It was late in the evening in Sublime. The streetlights were on and most of the people had retreated to the safety of their homes to wait out the night. The Sublime Guardians were patrolling the districts, keeping an eye out for any Heartless that might try to stray into town. All and all, the town was quiet and peaceful. Vincent Valentine was alone as he stood atop Sublime Manor, surveying the First District with his tri-barreled pistol, Cerberus, in hand. He then sensed something nearby and turned to see a star in the sky shining brighter than the rest. He subtly allowed a small smile to appear although it was hidden behind his tall collar. Nixe and Riku touched down in the gardens behind the mansion, Nixe dismissing her Keyblade Glider and armor, Nixe looking up at the mansion with apprehension.

"We better make this fast." She mumbled quietly.

"Relax. We picked the right time to come here. If what you've told me about the Guardians are correct, then they should be too spread out to notice us." Riku said as Nixe glanced towards a clock that was hung on one of the buildings outside of the manor grounds.

"Well, the Guardians did just start their patrols…so we do have a better chance…but they always leave at least one Guardian on watch at the mansion and tonight's watch is…" Nixe commented before her eyes widened and she swallowed nervously. She then slowly turned around and looked up with a look of mild fear. Riku noticed her reaction and turned to look and saw Vincent looming behind them, looking calmly down at them from over his tall collar. Cerberus had been holstered.

"Nixe." He greeted.

"H-H-Hiya Vincent! Fancy running into you, huh?!" Nixe squeaked as Riku arched an eyebrow.

"Wait, Vincent? You're Vincent Valentine?" Riku asked, intrigued. Vincent looked towards him with a relaxed gaze.

"You're Riku." Vincent said, Riku arching an eyebrow in response.

"You know me, then. Sora mentioned my name I take it? Or was it the Reaper's Game?" Riku asked.

"It was Sora." Vincent replied, Nixe attempting to slip away. Vincent noticed her leaving but didn't react.

"You're not going to stop her?" Riku asked, also noticing her leaving.

"Should I?" Vincent asked, causing Nixe to pause and whirl back around towards him.

"Huh?!" she asked.

"Aren't you supposed to try and keep her here for Master Si'Lea?" Riku asked but Vincent remained silent, only glancing away from the either of them.

"Alright, I see." Riku commented, figuring out Vincent's actions.

"See what?" Nixe asked as she approached.

"Vincent's not going to rat us out. He's on our side." Riku said, confusing Nixe.

"Huh? When did he say that?" she asked, Vincent looking at her.

"There's a reason you came back, isn't there?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah, we got a tip about a possible Sisterhood Heartless supplier right here in Sublime. A place called Flynn's. You know that old arcade in the Fourth District? Supposedly someone's supplying the Sisterhood with Heartless from there." Nixe said as Vincent narrowed his gaze.

"So that's what Sora found." Vincent mumbled.

"Huh?" Nixe asked.

"I'll take you there. The others won't know you've returned." Vincent said, Nixe's eyes widening in surprise.

"Vincent, you'd do that for us?!" she asked, almost touched by his generosity. Vincent gave a quiet nod.

"Before we do though, I need to ask you a few questions, Vincent. About an old friend of yours. A girl named Prishe?" Riku asked as Vincent's eyes narrowed again but there was a sadness to them. Nixe looked confused.

"You want to ask about Prishe?" she asked.

"It's for a friend, a friend who might be able to help free her from the Sisterhood of Seven's control, but she has to know what the Sisterhood has done to her first in order to help her." Riku explained. Vincent looked towards Riku.

"Nixe…go inside for a moment." Vincent said, confusing the Apprentice in question.

"Huh?"

"Prishe doesn't want you to know." Vincent said, confusing Nixe even more.

"What?! Why?! I mean, Prishe was my friend too, you know!" Nixe exclaimed.

"But can you help her when the only person who knows what to do to help her is the same person who turned her against you?" Vincent asked, Nixe pausing.

"Nixe, I'll make a deal with you. I'll hear Vincent out. You go inside and wait. When that's done, I'll pass along what Vincent told me. Then at least he won't be telling you directly." Riku said as Nixe scowled slightly.

