In the Lantern Kingdom, Si'Lea and Aqua were traveling along the dirt road through the forest, Si'Lea following a signal from the D-Phone, helping her to locate the member of the Reaper's Game that alerted them to the Sisterhood's presence.
"So do we know if Nixe was even here?" Aqua asked.
"That's what we'll find out. The Reapers Game knows not to report anything frivolous. But the fact that a member of the Sisterhood is here is worth the diversion. With any luck, we might be able to take one of them out." Si'Lea said.
"No thanks. I'm not interested in you, Si'Lea." A woman's voice said from nearby. Si'Lea's eye flashed with rage as she summoned her Keyblade and shield, looking around for the source of the voice.
"First! I know you're out there! Show yourself!" Si'Lea yelled. Aqua was looking around too when they saw a Corridor of Darkness open in front of them, depositing the smirking visage of the First Sister.
"Hello old friend. It's been far too long since we last saw each other. Quite a long way from Sublime City, aren't we? Oh and who is this little waif you've brought with you?" First asked as she eyed Aqua who stepped forward, summoning her Keyblade.
"I am Master Aqua, wielder of the Keyblade and you've taken a friend of mine captive! Release her this instant!" Aqua ordered but First rubbed her chin in thought.
"Aqua…hmm, why does that name sound familiar? Oh yes, that was the name of Si'Lea's little friend from her childhood. I'd almost forgotten. I suppose you're here in search of our Seventh Sister, the one you call 'Namine.' I'm afraid you've made the trip for nothing, Keyblade Master. She's quite happy now that she's been united with her kin." First said as Aqua scowled at her.
"I'd rather hear it from her own mouth." Aqua replied as First chuckled.
"If she were available, she would. But right now she's off doing important work for the Sisterhood and cannot be disturbed. Besides, you should be more worried about that boy you brought with you, the one with the spiky hair?" First said as Aqua blinked curiously.
"Sora? What about him?" she asked.
"He's in a peck of trouble. I gather you were the one who trained him? Rather risky letting an apprentice wander around on his own before he's ready." First said, attempting to get a rise out of Aqua but was surprised when Aqua smiled challengingly.
"I'm not worried about Sora. He's more than capable of taking care of himself. You're right, I was the one who finished his training but most of what he learned, he had already learned on his own in less than a year's worth of training. One more thing, he's not an apprentice anymore. He's a fully-fledged Keyblade Master." Aqua said but First seemed amused by her statement.
"Him? A mere boy a Master of the Keyblade?!" First laughed, but Aqua was still smiling.
"Laugh all you want. It won't make it any less true." Aqua said as First stopped laughing.
"I suppose only time will tell. Oh well, at least we have Si'Lea's little brat now." First said, shifting her gaze to Si'Lea who smirked in response.
"You're bluffing. You wouldn't take the time to come and gloat, First. I know you too well. By your mere presence, I can tell that Nixe escaped your grasp and that just eats at you, doesn't it?" Si'Lea asked as First scowled.
"I'd almost forgotten how annoyingly observant you were, Si'Lea." First said as Si'Lea noticed the sun was in the sky overhead and then looked towards First.
"One more observation. I know you're not alone. You know better than to try and confront me alone, not after last time." Si'Lea said, motioning to her eye patch. First scowled again and snapped her fingers. Almost instantly, Fourth stepped out from behind her with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Hmph. And I was going to take them both by surprise. Such a perfectly constructed ambush: ruined." Fourth huffed as Si'Lea rolled her eye.
"You brought the pipsqueak?" Si'Lea asked, sending Fourth into a rage.
"SHUT UP YOU ONE-EYED HAG!" Fourth yelled, startling Aqua.
"What's with the kid?" Aqua asked, First immediately grabbing Fourth by the collar and holding her back as the Lady of Arrogance flew deeper into her rage, clawing at Aqua in her fury.
"KID?! LISTEN YOU BLUE HAIRED BIMBO, GET THIS THROUGH YOUR KEYBLADE ARMORED SKULL! I'M NOT A LITTLE KID!" Fourth yelled as Si'Lea leaned over towards Aqua.
