DISCLAIMER: I don't own, nor will ever own, anything related to the content of Kingdom Hearts, The Chronicles of Prydain, or the Black Cauldron even if I wished I did in my entire lifetime...

Chapter 40

The One Who Holds the Keys

"At last. The Keyblade's chosen one."

-DiZ

In the early morning, before even the sun was up they set off so that they could get a head start on tracking down Hen Wen and therefore save her from the Horned King's wrath. Gurgi, being the one who saw the footsteps in the first place, took off in the lead, gradually goading Taran into being behind him since Taran was Gurgi's new master after all. Not that Taran minded, Gurgi had begun to prove himself trustworthy and Taran was really quite eager to find Hen Wen and get a move on. Eilonwy, naturally, joined the two of them up at the front and began her usual chattering which, to Kairi's own amusement, Taran was beginning to find rather pleasing.

Thus it was that Kairi joined the three of them up at front to keep things in order up there as well as to give the more inexperienced members of their band some protection were an attack to come from the front. Fflewddur fell in behind them, occasionally breaking out into songs that the three Keyblade wielders had never heard of and thus ignored, not that Fflewddur even noticed. Sora and Edge, meanwhile took up the rearguard to scout for what was perhaps coming at them from behind as well as to get to know each other better as friends rather than their previous position. It had already turned out that Edge knew most of Sora's story from the king as well as Donald and Goofy, and that included up until the point that Treasure Planet had exploded. But Sora was more interested in Edge's tale.

"My father…was always ambitious." Edge admitted and it almost seemed to Sora as though Edge was ashamed of his father. "When he got the Keyblade he was soon recruited into the Round of the Crown…He was one of the men that stayed loyal to the Chasers when everyone was picking sides in the war between light and darkness. His skill was so great that he made it to be one of the original ten generals.

"He fell in love with another general, Maria. A year later, I was born but Maria, wanting to keep me safe, hid me away in the world we call Traverse Town. Many of the generals were angered by her departure and even angrier that she was hiding me from her. My father, brave as he was, wanted her to come back. When she refused, it led to a fight and he struck her down. His life changed after that…and so did the Round. Soon a full attack was launched on that old order and my father, was the last to remain alive in the library, or so I was told by Aqua who, in her search to vanquish Xehanort's evil, found me. She took me on as a learning apprentice as I gained my own Keyblade, Latent Rage. I always found it…funny…that seemed to perfectly describe who I was. Two years after that, I departed from Aqua, having learned all I could.

"I traveled the worlds, wanting to see them for myself and soon I met a friend, the only one I had in my life. Donald 'Onyx' Ardintous. We became fast friends and learned our own ways of the Keyblade. That was how it was for years…after the old order fell we dared not show ourselves in public and remained out of the public eye. Then our ears caught whispers of your deeds and we decided to see for ourselves. Once more we traveled out into the worlds and bit by bit we picked up more Keyblade wielders. But we were moving too slowly for a few months after we began, we heard of the mysterious ship holding Terra and his crew, going around and picking up those who wielded the Keyblade. We formed the ten generals to at least pay homage to the old order and thus I was named commandant for having some of the most skill and then…well…you know what happened."

"You hid?" Sora asked and Edge nodded.

"Not a decision I cared for, but if we had tried to oppose Terra openly…well…regardless, in silence we gathered more Keyblade wielders and trained. At last, when the time came I wanted to go back out into the worlds and stop Maleficent, who I had now begun to hear whispers of. But Onyx had changed…he seemed more angry and suddenly the two of us began butting heads. I appealed to his sister, another member of the Order, to let him come to his senses…I only surmised that it failed. About a year ago, when word of Terra's fall had reached our ears I was at last able to convince them to leave Castle Oblivion and begin, at least, securing the worlds. It was only when we heard about the destruction of Pelusa did the Order realize it: the time to act was now."

"Sounds harsh man…any idea why Onyx didn't trust you anymore?" Sora asked concernedly.

