Riku's POV

Riku wasn't quite sure what he was seeing. Just a few moments before he was sulking at himself for getting caught. He was a Keyblade Master and should have at least acted sooner when the Darkness suddenly appeared over the islands. Now, he had no way of summoning his Keyblade or contacting his friends. But when he had heard that voice and looked up, hope seemed to rise out of the ashes like a phoenix being reborn.

Standing but a few feet from him was a young girl that looked to be about his age, with long, dark-brown hair and aquamarine eyes, just like him. She wore a long blue gown that barely hovered off the ground, but what really took the cake were the wings on her back, one white as snow and the other black as night. Though she was transparent, the tears that streamed down her cheeks and fell to the ground were quite real.

Riku hadn't known why but he felt his heart flutter at the sight of the angelic being. "Who are you?" He asked.

The girl seemed quite surprised as if she didn't expect him to hear her; but she had and she drew in a gasp. She blinked a couple of times before she opened her mouth to speak, but a familiar caw interrupted her.

Riku supposed the girl looked up as well, but the next few heartbeats were almost too quick to see. Maleficent's raven dropped from its perch above Riku's head and dive-bombed towards the girl. She screamed and threw her arms across her face. but when the bird should have collided into her, the angel disappeared, leaving golden orbs of light for the black bird to peck at.

The only thing that convinced Riku that the girl had been there was the echo of her promise on the wind… and a white feather.

Hikari's POV

I drew in a gasp as my eyes flew open and I bolted upright.

"Whoa now. It's okay; you're safe," a deep voice said, followed by reassuring hands on my shoulders.

I turned my body around to find a large man with carrot-colored hair in a guard-like uniform. His large size was intimidating, but his soft eyes and warm smile managed to make me feel safe.

Slowly, my lungs stopped begging for air and my heartbeat returned to its normal pace. When I was able to think straight, I looked around and saw I was still in Ansem the Wise's study, and when I turned in the direction of the big desk, my eyes met Ienzo's.

"Good to see you awake, young angel," he remarked.

I was pretty sure my face went crimson with embarrassment right then. "A-angel?" I stammered.

Ienzo pointed behind me and I looked over my shoulder to see my wings still present. I acted quickly and willed them away, the small flash of gold indicating that they were gone.

"Are you alright, Hikari?" Master Aqua's voice asked. "You were out for quite a while."

I sighed. "I'm fine, just a little out of it," I replied to her through thought. More privately, I asked myself, Was that really Riku? And that first boy; Could that have been Terra?

"What's wrong, Hikari?" The larger man broke into my thoughts. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

I turned back to him and shook my head. "I'm alright, just tired." It then occurred to me that he had said my name. "Wait; How do you know my name?"

"Lea told us," he replied and looked in the direction of Ienzo. "I arrived just in time to catch you before you fell unconscious, then he took off. The silver-haired youth over there is Ienzo and my name is Aeleus."

I nodded. "It's nice to meet you, and thank you."

"So; are you human?" Ienzo suddenly asked out of the blue.

I felt my face heat up once more. "A-As far as I'm aware of." I looked at the door and tried to change the subject. "Where did Lea go?"

"To fight the Heartless," Aeleus answered. Just then, a loud thud could be heard above our heads and we could faintly hear a few choice words courtesy of Lea's sharp tongue. "Sounds like things aren't going well, however."

And I knew things were only going to get worse, so I quickly got to my feet. "I need to go help him."

Aeleus got up as well and I fully realized just how big he was. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Well, someone has to go make sure Lea doesn't burn down the castle." Ienzo walked over to stand beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I say she's more capable than you or me; Wouldn't you agree?"

The larger man crossed his arms over his chest and thought for a moment, mulling over the options. It occurred to me that obviously in other worlds, it was hard to gain one's acceptance. Eventually, though, he looked back at me and nodded. "He'll probably need it, so take the staircase at the end of the hall. Be careful, though; that Heartless should not be something to underestimate."

