CHAPTER NINETEEN

I ran straight for the castle. As I reached the top of the steps, a shrill scream filled my ears and awakened my senses. I turned to see Young Kairi running with a bouquet of flowers as a Flood chased after her.

"Kairi!" I called.

The girl turned to me with wide blue eyes and ran behind me.

"There you are!" Aqua ran beside me and summoned Rainfell. Young Kairi whimpered and placed her hand on Aqua's Keyblade. Aqua gasped quietly. "I can feel the light..."

I summoned Ultima Weapon and struck my battle stance. "We'll take care of these guys."

One Flood lunged towards us, but Mickey intercepted and destroyed it with Star Seeker.

"Mickey!" I said.

"Hurry! Ya gotta get that girl to someplace that's safe." Mickey said.

"Who are you? Why do you have a Keyblade?" Aqua said.

"I'll tell ya later. Right now, we gotta stop these things!"

"Hallie, get this girl away from here."

I nodded and scooped Young Kairi up into my arms. I ran around a few corners and set her down. I crouched down to her level.

"Stay here until it's safe." I said.

Young Kairi stared at me with wide eyes. "How do you know my name?"

"Let's just say... I'm a friend." I smiled and winked at the girl before I stood up and joined with Aqua and Mickey.

"Everything all right?" Mickey said.

"Yeah. Now let's take care of these guys." I said.

Aqua raised her Keyblade and created a strong force of Magnet that sucked the Floods inside, then Mickey and I jumped in the air and destroyed them as they struggled to break free. A Scrapper lunged at me and sliced its claw across my back. I winced in pain, whirled around, and swiped my Keyblade right through its head, destroying it immediately. I cast Cure on myself.

Young Kairi poked her head from around the corner. Seeing the danger had disappeared, she shuffled over to us. Aqua and I crouched to Mickey and Kairi's level.

"Thanks for your help, Mickey." I said.

"My name is Aqua. I train under Master Eraqus." Aqua said.

"And I'm Mickey. I used to be Master Yen Sid's apprentice. I came back to him for some more training." Mickey said.

Aqua nodded and looked at Kairi. "I sensed light within this girl. You think that's why they attacked her?"

"Yep, I think ya might be absolutely right. If ya ask me, she must be somebody pretty extraordinary."

Kairi looked up with awe.

"Yes. I'm quite certain she's someone we're supposed to protect." Aqua said.

"Kairi!" I gasped as Young Ren and Young Hallie ran towards us. Aqua and Mickey both looked directly at Young Hallie.

"Kairi, are you okay?" Young Hallie said.

Young Kairi looked at Young Hallie, then at me. I winked at her, and her eyes widened.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Young Kairi said. She divided the bouquet of flowers in her hand and handed three flowers each to me and Aqua. "These are for you. Thank you for saving me."

"Oh, they're lovely! You're so sweet." Aqua gushed.

Young Kairi turned to her friends. "C'mon, let's go find my grandma."

"Kairi, wait." Aqua touched the little girl's necklace. "I just cast a magic spell on you. One day, when you're in trouble, the light within you will lead you to the light of another. Someone to keep you safe."

"Thanks! Goodbye!" Kairi and Ren ran off, but Young Hallie stayed and walked up to us.

"Are those Keyblades?" she said, staring at Rainfell and Star Seeker.

Aqua and Mickey gasped and looked at each other in surprise. "Yes."

Hallie smiled. "My grandfather has one, too!"

Aqua flinched. "Your... grandfather? Mind if I knew his name?"

"Grandpa Norty! He's had one for a long, long time!"

Aqua smiled like she was mistaken. As she studied the girl, her expression grew serious. "Can you feel that?" she said.

"Yes." Mickey said. "I can feel the light inside of her... but it is in danger. Aqua, let's join forces together to help out these kids."

Mickey held out his hand, but a bright light emitted from his jacket, belonging to his Star Shard.

"Oh no, not now!" Mickey said, frantically going through his pockets to try and find the Star Shard. Aqua and Young Hallie cried out as Mickey disappeared in a beam of light. "I'll be okay! See ya real soon!"

Young Hallie turned to leave. "Wait." Aqua said. She turned around and looked at the bluenette curiously. Aqua reached out and touched the girl's heart. There was a small glimmer of light. A warm fuzz bubbled in my chest for a brief second. "I put a protection spell on you. If there ever comes a time when you are lost in darkness, a heart of light will always come to save you."

Young Hallie smiled. "Thanks! Oh!" She reached up and removed the golden ribbon from her hair. "Here!"

"Oh... What's this for?"

"For good luck. If you ever lose something, I promise that one day you'll find it again."

Aqua gasped quietly, but then a smile spread across her face. She reached out and held the ribbon in her hands.

"Thank you. My name is Aqua." Aqua said.

"C'mon, Kairi's grandma's waiting for us!" Young Ren called from the top of the stairs.

"I'm coming, Ren, hold on!" Young Hallie turned to Aqua and smiled. "Thanks again for helping Kairi. Goodbye, Aqua! Goodbye... um..."

The girl turned her amber eyes towards me. I smiled at her.

"My name is Hallie." I said.

Young Hallie stared at me and gasped. Our amber eyes locked together for a few moments more until Ren called a third time. Young Hallie turned around and ran down the stairs.

"Wait!" Aqua called, but the girl was already gone. She sighed. "I don't even know your name..."

