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Fanfiction ► KH: After Dawn



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cream_sugar

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i'm flying off to neverland! whoo-hoo!
OK :( Can I at least know which of the Toy Story movies you're using? And Jack and Sally form Holloween Town getting married that's an original idea, kudos.

The first one (though that should have been a bit obvious). As for Halloween Town it's too much of a fan favorite to be left out but they all ready used the moive story so I had to come up with something new.
 

Coldman9

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The funny thing about that is that all the girls will probably be busy talking about what they'll want for their weddings. It'll be interesting to see how the boys react.

Also I was wondering if Roxas ever actually comes face to face with Riku in your story. Roxas deffinently hates Riku for putting him in the virtual Twilight Town so a fight between them would be awesome.
 

cream_sugar

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i'm flying off to neverland! whoo-hoo!
Also I was wondering if Roxas ever actually comes face to face with Riku in your story. Roxas deffinently hates Riku for putting him in the virtual Twilight Town so a fight between them would be awesome.

I forgot about that. I'll have to see where I can slip that in.

And for everyone else, the next chapter is almost done! The good news: no musicals (thank god)! The bad news: where on earth did I put that tape?
 

cream_sugar

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i'm flying off to neverland! whoo-hoo!
So Sora's the son of Crown Prince Michael, Princess Jane is his sister, and he's the great-great-grandson of High Summoner Yuna; Tai is possibly the incarnation of the great hero Lord Zion, Terra's Olette's dad and Demyx is her brother's Nobody; and to really throw things into the deep end, Joey thinks Xehanort is getting stronger. With this in mind the gang heads to Atlantica after hearing none of the delegates or world leaders have shown up to the Federation in months. (PS. I'm going on a family vacation for a week so I won't get much work done on the next chapter, but I'll work on it as soon as I get home).

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
THE TIME STORM

SOMEWHERE NEAR ATLANTICA​

“I can’t believe you’ve been traveling around without a Worlds Archive,” said Lyra (Jane) as she pulled out a large, old, leather bound book sealed shut with a buckle from her duffel bag, “I surprised you boys have lasted this long without it.”

“You didn’t steal it did you?” Donald asked, looking up from the controls.

“Of course not!” Lyra looked scandalized, “This has been in my family for generations.”

“So, what is a Worlds Archive again?” asked Lucy as she and Grace sat down on the floor with Lyra.

“It contains all the information of every world that was, is, and sometime, will be,” she replied, releasing the buckle of the book. The pages inside were thick like parchment but were blank. “English please,” Lyra said to the book. The pages started to shutter and on the first page, a table of contents in blank ink appeared as if by magic. “Find page: Atlantica,” Lyra ordered the book again. As if a wind had caught the pages, the book flipped somewhere in the middle of the spine. Ink erupted across the pages, only this time with more colors, revealing a map of the world, several paragraphs of text and facts, and many pictures.

“That’s incredible,” Sora said with amazement.

“Look,” Lucy pointed to the page, “The pictures move too.” As she said this, the picture of a landmark moved between the paragraphs of text rearranging itself in front of Lucy finger.

“Strahl to DCGummi ship!” Balthier’s voice echoed from the radio, but sounded static, “We should be coming up on Atlantica’s orbit path. Do you see anything?”

“I don’t see anything,” replied Donald, “But the radar says we should be able to see the world.”

“There’s nothing but clouds out there,” remarked Goofy.

“Clouds? What’s clouds?” Lyra asked, “I wasn’t aware there were nebulas near Atlantica.” She got off up the floor and stared out the window. “Oh no.”

“What is it?” asked Grace, as lightning flashed through the clouds ahead of them.

“It’s a time storm. It’s caused between a disruption in space and dark matter. Any world caught in it has either it’s time continuum slowed down or speed up,” explained Lyra, “But I’ve never seen one this huge before. Looks like we’re going to have to go through it if we want to reach Atlantica.”

“You’re crazy!” cried Donald.

“That storm has the world completely engulfed!” argued Lyra, “There’s no other way around it. Besides, the planet’s gravity well is about to pull us in.” The ship gave a sudden lurch and they could feel something pulling them downward. “The storm may throw us off course a bit, but we should be able to land, if you put up all the shields you got. I would make sure your seatbelts are on too; it’s going to get bumpy.”

“All right everybody,” Donald said as he flipped a few switches, “Hold tight!” He piloted the Gummi ship through the storm clouds.

The ship rocked back and forth as it went through the storm clouds. Lightning flashed all around them and thunder shook the ship even more. Lucy looked like she was going to vomit and Sora couldn’t blame her. There was a sharp cracking sound from beneath them and a warning alarm went off. “That last bolt got our right side engine!” cried Donald, “Someone needs to go down and shut it off before it explodes!”

Grace got out of her seat and Lucy got up as well to run to the bathroom. Grace climbed down into the hull, grabbing an oxygen mask just in case. The room was filled with smoke, but it was quickly escaping through a hole on the right side. The engine was dangle by only a few wires out of the hole. Grace wrapped her arm around the ladder so she wouldn’t be sucked out, and cried up to the cockpit, “The right side engine’s totaled! We need to get out of this storm!”

“I think I see the end!” Sora shouted as the clouds dispersed. As the clouds finally faded, they could see the world of blue, purple, and green in front of them, except they were already within the atmosphere and coming in too fast.

The ship shuttered and the engine finally flew off. The hole was finally open. Grace clung tighter to the ladder and slowly started to make her way back up to the cockpit. Suddenly, the ship started to rock again and Lucy tumbled out of the bathroom, knocking Grace off the ladder. Lucy screamed as she was thrown towards the hole, still determined to suck everything out of the hull. Grace grabbed Lucy arm at the last second and jammed her Keyblade into the hull’s metal floor, catching just as Lucy’s feet were trying to fly out the hole.

Sora and Lyra climbed down into the cockpit as Donald and Goofy tried to stabilize the ship, Sora jumping down on the floor to grab hold of Grace’s Keyblade as it slipped off the floor, sending Grace and Lucy a few inches closer to the hole. Lyra grabbed Sora’s legs and wrapped her own around the ladder, but the Keyblade was slipping out of Sora’s hands.

The ship gave another shutter and the teeth of the Keyblade slashed through Sora’s hands. As he cried out in pain, Grace and Lucy fell out of the ship into the clouds of the world below. “No!” Sora shouted, his hands filled with his own blood. Lyra pulled Sora back to the ladder.

“I’ll get them!” she shouted over the roar of the hole, and she let go of the ladder, allowing herself to be pulled into the hole.

“Jane!” he screamed, about ready to jump into the hole too, if Goofy didn’t grab him and pulled him back into the cockpit before Donald sealed it off.

Lyra turned face down and accelerated towards the two falling girls. She could see miles of ocean below but they wouldn’t soften their landing by much. Concentrating with all her strength, Lyra unleashed her Angelus powers, turning her hair to white and sprouting wings on her back. She used her wings to get closer to the girls, grabbing Grace’s arm. Then, with all the power she could muster, flapped her wings repeatedly to slow their descent. By Lyra’s calculations, she wouldn’t be able to pull up out of it but at least have something close to a soft landing in the water.

The three of them crashed into the sea within a matter of seconds. Lyra’s head popped out of the water back in her human form pulling both Grace and Lucy to the surface. Both Grace and Lucy were unconscious, the sudden fall through the planet’s atmosphere more than likely knocked the wind out of them, but they were still breathing fine. As Lyra tried to keep afloat with both girls in the water, she looked around the vast endless ocean. Where was the Gummi Ship? Then something caught her eyes.

Far to the east, streaming across the skies, was a smoking fireball. Lyra watched in horror as it went crashing into the ocean. But there were several more fireballs streaming across the skies; the Gummi Ship was breaking up as it made it’s way through the atmosphere. Lyra had to be sure. She pulled Grace up onto her shoulder so that she had a free arm. She reached out her hand for something invisible, and concentrating with what little of left of her powers for her bother’s Keyblade. As Sora’s sister, she could use his Keyblade if he allowed her, or if he was unconscious or dead. It did not come to her. Either she was too weak or Sora was still alive. She hoped for the later.

Time was short and Lyra was losing strength quick. “Magnificent dragon of the heavens, guardian of Bevelle! I summon thee to my calling! Great aeon of might, Behamont!”

Thunder rumbled in the skies above her and she could see through the clouds, something coming towards her. The aeon Behamont flew down upon her, it’s great wings of red, orange, and gold shining across the waves. It was covered in a black scaly armor with a golden wheel floating behind its back. The aeon helped Lyra climbed on its back with Grace and Lucy. “Take us to the closest shore, somewhere safe,” she told the aeon. The aeon nodded and spread it’s large wings, speeding across the ocean. By that time Lyra had lost consciousness, but she knew that the aeon would take them as far to the shore, make sure they were save, and dismiss itself. Maybe Sora would be there waiting for them.
************************************************************************
SOMEWHERE NORTH OF THE BORDERS OF ATLANTICA
ATLANTICA​

Undertow was very nervous, and it wasn’t because the water he was swimming in was just slightly above freezing. His mistress, the sea witch Morgana, was attempting to cast another spell on his to return him to his normal size. More than twelve years ago, Undertow had been a great shark, with lots of really sharp teeth. But one failed plan to take over the seas later, and he was now the size of a small pihrana with not so many sharp teeth. And it didn’t help either that since that failed plan, Morgana had them hiding out in the far north, far away from the warm water Undertow would have enjoyed.

“Trust me,” the sea witch reassured Undertow, raising her arms, the spell book resting in one of her many tentacles, “This time I’m sure I’ve got it right.”

“Yeah, that’s what you said last time, and I was sore for a week,” the fish rolled his eyes.

“Oh, stop your carping and stand still,” Morgana said, starting to cast the spell.

“This is gonna hurt,” Undertow closed his eyes, preparing for the worst. At first something happened. He could feel himself growing, going back to a shark.

“Yes! Yes!” Morgana rejoiced, but it was short lived. A flash of light later, and Undertow was back to his smaller self.

“Oh, it’s just no use,” sighed Morgana, “The power of the trident is just too strong for me to overcome.”

“I bet Ursula could’ve done it,” Undertow muttered under his breath.

“What was that you said?” Morgana’s eyes flashed.

“Nothin’,” Undertow caught himself. He knew how testy Morgana got if she heard her sister’s name. “I’m just sayin’...”

“Stop criticizing me!” the Sea Witch cried, raising her fist and a few of her tentacles, “That’s all my mother ever did was criticize me! It was always ‘Ursula this’ or ‘Ursula that’ or, ‘Morgana, why can’t you be more like your sister...Ursula!” She picked up a starfish from her collection and threw it at a picture of her sister hanging on the wall behind her.

“Well, it isn’t Ursula’s fault I got miniaturized. It’s yours!” Undertow shouted at Morgana.
“Is not!” she shouted back.

“Your fault that we had to hide out here for 12 frostbitten years!” Undertow pointed out.

“Is not!”

“Your fault that we can never show our faces in polite society again!” Undertow continued to argue.

Morgana opened her mouth to continue the argument but then said, “You’re really pushing it, small fry,” her eyes flashing.

“My, my, if this is how you treat your subordinates, I would hate to think how you would treat your enemies,” said a voice. Maleficent appeared in a wave of acid green and black flames, barely making a mark on the icy floor.

“Who are you? What are you doing in my domain?” asked Morgana.

“Your domain?” Maleficent gazed around the ice room, “Is this what you call your hiding place?”

“Say what you will,” Morgana folded her arms, her tentacles tightly curling, “I enjoy it.”

“Really,” Maleficent looked at Undertow for a brief second and he disappeared into the water, “I am Maleficent, witch of Darkness and soon to be ruler of all hearts. I had an alliance with your sister, Ursula, two years ago.”

“Liar!” Morgana said to Maleficent, “Ursula’s been dead for at least fourteen years.”

“Hmmm…it seems the time storm surrounding this world has accelerated time quickly here,” remarked Maleficent.

“A time storm?” Morgana looked surprised, “Here? But even I would have noticed something.”

“Apparently not. The time storm is so huge it is engulfing this world. No one, not even you with your powers of darkness could have sensed it,” explained Maleficent, “It is a problem, but not for now.”

“I was wondering where the days went,” remarked Morgana, “But why are you here?”

“I have some information that may aid you to get revenge for your sister. Are you interested?” asked Maleficent.

“I’m not all that keen on getting revenge for Ursula, but revenge on King Triton and that red-head daughter of his, is something else,” Morgana said thoughtfully, “All right; go on.”

“What do you know about the Keyblade Master?” asked Maleficent.

“Keyblade Master? Isn’t that brat Sora? I hoped he’d been killed off by Heartless by now,” said Morgana, “I also know he had a part to play in the death of my sister and he’s at the top of my list with Triton and Ariel for payback.”

“He’s here, along with the King’s foolish servants. If you can hand over his heart to the Heartless, I will be eternally grateful. I will bestow upon you the power to control the Heartless, if you agree,” said Maleficent.

Morgana turned away from Maleficent, deep in thought. Undertow watched, hiding from behind a piece of floating ice. Morgana turned back to Maleficent, with a smile. “We have a deal,” said Morgana, “Undertow! Shine up my crystal ball! Have it set to spy on Triton’s granddaughter!”

“Melody? What good will she do?” asked Undertow.

“She’s young, so gullible, so easy to deceive,” Morgana smiled evilly at him.

It was a smile that Undertow had not seen in years. It excited him. He gave a crooked smile back, “Right away!” He set off to shine up the crystal ball.
************************************************************************
“If they’re not with you, then where are they?”

The Strahl had picked up the scatter remains of the Gummi Ship. Thankfully, the cockpit had remained intact, allowing Sora, Donald, and Goofy to survive the crash in the ocean with just a few bumps and bruises, but the girls were no where to be found. Sora was relating how Grace and Lucy had fallen out during the landing, and how Lyra had jumped out to catch them. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were sitting out on the docking door as the Strahl was anchored to the ocean floor, resting above the waves as Riku, Matti, and Mitch pulled in what was left of the Gummi Ship.

“But they have to be alive, right?” asked Ling.

“Grace’s tracking signal says she’s still alive,” replied Balthier, “We saw what looked like a Summoning when we came down. Lyra may have called upon an aeon to help them. If so, then the aeon would have taken them to the nearest shore.”

“King Triton may know where they have gone,” said Fran, “He may be of some help. We also need to make sure nothing is wrong here and how much time has passed due to the time storm. That should be your priority.”

Sora nodded and got up with Donald and Goofy. “Ready?” asked Donald.

“Yeah,” said Sora, and the three of them jumped in the water. Using Donald’s magic, they each took on more suitable forms for the world beneath the ocean waters: Sora had the lower torso of a dolphin, Donald had the lower torso of an octopus, and Goofy had taken the form a turtle, but his head remained the same.

Kairi managed to giggle and she leaded over so that she and Sora were eye to eye. “Be careful down there. Give us a call if you need us,” she then reached up and kissed his forehead.

“Got it,” he smiled.

“We’ll be scanning the coast line for the girls. If we find them, we’ll send a message to Princess Ariel,” said Balthier, “If you see anything suspicious, alert us at once.”

“Sora, if you do find my sister, please bring her back,” said Tai.

“Don’t worry. I will,” reassured Sora, and he dove into the water, disappearing into its depths.

“I have admit though,” said Ling, “That was a pretty poor way of animal transfiguration.”

“Yeah, well to each his own,” remarked Joey.
************************************************************************
Grace woke up with the most peculiar smell filling her nostrils. It smelled oddly familiar and there was the roar of something behind her: the ocean. She got up at once almost knocking Lucy over who was sitting besides her. “Um…good morning,” said Lucy.

