Author's Note: Here it is. The final chapter leading into my version of KH3. Enjoy and be sure to grab some tissues too, because this one will be a shocker.

I still don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy.

CH 10: Exile.

After the single tensed minute that seemed like the longest minute anyone's ever faced, Sora shut his eyes tightly, and took a deep breath and finally, made his announcement.

"Fine. You're right." Sora said in guilt and defeat.

"Sora?" Donald asked, in disbelief.

"Are ya' sure?" Goofy asked, worriedly.

Sora shook his head, admitting, "I don't like it, but...even I can't take on the Kracken, let alone Davy Jones. We'll have to come back, after we've come up with something."

As much as everyone else didn't like it, Kairi, Riku, Lea, Roxas, Xion, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Myde, Ven, Zack and Elena all sighed in defeat as well. Sora was right; they'd been caught off-guard this time, and with little to no information on what they actually came for, they'd just have to face Yen Sid for the failure of figuring out the plots of Chaos and Bhunivelze and of Davy Jones. But they weren't going to risk in staying since they had limited time.

Even Gibbs didn't like it, but knew that there was no choice. "Abandon ship, abandon ship or abandon hope."

With those words, the meager survivors began to hurriedly make their preparations to abandon the Black Pearl. The people of this world made for the Longboat, while those from other worlds made to teleport into the gummiship since it was their only transport to leave this world behind. But only two lingered a little, in guilt and difficult decision making heart-aches. Sora wished it hadn't come to this, as he feared that this world would fall into darkness if he left it behind, but he would have to trust in his friends of the Caribbean to keep the darkness at bay until he got back. It wasn't fair. He couldn't help but feel like that the entire thing was all his fault. Had he known about Xehanort and Chaos sooner, none of this would've happened. Was this the cost of being a Keyblade Master? The moment you earned the title, that things then just fall apart? Considering how Mickey struggled to keep to his promises since he passed his test years ago, and how Aqua failed to keep Terra and Ven safe from Xehanort and had been trapped in the Realm of Darkness for twelve years.

"Some Keyblade Master you are." Vanitas taunted as he rematerialized beside Sora who looked away. The raven-haired boy grinned, "Yeah, I know what you're thinking. But hey, even your Pirate friend screwed up; it's thanks to him that it came to this. Not even the power of the Keyblade can solve this problem."

Sora didn't say anything, and as much as he hated to admit it, Vanitas was right. Thankfully, the former darkness of Ventus disappeared from Sora's sight, which gave him the chance to gaze at Jack, who like him, was having an heavy heart right now. Despite what the pirate had told everyone, Sora felt more than heard the pain of sacrificing the part of his soul and heart. Or why else Jack would've gone through the trouble of getting the Black Pearl back from Barbossa? The ship itself was Jack's light, his home, and his freedom.

Besides which, Jack was a good man. Because even he had a heart, and he could feel happiness and sorrow. Right now, the pirate was in the path of the latter.

Sighing, Sora approached his friend whose back was facing him, as though he was saying goodbye to his beloved Pearl. "Hey..." Sora began, uneasily. "Thanks for coming back to us."

Jack turned to face the teenaged boy standing a few feet from him, and said softly, sadly, "We're not free yet, mate."

"We'll figure something out. As soon as we can, I'll come back, and then we'll settle Davy Jones for good." Sora promised, only being able to return half to himself, boldly. "Maybe we can help you get a new one to call the Black Pearl."

"It's more than just the Pearl, Sora." Jack began to admit, beginning to struggle to find his words. Finally, he decided to admit the truth, though he was struggling to stay it without shaking slightly, "It's not after the ship...it's after me."

Sora's eyes widened in shock. "What? But why?"

"I was young and stupid thirteen years ago." Jack began, "Not thinking straight, which is nothing unusual, since that hasn't changed. I...I used to work for Beckett, and the Black Pearl was under my command until I began to see...to see how evil he was. He wanted to use innocent black people as slaves, and I was in charge in taking them as they were, in his opinion, nothing but cargo."

"So what did you do?" Sora asked, shocked at what he was hearing. The more he heard about Lord Beckett, the more the guy's heart was clouded by greed, much like Maleficent and Xehanort's.

"I took it upon myself to set them free, to a place where he couldn't reach them." Jack shrugged a little, before he pulled back his sleeve on his right arm, revealing an imprinted P that was forever stamped onto his skin. "By doing that, Beckett took it as betrayal, and this is the result. He's the reason why I'm a pirate for the rest of my life."

"He made you pirate just because you were doing the right now?" Sora exclaimed softly, disgusted by Beckett's cruelty. "No wonder you don't like the guy."

"It gets worse." Jack said, even though he nodded in agreement. "He also sank my ship, and I was unable to save her, no matter how I tried. When I then recalled the stories of Davy Jones himself...back then, I wanted the Pearl back so badly that I would've stupidly traded my soul just to feel her again, be on her deck again."

