Saga of Light: She Will Light The Way

by SirAngelo

What would he do for Kairi? His freedom for hers, Sora offers. In the timeline we know, the deal is rejected. But here, Sora becomes the Organization's prisoner, for Kairi's sake. Now, Kairi must venture through the worlds, fighting for herself and her friends, take hold of the reigns of fate, and become the hero she was always meant to be. [Kingdom Heart II AU Story] [SoKai]

19. Shadows Over Agrabah

OOOOO
She Will Light The Way
Chapter Nineteen
Shadows Over Agrabah

"Alright, we've wasted enough time, let's get to it. I hereby call this meeting of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee to order and – wait, where's Cloud?"

"He's off doing his own stuff. You know Cloud." Tifa offered in response to Leon's query. "Besides, is it really that important? It's not like he's an official member or anything."

The scarred warrior turned committee leader pinched at the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes in exasperation. If it wasn't one thing, then it was another. "Seeing how he's actually stayed put for a month's time I thought things might have changed with him. Regardless, let's get to work. We have a lot of ground to cover today..."

Gathered in their makeshift conference room, sitting at a semi-circular table that had a computer monitor mounted on the interior edge oddly enough, Leon began to address his troops and doll out assignments for the coming week. Save a few accounted for absences (and one that was unaccounted for), it was the usual suspects for the Restoration Committee: Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, Cid, and Merlin all in attendance and at the beck and call of their impromptu leader. The past month had been an absolute whirlwind for the six prime members of the Committee. Even beyond the typical upkeep and maintenance required to heal their home world, the Organization's sudden attack had blindsided them, made them all too aware at how spotty their defences were, and how easy it would to lose everything they had worked so hard to regain. The various members of the Committee – both regular and irregular – as well as their frequent contacts and allies, and even the general citizenry of the town were all working to the best of their abilities. Leon was all too thankful for the willingness of his friends and companions. Heaven knows he never imagined himself being in a leadership position like this, accepting all of these burdens and responsibilities; having others he could trust assisting him was the only thing keeping him stable.

Of course, his graciousness aside, there were times the man formerly known as Squall Leonhart thought that the main reason everyone was working so hard – specifically those gathered in this room – was because if they didn't occupy themselves with their tasks, guilt and dread would seep into their hearts. Worry for what had become of Sora and Kairi...

"...Good news, the grotto beneath the city is still in tact. The water is plentiful and pure, too. We'll need to begin assembling materials and a team to repair the aqueducts and distribution network. Then, and this would be months away, maybe establish a supply line to transport water to survivors elsewhere in the country..." Briefly, Leon looked up from his piles and piles of notes to find Aerith was wistfully staring out a window, eyes distant and unfocused. How very unlike her.

"Is something the matter, Aerith?" Leon addressed the brunette horticulturalist.

"Oh? What?" Aerith shook her head and snapped to attention, all eyes falling onto her. "No, I was just... my mind drifted for a second and I couldn't help but think about what's happened to Kairi. Where she is and how she's doing."

Leon nodded, grimly. "I understand, Aerith." He did, really. Everyone had the same general unease a year ago when Sora set off from Traverse Town on his journey. Only, this time, things seemed much more perilous and dire. The depressed and nervous Key Bearer lacking Sora's energy and optimism didn't help matters, either. "But we have work to do as well. Important work. We need to focus on what's in front of us. What's possible."

"I think that's the issue here, Leon." Tifa interjected, sticking up for her longtime best friend. "We could have done more for Kairi. It was possible." In frustration, the martial artist rapped her knuckles on the table, before clenching her hand into a fist. "All we did was get her a set of magic clothes and some companions who can be described as sketchy at best, and then shooed her out the door. We should have done more..."

"I have to agree with Miss Lockhart." Merlin said. Shaking his head and clicking his tongue in dismay, the wizened wizard continued. "She is of this world, same as any of you. Why, I remember having tea with her grandmother every Thursday for years. I remember the day she was born, I tell you!" For a moment, it looked like Merlin was about to sink into his memories, shutting his eyes in fond remembrance, before snapping them back open. "Even if time was of the essence, we could have done more to connect with her and aid her. Why, I could have conjured a timeless realm and put her through a full battery of tests and training!" In the seat next to blue-clad wizard, Yuffie began to snort and chortle at the comment.

"Yo, no offence Merlin, but that might be the worst idea I've ever heard." The scion of Wutai said through a wall of obnoxious snickers. "You? Train Kairi? You don't know the first thing about combat. About Keyblades! It would have done way more harm than good for her."

"Kid's got a point." Cid said, nodding along with the ninja girl.

Merlin sank in his seat, sighing sadly. An admission of his wrongness. "Yes, yes, I suppose so. Still, much like the lot of you, I can't help but feel guilty sitting on the sidelines." Despite having earned the victory, Yuffie continued to natter on about the point.

"I mean, seriously, I don't think there's a word to describe how dumb an idea that is!" Yuffie crowed, proving she was a sore winner. In the background, both Tifa and Aerith tried to talk her down, but the mouthy ninja verbally steamrolled right over them. "It would take some special level of brain-dead nitwit to come up and implement that!"

"Yuffie..."

"What's next? While you're training her, you'll also train some colossal dirtbag who's betrayed every ally he's ever had -"

"Yuffie..."

"- and once kidnapped the girl?"

"Alright, Yuffie, you've gone far enough." Aerith admonished, firm but tough. Yuffie shrank back in response. Whenever she had to be commanding or stern, Aerith never raised her voice. Instead, everyone else quieted down and listened up for her.

"I was just being honest is all..."

"There's a difference between being truthful and being mean."

"Honestly, I'm surprised to see you get so passionate, Yuffie." Tifa pointed out. "Here I thought you didn't like Kairi."

The black-haired ninja puffed up her chest defensively at the accusation. "It's not that I don't like her. It's just... the waterworks and pity party bothered me, ya know? Sora never pulled that crap when this all started. He just smiled, put on his big boy pants, and went to work." Then, with eyes shifting back and forth, Yuffie quickly added an addendum to her statement, so fast and mumbled that the only audible was "And he's really cute..."

Tifa scrutinized all of her friends remarks, narrowing her eyes at the ninja. "Okay, all that aside, you of all people are going to give her a hard time for crying? I remember a time when you cried so much and so often everyone called you the 'Water Lily of Wutai'."

"Hey! I was nine! And my dad just died, okay? Jeez!"

"If everyone is done." Leon's voice rose above the clamour, his rumbling tenor silencing the others. "I understand how everyone feels. I understand that we all feel helpless and frustrated that we can't help our friends and that we have to blindly rely on kids who shouldn't be wrapped up in this mess." It was the worst feeling in the world, the same one Leon had when they sent Sora on his way. Pinning all your hopes on some random kid who shouldn't be there, not being able to help, and feeling guilty for putting that kind of weight on their shoulders. Leon growled in annoyance, as his stomach and heart roiled.

"Frustrated and helpless aren't the words, Leon, this is bullshit!" Tifa snapped, before averting her gaze and showing remorse. A combination of her choice of words and losing her cool. "Sorry, sorry. I mean, we can't even contact her to see how she's doing! And Merlin was right, she's one of us. The Islands may be Kairi's home, but she came from Hollow Bastion. She's our Princess, for crying out loud, and we can't even protect her!"

Leon mutely conceded the point to the raven-haired brawler. About not being able to contact Kairi or the Gullwings. Their current set up for off-world communication had very limited range – basically a few dozen kilometers beyond the world's orbit – and the array was damaged in the attack, too. Perhaps he could expedite the repairs and upgrades, have Cid and his team get to work on them...

As for Tifa's other point...

"Trust me, no one knows better about Kairi and her family than me. I was attending the Officer's Academy before this all went to hell. I wanted to be royal guard." He would never admit it aloud, but soon after Kairi had left, Leon dreamed of what might have been. A world without Maleficent's attack and Xehanort's machinations. A world with Royal Guardsman Squall Leonhart, ably serving Princess Kairi Ralleone and her siblings. No Heartless. No Nobodies. No Keyblades. He and Rinoa would have -

The roiling in his stomach picked up, as Squall shook his head, grimacing angrily at himself for focusing on impossible things.

"Look, this isn't on the agenda, but I need to show it to you. We did some digging through the main system files and found an archival video" Leon shoved aside his paperwork, before motioning to the monitor on the interior edge. "I was planning to show it you all at some point in time. Considering the current topic of conversation, now is as good at time as any."

"'We'?"

"Tron and I."

One of the first things the Committee had accomplished following the fallout of the Organization's attack was wresting control of Ansem's computer system away from the rogue Master Control Program. To that end, Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and Yuffie had themselves digitized and scoured the system of the malicious AI, before installing Tron as the new administrative program. Having an ally linked to the mainframe which governed the castle and all it's system was a godsend. In addition to removing a possible threat to the town, they now had easy access to files and records from before The Fall that would have otherwise been inaccessible.

"Tron, bring up video file RGL-0708, please."

The computer screen flared to life in a heartbeat, the chipper tones of the program known as Tron beaming through. "Right away, User Leon."

In another instant, an image filled the monitor, a static shot of a group assembled in the bowels of Ansem the Wise's laboratory. They may have been rendered in stark black and white, but the original nucleus of Organization XIII was unmistakable, even in low resolution form: Xemnas, Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion. A low murmur rose from the table at the sight of the Nobodies, with Cid going so far as to spit and curse.

"Y'know, I can honestly say I used to respect each and everyone of those guys standin' there." The grizzled pilot and engineer said with a scowl creasing his lips, pointing at the screen as he did. "Men of science and passion, each 'n everyone of 'em! But now, knowin' what they did, what they're doin'... ah! It really pisses me off! Makes me sick!"

Tifa sadly agreed, speaking over a storm of swears and curses too foul to repeat in polite company. "That's something we've all had to deal with recently, isn't it? Learning that the people we once admired and respected have plenty of skeletons in their closets..." The crimes of Xehanort and his cronies were well known by this point, but between Mickey's info and having access to his own network, Ansem's unsavory actions were coming to light as well. The Committee was still trying to figure out how to handle such sensitive and damning information.

"Now, what I'm about to show you is highly confidential. You have to keep it a secret." Leon warned, which drew everyone back in to whatever it was he and Tron had dug up. They were clearly enticed. "What have you found, Leon" was written in large print over each of their faces. "You can't even tell the other members of the Committee, I'll show it to them in time, is that understood?" The five others all agreed to these terms. "Also, what we found, this video it's... disturbing, to put it mildly. If you guys want me to stop it or you need to leave the room, then don't hesitate to say so, okay?"

Again, there was general agreement from the other Committee members, but their curiosity only grew in response to Leon's serious, yet tantalizing warnings. Clearly, he had stumbled upon something of immense magnitude.

"Okay. Tron, start it up."

