The Time Break Saga 3D: Asleep at Dawn

by The Unplanner

Organization XIII was defeated, Kingdom Hearts was destroyed, and the Time Breaks are all closed, but it's too early to celebrate. Unfortunately, it's also to early to send the newest Keyblade wielders off to war. Can Kairi, Lambda, and Xion stop tripping over each other's weapons in time to stop the Keyblade War?

13. Wake-Up Call

Asleep at Dawn

Chapter 13: Wake-Up Call

-"All of the Pieces Are Destined to Appear."-

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A/N: We interrupt your regularly scheduled Training World to bring you a special announcement...

Remember, X-Blade equals χ-Blade.

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[Realm of Light] Mysterious Tower: Changing Room...

Kairi exited the magic bubble and immediately noticed that Roxas was there in the room with her, staring intently at the bubble. "Roxas, what's going on?"

Roxas grimaced. "If you guessed 'Sora's in trouble,' you're right. I would've set off to help, too, but Merlin convinced me not to go without Xion. Wouldn't want to push the distance too far for my Observation."

"But...weren't we in different worlds pretty much the whole time we've been training?" Xion asked as she stepped out of the bubble and leaned against a wardrobe.

Roxas shrugged. "Yes, but if you think about it, all those worlds fit into Yen Sid's dressing room. Anyway, once everyone's gathered, we're off to The World That Never Was. That's where Xehanort and his time-traveling selves have taken Sora."

"And here I thought I wouldn't have to RTC ever again..." Lea shrugged as he gave the bubble some extra room.

"Quick question, Merlin," Hazama addressed the old wizard (who was definitely still in the room, along with the Three Good Fairies), "what happens to the Training Worlds if we leave them alone for a while? I love the Beam Knives, by the way; such a thoughtful gift."

Merlin preened his beard for a bit at the compliment, then answered the question. "Oh, yes, no need to worry. As soon as Lambda arrives... Shazammity!" Lambda had barely stumbled out of the bubble when Merlin's off-the-cuff spell caused it to shrink down into a much more manageable form: a thick leather-bound book with a gold bookmark sticking out of it. "There - your progress has been recorded. Simply open the 'Book of Training' and back up a bit, and the Training Worlds will be recreated just as you left them. Of course, you'll want to do that with an esteemed wizard such as myself around to maintain them; just drop by my house in Radiant Garden anytime you want to use this book!" Merlin abruptly vanished in a poof of magic smoke, taking the Book of Training with him.

"Ah, good to know," Hazama replied as though Merlin was still here, then tilted his head toward Lambda. "Another thing that would be good to know: did you cut me loose from the Observation at the same time as Terumi and Roxas?"

Lambda nodded. "Well, of course. Why would I hold onto that hefty load on my Observation capacity when the more likely threat has to be let go anyway?"

Hazama grinned. "Good to know, indeed."

"Another thing that would be good to know," Lea piped up, "is how we're going to reach Sora without Merlin here to teleport us. I mean, I can still use Dark Corridors, but it's...iffy."

"I can make the trip a little easier with a Gate Between," Lambda replied, summoning Elysium and pointing it where the Training Worlds used to be. "Let's go before consulting Yen Sid. If Xehanort knew enough to catch Sora in the middle of his test, he must be watching this place. But given his tactics before...I bet he's not watching Kairi."

"So you're saying being kidnapped so many times might actually pay off?" Kairi arched an eyebrow. "Here, let me try that Gate Between thing from the book." Kairi summoned Destiny's Embrace and fired a beam where Lambda was pointing. A white-edged purple portal showed up in the middle of the room. "Yes, it worked! Everyone through - and bundle up; it's going to be a little Dark in there. My new outfit works for that already, thankfully." She pulled up her hood, letting the black kitty ears on it stick up.

"Black Coats, check!" Lea, Roxas, Lambda, and Xion replied at the same time. All except Lea summoned their Coats over their other outfits to punctuate the statement, and each pulled up their hoods.

"Heh, featherweights." Hazama strode through the portal without needing any extra protection, and the rest followed suit.

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[The Realm Between] The World That Never Was: Round Room...

The group appeared right in the middle of the Organization's meeting room, surrounded by its thirteen thrones. Eleven of the thrones were occupied by Black Coated individuals; three had their hoods off, revealing Ansem (the Seeker of Darkness), Xemnas, and Xigbar - none of whom should have existed in the here and now. The lowest throne held Sora, a year younger than his present age and wearing a red-and-black version of his clothes with a big white X across the shirt, and the highest throne only held an indistinct cloud of Darkness that seemed to have been frozen in time while gathering together to form...something.

Lambda scanned the room. "Scanning...advanced time magic 'Stopza' in effect. The caster must be an ally, or we'd be stopped, too. As for these guys - wait a minute..." She scanned them twice to make sure her readings were correct, and they were. "Half of them are new, blank Replicas! Xehanort must have been trying to bluff someone. Additional readings; Riku and one SS-tier enemy are here, but out of phase with space-time; I hope Riku's okay. That's a pretty advanced trick he's trapped in, and I doubt we can reach him until his fight is over. Lastly, Mickey is lying unconscious over there." She gestured to the side of the podium. "It looks like we still have a shot to totally mess up Xehanort's scheme. Let's get Sora out of here!"