"Yeah, Fourth is known as the Lady of Arrogance." She mumbled as Aqua gave an understanding nod.
"Oh. Pride. I got it." Aqua replied dropping into a fighting stance.
"So then, Si'Lea, enough mindless banter. It's been too long since we last went toe-to-toe. Will this be the fight that sees one of us sent into eternal darkness or will it end up just like the others? I for one am eager to see the end of our continuing battle." First said as Si'Lea pressed her hand to her armor piece, summoning her armor, Aqua following suit. First smiled darkly at the sight. (Battle Music Cue: 13th Reflection – KH2 FM+)
"Seems we were thinking the same thing for a change." Si'Lea said as First held her arms out to the side, raising them as if summoning something from the ground. Almost instantly the four of them were surrounded on all sides by a thick ring of thick black brambles that grew rapidly.
"Let's settle the score once and for all, my old friend." First said, summoning two of her swords to her hands while Fourth merely crossed her arms over her chest with a smirk. First and Si'Lea suddenly launched towards each other, the two engaging in a savage battle, sparks flying with every impact of blade on blade or blade on shield. Aqua in the meantime was staring Fourth down as she grinned at Aqua, suddenly vanishing from the waist down, catching Aqua by surprise.
"What's the matter? Surprised that I can simply disappear?" she asked, gradually vanishing until only her eyes and grinning teeth could be seen where she had been standing.
"I'm not afraid of you." Aqua said as Fourth let out a chuckle, her eyes disappearing.
"Well now, it seems someone's chest has certainly swelled up with pride…perhaps there's a correlation." Fourth commented, earning Aqua's ire as Fourth's teeth vanished, rendering Fourth completely invisible.
"My eyes are up here!" Aqua yelled, pointing to her eyes.
"Mmm, guess there isn't a correlation after all." She heard Fourth reply from nearby. Aqua felt something moving beneath the ground and quickly leapt forward just in time for a black spear to burst up from the ground. She turned and saw that the spearhead was in the shape of a black spade from a deck of cards. The spear suddenly burst up more from the ground, revealing a weighted club-like end on the bottom which was, of course, in the shape of a club suite. The spear then tilted awkwardly before Fourth reappeared with the spear in both hands, twirling it menacingly.
"I've always wanted to test my skills against a Keyblade Master. Of course we both know how this will end, with me the winner. I always win after all." Fourth said but Aqua wasn't swayed. Fourth suddenly ran forward with a sadistic grin, fighting Aqua with the spear, jabbing or swinging at her with both ends, swapping between the two at random, Aqua struggling to either dodge or deflect the attacks. Finally, Aqua cartwheeled to one side and cast a Gravaga, a large purple sphere of imploding energy appearing over Fourth's head before dropping down onto her. Fourth didn't move but instead grinned as the sphere dropped down onto her, the sphere sinking through the ground. When Aqua saw Fourth again, the Lady of Arrogance was somehow larger in size, as if her body and clothing had physically grown, not aged, by a few feet, now standing at roughly Aqua's height.
"What's the matter? Am I beginning to grow on you?" she asked with a grin before launching at Aqua again, unleashing even more attacks.
Meanwhile, Si'Lea and First were continuing to duke it out. The two rivals managing to keep up with each other. When one would attack, the other would dodge or block. The two never broke eye contact except for brief periods, their lone eyes constantly glaring back at one another.
"It's beginning to look like a repeat of last time, my old friend!" First said between strikes.
"Yeah but this time it's different!" Si'Lea said as First arched a curious eyebrow.
"Oh? How is that?" she asked.
"This time, I'm the one with backup! AQUA NOW!" Si'Lea yelled before an armored Aqua suddenly appeared, wielding her default Keyblade, Rain Fall, as she flew in towards First, the two working in tandem to attack the Lady of Wrath. First quickly noticed that Aqua was still fighting Fourth, only now she was unarmored and still wielding Mark of Mastery.