"Well…alright but make it fast." Nixe said before turning and heading towards the backdoor to the manor. Once she was inside, Riku looked at Vincent.

"Alright what's the story?" Riku asked as Vincent motioned towards the gazeebo nearby, the two starting to walk over towards it.

"Prishe and I, we helped the Master defend Sublime. We were there when she first arrived. We weren't alone though, but we still helped her, even after…" Vincent said, his sentence dropping off.

"After?" Riku asked as they stepped into the gazeebo.

"After the betrayal." Vincent answered.

"You mean when the First Sister betrayed Si'Lea?" Riku asked but Vincent's expression darkened.

"It wasn't just the First Sister who betrayed her…although, betrayal wouldn't be accurate. In hindsight, it was Si'Lea, and the rest of us, who betrayed them, but for the right reasons." Vincent said, Riku furrowing his brow.

"Them?" Riku asked. Vincent didn't react to this and continued on.

"We stayed by the Master's side for three years after the betrayal. One day, seven years ago, the Sisterhood brazenly attacked us. First, Second, and Third, attacked Sublime. First attacked Si'Lea and Master Oswald, but Master Si'Lea lost her left eye in the fight while Master Oswald was captured. Prishe and I, we tried to rescue him before they escaped but we were captured too." Vincent explained, Riku listening intently.

"They tortured us, experimented upon us. They turned Master Oswald, brainwashed him somehow, but to this day, I don't know how. I emerged as you see me. But Prishe…she suffered the worst of it all. Their experiments, they weren't focused on the body. They were focused on the Heart. Trying to find a means of transferring our hearts to them so they could live independently forever, to become their own beings. What they did to Prishe though…" Vincent said as Riku narrowed his eyes.

"What did they do to her? What did they do to Prishe's heart?" Riku asked as Vincent placed his clawed hand over his own chest.

"Almost the exact same thing they did to mine." Vincent replied. He had noticed, but didn't think anything of it, as Riku had slipped a hand into a hidden pocket in his sleeve at the start of the conversation. The same hidden pocket where he kept his lucky charm.

In the Palace of Eternity…

Namine sat wide eyed at her table in her room, her lucky charm clutched in her hand, shaking at what she was hearing through Riku. The things Vincent was saying, about what they did to Prishe and Vincent, shook her to the core. She couldn't even muster the ability to speak as she listened, her mouth simply hanging open in shock and disgust.

Then she heard it…

…Prishe's secret at last laid bare…

"Crystalized?" she whispered with a gasp. At that she leapt from the table, hurrying for the door, and rushing out into the hall. The run from her room down to the lower levels where Prishe's cell was located was a blur. She hadn't seen the Abhorrent One since her faux assassination of Aqua, a deception that even Prishe had bought into. Now Namine was stood outside Prishe's cell door, the door closed. She started pounding on the door.

"Prishe! I know you're in there! Prishe! I know your secret now! The secret about your heart! It's not that you have one! It's that it's been turned to crystal!" Namine yelled, pounding on the door until her fist hurt. She took a moment to cradle her fist but when she did, she saw the door crack open, Prishe standing in the cracked doorway, glaring at her. All sense of her usual humor and mirth was gone, replaced by a scowling and angry expression that made Namine recoil.

"Only a few days. A new record." Prishe commented in a low tone as she opened the door, glaring at Namine who looked at her with a look of fear and pity. Prishe subtly brushed aside the pendant she wore around her neck and opened her top just enough to show her sternum, a jagged crystalline object embedded just beneath the skin. The object went all the way to her heart.

"This crystal is why I serve you and the other Sisters. Because it's the only thing keeping me alive. I can't kill myself and nor can I be killed. Believe me, I've tried. First is the only one who knows how to release me from this condition. So I bend over backwards for you selfish losers, hoping that eventually First decides to hold up her end of the bargain and end my miserable existence. So unless you've got some means of breaking this crystal and keeping it shattered, and keeping me from regenerating, then I don't want to see your gluttonous face again, Seven." Prishe said in a low tone, never once raising her voice, never once smiling. Namine was shaken to the core by Prishe's change in attitude.

