Kingdom Hearts Keyblade Legion

by lyokoMARVELanime

Sequel to Dual Keys. Sora, Donald, Goofy return to the worlds after an event that caused them to have their memories modified, and they're off on a new adventure with Ven. But this time they've some new friends with them. Can Roxas and Xion help to save the worlds from this new evil group? Is there some deeper mystery surrounding the two siblings? Find out along with the new team.

19. Reunion in Twilight Town

AN: Wow. Just wow. I honestly did not intend for this to go almost a year without an update, but then again, a lot of my plans seemed to have gotten derailed over the last year in one way or another. First the Spider-Verse story took longer to finish than I expected, and then a bunch of other things were slower to get out than I would've liked, and let's not even get into how I ended up unable to properly keep up with the Studio News Series over on my YouTube channel. But, all of that is not important right now. What's important? Here's what's important! The newest chapter of Keyblade Legion finally being done, posted, and up for viewing at long last!

[audience applause]

Yeah, I know, I know. It's been far too long, but considering what's happening in this chapter, I'm sure many of you feel like it'll have been more than worth the wait. In all honesty, I was kinda nervous about how this would turn out, even after I teased some of the events happening in this chapter over on the YouTube channel.

Sora: Oh yeah! I saw that video. It actually looked pretty good, even if it wasn't entirely accurate. You know, aesthetically speaking.

AN: I'm surprised you even know the word "aesthetically" and what it means. Second of all, I can't help it if KH3 Data Greeting only gives us stuff that appeared in Kingdom Hearts 3 to work with. Unlike some folks, I'm not some kind of code writer or hacker that can alter certain things in games to look different than they normally are.

Kairi: Hey, at least people liked it, including all of us, and I'm sure it kept everyone at least a little satisfied to have something related to this series coming out until this came up. Well, this and the other video you recently posted.

Xion: Other video? Oh! You mean the one in which he recreated an excerpt from the Keyblades of Future Past blooper reel. The one that people can see over in the Keyblades Unleashed Series Extras one-shot series. Yeah, that was actually a lot funnier seeing in action than it was as just something you simply read out.

AN: Yeah, I had a lot of fun making that video. To see all this stuff we're talking about, you know what you've gotta do. Just visit either my profile or the Studio Fandom YouTube page. And hey, if you guys are interested, there is one other thing I should mention. This series now has a Discord server of its own! Courtesy of long-time follower "Ronin Warriors Fanatic". Check it out if you haven't already, and if you've gotten an invite to join it, please consider accepting. I'm one of the admins myself, so the chances of getting some exclusive, insider knowledge on the stories in this series over there is pretty high.

Aqua: You know, some people could take that the wrong way. Like say, thinking you'd be giving away spoilers over there when you've been so against doing so here.

AN: Hey, however they take it is on them. Right now, we've got a long overdue, new chapter to get into, so what're we waiting for?

Also, if you haven't already, please check out our YouTube channel "Studio Fandom". It's the best place to get updates as to what I'm doing with my writing stuff at the time along with various other content. And if you want to look at some pretty cool artwork, we've also got a DeviantArt page now "studiofandom", so check that out too, when you get the chance.

Now without further adieu, here is your regularly scheduled disclaimer and the newest chapter.

I do not own anything from Kingdom Hearts or any other franchise mentioned in this story.

---

Chapter XIX

It was a little hard to really judge how PJ took the recent news about his father, but given how relaxed Donald and Goofy seemed to be afterwards, and how certain Max was that his friend was going to be okay, the others had to assume it was not too bad. They did overheard PJ asking to let him tell the rest of his family, to which Goofy had only nodded before letting the boy go to find a phone and do just that, but overall, the kid seemed to be holding up okay. Still, they could not help but worry for him a little. Ventus especially looked after PJ with a great deal of concern; being a former apprentice of Master Xehanort, the blonde master knew just how hard it was to be affiliated with a bad guy in any respect like that. Sure, he was a little more lucky that not too many people knew the extent of Xehanort's evil while PJ's dad was known to be a major trouble maker all throughout his world, but the comparison was still valid if you asked Ventus.

Regardless of how good or bad PJ was handling the news of his father's recent activities, the others did get some time to relax a little after their adventure in the past, and they were happy to indulge in said relaxation. Sure, Donald spent most of that time making up for lost time with Daisy, and Goofy with making sure PJ was okay while catching up with Max, but the rest of the team could tell that the two were just glad to be back home with their friends and loved ones, even if it was only for a brief time. As for the four Keybearers, they had happily taken the time to properly rest and recuperate at the castle after Queen Minnie had offered to let the team stay the night. Sure, the Kingdom -A had some very nice living quarters, but it felt good to sleep somewhere that was not always flying about with a chance of being attacked at any moment. Especially since everyone got a room to themselves for the night as opposed to having to group up like some of them had been forced to since boarding the ship the first time.

When they all woke up the next day, they were all feeling completely rested and ready for the next leg of their journey. They probably would have gone to the gummi ship right after breakfast had they not been stopped by Merlin on the way out. He informed them that he had been working on a proper way to reward the group for their success in saving Disney Castle, and while it was not something the entire group could share, he did feel like the thing he came up with would certainly be proof of how they had all grown a little stronger and wiser. That reward was a new Drive Form; Sora's second Drive Form and Roxas's first: the Wisdom Form. Naturally Roxas was excited to finally be getting a Drive Form of his own, and his excitement only drove him to quicken his pace back to the ship so he could test it out for himself. The others were hot on his heels, feeling just as excited, but they did still give proper goodbyes to Queen Minnie and the others as they boarded the ship. They just wished they did not have to experience the bizarre method of take-off from Disney Castle. Almost no one enjoyed that little surprise drop.

You may be wondering why the team would be returning to the ship so soon when they could easily rest and relax at Disney Castle for a little longer. Heck, Roxas and Sora could put their new Drive Forms to the test just as easily at the castle as they would in the Kingdom's simulator, and they would have too, were it not for one major detail. That very morning, Chip and Dale reported that the ship's world map had finally updated, and the team knew that meant more worlds for them to explore, investigate, and most importantly protect. So, as soon as they had eaten their fill, they packed up and headed out as quickly as they could. After all, there was no telling what kind of damage the Heartless or the Organization might cause next, and with Maleficent now back in action, they now had even fewer reasons to wait around.

Still, the first and closest of the new worlds added to their map was a good distance away, so while Donald and Goofy flew the ship, the Keybearers were down in the simulator getting a feel for the newest additions to their arsenal. Once the simulator had powered up with a recreation of the Land of Departure's training grounds, Ventus had Xion and Roxas set to work with practicing the abilities they learned while on Timeless River, while Sora worked on figuring out his Unique Tier Two Command Styles. He still had not had much success in that regard, but Ventus was sure that his first apprentice would get at least one of those advanced abilities sooner or later. Of course, they did not spend too much time with getting Roxas and Xion used to using their newest abilities, at least not beyond Roxas figuring out the exact workings of how to activate his new Shotlock. They were a little worried he would have to stop and aim both of his Keyblades at his targets at once, assuming he was using both at the time, but as it turned out, he could point either one of them at any number of targets, and even lock onto more with the second Keyblade if he so desired. With all of that finished, they then got to work on helping Sora and Roxas learn the ins and outs of Wisdom Form.

The minute Ventus gave them the okay to activate the new Drive Form, Roxas and Sora both exploded with the usual burst of light and allowed the change to wash over them. When the light had died down, Sora's attire had turned blue and black with a blue flame emblem adorning the ends of his pants and jacket sleeves, while Roxas's attire had become purple and gold with the same emblem emblazoned in the same spots of his own attire. Some specks of light floated around their legs, while a magical mist surrounded their feet. When the two started moving, they stumbled a little like one would when stepping when they first try learning to ice skate, and Xion could not help but notice how the mist turned into two lightly colored wisps rising up from each foot as they did. From that point forward, it did not take long for Roxas or Sora to realize that their main method of moving in this form was to skate along the ground, and they spent a pretty good deal of time getting used to that feeling and how fast they could move while in Wisdom Form.

When they got on to the matter of attacking in Wisdom Form, they were met with a very interesting surprise. They both could only use one Keyblade. For Sora, this was not a big deal. Well, not too much of a big deal; he had honestly expected this new Drive Form to give him two Keyblades like Valor Form, so he did feel a bit disappointed that he only had the one. Roxas on the other hand was a different story. Every time he tried to summon his second Keyblade, the one he had out at the time vanished right after. It was like the Wisdom Form was preventing him from using his natural Sync Blade abilities. He could not help but feel a little annoyed over this, but it started ebbing away when he and Sora started trying out their basic attacks. Instead of regular blade attacks, they were able to fire off magical homing darts from their Keyblades. Not only that, but their magic attacks seemed to flow more swiftly and could even be used in a rather impressive range of combinations as well with their every move. It was a good thing they figured out right from the start that Wisdom Form boosted their magic energies quite a bit, because they were very eager to test out how many different combinations of magic they could utilize.

The real icing on top though was when they learned what else they could do while in Wisdom Form, because unlike Valor Form, they were not limited to just basic attacks and whatever power-ups the new Drive Form offered. They could also use their Shotlocks while in Wisdom Form as well. Not only that, but it seemed like they were able to lock onto targets much more easily and quickly while in Wisdom Form, so they were able to power up whatever Shotlock they wanted to use to full strength with little effort. All these things and more got the two boys really hyped up for when they got the chance to use Wisdom Form in a real battle. Seeing this, Ventus decided that they should not have to wait long, and had the simulator deck generator some surprise enemies for the boys to fight.

The second that the digital incarnations of the Heartless and Dusks appeared before them, Sora and Roxas had reacted on instinct, thinking that their enemies were really on the ship. Thankfully, those instincts also led them to start putting Wisdom Form to good use, so Ventus was not complaining too much. He did have to stop Xion before she could rush in and try to help, but that was only a small hiccup in the grand scheme of things. Especially since Xion managed to figure out why Ventus had stopped her without him having to really say all that much to her. Since they were running mostly on instinct, Sora and Roxas managed to destroy all the simulated enemies pretty quickly, and they were prepared to race out and make sure there were not any others on the ship until Ventus reassured them everything was alright. It did take a little longer to explain what had actually happened to them, but thankfully, Xion was able to help Ventus explain how the Heartless and Nobodies the boys had fought were not real.

His little trick on them may have earned Ventus some reproachful looks from the two boys, but it did have a small side benefit to teaching them something else about Wisdom Form. "What do you mean it doesn't feel all that much different from when you first activated it?" Xion asked after the two boys had powered down. "After all that time skating around and firing all sorts of magic at anything and everything you could, your Wisdom Forms should be at least a little stronger."

"Hey, I'm not saying there wasn't any change at all," Roxas assured his sister. "But from what you and Sora had described, it feels like the increase was a lot slower."

"Maybe there's a certain trick to making Wisdom Form stronger," Sora suggested. "I mean, Valor Form is a bit more simple in comparison, so what if there's more to powering up Wisdom Form than just using it.?"

That did make a lot of sense to everyone else, and they all began pondering as to what the trick was to strengthening Wisdom Form. "Well, it does seem like it's pretty heavily magic-based, so maybe it grows stronger the more often you use magic," Xion suggested.

"I doubt that," Roxas denied. "In case you didn't notice, even our standard attacks were magic attacks."

"He's right. Sure, those homing darts aren't as powerful as your regular spells, but they are still a magic-based attack," Ventus agreed. He then scratched his bushy beard as he theorized, "Though at the same time, Xion might not be too far off, either. Maybe it depends on a certain type of magic attack to grow stronger."

"I don't think so. When I was using it, I never really noticed any change after using any of our magic and spells," Sora revealed. He then grinned a little sheepishly as he admitted, "But then again, I wasn't really paying too much attention since I figured it would increase with time and use like Valor Form had."

One look at Roxas and the others realized he had not been paying that much attention to it either, and they all resolved to wait until the boys were able to power up again so they could really test out any other theories that they could come up with. At least, that was the attention, until Goofy suddenly called out for them over the intercom. "Hey fellers, you all might want to get up to the bridge. We're gettin' a call from Chip and Dale."

That struck the four as a little odd, since it felt like they had not left Disney Castle all that long ago. In fact, a quick check of the time informed them barely more than a couple of hours had passed since they left, so they had to wonder what the two gummi engineers could be calling about so soon after they had departed. Their curiosity now efficiently peeked, Ventus quickly led his apprentices up to the bridge, where Donald and Goofy had already opened up the communication line for them.

"Hey, you two. Is everything okay? We didn't forget something back at the castle did we?" Ventus asked once they were all gathered on the bridge.

"Oh no, nothing like that, but it is something pretty important," Dale informed them.

"And what would that be?" Sora asked.

"Have you got the ship's world map pulled up?" Chip asked.

"I've got it now," Donald replied after a couple seconds.

"Well have a looky over there at this section," Chip excitedly instructed just before a part of the ship's map suddenly started to glow a little. "It's Twilight Town!"

"Say what?!" Roxas and Xion both exclaimed.

"Yep, we can see it clear as day. It's finally back again," Dale happily confirmed.

Everyone instantly crowded around Donald to have a look at the world map, and sure enough, the chipmunks were right. Twilight Town had appeared back on the map again, right in the exact same spot it had been in before, and from the look of things, the path to said world was completely open too. This brought relieved smiles to Roxas and Xion's face, and the others were soon grinning excitedly along with them, knowing that their friends could finally go back to their old home again. All except for one of them. The second he saw how the image of Twilight Town had cleared up on the map again, and how open the path to it was, Ventus started to feel a little anxious. It must have shown on his face more than he had intended, because it was not long before the others took notice of his lack of joy.

"What's the matter, Ven? Aren't you happy that Xion and Roxas can finally go back to Twilight Town again if they wanted to?" Sora questioned his master.

"No, no, it's not that, Sora, but…Something just doesn't feel right about this," Ventus admitted to the group. "First Twilight Town disappears from our maps without any explanation, and then all of a sudden, it shows back up again? It just seems a little too convenient."

"You think Maleficent has something to do with this? Or maybe the Organization?" Roxas asked, feeling that was where Ventus was leading into with this line of thought.

"I doubt this is Maleficent's work. She's never really shown much interest in worlds where she couldn't gain valuable allies or that didn't have something she would want, and as far as I know, Twilight Town has neither of those things," Ventus immediately dismissed.

"So that must mean the Organization is probably baiting us with a trap of some kind," Xion concluded.

"The possibility is pretty strong," Ventus confirmed.

"But what if that isn't the case? What if this is someone else's doing?" Sora pointed out.

"That seems a little farfetched if you ask me," Roxas denied. "After all, didn't you guys say this kind of thing shouldn't be possible under normal circumstances?"

"In terms of Twilight Town's removal from the map, yes, and considering that it's reappearance is equally as strange, I'm pretty sure that this is the work of whoever made it inaccessible in the first place," Ventus stated.

"So I guess that means we're not going to visit any time soon, are we?" Xion guessed. She knew they were already well on their way to another world, and going to Twilight Town right now would just force them to turn around and start flying in the opposite direction, but a part of her did hope that they could have made a quick stop to say hello to Hayner, Pence, and Olette at the very least.

