Hello faithful readers (and newcomers =3). Hope you've been enjoying the story so far. I can't believe I'm already posting the next chapter; it feels like yesterday I posted the last one! But I digress.

Thanks to SSBTMM, Naivette, Crystal4458 and Eddie Camp for the reviews. To those of you who have concerns (ex "When will there be more KH elements in the story?" "When will they kiss again?") I'm not going to answer your questions right now. =3 All that I'm saying is don't be afraid, there is ALWAYS a method to my madness. (:

Welp, here's the new chapter!

Chapter Five: Moment of Truth

"Is her majesty feeling ill today?"

"Yeah, but don't worry, I'll get her any medicine she needs. We don't need everyone rushing in here and making a fuss over her when she really needs to rest."

"I understand, sir."

Ugh, would you guys shut up already? I thought as I lay in my bed. As always, I was annoyed with anything that disturbed my sleep. I had no idea what time it was, but it felt like I hadn't slept a wink. I didn't care what the consequences were of spending all day in bed; this was where I was going to stay until I had to eat or go to the bathroom.

After I fell back asleep, I didn't have any more nightmares about my mother. I was extremely restless, though. And I still was feeling that way, even if I was forcing myself to lay still. How could I just stay here, knowing how wrong everything was? I was cursed, and my "mother" was responsible. I couldn't find peace as long as that was the case.

But I couldn't exactly leave right now to go to her and fix this. Not only was I exhausted, but Riku and I couldn't leave in broad daylight. This journey had to be kept a secret from most everyone. In their eyes, everything was just fine. And it would stay that was as long as they didn't know about my curse or Isabella being alive. If they found out that secret, then who knew what would happen to Cadia? Maybe Sora should have killed her while he had the chance.

I scoffed, rolling on my bed so I was on my back. How could I wish that against the person who raised me? She couldn't be completely evil, since she wasn't the worst mother out there. No physical abuse was always a good sign. She didn't show love often, but I could excuse it somehow. Some people just weren't good at showing love.

"I guess that conversation just woke you up, huh?" Riku asked. I turned my head on the pillow and looked over towards the doorway, seeing that the door was shut and he was walking towards me. The servant must have left while I was wrapped up in my thoughts.

"Yeah, it did. But I think just about anything would have woken me up."

"Probably," he agreed softly as he stopped by my bed. "You've been tossing and turning ever since I let go of you and let you lay down to sleep."

"Yeah, well, I'm a little restless," I said quietly. "You know, finding out that your "mother" is alive and has a curse on you will do that to you."

"I wouldn't know how that feels, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," I responded quietly. "Thanks." Riku nodded faintly to me, staring at me from his spot by the bed as I laid on my back. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Almost nine. I already told Mr. Bottomsworth that you weren't coming to class today."

I shut my eyes, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. "I couldn't care less about that right now," I stated bluntly.

"I know that. And I agree. Mr. Bottomsworth was understanding, if that helps anything. I guess he's not such a bad guy after all."

"Guess not," I agreed with a small nod. "So…I shouldn't call him 'Mr. Butt' anymore?"

Riku chuckled once, a weak smile on his lips. "I'd say no, especially since he was the one smart enough to realize what was wrong."

A question popped into my head, and it was one that I hadn't considered until this very moment. "Riku…how did he know that my—Isabella was alive?" Was I the only person kept out of the loop or something? Because I would be so emotionally attached to the situation? That would have made sense, but still, I wished that somebody would have told me. Maybe. I didn't know what was best.

"Not many people know," Riku admitted with a shake of his head. "Sora and I shared it with your mom, and she decided who else to tell. You were left out of it…for obvious reasons."

I smiled bitterly, opening my eyes and looking over at Riku. "I'm really not taking it well, am I?" I could be worse, though; I could be curled up in a fetal position and begging for somebody to erase my memories. Not that that was possible, of course. And if it was, I couldn't get away with doing it. Riku was adamant about me remembering my past, even if it was painful. And I understood where he was coming from, even if I didn't like to admit it.

"You're taking it as well as can be expected," Riku assured me softly. "If you were bubbly and giddy after finding out the person who betrayed you was alive, I'd be concerned. I might have locked you in a padded cell."

"Thanks Riku," I said sarcastically. A padded cell? For an insane person? I was crazy in a lot of ways, but not mental.

"Hey, that's what I'm here for," he said with a smirk, lifting a hand and patting me on the shoulder. "You'd be pretty lost without my words of wisdom."

"That I would," I responded quietly, serious even if he was joking. Maybe I'd be okay without his "wisdom", but I would be lost without him. He was my strong tower. As cheesy as that sounded.

