To view Marie's outfit, please go here:

www[dot]swirl3y[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/I-bring-you-peace-214094964?q=gallery%3Aswirl3y%2F29599925&qo=5

Sorry for the incredibly long wait, but I had to go to my classes for college. I feel a little more... on the line, I guess.

Introducing a new OC. Gosh, I keep pulling these things like no tomorrow. I swear my ass is an infinite hole of unending creation of Ocs.

Okay, that sounded kind of bad. But you get it. Unfortunately, this OC will not be fully seen in this story. His time will come in a short story after this story is done, and his big debut will be in the KH3 story. You can see his picture here:

www[dot]swirl3y[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/Ryan-259720817

Chapter Eight
ଓ
Family is a pain

Right now, you may not know what's going on...

...But someday, you will.

Someday... You'll understand exactly what I went through.

Stella opened her eyes, and sighed quietly to herself. She had been taking a small nap, in fact, it had been the first nap in so many years. With her constant worry over her own daughter, Stella never once had a good night's sleep. But why could she sleep well, all of a sudden? Perhaps it was the security she had within her daughter, the feeling of knowing that she was going to succeed, no matter what came her way.

As she got up from the bed-like thing she was lying on, she looked over to it. To any human, the things she was sleeping on would appear weird to them, they even appeared weird to Stella at first. They were like pods, but with mattresses and pillows, assuming Kingdom Hearts used human materials for such matters. She walked over to the main control room, and noticed he was sitting where she always sat. He was watching videos off his now deceased family, and she only watched.

It was still weird to her how Kingdom Hearts worked...A ship with no captain. It had every memory of every person, and unlimited power. Right now, since they took Marie's power back, Kingdom Hearts was back to it's full powers. Right now, Stella had to be more protective of both Marie and Kingdom Hearts, since evil was lingering not too far from them.

As she saw the videos he was looking at, a certain person appeared. Her eye had twitched, for she didn't like the person she was looking at, but they meant a lot to him, to Dante.

"I'm sorry things had to go the way they did," she said, crossing her arms while walking towards him. "I wish I could've changed some things."

"...Nah, it's aright," he replied, not looking back from the videos. "It was the only way to stop her..."

Stella sighed, and walked up to him. She could tell that he was undeniably saddened by losing his only family, and because of that, she wished she was able to change some things. Dante looked back at Stella, and he chuckled lightly while pulling her closer to him. She smiled at him, and rested her palms on his shoulders while he rested his head on her side, smiling to himself. "It's odd how I think her death is both a blessing and a curse..."

"Why is that?" asked Stella, looking at the videos of herself with Dante. He took a deep breath, and held on tighter to his love.

"Because her provoking caused your power to unleash," he replied, looking at her straight in the eyes. "It's a blessing because that power flowed into Marie, and now she's doing what she's always wanted; to help people. But, at the same time, it's a curse because we're in this place watching Marie go through everything alone."

Stella smiled at Dante, and stroked his cheek with her hand. The softness from her hand made Dante smile a bit, but he was still sad about Marie being alone. However, this was not how Stella thought. She looked at Dante before kissing his head, and rested her chin on it. "Marie is not alone... she has someone who is her equal... her soul-mate."

"Who, Sora?" asked Dante, showing a little hostility towards the name. "He's okay, but..."

Dante looked around the room, and thought it out a bit. "I think Roxas would make a better suitor, don't you think?"

Stella watched as Dante took out a piece of paper and a pencil, writing down pros and cons on the two boys known as Sora and Roxas. She couldn't help but slap her face at the fact that Dante could be so... difficult and weird at the same time. Of course, she understood his reasoning. What father wouldn't be concerned about who their daughter wanted to date? Dante was one of the many over-protective, over-caring, and ever-loving fathers out there. Stella sighed, and thought about making his little conflict interesting.

"What about Riku? He seems like a gentlemen," asked Stella, knowing what Dante would say.

