Chapter 2: Two of a Kind

"Balthazar, do you remember your home world?"

Balthazar's eyes flittered open slowly, and for a moment he found he wasn't entirely sure if they'd merely been closed or if he had fallen asleep. He grunted softly and shook his head to cast off the restful fog that lay heavily over him.

"I didn't the last time you asked, why would I now?"

"I don't know. I just thought I would ask in case you remembered," Velcia said.

Balthazar sighed, and leaned his head back against the bark of the olive tree underneath which he and Velcia were resting. It was a pleasantly warm, peaceful afternoon in Olympus, and their shady tree atop the hill overlooking the road was just the sort of spot one could spend many afternoons deeply content.

They'd come here, ostensibly, to keep an eye out for Wielders who may be able to help guide the hapless pair past the dangers of the Underworld, a place which had for weeks now tantalized Velcia's imagination and curiosity; but there was surprisingly little traffic of note. Long ago had Velcia's sketchbook been set aside in the grass, and she'd laid down with her head on Balthazar's lap and found herself fussily playing with the buttons of his coat as he rested his eyes.

Or slept, whichever of the two it was.

"Well," Balthazar started slowly, "I'll be sure to let you know if I do remember anything. Growing bored of Olympus?"

"Never!" Velcia asserted, her eyes narrowing in defiance. "You're as wrong as can be. I've been thinking to myself and wondering if the real Olympus is as nice as this. I don't think I want to stay here in Daybreak Town forever, you know… someday, when I grow up, I think I'd like to see if I can find it."

Balthazar's mouth scrunched up to the side, and his gaze lost focus as he stared out into the distance. "Huh…" he muttered.

"What?" Velcia asked, and sat up abruptly. "Oh, no, did I say something that upset you?"

"No, no… not at all," Balthazar said, turning his attention back to her now. "I just found myself thinking about things. You know… a lot of the Wielders here in Daybreak Town are here because their worlds fell to Darkness. I assumed that Daybreak Town must be the only world that will stay safe, but if these Projected Worlds are made from visions of the future then these worlds must either survive the Darkness, or somehow be created later, after The Master has succeeded."

"I don't know at all about any of that, but I think the real Olympus must exist already," Velcia said with an eager and certain nod.

Though the Wielders of Daybreak Town spent a lot of time in the magic realms known as Projected Worlds, they understood very little about their nature. Balthazar understood perhaps more than most; he knew that The Master of Masters had a great knowledge of the future, and his vast foresight allowed him to make complicated plans and prepare for seemingly every scenario. Indeed, in his limited time spent with The Master, Balthazar had yet to find anything for which The Master was not prepared.

Balthazar had known that each of these Projected Worlds was modeled after real worlds from the future, a sort of historic pre-record of events that were to still yet to take place. The Master had mentioned to him that these realms, and indeed even the medals used by the Wielders to fight the Darkness, were in some way connected to the light and magic of these real future places and their people; but the specifics were beyond Balthazar's grasp.

The true nature of these Projected Worlds and the fate of the real worlds which they depicted were secrets whose answers were only truly known by The Master of Masters himself. All the Wielders knew was their mission in these worlds - to do battle against the Darkness and gather the light of the future, known as Lux, in a bid to collect enough power from across time and space for The Master of Masters and his apprentices, The Foretellers, to someday use to defeat Darkness once and for all.

The thought that these future worlds may exist already, right now, was not a concept that Balthazar had spent much time contemplating.
Velcia turned and looked towards Mt. Olympus, the incredible mountain not too far from the Coliseum of Thebes. This incredible mountain stood as tall as the heavens themselves, the peak of it shrouded in golden clouds. She sighed wistfully as her eyes followed the mountain to the cloud-obscured peak. "From exploring the city I have learned that Olympus has thousands and thousands of years of history. If it doesn't exist already, it must be from very quite far in the future."

"Thousands of years of history?" Balthazar asked in amazement. "Really?"

"Oh yes, they've got all kinds of shrines and scholars and more," she told him proudly. "There's an amazing amount of history to be found."

"...Is there really?" Balthazar asked. "I wonder how The Master managed to make all these worlds so detailed. They're so much more real than I imagined they would be."

"Maybe next time we come to visit, I'll show you some places in town," Velcia said, her eyes glimmering with excitement.

"I think I might like that, actually," Balthazar said. He leaned back against the tree, thinking things over a bit more. "So… why did thinking about all that make you decide to ask me about my world?"

"Oh!" Velcia exclaimed, blushing a bit. "Well, like I said, I was thinking about going to the real Olympus someday. If that is possible… I didn't know if maybe you would want to go back to your own world."

"Hadn't really considered it, to be honest. As far as I know, my world's been destroyed. Even if it does still exist, I wouldn't know which one it would be," he told her. "I'll guess I'll just be in Daybreak Town forever."

Velcia frowned. "Oh. Well, if you want to."

"...I'm not really sure what I want."

Shoulders sagging, Velcia crossed her arms and slumped down a bit. "Oh."

Balthazar watched her mood wane, and tilted his head. He wasn't sure what had her so downtrodden all of a sudden, but he felt compelled to help cheer her up.

"Well," he started, trying to figure out what angle to take, "if anyone is able to find the real Olympus, I bet it'll be you. Besides, we have a lot of important work to take care of here in Daybreak Town anyways."

Velcia reached over and grabbed her notebook, brushing some of the dried grass off the cover. "Oh, I know," she said softly. Pulling the book tightly against her chest, she looked up at her friend with a smile. "I am very glad to have you to help me with it all."
"What little I can help with, anyway," he said thoughtfully. He averted his eyes, the act of which seemed to compel Velcia to do the same as well but this he did not notice. "Hey uh, about that…"

"About what?" Velcia asked curiously, a tint of hopefulness to her voice.