"Maybe…there's something I can do." Namine pondered, watching Prishe finally start to turn away before attempting once again to delve into her memories. Prishe's ears only twitched once before she wheeled back around and delivered a powerful punch to Namine's stomach, sending her flying clear across to the wall in the adjoining corridor where she hit the wall with such force, she left a large crater in the wall behind her. Namine collapsed to the ground with a loud cough, stunned by the surprise attack. She looked up at Prishe who still had her fist thrown forward, glaring at Namine with unbridled fury in her eyes.

"Don't you get it?! The crystallization works both ways! I can't be killed but neither can my emotions or memories be manipulated! Every time you try, I feel it! Do it again, and the next punch will send you back into Darkness!" Prishe yelled before stepping back into her cell and slamming the door, the sound of it slamming echoing throughout the Palace. Namine staggered to her feet, still aching slightly from the punch. She started to move towards the door again but as she approached, she could hear Prishe sniffling inside, crying as she sat with her back to the door, weeping over her cursed existence.

"Prishe." Namine said mentally. That was when she started to look back at the memories she had gleaned from First, the memories of Prishe's initial incarceration. There was something about that memory that concerned Namine and she knew it was likely the key to Prishe's condition. Something that was out of place.

Meanwhile in the Black Castle…

Sora had just touched down in the dead and dying forest outside the castle, looking around for any signs of the last two members of the Reaper's Game. He then heard a strange hissing sound before he saw something small and black fly over his head. He looked and saw a small black creature land on one of the dead trees. The creature, glaring at Sora.

"Is that a Dragon?" Xion asked as she and Roxas materialized. Upon closer inspection, the creature appeared to be a small dragon hatchling, periodically hissing at him.

"I don't think it likes us." Roxas commented. Sora's survival instincts suddenly kicked in. He quickly dodge rolled to one side just as a burst of thick black brambles erupted from beneath the ground where he had been standing. (Battle Music Cue: L'Impeto Oscuro - DDD) He quickly leapt into the air just as another burst of brambles appeared beneath him again. He turned in midair, Keyblade summoned, just in time to see a figure clad in a white cloak and wielding two large single edged swords come flying at him, a lone yellow eye piercing the darkness of its hood. Sora quickly blocked the blow with his Keyblade, the eye glaring angrily at him as they flew through the air. The figure then reared back a conjured third blade connected to a strange black bramble-like tendril emerging from beneath the cloak, the third blade being brought down from overhead. Two Become One quickly summoned itself in time to intercept the blow but the force of the attack launched Sora straight towards the ground, impacting with a loud crash and sending a shockwave that blew over several dead trees and left a huge crater. The figure hovered over the scene, glaring down as the dust settled. As it did, it saw Sora knelt in the center of the crater, his armor covering him and having shielded him from the force of the impact.

The figure let out an audible growl before launching itself down towards Sora, wielding two of its three swords. Sora quickly rose to his feet with both Keyblades in hand and brought them around to block just in time as the figure brought its blades down with enough force that it caused the crater Sora was standing in to expand and deepen.

"Who…are…you?!" Sora grunted as their blades let off sparks from the friction as they pressed against each other.

"A vengeful sister." First replied with fury in her voice. She then brought around both the third and a fourth blade to try and attack him but Oathkeeper appeared in midair, blocking the strikes. Sora then managed to launch her away, forcing her backwards where she landed near the outer edge of the crater, her hood falling back and allowing her face to be seen. The minute Sora saw her face though, his eyes widened.

"Aurora?!" he asked, all three of his Keyblades disappearing. He recognized her face as belonging to the Princess of Heart from the Enchanted Dominion: Princess Aurora. Before he could blink, First had launched herself at him again, this time with the four blades merged together into two double-edged swords, one in each hand as she rocketed towards him. Sora quickly summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion in time to block her attacks, First attacking with one blade while bringing the other around to strike from the side but Sora blocked again only to get launched into the air from the force of the attack. This time, however, Sora managed to pull off an aerial recovery, landing upright within the crater.

"Who are you?!" Sora asked, his helmet disappearing as he pointed Oathkeeper at her.

