Author Note: Well, here's the next chapter. I hope you all like enjoy it. :)

Just curious, does anyone else think that Marluxia and Larxene belong together?

Chapter Eighteen: The Master, the Maester and the Nymph

I followed Kairi as she made her way into a restaurant. Ahead of us Ienzo, Terra, Aqua and Ventus were being led over to a table for six by a waitress.

It had been a day since Riku and Xion had gone missing and there still wasn't any sign of them. Everyone had agreed to wait around for them to return until ten in the morning, and if they still weren't back, we were going to leave this world or time without them. Personally I didn't think it made a difference whether we left or stayed, since we had no idea what to do next, but everyone else (besides Kairi) wanted to travel around until we figured out our next course of action.

"Hey Sora," Ventus began, looking at me from his seat at the table. "Want to sit over here?"

"Sure," I replied going over to take one of the seats beside him. Terra sat down on his other side, which left Kairi, Aqua and Ienzo sitting opposite us. Ienzo sat directly in front of me already scanning his menu.

I lifted my own menu and briefly glanced through the drinks and then onto the breakfast foods. Their jelly filled biscuits looked good.

Finally a waiter walked up, a notepad in hand and began taking everyone's orders. When it got to my turn I ordered orange juice and a biscuit with jelly inside.

I glanced around Ventus when I heard the sound of pages turning. Terra was flipping through a newspaper. From across the table Aqua also looked at him, she raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you didn't like reading the newspaper, Terra," she commented lightly, amusement clearly written across her face.

Terra folded the newspaper onto his lap. "That's right, I don't. It's just on the way here some old man walked up asking if I'd 'heard the news!'" Terra told her. "So I thought I'd take a look."

I took the lid off of my orange juice that had just arrived and took a sip. Many people thought I was crazy but I'd always liked orange juice. I glanced over at Ventus as he took the paper off of Terra's lap.

"Anything interesting going on?" Ventus asked his friend, scanning the front page.

Terra shook his head. "Nope, nothing that makes since to me anyway. It was probably some piece of gossip that you have no way of understanding unless you're from here."

Everyone remained fairly silent after that apart from Terra, Aqua and Ventus joking with each other off and on.

We all pretty much finished with our food around the same time and left the restaurant. Ienzo led the way as we walked back to our hotel; it was about five minutes until ten. I really hoped that Riku would just pop up again or maybe already be at the hotel, but I doubted it.

It didn't take very long to reach the hotel; we got there three after ten. Everyone was already there by the time we arrived, everyone besides Riku and Xion. Most everyone was talking, discussing what we should do next. Except for David, Isa and Marluxia. David and Isa were playing chess. The fact that David was Even's brother creped me out, but he actually was very different from his brother. David had a much better sense of humor. Marluxia sat beside David and Isa giving pointers whenever he felt like it to whomever he felt like giving them to. He seemed to be irritating Isa to pieces.

"Come on Sora," Kairi said, gesturing for me to follow her across the room to where Ienzo was speaking with Even, Braig and Dilan.

As we drew nearer to them Ienzo smiled apologetically.

"It sounds like everyone still wants to leave," he told me.

I nodded. I'd kinda figured that would be the case. "That's okay. Riku's not in this world anyway so we might have a better chance at running across him in a different one," I said optimistically.

"Riku seems smart, I'm sure he'll find us," Terra said, walking up behind me.

I glanced to my left as Lea came bounding up, and un-surprisingly was eating sea-salt ice cream.

"So, where're we going now?"" Lea asked, looking back and forth between Ienzo and me.

Of course it was Even that answered, though. "We've been discussing heading to a different time period and then perhaps to Traverse Town."

"When are we leaving?" Demyx asked, also walking up.

Ienzo looked around the room. "I suppose as soon as everyone's ready."

David, Isa and Marluxia joined us then, abandoning their chess game. I frowned, noticing for the first time that everyone was wearing new clothes. I was really hardly surprised to see that Marluxia was wearing a salmon colored shirt. I'd seen quite a few guys wear the same shade of pink before, my grandfather for instance. He'd told me that pink actually used to be a 'boy' color… that had surprised me for some reason.

"It looks like everyone's ready now," Marluxia told us. "Shall we be going then?"

"Yes, lets not waste anymore time," Even agreed grumpily.