Oblivious to this aspect, Balthazar tensed up a bit and began to stammer. "I-it's just that I've been feeling kind of bad for not telling you about why I can't be more help in a fight, and-"

"Oh," Velcia sighed, cutting him off. "I thought you were going to say you wanted to come to Olympus with me."

"W-what?"

"Sorry! I just thought that was what you were going to say!"

"It wasn't, no. Look, I really think I need to explain-"

Velcia shook her head. "I don't mind that at all though, you don't have to feel bad about it."

"There's more to it than that," Balthazar said softly.

She looked him over, noting his sad complexion, and sat down beside him. "I don't need you to be good at fighting, and I don't need to understand your magic. You've been my best friend for a few months now and I never really had a friend like you before. It's very nice to just explore around together, I think. I don't really need to see the Underworld or…" she trailed off, shaking her head. "Though I do very much want to see it, but, don't feel like it's your fault if I don't."

Balthazar let out a heavy sigh, trying to relieve the great pressure inside to no avail. "Look, you don't even know what-"

"I don't need to see it!" Velcia interrupted with a firm nod.

"I'm not talking about the Underworld, Velcia," Balthazar moaned. He shook his head and steeled himself, preparing to simply blurt it out and be done with the conversational foliage around which they were prancing, when a cacophony of loud roars broke out from over a nearby hillside.

The two stopped and immediately turned towards the sound, listening to the familiar shrieks and crackles of Keyblade Magic as the infuriated monsters of Darkness grew ever more aggressive.

"Huh, sounds like some tough ones," Balthazar said, standing straight up.

"We should go look!" Velcia said, scrambling to pack up her notebook and pencil pouch. "Quick, before they leave!"

Balthazar reached down and helped pull his companion to her feet, almost spinning in place as she darted past him to go see the commotion. He let out a chuckle, and wasted no time in following along behind her.

Almost the moment Velcia made it to the top of the next hill, she dropped down onto her knees and pulled out her sketchbook. Balthazar, still a ways back, couldn't help but groan a bit at the sight of it - the sounds of battle were still in full-swing, and though any attempt by Velcia to assist would likely only serve to get in the way he knew that this was not a fact that most Wielders would naturally assume.

With great bounds, he picked up the pace and shortly made it to the top of the hill to see the skirmish for himself. A pair of Keyblade Wielders, each with the same hue of strawberry-pink hair, were battling against a large, armored Heartless equipped with a shield adorned with a lion-like face. If the two had noticed Velcia or Balthazar they gave no indication, busy as they were. Working together, they took turns drawing the monster's attention so that the other could strike it from behind.

"Look how good they are, Balthazar!" Velcia exclaimed, pencil flying across the page as she quickly began to draw the encounter.

"We can't just sit up here doing nothing while they fight that, you know," Balthazar told her, shaking his head.

"What? We do that in town all the time!"

"Yeah, in town," Balthazar groaned. "There's lots of Wielders to help there and they're all in a party. Look, if we just stand up here gawking they're going to think we're jerks."

Velcia paused abruptly, pencil shaking just above the page. "...but I can't do anything to help, you know how bad I am at fighting."

Balthazar sighed, and began to jog past her down the hill. "I'll see if I can do something, then."

"Balthazar, wait!"

He paid her no mind, and rushed down the hill. His hands felt clammy, and he exhaled sharply as he tried to think of a way to help. He looked ahead and watched the other Wielders as he made his way down the hill, now in range to hear them calling out to each other. They did seem to be making effective progress, if a bit slow due to the highly defensive nature of the Heartless in question.

"Well," Balthazar muttered to himself, "Maybe just being a distraction will be good enough."

Saying so, he held his hand out to his side and summoned his Keyblade in a flash of light. He felt the magic surge of his medal deck coming to life, and swung his Keyblade forward, sending a sharp blast of water into the side of the Heartless ahead. This caught the monster's attention and, like the Heartless in the Underworld just a couple weeks prior, appeared to send the Heartless into a rage.

The metal slab of a shield crashed into the earth as the Heartless spun towards Balthazar, then was yanked out from the ground in a spray of dirt as the monster began to make its way slowly towards him.

Balthazar realized now that he was much closer to this enormous monster than he really liked, and began backpedaling slowly as he scrambled to figure out what exactly his plan was.

"Tia, now!" a voice called out from behind the Heartless, followed quickly by the shriek of magic crackling through the air and the tell-tale ringing of a flurry of heavy Keyblade attacks. The Heartless let out a warbling growl and a wail, then stumbled forward and began to explode into a cloud of thick smoke.

Balthazar watched this with some wonder, then glanced down at his Keyblade with a shake of his head. "Guess it was enough," he said, stowing the weapon.

As the smoke dissipated, he could begin to see the other two Wielders standing on the other side of it, watching to be sure the Heartless was destroyed. It was not just their hair that matched, and he could see now that they must indeed be twins - one boy, and one girl. He lifted his hand nervously and gave a small wave.

"Uh, hi. Hope you didn't mind me jumping in there, it didn't seem right to just stand by," he said uneasily.

"We had it under control just fine, you didn't need to rush in," the boy said, pulling his sleeve straight and brushing off some dust.

"But thanks anyway," the girl said, batting her companion's arm with an all-too-familiar exasperation. "You don't need to be so mean about it," she chided, before turning towards Balthazar with a curious smile. "I'm certainly not going to complain about the gods of Olympus dropping you into our laps."

"Gods of Olympus…? Huh. I don't know about that, but, um, my name's Balthazar. It's good to meet you."

