Shire: Well, here's the last chapter of The Beginning. I've had a great time writing this fic, but I'm still not done. This is the end of the beginning (pardon the pun) and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. By the way, this one is the longest chapter I've ever written.

Sora: Yeah and doing whatever you wanted to do with us.

Shire: Haven't you figured this out yet Sora? I'm not doing anything to you guys! You are the ones doing it all.

Sora: (bug-eyed) WHAT?

Shire: This is your story, I'm just telling it as it happens.

Sora: So you mean that after forty-chapters, of not owning anything, we're the ones who have done everything and you haven't done a thing?

Shire: Yeah, what's so hard to believe about that? I'm only seventeen here, do you really think I would have the imagination to pull off some stupid stunt like this?

Entire Cast: YES!

The Beginning

Chapter XL: Wagers, Cleansing, and Sedah's Desperate Act

Keys kept up his smile as he held Kairi's golden gaze. She was tensed; sweat beading on her forehead and a slight wisp of a growl escaped her clenched teeth. He was relaxed, gladly staring into her helpless eyes. Her ally had deserted her, Sedah was gone. Now there was nothing she was able to do apart from go along with what he and the other digidestined did unless she wanted to give up Kairi.

And Keys knew she wouldn't do that unless she had no other choice. He didn't know what more hurt Maleficent thought she could do to him with Kairi, but he did not dwell on it. In his eyes, it was only a matter of time now.

Piximon's voice broke through his thought. "Back to your training!" barked the Ultimate level digimon. Keys turned around, having forgotten for a moment that he was still in the room. He stared at the digimon for a second, before nodding politely and striding back to where he had previously sat. Piximon heaved out a sigh in a long breath.

"Okay troops let's try this again," he said confidently, pacing in front of the line. "Let go of all feeling. Let go of everything you know. Clear your mind." Keys bent his head down again and closed his eyes, preparing himself to once again fall into his soul and essence.

It didn't happen that way. His mind once again became cluttered with random thoughts and vague memories. The scene that had just passed was vividly displayed in his brain, and the grasps of his magic were fainter now then they had been before. It was like he didn't know how to do it at all. Victory over Maleficent for once had come so close with Sedah's departure that the only thing that could possibly occupy his mind now was not the ramblings of Piximon or the other thoughts or memories that were now swept by the wayside. The only thing that his mind now desperately clung onto despite his intentions of clearing his mind were pictures of him and Kairi together as they had been. Their first kiss in the simulator, the dance in Beast's Castle (he supposed he'd have to start calling it Prince Alain's Castle), flying together on Destiny Islands, sparring above the Black Pearl, moonlight dancing in the air next to Whamon, lying together under the night sky in The New World, singing in Atlantica with their untrained (yet adequate) voices, lying together as lions in the jungle outside of the Pride Lands, the pink crown pendant around her neck, Kairi in her bridesmaid's dress at Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding, and a thousand other shots before they had even realized they were in love. A smile played itself across his face as his mind became full of nothing but Kairi.

He opened his eyes and felt the sharp rap of Piximon's spear against his head. He was sure it would leave a nice bruise under his hair; he hadn't been ready for it because he hadn't seen it coming unlike last time. He heard Piximon sigh disappointedly.

"You must practice young wielder," Piximon said. Keys sighed and hung his head.

"Yes master," he said. He half wondered for a moment why he had called Piximon that, but his head answered saying that it seemed right. Piximon glanced at him for a moment as Keys tried once more at falling within himself before pacing the line a few more times. He had already attempted with Keys twice now, the time had come to test one of the digimon.

Piximon swung his spear down near Gabumon, and the rookie suddenly leapt into the air, flailing his arms around in surprise before crashing back down onto the wooden floor.

"No Gabumon," Piximon reprimanded. "Making funny faces will not defeat your enemies. You must always-" Keys' eyes snapped open when Piximon stopped speaking. He hadn't managed to do what was asked of him yet, his mind was unfortunately centered on Kairi's perfectly curved lips at the time while still trying to rid himself of everything, but even in that state he could almost hear it.

"My barrier's been broken!" Piximon cried in surprise.

"Izzy's down there!" Tentomon said.

"And Matt!" added Gabumon.

"We've got to help them," said Tentomon. Keys stood up and quickly followed Piximon out of the open doorway, the others following in his wake. Even Kairi under Maleficent's control was forced to follow.

Keys could immediately tell that Piximon was regretting the entire decision to have his secret home on the top of a mountain, the only way off in a long winding staircase. He looked out over the forest and saw columns of fire erupting from within and a small red speck near a break in the barrier, desert stretching out from beyond. He looked at Aiwemon as he felt the air currents underneath him. The bird digimon nodded and he looked out over the expanse again. Piximon stopped and looked inquiringly at him.

"What are you planning wielder?" he asked. Keys merely grinned as his feet floated off of the ground.

"Planning on living up to my name of 'Junior Hero'," he answered. "We'll keep them safe until you arrive." Piximon nodded and Keys flew down into the forest with Aiwemon beside him. The jungle trees flew past him as he sped on the air currents like a gale. Columns of fire erupted around him, but each time he and Aiwemon were able to dodge and swerve.

He saw Matt and Izzy running frantically, trying to avoid the attacks as they came blasting in from the digimon standing in the forest. Keys turned his eyes towards the digimon and saw Tyrannomon, the red tyrannosaur digimon with sharp green plates running up the center of its back, tail, and head. Dozens of cables from Etemon's dark network were attached to Tyrannomon, controlling him. Fire was curling in its mouth and its blue eyes were centered on Matt and Izzy. Keys sped towards the two, frantically trying to beat the fire as it sped towards the two petrified boys.

He reached them just in the nick of time, a reflega shield forming around them right before the flames broke onto the group of four.

"Keys!" Matt yelled in surprise.

"Excellent timing!" Izzy added jovially as the fires stopped breaking into the shield. Keys lightly dropped onto his feet and looked absent-mindedly at his right hand.

Piximon had told him that he held no power against digimon in this world. Looking back at previous encounters he saw how true that was, but he still had powers of defense that quelled their attacks; he'd just have to leave the attack to Ohtarmon and Soronmon. He looked at Aiwemon and the little rookie nodded without a word.

"Aiwemon digivolved to, Ohtarmon!"

Keys smiled once more as he looked upon the great warrior that towered above him. He had faith; he knew his partner would get the job done.

Almost sensing this, Ohtarmon turned with the small clatter of his grey armour and pierced Keys with his green eyes.

"Be back in a second," he said light-heartedly. "Keep the victory feast warm."

"Just go," Keys laughed. Ohtarmon nodded and was about to rush off when the voice of Tentomon hailed them. Keys turned around and kept his smile as he watched the others all rush towards them.

"You guys sure are fast," Ohtarmon remarked, watching their approach instead of running off into battle. Keys nodded beside his partner at the group. Menelmon's brown eyes suddenly went wide.

"Ohtarmon behind you!" The warrior had only begun to turn when a blast of fire struck him in his armoured back. He grunted, dropped onto one knee and let his mace fall from one hand, placing the newly freed one on his knee. Keys looked behind his partner and winced at the red patch on the grey plate.

"Ohtarmon are you alright?" Menelmon asked worriedly, fluttering up to him. Ohtarmon raised his head and looked squarely into her anxious eyes.

"Don't worry Menelmon," he said, a light chuckle escaping from his beak. "It's going to take more than that to stop me." Keys looked away from the two birds, smiling slightly. He lost his smile when he saw dozens more black cables flying into the air before they all pointed together. A holographic image of Etemon came from all of the cables, towering above them.

"I like to call this one 'Bye-bye digimon bye-bye'!" Etemon said, playing a discordant melody on his guitar. Ohtarmon roared in pain and let go of his mace entirely, moving both his hands to clutch his helmeted head. He glowed in a golden light and his form shrunk as Gabumon and Tentomon both dropped onto the ground. Aiwemon lay weak on the ground next to them and Menelmon laid a comforting wing around him, rubbing her cheek on the top of his head. Keys turned a hard eye on Etemon's holographic figure, seeing Tyrannomon readying another barrage out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm not going to take it anymore," he said grimly, dashing away from the group before they could protest or follow. Tyrannomon's attacks began moments after he left and Piximon was forced to create a shield to protect the remainder.

"Well," Etemon said, his hologram looking at Keys as the boy dashed through the undergrowth. "The boy's trying to be a superstar? Or maybe he's just such a fan of my awesome music? Oh I love having heroes in the audience." Keys summoned the Oblivion to his hand as he approached his target, one of the black cables spouting Etemon's image.

"Junior Hero Etemon," he said, his voice turning into a laugh as he sliced through the cable. The image of the large orange baboon flickered slightly as the cable disintegrated into pieces.

"What?" Etemon asked in surprise as Keys sprang away from where he had been, avoiding a blast from Tyrannomon. "What are you doing? Don't make me sing at you boy!" Keys flipped his way past a tree, dodging another fireball in the process, and came up to another cable. With an effortless swing he cut through the cable, watching in satisfaction as it too disintegrated. Etemon's image flickered again, this time a bit longer. Keys dashed away from the scene again, this time only narrowly avoiding a fireball from Tyrannomon. He came up to another cable and a certain beat started the thrum through his head.

"Boom, boom, boom," Keys muttered to himself with a wide smile as the cable quickly fell, "another one bites the dust." He smirked as Etemon began yelling at him but raised his voice instead as he came to a pack of cables, each one falling only after he sang of its demise. "Boom, boom, boom, another one bites the dust. And another one gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust." He looked up from the patch of disintegrating cables, one still next to him, and pointed the Oblivion at Etemon's now fizzling holographic image.

"Hey! We're gonna get you too! Another one bites the dust!" He cleaved through the last cable next to him. Etemon started hopping up and down in anger at the keyblade master's antics, his form barely discernable now.

"I'm gonna get you too, you measly little pest! And after that I'm going to find something easier to beat, like a cardboard box or something!" He stopped jumping and raving and readied his guitar. "But first I think I'll give you a little taste of my Dark Network!" Keys clutched his head and fell onto his knees as Etemon played a jarring chord on his electric guitar, his energy drained away.

"Erg," Keys groaned, hunching his back so that his head touched the ground while he still stayed on upright knees. "Why won't this guy give me a break?"

Etemon laughed at his comment and pointed his flickering holographic microphone at Keys. "Ha ha! Now Tyrannomon, time to finish this one-hit-wonder off!" Keys looked up through the foliage at Etemon's controlled Champion digimon, determined to deke out of the way before the fireball could incinerate him. But before the fireball could even begin to form in the muzzle of the dinosaur digimon it was distracted by something else.

Greymon had knocked its knees out from under it by a sudden charge from behind. Keys grinned and got onto his swaying knees to make his way back to the group, calling on nearby trees to steady himself in his once again weary state. Tai was now standing amongst the group of digidestined and digimon, and he and Sora were smiling at each other before they quickly looked away to see him coming back.

"So Agumon's digivolved again then has he?" Keys asked rhetorically, staggering towards them while keeping one eye on the two digimon. Tai smiled wider and nodded. Greymon then began lifting up Tyrannomon, and the black cables linking up to the red tyrannosaur started getting caught in twisted knots and snapping as Greymon raised the other digimon higher, and higher. Cables that were stretched through the jungle were ripped from their beds in the dirt and pulled into shreds. Etemon's fuming hologram finally died as a final cable was broken. Once Greymon had brought Tyrannomon up to his shoulder, the other digimon completely inverted with its head stuck between Greymon's massive arms, Greymon suddenly fell down onto his back, the weight being too much for him to handle. But it proved a blessing, for the remaining cables were all piled in front of him, and they shattered as he swiped a claw across their exposed casing. Greymon rose through the fizzling pieces of cable that went into the sky and roared in victory.

Keys smiled and shook his head as the others around him erupted into victory dances, Tai and Sora hugging for a brief moment before breaking apart, each looking the other way. Kairi hung back, throwing glares at all of them, and Piximon fluttered on his small wings with a relieved smile. Keys kept his smile and looked down at Aiwemon and Menelmon, who were both standing at his feet, Aiwemon drooping slightly from having his energy drained again. Tentomon and Gabumon suffered as well, they weren't as rambunctious in their celebrating as the rest of the digimon.

Keys picked up Aiwemon and softly put him in his comfortable perch on his shoulder, all the while being grateful that Aiwemon and Menelmon weren't as large as Biyomon; he'd never be able to do this if Aiwemon was that big. The brown bird digimon nuzzled his cheek affectionately against Keys' and the teen placed a soft hand against the other side of the bird's head.

"You did a great job," he whispered. Aiwemon chuckled slightly in confusion.

"What did I do?" he asked in confusion. Keys fixed him with his eyes.

