Okay! Here, I get to show off my O.C.s a little more, and throw out a little more info on the Brotherhood! We're getting back into the action very soon. Now, Bariss?

Bariss: "DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything else he may decide to use later. Only his plot and original characters. Thanks for not killing me off, by the way."

Don't mention it. I guess I'm just a big softie. And Happy Labor Day to those who celebrate it.

--

Chapter 30: New Information

Sora awoke slowly the next morning. He yawned loudly, and looked around. He was still in his and Kairi's room at Disney Castle, so that meant that Bariss hadn't had a sudden change of heart in the middle of the night and kidnapped them (not that he had expected her to).

Kairi was still asleep, with her face buried into his shoulder and talking very quietly in her sleep. He smiled down at her and absent-mindedly ran his hand through her hair for a few minutes. He'd have been perfectly content to do that for the rest of the day, but some people would probably have a problem with that.

He gently shook her awake, and seconds later, her eyelids fluttered open. She smiled at him. "Morning."

"Morning." He leaned down and kissed her.

For the next several minutes they embraced in their bed, stealing kisses when the moment struck. And Sora couldn't help thinking that eventually, they could do this every day. If they both made it through their current crisis, then he vowed he'd never let this opportunity pass him by again.

Then the moment was ruined when Sora's stomach growled loudly. Kairi laughed and jumped out of the bed. "Come on, let's see if we can find the kitchen."

After dressing, they walked out into the halls and tried to find the kitchen or dining room again. Sora's famous sense of direction led them to dead-ends eight times. Eventually though, they ran into someone who would know.

"Hey Nehrut! Bariss!"

Their newer friends turned around at the sound of Kairi's voice. Nehrut smiled and waved at them as they ran toward them. When they stopped, he said, "You couldn't find the kitchen could you?"

They talked as Nehrut led the way to the dining room. Along the way, Bariss apologized up and down for causing the attack the previous night. That was definitely enough to show that she was with them now.

When they found the dining hall, they were met with an akward sight: Riku and Yuffie kissing passionately near their end of the table. They were so engrossed in each other that niether of them seemed to notice they had company.

"You think they notice us?" Sora asked.



"If they haven't, they will soon." Nehrut said, with mischief in his smile. He stretched out his hand, and slowly, the massive table started rising. Riku and Yuffie still didn't notice. He lifted it higher and higher, until it was nearly ten feet off the ground.

Catching on to what he was going to do, Sora smiled. The table dropped ten feet, and landed with one of the loudest crashing noises that Sora had ever heard. It sent shockwaves through the floor that nearly tripped them.

With a shout of surprise, Riku and Yuffie jumped apart and tripped all over each other. They fell rather comically, and their legs ended up tangled up with the other's. Yuffie's foot was in a position that must have been very uncomfortable for Riku.

They glared at the group in the doorway, who were able to keep straight faces for exactly one second.

Before they burst out laughing.

"Priceless!" Sora said. He was leaning heavily against the door frame, and gradually sliding down it. Kairi was already on the floor, heaving in silent laughter.

"You're DEAD!" The pranked shouted in unison. They untangled themselves and charged at Nehrut, clearly the perpetrator.

And tripped and fell flat on their faces, which added to Sora and Kairi's laughter. Confused, they looked up, and saw none other than Bariss with her whip out. She had a wide, devilish grin on her face. Looking down, they realized that the end was wrapped around their feet.

Nehrut applauded. "A woman after my own heart!" She sent him a grin and a bow. And she didn't know just how much she mirrored Nehrut at that moment.

"Now you're dead, too!" Yuffie yelled.

But then she and Riku found themselves hanging upside down in midair by their shoes. They had been caught off guard by the psychic yet again. He walked over to Bariss's side and wagged his finger at them.

"Now, now... Must this all end in violence?" He furthered their embarresment by jerking them another ten feet higher. Sora and Kairi were in hysterics, writhing on the floor, clutching their sides.

"We surrender! We surrender!" Riku exclaimed.

"What do you mean 'we'?" Yuffie cut in.