Lea hefted Sora and Mickey like sacks of flower and dragged them back through the Gate Between, which then timed out and vanished behind him. His voice lingered after the portal disappeared. "What am I, the group's designated kid-hauler?"

Lambda smirked. "Now, it's time for some fun. The Stopza effect will time out in thirty seconds. New Option design finalized. Holo Option!" An Option that looked like Zexion's weaponized Lexicon appeared over Lambda's shoulder, hovered over to Sora's vacated throne, and created an intangible hologram of the unconscious Sora to make it look like he was still sitting there.

Kairi called out, "Everyone hide!" They hid behind various thrones just in time for Riku to appear on the podium with an oddly jerky effect. Riku looked a year younger, too, and he had an interesting symbol on the back of his white vest that reminded Lambda of the Heartless and Nobody Emblems. A quick scan revealed that Riku himself was currently a "Spirit," the nicer category of Dream Eater. How fitting, for the one DiZ said was destined to protect the sleeping Sora behind him.

"Mickey! Where are you?" The time-distorting sphere engulfing the room finally wavered and vanished, prompting Riku to glare up at the tallest throne. "You must be...Master Xehanort!"

The throne was now occupied by an old, old man with Xehanort's distinct tan skin, yellow eyes, and silver hair - although the only hair left on his head was a sparse goatee. "Indeeeeed. All of this was decided. My twelve selves would welcome me here on this day, when I would return a complete person. It is the future which lies beyond my sight."

"Then why are you so confident? What are you even after?" Riku demanded.

Xehanort smirked his smug-est smirk and wound up for a long spiel. "Just as I always have, I seek the resolution to the oldest legend in the World: that of the Keyblade War! In ancient times, people believed Light was a gift from an unseen land by the name of Kingdom Hearts. Many sought to find that place and control its immense power, but Kingdom Hearts was safeguarded by its counterpart, the X-Blade. People forged many Keyblades in its likeness and fought each other, all hoping to acquire that one, ultimate key. Thus was Darkness first born in the hearts of people, and that Darkness swallowed the World. On that barren soil, Darkness prevailed, and Light expired. This much, at least, you have already heard.

"The violent clash that came to be known as the Keyblade War shattered the X-Blade into twenty pieces: seven of Light, and thirteen of Darkness. No one knows what happened to the original Darknesses, but the Light that remained was sheltered in the hearts of the first Seven Princesses of Heart, and from them, the World we know today was reborn as just one of many tiny worlds, forever isolated from each other. But the legend does not end there. In fact, the next page of the Book of Prophecies that revealed all of this to me is simply blank! I must know the next chapter of the destiny that awaits us all, for it has already led me perfectly to this very moment! To that end, I seek to gather seven pure Lights and thirteen pure Darknesses, re-enact the Keyblade War, reforge the X-Blade, and finally open the Door to Kingdom Hearts, which has stood sealed since time began! Then, at last, I will truly know all that there is to know."

Riku took a moment to wade through the exposition, then narrowed his eyes. "...Okay. Let's say you really have been trying to gather seven Lights and thirteen Darknesses all along, including during all those other plans you or your fragments have tried. That would explain why Maleficent was trying to find the Princesses of Heart, but I bet you'd be just fine if my friends and I took up Keyblades to fight you now...because this new Organization XIII you've recruited must be your thirteen Darknesses. The old group must have been meant for that, too, but you failed. Sora stopped you at every turn."

Xehanort nodded slowly. "Perceptive...you have learned much at Maleficent's foot, I see. Then you know that even if you wish to avoid a Keyblade War, my Organization will still seek out the Princesses of Heart and claim their hearts, forging the X-Blade unopposed. Choose to guard the Princesses, and we will have you, the Guardians of Light, as the Lights we need. The destined time will come, be it fast or slow."

The old Keyblade Master stood from his chair and summoned an ominous gray and black Keyblade, designed more like an axe than a key, with a familiar blue demonic eye set in the tip of the blade. Hiding behind a throne, Lambda's scan labeled it the Gazing Eye. Xehanort proclaimed, "But first, the thirteen Darknesses must be united! All of the thrones have been filled...and now, the thirteenth vessel shall bear my heart like the rest!" With a flick of his hand, he caused the throne behind Riku to rise up to the level of his own.

Riku watched as Sora's sleeping body was pulled up out of his reach, and realized Xehanort's intentions. He summoned his own Keyblade, Way to Dawn, and tried to leap straight up to the chair.

Ansem, who had been merely watching this entire conversation, suddenly flash-stepped into Riku's path, grabbed his head, and slammed him back to the ground. Xemnas also made himself ready to move, but his golden eyes flicked around in confusion, expecting another attempt to rescue Sora that hadn't happened.

"No! Sora! Rrgh!" Try as he might, Riku couldn't get away from Ansem's grip.

"Heh heh heh..." With an evil chuckle, Xehanort weaved his fingers over his Keyblade in arcane patterns, then pointed it straight at the X over Sora's heart. From the tip of his Keyblade fired something that looked like a freed heart: a fragment of Xehanort's own heart, containing just enough willpower to cement his control over the weakened and sleeping heart of Sora.

The heart fragment streaked unimpeded across the room...only to pass right through Sora and splash against the back of the throne, disappearing into nothingness. "What?! Impossible!"

The hologram of Sora flickered and vanished, revealing the Holo Option, which also disappeared in a flash of light. Lambda stepped out from behind one of the blank Replicas' thrones. "Ha! Made you look, Xehanort! Was that in your so-called Book of Prophecies?"