"But if the Organization really is behind this, then how do we know they won't do something to our friends or any of the other people who live there just to get our attention?" Sora pointed out.

"Sora's right. If our friends are in trouble, then we should hurry and help them as soon as possible," Donald nodded along.

"I agree," Ventus informed them, much to everyone's surprise. "All I said was that the sudden reappearance of Twilight Town on the map was suspicious, not that we should avoid going there. To be honest, I'd like to go and investigate right away, but if we do go, we're going to need to approach with a lot of caution."

No one gave any sign of disagreement with Ventus or his decision. Instead, they all scrambled into their seats and buckled up, right before Sora grinned at his master and declared, "Just say the word, Ven."

Ventus nodded to both Sora and the rest of his friends with pride as he assumed his seat and gave the order. "Sora, set course for Twilight Town; maximum warp."

"Aye-aye sir. Course laid in, maximum warp standing by," Sora relayed as he punched in the commands.

"Engage."

With that simple series of commands, the Kingdom-A made a hard turn around and rocketed off towards Twilight Town. All the while, it's crew felt a number of anxious knots forming in their stomachs over what they might find there when they arrived.

---

A feeling of nostalgia and relief washed over Roxas and Xion the second they teleported down to a hidden area of the train station platform of Central Station, and walking down the hill through Station Heights and into Tram Commons helped reassure them they really were back in Twilight Town. The sounds, smells, and sights of Market Street only helped reinforce the idea they had finally come back after such a long time, and thinking of how good they were feeling to be back in the place they had once called home made it a little easier for them to understand how Donald and Goofy felt getting to return to their world, even if only for a short time. Thinking of this made the two feel a little bad for Sora, and to a certain extent Ventus as well. Sure, Ventus had spent many years living at Disney Castle, but he had always insisted his home would always be the Land of Departure. Add in the fact that Sora had not even seen his home outside of the recreation on the simulator deck, and the twins could not help but feel a little guilty for getting to come back to a world they had called home after being away for such a short time. Neither of them said anything about it though, because they were not here to get caught up in feelings of homecomings; they were here to do a job, and they had no problem leading the way so they could set to work.

Looking around as they descended through Station Heights did not yield much in the way of hinting at anything being wrong, even for the twins, and that did not change when they got into the Tram Commons either. None of them were expecting it to be easy to spot any signs of a trap so quickly, but Roxas and Xion were sure they would have noticed something being amiss by now if the Organization had set one for them here. Still, they only paused in their searching when they finally came to the bottom of the hill and saw just how empty the area seemed to be. Considering how this was the main shopping area of Market Street, along with the only sign of activity being the tram circling about like it always did, you would not blame them for becoming a little more guarded than they already had been.

Seeing how deserted the area was even prompted Ventus to close his eyes to better concentrate in an effort to try and sense something that would indicate an enemy being nearby, or even just a small hint of something they could deal with. The problem was Ventus had been doing so for several minutes now and he had given them no indication of picking up on anything. They were all starting to get impatient, and unsurprisingly, one of the twins was the first to ask Ventus what they were all wondering.

"Anything, Ven?" Xion worriedly inquired.

Ventus remained silent for a few more minutes, but he ended up letting out a frustrated groan when he finally replied, "No, I've got nothing, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"Shouldn't that mean everything's okay though?" Sora asked, understandably confused.

"Normally, yes, but considering who we're dealing with, I'm not so sure. If this were something involving the Heartless, Pete, or Maleficent, then I would be able to sense their darkness, but don't forget, we've got the Organization to worry about too. And unfortunately, I normally can't sense their presence," Ventus admitted.

"What do you mean you normally can't sense them?" Roxas asked. "Isn't that how you always knew where to find me and Xion?"

"Not exactly," Ventus hedged around. "I kept track of you two as best I could, but until your hearts had started to really form, I had to rely on guesswork and blind luck for the most part. And keep in mind, Nobodies aren't beings from the realm of darkness or the realm of light; they're born in the realm of twilight, the in-between. Meaning they don't technically have any darkness or light in them."

"Unless they do something to change that, like the Organization did," Xion guessed.

"Like most of the Organization, and even then, only one of them really pinged on my radar with a little bit of darkness, and the only time that happened was when I went to help you two escape from the world they set up their base on," Ventus clarified for her.

"So the only way we're going to know for sure is if we just keep looking around or simply spring the trap," Goofy figured out.

Ventus wanted to say no, but he could not for two reasons. First and foremost, because Goofy was right; that was the only way they would know for sure if they were walking into a trap by coming back here right now. The second reason though had come running up from another part of town in a panic, shouting for help as he ran past the group, much to their concern.

"H-help! The Sandlot! It's Seifer!" Vivi screamed as he ran as fast as he could.

"Vivi?! What happened? What's going on at the sandlot?" Xion called out, but the small boy in ragged clothing just kept running, either not hearing her or just too scared to acknowledge her calls. He did still offer up some information for them though.

"Those strange silver monsters are back! Somebody please help us!" Vivi continued shouting as he ran.

Seeing Vivi run off in such a panic made the team straighten up, while Sora determined, "Sounds like we've got a better idea on where we need to look for the Organization's trap now."

"Yep," Roxas agreed, and he immediately took the lead in rushing over to their new destination. "Come on! The Sandlot's down this way."

The others all nodded in reply and raced after Roxas as fast as they could. When she caught up with her brother though, Xion had to ask, "So do you think the real Seifer's going to be anything the one in the Virtual Twilight Town?"

"We're about to find out one way or the other," Roxas pointed out.

Xion simply nodded in reply and continued running ahead with the rest of the team. All the while, none of them knew that if they had stuck around a little longer, they would have heard Vivi shouting something in his panic that would be considered pretty important. For some of them more than others. "Aqua! Kairi! Come quick! Seifer and the others are in danger!"

---

No sooner had the Keyblade Legion arrived in the Sandlot did they see several Dusks dancing around the fallen forms of Seifer, Fuu, and Rai. Only the leader of the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee was still conscious, but from the look of things, Seifer was not going to last much longer. It was admirable watching him try to get back up and keep fighting, but they all knew he would not last more than a few seconds even against the Dusks, so there was only one thing for them to do.

"Back off!" Xion shouted, shooting out a blast of ice magic from her right hand. The spell struck the Dusk she had been aiming for, freezing it place long enough for her to jump in and cut it down the second she had her Keyblade in hand.

Roxas jumped in right afterwards, slashing away at every Dusk close to him and giving Donald and Goofy a chance to get to the downed kids. Seifer tried to brush the two off, but neither of them were having it, and Ventus certainly was not going to either. "You've already done all you can, kid. Just leave the rest to us," Ventus ordered the younger boy. "Donald, Goofy, you two get them out of here and do what you can to heal them up."

"Yes sir," Donald and Goofy saluted in response.

"We'll try and save a few Nobodies for you guys in the meantime," Sora jokingly promised his friends as he readied Kingdom Key for action.

Donald and Goofy just grinned back in response, and then cleared out so the four Keybearers could get to work. Since their arrival was so sudden, the four managed to hold a very strong advantage over the Dusks, so it took very little time to get rid of them all. Sadly, if there was one thing this brand of Nobodies had in common with the Heartless, it was that there was never just one Dusk to fight. The second they got rid of the first few, another wave of Dusks suddenly materialized into being, and this time they were ready to face their Keyblade wielding foes. The four were not too worried though, since it was nothing but the simple Dusks, and they took this batch out just as quickly. Donald and Goofy rejoining the fight helped speed that process along, but it was right after when things started turning around.

Right after Sora had cut down the last Dusks, more Nobodies suddenly materialized around them, and this time it was not just the Dusks. Along with them were a number of massive, hulking Nobodies as well, with large arms, legs, and hands, and all of them were wielding a large T-shaped hammer. The Nobody emblem could just barely be seen on left pectoral muscles of these huge brutes, but given the way Xion had suddenly flinched back a little at the sight of these new enemies, they were a little more concerned with how dangerous they were than how they looked.

"Berserkers," Roxas growled angrily. He had to quickly dive to the side right after, and was about to explain what little he just remembered about these enemies when some more Dusks suddenly shot out from behind him to strike from behind.

Luckily, Roxas did not need to worry about getting beaten down for too long, because Sora soon came to the rescue and chased off several of the Dusks with some well-aimed Fire spells. Roxas was thankful of course, both for the rescue and for not getting burnt, but he could hardly give much indication as such when one of the nearest Berserkers had suddenly swung its hammer at him. Sora was quick to try and counterattack from behind, but his attacks only did so much on their own. It was not until Donald called down a blast of lightning magic that the Berserker finally fell, and even then there were still several more to deal with. Roxas did not hesitate in trying to repay the other two for their assistance, and charged right towards the next Berserker in a full-frontal assault, but to his surprise, his Keyblades simply bounced right off the hammer when they hit. Thankfully, he managed to recover quickly enough to avoid getting hit by the Berserker's retaliation, and soon started trying to circle around to attack from a different angle.

Unfortunately for them, the next wave of Nobodies did not wait for them to destroy the current one before appearing, so now they had to deal with even more Dusks and Berserkers. Each of the six heroes did their best to stay together and fight against the Nobodies in groups, but it did little good. Just as so many had often said before, Nobodies were much smarter than Heartless, so in retrospect, it should have been of little surprise that even these grunts of the Organization were able to find a way to isolate each member from the others somehow. Things were only made all the more difficult as the Berserkers proved to be far more resilient than any other Nobody they had faced to date, and forced the team to exert a much greater effort to destroy just one of them. Never mind the small team that only seemed to grow a little more every time they destroyed just one. Too bad for the Nobodies all of the Keyblade Legion's members could hold their own in a fight very well, even if they had to fight alone.

Xion proved this shortly after getting over whatever nervous spell had hit her after the first Berserkers appeared, and soon rushed in to cut down the nearest Nobodies, sparing a few blasts of magic here and there to help the rest of her friends. Upon cutting down yet another Dusk, Xion glanced to the side and let out an annoyed grunt after seeing even more Dusks joining the fight. "Tch! They just keep coming," she grumbled aloud.

"Really Sis? I hadn't noticed," Roxas sarcastically retorted as he stared down the Dusks and Berserkers that just jumped into existence before him. And right after he had finally gotten rid of another two of the bigger Nobodies at that.

Sora was getting almost if not just as frustrated as his younger siblings, but he did not want them to start losing hope. "Just hold on a little longer, guys!" He called out to the other two, and by extension, anyone else on the team that could hear him. "We can still take 'em!"

"Easy for you to say," Donald snapped as he came up to stand back-to-back with Sora, much to the Keybearer's surprise.

When some more Dusks suddenly flew towards them, Sora and Donald put any further exchanges on hold in favor of blasting them with a double dose of magic, vaporizing the unfortunate Dusks in an instant. They then raced off to try and assist either Roxas or Xion with their current set of enemies, and in effect, missed them moment when Goofy was knocked back by a very powerful blow from some other Nobodies. One could say it was sheer dumb luck that he managed to block the worst of the attack with his shield, and by the skin of his teeth at that, but Ventus was a little more concerned with the wellbeing of his friend right now.

"You okay?" Ventus asked his friend.

"I think so," Goofy groaned as he managed to sit up, only to grow nervous at the sight of his previous attackers approaching them, menacingly. "But I don't know for how much longer."

Ventus turned a hardened gaze on the Nobodies who had hurt his friend, and immediately unleashed a powerful Freeze Raid on them. While some of the Dusks managed to slither away before his Keyblade hit, the Berserker ended up not as lucky, and was left frozen in place until Ventus smashed it into pieces with a swing of his blade. The other frozen Nobodies fell to Ven's Keyblade soon after, while Goofy dealt with the stragglers as best he could. Neither of them took notice of another Berserker closing in on them from behind until Xion suddenly rushed in and slashed at one of them as fast as she could. It ended up taking a concentrated effort of lightning magic from both her and Donald to destroy that one, but since Goofy and Ven were now aware of the enemies that nearly got the drop on them, they were able to deal with the others with a little more ease.

This pattern of destruction and recovery continued on for what seemed to be ages, with neither side really gaining any ground at all. Every Nobody destroyed was soon replaced with another one or two, every blast of magic was met with a slithering sneak attack, and every slash of a Keyblade was countered with either a block or a swing of a massive hammer. Eventually, Sora had powered up into Destiny Blaze just to try and meet the Berserkers' greater strength, and Ventus began doing the same for the Nobodies in general through use of his Flowmotion powers, but none of it did any good. Sure, they were able to take down many more enemies than they did using their standard abilities, but with how rapidly enemy reinforcements kept coming, they might as well have not powered up at all. To make matters worse, Roxas and Xion ended up barely getting enough room to power up in any way at all after the other two had. Every time they tried to focus long enough to activate a Drive Form, Shotlock, or Command Style, a Dusk or Berserker would come in and either knock them off balance or force them to dodge so they would not get hurt. This treatment was soon being exercised against Sora as well once he expended the power of his Command Style, and before too long, even Ventus was struggling to use most of his Flowmotion powers.

With such a concentrated effort being utilized against them, the team ended up being backed so far into a corner that Sora, Roxas, Xion, Donald, and Goofy ended up having to circle up with one another just so they would not be taken by surprise. Ventus would have been in the group as well, but the Nobodies were making it a very strong point to keep the master away from the rest of the Legion, clearly believing that isolating them from one another would put them at a greater disadvantage than they already were.

"Gawrsh, this looks bad, fellers," Goofy moaned worriedly.

As much as they did not want to admit it, they all knew Goofy was right, and it was going to take nothing short of a stroke of luck or a miracle to get them out of this mess. Fortunately, there was just a little bit of luck on their side, as Roxas was just about ready to unleash a new Dual Style on the Nobodies, while Xion felt confident she could finally activate her Valor Form with the others so close at hand to cover her. Sora would have tried out one of his Shotlocks as well, but none of them were able to do any of these things given all the chaos around them right now made it so hard to concentrate. Just when they each felt they were each about to get the chance to concentrate for even the smallest bit of their respective powers, a miracle finally happened.

"LIGHT!" someone shouted from above them, and they all suddenly had to shield their eyes in order to avoid being blinded by the brilliance of the light spell that struck the ground and forced the Nobodies around the five friends to be blown back by said spell.

When the light from the spell finally faded, the five members of the Keyblade Legion who had been surrounded before could only stare in surprise at the downed Nobodies. Some of them were still there, but more than half were definitely about to fade away if not on the verge of being destroyed. Seeing such power in action combined with how sudden it had come, had left all five very speechless. At least until Donald and Roxas broke the silence with a barely intelligent "Huh?"

"Um…What just happened?" Xion questioned. She was just as confused as her brother and the wizard duck, but she was not so dumbstruck that she could not manage a somewhat more intelligent response to the event they just witnessed.

Goofy had a question of his own about the surprise they just had, and it made some of them try to recover their critical thinking abilities a little more quickly. "Hey, is it just me, or did that voice sound kinda familiar to any of you too?"

