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All of a sudden, my chest began to throb, causing me to fall to my knees and clutch the front of my dress. My world suddenly began to swirl and lights danced before my eyes, my chest feeling as though a weight of steel was crushing it.

"What… is this?" I asked myself weakly.

"Hikari!"

I gasped, the pain no longer important. "Chise!" I jumped to my feet and took into the air, flying as fast as I could back towards the Mother Tree. Something's not right, I can feel it.

Just as I began to climb the hill that blocked the view of the tree, two shadows appeared above and headed towards me. At first glance they appeared to be Heartless, but before my Keyblade fully appeared in my hands, I recognized the two figures in green.

"Clank! Bobble!" I called out.

The two Tinker fairies hurried down towards me, coughing roughly and covered in something black that hit my nose and caused my eyes to water. However, they collapsed in the grass before they could reach me, and I quickly went to work using healing spells on them.

"What happened!?" I desperately asked.

Clank was the first to respond when he coughed, letting out a cloud of black smoke. "The Heartless.. came out of… nowhere. We… started to… fight back but… a giant Heartless… appeared and started… to set fire to… the tree."

Oh God. "Where are the others?"

Clank tried to sit up, but I forced him to lay back down. "They… all escaped… to the river… but we… went ahead… to find you."

I clenched my hands into fists, fear quickly setting in. "What about Chise? Is she alright?"

Clank coughed another cloud of smoke. "I saw her last… with Fairy Mary… so she's probably… just fine," he replied.

But something didn't seem right. If Chise was okay, why had she sounded so terrified when I heard her cry? I had to find out what was going on. After giving both Tinker fairies another healing spell as best to my ability, I rose into the air. "Clank, as soon as you can find enough strength, head for the river with Bobble. I'll let the others know where you are in case you take too long."

The larger Tinker nodded his head once and with that, I took off towards where the others were.

"I don't like this, Hikari. Something just isn't right," Master Aqua stated.

"I agree. Aren't Heartless incapable of strategizing?" I asked.

"Yes, which gives the impression that someone is behind this."

"Could it be Maleficent or Organization XIII?"

"I'm not so sure. Both are striving to rule worlds, not destroy them, and even then, this place doesn't seem like one that would be targeted by either side."

"True, so that leaves us with nothing."

"Let's not rule them out just yet. It may not be about taking control of this world, but instead perhaps retrieving something here."

Realization suddenly hit me. "They're after Chise!"

"Then if that is the case, we need to hurry and find the others."

I nodded and put on an extra burst of speed. The riverbed soon came into view and I landed in the clearing, eagerly searching for my baby sister.

Everywhere I looked, fairies were rushing in every direction, either carrying leaves full of fresh water, or crushed poultice for their wounded companions. Almost everyone was either covered in soot or burns. However, I couldn't see Chise.

A voice that called my name distracted me and I turned to see Vidia hurrying towards me. There was a minor burn on her left shoulder and an uneasy look on her face.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked once she was standing before me. My concern was mainly for Chise, but I had a promise to uphold.

Vidia looked down then, her face turning to that of one who was uncomfortable.

I placed a hand on her uninjured shoulder. "Vidia, please. I need to know what's going on."

She was silent for a few moments before she sighed in defeat. "It's Chise. She's missing."

I was right, I thought to myself. "Do you know where she might be!?"

Vidia looked down again. "She was with Fairy Mary… when a burning branch fell. They got separated, but Chise said she'd try to find another way out… When we all got here and she was still missing, Tinker Bell went back to look for her. Neither of them have been seen since."

I looked in the direction of the tree, black smoke filling the already post-dusk sky. "Alright. Is everyone else alright?"

Fairy Mary appeared before Vidia could answer and shooed her away. She was obviously trying to hide her burned hands from me, but the gesture itself was enough proof. "No one was seriously hurt, thank goodness," she stated. She looked around me and added, "Where are Clank and Bobble? They went out to look for you."

I quickly explained to her that they were hurt, but I had healed them to my best ability and knew they would arrive soon, letting her know of their location if they didn't appear soon.

Once I finished, Fairy Mary nodded solemnly.

I rose off the ground. "I let my guard down and let the Heartless get past my senses. Now I need to clean up this mess." I started to fly off, but a voice once again stopped me. I turned and saw Silvermist, Iridessa, and Fawn flying towards me with a strange blue object. When they reached me, I realized the item was a musical instrument I hadn't seen in several years.

"Tink said to give this to you," Fawn explained.

