Author's Note: I am so sorry for the long wait, folks. It has been a real struggle where I am at. Now, sure, there have been a lot of distractions, like games & anime that I have been playing & watching (HOYOVERSE games mainly), I have also been trying to continue a job after I was sick for a while. I was fine for a good long time…until I got sick again with a very similar illness, and had to leave my job for the time being. It has really made me depressed and frustrated, so I haven't had the mentality to write. But after going back and forth, putting a bit at a time, I have finally gotten to the next chapter of SAKIII. I hope you enjoy it.

For readers, here is the list of Soul Pacts, Keyblades, and Team Attacks:

-SOUL PACTS

Kirito:

-Second Form (Max)

-Cloud Strife (Max)

-Snow Villers (Max)

-Deku

-Yang Xiao Long

Asuna:

-Second Form (Max)

-Tifa Lockhart (Max)

-Lightning Farron (Max)

-Cure Beat/Suite Precure (Max)

-Pyra & Mythra

Yui:

-Second Form

-Yuna (Max)

-Sakura Kinomoto

-Yuna X-2

-KEYBLADES:

-Kingdom Key (Sora)

-Elucidator (Kirito)

-Lambent Light (Asuna)

-Hero's Origin (Sora)

-Shooting Star (Sora)

-Dark Repulser (Kirito)

-Rising Legend (Kirito)

-Miracle Smile (Asuna)

-Changing Future (Kirito)

-Favorite Deputy (Sora)

-Ever After (Sora)

-Simple Soul (Asuna)

-TEAM ATTACKS & SOUL RELEASE:

-Flare Force (Donald)

-Donald Meteor (Donald)

-Goofy Bombardment (Goofy)

-Yui Cyclone (Yui)

-Trinity Guard (Goofy & Donald)

-Trinity Bounce (Donald & Yui)

-Trinity Tower (Yui & Goofy)

-Donald Summon (Donald Lv. 1 Soul Release)

-Goofy Cooking (Goofy Lv. 1 Soul Release)

-Candy Shower (Candy Lv. 1 Soul Release)

Hyrule, Base Camp

After the skirmish at the Temple of Souls, the Hylian Forces, along with our heroes, fled as far as they could, finding a different forest area, a little more green than the last one they were in, where they set up camp to rest, recuperate, and think of a new strategy. The group was gathered in the main tent, surrounding a table with a map of Hyrule on it. However, one of them had some apologizing to do, first.

"Forgive me!" Proxi pleaded to the leaders and the heroes, as Link looked ashamed, "I caused Link to get too overconfident because of the Master Sword, and we almost doomed the entire military because of it!"

"We were also at fault for not warning you of your ego getting inflated." Impa responded, "We were aware of the consequences they might have, but we ignored it all due to how it was boosting the morale of our troops."

"What matters is that we managed to come back, safe and sound, thanks to everyone's efforts." Zelda stated, "And though we lost soldiers during that battle, it wasn't in vain. We managed to weaken Cia quite a great deal."

"Yeah, but don't forget that Ganondorf is out there." Kirito argued, "He is probably a bigger threat than even Cia is."

"We also saw Maleficent here. She seems to be helping Cia, as well." Sora added, with Donald and Goofy nodding in agreement, "She's has to be the one supplying her with the Heartless."

"But why would she do that?" Donald asked.

"Well, there is that thing about a 'black box' that Pete mentioned before." Yui recalled, "Maybe she's trying to search for it here?"

"Ah, who cares about that." Sora argued, "All we know is that we might have to deal with her, as well."

"Two witches and an evil warlock." Midna muttered, leaning back as her hair acted as a midair hammock, "Things are not looking good for us, huh?"

"Yes. And most of Hyrule is still in Cia's grasp." Lana added, who was holding Candy in her arms.

"Then I guess there is only one thing to do now, is there?" Darunia summed up, "We're just gonna have to take the fight to her, and finish her off for good!"

"My calculations state that is the best option." Fi agreed.

"Then we need to attack her at her own base; the Valley of Seers." Impa declared, pointing to the very area she spoke of, "Since our last battle, she must've been weakened, and that's the point of opportunity we have been looking for."

The group started to strategize their plan of action, with Asuna of the Team Keybladers being more prominent in her role of creating a plan of attack, as well. It was here that Kirito reminded of her capabilities as second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath. When it came to plans of attack, she was the best out of everyone. As he listened in, he couldn't help but notice Lana on the sidelines, looking sort of out of it.

He went over to her, asking, "You're not looking so good."

She jumped a bit as he spoke up abruptly, looking to him. Candy, Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked to the pair as they got a bit bored from the strategy meeting.

"Sorry." She apologized, looking at Candy, "I guess… I am just worried."

"About the upcoming fight?" Kirito asked, "We did stumble a bit in the last battle, but I'm sure we'll collect ourselves to-."

"No. I'm not worried about that." She argued, "I'm worried…about Cia."

The others looked surprised as Sora asked, "Why would you be worried about her? We already know she isn't as strong as she once was."

"That's the problem." Lana stated, "She's using her own life, shortening it, just so she can become stronger. She is ruining herself all for the sake of destroying us and trying to get to Link. Seeing how she's hurting herself… I don't want that."

"I'm confused." Goofy muttered.

"What else is new?" Donald asked.

"No, I think I get it." Sora understood, "You said you two were once one person. You don't want to see her hurt herself anymore because she's basically a part of you. I can get that." He thought to himself about himself and Roxas, and how he wanted him to be his own self, rather than just 'a part of him'. He wanted him freed from his heart.

"I get that you don't want her going down this destructive path." Kirito argued, "But she is probably too far gone to do anything about it."

"I know…but still…" she muttered, looking to Kirito, "I know she has to be stopped. But I still want to save her!"

Her words rung not only to the ones there, but also to the others around the table, who stopped to hear her. She realized she had become the center of attention, and looked awkwardly. She wasn't sure if they were gonna scold her for wanting to save their enemy, or berating her for going soft.

Conveniently, a pair of soldiers suddenly came bolting into the tent, saluting as they came to a halt. "Princess Zelda, I have a report!" said one of the soldiers.

"I have one, as well!" Said the other soldier.

Zelda looked to Lana for a second, before looking to them, asking, "Very well then. What is your report, starting with the first."

"Reports from our scouts have alerted that Ganondorf's forces are making their way to the Valley of Seers." The first soldier explained, "They are converging onto Cia and her forces."

"Ganondorf must be trying to attack her." Kirito understood.

"She has the Triforce of Power on her." Lana realized, "It's almost certain he plans to try and wrest it away from her. But she won't let it go without a fight."

"Good! If he takes her out, we should have one less enemy to deal with." Midna scoffed.

"Cia wouldn't stand a chance against him!" Lana argued harshly, "Her magic is already corrupting her mind as it is. And if Ganondorf has the Triforce of Power, that would be an even worse situation!"

"I agree. We barely held our own against that guy a while ago." Kirito agreed with her, "I'm not her fan, but she is the lesser of great evils. We have to stop Ganondorf from getting that power!"

Zelda paused on their statement, before placing a hand on her forehead, feeling something uncomfortable. Impa looked to her, asking, "Are you okay, Princess?"

"I'm not sure…" she answered, before looking to the other soldier, asking, "What is the other report?"

"Princess, we have received word of a dark presence that has been spreading throughout Hyrule." The other soldier explained, "We have no idea of what the source of the darkness is, but it is causing a greatly increased amount of Heartless to spread throughout the kingdom."

This definitely caused stirs to form from the heroes, outworlders and in-worlders, alike. "Heartless are spreading from this source?!" Asuna asked.

"Where is it coming from?" Sora asked.

"I think…" Zelda spoke up, getting everyone's attention, "I can feel the source coming from the Palace of Twilight."

"My home?!" Midna demanded, "What monster rested itself inside MY palace?! It can't possibly be Zant, since I already ended him!"

"Could it be Maleficent?" Yui asked, looking to her mom.

"That is a possibility." Asuna agreed.

"If we don't stop whatever's causin' it, then the world will definitely be consumed in darkness!" Goofy exclaimed.

"And every timeline along with it." Sora added. This grew concern from everyone in the room.

Zelda planted her hands on the table, looking at the map. "We have forces stationed at the Palace of Twilight, but I bet things are looking dire over there." She stated, "I shall go there myself to uncover the mystery of the darkness."

"Wait, what about Ganondorf and Cia?!" Lana asked, "We can't leave them alone, either!"

"We can't focus on that when this darkness threatens to consume all of Hyrule!" Impa argued with her.

"But if Ganondorf gets his hands on the Triforce of Power, it will spell doom, either way!" The sorceress snapped back.

"Okay, okay! Calm down!" Kirito stopped the arguing, getting in the middle of it, "Why don't we do this; send force to both areas to stop Ganondorf AND the thing causing the Heartless to swarm?"

"That will greatly divide up our forces…" Impa argued.

"But it will at least be the best plan of action." Zelda counter-argued, "We divided up our forces before, and came back with larger numbers than before. Just to be safe, we'll set a team here that will be on standby in case either battle goes awry."

Impa looked to Link, stating, "After the last battle, it might be best if you stay on standby, and recover and reconnect with yourself. Remember the real reason why the Master Sword chose you. I'll train you, just so you don't get a big head again." Link nodded in understanding.

"We should at least have some of our team here." Kirito stated, "I, for one, want to go stop Ganondorf."

"Really?" Lana asked, surprised.

"Candy will join with you, too, kuru!" Candy agreed.

"Ganondorf is a big threat." Kirito stated, "Plus… I want to see firsthand the person you are trying to save." Lana understood. Kirito didn't want to make any definite choices, but had to see for himself what kind of person Cia was. Not only that, but Kirito was the second person in this entire place to house the heart of the hero, meaning Link's sleeping Soul Pact.

"In that case, I'll go with Zelda." Asuna suggested, looking to her, "I definitely don't want anything bad happening to you."

"I appreciate it." Zelda answered, smiling at her.

"Don't think I'll be left out of this battle!" Midna argued, "That's my home, and I want to stop the evil spreading in it!"

"Then I'll go with you!" Donald proclaimed.

"Donald, you aren't doing this to show off again, are you?" Sora asked.

"No way!" Donald answered, "I just want to come with!"

"Then Sora, you, Goofy, and Yui stay here." Asuna suggested.

"Really? Left behind AGAIN?" Sora asked, looking disheartened.

"You need to recover after your battle against the Dark Links." Asuna argued, "Help Link improve himself. I know you are the best man for the job."

"You think so?" Sora asked, looking to Link, who smiled, happily accepting his assistance.

"Goofy is captain of the guard back at Disney Castle. It would be a good way to learn some new tricks in battle if he was trained under a fellow captain like Impa." Yui noted, "I'll also stay and do what I can to boost the morale of the troops stationed here."

"Good idea. She's the best at restoring emotional well-being." Kirito agreed.

"Then we all agree on the plan." Impa understood, looking to her princess, "I'll gather troops to take on the two tasks at hand. I wish you the best of luck, and be safe, Princess."

"Thank you, Impa." She answered, "Asuna an I'll do our best to stop the darkness."

"And Lana and I will stop Ganondorf." Kirito told them.

"The rest of us should check in on our own realms, as well." Ruto added, indicating herself, Darunia, and Fi, "With the approaching darkness, we do not dare wish any harm will come to them."

"I'll stay and assist Yui." Agitha added happily.

Everyone stepped out of the tent, taking on their respective duties. It may have seem troublesome, but they knew that they would find a way to conquer all the darkness that was approaching in on them.

Meanwhile, another bit of reinforcements were on the horizon, ready to assist one of the groups…

(Insert 'OVER THE TOP' , Mikutan ver.)

One Dream One Wish

(In a dark environment, with a treasure chest in front, something glowing within it from the grooves. Flair & Samson appear first on one side during 'One Dream', followed by Hinata on the other side during 'One Wish')

If you want it, gotta go

Over The Top

(Philia approaches the chest from the center, producing her Keydagger, slamming the tip onto the top of the chest, unlocking it and opening it up, causing the environment to be blinded by the golden light.)

(Music intro)

(As streaks of color fly by through the golden light, the symbol of SAKIII appears, with the name 'Sword Art Kingdom III: Heart Sisters'. This is followed by the Heartiel Gummi Ship flying into the screen, shifting to the back-view of the ship as it flies through deep space, with multiple worlds beyond the horizon, before igniting its boosters, and flying towards the worlds.)

Settin' sail, and heading for the unknown

(In front of a light blue background with her name in bold lettering, Philia is throwing her dagger up before catching it and holding it in a pose. Shifts to a magenta background with Flair & Samson's names, as the former twirls a cap on her finger, before getting snatched and eaten by Samson.)