"Are you crazy!" he exclaimed, looking at the women and wondering if she had gone insane. "He seems like a pretty strong candidate, but he'd whip out moves in an instant. He seems almost as pro as me."

Stella sighed, and chuckled. "What pro? It's no surprise that Riku is cooler than you."

"Hey, I resent that."

ଓ
Aura

She walked along the road of Twilight Town, and watched as everyone in it was having fun. She sighed to herself, and couldn't help but realize just how everyone was so happy but her. She didn't mind it too much, since she no longer had feelings.

...Or at least that was what she wanted to believe. She couldn't deny the fact that she indeed had feelings, and they were getting stronger and stronger each day. If it were like in the days, she would have ran up to Roxas, and tell her everything about it. But where was he when she needed him? It seemed to be a habit of his to leave like that.

Aura stopped in the middle of the sandbox, and placed her left hand over her right arm. She didn't really know how lonely felt until that moment. She really wanted to see Roxas, but somehow, in her mind... that seemed impossible.

"You look more human, nowadays," said a familiar voice, approaching the down guarded Aura. She turned around, and without having to show emotion, stared at Riku. He chuckled nervously, and then placed his hands on his hips. "Well, at least when no one is around to see that human side of you."

"No one's asking you," she replied, no feelings being shown whatsoever. She looked around, and then crossed her arms while staring back at Riku. "Why are you here?"

"What, I can't see you anymore?" he replied, to which Aura could almost feel the smirk he had plastered on his face. She sighed, and kissed her teeth. Another thing she couldn't deny was the fact that Riku had somehow rubbed on her. His words about almost anything made her feel... alive. Every word that he said gained more yearning for his friends, and the way he talked about them made Aura feel right. This was how it was meant to be, but... someone was obviously missing. Roxas.

It hurt a lot to have emotions, and Aura was one of the unlucky few to experience it. She hated feeling sad, or angry, because it made her feel weak. She looked up into the sky, and sighed heavily.

Riku took a glance at this, and he couldn't help but stare at her. He didn't—and couldn't—understand why this silent and lifeless girl was always on his mind. Was it because she was Marie's other half? Nah, he thought. He was certain that Marie was nothing more than a friend, and nothing less. Was it because her stoic expressions made him feel angry? Possibly. He absolutely hated the fact that Aura showed no emotion to anything, or at least not towards him. There was a possibility that she showed some, but it was never when he was in the vicinity. For some reason, he felt as if the young brunette didn't trust him enough to show him her true feelings.

She was rowdy, he'd give her that. If there was any type of emotion she showed, it was anger. Eyebrows furrowed together, and a constant frown on her face, Riku began to wonder if anger was the only emotion she was capable of handling.

Yet, despite all this, he just couldn't get her out of his mind. Was it guilt? He thought maybe, since he took away the only person she loved. Or was it obligatory? Being the other half of Marie certainly made Riku want to protect Aura, if only to fulfil a silent favour. Either way, the young silver-headed boy couldn't understand, but he was eager to find out why. He wanted to see Aura as a human, and not as a soulless nobody. He knew she had feelings, but as he previously saw, she hid them very well.

"I may not be Roxas," he said, walking a little closer to Aura. "But I can still be a shoulder for you to cry on."

while saying this, Aura lightly gasped, raising her shoulders in the process. Hearing Roxas' name from Riku certainly wasn't expected from Aura. She hadn't heard his name from anyone in a long while, the only other person who did disappeared into a flame of angry fires. But what she wasn't expecting, was the sudden inability to control the feeling of crying after hearing his name. Hearing his name from someone else other than her or Axel gave the sudden impression that Roxas still existed, and it gave the sudden hope that maybe one day.. she might see him.

However, that was short lived when she composed herself. No matter how much she hoped... no matter how much she wished... Roxas was not coming back, and she had to live with that.