"Ah-ha! Quite the companion you've got, Si'Lea!" First grunted as two more of her swords burst up from the ground, being controlled by two black brambles. First was able to hold off Si'Lea and Aqua's Sentiment with these four blades but just barely. Aqua's Sentiment then started firing off fire spells while Si'Lea cast an Aeroga around herself, granting her increased speed and a light shield of cutting winds as they swirled around her. First immediately knew what she was happening and snarled, conjuring a fifth and sixth sword and using the four bramble controlled blades to attack while her other two were held defensively. Suddenly, Aqua's Sentiment burst through the brambles of two of the swords, flying straight towards First who snarled with anger, taking a deep breath.
"Aqua! Watch it!" Si'Lea yelled just as First breathed a strong jet of black flames from her mouth, the armor catching the flames at point blank range and being launched into the brambles. The armor and Keyblade suddenly disappeared, returning to Aqua. First snarled towards Si'Lea, smoke rising from the corners of her mouth.
"Sorry!" Aqua grunted as she evaded more of fourth's attacks.
"Don't be!" Si'Lea replied as she quickly dropped down behind her shield, just in time to deflect another jet of flames from First. The flames were deflected in all directions by her shield but as the flames died down, First saw the sun reflecting in Si'Lea's shield, the light in the shield inexplicably growing larger until it enveloped the entire front of the shield. First recognized the move and quickly called all six swords to cross in front of her, creating three barriers of two crossed swords just in time for Si'Lea to unleash her third shot lock: Sunlight Mirror!
Suddenly the shield released a powerful beam of focused sunlight, smashing into the swords with tremendous force, the swords rattling and groaning under the force of the beam, First struggling to hold the beam back until finally the beam shrank down to nothingness. First quickly dismissed all but two of the blades as Si'Lea came running towards her, the two rivals becoming locked in combat once more.
At the same time, Aqua and Fourth were still fighting. Aqua was in the Fire Blazer Command Style while Fourth was starting to play dirty, causing parts of her body to vanish and reappear at random, making it difficult for Aqua to see where she was moving. Aqua however remained undeterred, but she could feel herself getting increasingly frustrated at not being able to defeat Fourth.
"What's going on?! I should be able to beat her! I'm a Keyblade Master!" Aqua said in her mind. She suddenly remembered Si'Lea's warning about the Sisters…
"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." Si'Lea had warned. Aqua quickly threw up a reflega barrier around her, quickly calming herself for a moment before calmly starting to cast Thundaga wildly around her, causing Fourth to yelp in alarm, dodging the attacks with her partially invisible form. Aqua then glared at her and launched towards her, Fourth saw her approaching and suddenly found herself back to her normal size.
"WHAT?!" she yelped in alarm as Aqua suddenly appeared all around her, posed in various fighting stances. Suddenly all of the clones vanished, leaving only one Aqua behind. She had used her Ghost Drive Command Style, severely wounding Fourth who dropped to one knee in pain, which didn't go unnoticed by First.
"SISTER!" First yelled, catching Aqua's attention. She turned just as First breathed a jet of black flames from her mouth, forcing Aqua away from Fourth.
"Aqua! Don't be fooled!" Si'Lea yelled, Aqua quickly turning to see Fourth flash a grin, suddenly throwing five red diamond shaped knives towards her, Aqua quickly deflecting them with a Reflega while First shoved Si'Lea away and leapt to Fourth's defense, snarling at the two.
"Don't assume this to be a victory! In the end, you will all bow before us!" First yelled, furious as she and Fourth both vanished in a Corridor of Darkness. (End Battle Music) Si'Lea and Aqua both watched as the brambles proceeded to rapidly wither and die until there was nothing left of them.
"Are you alright?" Si'Lea asked as Aqua nodded.
"She caught me off guard, but I'm fine." Aqua said as Si'Lea sighed.
"I didn't realize we would run into First so soon. But now at least you've met her face to face." Si'Lea said as Aqua gave a grim nod.
"Did she mean what she said about having Nixe?" Aqua asked but Si'Lea shook her head.
