So my first time watching the KH II.8 trailer, I thought that Yen Sid had said it was time to summon Hitler. Of course, now it all makes sense. Hitler is one of the 7 guardians of light! I'm onto you Mr. Nomura. In all fairness, it was like 3 in the morning when the trailer came out and I was tired. And now for something completely different, the return of this fic after two weeks of coursework writing. Enjoy!


Chapter 57

Around the Riverbend

For the next few hours of the day, Astra found herself trapped in Rhea's room, working her way through the video device that Alfonso had presented to them earlier that morning. Well, perhaps trapped wasn't exactly the best word, though it certainly felt as if she had no say in the matter, not that she had ever asked if she did. Rhea did her best to lighten the mood and help in her own way, mainly through giving Astra a basic rundown of what to do and analyzing her words.

"You've never really seen us do investigation on evidence before, have you? It isn't really something we do all that often but it's not really much different from doing reconnaissance in other worlds," Rhea said, after having Astra watch the footage with Sora one too many times for her liking.

"Alright, I'm looking forward to learning… I can't believe I just said that," Astra replied meekly.

"Well, when checking a video there are always a few things to keep in mind that you should be paying attention to—lighting, the camera angle, the background, and the editing. Since its holographic footage, we won't have much luck in the lighting department. No doubt they used a lower quality method of recording to throw us off as to their location. For that reason I can imagine the background wouldn't help much either, but because holographic images are usually low quality, that's our best bet to go on right now that Alfonso's prized evidence isn't all that definitive as he would like it to be."

"So then that leaves the editing and the camera angle then? Alright, just have to watch this video a hundred more times. Should be a piece of cake," Astra said sarcastically before cracking her knuckle and tracing her finger around the smooth face of the disc once more. It was taking into account the thing Rhea had mentioned that she had discovered one obvious weakness in the footage and it was to do with the camera angle. The footage had been filmed from an overhead view and while she could see the face of the children clearly, it was Sora that was closest to the camera. Not once was Sora's face ever shown, and Astra realized that she had only really judged it to be him judging from the hair. Even the material of his clothing was too blurred to recognize. She told Rhea what she was thinking as she watched it through a second time, but even so…

"Even so, it's still him, I think. His clothes might not be detailed enough and you can't see his face the entire video but that's his hair, and that's definitely his Keyblade in his hand, what was it, the… Kingdom Key? I'm not sure how far we can go with this at the end of the day. Let's suppose someone's just pretending to be him. They wear a wig and all that. You can't replicate the Keyblade… right?"

"Well, most Keyblades are man-made, but have powerful magic put on them that passes them on to successors. There are only a few natural Keyblades in the world and I'm pretty sure neither of us will ever see one in our lifetime, but to answer your question, it certainly is possible. I remember Kohle telling me a story about having to go after a group of people claiming to wield Keyblades back when he was training with his Master. It turned out that they were all just a bunch a group trying to sell fake Keyblades under the pretence that they were real," Rhea explained.

"And people believed that?" Astra asked.

"Some did, some didn't. The Keyblade is an age old fairy tale just like the supposed battle between light and darkness. That's how most would see it. Of course, we know better. We know that there are truths behind fairy tales and folklore. We're not the only ones. Those con artists took advantage of those who believe that. KRONOS, though we don't have much information on them, would believe the same thing, as did Maleficent once upon a time, I suppose," Rhea said.

"Well if you had asked me before I gained mine, I wouldn't have believed it. I'm still not sure how or why it happened. For me or for Luna," Astra said.

"Well, have you ever experienced anything strange before you received it?"

"Strange?"

"It could have happened at any point in your life. That's how it starts. As something small and then like a spark, it ignites and comes into existence. Usually someone has to pass it down to you, but there are other ways, for example, if you've share a special relationship with someone who has one then sometimes it might just be enough to rub off on you. Of course it doesn't really matter how you received the power to begin with. All that matters is what you do with it now. For me, I've decided to dedicate my life to saving people. I will not take a life unless it's absolutely necessary. That's why I'm willing to go against the odds to save Sora," Rhea said.

"I see…" Astra nodded and looked at the holographic disc again. Now that she thought about it, it would definitely be within Rhea's personality to advocate peace as opposed to war. It wasn't just that she believed in Sora but rather that her belief that life itself was a valuable thing. Astra then asked, "Why do you think Sora would kill children, assuming that this video is actually him. Maybe figuring out why he did it might help."