The girl stepped forward a bit, a hand curled up against the bottom of her jaw. "Balthazar, huh? I'm happy to meet you," she motioned towards her companion, "Mr. Grumpy is my brother Touma, and I'm Talia, but," she paused, leaning towards him with her hands clasped tightly together at her side, "you can call me Tia."

Balthazar rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, heh, alright, thanks. Good to meet you both."

Touma, who was knelt on the ground checking on the contents in his pouch, took a moment to nod his head up towards the hilltop. "I think your friend needs the help more than we do, looked like she took a tumble earlier."

"Oh, no! Is she alright?" Talia asked, eyes immediately scanning the hilltops for signs of anyone in trouble.

"Ah, right, Velcia's fine, actually," Balthazar said, motioning towards her. "Just, uh, a bit shy."

The others turned to look at her, and all of the sudden attention sent Velcia's eyes in shock and she promptly hid her face behind her sketchbook - Balthazar could perfectly hear her embarrassed squeak inside his head.

Talia chuckled. "You weren't kidding!"

"I see," Touma said, turning to his sister. "Tia, are you ready to get going?"

"Oh, already?" she complained. "But we just met them-"

"And we've got a long way to go today," Touma said, "And we got a later start than I wanted to."

Tia rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh, come on Tou, let it go."

Balthazar bit his tongue, then looked back up to see Velcia's green eyes peering ever so slightly over the top of her book pages. "Hey, uh, I don't suppose you two are going to the Underworld, are you?"

Touma froze mid-step, and glanced out the corner of his eye. "I don't really see what business it is of yours."

"Oh, don't be so grumpy!" Tia said, shaking her head. She turned towards Balthazar, hands clasped together at her side. "We ARE going to the Underworld - am I so lucky that you're heading that way too?"

"I, uh," Balthazar paused, looking between the two and debating with himself for a moment as to exactly which set of signals he was going to listen to. Ultimately, Velcia's eager voice ringing in the back of his mind won out. "Well, see, my friend Velcia and I have been wanting to go to the Underworld, yes, but… well, we're not exactly strong enough to go down on our own."

"Huh, that's too bad," Touma said, reaching out for Tia's hand to pull her along.

Tia retracted from her brother quickly, and in the blink of an eye had dashed over beside Balthazaar. "And?"

"Well, we're kind of hoping we can find someone else to travel with who would be strong enough to fight the monsters and wouldn't mind us tagging along. Uh, Velcia's not great at fighting and I really shouldn't be doing it either, but… I'm not bad for support. I can sense the Heartless before they appear, and we have some healing medals, potions, and a couple ethers…" he trailed off, head tilted to the side. "I… I think."

"Oh, Touma, we can let them tag along, can't we?" Tia asked, voice thick as honey and twice as sweet.

"I don't think it's a great idea," Touma said with an exasperated sigh. "If his friend is really so helpless, she'll probably be in danger no matter what."

Balthazar, seeing his opening, jumped to Velcia's defense. "She won't get in your way. We might not be able to fight very well, but we're not entirely helpless."

Touma glanced back over towards Velcia up on the hill, the sketchbook now catching his attention for the first time. "What's a kid like her want to go into the Underworld for, anyway?"

"It's… a little odd, I guess," Balthazar said, rubbing the back of his neck. "She's sort of a self-styled historian, I suppose you'd say. She likes to make and keep records of Wielders and their efforts, and also tries to record the histories presented in these Projected Worlds. If her clothes didn't give it away, Olympus is her favorite of all these worlds and she's really invested in the history, so… being able to see a place like the Underworld with her own eyes is a pretty big deal to her."

Tia came up ever closer beside her brother, leaning her shoulder against his. "I bet you two would be great frieeeends!" she sang softly.

Touma shook his head with something of an annoyed chuckle. "I don't think Talia's going to let me say no… I won't promise we can take you all the way, but… we can try it."

"Aw, yeah!" Tia cheered, jumping in the air with a triumphant fist raised high.

Balthazar broke into a wide grin. "Thank you, both of you." He turned around, and motioned for Velcia. She seemed confused at first, but figured it out quickly and leapt to her feet, sprinting down the hill towards them with a deftness that greatly surprised Touma.

"Did they say we could come along?" Velcia called out as she approached.

"Yeah! But we gotta make sure we don't get in their way, alright?" Balthazar told her.

"I'm never in anybody's way," Velcia said with a sure nod. "You don't have to worry about me."

Touma sighed. "We'll see. Let's get going."

Velcia started in surprise, but asked no questions and quickly began to follow after Touma who had wasted no time in resuming his rather rapid pace. Velcia glanced over at Balthazar, then towards the smiling Tia. "Uh, I don't even know their names yet!"

Tia laughed, and motioned towards her brother. "That's Touma, and I'm Talia - but you can call me Tia. Velcia, was it?"

"Y-yes! Velcia! That's me!" she said. "You two are so interesting, you look almost just the same!"

"Well, we are twins," Touma grumbled from ahead of them.

"Oh, yes!" Velcia said with a nod. "I thought you must be. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you."

"He's just a little grumpy today," Tia said with a chuckle. "So you want to see what's in the Underworld, huh? Tou and me haven't been there yet, either, but I'm sure we can handle whatever's waiting there just fine," she said with a confident grin.

"Well, Balthazar and I have tried a couple times, but we've only ever got as far as Cerberus before we had to… uhm, leave," Velcia explained, shaking her head as if to clear the memories of their last encounter. "But, I'd really love to see the River Styx, and what lies deeper than that if we can. See, the fables go that normally you have to ride in Charon's boat to reach the Underworld proper, but from what I've heard from the Wielders in town it seems that The Master's version of Olympus has some other way past the River Styx… and if that is true, it seems like an amazing opportunity."

"If we could only make it past Cerberus and all the Heartless," Balthazar added.

