The room was dimly lit, making those inside it somewhat tense. Two long tables rested on the navy blue floor, close enough those sitting at it could speak normally but far enough three of four people could walk between them side by side. Seated behind these tables were important, high ranking Marines from various fleets, gathered under the impression they had been called for something important. However, the Fleet Admiral, the only one who could have called them, looked just as confused as the rest of them, and had double the frustration as a result.
The lights that would normally keep the room bright and cozy had dimmed into a sickly green, the one who had done so standing at the opposite end of the room from Sakazuki, the Fleet Admiral. The only reason she could look so confident in a room that contained the Admirals and the other powerful Marines – even including Luffy's grandfather, Monkey D. Garp – was because she wasn't actually there. She had a goal in mind for these men and women, but she was not nearly stupid enough to show up herself, and had been right to do so when Sakazuki had attempted to have her shot the moment she gave her name. She had not expected them to know her name yet, cursing Toshiro for giving away such information so freely, and knew she had to be careful as she continued negotiations. Sakazuki did not look at all willing to make a deal with someone who worked with dark creatures like the Heartless.
"Make your point or get out." Akainu snarled, the lava fruit user letting off a slight steam to show he was extremely unhappy, and lava could cut off any attempt at a conversation at any point.
"I understand that the one who told you about me made sure to focus on what made me evil." Maleficent spoke with a slight scoff at the end, a few in the room nodding to show they agreed, still glaring. "However, I believe he failed to reveal information about himself you might have found useful."
"He spoke of being a warrior trying to stop these creatures, your creatures, and asked for our aid as he was only one man." Fujitora explained before she could go on, letting out a slight huff as if disappointed she had nothing more.
"And yet, why does he not fight with you?" The witch questioned with the smallest of grins, sinister in nature. Fujitora did not so much as flinch under any glances or stares, a perfect poker face, and even seemed as interested as the rest of them in whatever point she was trying to make. "Are you aware he's traveling with pirates?"
"What?" Sakazuki gave a low growl with his tone at the mere mention of pirates. It had not been hard for Maleficent to pick out his hatred for them, and his violent tendencies in regards to 'Justice'. She fully planned to use this against them. "Fujitora…"
"I'm afraid he was not with pirates when we stumbled onto him previously." Fujitora lied smoothly. "At the least, he did not seem to be, appearing on my fleet quite suddenly after a chase with the Straw Hat Pirates and Heart Pirates. Now that she mentions it, their ships were the only place he could have gone."
"Don't tell me that strange kid that appeared recently with Trafalgar Law's crew is your informant." Garp turned to the Admiral with a scowl.
Fujitora looked quite shocked at the possibility.
"Forgive me, he spoke to me in private, and my eyes are not what they used to be." This he directed to the Fleet Admiral. Sakazuki was still pissed, but he accepted the mistake and turned back to Maleficent. He didn't like her smug look either, but obviously she knew this mysterious stranger, who was becoming more of a problem as time went on.
"I believe his reasons for being with the pirates were the powers of the… I believe you call him 'Surgeon of Death'. You see, this young warrior has also fallen to darkness himself, and he seems to believe that pirate can fix him. It's likely he is simply desperate. However, letting him fall into the wrong hands is a bad idea."
"And why's that?" The Admiral dressed in yellow with a lazy expression, Kizaru, questioned. "And why tell us? Surely you want him as well, if he really is so important."
"I only seek a kingdom with which to rule, and while he would be of great use for that, I have no wish to continue here. As for why I'm telling YOU… well, allow me a little pettiness to say that it's out of spite. I used to have a wonderful, loyal little pet, a beautiful raven, and they have taken him from me."
"Heh, spite can be a pretty powerful thing." A Marine snickered.
"Fine. What is he?" Akainu demanded, still looking ready to throw lava at any point if she didn't hurry up.
Sensing his impatience, Maleficent got to the point.
"He has been born to the title Heavenly Guardian. This name may hold no meaning for you, but to put it short, he is the key to a great power locked within the universe, and whoever controls him controls that power. Obtaining it would allow one to shape the very stars themselves." She exaggerated a little bit, more to get as much of their interest as she could than actually revealing everything, but it was close enough. To control Kingdom Hearts was to control the source of all light, and to get to it you needed a 'key'. "He has not awakened this power fully given his current condition, but if this surgeon does fix him, he may find it."
"You can't be serious." It was clear most of the people in the room didn't believe her. This was the first they were hearing of outside worlds and the existence of a power like Kingdom Hearts, she didn't expect them to believe her right away. "He's a child!"
"On the contrary, if he had been present, he would be the oldest in the room." Her smile faltered when Garp scoffed, starting to get tired of the interruptions as she continued her speech to get them on board with her plan. Whether they wanted to kill or capture Toshiro mattered not to her, if it was the latter she could just use the darkness to take him from this world, and the former would at the least keep him away from Xehanort. She had not been lying about being spiteful. "He was born in a realm of spirits; his lifespan far exceeds that of normal humans. In fact, should he awaken his ability, he may become immortal."
