A/N: Man Dark Road was quite the roller coaster.

Anyway, the title of this chapter pretty much sums ups what's going on here.

Uncertainty

KAI: There have been times where I can't help but question...What the hell am I even doing here?

Kai Hikaru and Lucky Holt, known to the squad as Lycan and Insetto, had entered the Castle Chapel, where Maleficent typically has her meetings. The evil fairy herself oversaw the meeting along with her new inner circle, consisting of an Arabic vizier with a snake staff named Jafar, a gray skinned god with a blue flame for hair named Hades, a sea witch with black tentacles instead of legs named Ursula, a living bag of bugs named Oogie Boogie, and a pirate with a hook in place of a hand name Captain James Hook. Her right hand henchman, Pete, was recently sent out to gather more Heartless for her army.

Also present of course was the Chaos Squad.

Claire Farron, known to her friends as Lightning and to the squad as Avatar, still had her pink hair and gray eyes, and was now wearing a white vest with a brown sleeveless turtle neck underneath, a red cape, a brown skirt, black boots with brown shin guards, blue fingerless gloves, a green pauldron on her left shoulder, and had a holster that carried her convertible gunblade. Also dark tendrils covered her left upper arm and neck up to her jawline.

Next was her sister, Serah, also called Crystal. Her eyes and hair color matching Lightning's but with a side ponytail, and was now wearing a white sleeveless dress shirt, a red pleated skirt lined with black lace, thigh-high stockings, and ivory ankle boots. She also had patches of grayish blue crystal all over her skin.

Then there was Cloud Strife, aka Diablo, with his spiky blond hair and light blue eyes. He now wore a dark gray tank top and pants, brown boots, a dark magenta tattered cape, a gray pauldron on his left shoulder, a metal gauntlet with gold fingers on his left hand, and brown fingerless gloves, one even over his gaunlet. He also carried his large Buster Sword, which he has white bandages wrapped around his blade for some reason.

Then there was Ryu Kurai, or rather Reptile, looking as insane as he acted. His violet hair had gotten spiky over the years, and his green eyes had been looking a bit reptile-like lately. Fitting seeing how his mutant left arm was reptilian, long, black with three claws, hard scales making it difficult, but not impossible, to cut, and a red gem on his spiked shoulder that glows whenever he uses its powers. The mutation has however extended past his shoulder and all the what up to his face, the left half being covered in black scales. He wore a button vest that was blue on his left side and black with a blue fire line art on the right, and a sky blue sleeveless shirt with an upturned collar underneath. He also wore white pants with black at the waist and hems of the legs, purple shoes, and a purple and white glove on his human hand. He carried a magenta demonic longsword.

Next, Jack Hawk, or rather Cyclops, had his short chocolate hair and one gray eye, but also his grotesque blue eye with dark tendrils covering half his face. He wore a black sweater under a blue thin open vest, gray jeans, and blue and white converse shoes. He carried a black magic crossbow.

And finally the squad leader, Ejder Gölge, AKA Dhampir, had his pale white skin, a completely bald head aside from dark eyebrows, somewhat pointy ears, and full crimson eyes with dark eyelids. He wore a black tailcoat tuxedo with light tearing on the sleeves and tail, a red ascot, red pants with light tearing on the legs, and black leather boots. He carried a purple death scythe.

Soon, a series of sparring matches took place, to demonstrate to the newer members of the inner circle. And right now, it was a match between Kai and Cloud.

The two clash blades, Cloud's Buster Sword pushing against Kai's pitch-black bladed katana, Muramasa. Soon, Kai transformed his left hand into a black beast paw with red claws and swiped at his opponent, only for Cloud to pull back and dodged. The blond then began dashing at him with Sonic Blade, which the Kai dodged several times. The redhead then infused his katana with ice magic before slamming it onto the ground, creating a burst of ice that spiked out. Cloud narrowly avoided the icy spikes before he charged energy into his large sword and fired a Blade Beam. Kai responded by charging darkness into his katana, and firing a Dark Wave. The attacks collided, but the Dark Wave quickly won out before blasting the blond into the wall.

