"Aqua?" Namine asked herself mentally. She couldn't have heard right.

"Could you repeat that?" Namine asked as Third gave a dismissive wave.

"I know, it's an odd name, but then again so is a name like Si'Lea. At least Aqua has a more agreeable name. Pity it's to be etched on her tombstone soon. Anyway, you have your orders, Seven. The Abhorrent Child is in her cell. She'll be waiting for you." Third said before setting off down the hall, leaving Namine alone.

Namine took a deep breath. Her mind was racing. The Sisterhood wanted her to fight and kill Aqua. Namine knew that, against Aqua, she stood no chance against her. Aqua was a Keyblade Master but at the same time, the thought of being sent against Aqua was strangely comforting. She knew Aqua would recognize her and would likely hold back, allowing her the chance to, possibly exchange some information to further their efforts to stop the Sisterhood from achieving their goals. Her biggest challenge would be to keep Prishe distracted so she and Aqua could work together. It would have to look convincing to Prishe though and Namine knew she could pull that off. She quietly smiled to herself as she started down the steps. As she did however, she suddenly sensed Riku attempting to contact her. She quietly reached into her pocket and grasped the lucky charm.

"Riku, what is it? I don't have time to ta-." She said over the D-Link but was interrupted.

"Don't talk! Just listen! Mickey just got word to me that the Sisterhood suspects you're sabotaging them! He overheard a meeting between the other sisters just recently! They've got one of them watching your actions! He asked me to tell you because they can't intercept D-Links and I'm the only one who can contact you this way! If you do anything that looks or sounds suspicious it'll be game over!" Riku yelled over D-Link, Namine's eyes widening in horror.

"They what?! Oh no! They just assigned me to kill Aqua!" Namine replied as she started down the stairs leading towards the hall to Prishe's cell.

"This is bad! Very bad! What can we do?!" Riku asked.

"I don't know if there's anything we can do. I've already failed two missions! If I don't succeed at this one, they'll find me out! But if I succeed at this one, Aqua will be dead! I don't think I have any choice." Namine replied, slowing to a stop, looking at herself in an old broken mirror hanging in the hallway. A look of sadness on her face.

"Choice? What choice? Wait, Namine, you can't be thinking of that are you?!" Riku asked as tears filled Namine's eyes.

"I don't see any other way this can play out. If I have to, I will sacrifice myself. You will have to carry on my mission in my stead. Sora needs to remember. He needs to remember her. I have to keep the promise I made him after Oblivion." Namine said.

…

In the void between the worlds, Riku was still holding onto Nixe when Nixe suddenly felt him let go. She looked over her shoulder to see Riku tumbling through space behind her.

"Whoa! Riku! Hang on!" she exclaimed as she quickly arched back around, flying straight towards him.

"Namine, don't be foolish! You're the only one who can restore those memories! What reason would he have to believe me?!" Riku asked.

"What choice do I have?! I can't warn Aqua without-…" Namine replied before suddenly stopping.

"Namine?" Riku asked hesitantly, Nixe getting closer.

"Riku, you're right, there's another option! It's risky but there's a chance it'll work! You must warn Sora!" Namine ordered as Riku's eyes widened.

"WHAT?!" he asked out loud, Nixe sliding to a halt mere feet from him.

"Are yo~ou okay?" she asked.

"Just do it! He can warn Aqua!" Namine said as Riku grimaced.

"And if he finds out about-." "He's going to anyway! Just warn him! Tell him nothing more! Now hurry! I'll be getting there soon!" Namine said before severing the connection. Riku growled in frustration.

"Sheesh, what's with you?!" Nixe asked as she tried to grab him.

"Nixe, we need to get a message to Sora! I just got a tip from a reliable source that Master Aqua's about to be assassinated by a member of the Sisterhood!" Riku said as Nixe pondered for a moment and snapped her fingers.

"I know just how to do it! Grab on! I'm kickin' it into overdrive!" Nixe said as Riku grabbed on, turning her Glider towards a world in the distance. The trail behind her glider suddenly grew twice as large, the stars flying past them at almost twice the normal speed.

"What are you doing?!" Riku asked.

"We're getting in the game!" She yelled back as they approached a world barrier at breakneck speeds.

…

In the dead forest outside the Black Castle, Rhyme and Beat were sat under a tree, fast asleep.

"Beat! Rhyme! Wake up!" a voice yelled, Rhyme opening a groggy eye and saw Nixe standing over them with her hands on her hips.

"Nnn, five more minutes okay Nixe?" Rhyme asked.

