Si'Lea and Aqua touched down within a gnarled and twisted forest. Looming over the forest was a castle made of blackened brick and mortar, casting a shadow over the forest like a sword. Despite the dark sky overhead, the world was illuminated as if it were daylight although no discernable light source could be seen. The two Keyblade Masters looked around the forest clearing they had found themselves in, Aqua looking around in curiosity while Si'Lea quietly raised her hood up over her head, a look of suspicion aimed towards the forest.
"What is this place?" Aqua asked.
"It is a world with no name. Old historical texts refer to it simply as the Black Castle. It was a bastion of the forces of Darkness back before the worlds were scattered." Si'Lea explained.
"It shows. The forest here looks…dead." Aqua said as Si'Lea turned towards her.
"This place also has a darker more recent history. This is where the Sisterhood has been breeding their Heartless." Si'Lea explained as Aqua looked up towards the castle.
"Oh, so this is the Horned King's world." Aqua said.
"Not necessarily. This is where the Horned King resides. I think his world fell into Darkness. I know he's not native to this world but he calls it his home. I know little more than that." Si'Lea said as they started down the path headed towards the Castle.
"So what are we doing here?" Aqua asked.
"We're looking for two members of the Reaper's Game. I haven't heard anything from them in a while and I'm getting worried." Si'Lea replied. (Ambiance Cue: TWISTER -KINGDOM MIX-)
"Well look no further, yo!" a voice said from nearby. Aqua and Si'Lea turned and saw a pair of youths approaching from within the forest. One was a muscular teenaged boy wearing a white tank top with red lining, a pair of baggy khaki shorts with a long and heavy looking black chain on hanging off the left hip, a pair of black and red boots, and wearing a baggy black knit cap with a large white skull decal on the front. Around his neck was a black chain with a black skull decal hanging from the front. The other was a young girl about half his size wearing an orange sweater with a black skull and crossbones print on the front, baggy white shorts, yellow and black shoes (not unlike Sora's), and wearing a black knit cap similar to the boy's but with a smaller white skull decal over the right eye. She also wore a copper necklace with a small copper bell on the end.
"Ah, Beat, Rhyme, glad to see you're okay." Si'Lea said as Beat, the boy, crossed his arms over his chest with a grin.
"You worry too much." He replied as Rhyme, the girl, gave a nod.
"Uh-huh, we've got this." Rhyme said with a smile.
"Aqua, allow me to introduce you to two more members of the Reaper's Game. Reapers Four and Five, Daisukenojo Bito and his sister Raimu Bito. Beat, Rhyme, this is Master Aqua, a very dear friend of mine." Si'Lea introduced, earning a groan from both siblings, startling Aqua.
"Aww come on Master!" Rhyme whined.
"Don't use our real names, yo!" Beat groaned as Aqua smiled in amusement.
"Don't want your cover blown?" Aqua asked.
"No way!" Beat groaned.
"Our real names are just embarrassing." Rhyme replied as Aqua laughed.
"Oh I get it." She laughed as Si'Lea smiled.
"Well that's enough with that, what've you two got to report?" Si'Lea asked.
"Not much has happened here lately." Rhyme answered.
"It's like Horned King don't live here anymore." Beat said as Si'Lea gave a nod.
"I see. But something has happened here though." Si'Lea said but the siblings looked at each other and then at the two Keyblade Masters.
"Well…we had lunch a while ago." Beat replied as Rhyme giggled slightly before shrugging with a sheepish smile.
"I see. Well in this case, no news is good news." Si'Lea said as Aqua glanced up at the castle with curiosity.
"Yeah. Nothin's happened here in a long while and here's hopin' it stays that way!" Beat said before there was a loud clap of thunder, immediately startling all four of them, Rhyme leaping into her brother's arms.
"What was that?!" she asked.
"Trouble." Aqua said over the sound of more thunder. They all turned to see Aqua pointing up towards the castle where flashes of different colored light could be seen lighting up the sky. (Battle Music Cue: Vim and Vigor – KH2) Aqua and Si'Lea immediately summoned their Keyblades.
