AN: Hey, what's up everybody?! For those of you who don't know, or haven't already figured it out, I am lyokoMARVELanime, the myth, the legend, and the mastermind behind the stories such as the Gundam SEED Prime Series, Code: Avengers, and more, and now, I present to you my first ever Kingdom Hearts story! Now before anyone goes accusing me of being unoriginal with the title, I just want to say, cut me some slack, there are only so many good titles to use with this kind of story, and if you think you know the Kingdom Hearts story, well then you should leave what you know in the video games or in a story that follows that same continuity, because you will find many differences between that and this story's continuity. Okay, maybe not many differences, but enough for this to be very different from what you know.

To be honest, I wasn't really sure I was going to roll with this idea for a while for a two reasons, aside from the fact that I've got a few other active projects at the moment that I still haven't finished but fully intend to. One of those reasons, obviously, being that I've never written a Kingdom Hearts story before, and I'm a little nervous about how well I do with portraying the characters and how the story goes, but after reading a few other stories on here, I've got a bit more confidence in this story. The other reason is because the idea of this story just came to me at random when the trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past suddenly popped into my head one day while I was playing Birth by Sleep, so I was a little unsure of how well it would turn out as a full on story, but after fleshing the idea out a bit, I like to think that it's at a point where I think it will be a pretty decent adventure.

And now that I've likely bored you all to death with this long winded author's note, and no, I don't mean literally Hades!

Hades: Damn it!

AN: Let's get on with the show!

I do not own anything from Kingdom Hearts or any other franchise mentioned in this story.

Chapter 1

When looking back through history, many only see the darkest moments in existence, and when one is swept up in a war to defend what little light is left in existence, it becomes even more difficult to see anything but that darkness. This especially holds true for a small group of warriors who were currently fighting against the creatures that appeared to be living shadows known as the Heartless, as they did their best to retreat from the world they were currently on before they too were swept up into the vast, dark portal that was now dominating the sky and swallowing the world whole. This group of four warriors had hoped to be able to secure this particular world's keyhole before it was too late, as it was one of the few worlds left that had not been swallowed up in darkness, much to the surprise of many, but unfortunately, they were already too late, and Olympus Coliseum was falling into darkness along with those who inhabited it, assuming that they had not already found a way to escape to the world of Traverse Town.

Now, the four warriors of the light were moving as fast as they could back to the Gummi Ship that they had traveled to the world in before they too were swallowed up by the darkness, and neither the Heartless, nor the silver colored monsters known as Dusks were making that any easier for the group being led by a young boy with spiky, brown hair in a black jacket and pants, a red shirt, a silver crown necklace, and black shoes with yellow laces, who carried what appeared to be a large, silver key with a gold handle, which was the legendary weapon known as the Keyblade. "Keep moving! We're almost there," the young boy called back.

"Sora, we're not going to make it," one of his comrades called up to him. The boy in particular bared a striking resemblance to Sora, aside from his blonde, less spiky hair, and was decked out in grey pants, a black t-shirt, a white jacket, a black and white checkered bracelet on one arm, a pair of rings on one hand that were black and white, and grey shoes, and he carried a pair of weapons similar to Sora's, except for the fact that one was silver with a star where the teeth were and had a star shaped keychain attached to the handle and the other was black with a black keychain that seemed to be a black version of the crown necklace that Sora wore.

The bright red haired boy in tan pants, red shoes, a sleeveless white shirt, sleeveless orange vest, and yellow and black stripped scarf that was next to the blonde only scoffed, "You really doubting your other, Roxas? That's not like you."

"Shut it, Lea," Roxas snapped at his red haired best friend.

"Lea, Roxas, both of you shut it! We're almost there, so stop gossiping and keep running," the dark red haired girl in front of them and just a short ways behind Sora snapped at them both. The girl in question was dress in a pink and white dress with a black hood, purplish-pink sneakers and a pair of bracelets on one of her arms, and carried a key shaped weapon of her own that was gold and seemed to be decorated with a flowery design.