No one could find any reason to tell Goofy he was imagining things, because he was right. There had definitely been something very familiar about that voice, but most of them could not figure where they had heard it before. It certainly niggled at Roxas and Xion's minds a little, and the feeling of familiarity rang in Donald and Goofy's heads even more insistently. Out of everyone in the group though, only one of them had recognized that voice right away, and he had only kept quiet during the others' exchange because of how surprising it was to have heard it here and now.

"Could it be…?" Sora muttered aloud when he finally found his voice again.

His answer ended up dropping right into their laps, as the spell caster herself landed right in front of the group with a flowery Keyblade firmly in hand. When she stood up again, she assumed a battle stance similar to that of a fencer and glared fiercely at the remaining Nobodies as she shouted, "You leave my friends alone!"

Sora and the others all gaped at the girl in wide-eyed shock. There were some notable differences compared to the last time most of them had seen her after all. Her hair was longer and a darker shade of red than they remembered, and she had definitely grown up quite a bit in a few other areas too. Not to mention her outfit was completely different too, but what they did not know, was that she had made a few changes to it pretty recently. Along with the white halter top and pink mini- dress, the girl now wore a pair of grey, fingerless gloves on her hands, and silver colored sleeves that covered her arms, while her old gauntlet had been replaced with a piece of smooth shoulder armor on her left shoulder that was colored pink with white highlights. Under her dress, she also donned a pair of silver shorts and white leggings that went up to her mid-thighs, and the sneakers she previously wore had been replaced with a pair of steel boots that were the same color. All-in-all, she looked very much like the Keyblade warrior she had been named as a year ago, but when she turned to smile at Sora and the others, the happy sparkle in her violet-blue eyes proved she was in fact who they believed her to be.

"Hey guys! Sorry we're a little late," Kairi grinned happily when she addressed her friends, old and soon-to-be-new.

"KAIRI!" Sora ecstatically cheered with joy.

"Kairi?!" Donald, Goofy, Roxas, and Xion all exclaimed in shock at the same moment that Sora had. All of them were wondering how the princess of heart was here, and it was not long before the question registered in Sora's head as well, but there was no time to worry about it right now. Not when the Nobodies were getting back up.

"We're gonna have to catch up later," Kairi reminded them, turning a fierce glare on the Nobodies again when she did. "These guys still need to be dealt with."

"Right," Sora agreed. "We'll talk more later."

Even with Kairi's explosive arrival, Ventus had not noticed much of anything about the exchange occurring nearby. Sure, he did take notice when his apprentices and friends ceased being surrounded, and eventually caught a very brief glimpse of Kairi fighting off some of the Nobodies, but he had brushed the latter detail off as the adrenaline of the fight making him see things. His reason for doing so was because he was still caught in a very intense battle with several Nobodies at once, including most of the Berserkers. Thankfully, his adrenaline was also helping him to keep from being overwhelmed for more than a few minutes at a time as he fought, and it showed as he sliced down another three Dusks. Some of the Nobodies had started closing in around him afterwards, but Ventus had already started powering up one of his signature wind spells in preparation for such a scenario.

"WIND!" Ventus shouted loudly, unleashing the strongest version of the Aero spell in his arsenal when he did, and every Nobody surrounding him, along with a few others that were close by were blown away.

At that point, adrenaline alone could not keep him going, and Ventus dropped to his knees in order to catch his breath. He was sure his last spell had bought him plenty of time to rest at least a little, but when he next glanced up to survey the area and assess the situation, he let out a growl at the sight of more Nobodies closing in on him yet again. Despite how tired he may be at that moment, Ventus still stood up to prepare for another round of battle, when suddenly the sound of multiple spells being shot off at once reached his ears. The next thing he knew, an orb of lightning, shards of ice, streams of water, and a blaze of fire suddenly came raining down from above, and he immediately raised his arms and Keyblade forward as a shield out of instinct when the four spells all struck his opponents at the same time.

Once the sounds of the attacks hitting finally came to an end, Ventus looked around in awe to see the area immediately around him was almost completely clear of enemies for the moment, save for a small number of lucky, surviving stragglers. Whether or not the weak Nobodies had enough strength to be a threat to him ended up being a secondary concern to Ventus. He was more interested in who had just saved his neck like that, because he knew for a fact that aside from maybe Donald, none of his friends were capable of casting powerful magic on that level, and a quick look around showed that even if they were, they could not have been the casters because they were all still on the ground with him, battling some of the other remaining Nobodies. It did let him finally realize he had not imagined it when he caught a glimpse of Kairi earlier, but his mind was still focused on finding out who had just saved his neck, so he ended up turning his gaze upwards to where he suspected the spells came from.

When Ventus finally found the most likely suspect, he was a little worried at first because the person in question was dressed like a member of Organization XIII, but his worries soon vanished when the figure raised their hands to lower the coat's hood…letting her blue hair flow freely in the wind once again after so long while her equally blue eyes looked back down. Ventus ended up blinking more than few times just to make sure he was not seeing things, but when the visual before him remained unchanged, his eyes grew wide as he called out the name of the woman he was finally seeing again after so long. "AQUA?!"

Having been so fixated on seeing the woman he loved again standing above the Sandlot, Ventus failed to notice that the weakened Nobodies had slowly started moving in on him, but Aqua had not, given how her eyes narrowed a little on the enemies who were daring to attack her beloved Ventus. With a quick flourish of movement, Aqua cast off the black coat she had taken to wearing for the last year, revealing her usual attire to world again at last, and summoned Master's Defender to her hand. She made a mighty leap up from the rooftop she had been standing on, and with a loud battle cry, brought her Keyblade down on the Nobodies behind Ventus, destroying them all in one fell swoop.

Even after seeing two powerful displays that could only have come from the real Aqua, Ventus still had a hard time processing this was actually happening. That after all these years, after all the searching he had done with Mickey and Ansem the Wise, after all the dreaming, the wishing, and the yearning, she was finally here, back in the realm of light, and standing before him as strong and beautiful as ever. It was so unbelievable he could barely even form a sentence when he finally found his voice again.

"Aqua? How did you…? When did you…?" Ventus somehow managed to stutter out, drawing the young woman's attention to him.

"It's a long story, and there will be plenty of time to tell it later. But for now, I can at least say this much," Aqua gently replied with a warm smile. A smile that only grew in size and warmth, showcasing all the love she held in her heart for the blonde man before her just as much as her words did when she finished. "It's so good to see you again, Ven."

Ventus's surprised expression held for a few more seconds as Aqua's words processed, his mind doing everything it could commit every detail of this moment to memory, from the look in her eyes, to the sound of her voice, and right down to the way she stood when she spoke. It gave off the sense that she had finally found reason to truly be at ease again after enduring a lifetime of hardships, and all of it combined into a brilliantly beautiful picture for Ventus to take in and smile at just as happily and lovingly as she was.

"It's good to see you, too, Aqua," Ventus replied with the same warmth and love she had in her voice at the end of her last statement. He would have loved nothing more than to scoop Aqua into his arms and kiss her until they were both struggling to breathe, but when he caught a flicker of movement from the corner of his eyes, drawing his gaze over to some surviving Nobodies dancing about and getting ready to attack again, he knew that such a moment would have to wait for later. So, he readied his Keyblade for action again, and shared a look with Aqua as he asked, "What do you say we pick this up after we deal with these guys?"

"Right," Aqua agreed, assuming her own battle stance in response.

Unlike his master, Sora did not fail to notice Ven's reunion with his long lost love, and ended up grinning like a happy fool over the sight. His smile only grew wider when the two surged forward and proceeded to take down several Nobodies at once in a way only two fully trained masters who were also best-friends-turned-lovers could, but his smile got wiped away with the sound of an explosion, reminding him they were still in the middle of a battle. When he took a glance around though, Sora felt like they did not have anything to worry about any more, because the tide had definitely turned in their favor for the final stretch of this fight, and he was sure the Nobodies knew it too.

"Alright guys, let's end this," Sora called out to his friends who could hear him.

"You got it, Sora," Donald and Goofy saluted in response.

"You don't even need to ask," Kairi assured him after cutting down another Dusk.

"We're with you!" Roxas and Xion both declared right before charging forward once more, ready to take down the enemies directly in front of them.

With each of these declarations, along with a couple of silent nods from Aqua and Ventus to show they had heard as well, the Keyblade Legion entered into the final stage of this face-off with everything they had to give. Donald and Goofy had no problem with teaming up with each other, and both made quick work of any Nobody foolish enough to cross them from that point forward. It did not matter which one took the lead, because whether Goofy disoriented them with a throw of his shield for Donald to then blast them with any number of spells, or Donald gave them a hard whack with his staff so Goofy could bash them out of existence afterwards, the end result was always a Nobody getting dusted in short time. A rather simple strategy, but it was certainly effective for the two best friends. The Keyblade wielders on the other hand took an approach some would consider as something of a showcase for whatever abilities and powers they all knew and used.

"Valor Form! Drive on!" Xion shouted, unknowingly being the first in the showcase of Keyblade wielder powers, and in a flash, her clothes changed to the emerald and gold of her Valor form, while Midnight Roar appeared in her off-hand. Even before her transformation had finished, Xion was already rushing to attack, so by the time she was in striking distance, the Nobodies had ended up being hit by a double-dose of Keyblade strikes without any delay whatsoever. Thanks to all the practice she and Sora had put in with these Drive Forms, Xion was also able to attack much more quickly than ever before, and it was not long before she used her extra strength to launch several enemies up into the air so that they were vulnerable to her follow-up of aerial attacks. Even after the airborne enemies were destroyed, Xion did not stop her assault. She went with the flow and spun around while descending to land a devastating spinning strike to wipe out the Nobodies that remained in her area.

Roxas was next in the line-up of ability displays, and he eagerly unleashed his ability for all to see. Gathering lightning magic in Oathkeeper and fire magic in Oblivion, he channeled both powers at once and shouted, "Dual Style: Shock Blazer!"

"Wait. What style?" Aqua asked after hearing the declaration, even as she sliced another Berserker in two. When she turned around, she was completely floored by what she was seeing. "He can fuse two different Command Styles together?!"

"Yeah, we know. Add it to the list of the things to talk about later," Ventus hurriedly told her right before he created a path of ice to slide along via Flowmotion.

Aqua only paused again for a brief time to watch Ventus use his Flowmotion powers and wipe out several Dusks and Berserkers at once, but she quickly returned her attention to the matter at hand by casting several more spells on any enemies trying to approach from around her. After another few Keyblade strikes, she felt just about ready to join the power-up fest and did so by channeling power into her Keyblade for just the power-up she had in mind. "Style Change: Spellweaver!"

Magic powers soon surged around Aqua as the new and improved version of her signature, personal Command Style came to life. Before long, she was gliding across the battlefield and taking out any enemies that dared to approach several rounds of magically enhanced strikes, sometimes ending it by calling her rapidly spinning Keyblade back into her hand so she could fire an orb of light magic at either a group of Dusks or a Berserker or two. When she felt her powers reach an apex, Aqua did not hesitate in unleashing her rapidly-spinning finisher on the Nobodies, creating an aura of magic around her as she spun while a large ice crystal formed over her head. Upon coming out of her final spin, the crystal shattered outwards in an explosion that destroyed all the Nobodies still around her. Any that still lingered were quickly cut down by her afterwards. Ventus would have questioned how Spellweaver had suddenly become more powerful than he remembered, or even why Aqua referred to it as something different than a Command Style, but he quickly recalled what he had told Aqua about Roxas's Dual Style abilities and added it to his mental list of questions to ask her later.

Speaking of Roxas, the Dual Keyblade wielder was currently blasting his way around the Sandlot to destroy any and all Nobodies within his range, and that range was very large considering it had been enhanced by his newest Dual Style. Every strike he landed not only delivered an electric shock to stun his enemies, but said shock also had a nasty burning effect similar to that of any fire spells. A similar instance came about when he swung one of his blade down to unleash a stream of what could most closely be described as an electrical fire, as three Berserkers soon discovered after they were hit by the fiery wave and suddenly started jolting and fidgeting as if they were hit by a nasty electric shock. Along with these magic powers, Roxas's strikes also seem to come far faster than normal and with a greater strength as well, and it was due in part to this that he was able to build his Dual Style's power up to its peak in a much shorter time than one normally would with most Command Styles.

"Dual Style: Shock Blazer Finisher!" Roxas shouted while spreading his arms out to either side and then thrusting both of his blades upwards so they were pointed at the sky. Upon doing so, a large orb of electricity formed just above the tips of his blades and began raining several spheres of electrical fireballs down from above, right up to the moment when Roxas swung his blades down again to unleash one final, electrified blaze to wipe them all out.

Sora was not about to let the others leave him out of all the fun, and it showed when he aimed his Keyblade at every Dusk and Berserker he could so he could properly lock onto them. Normally, this would be leading into when he unleashed either Typhoon Barrage or Radiant Blade, but he was really eager to have a proper reunion with Kairi, and for Ventus to get his very long-awaited reunion with Aqua, so he wanted to end this especially quickly. Sure, either of his other two personal Shotlocks could help with that, but he wanted a guaranteed, quickly finish, and he only had one such power that could deliver on that.

"TRINITY FORCE!" Sora shouted at the top of his lungs, and as soon as the bright gold aura formed around him, he sent a massive sphere of light energy out from his Keyblade and up into the air above him. With a powerful leap, Sora soon rocketed into the air after the orb and then descended back down again until his Keyblade had struck the ground, summoning forth a large, elaborate rune when the tip of his blade made contact. After spinning himself around the Keyblade, Sora planted his feet firmly on the ground and allowed several, brilliantly shinning light orbs to erupt out from the first one and began raining down on the Nobodies he had targeted, eliminating every single one from the fight at once.

It was only after the light of his attack finally died down when Sora stood up straight and removed his Keyblade from where it struck the ground, and he did in fact take notice of another Dusk's feeble attempts at trying to attack him while he was recovering from his last strike. The only reason he did not move to try and take it out himself was because someone else had already rushed to do it instead. As soon as she had cut down the Dusk, Kairi threw Sora a small grin and commented, "Wow, haven't seen that one in a while."

"What can I say? I'm feeling especially eager to get this fight over with," Sora shrugged with a shameless grin.

"Then I guess I'd better help with speeding things up," Kairi decided, and she immediately fixed her sights on the last few Nobodies while channeling power into her Keyblade. "Command Style: Shooting Star!"

Within seconds, the aura of Kairi's Unique Tier One Command Style had surged to life, and she was soon racing around the battlefield to slash the last few Nobodies, only pausing in between slashes to fire off several magic homing darts every few seconds or so. She did not leave it at just the homing darts though; Kairi mixed it up with a barrage of various other spells as well, and left Xion and the boys in awe with some of the powerful spells she had learned while training under Aqua as well. Spells such as Fission Firaga, Triple Blizzaga, Thundaga Shot, and Glacier. When she finally came to a stop with all actions, it was only to announce the activation of her Command Style's finishing move.

"Command Style: Shooting Star Finisher!" Kairi roared, and she began spinning around on one foot while spinning her Keyblade in her hand, and forming a series of five pointed stars around her. Upon coming out of the final spin, Kairi swung her Keyblade forward, and sent the stars racing off at the last Nobodies, destroying all of them in a single blow.