The screen flickered again, the video beginning to play in complete silence. The footage chugged along, skipping frames while the screen was constantly bombarded with static and snow. Still, there was enough information present to draw some conclusions as to what was happening. All the Organization members were chatting among themselves, eagerly examining their bodies; clearly whenever this happened, it was right after they had thrown aside their humanity and became Nobodies. Not long after, two others joined the Nobodies, strangers being forcibly ushered on screen by the hulking Lexaeus.

"Now who might those two be?" Merlin asked when the toy boys entered frame. They were both teenagers, though on the older end of that spectrum, one with wild spiky hair, while the other wore his straight and voluminous.

"It would be easier to know if we could hear anything." Yuffie complained, before turning to pester Leon. "What gives, Squall? Crank it up!"

"Unfortunately, while I can pull plenty of video from the security cameras, most of the audio files are corrupted and unrecoverable." Tron answered for the Committee leader, as the scene on the monitor continued to play out. Xigbar and Xaldin had approached the youths, menacingly, clearly wanting to execute the two of them there and then. "As for the identity of the two mysterious Users, User Leon and I pulled up some records and have identified them as Lea Rose and Isa Lycanis."

"And who the heck are they suppose to be?"

"From what we learned, they were lifelong friends. Orphaned at a young age, they bounced around the foster care system together for quite some time, before dropping out of it completely at age sixteen." Leon recalled from memory. He had taken great pains to learn and memorize everything he could about the two, given what he had seen. "Beyond that, there's nothing of note or interest, save a very minor rap sheet. Mostly petty theft, but they were known to have attempted to sneak into the castle on more than one occasion." Looking at the screen, Leon couldn't help but frown. "Guess, in the end, they finally succeeded."

Quiet overtook the room again, the six taking to watching the scene play out of the monitor. It seemed cooler heads had prevailed, with Xemnas getting his minions to back off, before the Superior of the (then) fledgling Organization approached the boys, speaking as he did. Judging from his body language, he seemed to be offering them a deal. Lea – the one with the wild hair and the scrawnier of the two youths – seemed hesitant to accept whatever it was Xemnas had offered, but Isa jumped at the opportunity, nodding and clearly mouthing "Yes". Only after his friend agreed, did Lea reluctantly affirm his compliance as well.

Then, everything went to hell.

Without warning, Xemnas' darted his hand forward, the extremity cloaked in a nimbus of dark energy, effortlessly piercing through the chests of Isa and Lea in quick, efficient order. The boys collapsed in pain, all life fading from their bodies, as the Restoration Committee watched in horror as their hearts drifted from the gaping holes in their chest, before being consumed by darkness. Tense second passed, before the bodies of the two boys rose up, but not in a natural way. No, oh no. Instead, their lifeless corpses writhed and wriggled, rose and fell like rag dolls; limbs flopped and snaked and lashed around, stretching and distending while their torsos contorted at odd angles, as if their bodies were completely boneless! Lea stood to full height – beyond full height – as his arms, legs, and body were stretched like silly putty, while Isa had his entire being twisted a full three-hundred and sixty degrees at the rib cage, while his shoulders separated, growing wider and broader. It was disgusting and horrifying to watch, beyond rational explanation to behold! Yuffie turned a little bit green at the gills, watching the nauseating sight, while Tifa bounced a foot up and down against the tiled floor, with Cid clenching his teeth so hard his toothpick snapped in two.

Finally, in one final burst of blackness which blotted out the monitor for a moment, the transformation finishing with the two being garbed in black cloaks. The lanky and gawkish form of Axel was joined by the inhumanly cold and savage Saix, both Nobodies looking like they had aged to adulthood while their bodies were turned into fleshy, disgusting pretzels.

Then, before Xemnas could welcome and christen his newest followers, the image came to a jarring halt, before skipping frames again. Leon held his breath, knowing the worst was yet to come. The video quickly started up, but now in a new room with a new cast of characters. A regally dressed and well-groomed man and a woman, looking forlorn and unsure, discussing something in a well-furbished apartments.

As Leon did when he first watched the video, the others quickly recognized the people on screen. It may have been ten years, but it would take a lot longer to forget.

"That... those are the King and Queen!" Aerith exclaimed, breathlessly, standing up from her seat when the realization hit her. "King Kyros and Queen Amelie. Kairi's parents!"

Indeed, the long-departed monarchs of their home nation had appeared on screen, the first time any of them had seen them since their untimely and mysterious deaths. Slowly, Leon could see everyone put the piece together what Leon had found. Tifa's jaw went slack in horror, while Cid blanched at the realization.

"Whoa! Don't tell me Leon, did you find -"

Without warning, a Dark Corridor flared to life within the archival footage, taking the despondent royals by surprise. King Kyros stood protectively between his wife and the portal, as Saix and Axel strode out of the abyss.

"Yeah..." Leon answered in a quiet tone, lowering his eyes away from the screen. The scene played out as it did the last dozen times he watched it. "We finally found out what happened to the rest of the royal family." The King cautiously and warily addressed the two intruders, aware of the danger they presented. Axel seemed skittish in the footage, nervously trying to banter with the two, while Saix wordlessly and gravely marched forward. "This is all speculation, but it seems the Organization had a little test of initiation for their two newest members..."

In mute horror, unable to turn away, the Restoration Committee watched the heinous acts play out on screen. With monstrous strength, Saix threw Kyros aside, brutally hurling the King off-screen. Queen Amelie charged forth, fury contorting her normally kind features, but was intercepted by Axel, the Nobody wrapping his long arms around the woman, holding her back. Spirited as ever, Amelie struggled against her captor, breaking an arm free and driving her elbow repeatedly into the Nobody's sternum and head. After one too many shots, Axel spitefully drilled the Queen with a blow to the head, dazing her.

Coming back from the right edge of the screen, Kyros came back into view, wielding a sword against the two assassins. The King charged at Saix, the savage Nobody rearing back to counter-strike. The latter was too strong, too fast. The King never stood a chance.

Blood spattered against the camera lens, as Saix turned to the captive Amelie with murderous intent.

Cid growled and cursed some more – every euphemism in the book.

Merlin looked sick, only averting his gaze at the last minute, unable to stand the brutality anymore.

Yuffie whimpered and covered her eyes the moment the King was struck down.

Tifa feebly smashed her fists against the table, moved to the edge of tears, colour drained from her face.

Aerith never looked away, never blinked, but the warmth and kindness had long faded from her face and eyes.

Mercifully, the horror show came to an end, with Tron instantly changing the screen to a more neutral image so no one had to dwell on those nightmarish visuals.

"The Organization – specifically Axel and Saix – killed the King and Queen." Leon pronounced after several minutes of deafening silence. He had discovered this video several days ago, and had been piecing together the timeline since then. Both Xehanort and Ansem wanted to send Kairi off-world for their own purposes, Ansem succeeding first, doing so before whatever happened to him happened. Ansem the Wise was banished, Xehanort and the other apprentices became the Organization, and eliminated the royal family. And all the chaos and destabilization they had caused proved the perfect opening for Maleficent to swoop in and begin her invasion.

"Do we..." Aerith began, before chewing on her words. She seemed unsure as to what to say at this juncture. "Do we know what happened to Kairi's siblings? Or her grandmother, Lady Farron?"

"I don't have any evidence like this, but... we can draw our conclusions as to what happened to Prince Nautus and Princess Mayren from here." Leon answered. Honestly, Leon was thankful there wasn't video like this for the children. He didn't think he could bring himself to view it.

Merlin despaired at the revelation, lowering his head and muttering a prayer. "Oh, Tricia... I'm so sorry..."

"Again, please don't tell anyone else about this." Leon reminded the others, wanting to move on from this unpleasant conversation as fast as possible. "I'll inform Barret and Reeve and Rinoa and the others in due time, but we cannot afford this to leak to the public without proper preparation. It could cause mass panic." At the very least, if the Organization did ever show up to attack Hollow Bastion again, it could be used to galvanize the populace against the villains, but that line of thinking was too pragmatic for Leon to dwell on right now.

Again, everyone agreed to their leader's terms. Well, almost everyone, as Yuffie stood up from the table, palms slamming against the surface, rising up to the towering total of her five-foot-four of fury.

"This is bullshit, Squall! We learn all this and we're suppose to just keep it bottled up for who knows how long?" The ninja girl ranted and raved, her entire body trembling with anger. Leon sighed wearily in response. Much as he wanted to tell her off, he couldn't necessarily be mad at her for all this. It was a completely reasonable reaction.

"Yuffie, I understand, but we need to -"

Quick as her area of expertise would suggest, Yuffie cut him off. "No, you don't understand! Stop saying that like a broken record." Yuffie took a moment to collect herself, huffing in a irked manner, while the others gave her the space and breathing room they required. The petite ninja was young and rambunctious, all id and no self-restraint. Usually the other Committee members had to keep her in check from saying or doing something impulsive, but given the tension in the room and the uneasy feelings in everyone's hearts, one of her off the cuff rants might do good for everyone. "This goes beyond just what happened to the King and Queen. This is about everything the Organization has done. I may have been really young when it all went down, but what Cid said is right, everyone admired and respected Xehanort and the other apprentices. They were from this world, this city. They were one of us." Yuffie's anger ebbed, sorrow and despondent confusion filling in the gaps, as she gestured wildly with her hands. "And they threw it all away. They betrayed us! As far as I'm concerned, the Organization is the cause of everything bad that happened here. Everything that happened the last ten years, not just to here, but to Solanvrey and Crystallum and everywhere else, too! Not just the King and Queen, but every other death. All that blood is on their hands, so to hell with them!"

Yuffie practically collapsed back into her seat, drained of all her angry energy, and lower her head down, burying it within her arms. Aerith reached an arm across, placing a comforting hand on the girl's upper back.

At this point, Leon just threw his hands up (figuratively) at the mess he had made. "This was clearly a mistake." Seeing everyone stressed out and aggravated in such a manner was counter-productive. "I should have waited for a better time before showing you that."

"I disagree with you, my boy, but I thank you for your concession." Came Merlin, after quickly clearing his throat. "There is no better time like the present, and, despite the awfulness of this reality, it's better for us to know and face truth than to be ignorant to it."

Leon nodded, though his face remained glum and joyless. "Regardless, I think it's best if we call it a day here. Take an hour or two to take a breather and wind down, relax. I'll email you your assignments for the week. Dismissed."

Quickly, the others gathered themselves and their things and made their exit, wordlessly and mirthlessly, clearly still trying to process everything that had happened. Leon went back to his paperwork, trying to look busy to avoid any further conversations, especially when he saw Aerith approach him out of the corner of his eye. The gunblade wielder shuffled the same five pages around for a full minute, while Aerith just waited, her typical peaceful and pleasant countenance plastered on her face, looking expectantly at her friend and leader.

"Ahem." She finally said, softly. Leon sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win this one.

"Yes, Aerith?"

