Kingdom Hearts: The Light Guardians

by Keyblade Guardian

After Xehanort's defeat, the worlds were saved by Sora again, but that was just temporary. There are still threats out there, so the Keyblade wielders who fought against Xehanort form an organization called "Light Guardians" to protect and help those who need it.

29. Warnings - Part I

It's been a while, huh?

---

Chapter XXIX

Warnings - Part I

1630hrs, August 19th, 2024
Disney Castle, Disney Town

After Naminé finished making copies of Hibiki's recording of the fight against Vulpe in Fiore, Riku took one of the copies and headed for Disney Town. He decided to use the train route that Scrooge created to connect Radiant Garden to Disney Town since, according to Kairi and Ventus, it was faster than using a Gummi Ship. It took him a couple of hours to reach Disney Town, definitely faster than using a Gummi Route, but still not as fast as using a Keyblade Glider.

Riku was now in Disney Castle, walking toward the library. He knew Mickey prefers to be there rather than staying in the Audience Chamber. As he walked, the sliver-haired boy was thinking about the conversation he had with Kairi in Radiant Garden.

"Kairi's right," thought Riku with a very serious look on his face. "No matter how you look at it, we are in a very dangerous situation. These five Keyblade wielders' power is far beyond Xehanort's. I'm still surprised that even Terra and Aqua were outmatched by that girl. And Jura and the others working together couldn't do much either…We really need to find a way to get stronger fast before something bad happens."

The Keyblade Master tried to not let his own thoughts get to him. It wouldn't do him any good worrying too much, as he told Kairi before. However, it was difficult to be calm now that they knew how strong their new enemies were. After a few more minutes walking, Riku finally reached the library's front door and opened it. Inside the library were the two rulers of Disney Castle, Mickey and Minnie. The two of them were talking about something when Mickey saw his old friend entering the room.

"Riku!" said the king surprised.

Minnie also looked at the boy. "Oh, it's so good to see you again!"

"I'm glad to see you, too," said Riku smiling as the two monarchs approached him. He, then, crouched to shake hands with Mickey. "How've you been? Is everything all right around here?"

"Everything's fine," replied Minnie. "Not a single Heartless has appeared lately."

Riku nodded. "That's good."

"What about you, Riku?" asked Mickey. He walked back a bit to see Riku better. "Gosh, you're even taller than I remember. You sure have grown this past two years."

Riku chuckled. "I haven't changed that much. Say, are Donald and Goofy around here? I haven't seen them as I walked around the castle."

"Since nothing that requires their presence has happened lately, I let them have some free time today," answered Mickey. "Surely they are around the town. Why do you ask? Do you need to talk with them?"

"Kinda." Riku crossed his arms, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I'd have liked them to be here, but I mainly wanted to talk with you about something really important. This visit isn't just for pleasure."

"Is it something wrong, Riku?" asked Minnie, noticing the serious tone the boy was using.

Mickey frowned. "Did something bad happen? Is it Maleficent?"

"No, it's not her," replied Riku. "We might…no, we actually have a bigger problem than Maleficent."

Mickey and Minnie looked at each other really worried. They knew Maleficent and what she was capable of, so hearing Riku saying that there was something that could be even worse than her troubled them. Xehanort, for example, was obviously a bigger threat than Maleficent, and that was the second reason why the two rulers of Disney Castle looked so concerned. Could it be something of that caliber?

"Riku, please tell us what is it," said Mickey.

"We've encountered other Keyblade wielders after the guild was created," said Riku, much to Mickey and Minnie's shock. "There are five of them and they are planning to rule over the worlds. Apparently their reason is that they think Keyblade wielders are superior to other people. And they are willing to kill if someone gets in their way."

"That's horrible!" said Minnie, bringing her hands to her mouth.

"So their objective is like Maleficent's," said Mickey. He lowered his head and clenched his fists. "To think there are other Keyblade wielders who are willing to do horrible things like killing people to get their way…"

"Yeah, I know…" said Riku. "Although, it seems they don't want to cover the worlds with Darkness like Maleficent. They've been destroying Heartless like we do. Still, we have to stop them."

"They destroy Heartless, you say?" Mickey seemed surprised by this. "Well, at least they're not using them to destroy worlds or anything. That means Maleficent is their enemy too."

Riku nodded. "I think so, too."

"Do you know how you are going to stop them?" asked Minnie. "Did any of you come up with a plan?"

"The only thing we know for sure is that we have to get stronger than we are," replied Riku. "Those Keyblade wielders have an incredibly power."

"How strong they are?" asked Mickey. "Have you already fought one of them?"

"Not me, but…" Riku found difficult to say how easily his friends were defeated, but he had to tell Mickey about it. "Roxas, Xion and Lea were defeated by one of them in a few seconds. They couldn't even react. And Sora, Terra and Aqua lost against another one. A girl called Vulpe."

Mickey and Minnie gasped in shock. Knowing that six of the Light Guardians were defeated by just two other Keyblade wielders was something they didn't expect. Mickey could tell by Riku's seriousness that the new enemy was strong, but he didn't know they were that strong.

"Even Sora, Terra and Aqua couldn't do anything against one of them?" asked Mickey.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it, either," said Riku. "She fought Terra, Aqua and more than twenty mages at the same time. She got hit several times, but it was like all the blows she received had no effect on her. And then, she fought Sora and just played with him. She wasn't even fighting seriously."

"So we're talking about Keyblade wielders stronger than Xehanort, then," said the king. "Xehanort was the strongest Keyblade Master alive until Sora put an end to him. That would make Sora the strongest, but if what you said is true, then those Keyblade wielders are on a whole new level."

"Riku, could you tell us what they look like?" asked Minnie. "I'd like to warn the people of this world about this."

"Here," said Riku as he grabbed the copy of Hibiki's recording Naminé gave him. He handed it to Mickey. "You have to activate this sphere with magic. It'll show you a picture of those Keyblade wielders. It also has a recording of the fight against Vulpe that took place two days ago in Fiore."

"Fiore?" asked Mickey. "That's the world where those Mage Guilds you, Sora and Kairi joined are, right? Oh, so the mages you mentioned were them…"

"That's right," said Riku. "Most of them are really strong, so it really surprises me that Vulpe could fight all of them and not getting at least a bit tired. Mickey, I know you are strong, but if you ever encounter one of them, please try to not fight him. And you must be really careful, too, Minnie. They could…well, you know."

"Thanks for worrying, Riku," said Mickey, smiling and looking at the silver-haired boy with appreciation. "We'll be careful."

"Anything else you want to tell us about this?" asked Minnie.

"Mmmm, yes, there's actually one more thing," said Riku. "It's something Sora told us about. He met a girl in Fiore called Anguis that was wearing an outfit similar to the one those Keyblade wielders are wearing. There's a possibility she's one of them, so we are considering her the fifth one. Still, Aqua couldn't detect Anguis with her Heart Perception ability, so…"

"Ah, right, Aqua can tell if a person is a Keyblade wielder or not, right?" Mickey touched his chin, "So, do you think she's one of them?"

"It's a possibility I don't want to rule out," said Riku. "Sora, however, thinks she's a good person. He doesn't think that girl would do the things those Keyblade wielders are willing to do."

"Well, Sora knows when someone is genuinely good, so he must be right," said Minnie smiling. "I trust his judgment and I know you do too."

Riku smiled. "Yes, I do. I just don't want to lower my guard. And I don't want Sora to lower his either. He's too nice for his own good, but I guess that's what people like about him. I'll have to keep an eye on him more frequently."

Mickey laughed. "I see you still worry about him as much as always. Well, I'm not surprised. Just don't forget to take care of yourself, too, Riku."

"Don't worry, I won't," assured Riku.

"So, what are the others doing?" asked Minnie. "Did they go to other worlds to warn people about this new danger?"

"That's right," replied Riku. He, then, remembered something else he wanted to ask to the king of Disney Castle. "Hey, Mickey, did Master Yen Sid ever tell you about other Keyblade wielders when you were his apprentice? You know, apart from Terra, Aqua and Ventus."

"No, I don't think so," answered the king. "I mean, I know there were other Keyblade wielders before us, but I've never heard before about these five you've met. Do you think Master Yen Sid might know about them?"

"Well, of all the people I know, he's the person who knows the most about Keyblade history." Riku crossed his arms. "And those Keyblade wielders…Vulpe, for example, seems to know a lot about Keyblade history too. Besides, being as strong as they are, I don't think they got their Keyblades one or two years ago. Still, Vulpe looks like she's the same age as Sora and Kairi. And the others aren't much older, either."

"Do you have a theory of who they could be or something?" asked Mickey. He realized that Riku was right. True, Sora and the other Guardians were young and were very talented Keyblade wielders, but according to Riku, the other five Keyblade wielders were much stronger than Xehanort and weren't as old as the deceased Keyblade Master.

"I have nothing," said Riku, shaking his head. "But Terra and Ven are going to the Mysterious Tower, so I hope they find Master Yen Sid there so they can ask him about these Keyblade wielders."

"I see." Mickey crossed his arms and looked at the floor with a thoughtful look on his face for a few seconds. "Well, I'll see if I can find out something about other Keyblade wielders in case Terra and Ven don't find Master Yen Sid."

Riku smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Mickey. Oh, by the way, I thought we should also keep an eye on the Princesses of Heart, just in case Maleficent tries to use them again. You never know what she might be scheming."

"Oh, we've got that already covered," said Mickey.

"Didn't Kairi or Ven tell you about the club we run in Disney Town?" asked Minnie. "One of the reasons we decided to create it was so we can protect the Princesses of Heart and make sure nothing happens to them."

"Right, forgot about that," said Riku.

"Most of the friends you guys have made come to the club, so you and the others should pay us a visit, too," suggested Mickey. "There are also some people who would like to meet you and the rest of the Guardians. What do you say?"

"I guess we can come when we have some free time," replied Riku. "When does it-?"

The silver-haired boy's sentence was interrupted when, suddenly, a Corridor of Darkness appeared near the library's entrance. Riku and Mickey immediately summoned their Keyblades and stood in front of the queen, already prepared to fight whoever was coming from the dark portal. However, the person who came out of the portal wasn't an enemy, but a familiar redhead who, despite his friends' protest, still used Corridors of Darkness to travel between worlds.

"Sup," said Lea, greeting Riku, Mickey and Minnie with a smirk. It was then when he realized that Riku and the king had their Keyblades summoned and were in their battle stances. He waved his hands defensively "Hey, hey, it's just me! No need to summon those!"

"Lea," said Minnie surprised.

"Oh gosh, I thought it was someone else…" added Mickey, lowering his weapon.

"Why are you guys so jumpy?" asked Lea, crossing his arms.

"Lea, you know that we have to be more careful and never let our guards down now that there are five people out there that might want to eliminate us," said Riku, almost scolding the redhead. "Why are you still using Corridors of Darkness?"

"Well, it's the fastest way of travelling I know," replied Lea, scratching the back of his head. "Look, I'm sorry, but in my defense, I'll say that I came here to watch your back since you came here alone. Remember that we agreed to always go to other worlds with at least one partner. Besides, when I returned to the guild I realized I was the only one there, so that's why I came here as fast as I could."

"I came here alone because I knew Mickey would be here," said Riku. "I appreciate the gesture, though. Wait, did you say everyone left?"

Lea nodded. "Yeah, the guild is empty at this moment. When I returned after helping a lady with a low-tier Heartless, I saw Naminé left a note saying she went to some place called Death City with Sora. I was planning to go with Xion and Roxas to see if the girl who is repairing the Keyblade Armors finished, but those two left while I was working."

"Oh, you found someone capable of repairing your armors?" asked Mickey. "That's good to know."

"Yeah, it's a girl Yuffie met in another world," replied Riku. "She could repair Sora's quite fast, so I suppose she's almost finished with the rest of them."

"So, did you already tell them about all the stuff that has been happening recently?" asked Lea, looking at Riku.

"Yes, Riku already filled us in about our new enemies," said Minnie. "He told us about the encounter, you, Roxas and Xion had with one of them. Are you all right?"

"I'm perfectly fine," assured Lea, smiling at the queen. "Nothing some healing spells and a good sleep can't cure. So, Riku, if you're done here, how about we have some fun in Disney Town?"

"Come again?" asked Riku, not sure if he heard Lea well.

"Ven told me there were some fun mini-games around town," said Lea. "How about we try some before going back to the guild?"

"Umm, actually my plan was to return to Radiant Garden as soon as possible and continue training," said Riku. "You should do that, too, Lea. I don't think we should waste time playing."

Lea sighed. "You're going to hurt yourself at this rate, you know? If you want to get stronger, you have to rest, too."

Riku stared at Lea, a pensive look on his face. The boy knew that he was right. Normally, he would have thought that the only thing the redhead wanted was to slack off, but he knew that straining his body wouldn't do him any good. Perhaps taking it a bit easier wasn't a bad idea. After all, Sora was one of the strongest people he knew and he always found time to have some fun.

"I think it's a good idea, Riku," said Mickey smiling. "Go have some fun."

