Kingdom Hearts: Saving Life in Another World

by GreenWarrior291

After having defeated Xehanort and managed to have saved Kairi from her fate, Sora disappears into a dark abyss of Darkness. Just as it seems like it'll be an endless sleep for having abused the Power of Waking, an outsider manages to teleport the young keyblade wielder into a different world.

78. Reveal your cards!

Chapter 74: Reveal your cards!

Theresia and Pride clash swords intensely, both of them not holding anything back. As this happens, Carol waits for the right moment to jump in to try a sneak attack on the Sin Archbishop only for Pride to teleport out of the attack. Carol was annoyed by this since Pride had been teleporting around just as it seems like they have him cornered.

Theresia and Carol look around to see where Pride is going to attack since he usually does that. As the two were looking back to back, Pride appears from above and prepares to hit them from the skies only for Grimm to quickly move both ladies out of the way and use his shield to block off the attack.

Just as he successfully blocks the attack, both Carol and Theresia do not hesitate to charge directly at the Sin Archbishop of Pride with everything they got. As the two were closing in, they both swing their swords only for Pride to create a dark barrier around him, blocking the two female warriors' attacks.

"Damn! You and your stupid tricks! Can't fight Lady Theresia and I sword to sword!"

"And who said I was going to be fighting fair?"

As Pride said this, his barrier disappeared while he was creating a dark fireball with his left hand. Theresia, Grimm, and Carol noticed this, prompting the three to quickly preparing their defenses.

"Bring it on then! Lady Theresia, Grimm, and I won't lose to such an underhanded opponent!"

"Hmph."

Pride threw the dark fireball directly at the three, suspecting that Grimm would try to block it off with his shield. This caused him to smile sinisterly as he prompted his dark fireball to split into three separate fireballs.

Theresia, Grimm, and Carol noticed this which prompted them to deal with their separate fireball in their own way. Carol cut the attack half before jumping out of the explosion range with haste.

Grimm managed to block off the attack without any trouble, having found it quite easy. Theresia was going to do the same thing as Carol until she had an idea. She quickly moved closely towards the fireball before managing to hit it back towards the Sin Archbishop of Pride.

Pride took notice of this and easily destroyed the fireball with one quick swing of his sword. As he managed to successfully do this, the explosion hit the Sin Archbishop though it did not phased him.

"Man...you really are annoying..." Carol said as she was slightly frightened on how Pride was able to tank the explosion. Theresia and Grimm noticed this as well with Grimm feeling uncertain on his own strength of holding back the witch cultist's attack while Theresia tried to think of a way to get the upper hand. Pride just looked at the three with a sinister smile as he slowly approached them.

"Pandora-sama told me so much about you, Sword Saint. How you are skilled with the sword and one of the strongest warriors of Lugnica behind Sora and the current Sword Saint. I was excited at the chance of facing such a strong fighter but right now...all I see is a washout sword saint trying to play the hero."

"Don't...Don't you dare disrespect Lady Theresia!"

Carol charged at Pride quick enough to start clashing swords, wanting to shut the boy's mouth for disrespecting Theresia van Astrea. The Sin Archbishop of Pride smiled as he began to block off each attack with ease, staying on defense to see just how skilled the elder female warrior is compared to Theresia.

He blocked and blocked; each attack much easier than the last. Carol noticed this and quickly continued to push her body to the limit, wanting to finish off the witch cultist in front of her.

She continued to unleash a barrage of attacks yet nothing fazed the Sin Archbishop of Pride. He continued to block and block until finally he saw an easy opening to finish off the old female warrior.

"I guess time is up for you. Goodbye!"

The Sin Archbishop of Pride goes for the killing blow though to his surprise, Grimm managed to step in between Pride and his wife. As he did that, he managed to block off Pride's attack with his own shield. Grimm took this opportunity to quickly grab Carol and take her away from their shared opponent.

As he does this, Carol passes out due to using everything inch of her strength against Pride. Theresia noticed this which caused her to quickly approach her two friends.

"Carol!"

Theresia looks at her friend in concern, worried that she might be hurt only for Grimm to use all of his strength to speak to the previous Sword Saint.

"I-I...g-g-got her...f-fight th-that witch c-c-cultist..."

Theresia was surprised by this though worried for her friend's sake since he was pushing his voice. She was about to do something until she processed what Grimm had said, prompting her to nod as she understands what was told to her. She got up with confidence as she held her sword proudly and strong while looking at the Sin Archbishop of Pride. He noticed the change in demeanor from the previous sword saint, prompting him to smile.

"So, are you finally going to give me a proper battle, Sword Saint Theresia van Astrea?"

"...you will regret that, Sin Archbishop of Pride. I won't allow you to win. I won't let you hurt my friends." Theresia paused for a moment as she thought back of everything that happened when she led a garrison against the White Whale. She recalled how all of them were killed and how she failed to defeat the great mabeast and the Witch of Vainglory.

With these thoughts motivated her, she continued to speak to the Sin Archbishop of Pride, "My name is Theresia van Astrea. Although I may not hold the title as the current Master Swordsman, I'm still a skilled warrior and an Astrea! I won't lose to someone who would align themselves with the Witch of Vainglory, Pandora!"

As she finished speaking, she did not hesitate to charge directly at Pride, resuming their battle with her on the offensive. Pride was caught off guard by this since he didn't expect the speed from the previous Sword Saint to be equal if not a little higher than his.

This made the sin Archbishop of Pride excited since he finally as a challenge for him to test out his new power given to him by the Witch of Vainglory.

His eyes started to glow yellow as he started to keep up with Theresia's speed and strength, excited to see just how long before he overwhelms the previous sword saint.

Theresia noticed this grow of strength, prompting her to push herself beyond since she knows how important this fight is.

"No matter how strong you get, I won't let you win!"

"Is that right? Then try to beat me, Sword Saint Theresia van Astrea!"

As Pride shouted this, he quickly jumped back as his body started to have a more dark aura, indicating that he is engulfed in the witch's scent.

Once he finished doing this, the boy's entire right side was covered in what can be described as shadows with his left side remaining in tact with only the witch scent aura surrounding it.

"If you truly believe that you can defeat me, then let's see you fight me at my full power."

"You..."

Theresia hesitated for a moment, seeing how fearful Pride looked. Just as it seemed like that fear was going to overwhelm her, she started to remember Wilhelm in both his younger and older form. Remembering that he is still with her despite being far away.

She also remembered Reinhard, how he had grown compared to the last time she saw him prior to her garrison and her going after the White Whale. She also remembered Heinkel, how she as to still see her son and just how much he had grown without her.

With her family and both Grimm and Carol coming to her mind, she opened her eyes with determination returning to her, knowing that she can't fail here. She and Pride slowly started to approach each other only for this slow walk to turn into a charge with everything they got.

Once their swords clashed, both of their determinations and motivations were shown to be on equal terms with pride thinking more on himself while the previous sword saint on those she cared deeply about.

With the two giving it their all, Grimm watched from a distance while taking care of Carol, amazed at just how strong his friend is against a sin archbishop. Pandora watched with interest, seeing that despite not having her divine protection of the sword saint, she is still pretty strong. Though she wasn't leaving out Replica Riku's new found power, showing that he is also capable himself.

"Bishop Riku, I hope this helps you find what you are looking for."

As Pandora says this underneath her breath, she turns her attention towards Sephiroth and Cloud's fight. At first she wasn't interested in their fight until she noticed the two were still fighting in air, prompting her to be curious on Cloud and the reason Sephiroth wants to eliminate him.

She observed closely as Sephiroth and Cloud's swords kept clashing, each time being much powerful than the last. As these attacks would eventually cause shock waves all around them, the two warriors took a moment to gain their distance, both thinking of a quick strategy to beat the other.

Once a strategy was formed, the two charge at each other with everything they got, ending up in a blade lock as both weapons clashed with intense strength. During this blade lock, Sephiroth took his chance mess with Cloud's concentrated mindset by saying,

"What do you hope to accomplish here, Cloud? Kill me? After every single time you tried, it has always and will always end in failure."

"I won't fail this time, Sephiroth!"

"Is that right? We both know that isn't true. Especially in this world."

"What do you mean?" Cloud questioned while he was pushing Sephiroth back with everything he has in him.

"This world seems to favor the darkness since arriving here."

"And what of it? I won't lose here!" Cloud said as he broke off the blade lock by moving back, trying to gain some distance. Sephiroth took this chance to lower his sword as he answered the young man's question.

"We both know that you will fail to kill me like you have failed all those other times. Once you perish here, in this world, your friend, that Keyblade wielder, all of them will die."

"Sora..." Cloud pauses as he was suspicious on why Sephiroth would claim that he could even kill the Keyblade Wielder. Knowing the boy's increase in power, he is sure that Sora wouldn't lose to Sephiroth. "he won't lose to you—"

"Not only him but I'll make sure to find a way back to that world, Radiant Garden. Once I go back there, I will kill your other allies, Tifa, and especially Aerith, I'll kill her right in front of you to show you that you are nothing but a failure."

"You bastard...! I won't let you hurt any of them!"

Cloud's anger allows a little bit of darkness to enter his heart, making him understand fully what Sephiroth meant that this world favored the darkness.

'This power...you can literally defeat anyone with it...those that mean that Sephiroth has been toying with me this whole time?'

With this in mind, he calmed his heart which Sephiroth notice.

"Are you really rejecting the power of darkness? How foolish are you?"

"I won't rely on such a power. I need to win with my own strength. Otherwise..." Cloud paused as he recalled a fond thing Sora had said to him.

("How about a rematch sometime? Fair and square, no dark powers involved.")

Although he did at that moment turn down the offer to have a rematch with the Keyblade's chosen one, he does not want to go back on what he learned during that time.

"Otherwise I wouldn't win 'fair and square'."

"Hm?"

Sephiroth looked at Cloud confused for a moment before noticing that his opponent was preparing to attack.

"Hmph. Well let's see how far this 'fair and square' mentality of yours goes."

Cloud did not responded back to what Sephiroth said as he promptly charge at the one winged angel with all of his strength.

The one winged angel noticed this and quickly blocked off the attack, confident that his opponent won't be able to surpass the power he holds currently.

As he blocked off the attack, he felt that oddly enough Cloud's strikes were different this time around.

'This is different...but it won't change the outcome.'

As Sephiroth and Cloud's fight continued with everything they got, Pandora was intrigued by the level of strength between the two were emitting. She still isn't sure on why Sephiroth is fixated on Cloud but she didn't care. She got him what he wanted, which in turn will mean that she will have the keyblade master Sora on her grasp.

She turned her attention back to the fight between the Sin Archbishop of Pride and Theresia van Astrea, seeing that the two were still giving it their all. Theresia was the more skilled with the sword since she was able to block each attack with ease while the Sin Archbishop of Pride was the more powerful one out of the two.

Pride would block off a few of Theresia's attacks before using the shadows covering his right side to try and consume her. The previous sword saint noticed this and quickly reacted by jumping away from the attack.

As she was successful in avoiding the attack, she quickly charged at Pride in hopes of landing the definitive blow. Just as she was close to Pride, she swung her sword as fast as she possibly could.

Although the boy wasn't able to block the attack with his own sword, Theresia's weapon didn't do any damage since the moment it hit Pride on his right side, the shadows absorbed the impact.

"Wha—?"

"Nice try!"

Pride's body countered Theresia's attack by trying to swallow the previous sword saint once again. This forced her to quickly jump back in order to avoid this attack once again. As she kept her distance, she wasn't sure on how she could do any damage to the Sin Archbishop of Pride.

'This boy...he is more dangerous than I thought...'

As she had this in mind and while she was keeping her distance, Pride was about to attack with his ultimate move until he felt Pandora's hand tap him on his shadow shoulder.

This caused him to pause as he turned to see that she is signaling him to stop for a moment. Pride listens which prompts him to power himself down to a normal state, reverting his shadowy arm back into a normal one.

