Yeah...I'm pretty sure you guys saw this part coming.

But I'd like to know who's surprised to see Medea's back.

I own nothing of Kingdom Hearts except my OCs.

Read, leave a review, but no flames.

Chapter 2: The Coming Storm

Another morning arrived at the islands, and this time, Luna was able to wake up early enough to catch up with Kairi and meet up with the boys at the play island to continue working on preparing the raft for sailing. But this time, she rode with her sister to the island since the boys had already gone ahead. However, as they were closing in on the dock, Luna was taken by surprise when Kairi asked her an unexpected question.

"Did Mom and Dad speak with you a bit last night?" Kairi asked.

Luna was a bit startled at this. "Why do you ask that? Were you listening?"

"A little bit. I never thought that you had loved ones that you lost…or something around that line. It must be a painful thing to know," Kairi replied with a hint of sadness, "But you also remember how you were once asked if you recalled anything else the first time, don't you? You instantly went silent and you started to cry. It was almost as though whatever memories you had, you were trying your hardest to shut them away or something…or you couldn't remember anything more, like there's a gap in your memory."

"A gap in my memory…" Luna repeated before her thoughts wandered somewhere else.

As far as she was concerned, it never crossed her mind that she would have gaps in her memories up till now. But ever since she had that dream, Luna started to question if there was something she had lost or forgotten in her mind; if that was the case, then what could possibly revive those memories that she lost? There was no way she would know at the moment.

Her focus returned to reality when they arrived at the play island to find Riku staring out towards the ocean while Sora was…well…just being Sora. Kairi hurried over to him the moment they set foot on the dock, but Luna instead opted to find out what was on her silver-haired friend's mind. The moment she did approach him, though, one glance from him indicated that he noticed her coming.

"Hard to believe it's getting closer to when we'll head out, isn't it?" Riku asked.

"It is hard to believe. I mean, thinking about using a raft to see other places," Luna agreed, "I don't think too many people have ever thought about wanting to go on adventures. And, to be honest, I don't know what I'll get dragged into now ever since…" Her voice started to trail off. "…ever since years ago…"

He quickly caught on that she was entering a negative memory. "Luna, it'll be alright. Whatever you went through then, it was hard on you. This adventure won't be the same thing you experienced in the past."

Luna was about to say something when Sora came along in quite a hurry.

"Hey, Riku! Hey, Luna!"

"Hey, Sora, our raft still needs a name. Let's see…" Riku thought for a moment. "…How about Highwind?"

"That sounds like a bold name," Luna agreed.

Sora made a face at the name. "Are you kidding? Who would go with Highwind?"

"Then what would you name it, Sora?" Riku asked challengingly.

Both watched as Sora put his hand to his chin and thought about it for a moment or so, until he finally came up with the first thing he could think of.
"How about…Excalibur?" he suggested.

Luna giggled at the suggestion, making Sora give her a pouting face while Riku shook his head in disbelief.

"Sora, I don't think that would work. It sounds more like a name for a weapon than a name for a boat," Luna pointed out as she kept giggling.

Then, an idea crossed Riku's mind. "Hey, how 'bout…"

"The usual?" Sora asked.

Uh-oh…The moment Luna picked up the warning signs; she knew that those boys were going to start up another competition in a matter of moments. The only thing that could ever catalyze it would be…

"You guys at it again? All right, I'll be the judge," Kairi called out as she came over to the cove.

Yep. Kairi just had to encourage it.

"If I win, I'm captain!" Sora declared proudly, "And if you win…"

"I get to share the paopu with Kairi," Riku bluntly answered him.

That made Sora's jaw drop a little at that, while Luna looked at both of them with a 'what are you talking about?' face.

"Deal? The winner gets to share a paopu with Kairi," Riku said with a smirk.

"Okay, on my count: 3…2…1…Go!" Kairi called out.

Then, within seconds, the boys raced off to see who can beat one another, leaving Luna alone with her adoptive sister.

