Lightning only remembered closing her eyes, uncertain about what happened after. She looked around desperately without reason. She was still at the beach, both weapons in hand. Her body was no longer injured to her own surprise, but the exhaustion was still there. The beach looked like the only safe-spot within the realm of darkness and it was best to take advantage of it while it lasts.

Her gut feeling told her to hid the weapons near the rocks. She trusted her instincts, but nothing came to her.

At the light of the moon, she thought about what to do next, but there was nothing else to be done and going back into the road would mean certain death. Staying however, wasn't an option either. The uneasy feeling that she had to do something was eating her.

The more she dwelled into it, the more her heart ached in pain. Maybe this wasn't the best of times to question herself, considering someone was residing in her heart now without any memory about it.

But before she had the time to relax, a portal materialized, and an old man in dark robes passed through it with both hands behind his back.

"Well, what do we have here? A new face has come to this place in order to face its ultimate fate." The old man said with sarcasm in his tone. "Young child, what brings you to this desolated island?"

When she looked at him, she noticed his eyes full with malevolence and a creeping calm. He wasn't hostile for the time being but she would take no chances.

"Death? No, impossible. Nobody with that glare would give up to something so trivial as death. Before I go on my way though, I would like you to answer my question." the tone in his voice turned grim, as if in any moment now he would lash out at her if she did not answer him.

"From where I come from, I was fighting to keep balance in the world I called home, but I failed. Once I came to this place, I found myself doing the same thing all over again, only this time without a world to return to..."

"Impressive. Not all who come here are able to make it this far. For now though, some new garments are in order, you're not the only one who has survived to this place's challenges."

The old man extended one hand, and a dark sphere came out from his palm. Out of nowhere, a black robe rested near where she sat. She however, ignored the robe for now and looked at him with the same menace as he.

"Now that I answered your question, I want you to do the same thing… Just what is this place?"

He chuckled, judging her personality and combat ability with mere glances at her, he was more interested by the minute. There was potential within her. "Bold. The answer is obvious, my young child. This is the realm of darkness, not a place you can come out from so easily."

"And yet you came here willingly, didn't you?" Lightning was on a mental guard, ready to jump to where her weapons remained if this man turned out to be hostile at the end.

"A perspective lady, I see. If you're interested to know more about how to keep the darkness at bay, why don't you—?" before he was able to finish his invitation, another dark portal was summoned by the trees.

From it, a young man came out with clothing similar to the one Lightning just received, except he had a missing sleeve and no hood attached to it. His sword was massive, yet he carried it on his back so easily.

"Hm? Who are you?" he said, on his guard the minute he made eye contact with them.

"Ahhh… This must be my cue. Until we meet again, lost child... You can keep the robes, they'll protect you from what's yet to come in your journey." The old man retreated. He met two people with potential today, and one of them had darkness living deep inside him. Before entering the portal, he waved his hand in direction of the wall, and with this simple movement he vanished inside the portal whence he came from.

The young man was calmer now, only one suspicious looking woman to take care of now. But, before he could interrogate her any further, he took a glimpse on the weapons that rested not far from her. Taking things to a whole different topic. "…You must be like him. Another Keyblade Wielder."

Lightning was more than unfamiliar with this term. "A Keyblade—" what interrupted her this time was the rumbling of the rocks behind her. The same rocks that made this island secure, were being crushed by an overwhelming amount of manifestations. One of them being the massive creature she created to vanish them temporarily.

"That wall won't hold them back for long, they're getting restless all the sudden…" He looked at the scene with blade in hand, just in case they did break into the island. "Come with me, I will take you to Hollow Bastion."

Lightning wasn't going to refuse someone's help even now, and wore the black robes she received earlier. After taking back her weapons, she followed the spike-haired man into the portal, but the portal never closed behind them.

"Don't worry, the portal will close by the time they reach the island… You should cover your face, your hair is distracting and won't go unnoticed to where we go."

Again, she wouldn't put on a fight and quickly covered herself with the hood. However, this was the first time someone ever said that her hair was too distracting. Maybe even unwanted.

Hollow Bastion.

It was her first time to hear that name and the portal made no sense, it's a good thing this mumbo-jumbo wasn't something new to her.

Straightaway though, an unknown being stole her away from his side and threw her down into the void of the dark portal. Whatever happened next with the creature or her companion remained unknown to her.

"I'm… falling again. Is this really all I can do in this realm?"

It cost all of her might and an endless amount of time, but eventually, she raised her new weapon up front and unconsciously focused her heart into one place.

Back into the Island.

The Keyblade's tip shined white and everything else quickly did the same. Maybe this was the definition of death, and everything that just happened up until now was nothing but a test to see where she belonged to. Out of nowhere though she was too tired to say, and decided to keep falling instead.

At Destiny Island, Sora looked to the sunset with Kairi, Riku and Mickey. All four in silence, enjoying the company of the rest and the view this place had to offer. But it was soon to be over.

"I'm going in" said Riku first, climbing down the palm tree before leaving.

"Me too" Kairi followed, she'd been yawning for quite some time now. Her training hasn't been an easy one.

Mickey soon joined them, almost shocked by the current time. "I need to go back to the castle, or Minnie will be mad at me again. Take care, Sora."