"The only answer I have for that is…like so many others, they were too afraid for their own skin." Edge said while shaking his head. Sora nodded his head in understanding, now having created a new picture of Edge. Edhe turned his head behind them, something he often would do as they walked and suddenly his body tensed up. Sora saw it and he also looked behind. Five figures that looked similar to those they had seen in Annuvin were approaching. "Crap!" Sora nodded and they ran to the front of the line, taking Fflewddur with them.

"We have to find somewhere to hide." Edge said quickly and all of them looked at him confusedly save for Kairi. Sora pointed to a small patch of forest they were approaching.

"If we can make it in there, we might be able to slip past them unnoticed." Sora commanded and without another word, Edge began ushering them all towards the forest. After about five minutes they were safely inside. Sora, Edge, and Kairi peered out from the underbrush to see how close the men were gaining on them. The judged that it would still take them some time to get down there so all they would have to do was sit and wait. Then Gurgi gave a cry.

"Look master, Gurgi sees fresh piggy tracks!!" Gurgi yelled out and they all whipped around, seeing indeed, another set of Hen Wen's tracks, leading toward a pond with five stepping stones in the middle of it. Gurgi started over the stones first but when he reached the middle stone, everything suddenly started to change. The other four stones disappeared and a great whirlpool began dragging the fifth stone down below.

"Gurgi!" Taran yelled and he reached out for Gurgi, grabbing his hand. However, the force of the whirlpool was too strong and began pulling Taran down too.

"Oh! Taran! Give me your hand!" Eilonwy screamed and she reached out for Taran only to be pulled in herself, followed by a very unwilling Fflewddur.

"We're doomed!" Fflewddur yelled in fear and Edge rolled his eyes, striding forward and grabbing the bard's arm.

"Shut up, you spoony bard!" Edge yelled but the force soon proved too much for even him to handle and he was pulled in. Sora shook his head. Without even so much as a glance at Kairi, he jumped into the spiraling whirlpool. Kairi sighed and thought to herself, There he goes again… And so she naturally jumped in after him. It was a few minutes before any of the members were at last able to sit up. When they finally did they were able to see that they had emerged into some kind of underground realm. The next thing Sora saw almost made him think that his eyes were tricked. A blue fairy like thing floated in with another yellow one behind him.

"It's PERFECT!!!" The yellow one yelled, indicating that something somewhere was perfect. It was quite obvious that the two of them had not yet seen the party sitting there…that is, until Eilonwy opened her mouth.

"Well, aren't you just darling?" Wilonwy said and suddenly the two quarreling fairies took notice of them.

"Oh, uh, hello, I'm King Eidilleg of the Fair Folk and this…" the blue fairy, or Fair Folk, as Sora presumed they wished to be called, said to them. But the yellow one cut across him even as Eidilleg began to introduce him.

"How in the blazes did they get in here?! I fixed the whirlpool perfectly!" the yellow one roared loudly, well, as loudly as one of his size could really yell.

"Evidently not completely perfect…it's supposed to keep them OUT!!" Eidilleg roared to the yellow fair Folk before he turned back to the group that was staring bemusedly at the bickering pair. "How can I help you?"

"Is everything that happens around here MY fault?!" the yellow one sorted out but Eidilleg ignored this comment.

"Have you come here on a friendly visit?"

"And I suppose it's my fault the pig's here too?!" Suddenly Taran gave a start and shot straight up, standing up comparative to all of them.

"Hen Wen!!!" Taran yelled joyfully and Eidilleg gave a small yet joyful chuckle.

"Oh, so she's your pig…Doli, go get the pig." Eidilleg ordered of the yellow Fair Folk.

"PIG?!" Doli cried loudly, almost angry or indignant at the situation. "It's good old Doli for everything isn't it?!" Suddenly, many more bright specks of light appeared and Sora almost felt he was blinded until he realized that it was a great number of Fair Folk that were swarming around them. Then they all heard a large squeal and Hen Wen suddenly came running out of nowhere and bounded into Taran's arms, who was overjoyed beyond relief to see her at last. Suddenly Eidilleg turned to Sora, Kairi, Edge and Fflewddur who were the only ones not sharing in Taran's reunion with Hen Wen as Eilonwy and Gurgi were.