"Yeah wake us when somethin' happens." Beat added. Riku was about to say something when Nixe motioned to wait. Sure enough, the siblings' eyes shot wide open and they sat straight up.

"NIXE!" they yelped in unison as they leapt to their feet.

"What are you doing here?!" "Your mom's going nuts looking for you!" "We gotta tell her!" "Wait, why're you here?!" the two asked as Nixe look at Riku and smirked with a wink.

"I'm…turning myself in. You caught me! So call her up and let her know." Nixe said with a grin as Beat, already with his phone out, was pulling up the speed dial list.

"You bet I am!" Beat said, Rhyme clamoring to get on his shoulders to watch. Nixe quietly stepped away, bowing out for Riku who quickly caught onto Nixe's plan and smirked approvingly as they heard the ringing sound…

Meanwhile in Jungle Book…

Si'Lea and Aqua had just touched down in the open savanna, the edge of the jungle well within view. Aqua looked the dead and gnarled trees over curiously. She then saw something quite telling.

"Either this place has bad thunderstorms or Sora's been here?" Aqua commented.

"How can you tell?" Si'Lea asked as Aqua smiled and motioned to a uniquely large shoeprint in the mud.

"Know anyone else who wears a size 20 shoe?" Aqua asked as Si'Lea snorted in amusement.

"Very fair point." She replied just as her phone started ringing. She quickly checked her caller ID.

"Hmm. Reapers 4 and 5. Wonder what Beat and Rhyme've got now." Si'Lea said as she flipped the phone open.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Aqua. Now." An unfamiliar man's voice said, causing Si'Lea to freeze with a look of consternation on her face.

"Who is this?" she asked.

"I need to speak to Aqua, now!" the voice said as Si'Lea scowled at the phone.

"Where are Beat and Rhyme?!" Si'Lea asked. Now Aqua was concerned.

"Aqua! She's in danger! I need to speak with her now! My name is Riku! She knows who I am!" the voice replied as Si'Lea growled, handing the phone out to Aqua.

"It's for you. It's someone claiming to be Riku." Si'Lea said as Aqua blinked in surprise and took the phone.

"Riku?" she asked.

"Aqua? Listen carefully and don't say anything aloud! Namine has just been dispatched by the Sisterhood to kill you! The Sisterhood suspects she's been working to sabotage them and are watching her so she won't be able to hold back! You have to do something! Run or something!" Riku explained as Aqua gave a determined nod.

"Right, thanks for the heads up. And shouldn't you be in Twilight Town?" Aqua asked said, earning a surprised look from the nearby Si'Lea.

"No time to explain. Just be ready." Riku said before hanging up. Aqua closed the phone and tossed it back to Si'Lea.

"Wait, who was that?" she asked.

"Wrong number. But remember how we ran into First and Fourth?" Aqua asked as Si'Lea looked confused.

"Yeah?"

"Ever heard of history repeating itself?" Aqua asked, Si'Lea immediately catching on.

"I see." Si'Lea said as they looked around. They could both sense that they weren't alone. Si'Lea subtly summoned her Keyblade before flinging it towards the trees, the Keyblade spinning at high speeds and sawing through the dead trees with ease before it suddenly stopped with the distinctive sound of metal striking flesh.

"Nice shot!" a familiar voice said as Si'Lea's eye widened in alarm.

"Prishe!" She exclaimed, summoning her shield just as Prishe emerged from behind one of the damaged trees with Si'Lea's Keyblade sticking out of her stomach. The Keyblade suddenly vanished, returning to its wielder as Prishe's stomach healed, even her clothes healing back up like nothing had happened. Aqua quickly summoned her Keyblade as well.

"Hey Si. Been a long time, huh?" Prishe asked, both happy and sad to see the Keyblade Master.

"Prishe, whatever you're here for, you won't get it." Si'Lea said with a determined glare.

"Afraid it's not that simple really. You must be Aqua." Prishe said to Aqua before pouting slightly and looking down at her chest and then back at Aqua, still pouting.

"Okay now that's just not fair." Prishe commented as Aqua scowled in annoyance.

"What do you want?" Aqua asked.

"Well the Sisterhood sent us to send a message to Si'Lea. I think you might know Sev?" Prishe asked as a figure about her height in a white coat with a hood emerged from behind one of the trees. The figure proceeded to pull back the hood, revealing a scowling blonde beneath it. Aqua's eyes widened in shock.

"Namine?!" she asked.

