A/N: 6.12.11: I realize that I have mentioned the name of Keira's keyblade multiple times before she actually calls it by name in this chapter. It's just made editing easier for me.

6.6.09: Hah, I said a sequel. I think this story has about four. xD I've been considering adding the names of Maleficent's other Keyblade wielders in here, but we'll see.

Old note: Before I start the chapter, I want to point out that my story has taken a different turn that I had expected: Axel and the Nobodies shouldn't be back, it was a spur of the moment thing. Like, I was sitting in study hall, bored, so I thought, "Hey! I could add Axel and the Nobodies to the story to spice things up." Yes, I do think about my fanfic 24-7. So, I just wanted to note that. I already have two ideas for the end. No matter which ending is chosen, there will probably be a sequel. To the chapter!

Using the moving stones to cross the water really was not difficult... for Kairi and Keira. Having used a limit for their first time, they were exhausted and had been, fortunately, dragged to shore by Riku and Sora, whose limit finished off Twilight Thorn. Cloud carried Keira with ease on his back, and, despite Sora's protests, Axel did the same with Kairi. As they exited the cave-like area, they were immediately greeted by the soft light of the third district.

The district was just as beautiful as Sora remembered, with the lights strung from the buildings and the glimmering fountain of the Lady and the Tramp. Once they were in the center of the district, near the fountain, Kairi and Keira were set back on their feet. "Sheesh, I was starting to worry you wouldn't show," confessed a voice from somewhere above them. The black-haired boy from the previous night dropped down from one of the buildings, landing gracefully and harmlessly on the ground.

Cloud unsheathed his sword and swung at the boy, who quickly evaded the attack and summoned Shadows in his place. "Stefa, Stefa, Stefa. You still can't recognize me? That hurts my feelings," he mocked, his eyes on Keira's still-soaked form. "How can you say that you love someone and then not recognize them? Hm?" Shadow Heart flashed into Stefa's hand, and he laughed. "Let's have some fun, then. Do you remember this trick?" His crimson keyblade flashed into his hand and pointed at her chest. She felt as if something were being pulled from her chest, and she was amazed at how much it hurt; it had not hurt before, she thought as she fell to her knees in time to see the shadow of herself take form behind her.

Keira recalled feeling two other presences in addition to her shadow's back in the darkness; now she had the identity of one of the unknowns. "Y-you? You were the one?" Her nails sank into her shirt as the knuckles on Shadow Heart turned white.

He smiled, pleased that, for a change, she understood something. "You bet. Because you are who you are, Princess," he taunted, "It's very easy to pull out that dark side of yours. Unlike most people's darkness, yours has the same intelligence as you. Well, scratch that; she's even smarter than you, I'm sure." He smirked as the dark Keira closed in on the original. There was the shuffling of feet as it did so as Riku and Sora moved in to help their new friend. The boy sighed, "This won't do; how are you supposed to learn if people are always protecting you? Stopra." Instantly, everyone (aside from the boy, Keira, and the shadow), was frozen.

"Who are you?" demanded Keira.

"Are you really in the position to be asking questions?" He turned away for a moment, shaking his head and pushing the bangs out of his face. "I'm a familiar face, right?"

The images of a grinning boy with brown hair flashed through her mind, and queasiness began to creep over her. She was both surprised and disappointed when she did not faint from the shock, though she was quite sure that, given enough time, she would be sick. "Quince...? What? Why?" The others were nearly as surprised, watching as all of the color drained from her face, that she knew the boy.

He shrugged, as if it did not much matter. "You know I've always wanted power. Always needed to be at the top of my game, right? At least, that's what you and Nalani seemed to think. That's all you need to know, at any rate." If he felt anything at all, his eyes did not betray him; Quince's eyes remained quite distant as Keira twitched at the name of her best friend. She was starting to remember something else; Quince's distasteful words in reference to Nalani brought up a flicker of a memory, but she could not force her mind to recall the entire thing. It had something to do with her sprained ankle, she could recall that much. "Now that you know who I am, will you go to Maleficent for me? Do it for me, Stefa." His voice, which, according to memory, had at one point been handsome, was raspy. From disuse, she had to assume, was the reason it sounded so off. Quince noticed her gaze at his hair, "Haha. My hair changed from brown to black in the darkness. Yours has, too."

Keira was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She wondered why only their hair had changed; it hadn't happened to Riku, right? While biting the inside of her cheek, she considered her situation. If she went to Maleficent, she would be forfeiting her heart. On the other hand, Quince was her best friend, and she could trust him. She knew, hoped, that she could. Uncertainly, Keira started forward, but she quickly stopped.

'Don't do it!' The girl's voice from the ruins of the magical house yelled. Like before, Keira did not expect the voice to have a source, so she gasped when standing just a couple of feet away was a fragile-looking blonde girl in a white sun dress.

Keira nearly felt relieved for the distraction, no matter how temporary. "Who are you?"

The blonde did not seem so sure when she responded. 'I am a witch, I guess. My name is Naminé.' The response only perplexed Keira further.

"But... you're Kairi's nobody!" This whole business with Nobodies was confusing the hell out of her.