A brief glance around the area showed that Kairi's attack had ended the fight entirely, but neither the Keybearers nor their two friends relaxed until they were sure this was not a trick to make them let their guard down before another wave ambushed them. The good news was no more waves of enemies appeared after the last Nobody was destroyed, but unfortunately, someone else did appear before them, and he came to them from what had now become an irritatingly familiar dark portal.

"So, you came after all, Keyblade Legion," commented the hooded man who stepped out in a cold voice that almost seemed to carry a small tinge of anger. "Predictable, and yet the growth of your abilities is impressive."

Every one of the heroes narrowed their eyes at the Organization member as Ventus said, "You'll excuse us for not caring as to whether or not we've impressed you."

The Nobody just huffed in response before saying, "Is that any way to thank someone who has helped make it possible for your reunion? After all, you wouldn't have known they were here if we didn't open the path for you."

"Right, because you were so eager to let us reunite the last time we met," Aqua retorted as she and Kairi adopted stances that would ensure they were ready to strike.

"You can believe whatever you wish, but the fact is, it would break our hearts to hear something happened to any of you," the man remarked. He then seemed to spare a glance in Roxas and Xion's direction and almost seemed to growl as he amended, "Well…most of you any way."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Roxas growled back, not noticing how Xion seemed to tense up and begin going pale of a sudden.

"I wouldn't worry too much if I were you, Roxas. He's probably just trying to get a rise out of you," Sora told his brother.

"Yeah! Besides, they don't have any hearts," Donald reminded everyone.

"True, we don't have hearts," the man admitted, and he then reached up to lower his hood, revealing his face and the cross-shaped scar upon it along with his long, light blue hair. "But we remember what it was like. That's what makes us, the leading members of the Organization special."

Three different gasps came from the Keyblade heroes at the sight of this Nobody's face, all born of recognition. But, while two of them were purely out of surprise alone, the third had a very clear and noticeable deal of fear behind it. "Y-you," Xion stuttered in a whisper.

"Isa?" Aqua identified on hers and Ventus's behalf. "You're the one who chased off Axel and tried to capture Kairi and I when we first got to this world?"

"He did what?" Sora growled angrily, and the glare Ventus was now giving his former friend silently asked the same thing.

"Isa" almost seemed to smirk with dark humor upon seeing such reactions and stated, "It's been a long time since anyone other than Axel referred to me by that name. I ceased to be that person the day I became a Nobody. Now, you may call me Saïx."

Ventus lowered his head a little with a sigh and said, "I didn't want to believe it when I first heard, but seeing you before us and hearing it from you…I guess Lea really had been telling the truth when he mentioned how far you had fallen."

"So, Axel's the one who fed you so much information about us," Saïx noted in realization. "Perhaps that means you're hiding him from us in exchange for more information?"

"What? You mean…Axel's still alive?" Roxas gasped in surprise. Xion seemed to light up a little when she heard that, but soon flinched back a little when Saïx returned his gaze to her and Roxas.

"Ah yes. He entertained the illusion of friendship with you and the broken puppet," Isa recalled, nastily.

"It wasn't an illusion, and she's not a puppet," Roxas growled.

Saïx just huffed in response and commented, "Some people just refuse to accept what is true and what is little more than fantasy. All the better for us then."

"Whaddya mean?" Goofy asked.

Saïx merely glared over the group as a whole before stating, "I told you before that we remember what it was like to have hearts, and as such, we know very well how to injure a heart. Something we will not hesitate to do if any of you think to interfere with us more than you already have."

"Is that supposed to scare us?" Sora demanded.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask the puppet? It certainly seems afraid," Saïx insinuated as he waved to Xion.

At this point, the others finally took full notice of how Xion was trembling with fear, and the girl immediately glanced away from all the attention that had just been thrust upon her. Naturally, Roxas came to stand between her and Saïx, it did not take much for Sora, Donald, and Goofy to do the same right after, all of them glaring at the blue haired Nobody once their wall had been formed. Seeing her friends and family standing up for her gave Xion a little more courage, and as soon as she was sure she had stopped shaking, she looked up and gave Saïx the most defiant glare she could muster.

"Why don't you just get lost already? None of us are afraid of you," said Xion. She had hoped to sound a little braver than she was actually feeling, but she got the impression she was not entirely successful.

Saïx's amused smirk certainly gave the impression he had not been intimidated, but then again, he did not have a heart, so it would probably be more surprising if he had been. Instead, he just opened another portal and said, "Whether you're afraid of us or not doesn't matter. Not so long as you keep on fighting those Heartless."

Now the team was a bit confused. From the sound of things, the Organization wanted them to get rid of the Heartless, but why? Sure, the Heartless were bad news, but they figured that the Organization would want more Heartless around. After all, it would not be the first time someone thought the Heartless could help with whatever scheme they had in mind. Even with what little memory they had, Roxas and Xion knew the Organization had centered a lot of their missions around the Heartless, so that should mean they wanted there to be more Heartless, right? It just did not make sense, and quite frankly, that made it all the more annoying.

Sora in particular had just about had it with all the mysteries they had been getting lately. Sure, he did not mind solving the ones about Roxas and Xion's past, or what the Organization's actual goal was, but ever since they left Yen Sid's tower, it seemed like they just kept getting more questions than answers. Even when they did solve one mystery, another ten seemed to pop up in its place! He knew that the three good fairies said this new journey would be twice as hard as his last one, but he did not think it would be because of something like this. The only reason he did not lose his cool was because he felt like they had been given an easy way to finally put all the mysteries to bed at last.

"Hey, let's jump in after him before he can get away," Sora whispered to the others.

"How come?" Donald asked, while the others cast hesitant, worried, or astonished looks at Sora.

"Why else? He might lead us right to the Organization's world, and then we can finally get all the answers we've been looking for, and put a stop to their plans all at once," Sora explained to them.

"I really don't think that's a good idea," Xion quickly disputed.

Given how freaked out this Saïx guy had made her, Sora immediately assumed she was still concerned about the Nobody in question, so he kindly reassured her, "Hey, don't worry. You've got us to watch your back."

"It's not just that," Roxas informed his brother, getting the attention of Sora, Donald, and Goofy all at once. "Those portals they use, the Corridors of Darkness are incredibly dangerous because of how much darkness is inside them. Even Nobodies run the risk of being swallowed by the darkness within those things. The only reason the Organization doesn't need to worry about it is because the coats they all wear protect them from said darkness."

"Which we don't have," Sora finished in realization. Not that it kept him down for too long. "But we do have our armors. They could protect us just as easily."

"Except not all of us have said armor," Ventus reminded Sora, nodding to Donald, Goofy, and surprisingly Aqua. "Sure, we could use a little magic to help slow the process, but that would be more of a hindrance than a help. Besides, if we follow him through and land on the Organization's world like you think, we'll most likely end up in their headquarters."

"So? Wouldn't that be even better?" Sora asked, not seeing the problem.

"Only if you want us to be the ones who get jumped!" Xion finally laid out for him. "Saying they'll have the home field advantage is putting it mildly. We'll have to fight all the different types of Nobodies and the Organization's leading members."

"So the puppet does have a brain," Saïx mocked, drawing a growl from Roxas and Sora with his remark. Saïx ignored their anger before directly speaking to Sora. "You should heed the words of your master and the traitors, Sora. Unless you want to end up like Riku."

"What?!" Sora and Kairi both gasped, while Aqua and Ventus seemed to turn just as panicked.

"What're you talking about?" Ventus demanded. Saïx's silent smirk was his only answer, and that served to anger Ventus a little more. "Answer me, Isa! What did you do to Riku?!"

"I did absolutely nothing, and neither did my compatriots. If anything, you should already know. Or perhaps, your fellow master can make an educated guess based on her last encounters with him," Saïx informed them.

"Meaning what?" Aqua angrily demanded.

Once again, Saïx said nothing, but instead, gave a slight bow as he backed into the portal, disappearing from Twilight Town entirely. Once he had stepped through, Sora managed to break out of his shock and tried to chase after him, but the portal had already started closing by the time he did, so all he ended up doing was swiping at the air. "Damn it!" Sora cursed with frustration.

Ventus and the others were soon by his side, with the blonde placing a hand on Sora's shoulder once he had reached him. "It's for the best, Sora," he said. "There will be plenty of other chances to chase the Organization back to their headquarters, and much safer ones too."

"Yeah…I know," Sora sighed in defeat, but he still looked plenty worried. "I just can't help but wonder what he meant about ending up like Riku."

No one had anything to offer him in the way of ideas. Most of them because they truly did not know, but Ventus and Aqua did glance away so that no one could take notice either of their worried expressions. The moment of contemplation and silence ended up broken pretty quickly though, when they were rudely reminded of who else was still in the area of the fight. Frankly, they were a little surprised that the three had stuck around even after Donald and Goofy had gotten them out of the way earlier.

"Hey! How 'bout you all get out of my town now? You've caused enough trouble," Seifer snapped as he, Rai, and Fuu all marched back into the Sandlot.

Hearing the local bully's comment made Xion and Roxas both roll their eyes in exasperation, while Aqua and Kairi both scowled at said boy. "You're one to talk about causing trouble," Kairi snapped at Seifer. "Or do Aqua and I need to remind you about what happened the last time you tried to start something with us?"

It seemed like Seifer had not realized Kairi or Aqua were there until just now, because when Kairi spoke up, both he and Rai had flinched back out of fear. Fuu seemed to remain impassive, but Xion could swear she saw the faintest hint of a small smirk appearing on the quiet girl's face. "O-oh! Kairi! Master Aqua! I-I didn't see you there," Seifer hastily tried to excuse himself. "I was just…I-I mean, I wasn't…"

"What? Trying to harass our friends like you do just about everyone else in this town?" Aqua questioned, folding her arms in a manner that said she was daring him right now.

"Harass? Me? N-no! No, never," Seifer tried to wave off in a hurry. "I was just…I mean, we were only…"

"W-we were wondering if everyone here was okay. 'Cause we care about the town, y'know," Rai hastily excused after finally finding his courage.

"Yeah! Exactly! That's what we were doing," Seifer nodded in agreement.

Seeing these two big, tough guys so worried about angering Aqua and Kairi made Sora and Ventus smile a little. Sure, it was pretty mean to take pleasure in another person's torment, but considering the girls' ire was not being directed at either of them right now, and how this all helped remind them both that the two really were here before them, you could perhaps forgive them for allowing smiles to cross their faces. Roxas and Xion on the other hand were not as reserved in their enjoyment, after having to bear the brunt of Seifer and his gang's bullying while they were living in the Virtual Twilight Town, and each snickered quite a bit at how Seifer and Rai were shaking like leaves before these two women.

The twins' amusement certainly got Seifer's attention, because the next thing anyone knew, he was turning to glare at the chuckling two. "What're you two laughing at?"

"Take a wild guess," Xion smirked in a challenge.

Seifer just glared down at her before turning that same glare on Roxas. It seemed to soften up after a little bit, but still held in place as he said, "Weird. Looking at you just seems to be ticking me off. Wonder why that is."

"I don't know. Maybe it's destiny," Roxas shrugged. He was trying not to smile at how familiar this situation seemed, because it almost seemed like an exact replay of the last time he and Xion had encounter Seifer. At least in the virtual version of this town.

As if the universe wanted to keep the recreation of said event going, Seifer smirked after hearing Roxas's answer and declared, "Destiny huh? In that case, let's be friends."

"Wha…" This time around, it was Sora who gaped in response to the unexpected offer, while Roxas just smiled almost knowingly, having been through this before.

"I thought you wanted us to leave. Why the sudden the change of heart?" Goofy questioned, just as confused as his buddy.

"Yeah! Make up your mind," Donald scolded.

Seifer just laughed before he explained, "What can I say? I don't feel like cooperating with destiny."

"Because your fate is something you decide for yourself, right?" Xion finished for him, surprising the boy a little. "Guess that's something you have in common with both me and my brother."

Seifer stared at the girl for a little bit before he finally smirked and said, "Yeah, looks like." He then turned to make his exit with Rai and Fuu, but paused for a second to glance back at the twins with one last comment. "My name's Seifer, by the way. Don't think I caught either of yours."

"Roxas," the blonde twin nodded.

"And I'm Xion," the girl followed up right after.

Seifer nodded in return to them and then continued on his way as he called back, "Let's have a Struggle match some time. If you're pals with Kairi and Master Aqua, you might be pretty good practice for when I finally have a rematch with them."

Hearing Seifer mention the two girls as he left reminded everyone of how they needed to properly address their presence in Twilight Town. Not that they were planning to go into it like they were interrogating the girls. "Kairi you were great back there," Donald praised, referring to the fight earlier.

"Yeah, and you really saved our bacons too," Goofy added on.

Kairi beamed at the praise, brushing her hair back a little shyly, and soon turned a very soft smile to Sora as he came up to her. "I'm really glad to see you, Kairi," Sora stated. He then gave her new outfit a proper once-over before adding, "And it looks like you've changed in a lot of different ways since we last saw each other."

"Yeah. After we got here, Aqua took us to see Master Yen Sid, and the three good fairies were kind enough to set me up with a new outfit. I figured it was high time I got a full ensemble worthy of a Keyblade warrior anyways, and this just seems to suit me."," Kairi explained, blushing a little at how Sora seemed to really like her new look. She then gave him a quick once-over in return, and gave him a flirty little smile as she added, "From the look of things, I'm not the only one who's got a flattering new look, too."

Sora could not help but chuckle sheepishly, knowing she was referring to his own wardrobe change. "So…um…W-what are you doing here, anyway?" he eventually managed to stutter out. "I mean, not that I'm not glad to see you, but…well, I thought that you were still back on the island."

"I was, but since you and Riku had been gone for a little over year without any word, I got worried and decided to come and look for you guys myself," Kairi explained. Her smile then fell away a little before she said, "Which reminds me…"

Before he could process the sudden bit of anger that had snuck into her voice, Sora felt a palm greeting his cheek in a hard slap, courtesy of the redhead in front of him. "Ow!" Sora cried out right after while rubbing the offended cheek. "What the heck Kairi?!"

"That's for leaving me alone on the island and then disappearing for so long! Without even sending a note to let me know you're alive!" Kairi angrily snapped.

Kairi's anger was certainly understandable for Sora, and he could not help but turn away in shame for worrying her so much. "I'm sorry," Sora apologized. "But in my defense, it's not like I had planned to…"

He ended up being stopped short before he could get into his explanation due to a body suddenly colliding with his, and a pair of familiar arms wrapping around him as tightly as possible. Looking to the responsible party, he was pleasantly surprised to see Kairi had dispelled all anger from her system and wrapped him in a loving embrace, burying her face into his shoulder as she whispered, "And this is for finding your way back to me like you promised."

Sora smiled happily after hearing that, and returned her embrace by wrapping his arms around her in return. The two only pulled away from each other just long enough to lock eyes and then come back together again, this time in a sweet, loving kiss. Donald and Goofy both smiled happily at seeing their friends reunite at last, but did still join Xion and Roxas in trying to look away in an effort to give the couple a little bit of privacy. Of course, the twins felt especially awkward about this, given that they had seen Sora's memories of his time with Kairi, so they were not sure how to really approach the girl just yet. It did not help when the memory of Goofy calling Xion their daughter suddenly came to their minds unbidden.

