Summary: Within days of the events of Birth By Sleep, a strange woman comes to the Land of Departure, seeking forgiveness a past sin, only to face a harsh reality. Short tie-in/prequel to the Reconnect: Kingdom Hearts Saga

Disclaimer: I own nothing but a few OCs.

A/N: This story takes place within my own spin on the Kingdom Hearts universe, where the events of Birth by Sleep through Coded are considered canon, but Dream Drop Distance and onward are not. This story was written to tie into the next entry of my Reconnect: Kingdom Hearts Saga, Reconnect: Kingdom Hearts – Prophecies of the Past. So if you're not familiar with the story up to this point, then you might want to consider visiting my author's page and reading up on the story. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Timeline wise, this story is set within days after the events of Birth By Sleep but is viewed as a flashback from shortly after my story, the Forgotten Worlds. Hopefully this will be made clear by the end.

Also, as with most of my RKH stories, this story will feature a song, one that's been edited slightly to fit the setting. Credit for this song will of course be listed at the end.

I wrote this story as my annual reverse birthday gift to my readers. It's going to be different than most of my Kingdom Hearts stories as the genre will indicate.

So, without any more delay, please enjoy…

Somewhere on the oceans…

The seas were calm and still in the moonlight. There was hardly a sound save for the gentle lapping of the sea in the fogs. Finally, a flickering light appeared in the fog near the surface of the water, the light moving slowly through the fog. The light came from a lantern hung from the prow of a small wooden dory, its sail at half full due to the fog. On the dory sat two individuals, one wearing a hooded robe, while the other sat in a brown seaman's coat. The one in the coat was a woman with lightly curled brown hair. She sat near the back, controlling the rudder by hand, guiding the small boat through the fog. The front of the boat was covered with a brown tarp to keep the cargo beneath it dry.

"Are you certain about this, Master?" the hooded one asked with a younger woman's voice.

"I'm certain. This is something I…I need to do. I need to see for myself." The older woman replied. The younger just quietly shook their head in pity.

"I'm surprised you know how to sail a boat." The younger said. The older merely smiled.

"I come from a world of vast oceans, pirates, and treasures. I'm a daughter of the sea. It comes naturally to me and it's something I've enjoyed. Even he called me…he called me that too." the older said, pausing with a sad smile at the memory. The younger looked towards her.

"I'm sorry, I…I didn't mean to-." The younger said but the older shook her head.

"No, don't apologize…ah." The older said as she spotted something through the fog. Ahead of them was a wooden pier connected to a dirt path that led up and through a grassy hill. The older woman brought them in next to the pier, grabbing a rope and tying them off to it. The older then climbed out of the boat onto the pier, making sure the rope was secure.

"Stay with the boat. I won't be long." The older said as the younger looked at the older's chest, a polished silver Mark of Mastery in the center.

"Master…the Castle, it…It's not the same as-…" the younger said but the older gave her a sad but understanding look, reaching down to pick up another lantern, lighting it with a small fire spell, before standing up.

"I know." The older said before turning, straightening her collar and then starting to walk into the fog, following the path up the hill. The older woman glanced over her shoulder once as she crested the hill, the light from the boat disappearing into the fog behind her. Soon she was alone, carrying the lantern as her sole source of light aside from the moon above, bathing the fog in soft blue and flickering yellow light.

As she walked across the path, following its bends and curves, she began to hum to herself a soft sad melody (Music Cue: Daughter of the Sea – World of Warcraft: Warbringers – Jaina trailer), the melody echoing around her slightly. After a moment she started to sadly sing the lyrics of this tune…

"Oh where, oh where's the Daughter of the Sea?
Oh where? I heard him cry.
His words carried upon the ocean breeze,
as he sank beneath death's tide."

She allowed a tear to run down her cheek as she continued to sing…

"These lonely shores of his chosen Land,
where my love taught and died.
My love, he fell, where it all began,
because, I left his side."

Suddenly faces seemed to form in the fog, the faces formed from her own doubts, guilt, and regrets, following her as she walked, their ghostly chorus beginning…

"Why this? Why this, oh Daughter of the Sea?
Why this? Did she forget their lovelorn days?
Always the pride of her lover's eyes!
How could she stay away?"

The faces then vanished only for shadows to appear in the fog, depicting the scene of couple embracing upon a shore with a boat waiting nearby.

"When she did flee across the ocean deep,
he stayed at her behest."

The couple in the shadows then separated, the woman boarding the boat while the man turned towards two child-like figures, but the man looked over his shoulder towards the departing boat.

"What else but try, to save the future's light,
while pray she'd still draw breath?"