"Tell me, is the burning and the killing STILL going on up there?!" Eidilleg asked and Fflewddur was the first to answer, knowing more about the world of Prydain than even the Keyblade wielders could pretend to.

"You're referring to that joke on humanity, the Horned King!!" Fflewddur yelled and Sora could almost sense the fear in the bard's shaky voice.

"Will the Sons of Don do nothing up there like they did last time?!" Eidilleg yelled and Sora looked at him confusedly for a moment before putting his thoughts into words.

"Sons of Don?" Sora asked but Edge was, surprisingly, the first to answer.

"From what I know, back when the Horned King became so powerful before, the Sons of Don appeared out of the Summer Country and pushed him back to the realms of Annuvin…he lay there, dormant for years. Seems he's gotten quite a bit more courageous lately." Edge said and Sora figured he had learned it from that Dallben guy.

"Well, no one ever stands up to him now do they?!!" Eidilleg yelled out and Fflewddur cocked his head a bit to acknowledge the Fair Folk king's statement.

"Well, there's only one thing we can really do isn't there…to stop him, I mean." Sora said and Kairi nodded.

"Destroy the Black Cauldron." she acknowledged and the chill of fear spread through the native residents of Prydain.

"But if the Horned King finds it…he'll kill us all!" Taran said in utmost fear and Sora shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "Then we make sure he doesn't get it!" But Eidilleg chuckled at this.

"Oh no…he won't get the cauldron, it's safely hidden in Morva…" the king paused for a moment and began to think. "At least…I think it is. Doli, is it?"

"What is that my job now too?" Doli snorted out. "Remembering where the cauldron is?!!"

"Come on guys, it may be our only chance. You're with us Taran, right?" Sora said cheerfully and Taran nodded.

"Wherever master goes, Gurgi goes!" Gurgi proclaimed boldly and Taran made assertions that he was glad to have him along. Eilonwy however was a bit fidgety when it came to this.

"Oh, Taran, this just doesn't seem right…It's like digging for gold and fining nothing but worms." Eilonwy said, slightly sad. Taran took a hold of her hands and looked into her eyes while Sora, Kairi, and Edge all snickered in the background.

"Please, come with me?" At last, Elonwy agreed, which brought a great smile to Taran's face. Edge turned to Fflewddur with a smirk on his face.

"What about you, you spoony bard?" Edge asked and Fflewddur quickly stood up.

"A Fflam is always courageous!" Fflewddur yelled and Edge also stood up, dusting off his white clothing.

"Well, glad to see you're with the program…now how do we get to Morva?" Edge said authoritatively, turning to King Eidilleg. Eidilleg smiled at them.

"Why…Morva's a hard place to get to…I think I'll have Doli take you." Eidilleg said proudly and immediately Fflewddur began mumbling under his breath. Doli soon accosted him for this and all they heard Fflewddur saying was "No…no…splendid choice in fact!" which was soon followed by a twanging noise as one of his harp strings broke. He chuckled nervously and hid his harp away. "Well then, are we ready?" He snapped his fingers and suddenly all of them found themselves floating upward. "We'll get your pig home safely, for now. Good luck."

And the next thing they knew was that they were up above the surface staring at the same forest which they had just left. Doli suddenly floated in front of them and without further ado, began aiming them towards Morva, which he said was a two days walk ahead.

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The Horned King sat in his chamber, desperately awaiting word on the pig-boy, the Keyblade master, or the Black Cauldron. He was concerned that his plans might go astray…even amidst such careful planning and pacts that he had made with so many people. He sat back in his throne and nearly chuckled to himself. How weak the hearts of men were that they were so carelessly consumed by the darkness…and yet he had lived in it, reveled in it and had not yet been destroyed by it. Unlike that fool, Maleficent, who had been defeated by the Keyblade master and his pointless friends when he was only fourteen. He was stronger than she was…even the Sons of Don no longer held any power against him in Prydain. He was the strongest being in the universe. And once he had the Black Cauldron, nothing could stop him. Suddenly the doors opened and the Creeper walked in.