When the pair finally broke apart for air again, Kairi rested her forehead against Sora's as she quietly breathed, "This is real."

"Yeah it is," Sora whispered in return. "And I couldn't be happier for it."

His words drew a bright grin out from Kairi, and the only reason she did not pull him back in for another kiss just for that was because she caught sight of another pair who were due for a heartfelt reunion. It did not take long for the rest of the group to turn their attention to said pair after she directed Sora's attention to it as well, and they all found themselves watching with baited breath as Aqua and Ventus looked on at one another in full for the first time in eleven years. Not because they were nervous about how things would play out between the two, but because this had been a huge moment in the making for a long, long time, and they did not want to miss a second.

For his part, Ventus could still hardly believe his eyes, even after the words he had exchanged with her earlier. There she was, standing tall and proud as ever, and literally looking just as he remembered her in all of her glory: Master Aqua of the Keyblade; the woman he loved with all his heart. Judging by how she returned his gaze, eyes soft as can be and bearing all of her own love to him, Aqua was just as surprised that this was finally happening as well. Then again, hers was probably a little more due to how much he had changed since they had last seen each other properly. Now, there was no shadows obscuring their figures from view, no haze of visuals from seeing what could be seen through the eyes of others, no distance dividing them so they could only catch a glimpse of the other, and no adrenaline born from the rush of battle to temper their excitement and nerves over the reunion they were having. In short, absolutely nothing was keeping him from seeing how she had not aged a day, while she could see how much he had changed over the last eleven years unobscured.

Upon realizing this, Ventus felt a little more worried over how he looked. Sure, there was not really much he could do to fix his appearance at this point, but if he had known they would meet like this, he probably would have done a little more to look his best for Aqua. Maybe worn a different shirt to highlight his new muscles, or at least his armor so he could strike a more majestic and noble figure. Then again, that would probably make Aqua think he believed she cared more about his looks than him as a person, but it would certainly make him feel a little more confident in getting her to believe he really had not just grown up in the physical sense. He spent so much time fretting over how he probably looked right now, that he almost missed when she finally came to stand right in front of him, eyes level with his, because when she did, he managed to take notice of something else he had not realized until now.

"We're the same height now," Ventus breathed out. He must not have meant to verbalize this thought, because a brief flash of panic ran over his face. Of all the things he could have said upon properly reuniting with Aqua, and he comments on how he's no longer shorter than her? Come on! Luckily, he managed to recover pretty quick. "And yet, you're still as beautiful as I remember. Literally."

Aqua grinned at him as she replied, "And it looks like you haven't changed all that much yourself. You're still the same brilliant young man I fell in love with eleven years ago." She then reached up to affectionately rub his head like she used to, though one would be forgiven for thinking she did it to stop herself from running her hand over his new muscles, and added, "Just a little taller…and hairier."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. The beard's the biggest change," Ventus tiredly sighed. He really was hoping he could avoid having it brought up in this conversation.

"It is, and quite frankly, I hate it," Aqua confessed, worrying Ventus a little bit afterwards. At least until she smiled while running a hand over his whiskers. "It hides too much of your handsome face."

All sense of panic left Ventus to make way for the widest, brightest smile anyone had ever seen him give to anyone in years, if not ever, and he felt no reason to stop himself any longer. He all but jumped forward to scoop Aqua into his arms, holding her as close as he could, burying his face into the crook of her neck as he breathed in the scent of her hair, skin, and just her in general while his heart raced at a speed he could not describe in the moment. Not that Aqua seemed to mind, considering she reciprocated the action by wrapping her arms around him in return, laughing merrily and happily the whole time, even more so when Ventus suddenly picked her up and spun her around in his euphoria. When he set her down again, the two locked eyes once more, each carrying loving gazes for the other, and then slowly closed the distance again, this time to meet each other in a sweet, loving kiss. Not that it held for too long.

Barely more than a few seconds after their kiss had started, Aqua had to pull away, much to Ven's surprise. "Sorry, it's just…Your beard's really scratchy."

"Oh. Uh…Sorry," Ventus sheepishly shrugged. He was glad to hear that she had not pulled away because kissing him had suddenly become disgusting, but at the same time, he could not help feeling disgruntled over how his new facial hair had messed up his first kiss with Aqua in years.

His ill feelings over their reunion kiss evaporated pretty quickly when Aqua smiled at him once again, still as lovingly as before, but before they could continue talking, she caught sight of the others watching them, and gave a small cough so she could point it out to Ventus. "Looks like we have an audience."

Turning to their other friends, Ventus immediately came down from the euphoric high his reunion with Aqua had given him, and silently promised to show her exactly how happy he was to have her back later. Right now, there were at least a few introductions that needed to be made. So, he cleared his throat and addressed the group at large.

"Everyone, I know some of you have already met in one sense or another, but for those of you who haven't, allow me to introduce Master Aqua of the Keyblade," Ventus proudly announced, gaining a proud yet modest smile from the woman in question. He then waved to his younger friends as he introduced them one at a time. "Aqua, I'm sure you remember Donald and Goofy, and these three here are my apprentices: Keyblade Warrior Sora, and Apprentices Roxas and Xion."

Not wanting to get scolded or injured in any shape or form by Donald after the last couple of times they greeted anyone of impressive rank or authority, Sora led his siblings in a respectful bow to Aqua when he commented, "It's an honor to finally meet you, Master Aqua. Ven's told us a lot about you."

The kids' show of respect made Aqua chuckle a little, even as she waved for them to stand up straight. "No need to stand on ceremony with me, you three," she assured them. "You can just call me Aqua if you want. Though I none of the things Ven's told you have made you put me up on some grand pedestal or anything."

"I wouldn't say that," Xion shrugged once she had stood up straight again. "It was more like how he constantly complains about not being able to properly explain the workings of certain magic like you could."

"Along with telling us a few small stories from when you two were living and training together with your other friend at the Land of Departure," Roxas added on, smiling knowingly since he knew Sora would be the one to round this out with a tease.

"And there's also how much he dearly missed you to the point where he would spend several sleepless nights counting the days since you last saw each other," Sora grinned very teasingly indeed.

Just like clockwork, Ven's face turned bright red when Sora gave his remark, while Aqua had to cover her cheeks with her hands as she felt her own face heat up a bit too. "I-I never said that! I don't w-where he could've gotten that idea from," Ventus stuttered. He then grew a little cross as he leaned closer to Donald and Goofy, and whispered, "Alright, which one of you two bozos told him about that?! You and Mickey promised to keep it a secret!"

Both of the two friends instantly pointed at the other, knowing that they themselves had not told and thinking that it had to be the other. At least, until Sora slipped in to whisper, "Neither of them told me. I overheard you doing it when I passed your room on my way up to the bridge a couple of nights."

If he were not trying to maintain his image of a mature adult and responsible Keyblade master, Ventus would have folded up into a ball of embarrassment and started praying for a black hole to suddenly appear and swallow him whole. Luckily, his humiliation was relieved when he felt Aqua place a hand on one shoulder and whisper, "I think that's actually kind of sweet, Ven."

As nice as it was getting to see the loving nature of Ven and Aqua's relationship, along with having the opportunity to embarrass his master in front of the woman he loved, Sora did feel like they were getting a bit off track like this, and resumed the introductions. "Anyways, there is one more introduction we need to make official," he stated aloud. He then moved over to wrap one arm around his own girlfriend and then addressed both her and his new-found siblings. "Guys, this is Kairi, my girlfriend. Kairi, this is my younger brother and sister, Roxas and Xion."

The twins were just on the verge of saying how great it was to finally meet the Keyblade wielding Princess of Heart, when Kairi beat them to the first word. "Wait a minute. You're Roxas and Xion? And you're Sora's siblings?!" she exclaimed. She then turned to Sora with a puzzled look as she added one more question. "Since when do you even have siblings?"

"Uh…" Sora shared a look with both twins before they all simultaneously said, "It's a long story."

"Hey fellers, if we're going to be going over the details of those stories, don't you think you should mention that technically speaking, Xion could just as easily be considered as Sora and Kairi's daughter?"

Just like when this topic had been brought up at Yen Sid's tower, everyone went silent upon hearing this, and Aqua and Ventus could be seen rapidly glancing between the three mentioned kids. The former more so than the latter since Ventus had already heard about this once before. Kairi had actually turned so pale you would think she had become a ghost. A very reasonable theory since it looked like she had lost all ability to so much as breathe. The other three did have a more vocal response.

"Are you kidding me? Why is this being brought up again?" Roxas groaned aloud.

"I thought we all agreed we were never going to talk about it after that first time," Xion mumbled through her hands, which were currently covering her face in shame.

"Goofy!" Sora moaned.

Hearing those three going on like that seemed to breathe a little life back into Kairi, but even then, her next demand still came out in a meek little whimper. "Someone please explain. Right now."

"I…W-well, that is…" Xion stammered.

"It's kinda complicated," Sora barely managed to finally admit.

"Now, now you two. You wouldn't want Xion to see her mommy and daddy fighting, would you?" Donald teased with a sneaky grin.

"Donald!" Sora, Xion, Kairi, and Roxas all growled angrily in response. The blonde had joined in mainly because of how weird the subject made him feel, be it on behalf of Xion or just about other topics relating to it.

"Okay, that's enough of that," Ventus interrupted before any further torment could be unleashed on anyone. "Look, a lot has clearly happened to all of us in the time that's passed since we last saw each other, and I'd be more than happy to exchange stories on whatever each of us knows. But maybe we could share somewhere a little less out in the open?"

Hearing Ventus's last suggestion made them all remember they were still right in the middle of the Sandlot, and even if this was not the virtual version of Twilight Town, Roxas and Xion knew this place was right in the middle of Market Street. Meaning people would likely start passing through here again at any second now that all the danger had passed. Sure, it was not technically as high of a traffic area as Tram Commons or Station Heights, but since it was connected to both so many parts of Market Street, people did pass through here quite a bit. Especially when there was a big event going on.

Keeping all this mind, both twins quickly came up with an idea on where they could go for this conversation. "How about we head up to the station plaza?" Roxas suggested. "There shouldn't really be too many people around at this time of day, be to catch a train or getting off one."

"Good idea," Aqua agreed, knowing this information was good, but much to everyone's surprise, she suddenly pulled Ventus in close to her. "You all head on up there and get each other caught up. Ven and I have something very urgent we need to take care of."

"Wow. You must have really missed him if you're telling us to get lost while you drag him off on a date this soon after reuniting," Xion noted. It was hard to tell if she was teasing or being serious though, especially since the others all had the exact same thought.

"Oh, it's not that. I just want to get him to the nearest barber shop right away," Aqua clarified for her. She then fixed Ventus with a look that brokered no argument as she stated, "We're dealing with that thing on your face now."

"Aqua, as much as I appreciate your concern over my personal grooming, I really don't think this is the best time for that type of thing," Ventus tried to argue, but he ended up ignored as the bluenette dragged him out of the Sandlot.

"Oh no, Mister. I refuse to let my boyfriend look like a homeless hobo or a sloppy Santa Claus, especially when he's supposed to be a distinguished Keyblade master," Aqua argued.

Admittedly, Ventus's heart did a few leaps and spins at hearing Aqua call him her boyfriend, but it was hard to focus on such feelings when he thought about another reason why she was being so insistent on this. "Wait a minute. Is this payback for when me and Terra made you get a haircut eleven years ago? Because that actually was necessary! Not only is it far from practical to have hair that long when going into battle, but on you, it just wasn't right!"

"Think whatever you want, Ven," Aqua shrugged, neither confirming nor denying Ven's accusation, even if she did seem to have a slightly sinister glint in her smile. Though that could also be due to her next ultimatum. "But just so you know, if you don't do something about that bush on your face right now, you will never get to kiss me again."

All resistance left Ven after hearing that, and not only did he subject himself to being dragged to the barbershop, he fell in step with Aqua to the point where the others were sure he was only seconds away from dragging her to said shop. While the guys were all completely stunned by how quickly Aqua made him turn around his way of thinking, the girls both came to a very easy agreement on something else.

"I have so much to learn from her," Xion whispered.

"I actually have been training with her for most of the past year, and I can confidently say that I still feel the exact same way," Kairi agreed.

Hearing that exchange made Sora go a little pale, not wanting to know just what sort of things Aqua could teach Kairi in regards to that, but it also reminded him of how they all had so much to catch up on, so he hurriedly reminded them of their plan to head up to Station Plaza for the discussion. With nothing else keeping them there at the moment, the group of six all exited the Sandlot and headed back up to said plaza as quickly as possible, all of them eager to share their respective tales with one another.

---

First and foremost after getting to the plaza, the team put Kairi's concerns about the daughter comments to rest by explaining Xion's origins. True, that included explaining the origins of Roxas as well, but if it helped ease Kairi's earlier worries then it was all the more worth it. By the time they finished the stories, Kairi had wrapped both former Nobodies in a huge hug while crying her eyes out over how hard of a life the two had to endure up until Ventus saved them. If that was not a sign of her acceptance of them, Roxas and Xion did not know what could be, and they were all the happier for it. Not that it stopped her from threatening the others to never bring up that daughter stuff ever again. She was still just a teenager after all, and even if she did love Sora with all her heart, right to the point where she could envision having a family with him someday, she was most definitely not ready for that kind of thing just yet.

All bizarre drama aside, the other five did make it a point to fill Kairi in on everything else they had learned and done since they last saw her, and the redhead hung on to each and every word with no shortage of fascination. Not that you could blame her. After all, she had spent all that time just waiting around for Sora and Riku back on Destiny Islands, so the team figured anything they did had to sound pretty exciting in comparison. Such thinking ended up being brought to a halt when they finally got around to what Kairi had been doing since Sora and the others last saw her.

As it turned out, Kairi had not slacked off on her training at all after getting back home. She had a feeling things were far from over, and without Sora or Riku around, she was the best defense the islands would have against the Heartless should they ever come back. So, she spent as much time as she possibly could practicing what Ventus had taught her in private, and when that started to feel like too little, she enlisted the aid of their friends Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie. Of course, she did have another reason for getting the three to help, and that was to help keep Tidus from moping over Yuna. Apparently the poor boy had not been as relaxed about never being able to see her again than he had implied he would be when they last met.

It was actually close to about halfway through the last year when Kairi finally met up with Aqua on the islands, and the long-lost master decided to take Kairi under her wing as her official apprentice. Barely more than a few sessions later, and Kairi learned exactly why Ventus believed Aqua would be a more suitable teacher for her than he had been, because from what she was telling the others, it sounded like she really flourished under Aqua's tutelage. Of course, this was based on both Kairi's tales from the islands and what they saw earlier at the Sandlot, but Kairi bashfully waved it all off. The only thing that made her tales all the better was when she admitted to how she could still vaguely remember Sora despite Naminé's forced actions. Sure, she could not remember his name or face for a while, but she knew he was part of her life, and she remembered him a lot sooner than anyone else did, and that brought a brilliant smile to Sora's face. It was only when they got to the part of her story that explained how she and Aqua ended up in Twilight Town that Roxas and Xion became even more heavily invested than they already had been.

"You saw Axel? Axel really is alive?!" Roxas gasped with surprised excitement.