"I am the Leader of the Sisterhood of Seven, the Lady of Wrath, the Queen of Fury, and the Matriarch of Anger! I am the First Sister and you will suffer for the crimes you have committed against the Sisterhood of Seven, the most heinous of which includes the murder of my SISTER!" First yelled, her swords splitting back into their original configuration of four swords while three more swords appeared, seven in total, all seven of them being held by the strange tendrils, and all pointed towards Sora. The blades suddenly started to glow with black flames. She quickly lunged forward, the blades spinning around her. Sora quickly leapt clear, dodging her attacks as she came at him with a fury. Sora's helmet reappeared on his head as he landed only to quickly block a strike which sent him skidding across the ground some distance across the crater.

"You're the First Sister?! You're the one who had Namine kidnapped! Where is she?!" Sora asked, his helmet disappearing again, First turning towards him in clear anger.

"She won't be a concern of yours much longer! We've discovered her little sabotage efforts and once we're through with her, she'll wish she'd never come into being!" First said with a snarl, Sora's eyes widening in alarm for a moment before narrowing in anger.

"You won't touch her!" Sora argued but didn't move but First merely glared at him, her eye focused squarely upon him.

"Her fate is your own, boy! You took my sister away, and so I take away the precious girl you so desire to save! Tell me, what is your relation to the girl? Why would a boy like you be interested in a girl with no heart?! A bona fide Witch! A Nobody!" First yelled but Sora stood his ground, glaring at her with Oathkeeper and Oblivion clutched in hand. First's eyebrow then arched and a dark smirk appeared on her face.

"Ah, I get it. You're her pet. She's tampered with your memories and now has you acting as her faithful protector. How surprising. I don't think I give her quite enough of the credit she deserves. Maybe she is the key to Si'Lea's undoing after all, if she can manipulate a Keyblade Apprentice like you to do her bid-."

"Shut your mouth!" (End Battle Music).

First froze with a mildly surprised expression on her face. What surprised her even more though was that Sora's appearance had changed. His hair was still spiky but arranged differently than before as well as turning from brown to a slight blond. His facial features had also changed as well.

"I know exactly who Namine is! I know exactly what she is! And you're right! She has manipulated Sora in the past, but she has atoned for that sin! So if you're trying to make Sora angry, forget it! You'll never make him angry. Me on the other hand…" Roxas said as the Keyblade armor disappeared, revealing him clad in the familiar black cloak of Organization XIII. (Battle Music Cue: Black Powder - BBS) First's eye widened in surprise at this.

"Who is this?! Is he the boy's Nobody?!" First pondered in surprise, Roxas dropping into his fighting stance and literally glowing with an aura of crisp white light.

"Allow me to introduce myself! I am Roxas, the Key of Destiny! The former number Thirteen of Organization XIII! Sora's Nobody! And you've royally pissed me off!" Roxas yelled before rocketing towards her, leaving a streak of light and lens flares behind. First quickly brought all seven of her swords around in time to block but Roxas hit her head on with such force, they traveled several hundred feet across the ground, leaving a deep rut in the earth as First struggled to withstand the force of the attack. First finally knocked Roxas away but he merely vanished in a flash and reappeared overhead.

"LIGHT!" he yelled, conjuring 13 pillars of white light in a circle around First, each pillar topped with the Mark of Mastery Emblem instead of the Nobody emblem. It was Roxas's Faith ability only much more powerful! The pillars then started to spin in a circle around First before spiraling inward, exploding in a single great pillar of light but First managed to narrowly escape it, still caught off guard by Roxas's appearance. She now had her swords arranged in a unique fashion. Four of the swords were on her back, arranged in an X shape to resemble fairy wings while two of her swords merged together into the double edged sword in her right hand while the remaining single blade was held in her left. She was hovering in the air, looking in disbelief at the damage Roxas could inflict when she suddenly sensed something behind her. She spun around in time to see Roxas bring both Keyblades around towards her. She quickly blocked but the force of the blow knocked her towards the Black Castle, causing her to crash through one of the outer walls and crash land in the courtyard. First struggled to her feet, increasingly alarmed by what was happening. Roxas then appeared on the opposite side of the courtyard from her, dismissing his Keyblades as he glared at her.