Ienzo opened a time portal. That made anyone that wasn't paying attention to us look over. Only moments later everyone had gathered around it. Lea stood on my left while Kairi stood to my right. She was staring intently into the portal frowning slightly.

Even was the first to step up to the portal, he stopped just in front of it and glared back at all of us.

"I'm going to go first," Even stated matter-of-factly, still glaring at all of us. "And if any of you so much as think to object, well, you'll regret it."

"Personally, I think he should go to a funny farm," Lea muttered into my ear. I somewhat agreed.

Ienzo sighed irritably. "By all means Even, do what you like."

Even stepped into the portal, the rest of us following after him in single file.

…

I actually remained standing after going through the time portal. True I probably wouldn't have if I hadn't stumbled straight into Dilan. He glared back over his shoulder at me. Whoops.

"Watch where you're going," he told me angrily as he walked away.

I took a couple of steps back as Kairi stumbled through the portal. She wasn't as lucky though, and ended up flat on the ground.

I crouched down and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay Kairi?"

She nodded, bringing herself into a sitting position. "Yeah. Those portals really aren't funny though."

"Wow," Isa muttered a short way ahead of us. "Where are we?"

I turned around, curious as to what had surprised him that much. I looked around, a bit surprised. We appeared to be underground in some kind of village, maybe? Or perhaps we weren't. It also looked like we were in a forest; or maybe we were actually standing on trees. Pretty much everything was green, with vines and moss intertwining on most everything. The only thing that made me think that we were underground was the fact that I couldn't see the sky overhead. My eyes widened as not far ahead of us someone began walking over. He wasn't a human, that was for sure, but he resembled one. He had gray hair, long hands with extremely long fingers that ended in cat-like nails. Apart from that it looked like you could see his veins through his face, and he also had pointed ears.

The man finally reached us, a smile upon his face. "Hello there," he greeted, "Welcome to Guadosalam. I take it you're here to see the Farplane? If you take that path downwards you should reach it in under five minutes." He smiled.

"…Where?" Ventus asked, looking as confused as I felt.

The man frowned. "Why, the Farplane of course."

Ienzo stepped forward, a slight scowl upon his face. "…The Farplane… I had heard of such a place but I had no idea that it truly existed. I always believed that it was a myth," Ienzo said half to himself. He looked back at the man. "I'm sorry, what town did you say this was again?"

"Guadosalam," the man replied, no longer smiling. He then took a step back. "Well it was nice meeting all of you, but I really must be going now."

We all watched him go without any objections. When he was finally out of earshot Ienzo turned to face all of us.

"I never thought I'd see this place," Ienzo told everyone happily. "The Farplane is a place that unites the living with their memory of the dead. So it only shows illusions of them, but still."

I tilted my head to the side, frowning slightly. He made that sound like a good thing, personally I thought it sounded kinda freaky.

"Really?" Ven asked, looking intrigued. "Like anyone that you want?"

Ienzo nodded, brushing his bangs out of his face.

Ventus looked down. "What about if you've never met them before or don't remember them?"

Aqua walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't believe so, though I'm not positive," Ienzo told him. He glanced over at me. "Would it be alright if we stop in the Farplane before continuing?"

"Sure, why not," I agreed. I was curious to see it as well.

Everyone wanted to see the Farplane, so we followed the strange mans (creatures) advice and followed the path down towards it. Along the way I saw several other beings like him, some didn't pay any attention to us while others stopped whatever they were doing and stared as though they'd never seen a human before. Maybe they hadn't.

We reached the entrance to the Farplane in only a few minutes. One of the strange beings stood just outside it, he looked like he was a guarding it; he nodded at us when we walked up.

Ienzo was the first to step inside; he walked just far enough in that we could get in behind him. I followed along behind Lea and Isa as they stepped inside.

The Farplane was not a big as I had thought it would be by the sound of it. It was mainly this large, roundish platform, with all these weird swirling lights moving about. It was definitely a strange place.

Once everyone was inside we all split off. I couldn't think of anyone that I really wanted to see that was dead, so I followed Kairi as she walked towards the edge of the platform.

Kairi came to a stop about two feet from the edge. I nearly jumped as all of the swirling lights came together, taking the shape of an old lady. I'd seen her once before when Kairi's heart had been inside of me. The old lady was Kairi's grandmother.

I walked a couple of paces forward so that I was standing beside her. Kairi smiled at me.

"I wish I could remember her better," Kairi said, gazing at her grandmother. "Isn't there anyone that you'd like to see Sora?"

