Over Hollow Bastion, a gummi ship sways and turns as it makes its approach, but there seems to be a lack of control since it seems to be going all over the place.

Inside the gummi ship, Mario yells, "Darn it! How do you land this thing? Riku and I jumped from the gummi ship when we arrived in Alagaesia, but how do you land?" Mario then begins pressing random buttons, his inexperience showing.

Before Mariya can answer, the gummi ship crashes into the Dark Depths.

After a minute Mariya pulls herself out of the gummi ship and sighs. "Oh Great! You landed us in the Heartless Zone!"

---

Erik runs into Merlins and gives him the roses. He then sits by Riana. "Mariya should be back soon." He whispers before kissing her.

Mario pulls himself out as well, coughing a little as he gets out. "Eh, no problem. The town's not too far away. We should be able to get there in no time."

"Yea, but theres a problem. A years ago they fixed up the wall and the only way to open it is on the other side IN town!"

"Oh..." Mario mutters, pondering this for a moment. "...can't we just fix the gummi ship and fly out?"

Just then the gummi ship creaks and falls over the edge, crshing before villans vale. "That's a negative. Lets just get to the Crystal Fissure, we'll be safe there to make a plan."

Mario gives a nod. "How far away is it?" he asks, taking a quick look around to look for Heartless.

"Just past the Great Maw." Mariya says before she turns away from villans vale. To the right of the huge rocks, is what looks like a memorial- A bunch of stone keyblades in differnt shapes stuck in a cement 'ground'-, and in the distance the Castle in which Mariya lives can be seen. Mariya goes over to it and puts her hand on it. She closes her eyes. "Rest in peace, Azull and Deanixous Striker." She says before opening her eyes and going threw the pass.

Mario is silent before he walks after Mariya. "Mariya, a question. You said that this was a Heartless zone, so there is a chance that Heartless might attack us. If that is the case, then perhaps we should try a tactic that will get them to leave us alone."

Mariya raises her hand and looks around the Great Maw. "Now's not the time." She whispers. She grabs Mario and runs across the maw and into the Crystal fissure where she composes herself and sits down and leans on a glittering crystal. "Ok, you were saying?" She asks.

Mario look out of the fissure, then returns his glance to Mariya. "Alright, here's what I'm thinking. There is likely to be Heartless from here to the wall, considering that they will want to get as close to the hearts of others as possible. In other words, the closer we get to the wall, the more Heartless there will be. Now, we don't know how many Heartless there will be or if we will even manage to overpower them all. Thus, we need a way to get past them without them fighting us. In other words, we need to deceive them."

Mariya nods. "So your going to go Heartless and try to fool them your a higher-ranking Heartless?"

"That's the idea," Mario says. "Not the first time that I've used that trump. Last time I played it was when you were in the caves at the Isle d'Murata and there were some Heartless searching for you. As for you, I might have to lead you along as if you were a prisoner, being taken to the border for an exchange or to be executed before your father or something of equal insult. Now, the question is 'will it work?'."

"If it does we have a problem. There's a secret lock somewhere hidden in the wall. Ever in I find it Eternity for some reason isn't able to unlock or lock anything, and only a member of the royal family can get the lock open." Mariya says.

Mario sighs as he thinks. "Well then, we need to get someone on the other side to unlock the passage, most likely your father..." Mario is silent before he is shrouded in a cloud of darkness that parts to reveal him in his Heartless form. "It seems we're going to have to make the fake execution seem very, very real."

"Your not going to be executed!" Mariya shouts. She calms herself before taking a deep breath. She stands and tries to summon Dragon Heart, but Eternity appears. She swings it and it goes into the wall. She concentrates harder now and eternity only swings into her hand. She sighs and crashes to the floor.

"Who says I'm going to be executed?" Mario asks. "I'm saying that we're going to have to pretend that I'm going to 'execute' you at the wall. That would definitely get your father's attention and give us a pass through those Heartless."

"There has to be some other way." Mariya says. "We could det off the alarm..."

Mario looks at Mariya. "Alarm? What alarm?"

"If a heartless ever got past the wall, a silent alarm goes off, informs all the Royal Knights and My father." Mariya says with a smile. "And I believe I got the perfect heartless for the job."

"And leave you to fend off any Heartless that attack," Mario states, silent before sighing. "Not unless we can reach the wall undetected by the Heartless."

"Riku clone." Mariya states before standing up. She summons Eternity and begins walking out/

Mario is silent before sighing. "Alright, but let's at least try to reach the wall without drawing any attention to ourselves. Any ideas for that?"

"I'm your prisoner." Mariya says, smiling.

"Right," Mario says as he walks over to Mariya. "Alright, first off, put your Keyblade away. You'll have to look defenseless for this to work. Second, you have to make this convincing. If you're too calm, the Heartless will definitely be smart enough to figure out that something is up."

Mariya nods and suddenly falls over, her keyblade disapearing. She starts panting and holds her stomach. "Please stop!" SHe says before she returns normal. "Good enough?"

"PErfect," Mario says as he grasps Mariya by her arms, hoisting her to her feet and holding her arms behind her back. "I'm going to need some rope, though. Can't have a good prisoner unless they're bound."

Nariya sighs and puls her arms free and searches her pockets. She soom finds a long black ribbon. "I'm afraid that's all I got." Mariya says.

Mario sighs as he takes the ribbon. "Well, let's hope they don't ask why you're bound with a ribbon," Mario states as he ties Mariya's hands together behind her back. He then puts one end in each of her hands. "Alright, I tied this with a double slip knot. Pulling either end of the ribbon will break the knot, so if the plan falls out, you can quickly escape from your bonds to fight back." He now looks out of the crevice, looking toward the wall before returning his attention to Mariya. "Ready?"

Mariya nods and makes herself start crying and waits for Mario to make her move forward.

Seeing his cue, Mario begins forcing Mariya forward while grasping her by her arms. He tries his best not to simply rush toward the wall but nevertheless keeps an eye on the Heartless.

As they near the castle gates. A single Heartless blocks Marios path, a Neoshadow that seems familiar. It seems to be trying to speak to Mario. Mariya winces as in pain and looks frightened.

Mario glares at the Neoshadow and wiggles his antennae as he communicates. "I am a general of the Heartless army, and I was ordered to take the princess to the border where I am to then ordered to execute her in front of her father. I believe you will agree with me that this will be a major step in our revenge against the Keyblade Master."