As he does this, Theresia becomes more wary at what might transpire next.

"Stand back, Witch of Vainglory!"

"There is no need to be afraid, Theresia van Astrea. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I don't trust you, witch! You brainwashed me! You tried to make me hurt...m-my familiy...I won't ever forgive you for that!"

"That is a shame. I wished we could be on much friendlier terms."

As Pandora finishes speaking, she starts to make her way towards Theresia. Grimm noticed this, making him want to help his friend yet he knew that he can't leave his wife on her own.

This put him in a difficult position since he won't leave his wife behind but he also doesn't want his friend to get hurt by the same person that had killed her before. While Grimm was stuck with a tough choice, Theresia was stunned since she wasn't sure that she can win this fight.

Just as Pandora was about to close in on the previous sword saint, she suddenly was hit with a barrage of darkness from two different sides. Pride and Theresia were just shocked by this since they didn't expect something like this to happen.

"What was—?"

"Seems like you need my assistance, Theresia."

Both Pride and Theresia turned their attention towards the voice, surprised to see that it was Xehanort.

"Xehanort..."

"What are you doing here?"

Xehanort turned towards Pride, looking at him with disappointment though he did responded to the boy's question.

"Fulfilling my contract. Unlike you, I don't break away from my promises."

Pride just looked at Xehanort with distain, disliking how the old keyblade master was looking down on him. Xehanort turned towards Theresia as she started to ask her question,

"D-Do you know that witch cultist?"

"He isn't a witch cultist. He is one of my vessels."

"Vessels?" Theresia questioned with a confused facial expression. Before Xehanort could give a proper response to her question, Pride began to emit the witch's scent on him while saying with anger in his voice,

"You aren't going to make me into your vessel! I finally feel like my own person and I won't let you take that away from me!"

"Hm." Xehanort stood silent as he saw that the Riku Replica had gotten much stronger than he was originally. He turned towards the boy with his No Name Keyblade out and ready for a fight. Before the battle could begin, Pandora appears behind Pride as she looks at Xehanort with some interest.

"Hm. You remind me of someone..."

"...and you deserve to die."

Without hesitation, Xehanort pointed his keyblade to start the attack. Replica Riku noticed this and quickly used his shadows covering his right side to create a powerful shield around him and Pandora.

Just as he did this, Xehanort's attack reached Replica Riku's shield, causing a large explosion to happen.

As the dust settled, Xehanort turned towards Grimm and Carol's direction, seeing a few other friends of his back when he and Eraqus first arrived at this world.

He only closed his eyes at them before looking at the direction of Pandora and Replica Riku.

"You should take them to safety, Theresia."

"Wait what about—?"

"We were friends, which is why I'm helping you here but know this. There will come a day when we must face each other."

"But why?" Theresia asked since she doesn't want to a fight a friend. Xehanort continued to keep his calm composure.

"Sorry but there is no time for anymore small talk."

As Xehanort said this, he blocks off the shadow tentacles send towards him as the mist disappeared. Theresia wanted to help Xehanort but she understood that he is buying her time to get Grimm and Carol to get out of there.

She quickly goes towards Grimm and Carol's direction to assist Grimm in carrying Carol to safety. As the two were trying to regroup with the others, Xehanort continues to block each of Replica Riku's attacks with ease, he waited until he saw an opening to attack.

He moved with such speed, managing to close the gap between himself and both Replica Riku and Pandora. Replica Riku was shocked by this while Pandora was impressed by Xehanort's power despite being old. The old Keyblade Master send in a barrage of attacks on his two opponents.

Replica Riku received some of the hits while his shadow side managing to absorb the fatal hits. Pandora also received the fatal hits, causing her to be killed for a moment before she got up as if nothing had happened to her.

"Hm. So you have that kind of ability."

"Are you aware of my authority?" Pandora asked in a genuine tone of voice. Xehanort just kept a blank expression before he opened a corridor of darkness behind the Witch of Vainglory. Pandora and Replica Riku both noticed this, curious to know what the old keyblade master was trying to do.

Before the two could do anything, Xehanort moved rapidly towards Pandora's direction to hit her with the No Name Keyblade at her stomach area. This with all of the old keyblade master's strength, managed to send the witch flying into the corridor of darkness before it closed.

As this happened, Xehanort turned towards Replica Riku to send another barrage of attacks towards the boy. Replica Riku was caught off guard by this and ended up getting send flying into a couple of trees, destroying them in the process. Xehanort looked at the boy with disappointment.

"You talk a big game but you proved that you are still beneath me."

"Tsk. I won't...lose...you won't...use me as...your vessel..."

"Hmph. You are lucky that I still need you for something."

"You won't...!"

Before Replica Riku could even retaliate, he ended up getting knocked out by one swing from Xehanort's No Name keyblade. Replica Riku was sent into the ground with extreme force, creating a crater on the ground. The old keyblade master put away his weapon as he approached the unconscious boy with disappointment.

He grabbed the boy and began to walk towards a corridor of darkness with the knocked out Replica Riku. As he was leaving, he turned back for a moment with a blank facial expression before looking at the corridor of darkness. The last thought he had in mind before leaving was,

'Seems like I found another guardian of light.'

While this was going on, Olbart continued his fight with Luxord. The old man moved all around the area with incredible speed, managing to destroy many of the organization member's cards with ease as he tried to land a hit on him. Luxord was impressed by the manner the old man was moving, attempting to get him with many ninja like moves.

"You seem to be quite the contestant, despite the age."

"Yeah, you shouldn't underestimate anyone, regardless of age."

"Well then, allow me to change the rules then."

Olbart closed in on Luxord, preparing to finish off the Organization member only for the man with blond hair to disappear in mid-air. The old shinobi was caught off guard by this, prompting him to quickly look around for any signs of Luxord's position.

"Are we playing find?" The divine general questioned as he sat down, waiting for the right moment to react.

"Not quite."

As Luxord responded to Olbart's question, a couple of large cards began to appear as a large amount of them surrounded the old shinobi. This did caught Olbart's attention, curious to know what exactly Luxord is up to. As the cards all were blank for a brief moment, they each started to glow at different points in time. Eventually all of them started to glow, revealing that each card was a different divine general with the exception of one.

"Hm? The admirer of Kararagi?"

"Yes, I think you can understand what is going on." Luxord said as a card of him appeared in front of the old shinobi.

"I suppose but one thing that catches my attention is Cecilus. How did you even manage to capture him?" Olbart was curious since he knows the Blue Lightning of Vollachia was the strongest of the divine generals. Luxord smiled as he explained,

"He played his cards wrong."

"Hm. Very well. What are the rules of this game then?" The old shinobi asked, curious to see how he can bypass them in order to kill the Organization member that somehow bested the first Divine general.

Luxord smiled as his card went to the ground, hiding among the other cards that were shown to the old shinobi. As the cards all started to mix around, another set of blank cards came in to mix around as well, making Olbart to understand what is going on.

"The first to run out of time is the loser." Luxord proclaims, giving Olbart an idea on how he should handle this.

"Very well. I accept these terms."

"Now then, let the game begin."

With those words being said, Olbart and Luxord quickly started to move with the Organization member going on the offense while the divine general going on the defense.

Luxord send a barrage of cards at Olbart, which the shinobi easily dodged with his skills before attempting to destroy one of these cards with a simple kick. As the card was destroyed, another card with an X symbol on it closed in on the shinobi warrior.

Olbart was about to attack this card until he noticed the X, prompting him to stop for a moment.

"Hmph. I may be an old man but I won't be fooled by such a trick."

Olbart moved his attention towards the card that had Luxord, knowing that taking this card down will end the game they are playing. With incredible speed, he managed to use the cards as a way to close in on Luxord, avoiding the cards with an X on them since he has a feeling that they are a trap.

Once the old shinobi warrior closed in, he threw a couple of deadly needles and a few black bombs. He wanted to make sure that his attacks destroyed Luxord completely. The card of Luxord disappeared just before either the needles hit him or the black bombs could explode.

Olbart noticed this and quickly looked around before throwing a needle at one of the cards on the ground. As the needle hit the card, that specific card had changed into Luxord, who looked hurt since the attack did some effect to him.

"You played it too safe." Olbart criticized the Organization member before moving at rapid speed towards him. Just as he was about to tap the Organization member's forehead, Luxord smiled as he declared,

"Onto the next game."

Luxord disappeared for a moment, surprising Olbart as he was a second away from killing the Organization member. He was annoyed by this since this opponent of his was more or less making up his own rules and adding extra games to keep the fight going.

Normally he would be impressed by someone who can play dirty like him but he also started to see what his previous opponents felt when he randomly started to break the rules to win.

Olbart waited for a moment before noticing two cards appear in front of them. One was a giant X and the other was Luxord's card.

Olbart stood still as a bunch of blank cards appear around him before all of them facing down, shuffling all around in order to force the old shinobi to look for the right one containing the Organization member.

He waited until the cards stopped moving, allowing him to look around for a moment before choosing to attack a specific card. Once he threw a couple of bombs towards that card, Luxord appeared out of the card as a few other cards were send directly towards Olbart and the bombs he had thrown at the Organization member's direction.

The old shinobi noticed this and quickly reacted by using ione of the cards to jump back far enough to avoid the attacks. The shinobi was preparing to move at rapid speed to close the gap and land a hit on Luxord only to see the organization member once again disappear.

"Hm. You might make for quite a shinobi. Disappearing all around like that, but you won't hide for long."

Having said this, he turned towards a card that looked oddly suspicious. He threw another set of bombs towards that specific card.

Just as the bombs were about to explode, a few cards jump from the ground and covered the bombs, holding off the explosions while Luxord got up from the ground, preparing to attack the old shinobi once again.

As he looks up, he notices that the old shinobi was nowhere to be found.

'Hm? Where did he—?'

Before Luxord could finish asking himself his own question, he received a kick to the face by Olbart.

"You let your guard down too easily."

As Olbart was about to kill Luxord by tapping him with a needle to the forehead, the Organization member smiled as he found an interesting opponent.

"Well played."

"Hm?"

Olbart was an inch away from killing the Organization member only for him to disappear. The old shinobi was both surprise and annoyed by this, seeing that victory was taken away from him once again.

'This is seriously annoying.'

The old shinobi was looking around with caution since he wasn't expecting the Organization member to have recovered so quickly.

As he looked around with caution, he felt that something was about to attacking him in his back side, prompting him to quickly react.

He turned to see if Luxord was trying to sneak attack him only to find nothing but a blank card.

"Hm?"

Olbart was confused until he quickly dodged one of Luxord's exploding cards thrown towards him, having sensed the Organization member's sneak attack within the second he was about to do it.

"Impressive, I've never seen anybody push me this far in a long time." Olbart spoke with both annoyance and respect. Luxord noticed this and smiled with respect, seeing Olbart as one of the few that can keep up with him.

Luxord quickly threw two set of cards that looked like an attack until suddenly they disappeared while two divine generals appear, Goz Ralfon and Groovy Gamlet. Olbalt was a bit interested in seeing Goz, having thought that he was executed like the rumors implied.

"Goz, you are alive."

"I just got lucky. Though being a prisoner to these odd organization guys isn't really much better."

"And then there is you, Master of Enchanted items."

"What about me, stupid old man?!" The small hyena human hybrid said in a vulgar manner, annoyed by Olbart's presence. The old shinobi just looked at the six divine general before looking towards Luxord's direction.

"Bringing outside help? Is that part of the rules?"

"Hmph. Figure the rules out."

As Luxord said this, he motioned his hand to signal both Goz and Groovy to attack, forcing the two divine generals to charge at Olbart. The old shinobi laughed a bit before saying confidently,

"I suppose I could use some help, Yorna, Tanza?"

Just before Goz and Groovy could land a hit on Olbart, a tornado was created in between himself and the two divine generals targeting him. Luxord looked with a surprised facial expression before looking seriously, seeing Yorna approaching Olbart's side. The old shinobi turned towards the ruler of chaosflame.

