shockwave. Immediately she conjured fire and cast them at the cloaked man. Though the spell hit him easily he was hardly perturbed, rushing forward, dragging the blade through the earth before slashing at her. She parried the attack with her blade, and began to attack back. Though he wasn't moved by her strikes, he winced with each blow.

Kairi saw the man shifting his stance and backed off, and in that moment, Lexeaus threw his tomahawk high in the air. With his hands free, he punched the ground, Causing more pillars of earth to erupt from the ground where Kairi stood that she was barely able to jump away from. Catching his weapon, he brought down the blade causing a colossal crag to smash from the floor. The rock knocked Kairi back, but in a moment, she quickly regained her footing. Readying her keyblade, she felt the energy gathered within, and saw an opportunity. Immediately she dashed forward with her keyblade thrusted toward her target. Striking him as she passed by, she directed herself right back at him. Dashing again, and again, the sonic blade charged at Lexaeus. Finally she came to a halt, and turned to look at the robed man.

He winced, "You are stronger than a normal girl. But that is to be expected of any child empowered by the keyblade."

"I think you'll find I'm full of surprises!" Kairi shot back, and began running towards the man.

"As am I." And with that, Lexaeus unleashed a shockwave of power, driving the princess back. As energy coursed through his frame, it radiated around him. Again, he dragged his sword through the ground to slash at her, but this time the attack sent stone spike stabbing toward the girl as well. Knocked back by the rubble, she didn't have time to notice him leap above her. She was able to roll away from the blade itself, but the erupting earth around Lexaeus sent her flying. Landing on the floor, she did her best to get up as Lexeaus walked toward her. "Simple Tricks...the bare basics…is there nothing more you know?"

What more? What more could she do? What more did she have besides her keyblade? Her heart?

Her heart…

And she realized the power that had been waiting for her to call it forth. "Light!"

"AAARGH!" In a flash, a crystal spark of light had materialized in front of the Organization member, knocking him back. Seeing her chance, Kairi rushed forward with the keyblade, and began to strike back at him. This time, he was clearly grunting in pain, whether from the keyblade or the light, Kairi didn't care. All that mattered was that with one final slash, the man dropped to his knees. And with that, Lexaeus vanished in a dark portal, the pillars of stone blocking the way back disappearing. Propping herself up with the keyblade, Kairi let out a sigh of relief.

"Good. There is potential. You will need that to survive."

Only for that relief to end when he heard the man's voice. Spinning toward the source, Kairi saw Lexaeus leaning against the wall. "What do you want?" She asked, hands tightening against the keyblade.

In his hand appeared a set of blue cards. "For you to follow the path before you from the memory of other worlds." Lexeaus tossed them over to her. "As you proceed through the castle, step by step, the bonds holding you to others comes loose."

Catching the cards, she glanced at them, seeing worlds she witnessed within Sora. And looked back at the man unafraid. "The bonds I have won't break. No matter how far apart we are."

"We shall see when we meet again." And with that, he vanished into darkness for now.

Looking at the cards, she saw many of the worlds that Sora had visited on their journey. Now they were steps on her own journey. And she needed what she could get. If Lexaeus was going easy on her, she couldn't waste any time in getting stronger. Turning to the unlocked door, Kairi proceeded to the stairs. "Hang on guys. I'll be there before you know it."

"So! This is a gummi ship! Any of you know how to fly one?"

Ventus looked over the ship's inside, a bit messy with a few of Cid's scattered tools on the floor. Naminé had already sat down in one of the side chairs. He looked to the flight stick, the back to Yuffie. "Well, I've used a glider before, it's like that but...bigger right?"

She shrugged, "Probably, but I'm the only one Cid'll trust with the controls so I'm flying for now!" And with that, she sat down in the pilot's seat, and began the ship's ignition. Various panels on the ship coming to life. A moment later, the ship began to hover off the ground. Then she paused."Wait...How are we getting to the other worlds? All the walls are back now."

"Ah, I've got it!" Ventus stepped up to the bow of the ship and took out his keyblade. Pointing it straight ahead, a beam of light phased through the window and created a shimmering portal to the lanes between. "We should be able to pass through with that."

Yuffie nodded. "Okay! And we're off!" And pulled on the throttle. Sending the ship into the starry expanse.

Ventus leaned over, and pointed to a direction in the distance. "You'll want to head this way." Nodding, Yuffie, turned the ship accordingly. With that, Ventus sat back down in his chair and began to look out towards the stars. He smiled, "It's so strange, seeing this without having to focus on flying." Idly, he took out his wayfinder, remembering the days gone by when he looked to the stars with his friends.

"It's magnificent…" He turned toward Naminé, who had taken out her paper and some crayons, and began to sketch. This time, rather than outlining the scene with a pen, she began to slowly fill in the sky with broader strokes, each color fading into one another. The shimmering lights in the lanes between merging together, each world shining between them.

Looking from the sketchpad back to her Ventus spoke up. "I think you've got it down pretty good!"

She turned to him, surprised at first, but soon relaxing, "Thanks. Do you mind if I ask a question?"

Ventus shrugged. "Sure. Whatever you want to know."

Naminé pointed to green glass star in his hands, "That charm you have there...what is that?"