"Good good." The Neoshadow says, before going to slash Mariya. Mariya turns away and closes her eyes. "You have her very scared."

"Please don't hurt me." Mariya whispers.

"Yes, I'm sure anyone would be scared when they are helpless to save their lives, and so will the king once he finds out how easily we can destroy those that he holds dear to him," Mario states with a small chuckle. "Now, if you excuse me, I am expected to have her killed within the hour. I have other assignments beyond this one, after all."

The Neoshadow nods, but stops him. "Wait, what's that around your neck?" It asks, then looks closer.

"Oh, this?" Mario asks, lifting the crest up so it's easier to see. He had not realized that he was still wearing the crest, but he quickly comes up with a reply. "Yeah, I killed some guy on another world and took this as a battle trophy. He was hard to beat, mind you, but still, it's not every day you have so much fun and satisfaction with killing someone."

"Wait a moment, don't I know you?" The Neoshadow asks.

---

Sora, meanwhile is scanning the Postern. Something doesn't feel right to him. He coninutes down twords the Bailey.

"Hmmm..." Mario is silent as he thinks. Then he snaps his fingers. "Ah yes, I recognize you. You were assigned to Port Royal earlier , around the time I was sent there to take control of the search for the princess. Then something came up and I was called back here for another assignment."

The Neoshadow nods, and moves aside.

Mariya starts crying again, and winces as if she were hurt. "Please......don't kill my father..."

Mario gives a small chuckle as he continues pushing Mariya forward. "Oh, you don't have to worry about him...yet." He then chuckles again.

Mariya winces as Mario pushes him forward twords the wall. She stops near the wall and tries to struggle free. The Neoshadow slashes her waist and Mariya falls to her knees.

"That's enough," Mario tells the Neoshadow. "We don't want her to die before her father has a chance to come and witness the execution." he now looks at the wall, staring up at it as he ponders what to do. "Now...how to get their attention..."

Suddenly Mariya gets free and destorys the Neoshadow. "Sorry, was really getting uncomfortable. He was getting very suspious after the killing excuse." Mariya says. She looks at the wall, and how high it is until the ledge. "Do you think you can climb that?"

"Maybe, but not without probably attracting the curiosity of keen-eyed Heartless," Mario states. "But, I don't see any other options." He jumps onto the wall, grasping it as well as he can, and begins to climb.

Mariya summons Eternity and keeps an eye out for Heartless.

---

Erik is holding RIana's hand when he see's his necklace flash. "Trouble." He whispers. "Riana stay here." He says before running out.

Sora's royal symbol-on a necklace- shimmers strangely and runs to the Bailey's wall as fast as he can.

Mario soon reaches the top, and as he puts himself up, he takes a moment to catch his breath before he climbs over the side. He stands a second later and peers over the side. "Alright, I'm going to look for your father," he yells down to Mariya. He then turns and walks, hoping to set off the alarm.

Sora arrives just then and relaxes slightly seein Mario. Then he panicks. "Where's Mariya?" He asks, tence.

Erik soon arrives and skips to a stop behind Sora. "What have you done with the princess?" He asks acusingly.

"Erik, that's enough." Sora says.

"She's at the foot of the wall," Mario says as he transforms back into his human form inside a cloud of shadows. "She's safe for now, but with the Heartless lurking around, it won't be for long. You need to open the secret door."

Sora nods and goes over to a blue metal box and opens the door to it. He puts his hand on something and the wall slowly moves.

Once the wall is big enough for Mariya to fit threw, she bolts into the Baily. Just then the wall rumbles again and rapidly shuts. Once it's closed Sora shuts the door to the box and hugs Mariya. "What were you doing over there?" He asks.

"To put it simply Mario owes me a neww gummi ship." Mariya says with a smile.

Mario sheepishly rubs the back of his head. "Yeah...I saw how Riku did it and kinda thought that I could pilot a gummi ship as well...long story short, I didn't know how to land..."

"Are you alright?" Sora asks, looking at Mariya. He see's the cut and heals it. He then hugs her tight. "I was so worried."

"Dad, I'm sixteen." Mariya complains.

"Come on, you must be tired after that mission." Sora says.

"Actually your higness, Merlin wants to see Mariya...he wouldn't see why." Erik says.

"Alright, you two go to the castle, I'll go see what Merlin wants with Erik." Mariya says before heading to Merlin's house.

Mario gives a small nod and then sighs as he heads for the castle. "Oy...today's been one thing after another..."

"Tell me about it, two more worlds showed up." Sora says, walking back to the castle. He then notices Mario has a royal knight necklace. "She made you a knight." He mumbles.

Mario takes a moment to hold the necklace. "Yeah, she did...so what are these two new worlds?"

"Merlin isn't sure yet. All he knows is that they are peaceful. Speaking of worlds, how was the one you and Mariya checked out?" Sora asks as they reach the postern.

"Oh, Alagaesia?" Mario asks. "Well, it was an interesting world, to be brief. It kinda had a medieval setting and had their own little world of magic. However, something to be noted is that our magic does not work on the inhabitants of the world, no matter if it's defensive or offensive magic. Now, as for what happened while we were there, that is a story that Mariya might have to tell you since there was a time where I was separated from the others while holding off a group of enemies."

Sora nods. "Sounds very interesting." He says. When they get to Ansems study Sora pulls off his necklace-which has the royal igsignia on it- and moves a huge painting of Ansem the wise to reveal a scanner next to a pair of doors. He puts the igsignia up to the scanner.

"Welcome Back King Sora." A male voice says. "Going up?"

"As always Tron." Sora says before the doors open.

"Who's your friend?" Tron asks.

"This is Mario, he's new to the Royal Knights, do you want to register him in?" Sora ask.

"Yes sir." Tron says. "Mario just put your royal Knight Symbol up to the scanner."

Mario blinks at first, a bit surprised by this, but he nods before he removes the symbol from his neck, holding it to the scanner.

The scanner scans the symbol and something beeps. "Welcome Mario." Tron finally says. "You may now board the elevator."

Sora gets on the elevator and holds the door for Mario.

Mario boards the elevator, putting the symbol back around his neck.