"Great. Now you've got Kairi mad at us with your doubting," Lea moaned. "You know that your girlfriend's gonna know about it when we get back and give us both a hard time right?"

"You and the traitor have bigger problems at the moment, warrior of the light," a female voice that sounded a bit like Kairi's suddenly cut in. The group then skidded to a sudden halt and saw a girl in a long black coat that bore a striking resemblance to Kairi except for the shorter, black hair, holding what appeared to be a copy of Roxas's black Keyblade in her hand standing in their way.

Sora and Kairi were quick to assume a fighting stance while Roxas just looked ahead sadly before he called out, "Get out of our way Xion! I don't want to fight you."

"Too bad, traitor," Xion spat. "It's part of my mission to eliminate you, and if I get to destroy your original and the rest of the last remaining guardians of the light, then all the better for both me and the master."

"Sorry you feel that way then," Lea suddenly muttered as he summoned a red and silver Keyblade in a burst of flames before charging forward with a powerful swing, unleashing a massive inferno around him as he did that had caused the other three to jump out of the way before they were burned by the flames. Sora and Roxas were quick to turn around and re-summon their Keyblades, but they immediately stopped when Lea suddenly shouted, "No, don't worry about me! Just go on and get out of here while I hold them off!"

"Lea, don't be stupid," Sora shouted. "You know what will happen if they take you down!"

"Yeah man," Roxas immediately shouted in agreement. "We can't risk letting one of Organization XIII's members get stronger if you get taken out!"

"Better that than all of us getting taken out, and having both Axel and this little bitch here getting stronger," Lea argued. "Look, we don't have time to argue on this you guys. You're the ones who stand the best chance of saving the worlds and restoring the light. I'm just a guy who was playing a supporting role, so if I've got to give up my life so that you can get away, then I'm fine with that, because I know that I'll just keep living on in the memories of people I've met. It's up to you guys now! Got it memorized?!"

Roxas was about to protest again, when Sora placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head before saying, "It's already too late to change his mind, and you know it, Roxas. We've gotta go."

The three then turned away from their red haired, fire loving friend and made a mad dash for the yellow and red ship that was already starting up its engines. Lea looked up at the ship as it began to take off, and then smirked before he pushed Xion off of him with his Keyblade. "They won't get far, you know," Xion snarled. "You've only delayed their destruction."

"Actually, I've done exactly what I said I would do," Lea quipped as he started to glow with a crimson, flaming aura. "You're not going to be going after them because you'll be too busy getting BURNED! GOT IT MEMORIZED?!"

The minute Lea had said that, Xion realized what the pyromaniac was planning and just barely managed to cast a Reflega spell in time to block the kamikaze inferno that her opponent had just unleashed. When the shield dropped, Xion looked around at what little remained of the home of Hercules and his other friends to see that nearly all the Dusks and Heartless were vaporized by the fires, leaving her and the forces she had brought with her in no condition to pursue the escaping keybearers. As she looked over the incinerated battlefield once more, Xion could do nothing more than let out a cry of rage at what the infuriating other of Axel had done, which had quelled the minute said individual appeared next to her via a dark portal. "So my other decided to give up his own life to the darkness all so our old buddy Roxas and his new friends could get away huh," Axel asked as he walked up to the girl.

"Not the time, Axel," Xion snarled, angrily.

"Relax, Xion," Axel reassured the girl. "It's not like this is some kind of major setback, or anything. I mean, with this, there's barely any worlds left in the light, and now, old Yen Sid's forces are down to even more pathetic numbers than before. I'd count this as a victory, especially seeing as what this does for me."

"Tell that to Saix, the superior, and the master," Xion muttered bitterly.

"Are you seriously worried about that right now," Axel chuckled a bit. "Look, don't worry about Saix. I can deal with him, and besides, at least you were able to succeed in the original, primary goal of your mission, so there's no way that the superior and the master can complain."