"I just wanted to say, Leon," the flower girl began, "that I know the ugliness of today has upset you, but you don't need to let the burden of this fall on your shoulders alone." Leon opened his mouth to reply, but found himself quickly cut off. "Yes, I know you're the leader and all that, but we all have an equal stake in this. Everything that happens to Hollow Bastion – good and bad – effects all of us equally." Then, the brunette's smile shifted into something a bit more mischievous and playful. "Unless, that is, you'd like me telling a certain someone how much you've been stressing yourself out?"

It took a lot of mental effort for Leon to restrain himself from responding to that comment. He was used to Yuffie's barbs and comments; Aerith was far more sly about things. "Thank you." He grumbled out, finally dropping the ruse of his paperwork and setting it all aside. "But, in all honesty, I was just struggling with the idea of breaking all this to Kairi." Kairi had little to no memory of her life on Hollow Bastion – everyone in the Committee knew that – and clearly loved her home on the Islands, so Leon wasn't even sure how she would react. Surely she would be upset at the loss of life, but how personally would she take it? She had already suffered so much in such a short time, he didn't want to be responsible for more trauma. All the same... "She's our Princess. She's the last of the Ralleone family. She has the right to know."

"That she does." Aerith nodded, sagely. "But don't go and try to change the subject. You don't need to put all this on yourself." She then paused, placing a finger on her cheek in thought. "Actually, I don't think I can trust you to monitor yourself. Tron? Could you be a dear and keep us abreast of Leon's schedule, make sure he doesn't work himself into exhaustion?"

"I'll do my best, User Aerith!"

"Wonderful! Thank you."

The Committee leader groaned and shook his head. "Thank you for your concern, Aerith, but I'll be fine." Leon didn't spend all those years training and waiting and hoping only to breakdown at the very end. He fully intended to take advantage of this new chapter of his life, but business came first. The city and the kingdom had to be rebuilt first. Thankfully, this was enough to satisfy the flower girl, who finally made her exit as well.

"As for what to do regarding Kairi, we can cross that bridge when we get there." She said as she left the room. Then, Aerith quickly popped her head back into view, adding with a knowing look, "Together."

Yet another sigh escaped the lips of Leon, as he leaned back in his chair and facepalmed. Sometimes having such well-meaning and kind friends was beyond frustrating. Still, his train of thought traveled from the others and the work they needed to accomplish back to Kairi. Their new Key Bearer. He still couldn't quite believe the Keyblade chose her of all people, Leon was even more surprised and dismayed than when he first met Sora. But, he had been wrong about the boy; he quickly proved to be more than worthy of the weapon. Clearly, whatever power decided who could wield a Keyblade could see something humans could not. Leon forced his skepticism aside and chose to trust the Keyblade and the redheaded Princess.

"Still... Tifa wasn't wrong. We could have done more to help her. Maybe whenever she returns here..." Leon idly mumbled to himself, thinking he was alone at the moment.

"Should I cancel your meeting with the other Committee members tomorrow?" Tron asked, reminding the scarred warrior of his presence. "I will admit, I do not understand the physical restraints and needs of the Users, but perhaps Aerith is right. Perhaps you need a break."

"No, it's fine Tron." Leon brushed aside the concerns of the AI, shaking his head. Even the computer was concerned for his well being. What a time to be alive. "They have the right to know, too, and it's better to get this ugliness out of the way." A thought then struck the defacto leader of Hollow Bastion. He couldn't change the past and do more to help Kairi from a month ago, he couldn't go out into the great beyond and help her now, but maybe he could boost her spirit and aid her aching heart in the near future. "I have to go out to check on some construction work, but I have a task for you Tron. Dig into all the archival footage and documents you have access to. Try and find whatever you can that's about Kairi." After a pause, Leon added, "Kairi and her family. Even if she can't remember the past, she deserves to know whatever she can about who she once was and where can came from. That's the least we can do for her."

-O-SWLTW-O-

As she stepped out of the beam of light that formed their warp system, Kairi felt herself assailed by a wall of heat and hot air. Dry, dusty heat that caused her to immediately break out in sweat and frazzle her hair. She was used to the hot summer days on the Islands, but this stifling heat was an entire different reality than the warm sun and fresh, tropical breeze.

Panting, she looked over to her companions as they exited the pillar. Yuna and Rikku seemed unfazed by the climate, Rikku going so far as to take a deep breath and revel in the new environ.

"Aah! Sand and smoke and heat... smells just like Home." Rikku said sarcastically.

"The less said about that, the better." Came Paine, as she stepped through the beam. Kairi's brows immediately arched when she saw the dark swordswoman was carrying not only her broadsword, but a black parasol, which shaded her entire body.

"Paine. Explain."

"If I stood in this sun for ten minutes, I would look like a lobster." The eerily pale woman replied, almost grumbling, clearly not happy with the arrangement. "I knew where we were headed, so I came prepared."

"So you guys have been here before?" Kairi asked. The Gullwings never really talked much about their exploits while under Maleficent's employ, not that she blamed them for clamming up about that ordeal.

Rikku skipped forward, goggles on to block out the sun and sand, to survey their immediate area. "Oh yeah, tons of times! Agrabah has a lot of great stuff to steal an – UH! I mean..." Rikku trailed off and stammered, trying to come up with some sort of excuse to cover her kleptomaniacal ways.

When they identified what their next destination was, a world Sora had been, Kairi made sure to do her research and commit every fact about the desert world to memory. Allies and enemies and general knowledge of the locales and Heartless varieties that populated the world. Even if their missions were much more simplistic and straightforward (their trips to the Land of Dragons and Atlantica ended within a few hours, without Kairi or the others meeting or conversing with anyone) it didn't hurt to have some extra preparations in case things got more complicated than "find and destroy the Stone". And things usually did get more complicated.

Not to mention, Kairi knew well enough that a Princess of Heart resided on this world. Perhaps Jasmine had a bit more insight and knowledge regarding the Light they both possessed and could help answer some of the doubts she had been having. Kairi was certain they could afford a little detour to visit her, regardless of whatever complication inevitably arose.

That first problem hit her faster than she ever would of expected, as the Key Bearer turned about to face the city proper, her jaw going slack.

"Oh my lord... What happened here?"

The Gummi Ship's teleportation array had deposited them high atop the retaining wall which surrounding the royal city, giving them a clear and direct view of the entire city... and finding it all in utter ruin! Sandstone buildings smashed and torn down. Sandy streets rent asunder and destroyed. The bustling bazaar was empty and silent. A section of the wall to their west was demolished, a gaping hole blown straight through it. Off in the distance, on the far end of the city, the royal palace looked to be in relatively decent condition, but that wasn't saying much considering the rest of the city was reduced to near ruin.

"This is..." Kairi tried to formulate the words, but couldn't find them in her. The state of things just kept growing more dire. Twilight Town was bad. San Fransokyo was worst. Agrabah was simply the worst.

"To be fair, Agrabah was always a bit of a pit." Paine brought up, sniffing at the harsh, dry air. "The palace and the surrounding area were really the only well-to-do parts of the city."

"Half the city being destroyed though?" Yuna countered, equally as horrified as Kairi. "Especially considering Sora was here less than two months ago. Something has gone horriby wrong." The brunette then turned to her cousin and told Rikku, "Get out your radar and let's find the Stone."

"No." Came Kairi, before clearing her throat. She was still trying to work on her "leader voice"; trying to part the difference between sounding confident and assured but not bossy and overbearing. "Before we do anything, I want to check in on Jasmine and Aladdin. Make sure they're safe, and maybe we can learn about what happened here."

The Gullwing's acquiesced to the the orders of the Key Bearer without much argument, though enacting Kairi's vision was much easier said than done. Getting off of the top of the wall was a struggle in of itself, but that was before dealing with the march through the streets towards the palace. The blazing desert sun was beating on the quartet mercifully, Kairi being drenched in sweat despite the enchantments woven into her clothing, while her skin flushed and reddened. At one point, Kairi tried to douse herself and the others with a Watera spell, in a vain attempt to cool them down, but was talked out of those rash actions by Yuna. Something about magically created water not having the same properties as actual water, not to mention the effect of the water evaporating on their skin would only make things worse. The redhead conceded the point, as she and her companions trudged on.

And "trudged" was the right term for the journey. The overwhelming heat and sunlight, the lack of water, and the dry air were bad enough, but the rubble scattered about the city of Agrabah made things all the worse. Multiple times, as Kairi and the others struggled to find their footing across uneven stone and jagged causeways, only to find their way barred by a mountain of broken stone and debris, forcing them to either struggle up or through the barricade, or turn back and find a new way to traverse towards the palace.

Kairi also noted that,while the damage to the physical city was far worse, otherwise the situation was just like San Fransokyo. A city and it's populace assailed by the forces of darkness, driving it to the point of ruin. And it was just as eerily and impossibly quiet as the technological wonderland, too. There was not a single human to be found outside of Kairi and the Gullwings. While most of the citizens of San Fransokyo were hiding out of sight from the Heartless, here on Agrabah, most of the buildings were a wreck, there didn't seem to be anywhere for anyone to hide, it made Kairi wonder dark thoughts. Like, had the Heartless already swallowed up most of the people? Were they too late to help them? The Key Bearing Princess shuddered at the thought.

Speaking of Heartless, while there were no humans or other living things about, those wicked shadows still found the time to bar the quartet's passage. Bandits and Fortune Tellers and all manner of monsters appearing to inflict grievous and fatal harm to the Key Bearer.

"These things never know when to give up, do they?" Kairi asked rhetorically, as she drew up into her battle stance. It was okay, really. Kairi was looking for an excuse to brandish some of the new techniques she had recently learned. A group of mooks and grunts would make the perfect training dummies for her.

Making a beeline for a group of Bandits, intending for a proper sword fight, Kairi couldn't help but note with wry amusement that Paine had eschewed her shield in exchange for keeping her parasol up. It didn't seem to impact her ability to strike down Heartless, at the very least. Focusing back on her chosen opponents, Kairi put all of her training to practice, following the steps that Yuna and Paine had drilled into her. Summon her mana from her core. Direct it through her body and into her Keyblade. Pool it there, lit it build, find that spark and then...

FWOOM

Resplendent flames erupted around the haft of Destiny's Embrace, wreathing the flowery Keyblade in a bright, blazing blossom of magical fire! With her Flametongue successful, Kairi clashed with the first Bandit, sword meeting sword, battering the Heartless away while raining sparks and heat down on the monster. The second time they clashed, Destiny's Embrace cleaved right through the scimitar of the Heartless, the Bandit staggering back to it's brethren, while Kairi planted her foot and pivoted, unleashing a crescent wave of searing flame that caught three of the Heartless and instantly immolated them where they stood. Kairi actually blinked in shock at how that went, staring at her still aflame Keyblade. It seemed her attacks had a bit more oomph while charged up like this.