Riku squeezed my shoulder before he took his hand away, gazing at me with softer eyes. "Try to get some more sleep," he suggested softly. "Tomorrow's going to be a big day."

Right…tomorrow, I thought. The day that I would face Sorceress Isabella. I nodded faintly and laid back down, hearing Riku walk away to give me some privacy. While my thoughts should have distracted me, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep fairly easily. This was the only way that I could prepare for tomorrow. The day I faced the person who tried to kill me.

*…*…*…*…*…*

That day went by so slowly, but eventually, "tomorrow" did arrive. That tomorrow was the current today now. Riku and I snuck away before the sun rose, taking a gummi ship to our destination. We had to not use the warp device, though, since that would have made our exit pretty obvious. The ride took hours and hours and hours…It severely tested my patience. But Riku was being a good sport, trying to cheer me up even if he was always the serious one. I appreciated him so much, and I did forgive him for his recent behavior. But I did warn him that next time, he shouldn't get so jealous. I was going to be physically close to other guys in my life, whether I wanted to or not.

I guess the ride was good for something, since that talk was productive. Thankfully, Riku didn't try too hard to talk to me about my problems. He only reminded me that I can't forget my past, so the best thing I could do was appreciate it. I turned out good in his eyes. "Terrific" was the word that he actually used. But Riku was more terrific in my eyes. To think that half a year I didn't know him at all…At least I was smart enough to appreciate that I met him. He was a true friend. More than that, actually. I was falling in love with him.

One time, my mom thought she saw a bit of my adoration for Riku. She didn't realize the extent of it, though. If she did, she would have said more than she actually did. All that she said was that it was "dangerous to fall in love with a Keyblade warrior."

I knew that. Of course I knew that. As long as Riku had the Keyblade, he would have the responsibility of protecting other world and people. But at least for now, he was solely devoted to me. I was okay with that, since I needed him right now. I had to face my worst fear: my past.

A world suddenly appeared in my vision as I sat shotgun in the gummi ship. We approached it rapidly, and that was when I saw the large castle. "That's it, huh?" I asked softly. Disney Castle.

Disney Castle wasn't where Isabella was being kept. That would have been absolutely ludicrous. How could someone so dark reside in a world that rejected Darkness? She couldn't; she'd die on the spot. We were here for another reason that involved getting to Isabella.

Isabella was being kept in a prison so secure that it wasn't even in the realm. Riku said that Isabella was trapped in another realm by King Mickey and his wife, Queen Minnie. Apparently they had the power to banish people to the Realm Between. I had never heard of that before, obviously, so Riku explained what that was all about so that I wouldn't be in the dark any longer. We were going there, after all.

The Realm Between is between the Realm of Darkness and the Realm of Light. Pretty obvious, right? But that's not all. There are worlds in that Realm, and then there are areas that are just empty, void of any life. Void of any escape. Isabella was trapped in one of those areas with her powers suppressed so that she had no power over anyone or anything in the Realm of Light or the Realm of Darkness. What I was confused about was how Riku said that the worlds in that realm were polarized. Meaning, they were closer to one realm or another.

That made sense. What didn't make sense was how Isabella's prison was closer to the Realm of Darkness than the Realm of Light. Shouldn't that have given her some strength? That was what I figured, but that wasn't the case. The prison was still secure despite that.

Too many logistics for me, I thought as Riku landed the ship in the available hangar. All that I needed to know was that she was trapped in that realm, and only King Mickey or Queen Minnie could create a portal for Riku and I to travel through to get there. The Realm Between was large, so large that nobody could stumble across Isabella's location unless they knew where she was.

"You've never been to this world before, huh?" Riku asked as he led me out of the ship, walking a few steps in front of me to show me the path.

"Nope." How would I have? As far as I could remember, I had only been to Cadia, Twilight Town and Destiny Islands. I hadn't seen many worlds like he had as a Keyblade wielder.

"Well, just don't freak out because of all the talking animals and magical brooms," he said with a smirk.

Brooms? "What?" I asked, going along with that thought. Magic brooms of all things? So weird…

"Welcome to Disney Castle," Riku said with the same smirk, pushing the doors open and revealing sunlight into the hangar. I grunted at first because of the brightness, but then I stepped outside to see the world. And it was beautiful. The grass was so green, and the shrubbery was cut to perfection. I didn't think that I ever saw a courtyard that was so beautiful and peaceful.

A sudden, loud snore interrupted my thoughts.

"That's Goofy," Riku informed me with an amused look, the young man pointing over to the side at the dog that was wearing armor and sleeping on the ground. Seeing his nose move up and down in his sleep, even a few yards away, let me know that the name "Goofy" fit him well.

"Wake up, you big palooka!"

