Okay, sorry for the confusion that last chapter caused. So in this chapter, hopefully all of your questions are answered about the last one, and I hope you look forward to the next one.

Enjoy!

OCs (c) Me

Kingdom Hearts characters (c) Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts

Sanctioned Soul

Chapter 8

"Kyrie?" Lea gasped as he stared at the owner of the voice. Everyone stiffened at this, did he mean-?

"What?" everyone exclaimed as they turned, spotting a small child with white hair and brown eyes as she stood on the other side of the creatures, her eyes focused on them as she held a star plush in her arms. The "Unversed" turned at her voice and focused solely on her as they slunk along the ground, heading straight for her. The girl backed up, wariness clear on her features as she stared at them, but she didn't run. Sora gasped.

"Hey, run!" he exclaimed, but she still didn't move. He quickly ran in, followed by Donald, Goofy, Demyx, Axel, and Lea as they got between the child and the Unversed. The girl turned her attention to them before speaking.

"Remember, you fought them a long time ago, when you were someone else. The other heart inside you knows what they are, the heart you saved knows how to defeat them. Remember Sora, remember." she continued, staring at the boy as he turned his attention to her.

"Huh? What do you mean the other heart inside of me?" he paused for a moment, remembering the other existence that lay dormant inside of him. "Do you mean Roxas?" the child shook her head.

"No. Roxas looks similar, but this person is someone different. Try to remember." he was silent before nodding and the fight commenced. This time, they were finally able to land good blows on the new opponents thanks to the child's distraction. Demyx ducked as one came for his head and used his water clones to throw it back, with Goofy using his shield to cut it in half as it disappeared. Lea and Axel tag-teamed, both using their fire to burn the enemies, turning them into ash.

Soon, all of the Unversed were gone, a collective sigh of relief echoing through the group at this. Axel panted as stood there, before turning his attention to Lea, one question on his mind.

"Why…did you call her…Kyrie?" he panted as he stared at the man. Lea looked right back at him, equally beat as he panted heavily.

"That's…her name. She's the…granddaughter of Ansem the…Wise." he stated, meeting his doppelganger's gaze. Demyx turned to see if the girl was okay, only to find her gone. "Hey, where's the kid?" everyone turned around immediately, realizing that the child had disappeared.

"She disappeared!" Donald exclaimed. But a sudden giggling caught their attention as they turned, spotting the child as she ran towards the Bailey. Axel growled as he dispelled his chakrams, he didn't know who this kid was, but something told him that she had some connection to them.

"Follow her! There might be more heartless around, or those Unversed!" he ordered. With that everyone ran, trying to catch up with the strange child before anything could happen to her. But once they got to the Bailey, they realized that the girl had vanished.

"Huh? Where'd she go?" Goofy asked as he scratched his head, confused. Lea was silent before chuckling softly, shaking his head as he did so.

"Heh. Must've been a ghost. Besides, she wouldn't look like that now, not after twelve years." he answered, shaking his head as he did so. Sora turned to him and shook his head.

"No, she can't be! Kyrie was taken yesterday, there's no way she could be-"

"That's because she's not. What you saw was an apparition created by your memories of her. It was a part of herself that flowed through the connection in a time of need, it was her will." they quickly turned, spotting a man cloaked in a ragged black cloak, his bandaged arms crossed as he stared out into the distance. Sora growled as he summoned his keyblade, suspicious of the man.

"Who are you? Do you work for Xehanort?" he demanded, staring at the unknown man. Everyone summoned their weapons as well, not taking their eyes off the unknown entity. But Axel stood there for a moment, he recognized this man.

"You…you're the guy I saw hanging around in Twilight town yesterday!" he accused. The man was silent for a few moments, before turning his attention to Sora and shaking his head.

"No, that man and I are mortal enemies. He has taken someone very important to me, and I'm willing to cut him down and send him into the very pits of hell in order to bring her home safely." he spoke, answering Sora's question and completely ignoring Axel. Then he looked at Axel and Lea.

"Ah, I see that she was able to keep you two in existence. She's begun tapping into the power that lays dormant inside of her." the two blinked at him in confusion, what was he talking about?

"Wait, who was able to keep us in existence?" Lea asked, baffled by the man's words. The man was silent before looking out into the distance.

"The girl, young Kyrie. The one who carries the soul of my sister, the soul of the light." he answered nonchalantly. Axel quickly stepped forward, resisting the urge to grab the man by his tattered cloak and beat the living hell out of him until he told him where Kyrie was.

"You know Kyrie? Where is she? Where did that bastard Xehanort take her?" he demanded, fire starting to ignite around his weapons as his rage began to increase. But the man shook his head, heaving a light sigh as he did so.

