Waves is all Ellie could hear, darkness is all she could see. It was a cold breeze that woke her on the coast of a new world. There was no more darkness, no more island, and no more Jacob. Looking around she saw a town in the distance: Traverse Town. She didn't think it was too far and followed the road to it, and arrived withing minutes. Her eyes lit up with excitement at the sight of this new world, with a new ground, new sky, just new everything.

She spent awhile taking it all in, looking at the cafe's and shops. After about ten minutes or so, somebody finally approached her in all the excitement of this new world. It was a girl a few years older than Ellie, with short hair, a yellow scarf and carried a large Shuriken on her back. "Hello! You're not from around here, are you?" They said. Ellie paused for a moment, realizing that everyone is a new face.

"Um, hello. Could you tell me where I am?" Ellie asked nervously but eager to find out.

"You're in Traverse Town. I'm Yuffie!" Yuffie held out her hand to greet Ellie, and she accepted it with a soft handshake. "Since you're new here, I suppose Leon will want to see you." Suddenly things went silent in that area of town. Yuffie turned and gasped at the biped creature that spawned behind her. Ellie knew exactly what to do, she summoned her Keyblade and cleaned up the creature and any others that spawned with just a cast of fire. Yuffie watched in amazement knowing exactly where this was going, as she'd seen it before.

"Those things, what are they?!" Ellie asked. She'd seen them so much, and knew them so little, that she was starting to get frustrated with what to call them or what they were.

"Those are the Heartless," Yuffie said, "They're born from the darkness in people hearts, which I always thought was funny because if they're from hearts then why are they called the heartless?" Ellie was fascinated by this, and wanted to know more about them.

"Those things are Heartless born from the darkness in our hearts? That explains why they're so dark!"

"Yup, but those aren't the only ones, unfortunately." Yuffie gave a sigh. "You should come with me to see Leon, he'll be 'excited' to see the Keyblade you're holding there." Ellie looked at her Keyblade curiously. She'd completely forgotten that it came to her out of nowhere and knew nothing about it - yet. Ellie and Yuffie walked to a small house in the third district of Traverse Town. There, a tall man with long spiked hair stood. This was Leon.

"Welcome back, Yuffie" He said expectantly.

"Hey Leon! You'll never guess who I bought over today..." Yuffie got excited to see his reaction to the new Key-bearer. He turned to see Ellie, and was confused with who he was suppose to be guessing.

"I'm Leon. Who're you?"

"I'm Ellie, nice to meet you Leon. Yuffie said you'd like to see this." Ellie held up her hand summoning the Keyblade once more. She was starting to get the hang of this and was very impressed with herself, learning how to casually bring the Keyblade to her in various situations. Leon's eyes widened at the sight which he'd obviously seen before.

"Is that what I think it is?! I never thought I'd see one again..." Leon had his eyes fixated on it. He looked worried, and concerned.

"You've seen one of these before? Can you tell me what it is?" Ellie was determined to find out about the Keyblade.

"A Keyblade is a weapon which chooses its master. Only you can wield and summon it, like you just did. If you were to hand it to anyone like Yuffie and I, it would just go back to you." Leon explained.

"They're used to fight the Heartless. You must be really special to have one!" Yuffie added. Ellie got more intrigued about the Keyblade, but there were unfortunately more pressing matters needed to be talked about than finding out every secret behind the Keyblade and its powers.

"Why did it choose me? I never even knew Keyblade's existed."

"Because somebody is needed to use the Keyblade to close the Keyholes in worlds." Added a new voice. "I'm Aerith, it's great to meet you" she said, and held out her hand just like Yuffie did.

"It's lovely to make your acquaintance, Aerith" Ellie softly shook Aerith's hand like she did Yuffie's. "What Keyholes would you be referring to?" This conversation was making more questions than it answered. If only there was a book or something to clearly explain all Ellie wanted to know, since she enjoys reading books, and likes finding things out just as much.

"A Keyhole is what leads to the Heart of a world. It's what the Heartless are searching for, so they can devour the heart and the world crumbles from existence." Aerith answered. She knew only too well about worlds fading. Leon spoke up.

"People who survive turn up here... Like us and you."

"Our world was taken by the Heartless," Yuffie said "and we ended up here like other people that lost their worlds."

Ellie began to realize how dangerous the Heartless are and the threat they pose, and understood why Leon looked so worried and concerned at the Keyblade earlier. Now armed with a Keyblade ready to be summoned, and the Heartless threat, she saw opportunity to see more worlds, and felt responsibility to save them. Not only that, but there was also the subject of Jacob. Last she remembered was his echoed words that he'd find her, but she couldn't sit around and hope he found her, that was too unrealistic to happen. She had to act, and she definitely had the drive to do so.

"I guess I'm needed to close these Keyholes to the worlds then. I'll do it. I need to do it, there's someone I'm looking for." Ellie said this hoping that they'd be able to help her. She wasn't disappointed.

"There hasn't been a Keybearer for years! Ellie, we can help you." Yuffie bustled with excitement that Ellie was so eager to help.

"I should warn you that the Heartless can track you down because they use the Keyblade as a homing beacon. Your journey won't be easy by any stretch of the imagination." Aerith added, revealing more about the Keyblade. Despite this everyone still felt confident apart from Leon, who spoke up again.

"Going from world to world will be a difficult task, and I'm willing to help, but first you need to show us you know how to use the Keyblade. There's a Keyhole in every world which probably means that the one here in Traverse Town has opened up again. Yuffie and I will go with you to find it."

This was Ellie's last task before moving on to find other worlds, and search for Jacob. Ellie didn't respond, she simply took up her Keyblade and turned towards the door...