"You showed Etemon you weren't afraid to fight at a moment's notice," he answered. "That's got to be worth something eh?" He left Aiwemon to ponder this while Menelmon giggled slightly at his bemused expression, hiding it behind her wing. Keys let a slight chuckle escape his own lips before looking wearily at Kairi, who met his gaze on impulse.

"Say, Maleficent, do you have an ether you could lend me?" Keys asked calmly, and even with a bit of mirth in his voice. Tai, Matt, and Izzy swiveled their heads like owls in between Kairi and Keys in surprise. They hadn't been there when the announcement was made. Kairi let the glances slide and came up to Keys with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"If I were truly here now," she drawled, her voice laced with venom, "I would rip your heart out for even suggesting such a notion!"

"Aw," Keys cooed in mockery. "Wittle Maleficent's angry. Whatever will she do? Will she try to kill me again? Too bad, because I already killed her once, I can do it again!" He rather enjoyed the snarl Kairi sent his way. He knew he was being far too arrogant for a person in his position, but Maleficent was in possession of his girlfriend, and it just felt right to vent some of his frustrations out on her while Kairi fought to regain control.

And who knew, maybe making Maleficent angry beyond all reason might give Kairi and advantage. He laughed; the very sound of his own taunt bringing energy back to his limbs.

Maleficent snapped. With a primeval, guttural roar she threw herself at Keys, who immediately realized he'd gone one step too far with that laugh. Aiwemon quickly got off of Keys' shoulder before the blur that was the possessed girl could collide into him. Acting on instinct Keys grabbed Kairi's arms as she ran into him and turned, letting her momentum carry her forward. He kept a hold on her arms though and stopped her from falling. He wrung Kairi up to force Maleficent's puppet to look into his eyes. He forced himself not to feel the pain at seeing the wince deep in her eyes, a pain that he felt came from Kairi. But, there was something else in there as well, the yellow at that moment seemed a little less, and a tiny fringe of blue crept in.

And in that blue was a look of victory.

But it was smothered in an instant, and Kairi looked at him in surprise as he showed her just how toned and how much stronger his muscles were compared to hers. Even though Kairi had been with him in adventure now for the past month, and had trained in secret by herself for a good many months beforehand, he had been the one always racing and fighting with Riku for years, he had been the one who fought countless battles against the forces of darkness. Kairi may have had a great affinity for magic that had now surpassed him, but in a contest of physical strength and speed he was still the superior. And if Maleficent knew what Kairi's physical limits were, she'd be able to match herself up to him.

And he made sure he let Maleficent know this. If she were to ever bother them again, he wanted to make sure that he would be her target, to draw the attention away from Kairi. He would be the one to be the valiant one to take a hit for her to keep Kairi safe.

He was her valiant knight, he finally realized. He knew they needed no title for that to be true. And he'd do anything for his princess.

He let Kairi go, and she wandered some small distance away from him. She was feeling her hands, uncomfortable at the amount of strength he had. Keys turned his eyes away at Piximon, who had gathered the rest of the digidestined and digimon together during the exchange between him and Kairi. Greymon had come up to them, and was now back into his rookie form of Agumon.

"Thanks a lot Piximon," Keys caught Matt saying. "We really learned a lot from you."

"Yeah," Joe added. "Like how to scrub floors and starve half to death."

"Joe!" Mimi scolded. "Don't listen to him. That's just Joe's stomach talking."

"Far from over your training is," Piximon said seriously. "Remember, life itself is a training session. Learn all you can."

"Right," Tai and Agumon said simultaneously. Piximon turned his attention towards Keys then.

"Remember Junior Hero," he said. "Always practice your skills and meditations and look objectively at everything around you, some ways may be easy, but the easy way could be a trap. You are one of the few destined to protect all the worlds in this realm, and though you may not look as great as your forbearers, I have faith in you."

Keys nodded, determined to capitalize on Piximon's confidence in him. Piximon gave a curt nod and wished them all luck before repairing his barrier and speeding away on his wings.

Keys looked around then at the others, who had immediately begun debating their course. Tai was openly voicing his opinion that they should just pick a spot on the horizon and start walking, and Izzy and Matt were debating with him on how wise that plan was. Kairi scowled at them all from behind Maleficent's cunning eyes and Mimi was resting against the back of a tree while Sora now moved to take a part in the discussion. Keys scanned the horizon himself, and his eyes swept over the desert lands beyond the forest, finding nothing. But something bothered him; he knew he had felt something from a point in the near-distance when he had managed to achieve the state of inner peace that Piximon had talked about.

Keys sat cross-legged on the soft grass beneath his jeans now, his eyes closing as he tried to block out all sounds of the debate and ambience. Something about the serenity of the forest aided him. He struggled, though, but within a few minutes he had been able to cast away all emotion and thought, letting everything go as he did before. His magic flared around and within him once more, and now he felt the levitation though he dismissed it. The auras once again came to give him sight in his blindness, and the anger and frustration of the digidestined slowly shifted into one of confused acceptance without apparent reason. Yet even so he knew the cause from the wealth of knowledge his meditation was giving him about the world around him, within him, and within those around him. The debate had ceased because they had all noticed him, and were awaiting his decision with apprehension. The emanations of power came now from Matt and Izzy as well as the other crests, and he didn't need them to tell him now that they were the children of Friendship and Knowledge, respectively. He felt again the nearby presence of light, a mantle which hovered protectively around them all, but most strongly around himself and Kairi's heart, he now realized. He dismissed the familiar feeling he felt from the presence and probed outwards.

His essence obeyed in an instant. Near to the west, on the fringe of the horizon yet much closer in truth, there lay the two powers he had sensed before in Piximon's dojo. One he now recognized as familiar, but he couldn't place where. Etemon's presence was out to the east, there was little chance he'd interfere especially after just being beaten.

He opened his eyes and unfolded his legs, letting them pick him up from his levitation. He still was within his trance and now the images of the auras and reality merged together in a shifting, beautiful mosaic. "We go west."

"West," Izzy inquired, "Why west?" Tai answered before Keys could open his mouth.

"Who cares?" he asked. "We have our heading, so let's set sail." Keys nodded and took the lead, a small spring in his step that he barely noticed while he slowly slipped out of his trance as conscious thought came back to him. There was a small speck on the horizon that he'd missed in his initial sweep. He knew that it was there that the two crests lay hidden, and there was a sneaking suspicion within him that the two crests were his and Kairi's.

He wondered how Kairi, or Maleficent rather, would react when Kairi's crest was safely in her tag upon her chest.

They walked at an easier pace through the desert than when Piximon had been leading them the day before, confident that Etemon wouldn't try attacking them again so soon after his new failure. Aiwemon traveled on Keys' shoulder as usual, his strength quickly returning after being drained. Tentomon and Gabumon were doing well as well, buzzing and walking at their partner's sides. An easier pace, but it still didn't help too much against the heat, so Keys obliged once more in showering them all in water and ice at frequent intervals, leaving all party members completely refreshed at each opportunity.

After and hour and a half of nearly straight walking, the small speck on the horizon, which had been steadily growing in their sight as it became their true destination, suddenly became recognizable to Keys. He hadn't seen the exact building before, but its style and function were made perfectly clear as the form of the building became evident.

The building was build entirely of cement, and was in the shape of a bowl, but even from this distance Keys could discern the metal arch that stretched from one end of the bowl to the other in the top half of a ring, being completed by the remainder of the stadium. A Blitzball Stadium stood in the deserts of the digital world.

Giving out a cry of delight, Keys immediately began running forward to the concern of his friends. He had never thought that he'd see a sight such as this, and the fact that his tag had just started to glow confirmed his suspicions. His crest was somewhere within the stadium. If it weren't for the prospect of getting it, he'd be giddy enough already from the idea of maybe checking out the sphere pool to see if it was somewhere in there, coincidentally allowing him to play a Blitz game and show his friends his game.

And it gave him a bargaining chip, one that he hoped to exploit. A warrior is an inherent gambler, and he hoped his gambit would succeed.

His face grew in wonder as he now stood in front of the stadium, the building looking exactly like the one back home on the Islands. That is, if that one was still around. It sent a jolt through his heart that he still didn't know of the exact fate of his home. And what of the other islands? None had said anything about the fate of any place other than the main island which held the city. There were still around four smaller islands around it, with the midpoint between the main and its closest neighbor being the small island where he and his friends had played and trained for so many years. He had an aunt, uncle, and cousin on that neighboring island, its village of Dunash named after it. They ran a chocobo ranch. Just thinking about the wind flying through his hair as he rode proudly on one of the great flightless birds on one of the few times he had ridden one sent a feeling of longing over him. How he longed for those days of peace and innocence again. But most of all, he wanted Kairi to be with him to share in those days.

Which is where his gamble came into play.

He entered the confines of the stadium first, and quick as a flash he ran into the mid-section bleachers. The rest of his party was forced to follow along quickly, wondering what madness must have overcome him, for he hadn't spoken a word. Keys gazed with admiration at the empty air in the middle of a bowl-shaped dell in the center of the stadium, the machina that would fill the invisible pool sitting idle nearby. The party came up behind him, and they all stopped when they saw nothing.

"What is this place Keys?" T.K. asked in awe, looking around at the empty stands and the pit in front of them.

"Could this be a concert hall?" Mimi asked, looking around the dell. "Those look like the lights for it." Keys shrugged; the smile still on his face as he looked at the machina Mimi was mentioning.

"I guess that's what Etemon could use this place for," he said wryly. "But, that isn't its purpose." He turned slightly as the machina suddenly roared to life, great geysers of water erupting from them and flowing in beautiful arcs into the air. He smiled further at the expressions of the others as the sphere pool started to be filled, the water falling into place at the bottom of an invisible sphere that hung in the air. Keys still wasn't sure what it was that kept the whole setup in place, but whatever magic or technology did it, he was eternally grateful.

"This is no concert hall," he said at last when the pool was one quarter filled, the curved arcs of water leaving elegant trails behind them that glistened in the sunlight. "This is a Blitzball Stadium."

"What?" Sora squawked simultaneously with Biyomon. "You mean the sport you play on your own world?!" Keys laughed and nodded his head, looking down at his tag as it glowed again. Light came from Kairi's tag as well, and she looked at it apprehensively. His suspicions were correct; both crests were within the facility.

"And it looks like your crests are here too," Tai commented. Keys nodded and looked at the pool.

"And since I intend to search out the place as thoroughly as I can," he said, turning to look back at them, "how about a game?"

"Why?" Kairi drawled before anyone else could answer. "Why would you want to play a game instead of searching for your meaningless crest? It won't help you defeat me no matter what you or your friends say." Keys flashed a determined look in her direction.

"How about we raise the stakes then?" he proposed. Kairi's eyes glinted in interest.

"I'm listening."

"I say we place a little bet on this match Maleficent," he said grimly. "One which could be mutually beneficial to the both of us."

"How would any wager you propose be beneficial to both parties?" Kairi scoffed. "You insolent knave."

"What benefit is Kairi to you, great Maleficent?" Keys asked abruptly, stoically taking the blow to his pride. The golden eyes that gave Maleficent sight through the girl's body narrowed.

"What causes your inquiry?" she asked.

Keys ignored the question. "Your darkness is now so great that it, though it pains me to say it, can snuff out Kairi's light, oh powerful one. And any counter that she brings to bear against your full power is meaningless as is mine. We both know that you are stronger than Kairi and I presently are, even combined with Riku wouldst you still beat us? I think you would even if the combined light of all the princesses of heart were to be brought against you."

"My power is greater than you can imagine," Maleficent's voice suddenly issued from Kairi's mouth. "Very soon, I shall be stronger in darkness that even the Cornerstone of Light would not counter it!"

"And rightly so, most powerful sorceress" Keys conceded, keeping up a stream of compliments with which he had succeeded in lulling her into a favourable mood. "So of what value is Kairi to you?" The girl stopped, as if Maleficent was pondering the same question. "We both know that the defeat for our side, meaning mine and Kairi's, is inevitable even though we will struggle on. I keep saying that you will fall, that you will die. But we both know that this won't happen because you are simply too powerful for a second death on your part. So why not let my side falter and break in one fell swoop?"

"Here is my proposal. We play this blitzball match here, my team of digidestined and digimon against yours, with their consent. If my team and I should happen to win, you release Kairi for the pleasure of killing both myself and her another day."

"And should my team be victorious?" Maleficent prodded in a menacing drawl.

"If you win," Keys answered, "You get us both. To kill and torture at your leisure." The silence that followed was almost absolute, only the sound of the machina filling the sphere pool permeating the astonished atmosphere of the group.

"Are you mad?" Tai hoarsely whispered to Keys when he finally recovered his powers of speech.

Keys inclined his head towards the younger boy. "Madly in love? Yes. In a crazed madness? No. I know what I'm doing."

"I would accept," Kairi suddenly spoke, with Maleficent's voice still. "But there must be some terms in place for this match that is to be played."