Naminé smiled wryly. 'If you want to get technical, I'm Sora's Nobody.'

"How are you here? You should be there." Keira pointed to Kairi's frozen form.

'The normal rules of time don't apply to me. I can stop time, too,' she added, gesturing to the frozen form of Quince and Keira's shadow. Keira had not even noticed before then, and, now that she had, she felt a huge surge of relief. Despite the little (and good) she had heard about the Nobody, she could not help but feel on edge. As a cold breeze blew through the area, it only ruffled their hair, and did not seem to touch those who were frozen.

Going on what she did know about the Nobody, that she was an ally, Keira decided to look to her for guidance. "Naminé, I don't know what to do."

Naminé smiled without humor. 'I'm only a Nobody; I'm not real.'

"That's not true. You're just as real as me, but you don't have a form," corrected Keira with the slight shake of her head as she screwed her eyes shut wishing, not for the first time, that she was home in her warm bed.

The Nobody's smile became a little more amused. 'That seems a little ironic,' noted Naminé, though her gentle playfulness faded as light began to engulf her body.

At the sound of Naminé's gasp, she reopened her eyes; Naminé was staring at her arms and legs while she twisted and twirled, as if she had never looked at her own body before. Keira realized after a moment or so why the Nobody was acting that way and distantly felt her mouth drop. "You're... solid?"

"This... isn't possible; nobodies don't usually get forms. In the case of Roxas and me... we were only whole by merging with our Somebodies," mumbled Naminé mostly to herself.

Keira turned to stare at Sora's frozen form with Oblivion in hand, prepared to strike something. She closed her eyes tightly again and concentrated the light half of her heart and power into him. The same light that touched Naminé engulfed Sora, and another boy fell away from him. This boy had spiky blonde hair, differentiating them, but their facial expressions were about the same.

Naminé's face was one of awe, though it twisted into a bright smile rather quick."Roxas!" They joined him and, in their distraction, no one noticed Quince's arm move. The dark wielder groaned and raised his keyblade; the shadow was moving again, too.

"Naminé, unfreeze time!" ordered Roxas as he tried to scramble to his feet as quickly as possible, a difficult feat as he had forgotten what it felt like to control a body. Naminé squeezed her eyes shut just as Quince prepared to strike her, and Keira quickly defended with Shadow Heart, the sound of their keyblades clashing echoing in the silence. Everyone who had been in an attacking stance before freezing, like Sora, fell flat on their faces. There were joint cries of confusion as a couple of them called out the Nobodies' names.

"So it's true. They were right about you," muttered Quince, sounding almost disappointed, as he pushed down on her blade. Shadow Keira jammed her own shadowy version of Shadow Heart into Keira's side, knocking her into a wall and preparing to swing at the fallen girl.

Keira thought on her feet. "Fire!" A ring of fire surrounded her shadow, buying her enough time to crawl out of harm's way and get back on her feet. She made a turnabout, dropping Shadow Heart as threw herself against her shadow, half-asking: "L-light?" A bright light engulfed the both of them, forcing the shadow back within Keira.

Sora watched with appreciation for a moment. "Cool." His eyes dropped to his keyblade and, with a jolt, he realized he was wielding Kingdom Key. Quince had begun summoning more and more Heartless, so Roxas destroyed a Large Body on the verge of body slamminghim, Oathkeeper and Oblivion in each of his hands. "You took my keychain?" called Sora, not truly angered, mostly surprised.

Cloud slammed Quince against a wall, and he snapped, summoning more Heartless so that the courtyard was teeming with them. The large wooden doors before Keira flew open and Donald Duck quacked in surprise at the scene before him. "C'mon, Goofy!" He charged in to assist their friends with the Heartless extermination with Leon, Goofy, and Mickey close behind him.

Aerith kneeled before Keira. "Cure," she recited as she helped her stand. "All out of magic, huh? Don't worry, it'll come back." She rushed off to heal Tifa, who had just taken a nasty hit from a Defender.

Naminé and Kairi closed in on Keira as Roxas ran over to aid Sora and Riku in the slaughter of Heartless. Keira stared at her keyblade, which was lying a few feet away. "Shadow Heart," called Keira; it instantly reappeared in her hand.

"So you finally came up with a name?" asked Kairi. "Radiant Destiny," she stated with a smile, referring to her own weapon. The moment did not last long as she and Keira were lifted off their feet as someone grabbed the back of their shirts.

An annoyed, unfamiliar, voice spoke, words directed at Quince. "Can't you manage anything on your own?" Keira glanced down, her heart skipping a beat at the longest sword she had ever seen in her entire life.

A/N: 6.6.09: I added the name 'Nalani' into Quince and Stefa/Keira's exchange. It'll mean more in the next story, but I'll be periodically mentioning her.

Old note: Ew. Short chapter. I wanted to get this one out on a nice cliffhanger, though I'm sure you can guess who it is. Roxas and Naminé are back, yay! Axel should be very pleased indeed. Anyway, the reasoning for it all will be exclaimed in some time. Until next chapter, see you!