Si'Lea and Aqua were passing through the stars on their Keyblade Gliders, bound for an unknown world.

"So any ideas where Nixe might've ended up?" Aqua asked.

"Not really. She could easily get lost in these worlds. I only hope that the first world she finds is a peaceful one." Si'Lea replied.

"I've been meaning to ask about this but I've been hesitant to bring it up. I understand that the Sisterhood is after her but you've never explained why." Aqua asked.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure about that myself. I know that First views Nixe as some kind of prize. I don't know if she's trying to kill her out of vengeance or for some other reason. Perhaps there's something about Nixe's powers that frightens her or something. Perhaps there's something about Nixe she thinks might help grant them the independence from their others, to grant them full humanity and freeing them from their fate of fading into darkness. It's the not knowing which concerns me." Si'Lea explained.

"I don't mean to criticize your teaching, 'Lea but don't you think Nixe can take care of herself? What if she encounters First and manages to defeat her?" Aqua asked. Si'Lea fell silent for a moment before answering.

"That's the other side of the coin, I'm afraid. I fear it's not just a matter of keeping First away from Nixe, but it's also keeping Nixe away from First." Si'Lea explained.

"Huh?" Aqua asked, confused.

"She's never shown it but I fear that Nixe might be seeking vengeance for the death of her mother. It was on First's order that the Phantom Blot stole the heart of Nixe's mother, effectively killing her." Si'Lea explained.

"Wouldn't that just make a heartless and nobody?" Aqua asked but Si'Lea shook her head.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple with the Phantom Blot. The monster consumes hearts. When he steals a heart, the heart is not allowed to fall into darkness. As a result, the body is simply left to fade into darkness as if it were a nobody. The body ceases to exist. Even if we were to retrieve the heart of Nixe's mother, her body would be irretrievable." Si'Lea explained as Aqua lowered her head slightly.

"I didn't realize…" she said softly.

"The only person I know to have been killed by the Phantom was Nixe's mother." Si'Lea explained.

"Where is Nixe from originally?" Aqua asked as Si'Lea shrugged.

"A world far from here, beyond the grasp of the Sisterhood. Her mother was from a different world too." Si'Lea explained.

"Really?" Aqua asked as they started to approach a world.

"Nixe doesn't remember where she's from though. If she does, then she'd do well to forget it. Otherwise a dark fate could await her home." Si'Lea explained as Aqua nodded, the two beginning to pass through the world's barrier. They soon found themselves in a snow covered countryside, farms and cottages visible on the rolling hills nearby. On one hill sat a particularly menacing looking manor house. The two set down on the snow and looked around for a moment.

"Snow?" Si'Lea asked as she knelt down and scooped up some of the snow in her hand.

"What's the matter?" Aqua asked.

"Nothing it's just…I can't look at snow and not think back to when I first arrived in Sublime." Si'Lea said as she looked around.

"How's that?" Aqua asked.

"It was Winter in Sublime when I first arrived. It's also when the gravity of my situation, the realization that I was all alone, finally set in." Si'Lea said as Aqua thought back to a time when she felt the same way.

"I know the feeling. You felt alone, cut off from everyone you ever loved, everyone you ever knew?" Aqua asked as Si'Lea looked at her curiously.

"I suppose you had it worse. Getting trapped in Darkness for what seemed like a few days when in reality roughly ten years had gone by." Si'Lea said as Aqua nodded.

"At least you had people to help you." Aqua said as Si'Lea nodded with a slight sigh.

"Not at first. I remember, arriving on a snowy hill outside of the city. The view was marvelous but…there was something missing…" Si'Lea said as she looked towards the sky.

Eleven Years Ago…

A younger Si'Lea, stepped out from behind a rock wall, having just arrived into the Forgotten Worlds. The snow blanketed the ground on the rolling countryside outside of town. Sublime City's outskirts were mostly farmland, but there was one large structure on the edge of town, a large temple-like structure. There was a wide river flowing between the edge of the city and the countryside with at least three long stone bridges spanning the gap but there were several docks on both sides that offered travel by boat. Dirt roads led from the bridges towards the mountains in the distance. Si'Lea sighed as she looked at the city before her. There were only a sparse few clouds in the sky so the sun was clearly visible. (Music Cue: Where Do I Go From Here – Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World)

"Aqua, Ven…Terra…If only the three of you could be here right now." She sighed as she dismissed her armor.