"You two make yourselves scarce! We'll look into this!" Si'Lea said as she and Aqua raced towards the castle entrance. The path to the entrance was a curving path that ran up along the side of the mountain the castle was built upon and curved around through an old portcullis gate that had long since rusted open, the two reaching a wide and open courtyard. Parts of the castle had collapsed due to years of neglect while other parts were collapsing from the battle going on within it. When the two Keyblade Masters arrived, they found two short figures with Keyblades fighting each other with incredible skill. They both recognized one of them immediately.
"Mickey!" Si'Lea exclaimed as she and Aqua ran up to stand beside the King.
"Boy am I glad to see the two of you!" Mickey greeted.
"Honestly didn't know you were here, Mickey." Si'Lea replied.
"Just happened to be in the right place at the right time." Aqua said as the other figure, a hooded Oswald, stood facing the three, trying to decide what his next move should be.
"Oh, I see you found Oswald." Si'Lea said, slightly disheartened.
"Uh-huh but he's not all I found. WATCH OUT!" Mickey exclaimed before they noticed something moving beneath some of the cobblestones of the castle floor, burrowing its way rapidly towards them, throwing up chunks of stone as it moved. Si'Lea recognized it immediately.
"BLOT!" Si'Lea exclaimed as she quickly summoned her shield and ducked down behind it, the bottom of the shield driven into the ground and starting to glow red with heat just as the burrowing monster smashed into the shield and immediately burst up and backwards with a slobbering roar of pain.
"What is that thing?!" Aqua asked as Si'Lea quickly armored up.
"That's the thing that killed Nixe's mother! That's the Phantom Blot!" Si'Lea replied, Aqua's eyes widening as she armored up as well.
"That's also the thing that stole Namine!" Aqua added as the Blot and Oswald both looked at their opponents.
"Oswald, come on, you know me right? Si'Lea? The spunky kid who hadn't grown into her ears yet?" Si'Lea asked but Oswald shook his head, trying to clear up his head but not succeeding.
"You are familiar but I only know you as an enemy of the Sisterhood!" Oswald replied as Si'Lea sighed heavily.
"I was afraid it'd come to this." She muttered. Aqua then felt Si'Lea connecting to her via D-Link.
"Try not to hurt Oswald, he's King Mickey's brother. I'll explain everything later." She said. Aqua was surprised but hid her surprise beneath her helmet. She gave a subtle nod in response. Oswald suddenly charged forward, Mickey following suit, the brothers' blades clashing in midair. At the same time, the Blot lunged towards Aqua and Si'Lea, splitting itself into two halves to engage them both. Oswald and Mickey were evenly matched, both of them bounding off of walls, spinning wildly, and exchanging lightning fast blows (A/N: Think two Yodas fighting against each other if that helps). The Blot pooled in small mounds near Aqua and Si'Lea, lashing out at them with tendrils that rapidly sprouted from the mounds, a single glowing green eye on each mound, glaring at them as it attacked but they either deflected or dodged its attacks.
Si'Lea knew how to deal with the monster and drove her Keyblade into the cobblestone floor, wedging it in and shunting some kind of magic into the ground. The Blot attempted to lunge at her but she superheated her shield again, forcing the monster to back off as she leapt back, her shield rapidly cooling. The Blot was about to pounce at her when the floor beneath the Blot suddenly exploded, causing the Blot to burst in a shower of black goo. Si'Lea had used her Magic Trap Shot lock. Si'Lea glanced over to see Aqua was having trouble dealing with the Blot, unable to make any effective strikes.
"Aqua!" Si'Lea yelled, pointing her Keyblade at her friend.