"And that's what you did." Sora concluded for him, once again shocked. "You traded your soul just so you can get the Black Pearl back."

The pirate Captain nodded, "Only for thirteen years. After that, it's either me becoming next on the squid's dinner menu, or serve him for 100 years on board the Flying Dutchmen...which could very well end up being all eternity. You've seen what has become of those who work for him. His crew were men once."

Despite that Sora was angry upon hearing this, at the same time, it also made sense. Jack had believed that if he had gotten the heart of Davy Jones, he could break off the deal to keep both the Pearl and his freedom, or, as they both learned hours ago, the power of the Keyblade would also free him. But since Jack had neither, he was a doomed man. Plus, Jack did come back to save them and the other survivors. But now, Jack's time was up.

"Wish there was something I could do." Sora muttered, sadly.

"You're not angry?" Jack asked, a bit more than a little surprised.

Sora shrugged, saying, "Well, I'm not happy with what you did, but at the same time, I can't be really mad, either. I know that you're a pirate, but...but you're nothing like Xehanort or Maleficent, or Davy Jones, or even this Beckett guy. You did more good than other pirates did, and it's not fair that you were made one just because you helped other people."

He smiled a little, and added, "Helping others always come before asking others for help. That's what Mickey once told me a year ago. There isn't any reason why we can't help out others who need our help. At least, those who are innocent or need help in doing the right thing."

"There's some truth in that." Jack smiled a little finally, before frowning again. "I think we should go now, while there's a chance."

"Y-yeah." Sora nodded, suddenly feeling like a life was about to be lost. But at the same time, he sensed that Jack was struggling to make his decision. Either stay on board the Pearl and sacrifice himself, or join Will, Elizabeth, Gibbs, Marty, Cotton, Pintel and Ragetti for the safety of the island. And Sora knew, unlike those he managed to save...there was no way of saving Jack from death.

Or, so he thought.

Just then both of them felt each of their right wrists being grabbed and when they gazed to see who grabbed them, it was Elizabeth who then dragged the two stunned men into the waiting crowd of Sora's companions who noticed this well after everyone else went into the long boat and both Sora and Jack nearly crashed into Riku and Cloud, before the four of them, Zack, Vincent, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Roxas, Xion, Ven, Aqua, Terra, Skuld, Reno and Elena gazed at Elizabeth questionly, wondering what the woman was doing in shoving Jack with them instead of the longboat, wondering why she suddenly wanted him to go with them, going against the World Order that was broken for the past twelve years by Xehanort.

Kairi asked Elizabeth in shock, "What are you doing?"

Then they saw it. The look in Elizabeth's eyes, even if Elizabeth may not have been aware of how much her eyes betrayed her purpose. A look of dark conviction, and the lingering guilt that was rising inside her heart. She began speaking, her voice sounding rushed and tight, "The Kracken's after Jack, not the ship. But I can't let him die, but he can't stay here anymore either. You have to take him with you, don't you see? I'm not sorry."

Sora and the others were speechless from shock and betrayal. But even then, they sensed Elizabeth's guilt. In order to save Jack's life, he had be taken away from this world, exiling him so that he could live. But even she had not expected to feel this suffocating feeling of guilt. What made it worse in a way was that Jack didn't start accusing her of anything, or didn't even look angry. Why was he silent? Why was he still smiling at her in that same infuriatingly calm manner? Jack was actually smiling for several reasons. He smiled because Elizabeth had become like him after all, just as he had always thought that she would. He smiled because he knew that now that doing this would not be his fault, nor it would be Sora's. He smiled because even if Elizabeth wasn't sorry, she was guilty. He could see it in her face that this was not an easy choice to make, but she was doing it anyway. He admired a person who was willing to do whatever was necessary. So, the only thing that Jack needed to say to sum up all of this was one, simple word.

"Pirate." He murmured softly, and smiled once more. It might have been an insult to some, but it was the highest compliment that Jack could give.

He didn't know if Elizabeth got the message, but she didn't give him time to consider her carefully. She stared at him painfully for a few seconds longer, then turned and walked away, without once looking back, leaving Jack to leave behind this world without death, going on a journey to other worlds with Sora and the others. The group glanced at each other, shocked, before Cloud finally made the difficult announcement, knowing that there wasn't anything else they could do now.

"Let's go." Cloud said, softly.

"You sure this is a good idea?" Myde asked, worriedly.

Lea sighed, not answering to Myde, but instead, clamped a hand onto Jack's shoulder, saying softly, "Looks like you're one of us, now."

Despite the uneasiness of going to other worlds, Jack shrugged, muttering, "Not so bad."

"I'm sorry." Sora muttered, guiltily.

No one else said anything else on that matter. Instead, Mickey and Donald both silently commanded the gummiship to teleport them and the others on board, and soon, they and the rest of the group, now joined by Captain Jack Sparrow, were teleported onto the gummiship, which would then take flight and leave the world of the Caribbean behind, and despite that Jack would indeed be free from his dept upon their arrival to their destination...it was already too late.