The door shuts and the elevator begins to go up. "Tron is the master of the computer system that runs the security system for Radiant Garden. He makes sure no un-authorized personel gets into the castle threw ansem's lab." Sora explains.

"I see..." Mario states as he looks around the elevator. "I was a bit curious about that."

(Your a little behind Riku)

Sora laughs. "Your not the first. Mariya thought Tron was some kind of ghost when she was little."

Soon enough the elevator comes into the entrance hall of the castle. Sora steps out and heads to the library.

(sorry bout that had a few problem with my laptop)

Riku walks into the garden and sits under a tree. he lays back on the grass and starts to think about his past and the keyblade wars

Mario silently steps out, following Sora. "So, your Highness," Mario says, sounding unsure about whether the formalities are necessary, "may I ask what it is that you wish for me to do at this time?"

Riku hops up and walk inside the palace whistling.He walks into the library and grabs a book on the first keyblade war.

Sora laughs a bit. "Just call me King Sora, Mario. Ease up for one, you don't have to be so formal. For second, since your new to the Knights," Sora pauses as he enters the library and scans the shelves He pulls out a thin book. On the cover was the Royal Knight symbol. " you might want to look over the rules. When your done, feel free to do any research you like. Or if you want you can go exploring the known worlds, but make sure Riku, Mariya or me know that your going and where."

"You rang?" Mariya asks, coming from above them. She jumps down from the upper level and lands before her father.

Sora sighs. "I'm still waiting to say 'I told you so.'"

"It'll be a long wait dad." Mariya says with a shrug.

Mario takes the book, looking at the cover before shifting his glance to Mariya. "Oh, Mariya, what did Merlin what? Is it about the new worlds?"

"Not really, he was curious about Alageasia. Which by the way a full report is on your desk about it Dad." Mariya says with a smile.

Sora sighs and leaves the library.

"Me: 5 Sora: 0."Mariya mutters.

Mario gives a small chuckle as he opens the book to read it. He sits down in a chair at the nearby table, taking his time as he reads.

Riku looks up from his book"well your dad did do something right that you could count to his score Mariya" he chuckles alittle to himself

"Who said it was doing something right? I'm counting on how many times I've annoyed him." Mariya says as she goes to a bookshelf. SHe pulls off a book and sits at the same table as Mario and opens up the book to a page and begins reading.

Mario continues to read, absorbing the material a little at a time. It is a bit obvious, however, that he is starting to get a little bored. Either reading was never his fancy or he was more of an 'adventure novel' person.

Riku looks down at his book"hmmmm remind him of that paupu friut I gave him when we were younger, that should work"

Mariya laughs. "Already did that one, sorry." She says with a laugh. She then looks at Mario. "All you really need to know about being a Royal Knight is no meddling really. Other then that the rules are pretty basic and obvious. So all you really have to read about is about the charms that are on your symbol."

Mario gives a small shrug as he flips through a few pages. "Well, it might not hurt to look through it," he states.

Mariya sighs. "Well when your done with that I'll be on the sparring grounds." Mariya says before leaving the library.

Mario continues to read, and eventually, he finishes the book. "Finally..." Mario says as he rubs his forehead. "Gosh...if I wasn't a speed reader..."

Mariya is sitting in the sparring yard, watching the other knights spar with each other. No one seems to notice her there, and Mariya sighs, getting bored and wanting to Spar.

After a moment, Mario sets the book back on the shelf and goes outside, a bit bored now. He soon reaches the sparring ground and observes everything silently.

Riku puts the book on the shelf walking after Mario and tapping him on the shoulder" come on kid lets see if you can beat the princess" he says with a smirk and walks up to Mariya and sits next to her.

Mariya just smiles at Riku when he sis by her and continues to watch the other knights. She see's Mario and goes over to him. "Got any questions?" She asks.

Riku laughs to himself and starts to walk towards the gummi hanger" hey Mariya if your dad asks tell him I went to the gummi hanger, ok?"

"Oh your not gonna spar?" Mariya asks, sounding disapointed. "I'll tell him."

Riku looks at her"fine I'll spar with you just a fe'w rounds,plus i still remember the score from last time 9:me 7:you

"That's gonna change." Mariya says as she skips over to a sparring circle. She summons eternity and takes a defensive position.

Riku summons way to dawn"first to lose thier weapon loses"he walks into the circle

Mariya nods. She attacks Riku and aims for his wrist.

riku parries and sweaps her feet"to sudden"

Mariya attacks again, sweeping behind Riku and goes for his head.

Riku blocks and counters with a quick leg sweep

Mariya dodges and Eternity disapears. "Huh?" Mariya asks herself. She tries to summon it again, but nothing happens. "Odd. That's never happened before. This doesn't count to your score Riku..." She trails off, trying to summon Dragon Heart.

"ok" Riku nods and he holds out Way to Dawn "doesn't look like it'll disappear" he puts it down "lets go see Merlin"

Mario, who was watching the entire time, applauds a little as he smiles. "Pretty good up until the Keyblade disappeared," he states.

Mariya sighs. She exits the sparring grounds and goes threw the library to the entrance Hall, where Marlin is waiting. "Merlin.."

"I'm as confused as you are princess, I looked threw my books and I dound nothing on the matter." Merlin states, befire seeming to think. "Where did you get that keyblade?"

Mariya bites her lip, but goes up to Merlin and whispers something in his ear. "They said it's called Eternity."

Mario quietly follows Mariya, stopping nearby when he sees her with Merlin. He then stands there, giving Mariya time to talk with Merlin.

Merlin looks like he's thinking again. "Yes well I'll look into this further. Give this to your father for me." Merlin says, handing Mariya a piece of Paper.

"I will, thank you Merlin." Mariya says, smiling. She then turns and goes threw the doors up the stairs and heads up to her father's study.

Mario is silent as he watches Mariya walk away before he looks toward Merlin. "So you must be Merlin. Can't say that I know much about you."

"Well in short I'm a wizard." Merlin explains.

---

Mariya knocks on her father's study's door and waits.

"Come in." comes Sora's voice.

Mariya steps inside and finds her father busy at work. She puts the paper on the desk. "From Merlin." She says, before going to leave.

"Mariya...are you alright?" Sora asks. "You look very pail."

"I'm fine dad." Mariya says before leaving. She felt fine, but some food couldn't hurt. She goes to the lift stop and gets on the lift that goes to the kitchen.

