Disclaimer: I own nothing Kingdom Hearts. I own Skyler. And any kind of Chibi. And Skyler's dark side. Oddly enough, I don't even own the voice in Skyler's head (we haven't seen a lot of him/her/it lately).

Welcome back, loyal fans XD. Enjoy the next chapitaire! -showers kingdomheartser and heynamassu with shiny items and chapters- Thanks for the review!

--

"So…I guess we head back to Traverse Town now, right?" I asked, sitting down in the gummi ship.

"That's right. We gotta find out what that weird gummi block is," chortled Goofy.

"Yeah. Hold on a second. Don't drive yet." I turned to Sora and leaned close to him. "Hey," I whispered. "I need to talk to you."

"Not now, Skyler."

"No, it's important…"

"I'm busy begging to drive!"

"Why do you always push me away like that?"

"…Fine, what do you want?"

"It's about-"

"Sora!" came Donald's voice. "I won't let you drive, but…you can be in charge of looking out for Heartless ships…"

"Woohoo!" whooped Sora, and he rushed off to the cockpit.

--

"Oh! HI!" squealed Yuffie as we walked through the world gate. "You guys must be here to see Leon, right?"

"Yeah," said Sora. "Where can we find him?"

"Oh, he's in his secret training spot…behind the waterway. But don't tell him I told you, or I'm dead meat…"

"We won't," said Sora.

--

"Hey, how'd you get here?" Leon asked. He was taking a break from his training. Aerith was with him. "The only people who know this place are Aerith and me."

Apparently, he didn't know that Yuffie knew it too. "Uh…a friend told us," said Goofy.

"Hmph," said Leon, obviously knowing it was Yuffie, but preferring not to make a fuss.

"Anyway, I heard you found a Keyhole," he continued.

"Yup," said Sora. "In two worlds. They Keyblade locked them automatically."

"Good," said Aerith happily.

"Every world among the starts has a Keyhole," said Leon, lost in thought. "And each one leads to the heart of the world. There must be one in this town as well."

"W-what do you mean?" asked Sora unsteadily, though I knew he knew exactly what they meant. He had read it in "Ninth Grade Science."

"We read it in Ansem's report," said Aerith.

"The Heartless enter through the Keyhole and do something to the world's core."

"What happens to the world?" asked Sora.

"In the end…" said Aerith, "It…disappears."

"WHAT?" screamed Sora, Donald, and Goofy. I remained silent.

After several years of leafing through Sora's schoolbooks (out of pure boredom), I was pretty well-informed about other worlds."

"And it's seen in the form of a disappearing star," I put in sadly. "Sora…that day we were chucked off the island…when we landed here…I-I saw…" I couldn't get the words out.

"A star disappearing," said Sora. "I know. I saw it too."

"B-but…It probably wasn't our world!" I said, trying to be cheerful. "I mean, what are the odds of it being our world? About one in a million, I think."

"Heh, yeah," said Sora. "No reason to worry!"

Then, the voice in my head spoke. "I wouldn't recommend telling Sora, but…it was. Ou- I mean, your island was swallowed."

Swallowed…? By what?

"By…the darkness."

Is there any way to get it back…?

"I…I don't know…"

Oh…well, why shouldn't I tell Sora?

"He needs to stay cheerful. If you tell him, there's a risk that he might…um, break…"

Oh…I see.

I stifled a laugh. Sora was strong-hearted…but a little sensitive none the less.

--

"Please seal the Keyholes," said Aerith. "That way, the Heartless can't get in."

"You could also look for your King and your friends along the way," tempted Leon.

"Then let's go!" I said, holding my Keyblade copy heroically.

"She takes after her brother," Goofy chortled to Donald. Donald snickered.

"Hey!" I yelled at them, but they continued to laugh together.

"You three…quit goofing around!" said Sora, though he was smiling too. "We're forgetting something." He held up the gummi block we had found in Wonderland.

"Leon," said Sora. "This gummi block is different from the others. Do you know what it's for?"

There was a long pause. Leon was probably ashamed to admit that he didn't know.