"And he was both here and on Destiny Islands?" Xion added on right after.

"Yes, to all of those questions," Kairi confirmed once again. "I'm still a little confused though. Are you sure he's your friend? Because when Aqua and I first met him, he didn't really seem all that friendly. Of course, that did seem to change a little when we met him the second time, but I'm still kind of skeptical about who's side he's supposed to be on."

"In fairness, this wouldn't be the first time that someone's wondered about that, and you wouldn't be the first person to question it either," Xion admitted, knowing from the few memories they had of their old lives that she and Roxas had doubted Axel's allegiances once or twice too. "Still, why would he act like a villain then? Axel's definitely not a bad guy. At least, not in that sense."

"Here's a better question: why would he let us think he was dead? I mean, I know Axel's hidden things from us before, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't let us think something like that about him for no reason," Roxas pointed out.

Roxas's question got everyone falling into silent contemplation after he voiced it. Kairi was left wondering if the tall redhead who chased her and Aqua to Twilight Town really was a good guy, or at least good enough to be considered a friend by Roxas and Xion. After all, even without any connection they might have held with Sora, the two did know Axel longer than all the rest of them, so they should know him better than anyone else in this group. Then again, from the sound of things, even they had held doubts about Axel at one point or another, so maybe their judgment was not as sound as they would like to believe.

As for the twins themselves, they just tried thinking of various ideas as to why Axel would fake his death like that. Could it have been his own attempt at escaping the Organization? The last time they met, Axel did imply the Organization would turn him into a Dusk if he did not bring them back, so maybe he figured faking his destruction would throw them off his trail for a little bit. It made sense considering the extreme measures they took to hide from the Organization, but from the sound of things, it did not last very long, since Saïx caught up with him not long after his second encounter with Kairi and Aqua. If it had not been Axel's attempt to escape from the Organization, then could he have done it for another reason? Even if that was the case, what other reason would Axel have to do that? It just did not make any sense as far as the twins were concerned, and that just left their minds all the more boggled.

The only ones who were not thinking it over as deeply as the rest were Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sure, they were wondering why Axel would let Roxas and Xion think he was gone for good, but only on the grounds of wondering why someone would do that to their buddies. After all, as far as they knew, they were the only ones in their group who had not so much as met Axel before, so they did not have much ground to really stand on in the way of judging the guy or his actions. Sure, Sora was upset the guy had basically threatened Kairi, or at least appeared to have been when his girlfriend met him, but based on what Roxas and Xion had told him, he had to wonder if maybe that had been an act in an attempt to get Kairi away from the islands for some reason. Thinking of this and what they had learned from their earlier encounter with Saïx made Sora wonder if the Organization had been on the verge of going to the islands to capture Kairi until Axel intervened, so it made Sora wonder if Axel had actually been trying to save Kairi when he appeared to her. Like the others though, Sora was still just making guesses, so he just was not sure what to think. All of their silent musings only broke when they heard Ventus calling out to them as he and Aqua approached.

"I think I might be able to shed a little more light on this subject," Ventus admitted to them all, making them turn to face the two masters as they came up to them.

When they did see Ventus, they all had to smile a little bit at how nicely he had cleaned up. He did still have his beard, but it was no longer the massive, bushy mess it had been up before. Now, it had been trimmed down to a simple, very neat goatee style, similar to what they could recall Tony Stark having when they met him. It was actually a little surprising that he kept any of his facial hair at all, though. Considering the way she had been talking when they split up, they had all thought Aqua had intended to have Ventus shave his beard off completely, but given the satisfied smile on her face, they figured Aqua was not entirely opposed to Ventus keeping this new addition to his looks. No one could blame her either; Ventus did look much more like a distinguished Keyblade master now, and the beard definitely helped him lose a little bit of the otherwise child-like appearance his face held when he first met Sora a year ago.

Sora was the first to comment on this topic, as he smiled while leaning into his usual relaxed pose and said, "Now that's a really good look for you, Ven."

"I'll say," Roxas agreed. "But after all the times you complained about people pointing it out whenever we met them, I'd have thought you would get rid of the beard completely."

A few nods from Xion, Donald, and Goofy showed the others had been of the same mind, prompting Ventus to run a hand over his whiskers as he admitted, "Well, what can I say? The beard's kinda grown on me a little. And you have to admit, it does make me look a little more mature."

"It's certainly a step up from how you had it before," Aqua complimented with a smile. Said smile actually grew a little bit when she added, "You know, in some small way, you almost look just like Master Eraqus now."

Ventus grinned in reply, very much enjoying the idea of looking like the man who raised him ever since he first arrived at the Land of Departure, and then joked, "Hope that doesn't make certain things too weird for you."

"Does this answer your question," Aqua slyly smirked before closing in and kissing him full on the mouth, much to Ven's satisfied surprise.

This time around, the two held their kiss for much longer, and if Xion did not cough to remind them of hers and the others' presence, they probably would have kept going until the need to breathe broke them up. "Hey guys," Xion called out after coughing. "I believe someone was going to explain something about Axel?"

"Right," Ventus muttered as he pulled away from Aqua, silently promising her with his eyes that they would talk more later on. He then cleared his throat and looked to the rest of the team, though with most of the attention on his two newer apprentices as he confessed, "Axel faked his death for two reasons. The first is because he had been asked to keep Naminé safe from the Organization and DiZ. Given her unique origins and powers, there was very little chance that the Organization would let her go so easily if they were able to get her back again. As for DiZ…well, I'm sure you two can guess on your own based on your previous experiences with him. Both recently and in terms of what you can remember from your old memories."

Roxas and Xion each had to nod in concession of this. Given how DiZ acted and talked, they were pretty sure that the man only kept Naminé around because she was the only one who could fix Sora's memories, so it would make sense if he wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible. Plus, even if Ventus had been the one to save Naminé from DiZ after the last time they met her, there was no way he could have kept her safe if he was always with them. Still, that did not explain the second reason why he would pretend to have been destroyed. Thankfully, they did not need to ask for Ventus to provide the rest of his explanation. He was already diving into it without much pause.

"The other reason is because Axel had been working for us as a spy within the Organization for some time now. After your last confrontation with him, his cover would have undoubtedly been blown, so the only way for him to properly escape was to disappear," Ventus revealed. He then dropped one last bomb that the others were not expecting. "I know because…I'm the one who asked him to become our spy, and I'm the one who tasked him with keeping Naminé safe."

No one other than Aqua seemed to have expected that, but given how long the two had been apart from the main group, they had to figure that she already heard about this so it made sense she would not be surprised. When he shook off the shock though, Roxas narrowed an angry gaze on the older blonde as he asked, "You mean…you knew Axel was alive this whole time and didn't tell us?"

"It wasn't my place to tell," Ventus calmly stated. "And besides, as the old saying goes, sometimes in order to fool your enemies, you must first fool your friends."

"But if the whole point of faking his death was to get away from the Organization, why would he suddenly pop up in front of Aqua and Kairi the way he did? He had to have known how risky it would be for him to do that, especially here," Xion pointed out.

"That I don't know," Ventus shrugged in total honesty. "Either Naminé's been encouraging him to continue spying on the Organization and he learned something that prompted him to take rather drastic actions, or…"

"Or what?" Donald asked, understandably confused by how Ventus trailed off at the end there.

"…I'm not sure. I just feel like there could be some other reason I'm not seeing," Ventus admitted.

Goofy let out a brief hum before he suggested, "Do ya think maybe he wanted to help you and Sora reunite with Aqua and Kairi a little more quickly, and figured this was the only way to do it?"

The two mentioned couples shared a look with one another before turning to share some with Roxas and Xion, all of them pondering over Goofy's words. Another few seconds of silence followed until finally, they all broke down laughing at the idea. "Come on!" Roxas chuckled. "Axel? Playing matchmaker? I may not remember too much about the old days, but I do remember enough to know he's not the type to do that."

"Yeah, even before he was a Nobody, he just didn't seem like the type," Ventus agreed when he finally managed to speak without pausing in his own laughter.

"Besides, who in their right mind would think that would be the best way to get so much as one couple reunited, let alone two?" Xion added on, still giggling behind her hand.

At first, Goofy crossed his arms in a way that made it seem like he was offended over everyone's reaction to his suggestion, but when Donald joined in afterwards, he could not keep up the serious façade, and joined in as well. By the time they had all calmed down, a trio of familiar faces had caught wind of their laughter and rushed over to see what was going on. Naturally, all three were happy to see who had been cackling like a pack of hyenas.

"Hey, you guys! You're back," Hayner called out to the group as he joined them along with Pence and Olette.

"See Aqua? Kairi? We told you you'd run into them if you stuck around here for a little while," Olette informed the two girls.

"Yeah, and we're glad they did," Kairi smiled, even if she did know there was a good chance it was more than just random happenstance like Olette was probably thinking.

"Still, I'm kinda surprised you guys all came back so soon. It feels like it wasn't that long ago that you left," Pence admitted.

"Maybe not to you, but it feels like it's been a pretty long time for us," Roxas admitted with a smile.

"So I'm guessing you guys have been helping Aqua and Kairi out while they were here, huh?" Xion figured out.

"Pretty much," Hayner confirmed. "Kinda felt like we had to after how they just popped into our usual spot from thin air like they did."

Hearing that made most of the Keyblade Legion wonder if Aqua and Kairi had to fill these three in on the secrets of other worlds, but before they could, Pence seemed to remember something he wanted to ask them about. "Say, Roxas? Xion? Sora?" Pence called out, getting everyone's attention along with the mentioned three. "Do you or anyone else in your group know a girl named Naminé?"

"N-Naminé?!" Roxas gasped, while Sora, Xion, Ventus, Donald, and Goofy all either jumped or gasped in shock at hearing Pence mention the young memory sorceress.

"Where did you hear about her?" Ventus asked. As far as he was aware, Naminé had been little more than a girl in one of the many stories about the old mansion, and the only time she had ever ventured out of said house after arriving there was when she had gone to get Xion's new outfit, and after her work in fixing Sora was finished. There should have been no way for Pence to have heard her name.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette grew a bit more sheepish after Ventus asked that question, and it did not fade even after Hayner admitted, "We met her pretty recently, and she showed us this one drawing of some people that looked a lot like those three."

"You know, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure all the people in that picture looked just like all of you," Olette recalled after studying the Keyblade Legion.

"So you're saying Naminé really was here," Sora asked, getting a little more excited at the prospect of finally meeting the girl he and his friends were supposed to be thanking. Roxas and Xion both shared his feelings of excitement too, but each for different reasons. The former more so than the latter.

"Yeah, she was," Pence hesitantly replied.

Hearing that, Xion turned to Aqua and Kairi and asked, "Did you two know about this?"

Both girls shook their heads in response to Xion's question. "Aside from when I first spoke with you and Roxas, I've never even heard of Naminé before," said Kairi.

"I haven't seen Naminé since we met back at Castle Oblivion, and that was a very long time ago now," Aqua admitted. Her mention of the mysterious castle got some curious looks from the others, and she knew she would have to explain about that a little later. Right now, she was more interested in how Pence had answered Sora's previous question. "You said that Naminé was here. Past tense. Did something happen?"

"Well…we're not entirely sure," Hayner admitted.

"What do you mean by that?" Donald asked.

The three then sighed in unison before Olette dove into the story. "It was during one of those times when you and Aqua were away for your training sessions," she started off by addressing Kairi, answering the question as to how she and Aqua had not heard of this until now. "We were all out at the Tram Commons doing some odd jobs to make munny for a trip to the beach when we stumbled onto her. She just looked so lonely, sitting around by herself and drawing in her sketchpad, so we figured we should go and say hi at least."

"Mostly Olette. I wanted to focus on finishing our current job since we would get paid extra for getting it done quickly," Hayner clarified. "But then we all got a look at some of her pictures and noticed how many of them looked like Roxas and Xion. We got to chatting for a little bit afterwards, even if she never really explained how she knew you guys, and she seemed pretty cool."

"We were just about to ask if she wanted to come with us when we met up with Aqua and Kairi later when she suddenly jumped up and ran off," Pence continued on. "She didn't really say much aside from a really hasty goodbye, and when we tried to follow her, she just seemed to disappear."

"Just like that?" Roxas asked, a little disappointed.

"Not exactly. Just before she vanished, we saw her with this really tall guy with spiky red hair. He looked pretty freaked out. Kinda like a worried parent would be after realizing their kid had gone missing," Olette admitted.

"Spiky red hair and really tall?" Xion repeated aloud. "That sounds a lot like Axel."

"Was there anything else about that you can remember? Maybe something you might have overheard," Sora prompted the three.

Hayner, Pence, and Olette all crossed their arms as they pondered the question, until Pence finally answered. "I think I heard the tall guy mentioning someone was right behind him before they vanished. I wasn't really sure though, since I could swear it sounded like he said nobody was coming for them or something."

"Are you sure it was 'nobody' and not 'Nobodies,'" Ventus asked.

Pence just shrugged, and from the look of things, Hayner and Olette did not know for sure either. This was pretty disappointing for the group, and also very worrying. If Axel and Naminé had been chased away by a group of Nobodies, then chances were pretty good the Organization had either caught them or came very close to it. "How long ago was this?" Kairi asked, hoping for a good answer.

"A few days ago now," Olette replied.

"Then there's no way we can catch up even if we wanted to try," Xion realized, sadly.

Roxas's disappointment must have been just as apparent, because Hayner was soon lowering his head with his other two friends as he said, "Sorry we couldn't do much more, guys."

"Hey, it's not your fault. I'm sure they're fine and we'll see Naminé and Axel again soon. Come on, cheer up," Sora prompted. Despite his words though, none of his sad friends seemed to be getting any happier. Though one of them did seem especially disappointed.

"Hate to break it to you, Sora, but not all of us are able to bounce back so easily after hearing bad news," Roxas somberly informed his brother. He then clenched his fists a little angrily and promised, "If the Organization has got Naminé, or if they've hurt her…"

"Naminé and Axel, you mean," Goofy pointed out.

"Isn't that what I said?" Roxas asked in confusion.

"No. You just said Naminé. Something you care to share with the rest of the class, Bro?" Xion teased, her sad mood apparently lifting already.

If the others did not have knowing smiles and teasing looks on their faces by that point, the way Roxas's face turned bright red after Xion's comment certainly got them there. This prompted Hayner to smirk when he asked, "Say Roxas, just who is Naminé to you?"

"She's his girlfriend," Xion easily replied before Roxas could sputter out one word.

"N-no she isn't! She's not my girlfriend," Roxas stuttered.

"Oh right. Sorry," Xion apologized without actually meaning it. "I meant to say she's his future girlfriend. Right now, she's just a girl he's hopelessly in love with, but given how they act with each other, and that he's kissed her at least once already…"

"On the cheek! It was just a kiss on the cheek!" Roxas protested, only to wince a little after realizing he just gave himself away.

Luckily, Ventus took pity on the poor boy and got everyone back on track before any further teasing could take place. "Sora's right to say we shouldn't be getting worried just yet," he informed them. "If what you three told us about your encounter with Naminé happened a few days ago, then if the Organization had caught them, Saïx would have at least made it a point to rub it in our faces when we talked earlier. From what Axel told me, combined with what I heard from our resident twins before their memories were erased, the guy is certainly the type to use that kind of information at the first possible opportunity. Whether it be to his own advantage, or just to see how miserable it makes others."