"I see," Mario says. "Well, from what I was told, you also discovered two new worlds. You wouldn't happen to have more details about those worlds, would you?"

Merlin laughs a bit. "Infact I do, that's what I sent up to Sora." Merlin says.

"I see," Mario says. "Well then, perhaps you could tell me a bit about those new worlds then."

Before Merlin can say anything, a scream sounds from the kitchen. It sounds like Mariya.

"Oh my..." Merlin says.

Mario jumps a little when he hears the scream, looking toward where he heard the scream before looking at Merlin. "Sorry, Merlin, gotta run!" he yells before he turns toward the lift stop, jumping into the shaft. Summoning a Shadow Blade, he then begins to spin it around like a helicopter blade, allowing a quick yet controlled descend down the shaft to the desired level. He then drifts out of the shaft and runs toward the kitchen.

Once in the Kitchen Mariya can be seen hugging a tall, brown haired man. He looked to be much older then Sora. "And honestly I thought you got over this..."

"Well it's been a long time Leon." Mariya says, smiling. She then lets Leon go.

Mario blinks before he puts his Shadow Blade away. "Um...did I miss something?"

"Oh Mario...This is my dad's old frien Squall, I mean Leon." Mariya says, before laughing.

"You a new recruit?" Leon asks.

Mario puts his arms behind his head. "You could say that," he states as the necklace hangs from his neck.

Leon nods. "Cid made some new tech and wanted me to deliever it to Sora."

Mario lowers his arms. "Well, if you'd like, I could take it up to him. All I have to do is simply climb up the lifts up to his chambers...and as for how I know this castle so well, I found a castle map."

Leon laughs. "Same old Sora, always locking himself in his study."

"He never changes." Mariya says, sighing.

"Well I have two really." Leon says, throwing a phone to Mario. "I'll deliver the main one to Sora myself." Leon pauses and messes up Mariya's hair. "I'll see you around kiddo."

Leon then leaves, and Mariya lookes peeved. "I AM NOT A KID!"

Mario chuckles before he looks at the device. After a few moments, he starts to tinker with it a bit. "Interesting...maybe I should start logging my adventures, both past and future..." He now looks at Mariya. "If you can excuse me for a moment, I need to go find your father." He then walks over toward the lifts.

At the lift a boy, looking a year older then Mariya is standing. He has white and black hair and is staring at a lift. "How are they?" He asks when Mario approaches.

Mario blinks as he looks at the boy. "Um...how are who?" he asks.

"The king and Mariya." He says, making it sound like it was obvious.

"Um...well, they are fine," Mario asks as he stratches his head, a bit confused. "And you are...?"

"Axel." He answers simply. "Axel Striker."

"Right," Mario states as he keeps an eye on Axel. He could sense a little darkness in the heart of this guy, and he definitely recalled the name from earlier. Perhaps he should go to someone about this. "Well, nice to meet you, Axel," he says as he steps onto the lift, watching Axel as the lift raises up the shaft, soon blocking Axel from sight.

Sora can be heard laughing loudly in his study. What he says however can't be made out.

Mario is silent for a moment before he knocks on the door. "Um, King Sora? Are you busy?"

"No, no, come in Mario. Leon and I were just finishing up." Sora says as the door opens.

Leon steps out and smiles slightly before going down the stairs.

"What can I do for you Mario?" Sora asks.

"Alright, two things," Mario states as he enters the room, closing the door behind him. "First off, I heard that Merlin sent you some information about the new worlds. Would you mind sharing some of that info with me?"

"Of course." Sora says with a smile. "According to Him, one's called New York, the other Opera Populaire, both peaceful, but he think there's trouble. What's the second thing?"

"Really? New York?" Mario asks, looking a bit stunned. "Well, imagine that! I've been there before! I think it was a year ago, but it was indeed peaceful when I last visited. Only a Heartless here and there, nothing much." He then shakes his head. "I'm sorry, I got sidetracked. The second thing is that I ran into someone on my way here to talk with you. He told me his name was Axel Striker. Are you familiar with him?"

Sora sits there, stunned and frozen. "Axel....Striker?" He growls. He fumes and stands up, kncking over his desk, sending the papers flying. He goes up to Mario and puts his hands on his shoulders and grips then. "Where is he? Show me where he is!"

---

Mariya sighs after finishing her meal and goes into the Lift stop and freezes, seeing Axel. "You." She hisses.

"Mariya, please, I can explain." Axel says, taking her hands and gripping them tight. "Please listen to me."

"After what you did? Never!" Mariya shouts, trying to get free of his grip. "Let go of me!"

Mario is startled by Sora's sudden discontent. "Same level as the kitchen, outside the lift," he says as he wrestles away. He can nevertheless sense the tension of the problem. "This way!" he yells as he turns around, drawing a Shadow Blade as he runs out of the room. Upon reaching the shaft, he simply leaps past the lift, wall jumping down the shaft to the kitchen level.

Sora follows Mario, mimicing Mario's actions, but he passes MArio out in the shaft and leands in the lift stop before he, summoning Oathkeeper. "Let go of her Axel." Sora orders, seeing Axel had ahold of Mariya.

Axel does as he's told, but makes no other movements. Mariya slaps Axel before going over to her father.

Mario soon arrives, keeping his Shadow Blade drawn as he keeps an eye on Axel. "Alright, so what exactly did he do?" Mario asks, giving a side glance to Sora.

"He betrayed the Knights." Sora said. He checks Mariya to see if she's hurt, and she leaves. "And he broke Mariya's heart."

"I came-" Axel started to say, but was cut off.

"I don't want to hear your excuses. What you did is unforgivable Axel." Sora says. He takes Axel's arms. "Find Riku and tell him what happened and to check on Mariya."

"Alright..." Mario states as he puts the Shadow Blade away. "Considering what he did, though, it doesn't seem much that way anymore. The amount of darkness I sense in his heart isn't much to really as great an amount that I would expect from someone like this..." Without another word, he goes to find Riku.

Sora acts like he didn't even hear Mario, and pushes Axel onto a lift. He gets on, keeping an eye on Axel, his keyblade in his hand. The lift wrrs before going down.

Riku walks into the libary and goes to the lift seeing Mario "hey whats up?"