The immortality was definitely a lie, otherwise there wouldn't have been a need for a reincarnation to begin with, but it got them interested. Some definitely looked ready to vote for execution, while she could see the greed clearly in the eyes of others. Were it not for their sense of justice and the fact they already hated her Heartless, she could have turned them all to her side with little trouble. But, like Shanks, they were strong-willed. It was nowhere near as easy to bring them into darkness as it had been with a jealous and naïve child as Riku had once been.
"Now then, I seek to bother you no longer." She waved a hand, moving into the final part of her plan. "Forgive my spiteful behavior, I simply did not wish for those vile pirates to be the one to use him."
"Even spite comes with a price, what is it you want for this information?" Kizaru asked, leaning forward rather menacingly. She could tell he was watching her closely, contrary to his lazy posture.
"Oh? Well, I would like to take a small prize from those pirates when you go after them. In return, I am willing to tell you where they are and let you have the Heavenly Guardian, whatever purpose you may have for him." She would never let them keep him alive, but at the least she wanted one price in return for their meddling and the trouble she went through chasing him around.
"Money can be arranged." Sakazuki growled. Making a deal with her was the last thing he wanted, but to be able to get the heads of those two annoying Supernovas… he would deal with her later once he had those two executed.
"Oh no, dear, I want no payment." Maleficent chuckled, keeping up a smile even as he glared at her fiercely. "There is a child I have taken an interest in, one who turns into a lovely bird. I would like to keep her to replace my pet they took from me."
"She's a pirate that deserves execution with the rest of them."
"If I take her with me, there will be no need for that." The witch sneered. "I know! I will even remove the Heartless from this world! Let me adopt the harpy, she is but a small price for the one who is the key to the stars."
The soldiers exchanged glances, the Admirals barely moving as they each thought about her offer. They would be able to catch two pirate crews that were starting to become a problem, specifically the Straw Hats who had survived multiple encounters with the strongest in the world and even caused trouble right under their noses with little punishment. They would also have the Heartless removed and a powerful piece under their control, if things worked out, and all she wanted was a former Shichibukai's pet killer. It was too good to be true, and they were all rightfully suspicious.
The Fleet Admiral did not at all believe her word for removing the Heartless, nor her claims of having no interest in this Heavenly Guardian. If he really was so special she would make deals with her enemy over him, Akainu would rather eliminate it and be done. Something that strong needed to be kept far away from vile pirates, and since the boy was currently working with pirates, the safest bet was to destroy him. If the witch wanted to take the 'King's Bird' with her, then if the girl survived, fine. What was most important was getting to these pirates.
"That harpy brat is used to obeying orders, so do what you wish. Where are Straw Hat and Trafalgar?" He growled out his answer to her offer.
Maleficent's smile gave off an impression of a cat who had caught a prize mouse, and there was little they could do about it.
As she made her plans for her last effort here on this world, planning to leave once they found the pirates, a different group got a small message that would throw a wrench in any dark plans made by her or Xehanort. Deep in space, a brightly colored ship searched relentlessly for any sign of their target.
Sora gave a start as the Soul Pager he borrowed from Yoruichi went off in his pocket. Was it Kisuke again? The man had been trying to find a way to track either Toshiro or his dragon, but like Merlin had been having little success, though he still tried to keep in touch with Sora in case he and his group came across something that might boost his efforts. It could also be Ichigo again, wanting to know if they found anything since he was traveling with a different search party.
To his shock, it was not either Soul Reaper. Instead, it was the last person they expected, having assumed he either lost his phone or it went dead.
"Guys, guys!" Sora's voice almost went up several octaves in his excitement, prompting everyone to look over at him. His usual animal pair of friends, Donald and Goofy, were by his side. The others in his group were the Nobody Demyx, Toshiro's Lieutenant Rangiku, his best friend Riku, the ex-Captain he borrowed this phone from Yoruichi, and the shark Arrancar Harribel.
"What is it?" Riku asked for everyone, wondering why Sora had the same expression on his face as he had when seeing Santa.
"It's Toshiro! He sent a message!" Sora held the device out for them.
"What!?" Heart beating excitedly, Rangiku snatched the Soul Pager. Sure enough, it really was a message from her Captain. "'I don't have much time, so here's the short version. I'm truly sorry for running away and for not responding, but I have found a world that may have the answers I need. The world is mostly ocean, separated in four seas with a crossing sea called the Grand Line where I am, and an expanse of land perpendicular to it. Hopefully that helps you find it. Be careful though, I think Aizen has'… it ends there."
"Something must have happened and he had to send it in a hurry." Yoruichi said with a frown, taking her phone back to look at the message. "But if he's mentioning Aizen…"
"We figured he would go after your Captain when he escaped." Harribel spoke up. That was her reason for joining them after all. When word got out that a dark portal had allowed the near-immortal to escape a week back, she had made demands to join the search party. She still held a grudge for his actions in the Winter War and wished to pay him back tenfold.