"It's a safe bet that she doesn't have her. Remember, First's emotion is anger. She'll say or do whatever she can to make you angry. You probably felt it didn't you? That subtle sense of anger?" Si'Lea asked as Aqua gave a nod.
"Yeah." She replied.
"That was First's influence. But I did notice you resisting Fourth's inflaming your sense of pride. What did you do to resist?" Si'Lea asked as Aqua smiled.
"I just thought back to all the times I was beaten, humbled by my friends. Terra is still the superior swordsman and I couldn't beat him in a straight up one-on-one sword duel even if I tried. I just remembered the times he beat me and remembered my feelings of humility afterwards." Aqua said as Si'Lea gave an approving nod.
"Good. You've learned how to resist Fourth's influence to a degree but you still mustn't let your guard down. Just wait until you face more than one Sister at a time. You'll have to guard more than just your humility to survive." Si'Lea said as Aqua gave a nod. Si'Lea's phone then beeped. She quietly pulled the D-Phone out, looking at the screen.
"Something up?" Aqua asked.
"Reaper 2 is reporting in. She's nearby. Come on, I'll introduce you." Si'Lea said, pocketing the phone as she led Aqua towards a nearby tree. (Ambiance Cue: SOMEDAY-Kingdom Mix- - DDD) As they approached, a teenaged girl stepped out from behind the tree with a pleased smile.
"Master Si'Lea, glad to see Sublime's 'Knight in Shining Armor' is just as powerful as always." Shiki said, her plush doll, Mr. Mew, tucked under her arm. Si'Lea smiled at the youth.
"I'm just glad that you're okay, Shiki. Allow me to introduce my friend and fellow Master, Aqua. Aqua, this is Shiki, codenamed Reaper 2." Si'Lea said as Shiki curtsied politely to Aqua.
"Pleasure. Sorry you came all this way just to run into the Sisterhood though." Shiki said but Aqua just gave a dismissive wave.
"Don't worry about it. We'd have run into them sooner or later." Aqua said as Si'Lea nodded in agreement.
"She's right. You were only doing your duty. So about your message. You said there was a possible Nixe sighting?" Si'Lea asked as Shiki scratched the back of her head with a hesitant expression.
"Well that's just it. I never actually saw her here." Shiki said as Si'Lea arched a curious eyebrow.
"Then what makes you think she was here?" Si'Lea asked.
"I over heard the Sister: Third and one of their henchmen, a Mother Gothel, saying that Nixe was here." Shiki explained but Aqua wasn't convinced.
"They might've been wrong." Aqua suggested but Si'Lea was sold.
"No, if Third said she was here, she was here. Third, the Lady of Jealousy, is probably the Sisterhood's best tracker. She has ways of knowing who is and is not in a world at a given moment." Si'Lea said as Aqua gave an understanding nod.
"I see. But is there any proof that Nixe got caught?" Aqua asked but Shiki shook her head.
"No but I did spot Third a while ago, soaked from head to toe. Found out that she got trashed in the old quarry near here by a pair of powerful warriors, one of them being a girl with a large key." Shiki said with a smile.
"That's Nixe, but you mentioned that there were two of them." Si'Lea said but Shiki shrugged.
"Not sure who that one is. I overheard some thugs a while ago mentioning that same girl and that the person she was traveling with was a boy, roughly the same age, long white hair, carrying a mean looking sword and dressed in a black coat." Shiki said, worrying Si'Lea.
"I don't know anyone matching that description. Aqua, what about you?" she asked, looking at Aqua who pondered.
"White hair, black coat, about fifteen to sixteen years old…If I didn't know any better I'd say it sounds like Riku." Aqua explained, earning a curious look from Si'Lea.
"Who?" she asked.
"Riku. He's Sora's best friend and one of his apprentices. But he's in the other worlds at the moment. Besides, he'd have used his Keyblade instead of a sword and he likely would've let us know what he was doing here." Aqua said before they heard a rustling in the bushes nearby.
"Maybe I can help explain things." Aqua, Si'Lea, and Shiki both turned to see a familiar face…
"Mickey!" Aqua exclaimed, the King of Disney Castle quickly motioning to shush.
