Author's Note: I do not own ANYTHING pertaining to Kingdom Hearts. I only own Blastbone Clarkson, Charlotte Amaturie (to appear in later chapters), and their nobodies (The Seekers...for the most part)

Chapter VIII: The Dark Heart Curse

"Alright folks," Blaster said. "Now that we have everything in order, I'm going to go to my quarters to read up on the Dark Heart Curse. Until I return, I leave Sora in command."

"You are letting Sora drive?" Riku asked.

"Do you remember the last time he drove?" Donald accused, remembering the time they crashed into Deep Jungle the last adventure Blaster was a part of.

"Relax," Blaster assured, standing up from his seat. "The Auto-Pilot is on. Besides, Sora could figure out the controls in his sleep if it was necessary."

"So, where are we going first?" Nox asked.

"Our first location will be Olympus Coliseum," the computer replied in its usual, calm but informative voice.

"Thank you, Pegasus," Blaster replied. "You know, I did say where we were going before we left. I guess you weren't paying attention."

"It's a learned skill," the ship replied, which Nox interpreted as an insult.

Blaster stepped out of the bridge and walked to his quarters right next to the elevator near the end of the hall. Nox took his seat, then turned to Xarch.

"You remember Olympus Coliseum?" Nox asked.

"Yeah," Xarch replied. "I just loved the look on Demyx's face when he realized he would be going there."

On the other side of the bridge, Sora was talking about his stories with the great hero Hercules.

"So, Pegasus, the winged horse, not this ship, swooped in and I climbed right on top, aiming to attack the Hydra," Sora boasted. "All nine heads were swarming to kill us, but I single handedly vanquished the blood-thirsty beast in one last swing of my Keyblade."

"Are you sure you did it single handed?" Riku asked.

"Of course!" Sora replied, causing Riku to roll his eyes. Kairi just giggled.

"You two brag like a couple of brothers," Kairi commented.

"Hey Kairi," Sora said.

"Yes?" Kairi replied, the smile from her giggle still on her face.

"I never knew why you named your Keyblade the way you did."

Kairi summoned her blade, Island Memories. It didn't take long for Sora to guess as to why. From the tip of the blade, the brown of a tree trunk extended about halfway down the blade. The teeth were an assortment of flowers in bloom. The rest of the blade turned gold, with a sand-colored vine twisting once around the blade until it reached the hilt. From there, the handle guard was split with the gold color of sand, and the ocean blue in the shape of some waves on opposite sides of the blue hand grip. Dangling from the end of the handle was a keychain in the shape of a poupu fruit dangling from a red rope keychain.

"I never realized how much it reminded me of the islands," Kairi said, tracing her hand along the guard, as if she could feel the rough sand and the cool water. "The sand, the sea, the sky, even that giant tree in the center of our play island."

"And, because it reminded you of the islands, you called your Keyblade Island Memories," Sora finished.

"But it looks a bit too flashy," Kairi said. "Maybe a bit girly."

"Well, there was Marluxia," Xarch said, standing behind Sora. Kairi nearly jumped at the voice, while Sora jumped nearly three feet into the air, falling out of his seat and onto the floor. Riku started laughing while Kairi giggled.

"Not funny," Sora said, slowly climbing back into his seat. "So who is this Marluxia character?"

"You don't know Marluxia?" Xarch asked, hoping Sora was joking. Sora still had that confused look on his face. "You seriously don't know him? The guy who almost defeated Organization XIII singlehandedly doesn't know all the members?"

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Sora asked.

"Oh wait," Xarch said, realizing what had happened. "Have to thank Naminé for that."

"Thank Naminé for what?" Sora demanded.

"Castle Oblivion," Nox said, walking over. "I know what happened in all of it because I was there. Xemnas sent Axel and I to Castle Oblivion, where it was rumored the Room of Awakening resided…a room of unknown origin and power. We were sent to keep an eye on the others: Larxene, Lexaeus, Zexion, Vexen, and the leader of the expedition…"

"Lemmie guess," Sora interrupted. "Marluxia."