"It's okay, Aqua." I said, failing to suppress the smile on my face. "You will meet again. I promise."

Aqua smiled and looked at the flowers and golden ribbon in her hands. "You're right. Something tells me... I didn't run into those girls by accident. They're special."

"You have no idea."

As we walked towards the stairs, I caught something in my peripheral view.

"Unversed!" Aqua groaned as a helicopter-like creature flew by us. "It never ends!"

I watched the Unversed intently. It looks like the one Ventus and I saw earlier. We ran down the stairs and out through the gate.

"Look! Over there!" Aqua said, pointing to the pathway that was once blocked by a giant hunk of metal. The metal had been damaged, allowing access through.


We ran through and ran onto the center of a see-through platform, meeting up with Terra and Ventus.

"Ven!" Terra, Aqua, and I said.

"Terra! Aqua! Hallie!" Ventus said.

We all looked up as three separate Unversed pieces floated above us. We summoned our Keyblades- Earthshaker, Rainfell, Wayward Wind, and Ultima Weapon- as the pieces connected together, creating the Trinity Armor.

The Unversed thrust out its arms and lasers shot from its chest and zipped towards us. I raised my Keyblade and deflected the laser back to the Unversed and followed with a shard of Blizzard. The Trinity Armor lunged at me with a punch, but I jumped out of the way with a backflip. Terra jumped up from behind and slammed his Keyblade into the Unversed's head. It whirled around and smacked Terra with its arm, sending him flying.

"Terra!" Aqua cried, pointing her Keyblade at Terra and creating a Barrier that wrapped around him and brought him to the ground. "Aim for its arms and legs!"

We obeyed and charged again. Ventus chucked his Keyblade and it cut straight through one of its legs, wiping it clean off. I shot balls of Fire at the other and it disintegrated. Terra and Aqua swiped at its arms, destroying those as well. All that was left was the torso.

"All together, now!" Terra said.

"Yeah!" Aqua said.

"C'mon!" Ventus said.

"Right behind ya!" I said.

We all ran towards the Unversed from four different directions and jumped in the air above the creature. Terra and Aqua lunged and swiped their Keyblades through the Trinity Armor (or, by now, it was more like the One-ity Armor), and Ventus and I followed suit. The Unversed collapsed to the ground and vanished into dark dust.

"Got 'im." Terra said as the four of us regrouped.

"We make a good team." Aqua smiled.

"Sure do! Oh, yeah! I got you these tickets!" Ventus said. He pulled out the other three Disney Town passports, me already having the fourth.

"For what?" Terra said.

"Lifetime passes to Disney Town. He said to..." Ventus gave Terra and Aqua their passports and looked at his. A pout stretched across his lips and a blush peeked in his cheeks as he recalled our conversation with Scrooge. "He said to take two grown-ups... and Hallie."

"You mean us?" Aqua said, and she and Terra laughed. They put their passports away and their expressions grew serious. "Listen to me, Ven... We need to get you home-"

"It's okay, Aqua. Trust me, that guy in the mask is history." Ventus said. "He'll never bad-mouth Terra again."

Terra gasped and placed his hand on Ventus's shoulder. "You saw the boy in the mask?"

"Uh... Y-yes?" Ventus said.

"Vanitas..." I growled. The name made my mouth sting with bitterness, like I ate something horrible and my taste buds were desperately wanting me to spit it out.

Terra stared at me for a few moments before turning back to Ventus. "Ven." He said in a stern, fatherly tone. "You let Aqua take you home."

"No way! I wanna go with you guys!" Ventus said. "And what about Hallie? Why aren't you telling her to go back?"

"Hallie has been ordered by Master Eraqus to watch over us. She needs to stay. We have a dangerous task ahead of us. I don't want you to get hurt."

"And what is this dangerous task, Terra?" Aqua said, fully showing the depressed hurt in her eyes. "It doesn't sound like what the Master told you to do."

Sure it was. It just wasn't Master Eraqus who told him to do this.

"It might be a different route, but I'm fighting the darkness." Terra said.

"I'm not so sure. I've been to the same worlds as you, and I've seen what you've done. You shouldn't put yourself so close to the darkness." Aqua said.

"Listen to yourself, Aqua! Terra would never-" Ventus argued.

"You mean you've been spying on me? Is that what he said to do? The Master's orders?" Terra said.

"He was only-" Aqua said, but her voice cut off.

"Aqua..." Ventus said, oozing disappointment.

"I get it." Terra mumbled and started to walk away.

"Terra-"

"Just stay put!" Terra cried. Ventus froze. I clutched my red Wayfinder in my hand as nerves washed over me. This fight would be a major stepping stone to their twelve-year separation. "I'm on my own now, all right?"

I growled. "Stop being so stubborn! The darkness is not something to toil with! Don't listen to what Xehanort tells you! He's just trying to lead you away so he can-!" I stopped immediately and clamped my hands over my mouth.

"Master Xehanort would never try and do that." Terra protested. "I've had enough of your accusations, Hallie!"

I growled again, which quickly turned into a frustrated scream. "Why won't you listen to me?!"

I took off in the opposite direction, clutching my Wayfinder so tightly the edges pierced my skin. I ignored the pain as my blood and tears mixed together on the glass star.

Why is this happening? Why can't I stop it? I don't understand why I'm here if all I am is a blurred extra. I want to go home... I want to go home...