As Elizabeth clambered into the boat, Will immediately asked when someone was missing, "Where's Jack?' he asked.

Elizabeth stared at Will, the raw guilt in her soul causing her normally strong voice to become choked with unshed tears. She did not think that she could forgive herself. She knew, though, she could not face them with the truth here, and in order to prevent the knowlage that Jack would indeed survive as well, she instead answered with a lie, "He elected to stay behind to give us a chance."

The other pirates gazed up at the Pearl, believing that Jack was still there and unaware that he was no longer in this world, but at the same time, was not condemmed to death, and clearly reluctant to have to leave their captain behind. But they couldn't delay.

"Go!" The word was ripped from Elizabeth's lips. The command was reluctantly obeyed. Ragetti let go of the rope which had been holding them to the Pearl, and he and Pintel started rowing away from the Pearl.

Despite this, the moment Captian Jack Sparrow boarded the dream-like command-room of the gummiship, the black-spot in his left hand that implanted his doom faded into nothing, while his right hand unknowingly continued to tingle slightly. None the less, there was no going back now without rising superstition. So he had no choice but the leave behind the world he was born and grew up in. Was this how Sora, Riku and Kairi felt when they were forcefully dragged away from their home world, seperated from each other and other people they've come to know with no choice?

Even so, many others in his home world now believed he was dead, while in reality, he was on exile. The end came all too quickly. By the time the longboat was relatively out of danger, there was not anyone in the group who had not looked back, and who now couldn't look away as the tentacles dragged the Black Pearl under with its gruesome efficiency. Everyone else who was in the longboat that say knew that as they watched the Black Pearl sinking with her captain upon her knew that they were witnessing the passing of a legend. They all felt this loss deeply, each in their own separate way. But in truth, her captain was taken away, and he felt the loss just as painfully as he would've.

But he wasn't the only one who would be feeling the powerful sense of loss.

Aboard the Flying Dutchman, Davy Jones lowered the spyglass from his eye, having witnessed the Black Pearl at last vanish beneath the waves as he too foolishly believed that his victum was gone as well. "Jack Sparr'a," he said with an air of morbid finality, "Our debt is settled."

The crew was gathered around him, all having seen the final passing of the Pearl. "Captain goes down with the ship." One commented.

"Turns out not even Jack Sparrow can best the devil." Another said.

"Not even the so called Keyblade could've saved him." Another added.

When Davy Jones heard this, his eyes hardened. He turned around to face his crew. "Open the chest." The crewmen all exchanged confused glances, not understanding what prompted the Captain to make such an expected order.

Davy Jones was in mood for curiosity. A dreadful thought had entered his mind, and he couldn't rest easy until he was certain. "Open the chest. I need to see it!"

No one argued with Jones when he used such a tone. Not that anyone would have argued with him under the best of circumstances, since they didn't want the risk of getting their heads sliced off. The chest was hastily brought forward and unlocked. Davy Jones pushed his way through the crew to The chest. He opened the lid and recoiled. The heart was gone. The chest was completely empty. Davy Jones' entire ghastly face became even more terrifying as a look of horrible rage came over it. His nest words were a soft growl, but so great was the anger of the Captain of the Flying Dutchman, it had transformed itself into the howl of a wounded animal by the ending words, and the crew immediately cleared away to avoid his wrath.

"Damn you, JACK SPARR'A!"

The man had gotten the better of him at last. Davy Jones had lost. And what's more. Jack Sparrow himself was alive.

But even he and Sora had also lost this battle.

Taking up residence in her old castle at the Forbidden Mountain until she found a more perfect world to take up residence to complete her goal for world domination, Maleficent gazed out at the never-ending dark sky. But standing with her, was a man whom others in his world thought had met his demise, but in reality, she faked his death just to get what she wanted, as he was a useful and powerful ally that shared her goals of domination.

"Fasinating experience, other worlds, I must admit." The man, looking like a lord of a company of the seas commented.

"There are many others that are worth in experincing, Lord Beckett." Maleficent smiled slyly. "And soon, every single one of them will be ours. All we need is aqquirements."

"You mean the compass from Jack Sparrow, or this Keyblade from this boy. Sora, was it?" Lord Cutler Beckett, alive and well, questioned in slight amusement.

Maleficent was about to answer when someone behind her and Beckett cleared their throat, and the two turned to see that Pete was standing there, looking a little uneasy. In fact, he looked rather green in the face as though he had just seen something that made him feel like he was going to vomit.

"Um, sorry for interruptin'." Pete began.

"Pete, must you always interrupt?" Maleficent sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"Sorry, m'lady, but the Heartless I've sent to that o'l Port Royal world came back with somebody, and I think he's one of those Organization XIII fellows." Pete replied.

