Well, hello to everyone, both old readers and new people just coming here because the name and summary sounded cool! If you know me, then you know how my stories start off! This is the fifth book in my Wanderer's Series, and it will lead to the sixth and final book! So if you're just now coming here for the first time, you can see that we're a good ways into the series. So I highly recommend that you go to my profile page by clicking on my name above, and going down to my stories and selecting the very first book, Kingdom Hearts 3: Into the Depths of Darkness.

To those returning, welcome back! I hope to see most if not all of my normal reviewers return, and any new additions to my circle of followers are completely welcome, and I definitely encourage you to speak up and tell what I'm doing right or wrong! But anyway, I guess I'll just start with a role call for now.

Right now, the only things I own are anyone with the last name Rikkison(namely Marek, Jack, Rayne, Jason, Mist, and Pierce). Also, any mentions of the three Divine Beings also belong to me, along with any major events mentioned or seen(in flashbacks) that occurred earlier in the Wanderer's Series(such as the Second Keyblade War, the Third Keyblade War, and the Time Paradox) should also be acknowledged as my design and making.

But all inspiration goes to my wonderful readers and reviewers, and of course to Square Enix for all their work in the Kingdom Hearts series, despite their…..recent….economical status, ANYWAY!

So I'm sure you're all sick of hearing me talk and you just wanna get to what you came for, so I'll shut up! Enjoy!

"Jason, I don't think he's coming. Just start the meeting." Jack whispered calmly to his father. Jason nodded from his seat at the head of their long meeting table. Gathered in the room that had once been Yen Sid's side room where much of Rayne's childhood transpired, the entirety of the known Keybladers(or at least most of them) had come from across their various posts in the worlds.

Jason sighed as he calmly stood up, the casual chatter quickly quieting down in respect for their high master. "Thank you all for coming here so quickly. I know my request was urgent and unforeseen, but I thank you for responding as fast as you all did. But now, on to the matter that I called you all here about. As you know, these last five years we have enjoyed a cautious, wary peace. Only half a decade ago, we all struggled through what we now refer to as the Third Keyblade War. Since then, as many of you also know, I have begun uniting the Keybladers under one rank, one agency. And thus was born the Light's Enforcers." he began, gesturing to the armor he was wearing and to the same armor worn by many sitting in the meeting.

"Did we just come out here for a history lesson, old man?" Lea commented from the far end of the table with a slight smirk. Jason sighed and slightly shook his head.

"If you will be patient enough to allow me to finish, Master Lea, we may finish this meeting without you returning to Agent First Rank." he said calmly, but irritably. Lea quickly nodded.

"I'll shut up now." he murmured as his face turned as red as his hair. With that, Jason addressed everyone else.

"The reason that I have brought you all here, is that the LE field commander, Master Riku, has brought us a new report of the darkness and….familiar faces." he explained to them, looking two seats over to his left, where Riku was sitting. Riku nodded and stood up solemnly.

"While all of you have been patrolling the worlds, I've kept close watch on the borders of the receding darkness. It's as Jason predicted, that the darkness just keeps diminishing. The Specters are completely gone, and the Heartless are at an all time low. They're even less than before the Second Keyblade War. But at the same time, I've seen a lot of unrest beginning to stir in most of the core parts of the universe of worlds. There's something, or someone, who's pulling the strings, and no matter how hard I've looked for him, he always eludes me. There's also been no trace of Light or Darkness, but I don't think that we should forget about them yet. For this topic, I'm going to return it to Jason." he explained to them slowly. Jason nodded and let everyone else think about what Riku had just told them.

"I did manage to scavenge some of Yen Sid's library, and combined with Mickey's and Ansem the Wise's, we may find something that we have all overlooked." he paused to glance at Eraqus, who was the only other one in the room over the age of fifty. "These….Divine Beings, as they have been labeled in the books of history, are something that we have all underestimated. And also, Light and Darkness are not the only ones in existence." he told everyone. Terra cleared his throat.

"What do you mean? We have only ever seen the conflict of Light and Darkness, and now you're telling us that there are more of them?" he asked calmly. Jason sighed and reached down to the table and picked up a massive book, that had a span of about two feet. He slowly opened it up to a certain page and turned it around to show them all.

"Behold, the true essences of Light…and Darkness." he told them slowly. On the two pages shown of the book, one ethereal figure was standing on each. One the left page was a broad aura of white flames, and amidst the flames was the outline of a muscular figure. But of the face, only its glowing eyes could be seen. No other facial feature existed.