"Go ahead," Keys said cautiously. "Name your terms." The girl's golden eyes seemed to relish in her seemingly ceaseless victories over the keyblade master before she continued.

"The first is that the players of proposed game should be enchanted in such a manner that breathing and speech underwater is completely capable. Such enchantment will be done by you, and inspected by myself." She smiled with such maliciousness that it caused the younger children and digimon to tremble.

"Why?" Sora dared to ask. Kairi snorted.

"You think I can use this girl's magic?" she asked rhetorically. "I shall tell you why I cannot allow her to do so. The last time I wished for the princess to do magic I was forced to give some portion of her confined self back to the girl, and weakened my hold. Never again will I be so foolish! I now hold her with an iron will, and only by my will will she ever be rid of me!" Keys forced his face to not show any emotion or surprise, though it was a hard-won struggle that took several seconds.

"Fine," he said at last. "Anything else?" Kairi gave a curt nod.

"The halves be extended to thirty minutes regulation time with a fifty minute half-time and I pick first," she said quickly. "Do we have an accord?" She extended her hand with a menacing smile that Keys grimly met. Slowly he extended his hand to meet hers and shook it for the briefest of moments. Their deal was done, the bet was on.

Now would come the determining factor, one that could tip the balance for either party: Team selection.

"If anyone is to abstain from the blitzball game, make yourselves known now," Keys announced, turning towards the group in front of him. "Remember it is played almost entirely underwater, and the ball is about the same size as a soccer ball."

"That counts us out," Menelmon said dejectedly. "Aiwemon, Biyomon, Tentomon and myself wouldn't do too well underwater."

"And neither would I," Tokomon sighed. "I'm too small to be of any use." Keys nodded and turned to the remainder.

"Any of you guys going to sit out?" he asked. "Each team needs six, five fielders and one net minder." He quickly counted their number as eleven; and including himself and Kairi, made the total of thirteen. One would not be playing.

Mimi quickly put up her hand. "I'd really love to help you out Keys," she said, drawing her face away ashamedly. "But I'm not that very good a swimmer, I'd be more of a hindrance than a help." Keys sighed and smiled sympathetically. He placed a kind hand on her shoulder.

"That's okay Mimi," he said. "You're heart's in the right place."

"Don't worry Mimi," Palmon said cheerfully. "I'll play extra hard for the both of us!" Mimi looked at her partner and smiled slightly.

"Thanks Palmon," she said appreciatively before going to sit with the digimon who'd be spectating. Keys looked at Kairi, and the girl promptly turned away from him to look at the players.

"Tai, Sora, Matt, Gomamon, Joe," she rattled off quickly before Keys or anyone else could get a word in. A slight smile came to her face. "You five are mine, follow me." Without another word she spun on her heel and went out of the bleachers. The five she had named looked at each other for a second before each in turn looked sympathetically at Keys.

"Sorry man," Matt muttered with his hands in his pockets, downcast.

"You shouldn't have said she could pick first," Tai said, determinedly looking away from Keys. The older boy just shook his head.

"I've done what I had to do," he whispered. "Don't worry about me, we'll be okay." He looked up at the five. "Go," he said with surprising earnest. "If you don't she'll punish you, go!" Sora nodded first and led her unwilling teammates out of the bleachers.

"So that means that we're against them?" Agumon asked when they were out of earshot. "There's no way we're going to win!"

"I hope you're wrong Agumon," T.K. said quietly. "Tai's the best soccer player I know."

"Same here," Izzy mumbled. "I'd say our chances of victory are slim to say the least." Keys rounded on his team, leading them out of the bleachers towards the locker rooms.

"Come on," he said enthusiastically. "We won't win with that attitude!"

"But Maleficent has a stacked team," Gabumon protested.

"And this is blitzball," Keys retorted. "Not soccer. They may be similar, and a good blitzer may be a good footballer, but that doesn't mean that a good soccer player will be a good blitzer. Besides, if all else fails and we start going south, I have a trump card; two really but only one is for the game." He clutched his tag as it gave another glow. "The other is for post-game."

He knew very well that even if they did win that Maleficent would never give up Kairi honorably. And he hoped that his hunch that the crests would be in the sphere pool was accurate. Otherwise, he doubted if his second trump card would work.

Kairi and her team were already standing in the hallway of the right-wing locker rooms, the door that led to the sphere pool right at the end of the hall. Keys got within earshot just in time to hear the end of Kairi's pep talk.

"-personally turn each and every one of you and your digimon into heartless!" Her team cringed before her in dual nature. Her team was caught between two outcomes in a lose-lose situation for if they won or lost. Kairi spotted Keys and his team approaching, and her face immediately made a sneer.

"Ready to perform the transformation spell?" she asked, mocking him. Keys grimaced. This was what he had feared his wager would come to. Maleficent had sought every advantage she could get out of him for the match, knowing that he'd agree to it all for the mere hope of getting his beloved Kairi out of her grasp. And he allowed her to do so, making her overconfident in her tactics. He knew that doing such a spell would tax him greatly, and that then he'd have to swim for half an hour before he'd be able to rest. With the odds on her side, her team would already be legions of points ahead.

Keys nodded his head through his grimace and placed his hands together while closing his eyes.

"Wait!" Keys stopped in his concentration and turned to see tiny Tokomon standing behind him, looking with determination at him while a whistle hung around his head.

"Tokomon," T.K. asked, "what are you doing here little guy?"

"I may be too small to play," Tokomon answered, "but you need a referee. I can at least do that. Mimi also said that she'd commentate, and asked that you guys tell me your team names before we start so I can tell her." Behind the veil of his eyes Keys' hopes soared. Refs were supposed to be impartial, and he didn't doubt that Tokomon would try to be, but he ever so slightly had the ref on his side. That might make things a little easier. But giving Tokomon the temporary ability to breathe and speak underwater too would drain his energy just that little bit more.

He nodded anyway and started concentrating once more. The green glow from his transformation spell surrounded all of them and each felt nothing as if nothing had happened, though something most assuredly had. All of them were overcome by a sudden desire to get underwater, like the open air was too oppressive for them to stay there any longer. Each team dove into respective locker rooms for a moment, where the moisture in the air of the room gave them a measure of comfort. Tokomon ran towards the door at the end of the hall, and it opened for him with a small splash of water.

Keys had to force his eyes to stay open, laboring with every breath while he tried to follow his team into their locker room.

I shouldn't have done this.

He shook the streaks of his hair out of his eyes and wearily entered the room. His teammates were all sitting on the bench, looking at themselves and each other with varying degrees of confusion.

"What exactly did you do Keys?" Izzy asked while looking at his hands. "I don't feel like anything changed, except for the peculiar desire to get underneath an ocean of water."

"I feel it too," Gabumon said. "What about you Palmon?"

She nodded her head. "It's the strangest thing. And it's already making my roots tingle."

"Hey Keys," T.K. asked, looking up at him. "Something wrong?" Keys shook his head and chuckled sarcastically.

"Oh no, nothing's wrong," he said, drawing the attention of every teammate towards him. "I'm just dead tired and am forcing myself out there to fight my way through a blitz game that will decide whether I live to fight another day or die a horribly excruciatingly painful death. Either way, my friends shouldn't know about what I've done to regain Kairi's freedom until after we defeat Maleficent."

"But I thought you said that she can't be defeated," Agumon said.

"Yeah I did," Keys mumbled. "But do you think I actually meant half of the hash that I spewed out so that she'd go along with this? It doesn't look like it but I'm never going to give up until we do win." He lowered his tired head and lightly placed a hand to his forehead. He stayed silent for quite a while, trying to draw as much strength into him as his brief rest would allow.

"Time to talk strategy here," he said at last, rubbing his eyes. "There are six positions: Center, Left Wing, Right Wing, Left D, Right D, and Keeper. Palmon, you're in net."

"Alright," she said, pounding one of her green hands into the other. "You can count on me!"

"That's good," Keys answered with a slight smile. "Kairi won't be going against you and she's the only one who would know any special blitzball shots besides me."

"Why won't she be a forward?" Izzy asked.

"Because she'll be in net. We always had her and Selphie keep for us guys; Maleficent would be a fool to ignore her skills," he answered. "Now then, If I could guess anything about her strategy, I'd say that Tai, Sora and either Matt or Gomamon will be her forwards, with Joe and either Matt or Gomamon on defence. We'll need to counter that."

"How?" T.K. asked.

"I normally play center," Keys replied. "But in my current state with no time to rest up I'll have to go on D. T.K., I want you and Gabumon to play as Agumon's left and right wings. Think you three can put some pressure to them?"

"No doubt about it," Gabumon said. "Us digimon may not know too much about the game, but we can be aggressive in a competition. You didn't see the two Monochromon battling on File Island."

"That's good," Keys said, relieved. "What about you T.K.?"

"Don't worry about me!" he retorted. "If I'm going up against my brother, just watch out! It may start to get ugly."

"Make it too ugly and the ref will call a foul and give them a penalty shot," Keys said, though he laughed when he said it. "I like your spirit though. Try to keep them out of our defensive zone as much as possible. Izzy and I will hold the fort."

"Right," Agumon said. "So, uh, just how do we steal the ball away from the other team anyway?" Keys smacked his head, then winced and wished he hadn't.

"Right… you guys don't know. To steal the ball, you tackle your opponent and try to pull the ball out of their grasp." He quickly briefed them on where their starting positions were and the rules, and reminded them that they had the entire sphere to swim in, all three dimensions. A loud buzzer sounded and the team all looked up.

"It's about time to start," Gabumon commented, staring to move towards the locker room door. Tokomon suddenly entered through the door and Keys glanced down at the little digimon.

"One more thing," Keys spoke quickly, stopping any movement. "We need a team name."

"Well the whole purpose of this match is to save Kairi from Maleficent's control," Izzy said logically. "And since we're the team that has to win, be it resolved that our team name be 'The Saviours of Light.'" Keys snorted and shook his head. He liked the name, he really did.

"Any objections?" he asked, looking around at the smiling faces of his teammates. They all shook their heads.

"Nope," Agumon said. "I think it's a great name."

"It certainly gives us a drive to win," Palmon said. "Imagine, the Saviours unable to save the one they're supposed to save."

"We'll win," Keys said in determination. "We have to."

"Yeah!" T.K. added, pumping his fist as he ran towards the door, which Keys had just opened again while Tokomon rushed out after quickly getting the starting lineup from Keys. "Let's show that witch what we can do!"

"It is often the safest thing for a team to be visibly animated by one spirit," Izzy spouted. His face suddenly became joyous as he too went for the door. "Let's go for it guys!" The three digimon roared in approval behind him and followed the two humans out of the room. Keys smiled as he watched them leave through the access door to the sphere pool.

They do have the will, that's for sure. But it takes more than willpower sometimes.

He looked up and sighed before quickly following them into the waiting room, or the 'holding cell' as Blitzers called it. A long bench that ran into the sphere pool sat against one end of the wall. A wide trough about a foot and a half deep was against the bench, already filled with water. T.K. had taken off his hat and placed it on the bench, his messy golden hair already damp from the humidity in the room. Keys breathed in the familiar scent of the water and stepped into the trough, taking pleasure in the feeling of the water soaking through his socks and shoes and wetting his shins. He took off his jacket to keep it somewhat dry and placed it on the bench beside T.K.'s hat, turning his head to look at the side of the sphere of water, held in place by an almost invisible membrane. Instinctively he brought his left leg back and spread his arms wide before bringing his leg back next to his right and placing his hands in front of his chest, one over the other to leave a sphere of air in between them, and bowing.

"What was that?" Palmon asked, having observed the procedure.

"It's the Blitzball sign for victory," he replied, looking up from his bow. "We're going to need all the help we can get." He sloshed his way towards the end of the holding cell and placed his hand against the membrane that held the water together, that would also allow players and the ball to come and go between the pool and the outside at will. So much was riding on this, and he was the one who had instigated it all. His tag glowed once more.

"Let luck be a lady this day," he whispered under his breath.

Mimi's voice, amplified a hundred times, broke through any thoughts he and his team had at the moment and the tension they had all begun to notice reached a sudden peak.

"Hello and welcome Blitzball fans of the digital world!" Mimi spoke. "I'm Mimi Tachikawa, digidestined and child of Sincerity, and I'll be your commentator for today's match between the Dark Destroyers, and the Saviours of Light." There was a wild roar that broke through the waves of water to get into the holding cell where Keys stood and his eyes widened.

How many digimon could be in the stands?

"Without further ado, let's get this show on the road. Introducing the home team by flip of a coin, The Dark Destroyers!" Mimi almost hissed when she spoke their team name. "Forwards: Tai Kamiya, Sora Takenouchi, and Matt Ishida, Defensemen: Joe Kido and Gomamon, and the Keeper and Team Captain: Princess Kairi!" Keys heard a roar from the crowd after Mimi announced each name and his nerves intensified. He had never before in his life played a game of blitzball with more than maybe four people idly watching he and his friends play, how was he supposed to play with an entire crowd? He sighed as his team came up behind him, preparing to leap into the pool at a moment's notice. All of them were about as nervous as or even more anxious than he. The tension mounted, almost amplifying the weariness he felt in his limbs, and all Keys wanted to do was to dive into the sphere pool, hoping he'd feel better under the water.