"Oh, this?" He looked to it in recognition, "It's a wayfinder. It was a gift from Aqua. She made one for Terra, herself, and me. The night before…" His voice trailed off, painful memories returning, "Before we left on the journey that we faced Xehanort on...Before I lost them."

Naminé set down her crayon and looked at Ventus with concern. Then after a moment, she spoke, "Ventus...I believe that you'll find them." He looked at her in surprise. "Even after everything that's happened to you and your friends, you still want to do your best and try to find them and help make things right." She did her best to try and give a comforting smile. "As long as you don't give up, I know you'll see your friends again."

"Yeah, you're right." Ventus nodded, and regained his own smile. "You know, this actually has a bit of magic in it. It lets me make the bonds between me and my friends real. I guess since I was asleep so long, some of that power's faded, since people forgot me. It might be a bit too faint for me to draw power on, but I can still feel the bond between Me, Terra, and Aqua. So they're not gone.

Naminé tilted her head in curiosity, "Can you feel the bonds between other people we've met?"

"Yeah, Cid, Leon, Aerith, Yuffie and you too." He scratched the back of his head somewhat sheepishly. "Though, I haven't tried it yet."

"If you don't mind back there," Yuffie spoke up from the pilot seat, "We're coming up on a couple of worlds."

"Yeah, these look familiar." Ventus stepped forward, looking at the three worlds in front of them. A Castle of Dreams, the Dwarf Woodlands, and tangled in thorns, "That one's the Enchanted Dominion."

At Ventus' prompting, Yuffie flew towards the planet. And a few moments later, she landed the ship in a clearing in the woods. "Alright, so where was Maleficent hiding when you were here?"

"We're going to need to go towards the mountains, so…" Ventus pondered for a moment, getting his bearings. Finally, he spotted a familiar path in the forest. "That way." And with that, he led Yuffie and Naminé through the forest.

Naminé looked around the near silent forest as they traveled."There's no heartless around…"

Yuffie shrugged as she sliced down some of the thorns blocking their path. "Guess they weren't interested in sticking around since Sora sealed the Door to Darkness." After making enough of a clearing, the three made their way through the opening to what appeared to be the edge of the woods. Out on the horizon, the trio saw nothing but rocks and mountains. A single path on one of the cliffs led to a prominent mountain with a fortress set atop.

"That's Maleficent's old castle." Ventus pointed out, then he squinted at the small lights moving across the castle walls. "Looks like there are still guards. Guess we'll have to fight through them." He began to walk toward the castle.

"Or…" Yuffie spoke up pointedly. "We could sneak past them without kicking up an alarm. If Maleficent knows we're coming, we might not be able to stop her."

Ventus thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, your probably right. Still, the last time I went here, there was no way I could get by on my own without getting their attention."

"So...We need a distraction?" Naminé began to go through her cards. Then her eyes fell on one in particular. "I've got an idea…"

The short stubby pigman stretched his legs "Man, it's great to be back here! Things were kind of weird when everything was in that dark whatsit."

"Yeah, too bad the mistress is still gone." The lizardman next to him grunted in frustration. "Still not sure what to do without her. Maybe look for some food? I could go for a nice big chicken..."

"KWEEEEEH!" Without warning, a huge yellow bird began barreling past them into the castle.

The two guards looked at each other, then grinned. "Looks like we'll be eating well tonight!" and chased after the chocobo. A moment later, the three children quickly made their way through the gate and across the courtyard.

"That should buy us some time," Naminé panted as they reached the door at the far end. "But once it disappears, they're not going to be happy."

Yuffie nodded, and began to pull out a few needles, "Alright, just a minute and I'll pick the-" Only to stop when Ventus tapped the door with his keyblade, causing it to open. "Oh, right. Keyblades unlock lots of things. Awesome." And with that, the trio slipped past the door as the guards began to filter back into the courtyard, grumbling about their lost feast.

Ventus wasted no time leading them through the dimly lit halls of the castle. "Alright. If she's anywhere. She'd probably be in that big room...over there." And with that, they quickly climbed the staircase, only to come to a stop as they saw a trio of guards blocking a large set of double doors. Quickly, they ducked behind one of the pillars.

Yuffie looked to Ventus and Naminé, "Alright, on three, we take them all out." with a nod, they got ready with keyblade, cards, and kunai. "One, two…"

In a flash, Ventus sprang forward, and began to bash the guard in the center. Before his beaked compatriot could say anything, a figment rushed forward to smash his face in. As the lizardman watched this in shock he found himself muzzled by a hand behind him, while another drove a kunai into his neck. At the blow, his body dissolved into magic just as his compatriots did to Ventus and Naminé's attacks.

Naminé stepped forward, and in the quiet after the battle realized, "I think I hear someone talking...Maleficent!" Sure enough, she could be heard faintly through the door. Along with another, somewhat gruffer voice.

"Alright. Quietly…" Yuffie silently began to ease the door open, leaving the three able to see inside.

Ventus gaped in recognition of the figure conversing with Maleficent. "Is that...Pete?"

"You know him?" Naminé whispered back to him.

"Yeah, I met him back at Disneytown. But I'm not sure why he's working with her."

As they watched the mistress of all evil converse with her accomplice, they were unaware of the eyes watching them from a dark cloak in the shadows. Eyes that were fixated on the boy who was their mirror image.