Cuttin' through the winds and waves as I go

(Shifts to a pale green background with Hinata's name, who holds her hands behind her back, as she smiles innocently as she looks from one side to the screen. Shifts to a yellow background with Tinker Bell's name, as she flies close to the screen, writing down on an unrolled scroll of paper, before raising her pen and winking at the screen.)

Gotta keep it up, never stopin', no

'Cause I'm aiming to get there first, yeah

(Mistress Gretinal's hologram appears on the bridge of the Heartiel, pointing the girls towards their destination. Tink dives into Philia's clothing as the trio touch the bubble that contains the Star Shard, which shines brightly, transporting them to the new world.)

It's all or nothing, no to worry

Do it later, right now I'm livin' free

(Images of characters from other worlds flash across the screen, like Lightning and Snow, Vaan, Balthier and Fran, E. Gadd and Palutena, shadowy images of characters of other worlds, ending with the six main series heroes, with Sora, Donald & Goofy appearing together.)

When your foes look like they will overwhelm you

It means your heart's saying 'This is what you can't do'

(Philia stands opposite side to PHox, who points his cleaver at Philia as he makes a malicious grin. She responds by looking at a Chain of Memories card containing the picture of Castle Oblivion, frustratingly looking at it before closing her eyes, as a shadowy image of a dark version of her appeared behind her.)

Despite all that, to run is not an option

(In Gretinal's study, the Keyblade Master stands at her desk, with her SeHa Girls assistance, and her students, standing on the sides in front of it.)

One step closer, feel the satisfaction

(In an underground facility in the Realm of Arrival, Astro Boy is in a sleep state as he is cocooned in a machine, before his eyes flash open.)

You think I'm rude? Here's my appreciation

(In the main lab of Dr. Tenma, the said doctor stands there, in front of the dark machine gathering Dark Data from all the worlds, with Maleficent, Pete, Tears, and four shadowy figures right behind them, with intimidating glowing eyes.)

When things are gettin' tough

Just gotta smile

(Swarms of Cyber Heartless stand on level upon levels of stone, glaring down at the Heart Sisters, with Philia's eyes shadowed, before she looked up with a grin. She, Flair and Hinata ready their weapons, before charging at the Heartless.)

If you are goin' on your way

And your looking for a fresh brand new day

Than, make sure your only thought you have is 'Yes I Can!'

(The trio of girls demonstrate their skills in combat, taking out the Heartless with their teamwork. This is followed by Samson grabbing Philia, and tossing her into the sky, who made her Keydagger shine as Tink worked together with her to perform a boosted Airstepping technique that shot her at a larger Cyber Heartless.)

As you're on your way, marked maps will be made

Yes! With every step that you will take

(Tears suddenly appeared, grinning eerily as she swung her claymore at Philia, who blocked with her Keydagger, but got sent crashing back down towards her friends. She grimaces as she struggles to get back up through the dust cloud. She suddenly saw a hand, and looked up to see Sora appear next to her. She blushed, but smiled as she took it, while the rest of Team Keybladers joined around the Heart Sisters, before charging forward at Tenma's leading enforcers.)

Just lookout all you've been through

Look ahead a new horizon in view

(Hinata, Donald and Asuna gang together as they fight hard against Widowmaker & Reaper, matching magic and melee with their firearms and combat equipment.)

Shining brightly, oh who knows what's waiting for you.

(Flair, Samson, Goofy and Kirito burst through their fight as they deal with their own fight against King Boo and Painwheel, their finishing attack creating a massive explosion of energy.)

'Dream livin'' that's the way make like a hurricane

(Philia, Sora and Yui fly right out of the smoke of the explosion, coming at Tears, who points her claymore at them as a dark meteor comes down towards them. Sora unleashes a Keyblade beam, Yui unleashes a cyclone with her tessen, and Philia enters Soul Burst: Sora, unleashing Ragnarok from her Kingdom Key Keyblade.)

Now! Gotta make your mark today

(The attacks collide as one against Tears dark meteor, creating a shockwave of light and darkness, as the scene fades into white.)

One Dream, One Wish

Your dreams don't run away

Go for the knock out

(In Saitama/SAO world, a somber Kotone Takemiya is walking along the street, carrying her school bag. She stops as a light hits her eyes, as she looks up to see the back of Philia, as the screen focuses on her. She turns and smiles back at the screen.)

Over the Top

(She jumps and lands between her friends, striking a pose with her Keydagger raised high, with Tink above her, and Team Keybladers and Gretinal standing behind them, and deep space in the background.)

Area near Palace of Twilight

In a rather dreary open field pathway, a girl was walking along with her nose stuck in a map. She was young, looking around mid to late teen. She had a green tunic with a hoodie, a puffy-sleeved white shirt and leather orange skirt underneath, a silver-buckle belt hanging loosely around it, black short leggings knee-high, brown leather boots, and a pair of crossbows attached to them. She had brown gloves, and hanging from her neck was a golden compass, along with a choker with a blue gem. Lowering the map, her face was shown. She had pointy ears, blonde hair that was medium length and braided down the sides of her face, held by orange bands, and her eyes were a blue hue.

"I'm sure this was the right way to Hyrule Castle." She muttered, looking about, as a golden-feathered rooster suddenly came from behind and settled at her side, "The map can't be wrong, can it?"

"No, but your sense of direction is absolute crap!" said a gruff voice, as who should approach her from behind were the Heart Sisters themselves, looking worn out for some reason.

"We saw a sign pointing to the direction of Hyrule Castle a little while back." Hinata pointed out, taking a moment to catch her breath.

"There was?" The pointy-eared girl responded, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"We tried, but you took off in this direction before we could get a say in!" Tinker Bell answered angrily, "You claim I'm suppose to be your 'navigator', but you don't listen to me at all!"

The girl looked blasé about it, while Philia chuckled nervously, wondering how they got into working with such a carefree spirit like her. Actually, she did know. It was probably a week ago when they first came to this world…

(Flashback) When they descended into this world, the Heart Sisters found themselves in a heavily wooded area. There was so much forest, that where they ended up was on the super thick branches of trees, which were connecting themselves from one tree to the next, including bridges, open fort-like areas, and hollowed-out trees that led to different paths.

"Well…this is different." Philia argued, "Tarzan's world wasn't this woodsy."

"Mistress Gretinal said that this place was called 'Hyrule', right?" Flair asked, looking about.

"Yep. And apparently, Heartless are causing a big ruckus in this world." Samson followed up, "Bet we gotta find out where they might be."

"And who is controlling them." Hinata finished.

Philia looked ahead at the largest tree, wondering, before hearing a cackling from out of nowhere, causing all three girls to jump. They all looked about, wondering where the voice came from. It was high-pitched, like a child, and sounded quite malevolent. They drew out their weapons, prepared to right if they needed to.

"Enough with all the laughing!" Samson barked, "Show yourself!"

Philia glared about, before something appeared out of thin air in front of her. It was a heart shaped mask, primarily purple and red, with spikes on top and on the sides, bloodshot eyes with small, green pupils.

It was extremely freaky that it appeared, before the rest of the body appeared with it, floating in midair, along with a white and black balls of light with small wings like Tinker Bell's. The mask's body was small, impish, and wore a forest tribal-like uniform, with feathered around the mask, thin arms and legs, a rusty-colored tunic, a gold intricate belt around his waste, green pants, pointed brown shoes, and leaf-like fingerless gloves.

"What is that thing?!" Flair demanded.

"Not sure. But I am getting bad vibes off of it!" Philia answered, readying her Keydagger. That was all the others needed to know that he was a threat.

"What an intriguing bunch to enter into my woods!" He cackled, "You here to play with me, as well?"

"What are you?!" Philia demanded, "Whatever you are, we are not here to play any games with you!"

"Is that so?" The imp asked, before flying around the trio. It then pulled out something out of his clothes, which looked like a flute-like instrument. An ocarina.

It blew into it, emitting a single note, which caused a sudden cyclone to surge underneath the trio, sending them flying. They screamed in panic, before Philia saw the Star Shard fall out of her pocket. She tried to grab it, only for the imp to fly in and snatch it. The girls crashed to the ground, as their attacker examined the shard.

"Ooh, what's this pretty thing?" It asked, looking at it with curiosity, "I feel something coming off of it."

"Give it back!" Philia barked angrily, getting back onto her feet.

"Nah… I think I'll borrow it." It replied, twirling around in midair, before showing off a golden compass on a chain, "It will go well with my other toy." The girls looked irritated at him. Without the shard, they wouldn't be able to return to the ship. Worse, if it activated while the creature had ahold of it.

"Waaaaaaiiiiit!" Shouted a voice. The Heart Sisters looked ahead, and were startled. An elf-like girl was running onto the scene, followed by a golden rooster, along with a swarm of other roosters around her.

"Give me back my compass!" The girl shouted angrily, "My grandmother gave me that!"

"Now who is she?!" Samson demanded.

The imp merely cackled, before flying away, as Soldiers and Powerwild Heartless suddenly appeared in its place, surrounding the group. "Summoning Heartless, too?!" Philia pointed out, "Now we really have to put a stop to him!"

The girl readied her crossbows as she and her swarm of roosters came in, shooting at the Heartless with a flurry of bolts. "Don't worry. I'm here to save you!" She assured them, "I'm Linkle, by the way. I'm the reborn chosen hero of Hyrule!"

"Chosen hero?" Philia asked, finding her self-proclamation a bit staggering. She shook her head, before answering, "Whatever. I'm Philia, leader of the Heart Sisters. These are my friends, Flair, Samson, and Hinata."

"Great! Follow my lead!" Linkle told them, and she attached bombs to her crossbows, before firing them at a swarm of Heartless, causing an explosion. Philia and the other heroines charged in, unleashing their attack.

(Philia speaking) "This was basically how we met Linkle. We fought against the imp creature, known as the Skull Kid, as we chased him around, trying to get my Star Shard and Linkle's compass. He had control over the Heartless, so we had to take him down, regardless. It wasn't easy, but with Linkle's help, and with an army of aggressive poultry that she called 'Cuccos', we finally had him cornered at one point."

The four girls reached the South Square of the forestry battlefield, where they cornered the Skull Kid in. They broke through a bunch of Heartless as they did so, including a couple of golden cuccos.

"Nowhere to run!" Philia shouted to the Skull Kid.

"Hurry up and give me my compass!" Linkle demanded.

"Why? The games are only getting a lot more fun!" The Skull Kid snickered, suddenly throwing balls of darkness at the duo, causing them to run to avoid the attack. It kept pursuing them with the frantically thrown orbs of darkness that detonated when hitting the ground. It continued to laugh as they tried to find a way to get closer to it.

However, his laugh was short-lived, as the golden compass started to shine brightly. The light caught the attention of all the other combatants, who spun around at the sight of it, before shielding their eyes.

"Hey! My compass is glowing!" Linkle gasped.

"How is this happening?!" Philia demanded, blocking her eyes with her arm, "So much light!"

"Gah! What is this?!" The Skull Kid demanded, "It's so bright!"

Linkle and Philia suddenly noticed how dazed it was from the light that consumed him. Not only that, but the Heartless were destroyed by the light that came from the compass, as well.

"We have an opening!" Flair noticed.

"Let's get 'im!" Samson ordered, as Hinata summoned Blizzard Lion Fist, getting in close, punching the Skull Kid with them. This was followed by a tendril-launched lunge from Flair and Samson, striking it head on in the face, sending it spinning backwards in the air. This gave an opening for Philia and Linkle, the pair readying their weapons.

"Game over! Time to put the toys you gathered back to where they belong!" Philia shouted, the two girls suddenly unleashing a Team Attack.

Linkle summoned a giant bomb with her crossbows, with Philia riding on top of it. She fired it towards the Skull Kid. Philia jumped off as the bomb detonated in the Skull Kid's masked face. She was up high when a large golden cucco appeared, clucking at Philia as she took the bird's legs in both hands. With a flapping of its wings and a reverse spin in the air, the cucco threw Philia back at the Skull Kid, which became a flying kick, the ankles of her boots now gaining golden wings, as she struck the enemy hard, sending him careening down into the ground. The impact made a dome of light, and Philia bounced off landing behind Linkle, who crossed her arms, her weapons in hand, as the two girls looked at each other keenly. This was their Team Attack, 'Hero Bomber'.

They looked to the Skull Kid, who was on his hands and knees, struggling to get up, having dropped both the compass and Star Shard. The two girls went over and took their respective items.

"I'm so sorry!" He apologized, "I won't cause any more trouble! Please, forgive me!"

"Really?" Linkle asked, looking at him curiously, before smiling and answering, "Ok, then. You're forgiven. Hah!"

"Don't be so naive." Philia argued with her, before confronting him personally, asking, "Why are you controlling the Heartless? What are you planning to do with them?"

The Skull Kid looked up at her, before floating up, crossing his legs, answering, "Too bad, so sad! I don't need to answer! Just that a lady gave them to me! Next time, I'll do a better job stealing your stuff!" It cackled as it flew into the forest.