"We will warn everyone about what you've told us," added Minnie. "Don't worry about that now. We're depending on you and the others, so you have to clear your mind. Otherwise, you won't be able to stay focused."

"I guess I could…Argh!"

"That's what I wanted to hear!" said Lea, interrupting Riku. The pyro started dragging Riku out of the library, heading for Disney Town. "Come on, Ven said there was a machine that could make ice-cream and I wanna try it."

"Hey, I can walk on my own!" protested Riku. "Let go, Lea!"

The two mice watched how the silver-haired boy was taken out of the room, unable to hold their amused smiles. When the two Guardians left, Minnie looked at King Mickey with a concerned look. He returned the gaze, a similar expression on his face. It was obvious that they were worried.

"Do you think everything will be all right?" asked Minnie.

Mickey smiled. "It's not the first time we are in a situation like this. The worlds are in danger because of troublesome Keyblade wielders, just like before. However, now that there is a group like the Light Guardians to protect everyone, I think everything will be just fine. We just have to trust in them."

Minnie nodded. "I hope you're right."

"Me too, Minnie," murmured Mickey, looking at the Lacrima he had in his hand. Despite what he said to the queen, he was still feeling quite uneasy for some reason. "Me too…"

-TLG-

1215hrs, August 21st, 2024
Death City, Earth

Two days after leaving Radiant Garden, since a certain blonde didn't want to ride on a Keyblade Glider that was meant for one person only, Sora and Naminé arrived in Death City. As soon as they got out of the Gummi Ship, the two Guardians headed for Shibusen and now they were reaching the end of the long stairs that connected the academy with the city. As she arrived at the end of the stairs, Naminé turned around. She could see the entire city from there.

"Wow," said the blonde, amazed by the view.

"Impressing, huh?" said Sora smiling.

"You said it," replied Naminé. She, then, looked at Shibusen. "And the academy doesn't fall short. I already knew what it looked like, but seeing it with my own eyes is very different. It's huge compared to Twilight Town's school."

Sora chuckled. "I'm not sure you can compare this academy to a normal school knowing what kind of people study here."

Naminé giggled. "You're right. By the way, are you feeling fine now? Does your head still hurt?"

"No, I'm fine," assured Sora. He had a small headache while he and Naminé were on their way to the Earth, but after a much needed sleep, the pain disappeared. "I guess I just needed to sleep. I'm good now, so don't worry."

"All right, but if you need something, just tell me, okay?" said Naminé.

"Okay," replied Sora. He and Naminé continued walking, getting closer to the academy's entrance. Then, Sora remembered something he wanted to ask the girl. "Hey, I took a look at the info in the Lacrima and I saw there were pictures of Cornis and Leo despite them not being in Fiore. Was it you the one who added those? How did you do that? You haven't met those two, right?"

"Oh, yes, I…uh…" Naminé seemed to find difficult telling Sora how did she manage to put an image of the two Keyblade wielders who weren't in Fiore and, therefore, weren't recorded by Hibiki's magic. "Roxas and Ven let me take a look into their memories and…Well, you know. I just used my magic to copy that small piece of their memories and put it in the Lacrima."

"Hey, don't need to feel bad about that, Naminé," said Sora, smiling kindly at the girl. "You didn't do anything bad at all. Actually, I'm impressed at how good you are with this stuff."

"Thanks." Naminé looked gratefully at the boy. "I wanted to add an image of Anguis, too, but I was kind of afraid of how you would have reacted if I asked to look into your memories."

"I would have let you do it." Sora put a hand on Naminé's right shoulder. "Come on, we already talked about this two years ago. I forgave you for what happened in Castle Oblivion, even though there was nothing to forgive. Anyway, don't think about that, okay? I don't want things between us to get awkward, do you hear me?"

Naminé smiled. "Right, thank you, Sora."

Sora nodded. "Good. As for Anguis, I don't think we need an image of her. Just showing people the pictures of the other four is enough."

"You really think she's not a bad person, uh?" asked Naminé. She followed Sora inside Shibusen as he crossed the academy's front doors.

"Yeah, I do." Sora scratched his head. He and the blonde Guardian were heading for Shinigami's room as they talked. "I mean, it's obvious that she's a good girl. Lucy thinks so, too. I don't think someone like her could be evil."

"Sora, you are very good person," declared Naminé. "Sometimes too good for your own good. I know Riku and you already talked about this, but I want to remind you that there are people who will take advantage of that good side of yours. I don't doubt you. If you say that Anguis is not evil, then it must be true. I just don't want you to lower your guard."

"Thanks for your concern, but trust me in this," said Sora. He seemed to be "I'm one hundred percent sure she's not our enemy."

Naminé smiled. "Okay, if that's what you think, then me too. Now, let's focus on what we came to do here. By the way…haven't you noticed something strange?"

"Strange?" Sora looked at the girl quizzically. He, then, looked around and tried to find something out of order, but he couldn't detect anything unusual going on. Some students saw Sora looking at them and they waved at him. He smiled and waved back. "Everything's normal. Students walking around the academy, hanging out between classes…"

"That's what I mean," said Naminé. "Isn't it summer vacation? There shouldn't be people here, don't you think?"

"Oh, right," said Sora in realization. "Hehe, almost forgot it was still summer break. I don't know how long it is for Shibusen's students, but, I can assure you there are far fewer people around here than usual. Anyway, let's put that aside. There's the door to the Death Room."

Sora and Naminé approached the large door marked with a skull. Sora grabbed the door knocker and used it. As he and Naminé waited for it to open, he thought about what she said about summer holidays. He wondered if Maka and the others had some free time now. The spiky-haired Guardian wanted to spend some time with the friends he made in Shibusen since the last time most of them were busy.

"You know, I've noticed your popularity here hasn't decreased this past two years," said Naminé, a small smile on her face. "Those students seemed to recognize you immediately when they saw you looking at them. Then again, it's difficult to forget someone like you."

Sora chuckled. "Anyone capable of taking care of the Heartless would have gotten popular back then, if you ask me. Surely I wouldn't be as 'famous' as I am now if it weren't for the Keyblade."

"Come on, give yourself some credit," said Naminé as the door that led to the Death Room opened. She and Sora crossed it and started walking through the corridor of guillotines, heading for the main part of the room. "Aren't you quite popular among your classmates in Destiny Islands? That's what Kairi told me, at least."

"The last years my popularity increased because they saw me defeating a Heartless on TV," replied Sora, scratching his head. "Riku has been always the popular one before that. However, lately some girls started avoiding him for some reason. Kairi said it's because he's far more intimidating than before, but I don't think…Wait, why are we talking about this?"

Naminé smiled innocently. "I don't know. You started."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "No, it was you."

"I don't think so," said the blonde.

As they argued, in a way, the two Guardians continued walking to the main part of the Death Room. When they reached it, they could see that the black figure known as Death, or Shinigami, was waiting for them. Surely he saw the two Keyblade wielders coming using his mirror. It made Sora wonder how that thing worked.

"Yo, Shinigami-sama!" said Sora.

"Hey, hey! How are you, Sora-kun?" greeted Shinigami with his usual funny voice. "And who do we have here? You're the girl who was next to Roxas when I used my mirror to communicate with your guild, if I remember correctly."

The blonde Guardian nodded. "That's correct. I'm Naminé. It's nice to meet you, Shinigami-sama."

"The same to you," replied the headmaster, bowing slightly. He, then, turned to the spiky-haired boy. "I heard from Ozpin you did a great job in Vale. Just what I expected from you, but I'll say this anyway. You and the friend you took there did a great job, thanks!"

"It was a piece of cake," said Sora smiling. "And we had some help, so it was even easier…Hey, where's Spirit?"

"Oh, he's taking charge of a class," replied Shinigami. "Sid was supposed to give that class, but he's busy doing some…stuff. So, what brings you two to Death City today? Anything we can do to help? Food? Medicines? Books? Weapons?"

"No, thanks, but we're good," said Sora. "Actually, we're here to give something to you. It's important."

"Is everything all right?" asked Shinigami, noticing that Sora looked more serious than a few seconds ago.

"At the moment, yes, but it will get worse eventually," replied Naminé.

"I'll get straight to the point," said Sora. "You see, I met a Keyblade wielder in Remnant who said he was part of a group of five Keyblade wielders. He said they were planning to take over the worlds. And they won't let anyone to stand against them. The one I met is even willing to kill whoever it takes to get his way."

"My, I wasn't expecting you to say something like that," said Shinigami. "It looks like we're in a dangerous situation again. However, Sora-kun, you and your friends were able to defeat Xehanort and his allies. This shouldn't be a problem to your guild, or is it? Have any of you already fought against any of those five Keyblade wielders?"

"Yes, that's why we're worried," said Naminé. "For example, Roxas and other two Guardians encountered with one of them, but they were defeated in seconds."

"And the day after finishing my job in Remnant I fought against another one," added Sora. "A girl called Vulpe."

"And how did it go?" asked Shinigami.

Sora stared at Shinigami and then chuckled. "She moped up the floor with me. And not only that, before she fought me, Vulpe faced two other Guardians and more than twenty mages on her own and they barely did any damage to her."

"You seem to be taking this quite well," observed Shinigami.

"Well, I'm not the kind of guy who gets all depressed for losing a fight," replied Sora with a smile. "It bothered me more the fact that my friends got hurt, but they're alright now. As you said, we could take care of Xehanort, so I'm sure we'll be able to deal with these new guys."

The headmaster was glad to see that Sora's usual cheerful attitude was intact. Naminé also looked pleased. Sora doesn't know, but before Kairi left with Aqua, she asked Naminé to check if he was all right. It's one of the reasons Naminé asked Sora to be his mission partner.

"Shinigami-sama," said Naminé, making the headmaster look at her. She pulled the Information Lacrima out of her pocket. "We have a recording of the battle against that girl called Vulpe as well as pictures that will help you identify four of the five Keyblade wielders. We wanted to give you a copy so you could show it to the entire academy. Maybe there's a way to put it in your mirror so you can broadcast it to the entire academy. I'll try to use some of my magic, if you don't mind."

"Oh, that'll come in handy, so sure, go ahead!" said Shinigami, and the blonde girl approached the headmaster's mirror. "So, Sora, do you have any plan to defeat these people?"

"Ah, well, not exactly," replied Sora. "The only thing we're planning to do is to get stronger. We don't know much about them, so I don't know what we should do. I wish I had something, to be honest."

"It's normal to feel kinda lost sometimes, even for Keyblade Masters like you," said Shinigami, trying to reassure Sora. "Don't worry too much about it. I'm sure you'll come up with a plan eventually."

"Lost…Ah!" Sora just the almost empty page of Blake's book. "Argh, I forgot to ask Aqua and Terra about that!"

"What are you talking about, Sora?" asked Naminé confused as she tried to figure out a way to connect the Lacrima and Shinigami's mirror with her magic.

"Oh, nothing important," said Sora, waving his hand dismissively. "You see, there was a girl in Remnant who had a book about Keyblade wielders and the Keyblade War...Don't ask me where she got it, because I don't even know. Anyway, there was a page in that book that said something about some 'lost masters', and I'd like to know more about that."

"Why did you want to ask Aqua and Terra about that?" asked Naminé.

"Well, perhaps Eraqus told them a story about the Keyblade War, so I was hoping they'd know something," replied Sora. "Guess I'll have to tell them when they come back to Radiant Garden."

"I think Master Yen Sid is your best shot," said Naminé. "He's the one who knows the most about Keyblade history. Perhaps you could try asking people who know him."

"I did ask Master Makarov, but he couldn't give me an answer." Sora crossed his arms. "Actually, I think he didn't want to give me an answer. He acted like he knew who the lost masters were, but he didn't answer the question. It was kinda suspicious…"

"Well, if it's not something important, then you shouldn't worry about that too much," said Naminé.

"I guess you're right," said Sora, who was going to forget about that subject until he remembered that there was someone in the room who had been an acquaintance of Yen Sid for a long time. "Wait, Shinigami-sama, if I remember correctly you and Yen Sid had known each other for a long time, right?"

"Ah, yes, yes!" Shibusen's headmaster looked kinda nervous for some reason, and this puzzled Sora. "However, I can't help you with that, either. I'm sorry."

"What? Are you sure?" asked Sora. "But…Hey, what are you doing!?"

"I apologize for not being able to help you with this," said Shinigami as he picked up Sora by his hood. "Now, why don't you take a walk around the academy while Naminé-chan finishes what she's doing? Oh, you should go and pay a visit to the reception lady! She's got something for you, and I'm sure you'll like it."

"Wait, Shinigami-sama, I…!" Sora didn't know how, but before he could finish his sentence, he was already outside of the Death Room, just in front of the door he knocked some minutes ago. "Well, that was fast…"

All this was starting to bug Sora. Death was the second person who gave him evasive answers to his question about those lost masters. It was possible that Kid's father didn't know anything about it, but why did he look so nervous about it? Makarov was a different story. Sora knew the Guild Master of Fairy Tail knew something, but he didn't want to say anything. Well, as he said, it's not like knowing who the lost masters were was an important matter, but there was something fishy about all this.