Iridessa shook her head. "I don't know what was going through that girl's head that made her think that it would be of use to you."

I only half-heard her, for I was too busy studying the beautiful and unique egg-shaped flute that was an ocarina. Its bright and recent polish glistened even in the weakening light, bringing back memories of my grandmother. Before she had died and I was no more than 10 at the time, my grandmother had an ocarina that looked much like the one before me and would often play it to entertain me and my siblings. Upon her death-bed, she had passed down the instrument to me and I treasured it dearly. However, not too long after receiving it, a local bully threw it into the flowing river near my home that led to the ocean. I was so filled with grief, for I had lost the only thing left that reminded me of my grandmother.

Returning my attention back to the item my friends held, I thought how similar it looked to mine, but at first I completely doubted that it could be. Yet, the artwork I saw once I peered over it made me rethink my thoughts. A magnificent castle hand-painted and the initials "MRK" (Maggie Rose Kurai) were clearly visible in the white paint, the very same as my grandmother had on the one she had given me.

Against my own conscious, I reached out a hand, and when it touched the ocarina, it was surrounded by a golden light and shrunk down to fairy-size. I held it in my cupped hands, the feeling of it erasing all uncertainty.

"So I take it that it's yours?" Silvermist questioned.

A tear escaped me and I looked up at her, my chest tightening. "It is, but I thought I lost it a long time ago."

Fairy Mary rose up to join us just then. "In this place, things are never truly lost, only rediscovered," She smiled sweetly. "Tinker Bell must be quite certain of its importance to you if she took this much effort to get it back to you."

I closed my fingers over it and nodded. "Yes. When this is all over, I'll have to thank her dearly." With that said, I thanked my friends and took off towards The Mother Tree. Just hang on Chise, I'm coming.

My chest ached at the sight of the Pixie Dust tree when I reached it. Scorching orange and red flames were practically engulfing the once green tree. Now, it was nothing more than an endless fuel supply for the fire, already beginning to reach out to neighboring trees that represented the different seasons, side from winter. Familiar yellow and red Heartless floated around the surrounding air, adding to the flame with their lightning and fire spells.

"We must get in there and find the others before the tree completely collapses!" Master Aqua stated, deep concern and anxiety evident in her voice.

I nodded in agreement and tied the ocarina with the sash Chise had made for me around my waist before taking a deep breath and shot towards the tree. Sticking to the traditional fighting way, I summoned The Angel's Keyblade and swatted aside the dark creatures, my burst of extra energy destroying them instantly.

When I reached the flat area where I met Queen Clarion the previous day, I searched around, squinting against the gray clouds. I dared not open my mouth to call out, for I would only breathe in the smoke, almost certainly resulting in permanent lung damage. Thinking quickly, I tore a strip of my dress off and placed it over my mouth to use like a handkerchief. Blinking the water out of my eyes, I began to make my way further down into the tree. It felt as though my skin would melt right off my body in the extreme heat. My throat was already completely parched and my lungs begged for clean air.

"Hikari, above you!"

I had but a heartbeat to look up and jump back before an ablaze branch broke off and fell where I had been but a moment before. It bounced off the stronger branch I was walking along, sending a shower of embers over me as it did so, before descending to the ground. My skin stung and I bit back a cry of pain as I quickly patted out the small flames, leaving speckles of soot and blisters.

"Thanks for the save, Master Aqua," I thanked telepathically.

"Hikari? Is that you?" I heard a familiar voice call from above.

My eyes shifted upwards to find none other than Tinker Bell making her way down to me, a green cloth covering her own mouth and a strange long object clutched in her right hand. When she landed in front of me, I noticed the slight burns on her arms and legs, as well as her slightly singed hair that had fallen out of its bun. I also got a better look at the item in her hand and suddenly realized what it was supposed to be.

"Tink… is that… a Keyblade?" I reluctantly asked from beneath the cover of my cloth.

The sword-like weapon was made completely out of wood, flowers and animals carved along the length of it. The blades were carved in the shape of gears and flowers, while the surrounding border of the handle were carved arches of rainbows. The only part of the weapon that wasn't wood was the keychain, which was a strip of silver ribbon with a piece of metal on the end in the shape of fairy wings.

"Yeah," the fairy replied. "I thought that yours was so incredible, I wanted to make one of my own, since I can't fight as well as the others." She studied her weapon, a proud look on her face.

"Well, I'm glad to see that you're alright; everyone was worried about you," I stated.