Xion thought over Axel's words for a minute before she finally sighed and conceded, "I guess you're right, Axel."

"Well of course I am," Axel replied smugly. "You've really gotta learn how to think 'glass-half-full' instead of 'half-empty'. Got it memorized?"

Xion just shook her head with a slightly relaxed smile before she and Axel walked back through the corridor of darkness that Axel had come through a minute ago to return to their base, relishing at the sight of the last of Olympus Coliseum falling into darkness as they did.

In the world that was known only as the Mysterious Tower, retired Keyblade master and master sorcerer, Yen Sid, was sitting stoically at his desk in deep thought as he focused on the warriors of light that he had sent to Olympus Coliseum when a soft gasp brought him out of his concentration for a moment. "What is wrong, Naminé," Yen Sid asked the blonde haired girl in a white, lace dress that reached her mid-thighs, and blue sandals who was standing by one of the windows with a sketch pad in one of her hands.

"Olympus Coliseum's star," Naminé answered quietly. "It's gone out."

Yen Sid immediately stood up from his seat and gazed out at the few stars that remained in the eternal night skies of his homeworld to see that the blonde artist was correct. After focusing his powers for a minute, he let out a rare sigh of relief before informing Naminé, "Do not worry. Roxas and the others are alright, and they are on their way back here now." Naminé smiled in relief herself before she saw that Yen Sid had suddenly adopted a small expression of sorrow just as the master sorcerer said, "But…I cannot sense young Lea with them."

Naminé gasped in shock at this, knowing what it likely meant for Lea before she turned away to let a few tears fall at the loss of her friend. "Do not try to hide your tears Naminé," Yen Sid told her. "It is not wrong to shed tears of sorrow when one hears of the loss of a life, nor is it something to be ashamed of." Naminé smiled in thanks to the wizened sorcerer before said sorcerer glanced out the window once again and then suddenly found his eyes widening in shock at what he saw. "What in the worlds…"

Naminé raised an eyebrow in confusion before she too glanced out the window and gasped in shock at what the master sorcerer saw. The sky suddenly seemed to be lit up with millions of stars at once, as opposed to its usual near handful of stars, before suddenly seeming to shift back to the handful of stars once again. "Master Yen Sid, what did we just see," Naminé asked.

Yen Sid did not answer right away but instead simply moved to one of the bookshelves in the room and took one of the many tomes off the shelf and leafing through it for a moment. When he finally seemed to find what he was looking for, Yen Sid looked to Naminé again and said, "Naminé, summon Mickey hitherto at once. Inform Sora and the others to quicken their pace to here as well."

"Of course, but why," the blonde girl asked.

Yen Sid glanced out the window for a moment before giving his young magic protégé a strong, confident look that promised astonishing news. The look did not disappoint, as Yen Sid's answer to Naminé's question was simply, "So that they may learn of what is likely our last, best hope of ending Xehanort's terrible darkness at long last."

Naminé could not believe her ears, but she knew that if Yen Sid was telling her this then it was not very likely to be something to be taken lightly, and she immediately raced into the next room to do as her master had asked her to, leaving the retired Keyblade master alone with his thoughts for a moment. After Naminé had left, Yen Sid glanced at the magic tome in his hands before wondering aloud, "Could it truly be that everything that has happened…was not meant to have?"

Sora and his two friends were all terribly saddened after seeing their friend, Lea give his life so that they could escape to fight the darkness another day, but when they had received Naminé's message from Yen Sid, they immediately shook it off and accelerated the Gummi Ship towards the Mysterious Tower at its maximum speeds. Upon arriving at the small island that the strangely shaped tower stood on in a multi-colored sea, they immediately recognized two familiar, animalistic faces standing at the door waiting for them. "Donald! Goofy," Sora exclaimed happily upon seeing the two.