"And what good is that?" Lord Beckett questioned.

Pete shrugged as he handed a piece of paper to Maleficent and Beckett, answering, "Well, he has his heart back, and has decided to join our side, 'cause, uh, he had this letter with him."

He gave the letters Maleficent gave to Elizabeth Swann while the evil fairy took it, and looked at them carefully, especially at the signature which made them completely legitimate. Dulor was written on it.

"I took the liberty of filling in my name." Dulor stated as he was standing behind Pete near the doorway of Maleficent's tower, guarded by two knife-armed Heartless.

Maleficent set the letter aside, and gestured Dulor to come forward while giving a nod to Pete who, slightly reluctant, snapped his fingers and dismissed the Heartless from the blonde-haired man's side. Dulor gave the now gone Heartless a glare before walked up to stand a few feet from Maleficent and Beckett, with slight confusion yet understanding and pride in having made the right choice, if it meant the end of his enemies.

Maleficent herself mentally confessed to herself that she was rather impressed. Despite that this man was once a member of Organization XIII, it seemed that he had decided that her goal was tempting, which made him the perfect ally in the power of world domination. Still, she wasn't going to let him join her that easily. If he wanted to become her ally, he need to do something for her and Beckett first.

"I admire your decision to join me." Maleficent began, before saying, "However, there is a task you must intend first." gazing at Beckett who nodded and turned to Dulor himself.

"Do you have the Compass?" Lord Beckett questioned.

Dulor smirked slightly, and answered, "Something much better." holding up a small bag that hanged loosely in the air.

Both Maleficent and Beckett gazed at it curiously as they both watched the bag undulated and moved, and from within came the sound of a steady heartbeat. Pete on the other hand, placed a hand over his mouth as he suddenly turned more green in the face and felt sick, immediately turning around so that he couldn't see it. Unable to stand it anymore, he left the tower before he could lose his breakfest, lunch, or dinner, or unholily all three at once.

Dulor's confirmed words were that of the triumpth Maleficent felt for once in twelve years, something that she was now confident that not even Sora or his friends can stop her from achieving now.

"The heart of Davy Jones."

Just when Sora and the others thought things couldn't get any worse, the sight before them as they came to view of the Mysterious Tower, their hearts dropped at the sight before them. With a gasp of shock and devasation, the tower itself...it wasn't there. All that was there was the single floating island that Master Yen Sid had lived.

"No...!" Mickey whispered, his heart quivering at the sight before him, not wanting to believe what he was seeing. It couldn't be...!

Immediately, he and everyone else landed and exited the gummiship, with Jack taking a glance around his new surroundings and mentally wondered how could there be a floating single island without water, but instead surrounded by colourful clouds, mountains and stars. The rest of the group in the meantime, tried to piece together what happened to the tower and where Master Yen Sid was, before every single one of them noticed what they dreaded.

On the ground, was Yen Sid's sorcerer hat, and next to it on the grass, was a piece of paper. Mickey, seeing that hat he once briefly wore to use magic in his days as an Apprentince, which also caused the tower to become flooded since Mickey back then had been very young and inexperienced, rushed over towards it. The king collasped onto his knees, his breath shaking, his heart feeling like it was being ripped out from his chest, the devastation he had dreaded for a long time having finally come true. For years, in the back of his mind that Mickey would find his mentor just...gone, and he prayed for a long time that it wouldn't come to pass.

Not seeing Zack slowly approach and pick up the paper, Mickey hesitatedly picked up Yen Sid's hat, and with his bottom lip quivering at the devastation, he hugged it close to his chest and began to sob, tears sliding free. Sora lowered his head, shaking his head. He didn't want to believe that Yen Sid was gone. At this moment, he wished so badly that all of this was nothing more than a sick nightmare, and for a brief moment, he wondered if he really was trapped in a nightmare, still within the Realm of Sleep, and had actually been caught in Xehanort's grasp after all, and he would suddenly become a vessel. Everyone else were saddened in their own ways, as Donald sobbed pathetically, while Goofy hugged him, tears falling freely as well.

"He took him..." Zack muttered at last, causing everyone else to gaze up at him, with sorrow and anger in his tone. "He took him and the others...!"

"Who?" Vincent questioned.

Zack was heaving hard, trying to hold in his own emotions that were threatening to crack, before he finally managed, his throat choaking with tears. "That guy, Aced. He has Yen Sid, and even Angeal and Genesis...!"

Skuld immediately went over and plucked the letter from Zack's fingers, before reading it herself, her expression turning to sorrow and guilt. Once she was finished, she announced, "It gets worse...he blocked off worlds that had strong light, even two that were still recovering from Darkness. He even made a list on it."

When she held up the paper for everyone to see, devastation and guilt piled onto more devasation and guilt.

Worlds that were blocked off from them unless they would find the power to free them from the most powerful walls Aced somehow had the power to create, were listed on the letter:

Disney Castle.