"Kairi…didn't you hear what they were saying…?" Luna questioned with unease.

"Oh, I did, alright. But Riku wouldn't want to share a paopu fruit with me," Kairi replied with a sly smile. "If anything, I'm pretty sure he'd rather share it with you, Luna."

Luna's facial cheeks turned a bright red in embarrassment. "W-What are…? Kairi, I…! It's just…"

"C'mon, Luna, don't deny it. I've seen the way you are for nine years now. As a girl, you were always following Riku when the rest of us are not looking," Kairi insisted, "And don't say that doesn't mean anything because I've seen some times where you would get very clingy over him, or you would continually watch him without looking at anything else. It's almost as though you imprinted on him or something."

As much as Luna didn't want to admit it out loud, she always did have a bit of an obsession over Riku ever since she was a child. Why, she didn't really know, but in one of her fragmented memories she did meet him before and was quite charmed by him even though they were so young then. But she really wished Kairi didn't have to be so embarrassing as to point out what has become obvious over the years; she wanted to tell him what she felt when she feels brave enough to do that.

But then she had to snap out of it as the boys were coming back to the cove. Sora was about to take the win since he was ahead of Riku, but then the wood broke from under him and almost made him fall in; thus, his own friend took the win yet again.

"Alright, then, we're naming the raft Highwind," Riku said proudly. He turned towards Luna. "Hey, Luna, I was joking about sharing the fruit with Kairi."

"I know…She told me…" Luna replied, blushing yet again.

"You should've seen how she was reacting. I told her you'd rather share the fruit with her, and she just turned red on her face," Kairi added, not realizing that she was only making it worse.

Sora caught up just in time to notice something's up. "What's wrong with Luna? Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She just needs a change of scenery, that's all," Riku quickly replied as he started leading Luna away, "Besides; we still need to get supplies anyway."

That was one of those moments when Luna had to be really glad about; anytime she gets into an awkward situation (whether it is due to an embarrassing topic or something else entirely), someone figures out a way to get her out of it so that she could be given enough space to calm down.

When she and Riku were away from the others, she was able to gather herself back together and return to reality.

"Are you feeling better?" Riku asked; just to make sure she's fine.

"I'm alright now. But that was…" Luna shook her head. "I'm sure that Kairi means well with anything she says, but sometimes she just embarrasses me."

"She's just teasing you, don't worry about it," Riku told her. "You've lived as sisters for a while, remember?"

Luna nodded, knowing what he was talking about. "I know…Don't take it the wrong way. I love being around Kairi. She has been very good to me as a sister, and I love her for that. But I wish she didn't have to say such embarrassing things…"

"C'mon, Luna, you have to get all that out of your head," Riku laughed light-heartedly, "and think of something else to worry about."

"Well, then, how about I help get the supplies?" Luna wondered, "Sora might be having problems with collecting everything."

While Luna walked away from Riku to look for Sora and see if he needed any help, she thought it would be a good idea to check up with Kairi and find out what was needed before searching for their goofball of a friend. Thankfully, she was able to find Kairi by the raft, apparently crafting something out of the shells found by the shore of the island; naturally, her curiosity got the better of her when she couldn't help but take a peek at what she was doing.

"What is that you're doing?" she couldn't help but ask.

"I'm making a good luck charm," Kairi replied as she stopped her work for a moment, "You've heard of the stories surrounding it, haven't you?"

"I think…it was something about sailors having charms on them during their journey to the unknown," Luna answered.

"Yep, that's the basics about it. And I'm sure you already know that the best materials to use to make such things are Thalassa shells," Kairi said as she kept working on the charm.

"…Someone I knew said something about that," Luna admitted, "She did something like that, though she didn't use shells. But she meant well for her friends…"

Her voice trailed off when old memories resurfaced in her mind, mainly the one where she was with her brother and friends under the starry sky. It almost brought her to tears when she thought about it, but she was able to wipe it away quickly before Kairi could notice it.

"So…is there anything I could do to help, Kairi?" Luna asked, changing the subject.

