So I got the flu last week, but having to go on trains a lot will do that. So since I didn't feel like writing Through Smoke and Flames while I was sick, you're going to get world building instead. Now this world takes place in between the first movie and its sequel. I don't usually acknowledge the sequel's existence anyway outside of a few things so I have some flexibility in that regard. This is basically the KH1 Neverland of this story so hope you all enjoy.


Chapter 70

Out of Time

Luna woke up, her eyes battered wildly as if they were blinking lights for a moment before finally staying fixated on the ceiling. The first thing she did was place her thumb on her face to wipe away the streak of water that had originated from her eyes. She had been dreaming but the dream felt so real, almost as if she had really been there. The only things she could really remember from it was brief images of keys clashing against one another in some wasteland, and pieces of armor she was wearing falling away to reveal her face, or someone who looked much like her. There were similarities but the lookalike differed in the color of her eyes. They were a chocolate brown in contrast to Luna's blue. Even if it hadn't been her, the person she had been in her dream still felt incredibly familiar.

She sat upright and examined her surroundings. She was in a square room with a bed and a glassless window. She stood on the bed and looked out to see strange looking monoliths or pillars on the water. They were man-made as far as she could tell, crafted in a specific way probably to reflect traditions or something like that.

Jumping off the bed, she walked over to the door and put her hand on the handle. The door gave way easily as she twisted it and she let out a sigh, glad that her worries about the door being locked hadn't come to pass.

Awaiting her on the other side of the door were the backs of Sora, Riku, Kairi, Rapunzel and Kupopo. At the sound of the door closing they all turned to greet her.

"Took you long enough, sleepy head. We were waiting for you before checking this place out," Sora said.

"But… where is here?" Luna asked. She placed a hand on her head and tried to recall what had happened. Their Gummi Ship had been whipped back and forth in the confusion of the dust storm. The last thing she remembered was a bright light somewhere near her and then nothing.

"Atlantis? Could this be Atlantis?" Kairi asked suddenly.

"Now what in the world would possess you to say something like that?" Riku asked back, looking unimpressed.

"Just this feeling I had. That, and well… you didn't see it but this thing was glowing in my pocket during the storm." Kairi took out the puzzle box from her pocket and showed it to them.

Luna let out a gasp. "It's open!"

The top of the box had sprung open, splitting into four triangles that flipped outwards according to which edge they belonged to. Luna peered inside the box to see a folded up piece of paper inside. "Have you looked at it yet?"

"Nope. Don't you just love suspense?" Kairi asked.

"But how did it even open? Did the dust storm having something to do with it?" Sora asked.

"Maybe. We could have also been close to Atlantis which is why it unlocked. Maybe it was the key to bringing us here," Kairi replied.

"We could have been close… or very far. Who knows how far away we are from where we were? We could be on the other side of the realm of light for all we know," Riku said.

"But your ship's alright, isn't it?" Rapunzel asked.

"Well, we haven't been able to find it yet. Hopefully it's nearby. Anyway, let's see what that piece of paper says," Riku said. The group gathered around Kairi as she took out the piece of paper and unfolded it to read its contents.

"You have been brought here to this holy ark to seek out the truth hidden beneath the surface of truth, that which has been lost to time immemorial. Here outside the hourglass, where all of time can be viewed if you so choose, you need only see not with your eyes, but with your heart and you will find the way. When you find this truth, what you do with it, I leave in your capable hands." After she finished reading it, Kairi scrolled through it again quickly with her eyes before looking up.

"Well if the truth is going to be as confusing as this piece of paper, I don't think I want to find it," Sora said. "I mean, really? The truth hidden beneath the surface of truth? Riddles are not really my thing."

"I can't disagree. My mom was really good with riddles but I'm not her. There are a few things I'm familiar with though. I think during one of my first sessions with Neuge, she mentioned how we Keyblade wielders exist outside an hourglass so… maybe I'm wrong but do you think this place is special somehow? Maybe we're not even in the realm of light right now," Luna suggested.

"I don't want to rule anything out as impossible but how was a box even able to do something like that?" Riku asked.

"I'm sure it's some kind of magic that only works when the time is right. Hmm, let's see… 'holy ark'… does that mean anything to anyone?" Kairi asked.

"Well, holy is another word for blessed so something that is held in high esteem or is sacred," Luna said.

"In other words, it's a very important place. I guess part of the mystery is finding out why it's so important," Riku said.