"Not anymore." She replied coldly, summoning her Keyblade. Aqua saw the Keyblade and quickly slapped her shoulder guard, her armor summoning just as Namine shot forward at breakneck speed. Before Si'Lea could blink, the unthinkable happened. Namine passed between them, but as Si'Lea turned to try and intercept she saw something that made her freeze in horror.

Namine's Keyblade had pierced Aqua's armor just at the base of the sternum, the tip of the Keyblade piercing through the back of the armor even. Si'Lea was horrified and Prishe was stunned. In the Palace of Eternity, even the spectating Sisters were surprised.

"She-…she did it." Fifth commented in disbelief. Back in Jungle Book, Aqua staggered backwards, clutching the handle of the Keyblade in her chest, looking over her shoulder towards Namine who had landed behind her, facing away and holding her position from having murdered her own friend. Aqua was trembling in disbelief before falling backwards, Si'Lea's eye widened in abject horror and disbelief.

"Whoa." Prishe commented as Si'Lea looked towards Namine in shock, Namine still not reacting.

"Aqua…you…" Si'Lea trembling in shock and disbelief, dropping to her knees next to her friend. Namine's Keyblade suddenly disappeared and reappeared in its wielder's hands.

"We've delivered our message, Prishe. Let's go." Namine said with a cold tone as she opened a Corridor of Darkness.

"Y-Yeah, right." Prishe replied, still visibly stunned as she stepped around Si'Lea, hurrying towards the Corridor and running through it as Namine glanced over her shoulder briefly towards the sight of the shocked Si'Lea and Aqua's deceased form before turning back and letting out a small sigh of relief before walking through the Corridor which closed behind it. Si'Lea glanced towards the Corridor as it closed, waiting until it had closed completely before looking back at her friend's body. But when she looked back, it had vanished. She then heard a rustling in the leaves nearby.

"That was almost too close." Aqua could be heard saying as she climbed up out of the tall grass, dusting herself off, startling Si'Lea.

"What-the-?! Aqua, how did you-?!" She asked as she leapt to her feet. Aqua merely smiled and pulled off her shoulder guard, showing the underside of it. Etched into it was a triangle with a round circle on each point. The top and left circle were blue colored while the right was orange colored. Si'Lea's eyes widened in understanding.

"Oh a Trinity Mark! That's how you did it!" Si'Lea said as Aqua nodded, putting the shoulder guard back on her arm.

"Uh-huh. An illusion spell to leave an afterimage of me while the armor summons, an invisibility spell to allow me to slip away unnoticed, and a summoning spell to allow me to control the armor from a distance." Aqua said before Si'Lea suddenly slapped her across the face.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" she said but Aqua merely smiled. She was glad her friend had been worried.

"I can't make that promise, although I won't ever do it intentionally." She said as Si'Lea glanced towards where the Corridor had closed earlier.

"I guess now your mission is to end that girl you came here looking for." Si'Lea said.

"That's actually something we need to talk about. But not here." Aqua said, confusing Si'Lea.

"What do you mean?" she asked but Aqua merely pointed upwards with her Keyblade, summoning her Keyblade Glider.

"I'll tell you while we're on the road." Aqua replied as Si'Lea blinked in confusion.

…

Soon they were traveling through the stars once again.

"So what exactly happened back there?" Si'Lea asked.

"Remember that call we got? It was a warning. Namine's been working to sabotage the Sisterhood but they got suspicious and sent her to try and kill me as a test of loyalty. They were watching so it had to look absolutely convincing. Even you had to be sold on it. Namine contacted a mutual friend of ours to relay her warning to us." Aqua said as Si'Lea chuckled in surprise.

"I take it all back. I guess she is on our side after all. She's quite an actress, or is she always like that?" Si'Lea asked.

"Actress." Aqua replied simply as Si'Lea chuckled. She then looked towards Aqua.

"So who was that on the phone?" she asked as Aqua slowed down.

"It was Riku, but I still can't figure out what he's doing here." Aqua said as Si'Lea pondered.

"Perhaps he's the mutual friend of Mickey and Sora's that Mickey was talking about. The one Mickey said was protecting Ni-…wait, Riku?" Si'Lea pondered.

"What is it?" Aqua asked.

"Humor me. Where are Sora and Riku from? What world?" Si'Lea asked.

"A world called the Destiny Islands. Nice place. A nice little tropical paradise. Kairi lives there too." Aqua explained, Si'Lea falling silent.

"Si, what's the matter?" Aqua asked.

"It's nothing. Come on, we need to find out where Nixe's gotten to." Si'Lea replied as they soared off into the stars.