"Actually, there might a way you can help out. You see, the supplies we need for the trip are one seagull egg, three mushrooms, three fish, drinking water, and two coconuts," Kairi replied, "Sora was able to get the water and the fish, and he's working on getting the mushrooms as far as I know. But he hasn't gotten the rest yet…it makes me wonder if something distracted him…"

"It's okay…I'll get the rest for him, don't worry," Luna reassured her as she walked away.

The good thing with Luna helping out with some of the tasks required from another person is that she is able to make use of her Shadow Hands from time to time, especially when she is multitasking on minor chores; she was able to use her conjurations to reach for the coconuts high up on the trees without having to climb, and without stirring up too much trouble from the seagulls, she was able to grab a single egg and deliver all of them to Kairi with little to no trouble.

Once she was done with that, she decided to go look for Sora and find out what he is doing that stopped from finishing his job. Fortunately, she didn't have to look too far when one of the younger fellows, Wakka, told her that he went into the cave (which she knew was actually her friends' Secret Place, as they called it). As she entered the Secret Place, Luna couldn't help but look around the area and see the pictures that had been drawn along the rocky walls. It certainly reminded her of when Riku showed her the place while Sora and Kairi were not looking; sure, it was when she was still in the early stages of her recovery, but being brought in there helped her speak about her problems, if only a little.

Flashback: Seven years ago…

Eight-year-old Riku was gently leading seven-year-old Luna into what he called the Secret Place, with Luna clasping his arm tightly to him like a lifeline. It was a bit dark in the cave, and it frightened her significantly.

"It's dark…I don't like it…" Luna said fearfully.

"It'll be okay when we get further down," Riku reassured her, "You'll see."

When they had reached the end of the cavern, Luna was able to see a wide open space with drawings just newly begun, and a lot more room for other scratchy drawings anyone would want to do. It was an amazing sight, but what she wasn't sure about was why she was being brought here if it was something important to him and Sora. But then she noticed a crude drawing over to her right, which apparently seemed to resemble Sora and Kairi; Riku noticed it, too.

"I guess Kairi already knows about the place," Riku speculated.

"What are we doing here…?" Luna questioned.

She saw him turn to her with a look that indicated he wanted answers, and he knows how he might able to do that.

"It's been two years since you came here, and you've hardly ever spoken to us," Riku answered her, "and not about your problems especially. So, I think we need to figure out how you can talk about it." That was when he walked over toward an empty space of the wall, picked up a pointed rock, and came up with an idea. "I've got an idea. How about you draw something right here, and show me what you're feeling?"

It was a rather unorthodox idea of his, but since he was rather insistent on it, Luna walked over toward the wall and – with Riku's persistent gesture to take what's in his hand – used the rock to draw a crude stick figure resembling her. After that, she just stopped.

"Is that you?" Riku asked.

Luna nodded sadly.

"Where is everyone else?" he asked, hoping to get something out of her. "Your family or any friends you had?"

"…No one's with me. I'm alone now…" Luna answered, her head hanging down.

While she wasn't watching, though, Riku took the rock she was using and began to draw other figures next to the one Luna made, each one resembling him, Sora, Kairi, and the couple that took her in. When she looked up, she was surprised to see the changes made.

"You see this, Luna? You were alone. We may not know why or what caused that to happen to you, but you're not alone now," Riku told her, "You have Kairi as your sister, you have parents you love you and want to help you, and you have me and Sora as your friends. So long as you have any of us by your side, we will do everything we can to support you and we will never abandon you."

Luna looked over to Riku, moved to tears at the good things she heard. "…Really?"

He nodded with a smile. "I mean it, Luna. You'll be fine so long as you have us."

Luna snapped back to reality, remembering that Sora is in there, and she has to find out what he's up to. At least she didn't have to look far, since she was able to spot him making changes to the drawing he had done with Kairi years before; she could see that it looked like he was drawing a hand giving a paopu fruit to Kairi.

"What are you doing, Sora?" she asked instinctively.