Sora decided to forget about all this for the moment. There will be time to address this subject in the future. He decided to do as Shinigami said and go to see the lady he mentioned, a former E.A.T student who retired and became the reception attendant that assigned students their extracurricular lessons or 'quests'. Even Sora had to talk to her before taking quests, despite only taking the ones that were assigned to him.

The Guardian was now near the academy's entrance, where the reception was, and he noticed that, while there weren't a lot of people in the classes, there were actually lots of them near the extracurricular lesson board.

"Wow, and I thought there were fewer people here than there normally are…" thought Sora as he approached the reception desk. "I guess they take more quests during summer."

"Well, look who we have here," said a woman who was behind the reception desk. She was a short, round person with tremendous muscle strength. She had large, light blue eyes and short blonde hair which was worn curled at its ends. She also had a compressed-looking snout, and large lips, profound eyelashes and her cheeks contained two large, pink circles.

"Hi there, Auntie," greeted Sora, remembering that she told him to call her this way. "How's it going?"

"Everything's fine," replied Auntie. "As you can see, all these youngsters are eager to take extracurricular lessons and I have to make sure they fulfill the requirements. I can't let them take quests they aren't ready for, after all. So, what brings you here, young man? Tell Auntie what you need."

"Shinigami-sama told me you had something for me," replied Sora. "What is it? I'm kinda curious."

"Of course, I almost forgot!" Auntie, then, started looking for something, moving all the papers that were around the reception room. "Now, where did I put it? Sorry, but I have quite a mess here. Give me a minute and I'm sure I'll find it."

"Want me to help?" asked Sora.

"Oh, no, no, you just wait there," replied Auntie. "I'm sure it is under one of these folders..."

Sora just leaned on the wall and waited for Auntie to find whatever she wanted to give him. He looked around, seeing how more students approached the extracurricular lesson board. Some of them came from outside, most likely returning from a quest they took before Sora and Naminé arrived. Unfortunately for Sora, none of them were the students he wanted to see. He wondered if they were still busy or if they left on a mission recently.

"Ah, Sora!"

The spiky-haired boy turned his head to where the voice calling his name came from. He saw a familiar young girl with a short, petite frame and a fair skin-tone approaching him. She had shoulder-length, black hair, and indigo eyes. She was Tsugumi Harudori, the girl Sora met in Deathbucks Café, a café frequented by Shibusen students.

"Tsugumi!" said Sora surprised, smiling at the girl. "It's been a long time!"

Tsugumi smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it's been a while. It's so good to see you again. How've you been?"

"Good, good," replied Sora, returning the smile. "And you? How's my favorite waitress?"

"Ah, I see you haven't forgotten how we met…" said Tsugumi bashfully. She had to admit it was a bit embarrassing wearing that uniform, but she had a lot of fun working in Deathbucks Café, so it wasn't a bad memory at all.

"How could I forget?" Sora grinned. "Now, jokes aside, how are you? I didn't see you here when I came a month ago. Then again, it's not like I stayed here much time…"

"Oh, right, I heard you came to visit in June," said Tsugumi. "That day I was busy doing some chores in the girls' dormitory. It is summer vacation and some students went to their homes, so the one who stayed have to take care of the dormitory since we decided to stay."

"There's a girls' dormitory?" thought Sora. "I wonder why Shinigami-sama rented an apartment for me back then. I could've stayed…Wait, WHAT AM I…!?"

"A lot of students decided to stay this year, like Kim-senpai, so…eek!" Tsugumi stopped talking when she heard a loud noise. She saw Sora slamming her head three times against the wall. "Sora, what's wrong!? Are you all right!?"

"Y-yes, I'm alright…" muttered Sora, not very convincingly. "What the heck was that!? Why did that cross my mind!? I'm gonna end up being like my old classmates at this rate..."

"Are you sure?" asked an uncertain Tsugumi. "Why did you slam you head like that?"

"Don't worry about that," said Sora. He appreciated Tsugumi's concern, but he couldn't let her know why he started hurting himself. "It was just…a boy thing."

"Ah, I see," said Tsugumi, nodding.

"Did she buy that?" thought Sora, kind of surprised. It seemed that Tsugumi was more naïve than he thought. "Hey, did you mention Kim? Do you know if she's here?"

Tsugumi shook her head. "She left a few hours ago. She and Ox-senpai took an extracurricular lesson together."

"Kim and Ox together?" asked Sora surprised. "How strange…"

"You think?" Tsugumi put a finger on her chin. "I think it is normal they work together, considering those two are dating."

Sora blinked. "Eh?"

"You know, I heard teachers saying that it's not a good idea for a couple to go on missions together," said Tsugumi. "However, those two and their partners are a good te…"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" exclaimed Sora, who appeared to be in shock. "Did I hear right!? Ox and Kim!?"

"Y-yes," replied Tsugumi, startled by the Keybearer's reaction. "You didn't know? Well, I guess it's very difficult to notice since they don't act like a couple in front of other people. You know how Kim-senpai is."

Sora didn't know what to say. He knew how Ox felt about Kim since it wasn't very difficult to notice, but to think that they were currently dating was something that took him by surprise. It seemed that the pink-haired witch had a change of heart. The Keyblade wielder wondered how much time the two of them had been dating.

"Wow, so Ox finally did it, huh?" thought Sora with a lost gaze and a smile on his face. "Good for him. It looks like his devotion for her worked after all. I wonder..."

"Sora?"

"Uh? Oh, sorry, I spaced out," said Sora before noticing Tsugumi was looking at him with curiosity. "Hey, what's up? Do I have something on my face?"

"You had quite the dreamy face back there," commented Tsugumi. She touched her chin and looked at the boy in the eyes. "Sora, is it possible that you want something similar to what Ox-senpai has with Kim-senpai? Oh, could it be that you like someone!?"

"Why does this question keep chasing me!?" thought Sora. "It's like someone is putting me in this situations for his own amusement!"

"Whoever she is, don't give up!" Tsugumi looked at Sora with supportive eyes. "Something like this takes time and work, so don't try to rush it, okay?"

"I didn't even tell you if there is actually someone I like…" muttered Sora, who was kind of surprised that the girl wasn't trying to get him to tell her who was the girl he liked. He decided to say something before that idea crossed her mind. "You know, you seem to know a lot about this particular topic."

Tsugumi smiled bashfully. "Well, it's something I'm really interested in, remember?"

"Right," said Sora as he remembered a phrase Tsugumi usually used to describe herself. "You're in love with love. For a moment I thought you were talking from experience."

"W-what!?" exclaimed Tsugumi embarrassed. "N-no, not at all!"

Sora chuckled at Tsugumi's reaction. He was glad there were people even him could tease. It's not like he enjoyed picking on his friends, but he had to defend himself sometimes. Doing it with someone like Yuffie or Yang would be impossible for him. He could picture them being embarrassed or reacting like Tsugumi did seconds ago. It would be something worth watching.

"So, what are you doing here?" asked Sora. "Looking for some missions to do?"

"Eh? Oh, no, no," Tsugumi slowly recovered her composure. "My friends are in class so I'm just walking around, waiting for them. The extracurricular lessons are just for the EAT group so someone of the NOT group like me is not allowed to go on one."

"Oh, I see," said Sora, kind of surprised that Tsugumi was still part of the NOT group. Could it be that she didn't want to become an EAT student? "Must be tough to become an EAT. Do you want to become one?"

"It'd be great," replied the black-haired girl with a smile. "I'm not as strong as the members of the Spartoi, but I think that I can become an EAT student if I work hard. A couple of years ago that idea would've never crossed my mind, but now I actually want to be part of that group. Maybe next year, if I continue working hard…"

Sora grinned and patted the girl's shoulder. "Well, I wish you luck!"

Tsugumi smiled back. "Thank you, Sora."

"Young man, come over here, please!" said Auntie. It sounded like she just found what she was looking for. Sora got closer to the reception desk again with a curious Tsugumi following him. The reception lady recognized the girl immediately. "Oh, Tsugumi, it's nice to see you here! Surely I will need some help here soon, so I hope we can work together with your friends again.

"Sure, we'll be glad to help," replied Tsugumi.

"All right, putting that aside, here is what the headmaster wanted me to give you, Sora," said Auntie, showing the Keyblade wielder something that appeared to be some kind of identification card. "Do you still have your student card with you? Could you give it to me?"

"My student card?" asked Sora puzzled.

"Well, we can't have you registered as a student anymore, can we?" Auntie put the card in the desk and Sora could see it better. "I think you talked with Shinigami-sama about this already. From now on you'll be a special agent of Shibusen. Now, do you have your student card so I can get rid of it?"

"Ah, sure, I have it with me," said Sora before picking the student card he was given the first time he visited Shibusen. He handed it to Auntie, who destroyed it so no one could use it. Not that anyone could do much with it, but it was something that had to be done.

"Wow, that's so cool, Sora!" said Tsugumi impressed.

"I'm really surprised, too," said Sora as he checked out the card. He wondered where they got a mugshot of him. He hadn't taken a picture lately, at least not that he remembered. "I didn't know he was actually serious about this. I'm not complaining, though."

Tsugumi turned to the reception lady. "So, what can he do with that title?"

"Things like participating in any operation led by Shibusen or accessing to the restricted areas of the academy," replied Auntie. "He can also read any book of the library, even Level 4 books, which are only available to Senior Meisters and Death Scythes."

"Wonder what kind of books they have there," thought Sora. "Perhaps they have something about Keyblades. I should pay the librarian a visit soon."

Tsugumi and Sora walked away from the reception desk after saying goodbye to Auntie. There were a lot of students waiting for Auntie to give them the green light to go on a mission, so they wanted to give them some space and decided to move from there.

"I'm surprised they still had you registered as a student," commented Tsugumi. "Did you enjoy the classes here?"

"I have to admit they were very interesting, even though I'm not into school as much as others," answered Sora. "However, I wouldn't have minded coming to this academy. Sid told me I'd be a great Meister if I wanted to."

Tsugumi nodded. "I think so, too. I heard from Jacqueline-senpai that you would be able to partner with anyone thanks to your soul. It would be really easy for you to find someone to work with. I'm sure a lot of people would like to form a team with you, too."

"As long as they can cope with someone as lazy as me," said Sora, making the girl laugh. "Talking about partners…who's yours? I don't even know if you're a Meister or a Demon Weapon."

"Didn't I tell you? I'm a Demon Halberd," replied Tsugumi. She found strange not having mentioned to Sora that she was a weapon. "And I think you know Meme and Anya, right?"

"Oooh, right, that blonde waitress and the one who I met at Death Bazaar," said Sora in realization. He didn't talk much with them that time, but he had a good memory when it came to remembering people. Then, Sora realized there was something off about what Tsugumi said. "Wait, are they your Meisters?"

"Yup."

"Is that even possible?" asked Sora. "I mean, I know Meisters who use two Demon Weapons, but the other way around?"

"It can be difficult sometimes, but it actually works." Tsugumi smiled nervously. "And, well, there's someone else, a girl called Ao Hoshino, so that makes three Meisters for one Weapon."

Sora was taken aback by this. "Three!? Geez, that sounds complicated. Those three must be really skilled."

"They are," affirmed Tsugumi. "Oh, that reminds me their class must have finished. They're going to need me for the next one, so I have to go."

"Well, I'll see you around, then," said Sora. "Let's hang out more next time."

"Sure! Bye, Sora!"

Sora waved at Tsugumi as she ran through the corridor. She was already gone when Sora realized he forgot to ask her if Maka and the others were in Death City. It seemed that the only way for Sora to find them was to look for them by himself, or he could also ask the students who were near the extracurricular lessons board. However, that wasn't going to be necessary.

"What? You still listen to that? You're so dumb…"

"What do you expect? Her music I.Q. is less than zero."

"Hey, don't you go dissing my Pom Poko Dance-Pop again!"

They were Black*Star, Soul and Maka, who were talking about some kind of music that Maka appeared to enjoy listening to. Although by the sound of it, it seemed that it wasn't the kind of music teenagers normally listen to. Tsubaki was also with them, as well as Kid and the Thomson sisters. As they walked, Tsubaki noticed a familiar figure not very far away from her and her friends.

"Hey, Tsubaki, do you mind if I borrow your homework again?" asked Liz. The older Thompson sister wasn't getting an answer, so she looked at the black-haired girl to see if there was something wrong, and she saw that Tsubaki had her gaze fixed on something. "Tsubaki? What are you looking at?"

Tsubaki pointed forward. "Isn't that Sora?"

"Oh, yeah, it is Sora," said Maka after she and the others looked at the person Tsubaki was pointing at. "Wonder what he is doing here. Let's go say hello to him."

"All right, it's time for a greeting," said the blue-haired Meister with a devious smirk on his face. He was assuming the position of someone who was about to run the hundred-meter dash. "Black*Star style."

"I hope you're not going to…" Before Kid could finish, Black*Star started running really fast toward Sora. "Hey, Black*Star!"