Destiny Islands.

"Then...where can we go now?" Roxas asked, devastated.

"We can't go back to Radiant Garden, not yet." Cloud muttered.

Reno sighed, rubbing the back of his neck before saying, "Looks like Midgar's our only optain for now. Gotta check on Prez' and everybody else there, right?"

Even though they didn't want to admit it, Reno was right. It became clear to them that Jack was not the only one who was on exile from one world. Now Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy and Mickey were stuck, unable to return to their worlds since Aced had somehow figured out where they lived and now their worlds were blocked off.

Mickey was still reduced to tears, when Riku approached his friend, and gently placed a hand onto his shoulders. "Mickey...let's go." He whispered.

The king nodded, still cradling Yen Sid's hat. With no one to lead them on what to do next, or any idea on how to solve all this, it felt more like they all lost the war against Chaos and possibily Bhunivelze before it even started. They prevented one war only to land themselves in another.

An hour later, the sombered heroes arrived in the Headquarters of WRO, which was still in progress of being fixed from the attack of Deepground. Rufus, Reeve, Tseng and Rude greeted them, only to bring about more bad news that made things just as worse.

Shalua and Shelke had escaped, and their only clue was a young man with a Keyblade who had already left in a resolve to find Sora and his friends, only to have disappeared. Skuld knew who he was, but she now dreaded that Aced must've taken him as well.

So with nothing else to do, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Ven, Terra, Aqua, Lea, Isa, Myde, Roxas, Xion, Skuld, Reno, Elena, Cloud, Vincent, Zack, and Jack, who was introduced to the Turks, the President(whom Jack felt uneasy with as the younger man reminded him of Beckett, but not as power hungry or cruel), and the Commissioner, were all gathered in the lounge area of the building, sitting around in guilt, sorrow and loss. The minutes passed, nobody said a word.

When news spread, it was natural that not even Rufus or Tseng were immune to what the others were feeling. Mickey hadn't said a single word, as he was too upset that Yen Sid had been kidnapped, or has much as he didn't want to voice it, was most likely struck down by Aced, just as Xehanort had done to Master Eraqus twelve years ago.

Reno and Tseng were passing mugs of hot chocolate and coffee, and for Jack, a bottle of wine since this world lacked Rum which was hard to buy these days in Edge, passing them to others. Kairi half-heartedly shook her head in rejection when Reno came to her, only for the redhaired Turk to say, unusually gently but understandably, "Hey, c'mon. Ya' gotta dry those tears of yours."

Too exhausted and upset to argue, Kairi took one of the mugs of hot chocolate.

Similiar thing was done as Tseng approached Mickey who shook his head, his tears still falling. The Turk leader told him softly, "It's to calm your nerves and warm yourself."

The king sighed, too upset and tired to argue and generously took the last mug of hot chocolate. Still, Mickey felt that the entire thing was his fault. The last thing he said to Yen Sid was that they would come back with answers, but now felt more than useless.

For once, even Jack wasn't in the mood for achohol. He lost the Black Pearl. He was exiled from his own world. He was feeling guilty that now even some of his friends couldn't go home either, all because of one, bloody, crazy Keyblade wielder who might as well have won the battle against them and would take over the Realm of Light. The pirate couldn't even summon his Keyblade.

Lea sighed, worried sick about Namine, but knew that the risk of heading straight towards Radiant Garden was too high and he could only trust Leon to take care of her until they figured out something. "When Shalua said that the eight of us weren't meant to be saved so that the worlds could be protected...I can't help but feel like that she's right. Now I feel bad in having gotten my heart back." He said, miserably.

"Just as I feel guilty for what happened in the Caribbean." Jack muttered sadly in agreement.

"Maybe everything we did...maybe it was all for nothing." Sora muttered in guilt as he leaned against the wall, head facing the floor. "Maybe this whole thing is my fault."

"Might as well say that Xehanort got what he wanted after all." Roxas sighed. "He wanted the worlds to plauge into darkness, one way or another, and even though he's gone, he got what he wanted."

Isa shook his head in disagreement, "No. He didn't get what he fully wanted. He didn't get the X-Blade, and the Keyblade War hasn't started. Still, perhaps it's because of us that things had come to this."

"Even I feel more screwed up then anything else." Myde said miserably.

"It doesn't matter." Cloud said, somberly. "Aced has advantage against us, and we don't have a clue on how to fix it."

"This is all my fault." Terra said, in guilt and sadness, and self-disgust. He clutched his fist in anger at himself, but more than that, it was guilt than anything else. "It's because of me that Xehanort had started all of this. I was gullible, stupid and naive, and too weak to go up against him."

Aqua, having been reduced to tears as well, said guiltily, "And it was my mistake to have set Xehanort free, taking his place to be trapped in the Realm of Darkness. I never should've dove into the darkness. But all I wanted was to save Terra...and because of that...I'm the one who doomed the Realm of Light."