Riku's relief was plain on his face as he realized what had happened. As confusing as it was that Lambda apparently had Zexion's weapon now, it was clear that the odds of this fight had been in their favor from the start. On that note, he dismissed Way to Dawn briefly, re-summoned it in a reverse grip in his other hand, and slashed at Ansem to force the Heartless to back off. "I have no idea what's going on, but am I glad to see you, Lambda! You're just in time!"

"Just far enough ahead of time, actually," Kairi corrected him. "It's good to see you again, Riku. Don't worry, our new friend took Sora and Mickey to safety."

"That 'new friend' is Lea, by the way, but you and I know him better as Axel," Roxas mentioned as he also revealed himself.

"Ta-daah!" Xion jumped out from behind another throne, wearing a T-Shirt that read, "Team Kairi: 1, New Organization XIII: 0". Her Impact hammer appeared and flew at Xemnas, who was just about to start moving. The hammer swung at his head and forced him to defend himself with an energy wall rather than try to attack the newcomers.

Hazama moonwalked out from behind yet another throne. So many easy hiding places in this room... "Well, I'll be damned! If Lea could've made it back in time, we'd actually have you crusty old shits outnumbered."

Riku started, "Hazama?! But wait, there are twelve of..."

"Only six," Lambda interrupted. "I would have liked to take one of these blank Replicas, too, but we've lost the element of surprise."

Roxas pointed Oathkeeper at the top throne. "So, are you going to try and fight us right here and now, Xehanort? It would be ruin that plan of yours if anyone were to die here. Or do you want to quit while you're behind, let us go, and finish actually uniting your Darknesses?"

Xigbar slammed his hands on his throne's armrests. "Grr...You've really done it now, you old coot! Now we're out of time, there are too many of them to handle, and if we don't get out of here now, the whole plan's screwed!"

Xehanort grit his teeth, but finally nodded and sat back down. "...Indeeeeed. We will retreat for now. But make no mistake - all of the pieces are destined to appear: your seven Lights, and my thirteen Darknesses. Let us finish this at the fated place...the Keyblade Graveyard!"

Xigbar smirked. "Yeah, that'll do. Go ahead and ask your King where that is, kiddos; I fought him there once upon a time. Be good boys and girls, now!"

With sinister chuckles all around, the new Organization XIII vanished from the present time altogether.

"...Phew." Riku wiped some sweat from his brow; he'd gone into that mess way more tense than he ended up needing to be. "Now can someone please tell me what the heck just happened?!"

"It'll probably be better to bring the discussion back to Yen Sid's tower," Kairi replied, creating another Gate Between. "Great work, everyone! Yes, even those of us who only got to taunt them." She led the way back to the Mysterious Tower.

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[Realm of Light] The Mysterious Tower: Sorcerer's Loft...

Yen Sid stood up as a Gate Between opened in front of him and everyone filed through. "Ah, it is good you have returned. Lambda, Xion, Kairi, Lea, Hazama, and Namine...or perhaps you prefer to be collectively called Team Kairi? I must sincerely congratulate you. You have snatched Sora back from Xehanort's clutches, forestalled the coming Darkness, and returned to us safe and sound. However, there is still the problem that Sora has fallen into a deep slumber...one from which he could not normally wake."

Kairi gazed longingly at Sora, who was slumped against the wall next to Yen Sid's crescent-shaped window. (He had spontaneously returned to his normal age and outfit when he left The World That Never Was.) "Then...how can we help him?"

"You? You cannot. You lack a specific power that is needed." Seeing Kairi start to tear up, Yen Sid continued, "However, Riku does have this power - the Power of Waking. By unlocking the seven Sleeping Keyholes in the Realm of Sleep, he has surely gained the power to awaken a heart from its slumber."

Riku (who was also older again now that he'd come back to the tower; perhaps The World That Never Was had been dipped into the Realm of Sleep for Xehanort's plan?) started to object, but then blinked and came up short. "Sure, except how do I actually - never mind, I guess I do know how."

Mickey, who had awoken earlier and been too flabbergasted at the diverse crowd in the room to speak up, did so now. "But Riku, Sora's heart is down in the darkest abyss! If you dive in after him, you might not come back out!"

Riku shook his head. "I know, but this is something I have to do. Right before that young version of Xehanort took Sora away...he called out to me for help. And besides, just look at him! I told him to take care of Kairi, and this is the second time he's ended up sleeping on the job!" He grinned playfully. "You see, it's my job to keep him on his toes."

"I'll go with you!" Mickey offered. "I took this test way back in the day, when Master Yen Sid wanted to learn if it was possible. I...think I remember how to use the Power of Waking."

Yen Sid slowly shook his head. "And perhaps you still can, Mickey, but you must admit Riku stands the better chance."

"Even so," Lambda piped up, "I wouldn't let you go it alone again right after we finally met up! Take this with you, so the rest of us can at least cheer you on. Comms Option!" She summoned her movie projector Option and set it to hover behind Riku's back.

"What's this? And...why are your eyes purple?" Riku asked, turning around and watching the Option doggedly follow his movements.

"It's my new Drive ability: 'Option'. Now I can make flying drones like this, with as much variety as I can dream up, like that Holo Option from before. I'll run you through the list later. As for my eyes...it's a long story, but I'll tell you as soon as we have time."