That got the entire Keyblade Legion to straighten up and adopt serious expressions. "Then we should get moving right away," Xion decided. "We can't let the Organization get our friends if there's even a chance we can catch up with them first."

"Yeah, and when we do, we can make sure to keep Naminé and Axel both safe while we stop the Heartless and the Organization," Donald reasoned.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Sora agreed.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kairi asked, much to the surprise of everyone other than Aqua and Ventus. "What? Did you think Aqua and I were just going to stay here while you guys got all the action? I had to sit on the sidelines for almost all of your last adventure, Sora. This time, I'm not waiting until the last second to join you guys."

"And don't even think about trying to keep me out of this," Aqua told the kids. "Ventus and I already talked about it before coming here, and we agreed that it would be better for all of us to stick together. Now more than ever, all Keyblade wielders need to stand united as one."

Hearing these declarations and seeing how certain the two girls were, no one could find any measure of heart to refuse their help, and instead just smiled to them in thanks. Sora's grin soon turned into more of a satisfied smirk shortly after as he looked to the rest of the group and said, "So, anyone still think Keyblade Legion is a bad team name for us? Because with Aqua and Kairi joining the team, we now have six Keyblade wielders on board."

Ventus could not help but laugh a bit at Sora's little moment of smugness, even if it did make Aqua and Kairi confused as to what he was talking about, and then prepared to usher everyone along so they could take off. They bade Hayner, Pence, and Olette a quick goodbye, along with a few promises to keep a look out for anything that could help them find Naminé from both groups of friends, and started to head into the station when someone suddenly shouted for them to wait. Turning around, the Legion was surprised to see Seifer approaching them with a serious expression on his face and something hidden behind his back.

"You guys all taking off?" Seifer asked them. Well, more like demanded, but why make a bully sound any meaner than we already know he is.

"Yeah. We've got something important we need to take care of, but we're gonna be coming back as soon as we can," Roxas promised. He could not help but grin as he added, "Don't worry. You'll get that Struggle match with us before you know it."

Seifer huffed in response. "I'd better. I've still got a score to settle with at least two of you," he remarked. This earned him an eye-roll from both Kairi and Aqua; apparently the two had heard this quite a few times since coming here, but his next comment surprised both girls a little bit. "Until then," Seifer started, finally pulling out the item he had behind his back: the Five Crystal Trophy. "This goes to the strongest guy in Twilight Town. Doesn't really seem right for me to have it while there's so much as one person out there who's able to beat me."

The others were little confused at what Seifer was getting at, until it finally clicked for Sora, Roxas, and Xion that he was giving it to them. At least until he was able to face-off with and defeat all of them. "Thanks," Sora nodded in reply. "But we don't really need it."

Seifer was not going to accept that polite refusal. Not after going out of his way to give the trophy to these guys. So, instead of just leaving, he rushed over, dropped the trophy into Goofy's hands, and then left without another word. If Seifer had stuck around, he would have quickly learned why it was a bad idea to have Goofy look after the Five Crystal Trophy like that, because in his efforts to keep a hold of the trophy, Goofy ended up falling back under its weight. When Goofy hit the ground, the five crystals ended up popping off the trophy, and the others all scrambled to scoop them up. Thankfully, Hayner, Pence, and Olette had not left yet, and were able to save the yellow, green, and red crystals before they could roll away.

"Phew! That was close," Pence sighed in relief once he saw Sora and Kairi had saved the blue and silver ones.

When he noticed Sora and Kairi holding those particular crystals, Roxas reached into his pocket to extract the one he got from the virtual Twilight Town and hold it up to let the sun shine through it, prompting Xion to do the same right after with hers. Seeing this prompted everyone else to do the same with their crystals, but Olette could not help but stare in wonder at the crystals Roxas and Xion held before she followed everyone else's lead. Doing this again gave the twins, Sora, and Kairi a sense of calm they had not felt in a long time, and it certainly helped to assure them that things would be okay so long as they always remembered the good times like this, and the ones it reminded them of.

They only broke out of their musings when Sora and Kairi's crystals suddenly started glowing in a manner that most of the Keyblade Legion recognized without any trouble. They all quickly stepped back, prompting Aqua and Kairi's Keyblades to be the ones that responded as the light from the crystals grew brighter. The girls looked at the others in confusion until Ventus and Sora just waved for them to go with it, and they then held their Keyblades out before them. As soon as they did, the tips of their blades began to glow a little brighter, as an image of both the emblem Aqua wore as a badge and a stylized heart formed beneath their feet, glowing brightly as a powerful energy surged out from the image's outline. Much like many times before, once the surge passed, Aqua and Kairi found themselves in the strange sky, and soon spotted the two crystals in the air before they shot out a beam that dispersed into a Keyhole high above them. Without even thinking, Aqua and Kairi leapt back a short distance, spun their Keyblades around, and then aimed them at the Keyhole that had appeared, allowing a beam of light to be fired off from their tips the minute they had lined it up with the Keyhole. When the beam connected with the Keyhole, a faint ringing sound reached their ears, over the sound of something being unlocked, just as their surroundings returned to normal. Seeing as this was the first time they had encountered this type of Keyhole, the girls both glanced around in confusion along with Pence, Hayner, and Olette, unable to voice the question right at the tip of their tongues until Pence did it for them.

"Wh-what just happened?" the heavy-set boy wondered aloud.

"A new road has opened," Sora explained. "And our friends Riku, Naminé, Axel, and Mickey are waiting for us somewhere along it."

"More like the new road has been opened up a little more," Ventus clarified, knowing that they were already exploring a route to some new worlds before all of this, but not wanting to step on Sora's moment too much.

"Guess you'd better hurry then," Olette encouraged them.

"Just make sure you remember your promise to come back if you find anything about them," Hayner told them.

"Don't worry. We'll remember," Roxas guaranteed.

With that settled, the Legion departed from their three friends, and ducked away to a hidden corner of the station so they could teleport up to the Kingdom-A. Upon arriving on the ship, they all hurried up to the bridge, eager to set out once more now that they had a bigger and stronger team. Sure, Kairi and Aqua were not as familiar with the ship as the rest of them, the latter more so than the former, but they promised to give the two a proper tour after they had gotten underway again. Of course, it was coupled Ven promising to get Aqua caught up on all things gummi-tech related as well, but that went without saying.

When they arrived on the bridge, Aqua was a little surprised to see Mickey sitting at the helm controls, almost as much as rest of the team, save for Ventus. The reason for Ven's lack of surprise was revealed when the Mickey at the controls suddenly folded in on itself, revealing it to be merely an inflatable of some kind that had somehow been driving the ship.

"Sorry. I forgot to turn off the autopilot while we were coming up here," Ventus admitted to his friends.

"The ship has an autopilot?" Sora asked.

"Yeah. You didn't think I had this thing simply sitting around in orbit while we were on all the worlds we've been to so far, did you?" Ventus questioned in return.

"Well, considering that's what we did with the old Kingdom on our last journey," Goofy reasoned out.

Ventus would give them that, but Aqua still had one other question to ask. "Does that come standard with these things?"

It did not take long for Ventus to realize what Aqua had been referring to. "Oh no. That's actually modified from the first version," he revealed. "Originally it was programmed with the piloting skills of someone named Launchpad, but it kept crashing the ship for some reason."

"Why am I not surprised," Donald grumbled, knowing exactly why the autopilot would continuously crash the ship if it was programmed to fly like Launchpad.

Little else was said afterwards as everyone took their seats, and soon as they were seated, Ventus had Sora reset the ship's course for their previous destination, and they were all off to their next adventure. None of them knowing exactly what sinister surprises could be waiting on the worlds waiting for them.

---

The Organization's meeting room was largely empty, save for the leader himself, until Saïx sudden appeared in his regular seat to give a report. A report that Number I had been waiting eagerly for. He wished to know if their attempt at drawing the Keyblade Legion to Twilight Town so they could bring Aqua and Kairi into their fold was successful. Saïx's report did not disappoint.

"It seems you were right. Opening the path to Twilight Town did draw them back there, and prompted both Master Aqua and the Keyblade wielding princess to join forces with the others," Saïx reported to his superior.

"Good. Then all of the Keyblade wielders are together, as they should be, thus bettering the chances of our success," Number I mused in his usual cool, even voice. "And what of your other assignment?"

"I delivered the message as you requested, and told the Keyblade Legion to keep defeating the Heartless. Honestly, I'm surprised I would even need to explain it to the broken puppet or the traitor," Saïx replied, a slight sneer entering his voice near the end.

"Good," Number I nodded in response. "Not only have you the power to inflict pain, you also have the power to plant seeds of doubt in one's receptive heart. Sora, Kairi, Xion, Roxas, and even Masters Ventus and Aqua will all soon begin to doubt themselves. It will cause them to hesitate, and that hesitation will turn to anger. That anger will fuel them to get rid of their apprehension and move forward, paving the way for the future we desire. In fact, it may even serve to do more than that; it may even cause the Keybearers to doubt each other, thus festering hesitation and distrust among their ranks. Such strife will only hasten their efforts to find the truth, and better guarantee we achieve what we want."

Saïx was not entirely certain if he could agree. Yes, he had implied at least one of the Keyblade masters was keeping a secret from the others, but from what he could tell, it looked like they may not need to do all that much in raising such suspicions. He could tell even at just a glance Ventus was keeping something hidden from the apprentices under his charge, and from what he read of other reports on the Legion's activities, it would only be a matter of time before someone broke from the strain of putting up with such secrecy. Of course, there was something else on his mind, and he could not let it sit any longer.

"There's something else I've meant to ask," Saïx confessed.

"About Axel and Naminé," Number I reasoned, drawing a slow nod from Saïx in response. "The girl is a precious gem, even amongst our level of Nobody. We cannot let her continue slipping away. And as for Axel…he is little more than a poor fool. He continues to run because he's chasing an illusion of friendship. One cannot help but wonder how much longer he can do so, trying so hard to protect something that may never have existed in the first place. He deserves nothing more than our pity."

"But there is no denying that he has been spying on us for the Keybearers now, and who knows how long he has been doing so, or if he's ever even stopped? Should we really let this continue unopposed?" Saïx pointed out.

"As I said, he deserves nothing more than our pity. He has no idea that in some small way, his betrayal has actually served to benefit us just as much if not more so than it has them. But if his actions do become a problem…you may do as you like," Number I declared.

Saïx could not help but let out a satisfied smirk once he heard that. It was just the sort of thing he had been waiting a long time for. Sure, it may have been for a different target than he would have liked, but being able to eliminate so much as one traitor was better than nothing in his mind.

---

Aqua's Journal Entry 4:

I was right. We weren't through the worst of things after what happened with Lexaeus and Xehanort's Heartless nearly taking over Riku. Barely that long after, we encountered another Nobody, this one baring a striking resemblance to a young boy I saw in passing once on Radiant Garden and calling himself Zexion. What made him more dangerous than the powerful brute from before was his power of illusion. Sure, the world he let us enter was a recreation of Destiny Islands, but with how empty it was, it did not feel nearly as wonderful or peaceful as I remember the world being the last time I was there. Afterwards, we battled against some more powerful illusions, and while I'm not sure what Riku or Mickey faced, I do know that the one I dealt with was little more than a nightmare.

I saw Ventus and Terra standing before me, and just like when I saw them before in Dark World, I chased after them. I didn't care if it was an illusion; I missed them. I still miss them. Zexion must have known that, because the minute I reached them, they both lashed out and attacked me. The things the illusions said in Ven and Terra's voices; how they accused me of abandoning them, failing to save them…It was just too much. These were fears and feelings I had experienced for the last ten years, but hearing them spoken aloud in their voices made it hurt so much worse. Just when I was about to give in though, Riku somehow broke the illusion and together with him and Mickey, we defeated Zexion.

Afterwards, we did have one last encounter with this Riku Replica that the real Riku told me and Mickey about, but despite how difficult it seemed like the fight would be, Riku managed to defeat him all on his own. That's when we came face-to-face with the man responsible for Riku getting to Castle Oblivion: a man who called himself Darkness in Zero, or DiZ for short. The strange thing is, I could swear that I've met him before. There may be a thick presence of darkness about him, but something in his aura is definitely familiar. Regardless, he told us that there was someone else here that we needed to meet; Riku especially. A young girl named Naminé, and it did not take us long to find her.

When I first laid eyes on her, I almost mistook her for Kairi. Not just because of how much she looks like Kairi, but because of the light I can sense from her as well. So calm and pure, much like the sea. It's not quite a pure light like a princess of heart's, but it's certainly close enough. Of course, Riku was a little more focused on who else was in the room, and it wasn't until he started yelling that I realized who it was too. Apparently, Ven's apprentice has a tendency to get into just as much trouble as he did at that age, because Sora now has to sleep for a year so that Naminé could reverse some damage she had been forced to inflict. Even after hearing the full explanation, I still can't quite believe it. This girl had the power to alter a person's memories so long as they're tied to Sora? Not to mention this Organization wanted to use this power so they would have a Keyblade wielder under their control. Whoever this Organization is, whatever they want, they need to be stopped. Especially if they resort to methods like this just to obtain a Keyblade.

Regardless, that's a problem for another day, because Riku still has one more hurdle to overcome before we can leave Castle Oblivion. Apparently, Naminé also had the power to help Riku finally seal away his darkness, forever protecting him from its influence and the shadow of Ansem within. Of course, there was a catch to this. In order for it to work, Riku would have to forget everything about the darkness and go back to how he was before. Believe me, I well aware of how hypocritical this might make me sound after all the times I advocated against getting involved with the power darkness, but after how Riku used his darkness to help us defeat Zexion, along with the fact his darkness is largely responsible for how far Riku's come, I can't help but feel that would be a mistake.

As it turned out, Riku agreed with my judgment, because he decided to face his darkness and finally defeat Ansem's shadow for good. Even when Naminé expressed some doubts about whether or not he could succeed, he still remained confident, stating that if Ansem's darkness did take him, then the darkness would show him the way. Apparently, Naminé had been hoping for that answer, because she believed Riku is the one who can face it, and I have to say, I think she's right. Terra came close to truly mastering the power darkness, and I think Riku may be the one to truly do it.

That's why, when Riku tried asking Mickey and I to destroy him should he fail to defeat Ansem, I was right there alongside Mickey in saying we would be right there to help him. We're both confident that Riku will come out on top, and even if he doesn't, we'll be right there to help him, and we made sure he knew that he could believe in us. Considering he went in with a smile on his face, I think he really meant it when he said that he chose to believe in us. Riku's now starting to walk a road I never truly believed could exist; one with light and darkness standing back to back, possibly even meeting in ways no one has ever seen before. I think Mickey's just as curious about where that road leads as I am, because he told me that whatever happens, he plans to stay with Riku until he reaches the end of that road. Maybe I'll join them for a little while too, just to satisfy my curiosity before I have to finally go and fulfill a promise I made to another young Keyblade wielder.