Lea sighed, leaning back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling, finally concluding, "Let's face it, guys. We've all pretty much screwed up big time, one way or another."

"Yeah, but the biggest screw up around here is me." Ven finally spoke up. "Xehanort used me as a starter to make the X-Blade. Worse part is, I never should've let my heart go to Sora's heart."

"Come again?" Jack asked, blinking in confusion. Where had that come from?

"When Ven lost his heart, it went into my heart for safe keeping until a short time ago." Sora explained, and when Jack gazed up at him, he continued, "I was four at the time and I didn't even know it until just days ago. For some reason, when Xehanort extracted the darkness from Ven's heart, at birth, my own heart joined with his, and kept him alive for sometime."

Jack's face faulted to even more confusion, before muttering, "And I thought the heart of Davy Jones was complicated as it was."

"You're tellin' me." Reno agreed as he layed on another couch, his hands clasped behind his head. "Who've thunk that kid was that special?"

Sora sighed, "I don't feel special right now, though. More like a thorn in everybody's side."

"The Master of Masters. Did he plan this all along?" Skuld finally spoke up, thought.

This alone was enough to get everyone else's attentions as even those who were still reduced into tears, gazed up at the young girl, as Xion asked, "The Master of Masters?"

"Who is he?" Roxas asked.

"The one who started all of this." Skuld began, shaking her head as she explained, "Even know, I still don't know much about him. All I do know is, he was the Keyblade Master of the six Foretellers, before the Keyblade War started. He disappeared after the five unions were formed, as did the sixth Foreteller, Luxu."

"Unions?" Kairi blinked.

Ven's brow furrowed in confusion, before muttering, "Why does that sound so...familiar?"

"Because you and I were both there in that year, Ven." Skuld answered, deciding that, memory or no memory, she had to tell the truth. "We were both Keyblade wielders of two of the five Unions, hundreds of years ago, and...two of the five new Foretellers chosen by Master Ava, to lead the Dandelions."

Silence filled up the room, before most of the group glanced back and forth between Skuld and Ven, until they, and even Vincent and Ven himself, all exclaimed in shock, confusion and disbelief, "WHAAAT!?/HUH!?/EH!?/The HELL!?"

"You mean to tell us that the two of you were in the first Keyblade War Xehanort's been wantin' to know about!?" Lea exclaimed.

"No way. There's no way in a million that would've happened!" Myde shook his head in disbelief.

"Not having fought, as the war itself had no survivors of those who fought in it." Skuld nodded, sighing in guilt. "The Dandelions were to leave the world to keep the light alive and rebuilt the world. Our memories of the tragedy were lost because it was law that no one would remember it. As a result, I don't remember much about it. Neither do Ven, or Emepher. It was law that no one else would remember it."

"To prevent history from repeating itself." Mickey realised, speaking up for the first time. "So the X-Blade was not the real reason why the first Keyblade War started in the first place."

"No." Skuld shook her head. "Master Aced was one of the Foretellers, but, there was a traitor among the unions, and soon the Foretellers fought against each other, and then so did most of our allies. Only those chosen to become Dandelions survived. Even Master Ava disappeared."

"But I don't get it. How was I there and I don't remember much about it?" Ven asked, shocked beyond belief. If that was true...then that meant he was actually a lot older than even Vincent-way older.

Skuld shared a glance with Ven, and said, "You were chosen by Master Ava too, Ven. The third one to have arrived after the war, in fact. I was the second. Empher was the first, chosen to be our leader. But then...I don't remember much, but the three of us were seperated, and sent into the newly created Realm of Darkness. You were hit the hardest, and since the Realm of Darkness can take away memories if they stray away from those important for too long, they eventually only remember their names."

"Just as I don't remember much while I was in the Realm of Darkness." Aqua realised. "Not even memories are safe from the darkness."

"And since Aqua looks exactly the same as she was twelve years ago since the Realm of Darkness doesn't have Time, Ven must've been trapped there until he somehow managed to escape, and with memories of only of his name, Xehanort found him." Mickey added, firmly as he came to realise the truth. "Either Xehanort knew about Ven's past all along, or it was just a wild guess."

"I'd go for more of the wild guess, considering how the lad ended up having lost his memories." Jack commented.

"So how did you escape from the Realm of Darkness?" Xion asked, curiously.

Skuld shrugged, "The only thing I remember is light, and when I stepped into it, I found myself in a place called Twilight Town with Emepher. The two of us then sensed that something was wrong, and as we can upon up the door of light, that's how we were able to travel to newly created worlds of the future-the real worlds."

"What do you mean by that?" Rufus questioned.

"Long story, but as part of our training, we were sent into created illusions of worlds from the future, fragments of the future. As far as we could understand, they were created by the Book of Prophecies." Skuld answered.

