The Foretellers gathered in the room filled with gears. Ira stood away from the table, his hands behind his back as he paced back and forth. He seemed nervous, thinking of something. Invi sat calmly closest to him, her hands neatly folded in her lap. She stared at the table in silence, lost in her own thoughts. Gula was sitting on the table like he usually would, kicking his feet back and forth childishly. He too was lost in his thoughts, looking towards the door. Ava sat beside him, with her hands in her lap. She stared at her hands, waiting for someone in the room to speak. Aced was standing by the table with his arms crossed watching Ira pace.

"I know at this point it's a hopeless effort to find the traitor. Though we all have our own suspicions, we are unable to confirm them." Ira said suddenly approaching the table. The other foretellers looked towards him. Gula frowned.

"So why waste our time by calling us here. Are you hoping someone will just step forward?" Gula asked, annoyance in his voice. He had better things to be doing right now. Plans to make true on.

"I have an idea, that might be our last hope," Ira replied calmly. He looked towards Gula with distrust. He was convinced Gula was the cause of all of this.

"What is it then?" Aced asked from where he stood.

"The old story, where light and dark took human form. If they truly exist and they are keyblade wielders, whichever Union holds darkness is likely the traitor." Ira explained. Each Foreteller considered this, gradually nodding in agreement.

"I never thought of that, but it stands to reason." Gula said softly, still thinking. He had spent so long looking at the other foretellers, he never thought of something so simple.

"It's likely darkness them self is the traitor, and none of us know about it." Invi said looking around at the other Foretellers. Aced and Gula nodded in agreement. Ava frowned looking up at Ira.

"But, how are we even supposed to find darkness?" Ava asked. Ira frowned looking away. He hadn't really thought of that. There was no way to guarantee they could find darkness. Not in time to stop the war.

"We just need to find him quickly. If we can find him before the war-" Aced said before Ira could reply.

"The entire thing might be avoidable." Gula finished. "We should get started right away." He said. The other Foretellers nodded in agreement.

"Before you all go, there's another matter we should discuss," Ira said, gaining the attention of his comrades once again. "The cross-union party." Ira said. Ava frowned glancing around at the others.

"What of it?" Invi asked.

"I do not think it wise. I'd like permission to shut it down." Ira said simply.

"You're our leader Ira, you don't need our permission," Aced said quickly, showing he had no opposition to the idea. He didn't like the idea himself.

"On the other hand. All of us have a union member involved." Gula said in reply to Aced. He turned his attention to Ira. "I'm not against it." He said calmly.

"Nor am I, it's just them trying to slow the war. None of them mean any harm." Ava said, agreeing with Gula. She looked to Invi, who she knew had her lieutenant in the party.

"I agree, they aren't fighting for darkness, that's for sure." Invi agreed calmly, not looking at Ava. Aced scoffed at them.

"You all only say that because your lieutenants are involved." Aced accused. Gula gave a heavy sigh, not bothering to look at Aced.

"Is it wrong for us to trust them? I have a few other union members who joined as well." Gula said calmly.

"So do I, I don't see what's so bad." Ava agreed. Aced frowned at their replies, turning to Ira. Ira sighed and nodded in understanding.

"Well, I won't force any of your union members to leave then. But I will be speaking to mine." Ira said calmly. The foretellers nodded and split to go their own ways. Each one carried a new hope, but even more dread. Was there time?

*<3*

Annora proudly looked at all of her party from the rock she was standing on. They were in Agrabah today. The sun was blazing overhead, beating down on the small party. It only had thirteen members, herself included. Fourteen if Ephemer, who was an honorary member, was counted. But even as small as it was, she was proud of it.

The first member outside of the original five was a blonde boy with spiky hair from Vulpes. His name was Ventus. He was pretty good despite his young age. He joined through Kamiko, who also happened to recruit him for the Dandelions. He worked well in a team and, for some reason no one could explain, held his keyblade backward.

The next to join was a Unicornis girl named Zia. She was a quiet type, but when she spoke it was only the truth. She wasn't so much for teamwork when they started, but over time she had grown used to it. She was turning into an extraordinary wielder, but she refused to join the Dandelions. She knew she was going to die in the war.

After Zia was a boy from Anguis named Kariya. He was usually laid back, but once he got in a fight he showed his wild side. It was fun for him. He joined through picking a fight with Skuld. She had managed to convince him that joining together was the right thing to do. Once he got used to it, he had become fiercely loyal to the entire party, always happy to pull them out of a tight spot.

Then came Kirai from Leopardus, a young girl with blue hair. She had always kept to the shadows, pulling people out of trouble and then disappearing without a word. It was Jax who had found her and brought her in. Her teamwork was spot on, she was arguably the glue for the party. She was another who would fight in the war rather than leave her friends to die.