"Hey, that's not funny!" Linkle shouted, "No more stealing my compass! Or anyone else's stuff, for that matter!" However, her words were not able to reach him at this point, being that he flew too far away.

"Well, that was exhausting." Philia sighed.

"Fighting a swarm of Heartless, and chasing that creature around?" Flair asked, looking to Hinata, "I can't understand how you have more stamina than I do. Another ninja trick?"

"I just trained a lot when I was younger." She answered with a giggle, "But you should be a lot more use to this, as well." Flair could only chuckle, not able to argue with that.

"You guys were great!" Linkle told Philia and the others, "I really appreciate the backup out there."

"Backup?" Philia echoed, "I think we were keeping on our toes just like you were."

Tinker Bell appeared out of Philia's clothes, adding, "In fact, your reckless attitude nearly got you caught within a swarm of tough Heartless if MY Philia and the others weren't there to bail you out!"

Linkle was amazed at Tink's appearance, before asking, "Wow! You have a fairy, as well?!"

"I'm a pixie!" Tink argued, irritated to get mixed up once more.

"Her name is Tinker Bell. She's my dear friend, and our record keeper." Philia introduced her, as Linkle got in close to examine her.

"Amazing. I haven't seen one up close before." She stated, "I've heard stories about the hero of Hyrule having a fairy by their side, acting as their navigator throughout their travels." She then looked to her compass, muttering, "And then there was my compass glowing like that. I knew my grandmother's stories were real! She said this compass was special, and that it was a sign of me as the reincarnated hero."

"Reincarnated hero?" Philia repeated, confused.

"You don't know?" Linkle asked, looking at her with amazement, "There have been many tales of a hero of Hyrule reborn time and time again to stave off the evil that surfaces throughout each era. Blessed by the goddesses, their destinies are awakened when darkness attempts to consume the world, clad in green, and courage in their heart."

She stepped back placing her crossbows back attached to her boots, placing her hands on her hips, declaring, "And I know, for a fact, that I am that reincarnated hero! I'm clad in green, and I know I am brave! And I was on my way to Hyrule Castle when I heard an army of darkness was on its way there, attacking it! I'll save Hyrule, and pursue my destiny!"

Philia and the others looked at each other, before the leader smiled as she stated, "Well, you certainly have the enthusiasm, no doubt about that. Do you mind if we tag along?"

"You don't mind?" Linkle asked eagerly, "I was gonna ask this fairy you called 'Tinker Bell' to be my guide!"

"You can't just order me to be your guide!" Tink answered angrily, "Do I look like a-!" She was stopped as Philia placed a hand over her body, one of her fingers covering her mouth.

"Tink's not a navigator, nor a fairy. But we seem to have a similar agenda." she told her, "Our team primarily focuses on two things; treasure hunting and Heartless-stomping. We're already curious as to who gave that imp guy the Heartless to use. So we'll go and stomp them out, if you don't mind our company."

"Great!" Linkle answered happily, "A hero who not only gains a fairy companion, but even sidekicks! That's all the more perfect for me!"

"Sidekicks?" Hinata echoed, looking a bit bewildered.

"We're NOT your sidekicks!" Samson barked angrily.

"Samson, calm down!" Flair pleaded, "We just need to go with it for the time being."

"Lead the way, Linkle." Philia told her.

"Right!" She answered, before taking out a map, looking at it carefully, before pointing towards a direction, answering, "It's this way!" She ran ahead, with the others behind her. Hinata looked, and saw a sign in the far distance, which had a picture of a castle on it. Not sure if that was the castle they needed to go to, she dismissed it, and continued to follow her. (Flashback ends)

'And after a couple of misadventures where we had to deal with some Heartless, we ended up here.' Philia finished up her mental monologue, 'We're nowhere near the castle. Linkle is so horrible with directions, and barely listens to anything we say when it comes to it! If she's suppose to be a hero of Hyrule, she's not doing a great job playing the part. Still, we have been fighting off enemies in this world, which we learned has had places from different eras converge into this realm. If we don't stop the Heartless from consuming the world, then those eras would also get swallowed up, as well.'

"I'm getting really tired of you just running off without listening to a damn thing we say!" Samson told Linkle, pointing a tendril at her.

"He's right. You should listen to your comrades if they know where to go." Hinata told her, "We're only trying to help you, but you never listen to us."

"Hey, even if it didn't have me get to Hyrule Castle IMMEDIATELY, we still found ourselves saving people's lives." Linkle argued, shrugging off their statements, "So I'd say this is a win-win situation, even if we do get off track."

"Your missing the point." Philia stepped forward, "The point is that you need to listen to your friends. Your companions. You can't just throw the phrase 'I'm the reincarnated hero' or 'we save people's lives' to dismiss the bigger problem."

"I'm doing what I must, okay?!" Linkle fought back, "I want to help the people of Hyrule and stop the evil attacking it!"

"By tossing everyone's experience out the window and hurting their connection with you?" Philia argued, "Maybe I don't know what the other heroes were like, but they obviously had to listen and understand the people around them, forging that connection, which becomes the strength they need to fight against darkness! It's been the same with all of us." She couldn't help but think back to how she and Samson were on bickering terms all because they wanted to do what was best for Flair.

"It's one thing to want to help and be brave, but it's another to be reckless and dismissive when people are only here to help!" Tinker Bell stated. Thinking back, Peter Pan was a bit like that, as well; juvenile and a show off.

Linkle looked frustrated, hating the fact that the others were putting her down like this. She turned away as she declared, "Fine! If you don't like the way I am doing things, then I can continue fine on my own! I could've saved all of Hyrule at this point, anyway!" She raced on ahead, not even waiting for them. Her golden cucco followed her, aimlessly just following its master.

"Linkle, come back!" Philia pleaded to stop her.

"Philia should we really follow her?" Flair asked, "She obviously doesn't want to listen to us."

"I agree. She won't listen to a darn thing we say, all because she just wants to prove herself." Samson huffed.

"And that's why we HAVE to help her." Philia retorted, "Reckless as she may be, she has a good heart. She wants to help, but obviously has a hard time working together with others, or understanding what true bravery is. And in the previous battles, we know the Heartless have been growing in strength and numbers. We need to find where they are coming from, and fast."

The others looked at each other, before Hinata stated, "I think Philia is right. We should help her understand. She needs our help, whether she wants it or not." Flair and Samson sighed, before mentally agreeing with the group.

"I just hope we can sort her out." Tinker Bell stated, as the Heart Sisters pursued her.

They pursued Linkle, who was far ahead of them. She soon began reaching a crossroad that led to a craggy environment, including a large, circular light up ahead. Linkle stopped, looking at the light source. "Okay. Where to now?" She asked.

Her cucco was clucking and tapping its beak onto something. Looking down, Linkle's gaze caught wind of what her pet partner was interested in. It was a black crystal, about half the size of her cucco. She picked it up, holding it in both hands. "What's this?" She asked, looking at it, holding it to the sky above. Despite being in the sun, and looking translucent, no light was able to go through it. "This definitely isn't a normal crystal." She stated, examining it.

It was at this point that her pursuing allies caught up, and she wasn't too happy to see them. "You guys want to continue lecturing me?" She asked shrewdly.

"We weren't lecturing." Philia defended, "We were only trying to help you understand."

"I understand well enough!" She answered, "Or are you trying to say you guys are better heroes than I am?!"

"That's not what we were getting at!" Philia defended, "We know you want to be a hero. And in many cases, you are one. We've seen that. We just want you to be a better one." Linkle looked at them, not sure on whether to take that as an insult or a consideration for her.

Suddenly, the group heard voices as they turned to see someone was approaching beyond the boulders. "How could Zelda and the other forces just run off like that ahead of us?!" Said a childish girl's voice, "That's MY home that's in danger!"

"We had to stop the Heartless that were in the way." A young teen girl's voice answered, "We couldn't leave them to either pursue us or reach the encampment."

"Hurry up!" Squawked a voice, "We can't be far behind!"

'Those voices…' Philia recognized two of the three voices. Sure enough, coming around the rocks and into view were the trio of Midna, Asuna, and Donald.

"Hey, it's those two!" Hinata recognized.

"Asuna and Donald, right?" Flair recalled.

The two girls and duck suddenly noticed the other party, before Asuna recognized and smiled, greeting, "Philia! Everyone! Fancy meeting you here!"

"Asuna! Donald!" Philia greeted back as the Lightning Flash raced up and grabbed her hands, "Wait, when did you… I mean, how are you guys here?" She made sure to ask a question that didn't sound 'otherworldly'.

"We were just here to assist with helping the Hylian army in the fight against Cia and her forces of darkness." Asuna answered, following along, "We learned that there was an unknown force of darkness coming from the Palace of Twilight, and Zelda and her forces raced on ahead to deal with it. What about you? What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, we were-." Philia started, before Linkle cut in abruptly, demanding, "Hold on! You guys are with Zelda? As in, the Princess of Hyrule, herself, Princess Zelda?!"

"U-Um… yeah?" Asuna answered, questioning who was asking her this.

"This is perfect!" She cheered, tossing the black crystal into the air, only for Flair and Samson to fumble and catch it, "Just what I need to do! The chosen hero is SUPPOSED to protect the princess of Hyrule! I HAVE to help her out!"

"Who's this weirdo girl?" Midna asked, looking to Donald, "Are they all friends of yours?"

"I don't know the green girl." Donald answered, before whispering, "But the others are from another world like us."

"Ah, gotcha…" Midna understood. Her curiosity about the girl was cut off when she looked at the crystal that was in Flair's hands.

"Come on! I bet this 'Palace of Twilight' is that way, right?" Linkle asked, pointing towards the path to where the glowing light was at.

"According to Midna, yes." Asuna answered, looking to Philia and her comrades, "Guess this means we have a common objective. An unknown darkness is spilling out throughout Hyrule, and it seems to be coming from the palace. It's attracting the Heartless, and causing them to spread all throughout, as well."

"Then we'll just have to deal with the source of it." Philia understood, looking to her team, "Let's stop it. You ready?"

"Yes!" Hinata answered.

"Count on us!" Samson responded with a smirk, while Flair nodded.

"Excuse me." Midna intervened, floating up to Flair, "Where did you get this crystal?"

"I found it, actually." Linkle answered, raising a hand. Asuna and Donald watched Midna and Flair, finding the irony of seeing the pair of girls with prehensile hair.

"Mind if I take a look?" Midna asked, raising her small imp hands to her.

"Okay…" she answered holding it out for her. Midna touched the crystal, before it glowed, along with her. The blinding swirl of dark and white light caught everyone off guard, shielding their eyes. However, it was what they found after the dust settled that startled them the most. Midna had transformed.

What once was an imp, Midna had transformed into a beautiful grown woman, more human than her previous form. Her body was still black and pale green, her eyes were the same red and yellow colors, and her orange hair was now covered under a black hooded robe, going down her sides and tied together by a hairpiece above her chest. The black robe went down her back and arms, with intricate designs on it and her entire body, like tattoos. Her skirt was held by a thick silver belt, and it draped down to her feet, exposing her right leg, exposing her ankle ornament and her bare feet.

The girls and Donald gasped in amazement, while Asuna said in awe, "Midna, your body…"

Midna looked at her hands, saying, "My body…it's back to normal!"

Asuna remembered this was how she really looked back when they last encountered, before asking, "How was this possible?! Didn't Cia curse you?"

Midna looked at Flair, noticing the black crystal she had was now gone. "It would appear that the crystal you found was of Twili origin. It must've counteracted the curse placed on me." She smiled as she stated, "How fortuitous. I can now fight even stronger than I did before. And look gorgeous while doing it."

"It's a good thing neither Kirito or Link are here to see this." Asuna chuckled, "Honestly, I forgot how beautiful you were. And I don't want either of them to ogle at you." Midna chuckled at her, noticing the jealousy in her tone.

"What about me?" Donald asked.

"I'll tell Daisy." Her simple answer was enough to keep the anthropomorphic duck from doing anything.

"As great as this is, shouldn't we get going?" Linkle asked, "I want to help the princess, however I can!"

"Right. Follow me." She told them, before floating slightly off the ground, and glided towards the source of light, with everyone else behind her. They reached the light source, which turned out to be a giant, circular portal. They flew right into it, one after another, ready to face the other side.

Kirito & Lana

With a small group of soldiers reluctantly joining, Kirito, Lana, and Candy made their way to the Valley of Seer. Lana required a Fairy Fountain temple's magic in order to warp themselves to the valley. Fortunately, they knew of one nearby, and were able to make it there quickly. They arrived at the area, and Lana told the others to wait outside while she discussed with the Great Fairy to use some of her magic.

"They don't look happy about this, kuru…" Candy muttered, seeing the emotions of the other soldiers.