"You never know who might be listening." He said as he approached.
"Mickey, it really is you." Si'Lea said with a grin as she knelt down, the King and Keyblade Master quickly hugging each other.
"Gosh it's good to see you again, Si'Lea." Mickey said as Si'Lea giggled slightly.
"It's been, what, eleven years? How's your kingdom?" Si'Lea asked as Mickey smiled.
"It's doing swell. But I can't talk about that right now. I've been doing some of my own investigating and there's some things you need to know. First of all, you don't need to worry about Nixe. She's being protected by an old friend of Sora's and mine. I can't say much more so you'll have to trust me." Mickey said as Si'Lea took a sigh of relief.
"Okay that helps ease things a little bit. What else is there?" Si'Lea asked. Mickey looked around cautiously, making sure there was no one else listening in.
"We have an agent within the Sisterhood, working to sabotage them. She's got information that should help you against them." Mickey said as Aqua dropped down to one knee with a curious expression.
"She?" Aqua asked as Mickey gave a nod, silently acknowledging that it was Namine.
"Listen closely. First, I don't know if you know this or not, but the members of the Sisterhood, are all the Nobodies of the Seven Princesses of Heart." Mickey explained, stunning Aqua by the revelation.
"They're what?!" she asked in surprise.
"I always suspected that was the case. Now I have confirmation." Si'Lea said, Aqua realizing something.
"That would explain how they're able to toy with our emotions like that." Aqua said, Si'Lea nodding in agreement.
"Uh-huh. What else do you have, Mickey?" Si'Lea asked as Mickey turned towards Aqua.
"The other thing is that the Sisterhood, or at least First, is responsible for helping Braig create the Neo-Beings." Mickey explained as Aqua's eyes widened in shock.
"What?!" she asked in disbelief.
"Who's Braig?" Si'Lea asked.
"One of Xehanort's former lackeys who wanted to get a Keyblade. He launched this big scheme to abduct the citizens of entire worlds to examine their hearts in the hopes of finding out how he could acquire a Keyblade but in the end we stopped him. He had created a race of data-based copies of us called Neo-Beings to do his bidding but we stopped them too. But First had a hand in it? How is that?" Aqua asked.
"Ansem the Wise told me and showed me a transcript of a conversation between Braig and an unknown woman who claimed to be a Nobody. He also mentioned having met the woman and saying that she wore a solid white coat, exactly like one that was found in First's possession by our agent. Plus there's more evidence to prove it." Mickey explained as Aqua furrowed her brow in determination.
"I see. Thanks for the information Mickey. If you see our 'agent' be sure to let them know that we're doing what we can to help save them." Aqua said as Mickey nodded.
"I will." Mickey said, pulling the hood up over his head.
"Mickey, before you go, there's something I need to tell you." Si'Lea said, a somber, almost hesitant expression.
"If it's about him, I already know. He's why I'm here." Mickey said with a saddened look as Si'Lea giving an understanding nod.
"Be careful out there." Si'Lea said as Mickey nodded before turning and running into the bushes, disappearing.
At the same time…
First was scowling in fury, fuming at their forced withdrawal from the fight. She stormed into her chambers, slamming the doors behind her.
"Another Keyblade Master…just our luck." She hissed. She then heard a hissing sound overhead and looked up to see her pet hatchling sitting on the chandelier overhead.
"Deathgaze?" she said as the hatchling flew down towards her, First holding out her arm and allowing the hatchling to land but it flew over to her desk instead, landing on the back of the chair and hissing, clawing at part of the desk. First immediately suspected what her pet was trying to tell her.
"Someone's been snooping around in here." She said as the hatchling flew up onto the top of the wardrobe, hissing some more. First scowled in annoyance.
"We either have a spy in our midst…or…a traitor."
End Chapter 34
Someone once made the observation that there's a dragon (or at least something resembling a dragon) in every installment of the RKH Saga and asked why that was. The answer is simple: I like dragons. 'Nuff said.