Kairi added, "And here...a little insurance from my own newfound Drive. I'm having trouble coming up with a name for it, though. 'RE: Fill', maybe?" She extended her hand toward Riku and surrounded him briefly with a glowing pink aura of Light Armor, which sank into his skin and made him want to stand a little taller. "There you go - a little Light to protect you in the Darkness. Take it to Sora, okay?"

"Okay, Kairi. I promise I'll bring Sora back, safe and sound!" With that, Riku summoned his Keyblade and held it out in front of him. A round, pink object appeared between him and Sora; it looked like a sphere of glass covered in uniformly placed spikes. Riku closed his eyes and dissolved into Light, which trickled into the newly-created Portal and vanished into Sora's heart. Riku's final test had begun.

"Comms Option! Setting up the video feed...confirmed!" Lambda summoned a second copy of the Comms Option. The projector spun up and shone a flat screen on the wall. Yen Sid waved his hands and dimmed the ambient light in the room to make it easier to see the action unfold.

"I've never wished harder that I could summon popcorn," Hazama remarked as everyone settled onto the floor to watch.

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Dive to the Heart: Tag 30 Soras!

The screen showed Riku (in his Spirit form) free-falling into an abyss of cloudy Darkness, streaking past floating stained-glass images of memories from Sora's adventures. As he fell, he passed dozens of clones of Sora floating in midair. All the outfits Sora had worn on his adventures were represented among the clones. Riku angled his fall to collide with as many as he could.

Suddenly, a Sora made entirely of pitch-black Darkness appeared. the Anti-Sora's glowing yellow eye-spots focused on Riku, and it extended an X shape formed of dark lightning to block the diver's path. Riku rolled in midair to gracefully dodge the obstruction, then lunged Keyblade-first through the Anti-Sora, defeating it. He then went back to gathering normal Sora clones at a leisurely pace.

Hazama had just started to yawn at the unfortunately slow-paced action when one of the collected Soras caused a reaction further down: a glowing ring of Light stretched across Riku's path, and he fell right in, completing the Dive and touching down inside Sora's heart.

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Station of Awakening...?

Riku thought he'd end up on a stained-glass pillar - wasn't that how a Dive to the Heart would normally work? But the place he ended up was just a slimy, black pit of Darkness, walled in by more, equally slimy Darkness. "Did I make it? W-whoa!" The Darkness under his feet suddenly swelled up, prompting Riku to jump backwards. From the bulge, a figure covered in the black ooze emerged.

The Darkness slowly sloughed off the newcomer's form, but it wasn't very recognizable afterward. All Riku could see was a fully covering suit of menacing black armor, wielding a pitch-black version of the Kingdom Key in an odd reverse grip. Right over the armor's face-concealing visor, an emblem Riku had grown quite familiar with was stamped. This thing was an evil Dream Eater: a Nightmare.

Mickey, watching on Lambda's screen, mused, "A Keyblade held in a reverse grip, and that armor...it's got to be Ven!"

"Ven?!" Lea exclaimed. "I met him once; the guy who looks just like Roxas. THAT'S where he went?!"

Namine realized, "So he's the other heart inside Sora - the sleeping one even I couldn't fully read."

"Scanning...target identified as...Sora? Adjusting...oh, it's just the armor that's been corrupted. Target ID: Armored Ventus Nightmare. Threat level: S. Speed: S. Physical and magical attack power: A. Defenses: A. Riku, you have to break through that armor to save Sora!"

"Lambda? You can talk to me through this thing? Well, okay, here goes nothing." Riku readied his Keyblade, and the battle began.

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Defeat the Armored Ventus Nightmare!

Immediately, the AVN sank into the Darkness again. Riku tracked the bulge it created on the floor, but keeping an eye on a small black blob on an equally-black background was tough. He managed to head off its movement and be there when it arose, putting up a Dark Barrier around himself to block the sneak attack it was clearly going to try. However, the three dark globs that rose up with the Nightmare went right through Riku's barrier and knocked him into the gloopy wall. "Ghh-! Take this!" Riku charged forward with a diagonal spin attack coated with Darkness, which did as little damage as he expected, but the followup spin charged with Light definitely hit hard.

"I can't fight you with Darkness, huh? Well, that's fine. Voltico, let's go!" Riku summoned one of his Dream Eater companions: an Electricorn, which was exactly the electricity-themed unicorn one would expect. The Spirit immediately dissolved into a ball of oddly bright Darkness that fused with Riku, empowering him with greater speed and an electric charge over his Keyblade. He proceeded to clash with the eerie armor at lightning speed. Lambda's Option did its best to keep a view of the action, but she had to give up and settle for hovering it over to the side of the arena.

The next time the Armored Ventus Nightmare plunged into the Darkness, it didn't move or come up right away. The black walls and floor turned stark white, though everything was still coated in disgusting slime. Purple blobs of Darkness rose up all over the arena, prompting Riku to dodge like mad. His Link Style timed out, slowing his movements back to normal, but he compensated with a dodge move his peanut gallery had never seen before, briefly turning himself into a bolt of Darkness and zipping forward. By keeping up these Dark Rolls and quickly changing directions, he evaded all the swooping globs. Voltico wasn't so lucky, though, and Riku swapped it out for another Spirit before it could be broken down into Dream Pieces. "Bat-Bat, tag in! Let's finish this like we started it!" A colorful, bat-like Komory Bat appeared in Voltico's place.