"Is there any news?" the Horned King asked, his temper starting to slightly wear thin at the moment. The Creeper, however, seemed more excited than normal and so the Horned King figured that it would be good news.

"Yes, sire, the pig-boy and Keyblade master make for the Marshes of Morva." the Creeper announced happily. The Horned King raised a hand and almost stroked the chin of his mask, thinking. Why would they be going towards Morva? And then the answer hit him: the Black Cauldron.

"Send the Huntsman and the Gwythaints, all of them, to capture them and bring any property in their possession to me." the Horned King commanded and the Creeper bowed and left the room.

Soon, the worlds would be his to control.

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After two days of traveling through woods, plains, and rivers, all of the party at last found themselves in the festering Marshes of Morva. It looked pretty grim to all of them to and none of them even seemed to want to stand in the place, much less traverse through it. Even Doli, who sounded grim and grumpy enough, had announced their entrance there in an even more grim tone than he had procured before. Regardless of all this, Sora and Taran led the way through the swamps. At last they stumbled upon an abandoned cottage which Taran looked at rather curiously.

"Welcome to Morva." Doli announced again and Taran turned to him with arched eyebrows.

"Well, someone must live in that cottage." Taran announced and he led them inside the cottage. The cottage was cluttered with a great number of things that made it difficult to find absolutely anything in the entire room.

"How will we ever find the cauldron in a place like this?" Eilonwy sighed, already weary from the traveling without rest. Sora looked around and began looking in drawers and cabinets and eventually found a locked chest. He summoned the Oblivion Keyblade and unlocked the chest and suddenly a bunch of frogs came soaring out of it. Eilonwy screamed and held on to Taran tightly. She then realized what she was doing and let go of him, blushing madly.

"They're only frogs, Eilonwy." Taran said, his own blush forming in his cheeks.

"Oh no…" Doli announced. "Those were people that were turned into frogs…" They all looked at him and even the Keybearers' eyes showed fear. Then a harsh voice cut through the air suddenly and they all stopped.

"Thieves! Thieves!" yelled the voice and suddenly there was a large burst of light and suddenly three women appeared…or to Sora they seemed much more like hags. "They stole all our frogs! Let's make them replacements!"

"Oh, not this one." came a voice from one of the women who seemed to have moved over to Fflewddur and was stroking his chin. He himself was trying to get away. "Oh, is anyone here able to perform marriages?"

"M-marriages?!" Fflewddur looked absolutely mortified and horrified and was trying to struggle away even now. "Great Belin!"

"Well, don't you just find me irresistible?" the woman asked and Fflewddur gulped in his throat.

"Oh yes…quite so…" Fflewddur answered shakily and another harp string broke. "Quiet you!"

"Stop this Orwen and hand him over." said the ugliest of the three women, the first one that had spoken.

"No Orgoch, he's too handsome to be turned into a frog!" said Orwen and Orgoch just began to grumble.

"Oh, you mustn't mind them, Orgoch is always grumbling about one thing or another." said the woman who seemed to be the leader. "Now, duckling, what have you come here for?"

"We've come for the Black Cauldron!!" Taran announced boldly. All three of the women stopped in their actions to look at Taran.

"Why, Orddu…no one has asked for the Black Cauldron in over two thousand years…and…ooh…" Orwen quickly sidled up to the leader and pointed at Taran. The woman's eyes widened and she nodded her head they then moved off. Everyone tried to catch what they were saying but it seemed that every time they got near, a horrible ringing noise filled their ear. At last the witches as they all decided that's what they were, broke apart.

"We have decided, you shall have the Black Cauldron." Orddu said to them with a smug smile on her face and Eilonwy seemed rather pleased.