"WHAT'S UUUUUUP, SORA!?"

"Don't worry, he'll dodge it," said Liz, but much to her shock, when Sora got hit by Black*Star's kick instead of eluding it. This shocked the group, even the one who provided the kick. "Or not…"

"Hey, what's the big idea!?" exclaimed Sora after standing up from the floor, holding the part of his face that got kicked. "Why the heck did you do that for!?"

"Dude, you were supposed to dodge that!" replied Black*Star. "I mean, I was expecting you to dodge it, but if you didn't…then that means I'm getting even stronger!"

"Geez, this guy…" thought Sora as he rubbed his sore cheek. "Then again, I didn't even notice him running at me. And it's not like Black*Star is very sneaky. I mean, he can be sneaky if he wants, but this time he obviously wasn't…"

"Black*Star, you should be apologizing instead of saying that!" said Tsubaki in a scolding manner as she approached her Meister, followed by the others. She, then, turned to Sora and bowed slightly. "I'm so sorry, Sora."

"It's alright, don't worry," said Sora smiling and waving his right hand dismissively. The other one was still touching the part of his face Black*Star hit. "I'm kinda getting used to being greeted with a kick on my face."

"It's not something you should be getting used to, don't you think?" said Liz, making Sora look at her. She smiled and waved at him. "Hi, Sora."

"Hello, Sor-chan!" greeted Patty happily.

"That nickname again…" thought Sora, not bothered but not exactly pleased either.

"Come on, it was just a friendly kick," said Black*Star nonchalantly. "Otherwise, he would have easily reached the end of the corridor."

"Then thanks for not kicking me too hard, pal," said Sora. "So, putting that aside, how are you guys doing?"

"Everything's fine around here," replied Maka. "It is summer vacation, so most of the students left to their homes while other stayed for some extra classes or to go on quests. What about you, Master Sora?"

"Well, I guess y…hey, don't start you too," said Sora with a smirk.

Soul chuckled. "Why? Technically, she's not wrong when she calls you that."

"It is still weird," replied the Keyblade wielder. "Would you like me to call you Last Death Scythe?"

"Okay, okay, you've made your point," said the white-haired boy, realizing how strange sounded to be called by his title, at least when a friend did it. "Anyway, now that you're here, I guess we can do it today, right?"

"Oh, yes," said Maka in realization.

"Do what?" asked Sora quizzically.

"Throw you a party," replied the Scythe Meister. "We wanted to do it the day you came with Kairi, but we were too busy with the Traitors and some other stuff. It's going to be in our apartment."

"A party for me?" Sora was surprised and a bit confused. "Why?"

"For defeating Xehanort and saving the worlds," replied Kid. "Isn't that enough reason?"

Sora chuckled. "I guess it is. A party sounds really nice, as long as you guys don't make me wear a suit again."

"Hey, come on, didn't you like the suit Patty and I chose for you?" asked Liz, crossing her arms. Two years ago she and her sister had to take Sora to a shop to buy him a suit for his farewell party, and it seemed that the boy still remembered. "It looked great on you, I can assure you that."

"The suit was really nice," said Sora. "It's just I'm not into formal parties, you know?"

"That makes two of us," commented Soul.

"This one won't be formal, so don't worry about that," said Tsubaki.

"Yeah, it's going to be just us," added Black*Star. "The others aren't in Death City, so I guess they missed the opportunity. We'll do something with them another day. So, are you in?"

"Of course," replied Sora smiling. "You guys don't mind if I bring a plus one, right?"

This surprised the group since they didn't know someone came with Sora to Death City. It wasn't something out of the ordinary, though. The last time Kairi came with him, after all. However, they were curious to know who it was, if it wasn't the redhead.

"Someone came with you to Death City?" asked Maka.

"Is it Kairi?" asked Patty.

Sora shook his head. "No, someone else came with me this time."

Before the group could ask the Keyblade wielder who was his travelling partner this time, they saw a blonde girl that was familiar to all of them. She was approaching Sora from behind, and when she was right next to him, she touched his shoulder to make him notice her presence. The brown-haired Guardian turned around and saw Naminé.

"Ah, there you are," said Sora. "I was going to look for you. Could you…?"

"Yes, it's all done," replied Naminé before noticing Maka and the others looking at her. "Oh, it's good to see all of you again. How are you doing?"

"Hey, aren't you the girl who was next to Roxas that day?" asked Maka. "We contacted with Sora's guild using Shinigami-sama's mirror and you were the first person we saw, if I remember correctly."

"That's me," affirmed the blonde. "My name's Naminé. It's nice to meet you."

"Oh, that's why she looked so familiar," said Soul.

"Wait, when was that?" asked Sora. He wasn't in the guild when that happened, so it was normal he didn't remember that small event.

"We talked with Riku using the computer in the guild when he was here in Shibusen." Naminé turned to Sora. "It was the day Roxas, Xion and I joined the guild, remember?"

"Okay, I remember now," said Sora before noticing that Kid was getting closer to Naminé, a bit too close. There were now just a few inches between their faces. "What's he doing?"

"Can I help you?" said Naminé, smiling nervously. The young Shinigami was getting a bit too close for her comfort.

"If you let me, I could fix your hair so you can be perfectly symmetrical," said Kid before raising his hands. "Now, don't move, so I can…"

"All right, don't cross the line, Kid," said Liz, grabbing Kid and pulling him away from Naminé. "Sorry about that, Naminé. It's just…

"Don't worry, it's fine," said the blonde Keybearer smiling.

"Say, you're a Keyblade wielder, too, right?" said Black*Star, looking at the blonde Guardian. "Wanna…"

"Don't even bother, Black*Star." Sora interrupted the blue-haired Meister. "No matter how many times you ask, she won't fight you."

"Why not!?" complained Black*Star.

"Sorry, I only fight when it's necessary," said Naminé apologetically. "I don't really like fighting for fun."

"Thank goodness," thought Tsubaki relieved.

"Dude, are you really going to ask for a fight to every member of Sora's guild?" asked Soul. "Let me tell you that's not a good idea."

"Hey, if I wanna become stronger, I'm gonna need to fight a lot of strong guys," said Black*Star. "And fighting against other Meisters is getting dull."

"He's really competitive," commented Naminé before turning to Sora. "Kinda reminds me of you."

"Who doesn't enjoy a good challenge?" asked Sora with a smile that Naminé returned. "Anyway, you already know their names, so we can skip the introductions. Say, are you up for a small party in Maka and Soul's house? We'll do some catching up, eat tasty food…"

"Tasty food?" repeated Naminé as a surprised look formed on her face. "Am I finally going to taste your famous cooking? You know, it's not fair that Riku and Kairi are the only ones who…"

"Hold on, did I hear that right?" asked Maka. "Sora, you know how to cook?"

"You're kidding," said Black*Star in disbelief.

"You just did that on purpose, didn't you?" asked Sora, looking with narrowed eyes at Naminé, who looked innocently at him. He, then, turned to Maka. "Yeah, I've been practicing a little."

Naminé raised an eyebrow. "A little? According to what Kairi told me, you practiced whenever you could."

"All right, fine, I practiced a lot," admitted Sora, as a tiny smiled escaped from him. "Happy now?"

"By the sound of it, it seems that you're very good at it," said Kid, touching his chin pensively. "I wouldn't mind trying some, if you don't mind."

"I wanna taste your tasty cooking, too!" added Patty.

"Would you cook something for us, Sora?" asked Tsubaki politely. "We don't want to force you."

"I wouldn't worry about that," said Naminé. "He won't admit it, but he really likes to cook for others. Right, Sora?"

"Alright, fine," said Sora, slightly embarrassed. Then, he looked at Naminé. "Don't you get used to it, though. I'm sure that, if you could, you would have me cooking for everyone in Radiant Garden every single day."

Naminé smiled, "It's possible."

"All right, let's have a cooking contest!" exclaimed Black*Star as he started running, most likely heading for Maka and Soul's apartment. "You're all going down!"

"No, you stay out of our kitchen!" said Maka as she started to chase the blue-haired boy.

"Please, don't start fighting again," said Tsubaki, going after the two Meisters while the others followed her.

Naminé looked at them before turning to Sora. "Are you going to tell them, by the way?"

"Shinigami-sama will tell them about it, but surely they'll want to ask me some things when they find out about Vulpe and her group." Sora crossed his arms. "I guess we could give them a heads-up."

"That would be a good idea," said Naminé.

"However, let's try to have some fun first, okay?" said Sora, a small smile on his face. "I kinda need it."

-TLG-

1630hrs, August 22nd, 2024
Rush Valley, Amestris

Roxas and Xion were another one of the teams that were formed to warn people about the Guardian's new enemies. Their first stop was Twilight Town since they wanted to check if everyone was all right. Hayner, Pence and Olette weren't there, but that didn't surprise the two Keyblade wielders since they said they weren't going to return until September. Not even Seifer and his gang were around. According to some of the people around town they went to the beach and weren't going to come back until the Struggle Tournament.

Since their friends weren't there, Roxas and Xion just warned the town's mayor about the dark Keyblade wielders, giving him a description of them, and left for Amestris. Apart from warning the people of that world about the Keyblade wielders, there were two other things they had to do there. One of them was to see if Winry finished repairing the Keyblade Armors of Riku, Kairi, Terra and Aqua, and the other one was something Xion wanted to check, something that happened the night she, Sora and Lea left Amestris. She was really nervous about asking that, but it was something she wanted…no, it was something she had to do.

When they arrived in Amestris, they headed for Resembool, only to find out that Winry wasn't there. After introducing Roxas to Pinako, the old woman told Xion that the blonde mechanic was now working in an Automail shop called Atelier Garfiel. It was located in a city in southern Amestris called Rush Valley. Pinako said that her granddaughter took the armors with her, so Xion and Roxas left Resembool and took a train to Rush Valley. It took them quite some time, but they finally arrived at their destination. They were now heading for the Automail shop Winry worked in.

"You know, we could have just used the Gummi ship and we would have gotten here in just a few minutes," said Roxas. "I don't why you chose to take a train instead."

"Come on, where's the fun in that?" asked Xion. "You wouldn't have been able to admire all those amazing landscapes if we came here in the Gummi ship."

"I was asleep most of the time, you know?" Roxas yawned. "I didn't admire anything at all."

Xion groaned. "Yeah, I noticed. You could try to be a better travelling partner, Roxas."

"Hey, we didn't come here to have fun," said the blond. "We are here to retrieve the armors and warn the people of this world about the guys who beat us up."

"I know that," replied Xion before sighing. "I'm just trying to…well…"

Roxas smiled. "I know, but let's not waste much time, okay? I'd like to return to the guild as soon as possible and continue training."

"Sounds like a plan," said Xion smiling. "That training room Phineas and Ferb built for us sure is very useful. Even Riku started to use it, even though he prefers to train with real people instead against simulations."

"Oh, so it was him," said Roxas. "I heard someone using the training room, but I thought it was Kairi or Ven. Who would have thought it was Riku?"

"He is taking it very seriously too," added Xion. ""Well, that's normal, I guess. However, it is surprising that he could reach Level 105 in the simulation on his own in just a day."

"…what?" Roxas appeared to be slightly bothered after hearing Riku's progress in the training room. "Did you just say Level 105?"

Xion nodded. "Yup, me and Naminé were really impressed."

"You, Lea and I, working together, only reached Level 100!" said Roxas. It seemed that mentioning Naminé made bothered him even more. "And he could get to Level 105 on his own!? How is that even possible!? I know he's a Keyblade Master, but still!"

"Wow, easy there," said Xion amused. "I think one hundred levels are not too shabby considering we spent more time fighting among ourselves than using the simulation. Riku was there more time than us."

"Next time we have to reach a higher level," said Roxas, ignoring Xion's last comment.

"What? You want to become Riku's new rival now that he and Sora stopped competing against each other?" asked Xion, looking at her friend with a teasing smile. "Well, maybe that's not a bad idea. Some people say having a rival is really helpful if you want to become stronger."

"It's not that!" said Roxas. "It's just…I'm still kinda sore because of what happened in Shibuya. I wish I could have done something then. I felt so powerless against that guy…I want it to be different the next time we fight."

"You and me both," said Xion, who understood Roxas completely. "We will have to work much harder, though. You've seen that girl, Vulpe. She could fight Sora, Aqua, Terra and a big group of mages on her own without breaking a sweat."

"Yeah…" Roxas remembered the recording perfectly. If the guy he ran into was as strong as her, he would need to put much more effort into his training. "I think I'm going to focus on Leo, anyway. Let's leave Vulpe to Kairi."

Xion laughed. "Don't tell me you also thought of that?"

"Considering the face she was making while watching Vulpe's fight with Sora, I think she's not very fond of that girl," replied Roxas. "She's quite jealous for a Princess of Heart."

"Can you really blame her?" Xion shrugged. "You know how Sora is around girls."