They were at a beach, a few yards away from the breaking waves.

“I think you mean good afternoon.” Lyra was nearby, drying out her shoes.

“What happened? Did the Gummi ship crash?” asked Grace.

“I don’t know,” Lyra shook her head, “I jumped out to get you guys and that was it. I do know that the ship was breaking up as it entered this world’s atmosphere, but Sora is still alive, that’s for sure.”

“But where are we?” asked Grace.

“About a couple miles east of…I have no idea,” sighed Lyra.

“And the Strahl?” asked Lucy.

“I haven’t seen it,” replied Lyra.

“This isn’t good; not good at all,” whined Lucy.

“Well we can’t stay here. Until we know where we are, we’re vulnerable,” said Grace.

“There’s a town up the shore,” Lyra pointed a little ways down the rocky coastline, “Maybe we can get some aid there.”

They walked south (or what they believed to be south) down the coastline as the sun started to sink low in the sky towards the sea. “What so special about this world anyway?” asked Grace, “We haven’t seen anything significant so far.”

“This world is home to the kingdom of Atlantica, domain of King Triton, ruler of the Merfolk,” explained Lyra.

“Merfolk? As in Mermaids, like sirens that would pull sailors into the water with their voices and drown them?” squealed Lucy.

“Um…not those kind of Mermaids,” explained Lyra, “But if you’re thinking of people with fins instead of legs, that’s it. The Merfolk here are the last of their kind. Years ago, different species of Merfolk were scattered in various worlds across the universe but they were wiped out by Xehanort in the last war. That is why Atlantica is so important to the Federation; if the Merfolk suffer another setback, they may not survive into the next century.”

“How do you know so much?” asked Grace.

“Uh…I read the Worlds Archive,” Lyra said quickly.

“Right…Princess Jane,” Grace grinned.

Lyra stopped walked and quickly looked at Grace. “How did you know?”

“You’re eyes. They’re exactly like Sora’s and I’m pretty sure I saw Angelus wings on your back before losing consciousness during the fall,” replied Grace, “But what’s with that birthmark on your cheek?” She pointed to a faint blue star on Jane’s right cheek.

“It marks me as an Angelus cross breed. Only females have it and it only appears in my human form. The star means I’m royalty,” explained Jane.

Grace was quiet for a second then asked, “Wait, if King Triton is ruler of the Merpeople, and Sora’s been running around with his daughter, does that mean he’s in full Mer-gear?”

“One would think,” replied Jane.

Grace started to snicker but then she started to laugh. “BWA HA HA HA! Are you serious? Oh man, when I see him next, I’m not be able to say anything to his face without- HA HA- laughing!”

“What’s so funny?” asked Lucy.

“Okay, image Sora. Now imagine him as Merman,” explained Grace.

It took Lucy a few seconds but finally she started to giggle. “Oh my gawd! You’re right!”

“Come on guys,” Jane interrupted their giggling fits, “Can we focus here?”

“We’re just trying to lighten the mood,” grinned Grace.

A large house was coming into view as they continued down the shore. It was a beautiful piece of architecture, made of white marble and the roofs decorated in red tile, but it looked like a fortress with a large white wall closing it off from the sea. The only entrance in and out was a metal gate sealed up tight and the water drains from the house.

“Maybe there’s someone in there that can help us,” suggested Grace.

“If we can get through,” added Lucy.

Something then caught Grace’s eye. It was a girl with dark hair, swimming out in the water near a bunch of rocks. “Excuse me!” Grace called to the girl.

The girl looked up and dove behind the nearest rock to hide. “We won’t hurt you,” said Jane, “We’re just very lost.”

“Lost?” the girl peaked her head over the rock.

“We fell off our ship in a storm,” explained Lucy, “We’re just trying to get some help.”

“I guess I can take you up to my house when I’m finished,” said the girl.

“That’s your house?” asked Grace.

“You guys aren’t really from around here, are you?” asked the girl, “That’s the palace, home of King Eric and Queen Ariel, and I’m their daughter, Melody.”

“You’re a princess? What’s princess doing out here alone?” asked Lucy.

“Don’t tell them anything Melody,” said a voice, “I don’t think you should be-”

“I’m actually not suppose to be out here,” said Melody, “I’m forbidden to go into the sea.”

“Why? Is it filled with e-coli?” asked Lucy.

“What’s e-coli?” asked Melody.

“Ignore her,” said Grace, “Why won’t your parents let you out into the sea?”

“I’m not sure,” Melody shook her head, “They say it’s dangerous but, I don’t see what’s so wrong about it.”

“What do you do out here?” asked Lucy.

“I look for treasures,” Melody grinned, and she pulled out from her leather bag a large perfectly intact conch shell.

“Melody!” called a voice. A large seagull was flying towards them. The bird was aiming towards the rock near Melody but missed it by a long shot and landed lopsided on the next rock.

“Hey, Scuttle,” Melody greeted the bird, “What’s kickin’?”

“Uh, what’s kickin’?” the seagull asked, screwing up his eyes to think, “Hmm. L-Let me see. Don’t rush me.”

“Ha! You know perfectly well what’s kicking!” said a red crab on the rock Grace hadn’t notice before, “Now, come along. You gonna be late for the-”

Melody jumped back into the water, accidentally splashing the crab. “Sorry, Sebastian,” she said as she surfaced, noticing she had got him covered in water.

The crab scowled as Melody broke surface next to him, splashing him with seawater. “Melody, child, how many times do I have to tell you?” said Sebastian. Melody rolled her eyes and started mouthing word for word Sebastian’s continued lecture, “It is expressly forbidden for you to be swimming beyond the safety of the sea wall.” Now Melody was mimicking his words with her own version of his voice, “Any such swimmin’ is a reckless disregard of da rules don’t ya know?”

Sebastian caught her mimicking him. “Stop dat,” he frowned.

Melody smiled, “Oh, Sebastian, I can’t help it. I just love the sea!” She jumped back into to the water, causing a large splash that not only covered Sebastian with water, but sprayed the girls as well.

“Hey! Come back here!” called Sebastian but Melody was already gone, “You’re just like...like your mother,” he sighed.

“So, Ariel is Melody’s mom, right? She doesn’t know that her mom is bit…fishy?” asked Grace.

“How do ya know dat?” asked Sebastian, looking around to make sure Melody was no where near them.

“Sora’s my brother,” replied Jane.

“Ah, dat would explain it,” Sebastian gave a sigh of relief, “But keep you’re voices down! Melody isn’t suppose to know about dat stuff!”

“Why not?” asked Grace.

“Twelve years ago, da sea witch’s crazy sister, Morgana, almost kidnapped poor Melody when she was a baby! King Triton managed to keep her away but she disappeared, and no one’s been able to find her since. Queen Ariel fears dat if Melody went into da sea, Morgana would take her again! Dat’s why Melody can never know of her mother’s lineage, it would only tempt her!” explained Sebastian, “We could really use Sora’s help though. Where is the lad dese days?”

“He’s on his way,” replied Jane, “I hope. But we have another mission. You’re close to King Triton?”

“I was his advisor and court musician years ago,” said Sebastian.

“We’re from the Galactic Federation. Do you understand what that means?” asked Jane.

Sebastian glanced at Scuttle who was still trying to figure out what he couldn’t remember, and said to Jane in a whisper, “Yes, I understand. But on what reason?”

“King Triton hasn’t been to the counsel’s sessions in several months. They’re worried something may have happened,” explained Jane.

“I would go and tell him you’re here,” said Sebastian, “But I’ve got another job to do that requires my full attention,” he looked off to where Melody had disappeared, “You could go to Ariel though. Since she’s Queen she has full rights as a delegate by now.”

“Thank you,” bowed Jane.

“It isn’t easy keeping up with Melody, is it?” asked Lucy.

Sebastian sighed again. “A crab my age should be retired, getting a tan, playing sea golf, sipping a tuna colada! Not baby-sitting another teenager.”

Grace was about to point out that Melody wasn’t quite a teenager yet, when Melody came up from her swim. But the bulge in her bag, Melody had found something very heavy. “Melody, please. If your mother ever found out you’d been swimming out here-” Sebastian started to say but Melody cut him off.

“I know, I know,” sighed Melody, “She’d flip.”

“I had a thought here,” Scuttle was still thinking, picking up a small rock and looking underneath it, “Now, where’d it go?”

“Hey, Sebastian? What’s my mom got against the ocean anyway?” asked Melody, as she floating in the water on her back, “I mean, how could there be anything wrong with something so...wonderful?”

Sebastian couldn’t think of anything to reply.

“Maybe you’re mom was attacked by sharks when she was younger,” suggested Grace. Sebastian gave her a warning look.

“Maybe she’s just concerned about your safety,” suggested Lucy, “She worries about you. It’s only natural.”

“I know that,” said Melody, “But what I don’t know is her reason for it. It has to be more than just my safety. But you know what?” she started to grin, “Sometimes I even pretend I have fins.”

Sebastian’s mouth dropped and Melody dove into the water once more, breaking the surface a few minutes later. “I wish I could tell my mom how I feel,” Melody said sadly, “But she’d never understand. I can talk to crabs, but not to her.”

“You’re talking to us,” Grace pointed out.

Melody smiled weakly, “Yeah. You guys are the only ones besides Sebastian and Scuttle that are nice to me. The other kids think I’m weird or something. Maybe I should tell my mom about that too.”

“Wait a minute. It just hit me,” Scuttle said after the rock he was looking at dropped on his head, “How ‘bout you tell Ariel how you really feel?”

“Oh yes, by all means,” said Sebastian, “Just waltz right in and tell her you been out here...swimming in the ocean!” he started to shout, “We could all just have a big party!”

“The party! Oww!” Melody cried and grabbed her bag.

“Say, that reminds me of somethin’,” Scuttle scratched his head.

“What party?” asked Grace.

“My birthday party,” groaned Melody, “I should have been back an hour ago. Come on!” she urged the girls to follow her, “It will be quicker if you just follow me.”

Grace, Lucy, and Jane followed Melody back into the water towards the palace. “Uh…correct me if I’m wrong,” Grace said to Jane in an undertone so that Melody couldn’t hear, “But I thought Ariel was a mermaid.”

“She’s human now, or at least ever since she got hitch to some cute human prince guy,” explained Jane, “So Melody is really more human than Mermaid, but she shows some traits of her heritage, like talking to creatures of the sea.”

“But we could talk to them,” said Grace.

“Angelus power, duh,” said Jane, “Besides, she didn’t see us talking, did she?” She looked away from Grace, a little worried.

“Something wrong?” asked Grace.

“When we last heard news from Atlantica, Ariel was just married. She was just seventeen and she wasn’t even pregnant yet. The time storm has accelerated this world’s time continuum by at least thirteen years,” explained Jane, “You’re run of the mill time storm only speed up a world time continuum by a few months. This isn’t natural.”

“How do we fix it?” asked Grace.

“I have to get my Summoner’s stuff. I can use a spell to correct the time flow, but I left most of my stuff on the ship,” sighed Jane.

They had reached the palace walls. Melody dived under for a few seconds and when she resurfaced, motioned the girls to follow her under. Grace held her breath and dove under the water. Grace squinted and saw that Melody had removed one of the bars to the storm drain and was crawling through the space she had made. Grace was barely able to squeeze through and was almost out of breath when they broke surface on the other side of the wall. They had came up on the backside of palace. It was an decorative patio courtyards with elaborate windows from the ballroom. Grace managed a few peeks inside before Melody smuggled them crouch-like through the door just after Sebastian jumped in her bag; the ballroom was being fitted out from top to bottom for a large birthday party. They sneaked inside the hallway but right before the stairs was another entrance to the ballroom which was already starting to fill with guests. Melody darted up towards the stairs first, Grace about to go behind her when someone called out, “Oh, Your-Your Highness.”

Melody almost ran into a boy walking into the ballroom with a group of friends. Grace grabbed hold of Lucy to keep her from moving. Grace risked a peak into the ballroom. The kids were all upper class but the look of their apparel and were all surly looking to boot. A few of them were quiet surprised to see Melody dripping wet and in her undergarments. A girl struggled very hard to stop herself from laughing.

“Sorry,” said Melody, slowly backing away from the kids, “My fault. I gotta go. Can’t go to the party without shoes.” Melody took off up the stairs, giving the girls a look that said follow her when they could.

Grace peaked from the archway again and waited until the kids disappeared. “If you ask me, she’s a little strange,” said a girl.

“I heard she actually talks to fish,” said another boy and they kids started to laugh.

Grace made a fist but waited until they were gone to start going up the stairs. Melody was waiting at the top and when they got there Jane asked, “Melody are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” she said, “They’re always like that. This way,” Melody waved her hand to follow her to her bedroom. A pink light dress was already laid out for Melody to wear but she went to her closet and pulled out a few dresses. “My parents are probably really busy right now and won’t have time to speak with you until after the party. But that doesn’t mean you guys can’t have fun. These should fit,” she laid out a few dresses on her bed and started to change into hers.

Lucy looked a little worried.

“What is it?” asked Grace.

“It’s just what if the Commander’s here? What if he’s the one behind the time storm?” she asked.

“The Commander doesn’t have that kind of power. I doubt even the Chasers do,” remarked Jane, “But you do have a point, Lucy; this sort of thing is just what the Commander would be attracted to. He could have spies around.”

“Then what should we do?” asked Lucy.

Something caught Grace’s eye from Melody’s accessory trunk. “No one said we couldn’t wear these.” She pulled out a Masquerade mask of black and gold decorated with red and white feathers and silver beads.
************************************************************************
Queen Ariel managed to slip away from the party just in time. It was starting to get noisy in the ballroom and a breath of fresh air was just what she needed. She strolled out into the patio and walked across the yard to the tiny shore of waves that penetrated this side of the wall. Ariel looked up and saw the last rays of the setting sun, the roar of the ocean waves from the other side of the wall, and the cry of the sea gulls above. She sighed and said sadly as if speaking to someone in front of her, “I miss you, Daddy. I wish you could be here with us.”

Ariel looked around to make sure no one was look and she took off her shoes and soaked her feet in the water, lifting up her dress. She smiled as she felt the water pass over them; the waves washed around her feet gently, as if telling her the sea missed her, as if it wanted her back.

“Ariel?”

She quickly jumped back in her shoes and looked around. Who had called her name? Was it someone from inside?

“Ariel!” the voice called again.

Ariel looked across the water and she found the source at once but almost couldn’t believe her eyes. It was Sora, Donald, and Goofy, hiding in the darkest part of the water. Ariel checked once more to make sure there still wasn’t anyone around and rushed over towards them. “SHH! What are you doing here?” she asked, “How did-?” She stopped when she got a good look at Sora’s face. “You haven’t aged a day,” she whispered.

“What?” Sora asked and she hissed at him to be quiet.

“It’s just that, since we’ve last met, you don’t seem to have changed,” Ariel explained.

“You don’t look that different either Ariel,” smiled Sora.

“Except you got legs now,” Donald added.

Ariel smiled and lifted up her dress, showing off her legs, “I do, don’t I? But what are you doing here?”

“Well, we were on our way to King Triton’s palace but the funny thing is-” Sora started to laugh weakly.

“We got lost,” replied Goofy. Sora shot him a look. “Nothing looks familiar in the sea,” Goofy went on, “It’s all kinda changed.”

“Really?” Ariel asked sadly, “I haven’t been in the sea in such a long time. Not since my daughter was born.”

“Your daughter?!” Sora, Donald, and Goofy gasped at once.