Luna nodded and continued, "And an ark is like a chest and in chests you tend to find all sorts of precious items. So put together, this place is a valued treasure."

"And you say you're not good at riddles. That was amazing!" Rapunzel praised with a beaming smile.

"Well, I can exchange words for others if I know them, and that's about the gist of it. I have no idea about the more cryptic stuff like what Sora mentioned. The truth hidden beneath the surface of truth? Sounds like a bunch of gibberish to me."

"So, this place is a chest and we're been brought here to look for the treasure, whatever this truth is, and it's something that has been lost for a really long time. Is that right?" Sora summarized.

"Yeah, but we can't see it with our eyes. In other words, it shouldn't be plainly visible," Luna said. Seeing the looks of scepticism on Sora and Riku's faces, she tried to ease their fears. "Come on guys. It's just like a treasure hunt. We can do this AND find out about this place a bit more. It'll be great fun!"

"Well this place looks different from anything we've seen before so I'm all for a little adventure," Sora said. He surveyed the twinkle in Rapunzel's eyes with a smile. "So how's your first experience with a new world going? Everything you'd hoped it would be?"

"All that and more! I can't believe this. I'm really in another world!" Rapunzel squealed, bouncing up and down.

"That's enough energy for all of us." Riku chuckled before addressing all of them. "Alright, I think we should split up and gather as much information as possible. Let's meet back here in an hour."

"Alright, how about we partner up then? I'll go with Luna and Rapunzel. Is that fine?" Kairi asked.

"Why those two specifically?" Sora asked with a raised brow.

"Why not those two specifically? Now shoo! Go on your boy band adventures and leave us girls to ourselves," Kairi said.

"Wait, I don't get it. What does it matter who-"

"Sora, don't question it. This is one fight you won't win," Riku said, dragging Sora along with him. After seeing Kupopo off as well, Luna, Kairi and Rapunzel made for the opposite direction to see what wonders awaited them.

Atlantis, as Luna knew it from her mother's stories, somehow proved just as accurate as she had told them. The city was a mixture of old air and new. Ancient architecture and technology. They stopped for a moment to watch as a child raised a giant sphere of water out of a bowl. As the child moved his hands like he, the shape of the water changed as if he were moulding clay. The now transformed water bird flew over their heads causing them to gasp in wonder. It flew circles around them a few more times before flying straight into the bowl where it attained its natural form once again.

"That was amazing! How did you do that, if you don't mind me asking?" Rapunzel asked the boy while kneeling next to him.

"You can't? Everyone I know can. You're supposed to start learning hidden arts from the moment you start school. You must have a bad teacher," said the boy. He smiled at her and at the behest of his mother, who had been standing by the doorway of their house, ran to her side.

"Everyone can perform magic here? That's pretty neat," Luna said. She looked to the woman and called for her attention. "Excuse me? You're this child's mother? I was wondering if you could tell us about this place. We're kind of new here."

"Yes, I can certainly tell that much. How did you get here if you don't mind me asking?" the woman asked.

"We don't really know. That's also something we're looking into," Kairi said. "This place… are we really in Atlantis?"

"We are. You wouldn't happen to be with Milo Thatch, would you?" the woman asked.

"Milo Thatch…? Never heard of them," Luna answered after checking with Kairi.

"He appeared a few years ago from another world. He alone amongst his crew decided to stay to aid our Queen, Kida, in rediscovering our ancient roots."

"Ancient roots?" Luna repeated.

The mother nodded and placed her hands on the boy's shoulders. "The art you just witness my son perform… it's one of many that we've been able to rediscover thanks to Milo. Before Atlantis was restored to its former glory, we had lost most of our culture and history to the fragile thing known as human memory. Just when we thought all hope was lost, Queen Kida with the help of Milo and our late King were able to resurrect and raise the heart of Atlantis."

"The heart of Atlantis? I'm sorry for asking so many questions but this is all completely new to us," Luna explained.

"Oh, don't worry. It's not every day you see new faces around here so I'm just as excited as you are. Anyway, the heart of Atlantis is the means by which we're able to perform arts. We've learned to draw energy from it and channel it into something else. More specifically, that energy is transferred into the crystals around our necks." The mother held up the pendant around her neck so they could see the tiny glowing crystal that was attached. Her son proudly followed in showing off his own matching pendant.

"Wow! So it's not magic like we know it then. Rather than coming from within you, you draw yours from an external source," Kairi said, holding the crystal gently in between her index finger and thumb. After twirling it about for a few seconds, she let it drop and asked, "Where is this heart of Atlantis?"