Sarah heard some commotion from the library and looks in the direction of the lift. She puts her book down on a table and walks toward the lift, slightly dissappointed that none of her research has lead her to at least a clue to Riana's whereabouts. Sarah sighed walking up the stairs. And once she saw Mario, Sora, Riku, Mariya and a mysterious person, she leaned on the rail behind them, not interfearing with their buisness, but just watching what happened, just in case things got out of hand.

Mario, upon seeing Riku, quickly rushes over. "Riku, Sora told me to get you. He's at the lift, and he has Axel."

Riku nods "figures" he takes off for the lift in the library and waits for Mario to catch up

Mariya, however has disapeared. Where had she gone?

Sora sighs as the lift reaches the bottom level, and nudges Axel with Ultima. Axel sighs and gets off the lift, followed by Sora. Sora then puts Axel in a cell, two away from Darren. As he shuts the door he said. "You brought this apon yourself. Your parents would be ashamed."

Mario tags along, soon reaching the lift. Seeing that Sora and Axel are not there, he assumes that they are down in the dungeon. He takes the next lift down, soon reaching the dungeon. "Wow..." he states as he looks around a little. "It looks a bit better since the last time I was here..."

Riku walks over to Sora "whats going on?'

"Axel came back." Sora simply says, gesturing to the cell Axel is in. "Can you check on Mariya, I gotta tell Kairi about this...."

"Sora, you told her to go on vacation." Erik says, appearing from the dungeon hallway. "No sign of any heartless, seems Axel came alone..."

"Right." Sora says, holding his head. "Keep looking, you never know."

Riku nods "Mario stay here I'll be right back" he leaves for the lift and and goes up

Sarah also took a lift down to the dungeon. She saw Sora and Erik talking. She stood next to the wall that Erik was by. Sarah quirked an eyebrow, "Why do you smell like perfume?" She asked Erik.

Riku gets off the lift and walks to Mariya's room"hey princess?"he knocked on the door "Mariya you in there?"

"Come in Riku...." Mariya says, sounding like she was crying.

---

Erik instantly blushed. "I have a girlfriend." He answered, embarased.

Sora nudged Erik. "Well who is she?"

Riku opens the door " i'm guessing you know already huh?" he walks in and closes the door behind him

Mariya only nods, whiping her eyes. "I entered the liftstop before dad got ahold of him. Bet you my allowance he's here to torment me."

Riku nods "depends on what you define as torment"he sits down a chair "how about I find out why he is here?"

Mario is silent before looking at Sora. "Sora, do you mind if I go ahead and go to scope out New York? I have been there before, after all."

Sarah is silent for a moment, "So, who is she?" She asks Erik.

"Keep that phone with you." Sora says. "and make sure to give me a full report uopn your return."

"Um....." Erik looks nervous, unsure if he should say anything infront of Sora. He whispers Riana's name in Sarah's ear.

---

"Yea...go ahead." Mariya says, sitting up on her large bed. She looked around her huge bedroom. If she ever got around to it, she had to do some work on it. She had the same white walls for ten years.

Riku messes with her hair"come on wheres that happy little girl that we all know and love?'

Mariya glared at Riku. "She died a year ago.." She said, looking at her comforter.

Riku shakes his head "nah she's just buried deep inside" he gets up and walks out of the room closing the door he walks to the elevator and goes down to meet up with Sora. He steps off and see Erik and Sarah talking "hey Erik whose your girlfriend?"

"No one important." Erik says. "Speaking of girlfriends, isn't it time u settled down Riku?"

Sora holds back a laugh on that comment.

Riku looks at Sora "go ahead I know you want to laugh Sora"he looks at Sarah "whats your name?"

Mario nods before he goes back to the lift, returning to the main level. Stepping outside, he glances up toward the sky, as if taking a good look deep into space. With a small smile, he summons a Shadow Blade and swipes the air in front of him. Suddenly, a dark cloud rises from the ground, hanging there ominously for a moment before parting to reveal a set of shadow black doors. As Mario approaches the doors, they open inward to reveal a dark corridor, Mario's own way from world to world. With one last step, Mario disappears into the dark doorway which closes behind him. Another dark cloud appears and then disappears, leaving no trace that there had ever been a doorway there.

{Mario to Mew York}

Sarah looks at Riku and smiles, "Sarah." She replied.

Riku smiles back"nice too meet you, I'm Riku"

Sora starts laughing. He nudges Erik. "Oh come on, tell us, we won't flip."

"You say that now..." Erik mumbles. "You'll meet her someday Sora."

"Nice to meet you to, Riku." Sarah said, and for some reason, when she went to look away, she couldn't.

Riku laughs at Erik "look if you can't tell us now we understand your shy about it"

Sora sighed. "All right, lets get back upstairs, I'm getting hungry."

"Ditto." Erik said, smiling.

Riku shakes his head"you guys go ahead with out me I'll be up in a minute"

Sora nods and goes to the lift with Erik. Erik waits to see if Sarah is coming with them.

Sarah quirked an eyebrow, "You're not going with them?" She asked.

Riku looks at Sarah and waits to see what she's going to do

Sora 'accidently' hit the up button and the lift wrrd, going up. He fought a smile.

"Oh my, the King is plotting something." Erik mutterd, adn Sora playfully hit him.

Riku mumbled to himself "i'm gonna kill that guy" he looked at Sarah "so what brings you here"

Sarah smiled smally, "Looking for a family member." Sarah said. "You?" She asked politely.

Riku looked at her "I'm a knight well yea a knight"

Sarah smiled and chcukled, "Do you like being a knight?" She asked, glad for a conversation.

Riku nods "yea It"s ok......ummmm do you have a boyfriend?"

"Discusting." Darren's voice muttered. "The only people in this castle who should get together is me and Mariya."

"Keep dreaming princy." Axel said.

"Fugitive." Darren hissed.

Sarah rolled her eyes, then looked at Riku, "No." She replied then she slightly smiled, "Why? Is that an invatation?" She asked in a joking manner.

Riku looked at Darren and shook his head. he looked back at Sarah "maybe, why would you have accepted it? " he said with a smile

"Ugh, I'm going to gag." Darren said before making a choking sound.

"Shut up will ya? Some of actully thinks this is hilarious." Axel says, almost laughing. "Wheres a camera when u need it."

Sarah nodded, "Yes I would have." She slightly laughed.