"If you think we're done, guess again! I'm not the only one who wants a piece of you for the suffering you've caused!" Roxas yelled as a light appeared from beneath his collar, the light enveloping his entire head. When the light faded, First was surprised once again to see Roxas had changed once more only this time it was replaced by a feminine face with long black hair and clutching the Two Become One Keyblade.

"What?! What is going on?! Who are you?!" First asked.

"Just call me Xion!" Xion said before launching herself towards First, Two Become One clinched in one hand. First quickly leapt clear just as Xion brought her Keyblade down where First had been standing. First quickly reconfigured the blades in her hand so that there were two on her left side, the handles retracted into the guards to resemble a large shield while she held a single blade in her right hand. She brought the bladed shield around in time to deflect a frontal attack but was alarmed when Xion vaulted over the shield, Two Become One reared back and ready to strike. First narrowly managed to deflect the attack with one of her wing blades, Xion leaping high into the air and bounding off the wall. First watched her sail through the air with a look of disbelief on her expressions.

"What's going on?! I can't feel any anger from them at all! Why isn't there any anger?!" First asked mentally as Xion spun around in midair to glare at her. In a flash she summoned a strange sword to her offhand that resembled a mix between the Kingdom Key and the Nobody emblem. Her entire body became clad in armor that resembled a mix of Sora's Keyblade Armor and enchanted wardrobe (A/N: It's Xion's Final Boss Form from 358/2 only substituting Two Become One in place of one of the swords and normal sized). She proceeded to point her Keyblade into the air, causing pillars of light to start raining down. It was hers and Roxas's Magic Hour ability! First quickly morphed six of her blades into a single large shield, raising it over head and struggling against the barrage while holding onto a single blade. As the light rained down from overhead, Xion touched down and charged forward towards First, her weapons raised. First saw her coming and snarled, taking a deep breath.

"That's ENOUGH!" she yelled, breathing a jet of black flames, forcing Xion to leap back and shield herself with a Reflega, the jet of flames scattering in all directions as the Magic Hour came to an end. As Xion kept the Reflega raised, she looked up and saw First coming towards her, her swords reconfigured back into the fairy wing and shield combo but this time the single blade had morphed slightly, its handle having grown much longer to the point the sword had become a crude spear or lance. Xion dropped the Reflega just as First brought the blade around in a sweep but Xion nimbly leapt up, pushing off of the side of the spear and rolling to the side. She suddenly noticed First was grinning devilishly and quickly saw why. The shield blades had returned to a double edged sword form and had sacrificed one of the wing blades into quickly turning the spear into another double edged blade, bringing both swords together in an effort to catch her in the center of a scissor-like swing but Xion ducked the attack, leaping up at just the right time to knock the blades out of First's hands, the blades spinning into the air and landing nearby.

"No! It cannot be!" she exclaimed as she leapt back, forming her three remaining swords into the sword and shield combo as Xion's armor and weapons vanished, revealing Sora, glaring at her but it wasn't a look of anger in his eyes but it was something different, the same look that had been in Sora's eyes when he defeated Second in Steadfast Stadium, and it was a look that made First very, very afraid.

"That look…that's not anger…that's patience!" She exclaimed, Sora starting to glow with light again but this time Roxas and Xion both materialized on either side of him, their respective Keyblades in their hands, the sight of all three making First shake with disbelief.

"Patience…one of the seven virtues and the counter to anger." Roxas said.

"We've been through so many adventures, gotten into so many scrapes, so many fights, that we know that an adventure never really ends. Trying to rush through it only causes mistakes and there's no point in getting angry about some things." Xion added.

"So trying to make Sora angry doesn't do you any good. It's the two of us you need to worry about and since our heart is Sora's heart, you're kinda left at a crossroads, aren't you?" Roxas asked before he and Xion vanished, their Keyblades floating in the air around Sora as he stepped forward, summoning the Kingdom Key and pointing it at First who snarled angrily.

