(Battle Music Cue: Master Tell Me the Truth – BBS FM)

Sparks flew as Master and Apprentice battled it out within the Ballroom of Sublime Manor. Forte could only watch with intrigue as the two exchanged blows. Riku hurried into the ballroom, still clutching his arm, watching the pair continuing to fight.

"Nixe! That's enough!" Si'Lea yelled, trying to calm the angered Apprentice but Nixe wouldn't back down as she leapt back and fired off a Fire spell straight at Si'Lea. The Keyblade Master quickly brought her shield around in time to block the spell, the fireball dispersing harmlessly against the shield.

"Nixe, listen to me! You don't understand that this has never been about your skill! This has been about protecting you from a very real and dangerous threat to your life!" Si'Lea argued as she reared back and hurled her Keyblade into the air, Bright Crest sawing through the air and forcing Nixe onto the defensive as it repeatedly buzzed her from different directions until Nixe quickly made what appeared to be an errant swing that swatted the Keyblade out of the air, sending the weapon clattering to the ground.

"No! You listen! All my life, for as long as I can remember, you've told me the worlds were a dark cruel place, and now that I've been to them, seen them for what they really are, how can you continue to stand there and continue to claim they still are?!" Nixe asked as Si'Lea summoned her Keyblade back to her hand.

"I'm not! I was wrong! I willingly admit, I was wrong to lie to you about that! But everything I did was to protect you!" Si'Lea pleaded.

"Why should I trust you anymore?! You refuse to acknowledge that I've grown stronger! Why won't you acknowledge that?!" Nixe asked, rearing back her Keyblade.

"En-Blizzard!" she shouted, her Keyblade starting to emit cold vapors and a soft cyan glow before she charged forward. Si'Lea held her ground, calmly staying in place. Nixe was almost half way to her when she realized what her Master was doing and slid to a stop, just inches from one of about a dozen blue circles on the ground. Si'Lea had triggered her Magic Trap Shot Lock, her magic mines littering the floor around her. Nixe scowled up at her before bringing her Keyblade around in a full circle, sending a powerful blast of fire magic across the ground, causing the Bombs, with confused expressions on their faces, to burst from the mines and detonate harmlessly. Nixe then charged forward again but Si'Lea merely dismissed her shield, dropping into a low-to-the-ground fighting stance before launching forward, spinning through the air, and forcing Nixe to slide across the floor on her knees, arcing her body backwards to narrowly dodge the attack as Si'Lea landed with a flourish to face the errant Keyblade Apprentice. Nixe leapt up, spinning around to face her. They were about to charge at each other again when…

"Guard!" Riku shouted, causing a Guard Wall of blue magic tiles to appear between the two, Nixe crashing into the wall, staggering back in confusion.

"Riku?! Whose side are you on?! Stay out of this!" Nixe yelled as Riku summoned his sword.

"I'm on my own side, the side of my mission! This fighting is beneath the both of you!" Riku yelled, as Si'Lea dropped into another fighting stance, her Keyblade held across in front of her in her usual reversed grip.

"Stay out of this, Replica! This is between me and Nixe!" Si'Lea argued, Nixe squatting down slightly, preparing for a charge. Suddenly both charged at one another, the two coming together in a titanic clash, their Keyblades hitting against each other's, sending off sparks. Si'Lea suddenly leapt back, flinging her Keyblade backwards, away from Nixe, the Keyblade sawing through the air while Si'Lea summoned her shield, using it offensively, deflecting or outright blocking Nixe's attacks as Bright Crest came spinning back around to attack the young Apprentice from the side but Nixe back flipped away, the Keyblade flying between the two before coming back around to attack from the rear. Nixe, however, anticipated this and rolled to one side just as the Keyblade came within striking distance, Si'Lea managing to expertly catch the Keyblade out of the air.

"Enough of this, Nixe! You're not proving anything! A Keyblade Master isn't a Keyblade Wielder who has access to all of their abilities, but one who is a Master at heart! You're not there yet! You have as of yet to show that to me!" Si'Lea said as Nixe let out a frustrated groan.

"Oh, and you are a Master at heart is that it?! While we've been cowering away down here for the last eleven years, the Sisterhood has gotten stronger and stronger! Some Master you are! It took Aqua and Sora to come here and me running away to force you to do what you were trained to do!" Nixe said, catching Si'Lea off guard.

