Kingdom Hearts: Key to Her Heart re:Verse II

by The Blue Time Ranger

For keyblade wielders, the adventure is never truly over. Nick and his friends must once again take up their keyblades to save the worlds from a new threat, the Nobodies, and their leaders, the enigmatic Organization XIII, who seek the great power of Kingdom Hearts to fulfill their ambitions. "As a song I really love once told me... the adventure only ends when another begins."

1. Summer Vacation

[REDACTED]'s Secret Report.

I have made a grave mistake.

My study of the "darkness of the heart" began with a simple psychological test and quickly snowballed.

Spurred on by my youngest apprentice, I constructed a massive laboratory in the basement of my castle.

Unbeknownst to me, my apprentices then began collecting a large number of subjects on which to perform dangerous experiments into the "darkness of the heart".

As soon as I found out, I called my apprentices together and ordered them not only to cease their studies, but to destroy the results of their research thus far.

What on earth was happening within the hearts of my six beloved apprentices?

While pursuing the mystery of the darkness of the heart, could they themselves have strayed into its depths?

Yet I remain the most foolish of all, for having begun these experiments.

We are not meant to interfere in the depths of another's heart, no matter what our reasons for doing so...

And my error plunged me into despair.

A visitor from another world soothed my dejected soul.

A young king named Clow came wielding a legendary key — the infamous "keyblade", said to bring both chaos and prosperity to the world.

He was very knowledgeable on many topics, and we deepened our friendship as we conversed companionably.

Upon his advice, I decided to review the data obtained at my basement lab.

That is when I discovered the "[REDACTED] Reports".

Though they bore my name, the only one I had written was number 0.

Apparently he had gone on to pen numbers 1 through 8 himself.

Yes... the first subject in my foolish experiments.

---

You made it. I was beginning to think you wouldn't show. ...I've been to see him. The resemblance is uncanny.

...who are you?

I'm what's left. Or... maybe I'm all there ever was.

I meant your name.

My name is of no importance.

...you would say that.

Now, then... are your memories coming back? You have to wake up.

...wake up? What do you mean?

"Yeah, Ellen! Drive those suckers to their knees!"

"Hello, may I ask your name?"

"Listen, we have a problem on our hands."

"This world has been connected. Tied... to the darkness."

"We'll find the Emperor and this boy with the keyblade."

"...you won't forget about me, will you?"

"You understand nothing."

"Would you believe me if I said that all of this started... with a phone?"

Lillie jumped out of her slumber as she had recently, no thanks to her antique wailer of an alarm clock blaring as it always did every morning. Honestly, she wondered why she hadn't replaced that thing yet.

Lillie was about fifteen years old, with green eyes and platinum-blonde hair tied into a ponytail with a braid.

After shaking the last bits of sleepiness from her mind, she reflected on the last words she'd heard before her dream had ended.

"You have to wake up."

"Yeah, well, if you wanted me to wake up so badly..." Lillie groaned, still readjusting to the waking world. After a few seconds, she opened her bedroom window and glanced outside towards Alola Town, the bustling city she'd spent pretty much her entire life in.

One look at the clock by her bedside table, and Lillie quickly jumped to her feet, realizing that Mallow was most likely going to chew her out for being late (again) if she didn't hustle.

---

A couple hours later, at The Usual Place (the area where Lillie and her friends would always hang out, away from the prying eyes of... certain people), Lillie and her friends were animatedly discussing what had been happening in recent days. Lillie was now properly dressed, wearing a white sailor-like shirt with a blue ribbon and a very short white miniskirt with a light blue line, and a pink backpack with a white ribbon and white penny loafers with white ankle socks.

"Man, doesn't that just grate your cheese?" Mallow asked. Mallow was about Lillie's age, a slender and slightly tall girl with tan skin, long green hair kept in two tree-shaped twintails, and light green eyes. She also had a fake pink flower in her hair, which was held in place with green vine-like straps. Mallow was wearing a pink tank top, light gray overalls with spiky white frills, a white clover-shaped mark on the waist, and a hand-made pouch above the bust, and green and white shoes with small dark green bows.

"Yeah, that's really just so many different kinds of wrong," Lana quipped. Lana was slightly younger than Lillie, a short and slender young girl with fair skin, blue eyes, and short blue hair with a yellow string headband resembling a fishing net. She was wearing a short blue cape behind her back, a sleeveless white sailor shirt on top of a dark blue swimsuit with a blue fish decal in the middle of the chest, and long blue pants with a yellow string near the waist and blue Hawaiian wave patterns on the bottoms, as well as dark-colored rubber sandals that were clearly too big for her.

"No kidding. Bede's gone way too far this time," Selene admitted. Selene was slightly older than Lillie, a young woman sporting black hair with side-swept bangs aligned to the left and slate-gray eyes. She was wearing a red flower-like toque on top of her head, a loose light cream colored t-shirt with light pink and gold flower patterns spread across it with the shirt tied at the bottom and a white tank top underneath it, along with short teal shorts and red-and-black shoes with large yellow laces.

Mallow jumped off of her seat and started pacing around the room. "I mean, it's obvious that stuff is being stolen around the town," Mallow quipped. "And the four of us have a score to settle with that cocky jerk Bede and everything. So, if he wants to think we're behind that, I guess I can't really blame him."

"I'm sensing a 'but'," Lillie chuckled.

"Here's what really bugs me, though," Mallow proclaimed. "Now Bede's going around town and telling everyone that we're the thieves, and now the whole town and their mothers are treating us like a bunch of kleptos!"

Mallow turned around to stare intently at Lillie, Lana, and Selene. "Have you all ever been this cheesed off in your life?!" Mallow asked. "Because I definitely haven't! ...but what do we do?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Lillie sighed, used to Mallow going on tangents like this. "We find the real thieves. That'd set the record straight."

"But what about Bede?!" Mallow gasped indignantly.

"Look, we gotta clear our names first," Lillie answered. "Once we do that, then everyone will get off our backs about it."

"Oh, jeez, they're gone!" Lana shouted, catching everyone's attention. She was currently holding up her camera. "Our ... are gone!"

Unsure of why that caused her to stutter, Lana looked back at her camera.

"Wait, all of our ... are gone?" Mallow gasped.

"You can't say ... why not?" Selene asked.

"You do understand what I'm trying to say, though, right?!" Lana proclaimed. "They're gone!"

"Stolen... and not just the ..." Lillie quipped. "The word. They stole it, too!"

"What the heck kinda thief is that?" Mallow wondered. "I don't know if that's something Bede could have done..."

Mallow turned towards the exit. "All right, time for some recon," Mallow proclaimed as all four girls exited The Usual Place to begin their search for answers.

"Their hearts have connected. Doubtless he'll awaken very soon."

---

Once the group reached the Tram Common area, Mallow immediately put on her "leader face", the expression she used when leading the group through their activities (even if their actual leader was Lillie).

"All right-y then, let's get this investigation underway," Lana stated. "Go on, Lillie, talk to the guy."

"Sure, it's always me," Lillie quipped before stepping closer to the guy helming the local Weapons Shop. (It didn't sell actual weapons, just Struggle weapons. There was the big tournament coming up soon.)

"Hey, Lillie," the guy stated. "I never thought you, of all people, would do something so rotten..."

"Hey, we didn't actually steal anything, okay?" Lillie retorted.

"I really want to believe you, but who else would steal that stuff?" the guy answered.

"Wait, what stuff?" Selene asked.

"Don't tell me you don't know," the guy sighed. "Go ask the lady at the accessory shop if you want to know."

So they did just that, crossing the street to talk to the lady helming the Accessory Shop.

"Hey, it's you, Lillie," the lady stated. "Please don't let me down, okay? You used to be one of my favorite customers."

"Do I seriously look like a thief to everyone now?!" Lillie sputtered. "...it's no fun having everyone suspecting me, you know."

"Then you've gotta find a way to clear your names," the lady answered.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lillie noticed someone on the other side of the street mumbling the words "My ... my precious ..."

"Did you all hear that?" Lillie quipped.

"Yeah, it looks like the culprit's going around stealing ...," Mallow stated, still unable to say the word. "And not just ..., but the word, too."

"Man, this isn't your average petty thief," Lana sighed.

"I'm starting to wonder if Bede would know something about this," Selene asked.

"Then we'd better go and talk to him," Lillie proclaimed. "Come on, then, let's make for the sandlot!"

---

Once they'd arrived at the Sandlot, they saw exactly what they'd expected to see. Bede was chatting with Gary and Silver, with Acerola just standing off to the side until she noticed Lillie's group, pointing at them to get Bede's attention.

"Thieves," Silver stated, once again using short and to-the-point statements.

"That was really low, you know that?" Gary exclaimed.

"What'd you say?!" Mallow growled, ready to pick a fight if she had to.

"Oh, nice comeback there, tree hugger," Bede chuckled. Lillie's group absolutely could not stand Bede and his haughty, holier-than-thou attitude, none more so than Mallow, who was visibly fuming after that comment. "You can give us back the ... now."

"Yeah, you're the only ones who would take it," Gary countered.

"See? Undeniable proof that you have no possible defense," Bede quipped. "So what'd you do? Burn it? Shred it? Not that we really need some stupid ... to prove that you're all losers."

"Replay," Silver stated, which got Bede laughing.

"Oh, now we're talking!" Bede cackled as all four members of his group got ready to fight. "You know what? I'm in a generous mood today. If you get on your knees and beg, then maybe I'll let it slide."

While Mallow, Lana, and Selene all glared at Bede indignantly, Lillie noticed the three different Struggle weapons lying on the ground between the two groups.

One was simple in design, with a straight golden handle that curved to a ninety degree angle at the pommel, and a thick blue "blade" extending from the guard, which was similar in width to the blade itself.

The second one had a "blade" similar to that of the sword, but the handle was thinner with a wide, moon-shaped hand guard that wrapped from the hilt around the hand.

The third one had a long handle, tipped with a blue star that served as its striking surface.

Lillie took a few seconds to think before rushing forward to grab the Hammer, the one with the moon-shaped hand guard, noting that she felt a little calmer after grabbing it.

"Okay, so you've chosen to do it the hard way," Bede quipped, picking up the Sword, the first Struggle weapon. "Not that I mind, really."

"Focus, Lillie!" Lana shouted. "You've got this!"

Lillie nodded, just waiting for Bede to make the first move.

"Kneel, loser," Bede taunted, lunging forward with an overhead cut that the much more nimble Lillie easily dodged before moving in to retaliate, whacking Bede with an upward swing to the left, then a one-handed upward swing to the right before finishing with a jumping blow.

Bede stumbled slightly before recovering and jumping forward to stab at Lillie, but she raised her Struggle Hammer to parry the blow, which stumbled Bede again. This left Lillie to jump into the air and hit Bede with two upward swings to the left before finishing with a clockwise spin that sent Bede crashing to the ground, dropping his Struggle Sword in the process.

Of course, Gary and Silver were instantly in front of Bede, wanting to save face in front of their "boss".

"Hey, hey, Bede's not feeling too hot right now!" Gary stated.

"Tournament decides," Silver stated.

Unable to resist such a glorious opportunity, Lana took out her camera to take a snapshot of the moment, only for something strange to come slithering through the air and snatch the camera before fleeing in a very bizarre way towards the alley that led back to the Tram Common.

"What the heck was that?" Mallow wondered. "Wait, was that the thief?!"

"I'm on it!" Lillie shouted, gripping her Struggle Hammer tightly as she followed the strange creature through the Tram Common. Eventually, Lillie found herself in the woods just outside the city, the creature dancing around the trees as if it wanted Lillie to follow it.

Lillie decided to humor it, following the creature through the woods until it stopped in front of an old mansion that had been abandoned long after Alola Town had been rebuilt following that devastating flood from ten years ago.