"It hovers high in the middle of the city. I'd suggest going to the palace if you want to check it out. That's also where Queen Kida and Milo are so I'd advise visiting them to find out more."

Luna nodded and clasped her hands together. "Alright, we should get going then. I'm sure you must be very busy. Thank you."

"Don't worry, I'm glad I could be of help. Just feel free to come back if you need anything else. My name is Nizhoni and this is my son, Wayra," the woman said.

"It was nice to meet the two of you. My name's Luna and this is Rapunzel and Kairi," Luna replied. Nizhoni's smile faded and her face turned a sickly white. Her eyes rested on Kairi for a moment before looking away. Luna exchanged looks with Kairi before asking, "Is something wrong?"

"Um, no, nothing, I-" Nizhoni's glanced sideways before looking back at them. "I'm sorry, I have something I need to do. It might even take me the whole day. Have a fun time at the palace." With that, she closed the door quickly, leaving them glued to their spots in confusion.

"What just… happened?" Rapunzel asked.

"I don't know but… she looked at me after hearing my name as if she was afraid of me. Maybe she really was, but why?" Kairi asked.

"Oh, you have something on your face," Luna said, pointing at Kairi's mouth. Kairi quickly moved to wipe whatever it was away but upon realizing that Luna was just joking, she folded her arms and turned her gaze elsewhere. "Oh, come on, Kairi, I was just playing around. You know, it just occurred to me—we're standing in history! I mean, this is Atlantis, one of the most advanced cities possibly from the Old World. That would have been around the time the Keyblade War started, right? Maybe that's the truth we're looking for—the thing that's been forgotten. Maybe we'll find out what happened all those years ago."

"Well I certainly can't think of a truth as big as this," Kairi said. It seemed she had already dismissed Luna's lame attempt at a joke, or maybe she was just really good at acting, Luna couldn't tell. "And what we do with it will be up to us. I feel kind of powerful having such a responsibility."

"Excuse me for being the third wheel and all but what exactly is this Old World? Oh, and the Keyblade War? Since it's a war I can imagine it must have been horrible," Rapunzel said.

"Well the Old World is… okay, before the worlds were all divided like they are today, they were all together. At least that's how Sora told it to me. I don't really know anything else except that the Keyblade War was the thing that split one world into many," Luna explained to her.

Kairi nodded and took over for her. "No one really knows about what happened during that war so I couldn't tell you much about it. Like Atlantis, it was so long ago that no one is even sure it really happened. But we're standing here in Atlantis now so… anyway, let's keep moving."

Moss-covered walls and buildings were their reward every corner they continued to turn and the street itself was at times uneven and cracked as if an earthquake had struck at one point. Assuming this were outside of the unit of measurement known as time, the world had clearly been battered by it like a raging storm over the ages. Whether the gods mentioned in the story had really been responsible for this or not was debatable but it clear that the Atlanteans were trying to salvage whatever was left to rebuild their broken world.

Rapunzel was the first to point out the palace as Luna and Kairi were talking. The land mass that inhabited the palace was separated by bridge and water. Looking around, Luna could guess that the structure of Atlantis was spider-like, with the palace in the middle and the rest of the city surrounding it as individual islets.

"That thing up there must be the heart of Atlantis, right? I wonder what those things are surrounding it…" Luna said, tilting her head back to get a better look.

"Not sure. They look like stone? I count… ten. Well, I don't think we should go farther without Sora and Riku. Let's head back and tell them what we've learned," Kairi said.

Though budding anticipation had its grip on Luna's heart like a vice, she resisted its urges and nodded. She found the experience much like waiting for Christmas. Just because it was close, being impatient would only make the experience less sweet. She had learned that present when she had sneaked downstairs to open one of her presents on Christmas Eve when she was six. She had tried wrapping back the present after opening but when the actual day arrived and she reopened the present in front of her parents, her mother could tell instantly that Luna was faking her reaction. Probably had she waited just another day, she would have felt the warmth of her parents' proud smiles instead of them chiding her.

"A bit obtuse to compare Atlantis to your Christmas presents of all things, no?" Abraxas' voice said into her ear. He pulled back and Luna anxiously turned her head to see him place a hand on her shoulder forcing her to swat away at what she was sure was nothing to Kairi and Rapunzel. Abraxas sighed and shook his head. "You may shun me but I am a part of you, Luna, remember that. You're pretty much just shunning yourself."