Out in the audience, Roxas chuckled, "He named it 'Bat-Bat'?"

"Ribbiteus and Kraygon, you too!" A short, froggy, yet highly dangerous Lord Kyroo and a large, winged, equally dangerous Ryu Dragon joined Bat-Bat at Riku's side. Meanwhile, the dark mockery of Ven was holding still and seemed to be tightly focused on Riku's position. Glowing crosshairs appeared on Riku's chest, which he took as a cue to get moving.

"I sure hope this is possible...everyone, let's try a Trinity Link!" All of Riku's Spirits (which he had made sure were fully charged for a Link Style before fighting Young Xehanort) dissolved and merged with him at once. "HRAAAAGH!" Riku began glowing brightly (with a pink tinge from Kairi's "insurance"), lifted into the air, and vanished as the AVN created a massive ball of Darkness over its head. When Riku reappeared in the middle of a blindingly fast lunge attack, a smaller ball split from the large one and intercepted his path. Riku knocked it away and teleported to another angle, rushing faster and faster to see whose ultimate attack - the ancient Keyblade Masters' Shotlock technique or Riku's newly-invented Trinity Link - would run out of steam first.

Lambda pointed at the crosshairs on Riku."I want to figure out that thing the Nightmare just did."

"It seems to work like my Ragnarok," Xion noted.

Unfortunately, one of the deflected balls of Darkness was accidentally sent careening straight into the Comms Option, and the screen outside Sora's heart was immediately left awash in static. Hazama groaned. "Damn, right when it was getting good!"

Kairi gasped, but Mickey reassured her, "I'm not worried. Riku will win for sure!"

"But we have no clue if just beating that thing will be enough to save Sora," Kairi insisted.

Lambda waved that concern aside. "If there's more than that to this Power of Waking, then he'll figure it out. You saw how quick he is on the uptake back in the Round Room."

Kairi took a deep breath and calmed down. "...You're right. I still wish we could help, but all we can do right now is pray."

Hazama rolled his eyes...which were still closed. "I don't do the whole praying thing."

Goofy (was he here the whole time?!) wondered aloud, "Well, what else could we do while we wait? Have a tea party?"

"That's not a bad idea!" Donald quacked. "Here, I'll use my magic!" The Royal Magician raised his Mage's Staff, shouted, "SHAZAM!" and summoned a round tea table and three chairs, with no food or drink in sight. "Aw, that's all?"

Yen Sid chuckled. "Allow me." With a series of arcane gestures and a vibration of his conical hat, he not only summoned a very long, rectangular table, piled high with various cakes and teas, but also enlarged the entire room to accommodate it (though the Mysterious Tower seemed unchanged from outside). The old Master groaned as he sank back into his own chair and summoned his own tea. "If, as I fear, my tower is about to become the base of operations for the upcoming clash against Xehanort, then I suppose I will need to redecorate."

"Why are we celebrating before Riku even gets back?" Lambda asked incredulously, only to find that all the others were already seated and sampling the tea and cakes.

"Because we feel like it!" Donald declared.

"Yeah, what he said!" Goofy agreed.

Xion waved Lambda over to an empty chair. "C'mon, live a little! We just totally humiliated Master Xehanort in his moment of glory; that's got to be worth something."

"I'm worried, too, but you don't want to go back to training on an empty stomach, do you?" Kairi asked while wearing an odd mustache-and-glasses prop she'd found next to her plate.

"Well, I can't argue with that." Lambda settled down and tried her tea. "Ooh! It's still super hot, but what an interesting flavor! I guess this is 'bitter', huh?" Then she took a bite of chocolate cake and seemed to short-circuit. "Gzz - SWEET! Oh my various gods, it's so delicious!" After that, her plate was cleared in seconds. "Chocolate is the best thing ever!"

"I knew that would get her attention." Kairi smirked as she sipped her tea...but then found out that careless tea-drinking could invite a spill. "Ah, that's hot! Cure!" Kairi cast a weak healing spell, causing the pain to subside - and causing the stain to vanish from the front of her new dress. "Neat, this outfit cleans itself with Cure magic!"

Suddenly there was a thump from the other side of the room. "Kairi, is that you...? H-huh?! When did so many people get here? When did I get here? Where is 'here'? Am I back at Yen Sid's tower? Did I pass the test?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, one question at a time, Sora! By the way, my name's Hazama. I stopped by to pay Lambda a visit and get some Observation issues sorted out, but she convinced me to stick around. The details are probably way over your amusingly spiky head, but that's the gist of it."

Kairi patted an empty chair beside her. "C'mon over, Sora. I'll tell you all about the training we're doing over tea."

Xion realized, "Wait, if you're awake, then why hasn't Riku returned?"

Sora felt over his chest. "He's...still doing something in there. I saw him beat that thing in my dream, but now that I'm awake, I'm not sure..."

"This whole mess hurts my head!" Donald griped.

Lea reminded everyone, "He'll be okay. He's a tough guy. Chances are, he's just smashing some giant monster into paste."

"Axel?! You're here, too? What happened while I was asleep?"

Kairi corrected, "No, no, his true name's Lea. Roxas helped him come back and called him here to join our training, and he showed up just in time. But let's start at the beginning..."