Riku smiled "ok...so you want to be my girlfriend?"

"Sure." Sarah said, smiling.

Riku frowned " I think sora locked the lift, so we have to use the stairs that lead to the garden"

Axel and Darren laugh a bit, then growl at each other.

---

Mariya meanwhile is lying on her bed, still upset. She sighs and gets out her journal and begins righting in it.

Sarah started to walk toward the stairs, "Coming, Riku?" She asked.

Riku looked at Axel and then nodded at Sarah"yea" he said as he walked after her

Mariya sighs and gets off her bed. She goes out to her balcony and looks down into the garden. She sits and leans against the banner, still staring before she starts humming a song to herself.

Sarah walks into the garden. She walks over to the fountain and sits.

Riku walks over and sits beside her "so what brought you to Hollow Bastion?"

Mariya see's Riku and sighs. She wonders why he's sitting with a woman...one she's never met before. She stands and goes back into her room, slaming the balcony doors.

"Just looking for family. But so far, my search had lead me to nothing." Sarah says with a sigh. "But I know, she's not dead."

Riku nods "thats nice"he looked at the water"i guess you really care about them"

Mariya left her room then, and went to find Riana. She would probably understand.

Riana was in the library, reading, as always, except this time she had another book in her hands, Interveiw With The Vampire , it was a recent favorite.

---

"I do." Sarah said, "I care about them alot... I mean, you'd care too, if they were the only family you had left..." She placed her thin hand on top of Riku's, "Right?"

Mariya walked into the library and started twords the stairs.

Riku nodded"i guess your right" he smiled

"But perhaps you've seen her." Sarah said getting a locket and showing Riku, the last picture she had of her, and she was 8 years old.

---

Riana flipped another page, obviously totally oblivious to the world around her.

Riku nods"her yea Mariya released her she used to be a prisoner"

"Riana?" Mariya asks, looking around the library.

"Prisoner?" Sarah asked, worriedly.

---

Riana picks up her ears thinking to be mistaken, "Yeah?" hears nothing then starting to read again.

Mariya follows Riana's voice, and finds her reading a book. "You and your books." Mariya says, laughing.

Riku nods "becuase she's possesed by a heartless"

"But... I thought..." Sarah seems to trail off.

---

Riana just shrugs, "I really like to read." She says quietly, continuing to read. She doesn't seem to blink, she stays as still as a statue, then sudenly flips a page and does the same thing.

Mariya laughs and sits at the desk. "Riku has a girlfriend." Mariya says after a moment.

Riku looked at her"I guess it's fixed now she went to see Merlin"

Riana looked at Mariya and laughed sarcastically, "This isn't a game of 'who can tell the worst lie' Mariya." Riana said, not beleiving Mariya. Then she saw the look on her face, "Wait.... He seriously has one?" She asked.

---

Sarah sighs with relief. "That's good."

Riku nods"yea...I have a feeling someone is talking about me"

Mariya nods. "I thought I was daydreaming or something at first, but she's real. Wanna pester him?" She asks Riana.

Riana looked between her book and Mariya like it was the hardest choice in the world, but then she sighed and put her book mark in and closed the book. "Sure." She said.

---

"Mariya probably is." Sarah said with a laugh.

Mariya smirked. "Lets go." Mariya says before grabbing Riana's arm and dragging her to the garden.

Riku laughed and nodded "she probably saw me with you"

Mariya reaches the doors that lead to the garden and lets go of Riana. "Act as if you had no idea he was here." Mariya says, a slight smile on her face. She goes to open the door. "Ready?" She asks.

Riana nods, popping her neck and fingers.

---

Sarah nods, "Probably."

Mariya smirks and opens the door to the Garden, and waves to Riku. "Oh hey there Riku!" She shouts. She walks over to him. "Who's your friend?"

Riku looks at Mariya"speak of the devil"he laughhs a little"this is Sarah, she's my girlfriend"

Sarah smiled and held out her hand, "Nice to meet you princess."

Riana was over by the rose bushes, looking at all the colors.

Mariya shakes Sarah's hand. "Hope you know your dating Mr. Spoil-all-the-fun." She says.

Mariya then notices RIana's not with her. She goes over to RIana. "Hey your missing all the fun." She whispers.

Riku laughs"says Ms. Get-us-in-trouble"he watched as she walked over to the rose bush

Sarah slightly laughs.

"Yeah?" Riana asks Mariya, once she walks over.

"Aren't you going to help me bother Riku and Sarah?" Mariya asks, looking confused.

Riana perked up, "Sarah?" She asked.

"Yea, Riku's girlfriend, remember?" Mariya asked, pointing to them.

Suddenly Mariya winced, and grabbed her chest, like someone had stabbed her. She let out a cry of pain before falling to the ground, still clutching her chest.

Riku jumped up and ran over to her "Mariya!?!"he held out a hand "stay still I'll cast cure"

Sora came into the garden and saw Mariya. He looked paniced and dialed Kairi's number on the phone. After a short conversation, he runs over to Mariya. "Mariya, what's wrong?" He asked, lookign over her.

"My chest..." Mariya mumbles.

Sora moved Mariya's hands and saw there was nothing there. "Mariya.."

"It really hurts." Mariya let out in a gasp.

"Okay, okay." Sora says as he picks up his daughter. "Riku, find Merlin and have him come to Mariya's room."

Sora then carries Mariya to her room. Once there he lies her down on her bed. He watches as Mariya falls asleep. He then sits there and ponders something.

Riana and Sarah enter the room, Sarah walks over to Riku and looks at Mariya with a worried face.
Riana walks over to Sora and while looking at Mariya she asks, "Is she gonna be okay?"

Riku shakes his head "I dont know, but i have to go"He kissed Sarah on the cheek and ran out of the the room to find Merlin who he asumed already knew what happened as always.

Merlin had a bag in his hand, and was shutting his door. He sighed before making his way to the Bailey.

Before Sora can answer Riana, his phone rings and he answers it. He recognises Mario's number. He talks a bit, trying not to sound concerned. He hangs up after another short converation. He sighs and kisses Mariya's forehead, ulling her covers over her. He goes to the door and holds it open. "Let her sleep, I'll let Merlin in when he comes." He says, taking Sarah and Rianaout of Mariya's room. He then gently closes the door.