"You'll just give it to us?" Eilonwy asked. Orddu then chuckled a bit and shook her head.

"No, you weren't listening…we never give things away duckling. We bargain, trade!" Orddu announced proudly but then her head suddenly shifted in Sora's direction and she walked up to him. She scrutinized him for a moment before turning back to her sisters and nodding. She waved her hand in front of Sora and suddenly his Oblivion Keyblade appeared. "Just as I thought…you're the Keyblade master?"

"But how did you…" Sora began and soon his eyes fell upon the one, new item that Orddu was holding out. It was a gold Keychain that at the end held a golden crown. "A Keychain!!"

"Yes, duckling, and it's yours if you want it." Orddu said but Sora eyed her warily.

"What's the catch on this whole situation?" Sora said but Orddu said nothing. He knew he would have to trade something…but he couldn't give up the Keyblade since that would make the Keychain useless…but maybe…He lifted his hand to his crown pendant and felt it. It was the only thing that belonged to him right now. His home had probably been destroyed on Destiny Islands and so all he had was what was on him, and the paopu fruit still in his pocket wasn't part of that deal. "You want…this?"

"If you don't want the Keychain then we won't force you." Orddu said with a shrug and Sora closed his eyes. Somehow, he felt drawn to that Keychain, as though he needed to have it. As though it was his destiny to have it. He looked at Kairi who had a small amount of sadness in her eyes but nodded, as though telling him to do whatever he needed to do. He reached behind his neck and took off the pendant. He then dropped it into Orddu's hands and she similarly gave him the Keychain which he stuck in his pocket. Sora felt different automatically, not sad, but rather as though a part of him was gone but which might be replaced by the golden Keychain he now held. "Now, back to business about the Black Cauldron?"

"May I ask you ladies to perhaps consider this magnificent harp?" Fflewddur said, offering his harp to the three witches. Orddu immediately waved it off, but not without giving an explanation.

"A harp?! When we want music we send for the birds. What would we do with a simple harp?" Orddu exclaimed before Gurgi began to offer his munchings and crunchings. Of course, naturally, they passed off on that too. But Taran had realized what needed to be done.

"All right already, I know what you want." Taran said. Orddu quickly sidled up to him with a bright grin on her face. Taran stared at her and took out Dyrnwyn. "Here is my sword, take it!" They all looked at Taran in shock. Edge himself remembered how much Taran had praised the blade when he had first gotten it.

"No, Taran, no!" Eilonwy cried. "It's so unfair of them. It's like asking if someone wants fruit and giving them vegetables!" Eilonwy pouted on and Sora, Kairi, and Edge merely stared at her for a moment.

"It's our only chance!" Taran insisted, though inside he had not wanted to give the blade up. Orddu sensed this and began to sympathize with him…slightly.

"This is your own choice, duckling. Remember, this sword could make you the greatest of warriors…greater than even Gwydion, Prince of Don." Orddu said but she already knew, as did they all, that Taran's mind was made up on this matter. He would rather trade the sword for the Black Cauldron and save thousands of lives with that one action than he could by wielding Dyrnwyn. Taran handed the sword to Orddu. She snatched it up instantly and smiled. "We have a bargain!!"

Suddenly a gale began to cut through the cottage and all of the cabinets and chests, and then the cauldrons began flying up in the sky. Sora quickly made his way over to the door and forced it open and ushered everybody outside, Edge being the last to leave. Even there, the gale was still quite strong though Fflewddur's voice seemed stronger as they could still hear his cry of "Great Belin!" over the wind. Then the cottage had vanished all of a sudden and a great rumbling was felt in the ground. They all stepped back from the sight of where the cottage was and soon the great Black Crochan emerged from the ground and stood before them. Sora felt that he could almost sense the darkness around it. He walked towards it, slightly marveled at its detail before Orddu's voice rang out again.

"I say, what funny little ducklings you are! Don't you know that the Cauldron is indestructible?!" Sora took a step back and stared at the Black Cauldron in slight anger with the witches who had duped them. "Now listen carefully, it's true that the Black Cauldron can never be destroyed…only its evil powers can be stopped."