"En-Blizzard!" Si'Lea shouted, causing Aqua's Keyblade to start emitting cold vapors and look as if it had partially frozen over. Aqua quickly blocked an attack from the Blot but when it struck her Keyblade, the tendril quickly froze over, causing the Blot to let out a gurgling grunt of pain before it slinked away. Aqua was about to go on the offensive when they noticed some of the globs of the Blot that had gotten scattered a moment ago start to bubble and expand. Suddenly these bubbles began popping, releasing strange blobby Shadow and Neo-shadow Heartless. They didn't have the typical yellow eyes of the Heartless but instead had glowing green/yellow eyes like the Blot and they were swarming towards Si'Lea and Aqua. The Two Keyblade Masters weren't deterred however and charged towards the Heartless, Si'Lea quickly casting an En-Blizzard on herself, both her Keyblade and shield partially freezing over as she and Aqua ran in and started blasting the Blot Heartless with Blizzard magic. They felled the Heartless within seconds, freezing them in place just as they both entered the Diamond Dust Command Style.
"Alright, the Blot's down for the count! Let's give Mickey a ha-UWA!" Aqua yelped as Si'Lea hit her point blank with an Aeroga, knocking her far to one side just seconds before a sharp black spike shot up from beneath where she had been standing. Similarly, Si'Lea had jumped clear of where she had been standing, both women jumping to their feet.
"Never assume the Blot is defeated at first glance!" Si'Lea yelled as she and Aqua watched the frozen Blob Heartless suddenly break free of their frozen prisons and stream back towards the large spike which took the form of a towering muscular being with two demonic horns and a pair of angry green/yellow eyes.
"Watch it!" Si'Lea yelled as the Blot thrust both of its arms towards the two, the arms morphing into large black spikes. Si'Lea merely blocked with her Blizzard enhanced shield, causing the Blot to become stuck while Aqua rolled to one side, unleashing a quick strike to the Blot's arm, causing it to freeze again on her end. Si'Lea then broke her shield free, pointing her shield up towards the sky.
"Alright, let's see how this strikes ya!" Si'Lea yelled as her shield began to fill with a bright light. The Blot saw what was happening and quickly burrowed beneath the ground, sacrificing its limbs in the process just before Si'Lea unleashed her Sunlight Mirror Shot Lock. The beam of pure light causing the ice around the Blot's frozen limbs to shatter and the limbs themselves to suddenly and quickly melt away into nothingness. The Blot could be heard howling in pain.
"RAGH! I will consume your heart one day! I will consume!" The Blot roared before some of the cobblestone floor gave way, collapsing inward, revealing a swirling black vortex beneath it, the Blot retreating via Corridor of Darkness. Aqua and Si'Lea didn't have time to celebrate though as they quickly turned towards where Mickey and Oswald were still fighting. Seeing that he was now outnumbered, Oswald quickly shoved Mickey away, splitting himself into six smaller versions of himself and scrambling for the still open Corridor of Darkness.
"Stop him!" Mickey yelled as two of the Oswalds made it through. Si'Lea and Aqua scrambled to catch them but the mini-Oswalds were simply too quick and nimble. Aqua managed to catch one by the leg though, holding him up.
"I got him!" Aqua exclaimed before the leg snapped off at the joint, allowing Oswald to fall free and scramble for the Corridor. Aqua let out a startled yelp as she dropped the leg which quickly reattached itself to the one she'd captured. Despite their best efforts, all six of the mini-Oswalds made it through the Corridor which closed behind them. (End Battle Music).
"What was that?!" Aqua asked in alarm, their helmets vanishing.
"One of Oswald's abilities. He can split himself into smaller versions of himself and can also detatch his limbs and ears in case he gets caught. He then is able to put himself back together. Sorry, I meant to warn you about that. He's really slippery that way." Si'Lea said as Mickey stepped up next to them.
"We're sorry we let you down Mickey." Aqua said, kneeling down next to him.
"Aww don't worry about that, Aqua. I know you both did your best." Mickey said as Si'Lea knelt down next to him as well.
"I should've given you a heads up about him, both of you. He's been this way for about seven years now." Si'Lea replied.
