Kingdom Hearts III

The clash of light and darkness

The inevitable war

Tearing worlds apart and scattering hearts

It all started with one man

A man of absolute darkness

His goal is nigh

His dreams that will engulf all

Chapter 1

The echoing of footsteps was the only sound heard within the long, bleak hallway, a man in a black cloak hurrying his way to the very end. His shadow cast onto the wall from what little light was outside, his appearance shaded of any detail under his hood. He had a reason for concealing his identity at this moment; he didn't want to look at the cold menacing figure he was about to confront. The ties he had with this man made his heart boil, and made his memories flash in his head like horrifying lighting. The mark on his history burned forever into him from the crackling fire of the superior he now looked up to, and never questioned his motives. Just like he did with a former form of this man.

He stepped up the slightly spiraling stairway, now on top of a large, circular balcony, the bright moon lighting everything that stood here. Here the hooded figure spotted the person he came here to confront, the person's back turned to him. The news he would bring would either throw off the man, or would merely laugh at for it being attempted. He guessed the latter.

His clicking boots were heard by the dark-skinned man, as he soon called out the coat-wearing man approaching him, his voice rasping his concern. "Yes? You didn't come here to give this old man a visit, no doubt, so I can only assume this is something that needed to be brought up to be."

The hooded man was silent for a moment, trying to quickly form the words, even though it was a simple message to give. "Yen Sid has been making actions in response to the future Keyblade War. He has taken one of the Princesses of Heart, Kairi, and is training her to wield a Keyblade herself. Apparently, she has…"

"Yes, yes. I am aware of this." The old man interrupted. "The Princess has had this ability for eleven years now. Or, more appropriately, has had the ability to eventually obtain a Keyblade herself. It figures my former friend would take such a move. I will give him credit for that, as well; train the Princess to wield a Keyblade, so no matter which two options they plan to choose, they can assure they have an advantage of a Princess of Heart being able to defend herself. No doubt this girl is weak, though. She will not be a problem."

The hooded man was not surprised by his knowledge of this, and further proved this when he added more information that what he could have guessed. He thought that by now nothing would surprise him. He was indeed an intelligent man, able to think of solutions in an instant. This problem seemed so minor that his solution was to merely ignore it. But why, since this would truthfully prove troublesome if they did need to collect the Princesses again as Ansem, Seeker of Darkness has in the past? They couldn't use the fairy Maleficent again; as they found out she had her own agenda to accomplish. What it was, even he agreed wouldn't pose a threat to their plans. "I agree, but I thought you would…"

"Before you say anything else, there is no need to be timid around me." The old man said as he now turned to face the cloaked figure. "I know we have had rough times, but there isn't any more need for that. It is water under the bridge. Please, take off your hood and look me in the eye."

The hooded man didn't respond. He was hoping to completely hide his face from him, not wanting to stare into the man's piercing golden eyes directly. Still, he obeyed the man without a single retort, and pushed off his hood to reveal his face. His blue hair was released; flowing down passed his shoulders, and his own gold eyes looking back at the older man's own. "Yes, Master Xehanort."

"Thank you." Xehanort politely responded, though his grin showed he knew he was torturing the man. He didn't need to look at him to know, but his narrowing brows confirmed it anyway. "Now, you need not say anything else. You should know by now that I am able to handle what may come in the future. While I cannot see it, I can at least try to lead it where I want. Speaking of which, there is something I need you to complete. With Kairi becoming a Keyblade Master herself, seven Princesses will be hard to collect should the girl become more of a problem than suspect, and should we go down that route. It never hurt to take precautions, as even I can overlook things carelessly. Even so, there is another alternative for collecting seven. Find her, Isa."

Without any expression on his face, the man responded. "I will."

"Well done, Kairi." Yen Sid complimented the newly trained Keyblade wielder, a small blush appearing on the girl's face as she flustered slightly. "Not only did you show capabilities of wielding the weapon, but showed to have natural signs of using it to its fullest."

"Congratulations, Kairi!" King Mickey cheered in excitement, happy to see his friend accomplish a normally hard task, as well as their small plan coming into fruition. "I think you did a great job as well. Keep it up, and you'll catch up to Sora and Riku in no time!"

"You really think so?" Kairi responded, her blush growing. "Thank you. That's really encouraging."

"As skilled as you may be, you are, as Mickey suggested, still far behind from becoming a Keyblade Master like Riku. Sora himself has failed his test, despite being just as good as Riku himself. This doesn't mean you never will, but you still have much to learn. At this pace, though, you will be a true Master in the near future."

In the same fashion as Lea, Kairi was trained under the magic of Merlin and the three fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. This way, they could put in a massive amount of training within a span of a few days. This truly worked to their advantage, as it seemed like Kairi was learning new tricks and skills within minutes of what to her were a couple of days. Everyone would definitely keep this advantage in mind for future preference.

The mysterious tower was oddly empty, something Kairi hadn't noticed until taking a look around. She had her attention only on Yen Sid to see how well she was doing so far, and now that she got his response, she wondered were everyone had gone to, since surely at least Sora would be here giving her words of encouragement and praise right now. "Um…were the others not able to make it here?"

"I have sent Riku to Disney Castle to make sure everything is in check, just to be safe Maleficent doesn't pull another trick under our noses as she did during his and Sora's Mark of Mastery. Lea, on the other hand, informed us he was returning to Radiant Garden to take care of "loose ends", as he put it. As for Sora, he has yet to return from where he decided to go. He never said where he'd be, either."

"Gosh. Do you think he's alright?" Mickey asked worriedly.