Tia held her hand to her chin, looking up at Touma ahead of them as they made their way along the dirt path through the valley. "Hey, Touma!" she called out, continuing once she saw him glance over his shoulder. "How far in do we have to go to complete that Union objective?"

"Past the river, that's for sure," Touma said. "I don't know much other than that."

"Well, there you are then," Tia said with a smile. "Guess it's a good thing we brought you along then, huh? If you're so up on the mythology then maybe you'll be able to help us out down there."

Velcia's face warmed cheerily. "I certainly hope so!"

Balthazar held his hand to his chin ponderously. "If you don't mind me asking, what is this Union objective you were talking about?"

"You don't know?" Tia asked, half expecting this to be a set up for some sort of jest.

Balthazar held his hands out beside him with a shrug. "Well, I'm kind of new to Daybreak Town, and Velcia and I… well, we don't exactly tend to get involved with a lot of the Union stuff."

"It's true," Velcia said with a nod. "We weren't even in a party, until Master Ava told us to make one. And even then… it's only us two."

"Huh. Wow," Tia said, shaking her head. "Well, basically, the Moogle pays you to do certain tasks-"

Touma stopped abruptly in his tracks, shaking his head. "That's… not quite right. The Moogle does help verify the tasks and gives out the rewards, but the Mission Objectives are given to parties by the Foretellers. I think it's a way to help make sure the Wielders can collect as much Light as possible from these worlds we visit."

"I don't really see what was wrong about my explanation," Tia said with a shrug.

Balthazar glanced over towards Velcia. "How much light could there be in a place like the Underworld?"

Velcia shook her head and shrugged weakly.

"You really must be new, huh," Touma said. "Any Heartless destroyed yields Lux that can be collected - it doesn't matter where they are."

"Lux, right," Balthazar said. "Well, there certainly are a lot of Heartless down there."

Touma turned back around, and the group continued walking. The green grass of the hills outside Thebes had browned the further they'd traveled from the city, and now as they entered a rocky, sharp canyon the grass underfoot had disappeared entirely.

It wasn't long until they came to a spot where the tall, imposing canyon walls became speckled with the tell-tale black dots of several cavern openings. Touma stopped and pulled a paper from his pouch, then turned towards the others with a shrug.

"You guys said you've been there before, right? Do you know which cave to go in?"

Velcia practically leaped forward, one finger flung straight ahead. "That one!"

"Oh, what happened to your hand?" Tia exclaimed, coming beside her quickly. "It's all bruised!"

Velcia turned her hand over to see the side of it blackened, and her face turned a beet red as she quickly brought her hand to her side to wipe it off on the pencil-stained cloth she kept slung over the sash over her hips. "Nothing! I'm sorry, it's just pencil! I got so excited to come here I forgot all about it."

"Pencil? You mean graphite?" Touma asked.

Velcia nodded. "Yes, I draw a lot!"

"Ah, so you must have been busy drawing something when you heard us fighting, huh?" Talia asked. "That's cool, Tou draws sometimes too. What were you drawing?"

"Oh, you two!" Velcia exclaimed, and Balthazar could only hold his palm to his face to hide his embarassmentt.

"You… what?" Touma asked, bristling abruptly.

Velcia nodded proudly, taking the sketchbook from the bag at her side. "Well, I always draw pictures of Wielders I see, so that's what I was doing when Balthazar went down to help you."

"You drew us?" Tia asked.

The sketchbook had been opened to the appropriate page, and Velcia turned it towards the others to show them. "You two did a very good job with that Heartless."

Touma's harsh eyes softened a bit the longer he looked at the picture, a small smile beginning to tease at the corner of his mouth. "Heh, well, I guess you did a pretty good job of capturing our fighting styles."

"I'll say!" Tia said with glee, leaning in a little closer to the page. "I look almost as cool as I thought!"

Balthazar couldn't help but chuckle to see Velcia smiling, the expression he knew well to be both satisfaction and great relief. He, too, was glad that they didn't seem to mind too much - not everyone they'd met had been so amicable towards Velcia's 'draw first, ask permission never' way of life.

"I'm really so happy that you're going to help us get through the Underworld," Velcia said, stowing her sketchbook once more. "I have more books, too, and I really can't wait to see what waits for us beyond the Styx and draw it in this one here-"

"Velcia…" Balthazar interrupted.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, retracting her hands and nodding apologetically. "Right, sorry. We should keep going."

"Sounds good to me," Touma said with a nod, before leading the group towards the cavern which Velcia had earlier indicated for him.

A foul, chilly air loomed inside the rocky cavern, surrounding them as they descended through the entrance. It was unsettling and sickly, and yet it would be difficult to describe what exactly felt wrong about it - but this was the atmosphere of death that pervaded the Underworld, and each of the four travelers succumbed to a shiver as they pushed through.

The group stopped for a moment, Touma crossing his arms as he looked down the path ahead. "What's waiting for us down there?" he asked no-one in particular.

Balthazar walked up beside him, his head held high with his eyes closed. "Heartless… a few dozen, but… they're strewn about in the side passages."

"What? You can tell?"

"Well, not really anything more specific than that," Balthazar said sheepishly, opening his eyes. "I can sense their presence pretty easily, but it only helps so much."

Touma nodded slowly, eyes scanning the side passages. "Well, it's good to know we can't be ambushed with you around. What about her?" he asked, motioning his head towards Velcia, "Does she have any powers that might come in handy?"

"Just my pencils!" Velcia reported, smiling awkwardly.

"You've got me!" Tia exclaimed, hands on her hips. "What else do you need?"

"Hmm," Touma hummed to himself, shaking his head and pulling a paper out from his pocket. "\We'd better press on, then."