"Now it's our turn," Agumon said quietly, his voice shaking slightly. Keys nodded, his fists trying to wring the weariness from his eyes.

"The die is cast," he breathed quietly.

"And the challengers," Mimi said, her voice changing into one whose tone honored Keys. "The Saviours of Light! Forwards: Agumon! Gabumon! and Takeru –T.K.- Takaishi!" The three left as each of their names were called, diving through the membrane to rambunctious applause and swimming upwards. "The Keeper; and my own partner digimon: Palmon!" Palmon burst through the membrane to a rush of cheers. "On Defence, the computer expert and resident genius: Izzy Izumi!" Izzy gave Keys an uncertain glance, wondering what Mimi was playing at for not announcing him, but after the slightest of nods from his captain he too dove through the membrane. Keys punched the side of his head slightly, trying to quell some of the anxiety that plagued his nerves. "Also on Defence, Captain of the Saviours of Light, the Master of the Keyblade and two-time saviour of the worlds: his name is Sora, but here he is known differently. I give you Keys!" He dove through the membrane to tumultuous applause, and all his nerves vanished from him as soon as he felt the water flowing over his face.

The blitzball stadium had somehow become packed in the space of the fifteen minutes since they left the stands. Piximon was in one of the front rows, waving his spear and sitting alongside Aiwemon. Keys smiled and waved at them. There were hundreds more digimon in the stands, from the horrendously odoured Numemon and scheming Gazimon to the humble Koromon and elegant Floramon. Battle lines had been drawn even in the stands, and those that sat behind Palmon's net cheered loudest for the Saviours and those behind Kairi screamed wildly for Destroyers.

Keys swam up to check on Palmon as she floated in front of their goal, the image of a seven pointed star etched in mystical lines behind her. His tag glowed slightly and he smiled even as his weariness plagued him again. Palmon nodded at him and Keys swam away, cutting easily through the water to get near to his starting position.

"Today's match is looking to be a promising showdown," Mimi said as the players flitted around in the pool in a warm-up, "with more at stake than just the pride of the players. The Dark Destroyers are definitely the stronger team, with experienced soccer players hoping to prove their skills in the game of Blitzball and a veteran keeper, and playing under the fear that their captain generates. But the Saviours of Light are also to be reckoned with. What they lack in experience they make up for in determination and an amazing captain. Bit of a surprise that he's playing defence this half instead of offense; hope that goes well for his team."

"The players are now getting into their starting positions as referee Tokomon takes the field to begin the game with the opening Blitzoff." Tokomon swam towards the glyph that defined center pool, bouncing the studded blitzball off of his round white head.

"Hey T.K." Matt whispered, across from his brother. "Good luck bro."

"You too Matt," the younger brother said.

"Don't wish us luck," Tai said from at center. He looked behind Agumon to look at the right defenseman. "Sorry about this Keys." The older boy shook his head and fixed Tai with his gaze.

"Don't be," he answered. "Play as hard as you can, as if you actually want to win. I want this to be the toughest game I've ever played."

"Okay Sora," Gomamon said enthusiastically from the back as Tokomon placed the blitzball directly in the center of the glyph. "We'll give it our all!"

"Don't expect me to go easy on you then Agumon," Tai warned. Agumon lowered his head, his eyes set.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Tokomon flipped over in the air to get out of the way and blew the whistle that hung over his head as hard as he could.

"And here we go!" Mimi yelled. "Tai Kamiya of the Destroyers gets the ball right off the blitzoff before Agumon could get a hand on it. Keys folds in and tackles Tai, does he? Yes! He's got the ball! Swimming up and up field now, nice dodge there, just getting out of Sora's way. Pass to Gabumon. Gabumon now with possession, now T.K., now Gabum-. Oh! Great tackle there by Matt, looks like partner loyalty has no place here. Pass to Tai. Tai diving down, avoiding Agumon and his kick. Tai still with possession for the Destroyers. Dekes left, or is it right? Anyway, dekes around Izzy there. But Keys is in the right place! Great tackle, and Keys in possession now for the Saviours. Quick pass over to Agumon, but the pass went wide and Sora's now got a hold of the ball. Gabumon trying to ram through her, nice move there Sora, going above him. Kick him while he's below you girl! Whoops, just kidding there. Sora, long pass over Tai's hair to Matt. Matt with possession now, deep in Saviour territory. Keys blocking his way there, but no! Matt's kept his hold on the ball. Matt still swimming down to the net. Look at this; there's nobody in his path! Is he going to shoot? Matt, passing to Tai now. Tai's not grabbing the ball; he's going to take the shot! First test here for Palmon, come on girl… YES! Palmon has the ball! Save for the Saviours!"

Palmon raised the one hand that wasn't holding the ball to the cheering crowd and kissed it, waving the kiss towards her supporters. Keys smiled and shook his head, calling for the ball with his hand.

"Palmon with a pass to Keys now. Keys with possession, dribbling down the pool. Passes up field to T.K., interception! Matt with possess- Oh T.K.'s now crashed into his brother, they're wrestling… HE'S GOT THE BALL! T.K's got the ball! Way to go T.K.! Nice spin there little guy, good dive too. Quick pass over to Agumon before Gomamon could get him. Agumon with possession. Fakes left to avoid Joe, whoa! Close call there Agumon, Sora just missed you. You're in range, Shoot! Wait-! pass to Gabumon, now back to T.K., Agumon again at point blank! He shoots, SCORE! Just off Kairi's fingertips and into the goal! Love the star on moon pattern on the back there. One-nil for the Saviours!"

Unfortunately that was where their good luck seemed to run out. Under Kairi's vengeful, glaring eyes the forwards of the Destroyers were forced to put any and all skills they had to the max while they translated them between sports. Keys and Izzy were forced to play close to the net, while Agumon, Gabumon, and T.K. were more often than not twisting around in their own zone than able to clear the ball to the other side. The Destroyers were able to score three times because of the screen they had been able to create in front of the net, and Keys was struggling to keep up as the clock kept ticking down.

"Matt with the ball in the final minute now, good fake away from T.K. there, passes to Tai, pass to Sora, interception! Keys has the ball from being in the right place at the right time. Oh! That's a horrendous blow there; you should be ashamed of yourself Tai! We should be expecting a foul; yes, there's Tokomon's whistle."

Keys wearily swam towards Kairi's net to take the penalty, both teams following swiftly behind him.

"I don't think he's going to make the shot," Agumon whispered to his fellow forwards. "Keys is too tired to do too much."

"If there's a rebound," Gabumon said, "I have an idea." He quickly whispered his plan to Agumon and T.K., who both nodded approvingly.

Keys held onto the blitzball tightly, gripping each and every one of the bumps that riddled the ball, giving extra grip in the slippery conditions of being underwater, as he could get his fingers to run over. His breath came in moist, his newly defined respiration system extracting the oxygen from the water he sucked in. Kairi floated readily in the net in front of him, and her eyes seemed to be a mix between the gold of Maleficent and the blue that she herself held. Maleficent must be permitting the memories associated with Blitzball and goaltending to return to Kairi to increase her skill. Never mind, she'd be able to block anything he sent her way now with how tired he was. And even if Kairi was somewhat in control, even if for only Blitzball, she wouldn't dare let him score on her. The Kairi he knew was too proud to let him get the better of her on a penalty shot.

Tokomon blew his whistle and Keys let go of the ball, allowing it to float in the water in front of his chest. He quickly smacked it down towards his feet with one hand and kicked the ball as hard as he could towards the left corner of the net. Kairi dove, her arms outstretched.

"And save by Kairi!" Mimi declared half-heartedly as the ball bounced off the palms of Kairi's hands. The forwards of the Saviours suddenly sprung into action, kicking their feet wildly as they moved to make a form of triangle. T.K. grabbed the rebound from Kairi's hands and threw it as hard as he could at Gabumon, who was up high and much further away without a good angle on the net. "I wonder what those three are doing." Mimi wondered as Sora quickly swam towards Gabumon in an attempt to intercept. The mammal digimon opened his mouth in response, blue energy forming in his gaping maw.

"Blue Blaster!" he roared, firing the ray of blistering hot energy towards the blitzball that was still moving towards him. Sora swerved out of the way to avoid getting scorched and Joe dove down. Gabumon's attack stopped the ball in its tracks, and sent it spinning rapidly towards Agumon, who had a perfect angle on Kairi, still recovering. Agumon kicked hard with his foot at the blitzball and sent it towards the net. It immediately looked as if his kick was off, for it began moving directly towards Kairi; but the spin Gabumon's attack had put on it caused the ball to knuckle its way through the water, weaving unpredictably. Kairi dove; her arms spread just enough to catch hold of the ball.

"Kairi's going for the save!" Mimi screamed in excitement. "She's got, no she doesn't! The ball slipped in her hands! She fumbled the ball and let it in the goal! What a beautiful play by the Saviour's offence, right with three seconds left on the clock too. And Kairi's hanging her head in defeat there; she can't believe she let that one go. That's three-two Destroyers. Keys celebrating with his team at that amazing goal. Matt's even got his brother in a headlock and is messing up his hair! Brotherly love right there. I don't think even Keys believes what just happened. This one's going to be talked about for ages back where Blitz is huge. We need to get him the replay. The excitement finally calming down as the teams go for the blitzoff in center. Agumon with the ball, quick pass back to Izzy, and there's the buzzer. We're in for a good second half when these two prime teams come back from a well-deserved break."

Keys swam out of the sphere pool first from his team; the excitement from Agumon's sudden goal giving him a burst of adrenaline that he welcomed as well as he welcomed the whistles and cheers of the supporters and fans.

They wanted to celebrate even more when they got to their locker room, but the strain had finally reached them all and each one collapsed into a state of rest that left each of them half asleep. Except for Keys, he didn't have the time to sleep. Instead he spent the first thirty seconds of their break getting into the meditative trance that Piximon had taught them, but only he'd achieved. He discovered that it was much easier to do when he was tired. Before he slipped in though, he acknowledged just how proud of his team he was. And then he was lost in a state of contentment, where his senses calmed even while heightened and his muscles relaxed.

When Tokomon came in, telling them that they had five minutes, Keys opened his eyes and stood instead of hovered. He tried to keep his grasp on his trance while he felt perfectly refreshed.

"Any line changes?" Tokomon asked. Keys nodded his head as his team came out of their stages of sleepiness.

"Yes," Keys answered slowly. "I'm in center. Agumon's going to be our left defenseman."

"I'm on D?" the yellow rookie asked. "Okay, cool. I'll try that." Keys smiled at him and led his team back into the holding cell, slightly surprised and frustrated that he wasn't able to stay within his trance. He violently shook his head to dispel his feelings of inadequacy while his stomach twisted as if he'd eaten something that desperately wanted to escape through his throat. He took calming pleasure in the water that slid around his shins, and now with his energy completely restored he felt that he was ready to take the win.

"The time has now come to get the second half under way," Mimi's voice announced. "Now let's welcome back our challengers, The Saviours of Light!" Keys broke through the membrane to tumultuous applause, his teammates behind him, ready to face down the worlds as his nerves left him. This was their time, this was the pivotal moment right here. Here they would score the first victory over the darkness that plagued the worlds.

Who would have even thought that it would be a Blitzball match?

Palmon took to her goal quickly and Keys started swimming towards center as Mimi took up her megaphone again.

"And now the returning home players, up by one, The Dark Destroyers!" Boos and hisses came from Saviours supporters while cheers of delight erupted from the other side of the stadium, drowning out the negative commentary the benevolent digimon were giving as the opposing team swam into the pool once more. They took up the same positions as they had in the previous half, but Keys noticed that each of them was glancing at each other in apprehension. Tokomon started swimming towards the starting glyph for the Blitzoff to start the second half, once more bouncing the ball off of his head.

Keys took up his place as center and Tai faced off against him, the boy's face white as chalk.

"What's wrong?" Keys asked. Tai gulped.

"Well, we just got a huge threat hanging over our heads if we lost," he replied. "And we were just told to use any means necessary to win." Keys lowered his head slightly as the blitzball was set between them and fixed Tai with his eyes once more.

"Then try to deny me my victory," he dared. Tai balked at him.

"Are you serious?"

"If you don't try to keep me from winning I'll be the one to break you," he retorted. Tokomon blew his whistle at that moment and Keys sprang forward with a powerful push of his legs against the glyph. He grabbed the blitzball in his hands and checked Tai with his shoulder, barreling right through him.