Ariel nodded. “Remember Ursula? She has a sister, named Morgana. The day my Melody was born, Morgana tried kidnapping her to get my father to hand over his trident. She almost succeeded. Since that day, I’ve forbidden Melody to go into the sea. She doesn’t know about Atlantica or Merpeople or that I was a Mermaid. She’s been a handful though,” she smiled, “Today’s her twelfth birthday.”

Sora opened his mouth but decided not to say anything. He looked at Donald and Goofy who both looked worried. They remembered what Jane had said about the time storm and how it could accelerated time on a world.

“I have a hard time trying to talk to Melody,” Ariel continued, “I had hoped maybe the next time you came to visit, you could talk to her. She doesn’t have many friends her age. Would you do that for me, Sora?”

Sora looked at Donald. “I have enough magic to transform you back, but that’s about it,” said Donald, “But maybe if we got something to eat…”

“Of course,” said Ariel, “I’ll bring you something out when I get the chance-”

“Mother? What are you doing?”

Sora, Donald, and Goofy disappeared back into the water just as Ariel looked around to spot the source of the voice. She looked and saw Melody looking down at her, in her dress but with a towel wrapped around her head.

“Uh, nothing,” Ariel lied, “I’ll be right up!”

She waited until Melody disappeared from the balcony to start talking again to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. “The party is about to start. You better come with me quick,” she said.

“All right,” nodded Sora, “Donald?”

Donald pulled out his mage’s staff and used what was left of his magic to transform Sora back into his human form. Ariel pulled him from the water and dragged him inside. She studied his attire and shook her head. “Looks like we’re going to have to get you something nicer to wear. I pretty sure there’s some old clothes of Eric’s that might fit you. You can change while I check on Melody,” she said, leading Sora up the stairs.
************************************************************************
A few moments earlier, Melody was showing the girls what she had found out in the ocean. She pulled out a large clam shaped seashell with a piece of leather tied around the end like a necklace. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked.

“It’s really pretty,” admitted Lucy as she fastened her Masquerade mask on.

“Yeah, but it won’t open,” said Melody.

Grace examined the shell. “It looks like the sand got in there and glued it shut. Maybe if you took a knife or something and picked away the sand…”

Melody had wandered over towards her balcony window. “What is she doing?” she asked herself, then called down to someone below, “Mother? What are you doing?”

They heard a female voice reply, “Uh, nothing.” There was a pause. “I’ll be right up!”

“Oh no!” panicked Melody, “I’m not ready!” She threw off the towel around her head, grabbed her shoes, and tied her bow in the back, not realizing Sebastian was caught in it as he attempted to help her.

“Uh Melody…” Jane tried to point Sebastian out but Melody went to her door.

“She’s coming!” she squealed, “Quick! In the closet!” she pushed the girls inside, closing the door, but leaving it just a crack opened. She placed her tiara on her head just as the bedroom door opened.

“Melody?”

“I’m ready,” Melody curtsied but as she did, her tiara fell, hanging on her head lopsided.

Someone chuckled and entered the room. “Here. Let me help.”

Melody’s mother, Queen Ariel was quite beautiful. Her hair was a fiery red and her eyes were bluish-green like Melody’s, but she had a glowing radiance that Grace found was equal to her mother’s. She had Melody sit down, took off the tiara, and started to comb her hair out.

“So, we’re having a bad hair day.” Melody’s father had walked into the bedroom as well. His hair was as dark as Melody’s but his eyes were bluer than Melody’s or Ariel’s.

“If we were, you wouldn’t be helping, would you?” smiled Ariel.

“Well, I’m just here to let you know there are a lot of people downstairs,” said King Eric.

“Oh, we’ll be right down,” Ariel reassured him, “Give us two minutes.”

“Right, two,” muttered Eric with a grin, “Now where have I heard that before?”

When he was gone, Melody looked up to her mother in the mirror, “Mom, put down the brush. It’s hopeless.”

“Oh. You look beautiful,” Ariel smiled pulling Melody’s hair back in a ponytail.

“Do I have to do this?” asked Melody, “Everybody thinks I’m weird.”

“Oh, honey, everyone has trouble fitting in at your age,” explained Ariel, “I know I did. I was a regular fish out of water.”

“No kidding,” whispered Jane.

“Shh!” Grace hissed.

“You?” Melody looked surprised, “No way. I’m just so afraid I’m gonna make a total fool of myself,” she sighed.

Ariel studied her daughter’s expression. “Melody, this isn’t just about the party…is it? Is there something you want to talk about?” she asked, “You know you can always tell me anything.”


Melody looked at her mother. “Well, okay. I mean, it’s kind of crazy and sort of impossible,” she admitted, “Now, don’t freak, but what I dream about...more than anything in the whole world-”

“How’s it coming?” Eric had returned to the room, “Oh, Melody. Is that you?
You look beautiful.”

“He’s right,” Ariel started to get up, “Now, we’ll talk later. You’re going to have a wonderful time tonight,” she reassured Melody, “Trust me.”

Melody got up and followed her mother. As she passed the closet, she motioned her head for the girls to follow her down. Grace opened the closet door.

“Oh! They got so close to actually talking!” whined Lucy.

“It can’t be help,” said Jane.

“Well? Why don’t we enjoy ourselves?” asked Grace with a smile.

The girls followed Melody and her parents downstairs but were careful to keep their distance and took a separate staircase down. The ballroom was filled with people in very high end classy dress attire. There were children and grownups alike, most of them looking bored or impatient for the party to start.

“See any cute boys?” Jane asked standing on the tips of her toes.

“Yeah but they’re all younger than me,” remarked Grace.

“May I present Her Royal Highness...Princess Melody.” The orchestra started to play and there was a general applause from the guests as Melody walked down the grand staircase.

“Oh, she looks really nervous,” whispered Lucy as she and the girls started to clap.

“Oh, yeah,” Melody said to herself as she climbed down the stairs, hoping not to trip on the dress’s hem, “Mom’s right. I can do this.”

When Melody reached the bottom of the stairs, a boy held out his hand, though Grace could have sworn Ariel pushed the boy forward. “Hey, doesn’t that kid look like Sora if you really pressed his spikes down?” Grace asked.

“I guess,” replied Lucy, “But it can’t be him, can it?”

“How about we snag him after Melody’s done with him?” smiled Jane.

“Aw look. He’s asking Melody to dance,” said Lucy.

Grace saw Melody look back at her mom, who then encouraged her to go dance. Melody nodded and took the boy’s hand and the orchestra started to play.

“Well, you guys can keep an eye on Melody. I’m going to check on the competition,” Jane started to walk off.

“Where are you going?” Grace asked with her hands on her hips, but stopped eyeing Jane when a red rose appeared in her face. She looked up.

There was a man a good five to ten years older than Grace was standing in front of the girls with light reddish-purple hair and deep blue eyes with a charming smile. He was dressed as elegant as the guests around him but his eyes were solely on Grace. “I must apologize. I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful you were from the other side of the room. Would you accept my offer to dance as my apology?” he bowed.

Lucy pushed Grace forward. “Apology accepted,” Grace took the man’s hand and started to join other couples on the dance floor.

“She’s so lucky,” sighed Lucy dreamily.

“There’s something familiar about that guy,” Jane said thoughtfully, “I think I’ve seen him before.”

As Grace and the man danced around the ballroom, they passed Melody and her partner. Grace winked at her and Melody gave a small smile back. Grace’s partner and Melody’s partner, Sora, caught each other’s eyes. As they passed, Sora felt an ominous presence from the man but had failed to recognize Grace. When Grace and her partner were halfway around the room again, something flashed on the man’s wrist. He made a face and bowed to Grace. “Would you excuse me? Something has come up that requires my attention,” and he took off towards the nearest exit.

Lucy and Jane rushed over to Grace. “He better have a good excuse!” Lucy shook her fist, “It’s rude for the gentlemen to not finish the dance.”

“Oh my gosh!” Jane put her hand over her mouth, “I just realized who that was! That was Marluxia!”

“Who?” asked Grace.

“Marluxia! The Graceful Assassin! Number Eleven in the Organization!” hissed Jane, “He was the Lord of Castle Oblivion and was the one who had Sora’s memories mixed up! Except Sora was suppose to have killed him off…he must’ve sensed your Keyblade! We need to get out of here!”

“And go where?” asked Grace.

“Grace, you don’t understand! Marluxia was as powerful as Xemnas at the height of his power. That’s why he was put in charge of Castle Oblivion. But we need to at least get out of this crowd,” said Jane and she led the girls back to the staircase but they stopped when Queen Ariel walked in front of them.

“Oh, excuse me,” she said and started to walk away but Jane called her back.

“Your Majesty, I am her Imperial Highness, Princess Jane Magdalene of the Angelus,” Jane bowed, “This is Lady Grace Porter, the Keyblade Master’s Apprentice, and her Royal Highness, Princess Lucy. We’ve been sent by the Galactic Federation to speak with your father.”

Ariel looked around to make sure no one was within earshot and said to Jane. “You’re from the World Order?” asked Ariel.

“Yes,” nodded Jane.

“You must understand, I haven’t seen or spoken to my father in twelve years,” said Ariel.

“We know,” said Grace.

“We also are aware of a very dangerous enemy that is-”

There was a sudden cry from the ballroom. “Oh, no!”

Ariel and the girls rushed back into the ballroom. Everyone had stopped dancing and were now focusing on what had caused the disruption. The boy Melody had been dancing with was holding his right hand in pain.

“That’s it,” Grace heard a voice call out in frustration, “I’m booking meself on a cruise.”

“Sebastian!” whispered Jane, “I forgot he was tied behind Melody’s bow. He must’ve pinched Melody’s partner.”

“I’m so sorry,” Melody apologized to her partner, then turned to Sebastian who was sitting on the table of food, “Are you okay, Sebastian?”

Those closest to Melody started to whisper:

“Who is she talking to?”

“She’s talking to a crab!”

The guest started to laugh just as the royal chief walked out from the kitchen and spotted Sebastian. “You!” the chief drew a menacing cutting knife, “Saboteur! You’re going in ze bouillabaisse!”

“No, Louis!” cried Sebastian as the knife got closer, “You don’t wanna do this, man!” he pleaded, “I’m old! I’m not tender any more!” Sebastian took cover behind Melody’s several layer birthday cake, just as the chief raised the knife and jumped on top of the cake.

The crowd of people laughed as cake went everywhere but Melody lost in a bout of shock and confusing, thinking the laughing was aimed at her, took off up the stairs.

“Melody!” Ariel called and followed her up the stairs.

The chief emerged from the remains of the cake, knife still in hand, screaming, “Death to the crab!” until a maid, took the knife from him and hit him across the head.

“Oh, Louis!” she sighed.

“C’mon,” Grace said to Jane and Lucy following the Queen and Princess to Melody’s bedroom. They stood outside the door and Grace looked between the crack between the door hinges to see inside.

Melody had thrown off her pink dress, wearing her undergarments, her shoes laying on their sides several feet from another. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” said Ariel sitting on the bed, trying to get Melody to sit next to her.

“What’s wrong with me?” asked Melody.

“Nothing’s wrong with you,” Ariel reassured.

“Mom, I’m the princess of disaster,” Melody sat down on her bed frustrated.

“Being a teenager i-is hard, and, uh...” Ariel tried to find the words, “all kids your age feel...a-awkward. And, um...Melody?”

Melody wasn’t paying attention. Instead, she pulled out the sea shell necklace from her bed she had found earlier and was examining it. “What is this?” she rubbed some of the sand off the shell, “My name’s on here.” She pried opened the shell and a melody started to play, but it wasn’t just playing a song. A ball of light glowed from the shell, showing a moving picture of an undersea palace and two Merfolk swimming around the palace. “That song. Where have I heard it?” Melody asked herself then studied the moving picture, “It’s Atlantica. With merpeople and everything,” she looked up at Ariel, “Mother, you always said it was just an old fish tale.”

Ariel took the necklace from Melody, “Where did you get this?”

Melody looked away and hugged her knees, rocking back and forth. “I found it,” she said quietly.

“You went over the wall, didn’t you?” Ariel asked, her voice rising.

“Actually, I went under it. I hate that stupid wall,” Melody added.

“Melody, you know you’re not allowed in the sea,” said Ariel standing up now.

“But why?” asked Melody, “And why does that necklace have my name on it?”

“Melody, listen to me-”

“You’re hiding something from me,” Melody suddenly said, catching Ariel off guard.

It took Ariel a second to recover. “Y-You deliberately disobeyed me! I never want you going out there again!” Ariel said fiercely, “Do you hear me? It’s dangerous in the sea!”

“How would you know?” Melody shouted, sobbing, “You’ve never even been in it!” Melody then stormed out of the room, grabbing the necklace from her mother as well as the bag of clothes that belonged to Grace, Lucy, and Jane. “C’mon,” she said when she saw them outside her door, “She isn’t going to understand me.”

Grace looked back to Jane and Lucy and they both nodded, agreeing to follow Melody. Once they disappeared down the stairs, Eric entered Melody’s bedroom, to comfort his distressed wife.

“Ariel, darling...” he sat down next to her on Melody’s bed, “We knew this day would come.”

“Oh, Eric,” Ariel snuffled, then said, “You’re right. It’s time I trusted her with the truth.”

Several floors below, outside of the great wall, Melody was starting to get a small boat together, while Grace, Lucy, and Jane changed out of their dresses. Sebastian was trying to comfort Melody after his escape from the crab-crazed chief and after what Melody had told him about what happened between her and her mom. “Oh, now, child,” he reassured her, “it’s gonna be okay. You know, when I was a teenager you couldn’t get me out of my shell for nothin’. I had this high, squeaky voice and these itty-bitty little pincers. And then one day, boom! I sound like Caruso and these whoppers pop out!” he grinned.

“You’re not helping,” Grace told him as she climbed into the boat with Melody.

“Girls, just where do you think you’re going?” Sebastian asked as they started to push away from the shore.

“I’ve gotta figure this out,” Melody rowed away from the shore, “This necklace means something and if no one’s gonna tell me, I’m gonna find out myself.”

“Melody, please!” begged Sebastian, “You’re making a big mistake!”

But Melody either wasn’t listening or didn’t care, and continued to row away. “Melody?” asked Grace, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

She looked fiercely at Grace and nodded.

“The question is, are we sure we want to do this?” remarked Jane.

“Don’t you remember? Marluxia is out there!” hissed Lucy, “We’re probably saver with Melody then we are back there.

“Besides, we got to protect Melody if she gets into trouble,” added Grace.

“Good points,” admitted Jane.

The shore behind them was disappearing as they headed further out to sea, not knowing someone was watching their every move.
************************************************************************
Morgana was in a very good mood; Undertow hadn’t seen her this happy in years. She squealed with delight about once every five minutes as she watched her crystal ball. Finally she had enough and said, “Oh, this is delicious. This is divine!” She gave a menacing laugh. She snapped her fingers.

“Hurry, Undertow,” she ordered, “There’s a little girl out there who needs our help.”

Undertow grinned and took off. Morgana snapped her fingers again and a group of scuba Heartless appeared. “Make sure no one else interferes! And take care of that Key brat while you’re at it!”

The Heartless hissed with acknowledgement and took off behind Undertow. Morgan turned back to her crystal ball looking to see if any more drama would unfold.
************************************************************************
Sora waited by the small manmade pond of sea water with Donald and Goofy for Ariel to return as they ate a few left overs from the party. Ariel walked out looking very shaken. “Are you okay?” asked Sora.