"Sora," the royal magician and captain of the guard of Disney Castle exclaimed as they jumped Sora in a massive group hug that knocked the spiky haired boy off his feet, eliciting a laugh from Roxas and a small giggle from Kairi. After the three had finally gotten up after their happy reunion, Donald had to ask, in his usual squawking tone, "What took you so long? We thought you'd be here hours ago!"

"Uh, but Donald, we've only been out here for half an hour," Goofy suddenly cut in.

"Shut it, ya big palooka," Donald quacked at his long time best friend. "It doesn't change the fact that they took forever to get here!"

"Sorry guys," Kairi said. "We had a little trouble getting the Gummi Ship going for a while."

"Let me guess, you guys forgot the most important rule about flying on a Gummi Ship, again. No frowning, no sad faces," Donald reminded them.

"Well to be fair, it's a little hard to have a happy face when you've just lost a good friend," Roxas muttered, but Goofy and Donald still heard him, and that was when they finally noticed who was missing.

"Ya mean…Lea…" Goofy asked sadly, showing that he was about to start crying.

"Not fair," Donald moaned just as sadly. "Why is it always such a good guy?"

"Gosh fellas, no need to get so depressed. After all, there's still a chance to save both Lea and everyone else that's been lost in this terrible war," a high pitched voice suddenly cut in, and everyone's attention was suddenly drawn to the small, anthropomorphic mouse in a red and white outfit, white gloves, and yellow shoes that were a lot like Sora's standing in front of the doors.

"Your majesty," Kairi exclaimed. "I mean, Mickey, what're you doing here and…what do you mean by that?"

"It's a little hard to explain right now," Mickey Mouse, the king of Disney Castle replied. "But it would be better if Master Yen Sid told you all. Come on in, and hurry. We might not have much time."

Sora and the others looked between themselves for a minute before nodding to Mickey, and let the mouse king lead them into the strangely shaped, magical tower, and up to Yen Sid's study. The minute they entered, both Kairi and Roxas's faces lit up with joy upon seeing the young woman in a white dress who's long, blonde hair draped over one shoulder and immediately called out, "Naminé!"

Naminé immediately beamed at the sight of the two and immediately gave her other a tight hug and her boyfriend a quick kiss in reply before saying, "It's so good to see both!"

"Hey, what about me? Don't I get a hug," Sora asked.

"Nope," Naminé replied with a slightly cheeky smile. "Although that's mostly because I'm not sure if I should hug you or kiss you since you are technically Roxas's original."

"I'd go with the former of those options if I were you, sister," Kairi warned Naminé. The red haired girl did not care if the blonde was her Nobody. If she made any kind of romantic move on her Sora, Kairi would make sure the young artist was well acquainted with her Keyblade. Wait, my Sora? Where did that come from?

Naminé just giggled in response to Kairi's warning and Sora's flustered expression, which was soon accompanied by Kairi's face gaining a small blush, and decided to alleviate the twos worries by giving Sora a quick hug just as Yen Sid entered the room. "Welcome young wielders of the Keyblade," the sorcerer greeted. "I am pleased that you all made it here as quickly as you did, but I'm afraid that we do not have much time for pleasantries, nor for mourning our most recent loss."

"Exactly what's going on Master Yen Sid," Sora asked, his face gaining a serious expression that still made the others think was very strange and out of place on the wielder of the Kingdom Key in comparison to his usual happy, goofy smile to this day.

Yen Sid strode over to his desk and sat down in the large chair as the group gathered around it. "Tell me, my young friends, have you ever wondered if this existence is not what it should be," Yen Sid asked. The unsure glances in response to this question seemed to be all the confirmation that Yen Sid needed before he continued, "Such feelings may not be misplaced, for most recently, Naminé and I had witnessed the truly startling sight of the stars in the sky suddenly changing to a great number before returning to the few that we have seen nearly day after day for so many years. A moment later, I suddenly found myself having a glimpse into the past, to a moment that may have been the defining point to the history that we all know so well, but I also sensed that something was wrong with this moment as well."