Nehrut dropped Riku on to the floor, and lifted Yuffie higher still. "Okay we surrender!" And he dropped her as well. Sora and Kairi were able to stand up and applaud while Riku and Yuffie grumbled and got to their feet. Nehrut and Bariss held hands, and bowed.

Nehrut grabbed a glass of orange juice on the table and raised it. "Here's to our lovebirds Riku and Yuffie, for taking it all somewhat in stride."

Bariss took another glass and tapped it against his. They drank, and emerged with grins on their faces.



They all sat down together for a large breakfast that the broom servants brought in. Gradually, the hall started to fill up, and eventually their entire group (plus Minnie, Daisy, Chip, and Dale) were sitting at the table being told of what Nehrut had done. They laughed their heads off.

Sora noticed that Bariss was absolutely stuffing her face with food, as if she hadn't had a decent meal in years. More than once, she almost choked and Nehrut had to slap her on the back a few times. She smiled gratefully to him, then went right back to stuffing her face.

"They have something going on, you know." Roxas said.

I figured as much. They look good together.

He shot a glance at Kairi, who was sitting at his left. She looked back and winked conspiritorily at him, clearly thinking the same thing.

Byt the time most of them had finished breakfast, the King made himself known. "Now that we've all eaten, maybe we should get down to bussiness." He looked at Bariss, "Ma'am, since you're here, could we ask you a few things?"

Barass put down her silverware and nodded at the mouse. "It's the least I can do after the kindness you've shown me here. My name is Bariss."

"Good to meet ya Bariss." The King said. "Let us properly introduce ourselves. I'm Mickey Mouse, this is my wife, Minnie."

"Donald Duck!"

"Daisy Duck."

"Goofy!"

"Chip. This here is Dale."

"Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Captain Jack Sparrow."

"Barret."

"Kiara."

"Genie! Menie mo meenie banana fanna bobini... Genie!"

"Hercules."

"Meega Stitch!"

"Hayner."

"Pence."

"And Olette."

Roxas and Namine's transparent figures appeared. "Roxas."

"Namine." The two Nobodies admired the food with something close to envy. It suddenly occurred to Sora that the two Nobodies hadn't eaten in a while. But whether they had to or not, he didn't know.

"And now you'll want to know as much as I know about the Brotherhood of the Dark, I suppose?" Bariss said.

Most of the table nodded.

Bariss took a deep breath, and began. "Well, the Brotherhood is run by eleven people. Six of them are Nobodies, four of them have hearts, but are so dark it probably doesn't matter. And the leader..." She visibly shuddered, "He's something else entirely."

"This Serndask guy we've heard about?" Riku asked.

Bariss nodded.

"So who are the leaders? What are they like?" Sora asked.

"One of them is a Nobody with black hair. He carries a Keyblade."

"That would be Ruxik. We've met him." Riku said.

"Another Nobody is young, with brown hair. His Heartless counterpart always follows him."

"My dear brother Xaynew." Nehrut said.

"The other Nobodies are named Andmox, Klaxam, Xarcs, and Xayn Shu. Andmox is really just a brute, but his strength is incredible, and he's really hard to hurt. Klaxam is extremely dangerous, he can move at speeds that nothing else can hope to hit, and he won't hesitate to use that to his advantage."

"Xarcs is some sort of animal, it's hard for me to tell what exactly. His roar is terrifying, and he's pretty vicious when you get him agitated. Not that Nobodies can get agitated, right? And Xayn Shu is a practiced swordsmaster, and I once saw him sprout bird wings and fly!"

Sora pondered those names for a minute. The last two, 'Xarcs' and 'Xayn Shu' sounded just a little familiar to him. But he was sure that he had never met them before, though the descriptions struck a cord with him.

"What about the others?" Goofy asked. "Y'know, the ones that still have their hearts?"

"There's a woman called Liasa. She can manipulate flames."

Axel immediately perked up and exclaimed, "Sounds like my kind of woman!" This was accompanied by a short round of laughter.

"A man named Crucion. He typically interrogates the prisoners the Brotherhood brings in to their headquarters, and he enjoys his job way too much."