"Appreciate that we are on the same team, otherwise I wouldn't have joined in." Yorna said since she normally wouldn't interfere in a fight though this one she did the moment two divine generals entered Olbart and Luxord's fight.

"I do appreciate the kindness of a maiden like you helping an old man like me."

"I'm only helping because you are being cheated."

"I appreciate it."

Yorna ignored the last thing Olbart said as she prepared to face off two familiar comrades. Goz and Groovy looked at her with a serious facial expression, seeing that this won't be easy.

"I'll take on Olbart, you can handle Yorna."

"..."

Groovy stood silent as he pulled out his small purple sickle before charging at the beautiful ruler of chaosflame, having accepted her has his opponent.

Yorna noticed this and smiled as she was confident that she can hold her own against him.

As she blocks off Groovy's attacks, Olbart and Goz approach each other with the old shinobi curious of something.

"Are you really being forced to fight or do you have a desire to kill me?"

"I don't even know but I have always wanted to see my own strength against you all."

"That's not a bad thought but I won't be holding back."

"Neither will I."

The two nodded each other with respect before beginning their fight with Goz swinging his large mace at the old shinobi, starting this fight on the offense. While the four divine generals fought one another, Theresia and Grimm took Carol away from the fight between Xehanort and both Pandora and Pride.

As they managed to gain some distance, they looked up to see that Cloud was on equal terms with Sephiroth in terms of strength and speed, creating a lot of shock waves. Theresia turned towards the direction of Yorna and Olbart, noticing that they are having to deal with their own fights.

'How can I help? Xehanort is dealing with that witch and her minion...those two are fighting two other people, and Cloud is facing the person he had been looking for...what can I do to help?'

As Theresia wants to assist one of the groups fighting, she noticed someone suddenly pass her and head straight towards Cloud and Sephiroth's fight.

'Who was...?'

Before she could even process who this new person was, someone else approached her, the passed out Carol, and Grimm.

"Do you three need help?"

"Hm?" Theresia and Grimm both turned around to see that the person who was talking to them was a merchant in green. With him was a little girl with blonde twin drill hair.

"Who are you two? You look familiar."

"You..." The merchant observed Theresia as he noticed who she was. "...you are the previous Sword Saint, Theresia van Astrea."

"Yes...wait, who are you?"

"My name is Otto, Otto Suwen. This here is the great spirit Beatrice."

"Hmph."

Theresia looked at Otto for a moment before finally remembering him, being one of the few who helped the repairs of the city of Priestella. She turned towards the person that passed him to see that it was Garfiel Tinsel, the demi human boy that was with Otto. Garfiel jumped up towards the fight between Cloud and Sephiroth to quickly blocked both their attacks with his much stronger shields.

"Hm?"

"Who are you?" Sephiroth questioned. Garfiel smiled as he looked at the one winged angel, seeing that he is the threat between the two warriors he blocked off.

"Th'name's Garfiel Tinsel, The Shield of the Sanctuary!"

As Garfiel announced his name, he threw the first punch directly at Sephiroth only to end up having his attack be easily deflected.

Cloud sensed that the one winged angel was about to kill the demi human boy, prompting him to quickly grab him and move back towards the ground.

Sephiroth noticed this and quickly charged at the two, not wanting to allow Cloud to escape their fight. As he closed in, his sword was suddenly blocked by Theresia's sword.

"You won't hurt them!"

Theresia declared as she was giving her strength to protect both Garfiel and Cloud. Sephiroth was annoyed by this and quickly moved to kill the previous sword saint only for Grimm to quickly block off the attack with his shield. Sephiroth was a little surprised by this, prompting him to send a barrage of attacks.

Grimm's shield was surprisingly strong though not for long since Sephiroth's strength was starting to reach the shield's limit. Before Sephiroth could have the chance to destroy the shield, Otto quickly joined in by throwing a couple of red crystals at the one winged angel.

Sephiroth noticed this and didn't really paid much mind into them until he noticed them starting to glow. He jumped back quickly to avoid the explosions before noticing how Cloud as gained a lot more allies than before. Before he had a chance to attack them all, he heard a young girl shout,

"El Minya!"

As the young girl shouts, a barrage of purple like icicles were created and surrounded the one winged angel. Sephiroth lowered his guard as he looked around, interested in a moment before looked towards the direction of the voice of the young girl.

Once he noticed who it was, he was impressed by how Beatrice was able to create a large amount of deadly icicles all around him that felt powerful. Just as he was about to get attacked, he used his dark wing to wrap all around him to protect him from Beatrice's attack. As the purple dust settled, Beatrice was surprised to see that Sephiroth managed to survive her attack.

"That was impressive. For a little girl to be this powerful. This world is a lot more interesting than I originally thought."

"Hmph. Don't assume my age by my looks, I suppose. I'm much older than you. Now die. El Minya!"

Another set of yin magic was directed towards though this time Sephiroth was prepared for as he was able to destroy all of the purple icicles with only a few slashes of his sword. Once all of these purple icicles were destroyed, the one winged angel tried once again to attack the group only for Cloud to step in and clash swords.

Sephiroth looked at Cloud with a serious and slightly annoyed facial expression before pushing his opponent back. As Cloud managed to quickly recover, Garfiel and Theresia both stood side by side with Cloud, preparing to protect the young man from him. Sephiroth just looked at them with a serious facial expression before closing his eyes.

"Seems like you win this time, Cloud."

"What are you—?"

"The next time we encounter each other, you and all of your new allies will die."

"Wait!"

Before Cloud could do anything, Sephiroth disappeared which left the group stunned for a moment.

"What just happened?" Theresia asked.

"Where did he go?" Otto questioned

"Unknown, but he is gone for now." Cloud responded as he lowered his guard, seeing this as a chance to rest for now. As the group were slowly lowering their guards, Theresia turned towards Olbart and Yorna's direction, seeing that they need help. She quickly approached them only to be stopped by an injured Kafma.

"What are..."

"You won't be able to help them..."

"What do you mean?" Theresia asked before noticing Kafma pointing at Olbart, seeing that he looks tired out. She observed at Olbart, noticing that he was slowly losing his grip on his fight with Goz. She then looked at Yorna, seeing that Groovy was actually making some progress against the ruler of Chaosflame. She turned towards Kafma to say,

"We have to help him."

"I want to...but..."

"Should you even consider joining this game, you will perish."

Theresia looked up to see that it was Luxord, looking at her with a serious and threatening facial expression. The previous sword saint looked the Organization member with a serious facial expression before pulling out her sword.

"So, do you wish to join this deadly game?"

"I don't know what you mean about this so-called game but I won't let you hurt them."

Just before Luxord or Theresia could make a move, the Organization member noticed someone trying to make a move on his two divine generals under his control. He quickly threw one of his cards at Cloud's direction, seeing that he was about to help out Yorna only for a blue haired swordsman to quickly appear and block his attack.

"What?"

"You have a unique sword, mind facing me for a bit?"

Cloud stood silent as he began to block off each attack from this new opponent, seeing that this swordsman was extraordinarily skilled. As Cloud was dealing with a new threat, Garfiel and Otto both joined in with Garfiel charging straight at Luxord while Otto prepared some more red crystals and his mana he had gathered from the forest to back up his friend. Garfiel swung his hand directly at Luxord's direction only for the Organization member to teleport away from Garfiel's attack.

"What the?!"

"Too slow."

Garfiel turned his head only to receive a strong kick to the face, causing him to be sent flying towards the forest.

"Garfiel-san!"

Otto shouts as he throws a couple of red crystals directly at the Organization member, hoping that this would do something only for the explosions of the crystals to not faze him. Otto noticed this and quickly reacted by using the mana given to him by the forest to use earth magic.

"El Dona!"

Otto's earth mana swarm and pinpoints towards Luxord, which bursts into spikes inside them expanding outward. As this hit the Organization member, Otto kept his guard up since he knows that this only did some damage. He looked around for a moment before sensing that Luxord teleported behind him.

"You are quite the annoyance."

"hk!"

Luxord prepared to attack the merchant only for the shield of sanctuary to have recovered fast enough to protect his bro.

"Ya ain't hurtin' Brotto!"

As Garfiel managed to get behind Otto, he managed to block off the attack from Luxord. The Organization member was surprised by just how tough the demi human boy was.

"Hm. You are a wild card."

"Yea, Cap'n had said th't 'bout my amazin' self before. Now ya gonna lose!"

"Is that right?"

Luxord threw a few cards at Garfiel's direction with the demi human boy easily blocking them with his shields.

"If th't's all ya got, then yer gonna lose!"

"Don't get cocky."

Luxord prepared to throw his explosive card only for him to instinctively dodge the attack from Theresia's sword. As Garfiel, Theresia, and Otto worked together to fend off Luxord, Beatrice slowly walked near the fight between the divine generals, trying to see who she needs to help since she had noticed Theresia being worried for two of the four divine generals.

She observed the fight to see that both Olbart and Yorna were the ones in need of help. She prepared to use a bit of her remaining mana to help the two divine generals only to notice a young girl with pale skin, purple eyes, and tan hair try to enter the fight between Yorna and Groovy.

"I won't let you hurt Yorna-sama!"

"Tanza! Stand back!" Yorna said as she managed to block off Groovy's attack.

"B-But Yorna-sama..."

"Stand back, I suppose."

"Huh?"

Tanza turned towards her right side to see that it was Beatrice, slowly approaching towards Yorna and Groovy's fight. Once she was close, she pointed her hand towards Groovy's position before focusing her yin magic. Just as the small amount of mana was about to be used, she looked at Groovy for a moment before saying,

"El Shamak!"

As Beatrice says this, Groovy suddenly felt himself unable to control his body. This bought Yorna enough time to land a strong kick onto Groovy's stomach, sending him flying into Goz's direction, knocking the two down while also helping Olbart just as he was about to be defeated. The old shinobi took this chance to regroup with Yorna, having some of his energy slowly return to him.

"I appreciate the help."

"Yeah...just be lucky I chose to help you, old man...actually..." Yorna turned her attention towards Beatrice, knowing that she was the one that helped her. "What is your name?"

"...Beatrice." The little loli spirit said since she wasn't accustomed to speak with new people without Subaru or other familiar people around her. Yorna smiled at the little girl, finding her extremely cute before turning towards Goz and Groovy's direction, seeing that they are starting to recover. She looks at both Beatrice and Tanza before getting in front of the two.

"Stand back you two. Allow me to protect you."

Beatrice wanted to retaliate to what was being said only for all four of them to get distracted when both Garfiel and Otto crashed on the mud in between them and both Goz and Groovy. As they crashed, Theresia had landed on her feet right in front of the two boys while she block off the cards thrown towards her by Luxord.

Garfiel and Otto both recovered quickly and got up, ready to help out the previous sword saint. Luxord prepared to continue the fight only to see that the two divine generals he summoned were on the verge of failure. He then turned towards Cloud's fight with Cecilus, seeing that the two were going all out and were on equal terms.

'Hm. I may have folded the wrong cards earlier. I suppose I underestimated my opponent's cards.'

Luxord closed his eyes with a bit disappointment towards himself before smiling as he figured that the next time he has a chance, he will defeat them. He jumped in front of the two divine generals before making them disappear into cards with a snap of his fingers.

Cecilus noticed this, making him aware that the fight was about to wrap up. He looked at Cloud for a moment before jumping back, gaining some distance from the young man.

"You are quite the fighter. You might be the third person I wish to defeat."

"Third?" Cloud questioned.

"Yeah, you are just behind the Master Swordsman and the Keyblade Master I've heard a lot about."

Cloud smiled when he heard the word Keyblade, knowing that the swordsman he was referring to was Sora. He lowered his weapon to ask the warrior in front of him,

"What is your name?"

"Wait, you really don't know who I am? That's weird."