"I don't need your shoulder," she replied, walking slowly towards him. With every step she took, an imaginary knife stabbed her straight into her chest. Whatever stubborn force she held in front of her, she just couldn't admit that she needed Roxas.

"There are things in life that will cause you to fall," she said, slowly walking past Riku by now. "I won't allow such things to happen to me. I must stay strong."

Riku merely stood there when Aura fully walked past him, and hung his head low. He truly pitied her, though he didn't want to. He wanted her to be happy, and to smile with joy. But no matter how hard he tried, she was not Marie.

ଓ
Ryan

"Dude, come on!" shouted a very determined youth with blonde hair and blue eyes. "We can't win this year's soccer tournament if you're always slacking off!"

"Last I recall, Tidus, you always slacked during practice," a calm, yet eager youth with brown hair and blue eyes said while bearing a smirk. "Plus, the doctor said I shouldn't overdo it too much. I know you guys wanna win, but this is something you'll all have to suffer with, too."

"It's okay, ya?" an older teen with red hair and brown eyes said, holding on to a soccer ball with his right arm. "We'll just take it slow, no need to worry, ya?"

"Thanks, Wakka," thanked the boy with brown hair and blue eyes, he gave him a thumbs up, and Wakka dispersed the other members. They all left the camp, heading back to their homes. Wakka, Tidus, and the boy all walked towards each other, and Tidus patted the boy's back.

"So, what did the doctor say about it?" he asked, interested in what the youth would say.

"Well, if I keep my activities moderate I'll do fine," replied the boy, who swiped off the excess sweat from his forehead. "But boy, it sucks being diagnosed as anaemic."

"It's no big deal, ya? You're getting better, and it wasn't like back when you were a kid," reminded Wakka, who also patted the boy's back. "You're a strong kid, Ryan."

"And a strong kid needs himself a girlfriend!" Ryan exclaimed happily. He laughed, and and scratched the back of his head. "But none of the girls in our school are fit for a strong, handsome and charming guy like me!"

"Yeah, right." Tidus looked at Ryan and rolled his eyes, and then chuckled. "It's more like the girls aren't crazy enough for you. Admit it, Ryan, you need someone who can handle your 'specialness', haha."

Ryan slapped Tidus arm, and the three boys laughed together. For as long as Ryan could remember, he's only had Tidus and Wakka as best friends. Sometimes Selphie joined in on their fun, but she quickly left after Ryan pulled his moves on her. It was not unknown to the whole school that Ryan was very much an insane flirt, constantly pulling moves on anything that was the opposite sex.

However, most girls were nice to him due to his illness, but he could tell. Almost instantly, he would drop the flirty personality once he found out a girl was giving him pity out of his illness. He really hated it.

"Hey, I noticed you never flirt with Kairi, why is that?" Tidus asked, looking confused and interested at the same time.

"Eh, not my type," replied Ryan, who had his arms crossed together. "Plus she's always in her own little world, and she's too quiet... And you know me, I like a girl who's loud!"

"...Why do I get the feeling that was meant to sound wrong?" asked Tidus, who twitched his eye at the perverse thinking his friend was making him do.

"Haha, you know me," Ryan said while winking.

ଓ
Marie

"Marie?"

I looked over to Sora, who called my name. We reached the bailey quite a while ago, and Leon told us to look towards the castle in the centre. I couldn't comprehend what I saw and it made me speechless. We all saw a horde of Heartless surrounding the castle, and I gasped in shock. Leon told us that he and the rest wanted to restore Hollow Bastion to the way it was—maybe even something better—but due to too many Heartless, and some nobodies wondering around, it almost seemed impossible.

We did mention to Leon that a guy named Pete was trying to take over the worlds or something by manipulating the Heartless. Leon was happy to hear that, and we also told him that our main focus were the nobodies.

Of course, we also need to take Organization XIII into consideration, since Yen Sid did say they were very bad people. Goofy voiced this to Leon, and all of a sudden, we heard a voice.

"You called?"