"Here we go!" Mimi roared. "And what a rush Keys has given us right from the get go! Now I see why he normally plays center." Keys ignored Mimi's commentary and slid in between Joe and Gomamon, who had both tried to fold in and block him. His wings were both tied up so he went in alone on a breakaway against the net. Kairi floated anxiously in front of the net, his approach on her was amazingly fast, faster than the attack had been at the start of the last half. Keys dropped the ball and started kicking it forward with his feet, running through the water towards her. He didn't bother to feint and rocketed the ball towards the net with a furious kick. Kairi swam to grab the shot, but it spun into the goal just above her hair, stretching out the membrane that held the sphere together.

"It looks like Blitzkrieg out there!" Mimi cried as everyone stared absently at the blitzball as the sphere's deformation rounded out. "Such lightning speed and quick moves! Five seconds into this second half and Keys has already tied it up with an unassisted goal."

"If you let him dominate like that again I'll have the heart of every digimon in this accursed world completely assimilated into darkness!" Kairi screeched at her team, once more with Maleficent's voice issuing from her mouth; "Starting with your partner digimon!" Her reluctant teammates were forced to nod their heads.

"Yeah, sure," Matt said, waving his hands in front of him as Keys started to approach to get back to center. "Whatever you say boss."

"Nice moves though," he whispered when Keys actually got up to him.

"Play dirty," Keys whispered back.

"What?"

"This is a sport Matt," Keys laughed quietly. "If you never get your hands just a little dirty you can't say you've ever played. She's told you to do whatever it takes to win right?"

"Yeah…" Matt replied slowly. "But-"

"Then stop being a chicken and letting T.K. whip you!" Keys retorted, a cheeky smile on his face. Matt quickly glanced at his younger brother and saw the smaller blonde smirking at him. Keys turned away and got onto his side of the glyph as Tokomon rolled the ball into center again. He didn't see Matt's face, but he heard the tell-tale sounds of whispering behind him.

"We're off to the races with the game all tied now early here in the second half," began Mimi again with renewed enthusiasm. "And there's Tokomon's whistle- Wow just look at that scrimmage! Keys and Tai are grappling for the ball- wait- Keys has it! Saviours in possession once more! Wow, he's really invigorating this team. Ouch! Nice tackle there my Matt, but Keys is still holding onto it; couldn't take that second one though. Sora in possession for the Destroyers. Quick pass up to Tai- wow, he's really swimming too. Tai to Matt… but the pass went wide and it's gobbled up by Agumon in the Saviours' zone. Agumon with possession, passing up the side to Gabumon on the right flank. Sora trying to get a hand on it but Gabumon gets it in the end. Gabumon to Keys- Intercepted by Sora now! Sora with possession, nice dive to avoid Gabumon there. Watch out Izzy's right in front of you! Phew, good move there girl, he can't keep up. Sora to Tai- No, Keys interce- never mind, Tai tackles Keys and steals the ball back. Destroyers in possession- No, Saviours in possession- No, Destroyers again. Matt with the ball now. OH COME ON! YOU DON'T DO THAT TO YOUR BROTHER!"

Matt had grabbed T.K. by the scruff of the boy's collar and thrown him away through the pool when his younger brother had tried to tackle him. But Tokomon didn't blow his whistle, as the move was essentially legal.

Spurred on by his efforts, the Dark Destroyers suddenly became more violent than any Blitz team Keys had ever seen in any game. It even beat out the Straca Stormbringers (the team from another neighbouring island) for brutality. The defence came onto offence even to aid them in their fury and desperation to retain their hearts. To Keys, even though he knew that they cared very much about his and Kairi's lives, they seemed to be valuing their own skins more than his. He accepted this, but did it ever make him angry.

Keys punched the ball out of Tai's hand before he could make a shot with it. Gabumon grabbed the ball and frantically kicked it down to the other side of the pool, to be tackled moments later by Gomamon. It wouldn't have been unusual had Gomamon not started clawing at Gabumon while they grappled. Izzy saw this and roughly kicked Gomamon in the side. Tokomon blew his whistle twice.

"Penalty to Saviours for a foul on their forward," he said; "Penalty to Destroyers for retaliatory foul on their forward!"

"Get out of it Toko!" T.K. yelled, but Tokomon shook his head. Gabumon was so frustrated in the behaviour of the other team that he missed his shot by several feet, not that Kairi wouldn't have saved it anyway. And Palmon put up a great save to deny Tai his second goal. The game was still tied at three.

But Keys realized as the minutes ticked down and the fighting got more intense, more and more fouls and penalty shots occurring, that eventually it had to go south for one team. Palmon passed the ball his way after she had made her twenty-second save and as soon as his fingers grazed the ball he was suddenly tackled in the back and a streak of ginger hair leapt before his eyes. Sora, sans blue hat, had grabbed the ball from behind in a surprise attack. She kicked out to get towards the goal and her sneakered foot connected with his face. He felt his nose roar at him in pain as it almost broke, but that didn't stop the blood from gushing out of his nostrils.

"Sorry Keys," Sora said apologetically from in front of him. Evidently she had felt her foot make contact with his head, or heard the crowd gasp and Mimi's comments. She quickly passed the ball off to Matt and then spun around to look at him, wincing at the blood that floated in front of him. "Are you alright?"

Keys barely nodded in the daze the blow had given him. He placed his hand up to his nose and muttered the word 'cure' under his breath. He wriggled his nose around when the healing magic had done its work and gingerly touched it.

"Good as new," he said when he had finished testing it. A glee of delight came from the opposite end of the stadium that drowned out the moans from nearby. Keys and Sora both looked to see the ball spinning in the membrane goal behind Palmon.

"And goal for the Destroyers," Mimi said. "Bad luck there Palmon. Matt rings it up with his first goal of the game to make it 4-3."

"Looks like we're all losing," Sora murmured. Keys nodded before suddenly realizing what she said.

"You understand?" he asked. She nodded in response.

"How can I not?" she rhetorically asked, her voice dropping as they both swam to center. "If my team wins, you and Kairi die, and so does the greatest hope the side of light has. If your team wins, you're both spared to fight another day, but Maleficent will destroy the digital world with heartless and take our hearts."

"No she won't," interjected Keys quickly.

Sora looked at him, thoroughly stunned. "How can you say that?"

Keys raised his eyebrows. "You think after fighting against her for so long, and killing her once, I wouldn't know her mind?" He left Sora a moment of silence before continuing. "She won't attack here. She's learned that the digimon have the real power, just as I have. Plus, we're bound to do something that will screw up her plans or something and she'll entirely forget about her plans for the digital world."

"So we're safe if your team wins," said Sora. It was more of a statement than a question. She laughed slightly as they neared the glyph. "Looks like we have to trust in the Saviors to save us."

"Yes you do," Keys laughed in response. "But I still want you and your team to play to win. When you play a blitzball game, you play to win, sometimes using as many dirty, underhanded tactics you can." Sora nodded with a queer expression on her face before swimming away to take her place.

Tokomon blew his whistle and once more they went into the scrum.

"Tai with the ball," Mimi started commentating, "good tackle against Keys there. Pass to Matt- T.K. gets in the way though and the pass goes wide to the edge of the pool. Izzy's got a hand on it- IS THAT EVEN LEGAL!?" Sora had quickly moved in on Izzy and checked him hard while stealing the ball. Izzy conserved all of her momentum and was blasted out of the sphere pool into the crowd.

"Izzy!" Tentomon yelled as the crowds roared in disapproval and joy. A Gotsumon from the Destroyers' supporters tossed a rock at Izzy. Enraged, the Saviours' supporters flung themselves unto the Gotsumon, and a battle between the fans began to unfold.

Sora smirked slightly and threw the ball towards Tai, who was also grinning. Tokomon didn't blow his whistle again, as Izzy wasn't showing any signs of being hurt and leaving the sphere pool was legal.

Mimi bit into her megaphone, venting some of her fury at Sora for doing something so dastardly with a vicious tongue. "Tai, justly tackled by Agumon. Saviours in possession with Agumon blasting a pass down to Gabumon. Gabumon with possession, furiously swimming through the pool. Joe tackles him, but Gabumon keeps possession. Swift pass to T.K., oh come on Sora, don't tackle a digimon from behind! T.K. with the ball, Matt moving in on him- MOVE T.K. MOVE!! You didn't move but nice move in clearing the ball to the top of the pool. Wait, Keys is up there! Nice pass T.K.! Keys misses the ball and it soars out of the pool- he's following it!"

Keys broke through the top of the pool, the ball almost motionless in the air above his head as water dripped down from both the ball and his clothes and hair. Instinctively he flipped around and caught the ball with his foot, the force deforming the blitzball for several seconds as it splashed back into the pool, its speed decreasing only slightly.

"IT'S GOING FOR THE DESTROYER'S GOAL!" Mimi yelled in surprise. The ball curved as it zoomed through the water, approaching the goal from Kairi's lower right side, moving seamlessly past both Gomamon and Joe. Keys saw her get into position to block, but the Sphere Shot was true and zipped right past her right side into the goal.

"GOAL!!" Mimi yelled. "Goal for the Captain of The Saviours of Light! His second of the game to tie it up at 4! That was just a marvelous shot; I still can't believe that went in! A perfect Sphere Shot."

"All forwards and defence," Kairi began roaring, incensed at Keys tying the game once more, "keep him from scoring again! There's only two minutes left, and after that an easy five minute overtime to kill through. Once that's done the win is ours! He can't score on a penalty shot!" Keys glared at her for a second before returning to center.

"There's Tokomon's whistle, and here we go for the final minutes of this memorable blitzball match. Saviours in possession, and boy have they taken a beating recently; down a defenseman, with Izzy absent from the pool, and the rest of the team taking vicious attacks. Destroyers in possession now- Tai Kamiya with the ball, heading for the Saviours' goal." Tai ducked underneath a slow tackle that Agumon brought against him and swiftly passed the ball to Sora. She kicked the ball in a one-timer towards Palmon, who was just barely able to get control of the blitzball before it would have gone in. She sent a pass down towards Gabumon, but the wolf digimon had barely grabbed it before Joe nailed him with a kick in the ribs and stole the ball. He passed it off to Tai, who passed it to Matt, who hurriedly shuffled it off to Sora to try her one-timer again. But Keys got in the way this time and the ball was deflected slightly away from Sora so her kick sent it straight at Palmon in an easy save for the plant digimon. Palmon waited with the ball for a second, trying to figure out who to pass to.

"Palmon!" Keys yelled, watching the clock anxiously as it began ticking down into the final fifty seconds. Palmon nodded and sent the ball his way. His fingers had just managed to grab hold of the blitzball when he kicked his feet upwards to avoid a tag-team tackle of Sora and Joe. Keys quickly glanced at his remaining teammates.

"Cover me!" roared Keys. "I'm going for the goal! Trump Card time!" T.K., Agumon, and Gabumon all seemed to take new strength in his words and frantically fought back against their opponents.

"To me!" Kairi shrilly shrieked in Maleficent's voice. "To me! Hold the net with a wall!" Her team immediately abandoned its chase upon Keys and flew through the water towards their goal, but T.K., Gabumon, and Agumon were able to tie up Matt, Gomamon, and Joe long enough for Keys to reach the mid-point of the pool.

Thirty seconds.

Keys reached scoring distance with Tai and Sora blocking the way in front of him. He knew Kairi was right. He couldn't score on penalty shots.

So he'd score now!

Twenty seconds.

He let go of the ball and kicked it hard. It struck against Sora's right side and blasted her out of the way, while the blitzball itself rebounded right back at Keys. He punched it; his knuckles, already raw from swimming in the water for so long and tackling so often, scraped and began to bleed slightly from the force of the blow he gave the ball. It ripped through the water and smashed into Tai's chest, forcing the air out of him and knocking him down several feet while the ball itself soared higher into the water.

Ten seconds. The crowd was screaming in excitement. Loyalty no longer mattered as they all jumped up and down. The way was clear to the net, he could win it!

Keys swam up higher in a single bound and twisted his body into a nearly uncontrollable spin, impossibly fast for being underwater. His head swam as much as the water around him as his innards slowly squirmed their way to the edges of his skin and his breakfast wanted to make a quick and easy escape.

Five seconds.

His spin slowed, and his ankle suddenly snapped out against the descending blitzball, striking it with the force of a mountain behind it. A sharp crack came from the ball as it sped towards the net.

Three.

Kairi's eyes were wide in horror and shock. The girl knew of this shot even though Maleficent didn't. But how-?

One.

She didn't even move to try and go for the ball that was now spinning rapidly to the right of her head as the buzzer blared.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!" Mimi yelled hoarsely, trying with all her might not to be drowned out by the tidal wave of noise from the crowd. "GOAL! GOAL FOR KEYS! He's done the seemingly impossible here today with a hat trick to win the game at five to four. This is going to be talked about for ages! What's the name of that shot anyway?"

