Sora and Riku were walking along the beach on Destiny Islands. Sora was ahead of Riku, pointing to a small waterfall. The two couldn't have been much older than five. "It's true, I saw it with my own eyes!"

"You sure you didn't just hear it this time?" Riku was doubtful of whatever it was Sora said he saw.

"What difference does it make? There's a huge monster in there I tell you!" Sora shouted.

"All right. Suppose there really is a real monster…think we can beat it by ourselves Sora?" Riku asked the question like it was a challenge.

"No problem! Let's do it!" He stopped talking at a sound that sounded almost like a roar. "Listen! There! Can you hear it growling?"

"Shh, quiet. We've got to be careful." Riku lead the way into the cave, followed by Sora. Nothing was inside. "See that? It was just the wind making that noise."

"Aw man, I wish it was a monster." Sora sounded disappointed. He looked around the cave, his eyes locking on a small brown wooden door. "Hold on! What's that over there?"

Riku investigated it. "A window or a door?" He pulled on it to find out what was on the other side, but it didn't appear to move an inch. "It won't open."

"Geez, is that really all that's in here?" Sora asked.

"What do you expect in a boring place like this?" Riku asked. He appeared lost in thought for a moment. "Hey, Sora."

"Hm?"

"When we grow up, let's get off this island." Riku was smiling. "We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!"

"Sure, but isn't there anything fun to do now?" Sora asked. He was kind of bored. "Hey, you know the new girl at the mayor's house?"

-x-

"Right! Sora! Go right!" Luigi shouted at the Keyblade Master, snapping Sora out of his memory, and fired another beam at a rock as the Starshroom dodged another piece of space debris. The ship lunged right, narrowly avoiding a Heartless ship outside.

"What's with all of the space junk?" Bowser asked.

Luigi fired another beam at a piece heading right towards them. "Maybe with Count Bleck holding onto Rosalina, space hasn't been cleaned up well."

"I don't think that's-Look out!" Tippi pointed at the window as another asteroid, twice as large as the prior ones soared into their path.

"I don't think I can dodge it!" Sora pulled up on the controls in an effort to dodge the blow, but it did nothing as the ship took a direct hit. It began spiraling downward in the direction of a small portion of land below.

"Aim for that, we can worry about leaving later!" Luigi pointed at the land. Sora nodded and activated the landing controls as quickly as possible before touching down on the small island amongst space.

The world they landed on was dark to say the least. The whole area was covered in shadows with littered pieces of brick wall all around the area. It was depressing to say the least. "What…caused this place to be like this?" Tippi asked.

"It's depressing, isn't it?" A bitter laugh sounded behind them. The group turned around to see a young woman with black hair and dark blue skin. "A world eaten by the Heartless, but unable to die…that's the only fate of this place."

"How is that even possible? Don't the Heartless destroy the worlds they consume?" Sora asked.

"A protective spell summoned by the hand that destroyed it." The woman walked up to them. "The question is, what are four world travelers doing at a world so destroyed? All the safe happy worlds destroyed? Boring?"

"Anna, stop it!" A blue skinned boy ran up to the girl. His hair was a dark blue and caused Tippi a sad pang of familiarity. "Don't hurt them."

"Damien! Get back! I'll deal with these intruders. You stay in the shelter!" The woman, Anna, insisted.

"But-" Damien was shushed before he could get another say in. He looked at each of the newcomers with pleading eyes before settling them on Tippi. His eyes went wide. "Timpani! Help me out! Tell Anna I'm not ten anymore!"

"Timpani?" Sora asked. "Who's that?"

"Get your eyes checked Damien, that's not her and you know it." Anna frowned at him in disapproval. "Now let me take care of them."

"We don't mean any harm. We only need to hide out here until the debris disappears," Luigi said.

Anna looked each of them over before sighing. "Fine. Welcome to the Fragmented Kingdom, former homeworld to the Tribe of Darkness."

"You don't have to tell her that, it was her homeworld too you know?" Damien glared at Anna, who glared back.

"Ignore my little brother. He's a bit crazy, been that way since we lost his brother a few years back," she said.

"So wait, who's that Timpani girl he thinks Tippi is?" Bowser asked.

"My brother's dead girlfriend, not Damien's, the other brother's," Anna said.

"She really is!" Damien insisted. "I know you don't believe in my aura capabilities, but they're nearly identical to each other. Timpani's really there standing in front of you!"

"I'm afraid I'm not Timpani," Tippi said. She fluttered right in front of Damien's face. "My name's Tippi. I've been a Pixl for as long as I remember, and I'm afraid it's a bit odd for a Pixl to date a Tribe of Darkness, isn't it?"

"But…" Damien looked away. "You have to be her! Nobody else could have an aura like that! If Blumiere finds out he can come home!" He ran off in anger, causing Anna to sigh.

"I'm really sorry about him. He's always been a bit odd, but he and Blumiere were really close."

"Hey, how could he go tell this Blumiere if he's dead?" Sora asked in confusion.