"You don't know the half of it," I muttered under my breath. Aeleus tilted his head in confusion, but before he could question me, I turned and headed for the door.

"Wait." Ienzo's voice stopped me.

I turned around as the youth walked over to me. He reached into his pocket, seeming to grab something, then pulled out a clenched hand before opening it to reveal a black feather. "Is that mine?" I asked.

"I would assume. It was on the ground when I came to." He held it out for me to take.

But I shook my head. "Keep it. This may sound a little corny, but I have a feeling it'll keep you safe from any more Darkness that may intrude your heart."

Ienzo gave me a confused look, but simply shrugged his shoulders and returned the feather to his pocket.

I smiled and hurried out.

It didn't take a genius to see how much damage the Heartless -and Lea- had left in their tracks. I continuously had to jump, duck, and whack away the debris as I headed for the staircase. I felt kinda bad for Aeleus, knowing he most likely would end up having to clean this mess.

When I reached the end of the corridor, I found only the remains of what I had guessed was once a beautiful staircase. The beautiful tile and golden railing laid in ruin and scattered everywhere.

I sighed. "Why can't things ever be easy?" I mumbled to myself, then summoned my wings. With one big jump and the hard flap of my wings, I landed on the second floor; But just barely, for my heels were off the ledge and I had to swing my arms so I wouldn't fall back.

When I regained my balance, I sent my wings away and headed towards the sound of thuds and curses. I was surprised that there were no Heartless to stand in my way, but then again, they could have all been crushed under the fallen debris of pillars and roof.

The hall turned left and when I rushed around the corner, I suddenly found myself outside in a high-up garden. However, I didn't have the time for sight-seeing because but a few seconds after I arrived I had to scramble away in order to dodge what I later realized was a large boulder that was on fire.

When this is all over, I'm gonna kill Lea, I thought to myself. On that note, I looked around and quickly spotted a familiar red-head across the way fighting what I could easily confirm was the giant Heartless.

Aeleus had warned that it was one I shouldn't underestimate, but he never said a thing about how big the thing was. It was larger than a five-story home, appearing to be sort of an upgrade of the Shadows, but with more a human shape, muscled body and arms and large hole in it's chest shaped like a heart. The only similarities were those beady yellow eyes and never-ending black abyss of a color.

Suddenly, the giant Heartless seized the moment and slammed its right arm into Lea, sending him flying across the way to my left and crashing into the wall with such force that the stone gave way, causing it to tremble and dent, just like a cartoon. Dust picked up and a few stone pieces fell, followed by a groan and thud of Lea dropping to the ground.

I didn't even wait for the dust to clear as I hurried into it to check on Lea. Thankfully, it quickly blew away in a slight breeze and I could see him in a matter of heartbeats. However, the scene caused my heart to drop like a stone; Lea's head was the worst of his wounds and bleeding badly, blood was trickling down from the corner of his mouth, and his black coat was in tatters.

Acting quickly, I racked my brain until I found the Cura spell Merlin taught me, summoned my Keyblade, and called out the spell.

A flowery green light appeared from the top of my Keyblade and descended onto Lea.

"Don't." His protest was less than a whisper. "Get away… while you still can."

"Do you know how stupid you sound right now?" I retorted, continuing the spell. "There's no way I'm leaving you behind."

Lea chuckled a little, causing more blood to drip from his mouth. "King Mickey was right; you are stubborn."

I smirked. "Oh he said that? Well then, I'll make sure to give him a piece of my mind after I'm done chewing you out." I then placed his arm over my shoulder and lifted him up with great difficulty. "Come on, Lea. I may be tough but I'm still a girl."

I felt Lea shift his body and groan in pain as he tried to help me out. He did his best and was able to take half his body weight off me as we slowly progressed towards the castle.