"The earth is cold, the fields are bare,
the branches fold against the wind that's everywhere."

She sang as she looked up at the trees as a flock of birds flew past…

"The birds move on so they survive,
when snow's so deep the bears all sleep to keep themselves alive."

She sang, watching a mother bear and her cubs walking into their cave to begin hibernating for the season.

"They do what they must for now and trust in their plan,
if I trust in mine somehow I might find who I am."

She sang as she looked at the city…

"But where do I go from here?
So many voices ringing in my ear.
Which is the voice that I was meant to hear?
How will I know where do I go from here?"

She then turned and started down a crude yet winding mountain path down towards the road.

"My world has changed, and so have I,
I've learned to choose and even learned to say good-bye."

She sang as she pulled out a small photo of her with Aqua, Ven, and Terra taken some months ago, running a hand over it with a small tear forming in her left eye.

"The path ahead, so hard to see,
it winds and bends, but where it ends depends on only me."

She sang as she finally reached the road, turning to head towards the city…

"In my heart I don't feel part of so much I've known,
now it seems it's time to start a new life on my own."

She sang as she looked to the skies, the loneliness she felt now sinking in…

"But where do I go from here?
So many voices ringing in my ear.
Which is the voice that I was meant to hear?
How will I know, where do I go from here?"

She sang, putting the photo to her chest for a moment before putting it inside her pocket and forcing herself to walk into the city, pulling the hood of a purple haori with pink lining up over her head as she stepped onto the bridge. (End Music)

Back in the present…

Aqua looked at Si'Lea who was staring at the sky still, remembering that moment.

"But you're not alone now. You said that you had friends with you for part of it." Aqua said as Si'Lea nodded.

"I did…still do. I haven't said it before but I'm glad to have you back, Aqua." Si'Lea stated as Aqua smiled and nodded.

"It's good to have you back too, 'Lea...even if you have put on a few pounds." Aqua said as Si'Lea shot her a dark smirk.

"Mmm, right for the jugular eh?" Si'Lea asked as Aqua chuckled.

"We've got some catching up to do." She replied before her smile suddenly turned to a scowl and she summoned her Keyblade, pointing it towards Si'Lea. Si'Lea froze in alarm.

"Aqua…what are you-…" Si'Lea said before she noticed Aqua's eye movements, quickly motioning away from her before looking back at her. Si'Lea quickly dove away just in time for Aqua to fire a low powered Fire spell which crashed into a small snowbank, causing it to quickly melt away, revealing a figure knelt behind the snowdrift clad in hooded white clothes. The figure quickly popped up and retaliated with a fireball of its own, the fireball flying towards them but intercepted by Si'Lea and her shield.

"I should've guessed we were being followed." Si'Lea said as the figure groaned and stepped out from behind the snowdrift. The figure was clad in stark white clothes with a hood, but was about Aqua and Si'Lea's height. The clothes were the hallmarks of the Sisterhood of Seven.

"Great. The Keyblade Master and her blue haired friend. I hope you've got plenty of Munny on you because I'm not in the mood for a fight otherwise." The figure said in frustration, pulling back the hood to reveal a youthful woman with bronze skin, dark hair with a white headband around it, and brown eyes.

"Fifth. What are you doing here?" Si'Lea asked as Fifth sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Believe me, I'd rather not be out here either, getting my clothes all wet in the snow. However, we have business here, profitable business at that. It already irks me that I only get roughly fourteen percent of the cut so you can imagine how charitable I am right at the moment." Fifth replied.

"Cut? Cut of what?" Aqua asked.

"Cash! What else could you divide up so easily?!" Fifth asked, almost offended by the question.