"Blumiere…he's alive, but like an empty shell now…" Anna said. "If you don't mind, I don't really have the energy to go chasing after my little brother right now. Can you all go get him for me? There's not a lot left to the world, so you shouldn't need a guide to find him."

"Sure," Sora said. The others looked at him like he was nuts. "What? If she can't go find him, we have to."

"Fine!" Bowser growled and turned away. Tippi flew in front of the group as they started running along the dark wasteland of a world. Not even the Heartless appeared to fight them, nothing left of the world to destroy, or perhaps a result of the protection spell around the world was responsible for keeping them away.

"You should watch." Damien's voice drifted to their ears. "If you're not careful, you'll lose yourself to the darkness of your heart, your burden."

"My what?" Sora froze at the second voice. Was that…Riku?

"The burden of your heart, your darkness," Damien said. "It pollutes your aura even now, it's as heavy as the other boy's burden, but unlike his, yours doesn't just bring strain, it brings destruction."

"Who are you anyways?" Riku asked, his voice tense. "Why does it matter to you if I fall?"

"Because darkness took away my brother, and I don't believe another innocent soul should be corrupted like that," Damien said.

"Damien?" Tippi fluttered into the area, much against her better judgment. For whatever reason, she didn't want to hear any more about his lost brother.

"Timpani, you followed!" Damien seemed overjoyed by Tippi's appearance while Riku looked slightly angry at the sight of the rainbow Pixl. "You believe me!"

"Actually…Anna sent us…" Tippi said. Sora and the others stepped out moments later.

"Riku, what are you doing here?" Sora asked.

Riku shrugged in an attempt to feign indifference. "Just talking with Damien here."

"You know what I mean! What about Kairi? Did you find her?" Sora asked. His voice was filled with slight desperation in an attempt to learn any news about his missing friend.

"Maybe…" Riku smirked and grabbed Damien's arm.

"Hey!" Damien shouted and tried to swat at Riku, but Riku only grabbed on tighter. "Catch us and maybe I'll tell you what I know."

"Timpani! Help!" Damien shouted as he was carried away.

"Now you see why I didn't want him along. That brat just caused us a whole load of trouble," Bowser said.

Sora frowned. "He wasn't ever like this before…he's got to just be playing with us while he waits for the wreckage outside to become manageable to travel through." Even Sora knew the lie was false. But it didn't make sense that Riku would be acting like this at all. Is it possible that what Damien said was true and there really is a lot of darkness in his heart?

"Well, we have to go after him. Even if we hadn't promised Anna to get Damien, we need to find out what Riku learned about Kairi now," Tippi said, "and why he's taunting us."

"Somehow, I have a feeling it's partially a certain Koopa's fault," Luigi said and looked at Bowser briefly before turning back to the others. "He went that way, right?" Everyone nodded. "Then that's where we'll go."

-x-

"Count Bleck demands to know why you are so fascinated with the Keybearer and his friends," Count Bleck said. Riku held up the unconscious Damien, almost missing the soft suction of air from the count.

"It wasn't to completely mess with Sora. This boy has the ability to see auras. He could sense where Kairi's heart is," Riku said.

"But you are still taunting him nonetheless," the count said. "And because of this you endanger yourself to the darkness. If you wish to remain going out and doing missions, you will learn to let go. You may be able to justify it by taking him, but that is not the true reason you are here and all of us know it."

"Trust me, I'll be fine," Riku said.

"Very well…said Count Bleck. You will be wise to heed this warning." Count Bleck teleported out of the area, leaving Riku and Damien behind. The heroes arrived as he teleported away, leaving Tippi with an odd feeling as she saw him disappear.

"Riku! What's the matter with you?" Sora asked. "What are you thinking? Don't you realize what you're doing?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Sora. You only seem interested in running around and showing off that Keyblade these days," Riku said. "Do you even want to save Kairi?"

Sora clenched his fists. How could Riku even think that he didn't want to save Kairi? "I do."

A group of Heartless surrounded Riku and the unconscious Damien, surprising even Riku. He summoned his sword instantly against the mixed group of primarily Shadows and Neoshadows. He was quickly overwhelmed as they swarmed the young boy. Two Neoshadows held Damien up to carry him away while Riku was left.

"We have to help!" Sora leaped into action. Summoning his Keyblade, he attacked the two that surrounded Riku almost instantly.

Riku gave a smirk, possibly even a half smile of thanks before turning towards the Heartless. "You up for this?"

"No problem. Let's do it!" Sora instantly leapt upon the Neo Shadows and started bashing in the one on the right with his Keyblade. The Keyblade caused them both to shift attention from Damien to Sora and released the boy to duck into shadows in the ground. The two shadows emerged behind Sora, one finding itself prey to Bowser's claws and the other to Riku's sword. Sora turned around and cut through the two Neo Shadows, causing them both to disappear into clouds of darkness. Luigi started firing fireballs at the Shadows to keep them from taking Damien before Riku's sword sliced clear through them. The sword disappeared moments later.