"Alright, I'll catch up with you guys in a moment..." Sora is the only one who stayed a while longer now that everyone else was gone. His eyes were focused in the connection between the sky and the sea, and his ears on the strong sound of the wind.

It had been almost three years since Riku became a Keyblade Master, and ever since then they've all been trying to keep the darkness at bay in different world, while trying find out more about the Organization XIII's whereabouts. Sora had no recollection of what they tried to do with him, and nobody wants to tell him just yet. Kairi has been training with Sora and Mickey in order to become a more adequate Keyblade Wielder and Master, and while her power hasn't increased much, her determination makes up for it.

Sora would be having his next test next week along with Kairi, only this time, his trial would be more traditional than the last. That's what is keeping his mind busy nowadays, and why he wanted to stay a while longer sitting on the palm tree.

Just as he turned around, a falling star clashed into the sea, but the sunset made it impossible for anyone to notice it, the wind had been too strong for someone to hear it.

It wasn't until he was walking alongside the island's cave that he noticed something shining by the shore of the sea.

"Huh?" Sora as curious as he is, wanted to investigate. What he found, made him all the more curious.

"A Keyblade…" he said to himself with awe. Its shape was somewhat similar to his own but slimmer, covered in a dark metallic color.

While he inspected the Keyblade with more detail, he didn't notice the hooded figure coming out from the sea until it was at plain sight. "Ah?! The Organization!"

The hooded figure was lying on the sand, but it wasn't long before it got on its feet, shaking its head. It looked lost.

Sora was ready to fight off the Organization, but at the same time it didn't felt like it was there for combat. Still, he kept a tight grip on the Keyblade he just found, just in case.

The figured looked from one way to another until it spotted Sora, and the Keyblade it was looking for.

"I need that back." said as she extended her hand to him, unwillingly letting out a menacing aura.

"Oh yeah? And what makes you think I'll just give it to you?!" taunting, he walked back a few steps. Trying to keep distance between them.

Seeing as this kid was weary of her presence, she stopped her approach and chose to move with precaution instead. "That weapon was given to me, it's a gift from someone who tried to help me when I needed it the most."

"What… are you talking about?"

"Sora, get back!" Riku interrupted their conversation. Summoning his Keyblade, he stood between Sora and their new opponent. "I'm sorry, but I won't let you lay a single finger on my best friend again"

"Riku!" said Sora with surprise. Mickey and Kairi showed up with Keyblades in hand moments later, surrounding the member of the Organization.

"Now tell us—what are you doing here?!" Mickey had been desperate to know the Organization's first movement towards the Guardians of the Light, and this was his best chance to find out just that.

Instead of responding however, it simply pointed out to where Sora was.

"You… You came for Sora, didn't you?!" Kairi showed fear. She may have been brave against heartless and nobodies, but she wasn't mentally prepared to go out for the big leagues just yet.

Again, it decided not to talk, but declined Kairi's accusation with its head.

"She said, she needed this Keyblade back..." Sora looked at the weapon, trying to understand the situation.

"She?!" All three looked surprised, not really knowing if Xehanort had finally possessed the body of a woman to complete his Organization, or if this was a future candidate. Mickey turned around, and immediately recognized the Keyblade Sora was holding.

"It can't be—That Keyblade belonged to Master Eraqus!" Mickey looked at the enemy with anger and frustration.

"I see… So that's a Keyblade." she spoke, and stopped pointing at Sora after calming down. "Keyblade Wielders…"

She remained silent, reminiscing about the events so far, it was clear they thought of her as an enemy. It was clear what had to be done, she was forced to draw the weapon she hid on her back. "I just want the Keyblade back."

A battle was imminent, everyone was prepared except for Sora, who looked at her suspiciously. "Wait, everyone! She isn't here to fight!"

Instead of being on her guard, the figure had thrown away her weapon, and raised her arms in surrender.

"You… are not with the Organization, are you?" Sora claimed as his grip on the Keyblade loosened, slowly walking towards the hooded woman.

"Sora, you know what you're about to do?!" Riku stopped him with these words as he walked past him.

"I just… don't think she's here for either of us. If she really wanted to fight, she could have attacked me and take the Keyblade back. But instead, she insisted on giving it to her willingly. So trust me on this one, alright?"

"Humph, you're not a kid anymore. Go on." he said, and he too calmed down. Kairi was shaken by what was happening right now, Mickey was still suspicious about this person.

Sora stopped, and offered the Keyblade's grip to her. "Here you go, I'm sorry for how we acted. We've been on our guard for some time now."

A little confused on to why they even wanted to attack her in the first place, she took the Keyblade from him gently. Not wanting to alarm the other Keyblade Wielders.

"Thank you."

"So, uh… Let's start again, shall we?" he said with a calm look on his face. "I'm Sora... The guy right there is my best friend, Riku. That's His Majesty, Mickey. And that girl is my best friend too, Kairi. In fact, they're all good friends of mine! What's your name?"

Was he naive? His smile could be described as that of an utter fool, for someone who looked like a young adult. Riku chuckled of Sora's too-friendly personality, while Kairi and Mickey remained on their guard, unsure what to think of the newcomer.