Riku sees Merlin walking to the Bailey and falls as he tries to turn to catch up to him "Merlin!!!!"

Merlin turns and sees Riku. "Ah Riku, I was just on my way." He says. "I sappose Sora sent you anyway though."

---

Kairi runs into the castle, and finds Sora. "How is she?" She asks, looking panicked.

"She'll be fine Kairi, no need to worry." He says before kissing her.

Riana leaned against a wall, and played with a tiny fire ball in her hands, swerving it from one hand to the other.

Riku nods "you now precautionary methods" he breaths in deeply to catch his breath
_______________________________________________________________

Marik appears in the garden "so this is where Mrs.Kairi's heart signature leads"he looked around"It's nice"

Sora's cell rings again, and he answers it. The conversation is longer this time, and Kairi makes a comment before Sora hangs up. "Mario doesn't need to worry about Mariya. He has enough on his mind." Sora says before whispering something in her ear.

"Riku?" Kairi asks, surprised. "Can I meet her?"

"Sure." Sora says before looking up and down the hall. He doesn't see Sarah, but see's Riana. "Riana, where's Sarah?

---

Merlin nods. "Lets be on our way then." Merlin says before continuing twords the postern.

Riana tossed the fireball in her hand back in forth.
"Right here." Sarah said, on the other side of the hallway, her face towards the door.

Riku walks after Merlin but stops when he sees black smoke in the garden "Merlin you keep going" he pulls out his phone and calls Sora " Sora come down to the garden I think that there are heartless around but the alarm hasn't gone off"

Sora answers his phone. "Got it." He says before hanging up. He runs down then and goes to the garden.

"Welcome to Hallow Bastion Sarah." Kairi says, smiling. "I'm glad Riku found someone he can be happy with."

---

Merlin nods, and hurries to Mariya's room.

Sarah slightly blushed. "Thanks, for the welcome, Mrs. Kairi." Sarah said politely.
Riana still played with the fireball this time making shapes, like birds, wolves and people sword fighting. She smiled as she did so.

Marik yawned and sat down under a tree figuring Kairi would come out sooner or later.

Riku carefully walked into the Garden"Tron are there any heartless or nobodies around?" he summoned his way to dawn and keeped his guard up

"Theres one Nobody Riku." Tron says lowly. "Proceed with caution. I just don't understand how it got passed security."

"We'll run a scan of your system once we're finished here. Riku, you take the left I'll take the right." Sora says, before proceeding.

---

Merlin greeted Kairi as he passed her and went inside Mariya's room. "Confound it!" Merlin shouts. "She's gone!"
{Mariya to Opera Populaire}

Riku nods and starts to go around the left side.

Marik looks up and sees Riku and Sora "hi" he says with a cheerfull smile "is Mrs.Kairi here?"

Riana smiled as she played with the fireball then it dissappeared. She lost interest. She was about to take a step when she dissappeared, leaving a note.
You will now find that both Riana and Mariya have now been taken to my opera.I have taken them under my wing. Make no attempt to rescue them. PTO

{Riana to Opera Populaire}

Kairi runs in after Merlin and see's her daughter gone. She immediatly gets her phone out and calls Mario. She talks to Mario, and looks at Merlin, who shakes his head. She talks again and after a bit hangs up. She then heads down to the Knight barics, planning to take a short-cut threw the garden.

Merlin returns to the hall and finds the note. He reads it. "Oh my." He says, sounding worried.

---

"What do you want with Kairi?" Sora asks, standing straight, but keeping Ultima ready.

"She's my friend"Marik hops up and walks over to Sora"Hey I'm Marik"

riku swings his keyblade out"step back"

Sora sighs, rubing his forehead.

Kairi runs into Erik in the hallway, and quickly sends him to New York. She then goes to find Sora and see's him in the garden and runs down. "Sora-" She says, coming to his side, before seeing Marik. "Oh hello Marik."

Marik waves" hi"

Riku looks at Kairi "you know him?"

Kairi nods. "He's not like other nobodies." She says, holding Sora's hand. "He's like Roxas and Namine."

Sora sighs. "If you trust him, then I guess he's okay." Sora says before kissing her. "It would sort of explain why the alarm didn't go off."

---

Merlin stuffed the note in his hat. "Sarah, would you please come to the garden with me? Theres something we all should be present for."

Marik nods and touches Sora's keyblade "I have two of these"

Riku seathes his way to dawn "I'm Riku I'm a royal knight"

((OOC: Since Riana has not been on for a week, I'm going to control Sarah until her return.))
"I'm Sora, King of Hallow Bastion(/Radiant Garden)." Sora says before pausing. "How's Mariya?" He asks Kairi.

"Well-" Kairi says before getting cut off.

"She's fine Sora, but we have a problem on our hands." Merlin says.

Sarah comes in then, and stands near Riku. "Now what's so important Merlin?" She asks.

"Well I found this note where RIana had been standing." Merlin said before opening it. "You will now find that both Riana and Mariya have now been taken to my opera. I have taken them under my wing. Make no attempt to rescue them. PTO."

Sarah covers her mouth, in shock. "Riana..." She whispers.

"Opera Populaire." Sora sighs. "Do you really think this PTO would do something?"

"It's to risky to try..." Merlin says.

Just then the alarm sounds. "Sora! There's been a jail break in the dungeon." Tron says. "I've locked all exits except one, the convict should come up in the library."

"Riku, lets go." Sora says before running to the library.

Riku nods and follows Sora

Marik jumps up and follows them

Once in the libary, Sora waits for someone to come out of the lift.

Axel suddenly flies back, into a book case, causing it to fall and slowly gets up. A keyblade is in his hand. "Comon princy, is that the best you got?"

Darren attacks Axel, and Axel throws him into a bookcase before noticing Sora. "Oh uh....long story short...Darren blew up his cell and...well...a fight broke out." Axel says before blocking an attack from Darren.

Riku walks out in front of Sora and summons his Way to Dawn "Stop now both of you or I'll be forced to hurt both of you."

Marik walks in after Riku and looks at Darren and Axel fighting

"Hey, it may not look like it but I'm defending myself, he threw the first punch." Axel says, before Darren throws him into the wall.

Sora sighs. "HALT!" He shouts, and Darren and Axel both freeze where they were standing. He then goes over to Darren. "Now what to do with you...."

Riku sighs "Tron if you dont mind do you have a security video of the time of the break out?"