"…And that's Donald."

"No slacking off!" the duck named Donald quacked at his friend, unaware of our presence. I gasped at how the duck pulled out a wand and then cast a thunder spell on his friend, lightning striking him and making him cry out.

"Don't worry about it," Riku said in my ear as Goofy woke up and started laughing because the magic tickled. "They do this all the time, or so I hear."

"Crazy…" I murmured. A duck—a sorcerer duck, and a knight dog being best friends? And these were the two that Sora travelled with when he was fourteen and fifteen? Those two must have rubbed off on him, since he's pretty goofy now. But in a good way. Sora's a good guy. He always made people smile, even me when I was first struggling with Twilight Town being swallowed by Darkness. Who knew that would be the least of my problems?

Riku led me into the castle, a large hall greeting us. "I always wished I could come here more," Riku admitted, his voice echoing throughout the area even if he wasn't speaking extremely loudly. "Mickey's a good friend of mine, and this world is pretty lighthearted. Heartless only ever attacked it one time."

"What? But how?" I asked in awe. The Heartless were everywhere, after all. This world was immune to them somehow?

"This world has something called the Cornerstone of Light. It's a like a shield for the world that doesn't allow any dark people or enemies inside."

"That's…incredible. Is this the only world with something like that?"

"Unfortunately," Riku said with a small nod. "But if any world is safe from the Darkness, it's good that it's this one. Mickey and Queen Minnie have a huge library full of information that's valuable to all the worlds. And Mickey's done a lot of work in the worlds for years now, so it's nice he has a place to come home to. He doesn't have to worry that anything will go wrong while he's gone."

"That's nice," I said softly. I wished I had that reassurance with my home. My mom was the only family I had left, so of course I wanted her to be safe. But she had guards, and she was a capable fighter. I had no reason to worry about her.

Riku hummed and nodded, stopping in front of the normal-sized door at the end of the hall. He lifted a hand and knocked lightly on it, before looking over at me. "The King's room," he said quietly. Because of that comment, I immediately stood up a little taller. I met the King before, but not under good circumstances. We were afraid of him punishing Riku and Sora for saving me when Twilight Town was temporarily consumed by Darkness. But he hadn't done anything, thank goodness. And he seemed to like me, so now it seemed okay for me to consider him a friend. A friend I was very careful around.

The muffled response "Come in" was heard through the door, so Riku led the way into the room.

"Hello, Your Majesty," Riku said as he entered the room.

"Riku? How many times do I have to tell you to call me Mick—Oh! Hi Steph," King Mickey greeted, seeing me walk in after Riku. I must have been pretty easy to miss, since Riku was bigger than me. Regardless, I smiled and said a small hello to the king. "Gee, this is a shocker," the king said, stepping up from his desk and walking around it to be closer to us. "What're you two doin' here?"

"It's a long story," Riku responded softly. "Do you have time?"

"Yeah, of course," he said cheerily, though he was also serious. "What's goin' on?"

"Well, there's a problem that we're here to take care of…In Cadia, the royal family gain certain powers and abilities when they turn eighteen. But Steph just turned eighteen two days ago and nothing happened. A few of us think that Sorceress Isabella cursed her so that she can't get her powers."

"Hm…" Mickey hummed, glaring down at the ground. "I didn't think that was possible. We have her locked away tight, and her powers shouldn't have any effect on anyone in this realm."

"We realize that," I said quietly. "But this is all that fit."

"Mm," he hummed again, nodding faintly to me in recognition. "Welp, I guess it's always possible. Sorceress Isabella is one of the strongest sorceresses I've ever met, so maybe she still has some power somehow. I guess the only way to find out would be to ask her."

"That's the same conclusion we reached," Riku said. "But we knew that you're the only person who can let us into the realm where she's trapped. So that's why we're here."

King Mickey stared at Riku in particular, eyes stern. "Riku…You know the dangers of going into that realm. Are you sure Steph should be coming with you?"

"I'm coming," I said, speaking for myself. "This is about me. And I want to be a part of solving the problem, no matter what the danger is. I can handle myself."

The king stared at me in surprise, seeing that I was gazing at him evenly. Clearly I had changed since I first met him. I wasn't so timid anymore. Despite whatever fears I had, I was facing them more bravely and boldly than I had in the past. Now that I realized how strong I was and how much potential I had, I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"…Very well," King Mickey said with a small nod. "I'll open the portal. Riku…Tell Steph a little more about the realm, so that she's prepared for what could happen there."

The young man beside me nodded as well, turning to look at me. "Since this end of the Realm Between is closer to Darkness, we may suffer from certain…delusions," he said softly. "But nothing is going to be real. And those illusions will only appear if our fears get the best of us or if we let our guard down."