"Yeah, but the thing is that he doesn't," said Roxas. "He's too dense when it comes to these kinds of things, and Kairi knows it. Perhaps we should do something…"

"Okay, hold on a minute," said Xion, raising her hand. "We would get into dangerous territory. Let's not get in between those two. We don't know what could happen and the last thing we need is them to be angry at each other because of a misunderstanding."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "You've been reading too much manga."

"No, I haven't," said Xion, poking her tongue at the boy. "And things like that can happen in real life."

"This isn't even real life," muttered Roxas.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, just breaking some walls," said Roxas, making Xion really confused. "Look, let's just find this shop. We've been walking aimlessly for a while. Do you even know where that shop is?"

"This is the first time I'm here, so nope," answered Xion.

"Figures…" Roxas sighed and it was then when he noticed something peculiar about the people who were nearby. "Hey, have you noticed that most of the people here have those Automails you told me about?"

Xion looked around and saw that Roxas was right. The amount of people using Automails was considerable. You couldn't look in any direction without seeing an Automail or two. It seemed that when Pinako said that Rush Valley was the center of Automail production she wasn't kidding. She wondered if the people of Rush Valley were as enthusiast as Winry when it came to Automails and stuff like that.

"Winry must be in paradise here," commented Xion.

"Since there are a lot of Automails in this city, then there must be a lot of good mechanics too," said Roxas. "If she got some help from them, then maybe the armors are already fully repaired."

"Let's find out." Xion pointed at a shop that wasn't too far away from where she and Roxas were at this moment. It was called Atelier Garfiel, so it was the one they were looking for.

The two Guardians walked toward the shop and went in. It was directly connected to the outside, so there weren't any doors or walls between the street and the part of the shop were the customers were attended so they just walked inside. Roxas and Xion saw a man using the phone. They assumed he was the one in charge, so they approached him to ask him about Winry.

"Yes, she's already done with yours, so you can come whenever you want."

There was something about that man that made Roxas a little nervous. His way of talking and his appearance reminded him of Bob, Blue Pegasus' Guild Master. It wasn't like Roxas had a problem with Bob himself, it was just that the mage was too clingy as far as he remembered. After all, his memories of the old Guild Master were from when Sora met him. However, he knew he will have to meet him eventually and that made him feel uneasy.

"Hey, you look a bit tense," whispered Xion. "Is everything all right?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," replied Roxas.

The man noticed the two Guardians. "Oh, welcome to Atelier Garfiel. I'm Garfiel. How can I help you?"

Xion waved at the man. "Hello! We were looking for Winry Rockbell. Her grandma told us she's working here. Is she around?"

"My, that girl, as popular as always~" commented Garfiel before turning to a door behind him. "Winry-chan, two costumers are asking for you!"

"More? Looks like today there are…" The blonde girl known as Winry appeared and stopped talking as soon as she saw the black-haired Guardian standing not very far from her. "Xion, you're here!"

"Winry!" replied Xion with a smile. She and the young mechanic got closer to each other and high-fived. "How's everything? Your grandma told us you were working in this city. Are you enjoying it?"

"Girl, you don't even know how much! This place is paradise!" said Winry with a delighted look on her face, the same she put when she saw the Keyblade Armors for the first time. Then, she noticed Roxas. "Oh, who's this?"

"He's Roxas," replied Xion. "He's a bit grumpy, but he's nice."

"Hey!" protested Roxas.

Winry laughed. "Well, it's nice to meet you. I thought you and Sora were going to come together, but I guess he must be busy. How's he doing?"

"He's fine," replied Xion. "Probably training or hanging out with some friends at this moment."

"Say…" Winry lean forward with her arms crossed. "He's taking good care of his armor, right? I wouldn't like to scold him like I do with Ed."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Scold?"

"She means hitting him with her wrench," explained Xion, taking the blond Keybearer by surprise. "Ed tends to break his Automail frequently."

"I'm his mechanic, so I don't mind repairing it." Winry tossed her wrench into the air and caught it. "What makes me angry is that he doesn't take good care of it. I always put a lot of effort into making a high quality Automail for him, but he gets into fights and ends up destroying it."

"Good thing the Keyblade Armors are incredibly difficult to destroy without a Keyblade," thought Roxas. "I don't use one, so I'm safe from her wrath. Lucky me, I guess."

"Winry, are these the people who gave you those marvelous armors?" asked Garfiel. Winry turned and nodded. "My, I have to admit they are truly magnificent. I wish we had that material here. We could make even better Automails. Oh, I suppose they came here to get them back. Take them inside, I'll continue working here."

"They're finished, then?" asked Xion as Garfiel took another call. "I see you haven't been slacking off."

"Please, who do you think you're talking to?" replied Winry with a cocky look on her face. She walked inside the shop, Roxas and Xion following her. "I'll admit I had some help. Garfiel-san is a good mechanic and was really curious about the armors, so I let him give me a hand and I could finish way sooner. You know, we even put them outside one day, so people could take a look at them."

"People here sure like these kinds of things," commented Roxas. "I won't deny they look cool, though."

"Those armors aren't something of this world, so you can't blame them for being curious," replied Winry. "They even asked us if they could try them on, but I told them they couldn't do it. I didn't want to take the risk of someone breaking the armors."

"Those armors are adapted to their respective owners, so it's very difficult for someone else to wear them," said Roxas. "They would've been very lucky."

"That'd explain it…" muttered Winry, averting her eyes.

Roxas looked suspiciously at the mechanic. "Explain what?"

The young mechanic laughed nervously. "Nothing, nothing. Look, here they are."

Roxas and Xion looked at one of the tables that were inside the shop. There were a lot of Automails and some other stuff that needed to be repaired, but the pauldrons of the Keyblade Armors could be clearly seen. They were very striking, especially compared to the other stuff around the room. Winry walked to the table and the two Guardians followed her.

"They're as good as new," said Winry with a bright smile. "There were a lot of small pieces, but I managed to put them back together. They were easier to repair than Sora's, to be honest. I know he told me to not worry about that, but it makes me wonder what he did to break his armor like that.

"Let's say he got into a big fight," said Xion as she took a small pouch out of her pocket. "Here, the money for your services."

"Oh, thanks!" said Winry gratefully as she grabbed the pouch.

"Where did you get that money?" asked Roxas.

"It's Sora's," replied Xion. "He gave it to me when we left this world the last time. He told me to use it to pay her in case he couldn't come to Amestris."

"All right, then," said Roxas. "Now that we have the armors, there's one more thing we have to do."

"True," said Xion as she put the pauldrons in a bag. She, then, turned to Winry. "Say, have you seen anyone suspicious lately?"

Winry tilted her head in confusion. "Suspicious? Like a thief or something?"

"No, not thieves," said Roxas. "Look, there are some people out there who…let's say they are up to no good. They're really dangerous, so we are warning all the people we know about them."

"Take a look," said Xion as she activated the Lacrima she got from Naminé. A projection of the faces of the four dark Keyblade wielders appeared in front of Winry, who looked in awe at it. "These are the people we're talking about. That orange-haired girl is the only one who showed us her face, but you can see that the four of them wear a similar coat."

"There's also a fifth one, but we're still have to figure it out something about that one," added Roxas. "Still, be careful with that one, too. There's no picture of her, but she also wears a coat similar to those."

"Wow…" Winry was still surprised by the projection that was coming out of that small piece of crystal. She wasn't used to see magic stuff, after all. She looked at Xion as the latter stopped the projection. "So, I suppose you guys are going to fight these people eventually, right?"

"Some of us already…well, for Xion and I was more of a one-sided fight," replied Roxas with a serious voice. Winry looked at him concerned. "We got badly beaten up a week ago by one of them."

"Oh my god, are you all right!?" Winry quickly approached the two Guardians, and looked at them as if trying to find injuries. "You're not hurting anywhere, are you!?"

"We're fine, Winry," said Xion, who stopped the mechanic. "We just need to get stronger before we fight them and I assure you we'll win. I need you to promise me something, though. If you ever see one of them, do not try anything. Don't even get close to them."

"They'll eliminate anyone who gets in their way," continued Roxas. "And forgive me for saying this, but according to what Xion has told me, I don't think anyone in this world can put a fight against any of them."

Winry stayed silent for a moment before speaking. "Okay, I promise, but you need to warn Ed and Al too, please. Or, at least, tell Colonel Mustang about this. He'll tell them as soon as they see each other."

Xion smiled. "Don't worry, already thought of that. Surely the colonel won't be too happy to see me after what I did to him in front of all those soldiers, but it can't be helped. Roxas and I will leave for East City now, so see you around."

"Wait, Colonel Mustang is not working in East City anymore," said Winry. "He was transferred from Eastern Headquarters to Central Command, so you'll have to go to the capital."

"Oh, thanks for telling us," said Xion, and then she realized this was a good moment to ask about a certain person. She was really nervous, but it was now or never. "Since we're going to the capital, I guess I could pay Hughes a visit. Say, do you know how's he doing?"

"…"

"Winry?"

"Xion…"

The look on Winry's face changed drastically the moment Xion mentioned Hughes. The young mechanic's breathing was heavier and she was finding difficult to look at the Keyblade wielder. Xion didn't know why Winry looked so down suddenly, but she had a really bad feeling about all this. The black-haired Guardian was starting to worry, and not just a little. Roxas didn't like the change of atmosphere either. The sorrowful look Winry had was starting to wonder what happened to that Hughes guy.

"Why are you making that face, Winry?" asked Xion, her concern growing with each word. "What happened?"

"You see…the night you, Sora and that friend of yours left…something happened in Central…" Winry stared at the ground for what it appeared to be a lot of time before looking at Xion in the eyes. "Hughes was…He was shot that night…"

A shiver went down Xion's spine. "But he…"

Winry grimaced. "He didn't make it…"

Xion was utterly shocked by this. Her eyes were wide open and her breathing was heavy. She couldn't believe what she heard, it was just not possible. It was impossible that Hughes was dead. She and Sora made sure he was all right before they left. Roxas was taken aback by this news. He didn't know Hughes, but according to Xion, it sounded like he was a really good guy. The blond Guardian was thinking about something to say when he noticed that Xion looked as if she was hyperventilating.

"Xion…"

"No, no, no, no, no," repeated Xion continuously. She put her hands on her head and started to sound even more desperate. "This can't be. It's not possible. Why would it turn out like this?"

"Hey, Xion, easy!" said Roxas, approaching the girl and putting his hands on her shoulders. "You need to…"

"No, you don't understand!" exclaimed Xion, backing away from Roxas. "This wasn't supposed to happen! It's not what was supposed to happen! We made sure it wouldn't happen!"

Roxas blinked and sighed. "I see. So that's what it is."

"What do you mean?" asked Winry, getting closer to them. She stood next to Xion and rubbed her back, trying to calm her down since it was obvious she wasn't taking all this very well, and no one could blame her for that.

"I can trust you not to say anything to anyone, can't I?" asked Roxas.

Winry seemed unsure but nodded anyway. "Yes, of course."

"All right," said Roxas before turning to Xion. "You and Sora did something, didn't you?"

Xion brushed her eyes with her sleeve and nodded. "He and I…the night we left…we found Hughes."

Winry gasped. "You found him?"

"He had a gunshot on his chest…" continued Xion. "We healed it combining our Curaga spells and it worked. He was still unconscious but breathing, so I assumed he was in a coma or something like that. I don't know much about that kind of stuff."

"It really worked?" asked Roxas surprised. "I know you trained your magic a bit in Twilight Town, but I didn't know you got good enough to heal something like a gunshot, especially one on the chest."

"Sora's magic helped a lot," explained Xion. "His body was aching for a moment after we healed Hughes, so I suppose he used all of his magic power in that moment."

"You two healed him…How's that even…? I don't even know what to say," said Winry, who was really confused. "All this magic stuff is so hard to understand, but if you saved him, then why…"

"I don't know, but what we should do know is go to the capital and look for that colonel you mentioned," said Roxas. "We need to warn him about the guys we told you about. Besides, he might know something about what happened to Hughes."

"You're probably right," said Winry.

"Roxas…" The male Guardian turned when he heard Xion calling him. Anguish could be clearly seen on her face. "How am I going to tell this to Sora?"

Roxas' eyes went wide. He just realized that he and Xion will have to tell the leader of the Guardians about what happened in Amestris eventually, and that wasn't going to be easy. This worried Roxas, but at the moment there were some affairs that needed to be attended to. Xion knew that too, but couldn't help to feel apprehensive.

"We'll come up with something, okay?" said Roxas, looking at the girl with a reassuring smile.

"I assume Sora doesn't take very well this kind of news," commented Winry. "Well, who does?"

"Let's say that Sora…" Roxas was finding difficult how to give an explanation to the mechanic. "Something happened, and he's usually more affected than others by…well, you know. And especially when he's involved, like in this case. Anyway, we should get going."

"Right," said Winry, and then she looked at Xion. "Are you feeling better?"

"Y-yeah, sorry about that," said Xion.

"Don't apologize." Winry put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "When I found out, I couldn't believe it myself either. Just try to stay calm so your mind doesn't get clouded."

"Okay," said Xion quietly. She, then, turned to Roxas. "Come on, let's go to Central."