"Yeah," Nox replied. "Without going into too much detail, Marluxia controlled Naminé to erase your memories, Sora. The reason was that Marluxia wanted to use you to gain power in the Organization by having you kill Xemnas. However, you were his downfall."

"So, Marluxia tried to turn me into his mindless soldier?" Sora asked. "And I ended up defeating him?"

"You wouldn't remember because Naminé restored your memories," Xarch replied. "After you defeated Marluxia, you asked Naminé to restore your old memories, and, in a sense, deleting all the memories of Castle Oblivion with it."

"But, how did this get to Sora's trip in Castle Oblivion?" Riku asked. "I thought we were talking about girly-ness, and you brought Marluxia up."

"Well," Nox replied, nervously rubbing the back of his head. "His power was flowers. We called him a girl so many times, just for the fun of it. When me and Xarch asked Xemnas to "marry" us, we asked him to be our flower-girl."

"He had a short fuse, huh?' Kairi asked.

"Very short." Xarch replied. "Those flower petals were as sharp as the blades on Sïax's claymore. If I didn't know any better, I think he was once a Seeker, because he threatened to use that Dark Heart Curse on us…even though we at least thought we didn't have hearts."

"I hope Blaster will be doing better," Sora said, looking towards the door that Blaster left from.

ITFITFITFITFITFITFITFITFITF

Blaster walked into his quarters, turning on a light switch as he locked the door. Immediately, he looked at his room. It was as plain and simple as the hallways of Castle Oblivion and Castle That Never Was, but the walls were painted forest green instead of white. The simple twin-sized bed lay against the far wall, remaining unused since it was installed. On the adjacent walls were some mirrors and some paintings and portraits of his friends and home planet; Earth. On the wall to the right was another door, which led to a bathroom complete with a body-wash-dispensing shower and a large walk-in closet. Against the wall, situated in a position near the door to the hall, facing said door, was an old, mahogany wooden desk, which had one of the computers from the ship in it. With a press of a button, the computer screen rose from the back of the desk, and a keyboard popped up from under the desk, sitting atop of the desk ready for use.

Blaster sat down at his small swivel chair and typed in a command, bringing up the data from the Dark Heart Curse.

THE DARK HEART CURSE

This is a very famous curse originating from the year 1351 BKW. It was said to harness the darkness and transform it into pure energy to encompass the heart until it broke down and gave in to the darkness. The first person to use such a formidable weapon was Doctor Igor Dark, who used the curse as a religious plague. After his death in 1286 BKW, the art was lost until Keyblade Master Xehanort of The Grand Kingdom mastered it in 12 BKW. Since then, he and his students, called Chasers, have used the curse, which was used heavily in the Great Keyblade War.

One affected by the Dark Heart Curse would have dark tendrels erupting from their heart at random intervals, and would experience great pain. The afflicted would have 21 days to gather 7 magical stones from the world of Angel Island, which would lead to the master stone. The stones by themselves can infuse a person with power, and once all 7 are collected, the person can unleash the power trapped within the stones. The Master Stone is comparable to the Cornerstone of Light in Disney Castle, but it has more power, enough to banish any curse from any person forever.

For those affected, the first seven days will have the darkness tendrels erupting from the heart. By day 8, the tendrels come from the entire chest, and by day 15, the darkness subsides for the final phase. By day 21, if the stones have not been collected, and the Master Stone hasn't been reached, then the curse is fatal, and ends with the afflicted being immediately turned into a heartless at the end of the 22nd day. During this time, it is suggested that the afflicted be kept under close watch, as they can become dangerous in the first 10-15 days.

Blaster reread the entire blurb three times until he had it memorized. On the third time, the few things that popped into his mind were 21 days, 7 stones, Master Stone, and Angel Island. Blaster then pulled up the properties on the file.

Last updated: September 26, 10 AKW.

"Pegasus," Blaster said. "Can you inform me as to what year it is based on the information we have here?"

"Certainly," Pegasus replied. After a few seconds, it continued. "Based on the data given, we are currently in the year 12 AKW."

"Fifteen years after the Keyblade War," Blaster repeated. "Sora and Kairi have no idea they were born in the midst of the greatest war in the universe....well…this universe anyway."