"What're you saying, Master," Kairi asked, truly confused, but feeling as though that she understood what the elderly man was getting at.

"I believe that something in history is not as it should have been," Yen Sid explained. "And as such, I believe that the solution before us is quite simple. If we are to truly emerge victorious in this war, we must do as our enemy has appeared to have done."

"Whaddya mean," Mickey exclaimed in surprise.

Before Yen Sid could say anything, Naminé suddenly exclaimed, "Master, it's happening again! Look outside!"

Everyone immediately drove their attention to the window and saw the few stars suddenly expand into the infinite numbers that they should have been before changing back to the mere handful that made up the sky again, and then continued to do so as Sora, Kairi, and Roxas all suddenly felt a great pain erupt in their chests and heads. As the three fell to their knees, they were soon greeted by strange visions of three Keyblade warriors, two men and a woman, fighting against Xehanort and a mysterious masked boy alongside Mickey. What came as an even greater shock was that one of the three Keyblade warriors bore a very striking resemblance to Roxas that would have made them think that the two were actually twin brothers. Eventually, the visions ceased and they looked up to see Mickey, Naminé, and all the others looking down at them in concern.

"Gawrsh, what happened fellers," Goofy asked the three worriedly.

"I…I saw Mickey…fighting Xehanort," Sora explained slowly as Donald and Goofy helped him up while Naminé did the same for Kairi and Mickey for Roxas. "And someone in a mask…but he was fighting with three other people as well…with their own Keyblades."

"And strange armor…two men and a young woman," Kairi suddenly added on, almost as if she knew what Sora was going to say next.

"And one of which who looked a lot like me," Roxas suddenly finished. "There's no way that can be a coincidence."

"You are correct, Roxas," Yen Sid informed the three. "It seems that you had a similar vision to the one that I myself had before your arrival. This can only mean that we must act quickly if we are to set things right."

"But, who were they," Sora asked.

"They were Keyblade Masters Aqua, Terra, and Ventus," Mickey replied calmly, but no one missed the small amount of sadness in his tone. "They were students under the late Master Eraqus, and three good friends of mine. They were also the first ones to fight against Master Xehanort when he finally revealed his true colors, but sadly their efforts were in vain."

"What…what happened to them," Kairi asked, fearing the answer.

"Terra allowed Xehanort to trick him into succumbing to darkness before Xehanort took control of his body, and Ventus fell at the hands of Xehanort's apprentice, Vanitas, the masked boy that you all saw, leaving Ventus's heart in a shattered state, and his body fell into an eternal slumber until his heart can heal and then return to his body," Mickey explained sadly. "It was not until after Roxas came into being that we learned what had happened to Ven's heart."

"What do you mean," Roxas asked. "What does my creation have to do with this Ventus guy?"

"Sora," Yen Sid suddenly said after a moment. "You carry Ventus's heart within you, and you have done so since a very young age. That is but one reason why you are able to wield the Keyblade, and when you became a Heartless for a moment, Ventus's heart caused Roxas, your Nobody, to gain his appearance."

"So in a way, Roxas is actually two people's Nobody," Sora asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"Whoa," Roxas breathed. While he always knew he was different from most Nobodies, he never even suspected that this would be another reason as to why. To say that it was shocking to the former Key of Destiny was a bit of an understatement.

Despite this shocking news, Kairi had to ask something that had yet to have been explained to them. "What about Master Aqua," Kairi asked. "What happened to her?"

Mickey and Yen Sid both lowered their heads in sadness before Mickey replied, "The last time we saw Aqua, she had taken Ven's body away so that she could hide it away in a place where he would be safe, and before she left, she told us that she intended to confront Xehanort one more time to see if she could bring Terra back. We never saw her again after that."

"I don't get it. What could've possibly happened that would've caused history to change," Sora asked.