Unbeknownst to her, her sudden question startled Sora, making him turn around and attempt to cover up what he was doing.

"Luna! What are you doing here?" he asked nervously.

"I came looking for you, because you didn't come back with all the mushrooms as Kairi asked you," Luna replied as she gently moved him aside, "Is this picture supposed to tell you love her? Why couldn't you tell her yourself?"

Sora chuckled nervously as he tried to explain himself. "Well…I dunno. It's just…"

But then, Sora lost his voice as he felt like he was being watched. Luna also noticed it, but on her part, another fear welled up inside her; almost as though she knew this eerie feeling before. Both of them turned around to see a figure concealed in a brown hooded cloak, the person's face unseen by either of them.

"W-Who's there?" Sora questioned nervously.

"I've come to see the door to this world, and if the missing Shadow Mage is here," the hooded man answered.

"Huh?"

"This world has been connected." The hooded man went on.

Luna immediately huddled close to Sora for protection just as her friend put himself in front of her, meaning to keep harm from coming to her.

"W-What are you talking about?" Sora pressed his questions, still confused.

"Tied to the darkness…soon to be completely eclipsed," the hooded man kept going, most likely ignoring the questions directed at him.

"Well, whoever you are, stop freaking us out like this." But then Sora had a double take. "Where did you come from?"

"You do not know what lies beyond the door."

"So, you're from another world like Luna?" Sora questioned.

The hooded man only gave more cryptic words. "There is so very much to learn. You understand so little, especially…about her."

Luna squeezed Sora's hand tighter, letting him know that she's feeling more afraid. Sora held her hand to reassure her to be strong.

"Oh, yeah? Well, you'll see. I'm gonna get out there and learn what's out there!" Sora declared rather boldly.

"A meaningless effort," the hooded man responded, "One who knows nothing can understand nothing." Then, he looked over towards Luna. "To think that you've been hiding here all these years…"

Then, things got more eerie when one moment the stranger was eyeing them from the shadows, but the next moment he was gone in a blink of an eye.

"What was that? And why did that wierdo talk like he knows you?" Sora asked Luna.

But she shook her head, not too eager to talk about it. "No…I don't want to think about it. Please, Sora, don't say anything about this to Kairi."

Though he wanted to ask more questions, Sora complied with her wishes and left the Secret Place to finish up with his tasks, leaving Luna alone to think over what had happened moments before. It scared her that the eerie individual somehow knew – or had a feeling – that she was here on the islands; but for what reason did she have to hear that? For that matter, was the appearance of that hooded person another sign of danger that her dream warned about? Not wanting to think about right now, Luna decided to divert her attention elsewhere and think of something to preoccupy herself.

So, when she looks around the area, she was able to locate an empty space that she could make use of for whatever she wishes. Then, thinking about what Sora was doing earlier, she thought about drawing something nice for Riku. Luna crouched down near the empty space, picked up a rock, and began to draw big stick figures of herself and Riku together; she had just finished drawing her hand giving the star-shaped fruit when she heard footsteps coming into the Secret Place right behind her.

"What are you doing, Luna?"

Quickly, Luna jumped up and moved in front of the picture to cover it up from plain sight.

"Umm…nothing, Riku, really," Luna replied sheepishly, "I just…got distracted. Were you looking for me?"

"Well, Kairi noticed that you hadn't come out with Sora, so I took the liberty of coming to get you," Riku replied, "Night's starting to close in anyway. We'd better head back to town in a moment."

Luna looked down a moment. "Oh…I see." Then, she looked back up. "Riku…do you ever have the feeling that someone has been, I don't know, stalking you? Or…maybe looking for you?"

"What makes you ask?" Riku asked out of curiosity.

She wanted to tell him about what she saw, but something made her decide against it. "…Never mind. Forget I asked that. I guess…I guess I was feeling paranoid lately, what with the whole eagerness to leave the islands."