Cloud then released his demonic wing, gaining a surge of power before taking flight. He began soaring all over the battlefield at surprising speeds, swinging at Kai who barely managed to dodge or defend. The redhead began to feel overwhelm, before he decided to beast out, transforming to a large heartless-like bipedal wolf with a primarily black body, glowing red eyes, crimson mane on the back of his head, red claws, and a red x-shaped mark on his chest. His more durable body took a few of Cloud's attacks, before he managed to grab the blond and slam him hard into the ground. He then threw him into the wall before blasting him with a breath of darkness.

Cloud struggled to stand after that before Maleficent tapped her scepter on the floor. "That will be enough!" With that, Kai reverted back to his human form.

Jafar rubbed his chin as he turned to the sorceress. "That Lycan sure has quite the trump card, doesn't he?"

"Indeed," replied Maleficent. "He's proven to be one of our most powerful assets."

Oogie chuckled. "I still got my eye on Insetto. My what a beauty she is, I just wanna add her to my hive, you know." Lucky overheard this, and shuddered, while Kai threw the bug bag a death glare that startled him when he noticed it.

Ursula chuckled. "Careful, Oogie. Or Lycan will make good on his threat the last time you tried hit on Insetto. What did he say again? Touch her, and I'll tear that bag open and burn you and every last bug crawling inside."

Oogie shuddered. "Don't remind me..."

"A shame that Crystal can't be more useful," said Hook. "Would've been lovely if she was able to at least conjure jewels that I could add to me treasure."

"A shame indeed," replied the sorceress. "The only thing she's good for is keeping Avatar in line, whose powers have come in handy many times."

"Meh," said Hades. "They're all fine and good. But personally, I'm more interested in Diablo. Him being able to swing such a large sword with ease, and that wing of his helping him fly. Say, I've been wondering if you would let me borrow him for a while."

The evil fairy thinks for a second. "Maybe... But not right now. We're about to prepare another invasion, this one with a Princess to capture. Speaking of which..." She then turned to the Chaos Squad. "Alright! Just as a reminder, tomorrow we set forth to our next target, Dwarf Woodlands, where the third Princess of Heart resides. As usual, you are all to wreak havoc and capture the princess. Meanwhile, I will focus on finding the Keyhole so we can cast that world to darkness. Understood?"

"Right Milady!" Only Dhampir, Cyclops, and Reptile answered. Lightning just scoffed, Sarah looked at her sister with worry, Lucky looked down in shame, and Cloud just stood there silently.

However, Kai let out a frustrated shout as he fires a wave of darkness at a wall, catching everyone's attention.

"Is there a problem, Lycan?" inquired Maleficent.

"I am sick of these worthless raids! I have done what you've asked for nine years now! I have gotten stronger, and gained more control of my darkness thanks to all my time training here! Now when am I going to use this power to destroy Xehanort like you promised I would?!"

The sorceress sighed. "Impatient, are we? You must understand how hard it is to locate one man among a sea of countless worlds. You can't expect it to be that easy."

"Are you even trying? I warned you when I agreed to this that if you impede my goal, you'd be as good as dead to me. Don't think I'm not willing to tear you to pieces just for wasting my time at this point!"

Cyclops then warped right next to the werewolf and pointing his crossbow point blank at his head. "You're not seriously thinking of betraying our mistress, are you? Because if you do, then you will answer to me."

Kai then gave the thief a glowing eyed glare, startling him enough to drop his guard and allowing the redhead to whack the crossbow out of his hand, trip him with a leg sweep, and beast gripped the back of his head to pin him to the ground. "Do I look like I'm threatened by you, you optic freak show?"

However, the redhead then felt a dark blade at his neck. Dhampir stood behind him with his scythe. "If not him, then you should be threatened by me. I know I need not remind you of your weaknesses which I am more than capable of exploiting." Kai grumbled as he glared at the vampire, who unlike Cyclops was completely unfazed.