“I’m fine, it’s just that…” she broke off but said, “I’m going to have to tell Melody the truth. Have you seen Melody? Her she took off a while ago.”

The three of them shook her head and Ariel, looking worried, took off to speak to Eric who had just walked outside. As Sora tended to his sore finger, he heard someone nearby say, “All right, Sebastian, you must remain calm. This is not your fault. All you have to do is go in there and calmly explain...that Melody has run away.”

Sora looked around; he had recognized the voice. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw a red crab pacing back and forth on the beach.
“No reason to lose your head,” Sebastian continued to tell himself, “Whatever you do...you absitively, positutely...must not panic.”

At that moment, Ariel called, “Melody!” and Sebastian started to cry.

“Melody’s gone! Melody’s gone!” shouted Sebastian as he crawled towards Ariel. “Melody’s gone!”

“Sebastian? Well, what are you doing here?” asked Ariel.

“All my fault! I tried to stop her!” Sebastian grabbed the hem of Ariel’s dress, “I don’t deserve to live!”

“Gone?” asked Ariel, panic rising in her voice, “Gone where?”

“Out. Out to the sea,” Sebastian took a deep breath, waving one of his pinchers toward the wall, “With those other girls who showed up des afternoon.”

“Wait a minute!” Sora jumped up, “What other girls? How many were there?”

“T-three,” replied Sebastian, “Two with black hair and da other with short brown hair. They wanted to speak with King Triton.”

“Those girls at the party,” Ariel said slowly, “They asked me about Daddy.”

“Did they mention their names?” asked Sora.

“I believe it was Princess Jane, Grace, and Princess Lucy,” replied Ariel, “Do you know them?”

“Yeah,” said Sora, looking away, “One of them was my sister. But,” he added quickly when he saw Ariel’s worried look, “They probably went with Melody to make sure she would be okay.”

“But where could they be going?” asked Ariel.
************************************************************************
“To Morgana’s,” said Undertow.

“And she can tell me what this locket means, why it has my name on it?” asked Melody.

They were far away from the shore when the fish called Undertow appeared asking the girls what they were doing all the way out from the shore. Grace and the others were listening, not saying anything.

“Oh, sure, kid,” Undertow reassured her, “Morgana’s the best. She’ll help ya.”
Melody looked back at the others. “We’ll hear what Morgana has to say. If she can’t help you, then we’ll try some thing else,” said Grace.

“Okay,” Melody turned back to Undertow, “Then let’s go.”

As the two sting rays with Undertow grabbed hold of the boat’s oars, Lucy whispered to Grace, “Isn’t Morgana the one Sebastian told us that was after Melody?”

“Yeah, but it’s best not to mention anything to Melody just yet,” replied Grace, “If Morgana does try anything, we’ll be there to make sure Melody gets out of it okay. Besides, I think we can handle a Sea Witch over an extremely powerful Nobody any day.”

“That’s true,” nodded Lucy.

“And if Morgana is as powerful as piranha face says, we might be able to ‘persuade’ her to locate Sora and the others,” added Jane.

A fog was dropping over them, becoming so thick Grace couldn’t see the stars above them or five feet in front of her. She reached for a blanket as the air got colder and colder. Before drifting off to sleep with the others, she wondered: were they getting closer to finding Sora or were they only getting farther away?

*And now it's time for part two of figure out the secret boss. Your first clue was:"This character is not from the Disney or Square-Enix universe (that includes Kingdom Hearts, Valkyrie Tales (?) front Mission, Dragon Quest, and Star Ocean), but is well known to gamers."

Second clue is:" it's a he."

Remember once you figure out who it is, come with a strategy to beat this boss! Best one will be posted in the chapter in which the boss appears.
 

Haku

<3
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Messages
8,181
Whew I almost forgot how it was to read one of your chapters considering how long its been, but I'm not even going to jump on the guessing bandwagon I'll leave that for someone else.
 

Lectori Salutem

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Not where you are, obviously...
That took me long!!! I don't ever want to catch up with so many chapters again, my mom complained at least four times that I had to stop staring at the screen, she's looking at it right now too though^^

Anyways, amazing chapters!!! I want more!

By the way, sorry for not commenting for so long. Look at my sig for the explanation...
 

Coldman9

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Wandering outside in the cold, looking for someone
Okay I consider Sora the strongest in the story but he beat Roxas and Roxas beat Grace and Riku. So I was wondering who's stronger, Grace or Riku? Grace is pretty new to the fight and Riku knows how to use the darkness and he's got about a year's worth more expierience on her but she's the Keyblade Master Apprentice so she's got to be strong.
 

cream_sugar

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i'm flying off to neverland! whoo-hoo!
Okay I consider Sora the strongest in the story but he beat Roxas and Roxas beat Grace and Riku. So I was wondering who's stronger, Grace or Riku? Grace is pretty new to the fight and Riku knows how to use the darkness and he's got about a year's worth more expierience on her but she's the Keyblade Master Apprentice so she's got to be strong.

I'm going to say this now: as of this point (as in what's been posted so far) Grace is proably as strong as Riku but she's new to the party and reckless (she has a streak of Axel in her). But the thing is she's still learning, so we don't know how powerful she really is. She's also the daughter of a Chaser and an Angelus and they're suppose to be super powerful. We'll learn later how powerful half-breeds can get.

And no, it isn't Ganon.

Work has begun on the next chapter. I hope to have it done by next week or so.

PS. I feel so sorry for you LS! I would hate not to have a computer let alone internet.
 

Haku

<3
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Messages
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Work has begun on the next chapter. I hope to have it done by next week or so.

Sounds good I was wondering when the update was coming out since they usually come in two or three day gaps sometimes a little more considering how busy you are.
 

cream_sugar

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i'm flying off to neverland! whoo-hoo!
And it's about to get even busier now that I'm going back to work (NOOOOOOOOOO!).

A Time Storm has engulfed Atlantica and as a result from a crash entry into the world, Grace, Lyra (Jane), and Lucy got seperated from Sora and the others. They met up with Ariel's daughter Melody, who has run off to find answers about a necklace with her name on it. Now they're heading to met with Ursula's sister, Morgana. And Marluxia is back! This can't be good...

CHAPTER TWENTY:
UNDER THE SEA

ATLANTICA​

The air was frigid and cold when Grace awoke the next morning. The other girls were still asleep, huddled together underneath the blankets for warmth. She looked across the horizon; the fog was thicker than ever and the water looked dark and mysterious beneath the waves. Grace watched something white move pass the boat and she unconsciously tightened her blanket around her: it was a large piece of ice. She now noticed her breath forming as she inhaled in and out as Melody started to stir.

Melody shivered and looked out across the water with Grace. “Where are we?” Melody asked.

“Far to the north, it looks like,” Grace said as Jane and Lucy got up.

The fog was starting to thin and they could see they were now surrounded by ice and towering icebergs. The boat was being steered towards one of the larger icebergs and Grace could make out a hole in the formation large enough to engulf a small fishing boat. The sting rays pulled the boat inside of the cave-like hole. Grace felt like they traveling down a tunnel, unaware of what was on the other side. The cave brightened and they entered a large chamber within the ice. The dim sunlight shone through the ice, lighting up the chamber.

Undertow popped out of the water with a crooked grin on his face. “Angel face,
meet the one and only...” he paused to give a more dramatic effect, “Morgana.” He bowed towards a large fissure on the other side of the cave.

Something crawled out from the fissure that was so surprising, Grace had to cover her mouth to hide her gasp. The sea witch Morgana had the upper torso of a woman, but her skin was pale almost like a sickly green, her face heavy with makeup and her wispy white hair stood up with streaks of gray in it. Even more shocking was she had the lower torso of an octopus, with many tentacles the color of jet black ink.

“Oh, welcome, my precious,” Morgana strode over toward Melody on her tentacles, “Oh, don’t be shy.” She pulled Melody and Jane closer to her with her tentacles. “Come in. Come in out of the cold. Sit, sit,” Morgana insisted they sat down on large blocks of ice, “Put your feet up. Hungry?” she asked, “Afraid all I have is a cold plate.” She pulled out an ice tray of clams, fish bones, and what looked like snail shells. Grace tried very hard not to make a face. “Smelt-cicle? Kelp chip? Hush guppy?” Morgana inquired.

“Uh, no, thank you,” Melody shook her head politely, “I was hoping you could tell me about this pendant,” Melody held her necklace up, “why it has my name on it. My mother wouldn’t tell me,” she started to explain, “She just doesn’t understand.”

“Oh, you’re not the only one with a mother who doesn’t understand you,” Morgana’s eyes wandered to the picture of Ursula, “Believe me, I know just how you feel. Dear child,” she turned back to Melody, “did you ever consider,” Morgana picked up the necklace, “That it has your name on it...” she was opening the necklace, displaying the magical moving picture, “because it has your destiny in it?”

Grace watched as Melody’s eyes widen with surprise. She knows, thought Grace.

“Oh, deep down,” Morgana continued with a warm smile, “You know you weren’t meant to be a lowly human. What you are is something far more enchanting.”

“A mermaid?” Melody asked with disbelief, “But it’s not possible.”

“Darling, anything’s possible,” remarked Morgana.

“You can turn me into a mermaid?” asked Melody.

“Piece of fish cake, honey,” Morgana grinned, though somewhat malevolently and went to her cupboard of magical ingredients.

“Lots of luck,” Undertow muttered but his expression changed when he saw Morgana pull out a large bright pink bottle. “Ursula’s magic? Where’d you get that?”

“I’ve been saving it for a special occasion,” hissed Morgana and turned back to Melody. “One drop of this and, bada-bing, bada-boom! You’re in fin city! Whee!” She twirled around the ice on her tentacles.

“Really?” Melody asked but Grace stepped in front of her, her Keyblade drawn.

“How do we know that isn’t going to turn her into something else?” Grace asked.

“Oh come now darling,” Morgana smiled, “You don’t trust me? I’ve sworn an oath of loyalty to my customers. Let me show you.” One of her tentacles stretched back and pulled from the cabinet a piece of parchment with print in dark golden ink. “This is the Oath of Mages, Wizards, and Witches for Advanced Magicks. I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without one.”

“May I see it?” asked Jane.

Morgana handed her the parchment and Jane studied it. Grace saw her make a small frown, muttered, “It’s legit,” and hand it back to Morgana’s tentacle.

“Come, my darling,” Morgana pulled Melody towards her, sitting her down on a block of ice, “Your destiny awaits you.” She uncorked the bottle and lifted Melody’s right foot. Morgana then tipped the bottle until a single drop of the silver liquid inside dripped out. The drop moved slowly, changing into a large snowflake, but when it touched Melody’s leg, it vanished into her skin, causing a ripple effect. The rippled sparked magic of a bright green color and started to swirl around her legs. When the magic finally dispersed, Melody’s legs were gone and instead replaced with the lower torso of a coral colored fish.

Melody face broke into a huge smile, “I don’t believe it! I’m a mermaid.”

“Say it loud, say it proud!” Morgana cheered.

“I’m a mermaid!” Melody jumped into the water, the girls watching awestruck.

Undertow, meanwhile, rounded on Morgana. “You had this all along. You coulda changed me back. Why, I oughta-”

Morgana raised her hand to silence him. “Keep your scales on, small fry,” she hissed, making sure she was out of earshot from the other girls, “I’m still reeling her in.” She got into the water and disappeared into it’s depths.

“Any one else got a bad feeling about this?” asked Grace.

“I do,” Lucy raised her hand, “But I always have a bad feeling.”

“I’m still not convinced about that potion that turned Melody into a mermaid,” remarked Grace.

“Well, Morgana had a Contract Oath of Mages, Wizards, and Witches for Advance Magicks, so she wasn’t lying about the potion outright,” explained Jane.

“What is a Contract Oath?” asked Grace.

“A Contract Oath is basically a set of laws Mages, Wizards, and Witches need to follow in order to use Advance Magicks, which is magic that is higher than your usual run of the mill magic attack spells. Morgana must always be truthful about the spells, charms, and potions she sells to customers but she can fix the price to almost anything she wants, but she also has to warn about side effects and whether or not the spell wears off over time,” explained Jane.

“Which Morgana hasn’t told Melody,” said Grace.

“She hasn’t told Melody yet,” Jane remarked, “Failure to do so, would result in losing her powers. She also can’t curse anyone without telling them the counter curse but she can also forbid those she’s curse from telling anyone else how to break their curse. If one of her spells kills someone or she is asked to create a potion or spell to kill someone by her customers, she has to file the necessary documents or they can blame her for murder. The only ones that don’t need to have a Contract Oath for Advance Magicks are the Keyblade Users and Summoners, and possibly Nobodies but Angelus Intelligence isn’t sure yet. But the thing is, I don’t think that potion was a permanent one or Morgana would want something out of it. The Contract Oath has been known not to be very clear on case by case situations. I guess there’s only one thing to do,” Jane went through her bag of items, pulling out three diamond shape crystals, “We’re going to have to make sure Melody gets what she asked for.”

“What are those?” Lucy asked.

“These are Transpoly Crystals. They’re in the same category as Transmira spells but not as strong. If I turn the dial to the right setting,” she said as she twisted the golden dial along the horizontal axis of the crystals, “We can turn into Mermaids.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Grace asked, “But I thought Angelus can change into anything.”

“We can adapt into any Hume race but we can’t just change our feet into fins,” explained Jane, “That’s where Transpoly Crystals come in. While we’re underwater, we’ll be Mermaids but once we break surface, we turn back into humans, or if we take off the Crystals, which I don’t suggest doing underwater. The only issue is you won’t be able to use the Trans-Drive clothes. I’m taking the purple one, which leaves the red and blue ones to you guys.” She handed out the remaining red and blue crystals.

Grace stared at the crystals and said, “Now I really have a bad feeling about this.”

“C’mon. It’s just like the swimming pool back at school,” said Lucy, “Only we don’t have to hold our breath.”

“The swimming pool went as deep as six feet!” remarked Grace, “This is the ocean, which is hundreds of miles in depth and there are sharks and-”

“And you have a Keyblade,” Jane interjected, “So what are you complaining about?”

Grace frowned and grabbed the red crystal, putting it around her neck. Instantly, her Trans-Drive clothes vanished and were replaced with a two piece bikini of red with yellow stars and moons decorating the fabric. A small skirt of the same material covered the bottom portion of the two piece. The cold had already settled around her. “I-I-it’s c-c-cold!” she shivered, and it got even worse when she realized she was barefoot.

“Then get in the water. You’ll be warmer once you do,” said Jane, also changed into her swimsuit of purple decorated with crescent moons.

Grace looked at the water, which looked colder than air in the cave. She sighed and jumped into the water.

There was an odd sensation in her legs as soon as she jumped in. It felt as if they were twisting into one and her toes felt like they were stretching and becoming thin. She tried to look down but there were still bubbles from when she jumped in. She realized the salt water wasn’t stinging her eyes and she was seeing everything very clearly. She was breathing normally too; the water wasn’t bothering her nor was cold as she thought it would be. Soon the bubbles cleared and she could see her legs, but they weren’t her legs anymore, but her fish tail, a bright red fish tale. A little doubtful, she wiggled her toes and her fins at the end wiggled back.

“So what do you think?”

Grace spun around and saw Jane swimming towards her. Her fish tail was purple. She decided to be brutally honest. “This is the weirdest feeling I’ve ever had,” replied Grace.

“Whoo-hoo!” Lucy jumped in the water next to Grace. She was wearing a white bikini top with blue sun-shaped decorations and her fish tale was blue. “This is awesome!” she grabbed Grace’s arms and they started to spin around.