I stuck my hands behind my head. "I can't think of anyone." I looked around the clearing. Everyone apart from Braig and Dilan were looking at illusions of people they had once known.

"Hey Kairi?" I began. "I'm gonna go take a look around. Do you want to come?"

Kairi nodded. "Sure."

I walked back towards the exit, Kairi following along behind me.

Once back outside of the Farplane I stopped and looked around, unsure on what direction to head in first.

"Want to go that way?" Kairi asked, pointing down the path.

I shrugged. "Okay."

We hadn't gone very far when we came across a tunnel. Just like with the Farplane one of those creatures stood guard outside it. However as we were approaching it he walked over to another one of his kind, and the two began talking.

I walked up to the tunnel and peered inside. Kairi came up beside me and looked inside it as well.

"What do you thinks through there?" Kairi asked me.

"I have no idea," I replied. "Let's go see."

"Okay," Kairi agreed, once again following me as I stepped into the tunnel.

We stepped out of the tunnel and onto some kind of plain. I could see the sky now; it was covered by thick storm clouds. Large stone pillars stretched out across the plain every so many yards. While I was looking around a bolt of lightning came down and struck the pillar closest to where Kairi and I stood. I nearly jumped.

"Do you think this place is part of Guadosalam?" Kairi asked me, staring at where the lightning had struck the pillar.

"This place is called the Thunder Plains! Isn't it wonderful?"

This time I really did jump, I then quickly turned to look behind me. The person that had spoken was a young woman with blonde hair about to her shoulders; she had two small sections of it sticking up from the rest of her hair in the front, resembling antennas. She was also wearing an Organization coat. I pulled out my Keyblade. This couldn't be good.

The young woman laughed. "Hello Sora," she greeted. "I've heard so much about you."

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"My name's Larxene," she told me. "Number XII in Organization XIII."

Larxene… That name sounded so familiar. Had I met her before?

"So, Sora," Larxene began. "I've been told to give you a choice." She smirked as she made her weapons appear, small knives, one between each of her fingers. She pointed them at me. "Join Xehanort—or die."

Did Xehanort really think I'd consider joining him?

"Of course I wont help Xehanort!" I told her angrily, without a moment's hesitation.

Larxene scowled. "Really?" she asked, electricity sparking along her knives. "Then say good-bye little boy."

She charged at me and I just barely had time to lift my Keyblade to block her.

"Stay back Kairi!" I yelled as I swung my Keyblade at Larxene, who leaped back out of the way.

Larxene came at me again, moving in a fast circle to try and get at me. I rolled to the side and swung my Keyblade at her again, and she got out of the way yet again. She really moved fast.

Only a moment later Larxene shot a thunderbolt at me, I barely managed to avoid it. I looked up and frowned, where was she? Kairi gasped at the same time that I heard metal clashing against metal and spun around.

Larxene had somehow managed to get behind me. It looked like she had been trying to stab me from behind, but her knives had hit another object, a scythe…Marluxia's scythe.

I took a step backwards, my Keyblade still at the ready.

"Larxene," Marluxia said, moving his scythe back. "How nice to see you again. You have your heart I presume?"

Larxene nodded. "Yes."

He smiled at her and held out his hand. "Care to join me on my mission?"

"What is your 'mission' this time Marluxia?" Larxene asked; sounding annoyed.

"The same as theirs at the moment," Marluxia said, gesturing towards Kairi and me. "Which is to put a stop to Xehanort and his evil plan to take over the world."

Larxene crossed her arms and walked a couple of paces in front of him. "Hmm, how about this," she began, facing Marluxia again. She pointed at him. "You help Xehanort get Kingdom Hearts."

"Honestly I'm quite glad to have my heart again," Marluxia told her. "If we help Xehanort he'll only use us to get whatever he wants. But what would be in it for us? Nothing."

Larxene watched him for a moment. "I really didn't want my heart back you know."

I walked over to Kairi; still watching the two of them talk. They sounded like they were old friends, and I didn't want to get in the middle of their reunion.

"I know that," Marluxia said, letting his scythe fade away entirely. It vanished in a bunch of flower petals. "But come on, Xehanort doesn't have anything that you want."

Marluxia walked over to Larxene and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Let's just be happy while we have our hearts, all right?" Marluxia said, sounding much kinder then I thought he could sound. "I'm not sure how long it'll last."