Though she didn't want to worry Riku with what she witnessed earlier, Luna didn't figure that this one mistake would hurt her quite a bit…

Night had strolled around, and Luna had just finished in the shower, so she thought she should go to Kairi's room and let her know that it was her turn.

"Kairi, the bathroom's open now. I've just finished," Luna called as she opened the door.

But the moment she did, she was shocked to find that her adoptive sister wasn't in her bedroom. That was when she saw what appeared to be a storm a ways off, and – fearing that she might've gone out by herself to check up on things without asking her – at full haste, she immediately hurried down the stairs and out the door to look for her before things got completely out of hand. Though it was rather foolish to go out alone, she didn't have any other choice; this was Kairi, and she dreaded the idea of losing someone who was part of her family.

By the time she reached the dock, she was surprised to see Sora out there as well.

"Sora, what are you doing here?" she asked over the winds.

"I could ask you the same question. I was going to check on the raft," Sora answered, "That storm might destroy it."

"I'm worried about Kairi. She disappeared," Luna explained, "I have to find her. She could be hurt without any help!"

"Then ride with me. We'll look for her together," Sora suggested hastily as he prepared the boat for a trip to the play island.

Not wanting to waste any precious time, Luna jumped into the boat with him and they hurried to the island as fast as they could. As they got closer and closer, Luna quickly realized that there was something wrong about this storm they were traversing against; from a distance, she could barely make out something sinister hovering over the skies, but she couldn't make out what it was for the moment.

When they reached the dock, the pair discovered that there were two more boats at the dock of the play island; it was clear that they aren't the only ones there.

"That's Riku's boat, and Kairi's!" Sora exclaimed.

"Riku…? Then that means he could be in trouble, too! We have to find them!" Luna cried, anxiety creeping in.

Luna and Sora hurried across the island to look for their friends before anything worse happens to them, but then ran into more problems when several black creatures with yellow eyes began to make their appearances and started moving all around the place. This startled the two quite a bit, more so with Luna as she grew terrified of them.

"Those things…! What are they?!" she cried out in terror.

"Where'd they come from is the right question," Sora answered as he pulled her along.

The two kept moving while trying to evade the black creatures until they could barely make out the shape of Riku at the islet. Knowing that they had found someone, they hurried over posthaste to assess the situation and get a warning out to him.

But when they got there, Luna was finally able to get a clearer view of the sinister shape hovering above the island. Suddenly, a fragmented memory flashed into her mind as she recognized the dark sphere from the darkest parts of her past:

As the dark sphere hovered above them, sinister winds began to blow all around them as darkness covered the land.

Luna looked all around her as she saw parts of the castle start to break apart, and slowly floating towards the dark sphere hovering above them. She couldn't believe that her adopted home would be ruined by a person so evil…

"No…! That thing…! It's just like before!" Luna gasped in horror. "Sora, we have to get away from it! Please, we have to get away from here!"

Getting an idea on what Luna might fear; Sora tried to get their friend's attention. "Riku, where's Kairi? I thought she was with you."

"The door has opened…" Riku said, too focused on the dark sphere hovering over them.

"What?" Sora asked in confusion.

"The door has opened," Riku repeated as he turned to face them, "Sora, Luna, we can finally go to the outside world."

"What are you talking about? We've gotta find Kairi!" Sora demanded, "Luna's worried about her!"

"Kairi's coming with us! Once we step through, we might not be able to come back," Riku insisted, "We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us. I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

That was when Luna was able to start connecting the dots on what her dream was trying to warn her about: she had lost her brother to the darkness years ago, which she was powerless to fight against. So the voice she heard was, in a way, telling her that if she doesn't want to go through a repeat of the misfortune she had, she had to put every effort she could to save another loved one from suffering the same fate as her lost sibling.

"No, Riku, don't say that! You don't understand what will happen if you allow the dark force to tempt you like this," Luna cried out in desperation, "It happened before. Please, Riku, it could be a trap! Please, reconsider!"

Turning toward Luna, Riku reached his arm out and said, "Luna, you promised to come along, didn't you?"