We all jumped to our toes, and Sora looked around. Leon calmly looked around as well, but when we could find anyone near us, Sora ran up towards where the voice was last heard. I followed a little far behind, mainly because a mysterious voice is not something I would want to follow.

"You're doing well." the voice said, which was really starting to spook me out. I don't know where it was coming from, but the more I thought about these voices, the more on edge I was getting.

"Who's that!" shouted Sora. He took out his Keyblade, and frantically looked around. I walked a little closer towards him, Goofy and Donald, and scrunched my hands together out of fear. Something you can't see is definitely scary.

"This calls for a celebration..."

As soon as the guy's voice finished, a bunch of nobodies appeared in front of us. Some went to our left, to which Donald and Goofy ran after, and a lot went closer towards the gates near the bailey. Sora went after the ones towards the bailey, and Leon followed close behind. I was about to follow Sora, but then I saw a few nobodies heading to my right. I hesitated for a bit, but decided to go after the ones on the right. Sora was alright by himself, and Goofy had Donald.

I sprung out my Keyblade, and ran after the lesser nobodies. I didn't even stop to think if they were stronger than me or not, but I had to do something to protect this home. I didn't run to fast or anything, due to my ankle brace, and I was being very cautious about my surroundings. One thing I was grateful for—and I always say this—was my ability to be extremely aware of things. I always did this on my last adventure, and now it's like a habit I can't get rid of.

I walked slowly now, and I held my Keyblade close. I heard a whooshing noise, and when I quickly turned around, I widened my eyes as I was met with someone in a black cloak—the same black cloak Organization XIII wear! I took a stance in front of the person, and I glared at him. He crossed his arms, and I heard a faint chuckle from him. "Do you think you'll get out of this alive?"

I shuddered; scared to think what might happen. I was never this scared, but I knew it was most likely due to the fact that I lost all my power from Kingdom Hearts. The voice of the man was not the same voice we heard before, so they're obviously not the same person. He took a step forward, and I instantly raised my Keyblade closer to him.

"We will not harm you. Instead, we ask you to join us," he said, raising his hands towards the air. I continued to glare at him, and I could feel my legs getting shaky. Great timing on my part, really. The man kept walking closer and closer towards me, and I backed away with every step he took. I felt something hard, rough, and cold touch my back. I turned around, and noticed that I was leaning against a stone wall. I turned around, and started breathing quickly. I felt my anxiety rise as the man kept walking closer and closer. This isn't happening, this couldn't be happening. What is this, I don't even—

Subtracting me from my thoughts, I suddenly felt this familiar power. It was warm and welcoming, and it felt similar to the power I previously had... but it wasn't quite like it. Was this the power that Stella had been talking about? The power that I could produce on my own?

As fast as it came, the power left quickly. It left with such a force, that I had to bend down after gasping to collect my breath. The man in the black cloak still stood there, and it was impossible to see what his facial expression was like. Had he seen how I acted? Of course, he was staring at me the whole time. Which is pretty creepy...

"I don't know what you want with me, nor do I care. All I know is that you're the bad guys!" I said, getting into my battle stance. That surge of power boosted my esteem, if only a little, and I was able to focus. "I'm not going with you, but I'll make sure you tell me what you're looking for!"

I quickly ran towards the man, and raised my blade to attack him. He blocked the attack, and I was pushed back. I planted my palm firmly on the ground, and did a cartwheel so that I wouldn't fall on the floor. I ran—more like magically glided—towards him, and swung my Keyblade at him. He blocked the attack, but I didn't hesitate to attack him again. I managed to to leave a little scratch on him. Eh, better than nothing, I suppose. As I stood my ground, I saw the guy take out his weapon. He was holding a long blue lance, and suddenly, I wasn't feeling so hot. I twitched my left eyebrow at the pain this guy was being, and I raised my Keyblade. I concentrated on my ice spell, and I closed my eyes while holding my Keyblade straight up. As I opened my eyes, the stars on my Keyblade turned blue, and three ice spears headed straight towards the guy.