"There are some things worth protecting, Nixe! Such as keeping promises made to dying friends! Friends like your mother!" Si'Lea argued, angering Nixe but earning a curious look from Riku.

"Leave my mother out of this!" Nixe argued back before charging again, the two becoming locked in combat once more. Riku let out a growl of frustration as he watched the two going at it. His observations were suddenly interrupted when he felt a strange sensation on his injured arm. He looked at his arm and saw in amazement as the crystalline substance around his arm rapidly started to fill in the hole before fading away into his skin, the damage completely reversed. He knew his own healing abilities weren't so potent so there was only one other option, an option that made his eyes widen in alarm.

"You want to see what I can do, Master?!" Nixe asked, rearing her Keyblade across and down at her left side, ribbons of glowing pink energy starting to stream down from the tip, Si'Lea dropping down into a defensive stance, her shield raised.

"Don't try it!" she yelled. Before Nixe could move, Riku suddenly appeared in a black haze in his Dark Form, his sword pressed against her own, preventing her from moving. (End Battle Music)

"Riku?! What gives?!" Nixe asked before noticing his panicked expression.

"They're here!" he replied, confusing Nixe. Si'Lea seemed similarly confused for a moment before quickly realizing who he was referring to. She quickly spun around, shield raised but just narrowly in time for the shield to be knocked free from her arm, causing her to fall to the ground, by a single vicious upward strike by a golden serpent shaped staff. Riku and Nixe saw the attacker, a figure clad in familiar white clothes with a hood. (Ambiance Cue: Key of Darkness – BBS)

"Surely you meant to invite us to the party, Si'Lea." Fifth commented with a chuckle.

"Mom!" Nixe exclaimed, attempting to leap to her Master's defense but was suddenly caught by the wrist from behind, a familiar serrated dagger held to her throat.

"We meet again, girl." Third said into Nixe's ear.

"Get away from her you snake!" Riku yelled, rearing back his sword but was suddenly grabbed by an inhumanly large fist. Nixe and the dazed Si'Lea both turned to see Fourth kneeling nearby only she had grown inhumanly large. She was kneeling very far forward but still only just cleared the ceiling. She proceeded to throw Riku hard into the ground next to her.

"Puny little creature. Thought you could match my strength?" Fourth asked, placing her hand on top of Riku, keeping him pinned underneath. Si'Lea scrambled to climb to her feet only for a gunshot to ring out, a strange black sphere hitting her right hand but not injuring her. Instead the sphere formed into a thick black sphere over her hand. Si'Lea quickly tried to pull it off but her other hand only got pulled into the substance which hardened the minute both hands were inside.

"What is this?!" Si'Lea asked as Sixth emerged from behind one of Forte's stacks, carrying what appeared to be a black trumpet barreled blunderbuss with white wooden stock with a "VI" for six on both sides of the stock.

"There's no use struggling, ma cherie. You're finally beaten." Sixth said as Si'Lea attempted to summon her Keyblade but couldn't due to the substance. She instead swung her encased hands towards the nearby Fifth but Fifth ducked, smacking Si'Lea in the stomach with the bottom of her staff, spinning her around back towards Nixe before stabbing the bottom of the staff into the ground, the floor beneath Si'Lea turning into a bubbling quicksand, causing the Keyblade Master to sink down as far as her knees, effectively trapping her completely.

"Momma!" Nixe yelled, attempting to struggle but four bramble-like tendrils to burst from the ground, coiling around Nixe's wrists, keeping them held straight out to her sides. A pair of the black spheres appeared around her hand, rendering her unable to summon her Keyblade.

"Ah, nothing like the sweet taste of a long overdue victory." First's voice echoed throughout the ballroom as a Corridor of Darkness opened between the two Keyblade Wielders, depositing First between them. First turned to smile smugly down at Si'Lea.

"It's been a long time since last I was here. A long, long time. I'd almost forgotten how dull this ballroom was. The one in the Palace has a bit of…fire damage." First said as Si'Lea snarled up at her.

"You've walked into a lion's den, First! It's only a matter of time before the other Guardians sense your presence and come rushing here!" Si'Lea said but First merely laughed.