"Enough, all of you!" Maleficent ordered. After a brief pause, Dhampir dismissed his scythe and Kai let go of Cyclops. "Lycan! Regardless of our progress on locating Xehanort, you pledged your loyalty to me! Therefore, you are bound by honor to serve me! You do know about honor, don't you?"

Kai glared at the evil fairy, clearly not happy with her. But he had to begrudgingly concede her point as he gaze moved to the floor. Technically, she hadn't done anything against him, so he had no real ground to stand on. And attacking her right now would only invite the wrath of the one member of the squad that he can't beat, even with his beast. Suffice to say, there was nothing he could do. And he couldn't afford to perish now... not until he found Xehanort... and put an end to him.

As if she could almost read his mind, Maleficent smiled and said, "Good. Now, you are all dismissed! And be ready for tomorrow's mission!" With that the entire chamber began to clear out.

As everyone was leaving, Reptile couldn't help but gaze at Lycan with an amused grin. Such impatience...such rage... Come on Hikaru... Let go of your petty morals... Give in to the dark madness... Embrace the beast within... Become a true monster like us... I wanna see the last shred of that goodie-goodie I hate so much finally disappear forever!

Kairi was having another one of her dreams.

She was a five year old again, frolicking in a beautiful field of flowers. Her Lucky Fairy hovered around her, her Cuddly Kitty, the newest addition to her dream friends, frolicked alongside her, and meanwhile her Key Witch, Giant Guard Dog(she knows now that he's more of a wolf than a dog, but she still liked the ring of Giant Guard Dog), and Angel Grandma sat in the flowers watching the little girl play.

Even as a teenager she still had these dreams, and she never got tired of them. Whether they were real or not, she loved her dream friends, and wanted to spend as much time with them as she could. She just felt safe with them.

Soon, dark clouds filled the sky, catching everyone's attention. And out of the ground emerged three monsters: the Lizard Man, the Monster Eyeball, and the Vampire Bat(1). Their presence was nothing new, they occasionally pop up in these dreams, sometimes individually with a horde of shadows, sometimes together. Whatever the case, it was the same routine: They show up; the Fairy, Kitty, and Grandma move to protect little Kairi; and the Key Witch and Giant Guard Dog fight them off. When the three are together, usually the Guard Dog handles the Lizard and Eyeball, attacking them with claws swipes and bites, while the Witch handles the Vampire, her magic key seeming to have a strong effect on it. Then once the monster were weakened enough, the Fairy would swoop in and spread her fairy dust, putting them to sleep.

However... something different happened this time.

As soon as everyone was celebrating the victory, a dark tendril came out of nowhere and wrapped around the Lucky Fairy. Everyone turned to where it came from, and found a figure Kairi was shocked to see again: the Creepy Doctor. The Witch and Guard Dog both charged at him, however the Doctor raised one hand confidently. The Vampire Bat suddenly woke up and attacked the wolf, pinning him to the ground while draining his energy. Then the Key Witch ended up running into a puddle of darkness, quickly getting her legs trapped and her magic key slipping out of her hand from the sudden halt in movement. She tried to get out, but she was sinking fast. The Doctor then approached the girl, prompting the Angel Grandma to grab her in an attempt to flee, only for a dark spike to sprout from the ground and impale the old lady. The Cuddly Kitty then leap up to attack the man, only for another dark tendril to come out and grab her.

The poor girl could only watch in horror as her dream friends were taken by darkness one by one. Soon the doctor was right in front of her. The Giant Guard Dog soon managed to break free from the Vampire and charged at the man, only to be trapped in a cage of dark spikes. He roared as he desperately tried to break through. The Creepy Doctor then reached out to grab Kairi, who shut her eyes and brace herself in fright.

But nothing happened.

Kairi opened her eyes to see nothing but a black fog surrounding her. She looked down to see that no longer was she a little girl, she was her teenage self now. She wandered around, trying to find her way out.

Soon she spotted one of her best friends, Riku, in the distance, but quickly noticed that he was standing over a puddle of darkness. She ran toward him, calling out his name as she saw dark tendrils engulf his body, all the while the silver head was strangely not struggling at all. Soon he turned to look at her, acting as though nothing was wrong, before holding out his hand as if beckoning her to join him. This caused her to stop in her tracks confused as to what he was doing. Then Riku vanished in a burst of darkness, making Kairi gasp in fright.