On the other page was the exact opposite. Most of the page was completely blackened, and in the center was swirling cloud of black and purple fog. Standing in the fog was the dark outline of a being just radiating menace with his glowing red eyes. It was common sense which one was Light and which one was Darkness. "These two beings, you are all familiar with. You witnessed some of their power in the final battle of the Third Keyblade War. But Light's true power was never unleashed, due to Jack having such a strong heart. But Darkness never held anything back. It was only because of Marek's surge of strength during those final moments that let him seize control from Darkness, or as we knew him at the time, Illusion. However, there is one that none of you have ever even heard a rumor of….." he explained to them as he calmly turned the page again.

This time, an entire landscape was etched into the background of the page. The greenery on the very edges of the page slowly wilted and turned brown the closer they got to the center of the page, where stood a third towering muscular figure. This one's eyes were a glowing brown, and he had little more than a cloak surrounding his body, which was only a gray outline. Likewise, his glowing gray aura oozed out around him, and all the greenery close to him was completely brown and dead. "Corruption." Jason told them, whispering the name spitefully.

"It sounds like you two have met." Jack muttered from the side. Jason nodded.

"Illusion unwittingly placed one of his greatest enemies within the father of his host that he had resurrected, namely me. And so without any of us knowing, Corruption also played a part in the Third Keyblade War." he finished.

"So, you think these three….. 'Divine beings' are somehow pulling our strings and trying regain physical form or something?" Roxas asked from the other side of the table. Jason sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"All we know is that someone is hiding in the shadows and biding their time. They're slowly and covertly manipulating the darkness, and the light. We don't know why yet, but we must actively search for any answers or clues that will point us in the right direction." he replied. Roxas nodded and looked over at Xion and Namine with a sigh. Lea leaned his head against his hand as he tried to stay awake.

"And that brings us to the true topic of the meeting." Riku spoke up, quieting everyone again. He stood up and looked around the table with a firm stare. "There is one among us, the Keybladers, who still has yet to stand trial for crimes committed against the entire universe. There is one, who answers to no world, no government, and certainly not to us. I think it's pretty clear about who I'm talking about. There's not a single person around this table who doesn't have a clue who I mean." he said solemnly. Jack rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. A moment later, Mist gently smacked him in the back of the head and gave him a warning glare.

"We all know, Riku." Terra told him quietly. Riku nodded and continued.

"Then we shouldn't delay this any longer. Marek Rikkison should be held accountable for the actions committed by himself throughout the Third Keyblade War, and perhaps even before. He should be judged by a true and unbiased trial for all of his crimes. He should be in our custody until such a time, or he should be immediately brought to trial here. Regardless, he cannot be left to wander the worlds. He has not earned that kind of trust." he told them firmly. Silence filled the room for several moments, until finally Aqua stood up. With an apologetic glance at Jack, she nodded.

"I agree with Riku." she said simply. Terra stared at Jack for a long moment, who shook his head. Terra sighed, before standing up with his wife. Ven, who was sitting next to Xion holding her hand, stood up too. She quickly followed him. In just a few moments, everyone around the table except for Sora, Kairi, Jack, Mist, and Rayne were standing in agreement. Finally, Mist gently squeezed Jack's arm and stood up, followed by Kairi and Rayne. Jack was beyond furious at Riku's proposal, and stared at Sora as his cousin stood up, as well, leaving only him in Marek's defense.

Finally, he stood up, but for a different reason. "You all move to condemn a man that's not even here to defend himself." he told them spitefully.

"He's not here, Jack, because he ignored our summons to this meeting." Jason reminded him. Jack shook his head.

"That's just Marek. He does what he wants to do. Father, you know he's always been like that. I instead think that we should offer him membership of the LE under probation circumstances." he proposed. This remark was instantly met with sniggers and gasps of shock from the Keybladers gathered around him. Even Mist looked at him in complete surprise.

"Marek answers to no one, and he will not enter this agency while he is a rogue wanderer not unlike yourself before the Second Keyblade War, Jack. We all stand in agreement against you. Your brother must stand trial." Jason told him somewhat sadly, shaking his head. Jack's lip curled in angry disgust.