"It's understandable. Aiding an enemy that ruined your world isn't exactly something the locals want to do." Kirito muttered, "But if it's to stop something that could not only ruin the world, but completely rule it with an iron fist to the point of destruction, then we must deal with the greater evil."

Candy jumped up onto Kirito's shoulder, saying, "That guy was really, REALLY scary, kuru! Even scarier that anyone from the Bad End Kingdom, kuru."

"No joke. And he isn't even at his full strength." Kirito muttered, "Way back when, Sora, Asuna, Yui, Donald, Goofy and I ended up joining the Link of that time, along with Midna, to save the then Princess Zelda from a different Ganondorf."

"I remember you saying that, kuru." Candy recalled.

"That Ganondorf had the Triforce of Power, we had to fight him several times before we could take him down." Kirito continued, recalling that fabled battle. From their first encounter with him in the throne room, to when he puppeteer Zelda's soulless body, to fighting his giant beastly form, to when Midna sacrificed herself to save them, to the final battle against him as he rode on the giant Heartless's back.

"It took all of our strength to put him down, and we were much stronger then." Kirito stated, "If he takes that Triforce away from Cia, and with our level of strength as is…we wouldn't stand a chance."

"Kuru…" Candy whimpered, shuddering at the thought.

"That's why we have to help Cia this time around." The Black Swordsman told her, "Course, then we would have to fight her afterwards, too."

"But Lana wants to save her, even after we defeat Ganondorf, kuru." Candy noted, hopping down in front of him, "And I want to, too, kuru!" She noticed Kirito's surprised expression, before she continued, "I feel this connection with her, kuru. And I know how important Cia is. If we could save Miyuki and everyone, we can save her!"

"Sure, but that's different." Kirito argued, "Miyuki and the others were good people brainwashed."

"But don't you remember what Lana said before? She said that Cia and her were one, and that she only got that way because something dark controlled her, too, kuru!" Candy recalled the story she told them, "They are the same!"

Kirito thought about it. She wasn't exactly wrong, but Cia was the dark half of what she and Lana were. Then again, they have encountered stuff like this before, like with Sora and Roxas.

He crouched down and stated, "You may be right, Candy. I would like to believe there is a possibility she can be saved. However, part of the reason I want to save her from Ganondorf is because I don't know her enough. So for now, let's do our best to protect the Triforce of Power, and then we'll decide afterwards. Okay?"

"Okay, kuru!" She replied gleefully.

Lana was at the temple entrance. She started to hear them since Candy spoke about saving Cia. It was rather pleasing that Candy was so earnest in saving Cia, and understood Kirito's hesitation. Despite this, she wanted to save her other self, no matter what.

She hopped down the steps, calling out, "Hey! The Great Fairy is gonna help us make our way there! Let's go!" Everyone understood, and made their way up the steps into the temple. They gathered in the center of the circular part of the temple, waiting for a moment.

Suddenly, what felt like hundreds of fairies like Proxi appeared and started flying around them. Magic surged on the floor beneath them as they spun, catching everyone off guard. Kirito and Candy were also quite surprised by this.

"Is this safe?!" Kirito asked Lana.

"It should be. The Great Fairy said she is only able to do this because of how close we are to the Valley of Seers Great Fairy Fountain, and how few of us there are."

"I hope you are right." Kirito answered, as the light started to shine brighter. All of a sudden, they felt themselves floating, and in an instant, everything went white. The light vanished, along with the trio of heroes and their troops.

At the Valley of Seers, things were looking grim for Cia, who was bracing herself with her staff in the center of the battlefield. She and her troops were fighting for their life against Ganondorf and his forces. Even with her great power summoning Dark Links to support her and her troops, it wasn't enough.

Her two subordinates ended up causing more harm than good at this point. Wizzro ended up entranced by Ganondorf's power, and betrayed her, resulting in her army being diminished, and resulted in her having no choice but to put him down for good into his ring. Meanwhile, Volga attempted to fight Ganondorf one-on-one, but ended up having to back off when he set up a barrier around his main base of operation, causing him to flee. While he wasn't fighting her, Cia could not control Volga now that he chose his own path. Even some of her own troops were fleeing at the sight of the power Ganondorf's army held.

"It's…not over…" she muttered, struggling as she prepared more dark magic, using her very life to enhance it and fight. She looked to see some of her Dark Links fighting still, but the swarm of monsters were starting to get to them. "The hero is still by my side…" she muttered, "The hero is still by my side…" Her mind was fading. She was losing it on account of how much power she was using.

Suddenly, there was a burst of light from the temple where the Great Fairy was at. Bursting out of it after the teleportation was completed came Lana, who immediately saw her dark self in front of her.

"Cia! You have to stop using your magic!" She called out, before using her tome to summon light walls that she pushed to knock any enemy near Cia away from her. "It's eating your mind! Please, don't go this far!"

Candy and Kirito appeared at her side, as did the soldiers they brought along, slicing at the swarm of monsters as they did so. "Everyone, form into groups! Do not let a single soldier die on this field!" Kirito commanded, "Support Cia's forces, but don't antagonize them!"

"I'll help out, kuru!" Candy cried, unleashing a Candy Bomb at a swarm that destroyed a portion of Ganondorf's nearby forces.

Cia's vision started to focus, and her mind started to clear up a bit as she saw who rescued her. For a second, she could've swore she saw her hero, Link, standing there. However, she blinked, and saw Kirito instead, slashing at the monsters, before charging toward the nearest commander.

"That boy again…" she muttered, recognizing her from the last battle, before seeing Lana, "And Lana…" She shook her head, fighting her second wind, and straightened herself out, as she mumbled, "What…was I doing? Oh, right… I have to kill Ganondorf!"

"We're here to help you!" Lana told her, giving a smile, despite the grim situation and their relationship, "Together, we can beat him!"

Cia looked to her. She still hated her. Couldn't stand her. But knew that, at this point, she had no choice but to ask for her assistance. She looked to Kirito and Candy once more, before glaring at the army, as she charged in, with Lana at her side.

Meanwhile, Ganondorf watched from a distance, seeing Volga tearing through his forces with the ferocity of a dragon, the three that arrived, and Cia together. "I thought I separated those two permanently." He stated, indicating the light and dark halves that were Lana and Cia, "No matter. I shall kill them together."

Palace of Twilight

Meanwhile, Asuna, Donald, the Heart Sisters, Midna, and Linkle arrived in the battlefield, and were given the situation of what was going on with Princess Zelda. She was attempting to suppress the dark power that was emanating all across Hyrule. It was being held within the throne room, to which she went in and was tackling it. However, it was a trap, and she was sealed within, with a large Heartless blocking their path.

It was a humanoid Heartless, four times taller than the rest of them. It had a horned helmet, quite similar to the one Midna wore before her transformation, but it had more of a Viking style to it. It's yellow eyes were spiraled, and its mouth was gaping open, its long tongue sticking out, practically reaching below the neck. It wore a dark, heavy armor, the Heartless emblem embedded on the chest, with curved spiked shoulder guards, armored legs with hooked-toed armored boots, robe sleeves for arms, and floating sets of bamboo-like spears, three around each arm, and as long as each arm. It's black body was pulsing with the power of the twilight energy.

Soldiers were attempting to attack it and the other Heartless, but it thrusted its arms forward, sending the spears flying at them, killing any that were within its range.

"What kind of Heartless is that?!" Asuna demanded, as Philia pulled out her book to look it up.

"It's know as the Twilight Tyrant." Philia read, "The description doesn't indicate those markings it has about its body, but it is said to be born out of wild domination of the power-hungry. Those spears it wields and its tongue are a serious threat."

"I don't want to get even near that tongue!" Flair shuddered.

"We have to destroy it!" Linkle declared, readying her crossbows, "It's blocking the only path to Princess Zelda!"

"Hold it." Midna stopped her, raising a hand to her, "We cannot defeat it with it being powered by the power of twilight. With it, we will struggle to damage it, let alone take it down."

"But…!" Linkle started, only for Asuna to abruptly say, "We fought a Heartless infused with twilight energy in the past. It made it a lot stronger than what it originally was."

Philia turned to Hinata, asking, "See where it's getting that power from? If it's internally, we're screwed."

The kunoichi activated her Byakugan, examining it. "It's not coming from within, but several areas around the palace are feeding it energy."

"Let's destroy those areas!" Donald suggested.

"Right. And take out as much Heartless as possible to help the soldiers!" Asuna added, and everyone went to arms. Midna had summoned the mirror that they entered through into a miniaturized form, and held it floating next to her, utilizing it as her weapon.

Linkle had immediately raced to the nearest keep, where the first source of energy was at. "And she ran ahead again. Why am I not surprised?!" Samson demanded.

"I can sense those lay lines of twilight energy powering the Heartless." Midna stated, "They are coming from the keeps, so it shouldn't be too hard. But we have to be quick if we want to save Princess Zelda." She took off to the opposite direction of where Linkle was going, taking the opposite side of the battlefield to clear the keeps holding the sources.

"Asuna, how about you, Flair, Samson and Hinata team up and keep Linkle out of trouble?" Philia suggested.

"I'm fine with that." Asuna answered, looking to the girl and parasite duo.

The treasure huntress looked to Hinata, noting, "Midna knows this place well, so she can tell where they energy is coming from. You should lead Asuna to where they are at!"

"Understood!" Hinata answered.

Finally, she looked down at Donald, smiling as she said, "That leaves us to assist Midna. And I know what we do best with Heartless; clean house!"

"We'll wreck 'em up!" Samson declared.

"We'll win this!" Flair stated confidently.

"Alright! Let's show 'em!" Donald declared. With the plan set, they divided up, with Asuna and Philia's comrades heading the direction of where Linkle went, and Philia and Donald heading around the same area Midna headed to.

Sora & Link

Back at the campsite, Sora and Goofy were in a double battle against Link and Impa. The two were dead even, with Link and Impa's power slightly being better than their opponents, but Sora & Goofy's team coordination being much better than the two.

Link and Sora clashed their blades against one another, leaving the Keyblade wielder vulnerable as Impa tried circle around and attack him. However, her giant scimitar was blocked by Goofy's uppercut shield, allowing Sora to back off from Link and unleash his 'Shotlock: Ragnarok' from his Kingdom Key, damaging the two and causing the pair to back off.

"Impressive." Impa told Sora and Goofy, "I can see from your coordination how long you have fought together, and how much trust you have."

"Thanks." Sora answered, "It's not just Goofy and I, either. All of my friends are able to work together to take on any foe!"

"That is quite true." Impa agreed, looking to Link, "We must learn to rely on one another, as they do. Remember that, Link." The Master Sword user nodded in agreement.

On the edge of the training grounds, Yui and Agitha were going to different parts of the campsites, assisting the soldiers, and making sure they were taken care of, and their spirits high. Jiminy Cricket even assisted with the pair, mostly because Agitha wanted him to. The self-proclaimed princess of insects was keenly interested in Jiminy, who rode in her basket, and was intrigued by his duty as Pinocchio's conscience and the crew's records keeper.

"You are an amazing cricket, Sir Jiminy." Agitha stated to him, "Are you sure you don't want to become one of my loyal subjects? I could put you in a high position as my advisor, if you want."

"I appreciate the offer, but I have a job that I have to do." Jiminy responded, "Sora and the others are counting on me to record their adventures, and I can't abandon my duty."

"He is a very important part of our team." Yui stated, approaching the two, "He not only keeps the records of our adventures, he also provides a level head for us. Our group tends to get a bit distressed at times, so he helps provide us with wisdom."

"You are quite helpful in aiding the group as well, Yui." Jiminy stated, hopping off of Agitha's basket, and onto Yui's shoulder, "You're skills in providing mental and emotional stability also prove useful in the group. You can say that without you, my job would be a lot harder." Yui giggled at this.

"It would seem that you two are very important to providing aid to your allies." Agitha sighed, "Still, Sir Jiminy, if you ever wish to have a position in my kingdom when your duties are done, you are always welcomed."

"That's very kind of you." Jiminy answered, tipping his hat to her.

Back at the sparring, Sora, Link, Impa, and Goofy took a moment to settle, discussing their training. Impa pointed out the pair's unorthodox way of fighting, but somehow was able to make it work against them. She was even discussing an idea for Goofy on a move she thought he could pull off.

Just then, the four suddenly felt a presence, and a swarm of Nobodies were summoned about the quartet. "An ambush of monsters!" Impa demanded, as Link turned his blade onto them.

"Nobodies!" Goofy answered, ready to fight.

"These things…" Sora recognized them, "We saw them in the ruins in Resolute Oasis!"

At this point, Yui, Jiminy, and Agitha arrived on the scene, with soldiers in tow, seeing the Nobodies. "Murderer Nobodies!" Yui recognized them.