She then turned to see her other best friend, Sora, trying to fight off those shadowy creatures with nothing but a wooden sword, to little success. It wasn't long before they started piling on top of him. Not wanting to lose him too, she ran over to him as fast as she could. However one of the creature turned to her and leapt into her face...

And everything went dark.

Finally, Kairi awoke in her bed in fright.

She sat up as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She looked around her floral decorated room, stopping at the wall that held her old drawings. Pictures of dream friends: the Giant Guard Dog, the Lucky Fairy, the Key Witch, the Angel Grandma, and the Cuddly Kitty. They always made her feel safe since she came to this island as a little girl, and always made her happy when she was alone and feeling down. She hung them on her wall because she never wanted to forget them, never wanted them to leave her dreams.

However there were a few on the wall who did not give her that same comfort. That being the dream monsters: the Shadowy Creatures, the Lizard Man, the Monster Eyeball, and the Vampire Bat. The only reason she had them hung up was because her psychologist, Dr Summers, suggested that having them out in the open where they could be acknowledged instead of hiding them away would help her be less scared of them. Even more so if they were near her guardian dream friends. And for the most part it worked. She doesn't feel all that threatened by them, if most of her dreams were anything to go by.

However, there was one that still unsettled her. She walked up to her wall put her hand on what appeared to be a blank sheet of paper, and flipped it up to reveal that it was covering the Creepy Doctor, a figure that still scared her to this day. It was strange though. The Doctor had not appeared in her dreams in a long time, not since her relationships with Sora, Riku, Selphie, and Hitomi had grown stronger than ever years ago. The fact that after all this time, he finally appeared again...was really unnerving.

Why... Why now?

She sincerely hoped that this wasn't an omen.

The Chaos Squad arrived in the Dwarf Woodlands with their army Heartless, at the castle where the Princess of Heart was staying. As soon as they entered the castle, it was like every other invasion: Dhampir, Cyclops, and Reptile slaughtered anyone they came across, the rest just knocked them out, and the Heartless devoured the rest.

Kai in particular just strolled on ahead, towards the source of the pure light he sensed. He mostly ignored the residents, only ever attacking whatever guard dared to stand in his way. He typically just punched and kicked them, or blasted a light wave of darkness at groups, only ever using his sword to block the strikes of anyone who managed to get close enough. And all the while not giving any one of them a second glance, or paying any mind to collateral damage. His expression looked like he was dead inside, as if he had grown numb to all the chaos going on around him.

He didn't enjoy this madness, far from it. But he simply found that he just didn't care. He had lost his only reason to live. As far as he was concerned, there was no future for him, and his fate was already sealed at this point. So what is one more sin? Why should he bother caring about the plights of those who have nothing to do with him? Honestly his only problem with all this is he feels it is all a waste of his time. All that mattered to him was dragging Xehanort to hell with him, nothing else.

Soon, the redhead reached a chamber where the bearer of the pure light resided, Princess Snow White, if the intel was accurate. Accompanying her was a prince, seven dwarfs, and several guards. The guards immediately readied for battle albeit a bit intimidated.

"Who are you?! What do you want?!"

"We came here for the princess," Kai answered in a deadpan tone as he pointed his sword. "Surrender her, and you will be spared."

"Never!" They all charged toward him, only to be blasted by darkness.

Kai approached the others as they backed into a corner. They were all trembling in fear.

Only one of the dwarfs looked ready to fight back, his fists at the ready even though he too was still shaking. "Y-You wanna fight! B-Bring it on!"

Kai just ignored him as he just stared at the princess, focusing on the pure light he sensed in her. First Aurora, then Cinderella, and now Snow White... Their lights... were similar to his sister's. That fact...was probably the only thing that had made him second guess their whole mission to capture the seven princesses, and conquer all worlds. What would Kairi think about what he's doing? All the pain and destruction he helped cause... Capturing girls who were just like her... She would never approve of any of this.