"Yes, let's!" Velcia exclaimed, hands held eagerly to her backpack straps as the group continued their descent.

Though damp, the smooth rock surface underfoot was not too slippery or difficult to traverse; a fact which sent Velcia's mind tumbling into wild thoughts of speculation and wonder. The Underworld is not a place often visited by mortals, at least not those who still live, yet this unmistakeable path along the cavern floor seemed to whisper tales of hundreds, if not thousands, of weary travelers who came before. The very notion sent chills through her, and she shivered at the thought of legions of lost souls wandering down these eerie trails towards the river Styx.

Balthazar noticed her uncomfortable pallor, and came a bit closer beside her. "It's cold in here, huh?"

"I-it is," Velcia said with a nod. "But, you don't think, if there were lost souls in here, would we see them?"

Balthazar's eyes narrowed as they scanned the cavern. "I don't know. Are there any fables about that? Should we be worried?" He paused, for a second, eyes closed gently as he walked. He opened them, and shook his head. "Well, the only sort of Darkness I can sense is the Heartless in the adjoining caverns, but I don't know if I'd be able to sense lost souls anyway."

"It's just my imagination," Velcia said with a sigh. "This place is just so… well, spooky."

"I'll say," Balthazar agreed. "I guess we didn't notice it before because we were so focused on the Heartless."

Talia matched pace beside them, listening intently. "Don't worry," she said reassuringly, "Me and Touma have been to some pretty dangerous places before. Even if the monsters down here are too strong to get past, we'll do our best to keep you safe long enough for everyone to get away. And, once we know what we're dealing with, we'll be all the more ready for them next time!"

"I'm very happy that you're letting us travel with you," Velcia told her. "I've been starting to worry I may never get to see the Underworld for myself."

Talia smiled confidently, glancing over towards Balthazar. "Oh, I assure you, the pleasure is all mine."

Touma glanced back over his shoulder to see his sister batting her lashes gently towards an oblivious Balthazar, then rolled his eyes and heaved his backpack with a huff. "Well, if the Foretellers have missions for us in the Underworld, they must expect most of the Wielders will be strong enough for it someday. You'll probably be able to manage it once you get enough practice."

Velcia crossed her arms with a forlorn sigh. "I don't know about that."

"Oh, I bet Balthy would be good in a fight if he needed to be," Talia said, bumping him with her elbow.

"Balthy…?" Balthazar repeated, face scrunched. "Uh, well, anyway, I don't know about that, but… thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Is something holding you back?" Talia asked pointedly, "Maybe you just need the right motivation, ooh, like a damsel in distress!"

"I-" Balthazar paused, shaking his head. "It's complicated."

"Just you wait, Balthy, some day I bet your Heart will clear things right up for you," Talia said, almost teasingly.

Balthazar stopped in his tracks, staring out into the distant darkness. He could faintly hear Velcia softly chuckling beside him, no doubt amused by the repeated use of the nickname 'Balthy', but the chill that washed over him left little room to share in the amusement. "My Heart will clear things up," he whispered unsurely.

"Are you alright?" Velcia asked softly.

Balthazar startled briefly, but regained his composure quickly. "Yeah, I think so. Sorry."

Talia put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed so hard."

"No, it's fine," Balthazar said. "Just a lot on my mind lately. We should catch up with your brother, though, huh?"

The three looked ahead to see Touma had been ceaseless in his advance, no doubt aware of their pause but certain that they would take care not to fall too far behind - and if they did decide to turn back, it was not much concern of his.

"Goodness!" Velcia exclaimed, "Oh, he is very quick!"

"Oh, come on," Talia groaned. "Tou! Hey, wait up!" she shouted, dashing after him as she continued to call.

Balthazar and Velcia chased after the both of them, but as they ran Balthazar's eyes widened. "Heartless!" he exclaimed, eyes darting towards the smaller connecting caverns around them. "They're on the way!"

The four stopped, and in the sudden silence they could hear the rumble of approaching, thudding footsteps; faintly at first but quickly building in intensity.

Touma turned around towards Balthazar, eyes steely and focused. "Alright, so what's coming then?"

"There's a bunch of them," Balthazar said quietly as he focused his senses. "A few smaller ones, but… I think there's some big ones with them too."

Touma nodded, then turned towards his sister. "Alright, the small ones will probably be here first. We'll focus on them, and as soon as the bigger ones arrive you direct your attention to them."

"What do you want me to do?" Balthazar asked.

"I don't know, what can you do? No, nevermind, there's no time. Just stand back and let us know if more start coming our way."

Touma and Talia took position in the center of the path, facing towards the pitch-black passageways as their Keyblades flashed to their hands in a sparkling burst of light. The echoing sounds of the Heartless' footsteps were soon joined by a cacophony of monstrous shrieks, and moments later a flood of glowing yellow eyes began to spill out from the darkness as the small Shadow Heartless leaped from the chthonic shroud of the Underworld.

"Tia, now!" Touma called out. The two held their Keyblades straight ahead, and the familiar crackling whistle of magic spells thundered through the caverns as their enchanted medals burst into action.

The boldest of these Shadow Heartless found themselves meeting a quick end in a wave of boiling-hot plumes of fire, though their lagging brethren fared no better under the crackling sparks of Talia's electrical storm that followed. The twins' well-practiced cadence was nearly flawless, each one casting their attacks just as their counterpart's spell began to wane; thus creating a nearly constant wall of elemental fury.

The walls rumbled, and the rocks across the ground shook in rhythm as the heaviest foot-stamps grew louder, and through the fire and flames came charging an enormous, rotund Heartless which was followed closely by several more of the same.

"Large Bodies!" Touma grumbled, glancing over towards his sister - but Talia needed no instruction, and certainly would not have heeded any to the contrary of her instincts, for she had already set herself to the work of dancing aside from the bull-rush attack of one of these large Heartless and striking at it with a heavy blow from behind.