"The Sora I met back at the factory seemed to have a kind heart, though troubled it may have been. I did feel sadness and anger in his heart that he was trying to supress, but that isn't something that would motivate him to do this. There's no doubt in my mind that this is a trap of some sort, and KRONOS really are the only one who could benefit against pitting us against Sora and his friends. Let's not even contemplate the possibility of a mysterious fourth party," Rhea said.

"Yeah, let's not make this more complex than it has to be. My head already hurts enough as it is," Astra said. "I mean, even if we prove it's not decisively Sora, why do I have the feeling that Alfonso and some of the others still won't accept it as an answer. I don't even know what Desiree's position on it is anymore. She's eased up a bit but I still think she has a grudge against him. That 'Parisian pride' as she calls it. What's Kohle's position on this? I know he has to act objectively but he must have some opinion."

"His is the same as mine. He would rather just focus on KRONOS while making sure we keep an eye on Sora. If we can convince him to join Moira's Crescent, that would be even better. But Moira's Crescent isn't just some hive mind of collective thoughts. We're individuals and because of that, we don't always think alike. Kohle can't just say 'don't do this!' and expect everyone to follow it except in really special circumstances. When Desiree went after Sora, that was of her own accord, not an order. I have a feeling she won't be the last either. If that ever happens, or if this evidence really is enough to convince the others that he's a threat, I… wouldn't mind if you left Moira's Crescent to protect Luna." Rhea appeared to choose her words carefully at the end but shook her head quickly and amended them. "Or rather, I'd understand."

"Rhea…" Astra said in a worried tone, to which was countered by Rhea's blatantly deceptive smile.

"It would be fine. You more than anyone else here would have something to lose if you didn't, and I'll do my best to keep you out of harm's way."

"Say, why don't we go out and get some lunch? I'm starving!" Astra said rather forcefully. Even so, the truth was beginning to dawn upon her and in her heart was a fear worse than any Heartless could instil. She didn't want to choose.


Three Days Later…

"Is this really all you girls do every day? I'll never understand women, kupo," Kupopo said, watching as Kairi clamped down on the last few undone sections of Luna's hair with a curling iron and curled outwards.

"Kupopo, that's offensive. They're girls, not women," Riku joked, only to back down after receiving a death glare from Kairi.

"Well, the curls definitely suit you, Luna. Not sure if you couldn't have done it at a better time though. We're almost at our destination," Sora said, swivelling around in the pilot seat to check Kairi's work before spinning around again. After somehow managing to convince Yen Sid and Neuge to bring Riku and Kairi with them, of which Sora assumed was Luna's grand plan that she had mentioned in response to his own, the group had left Radiant Garden not just in search of a new candidate to succeed Alice, but something else as well. Sora looked to his right as the others were talking and set his eyes upon the strange puzzle box given to him by the gods on Olympus.

It had pretty much been with him since the start of his journey with Luna and he hadn't really paid too much attention to it, until now that is. Of course he wondered—he spent a good amount of time doing that—but it had taken his feisty redhead of a friend to finally get him to pursue the object's true purpose. With what Mirage had told him about KRONOS going after Atlantis and the puzzle box being the key, they had the clues to take them all the way.

He reluctantly considered the possibility that Abraxas had wanted to help them. As farfetched as it may have sounded before he and Luna had entered the Grid to find Tron, if the discovery of Atlantis was anything like the rebirth of the ISOs then Abraxas would most likely want them to see something from his point of view. Abraxas had planted breadcrumbs and wanted Sora to follow them. Perhaps Abraxas had even already stumbled across Atlantis.

"Sora, you ever thought about getting your hair cut? Make it look a bit like Roxas'?" Kairi asked. She sneaked up from behind and grabbed hold of a piece of his hair.

"Hey-hey-hey, no one's touching the hair, okay? As far as I'm concerned, Roxas can keep his and I can keep mine," Sora answered, successfully managing to push her away from him. He sighed as his eyes finally set sight on a green world steadily approaching them. The world surely couldn't be the kind of place that a candidate for the Princess of Heart would live, assuming the greenery was a jungle or forest. It also didn't look like the kind of place KRONOS would come to, though he supposed if they were to have a hideout, it would also be in the most inconspicuous of places, such as this.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Riku asked, popping back in the co-pilot seat next to him.

"Why not? Let's give it a shot," Sora said grinning. He pushed forward on the acceleration and the booster engines came to life.