Before anyone else could take action, a cloud of red dust came and blew past Kai from behind him, and into the nine residents. They breathed it in and were soon knocked out cold.

The redhead turned to see that Lucky had caught up to him. The pink haired bug girl...was probably the only person who has kept him from going insane in the past nine years, not only because her sedative pheromone has kept his inner beast's insistent growling quiet in his head, but for reasons he couldn't understand, her company just...kept him calm. To this day, it still surprised him that she had stuck around all this time. Putting up with all the crap the others give her. He certainly couldn't imagine she enjoyed the missions they partook in. And more importantly, he couldn't understand why she continued to try and comfort him, despite the distance he kept from her. He didn't want her to grow attached to him, believing it would be for the best given that he had planned to end his own life after his mission was finally complete. Part of him wanted to do whatever he could to give her no reason to miss him after he died, perhaps make her despise him if he had to. And yet...he just couldn't bring himself to reject her compassion. The thought of hurting Lucky, or her hating him...made his heart ache.

Soon Dhampir entered the room along with the rest of the squad. "Well done you two. The third Princess of Heart is ours."

Cyclops looked at the two. "You know, it's funny how you two always manage to beat us to the princess."

Kai looked back at the unconscious princess with a somber expression. "Just wanted to get it over with, I guess."

"I see," said Dhampir. "I suppose at least one of us has to stay on task while the others are distracted by the resistance." The vampire then approached Snow White and picked her up and carried her on his shoulder. "Where done here. Let's be off." He opened a corridor and started walking in, followed by the others.

As they walked, Kai continued to stare at the princess's light, still thinking about his sister. He then pulled out that paper lucky charm that she made for him for his birthday, the only thing of her that he has left. He sighed in defeat, as he thought to himself. I'm sorry Kairi... But I've gone too far to turn back now. I don't expect your forgiveness, it wouldn't make a difference anyway. I'm already going to hell either way, such is my fate.

And while he was thinking that, Reptile looked at the werewolf with impatient frustration. Ugh! So close yet still so far! Still with that little inkling of humanity holding him back! I'm getting tired of waiting, Hikaru! Why won't you break?!"

Maleficent walked into a chamber in the castle. She looked around as she commented to herself. "The keyhole has got to be around here somewhere."

Then a male voice spoke up. "Doth thou seek something?" The evil fairy looked to see nothing but a mirror at first, but then a mask-like face manifested from within the reflection.

"A magic mirror?" Maleficent spoke with intrigue. "Fascinating!"

"I know all, and see all," the mirror spoke again. "Once I served Grimhilde's deeds, by answering questions she doth needs. Alas the evil queen is gone, and so my royal duty is done."

The sorceress rubbed her chin in thought. "Quite a shame. Something tells me I would've liked this queen."

"Yet I desire to serve one final task. If thou wish for an answer, thou need only ask."

"Is that so? Well then, answer me this. Where might I find the keyhole to this world?"

"Thou need not look further for this world's doom, for the catalyst thou seek lies in this room. Gaze into the glass thou see before thee, and the keyhole shall be revealed in one...two...three." The mask then disappeared in a veil of smoke, and in its place was the glowing outline of a keyhole.

Maleficent smiled as she gathered darkness around her. "Thank you for your cooperation."

Kairi walked into a certain cave underneath the big tree on their hang out island, or as she, Sora, and Riku liked to call it, their Secret place. She looked at all the chalk drawings the three of them scribbled on the walls as kids. Some of her many fond childhood memories.

Her attention was particularly drawn to one of her and Sora facing each other. This was the first drawing they did after he showed her this place. Sora had decided to draw her face while Kairi drew his. Looking at them it was obvious that the redhead was the better drawer. Kairi smiled fondly, as this was without a doubt her favorite drawing in the whole cave. It was actually the first thing they did together after she recovered from her illness when she first arrived on these islands.