"Go ask Cid," Aerith said, saving Leon the embarrassment. "Cid should know."

"Ok," said Sora, and we started to leave.

"Wait," said Leon suddenly. "Take this with you." He handed Sora a small gem. "This stone hold some sort of mysterious power. I've been carrying it for luck. I want you to hold onto it."

"How do you use it?" asked Sora.

There was a long pause.

--

"What've you got there?" asked Cid as we walked into the Accessory Shop, hold the gummi block in plain sight. "Well, if it ain't a gummi block.

"Yup," said Donald, handing Cid the gummi block.

"What's this one for?" asked Goofy.

"You're kiddin' me!" Cid exclaimed suddenly. "You're flyin' a gummi ship and you don't know nothin' about navigation gummis? Bunch of pinheads. Interspace ain't no playground."

"There's a lot we don't know," Sora admitted angrily. "So what? We have to use the gummi ship to go to other worlds. We don't have a choice."

"Yeah," I put in. "And it's not like we have time to go to Gummi Ship School or something!"

"Woah, easy," said Cid. "I didn't know. No hard feelings, all right? Well, I guess I could lend y'all a hand then."

"Thanks," said Sora, though he was still angry.

"Basically, with navigation gummis, you can go to new places. You want one on your ship, right?"

Donald and Goofy nodded.

"I'll install it for you. But I got this thing I gotta go deliver first."

"What do you need to deliver?" asked Sora.

"Just this book. It's real old," Cid held up the book. "When the guy brought it in, it was practically falling apart. Too beat up to restore to the way it was. But overall, I did a decent job puttin' it back together. Anyway, you mind deliverin' it for me? It's the old house past the Third District. Look for a big fire sign."

"Ok," I said, taking the book. "Well, we'll just be-" The room shook once and a bell sounded.

"Wh-What was that?" Sora asked. "Skyler, you aren't kicking the counter, are you?" he said, half joking.

"That's the bell at the old gizmo shop ringing," explained Cid. "Go check it out if you want, but deliver that book for me first. When you're done, stop by the house in the Third District. I'll be there."

--

"So," I said, looking at the large fire-themed tapestry in the Third District. "This must be it, huh?"

"Yup," said Sora, pushing the tapestry aside and entering. "Let's go."

"Gawrsh," said Goofy, looking around the cave behind the tapestry. "Kinda musty in here, ain't it?"

"Heh. Reminds me of that cave at home, remember?" said a voice.

"Huh?" I said, slightly confused. I turned in the direction of the voice. Standing there was a ghostly image of…

"Riku…? Is it…is it really-"

"Hey, Sky! Pull yourself together; we have to get going!" came Donald's voice.

"AH! DON'T CALL ME THAT! Sky is a boy's name, how many times do I have to tell you?" I screamed back. Then I realized I had been distracted. "Riku?" I said, turning back to where I had seen him. He wasn't there.

As Donald and Goofy went on ahead, Sora and I lingered behind.

"Riku…?" I muttered under my breath. "Huh?" Suddenly I snapped to attention. At the same time I had said "Riku," Sora had said "Kairi." We were both looking at each other with shocked expressions on our faces, but before we could say anything, we heard Goofy calling.

"Hey! Sora! Skyler! We gotta deliver this book, remember?"

"Huh? Oh, right!" said Sora, and we scrambled to catch up.

--

"There's no way to get in…" said Sora sadly. We were standing near the boarded-up house in the center of the cave, obviously the home of the book's owner.

As if on cue, there was an immense explosion. Dust and debris flew everywhere. I heard Sora, Donald, and Goofy coughing, as well as my own coughs.

When the dust cleared, we saw a huge hole in the house wall, occupied by an old man with a long white beard. He was wearing long blow robes and coughing from all the dust.

"Well," he said, seemingly talking to himself. "That Firaga spell didn't go exactly as you planned, did it, Merlin?"

"Merlin?" Donald squealed, suddenly very excited. "That's one of the greatest wizards in the world!" He rushed up to the old man. "Do you know where he is? Is he here?"