More bandits descended upon the redhead, with Kairi taking up arms again, feeling confident and energized, and swinging at the nearest Heartless. This time, however, the Bandit successfully parried the Keyblade, rattling the girl and, without warning, snuffing out the magic flame that engulfed her weapon. Kairi gaped at her Keyblade, completely losing sight on what was happening around her, as the Heartless she was engaged with swiped the distracted girl in the chest. Falling onto her bottom, Kairi could only watch as the very same Bandit took to the air, darting towards her in a furious somersault, it's curved blade turning it into a buzzing blade of death. She brought her blade up in a panic, unsure if she could properly defend herself against the attack.

A hail of gunfire caught the Heartless from the side, annihilating it and removing the threat. Kairi forced herself to breath, thankful for Yuna's assistance, the magic gunslinger rushing to her side and helping her stand back up."

"Hey!" Paine called from the other end of the plaza, slashing down Heartless left and right. "Just because you can use these Artes now, doesn't mean you should use them whenever you want." She said, censuring her trainee. "Work on your fundamentals and only pull that fancy stuff out when you have to. Understand?"

Kairi gawked for a moment, ready to counter with something like "How am I suppose to know when I need to use it?" but stopped herself. They were still in the middle of a fight. Her judgement was good enough to know this was the wrong time to get into an argument.

The battle resumed and raged on, the Gullwings and Key Bearer making quick work of the hordes of Heartless, until a trio of Fat Bandits lumbered onto the scene. The full-bodied Heartless barreled along the pavilion, rotund bellies being used as battering rams. Rikku and Kairi both managed to sidestep the ungainly charge of the Heartless, while both Paine and Yuna tried to stand their ground. Without her shield, Paine couldn't withstand the blow and was cast aside – the swordswoman taking great care to keep her parasol from being damaged – while Yuna suffered a similar fate after feebly pelting the Fat Bandit with gunfire from her staff. The blasts harmlessly bounced off the Heartless, not leaving any lasting damage. Kairi joined in, assaulting the Heartless with a couple quick casts of Blizzara and Aerora, which seemed to inflict some damage, but not enough to disable or destroy the Heartless.

"Just gonna ask, I take it this is one of those times I break out the 'fancy stuff'?" Kairi called out, as Paine dusted herself off.

"Yeah, yeah... go nuts, kid..." Paine forced out through tight lips, annoyed and distracted. Her tumble did have one casualty to it: a small hole had been ripped in the canopy of her parasol.

Just as Paine gave her the all-clear, the Fat Bandits spat out a series of fireballs, but Yuna was able to cover with a precise counterattack, firing out a screen of ice missiles. The two attacks collided, covering the area in a plume of steam, with Kairi using the distraction to follow-up on Yuna's strike. Charging up her Keyblade again, she brought her Keyblade high to the side of her head, clutched in both of her hands, like she was back on the pitcher's mound on the softball field. It was probably the wrong technique, she thought, as she threw Destiny's Embrace at the gaggle of Heartless, but it worked nonetheless, the blade whirling through the air. The magic imbued in it burst out, too, causing a stream of water to flow around the Keyblade, the momentum shaping it into a circular, spinning blade.

The plume of steam proved to be the perfect shield for the group, as Kairi's Tidal Raid came ripping through the cloud, catching the lead Fat Bandit right in the jaw as it was about spew more fire. The whirling, watery blade damaged the nonfunctional mouth of the Heartless, staggering it and knocking it back into it's brethren. Still holding up her damaged umbrella, Paine sprang forward through the steam, her broadsword glowing with a fearsome red aura, as she furiously hacked into the gigantic Heartless. Her Armour Breaker Arte tore through the protective fat layer of the Heartless with ease, taking the lead of the group down. Paine then darted out of the way, letting Rikku finish the fiends off with a salvo of bombs which unleashed a surge of electric bolts.

Kairi returned her Keyblade to her hand, nodding along with her accomplishments. "Not bad, not bad..." She wasn't entirely proficient with all these new abilities, but her progress was still astounding her. Not to mention, having more options in combat would certainly come in handy.

However, any celebration and reflection was short-live, as more Heartless spawned into the area. Kairi rolled her eyes at the sudden reappearance of the Heartless, seeing as how they just wiped the floor with them. These things really didn't know when to quit.

But, before the battle could resume, a deep rumbling struck the area. Not the dreadful, quick and sudden thudding, like the plodding of Ushi-Oni's thunderous steps, this quake was constant and slowly built up. Buildings and rubble shook and quaked, while both the forces of light and dark were paralyzed by the sudden shaking. Kairi dropped to one knew, cagey, unsure of what in the world was happening. More Heartless? The Organization? Something native to this world? Her teeth was rattling in her sockets, and she was certain her heart was beating fast, but wasn't entirely sure, as the sound was drowned out by the quake. All she knew was that she wanted this infernal shaking to stop. Whatever this was, just come out already!

Erupting from the earth beneath the mob of Heartless came the source of the tremors – a gigantic serpentine Heartless that stretched it's tower body high into the air. While the dreadful maw of the Heartless was snake-like, the rest of it's body was more close to that of a worm; segmented instead of scaly, and covered in some kind of stony substance coloured a deep, dark red. A series of razor sharp dorsal fins crested across it's back, as loose bits of sand and rubble cascaded off it's roughly hewed form. With a soundless roar, the Mushussu Heartless challenged the Key Bearer and her companions.

"Gonna go out on a limb girls and say this thing is the source of all the havoc around here." Kairi said, bracing herself for another round of combat. She wasn't sure where a Heartless of this size came from, but she was at least thankful that it's dramatic emergence had thinned out the ranks of the lesser Heartless.

Without further hesitation, Kairi and the girls struck yet again, getting the jump on the towering Mushussu, as it languidly swayed it's body back and forth. Kairi and Yuna kept their distance from the Heartless, peppering it with magic. Kairi cycled through the various spells in her arsenal, while Yuna stuck with the non-elemental bullets of her shotstaff, but each and every blow harmlessly bounced off the rocky hide of the Heartless. A series of bombs courtesy of Rikku fell at the base of the sinister serpent, a fiery explosion flaring upwards, but leaving no lasting damage, either. Paine swooped in from the side, sword glowing as if it were freshly plucked from the forge, and chopped at the Heartless with both hands, temporarily tossing her umbrella upwards to do so. Even with the penetrating power of her Armour Breaker technique, the broadsword only delivered a shallow nick to the armoured skin of the beast, Paine's face screwing up in shock and frustration.

"This is not good..." Were Rikku's observations, as Paine retreated, Kairi and Yuna continuing to harry the thing with spellfire and continuing to do nothing of notice. "We're gonna need a bit more stopping power to put this back into the ground. Red! Perfect time to start up a light show!"

Kairi blanched and froze at the directive, stopping her magical blitz, Yuna giving gentle admonishment to her cousin for such a monumental ask. Could she do this? Zero progress has been made on taming the Light within her, but she always had a knack for performing well on the field. And, yeah, Rikku had a point. Nothing could stand in the way of her Light attacks. Even Xaldin – a foe far beyond the pale of her abilities – couldn't withstand them. Gulping down a large knot in her throat, Kairi tried to concentrate and focus, tried to find that pulse deep within her that she knew existed but always slipped away from her grasp.

Unfortunately, before she could prove or disprove her own doubts, the Heartless finally acted.

Each segment began to rotate individually – in different directions and at the different speeds – with the conical, reptilian head of the fiend clamped shut. It's form was almost like a massive drill, just more slinky and snakey. A whirlwind of sand and dust formed around the Heartless, too, as it's gigantic body lurched forward and arced into the air, vicious winds whipping and slamming into everything. Destiny's Embrace was torn from Kairi's hand, as she was sent sprawling to the ground, Paine being blasted back into some rubble, with Yuna thinking quick enough to throw up a barrier to protect her and Rikku. The drilling, spinning Mushussu slammed into the earth opposite it's entrance, easily boring through soft sandstone and loose dirt, spewing more rubble back out. Fissures spread all over the streets and nearby buildings, originating from the crater the beast created, as more shockwaves and tremors took hold of the area. They started out strong, but Kairi was relieved to find them quickly growing fainter and fainter.

She was then equally terrified to find them growing stronger and stronger soon thereafter.

It's gonna...! Oh no...

Her eyes whipped around wildly, body taut and ready to move but unsure as to where to move. The Gullwings all shared similar expressions and body language.

Like a dolphin leaping from the oceans, the serpentine Heartless crested from beneath the sandy streets of Agrabah, rupturing the earth again, and sending a rain of stones and rubble spraying out in all directions. Jagged rocks bigger than her head tumbled towards Kairi, the redhead barely seeing them through the cloud of dust, just able to get a Reflera shield up in time. Mushussu barely stayed above the surface though, it's drilling arc leading it back down into the ground, boring through sand and earth and disappearing, leaving only terrifying tremors in it's wake.

Over and Over, the Mushuss Heartless surfaced and dove back down, plowing through streets and buildings without a hint of resistance, upending the street and scattering stone debris everywhere. Between it's rocky hide and the whirling winds around it's drilling body, it was nigh impossible to damage the thing, as Kairi and the Gullwings tried in vain to bring the constant burrowing attacks to a stop. And that's when they were able to get their footing and launch and attack. Between the tremors, the shockwaves, the stone rain, and the Heartless itself, the four were forced to fend for their very lives, dodging and blocking all incoming offence, as the streets became more and more unstable, and more and more buildings crumbled to pieces.

The air temporarily choked with sand, Kairi couldn't see where she was going, and ended up rolling her ankle over a loose piece of stone, the girl tumbling to the floor just as the Heartless burrowed back beneath the earth, sending a wave of dust flying out in all directions. She could barely feel the throbbing in her leg, as more pressing matter took over. Namely, how where they going to get out of this jam? Not defeat the Heartless, just survive. The telltale sound of erupting earth rang out through the air, more dust and sand being kicked up and washing over her. Kairi's heart pounded like a hammer, as she searched through the scouring screen, desperate for any sight of any of the Gullwings.

Fortunately, despite the furious storm being unleashed by the Heartless, everyone was still standing. Paine's parasol was still mostly in-tact, though the warrior had enough sense to fold it up and stow it away for this encounter, the white-haired woman and Yuna dashing along the rugged and rough ground towards Kairi's position. Rikku wasn't that much far behind, following in the wake of the Mushussu as it dug beneath the earth again, the spritely blonde doing a leap of faith to clear the hole the Heartless had left behind.

Kairi signaled all three to group on her position, with the Key Bearer bolting away from the war zone that this little plaza had become. Running back down the way they came. The Heartless was in hot pursuit just behind them.

"I think we may have stumbled upon the Guardian, girls." Rikku huffed out, over the cacophonous crash of rock sounding out from their backsides. No one was daring to look back and see how close the Heartless was to catching them.

Kairi blinked in confusion at Rikku's statement, doing a wild take, thinking this was more of the blonde's nonsense.