When Lucy let go, Grace took a moment to adjust herself. The sensation of having fins instead of legs was starting to settle in. “C’mon, let’s find Melody. Then we need to find Sora. The sooner we find Sora, the sooner I get use of my legs back.” She took off towards the entrance of the cave, followed by Jane and Lucy.
************************************************************************
THE HARBOR​

“Are you absolutely sure these are the girls you saw?”

Queen Ariel shook her head. “They were wearing Masquerade Masks. I couldn’t tell what color their eyes were but it looks like them.”

Balthier lowered the pile of papers and started to pace around the deck of the boat the rescue team had assembled on. Joey and Ling were with him along with Eric and Ariel and a handful of sailors. Out on the water, Sora, Donald, and Goofy waited with King Triton who Sebastian had summoned almost immediately after Melody and the girls had disappeared.

“Should we alert the Knights?” asked Ling.

Balthier paused for a moment and took out his communicator. “Fran? How are we?”

“The time storm is jamming our communications,” Fran’s voice crackled through the communicator, “We can’t get a signal to the outside world. Unless the time storm disperses, we’re on our own.”

“I hate to be the bringer of more bad news but there are Heartless portals opening up all across the ocean,” said Joey, “And there might have been Nobodies around the palace within the last 24 hours. The half-life isotopes are too weak to determine how many their were.”

“Three princesses missing along with a Keyblade User, a time storm, Heartless, and possibly Nobodies,” Balthier shook his head, “I could go on, but I would rather not jinx anything.”

Ariel sighed sadly. “Everything’s going to be all right, Ariel,” King Triton reassured her, “We have search parties scouring the ocean. I’m going to join them now myself.”

“We’re going out to help too,” added Sora, Donald and Goofy both nodding in agreement.

“Ariel, maybe you should go with them,” suggested Eric.

Ariel looked at him with surprise. “But, Eric-” she started to say but he reached for her hand.

“I need to stay here and lead the search on land,” he explained, “But you know these waters and you know our daughter. You have to go.”

“It may be dangerous,” remarked King Triton.

Ariel shook her head. “Eric’s right, Daddy. I should have known I couldn’t keep Melody from the sea. It’s a part of her. And a part of me. I have to go.” She took Eric hand and he held her up onto the railing.

“Bring her home,” said Eric as he kissed her and let go of her hand.

King Triton raised his trident, releasing it’s magic upon Ariel. She floating the air, the magic swirling around her, and as the magic changed her back into a Mermaid, Sora saw a smile glow across her face, a smile that reminded him of the Ariel he remembered. When the magic had done its work, Ariel leaped into the ocean. A few seconds later she broke surface and said to Sora, “Let’s go.”

Together, like old times, they took off into the ocean, to explore its mysteries, hoping to find Melody, Grace, Lucy, and Jane along the way.
************************************************************************
MORGANA’S LAIR​

Grace, Lucy, and Jane were watching as Morgana and Undertow were talking in hushed tones. A few moments earlier the girls had asked Morgana about locating Sora.

“Sora? I don’t know any Soras,” Morgana had replied when Grace had asked, “Is he a fish or Merman?”

“Uh, Merman,” Jane had answered.

“Then he’s probably within the metropolis of Atlantica. I have a map somewhere, now where did I put it?” Morgana asked herself, starting to look around her cupboard. Now she was talking with Undertow far away from the girls. Grace wished she knew what exactly what they were up to, but at that moment Melody returned, with a large grin on her face, happy with her new fins. She hugged Morgana (Grace turned away, so Melody wouldn’t see her look of disgust) and said, “Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!”

Morgana gave a small cry and pulled away from Melody.

“What’s the matter?” Melody asked.

“Oh, I knew this would happen,” sobbed Morgana, “One taste, and you’re hooked. Oh, Undertow,” she turned to Undertow, “I’m such a failure, such a...” she turned back to Melody and took her hand, “Oh, my precious...there wasn’t enough potion for this to be a forever spell.”

“Knew it,” Grace muttered under her breath.

“Please,” begged Melody, “I-I don’t want to go back to being an ordinary girl. Isn’t there some way I can stay a mermaid?”

“Oh, I’m afraid there’s absolutely no possible way. Well, there is one way,” Morgana said thoughtfully but then shook her head, “No. What am I thinking? It’s far too dangerous.”

“What?” asked Melody, “What’s too dangerous?” She didn’t see however, Morgana winking at Undertow before she turned back to Melody.

“Well, I could make the spell last longer...if I had my magic trident,” explained Morgana, “Oh, but it was stolen years ago by a deranged kleptomaniac and there’s no one to get it back for me.”

“Maybe I could get it back for you,” suggested Melody.

“You would do that for me?” asked Morgana, her eyes flashing.

“Hold on a minute!” Grace started to swim towards them but Jane grabbed her arm.

“If I did, would you make me a mermaid forever?” asked Melody.

“Even longer, if you like,” smiled Morgana, “Now here is where the scoundrel lives,” she handed Melody a block of ice with markings on it.

Melody studied the map. “Atlantica? You mean it’s not just an old fish tale? It really exists?”

“Of course it exists, dear,” reassured Morgana, “Whoever told you otherwise?”

“My mother,” muttered Melody.
Well, I’m sure she didn’t mean to be cruel and deceitful,” remarked Morgana but it seemed to have hit a nerve in Melody.

“Okay, I’ll bring back your trident,” Melody took off towards the girls, “You can count on me!”

“Be careful, dear. Enjoy those fins! While you can,” Morgana added to herself.

Melody stopped when she saw the girls. “When-? How did you-?”

“Oh! The uh…we have fins now…thing,” Jane tried to find a good answer, “Well…you see…um…”

“We didn’t know you were part Mermaid!” Grace said hastily.

“Yeah! That’s right!” Jane added.

“Nope! Not a clue!” lied Lucy.

“So we decided to go with you by using our…uh…magical powers!” Grace said waving her arms around for exaggeration.

“Yeah, Grace has this Keyblade!” Jane waved Grace’s arm around as she held the Keyblade, “Super magical stuff! She still doesn’t know how much it can do!” She stopped when Grace glared at her, “Thought we would try it out and go with you!”

“Wait a minute! We can tell her about the Keyblade but not about the Crystal?” hissed Grace.

“No, especially not the Crystals!” hissed Jane.

“Why not?”

“Because only Angelus Knights can use them!”

“And?”

“…I…borrowed them without permission,” muttered Jane.

“You stole them!” Grace shouted.

“So, let’s look at that map Morgana gave you and see how we get to Atlantica,” Lucy said loudly enough that Grace and Jane stopped arguing.

Melody pulled out the ice map. “Hmm, let’s see. South to Two Circles Pass...” she turned the map on the side, “Then uh, north to...no, no, um, east...to uh, hmm...”

Something moved behind the ice, bolting towards Melody. “Look out!” Grace pushed Melody out of the way just in time as something speed at her.

“What was that?” asked Lucy.

“Heartless!” Jane pulled out a dagger from her bag.

“Uh…Heartless can’t go underwater, can they?” asked Grace.

“Yeah they can. Maleficent synthesized several Heartless especially for underwater worlds ten years ago,” explained Jane.

“Guys…” Lucy voice called them back towards Melody.

The map was shattered, struck by the Heartless as it passed. “The map. It’s ruined. Now how are we gonna find our way to Atlantica?” moaned Melody.

“Get back you fish freaks! You’re dealing with the fearless adventurers-” cried a voice.

“Slash-explorers!” added another voice.

“Titanic Tip and his trusty sidekick Dash!” said the first voice.

“Who’s that?” asked Jane.

“Let’s go see!” Melody took off before they could stop her.

They made it back towards the outside of the cave where a small penguin and large walrus were surrounded by a swarm of aquatic Heartless. Some of the Heartless were in the forms of large jellyfish and the remaining were in the forms of scuba divers with green gear, spears, and elongated heads. “All right!” shouted the penguin, “You asked for it!” The penguin swam forward and slapped one of the jellyfish Heartless on the head, but it didn’t do any damage. The Heartless retaliated by slapping the penguin with two of it’s tentacles. The penguin screamed and ran back behind his partner, the walrus, and the two cowered with fear.

“They need our help,” said Grace, pulling out her Keyblade and swimming for the nearest Heartless.

Lucy reached for her guns and aimed for the nearest Heartless but her guns didn’t fire as fast when she shoot. “Guess the water is slowing down the bullet’s velocity. Looks like I’m going to have to aim closer,” she remarked and swam closer to the Heartless.

Grace took aim for a finishing blow on one of the jellyfish Heartless but Jane cried, “No, don’t!” But it was too late; Grace had struck the Heartless. It shuttered for a moment then exploded in a cloud of smoke, dispersing into many smaller jellyfish Heartless.

“Those type of Heartless can only be finished off with magic or else they break into smaller Heartless,” explained Jane. She tossed Lucy and Melody a few orbs of condensed magical energy, “Throw these at the Jellyfish. It should defeat them almost instantly,” she said before slashing a scuba Heartless with her dagger.

Grace finished off the Jellyfish Heartless with some fire and blizzard magic, until the Heartless were completely vanquished. The penguin and the walrus were still huddled together, their eyes screwed shut. Melody tapped the penguin on the arm, “Excuse me.”

The penguin let out another scream but calmed down when he saw Melody who smiled at him. “You don’t have to be scared of us. We won’t hurt you.”

“Scared? Who said anything about bein’ scared?” the penguin looked harassed, “Don’t you know an evasive maneuver when you see one?” the penguin took a defensive stance.

Melody giggled and said, “Hi. I’m Melody. This is Grace, Jane, and Lucy,” she pointed to the rest of the girls.

“This here’s Tip,” the walrus nodded to the penguin, “and I’m Dash.”

“Excuse me, Mr-I-Spill-My-Guts-To-Total-Strangers. You just blew our cover!” shouted the penguin, Tip.

“I was just trying to be friendly,” said Dash, the walrus.

“Uh, guys, we really need to get going,” Melody started to say, “So if you could just tell me-”

“See? Now they’re gonna leave, and it’s all your fault,” Dash glared at Tip.

“My fault? She’s-She’s-She’s...” Tip stuttered.

“Guys?” Melody tried to get their attention, but Tip continued on.
“She’s probably allergic to blubber.”

“Oh, yeah?” Dash shot back, “Well, maybe she doesn’t like birds that can’t fly!”

“Guys?” Grace tried to help Melody get their attention but it wasn’t working too well. Behind her, Jane and Lucy were starting to giggle.

“Well, you can’t fly either,” Tip said to Dash, a look of triumph on his face.

“And you walk funny,” Dash shot back.

“Hey! Will the two of you knock it off and listen?!” Grace shouted, causing both Tip and Dash to stop fighting, “You’re both acting like children!”

“Anyway,” said Melody, “Do either of you know how to get to Atlantica? We don’t have much time.”

“Why do you want to go to Atlantica?” inquired Tip.

“We have to get something that was stolen from a friend,” explained Melody, “If we don’t, I’ll turn back into...”

“A what? Turn back into a what?” asked Dash.

“A human,” muttered Melody.

“I knew there was something un-fishy about you,” Tip looked disgusted, “Tough break, sister. Drop us a line,” he started to swim off, “Let us know how it all turns out.”

“You’re not going to help our friend?” Grace asked angrily, “After we helped you?”

“We’ll take you,” Dash said suddenly. Everyone looked at him.

“You will?” Melody asked, a smile reappearing on her face.

“We will?” Tip stared at Dash with surprise.

“She’s a damsel in distress,” argued Dash, “They need our help. It’s our big chance.”

“Hoo-boy,” Tip rubbed his fins together, “I can’t believe I’m doin’ this. Somebody stop me. All right, then, we’re in. On to Atlantica! Off we go! Titanic Tip and Daring Dash Adventurers-slash-explorers!” He took off singing a tune.

“So why are you guys heading to Atlantica?” asked Dash.

“We’re helping Melody, and we got separated from our friends,” explained Grace, “We thought they might be there.”

Melody and Tip were already far ahead of them, Melody joining in on Tip’s song. By the time they had finally reached Atlantica though, that song seemed to be the only thing that brighten the trip. They had gotten lost three times, had to double back twice, ran into a shark (which took off when Jane punched it in the nose), and almost every fifteen minutes ran into Heartless. Finally they reached the green and golden coral city of Atlantica.

“I knew it! It’s real!” Melody said breathlessly as she looked upon the city with wonder.

“I hope you’re here, Roxas,” Grace whispered and took off with the others into the entrance of the city.
************************************************************************
ARIEL’S GROTTO​

Ariel wandered through her grotto of old treasures she had collected when she was younger. She picked up a fork and reminisced how she once thought it was a dinglehopper and was used as a comb. She smiled but only for a few seconds when Sora, Donald, and Goofy entered the cave. “That’s the last of the Heartless in this area, for now at least,” remarked Sora, “I haven’t seen so many Heartless since our first trip to Atlantica.”

“Do you think it could be Morgana?” asked Goofy.

“It looks more like Maleficent if you ask me,” said Donald.

“How you found anything?” Sora asked Ariel.

Ariel shook her head. “Has my father returned yet?” she asked.

“He’s waiting outside,” said Sora. Ariel took off to the grotto’s entrance with the trio falling behind her.

“Have you heard anything, Daddy?” Ariel asked King Triton, “I’ve been searching everywhere, but I’d... Flounder!” She had spotted a small yellow fish with blue markings and hugged it.

The fish squealed and fought it’s way out of Ariel’s arms with a cry of “Daddy!”

“Now what?” a larger fish came out of the coral reef with a sigh. He brightened up when he saw Ariel. “Ariel?”

“Flounder?” she asked, recognizing the fish. They embraced in a tight hug. “Oh, I’ve missed you!” Ariel said with a smile, “Boy, you’re sure not a guppy any more.”

“You can say that again,” added Sora.

“Sora! You’re here too, I see,” Flounder greeted him, “The times have really been good to you.”

“Uh, yeah,” Sora said uncomfortably.

“Ariel, I’m sorry about Melody,” remarked Flounder.

“Flounder, I really need your help,” said Ariel.

Flounder was quiet for a moment, then said with confidence, “Wild sea horses couldn’t stop me.”

“Just like the old Flounder,” smiled Sora. Ariel smiled back. It was the first time she had truly smiled all day. Sora hoped to keep it up, but he was unaware that Grace and the girls were getting closer to Atlantica falling ever more into the schemes of Morgana.

*And now it's time for part three of figure out the secret boss. Your first clue was:"This character is not from the Disney or Square-Enix universe (that includes Kingdom Hearts, Valkyrie Tales (?) front Mission, Dragon Quest, and Star Ocean), but is well known to gamers."

Your second clue is:" it's a he."

Now for the third clue: "The game from which the secret boss is from was released on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3, with a limited edition release for the Xbox 360. It should also be noted that a month later, the game was released with an additinal subtitle for the GBA, but really suck and as Game Informer would say, you were better off buying the game on the original release consoles."

Remember once you figure out who it is, come with a strategy to beat this boss! Best one will be posted in the chapter in which the boss appears.
 

Haku

<3
Joined
Mar 27, 2007
Messages
8,181
Ah the old Little Mermaid sequences really bring back a lot of memories, good work.
 