Kairi gave a half smile with her eyes closed as every player including a newly returned Izzy rushed at Keys and brought him into a multi-limbed bear hug. She had been fairly defeated in the game, despite her best efforts. And Maleficent didn't even mind. It had been fun, to play with them for once, and there wasn't the threat of death hanging over her head for being defeated.

"Now then Maleficent…" Keys said, managing to disentangle himself from the group hug and the entire party gathered behind him.

Yes, she'd had fun, but did that mean she'd still honor the terms of the agreement between herself and the keyblade master concerning the fate of the possessed girl she controlled?

No.

"I reject the terms of the offer," she replied slowly. Keys only grinned.

"I thought you might say something like that," he mused as the tags that hung around both his and Kairi's necks began to glow. The goals on each side glowed in golden light and the patterns etched on them removed themselves from the membranes. The crowd hushed as the two crests shrunk to fit into the tags and approached the two keyblade wielders.

"What is this?" Maleficent asked in outrage, knowing full well the answer anyway. She turned her dark gaze onto the master of the keyblade and snarled at his smirking face. He had swindled and cheated her! Somehow the insolent boy had known that both crests had lain within the pool. Kairi's crest, a magnificently radiating star over a full moon on a blue background, slid within the tag that was upon her chest and suddenly shone with a brilliant light just as the seven pointed star upon Keys' silver crest slid within his tag.

The crests of Valour and Virtue.

Keys unfolded his arms and spread himself wide reveling in the feeling of power that flowed within him. Now he knew why it had seemed so familiar, the power of his crest was his own power, it had been a part of him, taken away from the day that the digital world sensed he would arrive to help save it and the rest of the worlds.

The yellow that had haunted the irises of Kairi's eyes dimmed as blue flared into existence into them as Kairi's own strength equally was returned to her. Now there was a real challenge to Maleficent's control, Kairi was on equal footing with her now, and it was taking all of her mental prowess to try and keep the young princess in check; the key word being try. Against the sorceress' will the girl reached down into a fold in her skirt and withdrew a single white charm as her body became less vertical and more horizontal.

"Ordona!" Kairi's voice issued from her mouth as she tossed the charm into the water, her plea full of hope and desperation.

A single drop of water struck against the top of the sphere pool, and from the drop a ring of water droplets left the water, another drop in the center jumping up higher than the ring. That single drop grew into a glowing orb that lowered into the pool to the level in which Kairi was swimming. Golden light pulsed around it before melting into a radiant white with twilight-silver lines running around in an intricate parallel network. The orb gave a pulse of its light once more and then it became known that it sat suspended by invisible force in the center of a hoop of golden horns. The horns attached themselves to the head of a great mystical goat, made up entirely of light. The goat's body took form, swirls of the silvery lines adorning its body and covering a circular fish-like tail. The spirit of light stood in the midst of the water, the light shining from him drawing awed looked from every digimon still in the crowd.

Kairi was now more or less horizontal, her crest floating just above her and shining in a golden light. Kairi opened her mouth as her crest sent a pulse of golden light into her.

"Vadenelyë i umûl! Kírië, Unórs!"

Ordona bayed loudly in response and the orb that hovered in the middle of his antlers glowed brilliantly. Shafts of white light erupted from the orb and streaked towards Kairi, bending and twisting along the way as the girl herself began to glow with her own white light. A primeval scream in Maleficent's voice issued from Kairi's mouth for a final time as the combined lights struck her, and then it faded away as a dark shadow leapt off of Kairi and disintegrated in the intensifying light. Kairi shone even brighter, like the brightest living star in the dead dark of night. Keys had to cover his eyes, for she was shining so brightly.

The light dimmed and Keys removed his shielding arm. He gaped at Kairi as she now floated before them. Her hair and skin glowed with an inner radiance that beautified her. Her top and skirt had melted away from the dark colours that before had been within the fabric, and which, in his opinion, had made Kairi look hot (or if he'd been more daring to even admit it to his mind, sexy). Now they were a complete, untainted white, also her boots had become the very same white. The new white upon her allowed her inner and outer beauty to shine brilliantly, and Keys felt himself falling in love all over again. Not to say nothing that she was wearing white and they were underwater, but her clothes had seemed to compensate for this, and, thankfully, instead of sticking to her body and becoming see-through; which truthfully would have made Keys blush and force his eyes away, her top instead remained in its brilliant whiteness, letting no colour recede from nor enter it, keeping the girl's dignity unspoiled.

Her eyes fluttered open and Ordona vanished in a streak of light. She looked directly at Keys, who still had his mouth open wide, finding it dry.

"Ka-Kairi?" he asked uncertainly, even though he knew it to be her by the clearness of her eyes. Kairi smiled and swam up to him, the digimon and digidestined inching out of her way. She got to within two feet of him before she stopped and her smile slipped off her face and her eyes flared with conflicting emotions. Keys winced at the look she gave him.

"How-?" Kairi started to splutter incoherently, enraged at him. "Why would you do something so stup-? Don't you realize you could've been-? What if your infallible luck-? That was the most insane, noble, desperate-" She spouted constantly, and Keys was trying to make sense of any of the emotions that were swirling around within the young woman's mind. She threw her arms up high and he cringed backwards, but the roar of rage he had expected faltered and came out in a laugh.

"By Thessaura I love you!" Kairi at last shrieked, closing the gap with him in an instant and locking her lips square on his.

"Well, well, well," Mimi's voice came through on the megaphone once more as the two teens in the pool expressed their love, "it looks like we have a little bit of romance unfolding within the sphere pool."

Kairi released her lips from his, the tangy taste of her tongue glued onto his taste buds even after it had left. She withdrew her head and looked at him with a bemused expression, which Keys chuckled slightly at.

"That was a 'Sublimely Magnificent Jecht Shot Mark III' right?" she asked. "When did you learn how to do it?"

Keys laughed. "Every day when I was four I bugged the heck out of Tidus' old man for two months straight until he agreed to show me how to do it just to shut me up. Failed every time I tried until two years ago, but I never had the guts to try to do it in front of Tidus ever since his dad went missing."

"What did you call that shot again?" Tai asked. Keys and Kairi laughed.

"The Sublimely Magnificent Jecht Shot Mark III," they replied.

"If that's a Mark III, I wonder what the Mark I and Mark II are like," Gabumon said.

"There is no Mark I or II," Keys replied through another laugh. "Jecht said that Mark III was just a crowd-catcher. Every game people would keep coming back to see if he would do a Mark I or II, but he never did and they still came in droves, because he was the best. 'Nobody else can do it, I'm the best.'"

Kairi raised her eyebrow and looked at the blitzball as it still spun in the net. "The best? Yeah, right." The ball suddenly glowed with a bright light and for the first time in what seemed like ages the Oathkeeper appeared in her hands. She looked at Keys and he nodded approvingly.

Kairi unlocked the gateway, and she turned to Keys, who nodded.

"Back to the changing rooms," he announced.

Maleficent pounded her fist on the black table in front of her, nearly upsetting the thick register. Kairi had thwarted her! In all her power she had been stopped by the pitiful princess of light! Sedah walked into the room as she seethed, and he immediately cowered when she turned her infuriated gaze on him.

He had abandoned her and left the game open to manipulation. Sedah had been her trump card in keeping Kairi under her control by keeping Sora's influence to a minimum, and he had left at the first sign of trouble! Oh how she wanted to kill him right then and there.

But he would still serve some use to her. Doubtless, the princess and her guardian would flee the digital world before letting her wrath at their escape claim that world. She would dispatch Sedah to reveal their location to her, and then together they would bear down upon the pair in some distant world, far from the help of their friends which had often saved their lives.

And then she would leave Bara-dûr and consolidate herself within the Ash Mountains to the northwest. A small spur from those mountains in Mordor's northern border stretched south and converged with another spur that ran southwest from where the Mountains of Shadow and the Ash Mountains met. The initial convergence occurred in the land's extreme northwest, where stood the Black Gate and the Towers of Teeth, guarding the vale of Udun, which was flanked on both sides by the aforementioned spurs, which when met were guarded by a wall known as the Isenmouthe. She had seen many numerous armouries and barracks for Sauron's hordes within Udun and tunnels delved deeply into the spurs of the Mountains of Shadow and Ash Mountains that enclosed the valley. She had dwelled long on the thought of those tunnels and fortresses among the mountains, and she wanted her own, one that would rival the greatest underground kingdom of this world.

She would set up her base on the eastern side of those mountains, deep in the southern confines of the Ash Mountains, away from Udun and the orcs.

Deep in those tunnels, once delved, should Sora and Kairi manage to survive the attack to come, no one would hear their screams.

"Piximon I don't understand it," Keys said as they all stood outside of the stadium. "Why can't I maintain my trance for more than a few seconds?"

"Look wielder," Piximon replied agitatedly, having gone through this with the stubborn boy for the last five minutes, "you are young and inexperienced. Consider yourself lucky that you're even able to do it at all! Stop expecting so much of yourself!"

"But it worked when you attacked me," Keys muttered quietly.

"That's because I brought you into conflict when you were already in the trance," Piximon said tiredly. "To be at peace and to then consciously go out into a fight takes a lot of concentration. You are not yet capable of doing so! Just practice, and it will come to you!"

"But for how long?" Keys retorted.

"Weeks, months, I don't know!" Piximon retaliated. "It all depends on the person, yup yup. Just keep going and trying. The only advice I could give you would be to try and get yourself into that state of being right before the first blow is struck, and then you'll already be in it like when I tested you."

"Thanks Piximon," Keys said, already spinning on his heel to rejoin the digidestined, who were all waiting in a group.

"Wait, shouldn't you hear my warning first?" Piximon yelled after him. But Keys was already out of earshot, or at least he didn't turn around, but he did stop so Piximon ploughed on. "It's a very dangerous move, you'd be letting your guard down for a few crucial seconds, and even if you reach your inner self in time you may not be able to block or parry quickly enough." Keys' head moved very slightly in a nod before he continued to walk away.

He reached the digidestined and digimon, all assembled to wish them off in their regular attire.

"So where are you two off to?" Tai asked.

"I talked it over with Keys," Kairi said. "And before we go to our next world we're going to see our home with our own eyes."

"So Destiny Islands," Keys answered, moving to stand next to the auburn-haired beauty. She smiled at him as he stood next to her and her arm sneaked around his back to clutch at his jacketed shoulder. Aiwemon flew and perched himself on the other, and Menelmon stood next to Kairi's booted feet.

"Best of luck then," Mimi said hoarsely, she had thrown her voice out from commentating. Kairi flicked her hand and a swirling portal of light opened behind them.

"We'll see each other again," Sora said confidently. "After all, we're all digidestined." Keys smiled and nodded.

"Bye Sora, Bye Kairi!" Tokomon called. "Bye Menelmon! Bye Aiwemon!"

"I'll see you again Tokomon," Aiwemon said. "Remember, we have some unfinished business when you're Patamon again."

And the four turned into the portal, their friends wishing them luck and a healthy return.

"By the way Kairi," Sora asked as he threw off his mantle of 'Keys', "what was that you said back in the sphere pool after you called Ordona?" Kairi looked at him in confusion.

"I have no clue," she muttered as they walked through the corridor of starlight.

An hour later they emerged from the corridor, and were shocked at what they saw before them.

The town was gone. Completely gone as if it had never existed. There was no debris, no broken buildings, no standing buildings either, and not a single slab or speck of wood or stonework that had represented the civilization that used to exist here. The four stood in the midst of a field of green grass, rolling in the wind with yellow flowers occasionally dotting the landscape.

"Are you sure you got the world right Kairi?" Sora asked, unnerved by the appearance of the land. She turned her head and looked at him.

"Positive," replied the princess. Her eyes quivered for a second, showing her own apprehension about the scene. "See look, there's the beach… and that's our island." Sora followed her gaze and nodded, seeing the small island in the distance, its mountainous hill broken. Something wasn't right about this, or at least it didn't add up at all.

Taking one step forward, he established his bearings from the sight of the island and turned around, towards where their town should have been. He looked down at his feet, the cobblestones of the former road still existed, but grass had managed to work its way between each of the stones and the path gained a slightly rugged appearance. There should have been houses to his left and right, as well as lights, benches, and lampposts lining the road, but there was nothing.

The feeling of foreboding increased when they passed by the site where his house should have stood, but he saw nothing there apart from the phantom of his home. He saw the ghost of the mahogany door, with its intricate carvings etched into the wood, and he forced his eyes to wring the tear that desperately wanted to fall and keep it silent.

"What happened here?" he asked aloud, moving past the house that no longer existed.