"I know naught for where she is, as I am searching for her myself. But I will explain this: the reason why you Lea, previous Somebody of Axel and you Axel, previous Nobody of Lea, were able to exist together when that is nigh impossible for the common Nobody and Somebody." the two men stared at him, before staring at each other.

"Wait, he's my Nobody?"

"Wait, he's my Somebody?" the two asked in unison. Sora, Donald, and Goofy nodded before the man continued.

"Yes, each of you holds bits of the other when before, Axel held the body of Lea while a heartless held the heart of Lea. Under normal circumstances, if Axel were to have faded when he did, Lea would have came back into existence with Axel laying dormant inside of him. But because my sister, the girl, interfered…now you both exist as two separate beings, with only one tie to each other. Lea, surely you sense this." Lea was silent for a moment, before crossing his arms.

"You mean the weird dreams? The ones about this kid named Roxas and the girl with white hair? That was the whole reason why I went to Master Yen Sid and saved Sora back at Where Nothing Gathers." he asked, scratching the back of his head as he said this. The man nodded.

"Yes, for they are Axel's memories that have been shared with you. You see, when my sister gave Axel a heart and body of his own, she needed to create a body for you as well for you would no longer exist otherwise. To keep things in balance, she decided to give Lea a piece of Axel and take a piece of Lea away from Axel." he continued. Axel also crossed his arms, glaring at the man as he did so.

"So my memories of-"

"Yes, your past memories from when you were Lea had to be removed from deep inside of you. In return, Lea was given vague memories from your time in the organization, as well as the time you spent together with Roxas and my sister." he stated. The two men nodded before Sora took a step forward, staring at the man curiously.

"Wait, how do you know about all of this? Who are you?" he questioned. The man was silent for a moment, before sighing.

"She is my soul sister, and I am her soul brother. We were once guardians of the doors to light and darkness, it was through her power that she made the keyblade of light, and through my power the keyblade of darkness." he answered, his words cryptic. Sora stared blankly at him, now thoroughly confused by his words.

"Meaning…?"

"I am the one your King and friend are searching for." the man sighed, aggravated by the boy's naiveté. Everyone was silent for a few minutes before Goofy slammed his fist into his palm.

"I got it! You're the Prince of Darkness, ain't ya?" he exclaimed. The man face-palmed before nodding. "Yes. That I am."

"So if you know that the King and Riku are searchin' for ya, why don't you go and find them?" Donald questioned, tapping his foot as he crossed his arms. The prince was quiet for a moment, before shaking his head.

"I will not relinquish my freedom just yet, not until young Kyrie, my soul sister, is safe from harm. When I find her I will then relinquish myself to your King and Riku. But for the moment, I will revel in my freedom and use this time to search for her." he stated, turning his back to them. Leon nodded in understanding as he stepped forward, brandishing his gun blade.

"Are you done? Because I don't want the likes of you lingering here long. We have enough heartless problems as it is, especially with these Unversed showing up and causing more problems." he spoke coldly, brandishing his gunblade. The prince chuckled softly and nodded.

"Yes, I am almost finished. I meant no harm, for I wanted to inform you all what I needed to, nothing else. But there is one more thing-" he turned and took a few steps forward before placing a hand on Sora's shoulder.

"The girl you were asked to find, she is a lone traveler whose name means 'beautiful feather'. Your new friend, Rinoa, may know of her and can tell you where to find her. Now, if you'll excuse me." and with that, he walked away and disappeared into a cloud of darkness, which evaporated into thin air. The group stood there for a few moments, staring at the place where he had been, before Sora turned to Leon.

"Why would Rinoa know anything?" he asked. Leon shrugged his shoulders, wanting to know the same thing.

"I don't know. She did have to travel around for years until the world was restored, so maybe she ran into this girl by chance." he answered. Sora nodded before Demyx pointed in the direction of Merlin's house.

"Well then let's go! We need to find this girl ASAP!"

-Merlin's House-

"Rinoa, you still here?" Leon called as he and the rest of the group walked into the house. Rinoa looked up from where she, Aerith, and Yuffie were sitting at the table before getting up to meet him. Angelo perked up from where he lay under the table, before getting up and following the girl as she met Leon by the computer.

"Right here. What's wrong, Squall? Are those things gone?" she questioned, concern clear in her voice as she looked him over for any injuries. Leon nodded as he looked over his shoulder, staring at Sora.

"Sora has a couple of questions for you. They're looking for someone, and we think you might've met them through your travels." he answered, urging the boy forward with the flick of his wrist. The girl nodded in understanding as she walked over, stopping in front of Sora.

"Okay, so what would you like to know?" The boy shifted uncomfortably for a few moments before asking.

"Um…have you met a girl whose name means 'beautiful feather'? She also has this weird power to uh…"

"To see the past memories of the environment and able to see future memories that are going to happen." Axel finished, causing the boy to nod as the group stared at her. The woman was silent for a few minutes as she thought, before her face paled.