"Oh will they? Well, you would be right, that is if I didn't have the Horned King leading a massive siege from the Seventh District right now. Your little Guardians are all tied up, and that includes your little blue haired friend and…and that accursed brat that stole the life of one of my sisters." First hissed as Si'Lea snarled, glancing at Forte.

"Not all of them. FORTE! NOW!" Si'Lea yelled. Forte merely glanced away with a smile.

"Forte?" Nixe asked, confused as she looked at him from over her shoulder. After a moment's silence, Si'Lea's face fell in shock before contorting in anger.

"Traitor! TRAITOR!" she yelled, causing First to chuckle in amusement.

"Ah, Si'Lea, you're just too easy to dupe. Forte's been our faithful informant ever since day one. Isn't that right, Maestro?" Si'Lea asked as Forte bowed as best he could.

"The pleasure has been mine, mademoiselle." Forte replied as First knelt down to Si'Lea's level, the two old rivals looking each other in their lone good eyes for a moment. First finally frowned a little before reaching up and removing Si'Lea's eyepatch with one hand while removing her own with the other. First's damaged eye wasn't like Si'Lea's though…

It was a solid black, iris, pupil, and all.

"I want you to see this with both eyes wide open. The day I promised you would come has finally arrived and there is naught you can do to stop it, my old friend." First said with a dark smile as she stood up, backing away slightly as Si'Lea struggled against her bonds, attempting to swing at the First Sister with the casing around her hands but found a chain had become attached between it and the floor, keeping her from moving her arms. First then looked around the room with a smirk.

"Seven! I know you're lingering around here somewhere! It's time for you to play this, the most important part of our great mission!" First said. Finally, after a moment, Namine emerged from behind Fourth, her hood still up as she walked past Riku who watched her walk past.

"Namine." He grunted from beneath Fourth's heavy fist.

"Be quiet you little abomination." Fourth ordered, pushing him down even harder, causing him to grunt in pain. Namine finally reached First who stood with her hands together in front of her.

"Seven, would you be so kind as to…" First said before looking squarely at Nixe, a dark grin on her face, "…take little Nixe's heart for us?"

Nixe's eyes widened in fear while Si'Lea snarled in anger.

"Don't you dare!" Si'Lea yelled, struggling against her bonds but Fifth was keeping a close vigil on her. Namine looked at Nixe with a look of confusion.

"Sister? What good will her heart do us?" Namine asked as First chuckled.

"For one who briefly had reunited with her other, you certainly have little knowledge about the Heart. After all, of the six of us who remain, you're the only one who's come closest to actually experiencing what it's like to have a heart." First said as she approached Nixe, putting her arm around the young Keyblade Apprentice. Nixe's eyes widened at the sight of her.

"Wait a minute! The woman in the market near the ice cream parlor! That was you! You've been leading me on from the start?!" Nixe asked as First chuckled in amusement.

"So innocent, so naïve, so…much of a pain. You see, Seven, there is a vast difference between the hearts of Keyblade Wielders and the hearts of everyone else. Keyblade Wielders' hearts have three stages. The first is when they are dormant or only beginning to discover their powers, such as when they first discover the Keyblade for the first time. When they become a Master, their hearts have reached a point where their heart and Keyblade work in tandem, their powers are focused and controlled. But it is that stage between awakening and mastery, that the heart is the most vulnerable, the most unstable. It is that point in which the heart of a Keyblade Wielder is ripe for the taking…and ripe for one of us to claim it." First explained before smiling towards Si'Lea.

"Isn't that right, Si'Lea? After all, you were the one who told me this over a decade ago. Why else would you rush back and beg your old Master to institute a ban on allowing anyone other than Keyblade Masters from traveling to these worlds?" First asked with a menacing chuckle, Si'Lea snarling at her. Riku and Namine were both looking at the Keyblade Master with suspicion.

"You knew all along what her plans were, didn't you?!" Riku grunted as Si'Lea bowed her head in shame.

"Mom? Is it true?" Nixe asked as Si'Lea sighed heavily.

"It's true." She replied as Nixe looked at her in surprise.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked as First chuckled.

"Yes, why didn't she? Perhaps it would lead to questions that she didn't want to have to answer? Questions like-." "That's enough!" Nixe interrupted, earning a glare from First.