Paine picked up on the Light wielder's befuddlement. "Makes sense, doesn't it? We've yet to encounter a Heartless this big, this strong, or this aggressive before. Other than the Guardians."

"Yeah, but where's the Stone, then?" Kairi countered. She was convinced the thunderous sounds of devastation behind them were getting louder, but forced herself to remain ignorant to that possibility, telling herself it was just her nerves. "Guardians only spawn from their Stones are in the presence of a Key Bearer."

"Maybe we have bad info, who knows? All I'm saying is this thing is too strong to be your run of the mill mook or even a boss Heartless." Kairi was about to respond when Yuna, ever the voice of reason, interrupted the argument.

"Right now, what it is is irrelevant. We need to either find a way to destroy this thing or run away from it, otherwise we're goners." Kairi agreed with sentiment on principle, but wasn't sure how to go about either of those goals. This thing was utterly relentless and hellbent on killing them – her in particular. They didn't need a plan to save them, they needed a miracle!

"Hey, girls! Up here!"

Standing atop the perimeter wall surrounding the city was a male figure dressed in a dark brown cloak, hood up, which obscured his entire body. A rope ladder had been set at his feet, dangling down the length of the old, weather-worn wall, as he motioned for the quartet to climb up. Kairi scrutinized the situation for a moment. Experience had taught her to be wary of men in hooded cloaks, and she wasn't exactly sure how climbing a dozen feet or so above the ground would help but, as they say, beggars can't be choosers, and she and the girls weren't left with a whole lot of other options. The redhead double-timed it over to the rope ladder, the Gullwings following her lead.

Kairi managed to climb halfway up the wall, Yuna following her with Paine and Rikku scrambling not far behind, when the sound of rumbling earth drew her attention. Just as she had fear, the Mushussu hadn't given up it's pursuit of it's prey, and was zeroing in on them. The Heartless was the hammer and the wall would be the anvil, with them caught between the impact! Summoning her Keyblade, Kairi twisted herself around and fired another salvo of spells, but they did as much as her previous series of attacks. That is to say, nothing. The magic harmlessly bounced off the charging Heartless, as panic truly began to bloom in her heart. They were absolutely done for now! What could they possibly do to stop this thing?

"Don't worry about that thing! Just climb up!" The cloaked man called from above, as if sensing Kairi's distress. Kairi stared up at him like a deer in the headlights, only moving when he rapidly gestured for her, and felt Yuna press her hands against her thighs, both urging her to keep it up.

The roar of the fracturing earth was becoming deafening, as Kairi continued her desperate, seemingly futile climb to the wall, stilling clinging to Destiny's Embrace, for all the good it did her. If she, a Key Bearer, couldn't do anything about this monsters, what could this stranger do?

As Kairi reached the summit of the wall, she barely could hear the stranger speak over the cacophony originating behind her. "Let's see how you like this!" The man withdrew an ethereal orb from his cloak, one that shone with a soft, purpley-pink light.

In an instant, as the man held the orb out at arm's length, as the Heartless was bare inches from slamming into the wall and catching Paine and Rikku in it's jaws, the radiance of the orb exploded outwards, so bright it eclipsed the Arabian sun bathing the city! The four girls averted their eyes from the blast of light, but they felt no further discomfort. Light that bright should be warm, blazing hot, but it wasn't. It was pleasant. Soft and gentle. Like the embrace of an old friend. Kairi especially thought the light was so wonderful and perfect, and it felt incredibly familiar, too.

The Heartless, however, had an entirely different reaction. The moment the barest rays of light touched it's rocky hide, it staggered and thrashed about, writhing away in retreat. But the aura of light only grew, consuming everything in it's path, as the Heartless found no escape. Eventually, the Mushussu buried it's way beneath the earth again, in desperate bid to hide from the brightness. A trail of quakes was left in it's wake, but they grew very dim, very quickly, before stopping all together.

Kairi forced herself to breath, as she and the Gullwings all fell into a heap atop the wall, thankful to escape another brush with death. She looked up at her saviour, the orb he carried having vanished, seemingly expended from the light show. He bent down to examine the four, making sure they hadn't been injured in the chase.

"Who are you?" Kairi managed to get out, through shallow breaths.

"I should be asking you guys the same question." The man returned. "We don't get a lot of visitors in Agrabah looking like you guys. But," he motioned to Destiny's Embrace, lying idly on the ground next to it's wielder, "I know a Keyblade when I see."

The man pulled down his hood, revealing a youthful face with tanned skin, and short black hair. He smiled broadly at the girls, Rikku already swooning at his handsome features "The name's Aladdin. You guys must be friends of Sora's."

-O-SWLTW-O-

Aladdin led Kairi and the others through the city, striding atop the barrier wall and hopping from rooftop to rooftop, towards their original destination, the royal palace. According to him, the regular Heartless only spawned on the ground, and the Heartless wrecking machine known as Mushussu was attracted to the clamour of battle. If you stayed quiet and away from the ground, the serpent would remain beneath the earth.

He was also able to provide plenty of other information, regarding the state of the city. Apparently, since Sora had left, Agrabah had been doing fine. A surge of Heartless – no doubt brought on by the Blackheart Stone – but nothing that couldn't be managed. Then, a few days ago, without warning, this massive Heartless busted through the city walls and began wildly rampaging through the city, intermittently appearing or disappearing into the sands; an unstoppable engine of destruction that had demolished half the city, and was working it's way on the other half.

Also, when Kairi properly introduced herself and the Gullwings, Aladdin's immediate response was "Oh, so you're the Kairi Sora keeps talking about." Kairi was able to contain her embarrassed reaction this time, having grown slightly inured to the fact that Sora talked about her to anyone that would listen. She did smile when Aladdin's face lit up in recognition, though. Even if this habit of Sora's was embarrassing, it was still very sweet.

"We were honestly hoping Sora, Donald, and Goofy would put in an appearance." Aladdin admitted. The royal palace was in sight now, as the group carefully skirted along the edge of a half-wrecked building, before hopping back to the city wall. "We could really use them right about now. I've learned enough from them to handle the smaller Heartless, but that snake thing is something else." Kairi stumbled at the last inch of her jump, barely crossing the gap, clinging to the sandstone while her legs dangled over the edge. Aladdin quickly leaned over to scoop her up. "No offence, but why are you here instead, Kairi?"

"Uh... it's a long story, Aladdin. I'll try and tell you later." She deflected quickly, after standing back up. She was grateful Aladdin had asked this question when they were so close to their destination, so that she could avoid any awkward probing. From her limited time with the street rat turned royal consort, she could tell Aladdin and Sora seemed quite close.

Dashing, handsome heroes that had gone to great lengths to save their Princess. Two peas in a pod, were Sora and Aladdin.

Aladdin had regaled the quartet with stories, even going back to Sora's first quest from last year. It was great to hear and see how much Sora had affected these people, but that made Kairi all the more worried about how people like Aladdin and Jasmine would react when they found out the truth. That their dear friend was in peril because of her weakness and inability.

"But, I have question for you, if you don't mind, Aladdin." Kairi said. It was a straight line from where they were before the perimeter wall of the city branched off and formed the even thicker barricade which protected the palace. "How did you do that back there? Drive off the Heartless with that light?"

"I'll let Jasmine field that one." Was Aladdin's non-answer. "The entire reason we haven't been completely wiped out is thanks to her." That caused Kairi's curiosity to rise even further, but she said nothing, politely waiting as she was bid.

Finally, the group crossed the distance between city proper and palace. As they did, Kairi and the others couldn't help but notice there was something standing between them and the palace. It was almost imperceptible – it would come and go from sight depending on how one looked at it or how and where the sun shone – but there was a thin veil of shimmering light surrounding the area of the palace, the same shade of purple and pink as the orb Aladdin use to drive away the Mushussu. Aladdin passed through the veil without pause or issue, but Kairi stopped to examine the strange aurora. Carefully, she stuck her hand through it, testing it, and finding a very similar sensation as before. The wall felt warm. Comforting. Peaceful. She stared in wonder at the light for a moment, believing she was piecing things together properly, before continuing onward.

Aladdin led them into a lush garden in the middle of the palace grounds, finding the desert flower of Agrabah nervously awaiting his return. Jasmine looked just as she did in Kairi's memory, stunningly beautiful and wise beyond her years. Though her interactions with the other Princesses was brief, Kairi remembered feeling so intimidated by the others. There she was, some Plain Jane ordinary girl from the boonies of the universe and peers with all these kind, wonderful, women who just seemed so... perfect. How could she compare to the likes of Jasmine or Belle? How could she be considered in the grouping as them, when they seemed so far beyond her in all aspects?

Insecurities aside, Jasmine's relief was palpable when she caught sight of Aladdin, though it quickly turned into anger born from her worry.

"I thought you said you wouldn't rush back into the city without a moment's notice? Again." The Princess scolded, earning a nervous smile from her beau.

"I know, I know. It's a bad habit of mine. Blame Sora. He does it all the time." From her position behind Aladdin, Kairi scrunched up her face, being reminded of her friend's sacrificial streak. "But I can't leave any survivors on their own out there. And, besides," Aladdin then stepped aside, revealing Kairi and the Gullwings, "I found some very special guests today."

It took a moment for Jasmine to process the identity of the four apparent strangers. "Wait... it's Kairi, right? We met briefly in that old castle..."

"Yep! That's me!" Kairi nodded and beamed. "It's been some time hasn't it? How've you been, Jasmine?" The Princess grimaced, and only then did Kairi realized what a dumb question it was.

"Discounting the fact that my city is besieged by Heartless... I'm much the same. Though, you've certainly changed quite a bit."

Kairi's smile grew wider and shakier, thankful that Jasmine took no offence from her faux pas. "Yeah. Belle said something similar, too." The redhead then remembered her manners, and the three seasoned adventurers clustered behind her. "Let me introduce you to my companions, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine..." Kairi turned to motion to the Gullwings in turn, only to find a certain impish blonde had vanished. "Uh... where'd you go, Rikku?"

"Right here! In front of you, Red!"

Somehow, without her knowing, Rikku had slipped around Kairi and got in up close and personal with Aladdin and Jasmine. Very up close. With stars in her eyes, Rikku had taken hold of one of Jasmine's hands with both of hers, feverishly shaking them while introducing herself.

"Pleasure to meet you, Princess. I'm Rikku." The Al-Bhed girl said in a far off, dreamy tone. Jasmine seemed very taken aback, trying to back away from the manic blonde while presenting a fake, toothy smile. "Got to say, you and your boyfriend here are gonna make such beautiful babies one day -"

"I'm sorry, what?" Both Jasmine and Aladdin looked aghast.

"-And, I'm just gonna put it out there, if one day you want to add someone who is both a minksy beauty and a certified genius to your harem -"

"My what?"

"-All you have to do is call and I'll keep running!"

"She's seriously doing this now..." Kairi blanched at the display, feeling mortified for both Aladdin and Jasmine.