Tink nodded, but then her face fell into sadness. "I'm sorry, Hikari. I lost Chise in all the chaos. I couldn't protect her." Tears started to stream down her face, something I never expected from the strong-willed fairy.

I placed a hand on her shoulder in sympathy, causing her to look up at me. "It's alright, Tinker Bell. You came back to find her, didn't you? That proves that you truly care about her and wouldn't abandon her, and for that, I thank you dearly. Now come on; we need to find Chise quick and put out this fire."

Tink nodded and wiped away her tears. "Right," she said with a smile.

Suddenly, there was the sound of an all-too recognizable scream coming from the ground below us.

"Chise!" Tink and I both cried out. We pulled out our wings and dived, dodging and swatting away with our Keyblades ablaze material that surrounded us. For an inexperienced swordswoman, I had to admit that Tinker Bell was doing quite well holding her own.

When we broke out of the burning tree, the main source of the fire and the giant Heartless Clank mentioned came into view.

In a normal condition, the clown-like Heartless was no bigger than human-size, but to us fairies, it was 30 times larger. It had slinky-like arms that juggled two maracas, bow-like legs of pink and purple, and a tall, rectangular head that seemed like stacked blocks also the colors of purple and pink.

"Oneesan!"

My head shot up and I felt my heart drop like a stone. Floating above the giant Heartless was a red sphere surrounded by rings of fire like an atom, Chise inside and pounding against the wall of her prison.

"Hold on, Chise!" I called out. "Tink-"

"Already on it." Said fairy took to the sky and flew up to Chise.

I, on the other hand, focused my attention on the adversary towering in front of me. "Hey, ugly!" I called up, taking to the sky myself so I could meet the Heartless eye-to-eye.

"Be extremely careful, Hikari," Master Aqua warned me.

"I will." I smirked at the Heartless and held out my free hand, curling my fingers to my palm in a taunting motion. "Come and get me."

The Heartless turned completely towards me and began dancing once more. As it did this, it juggled the two maracas and in the blink of an eye, it split in two, creating a perfect copy of itself. Crap.

"Stay calm and aim high," Master Aqua explained. "If you manage to deal enough damage to its arms just before they use their fire attacks, they'll flinch. Use that moment to get close and aim for the heads."

"Got it." Physically, I cried out "Blizzara!" and casted the spell, sending the ice at the Heartless.

It hardly flinched as the magic made direct contact, but several more assaults with the frozen spell eventually made the duplicate retreat to the original. The Heartless then bowed its upper body, almost as though it was trying to catch its breath.

"Keep going, Hikari!" Tink called further up. "The weaker it gets, the weaker the barrier seems to get!"

Easier said than done. All that spell-casting has left me exhausted.

The Heartless quickly regained its stamina and began to breathe fire. I barely had a second to quickly dodge the attack, but my actions resulted in the Mother Tree receiving another horrific blast, shooting bits of tree bark out in every direction like darts and creating a terrible cracking sound.

The tree can't take much more. I have to finish this before everyone loses their home for good. I reached into the drawstring pouch tied to my sash and began to search for an Elixir, but the sound of crackling thunder diverted my attention. I looked up and saw heavy storm clouds begin to form above us. A smile found its way onto my face when I saw several familiar figures come flying in. "Reinforcements have arrived!"

Silvermist was leading a large group of her fellow Water talent fairies as they started to gather the water in the air and form gray clouds. Iridessa and several other Light talent fairies diverted the light of the flames, surprisingly pushing the fire back and away from the water fairies. Vidia and the fast-flying fairies aided Silvermist and the others by flying around the clouds at incredible speeds, forcing them to clump and pack with more moisture. Fawn led a team of Animal talent fairies and Tinkers atop several birds-of-prey that carried strongly-woven baskets in their talons, tipping them over above the tree and sending buckets of water down on the fire.

Now's my chance. Seeing the Heartless was distracted by the other fairies, I grabbed the Elixir from my pouch and gulped it down in one swipe. Energy coursed through me as my strength returned. Satisfied, I began to build up a powerful ice-spell, The Angel's Keyblade crackling with power. At the top of my lungs, I called out the attack. "Blizagga!"

The stored up energy was released from my Keyblade, throwing me back in the recoil and slamming right into the Heartless. Ice began to encase the creature and it was quickly transformed into a living ice sculpture.

I charged towards it and drove my weapon into the head, causing the ice to shatter. The Heartless vanished and a giant heart floated from where it once was into the sky, disappearing from sight.

As if by reaction, the other Heartless vanished, taking the fire with them.