Just then, a dark dome of energy formed, which the two girls and Jiminy barely got through, while the soldiers ended up getting blocked by, unable to get in. They joined Sora, Link, Impa, and Goofy, prepared to fight the swarm that surrounded them. "Trying to attack us while our guard is down!" Impa growled.

Link got her attention, nodding in assurance that they could deal with this. "Don't worry, Impa!" Proxi assured her, "If we work together, we can destroy them!"

"Right. Together, everyone!" Sora declared, and the six fighters went to work on the Nobodies.

Valley of Seers

The fighting was intense. Despite the cavalry joining to support Cia & her army, Lana, Kirito, Candy, and their soldiers still were struggling with the might of the army. They did encounter a Manhandla, a four-headed carnivorous plant monster. It was shooting seeds right at the top part of Cia's base. Kirito ended up encountering it, and was struggling to deal with it.

"This plant is a really troublesome foe…" Kirito grimaced, after avoiding a gatling of seeds shot at him, "But I can tell the stems are its weak point. I just need to strike fast enough before they retract them into the main body!"

"An observant and powerful warrior." Growled a voice behind him, and Kirito was startled as a man appeared next to him. He was a man in crimson armor, and had a draconic silver helmet, with a ponytail-like hair that went from red to yellow going down his back. His eyes were shadowed underneath the helmet he wore. He carried with him a lance in one hand.

"I can see great power within you, but you are quite foolish if such a monster like this would give you trouble." he told Kirito.

"Sorry, who are you?" The hero asked.

"Volga. My only desire is to seek a worthy opponent to face in battle." He introduced himself, "I wish to face Ganondorf, but that man erected a dark barrier that weakens me when I attempted to fight him one-on-one."

"That's gonna be a problem." Kirito grimaced, "Guess I'd better take care of this before finding a way to get through that."

"And yet, you struggle to defeat this monster." Volga stated, smirking in amusement, "I can hardly believe you would be able to accomplish such a task."

"Watch me." Kirito retorted, looking at the Manhandla, all four heads looking at Kirito as they were prepared to snap their jaws at him. "Soul Burst: Second Form!" Kirito shouted, summoning the power of his SAO form, his Keyblade turning into the Elucidator. He twirled it, the blade glowing, before zooming straight at the heads. He avoided getting eaten, and unleashed his four-hit Horizontal Square Sword Skill, striking all four stems, stunning the heads. With them down, the base of the plan opened up, revealing a red crystal-like center.

"That's the weak point!" Kirito stated, before going in and unleashing his swordplay onto it, dealing as much damage as he could. He then finished the combo by slashing it upwards as he shot into the air, before coming back down with an airborne Sonic Leap Sword Skill, bringing his blade down onto the crystal, slicing it in half. The damage broke it apart, before the monster disintegrated into nothing.

"Most impressive." Volga stated, watching him fight, killing off a few monsters that tried attacking him, "You might just be the worthy opponent I seek." He ready his lance, prepared to fight Kirito.

"You seem tough, too." Kirito agreed, "But we have bigger fish to fry. Ganondorf is the reason I am here."

"Kirito!" Lana's voice suddenly called out to him in his head, startling him, "I believe I can dispel that barrier of darkness in Ganondorf's base. I need to get there!"

"Okay. I'll clear a path on my end!" Kirito answered, turning to Volga, "We got a solution to that barrier. Plan to help out?"

"I serve no one, anymore." Volga answered, "I am neither your ally, nor do I serve Cia, now that she has become so pathetic. I only fight to seek an opponent worthy to defeat!"

'A total battle junkie who desires strong opponents to defeat.' Kirito summed up in his mind, 'I've encountered a crap ton of Players with similar mindsets. He even reminds me of Eugene, commander of the Salamanders. In that case…'

"If we meet as opponents in the next battle, I'll give you a fight." Kirito assured him, "For now, we have to take out Ganondorf. Can we call a truce until then?"

Volga looked to Kirito for a moment, before answering, "You'd better keep your word. You are one of two opponents I desire to fight against. Do not go back on it."

"I swear." Kirito answered, before charging towards one of the keeps to clear it for Lana to safely get through. Volga watched him go, before summoning dragon wings on his back, and taking to the sky to take on the next swarm of enemies.

On a part of the field behind them, Candy was doing her part, unleashing all her power to defeat the monsters, while protecting the soldiers. She stopped to catch her breath as she muttered, "This is very tiring, kuru. But I can't stop here! I have to keep fighting to save Cia and Lana, kuru!" Getting her second wind, she pressed on the attack.

Lana and Cia had just joined her, and saw how much she was fighting. "Such a small, insignificant creature is able to do so much?" Cia asked, looking at Candy punch a bunch of monsters out of the way, "And this power. Ugh! So pure of light. Reminds me too much of you."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Lana answered, "And, for the record, I know there is a bit of that in you." She took on ahead, summoning light barriers with her magic, slamming and shoving opponents out of the way. Cia sneered at the statement, refusing to agree to it, yet continued to aid in their fight.

Thanks to their group effort, Kirito, Volga, Candy, and Cia were able to get Lana to the base, where they saw Ganondorf standing there, his two swords at the ready, seeing the group. "So, you wish to desire a quick death, do you?" He asked the group, "A collection of misfits, from two sorcerers I split apart, to a battle hungry warrior who underestimates my power, to a pet with such detestable light."

"I am not a pet, kuru!" Candy argued.

"And then there's you…" Ganondorf pointed a sword at Kirito, "The one who did the most damage to me in our last encounter. Your existence aggravates me. Much like the Hero of Hyrule."

Kirito, his Soul Burst running out before arriving, could understand what he meant, but couldn't take a step further into the base. He could feel the barrier's darkness, and it was already making him feel he was losing his strength.

"Lana! Dispel that barrier!" Cia barked at her good half.

"Aaaand light dispels darkness!" Lana shouted, raising a hand upwards, unleashing a blast of light energy. It shot towards the base, creating a wave that dispelled the entire barrier before them. Kirito and the others were able to regain their strength because of this.

"So you dispelled my barrier." Ganondorf huffed, "I'll admit, I'm mildly impressed. I will still crush you!"

"Better think again!" Kirito responded, the group readying their weapons to fight him.

Palace of Twilight

Thanks to the efforts of the army and the heroes that divided and conquered, Asuna & Philia's teams were able to take one keep after another. Asuna, Flair, Samson, and Hinata were able to catch up with Linkle as they took on the western part of the battlefield, while Philia, Donald, and Midna were handling the eastern part. The latter was able to work together quite well, despite only just meeting. The same could be said for the former, but Linkle more marched at her own beat, trying to take out monsters in order to clear a path to get to the gatekeeper.

"We're making quick work of these keeps." Midna stated as she slammed a glowing bridge she summoned onto the last of the monsters in the keep her team were in, claiming it.

"The others are doing a good job on their end." Philia stated, with Donald by her side, "And it feels good to fight with you Donald. At least, it's nostalgic."

"It just feels right." He replied, and the two fired off a simultaneous Thunder spell together, destroying a swarm of oncoming enemies.

Midna looked to the path, stating, "I can't open the gate to the throne room to the front just yet, but with how many keeps we took to stop the twilight energy, we might be able to reach it from the side entrance. Unfortunately, that requires also a key, which we don't have."

Philia smirked as she replied, "We'll, you're in luck. You are talking to a treasure hunter with a Keyblade-like weapon on hand. Picking locks? No problem!"

Midna looked to her with a smirk, stating, "You sure are acting confident in yourself for accomplishing what many others Twili failed to do. Let's go there and see if we can't make a shortcut to Princess Zelda." The trio raced out of the keep to the side door.

Meanwhile, Linkle came face-to-face with the Twilight Tyrant, her crossbows at the ready. Asuna, Flair, Samson, and Hinata were right behind her, their weapons at the ready.

"You just couldn't wait long enough, could you?!" Samson demanded.

"We took some keeps, and destroyed the sources, so now it's hero time!" Linkle declared, looking confident as she stared up at the beast.

Asuna looked to Hinata, stating, "I can still feel a bit of Twilight energy from the Heartless. Are all the keeps really taken care of, Hinata?"

"No. I can see there are a couple more sources within the western parts of the battlefield." She replied, using her Byakugan to observe, "And there are monsters and Heartless there, too."

"Where are Philia and the others?" Flair asked her.

"Going along a side path. Looks like they might be taking a different path to the throne room."

"Sounds like they have a plan. Let's leave Zelda to them." Asuna stated, thinking of a plan.

Linkle had just begun the fight with the Heartless, who thrusted its sleeved arm at her, sending three of the floating spears shooting at her, almost colliding with her, had she not used her fancy footwork to dodge them, jump in, and fire her crossbows repeatedly at it, damaging it. However, it was unfazed, and used its other sleeve to swat her away, causing her to fly backwards, crash to the ground.

"Linkle!" Flair cried out.

Asuna saw her recover and race at the Heartless again. "Doesn't look like she's gonna stop, now that she started the fight with it." She assumed, looking to the pair, "I might be asking a lot, but can you two take care of the last two keeps? I'll stay and help Linkle!"

"O-Of course." Hinata answered.

"You don't have to worry about us." Flair assured her.

"Try and knock some sense into that girl!" Samson requested.

"I'll try. Let's go!" Asuna declared, before turning and racing at the Heartless, switching to her Simple Soul Keyblade. She made it glow, before unleashing a Quadruple Pain Rapier skill on the Twilight Tyrant, damaging it. It tried to counterattack with a slam from its sleeve, but Asuna backed off before it could make contact with her.

She looked to see the two girls take off, before seeing Linkle unleash a bomb bolt with her crossbows, blasting the Heartless with them. "Take that!" She shouted, before running in with a series of shots from her twin weapons. The Heartless turned and shot more spears down at her, but she dodged out of the way.

This gave Asuna a moment to act, unleashing an Aqua Strike, striking it hard. She then backed off as she focused with her weapon, charging up before shouting, "Shotlock: Ice Flower Bumblebee!" Her weapon transformed into a design similar to Weiss's rapier, shooting ice shots right at the large opponent, freezing it. The blade then became elastic, almost like a ribbon, as she swung around, magically summoning a human figure made of fiery energy, before throwing it into the Twilight Tyrant, causing it to explode, destroying the ice along with the attack.

"Whoa! What an attack!" Linkle exclaimed, amazed as Asuna landed on the ground, "Well, I can't let her outdo me! I gotta show what a hero can do!" She raced in as the Heartless was recovering, ready to fire away with her crossbows. Asuna joined her, fighting as two separate forces.

In the throne room, Zelda was bent over, panting from using so much magic, injured quite a bit as she was facing two opponents; a dark form of the grown up Midna, and Maleficent, who was standing in the background, puppeteering the deity.

"What a pitiful princess." Maleficent chuckled, "Did you really believe you stood a chance against this, when I have control over this great power?!"

"You are sending out all this darkness using this thing?" Zelda demanded.

"This domain is quite useful in spreading darkness and shadows all throughout the world." Maleficent stated, "It will make claiming this world much easier. But first, I should get rid of all light in this world, starting with you!" She emanated green flames from her body, as the doppelgänger of Midna readied to fight. Zelda look worried she might not make it out of this.

Just then, they heard something being unlocked, followed by a hidden door opening up nearby, revealing Philia, Donald, and Midna as they raced in, seeing the scene.

"Told ya I could crack it!" Philia stated.

"Zelda!" Midna shouted.

"Midna?" Zelda asked, surprised, "You look…different. And who is this girl?"

"Maleficent!" Philia growled as her's and Donald's attention were drawn to her, "I should've figured you would appear at some point!"

"Well, well. We meet again." Maleficent greeted Philia, "But you are far too late. My spreading of darkness cannot be stopped at this point. And you won't be able to get in my way!"

"Not if WE have any say in the matter!" Philia answered, her and Donald readying their weapons, before jumping up together, magic coursing as one. "Meteor!" They shouted together, causing a storm of meteors to fall from the sky down onto the battlefield, forcing the Dark Midna & Maleficent to produce barriers of darkness.

"I got you." Midna assured Zelda, coming to her side and raising a hand, sending magic from herself onto the princess, "This should help you out."

"I thank you." She replied, "To spend so much for me…"

"It's nothing." the Twili assured her, before glaring at the pair of villainous characters, "How dare they do this. A dark version of me is causing all of this, and some witch?! They don't know WHO they are messing with!"

"Time to get serious." Philia growled, leaping in at Maleficent with her Keydagger. The evil fairy raised her staff, and the two clashed with a surge of energy.

The Dark Midna turned and was about to attack Philia, but was stopped by a summoned cannon made by the real Midna, shooting her with cannonballs of light. Knocked to the ground, it got back up to see her and Zelda ready to fight, while Donald readied his staff, ready to assist whoever needed him.