Axel's mood soured again. "I know him." He said, running a finger across the scar on his forehead, which was faded to a pale, thin line now. If you were far enough away, it was unnoticable.

"There's a being called the Horned King. He's some sort of undead creature, well-versed in black magic spells."

"I know him!" Mickey exclaimed. All eyes were drawn to him again. "He was once an accomplice with Pete. He tried to take over the castle once, only to be stopped by the Cornerstone. I think he might have worked with Maleficent for a time, too."



"Looks like he upgraded." Riku muttered. "Do you know what the Brotherhood did with Maleficent, Bariss?"

"I saw her only once." Bariss admitted. "Xaynew was dragging her unconscious into this room, deep in the heart of their headquarters. But they never let me in on the full extent of their plans, so I don't know what they've done to her since."

"Well, there's one person that you haven't mentioned yet." Sora said. He had been counting down on his fingers. "Who is he?"

"The last one with a heart just arrived at the castle less than a month ago. He's their newest member, but I've never learned his name."

"What does he look like?" Sora asked.

Bariss paused for thought for a moment before saying, "He has this... wing...Silver hair... Carries a long sword."

Five people at the table jumped out of their seats from the shock: Sora, Donald, Goofy, Barret, and Yuffie. They all exclaimed as one, "Sephiroth!?"

"Did that son of a at this point he muttered a word that would be inappropriate to print ever mention a guy named Cloud?" Barret asked, sounding truly afraid for the first time since Sora had met him.

Bariss seemed genuenly surprised by their reaction. "No... I'm sorry, he didn't."

Everyone sunk back into their seats slowly, realizing the problems that were bound to come along with Sephiroth against them again.

What happened to Cloud? Couldn't he beat him with Tifa's light? Where did they even go? Wait, Tifa!

"We have to tell Tifa and Aerith about this. I hope Cloud's okay."

Apart from the five who had met Sephiroth, only two others didn't look confused: Nehrut and Mickey, who had read Jiminy's journal. "That guy is in a whole new league. Things have just gotten a lot harder."

"Do you know where the Brotherhood's headquarters are?" Mickey asked.

Bariss lowered her head. "I'm sorry, but there's a problem with that."

"What sort of problem?"

"The world they have their headquarters on is heavily protected. A series of dark barriers covers the world, keeping Gummi ships from coming in and out without a specific ship part. And only the senior members of the Brotherhood have them."

"My ship would have allowed you to get through, but it seems that Serndask didn't trust me completely, it's been disabled remotely."

"What's the name of the world?" Riku asked.

"Pax Pacis."

Sora had just realized that he knew those two words, when suddenly a glass in the middle of the table shattered, and two plates cracked in half. The people nearest them jumped in surprise, and 

looked around for the source of the disturbance. And there was Nehrut, clutching the table top in front of him with his head down.

"Nehrut?" Namine asked. "What is it?"

He looked up slowly, and in his eyes was unimaginable pain. His words came out shorter, lower, and harsher than he (Sora) had ever heard, "That is my world."

Everyone fell silent for a moment, and Nehrut excused himself. "Sorry, but I need some air." All eyes followed him out the door until it closed behind him.

As the brooms carried the broken dishes away, Kairi whispered, "He never said..."

The King, apparently trying to change the subject as soon as possible, asked, "What is the Brotherhood planning exactly, Bariss?"

Though Bariss was still looking at the door through which Nehrut had left, she replied, "They want Kingdom Hearts. I think they want to use the Keyblade to open it up. They have Ruxik, but it seems that that isn't enough, since I was ordered to capture another Keybearer here."

"Why not use the Princesses of Heart?" Sora asked, squeezing Kairi's hand under the table.

"I'm not sure." She answered, "Wouldn't that be easier?"

"That's something we'll have to figure out as we go along." Mickey said. "Now, Bariss, is there anything else?"

"They're planning on attacking the worlds soon."

After four separate spit-takes, Mickey muttered, "Maybe you could have mentioned that first?"

"Sorry. At any rate, that's all the information I have for you."

"Well you've been a great help to us, Bariss. Thank you." Mickey said, bowing slightly.

"And if it's alright, I'd like to join you on your journeys." She added.