Lectori Salutem

secretly sadistic
Joined
Jun 15, 2007
Messages
1,100
Location
Not where you are, obviously...
Relax! I'd rather wait for a good chapter, than read a crappy one every week. That's why I won't stop reading this, no matter how long CS takes! Two weeks isn't that long, btw, if you look at the length of the chapters!!! I sure as hell wouldn't be able to write a chapter like that every two weeks...
 

cream_sugar

New member
Joined
Apr 6, 2007
Messages
141
Location
i'm flying off to neverland! whoo-hoo!
AGH! Work bites! I haven't had that much time to work on the next chapter let alone find out what happened at the TGS (I'm still reading through the stuff). I HATE WORKING AT WAL-MART!!! DIE DIE DIE! So was I not close about Xion? I really must be physcic...

Ariel's daughter, Melody, wants to know what secrets lie in the seashell necklace and Morgana, Ursula's sister, tells her she's a mermaid. But if she wants to be a mermaid forever, Melody has to steal the trident, which she doesn't know belongs to her grandfather. Grace, Jane (Lyra), and Lucy decide to go with her but did they make the right choice? And we learn what Grace's worst fear is (one of them at least).

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
REUNION

ATLANTICA

The metropolis of Atlantica shimmered with colors of green, gold, and blue like a treasure chest of the ocean. The buildings were made of rock and coral but the palace resting in the heart of the city was made from huge pillars of stone. The streets were filled with Merfolk, fish, crustaceans, and other sea creatures, but so far no one had noticed that the girls, Tip, and Dash were from out of town.

“It’s so beautiful,” remarked Melody, not watching where she was going, and bumped into a boy.

“Sorry, my...” Melody started to say, just as the boy said, “Sorry, my fault.”

They both blushed, and the boy then said, “Hi. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here. What’s your name?”

“I’m Mel... Mel...” Melody struggled to put her own name together.

“Hey, guys!” the boy called over his friends, “Meet Mel-Mel.”

“Hi,” Melody waved bashfully.

“Hey, you wanna hang out with us?” asked the boy.

Before Melody could answer, Tip pulled her arm and pulled her away from the group. “All right, all right. Break it up. Break it up! There’s nothing to see here. Move along. Come on, Miss Popularity,” he pushed Melody along, “We have a previous engagement. Remember?”

“Maybe I’ll catch you later,” called the boy. Melody smiled shyly back at him. Tip scowled.

“This is what happens when you bring a country fish to the big city,” he muttered.

“Aww, Melody can’t help it,” teased Lucy, “He was kind of cute.”

“Hey!” Melody pushed her. Lucy started to laugh but when she did, she stopped abruptly, holding her neck.

“What’s wrong?” asked Grace.

“I felt like I just inhaled all this salt water, it burned my nose and throat, but it’s gone now,” explained Lucy.

Jane picked up her crystal and studied it. “Oh no,” she whispered.

“What?” asked Grace, keeping out of earshot of Melody.

“I might have taken the crystals when they weren’t fully charge,” explained Jane.

“Which means?” asked Lucy.

“Let’s see: standard use time is about 72 hours, if at a minimum of 33% power, we did a half-body transformation….subtract time of use so far…” Jane did all the calculations in her head, “ We got less than eighteen hours to find Sora, at minimum.”

“Less than? LESS THAN? You’re telling us we got until sunrise tomorrow?” Grace inquired angrily.

“Maybe,” Jane replied, but didn’t sound all that reassured.

“Is everything alright?” Melody asked, swimming towards them.

“Yeah, sure, everything’s peachy,” muttered Grace.

“Hey, people! We’re on a tight schedule here!” Tip shouted and he swam off with Dash towards the palace.

“So what’s the plan then?” Lucy asked Grace and Jane.

“We get the trident, swim back to Morgana’s, get her to fix Melody’s spell, and during that time or afterwards we find Sora, preferably before the crystals wore out,” replied Grace.

“Well, I was thinking, Morgana never exactly said who we were getting the trident from. What if it’s King Trident’s trident?” Jane asked.

Grace stopped and looked at her.

“Wait a second,” Lucy suddenly spoke up, “Didn’t Sebastian say that Morgana tried stealing the trident from King Trident last time?”

“Then we got to stop Melody,” Grace swam forward after her but Jane grabbed her arm.

“We can’t!” hissed Jane, “Morgana is probably watching Melody. If she suspects that we know what she’s after, she could undo the spell on Melody, putting her in danger. Besides, Morgana doesn’t know we know the truth. We got to make sure Melody steals the trident at least, but we can’t let her hand it over to Morgana.”

Grace made a face but nodded. The situation they were in seemed to be getting worse and worse by the second. Even if they did manage to keep Morgana away from the trident, what about Melody? What would happen to her? Would they find Sora before time ran out? If not…she suddenly felt the power of the water, grabbing her, holding her under, not letting go…

She shook the thought away. “Get a grip,” she said to herself, “You know now that there are scarier things than that.”

“Gracey!”

“I’m coming!” she called back and swam back towards the others.
************************************************************************
MORGANA’S LAIR​

“…Morgana is probably watching Melody. If she suspects that we know what she’s after, she could undo the spell on Melody, putting her in danger. Besides, Morgana doesn’t know we know the truth. We got to make sure Melody steals the trident at least, but we can’t let her hand it over to Morgana…”

“Oh don’t worry my dear,” laughed Morgana, “I already know everything.”

“But Morgana shouldn’t we uh…do something?” asked Undertow.

Morgana shook her head. “Not if they want poor Triton’s granddaughter to get hurt. Oh the drama,” Morgana smiled evilly, “Besides if they find the Keyblade Master, they’ll bring him straight to me. With all the players in place, I’ll take my revenge in one fell swoop,” she swung her arm down on the table, knocking empty potion bottles everywhere.

“And if they don’t bring the Key brat?” Undertow asked, after dodging the fallen pieces of glass.

“Time is running out for all of them, I’m afraid,” explained Morgana but grinning malevolently all the same, “If stealing the Trident doesn’t get Sora’s attention, then they’ll make sure something else will.”
************************************************************************
ATLANTICA​

Having searched everywhere for the trident, Melody figured the only place left was the palace. Although the other girls knew well that where the trident was most likely to be, they thought the stalled time used spent searching for the trident would help them find Sora, but no such luck. Grace crossed her fingers and hoped that maybe, just maybe, they would get caught by the guards as they sneaked in, but that didn’t happen either. In fact the palace was rather deserted. They swam through corridors of coral and stone pillars but met no one along the way.
“There it is!” whispered Melody, pointing at the golden trident sitting next to a tall throne in the throne room.

“You, Tip, and Dash grab the trident,” whispered Grace, “We’ll stand here and keep a look out- and hopefully get caught,” she added when Melody looked away.

Melody, Tip, and Dash sneaked around the inner pillars of the throne room. Melody spotted a table sitting in the middle of the room near the throne, and motioned Tip and Dash to follow her to hiding underneath it. They got there just in time when King Triton came out from another room, looking worried. Melody lifted the table cloth just enough so that she could see. “That must be him,” remarked Melody, “The thief. He looks sad,” she added when she saw his expression, “He doesn’t look like a thief.”

“They never do,” whispered Tip. He then noticed the trident. “A fork?” he gaped, “We’re risking our tails for a fork?”

King Triton was approaching the table just as Melody threw down the table cloth. As he got closer to the table, Melody held her breath (or rather stopped moving) and Dash and Tip held each other.

“King Triton, your daughter has returned,” called someone from the other room. King Triton moved away back into the room.

“Ooh, that was close,” Tip wiped his forehead when King Triton left. Melody was already out from underneath the table cloth and swimming towards the trident. She reached for the trident but then stopped, hesitating. “Oh, sure, that’s it. Take your time.
Kick back. Relax,” remarked Tip before screaming, “Let’s all just linger here and die!”

“I’m sure she’ll turn up soon,” a voice echoed from the antechamber.

“He’s coming back!” hissed Dash.

Melody grabbed the trident and lifted it from its resting place, but as she did, the string around the necklace broke and fell to the ground. “My necklace!” she cried. She reached for it but Tip grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

Grace clenched her fist as Melody returned. “Give me your necklace,” she said to Lucy.

“Why?” she asked but Grace ignored her and instead turned to Jane.

“Do you have anything small that Sora would recognize was yours?” Grace asked Jane. Jane took off her charm bangle and handed to Grace. Grace quickly tied the bangle and the necklace together with Roxas’s blue crystal and part of the ice map Morgana had given them. She threw the bundle of trinkets down on the ground and joined the others in fleeing the palace.

“Don’t worry Ariel,” Sora reassured Ariel as they entered the throne room, “We’ll find Melody and the girls.”

Ariel nodded but still looked a little worried. She looked up towards the throne and gasped. “Daddy! The trident!”

Sora followed her line of sight and saw she was right. King Trident was only with them for a few seconds before returning to the throne room. If the room was left unattended who could have grabbed it so quickly…

“But dat’s not possible,” said Sebastian, who was now a lighter shade of red than usual, “Nobody can remove da trident from da stand except you, sire. You or one of your descendants.”

“Melody,” Ariel said, picking up Melody’s fallen necklace.

“Who I was supposed to be watching. Go ahead, crack me open,” sobbed Sebastian, begging for mercy, “Make a crab cake out of me, sire.”

“But how could she have gotten here?” asked Ariel.

“Morgana. If she gets her hands on my trident...” King Triton shook his head trying not to think on the latter and called to his guards, “Double the search parties! I want every creature in the ocean on patrol!”

“Yes, sire!”

“Wait, a second…what’s that?” asked Sora, spotting something on the ground. He picked up the mass that was the tied trinkets.

“That’s Lucy’s necklace,” said Goofy.

“Roxas’s crystal Grace was suppose to keep for him and Jane- I mean, Lyra’s bangle,” added Sora.

“And a piece of ice?” Donald pulled off the piece of the ice map.

Ariel took the ice from him and studied it. “It’s part of a map. North,” she said tracing the large N with her finger, “They’re heading north. In the Northern Borders of Atlantica, the sea is filled with ice. It’s inhabitable for Merpeople and most creatures of the sea, but it’s the perfect hiding place for Morgana. We got to hurry!” Ariel took off, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Flounder following close behind her.

“It’s all my fault,” Sebastian continued to mope, “If I had just paid a little more attention...instead of blabbering on and on and on...and on and on. From now on, Your Majesty, nothing gets past...me.” Sebastian finally realized he was alone. He gave a small squeal and took off to find King Triton.
************************************************************************
NORTHERN ATLANTICA
SOMEWHERE NEAR MORGANA’S LAIR​

The trip back to Morgana’s was unusually quiet. Grace found it very odd that they had not run into any Heartless along the way, but even so kept her Keyblade out. Melody hung on to the trident tightly, afraid to let go of what she thought was her only chance of freedom. Soon they were back in the cold icy waters of the North.

“You know, kid, the three of us, we make a pretty good team,” Tip said to Melody, “Once you’re a permanent mermaid, we’ll be friends forever. Your friends can join us too. We’ll be inseparable!”

“Nothing will ever come between us,” added Dash, just before the pointed fin of something beneath the surface appeared.

“Shark!” screamed Tip.

“Run! Run!” cried Dash and the two of them took off so fast it was like watching a speeding brown, black, and white blur.

“No, wait!” Melody tried to call them back, “It’s just-”

“Leavin’ so soon, boys?” Undertow chuckled as he broke the surface, “What can I say? When you got it, you got it,” he noticed Melody had the trident and broke into a smile, “Hey! You got it! Sweetheart, you’re my new hero. Let’s go. It’s time for some magic.” He started to lead her back to Morgana’s cave.

“But- but my friends...” Melody tried to explain but lost the words.

“Ha! You mean you call those two yellow-bellied sea slugs your friends?” laughed Undertow, “Come on! You wanna be a mermaid, or what?” Melody reluctantly followed him back to the cave where Grace, Jane, and Lucy were waiting. Undertow started to sing a victory chant, “We got the power. We got the power. We got the power!”

When Undertow and the girls disappeared into the cave, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Ariel, and Flounder broke surface at a nearby ice burg. “So there it is,” Ariel said and turned back to Sora and the others, “Swim back as fast as you can and tell my father. I’ll try to find Melody and the girls.”

“Oh, but if that old sea witch is in there, and then there’s that mean little shark and then those manta rays come, and Heartless, a-and then she takes those-those creepy tentacles so suction cups stick to your face, and, and…” Flounder gave one final shiver then said, “Uh-uh. No way you’re goin’ in there alone.”
“Flounder’s right Ariel,” remarked Sora, “You can’t go in there by yourself.”

“But, if all go who’s going to tell Daddy where Morgana’s lair is?” asked Ariel.

“Say, what’s all the whisperin’ about?” asked a voice. Scuttle the seagull perched on the iceberg nearby. “Is Melody around here? Did you find her yet? If she’s-”

Ariel grabbed his beak to keep him quiet. “Scuttle! Be quiet! Wait a minute,” she started to say, her eyes wide with inspiration, “Scuttle can get help,” she pulled Scuttle closer towards her so that they were eye to eye, “Scuttle, I need you to pay very close attention.”

“We’re doomed,” sighed Flounder.

Sora meanwhile raised his Keyblade and shot a beam of light into the air. It rippled across the sky like a wave. “What’s that for?” asked Goofy.

“I’m giving the signal to Balthier. He should be able to find us if Scuttle doesn’t get to King Triton in time,” explained Sora.

Ariel watched as Scuttle took off and rejoined Sora, Donald, and Goofy. “Please be okay, Melody,” said Ariel and they took off into the cave.
************************************************************************
MORGANA’S LAIR​

“Oh, there you are, darling!” Morgana said happily when they entered the underwater room of her ice lair. “Oh, I was so worried about you. And look! You’ve brought back my trident. Clever girl.”

“So what’s the plan?” Jane asked Grace.

“When Melody goes to hand over the trident, you two grab her and I’ll grab the trident,” explained Grace.

“And if Morgana gets it?” asked Lucy.

“I haven’t gotten that far,” frowned Grace.

“Give it to her! Give it to her! Give it to her!” Undertow shouted but Morgana pushed him away with her tentacles, “Hey!”

“Forgive him, dear. He’s got a little size issue,” Morgana reached out her hand for the trident, “Now, if you’ll just hand over the-”

“Melody, don’t!”

Ariel, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Flounder made it just in time. “Mom!” gasped Melody.

“Sora!” Grace stopped when she saw him and broke into a fit of giggles. Lucy joined her and even Jane had to bit her lip so she wouldn’t laugh. “What the heck are you suppose to be? Aqua Lad?” Grace asked. Lucy roared with laughter.

“Nice to see you too,” muttered Sora.

“Don’t listen to her!” Ariel tried to turn the attention back on Melody, now looking at her daughter for the first time in a day, realizing…

“You’re a mermaid?” Melody and Ariel both said at the same time.

“Hey, wait a second! You guys are too!” Sora pointed to Grace.

“Took you long enough to notice, Dolphin Boy,” said Grace and she and Lucy started to giggle again.

“Ariel, how nice of you to come. And you brought Flopper with you, as well as the Key Brat,” Morgana smiled evilly.

“The name’s Flounder,” corrected Flounder. He noticed Undertow glaring at him, “‘Grrr’ yourself, pipsqueak.”

“Get that thing and hit me!” shouted Undertow, “One bite, and he’s shrimp toast!”

“Sweetheart, hand me my trident now,” Morgana held out her hand.

“All this time, and you never told me?” Melody was staring at Ariel.

“Kept the most important secret in her whole life from her own daughter,” Morgana said like a voice from the back of one’s head.

“Please, give it to me, Melody,” Ariel held out her hand.

“No. Hand it to me,” Morgana said her voice getting louder, “It’s for your own good.”

“She’s lying!” Ariel shook her head.

“I’ve given you what you’ve always wanted,” argued Morgana, “She’s the one who lied to you all these years.”

