I browsed through the lab's computer, checking through each file that Xine had on it.

So tell me... what do you know?

Next to me, the Soul Gem hovered above the table, the Heart and Soul within worried.

"I'm sorry for not taking you back straight away." I saw the flash of emotion within- she could hear me. "But I need to find out more. After that, I'll take you straight back to your home, I promise."

I saw some of the worry abate, fading away.

Xine, meanwhile, was unconscious, wrapped up in a sheet of metal that I'd pried off the wall, and had then literally wrapped around him.

The computer beeped as I tried to open a locked folder. I rolled my eyes, and tapped the Proof of Courage against the computer, causing it to open anyway.

Passwords? I don't need no stinkin' passwords!

Keyblades. Got to love them.

Ooh.

Aha. Found the logs.

I clicked on the first, beginning to read through it.

Base User 02: Xine; report 1.

I've hit a problem in my research.

T'fos' illness has progressed further, necessitating stasis. I cannot let her degrade any further.

This would be much easier if I still had access to my old resources. The equipment here is out of date, but thankfully still functioning.

For sake of posterity; a recent attack by the creatures of Darkness has destroyed the Temple. The costs were high- on both sides. There are, to my knowledge, no surviving creatures of Darkness.

To my knowledge, I am also the only surviving member of the Order of Light. I was an Acolyte before, but now that everybody else is dead, it falls upon me to rebuild the Order of Light.

Progress will proceed as soon as I can find a suitable heir.

Report 2.

Progress has not started. There are no living beings on this World capable of wielding the Sacred Light.

My research also continues to stall. Without access to the majority of my equipment, finding a cure for T'fos' illness is proceeding slowly.

I have developed a cure for stage-1 of the illness. It is currently insufficient.

Report 3.

Research continues to little effect. There was a false positive a few hours ago- what I thought to be a successful cure for stage-2 of the illness was, in fact, only a short term suppressant.

Still, progress.

I am falling behind on my physical conditioning. This constant labwork means that I no longer have time for it. Still, I have the Sacred Light, and that is all I need.

Report 4.

It is becoming increasingly unlikely that I will find a cure for T'fos' disease. I will either have to find some other way of sustaining her, or I will have to try something a little riskier.

I do not fancy the latter option.

Killing the queen's favoured daughter will bring her wrath down upon my head.

Report 5.

I have found something new.

When I was searching a previously-unexplored World, I encountered a small girl. This girl has, somehow, had her Heart and Soul moved out of her Body and placed into a crystalline gem.

If I can discover how this was achieved, then I might be abl

It cuts off right there.

According to the timestamp, Xine would have been working on it right as I came in.

Still, even in that single file, there was a lot of information.

The woman's name and a bit of history, for example.

Xine and I will be having words when he wakes up.

"Well, that's what I was looking for." I reached over, taking the girl's Soul Gem. "Come on, let's get you home."

Now, how am I going to do this?

I shifted Xine's unconscious form, propping him up against a rock.

Propping the sheet of metal he was wrapped in against the rock, rather.

I gently tucked Alice's Soul gem into my pocket, before looking at the Proof of Courage.

Sure hope this works.

It pulsed.

A moment later, I threw it up in the air.

How long has it been since this has been done with someone worthy?

It flashed with Light.

Too long.

It transformed, circling around in its new form before coming to a stop in front of me, hovering in the air.

It will be nice to soar through the Skies again.

It looked... strange was the only way I could describe it.

You're one to talk.

The main 'body' was large, and oddly serpentine. On the front, there was a pointed extension, connected to the body by a 'neck', which was thin. Four 'wings' extended from it, two large, and two small, all rigid.

It ended in a 'tail', another set of wings extending from it- which, I couldn't help but notice, were bladed and serrated.

Still, it looked pretty cool.

I stepped up on it, settling on a small protrusion from the body, leaning back against the ridge.

I gripped two small handles, feeling the power running though the Keyblade Glider.

I felt Light shimmering around us, forming into an invisible barrier.

I reached over, and picked up Xine's wrapped up form, placing him next to me and tucking him into the crevice between the wing and the body.

Let us ride.

This is going to be fun.

The Glider pulsed.

An instant later, it shot forwards, rising into the air. Luminous trails appeared at the tips of the wings, leaving behind six lines of light as we went upwards.

And then, we went outwards, passing through the Dimensional Barrier of the World like it wasn't even there, the bubble of Light shuddering slightly as we did.

All sorts of interesting implications, there.

It was an exhilarating feeling- entirely different from the feeling I got when I was moving through the Sea of the Skies under my own power.

There was the difference in speed, for one. It was fast, so much faster than what I could achieve, eating up the 'distance' quickly.

It wasn't as 'fast' as the Corridors of Darkness, but it was entirely different.

Oh, how I have missed this.

I fully intended to enjoy it as long as I could.