"Of course!" He said, beaming. "The more the merrier!"

After that, arrangements were made to increase the world's chances of survival. A great deal of their group would have to return to their respective home worlds to warn them, and get a defence ready. That meant Hercules, Jack, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Genie, Kiara, and Barret would have to leave them.

Barret was given another Gummi ship (smaller than Unity, but large enough to accomidate several people) named the Griffin. It was dark green, and proudly displayed a dozen cannons. He would bring them all home, and then return to Radiant Garden. In the end, the King simply didn't have the heart to separate Yuffie from Riku, especially when they hadn't had much time together already.

He, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, Nehrut, Bariss, Axel and Yuffie would travel to the other worlds on their own to do whatever they could.

Nehrut reappeared later, still a bit moody, but he tried to put on a happy face for his departing friends.

"I'll see you guys soon." Barret said before leaving. "Keep your guards up."

"Do we really have to leave so soon?" Genie exclaimed, pouting. "I mean, we just got here!"

"Sorry, Genie." Sora said, "But Agrabah needs you right now."

"Well, you may be right. Heaven knows that Al's absolutely helpless without me!"

Sora laughed. "Tell Aladdin and Jasmine we say 'hello'."

"Will do kiddo!" And with that, he vanished in a puff of blue smoke.

Roxas was saying goodbye to his (sort of) old friends from Twilight Town. He was transparent, but they were still attempting to give him air hugs. He seemed to appreciate them all the same.

"Now, at the next Struggle," He was saying to Hayner, "Make sure you give Seifer a good beating for me, huh?"

"I'm not going to wait that long to do it." He responded, hefting his new sword over his shoulder.

Nehrut gave Kiara a nice belly rub before she walked up the boarding ramp. Jack Sparrow proclaimed a toast to all of them, and took a nice long swig from his flask. Hercules gave them firm pats on the back (which brought Sora, Goofy, and Riku to their knees) and followed him on. Stitch gave everyone a thoroughly slobbery farewell.

Once everyone was safely aboard, the Griffin lifted off the ground, and rocketed out of the hanger. The remaining people waved at the ship until it winked out of sight far above them.

The goup walked back to the Unity, saying goodbye to the various friends they were leaving behind on the castle. Daisy was almost tearful, but Minnie put on a brave face, confident that they would make it back in one piece.

The last one up the ramp, Nehrut turned around to them and said, "Salus Pax Pacis."

"Safety and Peace." They said back as the ramp closed.

They walked to the bridge, and took their seats. Riku took Stitch's place at the weapon's console.

Safety and Peace. That's what we're fighting for.

Sora looked over at Kairi, and she smiled reassuringly at him. Returning it, he eased the ship into the air, and out toward space.

Other worlds were waiting for them.

--

And there you have it! This whole story up to this chapter could be considered as 'Part 1'. If it were a game, then it would have been like the first two levels of the other ones. And now we head to the movie worlds!

In other news, I am uploading this from my cousin's house in Austin, miles away from home because of Gustav. Pray for us, because I don't know when I'll be back home. Reviews will help me get through this dark time!

SamuraiJedi: Yes you do! Glad you enjoy it!

Shinku Ryuuga: (Wink)

Hermitgenius: Sorry if I offended, man. If I did, then it was never my intention. And yes, he did hold back a bit, suspecting that she wasn't so bad.

Garuto: (Rolls eyes and smiles) Oh well…

Disneytiger: Well, I'm glad that I haven't scarred you for life! Thanks.

Sailor Winx: Saw what coming, exactly?

Shire Folk: All's fun in love and fan fiction! (Wow, even I thought that sounded dumb)

Lost Pajama Boy: Well, thank you! But just so you know, I may not use Anti-Form.

Quartermass: Yes it was a bit quick, but you'll understand why eventually.

JoBrosCupcakeSwirl: Thank you!

RikuLover211: Thanks! Glad you liked them!

ConfederateofZ: Thanks, dude! Wow, thirty times… Anyway, I agree Axel beats Demyx anytime. Keep up your good work!

Blade XIII: Thanks, Blade! I look forward to that next chapter.