"Well I'm new to this place."

"Still...anyway, the name is Cecilus Segmunt, the Blue Lightning."

"The name is Cloud."

"Interesting name. Well then, until our next encounter, Cloud."

Cecilus said before disappearing into a card. All the cards containing the divine generals captured returned to the Organization member's hands before he made those set cards disappear.

"What did you do to them?" Yorna questioned, knowing that capturing a divine general isn't easy but two was beyond difficult. Luxord just smiled before saying,

"You all performed very well. You won the game...but you won't win the next time. Farwell."

Luxord disappeared as darkness covered him for a brief moment before disappearing into thin air.

Olbart sat down as he didn't think that he would be pushed to his limit while Yorna looked around her homeland, completely devastated as her soul marriage technique didn't work against the heartless, turning many of her people into them.

She closed her eyes with despair before turning towards Theresia and her group. She instantly recognized the previous sword saint, prompting her to bow with respect.

"Sword Saint Theresia van Astrea, I think this is the first time I get to meet a powerful Lugnica warrior."

"Um...th-there is no need."

"Why are you bowing, Yorna-sama?" Tanza questioned this since she didn't understand why. Yorna turned towards the little deer human girl to respond.

"She is a powerful warrior. Despite being from Lugnica, she is still a worthy warrior of acknowledgement."

Tanza stood silent for a moment before nodding, understanding what Yorna said. As the ruler of chaosflame noticed this, she turned towards the previous sword saint before asking in a calm manner,

"Who was that one with the black coat?"

"I don't know..." Theresia was unsure while Otto, Garfiel, and Beatrice were preparing to explain who Luxord was only for Cloud to be the one to explain.

"He's with Organization XIII, they aren't good people. If he is here, then the others are here as well."

"Wait, how th'hell do ya know th't?" Garfiel questioned.

"Because I'm friends with Sora and I know the dangers of that group."

"You are friends with Sora-san?" Otto asked as he didn't think he would meet one of the Keyblade Master's friends. Garfiel was excited by this since he was now curious to know how strong the young man was. Cloud just had a blank expression as he turned towards Otto and Garfiel.

"Do you know where Sora is at?"

"Not yet but we are close, right Beatrice-sama?"

Otto turned towards Beatrice with everyone looking at her. She didn't like this at all since she rarely gets this much attention. She eventually got all flustered as she said,

"D-Don't all look at me, I-I suppose!"

"My bad, Beatrice-sama."

"It is your bad!" She said.

"Well, do ya know where Master and Cap'n're at?"

"Of course I do, in fact!"

As Beatrice said this, Theresia turned towards Yorna and Olbart.

"What are you two going to do?"

"I want to avenge my people! I won't let these creatures get away with stealing their souls!" Yorna declared as she wanted to avenge her people.

"I'll want another rematch with that man. He didn't play fair." Olbart said, fired up as he hadn't had such an opponent in a long time.

"I'll join Yorna-sama as well." Tanza said since she doesn't want to leave her master's side. Theresia nodded as she noticed Grimm walking alongside a tired out Carol.

"Carol!"

"I'm not done yet, Lady Theresia..."

The previous sword saint smiled as she saw that her friend still has a fighting spirit in her. Just as she was going to say something, another voice spoke out.

"I would like to join in. If it means getting vengeance on the one that caused damage to this city, count me in."

They all turned to see that Kafma was still standing, having a fighting spirit in him. Yorna and Tanza nodded at Kafma as he was still somehow standing after the way Luxord had beaten him down with only a few moves.

The people from Vollachia looked at Theresia, all of them counting on her to help them get their revenge on Luxord. The previous sword saint was hesitant at first but understood that they need to first find Cloud's friend. She turned towards Beatrice to ask the little loli spirit,

"Could you lead us to the Keyblade wielder's location?"

Beatrice just stood silent for a moment before nodding, understanding how important she is in not only just finding her contractor but the keyblade master as well.

---

"Sphere?" Kenichi and Naoko both questioned in unison, both of them confused by what Zarestia was looking for but also on guard. Sora and Subaru both didn't like this since the last time they encountered the woman in the white kimono, it ended in a fight. Sora looked at Zarestia with a serious facial expression before asking,

"What is this sphere you are looking for?"

"It is important, it is a source of power that belongs to me and me alone!" Zarestia declared as she started to look around for it, showing signs that she isn't here to pick a fight. Sora and Subaru were both skeptical on what they should do but they slowly lowered their guard.

"What are you going to do with that sphere once you get it?"

Sora nodded at this, viewing it as a valid question before looking at Zarestia to see what she will respond with. The woman just stood silent as she knew this question was going to be asked by people that don't know her.

"Just...stay away once I get the sphere."

"..."

"..."

The two keyblade wielders didn't like this but for now they can say that Zarestia isn't a threat at the moment. Al looked at Priscilla as he was curious to know what she was thinking about this whole situation. She kept her fan near her face in order to keep her expressions to herself.

'Hm. This woman will be troublesome.'

Priscilla came to this conclusion just by the way Zarestia was desperately looking for her sphere, as if the sphere itself was dangerous. She closed her eyes for a moment just Al asked her,

"What's on your mind, princess?"

"...Aldebaran, what do you think of the woman over there?"

"Are you referring to Zarestia?" Al asked as he looked at the woman in the white kimono.

"Yes, you idiot dog."

"Sorry...well, she doesn't seem to be a threat for now."

"'For now'. Those are the key words to take."

"Are you saying that she might be a big threat later on?"

"Not a big threat but someone that will become an annoyance to us later on."

"Then what do you propose?"

Priscilla and Al both turned towards Heinkel, noticing that he had been listening to their conversation and has now decided to join in. Priscilla looked at Heinkel with a serious facial expression before responding with,

"We keep a close eye on this temporary ally. She might prove useful."

"And what if she becomes a threat?" Al questioned.

"Then it's simple. We take her out."

Al and Heinkel both expected this since this was the logic thing to do though there was something about this that they wanted to know more of.

"How do you propose we do that, princess?"

"Hmph. If I tell you everything, how will you ever become useful?"

"..." Heinkel and Al were both silent when they heard this.

"I already have a plan should I need to deal with her but you two need to figure out your own plan. I won't be having any weak-minded fools in my camp."

Heinkel and Al just continued to stay silent as they started to understand what Priscilla was telling them.

The two continued to stay quiet as Flop and Medium approached Subaru and Sora, wondering what the next phase of their plan is. The two keyblade wielders were unsure since they didn't expect anything like this to happen.

Being reunited with Kenichi, Naoko, and Louis and also having some backup in the form of Priscilla and her camp. The two thought for a moment until Subaru figured out an answer he could give to the two.

"We are still going to help this kingdom. I think the first priority is to help that woman find her sphere, otherwise she will cause a mess looking for it. Then we go and speak with Abel, he might want to know that we have some backup with us now."

"...alright but here is another question, how much do you trust that woman?" Flop asked with a bit of skeptical in his voice. The two keyblade wielders turned towards the woman as they tried to form their own thoughts of her.

'She hasn't done anything bad yet...but the way she said to stay away from her once she regained that sphere. That's probably what concerns me the most.' Subaru thought.

'She isn't a threat...but the sphere is what really concerns me. Why does she wanted us to stay away after she gets it?' Sora thought this with mostly concern for Zarestia. The two keyblade wielders stood silent for a second before preparing to assist Zarestia in her search for her sphere only for the two to pause for a moment.

("That weapon, it feels familiar. I felt it before...before my sphere was stolen.")

This was the moment they realized that something wasn't right, prompting the two keyblade wielders to quickly pull out their keyblades.

Flop, Medium, Kenichi, Naoko, the barkeep, Rowan, Heinkel, Al, and Priscilla all turned their attention towards Sora and Subaru, having noticed them pulling out their weapons. Zarestia also noticed this, prompting her to prepare herself for a fight.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Al questioned with Flop and Kenichi both also asking this as well. Sora looked around with caution while Subaru responded to their questions.

"Keep your guards up. It seems like the fighting isn't over."

"Very perceptive."

Everyone's guards immediately went up the moment they heard a different voice speak out. The Keyblade Master instantly knew who it was, causing him to turn towards the direction of the voice while saying,

"Ansem."

"It has been quite a while, Sora."

The Organization member Ansem appeared out of the shadows with another Organization member alongside him.

"Xemnas!"

"Good to see you too."

Subaru and the others all looked at the two Organization members with their guards up, ready for a fight. Zarestia slowly began to approach the two with an angry look.

"Where is my sphere?! I know you have it!"

Ansem and Xemnas looked at each other for a moment before looking at Zarestia with Xemnas pulling out a powerful ball. The moment he did this, Zarestia's anger increased to the point where she charged at rapid speeds towards the two Organization members. Just as she was closing in, she suddenly felt herself impaled in the chest by Xemnas's laser.

Zarestia and the rest were stunned by this with Ansem taking this opportunity to summon a strong dark fireball in order to knock away the Great Spirit of Murder. Everyone was surprised seeing this since they didn't expect Zarestia to be send flying by an attack in a brutal manner. She landed on one of the walls from the destroyed bar, only to cause more destruction.

"My bar..." The barkeep said as he now has to fix everything.

"I'm so sorry. Maybe we can help fix it when everything is done."

"...just shut up, Flop."

"...?"

Flop was confused by that response but he couldn't dwell on it for long as he along with the others noticed Ansem pull out a card.

"What are you doing?"

"Just a little distraction for now."

"Distraction? What—?"

Before Subaru could ask his question, Ansem threw the card he had on his hand up on the air. Sora quickly reacted by charged directly at both Ansem and Xemnas, wanting to take the two out quickly before they do anything.

Just as he closed the gap, a bright light shined all around the room, blinding everyone for a moment. Sora tried to swing his keyblade only to have it be blocked by one of Xemnas's laser swords.

"Nice try."

Sora jumped back far enough to land near Subaru's position just as the light had died down. Once everyone could see again, they were all shocked to see a girl that wears an ornate eye patch on her left eye and a sash-like decoration on her right hip.

Priscilla was interested when she saw this girl since she hadn't seen her in a long time. Her fist tighten with anger for a moment before taking a deep breath, not wanting to lose her cool in front of everyone, especially Sora. The girl stood silent for a moment until she noticed Priscilla.

"Prisca-sama?"

"..."

"Prisca? Who's that?" Sora questioned which caused Priscilla's left eye to twitch, not wanting to be reminded of her past life. Priscilla prepares to attack by using the power of the Yang Sword Vollachia only for Zarestia to suddenly recover and throw a powerful set of wind magic towards the two Organization members. Xemnas smiled as he pointed at the woman in the white kimono while saying to the girl that appeared from the card,

"Take her out."

"...o-okay..."

The girl said reluctantly before easily destroying the wind attack thrown towards both Xemnas and Ansem. As she accomplished this, the girl charged swiftly at Zarestia without hesitation or remorse. The Great Spirit of Murder noticed this and quickly realized that she would need to kill her new opponent if she wants to get back her sphere from the two Organization members. She looked at her opponent with anger before starting her barrage of attacks.

The girl noticed this and quickly deflect each of these attacks with ease, using her immense strength to keep up with the Great Spirit of Murder. During the fight, Sora and Subaru both charged at Xemnas and Ansem, the pair confident that they can take on the two Organization members. Xemnas and Ansem noticed this which prompted the two to quickly summoned a group of nobodies to defend the pair.

Subaru and Sora noticed this and quickly without trouble, they destroyed the ten dusk nobodies. Just as the two managed to take the dusk nobodies down, they tried to target Xemnas first since he had Zarestia's sphere. The Organization member with the sphere smiled as he held the sphere tightly, causing the sphere itself to glow before suddenly feel a strong wind push the two keyblade wielders back violently.