"What happened to him? Why is he working for the Sisterhood?" Aqua asked. Si'Lea seemed disgusted by the question although it was quickly apparent that it was the answer which disgusted her.
"Remember I told you Prishe and Vincent got captured by the Sisterhood? Well Oswald went to try and rescue them but got captured. I hadn't heard anything from him for months until he reappeared, leading the siege of the seventh district. We lost a lot of ground that day and we've never truly regained that ground. As best as I can tell, First did something to brainwash him into believing he was loyal to them. His duty has been to locate worlds, find their keyholes, and then unlock their hearts so that the Heartless can move in and consume them." Si'Lea explained.
"I never realized you had a brother, though Mickey." Aqua said as Mickey gave a sad nod.
"That's because this was the first time I'd seen him in nearly twenty-five years." Mickey replied as Si'Lea nodded.
"Yeah. Oswald and Mickey were the two apprentices Master Yen Sid was training when he started training me. Oswald was the more advanced of either of us because he had been training longer than us. When he was named a Master, he left to go protect these worlds and did so alone for nearly fifteen years until I was named a Master and sent here to help him. Oswald was the Keyblade Master I was sent to help." Si'Lea explained as Aqua gave an understanding nod.
"So what do we do about Oswald now?" Aqua asked.
"I still believe I can get through to him. Leave him to me. I can feel that he wants to remember but the magic the Sisterhood placed on him is keeping him from remembering. I know Oswald. I know I can help him. I know I can free him." Mickey said, a look of determination on his face.
"Alright, we'll let you continue the search on your own. If you need our help, just let us know." Aqua said as Mickey gave them both a smile and a nod.
"You bet'cha. See ya real soon!" Mickey said, pulling the hood up over his head and raising the Star Shard. Instantly he was enveloped within a bright round sphere of light which suddenly launched into the sky, bouncing erratically around in the air before finally disappearing.
"Guess we better be going too." Aqua said as Beat and Rhyme came rushing up to them.
"We heard things get quiet and thought somethin' bad had happened, yo!" Beat said as Rhyme nodded.
"We're fine. We drove off some more of the Sisterhood's minions. Keep watching this place, it might become active again in the future." Si'Lea said as the siblings nodded.
"Yes ma'am!" Rhyme replied, saluting with a smile.
"Well I guess we should be going. There's not much else we can do here." Si'Lea said as Aqua nodded.
"Yeah." She replied as they both summoned their Keyblade Gliders and armor.
Meanwhile in the Palace of Eternity…
First was scowling as Oswald and the Blot had just reported on their recent encounter with Si'Lea, Aqua, and Mickey. She was seated in the meeting room on a throne, her pet dragon hatchling resting on the armrest as she gently stroked its back, her expression foul. The other sisters, including Namine, were also present. Namine was quietly standing to one side, her hood up over her head, quietly observing the goings on.
"A third Keyblade Master…this, is beginning to annoy me. We were doing just fine, advancing at a steady rate before these Keyblade Masters showed up! Now we're beginning to lose ground! Thrice now have we had Si'Lea's cursed little brat within our grasp and each time she's gotten away! Who is this impertinent oaf that keeps following her?! How does he know of our origins?!" First asked impatiently.
"He is no ordinary boy. I could not feed on him." The Phantom Blot said, earning a curious look from First.
"What do you mean you couldn't feed on him? He's just some brat with a sword isn't he?!" First asked.
"No, he's not." Third replied, earning a curious look from First and the other sisters. Namine was quietly worried.
"Explain." First ordered in a low tone of voice that made some of the sisters nervous.
"When I encountered him in the Lantern Kingdom, I tried to see who it was that he envied most, but had difficulty even finding what he was feeling at the given time. It's like he wasn't even there." Third explained.
"How could he not have been there?" Fourth asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
"I don't know how else to describe it except…he was like the Abhorrent Child only…" Third said, trying to find the right word.
"Only what?" Sixth asked.
"Dead." Third replied, earning surprised and confused looks from the others.