"Then there is a way?!" Taran cried out in slight joy at this mention, thinking there might be hope after all. "But how?!"

"A living being must climb into it of his own free will." Orddu said and suddenly Gurgi began hurrying towards the intricate cauldron.

"Gurgi is bold and brave! He will enter into the wicked cauldron!" Gurgi began to climb into the cauldron when once more a voice cried out and dropped the bombshell.

"But the poor duckling will never come out alive." Gurgi froze and clambered back down from where he was standing mumbling that he didn't want to enter the nasty cauldron.

"Now look here madam!" Fflewddur said, getting some courage into his spindly self. "We had an agreement, you promised you'd give us the Black Cauldron."

"And so we did…it's not our fault you can't do anything with it." And suddenly her voice ceased to speak and they knew that she had gone for sure.

"See, this is what happens when you deal with humans! Good bye!" Doli yelled out and he popped invisible and disappeared. Taran hung his head low.

"Doli's right…This is all my fault. I failed, I'm sorry." Taran said in a very melancholy tone.

"Oh shut it Taran." Sora said and Taran glared at him. "Stop moping around or you'll start sounding like-" Sora stopped. He had been about to say "like Gentai" but something stopped him from mentioning the sixteen year old's name. Instead he shook his head and walked up to the Cauldron. He felt the keychain now resting in his pocket clinking against him as he examined the cauldron. It almost seemed as though it was made of evil somehow. "So one of us has to climb in here?"

"The ultimate sacrifice…" Kairi said, some tears beginning to well in her eyes at the thought of losing any one of them.

"Somehow…I don't think any of us is willing to sacrifice ourselves." Edge said with sympathy to everyone in the group.

"I should do it…this is all my fault anyway." Taran said in a very depressed tone. "I'm just a lowly Assistant Pig-Keeper…why should I have ever hoped to be anybody but that." Sora groaned but before Sora could scold him out again, Eilonwy beat him to the punch.

"Look, you are somebody! You're Taran of Caer Dallben, the greatest assistant Pig-keeper in Prydain!" Eilonwy declared with a bright smile on her face. "You just have to believe in yourself Taran of Caer Dallben." Then she added, much more quietly, and almost to her embarrassment. "I believe in you."

"You-you do?" Taran quickly took Eilonwy's hands in his own. "And I think that you're…well…" Taran was fumbling with words and both Sora and Kairi started laughing up a storm. He glared at them for a moment and then, much to both the parties' displeasure, he released their hands.

"Anyway…" Sora began to say. He heaved a great sigh. "I'll jump into the Cauldron."

"No, Sora you can't!" Kairi immediately protested as he knew she would…as she always had.

"Kairi, I've done self-sacrifice enough to be an expert at it and come out alive…somehow…but even if this is my last bang, you know that I've always loved you." Sora said, staring straight into her eyes and she believed him…but she still didn't want to let him go.

"Kairi's right, Sora." Edge said. "You're the Keyblade master and are worth more to these worlds than anyone of us. You're not jumping in that Cauldron." Sora rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Geez, you try to sacrifice yourself and everyone gets on your back about it." Sora heaved another sigh. "So then…what now?" Suddenly a great cry pierced through the sky and they all looked up. Dragon-like creatures were circling around and Sora instantly felt himself summon his Keyblade as Kairi and Edge did the same.

"Gwythaints! The Horned King's cruel airborne servants!" Eilonwy said and Gurgi began to howl in fright when suddenly the Huntsmen of Annuvin surrounded them.

"And his henchmen." Sora said with a grimace on his face.

"Or huntsmen…" Edge proffered and Kairi gave a very visible shiver.

"I've had enough of 'huntsmen' to last me a lifetime!" Kairi said and Sora looked at his two Keyblade wielding friends.