"The Book of Prophecies...a book that can create illusions of worlds." Mickey repeated, before gasping as he realised, "That's why Maleficent came to the castle and held Minnie hostage! Since the Datascape, she thought that I had the Book of Prophecies. She must've thought that Jiminy's Journal was connected to the Book itself."

"Do you have any idea what they're talkin' about, mate?" Jack asked to Reno in utter confusion. The more he was hearing about unheard history, the more confused he became.

Apparently Reno was feeling the same confusion as well, because he sat up and shrugged at the pirate, "Hell if I know."

"So...if we find the Book of Prophecies before Maleficent, that might slow her down, right?" Roxas thought, thinking about it.

"And it might give us a clue about Aced, Chaos and Bhunivelze." Vincent said in agreement, "As it can predict the future."

"But what future can we find?" Cloud asked, doubtedly.

As Sora was hearing this, the more determined he suddenly became, as he came to a realization. Maleficent, Chaos, Aced and possibily Bhunivelze were slowly taking over the worlds and here he was, just sitting around moping, because of a few failures and losses. This wasn't him, and he knew it. More than anything, he felt that something had to be done to set things right. He made promises, and he hated breaking them.

With a nod, the young Keyblade Master spoke up, "Well, whatever! If the Book of Prophecies really does still exist, like Vincent said, maybe it'll help us get a bit of a head start!" causing everyone to gaze at him.

"You know what? You're right." Riku said, after a few moments with reanewed hope. "We'll travel to other worlds and keep Maleficent, Aced and Chaos at bay and at the same time, find the book and solve all of this as much as we can."

"Yeah!" Sora said, in agreement.

This seemed to finally lighten the mood around the room, as everyone else all slowly came to a mental agreement that this was their best shot for the upcoming battle ahead. With nods and agreements of determination, Lea then chuckled and teasingly asked to Riku, "Okay, who are you and what have you done to Riku?"

"Huh?" Riku asked, confused.

Even Kairi giggled, and commented, "Yeah, you're sounding just like Sora."

While Sora himself smirked as he also realised this, Riku smirked as well, saying, "Should I be flattered? Thanks to this sap, I'm tired of being the responsible adult. It's more fun doing what my heart says. Kind of Sora-esuaqe."

"Oh, thanks!" Sora said sarcastically, but still laughed, which was echoed by everyone else, even those who were in tears, but were now dryed up and filled with anewed hope.

"Sora..." Mickey began as he finally understood the meaning of Namine's words. "I think you just saved all of us from our hurting. Even though Master Yen Sid isn't here to lead us, you still managed to give us hope and recovery to move on."

"I did?" Sora blinked, confused.

Even Jack smiled, "Aye, mate. You always put up the bright side of things."

"I can see why you have so many friends, young man." Rufus admitted in agreement. "You have such optisim that drives away the sorrow when you think of something when a plan is put into motion."

"Well...I guess that's just me." Sora said, bashfully, rubbing the back of his head.

"Even though you can't do much on your own. You're just a half-pint." Donald commented.

"Hey!"

"But with all us put together, we make a full pint!" Goofy added.

Sora rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but agree, "Pint and a half."

Aqua giggled, before saying as she remembered, "That reminds me, Hades said something about speaking to Zeus about Bhunivelze. Even though I'm not sure if he was telling the truth, but maybe we should head back to the Coliseum to ask."

"Oh yeah!" Ven remembered, perking up, "Hercules would know that! Zeus is his father, last I remembered him telling me twelve years ago."

"Say what?" Reno asked, "Come again?"

Realising what Ven was saying, Sora grinned happily, before he mimicked Herc's muscle reflexs, which freaked out Jack a little as the pirate stared at the seemingly crazy teenager do this, while Zack said, "That's right. Herc's a True Hero, and before I died and got stuck in the Underworld, he had his powers taken away before he got them back and even saved Zeus and the other gods from Hades."

"He even saved me one time two years ago. I think we're on the right track." Cloud said in agreement.

"Hey, maybe Zeus might even give us a clue on how to get rid of the black spot on your hand, Jack." Roxas suddenly throught up as he and everyone else stood up as well.

While Jack doubted that this 'Zeus', which, if we recalled correctly, as the King of the Gods as he read up in ancient myths during his teenage years, he shrugged, "Might be possible."

But as he pointed at Roxas in agreement, as he unexpectedly flicked his wrist, Jack had little warning as he felt a very unusual tingle run down his right arm, alarming him as all of the sudden, as his hand was stretched out, golden light flared out of his hand and to his shock, a Keyblade appeared, one with a hilt that was very similiar to the hilt of his sword, the blade black and silver, the teeth bearing a pirate symbol skull, and the key-chaint that resembled to his Compass, while he cried out a soft, "Ah!"

"WHOOOOAAA!" Everyone else, even Vincent, Reno, Rude, Rufus and Tseng all exclaimed in shock and surprise at the display of the new Keyblade.

Most of them had their mouths gapped open, unable to form words, until finally, Terra was able to mutter, "...Didn't see that coming."