"A Nobody perhaps?" Fifth asked but Third shook her head.
"No. He lacked the hollow feeling we all get when around each other or other Nobodies. His emotions were also genuine. What's more, he seemed to be able to track me when I used my powers. To see through my disguises. It's as if my powers were useless against him." Third explained as First leaned forward in thought. After a moment, her gaze shifted up and over towards Namine who froze.
"Does she suspect?" Namine pondered.
"Seven."
"Ma'am?"
"You and the Abhorrent Child encountered this 'Riku' on Nomanisan just recently. Did you have any difficulties in using your powers against him?" First asked. Namine nodded.
"Yes but he seemed to ignore me throughout the battle. Prishe seemed to keep him occupied while I fought with the Apprentice." Namine explained.
"Then how come you didn't get her? How come she escaped?!" Fourth asked but First raised her hand, silencing the Lady of Arrogance.
"We must allow Seven some measure of grace. This was her first encounter crossing swords with a wielder of the Keyblade. Her failure can be forgiven in this instance. For now, let us turn our attention to this other apprentice that has shown up, the one with the spiky hair. I did not get a good opportunity to get a feel for the strength of his heart. We must make sure that our experiment will work. I initially intended to use Si'Lea's apprentice as our test subject but I'd rather save her for when we know the experiment will work. Therefore, we shall take the heart of this new apprentice that has shown up. Second, I am putting you in charge of this. He should serve as no problem for you." First said as Second gave a nod with a smile.
"His heart is as good as mine." Second said. Namine was now worried, hiding her emotions beneath her hood.
"This cannot be an arbitrary stealing of his heart, though. We need to take it where there are plenty of witnesses. Prove to the worlds that we are unstoppable and they will lose all hope and will give their hearts freely to us." First said as Second arched a curious eyebrow.
"If he were to appear at the stadium run by that fool Liore, then that would be the most optimum opportunity." Second said.
"Go then, sister. Wait for his arrival. And should Si'Lea's brat appear before him, ignore her." First instructed, confusing the others.
"Ignore her?" Fourth asked.
"Shouldn't we catch her first?" Third asked.
"Not until we know the experiment will work. That boy will be our next test subject. He will provide one of us with our first heart." First replied as the other sisters nodded in agreement, exchanging excited expressions. Namine however was silent, quietly worried as she knew what was being set up. Sora was being targeted by the Sisterhood and she had to warn him. She watched as the other sisters left the room and then she started heading for her room. She didn't realize that First was lingering near one of the doorways, watching her with a suspicious glare. As soon as Namine had entered her room, Third approached First with a look of curiosity.
"Is something the matter, Sister?" Third asked.
"We finally gain our Seventh Sister and all of a sudden the tide starts to turn against us. Three Keyblade Wielders appear in the worlds, we lose control over one of our minions in the worlds, a mysterious boy appears protecting our long coveted prize, and I find evidence that someone has been snooping through my papers. And didn't you say that the boy was aware of our origins?" First asked as Third gave a nod.
"Yes but what does that prove?" Third asked as First narrowed her gaze towards Namine's door.
"They call her Namine. The one with the spiky hair is searching relentlessly for her. Plus consider that she has twice failed a mission to kill one of her targets. That despite accomplishing her mission in Lantern Kingdom, the girl Gothel wants locked up has managed to flee anyway, as if she and the Abhorrent Child were never there. What's more, rumor has it that two of Liore's henchmen in the Stadium appear to have grown stronger since their encounter with Seven. I suspect that she is trying to sabotage us." First said through her gradually clinching teeth.
"But why? What could she hope to gain? The Keyblade Wielders' victory over us would only mean she would lose her independence or worse…fade. What benefit could she possibly gain from it?" Third asked as First turned and walked away, a look of disgust on her face.
"The exact opposite of our goals…she wants to return to her Other."
End Chapter 39
Looks like the Sisterhood has directed its attention towards Sora now and now First is suspicious of Namine? What will happen? Well, you know what to do about that.