"We once faced down an apocalypse and Rikku still found the time to flirt." Paine huffed, still shading herself with the black parasol. "Nothing slows her down. If only she applied that tenacity to something that mattered..."

It took a full five minutes to pry Rikku off of their (very gracious and understanding) hosts, and get the topic back on track.

"All that you need to know if we're here to help." Kairi explained, Yuna by her side, while Paine scolded Rikku in the background. The blonde yelped when she clocked over the head by Paine's umbrella, followed by an electric jolt. Kairi slyly smiled, as she palmed the remote control to the Gullwing's shock collars beneath her bell sleeve.

"To save your city, we have to do two things." Yuna followed up, doing her best to ignore the tongue lashing her cousin was receiving. "Destroy that Heartless and then find something called a Blackheart Stone and destroy that, too. That's what's been calling all these Heartless here."

"We'll be happy to help however we can." Returned Aladdin. The youth had seemed bright and hopeful ever since he realized a Keyblade Wielder was on the scene. Such was his faith in Sora and his friends. However, his brightness then dimmed ever so slightly. "But... unfortunately, we're kind of shorthanded at the moment." Kairi and Yuna stared, looking for further explanation, which Jasmine picked up on.

"A few weeks ago, my father, the Sultan, left the city for business abroad. He had taken a liking to Iago recently, and..." Jasmine then shook her head, forgetting herself. "Oh, pardon me. You see, Iago is -"

"Oh, I know. I brushed up on Sora's journal before coming here." Kairi quickly said, assuaging Jasmine's fears of losing their guests. "If I remember right, he's a... talking parrot?" Just saying that aloud felt weird. Kairi figured no matter what she saw or did as a Key Bearer, there would always be stuff that would strike her as odd.

"Right. Very good." Jasmine seemed impressed by Kairi's knowledge. "Anyways, my father has taken a liking to the little pest, so we decided having him tag along would work as a good test of his loyalty." The Princess then frowned and sighed. "Pains me to admit it, but we could really use that buzzard right about now. He would make for an excellent scout." Then, she added in a dark tone, "And bait."

"But, wait, don't you have that friend of yours, Aladdin? The one that can do practically anything?" Kairi snapped her fingers, trying to bring the name to mind. "Uh... Genie! What about Genie? The journal said he just returned to the city." As before, Aladdin's mood darkened slightly. "What?"

"Yeah, Genie did come back right before Sora left, but he only stuck around for a few weeks before leaving again." Aladdin explained, sheepishly scratching at his head while he did so. "He said he had to speak to a guy named... Will Smith? Something about a 'so-so performance hurting his brand'?" Kairi and Yuna looked befuddled at that explanation, while Aladdin could only shake his head. "Yeah, that's about what we did, too. Honestly, I don't understand about half the stuff he says..."

While being bereft of more allies was a stumbling block, Kairi didn't let it deter her too much. Her experiences on San Fransokyo had resolved her to helping others, more now than ever. "That's fine, we can make do with the six of us. But, before we begin," the Key Bearer turned to address Jasmine specifically. "The barrier around the palace. That light Aladdin used to drive off the Heartless... that's you, isn't it?" Jasmine nodded, confirming Kairi's suspicions. It was the Light of a Princess of Heart that was protecting the city. She was, in turn, impressed, jealous, and curious. "How did you do that? That... the Light you have, that we have, I've been trying to learn how to use it myself."

Jasmine turned her head away, the future Sultaness of Agrabah pondering for a moment before answering. "I'm sorry, Kairi, but I really don't know what to say." The Key Bearer drew closer, inquisitively. "I don't know how I've been doing this. All I know is that I wanted to protect the city and it's people, somehow, someway, and that barrier sprung up around the palace. The Heartless can't cross through the barrier, and those orbs destroy the weak ones and drive off the strong but...I can't tell you how I'm doing any of this. I just pray and hope and it becomes a reality." Kairi's eyes fell, hope and curiosity vanishing from her face. "I really wish I could be of more help."

"No, no, it's fine Jasmine..."

In all truth, Kairi was less disappointed about Jasmine unable to help her with learning how to wield her Light. It more had to do with the fact that Jasmine could call upon it so easily and readily, in ways she never fathomed of before. Bursts of light to drive the Heartless away. A shield to protect the citizens. And for how long? Jasmine didn't even seem flushed or the slightest bit tired. One single charge of her Light and Kairi was knocked for a loop. How was Jasmine able to use her powers so effectively and so effortlessly and she couldn't? It was possible the Arabian Princess was some sort of savant, but Kairi figured it more likely that she was just a failure. That something was wrong with her.

Echoing back to their first meeting, Kairi felt incredibly inadequate standing in the presence of another of her fellow Princesses.

"Hey, Kairi. Focus." Snapping back to reality, as Paine took hold of her shoulder and shook her forcibly, Kairi blinked in start, seeing that the two other Gullwings had joined the conversation.

"Is something the matter?" Jasmine asked, looking greatly concerned. Kairi swallowed her feelings and shook her heard, not wanting to push her problems onto others. The Princess' lips parted, bearing her teeth. Not a smile, but more an unsure reaction. "Well, we should get to work then..."

"Rikku, get your radar out. Find the Stone." Paine ordered.

Rikku flippantly waved her friend off. "No need, I scouted it out on the way here. It's just outside the city, about ten miles to the southwest. I think."

"You think?" Paine reiterated

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm not entirely sure which direction, give me a sec here..."

The blonde went to one of her pouches to pull out said radar, Kairi standing to the side as Yuna and Paine clustered around the tinkerer and her to. It looked like things would be wrapped up on Agrabah sooner than later. All they needed to really do was figure out how to damage the Mushussu Heartless. That was good, at least, Kairi thought, though she couldn't shake her dismay and frustration regarding her Light. Those feelings were bad during training, but they had gotten worse now that she had something to actively and accurately compare herself with.

I have to be defective or something... Keyblade Wielder, Princess of Heart. Why do none of these things come with a user manual or something? Kairi scuffed the ground with her boot and growled quietly. Maybe I should just accept I'm never going to be good at this and give up while I'm ahead. Stop struggling up the hill and focus on what I'm good at. Forget that I'm a stupid Princess of Heart.

However, before any further plans could be drawn up, a gout of a shadow flared up to the side of the courtyard, much to the shock of all present. It wasn't a Heartless; if Jasmine's barrier was keeping something like Mushussu out, then nothing should be able to penetrate it. But then that would mean...

"Pardon me for the interruption, but I have urgent business to attend to." The tell-tale black cloak came into view first, heralding another unfamiliar Organization member. Much younger in appearance than any of the other Nobodies so far – he was maybe a few years older than Kairi, physically – the young man carried an old, heavy tome under his arm, and his hair was a dark shade of grey, parted to the right with a massive fringe of bangs overhanging and partly obscuring his face. "I am Zexion, Number VI of Organization XIII, and I've been tasked with eliminating a certain Key Bearer." The Nobody held up his book, letting the covers fall and the pages flip open. "I will not fail in my duty."

Kairi gave this new Organization member a good once over. She didn't recognize him, so he was most likely another Silhouette, meaning he wouldn't be as challenging as someone like Xaldin. That was the working theory, at least. But something else made her feel confident about this clash, and that was... Zexion didn't look all that threatening! Compared to Saix, Xaldin, or Lexaeus, hulking masses of muscle and hatred; monsters in every sense of the word – he was nothing. Axel always had an air of unhinged desperation to him, seeming quite dangerous. And even Luxord presented himself in such a manner that echoed a cool, contract killer or the like. Zexion most reminded Kairi of those kids who sat in the corner of the room for every class and would smoke out back during lunch break.

Surely, the problem child that drew skulls on everything wouldn't give her that much of a challenge?

Kairi and the Gullwings took up fighting stances, Aladdin and Jasmine taking defensive stances, as well. "How did you even get in here?" Yuna questioned, lining the Nobody withing her sights. "How did you get past the barrier?"

"While it is true the Light of a Princess can repel those that carry darkness within their hearts." Zexion mused aloud, while tapping on the left side of his chest with his free hand. "One needs a heart for that to apply. But I didn't come her to answer your questions..." With a snap of his fingers, more pyres of rippling shadow erupted around the garden, identical copies of the Nobody forming from the shades. All together, eight Zexions were now converged in the courtyard!

"The clone trick isn't going to work when you're right in front of us!" Paine said, while both folding her umbrella and shouldering her sword, before breaking out into a full sprint, going right for the first Zexion to appear.

Rikku came running, a step behind the swordswoman, while Kairi was a step behind the blonde, Yuna staying back and holding a protective position near Aladdin and Jasmine. It all seemed so simple and clear cut. Swarm right on top of Zexion and attack with everything while Yuna gave them covering fire. Even if he had the numbers on his side, Kairi felt like her side had the advantage.

Then, without warning, a book struck Paine in the shoulder, the woman vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Both Rikku and Kairi came to a skidding halt, as the tome hovered in air, rapidly flipping through the pages, showing an image of the stunned Gullwing trapped within her paper prison. Kairi turned to see how such an attack could get by Yuna's watchful eye and got her answer, unfortunately. The gunslinger was similarly imprisoned, her illustrated form seemingly pressing against the pages she was trapped on. Two of the Zexion copies hurled their tomes at Aladdin and Jasmine, Kairi forgoing offence and rushing to protect them. The heavy, cursed lexicons somehow nimbly dodged around her Fira and hit their targets, Aladdin shielding Jasmine with his body, which only meant he was sealed away first.

A fifth puff of smoke rippled through the air, Kairi turning in horror to see Rikku in a similar state to her cousin, the drawings of her within the tome capturing her panic and fear. Now Kairi was beginning to feel the pressure from the numbers game, as all of her allies had been stolen away in an instant, leaving her all by herself.

With a wave of his hand, Zexion – the first Zexion – caused the five books trapping her allies to shoot into the air and fly off into the city beyond the palace walls.

"What did you do to them?" Kairi bellowed, holding Destiny's Embrace to bear, all too aware she was surrounded. She needed to have eyes in the back of her head to avoid a similar fate.

"You need not worry, they're just in a state of suspended animation." Zexion explained, uncowed by her anger. "They'll break out soon enough. Though I can't promise the Heartless will be so merciful." The smallest hint of a smirk on the Nobody's lips made Kairi growl. She wanted nothing more than to rush over and beat him down, but she knew one false move and it would be over. She needed to play this cool. "Before we begin, though, I should mention that I am not like my fellow Organization members." Zexion said, almost sounding contrite and apologetic. "I take no pleasure in causing harm or suffering. This is merely business to me." Kairi rolled her eyes harder than she ever had before.

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better." Was her sarcastic reply. Not that she believed it for a second. If your name wasn't Roxas, then you were rotten to the core. That was her philosophy on Nobodies.