"SHUT UP!" Luna yelled at him. She found herself looking at Rapunzel. "Oh dear. Rapunzel, I'm so sorry, that wasn't meant for you. I was just… I'm just a bit tired, I guess."

Rapunzel and Kairi looked at each other worriedly. They must have thought her insane, she imagined. Then again, she had to be if she were seeing a dead man pop up every now and then.


"Hey, you guys find anything out?" Sora asked as Kairi, Luna and Rapunzel joined back up with him, Riku and Kupopo. Kairi wasted no time in telling them about Nizhoni and Wayra. What they learned led to them paying more attention to the residents of the city as they made their way to the palace. It seemed that everyone in the city had a similar looking pendant that allowed them to perform magic.

"Yeah, we saw it too," Sora replied after Kairi finished talking about the Heart of Atlantis. "Those stone effigies that surround the crystal? Those are apparently based on the past kings of Atlantis. They kind of act as guardians for the crystal and the city in general. Funnily enough, Kupopo was the first one to bring up an interesting point."

"What do you mean 'funnily enough', kupo?" Kupopo eyed him with narrow eyes.

"Kupopo, do you want me to touch that pom-pom on your head?" Sora asked with a sly grin.

"Not if you want to suffer greatly, kupo, then I would advise against it," Kupopo said. He flew out of Sora's reach and by Rapunzel's side. "Well I was wondering, could the Heart of Atlantis be the same as the heart of this world, and if so, would that mean that this world doesn't have a keyhole?"

"Huh? Good thinking, we never thought of it like that. But how can the heart of the world not be locked behind a keyhole? So it's just floating there, accessible to absolutely anyone?" Luna asked.

"We know too little about this world to say anything concrete but I wouldn't be surprised if the rules of other worlds don't apply to this one. For one, this world might exist outside of time, then there's also the fact that people can use this heart to perform magic, something that only a few people should be able to do."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to the palace," Kairi said eagerly, only to be stopped by Riku's hand.

"Hang on there. We haven't finished reporting yet. We found the Gummi Ship. It was in a rather… precarious position until we got it down," he told them.

"Oh, that's great! Actually, I need to get that alchemy book from my room-"

"Already have it. I thought we would need it," Riku held up his other hand concealed behind his back to show them the book they had gotten from the laboratory under the cathedral.

"You really do think of everything, don't you?" Kairi said while taking the book into her hands.

"I try," Riku said, placing his hands in his pockets and shrugging. The group started on their way back down the path the girls had taken earlier and soon reached the bridge that separated the islands once again. They crossed over to the other side and were stopped at the palace by the Atlantean guards.

Luna observed that they were each holding a spear though this was not so much important as the material the head of the spear was made out of. Kupopo must have realized it too because she had learned all about synthesis materials from him. The spearhead itself was made of obsidian judging from its shiny black color. That kind of material was extremely rare to find and originated mainly in regions with volcanic activity. Luna looked down at the ground underneath her and gulped.

She looked back up just in time to see the doors open in front of her. Kairi thanked them and the group headed in. Though she had been thinking a lot about the possibility of being near a potential lava pool, she had picked up that they were supposed to be heading to the throne room.

After making their way through a weathered room with debris and fallen pillars, they stopped short at large double doors. Sora looked at everyone for the go ahead. When they nodded, he wrapped each hand around one handle and pulled. The door gave way more easily than they had expected, given the size of the doors. Finding out he didn't have to exert as much of an effort as he had expected, Sora let out a light chuckle to himself before continuing to pull. The doors gave way almost immediately allowing for them the view of an entire room.

The throne room in comparison to the others in the palace had a pleasant warmth that was both relaxing and homely. They made their way down the aisle to the far end of the room where two figures were waiting. The first, much like the rest of her people, was copper-skinned with poreless and youthful skin. Also like other Atlanteans, she carried blue-colored tattoos on the right side of her face. The man next to her however was not unlike any of the other Atlanteans they had encountered. He must have been the other person Nizhoni had mentioned, the one who had come from another world.

"Milo Thatch?" Luna called out as they reached the two. Despite being in a supposed throne room, the room seemed more a strategy room if anything. The two were standing around a table looking down at something when Luna and the group had arrived.

"Yeah, that's me… you guys are definitely not from around here. How did you get here?" Milo asked.

"How did you get here?" Riku asked back.

Milo chuckled and nodded. "Fair point. Um, how did you know about me, if you don't mind me asking?"