Larxene looked down and nodded.

They were both very strange people, I thought to myself. Both of them were not nice, and I didn't like either of them, but they both were acting very nice to each other.

Marluxia smiled at Larxene. "Then you're willing to help them?"

"Yes, I suppose so," Larxene said. "Even though I don't see the point."

"I do not either but what else is there to do at the moment?" Marluxia asked. He gave Larxene's shoulders a squeeze and then they both turned to face Kairi and me.

Kairi smiled un-certainly at them. "You both know each other?" she asked; perhaps just to break the silence.

Marluxia nodded. "Yes…true not as well as you and Sora do, but close."

We stood there silently for a moment and then Marluxia began leading Larxene back into Guadosalam.

I frowned and glanced at Kairi, she had her eyebrows raised.

"Uh, Marluxia?" I called. "Is she—Larxene are you on our side now?"

Larxene smirked. "It looks like it, Sora. So long as you and your little friends don't annoy me too much."

"Don't worry, we wont," Kairi assured her quickly.

"Good then," Larxene said.

Marluxia and Larxene stepped into the tunnel and left back into Guadosalam.

I turned back to look at Kairi, still feeling utterly bewildered. I guess it was a good thing that Larxene was going to be helping us?

Lightning struck the pillar closest to us once again, and Kairi and I both looked up at the same time.

"Do you think we should head back into Guadosalam?" Kairi asked me, eyeing the storm clouds over head.

I nodded. "Yeah…I think that might be a good idea."

…

So everyone had decided to stay in Guadosalam…for the time being. It didn't make sense to me, but maybe that was because I didn't like the town very much. It was eerily quiet, and you couldn't see the sky. I liked being able to see the sun.

It had taken awhile for everyone to notice Larxene, but once they had many people didn't seem too happy about it.

I sighed, looking over a railing down into Guadosalam. It was getting late and there weren't as many of the strange creatures around anymore. I was really curious what they were.

I jumped and spun around as I heard a dark portal open up right behind me. I pulled out my Keyblade before I even saw who it was.

Yep, as I had thought, it was a member of Organization XIII. I had no idea whom it was because the person had their hood up, but it was a man.

He strode over to me slowly; when he was fairly close he pulled down his hood. He had ebony colored hair mixed with some gray, his eyes looked like they were somewhat dark as well, but that could've just been because of the lighting. I didn't recognize him from the Organization, but then I didn't recognize Larxene either. Did I?

"My name is Eraqus…Master Eraqus as some people call me," the man said. He held out a hand for me to shake. "I am a Keyblade Master."

I frowned. His voice sounded so familiar. Where had I heard it before… And his name too… Wait! Eraqus was the name of the Keyblade Master that trained Aqua, Terra and Ventus!

I took a step forward and shook his hand. "I'm Sora!"

He smiled and then he walked passed me to look over the railing, a deep scowl on his face. I made my Keyblade disappear and stood to his side staring down at the town below.

"So…" I began, watching the much older Keywielder. "You trained Terra, Aqua and Ventus, right?"

He turned to look at me and nodded. "That's right. How are they if might ask?"

"Good," I replied. I was quiet for a moment. "Is there anything I can help you with Master Eraqus?"

He let out a sigh. "Yes, I need you to help me stop Xehanort."

"Sure, we've been trying to figure out a way. Do you have any ideas?" I asked.

He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"You need to go back in time, very far I think," Eraqus responded after a moment. "You need to retrieve something. A way to stop Xehanort."

I placed where I'd heard his voice then. He was the man that had sent me through the portal and out of my own time to begin with!

"You sent me threw the portal, didn't you?" I asked, putting my thoughts into words.

The man nodded. "Yes, it was me."

"So we need to go back in time?" I asked, curiously. "Do you know how far back?"

"Yes," the man muttered. "I've already spoken to Aqua about it…the one here with you. She knows what to do."

"Okay," I said.

Eraqus looked at me curiously. "I'm surprised you're so willing to trust me."

"Well, you were the one that sent me from my time period. And you trained Aqua, Terra and Ventus. I trust them. And you don't seem to like Xehanort, so I guess…" I crossed my arms and looked towards where the sky should've been, frowning slightly.

Eraqus laughed, amusement glittering in his eyes. "You remind me very much of myself when I was younger. Much like Ventus as well."