Zexion shrugged her banter off, replying with action over words. All together, the eight Nobodies launched their lexicons at the Key Bearer, the eight arcane tomes swarming in on her from all angles. Fortunately, Kairi was prepared and would not be caught flat-footed like her companions. Confidence lacing every motion, she quickly sliced through the one the original Zexion Silhouette threw at her, before pivoting around on her back foot and catching two more with a spinning slash. The remaining five were closing in, too fast for her to swat them all down with just her Keyblade, so she conjured a whirling cyclone centered on herself. The winds scooped up all the tomes and made quick work of them, wicked sharp air blades shredding the books to pieces, loose pages spilling everywhere.

Kairi had won the first clash, feeling confident from the success and ready for the fight. The stakes had quickly ratcheted up and, as before, the onus fell on her. She couldn't falter, too much was riding on her and her victories.

However, despite the triumph in her favour, she noticed something was amiss. She still wasn't charging into direct contact with the Nobody, still cautious, but Zexion hadn't followed up his opening salvo, either. Instead, the Cloaked Schemer and his copies were standing aside, smirking at her, observing her, eight pairs of eerily bright eyes analyzing her every movement and emotion. A nimbus of darkness was slowly building over their forms – were they charging an attack?

At the same time, the eight destroyed tomes were still spilling pages all over the courtyard. Somehow. Despite all logic dictating that they shouldn't. The wrecked books were practically "bleeding" paper, far more than even a book that size could contain, clumping together in piles that were almost as tall as Kairi was.

In panic, Kairi lashed out at one of the stacks of paper, her Keyblade parting through it as if it were made of... well, paper. Dozens of pages were thrown into the air, as multiple piles were somehow disturbed along with the one Kairi attacked. A whirling storm of ink-scribbled paper surged around the girl, obscuring her vision and pinning her down within the center of the area. She tried to press forward and cut her way through the storm, striking with spell and sword, but for each page she destroyed, three more took it's place. The damaged books continued to vomit up pages, ceaselessly.

All the while, the shadows growing from the eight identical Nobodies grew and grew, combining together and arcing up into the sky! The rising shadows formed a dome which covered everything, blotting out all else from Kairi's vision: the city, the sky, the sun, all gone! Zexion and his copies seemed to fade into the gloam, as Kairi's entire world became herself, a never-ending tide of paper, and the sheer blackness around her. Desperation mounting, Kairi furiously tried to attack the slowly vanishing Nobody with her magic, but couldn't get a clear shot through the storm. Even as the paper swirled around her, some of it came together, forming into multiple vaguely humanoid shapes.

"Show yourself, Zexion!" Kairi hollered, trying to vent some of her frustrations. She conjured a circle of flames to revolve around her, burning some of the paper and granting her some breathing room, but it was like taking a handful of sand away from the beach; futile and meaningless despite what you had to show for it. "Here I thought you were going to 'eliminate' me? How you going to do that if you skulk and shout in the shadows?" Taunting the Organization had served her in the past, surely it would work now.

Slowly, the paper stacks around her became more and more defined, folding and smoothing out, with a clearly identifiable humanoid physique.

"Oh, I have my own methods, I can assure you. In fact, you are most unlucky to have drawn me as your executioner." Eight voiced echoed out from the darkness, Zexion cackling at his foe. "I shall bring all of your fears and doubts to bear and destroy you through a nightmare of your own making!"

"This is my fault, Sora. I just wish I was stronger, for both of us..."

Kairi was startled by the sound of her own voice, bringing a few fingers up to her throat, even though she wasn't the one to speak. Not to mention... she had said that exact phrase before. Way back when this all started, when Saix threw her into the darkness after seizing Sora. Fears and doubts... was this phantom darkness playing tricks on her?

"I'm no fighter, no warrior, no hero... I'm useless..."

"Being me isn't good enough..."

As her own doubts and self-loathing was literally repeated to her (in her own voice no less), Kairi looked up at the source, gasping aloud from the sight. The mounds of paper had completed their transformation, turning into simulacrums of herself! A dozen Kairis stood around the Kairi, dead-eyed and emotionless, with the original the target of the doppelgangers' scrutiny.

With flat, hollow voices – regardless if the quotes were delivered with sorrow or rage or uncertainty – the Kairi copies barraged the Key Bearer with words she had once uttered and thought. Words that had always been directed at Kairi and her perceived failings.

"...I'm not anyone's first choice. Hell, I'm the last choice."

"What I am suppose to do if two of Sora's oldest friends died because of me?"

"St-stop it..." Kairi muttered in response to the cold, icy voices of her doubles. The disparaging words that she had used against herself were cutting her to the bone, laying her soul bare and vulnerable. She had moved passed this, hadn't she?

Had she?

"I really screwed up this time, didn't I?"

"Cared only about Sora. About myself. About making myself feel better and absolving my guilt..."

"I'm awful. Simply the worst..."

In vain, Kairi clamped her hands down over her ears, trying to block out the insults and negative words that echoed through the abyss. Her self-directed tirade only grew louder as she did, words of hatred and loathing overpowering her screams and calls for quiet.

"Stop it. Stop it! All of you shut up! I didn't... I didn't..."

"Even that Light... it's only caused other to try to harm me. I hate it... I hate it all, so much..."

"Maybe Sora would be better off without me in his life..."

"My heart is weak and ugly; it's full of sin and contradiction..."

Kairi could help but laugh, as tears formed her eyes. She was going to fight against the onslaught of negativity, say stuff like "It's not true!" or "I didn't mean that!" in counter, but now she realized how futile this all was!

"Weak..."

"Pathetic..."

"Empty..."

"Selfish..."

"Horrible..."

"Helpless damsel..."

"Worthless..."

There were just echoes, after all! Repetition. Regurgitation. Things she had said and thought in the past. Kairi collapsed to her knees, the horrible truth sinking in, as her depressive doppelgangers continued to hammer in how awful a person she was. That was reality, after all. She bore this much self-hatred and loathing and doubt in her heart, never able to shake it no matter what happened, why deny it anymore? Kairi Shiratori was a broken, empty, jealous, pathetic mess of a human being! Never capable of growing stronger or loving herself.

The endless barrage of insults came to a stop, the area growing deathly quiet, as Kairi looked up in horrifying realization. Eyes wide and mouth agape, she looked even more terrified then she did when accepting that truth.

Would she be able of truly loving someone else, if she didn't even love herself?

"Kairi! Help!"

That question quickly fled to the recesses of her mind, as a voice cried out in distress. It wasn't her voice, either, but that of Sora's!

Suddenly, Kairi found herself not within the infinite black expanse of Zexion's darkness, but instead standing on the rooftop of an impossibly designed and absurdly imposing fortress, all rendered in stark, lifeless white. Over on the far end of the platform, opposite Kairi, stood the dark and sinister figure of Xemnas, the Organization's superior, holding someone in his clutches. Not Sora, as she would have thought but... another one of herself.

"Please! You're on the only one who can help! I'm counting on you!" The Kairi kidnapped by Xemnas cried out... in Sora's voice!

Kairi, the original Kairi (she thought she was the original) started at the juxtaposition of the voice and body, and only then did she catch a glimpse of herself, and how wrong that was, too. A masculine body clad in a black jacket and black shorts, with big yellow shoes. She was Sora! Kairi was Sora and Sora was Kairi!

What the hell was going on!?

Regardless, Kairi felt her instincts take over, as she summoned Kingdom Key and rushed over to Xemnas. "Hold on, I'm coming!"

For whatever reason, Kairi moved as if she was trudging through mud, while the distance between her and the Nobody commander continued to stretch on for an eternity. She held a hand out, but Sora only drew further and further away from her grasp with every heartbeat.

"You're too late to save the Princess, hero!" Xemnas boomed out. "What's done is done!"

All of a sudden, reality folded in on it's self, and Kairi was launched towards her foe and her friend, stumbling to her feet. A crackling blade of light formed in Xemnas' hand, before it ripped right into Sora's body! A pair of sickening screams echoed through the night, as a wave of blood splashed across Kairi's face.

In slow motion, the body of Sora, or Kairi, or Sorairi fell to the ground, changing appearances as it did. Kairi's felt her own body shift and change, too, as she fell to her knees, clawing at her face and wailing in grief.

She became like Roxas, as Sora turned into an unfamiliar blonde girl, white dress stained with life blood. Then, Sora turned into Roxas, or rather, a boy that looked almost identical to Roxas, while Kairi felt herself assume the form Aqua. She stayed like that while Sora took on the likeness of a muscular man with brown hair, and then into an older man with scars and the trappings of a samurai. Kairi became like Riku, while Sora returned to his normal state.

"You... how could you let this happen...?" Sora asked, with his face and voice, while a literal tide of fell black blood poured from his body. Viscous, sticky liquid rose up to Kairi's knees, as the girl became an ever-shifting amalgam of all these different people. "I trusted you and you failed... You failed! I hate you Kairi!" Those words felt like a knife right to the heart, as Kairi staggered backwards. Despite his injuries, Sora stood up, glaring at Kairi with the utmost hate and malice, as rivers of black ichor oozed out from his eyes, his mouth, and ears.

"Hate you! Hate you! Hate!" Sora's voice distorted into a demonic warble, Kairi backing away from the boy she called her best friend. The boy she thought she loved. The ocean of blood churned and writhed, as Sora was dragged down beneath it, vanishing from sight, an infinite babble of "Hatehatehatehatehatehate" bubbling from the dark waters.

"Hey, Riku! Wait up!"

Again, Sora's voice echoed in the distance, Kairi wildly thrashing in the blood, unsure is she wanted to go towards the voice, or run away from it. At the very least, it sounded like a younger Sora. From right before they left the Islands a year ago...

Despite her wild, directionless flailings, the redhead soon caught sight of the boy, of fourteen year old Sora, and was instantly drawn, feeling her space warp again, pulling her close. Sora was chasing after Riku on the beach, as he was so want to do. How many times had Kairi witnessed a scene like this?

"What's the matter, Sora?" Riku asked, turning to face his friend.

"Well, I was just thinking..." Sora huffed, as he caught is breath. "Was it always just the two of us? I could have sworn there was someone else we always had another person with us."

Kairi took a step forward, but found herself anchored in place by something. She called out to her two friends, but they just ignored her and continued their conversation.

"Well, yeah, there was that girl, but we left her behind a long time ago, remember?" Came Riku's answer, as Sora considered it for a moment.

"Sora! Riku! Please!" Kairi called out from the water. Another chain snaked out from beneath the surf, latching onto her wrists. She tried to push forward, but the chains held taut and tight.

"Oh, yeah, that's right!" Sora exclaimed. "I remember now. There was some girl always around us, but she was pretty terrible. Couldn't do anything right and was always making life more difficult for us."

"Yep. That's about it." Riku said with a cold laugh. "She was always chasing us, always holding us back, and we got tired of waiting around for her to catch up, so we ditched her!"