As Balthazar watched, his hands clenched by his sides. Back in Daybreak Town, sitting on the sidelines with Velcia as other Wielders battled the large Heartless had been something that took some getting used it, his instincts always urging him to pitch in, but there he'd come to peace with the fact that Daybreak Town was filled with so many eager Wielders that his own meager contributions were never missed - but here, deep in the caverns of the Underworld, he could hardly bear to stand by.

The skirmish raged on and the cries of the slain Heartless echoed through the dark labyrinthian tunnels; and soon Balthazar could sense more Heartless making their way up from the depths.

"There's more on the way!" he called out.

"Great!" Touma bit sarcastically, taking a bracing step backwards and casting a swathe of magic arrows with a wide sweep of his Keyblade. "Where from?"

"They're coming from all around!" Balthazar said.

"Just let 'em try it!" Talia exclaimed, her Keyblade piercing through a Large Body and exploding the vile creature into a cloud of darkness.

Nearly frantic now, Balthazar turned around quickly in search of his friend. It was difficult to see her in the shadows, but Balthazar was well familiar by now with the sort of spots Velcia took to on the sidelines and soon spotted her sitting against the far rock wall, obscured by a stalagmite as her eyes flickered between her sketchbook and the battle in the cavern.

"Velcia!" he called as he ran over towards her. "This isn't the time to draw, more Heartless are on the way!"

Velcia stood up quickly, and though her expression was clearly reluctant she dutifully stowed her materials without hesitation. "What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know, but I think we're going to need to try to help, at least," Balthazar told her.

It seemed to be nearly all at once that more Heartless poured into the tunnel from all around them. Most of these were focused on Touma and Talia, but several were making their way towards Balthazar and Velcia as well.

"They're cutting us off," Balthazar growled.

"B-Balthazar," Velcia stammered, "We're trapped!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Balthazar could see that even the path behind them was now filled with approaching Heartless as well. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists, trying to think of a way to turn the tides.

Velcia grabbed at the side of his suit jacket, eyes darting around them as she slowly pulled him back towards a corner. "Oh no, no, no, we shouldn't have come here again."

"We'll figure it out," Balthazar said, looking over towards the twins again. Though surrounded, they did seem to be holding their own. He looked back down towards Velcia, and grabbed her hand. "Come on, quick, follow me!"

Nearly pulling her along behind him, Balthazar dashed off, weaving under and around the Heartless to try to get closer to Touma. Velcia yelped as she skittered along behind him, but eventually they found themselves stuck in another corner.

"This will have to do," Balthazar muttered. "Touma!" he called out.

"Kind of busy!" Touma yelled back.

"I know! But I'm going to need your help in a second here!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Touma demanded.

Velcia glanced between Balthazar and the glowing eyes of the encroaching circle of Heartless. "What are you going to do?!"

"Just hold on tight to me, alright?" Balthazar said, taking a deep breath. He held his hand out ahead of him, and in a flash of light his Keyblade appeared in his hand.

For a moment, it appeared as though this radiant burst stopped time itself in the cavern as every Heartless paused in their tracks, then slowly turned towards Balthazar and his glowing green-and-black Keyblade.

Touma and Talia stood up straight, looking around at the Heartless in bewilderment. Touma followed their gaze to see Balthazar standing in the center of all their attention, and his face flashed with an uncharacteristic sense of great unease. "What the hell…"

And then, just as quickly as they stopped, the Heartless sprang back into fury with a chorus of deafening roars, each one thundering past the twins towards Balthazar and Velcia.

Touma could see flashes of purple light at the center of this, where Balthazar and Velcia stood, but little else.

"Touma, their backs are turned to us!" Talia exclaimed, whipping her Keyblade to the ready. "Come on, we have to help them!"

The two sprung forward into action, slinging the most powerful attacks they could muster at the crowd of Heartless ahead. Somewhere within the crowd they could hear the creaks and groans of monsters and magic, and so they pressed on.

The Heartless were so enraged and so focused that they hardly seemed to notice as the twins hacked them to pieces from behind, but as they did a chill wind rushed along the ground at their feet. The sound of a shattering snap broke out from ahead of Touma and Talia, and only a moment later they saw Balthazar and Velcia falling to the ground from a dark portal behind them.

"Tou, how did they do that?" Talia asked, eyes wide.

"I don't know, but let's finish this before we ask questions," Touma said, locking his jaw and resuming his magical barrage.

Whatever had happened, it seemed to have confused the Heartless just as much as anyone else, and it was not overly difficult for the twins to take advantage of the Heartless' dazed state and finish what was left of them.

As they destroyed the last of the Heartless, Balthazar knelt down beside Velcia who was sitting on the rock with her legs by her side, shaking softly. "Hey, everything's alright now," he assured her.

"I-i know," she trembled softly. "But that was… that was really close."

"Yeah… but I don't know what else we could have done," he told her sadly.

"Hey, Balthazar!" Touma called out. "Any more on the way?"

Balthazar shook his head. "I can't sense any more right now."

"Perfect," Touma said, walking towards them now. "So what the hell was that?"

"Be nicer, Tou," Talia chided, looking towards Velcia with an empathetic shake of her head.

Balthazar grimaced, and looked down at the Keyblade in his hand. "Sorry… that… that's why I can't fight," he said softly. "I don't know what it is, but… whenever I wield my Keyblade, it seems to send the Heartless into some sort of berserker rage."

Talia bit her lip pensively. "Heh, normally I'd think that sounds like a lot of fun, but for you guys…"

"That purple glow," Touma interrupted. "That was magic, right? And not from a Keyblade either. It felt like dark magic."