All of a sudden, a dark substance appeared underneath him and surged all around him; but for some reason, it didn't bother him as he kept his arm extended. But when Sora and Luna tried to reach out to either save him or just take his hand, the both of them were caught in the same substance as well; however, they felt themselves being pulled into the deep darkness with no way to escape from it.

However, as Luna was about to disappear into the deep darkness, a female voice that felt familiar rang out from the shadows with one demand.

"Hey! You wanna get out of this? Hurry the hell up and call my name, now!"

Within that moment, a name returned in Luna's memory as she called out the very name she knew before:

"Medea, help me!"

In a blink of an eye, a small flash surrounded her for a split second, and the next thing she knew, she felt two arms grab her and a strong force break through the darkness until she returned back on familiar ground. Quickly, she turned to see someone that she hadn't seen in years. By her side was a woman with bright red hair and piercing violet eyes, dressed in a royal purple, billowing dress that flowed almost completely down her body; her animalistic claws protruded from the sleeves, but didn't do any harm to her.

"Medea…is that you?" Luna asked, surprised to see her.

"About damn time you needed my help. Do ya have any idea how long I've had to go dormant all over again until you've recovered from your breakdowns?" Medea asked with both relief and annoyance.

Before Luna could try and explain herself, a flash of light occurred next to her and Sora reappeared alongside her; but he was now armed with a key-shaped weapon in his hands. It was a blade with a gold handle and the key part colored in silver, and a silver keychain shaped like the face of a mouse.

"Sora, you're alright! And…that weapon…" Luna said in shock.

He didn't exactly pay attention when he noticed that Luna was not alone on the islet.

"Luna, who is that -?" Sora was about to ask.

"Can we discuss about it later? We've got other problems going on here," Medea demanded.

That was when Luna remembered. "Kairi…! We've got to find Kairi!"

"Uh…right! C'mon, we've got to get to the Secret Place!" Sora agreed restlessly, leading the way.

Now that Sora had a usable weapon on hand, he began to hack away at the black creatures that tried to get in their way while Luna summoned her Shadow Hands to aid her and Medea slashed away at any trying to come at them from behind.

But when they arrived at the entrance to the Secret Place, there was something completely out of place: a door showed up there for reasons they couldn't understand. The three kept on going anyway, and found Kairi standing before what was finally revealed to be a door with a keyhole; however, there was something very unsettling and wrong. Flickers of dark energy were flooding out of the keyhole, and even leaking through the cracks around the door.

"Kairi…? Are you…?" Luna tried to ask whether she was alright.

Kairi turned to face them, but her face gave an impression that she didn't seem to be feeling well; if anything, she looked rather pale and sick, especially with the pained look on her face.

"Sora…Luna…"

Without warning, the door burst open, allowing a powerful surge of dark energy to overflow out of the cavern and sending Kairi careening for them. Sora tried to reach out and grab her, but in mere moments, she disappeared right before her eyes. Then, strong winds blew all three of them out of the cavern, and the next thing they knew, they found themselves on a part of a beach about to be sucked into the dark sphere right above their heads. It only got worse when they saw a gigantic black creature appeared before them, rearing for a fight before everything disappeared.

"Sora, it's that monster I saw in my dream!" Luna cried out in horror.

"What do we do against this thing?" Sora questioned, still not used to the change of events.

"What do you think you're supposed to do, kid? Attack the damn thing!" Medea replied, not having the patience to give a long speech.

Fortunately, with Medea helping out against the monster by slashing away with her elongated claws, Sora and Luna took advantage of the distraction she was creating and smacked away at it with everything they've got, sometimes dealing with the smaller critters when they needed to. Luckily for them, it didn't take long for them to take it down.

However, this proved to be bittersweet as they felt themselves being pulled in by the strong gales circling around them. Sora tried to hold on against the wood for dear life, while Luna tried to cling to his available hand and Medea held her protectively against her. Unfortunately, they were unable to maintain any grip and found themselves being hurtled into the darkness…