The young girl hopped from one branch to the next, alternating feet. It almost seemed as if she were floating from the way she landed so gracefully. The many tall trees in the area provided a quick shortcut to her, one that she had known almost her entire life much to her advantage. She usually went exploring on most days, venturing off to a greater distance than her father, the chief, or her best friend, Nakoma, would have reasonably expected of her. As far as they knew, after working in the fields, the young girl would go off to watch Kocoum hunt the beast prowling the land for what would be their source of food. She had no interest in something like that. She had no interest in Kocoum, for that matter.

"Pocahontas! There you are, I've been looking all over for you. Kocoum said he hadn't see you at all today," Nakoma yelled from down below. Pocahontas winced. She had been hoping to at least have some more time to herself.

"I'll have you know that I was just on my way back to the village. You worry about me too much, Nakoma," Pocahontas replied. She jumped onto a lower branch first before making a final leap and landing on the ground on all fours.

"Only because you don't worry about yourself enough. I feel sorry for Kocoum. He told me he feels as if you're trying to ignore him lately."

"Well if you care so much about him, you can have him," Pocahontas said. The two friends started on their walk back to the village settlement, choosing to take their time as always.

"Oh? Can I?"

"Nakoma!"

"What? He is rather cute. Come on, what do you think about him? And be honest," Nakoma interrogated.

"What do I think of him? I don't. He's okay, I suppose," Pocahontas said.

"Just 'okay'? Well, if that's how you feel, maybe I should marry him," Nakoma said.

"Feel free. He's far too serious for me. Suppose, for instance, that he was more in touch with his emotional side, then possibly…" Pocahontas said. "You should have seen him with the children. There they were, asking him to play with them, but he just ignored them. I don't think he intentionally meant it but he's just very awkward around people who aren't his hunting group. He only knows war and not joy. I'm sure if you wanted tried to initiate a conversation with him it would last all of about twenty seconds, and that's if you're lucky."

"Well, you'll find I have a way with words. I'll charm him within half the twenty," Nakoma humored them both, though Pocahontas had the feeling that Nakoma really believed it, if not partially. "On a more serious topic. You really shouldn't be out by yourself. It's way too dangerous, especially with the strange things that are going on. You know your father wouldn't like it if he found you wandering around by yourself especially with some of our hunters going missing."

"He would probably put me under Kocoum's protection," Pocahontas joked, but her friend didn't find it so funny.

"He would probably just make sure you head straight back to the village after working. Those strange demons that have been seen around the village recently are no doubt behind it, but I feel that Chief Powhatan doesn't want to cause a panic just yet. Even so, he can't have you running around and out of sight."

"I'll be fine. You might say I know these forests inside and out," Pocahontas said. Perhaps it was a cruel curse that no sooner had the words left her mouth that a group of demons popped out from the ground and circled them. They were tall and imposing, carrying swords in their hands. Worse yet, it was as if their yellow eyes could stare deep into Pocahontas' soul.

"Stay away from us! Go! We're not afraid of you," her friend yelled out at them, though her quivering voice told the opposite. Pocahontas took hold off her hand and waited for an opening or chance to escape. She, for a second or so, pictured herself and Nakoma ducking under two of these creatures as they approached, but the more she waited for such a chance, the more she began to fear that her vivid imagination was just that and the less she was willing to take such a risk. In the end, all she could do was hold onto Nakoma and close her eyes.

"You'll want to keep your eyes open if you want to survive."
Pocahontas obeyed the unfamiliar voice's suggestion and looked to see a boy with spiky brown hair suddenly next to her. He was not one of them— that much was clear from the color of his skin— and she slowly backed away from him.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, it's okay. I won't hurt you, I promise. I'm Sora. I'm gonna get you two to safety, okay?" Sora introduced before extending his hand at and flicking his wrist. A ball of fire shot out of his hand only for the creature he was targeting to fly out of the way of the attack. Even so, it had made an opening and Sora ushered them to follow him.

"Pocahontas, are you sure we should follow him? Did you see what he just did?"

"You'd rather die? Come on, Nakoma," Pocahontas said before dragging the girl along with her.

Sora motioned for them to go ahead of him before pulling out a strange weapon. He threw attack after attack at the demons, who cut through or dodged them easily enough. Sora frowned and stopped in his tracks before looking back at Pocahontas and Nakoma.

"Keep going! My friends are just up ahead," he said.

Are your friends just as weird? Was what Pocahontas thought to ask but considering it was rude to ask such a question, she instead asked, "Will you be alright here? You should run too. You can't beat them."

"Yeah, well I can certainly try," Sora said before giving them an expectant look. "Go!"