The shadows vanished, another one appearing to her right of the man stood before a towering hunched figure in black with glowing yellow eyes, both men summoning Keyblades…

"But soon approached upon these distant shores,
enemies 'pon the rise!
But when he faced that savage foe…"

The woman grimaced as a bolt of lightning flashed and thunder clapped, clutching her chest and gritting her teeth in pain as she saw the flashes of the hunched figure standing over the man, Keyblade run through the man's chest.

"…his Lover chose to hide!"

The woman continued on as the ghostly chorus continued, the shadows vanishing as the ground around her seemed to whither and die the further she walked. Another shadow appeared, showing the woman on a distant shore, looking out over the waves while the dying man reached out for her, the shadowy figure walking away with one of the children in tow.

"And hidden far across the waves,
to ensure Destiny,
to his lover, with his last breath, cried,
Oh where's the Daughter of the Sea?!"

The chorus and shadows faded away as thunder and lightning boomed, the fog parting, revealing a sight that made the woman freeze, her eyes widened in shock and horror. Instead of the warm and welcoming castle she had anticipated, what greeted her was the sight of a looming, cold and foreboding castle resting on a floating island of stalagmites, a Castle floating over an endless Oblivion…

Castle Oblivion

The woman dropped to her hands and knees in grief, a reality she'd hope to deny, crashing down upon her, tears streaming down her face, her hands digging into the dirt.

"I'm here now…" she said, reaching into her coat, pulling off her Mark of Mastery badge, opening it at the side to reveal an old photograph of her and a familiar young man with long black hair in a white and red haori, marks of mastery on both their chests. A tear dripped onto the photo as she uttered the man's name…

"…Eraqus."

She then sat up, taking a deep shuddering breath, holding the badge to her chest as she powered through the grief, lowering her head again.

"I heard, I heard, across the moonlit sea,
his last voice calling me…"

She sang to herself

"Oh where, oh where's the Daughter of the Sea?"
Oh where, oh where…"

She said before raising her head again with a sad and self-loathing scowl…

"…was she?"

...

Back at the boat, the hooded woman sat quietly and patiently waiting for the older woman's return. Finally she saw the light of her lantern appear at the top of the foggy hill. The older woman paused, glancing over her shoulder, and then knelt down, setting something down at the top of the hill. She then quietly descended the hill, down the pier, and into the boat, extinguishing the lantern she carried before beginning to undo their moorings.

"I'm sorry, Master." The younger woman said.

"It's not your fault. The enemy made its move. There was nothing you could do." The older woman said, moving to cast them off.

"So, will this boat get us to where we need to go?" the younger asked as the older unfurled the sail before moving to the rudder.

"It will." She replied softly. The younger then looked towards the cargo at the bow.

"And…you're certain that this is the one? One of the Thirteen to awaken the Champion?" the younger asked.

"She is." The older replied as they sailed into the fog. Back at the old pier, the fog continued to swirl but soon a shadow appeared that began to crest the hill. The shadow then stopped and stooped over to pick up something. That something was a blue leather bound book with a golden letter L on the cover and a metal clasp holding the book together. The figure looked sadly upon the book with his stern blue eyes, running a hand over the cover.

"So, my old apprentice, this is how we say goodbye." Master Yen Sid said before looking quietly towards the flickering light moving through the fog, a light that soon vanished.

Years later…

Axel, the Flurry of the Dancing Flames, stood upon a sea-stack within the shadow of a majestic grey castle with towering blue towers and a single gold tower above the rest. Within his hands, partially wrapped in brown paper and twine, was the same blue book with golden letter L on the cover, the letter L shimmering slightly as Axel stared at it in stunned confusion, processing what had been shown to him when he uncovered the book.

"What the…hell?" he muttered as the shimmering within the letter L faded. He then opened the cover of the book slightly, looking over the first page briefly, before closing it and rewrapping it.

"What the hell happened, old man?" Axel asked, looking at the very spot where he had last seen Master Yen Sid, the older master vanishing into thin air before his eyes. He then tucked the book under his arm, along with a letter addressed to Aqua, and took a deep breath.

"Things are about to get interesting…" he said to himself before grinning…

"…Got it Memorized?"

To be continued…

…in Reconnect: Kingdom Hearts – Prophecies of the Past…

…coming 2019.

The song above was a slight reworking of "Daughter of the Sea" from the World of Warcraft cinematic, Warbringers: Jaina. I do not own the song.

Who is this mysterious woman? What is her story with Eraqus? All this and more will be answered in the next installment of the RKH saga coming in 2019.

So until then, Keep R&Ring…

Boskov01