"We can take 'em!" Sora proclaimed and they both nodded. Sora then ran at the crowd and jumped into the air but suddenly one grabbed his leg and sent him sprawling towards the ground. He looked up in shock, his mouth agape. "What the…" But his thoughts went unanswered as soon the Huntsmen had closed in around them. All three of the wielders dismissed their weapons…they knew this was a fight that they could not win.

Thus it was that all of them were bound and gagged by the henchmen as the gwythaints took the Black Cauldron to Annuvin. The Huntsmen moved with great speed and reached Annuvin in little under three hours. In that time, their mouths were un-gagged so they could freely talk but they were tied up and hung above the Cauldron. The cart of corpses that Taran, Eilonwy, Kairi, and Edge had seen earlier was wheeled in, followed shortly by the Horned King. He looked at all of them almost appraisingly.

"My, such a brave and handsome crew: a pig-boy, a scullery maid, a broken down minstrel, some creature from the forest, and the Keyblade wielders themselves…" the Horned King said with no small amount of amusement in his voice. He faced directly towards Sora. "Sora, we meet again! You left me with such great dispatch upon our last encounter that I had begun to worry I had given you some cause for offense."

"Glad to see you care so much…" Sora said in a biting and sarcastic tone. "So what exactly are you planning here, Your Majesty?" He spat the last two words out with such disgust it caused the Horned King to laugh.

"I suppose you would like to know the plan in store for you. With this cauldron I shall create an army of deathless warriors and with them I shall conquer Prydain once more…and then…the worlds!"

"And how does Maleficent feel about this?" Kairi asked in a sneering tone, already guessing at what the Horned King's intentions were. The Horned King turned to them and though no visible smile showed through his mask they could tell he was.

"She will have no choice but to bow to me much like you…" The Horned King strode up to Sora. "Join me and with your powers we can rule all the worlds. Light and darkness, a dichotomy never seen before working together as one." Sora spat at him and the Horned King sighed, turning away. "Very well then, you seal your own fate. Now I call upon the army of the dead! The Cauldron Born! Arise my messengers of death! Our hour has arrived!"

Suddenly the Cauldron began to shake before all of them and blood began leaking out of the top of it. Most of them were repulsed by it but both Sora and Edge kept their gaze transfixed. Suddenly a huge ball of fire erupted out of the Cauldron and they all had to close their eyes to protect themselves from the blinding light as a green mist spilled forth. It washed over the skeletons and corpses of the people that were now scattered across the floor. Eilonwy gasped in fright then as the skeletons came to life as the deathless warriors Prydain would fear: the Cauldron Born.

"My phantom warriors have come to life! All dead from centuries past!" the Horned King screamed in triumph. "Never before has anyone created an army such as this! Go forth my deathless warriors! Go forth and conquer Prydain!" And they obeyed by compulsion, striding forward to do their master's bidding.

"Come sire, we can get a better view from above!" the Creeper called and he led the Horned King upstairs to watch his conquest of the worlds. Taran began struggling against the ropes that were holding him.

"If I were free…I could stop that Cauldron!!" Taran screamed in anguish.

"Oh, promise me you wouldn't Taran, I don't know if I could…" Eilonwy began to say but she broke off, sobbing, tears streaming from her eyes. Suddenly Sora heard the sound of rushing flame next to him and he saw Edge drop to the ground without injury. Clearly the flash of flame when summoning his Keyblades had come in handy.

"I'll cut you all down!" he summoned his Keyblades and immediately severed the ropes binding them. They dropped down to the floor with minimal injury. "Now et out of here, I'll go and stop the Cauldron."

"What?!" Sora said in shock and surprise. "You can't do that Edge! The worlds need you, the Order needs you!"

"No…I've done enough damage. I've sat by idly enough already. The Order doesn't need me. It needs people like you, Kairi, and Riku. That's why…" Edge felt a lump rise in his throat and he turned away. "Sora, promise me that one of you three will lead the Order and get them on the right track again."

"Edge…" Sora began, at a complete loss for words.

