Aimala kept running. She ran deep in the castle. She started to get tired and stopped once she reached a secluded room. She looked down at her hands. She was shaking. She didn't know what to do.

"How?" said Aimala "How can he say I'm weak. I was using darkness way before him. I showed him darkness. I caught the princesses of heart and yet he says I'm weak?"

"Because you are" said a voice behind Aimala. She turns and sees the brown cloaked figure that was on the island Sora and everyone was from.

"Wait, I know you" said Aimala "You were on the island. How did you get here?"

"Darkness leads me anywhere I please. I have full mastery over the darkness unlike you do."

"I have mastered darkness."

"Quite the opposite actually. You only scratch the surface of the darkness. You fail to amerce yourself in the darkness completely. Even with the gift I gave you, your control over darkness is below average at best."

"You're wrong. I've been using darkness since I could walk. Darkness is my life. Me and my mother have complete control over the darkness."

The figure laughs. "If that were the case, you would not be suffering as much as you are now. You especially. You subconsciously hold back the darkness because you are afraid. You may not think it, you may not feel it, but your heart knows it. Why did you run from the beast that Riku was able to defeat? Why did you get caught off guard by your ally? Why did you let Riku convince you that Kairi's condition was your fault? Your mother had to bail you out. Your friends had to sympathize with you. What more proof is necessary to recognize such weaknesses of yours?"

"I…."

"The only thing you were good for was finding the princesses of heart and even then, you never would have found them without my power."

"What are you talking about? I did find the princesses of heart. All of them."

"Really, then tell me, How did you find them?"

"My visions."

"And where did those visions come from?"

Aimala stayed silent.

"I'll tell you. Your visions came from me. The power I gave you allowed me to connect with you. I was able to feed you these visions to hasten your search for the princesses. At best you only managed to find one princess on your own. Belle, Jasmine, and Alice were found by me. Aurora, Snow White, and Cinderella were found by your mother. You saw Kairi as a potential Princess of Heart. You suspected it and I confirmed it."

"But I...I…"

"You are nothing but a weak half fairy who can't escape the shadow of her mother. I doubt you would be able to survive without your mother." The figure turns to walk away but stops. "If you truly want to accept the darkness, you need to open your heart up to it completely. You still have time to get stronger. You just need to be willing to do so just as Riku has." The figure leaves disappearing into the walls.

Aimala stands there for a second thinking about what the figure just said. She wonders how she could be afraid of the darkness. How could she hold herself back? She thinks back to what made her different from the others. She was more willing to interact with others rather than letting the Heartless act for her. She tries to make friends with strangers rather than putting them to the side. She acts like a person in front of them rather than taking advantage of them. She wonders if this part of her is what the cloaked figure was talking about. Was she really just using darkness so little? She shakes her head trying to get rid of all these thoughts that flowed in her head. She leaves the room and walks towards the room with all the princesses of heart. Maleficent was there standing in front of the keyhole.

"Mother?" said Aimala

"Yes my child?" said Maleficent

"How strong do ye think I am?"

"What do you mean?"

"As I am right now, am I strong enough to beat Sora?"

Maleficent stood there in silence for about a minute before she started speaking. "I can't accurately gage how strong Sora is right now. He may be slightly stronger than you right now."

"Do you feel you can beat him?"

Maleficent walks up to Aimala "Is that what you are worried about?" she places her hand on her shoulder. "My child I am not going to die. You don't have to worry about being alone or having to face this by yourself. I'm here with you." She kneels down getting eye level with her. "Your father was not the best at conveying his feelings, but he loved you in his own way. His jealousy of your accomplishments blinded him of this. This is what caused him to fall. I regret that you didn't get the chance to become of much better terms with him. Sora won't take me away from you." Maleficent kisses Aimala on the forehead and stands up. At that moment, Riku walks in the room. He has his dark outfit on and has a stern look on his face. Maleficent turns and looks at the keyhole. Riku walks up to her not even glancing in Aimala's direction.

"So I see the path has emerged at last" said Riku

"Yes, the keyhole to darkness" said Maleficent

"Unlock it and the heartless will overrun this world."

"What do I care? The darkness holds no power over me. Rather I will use its power to all worlds." Aimala smiled at this statement. She seemed pleased with how confident her mother was.

"Such confidence." Riku holds out his hand. A black aura appears in front of it and takes the form of a key. This one was pointed at the end with small part of where curved in at the teeth area of the key. The guard has a red outline with the inner part black just like the blade or pommel part. Maleficent seemed impressed with how it looked. Aimala seemed concerned when Riku summoned the keyblade.

"Impossible" said Maleficent realizing the keyhole wasn't fully manifested. "The princesses of heart are all here!" she then turns to Kairi's unconscious body on the ground a couple feet away from Aimala. "It must be her." Maleficent and Riku walk over to Kairi's body

"Without her heart" said Riku "She will never be able to release her power." Just then, they all hear a crash sound in the distance.

"That must be Sora" said Aimala

Maleficent turns to the stairs. "I'll deal with them myself" said Maleficent

"But Mom you can't…."

"Don't worry child I can take him. I am the mistress of all evil. Besides, I have full control over the heartless. They will aid me in this fight."

"But you can't underestimate Sora. He's taken out the rest of us no problem. Even with Heartless I don't know if it'll be enough to…."

"Let her go" said Riku "Her heart is guiding her to what she needs to do. Our job is to stay here with the princesses of heart."

"Riku" said Aimala

"Aimala" said Maleficent "Even if you came with me, at your current mental stability, you wouldn't be in the right frame of mind to fight Sora. You would be too distracted to fight properly."

"But…?"

"Listen" said Maleficent as she turned her back to Aimala. "What do you think I would do if you were to die against Sora? How do you think it would feel for a parent to lose a child? It's a parent's job to make sure that they take care of their child. That is exactly what I'm doing right now. I'm looking after your well being. Anything less than this and I can't call myself your mother." These words seemed to resonate with Aimala. "Don't worry about my demise. Even if I am defeated, I have enough control over the darkness to survive." Maleficent starts walking away. "The mistress shall rule all worlds. We will rule all the worlds Aimala. Don't lose sight of who you are. You are my child. And one day you will surpass me."

Aimala watched Maleficent walk and disappear into the dark hall to face Sora.