Meanwhile in the Palace of Eternity…

Namine had a prideful smirk on her face as she entered the meeting room where the other Sisters stood applauding her success.

"Well done, Sister!" "You actually got the drop on a Keyblade Master!" "Now I have reason to be jealous of you!" "I'll pay you five thousand munny to tell me how you did it!" "Meh, I could've done better." The sisters all said while First smiled from ear to ear. Prishe however was stood in the doorway with a blank, almost crestfallen expression.

"It was quite simple really. I used the element of surprise. It was over the minute she saw me." Namine said as the Sisters all expressed their approval.

"Ah the old 'I-was-your-friend-but-not-anymore-gag.' Classic." Fifth said, sliding a sack full of munny over to Namine from across the table which she quietly rested her arm on. She wasn't smiling for the same reasons they were. She had successfully duped them.

"Kinda reminiscent of you when you turned on Si'Lea originally, First." Third commented as First leaned back in her seat, still smiling approvingly as she tented her fingers in front of her.

"The mark of a true member of the Sisterhood. I almost wonder if we shouldn't swap Second out with her in taking down the Apprentice." First pondered aloud. Namine froze at this suggestion but was relieved when Fourth arched a curious eyebrow.

"If we wanted him dead, sure but we need him alive, don't we?" she asked as First gave a nod.

"Yes, that is true. Maybe next time, Seven." First commented as Namine quietly scooped up the sack of munny.

"I'm fine waiting. I've had enough excitement for one day. Call me when the Apprentice shows-…" Namine said as she turned to leave but paused when she saw Prishe standing there, still staring at her in disappointment.

"So…guess you're really one of them now, huh Seven?" Prishe asked as she absently started to pick her nose.

"Shouldn't you be in your cell, abomination?" Fourth asked haughtily.

"I thought you were different Seven. Guess I was wrong. You're just like them." Prishe said before flicking the nose nugget at Namine before turning and leaving.

"Why do we keep her around?" Third asked, referring to Prishe.

"Because she's a very useful puppet when the right strings are pulled." First replied.

"A nigh indestructible puppet at that." Fifth added.

"How come she has all that power? It's not fair! How come I can't have that power too?!" Fourth whined.

"Oh shut up, shorty." Sixth mumbled before getting tackled by an irate Fourth.

"SHORTY?! CAN-A-SHORTY-DO-THIS?! WHAT-ELSE-YOU-WANNA-CALL-ME?! A-HALF-PINT-BEANSPROUT-MIDGET?! I'M-STILL-GROWING-YOU-BACKWATER-SKANKY-IDIOT!" Fourth yelled as she started beating the ever-loving-daylights out of Sixth, Third and Fifth quickly leaping in to try and separate the two while First calmly ignored the chaos, watching Namine curiously as she quietly left the room. In the hallway, Namine was quietly walking back towards her room when she felt Riku attempting to contact her via D-Link. She quietly reached into her coat pocket.

"Riku?" she asked over the link.

"Namine?! What happened? We got word to Aqua through Si'Lea's spy network! How'd it go?" Riku asked.

"A complete success. They don't suspect a thing anymore. And when Aqua 'miraculously' shows up alive, I can always feign ignorance. They know she's a Keyblade Master so it won't be hard to come up with some kind of an excuse." Namine explained.

"You don't sound too happy about it though." Riku said as Namine entered her room, shutting it behind her.

"I'm happy Aqua's okay, but the situation with Prishe…Riku, I need you to continue my investigation for me. If you can somehow convince Nixe to return to Sublime, I need you to talk with someone named Vincent Valentine. He knows what Prishe's secret is. I need to know what it is if I'm going to help her." Namine said as she sat down at her table and pulled her drawing pad close.

"Alright but it might be a while. What's the deal with this Prishe girl anyway?" Riku asked.

"That's why I need you to complete my investigation. Once I know what happened to her, then I can start looking for a way to help her." Namine said.

"Right. We're still at some place Nixe calls, Black Castle, so it may be a while before we can get to Sublime. I'll let you know as soon as I've heard something." Riku replied before severing the connection. Namine quietly sighed to herself before picking up her drawing pad and beginning to draw something on it when the door suddenly opened.

"Seven! Come quick!" Fifth exclaimed, startling Namine.

"Huh?! What?! What is it?!" she asked.

"We just got word from Second! Aqua's Apprentice has just arrived in Steadfast Stadium!"

End Chapter 44.

Namine may have pulled the wool over the Sisterhood's eyes but now Sora is about to walk into the Sisterhood's trap? Will he survive?! Find out in the next chapter!