"I believe so. He has learned now to be more weary after his test." Yen Sid reassured the little king. "I could see the instant he woke up how mature he has grown on the inside, so I am confident that whatever he is doing, he will return when he is done. Sora will not be defeated so easily a second time."

"Did someone mention me?"

Almost on cue, Sora himself casually walked into the room with the three others, his usual wide grin stretched across his face. He was surprised to see Kairi here, however, and became curious why she was here at such an important place. It didn't stop him from running up and hugging his female friend. "Hey, Kairi! I haven't seen you since I left the islands again. Sorry I forgot to come by. You've must've been worried. Did Riku at least come to see you?"

"Yes. He told me you'd be away for a while, so it wasn't like I was completely unaware that you'd be gone for so long. Actually, he's the one who brought me here." Kairi responded, regaining her posture after being knocked slightly off-guard from his random gesture.

"Riku did? What for?" Sora questioned, his curiosity increasing further.

"Just like I have with you and Riku, I am training Kairi to become a Keyblade Master." Yen Sid answered for the girl. "I have told you in the past about Xehanort's ploy to either make 7 Gaurdians of Light clash with 13 Seekers of Darkness or collect seven Princesses of Heart. We have put together that if we make Kairi a skilled wielder of the Keyblade as well, it will be difficult for Xehanort to accomplish both goals."

"You're gonna be a Keyblade Master too!?" Sora exclaimed, flabbergasted by the news. "Wow! That's really awesome to hear this; you, me, and Riku, together fighting bad guys side by side and kicking their rear ends!"

Kairi couldn't help but giggle at the boy being titillated by this news. Although, everything Sora did made her feel happy inside, and surely it was the same for Sora towards her as well. He could make anyone happy, even if they are in the deepest levels of depression. It was his own special charm he had, something not a lot of people possessed. It truly had an effect on her, and she felt it at all times while in his presence.

"Actually, where is Riku at, now that I bring him up?" Sora asked Yen Sid. "Is he doing important Keyblade Master stuff?"

"Riku will return in due time, any minute now, perhaps." Yen Sid answered the questioning boy. "Donald and Goofy as well. When everyone is gathered, I will begin explaining what we all need to do to prepare for Xehanort's threat. I was originally planning to only send out Riku to complete these tasks, but with you here we will be able to move forward much more quickly."

"Oh, man! Can't I get a break for at least a day?" Sora complained, then groaned a little afterwards. "I mean, I know the worlds are in danger and all, but…"

"I allowed you enough time to rest while you were gone, and even let you be gone for as long as you were out of kindness; you should have plenty of rest by now. " Yen Sid firmly stated, something Sora clearly couldn't argue with. "You can at least rest until Riku returns with the others. Afterwards, there will no longer be any fooling around.

"Understood." Sora sighed in defeat, even if the wizard was right with his statement.
Sora proceeded to tell about his adventures during his Mark of Mastery exam to Kairi, not leaving out one single detail; he told of his adventures with Quasimodo and how he taught him to not trap his heart from others, his time in the musical realm and meeting King Mickey in the past, and how he fell into darkness, but was save by Riku when he entered his dreams for a second time. Kairi, as well, told Sora of her own Keyblade training, even though she knew it wasn't nearly as interesting as his story. Still, he knew he'd listen, and like every word she said. She was glad that they were once again by one another's side, since they weren't with each other for very long after his and Riku's return to the islands. She understood the threat that would effect every world now, but she hoped that one day, this would all be over, and they could finally and officially be by one another's side like they promised numerous times.

Their joy was soon cut short, as they door to the room slowly creaked open, and Riku stepped into the room. "Sorry we're late, we decided to check everything twice to be one-hundred percent sure all of the security was up and running."

"Actually, tripled-checked." Goofy, who came in behind Riku, added. "Donald kept gettin' worried that we were doing everything wrong and decided to do all the stuff himself. Me and Riku here had to wait until he was done to really check everything out."

"And I made everything top notched, too!" Donald barked, now angry that he was not trusted with such an important task.

"Well, you left the King's room unlocked…"

"It slipped my mind! Honest mistake!"

"Now, now, Donald. We have more important things to discuss." Yen Sid interrupted to stop the small argument, earning a huff from the magician as he crossed his arms. "It is good you are all here, as we can finally begin our plan of action."

Everyone lined up in front of Yen Sid's table, their full attention now focused only on him. This was their first step at stopping Master Xehanort once and for all, so they needed to soak in all of the information Yen Sid was about to share. "To begin, Kairi will be staying here until her training is fully complete; if she were to run into any of Xehanort's accomplices with only the knowledge she knows now, she wouldn't stand a chance. It shouldn't take long, however, and she will soon be helping us in within due time. Riku, I want you to go with King Mickey and fetch Lea. Once you bring him back, I will explain in further detail what you three will be doing to aid in our plans. It is a very important step, at that, so you must make haste with this. As for you, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, I want the three of you to travel to as many worlds as you can in search for any activity Xehanort has began. It is without a doubt he has began his first steps before ours, so this is also something of utmost importance. Even the smallest details could be the key to getting the upper hand on him. I will send Merlin to collect you should you be needed for anything else. Am I understood to everybody?"

Everyone simultaneously nodded once at the man, not letting a single word slip his or her minds. Yen Sid could see their determination in all of them, something that gave him hope that they could really pull everything through successfully. "Good. Remember, Xehanort will stop at nothing to forge the X-Blade. Its creation will spell doom for all of us. Even if it is inevitable that it indeed will once again see the light of day, it does not mean it cannot be repealed. It is us that can avoid the catastrophic events it can create, and everyone's lives are weighed on our shoulders. I am putting all of my trust into all of you. I know you will not disappoint. Now go; Xehanort will not wait a single second for us to catch up."