I guess that was a compliment? He was a Keyblade master, so I suppose it most likely was.

Eraqus opened a portal and took a couple of steps forward. He stopped just in front of it and turned to face me.

"I almost forgot," he muttered, walking back over to me. He pulled out a small stack of Organization coats and handed them to me. "If you must go through the Lanes Between or Corridors of Darkness, then remember to put one on. It will protect you from the darkness in them. Give one to each of your friends that does not have one."

I grinned up at him, accepting the coats. "Thanks!"

He smiled and then went through the portal. I watched him go, and then looked down at the coats in my hand. I'd never worn one before.

"A portal to the Lanes Between, correct?"

I jumped and spun around. I frowned slightly at who stood behind me this time. It was a man, most likely anywhere between twenty-five and thirty years old. His hair was the strangest thing I had ever seen. It was blue with two part of it sticking out on either side of his head resembling horns or maybe antennas, as well as a small section in the front falling into his face. His outfit was also rather strange; he had a long robe on exposing his chest (it looked a bit like something an emperor might wear) apart from that he had black pants and black boots. He looked a bit like one of the strange creatures in town, like them he also had long fingers ending in pointy nails. Though his fingers weren't quite as long. I couldn't tell if he had pointed ears though, because his hair was hiding the majority of his them.

He smiled politely. "Would you happen to be Sora?"

I nodded slowly. "Yep. Who're you?"

"Seymour Guado," he told me, bringing his hand up as if he were holding a ball and bowing. "It is a pleasure to meet you Sora."

I frowned. "How do you know my name?"

"That man who just left, asked me if I could help you," Seymour replied, in an almost eerily calm voice.

"Really?" I asked curiously. That surprised me for some reason. "So you're on our side then?"

Seymour nodded, an amused smile on his face. "Yes."

Seymour walked over to stand beside me by the railing and looked over the edge, his blue eyes sweeping over the rest of the town below. He looked back over at me.

"So," Seymour began. "Might I be of service in any way?"

"Sure!" I agreed, sticking my hands behind my head and grinning. "Come on, I'll take you to meet the other people on our side."

I began walking off towards the inn inside Guadosalam. Hmm, hadn't he said that his last name was Guado?

I glanced at him; he was following along behind me looking around at the town with an unreadable expression on his face.

We reached the inn in a few short minutes. The owner was still at the counter, when he saw Seymour his eyes widened and he did the same bowing gesture that Seymour had done when introducing himself to me.

Seymour bowed his head in response.

"Good evening," Seymour greeted the man politely.

Braig was leaning against the wall in the entrance area of the inn. He scowled and walked over.

"Who's this?" Braig asked grumpily.

"This is Seymour," I told Braig. "Seymour this is Braig. Braig's uh—helping my friends and me." Actually, he really wasn't, but I didn't think I should say anything about that at the moment.

Seymour smiled, an unreadable expression on his face. "…Is that so?"

Braig's scowl deepened. "Yep."

Braig followed Seymour and I as I led him deeper into the inn.

Ienzo was speaking with Terra in a hall. They both appeared deep in their conversation. I wondered what they were talking about.

Terra looked over at us as we approached, he smiled. Ienzo looked over as well.

"Hello," Seymour greeted. "My name is Seymour. I was asked to help you and your companions out," Seymour paused, glancing at Terra, "By a man titled Master Eraqus."

Terra looked a bit surprised. "Really?"

Seymour nodded. "I was curious if I might be of help. I am a maester as well as the leader of the Guado."

"You are?" It was Ienzo's turn to look surprised.

"Yes," Seymour said. "Would you mind if I travel with you? I am willing to help out with anything that I can."

"By all means," Ienzo agreed, still slightly surprised. "We would be honored to have you help us."

I frowned. "So…is that what you people are? Guado?"

Seymour nodded, looking slightly amused. "Yes, though I am slightly different. You see my mother was a human whereas my father was a guado."

Oh, so that was why he didn't look quite the same as they did. I was a little surprised that I'd never heard of guado before now though.

"So when do we leave?" Seymour asked.

We all looked at Ienzo who frowned thoughtfully for a moment.

"Perhaps we should leave tomorrow," Ienzo said. "Quite a few people are already asleep."

"Agreed, tomorrow it is," Seymour said. "I suppose I will see you all in the morning then."

I waved as he turned around and left back out of the inn. At least now we knew where we were supposed to go, or at least Aqua did.