"Okay." I would keep up my guard then and we'd be just fine.

"Ready whenever you two are," King Mickey said, Keyblade now in his hand. "I'll let you two in close to Isabella's location, and whenever you're done, just shout something at the sky. I'll pull you out of there."

Both of us nodded. The mouse king also nodded in return, his Keyblade glowing as he pointed it at the wall. With a small cry, a colored beam shot out of the weapon and hit the wall. Only the wall didn't crumble. Instead, a blue and green portal appeared. That was our way to the Realm Between.

I took a small step forward, feeling Riku grasp my hand before I was ahead of him. He didn't do it to slow me down; he kept a tight grip on my hand and walked forward with me into the portal. Within just a second of walking through it, all of our surroundings changed. We were no longer in the nice office of King Mickey in Disney Castle. Instead, we were in an area where the skies around us weren't skies at all. Regardless, the blue and green colors lingered and surrounded us.

By "us", though, I didn't just mean me and Riku. There was a third person who was just a few yards in front of us. We both stopped walking at the same time, though neither of us released the other person's hand. I clearly didn't want him to let go because of how tightly I held his hand. There, right in front of us, was Sorceress Isabella.

"Happy belated birthday, daughter," she said with amusement. Riku growled beside me, and while I wished I could find the anger within me to direct it at her, I was more stunned by what she said. And how she appeared. She looked the same as the day Sora took her away. She was dressed in the black dress she wore before, long black hair flowing down her back neatly. Even if I never saw her in this outfit before this day, she wasn't a complete stranger this way. Her eyes were the same as they always were. Cold.

"I'm sorry I don't have a gift for you, but obviously I wouldn't have been able to deliver it anyway," Sorceress Isabella continued with a sly smile, standing still as she stared at me and ignored Riku. "I'm 'trapped' here in this realm."

"You do have a gift you can give," Riku said lowly. "And you can give it now. Take the curse off her."

Yes…let me receive my powers, I thought, seeing Isabella blink in surprise to Riku's demands. Either that, or something else. I wasn't sure, so I just listened to her speak instead of inputting my own thoughts.

"Curse? What curse?"

"The one that you put on her before you were locked up here!" Riku spat, taking a small step forward. "She just turned eighteen and obviously she doesn't have her powers. What'd you do, witch?"

Don't talk to my mother like that! I thought, though I bit my tongue for more reasons than one. She wasn't my mother anymore. She never really was, since apparently she didn't consider me a daughter. I was only her puppet.

She laughed tauntingly, making me shiver. "I have placed no curse on her," she said evenly. "I have no power in this realm, correct? That is what all your precious textbooks and your 'wise' king say. But I don't need spells to have power. It's true power that I can influence your steps without even doing anything."

Riku…Is the realm really secure? I thought, glancing over at him and seeing him seething. Obviously he still believed Sorceress Isabella was connected to this. Nobody else would curse me. There was nobody else around with that kind of power! I knew that if Gregory had that type of power, Riku would have accused him right away.

"Oh, but I do hate seeing you two run around like chickens with your heads chopped off," Isabella said, feigning concern. "So I'll point you two in the right direction. I didn't cast any spell on you, and I honestly don't know what the problem is. But there's somebody out there who does." Isabella paused, looking right at me as I held my breath. "Ask your father."

I gasped, turning around when I thought I heard a small noise. There, I saw him. Tall, muscular, and handsome. His bright blue eyes shone just like I remembered and his brown hair was faintly spiky. He gazed right at me, though he didn't approach me.

"Steph! Steph, there's nobody there!" Riku hollered in my ear, grabbing my shoulder and shaking me. The vision of my father began to blur, but not quickly enough for Riku's taste. He saw me still in a small daze and he pulled me close to him. He wrapped his arms around me and pressed me to his chest as if I would be safe from any illusion while I was there. Again, he seemed to be acting as if he could make every single problem in the world disappear.

Isabella laughed wickedly, though her words rang in my ear. Ask your father…I knew those words weren't just spoken without meaning.

"Mickey! Mickey, get us out of here!" Riku called to the sky as the sorceress's laugher continued. I peeked my head out of Riku's chest and saw the portal open right beside us. Before I could even question anything, Riku released me enough to drag me through the portal before another illusion could haunt me.

The portal disappeared and we found ourselves in the castle again. Riku held onto my arms and stared at me, continuing to ask me again and again if I was okay. But my thoughts were elsewhere, and they were loud enough to overshadow anything that he said to me.

Ask your father. I could tell she said those words with purpose, and the purpose wasn't to taunt me. It was to let me know something that was actually true.

My father's alive.