Ten minutes and twelve chapters of recap later, Riku finally reappeared, facing the same wall as when he'd vanished and holding both the Kingdom Key and a roll of paper in a glass bottle. Sora's Keyblade vanished and was replaced with Way to Dawn, which then disappeared, and Riku turned around to behold the utterly ridiculous scene playing out in Yen Sid's study. "Sora, you're already awake? And...why are you all having a tea party?"

"Riku, you're safe!" Sora launched out of his chair, leaving behind a pair of mustache glasses, and glomped Riku with a big hug as though Sora was five years old instead of fifteen.

Riku blinked and tried to stand up. "Wait, don't we have this backwards? I was the one trying to save you!"

"YOU'RE SAFE, RIKU!"

Riku gave up trying to push Sora off and just clutched his head. "Ugh, never mind. Are you okay? Everything back to normal?"

"Normal" and "Sora" didn't belong in the same sentence, but he pulled back a bit and nodded. "Yep, never better! I could see what was going on in my dream, and I could hear your voice the whole time."

"I'm going to get jealous at this rate," Kairi grumbled.

Hazama snickered. "Don't kid yourself, Princess. You knew what you were signing up for, dating a friend-crazy blockhead like him."

Kairi pouted a little longer, then shrugged. "...You're right, I did. Now, are we going to have to rehash the whole story again for Riku?"

Namine volunteered, "I'll handle it. Riku, you might want to lie back a bit."

"Huh? Why - WHOOOA!" Riku suddenly got the whole story copied to his memory, physically thumping him against the wall. "Ow...but at least I know what happened now. As for me, I met representations of Roxas, some guy who looks like Roxas, and Xion in there, answered their weird questions, and then I met a sort of data copy of Ansem the Wise. He gave me this, saying it was data he'd compiled that he hid inside Sora." Riku presented the letter bottle, uncorked it, and slid the paper out...only to find it was wrapped around a small memory drive. "Huh? What's this?"

Lambda recognized the flash drive for what it was. "Oh, thank goodness! I was worried that this timeline hadn't invented solid-state memory yet! As for analyzing it, I bet Ansem's computer in Radiant Garden would be perfect for the job."

Lea winced. "Aw man, Even and Ienzo were the tech gurus among Ansem's apprentices. I'll have to go back and face them now, won't I?"

Riku took a moment to work through the anagrams, then realized why Lea/Axel would be hesitant about working with them. "Suck it up; worst case scenario, they're probably not going to fight you."

"Especially since I still have Zexion's power," Replica added, manifesting himself in the D-Mode suit, which was more his than Riku's by now.

"I still have questions about that," Lambda replied, "but it's great that you're back, Replica. Er, in a manner of speaking."

Namine manifested as well, with her hands clasped nervously in front of her. "Hello...I'm glad we can meet again. I meant to thank you before, for keeping your promise."

"Don't mention it. I just wish we'd managed to snag a couple of those blank Replicas so we could meet without the whole gang here."

Xion giggled. "We are sort of a gang by now, aren't we?"

Hazama countered, "More like a gaggle. Or a flock. Or a murder."

"Or friends," Mickey added.

"Yeah, what he said," Sora finished.

Yen Sid cleared his throat. "All right, I daresay this tea party has run its course." The whole tea set vanished, dumping everyone who was still seated onto the ground. "Gather in front of my desk, everyone. It is time to announce the results of your tests."

Everyone scrambled (or in Hazama's case, swaggered) into loose groups such everyone had a view of the desk. The old Master himself sank into his chair, shut his eyes, and took a deep breath before finally addressing the group. "First, I would like to apologize to Sora and Riku. This ordeal was necessary to unlock the Power of Waking, which will surely be required in the coming days, but I underestimated our enemy's cunning and left you vulnerable to Xehanort's deceptions. I am quite grateful that you both managed to return from the abyss of dreams unharmed."

Sora asked, "So, did we pass the test?"

"You both performed truly admirably, that much is clear. This ordeal has revealed many hidden truths, and now we must gird ourselves for the clash with Darkness that awaits us. We must gather our seven Lights to fight back against Xehanort and his thirteen Darknesses, lest he instead target the Princesses of Heart and cause all Light to be lost to the worlds."

Hazama interjected, "Can we just talk for a minute about how stupid the word 'Darknesses' is?"

Lambda giggled. "I wasn't going to say it, but...referencing...wow, it's actually a real word."

"Yeah: a real stupid word," Lea joined in. "How clever can Xehanort really be? We totally hoodwinked him back there."

Xion remembered, "He mentioned something about that. I almost missed it, but he said he learned everything that got him obsessed with this Keyblade War business from a 'Book of Prophecies'. Yen Sid, does that ring a bell?"

Yen Sid had been exasperated that his test results had been hijacked, but this really was serious news. "...It does. That book supposedly contains a complete and accurate record of all events that have yet to happen. According to legend, it was written by the first Keyblade Master in the age of fairy tales, a man known only as the Master of Masters. If Xehanort truly does possess even a fragment of it, or a copy of the original text, that would explain the uncanny preparedness he displayed during the test...and it would also explain why his plan fell to pieces at the moment Lambda intervened."

Lambda recalled, "He did mention that 'the future was beyond his sight.' I'm not sure if his text only covered up to the time he was recompleted, or if I actually altered the future somehow."

"Then chances are still pretty good that we'll win in the end, right?" Xion pointed out.