The girl couldn't help but blush. She has had a crush on the boy since they were little, and over the years those feelings only developed more. Sora was cute, kind, selfless, loyal to his friends, and his silly antics never failed to put a smile on her face. She honestly felt like the spiky head was the person she'd want to spend the rest of her life with, and if local legends are true, share a Paopu Fruit with to bind their hearts together. And she didn't know how, but she could just tell that he felt the same way about her. While she hasn't yet outright admitted her feelings to anyone except Dr Summers, the redhead is not exactly shy about her crush either, as she likes to tease him from time to time, including subtle flirting. She just loves how easily flustered he gets around girls, especially herself. She even likes to feign ignorance whenever Sora and Riku seem to be competing for her affection, their rivalry just being so much fun to watch.

She also finds it amusing how most people seem to think her crush is on Riku, simply because he's cool, calm, and collected, as well as the best sword fighter on the islands. As far as she's concerned, let them think that way, in the end the jokes on them. The silver head may be one of her best friends, but he just wasn't her type as a boyfriend. If he ever asked, she would turn him down gently, in hopes he'll take it well.

Kairi's musings were cut short as thoughts of her nightmare last night were brought back to the front of her mind, namely the final leg of it regarding the boys. The first thing was Riku. The way he was slowly being swallowed up by the darkness, yet did not struggle at all. Was he somehow totally oblivious to it, or was he willingly letting it swallow him? And the way he held out his hand, as if inviting her to join him in the darkness. How could he possibly invite her into something so horrible. What could this mean? She had noticed how Riku seemed a little...too eager to go out to other worlds. Granted Sora was eager too but she could tell it was just for fun. With Riku...she felt as though there was something else going on with him, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. It's subtle, but somehow he's changed, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't worried, especially after that nightmare.

Then there was Sora. He was fighting off those shadowy creatures only to get overwhelmed. While relieved that Sora wanted nothing to do with the darkness, the fact that he was struggling concerned her greatly. Sora was the last person she would ever want to lose. She didn't know what she'd do without him. The first person she ever laid eyes on when she first washed up on shore, the nicest and funniest boy she ever met, who she'd grown to care for more than anyone else. It was a dreadful thought to say the least. Needless to say, she was really hoping that this nightmare would not come true.

Kairi shook her head, trying to rid herself of these thoughts. But then she felt a strange chill run through her spine. She was prompted to look at what was perhaps the most mysterious thing in the cave, perhaps the entire archipelago. It was what appeared to be a slab of wood that appeared to be some kind of doorway. But it had no knobs of any kind, no means of opening it. And no matter what anybody tried, it just wouldn't open.

But what really caught her attention was the large gold keyhole. That definitely wasn't there before, no way anyone would've missed it if it had been. She stared at it perplexed. She couldn't explain it, but looking at it made her quite uneasy, like it was giving her a strange sense of foreboding.

"Kairi!" she heard Sora voice coming from outside, snapping her out of her trance and prompting her to look back toward the cave entrance.

But when she looked back at the mysterious door, the keyhole was gone, just like that as if it was never there to begin with. She then rubbed her temple in frustration. She could swear she was losing her mind right now. She sincerely hoped that she was just being paranoid.

"There you are!" Sora approached her. He then noticed her rubbing her forehead. "Hey, are you okay?"

Kairi shook her head again, before turning to the boy with a gentle smile. "It's nothing. I guess I'm just a little tired today."

The spiky haired boy couldn't tell whether or not she was being honest, but he decided not to press. "Well, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie had just challenged Riku to a three-on-one. You wanna watch?"

"Sure!" the redhead answered cheerfully.

Whatever it took to get her mind off of all this.

KAIRI: I've been having these weird thoughts lately. Like is any of this for real...or not? (2)

A/N: Heavy stuff right. I hope I conveyed both siblings feelings well enough.

Kai second guessing his decision to join Maleficent, but feels he has no choice. And meanwhile, Kairi is getting premonitions of the future that's got her worried. What's gonna become of them?

Well... I will say that in the next chapter... someone is going to make a shocking discovery.

Footnotes:

(1) Just to be clear, this is not the real life vampire bat. Think of this Vampire Bat as a bipedal bat monster.

(2) I just could help myself with that one.