"It's better with the two of us anyways. Who needs some stupid girl messing things up anyways?"

"Please! PLEASE! Sora, wait up!" More chains ensnared Kairi, as she continued to cry out towards the two boys. But they either didn't hear her or choose to ignore her, before continuing to run down the beach. Abandoning her. Leaving her behind. Forgetting all about her. Again. Again...

But, maybe they were right? Maybe she did just make things worse for everyone? Who really needed her?

Kairi stopped fighting back against the chains, slumping down in defeat. The moment she did, the chains snapped back, dragging her beneath the dark waters.

Dragged into the deep abyss, Kairi struggled, foolishly opening her mouth for air and getting a mouthful of thick, tar-like glop for her struggles. All light ceased to exist within this black ocean, save for her reflection staring down at her. Kairi reached an arm upwards to herself, futilely asking for help, while her reflection did the same, reaching down, before her reflection took on the image of Aqua. The appearance of the lost Key Bearer made Kairi struggle more, taking in more black blood, extending her hand even further, but the distance between her Aqua only increased, as she was pulled into the shadows.

Then, the reflection changed again, Aqua turning into the blonde girl in the white dress. She did not extend hand to Kairi, even as she tried to reach for the stranger, desperate as she was. Eventually, a figure in a black cloaked appeared from beyond and spirited the blonde away, the last bit of light expiring, as Kairi was towed even further down, to impossible depths, before breaching...something.

Despite being pulled downward, Kairi broke the surface, disoriented and confused. She gasped for breath, despite not needing it. She shivered, despite being warm and dry. She thrashed about some more, despite now lying on solid ground. It took several minutes for the girl to gather her composure and her bearings, rising up on shaking legs. She found herself back in the infinite abyss Zexion and his clones had conjured, the only other things in the endless expanse being an uncomfortably familiar jail cell that housed a single prisoner.

Herself. Another iteration of Kairi lay beyond the bars, patiently waiting on the bed, a vapid smile painted on her lips.

"W-what is this...?" Kairi was beyond sick of whatever the hell was happening. These... visions? Illusions? She felt physically ill and mentally drained, now feeling she would have preferred if Zexion was some sort of savage brute. Where was the Nobody anyways? What was he to gain from all of this?

' I shall bring all of your fears and doubts to bear and destroy you through a nightmare of your own making' is what he said... All of this, he's drawn from my heart. My fears and hatred and... everything. He's turning my heart against me...

Kairi tried to reassure herself that such an act was a fool's errand. That her heart was her greatest strength, no way would she let it destroy her. But the resolution fell flat, as anxiety bubbled in the pit of her stomach, still facing down her latest identical twin.

"What are you doing?" She finally asked, as the copy just continued to stare on, blankly and neutrally. She looked less like a person and more like a porcelain doll. Was that how Kairi appeared to others, too?

"Oh me? I'm just waiting for Sora to show up and save me. Like he always does." The other Kairi spoke with a sickeningly sweet, high-pitched voice. Sweet and soft, to be sure, but grating. And oddly hollow. Her words having no emotion or weight to them.

Kairi, the real Kairi (she thought, she hoped) shook her head, not understanding. "Why are you just waiting? Why don't you do something to help him? So that the burden doesn't just fall on Sora?"

The other Kairi giggled insipidly. "Now, why would I do that, silly?" She asked, while holding a finger to her cheek. Despite the cutesy act, her expression remained artificial and vacant. "I'm just a girl, girl's aren't suppose to fight or do anything on their own. I'm a damsel, will always be a damsel, so I should just accept it and stop fighting. That's the way it is! That's the way the story goes."

Kairi shuddered at such sexist drivel coming out of, what was for all purposes, her mouth. Was this more ugly truth coming from the depths of her heart? Did she think like this?

"So I'll continue to wait for my hero to save me, like a good little Princess." The other Kairi continued. "And Sora will come. He always does. No matter what. He'll go to any lengths to save me, and I don't have to lift a finger! Sure, some people might hate me for that. For using and abusing such a wonderful person. They'll call me 'weak' and 'useless' but Sora never will. Sora will always love me and always save me."

"But what if he hurts himself doing that?" Kairi questioned, choking back emotion and anxiousness as she spoke, slowly approaching the bars. "What if he does something rash and others get hurt because of him? Wouldn't you feel awful knowing that happened because you decided to sit back and do nothing?" The other Kairi kept her finger on her chin and hummed in thought for a moment.

"Hmm... nope!" She giggled again, which caused Kairi's eye to twitch in aggravation at the sound. "That doesn't matter to me! All that matters is that Sora comes to my rescue, again and again and again." Finally, a bit of emotion shone in the other's eyes. But it wasn't joy or pride or even sadness or regret. Purple-blue eyes grew wide and distant, feverishly crazed, as the other Kairi gained an air of utter madness. "I'm his light, after all. He covets that light because it makes him feel special. He'll keep on chasing me, even to the ends of the earth, no matter what happens to him! To anyone else! Ooh! Do you think he'd sacrifice a whole world for my sake? Kill his friends? Kill himself?" Kairi's jaw fell in horror at the nonsense she was hearing. "Oh, what a brave and noble hero Sora is, isn't he? Isn't our love so perfect and beautiful and true!?"

"No. No!" Kairi yelled back. This entire time, her other retained the same, neutral blank expression on her face and body, but her eyes... her eyes! They were deranged and greedy and lustful; dark and hateful pools of blackness that dragged everyone else to their doom! "That isn't brave or noble! That isn't love! It's awful, you're awful!"

"We're awful!" The other corrected. "We're awful because we keep dragging all the people around us into pain and suffering, and no one even realizes it! They keep throwing themselves at our feet, all for the sake of the light. Destroying themselves because of us, isn't it wonderful!?"

"No... no... stop talking..."

"Even Sora, even Sora!" For a third time, the other giggled, causing Kairi to gnash her teeth. "He'll eventually push himself to far for our sake and end up broken. Poor boy. Poor little toy!"

"Shut..."

"But that's okay! I'll find another hero. Someone else to always save the poor, hopeless damsel from the peril she finds herself in. I'll find another one, and never have to lift a finger for myself again!"

"Shut up..."

"Roxas or Riku or someone else! And they'll break too. Keep destroying themselves for my sake. All those bodies, piled at my feet. All those lives, wasted on me." Other Kairi shrugged. "Oh well. Nothing a weak little Princess like me can do about it, anyways!"

"Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!"

Kairi spat with more venom and hatred then she ever had mustered in her life before, Destiny's Embrace answering it's master's call. She threw her Keyblade at herself, whizzing through the gap in the bars, and the weapon struck true.

All of reality shattered like glass, with Kairi suddenly finding herself right back where she was swallowed by the darkness, the courtyard in Agrabah. The transition from cold, empty abyss to scorching hot desert sun caused her to feel woozy and stagger. Or maybe that the emotional exhaustion. She panted, furiously.

Standing before her were the eight Zexions, with the one standing front and center, holding his book up. It now had a title, written in elegant golden script.

"The Heart of Princess Kairi Ralleone".

"And now that you have seen the darkest depths of your heart, so have I seen all of your precious memories." The Nobody pronounced, as his copies blinked away, one by one. "Let us begin part two."

Kairi lashed out, but a second too late, as Zexion warped away as well, leaving the drained and weary redhead alone in the garden. Cursing under her breath and tired of the subterfuge and illusions and cloak and dagger, the Key Bearer whipped about in every direction, trying to get a sense of where Zexion had vanished to. Where he was going to strike from next?

"Seriously? Running away again?" Kairi fumed and vented. She felt it was necessary, even if Zexion proved immune to her provocations. If she didn't direct her anger outward, it might just turn towards herself again. "Here I thought your Nobodies at least had a big enough pair of balls to face me head on, but you're really going to hide in the shadows the whole time, aren't you? Huh? Just like the spineless coward you are!"

Kairi's voice bounced off the high walls of the palace grounds, but otherwise the area was silent and still. Just her and her Keyblade and her simmering loathing and hatred. Bile and venom roiled in her stomach, as that sickly feeling began to rise up once more.

Catching herself, Kairi inhaled deeply, trying to center herself. Frustrated as she was, confused and exhausted as the trip through the illusory world left her, this was doing her no good. If Zexion wasn't going to come out and fight, then fine, she could spend her energy on more productive things. Jasmine and Aladdin and the Gullwings were in danger and could most certainly use a helping hand. The safety of others and the worlds came before her own personal feelings.

Kairi turned to leave the palace and head back into the city proper.

"Kairi, what are you doing here?"

Just as fast, she came to a skidding halt. Kairi almost tripped over her own feet at the sound of Selphie's voice.

---

Be honest with me, everyone. One, am I too subtle with my shots against Kingdom Hearts III. And two, it's not too late to make a "Will Smith as the Genie" joke is it? I didn't miss that ship, did I?

So, let's move on to the elephant in the room. I did come up with this concept of Axel and Saix being involved with the death of Kairi's birth family, but I was hesitant to include it in a proper story because it might be just a bit too far and radical. In the end, I did bite the bullet on my darkest headcanon, but I wanted to at least frame it in a way that didn't make Axel seem wholly monstrous. Much as I don't like Axel, I also don't want to paint him with a broad brush and just cast him into out and out villainy. So, I wanted to portray him as reluctant in this. He's an accomplice, and accessory, but not an active participant. Because I see Axel as being a coward and an opportunist, someone who never sticks his neck out for anyone unless something is in it for him. Even if he didn't want to kill Kairi's parents, even if he knew it was wrong, he lacked the moral courage and will to actually do anything about. Sound off on this portrayal and what you think of it. I'm curious as to everyone's reactions here.

A minor theme running through this chapter is "people without Keyblades can still do stuff, too, guys". I understand the franchise revolves around the Keyblade and it's wielders are the central characters, but it feels as things progress, non-Key Bearers become more and more marginalized. Aladdin and Jasmine have enough skill and experience to handle some Heartless. The Final Fantasy characters can deal with the MCP. The latter is especially damning, seeing as how the FF characters clearly have had arcs and are on a level of skill and power similar to their home games. And, hey, I was a Final Fantasy fan before I was a Kingdom Hearts fan. I have a lot of fondness for these characters. I want them to be more than just window dressing. Or, you know, being pointedly excluded from the biggest game in the franchise only to be sold back to us at a premium cost.

Zexion's power set provides a lot of opportunities for unique encounters. I was very excited with what I could do for Kairi's "acid trip" scene, and I hope it was executed well. Chaotic and trippy and maybe just a bit confusion. It's honestly a total 180 compared to Luxord, where I played down the time powers because I wasn't sure I could make thread the needle of not overpowered but also utilized by the character properly. And there's plenty more chicanery and trickery to come in the following chapter.

As always, feel free to drop a review or comment on this chapter. What you liked and what you didn't. Constructive feedback is always welcomed, so don't be shy.

Until next time, let the light guide your path forward.