"I don't care what her reasoning is! I'm starting to understand why she kept some secrets from me! It's so I wouldn't fear you!" Nixe yelled as First merely patted her on the head, slipping away from her.

"I do believe we've wasted enough time then. Seven, do your duty." First said, moving to stand behind Namine, facing away from Namine who looked at Nixe with a nervous look on her face. Nixe looked at Namine with a look of mild fear on her face, Namine quietly summoned her Keyblade, pointing it towards Nixe's chest, Nixe's look of fear intensifying.

"Sora…" Namine whispered as she lowered her head, closing her eyes.

"…I'm sorry."

In the Sixth District…

The Guardians' push against the advancing Heartless had stalled, both sides managing to maintain position near where the Fifth and Sixth Districts met. Sora was cutting down Heartless in his Light of the Night Command Style, scampering around on all fours as a black substance coated his arms and back, giving him large black claws that allowed him to slash through the Heartless with ease. He effortlessly sliced through an Invisible Type Heartless, landing near where Reno and Rude were holding the line.

"Not bad Sora! I can see now why Axel thought so highly of your abilities!" Reno commented as Sora's Command Style wore off.

"Remind me to introduce the two of you sometime!" Sora said, dropping into his fighting stance. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice…

"Sora…I'm sorry."

"Namine?" he asked, spinning back towards the First District for a moment as Aqua landed near him, having been assisting Mickey on the rooftops.

"Sora! They're about to mount another assault! We've got to-." Aqua said but was interrupted.

"Namine! She's here! I can feel it!" Sora exclaimed, turning and running towards the First District, Vincent landing next to Aqua, looking back towards the First District.

"She's not alone either." Vincent said, Aqua furrowing her brow for a moment before she felt it, her eyes widening in alarm and taking off after Sora.

Back in the ballroom…

Namine was still stood with her head bowed and eyes closed. She suddenly opened her eyes with an angry scowl and spun around, intending to strike First and take her by surprise. She put every ounce of physical strength she had but when she came around, she was stunned as her Keyblade struck one of First's seven swords, the First Sister holding it almost in anticipation of the attack. Namine's eyes widened in fear, looking up at First who stood scowling down at her. Namine took a step back in alarm before First's eyes flashed with fury and she viciously backhanded Namine, sending the young witch flying across the room.

"NAMINE!" Riku shouted as Namine crashed into the wall near Riku, leaving a crater on impact, her hood falling back as she collapsed to the floor, holding her side as Fifth stormed over, pointing her blunderbuss at Namine's head with a scowl. Namine looked up at First who dismissed her sword.

"Did you really think that you had us all fooled?! We discovered your treachery! You betrayed your own family, your own kind! You sold us out! Did you think we'd not notice?! That we'd turn a blind eye as our prospects dwindle and diminish with every loss we suffer?! Now you get to sit back and watch!" First yelled, black veins briefly starting to branch from her blackened eye before receding. She then collected herself, standing upright and straightening her cloak.

"Sorry for that little diversion, Si'Lea, but we needed to do a little house keeping first. Now, we can get back to business." First said as Si'Lea glared up at her.

"What makes you think you'll just be able to steal Nixe's heart? You honestly think you can control it? A heart cannot be stolen, not like that. The only way for someone to steal someone else's heart, is to love and show love. I tried to tell you that ages ago. Why do you think I took in Nixe?" Si'Lea asked, earning a laugh from First.

"Oh you are hilarious, Si'Lea. You preach of taking the high road when we both know what skeletons are lurking in your closet. You are no saintly Keyblade Master that took an orphaned girl in off the streets just because her mother got her heart stolen. You're the reason the girl's here in the first place, isn't that right?!" First asked as Si'Lea glared at her.

"No." Si'Lea replied, scowling up at her. First merely smiled and chuckled in amusement (Music Cue: Why Me – Disney's Aladdin, deleted song).

"Oh poor, Si'Lea. You've never really quite understood me. But I suppose it's fair since I never have quite understood you either." First said as she put her hands behind her back.

"Since that formative and hungry year,
I've been unappreciated by my peer.
As your slings and arrows flew,
I would ponder, didn't you?
Why me? Why me?"