Now that the creature had decided to stop fleeing, Lillie could finally get a good look at it. It had a thin, sinuous body that looked like it was capable of dumbfounding feats of flexibility, a large, cylindrical head with a flat top that is emblazoned with a strange symbol, its body seemingly covered in a light grey jumpsuit. It appeared fairly muscular, though its arms and legs were very thin. The sides of its body were lined by a black line, which pulsed weakly with light, its feet and hands were pointed and lack digits, and its hands each sported two black bands around them.

"Okay, if that isn't the weirdest thing I've seen since that conspiracy nut started drawing pictures of 'Ultra Beasts' on every wall in the city," Lillie quipped.

We have come for you.

Before Lillie could get her bearings after hearing that, the creature's "mouth", which was actually a zipper, undid itself to reveal its actual, grey, sharp-toothed mouth underneath.

"Okay, how about hell to the no?!" Lillie quipped as she charged the Dusk and swung her Struggle Hammer at it, only for none of her blows to actually connect, seemingly phasing right through the Dusk's body.

Lillie took a step back to dodge the Dusk's flailing arms, wondering how she was going to stop this thing if she couldn't even touch it.

Just then, rings of what appeared to be computer data began to surround Lillie's Struggle Hammer before eventually transforming it into a completely different weapon. It was now a sword-like weapon resembling a classic skeleton key approximately three and a half feet long, with a long silver keychain extending from the hilt and a hollow five-pointed star token on the end of the keychain. The blade and teeth of the were silver, the rainguard was blue, its handleguard was bright gold, and the weapon's teeth formed the outline of a crown.

"Wh-what the heck?" Lillie gasped, pointing the new weapon for the Dusk, which seemed to just stand there, as if intimidated by this weapon.

Lillie decided to take advantage of this, running in to attack the Dusk again, with her swings actually connecting this time.

After finishing her aerial combo, the Dusk exploded into sparkles of silver light, dropping what appeared to be snapshots from Lana's camera, no doubt what had been stolen by the thief.

The key-shaped weapon disappeared in another flash of data, leaving Lillie to pick up the snapshots and wonder what the heck had just happened.

---

Back at The Usual Place, Lillie was showing everyone the snapshots she'd found after defeating the Dusk.

"Hey, is that...?" Mallow asked.

"Yeah," Lillie replied. "I was the weapon shop guy's first customer after he took over from his dad, so we took a picture together to commemorate the occasion."

"Aw, that's a nice photo," Selene giggled, only to gasp in surprise when she realized she'd just said the word they thought they couldn't say.

"Hey, you just said 'photo'!" Lana gasped.

"So, Lillie, what was the deal with the picture thief?" Mallow asked.

Unsure of what to say, considering how weird that encounter had been, Lillie just shook her head. "Not much to say," Lillie admitted. "When I caught up to that thing, the pictures were just lying there. Maybe the thief vamoosed?"

"Well, then how in the heck do we prove that we weren't the ones who took them?" Mallow retorted.

"Hey, is it me, or do all of the stolen pictures have Lillie in them?" Lana quipped. Sure enough, each of the four photos (Lillie with the Weapons Shop owner, Lillie expertly dodging a swing from Gary, Lillie trying to pluck an upside-down Mallow out of the sand at the beach, and the four friends posing together in front of the gates to the Old Mansion) all featured Lillie prominently.

"Oh, so that's why everyone thought we took them," Selene stated.

"So Bede didn't actually accuse us after all?" Mallow groaned. "That sucks. I really wanted to pin his head to this after what he did to us last time."

"Wouldn't that be weird if the thief wanted to steal the real Lillie or something?" Lana wondered.

"Would you get serious, Lana?" Mallow chuckled. "Who'd want to steal an airhead like Lillie?"

"Oh, thanks!" Lillie gasped indignantly, to which everyone, even Lillie, started laughing.

---

Somewhere in a lone hospital room, a young woman walked up to the person in a black coat sitting at the main computer console.

This woman was a young girl with long platinum hair and golden eyes, wearing a blue dress, and stylish matching headband with white butterfly ornaments and yellow roses.

"Master I..." the woman asked before catching herself. She'd promised to not call her master by his actual name until he felt like he'd... "Master DiZ, what's the matter?"

"Organization miscreants..." DiZ sighed. "They've found us."

"But... why would the Nobodies steal photographs?" Lavenza wondered.

"Both are nothing but data to them," DiZ admitted. "Those fools could never tell the difference."

DiZ looked back at his 'patient'. "We are running out of time," the black coat figure proclaimed. "She must make haste."

---

"W-wait, what happened?! Where's my home? Where'd Marie go?! She was right there with me when we..."

"I really wish I could give you a hug, Nick. You sound like you need one right now."

"They'll keep coming at you out of nowhere. And they will keep coming after you, so long as you wield the keyblade."

"Hey, did you wanna come us? We have a really cool ship that can take us to other worlds."

"The name's Maylin Rae."

"My name is Haruka Rose."

"And I'm Nick Kelly."

"From now on, we're in this together!"

"But it does seem like the boy's going to be a real problem. After all, he found one of the keyholes, and he may find more."

Lillie's eyes blipped open as they had the other day, still vaguely remembering some images from her dreams of late.

The word that stuck out in her mind was 'keyblade', and she wondered if it had something to do with the weapon she'd used to defeat the Dusk yesterday.

"Key... blade?" Lille wondered as she hopped out of bed to get ready for the day.

As Lillie walked to the Usual Spot, she noticed a random stick lying there on the ground. Out of curiosity, she picked it up and started swinging it in different motions, imagining she was swinging the keyblade she'd used yesterday.

"...okay, that was weird," Lillie admitted as she tossed the stick away, not noticing that it had hit someone wearing a black cloak that covered themselves completely.

Before Lillie could apologize for that, the figure simply walked down the steps to the Sandlot.

Unsure what to make of that, Lillie decided to worry about it later and head off to the Usual Spot, where Mallow, Lana and Selene were already enjoying sea-salt ice cream, a local delicacy that was extremely popular in Alola Town.

Mallow grinned cheekily as she handed a bar to Lillie. "Hey, I wasn't gonna forget you, silly," Mallow chuckled.

"Do you girls think... we'll always be together like this?" Lana wondered.

"Where the heck did that come from?" Mallow wondered.

"Oh, you know, just thinking out loud," Lana admitted.

"I thought that was my shtick," Selene giggled.

"Well, I doubt we can stick together forever," Mallow quipped. "But that's what growing up is all about, right? What's actually important isn't how often we see each other, but how often we think about each other."

"What, did ya get that from a fortune cookie?" Lana teased.

"H-Hey! I thought long and hard about that line, don't you dare diss it!" Mallow exclaimed. "...man, this day's already turning into a real drag, isn't it?"

"Probably because of the whole 'memory thief' thing from yesterday," Selene noted.

"No, no, I know what it is," Mallow quipped. "We just don't want summer vacation to end, that's all it is. So, how about we all go to the beach?"

"And why the beach specifically?" Lillie wondered.

"Because we haven't gone once this entire vacation, and here in freakin' Alola Town, that's just blasphemy!" Mallow proclaimed. "The blue seas, the blue skies, they're all calling our names, so let's just get on the train and go already!"

Even though the rest of the group stood up in response, they didn't say anything, which got Mallow concerned.

"For real, ladies?" Mallow gasped.

"Um, maybe you forgot, Mallow, but there's the teeny problem of we have no money," Lillie retorted.

"Maybe you forgot that I'm the smarty-pants around here," Mallow replied before dashing out of the Usual Spot.

"Here she goes with another hare-brained scheme," Selene sighed.

"Let's go stop her before she gets into trouble again," Lillie quipped as the rest of the group ran off in pursuit of Mallow.

It thankfully didn't take too long to find Mallow, who was standing in the middle of Market Street, specifically in the Station Heights area, staring at a poster on the nearby wall advertising the upcoming Struggle tournament.

"Welp, just two days until the show begins," Mallow stated before turning to Lillie. "Lillie, you and I have to make the finals. That way, no matter who wins, all four of us can split the prize!"

"All right, you're on," Lillie responded, raising her hand to seal the promise with a double fist-bump.

"Okay, now that that's been settled, let's get down to business, shall we?" Mallow proclaimed. "So, one ticket to the beach is 900 munny, so how much is that for each of us?"

"That'd be 3600," Selene answered.

"And add 600 for each of us to spend there," Mallow added. "That's a total of what?"

"2400, so add them up, and it's a total of 6000 munny," Selene responded.

"Wait, to spend on what, exactly?" Lillie asked.

"Pretzels, of course! What else is there?" Mallow quipped.

"You know there's watermelon, right?" Lillie replied. "That new fruit stall opened up there recently, and..."

"Nah, too pricey," Mallow countered. "They're, what, 2000 munny a piece."

"...okay, pretzels it is, then," Lillie conceded.

"All right, then, what do we have?" Selene asked. The four girls all compared the munny they had on hand. "Looks like we still need about 2000 munny for this to work."

"Well, then, let's find some odd jobs and earn some extra bread!" Mallow proclaimed. "The train leaves at 6 o'clock, so that gives us about eight or so hours to earn 500 munny each! Let's meet up at the station, with cash in hand!"

Once again, Mallow ran off to start earning her share.

"Didn't she say she had it covered?" Lana asked. "Typical Mallow."

"Honestly, those pretzels are sounding pretty good right now," Lillie admitted. "So I'm willing to play her game, just this once."

The remaining three girls all split up to accomplish their own tasks.

Somewhere in Station Heights, Lillie had found a young woman looking for someone to "put on a show" for the crowd, and she decided to give it a shot, figuring this was perfect for her. Of the four of them, Lillie was easily the most athletic, so this was right up her alley.

The job was pretty simple, as there was a large beach ball, and the objective was to keep it in the air for as long as possible by whatever means possible. Lillie took to it like a duck to water, striking the ball with graceful jumping attacks and even tricking the crowd at one point by making them think she was going to let the ball hit the ground, only to uppercut it right back into the air to keep the combo going.

By the time Lillie had let the ball hit the ground, at least fifteen minutes had passed, and the crowd was enthusiastically applauding, indicating they really loved her performance.

After that, during her odd job travels, Lillie noticed something in the train yard of the Tram Common section of Market Street and decided to investigate. When she got there, she noticed a tram worker being harassed by swarms of bees.

"Ah, bees," Lillie quipped. "Summer's worst enemy."

Since she didn't want the tram worker to go home full of bee stings, Lillie moved in to resolve that, bringing out her Struggle Hammer and swinging at the bee swarms until they all dispersed.

When she felt like she'd had her fill of odd jobs, Lillie decided to stroll around Alola Town for a while until the time Mallow had told them to meet up, at which time she beat feet for the Station Plaza.

"Is everyone all present and accounted for?" Mallow asked once all four girls made it to the Station Plaza.

"Looks like it," Lana replied. "What've we got?"

The four girls compared what they'd earned since this morning to what they already had on hand so they could add it all together.

"Nice work, ladies," Selene quipped. "Adding this to what we started with, we now have a grand total of..."

Selene reached behind her to show off the new munny pouch she'd made over the summer. "...ta-dah! A whopping 7000 munny! Come on, let's get the tickets already!"

Selene handed the pouch off to Lillie so that Selene and Lana could run into the nearby Sunset Station.

"You know, I meant it when I said we probably can't be together forever," Mallow admitted, sounding surprisingly serious for how chipper she usually was. "So, we'd better make the time we do have something to remember."

"Hey, that's the promise we made, remember?" Lillie chuckled. "And you, of all the people I've known in my life, should know that I never break a promise."

Lillie and Mallow smiled at each other before fist-bumping and dashing off to catch up with Lana and Selene.