"Fifth is nicknamed the Lady of Avarice. She is able to manipulate the greed of people's hearts to her advantage." Si'Lea explained as Aqua nodded understandingly.

"That's my business and right now we have a lovely little designing woman here on the line. So if you'll excuse me, I've got some greed to feed. Tootle-ooh!" Fifth said before turning and starting to walk away, causing Aqua to arch a curious eyebrow.

"She's just going to leave that easily?" Aqua asked but Si'Lea wasn't convinced.

"Wait for it." She muttered. Sure enough, a couple of seconds later, Fifth froze in her steps with a startled exclamation.

"Doh! How stupid of me! How could I forget?!" Fifth asked before turning back towards them with a grin.

"I forgot that First has a bounty on your head, Si'Lea. My sister is offering quite a prize for anyone who can eliminate you. Not sure what the prize is for eliminating the blue one, but you Si'Lea, you're worth quite the pile of munny." Fifth said as she raised her hand to her side, a fiery red glow appearing in her right hand before a golden staff with a coiled serpent's head on it appeared in her hand. (Battle Music Cue: The Force In You – COM).

"So I suppose you could say…today, I hit the jackpot!" Fifth declared before raising the staff into the air before stabbing the bottom into the ground, summoning several snake-like Emblem Heartless in a circle to surround the two Keyblade Masters. Aqua and Si'Lea immediately armored up, Si'Lea's shield appearing on her left arm.

"These are new." Aqua commented before cartwheeling to one side and slashing through one of the heartless while Si'Lea turned and threw her Keyblade, the Keyblade spinning through the air, sawing through several heartless but at the same time, Fifth spun her staff and cast a Blizzaga spell towards the Keyblade Master but the spell impacted harmlessly against Si'Lea's shield. At the same time, Aqua had leapt high into the air and launched towards Fifth who saw her approaching, tossed her staff to her left hand and raised her right towards Aqua, summoning a scimitar with a gold inlayed hilt and guard to her hand. Aqua quickly deflected the blade with her Keyblade, the blades scraping against one another as the scimitar passed less than an inch from Aqua's head. Fifth grinned as she spun her staff and smacked Aqua hard in the stomach, launching her back with a powerful burst of energy. Aqua landed on her back nearby but quickly recovered, leaping to her feet and summoning her Keyblade back to her hand.

"How do you like my sword? Quite fetching isn't it? It's expensive, sure, but then again I only settle for the best munny can buy." Fifth commented with a smile as she stabbed the bottom of the staff into the ground again, summoning more Heartless to the field. Si'Lea however had resummoned her Keyblade back to her hand and leapt at Fifth, striking at her but the Lady of Avarice moved to the side, missing the attack but suddenly being blindsided by Si'Lea's shield as she made a full one-hundred and eighty degree turn, bashing the Witch upside the head with the shield, causing several munny coins to spill out from her sleeves.

"Ooh! You'll pay for that! Literally!" Fifth hissed as she brought her staff around to attack Si'Lea from behind but only impacted the shield as Si'Lea brought it around in time to block, causing the Witch to stagger backwards.

"Si'Lea! Switch!" Aqua called before Si'Lea turned and suddenly ducked down just as Aqua started spinning on one foot in place, causing bolts of white magic to fly off in different directions, smashing into the heartless and slaying them with one hit. Several bolts started flying towards Fifth but the Lady of Avarice quickly blocked, a look of alarm on her face as she summoned a massive semi-transparent white snake made of energy to coil around her, the snake absorbing the power of Aqua's Shiny Bloom Shot Lock.

"Curses! I should've known better than to face two Keyblade Wielders on my own! These Heartless are worthless! I'm going to demand a refund!" Fifth hissed as the staff disappeared and she reached into a sleeve and pulled out a large shiny munny coin, throwing it towards the two Keyblade Masters. Si'Lea quickly looked away from it but Aqua seemed to follow it through the air, mesmerized by the coin.

"Aqua! Don't be fooled!" Si'Lea yelled, grabbing Aqua before she could reach for it, the coin suddenly exploding nearby. Aqua quickly shook her head in surprise.