---

AN: Okay! Phew! That is. Without a doubt. The longest journal entry. I've ever done. For this entire series. But, it was worth it, because frankly, I just want Aqua to be done with covering the events of what happened with her and Riku in Castle Oblivion. I mean, there really isn't that much to be said in general aside from how Aqua was there mostly, so obviously, I'm sure you guys just want to get to the more important parts of what happened to her afterwards, and when she finally parted ways with him and Mickey to go and start training Kairi. Well, this should help speed things along. In fact, if I'm right, I think the next one might be the last entry in Aqua's journal, which will leave us with only Naminé and Ventus's journals to browse through.

Roxas: Sheesh! If that's true, then somehow, I can't help but think the journal entries might end long before the actual story does.

AN: Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that. After all, there is at least one other angle of things regarding what happened between this story and Dual Keys that we haven't really explored as of yet.

Xion: Meaning what?

AN: If things play out the way I'm hoping for them to, you'll find out soon enough. Now, let's move on to the other topics of conversation for this chapter. First off, the details of Wisdom Form in this story. Originally, I was going to set things up so that all the Drive Forms prevented the team from using their other extra abilities like Shotlocks and Command Styles, but then someone suggested that I expand on it a little more and make it so they could only use certain abilities with each form. It does make a little bit of sense when you think about it, so that's why Wisdom Form works the way it does here. As for how it powers up, well, just like in the games, Wisdom Form will gain more power with every Heartless they destroy. It'll just take a little bit of time for Sora and Roxas to figure this out. And Kairi too.

Kairi: Wait, why me too?

AN: I suppose I shouldn't say this until next chapter when we talk about your next training sessions on the way to the next world, but since I know people are going to ask, I'll go ahead and tell them anyway. Yes, Kairi will have all the same Drive Forms that Sora has obtained up to this point. Meaning the Valor and Wisdom Forms she had in Keyblades of Future Past will be making their grand return in this story. Speaking of that first story, I'm going to confirm right now, that Kairi is in fact now wearing the same outfit her future self gained back in Keyblades of Future Past, but with a less detailed, more rounded and smooth armor piece, just like Sora is with his armor upgrade. So don't stress yourselves too much with trying to picture her attire if you've read that first story.

Sora: You know what you should do for your DeviantArt profile? Post an image of what we all look like in this series at various points.

AN: Hey, I've considered it, and I'm working on a way to make that happen. It's just...a little difficult to do so right now.

Roxas: Why's that?

AN: You'll find out along with everyone else by tuning into the next episode of Studio News. Anyway, getting back on topic! I know said in an earlier chapter's author's note that Aqua and Ven would not be using any KH3 abilities aside from Flowmotion, but in the case of Aqua using the Style Change version of Spellweaver, it just made sense. I mean, I basically had her do that without realizing it back in the last story, so I may as well have her get it cleared up as to what she was actually doing in this one. Especially since she went to see Yen Sid after she and Kairi first arrived in Twilight Town. Do you really think the old wizard and former Keyblade master wouldn't want to clear up that confusion as soon as possible? Don't worry though, that'll be the limit from here on out.

Moving along, I really hope you guys enjoyed the little powers showcase I had the team do to finish up the fight with the Nobodies, because I really wanted that to come off as a seriously epic moment. So I think you can understand why I might be a little nervous as to how well it turned out. Plus, it allowed Aqua to get a look at Roxas's Dual Style abilities, and helped us get a chance to see Sora's third personal Shotlock again after such a long time. I mean, he's used the other two so much, I was actually getting a bit worried you all forgot he had the third one to begin with.

Not to mention we've now added another new Dual Style to the arsenal: Shock Blazer; a combination of the Firestorm and Thunderbolt command styles. I know; the name's not really that great, but it's honestly the best I could come up with, and I tried a lot of ideas. One of my only other options was Thunderstorm and another was Firebolt (basically just putting the names of the other two styles together). I know. Blegh! The latter works better for Harry Potter's second broomstick, and the first one just sounds like another lightning-based attack. So, Shock Blazer. Feel free to comment on how lame it sounds in the comments while offering up some better suggestions if you want. This time, I may actually consider using one of the names you guys come up with.

Now, on the matter of Saix's appearance, I wanted to kind of showcase how he left a significant mark on Xion and Roxas even after they lost their memories, hence the reason why Xion was so afraid and/or nervous about him after he showed up. And of course, while some of the original dialogue for that encounter from KH2 does still work here, I did still change more than a few of the necessary things up for this story.

Sora: I have a question!

AN: You and a bunch of my followers and reviewers, so try and make it quick.

Sora: Why'd you have Kairi slap me?!

AN: Oh that. I got the idea from Thor: The Dark World. You know, that scene where Thor and Jane finally reunite. I just thought it'd add a little bit of humor to the moment before things got all mushy. Oh, and for those of you who guessed that Aqua using his beard as a chance for revenge on Ven forcing her to get a haircut back in Keyblades of Future Past, congratulations! You helped to inspire the idea as to how Ven's beard ends up looking the way it does in the cover art. The idea was just too good to pass up on, so why pass up on it.

Everything else that changed has an obvious reason behind it, such as the interactions with Seifer, the conversations with the Twilight Town gang, and so on, so I'd say there's not really much of a need to go into detail about all of that.

Ventus: You know, if you have me keep up the trend of secret-keeping I've been doing so far, it's probably going to come back around to bite me, right?

AN: Yes, I'm aware, and it was pointed out in at least one of the reviews for the last chapter. And believe it or not, I'm planning on it going that way. Trust me; you'll all see just what Ven's secret keeping can play a part in bringing about as the story continues.

Aqua: What about that scene with the autopilot thing? Where'd you get that idea from?

AN: Oh that? Just a little something I got from Men in Black 2. I really liked a couple of the scenes that involved the automatic pilot in that movie, so I figured I'd try and work my own version of them into this story. Keep an eye out for the next one later on. [winks at the audience]

Okay, so that's all of our chapter details for today. At least the ones that I think need to be discussed most seriously. Let's get on with review answers, shall we?

"Starlord Master", who is my favorite character in this story? Normally I'd say Sora, but in this case, that's like asking me to choose my favorite child, man! I just love all the Kingdom Hearts characters so much! Well, that's not entirely true; there are a small number of ones I don't like for one reason or another. *cough* Xaldin for his boss battle *cough*.

"Ronin Warriors Fanatic", glad you enjoyed all the stuff I worked in last chapter, and like I said earlier, you won't be the only one who's not a fan of Ven keeping secrets for long. Trust me, it'll come back to bite him very harshly.

"SuperSaiyanFever", no, the Legion will not be visiting the world of My Hero Academia in this story, and as of now, there are no plans for them to do so in the future. Any worlds I add to this story are worlds that are going to have some basis with Disney in one shape or another, hence the reason why both a Marvel and Star Wars world is being included.

"Dragon Rider 66", I wouldn't say that it's a hint to how Oathkeeper affects Roxas's personality. It was more like foreshadowing to how Wisdom Form affects his fighting abilities if anything, be it intentional or otherwise. And yeah, some of Ven's memories about his last time travel experience were nice, but there was still a lot of bad stuff going on to keep the entire experience from being a good thing to recall. If anything, those few good times you mentioned were just memories he fondly recollects on their own, as opposed to being events he thinks of related to the larger adventure. As for you're little wonder...maybe it is just a little strange, but in all honesty, I don't think I can entirely blame you for thinking that way. Also, thanks for the suggestions for Roxas's hero suit in the Kingdom Marvels series. I think I might do a little more thinking on those when I get a little closer to that point in time.

"TheRedeemer1995", technically speaking Roxas's Thirteenth Hour Shotlock is this story's final version of his Magic Hour ability. I'm pretty sure I mentioned this last chapter, but I'll say it again anyway: Aqua has a power that goes by the same name, and I wanted to avoid two people having similar or different abilities that both share a name, so that's why I went with Thirteenth Hour as the name for Roxas's Shotlock. Hope the big reunion turned out as well as you were expecting, with or without the chance you took a look at the sneak peek video I posted on YouTube.

"SuperSonicBros123", in all honesty, I had no plans for Donald and Goofy to recognize Sora from their encounter with him back in Keyblades of Future Past, but they do at least know a few details about his experience with time travel. He will still have to spill the details eventually, but it may not be when or how you expect it to go down. As for Roxas taking back his words regarding Xion's mermaid form change, I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you. At least, not right now.

"zack25king", glad to hear you enjoy this story so much, along with the interactions between the characters. And I totally agree that we should see a few more scenes where Sora, Roxas, and Ventus are all together. Heck, I think that could be applied to several other groups of characters as well, too. Kairi, Xion, and Naminé being just one other grouping I could mention. Heck, you could even add Aqua in there and it'd be a real party then.

"Spiderfan626", I think you might be a little surprised at how things go down in Dreamer's Challenge, at least regarding Ven's reaction to Young Xehanort (Hey, if anyone has some suggestions or ideas of alternate names for that guy, please feel free to let me know in your reviews or even just PMs. I don't want to just refer to him like that all the time when we finally reach the point where he starts showing up in this series).

"The Keeper of Worlds", yes, yes it does. And yet, we all keep using it. I guess that's why everyone tells you not to think about it too much.

"Guest" of 11/28/2020, 1, The reason why the Cornerstone didn't stop the Unversed in BBS is because the Unversed are most often described as fledgling emotions. While some would say that emotions are neither negative or positive, I'm sure we can all agree that emotions are certainly not dark or light. It's just that some are often associated with one or the other. (I'm looking at you being a responsible party here, Star Wars, and you know why). 2, Now that I think about it, Della is a combination of both Blue and White Mage, and I had only PJ appear in the last chapter because out of everyone in his family, he's the one we've seen the most of, even all the way into the movies. 3, I wouldn't be so certain on that, if I were you. After all, it was never directly stated that they kept it secret for that long, now was it? 4, Glad you think so. And 5, yeah, I'm glad to hear we've gotten at least a little bit further along in the next stage of the Kingdom Hearts story after Melody of Memory, and as for Kairi getting to train under Aqua in canon at long last, I just say: FINALLY! I mean, we all must have seen it coming long before this was even a thing, right? I mean, how many stories are there of Kairi becoming Aqua's student on this site alone? As for the whole "unreality" introduction thing making stuff complicated, dude, things in Kingdom Hearts had gotten complicated a long time ago. Xehanort had been doing that even before this point.

"Guest" of 11/30/2020, my man, that reference/moment was a thing well before "Loonatics Unleashed" was even an idea.

"Monkey D. Conan", oh you know I'm going to keep Stitch as a summon. I mean, why wouldn't I keep him as a summon? He's Stitch! But he's not gonna be a summon for Ven, and that's all I'm going to say on that matter. As for Kairi's Drive Forms, yes, she will be getting all the same Drive Forms as Sora, as I said previously, but it wasn't Wisdom Form she lacked. It was Limit Form. As for your little hash-tag there, I'm not entirely sure what moment you were referring to, but I hope the reunion turned out just as well, if not better than what you were expecting. Regarding your other questions and wonders related to Ven&Aqua, all will be revealed in due time on each front. Much like your question about Ven's beard being a running-gag thing here. Btw, I do actually like the idea you suggested about Kairi giving Sora a haircut to explain his shorter locks in KH3, so I think I'm gonna run with that when it comes up.

"Guest" of 12/1/2020, namely the one who asked about PJ and his family, allow me to better clarify. Goofy didn't necessarily adopt PJ so much as practically raised him as if he had, mainly because after all the backlash from what his father did, the rest of his family had to move out of town, and PJ did not want to deal with the major commute that would be involved if he wanted to learn how to be a knight alongside of his best friend and all that. Sorry for the confusion on that.

"Guest" of 12/3/2020, I do intend to do something of a pair-up in Dreamer's Challenge, but it won't be quite like what you suggested. As for the two pairs getting their own set of seven worlds...what're you crazy? Even if I used all of the original seven worlds from Dream Drop Distance, that's still a total of fourteen worlds, meaning I would have to scrounge up the other half and that would take way too long to think of, never mind how the story could end up becoming more complicated or even just longer as a result. As for your world suggestions, I'm afraid I'm only going to be pressing forward with the SAO idea, mainly because it's the one I know best, and would be able to work through most easily.

"Guest" of 12/22/2020, let me just summarize this as easily as possible. I have no intention of working anything from the live action version of the Lion King into this story when they get to the Pride Lands. Maybe fusing together the events of the animated movie with how they played out in the game a little, but not the live action one. Besides, I liked the encounter Timon and Pumba had with the hyenas in the animated movie. It was a lot funnier in my opinion. Yes, the hyenas came off a lot more threatening in the live action version, but keep in mind, compared to the Heartless, there's on way the Keyblade Legion could consider them as too much of a major threat beyond the obvious stuff, so why up the ante like that. As for your suggestion on how Scar's death should play out...yeah, that just seems a little too dark for my liking, be it for this story or otherwise. At least for now. You never know if I may end up writing another story where that could work. I do hope to change a few things around for the dialogue on the second visit though, like you asked, and I will at least try to include Sarabi in this version of the story at least once, because yeah, it doesn't feel right to not have her there in some capacity.

"Guest" of 3/23/2021, Dude! Were you hoping for someone to die in this chapter?! Each of those scenarios would only invoke me writing a full reason that serves as proof about that saying the furry of a woman's scorn! I hope that what happened here does work for you though.

"ElecFlameFox", I have not actually seen the 2020 version of Mulan, so I don't think I can really comment one way or the other on that. I suppose I'll just have to take your word for it.

"Kurei Scale", Glad to hear you're enjoying this series so much so far. Especially after reading through my first completed series which includes the stories that serve as the first many things for me in terms of writing fanfiction or just writing in general. As for your question, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by other worlds that didn't appear if I go down multiple routes, but I can guarantee there will be some new/different worlds appearing in Dreamer's Challenge that were not in DDD.

Phew! Let this be a lesson to you all to try and not leave a story for so long. At least if you answer reviews in a way similar to how I do it. For now though, we've got one last thing to take care of before calling it a chapter. So, Onto the Preview!...

With the team now fully completed, the Keyblade Legion is ready to set sail for their next adventure in more ways than one. A good thing too, because their newest destination will have them battling out on the high seas against not just Heartless, but pirates as well. Not just any pirates though; these are cruel, demented, vicious pirates that cannot be killed or defeated. At least, not that easily. Thankfully, they've got some new friends to help with that, including a daring scallywag of their own by the name of Jack Sparrow (Ahem! There should be a captain in there.). Sorry. Captain Jack Sparrow. The only downside is that integrating their newest team members might not go as easily as they were expecting. Can the Legion handle the new tensions in their group? Just what lengths will they have to go to in order to stop these vile pirates? Find out as they set sail to battle the curse of the Black Pearl, next time.

Looks like it's going to be a pirate's life for our heroes come next chapter, doesn't it? I promise to do my best in getting that chapter out a little sooner than I did with this one, so try not to worry too much. This series is a very important project for me right now. It's just...mixed together with a number of other big projects that are part of my main focus at the moment.

Once again, be sure to check out my YouTube channel "Studio Fandom" and the DeviantArt page "studiofandom" if you haven't already. Always looking for more followers and subscribers on both. And as always...

Please read and review, and see ya real soon!