"Son!" Both Kenichi and Naoko shouted as they worried deeply towards their son, prompting the two parents to quickly run towards the location their son was going to land on. Rowan and Medium both got their swords ready, preparing to attack the two Organization members as they can see that they are the big threat here. Just before they did this, Priscilla stopped the two by getting in front of them while saying,

"Stand down. You two won't be doing anything to those two."

"And what would you like us to do then?" Rowan asked as he didn't like standing in the sidelines during a fight, not again. Priscilla looked at the two Organization members and normally she would kill the two on her own with maybe Al providing pathetic assistance. The problem she saw was the fact that Xemnas contained a powerful item that could kill any of them in an instant.

She turned towards the familiar person from a past she has left behind, wanting to observe the fight between the girl and the Great Spirit of Murder for a moment. As she observed the fight, she could see that Zarestia wasn't going to win the fight due to the fact that her attacks seemed weaker compared to Zarestia's opponent. Having noticed this, she turned towards Rowan and Medium to tell them,

"Go help that woman fighting that divine general."

"Fine by me." Rowan said as he recognized the girl that was fighting Zarestia was indeed a divine general. Medium was surprised by this and slightly hesitant since she knows that fighting against a divine general might be a little much for her. Before she could back out, she noticed Rowan quickly jump in the middle of the divine general's attack, blocking it with everything he had.

Medium saw this, convincing her and motivating her into joining the fight. She gets her two swords ready for a fight, prompting her to charge directly into the fight against the divine general.

She waits for the right moment before jumping in, attempting to land a hit on the divine general's back side only for her attack to be dodged. Zarestia saw this and was about to attack the divine general only to end up deciding to go for Xemnas and Ansem again, seeing that both Rowan and Medium having given her the opportunity to try and get back her crystal.

Xemnas and Ansem noticed this, prompting Ansem to move his hand towards Zarestia's direction before closing it into a fist. As he did that, a dark circle was created near his and Xemnas's location before a couple of claws came out of this dark like circle puddle and managed to easily grab Zarestia just as she was about to touch her sphere. Once the claws had grabbed onto the Great Spirit of Murder, it slimmed her down with extraordinary force.

"Ah!"

"That was close but you aren't getting back this sphere."

"Why do you even have it?" Sora questioned as he charged at Xemnas once again, giving it his all. Ansem attempted to pin the Keyblade Master down the same way he did with the Great Spirit of Murder only for Sora to not only avoid the attack but also destroy the claws holding onto Zarestia, freeing her.

Zarestia noticed this and quickly jumped up to avoid another set of claws from grabbing her. Once Zarestia escaped the claws, she quickly assisted Sora in attacking Xemnas, the two of them managing to close in and land one strong hit each in unison only for the Organization member to disappear alongside Ansem.

"What?!"

"Watch out! Reflect!"

Sora shouted as he got near Zarestia to create a barrier around the two, having noticed Xemnas's laser barrage attack. As the barrier was protecting the two, Sora could feel that these attacks are much stronger than before.

'Could it be Zarestia's sphere that are increasing Xemnas's strength?'

Sora thought this since he knows by now how strong the Organization member was. Before he could think anything more on it, both Sora and Zarestia noticed the divine general charge directly at their barrier and destroy it with a swing of her fist. As the barrier broke, Sora quickly retaliated by charging at the divine general, going toe to toe with the dog human girl.

Zarestia turned her attention on Xemnas and Ansem once again, having been able to easily find the pair thanks to her strong connection to her sphere. The two Organization members both took notice of this and quickly prepared themselves for a fight against the Great Spirit of Murder.

Just as they were about to attack the woman in the white kimono, Medium and Rowan managed to close in on the two to try and land a hit on Ansem only for the Organization member to easily block off the attacks. As he did this, Subaru suddenly appeared near his position to point his hand directly at him.

"El Minya!"

As Subaru shouted this, he felt his gate get damage which caused his body to feel strained while a couple of purple like icicles were created around the two Organization members. Xemnas and Ansem were both a bit impressed by Subaru's ability, seeing that the boy can do more than just be a weak imitation of his master.

Xemnas looked up at the yin crystals approaching them with a serious look before snapping his fingers with his free hand, causing a couple of his laser projectiles to appear, defending both himself and his ally.

Subaru noticed this, annoying him since he just used the last of his strength only for Xemnas to counter his yin magic attack. The boy collapsed to the ground. Medium and Rowan both noticed this and quickly formulated a plan, with Medium going towards Subaru to get him out of danger while Rowan buys them time. He jumped directly at Ansem's direction to try and take Ansem down only to easily have his attack get deflected.

Ansem looked at him for a moment before attempting to take the mercenary out with one blow. Just before this happened, Al had managed to protect the mercenary by jumping in and going for the attack, forcing Ansem to turn his attention to him. Ansem managed to block off the attack while saying to Al,

"If this is the best you got, then consider me unimpressed."

"Wasn't trying to kill you, evil bro."

"Hm?"

Ansem was a little confused by this until he noticed Rowan managing to gain some distance. Al took this chance to also gain some distance as well. Ansem just looked at the one helmet knight, a bit impressed by the way this one armed knight managed to get one of his allies out of danger. He was about to attack him only for his interest to return with the fight between Sora and the divine general.

Sora and the divine general were both on equal terms with Sora having the speed advantage while the divine general had the strength advantage. As the two seemed like their fight was going to end in a stalemate, Zarestia suddenly managed to land a strong hit to the divine general's left side. This gave Sora an opening to land a hit on the divine general's stomach area.

This caused the divine general to be send flying towards a nearby building while Sora and Zarestia landed on the floor. The Keyblade Master looked at the Great Spirit of Murder with a surprised facial expression, surprised that she would help him despite how she could've continued to go for the sphere. Zarestia noticed Sora's facial expression, causing her to get a little flustered since she was caught off guard by the boy's innocent look.

"D-Don't look at me like that! It's weird."

"O-Oh. Sorry."

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with! Once this doggy is done, I'll get back my sphere!"

"Okay."

Sora said with a smile, confirming something for himself. He and Zarestia looked at the divine general as they noticed her jumping from the building she crashed into and landed near their position. Zarestia and Sora both got themselves ready for a fight but before the battle continued, Priscilla approached the fight which caused the divine general to lower her guard.

"P-Prisca-sama..."

"Prisca is dead. ――Have you not changed after all this time, even after obtaining your newfound position?"

"――Hk."

"How dull. It has been a long time since I have last gazed at the soil of my homeland, but it is difficult to feel anything when it has grown so emaciated."

Priscilla was unable to dismiss the fact that she was deeply disappointed. The divine general was stunned by this and a bit hurt. Sora turned towards Priscilla to ask her,

"Do you know who she is?"

"Prin—"

"Silence!"

The Divine general was stunned by this as she was shut down while Sora was surprised by the way Priscilla spoke. The Sun Princess just stood silent for a moment before turning towards the Keyblade Master to answer his question.

"She is just a nuisance."

"..." The divine general stood silent by this.

"What is her name?" Sora asked since he wanted to know how to call their opponent. Priscilla closed her eyes as she had to think on the traitor's name. Once she had the name, she closed her eyes as she said in a serious and slightly angry tone of voice,

"Arakiya...this traitor's name's Arakiya."

"...that hurts." Arakiya says as she knows what Priscilla was referring to. Sora noticed the tension between the two, making him aware that something had happened to have caused Priscilla to refer Arakiya as a traitor. He looked down for a moment as he didn't know what to say only to look back up when Arakiya said,

"...I don't care what the Princess thinks of me. Even though it's painful. But I've made up my mind."

"――. Ho, so you have made up your mind? Can you regain my interest then? Try telling me what you have decided."

In response to Arakiya's quiet appeal, Priscilla threw out a provocative statement, whether she intended to or not. In turn, Arakiya looked up and yelled, "I will!" As she howled, Arakiya flexed her slender knees,

"I will regain the Princess's rightful place! In the Empire! And to do that..."

Priscilla didn't care much since she was half listening while the others were surprised by what the divine general had said. Xemnas closed his eyes for a moment before he said in response to what Arakiya,

"That would be quite the view but you are still under our control. Your next order is to kill your precious 'Princess'."

"—hk! N-No...I won't!"

"Strong willed. Impressive but you will listen to us." Ansem said as he tighten his fist, as if he was tightening the grip he has over the divine general. Everyone noticed this, seeing that a large amount of darkness surrounding the divine general.

"Let her go!" Sora shouted as he didn't like how Ansem and Xemnas were basically enslaving Arakiya. Priscilla didn't like the help of helping a traitor but she also didn't like people enslaving others the way the two Organization members were.

She also didn't want to go against Sora's beliefs after having declared to him that she would follow his ideals as a hero. She moved her hand up to summon the Yang Sword Vollachia, showing that she is ready for battle alongside her temporary ally of her camp. The residence of Vollachia were all shocked when they saw this weapon, knowing all too well what this weapon is and it's significance.

"Th-The Yang Sword...?"

"What's wrong, Medium?" Subaru asked, not ever seeing her completely shocked and somewhat concerned. Medium looked at Subaru for a brief moment before snapping out of her worried state.

"I-It's nothing."

"Are you sure? You can trust me, Medium." Subaru said as he wanted to reassure her. She noticed this and quickly managed to regain her composure.

"Yeah. Sorry to worry you, Subaru."

"It's alright."

Subaru understood that this wasn't the moment to worry, prompting him to pay close attention to the fight that was about to happen while he recovered his body. As he looked, he saw that Sora, Zarestia, and Priscilla all three preparing for battle against what seems to be a much powerful version of Arakiya.

Ansem and Xemnas smiled as they added enough darkness into the divine general that she couldn't break free no matter how strong her will was. As the two lowered their hands, a corridor of darkness was created behind them. Just as they were about to leave, Ansem turned towards Arakiya to tell her,

"You will either defeat all of them or perish yourself. There is no escape from that."

As Ansem said this, he along with Xemnas left the area with the corridor of darkness. Zarestia looked with anger as she saw that her sphere was once again gone, just as she was within her grasp.

'Those two are going to die. I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill them.'

With those words repeating in her mind, she prepared to leave only for her instincts to kick in, prompting her to deflect off the attack thrown towards her. As she looked at her attacker, her mind managed to calm down as she noticed that Arakiya was looking much deadlier than before. Sora and Priscilla both noticed something that prompted the two to quickly assist Zarestia in pushing Arakiya back.

'She...has a heartless symbol!'

Subaru noticed this which caused him to try and get up, wanting to help only for his body to be in pain.

"hk!"

"Don't move, you are hurt." Medium said just as both Kenichi and Naoko went to check on the boy.

"Son!"

"I'll be okay...mom...dad..." Subaru tried to move but his body was still worn out, causing him to almost collapse only for his father and mother to quickly catch him.

"You need to rest, my baby boy."

"Yeah, no need to push yourself, son."

Subaru just nodded at his parents, understanding what they meant before allowing himself to rest up while still being able to observe the fight. He looked to see that Sora and Priscilla went on the offensive with their weapons while Zarestia used her wind magic to provide support. As the trio worked together doing this, Arakiya was beginning to increase her strength and speed with her mind still trying to fight the urge of killing everyone.

Her body kept dodging every attack from Sora and Priscilla's combined attacks. Her body tried to attack but Zarestia's wind attacks prevented her from landing a proper hit. During this, she would do everything she can to harm Sora while also avoiding throwing any attack towards Priscilla's direction.

'I don't want to hurt princess...I don't want to lose Prisca-sama again...I'm not in control of myself...please help...'

Arakiya thought to herself as she kept trying and trying to regain her body while Sora and Priscilla were able to keep up.

'Why do you fight with him? What is this boy's deal? Is it because he has power unlike any other? His oddly looking sword does contain a unique power...' Arakiya's mind paused for a moment as she did her best to feel the keyblade's power, noticing that it is unique, different.

'That power...could rival—no, it could surpass that bastard Cecilus.'