"Based on the other data given, I can predict that these magical stones have the same energy signature as the Crux Stones," Pegasus said. "There could be a possibility that someone has scattered the stones throughout the universe."

"Alright," Blaster said. "Search for power signatures similar to those of the Crux Stones."

"I will not have to search long," Pegasus replied. "Sensors are indicating an energy spike from Olympus Coliseum."

"Good thing we are headed there," Blaster muttered. "Save the other data for another time. I'm headed to the hologram room to fight a Holographic version of that Fire Seeker. We should reach Olympus Coliseum within the next hour and a half. Take us out of hyperspace in exactly 85 minutes."

"Orders acknowledged," Pegasus replied as Blaster stood up, hid the monitor and keyboard, and walked out the door to get to the Hologram room.

ITFITFITFITFITFITFITFITFITF

In the World That Never Was, completely oblivious to the fact that Nox and Xarch had passed through, Maleficent stood at the top of the rebuilt portion of the Castle That Never Was. Also standing with her was Pete, mostly-loyal to the end. As they stood, overlooking the city, three individuals arrived. Maleficent turned in time to watch them reach the top. The first to rise to the top of the steps was an armored individual in all black and yellow. The next was a tall man in swirling black robes, and the final was a man who looked like he got crossed with a squid and/or some crustaceans, and he wore a rusted cutlass on his left hip.

"Welcome," Maleficent said, bowing. The other three did the same. When they all stood erect again, Maleficent continued. "It is a pleasure to meet you all. As you might know, I am Maleficent, and this is Pete."

"Nice to see ya'," Pete replied.

"You may refer to me as Royal Pain," The armored individual said, speaking in a voice similar to Darth Vader. "It is a pleasure meeting you."

"Lord Voldemort, at your service," The tall man replied.

"The name's Davy Jones," the squid man replied.

"Well, I have called you all here to work with me to stop someone," Maleficent said. Conjuring a table in a wave of green flames, she motioned for all of them to get a closer look at the center of the table, where she conjured an image of Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy. "I need the girl to open the door to Kingdom Hearts. However, the other four keep getting in my way."

"Why should we help you if all you talk about is you?" Voldemort demanded, brandishing a white wooden stick.

"Very simple, Lord Voldemort," Maleficent said. "Once I am able to get the door opened, we should be able to infuse each world with Darkness, and rule on high as masters of all."

"I accept the offer, but I don't see where the benefit is for me," Jones said. "I can only stay at sea, fated to step foot on land but only once every decade."

"Then, with your new-found power, you would be able to take all of the land and submerge it under the sea."

Everyone but Pete nodded to each other.

"So, uh, what's with the stick?" Pete asked, directing his question to Lord Voldemort.

"This is a wand, you imbecile" Voldemort replied, angrily. "Would you care for a demonstration?" he asked, twirling the wand in his hand, causing multi-colored spars to erupt from the tip until a jet of red sparks shot from the tip and hurtled towards Pete.

"No thanks," Pete said, quickly conjuring a heartless to take the blow. The spell ripped through the creature and caused it to explode into black smoke and dust, the pink heart floating away to join Kingdom Hearts.

"Impressive," Maleficent said. "Now, Pete," she added, turning to the overgrown cat, "you will go to other worlds and see if you can find more recruits. We will need all the help we can get."

"Of course, your malevolence," Pete said, bowing before running down the stairs to grab a gummi ship.

"You had better not keep us waiting, Maleficent," Royal Pain replied.

"No need to worry," Maleficent assured. "As soon as the door is opened, I can guarantee your satisfaction." She then started to laugh, prompting the others to laugh with her.

(Scenes from the next chapter.)

ON THE NEXT "INTO THE FIRE": A new enemy is revealed to the team ("Pegasus, can you get me a scan of the dart-shaped ship?" Blaster asked.). But, who controls them ("No doubt a follower of the Seekers," Sora said), and what are they ("Partially Heartless and Partially Nobody," Xarch said.)? Tune in in two weeks for an all new chapter of "Into the Fire." Fridays at 9/8c.

Please Review. Comments welcome, Flames will be thrown into outer space.