"You don't need to tell us twice. Let's go Pocahontas," Nakoma said, now taking the leadership role of the two. Pocahontas nodded absently but was transfixed by what was going on in front of her. Her saviour displayed impressive feats with his technique, not staying in one place for too long and flicking his weapon in fast strokes at the demons. Even then, from what little she saw before she heard Nakoma call her name again, it was still not enough to defeat them.

Wishing that she could help him out somehow, but realizing the only way to help was to not be in his way, Pocahontas turned and left with her friend. After running a good amount, the two girls stopped to catch their breath, Nakoma leaning against a tree and looking back at where they had come from.

"Are you worried about him?" Pocahontas asked.

"More so wondering where he came from. He's different. Then again, he did save us so I suppose he has good intentions. But that strange magic he was wielding. It was… scary," Nakoma debated with herself.

"He created fire from his hand only and then there was that weapon that just appeared in his hands. I remember my father spoke of a story once of a demon trickster who possessed the gift of all the elements of nature. Looking at him, it just reminded me of that story," Pocahontas said.

"You don't think he's a reincarnation or something, do you?" Nakoma asked.

"It's just a story. I really don't think he's a trickster. He said he had friends so maybe they're the same," Pocahontas said. The mention of these friends soon heralded three figures who, like Sora, she had never seen before and certainly were not a part of their tribe.

"You three… are you friends of Sora?" Pocahontas came out of the shadow of the tree before Nakoma could stop her.

"Yes. Is there something wrong? Why isn't he with you?" the auburn-haired girl asked.

"Those demons surrounded us. He kept them at bay so we could get to safety. He told us that we would find you up ahead," Nakoma explained.

"That's Sora for you. Well, I'm Riku. This is Kairi and Luna," the silver-haired one of the group introduced.

"Nice to meet you," the brown-haired girl with the curls, Luna, said with a warm smile. "He's in that direction? Okay, I'll make sure he's okay and meet up with you guys back at the village."

"Wait, you've been to our village?" Nakoma enquired in shock.

"Right. The chief asked us to bring back his daughter and her friend. One of the villagers was just attacked by those creatures you saw. That's about all we've heard so far. When we get back, the chief can explain the rest," Luna replied. She nodded at Riku and Kairi and gave Pocahontas and Nakoma another smile before heading off in the direction they had come from.

The frost that covered the dead leaves on the ground definitely signalled that it was also winter in this world just like in Radiant Garden. The forest she was in was unlike any she had ever been in however. It was beautiful and serene yet seemed to possess a mysterious and unsettling force, almost like the forest was actually alive. Slightly agitated by this juxtaposition, Luna's jog became more of a run as she hurried to find Sora.

When she did find him, Sora was warping and slamming into the Invisibles like a pinball of blue light. Having spotted Luna, two of the Invisibles left Sora's side and flew forward. Luna ducked as one swung its sword. She flicked her wrist, a sphere of wind forming around her hand, and punched forward with her fist at its side. Her hand cut through the Invisible cleaning, severing its torso from its legs and taking it out. The remaining Invisible stabbed its sword into the ground and disappeared. Luna looked down to see a purple ring revolving around her. When she tried to move, the ring did also, staying around her and causing her to panic.

"Er… Sora?" Luna yelled out, keeping her eyes on the ring.

Sora went out of his warping phase and gave a quick look her way. He quickly judged the amount of the time before the ring closed in on her waist and sprinted forward, grabbing her hand and guiding her out of the ring before it could hit. When the Invisible appeared once again in physical form, Luna ran forward, jumped and cut from the Heartless' head downwards before it could take the sword out of the ground.

"It's a last second thing. Just roll or jump out of the way before it can-" Sora found himself abruptly cut off when an Invisible from the three left rose into the air and spun around, creating a bunch of dark orbs which were sent at them. He and Luna raised their Keyblades and deflected the shots quickly. After cutting through one of the orbs, Sora warped into the air and cast Reflect. The orb bounced off against his shield and slammed into the spinning Invisible. Sora turned his attention to the last two Invisibles and shot of an instant Ragnorok, the yellow lights spiralling from the tip of his Keyblade and raining down on the Heartless like arrows.

"Well that was more trouble than it was worth. They're getting harder," Sora said.

"Didn't seem like you had much trouble to me. In fact, I'd say you were waiting for me to arrive so you could show off," Luna complimented with an amused smile.

"Why would I need to show off now? Besides, I've never had to use this much of my strength on these things before," Sora said.