With that thought in mind, she understood that Priscilla had chosen to have Sora by her side because he is more than just a capable fighter, he is literally the factor that spells victory or defeat for whoever as him on his side. This prompted her to want to defeat the keyblade wielder, seeing that maybe defeating him would prompt Priscilla to stop treating her with such hate.

She focused her body on Sora, allowing her to take some control of herself and focus her attacks directly at him. The keyblade wielder noticed this and quickly changed his keyblade from Kingdom Key into Shooting Star. Arakiya was caught off guard by this since seeing the keyblade made her think about the stargazer.

'Could this boy be connected to the stargazer?'

Before she could even try to ask, Priscilla took this chance to attack the divine general with extreme force, having left herself opened. As Arakiya took the hit, Sora and Zarestia both took this chance to land their own hits on the divine general, trying to knock her out. As the two landed a powerful blows, the divine general looked with both pain and anger, using her stolen spirit powers to quickly turn the fight to her favor.

She created a tornado like ability to push back her opponents, having stolen this when she ate a wind micro-spirit. Zarestia managed to counter this by creating an extremely powerful ball of wind. As the Great Spirit of Murder throws this, she shouts,

"Now lay down like a good little doggy!"

"Grr!"

Arakiya's anger grew strong just by the way Zarestia referred to her, making her remember the intense hatred she has towards Cecilus.

"Don't call me that!"

Without hesitation, she managed to absorb the mana power the wind attack Zarestia had thrown, increasing the strength inside the divine general's gate along with being able to pull off similar attacks to this wind like power. As she absorbed the power, her speed had increased to the point that she moved rapidly towards Zarestia's location, surprising her and Sora.

"Wha—?"

"...too slow."

With her new found strength, she punched Zarestia hard in the gut area, sending her flying directly into destroyed rubble of the bar, creating a crater. Everyone was surprised by the brutal way Zarestia was attacked, prompting Rowan and Medium to prepare to join in on the fight only for Al to stop them.

"What are you—?"

"Trust me bro, the keyblade wielder has this."

"How?" Medium said with worry. "I know Sora is strong but we can't just let him and the woman the divine general on their own!"

"I know but I trust the princess. She has never lost a fight and I will firmly believe that she never will."

Al said this with strong conviction, knowing just how strong Priscilla is when backed into a corner and knowing just how strong Sora is by having witnessed his dual with Reinhard van Astrea. Heinkel looked at what Al had said before looking at the fight between Sora, Priscilla, and Arakiya. Sora quickly goes into his formchange, taking out double arrowguns to use against the divine general.

He pointed the two arrowguns directly at the divine general before firing a multitude of projectiles. Arakiya didn't think much of it at first and easily dodged each attack with ease until the Keyblade Master waited for the right moment before getting out of his formchange and back to his regular form. Once he did that, he quickly changed his Shooting Star back into Kingdom Key.

This gave him the opportunity to quickly landed a hit on the divine general's stomach area while barely managing to dodge one of her attacks that was aimed at his face. As Sora landed a hit, Priscilla smiled as she was impressed by how the boy was able to land a hit on Arakiya. While she was impressed, she also quickly took this chance to land another one of her fatal hits, managing to damage Arakiya's back.

"hk!"

"Leave the Keyblade Master alone."

Arakiya was stunned only for a moment, with her mind being reminded of how she had betrayed the person she deeply cared about.

'I failed you princess...I betrayed you...'

("Leave the Keyblade Master alone.")

'Tsk. Why is that boy so important to you?!'

Suddenly, Arakiya felt an odd sense of jealousy. This caused her to deflect off Priscilla's attack before her instincts tried to retaliate, causing her arm to swing directly at Priscilla's direction. The sun princess was a little impressed by this though she didn't want to have the fight to drag any longer. She prepared to finish the fight only for Sora to quickly manage to land a few surprise hits.

Once Sora landed a couple of hits, he pointed his Kingdom Key straight towards the location of Arakiya's heartless symbol. He waited for a second before the keyblade shot a beam of light straight onto the symbol, destroying it on the process. Once this happened, Arakiya smiled as the darkness around her disappeared while she also allowed her mind to go blank.

'I see. This boy is special...'

She collapsed to the ground with Sora and Priscilla both taking a moment to look at the divine general, seeing that the battle has finally ended. As she was on the ground, Priscilla just looked at Arakiya with anger before turning away, wanting to forget about the traitor. Sora looked at Arakiya with sadness in his eyes, having noticed that during the fight that the divine general had been doing her best to not harm Priscilla. Just as he was about to approach her, he noticed that Zarestia had recovered from the attack though she looked bruised.

"Zarestia!" Sora shouted as he quickly approached the Great Spirit of Murder. Zarestia looked at the boy, noticing how concerned he was over her. She turned away while boasting,

"I'll be fine! As the most beautiful reaper, these injuries are nothing but inconveniences."

Sora couldn't help but smile a little, seeing that she is trying to make sure he doesn't worry for her. He looks at her as she continues to look away from him for a moment before turning her gaze towards the knocked out Arakiya. Hatred increased as she blamed the divine general for having distracted her so long that the two Organization members escaped with her sphere. She prepares to attack the unconscious Arakiya only for Sora to stop her.

"Wait."

"Why? This dog was trying to kill us! She let those other pests escape! She deserves to be put down!"

Zarestia so badly wanted to kill Arakiya for having hurt her and for blocking her from getting back her sphere from Xemnas and Ansem. Just before Zarestia was going to attack the knocked out divine general, she heard Sora shout Curaga before an odd green aura surrounded her. She was both surprised but also alert, unsure what was happening until she felt all her wounds heal instantly.

"Huh?"

"I healed you, can you please trust me now?"

Zarestia looked at the keyblade master for a brief moment, noticing the innocent eyes he had as he asked her to place her trust on him. Her face turned red for a brief moment before she looked away slightly embarrassed.

"O-Okay, just please stop looking at me with those puppy eyes!"

"Puppy eyes?"

Sora looked confused which only caused Zarestia to turn even more red. She turns around and just walked away to be alone for a bit. Sora was unsure on how to take this but he decided to turn his attention towards Arakiya, not knowing what they should do now. He turned towards Priscilla, seeing that she was just staring at the divine general with both hate and disappointment. He looked at her for a minute before looking at Arakiya once again.

"Did you knew her?"

"...she is not worth thinking about."

"Why?"

"Because she's nothing but a traitor."

"..." Sora was silent. Despite how calm Priscilla was talking, he could sense that there was a lot of anger and a very very small fraction of sadness in her heart. Although he would want to know more about this, the Keyblade Master understands that this isn't something he should press on. He crossed his arms for a moment before saying,

"Once she wakes up, we should ask her about the Organization. Maybe she knows what they are doing in Vollachia."

"Hm. Not a bad plan. Then let us tie her up. Aldebaran."

"Yes princess..." Al said as he approached Priscilla, a little annoyed that she keeps referring to him by that name. As he was close by, she pointed at Arakiya's body while saying to her one armed slave,

"Tie her up. Make sure she can't escape."

"Understood princess."

Al nodded at Priscilla before going to approach the knocked out Arakiya. As he was tying her up, he looked at her with a sad facial expression underneath the helmet.

"I hope you don't hold this against me."

Once Al finished tying up Arakiya, he waited for Priscilla and Sora to approach him. As the three were together, they waited for a bit until Arakiya woke up from her slumber. While they waited, Sora took this chance to use up the last magic he had in him to heal Subaru, allowing his body to move without being in pain while his gate had somewhat recovered. The boy got up without any damage, causing his parents to hug him as they see that it is safe to do so.

Medium and Flop watched just how close Subaru was with his parents, making the siblings happy for a moment before having a bit of jealousy towards their friend, wishing they had something like that in their childhood. As they had this thought, they knew it was wrong to think that with the person that practically saved their life by warning that Todd and his group were going to kill them.

This caused the two to just blank their minds of this thought before turning towards Sora and Priscilla's direction, having a key interest in the sun princess. As they focused on her, Rowan approached Subaru and his parents as he wanted to know something.

"So, those keys of yours. Just what are they?"

"Hm. Well they are unnatural weapons." Subaru said since he knows that they are unique. "Though that would be a question for Sora."

Rowan looked at Sora, knowing that he is the skilled one out of the two boys though he wants to know what Subaru knows first before approaching Sora about the weapon.

"Well, what can you tell me about your version of that weapon? I presume that they are unique to their wielder."

"You aren't wrong." Subaru said this while he pulled out Rebirth, knowing that this is his very own keyblade. "The keyblade, chose me to wield it. Although I'm not able to keep up with M—Sora's power, I can say that this weapon is one of two things that have kept me safe."

"Hm. Interesting. Mind if I hold it?"

"Sure."

Subaru hands his Rebirth keyblade towards Rowan, trusting the mercenary that he won't do anything bad with his weapon. Rowan holds the keyblade for a moment before feeling its intense power, making him aware just how strong this thing is by just holding it.

'This power is no joke. It is as if you hold the entire world on the palm of your hand. This powers for sure surpassed the emperor himself.'

Rowan held the keyblade for a couple more minutes before returning it to Subaru, having a better understanding on the power both the boy in front of him and Sora have.

"I will say that you and that boy must have a strong sense of moral. Anybody with that kind of power would easily get corrupted. I'm very impressed."

"Thanks...but honestly, Sora is actually more amazing than me. He is way stronger than all of us combined but he still has the kindest heart."

"Really?" Rowan asked as he turned towards Sora's direction, observing the way the Keyblade Master looked along with the way he stood up. Rowan stood silent for a moment before responding to what Subaru had said, "You are right."

"Hm?"

"That boy radiates something in him just by a simple look. A strong desire to help others."

"Yeah." Subaru said with a smile as he looked at his master, feeling proud that he got trained to be a keyblade wielder by him. Although this does make him proud, he also knows that he needs to find his own path. He had declared to Roswaal a long while back that he would follow in Sora's footsteps as a Keyblade Master but now he feels like he needs to find his own way into being a hero. He looked at the keyblade for a moment before closing his eyes, going into deep thinking.

'I won't abandon this weapon. Compared to Return by Death, my keyblade is way useful. Though I shouldn't purely rely on this thing either since this isn't the only thing that will help me all the time. I need to rely on my instincts. Both as Natsuki Subaru and as a keyblade wielder.'

Subaru nodded to himself as he thought this. As he finished this thought process, everyone noticed that Arakiya was waking up. This caused them all to be on guard except for Al, Priscilla, and Sora.

The three of them were closest to the divine general and yet they didn't see it as necessary to prepare themselves for a fight that won't come. Once the divine general woke up, she looked around to see that she was still in the destroyed bar though the hold the two Organization members had on her seems to have faded away now.

Her vision was blurry for a moment before finally she was able to see her surroundings. The first thing she saw clearly was Priscilla, who was looking at her with disappointment and resentment.

"P-Prisca-sama!"

"Shut your mouth! You stay silent like a good little dog and only speak when allowed."

Arakiya just stood silent while feeling hurt by the way the sun princess was treating her though she understood and accepted why that was the case. She just nodded before looking down, gaining a bit of sympathy from Sora and a little bit of Al.

Priscilla turned towards Sora to let the keyblade master know that he can start asking questions. Sora just nodded at the sun princess with a little hesitation before looking at the divine general. He kneeled down towards her while asking in a kind manner,

"What happened? Why did the Organization capture you?"

"..."

"He asked you a question, dog. Now answer the question."

Priscilla spoke with fire in her voice, not wanting another second to be wasted. Sora got up and turned towards the sun princess, not liking the way she is treating Arakiya.

"Priscilla, you don't have to be harsh with her."

"Pardon that you have to see me acting this way, Keyblade Master. This dog doesn't deserve any kind of mercy."

Sora was unsure on how to respond except to turn back towards Arakiya before speaking with a kind tone,

"We want to stop the Organization, so please, tell us what happened? Why did they capture you?"

"..."

Priscilla was prepared to take action only for Sora to quickly say in a respectful manner,

"Let me handle this."