...Which proved useless as he blocked them all easily. I really hate that lance. As I sighed in mid-defeat, I noticed the guy started running towards me. He held up his lance, and I gasped. I blocked the first attack, but barely the second. He attacked again, and this time... He managed to throw my Keyblade away. Defenceless, I look at the guy. I thought he said he wasn't going to harm me! Yeah right!

As I cover my face with my arms forming an X, I waited for the attack.

Except..

It never came.

As I looked up, I noticed a girl wearing a light blue hood and a dark blue top was blocking the guy's attack. I couldn't help but gasp at what she was using to actually block the guy.

It was a Keyblade.

Sorry for the long wait. I was in a rather dark place, and going through some depression. I'm back though, and I'm in a writing mood. I have some assignments to do, so if I'm not updating quickly, blame them. XD

Also, I'll tell you now that there'll be a wait again after this chapter. The reason why is that I want to release about 5 chapters all at once to make up for the lost time I've given you wonderful readers. So I would try not to review after the next one, since I won't reply until the fifth chapter is out.

grapejuice101: Ah yes. Sora will find out soon. But that won't mean he'll come to understand it. He might get even more depressed. XD

kingdomdisney: Naw he doesn't . DX

Shadow 1n2: Holy loooong review. XD It will happen if he pushes her buttons hard enough. And thank you for your kind words, I really appreciate it. I'm done with the whole dark phase thing, and I'm no longer depressed about certain things. I have been busy and keeping myself with school and stupid assignments. I have a lot of crap to do that I have no time for anything else, so writing this chapter is nothing short of a miracle for me.

Lele-the-Greek-Geek: LOL. I love Sora but he's too oblivious. And yes, he does share the birthday curse. XD And oh man, College is soooooooo darn awesome. But the workload is sooooooooo darn much! Ah well, my bag is looking cuter by the day, and I get to bring my laptop around with me!

SisterOfScarletDevil: XDXDXD. It is very awesome, after all.

Dracula X: Yeah, surprisingly, it does. But they are teenagers, and well... teenagers are like the most dramatic out of any age group.

Lvl-ZeR0: Thank you so much! Ahaha, oh man. Yeah, it makes me feel bad for some guys out there. I know this one guy who is like immune to girls and their flirtatious ways. And that's how I would feel too for spaghetti. I LOVE spaghetti!

Captainface: Glad to have ya. Mmm, well. This chapter has been out for so long, I actually no longer feel anything towards relationships now. There is a guy I like, but I'm trying my best to overlook it, I guess.

Dracula-key: Yes, you're right. It'll be harder when he finds out that she actually forgot though. And yes, it was. XD but some of her memory is still foggy due to remembering too early. And yes, she has Lea and Isa on her head, but it's not being expressed very well.

InuyaKoneko: Oh man, lol. I never watched Cars 2, but I heard it was a really good movie. XD I'm so sorry for the late update, but if you're still waiting impatiently it's Pena. And I'm sorry to hear that about her, I hope she gets out of that soon. I know being depressed sucks, but I move on cause I know people are expecting a chapter from me. :) oh, and, Marie doesn't go to Space Paranoids, so she doesn't have an outfit.

TheEvilMonkey94: Thank you! And no problem, it is a very good story after all.

SKArainbow: Ahh, I'm so sorry! -bows down to apologize- here's the latest chapter, and I'll hurry to write more!

Guitarqueen136: LOL I know, I love it. You're psychic... aren't you?

Starlightmint72: Glad you're catching up. Yeah, I suck at updating now, but I'm trying hard to add as many chapters as I can. XD and no worries, I'll be here now to read everything and all. I really hope I can get these chapters done. And yeah, a lot of people are telling me that they think Marie and Sora are their OTP? I dunno what those words stand for. Or is it OTL? I forget. XD