"You clearly haven't spent too much time in the Realm of Darkness, I see. Every fight in there had my life pretty much flashing before my eyes. This is nothing in comparison. But I've had that feeling too, not for those things, but for Shadows. After you ran off and left us-"

"Oh, about that… sorry, but the chief's daughter and his friend were in trouble. The more time we wasted standing around, the more likely they were in danger," Sora said.

"And I applaud your rashness, but that's not what I'm getting at. The Heartless. We encountered a bunch of Shadows on our way here, you know, the small fry. We fought them but, maybe it's just me, but there was something different about the way they were acting. They were playing a lot more defensively than they usually do. Yeah, I'm sure about it! They were consciously trying to evade our attacks and help each other out as opposed to just going in."

"Conscious...? If the Heartless are getting stronger, then we're in big trouble. We don't need the Heartless in the Realm of Light acting like they do in the Realm of Darkness."

"Agreed. Anyway, let's head back to village. With any luck, bringing back Pocahontas and Nakoma will stop the villagers from giving us those strange stares," Luna said.

"We're not exactly around from here. I think it'll take some time for them to get used to us," Sora said.

"It still makes me feel like we're not welcome here. It almost makes me wish I was smaller than I already am. Hey, we really need to go back to Wonderland sometime to get more of those mushrooms," Luna said and Sora laughed cheerfully at her timidity. With that, together the two made their way back through the forest trees, though not without stopping to admire some of the scenery along the way.


The village of the Powhatan tribe was a fortified settlement, as if it were a completely different world within a world, bordered off by the wood gathered from the trees that were once there no doubt. Within its walls were huts made of straw, and Sora and Luna, not having had much time to check out the village before they were assigned their mission by the chief, they became mesmerized the different style of housing to what they were used to.

This was much to the annoyance of the villagers however. Luna's fears were justified in that most of the villagers gave them strange looks, some showed fear and others curiosity. It wouldn't have even bothered them so much if they weren't stopping what they were doing just to look at the two outsiders. Luna seemed to want to shrink into non-existence and stayed close behind Sora, who found it all rather funny and cute but understandable. With that in mind, Sora took his sight away from the hut he was checking and made his and by extension Luna's way to the chief's hut, located in the centre of the village.

"There they are. Nice to see you two slowpokes finally show up," Riku said as they entered.

"Were we too slow, or were you just too fast?" Sora asked.

"Too slow. Definitely, too slow," Kairi said.

"Well, that joke fell about as flat as Kairi trying to make bread," Sora replied, only to receive a smack on the back of the head from Luna. "Ow!"

"For you, Kairi," Luna said.

"Thank you, Luna." Kairi threw a devilishly sweet smile Sora's way before turning to the chief. "Sorry about that. Since we weren't properly introduced before, here's Sora and Luna."

"Sora, Luna, I thank you for helping my daughter and her friend." Chief Powhatan bowed as deeply as he could, earning an uncomfortable look from Sora and a smile from Luna.

"It was really all because of Sora. The eager beaver of our team," Luna said.

"Oh, no, it's nothing really. How are you two doing?" Sora asked looking at Pocahontas and Nakoma who were in the back of the room.

"We're fine, thank you," Nakoma said. Seeing a waiting gaze from the chief, her mouth soon formed an 'oh' and she ran past them and out of the hut. It wasn't too long before she returned with a basket full of corn. "These are from our fields. Please accept them as a token of our appreciation."

"Thanks. Oh, this looks great!" Kairi exclaimed, accepting the basket excitedly.

"But are you sure you don't need it? We wouldn't want to take food away from you or anything," Riku said.

"We have plenty. I should… um, be off now. I'll be around if you need me." Nakoma fumbled around with her hands awkwardly almost as if she were avoiding eye contact with Riku. She eventually looked up at Pocahontas and nodded her head before running back out.

Sora walked behind Riku and gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "She's totally into you, man!" he whispered with a grin.

"Uh huh. Her and the other thirty four girls you've decided to add to my list," Riku replied.

"Wait, there's a list? A list for what?" Sora asked. When Riku ignored his question, Sora made a quick mental note of having to ask him later.

"Hey, do you mind telling us what's been happening as of late in this village? You said earlier briefly that the attack on that villager hasn't been the first. There've been more like this one?" Riku asked the chief.

"Like this… and worse. I have never seen anything like it in all my years. I keep wondering to myself if I have angered the spirits somehow, and if so, why my tribe has to pay the price. We hold no grudge or harm against mother earth and all her creatures. I will tell you of our predicament, though I know of no way that you may be able to help."