First sang as she knelt down to Si'Lea's level with a smirk. She then stood and started to walk to stand between her two captives…

"For a girl of my charisma and physique
I have taken far too long to reach my peak.
Why was my status never quo?
Why did no one want to know?
Poor me? Why me?"

First sang before mockingly rubbing brow

"Why was I so unable to fulfill my true potential?
Kept down by those I knew were smaller fry, inconsequential!"

First sang before spinning towards Si'Lea with a sinister grin…

"But here's the plot! Oh Phantom Blot!"

First called into the room. Si'Lea's eyes widened and mouth opened in horror as the Phantom Blot suddenly appeared from a Corridor of Darkness within the floor, the monster bursting up from the ground, its green eyes glaring at Nixe hungrily. Nixe was visibly terrified of the monster.

"No! First! Stop this!" Si'Lea pleaded, struggling to break free but First merely laughed mockingly as the Phantom Blot moved towards Nixe, pooling around her feet, its black ooze-like body beginning to ooze its way up the Apprentice's body, enveloping her within its black substance.

"Get off of me!" Nixe cried out.

"Why are you doing this?!" Namine yelled, as First merely grinned.

"I am power, I am clout personified!"
I've Darkness and sheer malice on my side!
It's a combination which
works me up to fever pitch!
Big 'P' and me!"

First cheered with a laugh, not noticing a sudden burst of dark fire start around Riku.

"Not if I can help it!" Riku yelled as he suddenly ignited in a burst of Dark Fire, causing Fourth to recoil, freeing him as he leapt to his feet, rushing to free Nixe. He had hardly made it half-way towards her when First conjured two of her large swords, the two blades brought together in a double edged configuration and launched them towards him. Riku quickly raised his sword defensively but was stunned when the larger blades shattered his own, piercing him at the side, causing him to fall to the ground in pain.

"RIKU!" Nixe cried out, tears of fear and panic streaming down her face as the Phantom Blot slowly but steadily enveloped her, now at her waist. At this, Namine blasted Sixth in the face with a Blizzaga at point blank, leaping up to try and get to Riku to help him but was suddenly ensnared in a burst of bramble thorns that First conjured from beneath the floor, falling injured to the ground. First merely grinned with dark satisfaction as she approached the wounded Nobody and Replica.

"When the Sisterhood of Seven says, 'bow,' you bow!
You forget who wears the pants around here now!
A woman who knows just what to do,
and who to do it to!
Who's she? M! E!"

First sang to Riku as he held his side. First then turned to Namine, grabbing her by the hair and lifting her up to eye level with a snarl.

"And as for you, you little twerp,
from now on, it's 'as you were' time!"

First yelled in her face before throwing her aside, pointing towards doors to the ballroom.

"Go back to your pretty princess!
See how you've been wasting your time!
Just grin and bear! Life isn't fair!"

First sang before turning and walking back towards Si'Lea. Si'Lea, Riku, and Namine were down for the count, completely unable to prevent whatever it was that First had in mind. First then leaned down to Si'Lea's level with a grin.

"Though I hate to break a partnership,
you're going on a one-way trip!
To new levels of despair!
Hope you've enjoyed having Nixe here!
Time to say toodle-ooh!"

First sang as she approached Nixe, who was now completely enveloped by the Phantom Blot save her head.

"Who's the titan, who's the champ?!
Who's the lady to your tramp?!
Who's the one who's waited
ages or so?!"

First sang as she plunged her right hand into the Phantom Blot, right where Nixe's chest was, Nixe gasping in pain. At the same time, the doors into the ballroom flew open, Sora and Aqua bursting in but it was too late as First grinned towards all of her defeated foes.

"Who? Why, me-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e!"

First sang as she pulled her arm free, holding a glowing pink heart, Nixe's Heart, in her hand, belting out an insane yet sinister laugh as she and the other Sisters all vanished into Corridors of Darkness, along with the Phantom Blot, leaving behind only the three Keyblade Wielders, a wounded Replica and Nobody, and Nixe's comatose body which slowly disappeared into Darkness.

End Chapter 57

So is this it? Has First finally won? Find out in the chapters to come!

The song above was an altered version of "Why Me," a deleted song from Disney's Aladdin. The original song was fully recorded by Jonathan Freeman (the voice of Jafar) with full orchestral accompaniment but cut and never animated for the finished film.