Sora & Link

Back at the campsite, Sora, Link, and the others were fighting the swarm of Murderers, along with a group of Dusk Nobodies to boot. They were trapped in the dome of darkness, so they couldn't escape, nor see whether their fellow soldiers were doing okay. Fortunately, the six of them were able to work together with their skilled fighting styles, with Sora, Goofy, & Yui performing Trinity Tower Team Attack, spinning and striking the Nobodies left and right. Link, Impa, and Agitha did their part in the battle, striking all that came in their way.

It took some time, but the six were able to clear the last of the Nobodies, before catching their breath. However, the dome of darkness was not coming down yet.

"Is everyone unharmed?" Impa asked the group.

"Yeah. We're all good." Sora answered, already using his Cure to heal everyone.

Just then, there was a new sound; a round of applause from someone. They spun and saw who walked through the barrier into their premise; PHox. "Impressive, all of you." He proclaimed, "Here I was, trying to hunt down someone else, and instead bumped into the incapable Keyblade wielder. Ain't that irony?"

"You again!" Sora barked, "And hey, who are you calling 'incapable'?!"

"An enemy of yours?" Impa asked, though she didn't really need an answer, as it was clear as day. Link had his Master Sword and shield at the ready.

"Sorry, did I say 'incapable'? Let me rephrase it…" PHox corrected himself, pointing a finger at him, "Your no longer able to control souls for power like the rest of them. Heck, even this AI program masquerading as the Black Swordsman and Lightning Flash's daughter has more use than you." Yui felt a twinge of hurt from these words, biting her lip not to respond.

Sora gritted his teeth. He didn't like how he was insulting Yui. Regardless, he wasn't gonna let him get under their skin, before stating, "I already came to terms with not being able to do that. But there are other things I can do that they cannot. We're able to back each other up with what each of us can pull off."

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard that whole speech from every raid party in the old days and whatnot." PHox responded, "But here, in the real world, if someone considers you a liability, when they have a level of power you cannot gain, you would be tossed aside and left behind, like you are now. Did Kirito n' Asuna leave you behind here, like Philia did?"

The last name threw Sora off guard, before asking, "What do you mean?!"

"Oops. Did you forget?" PHox mocked, already aware of the answer, "You see, Philia use to be a part of your group way back when. However, the moment she unlocked the power of controlling souls, she started to consider on whether to abandon you or not. Well…you can already guess what happened."

He didn't even need to finish explaining to let Sora know what her choice was, since Philia no longer with them. What's more, he doesn't even remember when they traveled together. The memories of those time were gone.

"See? When someone gains great power, they choose to toss away any unnecessary people in their lives so they can continue to fight at full strength." PHox looked at Link between sentences, before continuing, "Whether it's a nice new skill or power, or a shiny new weapon. I've seen too many Players go that path before getting butchered."

Link glared at him, before Impa stated, "You seem to be very aware of what everyone has been through, here. However, Link has learned the Master Sword is only as strong as the heart of the wielder, and that he does not fight alone."

"But then…" Sora muttered, getting everyone's attention, "…why would Philia leave? And why don't I remember her? Did she find us really unreliable?"

"That's not true!" Jiminy stated, getting onto Sora's shoulder, "As a matter of fact, you and Philia were very close."

"Really?" Sora asked him, surprised.

"Yep. She was with us when we went on our first adventure together." Goofy explained, "Kayaba was able to find that out when he uncovered the real story in Jiminy's journal a while back. She helped us defeat Ansem, as well as help find Kairi and save Riku."

"She… really was with us during all that time?" Sora asked, with Jiminy and Goofy nodding in response, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Kayaba told us not to tell you." Jiminy answered, looking a bit guilty.

"Plus, even we don't remember her in our first adventure. Donald doesn't, either." Goofy muttered, scratching his chin, "Still wonderin' how I forgot all about her."

"But from what I wrote down, I know for a fact that something as a new power couldn't possibly break the bond you two had with one another." Jiminy summed up.

"And she is still like that, right now." Yui finished, getting next to them, "She is really kind. I could see that from the moment we first met. And she even has friends by her side, so that shows she wouldn't fight solo because she is strong."

Sora could tell these words were honest and true. No way Philia would just leave them because he didn't have the power of Soul Burst. The questions as to why she left and why they forgot still rung in his mind, but that meant PHox's words about her were false.

PHox huffed, looking a bit disappointed, before grinning as he said, "Great. Even the great creator of SAO would interfere. Well, I knew it wasn't gonna be easy to change you guys. Still, it doesn't excuse the fact that she left you and made you forget, nor the fact it did happen around the time she did gain the power to use souls."

Sora glared at PHox, before readying his Keyblade again, arguing, "At least we know you are a big liar, trying to deceive us! And we won't listen to anything you say!" Everyone else, including Link, Impa, and Agitha, all prepared to fight PHox, ignorant to his words.

"As much fun as it would be to fight you all, I'm gonna have to decline." The Laughing Coffin leader replied, turning around, "But it is kinda funny. 'We won't listen to anything you say.' Too bad you learned that lesson too late." He created a corridor of darkness, and disappeared, along with the barrier of darkness, returning the group back into the middle of the campsite.

"Oooh…" Agitha looked frustrated, "That man was really cruel! I wanted to set the entirety of my insect kingdom on him!"

"Unfortunately, that would to very little." Impa warned her, placing her giant scimitar back in its sheath, "We were spared by him. Even after our battle with Ganondorf, I can tell that man is equal, if not stronger than the great evil." She looked to Sora, stating, "You have some powerful enemies."

"Yeah…" Sora answered, looking back at her. His last words did concern him, wondering what they meant. Link came next to Sora and patted his shoulder, causing him to look at the green-tunic warrior. Seeing his concerned face, Sora realized he was worrying all of his comrades, and shook his head, straightening himself out, before smiling and nodding in assurance.

"Still, I am worried…" Yui muttered, "Was PHox really here to find Philia? Or was he really after you, Sora?"

"I'm more worried about him finding Philia again." Sora retorted, "For some reason, I get the feeling that he's more dangerous to her than anyone else. Maybe… it has to do with why I don't remember Philia?"

"I bet he's the real reason why we don't remember her in the first place." Goofy assumed. The four outworlders paused to think about that hypothesis.

"Well, we won't know unless we ask her." Jiminy answered, "Maybe we will the next time around."

"Okay," Sora answered, understanding what needed to be done.

"Despite the sudden attack, we managed to come out of it alive." Impa told Sora, walking past him, "Regardless, we should focus on the main objective. Once we are able to rest and recover, then we must continue our preparations for the battle against Cia."

"Understood, ma'am." Sora and Goofy answered simultaneously, as Link nodded in agreement.

"Yui, Sir Jiminy, let us tend to the soldiers, and makes sure no one else was attacked." Agitha suggested.

"Okay." Yui answered as Jiminy hopped onto her shoulder, and they went along with her to inspect the troops.

Sora looked back at the spot PHox left, before turning away and going to rest up. Clearly, everything that went down was something he had to think about later.

Valley of Seer

Ganondorf readied himself as Kirito charged in with his Keyblade, before unleashing a Thunder spell. Ganondorf smirked as he raised one of his swords and caught the bolt of lightning, before shooting it straight at Kirito, who got blasted back by it, turning the lightning black. 'He repelled my magic?!' He mentally asked.

Volga immediately passed him as he readied his lance, and thrusted it at Ganondorf, unleashing a flurry of attacks. It did catch him off guard, but he was able to repel with a shockwave before seeing Cia and Lana come in with magic energy ready. He reacted by summoning an orb of darkness, before placing it in front of him. With a single punch, he divided it into three smaller orbs, but powerful enough to blast the three opponents away.

Kirito was able to recover as he charged in again, with Candy at his side. Candy unleashed her Candy Bomb, while Kirito switched to his Rising Legend Keyblade, leaping up to perform a Shotlock. Ganondorf was struck by the bombing, before seeing Kirito above as he shouted, "Shotlock: Judgement Aegis!" He transformed his Keyblade into a large shield, and blocked a beam of light from above, the light scattering about the field, hitting Ganondorf while everyone else backed off.

"You dare?!" The evil king demanded, raising his swords as a magic circle appeared beneath him, summoning a darkness-imbued, boar-like beast's upper half, taking a swipe at Kirito as he blocked with his Keyblade. The attack sent him flying out of the base, crashing into the wall beyond, forming a dust cloud.

"Kirito!" "Kirito, kuru!" Lana and Candy cried out to him, before hearing malicious chuckling from Ganondorf, getting the remaining fighter's attention.

"You think one victory over me before means you can best me a second time?!" He demanded, "I grow stronger than the last, and my power isn't waning from the blade of evil's bane, either. You stand no chance against me. So surrender my Triforce of Power, and I will end your lives as painlessly as I am 'able' to." His emphasis on the word 'able' proved he wasn't good at holding back.

"We will never do that!" Lana barked, standing in front of Cia, "Cia may not care, but I do care for her! And I promised myself I would protect her from you!" Cia glared at Lana, finding her dedication foolish, but a hint of her felt it commendable.

"Kirito's not down for the count, kuru!" Candy stated, "Candy will make sure to keep fighting until Kirito comes back, kuru!"

Ganondorf smirked in amusement, before seeing flames as Volga had suddenly transformed, becoming a red dragon creature. He roared as he charged up a fireball, shooting it straight at the evil king, before doing a spiraling dive bomb straight into the blaze. Everyone shielded their eyes as heat vapors passed by them. When it died down, they saw Volga and Ganondorf with their weapons locked, pushing against each other.

"I do not care for such trivial matters!" Volga scoffed, "All I want to do is defeat you!"

Ganondorf was gritting his teeth, pushing his blades down on Volga's lance, before getting slashed from behind by two blades. A pair of Dark Links appeared, summoned by Cia and her magic staff. "I've come too far to stop now! I will destroy you with everything I have!"

The evil warlock regained himself, let his blades free of Volga's lance, and unleashed a flurry of slashes that sent sharp blades of energy all around him, destroying the Dark Links and knocking Volga back once more. "Come! I welcome a challenge!" Ganondorf answered, sneering with a grin.

As they fought Ganondorf, a green light formed from from the dust cloud. After that, with a swing of his blade, Kirito dissolved the dust cloud, and leapt back onto the ground, his stamina taking a toll from the attack, despite healing his injuries.

"Damn, that was not cool." He grimaced, before seeing the fight far off. He could see the four use all their fighting styles against Ganondorf, who was taking them and dealing back with his raw power and darkness. It looked like he was overwhelming them

'Not good.' He told himself, 'He is definitely stronger than what he was back at the temple. I could use a Soul Burst to take him on, but what one would work?' He ordered his thoughts, before thinking about one thing; Ganondorf did seem pretty prickly with him because he housed the sleeping Soul Pact with Link in the previous world. Maybe if he somehow reawaken it, he could use its power, which is probably a weakness of Ganondorf's.

'Gotta think. We reawaken our past Soul Drives into Soul Bursts by being with the people closest to them.' He recalled, thinking to how he and Asuna activated their Soul Bursts of Snow and Lightning with the said pair there. Sora had his souls turned into a summon thanks to Hinata, Palutena, and Vaan also being there. And back in the Precure world, Happy and the other Smile Precures unleashed a power that connected with Helen's soul inside of Asuna.

"All those instances, there were people familiar with the souls sleeping within us. Asuna's soul was reawaken by reacting to the Smile Precure, who knew her."

He looked to see Cia summoning a multitude of dark orbs from her staff, shooting them at Ganondorf. Lana summoned walls of light with her spellbook, predicting as Ganondorf unleashed a massive orb of darkness that he threw back, causing a blast that shattered the light walls, making the two tumble backwards from the attack, before rising to their feet.

"This might be crazy, but I'll give it a shot." Kirito told himself, running back to the battle. As soon as he got within earshot, he shouted, "Lana! Cia!"

The two young ladies turned to see him arrive, Lana beaming as she said, "You're okay!"

"You managed to survive." Cia stated with a drawling tone, "Aren't you a stubborn one?"

As he got to their side, he started, "Listen, I have a favor to ask. I know this is a long shot, but I bet I can use the power of Link's soul that rests inside of me. But I can't awaken it on my own. I need people who were close to him to help me do that."

"And how does that affect us?" Cia questioned.

"You guys were one person, watching over the timeline, right?" Kirito recalled Lana's tale of who she and Cia were before, "You must've seen the events involving my friends and I during one of those periods, right?"

"Yeah. I do remember the Twilight era, when the Heartless surfaced thanks to Zant and the Ganondorf of then." Lana recalled, before realizing, "Wait, are you telling that the two of us should try and help you?"

"Why would I do anything that would give you more power?" Cia questioned him, "You and I are enemies, and are only working together at this moment to stop Ganondorf. I have no reason to grant you this-."