They continued somberly up the road, their hearts wringing with every familiar place or landmark that had previously been real, but now only existed in their memories. It was worse than what they would have though seeing the destruction would've been. There on the side of the road had been the ice-cream parlour, where they had once had a contest to see who could go the longest before succumbing to the brain-freeze, in which Kairi had won against the seven participants but regretted it immediately after. And over there had been the corner store that Riku's parents had run, and right next to it the fabric store, where Kairi's mother had worked. They passed by a park that they had played at and strolled through when they were younger. Sora's heart plummeted when he saw that all the trees that had stood were gone, even along the boulevards and in the yards not a single tower of nature stood. Yet, there were small saplings in the places where the trees had stood; even small groves where none had been before. There was the corner of the row of houses upon which Kairi's home had stood, and Sora had rounded it twice to save her from that bully Bob.

They crested the hill that had overlooked their school in silence, and from this vantage point they would have been able to see much of the rest of the town, but nothing lay in front of them now apart from the rolling grasslands and budding trees that had somehow been planted and taken shape.

Sora bowed his head and looked away, but something he had somehow missed caught his eye. He nudged Kairi, pointing, and she followed him down the cobblestone road, which was slowly becoming better maintained as they walked it. Then they were upon it. Flower beds and baskets surrounded a square paved of marble; a circular white marble pedestal was placed just shy of the center of the square where upon it stood a figure bending down on one knee and holding a sword defiantly against the likeness of an Invisible heartless, the Invisible in black marble and the figure in white. Behind the pedestal stood three white marble walls that created an alcove around the pedestal. On the center wall and the pedestal plaques stood.

"These monuments are dedicated to the people of the island of Felra of Destiny Islands," Kairi read quietly from the plaque on the pedestal, tears silently streaming down her cheeks. "Those who died and lost their hearts here on the 31st of August, 2003, were the first true casualties in the war for freedom over the darkness."

"In memory of all those who have died upon this island," Sora read from the center wall's plaque, fighting back his own tears. "Their spirits are at peace with Grenth. May Dwayna's light guide the souls of their descendants." He spotted his mother's name early on in the list of the dead or lost that spanned the three walls, and he clutched onto Kairi tighter, finally letting the tears fall when the truth came undeniably crashing down on him.

Kairi hugged him, sobbing as well when spotting her parents' names in the list. They didn't need to look again to know that many of their friends and people they had known were now gone, that they'd never see those smiling, friendly faces again.

Aiwemon and Menelmon hung back slightly, feeling out of place and intruding on their grief. A small noise reached their keen ears and their heads turned around to spot a woman with blue hair and wearing a black cloak approaching. Her cloak was caked with patches of dry mud and tattered in some places. They watched the woman as she slowly approached, her head dipped in respect.

The sound of the woman's boots slapping on the cobblestones reached the ears of the two grieving teenagers and their sobs turned silent as both of them lifted their heads to look at her.

"Cossex," they each said slowly in recognition and sadness. The Nobody nodded her head at them and respectfully kept her distance.

Kairi glanced back at the memorial and then at the Nobody in front of them. "You did this?" she asked.

Cossex nodded. "I did," she replied. "I was ashamed at what I had done, with nothing to show for it apart from the grief and blood of innocents on my hands. My heart was withheld from me, Maleficent knows where it is but she would not reveal its location to me. I was a mere pawn in her games, a pawn that shattered the peaceful lives of so many who did not deserve this fate."

Sora gulped and Cossex looked at him in his weakness, she couldn't bear to look into his eyes at that moment.

"You," he began in a strangled voice, "you were the one who killed them, weren't you?"

"Yes," Cossex breathed, turning her head away once more. "Like many things that happen in the past, I regret it. At least be comforted in knowing that they were not turned into heartless and nobodies. Such a fate is worse than death."

They were all silent for a time. Cossex couldn't look at the two shaking teenagers. They were strong, she knew, but in as many ways they were just as frail as any human. She could tell that they still held their innocence. Neither had truly seen death, and neither had yet been forced to kill another living creature. They were as innocent as any child she had ever known back in Ascalon, like poor sweet Gwen.

Alas for Gwen! Who knew what had become of her now since the day when the sky rained hellfire and destroyed Ascalon? Since the day when it had been turned into a hellhole that was rank with foul creatures from the Catacombs and Charr from the north.

"What are we to do now?" Kairi asked quietly, a tremble of weakness in her voice.

"What do your hearts tell you?" Cossex answered. Sora and Kairi glanced at Cossex before sharing a long look with each other.

They knew they could not blame Cossex for the tragedy that had occurred on this island, she had simply been following the orders of her master. And even though she was a nobody, she had shown that she still had a conscience even without her heart.

What were their hearts telling them? That there was only one thing to do. And two words summed it up in Sora's mind.

"Hakuna Matata," he said quietly. A laugh suddenly sprung from the deepest depths of his bosom, and after the first burst it proved nearly impossible for him to keep a straight face.

Cossex and Kairi both raised eyebrows at him while Aiwemon hopped anxiously towards his partner.

Sora gave another bout of laughter before he was able to calm himself down enough to talk. "No worries," he explained. "Bad things happen and there's nothing you can do about them, so don't worry about the past, letting it drag you down, and move on."

"Then let's move onto a certainty," Cossex said, striding towards the two of them, "The defeat of Maleficent." Sora and Kairi nodded grimly in determination and Cossex extended her hand towards them.

"I officially renounce the evil ways of the witch and pledge my support to the side of light," she announced. The two took her hand together and shook it. "May Dwayna's light keep our path before our feet and Balthazar keep our weapons keen."

"May Thessaura's light keep us shielded from darkness," Kairi replied, releasing the hand of the nobody. Sora nodded.

"May we weather the storms Calypso sends our way," he added. Kairi and Cossex looked at him. His expression became confused as they raised their eyebrows.

"What?" he asked.

Still within the seemingly endless deserts of the continent of Server, the digidestined had stumbled upon a grey box that stood alone in the midst of the rolling sands. Numerous black cables from Etemon's dark network led into the box, which had given Izzy the belief that it was an access terminal for storing data that helped the monkey's surveillance over the area. They were all gathered around the terminal, wondering what to do with it when a portal of darkness whooshed open behind them. They turned towards it in apprehension, and a solid figure rushed out of it, sword bared. He tackled Sora to the ground, and kicked her slightly away from the group, his sword's tip moving to rest almost against her chin as she lay on her back.

"Where are the keyblade master and his princess?" Sedah growled, his sword slowly getting closer to the soft flesh of the girl's neck.

Tai and the others couldn't bear to look at anyone other than Sedah or Sora in their horror.

"Where are they?" Sedah bellowed. The digidestined and digimon said nothing, and their faces slowly took on a measure of defiance. Sedah snarled and wrenched his sword back, and with a roar prepared to swing it hard and end the life of the female digidestined.

Their resilience snapped like a twig. Tai reached out his hand and cried "Stop!" just as Sedah's sword was millimeters from Sora's chest. The boy dropped to the ground, his hands on his knees, and did not look up at Sedah.

"They're on Destiny Islands," he mumbled weakly, ashamed of his betrayal. "Please, just don't hurt Sora." Sedah smirked and vanished in a portal he conjured immediately.

"I hope they can handle themselves," Izzy said quietly.

"Because a big storm is heading their way," Matt finished.

Maleficent paced within her study that would soon be vacated, Diablo cawing occasionally from his perch on the ominous window. She waited for Sedah's return, and would then depart with him to the location in which Sora and Kairi were hiding. She had already sent Starscream and an entire legion of heartless to begin delving the tunnels of her fortress, and she was certain that with the Decepticon's powerful weaponry combined with the powers of darkness that the heartless held would be able to get a satisfactory amount of work done in time for her arrival with her captives.

She would not admit that she was anxious, apprehensive even; possibly even hesitant at engaging Sora and Kairi. She had not personally charged herself with keeping a hold on Kairi's body, and in not doing so she was unsure of the power of light that the girl held. Plus, Sora had become more formidable, even though she would not recognize his growth.

The swirl of a portal opening sounded and Maleficent sharply brought her head around to see Sedah exiting it as the portal came to a sudden close. His sword was drawn, and there wasn't a speck of blood on it.

"The brats squealed as soon as it looked like I was really going to kill one of them," he announced with a smile.

"You answer with an idle tongue Hades," Maleficent snapped. "Where are they?"

"Destiny Islands."

Sora and Kairi had left Aiwemon and Menelmon behind to let them soar the skies on their small wings and take in the land that had been their home. Cossex wandered away on her own, trying not to think of how much this island now resembled what had once been her home. Sora and Kairi, though, had one last place to look upon before they left the world: the small play island where they had spent countless hours.

They flew over to the island, as the boats that had previously been tied up at the beach were all destroyed. No words were spoken between the two, each internalizing their grief at how bleak and dismal the situation seemed even with a former enemy now an ally.

They landed, and the shores that had once been pearl-white and filled with soft sand were now broken, and littered with cracked rocks. To Sora it seemed like it had been during the final battle with Xehanort's heartless, when the island had been broken and tendrils of darkness had wrecked havoc upon what he had known and cherished. Except now it truly hit home, for it was real, and not a whimsical conjuration of an enemy that was now long gone except for its existence within his best friend's heart. Great holes had been gouged or burned in the wooden catwalks and mighty trees that had served as imposing sentinels, standing defiantly alongside the rocky outcrop that served as a mountain on such a small piece of land. Dead and tattered palm leaves were scattered over the stones, sand, and pieces of wood. The waterfall pool had been broken and blocked by a large boulder, and yet the water still meagerly trickled out to sea. The hole to the tunnel of the secret place was shattered, as if it had been blasted open by the most powerful forces of nature, and the vines that had concealed it were dead and withering to brown in the sun's harsh light.

And yet the upper catwalk that led to the tiny islet where Sora and Riku had often sparred and the paopu tree rested was still intact, as was the islet and that sacred tree. Rocks had managed to worm their way even then onto it, some even from the Secret Place.

Sora and Kairi silently made their way to the bent tree, each in wonderment and anguish at the transformation that had occurred to their quaint, out of the way world. Sora leaned up against the base of the trunk of the tree, where he had often been before, and looked out to sea, the conversation he and Riku had had playing through his mind. From that place, if he turned his head casually to the left, he would see Felra, whereas if he looked to the right, Dunash would rise on the waves. He didn't look in either direction though, opting instead to gaze into the endless oceans in front of him.

"Things have changed Riku," he whispered quietly. Kairi nodded beside him as she sat where she usually did on the tree's trunk.

"But what will the changes bring?" she asked. "Hope and Light? Or Darkness and Despair?"

"I pray it's the former," Sora replied. Kairi sighed and nodded once more.

"Me too," she whispered, anxiously wringing her hands against the trunk of the tree. She looked away, towards a door that led to another part of the island, where Sora had first taught her magic. "I'm going to check out the Cove," she said. "Want to come with?"

Sora shook his head. "No, I'm going to stay here. I have some thinking I want to do." Kairi nodded approvingly and leapt off the trunk. She paused in front of Sora and gave him a worried glance.

"Don't stay too long," she said. His face melted slightly as he looked at her.

"Okay," said Sora. Kairi gave the slightest of nods and walked away.

She didn't like being there, at the tree. It had been the main place, the spot of greatest importance in her dream. The rock where she and Sora had drawn sharing paopu fruits had been in her dream, embedded within the trunk of one of the palm trees that had survived, and it was here now. The sight gave her a sense of foreboding and she shivered. She opened the door to the Cove and went inside, looking around at the broken catwalks, wooden towers, felled trees, and zip line that had provided an obstacle course through which Sora and Riku would often race, usually for her favour. Riku could never have known back then that all she and he would ever get to is simple flirting, that her heart rested with Sora.

She shuddered once more as the thought of what might soon happen here came back. Thessaura had said that her dream was the future, and like the future, certain things were set in stone whilst others were open to speculation. But what was truly set down and what could be manipulated and changed? Every circumstance that she had seen in her tormenting dreams was different, and she had told Sora nothing of the dreams, she hadn't even told him that Sedah was Hades.

Because she was afraid, afraid of what was going to happen, or what might happen. Her confidence in herself and her powers had vanished ever since she had gone to the digital world and fought against Maleficent, and the fight for control over her own body had given her doubts. The power that she felt coming from the crest was her own power, was her own light. But, the light wasn't strong enough. The darkness was still greater, and looked as if it would always be greater.

So what do we do now? Kairi thought. Even with my crest, I'm still weaker. We're all weaker. Maleficent is stronger, Nixion is stronger, and there are hordes of heartless out there under their control. Roxas and Naminé have already been hurt, when will it be our turn? What will happen to Menelmon and Aiwemon? All our foes are more powerful than us, how will we win?

"Oh what are we going to do?" Kairi moaned in despair, bending her legs and sitting down.

"What are you going to do?"

Kairi whipped around at the voice, but a strong hand was already on her shoulder, a red mist billowing out from the connection.