Yen Sid gravely replied, "...No. The last words written in the Book of Prophecies are well-documented: 'On that barren soil, Darkness shall prevail, and Light expire.' I doubt that passage could be misinterpreted."

Hazama's ever-present smirk slipped off his face. "Wow, talk about a downer."

Kairi firmly shook her head. "But it doesn't say 'The End', and there are more blank pages. So I still have faith."

"Then we should focus on stopping the rest of Xehanort's plan," Riku decided. "He said he needs seven Lights and thirteen...Darknesses...to forge this X-Blade thing, right? But he's still missing seven of his..." He broke off into a laugh. "Sorry, couldn't keep a straight face."

Yen Sid considered this. "With many Replicas at his disposal, Xehanort could no doubt fill his ranks with other time-traveling hearts. In particular, the previous Organization XIII was full of apathetic, immature, and frustrated individuals who could easily be turned to Darkness. Whether he can muster all seven missing pieces that way remains to be seen, however. After all, several of those members we know to have been recompleted, so other versions of themselves could not occupy Replicas via time travel. Even Master Xehanort must follow the same restrictions on time travel that I do, most likely to keep his Book of Prophecies accurate." Yen Sid glared sideways at no one in particular...he was probably thinking about Merlin's feat of blatantly disregarding said rules.

Lambda took up the conversation. "So what about our Lights, then? Assuming we just need Keyblade wielders fighting on our side, we have Riku, Sora, Mickey, myself, Kairi, Xion, and we are going to save those three Keyblade wielders Yen Sid mentioned before we started training...and Lea's working on his. So if we can get everyone on board, that's already TEN Lights. As long as we all survive to the final clash, we'll screw up Xehanort's X-Blade recipe by default!"

Hazama quipped. "You gotta do the cooking by the book! Take it from anyone who's eaten Noel Vermillion's death dinner."

"Who?" Sora asked.

Hazama deflected, "Never mind. Nothing I just said was important."

"Oh. Okay, I believe you."

"What, just like that?" Replica was bewildered.

Riku affirmed, "Just like that. Surely you know what Sora's like."

Yen Sid coughed to get the group back on task. "Now that we have some measure of hope for the coming battle, it is at last time to announce the results of Sora and Riku's test for the Mark of Mastery."

Everyone immediately came to attention. "Both of you performed your task, and unlocked all seven Sleeping Keyholes..." Sora and Riku perked up. "...However, one of you braved the Realm of Sleep a second time to unlock another Keyhole and save a friend." Yen Sid pointed at Riku. "Riku, I hereby name you...our next true Keyblade Master!"

Riku blinked dumbly, as though even after everything, he still couldn't believe it. "Me? I'm a...Keyblade Master?"

Sora, unexpectedly, was happy that Riku passed the test, rather than being upset that he himself apparently flunked. "Way to go, Riku! I knew you were gonna pass with flying colors!"

"Gee, Sora, you're kinda acting like it's you that passed," Goofy pointed out.

Roxas asked, "Isn't 'Keyblade Master' just a word? Sora didn't need to be a Master to save the worlds over and over again."

"There are some unique abilities associated with the title," Master Yen Sid explained. "Your Keyblade will instantaneously become even more powerful, and a powerful binding skill is now yours to wield."

"Also, you can make everyone around you mad jelly, because now you're a Keyblade Master and they're not," Hazama added.

"...He's not wrong," Lea muttered.

Lambda sauntered over and kissed Riku's cheek. "So, I guess I'll be calling you 'Master Riku' more often, after all. You did great, dear!"

Riku smirked at her. "Well, I sure hope so. Do you know how many Organization-level bad guys I had to beat up in a row right before you saw me again? FOUR. Well, three, but Ansem counts twice because then he turned his Guardian into some giant blob thing and hid inside it."

"I don't know why anyone expects turning into a giant monster will do anything more than turn them into a huge target," Kairi wondered. "Terumi tried that, too."

Riku slumped. "I still can't believe Terumi showed up again and tried to mess up your training. I should've been there to help."

Hazama snickered, "You should've; he was delicious! Or maybe that's just a BlazBlue thing."

"Maybe not," Riku mentioned. "You all seem to have discovered some pretty cool new Drive abilities like the kind people have in the Azure Timeline, and I figured mine out, too! I call it 'Dark Eater'; consume the Darkness, return it to Light. It made fighting that armored Nightmare thing a cinch, since any time it hit me, it powered me up. It works when I use my own moves, too, and I'm not sure there's a limit."

"Don't push yourself too hard," Lambda cautioned him. "Kairi's a special case, but anyone else runs a risk of corrupting their soul if they overuse their Drive too much, too fast. That's why I only let myself use two Options at a time right now, why Xion doesn't always have her weapons equipped, and why you shouldn't try to eat a hundred Heartless at once. As for Hazama..."

Hazama finished, "Yep, it'd be an apocalyptic disaster if I let the Black Beast go berserk. But since I am the Azure Grimoire, wouldn't that just be me? I'll play it by ear and see if there's more to my powers I didn't catch in the millions of years I've been around. After all, Terumi was in control for most of that, and we've seen that he's just absolute shit at creative thinking."

Lambda asked Hazama, "So you're sticking around, even though you're not tied to my Observation anymore?"