The old man started to chuckle. He pointed to himself. "That would be me. I believe you are one of my many fans?" He chucked some more. "Well, why don't you all come inside…I suppose I could eh, how do you say, magic-up some tea for you? Er, well, it actually tastes better when it's hand-brewed…"

--

"I am a sorcerer, as you can see," said Merlin. We were sitting in his house, sipping some tea.

"I spend much of my time traveling. It's good to be home…though, I seem to have blown a hole in my wall with that spell…"

"Isn't your house kind of…empty?" I commented, looking around the room, which was bare, except for the table and chairs we were sitting in.

"Ah, yes, that reminds me."

Merlin stepped into the middle of the room and pulled out a small bag. "Presto!" he called, and emptied the bag's contents onto the floor. There was a bright flash, and in an instant, the room was full of Merlin's possessions.

"Now, back to what I was saying," said Merlin, once again taking a seat at the table. "Donald, Goofy, your king has requested my help."

"King Mickey?" asked Goofy.

"Yes, indeed. He told me all about you, Donald, Goofy," he said, nodding at them respectively. He turned to Sora and me. "And who might you two be?"

"I'm Sora," said Sora. "And this is my little sister, Skyler."

"Sora," I muttered, jabbing him in the elbow. "I'm old enough to introduce myself…"

--

"So you have found the key," said Merlin, after hearing of our past adventures.

"What did the King ask you to do?" asked Donald.

"He asked me to train you in the art of magic. We can start anytime you like. Just tell me when your ready to begin."

"Right here and now!" I said, slamming my tea cup on the table and standing up. True, Donald bested me in magic, but with a little training, I had the ability to be much better than him.

Merlin jumped. "Oh, oh, eh, simmer down now. I've one more thing to tell you."

He led us over to a small carriage model. There was a flash of blinding light, and suddenly, a plump woman was standing in front of us.

"Hello," she said. "I'm the Fairy Godmother. Your king asked me to assist you as well. Anytime you need me, I'm h- Oh, my!" The Fairy Godmother looked suddenly startled. I noticed she was eyeing Sora's pocket.

"What's wrong?" asked Sora nervously.

"Oh, the poor dear!" the Fairy continued to fret. "Quickly, give me the summon gem!"

"Summon…gem?" Sora said cautiously. Donald gave Goofy a "this lady is nuts" look, and Goofy returned Donald a "what's that?" look.

"The gem you received from Leon!" cried the Fairy Godmother in exasperation. Sora handed her the gem, and she held it up for us to see. "This is a summon gem. It was once a living creature, but its world was consumed by the darkness. But this creature had such a strong heart, he turned into a gem instead of a Heartless."

"Is there any way he can come back?" I asked.

"Only as a spirit. Here, now watch this: Bibbity Boppity Boo!" She tossed the summon gem to Sora, and he tried to catch it, but before it could land in his hand, it disappeared in a flash of light. We heard a loud roar, and that was it.

"He will come to aid you whenever you call him," the Fairy Godmother explained. "Now, I believe you have a delivery for Merlin?"

"Oh!" said Sora. "That's right. The book. Merlin, this was from Cid."

"Ah, yes, from Cid. Thank you. It's not even my book, you know. I found it in my bag one day. It was such a curious book, and in such a sorry state of disrepair, but I was sure Cid's skills could fix it, but it's still missing some pages. Those missing pages unlock the mystery. Look at it whenever you like. My best regards to Cid, and that will be all."

--

"So, I guess we can find Cid in the vacant house over there, right?" I said, pointing. But Sora and the others had no time to respond. In a flash, the Third District had Heartless coming out of every nook and cranny, too many for only three people to take.

But then, just as soon as they had appeared, the Heartless were gone. If you had blinked, you would have missed it.

And standing there, where the Heartless had once stood, was a person we all knew very well. Standing right in front of us was…

--

-sob- I'm sorry! This is a cliffhanger if there ever was one. If this is not a cliffhanger, then you may attack me with bad television shows. But if the chapter got any longer, it wouldn't fit on the website, sooo, ya know. Anyway, enjoy the long wait until the next chapter! XD