"Hmph. Fine." Priscilla said as she pulled out her fan. Sora nodded at her before turning back towards Arakiya.

"Come on, please. I want to help you."

"...why? What do you gain from helping me?"

"I can stop the Organization. The people who captured you."

"...I can do that on my own."

"Pfft. You couldn't even handle us, and you claim that you would get them on your own. What a joke."

"...I can...for your sake, Prisca-sama..."

"I told you, that name is dead to me."

"Th-Then princess—"

"You are not allowed to call me that either."

"Priscilla, could we talk in private for a moment." Sora asked as he could see that something's wrong here. Priscilla looked at the Keyblade Master for a moment before nodding. She turned towards Al to tell him,

"Aldebaran, watch this dog."

"You know that isn't how I go by, princess. But yeah, I'll watch her."

Al took out his sword and just stood next to the divine general, keeping his guard up but also trying to remain a friendly aura. While Al was standing next to Arakiya, Sora and Priscilla gained some distance in order to speak privately.

"What's bothering you, Keyblade Master?" Priscilla said in a calm manner, being aware on the reason why Sora pulled her aside, but she wants the boy to be brave enough to hear it from him.

"Why are you being harsh on Arakiya? Also, why does she keep calling you Prisca? Was that an old name of yours?"

Priscilla closed her eyes as she wasn't sure whether the boy should know of such information. She thought deeply for a moment on this before turning towards the boy to tell him,

"I'll tell you about what had happened between me and that dog but first I want to know. Who are you really, Keyblade Master?"

"What do you mean?" Sora asked with a confused facial expression.

"You are not of this world."

"What—?"

"This must be a surprise for you but I've paid close attention to you and your commoner of an apprentice."

"What gave it away?" Sora asked, wanting to understand how Priscilla found out. She smiled underneath her fan as she began to explain.

"Aside from your obvious attire being too different, that power of yours is unique. There is nothing like it."

Sora crossed his arms, having heard what Priscilla said.

'I understand that those would be factors but wouldn't there be another explanation of the keyblade's existence that doesn't involve being from another world?'

While Sora was thinking this, Priscilla continued to speak,

"There were many people in the past claiming that they were from another world, along with that buffoon Aldebaran."

"Wait, Al is—"

"From another world, yes. That buffoon had mentioned it before but the point here is that I'm aware that you aren't from this world. You and your commoner of an apprentice."

"..."

"Hm. Your silence is a confirmation of what I already know." Priscilla said boasting though remaining as respectful towards the keyblade master. "Though you don't need to worry. I won't be talking about that detail with anybody."

"Why do you want to know this?" Sora asked kindly, curious to know what Priscilla's reason was. She lowered her fan as she responded to the Keyblade Master's question,

"I always want to know everything, especially those in my camp. Secrets don't serve me at all."

"That's understandable." Sora said as he accepted that answer Priscilla said.

"I suppose that I should tell you about that dead name." Priscilla said as she closed her eyes, forcefully recalling those times she had abandoned. "Prisca Benedict, a name that has been dead to me for so long. That name belongs to a former candidate for the Vollachia throne before she died."

"Died? From what?"

"From the Vollachian Empire's Emperor Selection Ceremony. All those qualified would die until one survived."

"...Vincent." Sora softly spoke as he started to see why Abel was the way he was, completely serious and prideful. Priscilla noticed what the keyblade master had said, making her see that her half-brother was still alive. She stood silent for a moment before continuing to speak,

"During the final parts of the Vollachian Empire's Emperor Selection Ceremony, Arakiya was supposed to be on my side only to be a part of Vincent's plan."

"What was his plan?"

"To poison me."

"Poison you?"

"At first, it was a failed attempt until that dog started to take in the poison. Because she was on my side, I saved her life but was poisoned anyway. Regardless, that was the end for Prisca Benedict. The world favors me, which is why I'm still alive."

Sora took a moment to process what he just learned, understanding just how tough Priscilla's life must've been from such an early age. He looked up at the sky to reflect on his life, how he had it easy.

Not just in his time in Destiny Island but also during his journey with Donald and Goofy. He had always had his friends to help him when he was in trouble but Priscilla, she had to rely on herself. He turned towards her to tell her in a kind tone,

"I understand now. You had to rely on yourself. For what it's worth, you can rely on me. I won't ever betray you."

"I've heard those words from that traitor before...but I have put my faith in you, Keyblade Master."

Sora nodded before giving a friendly smile at the sun princess, surprising her for a brief moment. Despite how incredibly skilled Sora is and how strong he is, she saw that the keyblade master was still an innocent boy at heart. She set her fan up as she had a smile, finding Sora amusing and somewhat cute. The Keyblade Master turned towards Arakiya's direction, having an idea on how to convince her to help them out. He approached the divine general with Al noticing him approaching their area.

"How did it go with the princess?"

"It went well. How are you doing, Al?"

"Pretty good. Nothing dangerous so far bro."

"That's good." Sora spoke with kindness before turning his attention towards Arakiya, knowing the exact words to say in order to get her to help them. He kneeled down towards her, seeing that she's just looking at the ground with a blank facial expression. He took a moment before saying in a kind tone of voice,

"I know you care deeply for Priscilla."

"Princess!" Arakiya corrected Sora, wanting the boy to address Priscilla as princess.

"S-Sorry. I mean Princess...you care deeply for her, right?"

"..." Arakiya stayed silent, not wanting to respond to Sora's answer which only allowed the keyblade master to see that she does care.

"You must really care for Prici—I mean Princess."

"..."

"You want to make things right, I understand that. So let me help you."

"...why? What do you gain in helping me?" Arakiya questioned since she didn't understood why the boy would help her.

"Because I want to help."

"That can't be a reason." Arakiya responded to what Sora had said, completely in disbelief that anybody would help without wanting something to benefit from. "There is something you want. What is it?"

"Nothing. I just want to help—"

"Don't give me that! Everyone always wants something! There's no way someone would want nothing in exchange when helping anybody!"

"The Keyblade Master is different than anybody, you dog."

Sora, Al, and Arakiya all three turned towards Priscilla, having noticed what she said. Arakiya was hesitant yet she asked,

"Wh-What do you mean, p-princess?"

"This boy is what embodies a true hero. He wouldn't dare to betray me, unlike you."

"Oh..." Arakiya looked down with disappointment, knowing that Priscilla as found someone who could be a better replacement. Just as all hope seemed lost, she heard her princess continue to speak. "If you wish to regain your loyalty, then assist the keyblade master."

"Huh?" Arakiya was shocked by what she heard. "D-Does this mean that—"

Priscilla interrupted the divine general by moving her fan straight towards Arakiya's neck, surprising Sora and Arakiya.

"I haven't forgiven your betrayal. So don't think for a second that it will be like before. Prisca Benedict is dead. Remember that."

"U-Understood princess." Arakiya said this with a hint of happiness, happy that she gets to work with Priscilla once again despite the fact that she despises her. Priscilla took a moment before pulling away her fan, returning it towards her face.

"Now then, Keyblade Master, ask away your questions."

Sora nodded at Priscilla before turning towards Arakiya, seeing that she looks more willing to cooperate now. He gave off a friendly aura while asking,

"Why did the Organization capture you?"

"...not sure. They were in the middle of a fight against that stupid Cecilus."

"Which Organization member? Do you recognize how they looked?"

Arakiya thought back to that day, she remembered that the fight between her and an Organization member who specialized with cards started after she witnessed one with laser swords coming from both his hands easily take out the first divine general.

("Let's play a game. Try to keep up.")

("I'll kill you!")

She looked at Sora as she recalled how the man that defeated her looked.

"He was a man with blonde hair. He carried a set of cards. I didn't think much of them until they started to explode or do other abilities that were just...not of this world."

"...Luxord." Sora said in a whisper like tone, knowing who defeated Arakiya just by hearing that the Organization member carried cards. He stood silent as Arakiya continued to speak,

"He had defeated many other divine generals that were captured...Chisha...Groovy...Mogro...and Goz. They were all in card form before Cecilus had joined him."

"Why would the organization be after the divine generals?" Sora questioned, not knowing what Xehanort was up to. Priscilla and Al looked at each other, both surprised on how the Organization managed to take down some of the strongest of warriors from Vollachia. They turned towards Arakiya with Al asking,

"Did you managed to hear what that group wants?"

"No. They seem to just be collecting strong warriors. For what? I do not know."

"What do you think of this, Keyblade Master? Have this Organization done something like this before?"

"No..." Sora said hesitantly as he began to truly think deeply on this question. As he was thinking back on all the things Organization XIII had done, he recalled something from his first journey. "They were kidnapping the princesses of light but I don't see why they are capturing these divine generals. They won't help unlock kingdom hearts so why...?"

Sora was left puzzled by this while Priscilla looked at Arakiya with disappointment, seeing that she hasn't given them much information aside from now knowing which divine generals were under the Organization's control. She turned around before walking away, catching Sora, Arakiya, and Al's attention.

"Where are you going, princess?" Al asked as he broke the silence.

"To prepare."

"Prepare? For what?"

Priscilla paused for a moment before turning towards Al for a brief moment, noticing the question she was asked. She then turned towards Sora to ask him,

"Do you know where Vincent is located?"

"...yes."

"Could you take me to him? I need to speak with the emperor."

Sora was silent for a moment before nodding at Priscilla. The sun princess smiled as she turned around and began to leave the destroyed bar. As she was leaving, Subaru approached Sora to ask him,

"What is going on?"

"We are going back to where Abel is at."

"Right now?"

"I think so."

"...well, we should probably help the city out a bit. We can't leave it with the damage Todd, Larkin, and Jamal left."

"Agreed."

Sora and Subaru nodded in agreement before approaching Kenichi, Naoko, Flop, Medium, and the others to discuss on how they can help the city of Guaral rebuild all the damage the three Vollachian soldiers and the heartless had caused before returning to Abel.

---

"Do you think the two keyblade wielders will be alright?" Mizelda questioned, trying to see what Abel was thinking. The mask man looked at her for a brief moment before looking at the sky before turning towards the Shudraq warrior.

"I'm more concern about their results. Whether they are fine or not doesn't matter to me as much."

"Then let's change the question, do you think they succeeded in getting you the information you wanted?"

"They are capable fighters, at least the one named Sora. He, I can count on surviving anything unscathed. As for his lackey, that other boy. He would barely get me the information from what I've seen."

"Barely? Why do you see Subaru in such a light?" Mizelda asked with a curious voice. "He did show quite the strength during the blood ritual."

"That may be so but that doesn't mean that he is the most capable. I've seen his fight against those traitorous soldiers at their camp. That boy was merely a soldier rather than a leader or a 'hero' compared to Sora."

"Even so, he knew a lot about the camp. That was an advantage you can't deny." Mizelda spoke in the defense for Natsuki Subaru. Abel took notice of this but he also couldn't help but acknowledge Subaru's strategy that helped them win without losing a single person on their side. He crossed his arms as he admitted,

"Yes, he is a skilled strategist. A novice would've made more than one mistake but he managed to know the exact detail of the camp along with the amount of strength and forces those traitorous soldiers had."

"You see, Natsuki Subaru can be useful."

"Too useful."

"What do you mean by that?" Mizelda questioned, not liking Abel's tone. He just looked at the Shudraq leader for a moment with a hint of disappointment before turning towards the sky once again.

"Having such knowledge within just under a full day is a bit suspicious. Even the smartest of people wouldn't know every single detail of what others would do. Not to the degree that boy knew." Abel says as he begins to suspect that there is more within Subaru than meets the eye. As he say this, a familiar voice response to what he had said.

"Trying to paint me the villain, Abel?"

"Hm."

Abel and Mizelda both turned towards the voice's direction to see that it was Subaru. Abel was about to respond to what Subaru had said but stopped himself when four other people joined the boy's side. Two of the people were the two Shudraq girls that went with the two keyblade wielders. The third person being, as suspected, Sora the Keyblade Master. Though the fourth person was someone he wasn't expecting.