"Y-yeah," Balthazar said softly. "I… well, I'm a lot newer to a Keyblade than I am to magic spells. I really only know some basic spells, and they're defensive ones at that…"

Touma nodded softly. "Huh… alright then. So a shield and a dark portal of some sort, yeah?"

"Of some sort, yeah," Balthazar repeated.

Touma ran his hand through his hair. "Well, we're alive at least. Don't know how many more encounters like that we can deal with, and probably won't know until I've had a chance to take stock," he trailed off, counting on his fingers for a moment before letting out a scoff. "Yeah, I don't know how many ethers and potions we had to use."

Velcia stood up, her knees wobbling beneath her. "It might be good to wait a couple minutes," she said sheepishly.

Balthazar closed his eyes, reaching out into the far reaches with his senses. "I still don't sense any Heartless nearby."

Touma wiped the dust off his face with the back of his hand. "This'll be a good place to regroup and reorganize," he said, gently lowering his backpack to the ground and opening it.

Velcia crawled over and peered down at the bag as Touma sat down on the cold rock. It was filled with all manner of bottles, books, medals, and other items. She, too, sat down nearby, completely oblivious to the soft, unappreciative scoff let out by Touma as she did.

"You're so well-organized," Velcia began as she watched Touma remove the items from his bag one-by-one and set them aside. "I try to keep my backpack organized, but I only really seem to be able to keep my art supplies in order."

"You should see Tia's bag," Touma said, shaking his head. "It's complete chaos."

Velcia glanced over towards Tia, seeing that she seemed to be rather preoccupied talking to Balthazar about something, then returned her attention to Touma's growing collection of items on the ground. One of the ether vials, glowing a beautiful shade of green, had taken advantage of her distraction and rolled a bit away from the rest of its kind, and so she reached over and set it back where it belonged.

Touma paused and watched for a moment as the vial rolled away from them again, chuckling to himself as Velcia let out a small gasp before quickly snatching it up and putting it back in its rightful place - only to have it roll away again.

"Oh, it just won't stay," she complained.

Another set of items from the bag was removed and set nearby to these, and Velcia's face grew just a bit paler to see many of these begin to roll a bit away as well. Leaning forward on all fours now, she began to re-organize them, being sure to set the bottles into divots in the rock floor where they could not escape her.

"You don't have to do that," Touma said with an amused grin. "I'm going to be putting them right back in the bag in just a few moments."

"I must," Velcia said simply, continuing her work. "Only, you do seem to be very well stocked. What are you looking for?"

"I'm not looking for anything right now, I'm just making sure things stay organized. If I need one of these items in the next battle, I don't want to have to waste time digging around for it. Plus, now that there's four of us, I need to make sure we have enough supplies," Touma told her.

"Oh, Balthazar and I have a few items," Velcia told him. She was still working to organize everything, and was grateful that there appeared to be no new items emerging from the bag. "And if you need help, I do have a few healing medals that I can use."

Touma stopped and sat up a bit straighter, hand hovering over the bag. "Ah… Uh, so," he paused, rubbing his forearm before continuing. "Guess I should have told you sooner, but… please don't try to help me like that, not with potions, medals, or spells, okay?"

"O-oh!" Velcia stuttered, sitting up now as well. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"I'm not offended," Touma said, taking a deep breath. "Let's just say that if you try to use anything magic on me when I'm not expecting it, it'll do a lot more harm than good, alright?"

Velcia tilted her head curiously. "Really? I've never heard of anything like that before."

"Not many people have," Touma said with a sigh. He looked down into his bag, glancing over at his now well-organized supplies on the ground nearby. He gave a quick, approving nod, and set back to re-packing them.

As Velcia watched, a set of familiar metal loops just visible in the back of the bag caught her attention, and before Touma had any opportunity to voice an audible objection she quickly pulled out a notebook and began turning it over to take a look.

"Oh, is this the drawing book that Talia told me about?" Velcia asked curiously, cracking apart the pages.

Touma sputtered and shook his head, reaching to take the book back to little avail; Velcia had sat down comfortably and the spread of glass potion vials between them prevented a quick advance. He stood up now, a growl in his voice. "Hey, give that back. You don't have any business grabbi-"

"You're a very good map-maker," Velcia said happily as she thumbed through the pages, her mouth slowly opening in wonder. "And amazingly well-organized, too! Do you have maps of everywhere you've been…?"

"You didn't even listen to me," Touma said, crossing his arms. "You can't just grab it like that."

Velcia glanced up at him, then opened her mouth in surprise at the sight of his dour expression. "Oh… oh no, I'm sorry," she said, standing up and closing the book and offering it back to him.

Touma snatched it away indignantly. "You could try asking, at the very least."

Her posture now melting from the heat of shame, Velcia could only nod sadly. "I just… I don't even realize what I'm doing sometimes, I really didn't mean to be rude," she told him, wringing her hands together. "I… I really did think it was amazing, though. You had so much information, and so many helpful notes and pictures of places I've never even seen…"

"I… thanks, I guess," Touma said, sitting back down and resuming his packing.

Velcia sat down as well, tucking her hands firmly underneath her legs, lest they get too grabby again. Her eyes could not be restrained, though, and as she watched him replace the notebook she could see now that it was only one of a set.

"Oh, you have more!" she exclaimed, bouncing a bit but being sure to be mindful of her hands. "What have you got in them?"

Touma let out an exasperated breath and sat back, eyes closed, and for a moment Velcia thought he may be about to speak to her quite harshly. Instead, she found herself quite surprised to hear him chuckling.