"Link's power can probably do more damage to him than any of us can right now!" Kirito argued, stopping her, "He's not here, but I am. And listen; I get we are not allies. We just share an enemy we are trying to stop. But I am with Lana, and I don't want to see you get killed before we have our final battle to stop you for good!" Cia was taken aback by his words, seeing how ridiculous it sounded.

"What's more, both of you share a bond with all the Links of different periods. Whether it's Lana's care and respect for the hero, or your desire and lust for him to be yours. You both have seen him, felt something from him. And I bet that if you focus on those feelings you have for Link, then that can turn into power that can help us stop Ganondorf for good! So, let's do it!"

Cia looked baffled at Kirito's words. Was her own desires to have the hero all to herself similar to her goody two-shoes half? She looked to Lana, who looked back at her, before smiling and nodding in assurance. She then heard an explosion, and saw both Candy & Volga knocked back in pain, crashing to the ground. Ganondorf's malice was exuding from him, cackling at how weak the two were. Her Dark Links were unable to do anything either.

She clicked her tongue, before stating, "Seems like I have no choice, if I want to keep the Triforce of Power, don't I?" She looked to Kirito, adding, "You are aware that depending on how this happens, I might try to make you mine, along with the hero."

"I have someone in my life who would stop you from doing that." Kirito argued, noting his own girlfriend.

Cia dismissed this comment, before giving a look that showed she was ready to assist. Lana beamed with happiness, before closing her eyes, thinking of the Twilight era of the hero. Cia closed her own eyes, recalling the same young man. They raised their palms out to Kirito, who closed his eyes, trying to ignite the connection between them and the sleeping soul.

Ganondorf felt something, and looked to the trio in the back, seeing their state. "What is this?" He asked, "Foolish. Do they believe I will stand here and let them try something?" He started to raise a sword to cast lightning, only for it to be knocked aside by a thrown lance. Volga still had enough strength to make a move, gasping as the pain he felt made it difficult to even breath. Ganondorf looked to him, huffing at the pointless attempt. However, what he did was enough.

There was a glowing light as the evil king looked to see both Lana and Cia's palms glow, their hearts bonding with Kirito as he started to feel the soul deep within. He felt a heartbeat, followed by a spark of energy. Finally, the soul, which had laid dormant all this time, had begun to shine, fully awakened again. Kirito snapped his eyes open as he felt the power, and placed his Keyblade in front of him, pointing upwards.

"Soul Burst: Link!" He roared, bursting with energy as the Keyblade summoned the illusion of Link, swishing his blade before sheathing it, before diving back into his Keyblade. He twirled the Keyblade, and stabbed it into the ground, glowing and turning into the Master Sword. He grasped the hilt in both hands, and pulled it out, raising it aloft in his left hand as with another glow, the weapon produced the Hylian Shield in his right. He had the two at the ready, prepared to fight.

"It worked!" Lana cheered, beaming at Cia, who averted her gaze from her light half, but still impressed.

"You gained the power of the hero?!" Ganondorf questioned, "No matter. You cannot gain his true strength."

'He's wrong about that.' Kirito answered mentally, the soul of Link connecting with his heart, making him not talk as much, 'In fact, if what happened to Asuna was true, and I maxed out my bond with this soul back when it was a Soul Drive, then…'

"Soul Armament!" He shouted, his clothing glowing and transforming before their eyes. In an instant, the garments he wore were the very same as the Hero of Hyrule. However, it was not the green tunic he remembered. In fact, it now more represented the Hero of this world, complete with the scarf that wrapped around his neck.

"He looks like Link, even more!" Lana noticed.

"So this is what the spirit of the hero's soul is capable of?" Cia asked, gazing at him, "His presence…it's just like him!"

Kirito charged in with his sword and shield, with Ganondorf shouting, "Come at me, boy!" He charged forward with his twin swords, readying one to strike. Kirito loosened his grip on his shield to summon a boomerang, and tossed it, striking the wrist of Ganondorf's raised weapon, making him falter, giving him the opening for an upward strike, before unleashing a series of slashes followed after.

The evil tyrant regained himself, and tried slashing Kirito with his other weapon, only for Kirito to ready the shield, blocking it. Ganondorf continued to swing his blades, creating another wave of sword slashes around him, and Kirito backed off before the waves were unleashed, using his shield to block the attack.

He skidded to a halt near Candy, who magically pulled out a Hi-Potion, downing it as Kirito summoned a bow and arrow, pulling back the string, and shooting at the tyrant, only for him to slice it with his sword. "Pathetic." He stated.

Kirito kept shooting arrow at rapid fire, which Ganondorf kept snapping and breaking with his blades. What he didn't expect is Kirito to shoot one that had a bomb attached to the tip of it, surprising him as he tried to cut it. The result was it detonating in his face, causing him to flinch from the damage. This gave Kirito enough time to raised his sword high, a gathering up light energy with it, before swinging it, unleashing a spinning, energy slash of light. With his defenses lowered, Ganondorf was completely vulnerable to the attack, and got knocked onto his back.

"Finish him off!" Lana shouted, as Kirito saw his opportunity, running in, taking a leap, gripping the Master Sword in both hands, and dove down onto Ganondorf with the tip aimed at his chest. Ganondorf could only see very briefly before there was a detonation of a dust cloud from the impact. The four viewers of the fight could only watch as the final attack had been hidden behind the cloud.

For a second, nothing moved apart from the dust starting to settle. They then heard a crack, before something breaking, and the dust cloud dissipated as Ganondorf, who miraculously survived, did a midair backflip away from the impact point, and skidded to a halt, grasping his chest with a free hand. He glared at Kirito, who got back up, glaring at his prey, while the larger of the warlocks swords of darkness was on the ground, broken in two.

'He was quick enough to block my diving stab with his sword.' Kirito noted mentally, 'But my attack broke it, causing him to lose one of his blades. Still, the fact he blocked it so quickly proved my point before; he is still too strong for me to defeat cleanly, unlike the version of him we fought before.'

Ganondorf glared harshly at the opponents, all of which looked like they were still raring to go, albeit exhausted from the fight. However, he knew he couldn't win with one sword lost. He barely survived getting impaled, and considered himself lucky. But he wasn't gonna let them earn that satisfaction.

"You are beneath my notice." He lied, "I leave you to wallow in your own insignificance." He dismissed his other sword, and furled his arms as he floated into the air, before disappearing into darkness.

Kirito sighed in relief, as Lana and Candy came to his side. "You did it, kuru!" Candy cheered.

"We managed to fight him off together!" Lana stated, "You really were able to do it, Kirito!" The black swordsman, still with the aura of Link, merely nodded and smiled at the two.

Just then, the three heard Volga roar in pain, and turn to see that he was consumed in a darkness, while Cia had her staff raised to him, unleashing that darkness onto him. The three were startled as Kirito revered back to normal.

"What are you doing?!" Lana demanded.

"You don't need to be here anymore, do you?" Cia asked the three, her expression showing the strain she was dealing with, "Must be time for you to leave."

"What are you doing to Volga?!" Kirito questioned her actions as Volga stopped roaring, and merely stood there, almost unconscious.

"His duties to me have not yet been fulfilled." She replied, "He will be an important piece in our final battle."

"Cia…" Lana muttered, before pleading, "You can just stop, you know. And if you use more magic, you'll…"

"Silence!" The sorceress shut her up, "Just leave! No one can stop me from getting everything I want!" She pointed at Kirito, adding, "And that includes you! You and Link! I will have both embodiments of the hero as my own! And Hyrule will fall!"

Candy and Lana looked dismayed at this, while Kirito figured this was the case. Now that he reawakened Link's soul, there wasn't anything stopping Cia from desiring him. He didn't regret his choice, but he knew that it was because of her that they were able to fend off Ganondorf.

He walked towards Cia, who glared at him, thinking he was gonna do something. However, he merely passed her as he was going back the way they came. He stopped as he replied, "We'll give you a fight, Cia. We will fight not to defeat you…but to save you from yourself. That's what Lana wants." Lana looked at Kirito, before giving a guilty smile, both pleased and dismayed at the unavoidable fight. Candy still looked sad at the fact that the fight was unavoidable.

"Save me from myself, huh?" She echoed, looking back at him, her body creating darkness around herself and Volga, "Too late for that." With that, she disappeared into the darkness, teleporting away.

Lana and Candy came to Kirito's side as he looked back at them. "Sorry, Lana." He apologized, not getting her to change her mind or convince Cia's mind.

The young sorceress shook her head, answering, "No. She's already made her decision. Besides, we did stop Ganondorf. Now, there's no other opponent but her." She paused for a moment, before saying, "Let's gather up all the soldiers and report back to the camp. We should tell them what happened." She walked pass Kirito, going back to the field.

"Lana looks really sad, kuru." Candy muttered.

"I get why." Kirito understood, following her from behind with Candy right by him, "It was our last chance to convince her without conflict. Now, we have to prepare for the battle ahead."

He looked to Lana, thinking about everything that had happened, and a thought occurred to him. A theory that came to mind when she and Cia helped Kirito awaken Link's soul. However, that was a thought for another time.

Palace of Twilight

Linkle & Asuna continued their battle against the Twilight Tyrant, who was no easy foe. It swung its arms, or shot its floating spears, and making jumping stomps that created shockwaves. It kept the two of them on their toes. And with it amplified by Twilight energy, it was more difficult to take down.

"Come on! Just go down, already!" Linkle shouted at it. Asuna was in agreement that the process of taking it down was slow, wondering if the girls were able to stop the other sources of Twilight energy.

As if her prayers were answered at that moment, the aura surrounding the Heartless suddenly dissipated, leaving only a small amount of traces on it. It even began to look physically weakened as a resulted. Asuna could immediately tell what this meant, and smiled as she stated, "Yes! They stopped the energy!"

"Alright!" Linkle cheered, "This should be easy pickings now." She charged in with her crossbows at the ready.

Asuna then notice the Heartless's eye glint as it looked to Linkle coming in. "Wait!" She panicked, "Linkle, it looks like it's gonna do something!"

"It's not as strong as it was before, so I can take it!" She answered, jumping in and unleashing a combo of bolt shots with her weapons. It did damage to it, but she failed to see what it was preparing. The leftover Twilight energy was starting to gather up above it as it raised its hands, gathering it into a giant sphere, much larger than Linkle. She looked up as it gripped it, and threw it down at her. She looked stunned as she didn't see this coming, and had no way to block or avoid it.

Suddenly, Asuna used her Airstepping to dash in, grab Linkle, and channel her magic into a barrier in front of her with her Keyblade. The resulting clash of offense & defense created an explosion.

Inside the throne room, the two combatants were still at it, with Philia & Donald giving Maleficent a hard time, while Midna & Zelda were still dealing with the Dark Midna. Their battles came at a pause when the ground shook from the explosion that came outside of the room.

"What's going on?!" Donald asked.

"Seems like the battle against the Heartless outside is getting more destructive." Philia assumed. This was immediately followed by a sense of Maleficent's next attack, as a ring of green flames appeared around her feet, and she dashed away before a column of flames appeared where she stood. She turned her gaze to Maleficent, who clicked her tongue at the failed attack.

"You are an annoying gnat, you know that?" She asked.

"Same can be said back at you." Philia responded, readying her dagger.

Back on the other side, Asuna and Linkle were aways from the monster, pushed back by the impact of the attack. They separated as Linkle chuckled as she stated, "Thanks. That was a close one." She looked to Asuna, and immediately felt something she didn't expect; fear.

"Are you a god damn idiot?!" Asuna barked at her, the feeling of nearly losing her gave way to her anger at her, "I told you to stop, and you didn't listen! I had to step in and save you before you got yourself blasted out of existence!"

"S-Sorry?" Linkle apologized haphazardly.

"No! You don't get a pass!" Asuna growled, "Listen to me; You think you proclaiming yourself as the hero reborn would make you win any battle? It won't! Heroes aren't born! They grow into them, but only because they listen! Especially to those who have more experience than them! You're not listening, and you almost got killed as a result!"

The words struck Linkle hard. She remembered that Philia and the others said the exact same thing to her before arriving here. She was too full of herself back then to let it sink in. However, after what she had experienced, she was starting to listen.

Asuna turned back to the Twilight Tyrant, who was stomping towards them, her Keyblade at the ready. "Now you just stay right there. I'll take care of the rest." She looked to see from behind the Heartless the return of Hinata, Flair, and Samson, before nodding in understanding, and charging forward.

The Heartless begun creating another ball of energy, which Asuna figured was not from any empowerment, but from gathering from the air itself. She got in with a glowing blade, and pierced right through with a Shooting Star Rapier skill, making sure she got onto its backside before skidding to a halt by Philia's companions.

"Girls, thanks for helping us out." she thanked them.

"Heh! No problem." Samson answered with a chuckle.

"Need a hand here?" Hinata asked her.