"Well, I didn't think I'd see you once again, Prisca."

Priscilla looked at Vincent with a serious facial expression as she pointed her fan directly at the mask man.

"Allow me to correct you, Prisca is dead. That name should never come out of your mouth again."

"Then how shall I address you?"

"You shall address me as Priscilla."

"Well then Priscilla—"

"Priscilla-sama." Priscilla said sharply, correcting Vincent once again. The previous emperor looked at the sun princess with a sharp look as well.

"Don't push it."

"Or what? The Keyblade Master won't allow you to hurt me."

"Is that so?"

Vincent said in a threatening tone, preparing to attack Priscilla to test this theory out. Just before this happened, Arakiya jumped in front of Priscilla to protect her as she noticed and sensed Vincent preparing to do something. Vincent paused himself as he was surprised for a split second once again, seeing his second divine general standing in front of his half-sister.

"Arakiya."

"You will not harm princess." She spoke with fire in her voice, determined to protect Priscilla. Priscilla looked at her with anger for a moment, being reminded of how this scenario had played the same with Arakiya betraying her in the end.

She was prepared to smack the spirit eater in the head for saying such things once again only for Sora to approach the emperor of Vollachian Empire. Vincent looked at the boy with a curious look, wondering what the boy was going to do. Sora walked a few feet before stopping near Vincent, looking at him with a serious look.

"Yes?" Vincent asked. Sora just looked seriously at him before responding to his question.

"We have to work together, Abel. Organization XIII as captured almost all of your divine generals."

Vincent was caught off guard by this, seeing that the people in the black coats are up to something.

"Do you know why they are doing this?"

"No. Not in the slightest. But we have to work together if we want to save them."

"And how do you propose we do this, Sora?" Vincent asked as he crossed his arms.

"We first take down the heartless. They are the biggest threat." Subaru stepped up, wanting to assist his master and friend. Priscilla, Vincent, Arakiya, and Sora all turned towards him as he approached his master. Priscilla and Arakiya had blank expressions as they listened, Vincent looked a little annoyed hearing the boy but curious to know why he would think the dark creatures should be their priority, and Sora was smiling at Subaru, ready to back him up on whatever action he thinks they should do first.

"Why should we focus on those dark creatures first?" Vincent said in a sharp manner, wanting a serious response from Subaru. The boy noticed this and confidently responded back with,

"They are growing in numbers. Eventually they will consume all of the Vollachia Empire and become too much for us to handle. Not to mention that the Organization assholes can control those creatures so if they completely outnumber us and those guys decide to control them...we are as good as dead."

Sora nodded at Subaru, agreeing that taking on the heartless should be the first thing to take care of. Priscilla and Arakiya both also nodded at Subaru, agreeing that those dark creatures shouldn't be allowed to multiply more than what they are capable of. Vincent had to agree with Subaru on this, knowing that the heartless were responsible for causing his empire to be in the state that it is now.

"Then what do you propose should we encounter those men in black coats?"

"We fight them! I would assume as someone from this backwards empire, fighting is the only way towards success. So we fight them should they give us trouble."

"That would be stupid if they use the dark creatures against us." Priscilla commented, knowing that fighting spirit alone won't do much. Vincent looked at her for a second before looking back at Subaru, agreeing with his half-sister. Subaru took note of what Priscilla had said, prompting him to quickly respond with,

"We don't have much of a choice. Besides, we have M—Sora on our side. We have Al. We have you. We even have Zarestia on our side."

"Hm?" Vincent looked at Subaru with a questionable look, curious on who Subaru was referring to until he noticed Zarestia and Al joining them.

'Her...how did they pull it off?'

Vincent questioned since last he recalled, she was fighting the two keyblade wielders to the death with her overpowering Subaru and keeping up with Sora. Knowing the abilities of the Great Spirit of Murder, he did like the odds since now he has the two keyblade wielders, a powerful wind user, his own sister with relatively similar powers, weapons and skills, one of his divine generals, a couple of muscle from the looks of it, and the Shudraq people. He smiled as he can see that he will soon get back his empire from the heartless. Before a plan can be set, Sora's confidence slowly waned as he thought about a third problem they were overlooking.

"We still have a third problem."

"Hm? Who?" Both Priscilla and Vincent ask in unison. Subaru instantly knew who Sora was referring to, causing him to look down with a bit of worry on his facial expression.

"Sephiroth."

"Who is that?" Vincent questioned since he hadn't heard this name. Al, Priscilla, Arakiya, and Zarestia all four looked at the two keyblade wielders with interest since they aren't aware of the person they are referring to. Sora and Subaru looked at each other for a moment before they nodded in unison, both aware that Sephiroth is the strongest opponent they will end up dealing with.

"Sephiroth is someone who shouldn't be underestimated at all. His power is a match to my own if not even higher." Sora said, knowing that it would take everything in him to beat the one winged angel. Subaru crossed his arms as he thought of his fight against that man, knowing just how dangerous the one winged angel was. Even with Vanitas' assistance in taking control of him, it was barely enough to take him head on.

'If I recall correctly, not even you can beat him.'

"What makes you so sure about that?" Vanitas questioned in an annoyed tone, disliking how Subaru assumes his own strength.

'Even if you have full control over me, which I will never let you, that man would easily take you down.'

Subaru felt his soul strain suddenly, as if Vanitas was tightening his grip on his heart. The boy closed his eyes and controlled his facial expression to not give away that he was in pain at the moment.

"Don't think that you know my strength, pathetic weakling. You are nothing but a dust compared to the strength I have."

'Hehe...s-seems like I can push your buttons as well...arrogant prick...'

Vanitas tightened his grip even more on Subaru's soul, hating how arrogant Subaru himself was sounding. This grip tightened a little more before he finally let the soul of the boy go, knowing that it would be risky to have his presence reveal with Sora there since the keyblade master would know what to do.

"I will kill you if you dare to think yourself close to even the weakest of the keyblade wielders. You are nothing but a fake."

'I told you on our last dual, don't underestimate me.' Subaru retaliated to Vanitas, not afraid of death. Vanitas could sense this on the boy, annoying him.

"Just because someone stupid like you isn't afraid of death doesn't guarantee victory."

'That may be right but I won't ever give up.'

"Hmph. We will see about that."

With that, the conversation had ended between the two while the conversation between the group had continued.

"Then what shall we do should we encounter this 'Sephiroth'?" Vincent asked Sora, having a feeling that the Keyblade Master would know on how to deal with a powerful opponent. Sora crossed his arms as he thought on what they could possibly do to take on Sephiroth should they paths cross once again. He knows that at his current state, he might do better than in their previous battle but he isn't sure.

"It'll fall upon me to face him." Sora said with some confidence, having thought all possible ways to handle the one winged angel only for all those possibilities to lead towards the same conclusion, that he must take him down.

Subaru looked at his master with some guilt, knowing that this is probably the only way to win against Sephiroth should he show his face. His strength isn't sufficient to keep up with a monster like him and he refuses to allow Vanitas to take a hold of him again. Vincent and the others nodded at Sora, understanding that should they encounter the one winged angel, that the keyblade master is their only chance at surviving.

"Well then, we have our plan. We shall take back my throne by destroying these damn creatures. Once we have accomplished this, then we will free my divine generals from that group in black coats. Having all of my strongest guards will lead us to the final circumstance for total victory, defeating this 'Sephiroth'. If we can accomplish all of these three conditions, then we have won the war."

"That sounds all easy but where do we start regarding the heartless? I assume that we have many cities to free." Al said, knowing that this fight alone might take a very long while if its just them taking on the heartless. The group took into consideration of Al's question, seeing that this might pose a problem since dividing their forces would put them at a disadvantage, along with the amount of time and strength they would need to successfully push back the heartless alone.

"Then why not strike the head first?" Zarestia questioned, feeling like the solution to Al's problem is easy.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked.

"How do you kill a snake? You destroy the head. So why not destroy the head of this dark creatures?"

"Storming into Lupghana would be suicidal without the numbers to cover up the amount of creatures that roam that area." Vincent said, knowing full well that they would all get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of heartless that surround the capital of Vollachia. Subaru smiled confidently as he heard this, causing him to boast,

"That shouldn't be a problem. You have two keyblade wielders that can easily destroy the heartless without the risk of it coming back."

The group noticed Subaru's boasting of his and Sora's abilities in taking down the heartless. Vincent just looked at the boy with annoyance before turning towards Sora to confirm what Subaru had said.

"Would that be possible?"

"Yes. It won't be easy, but it is possible."

"Still, the sheer number of those creatures shouldn't be overlooked." Mizelda added in. "Even if the two of you could eliminate those creatures, those numbers could overpower you two."

Sora and Subaru took note on what Mizelda said, knowing that she is concern that the two would be going into a trap if they face the heartless on their own. Before either keyblade wielder could respond to what Mizelda said, Kyda appeared into the conversation as she approached Mizelda.

"Mizelda-sama, we have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Mizelda asked as she prepared her weapon should it be an intruder.

"We have outsiders in search of the one called Subaru and Sora."

"Hm? Who?" Both Sora and Subaru asked in unison. Just as Kyda was about to answer, they all noticed someone forcing their way into the room they were at. Everyone had their guard up except for Sora and Subaru, both of them hearing the person trying to make their way in.

"Outta my way! I'm lookin' fer Master'n Ca'n!"

"Wait, is that...?"

Before Subaru could finish his questioned, they saw Garfiel appear with a few Shudraq warriors trying to pin him down.

"Oi! Cap'n! Master! Tell them t'get off!"

"Garfiel!" Both keyblade wielders shouted before approaching their friend.

"Who is he?" Vincent asked, managing to stop the two boys on their tracks.

"He is a friend of ours."

"A strong friend."

Both boys responded without hesitation before managing to convince the shudraq warriors to let Garfiel go. As this happened, the trio hugged since it had been a while since Sora and Subaru had seen Garfiel.

"How have you been, Garfiel?"

"Been well! Nothin'll defeat my amazin' self!"

"Haha. We know."

"What brings you to Vollachia?" Sora asked.

"Brotto, Beatrice-sama, and my amazin' self were send t'find ya two and Cap'n's parents."

"Wait, Beatrice is here?!" Subaru asked, knowing that she must've felt lonely since he hasn't been there with her in over two weeks. Garfiel nodded before seeing his captain leave the tent they were in to look for his contracted spirit.

"Well, there goes cap'n."

"Is that all who is with you?"

"Nah. We got some more people with us."

"Who?"

"We got some old timers, a previous sword saint, and a couple of divine generals."

"Which ones?" Vincent asked instantly, seeing that a few of his divine generals are still around and not captured by the Organization or killed.

"Don't know. Yer gonna have t'ask them yerself." Garfiel responded before leaving the tent alongside Sora. As the two leave, the others all began to leave as well with only Mizelda and Vincent staying behind.

"What now?" The chieftain of the Shudraq asked, wanting to know what the mask man was thinking now. Little did she know that he was smiling, now confident in the battle that is to come. He turns towards her to respond with,

"We shall make a plan to win back the empire from these creatures. The more powerful warriors on our side, the better our chances are for victory."

Mizelda nodded at this, agreeing that this would benefit them greatly on the battle to come. As she was the second to last person to leave the tent, Vincent would join the others but before that, he had something on his mind.

'These two keyblade wielders...their allies. They are my key to victory. My victory to get back my throne. Sora, Natsuki Subaru, I had the right idea of placing you two as my pieces to getting back my throne. I look forward to rewarding you once this is done.'

Vincent leaves the tent to join the others once his thought had finished, completely confident in what lies ahead for him.

---

Author's note:

This took a while. We are reaching the half way point of this arc. Hopefully you all enjoy this chapter and the next one I'm bring you. It won't be as long as these last few chapters but it will be an important one.