"Not bad," Riku said, and for a moment, it was like they were back at the islands, competing just to best the other once more. He hoisted Damien over his shoulder.

"Riku, give Damien back! He needs to return to his sister!" Sora shouted.

"A powerful Aura Reader like him?" Riku asked. "I don't think I can do that. Damien here could tell us where Kairi's heart is, and we could save her. This boy could be the key."

"That doesn't make it okay for you to just take him!" Tippi said.

"I never said I wouldn't give him back if we saved Kairi," Riku said with a glare in Tippi's direction. "Not that it matters, this isn't your decision, it's Sora's. What do you say Sora? Let's join forces to save her. We can do it, together."

Sora summoned out his Keyblade in response. "You think I'd join you in hurting somebody else?"

"Wasn't he mad at me for not letting Riku join earlier?" Bowser asked. Luigi glared Bowser, causing the turtle to shut up.

"What, you'd rather fight me over a boy you barely know?" Riku asked with a hint of surprise invading his voice.

"Barely know him or not, I don't need to know him to know that you've chosen the wrong side," Sora said.

Riku shook his head in disappointment. "And here I thought you would actually join me. Guess the count was right, there's no point lingering on you." He stepped away from Damien's body before teleporting away.

"Damien, are you okay?" Tippi flew over to him. "Damien!"

"Tim…pani?" Damien looked up, his eyes fogged over from pain. "You just missed him…Blumiere…" he fell unconscious once more. Everyone sighed in relief.

"At least Riku didn't kill him," Luigi said and picked up Damien. "We should carry him back to his sister now."

"Riku…" Sora looked down.

"Don't worry about it Sora, he'll come back eventually." Even Tippi's half hearted reassurances couldn't remove the doubts Damien's words to Riku had placed in his mind. It was so hard to believe that Damien's reading of Riku's aura was wrong after what he'd seen. Riku might come back eventually, but the question wasn't of when, it was whether or not it would be too late.

-x-

"He's safe," Anna said in relief as Luigi put Damien down. "How did he get hurt?"

One silent look between the four of them was all it took to know not to mention Riku. "We ran into some Heartless that caused us a little bit of trouble."

"I didn't think the Heartless would get through the protective spell. The only way they'd get in is…if he sent them…" Anna's voice grew angry. "That little-"

"Anna?" Damien's voice rang out. The boy sat up. "I'm fine. Blumiere was here."

"Yeah and it's because of that idiot of a brother of yours that you're hurt. The only way Heartless can get in here is if he sent them," Anna said.

"Blumiere wouldn't…" Tippi mumbled before stopping herself from speaking out. She didn't know who Blumiere was as far as she could remember, and it was bugging her, this instinct to protect him from his sister's accusations. Perhaps there was some credence to Damien's theory of her being Timpani, or at least somehow connected to the girl, after all.

"I don't suppose there's a Keyhole here though?" Sora asked, interrupting the siblings before Damien could get yelled at.

Anna shook her head. "It was destroyed a long time ago with most of this world. If you're sealing them, you're about five years too late."

"Sorry I asked…" Sora said.

"Anyways, we should get going now that the way looks clearer," Luigi said. "Sora's journey is to seal the Keyholes, and find his missing friends."

"They're closer then you think," Damien said before smiling. "I hope we meet again soon. Make sure nothing bad happens to Timpani."

"Err…right…" Sora waved. "Hope we meet again soon!"

-x-

"So Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?" Riku asked.

"It was unexpected, but what happened cannot be undone," Count Bleck said. He hid his face under the brim of his hat.

"And her heart was…"

"Taken by the Heartless when your homeworld was destroyed…said Count Bleck."

"Tell me! What can I do?" Riku asked. There had to be something he could do to bring Kairi back.

Count Bleck hesitated. "There…is something…the Dark Prognosticus tells of a land where all hearts reside after they are gone. This world, Kingdom Hearts, could hold her heart."

"Then let's get going towards it!" Riku said. "The sooner we get to this world, the faster I can save Kairi!"

Count Bleck shook his head. "It isn't that simple. Seven pure hearts from seven maidens of light are required to access it. We currently have five in our possession, but two are missing. If we can get inside, their hearts might be inside."

"Their?" Riku asked. He looked at the count with interest. Had the count lost somebody too? Was that why he was going on this quest, to get to Kingdom Hearts and bring back the person he lost?

"Nevermind," Count Bleck snapped. "The other princesses must still be found before this plan can progress." He left the room, forgetting about his ability to teleport in his desire to leave Riku.

"Quick to snap, it appears the count is losing hope in his plan fast," Dimentio said and teleported into the room.

Riku narrowed his eyes, he never did trust the creepy jester when it came to anything. "What do you want?"

"That is not the way to greet someone who wants to give you more power," Dimentio said.

"More power?" Riku asked.

Dimentio nodded. "The power to control the Heartless of course." He snapped his fingers and a dark aura surrounded Riku. "Now I must take my leave before the count returns, ciao."