"That would be nice." She replied as the Heartless could turn and throw the orb of twilight energy in time, throwing it too the side before stomping in anger, before marching towards them.

Linkle watched as the three girls came at it. It threw down its spears, but Hinata used her Vacuum Palm skills to counteract the attack. The spears got blown off from their intended path, landing on the ground around the kunoichi. The other two girls ran around, heading to the Heartless, Samson using his tendril to push Flair off the ground into the face of the monster, before unleashing rapid stabs from tendrils and rapier, before they took on their moth form, and slammed into it with a bash. The Heartless tried to swing its other arm, but a strike from Asuna onto its leg crippled it to one knee.

"Wow…" Linkle muttered, seeing the three of them go, "They're really working well together. Was Philia working with them that well, too?" Looking back at it, she started to realize that the Heart Sisters were quite well coordinated, and were able to clear paths that allowed her to make it easier to get to the enemy. Now that she thought about it, she really didn't strategize or think like they did. She felt that a hero could solve any problem because they could. Looking at them, she realized they were far more experienced than her, despite not being the chosen hero.

"It's almost down!" Asuna shouted.

"We'll hold it down. You finish it off!" Flair shouted, running to one side as Hinata went to the other side. Samson grabbed its legs, holding it in place, before Hinata ran in from behind, away from its attacks, and used a Thunder Lion Fist attack to electrify it, causing it to lose its balance thanks to the former at its feet, and crashing to the ground.

"Soul Burst: Pyra & Mythra!" Asuna shouted, summoning the souls of the twin Blades, before they dove into her Keyblade, transforming into Pyra's sword. She dashed in, jumping up, before spinning around and diving down onto the back of the Heartless. "Prominence Revolt!" Asuna shouted, slamming down, piercing it with a flaming pillar that finished the job of the Twilight Tyrant, destroying it for good. It evaporated into darkness as the three girls backed off, looking pleased at their accomplishment.

Just then, the door to the throne room next to them opened up, and the four girls looked to see the situation. Midna & Zelda were together, facing the Dark Midna before them, and were exhausted. Meanwhile, Philia & Donald were on par with Maleficent.

The evil fairy saw the four race in, and huffed. "Seems like my time here is up!" She stated, "I have gathered enough darkness here, so I have no other reason to be here."

"I'm not done with you, Maleficent!" Philia barked, "Why did you even come here in the first place?!"

"All in due time, my dear." Maleficent answered, "All you need to know is that we will meet again." She raised her staff high, and within green flames, she disappeared from sight.

"She got away again!" Donald huffed.

"We got other things to worry about, Donald." Philia responded, looking to the Dark Midna, who summoned a cannon right at its two opponents.

"Zelda! Midna! Switch out!" Asuna called out, as she, Hinata, Flair and Samson raced in from behind, with Linkle taking up the rear. The two royals were grateful for the break, and pulled away as they stepped back while Asuna shot through, switching to Mythra's sword, shouting, "Photon Edge!" She unleashed slashes so fast, she appeared to be five different people slashing consecutively.

She warped herself back after her last slash, just as the Dark Midna attacked with the cannon, firing three balls of twilight energy. Asuna used the flat of her weapon to block the attacks, each energy sphere detonating in her face.

Asuna recovered from the strain as she shouted, "Everyone! Let's end this!"

"Yeah!" Everyone answered, apart from Linkle.

Hinata & Flair divided up, the former heading to Philia as Flair went to Dark Midna, who tried to prevent her from getting close by making the ground around her course with twilight energy. "Don't step on that!" Midna shouted, "That will paralyze you!"

"Trying to keep us away?" Samson asked, "HA! You underestimate us!" He stretched out his tendrils, over the floor of paralyzing energy, and grabbed the dark doppleganger's arms. With force from a distance, he tossed it up into the air, dismissing the energy.

"Linkle, shoot her!" Asuna shouted, before jumping up.

"R-Right!" Linkle responded, getting her act together, and aimed her crossbows at the airborne opponent, and firing off consecutive bolts from it.

Asuna jumped into the air, high above the opponent as she pointed with her blade, shouting, "Chroma Dust!" She fired off energy projectiles from the tip, which simultaneously collided with her opponent, alongside Linkle's attack, peppering it.

"Thunder!" Donald shouted, unleashing a bolt of lightning from the sky, striking Dark Midna alongside the two girls.

"I got this!" Midna called out, summoning a wooden bridge with her magic, before slamming it down onto her dark counterpart, hammering it into the ground.

It tried to get back up once the bridge vanished, only to see attacks on both sides aimed at her; Zelda with a bow & arrow of light, and Hinata & Philia summoning a large blue lion head, Philia's dagger within it, turning the head white with a wild mane. Zelda let lose with the bow as the two girls shouted, "Gentle Step: Lion Salvation!" The two thrust the lion head forward, shooting like a beam until it chomped down onto the dark being just as the arrow struck. Their simultaneous attack blinded the scene. From within, the Dark Midna vanished into nothing. It was finally defeated.

With their group attack finished it, the team looked at one another, pleased that all enemies were taken care of. However, the fight seemed far from over. The ground shook as dark energy seemed to be coursing all about the area, blasting every which way.

"I thought we took care of everything!" Donald exclaimed as he braced himself.

"The darkness and the twilight energy are still out of control!" Zelda exclaimed, "Even after defeating the entity, it's still continuing to consume Hyrule!"

"Isn't there a way to stop it?!" Philia asked, looking to Asuna.

"I wish I knew!" She replied.

"Have no fear!" Midna stopped them, seemingly unfazed by the energy, "This is my domain, after all. I can deal with this mess!"

"How?!" Linkle demanded.

Midna looked about, before thinking of something. She pulled out the black and yellow crystal they found just outside the gateway, looking at it. "This crystal…" she muttered. She nodded in understanding as she continued, "It's power should be enough to absorb the darkness and contain it. However, I must smash it in order for it to work."

"Wait, but that crystal is what helped you turn back to normal!" Asuna remembered, "What'll happen to you once you break it?"

"I suppose… I'll go back to my cursed little self again." She replied, closing her eyes, "Still, this is hardly a time to be selfish. I am the princess of the Twilight Realm. I must do this for my people, for Zelda, AND for Hyrule!"

Everyone watched in amazement as with her powers, she raised it high, unleashing its power at its breaking point. It started to crack, one part at a time, until so many formed. In an instant, there was a bright light, and they heard the crystal shatter apart, its pieces scattered to the floor. The energy within then begun to have a vacuum effect, as it started to pull in the dark twilight energy, sucking into the endless void within. This continued on for what felt like forever. However, after a while, the corrupt darkness was fully contained. the light void vanished as soon as it was all over, and everything was quiet.

Everyone was blinded by the moment. However, when they looked at the spot, all they could see was Midna, now reverted to her imp-like form once more, floating in midair. She looked at her hands, acknowledging the cost of her actions, before sighing sadly.

"Oh, Midna…" Zelda muttered, feeling bad for her.

"I'm…sorry." Asuna apologized.

Midna didn't respond for a moment. However, she regained her cheeky grin as she answered, "Eh. It had to be done. No use stewing over it. Besides, now you don't have to worry about your hubby getting entranced by my beauty when we get back."

Asuna looked a bit baffled. She didn't think she would call back to what she said when she first transformed. She then made a chuckle to this comment, figuring it was her breaking the ice on such a sacrifice. "Yeah… fair point." She admitted.

Donald and the Heart Sisters all looked at them with relief that emotions didn't get negative, though Philia did hear Linkle speak up. "She sacrificed her form… and she didn't even hesitate." Her eyes shined in amazement as everyone gathered around Midna, whispering, "A hero…"

Philia looked to the others, before walking to Linkle, getting her attention. "You really helped us out, Linkle. Thanks." She thanked her.

Linkle looked to her, surprised at being thanked. She then placed her crossbows back onto her holsters on her legs, answering, "It was no problem. Just another problem solved by a hero." She tried to force out a laugh, but couldn't keep it up for even five seconds, before looking a bit saddened as she admitted, "Actually, I almost got killed. Asuna saved my life, then chastised me with the same stuff you said."

"Oh?" Philia responded, looking to Asuna, before looking back at her, "Did you get angry at her, like you did with me and my friends?"

"O-Of course not!" Linkle answered, "She saved my life, and…" She withheld her words for a moment, looking away from Philia. The Keydagger user looked confused at why she withheld what she was gonna say.

Finally, Linkle looked back at her, trying to put on a brave face, putting her hands on her hips, declaring, "I guess there are trials and tribulations that a hero must go through in order to be prepared to save Hyrule. My grandmother even said that the chosen heroes of the past must overcome such ordeals to face the evil."

Philia sighed at the Hylian girl's attitude. She could already see that she was trying not to feel lesser than the role she made herself out to be.

The treasure huntress decides to follow up her defense with, "Well, you know how a chosen hero is able to overcome such trials? By listening to those who know better than them. You think I was born as a skilled treasure hunter? I had to learn a lot through trial and error, and from people and friends I made along the way." She mentally added that she didn't remember all those moments and people, since they were in her lost memories, but were embedded into her natural ways.

"The point I am saying is that you're still learning and growing." She continued, "Develop yourself through the lessons taught from people around you. Let those lessons and people be in your heart. And I guarantee you'll become the chosen hero you are destined to be."

"So… you're saying I can be a far better hero by being trained and taught by others?" Linkle summed up, "That doesn't sound too hard. I mean, I already am learning from this battle. And…" She looked to Midna, adding, "…I learned what it means to selflessly fight for your world."

Midna felt the gaze, and looked to the two girls, as did the others. Suddenly, a glow came from Linkle's pocket, and she dug into it, pulling out her golden compass. "Hey, look! It's glowing again!" She noticed.

"Maybe it's resonating with your heart." Philia assumed, getting her attention, "I have wondered why it glows whenever we achieve a great accomplishment on our journey, and I think it's due to how you achieve a heroic feat. This time, I'm sure that achievement is humbling yourself and learning to grow."

"You think so?" Linkle asked, to which Philia nodded in response.

Zelda approached the two, stating, "I cannot thank you for your assistance in this matter. Can I ask for your names?"

"I beg your pardon." Philia apologized, realizing she was royalty, and bowed to her, "I'm Philia. My friends, Flair, Samson, Hinata, Tinker Bell, and I are treasure hunters, along with just traveling protectors."

Linkle looked confident as she stated, "I'm Linkle! I'm the chosen hero who will protect Hyrule…well, I will be."

"I…see." Zelda responded, a little confused. She looked to Philia, then to the others, who all gave their expressions and sighs that said 'just go with it'.

"We should probably head back to the main forces." Midna suggested, "Now that my kingdom is safe and sound, we should inform everyone about the situation."

"Agreed." Zelda seconded, looking to Philia and Linkle, "Again, we thank you for your assistance. We should be on our way."

"Hold on!" Linkle intervened, "I was actually on my way to Hyrule Castle to help fight against the monsters! But since you are here, your majesty, that must mean there's an even greater evil to deal with, yeah?"

"In that case, count us in." Philia spoke up, indicating herself and the Heart Sisters, "If Asuna and Donald are here, then I think we might have the same goal in mind."

"I would be glad to have more reliable allies." Zelda agreed, looking to the owner of names Philia spoke of, "Do you have any objections?"

"None at all!" Donald answered, looking pleased.

"I honestly wanted to talk to her more." Asuna added, "Plus, we can join up with Sora and Kirito's groups back at the base."

"Then it's settled." Zelda stated, walking out of the throne room, with the group of heroes right behind her. The soldiers all gathered together to reunite with Zelda, standing in attention. She waved a hand to them, calling out, "Our mission was a success! The source of darkness has been liberated!" The soldiers cheered in victory.

"I cannot thank you men for all that you have done." The princess continued, "But now, we must return and regain our strength once more. Then, we must stop the final evil that is consuming our land. We will defeat Cia!" The soldiers cheered in response to this, with those right behind the princess watching this take place.

"She is quite the commander." Asuna stated, "Brings back memories of us like preparing to take on a floor boss."

Philia looked to Asuna, thinking on her words. In the back of her head, the term 'Floor Boss' felt oddly familiar with her. It then occurred to her what that possibly meant, and asked, "I take it that's a 'Sword Art Online' thing, right?"

"Oh, yeah. You were a Player back then, weren't you?" Asuna reminded herself, also remembering that Philia didn't have a lot of memories of that time, either. She saw the army and their companions leave, and added, "Well, why don't I talk about some things that were pretty common back in Aincrad, and see if that doesn't trigger anything in your memories?"

"Sure. Can't hurt to try." Philia answered, as they brought up the rear, going back the way they came, going back to the campsite.

With three battles accomplished, and hearts prepared to go, the final battle was about to take place. It was all or nothing. Winner controlled the outcome.

Next Time on Sword Art Kingdom III:

Cia's Fate! Letting Obsession Go!