Suddenly, Lillie felt someone tripping her, causing her to fall to the ground, only to be yanked back up by her arm by the figure in the black coat from earlier.

The figure kneeled down to whisper something to Lillie.

"Hey, Lillie, three minutes to train time!" Mallow called out.

Lillie jumped up to reprimand the figure, only to see they were gone. Wondering what the heck that was all about, Lillie ran to catch up with Mallow and the others.

But when they got into the station, Lillie realized something very important was missing.

The munny pouch.

Lillie immediately spun on her heel and dashed back outside to search for the figure in the black coat.

"What's wrong, Lillie?" Lana wondered.

"The munny pouch is gone!" Lillie exclaimed. "That weirdo in the black coat must have taken it when he tripped me earlier!"

Almost as if fate had been listening, the bell on the top of the station tower started ringing, and an automated voice came over the P.A. system to proclaim that the train was leaving.

"Wait, black coat?" Selene gasped. "You think it was those 'Ultra Beast' conspiracy nutjobs from last month?"

"Yeah, they always wore some kind of black coat when they started their ramblings," Mallow noted. "I wouldn't be surprised if they started pick-pocketing to fund their insanity..."

As the four girls discussed what they were going to do next, Lillie could only recount the four words that the figure in the black coat had whispered to her.

"Can you feel Nick?"

---

In the hospital room, Lavenza causally juggled the munny pouch she'd taken from there, while her master continued to monitor the progress of their "occupant" through the multiple monitors.

"Master, please forgive me for being so presumptuous, but... is it really that hard to make a beach?" Lavenza wondered.

"It would be giving the enemy yet another entry point," DiZ replied.

"And this?" Lavenza asked, eyeing the munny pouch.

"We could always buy some sea-salt ice cream," DiZ chuckled.

"You and your ice cream, master," Lavenza giggled.

"In any case, objects from that town must be kept out of the real world," DiZ proclaimed. "You can go ahead and delete that."

---

"As the key bearer, you must already know that one must not meddle

in the affairs of other worlds."

"Don't you worry about a thing, 'kay, Eri? How about I show you something cool?"

"I'm searching for something, too."

"If it's your own light, don't lose sight of it."

"Or, you know, do you think you're too cool for games now that you have a keyblade?"

"You know, instead of worrying so much about me, you should be more worried... about her."

"I was just thinking about something you said. And, if I'm being honest, Prushka? I feel a connection with you, too."

If Lillie had woken up just a couple moments earlier, she would have noticed two young women standing in her room, right by her bed.

When Lillie did realize something was amiss, though, the two women had vanished, leaving Lillie slightly stumped.

Just another confusing thought to the already confusing dreams she had been having lately.

---

When Lillie made it to the Usual Spot, nobody was there, but she did see a letter addressed to her lying on the couch that Mallow always sat on, so she knew it was from Mallow.

Hey, Lillie, let's meet up at the station, 'kay? Today's the day we're hittin' the beach, and don't sweat the munny situation, all right? ~ Mallow

"This girl, I swear..." Lillie chuckled as she headed out towards Station Heights. On the way there, she saw Lana and Selene walking up the road.

Lillie waved to them, but for some odd reason, they stopped completely in their tracks, not moving a muscle as if time had frozen completely for everyone but her.

Before she could move to investigate, though, Lillie was suddenly stopped by two young women. They appeared to be twin sisters, both with platinum blonde hair and yellow eyes, wearing blue prison guard outfits and an eyepatch over one of their eyes. The left girl had her hair in a long braid and wore a hat with the letters "O-Y-O-O" and the right girl had her hair in buns and wore a hat with the letters "X-M-R-N". They also wore brassards on their left arms and had matching black ties.

"Hello there, Lillie," Justine giggled.

"Okay, I have several questions," Lillie quipped.

"We wanted to meet you at least once," Justine stated.

"Me? Really?" Lillie gasped.

"Yeah, you," Caroline teased. "Count yourself lucky."

With that said, Caroline and Justine walked away, past Lana and Selene, and when they were out of sight, time seemed to unfreeze.

"Well, in case you're wondering, Selene dragged me along for a shopping excursion," Lana chuckled.

"Did you wanna come with us?" Selene asked.

"Um... did you two... did you see those..." Lillie asked, glancing in the direction that Caroline and Justine had gone.

"She's stalling again," Lana quipped.

"Suit yourself, Lillie," Selene stated. "We'll see you later, 'kay?"

As :Lana and Selene left, Lillie wondered what that was all about. Did she go to that haunted mansion? Lillie thought as she decided to follow the two girls towards the mansion.

But when she entered the forest that lead to the mansion, she only caught a glimpse of the two girls before an eerie dark cloud materialized in front of her and three Dusks popped out of it.

"You things again?!" Lillie shouted, turning around to run away since she knew she probably wouldn't get anywhere without that keyblade she'd used the other day.

Lillie booked it as fast as she could, deciding to cut through the Sandlot in hopes of shaking the Dusks.

"Hey, chicken wuss."

"Bede, I swear to Tapu Koko, this is really not the time for your shenanigans!" Lillie exclaimed just as the Dusks flew through the air into the Sandlot. "See what I mean?!"

"Who's that?" Silver wondered.

"No clue, but they've already crossed a line," Bede growled. "Find a weapon!"

Seeing the Struggle Hammer from yesterday, Lillie jumped to grab it before facing down the lone Dusk, as the other Dusks were facing off with Bede and his group.

Sadly, just like two days ago, the Struggle Hammer had no effect on the Dusk, leaving Lillie in a tight spot.

"Oh, this can't be any sort of good," Lillie groaned.

"Quick, Lillie! Use the keyblade!"

Lillie glanced upwards towards the source of that voice and saw both Caroline and Justine staring down at her from a rooftop nearby. Just then, the Dusk floated into the air and rushed forward to attack Lillie. She covered her face with her hands in hopes of some kind of defense...

...and when she opened her eyes again, she was elsewhere.

Looking around in confusion, Lillie found herself in a seemingly endless void of darkness, standing on a stained-glass platform decorated with the image of a boy she didn't know (but found strangely familiar for some reason), his eyes closed and holding a strange key-shaped weapon much like the keyblade she'd used, and the circles on the outer border of the platform were all different, symbols representing something in the boy's life.

Just when she thought things couldn't get any more confusing, three columns of light shined down on the platform, and strange weapons appeared in each one.

One was a short sword with a blue handle and a golden pommel, with a small curved heart decorating the jewel on the hilt.

The second was a long staff with a tan handle, a green disk at the top, and a tip shaped like that same curved heart.

The third was a pentagonal shield with rounded corners, a red border, a mostly black face save for the prominent curved heart on the center, and a yellow outline.

Wondering if she had to choose one of these for whatever reason, Lillie walked up to the weapons to check them out.

The power of the warrior. A sword whose strength is courage, the will to stand against anything.

The power of the mystic. A staff whose strength is spirit, power the eye cannot see.

The power of the guardian. A shield whose strength is kindness, the desire to help one's friends.

After a few more seconds to think it over, Lillie reached out to take the shield. When she took it into her hands, all three weapons vanished into thin air, and the Kingdom Key appeared in her hands in a flash of light.

Before Lillie could process this new development, three Dusks appeared and started slithering towards the platform. Lillie brought the Kingdom Key into a fighting stance and dispatched the three Dusks much like she had the other day, though she did have to get a little footsy considering there were three Dusks now instead of just one.

When all three Dusks had been eliminated, a large, burgundy-red door appeared at the edge of this platform.

Be careful. Beyond this door lies a completely different world. But you needn't be afraid. Keep walking forward.

Deciding to humor the voice for now, Lillie opened the door and found herself in a similar area, only this one consisted of three similar pillars all connected by floating stained-glass stairs, with another large door at the very top of this area. She noticed a few Dusks guarding the second platform, but she figured they'd be easy pickings by now.

With that in mind, Lillie crossed the platforms, occasionally stopping to take out the Dusks along the way, but eventually stopped in front of the large door.

Something was telling her that she wouldn't like what was waiting for her beyond that door, but she also realized that she most likely wasn't leaving this place unless she took care of whatever that was.

Steeling her nerves, Lillie stepped forward and opened the door, coming out on the other side to one last pillar platform much like the others.

However, when she entered, the door vanished into light and she noticed another figure in a black coat standing at the center of the platform. Before Lillie could get her bearings, though, the figure ducked down and shed its coat, becoming something much more monstrous in the process.

It was a gargantuan creature clad in a white bodysuit, if the zipper lining its front was any indication. Its rounded head had an odd symbol where its face should have been, it had short but thick legs with spikes on its hips and long, pointed feet. Its shoulders each sported a gigantic, diamond-shaped spike and its arms were very long, and it also had four long, blue tentacles sprouting from its back with tips resembling the spikes on the sigil that wrapped around its neck.

Lillie quickly realized that she was probably outmatched against an opponent of this size and decided to book it, only to skid to a stop at the edge of the platform, realizing she had nowhere to run.

As the Twilight Thorn bared down at her, Lillie summoned the Kingdom Key in response, quickly accepting that the only way out was through this thing.

Before Lillie could search for a suitable spot to start attacking the Twilight Thorn, it wiggled its head and wrapped Lillie in a blanket of dim light that snared her body in chains of light and lifted her high into the air. The Twilight Thorn stepped closer and stared at Lillie with its vapid, non-existent face before rearing its fight fist back to start punching Lillie.

Thankfully, Lillie was able to just barely dodge over the punch and slash the Kingdom Key at the Twilight Thorn's head, driving it back. Not deterred, the Twilight Thorn slithered back to the platform and reached out to grab Lillie with both of its hands before tossing her into the air. As Lillie began to fall spinning back towards the platform, the Twilight Thorn brought its hands back to attempt to spike Lillie into the platform, but Lillie finally broke free of the chains, did a step vault off of the Twilight Thorn's hands, and struck its head again, sending it slithering off of the platform.

After a few seconds of just running around waiting for something to happen, the platform started shaking and dipping over. Lillie just caught a glimpse of the Twilight Thorn using its whole body to tip the platform over before she lost her balance and fell off towards another platform in the distance.

The Twilight Thorn generated a massive ball of energy in its hands and prepared to throw it at Lillie, but in a moment of realization, she threw Kingdom Key into the sphere, causing it to explode on the Twilight Thorn and sending it crashing ungainly into the platform. Lillie didn't land with much more grace, even wondering how the heck she'd survived such a long fall and only bounced on the ground, but she chalked that up to being in some kind of dream sequence.

Lillie picked herself up, pulled Kingdom Key out of the floor and started going to town on the Twilight Thorn's head, wailing on it as much as she could before it picked itself back up and started attacking again, shooting thorn-like beams of energy from its face towards Lillie.

Making absolutely sure to dodge each beam, Lillie moved closer to the Twilight Thorn, waiting for her opportunity to start attacking again. Occasionally, it would sweep its left arm across the platform, which Lillie made sure to jump over.

Every now and then, Lillie managed to land on the hand during such a jump, which allowed her to jump off of it and get enough height to strike the Twilight Thorn's head a few times before she fell back to the platform.

After a bit of this, the Twilight Thorn stretched itself out in a bizarre way, forming a sort of halo with itself as it limbs pierced the platform and more of those thorny beams started flying Lillie's way. As she dodged through the rapid onslaught of beams, Lillie noticed that the Twilight Thorn had left its head exposed, so she moved to strike it again, finally finishing the job with a flying overhead jump slash that caused the Twilight Thorn to rear back and start clutching its head in agony.

That was when Lillie realized that the damn thing was about to fall on top of her, but the Kingdom Key had vanished once the final blow had been dealt, so she couldn't do much but yell as the Twilight Thorn collapsed onto the platform, enveloping it in an oppressive shroud of darkness.