"Sometime before their confrontation with Vanitas and Xehanort in the Keyblade Graveyard, there were a series of…events that drove the three of them apart," Mickey explained. "They were all very close friends once, you could even say that they were like family, and I was proud to have a chance to have known them at that time, but something happened after they had met up to defeat a powerful Unversed in Radiant Garden that drove them all apart and destroyed the bond that they had once thought was an unbreakable connection. Those same events also had a devastating effect on me as well."

"And that may be the point where we must begin to set things right," Yen Sid interrupted. At Mickey's look of confusion, Yen Sid explained, "The first time that change happened, I had looked into the book that I keep which holds an accurate record of all events that had transpired in the lives of all those who wielded the Keyblade, and I discovered that the stories of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus seemed to change from what we know them to be into something else, almost as though the events we know had taken place should not have happened."

"So what are we supposed to do," Roxas asked. "It's not like we can change the past."

"That is actually where you are wrong, young Roxas, for that is exactly what we intend to do," Yen Sid corrected. "It is a dangerous task to undertake, traveling through time, but it is what we must do if we are to save the worlds from Xehanort's wrath, and it may very likely be made easier with Naminé's help."

When everyone looked at the Nobody of Kairi in confusion, Naminé immediately explained, "Master Yen Sid believes that if we were to use my powers over Sora's memories and those close to him, we will be able to successfully send someone back to the past with full knowledge of what needs to be done with the only side-effects taking place being those that would happen whether or not they succeed. By doing so, we'll also be able to effectively communicate with them and inform them on whether or not they're making some kind of progress."

"Well what're we waiting for," Goofy asked as he summoned his shield. "Let's get going."

"Hold on there, fellas," Mickey suddenly exclaimed. "Not all of us will be able to go."

"Why not," Donald asked.

"In order for this to work, Sora must be the one to go back, along with one other person who is close to him. Roxas cannot do so because his connection to Ventus will prevent him from being able to travel back as it is much stronger than Sora's, and Mickey cannot either since he played an active role in the events that had unfolded in that time," Yen Sid explained.

"It's also because I was able to use a Keyblade at the time," Mickey then added. "You see, this kind of thing doesn't work, if a Keyblade wielder is going back to a time when he was able to wield the Keyblade."

"So, does that mean that since me and Donald played a part in what happened back then, we can't go either," Goofy asked.

"Yes Goofy, that's right," Mickey replied sadly, getting a groan of sadness from both of his two best friends.

At that point, Donald suddenly perked up and exclaimed, "But then, that means that the only person who can go with Sora is…"

Everyone's eyes immediately fell upon the red haired Princess of Heart in the same moment of realization that the duck sorcerer had just had. "Me," Kairi exclaimed. "But I can't…"

"Kairi, you're the only other one who can," Mickey informed the young girl. "And keep in mind out of all the Keybearers we have, you and Sora are our best, so this shouldn't be any problem for ya."

Kairi lowered her head in thought for a minute until she suddenly felt someone's hand holding her own in calm reassurance, and she turned to see Sora's smiling at her as he seemed to silently tell her that he believed she could do this. After returning Sora's smile and giving his hand a light squeeze in thanks, Kairi turned to the others and nodded in acceptance before Sora asked, "So what do we have to do?"

Yen Sid gave a small smile to the two strongest remaining Keybearers before he gestured for them to follow him into the next room, where a pair of beds had been laid out. "You will both need to lie down here and relax yourselves as Naminé and I perform the spell. As we are doing so though, Xehanort's forces will likely use the opportunity to attack this world in an attempt to stop us and eliminate us once and for all."

Sora was about to argue against the plan when he heard that until Mickey said, "Don't worry Sora, I've already contacted all your friends from other worlds that had made it to Traverse Town, and they'll be here soon enough to give us a hand in keeping this world safe until you've both done what you need to do."