"Oh no…please tell me you're not talking about Miu!" she groaned, covering her face with her hands. At this Angelo yelped, lowering his head to the floor and resting his head in his paws at the sound of the name, the group blinking at her in confusion as he did so.

"Miu? Is that her name?" Demyx asked. Rinoa sighed and nodded reluctantly.

"Yeah, that's her all right." she answered. Everyone raised their eyebrows before Yuffie poked her head out from behind her. "Wow, is she that bad? You act like she's a wicked stepsister or something!" she exclaimed. Rinoa giggled a little at this, but shook her head.

"No, it's not that. She's just…a little eccentric. Or maybe crazy. She also doesn't like working with others, and is used to doing things herself. Either way, you'd probably get along great with her, Yuffie." she explained. The ninja beamed at this before Goofy stepped in.

"So have ya seen her? We need ta find her for Master Yen Sid." he explained. The girl placed her hand against her chin as she thought, before shaking her head.

"The last time I saw her was a few months ago, when I found Leon again. See, she's a nomad and travels around a lot, so she never stays in one place long. When I first met her, I wanted to go with her so I could find Leon." she explained. The group nodded as they listened before she continued.

"She was reluctant at first, but allowed me to go with her and we traveled for a few months after that. Once I found Leon, she just up and vanished. She does come here from time to time, but it's like every five months when she does." she finished. Sora groaned at this as he raised his arms.

"Five months? We can't stay here for that long!" he groaned in dismay. At this, Aerith decided to pitch in. "Maybe you don't have to. She's a nomad, remember? Maybe she's on another world. You could go to different worlds until you find her." she added. Demyx grinned at this.

"Yeah, we could do that! So, what does she look like?" Rinoa was silent for a moment, before speaking.

"Well, she had unruly auburn hair, freckles, and blue eyes. One of the strands sticks up, like an antennae, and she has part of it in a low ponytail while the rest is left down. She tends to dress differently depending on the world, but the one thing you can always find on her is feathers and her sword." she described, using her hands to point out the different features and even using one to curl up a strand of her hair so that it looked like an antennae. The boys nodded as they made mental notes of this, before Lea stepped forward.

"So, we're going to face Xehanort soon?" Sora nodded as he turned to the man.

"Yeah, we are. So maybe you can head to Disney castle, Kairi's there getting some training with her keyblade and we need someone to help her and the queen. You think you could help?" he asked. The man was silent for a few moments before sighing.

"Sure, why not? It's not like I'm doing anything important, anyways. I'll just have to tell Ienzo, Aleus, and the others where I'm going before I do. So, uh, Axel-" the man perked up at his name and turned, meeting his previous somebody's eyes head on as he made eye contact.

"Since you're going along with Sora and them, can I ask ya to keep him out of trouble? He's too nice for his own good." and indignant "Hey!" was heard from the boy before Axel chuckled.

"Sure, I'll keep an eye on him. But in return, you keep an eye out for Kyrie, deal?" he retorted. Lea smirked before nodding.

"Sure, no prob. Kid's like a sister to me, so I'll keep an eye out for her. I wanna ask how she was doing, but you guys are busy so I'll ask the queen and Kairi when I get to the castle." he promised. Axel nodded in return, and with that they turned to the committee.

"Well, we have to go."

"Be careful and have a safe journey, okay?"

"Yeah! Watch out for heartless and those Unversed! They look pretty nasty!"

"You boys be careful now and practice your magic, Sora!"

"Have fun. We'll hold down the fort here!"

"…see ya."

"Goodbye! It was nice meeting you!"

"Be careful, Sora. Things might get rough along the way."

"Okay, we got it. See ya!" Sora called as he waved. With that, the group disappeared in a flash of light as they returned to the gummi ship.

-Elsewhere-

A young woman panted heavily as she ran though the forest, her bare feet hitting the dirt as she did so. Strange creatures she had never seen were pursuing her, and she was desperate to get away as she jumped over fallen logs and ran through the thick brush. A raccoon clung to her shoulder as she ran, a small green hummingbird flying just ahead of her as she did so. The girl was dressed in skins and furs, her skin a copper color and her hair black as ebony.

"I have to warn father and the others right away! These creatures…they are nothing that I've ever seen before." she thought as she ran, her breaths coming out in short gasps. But suddenly her foot got caught in a tree root, making her fall forward and land on the ground with a dull thud, causing the air to leave her as she gasped loudly. After a few moments she turned, watching as the dark creatures circled around her, aiming for the kill. But in the trees, a shadow moved, focused on its prey as they surrounded a helpless woman in distress.

"They're mine…"

Can anyone guess which world the gang will visit first in their search for Kyrie and the mysterious Miu? Well then, tell me in a review! XD