-TLG-

1505hrs, August 21st, 2024
Maka and Soul's Apartment, Death City

After dealing with a quite troublesome Black*Star, Sora could finish cooking. The Guild Master had never cooked for more than two people, but he had to admit it was kind of fun. Actually he cooked for more than two people back in Fairy Tail, but that didn't count since it was just one plate. Now everyone was sitting around the table, ready to taste what Sora prepared. Everyone took a bite at the same time while Sora looked at them with a confident smile. The moment they put the food in their mouths, Sora could see the surprise in their eyes.

"No way…" said Soul.

"This is…" continued Kid.

"So good!" finished Maka.

Sora grinned. "Of course, what'd you expect?"

Patty started eating really fast. "So yummy~!"

"I know right?" said Liz, looking amazed at her plate.

"You're a really good cook, Sora," complimented Tsubaki.

"Thanks," said Sora gratefully. "I'm glad you all like it."

"There's a trick, right?" asked Black*Star. "You used magic or something like that."

Sora's eye twitched. "Hey…"

Black*Star laughed. "I'm just kidding, man. It's all really good. You and Tsubaki could work together and open a restaurant if you wanted."

"Oh, you also cook, Tsubaki?" said Sora surprised. "I'd like to try some of your food someday."

Tsubaki nodded. "Sure."

"So…" Sora turned to Naminé, who took another bite from her plate. "How is it? Do you like it?"

Naminé slowly turned to Sora, who was taken by surprise by the expression the blonde girl had at that moment. She was looking at Sora with a huge delighted smile and sparkles on her eyes. Naminé was always so serene that he didn't expect her to make such a face. It was really funny, though.

"Kairi had the same reaction…" thought Sora, holding back a chuckle. "By the look on your face I assume you liked it."

"This is sooo good," said Naminé, completely fascinated by what she was eating. "I want to eat this every day from now on for the rest of my life."

Sora slightly blushed. "Hey, don't go saying things like that. I'm glad you liked it, but unless you and the other Guardians take care of my missions, I don't think I'll be able to prepare food for you every day."

"I'll complete your missions in your place," said Naminé, giving Sora the thumbs up. "It'll be a piece of cake."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "Now you're just pulling my leg, aren't you? Stop being so out of character."

"Oh, come on…please?" said Naminé, using one of the secret techniques that could break Sora's defenses instantly. She gave Sora the puppy eyes look. However, Sora quickly grabbed her hood and used it to cover her face, just like he did with Ruby. She complained, even though she knew something like that would happen since it was not the first time she tried that trick with Sora.

Sora turned to Maka and the others. "So, what have you been up to these last two years?"

The group continued eating and talking. The Shibusen students told Sora and Naminé about what happened after the boy left the first time he visited Death City. They told him about the internal investigation that took place in Shibusen, the attack on Baba Yaga Castle, Arachnophobia, the final battle on the Moon and more other things. By the time they finished their story, all of them finished eating, and Black*Star made a remark about how Sora's cooking was far better than Maka's, only to receive a Maka-Chop on his head.

Putting that aside, Sora was really surprised at the amount of things that happened after he left. He also told Maka and the others about his third big adventure. He also told them a bit about Fiore and how he joined Fairy Tail since it happened right after he left Death City, but he didn't go much into detail there. Finally, he told them about the battle between the Seven Lights and the Thirteen Darknesses in the Keyblade Graveyard, and also about his final encounter with Xehanort. It was something he found difficult to talk about for obvious reasons, but he told them anyway.

"Looks like you were also busy back then," said Kid. "Glad everything turned out well in the end."

"True that." Sora, then, remembered something he was told a couple of hours ago. He looked at the Shibusen group. "Guys, there's something I wanted to ask you…Is it true that Ox and Kim are…you know…a couple?"

The members of Spartoi looked at each other before looking at Sora again. "You didn't know?"

"So it is true," said Sora. "Well, I don't think Tsugumi would lie to me, but it's still surprising."

"Kim didn't tell you when you were with her and Jackie in the Witches' Realm?" asked Tsubaki. "I thought she did."

"You know how Kim is," said Maka. "She's not the kind of girl who would be telling something like that to other people…unless you asked her directly, of course."

"To think that someone like Ox would get a girlfriend," commented Black*Star. "It was shocking. However, even I will admit that he's now cooler than he used to be."

"Hey, Ox has always been a pretty cool guy, if you ask me," said Sora. "He always expressed his feelings to Kim so openly...Makes me wish I had the guts to do something like that."

Shutting his mouth was one of the things Sora knew he should have done at this moment. The other one was to try not to bring up topics related to romantic relationships from now on. Doing it only led to him being the target of teasing and mockery. There was nothing he could do now since half of the room was already looking at him with what he considered devious eyes. He had to keep that in mind for future conversations, though.

"Romantic problems, I assume?" asked Liz, looking at Sora mischievously.

Naminé giggled. "Oh, you don't even know."

"Uuuh, you know some juicy things, right, Naminé?" Liz sat closer to the blonde Guardian. "Come on, tell me everything."

"Hey…" Sora tried to catch the girls' attention but failed. He decided to drink something and ignore them.

"Mmm, there's nothing much to tell that you already don't know," replied Naminé, putting a finger on her chin. Then she remembered something Riku said a week ago. "I guess I can tell you that Sora is slowly building a harem formed by girls from different worlds…"

The leader of the Guardians almost choked on his glass of water. "Naminé, what the heck!?"

"Oh, sorry, was it supposed to be a secret?" asked Naminé with fake surprise.

Sora almost fell from his chair. "No, you know very well that I'm not…!"

"To think that you are doing such a thing, Sora…" said Liz, looking at Sora with something that could be disappointment mixed with disgust. "I think my opinion on you has changed…"

"You're such a jeeeerk~!" added Patty.

"I thought you were different from other men," commented Maka. Her expression was clearly full of disgust, the same look the girl used when her father tried to be affectionate with her. "I see I was wrong."

"Why are you doing this to me?" said Sora as he sunk his head in depression.

"Girls, you're starting to be cruel now," said Tsubaki before trying to cheer up the sulking Keybearer. "Come on, Sora, you know they're just joking."

Sora raised his head again. "I know, but it still kinda hurts, you know?"

Maka laughed. "I'm sorry. I guess I got a bit carried away. However, I'll get genuinely angry if you ever do something like that."

"Girls will only get you into trouble, Sora, so be careful," said Soul. "Too many girls around you and you'll become crazy."

Black*Star crossed his arms and nodded in approval. "Truth has been spoken."

"Soul, Black*Star…I would take that back if I were you," said Kid when he noticed the not-so-happy look on Maka's face.

Liz looked at Sora, ignoring what was happening next to her. "Anyway, don't worry. We know you won't do something like that."

"Not consciously, at least," thought Naminé, and suddenly she felt someone poking her side, which made her jump a little. She expected the pokes to cease, but they continued, so she turned to see who was doing it and found out it was Sora. "S-Sora, w-what are you d-doing? H-hey, s-stop, please!"

"I had the feeling you were thinking something bad about me," replied Sora, still poking the girl's side. "I'm just doing this to make you stop."

"A-ah, w-why are y-you s-so mean!?" Naminé tried to move away from Sora, but he just got closer and continued tormenting her. "Okay, okay, I'll stop, but p-please…kya…c-cut it out!"

"Good girl," said Sora as he stopped. He looked at Naminé with a victorious smile while the girl panted, trying to recover from his assault.

Tsubaki giggled. "You two seem to be really good friends. How did you meet each other?"

"How we met?" Sora looked at Naminé for a second before turning to Tsubaki. "She's Kairi's sister. We met in Destiny Islands."

Liz blinked. "Huh!? For real!?"

"They do look a bit like each other," said Maka. "Still, I totally didn't expect that answer."

"I wonder why Kairi didn't tell us she had a sister that could use a Keyblade," said Soul. "Then again, we didn't actually ask, but…"

"Sora, why would you say something like that?" said Naminé in a low voice. "I know Xion and Roxas agreed to pretend to be your siblings if someone asks them what their relationship with you is, but..."

"It's easier than telling them that you're Kairi's Nobody…or do you want me to tell them the whole story instead?" replied Sora. "Besides, I'm sure they'll find out eventually, so it's all right."

"What are you two whispering about?" asked Black*Star. "You're acting suspicious."

"No, we aren't," said Sora smiling. Then he noticed the young Shinigami had a thoughtful look. Apparently, he was trying to remember something. "What's on your mind, Kid?"

"I was thinking…you know that Liz, Patty and I went to Destiny Islands two years ago to look for Kairi when she 'mysteriously disappeared', right?" Kid touched his chin in a pensive manner. "We asked some resident of your home about her and, as far as I remember, she's an only child."

Sora chuckled. "That was faster than I thought."

"You're not Kairi's sister, then?" asked Soul.

Maka crossed her arms and frowned. "Why did you tell us that, Sora?"

"He just wanted to make it easier for me, so don't be hard on him," said Naminé. "It'd be troublesome for Sora to explain how we met to every person he meets."

"How?" asked Black*Star confused.

Sora decided to answer this time. "Imagine this: Roxas and I go on a mission to another world, make some friends and then they ask us how we met each other."

"You'd have to explain them quite a lot," said Tsubaki, now understanding what Naminé meant. "Sorry if I asked something I shouldn't have."

"You don't have to apologize," said Naminé smiling. She gave it some thought and ended up deciding to tell the Shibusen students about her. After all, they knew about Roxas, so it shouldn't be too complicated to explain her origins. "To answer your question, Sora and I met in a place called Castle Oblivion. And I'm not Kairi's sister, but her Nobody."

After Naminé's reveal to the Shibusen group, the room was filled with silence. It was an unusual reaction and it was starting to get awkward, so Sora decided to say something since no one seemed to be willing to do it.

"I thought you guys were going to assault us with lots of questions. What's the matter?"

"After what you said before, I'd feel bad if I asked," said Kid.

"I'd rather not ask," said Liz.

"I'm very curious, but if Big Sis doesn't ask, then I won't either," said Patty.

"I appreciate your consideration." Naminé looked at them gratefully. "However, I don't mind. Besides, Sora already told you a lot of things, so it'd be easier to explain this particular thing."

"Then, can we ask?" asked Maka. "Because I really want to, but I don't want you to think I'm a busybody…"

"I think it's too late for that," said Sora smirking, making Maka glare at him in an intimidating way, although the pouty mouth she had wasn't very scary at all. She still needed some practice in making frightening expressions.

Soul laughed. "Dude, you took the words right out of my mouth."

Maka turned to her partner. "You want me to hit you again, right?"

Kid coughed to make the pair stop. "Let's return to the matter in question, if you don't mind. Then, Sora, can you give us a brief explanation?"

"Let's see…wait, I already told you how a Nobody was made, right?" asked Sora, and the others nodded. "Okay, that makes it easier, actually. Naminé was born…"

"Born?" Naminé raised an eyebrow at Sora. "Is it right to use that word for me?"

"I'm not going to say 'created', Naminé," said Sora. "To me, you're a human being, no matter what you think."

Naminé couldn't help but smile. She felt really happy every time Sora said something like what he just said, because she knew he meant it and didn't just say it to make her feel better about herself. It's not like having being a Nobody bothered her too much, but it was still nice to hear it.

"As I was saying, she was born at the same time as Roxas," continued Sora. "You remember how he…?"

Maka nodded. "Yeah, you had Kairi's heart inside you so you sacrificed yourself and turned into a...you know."

"A Heartless," said Sora.

"Sometimes I forgot you turned into one of those ugly black monsters," muttered Liz.

"It's not a very nice experience, I can assure you that," said Sora, a small smile on his face. "Anyway, what Maka said is correct and, since Kairi's heart was inside me, her Nobody was formed when I turned into a Heartless. And that's how it happened."

"That was…easy to understand, to be honest," said Soul. "Guess we can forget about that now. It's not like it's very important to now that Naminé used to be a Nobody."

"Yeah, you guys are too curious," added Black*Star.

"There's something else I want to ask, if you don't mind," said Maka, making Soul and Black*Star sigh exasperatedly. "Naminé, why weren't you born when Kairi's heart left her body? Shouldn't have you being to exist when that happened?"

"That's a good question…" Naminé looked at Sora.

Sora smiled. "…which we'll answer in the future."

"Okay, I get it," said Maka smiling. "Thanks for the explanation and sorry for being so curious. It must have been difficult for you to answer these questions every time you went to another world."

"You know, I've been to a lot of different worlds and none of them asked me about this," replied Sora, and this surprised the pig-tailed girl a lot. "Maybe I told them a bit about Organization XIII since they were attacking their world but you guys, the people of Fairy Tail, the students of Beacon Academy in Remnant and some others were far more interested in my backstory than the others. I wonder why…"

"We…just wanted to know more about you," affirmed Kid, even though it sounded more like a question.

"Or you just like to meddle into other people's affairs," said Sora grinning.

