No sooner had I entered the cockpit than the screen flickered to life, an unfortunately annoying pair of chipmunks on monitor. "Sora! You gotta come, quick!"

"What happened?" Sora slid into the copilot seat with a worried expression. I rolled my eyes and started the engines, "And why are you on my monitors?"

"There's something wrong with the Cornerstone!"

"You gotta come see!"

All three turned to me baring similarly pleading expressions. I groaned and lifted the gummi, angling for Disney Castle, "Fine, but don't expect me to be happy about it."

-u-

The trip was, thankfully, short, and soon I found myself trailing after a very worried Donald and Goofy, Sora to my right and matching me stride-for-stride.

SUPPOSED TO LIVE IN HARMONY!

I tripped over my feet, coming to a stop as I clutched my head with one hand. Where had that come from?

Sora stopped as well, "You okay?"

CRAWL! CRAWL! CRAWL! CRAWL!

I smelt the beach, felt tide around me as my hair sagged heavy with ocean water. But I was still there, in the castle. Sora grasped my arm carefully, "….Aanyx?"

"I'm fine." I growled, attempting to ignore the…whatever it was that was happening. "Let's go already!"

ONLY CAUSE DEATH WHEN YOU'RE AROUND US!

We stopped to find a portal of Darkness behind the large, shining orb. The feeling of the ocean still hadn't left, nor had the rocketing adrenaline currently pumping through my veins. My heart jumped to my throat, but I kept my face carefully masked as I willed the sensations to go away.

My feet felt wrong, awkward. Like I'd never walked before. Like I was still a mermaid.

The image of Ariel's mother raced through my mind. She flew through the air, flaying for control, before smashing into an outcropping of rocks with a gut-wrenching splat.

"Either way, we should probably check it out." Sora's voice broke whatever vision I'd come across. I held an arm out to stop him, "I think I should go first. Just in case." He nodded with a small smile of thanks, so I stiffly walked foreword. 'I know how to walk. I've been walking for six years. I'm not a fish out of water. I'm in Disney Castle, not Atlantica.' So my mantra continued, even as the smells and feelings intensified with every step.

And then it got worse at the sight of who lay beyond. I could no longer stand, sinking to my knees before falling sideways. My legs bound together in an invisible fin, and I could barely hold myself up as excitement bubbled through me. The man wore armor I knew I'd never seen before, a tattered cape behind him. He knelt a good few paces in front of me, leaning against his Keyblade.

But it was that same Keyblade that made me fall to the ground in shock, bound by memories. It was utterly simple in comparison to any of Sora's—it actually made the latter's seem flamboyant, oddly enough—and reminded me of Roxas and Kairi and Naminé and Riku and Axel—all at once.

SO WHAT BRINGS SUCH AN IMPORTANT MERMAID UP TO THE SURFACE?

The voice had changed this time, no longer a little girl's falsetto but instead a deep, mature young man. I felt a chill drive down to my very core when that same voice came from the direction of the man in armor, "Aqua…Ven…"

And then it was Roxas' voice;

AND THIS IS AQUA AND TERRA.

But Sora was a crashing anchor again as he was suddenly at my side, "What happened? Are you all right?"

"I…" I tried to push myself to my feet, still feeling that invisible mer-tail, "I don't know. I can't get up." I realized the adrenaline was panic—it echoed through my cracked voice. I breathed in an attempt to calm myself, almost gaining control before the man—Terra—spoke again.

"A Keyblade…Who are you…? I can feel it. We've met before. When—No…It isn't you…You're not the one I chose…Why are you not him? Xe…ha…nort—Is that you? Xeha…nort…Xehanort!"

A third voice ripped through my head, this time a soft-spoken female.

GONE…VEN…HE LOST HIS HEART…

And then the world collapsed into darkness.