Marik walks out of the library and goes to find Kairi

"Recorded the whole thing. You can access it from the main computer in Ansem's Lab." Tron says.

Two Knights arrive and drag Darren's frozen figure off. Sora sighs as the spell wears off of Axel. "As for you. I think Mario may have a point. You deerve a secong chance." Sora says before searching his pocket. He then hands Axel something. "I'm watching you." He warns before heading to Ansem's lab.

In Axel's hand is a necklace with two identical swords crossing each other and a crown in the center.

In the courtyard, a pair of shadow doors appear before opening. Mario steps through and stretches a little. "Whew...well, it was nice to see Jake again. New York really hasn't changed much, though..."

Xamira however, lands on her stomach. "Ow." She says before standing up and brushing herself off. She loks around. "Wow it's really pretty." She mutters.

"Yep," Mario says as he walks toward the castle. "Come on, we need to see Sora."

Xamira nods, and follows Mario.

Mario walks into the castle, looking for any sign of Sora or anyone else.

Xamira continues to follow Mario, looking around.

Kairi is still in the garden, sitting on the fountain, looking worried.

Mario soon reaches the gardens, and after looking around for a moment before he spots Kairi. "Good evening, Queen Kairi," Mario says. "Is Sora around? I need to report my visit to New York to him. Also, any news on Mariya's whereabouts?"

Marik walks into the garden to see Kairi "hey Mrs. Kairi, how are you?"

Riku walks walks down a hall and pulls out his phone to call Mario "hey kid, I've got someone I think you should meet"he walks out of the library to look for Marik "meet me in the garden"

((from this point i guess i'll take over control of Axel Striker so here goes....))

Axel nods and puts the chain around his neck "thank you for the second chance Sora you wont be sorry"he starts to walk around and get used to his old home all over again

"Sora went down to Ansem's lab." Kairi says to Mario, before smiling at Malik. "I'm afraid Riana has disapeared as well. There was a note where she was standing, saying that a PTO has taken them to Opera Populaire, and we should not attempt to rescue them. I'm so worried..."

---

Sora is typing away on the computer in Ansem's lab, and reviews the security tape.

Marik smiles at Kairi and then looks at the girl behind Mario"your a nobody"

Riku walks into the garden and sees Mario "hey kid guess who's a knight again"

Mario turns to Riku. "Let me guess...Axel?" He then glances at Kairi as he thinks for a bit. He then smiles. "Well then, let's not save her," he says, winking as he says this.

Xamira was standing against the entrance to the garden, and doesn't hear Marik, since she was daydreaming, staring at a rose bush. She hummed a song.

"Are you crazy?" Kairi says, not noticing the wink. "As a Royal Knight it's your duty to protect those of the royal family as wel-"

"Mrs. Kairi." Xamira interupts, coming over. "I believe he was using sarcasm."

Kairi sighs. "I'm sorry, maternal instints I sappose."

Riku laughs alittle and looks at Xamira"hey there i'm Riku" he sat down next to Kairi "ummm about your nobody friend there, Marik was it? What are we gonna do with him?

Marik looks at Riku hearing hi name mentioned but turns his attention back to Xamira trying to figure out where she is from "I've never seen you before and there are not that many human nobodies outside the orginazation"

"Well, all I am saying is this," Mario suggests. "This PTO told us not attempt a rescue, right? Well, what if went there for another purpose, such as to see an opera? We would be close to Mariya and Riana and would not be violating the demands of this kidnapper. And if an opportunity arises, we can help the girls rescue themselves."

Riku shakes his head "too risky, he said for us not to go he knows nothing about you and Axel so I think that one of you should go"

((Riku, please obey the posting order, I'll let it slide since this makes my post easier.))

Kairi nods. "I think both of you should go, this way Axel may have a chance to proove himself."

Xamira smiles. "Well I think I was created just recently, the last thing I remember is waking up in New York."

Sora comes in then, rubbing his neck. He see's Mario. Before he can say anything he notices Xamira. "Have we met?" He asks.

"No sir." She answers, but seems to recognise him as well.

Sora shrugs and sits next to Kairi. She smiles and kisses him. "Sora, Riku suggested the Axel and Mario should go to Opera Populaire, since PTO doesn't know about them."

Sora smiles. "Good then, but I suggest you find Mariya and talk to her alone before you see her with Axel, she's not going to like this. Worry about getting your report on New York to me later. Riku, would you mind going to find Axel?"

Mario gives a nod. "Sounds like a good plan," Mario states before he stretches a little. "Just give me a minute to wind down a little and I'll be ready to go."

Riku nods and walks off to look for Axel

Marik yawns and looks at Sora "you really are Roxas's other half right down to personality and behavior" He shrugs his shoulders and turns to walk around the palace

Axel was sitting in the library looking at pictures of his parents

Xamira has disapeared, gone to the Library, and looks at all the books. She whistles at the large collection. She then see's an entire case dedicated to Photo Albums. She takes one down, and it has the Royal Symbol on it. She opens it and laughs at a picture of Sora and Kairi on their Wedding Day, Sora is rubbing the back of his head, holding a empty plate while Kairi is glaring at him, icing on the skirt of her dress.

The next picture is Kairi lying on a hospital bed, a baby in her arms. 'Kairi and Mariya.' Is scribbled underneith. Xamira hmms, and turns the page, it's the same picture except Sora is sitting next to Kairi.

Xamira skips the next few, all of them of Mariya as a baby. She stops at a picture, where Mariya-with brown hair- is 5, her hair down to her waist, and is being held by Leon, standing next to him is Yuffie and Aerith, Cloud and Cid standing Behind them. 'The Radiant Garden Security Commitee.'

Riku walks into the library and walks over to Axel "you've got your first mission leave now Mario is already there"

Axel nods "where is it"

Riku starts to walk away "Opera Populaire"

Axel watches him go and walks over to the gummi hanger, talking to chip and dale he hops in a gummi ship and takes off

{Axel to Opera Populaire}

Marik walks in to the library seeing Riku leave doing his best to avoid eye contact he walks over and grabs a book on the first keyblade wars

Mario hops into the gummi ship behind Axel, having left, and watches this time, hoping to get an understanding of the controls this time.

{Mario to Opera Populaire}

After Mario and Axel leave, everything freezes.