“I was trying to protect you,” reasoned Ariel.

“By fencing me in? You knew how much I loved the sea,” Melody cried, “Why did you keep the truth from me?”

“Melody, listen to me. If there was one thing in my life that I could do over,” Ariel tried to explain.

“Too late, Mom,” Melody said defiantly and gave the trident to Morgana.

“Melody, no!” cried Ariel.

“All the power of the seven seas at my command!” Morgana said triumphantly, waving the trident around. It sparked like lightning in her hands as she laughed with delight.

“Hello! Can we get with the programme? It’s still a small world down here!” shouted Undertow, but Morgana was ignoring him for the moment and grabbed Ariel with her tentacles.

“Mom!” cried Melody as she tried to reach for her mother.

“Your mommy was only trying to protect you from moi!” Morgana taunted, “What she did, she did out of...love,” she laughed, “Little Melody’s been a very naughty girl...stealing from her own grandfather.”

“My... my grandfather?” Melody asked stunned.

“King Triton, ruler of Atlantica...commander in chief of all of the oceans!” thundered Morgana, “Or at least he was, until a certain little thief came along.”

“You tricked me,” cried Melody.

“You’ve got no one to blame but yourself,” Morgana’s eyes flashed.

“Cover me!” said Grace, her Keyblade drawn, rushing forward.

“Not so fast sweetheart!” Morgana shot a beam of light at Grace’s Transpoly Crystal, shattering it into a thousand pieces. Grace didn’t feel the transformation back; instead she felt the water like the piercing of a thousand daggers hitting her skin. The water stunned her eyes and what little air she had left in her lungs was starting to vanish.

“Grab her!” Jane shouted but Morgana already caught Grace within her tentacles.

“Now Keyblade Master, let me offer you an exchange,” Morgana smiled malevolently, “The girl for the Keyblade. I think that’s fair.”

“Don’t give it to her! She’s already got the trident!” said Lucy.
Sora held to his Keyblade, unsure of what to do. If he didn’t give Morgana the Keyblade, Grace would die. But Morgana got the Keyblade, who knew what she would do. Grace’s head slumped. Her skin was already pale. Her eyes had been closed for too long…

“Sora, just give her the Keyblade,” argued Jane, “You can’t let someone die like this. It’s the greatest sign of weakness your heart can show.”

Sora stared at her. Jane winked at him. “Oh,” he whispered, finally getting it. He turned back to Morgana, “Alright, I’ll hand you the Keyblade. Just let her go.”

Morgana held out one of her tentacles for the Keyblade, the other holding on to Grace. As soon as the Keyblade was within reach, the tentacle wrapped around the Keyblade, the other releasing Grace. Jane and Sora each grabbed an arm and started to swim toward the surface. Morgana snapped one of her tentacles, summoning a group of Heartless. “Go after them! Make sure they don’t reach the surface!” ordered Morgana.

“Oh, and before I forget,” Sora reached out for his Keyblade and it returned to his free hand. He sent a beam of light shooting through the Heartless, stunning Morgana on the hand. She frowned at him, deciding to deal with him later.

“You! How dare you hurt my friends!” Melody screamed at Morgana.

Morgana simply smiled at her, “Tell me, Melody. Is being a mermaid everything you dreamed? Was it worth it?”

That was all it took to make Melody hesitant for a moment. Morgana seized her chance and shot a web of golden light at Melody. It wrapped around her like a hand clutching it’s prize and threw Melody, Flounder, Donald, and Goofy into a small opening in the ice.

“Melody!” cried Ariel.

Morgana then used the trident to seal up the hole in a thick layer of ice. With a smile of supreme satisfaction on her face, she approached the wall of ice, and said to the entrapped Melody on the other side, “Oh, and by the way...your time as a mermaid has just about expired,” she started to laugh, heading towards the surface, “Catch you later. I’ve got bigger fish to fry!”

“Bigger fish!” persisted Undertow, far from giving up on the idea of turning back into a shark, following Morgana, “Now, there’s an idea!”

Lucy watched in horror as Morgana disappeared. She looked at the wall of ice, made a tough decision and took off after Morgana.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the shelf of ice, Melody, Flounder, Donald, and Goofy tried to break through the wall of ice. “We gotta keep trying,” encouraged Flounder.

“It’s no use. It’s too thick,” sighed Melody, starting to cry, “Oh, Flounder. I’ve ruined everything.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” said Donald, “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s Morgana’s.”

“Aww, you shouldn’t worry Melody,” reassured Goofy, “Everything will work out in the end. We can’t give up.”

Sora and Jane broke the surface outside of Morgana’s lair. Together they swam to the nearest ice burg and hoisted Grace on top. Jane though shivering uncontrollably, checked Grace’s breathing. “Is she alright?” asked Sora.

Jane shook her head. “She isn’t breathing. We need to give her CPR and fast.”

“What? You mean mouth-to-mouth?” asked Sora, pulling himself on top of the ice, still in fish form.

“Yes!” yelled Jane, looking appalled, “Here, I compress, you breath,” she ordered placing her hands on top of Grace’s chest, just below the breast bone.

“But-” Sora started to argue but Jane shot him a look that reminded him of his mother when she was in a fiery mood and closed his mouth. He breathed twice into Grace’s mouth, listened for breathing, and Jane started to compress on Grace’s chest. After 30 times of compressing, Sora breathed again into Grace’s mouth. She started to choke and cough up water, and slowly she opened her eyes, but started to shiver, her clothes still drenched wet with water.

“Here,” Jane held out her hand, with were glowing red hot, and started to dry Grace’s clothes, “This should help.”

Something rumbled from Morgana’s cave and they could see flashes of light spark up from the entrance. “Stay here,” said Sora, getting back into the water.

“Wait, Sora,” Grace called out to him. He stopped but didn’t look back at her. “I’m sorry.”

“Apologize later,” he said, giving her a small smile, “I got to get that trident back.”

Tip and Dash watched the scene from another ice berg and looked disgusted with themselves. “We’re guppies, man. Jellyfish,” moped Tip.

“The great Tip and Dash. Cowards-slash-losers,” sighed Dash.

“Well, at least we’re alive,” Tip pointed out.

“Yeah,” Dash rolled his eyes, “If you wanna call this living.”

“Okay, on the one hand we can live a long, healthy life...albeit as disgusting, pathetic, cowardly...” Tip stopped trying to find a good word.

“Worms,” Dash blurted out.

“That’s good,” agreed Tip, “Good. Cowardly worms. On the other hand, we could gather our courage, if we had any...” suggested Tip, looking a for a sign of encouragement from his partner, “and storm the fortress and be heroes.”

“Yeah, until they hack us up into fish bait,” Dash shot the idea down.

“You’re right,” nodded Tip looking crestfallen. The two of them sighed just as the cave rumbled some more.

Dash looked up, a worried look on his face. “Melody’s in there. She could be in big trouble,” he looked at Tip, “She may really need our help!”

The expression on Tip’s face was one that Dash had never seen before, one that was torn between excitement and fear. “So what’s it gonna be?” asked Tip, “A lifetime as worms...or two minutes as heroes?”

Morgana’s lair of ice suddenly exploded, with mountains of ice shooting into the skies, Morgana on top shrieking with laughter. “All hail Queen Morgana!” she rejoiced, waving the trident around.

“I’m hailin’! I’m hailin’!” Undertow jumped in and out of the water in a feeble attempt to get Morgana’s attention.

“Hold on, sweetie!” shouted a voice. Scuttle had returned successfully, bringing Eric ship behind him. “The cavalry is comin’!”

“Ariel!” cried Eric as he steered the ship towards Morgana’s ice mountain.

“Ah!” Morgana’s eyes flashed, “Prince Eric. Come to join the party? We’re having a blast!” she sent a bolt of lightning towards the ship. The crew cried as the bolt struck the mast but Eric held the ship steady. In spite of this, Morgana gave a shrill laugh. “Oh, how dear Ursula would have adored this.”

“Morgana!”

Morgana’s laughter broke when King Triton arrived with a small army of armored Mermen. “King Triton?” she asked baffled. She then saw the army he brought with him and rolled her eyes, “Oh, please! Is that the best you can do?”

“Release my daughter, surrender my granddaughter...” pleaded King Triton, “and I shall spare you.”

“Ooh! What you gonna do? Throw the crab at me?” laughed Morgana hysterically.

“Face it, Triton. You’re all washed up!” Undertow laughed with his boss. He stuck out his tongue until he heard Sebastian clicking his pinchers behind him. “Uh-oh!” Undertow squealed and swam off with Sebastian behind him.

“I’m gonna be teachin’ you some manners!” Sebastian said as he chased after Undertow.

“Now look at me,” Undertow jumped out of the water to grab Morgana’s attention, “I’m bait!” Morgana sighed and finally shot him with the trident. Undertow began to grow back into his shark form. “Oh, yeah!” he roared. Sebastian squeaked and hid in his shell. Undertow rejoiced again and celebrated by slamming into the ship.

The ship rocked, throwing a few of the sailors off but a handful including Eric managed to hold on. “Where’s Melody?” he asked, drawing his sword, “What have you done with her?”

“Oh, you want to join your daughter?” asked Morgana, “Well, I think that can be arranged,” she aimed the trident at the ship, almost striking Eric.

“Eric!” Ariel cried.

Morgana started to laugh hysterically when Scuttle grabbed her hair in his talons, “You are a very bad lady!” he said as he pulled tighter, allowing Ariel to break free from Morgana, “Very bad.” She finally managed to throw him off just when Ling, Mitch, Matti, and Riku jumped off the ship.

“So what’s the plan?” asked Matti as he drew his sword.

Several bolts of magic came flying their way and they jumped out of the way just in time. Riku summoned his Keyblade. “Get the trident, defeat Morgana, and don’t get hit,” he replied.

“Leave it to me!” grinned Ling, unfolding her magic fans. She gathered up water from the sea and froze it with her ice fan. She climbed on top of the ice and threw fire spell after fire spell at Morgana who blocked each one and countered with shooting beams of magic at Ling.

Meanwhile, Tip and Dash tried sneaking into Morgana’s lair underwater. “Goin’ somewhere, boys?”

Tip and Dash grabbed each other and turned around. There was Undertow with a grin that showed off most of his big, sharp teeth.

“Um, we’re just lookin’ for the little penguin’s room,” shivered Tip. Undertow’s grin got even wider. Tip held onto Dash tighter.

“Well, it’s been nice knowin’ ya,” said Dash and he suddenly rushed forward and started to wrestle with the shark, grabbing hold of his dorsal fin. Tip watched the scene with awe. “Now, that is one brave hunk of blubber,” he remarked.

“I’ll hold him!” Dash managed to say as he struggled to hold Undertow back, “You go find Melody! Hurry!”

Without hesitation, Tip took off deeper in the cave.

Inside the prison of ice Melody, Flounder, Donald, and Goofy were in, Donald was trying for the umpteenth time to use Fire magic to melt the ice, insisting it looked a little fainter where he was hitting and Goofy was trying to break through with his shield. Just as Melody’s hope was about to give up, she felt a pain in her abdomen. Her time as a Mermaid was up. “What’s... What’s happening?” she asked as magic started to swirl around her, undoing the spell, “Oh, no! Oh!” she held her breath. When the magic vanished she had her legs back. The icy water hit her like fire and she struggled to stay up. Donald and Goofy grabbed her arms to support her as dark shadows moved outside of the ice wall.

“I thought you were gonna hold him!” cried Tip, as Undertow dragged Dash into the cave.

Dash struggled to get a hold of the shark. “I am holding him!” shouted Dash. Undertow finally broke free and his yellow eyes found Tip.

“Nice fishy,” said Tip. Undertow growled, showing his teeth again. “Ooh. Big fishy,” grimaced Tip. Undertow roared and started speeding towards him.

“Hold on, Melody!” Flounder said as he rammed his head into the ice wall, “I’m gonna bust us outta here-” (thunk!) “if it’s the last thing I-” (thunk!) “-do.”

“Look out!” cried Donald as something dark came crashing into the ice wall. Dash pushed Tip out of the way just as Undertow was ready to chomp him up. He went slamming into the ice wall, breaking through the thick sheet.

Tip surveyed the destruction they had caused including the unconscious shark. He grinned, “Another plan perfectly executed.”
“Melody!” cried Dash as she too slipped into unconsciousness. With Donald and Goofy’s help they and Flounder made their way to the surface, where the battle with Morgana was getting worse.

A few moments earlier, Sora had rejoined the battle and was helping Ling and Mitch attack Morgana with magic but it was doing little damage. To make matters worse, Morgana had summoned up Heartless and that was keeping Matti and Riku busy. Sora managed to strike Morgana on the air. She frowned at him and rubbed her arm tenderly. “You are becoming an eyesore, Key Brat!” she thundered and taking the trident aimed for Sora. The magic of the trident wrapped around him and lifted him out of the water. “I’ll deal with you later! For now I have a score to settle with old Fishtale!” She threw him away from the battle towards the iceberg where Grace and Jane sat.

Sora hit the ice with a sickening crack and fell face down on the ice in front of Grace and Jane, who watched with mouths both open. “Turn him over! Turn him over!” cried Jane.

Grace gently pushed Sora over and saw that he taken a blow to the head. “Is he…?” Grace broke off, afraid to say anymore as Jane checked his pulse.

“Alive? Yeah, he didn’t change back into a human. If the spell still intact, that’s a good sign. Oooh…” Jane studied his cut on his head and made a face, “He’ll have scar, if he’s lucky. Dad’s going to kill me…”

“What happened?” Lucy had joined them and was getting out of the water. She shivered but it was hard to say if it was from the cold or looking at Sora. She sat down and examined his head with Jane. “What’s that white stuff?” she asked.

“I’m hoping it’s muscle,” explained Jane, “But it could be cartilage.”

Lucy made a face but started to help clean the wound. Grace meanwhile turned back to the battle.

Morgana was raising the trident triumphantly, “Fools! I have the trident now. And all the creatures of the sea are in my power! I’m the queen of the sea...” she thundered, “and you will bow down before me!”

Energy rained from the trident and struck all the Merfolk and sea creatures, forcing them to bow down to Morgana. Even Donald and Goofy were forced to bow. “Oh, this can’t be good for the lower back!” whined Dash.

Grace gripped her fist. “We got to stop her,” she said and looked at the Keyblade lying just out of Sora’s reach, still there, still waiting to be raised.

“Then you must go,” Jane stood up, her piercing blue eyes staring into Grace, “You are the Keyblade Master’s Apprentice. When the Keyblade cannot reach it’s Master when it’s needed most, it will beckon to his Second. It is the Keyblade’s will, the will of Ultima. It is your destiny until the Darkness is put in its place.”

Grace picked up the Keyblade but still looked a little uncertain. “I can’t do this alone. I’m going to need some help,” she said.

Jane nodded and closed her eyes. She held her hands together as if she was praying. “Beautiful goddess of winter, guardian of Macalania! I summon thee to my calling! Benevolent priestess of ice, Shiva!” She kneeled down on the ice and as she did, giant pieces of ice crashed behind, creating a wall of ice. Something sparkled down from the heavens and landed behind the wall of ice. The ice flashed as if a sunbeam had went through it. A beautiful woman stood behind the ice, carrying with her the essence of everything that was winter. Her skin was an icy blue, and her blue hair was tied behind her in several doo rags. She snapped her fingers and the wall of ice shattered. The blue and green scarf she had worn around her neck flew off and landed in Jane’s hand.

“Please, help my friend,” she told the aeon.