Hazama gave her a thumbs-up. "Duh! Things have just started getting interesting with the Xehanort situation, and then there's the battle arena and the other two stages we left behind in the Training Worlds, and then there's checking out these Ansem apprentices you mentioned, and then I can find out if just hanging around and being friends is worth doing when there aren't any Armageddons in the picture. I'll be sticking around for a while."

Riku gave him a thumbs-up back. "Good. I never thought I'd say this, but after what Namine showed me, I think I can trust you to not cut Lambda to ribbons when I'm not looking."

Hazama snarked, "Truly, this is the highest praise I can expect from the boyfriend of the robot girl in question."

Xion asked, "So, now that we've got all the important exposition out of the way, what's next for us? There's a lot to do. We have to find those three missing Keyblade wielders, keep an eye out for Xehanort, finish the Training Worlds, Sora needs to re-unlock the Power of Waking, and now there's this encrypted data Riku brought back. Who's doing what?"

"We should form teams," Kairi put in. "Team Sora will be Sora, Donald, Goofy, Jiminy Cricket, and me. And of course, Namine will be with me."

Jiminy bounced up onto Sora's head. "Thanks for remembering me! I spend so much time in Sora's hair, it almost feels like I just disappear! But don't worry, I'll record everything that happens! Er...I will when I get a new Journal. We've already filled up both the ones I had! I'll figure something out."

Kairi nodded. "We'll go with Sora and get him back up to snuff. Sora, don't think I didn't notice that you've lost a bunch of power again."

Sora remained stubbornly chipper. "Again...well, whatever! Happens all the time. But how can I get it back?"

Yen Sid offered, "There's someone who lost his strength and found it again...a true hero you ought to pay a visit." Sora realized who the old Master was talking about, and did a few comically manly flexes to imitate Hercules. "If that fails, then traveling to many worlds as you have before will surely provide the needed experiences. Perhaps you may never make a complete recovery, but it is absolutely essential that you at least master the Power of Waking, for without it, Ventus' heart will never return to where it belongs. Donald, Goofy, Kairi, I leave Sora's safety in your hands."

"Don't you worry, Master! We'll be right with Sora, just like always!" Goofy saluted.

"You can't go off and become a Master without us, Sora!" Donald joked.

Sora grinned. "I wouldn't dream of it, guys. Although, speaking of which, there's one last thing I needed to do in the Sleeping Worlds. Can this wait until I get back?"

Kairi nodded with a warm smile. "Go ahead, Sora. While you're out, I'll finish the Training Worlds with the rest of Team Kairi. But take this with you, so you'll be sure to come back!" She handed him her homemade promise charm once more, which she had kept safe in her Pouch of Holding this whole time.

"I promise, Kairi." With a quick hug and kiss, Sora and Kairi parted ways.

Roxas took up the discussion. "Team Roxas will be Lea, Xion, and me. We'll finish up the Training Worlds, and then we'll get started cracking...let's call it Ansem's Code, and try to get the other ex-Organization members on board with all this."

"And that leaves Team Riku: Lambda, Mickey, and myself, at least. Replica will be with me. After Lambda finishes the Training Worlds, we'll try to track down those missing Keyblade wielders. Mickey, what do you know so far?"

Mickey hesitated. "I'll tell ya while Lambda's in the Training Worlds, Riku; it's a long story."

"As for me," Hazama finished, "I'll do what I do best: sneak around unfamiliar worlds and dig up the 'new' Organization XIII's dirty secrets. Don't worry about teaming me up with anyone; it would be a pain to keep a whole group up to my stealthy standards."

Yen Sid made a few dramatic gestures. "Good, then our course is decided. The preparation phase begins now. I will arrange to transport Team Kairi to Merlin's house in Radiant Garden; a simple matter of teleporting my tower to a nearby location and redirecting the Ghost Train."

Lambda audibly choked; Yen Sid considered that a simple matter? She reminded herself that Yen Sid was perhaps the only sorceror in existence who could call himself a peer to Merlin the Wizard. Before she could properly frame the thought, though, she, Kairi, Xion, Roxas, and Lea were teleported out to Yen Sid's front lawn, with his purple, star-spangled Ghost Train ready and waiting beneath an unfamiliar spread of stars. Team Kairi, minus Hazama, climbed aboard and let the self-conducting train take them to Radiant Garden.

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Radiant Garden: Merlin's House...

Merlin was, of course, completely unsurprised that Team Kairi was back to dive into his "masterpiece" so soon. He'd even invited the Three Good Fairies over to ensure it worked. Merlin placed the Book of Training on the floor and opened it with his magic, causing the shimmering magic bubble to spring back out.

Kairi addressed her team, "You four go in without me. Before I get back to training, there's something I want to ask the fairies."

Lambda shrugged. "Sure thing. Don't take too long, though; the time dilation might mean we have to wait a really long time to sign up at the Arena Pillar."

"Not to worry," Merlin assured, "The time dilation effect will only begin once I decide to let it."

"Then that's settled," Xion grinned. "Last one in's a rotten egg!"

"Hey!" Kairi complained, since this made her a rotten egg by default. The others piled into the bubble before she could say anything further, so she let it go and turned back to Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. "Anyway, I was wondering if you had any way to..."

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

A/N: ...I'll just let you keep guessing what Kairi wanted to ask until the next update.

The post-Xehanort exposition really dragged on, huh? This chapter ended up being surprisingly long, but luckily it practically wrote itself once I kicked my various muses out of bed and actually got started.