"If it was really Xehanort who freed him, it makes sense how he found Toshiro so fast." Demyx added in with a concerned look. "They could have gone right through the dark realms and followed Hyorinmaru."
"Then we better hurry." Yoruichi looked through her contacts for Kisuke to give him an update. "An ocean world, right? If we can narrow down worlds like that we can use the way-finder the rest of the way."
"Hopefully we can get to him without stirring up too much trouble." Goofy spoke up with some concern. Other than its appearance they knew nothing about the world Toshiro was hiding on, though if he was having to deal with Aizen it was a miracle they even got that much.
"Don't worry about it too much, the Soul Society has the technology to replace memories, worst case we go in, grab him, flash some new memories and get out." Yoruichi assured them while waiting for Kisuke to pick up. Once he did, she moved off towards the back of the ship to speak with him about finding a mostly ocean world.
"Hopefully we don't have to do that…" Riku looked a bit uncomfortable about the idea of replacing memories, especially after the Castle Oblivion ordeal. Sora didn't comment, but his friend could see him fidget, clearly not okay with it either.
"I wonder what kind of help he found." The brunette wondered aloud instead, preferring to focus on finding his friend and not on what may happen once they did. "You think there's someone out there who can return a Nobody to normal?"
"If he found someone like that it'd be awesome." Demyx responded, looking hopeful. As a Nobody himself any chance of returning to himself and getting his zanpaktou spirit back was a chance worth taking. So far neither Kisuke nor Mayuri Kurotsuchi had found a way to return Demyx and Axel back to normal, and with Demyx being a former Soul Reaper and Axel a human, the methods needed were entirely different. Supposedly destroying both halves was one way to return the original whole, but they couldn't be certain that would work for already dead beings like Soul Reapers. So, while Axel was getting himself fixed up, Demyx chose to search for the Captain, knowing his own situation would be more difficult since his Heartless half was already destroyed and couldn't be used to see if a fusion method would work. Toshiro still had hope though, with Hyorinmaru still around. They just had to find him.
"Alright, kids, I think we have a lead." Yoruichi rejoined them with a triumphant look on her face, hitting a button on her phone with Kisuke speaking up through the speaker a moment later.
"With the description Hitsugaya passed on that helped narrow down some choices, and once I did that I noticed an alarming amount of Spirit Energy on one of the worlds. Whether it's Aizen or our Captain isn't clear, but they're likely in the same place." The ex-Captain explained. "I passed the location to your chipmunk friends, since they can get your ship heading that way, and the location for a few others in case it's not the correct one."
"Thanks Kisuke!" Sora beamed, excited. "With the way-finder Merlin set up we'll be able to find him from there!"
"Be careful, there is no information on this world, it could range anywhere from peaceful like Atlantica to savage like Port Royal, an ocean world like that is bound to have some nasties." Kisuke warned.
"There are two people present that hold power over water, we will be fine." Harribel argued. As a shark Hollow, water was her expertise, and she had overpowered even Toshiro when they fought each other in the Winter War. With Demyx having a water based power as well, though perhaps not as powerful, the two of them would have a distinct advantage in an ocean world.
"True, but there is also Aizen, so the warning still stands." With that Kisuke let the line drop just as Harribel scowled fiercely. She lost rather quickly the last time she made to attack Aizen, but she had no plans to do so this time. Arrancars – or Hollows in general – did not like to make allies, but she had always been a little different in that sense, and so even with three of the people present being Soul Reapers, her natural enemy, she was willing to team up to defeat a shared foe.
"I had kind of hoped to never meet him." Sora spoke up, a slight frown on his face. He had heard many things about the man, none of them good, and after Hyorinmaru had allowed the Keybearer to see Toshiro's memories, to see everything that had happened to him, Sora was quite sure he didn't want to go face to face with the mastermind.
"We all hoped he would stay right where he was, but it looks like Xehanort took advantage of our borders being open and came to get him." Yoruichi agreed with a huff. "The fact Aizen went along willingly suggests they had already planned for a possibility like this."
"I don't think Aizen was supposed to get defeated and imprisoned, but that might just be a small setback for him, with Xehanort ready to lend a hand if things went wrong." Demyx added in. "Even Xemnas by himself always seemed to have his attention elsewhere while we worked towards that false Kingdom Hearts, I wonder if he had a way of keeping in touch with Aizen."
"They must have or he couldn't have gotten those Arrancar to The World That Never Was."
Their conversation was interrupted as the screen on the ship lit up, revealing Chip and Dale.
"We've got your route, everybody!" Chip jumped up and down excitedly.
"But hurry! There's something weird going on!" Dale added with less enthusiasm.
The ship panel beeped as it uploaded the proper route. Without any further prompting, Donald started their journey to where their friend hopefully was.
They had no idea what awaited them.