"He's not just my brother. He's your son too, Jason. And if this is how cowardly you've all gotten, to the point where you'll shake in your boots at a man as tortured by his past as we all have been at one time, then you can count me out. I want nothing to do with any of this." he told them angrily. Without a backward glance, he turned and stormed out of the room. Mist and Terra quickly ran out after him, leaving everyone else to sigh and try to finish up the meeting. Jason, however, could not forget how spitefully his second son had addressed him.

And so, five years after the ending the Third Keyblade War, Marek Rikkison is not left in very good confidence with most of the Keybladers…(Marek's Theme 2{Wrong, Depeche Mode})

ON A NOT TOO DISTANT BATTLEFIED…..

FOR ONE MAN, WAR HAS BECOME A DAILY STRUGGLE…

THE ROAD THAT HE HAS WALKED SINCE HIS BIRTH…..

AND THE WAY AHEAD THAT HE IS STILL CARVING FOR HIMSELF…

ARE KNOWN ONLY TO HIMSELF…

HE IS CALLED SELFISH, AND A MURDERER…..

TRAITOR…..

SEEKER OF GREATER DARKNESS…

BUT NOW, THEY WILL ALL SEE HIM IN A NEW LIGHT…

HE HAS NOT CHANGED, FOR TRUE LEGENDS NEVER DO…..

BUT ONE THING IS FOR SURE…

MAREK RIKKISON NEVER COULD HAVE FORESEEN THE ROLE THAT HE WOULD PLAY IN SAVING THE FUTURE, OR THE SYMBOL OF HOPE THAT HE WOULD BECOME…

BUT THAT IS IN THE FUTURE…

FOR NOW, WE START HERE…..AT THE BEGINNING OF IT ALL…

BONDS WILL BE FORGED…..

RELATIONSHIPS WILL BE TESTED…

AND THE STAINED HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE'S DARKEST RIKKISON SHALL FINALLY COME TO LIGHT…

FOR AS MAREK HIMSELF DISCOVERED ALONG THIS NEW CHAPTER IN THE WANDERER'S SERIES…

THE ONLY PATH BACK TO THE LIGHT…..

IS THROUGH THE DARKNESS…..

UNKOWN WORLD, UNKNOWN AREA…

Marek sighed as he walked down the dark and narrow path in front of him. He slowly came to a stop and looked behind at the way he had come, seeing the same path he was on stretch back for countless miles, over hills and eventually disappearing over a towering snow capped mountain. He smiled slightly as he turned and kept walking, silently reaching back and pulling his black hood up over his face and bringing his equally black cloak in tighter around him. He summoned his plain black but broad bladed Keyblade to his hand and began twirling it.

Of course, he could have just traveled through dark portals or on his rider, but he chose this path. This was his punishment, taking the long road, trying to escape a past that he could only ever dream of forgetting. But even as he ran from the raging storm of his own failings, he knew that eventually his past would catch up to him. He knew how the LE felt about him, and as far as he was concerned, they could all jump off the top of their tower. He didn't care what any of them said, let alone Jack and maybe Rayne. He knew he didn't belong with the heroes. That was Jack's song, playing the hero. No, he wasn't Jack, and he was glad of it. He was Marek, and being Marek, you get used to being in the shadows. But even as the white haired man smirked and continued walking with whatever purpose he had in his heart, he could only think of one thought: "The shadows are much more fun, anyways." He was never born to play the hero, but they all had their own roads to walk. This was his, and he would take it unhesitatingly, not even knowing where it would lead.

TerraKH presents…..

The Fifth entry in the Wanderer's Series…..

Many stories have already been told….

Jack has had his own stories…..

So have Pierce and Sora….

But now, the most unlikely character considering his original conception, is taking the reins…..

With Marek in charge, who knows where we'll end up at the end?

Alright, so there you go. Sorry it took so long to get out, but don't be completely overjoyed just yet. There will still be long gaps between updates. I apologize, it's not my fault I promise. But I will update whenever I can.

So I hope you liked the opening, and I know it's only the first chapter, but I have a favor to ask you! I'm sick of using the same worlds every single time(as I'm sure you all are too!), and so I would like to use a new roster of worlds, and I'm open to using a lot of Disney ones. But you with Marek and his past, they need to be worlds that are dark, so places like Atlantica wouldn't exactly fit, you know what I'm saying? So if you can think of some that fit, let me know in your review! I'm keeping an open mind! Alright, well that's all I have to say, so I'll be seeing you soon, hopefully!