Just when Lillie thought she was going to be swallowed by the darkness, two hands reached out and grabbed her wrists, unleashing a great burst of light that drove the darkness away.

When Lillie could see again (while noting that this was beginning to become a pattern), she found herself in a small area resembling a prison cell.

"Okay, was not expecting to be arrested after that..." Lillie quipped.

Suddenly, the two girls she'd seen earlier today appeared on the other side of the cell door.

"Okay, my questions are coming back," Lillie stated. "Am I entitled to any answers in here?"

The two girls simply nodded.

"My name is Justine, and this is my sister Caroline," Justine proclaimed. "Welcome to the Velvet Room."

"This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter," Caroline proclaimed. "At least, it normally does. We're in a recreation of our usual digs."

"It was necessary," Justine responded. "Lillie, I would like to ask you to wake up."

"Wake up?" Lillie repeated. "Trust me, if I could, I would. I thought defeating that thing was the key to waking up..."

Before Caroline or Justine could answer that, however, another figure in a black coat appeared through a corridor of darkness behind them.

"Caroline, Justine, say no more," the figure proclaimed, her voice sounding similar to Caroline and Justine but softer and more refined.

"But, if we don't tell her what's going on, she'll..." Caroline gasped.

"It's best she doesn't know the truth when she might not be ready," the figure replied.

"Hey, wait, you're the jerk who stole Selene's munny pouch, aren't you?!" Lillie shouted.

The figure simply raised her hand and materialized a dark portal behind Lillie before pushing her into it.

---

"Hey, Bede, strike a pose!"

"How's this?"

"Perfect!"

"How 'bout one more?"

Lillie shook her head, still incredibly confused about what had just happened, until she looked over and saw Bede and his gang mockingly using Lana's camera to take photos. (Acerola was just standing off to the side like always. Why a shy and sweet girl like Acerola hung out with these chodes, Lillie would never know.)

"Hey, you wanna explain just what you're doing with that?" Lillie growled, jumping to her feet.

"Keepsake," Silver stated.

"Those freak shows in the white jumpsuits turned tail and ran," Gary laughed. "Bede showed 'em who's boss!"

"...what exactly were those things?" Lillie wondered.

"Outsiders, obviously," Bede chuckled. "And if they don't start wising up to the rules around here, I might have to start taking 'disciplinary measures'."

"Well, yeah, Bede's always looking after our town, you know," Gary quipped.

"It sure doesn't seem like it," Lillie retorted.

"THERE YOU ARE!"

Lillie spun around just in time to see Mallow, Lana and Selene entering the Sandlot, Mallow in particular shooting an absolutely furious glare Bede's way.

"You're gonna pay for taking Lana's camera, you nut-face!" Mallow shouted as she charged after Bede, who was already retreating with his posse in tow.

"Hey, chicken-wuss, don't cluck out of the tournament tomorrow!" Bede exclaimed.

"Oh, I'll be there," Lillie challenged. "You'll be eating that designer toupee before too long!"

Bede couldn't muster up a response due to being chased by Mallow, and simply stuck his tongue out before disappearing from sight. Acerola simply smiled and waved before leaving the Sandlot herself.

Lillie just chuckled and decided to return to the Usual Spot, knowing Mallow would exhaust herself eventually.

She decided to keep all of that stuff she'd just been through to herself, at least for now. Who'd believe her, anyway?

---

In the hospital room, DiZ was staring in shock at the computer monitors over what he'd just seen, while Lavenza was still calm.

"That Caroline and Justine... were they made of data, master?" Lavenza asked.

"No, they hijacked the data themselves," DiZ groaned. "Look at what they've done now. They're totally beyond my control!"

DiZ pounded the nearby desk with his fist, his anger obvious.

"Calm down, master," Lavenza stated. "Anger is unbecoming of you."

"In the end, it doesn't matter, really," DiZ proclaimed. "As long as they accomplish their goal, we needn't worry about what befalls Lillie."

Master... you've changed, Lavenza thought. Of course, she didn't dare say that out loud, especially right in front of him.

---

"No vessel, no help from the Heartless, no nothing. So, you wanna tell me just how you got here?"

"Then, I guess it's up to me. After all, only the true keyblade master can open the secret door and change the world."

"YOU GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY FRIEND!"

"But there's no way I'm going to betray Nick, either. You wanna know why?"

"All for one and one for all, right?"

"I don't need a weapon. My friends are my power!"

"So, your heart won this battle, huh?"

"Kuon Ichinose. Once again, your desires have been twisted, and once again, I will be the one to take them back. I swear, I will make you see the light!"

"But I have a very hard time believing that chick's your girlfriend. I mean, what a bitch, am I right?"

"It is I, Yaldabaoth, the Seeker of Darkness."

"Open the final door, and lead me into everlasting darkness!"

"You can forget it. I don't care who you are, I'm not letting you take Marie's heart!"

"Hey, we may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."

"That's right. No matter where we are, our hearts will find a way to bring us together again."

"I made this lucky charm in art class the day before all of this. I wanted to give it to you."

"And don't ever forget. Wherever you go... I'm always with you."

Realizing that this was becoming a pattern by this point, Lillie woke up staring out her window, some of the images she'd seen in her dreams reverberating in her mind.

"Right... we made a promise," Lillie stated, not knowing why those words came to mind. She casually swung her hand like she was still wielding the keyblade before scratching her head. "Man, what a mess..."

Lillie took another look outside and gasped loudly when she remembered what today was. She got herself showered and dressed in record time, before saying a super-swift goodbye to her mom and dad before bolting out of her house and into town, towards the Sandlot.

Thankfully, it appeared that Lillie had arrived with time to spare, even though the massive crowd around the tournament stage was starting to get restless.

Well, not that I can blame them when Alola Town's this tropical, especially near the end of summer, Lillie thought.

"Well, who are you gonna root for?" Lana asked.

"Both of them, ya goof," Selene giggled.

As Lillie practiced her swings with her Struggle Hammer (occasionally imagining that she was once again swinging that keyblade), fireworks went off in the sky, signifying that it was time for the main event that everyone had been waiting for.

The tournament committee's producer, Alola Town High School's Professor Kukui, stepped up to the center of the stage.

"All right, then, let's get this thing started," Kukui proclaimed. "Ladies and gentlemen, Struggle fiends of Alola Town, the Eternal Summer, it's time for that summer's most sizzling clash! That's right, everyone, today's the day for the big Struggle tournament and title match! Who will be the one to break through the ranks and have ago at our defending champion Guzma, and who will leave this venue as our new Struggle Champion?"

The crowd started cheering when Guzma, the current Struggle champion, entered the venue, though there were also cheers for other competitors as well.

"It looks like the crowd's really fired up, and that means you know what comes next," Kukui proclaimed. "Let's..."

"STRUGGLE!" the crowd shouted all at once as more fireworks were set off.

"Man, they're really going all out this time," Selene quipped.

"Well, to be fair, this is the 50th anniversary of the Struggle," Lillie answered. "Of course they'd made it a big event. No one here in Alola Town knows the meaning of 'subtle' anymore, methinks."

"Okay, it's time to introduce today's combatants, the four bad boys and girls who Struggled their way through the preliminaries!" the tournament announcer, Professor Kukui's wife Professor Burnet, proclaimed. Burnet gestured to each competitor in turn as she introduced them.

"Regular Struggle finalist and head of the Alola Town Disciplinary Committee, Bede!" Bede looked naturally smug as he propped his Struggle Club on his shoulders.

"A completely out of nowhere fighter, who knew she'd make it so far this time? Acerola!" Acerola simply stood there smiling.

"Underground favorite and local attitude problem, Mallow! It's her first time in the finals!" Mallow waved to the crowd around her, but especially to Lillie, Lana, and Selene.

"And the final Struggler, who happens to be one of my absolute favorite students, Lillie!" Lillie simply waved to the crowd, trying to look humble.

"So, everyone, who will be the winner of this sweltering summer Struggle?" Burnet proclaimed, animatedly waving her arms as she talked. "Who among these four will take home the grand prize, the summa cum laude of Struggle, the Four Crystal Trophy?! As well as a chance to take on our defending champion, Guzma?!"

Guzma simply laughed and held up his championship belt to show off to the crowd.

"It's almost time for the main event, folks, so I would suggest our challengers review the official Struggle rules before we get this party started," Burnet proclaimed.

Lillie smiled, knowing that this was just something Professor Burnet did, even though everyone in Alola Town knew how to Struggle. It was quite simple, actually: you would attack an opponent to take away their orbs, but lose orbs if you were attacked, and the Struggler with the most orbs after three minutes would be declared the winner.

Some people decided to be aggressive and get as many orbs as they could, and some preferred to be evasive, taking an orb lead and staying away from their opponent until time ran out.

Much to Lana and Selene's surprise, Mallow and Lillie were the first to be called to the stage, indicating that they would be paired against each other for the first match of the finals.

"Hey, um... sorry about the other day and the whole munny pouch thing," Lillie admitted. "I still feel really bad about that."

"Wait, you're still worried about that?" Mallow teased. "You gotta learn how to let things go, Lillie. Beside, Selene will probably just make another one before summer vacation's over."

"Knowing her, she probably would," Lillie giggled. "Well, shall we?"

"Yes, we shall," Mallow proclaimed as she and Lillie readied their Struggle weapons for battle.

"Today's first semifinal match is between my favorite student Lillie and her best friend Mallow!" Burnet proclaimed. "On my count, ladies! Three... two... one... STRUGGLE!"

Almost immediately after the start signal, Mallow was on the attack, swinging her Struggle Club in wide, sweeping strikes.

Lillie couldn't help but smirk as she went on the defensive, blocking Mallow's strikes easily. This girl still favored all-out offense.

During a lull in one of Mallow's attacks, Lillie slipped behind her and whacked Mallow in the back, causing her to drop some orbs.

Not one to admit defeat just yet, Mallow quickly recovered and decided to change up her tactics, waiting for Lillie to get close before twirling her Struggle Club around in a sweeping spin attack.

However, Lillie raised her Struggle Hammer to parry the blow, leaving Mallow wide open to a jumping chop from Lillie.

This melee continued until near the end of the time limit, where Mallow decided to go for the finishing blow by striking Lillie as hard as she could.

Instead, Lillie slashed her Struggle Hammer across Mallow's side, causing her to fall to her knees and drop more orbs just as the time limit expired.

"And that's all she wrote, folks! Lillie is our winner!" Burnet exclaimed, raising Lillie's hand into the air. "Not even the best of friendship will slow this firecracker down. And hey, Mallow put up a wonderful fight, too!"

"Ugh, I can't believe I lost," Mallow groaned as he jumped back to her feet. "I guess that means I trained you well, huh, Lillie?"

"That fight was a lot of fun, you know," Lillie answered.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't so much fun for me, wise guy," Mallow teased as she walked off the stage, only for Bede to pass by her.

"Out of the way, greenie," Bede taunted.

"What, you in a rush to lose?" Mallow retorted.

Acerola walked onto the stage as well, clutching her Struggle Club in her hand.

But that look in her eyes, like she wasn't even really there... it really unnerved Lillie.

"Don't mess with your elders, little missy," Bede proclaimed.

"Wow, look at those sparks flying," Burnet quipped. "Seems like Bede wasn't expecting having to fight one of his own. Anyways, without further ado, let's get this underway! Three... two... one... STRUGGLE!"

Almost instantly, Acerola had flung herself at Bede, swinging her Struggle Club in extremely fast spinning strikes that kept Bede on his toes.

"Whoa, I didn't know Acerola could fight like that," Mallow quipped.

"She must have some serious skill to make it this far," Lana noted.

Acerola continued to hammer away at Bede until he managed to block one of her strikes and swing his own club, knocking Acerola backwards and making her drop some orbs.