"Wh-What?!" she asked in alarm. They both heard Fifth letting out a laugh as she turned and ran, leaping into the air before disappearing in a corridor of Darkness. (End Battle Music)

"What…what just happened?" Aqua asked as hers and Si'Lea's armor vanished.

"Greed. She briefly inflamed your own greed, giving you an overwhelming desire to try and grab that coin. It was a booby trap but it's effective. I've fallen victim to it a couple of times myself. It's hard to resist." Si'Lea said as Aqua grimaced.

"I can't believe I was so easily manipulated like that." Aqua mumbled.

"Don't take it too personally Aqua. These witches, manipulating emotions are their specialty. Didn't you say that the one you're looking for can manipulate people's memories?" Si'Lea asked.

"Yes. At least, according to Sora she can. I suppose if Namine has the power to alter memories…now I can see why you've had such a hard time dealing with even one of the Sisters. If they can inflame your emotions like that…" Aqua said as Si'Lea nodded.

"The Sisterhood members represent different flaws of the heart. Greed, lust, envy, gluttony, sloth, pride, and wrath. So far, I've only dealt with six of the seven. Fifth, as you know, is greed. Sixth is lust, Fourth is pride, Third is envy, Second is sloth, and First is wrath." Si'Lea explained.

"Wrath? You mean the First Sister…was that how she was able to get the drop on you?" Aqua asked as Si'Lea absently adjusted the strap on her eye patch.

"You ever heard the phrase: 'seeing red?' Well that's how First got me. She inflamed my anger so much, that I just saw red which caused me to make mistakes, allowing her to…" Si'Lea said, putting her hand over her left eye. She then turned to Aqua, a look of dire concern on her face.

"Aqua, whenever we face a member of the Sisterhood, we have to guard our emotions more than anything. Not only are they skilled fighters but their ability to inflame or manipulate our hearts can cause us to mess up. They fight on a level beyond that of ordinary foes like Heartless. If Namine is indeed their Seventh number, I can only guess at how dangerous she can be if her power is to manipulate memories." Si'Lea explained as Aqua nodded understandingly.

"Then let's get going. We need to find Nixe and Namine and stop the Sisterhood." Aqua said as she summoned her armor.

"Good idea. The sooner we accomplish the first two tasks, the sooner we can regroup and come up with a definitive plan." Si'Lea said as she summoned her armor, the two then summoning their Keyblade Gliders and taking flight into the sky.

Meanwhile…

It was nighttime back in Twilight Town and outside the old mansion, everything was quiet. Only the sound of the leaves rustling gently on the breeze could be heard along with the faint whistle from one of the town's trains as it ran the midnight run between the downtown area and the residential parts of town. However this serine stillness was disrupted by the sudden appearance of a swirling black and white vortex. The vortex hovered close to the ground for a while, swirling in place before it suddenly closed, leaving a lone figure lying on its chest on the ground. The figure wore a long tattered grey cloak with a hood up over its head and a pair of red sandals on its feet. The figure lay on the ground, resting the right side of its head on the ground, breathing quietly as if it were asleep. The figure then tensed up slightly, pushing itself up off the ground and onto its feet. A few strands of brown hair could be seen dangling near the collar from inside the hood. The cloak wasn't closed completely at the front and was held together at the chest by a simple metal clasp. The figure wore a red t-shirt under a white hoodie jacket with red cuffs, collar, and lining at the sleeve, a pair of baggy blue shorts with gold colored trim. The figure looked around in confusion for a moment.

"Where am I?" the figure asked. It's voice identified it as a girl. No one answered. Then an owl in the trees hooted, causing the figure to flinch in fear.

"Who's there?!" she asked, pulling at the edges of her cloak to try and close it more. She turned and saw the mansion, looking up at it before another hoot of the owl caused her to jump in fear and rush towards it, rushing inside to hide.

End Chapter 23

Who is this hooded stranger? Find out in the chapters to come.

The song above was an unedited version of "Where Do I Go From Here" from the direct-to-VHS sequel to Pocahontas, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World.