"Where's Namine? I won't ask again!" Sora yelled, First merely snarling in fury. Suddenly black tendrils lashed out from beneath her cloak and grabbed her fallen swords, which she proceeded to sling at Sora but when Sora raised his blades to deflect, First's swords suddenly vanished in a black haze. Sora looked and saw First had vanished, reappearing atop one of the high towers overlooking the courtyard, one of her blades glowing with black magic and pointed towards the sky.

"The forest of thorns shall be your tomb! Born from the skies like a fog of doom! Now go with a curse, and serve me well! Around this Keyblade Master, cast my spell!" First recited as bolts of black lightning struck the ground around Sora, causing a thick mass of large black brambles to appear from the ground, quickly trapping him inside (End Battle Music). It was silent for a moment before there was a sudden burst of flames from within the brambles, the brambles catching a blaze for a moment before suddenly exploding outward, revealing an armored Sora with only the Kingdom Key in hand. He looked up and saw only a closing Corridor of Darkness where First had been standing. His armor and Keyblade disappeared as he dropped onto his hands and knees, breathing heavily from the battle, a hand on his heart.

"Guys, I don't think we can do that again." Sora panted, the strain of having used four Keyblades as well as having allowed Roxas and Xion temporary use of his body during the battle had taken its toll. He soon heard footsteps approaching from behind.

"Whoa, that was totally insane, yo!" a man's voice said. Sora looked over his shoulder and saw Beat and Rhyme approaching from the main castle entrance. Sora climbed to his feet, still a little worn from the fight.

"Yeah, I've never seen anyone do a number on the First Sister like that before!" Rhyme commented.

"Well, to be fair, we've never even seen the First Sister before." Beat corrected.

"You must be Master Sora. We've heard about you." Rhyme said as Sora smiled, putting his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, that's me. You guys must be Reapers four and five." Sora said, the brother/sister duo both nodding.

"I'm Beat." "And I'm Rhyme." The two introduced.

"Sora, but you knew that already." Sora said.

"But man, we've gotta report this to the rest of the Reaper's Game!" Rhyme said as Beat nodded.

"Yeah, but this kinda report needs to be delivered in person." Beat said, Rhyme looking up at him curiously.

"You mean we're going home now?" Rhyme asked excitedly.

"Yeah, come on sis. Need a lift back to Steadfast, Master Sora?" Beat asked but Sora shook his head.

"No thanks, I've got my own transport and you guys can just call me Sora." Sora replied as the duo both nodded, walking away. Sora watched them leave for a moment before turning back towards the tower that First had been standing on, staring at the spot with a narrowed gaze.

"Namine…hang on…I'm coming for you."

In the Palace of Eternity…

First sat in her throne again, alone in the commons room, a distant but fearful look in her eye. She looked at her left hand as she raised it up and saw it was shaking uncontrollably. She took a deep breath, swallowing nervously as she processed what had just happened. She had been practically beaten, forced to retreat, but this wasn't what made her afraid.

"Three beings…one body…one heart…one heart, with a crown…" she whispered as she looked upwards, a look of fearful realization in her eye.

"…the Champion of Light, is awakening." First said as she rose from her throne, stepping towards the table in the center of the room, waving a hand across in front of her, conjuring three magic spheres which showed the locations of Si'Lea and Aqua, Nixe, and Sora. Si'Lea, Aqua, and Sora were all traveling through space while Nixe stood within the ballroom of Sublime Manor. The sight of Nixe back in Sublime made First's eye widen in anxiousness. With another wave of her hand, another sphere appeared only now the spheres showed live feeds of Sisters Three through Six as they dallied about the Palace.

"Sisters, lend me your ears." First said, noticing the sisters all react to her voice.

"Sisters, the time has come…"

"…tonight, Si'Lea's brat, will be ours."

End Chapter 53

So now we know Prishe's secret and we know which of the Princesses of Heart created First: Aurora, the first Princess to chronologically lose her heart (it happened in Birth By Sleep).

Also, if you want a good alternate fight tune, cue up "Erza no Theme" from the Fairy Tail soundtrack. That's what I was listening to when Roxas appeared on the scene during the fight.

Oh and this also sees the end of the Black Cauldron world but don't worry, this is a world we'll be returning to in the future, and it'll feature the events surrounding the Black Cauldron film infinitely closer.