"You're mine!" Bede shouted, making a break for the orb.

All of a sudden, Acerola lunged forward, far faster than anyone expected her to, and struck with a massive cross chop attack that sent Bede flying back and made him drop most of his orbs.

That seemed to be enough for the officials.

"Wow, I'm not sure how that happened, but it looks like, in a positively blistering comeback, Acerola is our winner!"

Lillie stared on in surprise, wondering how Acerola had done that.

"That's not her."

Bede walked by Lillie, not even looking her way as Gary and Silver followed him out of the Sandlot. "Thrash her one."

After a few minutes for the competitors to rest up, both Lillie and Acerola made their way to the stage for the final match.

"Well, this is it, everybody, the match you've all been waiting for!" Burnet proclaimed. "The Summer Struggle's final match is Lillie vs. Acerola! Let's see who will come out on top! Three... two... one... STRUGGLE!"

Just like before, Acerola was immediately on Lillie, swinging her Struggle Club with speed and ferocity that belied her tiny frame, leaving Lillie scrambling to avoid the fierce attacks.

Eventually, Lillie realized something had to give and moved in to strike, noting that Acerola stopped for a second or two after each string of strikes, taking advantage to catch Acerola off guard and knock some orbs out of her.

In retaliation, Acerola jumped back before swinging her club upwards, the club magically enlarging as she did so.

"Holy crapbaskets!" Lillie shouted, just barely managing to parry the attack and duck to the side to avoid Acerola's follow-up.

Near the end of the match, Acerola leaped back before jumping and spinning through the air towards Lillie, her club expanding to ridiculous size as she did.

Realizing she'd be in big trouble if she let that hit her, Lillie raised her Struggle Hammer in a defensive stance...

...only for the world around her to stop completely.

"Just like before," Lillie noted, looking around for the source of the time freeze, only to see Acerola walk up to her, give a wide but creepy smile...

...and transform into a Dusk in a flash of light.

"W-what the hell, again?!" Lillie shouted as four more Dusks appeared to surround her. And of course, much like before, her Struggle Hammer transformed into the Kingdom Key.

"...again," Lillie quipped before raising the Kingdom Key and running forward to attack the Dusks. Thankfully, they hadn't seemed to learn any new moves, which made it easy for Lillie to dispatch them.

Once the Dusks were gone, however, time was still frozen around her. Just before she could think of a way to fix this, Lillie heard soft applause coming from behind her. She turned around and noticed another figure in a black coat clapping their hands.

Lillie realized, though, that this wasn't the same one who had taken the munny pouch the other day.

But why do I know that, though? Lille thought.

"Nice job, Lillie," the figure proclaimed. "You really live up to your reputation."

Lillie just stared in confusion.

"You really don't remember me?" the figure quipped. "Especially after last time, too."

The figure lowered the hood of her cloak to reveal a young woman with neck-length, fiery red hair and bright red eyes. A bright green, crucifix-shaped crystal attached to her chest could be seen through her coat by its glow, and what little of her body showed outside the cloak had green lines of light running across her skin.

"It's me, Pyra."

Lillie's expression didn't change in the slightest at this new information.

"Yikes, talk about blank with a capital B," Pyra sighed. "Even the Dusks aren't going to crack this one."

Pyra raised her hand and summoned a large, jagged red blade to her hands in a burst of what appeared to be flames.

"W-wait just a second, what the heck is going on here?" Lillie asked.

"This town is his creation, right?" Pyra answered. "And that means we sadly don't have time for an interview. You're coming with me, conscious or not, and then you'll hear the story."

Pyra brandished her Aegis Sword and prepared to attack, only for a strange ghostly presence to start swirling around the tournament stage.

"Oh, wonderful," Pyra groaned.

"What is going on?!" Lillie shouted, tossing the Kingdom Key to the ground, only for it to near-instantly reappear in her hands in a flash of light.

"Daughter of destiny," Pyra stated. "The keyblade's chosen one."

After a second to think it over, Lillie stared threateningly at Pyra.

"All right, then fine," Lillie proclaimed, bringing the Kingdom Key into a fighting stance. "You asked for it!"

"Yeah, that's more like it," Pyra giggled as she rushed Lillie, swinging her sword in slanted strikes that Lillie barely managed to parry.

After a few more swings, Pyra glided behind Lillie and spun her sword in a sidewinder attack, but Lillie twirled around to block the attack with Kingdom Key.

"Mallow taught me that one," Lillie chuckled before going on the offense, striking Pyra four times and ending with a flying downward chop that sent her skidding backwards.

"You won't forget this!" Pyra shouted, her sword surrounded by flames as she started flinging it forward in spinning attacks, the blade returning to her hands before each throw, before eventually finishing with a Prominence Revolt, jumping into the air before coming back down and planting her sword into the ground, creating a pillar of fire around her.

Holy crap, I'm shocked that didn't roast me alive, Lillie thought.

"Did you get it memorized yet?" Pyra taunted as she ran towards Lillie, only for Lillie to retaliate with the side-slash she'd used to defeat Mallow in the Struggle, causing Pyra to drop to her knees briefly.

"Not bad, Lillie," Pyra laughed. "Now you're getting into it, just like last time."

"Will you start making some sense before I slap it out of you?!" Lillie taunted as she and Pyra clashed blades once again.

Before they could reach each other, however, that same ghostly presence returned, and a column of computer data appeared in the center of the stage, revealing someone wearing a very complicated-looking red robe and red bandages to cover their face.

"Oh, so it was you," Pyra quipped, throwing her sword towards DiZ, though it bounced right off and did nothing to him.

"Lillie, this woman speaks nonsense," DiZ proclaimed.

"You know, I don't have time for you," Pyra retorted. "So do me a favor and get lost."

Pyra charged up her sword and dashed forward to strike at DiZ, though when the attack hit, there was a flash of light, and both DiZ and Pyra had disappeared, as did Lillie's keyblade.

Time seemed to start flowing normally again, just in time for Lillie to dodge away from Acerola's jumping attack and hit her with the side-slash finisher again.

"Yeah, I taught her that!" Mallow shouted.

No, you didn't, Lillie thought.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's all she wrote!" Burnet exclaimed. "Lillie is our new top Struggler! But how will she fare against the defending champion?!"

Guzma swaggered his way onto the stage amid the cheers of his fans, and Lillie couldn't help but smirk, despite being very inwardly confused about what was going on lately.

Who was that Pyra lady, and how did she know her?

And what was that crack about being a "daughter of destiny"?

"All right, you two play fair now," Kukui quipped, handing both Lillie and Guzma their Struggle weapons. "Remember, you're both at the top of the bracket."

"There's only room for one up here, ya know," Guzma responded. "And that would be me."

"Well, may the best Struggler win," Kukui chuckled as he walked off stage to let Lillie and Guzma have their battle.

"Hey, Lick, was it?" Guzma laughed. "How about you just throw the match for me? You obviously can't win."

"What was that?" Lillie retorted.

"Let me win, and I'll make it worth your while," Guzma quipped.

"Oh, get real," Lillie growled, glaring at Guzma.

"Well, this is it for reals, everybody!" Burnet proclaimed. "The true final showdown! Lillie, our underdog hero, versus Guzma, our defending champion! This match's winner will be the true champion! That's bragging rights for a whole year!"

Guzma aimed his Struggle weapon for Lillie. "Hey, whatever you think is right, you're totally wrong, and that's a big mistake, little chickadee," Guzma proclaimed. "Wanna see what destruction looks like? Then here it is in human form, it's your boy Guzma!"

Not wasting a single second, Guzma lunged forward to attack Lillie, obviously expecting her to still listen to him and throw the match.

So, naturally, he was very surprised when Lillie parried the stab and whacked him across the shoulder. Lillie didn't relent, ducking down and swinging her Struggle Hammer to sweep Guzma off of his feet.

Guzma picked himself back up and stabbed forward three times, but Lillie was already sick of Bede doing that, so she easily weaved to the right and clocked Guzma over the head with an overhead swing.

It didn't take long for Lillie to take down Guzma, as it seemed like he was pretty out of practice for a defending champion.

As Mallow, Lana and Selene joined Lillie on the stage, Burnet walked up and presented Lillie with the championship belt. Feeling at least a little smug, Lillie proudly held up the belt as the crowd started chanting her name.

---

Later that day, the four girls were at their usual hangout spot at the station, on the top of the clock tower, Lillie holding the Four Crystal Trophy she'd fought so hard to attain.

Lillie plucked each of the four crystals from the trophy and handed the red, green, and yellow crystals to Mallow, Lana and Selene, respectively, claiming the blue crystal for herself.

The four girls each held their respective crystals towards the setting sun, the sunlight reflecting through the crystals and making them sparkle brilliantly.

"Well, just like I promised," Lillie chuckled.

"Thanks bunches, Lillie!" Lana giggled.

"One more treasure for all of us to share," Mallow quipped.

"Oh, speaking of presents," Selene stated, reaching behind her back to pull out four bars of sea-salt ice cream.

Lillie squealed in happiness and went to retrieve her bar, only to lose her balance, slip over the ledge, and start falling towards the ground.

---

She continued to search through this realm of data and code, unencumbered by the landscape around her.

After all, this was her element. Where she thrived.

Following any trail she found interesting, hoping it would lead her closer to him, she continued her travels.

Eventually, she noticed a curious glimmer in the distance. Was that him?

...no, no it wasn't.

...not entirely, anyway.

Wondering how that feeling could feel so alien yet so familiar at the same time, she flew towards it to investigate.

---

As Lillie continued to fall, the world seeming to move in extreme slow-motion around her, she heard a voice in her head.

Excuse me, who are you? the voice in her head asked.

What... what's happening to me? Lillie thought. Who are you?

I am Sophia, humanity's companion.

'Sophia'? I don't know why, but... I know you. You're one of his friends.

You could say that, hehe. I owe him a lot.

I've been seeing him in my dreams a lot lately. Do you know who he is?

Silence for a few seconds, then a new voice cut in.

You seriously don't remember my name? Oof, that hurts, Lillie. Okay, I guess I can give you a hint. Starts with an "N"!

---

And just like that, the presence was gone. Sophia wondered who exactly Lillie was, if she'd been seeing visions of him in her dreams.

Did that mean she was that much closer to finding him?

Unsure of the progress she'd made, but hoping to keep hope in her heart regardless, Sophia moved on to continue her search.

And she couldn't afford to give up now. Not when he needed her more than ever.

How could she call herself humanity's companion otherwise?

---

In the hospital room, DiZ continued to stare at the monitors, watching Sophia weave through that world in search of her target.

"Her progress is astounding," DiZ stated. "I would not have thought her capable of entering 'that town', but I guess I was mistaken."

"What exactly happened in there, master?" Lavenza asked, juggling a small, blue crystal in her hand.

"Caroline and Justine must have left a trail for her to follow," DiZ proclaimed. "The instant Sophia sensed a vulnerability, she took advantage and entered. That might have affected our patient."

"Sophia is quite the wonder," Lavenza admitted.

"She is not like any other artificial intelligence I have ever seen," DiZ admitted. "Her experiences have allowed her to truly grow her own heart."

"Yes, especially given that she has a physical form now," Lavenza stated. "I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Strength of the heart... enough to make the virtual manifest into physical form..."

Inwardly, Lavenza wondered if that was what DiZ was trying to do. Finding a way to manifest something that wasn't real into something that was...

She cursed Yaldabaoth in her mind.

---

Somewhere in a mysterious, circular white room, Pyra appeared through a corridor of darkness, as did twelve other figures wearing hooded black cloaks.

"You have been to see her?" number 1 asked.

"It's just as we thought," Pyra, number 8, admitted. "She doesn't remember anything in there."

"Well, obviously," number 11 quipped, casually waving her magic paintbrush and drawing the shape of a yellow rose with it. "If that town was his creation..."