The aeon nodded and stepped towards Grace, just when a swarm of Heartless appeared. Grace raised her Keyblade and Jane raised her dagger as Lucy put more pressure on Sora’s head. One of the Heartless jumped and was on top of Grace. She lifted the Keyblade above her head just when a gunshot roared out. Grace looked at Lucy, who was still holding the make shift gaze against Sora’s head, looking just as surprised as she was.

Balthier and Fran had arrived, along with Joey, Clarise, Anemone, and Kairi who were dragging the First-Aid kit. Kairi gave a muffled cry when she saw Sora, dropping her side of the First-Aid kit on Joey’s foot. When Balthier and Fran finished off the last of the Heartless, Balthier turned to Grace. “You go on ahead,” he told her, “We have to undo Donald’s transformation spell before we can start closing up Sora’s wound.”

“Grace,” Jane called to her, “Only descendants of King Triton can hold the trident with the exception of Morgana. Melody is the only one who can really get it back right now.”

Grace nodded and started to go off when Kairi called her name. She turned around and Kairi tossed Grace her own Keyblade. “You need it more. We’ll take care of Sora. Just help Riku and the others.”

“Thanks,” said Grace and turned to the aeon, Shiva, “Let’s go.”

Melody finally came to just as Morgana was began her mocking speech on her new rule over all creatures of the sea. “Pathetic fools!” Morgana laughed triumphantly, raising the trident higher above her, her influence upon all fishfolk in her presence, “Watch and see how utterly powerful I can be!”

“Mom!” Melody cried as she saw Ariel being forced against her will to bow to Morgana.

“Melody!” Grace hissed, and she turned around.

“Grace! I’m so sorry!” Melody hugged Grace, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Grace replied, “Listen, we need to get that trident back.” She looked up and saw Ling, Mitch, Riku, and Matti taking cover in a crevasse in the ice. She, Melody, and the aeon sneaked over while Morgana was preoccupied for finally getting her revenge on King Triton.

“The end begins for all of you with fins!” roared Morgana, taking the trident and pointing its power on King Triton. “That’s it, Triton. Bow down!” she said with ecstasy, “Bow down before me!”

“No, Your Majesty!” pleaded Sebastian as he watched in horror as King Triton’s resistance to the power of the trident was succumbing, “You mustn’t!”

“I’m sorry, Sebastian,” King Triton said as he was forced to submit and bow, “I have no choice.”

“It’s crazy,” said Matti when Grace told them the plan.

“Well enough to work,” remarked Riku.

“You got a better plan them?” Mitch asked Matti.

“And I’ll agree to this, why?” Matti turned back to Grace.

“Because it’s 100% you,” replied Grace.

Matti thought about it then said, “Fair enough.”

“Then let’s go,” said Ling, and she, Grace, Mitch, and Melody took off, while Matti and Riku went in the other direction.

“Oh! Wishes do come true,” Morgana grinned, looking down at what was to be the start of her new kingdom. She looked to the dark skies and shouted, “See that, Ma? Who’s your favorite now?” she laughed and turned back down to King Triton, raising the trident for the final blow, “It’s over, Triton! I sentence you to oblivion!”

“Hey Ugly! Yeah, you tentacle lady!” Matti shouted at the top his lungs down on the ice. Morgana lowered the trident and glared at him. “You’re so ugly, not even a Heartless would go out with you!”

“That’s it?” Riku asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Shh!” Matti hissed, “Wait for it, wait for it…”

“How dare you insult me, you filthy human?!” Morgana roared, “I’m gonna turn you into sushi!” she aimed the trident and Matti and Riku ran for cover.

“See? It worked!” laughed Matti, “Just keep those shields up.”

Meanwhile, behind the mountain of ice, Ling pulled a large stream of water out of the ocean with her water fan and directed it up towards the top of the ice. The aeon froze the water with her magic and Grace and Melody climbed on top, while Mitch was on look out. They could hear more of Matti’s insults. “When was the last time you got some sunlight, cause it looks like you’re more of a vampire than a witch!”

Morgana roared and shot more bolts toward Matti, Riku blocking them with his shields. Melody was closer to the top and as she reached the peak, she slipped on the ice. Morgana heard her and saw Melody climbing on to the highest level with her. “You!” her eyes flashed. She raised her tentacles to grab Melody but Grace jumped on top the ice and blocked Morgana’s tentacles from reaching her. Even with two Keyblades it was a struggle to hold Morgana off. The aeon jumped up on the ice to help, but Morgana shot it down effortlessly, scattering the pyreflies everywhere. Finally, Grace knocked the trident out of Morgana’s hands and Melody grabbed it.

“Just what do you think you’re going to do...with that?” hissed Morgana.

“Stay back!” Melody warned, pointing the trident at Morgana on the bottom side.

“Wrong end, sweetheart,” Morgana managed a laugh, but to this Melody grinned.

Raising the trident above her like a javelin, she turned down to King Triton below. “Grandfather? I think this belongs to you,” and she threw the trident down into King Triton’s hands.

“No!” Morgana shrieked, pushing both Grace and Melody off the ice mountain.

Something thick caught Grace around her waist and she was pulled up in the air. It was a thick, green vine and there was the smell of flowers, overpowering the bitter coldness in the air. Grace turned around and saw Marluxia, smiling, standing on a large vine plant cover in flowers, a red rose in his hands. When he lowered her to the ground, she drew her Keyblades and he started to chuckle.

“Oh please,” he laughed, “You honestly think you can take me in your condition. It’s a wonder you can barely stand.”

Grace continued to glare at him, just as there was a flash of light from the mountain of ice and the mountain crumbled to pieces, but she took little notice. “I once chased a rose who had eyes like thorns, just like the look you’re giving me now. Her name was Teresa I believe. But when I found out she had fallen in love with someone else, I, like the gentleman that I am (or rather, was), gave up the chase. But one did not. She was his blue rose, and although he wanted her, he could not have her. Be careful the same man’s sight does not fall on you.”

“I’m glad you care,” said Grace, not lowering the Keyblades.

“Melody? Melody!”

“Where’d she go? She was here a minute ago.”

“Wait a sec’! You lost her?!”

Tip and Dash’s shouts echoed from the other side of the ice. Grace looked away from Marluxia for a second and noticed a familiar ominous presence.

“Do you feel her? If you hurry, you may catch her before she takes off with the girl,” remarked Marluxia.

Grace struggled with the decision. She lowered her Keyblades and said to Marluxia, “I’ll deal with you later.”

Marluxia continued to smile at her and disappeared into the darkness just as Grace took off tracking the presence.

Melody came to once again but this time she was being carried over the shoulder by someone she didn’t recognized. She struggled to break free but the grip was firm. “Quiet little brat!” hissed a voice, a girl’s voice that sounded like a viper.

“Xine!” Grace shouted.

Xine turned around with Melody still on her and drew a set of needles in her free hand. She fired at Grace but she blocked them with Sora’s Keyblade. They fought back and forth, Melody screaming with fear every time Xine made an unexpected move. Finally Grace knocked something off of Xine, something black. Xine froze when she saw the device drop.

“Xine? Xine! Do you copy?! Repeat: the target is not a good candidate. Repeat: the target is not a good candidate. Drop target and leave immediately! Drop target and leave!” a voice crackled from the device.

A second later, Xine’s foot smashed the com-link and she disappeared into the darkness, leaving Melody behind. “Are you okay?” Grace asked.
She nodded. “Morgana’s gone. I saw…Grandfather seal her up in ice and send her into the sea just before I fell,” Melody looked up at Grace, “I guess the two of us got a lot of explaining to do.”

“And then some,” Grace managed a smile. She felt Sora’s Keyblade quiver in her hand and disappear, its job done.

It was a short distance back on the ice where the majority of the battle took place. Ariel and Eric were together and looked up when Grace brought Melody back. “Mom! Dad!” Melody cried as she embraced her parents.

“Oh, Melody, I was so afraid we’d lost you,” said Eric as he hugged her.

“I’m sorry, Mother,” Melody said as she reached her mother’s arms.

“Oh, no, sweetie,” Ariel shook her head, “We’re sorry. We should have told you the truth.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” Melody said apologetically, “I just hoped I’d be a better mermaid than a girl.”

“Oh, Melody, sweetie, it doesn’t matter if you have fins or feet,” explained Ariel, “We love you for who you are on the inside: our very brave little girl.”

“Just like your mother,” added King Triton as he approached the family.

“Oh, Grandfather!” Melody ran up and embraced her grandfather.

“Melody, I don’t blame you for wanting to join us merfolk. And because you’re my granddaughter...I’m giving you a most precious gift: a choice. You can come to Atlantica with me...or you can return to your home on land. It’s up to you,” he offered. Melody looked at her parents who were just as shocked as she was.

Melody was quiet for a moment, thinking really hard, then said, “I have a better idea.” She started to whisper in King Triton’s ear.

Grace watched the scene, thinking of her parents, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was Balthier. “Come on,” he put his hand on her shoulder and lead her over to the others, who were still looking over Sora.

“Am I in trouble?” she asked tentatively.

“That depends, after you answer a few questions,” he explained.

“Is he okay?” Grace asked when they reached Sora. There was a large bandage over his forehead.
“He’s fine,” Kairi reassured her, “A good night’s sleep should do him well.”

“Lucy said you ran into Marluxia,” said Balthier.

“Marluxia?!” Goofy and Donald both jumped in surprised.

Grace nodded and explained the conversation she had with Marluxia. She then told her what had happened with Xine and Melody.

“Why would Xine go after Melody?” asked Matti.

“No, why would the Commander go after Melody?” Joey corrected.

“There have been recent reports of children going missing whose parents hold positions in the Galactic Federation,” explained Fran, “Perhaps the Commander is using them for ransom in exchange for something else.”

“But the radio said Melody wasn’t qualified. She had her finger pricked….” Grace said thoughtfully, “Xine tested her blood! But for what?”

“We’ll figure it out once we get back to the ship,” said Balthier, “We need to contact the Federation on what we found, once we get rid of the time storm. Can you do that?” He turned to Jane.

“If my Summoner’s stuff was salvaged I can,” replied Jane.

“Wait a second?” asked Joey, eyeing Jane carefully, “You’re Princess Jane?”

“Hold on!” Matti was now looking at her. It took a few seconds but then he said, “You are Princess Jane!”

“Took you long enough,” Jane grinned sheepishly.

“So did anyone else know she was the Princess?” asked Matti.

Everyone except Joey, Donald, and Goofy raised their hand. “That’s good. Now I don’t feel like a complete idiot.”

“You are an idiot,” remarked Mitch.

“But we still love you,” smiled Ling, “Just like Sora.”

There was a snore from the unconscious Sora and everyone started to laugh, including Matti. “Let’s get him back to the ship, before-”

“ACHOO!” Grace sneezed.
“-someone gets sick,” muttered Balthier.

“That’s it,” said Anemone folding her arms, “You are staying fifty feet away from me.”

“Oh don’t worry,” smirked Grace, “You’ll get sick soon enough.”
************************************************************************
THE PALACE

“You ready?” Melody asked her mother.

Ariel nodded. “You?”

“Yeah,” said Melody. They stood on a large rock outside of the palace wall, Ariel back in her human form, with the trident held in both their hands. They aimed the trident at the wall and in a spark of magic, the wall vanished, opening up the palace ground back into the sea.

“Now we can all be together!” smiled Melody and she was pulled into a hug with her mother. There was a large applause from both the palace and the sea as the two worlds were finally reunited.

“My turn now,” said Jane, stepping out into the water in her summoner’s robes, her long white hair flowing down her back and her staff in her hand. She walked across the water as if she was floating over it, the only sign she was even stepping on it was the small ripples that moved gently across the water. The water grew calm and the waves ceased, the ocean becoming as tranquil as a lake. She waved her staff across the water and everything suddenly became still.

As Jane twirled her staff around, summoning together condensed magical energy, Sora and Grace watched from the beach. Grace gave a small shuttered as Jane danced across the water, thinking about what could have happened if Sora and Jane didn’t pull her out of the water in time.

“Lucy said you were very irritable in the water, that you at first didn’t agree with going in the water to help Melody,” said Sora.

Grace was quiet for a moment then said, “Do you know what my greatest fear is?”

Sora shook his head.

“Before I starting having dreams about the Chasers, sometimes I would dream about drowning. That was and maybe still is my greatest fear. I would wake up out of breath sometimes because my body would stop breathing. I’m okay in the pool but anything deeper than six feet…” she shivered, then suddenly blushed, “I never told anyone that. Not even Tai.” She waited for Sora to reply. When he didn’t reply, she said hastily, “You think it’s funny, don’t you? Go on, laugh, you crazy do it all show boy…”

“I’m not laughing,” he replied. She noticed the change in his voice and looked up at him.

“I’m sorry,” Roxas apologized, “We should have found you sooner.”

“It’s okay,” said Grace quickly looking away from him.

“Hey,” he crawled around so that he was in front of her, “Next time, I’ll go with you. I promise. But if you ask me,” he leaned his arms on her knees, “You look better with feet.”

Grace kicked him softly in the face, avoiding his bandage, but they were both grinning. They stopped when they saw orbs of light shot out from the water and Jane directed them with her staff into the sky. The clouds departed and the sky opened up. A few seconds later, a meteor shower streamed down the skies. Jane walked back to the shore, pleased with herself. “That should do it,” she said, “The time storm should be dispersed by now.”

“All right!” cheered Sora, who had changed back. He steadied himself as he almost toppled over, still a little woozy from the blow to his head.

“What now?” asked Grace.

“We need to get back to the Galactic Federation to report what happened here,” replied Jane, “The Knights will be very interested in the time storm. Times storms are rarities on their own but something of this scale and magnitude isn’t natural.”

“The Gummi ship is out of commission too,” added Sora, “Do you think we can get it fixed in the Flying City?”

“Don’t worry about,” grinned Jane, “I’ll get the best ship builders in the Flying City to work on it.”

Melody ran up to them and asked, “Are you guys leaving now?”

“Sorry, but we have to go,” replied Grace, “But things should be easier with your Mom now, right?”

Melody smiled. “Oh yeah, definitely.”

“Looks like your boyfriend’s back,” smirked Jane.

“My boyfriend?” Melody asked, looking across the water. The Merman was back with his friends. He waved to Melody and she shyly waved back.

“Have fun,” grinned Grace.

Melody smiled again, only this time it was at it’s largest. Things were going to be better, on Atlantica at least.
************************************************************************
“You will not fail me again, do you understand? DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!” roared the Commander.

Xine nodded frantically, fighting the urge to sob. The Commander relinquished his grip from her and pulled the Twilit blade away from her throat. The Commander then straightened his jacket and turned to David. “She will need a dosage in fifteen minutes. Then, when you are finished, you are both to come straight to the operations room. We will discuss our plan for infiltrating the ‘Sun Dance’.”

“Sir, do you think it’s wise to make ourselves public so soon?” David asked.

The Commander’s eyes flashed. “Are questioning me, Mr. David?”

“Nothing like that, I assure you My Lord,” David said hastily, “I would just like to know your motives into this operation.”

“The bureaucrats need to be intimidated. If this operation does not get them to give into our demands, we will wipe them out,” explained the Commander, “As the expression goes, ‘if you aren’t with us, you are against us.’”

*Secret boss time! Um, so I have no idea what I have posted for clues (it won't let me go back and see). But um... clue four (?) is:

In the game from which the character is from, there was the underlying concept of what kind of power memories hold, but unlike the spirtual kind of power, there was more focus on the memories being stored in the genetic make up, DNA.

PS: I'm glad Obama won and all, but having his face on every page is a bit ridiculious.
 
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