Sora nodded in acceptance of this and then sat down on one of the beds as Kairi began to lay back on the other. "So, we wake up somewhere in the past and then what do we do?"

"Find Terra, Aqua, Ven, and me," Mickey replied. "Convince each of us of all this. It'll take all four us to stop whatever had happened to change the past, and we'll need to be side by side at a moment when those three couldn't be further apart."

Sora and Kairi both nodded and then let themselves relax on the two beds as Naminé and Yen Sid moved to stand between the two. Just before the two sorcerers were about to begin the spell that would said the worlds' greatest champions of light into the past, Mickey came up to them and told them, "There's one more thing you should both know. I was a very different person back then from who I am now. You're both going to have to do for me what I once did for you not too long ago. You'll need to lead me, guide me, be patient with me, but most importantly of all, you'll need to restore my faith in hope for a better tomorrow."

Sora and Kairi both nodded in reply to the mouse king, knowing that he was referring to what happened to them after they lost their best friend, Riku to the darkness and how Mickey had been able to convince them to keep fighting the good fight and never lose hope that they could save their friend from Xehanort's forces' control. With the reminder of that this would likely help save Riku, the two gained new resolve and nodded to both of the two sorcerers that they were ready, and said sorcerers began their work. Sora and Kairi heard the two utter a few strange words of incantation before they found their whole worlds suddenly start to spin and then suddenly vanish before them, and they found they could only scream in shock as they were sent on their way into the past, on a mission to save the future.

At the same time that Sora and Kairi were being sent back into the past, the forces of Xehanort had sensed the energies of Yen Sid and Naminé's spell all the way in the Castle That Never Was, the main base of Xehanort's forces of darkness. "So it seems that they have learned of our plot," Xehanort commented to his gathered forces.

"Indeed it does, Master Xehanort," the dark skinned, long silver haired figure of Ansem of the Heartless replied. "Should we not deal with this pest at once?"

"Why bother," Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII asked. "Their attempts to change what has already occurred will all be in vain and shall only serve to accelerate their fall into darkness."

"Maybe, but in case you haven't noticed, there's a chance that they won't be taking any chances," a figure in a dark body suit that bore a striking resemblance to Sora suddenly interrupted in a voice that sounded like a deep, malicious version of the wielder of the Kingdom Key's.

"What do you mean, Vanitas," Xehanort asked.

"If they're really that desperate to beat us like the idiots we all know them to be, then they'll have sent their best to deal with the problem," Vanitas explained with a malicious grin. "And that means, they likely have sent little Sora and his dear Kairi back to deal with it."

"Yes, they will be severely weakened by their absence," Xehanort smirked eagerly. "And that would give us a perfect opportunity to strike at the few warriors of light that remain, allowing us to drown all the remaining worlds in darkness for all eternity." He then held his hand out as he summoned forth his massive forces, which consisted of Heartless, Unversed, Nobodies, the other twelve members of Organization XIII, and a silver haired young man with aqua-green eyes in a body suit much like Vanitas's except for the colors. "Go forth, forces of darkness, and eliminate the final guardians of the light so that we may end this long war at last."

The minute he gave his commands, most of his forces departed through Corridors of Darkness except for Vanitas, the silver haired boy, and one of the members of Organization XIII. "Is there something else you require, Vanitas? Or perhaps one of the two of you, Riku and Xion?"

Riku and Xion said nothing in reply, but Vanitas did as he asked, "Are you really sure it's wise to just leave things in the past to chance, Master? After all, if they succeed I'll likely end up disappearing, and you know I wouldn't like that."

"You have nothing to fear, Vanitas," Xehanort reassured his apprentice. "As Xemnas had stated, it is a hopeless endeavor that is doomed to failure."

"If you're so sure then why not let us go back just to be sure," Xion suddenly asked as she gestured to herself and Riku.

"One reason would be because the magic that was used to do so is of a kind that only one with power such as Yen Sid and that little witch, Naminé possess together," Xehanort explained. "Even if I wanted to send you back, I could not, for even I have my limits. Do you truly doubt my judgment, child?"