"What should we do about this?" number 2 asked. "If we don't stop her before she finds them, our plans may be in jeopardy."

"Don't worry," number 1 proclaimed. "I have many plans in place. He will be fine. After all, he is needed for our plans."

"He who can even defy what has been ordained," number 4 stated. "That may be very useful."

"Of course it is," number 5 quipped. "After all, isn't that what we're all striving for, a chance to change our fates?"

"Indeed," number 1 chuckled.

---

Lillie shook her head a few times to clear the cobwebs out as she woke up, having once again had a strange dream about that boy she'd seen in her 'Dive to the Heart' (she once again had no idea why those words came to her).

Lillie looked out the window, towards the Alola Town skyline.

"I was just dreaming, that's all," Lillie stated to herself. "But... which parts were the dream?"

Deciding to put it on hold for at least a little longer, Lillie got dressed and made her way to the Usual Spot, only to find a rather interesting sight.

Lana was staring as sternly as she could look at both Mallow and Selene. She tried her best to look cross about something, even if Lillie thought it just made her look adorable instead.

"We only have three days left of summer vacation," Mallow proclaimed in protest. "And if you mention that assignment, I'm just gonna ralph up my ice cream!"

"But we all agreed we'd get it done today," Lana retorted.

"Um, you guys..." Lillie asked. "Did I... did I actually fall off the station tower yesterday?"

"Um, you wouldn't be here right now if you did, you doof," Mallow chuckled.

"Oh, thanks," Lillie groaned.

"Hey, stop trying to change the subject!" Lana stated.

Mallow could see there would be no possible victory for her in this fight, so she just sighed and threw up her arms in defeat.

"Fine, fine, we'll do the stupid independent study assignment!" Mallow exclaimed. "Does anyone here have a bright idea for a topic?"

"You know, maybe we could study the strange things that are happening to me," Lillie offered. "You know, the dreams, and the weird white contortionist thieves..."

"Forget it," Mallow quipped. "No one'd probably believe you anyway, or worse, they'll probably think you're one of those 'Ultra Beast' cultists."

"But you gotta admit, things have been pretty weird around this place ever since those photos were stolen," Selene admitted.

"So, we're all going to search the town and figure out just what the heck is going on," Lana stated. "Lots of people are gonna helping out, too."

"Really? All that for little ol' me?" Lillie gasped, her expression brightening considerably. "All right, I'll go get us some ice cream!"

Lillie ran towards the ice cream shop, unaware of Caroline and Justine watching her from the roof of a nearby building.

When she'd returned, the four girls all grouped up to discuss what they were going to investigate for their report.

"Okay, so, there's this weird rumor going around the town," Lana explained. "You know those ancient stone steps over at Sunset Station? We use them all the time without even really thinking about it, but, and this is the weird part, they count different going up and down."

"Really?" Selene gasped.

"And I've heard six other stories like that lately," Lana responded. "It's like... The Seven Wonders of Alola Town."

"Hey, that'd be something for the project!" Mallow proclaimed. "Lana, you're a genius!"

"Naturally," Lana giggled. "And there might be other rumors flying around, too, so let's split up and do some recon."

With that, Mallow and Selene headed for Market Street, while Lillie and Lana moved towards Central Station.

"Well, Lillie, this is it," Lana proclaimed. "Our hunt for the Seven Wonders of Alola Town begins now."

"We couldn't find anything interesting enough on Market Street," Selene admitted as she and Mallow arrived.

"You two aren't gonna scoop us, got it?" Mallow taunted. "We're coming to the terrace with you."

"Mallow, it's not a race, you know," Lana sighed.

"Well, it is now!" Mallow laughed.

"Come on, we can all go and not have to bicker 'bout it, 'kay?" Lillie quipped.

That was good enough for Mallow, and the four girls hopped on the train that would take them to Sunset Station. On the way there, Mallow, Lana and Selene all stared into their crystals, and Lillie would have done the same if she still had her crystal.

Probably that other black-hooded pickpocket, Lillie thought. Bad enough they stole Selene's money pouch, but now THIS?

When they'd arrived at Sunset Station, Mallow and Selene ran out of the train, leaving Lillie and Lana to discuss how they'd start the hunt for the wonders.

"Wait, these are the steps that count different going up and down, right?" Lillie asked.

Suddenly, Lana looked pretty embarrassed about that question. "Actually... it's the stupidest thing ever, but..." Lana admitted. "Gary's the one who counted then. He's like 'oh my gah every time I count 'em it's different ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha'."

"So, he just counted them wrong?" Lillie wondered. "Honestly, that does sound like Gary. Well, let's keep looking for the rest of the wonders, shall we?"

Lillie and Lana followed Mallow and Selene's trail into the Sunset Terrace area before splitting off to investigate further.

As Lillie passed by a long corridor that only lead to a dead end wall, a strange sphere flew out and startled her. Looking towards the dead end, Lillie could just barely make out something popping out from the wall.

Knowing what to do, Lillie started running towards the dead end, dodging more flying spheres until she reached the wall and tapped the spot where she'd seen the strange object. This seemed to stop the flying balls.

"Oh, it's just you, Lillie," Lana quipped at the other end. "Were you throwing a ball or something? Because that thing just flew out of nowhere and startled the heck out of me. ...hmmm, I wonder if that was one of the Seven Wonders..."

As Lillie and Lana walked away, they just missed two hats in a hole in the wall before it vanished.

Nearby was a tunnel into one of the areas in the Underground Concourse, and Lillie heard a strange noise coming from deeper in the tunnel, so she decided to investigate.

There, in a square area, she found Acerola standing there with her Struggle Club in hand. Before Lillie could ask what was going on, however, there were suddenly multiple Acerolas surrounding her.

The Acerola clones started attacking Lillie with many of the same moves she'd used in the Struggle tournament, but Lillie was able to easily dodge and bat the clones away. One hit each and the clones shattered into what appeared to be data shards.

Once the last clone was vanquished, what appeared to be the actual Acerola walked into the tunnel.

"Oh, hey, Lillie, what's up?" Acerola asked. "Hey, did you need this? I figured you'd been getting some practice in for the next event."

"Um... there were... so many of you..." Lillie gasped, unsure of how to explain what she'd just witnessed.

"So many of... me?" Acerola wondered. "Not sure I get it. Either way, you can use this spot now, Lillie. I'm all done with practice for today."

Lana walked down the tunnel corridor as Acerola walked out. "Huh, so it was Acerola," Lana quipped. "That spooky voice was just her practicing. Hey, that must be one of the Seven Wonders!"

"Hey, listen, there was a whole bunch of Acerola clones here just a moment ago," Lillie stated.

If they'd turned around, they would have seen Acerola transform into a Dusk and float away, out of the tunnel.

Back outside, Lillie passed by a nearby small waterfall and saw her reflection in it, noting how realistic said reflection looked.

Suddenly, the reflection started moving. Lillie stepped backwards in shock as her reflection left the waterfall and transformed into a dark version of herself, Struggle Hammer and everything.

Gripping her own Struggle Hammer tightly, Lillie rushed down her shadow self, swiping at it whenever it tried to attack her and missed.

It only took about five or six hits for Lillie to finish off her shadow, after which it returned to being her reflection in the waterfall.

"Holy crapbaskets, that's spooky," Lana stated when she walked up and saw her own reflection. "I thought I'd seen someone, but it was just my reflection. Another of the Seven Wonders, maybe?"

As Lillie and Lana walked away, the Shadow Lillie briefly appeared in the waterfall.

Meanwhile, on Sunset Hill, Lillie noticed a strange bag that was bouncing around the area. Deciding to see what was up, Lillie approached slowly before jumping on top of the bag, after which the bag started dashing around, careening towards garbage cans that Lillie had to make the bag jump over.

Eventually, whatever was in the bag exhausted itself and stopped moving, allowing Lillie to untie the bag and let a small terrier dog walk free.

"Oh, so it was just a dog," Lana quipped. "Did you let it out of the bag?"

"I'm gonna kick Bede in the 'bag' if he was responsible," Lillie stated.

"Another Wonder down, it seems," Lana proclaimed.

"You know, that one wasn't exactly 'wonderful, if you catch my drift," Lillie responded, not noticing the dog turning into a Dusk and floating off.

"Yeah, you're kinda right, but this next one should be interesting," Lana proclaimed.

"Hey, we've got a lead on 'The Ghost Train Mystery'!" Mallow exclaimed as she and Selene ran up to Lillie and Lana.

"They say you can see it from Sunset Hill," Selene explained. "It should be here any minute now, if the rumors are true."

"For they say the train is completely empty," Lana proclaimed dramatically. "No driver, no conductor, no passengers, no return."

"Did you have to say it like that?" Mallow groaned.

"Come on, ladies, to Sunset Hill!" Lillie exclaimed.

The four girls ran back to Sunset Hill so they could wait for the Ghost Train.

"We've definitely gotta hit the beach next year, you know," Selene stated.

"Yeah, let's get jobs the second vacation starts," Mallow proclaimed.

"Aww, you're no fun," Lillie teased.

"Good afternoon, you slackers."

The four girls turned around to see Bede approaching them, smug and cocky as ever.

"So, what are you lovely ladies doing all the way out here?" Bede asked.

"Since when do you care about what we do?" Mallow retorted.

"I don't," Bede quipped. "Tell me anyway."

"We're waiting for the Ghost Train," Lana responded.

"Ooh, the 'Ghost Train'," Bede mocked before staring down Lillie, who glared right back at him. "I don't know why, but just lookin' at you is enough to piss me off sometimes. Why is that?"

"I dunno," Lillie admitted. "Hey, maybe it's destiny or something."

"Oh, really? In that case, let's be the best of friends," Bede stated in a mocking tone. "I don't really feel like cooperating with destiny, if you want my opinion."

"That's at least one thing we can agree on," Lillie answered.

"When have you ever cooperated with anything, Bede?" Mallow taunted. In response, Bede simply puffed his chest out and left Sunset Hill.

"Tomorrow," Bede proclaimed.

"H-Hey, look!" Lillie exclaimed as she ran to the railing and pointed down towards the underpass, where a mysterious blue and gold train decorated with stars and moons was pulling through.

"It's... it actually true?" Lillie gasped. "You all saw it, right?"

"Yeah, of course we did," Mallow responded. "And there really was no one aboard!"

"Come on, let's head it off at the pass!" Lana stated. "To the station!"

However, when the four girls made it back to Sunset Station, the Ghost Train was nowhere to be found, the only train there being the normal train they usually took.

As they discussed what was going on, Lavenza watched sadly from atop the nearby train antennas before jumping away.

---

"Well, that was a waste of time, wasn't it?" Mallow sighed as the girls exited Central Station to walk back towards Market Street.

"Yeah, the rumors were all bogus in the end," Lana quipped.

"But we can at least make the paper sound good if we write about all the hard work we put into it," Selene stated.

"Wait, wasn't there at least one last wonder?" Lillie wondered. "I know you all might not care that much about it after all of that, but I think it's at least worth investigating."

Lana conceded that point, at least. "It's at the haunted mansion," Lana answered. "This one's actually been floating around for a very long time, believe it or not."

"Yeah, ever since the big flood," Mallow quipped as they walked through Market Street and the Tram Common to get to the abandoned mansion. "It used to be a rather bustling area until the flood, and then they just left it to rot for ten years."

"Weren't those Ultra Beast cultists claiming that was their headquarters?" Selene wondered. "Saying they found the 'Ultra Beasts' there?"

"Ah, loonies and the absolutely zero sense they make," Lillie chuckled.

When the girls arrived at the mansion in question, Lillie looked up towards the mansion, wondering what exactly was drawing her towards it.

"So, what are we looking for?" Mallow asked.

