The Lanes Between stretched out before them—an endless, swirling expanse of cosmic proportions, shifting stars, and pulsing pathways of blue and violet light.
Helios, seated behind Skuld on her Glider, watched the currents swirl around them as they sped through the cosmic void.
"This place is… something else," he muttered, gripping onto Skuld's shoulders as she adjusted their speed.
"It's beautiful," Skuld admitted, her voice filled with wonder.
Aqua, flying slightly ahead, turned her head back slightly.
"The Lanes Between are always shifting," she explained. "The worlds don't stay in the exact same locations forever. Over time, they drift—so a world might not be in the same place after a year or two but it's still possible to find so long as you know the general location."
Helios smirked. "So navigation is just 'hope for the best and don't get lost,' huh?"
Aqua sighed. "It's a little more complicated than that. If you're familiar with how the currents move, you can estimate where the world will be. But if a world is lost to Darkness, then…"
She trailed off.
Helios didn't need her to finish.
If a world was swallowed by Darkness, there was no predicting where it might resurface. The only fate of such a world was assimilation into the Dark Realm or they become sleeping worlds that are difficult to reach.
He glanced around, watching the streaks of light dance around them as they rode through the void.
Then a pulse of darkness rippled through the Lanes Between.
Helios' body tensed immediately as he sensed the incoming danger.
Aqua's voice was sharp. "We have company."
From the swirling abyss, several dark shapes emerged. Heartless ships floating, insect-like crafts pulsing with malevolent energy, their glowing yellow eyes locked onto them. These heartless upon destroying the boundaries between worlds used the pieces that were known as Gummi Blocks to encase themselves allowing them to reach even more worlds.
They moved fast, breaking into separate formations, surrounding them from all sides.
Helios gritted his teeth. "Figures. Can't go anywhere without these things showing up."
To be honest, Helios knew that the appearance of these ships were entirely his fault. The ships all had emblems on them meaning they were artificial heartless which he had a major hand in propagating to fulfill his deal with Maleficent.
Aqua immediately went into action, forming a magic barrier around herself as she banked sharply to the left, avoiding the first barrage of dark projectiles.
Skuld cursed. "Helios, hold on!"
She twisted the Glider sharply, avoiding a blazing purple laser that cut through the air just inches from them.
Helios leaned forward, gripping the sides of the Glider as he watched the heartless ships.
Without a Glider of his own, he needed to fight differently.
An idea formed.
"Skuld, get me close to one of them!"
"What—?!"
"Just trust me!"
Skuld hesitated for half a second, then nodded. "Fine! Hang tight!"
She accelerated toward the nearest Heartless ship, weaving through enemy fire.
Helios summoned Bríon na Lú, the radiant spear gleaming with golden light.
The moment they were close enough—
He launched himself off the Glider.
Helios' Mid-Air Assault – The Spear of Light in Action
Helios flipped mid-air, twisting his body as he threw Bríon na Lú forward.
The spear spun like a comet, streaking toward the nearest ship.
The Heartless craft veered to the side, trying to dodge—
But Helios had already reappeared at the spear's location, grabbing it mid-spin.
SLASH!
He ripped through the ship's hull, the force of the impact sending him rocketing downward.
Before he hit the abyss—
Solar Drive activated.
His body vanished in a streak of light, reappearing directly above another ship.
He plunged downward, Bríon na Lú glowing fiercely—
BOOM!
The ship exploded in a burst of golden energy. The force of the explosion pushed him back into the air, catching his spear with a smirk.
"That's two down."
Aqua realized her keyblade weapon was perfect to use here so she raised her Glacial Empress's Grace.
Thundaga Shot—fired.
Three bolts of lightning-infused arrows shot forward, striking an enemy ship.
Electricity coursed through its form, sending it spiraling out of control.
Skuld, taking advantage, shot past, spinning her Glider around. The wings of the Glider were as sharp as daggers crackled with wind energy. With a quick twist, she launched her Glider, slicing through another ship's wings.
Helios grinned. "Not bad."
Only one ship remained.
The final Heartless turned to flee.
Aqua narrowed her eyes. "Oh, no you don't."
She fired a Blizzard Lance, striking the ship's core—
SNAP!
The Heartless shattered into shards of frozen darkness.
Helios floated back to Skuld's Glider, landing smoothly behind her.
Skuld sighed. "I don't think I'll ever get used to you jumping off this thing so try not to do so often."
Helios laughed. "Then you better avoid them better next time."
Aqua, flying ahead, glanced back at him. "You fought better in mid-air than I expected."
Helios smirked. "I aim to impress."
With the Heartless gone, they continued forward, undisturbed.
Helios narrowed his eyes as they continued flying.
They had been searching for the location where the fallen worlds once existed—
Dwarf Woodlands.
Enchanted Dominion.
Castle of Dreams.
Worlds that had been consumed by Darkness.
There they found something world that had drifted to that area.
A world loomed ahead of them, covered in deep green forests, towering trees, and flowing rivers.
It looked like a jungle, similar to Deep Jungle the world of Tarzan.
But something was off.
Helios frowned thinking to himself. 'That's not Deep Jungle…'
What world was it, Helios didn't know.
And yet—
Somewhere deep inside him…
He did.
He couldn't explain it.
A name appeared in his mind.
Spirit Woods.
He hadn't heard of it before.
Had never seen it in the games.
But somehow, he knew what it was called.
A strange feeling settled in his chest.
Something there told him. Was it Kurai?
Helios exhaled.
"Skuld, keep going," he said.
She nodded, guiding the Glider forward.
They descended toward the world, entering its atmosphere.
A swirling blue and white portal opened allowing them to enter and land.
Their Keyblade Armor vanished.
And for the first time to his knowledge, an outsider had set foot in the Spirit Woods.