But the Heartless had other ideas; the earth trembled and I lost my footing, sending both me and my burden to the ground. Before I could react, a large shadow loomed over me and suddenly a large black hand clasped around me and lifted me into the air. My arms were bound to my sides so tight I felt them hum as the blood flow in them started to slow. The pain was beyond comprehension, my ribcage being squeezed to the point it was becoming hard to breath.

I struggled to break free, but that only seemed to enrage the Heartless as it tightened its grip. The breath was then truly driven out of me and I barely managed to regain it. Pain shot through my body and I heard a sickening "shuck" sound. I turned my head and saw my shoulder had a sort of pocket where my shoulder should have been, indicating it was dislocated. Great.

I was starting to go numb and getting tunnel vision when Master Aqua's voice called out to me. "Summon your wings and Keyblade, Hikari!"

"I… can't," I replied to her silently, my body beginning to turn cold.

"Don't give up hope, Hikari. Just believe in yourself!" She urged.

Not wishing to let her and everyone else down, I bunched my hands into fists, forcing the blood to flow through my body once more. As the numbness went away, the pain in my shoulder returned, but I continued on, feeling my strength returning. Slowly but surely, the gift of Light and Darkness began to rise within me and in a large burst of power, I felt my wings materialize and pierce the Heartless's hand.

The creature made a screeching sound that I took for its cry of pain as it released its grip on me. I free-fell a few feet before snapping out my wings to their full length, allowing the air current to glide me down to the ground. Once I had my feet on solid ground once more, I turned around to look at the Heartless, but I certainly wasn't prepared for what I saw next.

There, bound by both arms and legs in the center of the Heartless' cut out chest was the girl with red hair from my vision. From a distance, I could tell she was unconscious for her head was bowed and her body was slowly fading away.

I wasn't quite sure how, but something told me that it was Kairi, and she wasn't going to last much longer. The Heartless must be getting its power from her. I have to get her out of there. I quickly formatted a plan into my head and nodded my head in approval, then took a running start and I was soon in the air.

The Heartless was still howling in rage and thrashing its arms, but I was able to climb, descend, and swerve left and right to avoid being hit. Kairi was soon directly in my sights and, putting on an extra burst of speed, I shot straight for my target. I held my arms out as my body crashed through a weakened barrier -which shattered like glass- wrapped my arms around Kairi, and pulled both of us out from the other side. As I flew away, a sickening howl came from behind. I halted, shifted Kairi's body so I was holding her bridal style, and turned around just in time to see a beam of light shoot right at the Heartless. A final screech followed and the dark shadow disappeared.

For a moment I was dumbstruck, but then I saw a familiar black mouse standing atop one of the castle pillars with his Keyblade in hand. I smiled and sighed in relief, then slowly returned to the ground. Once I felt the earth below my feet once more, I sent my wings away, got to my knees, and carefully set Kairi on a patch of grass. As I began to use a Cura spell on her, I heard King Mickey came over.

"Is she going to be okay?" He asked.

I finished the spell, then got to my feet and looked at the King. "Yeah. She doesn't have any serious injuries." I looked around but couldn't a particular spiky-haired individual. "Where's Lea?"

"He's inside with the others. I showed up just as I saw you fly up and get Kairi. Gosh, though; I was surprised to see you with wings." He smiled.

I began to laugh a little when a jolt of pain hit my dislocated shoulder. I hissed in agony as I clutched it with my left hand and dropped to my knees once more. "Damn it," I muttered.

"What happened?" Leon's voice called from behind us.

Two sets of feet hurried towards me and the King, but the pain was too much for me to look over my shoulder.

"Hikari got hurt when she saved Kairi," King Mickey explained.

A hand was placed on my good shoulder and the coldness of it told me it was Cloud's.

"I thought I told you to stay out of trouble?" He told me in a soft voice.

"I'm bad at keeping promises," I replied with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. The words had just left my mouth when Cloud suddenly scooped me off the ground and held me bridal-style.

"Stubborn is what you are," Cloud corrected.

I thought for sure my face went crimson once again. It had to have been bad for my health for my face to grow that red so many times in one day.