"Promise me!" Sora nodded and Edge nodded back. Without any word from his companions he ran straight at the Cauldron knowing no fear at all. Then he jumped in. Instantly the castle of Annuvin was silent before the green mist that had been pouring forth began to be sucked back in. Sora gasped in anguish upon seeing this but Kairi grabbed his arm. He looked into her eyes for a moment.

"Kairi…get them out of here. No arguments!" Sora said, and Kairi, not wanting to get on Sora's bad side began leading them away just as the Horned King came downstairs, clutching the Creeper by the throat. The Creeper was the first to catch sight of him.

"Look, sire! It's the Keyblade master! He's the one doing all of this!" the Creeper yelled and the Horned King dropped the Creeper, advancing on Sora. Sora summoned his Keyblade in a flash.

"No…" the Horned King seethed. "You may have stopped Maleficent but you shall not interfere with MY plans! YOU shall satisfy the Cauldron's hunger, Sora!" With a wave of his hand he sent a billowing flame at Sora who swung his Keyblade in a wide arc and sent a wintery chill at the flame. The two met, mingled, and disappeared. Angered, the Horned King sent a flash of lightning at him which Sora deflected off his Keyblade. The lightning reflected back onto the Horned King who screamed in agony as his mask became even more withered than it had looked before. Sora pushed his offensive until the Horned King broke the spell. Suddenly a great wind filled the area began blowing and pulling in both Sora and the Horned King towards the cauldron. The Horned King sent shards of ice hurling at Sora and he deflected them, while trying to move away from the Cauldron. He couldn't fight it any longer.

Then he saw Kairi standing in the doorway of the castle, beckoning him over. And he knew that he had a reason to keep on living where Edge had not. He pushed against the wind and ran towards the Horned King. The Horned King attempted to ready another volley of magical spells but was too late and Sora sent him flying over and into the Cauldron. he screamed in agony before there was a great burst of light and the Horned King, last true threat of Maleficent's Hellfire Club and the entire worlds, was at last gone. But Sora, sighed, knowing the price they had paid was steep. Suddenly the castle began to rumble. The castle was falling apart.

Sora immediately turned tail and fled, leaving the Creeper to his deserved fate in the crumbling castle. Near the moat everyone but Sora and Kairi was already on a boat in the water. Kairi jumped on first and Sora was only slightly behind. He managed to jump on and then Taran and Fflewddur began using the oars of the boat to row them away from the castle while Gurgi did his best to dog-paddle. Kairi had teas in her eyes and Sora just held her…knowing they had lost a good man.

It was about ten minutes later that they touched on a nearby shore. The sun was beginning to shine once again in the realm of Annuvin as it had not for ages. Prydain was free at last…but only at a terrible price of one of the Keyblade wielders. They saw a gwythaint escape from the castle with the Creeper on it but it didn't matter to them. That was the last thing they saw for another ten minutes. But as Sora was still comforting Kairi in her sobbing he saw one last thing floating from the destruction of Annuvin amidst the waves. All of them saw it.

It was the solitary figure of the Black Cauldron.

Author's Note: Wow…I think that was a truly intense chapter if I do say so myself. But what do you think? If you've seen the movies then you'll know what happens in the finale of Prydain next chapter but guess what, if you haven't, you get to wait for that till next week. Which brings me to two points: 1) I amaze myself at having been able to write this so fast, and personally that was from the wonderful encouragement I got from Lord Moldybutt today in their review. 2) Next week is it for this story. We have only five chapters left and the final confrontations (two of them in fact) though there will be some much needed exposition. There's lot's of stuff planned so I hope you enjoy it next week. Until then, review on what you'd like about this chapter and Dare to Be Silly.

P.S. If none of you noticed, I made references to both a game and a movie:

Final Fantasy IV: The Spoony Bard line which I think works so well with Fflewddur at this point. (Not to mention that's where I derived Edge's character from.)

Star Wars Episode III: The lightning deflecting onto the Horned King's mask off Sora's Keyblade is similar to Mace Windu deflecting Palpatine's lightning and scarring his face.