"Well, the rumor is that there's a girl who appears at the second floor window, even though this mansion has been abandoned since the flood," Lana answered.

As Lillie looked closer, she suddenly found herself inside that room, glancing at the white room with a long table and many different crayon drawings lining the walls.

One of them resembled a very futuristic-looking smartphone, and another looked like...

"Lillie?" two voices asked in unison.

"Wait, Caroline? Justine? Is that you?" Lillie asked. "What's going on in her?"

That was when Lillie noticed a crayon drawing of herself and that Pyra lady from the Struggle tournament, their weapons clashing with each other.

"This is... me?" Lillie wondered. "And that Pyra chick's here, too?"

"You have clashed before," Caroline chuckled.

"Oh, funny," Lillie quipped.

"Lillie, don't you want to know the truth about who you really are?" Justine wondered.

"Well, not to sound cliché, but no one knows me better than me, right?" Lillie stated. "But... that doesn't mean I understand what the heck's been happening lately..."

While walking around, Lillie noticed another crayon drawing, this time of that boy she'd been having dreams about, along with five other girls.

"You know who they are, right?" Justine asked.

"Yeah," Lillie admitted. "That's Nick, his friends Maylin and Haruka, his sister Marie, his companion Sophia, and his girlfriend Ellen. They're the ones I've been seeing in my dreams lately."

"A while ago, something happened to Nick, and we had to bring him to a secure location so we could help him out," Caroline explained. "It hasn't been easy, but we believe he's almost ready to wake up."

"The process has been affecting you as well, Lillie," Justine stated.

"The dreams, right?" Lillie answered.

"Yup," Caroline replied. "You and Nick are connected. And in order for him to wake up and be himself again... he needs you, Lillie."

"Wait, me?" Lillie wondered.

"You're holding a piece of him with you," Justine stated. "He's waiting for you."

"Okay, so, if you can, answer me this," Lillie stated. "Who exactly are you two?"

Caroline and Justine appeared at the opposite end of the room.

"Like we mentioned earlier, we are the wardens of the Velvet Room," Caroline proclaimed. "But... we're not the same as we used to be."

"We both used to be someone completely different, until a malevolent force split us in twain, turning us into who you see before you," Justine proclaimed.

"Our master, or at least the one we thought we knew, is trying to find a very special power, the power to manifest," Caroline explained. "Our true self is with him, but he has changed a lot over the last year or so, and even our true self is confused as to what she must do."

"Wish I could help you on that front," Lillie sighed. "You know, it's kinda funny, but suddenly, I feel like I don't really know myself at all. So, I guess I do wanna know. What do you two know about me that I don't?"

Caroline and Justine glanced sadly at each other before turning to face Lillie again.

"Sorry," Caroline and Justine stated in unison, their voices harmonizing. "I guess some things... really are better left unsaid."

---

Lana shook Lillie by the shoulder, finally snapping the blonde girl out of her trance. "Wh-what's up?" Lillie gasped.

"Did you see her, Lillie?" Lana asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Lillie replied, pointing up towards the window. "Watch the window real close."

But when Lillie looked back up, both Caroline and Justine had vanished, leaving just an empty curtain.

"Oh, that's lame, it's just some curtains moving," Lana quipped. "It's probably just a draft somewhere. I'm honestly shocked this old place even still has curtains that aren't water-logged or rotten."

"Yeah, like those ones that Mallow's mom bought by accident," Selene giggled.

"H-Hey, that store clerk was clearly ripping mom off!" Mallow gasped, causing all four girls to start laughing as they left the mansion behind.

"You know, we only have two more days together," Selene sighed.

"Tomorrow, we search the town," Mallow proclaimed.

"Next day's the fair for the last day of summer!" Lana exclaimed.

"Stop it with the 'end of summer' talk before you give me an ulcer, seriously," Lillie groaned.

"Not if you explode from all that ice cream first," Lana chuckled, once again causing everyone to start laughing.

---

Wondering why DiZ wanted to meet her here, Lavenza walked into the room in the mansion and sat down in the chair opposite her master.

"Why did you show them the train, master?" Lavenza asked.

"Because they missed the trip to the beach," DiZ answered.

"Huh, that's almost kind of you," Lavenza chuckled.

"Now, then, my dear Lavenza, are the holes in your memory starting to fill in?" DiZ asked.

"Yes, master, the haze is starting to fade," Lavenza responded.

"Because of what we had to do, the same thing is happening to everyone who has ties to Nick," DiZ proclaimed. "Pretty soon, to them, he'll be like a close friend who's been away for a while."

"Master, please, I mean no disrespect when I ask this, but... what is it that you want?" Lavenza wondered.

DiZ's response was simple and to the point.

"Revenge."

Lavenza kept her expression neutral, but inwardly, she was worried. He had never been like this before. What was it about Yaldabaoth that had changed him so?

"Now, for the finishing touches," DiZ proclaimed. "Caroline and Justine did a splendid job, but it's high time they disappeared. After all, they're not supposed to exist in this form, given that you are here. Take care of them, Lavenza."

Despite knowing it had been coming, Lavenza was still in shock at that request.

---

"Wait a minute, does that mean that... this is all that's left of worlds that were taken by the Heartless?"

"But those worlds will all be restored if we defeat Yaldabaoth, right? But... if we actually do manage to take him down, and all of these worlds become restored and disconnected... what's going to happen to this place? What's going to happen to us?"

"After all, all worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different. For you see, darkness is the heart's true essence."

"YOU'RE LYING!"

"While the heart can be weak at times, and sometimes it does give in... If there's anything that I've learned on this journey, it's that deep down, there's a light that can never be extinguished."

"Kingdom Hearts! Fill me... with the great power of darkness!"

"I know now, without a shred of doubt in my heart. Kingdom Hearts... is light!"

"All right, everybody, let's close this door once and for all."

"Take care of yourself."

...

...

"May your hearts be your guiding key."

With both keyblades in her hands, she began assaulting the Neoshadow army, using several graceful flips and slashes of her keyblade to cut through the enemies around her. She was a beautiful dancer of sorts, mowing through the Heartless with confounding grace and no wasted energy in her movements.

But it seemed like for each Neoshadow she cut down, two more would replace the one she'd just killed.

It made sense, in a way. This world was way too close to the darkness, so that naturally meant that Heartless would be stronger and more numerous here.

But...

After catching another Neoshadow trying to sneak up behind her, she glanced upwards, towards the top of the gargantuan skyscraper. Someone had just appeared up there, most likely from a corridor of darkness.

Good.

That meant she could stop searching.

The hooded girl walked up to the skyscraper's top screen before bending over and falling down backwards off of it, summoning her own keyblade to her hands.

The hooded figure eventually landed on the ground with a large splash, causing some of the Neoshadows to turn their attention to her instead.

She looked up at the hooded figure, consternation highlighting her eyes.

---

Lillie woke up again and did her usual morning routine, unaware that a transparent silhouette of Nick was overlaying her own body for a short time as she did so.

As she waved to her mom, Lillie unknowing whispered the phrase she'd heard in her dreams.

"May your hearts be your guiding key."

Once she'd made it to the Usual Spot, Lillie couldn't help but smile at the antics of her friends as always.

"Man, sleep suuuuuuucked for me last night," Lillie chuckled.

No one seemed to hear her.

"Um, Mallow, are you fake-ignoring me again?" Lillie asked, reaching out to tap Mallow on the shoulder, only for her hand to go right through her body.

Mallow, Lana and Selene all ran out, phasing right through Lillie in the process. That was when Lillie noticed a picture on Mallow's chair. It turned out to be the one they'd taken at the mansion...

...only she wasn't in the picture at all.

Now incredibly confused, Lillie walked out of the usual spot, only for a corridor of darkness to open up just behind her and allow Pyra to walk out of it, her Aegis Sword already clutched in her hands.

"I really wish I didn't have to do this," Pyra admitted. "You and I, we really could have been great friends in different circumstances."

"We fought each other before the Struggle tournament, right?" Lillie asked, the memories slowly returning.

"Hey, you actually remember that?" Pyra giggled. "Man, that was a heck of a battle. Sadly, I still gotta finish you off right here and now. Nothing personal, Lillie."

Pyra snapped her fingers, and a bunch of Dusks surrounded Lillie along with another strange creature, this one having a vaguely humanoid body covered in a purple and silver bodysuit, its segmented arms each lined by four blades resembling spikes, both the blades and segments they were on alternating from silver to purple. On its head was a small cap strapped by bandages with a long cloth hanging down in front of its face, which was mostly silver with a purple tip emblazoned with a small, white symbol.

Lillie looked down at her right hand as the Kingdom Key appeared in her clutches. One of the Dusks slithered towards her, but she dispatched it with a flying bonk to the head. Two more Dusks flitted through the air towards her, but Lillie spun around with Kingdom Key extended, cutting down the Dusks as they tried to approach her.

"And that just leaves our new challenger," Lillie quipped as the Assassin approached her, occasionally stabbing one of its arms out to keep her away. Before Lillie could jump forward to attack, though, the Assassin dove into the ground and camouflaged itself.

After a few seconds, the Assassin peeked out from the ground and raised its arms to strike, but Lillie saw this as an opportunity, raising Kingdom Key to parry the blow and yank the Assassin out of the ground so she could slash at it a few times and finish it off.

Pyra spun her Aegis Sword around and prepared to attack, only to freeze completely. Lillie curiously stepped forward and tapped Pyra's tummy. No response.

Lillie, to the mansion. The time has come.

Unsure of what else to do, Lillie turned on her heel and ran off through the Sandlot, just missing Pyra unfreezing.

"Well, I guess that settles it," Pyra sighed. "The Lillie we all knew is long gone. Guess that's just the way the cookie crumbles..."

As Lillie made her way towards the mansion, she noticed that, for whatever strange reason, Alola Town was completely deserted. No people around the food stands, no teenagers Struggling in the park, nothing. Lillie only saw more Dusks and Assassins that she had to clear out before making it to the mansion.

Only to find the mansion gates locked when she got there, along with a bunch of Dusks clamoring around waiting for her.

"Oh, screw off," Lillie groaned. "Don't tell me to come to your pad and then lock me out..."

Suddenly, Lillie had a vision of Nick aiming his keyblade for something. Deciding it was worth a try, Lillie jumped back, summoned the Kingdom Key, and aimed it for the locked gates. Silver light shined around Kingdom Key's teeth before firing a beam of light into the keyhole on the lock. After a loud "CLICK", the lock vanished completely, allowing Lillie to run into the mansion.

The Dusks attempted to follow, but Lavenza appeared in a flash of blue light to bar the Dusks' way, opening her grimoire to cast a Megido spell on the Dusks.

Please hurry, Lillie, Lavenza thought.

---

After finding herself inside the mansion, Lillie decided that going back outside probably wasn't an option at this point, and headed up the nearby stairway, occasionally stopping to take out a Dusk along the way.

After entering the door at the top of the stairway, she found herself in the White Room, where she'd been talking to Caroline and Justine yesterday.

And sure enough, there they were, once again drawing something.

Definitely better than my own drawing skills, that's for damn sure, Lillie thought.

Justine smiled at Lillie and showed the pictured they'd drawn, that of a group of thirteen people wearing those black coats like Pyra had.

"Organization XIII," Lillie stated. "I don't know why, but... that's them. They're bad people, right?"

"Bad or good really depends on your perspective," Justine answered.

"They're a group of incomplete people who desperately want to be whole again," Caroline stated. "To that end, they're searching for something."

"And that would be...?" Lillie wondered.

Caroline and Justine spoke at the same time.

"Kingdom Hearts."

"Huh," Lillie quipped. "I guess... I've actually been running away from the question I really want to ask. What's going to happen to me now? Just... tell me that, if you can."