"That sounds familiar," said Naminé. "I wonder who I know that also likes to do the same…"

"You know, you're unusually humorous today," remarked Sora. "Where's the quiet and reserved Naminé I used to know?"

"Who knows?" Naminé smiled brightly. "It must be a side effect of being with you too much time…"

Sora glared at the girl. "Do you really want me to tickle you again, don't you?"

Naminé flinched in anticipation. "Sorry, sorry!"

"Mmm, I wonder if this would work with the others…" thought Sora before turning to Maka and the other again. "Anyway, to make things easier I thought of telling everyone the whole story if we all ever gather in the same place."

"Or you could write a book about it," said Maka. "I'd read it."

Sora chuckled. "And I know another three that would also read it for sure."

"Say, Sora, you mentioned these guys of that academy called Beacon." Black*Star leaned closer to Sora to draw his attention. "Are they strong? Compared to Shibusen, I mean."

"They are strong," replied Sora. "I hung out with two teams that were just first-year students and they weren't pushovers at all. I didn't meet any senior student, but I'd say you are stronger than them…possibly. First-years there are older than the ones here…then again, age doesn't have to mean anything when it comes to power…"

"Guess we will know once the tournament takes place," said Naminé.

As soon as Naminé mentioned the tournament, Sora looked at his partner with total shock since he didn't expect her to say that out of the blue. The others, on the other hand, looked at her with curiosity, wondering what she was referring to.

"Tournament?" asked the members of Spartoi.

"Yeah, next year there will be a tournament in the world where our guild is," answered Naminé. "It'll be a competition between guilds or organizations, so Shibusen can participate. Spartoi could be the team representing it. It'll be a huge event."

"So, people from different worlds can participate?" asked Soul. "I thought people who aren't Keyblade wielders aren't supposed to travel to other worlds."

"No, the rule states that Keyblade wielders aren't allowed to take people out of their worlds," corrected Kid. "One of the reasons Sora should have kept his identity a secret while he was here. However, Father revealed who he was to the entire academy, so it's not his fault."

"Big Sis, let's participate in that tournament!" exclaimed Patty. "We'll wreck them all!"

"You want to take part in that?" Liz should have expected that from her sister. "I don't know…What do you say, Kid?"

"It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?" replied the Shinigami. "It's been a while since the last time we've been in a serious battle, so fighting against people from different worlds is a good opportunity to not lose our strength. Not that we have lost any, but we haven't had any good challenge lately."

Maka nodded. "You're right. Soul and I will participate too."

Soul sighed. "I guess it can't be helped."

"TOURNAMENT!" shouted Black*Star suddenly.

Sora groaned. "Oh great…"

"Dude, this is, like, so awesome!" The blue-haired boy was ecstatic. "This is my great opportunity to show the entire universe how great I am. And it'll be the perfect moment for our rematch, Sora! This time I'll defeat you and anyone who gets in my way in that tournament."

The leader of the Guardians looked at Naminé. "Why did you have to say that so unexpectedly?"

Naminé smiled apologetically. "My bad."

"You said it was next year, right?" asked Maka. "Then we have enough time to train. We can't let Shibusen's reputation to be dragged through the mud, especially in front of people from other worlds. This will be a great chance to make Shinigami-sama's organization known around the world."

Sora nodded. "Yes, it'll be next year, but…"

The Shibusen group looked at Sora. "But?"

"Probably it'll have to be postponed," said Sora. "There's something me and the Guardians have to solve. I'd like to do it before the tournament starts, but I don't know how much time it will take us, so..."

"Is there a problem?" asked Maka. "Did something bad happen out there?"

"I think you should tell them now, Sora," said Naminé.

"Tell us what?" asked Soul, who was starting to worry. "Dude, what's wrong?"

"You see, I came here to see you guys, but there's another reason," explained Sora. His face was now more serious than moments ago since the situation required it. "I already talked with your father, Kid, so he'll explain to you and the rest of Shibusen about it, but I want to give a heads-up to all of you."

The group looked at Sora with concern, wondering what could have him so worried. A few seconds ago he was all cheerful and upbeat like usual, but now his attitude changed drastically. They didn't do anything but listen to what Sora had to say.

"There is a group of Keyblade wielders out there that are planning to take over the worlds. They want to control them, but not like Maleficent. They also fight against the Heartless, and according to one of them, they want to stop the conflicts that are taking place in some worlds. I know this doesn't sound bad, but their methods are. They are willing to kill anyone who gets in their way. One of them even said that Keyblade wielders are superior beings or something like that."

"That's…horrible!" said Tsubaki horrified.

"So, you came here to warn us about them, right?" asked Kid, and Sora nodded in response.

"I talked with one of them not long ago," said Sora. "He asked me to work together with them and I refused. He said they were going to give me some time to think about it, and if I still don't decide to join them they'll attack, and not only us."

"So we will get attacked too, huh?" said Soul.

"Oh no, what are we going to do?" said Liz scared. "This is too much for us."

"Don't worry, sis, Sora will take care of them," assured Patty. "Right, Sora?"

"Yeah, you defeated Xehanort so this won't be a problem for you, will it?" said Maka. "And you have nine Keyblade wielders to help you, so it should be…"

"They're too strong." Sora interrupted the Scythe Meister. "None of us are match for them at this moment."

"What are you saying?" asked a skeptical Black*Star. "Are they really…?"

"Take a look at this," said Naminé, putting the Lacrima she had on the table where they ate.

The blonde Keybearer used her magic to activate the crystal sphere and the recording of the fight against Vulpe in Worth Woodsea started. The Meisters and their partners were confused at first since they didn't know anyone who appeared in the projection, but they assumed the blue-haired woman and the man with spiky brown hair were members of Sora's guild since they were using Keyblades, and it wasn't hard to tell that the girl with the orange hair was one of the Keyblade wielders Sora mentioned. It was shocking for them to see one girl winning against more than twenty people that obviously weren't weaklings. Then they saw the part where Sora fought Vulpe and couldn't believe their eyes. When the recording finished, the group could understand why Sora looked so worried.

"Man…" Black*Star looked genuinely serious, until he opened his mouth. "You got your ass handed to you by a girl!"

"Black*Star!" exclaimed the others.

"This is an important matter, you should be taking this seriously!" said Tsubaki.

"I know, I was just trying to lighten up the mood," said Black*Star. "Being all gloomy won't help us defeating these guys, but if you guys want to be like this, then fine by me. I don't' care. I'll take care of them on my own."

Sora chuckled. "I have to admit, Black*Star's right. Sorry if I looked kinda broody back there."

"Nah, it's all right," said Black*Star before grinning. "If you ever feel down, just stick close to me. All your problems will disappear in a second!"

"If you say so," said Sora before looking at the projection again. It stopped in the part where Vulpe created the portal she used to left Earth Land. He stared at her image for a moment before smiling. "You know, you were right, she sure kicked my butt."

"Sora, what's with that face?" asked Liz, raising an eyebrow.

Sora looked at the older Thompson sister. "What face? I'm not making any face."

"Don't try to fool me." A smirk started to form on Liz's face. "I know about boys enough to know what they're thinking when they put the same face you had just now."

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Sora kinda confused…or maybe he was faking it?

"I know what you're thinking," declared the Shadow Weapon Meister, making the others look at him surprised. "You want to have a rematch with that girl, don't you? Don't worry, I'll leave her to you and I'll deal with the others. I'm a sympathetic guy after all."

Liz sighed. "You really have no idea. And for a moment I thought you noticed. I guess that's asking you too much."

"Huh?" Black*Star totally didn't understand what Liz meant, but didn't give it much importance either.

"Say, Sora, how many are they?" asked Kid, wanting to get as much information from the dark Keyblade wielders as possible. "Do you know who they are? I mean, have you met them before?"

"They're…five," replied Sora, doubting for a moment. "And no, I haven't met them before and unfortunately, I can't tell you much about them. We practically know nothing else about them."

"They're easy to recognize, even though we've only seen Vulpe's face," said Naminé as she touched the Lacrima, which was now showing an image of four people. "The orange-haired girl is Vulpe, and she's the only one who showed us her face up to now. The one with the white and light blue robe is Cornis. Ursus is the one with the tan cloak. The boy wearing the yellow coat…we think his name is Leo according to what Vulpe told us."

"Vulpe, Cornis, Ursus and Leo…" said Soul, looking carefully at the images. "Wait, I count only four. Don't you have an image of the fifth Keyblade wielder?"

"We still have to figure out who the fifth one is," said Naminé. "Sora met a girl who had a very similar uniform to the one these four are wearing, but she's not a Keyblade wielder, so we are not sure if she's one of them."

"How do you know she doesn't use a Keyblade?" asked Patty really curious. "Did you ask her?"

"One of the Guardians has a very advanced Heart Perception ability," replied Naminé. "She's good enough to know if someone's a Keyblade wielder or not. There aren't many around now, but it's still useful if you ask me."

This caught Maka's interest. "There's someone like that in the Light Guardians? Who is it?"

"That blue-haired woman you saw in the recording," replied Sora smiling. "Her name is Aqua. She's one of the Keyblade Masters of the guild. Would you like to meet her?"

"Yeah!" answered Maka. "I'd really ask her some things about this ability and, maybe, she can help me improve. If I could detect Keyblade wielders like her I should be able to know where those four are. I'd need to practice a lot. I've been reading books about Soul Perception, and putting the tricks I've learned intro practice using Heart Perception, but I don't think it's the same…"

"Geez, you get an awesome ability and you're able to make it sound boring," said Black*Star. "You're such a nerd."

Maka didn't like the sound of that. "Shut up!"

"She and Aqua are cut from the same cloth in that aspect," said Sora smirking. "I'm sure they'll get along."

"Now, that was a bit mean, Sora," said Naminé. A slight scolding tone could be detected in her voice.

Sora waved his hands defensively. "Hey, there was no bad intention in what I said."

"Good," said Maka, putting her book away. "I wouldn't want to hit you too."

"She really was about to hit me with that book…" thought Sora, glad that he could avoid a Maka-Chop. He had enough with Levy's.

"Then we have these Keyblade wielders and Maleficent to deal with," said Soul. "Looks like we're going to be busy..."

"Ah, that reminds me…have you made any progress in finding her whereabouts?" asked Sora.

"No, I'm sorry." Kid crossed his arms. "We've been looking for her since you left, but she's hiding very well."

"Tell me about it," said Sora. "She hasn't even showed up once since I left Destiny Islands. Normally, I'd expect her to appear and give her usual evil speech about how she's going to cover the worlds in Darkness, but she hasn't yet. It's like she's avoiding us for some reason."

"Maybe Leo and her friends have something to do with that," said Naminé. "As you said, they also fight the Heartless, so they might have done something to Maleficent."

"That would save us a lot of trouble," said Liz. "But something tells me it's not going to be that easy. It never is."

"You're right," said Sora nodding in agreement. "I think she's waiting for the right moment. She knows we're going to fight against those dark Keyblade wielders, so she won't start to do whatever she has planned until one side goes down."

"The odds are against us, then," said Naminé. "What should we do?"

"Protecting the worlds and getting stronger is the only things we can do," said Sora. "Things would be easier if we knew more about Vulpe and the other four, but I don't know where we could get such information."

"I hope Terra and Ven could find Yen Sid and Eraqus," thought Naminé. The two old masters were likely to have some information about Leo and his allies.

"You know, I just remembered there's one place we haven't checked…" said Tsubaki. "I don't know if it's one of Maleficent's hideouts, but it wouldn't hurt to go and check it out."

"Where?" asked Soul.

"Remember that place where we fought Maleficent when Sora came to Death City for the first time two years ago?" asked Tsubaki. "There was this person called Pete saying that Maleficent was with someone in there. It could be some kind of meeting place for her or something. We might find some clues there."

"Of course, how could we have forgotten about that location?" said Kid in realization. "Nice job, Tsubaki."

"Right, I remember that place," said Sora. "It's not very far away from Death City."

"We should go now," said Naminé. "Maleficent could be there now."

"Yeah." Sora stood up and Naminé did the same. He turned to Maka and the others. "I suppose you want to tag along, right?"

"You read our minds," said Soul with a smirk. "We're not going to let you two do all the hard work."

"We need some more screen time, too," said Maka, stretching her body as she stood up.

"Screen time?" thought Sora and Naminé confused.

"Even though I'd rather avoid that creepy place, I'd feel bad if I didn't lend you a hand," said Liz. "Besides, I need to do some exercise after eating all this food or I'll get fat."

"You're looking good, sis!" affirmed Patty.

Liz hugged her sister. "Aww, thank you, Patty!"

"Guess it's time to kick some butts," said Black*Star with confidence as he cracked his knuckles, He turned to his partner. "You ready, Tsubaki?"

Tsubaki nodded. "Yes!"

"If everyone's ready, then let's go," said Sora

However, before anyone could leave, someone appeared and entered the room through the window. It was a purple cat wearing a witch hat. She was Blair a cat with an unusual amount of magic power. Sora knew who she was and remembered very well what happened when they met.

"I'm hoooome!" said Blair and then she noticed there were a lot of people around her. "Oh, did you have a party? I hope you left some food for me."