"You're really something else, aren't you? Alright, fine. I try my best to document everything, Heartless, Medals, new locations, anything that might be of use or interest in our missions. Each of these books is dedicated to a different category, see," he said, pulling out a ruby-red book and cracking it open. "This one has all the information on medals I've seen or collected, what they do, and I've included cross-reference numbers that help me keep track of what types of Heartless they're most effective against," Touma explained to her. "I'm sure you must do something similar, so I hardly think it should be so interesting to you."

"Oh, no, very much the opposite!" Velcia exclaimed, leaning forward to look at the pages. "I'm mostly focused on the Wielders of Daybreak Town, and their exploits. It is true that I have started trying to keep records of what happens in these Projected Worlds as well, but, hm, I'm more focused on the history inside them really. I'm no good at fighting and bad at earning Jewels, so… I wouldn't be able to learn nearly as much about Heartless and Medals as you have."

Touma sat back, hand on his chin. "That's… kind of interesting, actually. So you're really not down here in the Underworld for a Union objective?"

"Nope," Velcia said, head swaying. "I don't really pay attention to those. I really do just want to learn more about the Underworld, and see how it compares to the legends."

Touma glanced over towards Balthazar, who was standing next to a very talkative Talia. "So what about him then?"

"He's helping me!" Velcia said happily. "Balthazar's my best friend. We're not in a party, so-" she stopped, and shook her head. "Well, we are now, but it's only just the two of us. We haven't had any luck recruiting other people. So for now, and maybe even forever, it's just me and Balthazar."
"So he just… follows you around, and does whatever you want?" Touma asked, watching his sister knowingly.

"Well, not really," Velcia said, crossing her arms with something of a pout. "Sometimes I want to do things that he thinks are bad ideas… he's usually right."

"Right. Well," Touma paused, taking one final glance over at Talia before resuming his packing. "At least I don't have to worry about him with Tia, then."

Velcia nodded. "He's not mean at all!"

"Uh-huh," Touma murmured, "Just forget I said anything."

Balthazar had been watching them from across the way, and turned towards Talia. "If Velcia's bothering him too much, I can step in… I know he's in a hurry."

"I think a little socialization's good for Touma," Talia said, hands on her hips. "He's not exactly fast when he reorganizes, anyway."

The two couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Touma yet again batting Velcia's curious hands away from the books in the bag.

Balthazar shrugged, hand to his chin. "I suppose it's probably good for Velcia, too. It's good that he has some boundaries with her."

"So…" Talia started slowly. "You guys siblings, too?"

"No."

Talia's mouth scrunched up in a momentary flash of disappointment, but it was gone before it could be noticed. "Ah, I see."

"I know how it looks, just the two of us in a party by ourselves," Balthazar shook his head. "We're just friends, really."

"You don't say? So, not dating either then?"

"You wouldn't be the first person to tease us about it," Balthazar told her. "But it really is true."

"Well, I wouldn't tease you about a thing like that," Talia said sweetly. "I'm sure some lucky girl will catch your attention some day."

Balthazar looked over at Talia to see her smiling with bright, rosy cheeks. "Thanks," he said with a sigh. "Honestly, there's too much going on for me to think about a thing like romance. Life's just complicated, you know?"

"Oh, I certainly do!" Talia said, shaking her head softly and tapping her foot.

Velcia ran over beside Balthazar, and Touma followed at a much more casual pace as he re-situated his backpack. "Are you ready to go?" he asked gruffly.

"Yeah, should be," Balthazar said with a nod. "I don't sense any more Heartless nearby, so with any luck we should be able to make it to Cerberus without too much trouble."

Touma's eyes narrowed slightly, but he turned and began to walk down the path regardless. "It's not normal for a Wielder to be so in-tune with Darkness, you know."

Balthazar sighed, but did his best to keep pace. "Yeah, I know. It's not exactly something I'm happy about, I'll have you know."

"That's not a reassuring thing to hear when I'm traveling deep into the Underworld with my sister," Touma bit quietly.

Balthazar looked back over his shoulder to see Velcia and Talia talking. Talia was making motions with her hands and fingers that looked as if she were miming confetti falling, and Velcia was positively enraptured by whatever story was being told.

"Look, I'm sorry. Velcia and I can turn back and leave you two alone. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"...It's fine for now. Just don't make me regret it, alright? I don't know what the deal was with those Heartless back there, but if you have any more surprises like that waiting I'd rather you tell me now."

"That… that should be the worst of it," Balthazar told him, slumping a bit now. "Look, I… I was brought to Daybreak Town after my world fell to Darkness. I almost died, myself… I owe my life to The Master of Masters for saving me. I couldn't tell you what he actually did, but all this weird stuff about me…. This sensitivity to Heartless, the natural affinity for Dark magic… it's all a side effect of him saving me. I know that you don't really have any reason to believe me, bu-"

"No…" Touma interrupted, his voice a bit softer than it had been before. "I think I understand. Sorry to hear that. You didn't hear me talking with your friend earlier, did you?"

"Velcia? No, I didn't. Talia was telling me about, uh… crepes?"

"Figures, she's been on those all week," Touma said, shaking his head. "Anyway, I was telling her earlier that you guys shouldn't try to use any spells or potions on me. I've got… heh, well, let's just say some magic-related trouble of my own. So I get it."

Balthazar smiled, his eyes reflecting the relief he felt. "Oh, that's… thank you. And I'll make sure we remember about the magic."

"Good. Now, let's go find this Cerberus."

Author's Note:

Down into the Underworld once more, it sure is fortunate for Velcia and Balthazar to have Touma and Talia along to help them. Touma and Talia are characters created by good friend AmyHayaNora, and I am so happy to be able to have them join us for this section of the story. Thank you so much, Amy, for letting some of your characters come and be a part of this story, and for working with me to help make sure that they were just right! The story as a whole has grown so much better for their inclusion.