"One of the Atlanteans we met told us about you. You're from another world, right? I- uh…" Luna lost her train of thought as her eyes fell downward at Kida's legs. Milling around on the floor was a strange purple reptilian with an elongated snout and long tongue that she had never seen before.

"Oh, don't worry about him, he's just my lovely snuggly Obby. He's an obidalbedsugs," Kida replied.

"An ugly-whatnow? Ow!" Sora rubbed his arms after being hit on the arm by Kairi. "I- I mean, he's very… unique."

"Unique is right. He's so cute! Obby is a great name!" Rapunzel said, running up to the reptile before anyone could stop her. As she reached out for it, Obby recoiled and tried to bite her hand, sending Rapunzel screaming and running back to their side.

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. He's usually like that with strangers unless I tame him. One moment." Kida knelt down and placed a hand on Obby's snout. Luna tilted her head to the right to see her take the crystal around her neck in her other hand and muttered a few words. There was a faint blue glow and when it disappeared, Obby was running towards them.

"Ah!" Rapunzel yelled and put up her hands to defend herself, but Obby tackled her and began licking her on the face. Her cries soon turned into giggles as she rolled about on the floor with a grin on her face.

"Well that was a quick turnaround. She already loves it considering it was just about to bite her hand off a few seconds ago," Riku said.

"It? It is not an it. Obby is a he. I am quite against the objectification of my friend. Did I use that word correctly?" Kida asked, looking to Milo.

"Err, that's not really what he meant by 'it'," Milo replied with an awkward laugh.

"Either way, it looks like you have a bit of competition on your hands, eh, Kupopo?" Sora asked with a grin.

"Touch the pom-pom, kupo. I dare you!" Kupopo shot back. Kida looked at him and her eyes began sparkling. Before Kupopo could fly away, Kida had taken hold of him and started squeezing the moogle's cheeks.

"What a strange toy. The texture seems rather rubbery and his wings… they are quite aerodynamic, I believe the word is. Never have I seen such an advanced piece of technology before."

"Well, as much as I would love to let this continue, there is a reason most Moogles we come across are holographic nowadays. Never mind the kids, apparently playing with them also makes adults feel like they're children. It's just a thing that happens but we kinda need him intact," Sora told her.

"Oops, sorry." Realizing she had been holding onto Kupopo a bit too tightly, Kida released him from her grasp and called for Obby to return to her side. Rapunzel let out a sound of disappointment and the other reptilian in the room seemed to let out very much the opposite reaction, probably because more so than trying to appease Rapunzel, Obby had been eyeing Pascal with hungry eyes for quite some time. "Anyway, I suppose introductions are in order. You know doubt already know about my husband, Milo. I am Queen Kidagakash Nedakh, but call me Kida for short."

"It's nice to meet you. So I suppose then if you're married then that makes you the King of Atlantis?" Luna asked.

"Heh, just Milo will do, really," Milo said, scratching the back of his head.

"I'm Luna, and this is Kairi, Rapunzel, Sora, Riku and the 'toy' is Kupopo," Luna introduced the group in a clockwise manner. "So the rumors were really true. We're standing in Atlantis!"

"It's amazing, isn't it? Sorry, but you're Kairi?" Milo asked, turning his head towards the redhead.

"Yeah. Speaking of which, the person who told us about you… this might just be me overthinking things but it almost seemed like she giving me a strange look," Kairi said.

"I imagine so. That name would garner a lot of attention around here, what with a Kairi once having lived here a long time ago," Milo said.

"Huh?" The group gasped out in surprise. Kairi, feeling more than a little uneasy, backed away slightly.

"What do you mean?" She asked apprehensively.

"Well, maybe we should start with the whole story. After I settled here and helped Kida take over from her dad, we set out on a mission to rediscover Atlantis. All the history, all the culture, most of what the Atlanteans identified to be their own was destroyed in a single night by Kida's father after a great flood that destroyed Atlantis. Now to lose cultural identity is a horrible thing. I mean we're talking about language, spirituality, aesthetics and an entire history in general. Books and other cultural symbols were completely destroyed leaving only the clothes on the Atlanteans' backs to give them any sense of cultural identity."

"But wouldn't the people living then have remembered and passed the information down to future generations?" Riku asked.