Before Caroline and Justine could answer that, DiZ appeared in the room in what appeared to be a column of computer data.

"There's no knowledge that has the power to change your fate," DiZ proclaimed.

"Even if it doesn't, I still have the right to know," Lillie countered.

Suddenly, Lavenza appeared in the room as well, pointedly ignoring her counterparts for the moment lest the memories flood back and overwhelm her.

"Master, we're out of time," Lavenza exclaimed. "There are too many Nobodies swarming the main gates!"

Caroline and Justine ran over to Lillie while they still had the chance to.

"Let's just say that we, and our complete self over there, owe that Nick boy quite a lot," Caroline quipped.

"Lillie, we will meet again," Justine stated. "And then we can talk about everything."

"You may not know it's us, and we may not know it's you, but we will meet again someday soon," Caroline stated.

Both Caroline and Justine leaned over to kiss Lillie on her cheeks before leaving her with one last word.

"That's a promise!"

With that said, Caroline and Justine vanished in bright blue flashes, with Lavenza doing the same and DiZ leaving through a corridor of darkness.

Sadly, this only left poor Lillie even more confused.

The only thing that Caroline and Justine had left for her was another drawing in her hands. Lillie clutched the drawing tightly as she exited the White Room and decided to check out the room at the other end of the mansion, finding herself in the library. She then noticed a strange symbol on the table in the center of the room, one which corresponded to the drawing that Caroline and Justine had left her.

Lillie drew the symbol in to complete the doodle, and the entire floor flashed brightly before disappearing, revealing a secret passageway underneath the former floor that Lillie followed into a basement room with a large set of monitors and a strange-looking machine.

Before she could investigate any further, Lillie suddenly had a pounding headache and she dropped to her knees while clutching her head.

"Are you sure, Lillie?"

"Yes, I'm ready, papa. I know what I'm getting into."

"...very well. In your hand, take this key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And no ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love."

"...what's happening to him?"

"Fret not, Sophia, here in the Metaverse, he will be fine. We simply need to find a way to retrieve what he has lost. Only then will he awaken."

"Please do everything you can. I made a promise to him as well, and I do not break promises."

"...um, excuse me, can I help?"

"...wait, you're..."

"Yeah, long story short, my name's Lillie, and... well, I'm Nick's daughter from the future. I might be able to help you get him back."

"Do you know what's happening to Nick?!"

"Easy, easy, Sophia. I'm not entirely sure, but... I have a feeling."

When the headaches finally stopped, Lillie glanced at the computer monitors, then at the machine that had been used to temporarily turn her heart into data so that DiZ could send her here and find Nick, and finally at the door at the opposite end of the room that had just opened.

Lillie moved towards that door without hesitation. Her father was waiting for her, after all.

In the next room, however, a bunch of Dusks and Assassins appeared to stop her. Lillie simply summoned the Kingdom Key, her father's Kingdom Key, and made short work of the enemy horde.

"Well, well, that was simply amazing, Lillie," Pyra chuckled as she walked across the room. "Your skills definitely haven't dulled."

"I could say the same for you, Pyra," Lillie quipped. "I still remember how much that satellite laser smarted the last time we fought. Tell Mythra that that really hurt."

"Oh, so you finally remember, now, do you?" Pyra stated, a ring of fire swiftly surrounding them both that quickly expanded into a circular wall of flames that trapped Lillie within. "Oh, I'm so flattered, but you're too late!"

Pyra summoned her Aegis Sword, ready to take Lillie apart piece by piece.

In response, Lillie steeled herself and brought out her trump card.

In one hand, a keyblade with a shaft displaying two hearts, its handle bearing two angel wings, and the teeth fashioned in the shape of the Japanese kanji for "light".

In the other hand, a keyblade similar in shape to the Kingdom Key, though black and with a longer reach, the hilt guard comprised of two bat-like wings extending downward with a diamond in the hilt, the teeth in the shape of the Japanese kanji for "darkness", and like Oathkeeper, a hollow blade but with a chain passing through the gap.

Lillie spun Oathkeeper and Oblivion in her hands before brandishing them both, ready for whatever Pyra was going to pull.

"Two keyblades?!" Pyra gasped, realizing that she might be in trouble now. But regardless, she wasn't going to give up without a fight.

"It's time for you to burn!" Pyra shouted, the floor underneath them transforming into a bed of magma that slowly started burning Lillie.

Pyra rushed forward and swung her Aegis Sword overhead, but Lillie crossed both of her keyblades to parry the blow, leaving her open long enough for Lillie to go on the offensive.

Lillie started with two slashes left to right, then a spinning strike, followed up by a pair of right to left slashes, then a vertical spinning slash, and finishing with Lillie jumping back before lunging forward with a super-strong cross slash that sent Pyra into the air.

Lillie jumped after Pyra, their weapons clashing a couple times until Lillie managed to get the upper hand and spike Pyra into the ground with an overhead slash.

Not finished just yet, Lillie pounced on Pyra and slammed both keyblades into her chest, causing pillars of light to erupt around the arena, clearing away the magma floor.

Pyra recovered herself and jumped behind the ring of fire. Lillie waited for her chance, casually twirling her keyblades.

Eventually, Pyra leaped back into the arena and slammed her Aegis Sword's pommel into the ground to unleash a shockwave of fire, but Lillie jumped over it and swung her keyblades to again send Pyra into the air.

Lillie followed and started attacking again, starting with two quick left to right slashes, followed by a mid-air spinning slash, an upward strike and a leftward strike, then a sideways slash and a powerful uppercut. Lillie finished her combo with an overhead somersaulting spin attack reminiscent of a move Nick really liked to do.

Pyra dropped to the ground, and before she could get her bearings, Lillie lunged forward with one last X-slash that caused Pyra to stiffen up and drop her Aegis Sword, this also causing the ring of fire to dissipate.

"Ugh... that definitely smarted," Pyra admitted. "How about this? Let's have another battle in our next life, 'kay?"

"Yeah," Lillie answered. "I'll be waiting."

Pyra couldn't help but chuckle. Same old Lillie.

"You silly," Pyra chuckled. "Just because you have a next life..."

Deciding that she'd had enough, Pyra picked up her Aegis Sword and retreated through a corridor of darkness.

With that finally settled, Lillie walked to the opposite end of the room, opening the door there and walking into a basement corridor that led into a small circular room that only housed a large, high-tech capsule.

She didn't know exactly why, but she knew that what she was looking for was in there.

But as Lillie stepped closer to the capsule, DiZ appeared in front of her, and she clutched the handles of Oathkeeper and Oblivion tightly.

"At last," DiZ proclaimed. "The keyblade's chosen one."

"Who exactly are you talking to?" Lillie countered. "Me, or my father?"

"To at least part of Nick, of course," DiZ answered as if it was obvious. "You currently reside in darkness. What I need is somebody who can fly about the realm of light and put an end to Organization XIII."

"I thought that was my job," Lillie quipped. "Who exactly are you?"

"I am a servant of the world," DiZ chuckled. "And if I'm a servant, then that makes you a tool, at the very best."

"Was... was that supposed to be a joke?" Lillie shot back. "Because if it was, then I'm definitely not laughing!"

Having had enough of this strange man's rambling, Lillie ran towards him and slashed through him with Oathkeeper, only for the blade to pass straight through him.

"Sorry, but this is merely a data-based projection," DiZ admitted.

Lillie tried a few more times with both of her keyblades before giving up, deciding it wasn't worth it.

"You want to explain exactly what you're keeping my dad here for?" Lillie asked. "At least tell me that."

"Six months ago, his heart was damaged by an unforeseen event," DiZ explained. "I had to bring him into the Metaverse in hopes of allowing him to recover, but we had been mostly fruitless in our attempts... until you showed up."

"So, you just used me?" Lillie snapped. "You turned me into a data version of myself just to do your bidding?!"

"If I remember correctly, it was by your request," DiZ retorted. "You must have experienced something similar in your time if you had even a slight idea of what was happening to him."

"Then... if all you wanted was to help my dad recover... why are you being such a dick about it?" Lillie asked.

"That is none of your concern," DiZ proclaimed before vanishing in a burst of data. Just then, the capsule in front of Lillie started opening, revealing that Nick was floating there, still wearing the clothes he'd worn for most of his first adventure, though they looked a little too small for him right now.

Lillie looked up at her father and smiled. "Well, dad, you're lucky," Lillie admitted. "Even though my actual self will probably be meeting you when you wake up..."

Lillie let Oathkeeper and Oblivion disappear and walked towards the capsule.

"It looks like my summer vacation is... over."

Kingdom Hearts: Key to Her Heart re:Verse II
Episode 1: Summer Vacation

---

(A scattered dream that's like a far-off memory. A far-off memory that's like a scattered dream. I want to line the pieces up... yours and mine.)

The Blue Time Ranger is proud to present:
Kingdom Hearts: Key to Her Heart re:Verse II
Story Created: May 10th, 2023
Story Rated: T for Teen

And Now, the Dramatis Personnae (the cast, if you will)
Bryce Papenbrook as Nick Kelly
Eden Riegel as Marie Kelly
Trina Nishimura as Maylin Rae
Julie Maddalena as Haruka Rose
Megan Taylor Harvey as Sophia
Cherami Leigh-Kuhn as Ellen Baker
Amanda Lee as Lillie

Story Summary: "As a song I really love once told me... the adventure only ends when another begins." It's been a year since Nick and his fellow keyblade wielders defeated Yaldabaoth and saved the worlds. However, for keyblade wielders such as Nick, the adventure is never truly over. A new threat is approaching the worlds, and this time around, it's not just the Heartless. Strange beings called Nobodies, commanded by a group of black coat-wearing Nobodies known as Organization XIII, are on the assault. Though the Organization's reasons are unknown, their goal is clear: they seek the power of Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds. Nick and his friends must once again take up their keyblades for a new journey across the multiverse in hopes of stopping the Organization before they can lay claim to Kingdom Hearts and fulfill their dark ambitions...

Author's Notes: Well, Phase Two is rolling on with the sequel, as you probably expected! Once I finally finished the first re:Verse, I decided to take a break from it for a while and focus on some other stories. But... as you can probably tell, my brain kept calling back to me, and I've decided to finally listen to its calls. Like the original Key to Her Heart II, this one's going to be longer and more epic, though, also like the original, it's probably going to deviate quite a bit from Kingdom Hearts II story-wise, even if most of the basic beats are there. I don't have the mad mind of Tetsuya Nomura, okay? There's only so much I can do.

Theme Song Notes: Since I can't post the opening and ending sequences anymore so as not to get my stories torpedoed, the opening theme is "Alive" by ClariS (the opening theme to Lycoris Recoil) and the ending theme is "Brand New World" by V6 (the eighth ending theme to Inuyasha).

And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Square Enix and Disney. The only things of this story I DO own are any characters created by yours truly for the story. Any characters or things I don't own, I am just borrowing with no intent of copyright infringement, only for the entertainment of my readers. The same goes for any anime, video game, or comic book series that will be represented here. Besides, if I did own Kingdom Hearts, which I don't, why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?

---

On the next episode...

Nick: Man, that was quite the nap. ...wait, I've been sleeping for how long?!

Sophia: About six months.

Nick: Jeez, was I in a coma or something? And... where exactly am I?

Sophia: Even I am not sure. Should we take a look around?

Nick: Yeah, let's do that, because I've got this odd feeling that my adventures aren't over just yet.

Mallow: Oh, hey, your name's Nick, right?

Nick: I guess it depends on who's asking, but yeah.

Mallow: I think there's somebody looking for you.

Nick: Well, then, let's go see who it is next time on Kingdom Hearts: Key to Her Heart re:Verse II, "The Adventure Begins Anew"!

Nick, Maylin, Haruka, Marie, and Sophia: May your hearts be your guiding key!