"Oh, hello, Blair," said Maka. "Yes, there's some food left. We already ate, so feel free to eat as much as you want. It's really tasty. Sora prepared it."

"Sora?" Blair then saw the brown-haired boy she met two years ago. "Ah, it's you!"

"Uh oh…" thought Soul.

Sora, however, stayed calm when Blair saw him. He knew something like this could happen so he came prepared. When the leader of the Guardians noticed that Blair was going to transform into her human form, he pulled out a ball of yarn out of his pocket. The cat froze the moment she saw the magnificent object Sora had in his hand. The Keybearer moved his hand and Blair followed it with her eyes. Then, Sora threw the ball to a room and Blair shot out to catch it.

"That was…brilliant!" said Soul very impressed. "How did you…?"

Sora smiled confidently. "The Guild Master of the Light Guardians never falls for the same trick twice. This is the power of a Keyblade Master."

"Okay, now you're just exaggerating…" said Maka. "Let's leave before she comes back."

"It's mission time!" exclaimed Patty as she and the others left.

-TLG-

---

If you're wondering about Hughes, let the story continue and you'll find out what happened. Also, I assume everyone or most of you have watched E3 (which was one incredibly good this year) and the new Kingdom Hearts III trailer. Now that Sora's new clothes were revealed, I'll introduce a scene in the story where he changes to that new outfit. Since Riku and Lea's part is done, next chapter we'll see Terra, Ven, Aqua and Kairi and the continuation of Sora, Naminé, Roxas and Xion's part.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I've been reading Soul Eater again and noticed that Kim and Ox started dating each other. Don't know how could I forget something like that…Anyway, they're an official couple, so that means Kim is out of Sora's harem now. Also, I know the reception lady died in the manga, but I just revived her for this story. I needed her for that scene.

Now I'll answer the reviews, which are quite a lot, so thank you for taking your time to leave one.

To The Dark Dragon Emperor: Thanks a lot. I'm glad you liked it!

Seeing Naminé fighting will be rare since, as you could read, she only fights when it's necessary. However, I'll try to make her fighting style as interesting as possible.

To magical fan18: I'm glad to hear that!

He might appear the next time Sora goes to Earth Land.

I'd be very very surprised if you knew who the character is. It's not from any game or anime that has appeared up to now in the story, if you want to know.

To MagatsuIza: That's right. They were six apprentices, but only five of them became Foretellers.

To Daxen123: I can tell you it will take them some time to get on the other Keyblade wielder's level. Probably they'll need more than a few months.

To AnimeMasterDub: 1. It could be... 2 & 3. You'll find out in the next chapter. 4. He did, not as much as his younger self would have, though. He's more mature now, after all. Not a lot, but more than before. 5. You'll find out as the story continues. 6. There was no time for that, unfortunately. 7. Possibly, although for the moment there's no need for someone like that. 8. Not yet, give it some time. 9. Who knows? It might happen…or not.

To ravage666: Yes, I will. It'll be a quite interesting mix, if you ask me.

To Guest1: I've answered this question so many times…Yes, there will be a SAO mission in the story.

To Guest: You know this story has the harem genre in it, right? I think it's quite obvious at this point of the story. And since it's a harem, it's obvious there will be more than one girl who's going to like Sora. Besides, it's not like every girl he meets falls for him. Also, you want me to pair Yang and Terra just because they specialize in brute force combat? I don't know where the sense in that is. The girls who like Sora started to like him because of good reasons, not just because they have something in common with him.

To animelover276: I'm happy to hear that. Yeah, it's a shame he's not with us anymore…

To : Dude, I already answered this request in the previous chapter. The SAO mission will take place during the first season.

To Bebuzzu: Ah, thanks a lot! Only someone like Yang could do something like that, right? Yeah, the Bleach part will be an interesting one, especially Sora and Ichigo's meeting.

To Ventusblade: Thank you! It's very difficult, I assure you. The tournament will be the hardest part to write because of the amount of characters that will be in Radiant Garden in that moment. Yes, I'm going to use Vanitas, but it won't be the first time I use him. He appeared in my Kingdom Hearts/Fairy Tail crossover.

To Sunny Lighter: What's not to love about that girl? XD

To Alpha Alchemist: I'm glad you liked it. Look forward to Aqua and Kairi's part in the next chapter.

Yes, you're right. Naminé was just trying to tease Sora at that moment. It didn't turn out well for her, unfortunately.

1. Those two will definitely get along.

2. Blake, Yoruichi and Blair at least can hide their feline traits. Poor Kuro can't do anything, though.

3. Probably a Spriggan like Kirito or a Sylph like Suguha.

4. I'm sure Alzack and Bisca will be very interested in Liz and Patty.

5. Yes, I'm thinking of using more of those resonances.

6. True. As stated in this chapter, Maka and the others are more experienced than Ruby and her friends, so if the two Scythe users fight, Maka is the one with more possibilities to be the winner.

Regarding the ideas you suggested in your second review, I already thought of the first and third ones. As for the second one, I decided to keep some of Naminé's secrets hidden. Not everyone has to know everything about her the moment they meet her, right?

To Guest: The Guardians might need more quite some time to reach the Dark Hunters' level. You can call them like that if you want, even though they still not refer to themselves with that name. Aqua and Kairi's part will be in the next chapter, so look forward to it.

To Guest: I just don't see Ruby liking Sora that way, sorry. I think two or three of them are enough for some comedic moments.

To zackstone13: I needed her to stay in the guild for the next scene in that part, though.

To Mishka-chan0.0: The privileges of the little sister are above everything! I wouldn't want to be Sora if that happened. Look forward to Blake's reaction in the next chapter. Naminé is not someone who fights for fun, so seeing a fight like that will be very very strange.

To GuestWithIdeas: Yes, I think I can make Levi train Sora in that aspect too. He'll need everything he can get to win against his new enemies after all. I can see why you like that, but I kinda prefer to let everyone have the abilities of their own series, so they can shine. I mean, the Keyblade wielders are the main characters of this story, but I also want the other characters to have some spotlight too. I think I will stick to that for now. Maybe I'll change my mind later.

To GenesisBlaze: He was really excited as you could see. However, he's more mature now, so he didn't react as his younger self would have.

To Red John: What I have planned is kinda different, you'll see. As you said Vanitas has no story before meeting Xehanort, since he met the old man when he started to exist. And as for meeting them after his defeat…can't say anything about that. Regarding Anguis…I have nothing to say for now, so you'll have to wait and see what happens.

To NRG: Sora will go to Fiore one more time before the Tartarus Arc, but it won't be for an S-Class trial. I have already decided what will happen.

To Guest: I haven't watched that anime, sorry.

To anon: Someone who will be very clingy to Sora.

I don't know why your friend thinks Sora is a mood swinger, because he's not. He can get serious when the situation requires it, but that doesn't mean he's a mood swinger. Yes, the girls will show interest for him, but they are part of Issei's harem and they'll stay like that.

To colossalblackening: You'll have to wait and see. I don't want to reveal any more things for the moment.

We got a new trailer and lots of news recently, and that's great!

Yes, I think so.

To CasualFictionWriter23: Ah, good to see you man! It's been a while! How have you been?

Yeah, I know. Such a shame…

And I know I'm incredibly late, but Happy Lunar New Year to you too XD

To boras1c: I can't think of a reason that would make Sora perform the inheritance ceremony with Maka. Yeah, it would be like the one Terra did with Riku since all ceremonies are the same, at least I assume they're the same. However, as I said, there's no reason for Sora to do that.

To thrawn92: Yes, I revived Mifune for this story, and he's not the only one who died in the manga and is alive now in this story.

I've wanted to watch A Certain Magical Index for a while, but I want to finish the ones I'm currently watching and it's taking me some time.

To StoryMakerr014: Sorry, no can do. I haven't watched Shaman King and the teams for the tournament have already been decided.

To Guest: It's possible the characters make a cameo. Who knows?

To crazy fan: Sorry, as you said, the Disney characters will be very limited in this story.

To kingdom hearts guy: And why do you want me to check the wiki for?

To Anonymous: It's a very interesting idea, but I already decided how the Tournament Arc will be and I can't anything else, sorry.

To keys of fate: No, that's not what I meant XD She and Kairi are practically equal in that aspect. It's because of a different thing that it was still not revealed.

I don't know. It's been a while since I watched Medaka. I might need to watch it again.

To Guest: I think Oathkeeper suits her better. Why? Does it bother you?

To rikz: I haven't watched that anime, though. I can't add single contestants to the tournament, that's not how it works. Besides, the teams have already been decided.

To Guest2: That'd make an interesting battle. I still don't know how things will develop during the fights in the tournament, but I'll think about adding that fight. As for the exhibition match, I'll also give it some thought.

To Amaia-Sinblood: Some of those have already been suggested. Thanks for taking your time, though. The worlds that will appear until the tournament have already been decided but I will have to use new ones for the second part of the story. I might use some of the ones you suggested.

Congrats on finding out who they are. It's a game that not a lot of fans have played, so that's why I wanted to use them.

To Guest3: As I told him, I already thought about Tinker Bell. You'll see what happens.

Your question about the Guardians' height is interesting. I can't give you measurements, but I can compare them to other characters, if you want. Between them, Sora, Xion, Roxas and Ventus are about the same height. Kairi and Naminé are a tiny bit smaller than them. Riku and Aqua have similar heights and Terra and Lea are the tallest of the group. To compare them to other characters…I'll use the Fairy Tail characters since there is a height chart in the Internet so you can check it out. Let's see…Sora, Roxas, Xion and Ven are the same height as Lucy, but she looks a bit taller because of her footwear. Kairi and Naminé are smaller, but it is barely noticeable. Aqua, Riku and Erza are around the same height. Lastly, Terra and Lea are the tallest, their height being similar to Jellal's or Gajeel's. It's difficult to compare heights, I admit it.

To Guest: There's not going to be a new story for my part in a long time.

To void break: There's no particular reason for that. I want to leave his father as a mystery.

To Guest: You'll see it when it happens. I don't want to reveal things that you'll see in the story later.

To OrionGold: Not really.

To light vector: That's a Saiyan trait and Keyblade wielders are not Saiyans.

To dragon soul: Yes, but I can't tell you more.

To Wayward Son: That would be like copying Bleach and I don't want to do that. His Heartless form will stay as a full body transformation. Unless Sora gets a second heart, he won't be able to summon two Keyblades on his own.

To j: I'm planning to use some of the Tales games in a future.

To mega victory: What are you talking about?

To super sayian god: They already did, didn't they?

To soul breaker: No.

To Final Guest: I'd really like to talk about that, but I don't want to reveal anything that'll happen in the story later, if you know what I mean. Sora will go through some difficulties, I can assure you that. I can't tell you anything else about the Foretellers, either.

To ice dragon: I don't know, maybe?

To high victor, chaos destroy, lighting blade & mr. e: I should have done this for a while, but man, can't you write all your reviews in just one and not spam so much the reviews section? I know you're one person using different guest names. As for your ideas, I know you might have liked Battle of Gods, but let's leave that kind of transformation to the Dragon Ball characters, okay?

To Mewmew: Persona 4 will be part of the story, but it will be much later. I want to focus on what I have to write now, so I'll think about that on another time.

To Guest: He won't, though. I already decided he won't take part in that war.

To Gaia force: They just need some time to get stronger, a lot of time actually.

To Guest777: I don't like that, either, and that's why it won't happen. The girls' of other harems will stay in their harems. Yang's little message hasn't been revealed…yet. Also, Kim is not part of Sora's harem anymore since it turns out she started dating Ox in the manga, or at least that's what it looks like. That means there's no girl in Death City that is part of Sora's harem now.

I'd have to play it first. I don't want to use characters I don't know about since I might screw up their personalities.

To Guest: Some of them will find out, I assure you that.

To EvanderAdvent: It's a bit late for that as you could read. Your idea was good, though.

To 02361: I can't answer to your review without spoiling something, so you'll have to wait and see what happens in Roxas and Xion's part of the story.

Yes, he'll stay in Radiant Garden for a couple of days once he returns from Death City, but he also has to go to new worlds.

To red tail: Sorry, I don't know anything about Blazblue.

To MaroonKeybearer: I hope so. There are a lot of things I want to do and writing more is one of them.

To Mr. X: Hey, you know I have a life outside here, right? I don't live to write for you.

To Neku Sakuraba: I can't tell you much, but look forward to Vanitas' debut in the story. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

I'll think about it.

To Other abilities: Yes, I'll make him use more of his abilities in a future, don't worry.

To StrongGuy159: Huh? This review doesn't make much sense, you know?

To bluestopper13: I enjoy seeing Sora in funny or silly situations, but that's going over the top. I'm not going to make him sing that.

To kingdomkey0703: Yes, it will be most likely Riku the one going with Sora to the Blue Exorcist mission. He needs some screen time, if you ask me.

To Mapleworld312: I don't know anything about Tsubasa Chronicles, sorry.

To Jysven: This takes place two years after KH3.