Aiwemon and Menelmon were flying over the beach on the main island of Felra, the wind ruffling through their feathers as they felt the joy of flight, even in the somber atmosphere they felt. The feeling came not from that which their partners felt, but rather from something in the air. The land itself seemed to be in mourning still, but the air crackled with intensity and the seas raked into the beaches with impunity, indifferent to the plight of the land or the feeling of the air.

A storm was brewing quickly and the two bird digimon knew it was not a natural one. The three elements were not in harmony. Granted, the sea and land were never on good terms and the wind changed sides as often as it changed direction. There was an ominous feeling about it all as the sky slowly became overcast and blocked out the sun.

"Hey digital birds!" The two looked down at Cossex, who was the one who had hailed them, and swooped down.

"I know we don't know each other very well," Menelmon said quickly, landing on the ground next to the female nobody, "having just met, but what's the problem Cossex?"

"And 'digimon', if you please," Aiwemon added. Cossex shook her head and looked towards the island.

"Go find your partners," she said, a lack of emotion evident in her voice for the first time. "And stay with them. Keep them safe."

"Why?" asked Menelmon. "What's going on?" Cossex turned and look at them again as a portal of darkness opened behind her.

"The enemy is here," she answered. Then she dashed into the portal. The two digimon needed no more encouragement as they took to their wings again and soared towards the small island. The wind had become harsher in the span of the few seconds that they had stayed on the ground, and it buffeted the two small bird digimon around enough that it took them twice as long to reach the island. The wind also raged in their ears, and their hearing could barely discern any sound other than the winds around them and the waves below. But one sound broke through, the sharp ring of metal. And their eyes were keen, and as soon as they reached the outskirts of the island they could see some things that were occurring even while the wind still assailed them. Kairi sat by the paopu tree, and there was another person with her, but it wasn't Sora and they couldn't make out who it was just yet. Sora was spotted running away towards a large hole in the stone wall. The two small birds looked at each other and decided that Sora running away was more suspicious and without hesitation began descending towards him.

He had been standing right where he had stayed since Kairi left. His mind was cluttered and needed reorganizing, spinning and whirling with so many thoughts and feelings that he felt like he was caught in a vice. So many had died here, had lost their hearts here, that Sora didn't know what to do about their sacrifice, and the fate of the other islands had escaped him as of yet, but there was a sneaking suspicion that they had been spared. The monument only mentioned the people of this island, not all the islands of the world. He still refused to look to the right, fearing that his fears might become a reality if he looked.

And that made his heart burn even more with the desire for justice to be done against Maleficent. Only they had been targeted, because Maleficent had wanted to get at him.

Everything she has done recently has been to get at me, he thought. Destroying my home, striking the homes of my friends, killing my mother, taking control of Kairi, it's all been to get at me. Am I stronger to just stand here and take it all, rather than fight back against a foe whose power I cannot hope to match? He snorted defiantly into the wind while the sun still shone on against his back.

"She ever tries to break my heart or destroy my body; I have suffered everything fortune has sent my way and I still stand to resist against her. So let her try, even though she is more powerful than I."

He felt a pair of hands gently touch his shoulder, and began rubbing in a circle against his muscles. They suddenly removed a knot that had been in there from playing blitzball that he hadn't noticed, and he sighed appreciatively in comfort and contentment while his eyes closed. He was glad that Kairi was still here beside him. The world had turned so strange recently, an intense fervor and feel of darkness hung in the air and the seas raged below him. Everything seemed dark around him, but here his light was, gently massaging his shoulders.

Speaking of which, one hand had left his shoulders and the other had become tense. He opened his eyes and looked down at their shadows. His eyes widened and he spun around in the blink of an eye, the Oblivion suddenly appearing in his hands. There was the sharp ring of the sound of clashing metal and the Oblivion blocked the dagger Kairi held, poised to strike against him. The dagger dropped to the ground with a soft thud, the gleam it had held dying as the sun vanished behind the clouds. He looked into her eyes in horror, and found them cold and unfeeling. Sora released the Oblivion from his grasp and once more felt his head reeling with too many thoughts and questions in anguish.

He bolted from the island, his sorrow unbearable. There was only one place he could find his solace now: The Secret Place, where he could hide and wallow in his self-pity safely.

No! Sora thought as he scrambled towards the hole in pain. No! Why would Kairi try to kill me? What could I have done wrong? Her eyes were clear and blue. Why, why, why??

"Sora!" "Keys!"

He looked up, trying to hide the tears he hadn't noticed were streaming down his face, and saw Aiwemon and Menelmon flying haphazardly towards him, the wind seemingly attempting its best to throw them to the ground. They landed next to him and Aiwemon immediately spotted the stains on his cheeks.

"Sora, what's wrong?" he asked, cutting right to the point. The boy shook his head.

"Nothing," he answered, probably too quickly.

"Nothing my wing," Aiwemon retorted. "Why are you here, by yourself?"

"Without Kairi," Menelmon added. Keys looked away, his eyes brimming again. Everything had dimmed, and not just in the loss of the sun. When before there had still been some light in his world there was now nothing but blackness. Kairi had turned against him and tried to kill him for reasons unknown to him, and this time it was worse than the past two days. There was no logical explanation. He felt the darkness closing in around his heart, clutching at him, trying to take him and snuff out what little light he had left.

He was spared from answering and the darkness slowed its march when a portal of darkness opened behind him. He looked apprehensively at the portal, and his fears still weren't dispelled when he saw Cossex walk out. She was holding something in her hand and she looked pointedly at Sora.

"Maleficent had told Nixion and myself everything about your previous quests," she said, taking a step towards him. "I found this just inside the entrance to the place you and your friends called 'The Cove'. I thought it might be familiar to you after I picked it up." Right now Sora could care less about what she found, but it wasn't until she opened her hand and he saw it that it caught his eye.

It was a wooden statue of Kairi. The sight triggered something in his memory. He took the statue from Cossex and suddenly felt an electric force like one he had felt once before shocking him while Kairi's voice played through his ears.

"Sora, don't ever change."

"This time, I'll protect you."

"You promise?"

"Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you."

"I know you will!"

"We'll be together every day, right Sora?"

"I love you."

"I'll be damned if I let any more…"

"I love you."

"One sky, One destiny."

"By Thessaura I love you!"

His head stopped spinning and he understood entirely. The world no longer seemed so dark and the light returned, growing from the statue he held. His face hardened in righteous fury and he glared back towards the islet he had just left.

"Is someone with Kairi right now?" he asked, his voice shaking in his rage that the girl he loved was being used to get at them both again! When would they leave Kairi alone?

"We couldn't see for sure," Aiwemon answered quickly. "But I thought I saw a bit of blue-"

Sora was off in a flash, the Oblivion reappearing in his grasp with a flash of bright light while he held the statuette in his left. The digimon needed no prodding to follow when they saw him like that and took flight beside him. Cossex hung back, a slight smile on her face.

"This is their battle," she said to herself.

Sora and the digimon reached the catwalk to the islet easily, and they spotted Kairi on the bent paopu tree, Sedah standing next to her, a yellow paopu fruit in his hands. The bird behind him with the white-covered head and brown feathers started glowing.

"Aiwemon digivolved to, Ohtarmon!"

"Sora," the warrior spoke. "This isn't the digital world. I'm not going to be as powerful here as I was there, and I may revert back to Aiwemon before this battle's done." Sora nodded curtly in front of him, acknowledging his partner's feelings.

He pointed the Oblivion towards Sedah, the metal's temperature already plunging before the blast of ice even erupted from its tip. The shard streaked straight for Sedah and dug into his back. Sora grinned when he saw the paopu fall before it could reach the disguised God's lips. Sedah whipped around and glared at him and his companions.

"Get away from her you bastard," growled Sora, his face set. For once his hair dared not interfere. "Hades, I should have known it was you all along. The clues were right in front of my face."

"So the keyblader finally figured it out," Hades roared with a chuckle as his disguise melted away and he drew his brute sword, rimmed entirely with black fire now. "You know you're pretty slow for a hero, maybe you really should go back to being a Junior Hero." Sora dipped his head down.

"Some hero I am," he muttered. "Please forgive me Kairi, and let me make amends." His head rose once more and he flew straight across the catwalk. A large fireball came from Hades' hands towards him, but Keys was faster and the fireball missed to be batted away by Ohtarmon. Sora tossed the figurine of Kairi into the air, and both those who were on the islet looked at it in surprise. Hades' face also showed his outrage. The statue exploded in a bright light and sparkles of white drifted down from where it had used to be and landed on Kairi. Her face gained a surprised expression, and then it hardened. She grabbed the paopu fruit away from the ground, checked Hades in the hip- the highest point on the god her shoulder could reach- and dashed over to the edge of the catwalk, where Sora, Ohtarmon, and Menelmon stood and waited.

"Forgive me Sora," Kairi said, her voice downcast as she stood next to him. "I wasn't in cont-"

"You had your free will taken away," Sora interrupted. "I saw it happen to Auron. And if you can forgive me for whipping you, the least I can do is forgive you for trying to kill me." Kairi smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek. She extended the paopu fruit towards him.

"Would- would you like to?" she asked in stuttering words, offering the star-shaped fruit towards him. Sora looked at it for less than a second but to him it seemed like a lifetime.

There was already a bite missing from it, and a dribble of juice was running down the side of Kairi's lip.

This was the biggest thing they could ever do, at least in theory, apart from marrying. The legend said that when two people shared a paopu fruit, their destinies would be intertwined forever and through eternity. But he didn't need a second thought. He wanted Kairi in his life, he didn't know if he could live if she was gone.

Sora took the fruit and bit into it, savouring every flavour and drop of juice that sat on his tongue. It tasted better than any food he had ever tried, and the texture of the fruit's skin was more pleasurable than a nicely grilled steak.

He let go of the fruit as Kairi suddenly hugged him, but the hug was brief. Hades had unleashed a fireball at them, and Ohtarmon had gotten in its way and protected them with his mace.

"Right," Sora said. "Battle, right…"

"Yeah…" Kairi added, suddenly remembering what was going on around them, "right. Hades, yes." She turned her head and looked at Menelmon. "You ready for this Menelmon?"

"Let me at him," the female digimon replied. "I'll teach him to hurt my partner! Menelmon digivolved to, Soronmon!"

"Well," Hades began saying, looking at the ferocious foursome, "much though I'd like to stay and fight you alone, I have a friend who'd love to meet three of you and say hello to his old buddy." The ground started rumbling, and cracks began appearing in the earth just off of the islet where they stood. The catwalk collapsed and the whole islands shook as a guttural roar of a dog ripped through the howling air. The sky flashed with lightning and rain started to fall. Fires roared into existence from beneath the cracking stone, and the ground abruptly exploded, the dog's howl tearing through the storm once more, and yet it sounded now like it was more than one dog. Through the cloud of dust, shattered rocks, and rain that fell through the sky, and in the light of the fires that raged around it, Sora was able to discern the recognizable shape of a beast of the Underworld that he had fought several times with Donald, Goofy, and Auron. Its black fur shone with the beads of the rain and its massive muscles rippled. The six red eyes of its three heads located Sora and its jaws snapped, recognizing him in anger.

Hades had summoned forth Cerberus, his Guardian of the Underworld.

Upon the broken crags of the island where the battle was about to commence, Maleficent stood with Diablo upon her shoulder. She gazed down to where Cerberus stood, braying at the keyblade master, his princess of heart, and their digimon. The battle between the forces of good and evil was about to unfold, and she was certain that, should Hades fail, she herself would prevail after stepping in when her opponents were weakened from the fight.

She didn't know that Cossex was also watching. And while the nobody that had formerly been in her employ knew that Maleficent was there and watching as well, neither knew that a certain family of Dunash had become unnerved by the earthquake caused by the arrival of Cerberus and the sudden storm that had stuck their islands. Storms appeared randomly and often without warning on tropical islands, and were often fiercer than expected. But this one felt different even to these people, and even though it was mid-afternoon the sky was as dark as the night nearly a month ago, and the same feeling of evil permeated through the air. However, now they felt it centered around the small island. This family was brave beyond all reason, and the married couple and son had become proud of their nephew and cousin that the husband's sister had spoken of about a month ago before all communications with Felra were suddenly cut off. They were now harnessing and bridling their chocobos, preparing to weather the storm and discover what was occurring on the small island.

Maybe it had something to do with that relative of theirs that they hadn't seen in so long that the household boy's aunt had spoken of. Maybe it had something to do with Sora.

Yeah, I'm leaving you here. Kill me if you wish, I can take it.

You see that little word that says 'Complete' up there. It's no lie.

I'll be back when I get back. Prepare for The War, and await my return. It's going to be big.

BTW, if you guys really want to know what Kairi said way up there, just send me a PM and I'll translate for you. Or if I get enough requests (10+) I'll just put the translation down at the bottom here.

Translations:

Vadenelyë i umûl! Kírië, Unórs! (Kairi. "I am banishing the darkness! Light, fill it!)

May the Grace of the Valar Protect You

Shire Folk