"Memories are not an eternal thing. I've lived for thousands of years. The memories you don't need are soon lost to make way for new ones. When it came to preservation of our people, my father deemed our culture as being detrimental to our survival."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense… wait, what? Did you just say you've lived for over a thousand years?" Riku checked with the others to make sure he had heard what he had actually heard. When everyone nodded, Riku placed a hand on his forehead. "I should have just pretended I hadn't heard that."
"I was waiting to see your reaction to that," Milo said chuckling. "That's thanks to the Heart of Atlantis that I'm sure you guys saw as you came here. All the Atlanteans here have incredibly long life spans. Despite looking like she's twenty, Kida's around 8,500 years old."

"Wow. That is… wow," Luna said. If Kida and other Atlanteans had lived for that long, then they were definitely going to lose a lot of memories along the way. Milo followed on from Kida's explanation, telling them of how the previous king had hid the Heart of Atlantis underneath his chambers. This in turn had an effect on the people of Atlantis, who began to lose their memories of the crystal and its powers. It was only until they had rediscovered as of a few years ago that the Atlanteans slowly but surely started to regain the knowledge that had been taken from them, including performing arts.

"So Atlantis wasn't destroyed by gods or anything like that, right?" Luna asked.

"Well not as far as we know. It was destroyed by a King's lust for power. King Nedakh tried to conquer and assimilate other pieces of land into Atlantis' culture using the Heart of Atlantis as a weapon. One day though, the weapon accidentally backfired and caused the flood. We don't know why it happened though it might have been out of sheer arrogance," Milo explained.

"Okay, so what was this about a Kairi living here though?" Sora asked.

"Ah, well, we've happened to find several other possible tombs hidden throughout Atlantis where King Nedakh had hidden records of Atlantis' past. In one of them, we found a record of a list of people who had been declared either deceased or missing at the time. The list seems to go down from earliest to most recent as well. A person named Kairi was one of the first names on that list. We later found other documents in another tomb with correspondence between King Nedakh and the general of the Atlantean army at the time. In the letter, King Nedakh expressed his sentiments to the general for losing his daughter, Kairi, who had been kidnapped by outsiders at some point before the letter was written. That's reflected in the words: 'They shall see justice and we will bring your daughter back safe and sound.' The letter then ended with words to the effect of, 'To boldly trespass on our land shows nothing but enmity among their kind. If they wish to fuel flames, then we shall extinguish them before they extinguish us.'"

"That's a bit chilling," Sora said. "But there are probably plenty of Kairis out there, right? I mean, you've only ever lived in Radiant Garden and the Destiny Islands. Right?"

"Of course I have. I only remember the past I actually have. Plus, I'm not thousands of years old either. Or at least, I don't think I am," Kairi said, but the downward gaze to the floor told Luna that she was not quite convinced by her own explanation.

"Well, it most definitely is a coincidence. Atlanteans have different skin tones after all. That said, whoever this Kairi was, was at least partly responsible, if not the trigger, that forced King Nedakh's hand and was what convinced him to use the Heart of Atlantis as a weapon. That's as much as I've gotten from reading the correspondence. At first, he attempted to use the Heart of Atlantis as a security measure—to protect his land from the enemies outside. Security turned to aggression and tempted by the power of the crystal, he sent warriors out to far away lands and dominated the battlefield with powerful Atlantean arts that no one had seen before."

"Seduced by power… It's funny how good intentions can so easily become twisted and warped. Once you've tasted the fruit of power, it's hard to stop eating it," Riku said.

"That's an apt comparison," replied Milo.

"But just what is this Heart of Atlantis anyway? How did it come about?" Sora asked. "I mean, you know about other worlds, right?"

"That's right. My grandfather was the first one to look into the truth behind Atlantis. He also found out about these things called Gummi blocks that would allow him to travel to other worlds. He spent his whole life collecting them, and when he finally had all the pieces, he couldn't use them. He'd passed away. On his death bed, I promised him I'd continue on his legacy and here we are," Milo explained to them. "As for the Heart of Atlantis. I honestly have no clue. If there's anything about its origins, we haven't found it yet."

"Actually, we were just preparing an expetition to another one of the tombs that we found. It would be wonderful if you could join us," Kida offered.

"Err, you mean expedition? And we'd love to join you," Luna answered gleefully.

"Wonderful. Then we'll leave from here shortly," Kida replied.

"One thing," Kairi said. Her shoulders were tensed and her fists curled into two tiny balls. "What happened to her? To Kairi? Is there anything else in the letters?"

Milo scratched his cheek and sighed. "When they found her, it was too late. She was… sacrificed."