Xion was about to protest until Riku raised his arm up to silence her and simply said, "No Master. We're just concerned about how their success, however unlikely, will affect us, same as Vanitas."

Xehanort nodded in reply to this, and then dismissed the three, smirking to himself as soon as they had left as he said, "Soon, the answers that I have been seeking for so long will be mine, and darkness shall covet the worlds forever, all under my command and power, and there will be nothing that any of the forces of light can do to stop me."

Xehanort's dark laughter seemed to echo all throughout the World That Never Was, and any who may have heard him would have felt a chill up their spine as they began to grow worried for the fates of Sora and Kairi.

Yen Sid Report 1:

As the war between light and darkness continues to rage on, I have discovered that the fallen master Xehanort has made a terrible discovery. It seems that somehow, he had discovered that he could create powerful Nobodies if a person had held darkness in their heart long enough for them to have nearly become a Heartless, assuming they had not already become one. As a result of this discovery, a vast majority of Organization XIII was born. Though they seem to be of the variety of Nobody that are more powerful than the mere Dusks, their power is still not as great as it should be since their originals had never fallen into darkness completely, but it seems that problem is easily corrected.

Upon further study on these artificially created Nobodies, and after losing poor Ienzo, it was discovered that these Nobodies are able to become as powerful as they should be. The prime example of this was when young Sora and his friends encountered Zexion, the Nobody of Ienzo, after the loss of the young apprentice of Ansem the Wise. Zexion proved to be far more powerful at that point than he had ever been before, and were it not for a timely intervention by my former apprentice, Mickey, and young Kairi, I fear that we would have lost poor Sora as well, which would have led the mysterious Number XIII of the Organization to have become more powerful, since I believe that said member is the Nobody of Sora himself, but the question of whether or not Sora's Nobody is like Zexion and many others still remains unanswered, given the fact that Sora himself had once become a Heartless for a short moment.

With all my wisdom and knowledge, I find myself helpless at not knowing the answers to all these questions, but I suppose that for now, we shall simply have to wait and see what happens.

AN: Okay so yeah, already you're seeing that things are not what they should be, and now our heroes have gone back to the past to set things right, but now you're probably asking, what happened to cause this to begin with, and how are Nobodies around when their originals are around? Well if you are asking that second question, then clearly you weren't reading the Yen Sid report. That's the whole point of my including them. See for all you Kingdom Hearts fans, you all know how in many of the Kingdom Hearts games you collect things like the Ansem reports or the Xehanort reports throughout the journey and they serve as a kind of insight to certain things that had taken place before or during that particular game. Well I'm pretty much doing the same thing here, except they are reports by Yen Sid. Hey even a master sorcerer like him needs to write stuff down like that every now and then. You can't keep all your knowledge up in your head all the time after all. Anyways, the point of the Yen Sid reports is to give you a better understanding of the background details in this story. Of course, I will cover some of these things in the main story from time to time, but the Yen Sid reports will give a more detailed explanation behind it so that there is no confusion involved.

Next up, yeah, Xion is still around while Roxas can use two keyblades, and my reasoning behind that is because in this story, Roxas obtained his second keyblade after realizing who he was and meeting both Sora and Naminé, which I will go into further detail of, later on down the line in this story. If you're wondering just which worlds are left in this dark future though, you'll just have to wait and see, as that will be explained in a future chapter. So with all that said, onto the preview!...

Sora and Kairi arrive in the past and discover that they had landed in the ruins of the world that was once known as the Land of Departure, which they soon learn from Naminé would one day become Castle Oblivion. Shortly after arriving, they encounter one of the three keyblade masters that had preceded them, but will this master be willing to help them, or even hear them out? And just where are the other two masters if they aren't here? The answers to these questions and more next time.

Please read and review, and in the words of Mickey Mouse, see ya real soon!