Then at the same time came a set of brothers. Raito from Ursus and Kohaku from Vulpes. They were glad to have the chance to work together since they'd been separated by Union for ages. Raito was more of the fighter while Kohaku was a healer. It was good to have a healer as the party members did get hurt often. Both had decided to fight in the war.

Last two to join was a set of old friends. Anri from Leopardus and Saki from Vulpes. Anri was the shy quiet type while Saki was more talkative. Both worked very well together and did well with the rest of the party too. They were still on the fence, not sure if they would fight in the war or not.

"Annora! Behemoth!" Kariya called out. Annora looked where the orange haired boy was pointing. Sure enough, a Behemoth was slowly making its way through the sand towards the party. Annora smirked glancing to her party. She saw Takiko roll his eyes as if already knowing what her decision would be.

"Let's take it down!" Annora said, jumping off of the rock she had been standing on. As much as she would like to say she led the charge that wasn't true. No sooner had the words left her mouth, Ven and Kariya shot forward and speeds that just shouldn't have been possible.

By the time Annora joined the party at the Behemoth, it was being attacked at all fronts. Kariya had gotten onto it's back and was beating it over the head with his keyblade. Takiko and Kamiko were teaming up to keep it distracted. Kohaku and Raito were beating on the front right leg, while Zia and Skuld were on the left leg. Ven and Kirai had the back left leg while Saki and Anri were on the right there. Annora shook her head with a laugh before jumping up onto the Behemoths back with Kariya.

"Fancy seeing you here," Kariya said in a joking manner when Annora joined him. Annora only rolled her eyes and laughed as she stabbed her keyblade into the Behemoths head. The Behemoth shrieked out in what was easily identified as its dying cry. Annora and Kariya shared a look before quickly jumping off of its back before it could fall.

"Well, that was short work," Raito said with a laugh.

"There were a lot of us taking him on," Kohaku said, calmly.

"Shadow on the right," Anri said calmly, catching the party's attention. Looking to the left, there was a shadow heartless watching the party.

"Kirai, you want to take it?" Saki asked, leaning forward to look at the blue-haired girl. Kirai nodded, walking over to the heartless. Before she reached it the heartless stepped back and made a rude hand gesture. Kirai froze in shock, allowing the Heartless to sink into the ground and vanish.

"Did that heartless just...." Kariya asked, trailing off.

"I, I think it did," Skuld said, shock still in her voice. The party shared a look before bursting into laughter.

*<3*

Back in Daybreak Town Annora and Zia walked through town together talking about the events of the day. It had been a good day to complete missions. The Behemoth had only been one of many larger Heartless to make an appearance. It had been exciting, and more fun than Annora had had since finding out about the upcoming war.

Annora glanced up while talking to Zia to see Master Ira in front of them, his hands behind his back.

"Master Ira!" Annora said quickly stopping in her tracks. Zia stopped as well, her gold eyes going between Master Ira and Annora.

"I'd like to discuss something with the two of you." Master Ira said, stepping closer. Annora looked at Zia calmly. Zia raised an eyebrow in question. Annora sighed and turned towards Master Ira, wringing her hands nervously.

"Let us guess, our party." Annora said calmly.

"I'm glad to see you know." Master Ira confirmed. He kept his voice calm, and almost friendly. Annora guessed he didn't have Ava's natural talent of being easy to talk to.

"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't like it. But I'm not leaving it." Annora said, keeping her head held high. She had to look up at the master as it was, she wasn't going to let it make her seem beneath him.

"Please, I don't think it's wise. It's practically an alliance." Master Ira insisted. Annora frowned and opened her mouth to snap back a response, but she stopped when Zia stepped forward calmly. Probably better to let her do the talking as she was better at diplomacy.

"Master Ira, we respectfully disagree. It's only a few from each Union, not the entirety of one Union paired with the entirety of another. Understand that if Annora leaves, the entire party will fail." Zia said calmly, keeping her eyes on where Master Ira's were. She couldn't see them, but she wouldn't let that sway her. They weren't doing anything wrong.

"I know, that is why I asked." Master Ira admitted. Annora sighed heavily and stepped forward, standing directly beside Zia.

"Listen, I respect you, a lot. But I'm not going to take this war lying down. I'm going to fight back while I can. It's not much and we don't bother anyone. You don't have to agree with us, but I beg you to allow us to continue." Annora said, still keeping her calm. She wanted to yell. She wanted to call him an idiot. She wanted to say all of the unions should be in an alliance together anyway. An alliance against the darkness. Maybe then they wouldn't fight amongst each other.

Master Ira gave a heavy sigh of defeat.

"I see I won't sway you. Very well. But be cautious." Master Ira forewarned. Annora nodded.

"Yes, Master Ira."

~~~~~~~~~~*<3*~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: You may have noticed a few references to other works. I don't own said other works, I just borrowed the names because I didn't want to look up and pick eight more names. If you didn't catch them, then this means nothing to you.