"I'll say." Elena said, just as shocked.

Even Jack was speech at the display of his new Keyblade, which meant, given the time was given, freed him from his dept as he glanced at his left hand as the bandage had been removed, and the black spot that was seeped into his skin vanished completely for the second time this month, this time permently. Gazing at the Keyblade again, he could only mutter two words.

"That's interesting."

So with Jack now being a Keyblade wielder, rather than sending him off to Merlin as it would cause some trouble, instead, the group opted to have him, Lea, Isa, Roxas, Xion and Kairi to join Sora, Riku, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Aqua, Ven, Terra and Skuld, and even Myde who asked to come along to redeem himself, on the Gummiship towards the Lanes Between, while Cloud, Vincent, Zack, and the Turks remained behind in Midgar to research more on the Lifestream with Reeve's help.

Only problem was, Sora's group were stuck, unable to come up with something. With Sora at the driver's steering seat, he slumped into the chair, groaning, "How do we get there now?"

"What!? I thought you knew!" Donald exclaimed.

"I guess since we left Port Royal, the old gateways had closed up." Goofy thought, worriedly.

"Aced must've done this. But we can't just give up now." Mickey said, thinking deeply.

"Well, go on then!" Jack said, impaitently at the Keyblade wielders. "You lot are the professional travellers, savvy?"

Lea rolled his eyes, saying, "Give us a break."

"Yeah, these things take time." Sora grumbled in agreement.

"And since our armor isn't much use since we can't carry passengers, I don't think we're much of a help." Terra sighed, with Ven and Aqua both nodding in agreement.

"Well, we've figured out how to travel to other worlds before, we can do it again, right?" Kairi pointed out, gazing at everyone in the room, as Sora stood from his seat and thought deeply.

Everyone thought deepily, and just before even Skuld could say anything, Donald asked impaitently, "Well?"

"Oh, for Moogle's sake, we're thinking!" Xion sighed, annoyed.

That's when Mickey remembered something very important, and thought that maybe this could help, considering how they always trusted their hearts. So, he spoke up wisely, "May our Hearts be our Guiding Keys." which got everyone else's attentions.

"Isn't that what that Aced fellow said?" Jack asked, curiously, before admitting, "Even though I've said it myself before I went back to the Black Pearl."

"Really?" Sora asked, muttered in confusion, turning to Donald and asked with one-shoulder shrug, "Ring any bells?" only for Donald to shrug, dumbfounded.

"Sounds kind of catchy." Myde thought, crossing his arms in thought. "And it kinda makes sense too."

"Hey, that's what Master Yen Sid said to ya all the time, yer Majesty." Goofy remembered.

"Now that's something no one's said in ages." Aqua smiled, with Terra and even Ven nodding in agreement.

"So what's that about anyway?" Lea asked.

Mickey explained, "Keyblade wielders used to say that to each other all the time. It's somethin' I wanted to remember."

"The Foretellers used to say that all the time too." Skuld spoke up, "Because of that, it's what allowed us to do what our hearts told us."

"Well, that certainly explains everything." Isa thought.

The more Jack thought about it, the more he now fully understood and was glad to have said it himself earlier. He shrugged, muttering, "I like it. Simple, easy to remember."

"May my Heart be my Guiding Key." Sora muttered to himself. It was a good ring to it, and plus, it made even more sense since he always followed his heart. And it did also lead him to his friends.

That's when an idea and realization formed in his mind, as he smiled happily, before returning to his seat and exclaimed, "I've got it!" as he summoned his Kingdom Key Keyblade.

As Sora thrusted it out, point forward, the tip of the blade lit up as it followed his heart's direction. In the sea of stars in front of the gummiship, a massive portal appeared before them, opening up what the group realised was a Gate, as most of the group exclaimed it's pressence, realising that Sora had made his heart be his guiding key and that was their entry to their next destination.

"You did it, Sora!" Mickey exclaimed happily.

"Way to go!" Riku cheered.

Sora grinned as he sat in the chair again, cheering to himself, "Yes! Olympus Coliseum, here we come!" gearing up the gummiship, before flying it and everyone in it towards the gate, onward to their next big adventure.

Which was the adventure that would begin the journey towards the final battle as well as putting the fate of the Realm of Light in Sora's hands once more, as well as future rescues and more discoveries to be made. The fates of those who went missing remains unknown, but soon that would be sovled on the road ahead.

RECONNECT
KINGDOM HEARTS:

KINGDOM HEARTS III: SECOND WAR.

A/N: Sorry that I made the fates of Yen Sid, Angeal and Genesis unclear, but I'm saving that as well as another revolution for my version of KH3 which will be my next project sometime in the future. Until then, thank you all for the support and love for this story and sorry that it took so long to finish, but now it's deemed done.

I will see you in my other stories and future stories yet to come. Until then, may Kingdom Hearts and the Lifestream guide you.